I just don’t know what to do anymore. It’s been such a long winding road with my wife of 12 years. The first 5 years were great. So much love, so much intimacy, sex was great for both of us. Then menopause started up for her. The first few years wasn’t so bad. She still had a decent libido, but I could see that her feelings towards intimacy were changing rapidly. Now, there is no intimacy whatsoever. We’re still married, good friends ( at least), and I do still love her dearly. But my libido is still very strong and hers is nonexistent. I’ve spent a lot of time pondering what I should or shouldn’t be doing to help the situation. We’ve both seen doctors, therapists (including couple therapy). We are told that this situation is more common than not for women her age. She’s 62 now (55 when this started), and I’m now 67. I just feel like I’ve tried just about every option to turn this situation around. She keeps suggesting to me that I find someone younger, but I feel so guilty even thinking about this option. I don’t believe in cheating, so divorce would be the only solution I can think of. Then I would be starting my life over at 67. I‘m going nuts just thinking about this, plus I don’t really think she wants me to do that. I think that she’s trying to give me an “out” because she still loves me. I don’t blame her for any of this. She hates what’s happened to her and talks to me about it all the time. I can’t imagine how this feels from inside her, to loose the desire for sex and intimacy. But I do love her, which is why I’m still here.
I guess I’m writing this in order vent my frustrations and anxiety. But if anyone out there has been through this and has any “helpful“ suggestions for me, please feel free to respond. I just feel so sad and lost😞

Before messaging on Chat or DM's, please be able to hold a conversation as it's not nice to be ghosted within the first few messages, it ain't nice and you should have some actual decent social skills to just be upfront about this with someone... Anyway, with that out of the way let's continue.

Introduction

Well hello there! (General Kenobi!). I'm Snoky also known as you'll find out when we get to know eachother
I’m a 25 year old English/Norwegian guy from the U of K! I currently work in the IT Sector within the Local Government and my god I forgot how hectic the public sector was after i left it roughly 4 years ago. I did indeed have quite a shock coming back 😅

Apperance

I'm on the bigger side but am looking to get that changed with some help due to i'm not very happy with the way thing's are currently. Minus that I'm 6'1/6'2, depends on which doctor you ask! I have short-ish hair dark blonde hair? I think? I'm not very good with colors so you'll have to tell me whenever we decide to exchange pictures.
Which i will be more than happy to exchange later on once we get to know eachother!

Main Intrests/Hobbies

My main interests are either playing games with some friends on the PC, studying for future certifications and mainly what I do after work just kicking back and watching whatever random things I can find on YouTube (I aren’t a big TV person). I used to watch a lot of anime but I tend to drop out of it for a year and then I get back in to it then I lose interest again heh, it’s just a thing that I’ve been doing for years on end.
I am somewhat in to movies but I haven’t really properly watched any within the last year or so but if I was to give a rough genre, I’d say dark-ish movies with a grabbing story i.e. DC films and a here and there Marvel film (IW ftw!) I much more prefer it when the bad guy gets the upper hand and basically wins as close to that of Thanos basically.
My main music choices? Everywhere and everything. If my ears like it, then chances are I’ll most likely like it. I’d write down all the artists I follow right now but trust me it’d take too long to go over so it’d probs better to just share my Spotify playlist lmao. But to give a quick sum up I’d say its more around mixed genre, alt-rock basically.
I do also write my own stuff as well, but again like anime I do it for like 6 months then stop, then start a year later so eh it’s a pretty hit and miss hobby for me 😅

Future Prospects?

As mentioned in my apperance section i'm in the process of trying to get fit with weight loss as I’m not very happy with how I am at the moment especially when it comes to health after a incident a few years ago but that’s neither here nor the future as I’m looking to change it with the help of the NHS and people around me. I'd be more than happy to join forces together with someone who's trying to do the same thing!
I currently own my own company which is currently under going some development but hasn't actually started as of yet (still looking in that area) but it will get there at somepoint!
Alongside my own company I’m also undergoing a project with a close friend of mine that we’re trying to pursue which is actually happening alongside the org itself so it's all looping togetherslowly but surely.

What am i looking for?

I'm looking for someone who's intrested in getting to know eachother, someone who's got my back and i've got theres, someone i can well essentially "grow" with and get to know, someone who's willing to put the effort in to get to know me and vice versa.I'd like said person to be able to hold a convoersation with me as i've been in too many instances where it's all been one sided convos with me basically putting in more effort than the other person but alas that's neither here nor there and hopfully I'll maybe find the person who would share that equal effort with me. And trust me I've been ghosted loads of times to the point it's like "bruh, just why?" but anyway!
I'm open to long distant's so long as there's a goal to meet eachother in the somewhat near future!

The End?

If you've made it this far after this somewhat long post then i must congradulate you!
I now have a small question for you to send me the answer too when you message me.
On what date and or month was a i born? I was born on the month of a certain red birthstone on a international memorial day
p.s, if you don't get it it doesn't matter it's worth a try regardless

