Move in specials apartments near me

ive commented a bunch and made a post or two but never told my full story.
my stbxw and i were married for 14 years and together for 17. Classic fairy tale marriage till 3 years ago. we were happy, had sex often, traveled together, went on dates frequently, talked about our feelings ok’ish. then covid hit….. i work construction so i was “front line” and had to be out there everyday. she was federal gov office worker so she spent the last three years at home.
overtime the stress of multiple quarantines and the inability to go out started taking it toll on her and she became severely depressed.
she joined the community pool and quickly found a group of friends in the neighborhood. I was happy she had a outlet and new friends to spend time. she quickly joined the pool board and became very active at the pool. she would spend the majority of her free time at the pool or with her pool friends.
once “everything opened again” she started traveling. at first it was every other month for a week. then it became every month for 2+ weeks for the last two years.
i told her I didn’t feel like her husband anymore. i was lonely and sad all the time since she was always with other people. she started to refuse to do things with me like go concerts or attend my 20 year high school reunion with me. i begged and pleaded for her to show me affection or attention. she would say sorry and continue her normal ways.
we suddenly stopped having sex or any kind of intimacy in november of ‘22. That continued until march of ‘23. i could feel a greater divide grow between us in that time.
in april she went out of town again a week and a half the day after my birthday(she didn’t even get me a card for my birthday). while she was out of town I legit accidentally clicked on the iphotos app on our apple tv.
What i saw was soul crushing. i immediately started having panic attacks.
she came home 5 days later and I confronted her. at first she said they were just friends. then i showed her the evidence I had. she admitted to sending him pictures. as the confrontation went on she finally admitted to sleeping with him. she trickle truthed and was sparse on details and dates. Turns out she had lied and i had given her gas money to go have sex with this man. she said she was going to see her dying grandmother. instead she fucked this guy for a day.
she gave me the whole “i am so sorry i did this” “i am so fucked up I don’t want to be with anyone”
the next morning she left the house we rent.
2 days later she had a separation agreement drafted, 3 days later she was demanding i sign it and start moving out.
my biggest regret was not saying something or forcing the conversation when i saw the red flags….. i was so wrapped up in my love for her i just wrote it all off. I didn’t think it was possible that she could do this to me.
if you see something, say something…..

Strap in, friends, because this is a straight up paradigm shift.
So you know I've been talking to/seeing a very attractive person
...and I've been in my feelings about it because it turns out I have work-arounds/coping mechanisms for my insecurities instead of actually dealing with them. Awesome.
Old me would have laughed in his face when he indicated interest.
New me trusted my instincts about him and also that he wouldn't have approached me in the first place unless he was genuinely interested and attracted to me.
That confidence last all of a couple of days, which is when all my insecurities started raging to the fore.
ANYWAY.
He's been...awesome. He's communicating where he's at emotionally, he is empathizing with me, perspective-taking for me, holding space for my feelings, checking in with me, actively in therapy, letting me know what he needs and is capable of, et cetera.
Conflict with him doesn't push us apart, it brings us together.
And I don't mean in the push-pull cycle of break-up/make-up that ends up with increasingly shorter 'honeymoon stages'. What I mean is that we are on the same team. We are respecting the fuck out of each other. We appreciate when the other person brings something up instead of feeling defensive. Conflict is an opportunity for connection and *deeper understanding.
FAM. We are doing conflict ALL WRONG.
I think we think it has to be hard. I think we think that conflict is by definition contentious and antagonistic.
Argument does not have to heated or angry, no one has to 'win'; it can literally just be a discussion of diverging or opposite views.
I've literally said these actual words to him:
"It's a good boundary and I am impressed with you for keeping it." "Thank you for keeping me accountable on that." "Thank you for your understanding and grace."
And he's reflecting my feelings back to me and apologizing for his actions, advocates for my right to express my feelings, seriously attends to and considers my ideas and what I'm telling him, and positively reinforces to me what I am doing right.
What. the. fuck.
Guys, we have been wasting our lives trying to 'communicate' with people who are not on our team in the first place and honestly cannot handle reality in some way, shape, or form. How many victims of abuse hollow themselves out for a toxic or abusive person, trying so hard to empathize with them, thinking that if they only are only 'healthier' that they can get past the conflict into a healthy relationship.
The conflict IS the relationship.
I don't know where this is all heading but if I simply end up with an amazing friend that I respect the fuck out of, it is an absolute win. He is an amazing person, or at least doing his best to be one. I am so happy to know him as a person and that he exists in the world.
We are on each other's team.
If I could bottle how I feel right now so you could experience it, you would never, ever go back to some bullshit.
This is easy even when it is emotional.
I need us all to start being attracted to self-awareness first, and honesty. We need to literally be repelled by people who are not self-aware or honest with themselves. We need to establish a foundation of deep respect.
I suspect we are honing in on connection and chemistry, turning it into attachment, and calling that love because we feel the love-feeling even though it hasn't been built through time and deep understanding. That is not love.
The advice to 'date your best friend' sounds SO UNSEXY
...but what if he's hot, tho. The sexy is there and also somehow the least important part because you are so deeply attracted to who they are as a person and their soul.
I have tried ending things multiple times with this amazing person
...because I was actively self-sabotaging. I'm working on that. But just knowing how it is supposed to feel is such a game-changer.
Conflict should BE the repair, not the thing we have to repair from.

I want to go to the vet but i might just ask for help anyways.
Short story - I was just checking in with my frog that didn’t seem to want to move… but until I moved him i saw a nice small dark red pool of blood on his favourite log. I searched up on the internet on what happened… nothing showed up. the blood was not runny or even dry, it was in the middle. I don’t know how long its been there, but I would say its about a maximum of three days.
Any information that you might know that could help me is much appreciated!

