I original signed up and have been training for my first half marathon which was supposed to be this Saturday (4 days away). This particular race includes a 2200ft elevation gain and it’s on a mountain I live close to, so I’ve actually been running the whole 13.1 distance every week for the last month. I felt super prepared until an hour ago when I found out that race was canceled due to trail construction (so frustrating). I’ve been doing so well training for this event and getting my body ready that I do not want to waste this. My friend suggested I sign up for the half marathon she is doing this Saturday (same race day as my original half). The tricky part is, the half she has been doing is a completely downhill course. At first I thought “great I’ll be faster than I usually run” but then I started thinking about running downhill and how I could injure myself if I don’t have proper form. I only have two more days of tapering runs that I now plan on using to work on my downhill form and then race day is Saturday!
I’m googling like crazy but does anyone have any good downhill training advice? I’m so excited but also nervous I’m going to mess up my knees or something awful like that. TYIA for any advice!

So earlier I did some Googling to get a hold of the business link and it seems to have disappeared. I am looking to setup a new business in my town of Northampton however not sure which type to go for. I have a degree in business but most of my career is in customer services in the personal lines motor insurance sector and my work includes claims payments and counter-fraud experience. I want to get some understanding too of the market in the town however when I contacted the ONS they gave me a link to some stats database which just looked quite frankly a load of gobbledygook. I was hoping to get some kind of graphs or easily readable material on what parts were growing or to discover a niche somewhere in the market. Any advice welcome, thanks.

Hi, I just wanted to write this because I was struggling badly with heart anxiety/cardiophobia. At the time it felt like there would never be a way out and I was going to die of a cardiac episode very soon.
I want to reassure the people struggling with this specific type of anxiety and show that there is light at the end of the tunnel. For me it all started last year after I experienced left arm numbness (due to panic attack but didn’t know at the time) and I called an ambulance because I was convinced that was it, I was dying. This was the start of a vicious cycle for me, from that day onwards I started getting daily palpitations & chest pain. I had visited the hospital emergency department(a&e) multiple times and even daily at one point. They did multiple tests and reassured me I was okay. It started to make me feel as though I was crying out for help no one was listening and I WAS going to die. They referred me to cardiology where they did an Echo& 48 hour holter. Both resulted came back remarkable NAD detected.
Of course this wasn’t enough for me, because I KNEW I was going to die and my heart wasn’t healthy (so I thought). It got to the point where I’d end up in the resuscitation part of the hospital because I’d panic so bad my heart went to 190bpm which was again confirmed as anxiety. I wasn’t living, I was solely waking up to worry I was going to die that day, everyday.
Early this year it got to the point I realised physically and mentally I cannot do it anymore. Checking my pulse everyday and worrying I’ll go into cardiac arrest suddenly wasn’t living at all. I read somewhere that doing things that make you anxious over and over makes you feel more comfortable and it becomes easier. So I started looking after myself more & trying to be more active… I’m not 100% heart anxiety free but I’m slowly getting there. Worrying 24/7 won’t prevent something happening to you, it’ll just ruin the life and happiness you currently have. That was a hard thing for me to learn and get over but it’s true. In order for me to be able to do things without worrying every second I had to realise this isn’t healthy and it won’t prevent a cardiac event if anything the lifestyle it caused would’ve probably made it more likely.
Do the things that scare you or create your anxiety, it’ll make you so happy to be able to say ‘I beat that and chose freedom’.
This doesn’t go to say if you are worried don’t get checked out, it’s better to be safe. But if you’re like me & you’ve had the tests and reassurance then this is probably the post for you.
If anyone is struggling with this I’m more then happy to chat:)

Hi, I’m currently exploring evolution after having been brought up as a YEC in a Baptist family. I’m considering reading some of Richard Dawkins’ books (just saw an amazing video in which he explains how the evolution of the eye is not “irreducibly complex”), but noticed this critical review on the Amazon page for his book The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. As I’m very new to all this, I can’t really make heads or tails of whether this reviewer’s arguments are in any way valid, or totally fallacious. So, I was curious if anyone here more knowledgable than myself on the subject might have any thoughts/could help me out? I just don’t want to go from believing one thing (which I now think is likely false) straight to believing another, without adequately exploring it and any potentially-valid arguments from its detractors. Thanks.
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Greatest Show on Earth: Issues
The reason expositors of Darwinian theory like Dawkins cannot convince independent thinkers that the theory is believable is that they do not address the important questions. They prefer instead to demolish over and over again the straw man of the denial of evolution. Evolution is a fact, but the explanation of the how of evolution is, in my opinion, not. In Darwin's theory of evolution, natural selection is the explanation of the how of evolution. This theory within a theory leaves so many basic questions unanswered that it is not credible. The review, then, is about the gaps in the theory of natural selection, or what I refer to as important questions not addressed. A couple of points about this review. First, this book is as much a defense of Darwinian theory as it is of evolution. So there is much about that theory in this review. Second, the review is written as if evolutionary-developmental biology (evo-devo) does not exist. That omission is not something the reviewer can remedy.
Important question not addressed (IQNA) 1: the nature of variation: the size of variants. Although Darwin devotes three chapters in Origin to the subject of variation, Dawkins, like almost every other writer (an exception is Kirshchner and Gerhart with their Plausibility of life) has nothing to say about variation, other than that it is random. Variation and selection are the concepts that are the alpha and omega of Darwinian theory. This same theory that Dawkins touts as the most important in biology has one of its two pillars explained in one word, random. And in a word that has several dictionary definitions.
Consider the meaning of random: unpredictable, haphazard, yielding different outcomes under identical conditions. Chance is another term that is used in the present regard. But all of this tells us little. It tells us nothing about the size of variants or about the quantity of the variability. Let's consider size. Are variants itty bitty things, or are they or may they be "chunks." Darwin was steadfast that variants (what we today would call the phenotypic effects of mutation) are imperceptibly small. "Insensibly fine" was probably his favorite phraseology in the present regard. But to leave no doubt, he also (1st ed. Origin) used "infinitesimally small." It is important whether variation is small or large. Size affects the speed of evolution and its perceptibility. If variant size is small, this explains why we cannot see evolution unfolding before our eyes, why it may be like the hour hand of a clock. Small variants are convenient to the Darwinian theorist because they seem to deal with the issue of how new variants are formed. Who will be so uncharitable as to begrudge Darwin the sudden appearance of an insensibly fine variation that accretes something useful to what already exists in the organism? For it is another matter when variation is large. For example, if someone claimed that a full-blown wing or even a full blown feather had appeared suddenly as the result of mutation, the general reaction would be that of incredulity. "How is it possible for dumb molecules to do this?" people would wonder. There would be general disbelief. Insensibly fine variants are congruent with Darwin's thinking because the phenomenon seems consistent with a naturalistic explanation of phenomena, which kind of explanation was Darwin's goal. Large variants betoken guidance, direction, constraint, not a naturalistic process unless it is a most peculiar such process.
Dawkins goes along with Darwin's position that variants are always small, despite the fact that examples of mega-mutations pepper his book. Not to mention that everyone knows about large mutational leaps, even Darwin. Darwin and Dawkins tell us that the large change effected by artificial selection often come about not by the the tedious accumulation of insensibly fine variants over a long period of time, but by the sudden appearance of sports. What happens is that there is the sudden appearance of a "sport," maybe monstrous size or the opposite. The breeder uses the "monster" to breed the great dane. By taking advantage of these saltational changes, it was possible to create the basset hound. Dawkins tells the reader about the gene that is responsible for both the basset hound and dwarfism in humans. And tumbling in tumbler pigeons and pointing in pointers, these are mutant characteristics that suddenly appeared. No animal breeder, Darwin tells us would have ever thought of producing such characteristics if they were not already apparent in nature.
In the same vein, who doesn't by now know that if you expose fruit flies to a mutagen, you can cause a leg to grow out of the head instead of antenna? This, by the way, is a mutation also commonly found in nature. And there are numerous other examples of saltatory mutations in flies. There's an eyeless gene whose mutant form is the absence of eyes, a tinman gene whose mutant form is a highly anomalous heart. You can go on and on and on. Of course, there is blue eye color vs. brown in humans and as in Mendel's, research smooth vs. wrinkled seeds, and on and on. One wonders whether there are any micro mutations that we do know about?! So why this continued drum beat about variation being insensibly fine? Can it be that large, perceptible mutations, like antenna in the wrong place, are inexplicable and that they betoken, if not demonstrate, variation that is not random? One must wonder why he cannot get a straight answer about the size of variants (i.e., mutations) from biology. One must also wonder how Darwin can talk about the accumulation of insensibly small changes when he himself adduces so much evidence that nature produces huge amount of variation that is saltatory, large sudden changes in organisms. Does he not see the contradiction? Ditto for Dawkins. And not unimportantly, does not the huge evidence for saltatory variation, to use Darwin's own phraseology, "annihilate" his theory?
IQNA 2: Where does variation come from, especially the insensibly fine variation? And how does successive variation accumulate to change an organ or organism? The Darwinian idea or ideal is that there is a pool of insensibly fine variants in an interbreeding group that provides the raw material for natural selection. Darwin referred to this variation as individual differences. Suppose the finches with large beaks are more successful in producing progeny than those with smaller beaks. The next generation will have on the average larger beaks than the previous one. Not only that, but the variants that are produced by the next generation will be on the average larger. The distribution of differences will have been moved upwards. If living conditions remain unchanged, the larger beaks of the new generation will produce an increased number of progeny. In this way, the beak will get larger over successive generations. This is the main way, for Darwin, for evolution to occur--small modifications over many successive generations accumulating to produce large change.
But where do these important variants that differ insensibly from that of the parent's come from. You read a lot about mutations that produce large, saltatory change (e.g., the gene for PKU, for hemophilia, etc.), but not about those that produce the insensibly fine change. Dawkins credits all variation to mutation, but he furnishes no detail--does he mean the insensibly fine modifications are mutations, too?. Without an explanation of the origin of insensibly fine modifications, the theory is (as Darwin would say) "fatally" incomplete.
And just how do slight modifications accumulate? There are so many scenarios one can imagine, it is bewildering. I'll illustrate with one. Simultaneously, 100 (or any number of members of the same species pass the same mutation on to an offspring. This can go on day after day even hour after hour. You instantly have, after only the first round, 100 strains of the species. At the same time, a second mutation is being passed on to a different 100 offspring. I ask the question that Darwin himself asked (Origin): "Why is not all nature in confusion instead of the species being as we see them, well defined?" In another place, he asks: "Why are not all organic beings blended into an inextricable chaos?" I am unpersuaded by Darwin's answer, and Dawkins does not address the matter.
And finally on this matter of how mutations accumulate. Take the creature that is an incipient giraffe. It passes a mutation for (insensibly fine) elongated neck to an offspring. This same kind of thing is going to happen for myriad successive generations, each time the neck being lengthened a bit. Question: Is the mutation for the myriad lengthenings the same, or is each mutation distinct? I don't know the answer. This is the most basic of questions; but it is not addressed by Darwin or Dawkins or in any book of the same genre as Dawkins'. I don't know about the textbooks
IQNA 3: Can imperceptibly small variants make a difference in fitness? Fitness, in the present context, means reproductive prowess or ability to pass one's genes to the next generations. We have seen that many variants (mutations) are quite large, anything but insensibly fine. But there may be cases where variants are insensibly fine. The question is whether such small changes can make a difference for the organism's fitness. The question here is not whether insensibly fine changes can accumulate to somerthing perceptible. It is whether such small change can increase fitness. I don't think this has been empirically demonstrated. And I think there are good reasons for believing this is not probable, if even possible. Consider the noise background consisting of all the changes simultaneously taking place. When writers like Dawkins talk about some selection pressure, such as drought or predation, they act as if no other selection pressures are operating at the same time. But that is the furthest thing from the truth. Finally, there is the intelligence of the organism that is going to overwhelm any effect of an insensibly fine variant. Weiner, in his account of the research of the Grants on Darwin's finches, tells of birds that wedge seeds into crevices and apply outside pressure when it becomes too hard to crack seed with the beak. Since the effect of intelligence is unlikely to correlate with some random variant, its likely large effect on fitness will drown out any effect from the variant, in this case, size of beak.
IQNA 4: What about the qualitative nature of variation? We have considered size variation, like the size of a beak. But what about qualitative variation? Birds uniquely have feathers and beaks; mammals, hair, mammary glands. There are qualitative differences within the individual organisms. The eye is not an ear, which is not a heart, which is not limb, and so on. There are innumerable qualitative differences in behavior. There are intraorgan differences that are qualitative. There are different parts of the eye. There are intratrait qualitative differences, such as differences in eye color, blood type, flower color, seed texture, melanin. Amazingly, Dawkins has written a tome about evolution without using the term allele. Let's talk about one qualitative variant, the angle the contour feather shaft on a bird makes with the surface of the body - call it the feather angle. There are easily infinitely many possibilities, since even one degree may be divided into infinitely many divisions. How fortunate for the bird that it mutated a feather angle that improved fitness. If the feather shaft stuck straight out from the body at a 90 degree angle, that would not have been useful as a contour feather that has to lie close to the body to give the body a sleek, aerodynamic form. By far, the greatest number of possible angles would not be useful to the organism. Yet just the right angle appeared. Or possibly the mutation that puts the tinniest feather or an incipient feather on a featherless creature occurred myriad times, improving the probability that in at least one case the angle would be beneficial. It is issues like this that should be carefully explicated by Dawkins, not seemingly hidden under the rug.
IQNA 5. In what way is variation random? Dawkins tells us that variation is random; yet it is obviously the case that variation is not random in important respects. Mutation repeats itself in nature and in the lab. How can this be random? Alleles are greatly limited in number and kind. If there are two possible alleles, one a beneficial one and the other not; in what meaningful way is variation random? Feathers do not grow on pigs, but only on birds. Obviously not random. It is so obviously the case that variation is constrained. How does this constraint come about? Dawkins will not acknowledge that there an issue here..The notion that random mutation, mutation that is not biased or constrained so that it is relevant and/or useful to the the individual's life situation can get the job done requires an act of faith incongruous in empirical science. Or is there magic in the world after all? That anything, however simple, could evolve if dependent on purely random variation, I don't think, is credible. Let's talk about eyes, all sorts of them. Why would an eyespot ever spontaneously spring into existence, say on a flatworm, as the result of a random event. And why would this be followed by the appearance of a nerve that attaches itself to the eyespot, and this a random event, too? This is more improbable than the appearance of the eyespot. And why on descendents of this flatworm, would there be the recessing of the tissue containing it into a pocket containing the eyespot? And why would the eyspot move till it is centered perfectly at the back of the pocket? And on and on and on. Do such things occur indiscriminately? For example, do eyespots spring up in guts or anuses or nostrils or on tails, etc.? Or are they reserved for eye-appropriate places, like the anterior surface of the organism? Can light-sensitivity, for example, appear anywhere on or in the organism, like in the gut, on the tail, in a nostril? If not,why not? But back to the main point, things do not spontaneously happen. Consider that life has originated one time in 4.6 billion years on this planet.
On the matter of characteristics spontaneously appearing, evolutionary biologists are quick to point out that nothing appears de novo, that everything originates from a precursor. Which explains why there are not feathers on pigs. This posture gets the biologist off the hook for explaining beginnings, something not easy to do. Darwin would not discuss beginnings, either of life or of an organ, like an eye.
No one, not Darwin, not Dawkins, would deny that variation is constrained by the nature of the organism in question. Which is why there are feathers only on birds. The big question is the nature of the constraint. So what is it about the peahen that causes it to be inflamed sexually by eyespots on the tail of the peacock, but not by squares, triangles, or crescent moons, which do not, in fact, embellish peacocks?
IQNA 6. What is the role of behavior, intelligence, and adaptability in Darwin's theory. Behavior is what the theory is really all about. Organs, like feathers, wings, eyes, limbs, enable organisms to behave, to hunt, to defend, to love, to enjoy, to reason etc. Yet hardly anything is said about behavior by Darwin. Dawkins says nothing. Darwin talks expressly about instinct, but instinct is a small part of behavior, especially in primates. But Darwin give a great many examples of intelligent, adaptable behavior in his making of various points. In fact, Darwin's examples of adaptability (flexibility, resourcefulness, etc.) make one wonder if adaptability won't preempt or make unnecessary natural selection. For if an organism can deal with any crisis (famine, predation, disease, etc.) by the use of its wits, why does it need to change physically. This last is a very old idea.
In conclusion, The greatest show on earth, does not help the cause of Darwinism.

