Family farm and home air compressor

On July 14, 1976, 42-year-old John Grey, a courier for Indianapolis, Indiana’s Bankers Dispatch Corporation, made an unexpected and startling discovery during his route. At 9:30am, John turned down a secluded lane just off of Spring Mill Road in nearby Carmel, Indiana to relieve himself when something caught his eye. Lying in a wooded area approximately 40 feet off of the road, John saw what initially appeared to be a roll of opaque plastic. However, upon closer inspection he noticed a pair of feet slightly protruding from one end. Using his car’s radio, John notified his dispatcher who in turn, contacted police.
The unidentified person was found just northeast of the intersection of West 116th street and Spring Mill Road in a small densely wooded area. A sparsely populated area at the time, the only residence nearby was an abandoned farm. The unidentified body, found wrapped in several layers of thick construction grade plastic and tied with three electrical cords, was taken to a nearby Noblesville, Indiana hospital for autopsy.
Beneath the plastic “shroud,” was the severely decomposed body of a young man estimated to be in his early 20s. He was completely nude and wore no jewelry. The autopsy revealed that he suffered a blow to the head that had caused a bruise on his skull, however the injury was not severe enough to cause death. No other injuries were found. While the hospital’s pathologist awaited the results of a toxicology test, police set out to learn the identity of the unknown victim, who for “health reasons,” was quickly buried in a Carmel cemetery.
Three days later, the body was identified through dental records as 22-year-old Michael Dean Riley, a psychology student at Muncie, Indiana’s Ball State University. Michael had been reported missing by Ball State University staff on July 9th after he failed to attend the start of his summer classes. Police learned on July 2nd, Michael had finished his shift at the United Consumers Club then caught a ride home from a fellow employee. After changing clothes, the employee dropped Michael off along Interstate 69. Michael then hitchhiked to a friend's home in Indianapolis.
According to the unnamed friend, Michael stayed at his house that evening and the following night. On the night of the 4th, the pair attended a Fourth of July party together. Michael supposedly left the party on foot, presumably to hitchhike back to his Muncie home. After that, Michael dropped out of sight until the discovery of his body 10 days later.
Several witnesses came forward claiming they had smelled a strong odor in the area for several days. They had, however, written the smell off as nothing more than a dead animal. Another person told investigators they had seen an older car parked near the lane about a week prior. According to the witness, two men were inside the vehicle. One got out, opened the trunk, and took something into the woods before emerging a short time later.
When the toxicology results became available, it was determined that Michael had overdosed. Alcohol, along with a large quantity of Doriden, a sleep aid normally given to people with insomnia, was found in Michael’s bloodstream. It was estimated he had consumed between 10 to 13 1mg tablets of the medication.
Michael excelled academically and was considered a model student at Ball State. He had no disciplinary problems, and had never been arrested. Though Michael was known to occasionally drink, acquaintances denied having ever witnessed Michael consume drugs of any kind.
Michael had gotten married two years prior to a woman named Rebecca, however I could find no additional information about their relationship. Michael’s father had passed away in 1960. His mother, Mary, and stepfather, Forrest, lived in Florida at the time of his death, however returned to Indiana for a short time during the investigation. After Michael’s body was exhumed and moved to a cemetery in West Lebanon, Indiana, the pair returned to their home in Florida.
The investigation into Michael’s death continued for a short time. However despite conflicting stories from party goers that evening, no arrests were made. Michael’s case was eventually taken before a grand jury. The final report read in part;
“After interrogating some 17 or 18 witnesses, it is the consensus of the grand jury that Riley died of an overdose of drugs, either self-induced, accidentally taken, or by a prank played on him. The jury concludes that because of the drug use going on among the deceased associates an election was made for disposal of the body……someone thus conceived the plan to mysteriously dispose of the body in a secluded place. There is little doubt assistance was required in ‘packaging’ the body.”
The report concluded by determining that because the drug use had occurred in Indianapolis, the investigation would be turned over to the Indianapolis Police Department for further investigation. Unfortunately, no suspects were ever named and no arrests ever came.
The murder of Michael Dean Riley remains unsolved.
Sources
Photos, Death Certificate, Clippings- https://imgur.com/a/e6kVcrW
Find A Grave Michael- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27606213/michael-dean-riley
Find A Grave Mary (Michael’s mom)- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150471518/mary-elizabeth-scott
Find A Grave Forrest (Michael’s Step Dad)- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150471485/forrest-lavern-scott
Find A Grave- Virgil (Michael’s Dad)- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27606245/virgil-d-riley