I still can't believe what happened. And that it happened at all. I've been through a lot as a kid, but being bullied at this age, me being a grown man now hits different. I've always thought I could stand up for myself now, and that being bullied as an adult wouldn't be the same feeling or not even possible in the same way as back in childhood. But it happened and suddenly I was a little, scared child again unable to even move or say anything. Straight back to my childhood traumas.
It was scary, because I literally just froze. Couldn't even say a word. I'm not going to go into details about the situation, but the guys that did this are somewhat familiar to me. We were at a small café. They sat in the table behind me, and started insulting me out of nowhere, probably because I'm an easy target due to my appearance and my lifesituation in general... and they hit all the right spots in me. They knew what they did. They laughed and I just sat there trying not to burst into tears while they threw insults at me. Eventually they left and the situation was over, thankfully. I just sat there shaking and on the verge to tears and then left.
I know I'm fat, I might be a loser too, just go on with the list of bad things about me, but that sh*t hurt what they said straight to my face. I'm weak and they knew it. Afterwards I came up with the perfect comeback, obviously too late, and since then I've just been beating myself up.
Everything just feels unbeliavable. I'm still in shock, most of all I'm mad at myself tho. I couldn't even defend myself.

Hello everyone,
This is kinda long but I wanted to share my wild experience this week from a job application.
So back in mid February, the company I worked for as an IT specialist went belly up. Fast forward to March, a friend of mine tells me that they have an opening for a job. He pulled some strings and was vouching for me.
I had a meet 'n greet with the team, and we hit it off. They seemed to dig my vibe, and I left with a smile on my face. A few weeks later, I met their boss for a chat. I answered some questions including my experience, handed over my resume, and he said that he’d look into my application. He said that I didn’t need to know everything since I’d learn on the job. Cool, right?
Now, here's where things get interesting. Weeks fly by until the HR team finally hits me up for an "official" interview. The first email states that they’ve reviewed my resume and would like to schedule an interview. It was a panel interview with the boss and two other employees. The boss straight-up tells me it's just a formality for their records. At this point, I'm thinking, "Alright, I probably have this in the bag!"
Fast forward a bit more, and boom! I get an offer from the company! Ecstatic, I happily accept it, ready to dive headfirst into this new opportunity. But hold up, there's a twist. They suddenly hit me with a request to confirm my experience. No problemo, I'm on it! I have a degree in IT and a little over a year of professional experience. So I provide the details they need, feeling confident.
Then a day later, out of nowhere, they drop the unfortunate news. They tell me they can't move forward with the whole thing because of their super strict requirements of 3 years of experience. Say what?! Talk about a curveball that left me scratching my head and wondering what just happened.
Alright, I'm sharing this story because I’m seriously shaken up and frustrated. Has anyone else gone through a similarly wild ride during a job application? Anyone have a suggestion on what to do/say? Hit me up with your wisdom, advice, or even some words of encouragement. I'm all ears!
TL;DR: Went through a crazy hiring process full of ups and downs, got an offer, but then the company threw a "strict requirements" curveball. Totally confused and need some guidance on how to go about this whole thing lol. Thanks in advance everyone!

Me and my partner very quickly had a child (not planned) and moved into a rented house from his family. After 3 years together I decided I was interested in marriage. At first he said absolutely not. He is not interested in it, never has seen the point and to him it's just a peice of paper. Almost 5 years together and me bringing it up alot, I said I don't know why you don't want to marry me we have a child and have been together almost 5 years, he explained that marriages he's seen have always ended in devorce and only those who didn't get married seem happy. I asked well do you expect me to leave you or for you to leave me and he said no. I brang it up AGAIN a few weeks after and he said that for all intense and purposes we are engaged. So I said lets get a ring if you really mean that. So we picked out a ring and ordered it in my size. But he seemed really uninterested. Sort of almost rushing me to decide and when I got a bit anxious if it was the right one he got short with me and said he can't choose I need to just make a decision. It just felt really unspecial? I love him, but we have many differences and we've really had to fight to get where we are. He isn't the sort of guy to celebrate birthdays, Christmases ect which is has been a big issue since I'm the oppersit and love to celebrate. We disagreed on parenting. I didn't originally want to be a sahm either, and when I finally became one he started to almost resent me. I had to explain I don't have my own income so he needs to give me some sort of money to take our child out, buy him clothes ect. And he just seemed annoyed. But when I said I'd work he got angry and said how does that make him feel if I'm acting like he can't provide. We had big arguments over it and explained both sides. He was jealous of me being able to spend this time with our child and that's apparently why he acted this way. And I explained that it's hard work some days and not to dismiss it as doing nothing all day or getting to do what ever I want. Some days I still don't think he understands. The life we have built is so good, and our child is so lucky. They have everything they need and want. I feel able to enjoy being a sahm more now my partner doesn't get angry at me for not having a spotless house, and that I can actually have money to take my child to places like softplay. I feel really stuck some days. Alot of the ways he treated me were due to things going on, his father got very sick and passed away, I had awful ppd and ppa for two years without any support from Dr's ( I tried but they didn't do anything for me). I just want to know what outsiders view is. And there's lots I've missed but this is sort of the things going around in my head right now.

Gf broke up with me about 10 months ago, we had a rough couple of weeks but we didn’t officially let go of each other. 6 months ago she started to change, but hugs and company were still there, I was aware that we were not getting back, that I needed to change, become better. 2 weeks ago she said she was attracted to someone else, just because of their looks. And it hit me again, but harder this time. I always had hope as we are currently living together, do everything together, laugh together. But not anymore. We renewed our lease 2 months ago. I have to leave, but due to our situation, I can’t stand the idea of completely losing her, leaving her to find a place of her own with some strangers, or to suffer due to her situation, but I can’t stand the idea of her going out with someone new, knowing that she doesn’t have the same feelings nor will ever do. We’ve talked about almost everything we did wrong (mostly me), what are the things we hate about each other, and things that we are grateful for. She says that she knows that no one will ever love her as much as I did. It was heartbreaking to hear that she would never be in a relationship with me again, that she pictures herself with a lot of future guys, and someone who will love her just like she is.
I thought this info would help, but I just feel awful. I get extremely anxious when we are heading to a night out with friends (most of our friends are shared), since she might end up going to some guy friend’s house, or make out with someone.
She sees me as a sibling now, she says that her love transformed from a relationship love to a family type of love. She cares and loves me deeply still, but not in the same way anymore.
I can move out and possibly ruin her mental health by just doing so, or, I can figure out a way to get over her, see her as a sibling, and just not care what she does, for one more year. Then we can part ways forever.
I’m seeing a therapist but we don’t share the same values. Any advice, or anything on your mind about this will help me a lot.