Hi, I won't write a lot about myself because I am scared of exposing my identity But I'll quickly write what I experienced. When I was 13 I began experiencing gender dysphoria but accepting myself as me would mean that I would lose everything and everyone (abandonment issues much lol) so when I was 15 I cut this part of me off, embracing the fact that I'll never be myself. For 3 years it worked just fine but now I am all alone in a foreign country and those thoughts are catching up to me, I am constantly confused on what gender am I A part of me says that I should slowly embrace myself as that's who I am Another part replies with - you are born a man but what stops you from just being feminine? I feel so disgusted at myself, for wanting to be in a relationship with a trans person, not because the fact that the person themselves are trans, rather at myself, for since I still technically identify as a cis-male - I feel like some fucking chaser, which makes me hate myself even more.
Anyways.. I hope no one reads this and I just go on with my day till I eventually kill myself finally but at least I'll be glad for once that I was honest with myself here

I have seen a lot of posts here on how to slide in DM's or approach women. Here are some corny/cheesy pickup lines you can use and where to use them, but remember confidence is key. It might or might not work. One thing to keep in mind is there plenty of fish in the sea.
When in an elevator:
If you are the two of you, especially the one's that have some sort of mirror that you can see the other person's reflection. Casually say to her you have dropped something , her instincts will be to look down. As soon as she looks up back again, chances are she will stare back at you, that's when you strike and say " There it is, i meant your beautiful smile be careful not to loose it again". Even if she wasn't smiling chances are she will immediately smile mpaka uone molars na premolars, then pick it from there.
When in a matatu:
For this too work ensure you are not in one of those loud matatus, one requirement you have to be sitting on the seat close to the window, and she is next to you and say " nifungue dirisha ama roho" . This doesn't work on baddies wale when they speak English you start considering getting a refund from your highschool English teacher. If it's a must then say " i know this matatu will get you to your destination safely i can show you another route, one to my heart feel free to call it your second home, the fact that your heart is beating inside of you and am not just makes me jealous". If you have one of those faces that only a mother can love i got bad news for you. Otherwise she will immediately blush pick it from there.
In DMs:
Start by saying something funny/pun/joke/punchline. The hi's and hey's just won't cut it. Something that can keep the conversation going. Here is one
" I am not sure if you had but, i think it was in citizen or NTV it made the news all over, a lion ambushed and killed its' cubs , unfortunately none survived. So sad..... it's like it had no simbathy.."
or
" What happened when the 37 mathematicians decided to climb the 36 seater bus?.....they carried the one "
if you send any of this or something similar and you get no reaction, pack you bags and leave,at times kenyan ladies have a very poor sense of humor the joke/pun will go over their heads . If you have to explain a pun or joke then the streets can have her.
You can also quote one of your favorite TV shows and maybe see if she can reply with what the character said after, or complete the quote.If there are any The office fans here they can know who said this "..Toby is in HR, which technically means he works for corporate. So he’s not really a part of our family. Also, he’s divorced, so he’s not really a part of his family...". pick it from there
Good luck hombres!

