Bird in the crow family nyt crossword

I can’t remember at all what this book was called or what its cover looked like. It’s a fairly recent book, probably came out between 2011-2018 (something like that).
It was set at a high school in Ireland. The main character was a girl who dressed very uniquely even when other people judged her. She secretly writes poetry and wants to perform it but is too scared. I don’t think she had a lot of friends. The male lead was an American transfer student who has a bunch of family baggage. She immediately doesn’t like him. I’m fairly certain they become closer by being assigned partners for an English project (I’m pretty sure the project/assignment was on Hamlet). There’s some drama involved with one of their mutual friends who gets involved with drugs I think (?) and violence. There’s a third act breakup. The overall tone of the book was very melodramatic, kind of angry, almost like a soap opera. If anyone knows this book please let me know!! Thanks!

Hi, so there was an award ceremony at my school and I got the sage scholar award which is to go to Russell sage in New York and get baseline 16k off tuition. I was really excited abt it but the more I look into the school the more I hate about it, it doesn’t have the biology program that I really want and the area doesn’t look very safe but my parents are sooo excited abt it so I feel bad not liking it. Also important to mention that they are dependent on me getting scholarships because we truly do not make a lot and even with financial aid costs are unachievable. Living with one mom who is trying to find a new job and a dad who doesn’t even live with us makes financial aid tricky. I just feel like I have worked so hard to settle on a college I really don’t like but I do not want to jeopardize my families income so that I can enjoy college, so any advice??

I met the "perfect" girl 40 years ago my senior year of university. Not bragging, but she was quite a stunner. People would stop talking when she walked into a bar or room, guys would try to act cool and suck in their bellies, girls would give "the look" to each other. She was a lifeguard in Socal, played several sports, was the color of fine browned bread and Jewish to top it all off. I'm not Jewish, but for some reason dated many many Jewish girls. This was the most I have every felt for anther human being, nothing has come close in all the years since.
Had a wonderful last semester then I graduated. She was a few years behind me and transferred to a different uni back West. I went out to find my way in the world, but soon fell into mental health problems that were waiting in the wings most of my life. Drinking was out of control when I was 15 and now I was in the real world and my brain of darkness and the booze were doing a number.
Anyway we stayed in touch, and a few years later we got together in NY. I was crashing, and she was not happy that I wasn't happy and the night was a short one. She left and I never saw her again. We wrote to each other, but I stopped answering her letters in the late 80s, too painful.
Good news is I got sober, got medical help for depression and started a new career. I would think of her every morning, wonder what she was doing, how she was. that went on until I was 55 years old. Social media I don't use, but I did find her address and I wrote a letter about my life. No question for her, just what had gone on in the past 30 years. I didn't put my return address on it, just sent it - that was that.
Two years go by and one day mail comes and there is a letter in a script that I remember. I teared up immediately and threw the letter in a cupboard. After a couple weeks I opened it. It was nice, asked a lot of questions, told me about her children and their colleges.
Something changed in my that month, I stopped thinking about her every morning. I realized that our time was not so special to her as it was to me. Or maybe that feeling just died in her 30 years ago. The good thing was I stopped feeling like I did something wrong and missed some existential bus I was supposed to be on in 1984. Today I shrug, not in a sad way, but in a fashion of "whatever" - I won't spend any more time on the matter. Now i'm in my early 60s and the days of romance are probably behind me. I find joy from walking, kayaking, painting, travel, family (I never married so I have to live vicariously through my nieces and nephews).
Lost loves are usually lost for some good reason - don't torture yourself.

I nor my family have any military experiance. My goal is to pursue a career in IT/cybersecurity, yet I am finding it difficult to advance my career in the civilian sector.
I am drawn to the reserves as I want the benefits, I want to find a higher purpose, gain additional experiance and find a more rewarding career.
I have a girlfriend and we share a puppy together and we are both co dependent on eachother. To be honest we are at a turning point in our relationship if we want to stay together and get married or not, but i am committed to her and not sure how joining would affect us.
I will be calling the representative tomorrow to talk. Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

My husband and I have been NC with his dad for almost a year now. My husband even says it has been a quiet year and feels bad that he doesn’t feel bad about not talking to him. He is thinking of breaking NC and having a conversation about boundaries because he’s been getting guilt trips from the rest of his family (“you’re ruining the family”) and wants to give him one last chance. His FIL has done a laundry list of things to make us go NC but the major one was that he was upset that he wasn’t the priority in my husband’s life anymore and he gave him an ultimatum to choose between me or him.
His family would say that I didn’t care about them because I didn’t hang out with them enough (I am in med school and no one can leave hangouts before 11pm or they are deemed not caring.) They wouldn’t accept the answer that I was studying for exams/practicals or just tired after working 10 hour shifts on my clinical rotation. Or maybe I just didn’t feel like hanging out for 6 hours. For the record, I would hang out with them. It just wasn’t weekly and diminished the more stuff his FIL did to us.
So, onto my question: what is a good response when they say “if she cared about us she would’ve made time for us?”

