Daring today arent we

I [31F/FL] am so excited to be starting this new journey, I hired a baby sitter for my kiddos and I will be leaving in the next hour and 15 minutes to the airport!!! So ecstatic about meeting his family, but most importantly excited to hold my baby [31M/WA]!!!
I am flying there today, then Tuesday we will be road tripping back to Florida together to close the gap!
If anyone has any advice for jetlag, please let me know! AHHHH! I AM SO EXCITED! :D :D :D
#ClosingTheGap

hello everyone! i hope u recognize me from the first post i made ab adopting new and helping the younger ib students
quite a lot people reached out and i am so so so happy to help all of u with the help of alumni that also reached out!!
unfortunately, something came up regarding my mom who’s in the hospital so i rly had to be there for her, i hope u understand <3
with that being said, things should clear out as early as today and we will get to the making of the server asap!!
thank u for ur patience and i cant wait to work with yall! <3

So today I found out that my LO is seeing someone (they told me themselves but not in order to reject me - we've been staying "friends" ever since they told me after a few dates that they were not in a place to get into a relationship..). And from what they said, it basically sounded like my LO is again being emotionally available with that other person and the person is struggling but LO doesn't really know what to do.
I know that my reaction should be like "thank god I avoided that landmine!" It is so freaking clear that it would have been nothing but suffering even if we kept on dating. But instead, I was:
1) resentful that they moved on and found someone else (who is apparently more worthwhile than me, according to my brain) while I was obsessing over them 2) hopeful that I might still stand a chance since they said they're not dating exclusively and they don't really know what they want
I can't believe myself. And it wasn't even like I was head over heels with butterflies when I met them this time. I'm not even entirely sure if the attraction is still there. But I STILL somehow manage to fantasize. It's more that I can't accept the fact that they are not interested in dating me than that I am actually interested in dating them. I mean, of course I am, but now it has become more of this unattainable dream achievement than something that would actually bring me happiness. I might even lose interest if they actually fall for me. But because the confirmation never came when it seemed so close, it just became an eternal obsession that I can't seem to let go.
I haven't had such strong limerence since my teenage years. It's so frustrating how my head and my heart behave in two totally different ways. I really want to find someone else who will give me the affection I deserve, but I feel like no one will be as good as LO (even though I KNOW that it's my false idealization!!). This is immensely frustrating.

It makes me think about nazis. Nazis are in History books but at the same time, any idea that even comes close to nazi ideology is removed from modern society.
I believe nazis still exist and, in a sense, aren't we doing them a favor by completely erasing them from modern society? - Especially historically nazist individuals or organizations that are still operating to this day.
We need to know what they are doing.
I hope it makes sense, let me know your thoughts on this.
Thank you

I am 30 she is 25. I met this girl through my parents for arranged marriage. We initially wanted to date first instead of getting married right away to see how compatible we are, and we were on the same page on that front. We liked each others company so much that we met around six times within a span of a week.
On the third date I said the three magical words. I feel she is very passionate about her work and has her own opinions rather than piggybacking on mine. She felt perfect, she said she feels the same way too. It was all great.
The issue starts here.
I had to travel to another state due to a family issue. We planned to meet again after I come back but sadly I had to extend my stay in another state due to a serious surgery that my pet in another state went through.
This is when things are starting to feel weird to me. She jokes that we were supposed to meet. I liked it as a joke at first but she keeps bringing up the same thing again and again "as a joke" even after knowing that its a serious situation due to which i had to extend my stay. The problem from her end is that she is leaving to another state herself when I will be back. So we only get like one day overlap to meet. So we plan to meet that day.
We text everyday, when we aren't - I miss her, she feels the same way too. But we were clear that we need some space every now and then. It has been a few days there were 2-3 interactions with her where I felt like she is a bit-too possessive (it could be me overthinking it, so here I am seeking external thoughts).
She says she is afraid of losing me and when I dont text her back or take a long gap between texts she misses me and feels bad about me not replying her soon. She even feels sorry about her feeling that way, and I understand that. Upon asking why she feels this way, she says things are not confirmed yet in terms of marraige as our families haven't talked yet - she is afarid of our families rejecting our choices.
We talked about doing an engagement (without letting our families know) where either one of us gives the other a surprise proposal. She keeps bringing this up as a sign of "confirmation" form my end. Says until then she keeps thinking about the unknown, worries herself by overthinking and therefore feels bad when I am not replying to her soon. I was out late night one day, she went into a bad mood because I didn't say good night to her before she slept. She has this habit of not being able to sleep due to over-excitement or stress. So she wasnt able to sleep. I woke up and talked about why she felt that way, she says its because I didnt wish her good night and was posting stories about me having dinner outside late night. Which made her feel bad. She admitted that it might be an over-reaction from her end and also apolagized. Now I am not sure if I want to go ahead with that engagement (atleast for now). So we can wait and let our relationship grow.
All this is making me think that she might be a bit too possesive. I dont want to make any rash decision as I don't trust the very first apparent thought that comes to me lol. So? Am I overthinking this? Could i do better to help her feel good about our relationship somehow? Should I wait on the proposal?
Note that we are not getting married right away either way. I will wait for her to finish her academics.
Thanks in advance for help!