Isle of Conquest question. (For frame of reference, I am honor level 40 and very long time player)
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OK, up till the last patch, 10.1, horde always went for HangaMid and Ally always went for docks, because it is op. Horde would get demos and siege, the team would protect them and use them to bash the east gate. Ally would get glaives and hit horde west gate.
Now all of a sudden the last couple weeks, Horde and Ally are both trying to rush Hangar and usually ignoring docks and mid. The teams I have been on, people froth at the mouth and scream if anyone tries to go mid or docks.
When demolishers arrive, no one protects them or even uses them to hit gates, they either let them get attacked or they bring them to hangar to use for protection. The siege engine always gets ignored and destroyed.
The worst part is that NO ONE KNOWS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. No one remembers the old strategy of 2 weeks ago and no one has any clue that docks is the better strategy because glaives are super op.
WTF is happening? Was there a meeting I missed? The strategy is way less effective than the old strat so why are people doing it? I feel like I am in my own personal episode of Twilight Zone.

i don’t know how to word any of this but i’m soooo miserable rn i’ve been restricting for a while (i really don’t count my fasts i just don’t eat for as long as possible and when i do it’s just enough to keep me going) and i’m at that point where i just keep throwing up no matter what. if u know u know unfortunately😭😭 it’s so awful. it’s been all water up to this point i just can’t keep anything down and i’ve been so dehydrated but (shocker!!) i don’t want to eat. i tried one of those gatorlyte things like the ultra hydrating gatorade’s and threw the entire thing up like i can’t even keep electrolyte drinks down so idk what to do. i don’t even wanna touch solid food i just feel so awful because the frequency at which i’m throwing up is really bad and it just overall sucks so much i’m in like this permanent state of bed rest until i get up, get sick and get back into bed it sucks so MUCHHHHHHHHHH i’ve been through this a couple times before and usually it ends up causing a binge cycle but for some reason that part of my brain is just gone now like i have no desire to consume anything at all and i’d rather just throw up every second than consume something solid even tho i’m so miserable and realistically this will probably end with me in the hospital again 😭 god i hate the logic of this disorder lmfao.
regarding the tw- i know this isn’t technically purging bc it’s not intentional i just feel like i’m going into too much detail to not tw it as such

My boyfriend recently told me that he was starting to feel bad about himself and like I wasn't attracted to him because I never initiate sex. Here's the thing. I genuinely think he is the sexiest man alive and I DO want him so bad. But for some reason when it comes to sex I cannot bring myself to initiate ever. I had an ex complain about this previously to me and it really got me thinking that I may have some type of issue? Something that might be important to note is that I was sexually abused by a relative as a child for years. I also masturbate at least 2 times a day watching porn (I haven't cum from sex ever in my life not with my past relationship of 10 years or my current one this is my only way to be able to orgasm). I always orgasm from clitoral stimulation this way but am unable to do so with my partner idk why it just does not work. I also can't bring myself to feel motivated to get into the mood itself. Usually he will approach me and I won't want any part of it for the first few minutes until he turns me on and I feel horrible it's like he has to convince me every time it's really not fair for him and of course anyone in his position would feel rejected. I feel like I need to fix this ASAP or I will run the risk of losing him (understandably). I don't know why I feel like this. I have a lot of love for him a ver pure romantic love and I am deeply attracted to him. I am always hugging on him and kissimg him showing him tons of physical affection but it seems like I'm having trouble taking these feelings and converting them into a more sexual expression of love to him. Even now after he expressed this to me I am having trouble just getting up and grabbing his dick and going for it like he asked. I just can't do it I have no idea why I feel like this. Has anyone struggled in this way? How did you deal?

Hi, I just wanted to write this because I was struggling badly with heart anxiety/cardiophobia. At the time it felt like there would never be a way out and I was going to die of a cardiac episode very soon.
I want to reassure the people struggling with this specific type of anxiety and show that there is light at the end of the tunnel. For me it all started last year after I experienced left arm numbness (due to panic attack but didn’t know at the time) and I called an ambulance because I was convinced that was it, I was dying. This was the start of a vicious cycle for me, from that day onwards I started getting daily palpitations & chest pain. I had visited the hospital emergency department(a&e) multiple times and even daily at one point. They did multiple tests and reassured me I was okay. It started to make me feel as though I was crying out for help no one was listening and I WAS going to die. They referred me to cardiology where they did an Echo& 48 hour holter. Both resulted came back remarkable NAD detected.
Of course this wasn’t enough for me, because I KNEW I was going to die and my heart wasn’t healthy (so I thought). It got to the point where I’d end up in the resuscitation part of the hospital because I’d panic so bad my heart went to 190bpm which was again confirmed as anxiety. I wasn’t living, I was solely waking up to worry I was going to die that day, everyday.
Early this year it got to the point I realised physically and mentally I cannot do it anymore. Checking my pulse everyday and worrying I’ll go into cardiac arrest suddenly wasn’t living at all. I read somewhere that doing things that make you anxious over and over makes you feel more comfortable and it becomes easier. So I started looking after myself more & trying to be more active… I’m not 100% heart anxiety free but I’m slowly getting there. Worrying 24/7 won’t prevent something happening to you, it’ll just ruin the life and happiness you currently have. That was a hard thing for me to learn and get over but it’s true. In order for me to be able to do things without worrying every second I had to realise this isn’t healthy and it won’t prevent a cardiac event if anything the lifestyle it caused would’ve probably made it more likely.
Do the things that scare you or create your anxiety, it’ll make you so happy to be able to say ‘I beat that and chose freedom’.
This doesn’t go to say if you are worried don’t get checked out, it’s better to be safe. But if you’re like me & you’ve had the tests and reassurance then this is probably the post for you.
If anyone is struggling with this I’m more then happy to chat:)

Money gives me anxiety. Even typing this post out gives me a stress response. I am an intelligent, competent women, yet when you start talking about numbers and economics and finances, it’s like my brain turns to static and I don’t retain what you’re saying. I’m not even bad at math, I just can’t wrap my head around money stuff. I grew up without money so I’m stressed when I don’t have any, but I’m also stressed when I have enough of it. I started a new job with a higher salary and we recently got a gift from my FIL that paid off some small debts we had. My FIL also gave us a small chunk of money to use towards down payment on a house. This should make me feel happy, but NO it means I have to make more financial decisions which provokes another stress response. I hate it. It’s a physical and mental reaction that feels involuntary. I’m working on it constantly.
My husband is good with numbers. He took an interest in investing and financial planning about 3 years ago and has spent a lot of time learning about how to save money and spend it appropriately, where to invest it, how to get passive income. Stuff like that. I try to ask questions to show I care about his interests and sometimes he tries to teach me what he’s learned, but it just goes in one ear and out the other. I still try very hard to engage with him about it. We dedicate one day a week where he’s “allowed” to talk to me about money and I really will make sure every Thursday to be ready to talk about finances with him (like going over our budget and just doing a check in about where payments are going, any big purchases coming up, etc). Any other day I will engage with him if it’s very important, but if it’s not I will remind him it’s not Thursday and I don’t want to talk about money that day. It’s not a strict “rule” and mostly said in jest, but the point is I’m trying to work on the money anxiety by forcing myself to confront it. We have monthly budget talks after pay day. He is so patient with me and walks me through the budget every single month even if nothing has changed from the month before. I ask him question after question and he answers them all. But my god, the whole time it’s like my brain and body are screaming to stop talking about it. It’s so confusing. It makes me feel weak and stupid and small because of just how much I don’t understand it all.
Despite his patience and my effort to engage with this source of anxiety, it very often sets me off. I’m not proud of it. My anxiety around it makes me irritable and argumentative. We get into arguments because I’m so on edge and our communication is poor in those heightened moments. I know he gets anxious too because he knows it’s a touchy subject for me. It’s not nice. We are often able to take a breather and come back to it at a later time. But the argument itself is not nice to be a part of.
He has offered to handle all the finances for us. He wants to put all of our money in a joint account and manage the goings and comings and savings and investings without my input. His point is that he’s already doing all the work of this anyway, but the stress that I experience by trying to be an equal player is making it a more difficult “job” for him. He says he likes doing this job and doesn’t like how it makes me feel and wants to take it off my shoulders for both of our sakes. He says everything would be in 1 account so it would all be transparent and I would have equal access to all the financial information and banking details and budget spreadsheet. I could ask him any questions I’d like and he would always answer them honestly.
This all sounds great, I think, except I was raised to never let a man control your money. And I trust my husband completely and believe he has my (our) best interest at heart. I don’t think he would ever fuck me over. And yet there are alarm bells ringing in my ears. The idea of relinquishing control over my hard earned money, my life, my security… it’s terrifying. On one hand, it would be so much easier to just let him take care of everything. On the other, I don’t want anyone to have control over me. We have been together nearly 6 years and he has only ever shown me signs of a healthy, equal relationship. Yet I’m filled with anxiety.
What would you do in my situation? I haven’t ever spoken to my friends or family about this because I find it embarrassing. And I find it very personal. I don’t want anyone to judge me for being so anxious, for considering giving up control, for making my husband’s life more difficult… so I just don’t talk about. But I would like to get someone else’s perspective. Maybe I’m missing something or maybe there is a middle ground? Or maybe I need to be told to get the hell over myself. I’m already in therapy, but have yet to broach this topic. I don’t know what to do.

So this might be too generalized but I'm curious to see if I could get thoughts on this since I'm struggling with some self worth cause of it.
So to preface I'm Trans, but I don't stick out. So I know that already is a deal breaker for most. I'm also into girls, so a lesbian. Lately I have been trying to meet people through a variety of apps, and even reddit. Which I don't know I'd it's a good way to meet people. I am starting to do mor hobbies and get out more but that's a process and most of my hobbies are more male dominated. But that's not why I'm here.
So I usually go on a date I feel like they go okay, we don't get overly personal but also not too shallow. I don't belive in any one person paying for the date.( I used to pay and ended up losing a lot of money. So now I only pay my part. Cause I got sick of what felt like free rides.) I try to stick to casual but not too casual, dinner and walk usually. We talk about jobs, hobbies and a little bit about some goals. So what I feel like is great first conversation, when we are done we go our separate ways. They tell me how much fun we had and should do it again in a couple days. We keep messaging and I try to set something up but they never seem to want too. And then they don't put in the effort. It's kinda hard because it's like at what point do you think it's me and that I'm the one who is not worth the effort?
I know it's vague but any tips on how to know, or even how to meet people IRL instead of apps would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to Green Valley

Four Merry Jaunts Through in the Bumpkin Quest Campaign

It’s a big world filled with far off folks who have far off problems. In the quaint farming town of Hills Furrow that has certainly not been the case. Here life is simple, local, and paced by the seasons. There ain’t been a need for “Venturers” and their ilk since your Papaw was just a sprout. However, the winds of change are blowin, and things are about to git just a bit more exciting round these parts.
Welcome to Green Valley, The down-home home of Rural Fantasy Misadventures and Grass-Roots Shenanigans. The Valley is Filled with Colorful Characters, Brimming with Odd Ball Neighbors, and has more than a few Local Yokels. Welcome to Bumpkin Quest. These adventures are intended to be a series of silly adventures that all go awry in some way or another and stir up trouble throughout a peaceful little village that has in many ways been overlooked by the troubles of the world “outside”.
CHAPTER 1: Green Tide CHAPTER 2: A Cartload of Chickens CHAPTER 3: Marvin the Magnificent CHAPTER 4: High Society
ADVENTURE MECHANICS - Target Character Level: Commoners - Level 1 - Target Party Size: Four Players - Average Adventure Playtime: 1-2 Hours - Tone: Rural Misadventures
I’ve also put these adventures into a PDF that includes our Bumpkin Quest: Campaign Guide which fills in the details of Green Valley pretty thoroughly. The quests are simple enough to be run in any setting you choose, but if you're interested in more the Guide as over a dozen Custom Maps, 70+ NPCs, Location Descriptions, 20+ Local Legends, and Scores of Adventure and Event Ideas. You can grab the PDF Free at the link above.

