We spent six nights in New Orleans. Originally, we booked the Marriott off of Canal but had issues (broken toilet and no additional rooms) and thankfully was able to move across the street to the JW Marriott. It was so much nicer, newer and cleaner (thanks chase!)
Breakfast: Bearcat CBD: Really delicious. Had the cat daddy and the blue crab omelet. Great coffee. ~30 min wait but worth it
Willa Jean: Also very delicious. Had the crawfish roll and shrimp and grits. Lots of crawfish. If I had to nitpick, the shrimp was a little overcooked but still tasty
Beignets (fav to least fav order) 1. Cafe du Monde (French market): crispy, good texture, airy but not too airy, great ratio of powder sugar to beignet. This is what I think of when I think of a beignet. However, I would say the fry is inconsistent. You don’t always get crispy.

1. Loretta’s: I’d describe this more as a toaster strudel style beignet. It’s more flaky. Delicious and crispy. It gets the 2nd spot bc when I think of beignet, I don’t expect flaky.
   
2. Marriot Lounge: This was our dark horse. It was a random beignet we ate in the buffet lounge our first morning. We didn’t even take a picture. It scared us bc we had quite a few beignet duds for the first few days and thought this was our favorite for awhile. Good representation of a pillowy beignet. The sugar to beignet ratio was good. Missing some crispiness.
   
3. Cafe du Monde City Park: We may have gotten a bad batch. Kinda denser and larger holes to the point where there was not much inside. Nice crispy crust though.
   
4. Criollo at the hotel Monteleone:This was another toaster strudel type of beignet. Good but not crispy like Loretta’s.
   
5. Cafe beignet Royal St: this is another example of a pillowy beignet but too much dough to sugar ratio. Tighter crumb. Didn’t feel like eating more than 1.
   
6. The Vintage: I really was looking forward to this one. We may have gotten a bad batch, but it was literally empty inside. Like a shell of a beignet. It was a nice crispy crust though. Maybe would have been better to get a filled one.
   

Mains Willie Chicken Shack: ate this the first night since our flight was delayed. Freshly fried. Really great for late night.
Felix Lakefront: grilled oysters were good. We got a cup of gumbo and it was fine but forgettable.
High Hat: We ate here bc it was near cure. Really delicious. The gulf shrimp was one of our favorite bites from our trip. They make a good pie too.
Cochon: the bread and the sauce from the wood fired oysters was one of our top bites. Oysters themselves lacked some smoky flavor and were a bit overcooked.
Dakar: we went for Wednesday family night. Delicious seafood. Loved it. Went to second vine wine before dinner and they recommended us a great bottle of chenin blanc.
Compere Lapin: I love top chef and Nina but was a bit disappointed. We had to send back the tuna tartare bc it was too salty. I think they cure it. The second one was not much better and lacking acidity. Pig ears were also too salty. Pork belly and fried chicken with coconut grits were great. Could have used some heat. I found the pasta a little fishy but cooked well.
Gris gris: shrimp and grits were delicious. Whole red fish was ok, lacked seasoning, tomato sauce tasted like it came straight from the can. Great espresso martini.
Drinks: Jewel of the south: kinda hit or miss. Drinks were maybe overly complex where it just tasted like a good punch.
Cure: this was our favorite. Interesting and innovative cocktails but also delicious. Would go back.
French 75 bar: had a French 75 and matcha colada. It was good but nothing to write home about.
For gin fizz, we went to bar tonique and bourbon o bar. Bar tonique was better.
Overall, had an amazing trip. We had 120+ bookmarks and only made a small dent. We at so much good food, and loved walking and exploring. This was mostly a food post but just wanted to mention that city park was amazing. The sculpture garden is so good. Can’t wait to come back.

Sincerely
Ba-doh, ba-doh, ba-doh, ba-doh-ba
Sincerely, oh yes, sincerely
'Cause I love you so dearly, please say you'll be mine
-The Moonglows
Part I - The End
This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening. If I keep saying it maybe it will be true.
But it was happening. Tough times. Humpty Dumpty times. Out of gas in the desert with no bars times.
And, just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse than a Tijuana root canal; she walked in. Out of the sweltering Mexican heat, into the dim bar, she came; the only thing standing between me and the blinding light. I heard a couple of gunshots somewhere in the distance.
I still remember how the sun illuminated my 2pm rise and shine, shit-faced full of no caffeine afternoon after, hair of the dog; tequila shot and beer. Like I said, tough times on the Ponderosa, Hoss.
Every time I think of that moment, I stand transfixed in time. Unable to move, frozen in-place tighter than a suckered kid’s tongue to a Chicago lamppost in a February ice storm. Maggie had long ago won my heart’s devotion only to betray both me, and it, in ways still inconceivable to my sauce pan of a brain.
So, a couple of months ago, my life in post-apocalyptic ruin, I did what any red-blooded American would do; I flew across the border to CDMX to drown my sorrows in tequila and cheap living. And now, incomprehensibly, here she was; back, again like the September monsoon. Had the bitch air tagged me?
It seemed with Maggie my heart’s devotion was not enough. Everything she wanted and received soon became a dull knife; just ain’t cutting. Mags had to have it all, all the time. And I thought she had gotten all of me and more. Who’d think she’d want to pick at the carcass? But inexplicably, there she was like my constant migraine, the one that never really left the base of my skull.
Without a word Mags swooped in close like she missed me and now hadda kiss me.
Then, quicker than lightning showing off, she plunged her delicate-boned hand deep into my chest. She then removed it with even greater alacrity holding it high above her jet-black mane. She waved it for all the bar to see, my still beating corazón in it, color-coordinating against it’s will with her manicure, making what looked like vague Italian gestures.
Nobody in the bar paid us any mind.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t help but avert my horrified gaze into my now exposed chest cavity, only to witness darkness within darkness gazing back at me.
“Heyyyyyy,” a voiceless voice greeted and saluted.
I looked up at Maggie. She took the seat opposite mine. Then reaching over with her free hand commandeered my tequila and knocked it back quick. Her encore was to grab my beer and drain it with all the mud she could muster into my eye. Then, with a satisfied look she dropped the now emptied bottle on the wooden table hard enough to make a thud.
Maggie then met my stare. My cardia beating peripatetically in her freshly manicured right-hand she made an elaborate shrug, her face smug as a tyrant’s fart.
I remembered wondering what the fuck was keeping my cardio so vascular. It sure as fuck wasn’t clean living. Then, that voiceless voice had yet more to say.
“Now what, Spenser?” it asked.
Now, it was now my turn to shrug. Surprisingly, despite being a now certifiably heartless son of a bitch, I, too, had something to say. So, I said it.
“You’re fucking diabolical, Maggie.”
My words of judgment echoed clear, permeating deep into the abyss, then back again at Maggie. She caught my words easier than a kitten catches smiles. She just shrugged again. It was starting to get annoying.
“You ruined me,” I added just to be doing something.
The shrug undulated down from her tan and toned shoulder through her arm, finally coming to a full stop at her finger’s tips.
Waving my heart at me with more vague Italian gestures Mags asked, “How can you be so sure, Spenser?”
Part II – The Middle
Sincerely, oh you know how I love you
I'll do anything for you, please say you'll be mine
...
This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening. My new mantra wasn’t working.
Six months ago, I thought Maggie was the answer to my dreams.
Swooping down like an angel to shower me with attention and affection. Dinners with wine. Hot sex. More hot sex. No strings attached. Getting to know you pillow talk.
Now, there’s one thing I need to add. I met her through a dating app but as it turned out we both worked for the same nonprofit. We didn’t know each other as it’s a fairly big company but it turned out I supported the code for both her projects. This turned out to be one of many coincidences.
We both hated our jobs. We both liked writing short stories but never could sell a thing despite writing dozens and dozens. We both could dance salsa, on 1 and 2 and loved to hablar en español que no era muy guapo.
We both wanted to run away to Mexico city and live the Bohemian life.
Coincidences like we both grew up in NYC and had issues with our respective families of origin. And while she was Chinese-American and I was Russian-American both our fathers were born in the same year and were obsessed with Woody Allen. We both had much younger siblings we didn’t speak to.
Yeah, we had both grown up with weak fathers and selfish narcissistic mothers in common. And worser still, we had both experienced unstable living situations in high school. In my case, I was kicked out of the house for smoking weed.
In Maggie’s case, I never really was sure what went down but the best I could get out of her was at 13 she got pissed at her mom for cheating on her dad and left the house with nowhere to go. She ended up with family friends or relatives but the details were always murky and I was not the nosey type.
Her words to me were, “My mother’s emotional IQ is low. I raised myself.”
Impressively, she had made it through the Ivy League and seemed to be someone down to earth I could spend time with. But truth be told from the minute I saw her profile picture I was hotter than a Texas chili sprout for her.
It was some kind of primal attraction I thought I was long past entertaining. It wasn’t lust. It wasn’t love. It was like the thought of coming home to a family I never knew I had or that even could exist.
This shit made old me feel like young me again. But, as oft is the case in life, there was a problem. I was old, broke and probably about to lose my job. I was in IT and I was having problems with my manager being a psychopath; for reals.
It wasn’t mere conjecture as he had a reputation of getting people fired, or worse, making their lives so miserable they would quit; even with no prospects. I had been the focus of his sabotaging efforts and it had been having a bad effect on my mental and physical well-being.
This had taken a turn for the worse and I was catching a lot of passive aggressive hostility on the project Maggie supported.
Anyway, she was the bright spot in my otherwise mostly solitary and emotionally bleak life. And she lived nearby. She had an ex and kids and shared custody but I never met them and she didn’t really talk much about it except to say once, “You should need a license to have kids.”
I never had quite known what to make of some of the things she said, but like I said, I was under her spell. And I liked it.
And the icing on top? I had a dominant kinky side and that was a fire Maggie poured gasoline on every chance she got. She was worse than an arsonist in Underoo Town.
One weird thing about Mags was her knitting habit. If we weren’t fucking or eating she was knitting. Even at restaurants and bars.
One day in November, with the sun golden in a sky so blue you thought you could touch it I asked, “What are you knitting?”
Maggie gave me a wry look. She got out of her chair and seemed to be examining my bald head which I had shaved just that morning.
“A hat,” she replied.
But as the holidays rolled around things started to change. One Sunday morning as we were having coffee Maggie looked around the crowded steamy café.
“Everybody’s hooking up for the holidays,” she remarked.
I didn’t really know what to do with that one so I let it be.
But as the days went on there was a change in the weather. Fewer texts. Less sex. Maggie going out of town to some vague destination. Sending me sexy pictures of herself in Santa outfits after I caught the flu during Christmas.
A few days after Christmas I got a text late one night.
“Is it okay if I come by?”
“Very okay,” was my reply.
Maggie showed up with chocolate, red wine and the hat she had been knitting. Orange Afghani wool softer than a golden retriever’s fur. She put the hat on my head and then removed all my clothes.
“Let’s celebrate Christmas, Spenser.”
And, we did.
When we were done and lying head-to-head, I said, “I love my hat.”
Maggie said, “I made it especially for you. No matter what, don’t lose it.”
It was another one of those weird Maggie things she said, like, “I used to shoplift,” and shit like that.
I nodded.
“Promise me you’ll hold on to your hat, Spenser.”
“I promise.”
Maggie observed my face, then nodded as if confirming something to herself.
“Okay.”
Then we did that thing again.
That was the pinnacle. Things quickly went downhill for no reason I could discern. Texts unanswered and when answered; kind of abrupt-like. Being unavailable. Stuff with her kids. Time away in Connecticut for some vague reason. After that I began feeling like the weakest card in a gambler’s hand.
But Maggie kept shoe horning me in at odd times, giving me just enough crumbs to keep me on the hook. And as we rode the roller coaster down everything always seemed to center around alcohol. And sex. More and more debauched sex. Finally, by New Year’s Eve things were getting straight-up weird no chaser.
“You know that thing we talked about?”
By her tone I knew what she meant. I nodded cautiously.
“You want to try it?”
Maggie dropped a smile on me that would have had the serpent in the garden applying for unemployment.
“Yes,” she said.
So, we did.
I thought I had been imagining things. I thought we were back at the pinnacle. I could feel the love drug course through my veins. Things couldn’t be better. Or, so I thought.
Oh Lord, won't you tell me why
I love that girlie so
The Following Monday
The next Monday I was called into what turned out to be the most fucking bizarre moment of my fifty-eight years on this planet; and I’ve had some bizarre fucking moments growing up in south Brooklyn in the 1970’s; believe you me.
The company’s CIO, compliance officer, head of legal, head of HR and my evil manager, Conte Rugen were all in attendance, cameras ROLLING.
It appears I was being dismissed after 8 years loyal service for sexual assault, extortion, harassment, hate speech, insults to farm animals and every fucking other offense against God and man one could commit in these holiest of holy United States of America.
And just who had I… who had I.. victimized? Who had I preyed upon? Harassed? Gone full nutso on?
Maggie.
They had the goods. Recordings. Video. Ropes. Whips. Chains. Bad Spanglish. Maggie screaming, “No, papi! No!!!!”
I believe I was, what is known in legal parlance as, summarily fucked.
Nobody wanted to hear my side. How things were taken out of context. Things we had mutually consented to out of exciting and bonding trust and exploration.
“Did I have consent agreement?” I parroted back in shock to the head of legal.
“Did you get one when you fucked your mother in the ass before she shat you out?” I added just to keep my mouth from puking.
I was in bombshell shock. Maggie was my angel. Our situationship was supposed to be fucking healing from our abused childhoods and here I am now some kind of Tarantinoesque, Mr. Fucking Rapist? And my fucking manager once bragging about throwing a cat out a window when he was a juvenile delinquent?!?
There would be charges pressed. I would need an attorney. I might be arrested.
And it all happened faster than you can say, “Blue Monday, How I hate Blue Monday”.
And then Maggie sued the company. Take no fucking prisoners, Maggie. Disco-fucking-inferno burn that mother down we don’t need no water let the motherfucker burn Maggie. I wondered if her ex had been left on food stamps after the divorce.
A few months and my life savings and retirement account after that the criminal case got pleaded down to misdemeanor assault and I was able to arbitrate with my employer and Maggie’s lawyer leaving me with some clothes, my passport and precisely enough plastic to fly into the sweltering Mexican heat. So, fly into it I did.
Part III – The Beginning
Sincerely, oh you know how I love you
I'll do anything for you, please say you'll be mine
Oh Lord, won't you tell me why
I love that girlie so
She doesn't want me
But I'll never never never never let her go
...
“I wish you’d stop waving that thing at me,” I said gesturing at my heart with my chin.
“You’re still upset,” Maggie said. It wasn’t a question.
“You fucking abused me. You fucking eviscerated me. Yeah, you could say I’m a little perturbed.”
“But you’re still wearing the hat,” she said smiling.
“It’s a bad ass hat,” I said. It was after all. Why cut off your nose to spite your face?
“I put a lot of time and thought into it,” she said. My heart continued to beat in her hand.
...
Oh Lord, won't you tell me why
I love that girlie so
She doesn't want me
But I'll never never never never let her go
...
“Look,” she said waving my heart at me.
“I really wish you wouldn’t wave that around like that.”
The voice in the abyss in my chest spoke. It said, “Wait for it.”
Maggie said, “Spenser, you poor fucking sap. You hate your fucking job. You try to do the right fucking thing and speak up and you get kicked around like a dog. You try to love hard and you get beat up and left in an alley. You try to write books and start businesses and you end up bankrupt or dead.
And now look at you! You don’t have a care in the fucking world. You don’t have a shitty job. You are in beautiful Mexico City with the girl of your dreams. You say your heart was hardened? Well, I say it feels pretty fucking soft and sweet to me. Like the hat I knitted you. With the pom pom. And you know what?”
“What?” I heard myself murmur?
The abyss in my chest said, “Yeah, what?”
“Well, one the fucking pom pom has a beacon so I knew where you were the whole fucking time you sap. So I can tell you this true. And I will. So here I am in fucking Mexico sweating my tits off. And I am telling you this," she said nodding at my cardio, "is a very good heart. And I am putting it back where it belongs.
There is nothing wrong with it and now nobody can hurt it again. And if you want to write a book now you have something, and someone,” she added with a wry smile, “to write about.”
Then lightning quick Maggie put it back in my chest and removing her hand made a quick flourish gesturing for the waitress.
“Botella de tequila, por favor!”
I looked down at my chest. Everything seemed to be the way it had been before she ripped out my heart. Only different.
I was about to speak. Maggie raised a hand.
The waitress appeared like a wraith and put down a bottle of Don Julio and two fresh shot glasses and two cold ones.
Maggie poured two shots and pushed one at me with the hand that had been holding my cardio captive. She then fished around in her pocket and found her phone.
“What the fuck, right," that's what your thinking, Spenser. Yeah, what the fuck is right. Look at this baby boy,” she said and then pushed her phone next to the shot glass.
I was looking at what appeared to be a bank balance that appeared ready, willing and able to face fuck an extraordinarily tall giraffe. I felt the migraine disappear like a bad dream.
Maggie gave me a wry smile.
She pushed the shot glass closer to me and picked hers up. I felt my elbow bending. It felt okay.
She tilted her shot at me and said, "Here's looking at you, kid," and took the shot. I drank mine.
We put our glasses down.
“You can negotiate anything," she said, then added, "sincerely.”
And then, then she kissed me.
Oh say you'll be mine
Oo-eee, oo-eee-oo, ooi-ooi-ooo
Sincerely

