u/jjs2690 - Thank you for the cool Kaweco Sport postcard! Did you see they released a bronze sport model? I was really confused when I was looking at pens and it was like $200 USD. I thought to myself, wow...FPs have really jumped in price recently. I had mistaken it for the brass model..haha.
u/feellikebeingajerk - Thank you for the Pride card! With the extended community under attack by folks that perpetuate lies and fear we have to come together even closer now. Stay safe my friend.
u/Chamiponvilla - Thank you for the magic eye postcard and the neat Godzilla sticker. I am a big espresso fan and like to have some shots on the weekend.
u/mypetitmal - Things are going slower now, I am enjoying my extended holiday and hanging out with my puppies. I hope things even out for you also. Stay safe out there.
u/Jennnnnnnnifer8n - Thanks for sending me day 119 of your year of postcards. I don't think there is anything weird with smelling your BF. I like the smell of my dogs and will often sniff them.
u/stawberryForestLady - Thank you for the cute Iceland poppies postcard :D I am having a good day.
u/AngelofTheNorth - Thank you for telling me about your favourite place in your town. I like to go to the beach with my dogs earlier in the morning and this red ball is for my youngest dog.

My life is completely empty. The only thing that matters to me is my dog ​​and an impossible dream to fulfill. I enjoy watching wrestling, reading manga, watching a series or movie, or playing video games, but nothing else.
There is nothing that I like that I can dedicate myself to, and if there is, I am terrible at it. computer science studies I joined for no reason just makes me feel stupid. I am very afraid of the future, but at the same time, nothing matters to me. I don't want to live in this neighborhood, but wherever I go I only see grey, dull and dark. I would like to go to Swedish Lapland and see the Northern Lights, but I know I will never be able to do it on my own.
I don't love anyone, the day my dog ​​dies, my humanity will go with him. I don't love my family, I don't love the people I know, nobody matters to me.
Just like I don't love anyone, nobody loves me. No one has shown interest in me. Maybe if I die someone will cry and be sad for a couple of days, but I won't leave an impact on anyone. I would like to live in a fantasy world where everyone has a friend, lover or brother they love, I want to have someone to give my life for.
I have considered running away, I would like to go somewhere where I can see the sea, but nothing will change if I leave, I will only become a stinking vagabond, and no one would care for me. Nobody is going to fall in love with me, I am not handsome and I have zero social skills. Still, maybe one day I will, the only thing holding me back is my mother. She doesn't realize how much she's making my life miserable, she doesn't see that I'm not a child and she treats me like one. I don't care starving on the side of the road, I want to do something, anything.
I have no aspirations. I can't even kill myself because I don't want to get hurt, what if I throw myself off a building and survive the fall? What if I hang myself and my neck doesn't break instantly? I don't want to feel physical pain.
I have ideas that if I say in public, they would laugh at me, it has already happened, in fact. Sometimes I think that having a serious conversation with someone is something that only happens in movies. For example, I once told a couple of classmates my thoughts about monogamy. I think that not having relationships with other people even if you want to is making a sacrifice without getting anything in return. It seems very selfish to me not to let your partner be with whoever she wants to be with, for me she is not disrespecting me or being disloyal for it. My classmates laughed at me for that idea, they don't have to agree with me, but there was no need to ridicule me for it either.
I have never been bullied (School), I may be ugly but at least I have always been big for my age. Although my older brother has hit, yelled at, spat at and ridiculed me on various occasions since I was little. Once when I was a kid, my parents weren't home and he brought a friend over. My brother and his friend took off my pants and ridiculed me for the size of my penis (Obviously, asshole. I'm a child). I ran to my room and hid under my bed, but they dragged me out and ridiculed me again for not defending myself.
He also threw me to the ground on another occasion and kicked me so that I would give him some savings that I had hidden. And he kicked my dog ​​just for walking into his room. Luckily he left home about a year ago, I hate him with all my being.
That would be all, there are a couple of things that I would like to comment on or emphasize, but they are not that relevant. I'm sharing this in case anyone has valuable advice that can help me, thanks.
(Also, I'm from Seville, Spain. English is not my native language and i apologize if there is any misspelling)

I (18f) started dating my ex boyfriend (18m) in February of 2022. It was always a fun time when we hung out, and we shared the fact that this was our first serious real relationship. For a bit of backstory, in the past i have struggled a lot with my mental health, and different disorders but went to counseling to deal with it. I used to be extremely irritable and negative all the time but the therapy really helped. It makes me proud to know that I'm a more positive person now and i have grown. But this is where the issues started to show themselves within this relationship. He was the sweetest guy ever, he had this cat that he just adored and it melted my heart, within about 7 months though the sweet mask started to slip. He had done some things at the start of our relationship that got him expelled, and led to me having to miss 2 weeks of school due to the fact that everyone in the bathrooms was calling me terrible names. The thing is, i had nothing to do with what he did, it was all him and i was just dragged into it because i was his girlfriend. He didn't apologize about this until i asked if he even felt bad months later. He honestly didn't see anything wrong with what he did or how it affected me. At our 7th month mark he told me that if we had never started dating he would've killed himself. This was also around the time that the complaining started. He would complain about everything. If we had to walk somewhere, he would start complaining about how much he hated walking. If it was hot out he was complaining about global warming. If it was cold, he would start going on about how we have the worst climate. You get the point. At this exact point though, he was essentially love bombing me. He would tell me how he wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. How he loved me so much. How he would never fall out of love with me and how i was the only girl he would ever love. It was nice to hear those things, i won't lie, but god it was almost sickening. I actually was thinking about breaking up with him sooner than i did, but i thought we could make it work, and after his comment about killing himself, i got worried that if i did break up with him, he would end his life. I stuck with it. It wasn't until about 2 weeks ago that we broke up. Things weren't working and i just couldn't allow myself to be that emotionally drained. We did remain friends. He was really upset when we first broke up, but told me he was over it. He is a huge pothead, but always swore he would never do anything that wasn't from the earth, so nothing but shrooms or pot. Even then in the whole time that I've known him, he has only ever smoked pot and nothing else. Yesterday i was at work and he texted me, but there was nothing i could put together in the sentence. It was just words, and i started to get a bit worried. I asked him if everything was okay and he said he was fine. but it continued for another 20 minutes then stopped. I got off work at 4 and headed over to a little family gathering to celebrate my uncle's birthday, he passed 3 years ago. While i was there, my ex called me but as i was with my family i simply declined it as i was enjoying myself and thought everything was fine. When i got to the car with my brother and bestfriend i checked my phone. I had 30 texts from him and some were from his mom asking me what kind of drugs he had taken. My stomach dropped. I rushed my brother home then went to his house to see what was going on. His mom had taken him to the hospital and i told her that he always said he would never do anything other than pot. I started ripping through his room to try and find what he had taken, because we weren't dating, but i still loved him. I really do still. He was the sweetest guy. As soon as i found a dime bag with some playboy bunnies on the outside i knew it wasn't just pot. I instantly texted his mom about the bag and said i would try to find out what was in it. He had left his phone on the bed, and i still knew his password and so i logged in and started searching. We have always been very trusting, during our relationship we had no issue with us going on each others phones. At this point the tears were flowing. This was a guy who i had just broken up with not even 2 weeks ago, and here i was trying to figure out if he had taken something that could've been laced, or something that could kill him. In our area there is so many people who die just due to their shit being laced. So I started trying to figure out what exactly he had taken as my bestfriend who was still with me was seeing if she could find anything else. In his messages there was an unsaved number and it was the last person he had texted other than me. I started going through the messages to see if they had mentioned what he had taken but it was just him cancelling on her because they were due to hangout that day. I knew i couldn't be upset because we were broken up, but i continued reading to see if maybe it was mentioned there. The further i scrolled, i found her calling him pet names, and they were hanging out on days where he said he was hanging out with his guy friends. She texted him telling him that she missed him and he didn't even mention it. I was heart broken, this started before we broke up. he was telling me how he wanted to get back together and yet here he was hiding hanging out with this girl. If he had told me about her i honestly wouldn't have cared, i trusted him, but he never did. The most heartbreaking sobs started coming out and i called the girl asking if i knew what he had taken, if it was laced, and i mentioned i was his ex and we broke up not even 2 weeks prior, and she apologized as she said she had no idea. He claims he told her, but why would she lie. And if it was nothing why did she apologize. I have hurt in my heart just writing this. Finally i found out that he had taken LSD and forgot that we had broken up, forgot about this accident he was in just weeks prior, didn't know where he got the drugs, and was terrified to go into his room. I have never felt heartbreak like that. I was sitting there sobbing as i thought he was going to possibly die, just to find out that there was another girl, who he had been talking to for over a month, so since before we broke up. He walked in after getting back from the hospital and i started sobbing even harder, i started yelling asking how he could do this to me. Not only scare us like that by taking drugs from someone he had never met, but also doing drugs he swore he would never do. And talking to that girl too. I have never collapsed from sobbing like i did last night. I cried until my voice was hoarse and i couldn't make anymore noise. My heart aches. I am so upset about it because i loved him. I had sex with him. He saw my naked body and i am a very private person. He had seen every part of me, and still did that to me. I just don't know what to do. Because i do love him, but if he really loved me would he have done this? I just really needed to get this out. I just have no clue what to do, i know that i should probably just stop talking to him, like everybody is telling me to, but i still love him, i think i always will and i just miss the guy that he used to be.