Hills Furrow

At the center of the Valley sits a patch of small grassy hills, through which the Slow Water meanders through. Built into these hills is the Village of Hills Furrow. Celebrated by everyone living in The Valley and boasting a whopping population of almost 150, Hills Furrow is the center of commerce and social importance. Well, at least as far as the locals are concerned. Realistically it would be less than a blip on the grand scale of things, a mere kernel of wheat in the silo of civilization, but to those who live here, there is nothing quite like living in the “city”.
The Village itself, like the Valley, is predominantly Halfling, and their fancy dwellings are burrowed into the hillsides as often as possible. These dwellings have been family owned for generations only becomeing available if there are no heirs to pass them along to. Other folk live in well kept two story shingled buildings, most of which house a business on the lower floor and house the Shopkeepers and their families above their workplaces, though a few live in nearby homes. There aren’t many “rental” spaces in town, as property is usually bought up quickly by the Halfling Families, but there are long term options at either of the Inns in town.
Hills Furrow: Locations 1) The Crocked Crow (Inn and Tavern) 2) The Dancing Lamb (Inn and Tavern) 3) The Moaning Toad (Tavern) 4) Granny's Groceries (General Market) 5) Get Nailed (Hardware and Distilery) 6) Gimdurh's Hammer (Smithy) 7) Brenra's Mechanicals (Tinker) 8) Hjoldren's Home Goods (Carpenter) 9) Standard Industries (Office) 10) Fit to be Dyed (Tailor) 11) The Last Loaf (Baker) 12) The Cloudy Cleaver (Butcher) 13) Nature's Medecine (Apothecary) 14) Sheriff's Office 15) Green Valley School House 16) The Waterwheel 17) The Windmill 18) The Undercloak Estate 19) Truefoot Burrow 20) The Meadows Family Hill
The people themselves are hospitable and friendly enough, but they do not really trust outsiders. Folks from foreign places are good for trade, news, and little else. Those that come through are treated well enough as long as they don’t wear out their welcome. Locals, well, that’s a bit of a different story. The city and area doesn’t operate under a written caste system or social structure, but there is clearly a pecking order, and family heritage matters a great deal to folks in Hills Furrow. Most locals, whether they’ve gotten an education or not, can easily be classified as simple. It isn’t that they are slow of mind or unintelligent, but more that they are unconcerned with matters the outside world considers important. This sentiment has created a general, but friendly, dislike between those that consider themselves Highfalutin and those that clearly are not.
Well now that I've given you the fifty cent tour. Shall we get on to adventure?

CHAPTER 1: Green Tide

We will open our journeys in the Green Valley at Green Tide, the annual celebration of Winter’s End. This adventure is designed to give a tour of Hills Furrow and introduce them to the locals. It will begin with some chores around their house to prepare for the festival and end with a battle involving an enchanted broom. If you did not do Session Zero, this chapter may take a bit longer as we get to know everyone and their characters.

ACT 1: Pre-Festival

The locals spend the week cleaning out their houses and farms. They gather old junk and unused items to be used later in the festival. They also begin preparing what food is left from winter to be used in a celebration and feasts.
Things to do! - Have the Players clean up junk around the house - Have them Find something strange (Perhaps used for a later mystery?) - Have them Decorate their Broom - Have them run a Household Errand (Meet an NPC)

ACT 2: Sweeping Day

A merry festival celebrating Spring cleaning and putting the past behind them. They form a parade, with one member from each house carrying a brightly decorated broom and using it to symbolically “Sweep Away Winter”. The rest of the family marches their winter’s trash and unused goods down to the Fairgrounds. The goods are often traded, while the trash is piled in the fire pit to await burning later. The entire day is filled with fun outdoor activities. Households also symbolically bring their problems to the bonfires to burn them later.
Things to do! - March in the Parade - Carry Junk to the Bonfire - Meet more of the Locals
EVENT: I Love a Parade
The parade will march North from near the Cross Roads in the South up around the hill and back again to the South where it will head for the Fairgrounds. There isn’t anything particularly challenging about this event, but it would be a wonderful place to start leaning into or building local rivalries.
EVENT: Never Seen a Broom Do That… As they come into the home stretch of the Parade one of the local’s Brooms will animate and take off. It will chase folks around the parade. The players can attempt to stop it, but the broom will flee soon after being attacked. It will fly up into the air, attack a flock of geese, and chase them off until it can’t be seen anymore. They can go and collect a fallen goose if they wish. I highly recommend giving it a motorcycle type sound as it flies around hitting folks. Maybe even going as far as giving it a rough gravel angry voice and letting it insult people.

ACT 3: Winter’s End

Winter’s End is a Combination of Groundhog’s Day and Fasnacht, this day gets a little wild. The Festival kicks off at dawn with the Great Gopher Hunt. Gophers are well known spies for The Voice of Winter and thus need to be hunted before they can tell The Voice to delay Spring. Gophers themselves are quite tasty, and are notoriously bad for crops, so this works out economically all around. Throughout the rest of the day families continue to contribute to the Bonfire Pile which often gets quite large. At dusk a large effigy of The Voice of Winter is placed on top of the pile. Once the sun has fully set they light the fire and burn the Effigy. Folk usually dress darkly during the day and brightly at night. After the burning they feast on sweets and treats that were made from goods saved up from winter storage.
Things to do! - The Great Gopher Hunt - Carry Junk to the Bonfire - Meet more of the Locals - The Fairground’s Activities
EVENT: The Great Gopher Hunt The Hunt begins at dawn and takes place all over the Valley. Locals race to collect as many Gophers as possible. It is easiest to kill the Gopher, but there are some that find that distasteful. Instead they live trap the critters. It is a bit tougher to do so, but an option should your players wish. This is most easily played out as a series of appropriate Skill Checks, in which the higher they score the more gophers they obtain.
EVENT: Trash Removal They may find some locals willing to pay them to help cart junk down to the bonfire pile. Not a lot of skill involved in this, but it is a great opportunity to meet locals, and you could throw a runaway cart at them.
Fair Activities They will probably want to take part in Fairground Activities. Players love these types of challenges. Here are a few ideas you can build on. - Axe Throwin: Basic attack rolls on a Round Target. Higher scores equal Higher points. - Bow Shootin: Basic attack rolls on Moving Targets. Higher scores equal Higher points. - Pig Chasin: Catch the greased Pig! Medium DC Challenge requiring three success before three Failures. - Mud Wrastlin: Nothing says bumpkin like a good Mud Wrastlin Pit. Contested Skill Challenges. - Sausage Eating Contest: Increasingly difficult DC Challenge. Eat till you puke! Can also be Pies or Ribs or Little Fish… you know whatever someone wants to stuff dozens of in their gullet. - Tug O’War: Team Strength Challenge. Three to Five Contested Rolls with opposing teams. - Gopher BBQ Cook Off: A Hard Culinary Challenge to see who can BBQ the best Gopher! - Races: Foot and Mount Races based on Three to Five Contested Rolls. I usually include a few odd mounts like a Giant Chicken or some such nonsense.

ACT 4: Day of Ashes

The Day of Ashes is a day of rest, recovery, and reflection. Locals take the ashes from the bonfires and rub their hands in them to symbolize the end of a hard year’s work and hardships of the past. The day ends with a large family feast, typically Pork. Activities this day are light, but many folks head to the Temple for the Calling of Spring Blessings. They put on their fancies and head down to ask forgiveness for over-indulging in the festival and for worship. Well sort of…
Unfortunately, a lot of folks take this as an opportunity to peacock about and practice their one-upmanship over other locals. If you’re looking for inspiration for their outfits look to older photos of the Kentucky Derby. Over the years this troubling practice has caused more than one fight to break out after the service.
*Things to do! * - Go to Temple and Meet More Locals - Pick a Local Patron!
EVENT: Temple Services
The majority of the town comes to Temple on this day. The service is usually longer, and a bit more “Where have most of you been all year?” But otherwise it is a call for the Divine Blessings to touch their crops and protect their lives. It ends with a ceremony in which the locals put their hands into the ashes from yesterday’s bonfire. Once services end they will head outside, where the trouble will begin. Two of the wealthier families will get into it with each other. Starting with a couple of veiled insults, probably before service and continuing afterward. If one of your players is from a local Rich Folk family then they can be right in the middle of it all, otherwise they will have to pick a side. This choice will determine their house Patron moving forward. Tension will increase until folks start drawing up sides, and then someone will throw a rotten tomato at one of the House Matrons. That will blow the lid off the incident and a yokel brawl will break out. For comedy purposes I recommend the instant appearance of several food carts filled with expired products, and maybe a six year old hustler selling big sticks for wacking folks with. As the locals brawl call for perception checks. Who ever rolls highest begins to hear… The Broom returning!
ENCOUNTER: Stick In The Eye
The broom returns ready to whoop some ash. It will be absolutely bent on cleaning anyone and everyone who is even the slightest bit dirty! If it successfully attacks a character they will have to make a Strength Saving throw or be knocked to the ground and swept clean by the broom. As this would be an awful omen for the year folks are terrified and will be running around screaming. Absolute mass hysteria. If the players were lucky enough to hear it coming they can avoid being surprised by the broom. Otherwise the broom will get a full round to attack before they have a chance to do anything. They’ll have to beat the broom into submission any way they can before it sweeps the whole town into chaos!

