DE not taken yet? Then have a 'Woe Box'* edition

[yakalskovich]

Okay, if the DE for today is not spoken for (if it is, drop me comment and I'll take down this one stat!), I'll grab it because I just had an idea. One or two of my own charries, actually, could really really use this.

Let's have a free-for-all advice column. Tag in pups (with their journals, or anonymously, or even with a journal (so you get the notifies) but saying 'Assume this is anonymous as XYZ would never ask such a thing under their own name'), and have them pose questions in that tag, conundrums, doubts or dilemmas of the kind one would ask an advice column. You know, along the lines of 'Halp my boyfriend is stuck in Asgard, and when he was on Earth recently, he didn't even send me an email let alone come and see me; admittedly he was saving the earth from giant flying mealworms and his own idiot little brother. But I could really use some hints as to how not to take this personally, because it hurts.' -- to take a charrie we don't have, AFAIK.

And then, people answer these questions either as themselves or as their charries -- extra kudos if different charries from the same mun advise diametrally opposing solutions.



* a 'Kummerkasten' (literally 'Woe Box') is both an anonymous complaints box and the inbox of an advice column in German. Now I was successful with 'Fremdschämen', I shall try and export another loanword... **grins**

Comments

[againsttherules]

Ok, HALP!

My father is a fairly highly ranked member of the US military. He's used to getting his way.

Mum divorced him a few years ago, and they met for the first time since the case yesterday. He tried to force her to stay with him, she refused, he started getting violent, I intervened, knocked him out, took him to his room.

What the shit do I do in the morning when he wakes up?

Oh, and just to cap this off, this was at my sisters wedding reception.

[aleister_author]

Not when he wakes up. Do it now.

Order a few shots of Atlantean, a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and a funnel.

The hangover should buy you enough time to get away, maybe enough to move your relatives if they're willing to travel.

You might want to look into getting some drugs to see if you can shut down memory formation for the past few hours too. This isn't territory where you're strong, why give him an advantage?

[cruelcharisma]

I would be waiting there for when he wakes up. Get in close, put your hand to his throat, and tell him if he ever lays hands on your mum again, it'll be the last thing he does. Fuck his bloody rank. A military man should know better.

[monkeys_arecool]

So how do I fit in and become an awesome super hero? I'm the youngest one on my team and always get the easy jobs. Sometimes I just think they're humoring me to be honest.

Also, I think one of my team members is a little touched if you know what I mean. He keeps talking to himself. Which is fine, everyone does that right? But he argues with himself too. How can I tell if he's really insane or if it's something else?

[1nv1nc1ble]

Dude, I know what you mean. Not with the team, but my dad's been in the business for 20 years, and I just put on the suit three months ago. Living up to being the son of Omni-Man is hard.

I think that you need to have some sort of solo work. Get out and patrol on your own, without anyone looking over your shoulder. You'll make mistakes, because everyone does, but they'll be your mistakes, and you can work through them without anyone laughing at you. You know, unless you really screw up....

Anyway, getting out on your own can help you figure out what you can do, without relying on anybody else. Then you can step up and hold your own, with confidence in your own powers.

As for your team mate, maybe you should ask him about it? Better to find out what's going on before the shooting starts than to have him turn out to be crazy and turn on you in a fight.

[sky_child]

you should try taking on some jobs yourself, you know if nobody's doing them, or you see it needs to be done, then you can show them what you're capable of!

as for that guy...uh...i-i dunno, is it a...problem? like, does it keep him from being good at his job?

[tobenormal]

How do I get more confident? There's this girl I like but I don't know if I'm confident enough for her.

[gavin62truck]

There must be something you're good at. Your job, a sport, something artistic, whatever. Doesn't matter, as long as you take pride in whatever it is that makes you feel awesome. Think about how goddamn good you are at it, and forget about the other things that make you feel less than awesome (you can work on those later). Carry that over into how you present yourself with this girl. Don't overdo it. Some chicks actually like a bit of shyness. They think it's cute.

[sky_child]

you should just ask! maybe she already likes you!

[balancingminds]

Trust yourself and know that she likes you already.

[cruelcharisma]

Be yourself. Don't try to change for her. Making a conscious effort to change who you are to please another takes you away from yourself, makes you weaker and distracted as you constantly work at maintaining this facade. Getting used to who you are as you be yourself will help you grow more confident.

[gavin62truck]

I see dead people. It sucks. Wtf should I do?

[kd7sov]

Close your eyes?

More seriously, it depends. I've heard of worlds where the more you acknowledge you can see them, the more they bother you; I've also heard of worlds where they basically keep to themselves, apart from being visible to some people. What you want to do depends on what happens when you do something.

