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Judgment Day 2006 (SmackDown)
Date: 21/5/06
Location: US Airways, Phoenix, Arizona
WWE Tag Team Championship:
MNM (c) w/Melina vs Paul London & Brian Kendrick
Cruiserweight Championship:
Gregory Helms (c) vs Super Crazy
United States Championship:
Chris Benoit (c) vs Finlay
The Undertaker vs Mark Henry w/Daivari
(After WrestleMania, Mark Henry and Daivari form an alliance which the World’s Strongest Man wants to make a further statement after taking Batista out of action. Henry targets The Undertaker, brutally attacks him on SmackDown and claims he’s the most dominant individual in the company. Henry challenges Taker to a match at Judgement Day which The Deadman accepts, saying it will be Judgment Day for Mark Henry for the sin he’s committed by attacking him. Mark Henry shockingly wins clean and The Great Khali is nowhere to be seen.)
Bobby Lashley vs Booker T w/Sharmell
(Booker T wins thanks to a distraction from Sharmell.)
Title vs Career Match for the World Heavyweight Championship:
Rey Mysterio (c) vs JBL
(Rey won’t be a jobber bitch to anyone in the build up to this match. Instead, JBL wins a #1 Contender’s Match against Chris Benoit to earn this opportunity for the World Heavyweight Championship. Bradshaw says Rey Mysterio’s win at No Way Out over him was a fluke and he’s that confident of beating Rey Mysterio this time that he’ll even put his career on the line. Rey says that not only will he beat Bradshaw again to keep his title but he’ll finally free the WWE and the fans from the poisonous bully that is JBL. Rey Mysterio retains the championship and beats JBL again to end his career… for now. The show draws to a close with the crowd taunting JBL.)
ECW One Night Stand 2006
Date: 11/6/06
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, Manhattan, New York, New York
Kurt Angle vs Randy Orton
(Kurt Angle is drafted to ECW which pisses Vince McMahon off to the point he instructs Randy Orton who’s just been drafted to RW to take care of the traitor. Angle wins clean and this is Orton’s punishment for violating the Wellness Policy.)
Tazz vs Jerry Lawler
(Tazz squashes Lawler in 30 seconds.)
Extreme Rules Match for the World Heavyweight Championship:
Rey Mysterio (c) vs Tommy Dreamer
(With ECW back, Paul Heyman challenges Rey Mysterio who was once part of ECW to defend his championship at One Night Stand against one of his guys. Rey accepts and welcomes the challenge from anyone Heyman chooses. Paul Heyman picks the heart and soul of ECW, Tommy Dreamer! Dreamer says while he respects Rey, beating him for the World Championship on ECW’s return is an opportunity he just can’t pass up. Rey tells Dreamer he understands his thinking but he’s not allowing his boyhood dream to end right now. In a very good and brutal encounter, Rey Mysterio wins to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Both men shake hands after the match with Dreamer raising Rey’s arm.)
Hardcore Match:
Mick Foley vs Edge w/Lita
(The match we got in real life at WrestleMania 22 in real life happens here instead. After costing Edge the WWE Championship at Backlash, Mick Foley says that was just him getting even but he’s not done with Edge. Foley challenges the Rated R Superstar to a Hardcore match at this event which Edge accepts, promising to destroy the Hardcore Legend once and for all. We get that same flaming table spot in a brutal affair. Edge wins clean.)
Hardcore Match:
Sabu vs Terry Funk
(Just to emphasise ECW’s return further, let’s put the two craziest bastards going in a match against one another. Sabu wins in another brutal and bloody affair.)
Extreme Rules Match for the WWE Championship:
John Cena (c) vs Rob Van Dam
(Rob Van Dam tells John Cena in advance when he’s cashing in just like he did in real life. Van Dam tells Cena that he’s cashing in at ECW One Night Stand in a building that he calls home, The Hammerstein Ballroom. In a very back and forth main event with Cena being booed out of the building, Rob Van Dam beats John Cena clean to win the WWE Championship! Edge doesn’t appear in the slightest.)
Vengeance 2006 (Raw)
Date: 25/6/06
Location: Charlotte Bobcats Arena, Charlotte, North Carolina
Intercontinental Championship:
Shelton Benjamin (c) vs Val Venis
Ric Flair vs Umaga w/Armando Estrada
(Umaga wins clean to remain undefeated although Flair puts up a fight in his hometown.)
WWE World Tag Team Championship:
Carlito & Chris Masters (c) vs Sabu & The Sandman
Kane vs The Big Show
Kurt Angle vs Randy Orton
(Orton cheats to win after hitting a low blow when the referee isn’t looking. Angle leaves the company shortly after.)
D-Generation X vs The Spirit Squad
(Vince McMahon is furious that Triple H has aligned with Shawn Michaels again and says he should never have trusted him. Vince says there will be consequences and at Vengeance, DX will face off against all 5 members of The Spirit Squad. In the build up, DX rip the utter pss out the McMahons by dressing up as them, covering them and The Spirit Squad in sht, saying Vince McMahon loves c*cks etc. Despite the odds being against them, DX win this match in their first official match as a team again.)
WWE Championship:
Rob Van Dam (c) vs John Cena (No Contest)
(After ECW One Night Stand, John Cena says on the night Rob Van Dam was the better man and deserves to be the WWE Champion. Cena then tells Van Dam that he’s invoking his rematch clause at Vengeance. Mr. Monday Night welcomes the challenge, saying it’ll be another day at the office for him and he’ll prove his win at One Night Stand wasn’t a fluke. This match ends in a No Contest after a mysterious man attacks both men. The man is… Edge! Edge then Spears both Cena & Van Dam before holding up the WWE Championship as Vengeance draws to a close.)
Note:
(Mark Henry gets injured in his Judgment Day rematch against The Undertaker on SmackDown although the storyline is going to be that Batista injured Henry when attacking him upon return as part of his revenge after Henry injured him.)
The Great American Bash 2006 (SmackDown)
Date: 23/7/06
Location: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
WWE Tag Team Championship:
Paul London & Brian Kendrick (c) vs The Pitbulls
Cruiserweight Championship:
Gregory Helms (c) vs Chavo Guerrero
The Undertaker vs Daivari
(Teddy Long forces Daivari to compete at The Great American Bash against The Undertaker as The Phenom publicly made it known he wants to get his hands on him for being the brains behind Mark Henry going after him in the first place. The Deadman utterly destroys Daivari here.)
United States Championship:
Chris Benoit (c) vs Finlay
Matt Hardy vs William Regal
Batista vs Mr.Kennedy
World Heavyweight Championship:
Rey Mysterio (c) vs Booker T w/Sharmell
(Booker T wins a Triple Threat Match against Bobby Lashley and Chris Benoit to earn this opportunity. Booker T says that it’s been 3 years since he was the World Heavyweight Champion and promises that the rut without the gold is coming to an end. Booker also says that someone has to end that little troll Rey Mysterio’s fairytale run and warns Rey it’s going to be him. Rey simply wants to continue his run and prove that he’s not a fluke of a champion every single time he gets the chance. Rey Mysterio retains the title via a roll up which Booker T can’t believe and shouts to Rey that he isn’t finished with him.)
SummerSlam 2006
Date: 20/8/06
Location: TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Extreme Rules Match for the Inaugural ECW Championship:
Sabu vs The Sandman vs Tommy Dreamer
(Paul Heyman announces the return of the ECW Championship and says the new ECW Champion will be crowned at SummerSlam involving 3 individuals who are the heart and soul of the brand. Sandman wins the championship in a crazy, bloody and fun opener.)
Women’s Championship:
Mickie James (c) vs Lita
United States Championship:
Finlay (c) vs Chris Benoit
Ric Flair vs Randy Orton
(Randy Orton targets his former Evolution teammate as his next Legend to decimate. Orton says that Ric Flair is nowadays nothing but a dumb, deluded old man with his best days behind him and he’s willing to put him down for good. Flair says Orton just like in Evolution is still a cocky, arrogant little brat who needs to be taught a lesson. Randy Orton wins clean with an RKO.)
Intercontinental Championship:
Shelton Benjamin (c) vs Kane
D-Generation X vs Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon & The Big Show
(Vince McMahon recruits The Big Show to help him take down DX. Vince says that DX is a disease to him and his company and that Big Show is the key to helping him destroy them. Big Show says that DX can try and make jokes all they want but he, Vince and Shane will be the last ones laughing. DX tell Vince he can hide behind that 500 knucklehead Big Show all they want, when the jokes are put to the side they’ll be kicking their ass and ending this at SummerSlam. DX win after Triple H pins Vince to end the feud between DX & The McMahons.)
Batista vs Bobby Lashley
(Bobby Lashley challenges Batista in order to prove he deserves to be here. Bobby feels challenging the best SmackDown has to offer is his best way to get noticed. Batista accepts Bobby’s challenge but tells him he’ll be introduced to the big leagues the hard way. Batista wins clean although Lashley takes him to the limit which Batista respects to the point he shakes Bobby Lashley’s hand after the match.)
World Heavyweight Championship:
Rey Mysterio (c) vs Booker T w/Sharmell
(Booker T challenges Rey Mysterio to face him again at the biggest party of the summer. Rey accepts and claims just like he did to JBL, he’ll beat Booker T again to prove that his win at The Great American Bash wasn’t a fluke. During the match, the referee is unconscious and Chavo Guerrero comes down to the ring in aid of his friend Mysterio. Chavo gets a steel chair and hits… Rey! With one of the hardest chair shots you’ll see and Booker T is utterly stunned. The referee regains consciousness and Booker T covers Rey Mysterio to win the World Heavyweight Championship!)
WWE Championship:
Rob Van Dam (c) vs Edge w/Lita vs John Cena
(Edge says he did what he did at Vengeance because not only does he hate John Cena and doesn’t want him touching the WWE Championship in the slightest but Rob Van Dam also holds the damn thing he wants. Cena says Edge has only delayed the inevitable which is him regaining his spot as the man and he now wants the chance to do it in his hometown meanwhile RVD tells them both that if they want his title, he welcomes the challenge. As a result, a Triple Threat Match is booked. Edge wins the championship by pinning Rob Van Dam after Lita hands him a pair of brass knuckles.)
Notes:
(Jeff Hardy returns to the WWE the night after SummerSlam although he doesn’t confront Edge.)
(Rob Van Dam and Sabu are suspended for violating the Wellness Policy.)
(Chavo Guerrero costs Rey Mysterio his rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship on the SmackDown after SummerSlam.)
And that’s part 42 over and done with guys! I hope you enjoyed what I brought to the table and of course love the fact I kept The Great Khali so far away from The Undertaker 😂 anyways, I’ll be back on Thursday to cover part 43 where we’ll see Trish Stratus retire, John Cena and Edge take their rival to a new level and at Survivor Series we’ll have Brand Warfare which ends up getting Extreme 👀 stay tuned!

so i (nb21 AFAB) and my boyfriend (m25) have been together for almost a year. I’ve been in open relationships for about 5 years now and he knew that ever since he met me. he has never been in an open relationship and is not very keen on the idea of me doing anything with other people. But, regardless of that, we came to an agreement before getting together where i wouldn’t do anything with men, but i could be with women from time to time.
ever since we’ve been together I’ve made out with a few people but hadn’t done anything sexual with any of them yet. he showed some discomfort and would avoid the topic but never said anything. recently, I’ve been interested in this girl i met at work (let’s call her kate), but he wont let me do anything with her.
——context, I’m not sure if shes queer, but has shown clear interest in being with me, she told me herself——
every time i wanna go out with kate or I’m working with her, he always wants to be included or supervising. i haven’t made a move because of that (and I’m not going to when he expressed his discomfort). recently kate and i went out because it was her last day at work so i wanted to chill and have a few drinks. my bf said he didnt want me doing anything with her and after some back and forth about that, i let it go and was like “fine. i wont do anything with her. we are just gonna have a couple drinks because it’s her last day. thats all”. night passed, we had fun, came back home. bf asked “sooo… did you get a kiss on the cheek? hold her waist? anything?” and i replied “no. you told me not to so i didn’t” and he said “well i mean i was expecting at leaaast a little spicy thing that happened, like even holding hands” i showed clear confusion and anger since he CLEARLY stated he didnt want me to do anything at all with kate, and he just brushed it off.
i called him out today and he said he’s “not ready” for me to be with women because we need to “settle and at least be in this apartment for a month” (we just moved together with someone else and we’re about to pay our second month -.-). i asked “well then how long do you think it’ll take you?” and he said he doesnt know and that it shouldnt be a big deal since we are together, so if i do something with kate or any woman he’s entitled to doing something with women as well. i said no, because he doesn’t want me to be with the opposite sex so the rules should apply to him. he strongly disagreed with it and said it’s unfair since he doesnt like men, but still wont let me be with the opposite sex, so he said i can’t do anything at all with anyone and I’m so confused.
what do i do?
TL;DR bf doesnt want me to be w the opposite sex and i agreed and said he can’t either but he’s not attracted to men and says it’s unfair. doesn’t want me to be with women now either.
edit: clarity