CLOSING

After defeating the broom things will settle back down again. Bumpkins are quick to return to normal when things go awry. However, they will have gotten the attention of one of the Wealthy Families in the area and be offered jobs. Which family is really, based on what will work best for them and you as the DM. For gags you might be tempted to have the Yokels pick them up, but that is a hard bit to sustain, and you may be better served keeping them on the side as a comic foil rather than up front. Completely up to you. The session should end with them being invited to meet their new patron tomorrow someplace important.

CHAPTER 2: A Cartload of Chickens

After successfully defeating the Enchanted Broom, our Bumpkins have gained the attention of a possible local Patron. This individual has summoned them to a nearby farm to discuss future work. That work includes proving themselves capable and not just lucky.

ACT 1: Meet the Boss

In this Act the players will meet with their new patron, one of the Family Heads, who that is entirely depends on their choices from the last game. This entire side branch is designed to flavor the background of the campaign, but if you’d rather just have them stay freelancing and independent that’s fine as well. There is also the possibility of “competing” offers should they have second thoughts for any reason. Once they arrive at the meeting spot their Patron will ask them some questions about their ambitions (Class Goals), they will then hand them off to their new “boss” who will assign them their task. They will take them to a nearby barn.
NEW NPC: “Boss”
Needs a fitting name for the Family they work for...
Character wise, what we got here is a standard “Ranch Foreman” character. They’re tough, A little mean, and completely loyal to their employer. They almost certainly chew tobacco (by the handful), have a tattoo of the Ranch’s Brand, and know where all the bodies are buried. They also have a huge and obvious scar on the side of their head where a Giant Chicken pecked a hole in their skull, so they’re not as bright as they used to be, not at all truthfully. Nor are they actually the Foreman anymore, but no one has a heart to tell them. They’ve been quietly downgraded to Chicken Handler, which is something they seem to remember quite well, but the brain damage keeps them from realizing all that. They can be found wandering the Farm giving strange orders to other Hands. These Hands nod politely and then go back to what they are doing.
Things To Do! - Meet Their Patron - Discuss Their Future - Meet Their New “Boss”

ACT 2: Chicken Dance

Boss will lead them into the odd looking barn. This building is filled with Giant Chickens. These two-three foot fouls have extremely exaggerated features, spiky looking beaks with sharp tooth like edges, big darting eyes, bumpy cracked skin, long gnarled talons, and dirty mottled feathers. They’re more beast than bird. But, they’re good for eatin! These creatures should have a stat block similar to an Axe Beak. When the players enter into the Barn the Chickens will go nuts, obviously deeply bothered by the intrusion. Boss will throw in some deer haunches and the birds will tear them apart in a feeding frenzy. They will then put on a Chicken Suit and begin a flapping dance. (Google Magnificent Riflebird) It should be absolutely captivating and the chickens will become mesmerized, watching every move. Boss will then load two dozen chickens onto a large wagon and lock it. They will have the players push the wagon out while he keeps the Chickens calm. Once outside they’ll hang heavy tarps on the sides of the wagon, and remove the suit. He will then explain to them that they need to keep the tarps on the wagon, and keep the birds well fed, or the chickens will get restless and become violent. When they do need to interact with them someone will have to wear the suit and dance to keep them calm. The bigger the person in the suit the better. Boss will then give them a Map of Green Valley and instruct them to drop off two chickens at each of the outer settlements. They have two days to get this done.
Things To Do! - Head into the barn - Witness The Dance of The Chicken - Push the Wagon out - Get the Costume and Delivery Instructions

ACT 3: Bumpy Roads

They will be off to deliver the Chickens to various locations. There is no specific order to this delivery, they just need to pick a route and go. If they’re short on time they can take the country roads that lead between the outer settlements, but these aren’t as well kept as the main roads are. Whatever road they take and wherever they decide to stop for the night there are problems they will encounter along the way. You can make them random or pick the ones that best suit your players. Most of these should at some point require someone putting on the suit and dancing for the chickens to keep them calm. I would also increase the difficulty of each event. If they fail a dance the Chickens will become restless and start attacking the cart until they are calmed down. Too many failures and the wagon’s cage will break and the remaining chickens escape. They will then have to be rounded up and the cage repaired.
Things to Do - Decide the delivery route - Deliver the chickens - Keep the Chickens calm
Possible Road Events 1) Rough roads cause problems 2) Yokels attempt to see what’s in the cart 3) Bad Weather swamps the road or scares the chickens 4) Pack of Coyotes causes trouble. 5) Chicken Rustlers! Protect the Flock! 6) Wagon breaks and needs repair 7) Cows in the road, someone’s herd is out. 8) Broken Bridge, not gone, just broken

ACT 4: Final Delivery

They’re now closing in on the final delivery. Something needs to happen here to cause them to put the suit on. Or maybe they never took it off! I love that idea, that one of your players just loves the suit and wants to be a chicken… lol… Anyway I’m a fan of having them need to get out of the suit for some reason, maybe a bathroom break, or they stand on a fire ant hill, or a snake slithers up their leg. You know something silly and fun. BUT the zipper is stuck! So they’ll have to try and unstick it and fast! Whatever happens they’re going to get shot at by some hunters looking for a big score who have mistaken the flailing caused by the stuck zipper to be the chicken attacking. After dealing with the Hunters they can go ahead and make the final drop. And head home.
Things to Do! - Head for the final delivery - Get shot at! - Deliver the last chickens
ENCOUNTER: That’s a BIG Chicken!
Having two hunters in the field is more than enough to cause a problem for the players. The hunters will almost certainly surprise the players, but you can allow them a perception check, if they succeed they’ll see the hunters just before the muskets go off. It would be OK to down the Chicken Player here if the hunters successfully hit it. They’ll have healer’s kits on hand because, well, this seems to happen to them a lot out here. After the initial attack the players can decide to attack back or try and talk the hunters down. A basic Bandit or Scout stat block should do will for the hunters. If you’re looking for a bit more mayhem, if the hunters miss the players you could have them hit the cage, and you know, bust it open. This may be especially tempting if they
POSSIBLE ENCOUNTER: Big Ol' Frog
So there is a giant frog hiding in the mud down in the creek. If a player takes cover behind the banks there is a good chance that the frog will attempt to nab the player as a snack. If it is successful in grabbing a player with its tongue it will immediately head down river, and they'll have to chase it to get their friend back.

CLOSE

When they return, Boss will reward them. How much will depend on how successful they were delivering the birds. If they did a descent job, they will be paid two day’s wages each. If they were completely successful they can have a bonus. However, if the wagon is in bad shape they might have some money deducted. After they’re paid out, they will be dismissed, and told to expect a new assignment next week.

CHAPTER 3: Marvin the Magnificent

After successfully delivering chickens Boss is going to trust them with a more important task. Their employer has requested an item to be created by Marvin the Magnificent. This is a farming community so having enchanted Farming Equipment is extremely desirable. Marvin has done a lot of basic enchantments over the years, but this new one, an The Stone Skipper, a plough whose blade goes ethereal while in contact with stones too large to push away, has really put him to the test. He needs some help with the final enchantments. The players will have to travel to the Ethereal Plane and hit the Blade of the plow with large rocks. But there’s a problem, they’re going to have mischievous Ethereal Sprites attempting to stop them! If they’re successful, which they should be, they get to take the plough for a test drive, and deal with the strange side effects of the enchantment. Angry goats that blink in and out of existence.

ACT 1: To the Tower

They’ll be summoned out to the Ranch where they’ll meet with Boss again. Once there they will notice a large pile of bent and dinged up plows. Boss will explain to them that a recent land acquisition has become problematic. The Fields are filled with large stones just under the topsoil and they’ve damaged a lot of Plow Blades. The Smithing costs are getting out of hand and so their Patron is looking for an alternate solution to the problem. He is sending them to help Marvin the Magnificent, who has taken the job, but run into some complications and needs some help. They may ask about Marvin. Or perhaps the fields that were purchased, so be ready to answer these types of questions. Once they’re done here they can head to Marvin’s Tower, which is just north of town.
Things to Do! - Meet Boss again - Ask some Informational Questions - Head for the Tower
NPC: Marvin the Magnificent

ACT 2: Marvin the Magnificent

As they approach the tower they should see an explosion at the peak of the structure. It should look similar to a fireworks mishap. When it clears there will be no visible damage to the tower, But Marvin will plummet to the earth just off to the side of them, landing in a small pond. He will then come charging out of the pond, laughing hysterically, and riding on a large turtle. Once he gets a few feet away from the pond the turtle will disappear and he will tumble to the ground right in front of the players. He will leap up quickly and turn toward the players. “Behold Travelers, You stand in the presence of Marvin the Magnificent! And everything you have witness was mostly intended!” He will then strike a cool pose with his wand pointed to the sky! “Now why do you approach my tower!?”
Once Marvin finds out they’ve been sent about the plow he will become more nervous looking. “I see, well follow me. We have work to do.” He will then start walking toward the tower… his boots squishing out water. This should give them a little time to ask a few questions. Marvin will be a little subversive about what they need to do. He will attempt to frame it very mysteriously, saying things like “All will be revealed soon.” and “Save your questions! All Answers await us… in the future!” If they ask him about what they witnessed outside, he will tell them he was working on a mount summoning spell designed for lakes and rivers.
Things to Do! - Head toward the Tower - Meet Marvin - Ask Questions

