I’m sad now

Feel free to be playfully rude to me btw.
But as you all know, most people these days do the sarcastic rude thing. They'll remark about something harmless like " ahh, missed the trash can, pick that up!"
Me - ":/"
"hah, come on dude, just messing with you (smirk)"
Me (hours later overthinking the incident) - "ಠ_ಠ"
Anyway. I'm either quiet (passive) or give a lame ass response where I playfully fuck up a retort.
I.E: "Ah, haha... FUCK THAT (haha right?)"
them - "ಠ_ಠ"
It happens all the time at work and I just don't know if I'll ever be able to play back.
Am I taking it too seriously? It seems like everyone and their fucking genitals knows how to pull this "simple" act off but I always fail. How can I loosen up and respond to these dumb jokes? How do/did you?

Long time Redditor here. This is a throwaway, but I'm sure some friends will recognize me. I don't mind though.
I'm 20 years old. I got kicked out of my parents' house recently, with absolutely no money to my name. All I have is this laptop, some clothes, and good friends. I'm staying with a friend for the time being, but I don't want to impede his family for longer than two months. However at the rate of my job search, I may have to stay for longer.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about getting kicked out really. I wouldn't want to go back to my parents' house at this point. I will have to rise up and make a man of myself at some point in my life... but it just feels like I'm facing tremendous odds. I've applied at almost everywhere possible within a 3 mile radius (Outskirts of NYC), most places aren't hiring at this time (even McDonald's hasn't called me back yet). I'm not the kind of person to be above a minimum wage job (or two even!), but even those aren't hiring at this time.
I managed to get sick right after I got kicked out, so I didn't do stunningly at my first interview. I'm also lacking in the official documents department. All I have is my birth certificate and high school diploma (my mother lost my social security card a while back so uh...).
TL;DR: Got kicked out, no money, want to be self-sufficient as soon as possible. What would you do in my situation? Or what have you done in a similar situation?
Shit happens and that's life, but I'd love to hear from people that persevered in similar situations. Hope and all that such.

Im a student and work with a bunch of construction workers, i told a gross joke and they loved it! help me find more to share to lighten the day for these men!!!

I (22M) have been dating my girlfriend Quinn (21F) for just over 3 years. I love her more than anything and plan on marrying her (hopefully in the near future).
We moved in with my parents this summer because our lease was up, and this way we could see them safely. My parents and sisters love Quinn; she's a naturally charming person and made a strong effort to connect with my family. The only exception is my brother Ryan (17M).
Ryan has never really liked Quinn. He's always been polite to her, but doesn't go out of his way to get to know her the way the rest of my family has. Quinn will try and have a conversation with him, but he just shrugs her off. I've tried asking him why he doesn't like her, but he's never given me a real answer.
A few weeks ago, Ryan had some friends over for his birthday, on the same day Quinn had an appointment with her psychiatrist (she's been having very intense intrusive thoughts lately). His friends like me, so I came down to the basement to play some video games with them and just hang out for a while.
While I was down there, Quinn came down and started telling me about her appointment, and how she had gotten diagnosed with OCD. I thought it would be weird for Ryan's friends to hear, but they seemed genuinely concerned and even asked her a couple questions about OCD. While Quinn was answering, Ryan interrupted her and said, flat out, "no one gives a fuck". I got upset with him and he tried to play it off as a joke, but Quinn was visibly hurt by his comment.
She and I left, and once Ryan's friends had left, I told Ryan he owed Quinn an apology. He insisted he had nothing to apologize for. I decided if he was going to be rude to my girlfriend, I wasn't going to speak to him. I've been ignoring him since, because he hasn't apologized.
Ryan complained to my parents, who now have been asking me to let it go. My dad went as far as threatening to kick me out if I don't start talking to Ryan again. A couple family members & family friends have also gotten word of the incident and most are in agreement with my parents. However, I don't think I'm TA here, because I feel Ryan owes Quinn an apology for what he said.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that Quinn has said that she would like an apology from Ryan, but is willing to drop it. She doesn't want to cause a big fuss over it, as she hates conflict.
EDIT 2: Adding this a few days after posting because I don't think I'll do an update. Thank you all for your responses, a lot of the polite comments were very helpfully and much appreciated. As for the people making gigantic leaps and calling my girlfriend an attention stealing drama queen, or saying "girls like her are more likely to cheat", etc: thank you for reminding me why you should take Reddit's opinions with a grain of salt lol.
No one else in my family has ever had any issues with Quinn; if they did, they would've said something (we're an opinionated bunch). Her OCD doesn't show up in daily life in a way that affects Ryan (or anyone else). I spend a good amount of time with my brother, and I've never wanted him to feel like Quinn was "stealing" me from him, so always made sure to hang out with him everyday. The party happened a few days after his birthday, an entire day where the focus was 100% on him. Also, maybe it's just me but I can't see how this scenario is in anyway similar to announcing a pregnancy at a wedding, but some of you really clung to that comparison.
Quinn has met his friends multiple times, they like her, and IMO saying "turns out I have OCD" to someone on the edge of a group while everyone else is on their phone/talking to each other doesn't quite qualify as revealing extremely private medical information, but everyone has their own opinions.
I talked to Quinn about what happened, and told her I thought we could both apologize to Ryan for interrupting his party and not being the adults in a situation where we should have been, which she agreed to. I will be honest, I was disappointed that we were apologizing before he was, but I'd rather lose some pride than lose my brother.
We apologized, and Quinn said she'd be happy to stay with a friend for a weekend if Ryan wanted to have a guys' weekend with me and his friends. I also told him that we'd be moving back out soon, so he'll get the house to himself in a month or two. He took it well, accepted our apology and apologized to Quinn. Even though it was a bit obvious he didn't fully mean it, I'm just glad we can put this all behind us.

