Character Application

• Discord Name: imNotGoodAtNaming#3022
• Name and House: Addam Frey
• Age: 18
• Appearance: Addam is, unlike his great-grandfather Forrest, a man clearly not built to wield a sword. Though tall, his slender and rather wiry build gives him a rather unimposing presence. He wears his hair slightly too long, hanging low across his eyes and curling around his neck, and his gaze seems permanently wary, always on edge. Addam seldom smiles in public, and dark bags beneath his eyes bely the troublesome relationship he has with sleep. Much like how his grandfather Franklyn made up for his lack of swordsmanship with his impressive stewardship abilities, Addam makes up for his own faults with an impressive ability to talk, peddle information, and play the other side of the game.
• Gifts: Gossiper
• Skills: Cautious (e), Espionage, Torturer, Subtle
• Talents: Hunting, Riding, Swimming, Whittling
• Negative Traits: N/A
• Starting Titles: Lord of the Crossing
• Starting Location: Feast/King’s Landing
• Family Tree: House Frey in 207 AC
• Alternate Characters: N/A for now

Timeline

• 187 AC: Perianne Frey, Addam’s elder sister, is born to Symond Frey and Marilda Celtigar.
• 189 AC: Addam and Marissa Frey are born to Symond and Marilda.
• 194 AC: Addam begins his tutelage under Symond. As the heir’s heir, his father gives him a well-rounded education — involving stewardship, military command, and diplomacy, alongside the usual nobleman's education.
• 200 AC: Symond dies whilst riding along the Green Fork, after his horse slips along the slippery rocks — falling into the river and trapping Symond underneath. Symond drowns before his horse can be lifted off him, leaving Addam as heir.
• 203 AC: Frey Regency Crisis
  • 2nd Moon: Lord Franklyn Frey dies, Addam Frey becomes Lord. Perwyn Frey is named regent in Lord Franklyn’s will.
  • 3rd Moon: While traveling, Perwyn Frey’s camp is set upon by supposed bandits. Perwyn Frey and his son Theomore Frey die; Celesse Frey survives after riding away into the woods on her lonesome. Osmund Frey is the new regent.
  • 5th Moon: A catspaw breaks into the East Castle and sets the Lord’s chambers ablaze. Addam and Marissa are rescued from within by men loyal to Lyonel Frey and House Nayland, but Marissa gets briefly trapped beneath a burning log. Marissa’s face is permanently disfigured as a result.
  • 6th Moon: Osmund Frey and his youngest son Raymond Frey are murdered in their beds. Osmund’s eldest son, Walton Frey, rides with his sister Sarra to his mother’s home at Breaker's Beak, and does not return until Bertram is arrested. Bertram Frey is named regent.
  • 7th Moon: “Black Benfrey” Rivers, bastard son of Bertram Frey, is caught trying to contact catspaws and other shady figures in a town nearby Hag’s Mire, and is arrested. Bertram attempts to downplay his bastard’s actions as those of a rogue bastard — but Addam secretly goes behind his Uncle’s back and orders Black Benfrey to be tortured for information.
  • 8th Moon: Under torture, Black Benfrey admits his own role and the role of his father in the death of Perwyn, Theomore, Osmund, and Raymond, as well as the attack on Addam himself. Bertram is arrested by Lyonel’s men.
  • 9th Moon: Eamon Frey leaves the Twins, under suspicion of being involved in Bertram and Benfrey’s plots, but with no firm evidence available. Addam orders a dozen Frey guards to attempt to chase Eamon down, but Eamon evades them and rides into Mallister lands before he can be caught. From Seagard, he takes a ship south.
  • 10th Moon: Bertram and Black Benfrey are executed. Lyonel is offered the regency, but refuses. Addam’s mother, Marilda Celtigar, is declared Regent.
• 204 AC: Lyonel Frey leaves the Twins — coincidentally also riding to Seagard.
• 205 AC: On his sixteenth name day, Addam begins to rule in his own right.
• 206 AC: Arrangements for a betrothal between Addam Frey and Alys Blackwood begins.
• 206 AC: Perianne Frey leaves the Twins and marries Osric Dustin.
• 207 AC: Marissa Frey leaves the Twins and marries Paxter Redwyne.
• 207 AC: Addam Frey leaves the Twins and travels towards King’s Landing.

Auxiliary Character Application

• Name and House: Eamon “the Exile” Frey
• Age: 27
• Appearance: Eamon shares the common Frey look; brown hair and brown eyes, with light facial hair. However, years of stress resulting from his exile from his homeland has aged him beyond his years — worry lines surround his eyes, and his brows are nearly always furrowed. Unlike his Lordly cousin, Eamon clearly does take after Forrest Frey’s martial legacy — being well-built from years training with swords and armor. Despite his status in exile, Eamon remains proud of his heritage and station. He spends gold freely on clothes, jewelry, horses, and other objects of luxury befitting a noble, and a brooch emblazoned with the sigil of House Frey is always visible on his body: a reminder of what he has been forced away from.
• Gifts: Duelist
• Skills: Swords, Tactician, Defender
• Talents: Hunting, Swimming, Cyvasse
• Negative Traits: N/A
• Starting Titles: Scion of House Frey
• Starting Location: With the household of House Lannister of Lannisport

Auxiliary Character Timeline

• 177 AC: Benfrey Rivers, illegitimate son of Bertram Frey, is born.
• 180 AC: Eamon Frey, son of Bertram Frey and Darla Haigh, is born.
• 186 AC: Eamon begins to squire for Symond Frey, his uncle and heir to the Twins.
• 194 AC: Eamon excels at swordplay, and begins to undergo more strenuous and personal training with his Uncle.
• 198 AC: Eamon leads a group of Frey knights in battling and capturing a group of bandits along the Frey Plains. For this, he is knighted by Symond.
• 200 AC: Symond drowns in the Green Fork after a freak riding accident. Eamon is greatly affected by the death of his mentor.
• 203 AC: Frey Regency Crisis
  • Despite Eamon being Bertram’s son, Bertram almost does not view Eamon as his own. Bertram sees Eamon’s close relationship to the late Symond as evidence of Eamon being untrustworthy, and does not entrust Eamon with his plot to seize control of the regency — and subsequently the Lordship of the Crossing.
  • As Freys begin to die every week or two, Eamon is terrified alongside the rest of his family. He is sent to Haigh Hill for a few months — ostensibly to keep him safe from the chaos of the Twins.
  • Black Benfrey and Bertram are subsequently arrested and interrogated. Neither give any inclination that Eamon has been involved in their plans, but Addam is nevertheless suspicious of him.
  • Eamon returns to the Twins and witnesses the execution of his half-brother and his father. He swears to Addam of having no part in his father’s treason — but Addam seems unperturbed. The next day, Eamon departs from the Twins and rides West.
  • Addam’s prior suspicions about Eamon seem to have been confirmed, and he dispatches a dozen Frey guards to ride after Eamon, but the guards do not catch Eamon before Eamon enters Mallister lands. The guards don’t cross into Mallister lands, not wishing to spark a bigger incident.
• 203 AC: Eamon is welcomed in the household of Seagard, remaining there briefly to catch his breath and prepare himself for the journey.
• 204 AC: Eamon departs from Seagard onboard a trading ship, and sails south. The ship docks in Lannisport, and he disembarks. With his inheritance from his father and his own personal allowance, he has a decent amount of gold — and finds lodgings in a high-brow inn.
• 205 AC: Attending a social event in Lannisport, Eamon meets Tyshara Lannister. The two court briefly.
• 206 AC: Eamon and Tyshara marry.
• 207 AC: Eamon reluctantly tags along with the Lannisters towards King’s Landing — hoping to stay far away from his cousin, who has doubtlessly received word of his marriage to a Lannister and wishes to see Eamon arrested.