issa really long one. Sorry.
Background:
I (37f) had a kid (6f) with my (ex)bf(38m) when I lived in Wales. She was my 3rd child and his 1st. He didn't want to stop partying like a single man with no responsibilities and I ended up resenting him for living his best life while I gave up a lot and raised our child. We argued about this issue a lot and it led to our break up. Daughter has medical issues and I had no other family in Wales, so I moved back to my hometown two hours away to be with my family and friends.
I stayed good friends with my ex. He became a much better and involved parent. I trust him 100% with her. For visitation for 2yrs I would either go get him n he would sleep at mine for a week or I would drop her off in Wales (4hr round trip). I drove, he didn't (until 2yrs ago).
I am single but he is now exclusive with a woman (37?). I think it's been about 9mths. I really like her and hoped he would get with her. She is amazing with our daughter and our daughter loves her.
There is no set visitation. He can have her whenever he likes and we mostly meet exactly half way. Sometimes he comes 3/4 of the way and sometimes I go 3/4 of the way. Sometimes I go all of the way and vice versa. We take each other's plans, problems and commitments into consideration and help each other out, be it making the whole journey or sometimes paying towards the other one's petrol.
The problem:
He is chronically late by an hour or 1.5hrs every time. I planned the meeting spot so we would both only have an hour's travel. Even if I wait til half an hour after he has set off, he is still always very late. He always gets mad at me and defensive when I call to see how long he's going to be. He tells me he is ten mins away at such and such a place and then rocks up 40mins later. The lies bother me more than the lateness tbh. His chronic lateness has affected mine and other people's plans many times. I have considered not even leaving til I know he's there but I don't wanna make our kid wait for an hour in the car.
The straw that broke the camels back was last weekend. We met halfway the weekend before for him to get her. He wanted to give her back the Saturday just gone cuz he had plans for a meal and a sesh. He knows I leave for work at 3.30pm every Sat and I'm on til 4am Sun.. Our kid normally stays at my sister's when I work. I reminded him of this a few times and he said we could meet at like 11am Saturday or he would drive all the way to take her to my sister's in the afternoon. On Saturday, I slept in til 1pm. He hadn't called so I assumed he was gonna go with Plan B. He rang at 2.45pm and wanted me to meet him halfway (2hr trip for me). Told him there was no way I could do it. He told me if I skipped getting ready n left right then, I could go meet him and just be 15mins or so late. I told him I couldn't be late, want going into work looking like a tramp and that I didn't trust him to be on time anyway. He very moodily told me he would cancel his night out then n keep her til Sun. I rang my sis n said there was no need to babysit. So she made arrangements to go out for a meal.
About an hour n a half later I got a life360 notification that my daughter was on the move from the place where I meet him when I drive 3/4 of the way and she was heading home. Ex n his gf didn't answer their phone. I rang daughter n asked where she was going. I heard her ask her dad n he said to her auntie's. The problem was, he hadn't rang me or anyone in that household to let them know he was coming up. Everyone was out. When he finally answered his phone I told him nobody was there n he said "well I'm at X already" (about half an hour away from me and he said it in a way that meant "tough shit").
I told him that was a lie cuz I could see him moving on the map and he was only 1/4 away from his house. He doubled down (still won't admit the lie days later).
When he realised my sis wasn't cancelling her plans, he went home n told me angrily that I had to come all the way for her on Sunday.
I went all the way for her and he STILL wasn't there when I arrived! I told him that from now on, he has to come all the way to my house to pick her up and I will go all the way down to his to pick her back up. That way it's completely fair and he can't make me late for stuff.
He said absolutely no way and wants to keep it as it is. We haven't spoken since last weekend so he obviously isn't coming to pick our daughter up.
I feel bad cuz our daughter is missing out seeing him but I also can't let him continue the way he is. AITAH?

Hi there. First and foremost, thank you for your time and possible advice. I am writing this out of sheer exhaustion and frustration with a situation I have with my younger brother. He is in his early 40's, I am in my early 50's. He was married, but has been up and down with his estranged (emphasis on strange), awful wife for the past 10+ years. As in, they're been off and on, mostly off, and separated, not divorced.
She's put him through the wringer. Won't get into details, but she is a malicious narcissist/sociopath who has no problem lying to the police and the courts.
So now, even though they have a set, binding, legal court order where my brother is supposed to get his daughters, 14 and 10 yrs old, respectively, on certain weekends, said monstrous wife is manipulating and alienating the daughters into not going with him. She has basically turned them against him. So, for example, tonight (Friday), he is supposed to get them. When this jerk doesn't show up with the girls to hand them over, my brother then has to call the police, and file a report in order to have that as proof for when he goes to court that she is breaking the court's ruling. And he is alone, another terrible weekend where he doesn't have his daughters. It breaks his heart. and mine as his sister, to see him in such pain and stress.
My issue, apart from the hell this woman has put us all through as a family, is that my brother expects me to drop everything and be there for him, stay the night at his home because he "doesn't want to be alone". I am married, have my own life, etc. But I have been there for him on countless occasions, and including but not limited to: bailing him out of jail after she had him falsely arrested, getting him a lawyer, attending his courts dates with him as emotional support, going to his place along with my husband, to help him celebrate his birthday when his own wife could care less many years ago, and on and on and on and on....
I. Am. Exhausted. He is guilting me, not respecting my boundaries, confuses me and still expects me to drop everything to be his support system. This is certainly not the first time.
He likes to inform me that "he is different from me" and that he is "cut from a different cloth" ie. he is the genuine article and is there for people unlike me, that HE will go out of his way to do what is right and I, of course, am a terrible person because I'm fed up and won't do this as readily now. Basically putting me down because I am not there for him when he neeeeeds me now. Ugh!
My husband is angry that he, my brother, won't own/handle his problems on his own and it spills onto me, stressing me out, unending my plans, etc. - that my brother expects me to coddle him and still be there for him constantly because of HIS personal problems with his horrid wife. What is the best way to handle this situation? Thanks so much.

I ordered a refill of PIO to be delivered today. I was at work and asked my husband to bring it inside… he then went an extra step and put it in the fridge!😫 I got home from work super later, making us late for a family dinner. I didn’t think to ask where the ups box was until later tonight. At this point the PIO has been in the fridge for 9 hours. The package says to keep it 66-78. I’ll be calling my clinic first thing, but would it be considered compromised?
The pharmacy I have to go through for my insurance is closed on the weekends and they will normally make me wait 15 days to order another refill. I’m already so anxious and I’m trying not to freak out, but my anxiety does not need this!!