recently i have been trying to turn to religion, it in a way to help with my mental health issues and it’s comfort and i respect it very much. i don’t come from a religious family or household, they don’t have any belief really. so my question is how can i introduce myself to christianity and correctly follow the ways of the bible?? much love x

ik what ppl show online r only the good parts of their lives, but it always makes me wonder how does a understanding and supportive family feels like.
i grew up the typical east asian way: needing good grades, being compared to others, being beat, being forced to express urself in a certain way (conservatism), show little to no physical/emotional love and affection, etc.
then i see other ppl joking around, pranking, and laughing with their parents and wonder where would i be if my family was like that. im on anti-anxiety/depression meds rn and i wonder if it was because of the way i was raised (or technically wasnt raised bc i raised my myself as my parents were emotionally absent). im always scared of saying the wrong thing and being lectured for an hour over it. i have no family member to hug, no shoulder to cry on, no one to gossip abt my friends and crushes to.
i dont blame them because they have gone through a lot as immigrants, and they were also raised in a very typical chinese household. but i always think how different and happier i would be with a more present, caring, and supportive family…

I'm rewatching Gintama and just watched episode 95 where Hasegawa is on trial for molestation, and Gin tells the court the story of Hasegawa and his wife Hatsu and how she wore a dirty kimono and begged Hasegawa's boss to forgive him. Considering that she went to this extent for him, and still worries about him, why did she even leave him in the first place? It seems awfully out of character for someone who abandoned her high class family to marry Hasegawa to leave him just because he got fired.

I came here because I have been dealing with an issue since May 9th and was going to see if possibly someone would have an answer. However I have noticed that there seems to be an abundance of similar issues. On the 9th my wife paid her bill that is a family plan that includes her, my son and my daughter. Since then my son has not been able to send or recieve and calls or texts. We have been thru everything.. phone resets, telling us it's the phone (it wasnt), changing sim cards (3 times), getting a new number, telling us to wait 72 hours because his phone was changing from Boost legacy to Boost 1, updates (there was none).. all while my son was at end of senior year without a phone so he couldnt get a hold of us to let us know things were fine for prom, after prom, senior exam early days.. even just when he was off work or when he got home from school.
However after coming here and seeing alot of other similar issues, I was wondering if anyone thinks if there is a way to file a multi person lawsuit for these issues? I may be over reacting but I have been treated like trash this past month, my wifes next Bill is due in a couple days so I just am thinking out loud. I have contacted the Better Business Bureau on this matter already.

So I’m 28(f) and my mom almost 67. I’ve always known my mom was a little unhinged by the way she treats our family. She’ll cut you off in a heart beat. She’s done it with my other two siblings. I’ve done everything to fulfill her needs. I bought the house we lived in, helped her get a new car, etc. But I’ve finally had enough of her weird tantrums towards me. She’ll get in one of her moods and stop talking to me with out telling me what I’ve done wrong. She’s been doing this since I was 5. She’s tried to kick me out and give me to my dad several times but always came back for me hours later.
So last week I come home from work (10 hour shift) and things are good. I help her with things around the house or outside. We’re talking and joking around. My GF normally comes over a few times a night pretty late but she gets to my house a little early. About an hour later my mom decides to flip out on me. Her entire mood changed. She starts telling me “Go away”, “leave me alone and go back to your little family”. I continue to ask her what I did wrong and how I can fix it. I get nothing.
After continuing this for about 10 minutes she walks to her room and tries to shut me out but my dog runs in. As she’s telling me to get my dog away from her and out of her room I’m asking her what I did. Her response “You know what you did. Now get the dog before something bad happens” I was confused. So she repeated things a little more clearly. “ Get him before I go get my gun”. So I freaked! She went toward the area she normally keeps her gun but instead of getting it she closed the blinds to her window. I immediately got my dog out and left out of her room. I told my GF who was in the other room that we needed to go now and packed my bag and my dogs things and left.
I haven’t been back in almost a week. To my house, the house I pay the mortgage at. The house I bought so we didn’t have to move or struggle anymore. I just left and went to my GFs house instead. Somewhere safe. Well I decided to come back home tonight. What a mistake. I come back home with my dog and I’m greeted to silence. I spoke as I walked in and she just gave me a cold look. An evil look and said nothing. So I just went to my room. Now I’m on edge in my own house wondering if she’ll still get her gun and shoot me down for something I have no idea that I did.
Almost every year we get in to these arguments and go through periods of silence but this one is just crazy. She’s so normal around everyone else. My best friend thinks we have a great relationship but he didn’t know I walk on eggshells trying not to set her off. My siblings have told me stories of her physical abuse. How my sister came home one day to all her things ripped apart or how she would have my brother on the ground with her foot on his neck. I don’t know if I would have been better off with the physical abuse over the mental abuse. I just want peace. Oh well. Thanks for hearing my rant.

I (20F) have been dating my boyfriend (21M) for a year & a half now. He’s a very easy-going and respectful guy. however, I feel bored and a getaway seems perfect. I have been working nonstop as I’m going on vacation in 10 days. there’s also a lot of miscommunication. On saturday I had family event in a small town with no service and when I woke up in the morning, I saw a long message of him saying that he had no idea that I didn’t service and that he’s sorry for being upset. I didn’t even know he was upset to begin with, and I talk to him yesterday saying I feel bored, and the only thing he said was there’s nothing to talk about since his life is boring and when I try to start a conversation, I would just get a simple “mhm” now here’s where I might be the asshole. I’m if you’re a believer that you should not find anybody else attractive while in a relationship. I’ve had a couple guys ask for my number while I’m working. and I didn’t turn them down because I had a boyfriend, but rather because I was working. and I want to be free on my vacation but i’m selfish for wanting to come back to him once i return. I told my friend about this, and he said no I’m stupid and I will regret it. but honestly, I believe that once I come back from vacation while I’m still dating him, the miscommunication will make things worse. even if I do decide to sever ties with him. Should I break up with him before I go on vacation or stay with him till the very end?