So I have pretty severe allergies to several things, but a major one is all seafood. This can lead to allergic reactions due to cross contamination since it’s so severe, and a lot of places will use the same fryer for fish (kalamari, fish and chips), and other fried things like wings or fries.
Often when I share my allergy, a server will say “oh don’t worry, there’s no fish with the burgers and fries.” Which…of course, why would I order what I’m allergic to? I’m letting you know because if the cook so much as touches a plate with fish on it and then handles my food I could go into anaphylactic shock.
Some servers are great about it and let me know they’ll inform the kitchen. But when someone says not to worry, it’s not in the dish I ordered, I definitely worry. If you don’t tell the cook because you think it’s redundant, my life could now be in danger. I’ve been a server for many years, it’s amazing how relaxed someone with allergies becomes once I tell them “don’t worry, I have severe allergies too, I got your back.”

Some information, im 16F. About a month ago I had a horrible viral which I left untreated and it turned into a bacterial infection. I took meds and did all the necessary. I still have mucus in my throat that causes major discomfort and globus pharyngis. Also have history of gastritis and acid reflux since I was a kid ( maybe 4 or 5? ).
I noticed that whenever I eat eggs or fish I get a horrible taste and smell in my mouth, like I can smell that foul odour as i eat. Tastes and smells like rotten eggs. This started about two weeks ago.
Today I ate some curry rice and fried chicken, and got a horrible taste eating rice. At first I thought there was something wrong with the eggs or fish ( maybe it was spoiled ?) which caused the bad taste, but rice? That ain't it.
Any idea what this could be? And what remedies I should follow to help with this? Any information of advice for my globus and mucus problems will also be appreciated.
Thank you for your time.

Hello and thank you for considering < Out of Focus > to be your new home! We are a semi-hardcore Mythic Progression raiding guild formed at the beginning of Shadowlands consisting of motivated players anxious to make meaningful progression together and we sincerely hope you will consider your journey dragonriding alongside us!
Though the guild was only formed last expansion those of us who started it are well versed and experienced leaders! We have raiders with CE experience, raiders who are grizzled veterans from Vanilla to now, raiders who have raid lead and organized raids from the most beloved to the floppiest of flops. I want to reassure anyone considering us to rest assured that the majority of us are dedicated raiders, players and friends who have been doing this for a long time; we have the raid leading and guild managing experience that allows us a significant advantage to be able to build an exceptional community not only for aspiring raiders but for all who step foot inside our welcoming halls.
Our typical schedule is as follows: •PROGRESSION RAID: Tues/Weds 8-11PM EST •GUILD M+ NIGHT: Fri. 8-10PM EST •ALT NIGHT: Saturday 8-11PM EST (bi-weekly) •SOCIAL NIGHT: Monday 8pm-10PM EST (every second Monday of the month)
The events we offer range from Progression Mythic raiding to an optional M+ Night where we organize groups and are able to push high keys successfully on time as well as mentor others to be able to join us in high pushes; to Alt Raid night to a Social Event once per month in order to foster bonds and unwind from the daily grind (this can be anything from Guild Among Us sessions to Expansion Transmog World Tours or WoW Trivia Nights with Guild prizes!).
In addition to scheduled events, our group is a close-knit group always looking to expand. You will always find someone willing to run a key with you or just chat in discord while you do dailies. We all play together across multiple platforms (we even have a FFXIV Free Company who occasionally push Savage content!) and games and would encourage you to join us in our warm and welcoming environment. As stressed above, our community is super important to us and as such is the main focus of all we do. I can assure you that those of us who chose to invest in this space did so after great thought and personal reflection after watching other guilds struggle with the unfortunate toxicity that can plague the mid-tier. We wanted to make this guild to weed out that disease and make a good, strong base so that we may achieve our end game goals in a healthy frame of mind and with people we enjoy playing with.
We are welcoming of both Alliance and Horde, especially with the new changes that allow all to be under one roof. So please do not hesitate to apply be it Night Elf or Orc. There is room for all!
So what are we looking for? Currently, we are in need of Healers and DPS- preferably those with hearty offspecs for versatility. Classes we would prioritize include, but are not limited to:

• Death Knight (unholy, frost)
• Shaman (enh, resto)
• Priest (disc, holy)
• Paladin (holy)
• Demon Hunter (havoc)
• Warrior (fury, arms)

The bottom line? We are always looking for exceptional players to push high content with and have fun doing so! If you are interested or have additional questions or comments please contact Hyliia: HYLIIA#1004 or Nevali: Nevali#5081 on discord. Thank you so much for your time and happy dragonriding!

My boyfriend and I have a 55 gallon community tank. We started with 10 gallons and got a few Cory catfish and male guppies. We’ve learned we really love gups and have had them for almost a year. Once our 55 was all setup and we started expanding our schools, somewhere down the line a female guppy ended up in our tank.
My boyfriend and I have a good friend who loves rescuing fish and he was able to take the female guppy off of our hands. But now we have about 7-10 guppy fry(that we know of) in the tank. They’re still very small but have grown significantly. The tail fins of the fry are starting to get black markings like the mom.
Now comes my question. Would it be best to wait to identify the genders of these gups? My boyfriend and I would gladly take any males if there is any. Or should we just move them into a different tank? Our 10 gallon has been cycling even though there’s only snails in it at the moment. Do the fry need to be a certain size before we can safely move them?
Thank you in advance! Any help is appreciated.

Apologies for the length and lateness of this post, past few months have been quite chaotic and haven't had much access to the internet, I dunno when I'll be back on this sub again after this so until then, more posts from me will be a Dream for Spring Summer (probably)
Over the years I've read a great many theories about the character of Varys, his motivations, his scheming throughout the series and his endgame, but none of them have ever truly sat well with me for how much his character feels simplified. He is one of ASOIAF's most complex characters who I still believe we haven't entirely cracked yet, and I for one still believe even after writing this post up and reflecting on it, there's still some of his character that I haven't figured out.
However, I want to propose an alternative character analysis to the character of Varys, one that drifts away from the more common take on his character - Varys is not a eunuch or a friend of Tyrion Lannister, and has spent his entire life lying about his manhood to deter anyone from thinking that he could father any children, so that fAegon, his true son, would always be protected while hiding.
Let us begin by breaking down each of the lies that define his character.
First, the lie that he was castrated as a young slave and had his manhood thrown into a fire by 'a certain man', which resulted in the fire turning magically blue and 'a voice' speaking out to Varys.

"One day at Myr, a certain man came to our folly. After the performance, he made an offer for me that my master found too tempting to refuse. I was in terror. I feared the man meant to use me as I had heard men used small boys, but in truth the only part of me he had need of was my manhood. He gave me a potion that made me powerless to move or speak, yet did nothing to dull my senses. With a long hooked blade, he sliced me root and stem, chanting all the while. I watched him burn my manly parts on a brazier. The flames turned blue, and I heard a voice answer his call, though I did not understand the words they spoke. "The mummers had sailed by the time he was done with me. Once I had served his purpose, the man had no further interest in me, so he put me out. When I asked him what I should do now, he answered that he supposed I should die. To spite him, I resolved to live. I begged, I stole, and I sold what parts of my body still remained to me. Soon I was as good a thief as any in Myr, and when I was older I learned that often the contents of a man's letters are more valuable than the contents of his purse. "Yet I still dream of that night, my lord. Not of the sorcerer, nor his blade, nor even the way my manhood shriveled as it burned. I dream of the voice. The voice from the flames. Was it a god, a demon, some conjurer's trick? I could not tell you, and I know all the tricks. All I can say for a certainty is that he called it, and it answered, and since that day I have hated magic and all those who practice it. If Lord Stannis is one such, I mean to see him dead." - ACOK - TYRION X

Now there is much from this excerpt to raise complaints and questions about Varys' story;

• There are no known instances of individuals being mutilated and having their mutilated parts being sacrificed in the flames for the sake of blood magic or appeasing R'hllor. Individuals have often been sacrificed to the flames, but sacrificed in their whole bodies.
  
• The details of how Varys was mutilated and that he was able to survive is unbelievable, and even more unbelievable that he went on to live as an orphan on the streets after this horrific ordeal with little to no medical treatment. Varys' simple claim that he "resolved to live" is very vague.
  
• Varys can remember this mystic and mysterious voice, but not what it send or what the words sounded like. Melisandre claims to hear the voices of R'hllor in the flames and voices could be heard from Drogo's tent when Mirri Maz Duhr was performing her blood magic, but these voices are only heard by the sorcerers, and not the victims. By all accounts, Varys should not have been able to hear these voices, if part of himself was fed to the flames.
  

But the weakest part of all is that Varys says that he "hates magic and all those who practise it", yet he goes to great lengths to protect and look out for Daenerys, and try to join fAegon's forces with hers, despite knowing that she has three magical dragons by her side.

"How many days until we reach the river?" he asked Illyrio that evening. "At this pace, your queen's dragons will be larger than Aegon's three before I can lay eyes upon them." "Would it were so. A large dragon is more fearsome than a small one." The magister shrugged. "Much as it would please me to welcome Queen Daenerys to Volantis, I must rely on you and Griff for that. I can serve her best in Pentos, smoothing the way for her return. So long as I am with you, though … well, an old fat man must have his comforts, yes? Come, drink a cup of wine." - ADWD - TYRION II

Illyrio is Varys' best friend and closest confidant, who he works with to protect Daenerys for much of her life and is willing to crown her as Queen alongside fAegon even though she has magical fire-breathing dragons that Varys, a victim of magical flames, would despise.
Illyrio, the same man who praised R'hllor, a God that Varys despises;

Her brother was waiting in the cool of the entry hall, seated on the edge of the pool, his hand trailing in the water. He rose when she appeared and looked her over critically. "Stand there," he told her. "Turn around. Yes. Good. You look …" "Regal," Magister Illyrio said, stepping through an archway. He moved with surprising delicacy for such a massive man. Beneath loose garments of flame-colored silk, rolls of fat jiggled as he walked. Gemstones glittered on every finger, and his man had oiled his forked yellow beard until it shone like real gold. "May the Lord of Light shower you with blessings on this most fortunate day, Princess Daenerys," the magister said as he took her hand. He bowed his head, showing a thin glimpse of crooked yellow teeth through the gold of his beard. "She is a vision, Your Grace, a vision," he told her brother. "Drogo will be enraptured." - AGOT - DAENERYS I

Neither Viserys or Daenerys were followers of R'hllor at this point, or surrounded by any followers, meaning Illyrio didn't need to bring up this form of prayer to R'hllor unless it was genuine or near genuine on his own part.
It makes little sense that Varys would entertain the company of those who worship R'hllor or magical forms of fire, if Varys truly is traumatised by what seemingly happened to him as a slave child by fire.
As well as Illyrio, this is apparent in Aerys II, who would regularly burn people in the throne room with wildfire, in the presence of Varys;

Frustrated, Aerys turned to the Wisdoms of the ancient Guild of Alchemists, who knew the secret of producing the volatile jade green substance known as wildfire, said to be a close cousin to dragonflame. The pyromancers became a regular fixture at his court as the king's fascination with fire grew. By 280 AC, Aerys II had taken to burning traitors, murderers, and plotters, rather than hanging or beheading them. The king seemed to take great pleasure in these fiery executions, which were presided over by Wisdom Rossart, the grand master of the Guild of Alchemists...so much so that he granted Rossart the title of Lord and gave him a seat upon the small council. - TWOIAF - THE TARGARYEN KINGS - AERYS II

Not only would Varys be present to witness these burnings, but Varys even encouraged Aerys to burn other individuals suspected of treachery, and fuelled both Aerys' paranoia and bloodlust;

He floated in heat, in memory. "After dancing griffins lost the Battle of the Bells, Aerys exiled him." Why am I telling this absurd ugly child? "He had finally realized that Robert was no mere outlaw lord to be crushed at whim, but the greatest threat House Targaryen had faced since Daemon Blackfyre. The king reminded Lewyn Martell gracelessly that he held Elia and sent him to take command of the ten thousand Dornishmen coming up the kingsroad. Jon Darry and Barristan Selmy rode to Stoney Sept to rally what they could of griffins' men, and Prince Rhaegar returned from the south and persuaded his father to swallow his pride and summon my father. But no raven returned from Casterly Rock, and that made the king even more afraid. He saw traitors everywhere, and Varys was always there to point out any he might have missed. So His Grace commanded his alchemists to place caches of wildfire all over King's Landing. Beneath Baelor's Sept and the hovels of Flea Bottom, under stables and storehouses, at all seven gates, even in the cellars of the Red Keep itself. - ASOS - JAIME V

Varys developed a reputation for egging on Aerys' paranoia and encouraging him to execute apparent traitors by fire, so much so that people like Barristan lay chief blame for Aerys' downfall into madness on Varys for exploiting it;

