I'm a 29 year old guy living in London on the lookout for new people to talk to 😊. Ideally I’d prefer if you’re local, but long distance is absolutely fine too 😊.
I like going out and exploring new places around London. Additionally, I enjoy various sports, working out, cooking, chess, board games, and writing my novel and travelling to name a few. I like to watch the occasional film or show and some of my favourites are (Marvel, Disney, Stranger things, Umbrella Academy, One Piece, and Squid Game to name a few). I also play Xbox, (mainly Disney Dreamlight Valley, Grounded and Fallout 4 at the moment, but I also play a variety of multiplayer games too).
If we have things in common and you fancy messaging me, I look forward to chatting with you :).

I'm a 29 year old guy living in London on the lookout for new people to talk to 😊. Ideally I’d prefer if you’re local, but long distance is absolutely fine too 😊.
I like going out and exploring new places around London. Additionally, I enjoy various sports, working out, cooking, chess, board games, and writing my novel and travelling to name a few. I like to watch the occasional film or show and some of my favourites are (Marvel, Disney, Stranger things, Umbrella Academy, One Piece, and Squid Game to name a few). I also play Xbox, (mainly Disney Dreamlight Valley, Grounded and Fallout 4 at the moment, but I also play a variety of multiplayer games too).
If we have things in common and you fancy messaging me, I look forward to chatting with you :).

I'm a 29 year old guy living in London on the lookout for new people to talk to 😊. Ideally I’d prefer if you’re local, but long distance is absolutely fine too 😊.
I like going out and exploring new places around London. Additionally, I enjoy various sports, working out, cooking, chess, board games, and writing my novel and travelling to name a few. I like to watch the occasional film or show and some of my favourites are (Marvel, Disney, Stranger things, Umbrella Academy, One Piece, and Squid Game to name a few). I also play Xbox, (mainly Disney Dreamlight Valley, Grounded and Fallout 4 at the moment, but I also play a variety of multiplayer games too).
If we have things in common and you fancy messaging me, I look forward to chatting with you :).

I'm a 29 year old guy living in London on the lookout for new people to talk to 😊. Ideally I’d prefer if you’re local, but long distance is absolutely fine too 😊.
I like going out and exploring new places around London. Additionally, I enjoy various sports, working out, cooking, chess, board games, and writing my novel and travelling to name a few. I like to watch the occasional film or show and some of my favourites are (Marvel, Disney, Stranger things, Umbrella Academy, One Piece, and Squid Game to name a few). I also play Xbox, (mainly Disney Dreamlight Valley, Grounded and Fallout 4 at the moment, but I also play a variety of multiplayer games too).
If we have things in common and you fancy messaging me, I look forward to chatting with you :).

I'm a 29 year old guy living in London on the lookout for new people to talk to 😊. Ideally I’d prefer if you’re local, but long distance is absolutely fine too 😊.
I like going out and exploring new places around London. Additionally, I enjoy various sports, working out, cooking, chess, board games, and writing my novel and travelling to name a few. I like to watch the occasional film or show and some of my favourites are (Marvel, Disney, Stranger things, Umbrella Academy, One Piece, and Squid Game to name a few). I also play Xbox, (mainly Disney Dreamlight Valley, Grounded and Fallout 4 at the moment, but I also play a variety of multiplayer games too).
If we have things in common and you fancy messaging me, I look forward to chatting with you :).

I'm a 29 year old guy living in London on the lookout for new people to talk to 😊. Ideally I’d prefer if you’re local, but long distance is absolutely fine too 😊.
I like going out and exploring new places around London. Additionally, I enjoy various sports, working out, cooking, chess, board games, and writing my novel and travelling to name a few. I like to watch the occasional film or show and some of my favourites are (Marvel, Disney, Stranger things, Umbrella Academy, One Piece, and Squid Game to name a few). I also play Xbox, (mainly Disney Dreamlight Valley, Grounded and Fallout 4 at the moment, but I also play a variety of multiplayer games too).
If we have things in common and you fancy messaging me, I look forward to chatting with you :).

Not sure how else to phrase it, because I love him but he has a really bad way of being thoughtless and selfish. Our first Christmas, I was impressed with a gift that he made for his mom. It was cheap, literally just a bunch of notes in a paper bag labeled "reasons I love you" and each was a sentiment or story or inside joke. It was cheap and I understood because he was a broke-ass teenager who couldn't hold down a job.
Since then, though, I've come to experience his assumption and expectation for what he will be receiving for birthdays and Christmas. For example, he'll assume we were going to spend a few hundred dollars on gifts, and ask for it in cash instead of gifts. He asked for us to renew his medical weed permit ($250 at the time) and claimed that's all he wanted, then acted all shitty when there wasn't much else to open. He knows he gets money from his grandpa, so he's asked for advances on it. Every gift he treats as an expected transaction, taken for granted, not as a gift. For Christmas, his mom got him a necklace I think, that was sort of silly but there was a reason she got it. If he didn't like wearing it, I didn't blame him, but he could hang it from a tac on his wall or something. Instead, he actually gave it back to her right there within moments of opening it, saying it wasn't his style.
What finally pissed me off enough to write this was Mother's Day. I asked him weeks ago what he was going to do for his mom. He's 24 and no longer lives with us, but he has a job and is still getting food stamps from his brief unemployment, Actually has more than he needs to the point of stocking up before the benefits expire. Anyway, I remind him weeks ago that Mother's Day is coming up, his mom doesn't want anything but a nice heartfelt card or note because we know he's working hard and trying to save for a car and a better place. We tell him Mom wants to go to ihop, nothing fancy at all. We didn't offer to pay, but I assumed we would. We pick him up and take him after work. While we are waiting for our food, he gives her a card.
The card was literally a picture on the front and a sentence on the inside that he said "this kinda says how I feel so I didn't write anything else." And to be clear, what I mean is: the card had a sentence printed on the inside. He did not write anything, he didn't even sign his name. If we wanted to return the card, we could have. It was literally right off the shelf, and obviously a last minute purchase that he bought from work just moments before we picked him up.
Number one, I hate how shitty it makes me feel when WE show emotional investment in him with not only our thoughtful gifts but also very sincere cards and notes. We show a ton of support, love, and appreciation for him and everything he does and has done. For him to gloss over that while searching for the money inside the card is like holy shit, you're an adult, are you not aware of how selfish you look? If you're going to be an asshole, at least pretend to not be one in front of us. Second, and this is important: You will not be successful in relationships if you are an emotional slug like that. I can't imagine how his girlfriends would feel or how his wife would feel with this approach to her birthday or anniversary. You cannot half-ass something that is significant to you in any way, especially when it is equally or more significant to people you love.
My wife, who often suppresses her reactions to these kinds of things, actually broke down and told me how disappointed she was when she got that Mother's Day card. If she's willing to say something about it, I can only imagine it's more than what she's expressed because she doesn't want to be negative toward her son. I get that. So I can't imagine how low she felt when after all that she's done for him, especially in the past year, his only gift is a last-minute purchase of convenience, no thought, and not even his own words. Not even a signature.