I know based on the title the obvious answer here is to break up but I’m struggling and there’s more context i would like to add. I was initially going to post on the actual relationship advice subreddit but honestly I really would like an opinion from a woman who’s been in the same situation before. I also don’t want to be berated for this on that sub.
Before I started dating my boyfriend I looked at his social media following, because I like to be sure I’m not seeing any red flags prior to having a real relationship. I saw that he was following some onlyfans/sexualized accounts. I told my (now boyfriend) that If we were going to date, I want to establish a boundary with this type of behavior. I have no problem with him looking at porn, but following/liking sex workers on Twitter or instagram feels a lot more personal and is something I’m not cool with.
He respected my boundaries and unfollowed those type of accounts. A few months later though I noticed he had been playing an online game with a girl I didn’t know and he assured me she was just a friend he met online and nothing more than that. I didn’t care until I would ask him to play the same game with me, and he said he was tired, getting off for the night, etc. but would end up just playing with her instead.
This girl also ended up liking some of my tweets and I looked at her account. She was an Onlyfans model and had also been tagging my boyfriend in flirtatious things on Twitter. I told my boyfriend and he assured me he untagged himself and had no interest in her, as well as her knowing he’s in a relationship. She was just a person to game with, which he needed at the time because he was severely isolated and didn’t have many people to talk to at the time. I trusted him but it still always rubbed me wrong, so we ended up having a lot of arguments over the span of a month that usually ended in me telling myself I’m just insecure and projecting onto him, and eventually it was dropped entirely.
Recently, 6 months after the initial arguments, we had another argument. I started taking photos on his phone and he got unnecessarily defensive about it. This really rubbed me the wrong way so that night I went on his laptop and looked through his messages. Sure enough, he had cheated on me with the same girl he claimed to “just be friends with”. There was a lot of sexually charged messages, “you’re so sexy”, “come through”, “don’t let distance stop you” and even sharing addresses. I confronted my boyfriend about it and at first he denied it until I showed him the photos. They had calls from each other lasting anywhere from 12minutes to 4 hours. He said they would just play a game and she would fall asleep on call.
He told me he had absolutely no real interest in this girl and it was all empty words. He was entirely isolated and depressed for months and had just latched onto the positive attention he was getting, and wants to have a life with me and no one else at all. He talks about how guilty and disappointed he is for hurting me so very often, and would never do anything as awful as that ever again.
The problem is I believe him and can/would happily date him as if this never happened. This is the first boyfriend I’ve had where I don’t feel like I’m a victim of weaponized incompetence and am truly an equal. I fully intended to spend my life with him and honestly I don’t want to be with anyone else. (Not just because he’s the best of the past relationships I’ve had, I just genuinely felt this way toward him). If I’m not with him I can’t imagine dating anyone else because I liked him that much (and also because fuck dating at this point). At the same time, I can’t help but think I’m just ignoring my own boundaries and doing myself a disservice. I honestly can forgive the cheating because he truly was going through a lot and I do believe he simply just latched onto the positive attention, but he lied to me for months and made me think I was the problem so often, as well as tried to keep it hidden when I was confronting him about it. This also is not the first time he has disregarded my boundaries in terms of sex workers online. Im not sure where to go from here.

Something I love to do when travelling is collect those little fridge magnet souvenirs that you see with different photos of the local area printed onto them; and something I'd love to do is start taking some of my favorite photos that i've snapped on my phone over the years and print it out onto similar magnets and pin them up somewhere so i actually see them and appreciate them rather then them all just sitting on a hard drive somewhere.
Does anyone know of a shop around here that might be able to do that? I see print shops everywhere but am unsure of whether they'd do this and how i'd find one that could. My spanish is okay day to day but definitely not great so this is an idea i've had for a while but i really want to start working on soon

There's only two downsides to how this went: the obvious being I didn't get the job, and the other being that it took an unreasonably long amount of time. I'm sharing this to highlight how bad the recruiting industry is when I've only had this one good experience, and because I want to give praise when recruiters do the right thing.
I applied to a couple of jobs at this company back in early February. Of all the ones I applied to, I was most surprised that this one gave me a call back. I am trying to get into IT, and this position wanted a degree in economics, public policy, or government. It had some technical skills they wanted, like Excel and HTML. I applied because it would be working closely with the tech team, and I was hoping to be able to pivot to working on the tech team once I get my foot in the door. It was fully remote as well.
I first get a call from the recruiter, and we do an impromptu phone screening. A couple of days later, he calls me to say that they want to set up an interview, and to expect an invitation to that soon. A couple more days go by, and he calls me to apologize that I hadn't heard anything yet, and that they finally figured out the interview schedule, that they wanted several people on it, but due to conflicts it would be a total of three half hour interviews, all the same day. I was fine with this, and preferred that over "rounds" of interviews, so I agreed.
The interviews came along, and I think they all went really well. It was with various members of the actual team the position was for, they asked good questions, and I feel like I asked good questions too. I asked someone on the team when I can expect to get feedback by, and they said it may be a couple of weeks, that it was out of their control, and that it was an HR decision.
A week and a half goes by and I get another call from the initial recruiter. He just tells me that they're still coming to a decision, and that it should be done in 3-4 business days. A week goes by after the 4th business day from then, which was this past Tuesday. I found the recruiter's email through LinkedIn, and asked if there were any updates. He responded yesterday morning, saying that he had a meeting with the team that afternoon, and they were supposed to make the business decision that day. At 4:15, 45 minutes before end of the work day, I get an email from him saying that he was still waiting on a response from the hiring team, and if he got a response before 5 he'd let me know.
I woke up this morning to an email from him saying I didn't get the job. But he invited me to connect on LinkedIn, and keep an eye on the jobs he was responsible for filling. It was not an automated response. I replied thanking him for how well he treated me, and told him I consider him a leader in the talent acquisition field.
I'm a little sad that I didn't get the job after this long, but this was by far the best I've been treated by a recruiter. He went out of his way to give me updates on where I was in the application process.
Every single other recruiter will either ghost me after interviews, or say nothing during the process then send me an automated rejection email. I've even brought this up in phone screenings with other recruiters as feels appropriate at the moment, and one recruiter specifically told me "oh we'd never ghost you, and if you didn't get the job we'd be sure to give you useful feedback". They didn't get back to me until 3 weeks later with a generic email saying I didn't get the job. After asking for feedback they just told me "you don't have enough experience".
After months of filling out the same information everywhere, trying to start my career, and being ignored unless I'm presently on the phone with them, it was nice to work with a recruiter who actually gave me useful information and treated me like a human being.

In prepared for the worst but I'm hoping to get some encouragement from you all. So here's the jist of it. I planted some beautiful heirloom tomatoes seeds yesterday. Done it a million times before but I'm a little behind on these since they're for my mom's garden, and a few friends. Big beautiful accordion slicers and the last seeds of this particular variety I have at the moment.
After work today I noticed the surface soil is a bit dry but I don't want to give them a bottom soak, I can get away with a light misting on top. I grab the bottle my and after a good few deep sprays I get blasted with the strong smell of lavender. Air freshener! Realising my mistake I quickly grab the water bottle and start spraying like a mad man hoping to thin out the air freshener as much as I can.
I'm praying that it will be fine and that the seeds won't be stunted, I have back ups but these ones were a favourite and getting a new pack is a bit more difficult due to geography. So has anyone ever made a mistake like this and how did it turn out?
Also, why is the air freshener sprayer next to your water sprayer and how do you mess that up? I hear you ask. Very similarly shaped bottles, was dark where my starts are, and my son loves to arrange them all together.