Okay, so I can't be the only one who was disappointed that Shulk and Rex don't come with any quests when you unlock them from challenge mode. Let alone the fact that you can't inherit their classes. I understand it wouldn't make sense in the canon. But Land of Challenge always did non-canon fanservice of characters from other games interacting with each other. So I think it's dumb they couldn't do it for Shulk and Rex here. So I've come up with some quests for them to feel more like substantial rewards for beating both games.
Shulk & Rex Hero quest:
Basically, the cutscenes you'll get will be similar to Elma's in XC2. Where Nopon Archsage is the one responsible for bringing Shulk and Rex back into Aionios. They're still acting as avatars of Origin but the mysterious power of the Archsage has allowed it so that both Shulk and Rex can still walk around Aionios while still being in Origin. Kind of like how the Archsage in XC2 was able to bring Elma to Alrest and alter the time dilation so that she isn't gone for too long on Mira.
​
Shulk's Ascension Quest:
The main idea for Shulk's quest will be dealing with the sudden return of Fog Rifts and Fog Beasts in Aionios. The group is traveling when they suddenly encounter a Fog Beast. Shulk advises they inform Melia about the matter and how to deal with the return of the Fog Rifts. We get a nice touching reunion with Shulk and Melia as they catch up on things. And we learn that many Fog Rifts have started appearing all over Aionios recently after being gone for eons. Shulk and Melia then explain to the Ouroboros gang what the Fog Rifts and Fog Beasts are and how they relate to the Black Fog. And that in the past they once dealt with them before Aionios was created. So now the main party has learned the true nature of the Black Fog and volunteers to assist in destroying the Fog rifts and beasts. So you travel to various spots on Aionios where there is a lot of Black Fog as that's where the Rifts have formed.
During the mission Shulk starts to ponder why the Fog Rifts are showing up again all of a sudden. And suspects that someone might be creating these rifts to form. He also talks about Origin's construction to the party after some battles against Fog Beasts. And how he was one of the leading designers of it and intricate details on how it works that Nia didn't tell us. We then find that the Fog Rifts that have now been reforming have been caused by the actual Consul A experimenting with the Black Fog. Finding a way to make sure that the fog doesn't destroy Aionios to permanently preserve the Endless Now for Z. But accidents with the experiments had caused Fog Rifts to form again once more.
The party catches him in another experiment with the Black Fog. And they managed to stop him. But not before another accident causes another Fog Rift to form. However instead what's summoned isn't a Fog Beast but a Fog Zanza. Shulk wonders how this is even possible. And starts to piece together that the Fog Beasts are not only a result of the worlds fusing together but also they're the restless spirits of those that died on Bionis and Alrest. Explaining why the Fog King in Future Connected looked like Inferno Guldo from XC2. Applying more of the Gnosis lore from Xenosaga. Fog Zanza proves to be far more powerful than any Fog Beast before. As Fog Zanza is acting Zanza's desire to destroy the world and remake it anew.
The quest ends with the party destroying Fog Zanza and Noah promising Shulk that they will stop Moebius and save their worlds before the Black Fog destroys Aionios.
​
Rex's Ascension Quest:
At camp, Rex is looking at his family photo with wives and kids. Wishing they could all be together again. Mio asks what the photo is which startles Rex. After he composes himself he explains to Mio that it's a photo of him and his family. Even giving it to her to look at. He then talks about how after Z hijacked Origin a lot of soldiers that make up Keves and Agnus were all children 1-20 from the two worlds. And thus separated from their parents who are all trapped in Origin. He was one of the lucky few that didn't get put into Origin and talks about how he would love to see his kids again as they were reborn to be a part of the Agnian army. He mentions how he already found two of them and wants to find out where his 3rd kid is. His son Milton. The one he had with Mythra. He doesn't mention to Mio that she's his daughter as he doesn't know the best way to tell her. Mio decides that they should help Rex find his son. And will travel to all the Agnian colonies they know to find them.
So the party goes around to a few Agnian colonies only to come up short. They then decide to go to Agnus Castle and see if there are any documents on file on Milton on where he was stationed or if he had already reached homecoming. We get a very touching reunion with Rex and Nia. Where Nia accidentally acts like her normal self when the Ouroboros party shows up unannounced. Only to turn around and be greeted by Rex. Tears swell up in her eyes and she dashes towards her husband faster than Kite did with Juniper. Tackling Rex to the ground and surprising everyone around them. After that funny moment. She gladly tells them where to find the records of all the soldiers. She then asks Rex to talk to her alone while the party goes looking through the documents.
Both husband and wife are so glad to see each other again after over a thousand years. The two look from afar at Mio and ask if either one of them has told her about them being their daughter. They say neither one haven't and is unsure what the best course of action would be. Whether to tell them or not. As Rex mentions he and Shulk never mentioned their familial relationship with Glimmer and Nikol.
The party comes back and they sadly can't find any information on Milton. Which deeply saddens Rex but he was ready to accept they might have already reached homecoming a long time ago. Taion suggests that there is one other place they haven't tried. That is the lost colony that Nimue is from. As no documents of that colony exist due to the hidden nature of the colony.
They all rush to the lost colony and sure enough they learn that Milton does indeed live there. However, he currently isn't in the colony. They find out from Stella that Milton has a bad habit of searching for treasure. And has often constantly dug holes around the colony looking for any. She suspects that because he's already searched every inch of the colony for treasure he likely went outside looking for more.
So the party has to search around Cadensia Region to find him as he hadn't gotten far. And we managed to save him from a giant sea monster. There we see that Milton looks very much like Rex from Xenoblade 2 only now with blonde hair. This helps save Monolithsoft from having to make a completely new model. So it'll just be young Rex's head on an Agnian soldier's body with blonde hair. I fully give credit to XenDrawsStuff as Mythra's kid looking like a blonde Rex was their idea. But I also thought it was a nice cost-saving measure.
After they save Milton Rex chews him out for the dangerous stunt he did much like how he did with Glimmer in FR. Once they return to the colony Rex apologizes to Milton for snapping at him before and the two bond over their love of digging up treasure. Rex mentioning how he used to be a salvager. The party looks on at the two from afar and Eunie comments how Milton looks pretty similar to Rex. Taion believes that could be a natural thing that can happen between parent and child from what they learned in the City.
Mio ponders on it too, as she takes Rex's photo out of her pocket. As she looks at it more and thinks back to how Nia interacted with Rex, she realizes that that's her in the photo. And once she notices the baby she's carrying as well as how similar she looks to Nia, something she hadn't really thought of before, she puts the pieces together that she's Rex's and Nia's daughter. And while she doesn't completely understand it or is fully confident about it, she decides to keep it to herself. As she feels it's best that Rex come forward with this once he feels comfortable.
And done. Please give me your thoughts and critiques on these quest ideas.

