u/Own_Business485

I am a former foster youth. I was removed from my home as a teen, my parents were abusive, so I never reached back out to them or anything like that.

Mentors, and friends, have came and went in my life. I am 26 years old.

I have done everything on my own, all the college paperwork, scholarships, different jobs to make ends meet. And I was good at it too, completely thrived in independence...

Then, at the beginning of this year, I got some serious medical side effects that completely altered my life. My judgement has not been the same since, and it has affected so so much. It is supposed to be temporary and should wear off in the coming months (with any luck).

But it has caused me to completely lose my savings, it has affected my decision making, and it might have just contributed to a job I just lost.

I wish I could go back and ask for more help from my college's foster youth program. I think I was just ashamed and thought maybe my side effects were just depression rearing in, but it wasn't and they could have helped...

Anyhow, my money situation was looking to be tight, and it looks like its going to get tighter, as I go out and job hunt like a mad man in the coming days.

So, for former foster youth, who are maybe a bit older than me. Do you have any tips for navigating this next phase of my life? Life after college.

I got a girlfriend a few months ago, and she has been introducing me to her family and even some friends. And that has been nice. But i dont know. I think a part of me may be slightly bitter or distrustful of people in general because of my experience with parents and group homes and shit. And it sucks to even think about this, because I don't want to be living in the past.

Any tips or advice? Thank you <3

So, I used to play in tournaments regularly. Just 2-3 years ago I was flying out to different tournaments around the country, like once per quarter, so four times a year.

But eventually I think the mental strain of long OTB tournaments really burned me out. And I have not returned to tournaments since.

I created a chess club in my area and we have been running for 5+ years. Even though I have not been in tournaments, I still play blitz online and play at my chess club that I host regularly as well (its mostly a volunteer thing).

My question. Has anyone ever gone through this kind of thing? A break in OTB tournaments and then a return? Or even the mental stress of OTB really stopping someone from continuing the tournament life?

I'm just wondering if I would like to get back into it. I enjoy the problem solving of OTB but I think I really stress myself out in these long games. The thought of doing like 5+ hour games OTB, constantly having to find the right move, doesn't feel very inviting, but I don't know, part of me used to be completely engrossed into this game, it was a part of me.

Any suggestions or relatability here? Thanks.

Hello, I was curious if there will be any new gameplay mechanics in Dungeons 2 when comparing to Dungeons 1?

I did not have interest in the first game, so I have not purchased it, but if Dungeons 2 looks to bring more content and more variation to gameplay, I may be picking it up.

Some examples may be like: a new class system, or a new progression tree, or anything that adds replay-ability that the first game may not have had.

Thanks.

I just graduated in June and just started working two part time jobs.

I am looking for a place to stay in the broader OC area. I am clean, respectful, and quiet. Looking for a place with kitchen access. And an occasional allowance of visitors would be fantastic (but not a deal breaker).

Budget of 1100 a month total.

I prefer a month to month lease, or a 3 month lease.

Please let me know if you or someone you know has a room for rent that matches this! Thanks

Is anyone looking to see a spectacular show, with great seats, in just a couple weeks' time?

My girlfriend is selling 1 ticket to the R&B Tour in Chicago: See Usher and Chris Brown Live

It is for the August 21st 7pm show, @ Soldier Field, Chicago

Seats are close to the stage. A5, row 16, seat 10.

Ticket is listed on ticketmaster for $700, which is lower than the original sale of the ticket!

This is a great deal for both parties, as this ticket is less than the going rate, and it would help pay for my girlfriend's airplane ticket as she visits family later this year.

Please message me if you need any further info, thank you

Is anyone looking to see a spectacular show, with great seats, in just a couple weeks' time?

My girlfriend is selling 1 ticket to the R&B Tour in Chicago: See Usher and Chris Brown Live

It is for the August 21st 7pm show, @ Soldier Field, Chicago

Seats are close to the stage. A5, row 16, seat 10.

Ticket is listed on ticketmaster for $700, which is lower than the original sale of the ticket!

This is a great deal for both parties, as this ticket is less than the going rate, and it would help pay for my girlfriend's airplane ticket as she visits family later this year.

Please message me if you need any further info, thank you

Is anyone looking to see a spectacular show, with great seats, in just a couple weeks' time?