Archetype NPCs

• Ser Lyle Nayland — Swords
  • Ser Lyle Nayland is Addam’s sworn sword, and Addam’s good-uncle through his late sister’s marriage to Lyonel Frey. Lyle was the one who saved Addam and Marissa during the burning of the Lord’s chambers, and earned Addam’s respect and loyalty for this action. He remains one of the few individuals who Addam legitimately trusts and, as Addam’s protector, is an ever present shadow behind Addam.
• Ser Olyvar Charlton — Tactician
  • Ser Olyvar Charlton is another one of Addam’s close confidantes. Olyvar was close to Addam’s father Symond, and has subsequently joined up with Addam’s entourage. Olyvar’s specialty lies in command, and he has been entrusted as Addam’s primary battlefield commander — given Addam’s own rather lacking personal ability in command.

I work in public policy. My supervisor continuously thinks I'm incompetent and that I need consistent guidance because she keeps correcting me. I'm fairly certain that I just care more about the literal meaning of things.
For example if someone said, "...be able to care for their patient 24/7" I would say that if the patient needs to go to a nursing home on the weekends, then they are not caring for them during the weekend, which means the care is not 24/7. Right??
I was told this is wrong and "24/7" means "at any given time." This literally is not true and these instances are resulting in bad performance reviews. I'm so tired. Does anyone else know what to do when you're told you're wrong when you understand things literally? I've tried to explain the logic but she doesn't want to understand and I feel completely stuck. Is my logic wrong?

I hope this post doesn’t violate rule 8. I am trying to make sure it’s not low effort!
Ok, so if we are discussing the US, I think many people would say that the most objectively beautiful women live in L.A., NYC, and Miami. I’m pretty sure we’ve had some threads on which of those three cities individuals like best in terms of human aesthetics- so I’ll switch it up here.
Excluding LA, NYC and Miami, which location in the US would you say has the most beautiful women that you know of? Could be a region, could be a city, could be a tiny town in the middle of Montana. Once, I even heard that Firebaugh, CA was home to the most stunning woman someone had ever seen.
I’m expecting choices to include San Diego, Dallas and Honolulu, but welcome being thrown a curveball. Why and how do you find the women in that location particularly gorgeous? Do you put any of those secondary locations above LA/NYC/Miami?
I don’t want to leave out the men: where are the most gorgeous men at in your opinion? Same locations, or different?
Abroad, I have less knowledge of which locations are most “beautiful.” I would expect many places to qualify in Eastern Europe as well as in the Nordic countries, but I’m not sure which regions/cities/towns. And apart from once having heard a rumor that Shanghai has the most beautiful Chinese women, and knowing that Colombia and Costa Rica are major destinations for the sex trade, I know nothing about such locations outside of Europe- not even for Canada or Mexico.
So for redditors who aren’t from/living in the US and have detailed knowledge of other countries, which places would you pick, based on your knowledge and preferences? Paris? Dubai? St. Petersburg? Cairo? Capetown? New Delhi? Ho Chi Minh City? Seoul? Brisbane? Medellin? Buenos Aires? Some small town that few people have even visited? Just curious and like hearing people’s experiences and preferences.

Hi. I’m looking for suggestions on how to improve my diet. I would say to I’m eating healthy currently but my fiber intake is quite high. My research telling me daily fiber intake should be 25-35 grams, I’m currently sitting around 60-70 a day. My current diet is; Breakfast porridge, peanut butter, banana and one or two toast Other meals ( three or four) whole grain rice or pasta, chicken breast or lean turkey, bananas and toasts with honey.
It’s not the identical, but should give you an idea.
So what everyone think about fiber intake and how you keep it low?
Thank you

