I (21M) need your guidance in a complex dating situation. I've been talking to an amazing Muslim girl (20F) for the past month, even though I'm an atheist. To avoid conflict, I pretended to be a Muslim. My dating options are limited due to my parents' strict expectations. They insist on me being with a Muslim partner (would most likely cut me off if I don't marry one).
Recently, we hit a roadblock when she realized I wasn't as religious as she thought. We made compromises like eating halal food together and refraining from premarital sex, but things got complicated when we had a physical encounter in the backseat of a car. Although she enjoyed it, she felt guilty afterward and needed space.
Recently she said we should stop talking because of our differences, she wants a man who is more religious. Heartbroken, I made promises to conform to her beliefs, giving up alcohol and adjusting my physical boundaries. Even told her that I would give up non-halal food entirely. But now I'm questioning if this is the right path. The challenges we might face in the future, particularly regarding our differing beliefs, concern me.
And its probably unfair to her since I'm not her ideal partner. I can pretend to be a Muslim and genuinely meet her criteria, but deep down in my heart I believe that the religion is man-made. But if I live this lie effectively, then she might not ever find out and we can live happily ever after.
So, I'm torn between pursuing this relationship, hoping our love can overcome the differences, or ending it early to avoid potential struggles.
I'd greatly appreciate your insights and advice on how to navigate this situation because I'm struggling to think rationally since I really really like her.

I know this is mostly a tiny subreddit, about a now-little known video game called Venice 2089, but considering the situation we have here on this site, with the mad plan to kill off 3rd party apps and further deny moderators the necessary and up-to-date tools to make their thankless albeit passionate part-time hobby much of a breeze in comparison to what Reddit's higher-ups have wrought upon their userbase since around 2016.
More info on the matter: https://old.reddit.com/Save3rdPartyApps/comments/13yh0jf/dont_let_reddit_kill_3rd_party_apps
So, in solidarilty to those who will be greatly affected by this unacceptable change, we'll be shutting this subreddit down until the people's demands are fully met, and they take back the word, or else.
Long live Nova's cozy, vibrant city, and her home here.

• JWPH, Mod

Heyyy, thanks for taking the time to check out my post & I hope you find at least part of it interesting enough to send me a message. Anyway, without further ado...I'm coming at you live from the sunny UK (no joke, it's literally blistering this week for some reason and I AM SUFFERING).
As much as we can all appreciate a good bit of sunshine, it's nice in moderation but our houses are designed like little hotboxes, the heat stays in so i'm currently typing in shorts and a wife-beater whilst an industrial fan that I got cools me down - hot, right?
My sleeping pattern is just as inconsistent as Marvel Studios is with their quality. I'm usually up at all hours (I do work but it's flexible to a degree) so am happy to speak with anyone from anywhere. All I ask is that you're patient and understanding of timezones and...life in general. I've spoken with individuals in the past who have flew off the handle if you don't reply on their clock, so I appreciate someone who's horizontal levels of laid back please.
I like to travel and enjoy snowsports, both of which go hand in hand. As a result, I've been fortunate enough to travel all over Europe many times. Aside from travelling for that, I like to visit new places from Greece to the Czech Republic to Spain and so on. Also been to the US a few times but would really like to visit Japan or Norway one day, maybe Brazil but my pale self would probably incinerate over there. What's your dream destination?
Gaming is a big hobby of mine and I currently play on PS2/3/4/5, Switch & PC. I'd say what games I play but I hop between far too many at once, though I've been blasting Diablo IV and Street Fighter 6 recently. Phasmaphobia is always a good laugh and if you know of Hunt, you're an absolute champ. If you play, what are some of your favourite games?
When it comes to music, i'll listen to anything and everything, really, so feel free to be the DJ on any and all future road trips whilst I drive. Which brings me on to the next one - I love driving and going on the occasional road trip or spontaneous day/weekend out. Any song recommendations?
Movies too, anything and everything, though I do have a bit of a soft spot for horror despite the genre being completely dragged through the mud time and again. Fallen off of Marvel movies recently since they seem to have ZERO SENSE OF DIRECTION following Endgame, but I'll gladly re-watch SOME of them. The BIG BALLER Franchise is, and always will be...Star Wars (despite what Papa Disney did to the movies with VII-IX). Tell me your favourite movies!
I have a keen interest in the paranormal despite being mostly skeptic, I'd say more of an optimistic skeptic would best describe my outlook. Got any scary stories to share?
Also enjoy learning about animals and different periods in history. Conspiracy theories are always a good laugh too. What's the wildest one you've heard of?
I like to practice martial arts and watch the UFC and Boxing on occasion & as always, good olde WWE is never a dull time, can always stick it on for a little and have some degree of entertainment. Do you watch or play any sports?
Cats, dogs and nope ropes, I have all the pet pics for you. If you have any pets/fur companions, I would LOVE to see them.I also like to cook and experiment with food. I'll try anything twice and am an average food challenge enjoyer, though I'm not quite Man V Food levels of food challenge.
Please send me your name, age and location in your opening message. A photo would also be appreciated BUT I do understand that this is Reddit and some degree of apprehension/caution is understandable, so don't worry if you aren't comfortable right off the bat. Ideally if we get on well, I would like to move platform preferably to Discord.
If you actually read all of this, I appreciate you. Have a great morning/afternoon/evening & I hope to hear from you.

Basically as the title says. My husband and I have a big family move coming up in less than a year that involves a lot of time and financial commitment. Because of the timing of a pregnancy and the move, we have to prevent pregnancy from July to December.
The move is a big deal and I am not a healthy person, I also work and have a lot of family responsibilities. I can't endlessly pile things on my plate, so we came to the conclusion that we have to pause so that I could get settled into our new home before a baby would come.
I also need to establish care with a fertility doctor because this is month 6 and I am pretty convinced I am already out for this cycle. I don't want to start working with a doctor here, and putting myself through testing and treatment, only to relocate a few months in, while dealing with all my normal responsibilities. Not to mention the costs.
This month is my last chance before I have to pause. It's not going well and I'm starting to spot when I should be ovulating and everytime this happens, the cycle doesn't work.
I have had 0 indication that I will ovulate besides a little EWCM. Estrogen, LH and Progesterone have been essentially nonexistent on all my at hormone tests for weeks. No ovulation on BBT and I have had less of my ovulation migraines this month.
Whatever. All this to say, I'm fucking sad. My heart hurts. I've been sick, to some degree, my whole life, with multiple diagnosis. It feels like years of medical and health trauma just bubbling up to the surface every time I am confronted with my reproductive organs failing.
I just feel my fertility slipping away from me. I'm trying to hold onto the dreams for my family, but they feel like sand between my fingers. My husband scheduled me a meeting with our family therapist, but I feel like maybe it's time to go back on all the psych meds I was on before ttc.
I am constantly having melt downs and sobbing. I have these weird dissociative moments where all i have all these thoughts about how my body doesn't work, or flashing back to a friend telling me they are pregnant, or even anger about how I wish my mom wanted to be closer to me and could see how much I was hurting over this.
Idk, I'm just here to get it out of my head and vent to people who actually know what it feels like to live with this disease.

I had a breakdown today because I got triggered when my boyfriend puts my newly washed clothes on top of my sister’s really really smelly clothes. The resentment has been piling up for a while now.
A little bit of my background: I am about to start college in September. Right now I have a lot of things on my plate. Me and my boyfriend are almost 9 months into dating and we live back-and-forth in each others’ house.
However, I’m starting to notice that he doesn’t care about house maintenance and organizing as much as I do.
Not only him, when I’m staying at my own house, my younger sister is the worst. She would pile up unclean laundry in the bathroom to the point it collapses and fills the floor; she would also never washes the dishes no matter how many days they’re left in the sink and wait until I do it for her. She claims herself to be a perfectionist and gets mad whenever I said I don’t think she is one. I don’t know maybe it’s some 16-year-old’s common issues during puberty. So when I am in my own house I’m always cleaning already, I would also use my own part-time salary to buy different items for the house to look tidier. Yet my stepmom (I’d rather call her my dad’s wife) would still complain that I am messy and a germ to this family. It kinda explains why I’ve been building that resentment in me.
One day I heard my boyfriend arguing with his mom about clearing the clutter in the house. Apparently he doesn’t care about house maintenance as much / prioritise it at the moment, I do always notice that he doesn’t mind if the room is messy or if anywhere is not tidy in the house, he can just live with it. This fact bothers me.
Maybe it is because I have always been taking care of my sister’s mess while still being complained as a messy person. I tried my best to maintain the house already and even prioritise it over all my studies and sleeping schedule, and people still can’t see it.
I want things to work out between me and my boyfriend. I’m scared I can’t handle it if it’s going to be like this in the future. Today’s breakdown really make me realize how heavy this has been on me and I feel like people around me doesn’t understand how messy the house is and how hard I’ve been trying to maintain it.
I tried meditation, I tried effective communication (with my boyfriend, cannot with my sister cause she thinks the whole world is against her), I tried gratefulness, I tried breaking down tasks and divide workload (he always leaves mess or things undone behind). Please tell me what I can do anymore, before I have another breakdown again.

I live in an apartment and unfortunately there's no ethernet port anywhere near the only viable place for my PC.
I have Comcast WiFi, 270ish up 12ish down (don't know how good or bad this is really)
I also have a long enough CAT5 ethernet cable to go from my router to my PC
Is the wired connection that much better to the point where id be worth plugging in for gaming and having that cable going across the apartment? Or is WiFi not so bad?
Mainly playing competitive games like Apex, Fortnite
What would the advantages be of wired over wifi in this situation?
TLDR - Is wired internet so much better than WiFi for competitive gaming that I should plug in an ethernet cable across my apartment every time I game? Or is decent wifi fine?