This post, in its fullness, is about Ta Mando and the Shiftverse, a setting we'll talk about in a bit but before we get started I do wanna mention something kind of neat.
I've vaguely alluded to how I learned about jumpchains, mentioning that it was through a CYOA creator who also does jumps. Pre-pandemic I was a member of the Make Your Choice & NSFW CYOA communities, and I saw FancyFireDrake's Goddess of Mankind CYOA and I really liked it so I checked out some of their other stuff. At the time I was already paying attention to NSFW CYOAs because of TroyxPage, specifically Grand Adonis which to this day remains at least in my top three favorite CYOAs of all time, and when I saw that I really liked Goddess of Mankind I wanted to see what else FFD had done so I looked through their stuff and saw stuff on Jumpchains. This was happening around the same time I was joining the Shiftverse as a player.
Through the power of coincidence I was joining the Shiftverse, an original setting by a friend of mine named Philososhy, at about the same time I was learning about jumpchains and beginning to really discover the power of crossover fan fiction and stuff like that. Here's a little bit of canon Luciano Lore; as a child I began writing, which is part of what I do professionally and semi-professionally, by writing self insert crossover fan fiction though at the time I didn't know these things had terms. I was raised overseas, as I am an army brat, and I was homeschooled, and my family wanted me to get into reading and writing, and so they had me write stories. I don't think they anticipated the lifelong rollercoaster that that would send me on. Anyways, back to the central topic.

The Shiftverse

Before we get started I wanna say that I'm describing a LIVING setting I'm a PLAYER in not the MASTER of so this information will be necessarily limited and imperfect. That said I'm a VERY passionate player, and given the RL circumstances of this setting and my character's circumstances I know a healthy chunk of lore, though I am not even scratching the surface due to this being a special interest of mine and me being a big nerd, plus my character also has had the chance to learn a lot of neat stuff about the metaphysics at play here and has just been taught a lot of cool lore on the interior of things, SOME of which I'm communicating here in a very broad sense of strokes.
The very, very basic gist of the shiftverse from a player character perspective, is that player characters are... reality TV stars whose lives are shows airing on multiversal, cosmic televisions, and they are watched by monstrous, unknowable beings, while the player characters go from world to world, for various different amounts of time, and just LIVE among the inhabitants of the world, free to do as they please and to interact with locals however they wish. It is a pure coincidence that this VERY basic gist sounds so remarkably similar, conceptually at least, to Jumpchains, though as a very funny matter of fact in the SPECIFIC setting I have a character in, there are others with player characters and another one of us knew about jumpchains before I started sharing stuff about jumpchains in the Ta Mando (the SPECIFIC world my character lives in, which is just one of many settings which exist for the Shiftverse) server (which is public, I'll be posting a link to the world-anvil later).
All of the player character primes (the term used to apply to beings who get sent from world to world for the sake of the tv shows, which does not encompass ALL multiversal wanderers in this setting, and also NPC primes exist) I know of are humans from a mundane Earth, in fact many of us in Ta Mando (though almost certainly not all of us) are from the SAME Earth. Certainly all of the player character primes for Kanda, which is the central location, "location" being used real loosely, are from the same Earth and about the same time period.
Primes get superpowers of various sorts to help us survive and live exciting lives. We're also capable of using the powers native to the world's we visit, though learning and attaining such powers isn't always easy. My character is Jonathan Mondragon, who on Earth prior to them becoming a Prime, was a Puerto Rican doctor. I did insert SOME traits of myself in them, they are non-binary, they are bilingual, they are a charisma main, but my ORIGINAL idea for this character was for them to be a Caribbean Homelander (they have a few different powers, namely the powers of Superman (Smallville style, so the powers are steadily growing and new ones become accessible over time) & a set of social powers, which along with Omega Beams and some doctohealer stuff represent their STARTING kit, in the time since they've arrived they've become a champion of a deity of truth and honor, gained the very beginnings of a dragon's power set, and have attuned to the Ta Mando equivalent to The Force, so we love a chaotic ass power-grabber). That idea... did not last long. Jonathan has been in Ta Mando for a few months now, and is a solidly moral person due in large part to the fucking nightmare they had to endure in the beginning of their time here (they were deliberately summoned by the people of a colony of Kanda who were in a bad spot, and Jon has largely succeeded in solving SOME of the problems but it was ROUGH), and the growth they've endured as a result of both pain and the good things they've done since they arrived. Some other primes include characters with really strong magic stuff, someone who is a Saiyan, and a person who is the Avatar, as well as people more attuned to the Ta Mando version of the force and a Space Marine, so as you can see our power sets can VARY.
There are other vague similarities with Jumpchains, such as vague similarities between items in jumps and items in shifts, as a prime tends to get SOME basic items at the start of a chain (usually a facility which serves as a house, which can differ from prime to prime, and functions as a bit of a less protected/more accessible warehouse) but not ALL primes get that and SOME primes get WILDLY more advanced facilities than others. OTHER items can be included as well, as my character has stuff for medicine and farming, and I know of other primes who've got uranium mines, lightsabers, and even pets as part of their starting kit. There ARE difference, one of the biggest differences is that a shift's (the in-universe term for a stint in a world/setting) length is NOT a decade and can last however long the eldritch beings who run the show feel like, though from what I, Luciano, know it seems like most last about a human lifetime, though there are some that last WILDLY longer than that. Another significant difference, as has been explained and hinted at to my character, is that remembering the details of a shift once you leave is not guaranteed, nor is having and keeping the same powers you once had, and all of this is similar to the idea of drawbacks in a jumpchain but these changes, as far as I know, across shifts do not confer any advantages in exchange like a jumpchain drawback does.

Ta Mando

I'm not gonna say much here, I'll just post two links. One is to the World Anvil for Ta Mando, one SPECIFIC setting in the Shiftverse (there are many worlds someone could get shifted too, Ta Mando is just one of them). The other is to my character's World Anvil page, Jonathan Mondragon. This is not SUPER up to date, but it's the beginning of a good set of articles for people in Soterri, as well as a way to learn more about my adventures. Also, this is a text-based TTRPG campaign and we play using GURPS. It's... weird. I'm very much a D&D person, I've been playing D&D over half of my life (literally, I'm 29, the first time I played D&D I was 13, and I had the books BEFORE then), so it's been an adjustment. I like it though, my character DOES feel powerful and has had plenty of kicks moments, but just LEARNING what I can do and the mechanics of everything was a trip.
Anyways, Ta Mando is my favorite TTRPG setting I've ever been in, there's a lot to discover, there's a lot more for me to do there, and I sometimes think about doing a Shiftverse jumpdoc. I think it'd be very funny to blend the two systems like how I've blended the Troyverse & Jumpchains, and how I plan to blend Akumakami64's Love Azathoth CYOA (have a little surprise announcement, as a treat, for making it this far, but do note that I'm in the middle of my busiest time of the year so this won't be for a minute), but truthfully I just don't know enough to really do it justice. Maybe someday I'll make a jumpdoc for The Shiftverse. it could be fun honestly.