System: Stars Without Number Format: Discord based PBP, RP channels,
Name: Atlas Rising Time Zone: 4 GMs, various timezones Description: The 12th Fleet arrived in this sector about 2 years ago following a desperate exodus from their homeworld Atlas. They have explored, fought, and traded their way to a new world to colonize: the ocean planet Calypso. From this new world, the players are searching for new adventures, building armies, rediscovering lost technology and exploring nearby star systems. Will the Fleet have what it takes to develop and defend their new home from their enemies? Join us today and find out if Atlas Rising is the right home for you! Other: We are a community that is open and accepting of others. We do not tolerate anyone mistreating each other, or trying to force them into uncomfortable situations. NSFW content is not allowed. Link: https://discord.gg/W3qJtGDshZ

I, 29, and my wife, 28, were both virgins before marriage . We have been trying to have sex for 6 months. Initially we thought it was because her vagina was contracting so we thought giving it time would help us. We kept giving oral to each other meanwhile.
We'd try once a week with lubes and after foreplay but it didn't work. She happened to go a gynaecologist for an unrelated ailment and discussed this. The doctor told her she was fine and inserted some cylindrical thing to show.
My wife also tried with cucumber and it too was going in. So we tried again after the visit to the doctor but I still wasn't able to penetrate.
Couple of times because of all this debacle I lost my erection or wasn't as firm. Today, I thought I will try with Viagra and see if that helps. Still couldn't go in. And again, this is after lubes and foreplay.
I didn't imagine it'd be this hard honestly. Looking for some advice. Thanks!

We had to go somewhere today. So yesterday, when we were taIking about it I proposed a faster way than she always uses. This must've damaged her authority lol. She started insulting me, called me stupid and bunch of other stuff and called my way shitty. I tried explaining(big mistake expecting her to understand) how she's always trying to degrade or humiliate me. She can't take any word about how she did something wrong so she started increasing her voice and just didn't let me talk. So I did the same with anger. And i also called her stupid too. She got mad, my brother tried separating us but she's more powerful than anyone home. Like she's double the weight of me and also my brother. She hit me a couple of times than proceeded to choke me. My brother shoved him this time and i said i would call the police. Brother defended her to calm her down, she left the room saying stuff about god(I don't know how to translate it directly but it's like I can't do anything about this situation let god take care of you - Allah'a havale ediyorum). Anyways she left the room. And i cried for the first time in 3 years or so. I didn't hold myself this time
She also told my younger brother that she will never forgive me. Oh yeah? So you're the victim huh?

Yep, you read that right. Here's the story: You know that famous Hollywood couple that rents the "cottage " on the other side of the pond, they wear sunglasses and hoddies in town so no one recognizes them, when actually we all do and just don't care, cause that's how this town rolls? Anyway, I'm over taking measurements of an antique crib that's been passed down through the family that they want replicated for a dollhouse for their son, who is like a year old. Sweet really. Anyway, they have this pet pigeon, who some how got out, they showed me pictures, of the bird by itself and a group familyshot. They are very distraught over this and asked to spread the word through town. Now I'm trying to keep a concerned look on my face, but I'm sure you are thinking what I asked...How do you know it's your pigeon? Don't they all sort of look alike? And they said... ready for this? You can tell when you look in his eyes. There you have it folks, I've done my duty. And don't worry about the forum, since they aren't full time residents, they can only see the title. Anyway, have a good Sunday!