Hello. I'll be working in foster city in a couple weeks and will be commuting for the time being. I am currently looking for a room to rent in or near by. If anyone has any information please reply here or send me a message. Thank you.

The very recent series of interviews by Dr Witt-Doerring with PSSD patients is perhaps the most important and genuine form of outreach on PSSD ever, along with the PSSDNetwork videos on Tiktok.
I am amazed at Dr. Witt-Doerring's willingness to carefully delve into the various facets of PSSD cases without truncating situations to make them simpler and more bare-bones than what they really are. The current reality with PSSD in fact currently is just that: intricate and confusing. So are the different "PSSD cases." It is often difficult to be clear about what happened, between different medications taken, the onset of symptoms, to what extent things may change based on environment, relationships, psychological vicious circles, improvement and worsening with medications, supplements, etc. That is, if already the problem of PSSD is complicated as a whole, as reflected in the scientific literature, when one goes to delve into it in community narratives and reads everything and the opposite of everything, one might think, "Now it's too much! This can't really exist."
But the special thing is that in this 'mess' it seems to me it is evident that the guys with PSSD who are exposing themselves in the interviews are not only very courageous: even in the terrible discomfort they are enduring, they show that they are very sincere and lucid. They admit that they have doubts and limitations, but they are looking for answers about something that they can instead 'see' very well; often, despite more superficial, careless, omertous responses obtained from doctors to whom they have turned for help. These boys and girls have the power of truth in them, and I hope this will get through to someone in good standing who also has the power to make impactful decisions that can make a difference.
To be able to find the many facets, doubts, assumptions and even anecdotes that come from our community recounted in those interviews, trying to unfold and explain them in a simple and straightforward way, while leaving open many question marks along the discourse (I'm thinking for example of the interview about experimental treatments), is not only useful and productive, but also reassuring. We are not alone in ramming our faces into a genuine mess that tests our reason despite the evidence and in moments it makes us wonder, "Where have I gone? Hasn't I lost my mind?" It is nice that all this comes under the watchful eye/eye of Dr. Witt-Doerring, who appears, as well as very interested, judicious to the point and gives us the opportunity (we hope!) to bring this to a much wider audience.
​
PS. I am translating the various interviews into my language, so I haven't heard everything yet. If someone does not understand English well, they can ask me for the transcripts so they use an automatic translator. We can also think about whether to send the doctor subtitles in various languages to add to the videos.