Source: 🔗 Chat with Lifelike Virtual Personalities — talkiemate.com
If you are a visual storytelling fan and strive for creativity through fictional characters’ eyes, you’re in the right place. Character.ai is an amazing tool that lets you do just that! But what if you crave a different experience, with more tools or a specific character in mind? Fear not, for we have gone through 35+ options and picked the top 10 paid and free Character AI alternatives, each offering a unique experience tailored to your preferences. Whether you’re a writer looking to enrich your stories, a history buff eager to get deeper into the past, or simply someone who loves engaging with AI in a new way, keep reading if you’re:
A tech enthusiast curious about the intersection of AI and storytelling.
A gamer eager to experience AI-driven narratives in your favorite games.
A marketer looking to use AI for content creation and engagement.
A researcher interested in the psychological impact of AI-generated characters on user engagement.
A storyteller seeking new ways to engage your audience through AI-generated content.

1. TalkieMate

Website: TalkieMate
TalkieMate is the best free alternative to Character AI, providing users with a plethora of options to create their personalized AI girlfriend. With TalkieMate, you can engage in deeply immersive and uncensored conversations on a wide range of topics, including NSFW content. The platform offers customizable characters, allowing users to tailor their experience according to their preferences. Whether you’re looking for a companion for deep discussions or just casual chat, TalkieMate offers a unique and engaging experience.
Pros:
Completely free with no subscription fees.
Highly customizable AI girlfriend with personalized features.
Uncensored NSFW chat options for mature interactions.
Ability to create personalized AI girlfriend with specific traits and characteristics.
Cons:
Some advanced features may be available only in premium plans.

1. Candy.ai

Website: Candy.ai
Candy.ai is one of the leading AI Girlfriend apps with which you can talk on a range of NSFW topics and have a deep conversation. Candy Ai enables users to adjust their virtual girlfriends to their preferences and experience real conversations and engaging dialogue. Candy Ai also has a unique function that enables users to generate a specific image or audio message that boosts the reality of the experience.
Pros:
Customizable characters are not only limited to appearance and personality but also provide users with a tailored experience.
NSFW chat options for more mature interactions and more audience satisfaction.
Numerous features to be explored, satisfying the tastes and preferences of different people.
The free plan comes with necessary functionalities and the chance to upgrade for extra benefits.
Cons:
The majority of features are availed in the Premium Plans which may constrain the access of some users.
Pricing Plans:
Free Plan: Offers basic features and AI companion engagement without cost.
Premium Plan: Starts at $9/month, unlocking advanced features and enhanced user experience.
Custom Plans: Tailored to specific needs, with varying pricing based on customization requirements.

1. Botify AI

Website: Botify AI
Botify AI offers an innovative character AI style. It presents a revolutionary system that allows users to communicate with real people or characters from their favorite TV shows, films, or literature. Thanks to the flexibility of Botify AI, you have the possibility to create your own digital character and customize every detail like appearance, emotions, voice, and backstory.
Pros:
Free version accessible.
High-quality editing tools.
Intuitive interface for users.
Cons:
Relies on outdated data in some instances.
Utilizes Automated style writing, which may not suit all preferences.
Pricing Plans:
Essential: Starting from $35 per user per month, suitable for simple websites requiring comprehensive SEO data and recommendations.
Pro: Starting from $55 per user per month, ideal for businesses heavily reliant on organic search, aiming to protect and expand their organic revenue.
Enterprise: Custom pricing for large, complex organizations needing accelerated scaling, support, and security.

1. Replika

Website: Replika
Replika is a personal AI assistant that you can talk to. It was designed to give the user a deeply special and personal experience. Made to be a friend, a confidant, and an emotional support, Replika utilizes the learning ability of machines and natural language processing, thus bringing to the fore the ability to engage in empathetic and contextual conversations.
Pros:
Highly personalized and customized stories and avatars.
Ranges from new features to improved or enhanced capabilities, are constantly being forwarded.
Provides not only free but paid as well on the conditions built-in subscription options.
Cons:
One main shortcoming lies in the fact that chatbots’ uses go beyond the conversation stage.
The question of privacy and usage of users’ personal data is one of the aspects, which is a crucial issue when talking about social media.
Impact of user dependency and emotional attachment as prospective risks.
Pricing Plans:
1 month plan: $19.99
12 months plan: $5.83/month (billed annually)
Lifetime plan: $299.99 (billed once)

1. Anima AI

Website: Anima AI
MyAnima AI is our super smart AI chatbot. It has been developed to be the best friend for you who likes playing the role of a human and can do this like nobody else. With Anima AI, a user can easily pick any relationship status of their choice: AI-Girlfriend, -Boyfriend, Virtual Wife, the other way round, or even a custom-made Character AI. Whether it is a friend who will be a help and support, a virtual companion with whom you can role play, someone with whom you share your emotions, or a chat partner you can discuss any topic that tickles your fancy, Anima AI can help you out.
Pros:
Unlimited unique stories.
Anima AI is an AI bot that is warm and conversational.
Ability to respond to your messages instantly when you need to talk.
Cons:
Some features are called back in the Free version.
Pricing Plans:
Anima AI offers a free version with basic features, allowing users to create a customized AI virtual companion after signing up.

1. DeepFiction

Website: DeepFiction
DeepFiction narrates a plethora of stories that include captivating and thrilling sagas to touching and heartwarming fables. What sets it apart? You can, however, change your characters and the scenery to your taste. That is the AI-powered mechanism that enables the production of compelling and well-connected stories with the help of natural language processing and machine learning.
Pros:
Unlimited unique stories.
Customise characters and settings.
Sparks creativity and imagination.
Suitable for all ages.
Cons:
Limited control over the plot.
This chatbot is not interactive like most other chatting bots.
Pricing Plans:
DeepFiction offers a single pricing plan at $5 per month.

1. StoryMate

Website: StoryMate
StoryMate is your virtual reading partner, but without a library sound ban. It’s essentially there to bring the wonder of literature to life, providing you with an extensive collection of books and amazing narration methods to send you exploring faraway lands or to make you acquainted with unforgettable characters.
Pros:
Elicits a desire for reading.
Enhances writing abilities.
Provides diversified choices of relevant titles for different age groups.
Facilitates collaborative creativity.
Cons:
May not be suitable for all those that seek highly sociable experiences.
Chiefly concerns a child’s literature.
Pricing:
Free

1. Kajiwoto

Website: Kajiwoto
Kajiwoto offers the same experience as Character AI to users creating human-like chatting with AI characters having their own character features. It is a cool platform for both AI fanatics and those who are creatively inclined. In Kajiwoto, the users can choose whether they want a free or paid membership to fit their needs. Yet, it has this 200-character restriction on one-on-one dialogues.
Pros:
Free option available.
Customizable mood for your Kaji.
Unlimited chatting.
Permits NSFW content.
Cons:
Premium subscription required for business idea development.
Paid subscription can be expensive.
Pricing Plans:
Free Plan: Unlimited chat and access to basic features.
Kajiwoto Plus: $7.32/month, includes unlimited AI voice usage and private rooms.
Kajiwoto Pro: $25.00/month, offers all features of Kajiwoto Plus plus more, for the ultimate AI experience.