I wanna preface this with a semi Tl;dr that this is probably a post very similar to “Trans women are women, and wanting to be a woman means you’re already a woman, EXCEPT for me it doesn’t actually apply to me ahhhhhhhhh” and also contains feelings of doubt if y’all are not at a good point to read this. Take care of yourselves and your mental states ❤️❤️
I guess it’s been almost 9 or so months that I’ve been actively addressing my relationship with gender, exploring being MtF, buying clothes, etc. About half of my drawers are feminine clothes while the other half are my previous more masculine (jeans and tshirts) which is actually kind of annoying because I don’t wear the feminine clothes outside because shame and whatnot.
I feel like overall, my journey has kinda been on a standstill, took a pause from therapy (mainly cause it wasn’t a fit but I felt like I was talking in circles). I think as the feelings escalate again (as they do) I’ll take it back up.
—— PART 1 ——
Something that’s been mind is that my gf brought up that it feels like gender stuff has recently only been coming up during intimacy, and that she’s kinda upset that I haven’t been going to therapy at the moment (which I get). I don’t want her to feel used that I’m just exploring my gender with her, and we’ve had a lot of good talks about it to reaffirm that I love her, not just the idea of exploring my gender.
But this brings me to my mental dilemma: what even is Gender? Can I actually want to be a woman if I don’t even really understand what it is to be a woman? And yes I feel good dressed as a woman, and I feel better during intimacy being wanted as a woman, but does that come from my societal views on what that is? I guess part of me is starting to feel internally like I’m somewhat being influenced by sexism in society defining what being a woman is? Because on one hand, I believe that womanhood is so much more than clothes and makeup and feeling pretty, and boiling all the women in my life who I love to just those attributes seems awful. On the other, a lot of those things have been gender coded to femininity and I want them and it feels shallow. Hence ✨guilt✨
—— PART 2 ——
Another thing that has been kinda paralyzing is that any place I go I start to think “I probably wouldn’t be accepted here or looked at the same if I was trans”. Just went to a public pool yesterday, and visited my grandpa over the weekend who’s living in a home and not doing too great, and also had a small play rehearsal. And I can’t really shake it fully, and I’ll notice it more on small comments “you seem like such a great guy” or “he seemed so much more alert today talking to a guy about guy stuff” and just ✨guilt✨
So yeah it feels easier to exist as a boy as I am. Don’t know if I really have a question in all of this. Maybe looking for advice? Or that I’m not alone in these thoughts?
Thanks all ❤️

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Features: Something for everyone! -Fleshed out discord for members to hang out and communicate outside of roleplay. -QBCore framework -Actual custom content/scripts (written and actively worked on by our team). -Active Development with daily updates and planned DLCs -18+ populated city with men and women, at all hours of the day and night. Members from multiple continents. Drama and Greifer free, no shit lording tolerated. -200+ Imported Cars, 1500+ imported clothing items (Non-Esl) -Buy and customize your own house -Own/Stock/Price items at your own store -Available activities include restaurants, paintball, hunting, gambling, fishing, trucking, and more for civilian RP. Many more activities are coming in planned DLC's! -Hiring citizens for Local PD, State PD, Judges, Lawyers, Car Dealer, the highest paying jobs in the city -Unlimited business potentials! -Criminals can rob convenience stores, NPC's, Jewelry Stores and Banks. They can also start their own Gangs/Criminal Organizations -You can find and craft items and weapons at locations all across the State -You can find, cultivate, process and sell Weed, Coke, Meth, Heroin, Vicodin, LSD! -You can chop cars for useful and valuable parts! -A 30-day daily rewards system that rewards money, weapons, and vehicles -Free Casino spins every 24 hours for a chance to win casino chips, money, and vehicles, if you're lucky
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Kim Gordon
rock indie punk
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A musician, visual artist, and writer who questions consumerism and women's place in society with a keen eye and poetic detail, Kim Gordon first came to prominence as the bassist/vocalist for Sonic Youth. During her time with that band, her smoky, half-spoken, half-sung vocals and feminist viewpoint added depth to their experimental rock and made her a major figure on the American indie rock scene from the '80s onward. A small handful of her standout moments include "Shadow of a Doubt" from 1986's EVOL; the Karen Carpenter homage "Tunic" and Chuck D collaboration "Kool Thing" from 1990's Goo; and the Kim Deal duet "Little Trouble Girl" from 1995's Washing Machine. In addition, she made a name for herself as an inventive collaborator with Pussy Galore's Julia Cafritz as Free Kitten and in projects with artists such as Ikue Mori and Yoko Ono that strengthened her ties to the avant-garde. Her work as a fashion designer and producer also hinted at the breadth of her talent; after Sonic Youth disbanded in 2011, she branched out even further. Gordon pursued the career as a visual artist that she put on hold while changing the sound of underground rock, and became a best-selling author with her 2015 memoir Girl in a Band. With guitarist Bill Nace, she dove into the most free-form side of her music as Body/Head on exploratory albums including 2018's The Switch. Four decades after she began making music, her 2019 solo debut, No Home Record, proved her juxtapositions of subversive commentary with experimental and pop sounds were as trenchant as ever.
Born in Rochester, New York, on April 28, 1953, Kim Gordon moved to Los Angeles at age five, when her sociology professor father took a job at UCLA. While growing up, she attended University Elementary School and University High School, both of which were progressive institutions associated with UCLA. After completing high school, Gordon studied at Santa Monica College for a couple of years before she transferred to Toronto's York University. In 1974, while in Toronto, Gordon formed a short-lived band with fellow art students, but the group broke up after a single show at the Ann Arbor Film Festival. However, being so far away from home -- and the California sunshine -- wore on her, so she returned and enrolled in L.A.'s Otis Art Institute, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1977.
To follow her dream of becoming a visual artist, Gordon moved to New York City in 1980. Along with making herself a fixture of the city's art scene -- she wrote articles for Artforum and worked for the art dealer Larry Gagosian -- she also immersed herself in New York's no wave music scene. Emboldened by no wave's eagerness to crush accepted musical boundaries -- and having just come into possession of a well-worn guitar -- Gordon partnered with Christine Hahn and Stanton Miranda to form the band CKM. It was through Miranda that she met fellow aspiring noise musician Thurston Moore; the pair began dating (and eventually married in 1984). They soon made their partnership creative as well as romantic: with guitarist Lee Ranaldo, Gordon and Moore formed Sonic Youth in 1981. When drummer Steve Shelley joined in 1986, the lineup of one of alternative rock's most influential bands was complete.
Sonic Youth became an underground institution, releasing 22 studio albums between 1982 and 2009. Gordon's bass playing, aloof-yet-fierce vocals, and songwriting -- which dealt with feminism in both practical and abstract terms -- were as fundamental to the band's music as their inventive use of alternate tunings, dissonance, and feedback and subversive use of pop melodies and hooks. As Sonic Youth's popularity crested in the late '80s and '90s thanks to acclaimed albums like 1988's Daydream Nation, 1990's Goo, and 1992's Dirty, Gordon branched out into other projects. She published magazine pieces that included a tour diary entitled "Boys Are Smelly" that ran in The Village Voice in 1988, and an interview with LL Cool J that ran in Spin in 1989. Among her other musical endeavors were Harry Crews, a collaboration with Lydia Lunch that produced 1989's Naked in Garden Hills. Free Kitten, a group she formed with Julia Cafritz of Pussy Galore, was an ongoing project that started in 1992 and issued several albums, among them 1995's Nice Ass, 1997's Sentimental Education, and 2008's Inherit. In 1991, Gordon helped produce the first album by Hole, Pretty on the Inside. She also expanded into clothing design, launching the fashion line X-Girl with stylist Daisy von Furth in 1993.
Later in the '90s and into the 2000s, when Sonic Youth's music returned to its experimental roots on albums such as Washing Machine and Murray St., the scope of Gordon's side projects continued to broaden. She exhibited her art more frequently, with pieces including Kim's Bedroom, which was presented at MU in the Netherlands in 2000, and Reverse Karaoke, an installation she created with artist Jutta Koether for the 2005 London exhibition Her Noise. She tried her hand at acting, appearing in productions like Gus Van Sant's 2005 film Last Days and Todd Haynes' 2007 Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There. She also launched MirroDash, a limited-edition fashion line, in 2008.
In the 2010s, Gordon experienced personal as well as artistic transformation. Late in 2011, she and Moore announced their impending divorce, and Sonic Youth's São Paulo date that November was the band's final concert. One of the former couple's last projects, the Yoko Ono collaboration YOKOKIMTHURSTON, appeared in early 2012. During this time, Gordon was successfully treated for DCIS breast cancer. She continued to perform, touring with Ikue Mori and founding the duo Body/Head with guitarist Bill Nace. The project's first album, Coming Apart, arrived in 2013; that year, she also had multiple exhibitions of her artwork in the United States and the United Kingdom. Gordon's acting career flourished, as she appeared in projects ranging from the cable television shows Girls and Portlandia to the German horror film The Nightmare. In February 2015, she published her memoir Girl in a Band, which became a New York Times best-seller. She closed the year by moving from Massachusetts back to Los Angeles.
In 2016, the self-titled debut album from Glitterbust, her duo with Tomorrows Tulips' Alex Knost, appeared, along with the Body/Head live album No Waves. That year also saw the release of "Murdered Out," her looping, gritty debut single as a solo artist. Following Body/Head's 2018 album The Switch, roles on the HBO TV series Animals and in the Van Sant film Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot, and exhibitions at Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum and Dublin's Irish Museum of Modern Art, in October 2019 Gordon released her debut album, No Home Record. Taking its name from director Chantal Akerman's film No Home Movie, Gordon recorded the album with producers Justin Raisen and Shawn Everett as well as composer Jake Meginsky.
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This is my first time in this subreddit and I need advice on something that has been bothering me for a while. My boyfriend (M21) and I (F19) have been dating for almost a year since late August. As we grew closer together we kept talking about the future we decided to plan with each other, like marriage, lots of kids, having established careers, and a house for us to call home. The only issue or well issues that we’ve been having that has been preventing him from coming over are personal and financial situations. I live in New York City and my boyfriend who lives all the way in California is an undocumented immigrant. Even though he has never had issues with finding work he has had issues with travel (due to not having many proper documents or even a passport) and lack of support from some of his family. He was able to get into college full ride and he has held two jobs that help him make good income as a student.
He has told me that he loves me and that he really wants to see me but I have been having doubts about his intentions. We have been trying to close the gap since December, he even talked to his aunts about coming to live with them but it seems like every time he gets a chance to come here something always comes up. I was trying to get him to come here during winter break but then ahead of time in November, he told me that one of his aunts was severely sick (I believe it was bronchitis) and couldn’t come over here for about two months which I understood completely because I didn’t want him to get sick. Then his aunt started getting better in February and I really wanted him to come here for my birthday but he wasn’t able to because of stuff with his mother who he doesn’t have a good relationship with and lack of finances for him to be able to travel here. It really sucked that he wasn’t here but I tried to budge because he told me that he would try to get here in March to finally be with me, but then it was April, then May came around and he has been telling me that he couldn’t come here because of things like trying to finally get his immigration status in order (which didn’t go well), having some deaths in the family which halted his grandmother from being able to help him, trying to apply for seasonal jobs like possibly some sort of trade just to take a break from college and he keeps having financial issues.
I kept trying to offer him solutions to come here like using a portion of his money to buy a bus ticket and staying with his aunts since they have a bedroom that’s supposed to be for him, but once again something usually always comes up. He did some apprenticeship with one of his bosses and he told me that once it was finished that he would pick up his check and come here. Well, the apprenticeship has finished so it was finally time for him to pack up and come here via travel bus, but yesterday he decided to go to work instead of getting prepared because he wasn’t able to pick up his check until the next day and he wanted to make a little extra money before leaving. I guess little did we both know he ran into an issue at his job where his wallet was stolen and now he doesn’t have a card. (He uses cash app since he can’t get a bank account) I told him that he should activate a new card and have it delivered to his aunts’ house for them to pick up since they primarily work from home, but he told me that he was gonna wait until Thursday.
My high school graduation ceremony is coming up in about two weeks and he told me that he wouldn’t miss it for the world but I don’t wanna have to prepare myself for when he can’t come here because of another problem and another problem. I do think that he wants to come here and not wanting to be in California anymore but I feel like he’s coming up with excuses to not come here and it has gotten very tiring because I don’t know why. It has gotten to a point where I have lied to people about him actually being here because I'm embarrassed to tell people that he’s still living hundreds of miles away because I’ve had people constantly telling me that he’s probably dating other women and that I should just break up with him. If he orders another card and waits for it, then it won’t come until a few weeks later and he is supposed to be trying to travel here now. I talked to my counselor about everything and I told her that I will give him an ultimatum but she told me that if I do that then he’ll try to move here not because he wants to be with me but because I threatened the state of our relationship. I don’t know what I should do anymore.

I dated a girl for three years. we planned our future life together, were going to move to different states. she didn’t make enough money at her job so i told her to apply to my workplace, a small niche business she wouldn’t ever have known about unless i told her. We were going to both work here and save up for us to move out of state together and begin building a life together. I thought i would marry her.
We’re both women, and she wasn’t out to her family. I told her after our 2nd anniversary that she has until the next year to tell them or i’m out. I had to respect myself, i can’t be with someone who’s ashamed of introducing me to their family.
a year rolls around, she doesn’t tell them. i wasn’t bluffing and told her i’m done. this was 6 months ago. for 6 months we’ve been very confusing. We slept together a few times in this time period, would have weeks where we’re trying again then one of us puts our foot down and it stops. About three weeks ago she was sleeping in my bed.
I found out she fucked my male coworker. At work it’s a joke that i’m the gay female version of him, that’s how similar we are. This has led to me getting super upset. it’s not about the sex, but why does it have to be with someone i see every shift?? I could’ve slept with a coworker but didn’t out of respect for not wanting her to have to look at that girl in the eyes every shift. She knows it’s one of my insecurities as a lesbian that i’ll never be enough for a woman because i don’t have a dick.
She thinks i’m being controlling. I think it’s reasonable to ask if someone whom i spent three beautiful years with, planned a life together, talked about marriage and kids with, to not sleep with my coworkers so i can go to work and not want to fucking die.
I want to stress that i’ve had sex a few times since our original break up six months ago. I don’t stay for cuddles, and they’re totally outside of her world. She’d never have to know who they are, look at them in the face, or see them anywhere. So i want to stress it’s not about the sex, but really? with the guy i work with? i’m his manager. i have to look at him every single shift. She promised she wouldn’t do it then did it that very same night.
Do y’all think i’m being controlling by not wanting her to have had sex with my coworker? I have a huge fear of being manipulative and controlling because that’s not me. I just feel like this wasn’t too much to ask and she did it anyway.