First / Previous / Next
After I sent River and Ocean away, I took a moment to compose myself. Omar is watching, trying to see how I'm reacting, I think.
"Melody, if you're going to use your Voice, you need to be very careful about the things you order. You didn't specify to bring the Marines back alive, and now they're dead."
"You're right Omar, I need to be very careful when I'm wording things."
Ava doesn't seem to mind. "They did do what you asked though. and so quickly! I expected to not see them for at least a week."
It doesn't seem to bother Um'reli either. "You have to admit, it sends a message. People weren't taking you seriously before, and between this and what you did to Starlight... they're going to realize you are the real deal."
Omar looked ahead "Speaking of the real deal, look." He pointed.
We look out and...
Oh my.
The crowd.
It's wall to wall people in front of the entrance to the Throne. More people than I've ever seen in one place before. Not here, not on Starbase Picaresque, not even at home on Meíhuā.
And they are all here to see me.
I wish there was a rear entrance to the Throne. I bet there is, I wish we looked harder to find it.
I sighed. If we're going to do this, we might as well do it right. I looked back and my friends. "Okay, we're on. I'm going to try and impress everyone and see if they'll make a path for us. Once we're up I'll sit on the Throne and you can just stand behind me and look... official I guess. Ready?"
Nods all around. Good.
I turned back forward and thought about how I wanted to appear. My gown started to rustle like I was in a stiff breeze and my crown and wings appeared. I thought about the connection to the Reach and was able to tweak the air settings to get a breeze going around here too and as people looked back to see where the wind was coming from, they saw us.
The cheering created a wall of sound that we walked headlong into. It was practically a physical thing. As we stepped into the crowd Um'reli and Omar pushed forward to clear a path and the people parted like grass on the plains.
As we walked, I spread my wings for the look of it and they hung over the crowds as we walked past. People reached out to touch them as I passed and - I'll be honest here - I didn't think people would be able to feel them as they're made out of light and fog by the Nanites, but they could! I could even feel their fingers brushing over the feathers.
It's very odd to have a sensation from a limb you've never had before. If I concentrated, I could hear the individual cries from people in the crowd as we walked, but after trying that for a couple of seconds it was entirely too overwhelming, so I just concentrated on the noise as a wall of sound without definition. It was easier to take that way.
We made it to the top of the gallery, and I turned to face everyone. every seat was filled and the entire lower level spilled out into the street almost all the way to the dock. I had never seen this many people here before all in one place! Aviens, Mariens, Azurians, the people who wear pressure suits and a few others I haven't met yet, all shapes, sizes and colors.
They were here, to cheer me.
They were here, to worship me.
This, was all for me.
Omar, Um'reli and Ava took up station behind me, seen but in the background as I raised my hands and spread my wings for silence. A hush descended, and everyone stared up at me, waiting.
"People of Reach of the Might of Vxxz. Thank you for coming. Today is a great day. A Builder, an Empress returns to you, so that you can become whole once again!"
Cheers and shouts. I hold my hand up for silence once again.
"The road ahead is long. The Gate is locked, the starships here in need of repair and systems all over the Reach have languished. But! You remain. We remain. Now that I am here, I will begin repairs and upgrades. I will make our starships move again. I will open the Gates. I will reunite my Empire and we shall once again, rule the stars!"
More cheers. I wait for them to die down before continuing.
"Today though, you can come to me directly with your immediate grievances about things here, and me and my fellow Builders-" I gesture behind me "-will work to resolve as many as we can."
I sit in the Throne and feel the familiar cold tang of connecting to the Starbase. It feels different this time, smoother, more familiar. I lean back... and let go...
From all around the arena, my voice is heard. Everyone perceives my voice as coming only to them, direct to them. It's as if I am speaking to them, and them only.
"Speak your issue, and be heard."
"We are a family of 6 and yet, our quarters are such th-"
"Please, Empress, my son, he nee-"
"Those nosy Aviens next door are alway-"
"Food prices keep going higher and hig-"
As everyone talks to 'me' I am keeping a list of the grievances. I'm not sure how I'm doing it, I assume it's the Nanites plus how I'd naturally try and keep a list of information being used together, but as they speak, I track what their problem is. Amazingly, after they speak, I'm able to offer some soothing words to everyone. It's me and it's not me at the same time. Even with my full Builder persona activated, I don't think I have the parallel processing to complete a feat like this. The Starbase and the Nanites must be doing the majority of the work.
After only an hour or so, it's done. Everyone that wants to speak has spoken, and I have thousands upon thousands of complaints to sort. I give a farewell and offer a blessing to everyone, and order the restaurants across the whole of the Reach to feed everyone for free today - promising they will be reimbursed for their work.
Royal part over, it becomes somewhat of a festival atmosphere around the Throne area. People milling about, talking with each other, catching up with old friends, eating and laughing. From my perch on the Throne, I watch the celebration. I get an overwhelming sense of relief tinged with a small amount of anxiety over what it means to have an Empress again. It strengthens my resolve to do my best to have it mean good things for the people that live here.
How am I going to pay for all this? What to other Empresses do?
They owned the banks. They just ordered it.
Wait. There are banks here, right? Is it really that simple?
Simple is often not *easy*. But yes. You own your whole empire, including the banks.
That's it! That's how we'll pay everyone and fund everything. A quiet part of me yells that it probably isn't that easy, and isn't that how inflation happens and don't I need to start taxing people to get money to go in or something? I should look into it further, but it's a very quiet part of me right now. I can tune it out pretty easily.
I turn my attention to the list of complaints that were collected and with the Throne and the Nantes help, I try and do some rough categorization.
Neighbor Complaints - this is the largest list and will most likely be ignored. Should it though? Maybe I'll have the others look them over in more detail.
Food issues - this is second largest. We can look over it and see if there's some underlying issue. I can also look into the disused food distribution centers. Maybe they're turned off because there isn't the resources to use them anymore, maybe it's another reason. I feel like I can fix this one, and if I do, it will give me the biggest boost to my legitimacy.
Environmental issues - third largest and issues related to the environment here. I had just turned up the settings here yesterday, so I hope this helps eliminate those. This should be an easy win. Mei'la had mention something about how power usage felt wasteful here. Maybe there's something we can do to boost efficiency.
The rest of them are things like, asking when we're going to launch the Starships again and quite a few asking when I'm going to "take care of" the issue of other sapient groups. Hmm. I don't like that one. Luckily, the questions seem to be in the minority, but still.
Job finished for now, I stand up and stretch. My goodness, that was boring. I hope I don't have to do it very often. Looking around, I find Omar, Um'reli and Ava wandering around the area behind the Throne. "Find anything interesting?"
Omar gestures towards me. "Actually yes, look here. There's a door behind the Throne, out of sight of the people on the ground.
"What's behind it?"
"I don't know, there's no handle and I can't get it to open."
"You've had the Nanites for a day, try to do it as a Builder. Just concentrate on the door and imagine it doing what you order."
Omar stares at the door, and I can see the concentration in his hands and on his face. There's a small breeze around him and with a hiss, the door slides open into the ceiling.
"You did it! Congratulations, Builder!" I'm super proud of him.
Omar stares at the open door, and then down at his hands, and over to me. "That... was... the most amazing thing! I just thought about the door opening and it did! It's like magic."
Now he will be one of *us*. He has felt the power.
I'm just happy he was able to do it. "Come on Omar, lead on. Let's see what's in here."
We go into the darkened room, and Omar again concentrates and the lights come up. Like most Builder stuff it clearly hasn't been touched in a very long time, but again, there isn't much dust here at all. It looks like everyone left for the day and shut the door... but then the door stayed shut for who knows how long.
Inside the room is 6 chairs that are arranged around a long table. Each of the chairs is in the same green metallic substance as the Throne. They're molded into the floor instead of the ceiling, but to me they look like where the Builder operators would sit when running the station.
"This looks like where the Builders sit when they are the starbase. Come, let's sit and try it out. It'll feel odd when you first sit, and if you get that feeling in the back of your brain to let go and sink further, don't yet. You need at least another day of Nanite development, but I think we're safe to connect lightly. I'll stay out of the seats and if I see anyone in distress, I'll pull them out. See if you can find my notes from the celebration."
Omar, Um'reli and Ava all sit gingerly. Ava is especially nervous - she's the one that saw me scream when I tried to integrate too quickly, but after a moment, I can feel them with my connection to the Reach.
"Wow, this is amazing! Melody, can you hear me?" It's Ava.
"Sure can Ava, it sounds like you're standing right next to me." I look over, and her body is just sitting in the chair, relaxed, breathing normally.
"Okay, I found your notes Melody. Looks like you sorted it somewhat already? Wow, how did you collect all this data?" Um'reli must have found my notes first.
"I have to admit, I don't really know. I just... knew what to do. The Nanites know more than I do, so sometimes I just let go and let them drive. I have a feeling that isn't always the right choice, but until I get more familiar with things, sometimes I feel like it's the only thing to do."
"Melody? I found the docking bay. It's empty right now, but I think I see how to maneuver High Line from the umbilical to the docking bay. Once it's inside we can get a better idea of what it would take to refit it with human systems and make it a viable starship again."
Oh, wonderful! I'm so glad Omar is here.
"Yes please Omar, do that. We'll go down and check it out once you've finished and everyone has a chance to get more familiar with how to be Reach."
While everyone is working, I go back over to the Throne and sit down. I get reconnected and just look around for a while. I like watching the movement of people on the Reach. It's... soothing I guess? Oh hey, up further are gardens and parks! I was worried there would be no greenery here. I should ride the train up later and explore.
I can feel Omar, Um'reli and Ava behind me exploring things, learning how they work, and with them here, I swear the Starbase is starting to work better. I can see people looking in wonder at lights that were long off and now are on again, breezes blowing as the air freshens, and even I'm noticing people starting to clean and sweep. It really feels like we're turning a corner here. I get an alert that for the first time in [DEMARCATION ERROR] another train is wheeled out from storage. It's needed for the crowds.
I wish I knew how long [DEMARCATION ERROR] was. If the starbase doesn't know, it was probably a long time. That really speaks to the power of the original Builders if 11 million people could live here with effectively no administration the whole time.
It's almost too good to be true...
My reverie is interrupted by a radio signal. I look around, ah, there it is. It's the long range comms. Someone is signaling us.
Huh, FarReach is signaling us.
"Okay Melody, very funny. You've made your point. Open the Gate now please." FarReach isn't even bothering with any niceties.
"Hello FarReach. How are you doing?" I admit, I'm being a little petty here.
"Melody! Do you understand what's happening? Do you see how you're changing? Most of the BIs don't see it, but your commanding voice thing and that 'don't worry about it' aura doesn't work on AIs. I see your changes, what's happening to you, what you're becoming. Keep down this path and you won't be the Empress Melody.
You'll be the Tyrant Melody.
"Ava said there aren't very many AIs around on this side of the galaxy, I have a hunch I know why. An Empress would not keep people around that can't be placed in thrall."
"FarReach! I am insulted. You're saying that just because I can't control them, I wouldn't like AIs?"
"Maybe not you yourself, at least not yet, but that Empress nano machine package that was installed on you wouldn't like AIs for sure. It sure feels like the decisions you're making are more their decisions than your own. I know you Melody, this isn't you."
Isn't me? Every decision I've made so far has been mine. Sure, the Nanites have helped, but if I didn't like what they were recommending, I wouldn't have done it.
"We caught up to that Mariens, Ottarn by the way. We took them and their tiny crew aboard. Their ship was basically junk taped together. Even if he had made it to the Gate, they probably wouldn't have made it to their destination. We're going to take them wherever they want to go, and then head home."
They took Ottarn? Hmm. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing or anything. I'm worried about it though, I wonder why?
"FarReach, did you call us up just to insult me and call into question all the good work we're doing here? We're helping the people of this Starbase! We've already improved the environmental systems, and now we're beginning to retrofit one of their broken Starships."
"Ugh, Fine Melody. We don't have to agree. You and Omar and Um'reli and Ava stay over here on your side of the Galaxy and leave the rest of humanity alone. I don't care anymore, I hate it here. Open the Gate."
"Or else what?"
"Or else, Empress I will link away." It really sounds like FarReach is speaking through gritted teeth. AIs are usually so reserved and chill. I've never heard one as angry as FarReach right now.
"Why are you being so mean to Melody, FarReach? She hasn't done anything to you." I forgot that Ava, Omar and Um'reli can hear this call too. I wonder if FarReach knew too?.
"FarReach, I think I have to agree with Ava and Melody. Our leaving was our on decision. Melody didn't place us in thrall or order us to come with her with her Voice. She didn't even come back to you. Ava came and asked us. We're here because we want to be here." I can feel the emphasis in Omar's voice. He seemed like the one that was least up for the business of ruling, it that sure made it sound like he's all in. I'm practically bursting with pride.
"I can't believe I'm here arguing with you four. Open the damn Gate, or I'm going to WEP the reactors and link away."
"Wait, how can you WEP with Captain Q'ari locked up?" Um'reli sounds genuinely curious.
"I declared Captain Q'ari unfit to lead thanks to Melody's meddling Um'reli. That makes me the commander and as the commander I can declare WEP on myself. Anyway, did you really think AIs can't WEP their own reactors? We allow the commander to order it. If I link away and it fails, then my destruction will be on your head. I already linked a beacon back to Starbase Picaresque. They never linked one back so I don't know if it worked, but if it did, then they already know about what's going on here. I am going to ask one. more. time. Melody. Open the Gate, please."
Ugh. The nerve! Still, I don't want FarReach to try and link away and have it fail.
Or worse, have it succeed and then they can link back with a couple of dreadnoughts and Starjumpers... before we're ready for them.
Fine. I lean back in my Throne and let go just a little more until I expand beyond the Starbase and... There. There's the Gate. The lock isn't strong, you just know where... to... push... and... there.
Outwardly, nothing changed, but I can tell the Gate is open now to regular travel. "I unlocked the Gate FarReach. Go home. Tell them what we have. Let everyone know that those who want to join us are welcome to."
"Not a chance, Melody. You're on your own. I was friends with the friendly Information Warfare Officer who had a knack for firearms and loved coffee. I hope she's still in there somewhere. I'd like to meet her again." FarReach closes the connection. From my vantage point I can watch them thrust away. After only a few moments, the Gate glows painfully blue, and...
They're gone.
Why am I sad? I'm so sad she left. I still had so much to show them. So much good we're doing.
"Melody? Melody? Are you all right?" I can hear Ava, she's not connected to the chairs anymore. I open my eyes and see her looking at me on the Throne. "You're crying."
"Oh Ava." I stand up and hug her. "You heard her. FarReach says I'm not me anymore. She said that I've changed and that she misses the old me."
"Oh Melody. She doesn't know what she's talking about. You're still you. You're you plus so much more."
"Ava is right." Um'reli stands from her chair and comes over. "You're still you Melody. You've been changed, this is true, but everyone changes. A change like this won't fundamentally change who you are."
I sniff. "Thanks Ava, thanks Um'reli. I just... FarReach was my friend. She sounded so angry."
Omar puts a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about it Melody. We know we're here for good reasons. That's enough. Besides, once we have our own Starship, we can head back to Human/K'laxi space and show them what we're doing. All kinds of people, AI and BI will want to come with us and help out. You'll see."
"Thanks everyone, I'm so lucky to have you here with me."
Omar is right. We'll show them.
We'll show them all.
First / Previous / Next