I (26M) was recently broken up with by my (24F) girlfriend of 6 years right after opening up to her about how I had been struggling a lot mentally recently. That's not necessarily the cause, but it happens to be a terrible coincidence.
Backstory to the unfortunate mental struggles:
About 10 weeks ago I had a very long night out and woke up extremely hungover. My brother met up with me that night in our parents car and ended up staying with us for a few drinks, so evidently he left the car.
Of course, I woke up and had a boatload of caffeine so I was already on edge a little bit. My brother was still asleep, so my mom asked me if I could quickly drive my dad to the car so he could take it home. No problem, I hopped in my car and drove there with my dad.
On the way home, completely unprovoked and no anxiety prior, I had an insane panic attack. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. I think I’ve only had one panic attack in my life, and for some reason it left me with a very small amount of social anxiety. During this attack, my hands and feet were completely numb and sweating. At first, I had literally no idea what was going on - I thought it was a legitimate health issue. I ended up taking a bit to drive home, but I made it.
Since then, I've just had heightened anxiety. I've had one other panic attack in the past and I eventually got over the lingering anxiety, so I knew it wasn't permanent.
Mental Health Backstory on her end:
To preface this, we both have anxiety/depression in our genetics unfortunately. In fact, her mom spent some time in the hospital when they were young because of how bad it got.
She also apparently had a ton of anxiety from work recently (she's a nurse, I'm in tech).
On my mothers side of the family, my mom, grandma and great grandma have struggled with anxiety their entire lives, some of them taking antidepressants.
Not fun genes for either of us to have, but we persevered!
Our Relationship:
This is what has been getting to me, our relationship was very healthy. We argued probably 2-3 times per year, we spent the majority of days together - as we lived only a 5 minute drive apart. We were both fully a part of each other's families. All of the normal relationship stuff, we were completely engulfed in it. We had also been looking at engagement rings for a bit and ALWAYS talked about our life together.
When I was about 19 before we were together, I used to drunkenly talk about her all of the time to my friends saying "if she ever gets out of the relationship with her boyfriend (at that time) she's the one I'm going for". When I was graduating high school, I went into her class on yearbook day, grabbed her yearbook and wrote my number in it. Long story short, she ended up single and within a month of that happening, we were together.
The "problems" we had over the years that were semi-recurring:
I didn't suggest enough of our plans. I explained to her a number of times that I'd happily go anywhere, I just don't tend to suggest ideas because sometimes she wanted to, other times she didn't. I've lived by the motto "happy wife, happy life" in that relationship, so I tended to go along with whatever she suggested.
We didn't take enough pictures together. I don't really like being in too many pictures and that bothered her.
We didn't travel together enough. This goes back to the anxiety, I hate flying and haven't done it in almost a decade. However, I have an appointment with my doctor in early July where I'm requesting some "emergencies only" anxiety medication to use for that exact scenario. Note - she went on a number of trips over the years with her closest friends. Furthermore, we had done weekend getaways via car together but those apparently don't count. To add, her friends are hopping on planes at least once per month to go somewhere, I think comparison became the thief of joy here.
I didn't tell her I loved her enough or hug her enough. This one is hard for me because I felt like I definitely told her I loved her a lot. She used to occasionally say "do you even love me", semi-joking but also serious, and I always told her of course I did and even though I may not say it a number of times a day, of course I do. I also did a TON of things for her to show how much I cared (ie. she very rarely had to make a lunch for work, I cooked for her almost every day and we don't even live together) The hugging thing is a bit different, as she's always been extremely affectionate and I never really have been. I truly think it comes down to how I was raised, affection just wasn't a huge part of my childhood. (note, that's not a problem for me or anything, I had incredible family/parents, it just wasn't as prominent as it was in her childhood)
I cared a lot about money and how we could set ourselves up to move out. She had taken 5 trips (two of them by train, three by plane) with her friends in the past year and after the 5th one I asked if she planned on slowing down so she could focus on tackling her student debt and so we could start saving to move out, have a wedding etc. Specifically, I wanted us to be in the position where we weren't renting a home, ESPECIALLY given how much money we were making combined. This part kind of confused me because she was the first one to suggest moving out, but when it came time to adjusting the lifestyle to prepare for it, she didn't like the idea. But, I did use it as a crutch for my anxiety to get out of things sometimes and I did open up to her about that. As an example though, I still went with her to the Gucci store and helped her pick out a very expensive purse to celebrate getting her first real nursing job after graduating. I don't feel that I cared about money (especially given the stage we were in in our lives) more than any of my buddies with girlfriends. I wanted us to be set up well for the coming stages of our lives; they were fast approaching. Furthermore, her friends are catching a plane every weekend and are living with their parents but pay cheque to pay cheque with no prospects of ever leaving unless it's renting
The Situation:
About 7-ish weeks ago, a few weeks after my panic attack, my girlfriend was very adamant that we needed to book a trip together. She said we hadn't been on a "real" trip during our relationship (by real, she means getting on a plane). We were sitting down in her bed on my laptop looking at destinations and flights, but I was incredibly anxious about the whole thing. As we were about to book, I broke down and was fully vulnerable to her for one of the first times in the 6 year relationship. I said that I just don't see myself getting onto a plane right now without some kind of medication to calm me down. On top of that, it would stress me out financially a bit, as I'm a full-time masters student and working full time. Plus, it was during my one-week semester break, so I honestly just wanted to relax.
From that day on, our relationship started going downhill. She said she felt extremely disappointed by the whole situation and she couldn't shake the feeling. We then started only hanging out maybe once per week and it was very bland when we did. A couple weeks after that incident, I slept over at her house and I could tell she was genuinely just not happy at that time.
Brief backstory - despite being 26, my mom still gives me a ton of flack if I sleep at her house. It was rare that I got away with it. But, I did it that night anyway because she always asked me to sleep over but I rarely wanted to have to deal with my mom. I thought it would help show her I'm really trying to get better. She also invited me over the following evening and I obviously went.
After that day, I don't think we saw each other for about 2 weeks. I texted her on a Friday evening and said I just don't feel like she wants to be with me anymore. She picked me up so we could talk, and explained that she felt very disappointed about how we were so close to booking the trip and ended up not doing it. She said she needed a break and I was fine with it, I understood where she was coming from.
During this time, I started seeing a therapist. I found one online who was one of the highest rated in my province and was also extremely experienced in marital/pre-marital counselling so I could tell her about the relationship issues I was having along with my anxiety.
Fast forward about 2 more weeks (last weekend) she texted me saying she was ready to talk and picked me up. She said it's probably best if we just end the relationship for the time being. She explained that she felt she had been disappointed a few times over the years and was bottling a lot of things up. She said she needed time to "find herself again" and didn't know if we would get back together at all in the future or not. Then, we sat there talking in her car for another 30 minutes like things were normal so it really threw me off.
I ended up texting her the next day and asked if I could pick her up because I was confused from the night prior since we talked so normally after the breakup conversation. We ended up talking again, sharing some tears and what not, but I kind of understood why she felt she needed to be alone for a bit, even though she didn't know if we would get back together or not. She said that people do this all of the time and sometimes they come back stronger, but if it was meant to be then we'll get back together. I also told her about how much help I'm getting and how I'm setting a goal to take a vacation when I finish my masters in November. She was noticeably happy and asked a lot about how I was talking to my therapist about improving as a person and a (what I thought was soon to be) fiancé. She asked for all of the details about what we talked about in regards to our relationship and was very happy that I was putting that much effort in.
A couple days ago is when she deleted are photos together, but it came right after she posted an Instagram story while out with a friend who has no stability whatsoever. This friend has been on and off with the same guy (who treats her terribly) for as long as we were together. Not to mention, she sleeps around a ton. I can't help but feel like some of this breakup is being influenced by her friends (specifically this one) wanting her to be single like they are out of jealousy or something. Or, they want her to be flying somewhere once a month with them with no plans for the future. My girlfriend has cried to me in the past because she had been brought to places she didn't want to be because her friend wanted to go for a guy. That friend has also been binge drinking several times weekly for years. The following night, her two friends posted a story of her incredibly drunk in the back of a car with her feet out of the window I'm sure in hopes that I would see it. We're grown ass adults, I can't help but feel like that's just not a cool thing to do to your friend in general? I don't care how drunk you are, in fact I expected her to have a night out with her friends and let loose but posting someone else like that is just insanely stupid to me! To put the icing on the cake, one of my long time buddies from high school decided to go for one of her friends and I gave him substantial warnings about her. Within a year, that relationship was completely over with and she was on to the next.
Neither of us were ever the type one to have one-night stands or get around, so I'm not concerned about anything like that during the breakup. If it happens it happens, but I won't be sleeping with anyone until I've put in all of my effort to saving everything we've built. She's only ever been with me and her ex, while I've had a handful more partners before her - but I've experienced enough in my 26 years to know that there was is only one woman for me.
After all of this, I still couldn't shake the feeling that I felt I was being abandoned during the one time in my entire life I've opened up to anyone and really wanted some support. I'm also just having a hard time processing why it happened and how I can salvage it.
I've texted her once per week since the breaks & breakup happened just telling her that I loved her and wished we were going to XYZ events coming up. I also always say in the message that "You don't have to respond or even read it, I just want you to know". I'm having a hard time deciding if I should continue giving her that weekly text or not, but I really do want her to know how much I care and thought we were a dream team.
I just can't help but feel like we had "problems" that were very fixable and were very minor compared to 99% of couples. Her two best friends have had 5+ boyfriends each in the time that we were together and countless one-night stands. Every time they would break up, I'd hear a story from my girlfriend about how terribly they were treated by these guys and we talked about how lucky we are to have each other. There was no forms of jealousy or self-consciousness between us either, neither of us were bothered when we went out alone with our respective friend groups. I also never for a second worried when she travelled with her friends that she'd cheat or something.
This wraps in with why I can't process the breakup. Aside from the few things we argued about here and there (few times a year) it was an incredibly healthy relationship. I had a great relationship with her friends (despite some of the things I've said about them above) and would often times opt to go out drinking with her group over my group of buddies. I acknowledged my shortcomings as a boyfriend (ie. the affection) with my therapist and she's giving me some help with it. Am I crazy for thinking 1. that I can fix what's happened and 2. Part of this breakup might just be her wanting to see how much I actually care?
Anyway, I might add to this if I remember more important points. I just needed to get some of this off my chest. If you've made it this far into my story, thanks for reading!
TL;DR - Our relationship was very healthy, we never argued, the breakup came essentially because I wasn’t ready to travel despite the fact that I’m actively getting help