My girlfriend is selling 1 ticket to the R&B Tour in Chicago: See Usher and Chris Brown Live

It is for the August 21st 7pm show, @ Soldier Field.

Seats are close to the stage. A5, row 16, seat 10.

Ticket is listed on ticketmaster for $700, which is lower than the original sale of the ticket!

This is a great deal for both parties, as this ticket is less than the going rate, and it would help pay for my girlfriend's airplane ticket as she visits family later this year.

Please message me if you need any further info, thank you

Hello,

I am scheduled to have a level 2 admin hearing with UCI transportation, where they bring in a third-party to see if the tickets should be upheld.

The main reasoning for my parking tickets were from a newfound medical condition, so I will be bringing in a doctor's note.

As well, only 48 hours into moving into my ACC apartment I received 2/3 tickets. These tickets were within 24 hours of each other, which seems a bit excessive. My ACC apartment website lists NOTHING about parking on their website, which made it hard to find info as well.

My last ticket, I feel will get dismissed, as UCI Transportation said I parked in a "marked, no parking space" but there was no visible marking where I was temporarily parking. (I had my hazard lights on for 10 minutes as I had to change my clothes because of my medical condition).

Anyone have any experience with this?

Will they allow any leeway when they see that my medical complications, confirmed by my doctor, are the root cause? Or do they not really care at this point in the process, and just go by legal standards?

Thank you.

Me and my girl just became official a few days ago, and she is absolutely stunning. I make her laugh all the time and I take care of her. Just her smile, and presence makes me super happy. She is a caring person, and I am super happy to be with her.

We also get compliments for being a cute couple in person, and so I am proud of the work I have put into my physical health (as I am in shape and had a glow up at the beginning of this year when I stopped having acne breakouts too.)

It had been a trying year or so before I met her. So, good things come when you stay true to yourself and surmount the obstacles as best as you can.

I just graduated college, and I have a great feeling about my life moving forward and my new relationship doing well. :)

Hello,

I recently started seriously dating an absolute baddy, who happens to be a trans woman. I thought I saw somewhere that trans women would still experience an "ovulation cycle" even without having a period (they would have still mood changes, cramps in certain phases of the cycle, etc.)

However, after just a quick google search, it seems like research in this area is still very new, and google just says "trans women may experience some slight symptoms from hormone replacement therapy that may resemble the menstrual cycle". Whatever that means.

My girlfriend takes injections, and then pills as well. For uh, estrogen and testerone blockers...I believe.

So...is there any way for me to track my girlfriend's cycle and give her specific needs based on what phase she is in? or is this like, near impossible, or not completely supported by science yet...?

Protect the dolls and the princes <3 Thank you in advance.

So I have been a lover of incremental games, but I still think the genre is in its infancy, until someone creates a game that perhaps changes the genre forever. So I, as a player, have a question...

Is there any kind of incremental game where the player unlocks content that completely changes the main aspects of the game?

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Like one example could be a player reaches X goal, and then unlocks a minigame, which said minigame becomes the next most effective way of gaining incremental points.

Or like, if you played cookie clicker: way into the content you would unlock "dungeons". Which, said dungeons didn't significantly alter gameplay (at least when I played years and years back) but it DID introduce a new way of interacting with the game.

Are any devs working on a project like this, or know of a game like this?

The closest I think I have come to a project like this is "Crusaders of the Lost Idols", which introduced "characters" that impacted how you would organize your team, introduced more "items" and combinations of organizing your characters and etc. Which, may not be huge for changing up the game, but the strategy elements really added a good amount to the game to keep it fresh.

Thanks.

I still look male presenting, but I have always felt like a woman, and I want to be able to express that more. I feel like it will help me to start making changes that I want to make.

I live in a fairly accepting state, probably one of the best for trans individuals.

But is it okay that I start to identify how I feel, even if I don't look the part? <3

Hello,

The beginning of this year I developed some really bad side-effects to needed medication. Essentially I get major fatigue, brain fog, memory issues, etc. (it affected my classes, my dating life, and more, so it has sucked lol)

Literally yesterday, I moved in to an ACC community for a summer sublease. (6/25)

I temporarily parked closer to my unit, so that I could move my items with ease (to try to limit my fatigue), and I took small breaks as well. During one of my breaks, I earned a parking citation.

