Land surveying near me

 I was recently given a ton of older and OG cards from my dad's friend. I know there are a handful of very nice/valuable cards such as gaea's cradle and mox diamond that are near mint. I would love to keep these cards around for later decks I create but I'm currently fighting to make ends meet. I was hoping someone here could assist me with how to go about selling these cards without getting scammed. I tried TBG but I haven't sold anything before so they put a limit on what I can sell on their site. Thank you in advance for your help. 

Three days ago, my housemates were alive.
And I wasn't losing my fucking mind.
Three days ago, I awoke to my housemate, Misty, shaking me.
“Get up!!”
Misty was usually the last to roll out of bed out of all of us, so I figured it was something important. My housemate wouldn’t get out of bed for nothing. She valued her sleep—often comparing her bed to a safe haven. Her place of solitude. I was right there with her, until she startled me out of slumber. I opened my eyes to find her face roughly three inches from mine, her expression lit up with excitement I couldn’t justify this early in the morning.
She smelled of toothpaste breath and her raspberry scented body wash. Her thick black curls framing her face were still damp from what I presumed was a shower, hanging in tangled knots in front of wide, almost unseeing eyes. When I first met her, Misty Kang had been my crush for a while. With a Korean father and a Texan mother, she definitely caught eyes when we hung out. We had a thing in freshman year, which quickly fizzled out once we started living together. Never date your housemates.
I will just say that.
Over the last few years, Misty has become one of my closest friends.
When she knew I was at least conscious, my housemate was grabbing my arm and yanking me out of bed. “Get up!”
I was barely awake, and those were the only words I could fully distinguish.
I shooed her away for a moment and swung my legs out of bed, taking a minute to blink sunlight out of my eyes coming through the blinds. “Sam.” Misty was in front of me again.
I don’t think she understood the concept of being half asleep.
She wouldn’t leave me alone, waving her arms wildly. Her shadow under the soft morning light almost reminded me of one of those inflatable tube guys.
“Huh?” My voice was a low croak, and her smile widened.
“Guess who’s just scored tickets for an actual screening of the first five minutes of gameplay for the most anticipated game of the decade?”
“What?” Her string of words wasn’t making sense in my caffeine deprived mind. It just sounded like gibberish to me, initially.
Like we were in some cheesy commercial, she was the lead, and I was the confused NPC with the WTF expression. But when I went over it in my head, words started to slide together like a jigsaw puzzle. Misty didn’t get excited about video games. Well, she did. Though, my housemate was one to get excited on behalf of someone else. After living with her for a while now, I had concluded she was a follower.
By that, I mean whatever others thought or did or said, she copied it. If her Twitter followers were mad at bad takes, she would drop all of her own opinions on said follower and focus on what other people said. We had Korean barbecue for takeout the other day, and Misty clearly did not like it from the creased look on her face, and her very obviously spitting it politely into a napkin.
Jay, my other housemate, liked it.
And so did I. So, naturally, Misty announced she wanted more.
I had to watch her suffer through two more portions before she excused herself—presumably to throw up. Blinking at my housemate who was clearly excited for Jay, I resisted the overwhelming urge to roll my eyes.
“Slow down. What game? What are you talking about?”
I got out of bed and threw on my robe, half aware of the mess from last night on my desk. Another attempt to finish an essay which just wasn’t happening. The monster energy cans and takeout Chinese wrappers were embarrassing. I got a basic run-through as I headed downstairs with Misty right behind me, practically breathing down my neck. From what I understood, there was a Reddit post.
That was all I got from Misty’s squealing. She leapt down the stairs after me with a spring in her step. The clock above the front door told me it wasn’t even 9am. The smell of bacon, however, was quick to arise me from the dead.
Jay was in the kitchen making breakfast. I noticed his laptop was open on the table, and every so often he’d peer at it with wide, almost disbelieving eyes. Jay and Misty were complete opposites, which made them great people to live with. Jay was a quiet book who was slightly on the pretentious side, routinely quoting something philosophical to piss me off.
He had rich parents on the other side of the world, but the guy himself was fairly humble and had mostly detached himself from said family.
My housemate was usually well put together. In fact, I barely saw him in his pajamas, excluding game nights. That morning, however, he was a disheveled mess, still in yesterday’s clothes.
He offered me a grin. I glimpsed sauce from last night’s dinner still staining his chin. Jay hadn’t brushed his hair or even put on deodorant.
I caught a whiff of BO when he ducked in front of me, his gaze glued to his MacBook. It was rare when Jay ignored basic hygiene, so yeah, I was going to guess this was a pretty huge thing. “I did tell her not to wake you up, y’know.”
His slight aussie accent was always refreshing on a morning. Born in Australia and moving to the states when he was ten years old, Jay still had a slight tinge in his accent. I had seen pictures of his family, and the guy had definitely gotten most of his dad’s genes, thick brown hair, and freckles. While his dad was built like a pro wrestler however, Jay was leaner like his mom.
I shrugged. “I was already awake.”
“Liar.” He didn’t look away from his laptop.
Looking closer, I glimpsed the Reddit homepage.
“So, you have won something.”
Jay didn’t answer. I could tell he was excited by the way he could barely keep still, bustling around the kitchen, barefoot. “Coffee?”
His voice was more of a Misty-like squeak, and I half wondered for a moment if they had switched bodies, or he had at least become one with my other housemate through a chemical explosion. In our kitchen, which was yet to be cleaned after a cooking disaster several nights ago, I wouldn’t be surprised if something was living on the countertop. I nodded, slumping into a chair. “What’s going on? Why is Misty freaking out?” I nodded at his laptop. “She said you’ve won something?”
As if my housemate couldn’t hold it in anymore, he nodded, turning his screen towards me. “You know____, right?”
“Yes.” I sipped my coffee, eyeing a toaster strudel sitting on the countertop. "You mean the game which has been coming out for a decade."
He ignored that. “Well, what if I told you one of the developer’s posted on the official sub this morning?”
“For _____?"
He nodded with a grin, and I wondered it this was one of those rare times when Jay was blindly looking through a red flag to see what he wanted. I had heard of these types of scams, and Reddit was a breeding ground for them.
Gamers were pretty intense. I didn’t realize I was pulling a face until I caught his lips curving into a smile. Jay was usually the skeptical one.
“You don’t believe me.”
I downed my coffee to avoid replying. When I had drained the cup, he was still staring at me with amused eyes.
“What?”
“You think it’s bullshit.”
I shrugged. “You said it,” I said. “I’m pretty sure that game isn’t even partway through development. Didn’t Twitter leak a still last year? Also, they’ll be bringing out a new console before that game comes out.”
I leaned back in my chair. “It’s more of a pipe dream, at this point.”
“The leaks were fake,” Even he didn’t look sure. “Anyway, that’s not the point. One of the dev’s posted on the official sub this morning. He asked if we were all excited for the new game, asked if we could post some of our favorite NPC dialogue, and he’ll DM winners.”
“Uh-huh.” I nodded at the screen. I had already checked my phone for an internet meltdown concerning this post, but there was nothing. “And where is that post now?”
Jay didn’t look at me. “It was deleted. So it only reached a certain number of people.”
“Oh, it was deleted?” I couldn’t resist a smile. “What a coincidence.”
When I laughed, Jay scowled, showing me his screen—navigating his trackpad to his Reddit DM’s.
To my surprise, there was actually a message from what I guessed was a throw-away account.
While I was skim reading the DM, Misty hurried in, all dressed and ready for the day. I peeked at her outfit from Jay's laptop. Cute.
Extravagant, but cute. My housemate cranked the radio up before bouncing between us, a toaster strudel hanging out of her mouth.
Misty was a living animated character. Ignoring her wide smile, I turned back to the screen. “Congratulation!!” The DM started with capitals.
It took me reading it twice to realize there was a clear spelling mistake. I sent Jay a pointed look, but he was too busy practically vibrating with excitement. If the guy had any more caffeine, he was going to explode. “Since when did winning DM’s start with a typo?”
“I knew you were going to say that.” Jay curled his lip. “They were clearly excited when typing the message.”
“But this is supposedly an official,” I said. “Surely they would make sure it’s professional?”
My housemate didn’t reply, shooting a look at Misty, who rolled her eyes.
“Wow.” I squinted at the screen. “I am so sorry for caring about your safety. You do realize these types of scam’s usually end up with you being sold on the black market, right?”
I shuddered. “I’ve heard horror stories about underground markets specializing in illegal organ harvesting.”
“Or…” Jay’s eyes were glued to the screen. “You could be happy for me?”
I frowned at the rest of the message, which was just a capitalized freak-out about the upcoming release of the game, before inviting Jay (and a friend!) to a five-minute preview of gameplay, as well as a Q&A. There was a location and a time, which was brow-raising. “10 at night.” I said. “Who hosts a gaming convention at 10pm?” I leaned my chin on my fist. “Unless they wanted to lure as many gullible people as possible, and ship them to some organ harvesting factory on the other side of the world.”
Jay scoffed. “That’s dark.”
“You’re actually considering going to a 10pm gaming convention in the middle of nowhere. I’m trying to wake you up.”
Jay nudged me that time. “It’s real. Relax.”
“And.” I pointed to the screen. “No phones? Why would they ask you not to bring your phones?”
“To stop us filming content,” Misty sang. “Duh.”
I groaned, leaning back in my chair. “You’re on his side? This is clearly shady!” I didn’t get mad unless something was seriously pissing me off, and this was one of those times. Jay was a smart guy. There was no way he was falling for this bullshit. I thought he was joking around when he spent the day tracking the location on Google Maps. I went to class like normal and got updates through text. At lunch, Jay agreed with me and said it was in fact shady, and he wasn’t going. By afternoon classes, he was texting me in paragraphs explaining his own skepticism but had found several “friends” on an online forum who were also going and had changed his mind once again. The guy couldn’t make up his mind. He was driving me crazy.