Nettie Peterson has known me at my best and at my worst, and after everything that's happened lately, I think I can finally say the same. I'm admittedly not very good at comforting her, though. I haven't had much practice, is all. Historically speaking, she's always been the one to take care of me. My introduction to earth was a confusing, horrifying time for me, and she had dealt with all of it. She'd handled every panic attack, brought me back from every low. When I woke up one night to a drilling pain in my stomach and blood soaking my panties, she managed to keep me calm while explaining that this would now happen every month.
What I'm saying is that the woman is insanely skilled.
Me, not so much. After we had gotten out of the cave, I tried to provide emotional support by petting her hair and talking soothingly. Seeing as I was also distressed, she was doing the same to me, so we were basically sitting on the beach holding each other. To the outside observer, we must have looked rather strange. I was relieved to finally get back to her house. We sat down in front of the TV and ate cupcakes. We have a special system for eating cupcakes. I peel off the frosting and give her rest. It's messy and I have to keep hand wipes nearby everytime, but it's how we do it. We both eat cupcakes whole when we're by ourselves, so it doesn't make much sense either, but when we share, it's always like this.
Once I was sure she was alright, I left her to go off to bed while I made my way back to the hotel, bracing myself for what I expected to be an extremely uncomfortable conversation.
The lobby was dim and quiet. The large, bright ceiling lights had been turned off with only a couple floor lamps illuminating the hall. I walked past the unmanned reception desk and up the stairs, then rapped my knuckles against the door to Frankie's room. After a couple seconds, he opened up. Upon meeting my gaze, he let out a soft gasp, but it wasn't followed by a smile this time. He made way for me to step inside, wordlessly, and I entered without breaking the silence. I sat down on the sofa where he joined me after placing a glass of coconut water in front of me.
For a beat, we both stared at the drink. I didn't take it.
"What you did felt really off earlier," I began. "You were trying to embarrass Nettie. If you were testing your boundaries, if you were trying to see how I'd react, you got your answer. Don't ever make me choose between you two. You'll lose."
"Yes," he said quietly.
"If you don't get along with Nettie, that's one thing. You don't need to. But she was needling you and you made a real effort to be cruel." I paused. "You act so strange sometimes. All bossy and cagey."
"Yes," he repeated, briefly falling silent as he worked away on his gum in slow, contemplative motions. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I did it. I wanted to unsettle her. It's not that I don't like her, she's fine, but at that moment, I simply loathed her. I couldn't tell you why. But I wish I'd kept quiet. I feel gross for spouting off like that."
"Then… why?"
"I don't know! There's this weird feeling, it comes over me and makes me remember stuff that's in the past… Then I get caught up and confused. I run my mouth, but I don't want to make you upset. I swear I won't do it again. I'll rein myself in."
"Will you? This doesn't seem right." I took a deep breath. "Frankie, I have no idea what you are. Even though you know everything about me."
"Not everything," he argued. "You never said a thing about what life was like where you're from. Or who you were before. Yes, that's not what this is about, but I'm just speaking technically."
"You shouldn't have to rely on technicalities to make a point."
"No. Look, I keep wondering what I'm even doing here. I like you a lot. But I haven't thought this through and by now, I'm scared to."
"Stop talking in riddles," I implored him.
He huffed out a chuckle. "I'd have to stop thinking in them first." Before he could add anything else, his phone started vibrating on the TV table. "Oh, dammit," he muttered. Shooting me an uncertain gaze, he reached out for it, his hand hovering above the screen. "Can I?"
"Sure." I let go of a long breath, snatched up the glass and leaned back in my seat as Frankie answered the call. I pick up on a woman's voice talking on the other end.
He kept glancing over at me almost sheepishly as he mumbled words of affirmation into the phone. "Yes… Yeah, I remember… Well, it's not a good time, but I'll do it. Bye." Dropping the device into his lap, he gave me a twist of the mouth. "That was Mae-Lynn. She works at—"
"The diner with you," I cut him off. "I do take note of the other staff there, for your information." I took a sip of my water. "Occasionally."
"I promised to do some shopping for her. She's come down with the flu. Store's closing soon, though, so I'll have to go now."
"Well, that's convenient."
"I was going to ask you to come along."
I agreed. Having lost track of the conversation, the drive was a grim, quiet affair. Frankie took us to one of the more expensive stores in the area, saying that he wanted to treat Mae-Lynn.
"Take a cart," I ordered, and once he had acquired one, I had him hold it still while I climbed inside. He regarded me with a bemused expression but refrained from commenting as he began to roll me down the aisles.
Grocery shopping at night is something else. Eighties music was playing over the radio at a low volume, but the otherwise quiet space made it sound decidedly louder. There was almost the hint of an echo. Safe for two of three singular, tired-looking individuals, Frankie and I were the only people in the store. I had nestled against the back of the cart, my head tipped back to watch Fran's face from below as his eyes roamed the shelves. Occasionally, he'd stop to check the list Mae-Lynn had texted him on his phone.
"If you want anything, speak up," he told me.
"I'm out of cereal," I said, just as we passed the respective aisle. He turned the cart back around, let me pick out a carton of cornflakes and took up walking again. After five minutes of stoically regarding him from my mobile vantage point, I piped up again. "Go back. Wrong ones."
"Well, which ones do you want? I'll get them, it's faster than pushing this thing around."
I shook my head. "No, no, I have to look at them. Go back."
He shook his head to himself but obediently maneuvered the cart back to the shelf with the breakfast items. I took my time picking out a different box, then settled back down.
"Happy?" Fran asked.
"Delighted."
After fifteen minutes, we were getting close to finishing Mae-Lynn's list. Frankie was starting to move towards the cash register, only for me to tug on his arm. "Turn back," I told him, holding up the box. "I don't want them after all. I need different ones."
He stifled a groan. "Sure, Sunshine." I let him roll me all the way back to the cereal aisle where I studied the colorful boxes intensely. "Nevermind," I said, turning back to him. "Let's go."
He started making his way over to the register again when I cleared my throat. "Actually, I think I might have another look."
"Are you kidding me?" he squeaked, only for me to hold his gaze with a smile. "You are," he choked out. "I oughta send you rolling right into that stack of cans."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Is that a challenge?" He glanced about himself, finding that we were alone. Then, he pushed the cart, and it swerved, sliding across the shiny floor. The thrill of the launch washed over me and I started laughing. He lunged for it, grabbing it just in time to prevent the collision.
"Do it again!" I demanded.
He indulged me, sending me swerving and spinning a couple more times. Eventually, he took a running start and pushed me down a long, empty aisle at a breakneck speed. The giggles died in my throat when, seemingly out of thin air, someone appeared at the end of the aisle. My jaw dropped and I reflexively gripped the sides of the cart to protect myself from the impending crash, but the person simply reached out and caught the cart by its edges. Within the blink of an eye, they had managed to steady it. My vehicle had come to a standstill. It all happened incredibly fast, and for a moment, I found myself unable to react. One of the other person's hands had come to rest over mine in the process. Still at a loss for words, I raised my head to meet their gaze.
Those eyes.
My heart, already thundering in my chest, dropped entirely into my stomach. There were pupils filling the void in that formerly uninterrupted pale vastness this time, but I recognized them either way. Seeing them sit in an actual face instead of behind a nondescript black mask was strange, but there was not a doubt in my mind. It was them.
The cultist had jarringly pleasant features that struck me as neither overtly feminine nor masculine. Their tawny skin had an almost bronze sheen to it and short locks of platinum blond hair stuck to their smooth forehead, slick with the same sweat that formed stains beneath the armpits of their light gray t-shirt.
It was like time stood still. The interaction could not have been longer than two seconds in total, but it felt like a full hour. From me staring at our linked hands, to locking eyes with them, to the cold, raw realization, it seemed to me as though forty minutes or more had gone by, followed by another twenty when I watched the crude smile forming on their lips. Their fingers clamped down on my own, and before I knew it, it had happened.
