The other day we were walking to see some nature views and when we got to the destination and we’re chilling discussed eating out after and getting take out on the way home. I looked up the place to see if open, and then ended up on the menu checking it out. I have a history of loving food/cooking and do think about it a lot. Generally a healthy relationship as I consider it a hobby (like love cooking and exploring food scenes) and important in my life and family life (culturally).
While I did this though, she said to me, “you know you can’t be like this if you have a daughter right?” And I was like what do you mean. And she began talking about how obsessions with food (which I don’t think I have, nor have any friends or fam referenced it to be problematic) essentially could lead to eating disorders or unhealthy relationships with food for that persons children.
We have been a bit rocky for some time, she is very sure about me and I have some reservations about us as it has taken a lot of work to stay together as we’re very different (which to be fair has given us great communication alot of the time), our sex drives are significantly different and I feel like we may have too little in common. We do have good times and enjoy ourselves lots though and we have both shown each other many things we wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
but I find conversation chemistry to be lacking and feel some anxiety when I know we will be together alone for extended periods because we will run out of things to talk about. She is not a learner in the sense that I’m always picking up new things and always in awe of random shit but she has what she likes and likes to stay within that box so conversation can feel difficult when I often have to explain words or topics if I want to bring them up (even if I consider them common This was okay for most of the relationship thus far because we were exploring each other more and is also a positive that we can both be introverted and quiet together without pressure sometimes too. But I feel that chemistry with others and it makes me think it is something I may want in a partner. So there’s a few things like that and sex drive different that I’m trying to figure out if they’re deal breakers.
TL:DR partner of 7 months made a comment how I can’t be the way I am with food if I have a daughter otherwise it could cause my future kids to have an eating disorder which I thought was super harsh and insensitive since I love food and would want my kids to have a good relationship with it.
Any advice welcome, I have never broken up with someone before and it’s a difficult thought because I do love her but the work it’s taking and this kids talk at 6 months throws me off a bit.

Everything is excellent condition with box & swag unless otherwise noted. My board is basically finished so I might be a bit picky. Open to all offers.
WTT:

• Caroline Shigeharu - $175
• Fairfield Shallow Water- $250
• Boss DD-200 - $200
• JHS Crimson - $120
• Southern Lights OD - Greer Lightspeed & Southland 2 in 1 OD (well made clone) - $125

WTTF: - Raster 2 - Pre-fuzz reverb - Interesting Fuzz - Stereo DI box - Larger power supply (CS12 / Phoenix / etc)

After playing for ~35 hours this weekend, and getting each class to 25 as well as beating the story with them, I wanted to provide my feedback.
Diablo 4 is pretty damn good already. I had a ton of fun, and already can't wait for next weekend to play again in the open beta. Hell, I can't wait for JUNE!!! Thank you to the whole team who has worked so hard on this game. It really shows! However, I did want to provide feedback on things I noticed during my time with the beta.
There's a bunch of other things I want to talk about in this post, but I will try to keep feedback to what we know as opposed to speculation, so my feedback will be limited to what I noticed in the beta ONLY (minus my last talking point at the end - sorry couldn't help it, lol).
_____________________________________________________________

Map Overlay

I would love a map overlay option. A map that is over the screen as you play, kind of like what Diablo 2 and PoE has. It can even be a togglable option in settings for those that don't like it. Map overlays help map navigation tremendously. Instead of relying on the small minimap or having to stop running to view the larger map, it can be right on screen at all times. This allows us to play longer and spend less time stopping to open the map.

Text Search in Skill Tree

I would love to have a text search in the skill tree. Currently, we can filter by skill tag, but it would also be a nice addition to type in the skill in a text bar and have it highlight on the map (so similar to how clicking on tags work). The skill tree is kind of hard to navigate as is, and being able to quickly find the skill I want to spend a skill point in will again, allow me more time to play the game, and less time navigating through the tree.

Better Grouping for World Events

Currently if you are in a clan (or just have a larger group of friends) and want to do a world boss with more than 4 of your members, you are pretty much out of luck UNLESS one of the additional clan members just happens to be in the same instance as you. It would be nice to form larger groups of people, as I can see world bosses being a fun clan event.