Currently going through the process with a few agencies. Just curious what people did for an academy if they had a family or young kids at home? We have a 5 month old now and 2 dogs and I know these are still a long drawn out process when it comes to the hiring process. My wife’s parents are retired and I know they’d help as much as I can. My parents can help here and there. Wife works from home but has days where she’s in and out of meetings the whole time or just really busy. Our dogs aren’t the issue.
I hate to put all that on my wife. It would be a rough few months for her but would be worth it in the long haul. Compared to my Leo job now either one of these would be a huge increase in work/life balance and just having a normal schedule. At my current job there’s little to no room for movement and I’d be stuck working 4 days on 2 off for the rest of my career. Any advice on how you got through it?

I am sorry if this sounds like I’m boasting. If it does then I’ll delete this post. Basically I am doing very well financially - I’ve been incredibly lucky. I was born in the right family and married the best person possible (she’s incredibly frugal and does not spend a penny on herself). Here’s my financial situation and my first world problem.
Finances - House - Household Income Gross - 200,000CAD with defined pension for me and her - take home around $10,000 a month - Mortgage remaining $375,000 @ 6% variable - I have a side business that brings in $90K gross as well. Internet business website selling stuff. I will not link this or tell you what this is. Not only fans lol.
My TFSA is $135,000; margin is $50,000 and savings chequeing is $70,000. And GIC of $40,000 @ 5%.
Her TFSA is $110,000. Margin is $60,000. Savings is $60,000.
We are thinking because our interest is so high it would be obviously beneficial to pay majority of it off. Maybe $50,000 at once. And then eventually pay it all off within five years.
Or alternatively put it in VEQT/VFV and get 10% over the course of my mortgage(25 years) and hopefully beat it.
What would you do?

As I sit here at the end and look back at my life and the errors I have made, many lasagna-related, I realize that there are some things I would like to do differently if I survive. Obviously I’m not going to start making better choices, but it would be nice to have someone to share the inevitable consequences with.
I grew up on a farm, dreamed about the big world outside, etc. It was all very Luke Skywalker. After studying history and archaeology, I ended up returning to my backwater home planet, and I’ve been bouncing around between jobs here ever since. I’ve worked in archaeology, aquaculture, and right now I work in a library.
It’s been five years since I graduated, and it is finally getting through to me that I’m not going to start building my life until I look outside of this place, even though I like living here. I prefer a quiet and slow paced lifestyle, but this is getting a little too slow.
I'm 5'8", 200 lbs., with brown hair, blue eyes, and glasses. I put on 15 lbs. over the pandemic and would like to get things back under control, but the library job is pretty sedentary compared to what I was doing before. I've got work to do on developing healthier living habits.
Things I enjoy:

• Hiking, kayaking, just like, getting out there and taking it all in, man
  
• My pollinator garden
  
• Reading, mostly history and fantasy/historical fiction
  
• Traveling. I went to India last year and want to go to Iceland in the fall
  
• Games every now and then. Minecraft, Stardew Valley, The Long Dark, assorted strategy games
  
• Sappy music. This is one my favorite recent finds.
  
• Sowing
  

Things I do not enjoy:

• Conservatism/bigotry
  
• Smoking of any kind
  
• Loud and crowded places
  
• Reaping
  

My life has always been me, my sister, my grandma and my mom. My grandma died in 2020, my mom died in March and my sister moved out last year and just started her new family in February. Life has been kinda lonely. I find it very lonely and quiet now since Im the only one left living at home. I have people that love me like my boyfriend and some of my close friends, but obviously everyone is busy and has a life of their own and things to with other people. I like having time for myself but with life right now sometimes it feels like too much time by myself, and sometimes i feel like i dont know what to do with myself. I do envy people my age (im 24) that has parents, siblings, basically i envy people that have their immediate family still to hang out with at home. I wish I had that. And I feel like at this age most people don’t really fully understand what it feels like not having that. After clocking off a shift or finishing errands or whatever it is, people can come home to family. And it makes me sad because after coming home from work or a night out I just come home to myself and an empty house. Thanks for listening and i really feel for the people that are going through this too.

Hi, I'm hoping for some advice or even just a sympathetic place to vent. It's a bit of a long story.
I found out I was pregnant 6 months ago, it was a shock as I was on contraception, I had only been seeing the father for a few months but he said he wanted to be involved. During the first few months I suffered terribly from perinatal depression and was terrified of what I was feeling, plus the fact that my family are all in my home country. During this time he left me, with little to no explanation other than he didn't want to be with me anymore. I was devasted but I pulled myself up for the good of the baby.
He then came back saying he still wanted to help and co parent so for the child's sake I said yes. I assumed this meant appointments and practical things etc but he ended up becoming quite overfamiliar. He would text morning till night about anything and everything, buy me gifts and flowers etc, take me out places and cook me dinner. It started to feel like we were dating again. He did not tell his family until a few weeks ago (I have never met them) and they are apparently very excited and want to meet me.
So earlier this week we discussed what co parenting would look like. I bought up the suggestion of us moving in together temporarily as I live in a small apartment (not ground floor) with my dog and while I have bought a crib and managed to make space, it's very limited and I'm concerned about how I will handle things once my mother has returned home. He said absolutely not. I suggested we explore building a relationship and he basically laughed at me and said he had never felt that way about me even when we were together and I had the completely wrong idea. It was really hurtful and I felt devalued and disgusting. I told him I accepted his feelings despite being hurt and confused and that the best thing would be to just communicate about the baby for now and perhaps have a third party present. He didn't want that.
Regardless of his romantic feelings, I said my current situation wasn't working for me. I had limited support and finances here. I have not asked him for any money though he earns significantly more than me, and the only time he bought up money was that discussion when he said he would split the cost of formula so I wouldn't have to breastfeed and he could take the baby half the week, knowing I do not want to be separated from baby for at least 6 months.
My other option that I bought up was my family's suggestion that I move me and my dog back home for a year or so to get on my feet. My parents want to be heavily involved and my siblings and in laws also. It gives me the chance to finish school and save some money while I have help with the baby and takes a huge burden off us financially. I of course know giving birth overseas can be seen as a harsh move but I can't afford to do this alone and my mental state is suffering and I'm overwhelmed. He of course was very angry and told me I was punishing him for not wanting a relationship. I said I'd be happy to explore staying here but I'd need more help, otherwise I'd definitely look into moving back when I am more on my feet and established. He of course would be welcome to video call and visit whenever.
Since that conversation I haven't heard from him, it's been a week and I am assuming he has taken off again. I am flying home next week to clear my head and be with family. I am just not sure where to go from here.
Thank you for reading, any insight is appreciated.

