#like if i had 30m to live

[madarasfloofyhair]

sure, dazai and sigma waltzing down a prison hallway is forever looping in my mind but its also because it's SO MUCH MORE than just a fun scene. and even the fact it is a fun moment is hella important. trust dazai on this one. sigma has been an unwilling pawn in too many schemes- given a home for some time and then discarded. and then it just seems to him he's being shoved right into another one from the moment dazai choses him. to him, dazai's known as a threat. a being matching in smarts with fyodor, unhinged enough to blush in anticipation at a death match, and to laugh injecting posion into his veins. that's his first personal impression of the man. but dazai takes sigma's hand, pulls him close, practically basks in the absolute nonesense of it (to sigma's increasing panic), twirling and twirling until sigma will shove him away- and then it's where sigma realises dazai's still smiling at him?? it's when sigma wonders for a second if he's had this wrong. or maybe that he's been right- but maybe there's more to this. more to dazai's plan for him. and see, sigma's usually high strung anyways, dedicated to a fault....but now he's been feeling lost, fed up of it all, angry and even more stressed to breaking point. and dazai.....reacts accordingly for when he wants to bridge a gap between him and someone. aka. obnoxious familiarity and overall whimsy. in-your-face (literally) humour to let the other person get riled up at HIM for a moment, let them let it out, and then redirects the focus once they've said what's truly on their mind. and right after his outburst at dazai, sigma's self-awareness kicks in fast.... that dazai's.....directing him? is it manipulating? what's the intention? sigma goes a little quiet and thinks carefully when dazai prompts him more questions. he's still pissed and weirded out, but it already feels entirety foreign to the sinister, dismissive, masterplan smile fyodor will throw at him....and that's enough to let sigma focus. dazai's smile broadens, encouragingly, lets his personality do the talking and is probably the most genuine but lighthearted at the same time the show has shown him. but IT STANDS IN POINT that dazai broke the tension in sigma, improvising and adjusting to the wild card he's chose sigma to be, already committed to giving sigma the option to be saved. it's literally dazai at the peak of the person oda wished him to be: masterplanning, expressing himself more honestly, smiling and not buried in darkness. and it's sigma experiencing humanity - through dazai's guidance (humanity through DAZAI!!!!!!!!), plus through being literally just silly- pushed hard, but not too hard - into being given hope.

[livingasaghost]

why yes i am sick of ads and influencers and commercials and product placement and capitalism thanks for asking!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for breaking up with my boyfriend because he likes my body?

TW for ED but please hear me out:

My bf (30m) and I (28f) have been together for a little over 5 years. When we got together I had an extremely stressful and physically demanding job. Shortly after our relationship started I relapsed with an eating disorder that had been a problem since prepubescence; I started restricting heavily at age 11 and had struggled with it on/off since then.

After quitting that terrible job and regaining some agency in my life, I spent a couple of years really focused on recovery. Without giving specific numbers (cause triggering) I'll say that I was extremely underweight to an unhealthy level for at least a year and experienced severe health complications because of it. I nearly died from heart problems and had a big wakeup call that caused me to change my whole life. I've done the work of recovery without medical help (history of omission with doctors) but have had support from my bf, and am currently at the highest weight of my life.

at a recent checkup my Dr talked a lot about "healthy lifestyle" and mentioned my weight gain over the past couple of years. I'm still within the "normal" range for my height and build, but the after visit summary/chart notes denoted risk of becoming overweight. Idk if my Dr would have brought it up if my history of ED was in my chart, (and I did switch primary care practices a few years ago, so they weren't treating me at my thinnest) but it still shook me a bit and I will admit to feeling very triggered.

The job I moved to is quite sedentary compared to the previous terrible one - I wfh, and very rarely have to be on my feet or do strenuous activity. In addition, I have chronic pain issues that make exercise difficult, and so historically have just restricted to maintain/lose weight because it's easier for me physically to just be hungry than to work out. I didn't want to go down that road again though because of how intense and scary it got last time.

My bf is a personal trainer and specializes in working with low ability clients and people recovering from long illness/injury. When I told him that I wanted to start exercising more often and get a good cardio routine going, he was really excited and started immediately putting together an "action plan" (what he calls it w his clients idk) for me. Then he mentioned how I'd need to add on a bunch of meal supplements and snacks to avoid losing weight and I got upset.

We're a plant-based (vegan) household and live with a roommate (bf's friend) so mostly eat/cook communal dinners and have various breakfast & lunch plans on hand, so we already eat pretty healthy and make sure to have a good balance of macro/micro in the meal plan. My intent was to eat the same but increase my activity level to get out of the danger zone without restricting. I don't generally snack and rarely eat dessert, just the 3 squares.