I think the title is confusing but I couldn't think of a better one. I made a reddit account to get judgement for this issue.
My daughter A (27f) recently moved in with her girlfriend M (29f), due to her brother moving back in to her room with his 1yo. While I was thankful that we were able to house my son and my grandson, I did not approve of them moving in together after only a few months of dating. M came over to meet us and was visibly shocked at the wedding portrait of me and my husband displayed on the mantel, asking where it was taken. My husband and I were married abroad in the country he was born in, in front of a beautiful mural. The atmosphere was weird but she apologized for her reaction and said she mistook it for something else. I thought it was strange and rude but tried to continue like everything was fine.
I was pleasantly surprised to be able to discuss scripture with her at dinner, which made me feel better about the relationship. While we were all eating, my son made a very rude joke about her, and my daughter started screaming at him. I also did not find the joke amusing, but the outburst was extreme and my husband asked them to leave. My daughter sent me a text informing me that she was going to cut contact with us unless my son apologizes, and replace the wedding portrait with one from the wedding not in front of the mural. I think this is extremely unreasonable. Both me and my husband told our son it wasn’t funny and he wasn’t to do it again, but we can’t force an adult to apologize if he refuses.
The photo is even more ridiculous, and when I questioned it she explained that a symbol in the mural is offensive to M’s culture. Since I am not from there, I took this to my husband to get clarification. He explained that there is tension between the two cultures and propaganda has affected M to misunderstand a historical event. He showed me videos and newspapers that confirm this, and I sent links to M with a text requesting a discussion of our opinions to resolve the conflict. M immediately blocked me and my daughter sent me a text calling me some rude names and informing me we are now estranged. My other daughter told me that both A and M like to read this sub, so I am hoping for some outside perspective. I do not think I am the asshole because I have tried to resolve the conflict peacefully and am not willing to leave my godson homeless because my son made a joke in poor taste and should be able to display MY OWN wedding photo, however both my daughters say I am the asshole, and A has not spoken to me in almost 2 months. There is more but it doesn't fit into the post limit.

(Offensive)

EDIT: To address a few commonly raised points... I said “No thank you”, repeatedly, to her face when she gave the food. She in turn would refuse to leave my desk or to stop talking to me, in the break room or halls, until I took it. She returned to work late November (before Thanksgiving) and started this behavior almost immediately. I waited until 12/8 to speak with our boss (who is a woman, if that matters) and only then started counting the incidents. She is also no longer pregnant, rather I should have said that she returned from maternity leave. EDIT2 (1/8): I’m aware I misused HIPAA but was referencing it in the context that she should know better than to pry into medical history to satisfy her curiosity. Also I wasn’t thinking clearly when I said that to her. EDIT2- post the post being locked. here
I (24M) am a small man. 5’4 and 103 lbs as of my last physical. I’m well aware I’m at an unhealthy weight. My entire life I’ve been small- mostly due to illnesses and myriad allergies- and it’s admittedly a sore spot. I am working with my doctor to gain weight while still fitting in with my dietary restrictions (no meat, dairy, gluten, or nuts) and honestly I’m so much better than I was a several months ago and proud of myself for the progress I’ve made.
A coworker (Peg, 30~F) got pregnant and recently returned to work late Nov. She’s been increasingly overt and uncomfortable in her concern for me.
Peg made and brought in cupcakes for her return, and when I thanked her for thinking of us but refused, citing my gluten allergy, she was visibly upset. She didn’t shout or complain much, just sighed heavily and said that she would put this one in the break room with the rest. I felt awful.
Then, she brought me a steak sandwich the next day, on gluten free bread. Again I thanked her, but I had brought in my own lunch and needed to focus on that. Peg told me it was in the fridge for when I finished. Ended up bringing it home so she wouldn’t feel bad and gave it to my BF.
Next day, she approached again. I refused again. She insisted. By now we weren’t alone in the break room. She joked that it was rude to refuse a home cooked meal in favor of “that” (my lunch). At that point I just took it and thanked her. BF ended up eating it.
Then she just started leaving bagged snacks on my desk. She would approach with a snack or a portion of whatever she made for dinner the night before, and not leave me be until I had taken it. I went to our boss and explained that I felt uncomfortable and was told that she was probably feeling maternal and it would negatively impact morale to discourage her. So, been taking notes since then, what days Peg has given what, when, who witnessed it, etc. From 12/8 to now she’s done it 23 times.
Yesterday I took Peg aside and explained that while I was touched, I would appreciate if she wouldn’t bring in anything else. She said that I should have said something sooner, she was only trying to help, have I seen myself in a mirror, does your boyfriend like you starving yourself? Among other phrases.
Livid, I told her that maybe I didn’t feel like sharing my personal medical history with her just so that my wishes were respected. “For God’s sake we work with a hospital, don’t you know anything about HIPAA?” We parted from there, me childishly storming off and her in tears.
Have I already been a huge ass and would a report to HR just be the icing on the asscake?

So then 92 coming up. Let's see what was in that warehouse, shall we? Not to mention whether Jarix might be put down with sheer embarrassment ;D
the editing duo have been at work with their usual vigor. Though chapter 1 has actually also received a bit of an overhaul. It's not the full rewrite that it needs but it should help. If everything goes to plan we will slowly be working our way through the early chapters up to a certain point. we will have to see how far we end up going.
We have some big news for this one too. after 87 chapters of service, my original piece of sapphire is finally getting replaced with a proper cover for the story. I do hope you like it. I most certainly do. it was done by the very talented Uwnycorn over on Deviantart and I do encourage you to take a look. If I ever get around to getting more pieces commissioned I know where I'm going that's for sure.