This is my first time posting here, so I apologize for any mistakes. I also apologize that my memory on this is very distant and fuzzy-this game is about 20 years old so please forgive this elder millennial:
Platform(s): PC-Windows (Windows XP, I think)
Genre: The "game" was a first person /walking-simulatointeractive drama
Estimated year of release: Sometime between 1997-2003, but I think it was around 2001
Graphics/art style: It was as "3d" as you could get for the time-sort of like a Myst game, but slightly more colorful/cartoonish.
Notable characters: If I remember correctly the first person/player was a son/grandson and the other players were family members. I also don't think the characters were human-the game took place primarily in the players home, on an alien planet-or possibly a space station type thing.
Notable gameplay mechanics: Super important-this wasn't much of a "game" really. It was almost like an interactive novel and there was little, if any user interface. The game was set in one place-the player character's home. You could freely walk about the home and interact with the other characters. I think you could also interact with some elements of the environment. I don't recall there being much in the way of quests-more like a few daily tasks/conversations.
Other details: I am pretty sure this would have been a free download of some kind-not a paid game. It also would have likely been an independent project. I lived on AGS games/Big Blue Cup and adventuregamers.com in those days-playing all those freeware point and click type games...so I probably stumbled across this somewhere around there. I can't even remember the story line-but I assume there had to be one as there wasn't much else to the game.

After 10 yrs of marriage, I begin moving out of the house we bought together this weekend. Our blended family will split and my daughter and I will be heading to our new home together. Wife decided she wanted something other than what we have. We tried counseling, but fair fighting was never her game.
After a very rocky couple of months and huge disagreements on expectations of our children, she decided it was time to move on. I asked her twice to consider family counseling. I asked one last time before I signed the new lease, if we could really try and was told no. No reason to continue to ask how to make it work when she made the decision.
I have been living upstairs in the spare bedroom and changed my shift at work so we didn’t have to see each other so much. She leaves for work early in the morning and stays out till almost midnight each day. She’s smiling and laughing. She has all of her family here and tons of friends. I have no one. Her jealousy made me pull away from my close friends, and I don’t have any family (besides my daughter). Seems unfair.
Now we have split everything, and all that is left is for us to move out. I am angry, sad, disappointed, lonely and feel like a failure. I wish her nothing but the best in life, whether I am in her life or not.
I just wish that things had been different.

So, for context, I am a 19 year old female, I am the youngest of 3 kids, my older brother being 25, and my older sister being 26. When I was a kid, I was very gullible, and when my siblings told me things that I couldn't easily confirm to be false I had a hard time figuring out if they were lying or not, and being a kid, I was still very innocent and trusting, so when my siblings would say things, I believed them because I didn't think they would lie to me. They would then tell me after, being anywhere from immediately after I said I believed them, to a few hours later, to even a few days later, that they were "just kidding". It got worse as I got older, as I still had difficulty telling if they were telling the truth or not, as they would often times treat me like I was an idiot when I wasn't sure if they were telling the truth or not. Sometime last year, my doctor told me that I have a very high likelihood of having ASD, and I began to understand why I was always so confused about whether or not they were being honest, and I could never read their facial expressions or their tones, but my mom denied that I have ASD and said that if I had it, that they would have caught it when I was a kid, and that it must be something else. I'm still unsure if I actually have it, not because of the doctor, I trust their belief that I have it, but because my mom seems to deny it so heavily. Yesterday, my brother and his girlfriend who is visiting us from another country came home from being out shopping, and I noticed a tattoo on my brother's arm, and I pointed at it and asked "what is that?" He looked at me, and so did his girlfriend and my sister, and my sister said he got a tattoo, to which I denied, because he repeatedly expressed his distaste for my tattoo when I got it, and said he would never get one. My brother and his girlfriend both jumped on the bandwagon and started telling me that he really did get a tattoo, and that he only has had one session so far, but he'll get it finished soon and that's why it wasn't a full sleeve yet, just part of his forearm. I started to get really confused and freaked out because I couldn't tell if they were messing with me or not, as I kept denying that it was real, and they kept pushing that it was. I eventually just leaned back on the counter, trying to process if they were being honest or not, and then I asked my mom if it was real, and even she said "why do you think I had to go with? He needed someone to drive him since you aren't supposed to drive after a tattoo" and even my dad joined in and said "I hate when they don't let you drive home by yourself after stuff, anything really" now I was so sure that the tattoos were faked because I am the only one in my immediate family who has a tattoo, and none of them have ever expressed interest in tattoos before, but with everyone telling me that it was real, I started to believe them, until my mom finally said "J, they're kidding" and I immediately felt myself getting upset because I felt like they were gaslighting or manipulating me. The girlfriend even tried to continue it until my sister told her that my mom already told me and she just said "oh, well ok" and just went back to behaving normally. I'm really confused and hurt because I feel like they all do this constantly, and my brothers gf never did this before, but I think because she sees my siblings and parents do this stuff all the time, she thinks it's normal for us and joins in, not seeming to realize how much it hurts and confuses me. I don't know what I should do, if I should try to talk to them about it, and honestly I feel myself tearing up as I type this, because of how much it hurts me when I know that I don't mean to be this confused all the time, and I want them to stop but I'm worried that I'm just making a big deal out of nothing, I just really need some advice on what to do in this scenario.