I told my bf that I needed to lose weight and be more active according to my doctor, and that I wasn't comfortable with having protein supplements, smoothies, and snacks in addition to regular meals because that would defeat the purpose. He got really sad and said that he likes the way my body is now, and while he supports being more active, he doesn't want the size of me to change. His exact words at some point were "you look so good now, I love the amount of you that there is and I like the way you jiggle." It kind of made me feel sick and wonder if he has like a secret size fetish or something?

So I've been thinking of breaking things off with him and moving in with a friend or back in with my parents, but idk if this is actually a red flag or just the disorder talking? He did help me a lot with recovery but if he's going to keep me from being healthy or wants me to gain even more weight then maybe it's better to leave - would this be an asshole move? I honestly don't know.

[enigma-the-mysterious]

AITA for trying to accomplish my father's dreams and hurting my best friend in the process?

Alright, here we go. So, I (30M) have been working on a pretty intense task for the last few years. I made a promise to someone very dear to me—my father, to be exact—that I would do whatever it takes to accomplish it. To do this, I had to take some drastic steps. We’re talking undercover stuff, working within a system that’s more rotten than an overripe jackfruit, all to get closer to taking down the enemy from the inside.

To accomplish this mission, I needed a special promotion. I have been putting myself through hell and back, but those racist assholes at higher up kept passing over me to promote Mediocre White Dude #57. Then a few months ago, I finally, FINALLY made some solid progress when my boss's wife guaranteed me the promotion if I could track down and arrest some anonymous dude who was proving to be a security issue for my boss. Pretty straightforward, right?

Now here’s the issue. At about the same time a few months ago, I met this guy; let’s call him A (26M) for now. My work-life balance had honestly been, well, shitty to say the least, thanks to my father's mission, and I barely had the time to socialize and make any meaningful connections in the city I moved in. Meeting with A had been a chance encounter too. Long story short, we clicked instantly and became fast friends. He is a great guy all around— smart, funny, passionate, good natured, kind, helpful— just about everything you can possibly wish for in a friend (although he could be a little naive sometimes).

But here’s the kicker: a few days earlier, I found out that A has been lying to me about... basically EVERYTHING! ALL this time. He is not from the city; the people he claimed to be his family are not even related to him. Even his name isn't A, it's B! But what's worse is that he is exactly the guy I was supposed to arrest. And he was on a mission too. Except his mission was not targeting my boss, it was to rescue someone— his sister M (9F) to be exact— my boss and his wife had kidnapped and enslaved (long story). Yup, that’s right, we were on opposite sides without even realizing it.

Things escalated quickly. I... well… I had to make a choice. I chose to betray him to keep up my own cover and stick with my father's mission. And yeah, it was brutal— there was a literal fight to the death involved. I tried to convince him at first to surrender without fighting, but of course B didn't listen and refused to back down. I can’t even begin to explain how much it hurt to turn on someone I came to respect, even love…. uhh…. like a brother, of course.

And then, to rub salt to the wound, once I arrested him, my boss (FUCK HIM FUCK HIM FUCK HIM FUCK DIE BITCH) ordered me to flog B publicly till he fell to his knees and begged for mercy. Yeah, those were his exact words, that bastard! I felt like I had no choice, so I did what I was told. And it was one of the worst days of my life. I kept asking B to kneel so I could end the torture, but he is one stubborn and tough motherfucker and decided he would rather suffer through a public torture session than kneel. My dickface boss and his bitch wife weren't satisfied with how little blood I was drawing out of B, so they kept escalating the torture until B couldn't take it anymore and fell unconscious.

I ended up hurting him so badly, both physically and emotionally. It is fucking me up, honestly. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't even get out of my bed right now. I honestly feel like dying.

So, AITA for betraying and hurting my best friend to accomplish my father's mission? I did what I thought was necessary to save countless lives, but I can’t shake the feeling that maybe I went too far.

Edit: No, B did not know that I worked for the people who kidnapped his sister. He did not befriend me to take advantage of my position, as some of you have been implying. He did not, I repeat, he did NOT betray me. If anyone has betrayed and wronged him, it's me!

Edit 2: No, I didn't tell B my real intentions and my father's mission. Didn't you read the post? I am working UNDERCOVER!

[thatbadadvice]

Help! My Girlfriend Didn't Appreciate The Awesome Present I Gave her

Dear Prudence, Slate, 9 January 2023:

Dear Prudence, 

My girlfriend thinks I’m trying to undermine her. How do I prove to her I’m not? My girlfriend “Katie” (33F) and I (30M) have been dating for three months, and so far it had been going very well. I even thought we could become very serious. However, something has changed, and I’m worried that she’s getting cold feet.

This all started a few days ago, when my parents dropped by my place to chat. Katie was in the kitchen, making the two of us dinner. My parents and Katie have met a couple of times before, and they seem to get along. Additionally, Katie’s normally very calm and easygoing. However, when my mom walked into the kitchen to help out, Katie seemed to become irritated. She said that she “prefers to cook alone,” and when my mom grabbed a knife and some carrots and started to chop them up for her, Katie asked her not to cut them because they have to be cut “a certain way.” Katie told my mom that she didn’t want help and demanded that she go back into the living room area.