Dungeons

Currently, dungeons feel very "samey". I completed all the dungeons, some of them multiple times as I was grinding levels. There's a lot to unpack with them. While I am aware that there will be "Nightmare Dungeons" that will add affixes to dungeons, I think the base dungeon issues will only carry over to them, and not "save" them from these issues.
Dungeon objectives are sometimes tedious and long, overstaying their welcome. I am no stranger to grind, in fact I welcome it, but backtracking through empty corridors after killing all the enemies in the direction you were originally going is frankly, kind of dull feeling. There were times I went the wrong way to the Dungeon's locked door, and had to back track all the way back around to collect one pedestal, back to the locked Dungeon door, then back to find another one. Additionally, in some dungeons there were a several long objectives in a row before you could even reach the boss.
Here are some suggestions for dungeons:

1. Allow us to carry more than 1 pedestal/box/whatever at a time.
2. Instead of "kill all monsters", maybe it can be changed to "kill a % of monsters", OR reduce the number of monsters we have to kill. They can sometimes be really far spread out, and it's easy to lose interest when you are hunting the last few, ESPECIALLY when you have to back track.
3. Increase base monster density, or allow monsters to respawn one time after being killed. Allowing them to respawn one time helps with the issue of empty corridor backtracking, but also doesn't destroy the fantasy of clearing a dungeon, as they will not come back after a second time (they can even be seen as "reinforcements").

We Need a Reason to Want to Get Powerful

Ok so here is my speculation post. I fully admit I have no idea what is coming with the official end game release, but one thing I do know is that as players, *we need a reason to want to get powerful*. I am sort of worried that pushing Nightmare Dungeons will amount to nothing more than pushing GRs in Diablo 3 - which already gets stale VERY quickly. There is no reason to push GRs other than getting your name on a leaderboard (and being able to carry a few more bloodshards/level gems). That will not retain players. If Nightmare Dungeons are the main content we are supposed to perusing in end game, then we should be rewarded the higher we go. And not just by being able to level glyphs higher.
However, if Nightmare Dungeons are just a power check/glyph leveling mechanic, I would like to see other rewarding end game content that REQUIRES us to min-max. Something like Uber bosses (outside of world tier bosses) that you really need to perfect you character to beat. And if we beat them, we should be rewarded with something EXTRA cool. Maybe a very unique world boss cosmetic, or some trophy items that can only be obtained by beating them.
Player retention is built around chase, drive, and the want for something. We need meaningful and rewarding things to do in order for us to want to play and min-max to get more powerful. Reward us for all the time we spend playing!
_____________________________________________________________
That's it for now. Let me say again, Diablo 4 is AMAZING so far. Can't wait to see how the game progresses season to season. It's certainly a great canvas for whatever is to come.

This morning my water bottle ended up on his side of the bed and I seen the box of condoms is open. 2 is missing. I'm questioning it because I'm currently 15 weeks pregnant. Even before getting pregnant, we didn't even use those condoms. We bought it together after getting off birth control. But ending up not using it. 😒

I've been playing TTYD for probably over 15 years now, but there is one question I still can't seem to figure out. If the seal was weakening on the door anyway as they approached the thousandth year, why did Beldam want all the crystal stars gathered in the first place? Since she had the box containing the map, and the map would be the only conceivable way to gather all the stars, and the stars were the only conceivable way to stop the Shadow Queen, why would she want to crystal stars found if the door would soon open anyway?
Or am I missing something here? We know that Grodus set up the 7th crystal star so that either he or Mario would have them all after the Crump battle, and we know that Mario then used them to open the door after being tricked by Frankly-Doopliss. But according to the title of the game the door would be opening soon anyway. It all just seems like Beldam and Grodus could have waited a bit longer and gotten in anyway. Meaning that finding the crystal stars could only be a liability.
Am I just missing a plot point or something? Cause I honestly don't want to pick apart TTYD. I just love the game so much and want to figure this out.

Hey guys,
Last post went really well so giving it another go. Trying to get out of the hobby as it's been many many months/years since I placed some of these orders and now they are coming in. Keyboards have been sitting in their box for a very long time so figured it's time to get rid of them as well. Everything goes at cost or less than what I paid!
Sunkey68
JTK Sora
Think6.5 v2 2u
GMK Blurple
​

• Valentine GrayStudio Think6.5 v2 2u keyboard - $400 + shipping
  • WAY UNDER WHAT I PAID!!!!
  • original packaging
  • 1x case, top (white), bottom (rose gold)
  • 1x badge (aluminum, lightbulb) (rose gold)
  • 1x FR4 plate
  • 1x weight
  • 1x vibration reduction pad
  • 1x toolkit
  • 1x hot-swap PCB (used)
  • 1x solder PCB (brand new)
  • normal wear and tear. FR4 plate has some nicks from changing out switches. please review all images
• Sun68 Keyboard Blue with Gold brass weight - $300 + shipping
  • UNDER WHAT I PAID!!
  • BNIB
  • opened the box to figure out what plate it comes with - PC plate
• JTK Sora - $150 + shipping
  • BNIB
  • Base Kit
  • Novelties
  • Sunset Alphas
• GMK Blurple - $175 + shipping
  • BNIB
  • Base Kit
  • Aesthetic (Spacebars)

