⚠️ WARNING: Maasverse Spoilers—Proceed with Caution ⚠️

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Part 1: Characters and Courts - YOU ARE HERE
Part 2: World Map, Items, Terms & Other
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Well, here we go. A master list of all things ACOTAR + the "real" world.

Now, do I believe every single name and location on this list was chosen by SJM with a specific real-world allusion in mind? Of course not. But when you look at the similarities, you'd be hard pressed to deny some of their very probable relations.
As far as this list goes, I've provided what was within my ability to find—coupling each with that which made the most sense relationally—though several definitions would appear to have zero connection to the story at large.
I can't promise perfection. Heck, I can't even promise 100% accuracy (though I did cross-reference the more obscure sources). And I will gladly welcome any missing pieces and/or additional insight you may have.
\Note: If a character or place/item is minor enough, I've included a reminder of their book roles.*

So come on, friends. Let's dive on in.

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UK + IRELAND

PRYTHIAN

A combination of Prydain, the old Welsh name for Britain, and Brython, which translates to “Ancient Britons” from Welsh.

HYBERN

A riff of Hibernia, the Classical Latin name for Ireland.

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Artist of Prythian map: P-dulcis on redbubble

*A continuing list of world map related locations is provided in Part 2 of this post (see link above)

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MAIN CHARACTERS

RHYSAND

Rhys (also Rhŷs) is Welsh in origin and means "ardent, enthusiasm." It has deep roots in Welsh culture and is the name of several famous Welsh kings and noblemen, including Rhys ap Thomas, a solider who rose to prominence during the Wars of the Roses.

FEYRE ARCHERON

Feyre is a variant of Feyre and is Old English in origin. It means "fair, beautiful." A similar name in Old Norse is Freyja (also spelled Freya), meaning "Lady," denotes a woman of nobility. In Norse mythology, Freyja is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, and war.
In Greek mythology, the Archeron is one of the five rivers of the Underworld and is often the principal river through which the ferryman Charon transports the dead. It said to be the River of Woe or the River of Misery.

CASSIAN

Cassian is Latin in origin, means "son of Cassius," and denotes one of the oldest families in Rome. Arguably the most well known Cassius was one of the leading instigators of Julius Caesar's assassination plot.

AZRIEL

Azriel is Hebrew in origin meaning "God is my help." In some religions, Azrael is the benevolent angel of death who carries souls of the deceased to the afterlife.

MORRIGAN

The Morrígan is a Celtic goddess associated with war and fate and is seen as a guardian of the earth and its people. Her name means "great queen" or "phantom queen."

AMREN

Amram is of Hebrew origin and means "exalted people." It is the Biblical name of Moses' father.
Note: This tracks with Amren being able to interpret The Book of Breathings which is a play on the very real The Books of Breathing, a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary texts.

NESTA

Nesta is the Welsh version of Agnes meaning "pure, holy." May also have potential connections to Nestor, a legendary Greek king who was known as a great warrior and for the sage advice he offered younger soldiers.

ELAIN

Elain is Welsh in origin and means "fawn." Elaine is associated with the Greek name Helen meaning "light, bright one."
Fun fact: Elain is an anagram of Aelin.

NYX

Nyx is the Greek mythological goddess and personification of the Night. She is the mother of Day (Hemera) and Darkness (Erebus). She often appears alongside other celestial deities such as Selene, Helios, and Eos.

ILLYRIANS

EMERIE

Emerie has Old German origins and means "home strength, brave, powerful."

ENALIUS

In Greek mythology Enyalius is a son of Ares but is also a byname for the god of war. He is often seen as the god of soldiers and warriors from the Ares cult.

DEVLON

Devlon is Gaelic in origin and related to the name Devlin meaning "fierce courage."

BALTHAZAR

Balthazar is Akkadian in origin meaning "God protects the King." It is a name commonly attributed to the wise man who gifted myrrh to the Christ child (the myrrh symbolizing the future death of a king). It is an alternate form of King Belshazzar who played a pivotal role in a coup d'état that overthrew a Neo-Babylonian king.
ACOTAR role: Balthazar helped Nesta during the Blood Rite.

PROTEUS

Proteus is a prophetic sea god in Greek mythology and means "versatile, mutable, capable of assuming many forms."
ACOTAR role: Proteus is Emerie's father and was killed in the war with Hybern.

BELLIUS

May refer to Belus, the Babylonian god of war.
ACOTAR role: Bellius is Emerie's cousin and was slain by Cassian during the Blood Rite.

KALLON

No clear references found, but kalon in Ancient Greek translates to "ideal perfect beauty."
ACOTAR role: Kallon incited the Illyrians against the Night Court leaders and was ultimately slain during the Blood Rite.

HEWN CITY

KEIR

Keir is Gaelic, meaning "dark," and is related to the Irish name Ciarán. In Greek mythology, the Keres (singular being Ker) were female death spirits who personified violent death. There is a suggested connection between the Keres and the Valkyries of Norse mythology, each representing opposite ideals; the Valkyries being benevolent deities in death, versus the Keres representing feasting destruction.