Part 1
"When we Firmas were pushed north into the Pyrimian mountain valley after the death of their chain of command, they settled down and instead of focusing on expansion focused on necessities like food. With co-operation from the first goblins and other creative minds that joined the First Wave of the migration, they managed to grow food over the summer in first-iteration greenhouses. "My parents were part of the first wave. They were old for a couple, but joined the Firma clan in founding a government and keeping the area safe, as well as spreading word. The dragonic gods didn't like their behavior at all; cities burning is more entertainment for them, so they were the first to be Forsaken in this era, publicly, in the main square of the old Dragonic Capital. "However, that backfired, with more and more dragons tired of running around and fighting all the time, they decided to settle down in a place where nobody would bother them; now that they had this place given to them, and the Second Wave started. Basically the entirety of the dragonic clans and several other species amassed in this wave, and the Sapient Unification Government held. "My parents had an egg in one of the more northern caves, right on the coast. Then, the third wave arrived and everything went downhill from there. "The Unification Wars were fought between those who wanted one government to cover this region, and those who wanted governments segregated by species. This would have been fine if the secessionists didn't step in on people's behalves, without their consent; it took fifteen years of war for the war to end. Millions died and some species like the Snow Fox beastpeople almost went extinct. My parent were part of the death wave. "The war evolved so rapidly it was impossible for a commander to last more than two months. It started with sticks and stones and within a month there were arrow volleys. A year saw guns, two tanks, three battleships, four planes. Bombs, bigger bullets, bigger guns, bigger bombs. "In the last few months of the war, the first nuclear devices were used, creating miniature stars on the land with immense destructive potential unleashed. It ended with mutually assured destruction protocols being activated, and when all was said and done the land was a snow-fallen irradiated dustball. "It took years for the survivors to pick up the remnants of our short-lived civilization and restart it into the Terra Firma Sapience Union. All the time, my egg didn't hatch because I had no incubator, but didn't die thanks to my ice type. It was located close enough to a mana vein where I just... absorbed the entire vein. When the cave was found by explorers following maps for my parents den, all they found was my egg glowing brighter than Sunstones. "I was taken to an incubation facility in Cellyia, one of the bigger cities. There I hatched, and after more than one test I grew. My growth was still... affected by the time without an incubator, so my already slow growth stopped after fifty years instead of continuing to infinity. And then I took some magic courses, did my best to drain my mana reserves, and settled down here, well away from... the bustle of Cellyia. It never quite felt like a home, you know. It was a good place to grow up, don't get me wrong, but I like it here better. Remote, and in the same place my parents met for the first time. As much as I can tell, anyway; a number of records were destroyed in the Unification War. "When your heroes continued to come up here, I would be the one on first guard. Damming a river, I used water magic to break it. Trying to destroy some transit infrastructure, I would be the first one to either fake it, finish it off, or lure them away. When your latest one decided to head for Cellyia, it was out of my range for such activities. I shadowed the party on the way and let others take care of it. "I never thought that your 'heroes' would be heartless enough to burn what they were told and even acknowledged as a hospital with patients inside. A library and museum with most of our pre-unification works inside. An orphanage, a school... an entire neighborhood of ten thousand citizens' homes. What for? To try to kill just one of us. "We... couldn't take that kind of behavior. Cellyia might have not been the best place for someone with my personality to grow up, especially without parental figures, but that orphanage still had some good memories. An all-citizens vote was called, an all-citizens vote was passed, and we started a counter-offensive military campaign into your Civilization Nations. We've been waiting for you elves, leaders of the Civilized Nations, to advance your society; it's been seven hundred years, all the most you've done is grow your population and add an extra floor to your townhomes. "So we're going to do it for you. You ran our patience down, so we're going to change your society for you. Is it a repeat of the Unification War? I don't think so, given that you Civilized Nations never rescinded the declaration of war against us 'monsters' over two thousand years ago; one that you still follow through on to this day. "But that isn't the end of my story. "When the gods forsook us, they tried to pry away our magic, our land, and our lives. So we defended. Space radars monitor their movements on the mortal plane. There's so many more technical details I can go into. All I can tell you is, at one point, the old god of Dragonic Princess-kidnapping; yes, they were a god; they came and asked us to restart worshiping them. "That went over as well as you'd expect, and the next thing that happened... was that I absorbed her mana and powers. Technically, I am an undefined god, and... at this point, I'm afraid to get a definition. "What if it's something I don't like? Something evil, immoral... something my parents, the leaders of the Second Wave, wouldn't be proud of? What if... what if it kills me? Everyone hates me? I'd no longer be free... "So my solution was to hide. Here, in a mountain cave in the middle of nowhere. This is my life, all of it... and I don't know where to go from here." ----- "So... you're a god?" I asked. I couldn't think of another question to ask. "Yes and no." The cat replied. It did nothing to satisfy my fearful curiosity. How could one both be and not be a god? "Princess-kidnapping was a... niche god, rarely prayed to by still enough to be, you know, and actual deity. So her mana ran out first, and most of it dissipated back into the environment yada yada yada, but like the sponge my mana reserves are, I sucked more of it up than I should have; enough to had just a slight touch of divine control. On par with a low-level demigod. If I was omnipresent, I'd solve me problems with a snap of my claws, and then I wouldn't be hiding from my problems here." "If your powers came from a god, how are yours undefined?" My mind was seeking knowledge now. I was a mage, after all, and this was more than just the opportunity of a lifetime; it was the opportunity of a aeon. "Because I absorbed her essence from the environment before it had the chance to fully dissipate, but still late enough where it was no longer hers." Vixie shrugged "Or something like that, mana gets weird sometimes. All that matters now is my stockpile is slowly increasing its grow rate, which gets annoying pretty fast." "Annoying?" The cat laughed again. "Do you think this is all of my baseline reserve? Half of the reason I stay away from the rest of society is because the last time someone with multiple aura got involved with politics..." She trailed off, and then let another, this time impeccably cast illusion fall. The air around her was burnt crisp with the power of several mandatory auras in her current small size. Twelve tails flicked behind her back, eleven of them made of energy. Floating specs of light, some smaller while others the size of ice crystals surrounded the air around her. The six orbs on her back were joined by six more, and were attached to a ring. Her head had two halos, and her entire body was engraved with glowing lines. If she before radiated power, now she was made of it. The lights on the cave's ceiling flickered as more and more of the illusion fell away. Geometric shapes orbiting her body, a platform made of mana at her feet, lightning whizzing between all sorts of objects. Finally, it was gone, and the cat that stared at me with big, sad, glowing blue eyes had told me her deepest secret. As soon as it had started, the illusion repaired itself, and before me was one cat, a halo, six orbs, two crystals, and two mana tails. I did the second most instinctive thing when it came to seeing a cat. I pulled her in for a hug. There was a quickly quieted hiss as she squirmed a bit in my grip, trying to get more comfortable, before letting herself get stroked by me. Several images flashed before my eyes, and a tear came out of mine. We had gone to war against the less lucky sapients on our world, and were now paying the price. It felt like hours, but then my stomach growled, reminding me I hadn't eaten in literal days. Vixie shot out of my grip and led the way down into the cave. I followed, and soon enough I was eating some salted crackers with dried meat and cheese while Vixie moved around between other caves. "What are you doing?" I asked her between bites. "Packing," She replied. "Why?" "It's time I got out of here and, to follow the phrase, touched some grass." ----- It took three days for the elf, whose name was Nick, to recover enough to be able to make the journey to Cellyia. In those three days, I realized just how - and why - the Civilized Races looked at us the way they did. For starters, I'd forgotten just how many things ran on electricity, let alone other, more complicated mechanics. Pressurized water, instant hot water, even sinks, showers, and toilets were all completely unknown to the 'civilized races.' Ah, yes. Civilized without toilet paper. Bitter ramblings about the people who