I am 30 she is 25. I met this girl through my parents for arranged marriage. We initially wanted to date first instead of getting married right away to see how compatible we are, and we were on the same page on that front. We liked each others company so much that we met around six times within a span of a week.
On the third date I said the three magical words. I feel she is very passionate about her work and has her own opinions rather than piggybacking on mine. She felt perfect, she said she feels the same way too. It was all great.
The issue starts here.
I had to travel to another state due to a family issue. We planned to meet again after I come back but sadly I had to extend my stay in another state due to a serious surgery that my pet in another state went through.
This is when things are starting to feel weird to me. She jokes that we were supposed to meet. I liked it as a joke at first but she keeps bringing up the same thing again and again "as a joke" even after knowing that its a serious situation due to which i had to extend my stay. The problem from her end is that she is leaving to another state herself when I will be back. So we only get like one day overlap to meet. So we plan to meet that day.
We text everyday, when we aren't - I miss her, she feels the same way too. But we were clear that we need some space every now and then. It has been a few days there were 2-3 interactions with her where I felt like she is a bit-too possessive (it could be me overthinking it, so here I am seeking external thoughts).
She says she is afraid of losing me and when I dont text her back or take a long gap between texts she misses me and feels bad about me not replying her soon. She even feels sorry about her feeling that way, and I understand that. Upon asking why she feels this way, she says things are not confirmed yet in terms of marraige as our families haven't talked yet - she is afarid of our families rejecting our choices.
We talked about doing an engagement (without letting our families know) where either one of us gives the other a surprise proposal. She keeps bringing this up as a sign of "confirmation" form my end. Says until then she keeps thinking about the unknown, worries herself by overthinking and therefore feels bad when I am not replying to her soon. I was out late night one day, she went into a bad mood because I didn't say good night to her before she slept. She has this habit of not being able to sleep due to over-excitement or stress. So she wasnt able to sleep. I woke up and talked about why she felt that way, she says its because I didnt wish her good night and was posting stories about me having dinner outside late night. Which made her feel bad. She admitted that it might be an over-reaction from her end and also apolagized. Now I am not sure if I want to go ahead with that engagement (atleast for now). So we can wait and let our relationship grow.
All this is making me think that she might be a bit too possesive. I dont want to make any rash decision as I don't trust the very first apparent thought that comes to me lol. So? Am I overthinking this? Could i do better to help her feel good about our relationship somehow? Should I wait on the proposal?
Note that we are not getting married right away either way. I will wait for her to finish her academics.
Thanks in advance for help!

Hi Folks,
This is getting serious at my sister's place. Need your help.
Last night the in-laws came at our place to 'sort' things out but instead left my sister here at home and intimidated us not to take here back in case she doesn't cooperate. They tried to fake a brawl by removing their own turbans and beating themselves and started shouting loudly to create a scene.
So here's the background:
The husband is not at all supportive to wife in major decisions. Since 3 years of marriage, he has been giving taunts to my sister that she has done the whole marriage in 3 Lakhs (3 Lakh mein shaadi krdi, jaa leja apne 3 Lakh aur nikalja yahaan se). Even while FIL being a gazetted officer and MIL being a school teacher (MIL), they expect my sister to do household chores - all while she is working from home with stressful jobs and earns enough to hire a full-time household with her medical conditions. Both my sister and husband are working from home IT professionals.
Some time back because of a quarrel, my sister came back at our place. She stayed for 1 Week, after which my father took an initiative to call her husband to sort things out. Husband came to our house and created a scene by saying that she doesn't contribute to home expenses. So the issue was my sister denied giving some money to her husband because he wanted to buy a new car. She realized over time that relationship the husband has kept with her has been materialistic and transactional. He counts every small expense and asks my sister to contribute. Recently he started demanding Rs. 50 for a pack of biscuits, because she has started liking those that her husband ordered for himself! He threatened to leave my sister at our place. Next time, something similar happened and my sister came home. She stayed here for 1.5 months and the ass did not do an effort to call her and get things fine. My father had to call his father and meet him and then take my sister to their house. They disrespected my father, shouted at him told 'what's is even your standard?" (Tumhari aukaat kya hai). My father had enough, told my sister to stay their, be strong and fight them.
An important Note: My sister has had 3 operations in last 1 year -