I’ve been playing just over a year, and just within the past few months I have been able to get the top NM and UNM chests. It’s pretty much drilled into yo from the start that to get the best goodies, you need to start getting the top CB chests as soon as possible. So I began working my tail off to that end. I focused my time and resources on that one aspect of the game. So if the CB chests were ever nerfed, I would absolutely drop the game.

So I mean. I'm 32. Never married. No kids. Abusive childhood. School dropout. I've only ever worked shitty jobs because I smoke so much weed. I always thought I couldn't live without it and frankly it's ruined my life. I'm 32 with no savings. A shitty job. On the brink of going crazy. And I just need a friend. Someone who either understands what I'm going through, or just plain wants to see me succeed.
I have tons of apps on my phone for helping my quit, but I just feel so lost honestly.
I work. Come home. Smoke. Pass out. Wake up. Smoke. I even smoke my dab pen AT work. I'm tired of being broke. And I'm tired of not fucking owning anything.
All I want is a nice car, a garage, property that's mine, and maybe have the ability to start a family. I've yet to achieve anything because "32 hours, yeah that's plenty!"
So over the decades I've narrowed it down from graphic design, to welding, and now I think realistically being a CDL driver is the only path I have in front of me. The issue is, I can't smoke pot. And honestly I firmly believe once I'm over the bump I won't care. But as long as I'm living in this lifestyle with these friends and these circumstances I'll continue to smoke to ease the pain of being poor. Ironic, right.
Sign. I want more, man. And I don't know who can help or support.me. My birthday is in ~35 days. And I'll be 33. And that's my next intended quit date.. I've tried a couple of times, and have gotten pretty good results, but I always end up smoking again.
I game. I have a PC. I do a TON of art. I just, feel so empty. And will for a while. So... I guess I'd really like it if you could be there. Haha..
Anyway. I'm very friendly. I know lots of jokes. I like the outdoors. I like movies and staying in more.
I love pizza, spaghetti, and tacos. I hate mushrooms, artichoke, and avocado.
Would love to chat despite my sadboi post. Haha 😂

I’m 18 years old. Over Covid I had a lot of self realizations and reasons to make myself live but I think it was a form of OCD. As a child I was terrified of school and what it meant to be a good person I would pray to god every morning because if I didn’t I thought my dogs and family would die (my family isn’t even really religious and I never understood any of the metaphors and I think that’s a failing in religion itself). I was really insecure about my sexuality and my body and during Covid I had time to work on myself and I genuinely found self love and worth but it was a routine I was obsessed with and hated breaking. It kinda made me isolate? But I also just didn’t want to have people over my house or make connections because I thought my mom and dad were awful people. I blame myself and the internet for that but also my parents. They are lowkey hoarders and kept the house gross and cluttered and it stressed me out. And never really got along. I started working because I thought happy lives were nice homes and money to enjoy with people. My sisters didn’t help and called my parents narcissists and crazy. I started feeling alone. I had to work with my mom. And I felt nothing I did was good enough so I kept like overworking or I thought I’d get in-trouble. At the time I was getting overwhelmed with gender and beauty standards. Especially after I redownloaded social media. I worked really hard for a healthy and happy body but I didn’t like getting called a girl. I thought having sex would help me out to figure out myself but I was wrong. I was alone and a coworker whom I thought was sweet, I think I pretended to be in love with the idea and honestly because I was naive and really a romantic person. I did a lot of things i regret and I think he assaulted me in the end I was in shock. I felt used and in denial I kept trying to justify it. But he was a total creep tbh. I feel so gross I let someone get so close. I’ve gained lots of weight and have major depression and ptsd. I just want to give up…I also thought I was trans cause my gender and shit and sexuality but I was wrong. Now it’s like me and my mom are in hiding from people because I’m so messed up and I was her last child. I hate myself mostly and want to give up. I was never supposed to have sex with a man but it just replays in my head horrifically like I’m actually traumatized.

I see a lot of negative comments, stating things like "you'll never get rich off crypto," or "the days of becoming a crypto millionaire are over" ...
I would argue those who make claims like these have never seen the beefy glory of an entire bull run from start to finish, and the rediculous numbers associated with one.
For perspective - in June of 2020 I ventured into crypto, I was buying doge at that time between 0.002 and 0.003 cents each.. At one point, I was even all-in on doge with close to 10k invested in it.. I remember holding over 2 million doge at one point.. worth well over a million at ATH.
The reality is that I could have became a millionaire off that a 10k investment in doge alone, had I just held on. Even making countless mistakes, I managed to flip under 10k into a little under 100k in the coarse of 2021 alone.
I know that hind sight is 20/20 - but my point is that there IS absurd money to be made in this space, for those daring and patient enough. If you think it happens overnight, you're wrong - but over the span of a cycle, it is entirely realistic to make life-changing wealth from 4 digit sums invested.
Hell, even during this most terrible of bear markets, I have made a 7x in under a month (Vaiot) and 2x in the span of a day (Bonk). Tell me one other industry in which this is possible using only a smartphone and a big old set of hairy balls..
To rephrase - I made more profit in the span of a month, during a bear market, investing in a tiny cap AI crypto project than most stock market investors could dream of in a decade.
Don't tell me you can't get rich in crypto.
EDIT: Everyone calling me a degenerate shitcoin gambler haha (prob true, fair enough). I wanted to remind you all about something called a STOP LOSS though - you all say you will get rekt 99% of the time with shitcoins, its all luck , and you'll lose it all - but I set a stop loss on almost every position I take.. essentially taking only the risk I feel comfortable with (usually 6% give or take under my entry). I recommend you all do the same. Its okay to be a moon boy, but always trade safe and protect yourself.

Hello !
I'm starting a play-through of Pillars of Eternity 1. I'm playing the game in my native language (in this case, French), because the game has a lot of weird names and unusual words. It's a lot more comfortable in my native language.
But the voice over for dialogues stays in English. I'm having to wait for every character to finish talking before reading what they said, which takes way longer that just reading the stuff. And listening to English and reading in French at the same time is very jarring (borderline impossible).
So, is there a way to completely disable VO?