I’d never seen Katie this upset, and I wasn’t happy with how she treated my mom. When my mom left the kitchen, I hugged her and said, “Sorry about that.” I asked Katie what was going on and she said nothing, but at the time, I was alarmed and suspicious. Later that evening, I had to get some groceries, and while I was at the supermarket, I decided to pick up some Midol as a nice gesture. I didn’t know if Katie was on her period, but knowing that she isn’t normally this irritable, it seemed possible to me and if she was, she might appreciate the gift. When I got back, Katie was watching the World Cup, and I silently placed the Midol on top of her bag. Katie gave me a weird look and asked why I had bought her Midol, and I said it was because of how she had acted with my mother earlier.

Katie did not like this explanation. She said she was annoyed because she didn’t want someone interfering with her cooking, not because she was on her period. She said it made her think that I don’t take her feelings seriously and am trying to “undermine the legitimacy of her emotions.” I explained that this wasn’t true, but I don’t know if she believed me. I think the damage might have been done. How can I salvage the relationship and win back Katie’s trust? — Midol Mishap

Dear Midol Mishap,

Does Katie usually have a problem with self-soothing, or does it mostly happen during meals where people enter her space uninvited and intentionally disregard her stated preferences when she tends to act out like this? Does bedtime/bathtime usually go okay? Can you drop her off at the office without tears and a tantrum? Figuring out the answer to this question will reveal the extent to which this relationship can be salvaged, but I think you're in for an uphill battle if silently leaving a box of bitch pills on a woman's purse doesn't have her running back into your arms with relief and appreciation for the thoughtful care you showed her while she was being a real cunt.

Usually women appreciate being told that their emotions are wrong, and welcome thoughtful explanations from men about how the things they have felt and experienced are incorrect due to being incongruent with a man's feelings and experiences. But some women, and it sounds like Katie might be one of them, lack the self-awareness necessary to recognize that the things they believe they think they interpret as being insulting, disrespectful, and patronizing are not that way because some dude somewhere said so.

It might be worth opening up a dialogue with your mother about how to handle Katie; I don't mean to suggest that all women are the same (that would be sexist, yikes!) but you have both experienced what it is like to be under the thumb of someone as cruel and controlling as Katie, and you may be able to offer each other some comfort while you figure out how to get the woman you've been fucking for three months back on the right path, in terms of her behavior and emotional regulation. Meds are a great start — Midol is an absolute miracle drug for shutting down an ungrateful cow — but you can't just crush it up over Katie's ice cream every night.

The right solution is going to necessarily involve some effort on Katie's part to tell you only what you want to hear and agree with everything you say, and she might just not be mature enough to do that kind of hard internal work right now. A lot of people wouldn't — they'd say they have a right to assert boundaries, be taken seriously as full human beings, and not have their legitimate concerns belittled as mere hormonal hysterics of an unstable female — but it's possible Katie is capable of real change. The next time she has one of her little episodes, try using a little babydoll to coax Katie into seeing what a silly little monkey she's being when she rejects the precious opportunity to bond with your sweet mama by letting her do whatever she wants no matter what. Katie could speak directly to the doll about how she believes she thinks feels until she's ready to express the emotions you want her to have.

If you try this, you might want to wait until after dinner, when the knives are put away, just in case. Best of luck, dear boy!

[xpc-web-dev]

Daily Journey : Day 1

This tumblr started with me just wanting to share my coding journey in November of last year.

No pressure of wanting likes, followers or anything like that. Just share in a safe place.

And I understand that now that has changed. Now I worry about the reach of my posts, I worry about people thinking I'm a failure and that I won't get things and likes.

And all this is useless in my life. I don't have to show anyone anything and I don't need to be liked, etc.

And I don't want that for myself.

So I thought about keeping my diary about this stage in my personal life private, as I already do with my emotions/days normally.

But I also think it might be cool to have that record here.

So, for now I'm here and overcoming my desire to start a tumblr from scratch (I always start something from scratch when I want to feel free). Now this idea is not so cool in my head. But I love seeing my old posts that I was thinking about giving up and now I'm in a better place.

Anyway:

Notes on the first day.

In general, I was very anxious, insecure because I don't know how to socialize with strangers who don't know what they're going to ask me. I need to know what is going to be said or know the subject to feel good. But it was nice and fun, they made it friendly.

We introduce ourselves in a fun way to get to know each other.

We learned more about project delivery and the like.

We had a 30m class where we talked about web introduction. Like mozilla, url, domain etc.

+++ I know that on tumblr the post photo dynamic is different, but I want to keep it standard. So I will follow my rules, because this is my account.