About four weeks ago my wife had left with a group of friends (guys and girls). After four days of taking care of our child and holding down the fort, she returned and told me she wanted a divorce.
I know my role in the getting us to this point, but she doesn't acknowledge hers. All I can do is try to improve myself and get rid of the negative tendencies I had developed being complacent. I look forward to the brighter side of life, after supporting the family and her night life for many years.
Recently I've been told that she is on dating apps, and she's been closing down the bars 3-4 nights a week... our divorce isn't even submitted yet as she needs health insurance for now.. but she's used it for birth control so far.
I technically don't owe her anything, but I want her to be better off as she will provide a home for my child when I finally move off the air mattress in the basement.. currently I plan on selling the house and giving her half the proceeds after everything is paid. But with the news that she's already dating, and our agreement for 50/50 custody, I don't feel like I need to be fair with her any longer.
Doing this alone has left me struggling with depression, and yearning for it to be over. Seeing the good in life is becoming more and more difficult..
My apologies for the rant..

Stella, Solar Titan Location: Northeastern tip of the EDZ, Earth G: You know, they always wake up a little more bitter than how they were when they fell. But you, it's never like that. It's never bitterness, not an ounce of shame or regret for falling to a stronger foe or being out manned or out gunned. When they kill you time and time again, pushing forward and being thrown back solar light burning at the tatters of their clothes. Only for a hail of bullets or arc to surge back to you, armor breaking and snaping. Slivers of iron and steel splintering and falling with you after every time you are revived. No, it's never bitterness in your eyes. Never tired and shying from the call. For you Stella, for you its always rage. Burning away any other emotion when needed, shinning bright and hot enough to scorch foes and friends alike, but you know these things already, so once more. Once more stand and fight for those unable. Rise Guardian and take up arms to face all our foes. Muffled voices, hushed tones and panic are never the things you'd wish to wake to. To feel your body screaming at you as you stir, eyes shutting tight and groaning as something presses to your back. Even with the armor upon her shoulder the new weight was unfamiliar, a strained breath leaking from her lips as she rolled to the side. A click ringing out as a dregg readied it's sidearm a low whirring as it spooled up and pointing it to her before the air around the wounded grew warm. A shining amber light flashed, and the stillness of the night was ripped away, the ground where the guardian had been laying was burned. Grass and dirt charred; rubble that was close enough had melted. Concrete cracked as the rebar inside it had been superheated from the solar light and expanded, fracturing the stone around it. As the bright glow faded, hands shielding eyes human and Eliksni alike slowly dropped at they looked to her. Solar light dripping from the pommel of a small hammer clasped in her hand, "You've overstayed your welcome dear friends, while the door had remained open in moments past. You've now expressed your true colors bug." Raising her hammer, channeling her light up through her body and into the hammer. Laughing as it grew brighter and brighter. The shape changing, what was once a small tool now a weapon of war. Grasping it in both of her hands, a faint smile spreading across her face as the amber colored light shone upwards. Eyes burning full of hatred, focusing on the few remaining dreggs and captain. Raising her war-hammer high as a shot rang out. A flash out of the corner of her eye. Snapping her attention to it as the captain stumbled and fell to its knees, the dreggs panicking as she brought her hammer down and sent out a wave of solar light. Stumbling and placing the massive hammer construct on the ground as it flashed out of existence and holding out her hand as a ghost appeared. Softly humming as it flashed a light over her as she caught her breath and reached out for the little light source, "Come here sparks, dim that light, its bright and I need a nap and something to drink" The sound of boots and voices growing closer as she sighed and moved to sit along the newly rescued refugees, laughing as the smoking end of a barrel poked its way into a window frame. "Took you two long enough, the whole point of back up is to well. Back up the other part of the team. You both suck, I hope you know that." The other two guardians shook their heads, laughing softly before a rock was tossed at them. Missing one of their helmets and looking to Stella. "Our job is to patrol and help folks like this out of here and get them on a transport to the city or at least to safer area like near Devrim or closer to the Farm. Out here, especially at night its a death sentence for normal people like them." As she talked she placed a hand along her leg. Leaning forward and kneeling as she pushed herself back up. Holding out a hand and placing it along the wall as her vision blurred. Her ghost dropping to the ground, light snuffed out and springing back to life as their connection faltered for a moment. Her eyes snapping to the other two as they stepped back and held out a hand for their own ghosts only for nothing to happen. Panic set in between the three of them as an emergency broadcast broke through the forced silence. "This is Commander Zavala. Civilians: report to evac zones. Guardians: report to the plaza. Our city will not fall." Stella looked to the other guardians and then back to the refugees. Bending down and helping one of them up she picked up her ghost, faint light blinking as it disappeared from her palm. "You heard him just as I did, we aren't at the last city so our duty changes slightly. Help these people and then we are going to the city for whatever just happened."