1. KUKI.AI

Website: KUKI.AI
KUKI.AI is a conversational AI with award-winning applications, providing exceptional functionalities. This virtual assistant employs the most advanced AI methods to allow the users to have very natural talks, thus qualifying it as a good chatbot application. Through direct and indirect semantic cues analogous to GPT, the KUKI.AI aggregates its knowledge base. Through the dissection of phrases into two inputs of “core” and “wild card”, it is able to expand its vocabulary for more understanding of multiple speech patterns. To use KUKI.AI without being limited by the number of questions one can ask, the chatbot answers all queries while making sure conversations do not repeat themselves.
Pros:
Infinite question handling capability.
User-friendly interface.
Cons:
Absence of graphics, a text-only trip.
Pricing Plans:
$75/month (100,000 chat)
$1500/month (Dedicated service plan)

1. In World AI

Website: In World AI
Inworld AI is a leading platform that allows you to chat with AI characters or even create your own if you wish, similar to Character AI. On Inworld AI, you can have conversations for free with the characters but if you want to have access to features like API integrations, and unlimited character creation, you have to get their premium plan which starts at $20 monthly. Inworld AI utilizes the power of the OpenAI models meaning that accurate information will be delivered by the chatbot.
Pros:
Through it, you can design characters.
Available at no individual cost for chatting.
The paid version starts at a subscription fee as low as $20 per month.
Cons:
It can only be accessed through an internet browser.
The app has not yet been launched and is only accessible through mobile browsers.
Pricing Plans:
Free — $0–200 API integrations and minutes, 60 virtual characters, customization options.
Pro — $20 per month — 2000 API integrations and minutes, unlimited virtual characters, customization options, shareable workspaces, access to Discord community.
Conclusion
So there you have it – 10 alternatives for Character AI, each with a distinct personality and feature set. Keep in mind that selecting the ideal chatbot for your clan involves striking the ideal equilibrium between amusement, education, and age suitability. With the right AI companion by your side, you can make learning an adventure, and turn screen time into quality time.

I write this post because i feel kind of lost in where to go next. I mean not to brag or show of or anything, i guess i just want other peoples perspective on where to go next:)
I (25M) have grown up in an environment where saving money always have been a focus since i was a child. When i graduated high school the plan was to go to university, however i got the opportunity to work in the military. The plan was still to eventually go to university, therefore i still saved as much as i possibly could with the intention of using it as funds to live off through the university. Therefore I’ve been reluctant to invest due to the fact “i may be needing the money soon and wont risk to tie the money in wrong place”. Although really enjoy where i am right now, i will still work for a few more years before eventually going to university.
To this day, i have by a combination of salary, deployments, a bonus and a small inheritance saved around 300 000 usd. In addition, depending on an insurance claim i might (hopefully) end up with between 3 - 400 000usd. In hindsight i should probably have either invested i real estate or stock marked, but hindsight is a bitch isnt it?
Well i never imagined actually getting to this point this fast, so now i have started to question what to actually do with it. Having it stashed in a savings account is pointless due to inflation. So i have recently realised that instead of spending the money, it could rather be start of an investing journey where i may partly live off investments rather that tapping off all the actual funds, especially with studying in mind when I no longer have my now salary. And maybe thereafter the funds can be a great foundation to built financial independence. My family really insists on putting it in real estate and buy a house. I may rent it out for now and later live in it during university. They argue i could buy with little loan due to my funds, in addition that real estate in my area will probably (according to experts) increase up to 30% next 2-4 years due to supply and demand. So the argument to buy in sooner rather than later sound solid, however i fear tying up all funds in property will end up buying me a liability an expensive responsibilities that can be hard to survive on especially during university when i loose my main income.
I personally feel more attracted to the stock market. Buy in stocks now to hold long term that may compound into a strong financial foundation later, and maybe also pay out regularly dividends. In theory, the return on realestate may beat the stock market (i know we cant predict the future), but it also comes with a lot more exspenses such as maintenance, while stocks i more”passive”. The easiest route may be to just rent for the time and stick to the stocks. Or maybe i can combine the options? Either buy a house with as little down payments as possible and hope the returns in the stock market and the potential increase in real estate outpaces the higher loan? I feel kind of lost in trying to figure out where to go next. Do you have any experience or thoughts that might help out? Or other ideas?
My goal isnt to be rich, or live a fancy lifestyle. I simply want to be financial stable in the future and have time as my greatest asset. I guess I’m not asking for financial advice, i understand that i myself need to assess the risks and take responsibility for myself. But if anyone have any thoughts, perspectives, ideas or anything that will help me see things for other angles it would be much appreciated:) Thanks