Misty sent me several videos of Jay pacing the kitchen with his MacBook in his hands. She was broadcasting his mental breakdown via Instagram stories. But then she started to send me pictures of herself in different outfits, asking me for my opinion on each one. At that point, I turned my phone off. My housemates had lost their fucking minds. I did my own research though, just to make sure I wasn’t actually going to lose them to a shady cult.
I searched for the game itself, but just as I thought, it was shown as still in development. Every “update” was just fan speculation.
There were YouTube videos and TikTok’s of fake leaks, but nothing was real. It was either AI generated, or badly edited. By the time my classes had ended and I had turned my phone on, I had a barrage of missed calls and texts.
Most of them were from Misty with her outfit changes, and Jay changing his mind again.
This time he was convinced it was all a scam, his texts full of typos and crying emoji's which he never used. Before it hit me that Misty was most likely using his phone to text me.
I was right. When I walked through the door, I was greeted by both of them sitting on the stairs. Misty was scrolling through Jay’s phone, while the boy had his head in his hands. According to Misty’s last text, he was back to being excited to go.
From the look on his face, eyes shadowed with sleep circles, light brown curls slipping from under his hood, I wasn’t sure what Misty meant by “excited”. The guy looked the complete opposite. His mind had been consumed by the game, and the idea of seeing new content.
When I dropped my bag and folded my arms, fixing the two of them with my best disapproving parent look, Misty jumped to her feet. “Sam!” she waved Jay’s phone at me. “Did you get my texts? We’re actually going now!”
The 100+ texts on both messenger and iMessage said otherwise.
I nodded, my gaze on Jay. “Both of you do realize it’s a scam, right?” I softened my tone despite growing progressively more irritated. We were grown adults, not kids. I could understand a group of teenagers falling for it, but two twenty-three-year-olds?
This time, I ducked in front of Jay. “Hey.” I pulled down his hood, and he groaned, burying his head in his knees. “I don’t want to freak you out, so listen to me, okay?”
I exhaled out a breath. “I’m not saying something bad is going to happen to you, because it most likely won’t—and yes, I admit I’m being paranoid.” When he lifted his head, blinking through bedraggled curls, there was a faint smile on his lips. “But.” I said. “You are most likely going to end up disappointed. Which I don’t want, because you won't shut up about it for weeks."
I was only partly joking.
For a moment, I thought my housemate was going to wake up, and nod, laughing at how crazy it was.
Before shook his head and jumped up.
“I’m going to take a shower, alright? I should start getting ready."
I admit, I exploded at him.
We argued while he was in the shower, and I paced up and down the hallway, coming up with multiple reasons why he was definitely going to die, and only two positives if it was in fact real. In the end, I gave up worrying all together. I didn’t say anything when the two of them were hurrying around looking for shoes and missing car keys. I didn’t realize they were gone until the door was clanging shut, and a text was coming through. I didn’t look at it until an hour later, and I had calmed down.
Jay: 1h ago: Stop worrying, lmao. We’re good! I’ll keep my phone just in case. I’ll make sure to avoid the organ harvesting 😉
Another from Misty a few minutes later: “Love you! Chillll, kay? 😭😭 It’s going to be fun! I’ll take pics!”
…
Followed by: “Oh shit, we can’t. I’ll try to sneak some!"
Attached to the text was a photo of the two of them. Misty with a wide smile and a peace sign, and Jay who looked like he was mid-shout, his eyes on the road.
Those texts were… at least comforting, I guessed. Maybe they were right. I figured I was paranoid, and they in fact would really be okay.
But that didn’t stop the anxious coil in my gut when I tried to force down takeout pizza. I attempted to focus on my essay to distract myself, but I couldn’t stop glancing at my phone, and checking Twitter. There was a hashtag on the DM, which was just “PlayStationGO.” When I searched for it, however, nothing came up.
Sure, it was a private convention and only a select few knew about it, but nothing could escape Twitter.
Somewhere, someone must be talking about it. After scrolling through endless tweets though, I realized I was wrong. There was nothing.
That put a bad taste in my mouth.
10pm came, and I held my breath all the way through a Netflix TV show I was forcing myself to watch, half asleep, slumped at my desk.
I could barely distinguish the plot.
I just had a vague idea of the character names, and some of their motivations.
Midnight passed, and I was struggling to stay awake.
I glanced at my phone.
No messages, just a notification from Spotify reminding me my favorite band was playing nearby.
1am.
Still nothing. I fell back to sleep.
2:48am.
This time, I stayed awake for a few minutes glaring at my phone before my eyes grew heavy.
3:16: am.
My phone buzzed with a text from Jay, but I could barely desipher it: "can't feel help my head hurts Canshdhsn727272_6798mi/!! _&go home please. (Sent from: PlayStationGo™️ BETA)."
3:27: am.
3:54: am. I was wide awake, blinking at a notification which had popped up from an unknown number. I was trying to figure out what number it was, when my phone vibrated again and I almost jumped out of my skin.
After a moment of hesitation, I answered it.
I was trying so hard not to think of the possibility of it being the emergency room, or even worse, the cops.
All of my worst nightmares had come true in a single second.
“Hello?” I whispered in a croak.
“Are they in the house with you?” The stranger’s voice came through in a hiss of interference.
His words sent my mediocre dinner lurching back up my throat. “What?” I managed to get out. “Who?”
“Your friends.” He said, and I leapt to unsteady feet, my gut twisting and turning.
“No.” I found myself taking slow strides toward the window, brushing back the curtain and peering out into the night. “Why? Did something happen to them?” I paused.
“How did you get my number?”
“That does not matter.” His voice rattled in my ear as I rushed downstairs, almost stumbling down the bottom two. “I need you to get out of that house. Now. Get as far away as possible.”
I could hear his rapid breaths.
He was driving. I could hear the rumble of the engine. With my phone pressed to my ear, I obeyed his instructions, pulling open the door and stepping out into the cool night, a brisk breeze grazing my bare arms was just enough to stop my thoughts spiraling.
I was barefoot, in nothing but a robe, staggering down the driveway. The night was calm and silent; our neighborhood was asleep, each window drowned in darkness. I couldn’t breathe, my clammy fingers wrapped around my phone, as this stranger broke down over the phone. “Whatever you do,” he gasped out.
“Do not, I repeat DO NOT remove the PlayStationGo—shit!! He hissed out, static rattling the call. The guy seemingly got ahold of himself, and the wheel, and continued. I started to walk—where I was going, I had no idea.
The stranger lit a cigarette. I heard the click of a lighter and his exhalation of breath. “It was a BETA version, but we had to rush it. This was not my idea. My boss is a greedy man. He wanted to release the game last year, which would have meant widespread infection. Luckily, that did not happen. We did manage to delay it, but only by a year.” His words barely made sense to me as I struggled to get a word in, peering in the dark. “It was supposed to be a virtual experience of the game—a whole new angle of gameplay. But testing was difficult. First, on monkey’s, we lost multiple subjects. Tonight was supposed to be a…well, I guess you could call it out first attempt on human subjects,” his laugh was bitter. “I knew the tech wasn’t finished. And I tried. Believe me, I fucking tried. I tried to blow the whistle, but these bastards know where my parents live."
Something squirmed its way down my spine.
“So my friends were lab rats?” I said stiffly. “You used them?”
I fucking knew it.
I knew it was too good to be true.
“Yes and no. Listen to me, the people I work for are hunting them down. Trust me, I don’t want my bosses to find them because a life of experimentation will await them. Torture. Do you hear me? It does not matter if subjects fail. They don’t care. As long as there is at least a light at the end of the tunnel for them, they will see it as a win, and bring the publication date closer. They will not be treated as humans. Your friends signed a contract before trying out the tech, where the small print stated that, under section 3, player engagement, all subjects must agree to offer themselves as participants in later updates. I silently cursed Jay for always skipping the terms and conditions when buying games." The man stopped to breathe.
“I have told you multiple times, and I won’t say it again. Get as far away from that house as possible. I will take care of them. I will make sure of it." The sound of squealing engines, and I stopped power walking, coming to an abrupt stop. The silence of the night around me, compared to the sound of the highway he was on, traffic horns and the wind rushing through the window was an eerie contrast, a disturbance to the heavenly bubble we were trapped in.
“What do you mean ‘take care of them?” I had to swallow a yell. “Hey! What are you talking about?
“I’m sorry.” Was all he replied with. “I’m afraid it is too late. There was once an opportunity to save the mind during the initial level of the demonstration. However, once the PlaystationGo has been fully attached to the base of the subject, we no longer have control of it. Once integrating itself into the cerebral cortex, the PlayStationGo can only be removed by signing out of the player’s account,” his breath was heavy. “On this unfortunate occasion, however, your friends are unable to navigate the system due to a malfunction which scrambled their brains,” He trailed off. “Which has left them stranded in the game."
I let out a breath. “Right.” I said. “That’s.. bad. I mean, it’s a fucked-up piece of technology, but they’re just playing a game, right?”
There was a pause, before the man laughed.
“Young man, I don’t think you understand,” he said. “The PlayStationGo was created to give the player a full virtual experience of our game. The PlayStationGo is not a physical object. Created with nanotechnology, it attaches itself to the subject’s brain and is supposed to create a personal gaming experience for each player. As I said, however, it is not finished. It is yet to be released to the public, and of course, we are expecting certain ethical arguments due to the controversial—”