Galactic Social Dynamic: Memoirs (GSD #100)
After Emma's wedding and a few outliers of insanity there would be little that would shake the galaxy to its core for nearly a decade.
News reports would stream in about the war. The Alliance was winning, but all too easily. Alliance and the individual homeworld militaries were all convinced that the Scareek were laying a trap.
They were right, but it wouldn't show itself for some time and the loss of life would be catastrophic. The blow to humanity would drive them to a fevered madness. We would all get to see the beast that lurked under the skin. It was the same beast that lurks under all our skins, the one that prevents the Symphony from being heard.
But that is for another volume of tales and memories. These memoirs were made by gathering the bits and pieces of many points of view, as well as putting in my own. I'm not certain half will be allowed to be published, but these events occurred as did so many more. These were just the brightest times, before the Scareek showed their mettle and matched human ferocity. Before they took from every life in the galaxy. Before the Alliance stood up and drove them back to primordial waters where they now live, simple non-sapient lives.
They were the times that defined my life and though I am glad we mostly know peace, I fear what still waits out in the depths of space. The galaxy and hyperspace are still not completely explored and we have made a lot of noise.
-(GSD)---(GSD)-
Shoal looked at the last line. He shook his head, he was getting dramatic in his old age. He hopped off his writing stool and walked to his window. Cith lay before him, he was now the oldest leader of Ancin at almost four hundred years old, not that that meant anything, clans were now just families in all regards, just more formal than normal. He watched the children of his siblings as they watched their grandchildren.
He stretched and wandered back to his table and folded up the manuscript. So many pages, all written by hand. They had to be anything less would be an insult to the lives of his friends, to the lives of those the Scareek had taken and to his own innocence.
He laughed, he couldn't believe he thought he was worldly at a mere Seventy-five! How utterly foolish. Another laugh took him though as he saw the picture frame that Emma had given him the day after her wedding. The young woman Anna was in it with her father, he was certain their chapters would get eaten up by Alliance Intelligence or the publisher would think he was insane and refuse to print them. Either way he knew their existence was now penned down somewhere.
He then took the manuscript down several floors and to a large room that was ostensibly a large fabrication printer and scanner. Three hundred years on and no one had found better tech, they just made it work better and cheaper. He smirked and shook his head.
"Hello Dasha!" The happy voice of Driffi shouted as she picked up her father's cousin.
Shoal stared at the woman. Somehow losing nearly half the clan never destroyed her positive attitude. He loved that about her, but it was also an obstacle at the moment.
"Driffi, I need to send scans of this manuscript to some friends." Shoal sighed.
"Mr. Van and Hadley?" Driffi asked as she sat her clan leader down and immediately got to work setting up the central scanning pad.
"Add Rex and Ezekiel Dirge to that list." Shoal advised.
Driffi nodded. "I wonder if Mr. Dirge will join us for Cith-has this year."
"Unlikely, he can't stomach Civeet cuisine." Shoal laughed as he put the book on the scanner pad.
"Wow that's dense Dasha, you know we have an older model, could take a day to scan and send." Driffi sniffed the air.
Shoal nodded, then remembered something. "Oh! Send it to the Captain as well. It will want to read it all."
"Of course Dasha." Driffi smiled.
Shoal nodded and smiled, "I'm off to the garden."
"Give my love to my parents!" Driffi called out.
Shoal nodded and soon found himself in the clan garden, surrounded by statues of his ancestors, siblings and even his parents. He filled small dishes with water and left them at the bases of their statues.
He stayed for hours, meditating and focusing on the universe. The stars and their wondrous symphony were out of his reach, he had accepted that, but he could always try to recall that wondrous symphony.
He slowly became acutely aware of another presence. It was quiet and respectful, so he didn't respond until they made it clear they were here for a reason. An artificial clearing of the throat told him it was his old Captain.
"Hello, sir." Shoal smiled.
The Captain did not speak, but walked over to a statue of a non-civeet, the first one ever made in generations. Sekaz had made it in honor of the individual.
"They never have eyes." The Captain voiced his usual complaint. "Humans should always have their eyes depicted."
"I think Emma would be fine with it." Shoal said, not getting up from his sitting position.
"I was in the system. The Network got the manuscript first. We approve." The Captain said. "How will you continue?"
"I was hoping you would." Shoal grinned. "After all, you couldn't stay away from your precious Galactic Social Dynamic and you have the best understanding of what occurred during the retaliation." Shoal explained.
The Captain paused and looked at the kesta honoring Emma Brunte. The Captain nodded, she truly would have been happy to know she was remembered in a friend's family.
"For the truth of the matter?" The Captain asked, probing the civeets motives.
"To remember the fallen and live on for the living." Shoal smiled.
"The children out there are calling you 'Shifu'." The Captain said with a slightly robotic chuckle. "Why did you let them see such an ancient movie?"
Shoal snapped out of his meditation. "Because it is awesome!" He jumped to his feet.
The Captain's slightly robotic laugh echoed. "I will do this, old friend. We will till the Galaxy of all those that sacrificed and what was truly lost."
Shoal smiled. "Thank you. Did, uh, did we ever find out where Hadley went during their lost years?"
The Captain shook its head. "We all have our suspicions, but they remain unwilling or unable to speak of it."
Shoal nodded. Hadley had vanished at some point during the Scareek retaliation. It was devastating to Emma and their friends and then one day they were back and working as hard as ever, though their closest friend swore the Intelligence had become more paranoid.
"Eventually the truth comes into the open." Shoal nodded.
The Captain extended its hand and Shoal shook it. The two old friends took a few more minutes to honor the ancestors and allies of Clan Ancin.
////End Galactic Social Dynamic Volume 1////
First
Previous GSD!
Previous Zoo-nanigans
Volume 2 Awaits!
Zoo-nanigans will continue!
Spotify!
////\\\\
So a little over half way with the story I had the realization of how disorganized I was in writing it. All because I didn't expect it to take off and never made a physical outline. So I asked, why would this be like that in the world it takes place in.
Answer the memoirs of everyone's favorite civeet, mixed with other accounts he had gathered.
And volume 2 will mostly come from The Captain's point of view. Exploring the changes in its network and itself as an individual as well as its continuing awe and love of humanity.
So Volume 1 of Galactic Social Dynamic comes to a close, mostly. We still have some Zoo-nanigans to get through.
Peace and Love folks! I got a DND game to set up for!

At this point in time, I believe economics should be a mandatory subject in all schools at all levels. Here's why: Knowledge in economics will help propel the country's politics in a better direction, as people will be better equipped to know a government's functions and demand accountability.
Why should we pray against unemployment when we have lots of resources and a sleepy government? Isn't unemployment an economic function?
Why should a government create a horrible environment for businesses then we get to church to pray for them businesses to thrive?
Why should we sit down in churches to be leaden with the guilt of family and generational curses because we can't secure jobs while government sleeps on their economic functions?
What about income levels and the living standards and poverty levels?
I believe a government starts to function when it's citizens demand accountability. But we Kenyans, can't demand accountability without knowing what exactly the government is responsible for.
So, what do you all think about having economics as a compulsory subject in our schools? Should it or shouldn't it?
View Poll

I've posted a few times here and elsewhere, but as a TLDR; just over a year ago my ex falsely accused me of rape.
This has had such an effect on my life that I still feel like it's spinning around me. My experience and expectations of the criminal justice system within the UK and most notably the police has changed dramatically.
I feel as if my life is being destroyed around me, and every aspect of privacy and control removed with my life, and prior relationship being laid bare for inspection. With no one willing to give an awnser as to what is happening.
No one has been questioned, no one has heard from the police that I requested be interviewed, and other than denials to our requests for information i have received no updates from the police since being placed on RUI.
I've had to change solicitors and fight even to get access to basic records and transcripts for over 5 months in order to try and obtain pre charge representation and throughout it all I've felt that no one cares.
No one cares the cost this has on the people accused. To them the fact you have been accused is enough for you to be judged.
Within the UK (England) cases such as mine average 3 years till a decision is made by the CPS That's 3 years of living in limbo, 3 years of fear and struggling to build a future whilst wondering if any day all you've built is going to come crumbling down around you. And no one cares. To the police you are one of many, and worse you've been accused of a horrendous and heinous act, to be treated with little other than contempt, what dignity you have left in tatters.
Many who find out even will have the same attitude, friends and even family will fall at the wayside as it feels as everything around you moves yet your locked in place chained by a life past, by a person who you cannot even mourn, a relationship which will never have any closure but the shattering of my life.
1 year on and I wish I could say that justice had been seen, that truth had shone through the darkness of hr lies but instead it feels as though my sentence has only just started. That even in the best of circumstances the best I can hope for is to retain my freedom and be able to move on with my life and try and heal from the trauma this has put on me.

Long story short... my wife's parents have both died, and one of her brothers who never has had any contact with the family now all of a sudden is texting her and demanding information and documents.
My wife's brother (whom I'll call B1) has been the kind of person whom I've only seen or heard from three times since we got married over 20 years ago. One was at the wedding, the other two times were at each of the funerals for their parents. My mother-in-law used to cry over the fact that he never would call or visit her, ever... except for times when he needed money. His wife is also the kind of person who is manipulative and had him put in jail once, and my in-laws used most of their savings to bail him out. They even bought a car for them, and when it broke down, B1's wife wanted them to provide a replacement car. She also complained that when my wife's grandmother died, they weren't included in the will (but none of the grandchildren were, either). She has always been the type of person with a sense of entitlement.
As soon as my mother-in-law died last year, B1 started asking about how much money was left for them in the will, even before the funeral proceedings were over. My wife and her other brother (I'll call B2) explained to him that their remaining funds were necessary for my father-in-law to live on; he was in assisted living and required the help of memory care, which was quite expensive. After the funeral, B1 and his wife then went through my mother-in-law's belongings at her home, trashing the place as they took anything of value they could find, and left without even shutting the front door as they left town. Among the valuables they took were my father-in-law's military awards from the Vietnam War. B2 and my wife had previously told him that they wanted to display his medals at his funeral, when he would eventually die. Despite multiple attempts to contact B1 and have the medals returned, he never responded. Our assumption is that he sold them for money.
Recently, my father-in-law died, and when B1 was asked to come to the funeral and bring the medals, he claims that he looked everywhere but couldn't find them. At the funeral, he again asked about how much was left in the inheritance. Now, my wife had received power of attorney for her parents before they died, to make decisions regarding their medical care and assist with paying their bills, etc. Once her father died, she and B2 thought it would be wise to consult with a lawyer to handle the will.
B1 has been asking for documents about my father-in-law, including his social security number, some military documents, etc., so he can "learn more about his life". It turns out that B1 has the same name as his father, and our suspicion is that he wants to have his SSN so that he can try to obtain funds from the trust before it is properly distributed. Last night he sent my wife a text, saying that she must send him a copy of the trust, a copy of the power of attorney, and the lawyer's information, for him and his lawyer, within 12 hours. (At the time of this post, this means we have about half an hour remaining to do that, haha.) Of course, my wife is concerned that he might try to steal their father's identity and steal money from the account. I have suggested she ask the lawyer working on the trust what she is legally obligated to share with her brother. For what it's worth, she doesn't even have the trust right now, which she says is hundreds of pages long and the lawyer currently has it, so she couldn't provide that to B1 anyway.
What, if anything, are we legally obligated to give her brother at this time?