If you are reading this post, I wish you to be well, have discipline and consistency to achieve your goals.

Update notes:

As they leave the classes recorded, I went to watch it now and found a lot of doubts.

1. I paid attention on the recording (I don't pay attention live, maybe this will improve and maybe not)

2. I wrote down the questions

3. I researched each one and left some to ask in class because they want us to do this.

And now I'm feeling productive.

I didn't let it pile up, I did what had to be done and I'm ready for tonight's class.

I think I'll set the default of my posts for after rewatching the classes.

Have a great night, afternoon or morning.

[aita-blorbos]

WIBTA if I killed my best friend to win a game? Yeah, I know, sounds bad, but hear me out. The thing is, the friend (let's call him "Mark", not his real name of course) in question (30M) used to be dead before the game brought him back to life. Well, not really "used to be", and not really "brought back" - time travel tenses are hard, okay. What's important is that I (30M) remember a time when he was dead, which no one else remembers, and I've been completing tasks to keep the universe from going back to that time. And by "completing tasks" I mean "temporarily cutting my own limbs off and killing people" because the people running this thing are edgy assholes. The problem is that it turns out I actually died during one of these tasks, and another one of my friends (30F), had to get involved to bring me back. The bigger problem is that the next task is to kill the person we brought back. You see the dilemma here. If the friend who brought me back loses, the world resets to how it was before she started playing, i.e. I'm dead. If she wins, it means she killed me, so I'm also dead. People die when they are killed! "Mark" is screwed in pretty much the same way, except that he doesn't even know he is.

You might be wondering why I'm contemplating killing "Mark" instead of accepting my status of extreme screwedness and laying down to die. Well for one thing, people aren't very good at laying down to die! Would you lay down to die in my position? I don't think so. You might like to think you would, but your survival instincts would still ultimately kick in. For another, it's been hinted - pretty heavily - that continuing to play will get us closer to learning how to do all this time manipulation shit ourselves. There's no way to unscrew myself within the rules of the game, but if I can learn to do this shit myself quickly enough, then I can do whatever I want, including keeping myself and "Mark" alive. I do still have to kill him first to get there though.

Obviously I don't want to do this. I've tried other options, like taking the guy I thought was running the game hostage, and it didn't go anywhere. I don't think I'm the asshole here, because it's not like "Mark" would be better off if I didn't kill him - even if I don't get to bring him back again, which I have every intention of doing if I ever get the chance, he'll still have lived several years longer than he would have if I bow out now and let the universe reset. This is the only way either of us get a chance to remain alive, and also control of spacetime sounds pretty sweet. But it still feels like an immensely shitty thing to do, so WIBTA?

[droughtofapathy]

"Welcome to the Theatre": Diary of a Broadway Baby

Kimberly Akimbo

April 28, 2024 | Broadway | Booth Theatre | Matinee | Musical | Original | 2H 30M | Final Performance

It's been a lovely run. After 612 performances, Kimberly Akimbo is at the end of its Broadway ride. I've already spent so much time praising this little show that could. Including the first preview I saw at the Atlantic off-Broadway venue, I've seen this show fourteen times. And I will miss it so much. Vicki Clark, the woman you are. I sobbed twice as hard during this show as I did The Notebook, and experienced none of the emotional crash after. Just joy and light and gratitude.

I want to recognize the privilege I've had of being able to see this show so many times for free. Thank you to the producers who decided it was more important to get as many people in seats to see this wonderful show as they could. Because of these efforts to make tickets accessible, this show ran far longer than it probably should have from a financial standpoint. Seven comps, three lottery, two TDF, and one final full price finale. $372 over 13 performances on Broadway? Not bad. Not bad at all.

Highlights from the final show:

Half a dozen standing ovations, at least. The opening one lasted over a minute, and the whole theatre was screaming for this show.

The cast held it together for so long , but Bonnie Milligan got choked up during the last "This Time (Reprise)" and received a standing ovation. She got like half the ovations on her own just for being so wonderful.

Vicki's parti hat broke during "This Time" and Allie Mauzey immediately traded with her.

Victoria Clark continued to break my heart.

Curtain call speeches thanking everyone, and I do mean everyone. Jeanine Tesori looks so good. I'm in love.

Before the theatre opened, some of the cast was in Shubert Alley taking photos with fans. People were lined up an hour early with merch on and buttons and it was just wonderful to be in the area.

Vicki Clark snuck into the stage door unseen by the crowd. She had on sunglasses, this flowy golden jumpsuit, and stiletto sandals. What a woman.

We got a closing show gift. A candy necklace in a little white jewelry box with a label that says "thank you for making our shitty lives better. I am going to keep mine forever.

The finale song hits like a steam locomotive. "We're crying//Because we're almost done//Time's flying//It's been a lovely run//And so fun, so fun."