My life is completely empty. The only thing that matters to me is my dog ​​and an impossible dream to fulfill. I enjoy watching wrestling, reading manga, watching a series or movie, or playing video games, but nothing else.
There is nothing that I like that I can dedicate myself to, and if there is, I am terrible at it. computer science studies I joined for no reason just makes me feel stupid. I am very afraid of the future, but at the same time, nothing matters to me. I don't want to live in this neighborhood, but wherever I go I only see grey, dull and dark. I would like to go to Swedish Lapland and see the Northern Lights, but I know I will never be able to do it on my own.
I don't love anyone, the day my dog ​​dies, my humanity will go with him. I don't love my family, I don't love the people I know, nobody matters to me.
Just like I don't love anyone, nobody loves me. No one has shown interest in me. Maybe if I die someone will cry and be sad for a couple of days, but I won't leave an impact on anyone. I would like to live in a fantasy world where everyone has a friend, lover or brother they love, I want to have someone to give my life for.
I have considered running away, I would like to go somewhere where I can see the sea, but nothing will change if I leave, I will only become a stinking vagabond, and no one would care for me. Nobody is going to fall in love with me, I am not handsome and I have zero social skills. Still, maybe one day I will, the only thing holding me back is my mother. She doesn't realize how much she's making my life miserable, she doesn't see that I'm not a child and she treats me like one. I don't care starving on the side of the road, I want to do something, anything.
I have no aspirations. I can't even kill myself because I don't want to get hurt, what if I throw myself off a building and survive the fall? What if I hang myself and my neck doesn't break instantly? I don't want to feel physical pain.
I have ideas that if I say in public, they would laugh at me, it has already happened, in fact. Sometimes I think that having a serious conversation with someone is something that only happens in movies. For example, I once told a couple of classmates my thoughts about monogamy. I think that not having relationships with other people even if you want to is making a sacrifice without getting anything in return. It seems very selfish to me not to let your partner be with whoever she wants to be with, for me she is not disrespecting me or being disloyal for it. My classmates laughed at me for that idea, they don't have to agree with me, but there was no need to ridicule me for it either.
I have never been bullied (School), I may be ugly but at least I have always been big for my age. Although my older brother has hit, yelled at, spat at and ridiculed me on various occasions since I was little. Once when I was a kid, my parents weren't home and he brought a friend over. My brother and his friend took off my pants and ridiculed me for the size of my penis (Obviously, asshole. I'm a child). I ran to my room and hid under my bed, but they dragged me out and ridiculed me again for not defending myself.
He also threw me to the ground on another occasion and kicked me so that I would give him some savings that I had hidden. And he kicked my dog ​​just for walking into his room. Luckily he left home about a year ago, I hate him with all my being.
That would be all, there are a couple of things that I would like to comment on or emphasize, but they are not that relevant. I'm sharing this in case anyone has valuable advice that can help me, thanks.
(Also, I'm from Seville, Spain. English is not my native language and i apologize if there is any misspelling)

Hello fellow gamers!
I hope this post finds you well. I'm reaching out to this amazing community because I'm on the lookout for some wonderful people to play games with on PC. However, I wanted to be upfront about a few things—I have schizoaffective disorder and autism. While these conditions can make social interactions challenging at times, they certainly don't dampen my enthusiasm for gaming and making new friends!
About Me:
Name: [gib/gibsery]
Age: [20]
Location: [Central Time]
Games I Love: [Terraria, Gmod, SCP Secret Lab, And More!]
Availability: [I Usually Like To Game In The Evening: 3:30pm till 6 or 7pm]
A Little About My Conditions:
I have schizoaffective disorder, which is a combination of schizophrenia symptoms (such as hallucinations, delusions) and mood disorder symptoms (bipolar or depressive episodes). Additionally, I'm on the autism spectrum, which means I process information and interact with the world in a unique way. It's important to note that these conditions don't define me—they are just a part of who I am.
Why I'm Posting:
I believe gaming is a fantastic way to connect with people and forge meaningful friendships. It provides a common ground where we can have fun, share experiences, and support each other. Gaming has been a source of comfort and joy for me, and I'm looking to expand my circle of gaming buddies who understand and accept me for who I am.
What I'm Looking For:
I'm seeking friendly individuals who are open-minded, understanding, and willing to have a great time playing games together. It would be amazing to find folks who enjoy cooperative games, multiplayer adventures, or even just chilling out and chatting while gaming. Whether it's battling dragons in fantasy realms or exploring the vastness of space, I'm up for anything!
Preferred Games and Platforms:
I mainly play on PC, and here are a few games I enjoy:
[Terraria, Gmod, Scp Secret Lab, At times GTA V]
[RPG FPS SURVIAL SANDBOX, and anything that may make me laugh]
However, I'm also open to trying out new games or exploring different genres if you have some suggestions!
How to Connect:
If you're interested in joining me for some gaming adventures, please feel free to reach out to me via private message. We can exchange gaming handles, preferred platforms, and discuss potential games we could play together. Let's make sure to respect each other's boundaries and create a positive gaming environment where we can all have a great time.
Final Thoughts:
I genuinely believe that gaming has the power to bring people together, transcending differences and fostering friendships. I hope this post resonates with some of you out there who share my love for gaming and are looking for like-minded individuals to embark on gaming escapades together. I'm excited to meet new people, share memorable gaming moments, and create lasting friendships.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I look forward to connecting with you soon!
Note: If you have any concerns or questions regarding my conditions, feel free to ask. I'm open to discussing them and promoting understanding.

My life is completely empty. The only thing that matters to me is my dog ​​and an impossible dream to fulfill. I enjoy watching wrestling, reading manga, watching a series or movie, or playing video games, but nothing else.
There is nothing that I like that I can dedicate myself to, and if there is, I am terrible at it. computer science studies I joined for no reason just makes me feel stupid. I am very afraid of the future, but at the same time, nothing matters to me. I don't want to live in this neighborhood, but wherever I go I only see grey, dull and dark. I would like to go to Swedish Lapland and see the Northern Lights, but I know I will never be able to do it on my own.
I don't love anyone, the day my dog ​​dies, my humanity will go with him. I don't love my family, I don't love the people I know, nobody matters to me.
Just like I don't love anyone, nobody loves me. No one has shown interest in me. Maybe if I die someone will cry and be sad for a couple of days, but I won't leave an impact on anyone. I would like to live in a fantasy world where everyone has a friend, lover or brother they love, I want to have someone to give my life for.
I have considered running away, I would like to go somewhere where I can see the sea, but nothing will change if I leave, I will only become a stinking vagabond, and no one would care for me. Nobody is going to fall in love with me, I am not handsome and I have zero social skills. Still, maybe one day I will, the only thing holding me back is my mother. She doesn't realize how much she's making my life miserable, she doesn't see that I'm not a child and she treats me like one. I don't care starving on the side of the road, I want to do something, anything.
I have no aspirations. I can't even kill myself because I don't want to get hurt, what if I throw myself off a building and survive the fall? What if I hang myself and my neck doesn't break instantly? I don't want to feel physical pain.
I have ideas that if I say in public, they would laugh at me, it has already happened, in fact. Sometimes I think that having a serious conversation with someone is something that only happens in movies. For example, I once told a couple of classmates my thoughts about monogamy. I think that not having relationships with other people even if you want to is making a sacrifice without getting anything in return. It seems very selfish to me not to let your partner be with whoever she wants to be with, for me she is not disrespecting me or being disloyal for it. My classmates laughed at me for that idea, they don't have to agree with me, but there was no need to ridicule me for it either.
I have never been bullied (School), I may be ugly but at least I have always been big for my age. Although my older brother has hit, yelled at, spat at and ridiculed me on various occasions since I was little. Once when I was a kid, my parents weren't home and he brought a friend over. My brother and his friend took off my pants and ridiculed me for the size of my penis (Obviously, asshole. I'm a child). I ran to my room and hid under my bed, but they dragged me out and ridiculed me again for not defending myself.
He also threw me to the ground on another occasion and kicked me so that I would give him some savings that I had hidden. And he kicked my dog ​​just for walking into his room. Luckily he left home about a year ago, I hate him with all my being.
That would be all, there are a couple of things that I would like to comment on or emphasize, but they are not that relevant. I'm sharing this in case anyone has valuable advice that can help me, thanks.
(Also, I'm from Seville, Spain. English is not my native language and i apologize if there is any misspelling)