This speech was written by a member of the Quitting Dip forum.
I have written this speech maybe 50 times now. Each time I have deleted it and started over. I started writing it on day 15 on QD. Some of those speeches were 20 pages long and full of big words that I hardly even know. I have tried writing, over and over my centurion speech and each time I re-read it, I hear the bullshit in my words. So I erase what I wrote and start over. Now I have an extremely short speech because in all honesty, I have no true knowledge in writing this speech. Hear what I say now, not from someone with any answers, but someone still trying to figure out how to live this new life without nicotine. Because even a year quit, it is still new to me.
Something happened very recently and think I had an epiphany. These amazing milestones I have come to love, don’t mean shit. I have two coins from somewhere else on my mantel already. This one year day of mine, was a huge wake up call to me. If I have truly taken nicotine off the table and out of my live, then who the fuck cares about my milestones? True, I have been quit one year, and also 100 day on QD, but what does that really matter? Does that make me more quit that someone starting on day one? No. Does it make someone with 3,000 + days under there belt, more quit than me? No. Let me go off on a different tangent now:
I had another speech written once, on a different site. When I wrote that speech, I assumed it was a work of art. Something that would be passed down and appreciated for centuries to come. These last 85 days, I have re-read that speech and it has made me sick on multiple occasions. I didn’t understand being quit then. Most of it is gross idolizing the nicotine. Not just that, but idolizing the addiction.
I’m a much different person that I was then, or 382 days ago. I’m definitely more serious about quitting then ever before. I now understand this is a lifestyle choice. This is a way of life. I am a part of something bigger than myself or my quit date. I am a part of a group of people who have decided to live this same way of life as me. Nobody has to recognize my quit date. Nobody has to fondle my balls or tickle my ass and tell me good job. I wouldn’t expect that from my own flesh and blood brothers. Why would I expect that here? This is a brotherhood in the truest way possible. It’s a bunch of guys who will punch you in the balls if you fuck up because they have your best interest in heart.
This extremely shorty centurion speech is not a work of art, or even something that will be read in the very recent future. It will be forgotten as the almost certian incoherent ramblings of a half mad man. I’m good with that. Because when push comes to shove, I will be here. I will daily post. I will live my lifestyle of quit. I will tickle my own ass. I will punch others in the balls when they need it. I will be quit.

Ive been a longtime lurker here .
Im the HL partner (34 f) . We have always had less sex than I've wanted and had a lot of arguments and even some therapy over it( been together 15 yrs).. It has gone up and down over years. I would say the past two ( part of which i was pregnant and now have a 5 month old & we have 3 kids) it has been pretty dead, and average of once every 2 months or more. We have had sex once maybe 2x in 2023 .
My partner LL (35m) wants a lot of affection, like cuddling at night or kisses( never making out tho) makes comments about me being "sexy" will be kind of grabby but i would say 98% of the time it goes no where. He also likes to say comments like, if we didnt have kids right now i would love to have sex . He thinks saying this is something and may lead to something, which it never does. He will get upset around 6-8 weeks and say he is sexually frustrated and how he wont be in a sexless relationship. I feel like its a lot of bull. He doesnt make effort until its just been so long you cant ignore it.
A bit ago( 3 months or so) I told him we could forgive and I would love him freely but he needed to make effort too. But that I was getting fed up and if he stopped making effort that it would be very detrimental to the relationship. Well as you can guess I was very open and initiating, blowjobs, saying all the things etc he was always open to taking but stopped making effort. It was all on me to initiate. I stopped to see if anything would happen between us and yep.. all the sex stopped. Honestly, that was really my last ditch effort. I gave my everything and it ended up like it always does. Since then, parts of me are dying. When i bring up that he had his chance to make it better, he just says he knows he fcked up l, but basically he should always get another chance.
Ive lurked here enough to know, it won't change. Im actually going through this new phase where I am grieving my losses. I don't want to be touched really. Some hugs are ok and Ill give pecks if he is giving me one. I dont touch him at night to cuddle and he hates it. He is now starting to say cuddles will lead to sex but I" wont let it happen".I know from experience that it will not 98% of the time. Ive laid in bed with him so many night just hoping a cuddle will lead to something. Nights of tears silently rolling knowing it wont .
He is saying I dont make any effort anymore . I dont go for kisses . I avoid touches and hugs. I dont reach out for him at all. He wants all these things . A few years ago i did have moments of withholding these things because I know thats what he cares about. But now I dont feel like making effort. Ive given up. I dont enjoy the touch . Id rather be in my own bubble and I am happier that way. I hate when he brings it all up it reminds me of all that is dead and dying within me.
I cant leave . I stay at home and am building my business to be able to support myself. He will sometimes get upset at the state of the relation ship and be dramatic and try to break up. I hold on because i need stability while I get through this part of life. He is a great and very present dad.
He wants unlimited chances to make things better. Im coming to acceptance that it wont ever be better. Im tired of the cycle. It depresses me. We are good friends.
He rubbed my back last night and I was shocked. I said, wow I cant believe your touching me right now. He said I dont cuddle him anymore. I said yeah I know ,we also dont really have sex anymore either . He said, oh well you never cuddle so you dont let it get to that point. Then he got very upset that I wasn't budging on the cuddling and slept on the couch. Recently he has been sleeping on the couch often because he gets upset over all this. He says I need to make effort. It needs to be 50/50. I say I have done that and im over it. I know it wont go anywhere. I would be ok with sleeping in different spaces. Ive told him to buy a bed but he wont. He thinks that means the final nail in the coffin. I think it means better sleep for both of us. If we had a bigger house i would have my own room 100%.
Am i wrong ? I feel like we are in two different stages. Im seeing the eventual end or at least the end of our physical relationship. He is still thinking it will somehow get better and that I should be trying. Ive told him how I feel. I think he wants it not to be true. I dont trust itll ever get better i think this is just how he is.
Afaik he doesnt watch porn he wont admit it anyway and i dont notice him running off with his phone. But could be who really knows what he thinks.
I did trip some mushrooms alone a couple weeks ago ( he didnt so he could be present in case kids woke up) . His touch made me cry hard. I saw a lot of my misery. We talked a lot about stuff we did end up having sex but if not for the shrooms it would have been no sex. It didnt fix anything .

