Fluttershy

Okay okay okay, if the above two fictional character both got into a fight, who would win?

Whoever gives the best answer and battle description gets a shiny new 10 points~

I do hate to complain about the people who have raised and fed me, but most of the rest of my family and my girlfriend and her family are really concerned about how my parents treat me at home, and I just need some confirmation that it really isn't bad.

My step-dad calls me names quite often, makes jokes about me dying, has legitimately threatened to murder me and make it look like suicide once or twice, made fun of me for being suicidal, harassed me for being bi, forces me to take care of my brother and gets mad if I'm out for more than 24 hours, my friends come over or my brother cries. And I have Asperger's, so I can't tell sarcasm from literal meaning, so he plays this "game" with me. If I don't know whether he's joking or not, I get in trouble and grounded. And I'm constantly told I'm never going to make it in life and I'm a failure like my stupid father. Plus he makes a lot of cruel jokes about gay people which makes me very uncomfortable whether he means it or not (I can't tell). He does similar things to my mom. However, he teaches me how to cook if I ask really nicely, has given me some very expensive things like a TV and an iPod, and when my mom is mad at me, sometimes he tries cheering me up. When I got really bad nightmares, he hugged me and tried to make me feel better.

My mom usually ignores me and I do a lot of work around to house. I babysit kids that she gets paid to watch, change diapers, take out trash, run (as in on foot) to the store for her WITH my autistic 4 year old brother, play with him, feed him, help with his hygiene, buy her flowers, etc etc. In exchange, I am rarely allowed to leave the house, she says "thanks" once or twice every month or so IF I'm lucky, she tells all my personal business to Paul (who then makes fun of me), has beaten me to a concussion once over not cleaning the fish tank, takes all her anger out on me and can't even say a believable "I love you" to me. She's totally fine saying it to my brother though. We used to be really close, but once she got married that ended. The last time she showed open affection for me was on her wedding day.

Once I had a high fever and was hallucinating. They mocked me and threatened to take me to a hospital were they dissected my brain, threw me into a nuthouse and made me pay for it. Every time I get sick, I am still expected to do all of the above. And if I EVER speak out of turn or look mad or depressed, all hell breaks loose and I end up crying myself to sleep that night, IF I fall asleep at all, because they make me want to kill myself so very often. If they found out about me having a girlfriend, my pathetic life would be completely over and I'd never be allowed to leave here until I'm 18 (I'm 17 now).

My brother is the center of our lives and the deciding factor on EVERYTHING we do. I cannot leave the house without him throwing a fit and me getting in trouble. He hits and screams and demands his way, but more than half the time we get along.

Because of this, I have NO friends other than my girlfriend. Not that I could make friends anyway. I am pretty much a total loser.

But hey, it's not like that book "A Child Called It". They aren't THAT bad. I mean, I am alive, on antidepressants and seeing a therapist (who knows none of the above). I'm well fed and have my own telly. Am I just being a baby about all this? And how can I learn to suck it up and learn to deal with the house and parents? AND how can I reassure my girlfriend and family I'm okay? They won't believe me and I haven't even told them half the story...

So far, I've gotten her her favorite candy and two little stuffed animals. They're all in a little green package that actually looks pretty nice by itself. There's a little stuffed tiger since I know she loves cats of all kinds (I'm her kitten for example) and a green Ireland bear that has sentimental value to us both.

I'm seeing her this Friday for the first time since we've gotten together over the phone. It's also our first Valentine's Day. We've never kissed and I don't really think either one of us is QUITE ready for that, and we aren't going to be doing anything explicit. If anything we'll cuddle up with a movie and snacks since we can't afford anything pricey.

Basically, what can I say or do to show her how much I love her? I want her to remember our first Valentine's Day together as one of the happiest days of her life, and being the awkward girl I am, I'm afraid I'll screw it up.

Obviously I'm directing this to homosexuals and bisexuals. So, I'm mostly straight, as in I like guys, I find guys attractive and would much, much rather be with a man than a woman. However, I am in love with a girl, the only person I've actually confessed to liking in my entire life. We are, more or less, in a relationship now because we've confessed our feelings and are pretty much dedicated to each other.

However, my step dad may be homophobic, but something tells me he would be okay with it eventually. If I was his son, it would be different, but I'm a girl and he seems to be less disapproving of bi and gay girls. My mom won't mind at all, but I wouldn't be allowed to stay the night or hang out as much anymore. It's not like we're gonna do anything, with me being extremely anxious about that stuff and her not wanting to push me too much, but I would miss staying up all night watching horror movies and playing board games with her and her little brother. She's my best friend after all.