ACT 3: The Cabinet of Mysteries

The inside of the Wizard’s Tower will be far more mundane than they likely expect. At least on the first floor. It will have a sitting room, dining room, and kitchen, as well as a few odds and ends about. Nothing special at all. The second floor, are Marvin’s personal quarters and some room for study, but it is the third floor, where Marvin will lead them, and it will be more of what one would expect in a Wizard’s tower. There will be books shelves, arcane equipment, and storage for components. In the middle of the room will be a tall cabinet.
:
Marvin will explain to them that the Cabinet is a transportation device, and that he will need them to enter into it with a plow that he has recently enchanted. They will be taken to the Ethereal Plane, and once there they’ll need to take the plow outside and begin hitting it with large field stones. There is a large pile of stones just on the north edge of the tower. They’ll have to do this quickly, before the “others” show up. Who are the others? Hard to say, but there are things that live in the Ethereal Plane that don’t like intruders. The idea is to imbue the Plow with Ethereal Powers so it can pass through large stones while plowing fields. Once they return with the Enchanted Plow, Marvin will have them load it on a cart, pulled by a very smart Donkey, and send them on their way.
Skill Challenge: Enchant the Plow This skill challenge will require five successes before they’re incapacitated by the others. However they decide to do it, they’ll have to successfully hit the plow with five large stones. Failures will result in strange indiscernible entities attacking them. They do minimal damage but could knock people out if there are enough failures.
Things to Do! - Move Through Marvin’s Tower - Enter the Cabinet - Enchant the Plow

ACT 4: Blinking Goats

Upon returning to Boss with the Plow they will be happily greet and paid. Their Patron will be there and will be very pleased with their success. He will ask them to demonstrate the plow’s abilities. Once they get set up out in the field and begin plowing something weird will happen. Every time they hit a stone and the plow’s power activates an Ethereal Goat will manifest and kick or ram the plow, and then disappear. It will feel very similar to what they encountered in the Ethereal Plane. They’ll have to find a way to deal with the manifestations.
ENCOUNTER: Ethereal Goats These goats should function very similarly to Blink Dogs, but I would trim the HP and AC a little to put them in line with the party’s. They will be intent on breaking the Plow not the party, although they will attack the party if they can’t get to the Plow.
Things to Do! - Deliver the Plow - Drive the Plow - Defeat the Ethereal Goats

CLOSE

Once defeated the Boss will come over to yell at them, but the Patron will find the entire thing amusing and more importantly, another impressive demonstration of the player’s skills. He will invite them to the “House” for an important party next week.

Chapter 4: High Society

They've definitely been noticed now and have impressed with their ability, unconventional as it may be. They are invited to their patron's home, but not as guests. Though, they might think they were actually invited as guests! They have been brought in to help work the event held out at the Party Field. They will have to gather party supplies, help put up the tent, and then serve the actual guests. During the evening’s entertainment a hypnotist “The Great Dr Hypnotika” will mesmerize the crowd and attempt to rob them all. Hopefully the players don’t fall victim to her schemes. And if they do oh well, they’ll be entertained all the same.

ACT 1: Special Delivery

The players arrive at the Patron’s very nice property. They will be greeted by a properly dressed servant with a clipboard, the Party Planner. The Planner will be rigid and direct. They will immediately begin tasking them about. If they mention that they were invited to the party the servant will laugh “You didn’t think you were a guest? Oh dear, how embarrassing. You’re the help! It is still a great honor to be tasked to help at the Party, but you’re not guests. Now as for your current task. Head into town and gather these supplies. Bring them to the field by noon.” After the instructions are given the servant will go back to their tasks and expect the players to do the same. They will have three stops; The Crocked Crow for Food and Beer, Get Nailed for the Tent and Spirits, and Shalana Proud-Breed’s Tailor Shop to pick up the Dry Cleaning. Feel free to make any and all of these go sideways! Its a good place to toss in some shenanigans as well! They should also be introduced to Dr Hypnotika and her associates.
Things To do! - Go to their Patron’s Home - Meet the Party Planner and Dr Hypnotika - Run their Errands
NPC: Dr Hypnotika
Dr Hypnotika and her group will perform for the party. Hypnotica is a Tiefling Mezmerist and illusionist. She has an obnoxiously high charisma and some pretty serious skills to back up her claims. However, she uses those skills to beguile her guests, robbing them blind while they are under her spells. She wears a fine robe with a bedazzled headwrap. She has dark upward spiraling horns, light purple skin, and matching eyes. She wears a monocle and walks with a ceremonially carved staff depicting the "Struggles of the Universe". She is extremely persuasive and even more deceptive. Even if someone were to grow suspicious she can easily talk her way out of trouble.
NPCs: Clapper and Bob Hypnotika brings with her two assistants. Clapper the suit wearing Kenku who will perform wondrous displays of mimicry and slight of hand, and her strongman Bob the Kobold. Bob wears a leopard print strongman's outfit and is amazingly swole, particularly for a kobold, and capable of lifting upwards of 400lbs. Bob doesn't do much else other than get hit with things. in the act.

ACT 2: Put up the Tent

After they finish running their errands they will be tasked with putting up a large party tent. This Act is an ongoing Skill Challenge and should have a constantly distracted feel to it. First they have to unpack the tent. Then they have to realize some pieces are missing, they’ll have to form a solution to that problem. After that wind should cause some problems as the tent is at least being pulled up. This is a great moment for some wondrous tom-foolery.
Things To do! - Unpack the tent - Deal with missing parts - Secure the tent during the wind gusts

ACT 3: Put These On

After they finish putting up the tent they’ll be sent to the Servant’s Quarters to bathe and change. They’ll get a little time to explore and snoop if they wish. Afterward they’ll be tasked with helping in the kitchen, but unfortunately the cooks are going to have been playing a drinking game all afternoon and are no longer fully capable of doing their jobs. This would make a great moment for some sort of mini-game where the players have to determine whether or not the cooks are doing the right things. Once the dinner has been completed they will have to serve the guests. This is a good place to insert gossip and help them meet a few other folks.
Things To do! - Get changed for the party - Deal with the drunk cooks - Serve the guests drinks and food

ACT 4: An Evening to Remember

At some point in the evening things are going to start sliding downhill. Some of the locals will have become extremely inebriated and will need to be encouraged to leave, or just moved off to the side as they’ve already passed out, before the show begins. Once the show begins the locals will become fixated on the goings on. “The Great Dr Hypnotika” will have put an additive in the drinks for the that will make everyone more susceptible to her powers of persuasion. Once the show starts she will have them all doing silly things, those who drank have disadvantage on saves against her powers. She will end the show asking the guests to display their most valuable treasure, a with a hypnotic pattern and then send her assistants out to collect those treasures. The players will have to “do something” about the thieves.
Things To do! - Deal with Drunks - Watch the Show - Stop the Criminals
ENCOUNTER: Hypnotika's Gang This encounter doesn't have to be a fight. If Hypnotika is caught she may claim it was all part of the act and simple return the valuables with a "no harm, no foul" type attitude. This will be he go to in an attempt to avoid a fight, but if the character persist in some kind of retribution or punishment the situation will devolve into a combat. Hypnotica herself is an Illusionist Wizard but is low on spells after the show. Clapper is a low level rogue and Bob a Barbarian, and should play out as such. Even with Skills they are combat adverse and will be looking for an opportunity to flee rather than fight. They do have a getaway wagon out front that they'll be headed for if things go south.

CLOSING

We’re assuming the Bumpkins at least attempted to stop the robbery. This will draw a lot of attention to them. Their Patron will be well pleased with them, and let them know they will be getting much more important jobs in the future. The guests will also take note and will begin treating them all a bit better. They’re all essentially Folk Heroes at this point for secondary backgrounds. Their Patron should reward them with something very nice as the party kicks back in. They will need to finish out the nights work of course.

Quest-line Closing

Congratulations! Your Players have completed their first Quest-line! Hopefully it was a delightful experience. But now that they've finished what comes next? Well, here are some ideas.
*Reward Them! * They've been doing some rather Adventurous things lately, and therefore should now have a Class Level under their belt, so the real D&D world now opens to them! Maybe it is time for some real adventuring gear. No more sticks, stones, and burlap sack armor.
Folk Heroes? There's a good chance that the Valley is Speaking the News about them and their exploits while drinking in the taverns. They may have even earned the actual Folk Hero Feat! Maybe someone would be interested in giving them a task!
Simply Go Exploring! There are a lot of places in Green Valley that we only dipped our toes into. You could have them head down to Stinkmarsh, or maybe climb up the cliffs of Longridge. The world (Well, the Valley) is wholly open to them.
Explore Local Legends There are lots of local legends they can look into! Hopefully they search out something that isn't too far over their heads!
Continue Working for their Patron It would be an easy DM go to simply to have them continue working for their current Patron. They've probably been impressive enough fo a family to be interested in keeping them on.
Establish Themselves as Adventurers! Maybe they want to set up a Adventurers for Hire business? This "Heroes Guild" approach is really appealing to a lot of players and absolutely plays into Bumpkin Quest. Just remember, this is a place of low key problems that locals make really big deals out of. So the idea of slaying dragons shouldn't really be on the table... that is until an actual dragon shows up! Which one day absolutely should.