This is more of a moral dilemma for me. I (29f) and spouse (32m) aren’t actually married. We do have a 1yr old together; so for the sake of the story, we’re common law married.
Spouse had 2 older sisters; one passed, and the other had an accident and will forever be someone’s dependent. His dad passed away when he was a teen. Everything his mother has, will go to him eventually.
Before we met, him and his mom went half on a house for him. He bought a fixer upper. It was just him at the time, so why not? Well he’s not the handy man type. He has that view of, “we’ll pay a professional.” But also, “I don’t have money like that.” Thank goodness his mom doesn’t have that view.
Since having the babe, MIL has spent thousands already fixing things for the safety of babe. She did ask once if my family will help. She doesn’t particularly mind paying for things, since spouse is her power of attorney, everything is for him and will go to him. Our babe is her only grandchild. She just wants her son to be more.. able to do for himself. Also, because it’s on MIL dime, I’ve been super modest on the upgrades. I have talked to my each of my parents (separated) about it.
While dating, we fought like people do, and his go to was to threaten to kick me out of his house. Well within his right. I just made it a home, that’s all, right? (Eye roll) I did move out once, for a year, and that’s when we ended up pregnant. We go to therapy, and have only had the 1 breakup since we started dating in 2019.
Well because of that history (and not married), my parents don’t want to contribute to anything relating his house, unless I’m on the deed. Fair. My dad now owns his own business, and has been flaunting money; which makes me feel even more guilty about not helping to update the house I am living in and raise my child in.
I am a SAHM right now. So I’m pretty out of the loop when it comes to money lately.
Aiw for accepting all this help from MIL, and not contributing anything? (Because I feel like a mooch)

I have a part that's terrified of sleeping away from home, a part that's frustrated with this anxious part, and a part that's embarrassed by the whole situation. I was invited to visit some family for a couple days and my parents are "encouraging" me to go. This triggered these three parts in such a massive way. I tried talking to my anxious part who immediately overwhelmed me, but it won't let me unblend enough to get into self. The ifs bot told me to ask it questions anyway, but she's so terrified that she can't form a cohesive thought other than "I'm scared". I would love to unburden this part before I go, but I understand that parts don't follow schedules. Is there a way I can get this part to talk to me and tell me what's up? Or at least calm it down enough to not blend?

I’m watching the defenders saga in order, and after finishing Daredevil season 1, I started watching JJ.
I had no complaints with Daredevil, but I already have one with this on episode 3.
If Jessica Jones is trying to make the public believe that Kilgrave is real (and free Hope), WHY DID SHE TELL THE POLICE OFFICER TO GO HOME???
If she had told him (and the family of 3) to just go to the police and tell them what happened, Hope would have a much better chance of being believed.
Am I missing something? Is there a reason why Jessica couldn’t?