set off the chain reaction of events that killed my family aside, those were the second longest three days of my life; the first was my thirteenth birthday so I could get a personal HUD and social media. I was also a mess of thoughts. The elf had shown me, over the course of the three days - aside from the two-minute get-my-life-together moment - that I couldn't hide from my problems forever, or they would team up and try to hunt me. Hence my new, reluctant guest from the overflowing hospital they had oh-so-nicely delivered to my door. I had words for the medical staff. And I was also a mess of thoughts. Did I mention that one already. In all seriousness, Nick adapted to electronics pretty well. All I had to do was explain what it was, what it did, and file it under the name of science. It took an impressive four minutes of rambling about quantum mechanics before Vick realized that he was in way over his head asking how the 'magic rock that can half-think with bottled lightning' worked. He backed out when I yanked a textbook from my knowledge hoard and flipped through the pages to the start to explain how quantum superposition affected the set of particles it was entangled to. Fun. Finding out what toothbrushes were took some convincing, but soon the elf's teeth started to recover from lack of proper dental care. Food was easier than I expected, and Vick was pretty accepting of whatever I tossed on his plate. Except for artichokes, for some reason he hated those. Over the three days we bonded, and Nick got pretty used to life in my home. On the second day I moved him to the guest bedroom I had built but never maintained, but one wave of my paw and a splurge of magic later that was solved. "Why don't you use magic more often?" Nick asked. I explained that was much as I wanted to burn my reserves like they were a forest before a forest fire, the mental strain was tough without learning proper casting, which requires one to drain their reserves to practice wielding physical willpower. That meant that I was caught in an infinite loop of negativity, so I could only get away with a couple spells a day before the mental exhaustion metaphorically turned my brain to mush. On the morning of the fourth day, we left. Honestly, Nick could have left on the first day but I wanted him to be able to have the stamina to walk around for hours on end with me in Cellyia. Either way, as long as he kept by me it would be fine. There was a small population of elves, humans, and dwarves who had come up to the TFSU for one reason or another and never left, which meant that he wouldn't be too far out of place. My plan, instead of just flying into the Cellyia while steering clear of the airport, was to make it to the closest town, Lymian, and take a train from there north to Union Station. It would dump us a bit further downtown than I liked, but Cellyia was built in levels, and I could take the footpath level to wherever I needed. All said and done and one passenger seat clipped to my saddlebag harness on my dragon form, I opened the door to my cave. And was promptly blocked by a wall of snow. "Right," I half-grumbled. I enjoyed tunneling through snow, but spray would make the entrance cave wet and that wouldn't dry for another couple days, and until it did the sound of drips would echo throughout my home like nothing else. Either way, checking one last time that Nick was secure, I prepared my wings and powered forward. The snow and ice parted for me, and then melted and fixed itself back together behind me as I power-swam through the snow the same way I would through water. After ten seconds of this, I burst up from the snow-covered mountain the snowstorm had left behind and started to change my heading for Lymian. It would take thirty minutes of flying to get there, as I was flying lower and slower than usual to take care of my passenger, but we soon enough turned the next mountain and saw the town. The elf gasped as he took in the sights, while I kept my eye out for more activity. It had been fortified as a military base due to the war, but not by much; the town was useless from a defensive standpoint anyway. I spotted the next train arriving from its winding track around the next mountain, which also meant that I was a bit early. The citizens of Lymian were used to my presence, as I usually stopped by to pick up supplies and occasionally a bit of correspondence. So when I landed on top of a several story tall snow pile, nobody cared. I let Nick out, and then transformed into my cat form and slid down the snow pile to start to jogging towards the train station. That's when I remembered that unlike me, elves without snowshoes do not float on snow. Oops. ----- The sights were more than pretty, more than beautiful... If the gods had rejected these people, they might have just as well done it out of jealousy. After I'd been dropped off on top of a snow mound, I immediately flattened myself on my stomach to not fall through. I'd been in more than enough snowstorms and snow mounds to know how it would go if I didn't. The cat climbed the hill below me, reappearing as naturally as the snow fell. "Sorry," Vixie apologized. "Here, let me..." I felt the snow melt around me and we descended down to the ground. Vixie glowed brightly, literally; Even using as little magic as reshaping some snow was threatening to cascade out of her form. We moved to the train station without incident, where the massive 'train cars' were loaded full of passengers and cargo and then taken off towards the big city. Apparently this was the same one the hero burned, but the 'rebuilding and recovery efforts we going well; no critical infrastructure had been severely damaged.' Either way, the ride there was uneventful. Stepping out into Union Station was different. It was like I had entered a busy capital marketplace or square, with everyone rushing in another direction to another place. I trailed after Vixie, where even the oddity of an elf in these mountains was outshone by just how many different races there were; beastkin and kobolds and orcs and undead all filled the streets in, well, peace. "The city is built in layers," Vixie explained. "So while yes, residential and office towers here in the capital were set alight, underground public transit, personal transit, and cargo and fluid transit was all untouched, so we were able to circle around the hero and put out the fires to be replaced with smoke generators, and a couple holograms snatched from a nearby cargo transport." I had no idea what any of that meant, only that the city also had extensive underground bits. The towers soared over everything, and lights covered every spare centimeter of the city. Vixie led me down market stalls, across plazas, through parks and through building lobbies. Eventually, the babble increased, something I didn't think was possible. "Welcome to the commercial district," Vixie said after she had pulled me into a corner away from the masses of people and crowds moving around. "We're right near the harbor, and when we get there I'm going to show you the lighthouse and explain the city a bit better." I almost lost track of Vixie as we continued to move through the throngs of people going about their daily lives. I saw a couple boarded up shops, but most of them were either undamaged or didn't care about the scorch marks on their shops. Jewelry boutiques and grocery stores lived in tandem with furniture stores and a massive slab of too-smooth-to-be-natural stone of a rock type I had never seen before. It was covered in signs depicting some kind of diagram. Right around the corner was the waterfront, with a massive promenade running alongside it. Snow-covered trees lined the walkways, and soon enough Vixie and I came out of the crowd near a large, tall abandoned - though no unmaintained - building. "Right then," Vixie explained and started climbing. "Here's the old lighthouse, it's perfect for seeing the city. They never officially decommissioned it, so it's still legal to climb and properly maintained, but they never use it either." "What was the large thing they were building?" I asked, clambering onto the next ladder. "That? Oh, that was the space elevator." Vixie replied. "The ground part has been completed for three years now, we're just waiting for the rest of the nanotubes to make it into orbit and then run a kevlar cord up, follow it down with the space-grade heavy-duty nanotube cord, and then that's that." "Space?..." I was confused. "When the gods said that they were higher than mortals, you took that both figuratively and literally; they live above you and in a higher dimension. In this case, space is where they live in terms of height, but not number of dimensions. We're working on interdimensional travel, and interuniversal too, but those aren't replicatable on any sort of large scale yet." Vixie shrugged. "Either way, it's not like I care." "But you have it?" I pressed. "Dimensional travel." "Yes." She replied. "Well," I let out a short laughed. "The Civilized Nations are screwed over." "That's putting it lightly," She climbed on top of the last platform and showed me the city against the setting sun, lit up brighter than the night sky and more lively than the earth. It was beautiful. I sat there and watched the city glow with a power not even the gods had, side by side with not a dragon or monster, but a friend. END. A/N: Rushed this last bit of the arc, but school is ramping up at the end of the year so it was either fast story or incomplete story, and I chose fast story. Happy pride month, everyone, and I hope to see more of you when I have more time.
Original Prompt: [WP] For as long as all the races have known, Dragons have been seen as violent, destructive creatures. After an attack on your village, you black out and find yourself in the den of a dragon. It's rather annoyed that that is how they're seen, and wants to prove that isn't the case.
u/Lycan_Jedi thank you for the prompt!
Part 1