1. Abortion because of Fistula Surgery
2. Fistula Surgery
3. Miscarriage Abortion (no heartbeat of the foetus)

Since then, the in-laws have been planning something. Husband started saying that my parents health is getting deplorable, they do not want to take stress of family issues and want me (him) out of this house. He started asking her to pack bags and move to a new house on rent. But she doesn't trust him and fears that he will leave her there and will go back to live with his parents leaving my sister completely on her own.
Their Concerns:

1. My sister should respect her in-laws (she does already, touches feet till today)
2. She should not believe in any other god. (My sister has faith in Guruji Bade Mandir wale)
3. Give contribution to monthly expenses (does that already orders household stuff)
4. Not have a maid (while the poor girl has had 2 miscarriages in last 1 year, makes food for herself and husband 3 times and also looks at household chores)
5. Not 'lend' her ornaments to her mother which she did for one day (because my mother did not have anything to wear at a family visit) and my mother returned them back the very next day.

So, Last night, they came to our place to sort things out and did this brawl faking that we had beaten them. Left my sister here and refused to take her along. I threatened that "she will go with you, if not I will take her along". And that's where things went ugly where they removed their own turbans, started shouting very loudly.
What we did:

1. As soon as they left the place, we went to the Police Station (nearby in-laws) raised a complaint (not an FIR, police did not write it) of Dowry and Harassment.
2. Took policemen along, got her laptops, essentials removed from their house
3. She's staying with us now.

What we want:

1. Get rid of this man forever and his cheap mentality
2. Don't want to drag it for long but teach them a lesson for sure (My sister had a miscarriage because of this ass***)
3. Move on as their is a b'ful life ahead for my sister.

Please suggest!

Hello!
We have exchanged last week and are completing Wednesday, my father in law (the one who's moving) has changed his banking address today over bank holiday weekend to the new address but is no worries it will make us not complete on Wednesday.
He's worried if he changes it back, it will block his account and if he doesn't change it the paperwork won't match. Please can someone advice as banks are closed and can't find anything online

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Hi everyone. I just ordered my first Pit Boss from Lowe’s yesterday. It should be ready for pick up today, so the excitement’s building. The gf and I have been eyeballing them for weeks now and we finally pulled the trigger on a Pro Series 850 that went on sale. I’ve been a die hard Weber fan for years and have one of their gas grills and a pair of Smokey Mountains (14.5 & 18). My inner hoarder is trying to justify keeping at least one of those 3 and I was thinking of using the 14.5 strictly for fish. (Or whatever other excuse I can dream up). Is the Pit Boss going to be able to do it all well enough that I can ditch everything else?
Thanks!

I (16M) have kinda lost my appetite lately and I don’t know why. My mum is realising too. The other night she made me a chicken burger for dinner, but I took one nibble and decided I was done. I couldn’t eat any more. Last night and Friday night, I just ended up not having dinner.
On Friday I was debating about whether to have cereal for dinner or not but then decided I wasn’t hungry. I did eat pudding/dessert that night though which was only a bowl of Eton mess.
Yesterday, I didn’t have breakfast, and when my dad asked me to pick something from a shop to have as just a small snack for breakfast, I just really didn’t want anything. I ended up choosing something just so he would stop asking me to choose. I chose a 20 pack of Jaffa Cakes and by the end of the day I had only eaten 10 of them. The drink I chose had aloe vera pieces in it, but I don’t think that counts as food. Apart from that all I had to eat was a Greggs pizza for lunch and a packet of crisps and a cookie instead of dinner. I didn’t eat anything else.
Usually I can binge eat a lot but lately I just haven’t felt hungry. The pizza I ate yesterday wasn’t even because I was hungry, it was just because I wanted to taste it. I don’t understand what has happened or why my eating habits have changed. Sometimes I have felt too upset to want to eat anything but I don’t feel upset, there is nothing that has upset me lately. So far today I have eaten the second half of the Jaffa Cakes from yesterday and a few peanut m&ms but I’m just not hungry. I keep just eating things for the taste atp.
I’m mainly having drinks as food, but if we go somewhere and they don’t have the drink I want, I will end up just going without. I don’t know what to do, please help. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

So my sm keeps changing the schedule in legion I'm talking to the point we basically have to check it 3 times a day to see if our shift is changed or not. And she changes our time sheets to either she changes when we go on break ( i.e I go on my 30 min at 12:12 and come back at 12:42 she changes it to 1:00 -1:30. And she changes when we clock outed to whatever time she has set on the schedule so if we work 5 -15 mins over... nope not on there.. last night I was there till 10:30 I found stuff to try to keep busy while the sm and ask was doing office. The last 5 mins I just leaned against the register waiting for them 10.30 I finally get told I can clock out and go home even tho I still had to throw the trash in the dumpster. This morning I check legion to see if my shift for today will be the same just to see I'm shorted those last 15 mins.