I have a coworker who drives me nuts. . When they first started, I tried inviting them to different activities and things me and other coworkers were doing, and she always said no. Most of what I know about her is what she DOES NOT like. Most of what she has to say is negative. The way she talks to people makes everything sound condescending. I am a huge people pleaser, and so I never set boundaries with her even though I am uncomfortable talking to her about non-work things. (Even then, it's iffy, but I know to be professional). I was told by two coworkers about a transphobic conversation she had with someone. The boss was informed and she didn't get any punishment. Now, she also always join in on conversations when people are talking and that is a huge pet peeve of mine. I'm find when others do it, but with her I do not. She intersects into conversations I have and I don't know what to do so I just let her in, but I hate that I now have to share personal stuff with her now too. So I really struggle with her. I had a really bad day at work and pretending like I don't hate her was just too much. I was professional about work matters, but personal stuff I was short and didn't engage. She got upset by this and tried to talk to me and I told her I didn't want to talk. Then the week went by and she continues to interject in conversations I'm in. She asks more and more about my personal life. I keep being short and uninterested in personal stuff and she keeps trying more. Finally I talk to her and tell her I'm only comfortable talking about work stuff with her. She cries and says she can't read my emotions and I'm up and down and she's on a Rollercoaster. I am chummy with everyone else except her. I tell her I only open up when I have a certain relationship with someone and that I don't feel like I have that relationship with her and I'm uncomfortable. But I said I'm sorry that she felt like that and I'm working on a realistic solution cause it's not fair to feel like I'm hot and cold and all over. (But aren't social clues a thing?) She asks if she's supposed to avoid everyone in the office then? It's unrealistic to expect her to not talk to anyone. I say no, she deserves to have whatever interactions. But I don't know what to tell her about how to know when to join and when to not join conversations. So I said I appreciated the perspective and I would think about it. (I don't think I should have to tell her stuff either though? And again, social cues?) She also mentioned that last week we were friends and now suddenly I'm cold. I never ever considered us friends!! So what do I do with that? We never have hung out or anything, just work and talking at work and again, conversations with other people being joined in. I literally never invite her to talk about personal stuff. So I tell her I want to say talking about work things because I think that is where we work best. She tells me that is my perspective and that she's comfortable and thought we did well in all aspects. I felt like she was telling me that I was wrong, but I only ever tell her stuff out of social preservation with other people. That's it. So I told her, well our overlapping area of comfort is work, so I would like to stay in the work bubble. There's so much more I don't remember because I feel like it went so fast and I wasn't prepared to answer some of her questions or statements. But, if we work together I do not have to engage in conversations other than work related items, right? And am I unrealistic to ask her to stop interjecting in conversations I'm having with other people? Is it unrealistic? I'm not responsible for her emotions. But I also know we do need to keep a certain level of professionalism. It feels like the professional and personal overlap so much I don't know where the line is. If you made it this far, thank you. I appreciate all of you critical thinking people and would love your input.

Hey, so i bought a laptop from amazon.com a while ago, with shipping to EU, but because of shipping and family problems i only opened the box 3 months later, and now i realised that the battery life of the laptop is much worse than advertised on amazon. So i contacted them, they forwarded me to the manufacturer but they told me that the warranty isn't valid outside the US. And now amazon is just ignoring me because im out of the return window. Also, now if you try to buy the same laptop to Europe it will say " This item cannot be shipped to your selected delivery location. Please choose a different delivery location. " I m guessing this is because of the same problem. What should i do? Can i take legal action againts amazon?
Country: Hungary Ordered from: USA