It was a non-fiction book. I'm pretty sure it was a coming of age novel. I don't remember it being that long and it couldn't be more than 150 pages. It was in English. It was a paperback book and the style of the cover art was kinda like a collage, it looked like things were pasted together. It had a white background, MC in the front (she has black hair and looks on with a blank expression) there's a red and white house in the background, trees and green landscape, like she's in a neighborhood. I can't exactly remember what time period it was set in. I read it in either 2018 or 2019 from my school library so I was either 9 or 10, so it was age appropriate. But if I'm remembering this correctly, it was written in the late 90s, because I had looked at the publish date at the time, and I distinctly remember thinking how "old" it is, so I can only assume it took place during this time. And it definitely wasn't new. And it was targeted towards my age range as well, as I found it in the section of my school library that was dedicated to 4th and 5th graders. Now, the plot. I don't remember it exactly. And I can't remember the characters names. Notable characters include: -MC. She was a tomboy and maybe had something going on between her and her mom. She couldn't have been older than 13. -MCs mom. She's pregnant for most of the story and she gives birth at the end of the book. -MCs friends. I think that lots of them are boys, but she may have also had a few girl friends as well. -Either MCs older sister or brother, can't remember which gender, but I think it was her sister. -This one girl who's really girly and is into dolls. I think that MC is put off by her or something. Now, I'll try to put the events I remember in order to the best of my ability. -MC and her friends are hanging out at one of their houses. They go outside and start digging a tunnel system in the backyard. I think they drink some lemonade afterwards?? -MCs mom blackmails MC, or something similar. Just- it somehow gets to MC going "wait, did she just blackmail me?" or something like that. -MCs older sisters boyfriend is a part of a band that is hosting a concert in their garage. MC goes to said concert. Eventually this concert was busted, by whom I can't remember. I also think MCs older sister and her boyfriend are found to be dating as well. -MC goes over to the girly girls house. Either she was looking for someone to hang out with, or she left something there. Either way, it ends with MC being put off by the girly girls dolls and her girlish nature. -The final part of the book has MC participating in a Christmas play at her school. Her mom had just given birth to her little sister, and she shows up with her little sister. Then the story ends. That's kinda all I can remember.

Hi all! So this happened two months ago, and I’ve been needing to get this story off my chest for a while because I’m still in shock with what happened so I figured here would be great. I apologize in advance, this might be a little long. I tried putting this in the true off my chest subreddit but it kept removing my post, so I figure I write in here since I love this podcast!
Back at the start of spring break, my then-boyfriend, Maverick (fake name, 22m) invited me (21f) to take a bus over to his college city to visit him for the weekend and then drive back home together that following Sunday since I work weekdays. I won’t lie, I was hesitant about going mainly because the bus ticket was a little expensive since the closer to the departure date, the more expensive the ticket will be. I explained this to Maverick, but he then offered to buy the bus ticket for me. I was still a little hesitant but said sure since I would still be able to see him! He said he would pick me up once I arrived therefore, I wouldn’t have to worry.
Fast forward to that Friday before spring break, I was a little late to the bus but thankfully it was too lol so I still got on. So I’m on the bus keeping Maverick updated on things like “my bus just left”, “we’re about an hour away”, small things like that as well as conversating like we normally do, and all that jazz. My hometown to his college city was roughly a 3-hour bus ride, and it was late at night. 30 minutes before I arrive, I let him know that I’m 30 minutes away and to get ready to pick me up. He says okay. I also texted him to let me know when he was here to which he texted back 15 minutes later saying “I will be near x street”. I honestly thought it was a little weird since my bus ticket was originally emailed to him, which included where my drop-off location would be. The location he sent was further down where I was dropped off so I took my luggage and tote back and walked over.
I couldn’t find his car, to which I called and asked where he was. That’s when he said he hadn’t left his apartment yet. WHAT? He said he was waiting for me to get dropped off and then he would come. Okay, I try to stay as calm as possible because I didn’t want to come off as nagging. Note: there was an event going on in his city for spring break that I had no idea about until I got there. This is where things start to get intense. So he’s about to drive and asks where my drop-off spot was, even though it was emailed to him. He still asked me anyway so I tell him and he starts driving so he hangs up. I’m waiting and trying to look out for his car, since at that point nearly all the passengers had left.
He calls back again and tell me he was just going to turn back and call an Uber for me because there were so many road closures due to the event. He only lives about 10-15 minutes away from my bus stop. He claimed the whole city was closed off as well. Note: Maverick hates driving and gets anxious whenever he drives, which is why he tends to avoid it at all costs. Although I wasn’t surprised he turned back, I was still a little hurt because how much do you have to dislike driving that you’re willing to turn back and leave your significant other in a large city nearing midnight? It was around 10:30 pm at that point.
So he gets home, and I text back the screenshot of x street he said he would be near and said “Next time, actually mean it or don’t say anything at all about being here when you were not”. He then texted back “I tried being there” “Can’t because of closures” and “Why are you abusing me?” What…? I was confused because I was just stating a fact and he worded it as he was already here. But even then, shouldn’t he have at least been a little close? He then told me to “acknowledge the fact that I tried to pick you up, I did” and “How can you expect us to be in a relationship when this is how you are? Verbally abusive.” That was when he said he would run to Reddit and make an AITA post about this.
We then go back and forth. I tried to tell him that he originally said he would pick me up, but then he gets mad and accused me of wanting his car to get towed. Now this next part, I admit I was getting petty and said “So what? Are you gonna block me again? Like a man child? Like a baby? And not face these things like adults?” (He’s had a habit of blocking me mid-argument in the past sometimes for a few days). I’m pretty sure he got even angrier because he texted back “You’re a fucking b*tch”, “verbal abuser”, and to “go to hell” (in that exact order btw). At that point, I didn’t even want to stay in his apartment and tried finding a hotel instead even though he had already sent out an Uber for me. And I couldn’t find that either even though I went up and down the area looking for it so he may have given them the wrong address but the Uber driver eventually canceled which made Maverick even angrier. He demanded I pay him back $45 for the bus ticket and $10-15 for the Uber. To which, I did not.
It’s already been well over an hour since I was dropped off and at that point, all the passengers were gone. It was around 11 pm. I at first managed to stay in the hotel lobby (since my bus dropped us off at a hotel) but was eventually kicked out since it was after a certain time. So I’m sitting on a bench outside, by myself, freezing (my state was oddly very cold all spring break), nearing midnight, searching up hotels/motels, anywhere to stay in. In the end, I couldn’t find anywhere since the city is normally expensive so hotels range anywhere from $150-$200 a night. I’m getting petrified because my hometown is knowingly one of the most dangerous cities in my state and is known for having a lot of crime, especially for human trafficking so naturally, I was watching my back 24/7.
Maverick then told me he told his friend, Ramiro (early 20s m), and that even Ramiro said that I was a manipulative asshole, who deserved to be called a b*tch and to be left out there. He’s not only allowing Ramiro to talk badly about me behind my back but also allowing him to harass me. It gets messy and Maverick then says he’d gonna tell my best friend, Edwin (22m) about this (Maverick and Edwin are also good friends). I was so tired at that point. I was hungry (last eaten during my lunch break 12 hours prior), and I couldn’t find anyone to stay with. For a moment, I genuinely thought I was gonna die or get kidnapped, robbed, or hurt. Homeless men were trying to talk to me, and I didn’t feel safe at all. I couldn’t believe I was put in this situation and although Maverick did offer to get me another Uber, I declined because I didn’t even feel safe staying with him, especially with how he was allowing Ramiro to talk about me.
I then decided to call Edwin, not intending on telling him anything about the situation but to ask if he knew anyone in the city I could stay with. It’d already been past midnight. And no, I didn’t want to call my parents because I was scared and felt like I would be humiliated because Maverick left me out here, or he claims I left myself out here. Edwin said he know no one asides from Maverick and asked what was going on because Maverick tried to call him but Edwin wasn’t near his phone at the time. I didn’t want to pour everything out, so I gave him a summary not going into detail. I think Edwin took it as “Maverick forgot about her” because he called Maverick demanding he picks me up. I told Edwin that I didn’t feel comfortable staying with Maverick, to which, Edwin explained that it was the best option since I was his responsibility the minute I got off the bus.
I felt bad because I did not intend of dragging Edwin into it, but I did. I was getting even colder, so in that moment staying with Maverick was my only choice. So I did. Maverick came to pick me up not even 10 minutes later. He could’ve done this hours ago when I got off… Because of how cold I was, I could barely walk properly and could barely lift my luggage in the trunk, so Maverick had to come and help. When I got in his car, I was shaking. I didn't even want him touching me, nor did I want to look at him. We went straight to his apartment, and the only amount of energy I had left was to take my makeup off and pass out on his bed (as in sleep btw lol). I remember looking at the clock and it was almost 1 am.
The next day, I fully woke up at 1 pm after Maverick demanded I wake up to eat something. Even though he normally wakes up around the same time or even later. Let's just say we kinda talked things out. Even though I knew there was no coming back from this. He pretended like nothing happened and took me out to a nice restaurant later that night and paid for both of our meals. I was still in disbelief deep down. And the thing is, he still believed I left myself out there and took it as if it was both of our faults due to a "miscommunication". Even when I tried talking about it, he would get angry and accuse me of dwelling in the past. Though it was never my intention to dwell.
I also initially made an AITA post about this situation shortly after it happened and was voted NTA. I showed Maverick the post and even the comments calling him out on his behavior because I thought it could maybe show him what he did was wrong. All he said was and I quote "I feel like they're not getting the whole story". Then he went on to say that the AITA post ruined our relationship and demanded I made another one showing the chat logs instead unless I was "scared".
I think my feelings for Maverick died that night. It was the most dangerous night of my life, and I don't think I've ever been more shaken about a situation than the one he put me in. I am no longer dating Maverick, so he's long out of the picture. The fact that he still thinks I deserved what happened and that I was at fault is scary. The thing is, of all people, I would've never expected any of this from him. We were best friends since our freshman year in high school and officially started dating almost two years before the breakup. I feel like this was a traumatic event for me because I genuinely feel like anything could've happened to me that night especially as a woman alone at night in a city.
I apologize for this post being a lot longer than intended. It was just a lot to unpack.