If you’re reading this I am begging you to believe me. Especially if you have children. My name is Leon and I have been investigating strange disappearances for four years. I am not an official investigator or a journalist. Before I started this whole thing I did not believe in ghosts or the paranormal. For me to believe in something I had to see it with my own two eyes! Everything had to be factual and everything had an explanation.
At least this is what I used to believe until my wife was murdered four years ago. They found her at work completely skinless. She was drained of blood and was missing all of her nails. They told me the precision required to accomplish this was not heard of yet. I waited months for answers and they never came, so I decided to go get them myself. I had no idea where to start or who to speak to so I went back to the store to try and dig up as much information as I could find.
Her manager eventually told me that she had gotten into a fight with a customer that day and that he assumed she went home on time. When her body was found in the employee break room he was shocked. He had no idea she was still in the building. He said he told me exactly what he told the police. I asked him if there was any footage of the man she was arguing with but he told me the security cameras were not working that day. I vividly remember wanting to punch this guy in his damn face. He was no help and I was determined to solve my wife's murder.
I ended up searching for the guy for months. I asked every one of her coworkers if they saw the argument and a couple of times I even had a run-in with the cops. They insisted that I should let them do their jobs and that they had everything handled. There was no chance I was going to listen to them. I had to take time off from my investigation to attend her funeral and make sure I got all of the preparations right. In hindsight, I was not growing properly and I really should've taken some time to reassess.
So fast forward another month and I finally get a lead. Something I assumed the cops didn't have, this meant I could finally get some answers before being stonewalled again. I ended up finding this guy, Will Brookes at a fucken motel off of the highway about three miles from where my wife worked. I waited for two days before I saw him leave his room to get ice. Once I knew what room to find him in I knocked until he opened the door. He was rightfully pissed but not as pissed as I was. It took every ounce of willpower in my body to not kill him on the spot.
“Why did you kill my wife?!” I snapped as I forced myself into the room and slammed the door behind me. He looked shocked.
“I did not kill her!” He screamed and tried to move around me. So I grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him into the wall next to the tv. This guy was not very heavy and not very strong. At that moment I was wondering how he could kill anyone.
“You were the last person to be seen with her alive!” I barked. I wanted to push his body through the wall. I wanted to crush him.
“I was bringing her the papers she requested for a job offer she accepted in a place called LittleBrooke!” The man said. He was shaking so I put him down and pushed him to the side. “Show me the papers,” I demanded. My wife had told me twice that she had gotten a new job offer. I was extremely excited! I work from home and would be happy to live wherever she wanted. All she had to do was say the word and we could’ve left as soon as possible. But she never made it home to tell me the news.
I watched as the shaking man handed me a stack of papers and even a suitcase. “Here, take it and please leave me alone!” He shouted. “Okay.” I left the motel room and went right to my car. I put everything on the passenger seat and went home. Once I got there I sobbed in the driveway for over an hour before finally getting out and heading inside. I never got to see her body and I never got to say goodbye. Being in this house felt like I was walking into a damn shallow grave of sorts.
I went right to the master bedroom and packed up as many clothes as I could. I even took some of her favorite items, I don’t know why. I took a couple of pillows and two blankets, and after that, I went around to search the rest of the house. Once I had finished in the master bedroom I went and grabbed all my items from the bathroom. After that, I went into the nursery. We were planning on trying to have a baby once she got her new job. I looked around the nursery and took some stuffed animals and blankets, nothing too crazy. I also made sure to grab our family photo album. Finally, I made sure to grab all of the savings from the jar we had plus anything I kept in the safe. I also made sure to grab our wedding video and once I had everything I thought I could need I left the house. On my way out I made sure to tell the building goodbye.
Once I got back into my car I decided to drive a bit. No way in hell was I going to the same motel as that guy so I drove until I hit a hotel far enough away from my house. I did not end up checking in though. Once I got close enough I backed up and just kept driving. I eventually hit a truck stop after a couple of hours and decided to rest my eyes for a while. I was exhausted and there were way too many questions rushing through my head. I knew if I kept driving in that state I would probably crash or something.
After sleeping for four hours I decided it was time to look through the papers and figure out what I was going to do next. I took the first paper from the stack and started to read it. For the sake of time here I will only tell you guys what I found that was interesting.
Paper One: You have been accepted to work as a store manager! Please review your employee packet for more information.
So as I am going over this first paper a couple of things stick out to me. Whoever wrote this was trying not to be specific. The whole paper was one big announcement for a new store opening up in a place called LittleBrooke. There was no state mentioned anywhere on this paper, I would later find out that this place was supposed to be in Washington D.C.
I decided to dig around and eventually found the employee packet. She accepted a job at a mega-store called BrightMarketZ. I thought it was a pretty weird name but what stood out to me was what they were offering to pay her. $22.00 an hour! I couldn't believe it. No wonder she said yes and didn’t bother to ask any questions.
Paper Twenty: To find LittleBrooke please enter [REDACTED] into your GPS device. You will be staying inside apartment 307. All rent for your first month in LittleBrooke is covered by your employer. Please note that all apartments are two-bedroom only. If you have a larger household please speak to Sydney May at Town Hall for bigger accommodations.
After reading this I decided to just go to LittleBrooke and get answers. I was assuming that I would find out what the hell happened if I just went. I wanted to know what my wife died for and I wanted to know why this was some big secret in the first place. I went back to bed and as soon as the sun came up I put the information into my GPS and headed for LittleBrooke.

Year One in LittleBrooke

It took me three weeks to reach LittleBrooke and I could tell that something was wrong the moment I found the town. If I wasn't so damn desperate for answers I would've turned around as soon as I saw the library. The building itself wasn't big but the two huge lions on either side of the staircase gave me the creeps.
After that I passed a mechanic, the whole place looked run down as hell. There wasn't a single car to be seen but the sign said open. The man standing outside of the building waved to me so I gave him a slow wave back. He looked weird. At the time I couldn’t place my finger on why but now I know it’s because he was not human.
The theater was kind of cool to look at in a vintage kind of way. They were not showing anything when I drove by and I made the decision early on to stay out of the theater altogether. After the theater, I saw a small building that said LittleBrooke Press. If anything else I figured I could write for the paper.
As I approached the apartment building a woman was standing outside. Her face was weird as hell. It looked like she had far too much plastic surgery like her face was threatening to pop at any moment. “Hi, can I help you?” she asked me. Her voice was shrill, it was gross to even hear her speak. It sounded like she was putting on a fake voice just to speak to me. “Hi, my wife accepted a job offer. Unfortunately, she has passed away. I would still like to claim the apartment left to us. I can work at any place that currently has an opening.” I offered.
“LittleBrooke Press has space for two more writers!” She smiled and handed me the keys to the apartment. She never asked my name and she knew exactly where I wanted to go. I thought it was weird but I didn’t argue. Instead, I took the keys and thanked her. I spent that whole day getting settled into the new apartment. A couple of things, the front door had four different locks on it. I thought that was pretty weird. I also did not see or hear any other people until my third night in the apartment. I called the LittleBrooke Press about a potential job and they told me to email my submissions. There was no need for me to come in person and honestly, I liked this deal a lot.
For the first few months, I spent my time writing about whatever came to my mind. After that, I would send it in and get my money back. The editor never told me what to do and they never requested anything. It was sweet. As December rolled around I could feel myself slipping into a seasonal depression. At that point, I had made no progress in any of my investigations. I did not know the town well enough and frankly, I felt like I was wasting my time. That night I decided to check out the local bar. It was pretty hidden, you had to drive further into LittleBrooke to find it. Once I got there I was shocked! The place was packed. I sat down at the bar and ordered a drink.
The bartender was hot as hell, too hot. She was so even looking so perfectly symmetrical that it made me extremely uncomfortable. There wasn’t a single hair out of place. “So are you new in town?” She asked me. “Yeah, I just got here a couple of months ago. My now-deceased wife accepted a job offer here.” I said bluntly and dryly. I wanted to finish my drink and go. It was like the bones in my body were screaming at me to leave. The woman looked shocked. “Tell me, does that happen often? Do people accept a job offer in LittleBrooke and turn up dead a couple of days later?” I hissed. It was a genuine question but she did not take it too kindly. She took my drink from my hands and told me to leave.
As I made my way back to my car I could hear someone coming up from behind me. I turned around as fast as possible and had to take three steps back. It was the bartender, but she did not look the same. Half of her face was weighed down like she had no bones at all. Her eyes were bulging out of her head. She gurgled at me. “You need to leave!” She finally snapped and swung her arm in my direction. I moved back before she could hit me. As her hand hit my car window it shattered like it was made of ice. I watched as her arm popped and clicked. I could see it slowly getting longer. Before I knew it her arm was dragging on the pavement! She lunged at me so I punched her in her stomach. She gurgled again and sunk her teeth into my jacket. I screamed for help as we hit the pavement. She was trying fucken eat me! I grabbed her by her hair and threw her backward as hard as I could. As I scrambled to my feet and looked at her I screamed again. Her skin was pulled back. Now hugging the bones on her face. Her eyes were completely exposed! I turned and dove into my car as fast as I could. I slammed the door behind me and sped out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.
The next morning I received a letter under my door. “Sorry, you had problems last night! Please accept our sincerest apologies.” -Mayor Brookes. There was $300 included with the letter. Now, I thought about leaving but decided I had to stay. Something was going on here and I had to find out what. I removed my jacket to see if the woman had injured me, she didn't but the experience was still terrifying. For the first time in a very long time, I was scared. But I also felt closer to the truth than I have ever been before.