But with the formalities out of the way let's get on with the story.
ko-fi For having more pretty pictures commissioned.
Sapphire cover art by Uwnycorn
Wiki Discord
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Chapter 92: Hands Up
“Yeah, she tore open the wound on her back, there’s a little blood in her lungs again. and she's suffering from some fairly extreme heat fatigue,” Quin stated as the healer finished going over Jacky. Unkai had refused, stating he had other patients to care about. Looking around at the full infirmary, that was probably true actually. Tom was still fairly sure it was for another reason. “And your side didn't fare too well either. I’m not gonna bother fixing that though, hopefully the pain will keep you under control and a fresh bandage will keep it from getting infected.”
Tom felt a bit like a kid on house arrest, though he didn’t really have a comeback to that. He also felt rather shitty as the healer set about fixing the damage done to Jacky. Spending energy that was probably better utilized elsewhere right now, But no Tom and Jacky it was.
When they were done Tom had carried Jacky back up to their room, even if all the stretches and the quick check-up likely meant she could have walked up the stairs just fine. She even let him tuck her in with a kiss to the side on the snout as she laid there smiling at him, even if it turned a little strained as he turned to leave. She would rest for the day to try and recover. So as much as he wanted to stay with her, she would have to be alone for a bit. It was high time he got some work done, hence he had gone looking for Luke. The guard captain had been delighted to have another set of able hands, as there was clearly plenty to do.
The day’s itinerary was mainly cleaning work, both inside and out. The dragonettes had been more than happy to let Tom try to deal with the soot and dirt from the explosion in the lower levels. He guessed they preferred blood and gore to the black soot, which suited him just fine.
“Just don’t kill me when I’m done, okay?” Tom joked as he grabbed a bucket of water.
“Good one. Like we would survive trying, hehe,” Luke responded, sounding a tad nervous.
“I reckon you could right now. I’m unarmed and unarmored and don’t worry about offending me if that’s the problem. I can take a joke,” Tom tried in a friendly tone. They were all friends here after all.
“Yeah, I somehow doubt that,” Luke responded, loosening up a bit. “You feeling okay? She looked a little… rough,” Luke continued, clearly searching for the right word.
“My head is not doing so hot and I’m a little sick from drinking, but other than that I’m fine, I think.”
“If you get worse just let us know. We won’t be working you to exhaustion after what you did… can you even get exhausted?”
“Oh yeah, I can, it just takes a bit more. Now, where were the brushes?”
“Kalix has a few down there already. Send him up in a bit would you? He needs to have his bandages checked midday.”
“Sure thing,” Tom replied, hefting the bucket and making his way down.
Luckily for Tom, all the bodies and larger bits had been dragged outside by now, but there was still a lot of blood in addition to all the soot, and it was starting to stink too. Chatting with Kalix as they worked, Tom learned that the darklings were going to be burned on a pyre, or more likely several. The bat things were too large to be moved nor would they be allowed to be burned, hence they would be cut to pieces and taken away to be discarded. Tom thanked his lucky stars he had avoided that particular duty.
Prying further, they apparently planned to simply throw the pieces in a rocky gorge a ways away that they used for refuse and other nasty stuff. Burying things wasn’t really a practical option when you lived on a cliffside. They didn’t want to just dump it off the edge either since they got their water from the bottom of the gorge.
As he brushed away, pouring on more water, he had to admit he was struggling a bit to keep focus and his headache was getting worse too. Short of last night, he had been nursing a headache since the battle pretty much constantly, but it was definitely getting worse.
His vision was also continuing to fuck with him, often going out of focus or going double. He didn't feel that tired, nor should he be; he had gotten plenty of sleep, even if some drinking had preceded it after all. If it was the painkillers acting up he couldn’t do much except tough it out anyway. Actually doing some work might even help burn it off, so he kept at it, making sure to drink plenty of water.
__________________________________________________________________________________
“I said kick in the door. Honestly,” Victoria scolded the uncomfortable looking young dragon as he sat on his haunches inside the warehouse. He was now decidedly more gray from all the dust he had managed to kick up, the shine was gone too.
There hadn’t been a soul here. So either they were too late or it was the wrong place. Which really didn’t help with the general mood in the room.
“We will figure out damages later. At least the place is still standing, but you will be paying for some of this.”
“I’m sorry,” Tiguan answered, sounding genuinely sad. “I just thought it would be cool.”
“I know, we’ll figure it out. Right now we need to figure out what to do next. Any bright ideas?” Victoria questioned, looking to Dakota and Sapphire. Balethon was already at work sniffing out the perimeter for anything familiar.
“Well, there was the one who got away. Or the man they apparently worked for. What was his name…” Sapphire answered. Truth be told she didn't fancy their chances of finding a lone coward likely in hiding. The big boss dude though, that might be possible.
“Gyros. Do we know where to find him? He would definitely know?” Dakota finished.
“Found someone! They're in there!” Balethon shouted out from behind a stack of crates. That got the attention of everyone present. They quickly surrounded the tower of crates, in case whoever was in there made a run for it
Balethon fairly quickly managed to sniff out the entrance, and with some help they pried off a lid, revealing a small passage. Two of the Hashaw guards went inside, a considerable commotion echoing out from within as a woman screamed in terror. Weapons were readied as, kicking and screaming, a decrepit looking female dragonette was dragged out by her feet.
“NO! Leave me alone, please! I didn't do anything. Please let me go, I won’t come back! I swear please just let me go!” She pleaded, tears running down her panicked face. She was clad in some kind of patchy sack-like material, forming a kind of crude dress which poorly hid just how thin she was.
“That is no Flaxen,” Sapphire stated, lowering her bow.