Okay so it's long one, and I feel like I've took a wrong turn in a parallel universe but here it goes.
It started last summer when my(24m) sister(20f) went on a holiday. During that time a friend of hers(20f) asked me out. We had an awesome day and we both wanted another date. A week later we had a second one and it went really good again. We decided not to tell my sister yet because we wanted to figure it out, and as it was kinda weird she being a friend of my younger sister.
After a couple weeks we figured we should tell her that it was getting more serious. Well we did and she did not take it well. My now gf (let's call her Jackie), told my sister (let's call her Hannah). She couldn't really find a good way to react and just something like, well uhm welcome to the family I guess.
After that I asked her what she thought and she became really angry at me. Saying she found it disgusting, gross and asking me how could I be so stupid. She also mentioned the girl code multiple times and that we broke that.
After that me and Jackie decided we should probably let it sink in with Hannah. And we would give her a week to let it sink in. Me and Jackie would not contact each other as to make it easier for her. But after some talking we figured that that makes no sense and we hung out being Hannah's back. Well Hannah and her friend (who were also Jackies friends) found out, kinda stalky but yeah they found out.
After that me and Jackie just started dating more and we went to a museum together. During our trip to the museum I got the worst phone call of my life. My father had passed away from a heart attack.
During the time of handling everything to do with the funeral my sister and I acted normally. I stopped contact with Jackie for a little while. Jackie was not invited to the funeral as I also thought that would be to upsetting for my sister. I did give Jackie a link to see the funeral via livestream, Hannah was also not happy about that.
A few weeks after the funeral I wanted to see Jackie again, and I told Hannah that and after that she ignored me for 2 months. I tried multiple times to talk to her, telling her that talking is way better and that will help. And not to bottle up her feelings but rather tell me or my mother. Nothing changed.
After a couple months my mother told me that she couldn't handle the tension at home between me and my sister and she needed it to be resolved, or else we might lose her too. Well I took initiative again and told Hannah, okay we don't like each other but for the sake of my mother let's just act normale and say hi to each other.
That went on for a couple of months.
Another thing was that during all this time, I could not bring Jackie to my home. My sister is very scary and holds a lot of power in my home. I also find that she mentally abuses my mother. And has been for a couple of years. I've told her that as well but she won't change.
A couple of weeks ago it was my birthday and I thought I was in my right to want Jackie to come eat with me and my friend at my home.
Well, when we three came home. Hannah immediately became extremely angry, demanding Jackie to leave her house. We rejected and told her mom said it was okay and it was my birthday. My mom also said we could to her and for her to go to her friends house, who was with her. Hannah would not let it go and became agressieve. She told Jackie that she hopes she dies, that she hopes she cuts her wrists deeper next time and that she'll be happy when she is dead. She also tried to attack her two times. During these attempts she ripped my shirt, cut open my neck. And gave my mother bruises. She did not hit Jackie thanks to me and my friend stopping Hannah.
That was kind of the story.
Jackie is now considering going to the police and filing for assault. But she doesn't want Hannah to have a criminal record. We all want Hannah to get psychological help, but she refuses.
I know my sister is holding in a lot of trauma and part of me still wants to protect her as I've done since I was 15. But even when writing this I don't understand why.
She needs help but refuses.
What should we do.

Disclamer: I am a fool who fell for a scam and lost a significant amount money. Worst part, I was actually trying to save money but ended up losing more.
Not gonna disclose too many details, but it was a property scam (not sure of that's the proper term). Was looking for a place to stay, found one which was affordable, looked too good to be true (yeah, I am an idiot), turned out to be a scam.
Outcome: I made a fool if myself, lost money and I hate scammers. I hope they go to hell. I hope they end up losing all the money they stole. I don't even know who and what to trust anymore. Honestly, I blame myself more cause seriously, how tf could I be that stupid?! All those videos I watched on YouTube about scammers being exposed... I used to think I would never fall for such. Guess who turned out to be a complete joker? ME.
This is a lesson for me. I am not even gonna indulge in details anymore cause it hurts. I hate myself. Seriously

I'm (23) not sure if I'm a trans girl or not. I want to be, but I'm not sure if it's just something that I want, or if it's reality. I'm terrified that I'm not actually a girl, that I'm just nonbinary or even a boy. I only realized I wanted to be fem about a year ago, and only realized it was more a few months ago.
Or at least, I want it to be more. I don't know if I actually AM though. I worry that I'm just trying to convince myself that I'm something that I'm not. The idea of living as a woman feels... Weird. Not wrong, but not euphoric like I'd expect. It just feels odd. I like to dress feminine and wear makeup, and I want to be able to pass, or at least malefail. But sometimes I don't care about it and just go out in whatever because it's a lot of effort. I look at the mirror and sometimes I hate looking masc, but sometimes I sort of have to "remind myself" that I don't like how I look because I look masc instead of just not liking my reflection. I still sometimes accidentally think of myself in masculine terms and subconsciously include myself when people are talking about men. HRT is terrifying too, because of the permanent effects. Even though I do want to go on it, there's a lot about it that scares me. Breasts are a big one - sometimes I find myself wanting them, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I feel like "phantom breasts" but not always.
I want to be a girl. I don't want the universe to take this from me. I want to be right about this, but I'm terrified that I'm lying to myself. My friends are all trans girls, and when I first started covertly dressing fem I was worried that it was just because my friends at that point were in large part femboys. I'll see a cute trans girl or femboys who could pass and feel this massive spike of anxiety and pain. But I don't think I actively feel dysphoria necessarily, and I don't really know if I feel any sort of gender euphoria. People using she/her pronouns for me still feels odd sometimes, rather than euphoric.
I guess part of it is how so much of my identity was always tied up with being a boy. I'm an eagle scout and started as a tiger cub, so spent 10 years of my youth actively immersed in a male-focused space, defining myself by the term "boy scout." My soccer team was all boys, my friends were largely boys growing up because of my extracurriculars. My body is undoubtedly masculine, with broad shoulders that I used to be proud of, and I felt proud to get a more defined jawline and have lost my chest fat when I lost weight. And I'm still sometimes proud of those things, despite them being 100% masculine.
I'm just scared. I'm anxious. I want to be a girl, but a loud part of me is saying I'm not one. I want to be a girl, but I'm afraid that I'm lying to myself and just trying to convince myself that's what I want. I want to be a girl but whenever I say or type that the anxiety grows and tells me I'm lying. I don't want to be a boy. I can't be a boy. The universe can't take this from me too. It's taken too much already.
I know this is just a rant, but I've bothered my friends with this shit too much already and I need a place to let it out.