I pulled the phone away from my ear, shaking my head. I didn’t need to hear his attempts at trying to save his own skin.
“You need to help them,” I whispered. “Do you hear me? Can you do that? Can you help them?!”
“That is what I am trying to tell you,” He said.
“I know you are upset and confused, and believe me, I offer my apologies. But you need to listen to facts. During initial testing, our subjects were conscious enough to know where their home was. We are unsure why this happens, though we have linked it to territory, as well as the main character of the game heavily influencing their actions. I have been tracking them from the testing facility, and they are incredibly close. Please get as far away from there as possible. If you are no longer in the vicinity of the house, I can end this quickly and quietly before we gain attention.”
I wasn’t sure what I was going to say. Maybe start fucking screaming at him, because he was talking about getting “rid” of my friends, after their mistake.
“Do you understand me?” He said, when I couldn’t reply. “Your friends are lost causes!”
Before I could answer, though, headlights were suddenly coming around the corner, and I found myself paralysed to the spot. The car which swerved twice, crashed into several trash cans, before reversing and coming straight towards me, was not Jay’s car. Jay’s car was an old hunk of junk he’d gotten from a scrapyard. Jay’s car had doors which were practically hanging off, and a stereo which exclusively played either static gibberish, or old tapes I had no idea how to use. This car was bright yellow, and definitely had an option to drive itself. When the car came to a stop, inches from careening into me, I lost all control of myself.
I was vaguely aware of my phone slipping from my fingers and hitting the sidewalk. But I was too busy staring at the two shadows in the front of the car. The driver, and the passenger.
And the muffled screaming coming from the trunk.
When the door swung open, a figure stepping out, I did not recognise my housemate.
The stranger told me I wouldn't, but I didn't believe him.
Jay had left the house in casual jeans and a sweater, bearing the game's logo.
Now, I found myself face to face with a man with my housemate's face and features, his smile and eyes-- but something had been severed in his eyes and twisted in his expression. For one, Jay was wearing a suit I knew he couldn't afford, the sleeves torn, collar pulled open, smears of red staining the front.
His pants had cufflinks, and the Rolex on his wrist had definitely been pulled off someone's corpse.
The silver was stained a revealing scarlet. Drinking in his face, he looked like Jay. His curls hung in front of his eyes, freckles speckling his cheeks, but everything else wasn't. It wasn't until I was glimpsing what was moulded into the flesh of his hand, did I remember how to move. But then I was taking all of him in, everything my mind had intentionally skipped, because I didn't want to believe the stranger on the phone. Nanotechnology, the man had said in a hiss.
Fiction, I had thought.
Before I saw the reality of it, a writhing metallic like substance glued to the guy's temple, and slowly, very slowly, inching down his cheek, already forming around the bridge of his ear, a very faint blue light flickering.
Something must have alerted him. His cavernous eyes left mine, and he twisted his head—and I heard the sound of his neck snapping, his head lolling to the left slightly, his eyes flickering. I watched his whole body seem to sway back and forth, ready to fall forwards.
Before the newly formed device on his ear turned red, then green.
It was almost like he was… rebooting. As if coming back to life, Jay lifted his head at an awkward angle, before looking straight through me. The blood vessels in his eyes had popped, rivulets of red beading down his face. He should have been dead, I thought. No. No, he was dead. That… that thing was keeping him alive. “Well, shiiiittt,” he said. I could sense the game dialogue which had taken over him, forming on his mangled tongue.
“I’m a man on a mission.”
In jerking movements, he turned and marched back towards the car, opening the door, and sliding into the front seat.
I remembered how to move, ducking to grab my phone, before something slammed into the back of my head—and I saw stars.
I didn’t remember hitting the floor, only the soft sound of her voice, a seductive murmur repeating NPC dialogue, and her kitten heel sticking into my spine, forcing me onto my face.
Misty. I was expecting her to get it over with. But when she dragged me to my feet, sticking the barrel of a gun into the flesh of my neck—I figured she was still playing the game.
Twisting around to meet her eyes, lifeless and empty, only filled with light from the device which had taken over half of her face, I felt sick to my stomach. This thing wasn’t a games console or a virtual reality headset.
It was an attempt at coercing and programming something you already don’t understand, to do something impossible.
I could see that in the way the things had visibly chewed and eaten through her flesh, devouring her from the inside and out. I could see what was left of the dress she had worn earlier, but something must have gone wrong with her too. Because Misty had thrown on another outfit over the top, a diamond necklace hanging from her neck.
I caught a thin river of red pooling down her right temple, trying to ignore the twitchy way she moved, just like a character. From the way Misty walked, stumbling, I already knew she was gone. My housemate had newly acquired strength, throwing me in the trunk of the car where three other hostages were, and slamming it shut on my attempts to reason with her. She didn’t tie me up or restrain me.
In the dim light I could just make out though passing streetlights, I could see the trunk opened from the inside. Which was too easy.
Still though, Jay was driving recklessly, and every time I tried to throw the damn thing open, I was knocked backwards, rolling into a screaming girl, who was bound by her hands and feet. It took me multiple attempts before I had the trunk open, freezing cold air blasting me in the face. I untied the other hostages, but when I told them to come with me, they just stared blankly at me, and continued begging for their lives—and it only took me glimpsing what was attached to their temples, a familiar writhing metal plate, for me to understand. They too were playing the game. This time, as NPC hostages.
I found myself gingerly touching the trembling metallic flesh of the girl's fingers bound in rope. It had a slimy consistency, and I swore, I felt something bite into me.
No way, I thought.
This thing was sentient, yes. But it wasn't living.
Listen, I wish I could tell you what it was like to jump out of a moving car, but I can’t.
I remember it as lunging out of the trunk, hitting the freezing cold air, before hitting the ground head first, neutron star collisions exploding in the backs of my eyes.
What I do remember is waking up on the side of the road. Hours later. The sky was bright blue, a scorching sun blinding me when I managed to force my eyes open.
The early morning rush hour flew by as normal, and I wondered how ignorant American people had to be to ignore someone knocked out on the side of the road.
It’s not like I was nowhere near civilization. There was a fucking Subway right next to me.
When I had gathered myself, I remembered I had no phone. I couldn’t go home in fear of running into my rogue housemates playing their own fucked up version of _____ in their head. My plan was to try and find my phone, get in contact with the stranger who blew the whistle on my friends being dangerous, and find them. They couldn’t be far., right? And even if they weren’t themselves… someone would be able to save them.
If someone could do this to them, surely they could reverse it.
I felt sick, tired, and I was starving.
So, with some loose cash I’d found in my pocket, I bought a Subway and a Coke.
The woman at the counter smiled widely at me. She leaned forward, with a wink. “Nice cosplay!”
Cosplay?
I didn’t understand what she meant until I swore I felt something… move its way up my pant leg. I ignored it, and it happened again, this time it felt like something was… biting.
A bug, maybe? I had been laying on the side of the road for around six hours.
When I went to the bathroom, though, I found myself staring at an all too familiar glint of silver creeping its way across my temple. Like it was sentient, parts of it sider webbed towards my ear while the rest writhed into my hairline.
I pulled up my pant leg again, and there it was, a fungus-like metal substance which had already formed in two solid metal masses on my knees. I remember grazing two fingers across the thing beginning its slow feast of my flesh. I remember trying to pull it off, hissing in pain when I risked ripping off my own skin with it. I remember shaking my head and being in denial, even when the lights dimmed above me, and the bathroom door in front of me became more of a shadow. When I strode back through the Subway store, I began to see slight flickers of light above each person, highlighting something not quite there yet.
I could see it already starting, beginning to take over my thoughts. Cars which sped past were suddenly highlighted, and at the corner of my eye, if I concentrated, the outline of a map was starting to appear. Even now, when the room is almost completely taken over by shadow, and my thoughts are half my own, and half not—when a metallic device is beginning to form over my eyes—I know if I hold on, this thing won’t take me. I have considered killing myself, but that wouldn’t… be right.
How could I kill myself when there is so much left to do?
This developer was right. I don’t even know where I can sign out. There’s what looks like the beginning of some kind of index when I look up, but it’s not… finished. I can still see entangled pieces of code struggling to load what I’m guessing was log out. Whatever this thing is, it’s taking over me. Fast. Like a fungus, like a virus, it will not stop until it’s dragged me into the game, until it's leeched itself onto me.
I can feel it happening right now. It's been slow.
Almost painfully slow.
But maybe that is the point. Maybe part of the game is to feel my own thoughts beginning to unravel in favor of something else entirely.
Fuck.
Time is going by…. Fast.
Five minutes ago… I was trying to get home. But I can’t remember where I live.
I can’t concentrate.
I can’t think straight.
I have a phone—but I don’t know how I got it. Did I steal it?
Every time I move, the slowly emerging map comes to life at the corner of my eye jerks with my movement. There is a car parked nearby.
I know it belongs to the man with a child.
But a confusing blur of light is highlighting it to be something of importance. Reality is crashing in front of me, replaced with contorting shapes and bursts of color I have to blink through.
I keep hearing... sirens.
Jay is messaging me.
On what, I'm not sure.
But I need to find him.
I’m sure one mission won’t hurt, right?