"It is not a question of wanting. The throne is mine, as Robert's heir. That is law. After me, it must pass to my daughter, unless Selyse should finally give me a son." He ran three fingers lightly down the table, over the layers of smooth hard varnish, dark with age. "I am king. Wants do not enter into it. I have a duty to my daughter. To the realm. Even to Robert. He loved me but little, I know, yet he was my brother. The Lannister woman gave him horns and made a motley fool of him. She may have murdered him as well, as she murdered Jon Arryn and Ned Stark. For such crimes there must be justice. Starting with Cersei and her abominations. But only starting. I mean to scour that court clean. As Robert should have done, after the Trident. Ser Barristan once told me that the rot in King Aerys's reign began with Varys. The eunuch should never have been pardoned. No more than the Kingslayer. At the least, Robert should have stripped the white cloak from Jaime and sent him to the Wall, as Lord Stark urged. He listened to Jon Arryn instead. I was still at Storm's End, under siege and unconsulted." He turned abruptly, to give Davos a hard shrewd look. "The truth, now. Why did you wish to murder Lady Melisandre?" - ASOS - DAVOS IV

It makes very little sense that Varys, a eunuch who seemingly hates worshippers of R'hllor and pyromancers for burning people and sacrificing his manhood to the flames as a child, would be best friends with a man who praises R'hllor or encourage his previous King to burn several people, many of whom were likely innocent of the claims of treachery put against them.
But it makes a lot more sense that Varys actually never had a problem with R'hllor or wildfire, and instead chose to encourage Aerys' paranoia so that he would always both seem useful to Aerys and be on good relations with him, to solidify his position of power on the Small Council, given that he was just a young foreign man in Westeros and wholly dependent on Aerys' support to maintain his standing in King's Landing.
The second lie of Varys' character that I wish to tackle is his apparent concern for the wellbeing of children;

"No," Ned pleaded, his voice cracking. "Varys, gods have mercy, do as you like with me, but leave my daughter out of your schemes. Sansa's no more than a child." "Rhaenys was a child too. Prince Rhaegar's daughter. A precious little thing, younger than your girls. She had a small black kitten she called Balerion, did you know? I always wondered what happened to him. Rhaenys liked to pretend he was the true Balerion, the Black Dread of old, but I imagine the Lannisters taught her the difference between a kitten and a dragon quick enough, the day they broke down her door." Varys gave a long weary sigh, the sigh of a man who carried all the sadness of the world in a sack upon his shoulders. "The High Septon once told me that as we sin, so do we suffer. If that's true, Lord Eddard, tell me … why is it always the innocents who suffer most, when you high lords play your game of thrones? Ponder it, if you would, while you wait upon the queen. And spare a thought for this as well: The next visitor who calls on you could bring you bread and cheese and the milk of the poppy for your pain … or he could bring you Sansa's head. - AGOT - EDDARD XV

Varys shows apparent disgust at the murders of Rhaegar's children, Rhaenys and Aegon, at the end of Robert's Rebellion, and the way in which they were brutally murdered.
However, we later learn in the series that Aegon seemingly survived and was swapped with a tanner's child, bought by Varys and swapped with Aegon, so that this bought child could be sacrificed to the Lannisters, who Varys presumed would want to kill Rhaegar's children;

"A true friend, our Lord Connington. He must be, to remain so fiercely loyal to the grandson of the king who took his lands and titles and sent him into exile. A pity about that. Elsewise Prince Rhaegar's friend might have been on hand when my father sacked King's Landing, to save Prince Rhaegar's precious little son from getting his royal brains dashed out against a wall." The lad flushed. "That was not me. I told you. That was some tanner's son from Pisswater Bend whose mother died birthing him. His father sold him to Lord Varys for a jug of Arbor gold. He had other sons but had never tasted Arbor gold. Varys gave the Pisswater boy to my lady mother and carried me away." "Aye." Tyrion moved his elephants. "And when the pisswater prince was safely dead, the eunuch smuggled you across the narrow sea to his fat friend the cheesemonger, who hid you on a poleboat and found an exile lord willing to call himself your father. It does make for a splendid story, and the singers will make much of your escape once you take the Iron Throne … assuming that our fair Daenerys takes you for her consort." - ADWD - TYRION VI

This entire "splendid story" as Tyrion calls it, is full of inconsistencies and unbelievable acts.
The first red flag of this story is the idea that Varys, a former slave child who abhors slavery, would willingly buy another man's young child. Also pay attention to the mention of 'Arbor gold', which has been well documented on this sub for years for how its always a signal of lies, as individuals like Littlefinger mention it in passing whenever they are telling a lie.
The second red flag is the idea that Varys, someone who seemingly abhors the murder and suffering of innocent children, would willingly sacrifice an innocent young child and allow them to be murdered just to spare another, more valuable child. The idea that Varys would also take Elia's child away from her, either willingly or unwillingly on her part, is also questionable.
The third red flag is why Varys chose only to switch Aegon with another child, and not do the same for Rhaenys. Having two imposter Targaryen children raised to believe they are Targaryens could've helped to support their claims, build them up as a rival power in Westeros and also provide a backup option for Varys incase fAegon didn't survive his childhood.
The final red flag is the idea that Varys was able to foresee how the Rebellion was going to end, accurately guessed that Rhaegar's children would be murdered by the Lannisters, knew where and when to find Elia and her children, be able to remove one of her children away from her without anyone knowing, and knew that one of Tywin's men would kill the children so brutally that next to no one would be able to recognise them - the idea story is built on a series of flimsy conveniences and incredible predictive abilities on Varys' part.
If Varys truly cared so much about the protection and well-being of children, he would not have willingly bought and sacrificed an innocent child to be sacrificed in exchange for Aegon's survival, nor would he have abandoned Rhaenys to her fate if he could have prevented it. This means either Varys truly doesn't give a damn about the wellbeing of children and just lies to the likes of Ned and Tyrion about it, or that the entire story about Aegon being swapped with a tanner's child is a lie like some fans believe, or that both stories are lies muddled together to make it more difficult to discern the truth.
Perhaps the truth of Varys' lies is best exposed in this often cited excerpt from ACOK, a conversation between him and Tyrion about the infamous "Shadow on the Wall" riddle;

Varys smiled. "Here, then. Power resides where men believe it resides. No more and no less.""So power is a mummer's trick?" "A shadow on the wall," Varys murmured, "yet shadows can kill. And ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow." Tyrion smiled. "Lord Varys, I am growing strangely fond of you. I may kill you yet, but I think I'd feel sad about it." - ACOK - TYRION II

The question of who Varys refers to in this conversation has been debated for years on this sub. Some believe that Varys was alluding to fAegon, that if people believe he is the real Aegon then he will have power, even if he doesn't truly have power as a common non-Targaryen child. Others have suggested Varys was alluding to Littlefinger, who was once a young small man who rose very high in King's Landing and cast a large shadow over the realm by starting the WotFk through his schemes.
I however believe that Varys is talking about himself.
Varys was once a very small man when he came to King's Landing at Aerys' calling for him to join the Small Council. He was seen as a young ex-slave, without a lordship or house of his own, weak and powerless. But overtime, through his manipulation of Aerys, encouraging his paranoia and own self-inflicted downfall, Varys cast a very large shadow over the empire of House Targaryen in Westeros, and destroyed it forever. What Varys says here to Tyrion is a very veiled threat that he can be dangerous to Tyrion if he underestimates Varys.
Tyrion however, in his arrogance, believes that Varys is referring to him, being a "very small man" and begins considering him a friend.
This is the third and final lie of Varys' character that I wish to dissect here - the lie that he is a friend or useful ally of sorts to Tyrion.
The idea of Varys betraying Tyrion's trust and working against him is first presented to us by Cersei, when she lets slip that Varys informed her of Tyrion's plan to send the Hound into battle at the Battle of the Blackwater;

"Varys says so." The swan was too rich for his taste. A line appeared on Cersei's pale white brow, between those lovely eyes. "You put too much trust in that eunuch." "He serves me well." "Or so he'd have you believe. You think you're the only one he whispers secrets to? He gives each of us just enough to convince us that we'd be helpless without him. He played the same game with me, when I first wed Robert. For years, I was convinced I had no truer friend at court, but now . . ." She studied his face for a moment. "He says you mean to take the Hound from Joffrey." - ACOK - TYRION XII

On a first read, we are quick to dismiss Cersei's claims for how much she is built up as an antagonistic and untrustworthy character, but in later understanding her motives in her own POV chapters, we realise there may be an inkling of truth in her claims. In the case of the Hound, Varys has no reason to inform her of Tyrion's plan, however innocent and insignificant in the grand game of thrones they may be, other than to maintain some level of trust with her and to invoke conflict between the Lannister siblings, which benefits Varys.
There are frequent moments throughout the series in which Varys alludes to knowing key information and deliberately withholding it from Tyrion even if it may benefit Tyrion, including who ordered Mandon Moore to kill Tyrion;

Bronn had turned up all he could on Ser Mandon, but no doubt Varys knew a deal more . . . should he choose to share it. "The man seems to have been quite friendless," Tyrion said carefully. "Sadly," said Varys, "oh, sadly. You might find some kin if you turned over enough stones back in the Vale, but here . . . Lord Arryn brought him to King's Landing and Robert gave him his white cloak, but neither loved him much, I fear. Nor was he the sort the smallfolk cheer in tourneys, despite his undoubted prowess. Why, even his brothers of the Kingsguard never warmed to him. Ser Barristan was once heard to say that the man had no friend but his sword and no life but duty . . . but you know, I do not think Selmy meant it altogether as praise. Which is queer when you consider it, is it not? Those are the very qualities we seek in our Kingsguard, it could be said—men who live not for themselves, but for their king. By those lights, our brave Ser Mandon was the perfect white knight. And he died as a knight of the Kingsguard ought, with sword in hand, defending one of the king's own blood." The eunuch gave him a slimy smile and watched him sharply. Trying to murder one of the king's own blood, you mean. Tyrion wondered if Varys knew rather more than he was saying. - ASOS - TYRION II

When Tyrion presses Varys for information about Mandon, Varys deliberately skims over Mandon's life and offers vague beliefs about the perfect Kingsguard to try and derail Tyrion's line of questioning, and when Varys pretends not to have known about Mandon trying to kill Tyrion, he watches Tyrion "sharply" to try and gather how much Tyrion himself knows, whether or not Tyrion will seek retribution for it from the anger on his face, and almost openly mocks him for the smile he gives. Tyrion briefly considers the idea that Varys is deliberately holding information back from him, but chooses instead to talk about other matters, which is what Varys wanted.
On the matter of Varys' choosing to support the Lannisters or Stannis, Varys once again tries to confuse Tyrion with riddles and not directly answer the question;

"He accuses my brother and sister of incest. I wonder how he came by that suspicion." "Perhaps he read a book and looked at the color of a bastard's hair, as Ned Stark did, and Jon Arryn before him. Or perhaps someone whispered it in his ear." The eunuch's laugh was not his usual giggle, but deeper and more throaty. "Someone like you, perchance?" "Am I suspected? It was not me." "If it had been, would you admit it?" "No. But why should I betray a secret I have kept so long? It is one thing to deceive a king, and quite another to hide from the cricket in the rushes and the little bird in the chimney. Besides, the bastards were there for all to see." - ACOK - TYRION III

We know for certain that Varys didn't want the WotFK to start so soon or for the truth of Cersei's children to come out in AGOT because he wanted more time for Viserys' forces to grow in strength and come closer to Westeros in order to invade, either to take the throne for themselves or be the ones to kill the beloved Robert Baratheon and paint themselves as villainous usurpers to make fAegon more heroic and not taint him with Robert's blood on his hands.
However, like with Cersei and Tyrion, Varys needs to tell those on the Small Council a certain amount of secretive information in order to gain their trust and support, including Stannis. That Varys even chooses to give a deeper and more unsettling laugh about the matter is another example of him openly laughing about his treachery in Tyrion's face and Tyrion not realising it.
When Tyrion almost stumbles upon this ruse and Varys realises that his laugh was too deep and questionable, Varys tries to brush it off by saying its harder to keep a secret secret if so many people are investigating it, and insists that there were so many of Robert's bastards to find for Stannis to figure out the truth on his own. But again, this last statement from Varys is littered with half-truths.
Varys insists it is hard to keep deceiving King Robert about the truth of his children's true parentage, and even harder to keep deceiving the truth from those who are deliberately looking for the truth and wanting to find it. This in itself is a reference to his believe that Stannis was always power-hungry for the Iron Throne, and was just looking for an excuse to try to claim it for himself as Robert's true heir, regardless of whether or not Cersei's children were Robert's or not.
But his own comment about "betraying a secret I have held for so long" is a direct allusion to fAegon's existence, and his determination not to reveal the truth of his existence to anyone, including Tyrion.
Even when Tyrion rides with Illyrio and Jon Connington's entourage in ADWD, Tyrion is only led to believe that they are going to support Daenerys' claim for the Iron Throne, and has to work out for himself that fAegon is actually Aegon and the one Varys and Illyrio wish to crown;

Young Griff hesitated. "Lannister? Your father—" "—is dead. At my hand. If it please Your Grace to call me Yollo or Hugor, so be it, but know that I was born Tyrion of House Lannister, trueborn son of Tywin and Joanna, both of whom I slew. Men will tell you that I am a kingslayer, a kinslayer, and a liar, and all of that is true … but then, we are a company of liars, are we not? Take your feigned father. Griff, is it?" The dwarf sniggered. "You should thank the gods that Varys the Spider is a part of this plot of yours. Griff would not have fooled the cockless wonder for an instant, no more than it did me. No lord, my lordship says, no knight. And I'm no dwarf. Just saying a thing does not make it true. Who better to raise Prince Rhaegar's infant son than Prince Rhaegar's dear friend Jon Connington, once Lord of Griffin's Roost and Hand of the King?" "Be quiet." Griff's voice was uneasy. - ADWD - TYRION V

After Tyrion works out the truth and manipulates both fAegon and Jon Connington into riding for Westeros instead of joining forces with Daenerys, he disappears and goes off to seek her out.
This likely angers Varys, and is the reason why Varys no longer affectionately calls Tyrion by his name or by '"lord" and instead refers to him as "the imp" in ADWD's epilogue, a term that Varys knows Tyrion hates;

Ser Kevan tried to rise, but the strength had left him. He could not feel his legs. "I thought the crossbow fitting. You shared so much with Lord Tywin, why not that? Your niece will think the Tyrells had you murdered, mayhaps with the connivance of the Imp. The Tyrells will suspect her. Someone somewhere will find a way to blame the Dornishmen. Doubt, division, and mistrust will eat the very ground beneath your boy king, whilst Aegon raises his banner above Storm's End and the lords of the realm gather round him." "Aegon?" For a moment he did not understand. Then he remembered. A babe swaddled in a crimson cloak, the cloth stained with his blood and brains. "Dead. He's dead." - ADWD - EPILOGUE