I got hurt at my last job and have been out of work. basically un-hirable until I started doordash but my town is too small to make any money except the gas to do the dashes. we were surprised with twins and are just trying to make ends meet. cars are breaking down and mother in law got in an accident with the wife's car recently. bills are stacking up. even quitting smoking hasn't helped with bills. now my car insurance can't be paid and we have children to take to appointments as one of our twins is on oxygen. anything would be appreciated for our family in need.

If it is really that short then, why? I found a few posts here discussing it from Google, but I don’t think I really understand.
I’ve seen a few answers mentioning cancer, hip issues, yet other large dog breeds who are prone to those illnesses live for 10-12 years like Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, etc. Why is Google saying this breed’s lifespan is only 6-8 years!?!
I’ve wanted a BMD since I’ve discovered the breed in pictures as a younger child. Hopefully in the future I’d like to own my own dog (I currently have a 7 year old Golden, but he’s considered a family dog belonging to my Mom and brothers as well). A BMD would be my dream dog, but I’m autistic and I already don’t think I’m going to handle a future pet death very well, and 6ish years is way too short ):
This very well may be a breed I have to love from a far, but I’m secretly hoping someone answers and tells me that they can actually live a long and happy life! Sorry for the ramblings, I just keep seeing these beauties on my feed but it makes me sad knowing about their potential lifespan.