The lights in the store had changed color, taking on a dimmer, sickly green tint. The shelves around us had emptied and the gentle, melodic hum of the radio had been replaced by a deep, droning buzz of static. I was still sitting in the shopping cart, and the cultist was still leaning over me, but their expression had morphed into one of shocked disbelief. Seeing fear on the face of the person who'd stabbed me might have been a great satisfaction to me in any other situation, but right then and there, I was equally as terrified.
I had switched dimensions and was now alone with my attempted murderer.
The thought took a while to sink in, but the clearer it became, the more I felt the need to scream. And yet, not a sound left my lips. My own saliva had turned sour, filling my mouth with an acidic taste. Dread pooled in the pit of my stomach like icy, chilled water and tears were stringing the corners of my eyes. I blinked them away in a hurry, redirecting my gaze at the cultist. They were staring past me in a daze, taking in our changed surroundings before fixing me with a sharp glare.
"Seriously?"
"What?" The word somehow slipped past the lump in my throat.
The cultist made a sweeping gesture at our surroundings. "Where are we? What the hell is this? You don't even have your dimension hopping under control? Not gonna lie, I had higher expectations of you."
"What?" I repeated eloquently.
"You just switched dimensions on my ass. And seeing as you literally crashed into me, I don't think you planned on doing that."
"I didn't," I confirmed.
"That's what I'm talking about."
"You know about dimensions?"
The cultist palmed their face, emitting a deep, low groan. "Clearly."
I scrambled back in the cart, trying to bring some distance between the two of us. I bared my teeth at them, both rows elongating and curving outward. At least I was getting the hang of my physical transformation. "If you come any closer, I'll rip your hand off," I hissed, spittle flying out between my fangs.
"I believe you," they replied, narrowing their eyes at me. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
"That's hard for me to believe."
"Yes, sure. I did and I would again, but not here. Not now. You understand?" they asked pointedly, their voice cutting like a razor blade.
"I'm not sure I do."
"Well, without you, I won't get out of here, and I've stuff to do on the other side." They stepped behind the cart and grabbed onto the handle.
I hastily twisted around to face them. "You know about the finer details of dimension hopping but you can't do it yourself?"
They let out a soft sigh as they began pushing the cart, with me inside, down the empty aisle. "I managed to do it once. Just once. Never again. It's not a great surprise to me that you should be able to switch to the other sides, but I'd thought you'd be able to control it. I think I have your number. I'm pretty sure I know what you are, and we have more in common than you could have probably guessed. That boy you were with on the other hand… I won't lie, he freaks me out. He's got the strangest face and he didn't react to my eyes at all."
"What are you?" I queried, quick to steer him away from the topic of Frankie Preston even though I didn't really expect an honest answer. "How'd you do that the other night? Your… your eye thing?"
"That unsettled you, didn't it? It's not anything I do per se." They shrugged leisurely. "I could just as well ask you where you're hiding your tentacles."
"So you're not human. I didn't think you were," I stated. "What's your business with the Collective? What are you after? Are any of you normal people?"
"As far as I know, I'm the only one who's not." They steered the cart around the corner with a swift, forcible yank and I bumped painfully against the side of the cart. Stifling a yelp, I kept my face straight, looking over the shelves as we passed them. I noticed that some of them weren't entirely empty—there were a couple jars, cans and bags of various goods standing scattered throughout. They looked almost lonely. The cultist, registering my wandering gaze, stopped and grabbed a random plastic jar that looked like it could be containing peanut butter or something of the sort. The label was faded and partially peeled off. They inspected it from all sides before thrusting it into my hands. "Here, open it," they commanded.
"I certainly won't," I replied, a mix of rage and apprehension bubbling in my chest.
"Aren't you curious?"
"No. But if you are, go on and open it yourself."
They grunted, grabbing the jar and unscrewing the red lid. They dropped it to the floor where it bounced off once and rolled away into the darkness. Peering in, their expression remained unchanged. "Nothing. Look." They held it out to me and sure enough, it was empty. I let them hand it to me, intrigue winning me over as I started examining the small container. It was completely unremarkable. I reached two of my fingers inside only for the digits to suddenly be stricken with a searing pain. It flashed through my bones like lightning and I cried out, withdrawing my hand. Suddenly, the floor seemed to quiver. The lights in the store flickered, seeming startlingly bright for a split second only to turn dimly green once more. The cultist let out an involuntary shriek, staggering back before managing to steady themself as everything went back to its former solid state.
"What the fuck was that?" they wheezed.
"An earthquake?" I suggested, not quite knowing what else to say. My pulse was thrumming in my ears, hard enough to split my head in half. It took me a minute to regain a relative state of calm.
"An earthquake? In another dimension? You're messing with me."
"I don't know! Maybe it was… maybe I was nearly jumping back, I have no idea." I shook my head, ignoring the throbbing pain shooting through my temples. "I don't have it all figured out yet, but it's an emotional response. Whenever my flight instinct gets triggered, these dimension switches happen. It was the jar. The jar is painful inside."
"What do you mean?" they asked, eagerly reaching for the jar and sticking their pinky finger into it. They pulled it back out with a howl, letting the jar drop to the floor. "What the hell is up with this place?"
"How would I know?" I argued hotly.
"Yeah, well. Anyways." All of a sudden, their hand was in my hair, tugging on my braid. They yanked my head to the side, and before I could break out my tentacles or try to snap my jaws at them, I could feel their hot breath on my nape. A scream died in my throat, equal parts painful and shocked. My eyes burned, my vision swimming when the cultist dragged their teeth across my skin, leaving a trail of warm saliva. And then, fast and without mercy, they bit down.
The lights turned bright white. The static buzzing that had been hanging in the stale air changed to the familiar eighties music tunes. Squinting into the sudden brightness, the colors of the countless types of packaged products filling the shelves almost seemed to be screaming at me.
We were back.
The cultist disentangled themself, quickly stepping away from me. I looked up, still dazed, to see why. Frankie Preston had come up behind us, snatching the cart away from the other person and pulling it out of their reach. I immediately scrambled up to wrap my arms around him. "That's them," I breathed. "From the Collective."
"I know," he said tonelessly. His eyes, trained on the blonde, spelled murder. "You should get out of here," he added, addressing them. "The shelves here are rickety, they might fall on you."
The cultist's expression was a frozen mix of suppressed uncertainty and confusion. Still, they held the server's gaze. "You should maybe not… do anything stupid," they uttered, their voice almost equally as flat as his.
"I'm all about stupid."
"Then I guess I ought to leave. See you guys soon. It was a pleasure." They threw us a smile that was faker than Frankie's when he waited tables before marching off, leaving the two of us alone in the aisle.
"Are you alright?" Fran asked, running a hand over my mussed braid. "What happened? I'm so… one minute you were here and the next…"
"We switched dimensions."
"I pieced that together. You weren't gone for long… just a couple minutes." He nervously twisted his wet bubble gum around the tip of his finger, drawing nervous strings.
"Were you worried?"
"Out of my mind," he said in a low voice, not meeting my gaze. "I mean, I knew you'd be okay on your own, I wasn't saying that—"
"I wasn't. I'm not," I interrupted him. "I got out alright, sure I did, but I'm not okay right now." I swallowed. My throat was bone dry. "I need to call Mary Markov. She should hear about this."
Frankie nodded along. "Do you want me to do it for you? I'm certain I can give her an accurate description."
I declined and sat back in the cart. Per my request, Fran brought me home after we'd paid for everything. I needed some time alone to relax and pretend everything was normal. I cleaned my room and then looked through job listings, which I admittedly haven't done in a little while. When I couldn't find any other way to procrastinate, I made the call to Mary Markov, which went about as well as could be expected. She wants to see me tomorrow, though. I wish she'd told me about what. For a newsreader, she's really not very forward with her information.
X
1
2: deadbeat roommate
3: creepy crush
4: relocation
5: beach concert
6: First date
7: Temp work
8: roommate talk
9: a dismal worldview
10: warehouse
11: staircase
12: explanation
13: hurt
14: hospital
15: ocean
16: diner
17: government work
18: something in the caves