1
Everything is a clock. Remember that. It’s going to come in handy later. A tree is a clock. Just count the rings. So is every atom in the universe. Stars, stones, glaciers, cells. Clocks, clocks, and more clocks. Everywhere I look, all I see is time, forever leaving its mark. Decay. Erosion. Entropy. Despair. Take my face. Another type of clock. George Orwell said, “At fifty, everyone has the face he deserves.” After all I’ve said and done and left undone, I’m not sure if I deserve a face at all. And fifty? I’ll let you know when I get there, though considering my present occupation, it’s unlikely I will—or that I’ll even realize it when I do. When Orwell spoke those words, he assumed that all clocks—faces—remain stationary, like rocks in a river, the water of time constantly flowing past. But what if the rocks themselves are moving? Leaping backward and forward. Jumping from one stream to the next. Perhaps falling into a pond. A lake. The sea. How do you tell the time then? I didn’t used to wonder about these things. Or can I even say that now, knowing what I do? Maybe I always have. After all, everyone from scientists to the cheesiest New Age guru will tell you that concepts like the past and the future are merely illusions. Useful constructs. Fiction. The power of now. The gurus were right about that one too. When you realize that now is really all you have, it changes things. It’s the temptation to keep looking back down the river or assuming you’ll experience an endless series of “now’s” that’ll kill ya. The idea that this moment is a given, that it’ll just keep stretching on forever. Because the truth is, you never know when your clock will stop. And it will.
2
It’s a Thursday. I’m on my way home from a movie with my best friend, Galen. It’s my birthday. I’m nineteen. I’ve never liked birthdays or parties. Why celebrate a reminder of my own mortality? That’s why I’ve always kept things small. Like tonight. One friend and me. A movie followed by sushi. All you can eat. I realize the concept of “all-you-can-eat sushi” is an affront to the very culture that created this delicacy, an ethos that’s all about control, precision, ritual, discipline. But tonight I don’t care. I’m going to have my fill. Some part of me feels like I deserve it. A quieter part of me knows I don’t. Outside the theater the sky is dark, but I can’t see it beyond the lights. A glimmering superstructure of photons pushing back the night. We cut down an alley, a shortcut. It’s full of slanting shadows. We’re talking, laughing, the movie already a fading memory in our minds, our stomachs growling. Ready to feed the next appetite. A stranger approaches. Nothing about him seems overtly threatening—hands in pockets, face concealed by a hoodie—but a distant alarm goes off in my head regardless. That and something about the way he walks. It feels familiar . . . He passes, and my body relaxes. A glance behind me seems to confirm the alarm was false, his silhouette receding harmlessly into the night. I turn back to Galen, a smile breaking forth on my face, ready to crack a joke. But the words die on my lips. Galen looks confused, brow furrowed, mouth slightly open, one hand reaching for his throat. I’m about to ask what’s wrong when he falls. “Galen?” I bend over him. He’s not moving. Well, not voluntarily anyway. His body is twitching. Pulsing. Eyes staring up at the sky. Seeing nothing. Something makes me look at my shoes. It’s too dark to see. I lift one. It makes a squelching sound, as if the pavement is clinging to my sole. Only it’s not pavement. It’s something dark. Sticky. Fumbling for my phone, I go to flick on the light, but before I can, my phone flies out of my hand, and I’m face down on the oil-stained asphalt, a heavy weight crushing me. The air blasts out of my lungs, and I’m left gasping, my ribs compressing, realizing this may be it. I catch a glimpse of Galen’s vacant eyes, his body no longer moving, and I make a decision. That’s not going to be me. The weight eases slightly—perhaps he’s reaching for a weapon—and I seize the moment, realizing it may be my last. With a buck and a twist, I spin my body so I’m facing him. Me on my back, him pinning my arms with his knees. I look up at his face, but all I see is darkness beneath the hood. He raises both hands over his head, clutching something. I don’t wait to find out what it is. Kicking up with both legs, I wrap my feet around his face, his neck. He grabs them, wrestling me. Something clatters to the pavement beside me. I reach for it, groping in the darkness, my fingers closing around cold steel. Without hesitation, I drive it into his thigh. A scream. I pause. That ring of familiarity again. Before he can react, I pull it out and stab again. Higher this time. A gurgle, followed by a wheeze. The body slumps off me, tumbling to the ground. I stagger to my feet, still clutching the knife, staring down at him. Then I whirl, realizing there may be others, but the alley’s empty. I look down at Galen’s body, but it’s . . . gone? “Kai!” My head spins toward the voice. Someone’s running toward me. I brace myself, ready for anything. Except what I see next. “Galen?”

Misc Information

Reddit Account: SevenEatingNine
Discord Tag: Waffle#5715
Name and House: The High Septon
Age: 52
Cultural Group: Andal
Appearance: WIP
Trait: Artisan
Skills: Architect (e), Administrator (e), Scribe (e)
Talent(s): Preaching, Modelmaking (2x)
Negative trait(s) - N/A
Starting Title(s): The High Septon, The Father of the Faithful, His High Holiness, Shepherd of the Faithful, The Last, The Harbinger, Doomspeaker, Leader of the Black Lodge
Starting Location: King’s Landing
Alternate Characters: Leowyn Grafton, Ballabar Beesbury, Baela Celtigar