Okay so this is going to be long. And I (28 female) am not sure if I even have the right to try to help. Trigger warning DV & SA & ED (sorry :() I am trying to gauge whether or not itwould be appropriate for me to try and enter my cousin C’s life now that I have new information regarding her current relationship. This all started about two days ago when my estranged aunt (51 female) reached out to me to invite me to a reunion coming up this next month. I finally got back to her after pondering on whether or not it was a heathy choice for me because she herself has had a toxic influence on my life throughout growing up. She has two daughters whom I grew up with and spent my summers sharing a room with. We were the best of friends and they were (still are but it’s complicated) my favorite cousins. One of her daughters C (31 female) and I had a horrible falling out over a boy when I was 15 and she was 17. I was completely at fault in this situation. It’s one of my biggest regrets in life. That being said I pretty much stole her boyfriend like a stupid idiot teenage pick me and let it ruin our irreplaceable relationship. It was incredibly stupid to put a teenage fling before family but at the time I was stupid. We have not spoke since except for 3 years ago very briefly at a funeral. It was awkward. I would like to say something about her parents as well (my aunt and uncle )to clarify why the relationship is so estranged from the rest of my family. My aunt is batshit crazy in a judging, mean and malicious fashion. She has always been this way and treated her daughters terribly. She did irreparable harm to them and myself regarding food which haunts me to this day. Not only has my aunt harmed me, but I found out about six years ago that my uncle (C’s dad) sexually abused my mother and her two younger sisters when they were growing up. All three of them have struggled with ptsd and mental illness because of this. So I pretty much lost all contact with them because it was too painful to maintain. My aunt and uncle moved to the south a few years ago(we are all from the Midwest) and my two cousins stayed in the Midwest. My aunt informed me today (unwarrantedly I might add because she runs her mouth like crazy) that my cousin is currently in a horribly abusive relationship with the father of her son. Hearing this triggered me and brought me to tears because my mother has gone through a similar situation. Plus I am human and women die everyday from DV. My Aunt shared that C has been beaten, choked and has jumped out of a moving car to get away from her abuser however her mother shared she won’t leave. Her mother referred to her as “not strong” and not tough enough” to leave which is clearly outrageous and stupid to say . I told her that’s not helpful or true. After having a discussion with my aunt over the phone I began to realize my cousin C really doesn’t have anyone in her corner. My aunt is terrible and was going on and on about dumb shit that doesn’t matter. Even going as far to say that she STILL to this day comments on c’s weight to “help her” like what the heck ? Here is this awful man tearing her down day after day and now her mother is too? I was very Frank and told her that was wrong of her to do. My aunt just talked in circles for almost an hour about herself and is basically like “oh well” even though she HERSELF admitted she was afraid that C will be killed at the hands of her sons father. C’s father (my uncle) is a good for nothing sorry sob that’s to cowardly and stubborn to protect his daughter. Hearing this today brought me to tears. I feel awful for not being there for her all these years when she clearly needed support. She told her mom that if she dies at least her son will get her insurance money and I sobbed because that’s so sad. Like she is a young woman who deserves to be loved and safe and she basically is okay with dying? That’s just heart breaking. I love her so much and she deserves so much better than this. She was responsible and kind and always did what she needed to do when we were growing up. And to hear that this person has worn her down so badly that she doesn’t value her own life is sickening. I got c’s number from her mom but her mom told me I can’t say that she told me anything or she will be pissed. I promised I wouldn’t. I don’t want to cause upset I just want to let her know she has support. I gave my mom c’s number because she happens to be in her area this weekend on vacay and I wanted my mom to reach out and take her and her son out to lunch or something to casually open the door of communication without mentioning anything. I feel like due to the complicated relationship with her parents she may not consider going to them a safe place. I just want her to know that she has family (in state) that are there for her if she were to need anything/ anytime. I want to make contact or maybe go to the reunion but I am worried I’ll just make the situation worse. At the same time it seems like she has no one fighting for her when she clearly isn’t able to fight for herself . I truly feel like this is potentially a life or death situation and her parents aren’t taking it seriously at all. So would it be inappropriate of me for trying to insert myself into her life now because of this new information. I wanted to reach out many times but it just never happened and I feel guilty athat I am only doing it now after hearing this upsetting news. How do I even go about it? Please be kind y’all I know I screwed up when we were teenagers. Any advice or resources would be so appreciated. I’m afraid for her but also don’t want to be a self righteous jerk by swooping in and trying to help after all this time . I really don’t know what to do but I feel the need to do something. I fear the situation may be far worse then what her mother is aware of due to the distance between them.

Let me first say that I have done no work with magick. In fact, I don’t know why it has a k 😂. I’ve never done any work with demons. I didn’t even know Lilith was considered one when I felt a pull toward her.
And I’ve been feeling a strong pull toward Lilith within the last week very suddenly. So I followed this. Learned about the method to write a letter to her. I wrote my letter and burned it.
The next day while meditating in the hypnagogic state, I imagined I was going to board a bus. I was the last person to board. The bus driver stopped me, shut the door, and drove off. I turned around and there was Lilith. She said the people on the bus were going to learn about her, but I was going to learn WITH her for the next two weeks. Then she led me to the entrance of a cave.
I know very little about Lilith and was planning to do a deep dive in research. But I took this as a sign to not do this. Instead, I’ll learn directly from her to avoid skewing my thoughts from external influence.
The next evening after that (tonight), again while in a hypnagogic state after meditating on her enn, I started seeing different women in random scenarios. One was a checker at a counter and winked at me, for example. And then my mind would jump to horny thoughts about them. I felt that Lilith had asked me if I’d like a succubus. I told her yes, but I would like a higher vibration one that does not drain my energy. That the relationship is mutually beneficial. I would like to learn from this succubus and to develop a relationship. Not just for succubus sex.
I then fell asleep for the night and maybe an hour into my sleep, I woke up to an orgasm and ejaculation. In my dream I didn’t see anyone or sense anyone. I didn’t communicate with anyone. I just had a very very (very) strong orgasm and then woke up to it in real life. This has never happened to me.
Wow. I am just in awe of this world that we live in. The metaphysical world is real. I only discovered it last year with the start of a kundalini awakening and now I’m working with Lilith. The first human. And Shakti. Two beautiful and divine mothers. Toward enlightenment. How lucky and blessed I am.
In my letter, I basically told Lilith that I would like to work with her and her daughters to reach enlightenment and to help others to reach enlightenment. And that I wanted to live a life of love, joy, and peace. I signed it and stamped it with my blood. Some will probably say this was not wise. I followed my heart. I just wanted to make sure she’d hear me. I had no second guesses.
I think I’ve been getting some signs over the last couple of days about what to do and what not to do. For instance, I’ve spilt my coffee several times. Once all over my dresser. Yesterday evening, the last bite of my sandwich broke apart and fell into my coffee. Then I had a cold frap I bought from McDonalds and I sensed “throw that away” so I looked up and I was already coming up to a garbage can. I suspect that Lilith is leading me to eat cleaner and that might not include coffee.
I am going to continue following her guide, surrender to and trust her. I believe Lilith can help me through this kundalini awakening as a mentor. I hope to learn to be a better father and husband from her. And I hope to work with her to help bring about an elevated level of human consciousness in whatever way I can.
Much love to my newfound queen and divine mother, Lilith. ❤️

I just had my honeymoon (originally scheduled for Jun 2020). My wife and I are in our early thirties. It’s my wife’s first time in japan while it’s my fourth. I’ve benefitted immensely from stalking Tokyo travel reddit and would like to return the favour. I’ll provide some of my tips and observations to the end (skip to the end if the itinerary doesn’t interest you), some of which I think haven’t been mentioned before.
Thank God pretty much everything went to plan, and my wife thoroughly enjoyed the trip. We spent 12 days in Japan, most of it in Tokyo and 2 nights in Kawaguchiko. Many people were surprised to know that we’d be spending most of our trip in Tokyo, but I thought it was just fine because Tokyo had a lot to offer. My wife and I aren’t big on visiting shrines or ticking tourist hotspots off a checklist. We don’t shop much, but we did a lot of it simply because it’s Japan and we bought lots of quality-of-life items (not fashion) for ourselves and others. Given how much my wife really enjoyed the trip, I think others with similar interests could find something helpful too.
Pre-trip planning

• It was out first leisure trip in years, and my wife's first trip to Japan. I wanted to show her my favourite parts of Japan, and took months trawling through reddit posts and trip reports, watching youtube videos, and just soaking in all the things before deciding on an itinerary that I thought my wife would enjoy. It was almost exclusively planned by me, and I would consult my wife along the way.
• Other than the hotel & flights, I booked the highway express bus to Kawaguchiko one week prior.
• Decided on the airport limousine bus to bring us from the airport to the city a few days prior.
• Studio Ghibli tickets booked one month in advance. There's a good guide available on reddit already. International tickets were quickly sold out, so we used a free VPN to get onto the Japanese site which had more tickets & timings available. Simply Google translate the entire page.
• Booked a cooking class on cookly months prior.
• Did Visit Japan QR two days prior. It takes some time, so do it earlier rather than later.
• Added all places of interests in a Google list, and all food places in another Google list. I tried the custom Google maps at first but didn’t feel the UI was easy to navigate.
• Planned itinerary based on location proximity, and also highlighted parts that were interchangeable in case we wanted to switch it up (which we did).

Planning during the trip

• The Google maps foods list was always just for consideration: if we had time or were craving something. We didn't hard-code food places into our daily plans. But when food was the primary activity (e.g. visiting Tsukiji market), we'd determine to visit particular food stalls. Otherwise, just needed to do a cursory Google review check on whether a random food place is worth eating it. As a principle, we didn't want to spend time queuing >20m for food.
• I'd plan the next day's itinerary the night before, considering fatigue, interest, and proximity. I would create a brand new Google maps list for the next day, including potential food places.

Day 0 (Wed) 17 May - Arrival at Haneda Airport to hotel in Shinjuku
Arrived in Haneda late, about 11pm. Clearance was quick but baggage took 30mins. As I wouldn't make my stipulated airport limousine timing, I had no choice but to cancel my airport limousine and take the metro to our hotel in Shinjuku. I tried Apple wallet’s Suica at first. It worked seamlessly but I felt that a physical metro card was just faster so I eventually switched over. We reached after midnight, so do let your hotel know in advance if you anticipate arriving at odd hours.
Day 1 (Thurs) - Shinjuku exploration
Originally planned to visit Tsukiji on day 1, but given that we arrived late the previous night, agreed with my wife to change the plan and spend the first day doing the Shinjuku itinerary.

• Walked to a popular Tsukumen place at 11. Queued for 20mins and it was an interesting experience as there were lines of people standing right behind watching you eat. Wife said it was her best Tsukumen ever!
• Sekaido for art & stationary supplies: My wife does art so it was a haven for her. We spent a few hours there!
• Tokyu Hands Shinjuku: Wanted to look at more stationary/home/fashion stuff but two floors were under renovation.
• Omoide Yokocho: A quick walkthrough of this famous street for salarymen which comes alive at night. Many tourists.

Day 2 (Fri) - Kappabashi St., Fabric Town, Akihabara

• Kappabashi Dougu Street: looked at kitchen supplies aimed to find a nice nakiri knife! (If you want to buy a knife, do research on what knife you need beforehand).
• Fabric Town: My wife just passed a seamstress exam so she eagerly anticipated visiting fabric town, we spent a few hours in Tomato.
• Akihabara (Animate, Bic Camera, Gyukatsu Don): It was drizzling the entire day so it was not the most comfortable lugging that many bags around a wet Akihabara in the evening. Wife wasn’t interested but I wanted to let her experience this unique culture. Had dinner at a popular gyukatsu don (beef cutlet that you’d have to cook yourself). It was our first time eating gyukatsu. It was so tender and juicy and mmm. But it was a long one hour wait. It was after this episode that we decided we were not going to queue this long for food again.

Day 3 (Sat) - Cooking class in Shinjuku, Shibuya

• Private cooking class in Shinjuku: Our host was great! We were invited into his cosy house and he taught us how to make Okonomiyaki, Yakisoba, and a Japanese salad. I paid careful attention to the menu beforehand as I wanted to learn dishes I could easily recreate back home (i.e. not choose dishes that depended on seasonal Japanese ingredients). My wife absolutely loved the experience of getting to know a local and understanding his life story, Japanese culture, and hearing some of his horror stories of foreign guests. We got more food recs from him to understand where the locals really ate at.
• Shibuya 109: Paid $5 for a drink to have a bird’s eye view of the Shibuya crossing. It was Saturday so the crossing was at its full force. Even if you think this is touristy, it’s amazing to see that many people like little ants crossing a street. There are several nice locations here to take some artsy shots.
• Ishibashi Music Shibuya: absolutely loved the vibe in this music store. Back home, I’d been thinking about getting a particular keyboard but never got a chance to try it. I was able to play this particular one undisturbed and feel like I could go on for hours without any pressure from staff. Bought a few Japan exclusive guitar picks as gifts.
• Shibuya Tokyu Hands: This was amazing. I thought Shinjuku Tokyu Hands was the flagship store. So I only stumbled into this because I urgently needed to pee and someone said Tokyu hands had toilets. We were confused as its name was rebranded to simply "Hands" with a new logo. If you only have time to visit one Tokyu Hands, visit the Shibuya one. Each floor had 2 sub-floors so that’s a ton of floors! Lots of quality-of-life improvements one could get from this store. My wife got a buckwheat pillow.
• Shibuya Loft: After Sekaido and Tokyu Hands, I didn't think there was much daily life products/art/stationary to look at. But Loft was very different. Similar to Tokyu hands but seems more modern and fashionable. Worth visiting together with Tokyu hands! It also had packaged food available! It was late and my wife and I concluded that we didn’t have to to explore all the floors and that we’d return to Shibuya again.