Mind you, I am still trying to figure out the parking situation here, I just moved in...

Today, (6/26) among my errands, I park in the 20-minute parking stalls at my ACC community, while I do some research on parking, and talk to the leasing office. It was literally 15 minutes, I come out, and I have another citation on my car...the car next to me, was there longer than I was, and that dude didn't get a citation...alright then...

SO

The point of the post. Is there any way that I can contest this citation in light of my disability? I literally would not have been able to move in with my items, even from the "20 minute" parking stalls, because they are too far away from my unit.

I reached out to the disability service center on campus, and it seems they do not help with citations, but the person I reached out to said they may be able to help paying for my parking pass overall. Hopefully that will go through?

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This is such a headache because I already am going through so much, and not even in 24 hours, UCI parking is trying to charge me $150...just for trying to move in, and not overexert myself in light of my state of health.

Does anyone have any experience or advice on this? I would appreciate it so much, thank you.

I believe, if you transform an ancient card (wish, apparition, bias cog, suppress, etc.) you should receive a different ancient card. In the comp, ancient cards are a whole different section. Status card transforms give status cards. Curse transforms give curses. Colorless give colorless... why do ancient transforms give colorless cards?

I feel this would be fair inside and outside of combat. It is not crazy likely to be able to transform some of these ultra rare cards, and so being able to gamble on them would be fun and would make the game feel more consistent. How do we feel about that?

Edit: And actually this would feel more consistent. Because if ancient cards are considered "colorless" they would show up in things like the prismatic gem ancient bonus, but they do not!

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Another side suggestion, which is less important, but still: I feel broken glass orbs, on defect, should be considered a whole different orb type.

As the orb at that point kind of does nothing, I don't think this would hurt. It really just affects the common attack compile driver, and things like synchronize. Maybe changing glass orbs to actually breaking at 0 power (making it so increasing your focus does not bring them back to life) could make this balance itself out? It just seems more consistent as a broken glass orb completely looks different, and is the first orb to just do nothing sitting in your orb slots.

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How do we feel about these? These are ideas I had at the near start of launch, and I'm curious what others think.

So the other day was probably my 5th date or so with this person I have been seeing. I am pansexual and they (29) identify as genderfluid (for context), they are AMAB (they use all pronouns, I will be using she/they) and I am male (26).

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To lay the groundwork: things started getting weird like two weeks ago. I basically told her that I had finals coming up, and after I said that, we didn't talk too much for awhile. Like around a week of no communication. We end up finally getting a call together, and we both talked about it and she was like "I just thought you needed space", referring to me being busy with finals. I don't know, I never really asked for space, it seems like something you would ask someone before doing something like that, right? However, I get that we both are busy individuals, her with work, and me with college and other responsibilities, so this wasn't the biggest deal.

But I will say, that lack of contact was kind of strange, and I honestly thought like, okay, this person is probably not that interested in me. (Which is fine, if that was true. But her words said a lot differently...and I guess some of her in-person actions too.)

After that, she kinda reaches out, so I set up a date for us. And she cancels a day before, because of an emergency. She was quite specific in text about the emergency, so I didn't think too much of it. And then a few days later was my college graduation, which she had originally wanted to make. Sadly, she had to miss that because of work.

- I was disappointed that we couldn't make those days work, but understanding because it felt like both options were fairly out of her control.

Okay, lastly:

It feels on my end, that this person is saying one thing and doing another. So like, she told me that she was going to be feminine presenting when we planned on going out together the 17th, though, on our call right before I drove out to her, she just kind of drops it on me that she will not be dressing up at all, and will be male presenting. (This kind of felt like a big bomb drop on me to be honest. I normally date feminine presenting people. And she knows this, and that that's what I am attracted to, and yet, she has been more male presenting in front of me, more than feminine.) (but the biggest thing for me is that, she told me she was going to do something, and switched up last second...like, if I tell someone I am going to do something, I do it, so being thrown for a loop by her, sucks)

As well, we were on the phone, and I told her I needed her address for when I was to pick her up the next day. She tells me "okay, let me call you back in an hour," as she got busy with something. I said "Alright, bet." and she did not call me back that night, at all. And she only got me her address in the morning.