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The east wind was frigid during this time of the year. Walking through the streets of Winterport slums was a young man with long silver hair and violet eyes on his handsome yet haggard face. He was about 6 feet tall with a lean and muscular body. He didn't have a lot of fat and looked a bit skinny in his jacket. As always, the man had a listless expression on his face masking any emotions.
“Morning Cal, up to the mines again?” said the portly old street food vendor while setting up his cart.
“Hmm,” replied Cal.
“Always so diligent if everyone else was like you then we wouldn’t need that many enforcers. Be careful out there, I heard the shades are more violent and restless this time of the year. See you tonight,” said the old man.
“Not tonight. I have to monitor the deep mines.”
The old man gave him a worried look. He knew how dangerous it was in the deep mines during the winter. “Your terms have all been fulfilled, Callahan…. You are no longer a slave, remember?”
“Yes.”
“Then why continue this treacherous occupation? I know the money’s well but there are other jobs which won’t kill you just because you stepped on the wrong stone,” he said in frustration.
“I wonder,” Cal said quietly to himself and hurried on his way.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had done something that made him genuinely happy. All his life he had followed orders. First his mother, then his masters, and now his so-called captain who never bats an eye while sending him to the most dangerous sections of the mine. Not like he can blame the captain as he never objects to any of the orders. To him, he must be the model enforcer. Always on time and never asking any questions.
He could never understand himself or his own actions. Maybe living on the edge of life and death is what’s keeping him alive and distracted from all the pain and grief hidden in the deep recesses of his mind. Or maybe he just likes to fight.
Either way, there was something in the mines that kept calling to him. Something that could move his long cold heart. Maybe it could give him a solution to all the nightmares. Or maybe it would be his end. Well, that was also a solution.
…
He arrived at the mine where he could see his captain handing out orders to the new recruits. All of them had hopeful looks on their faces like they were ready for a new page in their lives. All former mining slaves freed from their previous positions after they awakened their mana. The big smiles on their faces were obvious. They knew that this was their ticket to total freedom and exoneration from their previous crimes. Once they complete the basic service term of guarding the miners against the atrocities that surface from the deep mines for 2 years, their citizenship to the empire would be restored.
‘Naïve idiots,’ thought captain Reginald. ‘If it was so easy then we wouldn’t make former slaves into enforcers when there were so many awakened in the city guards. Only one in ten ever survive past the 1-year mark and out of those survivors, half get corrupted and must be put down before they kill everyone else.’
“Reporting for duty captain,” Cal said in an apathetic voice.
“If it isn’t my best enforcer on call. Why I was just waiting for you to get here. You don’t know how relieved I am to see your face,” replied Reginald with a tone that failed to betray any sort of relief. “I was just teaching these new recruits about the shades and their duties but now that you are here, I was wondering if you had room for a few more enforcers on your patrols?”
“Sir, I am going to the deep mines today they would only get in my way.”
“Come now don’t be rude to your juniors how will they learn anything if they don’t experience the real deal,” Reginald replied with an icy tone daring Cal to object.
Cal looked at the captain’s eyes for a moment and guessed that he must have made a bet with his friends on how many new recruits would survive past the first week again. “As you command sir.”
“Good. Good. Now don’t be that disappointed I am assigning you the three best recruits of this month. I’m sure they can hold their own in a fight.”
Four years of serving under the captain had made him aware that the only way to hide from his attention is to never get under his nose. He had made that mistake once and the captain has still not let go of that resentment to this day. Always finding a way to make his life harder. Not that it mattered to Cal if someone hated him, but it still annoyed him when he had to put up with his whims.
Cal looked at the three new recruits and wondered if the captain was lying to him. One look at them and he could say with certainty that they would not live past the three-day mark in the deep mines. Not like he cared anyways.
“Follow me,” he said before walking past them and going towards the mine shafts. Several of the miners looked at him with awe in their eyes as he made his way to the deep mines. The three recruits following him like lost puppies.
One of the recruits with brown hair and black eyes suddenly spoke up.
“What should we call you sir?”
“Cal,” he replied.
“No, I meant your rank, sir. The captain just said that someone will be here to teach us how to deal with the shades, we don’t know how to refer to you without offending you, sir. Oh, I am Bryan by the way.”
“Nothing you say could ever offend me. And enforcers don’t have ranks. At least not officially,” replied Cal. “The longer you can survive here the more respected you are. Seniority is also determined that way. You are first-years and at your most vulnerable time right now so try not to die.”
“Heh, stop exaggerating I have fought shades with my bare hands before, they aren’t anything special. Now that I have a flamestone sword nothing can beat me here,” said the blue-eyed and black-haired recruit with a grin. “You can call me Phil and that’s Safid,” he pointed at the last recruit with burly build and average looks. “Which gang are you from Cal?”
“I don’t like gangs,” replied Cal.
“You must be some weakling who no one wanted,” Phil said in a mocking tone. “How about you join my gang? I am going to make a new gang here once I get the hang of things with Safid. We are going to turn this place upside down and become the best gang. Ain’t that right Safid?”
“Yes boss,” said Safid with an enthusiastic voice.
Cal looked at Phil like he was watching a clown. Forget a gang these fools won’t last two minutes in front of the senior enforcers before being slaughtered like lambs. He shook his head and didn’t bother talking with the soon-to-be deceased.
Phil didn’t like how he was ignored. “Your loss, don’t come crying to me when I am done taking over this place.”
“What year are you sir?” Bryan asked after a while.
“Fourth,” Cal replied coolly.
Before he could ask anything else, Cal motioned for them to stop. They had arrived at the deep mines. Before them, everything was pitch black with only hints of light coming from the occasional flamestone lamps that were on the mine walls.
“It's so dark here,” said Bryan. “Why don’t they add more lamps? I am sure our jobs would be easier if we had more visibility.”