Big rant. My sister is divorcing her husband and they have two cats together. She moved out of the shared apartment in with a friend where pets aren’t allowed. Her soon to be ex husband is still living in the apartment and looking after the cats. He wants to move in with some of his friends soon (again no pets allowed) and then see where he goes from there.
Now my sister has flat out told me that i „will have to take the cats in for 2-3 months“. I‘ve asked what made her so sure that she or her ex could take the cats back after that time, Since neither of them is actively looking for flats where pets are allowed. She just said that she „guarantees that they will take them back then“. I‘m quite sure she expects me to get attached and keep the cats so she can live cheap and can visit her cats with me sometimes. That won‘t happen.
Now i usually love cats and i have a tomcat of my own who i found as a grown up stray.
The thing is, he‘s highly intelligent. I train with him daily to make sure he‘s enriched while understanding what he‘s not allowed to do. For example, he understands he’s not allowed on counters or tables. But he can have every bed and chair in the house instead. When i talk to him there’s this comprehension in his eyes, then he does what i asked.
Besides that he‘s very clean and doesn’t have accidents around the house and is profoundly chill and docile. He only meows when it’s feeding time, he doesn’t run around mad and he doesn’t try to destroy or push things. I have a wall of expensive houseplants and he doesn’t fuck with any of them. I even gave him a cushion among the plants to sleep on. I play with him daily and let him do little tricks that he‘s picking up really fast.
I’ve had him for 8 years and we’re such a good team. He understands what i want from him by word or gesture. A dream of a cat and a perfect fit for me. I make sure he stays that way by working with him on boundaries, bonding with him and rewarding him a lot.
Now my sisters cats? She got them from random people on the internet when they were kittens. She chose them bc they were cheap and small and cute. She got the first cat as an impulse and after a year she got the second cat bc the first one was acting out too much and wanted too much attention. She hoped they‘d play with each other and she would be left alone gaming in peace. They sometimes shit or pee on furniture. They are destroying things, scratching corners, jumping on everything, knocking stuff over, biting plants and meowing a lot. They like to be pet only sometimes and otherwise they are just smelly devils that refuse to listen. She doesn’t train or work with them in any way. It’s like two wild animals in a house. Like the cats were meant to be furniture and play with themselves.
To add to all that. My BF is going to move in with me soon and he doesn’t like cats much except for mine. He has agreed to take them in for a week at most just as a trial to see if we could get along. He was interested in seeing if i could turn the cats around and train them like my boy. I kinda doubt that. On top of that we wanted to look into adopting a friend for my tomcat but we‘re being smart about it and not rushing it. If we by chance find a cat that checks all the boxes we‘ll get that one. Idc if it’s this year or later.
My sister is super mad that we would consider taking in a new cat but that i don’t want to take „her babies“ in. She claims she would do the same for me… only that my cat is a well behaved little gentleman and wouldn‘t cause any issues. Her cats will probably rip up my plants, shit on my bed and drive away my boyfriend with their nightly screaming matches. Besides. She‘s not actively looking for a place that allows cats. That‘s basically just a trap so i either keep them or she can be mad at me for surrendering them to a shelter. Those cats are just not a good fit for my life.
I just needed to get that out. Don‘t get kittens just bc they look cute. They aren’t developed yet and could have a personality that just doesn’t match you at all. Then you‘re stuck with a loud high energy animal when you wanted a lazy couch potato cat or an aloof cat when you wanted a cuddle buddy. You wouldn’t just get a husky puppy as a lap dog or a pug puppy as a hunting dog. Then why get kittens without knowing what character traits they will get? The character is just the base and then they still need to be trained. There’s this wide spread belief that cats are resistant to training but they are just more difficult than dogs. With proper education and lots of empathy and repetition cats can be made to understand basic rules. Cats aren’t furniture!
Tldr: my sister has crazy cats that she wants me to take in for an indefinite amount of time. I don’t want to do that bc they don’t fit in my life and i frankly don’t like their personalities.