First: https://redd.it/11e34ce
Previous: https://redd.it/13q19ts
Chapter 31
It was a long while before Quin stirred. He knew it was well past the 14:00 mark when the crew would have re-boarded. He glanced down at his armband and saw 18:43. He was thirteen minutes late to the dinner hour. The weight of everything sitting heavy on his shoulders, he lethargically pushed himself out of bed and sat on the edge, his face in his hands. Falling forward onto his feet, he trudged over to the door and unlocked it. Out in the corridor, he found almost no one. A lone security officer made his way slowly around the corner as he was looking down at a tablet. He paid no mind to Quin and he slowly passed, heading to the cafeteria.
Maybe I can grab something to eat really quick before anyone recognizes I’m there, he hoped. They should all be busy eating, I could just slip in and out. He had no intention to speak to anyone. His armband and even the screen in his room were unusually silent, which didn’t bother him too much, given the way that he was feeling. He knew he would eventually have to face the crew, and especially Nova, back at work the next day. I technically should have been back already. There was mixture of fury, shame, and uncertainty brewing in his gut and he wanted to quash it before having to meet anyone. He breathed slowly, deeply, and leaned up against a wall. He let his head rest against the wall and felt the queasy feeling subside a bit. He sighed and pushed out a long exhale, leaving the wall.
He saw no one as he wound through the crew dormitories, arriving at the main hallway that connected the crew living space, the command deck, and the working spaces. Right on the edge of this junction, the main cafeteria’s double doors opened into a massive bay, with tables stretching far down the open space leading to the serving line and kitchens in back. Quin knew that back there, Bostwick had arranged to have coffee served continuously. He looked around and saw pockets of people eating and a larger crowd lounging around a group of tables. Quin saw Mae and Bostwick among the group and made to leave to avoid them, but Mae caught his eye and waved him over, preventing his escape.
Quin trudged over and sat down at the periphery of the group, He didn’t recognize a lot of the people sitting there, though he could remember a few being among Mae’s engineering section. He supposed the others were a good mix, some being security, judging by their builds and haircuts.
Mae leaned toward him a whispered, “As you can imagine, word has travelled fast.” This set Quin on edge. He in no way felt ready to confront his fellow crewmembers about what took place in that hangar. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat before he felt a hand on his upper arm. Mae was looking at him, meeting his eye as he silently pleaded to escape. Her firm clutch on his arm was remarkably comforting.
“It’s okay, Quin,” Mae whispered to him. “Nothing is going to happen. I’m here and so is Commander Bostwick. Stay, eat.” She slid him her tray where a good portion of her meal was untouched. He grabbed a rehydrated roll and tore off a bit. It was about all he could stomach. He chewed slowly and let his eyes trace the floor tiles between his feet. It allowed him to be ignored by the ongoing chatter while still paying attention to what was being said. A number of the crew were debating amongst themselves, some more loudly than others.
“Drake here thinks we can just go killing each other willy-nilly,” one crewmember said loudly. She gestured to an older, scruffy looking man in a white t-shirt and a stained apron reclining against the table, a hardened look about him. He was the head of the kitchen crew that Quin remembered from his first briefing.
“Shoulda killed ‘em while she had ‘em pinned,” Drake grunted. His accent was more British than anything, though it was course and not like some of the academy instructors’ more refined dialect.
“You can’t be serious, Drake. Killing another person? That’s so senseless,” Mae said.
“Goddamn thief, gotta lot less than ‘e deserved,” Drake scowled.
“Drake, we’re on a goddam humanitarian mission, for the love of…” Mae quipped, exasperated. “How can you be for killing this guy when we are trying to save all those people of Gaia?”
“It’s tha’ job, girlie,” Drake retorted. “You officer types got all these ideas. You know how much a support staff gets from this? Imma retire tha’ minute we get back.”
“Well, sure, there’s that,” Mae said, a little resigned. “But there’s also the humanist principle. Protecting and promoting human life.”
“Life is pointless, dearie. Th’ sooner you reconcile yerself with tha’, the sooner you will be comfortable with th’ fact tha’ nothing you do matters. Tha’ bloke is insignificant. An’ so are you,” Drake stated, punctuating his last sentence with a jab of the finger at Mae.
“Why are you being so cold?” Mae said, rather hurt.
“Cause life hurts, right Chief?” Drake sneered. He turned to Commander Bostwick with raised eyebrows. It was clear that Bostwick was now the only person that could say anything that would be heard by the entire group, Drake included. The familiarity of the remark seemed to indicate that Bostwick and Drake had been on missions before together.
“Actually, Drake, I don’t agree,” Louis said, seemingly waking out of a deep reverie.
“Really? You think this whol’ thing ain’t some crock of shit?” Drake asked incredulously.
“I have long ago come to terms with how small I am compared to the grand arch of the universe. You can’t be a space traveler and not see that. In my experience, it usually drives people to one of two extremes: they either become extremely religious in their search for belonging and purpose, or they become so nihilistic that caring goes the way of the common cold: extinct. I see that you tend towards the latter. Me?” Louis shrugged, offering, “I take a different approach. Yes, our existence has a sense of cosmic horror and pointlessness. We are not some Ancient Ones, consuming worlds and manipulating the very fabric of physical laws. We are subject to the universe’s ebbs and flows. So, what do we do? What can we do? We give our lives purpose; we give them meaning.”
“Yer just like ‘er,” Drake said, shaking his head and flapping his hands to wave him off. “Sentimental wishing that’ll save tha worl’.”
“Perhaps. Though I would say I’ve seen quite a few loved ones and colleagues senselessly killed: training accident mishaps, space travel cataclysms, incurable diseases, not to mention at the end of a gun.” Quin was frozen, though he was staring intently at the floor so as to not meet anyone’s gaze. He knew who Bostwick was talking about when listing those causes, and Quin felt his stomach churn violently when imagining himself being on that list.
“Their deaths affect everyone around them and funerals are for the living,” Bostwick continued. “You can’t see that and not be angry at the universe for what seems like random fatal chance. I know I have been at some points. So, I’ve come to look at it this way. In light of everything that could go wrong at any time, YOU, yourself, are responsible for giving your life meaning.”
“Philosophical bullshit,” Drake said, interrupting, and crossing his arms and leaning back against a cafeteria table.
“Shut the hell up, Drake,” Mae said testily, turning back to Louis.
“It’s okay, Mae, everyone is entitled to their opinion,” Louis said, smiling softly.
“Sure, but he keeps dismissing it without letting you explain it. What do you mean by ‘giving meaning’?”
“Hmm, well, look at it like this. Whatever you do in life, you are remembered by. Everyone interprets things too, so your meaning is the only thing that comes from you, intrinsically. Once you put it out there, it’s for others to deal with as they please. Especially in death. That’s why we gild our historical figures, we project our best wishes on them, despite what meaning they may have intended for their life. It is only in your own life and your own motivations that you are able to control your meaning, your purpose, so that is why you have to live your life as fully as possible.”
“Wow, that’s pretty heady,” Mae said, smiling a bit.
“Not really. Look at it like this. When the Europeans set out to conquer the American continents, they were after large amounts of gold. Gold, itself, has no real intrinsic purpose, until a person comes along and gives it a purpose or meaning by using it for something. So, the Europeans ascribed it tremendous value. The Native Americans living on those two continents, millions of people spread across thousands of miles of land and spanning cultures, languages, and beliefs, were subject to such cruelty and horror, through genocide and plague, all because the Europeans ascribed value to a particular resource. And the kicker is, these native groups held that resource in a different regard. Imagine an alien race coming along and saying that your…shoes,” Louis said, gesturing toward Mae’s feet, “were extremely valuable and were going to trade you for them. And you refused, so they killed you for them. Wouldn’t you think that their purpose for shoes is a little…off?”
Mae simply nodded. The rest of the cafeteria was silent.
“Sure. Humans are the only beings that we know of right now that can not only give purpose to things, but also to themselves. It’s why our species had religion for so long. People seek purpose. Now, I have no patience for such a system where my purpose is controlled by something else. Some people go their entire lives, repeating a mundane set of tasks within a relatively limited amount of space, and call that living. If that’s where they get their own purpose, then fine. But I’ve concluded that living a purpose-driven life means taking personal responsibility for one’s own actions and putting it at the service of others. I give myself purpose. That’s why I’m here. I’m fortunate that my life’s purpose is aligned with the humanitarian ideals present in our mission. Many people search a long time to find such a unity of purpose.”
“So yeh’ve got yer altruism an’ it keeps you warm an’ fed at nigh’,” Drake said sarcastically.
“I’ve got my bread and my cot, so I’m taken care of. I’m speaking about a higher search for meaning. I believe to my core that such a mission is purposeful, because I am dedicating my existence to others. I’ve come to accept my fate. If I die—and I shall because all of us are only temporary passengers on this journey—then my life’s meaning is crystal clear,” Louis finished, sitting back in his chair, taking a sip of coffee, and glancing over at Quin, who was busy tracing a panel of floor tiling with his eyes and trying to soak in everything Louis said. “And if it needs to be stated for the record, I’m also opposed to killing anyone onboard this ship, or off it for that matter, no matter what crime they are believed to have committed.”
Drake stood up, staring at Louis, and wiped his nose on his sleeve. He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but instead just shook his head and wagged his finger and stomped off to the kitchen.
Quin stood up too and skulked off out the main cafeteria doors. Louis jumped up and chased after him, leaving the rest of the room sitting quietly.
“Quin! QUIN! Will you just stop and talk to me?!” Louis said part-way down the hall, grabbing Quin’s arm and turning it. Quin’s eyes were burning as he was trying hard to hold in his guilt.
“Okay, come on,” Louis said, guiding him down the hallway.
They walked a full quarter length of the massive ship, Louis guiding him through the twists and turns of the labyrinth that was the Nemo. They passed through the portal leading to officer quarters and arrived at Louis’s chamber. The walls closed in around Quin as he and Louis crammed themselves into the room. Louis sat Quin down on the bed and took the desk chair.
“You need to cool down,” Louis said. “I know it’s not your fault. You have this really annoying, yet really endearing habit of carrying the weight of the cosmos on your shoulders. Even Atlas himself asked for a break. No one is dead.”
“Yeah, but it could have gone a lot worse. And I had no way of controlling it, yet I’m still responsible for it, Louis,” Quin half-shouted, launching himself up and pacing the small room. Bostwick’s eyes followed him back and forth. “I can’t face Captain Fuentes, or the other crew, let alone Nova. I don’t know what to say to her. Aside from that I almost got someone killed.”
“Like I said, Quin,” Louis said, smiling softly, his piercing grey eyes suddenly warm, “leave it to others to gab about the situation and suppose everything. You, yourself, are the only person who knows what is in your heart. But, my friend, I think I can guess what’s in there.”
Quin’s his chest was tight as he was burning up with humiliation and rage.
“You know what I do when I need to calm down?” Louis asked.
“What’s…that…” Quin said between slow breaths to calm himself, the tightness in his chest refusing to abate.
“You ever heard of Hendrix?”
“No, what’s that?”
“You mean, who’s that,” Louis said, hopping up. “Take a deep breath, lean back, and rest your head. Let the music wash over you.”
Quin laid his head back against the wall next to the bed and got comfortable.
“Now, center yourself. Take a deep breath,” Bostwick said softly as he scrolled through a menu on his tablet in the wall. He pressed play on his tablet, and the first twangy guitar strums filled the room, like a heartbeat, pulsing the air through Quin’s chest.
Quin let his eyes go unfocused and closed them as the lyrics began emanating from the nothingness around him. “After all the jacks are in their boxes…” the cool edge of the singer’s voice and the slow, driving grit of the guitar took over him, and he drifted off to sleep. The Nemo cruised on into the black, and it was as if Jimi and space fused as one, his music making the nothingness swell with soul. “And the wind…cries…Mary.”

I love you, I appreciate you, thank you for existing
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BU it's even in his name BU
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Love: u/DLTLGO and u/brendonuriegkrar
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I am doing a little Father’s Day Gift early Fathers Day Gift, I will post the Father’s Day Gift on Instagram, and Reddit, and YouTube on June 18, 2023!!
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I am going to do a little project, for someone special, I am so excited for you Vros to see when I am done you Vros are gonna love it!!
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I need you Vros help on this special project for B, like what should I say in the project, you Vros tell me what all you Vros wanna say, and what is your favorite song from B, just tell me all of you Vros favorite things about B!!
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I am so excited for how this project is going to turn out, it’s just a little something!
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Tell me you favorite Vrocrew time, or something like your favorite Panic! At The Disco song or your favorite Brendon Urie moment, your favorite lyric to one of B’s songs idk you Vros can tell me anything about B that you want, and I will put it in the letter!!
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It’s only about B, can only tell me your favorite anything of and or about B!!
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Tell me all the Brendon Urie things, I should do of you Vros favorite parts of B!!
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What is you Vros favorite B moments, just favorite B anything! This is a surprise for B!! B is the most important person to us into this world, B deserves a present for all of the singing he has done for us over the years, and that B deserves it, as a thank you gift for all B has done for us, to thank him for everything!!
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Anyone have a idea for B’s Father’s Day gift??

Look no further than mini charcuterie boards. These pint-sized delights are not only adorable but also packed with flavor and creativity. Imagine a beautifully crafted wooden board adorned with an assortment of delectable cheeses, cured meats, and delectable accompaniments.
Personalize it by selecting their favorite cheeses, such as a creamy Brie or a tangy blue cheese. Pair it with a variety of thinly sliced prosciutto, salami, or even gourmet sausages. Add pops of flavor with a selection of olives, pickles, and spreads like fig jam or honey.
The best part is that these mini charcuterie boards can be wrapped up in elegant packaging, making them a visually stunning gift. It's a unique way to show your appreciation for their love of food and thoughtfulness.
Whether it's a housewarming, a birthday, or a holiday celebration, mini charcuterie boards as gifts will surely impress and delight any food lover. So, go ahead and surprise them with these thoughtful and stylish presents, and watch their faces light up with joy as they indulge in a delectable and personalized charcuterie experience.
For visit mini charcuterie boards:https://www.amazon.com/mini-charcuterie-board/dp/B07LDT9LR5

OEM from the dealership not Amazon before anyone asks.
I bought the car and it came with a few things from the previous owner like roof rack, but one of those was an inverter coolant pump new in the box. About two months after buying, the inverter coolant pump fails, taking the #9 Amp15 fuse with it. Diagnosing took a week but I replaced it. Fast forward to three days ago, four months since I replaced it, and the new OEM pump fails again leaving me stranded in the middle of a rural road. I just barely got the car fixed in some strangers driveway with an aftermarket $150 NAPA auto parts pump, which I'm going to run until it dies again.
Granted, I was running about a quart short on SLLC coolant when my second pump died, which I think may have contributed to it. But that's two pumps in four months. The first one has been semi recently installed two, less than a year. The fact that the previous owner gave me one in the box brand new indicates this has been an ongoing problem. I also found it strange that the first time it failed it shorted the fuse rather than simply the motor dying.
Any theories on what may be killing them? It's costing me a buck and a half in coolant and pumps, so would love any insight.