[sky_child]

um...tell them to leave you alone??

[sky_child]

or maybe you should talk to them! maybe they just want to make friends, since...they're dead...i guess they can't make many friends...

[makesthings]

Ghosts or the actual Dead?

[cruelcharisma]

Drink until they fuck off.

[thesupersmeller]

(Only Gus for this one since he so obviously needs help. Lots of help.)

So, uh... I've been best friends with this guy for pretty much my whole life - we're kind of connected at the hip. At least we were before he hooked up with his dream girl. Now, they're all happy and I'm kind of alone. I'm trying to get out there and meet women (and hopefully get to know them better) but in the process I think I may have sold my soul to the Devil. So... uh...

1) How do I get over losing my BFF? I'm totally cool with him & Juliet (they're awesome separate and together) but I don't even know what to do with myself half the time when he's not here.

2) How do I meet quality women that aren't going to be bad for me and actually want a stable, steady pretty normal dude to date? Is there like a mailing list? Facebook group?

3) Anyone know how to tell the Devil you want to see other people because you fear for your immortal soul?

[sky_child]

1. you should try a hobby! that always helps whenever i'm not around zelda!

2. um. what's a facebook?

3. ummmmmmmm

[the_less_perfect]

I think my brother might be insane. And really hammy.

I mean, he's always been a bit unhinged, but lately he has a scaly red claw instead of a hand, constantly wears a mask, and is monologuing about building a giant robotic mammothspider fuelled by human sacrifice. Which I may have designed?

I don't know, that doesn't seem like healthy and, er, culturally acceptable behaviour to me. What should I do?

[gone_byebye]

I'll be honest, that sounds like supervillain behavior. You'd better start assembling a team of heroes and get a backup with some form of mind-reading or emotional power that gives them the ability to sense the chance of redemption. And get ready to do some redemption through sibling love or something like that.

Alternatively, check him for recently acquired artifacts. That mask may be cursed by something vengeful influencing his behavior and the claw.

I'm not even going to touch the robotic mammothspider except to ask if Jon Peters was involved somewhere.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

I had to leave the community where I grew up under hostile circumstances. The person who was my best friend from when I was a kid eventually asked me to come back because they were having problems, but as soon as the problems were dealt with, she told me I had to go away and never come back- it was a pretty isolated place. They're sending people to the outside world now, to open up trade and act as ambassadors and all, but the thing is that they're all coming to the town where I live. And all of them are people who never liked me very much, but the town mayor keeps sending me to talk to them. Is there some way to get out of this without offending somebody?

[stuck_mynock]

Kill them all!

Then say that wildlife did it. Or raiders.

[ostro_goth]

It seems one cannot simply go and like somebody, there will always be more than one somebody, and a decision to be made, that either will or hurt one of them, or both.

It seems whenever I start liking another that way, fate will throw me such a dilemma, and a temptation. Only, this time it is women.

[hadyougoing]

Ugh, women.

Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

Well.

Unless you can.

[presspasskey]

Hypothetically, if you had a sibling turn out to be an international criminal who tries to steal from unsuspecting coffee shops and gets a perfectly decent guy mixed up with loan sharks, and you had to make it up to his super-cool parents, what would you do?

...So long as it doesn't involve cooking. Hypothetically you've probably taken more than enough crap on that front.

[ask_the_right_questions]

Hypothetically, it'd depend on how the 'mix up' ended. I mean, if it ended, well, badly, then there'd be a lot more to make up, than if it ended well, so it would take more effort to make up.

Also, if you're good but don't like cooking, that would probably be bonus kudos points. On the other hand, if you're not that good, then maybe simply volunteering to help with stuff might be better.

[nosuchpromise]

I just got a new book that I can't wait to sit down and read, but every time I get a chance something happens to interrupt me, usually my two younger siblings. If it's not my sister chattering non-stop about rainbows and magic and other such nonsense, then it's my little brother running around like a maniac or trying to chew on my head. And that's not counting when my pregnant mother needs my help around the house with something.

I know that as the oldest sibling I'm supposed to be setting a good example for my younger siblings and taking on more responsibility. But what do I have to do to get some time to myself?

[sky_child]

you should tell them to leave you alone. it's not like you always ignore them, right? so just say you need some time to do the things you like.

[hadyougoing]

How do I get a boy to like me? I mean, like an evil one.

[sky_child]

why would you want an evil guy to like you? wouldn't he just be really mean?

[hey35andholding]

I met a guy here over a year ago and I thought he was the one. After a long, hot and heavy relationship, we broke up. But the more time passes, the more I want to be with him. So what should an...experienced...chick like me do to win him back?