Year Two in LittleBrooke

I spent all of January writing about the women who attacked me. I even contacted the police. I quickly learned that the police were going to be completely useless. My editor never sent the story back so I had assumed it was published.
At the end of the month, I left to shop for some supplies. Let me tell you, the grocery store in LittleBrooke is something else. They don’t have any brands you’ve ever heard of and at first, that drove me nuts. However, I quickly came to fall in love with the food here. It was comforting to have something to enjoy. Like always, I made sure to shop for two to three months at a time. Shopping was easy, I used the self-checkout to make sure I didn’t have to speak to anyone.
Once I got home I put everything away and decided to look around the apartment building. My whole floor started with 301 and went all the way to 310. The first floor was 501 to 509. There was a technical second floor but none of the doors were labeled. It looked like someone was renovating the place.
I got to see some of my neighbors too. An older woman, two men, and I were living next door to a lady the whole time. I had never seen or heard from these people before. It seemed like everyone wanted to keep to themselves too. I wanted to try and talk to someone but every time I approached them they turned and walked away. For what it's worth they looked completely normal.
So I left the apartment building and ventured around the property. There were no other apartments anywhere close to the one I was staying at, or so I thought until I found one about thirty minutes away. It was so out of the way you wouldn't find it unless you were looking. Against my better judgment, I opened the doors to the building and walked right inside. The place smelled like rust and soot.
I went to explore the first floor and was shocked to find blood trails on the floor and the ceiling. I followed the trail and made sure to look at the numbers on each door. This floor was numbered 1-10. Most of the doors were locked and I wasn’t going to try and knock anything down. I opened the door to apartment 10 and walked right inside. There was just enough light from the sun to illuminate the place. It looked like the whole place had been ransacked. I checked the tables and cabinets before heading into the bedroom. I searched the dresser and under the pillows before finally checking under the bed. When I looked under I spotted a black box. I grabbed it and that is when I got the feeling again. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt something sharp dig into my shoulders.
I screamed as loudly as I could, my face slammed off of the carpet and I clenched the box with one hand. Before I could figure out what the hell was happening I was tossed backward. I went into the bedroom door and rolled a couple of times until I reached the torn-up couch. I slowly lifted my head and to my horror what I was looking at was way too far from human to be real.
It looked like a dog ape thing. It was mostly skinless aside from some skin on its torso and face. The creature had thick, long claws and was standing on its hind legs. It barked at me. Its fangs were huge! I quickly scrambled to my feet and rushed out of the door as fast as possible. I could feel the blood running down my back. Never once did I consider letting this box go.
“Help!” I screamed as I burst through the apartment complex doors and started to run back to the main road. My heart was pounding, I could feel my chest getting tighter with each step. I could hear the beast behind me, it was screeching. I thought I was going to die for sure, there was no way I could continue to outrun this beast. That’s when I heard a car and before I knew it I could see it! A woman was waving me over, she was just up ahead! I had to push a little harder. I had to be just a little stronger.
When I felt the embrace of the car door I ripped it open and dove inside. She sped away and I looked out of the window. The beast did not follow us any further. “Are you insane!” She snapped at me. That’s the last thing I remember before passing out.
When I woke up I was laying on my stomach on an extremely comfortable couch. I could smell someone making pasta with meat sauce. My stomach was going insane. Everything hurt though, especially my back and my left side. I figured I had hurt my side when I was tossed across the room.
At this point, I did not dive into the box yet. I could barely move. “Hi.” I heard a woman say from the kitchen. “Thank you,” I replied before trying to sit up. I was so concerned that this woman would be another monster. When I saw her though I knew she was normal. She didn't look so damn perfect and that was a breath of fresh air.
“What's your name?” She asked me as I watched her prepare two bowls of food.
“Leon,” I said before closing my eyes. “You heard me screaming?” I asked her seriously.
“I did. I’m pretty sure everyone in our building did. You got hurt pretty badly, I did my best to patch you up.” She paused and laughed. “My name is Ashley.”
So I ended up crashing at her place. During this time I tried to focus on recovering. Sleeping became hell, I was having constant nightmares. I also spent a lot of time working on articles. I ended up giving Ash the keys to my apartment so she could get my laptop. It was a big move to trust anyone here but I am glad I did.
​

Year Three and Four in LittleBrooke

During my recovery, I spent most of my time writing. I wanted to write about everything I have seen and experienced. I had a lot of questions and way too much time with my thoughts. Ash and I got to know each other too.
I told her about how my wife had died mysteriously. I eventually opened up about her being skinned and drained of her blood. Ash told me she had come to LittleBrooke with her older sister. Her sister went to work one day and never came back. She was working at the theater. Ash had told me that she was stuck here, she didn’t feel right leaving with her sister still missing. Every time she would try the cops would meet her at the town line.
It was during this time that we both shared that we had never seen a police station. We talked about the monsters too. Her first run-in with one was at the grocery store. I told her about what happened to me at the bar. She told me that she heard rumors of the beast living beyond the apartments. The first time she saw it was when it was attacking me.
As I started to recover more we discussed a couple of things. First, the neighbors here suck. She could hear me screaming and came to help but no one else did. Second, neither of us has seen any families since we moved here. It was at this point I decided I wanted to leave and I offered to take her with me. We could both get out come hell or high water. She agreed but there was something I had to do first.
I showed her the box I had taken from the apartment.
“You almost died for a box?” Ash asked me. “Yes,” I said seriously.
I opened it and blinked. I found a picture of a girl with black hair and bright green eyes. It read, Stephanie. I found a missing persons report too. This girl had been missing a year before I got here. I decided that my last article would be about her. I had written about a couple of missing people before this. For example, the old lady in our building vanished and her apartment was rented out two days later.
I also found a badge inside the box. It read F.O.P.P. and there was a name! Jack Bridges. We tried to look up the organization's name but we came up empty-handed. I ended up writing the story about Stephanie and the next day Ash and I got packing. We decided to take my car since the cops know what hers looks like. I packed up the essentials all over again and we piled into the car. “We should check the other direction. Before we leave.” I suggested. Ash knew about the bar already but neither of us knew what was beyond that point: This suggested changed the course of our lives forever.
So we started driving in the other direction. We passed the bar where the woman had tried to eat me, we passed a convenience store I didn’t know this town had and we just kept driving. Eventually, I could hear Ash speaking to me, “Holy shit! The police station.” she pointed out. I couldn’t believe it either. I did not stop driving though but I wish I did.
Eventually, we saw a sign that read, LittleBrooke High. Go Bears!
I started to slow down a bit until the school was in view. The place looked run down as hell. There were holes in the walls and leaves growing up the side of the building. The parking lot was massive and full of buses. I pulled the car into the parking lot and told Ash to get into the driver's seat.
“You’re not serious?” She asked me. I could tell she wanted to go but I said, “This is it! This is the last place of note in this fucken town. Just take the wheel and I will be right back.” I said as I jumped out of the car and went to look around.
As I approached one of the buses I grabbed the doors, they were already open a crack. I pulled them open and was hit with a horrible stench. I had to step back and puke and no I am not going to describe what I saw in that fucken bus. At that point, I decided I had seen enough and it was time to fucken go.
“Help!” I heard someone cry from a couple of buses over. “Please!” I heard again. I wanted to slap myself because I knew better. I had already decided it was time to leave but I went to investigate anyway. I went to the bus and pulled the doors open. It smelled like stale piss and blood. “Back here!” A girl screamed out to me. I made my way to the back of the bus, stepping on school jackets and over backpacks. That is where I found them. Two teenagers are tied to the leg of a bus seat. They looked horrible, caking in blood and sweat. They were both injured. “Stephanie?!” I exclaimed as I bent over to free them. I recognized her face the moment I saw it.
“Can you move? I asked the blonde girl.” As I started to let her go. “Everything hurts.” She told me. I opened the emergency exit and called for Ash to pull the car over. It took her a second to hear me but she came as fast as possible. “I am going to get you guys in the car and we are going to get out of here, okay?” I told them. I wanted to tell them everything was going to be okay, but I couldn't. It felt like that would be a huge lie.
Ash stepped out of the car and helped get the girls into the backseat. As I stopped to look around I could feel the bus shift in weight. I turned around and inhaled sharply. Standing before me was a creature wearing a jacket that said COACH on it. He looked sickly, and pale, and his veins were protruding from his face and hands. As he ran at me I jumped out of the emergency exit door just in time to feel something slam off of the back of my head. I looked down to see a barbed football. I could feel blood trickling down my neck, I stumbled forward and felt a hand grab my arm. Ash was shoving me into the car. She slid over me, closed the passenger door, and backed the car up. I thought she was moving like lightning.
At this point, everyone was screaming. My heart was threatening to jump out of my fucken chest. I was so sure we were all going to die here, just like everyone else I had seen on the buses. But no, Ash sped out of the parking lot. The coach chased us to the school limits but for some reason, he did not follow us anymore.
I know we should've stopped to see if the kids could find their parents but we didn't. Instead, Ash just kept driving. Eventually, we could hear the cops behind us but that did not stop her. It took us six hours to finally see the You Are New Leaving LittleBrooke sign! I couldn’t believe it. This place was not that big at all.
So listen, if you’re invited to take a job in LittleBrooke. Don’t take it. It’s not worth your life.