First, Previous

Rex

Paltdorf/Taltha jointly-owned habitat

“New Cadenza”, O’Neill Cylinder

The Ganthulls were wanting to break the entire planetary system of the gas planet Hepiter from the control of a shadowy cabal of Grand Houses based in the inner solar system. Step one is breaking the grip of their more loyal vassals operating within Hepiter’s system. Step one of that is sowing chaos and confusion among them, turning them against each other and leaving the cabal with no tools to use. Step one of THAT involves us being jammed into panel vans as tightly as possible disguised as gangers.
The tight confines were about to bring us to our breaking point, but then John yelled “Aight boys, let’s go!” over the radio and it was time for step two. Three panel vans flung their doors open and Gallowglasses dressed in a riot of colors and crazy masks jumped out with automatic rifles and charged the Taltha security barracks. It was shift change, and about twenty of the expected fifty personnel were outside in the courtyard area. Most of them went down immediately, a few tried to shoot back and died. A few ran inside and we followed them. Tires squealed behind us as the vans sped away and more whipped in to dump more of our guys. John got to the door just ahead of me and wrenched it open as Johnson’s team finished off the thrashing survivors outside. The poor aelflung trying to lock the door got dragged out with it, and I swatted him aside and to the ground. Tippery double-tapped him in the face and I pounded into the room and hooked left, dropping the guy in my way with a burst before he could line up a shot with his pistol. I shot the only other guy in the room in the back as he was beating on the door leading out of the lobby and into the back. I dumped the rest of my magazine through the wall to each side of the door as John rushed in, followed by Tippery, Thriktikt, Attrull, and Buster. I rocked in a fresh magazine and slapped the bolt closed on my rifle while Buster rolled a grenade through the gap under the bulletproof glass over the entry desk and onto the floor behind it.
There was a short scream before the grenade blew, so Buster rolled another one in to be certain. It blew and John blasted the hinges out of the door with his shotgun and kicked it in savagely. What was left of the hinges tore chunks of cheap plasterboard out of the wall as the thin metal door buckled and flew into the next room, followed by a flashbang. John whipped into the room after it blew, me right behind him. He shot the first enemy in the hip and then through the chest before he could fall, spun the next one around with a shot to the shoulder that nearly tore his arm off, and gave the third one a “canoe” with a shot to the forehead. A fourth enemy darted out of the room deeper into the building and John fired his last two rounds through the wall after him. I finished off One Arm and John slung the shotgun and drew his pistol, darted to the door and finished off the wounded guy he’d shot through the wall. I covered him as he holstered the pistol (the normal one, a priceless blaster would be at odds with our disguise) and stuffed a fresh magazine into his shotgun.
Johnson’s team joined us and we finished clearing the building. Most of the security force inside had run and set up outside with a large group of Paltdorf reinforcements, about forty guys in total. We had two doors and several windows to shoot out of, but we held our fire and stayed out of sight. John radioed for the vans out front to go, and when the security personnel heard them speed off they started walking back to the building. When the first one was fifteen yards from the door Meatball and Wiggles raked them with machine guns from a hidden position down the street. Everyone else who wasn’t driving something or in our building hit them from that same flank, and when the enemy turned to face our guys we charged out into the street.
They didn’t have a chance to react before we were right on top of them. I buried my dirk to the hilt in the first one and took the second’s arm off at the elbow before slashing him across the throat. I glanced to my right and saw John with an aelflung pinned to the ground under his boot. He grabbed a handful of the alien’s hair and snatched, tearing the scalp from the skull with a ripping sound before crushing that skull under his boot. I turned to my next target and lunged, but his shot grazed my forearm and caused my to drop my dirk. My momentum carried me forward and I crashed into him, slamming him into the next guy and all three of us went down in the street. They struggled to get back up, I punched the nearest one in the jaw and rocked him. I grabbed the other one by the legs and dragged him closer. I got his pistol away from him and smashed him across the face with it. The cheap plastic frame broke like his teeth, and I grabbed him by the head and smashed it into the pavement until I felt a CRACK and he started twitching. I spun around to finish of the first one, but he’d recovered quicker than I expected. He lunged drunkenly with a knife of his own.
I caught his knife arm by the wrist and wrenched it away, and let his momentum bring him into range.
I bit him across the face, tearing through the skin of the forehead so the blood would flow into his eyes and blind him. I elbowed him in the eye socket with my free arm and clamped down on the forearm holding the knife. I jerked and shook, feeling his muscles and tendons tear and pop in my mouth. He couldn’t hold the knife any more. I shoved his head head back and went for the throat, crushing the soft tissue until I felt the bones of his neck under my teeth and shook him like a toy, then ripped out everything forward of the spine and spit it out. I grabbed my fallen dirk and scalped him with it, I’d never mastered John’s grab-and-snatch method.
The fighting had moved on. Enemy reinforcements had arrived and were already falling back, on the verge of a rout. John was holding the severed head of the Taltha security chief aloft and fired his shotgun one-handed while belting out wild rebel yells. The rest of our assault force advanced with him, yelling and screaming their own taunts and war cries. I unslung my rifle and howled, joining them in the press.
Gods, it was just like the old days!

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

The Taltha and Paltdorf forces were in complete disarray across the entire station. The civilian population was panicked and the local criminal groups were taking full advantage of the chaos. The intra-planetary trade and finance summit the Ganthulls were officially here for had been postponed and the delegates sent back to their lodgings. They felt the current state of affairs left them feeling that the threat of us reporting to them in person immediately was low, so here we were walking through the front door of a building in a compound much like the one we were billeted in. Elissa’s frilly-necked seneschal met us, visibly recoiled at our appearance, and led us to the small conference room our clients were in. I could hear the news feed inside and the chatter as the occupants discussed it. This was going to be interesting.
John walked through the door before Fancypants could open it and announce us, and I followed on his heels. The conversation stopped as we marched our filthy asses in.
John walked directly up to the table and pulled one of the two bottles out the ice bucket in the middle and dropped the House Taltha security chief’s head in it’s place before filling up a ridiculously delicate looking goblet with wine and handing it to me before filling one up to himself. He filled them all the way to the brim, knowing full well that you’re supposed to leave room.
Ok, full belligerence it is…
John plopped down in a chair and kicked his filthy, blood-encrusted boots up onto the table as he leaned back. I pulled a chair of my own out and pulled up close so I could set my overfilled glass down and lap out of it like it was a puddle. Dried blood and the grime of fighting in the streets flaked off of my violently yellow shirt. Well, it used to be violently yellow.
“So, what’d’ja think?” he asked with a tilt of his glass, before pouring half of it directly down his throat. He looked at it quizzically, “Will that yield the desired results?”
Elissa sat immobile, either in shock at our actions or disgust in our appearance. Or vice versa. Maybe both. Great Lord Jakkris Ganthull sat completely still except for a single finger tapping the tabletop, with an absolutely neutral expression on his face. Chrastoff was wearing a look of utter shock, which changed to fear, which quickly flashed to anger as he stood up.
“W-why did you do those things? That went far beyond engaging the foe, that went beyond even cold-hearted murder! You mutilated the dead! You mutilated the LIVING! You took trophies? You-you…” he trailed off as he gestured at the bodiless chilling in the now-red ice. John had emptied his goblet, and he dropped his feet and leaned forward to take the other bottle out the ice. Red drops splatted on the table as he refilled first his goblet, then mine when I drained it and held it out for him. He took a sip, the streaks where the bloody water had washed away some of the filth on his hand making it even more noticeable.
“Yes. Please explain these… actions,” Old Man Ganthull added.
John locked eyes with Chrastoff “You hired ‘savages’, did you not? Is ‘savage’ not what you wanted when you hired us and called us ‘savages’?”
Chrastoff sat down shakily, at a loss for words.
OMG nodded. “Point taken. Your capabilities are certainly not in doubt and,” he looked over at his son pointedly, “you WILL be afforded the respect you are due. You AND your people. Is that correct, children?”
“Yes, father” they chorused.
“Now, tell me why you chose to do these things."
John looked back at OMG. "The entire goal of this operation is to concentrate House Taltha and House Paltdorf resources here on their home turf, thereby weakening their presence elsewhere in Hepiter's system, correct?"
OMG nodded, and John continued.
"We didn't just create a scene, we created a panic. Vicious alien thugs scalping and beheading and murdering security personnel in the streets, during broad daylight hours! We didn't just threaten their security and authority, we threatened their very legitimacy. They're already unpopular with their lower and middle classes, and a brazen attack like this will not only make that worse, but will embolden criminal and rebellious groups. They aren't going to have a calm, measured, well thought out response to this. They're going to overreact and pull way more resources back than they need to. They're going to rip this place apart looking for a continued threat that no longer exists, and they won't believe they aren't finding it because it's no longer there and they're going to make a whole new slew of problems because of that."
"You think that your spectacle will achieve that?" the old man asked.
John just pointed at the wallscreen, where the news anchor was reporting that Central Habitat Security was withdrawing forces from several other habitats and installations to "ensure the safety of those of us here at home on New Cadenze".
"See, my children? I told you they would meet our needs," Great Lord Ganthull smiled as he stood to leave. "Just make sure that you keep them occupied with our cause. And by the Blessed Sky of Aelvald, make sure you pay them."