“They don’t last,” said Cal. “The shades consume all light. Only warded Flamestone lamps can be used here. And even those don’t last long in the deep mines before being consumed.”
“Consumed?”
“The fames inside the stones are consumed by whatever supernatural phenomenon shrouds the deep mines, that’s why we enforcers always have to regularly change the flamestone lamps. Whatever consumes the flame stops it from recharging,” Cal stopped explaining and said, “No more questions now. There could be shades anywhere, have your weapons ready.”
The three complied with his words and pulled out their swords from their sheaths. Cal started surveying his surroundings before making his way deeper. They didn’t have to walk for long before coming across the first shade.
It looked almost indistinguishable from its surroundings. They only recognized it because of its white eyes and darker-than-black fur. It had a humanoid figure with a tail that ended with a sword-like structure and a height of 1.5 meters. Cal stepped forward and slashed his sword a few feet away from the monster before it could react. A long slash-shaped white light jumped out of his sword and went towards the shade. The moment it touched the shade it exploded into a bright white light which illuminated their surroundings and blinded the recruits for a few seconds. When they could see again the shade was gone. In its place was a small glowing stone. Cal picked up the stone and showed it to the recruits.
“Flamestone?” asked Bryan.
“Yes,” replied Cal. “That’s why the shades try their best to go to the upper mines. The flamestone lamps here are warded so they can’t consume the flames themselves and there are no active flamestones in the deep mines, but the upper mines don’t suffer from the same environmental phenomenon as here so the flamestones mined from there are all in their activated state. If they can somehow break past the enforcers in the deep mines, then they can go up and consume as much flamestone as they can before they evolve into shadows.”
While Cal didn’t care if these recruits survived, he never half-assed his job so he would train them to the best of his abilities. Whether they were capable enough to follow his instructions was up to them.
“What’s a shadow?” asked Phil.
“Something you don’t want to meet,” replied Cal. “The dropped flamestones are how we make our living. We can exchange them for our salary from the mine administrator.”
“Was that light mana that you used with your sword?” Bryan asked.
“Yes,” he said.
“So that’s your aspect. Must be handy in this area,” noted Bryan.
“It has its perks,” replied Cal. “But that’s enough babysitting. You are gonna fight the next one.”
“But we can’t release our mana yet,” Bryan said.
“I’m sure you learned how to use that sword in your training camp,” Cal said.
“Yeah, stop being a wimp it's only a shade, boss could handle that with his bare hands,” said Safid who had been quiet for a while now.
“Even if we can’t release mana our internal circulation is enough to considerably increase our strength from ordinary humans,” Phil said with some disdain in his voice.
As they were arguing with each other Cal heard some noise in front of them. “Quiet,” he said. “Get ready it's coming.”
All three took up proper stance and looked ahead. ‘At least they aren’t completely amateurs’ Cal thought as another adolescent shade approach them.
Phil was the first to lunge forward and slash with his sword, but the shade jumped back before he reached it. It growled before swiping its claws towards Phil. Phil reacted quickly and blocked with his sword, but the claws were just a distraction as its tail swung from behind and hit his side. Phil screamed as blood dripped down from his abdomen. It was cut by the sharp tail sword.
‘Tch, not even a few seconds.’ Cal was about to step forward when Bryan stepped in and stabbed his sword directly into the head of the shade while it was distracted with finishing off Phil.
“You alright?” Bryan asked Phil.
“Just a small scratch I will be fine. I would have got him if you didn’t step forward,” replied Phil.
“You were never hit by a shade, were you?” Cal asked.
“No,” Phil replied.
“Well then pray to whatever deity you believe in that you don’t get infected.”
“Aren’t we immune to that after we awaken?” asked Bryan.
“Not weaklings like you no,” Cal replied. “Only once you have fully assimilated your mana onto your blood vessels are you immune to that. You only have internal mana circulating in your veins. You have to slowly assimilate mana in your blood vessels so that you can fight off invaders entering your blood.”
“I won’t die just because of some fucking scratch,” Phil said though with some uncertainty.
“Patch yourself and get ready to move we still haven’t reached our patrol area,” Cal ordered.
They began moving again once Phil took care of his wound. After an hour of walking and three more encounters with shades which Cal took care of due to Phil’s delay, they finally reached their patrol area.
It was a fork in the road. One of the caves lead to a large cavern while the other went deeper into the mines.
“We will set up camp here. That cavern to our left has already been fully mined so there aren’t any flamestones over there. Hence more young shades are born over there. The lower the amount of flamestone, the easier it is for the deep mines to affect the surrounding environment. But the shades aren’t as strong since young shades don’t have any flamestones in them,” Cal explained while placing the flamestones picked from the previous shades around them to provide a better view.
“So, the ones we fought earlier were very strong. That must be why I had a hard time dealing with the first one,” Phil said regaining his previous confidence.
“Just one step above the weakest. The more flamestone they drop the stronger they are,” replied Cal. “We will be guarding this fork for 18 hours before the next shift takes over. Don’t let your guard down just because you will be facing weaker enemies. Shades are very smart and will group up when they are young. We can’t let them go deeper into the mines or towards the surface.”
Bryan raised his hand. Which was weird as he didn’t do that before.
“Yes,” Cal said letting him know that he could ask what he wanted.
“Why can’t we let them go down?”
“Because they will be a nuisance and distraction to the other enforcers up ahead,” Cal replied.
“There are others down there?” asked Phil.
“Where there are flamestones there are miners. Even if they are in their inactive state here. You are lucky I was told to patrol this section of the deep mine today. Young shades can’t infect the awakened. If we went deeper, you would not survive for long,” Cal said.
What followed next for the recruits was an excruciating hurdle of disposing waves of shades for hours upon hours until their bodies started to give in. Cal watched from the sides while taking care of most of the shades. Even still the recruits were having a hard time staying alive. Most of their bodies were covered in scratches. If they were ordinary humans they would have already been infected, maybe even corrupted. Cal was slightly impressed and realized he had underestimated them.
‘Huh. They could at least survive five days rather than three,’ he thought. However, he shouldn’t have tempted fate as it turned out.