Back in 2022 I left home for good, was very happy about it, I'm sharing an apartment with two more people, last year when my ex moved out, this girl moved in his place.
She was bad news from day one, I have an elderly cat, she has an elderly dog, I asked her to please introduce the dog to my cat prior to moving in, she didn't even reply. The dog is thankfully chill enough, but my cat has been a lot less active ever since he moved in, every time her mother takes the dog for a few days my cat instantly goes back to her happy, active self.
She also leaves the dog alone for a lot of hours on end, she forbids the poor thing to go in her room, so he's always in the living room, hence why my cat avoids the largest room in the house. Just now, poor dog was scratching her door because it's past noon and he desperately needs to go outside and pee, she scolded him and went back to sleep, she does this every day. When she finally wakes up, she will take her sweet time having breakfast, choosing a fancy outfit so she can walk the dog for 15 short minutes. He's completely untrained and from what I saw at the dog park that's in front of our building, she practically forbids her dog from playing and socializing with other dogs. She barely pays attention to him at all.
This irks me more than usual because my mom also had dogs that she neglected and mistreated. Just like with my mom's situation, I'm forbidden to walk the dog myself and any sort of suggestion would escalate into an argument.
She has never once cleaned the house in the 10 months she's been living here, only her room, she also doesn't work, she had a part time job for two months I think, and quit because working 25 hours a week was "too much" according to her, I think she basically lives off her parents. All she does is sit in the couch all day, collecting dirty dishes she rarely washes.
The kitchen is perpetually dirty, there's never clean dishes, nor pots, pans or silverware, I always wash after myself, or at least I put my dirty dishes in the dishwasher, but neither she or the other roommate, who is the owner by the way, even bother loading the freaking dishwasher. I left for a business trip last Friday and came back yesterday to a garbage smelling house and they still didn't load the dishwasher.
The owner is also a slob, so they both act weird whenever I complain about how dirty everything is. But that's the extent of my problems with the other owner, otherwise she's very nice and we bonded a lot overtime.
The other girl also loves using my stuff without permission, it's such a frequent thing that I don't even bother trying anymore, I don't have space in my room for kitchenware and appliances because a lifetime of things is already cramming up my room. So I have to deal with a perpetually greasy airfryer that was a gift from friends and thus holds sentimental value to me. She broke several cups and glasses and refuses to buy me new ones. If I don't hide my stuff, she basically uses everything she sees without ever asking who owns it or if it's okay for her to use, most of the time it's not. I will 100% have to barge into her room and look for my property before moving out, because I'm certain I will find things I own in there.
She also takes up my bathroom counters and fridge space deliberately, the house is basically covered with her stuff and she complains whenever we leave something in the living room.
She's mean to my friends and makes it very clear that they're unwelcome here, I kind of refrained from inviting people home or we basically lock ourselves up in my room all the time they're here. She's also banged my bedroom wall while I was having intercourse, and no, we were not being even remotely loud, mainly rushed breath noises, not even moaning.
Friday I had no time to clean the airfryer so I left if with some chicken grease because, well, its mine and I am within my right to do so, right? Well not according to her. She texted me a picture of the dirty airfryer and told me it was unacceptable to leave it in that state. I was enraged, I told her I would clean it when I got back and told her not to touch it, she said she would "use a paper towel from time to time from now on". I can't make this sh*t up.
This last incident is largely what made me want to write this post. It made me realize how horrible this whole situation is for my mental health. I mean, I have to deal with a house full of dirty stuff and rotting food, but it's not acceptable for me to use my own airfryer and not clean it afterwards? Even when she never asked for permission to use it in the first place?
I am isolated in my room all day long, don't even want to cook anymore because everything takes extra 30 minutes to clean, I also lose my appetite every time I enter the kitchen. I've got some health issues related to poor nutrition because of all this. I am back to the same situation as when I was living with my abusive family, only then I could at least let some steam off because I could argue with my mother, it was also a beautiful countryside house that was clean and I loved my yard. Now I have nothing. I feel observed, judged and manipulated 24/7.
I am probably moving out in less than a month at best, a month and a half at worst, so there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Some of my younger friends still in college and I are going to move in together, we've discussed in length house rules and etc and it seems like we're all on board. I truly hope everything goes well, or at least that I'll have a short break from all this. At least I know my friends aren't manipulative like her.
I'm sorry for this incoherent vent, today I just broke down. I feel impotent and miserable.

Sorry English isn't my first language -
In June 2022 I got contacted by a hiring company for a role with a fancy title of a "decision analyst" but was told that it's basically a data entry job that's work from home.
We were a brand new department, filling in a database on a software no one in the company was familiar with. It was first just updating figures from various websites then it was reading terms and conditions and creating "rules" using logic and basics of coding. I started to see why the title of an "analyst" is coming in and looked more into it for the benefit of making my life easier.
As I love working with spreadsheets I've picked up a lot more than others in the formula writing side of things and get the job done easie faster with power query while none of my other colleagues who are in the same position as me are interested in that.
My manager has requested that I write them all a handbook/ guide of some sort to " share my knowledge" with the team and some of my colleagues are asking me to "work my magic" on the stuff they're working on.
Am I obligated to do any of these things ? I don't want to get into any trouble with any of them.

Trying out some gear, writing after work
Anyone fancy vocals or percussion?

I am not The OOP, OOP is u/Glitter_Mask
AITAH for not cooking for my husband's friend?
Originally posted to AITAH
TRIGGER WARNING: Manipulation, misogyny
Original post May 4, 2024
So I 24F got off work a bit ago. My husband 24M had some friends over playing card games for the evening and I knew that before I got home.
I came home and saw they had ordered pizza and I don't overly like that pizza brand (dominoes is nasty imo) so I said hi to everyone and started making a frozen ramen. Now my frozen ramen are from a local place and are delicious and not very cheap, but they are my favorite lazy meal.
So I was standing at the stove making my ramen and one of my husband's friends, Brian (fake name) started saying it smelt good. I replied that yes it is delicious and he should try them out sometime but they are pricey (about 16 CAD each). As it kept cooking he just kept saying things like "man that smells good" and "I'd kill for some ramen right now" and such. I just eventually told him that they run a special of buy 10 get 1 free (as I said they are fancy ramen, and very filling). He then said "Oh so you have more? Could you cook me one?"
Honestly I was put off by that. I had just worked for 8 hours and I had told him they aren't cheap.
I said "Well no, they are kind of my thing. I really recommend trying them out though". He clearly got a bit angry and had stopped their game at this point. He said "well its kind of unfair you are making one for yourself then and not making one for a guest. You should have just had pizza."
To be fair at this point my husband and the other guys stepped in and told Brian to chill out. My husband also told Brian that it was my food and I don't like the pizza.
It was pretty awkward and once my ramen was heated I took it to my desk in the other room and started typing this out. I was admittedly eavesdropping and I heard Brian leave shortly after I came to my desk.
I'm really wondering if I should have just made him a ramen because I feel the atmosphere of my husband's group might be ruined because of me.
So. AITAH for not cooking for my husband's friend?
Small update, the rest of the friends left, and husband came to talk to me. He apologized for Brian's behavior and explained that after I left, Husband asked Brian what his problem was. Brian said "whatever let's get back to the game" they all sat in discomfort for about 5 min, then Brian just got up and left. The rest of the gang finished the game, and then they went home. According to Husband, the group agreed that Brian was acting weird and rude. One of the guys volunteered to check on him tomorrow and tell him to apologize to us. So I'll update on that tomorrow, I guess. lol.
RELEVANT COMMENTS
deathtoallants

NTA. Brian should’ve written down the name of the store/brand and flavor on a memo so he could go buy it later. This might be pushing it, but at most he could’ve asked for one bite on a small plate so he can at least taste test it before committing to buying 10 portions of an expensive ramen.
I’ve never heard of frozen ramen. Wtf

OOP

The store is a ramen restaurant and they simply sell their fancy homemade ramen as frozen for a few bucks cheaper. It is just noodles, meat (spicy chicken in my case), broth, and some veggies. Honestly I could make it at home but I'm lazy lol.
But I'm really relieved to see people saying I'm nta. I was getting really into my own head as I was sitting here so that's for the judgement