•
On my mission I was 100% committed to being the best and getting in front of as many people as I could. I served in a tough mission, which meant I did not see a lot of success, but it could never keep me down. I took a lot of pride in being in leadership positions for over one year. My mission president and I were practically on a first name basis, we spoke a lot about the welfare of the mission and I was someone that he relied on to help struggling missionaries. I thought I was the absolute shit and nothing could tear me down. That is until I had my last companion. Our first few days together were spent feeling each other out and how obedient we were, and I found out that obedience didn’t mean shit in my mission. My companion had been watching porn with members, dating YSA members throughout the mission field, smoking cigarettes, and he confessed each and every interview with our president. “Elder, all I need you to do is say you’ll stop. I made a promise when I came out that I wouldn’t send anyone home.” This had gone on for about 18 months and they said that they were never punished and they felt like it was a vacation for them. And then it all hit me at once, the church was just a fucking frat house. As long as you were in with the right people, you could be protected from whatever “sin” you were committing. So naturally I immediately jumped right in there with them and we did whatever we wanted. We were together for three months and got into drinking, drugs, and didn’t do any work. It did eventually take a toll on me though, I was looking forward to my mission my entire life and this is what I got. A faith crisis thousands of miles from home. At the worst moment of my depression, my mission president called me and told me that my grandpa had passed. We were very, very close. I couldn’t take it anymore and I called him up and told him everything I had been doing. That night he came over and scolded, shamed, and berated me for about two hours. I told him that no matter how hard he tried to put me down, he couldn’t make me feel worse about myself than I already did. I told him I hated who I was and for my lack of identity. After that he told me that his revelation to match me with my current companion was wrong and that he knew it before the transfer started and this was all his fault and that I was fine to stay in the mission field without any punishment. Completely baffled, I asked how that is possible. He told me that he would call the apostle assigned to our mission and get it cleared with him and all I’d have to do is skip the sacrament for a few weeks. I couldn’t even think at this point. I was terrified to get on the radar of an apostle and have them know about my experience on my mission. I told him no and that I’d rather go home and deal with my crisis with my friends and family. We continued to argue about it for a while, he kept telling me that I didn’t have to worry about anything and that him and this apostle were “very good friends.” He kept telling me that he was the best connection I’ve ever made in my life. That with his “friendship” many doors would open up for me. And then there I was sitting in a mafia movie, wondering if I could ever truly go home. I actually, legitimately thought, “He’s not going to give me my passport.” I finally convinced him to dismiss me from my mission and send me home. I had a flight out three days later. When I got back home I had to visit with my stake president and bishop every week and go over my repentance process. I sat with these men who I knew also had “very good friends” within the church. They told me what I did didn’t matter and that the church always helps brethren “of my stature” find their way back. It hit me that if you came from the right family, held the right callings, and paid your tithing that you could get away with anything. The idea is so dangerous and so insidious that I can scarcely think about it. The slow and subtle ways that they ingrain in you that you’re the lord’s elect and can do no wrong, you abide by a different set of laws. It’s sick and twisted. And people wonder why there are so many issues of abuse within the church. If you look good enough and pay enough you can have whatever it is you want; money, sex, power, fame, you name it. I couldn’t bring myself to believe I was stupid enough to fall for the same bullshit. That I had been a pawn in my mission president’s game, that I had eaten straight from his hand. I lost all of the self worth that I had, I was a total scumbag. In many ways I’ve never recovered. I have come to terms with a lot of it but I don’t think I will ever have good self esteem. As soon as I start to feel good about accomplishments I am quickly reminded of how pride can ruin who you are.
I’m pretty sure I don’t have to tell you that was the first and last time I questioned my testimony. It was crushed in one single blow.

What I've got here is a BladeHQ exclusive Para 3 in CPM M4 steel with Jade G10 scales. This one's been mostly a safe queen, carried and used once for like 30 minutes (chores around the house), only fondled and flicked open, as seen in pictures, it's lubed up with a healthy serving of ballistol. Never sharpened, will come with the MXG Deep Carry pocket clip (cause its cool) installed as well as the original one on side, comes with box and paperwork. imgur pics/timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/GfiAcmt SV $200 PP G&S

Bought from the original owner, they sharpened it a little (still seems to have factory bevel). I never carried, sharpened or used it myself, there are, however, a good amount of visible scratches on the blade. There is also a full patina inside the opening hole. * Will not come with box or paperwork, only knife.* Pics/timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/Oz6QcXD SV $110 PP G&S

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i3-10100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor	Purchased For £59.71
Motherboard	ASRock H510M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1200 Motherboard	£101.38 @ NeoComputers
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	£70.98 @ Amazon UK
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	£95.10 @ Amazon UK
Storage	Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive	£67.98 @ Box Limited
Storage	Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive	£67.98 @ Box Limited
Case	Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case	£90.46 @ Scan.co.uk
Power Supply	SeaSonic FOCUS 550 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	£94.99 @ Currys PC World
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	£648.58
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-20 21:30 GMT+0000

I'm going to be building a home server around the i3-10100. It will primarily be for Plex, where I will open it up to various family members maybe around ~5 concurrent streams. I haven't really looked into how direct playing works, and will aim to direct play most content without transcoding. I will also use VMs and docker containers to run other typical home server software. And potentially run a game server from time to time.
Is this build sufficient? My main concern is the motherboard as it's the cheapest ITX board with this CPU socket. I'd like the server to idle at the lowest power draws possible. I have considered using the Node 804 case instead which would give access to Micro ATX boards which are more reasonably priced and more easily found second hand on ebay. Should I purchase any other components second hand?