Currently, 5e is the only ttrpg I have played, although that will most likely change after my group finishes our current LMoP game. 5e's skills system seemed perfect to me when I started, although now I see some problems such as some stats being too useful and other being dumpable for basically no loss. So I've been browsing other systems for a while to see how they do things differently. Here's a couple of examples:
Pathfinder 2e, which I hope to try out some time soon, seems very similar to 5e, although instead of having a single proficiency bonus you are able to increase your proficiency in each skill separately. I haven't taken a deep dive into the rules so I dont know if they added more uses for CON other than health, but there still dont seem to be any skills for it.
The Dishonoured rpg has a two sets of stats called Skills and Styles. The Skills are Fight, Move, Study, Survive, Talk and Tinker, while the styles are Boldly, Carefully, Cleverly, Forcefully, Quietly and Swiftly. When a player makes a skill check they combine their scores in the most relevant Skill and Style. For instance, a bar brawl may require you to Forcefully Fight, while a stealthy takedown may instead require you to Quietly Fight. This feels kind of like what the 'skills with different abilities' optional rule in 5e was trying to do, but in my experience that rule hardly ever gets used.
Legend of Zelda: Reclaim the Wild skips right over ability scores and just has skills. The 24 skills are split into three categories: Power, Wisdom, and Courage, but these categories dont really have any effect on the skills themselves. At character creation you have a bunch of points that you can spend to increase your skill in each score individually. This is quite nice and simple, especially for newer players, as there aren't a bunch of numbers that affect each other and need to be added together. The numbers are also much cleaner as they start at 1 and go up, as opposed to starting at 8 (which is actually -1) and going up to 20 (which is actually +5)
So what other ability and skill systems do you like from other ttrpgs?