Hi there!
I'm 28 years young, (going on 29!) 6ft, currently living in the South of England. Not nearly as posh as it sounds, there's a lot of potholes and it's constantly wet, so there's that. I'm currently a server in a traditional English pub. I essentially make people happy as I put food in front of them, so that's my job description. I get good tips though, so it's not all bad.
In my spare time, I love listening to ambient music as I read, or play video games. Basically, I love detaching myself from reality and can find good ways about it. I also love looking at (often out of my budget) places to visit, and often thinking about what those places would be like. I miss travelling all over and am getting back into the swing of it though. Let's share travel stories! I'm also a pretty big fact nut, so quiz me on things! My speciality is flags, so be sure to ask!
I'm looking for someone who is kind, caring and will put up with my kookiness! I don't mind on location, if we live on the opposite sides of the world and fall for each other and I have to relocate, then that's okay with me! Photos are available on request, don't worry!
Anyways, I hope you have a nice day! And maybe chat later? I'm mostly online, so feel free to message me whenever!
https://ibb.co/album/RjRWYd - here's me! I'd love a photo of you back, although if you're super shy, you don't have to!

tw // mild sexual themes
this is more of just a vent post cause i came to this realisation recently. turns out i’ve been through this before, just not as incredibly intense as this time. just wanted to let this out somewhere, i guess no other group of people would understand more haha. the timeline is extremely fuzzy now but i’ll try my best.
so let’s go back 7 years when i was around 14(?). i was reminded of something i’d said to a friend and it made me spiral HARD. i was convinced i’d be bullied at school, she was going to expose me and make up horrible lies about me, i kept asking for reassurance from my friend that what i said couldn’t be interpreted like that, but no matter what, i was convinced my fate was sealed and that everyone would hate me.
for context, i was on discord w/ a mutual friend’s boyfriend cause we were all in a big friend group and it was normal for us to be on voicechat in our server, as you do on discord. anyway, he had randomly told me that she’d started calling him daddy (who knows why i needed to know). so i thought it’d be funny, right at the end of the call to end with, “bye daddy”. i very much cringe back on this now, i don’t need a reminder of why this was weird, i know.
13 year old me GENUINELY could not comprehend why anyone would want to call their partner “daddy”; i only had knowledge of very vanilla sex at that point lol and i was extremely ashamed of sex-related stuff at that age, so there was no way i was saying it in any sort of suggestive way.
anyway he responded like “oooohh im gonna go tell her you said that”. it was all laughs and jokes at the time, and i didn’t think anything of it cause i had genuinely just said it to mock her i guess? that was until maybe a year(?) later when she confronted me about it out of nowhere.
i remember the angry dms of her bringing it back up, i don’t remember exactly what it was cause this was so many years ago now. but yeah, i immediately spiralled. i thought that i could be exposed as someone who likes to use the word “daddy” in a sexual way (again, i was very weird about sex-related topics at that age), i thought i’d be bullied relentlessly at school, i felt SO much guilt and shame, i felt like she might’ve thought i was trying to get with him or something? i was just so worried, i kept going over and over the situation again and again, reading back through the messages, trying to reassure myself it was all ok. i realised then why she had started calling him that, and it was the worst feeling in the world knowing i’d said it and how it could be perceived. eventually i confessed to a friend when i was at my worst, i just asked her to tell me i’ll be fine and no one could potentially bully me for it. she gave me some tough love, which was probably for the best cause i didn’t get the endless reassurance my undiagnosed ocd craved, but she did tell me i didn’t need to worry so much.
i carried on worrying til i left school and turned 16, then i decided i was “safe” cause i no longer was in the environment to be bullied.
nearly 7 years later, nothing ever came of it.
to be honest, whilst writing this, my ocd started to spike a lil bit. my brain started telling me “you know she’s going to find this post, recognise you, and exposure you finally to humiliate you”
sure man, could happen ;)

My galaxy A41 is nearing its end, after 3 years of use, and I am searching of a new phone to get - my biggest issue is that I will be buying a second hand one, as I have wider range of models (from the site I am buying) also different conditions and everything else. Now, I looked at Samsungs or iPhones: I wanna know what is more worth it, an out of date iphone (such as the X, 8, 8plus, Xs, 6s, SE 2020 or ogSE) or an out of date Samsung (S10, S20, S10+, A51 or other older models). I have a thing for older phone models and right now in the cheaper category nothing is satisfying my needs, so these are basically my choices. Which is gonna be more secure and last me more than 2 years approx? I could even main a 6s for all I know, I just want a second opinion on this and a convincing argument.

I (31f) first connected with my now fiancé (42m) about 18 months ago online. We talked nearly every day and he quickly became my best friend. We couldn’t meet right away because we live in different countries but a few weeks ago, I traveled to his country to visit him and it was the most amazing 8 days of my life. I have never felt happier and more at peace than I do when I’m with him. He proposed to me on the last night of my trip and I said yes.
Here’s the problem: years ago, I made the decision to wait until marriage to have sex for religious reasons. I have always been up front with the guys I was dating about my decision because I know this kind of relationship isn’t for everyone. I told my fiancé about this two weeks after we met online because I didn’t know how long it would be until we met in person and I didn’t know any to waste his time. He told me he was fine with waiting because he hadn’t been in a relationship for seven years and he only has sex with women he’s in a relationship with. He figured if he could go without sex for seven years, a few more years won’t be a problem. The reason he has been single for so long is because he had been focused on building his career and being his daughter’s only parent.
Anyway, when I was in his country, I could tell that he wasn’t really ok with waiting. He admitted that he hadn’t considered that in his past relationships, he and his exes had a very active sex life so when he’s with me, the woman he loves and is committed to, his sexual desire is very high. Basically when I’m not around, he doesn’t really miss sex but when I am around, he wants it. I understand that but I don’t know what to do about it. I’m planning to visit him again in the coming months and I’m worried that he will make the argument that since we’re going to get married, I should reconsider waiting until marriage. He’s already hinted at that. I don’t want to compromise my values and I also don’t think it’s fair for me to have to repeatedly tell him we’re not going to have sex yet when he initially agreed this wouldn’t be an issue. I tried to be transparent upfront and it’s not my fault that he wasn’t fully honest with himself when he agreed to be in this type of relationship. How do I get him to understand that this is a non negotiable boundary, which is exactly why I told him about it long before we met in person?

I’ve always wanted to have kids, and even though my partner had been ready within 2 years of being together, I wanted to wait a little longer for a few reasons.
I wanted to make sure I had my physical and mental health under control; be on a stable career path since I always have had anxiety issues, which led to low confidence in my abilities; and to have the time to grow out of my immature habits(e.g. excessive gaming, luxury purchases) so I could fully support a family.
After getting medicated for ADHD and Bipolar almost 2 years ago, I landed a new job and we moved into our first house. For the first time in my life I was optimistic as I finally felt motivated, confident and ambitious enough to pursue my goals but looking back now I must have been on a high as everything was going right for once.
Over the next few months and after many talks, my partner convinced me that it was the right time to have a baby. She would constantly bring it up with talking points aimed at boosting my morale and making light of the amount of work that would go into raising a child. Being the people pleaser that I am, I eventually caved into the pressure.
Fast forward about a year and I don’t think I have ever felt this unstable before. My physical health is the worst it’s ever been; I’m constantly sleep deprived; dreaming about suicide and even though I work in the perfect job for me, I am struggling and ready to have a mental breakdown.
I feel socially isolated and unmotivated to talk to anyone, often taking weeks to respond to messages and feel embarrassed to admit that my best friends who I’ve known since high school have only seen my son about 3 times.
I love my partner as she has supported me through so much. Even now she tries to support me emotionally but there’s only so much she can do as our priorities shift toward the baby.
If I could have one wish it would be to have waited another year and still have the exact same child, as I absolutely adore him. His look of pure joy melts my heart, but I feel immense shame for how depressed I have become.
Everyday I feel immense guilt. For agreeing to having a baby to early and putting us in this situation, and have no idea how to let go of the past and move forward.

Before anyone comes in, and yes, I know there will be Danganronpa games in the future, And with the rain code nearing the corner, it will be 5 or 6 years before we get one.
Lately, I have been wondering if there should be another Danganronpa game or other installments in that series.
For me personally, I am mixed on the matter.
The wishful part I would love to get more Danganronpa content, especially the killing game with Rantaro. And if they try the anime route again, they could make it similar to the ultimate development plan or summer camp. They could use it to explore some of the students' backstories or give some students screen time.
The more critical part of me isn't so sure since we all know Danganronpa's writing isn't the best. I am worried that when they do release another visual novel game. It won't be too different from other games.
And there are so many things they could keep interesting, like, for example:switching up the mastermind motive, the order of the murders, the female protagonist (or antagonist), free-will switching between protagonists, playing as the murderer, or more creative motives. Just to name a few.
I know whatever I say is going to happen eventually. I just hope they learn from their past mistakes and get creative. I have seen Fanganronpas do some of these concepts I have mentioned, and they do them better.