Day 4 (Sun) - Komazawa Church, Harajuku, Shibuya

• Church in Komazawa: not a tourist activity, but we linked up with some partners from our home church and attended service at a little church held in a nursery. It was an amazing and encouraging experience to hear the gospel preached in a foreign language.
• Harajuku: Way too crowded. I had anticipated this as it was a Sunday, but thought to just try. Takeshita street was so packed my wife feared there would be a stampede risk (it wasn’t that bad). We did queue 20mins for pretty tasty crepe. After checking out all the recommended streets (e.g. cat street, uru-harajuku), my wife simply felt that she couldn’t stand the Harajuku crowd and the vibes. So we decided to go back to Shibuya again!
• Shibuya JINS: I didn’t mention this but previously in Shinjuku and Shibuya, I had been checking out recommended optical shops in the vicinity for a particular style of glasses. Japanese-made glasses are highly-rated, but I couldn’t find something at the right price-point. At JINS, I found a design I liked. Though not made in Japan, it cost me less than 5000 yen. Took them 1 hour to make it. For some reason I loved the vibes at Shibuya, and I earmarked it to return again later.

Day 5 (Mon) - Tsukiji Market, Ginza Muji/Uniqlo, Tokyo station

• Tsukiji market: wanted to arrive before 8 but arrived at 8.30am. Thankfully the crowds weren't that bad yet. Everything we tried was lovely. Potato/corn fishcakes, strawberry mochi, tamago, wagyu beef, uni inarisushi (my first time trying uni - wife loved it but I didn't like it), unagi. But the star was Masa burger (thanks to Paolo from Tokyo), which we waited till 11am to try. By then, the tourist buses had come and the streets were packed. But Masa burger was in a corner and we were their first customers. We tried fried codfish burger + homemade ginger ale. Both were was so well done and the fried cod was so crispy yet fresh and tender. It was also nicely completed with very refreshing salads! It was soo good we had it twice.
• Ginza Uniqlo/Muji: we wanted to take a look at some of Uniqlo’s exclusive items. Apparently they do have exclusive t-shirts for each region (e.g. Harajuku, Shibuya, Ginza), which tend to be collaborations with well-known food places in the area. However, they were always white in colour (cheap to produce) and not made-in-Japan-quality. Muji @ Ginza was a disappointment, not a lot more than the usual.
• Tokyo Station Ghibli store & Tenugui hunting: Went to Tokyo station to check out the Ghibli store and to look for a particular traditional tenugui (Japanese towels) store as my wife were hunting these down to give as gifts.
• Shinjuku Ichiran & Mister Donut: We returned to Shinjuku for Ichiran ramen, specifically at 5+pm. No crowds at all. Yummy! We then saw a Mister Donut, and recalled news in our home country that when it had its first opening in my country, people queued 5 hours for it. We thought to try it to see what the fuss was all about. Cash only, but the donuts were wonderfully textured and not too sweet. My wife doesn’t like sweet stuff, but mister donut really hit the sweet spot (no pun intended).

Day 6 (Tue) - Tokyo National Museum, Fabric town revisit, Akihabara revisit, Ochanomizu

• Tokyo National Museum: We had a good time learning about Japan’s early history, and discovered that so much that we know of Japan resulted from Chinese/korean influence.
• Fabric town & Akihabara revisit, Ochonomizu: We decided that this was likely the right time to go back for items we missed out on or didn’t have time to see. My wife went to fabric town again while I went to Akihabara’s Yodaibashi camera, which I felt to be better and with more varied things than Bic Camera. I then went to nearby Ochanomizu to look at more music and sport shops. We met up again at Shinjuku for another Gyukatsu Don before heading to mister donuts again.

Day 7 (Wed) - Shinjuku Gyoen Garden, Mori Museum, Ginza Wakamatsu, Shinjuku

• Shinjuku Gyoen Garden: lovely large garden grounds. We spent almost an hour just lying under a tree and watching clouds float by. Wife was doing some rough sketches of the garden. We had mister donuts from last night for breakfast.
• Mori Museum: Saw the exhibition of Heatherwick studios, which was inspiring and educational. Paid for the rooftop access to have a quick view of Tokyo from 50-ish floors up.
• Ginza Wakamatsu: Because of one of the Uniqlo-ginza-exclusive t-shirts, my wife was curious about this traditional Japanese dessert. So we gave it a check and realised it’s been around for more than a century. There was a short line (mainly Japanese elderly). The shop interior transported us back decades. It felt surreal eating a dessert that the Japanese ate centuries ago. Unlike modern desserts, this Japanese dessert certainly doesn’t excite and overwhelm one’s taste buds immediately. But there’s an old charm to it.
• Shinjuku Okadaya fabric: Returned to Shinjuku as my wife wanted to check out another of their famous fabric stores. Prices were more expensive than fabric town, but had somewhat different items.

Day 8 (Thurs) - Kawaguchiko

• Bus to Kawaguchiko: Packed light to Kawaguchiko, and forwarded our remaining luggage to our final hotel in Tamachi. The Shinjuku hotel staff were very helpful. I was merely inquiring on how luggage forwarding was done, but the staff picked up the phone, called my Tamachi hotel to confirm the booking, and prepared the documents for me. All I had to do was roll my luggage the next night to them and make payment. Took our 7:45am bus to Kawaguchiko and managed to catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji when we were on our way there!
• Cycling In Kawaguchiko: We lugged our bags to our ryokan and headed out again. My wife was quite hesitant about cycling overseas and I was also worried it’d tire her out too much. I debated between cycling or simply taking the sight-seeing bus. Eventually felt that it was worth trying to cycle. We unexpectedly walked by an e-bike place and decided, why not? Neither of us had tried an e-bike before and that could reduce the effort required for my wife. So we did and boy was it fun! It took a while to get used to the e-bike but it really reduced a lot of effort up the hills! I barely perspired at all thanks to the e-assist. Kawaguchiko had pretty narrow roads so it wasn’t the easiest to cycle. But I had plenty of road-cycling experience back at home so I was not daunted. We borrowed helmets from the e-bike place but saw that we were the only tourists that wore them. Yes, I'd recommend wearing helmets when cycling.
• Kubota Itchiku Art Museum: Cycled here knowing that this museum would interest my wife. It had a garden free for entry and it was really quaint, quiet, and charming! The pond had a singular vibrant-coloured Koi swimming in it. Museum entry requires tickets. On this trip, I realised that visiting museums tired me easily. It could be because I spent time reading each description. I told my wife to go ahead as I waited outside. She eventually took 45m in the museum and was so enthralled by it. She even bought a heavy hard-cover book of Itchiku Kubota’s kimono art :/
• Momiji Corridor: was just 50 meters away from the museum. Still beautiful with only green leaves, but I’d imagine it would be majestic in Autumn/Spring.
• Oishi Park: Many colourful flowers! It’s a pity that it had been cloudy the entire day, and Mt Fuji was not visible. That would have made the cycle perfect. Had a peach/plum ice-cream. Park was crowded with tourists.

Day 9 (Fri) - Fuji Q Highland, Shimoyoshida Honcho St, Batting Cage
Planning for Fuji Q & Morning Jog: I didn’t plan to go to Fuji-Q highland before the trip. Always felt it a bit of a waste to visit amusement parks overseas. That’s until I realised that Fuji Q had some of the most exciting (I mean world-record-holding) rollercoasters in the world. Maybe they don't hold the records anymore, but that intrigued me enough, because most amusement parks only had 1-2 coasters. Problem was that wife is terrified, and she said cycling on the streets of Kawaguchiko was already like a coaster ride for her. Still, I'm really thankful she encouraged me to go and said she was happy waiting and taking pictures for me. So I decided I would reach at opening time, and buy time by paying for the fast passes and try their top three coasters. The night before, we felt that we had to make decisions on our itinerary as it was our last day at Kawaguchiko. If Mt Fuji still wasn’t visible the next day, we'd go to Oshino Hakkai, if it was, we could try going to Shimoyoshida to get a nice picture.

• I went for a morning jog and as the path brought me along the river's perimeter, my jaw dropped when I saw Mount Fuji towering into view. I raced back to tell my wife (about 6am) and we both trekked up to a viewing spot to enjoy the view. This made it more urgent to not spend too much time at Fuji Q as we didn’t know how long Mt. Fuji would be visible for.
• Fuji-Q Highland: Was absolutely amazing. Yes, I blew a lot of cash here buying fast passes for the three available coasters. But they were some of the craziest coasters. Took Eejanaika, Fujiyama and Takabisha. Total time it took probably a little more than 1 hour with the express passes. It was so good, but so fast that I have little memory of it, except that there was a 90 degree climb to the top for Takabisha and I had a beautiful view of Mt. Fuji while climbing to the supposed world record of 79m for Fujiyama (this was 2 days before the news reported that Fujiyama got stuck in the middle of a ride and the people in the carts had to climb down :o). Had more time to take a few other rides, and enjoyed all the Naruto statues around for fun photo-taking. What I really enjoyed about the park was that it was mostly filled with Japanese tourists; in fact, there was a Japanese school having an outing there. It was nice to see excited students running about. If I could spend the day here, I'd take the three coasters multiple times to imprint the sensations in my head. But I'm still thankful I got to try some of the world's most thrilling coasters!
• Shomoyoshida Honcho St: This destination was simply to take the famous street view of Mount Fuji with Japanese shops lined in the foreground. It’s not easy to get to, and there was quite a walk. We noticed there weren’t much people around, and most shops were closed. But when we reached the destination, there were many tourists right at the particular traffic light. So much so there was a grumpy Japanese traffic police person managing the crowd. We saw the worst of tourists that day. People were disobeying traffic laws and just running in the middle of the road just to get a shot. We then chanced upon a hidden udon shop and it felt like we were transported back to the 50’s! It was super old school, people sat on raised platforms, and several elderly customers were watching the tele while eating. There was only one udon option available, with free cabbage top-ups. We learnt that the shop had been around for 73 years. We actually headed back to Fuji-Q Highlands to take a 4D 'plane ride' with Joe Hisashi music in the background. Since my wife actually wanted to ride something, I was happy to agree to her request. Ride was very ordinary but wife actually felt terrified at times lol. Rushed back to the hotel for a private onsen booking.
• Batting Cage: I had never played baseball/softball and my home country doesn’t have a baseball culture. Yet I had seen batting cages in Japanese drama and always wanted to try. Loved it! My technique was probably pretty bad! I did well at first but as I tried faster balls, I tired out and failed to hit any haha. Some teens beside me were knocking out 120km/h balls out of the park! We ended the day eating ramen outdoors with a view of Mount Fuji.

Day 10 (Sat) - Kichijoji, Ghibli Museum, Kichijoji Jazz bar
Woke up before sunrise for a run and to attempt to catch a sunrise picture of Mount Fuji. Streets were completely empty. Even ran to the famous Kawaguchiko Lawson for a picture. Headed back for an onsen bathe (note: we never used the room's shower, and always went for an onsen bath throughout our stay in Kawaguchiko as it was just too convenient). Took a 7am bus to return to Shinjuku.

• Kichijoji: Arrived at Kichijoji at about 10am. Wife really loved the vibes there. We tried the Tsukuba suisan fish cakes which were really tasty, and my wife was intrigued that a line had formed at the adjacent store named Ozasa. Apparently they sell traditional Japanese desserts and locals would go there as early as 5am to get a ticket. So we queued 15m and managed to get three boxes worth of the snacks! Tried the Amane Taiyaki fish-shaped bean paste snacks, another traditional dessert. It was a small lovely old shop.
• Ghibli Museum: Requires a long walk through Inokashira park. Ghibli was fantastic. Many people have been saying recently that it’s over-rated, and that it doesn’t cater to foreign crowds and most things are in Japanese. We similarly struggled with that at first. But we found out that if you asked the staff, they actually had English language exhibition booklets ready for every exhibition! That was a revelation. And we managed to understand almost all the exhibitions by asking the uniformed staff (except the short film, which had minimal dialogue anyway). I mentioned this to one foreign group and they were really grateful for that. But I saw that many other foreigners that probably came earlier were just bored or simply going crazy at the Ghibli shop. My wife bought the museum book (which also has English explanations of each exhibit), and we understood Miyazaki’s vision for the museum - to make it suitable for kids and adults, with no pre-determined route, allowing for play, exploration, to help people be inspired by the artists’ process. Through that, we saw that every thing in the museum was intentionally designed, all of the exhibitions, cafe, shop, and garden. Reading that helped me appreciate and enjoy the museum much more.
• Roaming Kichijoji and Some Time Jazz bar: My wife and I split up to roam kichijoji. I checked out some sports shops and saw that their prices were lower than Ochanomizu. We reconvened for dinner at Sometime Jazz bar. I’m picking up Jazz piano but had never been to a jazz bar. Booked it one day before, but was sad that our table position only allowed us to see some of the drummer and the pianist’s expression. Still, it was a very hip place for jazz cats and we had a wonderful time. We only sat through the first half of the performance that night. Note that there are seating charges, so that + dinner added up to quite a lot. But we rationalised that this was akin to paying for a performance. Checked into our hotel in Tamachi.