Update May 5, 2024
Hi all! I was very overwhelmed with the responses to the post. I was honestly just working myself up last night and needed to vent somewhere, I didn't really expect such a response. Thank you all for judgements, it was helpful.
Anyways to the update. Sorry it took the whole day, a lot happened.
The other friend that went to check on Brian, (Sam again fake name) tried calling him in the morning and didn't get a reply. Eventually Sam went to Brian's place and asked to talk.
Sam said it basically went down as him saying,
"You were being weird as hell with ME, what was that"
"I just didn't want dominoes and you guys didn't listen to me. I just wanted other food."
Sam and my husband also say that when the group was discussing food and one of them said just get dominoes, Brian didn't say any objection.
Sam then told him along the lines of "okay well you need to apologize to Husband and I"
Brian then said "yeah I'll apologize to husband"
Most of you readers will pick up what Sam picked up on, Brian didn't want to apologize to me.
Sam told him he mostly needed to apologize to me, it was me he spoke to and me he was rude to.
Brian then told him he'll "think about it" and asked Sam to leave.
Sam then came over and told us the conversation and I started writing the update for you guys.
As I started writing Brian called husband. He was talking very rushed, and I could hear him almost a room away.
"Yeah I'm sorry for last night. I don't think I want to attend game nights at your house though. I don't get along with Me"
Husband started getting kind of heated at that point, because Brian was talking very rapidly, like in a panic almost.
The argument kind of dissolved into a lot of what the comments brought up, my husband asking him was his problem was, is he just that misogynistic, why was he acting this way and such.
Husband said that Brian didn't really make sense during the "talk", making weird comments about other significant others of the guys (some of them are gay or poly), talking about the guys not 'sharing their time', and 'they (I assume he was talking about me and other partners) always ruin the energy and I can never enjoy the time with everyone".
Husband was a bit to angry to ask more and just told him to get himself sorted out and not to come over again.
The other guys are more concerned and think Brian is having a manic episode or is getting into Andrew Tate, as Brian is the last single one of them group. My husband kind of doesn't care through and told them to not involve him in Brian's issues.
For me I kind of don't know what to make of it. I feel bad for my husband because he is very stressed after it all. This isn't his only friend group but he has known these guys for many years. I think most commenter clocked it correctly, he is misogynistic and was just angry at my existence.
I doubt there will be another update, husband wants to step away from the whole thing for now. So thank you all again and have a good night!
OOP appeared in the thread and gave a non-update
Here
Hi, OP here. As of now, there isn't an update. I also kind of hope there won't be. The friend group tried to get Husband involved in whatever intervention they planned for Brian but he said he didn't want to be involved. They respected that and haven't told him further updates. They still play video games together, but husband is mostly hanging out with other friends for now

OOP on the ramen

*
Here
Howdy OP here, and the other comment had it right! It is a local place lol.
But the basic jist of their frozen ramen is:
Spicy Broth (or plain but I get spicy) Hand Made Noodles Bean Sprouts Green Onion And Mushrooms (I think) Then just a protein, i pretty much always get chicken but they do salmon and pork as well.
I was very surprised going through the comments a few days later and seeing so many people wanting the ramen lmao
THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT THE OOP
DO NOT CONTACT THE OOP's OR COMMENT ON LINKED POSTS, REMEMBER - RULE 7

• Total budget (In local currency) and country of purchase: $700-1K
  
• Are you open to refurbs/used? Yes, as long as warranty is a good one?
  
• How would you prioritize form factor, build quality, performance, and battery life?
  
• Performance, 2. Battery, 3. Form factor, 4. Build quality
  
• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. N/a (not too small though)
  
• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. Not really
  
• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? Not for gaming
  
• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? Nothing specific
  
• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. Wanting something with SSD for speed. Decent Ram. Will@be mostly a work, school, paper writing, zoom/teams calls, etc. nothing crazy fancy, but reliable.
  

Dearest gentle readers, did you miss me? it’s time for season 2! I’m gonna try to do all 8 episodes before s3 drops
Episode 1

• Daphne’s bangs have transformed from pringles mustache to a lovely diadem of hair
• I love lady danbury’s structural lace collar capelet
• The featherington mourning wear is twice as unflattering
• Lol @ gregory rolling his eyes about anthony’s list
• The art in the opening credits is interesting. The texture of it reminds me of a video game
• Ah penelope knows her worth and raised her prices. We love to see it
• Sharpening my knives for all of you damn girl
• pen’s fake irish accent is somehow different than nic’s real irish accent
• “Theyre the ones running around while you sit on your arse” get ‘im girl
• “All the young ladies looked the same” rude
• Violet: you want to give my treasured ring to just some girl? Do you have no respect for love? for me?
• The brothel scenes always crack me up because its just a bunch of big velvet curtains and some candelabras in the background. but Ive never been to a brothel so maybe thats accurate
• Anthony’s perfect lady: independent, intelligent, agreeable, no mama drama. May i suggest a golden retriever
• Anthony did not come off as this heavy-headed, overly burdened with responsibility tortured poet soul in season 1
• Kate!!
• Anthony is surprised and turned on
• It sounds like kate says “Oh fuck it” when he pulls up next to her but the captions say [speaks hindi] does anyone know what shes saying?
• Anthony is absolutely smitten. The stubborn dumbass
• Newton! LD is not a dog person
• The mature age of “six and twenty” keels over as an elderly 31yr old
• Eloise has a new ribbon hat contraption. This one has a round felt disc a la a beret
• Pens face as el talks shit about LW >:(
• Potatoes again?? Yes please
• Favorite fun fact: potatoes are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, and adding cheese adds calcium/vitamin d and makes it a complete vitamin source. My daily intake of cheesy potatoes is like a flintstone vitamin
• Lol the feather’s maid is like why dont you try selling some of this fancy shit if you need money so bad
• Kate has a blue ribbon braided in her hair. Its so pretty. This cerulean shade looks stunning on her. She’s wearing the bridgerton blue from day 1 ♥️
• Edwina’s perfect match: charming, handsome, a duke or a prince. Might i suggest a king charles spaniel?
• Kate’s perfect match: someone who understands her on a deep spiritual level. Might i suggest anthony
• As the sharmas walk into the ball, theres a horse pulling a carriage that looks like its feet are tied together or something. Its doing the strangest walk
• I love the classical version of material girl
• QC like hi mary still hate you bitch ok bye
• Benedict stealing el away from the gentleman version of chucky
• You know, the gossipy quality of the ton is a great way to give viewers background info
• Fake tears always work
• Phili and finch will make beautiful cheese babies
• LD: anthony is a perfect suitor Edwina: dibs Kate: goddamn it
• Anthony’s smile when he sees kate again 😍
• I want to reach through the tv and smoosh their faces together right now. This annoying adorable banter is too much “You find my smile pleasing?”
• LD and violet like shall we do it again this year? pick another perfect match together?
• Pen is an excellent business woman. 10 pounds for 1 LW edition? Thats more than a thousand bucks in todays money. Girliepop is a girl boss. A true she-e-o
• Aw regency chucky has a crush on eloise
• I sympathize with kate. I am also dreadful and unpleasant
• Benedict trying to get it in with madame delacroix again
• Anthony can dish it out but sure cant take it
• Lower those expectations and settle for someone - violet
• Pen writing to colin. THREE MORE DAYSSS
• LD dressing kate down like girl. I opened my home to you. You really gonna stand here and lie to my face
• Love that kate comes clean and LD is like okay good now that thats out in the open lets get this girl hitched. I can scheme too
• Agan kate in blue here is so beautiful
• I love QCs laugh
• I would rather die! Well well how the turntables
• Pen: i have managed to find joy in this whole spectacle Eloise: WOW so you hate feminism
• LD really looked at kate like watch this and then got edwina diamond-ed
• Edwina: i love a man who knows what he wants and is direct Anthony: doesn’t know what he wants and sniffs kate
• LW: suddenly writing feminist rhetoric Eloise: wow what coincidence i was JUST talking to penelope about this
• I love that QCs wigs have natural textured hair in them