On our date, we talked about this. How her saying one thing and then doing another was affecting my interest level in her. On her end, she talked about how her gender identity, or how she wants to present, is super important to her. She does not want to be fetishized as one or another of the genders she presents (her words), and wants a partner to be able to appreciate her for however she presents. It seemed like we listened to each other, fairly well, but then she kind of made some comments that I "went in on her"? Or otherwise kind of "blamed her"? I let her know I didn't mean to be accusatory, I was just voicing my concern for what was going on.

Another random instance of this, is on the phone, she told me she had a graduation gift for me...but when we went out on a date...there was no gift to be found? lol. Again, it isn't about the gift, or any specific thing, its about, okay, if you say something, I expect you not to be lying about it lol.

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Anyhow, I think things are adding up for this relationship to not really work out. Maybe we are just on different pages, or maybe this girl is like, a pathological liar? LOL

Do you think this is a stretch? Or is like, some miscommunication like this fairly common at the beginning of things?

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The thing is, I feel like I respect this girl quite a lot. She seems to make friends easily and she is accomplished in her career. And honestly it is cool to be associated with someone like that. But I guess if compatibility just isn't there, it just isn't there. (help me to iron that out in my head please) haha

I don't really know how to feel about me and this girl at the moment. Any feedback would help me not to feel like I am going insane. Thank you.

I am graduating college with a 3.7 GPA. I never earned below a B+ in any classes at my current institution, and I was able to do this while working full time, going through an internship, and even being homeless for 6 months.

I am a first-generation college student (first in my family to be earning a degree), and I am a former foster youth individual. Which means me graduating improves our ~3% degree earning statistic (here in the United States).

I grew up with abusive parents and was told I would never graduate high school. So, I am quite proud of this achievement. And now, I am off to work hard, and accomplish other things.

Hello,

So I had a couple questions. I'd like to preface this by saying I am a huge ally, and so if my wording or phrasing needs adjusting, please let me know.

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I was curious, is it bad, or degrading, to let a trans individual know that you thought they were cis when first seeing them? I have dated multiple trans women (I am pansexual), and this one girl was super cute and dorky, and when I saw their profile on Tinder, I thought they were a biological woman at first, and only noticed later that they have their gender set to trans woman, at the bottom of their profile.

We have been getting along really well. But would it be affirming or degrading to most trans individuals to let them know that you thought they were cis?

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And then, I started seeing someone who identifies as gender fluid. So sometimes they are in girl mode, sometimes boy mode. I normally am attracted to feminine presenting individuals, tho a little masc is okay. So, naturally I am more attracted when they are in girl-mode, though I don't mind their boy mode.

But is it okay for me to be more attracted to one side of them versus another? This is the first time I have dated someone who identifies this way. We have had a conversation about this, and I let them know that its my first time and to give me some grace haha. But how do you think I should navigate this? I believe they are comfortable with presenting feminine for special events and stuff we go to, but I also want them to feel comfortable with being in boy mode when they feel like that is how they want to present.

Thank you.

EDIT: I have been educated now and see that telling someone that I thought they may be cis, would be degrading. This is why I asked.

I will leave this post up, so other people can be informed if they have a similiar question. As long as things do not become hostile.

ALSO: I mentioned my sexuality just for context. Please do not degrade me based on my sexuality or misgender the gender fluid individual I am dating, they are not a woman. Thanks.

Hello,

I have had in mind an art piece I would have wanted to get tattooed if I ever made the decision to. It would be a piece for my grandparents, a tea cup with smoke that showcased the date they got married.

I think it would be a nice piece, and I'm such a big fan of art that I think it would be really cool.

I like how tattoos look on other people. I've dated many people with multiple tattoos, and had friends that have had them. However, I think I have a lot of unconscious stigma against myself getting tattoos.

I'm not really sure where it's coming from. Perhaps because my parents were conservative, maybe their actions or words really stuck in my brain? lol

But I am graduating college and see myself wanting to become as professional a person as possible. And part of me thinks that if I have tattoos (visible or not) that it may prevent me from accomplishing something in the future...

Has anyone gotten over this kind of self-imposed stigma before getting your first tattoo?