Varys chooses to frame Tyrion for Kevan's murder, **deliberately and intentionally further putting his life in danger by Cersei's wrath, already knowing that Tyrion has a large bounty on his head because of her, and talks lowly of Tyrion by calling him an "Imp" and referring to his "connivance" in a very scorned tone.
Varys never considered Tyrion a friend or ally in ASOIAF and was just using him, another lie that he tells throughout the series, and by the end of ADWD, he hates Tyrion for his scheming and knowing too much information than Varys wished him to know.
But there is a bigger telling point about how much Varys uses Tyrion, and a more ground-breaking twist in the narrative that reflects both how much Varys underestimates Tyrion and how much Varys never cared for him;
In ASOS, Varys didn't tell Tyrion how to reach the Tower of the Hand to go and kill Tywin. Varys told him this key information so that Tyrion could go and kill Shae instead, who Varys considered a greater threat to him.
Shae is one of the few, perhaps the only, people in ASOIAF to see through Varys' disguises;

A whiff of something rank made him turn his head. Shae stood in the door behind him, dressed in the silvery robe he'd given her. I loved a maid as white as winter, with moonglow in her hair. Behind her stood one of the begging brothers, a portly man in filthy patched robes, his bare feet crusty with dirt, a bowl hung about his neck on a leather thong where a septon would have worn a crystal. The smell of him would have gagged a rat. "Lord Varys has come to see you," Shae announced. The begging brother blinked at her, astonished. Tyrion laughed. "To be sure. How is it you knew him when I did not?" She shrugged. "It's still him. Only dressed different." - ACOK - TYRION X

This catches Varys off guard, and any chance of seeing him being angry or looking threatened is waved away from the reader when Tyrion laughs it off and turns his attention again to his paramour Shae.
Wearing disguises is a very important part of Varys' many schemes, including visiting Ned Stark in the Black Cells as the gaoler Rugen;

"Wine," a voice answered. It was not the rat-faced man; this gaoler was stouter, shorter, though he wore the same leather half cape and spiked steel cap. "Drink, Lord Eddard." He thrust a wineskin into Ned's hands. The voice was strangely familiar, yet it took Ned Stark a moment to place it. "Varys?" he said groggily when it came. He touched the man's face. "I'm not … not dreaming this. You're here." The eunuch's plump cheeks were covered with a dark stubble of beard. Ned felt the coarse hair with his fingers. Varys had transformed himself into a grizzled turnkey, reeking of sweat and sour wine. "How did you … what sort of magician are you?" - AGOT - EDDARD XV

His disguise as Rugen is very important to Varys' plans after Tyrion's disappearance from King's Landing, as Varys seeks to frame Rugen as a Tyrell puppet who broke Tyrion from imprisonment on the Tyrells' behalf, to sow division and further paranoia between Cersei and the Tyrells;

Gold, yes, but the moment Cersei took it she could tell that it was wrong. Too small, she thought, too thin. The coin was old and worn. On one side was a king's face in profile, on the other side the imprint of a hand. "This is no dragon," she said. "No," Qyburn agreed. "It dates from before the Conquest, Your Grace. The king is Garth the Twelfth, and the hand is the sigil of House Gardener." Of Highgarden. Cersei closed her hand around the coin. What treachery is this? Mace Tyrell had been one of Tyrion's judges, and had called loudly for his death. Was that some ploy? Could he have been plotting with the Imp all the while, conspiring at Father's death? With Tywin Lannister in his grave, Lord Tyrell was an obvious choice to be King's Hand, but even so . . . "You will not speak of this with anyone," she commanded. - AFFC - CERSEI II

But this ploy to incite conflict between the Lannisters and Tyrells would have failed if Shae had lived, as she had seen through Varys' disguises and could've warned Cersei of it, something which Varys could not allow, especially given that he considered her one of Cersei's pawns after Tyrion's trial.
It is also fundamentally not in Varys' interest for Tyrion to kill Tywin, as keeping Tywin alive for now would ensure the Dornish would have someone to rise up and seek vengeance against for Elia's murder. As readers are shown in AFFC and ADWD Dornish chapters, the Martells are divided and frankly confused about how to seek vengeance for Elia's murder now that Tywin, Gregor and Armory Lorch - the three men involved in her murder - are now dead. **If Tywin had lived, Varys could've played on the Dornish thirst for vengeance against him and had fAegon promise them it in exchange for their support, something which they likely would've agreed to.
So by this point in the post, we've explored some of the key lies of Varys' character to know for sure what he is not;

• He is not the victim of slavery or a sacrificial victim to magical fires, nor does he abhor those who worship R'hllor or magical flames
  
• He does not hate the killing and suffering of innocent children, and has actually sought to profit from it in the past
  
• He has never been a friend or ally to Tyrion Lannister but has instead used him, and even manipulated him into killing Shae to protect one of Varys' own future schemes
  

So who is the real Varys? Behind all of these lies and deceptions, who is he really deep down?
Well, Varys is not a eunuch, and in fact fAegon's true father by blood. Varys has deliberately spent his life lying about being a eunuch in order to discourage people from the truth that he is the father of fAegon by Illyrio’s sister, and wants to control the Iron Throne through fAegon.
Recall Varys' conversation with Tyrion in ACOK that I previously cited earlier;

"He accuses my brother and sister of incest. I wonder how he came by that suspicion." "Perhaps he read a book and looked at the color of a bastard's hair, as Ned Stark did, and Jon Arryn before him. Or perhaps someone whispered it in his ear." The eunuch's laugh was not his usual giggle, but deeper and more throaty. "Someone like you, perchance?" "Am I suspected? It was not me." "If it had been, would you admit it?" "No. But why should I betray a secret I have kept so long? It is one thing to deceive a king, and quite another to hide from the cricket in the rushes and the little bird in the chimney. Besides, the bastards were there for all to see." - ACOK - TYRION III

"Why should I betray a secret I have kept so long?" is the biggest hint towards fAegon's existence and Varys' own true motivations in the entire series. Varys makes this spur of the moment claim after being caught off guard by Tyrion and doesn't think it through before saying it and letting Tyrion realise there is more to him.
Varys was never castrated and he is not bald. He deliberately shaves his head to hide his true parentage and lies about being a eunuch to discourage people from believing that he is capable of fathering a child, a child with Blackfyre blood that he wishes to sit on the Iron Throne, a secret that Varys has cared for and kept so long.
The last time we see Varys in ADWD, he finally begins to tell the truth about fAegon's existence, and when he does, and speaks about the son he loves, he begins to speak in his real, deeper and non-emasculated voice;**

"Aegon?" For a moment he did not understand. Then he remembered. A babe swaddled in a crimson cloak, the cloth stained with his blood and brains. "Dead. He's dead." "No." The eunuch's voice seemed deeper. "He is here. Aegon has been shaped for rule since before he could walk. He has been trained in arms, as befits a knight to be, but that was not the end of his education. He reads and writes, he speaks several tongues, he has studied history and law and poetry. A septa has instructed him in the mysteries of the Faith since he was old enough to understand them. He has lived with fisherfolk, worked with his hands, swum in rivers and mended nets and learned to wash his own clothes at need. He can fish and cook and bind up a wound, he knows what it is like to be hungry, to be hunted, to be afraid. Tommen has been taught that kingship is his right. Aegon knows that kingship is his duty, that a king must put his people first, and live and rule for them." - ADWD - EPILOGUE

This is who Varys truly is - not a eunuch, not a victim of slavery or castration, not a man who weeps for the suffering of children, not a friend of Tyrion Lannister, but a loving father who wishes to cast a very large shadow over the greatest empire the world of ASOIAF has ever known.
TLDR:
Varys is not a eunuch but instead the father of fAegon, a secret he has spent his life protecting, and a lie he has spent his life telling to better protect his son.
Varys does not hate R'hllor or those who worship magical flames, his entire story about his manhood being sacrificed to flames is a lie he tells to gain Tyrion's trust in their efforts to defeat Stannis in ACOK. Varys is close friends with Illyrio, a man who praises R'hllor, and spent the early parts of his life encouraging Aerys to feed innocent people to the flames of wildfire.
Varys does not hate the suffering of innocent children, he was prepared to buy an innocent child from a man and sacrifice him in order to protect the "real" Aegon, he was prepared to abandon Rhaenys to her brutal death even if he could have saved her too and prepared to send Viserys and Daenerys into a doomed invasion of Westeros that would've led to their deaths just to make fAegon appear a more heroic saviour compared to them.
Varys was never a friend or ally to Tyrion but instead was using him ever since they first met. He has repeatedly withheld important information from him such as who hired Mandon Moore to kill Tyrion and how Stannis figured out the truth about Cersei's children, and on frequent occasions has nearly openly laughed in Tyrion's face at both his misfortune and the information Varys withheld from him. Varys also manipulated Tyrion into killing Shae so that she would not expose Varys' identity as Rugen and didn't trust Tyrion with the information about fAegon's existence, something that Tyrion had to figure out himself. Varys also talks lowly of Tyrion at the end of ADWD as a "conniving Imp" which reflects Varys' true feelings about Tyrion.
Varys has spent his life shaving his hair and lying about being a eunuch to discourage anyone from believing he could father fAegon and better protect him, so that fAegon could one day take the Iron Throne, and cast a very large shadow over the Targaryen Empire forever.
Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed this theory be sure to read some of my other theories below;
All the signs that Tywin directly gave the Mountain the order to badly mistreat Elia Martell
The Father Rhaegaer, the Son Jon and the Holy Ghost Ghost, religious symbolism
Mance Rayder is a servant of the Others
Leyton Hightower is the Lord of Light and Malora the Mad Maid is Quaithe
2022 archive of ASOIAF theories available at the bottom of this post

• 112 Operator
• 911 Operator
• Aarklash: Legacy
• Agent in Depth
• Alchemist's Castle
• Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs + Amnesia: The Dark Descent
• Among Us
• Arcade Spirits
• Armello
• Army Men RTS
• Assault Suit Leynos
• Backbone
• Battlecruisers
• Beat Hazard 2
• Behold the Kickmen
• Between the Stars
• Bezier
• Bionic Commando
• Bionic Commando Rearmed
• Blade Assault
• Blood And Zombies
• Brawlout
• Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
• [email protected]
• Builder Simulator
• Calico
• Call of Juarez Gunslinger
• Cats in Time
• Chicka Wars Chicken Meat
• CivCity: Rome
• Click and Slay
• Concept Destruction
• Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
• Corridor Z
• Cosmic Express
• Cosmonautica
• Crayon Physics Deluxe (may keep)
• CROSSBOW: Bloodnight
• Dagon - The Eldritch Box DLC
• Darksburg
• Dead Age
• Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
• Death Squared
• Demon Turf
• Detached: Non-VR Edition
• Disciples: Liberation (may keep)
• Double Cross
• Doughlings: Arcade
• Doughlings: Invasion
• Draw Slasher
• Drawful 2
• Driftland: The Magic Revival
• Due Process
• EarthX
• El Hijo
• Eldest Souls
• Emily is Away <3
• Encased
• Epic Chef
• Expand
• Fallout
• Farmer's Dynasty
• Farming Simulator 17
• Firegirl: Hack 'n Splash Rescue
• First Class Trouble
• Five Dates
• Fling to the Finish
• Forged Battalion
• Fortissimo FA INTL Ver
• Founders' Fortune
• Frick, Inc.
• Full Throttle Remastered
• Fun with Ragdolls: The Game
• GameGuru Classic
• Garfield Kart - Furious Racing
• Gloria Victis
• Go Home Dinosaurs!
• Going Under
• GOLDEN LIGHT
• Golf Gang
• Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
• Guns & Fishes
• Guts and Glory
• Hack 'n' Slash + Soundtrack (& Spacebase GIFT)
• _ + Hack 'n' Slash_
• _ + Hack 'n' Slash Soundtrack_
• _ + Spacebase GIFT_
• Halcyon 6: Lightspeed Edition
• Harmony's Odyssey
• Heart Fragment - Book Two: Belief Fragments (Shannon & Lana)
• Helheim Hassle
• Hellbound
• HERO'S HOUR (may keep)
• Hexologic
• Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage Under Fire
• Hidden & Dangerous: Action Pack
• Hokko Life
• Holy Potatoes! A Spy Story?!
• How to Sing to Open Your Heart
• Hydrophobia: Prophecy
• Hyper Gunsport
• I’m not a Monster
• In Sound Mind
• INDUSTRIA
• Internet Cafe Simulator
• Interplanetary: Enhanced Edition
• Into the Pit
• Iris and the giant
• Iron Danger
• Izmir: An Independence Simulator
• Joggernauts
• JYDGE
• Killsquad
• Labirinto 2
• Last Word
• Lawn Mowing Simulator
• Legend of Keepers
• LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
• Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Don't Dry
• Let Them Come
• Lighthouse Keeper
• Little Orpheus
• Lust for Darkness
• Lust from Beyond: M Edition
• Maid of Sker
• Mainlining
• Mekabolt
• Meow Express
• MirrorMoon EP
• Monaco
• Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp
• Moon Hunters
• Morbid: The Seven Acolytes
• Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021
• Must Dash Amigos
• My Time At Portia
• N++
• NecroWorm
• NeuroVoider
• Neverinth
• Neverout
• Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition
• Non-Stop Raiders
• Of Orcs And Men
• Operation Tango
• Orbital Racer
• Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
• Override
• Overture
• Paradise Lost
• Partial Control
• Pathfinders: Memories
• Pathway
• PAYDAY 2
• Peaky Blinders: Mastermind
• PGA TOUR 2K21 (may keep)
• Pilgrims
• Pill Baby
• Pixplode
• Pixross
• Planet TD
• PlataGO!
• Plebby Quest: The Crusades
• Popup Dungeon
• Post Void
• PowerBeatsVR
• Project Chemistry
• Project Nimbus: Complete Edition
• Propagation VR - Co-op
• Proteus
• Pumped BMX +
• Quadrata
• Radio Commander
• Railroad Corporation
• Railroad Tycoon 2: Platinum
• Railroad Tycoon 3
• Raji: An Ancient Epic
• Rebel Galaxy
• Rebound Dodgeball Evolved
• Re-Legion
• Remnants of Naezith
• Resident Evil Revelations (may keep)
• Resident Evil Revelations 2 first chapter
• Revita
• RIOT - Civil Unrest
• Roarr! Jurassic Edition
• Roboquest
• Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
• ROGUE LORDS (may keep)
• RPG Maker VX
• Rustler
• Rym 9000

Sakura Alien
Sakura Dungeon
Sakura - Forest Girls set
- Sakura Forest Girls
- Sakura Forest Girls 2
- Sakura Forest Girls 3
Sakura knight set
- Sakura Knight
- Sakura Knight 2
- Sakura Knight 3
Sakura MMO set
- Sakura MMO
- Sakura MMO 2
- Sakura MMO 3
- Sakura MMO Extra
Sakura succubus set
- Sakura Succubus
- Sakura Succubus 2
- Sakura Succubus 3
- Sakura Succubus 4
- Sakura Succubus 5
- Sakura Succubus 6
Sakura Swim Club