"Where are your fucking clothes?!" Jerry screamed as one of the girls ran past him naked, shouting for another one and paying him no mind.
"I just had you get dressed!" he wailed as she vanished through the door to the hall. Another one stepped in through the front door and Jerry rounded on her. "Whose fucking blood is that?!" he demanded. She stared, eyes wide, but didn't answer.
"That's two more! You're up to eleven, now." Inanna said cheerfully. Jerry rounded on her, giving her a glare made of pure frustration.
"Don't give me that look," she said primly, turning away from the girl whose makeup she was doing. "You agreed to this, and you're the one cursing up a storm."
"You don't seem to have any issues cursing yourself," he pointed out.
"That's right. I don't. I've told you before that adding a few extra 'fucks' and 'shits' and 'cocksucking motherfuckers' to your vocabulary wouldn't hurt anything and might be a little cathartic."
"Shit piss fuck cunt cocksucker motherfucker tits," he deadpanned.
Inanna beamed a smile at him. "Eighteen," she said and turned back as he shook his head and went stomping after the naked girl. The one with the blood on her chin and shirt continued to stand next to the front door, looking confused.
"Does this really make men want to mate with you more?" the girl whose makeup she was doing asked. "No, not really," Inanna said. "But it makes you feel prettier, which will make you more confident, and that tends to make the whole process go better as far as you're concerned."
"So when you're done, I will feel more confident?"
"That's the idea," Inanna confirmed.
"Then I will go out and seek a practice mate. How much longer?"
"You will do no such thing until your body's finished growing," Inanna scolded. "Fucking hell, kid, you look like you're about fifteen. Any guy that wants to mate with you right now is a guy you really don't want to mate with. If you really want to practice, I'll speak to Jerry and-"
"Absolutely not!" Jerry said, leading a naked girl out of the hall by a hand around her upper arm. He grabbed the bloody one as well and walked them back to his office, from whence the naked one had come.
"Why not?" the girl asked. Inanna gave her a level stare. "Did you already forget what I just said about men who would want to mate with you? But pay him no mind, I wasn't suggesting he could do it. I mean, he'd probably leave you with internal bleeding, anyways, you're just so tiny. I was going to suggest that he work a little magic to age you up appropriately for a while, so you could find a man who wasn't a hebephile."
"What is a hebephile?" she asked.
"Almost as bad as a pedophile. Worse, in some ways. They're creepier, in any event, at least to me."
"And what is a pedophile?"
"The scum of the earth," Inanna said, as if that settled the matter.
"So I should avoid hebephiles and pedophiles," the girl said. Inanna smiled sweetly at her. "Yes, you should. Now close your eyes, I'm going to do your eyeshadow and them we'll be done."
"I can't wait to see it," the girl said, a bit of excitement creeping into her voice. Inanna gave her smokey blue eyes and then leaned back. "Okay," she said, picking up the mirror and showing the girl her reflection. She squealed loudly and clapped her hands, grinning at her reflection.
Jerry returned, now with two fully dressed girls. He put them both on the couch. "Sit here, and don't fucking move," he instructed sternly.
"Nineteen," Inanna said. Jerry ignored her comment.
"I have to go clean up 'about half' of a dead racoon. Do you think you could get some food going before one of them encounters a neighborhood cat or, god forbid, a neighborhood kid?"
"How about I get them ready to go out? I don't think I have enough food to cook for all fourteen of them."
Jerry nodded, then headed for the garage.
----
It took two humvee to get all of them moving. It also took two hours, because once the others had seen what Inanna did to their sister's face, they all wanted to wear makeup. Fortunately, Aaina had come through, breaking out her own makeup and helping cut the time needed to do them all in half.
Inanna sat in the driver's seat of one humvee with Aaina on the passenger seat. Sarah and Junior were spending the weekend at Eddis and Yarm Junior's new apartment. Some people might find it odd to let two twenty-something boys do their babysitting, but Brekka and Yarm were taking a break, doing some sightseeing in the Sixteenth world, and Inanna trusted those two boys implicitly.
"Dad seems like he's ready to snap," Aaina said. Inanna glanced over to see her looking worried. She laughed. "No, he's not."
"The last time I heard him cursing like this was when we thought you guys were dead," Aaina said. "And I'm sure he'd have killed every single god who got in his way. Tysrane was lucky he only lost a hand..."
"Oh hun," Inanna said. "How much talking and complaining did he do back then?"
"Uhh," Aaina said. "Not much, really. He was more broody than angry."
"Would you say he's acting broody tonight?"
"Ahh, I get you. So what, he's putting on a show of being angry and stressed?"
"Something like that. He's fine, in any event." Inanna turned into the parking lot of the cafeteria and was relieved to note that there was plenty of parking available. She still pulled in near the edge of the lot, taking up two spots with the huge vehicle, but the availability of closer parking meant they wouldn't be too busy.
She climbed out, watching the flood of adolescent Akkorokamui pour out of the back seat. She'd been surprised when Jerry had agreed to watch them so Nick and Zelda could go out on a date. Jerry had given her the impression that he was still holding a grudge over Nick's actions years ago, despite the older man's efforts to make amends in more recent years. But he had gone ahead and volunteered the two of them. And now, he was seemingly paying the price.
She watched as he remained in his humvee after parking and the passenger and rear doors opened. The seven girls with him poured out, and each and every one was naked.
Inanna shook her head and walked over to the driver's side door, to see Jerry behind the wheel with his head against the steering wheel. She opened the door.
"How many?" she asked.
"Twelve more," he admitted. "That's thirty four," she said. He nodded slightly.
"Are you turning your aura on or something?" Inanna asked. He finally lifted his head to look at her.
"No!" he said. "That's what I don't get. They're not trying to do anything, with me or each other! They're just taking their damn clothes off like it's perfectly normal and continuing to chit chat with each other!"
"Well, I mean, it is kinda normal for them to be naked..."
Jerry fixed her with a look. "It's also normal for them to have tentacles instead of legs." None of the girls had reverted to her tentacles. Inanna hadn't even seen one start to, all night. Visually speaking, they'd been a normal gaggle of teenage girls, all evening.
"That's weird, because none of them got undressed in my car," she said.
Jerry threw his hands up. He whimpered. "I don't know how I'm going to deal with thi-Ahh, shit, they're already running inside!"
Inanna turned to see a trio of naked girls entering the restaurant.
"You go get them," Inanna said. "Put a veil of mundanity on them. If they want to go naked, let them go naked, just keep the staff from overreacting." Jerry sighed and nodded, jogging in. Aaina and four of the girls walked up. Inanna counted heads gathered in a group in the middle of the parking lot, chatting excitedly. Seven, five of which were naked. Which meant the girls who'd ridden with her were undressing now."
She sighed. She understood Jerry's frustration. These girls all seemed to have a serious attention deficit disorder, and herding them had been a nightmare so far.
"Aaina," she asked. "Will you find whatever clothing got discarded in the parking lot, and then help everyone who's still dressed get undressed? At least that way, we can keep them from losing their clothes."
"Gonna use a veil?" Aaina asked. "Your father should be using one by now, yes," Inanna said.
"Okay," Aaina turned, spotted a pile of clothing and went to retrieve it.
"We'll be inside," Inanna said. She walked over to the group and pulled the naked ones aside. "The rest of you, let Aaina take your clothes. You can all go naked if you like."
A ragged, high-pitched cheer went up as Inanna shook her head, smiling. "Come on, let's go get some food."
----
There was a bit of a kerfuffle due to the girls entering before Jerry could get the veil settled, but once he did, Inanna was able to smooth things over with the staff and other patrons. Jerry got the tab settled, which was over three hundred dollars for all of them. Inanna considered it money well spent, as the girls took to eating with gusto, and required no real supervision.
They also ate a lot. Which might make the owner upset, but that's the risk one takes when one's only dining option is 'all you can eat'. The cook staff seemed to like the girls, who were mostly bubbly and enthusiastic about trying everything they could.
Jerry was starting to settle down, too. He only racked up four more curse words during dinner. When he and Inanna had eaten, she scooched her chair over to lean against him.
"I think we should do something with them," she said.
Jerry sighed. "Nick told me that the last time they had a night together, Zelda's sister ate one of them, and Zelda in turn, ate her sister. I don't think they'd handle it well. Besides, that's not my-gahh!" Inanna cut him off with a poke in the ribs.
"I didn't mean killing them, you psycho. I meant taking them somewhere to blow off some steam."
Jerry gawked at her. "Are you out of your mind?" he whispered. "We barely survived dinner!"
"Actually, dinner went quite well, compared to keeping them cooped up at the house. That's what gave me the idea."
Jerry heaved a heavy sigh. "I guess you're right. But I have no idea what to do with them."
Inanna turned to Aaina. "Aaina, what do you think?"
"The park," Aaina said without hesitation. "Specifically, Rockville park, down on Churchville Road."
Inanna blinked. "The playground?" she asked. Aaina nodded with a smile. "Exactly."
"I'm not so sure that would be their speed," Inanna objected, but Aaina shook her head.
"Mom, I've been chatting with them all night. I know they look like teenage girls, but for the most part, they talk like little kids. I mean, they're what, six months old?"
"Good point," Inanna said with a proud smile. Aaina smiled back, so she reached over and mussed her hair, eliciting a squeal of protest and a frantic brushing.
"You're such a smart young lady," Inanna said.
----
The girls took to the park with gusto, hooting and hollering as they climbed all over the equipment and chased each other around and just generally had a great time.
"Now," Inanna said as she settled onto a bench with Aaina and Jerry. "All we have to do is make sure none of them run off."
"Okay, this was a damn good idea," Jerry said. "Thank you, both of you. I feel like I can finally breath again."
They sat there, watching the girls play, until a familiar voice sounded from behind them.
"Hey Mister and Missus Williams!" Eddis called. Sara and Junior cried out "Mommy!" in unison.
"Hey," Inanna said as her two youngest children tackled her, hugging and tickling them in response. "What are you guys doing here?"
"The little ones were getting restless, so we decided to bring them out for a bit before bedtime, tire them out some."
"Same," Jerry deadpanned.
"Go play, you too," Inanna said to her kids, shooing them off. She concentrated, summoning a sliver of magic and forming it into a mental warning to the girls.
Anyone who harms the two little kids will get the exact same treatment your aunt got when she ate your sister. And I want to hear fourteen acknowledgements.
A few seconds later, a chorus of fourteen voices chanted the lesson Jerry had impressed upon them at the onset. "Children are friends, not food."
"I meant it!" Inanna shouted.
She kept her eyes on the two little ones, just in case. Several of the girls peeled off and began chatting them up. Within moments, they'd been roped into some sort of game that involved the players chasing each other around screaming "Zombie! Om nom nom!"
"Man," Eddis said as he took a seat on the bench. Yarm Junior offered a hand to Aaina, who took it. He pulled her up and led her to the playground as she laughed at something he said.
"I don't know how you guys do it. I mean, I hear your kids are pretty well behaved from Mom and everyone who knows them, but..."
"They do tend to run you ragged," Jerry commiserated.
"You get used to it," Inanna added.
"Man, I sure hope so. I've always dreamed of having a family. Being a dad, you know?"
"You're gonna be the best dad one day, Eddis," Inanna told him. "Your brother, too. You're both such amazing young men."
"I gotta hit the bathroom," Jerry said, standing up. "Are you guys good without me for a minute?"
Inanna counted heads. Sixteen girls, two boys. "Yup," she said. Jerry nodded and walked over to the bathrooms.
"You mom's gonna love being a grandmother," Inanna said. Eddis laughed. "Yeah, if I can ever find the right girl."
"Don't tell me you're still a virgin," Inanna gasped. Eddis gave her an incredulous look, and then pulled out and tapped his phone a few times. He showed it to her, the screen displaying his contacts. About three quarters of them were women's names with heart emojis at the end. Inanna laughed.
"You certainly take after your father in that regards."
"Yeah. Dad and mom had it a little easier, though. There were only a few people in the tribe, and you pretty much had to pair up young back then."
"Do you remember much of the tribe?" Inanna asked. Eddis shrugged. "Yeah, a bit. Junior doesn't really remember much. We both prefer it here though, I can tell you that."
"Me too," Inanna said.
A moment later, she added. "Well, the bright side is that there's no pressure on you to find the right girl who wants to settle down and have a family."
"What do you mean?" he asked. Inanna pointed to the trees surrounding the park, where Aaina and Yarm Junior could be seen kissing under the canopy.
"Oh!" Eddis gasped.
"You'd better go break it up before Jerry gets out the bathroom. He's liable to have a heart attack, after the evening we've had."