Falling in love is probably one of the most exciting and heart-racing experiences.
Imagine being head over heels for someone, and despite the number of years you’ve been together, never would you imagine or think about what it’s like to fall out of love.
Unless you’re an overthinker, then you’ve probably kept overthinking whether or not your partner is falling out of love - or maybe you.
Yikes.
I mean, I get it, it does happen, and it can probably be one of the scariest things to face. But, especially when you’ve been together for quite some time, through all the challenges and major life changes that you face together, it can significantly change you in some ways.
But despite it being difficult to grasp, what exactly does it feel like to start falling out of love?
It’s difficult to precisely describe what it feels like to be out of love, but it’s defined typically by behaviors (or a lack) that undermine intimacy in a relationship. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you hate or are angry towards them; it also doesn’t mean you no longer care for them.
It’s just - confusing.
It never comes abruptly; falling out of love often starts off as losing feelings gradually. It is probably one of the most common reasons people use to break up with someone.
But the question still remains, why do people fall out of love?
When you're in love, you can't stop thinking about the person you're with, you want to spend every minute with him or her, and you feel very grateful and fortunate to have this particular person in your life. However, individuals do occasionally fall out of love. And even if they had felt very enthusiastic about this individual, these feelings might fade away with time.
You’ve probably spent hours searching about the signs for falling out of love, and you’d find similar answers, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s the standard since it’s not a checklist.
The number one reason why people fall out of love is that they’re human. It’s quite difficult to understand our own feelings because even in the healthiest relationships can make us fall out of love and fall back in love.
But why is it that people let go or end things when they start falling out of love? It’s a big mystery. Some say it’s because they get scared, or that they find it a struggle to keep staying in the relationship.
How does falling out of love affect YOUR relationship?
“I don’t love you anymore.”
“It’s not you; it’s me. I just lost my feelings.”
Yikes. Those are the words we are constantly trying to avoid, especially since we know what happens next.
Yes - the one heart-racing feelings for the relationship have passed and faded, and then comes the breakup.
However, falling out of love doesn’t always mean the end of the world. I mean, I get that the first few months of falling in love can make you feel complete bliss, euphoric sensation, and butterflies, but when you start getting used to the routines, and you’re starting to lose feelings gradually, things just get less exciting.
We are so focused on that Hollywood ideal of “happily ever after,” we instinctively assume that the heart racing feeling and sensation of love would continue forever, even when we know that it’s not always the case. Movies just make relationships look easier because they only show the challenges’ gist, but we always know they’d still get that happy ending.
The fact that every couple from a committed relationship will eventually fall from grace, but on some rare occasions, some relationships actually get past it.
Falling out of love can be a blessing and a curse.
The good news is that once you fall out of love, you begin to start learning how to preserve genuine love, which leads to a healthy marriage or long-term commitment for future relationships. If you even take time away from your significant other, you may end up coming back and rekindling that old love with your spouse.
What happens next?
It’s scary enough to fall out of love, but it is terrifying to face life without your significant other (since you’re already used to them around you a lot).
Here are a few things you could do,

1. Acknowledge and Appreciate

Instead of focusing on what’s missing, and constantly revisiting past problems, focus on acknowledging the things that your partner has done for you and appreciate the love that they are giving you.
You don’t necessarily need to do grand romantic gestures, even the act of writing and posting notes and letters to your partner about how you feel and appreciate them.

1. Guard your heart

As much as we want to open our hearts and lives to another person, we’ve been hurt by the love we thought would never hurt us. We start to build our walls, worried about opening ourselves up to a new love.
Often the hurt from the past comes back to haunt us, more times than we can count. Identifying the areas in which you shut down and protect yourself, so protecting your heart behind an unyielding wall, will enable you to soften that wall and begin to move toward your partner.
Give yourself time to heal and don’t push yourself to love again when you’re not ready.

1. Start communicating

Partners are no mind readers, they need to know and understand what you need and want from them instead of expecting them to do exactly what you want them to do.
There is tremendous power in realizing that we don't have to wait for anybody else to change in order to experience love, but that we can meet our own need for love by taking action on our own behalf. When you understand the love given and make a commitment to putting loving behaviors that open your heart and start communicating openly, you can have a loving, honest, and happy relationship for the rest of your life. Even if the work is not always simple or quick, the results are definitely worth the effort. Because, at the end of the day, what we truly want is to love and be loved.

In this video, Ben Shapiro is pretending that he understands George Orwell's 1984. He made an interesting point (7: 40) that leftists are trying to tear down families and churches to expose people under the control of totalitarian states.
This statement actually reminds me the answers I received from Christians when discussion questionable contents in the Bible. After reading Gospel of Matthew, I said that Jesus doesn't seem like a nice chill dude when he demanded people to love him more than their own family members. All of them reacted as if I asked a stupid question, because he is the god who theoretically created me and definitely deserve more love from me than my actual family members.
Then I asked them what if there is no detectable holy aura from this dude, how would they react when hearing things like "if you don't love me more than your parents and children, you are not worthy of me". Some of them replied that their god will reveal the truth to them, or something they will follow instructions from god. It is because of that fruitless discussion in the past and a morning news about a Syrian Christian refugee who stabbed several kids in the name of Christ after suffering from a mental break down, I joked that their god is just a delusional voice in their heads.
Human's sexual orientation is not really decided by their genitals alone. Although biologically speaking LGT not including B people may have some trouble to breed, they are no threat to straight families (as long as bisexual people don't cheat their partner). Having LGT and bisexual choosing same gender partner might cause a family unable to continue its existence (if adoption is forbidden), but people who have no desire to breed will never breed and this won't reduce other people's likelihood of breeding.
It is really strange that conservatives are shameless enough to claim that they are the protector of families, despite they believe an unproven entity is way more important than humans on earth. They don't care about death rate caused by pollution, sea level rising, and diseases they helped to spread, but somehow when it comes to women suffered from rape want to abort their embryos they just suddenly start to care about lives. Also child marriage definitely helps forming harmonious and loving family......

If you’re reading this I am begging you to believe me. Especially if you have children. My name is Leon and I have been investigating strange disappearances for four years. I am not an official investigator or a journalist. Before I started this whole thing I did not believe in ghosts or the paranormal. For me to believe in something I had to see it with my own two eyes! Everything had to be factual and everything had an explanation.
At least this is what I used to believe until my wife was murdered four years ago. They found her at work completely skinless. She was drained of blood and was missing all of her nails. They told me the precision required to accomplish this was not heard of yet. I waited months for answers and they never came, so I decided to go get them myself. I had no idea where to start or who to speak to so I went back to the store to try and dig up as much information as I could find.
Her manager eventually told me that she had gotten into a fight with a customer that day and that he assumed she went home on time. When her body was found in the employee break room he was shocked. He had no idea she was still in the building. He said he told me exactly what he told the police. I asked him if there was any footage of the man she was arguing with but he told me the security cameras were not working that day. I vividly remember wanting to punch this guy in his damn face. He was no help and I was determined to solve my wife's murder.
I ended up searching for the guy for months. I asked every one of her coworkers if they saw the argument and a couple of times I even had a run-in with the cops. They insisted that I should let them do their jobs and that they had everything handled. There was no chance I was going to listen to them. I had to take time off from my investigation to attend her funeral and make sure I got all of the preparations right. In hindsight, I was not growing properly and I really should've taken some time to reassess.
So fast forward another month and I finally get a lead. Something I assumed the cops didn't have, this meant I could finally get some answers before being stonewalled again. I ended up finding this guy, Will Brookes at a fucken motel off of the highway about three miles from where my wife worked. I waited for two days before I saw him leave his room to get ice. Once I knew what room to find him in I knocked until he opened the door. He was rightfully pissed but not as pissed as I was. It took every ounce of willpower in my body to not kill him on the spot.
“Why did you kill my wife?!” I snapped as I forced myself into the room and slammed the door behind me. He looked shocked.
“I did not kill her!” He screamed and tried to move around me. So I grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him into the wall next to the tv. This guy was not very heavy and not very strong. At that moment I was wondering how he could kill anyone.
“You were the last person to be seen with her alive!” I barked. I wanted to push his body through the wall. I wanted to crush him.
“I was bringing her the papers she requested for a job offer she accepted in a place called LittleBrooke!” The man said. He was shaking so I put him down and pushed him to the side. “Show me the papers,” I demanded. My wife had told me twice that she had gotten a new job offer. I was extremely excited! I work from home and would be happy to live wherever she wanted. All she had to do was say the word and we could’ve left as soon as possible. But she never made it home to tell me the news.
I watched as the shaking man handed me a stack of papers and even a suitcase. “Here, take it and please leave me alone!” He shouted. “Okay.” I left the motel room and went right to my car. I put everything on the passenger seat and went home. Once I got there I sobbed in the driveway for over an hour before finally getting out and heading inside. I never got to see her body and I never got to say goodbye. Being in this house felt like I was walking into a damn shallow grave of sorts.
I went right to the master bedroom and packed up as many clothes as I could. I even took some of her favorite items, I don’t know why. I took a couple of pillows and two blankets, and after that, I went around to search the rest of the house. Once I had finished in the master bedroom I went and grabbed all my items from the bathroom. After that, I went into the nursery. We were planning on trying to have a baby once she got her new job. I looked around the nursery and took some stuffed animals and blankets, nothing too crazy. I also made sure to grab our family photo album. Finally, I made sure to grab all of the savings from the jar we had plus anything I kept in the safe. I also made sure to grab our wedding video and once I had everything I thought I could need I left the house. On my way out I made sure to tell the building goodbye.
Once I got back into my car I decided to drive a bit. No way in hell was I going to the same motel as that guy so I drove until I hit a hotel far enough away from my house. I did not end up checking in though. Once I got close enough I backed up and just kept driving. I eventually hit a truck stop after a couple of hours and decided to rest my eyes for a while. I was exhausted and there were way too many questions rushing through my head. I knew if I kept driving in that state I would probably crash or something. After sleeping for four hours I decided it was time to look through the papers and figure out what I was going to do next. I took the first paper from the stack and started to read it. For the sake of time here I will only tell you guys what I found that was interesting.
Paper One: You have been accepted to work as a store manager! Please review your employee packet for more information.
So as I am going over this first paper a couple of things stick out to me. Whoever wrote this was trying not to be specific. The whole paper was one big announcement for a new store opening up in a place called LittleBrooke. There was no state mentioned anywhere on this paper, I would later find out that this place was supposed to be in Washington D.C.
I decided to dig around and eventually found the employee packet. She accepted a job at a mega-store called BrightMarketZ. I thought it was a pretty weird name but what stood out to me was what they were offering to pay her. $22.00 an hour! I couldn't believe it. No wonder she said yes and didn’t bother to ask any questions.
Paper Twenty: To find LittleBrooke please enter [REDACTED] into your GPS device. You will be staying inside apartment 307. All rent for your first month in LittleBrooke is covered by your employer. Please note that all apartments are two-bedroom only. If you have a larger household please speak to Sydney May at Town Hall for bigger accommodations. After reading this I decided to just go to LittleBrooke and get answers. I was assuming that I would find out what the hell happened if I just went. I wanted to know what my wife died for and I wanted to know why this was some big secret in the first place. I went back to bed and as soon as the sun came up I put the information into my GPS and headed for LittleBrooke.