My life is completely empty. The only thing that matters to me is my dog ​​and an impossible dream to fulfill. I enjoy watching wrestling, reading manga, watching a series or movie, or playing video games, but nothing else.
There is nothing that I like that I can dedicate myself to, and if there is, I am terrible at it. computer science studies I joined for no reason just makes me feel stupid. I am very afraid of the future, but at the same time, nothing matters to me. I don't want to live in this neighborhood, but wherever I go I only see grey, dull and dark. I would like to go to Swedish Lapland and see the Northern Lights, but I know I will never be able to do it on my own.
I don't love anyone, the day my dog ​​dies, my humanity will go with him. I don't love my family, I don't love the people I know, nobody matters to me.
Just like I don't love anyone, nobody loves me. No one has shown interest in me. Maybe if I die someone will cry and be sad for a couple of days, but I won't leave an impact on anyone. I would like to live in a fantasy world where everyone has a friend, lover or brother they love, I want to have someone to give my life for.
I have considered running away, I would like to go somewhere where I can see the sea, but nothing will change if I leave, I will only become a stinking vagabond, and no one would care for me. Nobody is going to fall in love with me, I am not handsome and I have zero social skills. Still, maybe one day I will, the only thing holding me back is my mother. She doesn't realize how much she's making my life miserable, she doesn't see that I'm not a child and she treats me like one. I don't care starving on the side of the road, I want to do something, anything.
I have no aspirations. I can't even kill myself because I don't want to get hurt, what if I throw myself off a building and survive the fall? What if I hang myself and my neck doesn't break instantly? I don't want to feel physical pain.
I have ideas that if I say in public, they would laugh at me, it has already happened, in fact. Sometimes I think that having a serious conversation with someone is something that only happens in movies. For example, I once told a couple of classmates my thoughts about monogamy. I think that not having relationships with other people even if you want to is making a sacrifice without getting anything in return. It seems very selfish to me not to let your partner be with whoever she wants to be with, for me she is not disrespecting me or being disloyal for it. My classmates laughed at me for that idea, they don't have to agree with me, but there was no need to ridicule me for it either.
I have never been bullied (School), I may be ugly but at least I have always been big for my age. Although my older brother has hit, yelled at, spat at and ridiculed me on various occasions since I was little. Once when I was a kid, my parents weren't home and he brought a friend over. My brother and his friend took off my pants and ridiculed me for the size of my penis (Obviously, asshole. I'm a child). I ran to my room and hid under my bed, but they dragged me out and ridiculed me again for not defending myself.
He also threw me to the ground on another occasion and kicked me so that I would give him some savings that I had hidden. And he kicked my dog ​​just for walking into his room. Luckily he left home about a year ago, I hate him with all my being.
That would be all, there are a couple of things that I would like to comment on or emphasize, but they are not that relevant. I'm sharing this in case anyone has valuable advice that can help me, thanks.
(Also, I'm from Seville, Spain. English is not my native language and i apologize if there is any misspelling)

My life is completely empty. The only thing that matters to me is my dog and an impossible dream to fulfill. I enjoy watching wrestling, reading manga, watching a series or movie, or playing video games, but nothing else.
There is nothing that I like that I can dedicate myself to, and if there is, I am terrible at it. computer science studies I joined for no reason just makes me feel stupid. I am very afraid of the future, but at the same time, nothing matters to me. I don't want to live in this neighborhood, but wherever I go I only see grey, dull and dark. I would like to go to Swedish Lapland and see the Northern Lights, but I know I will never be able to do it on my own.
I don't love anyone, the day my dog dies, my humanity will go with him. I don't love my family, I don't love the people I know, nobody matters to me.
Just like I don't love anyone, nobody loves me. No one has shown interest in me. Maybe if I die someone will cry and be sad for a couple of days, but I won't leave an impact on anyone. I would like to live in a fantasy world where everyone has a friend, lover or brother they love, I want to have someone to give my life for.
I have considered running away, I would like to go somewhere where I can see the sea, but nothing will change if I leave, I will only become a stinking vagabond, and no one would care for me. Nobody is going to fall in love with me, I am not handsome and I have zero social skills. Still, maybe one day I will, the only thing holding me back is my mother. She doesn't realize how much she's making my life miserable, she doesn't see that I'm not a child and she treats me like one. I don't care starving on the side of the road, I want to do something, anything.
I have no aspirations. I can't even kill myself because I don't want to get hurt, what if I throw myself off a building and survive the fall? What if I hang myself and my neck doesn't break instantly? I don't want to feel physical pain.
I have ideas that if I say in public, they would laugh at me, it has already happened, in fact. Sometimes I think that having a serious conversation with someone is something that only happens in movies. For example, I once told a couple of classmates my thoughts about monogamy. I think that not having relationships with other people even if you want to is making a sacrifice without getting anything in return. It seems very selfish to me not to let your partner be with whoever she wants to be with, for me she is not disrespecting me or being disloyal for it. My classmates laughed at me for that idea, they don't have to agree with me, but there was no need to ridicule me for it either.
I have never been bullied (School), I may be ugly but at least I have always been big for my age. Although my older brother has hit, yelled at, spat at and ridiculed me on various occasions since I was little. Once when I was a kid, my parents weren't home and he brought a friend over. My brother and his friend took off my pants and ridiculed me for the size of my penis (Obviously, asshole. I'm a child). I ran to my room and hid under my bed, but they dragged me out and ridiculed me again for not defending myself.
He also threw me to the ground on another occasion and kicked me so that I would give him some savings that I had hidden. And he kicked my dog just for walking into his room. Luckily he left home about a year ago, I hate him with all my being.
That would be all, there are a couple of things that I would like to comment on or emphasize, but they are not that relevant. I'm sharing this in case anyone has valuable advice that can help me, thanks.
(Also, I'm from Seville, Spain. English is not my native language and i apologize if there is any misspelling)

We’ve been together for 7 years. We have two children together. He (26m)made decent money his own way 2018- 2020. After that it pretty much stopped. I (25f)make ALL of the money but we spend it together no problem. We’ve been fighting recently because I lost one of my checks gambling. I don’t gamble very often but this time was horrible. I don’t think he should be mad because I pay for EVERYTHING we have/do. Clothes on our asses, shoes on our feet, food in our stomachs, gas in our car, & more importantly OUR BILLS! On top of all of that I took us on a 3k cruise BY MYSELF, bought us a new car the week after we returned, & don’t bitch about him not working! I do know I messed up pretty badly & I feel terrible but that’s MY PROBLEM! I worked the hours, I made the money? I spent it after handling business. I don’t think it’s the end of the world because I’m 1000% getting paid again 🤣 I don’t know I keep acknowledging what I’ve done, I keep taking responsibility, I’ve even been being nice, BUT I feel like he’s taking things too far. Like get a job. Get your own money. I’m actually angry that I can fall on you for support. Like what if this was a financial emergency or something & we couldn’t eat because I went broke…. What would he do sit there & watch us starve. Cry about not making his own money while simultaneously sitting on his ass not moving a muscle to make any?
How do you feel about this?