I have been using MSI for years and never had to RMA something, but I finally needed a repair on an RTX 3050 card I could not do myself. I am very disappointed with the result of the repair and the entire process. I provided feedback in the survey I was sent after attempting to test the card (which I could not do because it immediately crashed the computer upon loading into windows) in a fully stable otherwise build. This is a recap on my experience and why I will suggest people to avoid MSI products in the future.
​
No details were given on the repair via email or any other method other than a slip that said "repaired" in and on the box. When I put it in a tested working computer, the card instantly crashes just like it did when I sent it and I didn't have to run any kind of benchmark or game to make it happen. So other than charge me to ship the card to the repair center, I have no idea what was done to the card, or if it was even plugged in to look at it or just sent back to me.
​
I sent the card with the OEM packaging and it got sent back in some generic packaging. Although I understand the instructions say not to send the product in the original packaging, I did not have another box to safely ship it in, but the packaging it was sent back with was an obvious downgrade both in the safety of the shipping of the card and quality of the box it was returned in. Not only that, but I sent it fully secured with bubble wrap around the entire card box and some plastic bags to hold it in place during shipping. The box it was sent back with was sent with one sheet of bubble wrap on one side of the outer box, leaving the GPU box completely open to impacts while it was handled by the shipping company. I don't even know why anyone bothered using any packaging at that point as it would just impact the box on the other side when it dropped. It was not secured in the outer box at all and when I picked it up before I even opened it, I had low hopes of it working because I heard a loud thud of the GPU dropping in the box. I really don't understand why anyone would not just use the packaging I sent if you were not able to provide sufficient packaging for the card to be shipped safely.
​
At this point the GPU is pretty much garbage to me and a complete waste of my money, so I will not be using MSI again if this is the way a card is "repaired". This was a terrible RMA process that makes me never want to use MSI products again.