Verdict: My Soul Transcended Space and Time

A Note on Ratings

[cathkaesque]

As a stab at an explanation for why this site’s management (and others) is acting like this - none of these big websites have ever made any money. I don’t think it’s possible for them ever to make money. Instead, these sites have always survived off their ability to potentially make money, with investors subsidising these platforms via betting on them on the stock exchange. Investors had both infinite money for the last decade due to quantitative easing and low interest rates, and social media platforms easily showed their potentiality for making money via their rapid growth.

Now, that’s no longer an option - investors have less cash to throw at structurally unprofitable properties now interest rates are being raised, so social media companies are now trying to demonstrate their potential profitability by rack renting their userbases. This is destroying their sites. Tumblr emulating twitter, introducing features that users do not use but sound like they could be the next Twitch like Tumblr live, is designed to encourage investors to speculate on tumblr’s stock - given twitter’s collapse, tumblr could be the new twitter, so investors should buy its stock in order to help it bridge a $30m deficit grow into that. It won’t work however. It’ll just ruin the whole thing.

[open-hangar]

Prison Force Chagger Ep. 4

From the desk of Dr. Ishikawa

CODENAME: CHAGGER FORCE

Size: 80m, 1.1k tons

Power Output: ~1.3GW/minute per reactor, recommended active reactors: 3

Pilots: 1 per active reactor, non-negotiable. Each reactor requires constant monitoring to prevent overloading leading to overheating and necessary excess chargon venting, which must be avoided at all costs!

Weaponry and abilities: Flight, reactive armor, martial strength far outweighing standard Lanzer strength. Able to use appropriate-size weaponry, if necessary [Note: if you’re a coward.]

CODENAME: CHAGGER WASP

Size: 30m long, 10m wide

Power Output: 10kW/minute

Pilots: 1

Weaponry and abilities: No weaponry, flight, reactive armor. To be used exclusively for chargon injection and pilot transfer into Chagger Force, followed by automatic retrieval. Incredibly dangerous to be used for anything else, due to most of the weight being dedicated to containing the highly volatile chargon.

Wolfgang wasn’t kidding about the smell. It’s a strong, but not unpleasant, combination of dust, lotion, and WD-40. The entire room is filled with massive computer racks, all lit up and spinning to accomplish some unclear purpose as light comes in from the massive windows stretching along each wall. I quietly attempt to make myself known to whoever may be dwelling between the machinery. A dense, gravelly sound comes from the side of the room facing the setting sun.

“Yes, here.”

I walk down the rows, trying to find the source of the voice, and just find more and more tubes stretching from ceiling to floor, until I reach the window and see what the tubes are attached to. A man, or at least something that looks like a man, is shriveled and decrepit, sitting in what can only be described as a throne made of machinery looking out the window. I’ve never seen a living person who looked this old. I attempt to greet this person and introduce myself, but…

“I don’t care. I’m Dr. Ishikawa, and that’s my baby out there.”

I look out the window, and my jaw hits the floor. My god… that can’t be a Lanzer… can it?

“Lanzer?! Pah! You insult me,” the gravel sounds flow out from next to me. “Lanzers are toys for children. They are afraid to use chargon to its full potential. Watch.”

The machine outside must have risen from the ground in a similar fashion to the jet, as I certainly never saw it there before. It was absolutely gigantic, over twice the size of any Lanzer I’ve ever seen. It was burnt orange yellow, and had metal wires stretching from her wrists and into the ground.

A voice suddenly comes out from somewhere in the room, and it belongs to Wolfgang. “Chagger Wasp W coming in. How are you guys?”

Another voice, this one from Philippe. “We’re already here, and so are the Tyflo.”

“Roger. Chagger W, injecting!”

Wolfgang flies directly at the crouching robot in front of him, and seems to have no intention of slowing down. Two small doors open up on the machine’s back, and the wasp machine suddenly stops on a dime and jams its head into the upper hole, and jams its “stinger” into the lower one. Liquid chargon sprays out the spaces in the imperfect docking as the wasp machine injects its fuel. Once the abdomen appears to be empty, it pops off and flies away without its head.

“3 reactors activated, ready to launch! Chagger Force is ready to go!”

I step back in shock as two giant wings flip out of its back, and dust erupts in a circle around the machine as the ground rumbles. Ishikawa raises his thin hand to the window, and whispers to himself, “My baby…”

The robot wrenches itself up, struggling against the wires holding it to the ground. The wings then split open, revealing liquid chargon webbing stretching between the wings and crackling like electricity. I can feel the air crackle with energy even from here. I don’t know if… whatever this thing is has muscles, but if it does, it’s clearly straining them with all it has, its arms shaking and twisting as it pulls for freedom. Is it… is it supposed to be doing this?