Hello! I'm a 25m introvert looking for someone I can open up and talk to everyday. Maybe watch and read stuff together if we click. I will try to talk a bit about what I'm into without going too much in depth.
​

• Anime: I especially love the shonen genre and isekais are my guilty pleasure, but I watch anything that isn't pure romance or slice-of-life (I'm fine with mixed genres though!). Some animes I like are Hunter x Hunter, Mushoku Tensei and One Piece.
• Manga: Similar to anime, I really enjoy the shonen and isekai genre and it's what I use to keep up with something I like when there's no anime version, or the anime version let's me down, with One Punch Man and Chainsaw Man being some of the mangas I read.
• Light Novels: Something I got into fairly recently because of some anime I really enjoyed, with Mushoku Tensei being the main one I keep up with.
• Manhwa: My latest obsession and what's making me fall behind on anime and manga. I especially love the power fantasy genre but, like with anime, I read anything that isn't purely romance or slice-of-life, with some of my favorites being Doom Breaker, Northern Blade and Omniscient Reader.
• Twitch: I'm an active twitch viewer, with some of the channels I keep up with the most being Asmongold, xqc and Elajjaz.
• Gaming: Not much to say here as I don't play games anymore outside of a certain gacha (Fate/Grand Order). I do keep up with new releases through twitch though so it's still something we can talk about if it interests you.
• Fitness and health in general: I'm not nearly as crazy about it as I was in the past and nowadays I work out mostly for the health benefits and to keep myself sane, but I still like to talk about it.

What I dislike? Very few things outside of politics in general, so feel free to talk about anything you want and I promise I won't feel uncomfortable! I do however feel better with people who share at least some of the interests I do. I took a break from work recently for mental reasons so I happen to have quite a bit of free time for a few months. I have a much easier time expressing myself through text so I would prefer to stick to that. Feel free to send me a DM with your discord username if you feel like we can click!

For starters bit of a rant, but wow the devs have really lost their way. They wonder why the game continually loses players and its extremely obvious as to why.
Just did a legend lost sector. Champions cant be overpowered through with high dps anymore. HMG is literally healed faster than it can damage. Nuke supers don't one shot. And this the mods have a pathetically bad mix most primaries. So your forced to run two primary weapons and hope you have one to match elemental shields as well. Then if you simply take your time they added a time limit and revive counter so you have to try and rush through. So your hampered on dps, weapon choice, and elemental choice. THIS IS RIDICULOUS.
Tried the dungeon today with friends. Got to first actuall boss fight now problem. And theres 40-50 adds that spawn continuously. There's huge splash damage. All of which can eventually be handled until you get to dps phase. Boss will know you out of the well the knight drops or you warlock drops. Boss has an insane shield that 3 exotic hmg's take forever to get down. Then when it finally goes down he has an enormous health pool that even weakened and hit by nuke supers will take you 5 damage rounds. THIS IS PATHETIC.
If they want to know why people keep leaving this is it right here. We are all here for some challenge. But extreme difficulty only takes people away from the game. A optimized meta build should not be a requirement for ANYTHING in destiny, or at the very least should not be for a Legendary lost sector or Dungeon. Maybe a raid but I'd say no. The reason the game was so much healthier in Forsaken was because Guardians were powerful. The game was easier, some aspects were more challenging but almost any group of friends giving it a few hours of try would end up beating it. That is not so for the game anymore. Get rid of champions all together. Remove half the adds or at a certain point before boss damage stop spawning new adds. Get rid of any timers on solo content. Make the game difficult for anybody that is just here to shoot around and give stuff a try. If you want to meta build the game should be downright easy. If you absolutely want an extreme challenge then make it at only the Master or GrandMaster levels. The game right now is simply not fun and too much of the content is simply impossible for the majority of players.

I have a very random story that's been on my mind. While I was in middle school, I made a new friend in one of my classes. At first, I didn't like him, but we eventually became friends and noticed we had a lot in common. We were best friends throughout middle school and high school. We would do some assured activities while hanging out, either getting into trouble or just laughing for hours while we smoked.
It was a pretty good friendship, although we would get into small arguments and not speak for months. Once, it lasted an entire school year. We always reconnected somehow and just returned to everything we would do. Play video games, go out, hang out with girls, and try to get lucky.
While in high school, randomly, we left early that day to go back to his house to smoke and take a nap because why not. We returned to his home and had a good time, like usual, laughing and watching stupid stuff on YouTube. We had a random kick for Rihanna then and decided to blast her music while trying to sleep.
We decided to sleep in the same bed because why not? I know what you're thinking, and no, nothing happened. But oddly enough, while lying down just vibing to the music, we started cuddling. I'm not sure why that started, but it did, and it was very comfortable and helped us both sleep. Nothing else ever happened. This cycle just continued for months, maybe even the entire year. We would hang out to take naps and cuddle to go to sleep. He was a straight guy, and I had already identified as bisexual by this time, but nobody knew.
It's just funny how that worked out, two guy best friends just cuddling to go to sleep since we were both single at that time. It's so strange how we could go from being that close to not speaking for almost a year.
I believe we have grown apart since high school back in 2018. I started a career, and although I don't make crazy money, it's a highly respectable profession. He hasn't done much since, and he didn't seem motivated to get into a career path or any job. I tried to help him, even looking for jobs on his behalf, but it never worked out.
I think him not working and me doing well at such a young age made him feel some way about it. He would get easily frustrated with me and not speak to me for weeks or ignore me for no reason. So I stopped being the one to reach out, and at random times, he would text me, but the conversation wasn't how it used to be. We would play games together online, but besides that, we would not speak.
I ended up moving away across the country about a year ago. I visited my family about five months after moving, and my friend and I decided to reconnect. He seemed happy about my move and the advances I've made recently. So while on the short visit, I took time away from my family to see him.
I learned that he and his mother recently lost the apartment they had been living in since he was a child and had been bouncing around between his family members. I was distraught to hear about this and wanted to comfort him while we got food.
We randomly disagreed on food, and he blew it out of proportion. I thought he was joking, but he insisted he was serious and told me to drop him back off. We had only been together for about 8 minutes.
We haven't spoken since and probably won't. We've grown so far apart, and I easily anger him. It's wild how you can go from best friends cuddling in bed together to not speaking. That's all I got. Not much to the story, but it's upsetting. We have some of my best memories with one another, and I'll never get to relive those moments with him.
There's so much we shared I could write all day; it's unbelievable.
Should I text him?

Hey, I'm at a point where I'm sorta just stuck and have no idea what to do or if I even want to do anything at all and it's really difficult, so rn I just want someone that I can vibe with for a while or maybe have it be a long term thing, idk. We'll see how it goes. Let's voice call and watch videos, play games, text at stupid hours of the day and do \*other\* stuff together of course. Basically, I just want a "situationship" type thing that can hopefully give us both some joy during what is a really shitty time rn.
Anyway, here's a bit about me!
I'm shy at first but open up quickly if I like you. Very talkative about my passions, could talk someone's ear off about football or a video game but I tend not to because I don't want to bore people haha. I have a lot of self doubt and I'm on the spectrum with a terrible habit of hyperfocusing on meaningless things that give me joy, aka my hobbies! Collecting, playing games, following football/soccer and basketball. Also a somewhat cynical F1 fan. I'm quite cute and I'd also hope that you're good looking too, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I guess I know my worth in that sense. However, I'm not everyone's cup of tea so I'd be happy to swap selfies with you right away. I wouldn't want to waste time if there isn't a mutual attraction.
So uh yeah, idk what else to say really. I'd prefer you to be 21+ and I don't care what timezone you're in. I will say that if you have a Canadian or American accent, you go to the front of the line so if you've read this far it'd be best to let me know if you have one of those lmao. Thanks for reading and have a great day.

Hello! I'm a 25m introvert looking for someone I can open up and talk to everyday. Maybe watch and read stuff together if we click. I will try to talk a bit about what I'm into without going too much in depth.
​

• Anime: I especially love the shonen genre and isekais are my guilty pleasure, but I watch anything that isn't pure romance or slice-of-life (I'm fine with mixed genres though!). Some animes I like are Hunter x Hunter, Mushoku Tensei and One Piece.
• Manga: Similar to anime, I really enjoy the shonen and isekai genre and it's what I use to keep up with something I like when there's no anime version, or the anime version let's me down, with One Punch Man and Chainsaw Man being some of the mangas I read.
• Light Novels: Something I got into fairly recently because of some anime I really enjoyed, with Mushoku Tensei being the main one I keep up with.
• Manhwa: My latest obsession and what's making me fall behind on anime and manga. I especially love the power fantasy genre but, like with anime, I read anything that isn't purely romance or slice-of-life, with some of my favorites being Doom Breaker, Northern Blade and Omniscient Reader.
• Twitch: I'm an active twitch viewer, with some of the channels I keep up with the most being Asmongold, xqc and Elajjaz.
• Gaming: Not much to say here as I don't play games anymore outside of a certain gacha (Fate/Grand Order). I do keep up with new releases through twitch though so it's still something we can talk about if it interests you.
• Fitness and health in general: I'm not nearly as crazy about it as I was in the past and nowadays I work out mostly for the health benefits and to keep myself sane, but I still like to talk about it.