Bio

Robert Mallery showed so much promise, but now he only heralds doom.
He was born a Mallery, under the auspices of a shooting star no less, to parents who loved and doted on him. House Mallery was not a particularly wealthy one and found that they could only really afford the services of the local Septon to tutor their young heir. It turned out a match made in heaven as Robert was an incredibly bright lad, though often was prone to wandering when he should be learning swordplay from his father. He did take an early interest in money, ledgers and the Faith which the local Septon and his parents jumped on quickly.
On his twelfth nameday, he saw the first sign.
A peasant would come into Starfield having been attacked by birds in the field. He was torn half to shreds, and begged Robert’s parents for help even though there was nothing really that they could do. The peasant died in the hall, right in front of Robert, and he couldn’t help but cry. Not only propelling his deep fear of the avian it also served as the first sign that something was deeply wrong in the kingdom.
In 163 AC he would see the next omen. A handful of bandits, lawless men who his father had tried to calm down after a drunken night out, had burnt down the sept and killed his former tutor. That same sense of doom he felt three years early returned, this was not supposed to be happening.
Over the next few years similar omens would appear before Robert and he would be plagued by strange dreams. The castle’s Maester simply proscribed such things as eating something rotten before he went to bed, or simple happenstance yet Robert knew the truth. He had found his calling, or at least it had found him and he needed let the world know. Running away from Starfield he would make his way to King’s Landing and join the faith as an aspirant.
After ten years he was made into a Septon, though many in the Faith’s leadership were concerned about the more radical message that he preached. Robert would not bend nor would he yield from his doomsaying, though this made him few true friends. Septon Garth was the exception, a converted Northman who would introduce him to the Black Lodge. The Faith was not entirely without politics and the Black Lodge was a clear example of that, a gathering of clergy who wanted to advance their careers and positions. Though Robert did not agree with the materialism involved he did wish to use it for his advantage and as he joined he was assigned as an assistant to one of the Most Devout.
As the current High Septon’s health was failing Robert experienced the full brunt force of the factionalism of the Faith. He found that he did not disagree with the Revanchists, the Builders or the Speakers and so created his own faction of followers. Despite his grim words Robert did have a talent for speaking and had gathered a small cadre around him who he dubbed the Harbingers. His group would act as obstructionists, doing their best to stand in the way of any one faction gaining power though due to their size they would eventually fail in this regard.
The Harbingers managed to avoid Septon Garibald’s purge of Septons and Septas most commonly associated with the Builders. When Roland is elected, the Harbingers do not even show up to the vote though their presence isn’t really missed. It was at this point that the Harbingers start getting their first recruits as a handful of Most Devout, despairing over their loss in the election and the dissolution of the Revanchists, join the Harbingers.
Roland, the newest High Septon would die five years later and many started to listen to the message of woe that Robert was spreading. Many remnants of the Speakers and Revanchists factions join Robert’s ranks to avoid the purge of Baelon Roxton. As Baelon forces his election as High Septon Robert leads the voices calling the election invalid due to force of arms, condemning all parties involved.
As High Septon Roxton travels to Dorne he is lost to the waves around the coast of Dorne, many were relieved. Hoping to avoid deadlock the Most Devout has chosen another High Septon, this time they heard the carrion call of the Harbingers. Whatever opposition remains is disorganized and Robert is crowned High Septon - dubbed The Last.

Family Tree

Every follower of the Seven is part of my family 😉

Timeline

148 AC - Robert Mallery is born under a shooting star, much to the excitement of his parents
152 - 160 AC - With a poor family, Robert’s only tutor was the local Septon near Starfield who taught him a love of the Faith. His father did his best to teach him about rulership, ledgers and the such but Robert took quickly to it.
165 AC - Robert sees a number of omens which he takes to be the end of the world, he runs away to join the Faith
175 AC - Septon Robert joins a secret society within the Faith that combines a number of different ideologies and creeds all for the advancement of power known as the Black Lodge.
176 AC - Gathering his followers together Septon Robert founds the Harbingers, a small faction within the grand Faith tapestry.
180 AC - Septon Robert is increasingly unpopular amongst the Faith for his doomsaying, though due to his limited influence, he is tolerated.
185 AC - The High Septon dies and the various factions of the Faith descend upon each other, fighting to see who is going to take the mantle. The Harbingers, few in number, refuse to attend the vote.
190 AC - The Harbingers faction slowly gains support due to dissension in the Most Devouts ranks, a growing number of the Faithful are hopeless at the state of the Kingdom
200 AC - The next High Septon dies, and infighting takes place within the Sept of Baela, seeing Septon Garibald and his supporters slain and Baelon Roxton take the mantel.
200 AC - After Baelon’s purge, the remainder of the Revanchist faction flocks to the banners of the Harbingers. Septon Robert refuses to acknowledge the new High Septon
200 AC - While traveling to Dorne, High Septon (Baelon Roxton) is reported missing. The Most Devout quickly declares him dead and holds another election.
200 AC - After most of the factions are left in disarray, the Harbingers are the only ones with any sort of organization Septon Robert becomes the next High Septon

Archetyped NPCs

Ser Ben - General
Ser Alesander - General
Septon Garth - General
Ser Amos - Warrior
Septon Sandor - Warrior
Quincy - Trader
Ser Mathos - Master-at-Arms

The new season premiers tomorrow. Usually before a new season starts the Reddit sub for show starts getting busy again. Lots of theories about the new season and excitement. This sub is unusually slow. Although there are over 62k members there are usually less than 500 people online lately which means very few of the people subscribed to the sub are engaged in discussions about it.
It's not unusual for a show to have a "sophomore slump" and it can be a chance for the writers to take a step back and think about why people are less engaged and how they might change the direction in the next seasons so it's not always a bad thing. I haven't seen as many tweets or TT videos about S2 as I expected either. Also 100k less people watched the season finale then watched S9. I have to admit I forgot I was one of them. I actually stopped watching the show around E8/9 when I first watched it. Not because I lost interest but more because I forgot about it like I just didn't care enough to keep watching if that makes sense. Then recently I finished S1 and thought it was good but somewhat understand why some people stopped watching.
If you believe there might be a "sophomore slump" what advice would you give the writers or do you think lower ratings doesn't matter? (completely legit opinion BTW)
I think these are some issues:
Too much focus on the adult timeline. Most people are interested in the wilderness timeline. I didn't enjoy the part where Shauna "accidentally" kills Adam due to seeing glitter in the closet either. I mean she is intelligent enough to get into Brown but never for a second thought about the fact that her husband could also be the culprit since he wasn't home? How would Adam even have the combination to the safe? The fact that her journals were gone should have been a clue it couldn't have been him. Having Oscar nominated actresses on the show might also lead to too much emphasis on the adult timeline although Ricci/Lewis are excellent.
The death of Jackie. The writers can no longer explore the complex nature of Shauna/Jackie relationship. I don't believe Shauna enjoys sex with men that much or ever liked Jeff. She was a popular character (maybe not on the sub but for many other viewers)
The death of Laura Lee/Jackie - the show needed the nice and/or interesting characters to balance the others in the wilderness arc. The audience also now knows Van and Lottie survive which takes away tension. Most viewers know they're going to start killing people and resort to cannibalism. That is predictable. How Laura Lee/Jackie interact with people who are descending into madness would have been interesting.
The adult cult arc - some not interested in cult stuff (they call it a "wellness" center but it's a cult)
Continuity issues - the movies/songs in Jackie's diary. Nobody believes Shauna would write those while reminiscing about Jackie. Misty not realizing the torso might have tattoos on it. Very weird mistake for a person who claims to be a "citizen detective."
too much emphasis on cannibalism - although it's somewhat trendy now (Bones and all etc) most viewers aren't that interested in cannibalism themes. If it's an undercurrent of other themes it's not a problem but some viewers might be like "Ok we got it. They eat people. Not edgy or interesting." The cannibalism wasn't an important theme of LOTF.
Instead of being marketing as an interesting horrosci-fi/thriller too much emphasis on it being a "women-centric" show such as occasionally not even including the male actors for Ben, Travis and Javi in promo photos for the teenagers on the show. This limits the audience.
NOW WHY I MIGHT BE WRONG. MAYBE S2 WILL BE EVEN MORE POPULAR BECAUSE:
Elijah Wood, Lauren Ambrose and other new actors providing new storylines and arcs. I don't like the cult arc but who knows other people might enjoy Ambrose in it.
They finally start eating people. Some viewers want to see that.
They emphasize the supernatural element. This would be more interesting than 5 seasons of a show about trauma, PTSD and the impact it has on the characters which has been done many many many times before on show/movies/books.
What are your thought? No insults please. Remember being critical of a show isn't an attack on you or your opinion.