• Save Room - Organization Puzzle
• Say No! More
• ScourgeBringer
• SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell
• Shady Part of Me
• shapez - Puzzle DLC
• Shing!
• Sid Meier's Railroads!
• Siege Survival: Gloria Victis
• Skullgirls 2nd Encore
• Slinger VR
• Smile For Me
• Sorcerer King: Rivals
• Soul Searching
• Soulblight
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Spellcaster University (may keep)
• Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
• Stacking
• STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
• STAR WARS: Knights of the Old Republic
• Starpoint Gemini Warlords
• Stick Fight: The Game
• stikir
• Stirring Abyss
• Strange Brigade
• Strider
• Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
• Sunlight
• Super Chicken Catchers
• Super Magbot
• Surviving the Aftermath (may keep)
• Sword Legacy Omen
• SYMMETRY
• System Shock 2
• System Shock: Enhanced Edition
• TaniNani
• Telefrag VR
• The Amazing American Circus
• The Beast Inside
• The Deed II
• The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR
• The Inner World
• The Invisible Hand
• The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante (may keep)
• The Next Penelope
• The Serpent Rogue
• The USB Stick Found in the Grass
• This War of Mine: Complete Edition (may keep)
• Ticket to Ride
• ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove
• Tools Up!
• Tooth and Tail
• Townsmen - A Kingdom Rebuilt
• Traffic Jams
• Train Station Renovation
• Treasure Hunter Simulator
• Turmoil
• Underland: The Climb
• UnMetal
• Vanishing Realms
• War for the Overworld
• Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
• WARSAW
• Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
• White Noise 2
• Windjammers 2
• Worms Rumble
• WRC 7
• WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS
• XCOM 2
• X-COM: Complete Pack (including X-COM: UFO Defense + X-COM: Apocalypse + X-COM: Enforcer + X-COM: Interceptor + X-COM: Terror from the Deep)
• XEL
• X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack (including X-Morph: Defense + X-Morph: Defense - European Assault + X-Morph: Defense - Survival Of The Fittest + X-Morph: Defense - Last Bastion)
• Yoku's Island Express
• Zombie Driver HD Complete Edition (including + Zombie Driver HD + Zombie Driver HD Apocalypse Pack + Zombie Driver HD Burning Garden of Slaughter + Zombie Driver HD Tropical Race Rage + Zombie Driver HD Brutal Car Skins + Zombie Driver HD Soundtrack)
• ΔV: Rings of Saturn

​
DOOM 64 (Bethesda.net)
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection (ORIGIN key)
Liberated (GOG key)
STAR WARS: Squadrons (Origin)
Wanderlust Travel Stories (GOG key)
Dishonored 2 (GOG)
​
Software

• Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 7
• GameMaker Studio 2 Creator 12 Months
• Music Maker EDM Edition
• Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook and Starfinder Core Rulebook
• Polygon Farm, Polygon City, and Polygon Prototype

GameDev.tv

• Complete Unity 3D Developer

Zenva Academy

• Intro to Game Development with Unity

#########################################################

Region is NA

​
My REPs: 202 successful trades, 0 dispute.

• 112 Operator
• 911 Operator
• Aarklash: Legacy
• Agent in Depth
• Alchemist's Castle
• Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs + Amnesia: The Dark Descent
• Among Us
• Arcade Spirits
• Armello
• Army Men RTS
• Assault Suit Leynos
• Backbone
• Battlecruisers
• Beat Hazard 2
• Behold the Kickmen
• Between the Stars
• Bezier
• Bionic Commando
• Bionic Commando Rearmed
• Blade Assault
• Blood And Zombies
• Brawlout
• Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
• [email protected]
• Builder Simulator
• Calico
• Call of Juarez Gunslinger
• Cats in Time
• Chicka Wars Chicken Meat
• CivCity: Rome
• Click and Slay
• Concept Destruction
• Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
• Corridor Z
• Cosmic Express
• Cosmonautica
• Crayon Physics Deluxe (may keep)
• CROSSBOW: Bloodnight
• Dagon - The Eldritch Box DLC
• Darksburg
• Dead Age
• Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
• Death Squared
• Demon Turf
• Detached: Non-VR Edition
• Disciples: Liberation (may keep)
• Double Cross
• Doughlings: Arcade
• Doughlings: Invasion
• Draw Slasher
• Drawful 2
• Driftland: The Magic Revival
• Due Process
• EarthX
• El Hijo
• Eldest Souls
• Emily is Away <3
• Encased
• Epic Chef
• Expand
• Fallout
• Farmer's Dynasty
• Farming Simulator 17
• Firegirl: Hack 'n Splash Rescue
• First Class Trouble
• Five Dates
• Fling to the Finish
• Forged Battalion
• Fortissimo FA INTL Ver
• Founders' Fortune
• Frick, Inc.
• Full Throttle Remastered
• Fun with Ragdolls: The Game
• GameGuru Classic
• Garfield Kart - Furious Racing
• Gloria Victis
• Go Home Dinosaurs!
• Going Under
• GOLDEN LIGHT
• Golf Gang
• Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
• Guns & Fishes
• Guts and Glory
• Hack 'n' Slash + Soundtrack (& Spacebase GIFT)
• _ + Hack 'n' Slash_
• _ + Hack 'n' Slash Soundtrack_
• _ + Spacebase GIFT_
• Halcyon 6: Lightspeed Edition
• Harmony's Odyssey
• Heart Fragment - Book Two: Belief Fragments (Shannon & Lana)
• Helheim Hassle
• Hellbound
• HERO'S HOUR (may keep)
• Hexologic
• Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage Under Fire
• Hidden & Dangerous: Action Pack
• Hokko Life
• Holy Potatoes! A Spy Story?!
• How to Sing to Open Your Heart
• Hydrophobia: Prophecy
• Hyper Gunsport
• I’m not a Monster
• In Sound Mind
• INDUSTRIA
• Internet Cafe Simulator
• Interplanetary: Enhanced Edition
• Into the Pit
• Iris and the giant
• Iron Danger
• Izmir: An Independence Simulator
• Joggernauts
• JYDGE
• Killsquad
• Labirinto 2
• Last Word
• Lawn Mowing Simulator
• Legend of Keepers
• LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
• Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Don't Dry
• Let Them Come
• Lighthouse Keeper
• Little Orpheus
• Lust for Darkness
• Lust from Beyond: M Edition
• Maid of Sker
• Mainlining
• Mekabolt
• Meow Express
• MirrorMoon EP
• Monaco
• Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp
• Moon Hunters
• Morbid: The Seven Acolytes
• Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021
• Must Dash Amigos
• My Time At Portia
• N++
• NecroWorm
• NeuroVoider
• Neverinth
• Neverout
• Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition
• Non-Stop Raiders
• Of Orcs And Men
• Operation Tango
• Orbital Racer
• Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
• Override
• Overture
• Paradise Lost
• Partial Control
• Pathfinders: Memories
• Pathway
• PAYDAY 2
• Peaky Blinders: Mastermind
• PGA TOUR 2K21 (may keep)
• Pilgrims
• Pill Baby
• Pixplode
• Pixross
• Planet TD
• PlataGO!
• Plebby Quest: The Crusades
• Popup Dungeon
• Post Void
• PowerBeatsVR
• Project Chemistry
• Project Nimbus: Complete Edition
• Propagation VR - Co-op
• Proteus
• Pumped BMX +
• Quadrata
• Radio Commander
• Railroad Corporation
• Railroad Tycoon 2: Platinum
• Railroad Tycoon 3
• Raji: An Ancient Epic
• Rebel Galaxy
• Rebound Dodgeball Evolved
• Re-Legion
• Remnants of Naezith
• Resident Evil Revelations (may keep)
• Resident Evil Revelations 2 first chapter
• Revita
• RIOT - Civil Unrest
• Roarr! Jurassic Edition
• Roboquest
• Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
• ROGUE LORDS (may keep)
• RPG Maker VX
• Rustler
• Rym 9000

Sakura Alien
Sakura Dungeon
Sakura - Forest Girls set
- Sakura Forest Girls
- Sakura Forest Girls 2
- Sakura Forest Girls 3
Sakura knight set
- Sakura Knight
- Sakura Knight 2
- Sakura Knight 3
Sakura MMO set
- Sakura MMO
- Sakura MMO 2
- Sakura MMO 3
- Sakura MMO Extra
Sakura succubus set
- Sakura Succubus
- Sakura Succubus 2
- Sakura Succubus 3
- Sakura Succubus 4
- Sakura Succubus 5
- Sakura Succubus 6
Sakura Swim Club

• Save Room - Organization Puzzle
• Say No! More
• ScourgeBringer
• SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell
• Shady Part of Me
• shapez - Puzzle DLC
• Shing!
• Sid Meier's Railroads!
• Siege Survival: Gloria Victis
• Skullgirls 2nd Encore
• Slinger VR
• Smile For Me
• Sorcerer King: Rivals
• Soul Searching
• Soulblight
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Spellcaster University (may keep)
• Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
• Stacking
• STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
• STAR WARS: Knights of the Old Republic
• Starpoint Gemini Warlords
• Stick Fight: The Game
• stikir
• Stirring Abyss
• Strange Brigade
• Strider
• Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
• Sunlight
• Super Chicken Catchers
• Super Magbot
• Surviving the Aftermath (may keep)
• Sword Legacy Omen
• SYMMETRY
• System Shock 2
• System Shock: Enhanced Edition
• TaniNani
• Telefrag VR
• The Amazing American Circus
• The Beast Inside
• The Deed II
• The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR
• The Inner World
• The Invisible Hand
• The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante (may keep)
• The Next Penelope
• The Serpent Rogue
• The USB Stick Found in the Grass
• This War of Mine: Complete Edition (may keep)
• Ticket to Ride
• ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove
• Tools Up!
• Tooth and Tail
• Townsmen - A Kingdom Rebuilt
• Traffic Jams
• Train Station Renovation
• Treasure Hunter Simulator
• Turmoil
• Underland: The Climb
• UnMetal
• Vanishing Realms
• War for the Overworld
• Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
• WARSAW
• Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
• White Noise 2
• Windjammers 2
• Worms Rumble
• WRC 7
• WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS
• XCOM 2
• X-COM: Complete Pack (including X-COM: UFO Defense + X-COM: Apocalypse + X-COM: Enforcer + X-COM: Interceptor + X-COM: Terror from the Deep)
• XEL
• X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack (including X-Morph: Defense + X-Morph: Defense - European Assault + X-Morph: Defense - Survival Of The Fittest + X-Morph: Defense - Last Bastion)
• Yoku's Island Express
• Zombie Driver HD Complete Edition (including + Zombie Driver HD + Zombie Driver HD Apocalypse Pack + Zombie Driver HD Burning Garden of Slaughter + Zombie Driver HD Tropical Race Rage + Zombie Driver HD Brutal Car Skins + Zombie Driver HD Soundtrack)
• ΔV: Rings of Saturn

​
DOOM 64 (Bethesda.net)
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection (ORIGIN key)
Liberated (GOG key)
STAR WARS: Squadrons (Origin)
Wanderlust Travel Stories (GOG key)
Dishonored 2 (GOG)
​
Software

• Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 7
• GameMaker Studio 2 Creator 12 Months
• Music Maker EDM Edition
• Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook and Starfinder Core Rulebook
• Polygon Farm, Polygon City, and Polygon Prototype

GameDev.tv

• Complete Unity 3D Developer

Zenva Academy

• Intro to Game Development with Unity

#########################################################

Region is NA

​
My REPs: 202 successful trades, 0 dispute.

After being in the hobby for years without space for a tank bigger than 30L, I now finally have moved to a new place and just set up a rack for fish tanks.
The rack has 5 shelves, each measuring 1.20m in length and 0.5m in width (sorry freedom units users) and can support up to 300kgs, although I wanna stay a bit under the limit.Better safe than sorry. The freedom of choice is stunning me , and I can't choose what to go for.Breeding fish is what I enjoy the most in the hobby and finally I can breed bigger fish, or fish that demand to be in large groups to breed. So here is my question :
If you were in my shoes, and you wanted to breed as many different species as possible(Rotating them in/out of the tanks, for example : this time I breed Pygmy corys, I grow the fry, I sell/trade the fry and adults, then place a new species in the formerly pygmy cory tank) what tank sizes would you choose, including for fry growout tanks?

• Some examples of what I want to try and breed : -Corys -L.Number Catfish -Angelfish -Discus -Shell dweller cichlids -Apistos

Also, if you had a fun time, breeding a fish that's not as much talked about as the ones I mentioned above, I accept any suggestions . Thank you everyone

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1023236	MaddyEats	GREEN CHICKEN PULAO WITH SPICY EGG KALA BHUNA, SPICY EXTRA GRAVY, RAITA AND CHERRY TOMATOES |MUKBANG
989721	tanboy kun	MUKBANG SPICY RAPOKKI MUJIGAE PAKE KEJU BALOK UTUH!!
960261	Mukbang Bersama Bent	Makan Nama IBRAHIM, Next #makansesuainama siapa lagi?? #asmr #mukbang #makansesuaiemoji #noreaction
932476	잔망루피 ZANMANG LOOPY	먹방 쇼츠에 자주 나오는 #배고파송 #잔망루피 #Shorts #쇼츠
922284	문복희 Eat with Boki	SUB)갓 튀긴 시장 후라이드 치킨에 매운 국물닭발 먹방! 시원한 맥주까지 치맥 꿀조합 리얼사운드 Chicken & Beer Mukbang Asmr
908639	Badu	asmr STRAWBERRY ICE eating sounds
886451	Mukbang Reversed	Fried average sized Wagyu #brentrivera #shorts #bayashitv
866567	Dental Digest	Do Giant Food's Cause Cavities !? *ASMR Mukbang*
860114	Best Ever Food Review Show	Raw Alpaca Kidney!! Peru’s Extreme Mountain Food!!
845447	침착맨	매콤한 귀멸의 홍짜장
844995	ASMR LISA	표정먹방 #18137
828156	푸드루팡	도둑 드디어 잡히다.. 감옥 먹방
820809	Poopigirl	DIY MINI SUSHI 🍣 #mukbang #asmr #diy #food #sweet #shorts
811719	혼술다큐 미짱 lonely mizzang	🍜우주최고급 프리미엄 500원짜리 짜장라면 먹방🍺 한우트러플짜파게티,깐풍기,팝만두,맥주먹방😎 혼술 짜장면 MUKBANG ASMR EATINGSHOW REALSOUND 먹방 이춘삼
788511	Big and Fast Eaters	Time to eat! | TikTok Video|Eating Spicy Food and Funny Pranks|Funny Mukbang
771966	The Best Red Ball 4	Red ball eating brain.Red Ball 4 mukbang animation #shorts
766845	문복희 Eat with Boki	SUB)마라탕 쿨타임 찼다🌟 얼얼한 마라탕에 쫀득달달 꿔바로우 먹방! 옥수수면 둥근당면까지 추가하기 꿀조합 리얼사운드 Malatang Mukbang Asmr
751308	SIO ASMR	ASMR MUKBANG 직접 만든 양념 치킨먹방! 짜파게티 소세지 김치 레시피 & 먹방 BLACK BEAN NOODLES AND FRIED CHICKEN EATING SOUND!
749988	Poopigirl	MUKBANG ANIMALS 🐶🐱🐻 #mukbang #asmr #food #animals #shorts
745024	More Best Ever Food Review Show	Japanese Chef Cooks Giant Sea Cockroach!! Nightmare Food Challenge!!
743043	Poopigirl	JELLY MUKBANG #mukbang #asmr #food #shorts
740686	Big and Fast Eaters	Today is full of heroes | TikTok Video|Eating Spicy Food and Funny Pranks|Funny Mukbang
706298	dedekiyaw	kamu pernah tidak makan kinci... #kimchi #makanankorea #mukbang #funny #lucu #lawak #ngakak
701908	ASMR 애정 TV	[ASMR]신기한물먹방ASMR DRINKING #ASMRDRINKING#물먹방#아이스크림

Hello, I've had many small tanks (10-20) and am looking for ideas! This will be my first "large" tank and I'm thinking the star should be my favorite fish, the Molly. For a tank this size, I'm thinking 3 females and 1 male. I am big on understocking, and I hate "dither" schooling fish, I love how they look but in my tanks I just can't stand the lack of individual personality and find myself waiting for them to croak so there's less mouths to feed. Big personality is a big plus.
I love shrimp and snails, there's going to be a big cave section to this tank for the fry and shrimps to hide in.
What has a lot of personality that wouldn't eat all the shrimp? Or do you think a Molly shrimp tank is enough for stocking?
For reference, my tap water is super hard, so I'll avoid anything that needs softer to neutral.