“No, it is not,” Dakota agreed, looking at the sad spectacle with a distraught expression.
The two guards dragged her to her feet, revealing a set of ruined wings that, judging by the faded scarring, had been like that for a while.
“Hello miss, you may call me Colonel Hashaw. We are investigating a kidnapping. If you cooperate we will not harm you in any way. What is your name?”
The panicked woman seemingly calmed down, at least a little, as she stood hunched down before the colonel. Sapphire couldn’t guess her age under all the muck, but she didn’t look that old. Perhaps around Dakota’s age, and she was shaking with fear.
“I’m Ray… that's it…I’m sorry.”
“No, it's fine Ray. I don’t want to hurt you. Now we were told some bad people were supposed to be here before sunrise. Would you happen to have seen anyone in here before us this morning?”
“I just tell you and you don’t beat me?”
“I won’t hurt you, even if you didn’t see anyone. I just want the truth.”
“I'm sorry for asking… but would you not tell anyone I’m here too… please I beg of you,” the woman went, damn near kneeling before Victoria.
“I can do that for you, don't you worry. Now did you see anyone?” Victoria responded, clearly doing her best to put on a welcoming face. Still, Ray’s eyes were wide with fear as she alternated between looking at the Colonel and glancing at the imposing dragon
Tiguan was doing his best to look friendly, Sapphire noted, as he sat smiling, clearly being careful not to show his teeth.
“There have been a few people in the last days… I don't know any of them, I swear. I mean it, I swear!” the woman went, holding her arms in front of her face as she said so. One of the guards tried to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Ray flinched, knocking it away defensively before realizing what she just did.
“I’m so sorry sir, I didn’t mean it,” she pleaded, bowing to the guard too, who just stood there not quite sure what to do.
“Uhm, I’m sorry miss, didn't mean to scare you,” he went, sounding as bewildered as she looked. Ray looked up at him still very much on edge, though clearly easing up a bit more.
“These people you spoke of, did you get a good look at them?”
“Yes, ma'am. I can look out the cracks. There was a lady, I couldn't stop looking at her. She had such a pretty dress and gold jewelry. Never seen a dress with a hood before either.” Victoria looked to Yldtiz who was already noting things down.
“Okay… Were there others?”
“There were some nasty looking people too. I thought they were here to kick me out. They were here yesterday talking about something with the lady. This morning only the pretty lady came. Oh, the lady also had some guards with her. They looked very pretty too.”
Sapphire could see a slight smile beginning to form on Victoria's face. This all lined up beautifully with what they wanted to hear.
“Did these guards or the pretty lady have anything that was easy to recognize?” Victoria asked very pointedly.
“Uhm… I mean they had cloaks on, but the lady had some very pretty rings."
"Oh, and she lowered her hood this morning. Her horns had silver bands on them, I've always wanted something like that,” Ray answered, her tone turning wistful, the fear seemingly gone for now as she described the lady.
“You have been a massive help. Would you mind coming with us? We might need you to tell others what you saw. We will clean you up and give you a proper meal for the trouble,” Victoria offered, extending a hand to Ray.
Ray’s expression turned suspicious as she stared at Victoria. “You won’t put me in jail, right? I don't want to leave my house, they will take my things,” she answered, still sounding very submissive.
“Wait, you live here?” Tiguan questioned, looking at the woman with an incredulous expression and lowering his head down.
Ray flinched, quickly hiding behind the guard who had tried to pat her on the back. Tiguan getting a rather sad look on his face as he raised his head again, taking a step back before sitting down again.
“I’m sorry. Didn’t want to scare you… can I see your house? I’m sure it’s very nice,” the dragon tried, clearly doing his very best so sound unintimidating. Ray peeked out from behind her impromptu shield before looking back at the pile of boxes.
“Not sure your head can get in the door… I’m sorry,” she replied, seeming rather ashamed.
“Pssst, Ylditz, can I talk to you for a second?” Tiguan went. The lieutenant nodded and jogged over as the dragon backed into a corner.
“Don't mind him. He's just trying to be friendly,” Victoria continued, as Ray was staring at the dragon. “Try not to be scared, he is trying his hardest.”
“I’ll try… goodness he is big though. Haven't seen a dragon that close in a long time,” Ray answered with a clear nervousness to her voice.
“I can have someone keep your thing safe if you want to?” Victoria offered. “But we need to get moving. The ones we are chasing might be getting away.”
“You would do that for me? I mean thank you so much, ma’am... Not to be annoying but... I am truly sorry,” Ray went, looking over her shoulder and trying to fold out what was left of one of her wings.
Ylditz came jogging back over. “Victoria, aren’t we going to have to send some people here to fix that?” he questioned, pointing at the hole in the roof, still dripping acid onto the stone floor.
“Well it’s not gonna fix itself.” One of the other family members went, looking up at the hole.
“No, of course it won’t. We will just have to pay the bill from the owner. Tiguan did it so that’s your responsibility, Ylditz. I’ll grease some hands for you though, don’t worry”
“It’s not that,” Tiguan let out, looking at the pile of boxes. “I don’t want them to take her home”
Victoria grew a rather strained expression at that, looking towards Ray. She looked back at her home with a desperate expression. “Oh gods no,” she let out, dropping to her knees sobbing. The same guard gave her a pat on the back again, this time getting away with it.
Sapphire just stood there not sure what the fuck to do in this kind of situation. She had lived here for a while, so this was hardly news to her. Hell, she had been pretty close to being without a roof over her head at some point, even if it never actually got that far.
Tiguan was looking around, shifting his weight from one leg to the others, clearly not happy either, Ylditz trying to calm the dragon down.
“Dakota, can we do something?” Sapphire questioned, leaning in to whisper.