What I dislike? Very few things outside of politics in general, so feel free to talk about anything you want and I promise I won't feel uncomfortable! I do however feel better with people who share at least some of the interests I do. I took a break from work recently for mental reasons so I happen to have quite a bit of free time for a few months. I have a much easier time expressing myself through text so I would prefer to stick to that. Feel free to send me a DM with your discord username if you feel like we can click!

I can’t help but time to time, i feel like If I give in to my family’s tantrums, we will never improve our standard of living. I come from an average middle class family of six consisting of my grandma, my parents, my elder brother, my twin sister and me. My dad is an average government employee, most of what he earns goes towards loan repayments and living expenses & there isn’t much left in the end.
Here’s some context or background story you need to be aware of : We aren’t poor, so far i got what i asked for as long as it’s reasonable ( like a 110 cc commuter bike & a entry level Gaming laptop that I’ve been using for 5 years now). For the most part I’m grateful for the life i have. I realize that there are many who do not even have access to basic needs and there are those who don’t even realize how fortunate they are to be able to spend lakhs per month without any repercussions to maintain an extravagant lifestyle, I understand that the world is an unfair place and it’s on me to do what i can to make the most of what i have at my disposal. As someone who’s born into the middle of these two extremes, I’ve seen both of their lifestyles & I’m grateful for the wisdom i got (which neither the poor or filthy rich will get)
Anyway since i was a kid, Things haven’t always gone well for me, when i was growing up, i never had a stable loving family environment. I always had to step up to resolve conflicts all the time when i was kid myself. I had to learn the difficulties of life early on, my father isn’t a responsible man, he doesn’t have much concern about what the future holds. He’s a kind of brute that only cares about drinking & dining. in the present. When he’s got the cash he spends it without any respect for it & acts as if the world revolves around him. But when the money runs out, he doesn’t even bother to provide us with the things we need (not wants, but needs). My mom had to put up with this man, she had to step up and manage finances even if she herself wasn’t very good at it (she did what she could) and thanks to her we at-least have all of our needs accounted for.My mom made sure that our Education was a priority and made sure that we got a good education.
We do not have any generational wealth, or we used to until my dad like a moron he is, signed away the property my grandfather passed on because of his blind trust in a builder from the same caste. Long story short, he “sold” a high value property in the middle of the city for pennies, after creating thus problem in the first place he spent more money on lawyers to undo it only to learn his fuck up was irreversible. The property on my mother’s side doesn’t amount to much, and i pretty much grew up with the mindset that if i wanted anything in my life, i have to earn it myself. My mom despite the best she did, she too sometimes get carried away with spending. She has a taste for luxury and it’s a constant temptation for her. For some context, She’s a bit of a hoarder & buys things we don't need & just hoards stuff that hasn’t been used for ages. Her room looks like a store room & it doesn’t stop there. There’s a lot of excess stuff lying around in the home & to accommodate all this stuff we have to rent a bigger house. Even if it’s a relatively bigger house, the joke is i still don’t have my own room, because my mom & dad each take up their own room & the remaining room is shared by mom & grandma.
My brother moved abroad to study & work, he plans on settling abroad. The diploma he got isn’t that great, he studied at some shady college, in-fact it’s now blacklisted. He got a job with the of a consultancy. His line of work isn’t lucrative by any means and what little he earns goes towards paying off consultancy support fees & his living expenses. It’s been about 4 years since he’s been abroad and 2 years since he got a job he still has a lot of money to pay back and to this day the interest payments are deducted from my dad’s salary account to this day. I am trying not judge him, but i think he can do a whole lot better with his life. He isn’t a bad person, but he did inherit some worst traits from my dad and at times I’m disappointed in him.
Like my mother, my sister too has an affinity for expensive things. She is a Dentist now, she graduated fairly recently and now she’s doing her internship at her college and she is not making any money (she got a B-category seat and we had to pay a lot of money). We plan on taking another education loan for her Masters in an years time, hoping that my brother manages to pay off his loan, so that my sister’s loan can be approved.
Fortunately for me, i got into a reputed private University for to pursue my Master’s degree and fairly recently and i had to take an education loan with my dad as the co-applicant to fund my education. From next month, My education loan interest amount will be deducted from my dad’s account and things will get even tighter. I’m saying all this because i want you to get a clear understanding of my family’s financial situation.
Background story Tldr: My dad is the sole earner at this point & we’re living paycheck to paycheck. We do not have generational wealth to rely on.
Why did i get into a fight with my mom?
My mom thinks it’s time to get my sister married, and people are inquiring about my sister. So she’s feeling the peer pressure & wants my sister to get married and I’m objecting the idea because it’s absurd. She’s been discussing this idea with me, the youngest son (cause I’m the de facto head at this point) & I’m asking her to be patient & not give in to FOMO.
I want my sister to finish her Masters & achieve financial freedom before she got married. It’s not even like she’ll be too old to get married by that time. Me & my twin sister are 2 years old and if we’re to wait for three more years our financial situation will vastly improve when the three of us were to start earning. 25 is by no means too late for a wedding, but my mother seems to have trouble keeping her shit together and is going on and on about getting her married.
To make matters worse, 2 days ago my sister said she if she’s gonna married at minimum she’s going to spend One Crore rupees on her wedding. That’s bat shit insane to even consider provided we live pay check to pay check, drowning in debt with no generational wealth to rely on. And my mom took it seriously and she’s expecting me & my brother to foot the bill when she gets married. My mom keeps telling me about her miserable life, a tale i’ve heard about a million times & i’m now desensitized to it, She keeps telling me that marriage is a one time thing & when my sister looks back at her wedding, it has to be a memorable event.
I said in today’s day & age, thinking that marriage is a once in lifetime is kind of a joke. More importantly i told her that one has to maintain a lifestyle they can afford, looking back my sister has to be glad about her wedding, not regret that she spent a fuck load of money she didn’t have every-time she paid the Monthly EMI. My mom tried to counter that by asking me why my sister will foot the bill when me & my brother are there for her. I said that we will support my sister & make a generous contribution to her wedding (like an year’s salary) but by no means are we footing her entire bill. We aren’t getting her educated for nothing, if she wants an expensive lifestyle it’s up-to her to maintain it. Then my mom was like it’s actually the parent’s responsibility and dashed off into the kitchen. I was like if that’s what you think a parent’s responsibility is, then you already failed.
Why am i angry?
I’m trying to make peace with my parent’s mistakes, I realize that i have to make the most out of the life i have and I’m trying to undo their fuck ups, I really am. But entertaining these ridiculous ideas & letting my own sister fuck me over with her demands is something i cannot allow.
And the twist is, my sister is in a relationship with a guy from a different religion (which my family will not be cool with) and this is a fucking time bomb that i have to diffuse or at-least make the necessary arrangements to minimize the fallout. My family doesn’t know about this (ignorance is bliss) and I’m the one cursed with this knowledge. My sister doesn’t realize how much effort i put into advocating for her education and financial independence & she continues to make stupid statements like “ I want to at-least spend One Crore in my weeding” adding even more fuel to the dumpster fire I’m trying to suppress.
If i tell my sister the actuality of the situation I’m protecting her from, I’m afraid this idiot might elope & cause irreparable damage to her ties with my family, to make matters even worse if it doesn’t work out for her, she’ll have no place left to go. If she were to simply insist on finishing her Master’s first, at least by that time we’ll be doing financially better and at the very least she will actually have a greater say & control over own life to deal with ensuing consequences. We have no choice but to play the long game, to play our cards right & these idiots seem to complicate things when I’m trying to undo the fuck-ups.

Look look look, I know. I know.
It's another guy constructing a cinematic universe. Trust me with this one, I've planned ahead rather than just going one movie at a time, there is an actual structure to it.
This story is going to be a closed one. Three arcs that each have three phases, so while it is huge (if you want to compare it to where the MCU is right now, we would be at the halfway point, right in the middle of the second arc/saga), it is not infinite. There will be a final event to ends everyone's arcs and stories, no loose threads.
Schedule

• X-Men: Regenesis
• Untitled Deadpool sequel
• The Sub-Mariner
• Captain America
• The Hellfire Club
• The Wolverine: Weapon X
• X-Men: Hellfire and Brimstone
• Black Panther: Enemy of the State
• The Astonishing Ant-Man
• Fantastic Four
• The Sub-Mariner: War of the Worlds
• X-Men: Schism

As you can see, phase one is mostly mutant-based as I want fresh ideas and characters to start the universe off. While this phase doesn't have one movie involving every single player, the last two have all the major factions except for one.