Forget pre-rolling dice for PCs or rolling attack and damage at the same time.
Just Fill the in-between.
They say what they are going to do, you describe it while they go for their dice. You know their class and weapon/spell, describe the setup.
PC: "I run up and stab that guy" (starts rolling) DM: "on the approach you step left and go in for at a low angle targeting just below their arm in that sweet spot". Miss: it goes wide. >now your set up for the next description (they are in a low squat, easy for an enemy to now slam down on them). Big dmg: your sword slices into them piercing inches in and knoching out a bone. Small dmg: your sword catches skin and you see it tear as blood soaks a patch of their shirt.
What this does is give players not in combat, something to listen to and excited for their turn amd the acting player symbolism of action amd excitement and them doing more than just a pt number of damage.
+advice, ask them, later on when they get the idea, to describe their approach to an attack to get everyone rollplaying. ++advice, once the monster is bloodied and near death, let them describe their approach and killing blow for the bigger monsters OR to give some PC that hadn't had one, a feel good.
Let me know your thoughts!

Genuinely curious: why is the general consensus that we’re nowhere near a Championship team without Draymond?
Let me start with: he’s a dawg who was absolutely invaluable to Championship runs and will go down as one of the all-time defensive players ever.
That being said, his body is declining. Still can be a great defender at times, but he’s not as athletic as he was in his prime and is later on rotations at times which leads to more fouls (Monk was living at the line after he beat his man in that Kings series). With him being undersized, that foot quickness is super important and you’re taking a big gamble betting on it holding up the next few years
He’s a negative player on offense at this point. Doesn’t even look at the rim 80% of the time; and the times he does look to score when he’s wide open, he can’t finish well when help rotates over to try and block
There’s no 1-for-1 replacement for him, I get that. But couldn’t adding some more size inside, and maybe a wing defender kinda cover up the hole he’d leave defensively? Offensively, you’re probably getting better looks since you aren’t playing 4v5 (sometimes 3v5 if he’s playing PF) which could take some pressure off your defense.
What do y’all think? Is 2023-2024 and beyond version of Draymond legit critical to a championship? Or is he more valuable in a team morale “don’t rock the boat” kinda way?

La la la, Galaxy land here I come to play! Those sweet Galaxy Tabs are absolutely luxurious. Very beautiful design, Samsung is serving the cool features, nice pen, and of course nothing looks better than Amoled.
On a more serious note, I'm truly looking forward. I bought the iPad a year ago, and at first I thought I was just a bored consumerist for being unsatisfied, however I now see that it's not for me at all, like being together with someone you don't match with. Everything felt very unconvenient, the build quality was bad, and the worst is that sure it can do amazing things, but it doesn't matter when the basic things don't even work. I could literally talk for an hour about all the ridiculous problems I had with it. It's a nice tablet but other than drawing, it's a very dumb supercomputer.

The end of my garden joins with the end of the house behind me. There fence is well over the boundary by 2-3ft and has been for a while. The position of their garden is at least 6 ft higher than mine. The issue is that at the end of my garden is an old rockery.. Mostly soil which I want to remove. If I remove this soil to clear the space , the fence posts and fence will drop. My land affectively is under this soil.
I have told them my intentions and the consequences but they have ignored me.
Can I remove this soil freely? I no longer want this rockery and intend to flatten the ground to give me space for a shed. TY.

A mod meant to complement Strategic Forts by TC
Strategic Improvements allows constructed Airstrips to claim their Tile. The claimed Tile of Airstrips and Missile Silos will change dynamically throughout the game with pillage and city events.
Why would I want this? Having Airstrips and Missile Silos claim their Tile provides many gameplay possibilities, including the following:

• Controlling land on a Warfront for easier Land Advance, especially for deploying Air Units and WMD Strikes.
• Controlling land on a Warfront for Unit Defense and Healing Advantage.
• By attacking and pillaging Enemy Airstrips you also easily destroy any of Enemy Air Units in it, adding a strategic tactic for Land Units to use against Air Units without fighting them directly.
• Block passage of military units for civs without open borders.
• Prevent other Civilizations from settling in critical Choke Points or too near your Cities.

​
Full list of relevant actions and their corresponding effects
NOTE: I will be using "strategic improvements" to refer to Airstrip and Missile Silo improvements.
CASE: AIRSTRIP/MISSILE SILO BUILT

• Claims this Tile for the player.

CASE: AIRSTRIP/MISSILE SILO REMOVED

• Removes strategic improvement.
  
• Removes claimed tile, unless it's adjacent to a foreign city (ownership of tile will go to city owner, giving priority to the original owner).
  

CASE: AIRSTRIP or MISSILE SILO PILLAGED

• If pillaged by an enemy land unit:
  
  • That unit will claim the strategic improvement and its tile.
  • If it's an Airstrip and it has Enemy Air Units in it, all those Air Units will be destroyed.
• If pillaged by coastal raiding, bombs, or nukes, while the strategic improvement is not garrisoned:
  
  • That improvement will be pillaged, and if it's not within claim range of a city or strategic improvement of the same type it will be lost.

CASE: COMBAT UNIT ENTERS PILLAGED AIRSTRIP/MISSILE SILO

• Repair and claim strategic improvement and its tile for that player.

CASE: CITY CAPTURED

• The strategic improvement is retained by original owners; not transferred with the city. You will need to clear and capture each strategic improvement individually to claim their tile.

CASE: CITY CAPTURED PLAYER ELIMINATED

• All strategic improvements that belonged to the defeated player are given to the conquering player.

CASE: CITY LIBERATED

• Strategic improvements remain owned by the player who owned the city before liberating it.(such as in a city conquered event).

CASE: CITY TRADED

• Any strategic improvement owned by the city are transferred along with the city.

CASE: CITY RAZED

• Surrounding strategic improvements reclaim their appropriate Tile.

NOTE:

• In all cases where an Airstrip gets claimed by a Player, all the Air Units in the Airstrip will get destroyed.

​
Compatibility:- Mod should be compatible with any Mod altering Airstrips or Missile Silos. - Mod is compatible with Strategic Forts Mod by TC, and also with any other Mod changing the Fort. If Strategic Forts Mod is enabled, some changes have been made to it to account for following situations:

• Fort adjacent to an Airstrip/Missile Silo is built/pillaged: The Fort won't claim/remove ownership of any adjacent Airstrip or Missile Silo Tile.
• An Airstrip/Missile Silo adjacent to a Fort is pillaged: This will only claim the Airstrip/Missile Silo's Tile and not the Fort or any adjacent Tiles.
• When a Fort is built on a Resource: the Fort Ability to remove the Resource on its tile is removed. Allowing the extraction of the Resource underneath it (if it's a Luxury or Strategic Resource).

- Should be compatible with any Mod.

Hi All,
Bought a PS5 bundle with modern warfare 2, but already play it on PC.
Looking for $40, PayPal G&S.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
No flair here but have some over on hardwareswap and nearly 100 on knife_swap

As the title says: are these security upgrades for MC businesses really worth the price tag? I tend to not spend much time in MC because when I do, I get those business defense missions that we all love.
So my question, has anyone crunched the numbers on how effective the security upgrade is for these businesses? I usually only get 1 defense here and there, until I got THREE defenses in a row. That had me pissed, they don’t take very long, but they are just annoying. Especially when they hit and you’re across the map.
I don’t bother with weed, or forgery right now anyway because I don’t play in public lobbies to sell and I’m a solo player. I’m on PC so there are hackers in nearly 90% of the lobbies and that’s not an exaggeration at all. Even if players don’t want to grief initially, if they see MC vehicles sitting around for 20+ minutes while I sell, someone will ALWAYS try to grief, so selling the bigger businesses only in an invite-only lobby is much better.
The reason I ask this too, is because it looks like they are merging CEO and MC.

I'm 37/f and I've noticed hair loss over the past six months or so, having previously had really good hair and no issues. Whenever I went to the hairdresser, they would comment on how my hair was in such great condition and how there was so much of it. My individual hairs are very fine (and have always been so), but I've always had a lot of them, until recently.
I had a really stressful time at the end of last year, and at the beginning of this year, I noticed I was shedding more than usual and that my part was slightly wider. I also noticed my front hairline was receding a bit and that I had some thinning on the sides. I was basically gaslighted by my hairdresser, who told me most women would love hair like mine, and my GP told me I had some traction alopecia at the front and sides from pulling my hair back too tight (I was wearing a tight bun pretty much every day for three years). I finally saw a private dermatologist last week who diagnosed androgenic alopecia and told me I'd need to start on topical minoxidil.
Both my grandmothers had loads of hair until their 70s and 80s, and my mother has some hair loss but it didn't start until she was nearly 60. Is there any chance at all the dermatologist was wrong and that it could be telogen effluvium? She told me she thought it was androgenic alopecia based on that I was losing hair at the crown and that under the microscope, some hairs appeared to be smaller than others. Is this pretty definitive? She didn't do a scalp biopsy. Picture below - this is newly washed and air dried hair in natural light!
I am wondering if I should go ahead and start topical minox as recommended by the dermatologist or if it might be worth getting a second opinion? I obviously would like to start treating whatever it is ASAP but topical minox is a big commitment due to the daily application and the shedding, so I want to make sure I really absolutely need it.
https://imgur.com/a/fyDbEpa