“What do you want me to do?” She can’t help at the keep and we are stuck here for a while yet, you want her to stay with us at the tavern? There are thousands like her in the city, we can’t save them all.”
“I know but… never mind,” Sapphire conceded, pulling back, not sure what else to do.
“Can't she sleep in my stables for a bit?” Tiguan pleaded, looking down at Ylditz.
“No,” Yldtiz responded with a shake of the head. “We can't bring a homeless woman off the street into the training fields.”
“But I broke her home,” the dragon pleaded.
“I’m not homeless!” Ray protested, sounding distraught, looking to the tower of boxes. “It's just not as good as others.”
“We are gonna have to figure out compensation later. For now, you two stay here and guard her… house,” Victoria interrupted, pointing at two guards who nodded politely despite clearly not being very pleased with that assignment. “We need to get moving. Have you ever ridden on dragon-back before?” Victoria asked, looking at Ray, who looked back up at the colonel, eyes slightly wet.
“No?”
“Well, you are going to. Tiguan, we need to get moving. I promise we will find a good solution to this.”
“Can I grab something?” Ray asked cautiously, looking to Victoria.
“Sure, just be quick about it.”
“Thank you,” Ray replied, doing a small bow before going over to the entrance and crawling inside on her hands and knees.
Sapphire shuddered at the thought of living like that. She could hardly handle crawling through a narrow tunnel, actually living in one was beyond her.
“We could just give her a bit of money, couldn't we?” one of the other family members questioned, gesturing at the pile. “Surely that can’t be expensive to replace.”
“We will figure it out, but we need to move,” Victoria replied. It didn’t take long before Ray came back out, wearing a battered helmet that looked like it had been rather nice once. It was even engraved by the looks of it, and she was hefting a light crossbow. Sapphire didn’t think Ray had the strength left to cock it, but she had a few bolts for it hanging from a patched up belt.
“It looks crap but it works, I swear,” Ray let out, trying to straighten her back. Sapphire stared dumbfounded for a second, ‘Where the hell did she get that and why?’
“Very good, now let’s get moving,” Victoria went, after staring a bit herself. Tiguan moved over to the wide double doors as the bars were removed, swinging them open. “Come along now, Ray.”
Ray’s brief show of confidence quickly melted away as she looked up at Tiguan. “I haven't flown in years.”
“I promise he won't bite. If he does I will have him demoted to cadet, okay?”
“Okay,” Ray sniffed in reply. “Thank you.”
“Hang on a second,” Balethon interrupted. “There were three people here this morning, right?”
“Yup,” Dakota answered him. “You found something?”
“Yeah, she didn’t like her mask.”
“Oh, what a fucking idiot,” Victoria let out, sounding delighted.
“She did look rather angry this morning,” Ray added in, seemingly happy enough they weren’t leaving just yet.
Balethon came back with a white handkerchief. “Shame they didn't put their name on it,” he went, holding up his prize. “It stinks of her though, if it’s hers of course. Could be a guard’s I guess.”
“That’s silk, you don't just throw that away unless you are remarkably poor at managing money,” Dakota responded with a smile.
“Store it somewhere safe. We might be able to get a city guard to verify whether it’s hers."
“Can do,” Balethon let out with a grin as he packed it away.
__________________________________________________________________________________
“Dude, I’m not feeling brilliant to be honest,” Tom went, as the two of them worked. They hadn’t even been at it for an hour, so Tom felt rather pathetic right now as the heavily wounded dragonette scrubbed away.
Tom hadn't been getting any better though; his head hurt and he was growing more and more nauseous. His vision definitely wasn't getting better either.
“Take a break if you need it. I’ll stay a bit longer if you want,” Kalix responded, not sounding too annoyed.
“Thanks dude,” Tom replied trying to sound appreciative as he sat down on a half-ruined bench.
He felt like shit in fact. Grabbing the bucket of water, he emptied it out onto the floor before puking in it.
“Bloody hell dude, you are sick,” Kalix let out, as Tom vomited again, now feeling proper sorry for himself.
Tom looked up again, finding a worried-looking Kalix staring at him. He could barely make out the details on the dragonette's face. He tried wiping his eyes to see if it was tears, but his hand came away dry.
“This isn't good,” Tom let out in realization. “I think I’m going fucking blind.” He tried to get up, stumbling to his feet as he felt Kalix grab his shoulder.
“I got you, bro. What’s happening?”
“Something's very wrong. Sight's going blurry,” Tom answered, trying not to lose his balance.
“Uhm… is that normal?” Kalix questioned, cautiously.
“No, it’s not fucking normal!” Tom snapped at the dragonette. “Sorry.”
“Come on, let’s get you upstairs.”
The two of them hobbled up the stairs, Kalix letting out some grunts of pain when Tom touched a wound while fumbling around.
“Sorry.”
“No worries man, we're nearly at the top of the stairs, can you see the stairs?”
“What’s going on here?” The young woman who had washed his clothes asked from somewhere in front of him.
“Something is very wrong with him.”
“I’ll go get Quin,” she replied as Tom heard hurried footsteps running off.
“This just turned into a shit day,” Tom tried to jest.
“That’s the spirit. Now, we go right here,” Kalex replied, guiding Tom onto the next floor. It was an annoying process, but they made steady progress. by the time they made it to the grand hall there had gathered a few people around them, including Quin. Tom couldn’t even recognize her face, but the voice fit.
“What the hell did you do?”
“Nothing, I was scrubbing the wall, my vision was a little fucky and then it just started getting worse.”
“He puked too,” Kalix added.
“Is that normal for your kind?” the healer questioned.
“No, it is really not!” Tom answered, trying and failing a bit to keep calm.