“She’s a witch.”
“I think you said bitch wrong.”
It’s hard to laugh when you’re exhausted, but Marti was never not able to get one out of us. Between panted breaths we laughed. Tommy’s face growing red with anger and embarrassment at the joke at his expense.
“I’m serious!” He managed to blurt when the laughter finally died down enough to get a word in.
“So am I!”
Again, laughter erupted from the bottom of our thirteen year old hearts once more breaking the silence of the forest we were supposed to be hiding in if by chance the cops were actually called as a result of our impromptu prank just a few minutes prior.
Living in a small town meant a lot of boredom. Some kids had big problems like gang violence and drive-by shootings, drugs, and crippling poverty, and even though those problems existed for your typical small town Ohio kids, at least to some extent. Our biggest problem was always boredom.
As a matter of fact, every problem that every small town had ever had could probably be traced back to boredom in one way or another. Why is that guy doing heroin behind a Walmart? Because once upon a time he was sixteen and bored, so he stole some of grandmas pills. Why did the schools football teams locker building get burned down? Because some kid was bored and decided to ruin the football team’s stuff. Why are there a bunch of kids laughing in the middle of the forest just outside of town? Same reason, they were bored and decided to ding dong ditch the senile old lady down the street.
If I’d had known for half a second . . . If I’d even had a hint of foresight about how everything would’ve turned out for us then I’d have suggested something else. Anything else, but hindsight’s 20/20. Especially for young kids.
“Guys, I’m freakin serious. Okay?” Tommy doubled down. His fists now balled up. His voice breaking a little bit with the overwhelming irritability at the laughter. “Anyone who’s ever messed with Ms. Abernanthy has been cursed.”
“Come on man.” I said trying to diffuse Tommy’s anger a little bit. “There’s a lot of places in this world, beautiful places! Jamacia, Hawaii, Switzerland. All sorts of places a powerful witch could have a good ass life, and you think there’s one living in that little brown double wide on Sycamore street? In London Ohio?”
A few more chuckles amongst the group of friends before Tommy finally resigned his argument with an exasperated sigh. As we came around from our fits of laughter and jokes we began to realize that the sun was setting.
“Wow, what a surprise.” Charlie spoke up. “No one cares that their doorbell got rang! Looks like our outlaw days are done y’alls. Just in time for dinner too. Convenient full pardons are convenient!”
“No doubt.” I responded as the group made their way out of the forest and began to cut across the large meadow towards town. “Marti, you eating with us tonight? Dad says it’s fine.”
“Appreciate it dude, but mom says we’ve got plans tonight. We’ll steal your dads Marlboros some other time okay?”
More laughter as the friend group split ways and headed home . . .
Ding
Dong
Diiing Doong
At first when I heard the doorbell ring, I just sort of brushed it off. I’d thought that maybe it was just some part of a dream I’d been having or something. Even in my almost full sleep state I knew that no one in their right mind would be ringing our doorbell at three in the morning. As I adjusted my pillow and threw my head back down on it though I heard it again. Resonating throughout the otherwise silent house in a way that was almost maliciously haunting given the time of night.
Ding
Dong
Diing Doong
It hadn’t been my imagination. There was someone at the door. Before I could even get up however, I heard the gruff and commanding voice of my father as his heavy footsteps stammered groggily past my room.
“I swear to Christ if that’s one of your goofy friends.” He mumbled to himself as he staggered past my room in his barely lucid state.
Several moments later I heard the front door open. Followed by my father shouting in surprise as several loud bangs and clashes filled the house with a chaotic cacophony of sound.
I ran out as quickly as I could towards the front room of the house to see my fathers silhouette fumbling for the light switch. As he turned it on, and my eyes adjusted to the sudden flash of light. I could see that he was intently scanning the front room. His bright green eyes bouncing back and forth like a radar scanner. Laying on the ground around him was a broken ash tray and several books that must’ve gotten knocked off of the shelf they’d previously been resting on.
“What happened dad?”
Quickly he put his finger out in a sort of ‘stop talking’ gesture as his eyes remained transfixed on the room around him. After a few moments of nerve wracking silence, he finally responded.
“There’s a bat somewhere. Flew in when I opened the door.”
“Who rang the doorbell?”
As if remembering what it was the led us to the front room in the middle of the night in the first place my dad looked back over his shoulder to the wide open front door, and the dimly lit street beyond it. He peaked his head over the threshold and looked around for a moment before closing it.
“No one . . . Some kids ding dong ditching maybe. Crazy ass teenagers, when do you guys even sleep nowadays?”
I laughed quietly at dad’s remark before looking around the front room to try and spot the bat.