Let me be the first to welcome you to the MotheOffspring, Nurturing/Support, Teaching/Education Resource Network, or? M.O.N.S.T.E.R. Nursery. My name is Sassy, short for Sasquatch. Yes, THAT sasquatch. Are there other kinds?! I'm a HCC (Healthcare Cryptid) here at the nursery. I also teach humans the survival basics of coming across a baby monster in the woods.
Anyhoo, you're probably wondering why Sasquatch are utilized as Labor and Delivery nurses. It's simple, really. We're natural born mothers. You see, we just love babies! We always have! All of that nonsense about whooping, tree knocking and vocalizations that we do in the woods when you guys are camping? Don't get scared! That's just us shouting out to our boys letting them know we have humans in the woods! Humans could possibly have a BABY with them. Now, I don't like to judge based on looks, but those bald human babies are so ugly? They're cute! Poor little things look like they have mange, though. Who would think a bald puppy is cute? Ew.
I digress. So, when it came to the M.O.N.S.T.E.R. Nursery? We were the natural choice. Even though I happen to be female? History tells us that male nursery nurses happen to have the best bonding with our little devils. Well, little devils and whoever else was born that day. Just look at Chewy over there bonding with that litter of werewolf pups born on the last full moon. He's so maternal? He's practically a breast.
Now, all babies are not created equal. Have you ever wondered which monster's baby is the loudest? I can promise you that you'd rather listen to that werewolf pup litter any day over being 5 minutes late with Baby Siren Head's bottle. I had a headache for a week. When Vlad and Countess Bathory had their little undead bundle of joy last month? You'd be surprised how quick a Bigfoot can prick and milk their finger to get a fresh bottle of nutritious blood for that adorable, pale little parasite. He definitely had a healthy appetite, especially if you were B positive. Vlad and Countess Bathory couldn't have been happier. Patient satisfaction has always been a priority for HCCs (Healthcare Cryptid) since day one! We've never gotten below a 5 on the Jack Link's scale of 0 - 5 jerkies. We are collectively very proud of this fact! It's such an accomplishment for Bigfoot and all of Sasquatch kind.
Okay, I could understand why you think we're a little full of ourselves. I, mean, when Sasquatch are the chosen ones to be the top requested HCC? It's a far fall to the 2nd position. Look, we can't all be God's Chosen Ones. Yes, he exists. Yes, he created us. You're getting distracted, again. We aren't all going to argue semantics on what is Creationism and what is Darwinism and all of that. I'm too busy trying to teach incompetent, um cough cough, INTERESTED humans how to provide the most basic care for any creature's neonates (medical term for newborn) that they might stumble across while enjoying hiking, camping, fishing, etc. The priority? The newborn. Additional concerns?
1) MotheFather finding humans around newborn and attacking them.
2) Humans treating the scenario like an episode of "Jack Ass" and thinking it's a good idea to "mess with" the newborn and? Again? Mom/Dad attacks them.
3) Basically? A human breathing will set Mom/Dad off. Most creatures just don't want humans around. They can't be trusted. Sorry, Guys. It's been that way every since you refused to credit Chewy in the '67 Patterson–Gimlin film.
So? Your first reaction, if you see a baby creature? Look for it's parents. If you see them? Run. Run fast. Like, put Forrest Gump to shame kinda runnin'. Those parents don't want you there for any reason at all. Pick 'em up and put 'em down the whole way back down the trail.
If you don't see the parents? Proceed slowly and with caution. Now, don't let everything I've said scare you into not helping a baby monster. They're babies, after all. Please, check on them. Just be aware of your surroundings so as not to frighten the wood creatures which will, in turn, attack you. Then? It's just a bad day for everyone involved.
So? Depending on the woodland creature? You'll want to know what action you need to take to help the baby and? Hopefully? Survive assisting. The first thing you'll want to do is call out/whistle, whatever you have to do to try to get someone's attention. Look around and listen. What do you see and hear? If it's nothing? Again, proceed with caution. If you hear howling, growling, tree knocking, whooping, any of these things? Leave, either their parents are still around or we're there and will then takeover. I know. It's confusing to try to tell when we're tree knocking hoping you have a baby with you or if we know there's a baby around and we don't want you around the baby. Really, if at all possible, just don't mess with the babies if you don't have to. With that having been said? Let's proceed!
As you cautiously approach? Keep making noise letting everyone know you're there. We don't want to scare the life, or afterlife, out of these little ones. They're at their most vulnerable right now. Let's use Chewy's patients today as an example. You traipse along and stumble over a werewolf den. Well, that's not something you see every day. You hear soft whimpering. About 4 or 5 little werewolf pup heads pop up out of the den. How's everyone looking? Is anyone hurt? No? Then check your supplies. It just so happens you were successful fishing earlier. Werewolf pups love fish almost as much as moonbathing and cutting their baby teeth on a human femur. They'll be thankful, the Alpha male and female will be thankful and you'll really be thankful. You get to walk away, karma and limbs intact.
Next? It would be highly likely that you'd come across a wendigo, skinwalker, rake slenderman, etc. besides just a litter of werewolf pups. Try to prepare yourself as much as possible for these encounters. The better prepared? The better off everyone will be. The best part? These creatures won't want your everlasting soul in infancy. Those challenges don't present until adolescence. So? Enjoy the respite for the moment. Now? No matter what the situation? You'll always want to approach with caution and announce your arrival. It's saved not only many a human? It's saved a lot of cryptids as well. Try to have some sort of food item on you that's rather filling. You'd prefer that over them making YOU the food item.
So, as we proceed down the trail, there's a cabin to the left and it's the last house but do not enter, please. The last good hearted Samaritan did and, well, let's just say he had a run in with a girl locked in the cellar who wasn't quite herself. That's probably about the most PC way of explaining demonic possession. Anyhoo, there was bad press for a year and visitors to the park fell off, it just was a big mess. They ended up doing some kind of cybernetic enhancement and now the good Samaritan has a chainsaw for an arm. He's done a great job keeping them all in line. Overall? That was one we got right.
Since I brought up Vlad and the Countess Bathory's bouncing little bundle of bloodsucker? It's important to know that if you are in your domicile, and R.V.'s count, vampires cannot enter without an invitation from you. So, if you are camping in your R.V. and someone comes knocking late at night? Don't answer. If they aren't a vampire? They can come back the next day. If they don't come back? You definitely made the right decision. Now, the problem is? If you encounter a vampire in the wild. Hopefully? They've already set their sights on whoever they picked that night to be their victim. If not? A dropper of Holy Water as perfume on either side of your neck is a nice deterrent. Again, if the little count is there by himself? He's clearly gotten away from the castle. He needs returned immediately. Go to the nearest tree that displays a "break in case of emergency" box. Break the glass, take the bag of beef jerky out, shake it. Every Sasquatch in a 5 mile radius will come running to you. Point the baby vampire out and we'll be glad to take it from there.
Something I should bring up to our do-gooders ready to risk it all: if you can't swim? Don't try to help aquatic creatures. It won't end well. It never does. Little fry just aren't acclimated to landlubbers. Merpups are tough for even us to handle. They get scared, you can't swim, bad things happen. So? If you're determined to help any baby monster no matter where they reside? Take swimming lessons. You'll thank me. Trust me on this.
Don't let the fae trip you up, either. They're mischievous. They'll also try to sneak a changeling in on you if you do bring your human babies to the forest. If you respect walking around fairy rings and respect mother nature? The fae shouldn't be an issue. If you don't? Well, you were warned.
So, what have we not covered? Flying creatures. Yes, they present a challenge even we Sasquatch find difficult. It's hard to assess the needs of a baby that's wrapped in the arms of a mother flying 75 feet above your head. Even though the task is daunting? It's a challenge we'll definitely take on. We just watch and wait for Mom to go on the hunt and we take a peak at that tiny little velociraptor in that nest, with it's mouth hanging wide open, just awaiting a morsel. Now, the Mothman's baby was an experience. Cocoons are just something you have to see for yourself, especially when they're 6 feet tall. It's truly fascinating!
I think that covers everything for today's lesson. Bear in mind, we're beginning the summer season here in the U.S. Encounters are going to increase between cryptids and humans so be aware and care when it comes to our babies. We're aware and care when it comes to yours. Stay safe and Sasquatch on!

All prices include shipping to the US and payment using PayPal F&F for traders with at least 5 confirmed trades, otherwise will need G&S for new traders. Plus no Reverb/eBay/govt fees/expenses for either of us🤘 PM me to discuss shipping outside the US, and as always feel free to make offers.

WTT

Bigger fish

• Source Audio Collider, excellent, with box (no power supply), big time feeler. Looking only for a combination of a Source Audio True Spring, Alexander Pedals Rewind, and cash for this.
• Poly Effects Beebo, no box, in good condition (has some cosmetic flaws but in 100% working shape), $325
• CooperFX Exp Gen, dead mint with box, $285
• Magic Pedals Magick Fuzz blackout edition, near mint (has Velcro from prior owner), would prefer to trade for another similar Muff-based fuzz but will sell for $215
• Source Audio EQ2, very good, with non-matching box (box is for a C4 Synth, but it’s the same dimensions as the EQ2 box), $200
• CKK Fluid Time MkII, excellent, with box and extras, solid DOD Rubberneck alternative if you want an analog delay with an effects loop and other weird options, $175
• Bleak District Electric Rec Head V2, mint, with box and extras, $150

Small fries

• EHX Attack Decay, very good, with box and extras, $125
• JHS Cheese Ball, excellent, with box, $125
• MXR Duke of Tone, near mint, with box, $125
• Behringer EM600, excellent, with box, $100
• TC Electronic Shaker Vibrato, very good, no box, $80
• Pedal PCB Triple Wreck clone, $70
• Source Audio HotHand3 wireless expression controller, near mint, with box. $25
• Behringer UM300, mint, with box, $15

WTTF:

Needs

• Dut Beardy Islander MKII . This is my top priority, far above everything else. If you have one and don’t see anything here you want, send a chat or PM me, I’ve got a bunch of other stuff I’d be willing to trade for one (but only for an Islander MKII, not any of my other wants). Can make a deal on international shipping as well.
  
• Cash
  
• Alexander Pedals Rewind
  
• Source Audio True Spring
  
• Pepers’ Pedals Mage CLVIII
  

A modded muff with a mids control and/or tone bypass, possibly clipping options. Bonus if the mids or tone bypass is switchable with a footswitch. Some that I’m looking at are:

• KMA Chief Disruptor
• Black Mass The First Herald V2
• Rude Tech 3MuF-14
• Wren & Cuff BM20-Ultra De La Riva/Forest for the Trees
• Abominable Electronics Hail Satan Deluxe
• Blackout Effectors Musket V2
• Black Arts Toneworks Pharaoh Supreme
• Others I'm unaware of, make offers

I’m also searching for two black w/white indicator Chase Bliss knobs (the ones from the Condor).

Wants

• OBNE Fault V2
• Lichtalerm Ritual and/or Aquaria
• Dead Air Feral +
• Ohmless AKC-4
• ZVEX Vertical Vibrophase
• Teisco Delay
• EAE Halberd V2
• Origin RevivalDrive Custom or Compact
• Suhr Discovery (one can dream 😂)
• Kingsley Squire (stock/D or BF), or other moderately-sized clean preamp pedals
• JHS Colour Box (V2 only)

Below you will find a weekly reminder of our Rules and partial FAQ. It's definitely a long read, but it's worth your time, especially if you are new to the community, or dropping by as a result of a link you found elsewhere. We periodically revise our rules, this weekly notice will help keep you informed of any changes made.
NOTE: These rules are guidelines. Some moderation discretion is to be expected.

Community Rules

1. Kindness Matters

Advise, don't criticize.

• Post with empathy, thoughtfulness, and constructive commentary rather than judgment. Don't be an asshole.
• Name-calling, slurs (including gender or race based slurs), and insults towards other community members will not be tolerated. Do not attack others for their personally held values, custody situation, marital status, physical distance from stepkids, or economic status; or on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, or ethnicity.
• No name-calling toward children, including the above-mentioned insults or the term "skids", or terms such as "mini-wife" or "mini-husband."
• Comments advocating spanking or any mention of wanting to harm children are not allowed.
• This is a support sub, not a judgement sub, assholes are not tolerated. Comments with terms used in other subs to pass judgement on assholes will be removed.

2. No Drama

This is a support sub.

• Bickering, nitpicking, and thread derailment will not be tolerated and will be subject to removal at moderator discretion.
• Do not repeatedly badger a poster demanding answers, or refuse to acknowledge an answer that's already been given.
• Do not use sensitive issues from past posts (either from this sub or other subs) to attack another user, as we are all discussing vulnerable topics.
• Crossposting anything from /stepparents to any other subreddit might result in a ban and may result in the original thread being locked. Brigading our sub will result in an immediate ban.

3. Report, Don’t Rant

No backseat modding.

• If you see someone breaking the rules, report the post or comment to the mods rather than engaging them in an argument. Failure to do so may be subject to comment removal at moderator discretion.
• No meta posts complaining about rude comments, DMs, or general sub issues.
• If you think someone is a troll or previously banned user, either use the report function or message the mods to direct their attention to the issue.

4. No Naming & Shaming

No userpings or links.

• Tagging/pinging users or other subreddits in an attempt to bully, harass, or complain will not be tolerated. Do not tag other subs, ever.
• If you want to complain about another subreddit being hostile to stepparents, do not name the subreddit. "Other parenting/advice/judgement subs" will suffice.

5. No Platitudes

Nobody knew what they were getting into.

• Comments like "You knew what you were getting into", "Love them, love their kids!", "They're a package deal!" and "You have to love them like your own!" will be removed.
• Comments suggesting that OP is not cut out for stepparenting will be removed at moderator discretion.
• Comments like "This is just a part of parenting, deal with it!" will be removed at moderator discretion.

6. No Trolling

We have zero tolerance for trolls.

• This is a support sub. Our subscribers do not have the time, nor inclination, to provide support to internet trolls. Posts that are suspected to be trolling attempts will be immediately removed, and the poster banned.
• Concern trolling, devil's advocating, gish-galloping, sealioning, and general asshattery are subject to immediate removal and banning without warning or notice.
• Any attempt to circumvent the ban by creating a new username will be reported to reddit admins and possibly result in account suspension.