Day 11 (Sun) - Tokyo Sky Tree, Shinjuku, Back to Kichijoji, Shibuya
It was a crazy day where we simply hit the places we wanted to revisit regardless of proximity. Headed to Tokyo Skytree in the morning to check out another Ghibli store in hopes of getting another Ghibli shirt; reason was because I ended up buying one at the museum I really loved (made in Japan, beautiful colour, perfect fit. I hesitated at first because I couldn't try it). If you’re not going to the Ghibli museum, this is probably the best store available for Ghibli goods. Alas, the museum's items were really quite exclusive. Headed to Shinjuku to try curry udon, then to Kichijoji to try satou beef balls and dangos and to make some purchasing decisions on some sports equipment. Then we ended up at Shibuya (my favourite place!) to the mega Don Quijote and Tokyu Hands to shop for gifts for others. It was a lovely end to our trip!
Day 12 (Mon) - Back home
Best trip ever, says my wife.
Tips for travellers

• Spread out your itinerary: I originally planned to front-load all the must-see tourist stuff and leave the remaining days for shopping. But in May, Ghibli Museum was closed for two weeks so we had no choice but to schedule it at the end of the trip. That was a better arrangement. It felt that each day was distinctly different, and we could remember the highlight of each day. Also, be specific about where you want to go. Don’t simply put locations, e.g., Visit Harajuku, or visit Shibuya crossing.
• Plan your itinerary in consideration of weekend crowds: Places like Tsujiki market, Ghibli Museum, Fuji-Q Highlands and other stuff are likely going to be very crowded on weekends. If you want to shop in Harajuku or Shibuya, try to avoid weekends. I opted to put the cooking class and ‘less-exciting’ Museums on weekends.
• Carry more cash than you think you need: In my experience, the cash-to-card ratio was about 40:60. Considering that all metro card top-ups require cash, you'll need quite a bit of cash! Sometimes even bigger restaurants are cash only.
• Bring foldable tote bags, and use lockers where necessary: If you’re buying stuff, packing them in tote bags makes it easier to lug around. Bigger shops will charge you for bags. If you just arrived from one area with bags and are going to explore another, use the lockers. Most metro stations likely have lockers and they are really affordable and convenient.
• Travel light by planning to do laundry: I only brought four sets of clothing, and we did laundry every 3-4 days or so. It’s really convenient, about 200 yen per 30m wash, and another 200 yen for a 1h dry. It’s worthwhile to check if your hotel has coin laundry available.
• Buy discriminately: Many people say the kind of things available at places like Don Quijote or Uniqlo are mind-blowing. Fact is, most of them are made in China or elsewhere. About 95% of the items we saw in Daiso were made in China. In fact, many items in Kappabashi street were made in China. You’re more likely to get value for money by buying a made in Japan item. Sometimes the shop will highlight if a product is Japan made. But other times, you have to scrutinise the fine print. Learn to look out for these three words in Kanji: 日本製. This is where the camera function of Google translate is immensely helpful. This was not available or widely publicised when I last visited Japan years back in 2016, so use this tech to your advantage and scrutinise the fine print!
• Plan your toilet trips if possible: If you know you’re headed to low-rise areas like Tsujiki, Fabric town where it’s just shop after shop, it’s going to be hard to find a toilet. Make sure you relieve yourself beforehand at the train station. But if you still need to go, try to find a multi-storey building and chances are, there’ll be toilets available there.
• Avoid queuing for food by timing right: In general, I found that most popular food places that required queuing had queues mainly consisting of foreigners. I wonder if this is because of the reddit/youtube/google maps review effect (not a lot of Japanese review on Google I think). So if you have to queue, there's a good chance you're competing with other foreigners. Simply put, almost all food places open at 11am, so be there at 11, or have early dinner at 5pm and perhaps you may avoid the queuing.
• Scrutinise Google maps to figure out the different train types: for daily travel, there could be local, rapid, and express trains. Local trains stop at every station. Rapid skips a few, and express trains likely only stops at key location. They make a big difference to travel time, and to your comfort. When Google maps recommends a route, scrutinise the detail to ensure what kind of train they are recommending. It gets confusing at the station as the platforms on your left and right may end up at the same location, but one could be a local train and the other an express train.
• Learn just 2 essential phrases: It always felt weird for me to speak Japanese because I felt like a try-hard. But this time I did - just learn to say thank you in Japanese (arigato gozaimasu). The other essential word is - summimasen - excuse me/sorry. Useful for if you need to exit a crowded train, or if you need to get someone’s attention. We survived with just these two phrases. As our cooking teacher told us - it’s better to say something in Japanese than say nothing at all. For the rest, you can use Google translate app’s picture function.
• Other misc tips: as mentioned, bring trash bags. Some shops explicitly tell you not to walk around and eat their food. So the solution is to finish the snack in front of the shop, and say, “summimasen, can you help me to throw this trash?” That helped us avoid carrying trash around a lot. As a traveller, you’re gonna get a lot of carbs (my curry udon meal included a bowl of udon + a bowl of rice...) and fried food. To get more fiber, try the basements of shopping centres and get yourself some fruits. Also, if you exercise regularly like me, you'd be concerned about getting some exercise. I did pre-trip research on pools/gyms/parks to visit. But visited none of them. With what little hotel room space I had, I settled with a daily morning routine of 100 squats and 100 pushups. That and walking an average of 18k steps daily helped. I actually lost some weight somehow.

Observations

• Drinking culture in Japan: we saw quite a few drunk people in the streets. Some of them at the parks. I had never really seen drunkards much in my home country (it could be because I don’t stay out late). When we walked by a bar area with our cooking instructor at 10am, he told us some of the people in them had been there overnight. At Inokashira park, we saw a lady dressed in office wear face planted on the ground. Her friends tried to help carry here elsewhere but her entire body was limp and almost lifeless.
• The Japanese sleep late: when we arrived, we were still on the train to our hotel at 11:50pm. But the train was still packed with salarymen in suits and many others. In fact, it seemed the later it was, the more crowded the trains.
• Foreigner influx and how we stick out: there were way more foreigners this time than the last I visited Japan. I commented to my wife that I felt more immersed in Japan on the metro or at places like Tokyu hands as I could hear Japanese being spoken around me. But at tourist spots and some museums, I felt like I could have been in any other country. I tended to feel very uncomfortable when large groups of foreigners were around. I had to tell myself not to be hypocritical as I was a foreigner myself. But I suppose one reason is that there were many inconsiderate foreigners. Speaking loudly, making brash comments, and just not behaving like visitors. We saw a foreign couple locked in a head-to-toe embrace on a picnic mat in a park full of families. And they chose a spot right next to the footpath. Many foreigners also leave unkind Google reviews for places just because it’s not up to their expectations. I get it, we worked for our holiday and are paying customers, and there is often an innate tendency to feel entitled or complain when something isn’t up to our expectations. But I think it helps to remember that we are like visitors in someone’s home. Be self-aware, don’t speak loudly, note the traffic customs, where to stand on the escalators, how to behave etc.
• Japanese men have great hair: the Japanese men’s hairstyle feels frozen in time. I didn’t see the typical Korean-inspired center-parted hairstyles in Asian guys nowadays. And balding men were a small minority somehow. As someone whose hairline is slowly receding, I was envious to see many Japanese men have wavy long hair deep into their 60-70s! My wife commented that the women's hairstyles were more or less the same - dyed, curled etc. But the men were rocking so many styles!
• In-person shopping still matters: as the days went by and as my wife and I began to covet the "made-in-Japan" label, we realised that we hadn't done such shopping in years since online shopping became prevalent. I also recall people commenting that you could get these goods online anyway, so why bother shopping in Japan. Well, physical shopping makes comparison easy, it allows you to ask for recommendations, and enables you to know the items's size, feel, and look on you (if buying fashion items). It also makes discovery of new items possible. I'm not a huge shopper or a foodie, but in Japan, it's worth it to be one simply because the Japanese are thoughtful about their craft and tend to produce quality that's quite unmatched. I suppose it's a blessing in disguise that our honeymoon got delayed 3 years, as we are now well-aware of our post-wedding lifestyles and the items we'd need in the kitchen/around the house.
• Reading culture is strong: in a week when I read reports that leisure reading had declined in my home country, I was pleasantly surprised to see many people reading hard-copy books on the train, many of them even had personalised leather book covers. Kinokuniya was also teeming with life. As a bookworm, this is a great encouragement. And I wish English language books came in such compact sizes too, although I think that's due to the limitations of the language. As Japanese characters can be read vertically, that allows for more play on possible book sizes.
• No one culture is worth idealising: Japan remains my favourite country to visit as a tourist, but I've come to see that Japanese culture - like any other culture - has its flaws. That's simply because people are flawed. Yes, their service culture is impeccable, especially when you're served by middle-aged super helpful and super kind ladies. But on every Japanese trip so far, I've always had at least one unkind or impatient service encounter. On a day-to-day basis, people don't really apologise if they bump into you, and may not give up their seats for the elderly too. My cooking teacher says the Japanese are extremely polite in person but would rant and give very bad reviews anonymously at home. I've come to just enjoy their products, service, and their views of certain ways-of-life as a tourist, but stop short of idealising their culture. There are kind and unkind people in every culture. That said, I would still say on average, the Japanese may be more civic-minded than most. That doesn't mean they are innately kinder or warmer people, but simply that they are more self-aware of how their actions are perceived by others.

I've decided not to mention the specific food places as far as possible because I think there's more than enough recommendations available elsewhere. I also think sometimes that we get a bit fomo if we build up too many must-go spots. Enjoy the process of discovering new places! But feel free to ask me more if you like.

My partner(36) and I(35) were drinking Sunday night. His daughter(17) came out to just chat and hang out and it turned into a heavy discussion about abortion rights in the which I argued strongly for abortion rights. My partner’s daughter sort of sided with him arguing that she might not exist if her mom had had access to abortion. Abortion was available in their state at that time. My partner and his child’s mother didn’t make that choice. But I was arguing about how lack of access to abortion and legislation preventing abortion actually kills women. It got to a head when I told my partner fuck you and gave him double middle fingers and while I fucked off inside. I came back after a couple minutes and we discussed no more politics when I came back.
Today (we both had Monday off for the holiday) I got up and cooked us breakfast late and cleared the dishes in the sink while I was doing it. The daughter was gone because she had work early and she’s off school now. So I start dinner around 1 on cooking a brisket, make salad, and some potatoes. Everything is ready when she gets home from work. No one said thanks for dinner.
We sit down to eat and she goes “what’s on this?”
“Salt and pepper” that was the dry rub I put on the brisket.
D: “Ok but is there anything else?”
“It’s just salt and pepper.”
D: “Did you buy like salt and pepper from the store?”
I said pretty flatly “I took the salt and pepper out of the cabinet and mixed—-“
D:”ok you don’t have to get an attitude with me—“
At which point I threw down my fork said “I’m done.” And walked out of the house to go have what felt like a panic attack in the back yard.
Like why am I invested and making effort to please someone who can’t even be pleased. Sunday her ride bailed on her take her to a graduation party half an hour away. I said I’d take her and pick her up but I knew her dad would be kinda upset about 2 hours of driving so I turned it into an outing where we got lunch somewhere and then we found some stuff to do before she needed to be picked up.
I just don’t feel appreciated for the mental load (I’m familiar with the comic and have shared it with my partner). I feel like I’m doing all the work of a mother and getting zero acknowledgement. Which I can also understand. 17 yo daughters mom died 2 years ago. Which is brutally hard. My mom is also dead.
Maybe I just want basic respect and not just feel like a cash register when someone needs something.
She attempted to apologize to me but it was like a “I’m sorry you’re upset apology,” and tried to gaslight me that she was only asking because it was so good. Not her tone at the time. The tone was if I was secretly trying to sneak mustard into her food which she hates. And I said to her attempted apology, “you can apologize to me or not. You don’t have to but that is not an apology.”
Did I get too much in my own head and blow up? Or is a teenager telling me not to get an attitude with her over a dinner I cooked enough? Where do I go from here to reconcile these relationships?
Thanks for sticking with the vent. I’ll read all replies and advice as I have time but I’m about to go to bed and have work tomorrow.