Hi everyone.
To Kill a Predator is a work of fan fiction set in the Nature of Predators universe originally created by SpacePaladin15 whose Patreon you should subscribe to.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Depiction does not equal endorsement.
Hope you enjoy it!
[First] [Previous]
---
Memory transcription subject: Martin Russo, Human Refugee
Date [standardized human time]: December 14th, 2136
​
The initial search through the offers is not going well.
“What about John Hopkins University?”
“Pre-approved for their internal loan program.”
“University of California Berkeley?”
“Pre-approved for their internal loan program.”
“Dartmouth?”
“It’s pronounced Dartmouth, and they’ll help talk to the bank to take out a loan.”
“Are there any universities in your entire tribe that don’t want us to take out huge expensive loans?!”
“No.”
With a frustrated yell, Vilek throws herself on a chair. Thiva sighs and crosses more names off the list.
I was expecting this. The US and its wretched predatory profit-based educational system is a non-starter. I am not saddling the lambchops with about a million dollars of debt. Each.
At least I’m unlikely to have to pay my own student loans back, what with my debt holder being a smoking crater.
“Hey, this is promising!” Thiva’s ears perk up. “I told Johan we were looking into education on Earth and he said he’d see if he could talk to some people at Lund University. They sent us an offer, check it out!”
“Lund University. That’s in Sweden…” I’m reading the letter rapidly on Thiva’s pad and getting more excited the more I read. “They’ve got both therapist and engineering courses. And they’re willing to transfer your credits and give you both full-ride scholarships, as long as you’re willing to start the term early and ‘establish a baseline of knowledge’. And they’ll split your classes into morning and evening so you don’t have to run double-claw studies like we usually do… And they’ll even have the UN pay for housing and transportation to Earth? Jesus Christ, that’s… really damn good.”
Vilek perks up too, both of them watching me closely now with wagging tails. “So what’s the catch?”
I read it again. Slowly and carefully. And I find myself faced with a bastard of a choice. “Well for a start… this says nothing about me.”
​
Vilek and Thiva are running the math. It’s not looking good. “What if we sell your house? That should give us plenty of money, right?”
“Vansi still owns it, even if she’s never setting foot there again. How about a loan?”
“Nah, that was the first thing I checked. Banks aren’t issuing loans right now. Even taking out any money is hard. With the economy in freefall they don’t want to encourage a bank run.”
I chime in unhelpfully. “And I don’t think they want to give out a loan for a one-way ticket someplace they can’t make us pay it back.”
Thiva pouts with frustration. “That too. Ughh, this was such a good opportunity, too!”
“It is. So maybe you girls should go anyway.”
Thiva’s eye locks onto me right away. “No.”
“I’m just saying-”
“No, I’m not leaving you alone here! I can just finish school here, and…”
“…and leave Vilek alone on Earth instead? No, you two should stay together. I can house-sit Thiva’s place and try to find a job. Maybe get enough money for you girls to head back during summer and winter breaks.”
“I told you it’s not my place, it’s Vansi’s.”
“And she’s welcome to it as soon as she gets out of jail.”
Vilek flicks her tail-tip with uncertainty, ears moving thoughtfully. “…Are you sure this is our best bet?”
“I’m pretty sure it is. And we don’t have a lot of time to look for alternatives. Says here you guys will be working with a pair of tutors to make sure your knowledge base is up to spec, and that’d start in just a few days.”
They’re my friends, and they have an amazing opportunity here. I have to be strong. It’s what’s best for them. It’s just a year or two.
It’s not like I’ve barely survived the last month and a half on this wretched rock.
​
Date [standardized human time]: December 15th, 2136
​
Today’s physical therapy session is in my room. If I were hoping that’d lead to less pain, I would’ve been wrong. “C’mon, keep pulling your leg back! That’s the way!”
My arch-nemesis is currently leaning on my leg and levering it back toward my torso with her entire weight, and is encouraging me to pull back with both arms too. I’m pulling like a beast, teeth gritted so hard I think they might crack. “don’t… fucking… say it…”
My vision is blacked out from the sheer goddamn agony, while Chasa cheerfully encourages me. “Gold star, Martin! Do it for the gold star!”
But it’s the only way I’ll be able to restore a normal range of motion without lopping my limbs off and going for prosthetics. “mother… fucking… hate you…”
Which I can’t afford. And besides, upper prosthetics are nowhere near as advanced as people think. “That’s the way! Alright you can let go now, you did an amazing job!”
I collapse back immediately and straighten my leg. Opening my eyes I can see white stars dancing in my vision. Chasa pads up the bed and licks her paw before stroking it through my hair, giving me another cowlick. “Good boy, I’m so proud of you!”
I am defeated. “…thanks.”
“Hey, uh, is this a bad time?”
I blink at the familiar voice and turn my head. Mosun’s standing there with a confident expression, and Jarkim is right beside him. They both look good, far better than me at least. Jarkim’s got bandages on his leg and Mosun’s got a clavicle brace, but they’re both mobile.
Chasa gingerly climbs down from the bed and moves over to my file. “Nope! We were just done for the paw, except I was gonna give Martin his gold star~! He loves the gold stars!”
“…I am going to eat you.”
Jarkim squawks with alarm at my threat to my Zurulian nemesis. She is undeterred and cheerfully says “No you’re not.”
Jarkim speaks up. “Aren’t you… concerned, about him using that sort of language?”
Chasa stretches idly before placing the shiny sticker on my file. I’ve still got one for every session. “Nah, he doesn’t mean it. Threats and cursing are proven to help human pain responses, that’s all! He’s a big softy; I’ve got him eating out of my paw.”
I try to sound disagreeing but it comes out as a rather pathetic whine. “…I’m an apex predator…”
​
“So you were both discharged?”
Mosun flicks his ear affirmative. “I was in for a paw longer than Jarkim was, but we’re out and healing now. It’ll be another thirty-ish paws before my collarbone’s fully fixed up, but I can return to daily life.”
That’s an insanely short time to recover from a shattered collarbone, but I suppose the medi-teddies are the leading health care providers in the galaxy for a reason.
I nod. “Well, that’s good. The rest of the posse doing okay?”
Jarkim moves a wing in the positive. “Hanya got in contact with that human you mentioned, doctor Eriksson. She seems positive about it. Slavik’s back on their farm.”
I nod. “So what are you guys gonna do? I, uhh, I don’t know what you do for work, Mosun, but I think Jarkim’s out of a job.”
Mosun grins, before getting a thoughtful look and tapping his leg a few times on the floor. “I drive around stocking vending machines, so nothing that matters. But I’ve been teaching Hanya a little, like she asked. And I think… I think I’d rather like to start a Dance school. So I’ll be saving up a bit and getting it set up while I heal.”
It’s clear he doesn’t mean ballet, but I make sure to censor myself around Chasa just in case her cheerful disposition toward humans doesn’t carry on to ‘primitives’. “I think that’s a fantastic idea. I know there are a ton of humans who’d be lining up for a chance to learn your culture’s Dances. Yotul too, obviously. And Hanya’s shown there’s interest from other sapients too…”
Jarkim clacks his beak twice before speaking. “I’ll go work on Slavik’s farm for a while to pay them back, and to stay airborne. But after that… I want to help people. And I’ve still got contacts. So I was thinking of setting up a sort of troubleshooting agency. People could come to me with problems, and I’d try to help them out.”
I laugh, but quickly reconsider as my body protests the action. It’s the most stereotypical ex-cop thing he could do! “You’re gonna become a freaking private eye?!”
Jarkim looks me dead-on and deadpan. “…What’s a private eye?”
​
Date [standardized human time]: December 19th, 2136
​
My fingers run through Vilek and Thivas’ fur slowly. I have been discharged from the hospital, but I’m still going to be in for physical therapy every other paw for the foreseeable future. Right now, though, I am relaxed. “How long, now?”
Vilek answers. “Half a claw.”
That’s not a lot of time, but I am determined to not ruin it with a foul mood. “Mm… You girls all packed?”
“There’s not a lot to pack. We’re getting most everything once we’re there.”
“Mm.”
Thiva’s currently quietly crying onto my shirt. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too, lambchop. But I’ll feel better with you two together, and doctor Eriksson is in Lund, so you can have in-person sessions.”
“And you’re sure you can’t come with?”
I shake my head. “Unless you got any new ideas. Besides, moving between human nations is a pain in the ass. I can’t get in as a refugee. Sweden’s been strict about refugees since before the Satellite War: I set foot on Venlil Prime first and VP’s been willing to house me, so that means according to Sweden and most other nations that I have to stay here until I can go back to the US.” Fucking ‘first safe harbor’ laws. “And since I’m a citizen of the United States of America I can’t move to Sweden on my own anyway. At least not without having a job or family or something there.”
Thiva looks up at me and says softly “…We’re family, right?”
Oh, wow, okay. I bite my lip for a second to keep from crying. It mostly works. “Yeah, of-of course we are. But that’s not how they see it. Don’t worry, we’ll try to figure something out. We just need to be patient.”
She gives a soft and sad sigh. I scratch behind her ears and look over at Vilek.
​
Vilek gives a soft beep and leans her head against my other hand. “Do you know a lot about the place?”
I shake my head. “Almost nothing. Lund’s a city in Sweden, and Lund University is around five hundred years old. Before going to Venlil Prime I had never left the US, which is almost as far from Sweden as you can go before you start getting closer again. But it was practically untouched by the extermination fleet, and the people are famous for being friendly.”
Even that much I had to search online to learn. The stereotype that Americans can’t tell Swedes from Swiss might not be true but it’s apparently not as far off as I thought.
“You’ll be studying one claw, then a break claw, then another claw of study, then you have three claws off. These six-claw periods are a day. You’ll study five days, then have two days to yourselves.”
Vilek whistles a soft laugh. “So there’s a lot of time to recover.”
“Remember, humans tend to sleep for eight hour stretches. So most people sleep eight hours, study or work eight hours, and have the remaining eight for transportation and personal stuff.”
“Hopefully that’s not going to be a problem…”
“I managed to adjust to VP’s time, I’m sure you’ll manage Earth’s. Worst case scenario, there’s coffee. Every student lives on coffee. And there’s soda, and potato chips, and curry. There are so many tasty things that you girls will adore trying on Earth.”
Thiva wags her tail softly, looking up at me. “You make us sound like gluttons.”
“No, I’m saying I miss those things because Venlil food sucks.”
Both girls play-push me and bleat with protest, making me laugh.
Mary mother of God I am going to miss them.
“Speaking of that, it smells like the food’s done.”
“Huh? I don’t smell anything?” Thiva gives me her most deadpan expression of confusion, and I roll my eyes at her and gently pinch the tip of her ear to pay back her jest. That elicits an adorable little squeak, and I smile while I get up and grab my crutch. I won’t be able to walk unaided for a long time, perhaps ever. I’m okay with that. I kinda want to have a walking stick anyway. A classy wooden one, like Tom’s.
Maybe I can be the first human with a walking stick made from Venlil wood?
​
I put out the spread. Cooking has been an extra pain in the ass with my injuries, but I’ll be damned if that’s going to stop me.
I present the plated-up meal on the table by the couch with a small flourish. “Here we go, girls. This is the meal I was going to make for you before things got… hectic. Tomato focaccia and pasta alla norma. And to drink, wine. That’s a fermented drink from the juice of grape berries. This particular wine is a variety called Nerello Mascalese, from my family’s ancestral home of Sicily.”
Vilek wags her tail as she leans forward. “This focaccia looks sort of like Strayu, but with a bunch of stuff on top?”
“It’s a sort of bread, almost all human cultures have some variation on bread. I’ve topped it with cherry tomato fruits, rosemary herbs, and kosher salt.”
The lambchops look at it with excitement, and Thiva’s the first to tear off a bit and place it on her outstretched tongue. She rolls it into her mouth and starts chewing, and her ears perk up and her tail wags at once. Her eyes half-close and she looks like she’s melting. “Ohhhh Protector… it’s so sweet, and salty, and juicy, and-and-and-”
Vilek excitedly tears off a piece for herself and plops it into her mouth. I’m rewarded for my hard work with an adorable squeal of joy from her, and she takes a second piece and shovels it into her mouth too. Only after swallowing does she focus an eye on me. “If I didn’t already want to mate with you beforehand, this ‘focaccia’ would’ve sealed the deal!”
I find myself blushing rather hard, and simply take a small bit of the bread for myself wordlessly. Thiva and Vilek both whistle a laugh.
​
After having thoroughly sampled the bread Thiva pokes at the pasta dish with a claw. “So what’s this other stuff? It looks utterly wild!”
I smile at the two, letting my explanation cool my jets a bit. “Pasta is made by combining a ground wheat powder with water, and then shaping the resulting dough and boiling it. Here I’ve combined it with a sauce made with tomato fruit and herbs, as well as a spongy and nutritious plant called eggplant. You guys don’t seem to mind bitter plants, so I figured it might be a good idea. Finally, it’s got a vegan ricotta made with almond nuts, lemon juice, and garlic powder… and basil, a wonderfully fresh leafy herb. This is a classic meal from Sicily, modified the tiniest bit for my herbivorous lambchops.”
The two take a pair of spoons and scoop up some of the mixture, making sure to get a bit of everything. They look at each other and, on an unspoken signal, put the food in their mouths.
They squeal and gasp. Vilek even squirms happily in her seat, while Thiva just wags her tail rapidly and moves her ears in slow little circle motions as she chews. Vilek’s the first to speak up. “…this is absolutely crazy, there are so many flavors… all at once! But I can taste each one…”
I pour some of the wine into their glasses, wincing a bit at having to awkwardly brace the heavy bottle in both hands.
I know the Venlil can hold their alcohol well enough to make the Irish blush, so I’m not concerned about that part. Having tried Venlil drink once, I am mostly curious as to if the lambchops will be able to appreciate the complexity of something that doesn’t taste like everclear and paint thinners.
As they take small sips, I needn’t have worried. Thiva in particular bleeps with joy and perks her ears. “Oohh… that’s rich! There’s sweetness, and acidity, and a sort of dried herb taste underneath it all?”
Vilek adds her own opinion, but is slower with it. “There’s a sort of earthiness… and I can taste it a little differently just by holding my mouth near the glass… that’s wild. It goes really, really well with the food too…!”
I laugh quietly. “Heh… I’m glad you girls enjoy it. Just make sure to leave some room for dessert. There will be chocolate cake.”
Thiva tilts her head. “You humans have meals for after your meals?”
“Only for special occasions. Don’t worry, you’ll love it.”
​
“It looks like dirt.”
“Wet dirt.”
I wait patiently with a small smile. They load their spoons with some of the moist, spongy chocolate cake and the rich frosting that I’ve so lovingly slaved over. And into their mouths it goes. I wait for the reaction.
It does not disappoint.
“MMHH!!!” “MMFF-MFFH!!”
They immediately start devouring their dessert, while I grin. “Well girls, If you don’t want the ‘dirt’ I’ll be glad to take it off your paws.”
They quickly protest. “Don’t you dare!” “Yeah, we’re keeping the whole thing! This stuff is better than mating!” “How would you know? You’ve never even done it!” “Yeah okay, but am I wrong?” “…I didn’t say that!”
Laughter and whistling fills the room. As far as last meals together goes, this one is going about as well as I could’ve hoped.
​
We’re standing outside. We’re beside the politely impatient cab driver that’ll take the girls the first leg of their journey to the space port and on to Earth. Thiva’s crying again and clinging to me. It hurts, but I grin and bear it.
Vilek smiles, the human expression looking a bit foreign on her face. “…You promise you’ll be okay? I… I need to hear you say it.”
Thiva flicks her ear and tail. “Yeah. W-We can still change our minds, if… If you need us.”
I have no goddamn idea what I am going to do after you girls step into that cab.
I smile at my beloved lambchops, give them a warm hug, a pair of quick kisses on their cheeks.
And I lie to their faces.
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine without you.”
---
This is the penultimate chapter of this story. Thank you for reading so far!
[First] [Previous]