Drift Street International

Genre: Arcade Racing
Players: 1-4 Competitive (Local Wireless)
.
Review:
Drift Street International is an Arcade Racing game released on the Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service in 2010 and then grandfathered into the Nintendo 3DS eShop when that system was released. As the title suggest, this game’s racing has a heavy focus on drifting.
If you’ve ever played a racing game with Drifting, or even a Mario Kart game, you should have an idea how this works - tap the brake during a turn to start a drift, causing you to turn more sharply, at the cost of losing some control over your vehicle, with the trick being to learn how to correct for this loss of control. Drift Street International also rewards drifting by giving you a charge of nitro to give you a speed boost, but I found that these speed boosts were extremely brief and minimal, which was a bit disappointing.
Despite this frustration, I found the Arcade-style driving in this game to be excellent. The game controls great, the tracks have a fair amount of personality to them, and are diverse enough that different tracks genuinely feel different.
This is good, as the game contains only 9 tracks, which is perhaps understandable for an $8 DSiWare title, but still a bit disappointing. The game does try to inflate this number a bit by adding three different race modes - a standard race against three other vehicles, a time trial mode, and a checkpoint mode. However, this does little to fix the problem of a lack of content.
Still, while the game may be bite-sized in terms of content, it still packs a full experience with its presentation, using 3D visuals that may look a bit dated by today’s standards, with low-poly courses and a bit of pop-in, but it’s surprisingly impressive for a DSiWare game. This is joined by some good car sounds, and techno-style soundtrack that... Well, pretty quickly gets drowned out by the car noises.
In the end, if you look at Drift Street International as a full racing game on par with physical releases, I think you’ll find that the presentation may live up to those expectations, but the limited amount of content does not. However, if you look at this game as a tasty Arcade Racing snack instead of a full meal, I think you’ll find that this is an excellent game well worth its $8 price tag.
tl;dr – Drift Street International is an Arcade Racing game with a focus on drifting. For a DSiWare game, this game features a surprisingly good presentation, and the gameplay and map design are excellent as well. Really, this game’s biggest problem is a lack of content, with only 9 maps to race on. However, for only $8, this is still an excellent Racing Game for the price.

Grade: B

^{You can now support this subreddit on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!
This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Talissa, Eli Goodman, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}

We finish strong but just miss the playoffs, Stutzle gets 40 goals, Giroux 1000 points, Sanderson does enough down the stretch for a calder nomination. New and competent ownership comes in featuring Ryan Reynolds and clears house. We hire new coaches and management made up of guys with a succesful track record (a stanley cup) and/or former players like Alfie. We win big at the draft lottery and shoot up to 2nd overall. We then re sign Debrincat, Pinto, Brannstrom and Brassard to reasonable deals. We fix the bottom six. Reynolds makes a Welcome to Wrexham style show about us with the first episode ending with him drafting Fantilli 2nd overall. October rolls around and the rebuild is finally officially over, we've arrived. Norris is back, Debrincat finds his touch, Batherson becomes severely underpaid again, Stutzle is a top 5 scorer in the league and Sanderson is THE GUY, taking pressure of Chabot allowing him to have a career year. "The kid line" Fantilli/Pinto/Greig is the highest scoring third line in the league and we become the 1st team ever to have seven 30 goal scorers in a season (Tkachuk, Giroux, Batherson, Stutzle, Norris, Debrincat, Pinto). We pickup Karlsson at the deadline and somehow make it work financially idk we'll crunch the numbers later, we also nab Craig Anderson as a backup. We cruise into the playoffs and go all the way. Game 7 of the cup against the cinderella Anaheim Ducks goes to overtime, double overtime in fact, Karlsson sauces it to the Tkaptain for the breakaway, he buries it for the cup and our first ever game 7 win. Tkachuk hands the cup straight to Giroux who hands it straight to Karlsson who hands it straight to Alfredsson. The very next day the world announces it finally attained world peace and figured out how to turn pollution into fresh water.

Paper Airplane Chase

Genre: Arcade
Players: 1-2 Competitive (Same System)
.
Review:
Paper Airplane Chase actually started its life as an unlockable minigame in WarioWare Inc.: Mega Microgame$ on the Game Boy Advance in 2003. In 2009, this minigame was released separately on the Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service, and later grandfathered into the Nintendo 3DS eShop when the Nintendo 3DS released. This is an Arcade-style game where players angle a falling paper airplane left and right, trying to get it to avoid obstacles.
The presentation here is simple but decent, using 2D pixel art visuals, with cameos from the WarioWare characters. This comes complete with their distorted voice clips from the first WarioWare game playing. Unfortunately, this game doesn’t also contain all the great music of WarioWare, instead being more relaxed and slower-paced. This works well enough for the game, but it’s not particularly exciting.
As for the gameplay, what’s here is simple, yet still compelling. You’re just turning left and right. There’s a little nuance in that the angle also determines your speed - the closer you are to pointing straight down, the faster you go. You’ll also need to keep in mind your turning radius, which will make sharper turns difficult.
The game includes an endless mode where you try to get as far as possible without crashing, a timed mode where you’re trying to get to the bottom of a set course as quickly as possible, and a 2-player competitive race where each player takes half of the Nintendo DSi/Nintendo 3DS. These are all good options, though in the end the core gameplay here remains the same.
In the end, I think Paper Airplane Chase makes for a fun little distraction, but probably not much more than that. There’s not really enough depth here to really latch onto. However, for the low price of $2, this may be worth adding to your collection. It’s an entertaining way to spend a few minutes at a time, just not much more than that.
tl;dr – Paper Airplane Chase is an Arcade-style game originally released as an unlockable minigame in the first WarioWare game. Here on its own, this is still mildly entertaining, though it lacks the depth to keep you engaged for more than a few minutes before you’re ready to move on.