Seeing as how it isn’t always the case with posts on here (especially for average guys like me), I thought I’d share my most recent experience with OLD as it was largely positive.
I’m located in a more rural state with roughly a 60k city population, and around 80-100k in a 100 mile radius. It’s mostly made up of older farmers/ranchers and retirees though the young professional scene seems to be growing.
After 1 month here’s the results: Likes 21, Matches 12, Unmatched (by them) 2, Unmatched (by me) 4, Conversations 9, Multi Day Conversations 4, Weeklong Conversations 1, In Person Dates 0, Second Dates 0, Third Dates 0, Relationships 0
I’ve been on/off and very much love/hate with dating apps for the past 5ish years, though it did result in one great relationship that ended in a mutual split for reasons beyond our control.
Over the past year I wanted to focus on meeting women organically or through friends. It’s actually been going pretty well! I’ve been asking better questions, been more engaging and noticed an overall improvement in my social skills, though nothing has stuck.
So I summoned the beast once again and decided to get back on hinge about a month ago. This time though, I adhered to a clear method since I’ve been down nearly every disappointing road I see posted about on here constantly. My method was: Hinge would NOT serve as my primary (or even secondary) method for putting myself out there. It’d act as a small supplement to the other real life avenues I’d carved out. I also made a point to send every like with a personal message about something that caught my interest on their profile; and I only liked fully filled out profiles with decent pictures and prompt answers largely devoid of any minimal effort quips. I also promised myself to avoid getting as attached to matches (at least in the short term) since ghosting, slow fading, flakiness, dead end conversations etc. are the status quo in OLD. I figured I’d trade a few interesting messages with people but that’d likely be all, and I’d accepted that as a fact.
The rest is more about how I wove my personality/lifestyle into my profile, scroll to the bottom if you want the TL/DR.
I included flattering (but NOT filtered, or otherwise misleading) pictures with one nice clear face shot at the start, a short video, a voice prompt, a mix of full body looks and other shots of me participating in various activities/events over the last few years. I also did my best to breathe my voice into the prompts. I stayed FAAAR away from any cliched answers and ruthlessly edited them until they read clear and concise with a smooth flow. This probably took the most work. I really wanted women to know I’m not doing the bare minimum, but that I also don’t take myself too seriously. I did, however include a section about how important clear communication and initiative is to me as that’s been a recurring issue in nearly all my past matches.
About me: 30 male, 6’1”, 205 lb, caucasian, straight, monogamous, never been married, want a long term relationship, never had kids but want kids, stable full time job in construction management. I chose not to include my political leanings because none of the options accurately described my stances plus I believe I’m compatible with a wide range of viewpoints. Im not really religious though Christianity is probably the closest fit. Given that, I didn’t think it was worth putting on my profile either. I keep in decent shape but I’m a little fluffy in a few areas, though it’s not immediately noticeable with a shirt on. I’m by no means a head turner but I’d like to think I’m above average in looks. I take care of myself and thus would consider my looks slightly above average, though not because I hit the genetic lottery. My hairline is starting to recede and it’s turning grey in a few spots but near as I can tell it’s not a significant draw back to my appearance and I try to always maintain a baseline of personal hygiene. I have a college degree and I live with roommates. I like the occasional drink, not really into drugs or weed and definitely not tobacco or smoking. I also don’t have any pets.
Given the method I approached OLD with this go round I’d say the experience has been very positive so far! I’m happy I’ve had the pleasure of trading a few insightful messages with some awesome people (one woman even turned me on to a new band that I’ve been obsessing over lately). I’ll continue trying to meet people in real life and it will consume the majority of my focus going forward. But, much to my surprise, the experience has been great this go round.
TL/DR: I got back on Hinge. Put some honest effort into my profile and how I went about liking/matching. Went into it with little/no expectations and remained unattached to matches in the short term. Ended up having a positive experience even though I’m very “average” in nearly every sense of the word.

From the perspective of an 18 year old male
A common theme with dating I see amongst the red pill community that men who are older should go after girls who are significantly younger than them.
They’d say things like:
-Younger women are more submissive/easier to deal with compared to women their own age. Basically saying they prefer women who are easier to manipulate and groom into their own supply of ego boost because they know women their age wouldn’t even think twice about getting involved with them.
-Younger women have less baggage. Pretty much goes along with my first point.
-Younger women are more fertile. I mean yeah true in most cases but wtf does this even mean??😭
-And finally the crème de la crème, younger women have less mileage. Ironic how the guys who say this usually have a lot of mileage themselves. Oh the hypocrisy
They’ll sit up here and say these things and just wonder why people call them predators 🤦🏽‍♂️
Edit: I probably should’ve specified this earlier but, the age gap itself isn’t the issue here, the issue lies with the intent of older men who actively pursue young women for the reasons stated above.

Long post ahead: 25F/28M we have had several threesomes with other women, and I myself have unicorn-ed before I knew my husband for a couple. We both came to the mutual understanding of why not try swinging? We loved having threesomes so why not one more person right? After each one, we talk and decompress on the matter. Our marriage always comes first and neither of us feel jealousy towards the act. We just get turned on then have amazing crazy sex for weeks to come because of the hyper sexuality. We went to a LS party and meant a couple we seemed to get along great with. They wanted soft swap and maybe full swap. We all flirted and one thing led to another and we were all in the room interacting with eachother. Play time was cut short but not because of any of our actions (in the group). We exchanged numbers to play again. One week passes and play time has come up. This couple went from super friendly and talkative to short and blunt and not really wanting a friendship. (Super weird but whatever we were already at their home) - I want to note that the husband stated “he wanted to have sex with others” while looking right at me. This would have been totally okay if not for us to start to notice the slight jealousy between the two. Play time starts and unlike the first time of the girls starting with eachother they start touching eachother and making out. Okay, so I start with my husband. The girls go for a little then we trade. The trade is about 5 minutes max and then the girl wants to switch back. So pretty much other then 5 or so minutes this really was just us having sex to another couple having sex. Which would have been fine if this is what we all spoke about? My hubby finished because we’ll it sucked. I asked and he gave permission for me to continue. He then went to the restroom and the couple had a under the breath discussion. It sounded like the husband was pushing for full swap and she said no. He then asked again saying she could be involved in some way and she said no loud and clear enough for me to hear it. Watching another couple’s discrepancy right in front of me was extremely uncomfortable. We went home and as we started to really talk about things there were a few big flags. Also it felt like wife poaching in a way. The lady went down on my husband but he said time one he thought was just nerves but time two was very clear that she was stopping every second to look at her husband and what I was doing to see if we were done yet. My husband and I felt like the wife didn’t really want to be there at all and it really was just about letting her husband have me. The husband himself did not help the matter because of how interested he acted in me while at the same time seeming uninterested in his wife. Her talking about crazy sex times they’ve had and he was “I was drunk, I don’t remember “ shrug it off kind of way about it. We are still clearly interested in the lifestyle; it matches quite a few things for us. But this first encounter with a couple really had us worried. What if all couples around our age are just jealous newbies? It left a bad taste in our mouths, and we both agreed to take some time with eachother without anyone. Before we walk into another couples mess of a relationship. Moving forward we both agreed to be clear (we were this time too they just didn’t use their ears?) that we want a friendship that is also a LS friendship that is a continual full swap event. With no drama, no jealousy just great friends all fucking and having a great time.

BABY’S ARM HOLDING AN APPLE
By YippieYiYi
CHAPTER 1
The Bird of Paradise had been on the front steps for a year and wasn’t getting enough sun, it hadn’t produced a single flower. I got the two-wheeler, but couldn’t get the pot on by myself. There’s a young guy on the sidewalk walking towards me. He’s got on one of those yellow visibility vests, no shirt underneath, a pair of black nylon basketball shorts and heavy work boots. He’s carrying a backpack over one shoulder. He must work for the city. He’s tall and thin with a wiry body. It’s hard to see his face, he’s got a baseball cap on with a Florida Gator’s logo, and a pair of dark sunglasses.
“Hola”
“Hola yourself, I was born here.”
“Sorry, can you give me a hand moving this plant?”
“Yeah, sure.”
I hold the dolly and he pushes the plant onto it so I can tip it back. I push it to the backyard, he follows and helps get if off.
“Where do you want it?”
“In the corner, it’ll get a lot more sun there.”
He wiggles it into place and says “How’s that?”
“Perfect! Thanks a lot! Can I offer you a beer?”
“Sure.”
He follows me into the house and I motion to the couch. The soccer game is still on the TV.
I grab a couple of Dos Equis and sit next to him.
“What’s your name?”
“Carlos.”
“Hi, Carlos. I’m Rick. Do you work for the city?”
“Yeah, Public Works.”
“Cool. What do you do?”
“Whatever they tell me. Usually just put out traffic cones, stand with a flag to warn people to slow down, sometimes dig ditches.”
“You live in the neighborhood?”
“Yeah, I just moved back with my mom for summer break, she’s on the next block. I don’t have a car so my boss pics me up and drops me off in front of the church.”
“How old are you?”
“19”
He takes off his hat and sunglasses and puts them on the coffee table. I can see his face now. Beautiful soft features, a wispy mustache, and long straight hair he had tucked under the hat. His skin is cafe-au-lait, probably tanned darker from being in the sun all day. He’s skinny, but his muscles are defined. I try not to stare, but I can’t help it. There’s a large bulge in the front of his shorts, but I’m pretty sure it’s his cell phone.
“I didn’t mean to insult you assuming you spoke Spanish, but you do look Latino, and a lot of the road crews just speak Spanish”
“Nah, I was just playing with you. Both my parents are from Columbia, but I was born here. I speak enough to get by, but I’d probably be lost if I ever went there. We don’t speak Spanish at home. It just took me by surprise, I go to FSU, everyone there assumes I must speak English.”
He’s lying back on the couch, the vest wide open, his arms crossed behind his head, looking completely relaxed. I see a beautiful happy trail leading down his shorts and tufts of dark hair under his arms, but try to distract myself with the soccer game.
“You want another beer?”
“Sure”
I head to the kitchen, grab the beers and a can of mixed nuts.
I put the nuts on the coffee table and he grabs a handful. I don’t think he’s really watching the soccer game, it’s a re-cap of the 2022 World Cup. I see him looking around the room.
“Where’s the head?”
“That door there”
The bathroom opens right onto the living room, one thing I didn’t like about the house when I was house-hunting, but it was in a great neighborhood close to the beach. I can hear him pissing, a really strong stream like young guys have. He didn’t close the door. I hear a piece of toilet paper torn, he must be wiping the tip of his dick. I like when guys do that, I always do. I’m the type that washes my hands before I piss so I don’t get my dick dirty. He flushes then washes his hands.
“I hope you don’t mind I used your towel in there.”
He settles back on the couch, doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere.
“You wanna smoke a joint?” he asks.
“Sure, I’ve got a little time. I don’t have to be at work for a couple hours.”
“Where do you work?”
“I work a couple nights a week at Massage Envy downtown. I’m a critical care nurse but I needed a break after the pandemic, and I had my massage license anyway. That’s how I put myself through nursing school.”
“How’d you end up in this little town?”
“My father passed recently. I ended up inheriting enough money to move out of the state and buy a house. I had vacationed here and loved it, so I decided to move here. I love being able to walk to the beach and downtown.”
“You own the house?”
“Yeah”
“Shit, how old are you?”
“27”
“No way! You’re 27, own your own house, and work just a couple nights a week? Must be nice.”
“Like I said, I inherited some money. I still don’t know where it all came from, my parents never had much. My mother passed away a while ago, then after my dad died, I started getting statements from all these investment accounts in his name. It’s enough to take a break, but I’m going to have to get a job eventually, not sure if I’ll go back to nursing, though, I’m thinking maybe something else, just not sure what.”
Carlos lights the joint and passes it to me. I take a hit and get up to get an ashtray. I take a couple more hits and sit down, passing the joint back to him. As I’m walking back to the couch I can’t help but notice how incredibly handsome he is, in that kinda sweet, kinda rough way that always gets me. We finish the joint and make small talk about the World Cup.
“You dropped a couple.”
Without thinking I reach over and brush the peanuts from his crotch. He grabs my hand, pushing it away, and glares at me. I was embarrassed and stunned (and stoned). Slowly the glare turned into a small smile, and he put my hand back.
I was struck dumb, but started feeling his crotch. It wasn’t his cell phone. I was rubbing up and down through the fabric and felt it swell.
“Here, let me make it easier”
Carlos raised his butt and lowered his shorts and boxers to his knees and sat back down. His boxers were black with yellow smiley faces.
“Jeez! That thing’s as big as a baby’s arm holding an apple!”
Carlos burst out laughing. “What did you say?”
“I said your dick’s as big as a baby’s arm holding an apple. You’ve never heard that expression?”
“No, never. I guess us Spanish speakers don’t use it” he kidded.
“Maybe it’s a regional euphemism, it sounds southern though. Not sure where I first heard it.”
I swear, this guy was packing. Not only thick, but long, and the head was massive. I couldn’t stop staring. He was holding it and asked me to jerk him off. I turned towards him and put both my hands on it and started pumping. He grabbed the back of my head and forced it down. I got the head in my mouth but there was no way I was going to take any more. I kept pumping with my hands and he quickly came. I couldn’t swallow fast enough, my mouth filled and his cum spilled out of my lips onto the couch.
“God, I needed that. I don’t usually fool around with guys, but you seem cool.”
He pulled an elastic from his pocket, tied his hair back and told me to stand up. I stood in front of him and he dropped my shorts and started kissing my thighs. He took his time, licking and sucking my balls till he finally started on my dick. There was a thread of pre-cum he pulled off and wiped on his shorts. I’d never been too concerned with my dick size, it seemed pretty good and I’d never had any complaints, but I felt like a little kid compared to his.
“Sorry I’m not as big as you.” I felt stupid as soon as I said it.
“Shut up, it’s a pain. No one can blow me, and my girlfriend only lets me put it halfway in. Worst part is when I take a dump, I’ve got to hold it up so it doesn’t hang in the toilet water. Yours is the perfect size for blowing and fucking, so don’t get all self-conscious on me.”
“You have a girlfriend?”
“Shut up and let me blow you.”
So I did. He licked it clean and pulled up my shorts and started zipping them.
“No!”
I don’t trust anyone pulling a zipper up anywhere near my dick. I got the foreskin caught in it once when I was a kid and can still feel the pain.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful with this beauty, I’m gonna want to use it again I think.”
“What about this girlfriend?”
“Just a girl I was seeing at school, we went out together a lot, but I think it was more of a FWB deal. She lives in California so I won’t see her till next fall. Why she wanted to go to college in Florida is beyond me.”
“I’ve gotta get ready to go to work, you wanna stop by tomorrow on your way home?”
He smiles. “Sure.”
“So I guess you’ll be massaging a bunch of hot guys tonight, huh?”
“Fat chance. I’ve got three bookings, two women and one man, all over 70. One has sciatica, the other scoliosis, and the guy has weakness in his legs so I stretch and massage them to stimulate the nerves.”
I shower to get the smell of beer and pot off me, and grab a bite to eat before heading over to the massage studio.