Year One in LittleBrooke

It took me three weeks to reach LittleBrooke and I could tell that something was wrong the moment I found the town. If I wasn't so damn desperate for answers I would've turned around as soon as I saw the library. The building itself wasn't big but the two huge lions on either side of the staircase gave me the creeps.
After that I passed a mechanic, the whole place looked run down as hell. There wasn't a single car to be seen but the sign said open. The man standing outside of the building waved to me so I gave him a slow wave back. He looked weird. At the time I couldn’t place my finger on why but now I know it’s because he was not human.
The theater was kind of cool to look at in a vintage kind of way. They were not showing anything when I drove by and I made the decision early on to stay out of the theater altogether. After the theater, I saw a small building that said LittleBrooke Press. If anything else I figured I could write for the paper.
As I approached the apartment building a woman was standing outside. Her face was weird as hell. It looked like she had far too much plastic surgery like her face was threatening to pop at any moment. “Hi, can I help you?” she asked me. Her voice was shrill, it was gross to even hear her speak. It sounded like she was putting on a fake voice just to speak to me. “Hi, my wife accepted a job offer. Unfortunately, she has passed away. I would still like to claim the apartment left to us. I can work at any place that currently has an opening.” I offered.
“LittleBrooke Press has space for two more writers!” She smiled and handed me the keys to the apartment. She never asked my name and she knew exactly where I wanted to go. I thought it was weird but I didn’t argue. Instead, I took the keys and thanked her. I spent that whole day getting settled into the new apartment. A couple of things, the front door had four different locks on it. I thought that was pretty weird. I also did not see or hear any other people until my third night in the apartment. I called the LittleBrooke Press about a potential job and they told me to email my submissions. There was no need for me to come in person and honestly, I liked this deal a lot.
For the first few months, I spent my time writing about whatever came to my mind. After that, I would send it in and get my money back. The editor never told me what to do and they never requested anything. It was sweet. As December rolled around I could feel myself slipping into a seasonal depression. At that point, I had made no progress in any of my investigations. I did not know the town well enough and frankly, I felt like I was wasting my time. That night I decided to check out the local bar. It was pretty hidden, you had to drive further into LittleBrooke to find it. Once I got there I was shocked! The place was packed. I sat down at the bar and ordered a drink.
The bartender was hot as hell, too hot. She was so even looking so perfectly symmetrical that it made me extremely uncomfortable. There wasn’t a single hair out of place. “So are you new in town?” She asked me. “Yeah, I just got here a couple of months ago. My now-deceased wife accepted a job offer here.” I said bluntly and dryly. I wanted to finish my drink and go. It was like the bones in my body were screaming at me to leave. The woman looked shocked. “Tell me, does that happen often? Do people accept a job offer in LittleBrooke and turn up dead a couple of days later?” I hissed. It was a genuine question but she did not take it too kindly. She took my drink from my hands and told me to leave.
As I made my way back to my car I could hear someone coming up from behind me. I turned around as fast as possible and had to take three steps back. It was the bartender, but she did not look the same. Half of her face was weighed down like she had no bones at all. Her eyes were bulging out of her head. She gurgled at me. “You need to leave!” She finally snapped and swung her arm in my direction. I moved back before she could hit me. As her hand hit my car window it shattered like it was made of ice. I watched as her arm popped and clicked. I could see it slowly getting longer. Before I knew it her arm was dragging on the pavement! She lunged at me so I punched her in her stomach. She gurgled again and sunk her teeth into my jacket. I screamed for help as we hit the pavement. She was trying fucken eat me! I grabbed her by her hair and threw her backward as hard as I could. As I scrambled to my feet and looked at her I screamed again. Her skin was pulled back. Now hugging the bones on her face. Her eyes were completely exposed! I turned and dove into my car as fast as I could. I slammed the door behind me and sped out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.
The next morning I received a letter under my door. “Sorry, you had problems last night! Please accept our sincerest apologies.” -Mayor Brookes. There was $300 included with the letter. Now, I thought about leaving but decided I had to stay. Something was going on here and I had to find out what. I removed my jacket to see if the woman had injured me, she didn't but the experience was still terrifying. For the first time in a very long time, I was scared. But I also felt closer to the truth than I have ever been before.

Year Two in LittleBrooke

I spent all of January writing about the women who attacked me. I even contacted the police. I quickly learned that the police were going to be completely useless. My editor never sent the story back so I had assumed it was published.
At the end of the month, I left to shop for some supplies. Let me tell you, the grocery store in LittleBrooke is something else. They don’t have any brands you’ve ever heard of and at first, that drove me nuts. However, I quickly came to fall in love with the food here. It was comforting to have something to enjoy. Like always, I made sure to shop for two to three months at a time. Shopping was easy, I used the self-checkout to make sure I didn’t have to speak to anyone.
Once I got home I put everything away and decided to look around the apartment building. My whole floor started with 301 and went all the way to 310. The first floor was 501 to 509. There was a technical second floor but none of the doors were labeled. It looked like someone was renovating the place.
I got to see some of my neighbors too. An older woman, two men, and I were living next door to a lady the whole time. I had never seen or heard from these people before. It seemed like everyone wanted to keep to themselves too. I wanted to try and talk to someone but every time I approached them they turned and walked away. For what it's worth they looked completely normal.
So I left the apartment building and ventured around the property. There were no other apartments anywhere close to the one I was staying at, or so I thought until I found one about thirty minutes away. It was so out of the way you wouldn't find it unless you were looking. Against my better judgment, I opened the doors to the building and walked right inside. The place smelled like rust and soot.
I went to explore the first floor and was shocked to find blood trails on the floor and the ceiling. I followed the trail and made sure to look at the numbers on each door. This floor was numbered 1-10. Most of the doors were locked and I wasn’t going to try and knock anything down. I opened the door to apartment 10 and walked right inside. There was just enough light from the sun to illuminate the place. It looked like the whole place had been ransacked. I checked the tables and cabinets before heading into the bedroom. I searched the dresser and under the pillows before finally checking under the bed. When I looked under I spotted a black box. I grabbed it and that is when I got the feeling again. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt something sharp dig into my shoulders.
I screamed as loudly as I could, my face slammed off of the carpet and I clenched the box with one hand. Before I could figure out what the hell was happening I was tossed backward. I went into the bedroom door and rolled a couple of times until I reached the torn-up couch. I slowly lifted my head and to my horror what I was looking at was way too far from human to be real.
It looked like a dog ape thing. It was mostly skinless aside from some skin on its torso and face. The creature had thick, long claws and was standing on its hind legs. It barked at me. Its fangs were huge! I quickly scrambled to my feet and rushed out of the door as fast as possible. I could feel the blood running down my back. Never once did I consider letting this box go.
“Help!” I screamed as I burst through the apartment complex doors and started to run back to the main road. My heart was pounding, I could feel my chest getting tighter with each step. I could hear the beast behind me, it was screeching. I thought I was going to die for sure, there was no way I could continue to outrun this beast. That’s when I heard a car and before I knew it I could see it! A woman was waving me over, she was just up ahead! I had to push a little harder. I had to be just a little stronger.
When I felt the embrace of the car door I ripped it open and dove inside. She sped away and I looked out of the window. The beast did not follow us any further. “Are you insane!” She snapped at me. That’s the last thing I remember before passing out.
When I woke up I was laying on my stomach on an extremely comfortable couch. I could smell someone making pasta with meat sauce. My stomach was going insane. Everything hurt though, especially my back and my left side. I figured I had hurt my side when I was tossed across the room.
At this point, I did not dive into the box yet. I could barely move. “Hi.” I heard a woman say from the kitchen. “Thank you,” I replied before trying to sit up. I was so concerned that this woman would be another monster. When I saw her though I knew she was normal. She didn't look so damn perfect and that was a breath of fresh air.
“What's your name?” She asked me as I watched her prepare two bowls of food.
“Leon,” I said before closing my eyes. “You heard me screaming?” I asked her seriously.
“I did. I’m pretty sure everyone in our building did. You got hurt pretty badly, I did my best to patch you up.” She paused and laughed. “My name is Ashley.”
So I ended up crashing at her place. During this time I tried to focus on recovering. Sleeping became hell, I was having constant nightmares. I also spent a lot of time working on articles. I ended up giving Ash the keys to my apartment so she could get my laptop. It was a big move to trust anyone here but I am glad I did.