“I asked that already,” Kalix tried to clarify.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to be rude,” Tom tried, apologizing. He was fairly agitated right now though.
“He needs to lie down, put him on that table, the infirmary is full. Do you have any idea why this might happen?” Quin questioned.
“Don’t know, I mean I took a painkiller yesterday. That’s not supposed to be mixed with alcohol, never heard of it doing this though. I took it in the morning though… Fuck Jacky got one too. Someone go check on her now!”
“Shit” Tom heard Unkai answer, followed by rapid footsteps. ‘She better be fine. She better be fucking fine. Why didn’t I just stay with her? We were fine at breakfast too? At least mostly.’
“Can you see anything or is it just black?” Quin questioned as they entered what Tom guessed was the infirmary.
“It’s just blurry as hell,” Tom replied truthfully as he was laid down on a table. He felt Quin clearly do something as she touched his face.
“What’s wrong with him!?” He then heard Jackalope shout out from across the room. ‘Oh thank god,’ Tom thought to himself with a sigh of relief.
“He’s going blind. No idea why,” Kalix stated, as the one he guessed was Quin carried on touching his face.
“She's deaf, numbskull. Write it down for her,” Quin let out, sounding like she was concentrating.
“What, blind… why!?” Jacky let out after a bit, not receiving an audible reply.
“You’re fine right Jacky?… someone write down and ask her if she is fine. Especially her eyes. No blurriness or double vision.” It took a bit before the reply came.
“My eyes are fine. Just about the only thing that is, but they are fine.”
“What the fuck?!” Tom let out, thinking that one over thoroughly. ‘Right. I’m feeling sick and something is wrong with my vision. Possible cause; painkillers, alcohol, blood loss, fun time with Jacky, and... stress... possibly?’ He couldn’t do shit about the painkillers, but they should have worn off by now. And Jacky had drunk more than him last night. Bloodloss didn’t do this though, even if it might make something worse, and he had been thoroughly de-stressed yesterday.
“Do you guys know what... oh god I don’t even know your word for that... Bad alcohol that makes you blind?” There was silence for a bit, no one answering.
“You haven't even heard of that happening… ever?” Tom tried again.
“No, why would that make you blind?” someone asked in reply.
“Wait… Oh fuck, you don’t get hangovers either… Unkai! I need the little flask!”
“On it!” Came the reply as he heard the healer speed off. “What is in that? Did we give you something you are allergic to?” the Lady questioned from somewhere, sounding very worried.
“Possibly. I don’t know. Fuck it, humans and drinking 101. There is alcohol and methanol, our two words for what you likely just call alcohol. Methanol happens when you distill wrong or use the wrong yeast I think or just leave it in the open. We go blind and get sick from methanol; it’s basically slow-acting poison.”
“By the gods, we are so sorry!” the old Lady let out.
“Our ale is not that bad,” someone protested, sounding slightly offended, followed by a painful sound coming from the same person.
“You don’t get hangovers. You don’t… shit don’t know that word either… convert alcohol as I do. I get a headache and have a bad day for a bit after drinking a lot. Methanol might not hurt you at all, but it can kill me.”
“The mighty killing monster brought low by Jokun’s brewing,” someone let out in disbelief, from a by now was a fairly sizable crowd.
“Someone tell me what he’s saying! What’s going on?!” Jacky demanded, desperation creeping into her voice.
“Tell her I’m sick. It’s gonna be fine,” Tom ordered “Oh, and some water and a bucket just in case, please. And I need to sit up.”
“Right here,” came the immediate reply as Tom felt a metal canteen being pushed into his hand, while other hands sat him up on the table.
“You better be fine. Else I’ll… You're gonna be fine!” Jacky nearly shouted at him, bumping her snout against his face hard enough that it hurt.
“Found it!” Unkai shouted as he came sprinting over, Tom looking at the blurry shape approaching. Unkai undid the lid, giving Tom the small flask. ‘Thank god I didn’t down this yesterday,’ Tom thought to himself, looking up.
“Do you have something that can keep me from vomiting? This needs to stay down.”
“I can do that, It really won’t be pleasant though,” Quin retorted, apprehension clear in her voice.
“Whatever you have to do,” Tom replied, going bottoms up. He had to break a few times, coughing and spluttering as he washed it down with water. Of all the ways to drink whiskey, this had to be the worst. Today though it was medicine.
Finishing the flask, he handed it off to someone. He went back to racking his brain, for what else to do. He knew he was supposed to drink proper alcohol to stop the process. He couldn’t flush his blood of the stuff nor did he have proper antidotes. He had heard someone claiming baking soda helped. Would they have anything like that though? Thinking back, they used sourdough for their bread, so probably not.
“Can you clean blood in any way?” Tom asked. “As in, take something out of it?”
“What… no,” Quin responded, sounding a tad confused. Right, okay, that made sense. They would have done that with Esmeralda if they could. ‘This is not a brilliant situation.’
“I have no idea what else to do. I’m gonna need more proper alcohol. I don’t think this will last long. An IV drip would not be bad either I think.”
“We have plenty of ale and some wine left,” The lady answered in the kind of false optimism far too common around hospital beds.
“And one of them gave me this to start with… Please tell me you have a fast flyer left?”
__________________________________________________________________________________
So then Sapphire got to see the opposite of a brash and bold Jarix even if Tiguan did get a little carried away and Tom might be in deep shit once again... It's almost like a pattern or something.
As always do let me know what you thought of today's chapter as well as the awesome new cover art we got. I must say I'm absolutely chuffed with it!
with that, you may all have an awesome day ;D
​
ko-fi For having more pretty pictures commissioned.