I tried this before and met some very kind and supportive people. And I appreciate everyone who reached out. But nothing has really materialized, the chats all kind of fizzled or we weren’t looking for exactly the same things.
And now I’m feeling lonely and down again…
So… I’m trying again… I’m hopeful that I will eventually find someone that I connect with.
Hi. My name is Joe. I’m a 35 year old white man. I’m 6 foot, 250lbs, brown hair, blue eyes, and glasses. I’m obviously free of STDs and I’m fully vaccinated.
I have a full time job, I live alone, I own a car, and my family has a boat that we keep on a lake that I can use.
I enjoy traveling, both in the states and abroad. My favorite place that I’ve been os Tintagel England. It was beautiful.
I also enjoy hiking, cooking, boardgames, D&D, and occasionally video games.
But realistically, on any given night, I’m probably just watching Netflix or something.
People tend to like me. But I’m the kind of guy that people enjoy being around but when I’m not with you, you probably don’t think much about me. Does that make any sense?
The only real compliments I’ve ever heard from anyone is “oh, he’s such a nice guy” or “you’re so nice”.
All of this to say, I live a fairly normal of boring life.
However, I’m still a virgin. I’ve done a few things with women… that is to say one woman. But we weren’t able to have sex.
I have female friends. But I can never seem to take it past the friendship level. Even on the rare occasions when I work up the courage to actually ask one on a date. I always got turned down.
Maybe I lack confidence. Maybe I’m just not all that attractive. Maybe I’m just too introverted. I don’t know.
But that’s why I’m posting here. I’d love to find someone I connect with who would be willing to meet and teach and/or explore with me. At any level.
Just once in my life I’d like to feel as if I’m desired by someone.
If you’re near me, great. If not, well, I have vacation days and no plans for them at the moment.
I’d also prefer to chat here or another app for a while to make sure that we get along. And before meeting I’d like to do a video call to help ensure neither of us are catfish. I’d also be willing to share pics of myself as I know looks matter.
Anyway, I’m not sure what else to include right now. If you have any more questions or if you’re interested feel free to message me.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
As a bonus I’ll take a leap and share a few pics of myself since I know attraction matters…
https://imgur.com/a/yyz7q8i

New Year’s Revolution 2006 (Raw)
Date: 8/1/06
Location: Pepsi Arena, Albany, New York
Intercontinental Championship:
Shelton Benjamin (c) vs William Regal
Women’s Championship:
Trish Stratus (c) vs Mickie James
(Mickie James begins stalking Trish Stratus, being heavily obsessed and in love with her. Trish wants a match to snap it out of her friend which Mickie accepts. Trish retains clean with a Chick Kick and both women hug after the match.)
Jerry Lawler vs Edge w/Lita
(Jerry Lawler comments on Edge changing Lita for the worst on commentary. Edge hears about this, takes offense to it and beats the hell out of The King. As a result, Lawler wants revenge so he challenges The Rated R Superstar to a match at New Year’s Revolution and he accepts. Jerry puts up a bit of a fight but Edge wins clean in the end after hitting him with a Spear.)
Viscera vs Snitsky
Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE Championship:
John Cena (c) vs Kane vs Big Show vs Kurt Angle vs Triple H vs Shawn Michaels
(John Cena retains in a bloody encounter. After the match, Vince McMahon comes out to the stage and announces the night isn’t finished. Someone is cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase… Edge!)
WWE Championship - Money in the Bank Cash In:
John Cena (c) vs Edge w/Lita
(Edge wins the WWE Championship against a bloody and battered John Cena. New Year’s Revolution draws to a close with Edge and Lita celebrating.)
Elimination Chamber Notes:
Kane enters third and is eliminated first by Shawn Michaels
The Big Show enters sixth and is eliminated second by Triple H and Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels enters second and is eliminated third by Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle enters fifth and is eliminated fourth by John Cena
Triple H enters fourth and is eliminated fifth by John Cena
John Cena enters first and wins
Royal Rumble 2006
Date: 29/1/06
Location: American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
Cruiserweight Championship:
Chavo Guerrero (c) vs Gregory Helms
Women’s Championship:
Trish Stratus (c) w/Mickie James vs Ashley
(After the match, Mickie James turns on Trish and beats the hell out of her.)
World Heavyweight Championship:
Randy Orton (c) vs Chris Benoit
(After winning the World Heavyweight Championship, Randy Orton says this proves once and for all that he’s the man on SmackDown! Orton also says that not only is he a champion that Eddie Guerrero would be proud of but he’ll help the company move on from him with all due respect. Chris Benoit takes offense to this, says Orton is nothing but a chicken sh*t and wants the chance to win the World Heavyweight Championship again which Theodore Long grants him an opportunity to do so at the Royal Rumble. Benoit promises that Orton’s reign will be short lived meanwhile The Legend Killer vows to beat Chris Benoit again just like he did to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. During the match, Benoit’s emotions result in him trying too hard. This plays into Orton’s hands as he gains the upper hand, hits him with an RKO and pins him to retain the World Heavyweight Championship!)
WWE Championship:
Edge (c) w/Lita vs Triple H vs John Cena
(After New Year's Revolution, Edge gloats that he’s the man! He’s interrupted by Triple H who tells him that he’s nothing but a paper champion who took the coward's way to win the title at New Year’s Revolution and says that he’s only keeping that title warm for him. John Cena says not only is he invoking his rematch clause but he’s going to make Edge suffer. Vince McMahon announces that both men will get a shot at Edge for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble PPV. During the match, Triple H hits John Cena with a Pedigree and looks set to win until… Ric Flair appears and smashes The Game over the head with a steel chair. Because of this, Edge capitalises after Lita helps him up, he crawls over and pins Triple H to retain the WWE Championship!)
Royal Rumble Match:
Rey Mysterio (#2) wins by last eliminating JBL (#30)
Royal Rumble Notes:
The final four are Rey Mysterio, JBL, The Undertaker & Kurt Angle
Shawn Michaels isn’t eliminated by Shane McMahon. Instead, he’s eliminated by Kurt Angle after Vince McMahon distracts him.
The Undertaker eliminates Kurt Angle. This pisses Angle off to the point he comes back into the ring and eliminates The Undertaker. This results in both men brawling through the arena.
Rob Van Dam returns in this match
No Way Out 2006 (SmackDown)
Date: 19/2/06
Location: 1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
WWE Tag Team Championship:
MNM (c) w/Melina vs Paul London & Brian Kendrick
Cruiserweight Championship:
Gregory Helms (c) vs Chavo Guerrero
United States Championship:
Booker T (c) w/Sharmell vs Matt Hardy
Singles Match with Rey Mysterio’s WrestleMania title shot on the line:
Rey Mysterio vs JBL
(After the Royal Rumble, Rey Mysterio says his Royal Rumble win was dedicated to Eddie Guerrero and he’ll have one more dedication to his late friend and that’s by winning the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania! JBL interrupts and tells Rey that his win at the Royal Rumble was a fluke and it should really be him in the main event of WrestleMania. JBL challenges Rey to put his title shot on the line but Rey doesn’t want to do it. JBL however goads Rey into it by calling a coward and slapping him. Rey says if beating JBL is going to prove his win at the Rumble wasn’t a fluke then fine, he’ll do it. Rey Mysterio wins and keeps his dream alive.)
World Heavyweight Championship:
Randy Orton (c) vs The Undertaker
(After the Royal Rumble, Randy Orton celebrates his victory over Chris Benoit and says that he’s going to WrestleMania as the World Heavyweight Champion! He tells the WWE universe that he’s going to forever edge his name in history when he walks in and out of WrestleMania with the World Heavyweight Championship. Orton continues to run his mouth until a familiar sound goes off… GONG! The Undertaker appears, Chokeslams his bitter rival and signals that he wants the World Heavyweight Championship. The Legend Killer demands that The Undertaker be suspended since he could’ve injured him as well as prevented him from competing at WrestleMania. Teddy Long instead tells Orton that not only will The Undertaker not be suspended but he’ll be defending his World Heavyweight Championship against The Deadman at No Way Out! Orton is furious and says this shouldn’t be happening since he was done with Taker after Armageddon, claims WrestleMania deserves the future of the company going into the event as champion and fears that might not happen if The Undertaker injures him. Orton tries to get out of the match by pulling all sorts of tactics that don’t work. During the match, Orton accidentally dropkicks the referee. The Undertaker then Chokeslams the champion and gets ready to hit him with a Tombstone Piledriver to finish this off until Kurt Angle appears from the crowd and delivers an Angle Slam to The Phenom! Angle then puts Orton on top of The Undertaker and with the referee regaining consciousness, he makes the count. 1,2..3. Randy Orton retains the World Heavyweight Championship and realises that he’s going to WrestleMania! No Way Out draws to a close with a cocky and arrogant Orton celebrating a huge win.)
Hall of Fame class of 2006:
Bret Hart, Eddie Guerrero, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, Sensational Sherri, Tony Atlas, The Blackjacks, and Verne Gagne
WrestleMania 22
Date: 2/4/06
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois
United States Championship:
Booker T (c) w/Sharmell vs Chris Benoit vs JBL
(Chris Benoit wins the championship after forcing Booker T to submit to The Crossface.)
WWE World Tag Team Championship:
Kane & Big Show (c) vs Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch
Money in the Bank Ladder Match:
Matt Hardy vs Bobby Lashley vs Mark Henry vs Finlay vs Rob Van Dam vs Carlito vs Chris Masters vs Shelton Benjamin
Last Man Standing Match:
Ric Flair vs Triple H
(The battle between two former best friends and all time greats happens at The Grandest Stage of Them All. Ric Flair says that Triple H turning on him and taking pride as if he ended his career is what drove him to come back and cost Triple H what matters most to him, the WWE Championship. Flair says The Game has always wanted to be Ric Flair and for as great as he is which he’s known for 4 years how great he is, he’ll never be The Nature Boy! Ric Flair challenges Triple H to a match at WrestleMania 22 and The Game accepts. Triple H says while the old man’s career was dying, he revived him by creating Evolution, kept Ric Flair relevant when he no longer was and saw him as a father figure until Ric started becoming a thorn on his side, a distraction he realised he had to bury. Triple H says Flair is a clear symbol of the past who’s hanging on for dear life, living in a fantasy land and he promises to destroy him once and for all. Triple H asks to up the stakes and make it a Last Man Standing match which Flair accepts. Triple H vows to leave Flair in a bloody mess, put him down for good and leave WrestleMania victorious. Flair says he may bleed but he’s bled enough to the point Triple H will have to beat the holy hell out of him to keep him down. In a bloody and brutal affair, Triple H finishes the match off by smashing a bloody Flair over the head with his sledgehammer to win the match. After the match, Triple H looks down at a battered Ric Flair but actually nods in appreciation to his former mentor. The Game hints at a face turn 👀.)
Women’s Championship:
Trish Stratus (c) vs Mickie James
(After months of being stalked with a lot of creepy vibes as well as being attacked numerous times, Trish Stratus has had enough and wants to face Mickie James at WrestleMania. Same story, same build and same match. Mickie James wins the Women’s Championship clean to end Trish’s long reign.)
Hardcore Match:
Shawn Michaels & Mick Foley vs Vince & Shane McMahon
(After months of being told that he screwed Bret Hart who’s entering the Hall of Fame the night before this event, being told he’s not the same man and being cost title matches, opportunities and the Royal Rumble, Shawn Michaels snaps and kicks Vince McMahon in the face the night after the Royal Rumble. Vince retaliates the week after when Shane McMahon returns and The McMahons beat the holy hell out of HBK with The Spirit Squads' assistance. Vince & Shane promise to make HBK's life a living hell until he admits that he really screwed Bret Hart in Montreal! Shawn pretends he’s going to admit it but then goes through how much it was truly Vince McMahon who screwed Bret, Vince orchestrated the plan and Vince is responsible for the most controversial moment in WWE history! Michaels says he’s got a partner who knows this and wants to help him beat the hell out of Vince & Shane at WrestleMania. Vince laughs thinking no one has the guts to team with Shawn. Shawn brings out… Mick Foley! Foley says that everything Shawn Michaels is saying about the Montreal Screwjob is true, he was there that night in Montreal and he no showed the next night because Vince behaved like a coward. Foley says that for years he’s wanted to beat the hell out of Vince whether it be for that night in Montreal, how he’s treated Linda, the talents on the roster and how he treated him when he was the Commissioner of the company 5 years ago. Vince is furious and tells Foley there will be hell to pay for him too for even daring to align with Michaels and says the match will be a Hardcore match at WrestleMania! In a chaotic and bloody encounter that has interference from The Spirit Squad, Michaels and Foley win after Michaels delivers an elbow drop to Vince McMahon through a table while he has a trash can over his head.)
The Undertaker vs Kurt Angle
(After No Way Out, Kurt Angle explains on Raw that he cost The Undertaker the World Heavyweight Championship for two reasons. The Deadman cost him the main event of WrestleMania by eliminating him in the Royal Rumble. The other reason? He saw it as an opportunity to get another opportunity, a chance to end the streak at WrestleMania! Angle says right now he’s the best damn wrestler on the planet, he’s a wrestling machine and that freaking streak is his to break, it’s true, it’s damn true! The Undertaker responds and accepts Angle’s challenge and tells him that at WrestleMania, he’ll dig a grave for him like he has others, his day of reckoning will come and he’ll not live to regret his actions at No Way Out. Angle says he isn’t intimidated by empty threats and promises to snap Taker’s ankle as well as his streak. This is essentially their 30 minute classic they had at No Way Out in real life but with The Undertaker coming out on top after delivering two Tombstone Piledriver’s to Kurt Angle in order to go 14-0 at WrestleMania!)
World Heavyweight Championship:
Randy Orton (c) vs Rey Mysterio
(After his win over The Undertaker at No Way Out, Randy Orton is happy and smiling. He insists that The Legend Killer is rightfully entering WrestleMania as the World Heavyweight Champion no matter how hard Teddy Long tried to ensure he didn’t. Orton then promises that he’ll crush Rey Mysterio like a bug at WrestleMania and end his fairytale dream while Eddie will actually be looking down smiling at the sight of it no matter what narrative Mysterio is painting. Rey interrupts and says Orton is a coward and nothing but a disgrace to legends like Eddie Guerrero. Rey insists dreams do come true at events like WrestleMania and promises to win the World Heavyweight Championship in dedication to his friend Eddie Guerrero, who’ll be inducted into the 2006 Hall of Fame. During the match, Orton attempts to cheat but Rey counters, hits him with the 619 and instead of delivering a West Coast Pop, Rey hits a Frog Splash and pins Randy Orton to win the World Heavyweight Championship! Michael Cole shouts “MYSTERIO WINS THE TITLE!” Rey celebrates on the ramp with Chavo Guerrero and Eddie’s wife Vickie, fully dedicating his win to the late, great legend that is Latino Heat.)
WWE Championship:
Edge (c) w/Lita vs John Cena
(John Cena wins a Fatal 4 Way Match against Kane, Big Show and Shawn Michaels to earn this match against Edge at WrestleMania. Cena promises to regain the title Edge stole from him at New Year’s Revolution and leave WrestleMania for the second year in a row as the WWE Champion. Edge says there’s no way in hell is Cena going to take his moment from him and tells him he isn’t some sort of transitional paper champion the way people think. Edge vows to show everyone who’s ever doubted him that he deserves to be at the top of the mountain and promises to leave Chicago as the WWE Champion. In a very competitive main event where the crowd is booing the hell out of John Cena, Cena is smashed over the head with brass knuckles by Lita when the referee doesn’t see. Edge then Spears Cena and pins him to surprisingly retain the WWE Championship! After the match, a pissed off Cena attacks Edge, hits him with an FU through the announce table and then delivers an FU to Lita in the middle of the ring as WrestleMania 22 draws to a close.)
Notes:
(It’s announced that ECW will be returning and will now be a brand in the WWE starting in June!)
(Edge attacks Mick Foley on behalf of Vince McMahon and leaves him swimming in a pile of his own blood. This writes the Hardcore Legend off TV.)
(Randy Orton is suspended for 30 days after violating the wellness policy.)
Backlash 2006 (Raw)
Date: 30/4/06
Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Intercontinental Championship:
Shelton Benjamin (c) vs Rob Van Dam
(After WrestleMania, Shelton Benjamin turns heel and attacks Rob Van Dam for costing him his moment at WrestleMania in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Desperate for revenge, Van Dam challenges Benjamin to put his championship on the line against him at Backlash and the champion accepts. Benjamin cheats to retain by putting his feet on the ropes during a roll up.)
Eugene vs Umaga w/Armando Estrada
(Umaga debuts on Raw the night after WrestleMania 22. He wins here in a 3 minute squash match to showcase his dominance.)
WWE World Tag Team Championship:
Kane & Big Show (c) vs Carlito & Chris Masters
(Carlito and Chris Masters form an alliance and target the World Tag Team Championship. During the match, Big Show turns heel and Chokeslam’s Kane which allows Carlito & Chris Masters to win the titles.)
Shawn Michaels vs Shane McMahon w/Vince McMahon
(After WrestleMania, a pissed off Vince McMahon says that the McMahons aren’t done with making The Showstopper's life a living hell. Vince announces that at Backlash, Shawn will be facing his son Shane in a match to teach him a lesson! During the match when the referee is knocked out, The Spirit Squad interferes and they attack Shawn Michaels which delights Vince McMahon. After they do so, Triple H comes down to the ring. McMahon is happy to see The Game as he’s been trying to recruit him for weeks to end Shawn Michaels' career and asks him to smash Shawn over the face with his sledgehammer. Triple H goes to hit Shawn but instead… hits Vince McMahon! Triple H then beats the hell out of The Spirit Squad with his Sledgehammer. Shane McMahon then attacks The Game from behind but of course Triple H is helped by Shawn Michaels. Triple H hits Shane over the face with the sledgehammer, he walks into Sweet Chin Music, the ref regains consciousness and makes the cover for Shawn Michaels to win this match. After the match, Shawn Michaels and Triple H stare each other down and… do the DX high five! DX is back!)
Women’s Championship:
Mickie James (c) vs Trish Stratus (Double Count-Out)
(This match ends in a double count-out after Trish legitimately dislocates her shoulder. Mickie James attacks her still and leaves Backlash on top.)
WWE Championship:
Edge (c) w/Lita vs John Cena
(After WrestleMania, Edge gloats about beating John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania. He claims that he’s just further solidified legendary status on his name, proved he deserves to be on top of the mountain and proved after questions were asked after New Year’s Revolution that he’s better than John Cena! Cena interrupts and says while Edge is still the WWE Champion, he’s still also a complete jackass who needed help to retain his title, claiming it’s Lita who well and truly wears the pants in the relationship. Edge takes offense to this and claims Cena is just coming up with excuses to deflect losing to him. Cena goads Edge into facing him at Backlash in a rematch by making comments about Lita having more balls than Edge. During the match, Edge attempts to cheat until… Mick Foley’s music hits! Foley comes down and puts Mr Socko on Lita who’s trying to help Edge cowardly win again like she did at WrestleMania. This distraction though is enough for Edge to turn around in an FU from Cena. John Cena then pins Edge to win the WWE Championship! Backlash draws to a close with Cena celebrating after winning his second WWE Championship.)
And that's part 41! I hope you guys enjoyed it and loved my swerve with Edge leaving WrestleMania with his championship. I'll be back very soon for my next part where we'll see ECW reborn, an iconic Money in the Bank cash-in, and a far better SummerSlam 2006. Stay safe and stay tuned!