So, back to the question, when did you come out, how old were you, and how did you pull it off? Also, what did your family think? I'm so scared because I want to tell SOMEONE, but I can't...

I've been having awful dreams for months. Lately, it's been so awful I'm twice as tired in the morning than I am at night. I fall asleep whenever I sit down practically because I'm so sleepy. At night, I pass out relatively easily, go into a nightmare, and wake up periodically during the night. Last night, it was every hour until 4, then every five damn minutes I was up. Every time, I woke panting, shaking and sweating only to fall back asleep and wake up where ever I had left.

As for the dreams themselves, they haunt me constantly. Usually, it's part of me rotting or falling apart. Like once, my tongue had a slash through the side into the middle that was rotting away and full of pus and maggots and it hurt and no one would help me. Last night, the small lines in my hands were like old silk, threading away to expose my muscle underneath. My eyes will pop, rot out or fall out sometimes and I've "literally" (as in my dream) puked my intestines out. My hair falls out too a lot, but that's nothing new or relatively disturbing even.

Also, for the third time in my life, I have a dream monster. The first one was a group of clowns (makes sense because I'm scared of them), then it changed to this shadow demon that tortured me and sucked me into mirrors, and after 7 years of peace, I have this... thing after me. He's like a human, but his hands are bony and his face is distorted like a horse's only without fur and more wrinkly. He can't speak, or at least he hasn't yet. He just showed up and ran his hands up my arm to grab me, and I spent the rest of the night running.

And, this is gonna sound really dumb by the way, I often find myself having to save this stuffed animal I have. Her name is Lucky, and she's this raggedy little kitten I've had my entire life. I'm 17 and I still sleep with her. I've gone out of my way to save her so many times. That's probably a sign to let her go, but I seriously cannot sleep without her. I went a week without sleep when I was 12 because I left her at my grandma's home.

Even in my bloody dreams I fall asleep into nightmares within nightmares because even there I am exhausted and so tired I can't stand.

Having been raised both by Catholics and Wiccans (we're Irish, so that's influential), my instincts have been to wear a cross, keep stones that are supposed to help bad dreams go away, hang a few crosses and some charms around and pray to the Goddess for effing mercy. I'm about to make my own dream catcher.

Any advice? Please? I just want to be free from this. I've only dealt with Horse Man for a night and it's too much to handle. Interpretations are welcome too.

I've been looking forever, can someone give me a URL? It has awful English and was bootlegged. I NEED the ROM. 10 points to whoever hands over a link that's working and correct first!

Long story short, I am a huge pushover. I'm quiet, scared of people, hate being the center of attention and can never seem to keep control of anything. I mean, I try, and everyone ignores me and I just give up and someone else takes over. I have a pretty strict mom, so that might be the cause of it. Any fight with her ends up very painful for me.

How can I stand up for myself? I know it sounds stupid, but I'm sick of getting pushed around by peers and parents...

I've seriously lost all interest in all things other than reading and this jelly bean puzzle I got for my birthday that's interesting. Unless I'm doing one of those things, I feel like the walking dead. I've no motive to eat, move, talk, play video games or even shadow box which is like the one thing I love the most. I'm on antidepressants and gonna see a therapist, but frankly I've lost almost all motive to live. It's like I'm dreaming and just waiting to wake up as the rest of the world hurls past me. Seriously, Isat down at my computer at 4 and all of a sudden its 5:30.

I don't know if this is because my birthday, which was earlier this week, was the worst of my life or if it's just because I have one friend who I won't see for months after she leaves or the fact no one in my family will give me a freaking hug to cheer me up or whatever, but I seriously couldn't care less if I dropped dead right now.

Anyway, is there a way to snap me out of this or am I just gonna be stuck like this until I end up killing myself?

Now, I'm a very "cuddly" kind of person, meaning I tend to love hugging and get angsty and extremely depressed without it. Yes, I'm diagnosed with depression and on meds for it, but I feel awful when I never get hugged. This is not helped by the fact that people in my family tend to avoid physical contact with each other, and flinch away from any of my attempts to give them a hug. And my one friend hates contact too, and because I care too much about their well being, I restrain myself from hugging anyone. So naturally I'm very depressed and have to cling to my stuffed animals in order to give some affection to something,

Is there anyway to stop this nonsense? Apparently it's wrong and needs corrected to want to give and receive a stupid freaking hug every now and then..