Year Three and Four in LittleBrooke

During my recovery, I spent most of my time writing. I wanted to write about everything I have seen and experienced. I had a lot of questions and way too much time with my thoughts. Ash and I got to know each other too.
I told her about how my wife had died mysteriously. I eventually opened up about her being skinned and drained of her blood. Ash told me she had come to LittleBrooke with her older sister. Her sister went to work one day and never came back. She was working at the theater. Ash had told me that she was stuck here, she didn’t feel right leaving with her sister still missing. Every time she would try the cops would meet her at the town line.
It was during this time that we both shared that we had never seen a police station. We talked about the monsters too. Her first run-in with one was at the grocery store. I told her about what happened to me at the bar. She told me that she heard rumors of the beast living beyond the apartments. The first time she saw it was when it was attacking me.
As I started to recover more we discussed a couple of things. First, the neighbors here suck. She could hear me screaming and came to help but no one else did. Second, neither of us has seen any families since we moved here. It was at this point I decided I wanted to leave and I offered to take her with me. We could both get out come hell or high water. She agreed but there was something I had to do first.
I showed her the box I had taken from the apartment.
“You almost died for a box?” Ash asked me. “Yes,” I said seriously.
I opened it and blinked. I found a picture of a girl with black hair and bright green eyes. It read, Stephanie. I found a missing persons report too. This girl had been missing a year before I got here. I decided that my last article would be about her. I had written about a couple of missing people before this. For example, the old lady in our building vanished and her apartment was rented out two days later.
I also found a badge inside the box. It read F.O.P.P. and there was a name! Jack Bridges. We tried to look up the organization's name but we came up empty-handed. I ended up writing the story about Stephanie and the next day Ash and I got packing. We decided to take my car since the cops know what hers looks like. I packed up the essentials all over again and we piled into the car.
“We should check the other direction. Before we leave.” I suggested. Ash knew about the bar already but neither of us knew what was beyond that point: This suggested changed the course of our lives forever.
So we started driving in the other direction. We passed the bar where the woman had tried to eat me, we passed a convenience store I didn’t know this town had and we just kept driving. Eventually, I could hear Ash speaking to me, “Holy shit! The police station.” she pointed out. I couldn’t believe it either. I did not stop driving though but I wish I did.
Eventually, we saw a sign that read, LittleBrooke High. Go Bears!
I started to slow down a bit until the school was in view. The place looked run down as hell. There were holes in the walls and leaves growing up the side of the building. The parking lot was massive and full of buses. I pulled the car into the parking lot and told Ash to get into the driver's seat.
“You’re not serious?” She asked me. I could tell she wanted to go but I said, “This is it! This is the last place of note in this fucken town. Just take the wheel and I will be right back.” I said as I jumped out of the car and went to look around.
As I approached one of the buses I grabbed the doors, they were already open a crack. I pulled them open and was hit with a horrible stench. I had to step back and puke and no I am not going to describe what I saw in that fucken bus. At that point, I decided I had seen enough and it was time to fucken go.
“Help!” I heard someone cry from a couple of buses over. “Please!” I heard again. I wanted to slap myself because I knew better. I had already decided it was time to leave but I went to investigate anyway. I went to the bus and pulled the doors open. It smelled like stale piss and blood. “Back here!” A girl screamed out to me. I made my way to the back of the bus, stepping on school jackets and over backpacks. That is where I found them. Two teenagers are tied to the leg of a bus seat. They looked horrible, caking in blood and sweat. They were both injured. “Stephanie?!” I exclaimed as I bent over to free them. I recognized her face the moment I saw it.
“Can you move? I asked the blonde girl.” As I started to let her go. “Everything hurts.” She told me. I opened the emergency exit and called for Ash to pull the car over. It took her a second to hear me but she came as fast as possible. “I am going to get you guys in the car and we are going to get out of here, okay?” I told them. I wanted to tell them everything was going to be okay, but I couldn't. It felt like that would be a huge lie.
Ash stepped out of the car and helped get the girls into the backseat. As I stopped to look around I could feel the bus shift in weight. I turned around and inhaled sharply. Standing before me was a creature wearing a jacket that said COACH on it. He looked sickly, and pale, and his veins were protruding from his face and hands. As he ran at me I jumped out of the emergency exit door just in time to feel something slam off of the back of my head. I looked down to see a barbed football. I could feel blood trickling down my neck, I stumbled forward and felt a hand grab my arm. Ash was shoving me into the car. She slid over me, closed the passenger door, and backed the car up. I thought she was moving like lightning.
At this point, everyone was screaming. My heart was threatening to jump out of my fucken chest. I was so sure we were all going to die here, just like everyone else I had seen on the buses. But no, Ash sped out of the parking lot. The coach chased us to the school limits but for some reason, he did not follow us anymore.
I know we should've stopped to see if the kids could find their parents but we didn't. Instead, Ash just kept driving. Eventually, we could hear the cops behind us but that did not stop her. It took us six hours to finally see the You Are New Leaving LittleBrooke sign! I couldn’t believe it. This place was not that big at all.
So listen, if you’re invited to take a job in LittleBrooke. Don’t take it. It’s not worth your life.

I’ve struggled with my mental health for a long time, ever since I can remember really. It sounds really sad, but I remember feeling depressed when I was a really small child, around 6 or 7 years old. I managed it all my life by myself, struggling in private, and to this day, no-one really knows or would even suspect I live with depression and anxiety unless I tell them.
Things got too overwhelming last year and I finally started to take Lexapro. I’ve been on the medication for over a year now and it really does help. I see a therapist twice a month now and my conversations with her also really help me. I eat well and exercise, I have a few friends who I talk to everyday, but I still feel so exhausted keeping up this pretence of being ‘normal’. I’m really trying to get better, but I’m just so so tired. So many stressful and sad things have happened to me and around me this month and its starting to feel overwhelming again. As cliche as it sounds, I just want to lie down in a dark room somewhere. But I have too many responsibilities and too many people relying on me to do that. I bumped my car into a wall parking at work this morning and now the entire bumper needs to be replaced for a tiny dent. It feels like the straw that broke the camels back, and all I want to do is just go home and sob. I’m exhausted.

So, I have had my conure for around three years now, and I just found out today that I am allergic to him. He is my baby and I absolutely will not rehome him. I also can’t remove him from my room due to my current living situation, so I wanted to see if any of y’all are also allergic and if y’all have any advice for things I could do to keep the allergens down.
Thanks!

I've been depressed as long as I can remember myself, I've been up and down and honestly last few years have been decent.
But this year everything just goes worse and worse. I wanted to drive since I was young, I did the training it went well, did test 1 failed 2 failed 3.. Failed and I had a massive panic attack with the examiner in the car. Got a letter to say I'm deemed dangerous / violent and I can only book a test with extra personnel present and cctv camera turned on for their protection.. It just turned the whole world upside down in that moment.
I've cried and I've cried and I'm still crying, I hate myself always have, but I always though I'm a nice person I'm kind but.. Maybe I'm not, I think I might be delusional and just seeing what I want to see.
I'm tired of living, I'm so so tired and I have nobody in the whole world who would care, anyone to reach out to nobody. Just feels so lonely and all I want to do is sleep and never wake up.

LONG tale ahead of an EPIC (lol jokes) journey in a friendship spanning eighteen years!
(If you want to make yourself a cuppa tea and settle in for a read, go ahead - or also you don't have to read any of this, that's fine too).
ALRIGHT. SO.
My husband (37M) and I (35F) got married three months ago in a wonderful wedding surrounded by friends and family. Everything went perfectly and we are over the moon with joy.
The only hiccup is that Jo, one of my oldest friends and bridesmaid, seemed determinedly MISERABLE about the whole thing. I'm not sure I care about repairing the friendship anymore but I'd really appreciate an outside perspective.
Some background:
Jo and I met at university in the UK. She says she was the introverted nerd from a small English village, and that I was the glamorous extrovert Italian from Milan. We bonded over shared intellectual pursuits and became best friends. Quickly though, Jo became possessive. She wanted me all to herself and most of the time. As soon as I invited people to join us or if I spent time with others, she would get angry with me. I didn't get it at the time but remember feeling stifled. My parents and sisters often said Jo was a strong personality and was in love with me, which I disagree with (because she only dated men).
After university, we stayed friends and were there for each other. However in time, I noticed some small toxic traits - she was consistently possessive and critical of me, and would try to bring me down at my happiest times. We remained friends - but I gradually did not consider us best friends anymore. I think that upset her.
In our mid- to late twenties, I went through a traumatic period (I married a domestic abuser; then my father and big sister passed away and I got divorced around the same time). To be honest, Jo was ALWAYS there for me in my darkest moments and when I needed her - a wonderful, proactive, insightful support. She really helped me through this tough time.
After my divorce, I dated a couple of guys over a 6-month period, which made Jo pull away from me. When I was fully single again, she "resumed" our friendship and insisted on me spending lots of time with her. One day, she told me in Italian (my native tongue) she liked me ("Mi piaci"). I asked her what she meant and she said in English, "Just that. I like you." I wasn't 100% sure why she had said that. I assumed because she cared about me - so I didn't think more of it.
Meeting my now-hubby:
Three years after my divorce and some considerable healing, I then met the love of my life (my now-hubby) - a kind, courageous, intelligent, happy, strong, beautiful soul. Sadly, Jo pulled away from me again.
A year into my relationship, my partner came up in conversation and Jo made a grimace - I confronted her about it and she told me she had "no interest in him because he is just another one of your many boyfriends." I told her this was cruel and inaccurate, and that she had not answered my question. She didn't say anything further.
So a year later when I announced to her I was engaged and brimming with joy, her reaction was, "Congrats, you look very happy." But she seemed the opposite of happy.
Forming the bridesmaids squad:
Initially, I asked my fiancé's sister and my two best friends (Carys and Holly) to be bridesmaids. My fiance then said he wanted six groomsmen, so I excitedly expanded my squad to match his. I asked three more girls in my friendship group, including Jo, to be bridesmaids. The more the merrier!
(Also, hindsight is a bitch and I now realise asking Jo to be a bridesmaid was a total mistake)
Jo's immediate reaction to being asked to be a bridesmaid was, "Ugh don't ask me out of pity." I assumed she felt hurt that she hadn't been one of the first three to be asked, so I apologised for my clumsy approach and explained the situation, and that I do care about her and wanted her to be part of my special day. She then agreed to be a bridesmaid.
Jo loves poetry and literature, so I subsequently asked if she would do a reading of her choice at our ceremony. She said yes. I had also asked my best friend Carys to do a reading - Carys set out on a mission to find the perfect reading, sending my fiance and me a shortlist of poems to get our thoughts. On the other hand, Jo became disinterested, expressed that she didn't know what to look for, she was uninspired and didn't know what to read (skip forward: she pulled out of her reading 10 days before the wedding).
Over the course of the engagement (1.5 years), Jo grew distant and uninterested despite my attempts to connect with her. At one point she ran for a small political position, so I gathered our friendship group to go canvassing for her. Jo acknowledged my presence there at least. I regularly tried to meet up with her and see how she was doing, but seldom got responses.
The Hen Do:
When it came to my Hen Do, the bridesmaids I'd delegated to organise it couldn't in the end, so I took charge. I sent out Hen Do Save the Dates months in advance. The plan was an afternoon and evening in London (where we all live), filled with activities, dancing, drinks and food.
A couple of weeks before the Hen, Jo messaged our WhatsApp group saying she "didn't realise [she] was required to attend the whole thing", and could only join for a bit. The other bridesmaids expressed "WTF" at that message but I let it slide.
The Hen Do was AWESOME. But - seriously - Jo was a total downer. She sat in a corner by herself looking bored and angry, and making everyone uncomfortable. All of us kept trying to get her to join in the fun but her response was, "No, I'm okay" or "It's not my thing." She persisted in sitting in her corner, so a few of us would regularly leave the games to hang out with her. That said, when I won a trophy for one of the activities, Jo kindly offered to look after it. After the Hen, I asked Jo for my trophy back but she said she'd already thrown it away. I told her that was uncool and that I was quite hurt. She apologised, and I let it go.
The bridesmaid outfit incident:
Regarding wedding planning, I was very hands-on when it came to organising the event - but determinedly hands-off with the bridal party.
I had planned a hair and makeup artist for my bridesmaids and told them they could each wear what they wanted - my only rule was NO MATCHING.
The bridesmaids had organised a separate WhatsApp group to coordinate their outfits and they agreed to each wear a different colour and outfit. All of the ladies collaborated and shared outfit photos in the group early on, except Jo who was apparently mainly silent until the week before the wedding.
So one week before the wedding, my best friend/bridesmaid Carys told me Jo had just sent everyone her outfit photo on the WhatsApp group - and that it was EXACTLY the same as Carys's. She shows me the photo Jo shared - yup, same dress, same colour, same accessories.
To be honest, I didn't actually care about the outfit. What pissed me off was Jo's total disregard for the other bridesmaid, or that she hadn't consulted the group before doing what SHE wanted, and that this felt calculated. Long story short, we asked Jo if she'd noticed her outfit was the same as Carys, to which Jo responded it was a different shade but that she would wear different accessories. Carys was OK with the compromise.
Wedding day:
On the day, Jo had stuck to her guns and copied Carys's look. Frankly, we all agreed to let it go for the sake of the wedding, and to address it afterwards.
In addition to the weird outfit situation, Jo's behaviour was bizarre. She looked miserable as we were all getting ready together. I told her she looked beautiful and at least she said thanks. Not that I care about compliments but she was noticeably the only bridesmaid not to comment on my bridal outfit (and I am not ashamed to say I looked like a sexy rockstar!). After the ceremony, I was on a high and gave her a big hug - she pulled away and said, "I don't know what to say. Well done, I guess." That put a sour taste in my mouth so I kept my distance from her for the rest of the day.
After the wedding:
A couple of weeks after the wedding, I messaged her to see if we could go for dinner. No response. I messaged her a month after that with an article I thought she might like. No response. Last week I asked her if we could meet up for a drink, and sent her a job vacancy that she might be interested in. No response. I know she is spending time with a couple of our friends but has now been ignoring me for 3 months.
Basically, I don't understand why she has been like this and why she won't speak to me. My husband and some of my friends are convinced that she's been in love with me the whole time we've known each other, therefore she's now pulling away - which I disagree with, as she has a boyfriend. I think maybe she feels neglected even though I have tried to connect with her? Or maybe she's just not interested in being friends anymore (people grow apart) but that seems a bit off? Maybe she feels hurt about not being one of the 'first bridesmaids'?
Honestly I don't know. The distance is making me see various toxic traits about her that I don't care to fix the friendship anymore.
From an outsider's perspective, what's your take on the whole thing?
Thank you for reading and have a nice day.