Do any men here really get too tired for sex? I (22f) have an extremely high sex drive and my husband (27m) hasn’t acted interested in sex in a really long time. I got pregnant winter of 21 and our kid was born fall of 22. I suffered really bad from depression when I was pregnant and he always said he couldn’t sleep with me when I felt that way. I lost all the baby weight with in a week and my body is the same it was pre pregnancy with the exception of some stretch marks as our baby came 2weeks late. I feel like I am the only one initiating sex. I try starting with all of the things he likes touching kissing bjs new lingerie trying to surprise him trying to plan it ect. But half the time he shuts me down before anything can get started. He does work a lot and I currently stay at home with our baby. I’ve brought this up to him and he just apologizes and says he’s too tired and he assumes his T is low for his age… it just makes me feel like he doesn’t think I’m attractive anymore even tho he says I am.
tl;dr husband doesn’t want sex no matter what. Says he is too tired.

What to respond to this :
The essential concept of Marxian materialism is "the material productive forces of society." These forces are the driving power producing all historical facts and changes. In the social production of their subsistence, men enter into certain relations—production relations —which are necessary and independent of their will and correspond to the prevailing stage of development of the material productive forces. The totality of these production relations forms "the economic structure of society, the real basis upon which there arises a juridical and political superstructure and to which definite forms of social consciousness correspond." The mode of pro- duction of material life conditions the social, political, and spiritual (intellectual) life process in general (in each of its manifestations). It is not the consciousness (the ideas and thoughts) of men that determines their being (existence) but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness. At a certain stage of their development the material productive forces of society come into contradiction with the existing production relations, or, what is merely a juridical expression for them, with the property relations (the social system of property laws) within the frame of which they have hitherto operated. From having been forms of development of the productive forces these re- lations turn into fetters of them. Then comes an epoch of social revolution. With the change in the economic foundation the whole immense superstructure slowly or rapidly transforms * itself. In reviewing such a trans- formation,1 one must always distinguish between the material transformation* of the economic conditions of production, which can be precisely ascertained with the methods of the natural sciences, and the juridical, po- litical, religious, artistic,2 or philosophical, in short ide- ological, forms in which men become conscious (aware) of this conflict and fight it out. Such an epoch of trans- formation can no more be judged according to its own consciousness than an individual can be judged accord- ing to what he imagines himself to be; one must rather explain this consciousness out of the contradictions of the material life, out of the existing conflict between so- cial productive forces and production relations. No so- cial formation ever disappears before all the productive forces have been developed for which its frame is broad enough, and new, higher production relations never ap- pear before the material conditions of their existence have been hatched out in the womb of the old society.Hence mankind never sets itself tasks other than those it can solve, for closer observation will always discover that the task itself only emerges where the material con- ditions of its solution are already present or at least in the process of becoming.3 The most remarkable fact about this doctrine is that it does not provide a definition of its basic concept, ma- terial productive forces. Marx never told us what he had in mind in referring to the material productive forces. We have to deduce it from occasional historical exem- plifications of his doctrine. The most outspoken of these incidental examples is to be found in his book, The Pov- erty of Philosophy, published in 1847 in French. It reads: The hand mill gives you feudal society, the steam mill industrial capitalism.4 This means that the state of practical technological knowledge or the technological quality of the tools and machines used in production is to be considered the essential feature of the material productive forces, which uniquely determine the pro- duction relations and thereby the whole "superstruc- ture." The production technique is the real thing, the material being that ultimately determines the social, political, and intellectual manifestations of human life. This interpretation is fully confirmed by all other ex- amples provided by Marx and Engels and by the re- sponse every new technological advance roused in their minds. They welcomed it enthusiastically because theywere convinced that each such new invention brought them a step nearer the realization of their hopes, the coming of socialism.5 There have been, before Marx and after Marx, many historians and philosophers who emphasized the promi- nent role the improvement of technological methods of production has played in the history of civilization. A glance into the popular textbooks of history published in the last one hundred and fifty years shows that their authors duly stressed the importance of new inventions and of the changes they brought about. They never con- tested the truism that material well-being is the indis- pensable condition of a nation's moral, intellectual, and artistic achievement. But what Marx says is entirely different. In his doc- trine the tools and machines are the ultimate thing, a material thing, viz., the material productive forces. Everything else is the necessary superstructure of this material basis. This fundamental thesis is open to three irrefutable objections. First, a technological invention is not something ma- terial. It is the product of a mental process, of reason- ing and conceiving new ideas. The tools and machines may be called material, but the operation of the mind which created them is certainly spiritual. Marxian ma- terialism does not trace back "superstructural" and"ideological" phenomena to "material" roots. It explains these phenomena as caused by an essentially mental process, viz., invention. It assigns to this mental process, which it falsely labels an original, nature-given, mate- rial fact, the exclusive power to beget all other social and intellectual phenomena. But it does not attempt to explain how inventions come to pass. Second, mere invention and designing of technologi- cally new implements are not sufficient to produce them. What is required, in addition to technological knowledge and planning, is capital previously accumu- lated out of saving. Every step forward on the road to- ward technological improvement presupposes the re- quisite capital. The nations today called underdeveloped know what is needed to improve their backward ap- paratus of production. Plans for the construction of all the machines they want to acquire are ready or could be completed in a very short time. Only lack of capital holds them up. But saving and capital accumulation presuppose a social structure in which it is possible to save and to invest. The production relations are thus not the product of the material productive forces but, on the contrary, the indispensable condition of their coming into existence. Marx, of course, cannot help admitting that capital accumulation is "one of the most indispensable condi- tions for the evolution of industrial production." 6 Part of his most voluminous treatise, Das Kapital, providesa history—wholly distorted—of capital accumulation. But as soon as he comes to his doctrine of materialism, he forgets all he said about this subject. Then the tools and machines are created by spontaneous generation, as it were. Furthermore it must be remembered that the utiliza- tion of machines presupposes social cooperation under the division of labor. No machine can be constructed and put into use under conditions in which there is no division of labor at all or only a rudimentary stage of it. Division of labor means social cooperation, i.e., social bonds between men, society. How then is it possible to explain the existence of society by tracing it back to the material productive forces which themselves can only appear in the frame of a previously existing social nexus? Marx could not comprehend this problem. He accused Proudhon, who had described the use of ma- chines as a consequence of the division of labor, of ig- norance of history. It is a distortion of fact, he shouted, to start with the division of labor and to deal with ma- chines only later. For the machines are "a productive force," not a "social production relation," not an "eco- nomic category."7 Here we are faced with a stubborn dogmatism that does not shrink from any absurdity. We may summarize the Marxian doctrine in this way: In the beginning there are the "material productive forces," i.e., the technological equipment of human pro- ductive efforts, the tools and machines. No question concerning their origin is permitted; they are, that isall; we must assume that they are dropped from heaven. These material productive forces compel men to enter into definite production relations which are independ- ent of their wills. These production relations farther on determine society's juridical and political superstruc- ture as well as all religious, artistic, and philosophical ideas.
From mises book theory and history