I (17m) just want an outsider’s perspective on the situation. My siblings and I have been obese our entire lives, and my mother has made sure that we know that—even going as far as saying that she doesn’t want to take us to the grocery store or go to parent-teacher conferences or to parties as she is embarrassed to be seen with us. Imagine how much that messes up a child. Anyway, unlike my siblings, I’ve been able to lose weight (through eating disorders) a handful of times but I gained it all back within a year or two, but it was only during those times when I hadn’t eaten in days, was dangerously underweight and malnourished that I experienced love and attention from my mother.
At this point (since I’m fat again), she barely looks in my direction and we have more of a toxic roommate relationship. My parents actually paid for both my twin sister (17f) and my older sister (23f) to both undergo a gastric sleeve surgery last year and they are now both at normal weights and she has started actually talking to them and listening to them when they talk about their life. She’s acting like a mother. Mind you, when they were fat they would get into screaming matches everyday. But now, they are are the photo of a happy family. Even though my siblings went through the same neglect as I did, they just want a mother so badly that they’re willing to forget the years of verbal and psychological abuse they endured. Now, since I’m the only one of her kids who isn’t skinny, I’m ignored, treated as burden, I get told I’m disgusting and a waste every day.
I don’t have a mother. I’ve been sitting on the couch next to her right now for about an hour and she hasn’t spoken to me since she got home from work. This is my life. By the way, I understand that my weight is a problem and I’m doing my best to lose it but you have to understand that when you’ve been dealing with weight problems since you were a toddler, as well as this kind of mother, it’s hard to cope with. If I was to tell my mom my feelings she would call me weak and then turn the situation around so that she looks like a victim. I don’t know why I’m writing here, but I guess I just want to know if I’m right to be feeling this way.

I know this sounds offensive, but seeing the frequent occurrences of children grew up and survived from broken home or abusive family, became "people"/"normal", normalizing abusive behaviours because they think these makes a person a person, I think they better die rather than alive but blame the others for being "weak" and even bully them because the others don't feel the same pressure as them. They think being abused/tortured makes a person strong and if they have a child or children, they may torture them too
There's a tendency when someone survived childhood traumas including bullying and became strong, they may not have an empathy to among victims and call them weak. Seniority among victims, I call this

Hi so I made this account just to get a few things off my chest. I wanted to tell someone about what happened with my grandmother. It's not a horrible thing but it still makes me upset to think about and effects certain things and my mental state sometimes as an adult.
I want to start off saying I am Christian, and I grew up so. My grandmother though, she is extremely religious. Anybody who wasn't super close to her or wasn't her family loved her. She would buy things for everyone, she would praise everyone and make them all feel good about themselves.
Me and my cousin would stay at her house on the weekends to hang out with each other. Me and her would have so much fun. I was an early riser, she on the other hand was not. A lot of weekends at grandmoms I'd wake up hearing shouting. She'd always be yelling at my grandfather, calling him extremely vulgar names. They would be downstairs and I would be upstairs and could hear it clear as day. It made me sad and scared for the way she'd yell at him. And it's not like she'd even try hiding it she would yell at him in front of us. She would try and make us take sides. But in public she was the sweetest to everyone. She wasn't a bad grandmother at all. She would buy us anything we wanted and would get us sweets and let us have fun.
One particular story that I remember that I still think about when it storms -> I was around 8 at the time while my cousin was around 7. The storm was just slowing up. The sky took on an orange color. The sun was trying to peak out and me and my cousin thought there was a chance we could see a rainbow. My grandmother then looked out with us. She was like wow. Look at it out there. She then went on and told us about how in the bible it said how the world would end. It would be after a storm, like this one. She then said this is how the world would look when it ended. God would light the world on fire. I screamed, scared because I was 8 and still had so much to live for. Heck I hadn't even learned my full multiplication tables yet. I started crying. But she continued on telling us that God would burn the world with anyone 'bad' with it. I cried wanting to go home and she laughed at me in hysterics.
This doesn't exactly go with that exact story but another time it was storming it was thundering and lighting and she told me that lightning would strike the house and start on fire and I still to this day as an adult am afraid of thunderstorms and those stories. She also told me many other stories about different things to purposefully scare me.