Hello Reddit!
TLDR; A dog owner was asked if they had bags to pick up after their dog, they said yes. Didn't actually have bags. "planned" on walking away from their pets excrement. I bagged it myself and proceeded to throw it at them.
This morning as I was walking back into my home, there was a woman with 2 dogs. I noticed there wasn't a bag dispenser on the leashes and asked her if she had bags with her to pick up after her pets. She said, "Yes". As I entered my bedroom and saw her outside the window she started to walk away from the freshly laid log her Frenchie placed in my grass. I quickly grabbed a couple grocery bags and as she was walking away, I said, "I have bags for you to pick up after your pets." She promptly brushed me off and turned the corner. I made a rash decision to scope the poop into a bag and then ran to catch up to her and throw the shit at her. As much as it would've brought joy to me for her to have shit down her back, nothing came out of the bag. A yelling match ensued and I told her to be a decent human and pick up after her mutts.
Other details, I live in a city. Most dog owners are courteous.

I posted this as a reply to another thread, but thought (thot?) I would share here, too. Please to enjoy my recap of S3 Episode 3. Spoilers (obviously).

1. Starting off in LA. Kim's body guard/ stylist puts them both in black coats and camo pants so she can go meet Scott for pizza and pre-planned gossip. They're both single, so they have lots to talk about. Like how it's too hard for Kim to go on first dates with guys and also too hard for Kim to break up with guys. She did go out with a guy in NYC, but wasn't smart enough to not go to the same place where she used to hang out with Pete, so everyone thought she was getting back together with Pete. Scott recommends she go for an older Italian businessman, but only if he's hot. Kim's not into it. So they talk about Cher and her much younger boyfriend AE. It's the best. But also probably the worst because Cher must be too old to bang him with the lights on. Kim only bangs with the lights off now. You know, because she's shy.

Two. Kourtney is doing a photo shoot for Lemme "Fall in Love" with Travis. Their love was not the result of a Potion No.9, but for people without their chemistry, who have $30, these supplements containing the essence of flowers will open your heart. Domineco Dolce and his dudes stop by so Kourtney can remind everyone she knew them way before her wedding. Also, Kourtney is shy and didn't speak as a child. Until she was a teenager. The stylist puts Travis in no shirt and they roll around together taking pictures very similar to all the other pictures they've taken before.

1. Kris stops by to see Khloe and Rob. I mean Tate. I mean Tatum. Khloe and Tristan are doing great because they are never ever getting back together ever again. They have very good boundaries and Khloe does not want to fall into old habits. Khloe feels guilty she isn't connecting with her second baby -- that she had in secret via surrogate while her ex-fiancee was having his fourth baby with his side chick -- the same as True. So we have to talk about the difficulties of surrogacy/ miracle of being a mother again. Tatem is now on goat milk formula. He might, but does not puke on Kris.
   
2. In NYC, Kendall is getting ready to attend a Marni show at Fashion Week. This is much more fun and relaxing than when she used to walk the shows because now she is good and healthy and has good boundaries. Kris calls and tells Kendall she's the favorite daughter. But we all know it's really Kylie. Kris said so yesterday while taking a lie detector test on TV.
   
3. Back in LA, it's 6 days before the D&G show and Kim's glam team is getting her ready for a pre-show photo shoot. Her role as Kreative Director of the show has involved creating looks. Well, looks D&G originally created in the 90s. They are so cool and Kim-esque. Crystals from head to toe. Kim is worried about how Kourtney will feel about this whole thing. She probably wouldn't mind at all if it was just a little bit later. (Because time heals all wounds?)
   
4. It's stormy in NYC. Kourtney is in town for fashion shows and Lemme press. She has anxiety and PTSD and needs drugs. Or maybe Lemme matcha. Kourtney wants to show how passionate she is about vitamins. She used to hate press because of the criticism and pressure from the family to earn her keep. But now she's married and confident, so she was able to decide on flavors for her vitamins. Kris watched the Today Show interview and gave it a thumbs up, because Kourtney looked beautiful. Simon thinks that's amazing. The team thinks Kourtney did a great job of organically talking about Lemme during the interview about Lemme.
   
5. Still in NYC, Kourtney is making rounds of the magazines, handing out Lemme pills like Halloween candy. Kourtney loves Lemme Focus, but can't remember why. Travis wore no shirt to perform at a Tommy Hilfiger fashion show. Kris and Kendall show up. Kris tries out a few tag lines for the next campaign like "Lemme get the hell out of here and get a drink." They talk about Khloe's good test results from her melanoma situation. Which Kendall has diagnosed as a result of Khloe being too tired and stressed. Kourtney is a perfectionist and Kendall is a control freak both because of pressure from Kris. Kris thinks thats hilarious. Kendall suggests if they can channel the baggage of their dysfunctional childhoods into productive work, it's all good. Kris will take the blame for any anxiety she has caused, as long as it results in a successful product release.
   
6. Back to LA. Kim is spending quality time with North by allowing her to do her makeup with special effects makeup while she talks to Scott. Scott pitches an idea for an episode where they pretend to be normies. According to Kim, Kris is sad that she has pushed everyone into being so famous they have no sense of actual reality. But Kim can handle it. She's never been depressed. While her daughter continues to work on turning her into an old lady, Kim talks about being fine when her dad died. North farts. It smelled bad. North walks Kim around the house introducing her to the staff as Anika the Art Teacher. The staff helps Kim make her alone time with North fun by playing along. Kim loves making North happy by playing pranks and hanging out with Scott.
   
7. Kourtney and Trav are walking around NYC. Kourtney's outfit choice -- an oversized Blink-182 shirt and over the knee boots -- can't survive the 12 minute walk because the boots are falling down. Trav thinks she should take them off (And walk around barefoot in the rat feces and period blood covered sidewalk? Khloe would never let her set foot in her house ever again!) They make it to the Matcha shop without Travis needing to carry Kourtney like last time. NYC was a whirlwind, but Kourtney will always put family and husband ahead of work.
   
8. Kim arrives in Milan. However, her stylist does not because she forgot her passport. How is Kim supposed to do her job as Fashion Show Kreative Director without a stylist? How is Kim supposed to know what she likes and doesn't like without Danielle there to tell her? Someone needs to fly to Milan with her passport. There are 3 days left and they have no looks. Kim arrives at the D&G studio where 10 people are there ready to get a room full of D&G pieces into looks. Domineco tells Kim, "Your opinion in this case is very great for us." Kim wants people to think this show of rehashed 90s fashions is "Fresh" and "Cool." But it's going to be problematic for Kreative Director Kim to pull this off without her stylist. She always needs someone to confirm that something looks good. Kim doesn't want to do veils (Because Kourtney?). Kim wants more bedazzles, but also needs to check with Danielle. Domineco isn't crazy about bedazzled glasses with a corset dress, but Kim doesn't know without talking to Danielle. There's that fear people won't like it. (Is Danielle supposed to be the scape goat in case this whole show sucks?) A bad show could hurt Kim's brand. People might say Kim doesn't know how to work on the creative side. (Um... they're sure going to say that now, after she is such a floundering mess without her stylist!). She just doesn't know how she's going to do this without Danielle.
   

Scenes: Kim thinks Danielle not being there happened for a reason. Kendall takes Kylie horseback riding and tries to kill her. Kourtney wants to kill Kim for kopying her wedding. Kim is taken completely off guard by Kourtney's reaction. The producers try to pretend there's going to be a "Kendall is pregnant" story line.