7. No Personally Identifiable Information

Use discretion when posting.

• We highly recommend using a separate account for support subs to help prevent being doxxed. Do not post any information that may allow others to figure out your identity.
• Do not post photos of children, or any other photo that could be used to identify you or another user on the sub.
• Any image that contains a name or other identifying information should have the name or identifying information blurred out. This includes drawings, notes, and screenshots.
• Do not link to social media or any articles/blogs where you or another user on the sub is mentioned by name.

8. No More than 2 Posts per 24 hours

Use the daily threads.

• We are not a huge sub, but we are no longer a small sub. If you have multiple grievances to air, use the daily discussion threads instead of multiple posts.

9. Follow Reddiquette

Remember the human.

• Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life.
• Read it in full here.
• Downvoting is reserved for comments that don’t contribute, and shouldn't be used to indicate disagreement.
• If you believe someone is in violation of the subreddit rules, please either use the report function or message the mods to direct their attention to the issue.
• Suspected brigading will be reported to reddit admins.

10. No Porn, Spam, Blogs, or Research Studies/Surveys Without Mod Approval

Just don't.

• This is a SFW subreddit. Posting pornography will result in immediate post removal and permanent ban.
• Advertising on the subreddit (outside of Reddit's own advertising) is not allowed.
• No personal blog posts are allowed without express moderator permission.
• No advertising without prior mod approval.
• No asking for money/posting fundraisers/etc.
• For links to parenting research studies or surveys, please message the mods for permission before posting.

11. Disputes in Modmail Only

Don't argue with the mods on the sub.

• Any issues specifically related to how a mod is moderating should be addressed to the full moderating team via mod mail. This ensures that all mods are aware of any concerns and prevents disintegration of the topic thread at hand.
• This means to do not message or send chat requests to individual mods. All discussion and complaints about mod actions need to be done in mod mail ONLY. Failure to follow this rule can result in an immediate permanent ban.
• Comments in threads asking about mod decisions are subject to removal without notice.

12. Moderator Actions

We aren't kidding.

• Users are expected to know the rules before posting. If you are warned or banned for violating the rules, ignorance is not an excuse.
• Moderators will remove posts and comments and/or lock threads in accordance with the rules above. Typically this happens when threads have gone off-topic in a way that is not productive for the OP, or comments overall have become contentious or disrespectful.
• If a poster continues to argue or to willfully violate these rules, temporary and permanent ban procedures will be followed. Any attempts to avoid or bypass temporary bans will result in a permanent ban. User bans will not be discussed in the sub. Questions posted about user bans are subject to removal and the poster subject to warning/ban procedures. The mod team will not discuss a specific user ban with anyone other than the user involved.
• New accounts are subject to manual approval until they are no longer deemed "new" by the mod team. This helps to weed out trolls and ban evaders.
• We rely on Automoderator to scan for specific words and phrases that are not welcome here and notify the mod team to review the comment or post. This includes slurs of any type and platitudes such as "Love them as your own!"
• The mod team uses a combination of blacklisting and banning when dealing with trolls.
• We employ the use of a bot that automatically bans anyone who comments in subs that have historically harassed our users. If you are picked up by the bot for telling trolls to get fucked, reach out via mod mail and we'll get you sorted out.
• The rules above as well as ban procedures are considered guidelines only; some deviation may be necessary on a case by case basis and/or at the mod team's discretion.

13. Ban Procedure

These actions are at moderator discretion.

• Pornography will result in an automatic permanent ban.
• Extremely egregious content will result in an immediate permanent ban.
• You may receive a 7 or 30 day temporary ban for first and second rule violations, depending upon severity.
• Continued rule violations will result in a permanent ban.
• Willful attempts to avoid or bypass temporary bans will result in a permanent ban.
• We recognize the reddit site-wide rules of using alt names to get around bans and will ban those as well as report them to reddit admins.

​
​

FAQ - About the Rules

What does Kindness Matters mean?

• Shortest version? Don't be an asshole. People come here for support and advice, they do not come here to be yelled at or told they are the reason everything is going sideways. There are ways to point out that someone may want to do some reflection on their own actions and reactions without being an asshole about it.
• The purpose of this subreddit is to provide support and a sense of belonging for struggling stepparents. We aren't here to pass judgement, but rather to offer support, empathy, and constructive commentary. That does not include "hard truths" or "tough love." Stepparents get enough of that in every other subreddit, we're not passing it out here. Be respectful.
• Remember, most people aren't going to come to a sub like this when everything is going great and everyone is getting along. People are coming here when they are down, when they are feeling defeated and stretched to the limit. Kicking someone when they are down is shitty behavior and we don't tolerate it.

What about being kind to the kids?

• "Won't somebody think of the children?" Pearl clutching isn't needed here. If you read the Kindness Matters rule closely, you will see that there is a clause in there about name calling children. We don't allow it. We also don't allow people rolling in telling OP that they feel sorry for their stepkids because OP is feeling overwhelmed and overloaded.
• If anyone is advocating slapping, spanking, or any other form of violence, report the comment immediately. We do not advocate violence towards children of any sort. The mod team does not advocate any sort of physical punishment at any time.
• Venting about behaviors is not the same as insulting the kids. However, if you see a post or comment where kids are being name called or dragged to the point of no return, use the report button. We try to catch the posts and remove them before they hit the sub, but we cannot see every comment without your help. Use the report button to bring problematic comments to our attention. Don't engage in a war of words on our subreddit.

Why is this sub such an echo chamber?

• Not allowing contributors to pile on and tell OP that they are a terrible human being who should never be around children does not equate to being an echo chamber. Many contributors here will offer OP suggestions to help them work through their resentments and frustrations, and the most egregious situations are called out. We simply ask that it be called out with respect.
• If you feel that a post is simply too much for you to handle without following the rules, move on to another post.
• If you believe that a post itself is crossing the rules report it. If the mod team has approved the post, it is because the mod team believes that the OP needs help from the community or needs a moment to vent and move on from their vent. That does not give you license to pile on disrespectfully. Unless it is proven that OP is a bot, assume that OP is a human being with real thoughts and feelings and has posted from a place of vulnerability.

Why can't I tell OP that they are an asshole?

• Because this isn't a judgement sub. We aren't AITA, we don't want to be AITA.
• Comments with terms like YTA, NTA, ESH, NAH will be removed.
• Don't start your posts with INFO either. We generally recognize that as a fishing attempt for more information to pass judgement on OP, and again, we are not a judgment sub.

But OP asked if they were an asshole?!

• Their post somehow got past our automoderator. Just use the report button. We will address it with OP.
• If you've asked if you are an asshole, a-hole, a*hole, a**hole, whatever, don't be surprised if your post is removed without warning. This isn't a judgment sub. If you want judgment, you know where to go.

What is a gendered slur?

• While it seems that everyone understands what racist slurs are, people struggle understanding the concept of gendered slurs. Generally speaking, we are talking about derogatory nouns or verbs that are used to negatively describe people or situations based on gendered terms.
• We've gone back and forth on this a few times, and the truth is, we get it, it's your safe space and you want to be able to vent about BM/BD how you want to vent about them, without us telling you how to vent about them. Fair enough. Vent away. What we are going to stick to here how people are referring to other users and to stepchildren.
• Examples that are not allowed:
  • "My SD is such a little bitch."
  • "She dresses/acts like a slut."
  • "My SS acts like a pussy."
  • "My SS is such a beta male."
  • "You are all fucking whores."
  • "Any dude who is raising some sluts kids is a cuck!"
  • "Little Lord Fauntleroy over here thinking he runs the house!"
  • "You're just the bangnanny, get used to it."
• Don't call users here names, don't call stepchildren names.
• Masking the term with asterisks or other neat little tricks might get you around the bot, but if we see it, we're removing it and quite possibly giving you a time out. The intended word is still there and you deliberately tried to skate the rule.
• As there is not enough space to list every term that is offensive and does not belong, nor every situation in which term or phrase may be allowable in context, this rule is enforced based on moderator discretion.

Seriously? You are the language police now?

• We're here to talk about stepparenting. And we would like for that to happen in a respectful way. Attacking each other doesn't help. Belittling stepchildren draws in trolls who don't understand your frustration, all they see is an evil stepmonster talking shit on the internet about a poor, innocent baby. Yes, even if that "poor, innocent baby" just robbed you blind and set fire to the house on their way out the door. That's just how it goes.
• We are aware that this is a relatively new rule and a lot of older posts and comments contain a lot of problematic language, including some from mods themselves. We are growing and evolving, and rules change as the sub grows and evolves.

What does No Drama really mean?

• Pretty much what it says, do not bring drama from other subs into this sub. Do not engage in vote brigades. Do not try to incite other subscribers to riot in a different sub. Don't follow posters into this sub from other subs to continue to harass them. Do not badger someone or derail threads. Do not harass community members because you don't agree with them. There's enough drama in the daily lives of subscribers, more isn't needed.

What is thread derailment?

• When a comment chain has devolved to the point where all you are doing is arguing back and forth with someone about the same thing over and over again, you have derailed the thread. Also known as bickering. It's what children do. We assume if people are in a stepparent role they are adults. We expect you to act like it.
• If you aren't a stepparent, or in a stepparenting role, consider that perhaps this subreddit isn't for you. If you want to participate, do so with respect. Thread derailment, arguing, bickering, and nitpicking are not allowed.

But what if they didn't answer my question?

• No one has to answer your questions. This is a support sub, not an inquisition. Jumping on a bandwagon with "OP is evading the question" in a 20 comment long chain is the epitome of thread derailment. You'll find more information about trolling below and how this might be considered such.

Why am I being silenced? I'm just asking for a back and forth!

• Thread derailment, badgering, and nitpicking are considered harassment. Continued harassment of either community members or mods will get you banned.

Why can't I look at someone's post history and comment about it?

• No mod in the history of this sub has ever once said post histories are forbidden. What we do frown upon is using someone's post history to attack, belittle, or otherwise harass someone.
• Example Post: "My stepkid's mom really hates me. How can I make this better?"
  • Okay: "Based on the timeline and your post history, it looks like this may have started as an affair. Unfortunately there's going to be outstanding issues for a long time due to that. Try focusing on yourself and how you can move forward without worrying about how someone else feels about you."
  • Not Okay: "Holy shit! You were the OW! What the hell do you expect, homewrecker?!"
• Example Post: "I am completely overloaded and feeling very down about myself."
  • Okay: "In your post history you mentioned that your spouse wasn't really helping around the house. Has that changed at all?"
  • Not Okay: "LOL, you already got the answers you need in your post on relationships. You are stupid for sticking with your lazy spouse."

Why can't we crosspost stuff to other subs?

• We can't stop you from doing so. The problem isn't that something has been crossposted, it's when the community that it's been crossposted to feels the need to come over here and harass OP. When we see that happening, we lock the post and start passing out bans. If you did the crossposting, you'll be banned. If you participated in the brigading, you'll be banned.

What if it's my own post?

• Again, we can't stop you from doing so. We prefer that you don't technically crosspost, but rather just copy and paste your post. Why? Because inevitably the above will happen. Redditors from other subs will follow you back to /stepparents and start attacking users here. It just happens.

What is "brigading"?

• Reddit defines vote manipulation and brigading as follows:
• Using multiple accounts, voting services, or any other software to increase or decrease vote scores.
• Asking people to vote up or down certain posts, either on Reddit itself or through social networks, messaging, etc. for personal gain.
• Forming or joining a group that votes together, either on a specific post, a user's posts, posts from a domain, etc.
• We, along with pretty much every other subreddit that has ever had to deal with this nonsense, further define brigading as this: You saw a post on another sub that linked to our sub either via a link in a comment or a crosspost. It was basically saying something along the lines of "OMG, check out these assholes over on /stepparents! They literally hate all their stepkids!" And then you and your friends come over and start hammering on OP and telling OP how much they suck. Congrats, you have just participated in a brigade.

What is this whole Report, Don't Rant thing about?

• If you see a post or comment that breaks the rules, instead of engaging, report it. When you report it, it sends notification to the mod team. We will act on it where appropriate. Engaging with bad faith users may result in your comments being removed. If you repeatedly do so, you may end up being banned.

What if I see an obvious troll?

• Report it.

What if they are being really mean in comments?

• Report it.

What if they are harassing me in private messages?

• Step 1: Report them to admins. You can report harassment to reddit by using this link or send a DM to reddit admins. Include the link to the DM, admins can see your inbox and providing a direct link is helpful for them to weed out bad actors.
• Step 2: Block the person so they cannot directly contact you again.
• Step 3: Send us a mod mail and let the mod team know. Tell us who they are and what they said, send us a screenshot if you can - admins can see your DMs, mods can't. We'll take action where necessary by banning from the sub if they aren't already banned.

What do you mean by No Naming & Shaming?

• Just as we prefer to not be linked to or crossposted from, we do not allow linking to or calling out other subs by name. If you see something you want to share, say it's a hot post that has hit the front page and a stepparent is being absolutely flayed, just refer to it as "that hot post that hit the front page." If you want to complain about other places in general, "other parenting/advice/judgement subs" will suffice. Absolutely under no circumstances should you link to anywhere else.

I can't link to other subs?

• Do not directly link to another sub. (e.g.: "/insertsubnamehere is ridiculously hostile to stepparents!")
• Do not name other subs. (e.g.: "I won't link to it directly, but insertsubnamehere is ridiculously hostile to stepparents!")
• Do not abbreviate other subs. (e.g.: "I know that ISNH is ridiculously hostile to stepparents!")

I can't ping other users?

• Do not summon another user with a username ping/tag. (e.g.: "insertusernamehere was being an asshole.")
• If you are agreeing with someone, it is okay to link to them. (e.g.: "I agree with insertusernamehere, you need to take a couple of steps back and reflect on this.")

What does No Platitudes mean?

• Sanctimonious, overused clichés that grossly oversimplify the stepparenting experience are neither wanted nor allowed here. We have all heard it a thousand times before, we don't need to hear it again. It's not nearly as insightful and wise as some would like to think.

Why don't you people understand it's a package deal?

• Any comment that suggests that OP should have known what they were getting involved with, or that they needed to understand that the kids were part of some package they needed to accept before signing up for marriage is subject to immediate removal.
• This is one of the most insensitive things you can say to a stepparent. Most stepparents were aware of the children, but they were probably not aware of all of the family dynamics.

Why can't you just love them like they are your own?

• Demanding that a stranger you do not know love children that are not biologically theirs as if they were theirs can be incredibly damaging to someone who is already in a vulnerable situation. Any comment that falls along these lines will be removed.

What do you mean by No Trolling? I was just...

• No means no. No trolling. No pretending to be a stepparent and then whipping out the Greatest Hits Bingo Card of The Worst Stepparent in the History of Stepparents. We see you. We've seen you a thousand times.

What does "concern trolling", "gish-galloping", and "sealioning" have to do with stepparenting? This isn't a debate sub, why are you using debate terms?

• That's absolutely right, this isn't a debate sub. And yet, here we are, day after day, having to defend ourselves against this sort of thing. So, enough. No more. Usage of any of these things will get you banned.

What is "Concern Trolling?"