“Just watch…”

Suddenly, the metal wires holding it down pop and rip, the concrete holding it in crumbling and cracking. And a painful echo, it breaks free, its arms flexing as it rises to its full power. Words filled with strength and righteous anger fill my brain, almost making me cower in fear.

“Chagger Force is Free!!!”

Almost on queue, another horrible monster appears, some manner of naked mole rat creature standing almost as tall as Chagger Force erupts from the ground behind the wall surrounding the complex. It almost effortlessly steps over it and erupts a hideous, slimy scream from behind its massive foreteeth. What the absolute hell is THAT?!

“The tyflopontika. Horrible creatures, disgusting. Must be killed before they kill us,” Ishikawa attempts to explain, even though it’s all bouncing off the top of my skull and I stare at whatever is happening. Chagger Force erupts with an unbelievable explosion of speed at the monster, colliding with it and giving it a very clean German suplex. You’d think a fleshy beast with that much weight would collapse into a meaty mess, but instead it bounces into a skid, back on its feet immediately. Almost like a flash, the horrible monster leaps forward and clamps its massive incisors around Chagger Force’s torso.

“Crap! Newblood, if you can hear this, launch our blade! Quickly!”

I snap out of my stupor, and look around confused. What?

“The button with the picture of the axe on it!”

I quickly leap into action and begin looking around for some button with an axe on it. Where? Where’s the buttons? Wolfgang’s voice helpfully points me in the right direction.

“Row 3, about halfway down. Can’t miss it.”

Thanks, Wolfgang. I run my way down there, and slam my fist onto the button. After running back to the window, I arrive just in time to see another door open up, and a massive axe springs up just in grabbing distance of Chagger Force. With one smooth motion, the gigantic machine grabs the hilt, and swings the blade straight through the nude beast’s neck. With a disgusting spray of red, green, and purple blood, the monster’s body separates from its head and collapses to the ground, followed by its jaw going slack and its head separating from Chagger Force’s torso. And then with a strong force of conviction, the robot’s foot goes clear through the monster’s skull, splattering ichor in every direction. I struggle to hold in the contents of my stomach as I witness this display, and Dr. Ishikawa side-eyes me.

“Wimp.”

If that’s what’s waiting for me outside of these walls, then I’ll probably be safer in here.

Art by @menacing-marshmallow

[saintmeghanmarkle]

InTouch: "Princess Eugenie Strongly Advised not to Support the Sussexes: Theyre Ignoring All the Warnings" (aka Horseshit Alert) by u/Possible-Process5723

InTouch: "Princess Eugenie ‘Strongly Advised’ not to Support the Sussexes: ‘They’re Ignoring All the Warnings’" (aka Horseshit Alert) I have my doubts about the veracity of this article, but it's fun anyway. So let's get started!Princess Eugenie and Meghan Markle are getting close again as they plan hangouts in Portugal, but senior royals are warning her to back off and avoid becoming a pawn in the Sussexes’ game to worm their way back into the royal fold, a source exclusively tells In Touch. Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, dropped $8 million on a sprawling house an hour south of Portugal’s capital, Lisbon, fairly close to where the prince’s cousin Eugenie, 34, and her husband, Jack, often spend the summer. King Charles had evicted the couple from Frogmore Cottage over a year ago, forcing them to spend most of their time in their $30 million Montecito, California, mansion.Ugh. Charles didn't "evict" them from their home. They left in a well-publicized tantrum a few years earlier. They hadn't lived in Frogmore since late 2019 or early 2020. It's not like they were commuting back and forth between Monteshitshow and Frogmore. And when did the Olive Garden moneypit become a $30m property??The move back to Europe signals a shift in the couple’s feelings toward the royal family, as Harry tries to cozy up to his father and brother once again. Luckily for the Sussexes, they still have some allies in the royal circle.Nope and nope.Princess Kate, as the future queen, has no fears of ostracization and has been quietly cheerleading the wayward couple’s return to royal life, telling her heir-apparent husband, “in no uncertain terms, that this is not the time for resentment, they needed to show the world that love and family are front and center of their values,” a second source previously informed In Touch.In fact, the Princess of Wales, 42, was the driving force behind the Palace’s move to publicly wish Harry a happy birthday in September, with that source spilling the move “meant the world to him.”Oh give me a fucking break! Catherine is a strong, smart QUEEN (to be). No way in hell does she try to get the evil people who shat on her and her daughter back into the fold.archived link post link: https://ift.tt/W5NIyk2 author: Possible-Process5723 submitted: November 01, 2024 at 03:49PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[romanceandshenanigans]

AITA for wanting to get back together with my now engaged ex? (AITA Tag Game)

Rules: Write an AITA question and post from the POV of one your OCs

Tagging: @janec23, @kittttycakes, @auroramagpie, @can-of-pringles and anyone else who wants to join in!

Thanks to @clairelsonao3 for tagging me! This was genuinely a lot of fun!