After getting an internal referral I got an acceptance without offer from Amazon in Europe for an IT Support Position but it’s onsite.
I currently work for a good company and have a great work life balance, got sent on business trips, got free stuff from work, great overall company, good environment , employees are getting training to improve but the only thing that annoys me is that I want to relocate to an hour away and I may soon be able to, just not at the speed that I want to. However I’ve been at my company for less than a year and I feel like it does not look good on my CV to move to a new job this quickly. however
I today got an acceptance letter and I don’t know if it’s a good gig or not, I do have IT Helpdesk experience of over 5 yrs and I’m trying to think if it’s a good move, I was told this was a On site position but no clue on pay, location is closer to where I wanna be, job can be more stable technically but again I don’t know the work environment at Amazon and I don’t know if the reviews I see on Reddit apply to EMEA.
What are your thoughts ? Better stay at my job and gain more experience and grow from within or move to Amazon ?
PS: my biggest fear is that I get into Amazon and it’s not a good fit, with the current job market I just don’t know if it’s worth the risk.
Thanks in advance!

Conditions: Hendricks and Walker are off the board and at least Wallace or Black are available. The only thing that can entice a team trading up, other than big wings, which are what we are thirsty for as well, is PG. Wallace and Black, at this juncture, are the only names that I could see teams getting nervous about losing and ready to trade up aggressively. Hendricks and Walker are the only top-10ish names that I want in Dallas (discounting the obvious top 3). In our situation, where we need to squeeze every possible route of long-term improvement and we cannot do anything just for the kicks, I don't think it is advisable at all to draft a guy like Wallace, Black, Dick or even Whitmore. We have an extremely tight window to maneuver around and we need to be clean, precise and assertive in our moves. We need to get what we need, not what is cute.
Condition #2: we are not packaging this pick for a veteran. I will have a stroke if we use this to get Ayton, Grant or whatever guy on a bloated contract to make us lose in the 2nd round and get stuck in a roster with Luka, Kyrie, said guy and a bunch of G-Leaguers because the CBA will rekt hard teams with a lot of big contracts. I do want us to get a veteran, but with the 2027 FRP and trying to balance the contracts going out and coming in, specially length-wise.
Partners (going in a crescent order):
a) Toronto: #10, Timmy for #13, Boucher
I still get a bit iffy about that one because we all know Masai loves trades where either he wins or the other partner loses. He doesn't play fair if he is selling, so this would rely hard on him not wanting to pay FVV and wanting to get younger with Wallace or Black. Wallace is smaller than his usual but I'm shocked people are not talking more about Black. A 6'7 PG that cannot shoot? This is Masai's personal dream /s
Jokes aside, I have a little hard time seeing this happening, but more than one Raptor fan told me this would be realistic and within the Raps' MO. A small trade down, although not getting us another FRP, would net us Boucher, an amazingly solid PF/C hybrid, that can either start or come off the bench and contribute now alongside Maxi. At #13 we can still make other moves trading down further or we can even have some flexibility in our choice, specially if we are eyeing a C with the 27 FRP package (we would need to involve Bullock, though, and this starts to snowball in a way that I'm too tired to think right now). Boucher can eat up 25-28mpg from the 4 and the 5 right off the bat. As I said, I think this is a price too steep for what Masai usually likes to spend, but I trust Toronto fans more than myself on their own FO.
b) Utah: #10, Timmy for #16, #28, Olynyk
I always thought that one for Bertans but then I thought "This is Ainge, why in the world would he accept Bertans?". The fact that I like Bertans doesn't mean the league does and the league does not. To get Olynyk, I believe we would need to offer Timmy, which is at least a neutral asset. Olynyk doesn't require explanations, I believe. He would be our starting C right off the bat, he can play the 4, he can get boards, he can set screens, he can pop. He isn't great, he should not be starting, but as an expiring making just 12M? Hell yes. I love Timmy, but he is probably the most expendable guy in the roster with some trade value.
Utah has #9, so we would need to believe here that they would take Hendricks or Walker at #9 and then want to get back at #10 to get their PG of the future. If they get Black at #9 or something like that, there's no incentive at all for the trade-up. Sitting down at #16 will get them in the Hood-Schifino territory, but Wallace and Black will be far gone, specially with Toronto at #13 and teams wanting to trade up. If they do not get their PG at #9, they will want to get one and, if they do not get a PG, they're getting a big wing, which makes Olynyk expendable.
At #16, with #28 available, we are in solid footing. All the 2nd tier bigs (Lively, Clowney, Murray, TJD, Nnaji) and good wings (Miller, Coulibaly, Howard, Cissoko) should be on the board even at #28. We could very well walk out of the draft with a starting-caliber veteran frontcourt guy on a good deal and two young guys ready to contribute now and to be part of our core later. Pretty much one of our best possible scenarios IMO.
c) Brooklyn: #10, Bertans for #21, #22, Doe, Sharpe (maybe)
Best case scenario for emotional reasons. I want Doe back. Yes, he was starting to show some physical decline, yes, he was not the same, yes, he had a hard stint with the Nets...don't care. Doe is the Mavs. I would be extremely thrilled about having a Finney-Smith wearing 10 again, he would make our wing rotation back to a good level with Green and Bullock splitting minutes with him. The Nets actually want to get rid of him (losers), so I would be more, more than up to get Doe back home. I read that, since it is a new season, we can trade for Doe right back at the draft night, but if we cannot, this idea goes down the sink. O'Neale is too rich of a price, Sharpe alone is too poor of a price. Doe is the perfect price for both parties. Going from the 20s into the lottery isn't cheap, after all, and the Nets needs an actual, real PG. A Wallace-Dinwiddie-Bridges-Cam-Claxton starting 5 will rob more wins than people will give them credit for.
At #21 and #22, most of the guys from above would still be available. Lively and Murray should be off the board (people are severely underrating the desire that contenders will have over Kris Murray, a plug and play 3/4, 3-and-D guy), but all the others should be on. If Nico can make some magic and get Sharpe back as well (a tall, tall order), we could walk out of this with Doe, Clowney, Sharpe and Miller (I'm trying hard not to let my love for TJD do the writing, but make of that what you will). The Kyrie trade would pretty much be: Dinwiddie, 2023 and 2029 FRP for Kyrie, Sharpe, 2023 and 2023 FRP. We would see it under way better lights.
I usually had Indy as other option, but I cannot convince myself. Sure, they want less rookies and getting another lotto piece would be neat, but...what are they trading for? They already have a starting PG and a bench PG. Sure, they could trade Nembhard in a splashy move for OG, but I would believe they would be using 26 and 29. If they want 10 to package with 7 for a star, they would be giving up pretty much their whole depth.
I don't believe this would happen, I think they will stay put and actually rebuild the proper way, but if they get too anxious and, for some reason, want to move up, I could see something like this:
#10, Timmy, Bertans for #26, #29, Isaiah Jackson and Duarte
A hefty price, but a sufficient one for trading pretty much two SRPs to get into the lottery. If they need #10 to make a move for OG or whatever, they could pull the trigger here. For us, it would be very, very good. First, considering it would clean up 30M from our cap space if I'm not mistaken, considering Jackson and Duarte are on their rookie deals. This would allow us to actually have something other than the TPMLE to offer in the FA market, which could allow us to bring in some wing or even overpay a C. Second, Jackson and Duarte are two young and good players. Duarte is not that good of a defender, yes, but a solid shooter with the tools to not be a revolving door, that has the potential to be a really special shooter. This is just a cherry, though, I think it is forcing the issue. My real prize here would be Isaiah Jackson. A rugged defender, big body, good rebounder, that can play down low on both ends of the court. He doesn't work as well as a PF without a stretching 5, but he is thick enough to be a C in the NBA. Intelligent, good BBIQ, solid instincts, he would find minutes right away and he is riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight there in order to breakout. This is the move that we need to make: get guys that are about to breakout, not after they broke out and are demanding big-time money. Could we ask for a future FRP here? I think it is forcing the issue too much, but who knows.