To give a little bit of context: I dated this girl for about 1 year, then I broke up with her because things were no longer working between us after she found out that I had been seeing others in the first time we were seeing each other. I was a jerk, I betrayed her trust, and that made the relationship unmanageable because she simply couldn't trust me anymore. Some time passed, I no longer thought about her, meanwhile I was seeing someone else. With the other person it ends and I meet her again by pure chance and talking with her I find out that she fucked a friend of mine (he kept it from me of course) because she wanted to get back at me/annoy me, she did it once and then didn't give in anymore because she regretted it and felt it was sleazy. I don't know if this involved some "stolen ball syndrome" or what, the fact is that after that we got back together and continued dating for about 2 to 3 years. In November 2022 I broke up with her again, struggling immensely and suffering like a dog, because ours had become a relationship with toxic loops that we couldn't get out of. In the following months we saw each other a few more times to make "peace," since she said she hated me etc etc. I continued to feel bad for months, I missed her, but I didn't want to be weak and fall back into her arms. In the meantime I started seeing another person, who was great and treated me very well, but our relationship did not take off precisely because I was still thinking about her.
Around march my best friend (who has been having trouble approaching girls for years, but I won't dwell on that) asked me if he could hit on my ex, since she had sometimes expressed appreciations about him. On first I didn't want to, then I gave him the go-ahead thinking that this would help me get over her.... I was very wrong. A short time later I found out from him that they actually started dating and that he had already dumped her back for a second time because he preferred another girl he was involved with. I never felt so bad in my life, I couldn't sleep from anger, I think because underneath, even though I had given him the green light, I hoped she would never do that to me for the second time. A short time later I found out that he had started seeing her again for a third time, keeping it from me, this caused big fights between him and me. I also went as well to talk to her, and when I asked her why she was doing this to me, her response was that "she wanted to put herself first, now she's happy with him and she didn't care what that meant for me". She had never been so blunt and detached with me, it killed me. Obviously with my friend I ended the friendship for this situation.
A short time later, as soon as I was finally able to get over this thing, my ex best friend writes me that he left her behind for the 3rd time (after a maximum of 1 and a half months of seeing each other, taking into account that in this period he had left her behind twice already), for various reasons. At first I felt immense joy, as they say "the best revenge is the one not perpetrated". In the meantime, she unblocked me on instagram and started watching my stories again etc etc. One evening we met by chance and we ended up talking for hours and all the affection I remembered was still there. We still had a strong connection, we touched hands, we say sorry to each other for all the suffering we caused one to another, I was so happy, so in peace. In the following days I was in a big pink sphere for what had happened, but at the same time I closed the relationship with the other person who I was seeing, since it didn't seem right to continue seeing each other if I was still thinking about my ex.
To conclude the other day I wrote to her to congratulate about her graduation, telling her that I would have liked to be there, she replied very coldly, when I asked her why she replied that she does not understand what I want to achieve by saying something like this . The reality is that I would just like a signal from her, something that confirms that he still thinks about me, I don't know. I texted her this and today she answered me saying that she is sorry for how I feel, but she cant do anything to help me. I dont understand how we passed from 2 weeks ago with a lot of affection and care, and now she is back to the cold manners, but probably I deserve this treatment.
In light of all this, I really can't understand if what I feel is true and sincere or if it's just the result of all the suffering of these last few months, if I just want to reassert my control over her, if I'm just being a selfish shit or if I really miss her. Emotionally Im convinced that what im proving is real and I feel ready to give all of me for this relationship, but of course I cant be sure and Im worried to wound her again, to wound again both of us.
I don't know what to do, I just want to go back and fight for our relationship, don't let her go, but I know that the correct rational choice is to just let her go and dont insist anymore.
I feel like shit.