I know it sounds bad and it is, probably, really bad, but I need to get this all off my chest. I feel like I’m going insane and could really use a slap in the face right about now. There's nobody else in my life I can talk to about this. Apologizes in advanced for any spelling or other errors, this is my first time using Reddit and not used to the formatting.

Some backstory. I (30M) met my Ex (26F) eight years ago. She had left home for personal reasons I won't get into here and we ended up living together for almost nine months.

I know, you're probably thinking I'm a rake for living with a woman and not immediately proposing marriage, but circumstances made that impossible. Again, I know this sound like I'm making excuses, but for her privacy I won't divulge. Just know that for the majority of that time we lived as old bachelors. It was only in that last month did things change.

I loved her like mad. I still do, that's why I'm in this mess, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The point is, I had fully intended to marry her. I wanted to marry her, but before I could propose a FF (family friend) discovered us and convinced me not to.

I feel like now it's important for me to clarify that I am not a gentleman. My father was a common sailor and my mother was a cook. I made my living in theatre and working any kind of odd jobs I could. Now I do theatre full time, but even then I can barely make rent some days.

She, however, is a gentlewoman. I didn't know this at the time, but when the FF arrived, he made it clear she did have connections. Being with me all but assured the destruction of her reputation.

The FF, however, gave us an out. Either I could marry her and risk her family cutting her off leaving her destitute or I could let her go and pretend it never happened. (The family had a cover story on where she was during our time together.)

I ultimately decided to leave. At the time, I thought I had done the honorable thing. She could move on, find a husband who could make her happy and comfortable and not have to live with a mistake she made when she was eighteen.

Now we come to last week. A business associate invited me to a party and, for the first time in eight years, I saw her again. I didn't even know she was in town. As it turns out her fiance is my associate's brother.

The fiance not a bad man as far as I know. He's a bit of a stiff and doesn't seem to understand theatre or the arts at all, but that can be easily forgiven. His brother clearly loves him, so he must have other qualities that makes up for it.

This is exactly what I wanted for her. She's about to marry a good man and be set for life.

It's just…she doesn't seem happy. I know I'm projecting, but I can't help it. Every time I see her with him there is just no spark between them. It's like their cousins or siblings rather than lovers.

She’s was always so passionate. I can't imagine she's so changed she could content herself with mild affections.

I keep coming back to the question of why now? And the only conclusion I've come to is maybe her heart had been broken as much as mine. Maybe she's only marrying now because she has to. Or maybe it's taken her this long to move on. If she had moved on sooner, surely she would be married by now.

Needless to say, I'm not getting any answers soon. My associate has been bringing her in as a kind of counselor, so I have see her a few times since that first night. She’s treating me rather coldly, but that’s to be expected. As if stands we have to pretend we don’t know each other and it’s killing me.

If I knew for certain she was happy, I could let this go. The only reason I’ve been able to live with myself was the thought that she was living a life I couldn’t give her. My circumstances haven't changed, but I'm having regrets.

I should have asked her to marry me before I left or at least spoken with her on what to do. Now she likely thinks I'm a bastard for leaving without a word, and rightfully so.

Despite all of that, I can't help feeling there's a chance. Sometimes I catch her turning away when I look her direction. Even now and again she seems to slip and allows herself to relax around me before walking away. She even defended me in front of a whole dinner party when she didn't have to.

Am I going mad? I haven't done anything. We haven't had a single moment alone together. But every time I do see her, all I want to do is pull her into my arms and never let go, damn the consequences.

TLDR; After eight years my ex is back in town, engaged to a good man. She doesn't seem happy and every fiber in my being is telling me to get her back. AITA?

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for performing a wellness check on a student?

I (~30M) am a science teacher at a high school. It's great getting to introduce these students to some fascinating concepts in science and expand their horizons, but there is one student, S, who has taken to it in a bit of an odd fashion. She (16F) can be a little obtuse in class, sometimes trying to contradict what I or her other teachers say. She has these moments that make me feel like she's leagues ahead of the rest of her class, and maybe even me, but she simply hasn't been turning in her homework, which has me concerned.

The other day, one of my colleagues, B (~30F) approached me and asked about S. Apparently I'm not the only one who's noticed that S can be a bit odd sometimes. B has been worried, and asked S if everything was alright at home and if she could potentially visit and make sure. But she said S told her that her grandfather doesn't like strangers so it wouldn't work. But her grandfather is apparently a doctor, who I'd think would have to interact with strangers regularly??? I'm not sure what to make of that. B tried to swing by S's home anyways, but there was no house at that address? There was enough there that B and I were seriously concerned.

Which brings me to the part where we may be assholes. See, B had an idea to… well, follow S home. By the time school got out, it was dark and we didn't want her walking home alone, so we offered to accompany her, but she refused. B and I drove ahead to her address to see if this was in fact where she lived. There may have been better approaches if we'd taken the time to think about it, but we were really concerned for her in the moment and thought there might be something bad or fishy going on and neither of us want S to come to harm.