So my boyfriend and I have been together for 7 months now and at the very beginning he told me about how him and his female best friend had “adult relations” before but it was nothing more. I took a moment to process but I eventually got over it.
Well…not really. I wanted to but something felt different about the way I felt about her than with his other exs. Maybe it was the fact that they were still friends? Or the fact that she looks like everything I ever wanted to be(beautifully curvy, looser hair, and light skinned; while my curves are just coming in, dark skinned with thicker hair(we’re both African American btw)), it’s not to say that I don’t believe that I’m not beautiful but I don’t know. Later on the relationship, while lightly crossed, I unlocked his phone and went on a spiral. I looked through his dms, women that he followed, and in the process founded old nudes of his bsf saved in his snap. (For more context, we started falling for each other in Oct. and these pics were sent in that first week of Oct.). He was, reasonably, upset with me for breaking his trust while he was asleep and seeing the photos. I was more upset that they were on his phone in the first place, but still apologized profusely before expressing that of course.
We’re slowly moving past it for the better as our communication gotten better as well(tho he would still make comments about it here and there, which is fair again). Recently, however, he has told me something that has been messing with my head since he told me.
He has told me the full story of how they first met, and how they started talking to each other on snap. He met her through her sister and they hit it off from there. They had started becoming semi-sexual with each other (he told around this time he jerked to her pics which isn’t something I wish he didn’t tell me) and when they first met they started making out. But then they decided to distance each other for her sister’s graduation party. He expressed to me how he wanted to kiss her then and how she regretted then that he never did. Then there relations where kind of on and off with her finding another boyfriend or him finding a girlfriend, this won’t work out and they’ll end up going back to each other and it was a cycle like this for 2-3 years. He even stated that they’re were many times that she even professed her love to him and how she wish he would move own from his crazy girlfriends. Alas, they never became official but he was her first.
The entire time I was hurt, like I wanted to cry. Especially in the moments where he told me he had love for her too but he pushed them away cause they were such “good friends”. (Later on that same day and the next day he would deny it, even after I told him that they were madly in love with each other. He would just say ‘naahhh I just cared for her deeply’”).
God I feel so bad for feeling this way but at the same time what if she is still in love with him? What if he’s actually secretly in love with her but he has yet again never realized. I’ve been through this situation before but this one hurts more cause we both agreed that we love each other so deep that in every reality we would be in love. But what if I’m actually the side character here to there love story. I just need help figuring out how to express these feelings to him. He has never gave any evidence that he is in love with someone else or would cheat. He expressed his love for me and only me in so many ways, but I have never been in a situation this deep before. The one I had, my most recent ex, left me in a terrible place, but not as bad as this one would leave me.

1. SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "New money buys a big house in a nice neighborhood. Old money, you'll never even glimpse the house because it's so far back on their land."
2. WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "I have a friend who worked at a law firm with many wealthy clients. She said old money tells what service they want and then asks for a bill, writes a check, and happily pays any extra fees as long as they get the service they want to the extent they want."
3. SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "Look at the car they drive. If they drive something like a Porsche or one of those hideous BMW X series cars, they're nouveau riche or they've pushed their credit rating out as far as it'll go."
4. WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "Only people with 'old' money (i.e., comfortable with wealth) will drive a Mercedes station wagon or BMW wagon. They aren't driving the car for status or conspicuousness; they want the space, but it has to be a luxury car nonetheless."
5. WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "I work at a marina. If a guy walks in who looks like a scruffy, homeless man who's been pulled backward through a charity shop, I know he is going to have a 20+ meter boat and be minted. I also tend to find they are some of the easiest going customers; they rarely complain and tend to be really understanding about mistakes."
6. SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "On the other hand, as soon as someone starts telling me how much they pay to keep their boat here or start demanding my name to make a complaint, I know I'm dealing with new money."
7. WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "I’m a cleaner; old money gives a Christmas tip and buys me a gift. New money does neither."
8. SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "The new money people I know are consistently awful to their hired help."
9. WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "The way they speak to people who are serving them. Old money will be apologetic and treat them like family."
10. SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "It's the way they carry themselves. New rich will try and prove they own a place. Strut around, show off, and put others down to show how important they are."
11. WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "I went to school with a lot of old money families (a private girls' academy). ... One of my classmates had a summer home where she took some friends, using her father's company jet. This was not seen as an unusual thing to most of them. It was simply a 'company perk.'"
12. SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "In the UK, a lot of new money families went to random private schools or state schools rather than the Etons, Harrows, etc."
13. WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "They tend to genuinely not give a toss what you think of them. And they tell you outrageous stories as though they were discussing the price of fish."
14. SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "Bragging. I have a coworker who comes from a wealthy-ish family, but I get the impression that her family hasn't always been wealthy. She brags all the time about the things that she buys that are 'designer.'"
15. WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "I have another coworker who is from a very wealthy family. I have never once heard her brag about anything. She talks with excitement about things, but she never sounds like she's bragging. She sounds appreciative of what she has."
16. SCREAMS NEW MONEY: "Wearing branded accessories, like a Gucci belt or Chanel jewelry with the prominent 'CCs.'"
17. WHISPERS OLD MONEY: "The clothing. My dad's family is old money, and they all wear the same LL Bean gear they've been wearing since the '00s. Plus, lots of high-quality fabrics they bought once decades ago and have never needed to replace, like wool cable knits and heavyweight corduroy pants."

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So, my problem is exactly as i stated. I don’t even know where to start. My mental health is in the bin, so is my self confidence, and i feel it’s mostly because I’ve been feminized to a criminal degree. I grew up without a father basically, surrounded by my mother and sisters. I’m very, very, very concerned about my looks, unhealthily so, and i think it’s because I’ve been criticized by my sisters my whole life. My mother was very controlling and had very high expectations. When i was a kid (from 8 until i was about 14), my day looked like this: school starts at 8, I’m done at about 1 or 2, go home and rest for an hour or two, have lessons in german and english (hour each), then music school, go home, study and do homework, go to sleep and repeat it. I have no social skills and am very awkward, and i suspect it’s because I wasn’t allowed so socialize with boys when i was a child, and was pushed to pursue my education. My only friend was the internet. I was constantly called fat by my mother and sisters, yet my mother did nothing to make me lose weight. I wasn’t even that fat, just a little chubby, but the point stands. How dare you call a child fat all his life, and expect it to change that completely alone? I’ll continue. I was constantly put down by my older sister. I suspect it’s because she has no respect for me, but my accomplishments were measured by my grades, and me having no interest in school, you can understand why that didn’t work out. I was never allowed to be a boy. The only person that could understand me and give me some masculine energy was my father, a man with a lot of issues. Very possibly bipolar, i was raised not to talk to him, because you never knew how he felt that day. My mom would always tell me to be a man and just do it (I’m talking about studying and stuff), but didn’t allow me any normal socialization with my peers. Do you know how it feels to constantly be told to be a man, but be demonized for any masculine urge or opinion? Oh you want to hang a boxing bag and a pull up bar in YOUR room? Are you going to turn our house into a gym? You want to watch the game and have a beer? Don’t you know how many calories are in a beer? Plus, love island is on now, and there is 2 of us and only one of you, so you are automatically outvoted. You want to get a motorcycle? We don’t have money for that. Now wait until we get back from the mall. Most of this is from my sisters and not my mom. My mom was actually very happy when i started taking kickboxing classes. Every idea i have is stupid, everything i do is wrong and dumb. Please help me. I’m very anxious, i have an inferiority complex, and i have a phobia of women basically. Whenever a girl shows interest in me, i just freeze. That’s not the problem, just a symptom of my very low self esteem. How do i get over this feeling that I’m dumb, that I’m inferior, that I’m not a man?