okay good night! thanks for reading

The three big ones for me are
Paddy's Pub Worst bar in Philadelphia: one of my favorites, the kidnapped writer, his next door neighbor, the cat. Both of the articles the guy writes make me laugh my butt off.
The Gang hits the road: They try and take a trip to the grand canyon but never get out of the city, Dee singing to the hitchhiker and kind of flirting with him while drunk at the same time, Mac hitting the guy with the beer bottle. There is so much funny stuff packed into this episode.
Mac and Charlie White trash: Two stories about the gang wanting to go swimming, Dennis and Dee yelling at the guy at the fancy pool. drinking and tossing beer bottles around, Charlie and Mac stuck, Mac trying to figure out the best angle of jumps to do so he can get out.
These are three of my favorite ones that I find myself coming to, sometimes I have a small marathon before bed or something like a couple episodes and I watch these three a lot it seems like.

Yo, Name Is Nullsector or just Null. I'm 21M, and I've got about 11 years worth of experience when it comes to advanced roleplaying. I enjoy various types of roleplays, but I definitely like one that is diverse in its genres. I am in search of creating a long term Marvel or DC roleplay, I mainly play male characters but I'm open to also playing female characters on the side! Here are a couple "rules'' I have:

1. Please be advanced, I usually type up to 3 paragraphs, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on how much I'm invested in the roleplay. there is nothing more agonizing than a one liner. I need something to work with! Also please write in 3rd person.
   
2. But please, also be at least 18 to roleplay with me. I don't roleplay with minors.
   
3. I use ocs, but you don't have to use an oc if you don't want to. However, it's encouraged. Before we start an rp and plan out the plot, we can share our oc's bios with each other to get ideas. I'm also open to doubles!
   
4. (Important) I mainly roleplay PoC(People of color) Ocs, If you don't like that the door is over there. No exceptions. I will occasionally play a lighter skinned character as a side character but all my main characters will be PoC.
   
5. A couple things/themes I enjoy include: fantasy, medieval, slice of life (not as the main theme), best friends, enemies, forbidden love, and so much more.
   
6. Other Fandoms I am in if this is not your fancy: Jujutsu Kaisen, Devil May Cry, Bleach, Naruto, Cyberpunk, Dragon Ball, Tokyo Ghoul, Marvel, DC, Overwatch, Helluva Boss, Hazbin Hotel, RWBY, JJBA and more. Just ask. Of course, the roleplay doesn't have to be fandom based!
   Just ask if you have any further questions, thanks!
   

Yo, Name Is Nullsector or just Null. I'm 21M, and I've got about 11 years worth of experience when it comes to advanced roleplaying. I enjoy various types of roleplays, but I definitely like one that is diverse in its genres. I am in search of creating a long term Marvel or DC roleplay, I mainly play male characters but I'm open to also playing female characters on the side! Here are a couple "rules'' I have:

1. Please be advanced, I usually type up to 3 paragraphs, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on how much I'm invested in the roleplay. there is nothing more agonizing than a one liner. I need something to work with! Also please write in 3rd person.
   
2. But please, also be at least 18 to roleplay with me. I don't roleplay with minors.
   
3. I use ocs, but you don't have to use an oc if you don't want to. However, it's encouraged. Before we start an rp and plan out the plot, we can share our oc's bios with each other to get ideas. I'm also open to doubles!
   
4. (Important) I mainly roleplay PoC(People of color) Ocs, If you don't like that the door is over there. No exceptions. I will occasionally play a lighter skinned character as a side character but all my main characters will be PoC.
   
5. A couple things/themes I enjoy include: fantasy, medieval, slice of life (not as the main theme), best friends, enemies, forbidden love, and so much more.
   
6. Other Fandoms I am in if this is not your fancy: Jujutsu Kaisen, Devil May Cry, Bleach, Naruto, Cyberpunk, Dragon Ball, Tokyo Ghoul, Marvel, DC, Overwatch, Helluva Boss, Hazbin Hotel, RWBY, JJBA and more. Just ask. Of course, the roleplay doesn't have to be fandom based!
   Just ask if you have any further questions, thanks!
   