“You’d think it’d be freaking out or something you know? Like, fluttering around and trying to find a way out?”
“Yeah . . . You’d think.”
A thorough search of the front room gradually turned into a thorough search of the entire house, but aside from the fallen books and ash tray in the front room there was nothing amiss. Just another normal small-town house in its small town neighborhood. Finally after about an hour and a half of searching my dad threw his arms up in defeat.
“Screw it, guess he’s staying. I gotta get ready for work anyways. Go back to bed kid, we’ll find it tomorrow. No one ever got killed by a stray bat.”
Although I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with the idea of sharing a house with a wild animal for the night. I knew he was right. It was almost four thirty in the morning now, and I was tired. Besides, if it’s afraid then it’ll probably just hide, and they sleep during the day so it shouldn’t be a huge issue . . . Hopefully.
“Alright, night dad. Have a good day at work.”
“Yeah. . . .”
Ding
Dong
Diing
Donng
I had just slipped into that sort of half realm between awake and asleep when I was abruptly brought back to consciousness by the doorbell ringing again. The red digital illumination of my alarm clock read 6:33am. I sighed to myself in annoyance and frustration as I turned over on my back to prepare to pull myself out of bed once again to try and discover who was ringing our doorbell again, and that’s when I saw her.
Suspended from the ceiling upside down was the darkened shadow of a person. Long tangled hair draped low and messy, almost touching the floor. From within the tangled mess of hair were two bright yellow eyes that burned through me like fire. As I screamed and clambered my way to the headboard of my bed to try and pathetically create some distance between myself and this horrible thing in my room the figure reached its arms out in a sort of ‘crucifix’ posture. From the aurora of its terrible yellow eyes I could see a wide mouth full of sharp teeth. I screamed again at the top of my lungs as the room filled itself with the mind numbing sound of the doorbell coming from the figures wide open mouth.
DIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG
DOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGG
DDIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGG
DDDOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGG
DIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGG
DOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGG
As the deafening noise trembled every ounce of my being the figure contorted its way off of the ceiling and plopped onto my bed in an awful and grotesque fashion. Even in my panicked state I couldn’t understand how it could’ve moved the way it did without breaking its neck and spine.
I tried to make a jump from my bed to the door, but I wasn’t quick enough. I got to the edge of the bed before I felt a tremendous weight pin me back on to the mattress and hold me down. Sitting on my chest was the figure. Those horrible eyes burrowing into my soul. That wicked mouth hanging open as if it were going to swallow me whole.
She’s a witch.
The memory of Tommy’s voice echoed in my head.
I don’t know what came over me. I don’t know if it was just the fear, and Tommy being the only name on my mind in that moment. I don’t know if I’m just a selfish coward. I just . . . Don’t know, but as that god awful thing sat on top of me. As her mouth and those evil yellow eyes drew closer and closer to my face I shouted at the top of my fear fueled lungs.
“IT WAS TOMMY! IT WAS TOMMY! HE RANG YOUR DOORBELL! IT WAS TOMMY! PLEASE!”
Suddenly, with no warning, and no possible way of occurring. The weight was off of my chest, and the figure was gone.
I don’t know how I managed to fall back asleep, maybe it was just the adrenaline dump that knocked me out, but before I knew it I was waking up to the image of my sun filled room.
After a lot of talking to myself. I had barely managed to convince myself that last nights events were just the result of a horrible dream. I had read somewhere that waking up in the middle of the night and then going back to sleep could result in very lucid dreams. That, I decided. Was what caused that awful dream.
Ding
Dong
Diiing
Doong.
I felt an anchor drop into my stomach as the doorbell rang. Slowly I made my way to the front door and with a lot of hesitation finally managed to open it.
Standing at the other side of the door was Tommy’s mom. A look of obvious concern on her face.
“Did . . . Uhm, Did Tommy by chance come to your house last night? I’ve been to everyone’s house that he knows, and no one’s seen him. I don’t understand why he would just leave the house like that. Please. If you know something, please just tell me.”
They never found Tommy. Not even the faintest glimpse of a clue. Everyone eventually stopped looking for him after about a year. Everyone but his mom, she never stopped looking. She died last year. I heard she was staring expectantly at the hospital door the entire time. Waiting for her son to come walking through . . . The police say he either ran away, or was kidnapped and killed by some vagabond who had seen us in town the day prior.
I’m the only one who truly knows what happened to him, and I’ve never been able to tell anyone that It was all my fault.
Tommy was right.