So I developed psoriasis at 28 (now 32) and no one in my family has it. My husband then started to develop it around age 29 (now 33). Our Toddler started developing skin issues around 18 months (now 23 months). Now our dog has psoriasis…
My question is, do you think our home is causing this? No one in mine or my husbands family has skin issues!! We moved into our home in 2017 (when I was 27)… all seemed to start occurring within 18 months (which is how old my daughter was when she developed it).
I just ordered a MOLD kit to test our air. When we moved in, a tornado hit our area the following week, this caused roof damage. It took 8 months to resolve with insurance (thanks American Family) and they said everything was fine but now I wonder if we are experiencing MOLD and this is what’s actually triggering everything.
I just find it really weird we are ALL getting this (even the DOG!)
Anyone having similar experiences? (And don’t try to sell me on this “it’s hereditary” BS.. I don’t personally believe that!)
Side Note: I’ve been doing the CANDIDA diet because I was tested for MOLD allergens and it came back positive. For Candida albicans. Which my doctor says I react to YEAST. So I’ve been doing this Candida diet and it is actually clearing up. Along with taking supplements and more probiotics.
I also have it down below (if you know what I’m saying) and steroids alone never helped. BUT I’ve been having success with using TUCKS cooling wipe pads every time I use the restroom, then applying Jock Itch cream and it’s been going away!!!! I’ve been doing it for 5 days straight and it’s nearly gone and it was BAD.
Hoping for input and hoping this info helps others :)

Warning- bathroom talk: urinating
It started when I was pregnant that I finally just snapped and said he was banned from using our bathroom cuz he doesn’t wipe off the seat. I tried to tell him he needed to lift both lid and seat to pee, and then close both when done. That simple, we’d have zero problems. Or just stinking wipe the lid every single time without error. But he still pees with the seat down, forgetting to clean. Now imagine my very tired pregnant wide-load self with a bursting bladder running to my bathroom, my personal bathroom in my bedroom…. And sitting down on his pee that he didn’t clean up. I did look, but sometimes still don’t see it before sitting down. I told him how’s much it disgusted me and it was making me think he was a disgusting gross person who is being selfish and mean…. He changed for a few days, but then it continues… I finally just lost my shit and said if my butt contacts pee on MY toilet seat again, or for any reason my home bathroom begins to feel like I’m at a bar on ladies night, I’m moving out. Said we cannot live together if he keeps this up, this is a huge deal breaker that I have repeatedly communicated. That’s what finally made him stop, he realized I was dead serious about leaving. So he started using the other bathroom, and even cleans it himself. Matter has been settled ever since. Now fast forward a year to last week- he’s telling a random person a ‘story’ implying how crazy I am for banning him from my bathroom….. acting like I was being extremely controlling and weird. Poor him. I was so stunned, where did that even come from? And I honestly do not wish to discuss it to people I don’t know, plus it’s gross and TMI. It’s been bothering for me ever since, first time with him telling a ‘story’. So now I’m starting to question things, going over the past years- does he talk about me like this to other people? Was that incident last week to try to embarrass me? Is THIS the reason why people all love him but refuse to speak to me? My neighbors, his family, his coworkers….. holy smokes I assumed I lost all social skills after having babies, even wondered if I had autism or something. but what if….. it’s been him? Is he the reason I’ve been so socially isolated? He’s so charming everyone likes him, but I also used to be very likable, before we married. If any of this is true- it’s all the red flags I need to take action. Am I paranoid jumping to conclusions on this?

The runs I enjoyed the most were not the ones where I was breezing through the whole confession, absolutely demolishing every obstacle that dared raise in front of my invincible party. It was the ones where it didn't go as well as it could, losing heroes every now and then, having to make do with the new heroes that I didn't plan on.
I remember having to make my vestal go in the front ranks and dish out bashes during two entire regions because I got the appropriate trinket, only to lose another hero later, replaced by a leper, which made me have to put it back on the back lines supporting the team. The way she changed roles along the run according to the opportunities and the restrictions was so fun to play!
I love rogue-likes. I love having to make the best out of what's dealt to me, and getting to adapt/commit to strategies along the run. It gives rogue-like games way more longevity than if I could build what I want, when I want. Sometimes it will be hard, sometimes the stars will align and I'll get to play the most powerful, ideal combinations, but it will always be unexpected and exciting to think about what crazy thing will happen during a run. DD2 provides a little bit of that with the random trinkets, stagecoach/combat items and trophies, but it could do even more:

• At the start of a run I can still choose all heroes and all paths, and assemble the "dream team".
• If a hero dies, it gets replaced by a hero I don't choose, always a wanderer, which is generally way weaker than any path, and way less fun since it's a "generic" build rather than a speciality.

So here's my suggestion: When the party arrives at the inn and it is not complete, we get a selection of random heroes with random paths you have unlocked, and you get to choose among them. Also, when you start a run, you only choose two, maybe three heroes. Those who complete your party are chosen at the first inn, among the random selection. The bridge fight is already a formality, it just needs to be consistently doable by only two dudes.
This way, every run will have you play something that you didn't necessarily plan, and test your creativity, imagination and ability to come up with powerful combinations with the opportunities presented to you. I think this is why the "random party" button exists, but I think there should be a middle ground between totally planned out and totally random, that's built-in the game and that happens naturally during the run. Also, wanderer heroes are pretty boring once you got to play with the min-maxed paths so I'd love that replacing heroes are not wanderer. A random hero with a specific path may be dangerous and risk making your party not very functional, so that's why getting to choose from a limited selection is a good alternative.
I'm not advocating this to be the default way to play the game, but a possible option we can choose. I personally would pretty much always play like that. What do you think?