Sapphire cover art by Uwnycorn
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EDIT: Wow, thank you so much everybody I am so grateful, please please comment on people's posts that dont have any comments if you can. Hope you are all doing well or if not that things get better for you <3
I know this post will be ignored but at least I tried. At least I tried to get help from my parents, friends, school, hotlines, reddit but nobody wants to help. The only person I had left was my bf but yesterday he just said he feels like all he is is a therapist to me. It really broke my heart into a million pieces. Because I dont have anybody else to talk to and he always said it was okay for me to vent to him.
My parents called me a freak and a weirdo, said that I need to snap out of this and get over myself, after they saw my stupid blog about my depression when I was 13 (idk why I made that - 13 yr old me was questionable) they got enraged. When they saw my self harm at 14 they got really mad. The tension in the house and the shame was unbearable, I couldnt look at them in the eyes and spent most of my time hiding in my room. Now I act like I'm fine and happy all the time, we talk about other stuff and joke and laugh together, and its massively improved our relationship. I'm grateful to have parents I now get along with. But it's only because I hide my mental health. Lately things have gotten so bad, its getting hard for me to hide it from them. I'm forgetting to do things they told me to, I'm losing things they lent to me, they're getting pissed off when I didnt mean to. I'm not doing this on purpose. Got mad because I didnt phone my grandma to thank her for some money. Of course it came across as rude and I felt so guilty. My whole family probably thinks I dont care about them. I feel like shit but they dont want to know the truth.
My friends - they all have it bad. Bad home lives, mental health problems, every single one of them, and I'm always trying to help them. But when I tried to open up they treated it like a competion and didnt even ask what was up with me just said they had it worse. I havent spoken to them in weeks because I'm so depressed and nobody even checks up on me to see how I am. It's hard to pretend im happy and smiling and laughing so I dont talk to them. I'm not okay but they're not in the right place to help me they need help themselves.
It's getting really hard to socialise. I talk to my boyfriend everyday and it's just so so so hard to talk and do normal things with him, I try to cover up how bad I'm hurting but sometimes I crack, he said it was okay for me to vent anytime but it looks like I did it too much and he says he feels like a therapy buddy. I feel so fucking shit that I cant even get my shit together.
School is so difficult. I log onto my live lessons and sit there and listen to my tutor saying "mental health matters guys!" When their school counsellor wont even bother to show up. Time and time again the school counsellor has cancelled on me LAST MINUTE or during class when we cant use our phones, or just simply not been there. My mental health doesn't fucking matter to the school does it. They say "its really important we look after our wellbeing" so they suggest going out for a walk, breathing, taking breaths and "talking to someone", well we already know that's not fucking possible. But the other tips are just really basic level things, they don't bother to invest deeper into mental health and help people with genuine problems because they might not have superhero parents that can get them to the doctors or therapists, they only tell us how to "look after our wellbeing" when I'm doing all those things and it's gone beyond that. I'm REALLY doing badly. And they dont care. They just expect you to get on with it. So I get told off for not participating in my live lessons. Well I'm sorry that I tried to reach out for help because you said mental health matters and yet I got nothing so you now you expect me to act okay and surprise surprise I cant fucking do it. I cant switch off my mental health for you, school. There is no place in school for people like me when they expect you to be motivated, high achieving, focused, participating, just always okay, and I cant do it!!! And I know this will transfer into the real world, the working world, they always expect you to be okay. And it's not like I want to walk around looking all miserable, but it's just getting so hard to keep that happy mask on all the time.
I have a university interview coming up soon. I dont know if I can do it. I'm so broken and suicidal that I dont think I can act all enthusiastic and persuade them I'd be a great, passionate, hardworking student when I can barely do my schoolwork and struggle to even get out of bed, dress myself and eat.
Theres so many signs I'm struggling. And nobody cares. If you're lucky, they will say they do, they spit out the cliches, give you the useless suicide hotline number and move on with their lives. In most circumstances you have to shut up and act like you're okay your whole life. There is no place in the world for people like me.

Ive always wanted to grow a garden and since I’m not working this gave me something to do. I grew basic things like tomatoes, zucchini cucumbers ,herbs etc. I was really excited about my garden, and FMIL grew a liking to it too. She would go out and water the plants. And helped me install those wire mesh frames to stop the squirrels from stealing all the veggies. Well MIL started picking from the garden which I had no problem with because she was out there with me some days and my fiancé and I end up eating what she cooks so it’s not a big deal. I did notice that a big portion of veggies were going missing though. I assumed it was the squirrels and joked about it with fiancé.I wasn’t too upset because Mil was able to pick some and in the end we still got to enjoy them so I just dropped it and let the squirrels win this round.Well a couple of nights ago fiancé and I were having dinner with MIL And the next door neighbor came over. The topic of my garden came up and she asked if I was going to garden again because my vegetables came out delicious. (She eats at Mils often)so I said they were delicious , but I need to figure out a way to stop the squirrels from stealing my stuff. We all started laughing and then she went on to say that when she was my vegetables she couldn’t help herself and had to try them. She admitted to going into our yard and picking them. She went on to ramble about all the dishes she cooked my veggies in. I was in complete shock. I finally realized that the squirrels were not the ones stealing my veggies, she was. And she was bragging about all the dishes she made with my garden while I barely got to make anything myself! I immediately got upset and asked her why she thought it was okay to come into my yard and grab whatever she wanted. I told her she’s not my friend, we have no relationship besides her being my neighbor and MILs friend. My garden was expensive and I spent a lot of time and money tending to it, she had no right to come and take what wasn’t hers. I excused myself and went upstairs. My fiancé came upstairs shortly after and said he told our neighbor not to come onto our property unannounced anymore. MIL came upstairs the next day when fiancé left for work and said that I overreacted and that if I was okay with the squirrels taking the vegetables why was I upset with the neighbor. I told her the neighbor came into our property unannounced and stole from me. I worked really hard on my garden and didn’t get to enjoy my labor the way I should have. She responds with well you ate my cooking with them in it. To which I responded yes I did but I would loved to have been able to cook with them myself also. I also said squirrels don’t know right from wrong but neighbor does. She still doesn’t get it and is upset I made fiancé be rude to the neighbor which I don’t think he was rude. She has no business being on our property unannounced . But idk Reddit AITA
I don’t give permission for anyone to use this story.