Status: online and open
Link code; 9004-9004
IGN: Aura
Hello! I have a few boxes of friend ball shroomish looking for new homes. All are Adamant, HA (Quick Feet), 5IV (-spatk), and have all four egg moves. Not looking for anything particular in return, feel free to trade whatever (but no eggs, please).
I did keep a few Effect Spores, so if you actually want one of those instead of the HA leave a comment with a link code and IGN, I'll reply when I'm searching.
PSA: If you want Spore on your Breloom, be aware that only SHROOMISH learns Spore and not Breloom. Level to 40, learn the move, then evolve after that. And because Breloom doesn't learn Spore, if you unlearn it you won't be able to re-learn it again! [I use this lil guy as a False Swipe+Spore hunter helper ^^]

i'm unable to open chat box. please help me. thanks

“Just relax, Jun. We’ll be watching you every step of the way. You’re perfectly safe.” Jun felt his armorer’s assurances were for her own benefit more than his. But as the shellfish carapace chest plate was locked into place over his sternum, he appreciated her kind words.
The experimental armor, designed after the shogun armors used by a few of the fleet’s warriors, was the first attempt by the ship’s artificer to use the volerite from the ocean floor to their advantage in this war. While previous attempts to use the body parts of the sea monsters below had been mildly successful, if greatly disturbing, this was the first real superweapon the exiles would have to their name. At least, that was the plan.
Jun had volunteered to test the first prototype as soon as the opportunity arose. He’d been a below-average fighter until now, spending more of his time on ship repair and maintenance than combat. The Harrowing hadn’t been kind to him; his bones were fragile, and many of the nerves in his arms and legs sent him agonizing bouts of pain on a daily basis. Recently, he’d even started to have seizures at the most inopportune times. His condition was becoming more severe, and the ship’s medic had all but given up on a good prognosis. He had about 3 months before the Harrowing reached his brain, and after that… well, he didn’t want to become a zombie like the creature on the Vaulted Velvet. If he was going to die, it might as well bring some good to his comrades.
“It’s a bit tight,” Jun said, squirming inside his prison of calcified flesh. The bracers on his legs made him feel stiff, and he was worried about being able to walk in the suit, let alone fight.
“Don’t worry,” the armorer said as she adjusted the binding agent on the joints. “The energy core should make the suit feel much lighter. The gel running along the outside should react to the volerite to give you the strength necessary to move faster and strike harder than anyone else in the fleet.”
“If it works, you mean.”
“Hey, you knew the risks of this when you signed up. I don’t think you have room to get cold feet now.” The dwarven woman picked up a pair of gauntlets and slid them onto Jun’s hands. “How does that feel?”
Jun tried to wiggle his fingers but found the gloves gave him little room to move. “Brittle.”
The armorer chuckled. “Let’s fix that, then.” She whistled, and a small creature with the body of a gnome and the skin and head of a shark (a chimera borrowed from Professor Ioniz, no doubt) approached them, carrying a tray with a large volerite crystal and a helmet shaped like a giant krill. “Don’t stare too long into the abyss, alright, pal?” She said jokingly.
Jun scoffed. “Just put the helmet on me, and let’s get on with this.” The dwarf picked up the krill skull and carefully slipped it over Jun’s head, fully encasing him in the white exoskeleton of the suit. “It’s kinda dark in here,” he yelled, realizing how small the slits for his eyes were.
“The gem should fix that, but I’ll make a note for the next remodel. Lower visibility is not something we want underwater.” Jun saw her walk out of his field of view to where the volerite was. “I’m going to coat the helmet in gel now. It’ll be airtight, but there’s an oxygen tank connected to the back, and the suit will synthesize its own air when you’re underwater.”
“Perfect.” Jun sighed. He thought he’d been prepared for the waiting period before he could test out the suit, but spending over an hour without being able to move was wearing out his patience. If the suit took this long to prep, maybe it wasn’t as game-changing as the artificers thought.
As a layer of clear gel slid over the mask, a few drops falling through the eye slits, Jun could feel a subtle vibration flow through the armor. The conducting gel was supposedly made from volerite as well, so he imagined a small amount of energy was already powering up the armor. It wasn’t enough to let him move his arms yet, but he could feel some of the joints loosening up.
“I think it’s working. You have the core ready yet?” He heard a muffled voice from outside the suit, but he couldn’t make out what it was saying. It was definitely his armorer, but it sounded like she was talking underwater. “What? I can’t hear you. The gel is-” But before he could try to get her attention, he saw the red glow of the gem coming closer as the dwarf slowly inserted it into the chest plate.
In an instant, electricity surged through Jun’s body, sending his already frayed nerves into overdrive. The suit around him started to glow a bright red as the light from his chest spread to cover his body. The locked joints started to crack and burst, sending shell pieces into his skin like shards of glass. “Take it out! Stop!” Jun tried to yell as his burning pain shot through his brain. It was like a lightning bolt was tearing him apart from the inside, and he couldn’t stop it.”
Then, as quickly as it started, the pain ceased, leaving only pitch darkness. Jun’s eyes refused to stay open, and he found himself losing consciousness fast. If this was his death, he had to admit it had been a pretty shitty one. As his mind faded, he heard one last whisper that seemed to come from his own mouth, though it sounded nothing like him. It wasn’t a human voice at all; it was something different.
“So much blood. Where to begin?”
Jun died listening to the sound of his armorer’s screams.
<><><>
When it came time for a shift change in the armory, the ship’s other blacksmith found the door to the lab wide open with one of the hinges broken. Inside the lab, though, was nothing short of a massacre. The walls were covered in blood, and the torn-up remains of one of the crew members were scattered on the floor. They assumed it had been the armorer, but there was so little left that it was anyone’s guess as to who it belonged to. There wasn’t a trace of the volerite they’d been using for weapons development; a half-ton of the mineral gone without a trace. The research and design papers were beyond salvaging, and as for the armor prototype itself, the only clues were the bloody bootprints leading to a hole in the side of the hull. The fleet shelved the project, deeming it too dangerous without full knowledge of what happened, much to the dismay of Professor Ioniz and the other artificers in the crew.
Still, the war continued, but with a dark specter looming over everyone on both sides. Each battalion had its own word for the creature that came for them; an inky monster in red, with a single glowing red eye in its chest, killing indiscriminately and leaving bloody massacres in its wake wherever it went. Very few lived to tell any stories about it at all, and the stories were so vague and inconsistent that most of the exiles doubted it existed at all. But every time red appeared on the surface of the water or the scent of blood came in on the wind, a chill ran through the air, even to the doubters. Another curse had been levied against them, and this one might not be one they survived.