I 20, met my cousin's best friend just a month ago (she lives far away from me, but we were like Brother and Sister when we were kids). So my cousin moved back home and her new best friend visits her a lot. I met that Girl like 3 months ago. She is absolutely gorgeous! She is always kidding about why I dont snap with her etc. One time, my cousin went to another room and her friend came with her, she fell "accidentally" on my lap and gave me that "fuck face" and there were other such accidents. The Problem: my cousin and I are still very close and I don't want to be that guy who fucked her best friend?! On the other hand, she thinks I am a Womanizer l, because I always wear suits und expensive watches, but the reason for that is, that I worked since I am 15 my ass of to become this kind of person. I am not rich, but I try to make money as hard as I can. So this girl thinks I'm extrovert always smiling and joking, but the real me is nothing like that, that's just my salesman personality. My father died when I was fifteen and my mom never really got over it, so she became a very sad and angry woman. We don't speak a lot. My both sister moved out years ago and I don't really speak to them either, because I inherited everything from my father, but that's another story. So I am a 20 year old, who buys houses, fix them and sell. But of course I am in depts so I work in the real estate business 60 hours a week and fix my houses. I do not really have a "life" I drink a lot alone and work my ass of, every day. So I really don't think that I am a boyfriend material and I don't want to start anything when I know from the beginning, that I don't want a person to be a part of that shithole called life. Sometimes I really think about killing my self.

As someone, who has been used to Diablo om K&M for years, I am currently really struggling playing D4 on a controller. Don't get me wrong, i really like the feel of it, EXCEPT for ONE thing. Skill aiming.
On K&M, i just move my cursor where I want it, press a key and boom, my Bear Druid tramples to a specific location. I have been also using trample as a mobility skill with dash to get around quicker. Similarly, I aim where I want my Blizzard to go, boom, Blizzard.
Now on a controller, I press the trample skill and the druid runs like a single meter forward. My dissapointment is immeasurable, my day is ruined and most importantly, my ability is wasted. (Forgive the meme there.) Trampling into crowds, I trample like the first two guys and then stop. I haven't even tried the aimable AoE abilities like Raven on Druid or Blizzard on Sorcerer (because my current Druid build doesn't use them and I didn't get around to swapping builds yet).
So far, target lock is strange and wonky. Swapping targets for me is unintuitive and loses me precious time. I feel like I'll need ages to get used to it.
Controller players - how do you aim your skills? Got any tips for a controller newbie so that I could bet used to it faster and playing the game becomes less painful?
TLDR: How do you efficiently aim abilities like Trample or Blizzard on a controller?
Also heard that aiming is better in D3 and Diablo Immortal. BLIZZ FIX PLS

I love my job, I work with great people, and I am doing some really satisfying work. However I can’t seem to shake this somewhat flat feeling. I’ve moved around the UK for a while now and it often leads to fleeting friendships and a lack of stability. Consequently it gets a bit lonely- so here we are. I’ve written a little about me here:
In my 30s, 6ft, blue eyes, brown hair
I love my sport (both watching and playing) Often love to read but need a good recommendation to get me back into it again. Hiking is great fun, it gives you real sense of accomplishment. I want to travel more and would love to hear some of your stories.

My department at work has slowly been shrinking with the workload being shouldered onto remaining staff and I can barely keep up.
I like this job just not the amount of work I’m being asked to do with less actual time to do it. Something has to give- Either quality of work or quality of life.
I feel like I’m drowning- I don’t have the capacity to keep myself or my apartment clean. I’m not sleeping enough, eating well, or enjoying the things I used to. Just wondering if there’s anything that worked for you when digging out of a rut? So far I’ve tried:
-Applying to jobs (many interviews, no offers) - Went on vacation - Took a few mental health days to do things I love at home and recharge my batteries - Made an appointment with my therapist - Talked to my manager at work - Holistic solutions which seem like grasping at straws: yoga, cold plunges, turmeric tea, burning candles, meditation…etc. To be fair, these make me feel better in the moment but I don’t think they provide lasting benefits.
Any advice would be so greatly appreciated.

I run a small nonprofit (2 permanent staff, 2-3 temporary contracts a year) with a very active Board. We’ve used the free version of Asana for a few years mainly just to help me create work-back schedules for projects and delegate tasks. A lot of other work like hours tracking and creating resource manuals and reading lists is done through gsuite (a lot of separate spreadsheets).
My co-director is leaving at the end of the month, and we’re hiring their replacement very soon, the Board has also been picking up more hands-on work as our organization is growing. I’ve been trying to find some good strategies to consolidate where information is held, compile training resources for on-boarding board members and volunteers and am interested in some more reporting functions so that I can see better see how projects are moving forward, how everyone’s workload is distributed and create templates and frameworks for programs to help things run a bit more smoothly.
I had a trial of the paid version of Asana, and while I didn’t get to really explore a lot of functions, there were some helpful tools for reporting and creating task-list templates that I really liked. I’m thinking of biting the bullet and upgrading to the paid version, but we’d be looking at an expense of about $1000 or more a year to have “seats” available for all of our staff. Our operating budget is around $250k, so this would be a big expense for us, and we really try to limit administrative expenses.
For background, we’re an arts nonprofit and a lot of our staff and board are very visual people, we also hire a lot of students and neurodivergent folks/folks with disabilities, so I’ve been thinking that putting some love into a project management software so that we have a lot of clear instructions that are liked to background info and resources and laid out visually/with colour coding could be really helpful. I also noticed that you can link it with harvest (which we don’t use) for hours tracking, which might be a way better solution than the spreadsheets we use to have staff track their hours.
I’m curious if other orgs of a similar size make use of the paid version, how you use it, and if you think it’s worth it? We’ve already invested a good amount of time into asana, so I’d rather not change to a different software, but I’m open to other software suggestions.
Thank you all so much!