Hello. I don’t know if this is the right place to ask for advice. But I see others have their own issues so I hope this post will be ok.
I’m wanting to date again but there’s things holding me back. Firstly, my past. The last two women I was with just completely ruined my life. One cheated and the other made me homeless just to be with someone else she liked. I was so low I ended up on anti depressants and I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD and social anxiety disorder which my GP thinks is linked to it all.
I hate it because it makes me feel like I’m not normal and less of a man if that makes sense? The worst thing was I put everything into both of those relationships, which to me is the right thing to do, there’s no point being in a relationship if your not 100% committed. After it all I just got walked over and even today I can’t think of what I did wrong? I was considerate, always there when needed, supportive, all the things a man should be and what a woman deserves. It put me in the wrong frame of mind in many ways which I won’t bore you with, but one was thinking every woman is the same (I know they are not) and “love” simply didn’t exist anymore. Honestly I still have the same thoughts about love as I haven’t been proven wrong.
The other thing holding me back is my social anxiety. I never use to but now I find it difficult to be around people I don’t know. Just talking to someone I’m finding it difficult to even find something to talk about and I find it seriously frustrating. Others think I’m being rude or not talkative but that’s completely not true. And I can’t explain because no women would want to listen and I doubt some would even try to understand.
I don’t know what to do. I have a councillor and I even find it difficult to talk to her. I’m 40 years old and been single for nearly two years, I feel like my life is wasting away and all I want to do is simply settle down with someone and be happy. It’s not much to ask but it’s damn near impossible to get. My councillor claims some people don’t ever get over their anxiety, if I’m now stuck like this I doubt I’ll ever find anyone, and the thought of going through life alone, honestly it’s not nice.
Honestly, would you say I should just give up hope? Because from where I sit I can’t see a way forward with it. It’s always the nice ones in life that get shat on simply for being a good person. I’m pretty broken I just don’t know the best way to go about starting to date again. I don’t want a repeat of the past.
Thanks for reading my miserable story and I hope it was ok to ask.

Hi,
I live in a flat and our bedroom window leads to a big balcony (14 metres square) with some large planters to the side (irremovable, part of the balcony). I don't have pets, but some in my building have.
I've lived there for 10 years, but 3 years ago, every summer, something has been biting us every summer around this period, to stop when the temperatures become chilly again.
The bites can be located everywhere, but mostly for me, happens near my armpits, on my forearms or arms, and anywhere on my legs and even bum (I sleep fully dressed). The bites are very itchy for me and my son (we all co sleep), but my husband doesn't get spots.
My son gets bitten around his hands and arms.
I thought it was bed bugs at first, but I looked and looked and found nothing.
I always get bitten first, at first every few days, then the number of bites increase and we get them every night.
When I put diatomaceous earth around the bed and steam clean, it seems to get better, but without disappearing completely.
I'm wondering if it's a pest brought by birds, because one of our neighbours (who has some psychological issues) began feeding birds around 3 years ago. We got dozens of sea birds and pigeons flocking our buildings, perching on our the building rooms etc. The guy wouldn't stop and every morning we heard pigeons tapping against our windows at sunrise etc.
This year, the poor lad was brought to a psychic yard, so we don't have the usual flock of birds.
But I got two bites this week, so I know I'm due to another tough summer (T.T)
Hiring pest control guys is complicated due to financial issues.
What could it be please, and where should I check? Should I check my balcony? Or ask our caretaker to check the building roof?
Thanks!

Hello Portland!! As the title says I'm coming up on my 40th trip around our star and I'm looking for the best Portland can offer. I'll be driving from Eugene in late August and will dining at Fogo de Chao (high end restaurant recommendations welcome as well) but I need a place to stay for a few nights. Which high end hotels or rentals do you suggest? Help an old guy turn 40 right!

Argh . . . even with blackout blinds and an eye mask all it takes at this time of year is to have something disturb my sleep anywhere near sunrise, and I'm lucky to get another half hour or so of fitful "sleep".
Not the case this morning - I couldn't even manage a light doze over the next 45 minutes, before I just gave up and got out of bed - and I didn't even get six hours' sleep in total. This is not good for me.
I love Summer. I love the long days and the light in the evenings. I do not love the lost sleep in June and early July. In the past it has caused me serious mood issues on occasion - and I've got enough stressors on my plate right now to not need heightened depression and/or anxiety added to the mix.
Anyone else here have this problem? What do you do to mitigate it?