Grade: C+

^{You can now support this subreddit on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!
This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Talissa, Eli Goodman, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}

So I started falling endlessly
From the clouds- I thought it was a dream
Hit the ground so hard i had to scream
This isn’t who I thought I’d ever be
But I love you
———————————
I woke up- touched everything to flames
Through the fire- my hand was on your face
Kissed you so hard
With every fiber of being
I fought to the death
It got bloody, we were bleeding
if it were up to me I’d never walk away
And I love you And I love you ————————————-
It’s wishful thinking that this is just a nightmare
Can’t you tell me that maybe you’re still here
I spun around dancing and dizzy
Oh there you were
“Sweet love did you miss me?”
(Turned the poem I wrote into a song)

I’m 18+ and all characters and participants must be 18+
"Oide Yo! My name is Lotus~! And it is my great pleasure to welcome you all to Mizuryuu Kei Land U.S.A's Grand opening~!!" A pink haired femboy appeared on the screen at the front of the transportation bus. The only thing he was wearing was red heart shaped pasties over his nipples, black panties with a heart shaped hole at his ass, a red armband that read "cast", and matching pale blue elbow length gloves and thigh high stockings.
"As Mizuryuu Kei Land U.S.A's first ever guests, we have many great surprises in store for you all~! Unfortunately I can't talk about them, you all will just have to see them for yourself~. But what I can talk about is all of the amazing "worlds" that Mizuryuu Kei Land has!
Starting with the Beginner area this part of the park is the first thing you see once you leave the gear area. This is the area where our shy guests spend their time. Mizuryuu Kei Land is all about sexual freedom, and sometimes that can be very scary. For guests that aren't as open with their sexuality as others. But that's OK! For most guest all it takes is one ride on the "Meet N Fuck FerrisWheel" to break them out of their shell. Apart from the Ferris wheel, Beginner Area also has other attractions for both men and women. The Dildo Carousel, and Glory Mystery Wall are both very popular attractions.
The Urban Jungle is a place where our guests can live out their exhibitionist fantasies. Built to look like New York City. Guests here can live out their wildest public sex fantasies. Sure fucking in public is what the park is all about. But there is something special about fucking in a city environment. And in the Urban Jungle there is a place for every fantasy. From bars and clubs, to all types of store recreations, and of course all types of dirty alleys and public restrooms. It is a guarantee that you will never have the same experience when you visit the Urban Jungle.
From Urban Jungle to actual Jungle. Where the Wild Whores Are, is the ultimate pet play experience. Men and women alike can live out their most depraved fantasies of living as fuck pets. The area is divided into several "habitats". A tropical jungle, a pet walking park, and "the zoo". So if you want to let out your wild side, or want to know what it feels like to own your own fuckpet come on down to to Where the Wild Whores Are.
There are many more areas inside of Mizuryuu Kei Land. So many that I am unable to inform you about all of them in such short amount of time. Unfortunately due to legal reasons I am also unable to discuss what goes on inside of areas like our Raceplay World, and Land of Beast In Heat. You will just have to experience those places for yourself hehe~.
Now I'll leave you all by letting you know that as our lucky week long guests. You all have the ability to switch hotels at any point during your stay for free. There are many themed hotels inside of the parks areas. And we want you all to be able to experience as many of our facilities as you can~!
Other than please enjoy all the amazing attractions, restaurants, facilities, events, and both staff and guest contest. Your ride is now at its end. Welcome to Mizuryuu Kei Land U.S.A!
////////////////////
Hello dear pervs :3. And thank you for reading my Mizuryuu Kei Land roleplay idea. Based off of the original doujinshi, I want to create a story that severely expands on the world that wonderfully depraved doujinshi created.
So I did not emphasize a "main character" during the prompt. That is because there are many different characters that we can choose from for this rp.
There is Lotus, the current peppy femboy mascot of Mizuryuu Kei Land U.S.A. Who gets to live in the park and do all sorts of fun events for the guest. Unfortunately he did not read his contract too well. And now he has to fight for the right to keep his job as the parks mascot. Or be replaced by another slut.
There is also Alex, a college student who's friend was somehow able to score 3 tickets fo the theme parks grand opening week. As a closet pervert Alex was basically dragged along by his friends. In an attempt to get him to loosen up. Oh if only they knew the bitch in heat they unleashed in the park.
And finally there is Cody, a recently graduated journalism major and self proclaimed artist. Who infiltrated the park by getting a job as a staff member. As he is trying to launch his career as a real journalist. By exposing Mizuryuu Kei Land as a corrupt cesspool of depravity. Will Cody be able to find enough evidence to prove this? Or will the parks influence and its "secret board of directors" turn him into the thing he hates the most, a whore?
The park is basically a sandbox, where we can create anything we want. The only limit for what story we can create is literally our imaginations! So as my GM you will have a lot of creative freedom for what ever lewd attraction, event, store,etc. You want to add to the park.
Kinks: cum, cum eating, cum food, cum play, cream pie,bdsm, bondage, forced, body writing, spanking, cuddling, degradation, rough partners, sizeplay, dominant partners, toys, multiple partners, spit roasting, mating press, full Nelson,frenching,rimming,body oil,bestiality,water sports,squirting,wax play,sex machines,being filmed,cosplay,NTR,petplay,exhibitionism and biting and pretty much anything that isn’t my limits
Limits: Scat,gore,vore,hyper sizes,necro and vomit
If that's of interest to you, please get in touch at Demondork on Kik and come with any questions you have, clarifications you need and ideas you'd like to share. Just please do more than just tell me you're interested. Don't worry about responding slowly/late, I still want to hear from you. Finally, please no chat requests, I will simply ignore them.