What music is popular in France, and what's really good? I listen to a lot of rock and pop music, so anything from those two genres are encouraged. I'll listen to most everything though.

I'm a loner naturally, and I've had one good friend for years. Problem is, said friend had to move to college, and now I'm alone. I can text and all, but it's not the same. I mean, I LOVE her, but it's always been just a sister thing to me. Then we started using pet names for the lulz, and I actually had to set boundaries because some felt WAY too intimate. I've a had a weird dream or two regarding them, and Iv'e never been sexually attracted to a chick like that, so I'm extremely confused. I've been attracted to men since forever, so wtf? Is it just because I miss her or what?

It worked just fine last year, but after I got some nasty virus and deleted everything on my computer, it suddenly decided it won't scan. It prints just fine, and it's hooked up correctly, but it won't freaking scan! Help me out, I got a math assignment due today and I need the scanner to turn it in.

This a legit question. If a gorilla was fighting an octopus, do you think the octopus would stand a chance? Let's ignore the fact that gorilla's can't breathe underwater, otherwise he's just get drownded and therefore lose. I mean, an octopus is pretty tough really, and it would have a huge advantage in the water, but a gorilla is a gorilla.

In case you're wondering, my brother and I (he's 4 tomorrow) were playing a game were I was an octopus and he was a gorilla and we were play fighting. And here we are.

So, in the epic battle between a scuba diving gorilla and a octopus, who will win?

Something that's delicious, aromatic and flavorful, but easy to make and not too expensive. I want my parents to love it. They (mostly meaning my Dad) aren't easy to please, so it's gotta be amazing.

And I mean like authentic, homemade chili. A recipe straight from Texas, Mexico or the southwestern region of the US would be FANTASTIC.

Guys, help me out please. I love canned chili as much as the next guy, but I want REAL chili. I gotta earn my place in my family of awesome cooks. Best answer gets ten points :)

I'm pretty sure it's either German or Polish. If it's any help, it's pronunouced "frawntz" like "The Fonz" with an "r", not like the country France. I've heard somewhere it might mean silver, but I don't know. Any ideas?

Just wondering.

So I was like riding my Razor Scooter (you know, the one that has the handle and two wheels and you push it like a skateboard), and I was going too fast, the brake decided, "Oh, what the hell? Let's just stop working now," and I went flying forward and landed hard on my stomach and arm. Of course, I thought it was hilarious and started cracking up once I caught my breath (the wind got knocked out of me). This resulted in serious upper abdominal pain. I didn't want to go home, so I walked for about 7 miles before coming back. It started hurting pretty bad, but I figured I'd just be sore and it would be okay. I took a bath to relax it a bit, and felt better for a minute and fell asleep comfortably. When I woke up, it was aching really badly. I cannot move, be still or anything without it hurting. Something here mad me laugh and it hurt like hell. My shoulder and elbow hurt too, but you know I can go without moving those much more easily. It doesn't hurt to breath and I think ice is making it somewhat better. Still, everyone is trying to make me go to the hospital. Should I?

So I have this computer, an HP Compaq LE1711. It's a desktop computer that I use for homeschooling. The problem is, for some reason the volume control thing that pops up when you click the volume control button is not coming up. I keep clicking it and rightclicking and whatnot, but nothing works. It's like I'm clicking nothing at all! It has been working just fine since September, and then it sudddenly decides it no longer wishes to be in service.

I do have sound, but really it's too loud and I need to change the volume so I can go about my daily business without hearing a real loud DIIINGG! whenever a window pops up.

Okay, so I have a little brother with autism and he always throws a fit when I leave the house. So I, needing to go to work, snuck out the back door. I started running because I didn't want him to see me. I only ran like 5 yards or so before I was out of sight, but when I stopped I was hyperventilating. My lungs felt like they were burnt or something and I just couldn't get enough air. It felt kinda like that time I got pneumonia a few years back, but I haven't got a fever. now my lungs hurt, my head is spinning and I'm naseous. Before anyone says it, no I am not out of shape. I have ran much farther than that on the treadmill, longer, much quicker, and with an incline. But whenever I run outside I feel like I'm dying. Anyone got a clue what's going on?

It would be very helpful to know what they make in a month. I have been researching this job for a project I am doing for my Personal Finance class, but it is also a job I am considering to take in the future. I just need to know how much I'd make monthly right after graduating from college in Ohio.

Thank you!