Okay so maybe this isn’t the best place to ask for help but I know absolutely nothing about how to resolve this situation at this point and my little sister is suffering as well as my nieces so it’s worth a shot.
So 9 months ago (September 2022) my sister (22F) and her then boyfriend (22M) signed on a car together, like a loan not a lease. Anyways, they’d been together for roughly a year at that point, were living together, shared a phone plan, etc. I mean this guy went to every family event and then some, hung out with our cousins with or without my sister, he was a legitimate part of the family.
Fast forward to February of this year and he just packed up and left. Hey, you do you in my opinion, not my relationship so not really my problem aside from consoling my sister. However, he came back to the house and took this car. My sister said she didn’t care, that he could have the car if he wanted it, as long as he refinanced it to remove her from the car loan and registration. He drove almost across the country to have the car with him at work, and then went full no contact.
No contact with any of us, whether we were talking regularly or not.
He reappeared recently. My sister asked about the car being refinanced as it’s been four months since he left and she was still receiving bills for the car. He responded with him being busy at work, which as someone who works 50+ hours a week I completely get. She asked a bunch of questions following that, “Why haven’t you tried to start the process on one of your off days?” “Why haven’t you changed your address from my place?” “What do you need from me to make the refinancing happen?”. He just continues to reply with “working too much”.
This past Friday she asked one last time, what the situation with the car was. He told her he went to the bank and had the process started, and that he was able to finance the car. Well now it’s the end of Monday, and she called the bank. He never did that and the car and loan are still in her name.
She wants to pursue some sort of legal action since he refuses to do anything. I guess the question is whether or not that a possibility? She has multiple written papers and texts from him where he states he is going to within x time frame and never does. Would there even be a way for her to get him to finally go do that? Is there anything she even can do? What should she do?
P.S. she knows I made this post