THANATOS

In Greek mythology, Thanatos is the personification of death. He is a minor figure, often referred to but rarely appearing in person (I see what you did there, SJM).
ACOTAR role: Thanatos is mentioned briefly by Keir during the alliance meeting with Eris.

THE LIBRARY

CLOTHO

In ancient Greek mythology, Clotho is the youngest goddess of the Three Fates and spins the thread of human life. Her name means "spinner."

MERRILL

Merrill is of British origin meaning "sparkling sea, sea-bright."

GWYNETH BERDARA

Gwyneth is Welsh in origin and means "blessed, happiness." In Irish mythology, the Lady Gwyn is a headless woman (cough, Catrin, cough) who chases wanderers at night. In Arthurian mythology, Guinevere has an evil half-sister—"False" Guinevere—who bewitches Arthur.

ANANKE

Ananke means "necessity, fate personified." In Greek mythology she is one of the primordial deities and is the personification of necessity and inevitability.
ACOTAR role: A Priestess who joins in the training to become a Valkyrie.

DEIRDRE

Deirdre is Gaelic in origin and means "broken-hearted, wanderer." The name is associated with a tragic heroine in Irish mythology.
ACOTAR role: A Priestess who joins in the training to become a Valkyrie.

ILANA

Illana is Hebrew in origin nd means "tree, bright light." It stems from the name Elena and is potentially related to the name Ileana, a beautiful young female fairy in various myths.
ACOTAR role: A Priestess who joins in the training to become a Valkyrie.

LORELEI

Lorelei in German in origin and means "alluring, temptress." In German folklore, she is a siren-like seductress.
ACOTAR role: A Priestess who joins in the training to become a Valkyrie.

ROSLIN

Roslin is Scottish in origin and means "rose, red-haired."
ACOTAR role: A Priestess who joins in the training to become a Valkyrie.

RIVEN

Riven derives from Old Norse meaning "to split, tear asunder."
ACOTAR role: A Priestess who avoids contact with strangers and whose background is unknown.

SIDE CHARACTERS

MADJA

Madja is Slavic in origin and may mean "splendid, noble one." In Arabic it means "the women with glory." It is related to the name Madeleine meaning "from Magdala."

NUALA

Nuala is Irish in origin and means "fair shouldered one." In modern Irish storytelling it means "born of the sea." It is considered a diminutive form of the name Fionnuala, a mythological figure who was the daughter of a sea god.

CERRIDWEN

Cerridwen is an enchantress in Welsh mythology. She is said to possess the cauldron of poetic inspiration and is regarded by many as the Celtic goddess of rebirth, transformation, and inspiration.

RITA

Rita stems from the name Margarita and comes from the Greek word meaning "pearl." The Greeks promoted pearls as a symbol of honesty and integrity.
ACOTAR role: Rita owns the "how does the IC not know the clientele is gay" bar.

SEVENDA

No clear connection found, though venda in Latin means "sell" while sev means "strew, spread" and enda means "end." Could also potentially be related to the number seven.
ACOTAR role: Owns a restaurant the IC frequents.

NEVE

Neve is of Latin origin and means "snow."
ACOTAR role: The jeweler from whom Rhys buys jewelry for Amren in ACOFAS.

POLINA

Polina has Latin origins and derives from Apollo, though it could also be seen as a variant of Paulina/Paul meaning "little, the younger."
ACOTAR role: The faerie who owned Feyre's art studio before her untimely death.

RESSINA

Resina means "resin of the pine." Plants secret resin as a protective response, guarding them from insects and pathogens.
ACOTAR role: Ressina opens the art studio with Feyre. She has green skin and stood outside her shop in response to Hybern's attack on Velaris, protecting the terrified faeries inside.

ARANEA

Aranea is Greek in origin and denotes a genus of orb-weaving spiders.
ACOTAR role: Aranea is the weaver who created the Void cloth.

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MAIN CHARACTERS

TAMLIN

From the "Ballad of Tam Lin," a legendary ballad from the borderlands of Scotland. Reminiscent of the fairytale Beauty & the Beast where a mortal woman plucks a rose and encounters a man in the forest, later learning he is captive to faeries. She must hold onto him as he is transformed into various beasts and upon his rescue, the faerie Queen muses that she should have taken out his eyes (Lucien, anyone?) or capture his heart (Tamlin's stone heart) to prevent his escape.

LUCIEN

Lucien is French in origin and means "light." Lucian was also the name of a Hellenized Syrian satirist who was known for his tongue-in-cheek style is said to be the inventor of comic dialogue.

ALIS

Alis is a variant of Alice and translates to "noble, exalted."

SIDE CHARACTERS

IANTHE

Ianthe is Greek in origin and means "she who delights." In Greek mythology she is a water-nymph daughter of Oceanus and a companion to Persephone when she was abducted by Hades.

ANDRAS

Andras has Welsh origins and means "manly, brave."

BRON

Bron is Old English and means "brown."

HART

Hart has Irish origins and means "hero, brave, firm." A hart is also the term for a male deer and in Celtic mythology, the white hart is said to appear when one is transgressing a taboo (Tamlin's whipping of his other sentry comes to mind).