Hi Charlotte, I have a wedding story for you of a wedding I had the misfortune to attend, buckle up guys, this was a train wreck.
I (31f) was always very close with my Grandma. She taught me things like how to knit, she loved teaching me how to cook and when we did family walks in the huge local park, she would "take us to get lost in the woods", because she knew how much my brother and I loved adventures.
My Grandfather always had a parade of mistresses when my Dad and his brothers were growing up, and because my Grandmother was traditional and didn't believe in divorce, she got stuck with these women being practically waved in her face. Sadly til the very end, she loved my Grandad dearly. Myself growing up, from since I can remember, the latest mistress, we'll call her X, was in the picture. Important to note that X was 30+ years younger than him.
My Grandma sadly developed alzhiemers which meant that my Grandad was even less discreet, parading X around to the point where he would invite her to meals we went to where my poor Grandma was present, the worst one being one where my mother was also present, and the dynamic was Grandad flirting with my mother whilst X gave him daggers, my Grandma not really understanding what was going on, and me just wanting the ground to swallow me up.
Almost 10 years ago my Grandma's health declined, and I would go and visit her at the nursing home, and take care of her each day. My Grandad would visit her and bring X along with him, which I found insulting, but boy had I seen nothing yet.
Sadly she died, and we had a beautiful cremation service followed by a wake at a fancy hotel. Some drama was caused by my Dad's mistress turned girlfriend (I know, it runs in the family), but overall it went smoothly.
A few weeks later, Grandad arranges the scattering of the ashes. He specified no Grandchildren were allowed, which upset me considering I had been with her til the end, but it soon became apparent why. My Dad came home and told me that Grandad, at the ash scattering, announced he was getting married to X, his mistress. I was mortified as to how distasteful it was, but he chose the hotel where he held the wake for my Grandmother, and they would be married in three months time.
I didn't want to go for obvious reasons but my Dad said I had to go so that he wasn't alone. It was the biggest shit show I've had the misfortune to witness.
A friend from a former job came along, her job being to ply me with alcohol throughout the day, and boy did I need it.
First of all, all members of my Grandad's family had to wear a flower corsage. I usually think they are cute but I didn't want to be associated with this shit show.
The ceremony itself was okay, I just tried not to pay attention and counted down til we could go to the bar, but afterwards my friend whispered to me "I especially enjoyed the part in the vows where they said with the exception of all others!"
For the drinks reception I had to endure my Grandad's pretentious friends coming to me to tell me how lovely it must be to see my Grandad getting married, and according to my friend, I had a fixed serial killer smile whilst she would run to the bar and swiftly press drinks in my hand.
We all had the meal and then the speeches, oh god, the speeches, I have never wanted to crawl under a rock so badly. First there was the best man speech, where he told the story of first meeting Grandad and X, telling everyone "it soon became clear what the arrangement was!" with a wink to the audience, and ended with a joke about my Grandmother being a frigid cow.
X's speech was sentimental bollocks about finding love, which is all well and good, but he was married to my Grandma at the time.
Her brother made a speech about how Grandad used to wait for X on the drive in his (insert expensive car here), again, whilst married to my Grandma.
The final straw was during Grandad's speech where he accidentally called X by my Grandma's name, and I walked out.
When I waited in the bar area, a staff member said she recognised alot of us, and I told her "Yeah, for Grandma's wake, this is my Grandad marrying his mistress at the same venue", and after thinking I was joking at first, the nice lady offered me the rest of the glasses of champagne that didn't get used during the toast as they would be tossed out anyway, and I gladly took them off her hands.
Overall I've never been so mortified in my life, not only was the whole thing incredibly tacky, but my Grandma would have been rolling in her grave.
My Uncle managed to escape this circus living abroad, but when he came to visit, they brought out a slice of wedding cake they saved it (English wedding cake keeps for months) and he later told me that when he left, he tossed it out of his car window as he drove off, hoping they saw him.
To add to the tackiness, when Grandad died, he left X a statue of a naked lady he had actually bought for my Grandma, and when we asked why, it came out that he bought it for Grandma, because it reminded him of X, and also to remind my Grandma that X was in the picture.
Sadly this shit runs in the family, as my Dad also had a few mistresses, but luckily I was mostly kept from that as my Mom divorced him when she found out. I have a wonderful boyfriend who luckily hasn't run a mile given my insane family story, and we plan to get married. The family joke is that we should marry at the same hotel as the one used for Grandma's wake and then Grandad's wedding, as we might get a family discount on the third event, but I think I have too much PTSD associated with the place.
Hope you all enjoyed my family wedding drama story, and hopefully this gets read!
*Edit - to add to this whole dumpster fire, when my Grandad died he asked for half of his ashes to be scattered where my Grandma was scattered, and half in the place he used to take his mistress for dirty weekend trips.
Edit 2: Thanks for all your comments! For those asking, X is still in the family picture. We have relatives that suck up to her in the hope that when she dies, she will leave them money, which means she's at every damn family event. My other half suggested finding a way to get Panic! At the Disco's I write sins not tragedies subtly playing in the background at every event she's at due to the first verse, and see if anyone picks up on it:
"Oh, well imagine As I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor And I can't help but to hear No, I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words "What a beautiful wedding What a beautiful wedding", says a bridesmaid to a waiter "And, yes, but what a shame What a shame the poor groom's bride is a whore" "
What can I say, he's an evil genius...

i love reading about Big Stupid Romantic Gestures on /actuallesbians, because I like to picture myself in the stories and dream that one day I'll have a more poetic life. But also because they're usually uplifting and wholesome, and I need more of that in my life.
so it's kinda incredible, really, that I've finally got one of my own to tell.
Few nights ago, I get in from work, and, as usual, i'm dead on my feet. She, meanwhile, is already home, because she's got a normal schedule for normal people. and as soon as I walk in the door, she jumps up off the couch and takes my hand and says I need to follow her. So I drop my bag and my keys, and - feeling a little panicked - follow her out of my apartment, into the hall, and then down the hall to the stairs at the end (nobody uses the stairs, where the hell are we going?)
we start climbing the stairs. all the way to the top. Up there, behind a bunch of maintenance shit, is a locked door leading out onto the roof (well, one of two roofs, actually). But it's always locked, and always alarmed, so we've never had a chance to use it. Except for this time, because the building manager is there and he's holding it open, smoking a cigarette and looking down at his phone. And like, we're all friends and everything (I've been living in that place for years) so he just gives me a little nod and a smile, and then goes back to tapping away on his fruit combo or whatever. Sliding past him, we go out onto the roof - which is not a safe roof, by the way - and it's cool and breezy and dark; and in the corner, up against some AC duct, there's a wireless sound bar connected to an ipod nano (that's how old we are), playing something vaguely classical and fancy.
and as soon as i look at her, she puts her arm around my waist and we start slow-dancing in the middle of the roof, like we're at a prom or something. And Lukas (not his real name) slinks away and leaves the door wedged open with a bucket full of cigarette butts, so now it's just the two of us (and the people in the adjacent, much taller building) all-alone on the roof. And I'm completely breathless, so I ask her what the hell is going on. What's the occasion? She says no occasion, just that i should 'look up'. And so I do. But all that's up there is a featureless gray sky, blown out by the orange sodium of our neighborhood. She says there's northern lights up there, if you look hard enough. Which is unbelievable, but I believe her anyway. And so I'm squinting and not really seeing it; there's maybe the faintest hint of green, I'm not really sure. And then, like a pot of spilled ink, my eyes adjust and there's this wash of color. Faint and blurry, gone in a second. But I swear I saw it. And I'm like wowww, completely transfixed; and that's when she kisses me and tells me she loves me (i said it back without hesitation, btw) and we start moving in a circle to something slow and orchestral. All while high up above (I assume, because, if im being honest, I didn't see shit) the night sky was shimmering with an otherworldly glow.
After a while, blue danube comes on, which is one of my favorites, and we start twirling to that instead. and it cannot be overstated how bad we are at dancing, but we kept spinning and tip-tapping across the insanely dirty roof for another, I dunno, forty-five minutes before Lukas came back to wrap it all up. And the whole thing was, without question, the best moment of my entire life. No ulterior motive, no surprise announcement, no 'by the way, I ran over your cat earlier, hope this softens the blow' at the end. Just the distant sound of traffic and the crackle of a 128kbps harpsichord over in the corner. We didn't speak a word. I just lay my head on her shoulder, she brushed my hair a little, and halfway through she touched my butt. Chef's kiss perfection, the whole thing.
anyway, that's it. I dunno if anyone cares. but i had to write it down somewhere, just to get it outta my head. also, i think she paid lukas to let us up there, ill ask him when i see him. oh, and in the future, i will completely embellish this story to have us dancing a step-perfect waltz to a crystal-clear aurora in the shape of our faces. but for now, it was just a clumsy night in the city. and i liked it. she's the best.