throwaway because I just want to have a rant about my brain.
I hate how I act when I'm out with friends. last night we went to the pub, it was great, and at closing time, after a few drinks, some of us chose to stay out longer at a different bar. I was pretty much ringleading this effort to stay out, as I always do - I always want to be moving to the next bar, having the most fun, and so my impulsive tendencies take over... I got in at 4am. this isn't a problem with drinking - I'm perfectly able to stop drinking, but the social side of it and the impulsivity when it comes to "just one more" seems to be where the problem is.
I hate myself today. I'm not hungover because I stopped drinking early on, but I'm absolutely exhausted and I haven't slept well at all and so I can't get anything done today and I hate my stupid dopamine seeking brain for thinking that sitting in McDonald's for an hour and a half at 3am was a good idea.
not looking for advice, I just needed to have a moan - sorry for taking up your time with my post!

I'm currently in my 30's, and i grew up with CDs, a lot of them.
My parents were listening to vinyls, then tapes, and the current generation mostly prefer dematerialized formats and streaming available through computers, smartphones, etc...
But vinyls are making a comeback, YouTube is one the biggest provider of classical european music recordings today, technology may evolved soon or not, climate change may change everything, and social evolutions are as hard to foresee as ever, if not more.
How do you think we will tend to consume recorded classical music in the next decades ?