**pics on profile if you care
hii my name is josie. i'm 18, 5'4, petite and blonde with green/hazel eyes. i'm on the east coast in the US. i'm single and let's just say i'm open to something if it feels right. in terms of sexual orientation i'm... fluid? i could be into anyone it just depends on the person. i'm demisexual + sapiosexual (these are actually very common things most people don't know there's a name for...google them if you're unfamiliar, it's always good to educate yourself) i'm down to talk to and be friends with anybody, but i'm a little more specific about potential partners.i'm an aries and INFJ if you follow those things and for what it's worth they do seem pretty accurate lol.
i graduated hs at 16 and i've been working ever since. i currently live on my own, which is a long story..feel free to ask if you'd like to know lol. i'm kinda spending most of my time home atm so i'm mostly into playing games (pc (which unfortunately just broke lol) & phone) talking to friends and random people, watching yt, shows and movies, obsessing over music, learning about different topics, some other varius activities. i'm currently obsessed with minecraft so if you play that then put your bed next to mine maybe? ><
i love children and animals and would like a few of each at some point. i love cleaning..it's kinda therapeutic for me. i am happy out and about doing things and being in nature and i am just as happy home relaxing. i don't drink, smoke, do drugs, party, or sleep around. my friends call me a good girl lol. i don't mind if anyone else does these things (moderatly/safely/etc) and i'm not prude by any means, i just have my reasons for not doing them.. again feel free to ask if you'd like to know :)
i maybe might drink a little bit of the depresso espresso and might have a lil bit of anxiety, but i feel like it would be concerning if i didn't considering the life i've had thus far lol. i don't have family so my friends are the most important people to me. i probably laugh too much.. i like to joke around and i can definitely be a brat so someone that can handle my attitude and have good banter is a must lol. i like to talk a lot.. i enjoy talking about controversial topics and learning about whatever i can. i'm very easy to please and eager to please however i can. i enjoy having more dominant people around me and people that like to be in control and make decisions because i can be a bit indecisive. i don't like to rush things, i definitely prefer to go with the flow. i'm kinda shy at first, but i'm very loving and supportive of everyone around me. i've been through a lot so i love to give advice and be there for anyone that needs it. i know how it feels to have nobody and feel alone or to be stressed and have no outlet or safe place for relief. i love to be that for people if i can. it makes me feel like i have a purpose.
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in terms of what i'm looking for..
~ someone older than me is definitely a preference as i seem to have more in common and just get along better, but someone closer to my age could be fine too
~ someone that likes to learn, grow and improve. i like being surrounded by people that make me better and i find it really attractive when a man wants the same
~ someone who is genuinely a good human and wants to make my life better by being in it. someone that wants to love and protect me and make me happy. you should want the best for the person you're with and unfortunately i've yet to experience this in a relationship so i'm heavy on needing this
~ someone open minded and not judgmental. i've been through a lot and having a safe place in a person is so important for me.
~ someone that can make me laugh. having someone that can cheer you up or take your mind off things when you've had a long or rough day is so nice
~ someone that can handle good, bad, hard, and fun conversations all with grace, that can handle their anger in a healthy way, that can express their emotions well and maturely, that wants to give and receive unconditional love, etc.. these are things i'm looking for. i very much believe in giving what you get so obviously anything i expect you can also expect from me.
~ physically.. i don't have many things i care about. just in general caring about your health and hygiene is important. being older and taller than me is great, but not mandatory. i don't care about race, background, sexual orientation, relationship history, location, etc. if someone makes me happy then i am pretty accepting of all things that make them, them
if you've read all this and are interested in talking then feel free to message me. please tell me a bit about you (name and basics are a good start) and what about me/my post interested you. i love knowing what's going on in someone's mind :)

I have done hours of research on the difference between the bikes but wanted to post here for some person to person thoughts. I am a casual rider, riding for 20+ years. While casual, I would consider myself to be above average, able to handle almost anything short of extreme climb terrain.
I ride trails, with my home location being a very open and quick trail network (colorado, denver area). This is what is turning me off of the XCW, which as I understand is better with a more forgiving low end for tight trails, and pushing me to the XC as that isn't a concern for me.
The light is something that I will need, but can get after-market I have read.
Am I right in going for the XC, or should I rethink this and opt for the XCW?