• A concern troll is someone who disingenuously visits sites of an opposing ideology to disrupt conversation by offering unwanted advice on how to solve problems which do not really exist.
  • Example Post: OP expresses concern that she will feel, and possibly act, differently towards her stepchildren after her husband decides that no, he doesn't want anymore children after all.
  • Example Concern Troll pulled from actual mod mail after their comment was removed: "Possible child abuse claims need to be sorted out well before whatever empathy you believe the OP was looking for."

What is a "Devil's Advocate"?

• "I'm just playing devil's advocate here, but have you considered that maybe BM is just really tired and needs a break, too?" BM has dozens of different mom based subs alone on reddit she can complain on, this sub is for stepparents. The stepparent doesn't need to consider that maybe BM is just really tired and needs a break.

"Gish-galloping?" What does that even mean?

• The Gish Gallop is the fallacious debate tactic of drowning your opponent in a flood of individually-weak arguments in order to prevent rebuttal of the whole argument collection without great effort. The Gish Gallop is a conveyor belt-fed version of the on the spot fallacy, as it's unreasonable for anyone to have a well-composed answer immediately available to every argument present in the Gallop.

And "sealioning?" What's that?

• Sealioning involves jumping into a conversation with endless polite, reasonable questions and demands for answers, usually of entry-level topics far below the actual conversation (e.g. "please prove sexism exists"). This tactic differs little from harassment; instead of discussion, the point is to derail discussion, receive criticism (for their ignorance) so as to look like a victim, or to make someone feel overwhelmed and quit talking.

Who gets to define what is considered asshattery?

• The mod team, of course! If we feel that comments are out of line, are trolling, are leading up to a fight or "just asking questions", we are going to remove them and most likely ban the offender.

​
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FAQ - Sub Questions

Posting Guidelines for Stepparents

• Body text is required, we suggest you use line breaks between paragraphs as a wall of text is difficult to read. Posts that have only a title are likely to be removed. Instead of using names (even fictitious ones), try to use the sub acronyms. It helps our users to follow along if you use the acronyms and not names.
• Assign a post flair that accurately describes what your post is about and what you are seeking. If you are posting an update from a previous post, include a link to that post.
• Flairs are applied to posts to determine what a person is looking for. When submitting a new post, you should choose a flair that specifies if you are looking for advice, support, etc. The following link flair is available and is color coded with side bar links so that you can search by flair:
  • Advice - For when you are specifically asking for advice or help.
  • Announcement - Mod Use Only, for subreddit announcements.
  • Daily (Formerly TTP) - Mod Use Only, for our daily discussion threads.
  • Discussion - A little advice, a little "How does your family handle this?"
  • JustBMThings - Pretty sure this is self explanatory!
  • Legal - Asking for legal advice? Tag it with this!
  • Miscellany - Just a sort of off topic thing? Use this tag.
  • Resource - Sharing a good resource or asking for one? This is the tag you need!
  • Support - For those days when you want nothing but a good old fashioned cry and some community love.
  • Update - Updating us on something that you posted about previously? Use this one!
  • Vent - We all need to vent sometimes. Respect the tag as a vent. This isn't how OP talks all day every day.
  • Win! - Celebrate those wins with us with this tag!
  • Megathread - Mod Use Only, for large mega threads (typically around major calendar events.)

Posting Guidelines for Bioparents

• Stepparents is a support community for stepparents, by stepparents. As bioparents, you may want to have more insight into how the stepparent in your life feels or thinks. You may have questions on how to ease the transition for your partner. However, please keep in mind that this community was not created for you. It was created for your partner or your ex's partner. If you are seeking support on how to deal with a stepparent, there are other subs more suited for your situation and your post is subject to removal.
• There are some posts from bioparents we will accept:
  • Seeking advice on how to support your partner as they navigate stepparenting
  • Seeking resources to help you better support your partner
  • Seeking resources for your partner
• There are some posts from bioparents we will not accept:
  • Complaints about how the stepparent is too involved in your kids lives
  • Vents about how the stepparent is not involved enough in your kids lives
  • "Cautionary tales" advising stepparents to back off
  • Seeking advice on how to tell the stepparent to back off
  • The Do's and Dont's of Stepparenting
  • How your kid's stepmom is literally The Worst
• Comments from bioparents that are helpful and supportive are welcome and appreciated. Comments from bioparents that are not helpful or supportive are not welcome and subject to removal. There are several other subs that may meet the needs of bioparents better than we can. We recommend /coparenting, /parenting, /parents, /blendedfamilies, and /singleparents as starting points.

Guidelines for Stepkids

• At this time, we do not generally accept posts from stepkids. Comments from stepkids that are helpful and supportive are welcome and appreciated. Comments from stepkids that are not helpful or supportive are not welcome and subject to removal. If you are a stepkid seeking support, we highly recommend /stepkids. It is a very supportive community specifically for stepkids. We also recommend /blendedfamilies as another potential group for support.

What the heck are all these acronyms? I'm confused!

• Check out the Common Acronyms wiki page. We try to keep this updated as new terms are introduced to the sub.

Why aren't my posts or comments showing up?

• New posters and accounts go through a waiting period before their posts will show in the sub and the comments on posts automatically. During the new account approval period the mod team will check posts to be sure you aren't attempting to circumvent a ban with a shiny new account. Please be patient while the timer runs down on your "new" status and the mod team approves your posts and responses.

Why was my comment removed?

• Comments are removed when they do not follow the rules of the sub. These rules are published in several places for your reading pleasure.
• Comments are removed at moderator discretion. In some cases your comment may be removed while another remains up. If you find this to be the case, and you believe the comment to be violating the rules, instead of arguing with mods or demanding they remove the additional comments, just report it.

This comment/post is really offensive! Why is it still up?

• All moderators are volunteers and have busy real lives. Sometimes things get past us. The best thing you can do is report anything you find offensive or inflammatory. It's the quickest and most reliable way of alerting us to an issue.

I've received a hurtful/unwanted PM from someone about my recent post. What should I do?

• If you receive an unwanted/hurtful PM from a name you don't recognize, please report it to Reddit Admins using our handy pre-populated form. Be sure to include the permalink to the message. We've been dealing with a few unhappy folks who like to attack stepparents, and reporting it to the admins is the only way to make it stop.

What are the general moderator guidelines?

• Users are expected to know the rules before posting. If you are warned or banned for violating the rules, ignorance is not an excuse.
• Moderators will remove posts and comments and/or lock threads in accordance with the rules above. Typically this happens when threads have gone off-topic in a way that is not productive for the OP, or comments overall have become contentious or disrespectful.
• If a poster continues to argue or to willfully violate these rules, temporary and permanent ban procedures will be followed. Any attempts to avoid or bypass temporary bans will result in a permanent ban. User bans will not be discussed in the sub. Questions posted about user bans are subject to removal and the poster subject to warning/ban procedures. The mod team will not discuss a specific user ban with anyone other than the user involved.
• New accounts are subject to manual approval until they are no longer deemed "new" by the mod team. This helps to weed out trolls and ban evaders.
• We rely on Automoderator to scan for specific words and phrases that are not welcome here and notify the mod team to review the comment or post. This includes slurs of any type and platitudes such as "Love them as your own!"
• The mod team uses a combination of blacklisting and banning when dealing with trolls.
• We employ the use of a bot that automatically bans anyone who comments in subs that have historically harassed our users. If you are picked up by the bot for telling trolls to get fucked, reach out via mod mail and we'll get you sorted out.
• The rules above as well as ban procedures are considered guidelines only; some deviation may be necessary on a case by case basis and/or at the mod team's discretion.

I've been wrongly banned/Why can't I comment here?

• Due to an influx of harassment from users with specific user histories, we have employed a user history ban bot as described above. If you think this has affected you and wish to appeal, please message the mods.

Why was I banned without warning?

• There are numerous reasons that the mod team might opt to move perm banning without warning. Message the moderators if you have specific questions.

• New England clam chowder. The only thing that should even remotely crunch in this soup is the celery (or dirt if you got nasty ass clams). Why would you ruin it with onions? Same for cream of mushroom.
  
• A meat lover's pizza. 7-11 is guilty of this. Not that they can make anything resembling a good pizza but when I order MEAT LOVER'S it's not ONION LOVER'S. There's a reason onion lover's isn't a thing even among the insane that love them. One of the frozen pizza brands came up with a ham and cheese croissant crust pizza. Except that was a lie. It was onions onions onions and a sprinkle of ham/cheese. In what ham and cheese context do onions EVER come into play. Oh yeah, and there's that one place that puts onions on a hawaiian pizza. Because for the people that do like a sweet and savory blend apparently they think we're so insane we want onions on it too.
  
• Burger patties. If you have to have the nasty things put them in the bun, not in the meat where they ruin the flavor and can't be excavated.
  
• Fried rice. It isn't supposed to crunch. Except if you burn it. You may as well add spider carapaces if you're so damned determined to have crunching in places it shouldn't be. Probably'd taste better too.
  
• Omelettes. I can see why people might like a little green/red pepper in these (not my jam but the flavor profile works) but why would you want that nasty flaccid crunch and overbearing flavor profile in your eggs when you can do something much more pleasant like cheese?
  
• Vegetable soups that are supposed to accent the main vegetable. Like I saw this lady on youtube going over a recipe for a carrot cream soup. Except by content it was actually just onion soup with some carrots thrown in. Barf.
  
• Samosas. No. I know indian food is very onion centric but samosas are supposed to be potato, peas, and spices. It's always a minefield when ordering one of these, but what's funny is the more authentic indian the samosa is the less likely that it has intact onions in it. It seems like some kind of newer fusion style cooking that ruins samosas with onions. That's one thing I will always consider wizardry is how indian cooking manages to spice and puree onions into near oblivion. Actually, there's apparently some sects that eschew garlic and onions: https://www.krishna.com/why-no-garlic-or-onions
  
• Shepherd's (actually cottage) pie. Another 50/50 ya feel lucky punk gamble. Onions add nothing of value to this dish.
  
• Calamari. I really don't know why people figure the nice deep fried squid should be hidden under a mountain of red onions. Besides onions themselves, what deep fried foods come with onions? Chicken strips/nuggets don't. Tempura doesn't. Fish and chips don't. Only thing I can think of is takoyaki and that's more of a garnish.
  
• Off topic but people that go out of their way to change the state of onions to make them as annoying as humanly possible. This is McDonald's sin with their minced onions. Even in burgers that you order without onions there's a chance you will have to go picking through your cheese to remove the onions because in this state they. get. EVERYWHERE.
  

This episode opens with Laura, Albert and Andy all rejoicing about school being let out for the summer. Pretty funny to hear Andy chant "No more teacher's dirty looks" when the teacher is his own mother. Take that Alice! You know Walnut Grove must be a boring town when the kids all race off to see Kezia first thing. Harriet looks on and yawns, which is totally the appropriate action for this event. Inside the Post Office, Kezia is serving as Postmistress-Of-The-Day. She is opening other people's mail (which is actually a federal offense, played for laughs -- natch) when the kids burst in and announce they can come see her nearly every day. Now I would personally rather fall down a never ending flight of stairs, but that's just me. Over at the Mercantile, Harriet informs the fams that she has started the process of buying a summer place to get away from the insanity of WG. The next thing we see is a crudely made "Lake Kezia" sign with the kids fishing in a canoe as Kezia bellows on. How the heck did this woman inherit a lakeside house? Is she squatting? And how is it that this previously homeless woman who is unemployed most of the time still has a better house than Charles? Bandit looks positively freaked out with the crow on his head. Shut up you old crow (and I'm not referring to the bird either). Later, the kids are lazing on the lawn, still feeling the effects from an all-you-can-eat fish fry as Kezia prattles on about all of her dead husbands and Loch Ness monsters. Kezia outlived 5 husbands? I think the authorities might like to have a word with her. Just then, a government official arrives and Kezia threatens him with her harpoon (which I'm pretty sure is another federal offense). Seems as if Kezia is a tax evader, yet another crime. The official informs Kezia that the taxes have been paid by the new owner, which turns out to be Harriet. Over at the Garvey homestead, everyone bemoans the situation with Andy stating Kezia should be exempt from paying taxes. A similar situation plays out at the Ingalls. The time has come for the transition of power as Harriet arrives with Nellie and Willie. Kezia threatens to kill Mrs. Oleson. This is a family show, mind you. Reverend Alden is also here, attempting to play moderator, which goes very badly for him. He's not very good at reading a room. Eventually, Kezia caves as she has no legal right to the property. Harriet graciously allows her to stay on as the hired help in exchange for room and board.
The "Lake Kezia" sign is now replaced by an elegant looking "Lake Harriet" sign. Harriet yelling "Ke-zee-UHHHH! Bring refreshments for my guests." is one of those things that needs to be heard to be appreciated. Kezia comes out of the shed in uniform. Harriet cracks the whip on her and orders her to feed her 12 guests. Later, the kids and Kezia devise a plan to scare Harriet off the property by making up a Loch-ness type monster in the lake, complete with Albert making noises from some distance away for added effect. Harriet, Nellie & Willie all get woken up by the noises and go out to find Kezia, who spreads some fake news about the source. I think it's supposed to be early morning here, but it looks like late evening outside. Harriet sees through the malarkey and threatens to fire Kezia if she continues with the charade.
Laura heads over to the Mercantile, where she offers up the usual lie about needing things for a "school project", which includes tacks, glue, burlap sack and Roman candles. Nels graciously just donates the things. Yes, Laura just tricked an unwitting Nels into handing over a bunch of things that will be used to scare his wife off the property that she legitimately paid for. That takes real chutzpah. That night, Andy shows some skill at pitting his parents against each other (sort of) by convincing his mother to take down Jonathan's moose head (yet another thing that will be used in the shenanigan). The next day..and in order to further create the illusion of a monster, Laura, Albert & Andy all go underwater while Harriet, Nellie and Willie are playing in the lake and nip at their heels. Laura bites Harriet's foot. That's No Man's Land. Kezia continues to spread alternative facts.
Full Moon Friday has arrived, which means the monster will be making an appearance tonight. Kezia continues to taunt Harriet. Harriet orders Willie back to town to get a shotgun. Willie does as he's told, but Nels loads it with blanks, much to Laura's relief. Harriet, Nellie and Willie are eating supper at the table. Kezia is in the Alice Nelson role of having to prepare the meal while subsequently not being allowed at the table while the family eats. More noises are heard as Harriet and the kids go out to investigate. They find "the monster", which is actually Albert, Laura and Andy all taking up a section of the creature, with the moose head from earlier in front. Harriet shoots at it a couple of times, at which point the Roman candles go off. I'm pretty sure no living thing has sparks coming out of its nostrils, but it does the trick nevertheless. Harriet, Nellie & Willie all run for the hills. Unusual moment as the kids all come in the house with their wet underwear on and hug Kezia. Nels gets in a scare of his own for laughs. Kezia would disappear right after this (and rightfully so).
EPISODE WINNER - The Olesons.
EPISODE LOSERS - Kezia, for her assortment of crimes, and Laura & Albert for running yet another con.

what do you guys think of holy mac? i got the fried chicken one and the chicken was super yummy but i thought the actual mac n cheese was SO average :( so disappointed