Note: I have edited the post to remove any references to the original subreddit to which it was posted. Below is a direct copy and paste of the post, with the brackets solely removing the identifying features of the sub. Bolded text are my own words.
"[Am I in the wrong for] telling my boyfriend's co-worker that we're not married?
I've been with Boyfriend for about 5 years. We live together. He does not want to get married, which I'm fine with now, but it was a point of contention early on in our relationship.
Boyfriend was talking to Co-worker on zoom when I brought him some coffee. Co-worker said something like "so this is the lovely wife I've heard so much about". I said something like "thanks but we're not married". He said "oh, Boyfriend always calls you his wife", and then introduced himself, I introduced myself, then ended the conversation and left as quickly I could while still being polite because both Boyfriend and Co-worker were giving me a weird vibe.
A little while later, Boyfriend came out of the office and asked "what was that?". I didn't know what he meant so I asked "what was what?". Boyfriend then said that there was absolutely no need for me to correct Co-worker and that it's better if people think I'm his wife. I said I'm not his wife, I'm his girlfriend, and he never told me that he told other people that I'm his wife.
This somehow becomes an argument, with my side being that Boyfriend never told me that his co-workers think we're married, and Boyfriend's side being that I should have figured that being called his wife indicated that Co-worker thought I was his wife and I shouldn't have corrected him, and when I said I thought he'd just made an assumption, Boyfriend said that wasn't the point, the point was that there was no need to correct him, that it was rude, and that it make Boyfriend look like a dickhead.
He then said that the solution to this is that when he next has a video call with Co-worker, he wants me to come in again, strike up a conversation, and say that I was messing with him, and that Boyfriend is actually Husband and us not being married is an inside joke I thought Co-worker was in on.
I then said that was the dumbest fucking plan he'd ever come up with, and "no fucking way am I doing that", and he said I was being an arsehole, that I got him into this, and now I have to bail him out."
OP concludes by asking if she is indeed in the wrong and whether she should "bail him out." Also, I will take advantage of this edit to point out u/Dharokalus's excellent note about how OP's bf might have started the fraud because married men make more in the workplace.

I can’t be the only one who notices this.
It’s most egregious on the relationship subs but also turns up on places that claim to be sex-positive, a FEMINIST CONCEPT).
It’s kind of challenging to put this phenomenon into words but I’m going to try. Basically what happens is men use terms and concepts often used by feminists to identify problematic or abusive behavior and attempt to draw a comparison to a woman’s actions that really isn’t even kind of comparable.
Here’s an example I saw the other day. A guy didn’t want to go down on his girlfriend because she didn’t shave down there. Girl became upset and basically said she didn’t want to have sex if he wouldn’t go down on her. Most of the comments in response to this post we’re defending the man because he’s “entitled to have preferences”, and calling the woman sexually coercive, essentially implying that she was manipulating him by withholding sex and that was abusive behavior.
Interestingly enough, they identified the woman’s behavior (no penetration without oral) as “sexual coercion” and “manipulative” because she was withholding penetrative sex. However the man’s behavior (no oral sex without shaving your 🐱 ) is perfectly acceptable because it’s his preference. So even though they were approaching the problem the exact same way, the woman is sexually coercive and manipulative, and the man isn’t. The underlying point here is that men are ALWAYS entitled to penetrate your vagina, and if you have any standards about your own body or pleasure and want to withhold it, you are manipulative and awful.
A second example and then I’ll stop before this post gets too long. I saw a conversation on the sub AmITheAsshole about a women who was dancing with her friend at work. A man walked by and made a joke about her being “the office stripper.” She reported him & he was terminated. Everyone was tripping over themselves to say the two people were being equally inappropriate, because “dancing suggestively at work is inappropriate.” (For the record - OP never said she was dancing suggestivelly in the post). And when OP responded that she was just having fun with a girl friend, they were quick to say wHaT iF tHe gEnDeRs wErE rEveRsed & that it didn’t matter that she was dancing with a woman because DUBBLE STANDARD. ”If it’s inappropriate (for women) to grind/dance with men, it must ALSO be inappropriate if she chooses to dance like that with another woman.” No one wanted to acknowledge that women dancing with one another IS different because we won’t be aggressive creeps and grope each other and say rude things.
Anyway, this whole trend really irritates me. Especially because it so often comes from men who are dismissive and hostile about feminism - like our ideas are good enough for you to steal & twist around to serve your own purpose, but you’ve done no actual work to analyze the power dynamic that underlies them. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and wanted to share it somewhere I wouldn’t get a bunch of angry & harassing DMs, so here I am!
TLDR - Men on Reddit misuse or fundamentally misunderstand terms and concepts introduced by feminist thought because they refuse to engage with power dynamics and the existence of misogyny.

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I had written down a note to perform something I saw on reddit. This was a long time ago.
The note reads "I found it totally rude when the waitress' face melted into the color blue"
It was something to do with one of those "review your experience" sheets you get when you check out at certain restaurants. The person who wrote it was on LSD or something.
I don't remember the rest of the note, and it doesn't turn up in google searches so I assume it was a picture of the hand-written note.
This is killing me, it's 3AM and I can't sleep because of this. (strange, I know)
Any help would be insanely awesome.