Eventually we saw her enter this abandoned lot and we went in after her, but she was nowhere to be seen! There was a cranky old man who we thought might have kidnapped her. He tried to goad us into calling the police. I almost did, too, before we heard S cry out. B and I followed her voice and ended up inside her home. Apparently, that cranky old man was her grandfather and he was pretty pissed that we had just barged in on him. I understand where he was coming from, and I've honestly been second-guessing whether we did the right thing. As I'm posting this, he's taken us back in time to the Stone Age in his time machine (which I thought was just a blue police box at first), which feels like a bit of an overreaction, but I'm not sure.

Am I (or are we) The Asshole(s) for trying to look after one of our students who was behaving strangely?

What are these acronyms?

[afrokid]

RAAGH moregradientskkater b4 i get ready 4 a late movie might with my friends and bf!!!! (over call becs its like a 30m drive there :’( )

unples getting like a really bad nightmare but he’s in the living room & doesn’t know the apartment that well & its dark so he’s just there trying to like get himself calm but he can’t on his own when lil so he finds his flashlight (which is dying becs the light is soso dull) and after a lot of looking he finds infected and just stands in his doorway trying to figure out if he wants to wake him or not (HHVBGBB IF I WASNT STRUGGLING WITH WRITING BLOCK OR SCHOOL THERE WOULD BE SO MUCH ON THE REGRETEVATOR AO3)

ive had this sitting in here for forever idk why. i must show this to the world.... be free gradientskater ask

[canmom]

so animation night was a p small affair last week, most likely because i started at an insanely late hour. plan had been to screen Unicorn Wars a bit earlier on a weekday, that evidently didn't happen ^^'

so! if I screen it again tonight, going live in maybe 30m and screening starting in an hour, would people be interested? it's a really good movie

[lemonflowercat]

75 soft but real soft hehe

it's been weeks since my last 75 soft, and since then i've had multiple menty-meltdowns, intense therapy hours and zombie-days where i've played game after game of 2048 (i'm a pro at it now, btw). i've had days that ended with the peaceful self-satisfaction of getting shit done, i've had days of going to bed with a sense of failure ringing deep in my bones. i've had days of eating so healthy, being fully aware of my hunger-fullness cues and honoring them, i've had days of munchie after munchie - rummaging through the snack cupboard at the end of every episode of a mindless Netflix TV show.

75 soft/hard have been touted as mental toughness challenges to imbue rigor and discipline and structure and perseverance - and the only measure of success? seeing every one of those 75 days through to the end. i understand that this may have changed many lives out there for the better, and i also understand the importance of the values the 75 soft/hard is based on.

but i also think that, just like all things in the world, there's more than one lesson an experience can teach me - and often it may not be what i hoped to get out of it. but it always will be something i needed.

my 5 failed attempts at 75 soft have taught me

the importance of kind self-talk. i think this is the most underrated, not-spoken-of-enough, never-done-enough, harder-than-you'd-except form of self love and self parenting. to talk to myself, not in the worst ways that people around me have spoken to me, but in the kind ways that they have. and in the nice ways that i would show up for people i care about. in a way that doesn't make me feel like a failure before i can even start expanding/growing. in a way that makes me feel loved and safe - because only when these feelings are met am i able to engage with the rest of the world from a place of curiosity, hope and love.

that unmet goals don't equate to failure. it isn't easy to stop listening to all those nagging voices in my head/unchecked boxes on my to-do list constantly reminding me of my inadequacies. but with practice, i can disengage from them emotionally, question their validity, and accept that either way i am enough. it's funny how hard it is for me to tell myself, lemonflowercat, even if you haven't worked out in a week or eaten healthy today or studied for even 30m or drank enough water, you are enough and worthy and loved and beautiful.

that i can draw boundaries. i can voice things i'm not ok with, what i need more of and less of to be able to do what's most important to me. that i don't have to reflexively please - i can be a square peg in a round hole with poky corners taking up space - and if that makes people like me less? it's completely ok, because i still know my worth.

to slow down and pay attention what feels good for me and do what my body/mind want in that moment vs what "i should" "i'm supposed" "i need to" "i have to" do.

to believe in myself more - just me, as myself, with no comparison to anyone else not even the past me. and i say the latter because too often have i caught me comparing myself to a certain way i was in the past when the kind of life and thoughts i had back then are so different from the way things are currently. i know people say that you only try to be better than yourself - but even this feels like an unfair ask, honestly.

that my fluidity - which i have tried so long, so hard to box into rigidity - is my strength.

to trust that everything is going to be ok. and, like i mentioned on another day here - i don't have to carry the burden of the past or the future as i live my now.