X-Men: Regenesis

This is an origin film for the X-Men set just before whatever present day would be in this timeline. We will be going with the classic six-man First Class which consists of Charles Xavier, Cyclops, Iceman, Jean Grey, Beast and Angel.
We will have William Stryker and Bolivar Trask as minor side characters who, while not prejudiced against mutants just yet, are distrustful of the new mutant gene that is beginning to show itself in humans.
Xavier is our protagonist for the film, we explore his psyche and issues with self-worth and thinking he's a failure because of his brother, who is the main villain in this film: Cain Marko a.k.a. the Juggernaut. He creates the team to stop the Juggernaut as he knows he can't do it alone, hence the formation of the team. Cyclops and Jean Grey don't get together in this film but there is some chemistry there. Cyclops' arc is learning to be a better communicator and leader, as he wants to lead the team but finds himself not being a good leader at times. Jean and Beast have doubts about their power - Beast's being more doubts about his form - and being mutant in general which Xavier helps him with. Iceman's arc is about accepting his difference from everyone else. It's key to point out that he doesn't have doubts about his power but rather the social aspect of it, knowing he isn't like everyone else (this is obviously foreshadowing for the inevitable outing, I don't like making a character's sexuality a big deal I think it should just be who they are but for Bobby it's a bit different). Finally, Angel is unlike the others. While the others are all getting to grips with their roles in a team and their mutant powers, Angel is slightly older than the others (minus Xavier of course) and is comfortable with his power, he just doesn't care much for being part of a team, having to be convinced by the fact that Juggernaut is a challenge for him rather than the team aspect of it. While he doesn't complete this arc in any way, it is clear he makes baby steps towards being more open with his teammates by the end.
No cameos, no references to other characters or anything. Just let it be a self-contained story.

Untitled Deadpool sequel

I have nothing to say about this movie. Let Deadpool do whatever he wants to, hopping from universe to universe, ending up in this continuity at some point. To be clear, this is Deadpool 3, sequel to the first two Deadpool movies that are real and exist in the real world. I would be willing to throw major money at this to get some cameos or even slightly larger roles from characters from the Fox universe as well as the MCU since both universes are basically irrelevant now. I would especially love to get interaction between characters who were unceremoniously recast such as the two Yukios and the two Sabretooths. Maybe Cable and the MCU Thanos share a scene? Do whatever you want guys, have fun.

The Sub-Mariner

This should be a direct horror adaptation of Peter Milligan's The Sub-Mariner: The Depths. That is it. The director may introduce side character such as Lady Dorma, Namora and Namorita if they want to but it's really up to them how they want Namor to be characterised, by his relationships or by the plot itself. If I could, I would get Guillermo Del Toro on this. For the unfamiliar, The Depths is a horror storyline that showcases Namor from the perspective of a fleet of ships on the surface, he is the monster rather than the hero.

Captain America

This too would be an almost direct adaptation of Rick Remender and John Romita Jr's Castaway in Dimension Z. No origin needed, general audiences know Captain America by now, no need to go over it again. Arnim Zola as your act one villain, get some quick period piece stuff in the first act, send him to Dimension Z and then have a three act structure there creating a four act film with Green Skull as your main villain, with Jet Zola and Ian Zola as supporting characters. When Cap eventually gets out of Dimension Z with Ian at his side, he is greeted by Sharon Carter revealing that he has come back to 70 years in the future. Cap is now in present day.

The Hellfire Club

Get Rian Johnson in, he can make a Knives Out style mystery thriller using the Hellfire Club characters. The characters I will be using are Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, Donald Pierce, Mastermind, Harry Leland, Selene, Fredrich van Roehm (who is the victim) and Emmanuel Da Costa, as well as Tessa in a cameo
This is set just before present day too.

The Wolverine: Weapon X

Weapon X origin for Wolverine, re-treading properly after the shitshow that was the last Weapon X movie. This should be a pretty faithful adaptation of Weapon X vol. 1 #1-#4 however, not diverting from that story too much, mainly in the involvement of Dr. Abraham Cornelius rather than William Stryker. I would get Matthew Vaughn for this one to give it a bit of period aesthetic while also allowing the movie to have a distinct mix of subtly funny while not shying away from the fucked up nature of it all. I want every movie in the Wolverine story to have a unique directorial vision.

X-Men: Hellfire and Brimstone

This movie brings the elements of the last two films together with the X-Men to mark the phase as a connected universe before the second half of the phase which is a lot more disconnected and less mutant-focused.
This movie is basically the X-Men against the Hellfire Club, who are plotting to take over the government of Nigeria where there the population boom is also resulting in a mutation boom. Xavier's started the school for the gifted in between films, and we introduce Storm as a new recruit to the team. Xavier knows he's up against it and decides to recruit Wolverine too just before the midpoint of the film.
The big twist halfway through is that Angel is a double agent working for the Hellfire Club, revealing that he only joined the X-Men after Shaw asked him to keep tabs on powerful mutants. The final battle ends up killing a few Hellfire Club members (Pierce, Da Costa and Selene) and destroys property, which catches the attention of Stryker and Trask once again. Trask decides to begin developing countermeasures.

Black Panther: Enemy of the State

Another pretty faithful adaptation, Black Panther in a political struggle with the White Wolf (the actual White Wolf character who is T'Challa's brother, not Bucky Barnes). Storm is our main love interest, although Nakia is present as an ex which causes tension in the group somewhat. Achebe and White Wolf succeed in their coup, making Black Panther an actual 'enemy of the state', which is when Captain America and Everett Ross join the fray on behalf of the US government who find Achebe and the White Wolf to be dangerous to the larger political landscape, eventually discovering Wakanda's true nature after contact with T'Challa. When T'Challa's mother Queen Ramonda protests against the White Wolf in public, she is assassinated in cold blood. This begins the third act as it completely instabilises the country as people realise that the new power may not be better in the long-term, the final fight being essentially the Wakandan Civil War.

The Astonishing Ant-Man

The Ant-Man in question here is Hank Pym, but Janet van Dyne is not quite the Wasp yet. Our feature villain is Absorbing Man but we may have a minor antagonistic role from Titania (maybe have Titania played by a wrestler? Charlotte Flair would be the perfect one I think but Britt Baker or Rhea Ripley would do a job too). Finesse and Hazmat would probably make good side characters too, just get Edgar Wright on this and let him have free reign.

Doctor Strange: Sorceror Supreme

This is a tricky one because I like where Doctor Strange is right now in the MCU a lot. This is going to be more of a soft reboot, have the same actors and keep the first two films in memory without the mentions to the larger MCU. So while Strange hasn't fought the Scarlet Witch and doesn't have knowledge of the other multiverses, he is at that same point in his friendship with Wong and in his skills. We will however be recasting Nicodermus as a lower level sorceror salty at Strange for not helping him after his wife died, and have him tap into the dark dimension to try and steal Strange's power, causing Clea to come to Earth and warn Strange before the two along with Wong go and solve things. Mordo shows up too, helping Nicodermus as he believes Strange to be part of the problem about abusing magic.
Strange's arc in this film is learning to trust Clea and realising he should use his power whenever possible to help others rather than holding himself to the rules he sets for himself.
Cameo from Nightmare in a post-credit scene.

Fantastic Four

Introduce them in the modern day, put em together, boom
I know it sounds ridiculous considering the failures of previous films but Matt Shahman is someone I trust I'll let him on for this project. Mole Man is the villain, and Victor von Doom is present for a couple of scenes involving the Baxter foundation selling some sort of technology to the country of Latveria.
Reed and Sue are together from the beginning of the film and while their relationship's turbulence post-incident forms the core of the film, their bond is stronger than ever by the end of it. We should have Alicia Masters too with Ben, but the two's relationship is a lot more turbulent even before they get powers, and while the powers don't end their relationship it puts more strain on it than ever before. Johnny has his laundry list of non-committed relationships and how each of the four characters tackles love and differs from it is the starting point for how we will create the dynamics between them. While Mole Man doesn't directly challenge these dynamics as a character, he should try and poke holes in the team this way, giving a little more credence to the 'mole' part of his character.
Cameos from Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock out of costume as a lawyer defending a victim of some sort of dangerous tech that was stolen from the Baxter building, and a slightly more extended one from Tom Holland's Spider-Man who fights Mole Man at the very start of the film and the pair's fight unwittingly causes the accident that gives the F4 their powers.