I confronted my (now ex) fiancé of +2 years after I heard he was sleeping with someone at my university. We were in a rough patch. He was distant for a while. He asked for space after a fight. I started meeting with therapists for couples counseling and personal growth. The same week, I was contacted and told that the student was saying we broke up and is with my ex-fiancé. I didn't believe it at first but confronted him. After he confirmed the truth, he messaged her asking how I found out — what he told me, I did not see his messages. She immediately called me. After I did not pick up her +15 calls, she texted voice memos accusing me of lying, then confessing to sleeping with him plus I deserved it, and claiming she is coming for me. While it occurred, I made my fiancé listen to them so he would see what he had done. He texted her to leave me alone, but it continued. As she kept sending, he told me he said I was a good person, we were just not compatible anymore. He claims he never said anything she said. At this point, I do not believe him. He's shown me he will lie to protect himself and his role in this. I am in therapy now and have support from everyone in my life.
She continues to send messages. I am not blocking — advised to gather evidence. I am handling this professionally by sticking to facts, and have/will not respond to her. After showing the voice memos to a trusted administrator who knows the undergrad and me, they advised me to escalate/obtain a protective order. My administration immediately gave me a case worker in the office that handles discrimination/harassment. I explained what happened and showed voice memos. The caseworker immediately issued a no-contact order for my protection. Now it is escalated to the dean of students to address code of conduct violations of the student. It is validating to hear this is one of their worst cases of harassment and I'm not overreacting seeking no-contact. The university wants to move forward with accountability. I am wary of escalating things further out of fear of retaliation.
I don't know if it is time for the next steps? I am already dealing with waves of anger and incredible grief. This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. I'm so embarrassed. My professional reputation is affected when she shares intimate details of my life & relationship as I am grieving the loss of the life I wanted with my best friend. I don't want to hash it out in a courtroom. I am painfully grieving losing my best friend. I do want his help — this is his professional area of expertise — but I know he will not stand up for me in response to his actions that brought this into my life. I have not even heard from him since that night. Still, threats continued. People in my life (friends/family/admin/therapist) are concerned for my safety. I'm concerned enough that I left the state for an unspecified amount of time. How do I move forward with a situation like this with fear of retaliation? My goal is to be left alone, stop contact from her completely, and move forward with my life.
TL;DR!: OP’s fiance slept with someone who will not stop harassing OP. Unsure how to protect from harassment and slander while avoiding retaliation for pursuing protection from the person harassing.

Posting this for a couple reasons: #1. In case there's other parents who can relate to this on some level and #2. We're approaching some very significant anniversaries that I am all up in my feelings about so I have to get this outta me.
June 30th 2022 - the doctors couldn't find evidence of a corpus callosum in my daughter's anatomy scan (the superhighway of nerve fibers that connect the left & right hemispheres of the brain). A couple weeks prior they saw something fishy so this was the date of the appointment that cemented their hunch: Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum.
Nobody could tell me anything. Not how this would manifest, how it would impact my kid & family. All that was told to me was that there were a gazillion complications that could happen but none were definite. Could be something significant, or they may grow up not even know there's anything different about them. We just had to wait and see.
So from like week 25 of my pregnancy up until almost 9 months postpartum, I was terrified. At first it was being terrified of all the complications: microcephaly, macrocephaly, hydrocephaly, epilepsy, more genetic abnormalities etc. Once they were born and NONE of those came to be true, I stared at them like all day & night. With postpartum anxiety, I though if I took my eyes off then they would stop breathing or If I put them to down maybe their limbs would just fall off like the leaves on trees in the autumn.
Around 3-6 months, I watched them hit milestone after milestone, albeit, delayed, but never missed. At the time I was really afraid that they would run into some kind of barrier but it never happened. They got everything down.
Then, recently, that fear started to fade. But I didn't realize how foolish that feeling was, until last week. The PT was at our home working with my baby, and showing them how to bang two objects together. I could see the wheels turning, and though it took so much frustration (a lot of fussing and grunting, and fumbling) they got it! Since that appointment, they will grab any two objects and smack them together over and over. If they don't make the sound they want, you'll hear a little fuss, and then they will MAKE the sound themselves by clicking their toung in the beat of the toys banging together. They do it all day every day and I have never in my life heard anything so sweet.
I am so lucky to be their mom, and I can't even begin to fathom why I was so scare for them in the first place.

Hey guys! I'm back to sell more Filson. Up for grabs is the 125th Anniversary (2022) Filson Mackinaw Cruiser in Gold Ochre Ombre Color Size Large. I've provided measurements in the pictures but you can check them out below also. I'm asking for $300 Shipped (Within US) but feel free to shoot me any reasonable offers. I only wore this cruiser once to a family gathering for a total of 4 hours and then put it back inside my garmet bag. It is essentially new at a fair price (saves you $$$ in paying taxes/fees from other retailers/marketplaces). I'm selling it because I initially bought it for layering but prefer a tighter fit (Size M) Measurements of the jacket are:
Chest: 25" Pit to Pit (50 inches around) Sleeve: 26.5" Shoulder: 19.75" Back: 30"
I'm 5'10" and weigh 200lbs and have a 44" chest when relaxed. My ideal pit to pit measurements is 23.5" (47" around) so this is a bit big on me and has plenty of room to layer.
Happy to answer any questions and listen to reasonable offers. I will be posting in other groups/marketplaces so if you see the same post, you'll who it is. Thanks for making it till the end and hope ya'll have a great weekend!
https://imgur.com/a/fUGmWwI (https://imgur.com/a/fUGmWwI)

My mom decided we are going to my cousin’s graduation in Southern California. We live about 5 hours away, so we will be staying at my auntie’s house before and after the graduation. My mom and I still mask, and we plan on bringing homemade food on the drive there and back to reduce the amount of stops we need to make, and to help mitigate exposure, but what I’m most worried about is the graduation ceremony and dinner after. The graduation is outside, and my mom and I will be wearing KF94 masks the entire time, even during pictures, but I’m nervous with how crowded it may be. I think the graduating class will be around 500 students, and I don’t know what to expect for the seating arrangements. Does anyone have any tips on what else I can do to stay safe at the graduation? Also, my auntie’s family doesn’t mask anymore. If they plan to eat at a restaurant, would I seem like a jerk if I asked if we can eat dinner outside for someone else’s graduation dinner? Any tips on how to navigate that situation? And if you have any road trip tips on staying safe from covid as well, that would be very much appreciated! Thank you in advance!!