The Sub-Mariner: War of the Worlds

Much like Captain America: Civil War, this is a movie that features two warring factions but as the title suggest is still part of the story of one primary character: Namor.
This is primarily a Namor movie, introduce side character if Guillermo didn't want to in the first film: namely Namora, Lady Dorma, Namorita, Llyra and Stingray. They are all on Namor's side during this, we will explore inter-Atlantean conflicts later I want there to be tension between members but no outright fights. The other side of the war is, of course, Black Panther. Our supporting characters are Shuri, Monica Lynne, Nakia, Storm and Okoye. Storm's stoic nature makes her absent from the conflict but she is still there during discussions.
Something about Atlanteans being killed in a Wakandan mining operation or something, it escalates, Atlantis declares war on Atlantis. Namor's side will of course have their own tensions as some disagree with a declaration of war while others push him to go to war. T'Challa resists at first and is purely defensive. In an Atlantean attack on Wakanda, the royal palace is put under siege and Nakia dies, turning the dynamic between the two countries on its head as T'Challa, wracked with guilt, decides to go on the offensive to a mixed response from his own camp.
The tensions between the two sides are prominent but we should find a way to separate them from their councils. Eventually Okoye and Shuri come to blows in the wreckage of Wakanda's capital while T'Challa is away, while Stingray disagrees with Namor's methods and decides to help Wakanda.
Okoye and Shuri get more and more tense and Okoye gets the upper hand and nearly stabs Shuri before she stops and all the trauma the nation has suffered comes back to the both of them. Okoye drops her spear and the two reconcile just in time for T'Challa and Namor to face off alone.
Our final battle is a personal one between the two rather than some big war. Pure fisticuffs. The two go toe to toe and are evenly matched, but the fight is broken up by Storm who finally puts an end to everything by intervening and forcing the two to come to a truce. I'm justifying that Storm can stop both of them as T'Challa obviously has a relationship with her and water conducts electricity so Storm should realistically be able to beat him.

X-Men: Schism

Professor X's philosophy of stopping evil after it becomes a problem and Cyclops' need to stop whoever could possibly be a threat causes tension between the two, and this combined with both characters wanting to lead the team results in a fracturing of the team while dealing with Bolivar Trask, who has finally finished his Sentinels after the end of the second X-Men film.
The Hellfire Club also features of course, being prosecuted by the Sentinels too, resulting in a shaky truce between the X-Men and the Club. Much like Civil War, the 'villain' is defeated by the end of the second act only for another act to appear as after the Sentinels are destroyed, the mutants continue to bicker and eventually come to blows. Emma Frost, having begun to see the righteousness in Xavier's ways, sides with him, as do Beast, Angel and Storm. Cyclops is joined by Jean Grey, Iceman, Wolverine and Kitty Pryde, whereas Colossus decides to leave the X-Men altogether and the rest of the Hellfire Club leave. However before they can leave, Cyclops accidentally burns Angel's wings and Emma and Xavier both try and paralyse Mastermind at the same time causing Mastermind's mind to fracture and him to go brain-dead. This is just too much for the group and they go their separate ways, Jean taking Cyclops and his guys away.
Just in case we're unclear on how the mutants are split:-

• Xavier's team: Professor X, Emma Frost, Beast, Storm
• Scott's team: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Wolverine, Kitty Pryde
• MIA: Angel, Colossus

And that's how we end the phase. The X-Men are fractured, Wakanda and Atlantis are at an extremely shaky truce, Captain America just woke up in modern times, Doctor Strange is reaching his prime, and the Fantastic Four and Ant-Man are now established.
The next phase will focus on expanding the mutants further with smaller branched teams and assembling the Avengers.

I write book reviews on Half Past Midnight, a blog dedicated to the surreal world of fantasy and science fiction.
As a reader who dislikes waiting for stories to be completed, I decided to pick up Jenn Lyons' A Chorus of Dragons when the last part of the series was published. I prefer my book series long, sprawlingly ambitious, and complete. For me, the first book in the series, The Ruin of Kings - ticked off all these boxes, and a lot more.

Plot

The first of a series of five huge books (each clocking in about six hundred pages), The Ruin of Kings is a hot, glorious mess. Set in the fictional empire of Quur, the story takes place in a world rife with politics and magic, with plenty of plotting and backstabbing to top it off. This book is divided into parts and starts with a conversation between the main character, Kihrin, and his jailor, a creature named Talon.
Although it's not clear why Talon is holding him captive, she soon forces her prisoner to recount his story for her so she can record it. In between, she interjects with her own narration of his life (due to reasons I do not want to spoil for you.) Kihrin starts from a point in his life where he was sold into slavery and eventually came into Talon's grasp. On the other hand, Talon prefers to go back further in time, right back to Kihrin's childhood, where everything started. The narration alternates between the two for a major part of the book.
Kihrin's past is rife with murky secrets and shady dealings... which eventually led him into trouble when he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. After discovering his real identity, he soon becomes embroiled in a web of political intrigue and deception which reaches far back into the annals of history.
Quur is a dangerous place to live in. There are demons roaming on the streets, monsters lurking in the seas, and cruel dragons holding prisoners of their own. But worse than these are the monsters that are human. Evil takes many forms in this story, and not all of them are unpleasant to look at.

Except real evil isn’t a demon or a rogue wizard. Real evil is an empire like Quur, a society that feeds on its poor and its oppressed like a mother eating her own children. Demons and monsters are obvious; we’ll always band together to fight them off. But real evil, insidious evil, is what lets us just walk away from another person’s pain and say, well, that’s none of my business.

Kihrin soon discovers that he is now a pawn in a game much larger than himself - a game that is tied to the very fate of the world. This world has a bloody history filled with ancient prophecies about mortals, immortals, demons, and witches, all of which are interpreted by different factions and religions in their own ways.
The Ruin of Kings was very hard for me to get into at first. There were just so many different families, creatures, gods, and prophecies that it took a while to finally understand what the characters were even referring to. To top that, there are characters who have similar names, who have lived multiple lives in different people's bodies. That means you can never really be sure who you are talking to. All of this, coupled with extremely tangled family trees, the complex narration jumping to and fro in time, and a general feeling of what-the-hell-is-happening, made it really hard to figure out what was going on in the first few chapters. Honestly, you just have to bear with those chapters to get through to the part where it gets good. Don't make the same mistake as me: use the glossary at the back. Take notes if you have to. This book rewards careful reading, but you'll have to put in the effort.
About a third into the book, I finally reached the point where I could not put it down. Once it finds its rhythm, it becomes a page-turner not afraid to subvert tropes. There are several moments where the story takes turns you just didn't see coming. This results in a delicious experience that takes its time to develop into an epic conflict.

Characters

Kihrin meets a host of fascinating characters throughout the story - a sea witch with a bad temper, a demon with a flair for colorful vocabulary, and goddesses who like to move mortals around like pawns in a game of chess. Everybody wants something - and they are often different things. The various characters have their own agendas to fulfill and motivations to fuel them, lingering between various shades of black and white. Lyons does an excellent job of making these characters feel real to get us invested in their stories and relationships.

Kihrin

Kihrin is an extremely flawed protagonist who struggles with his own identity and the weight of his destiny. He struggles to do the right thing while balancing the darker streak in him. At the same time, he's also witty and clever enough to think on his feet, making for a complex character that has you rooting for him despite all the mistakes he makes.

“I don’t want to be a pawn,” I said.
“Good. This is a war, not chess.”

Worldbuilding

The world-building in this book is very detailed and intricate. The world is vast and has multiple kingdoms and religions, all with their own cultures and beliefs. Although we only visit a few of them at the moment, I have a feeling we'll see a lot more of them in the future. Plus, the magic system has clear and well-defined rules, often intertwining with politics in strange and unexpected ways. Coupled with a host of gods, demons, wizards and dragons, it makes for lore that is rich and fun to sink your teeth into.

“Sooner or later, everything falls: waves, empires, races, even gods.”

Clearly, a lot of time was spent on creating the mythology of Quur and it shows. However, it does tend to be a little messy and overwhelming at times. A lot of the names are too similar and there were chapters where I found myself going back to a previous part to look up information and connect the dots.

Writing Style

For me, the writing style was the weakest part of this book. Although the prose is engaging and the dialogue is witty, the way it is presented make it hard to get into initially. There were multiple info dumps in places, and the constant flow of new information feels overwhelming at times. With way too many plot threads, the shifting timelines, convoluted history, and magic dynamics make it harder to keep track of the story. It does have a payoff but requires a lot of effort on the reader's part initially.
There were too many points where I thought of giving up. I wish that the story had followed a linear or a simpler narrative format to draw readers in, at least for the first part - when they are still deciding whether to continue with the rest of the series.

In Conclusion

Ultimately, The Ruin of Kings is a story about the blurred lines between black and white, about destiny and identity. It weaves together an impressive conclusion enriched by its detailed world-building, grey characters, and solid magic system. This is something that would make an excellent reread once you know how it ends - there are so many nuanced details that are very easy to miss on a first read.
For all its strengths, the story still has its issues, marred by the narrative structure and expository style, which seems too overwhelming to properly enjoy for the first half. However, continuing with it is a rewarding experience. This story will delight fans of G.R.R.M, Robert Jordan, and Brandon Sanderson, who like their tales epically ambitious and filled with adventure and danger.
Although it took quite a while to read this huge book, I kept thinking about it long after turning the last page. I thought I would need a bit of a break with a shorter story before starting the next book, but I couldn’t follow through on that and started the next part the very same day :)