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MAIN CHARACTERS

BERON VANSERRA

Beron is French in origin and is a pet form of the name Bero meaning "bear."
Vanserra is a combination of the prefix van meaning "from, of" and serra meaning "saw, view from a high place" or "mountain range." Vanserra can be said to mean "of the mountains."

ERIS

In ancient Greek mythology, Eris is the Greek goddess of strife and discord. Her Roman equivalent, Discord, is the goddess of chaos. She is associated with the war goddess Enyo who is frequently associated with the war god Ares.

SIDE CHARACTERS

JESMINDA

Jesminder is Indian in origin meaning "flower queen."

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MAIN CHARACTERS

TARQUIN

Tarquin is of Latin origin and means "ruler, strong soldier." Two of the seven kings of Rome bore the name.

VARIAN

Varian is of Latin origin and means "variable."

CRESSEIDA

Cressida derives from Chryseis and means "golden." She is a character associated with the Trojan War and is the archetype of a faithless lover.

SIDE CHARACTERS

NOSTRUS

Nostrum comes from the Latin noster meaning "our, ours." Nostos is an Ancient Greek literary theme concerning an epic hero returning home, often by sea. It is deemed a high level of heroism or greatness and focuses on the hero retaining or elevating their identity while often resisting temptation.
ACOTAR role: The High Lord prior to Tarquin who was slain by Amarantha after participating in a rebellion Under the Mountain.

BRUTIUS

May refer to the Latin name Brutus meaning "heavy, dull."
ACOTAR role: Mercifully slain by Rhys Under the Mountain after his attempted escape.

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MAIN CHARACTERS

HELION

Helios is the Ancient Greek god personifying the sun. He is often depicted with a solar crown and drives a horse-drawn chariot through the sky. He played a significant role in ancient magic and spells and is the son of the Titan Theia and brother to Selene.

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MAIN CHARACTERS

KALLIAS

Callias is Greek in origin and means "beauty, beautiful voice." He is a diplomatic and wealthy figure in Ancient Greece.

VIVIANNE

From the Latin word vivianus meaning "alive." Commonly associated with the Irish name Bébinn meaning "beautiful, fair one" and is the name of an underworld goddess in both Irish and Welsh mythology.

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THESAN

Thesan is the Etruscan goddess of the dawn. Greeks identified her with Eos, the goddess and personification of the dawn. She is sometimes depicted with wings.

NUAN

Nuan is Mandarin and means "warm, genial."

THE PEREGRYN

The peregrine is a falcon renowned for its speed.
Fun fact: The peregrine is the fastest member of the animal kingdom and can reach speeds of over 200mph.

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AMARANTHA

Amaranths is Greek in origin and means "unfading." The amaranthus flower, often deep red in color, is said to symbolize immortality as it blooms for so long.

BRANNAGH

Brannagh is of Irish origin and denotes a "beautiful female with hair dark as a raven."

DAGDAN

In Irish mythology, the Dagda is considered the chief god of the Tuatha Dé Danaan. His name means "the good god, the great god."

CLYTHIA

In Greek mythology, Clytia is a water nymph who loved the sun god Helios. Helios left her for another woman after coming under the influence of Aphrodite. Clytia exposed the affair to the other woman's father, but eventually lost herself in mourning for Helios's love. Her name means "glorious, renowned."
ACOTAR role: Amarantha's sister.

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HISTORICAL FIGURES

THEIA

Theia is a Titan and is the Ancient Greek goddess of sight and vision. She is the parent of Helios, Selene, and Eos. She is most known not for her own role, but for that of her childrens'. Her name means "goddess, godly."

SILENE

Selene is the Ancient Greek goddess and personification of the moon. She is the daughter of Hyperion and Theia and sister to Helios and Eos.

HELENA

Comes from the Green name Helen meaning "shining light." There are various Helens in Greek mythology: Helen of Troy, Helen a friend to Aphrodite, and Helene the Amazonian who fought Achilles.

FIONN

Fionn is of Irish origin and means "fair-haired." In Irish folklore, Fionn Mac Cumhaill was a leader of a band of young hunter-warriors.

PELIAS

Pelias is Greek in origin and means "rock pigeon." Pelias was the king of Ioclus while Peleus was the king of Phthia. Peleus was husband to Thetis, father to Achilles, and left several (men and women) dead in his wake, both through means of accident and betrayal, fleeing more than once to escape punishment.

OLEANNA

Oleanna derives from the Greek name Helene meaning "sun ray, shining light."
ACOTAR role: The High Priestess who dipped Gwydion in the Cauldron.

REPORTED DECEASED

CATRIN BERDARA

Catrin is Greek in origin and means "clear, pure." It's commonly used in Wales and is connected with the ancient goddess Hecate, who is the goddess of witchcraft, sorcery, and necromancy.

MINOR CHARACTERS

TANWYN

Tanwan is of Welsh origin and means "white fire."
ACOTAR role: Tanwyn was a Valkyrie and Cassian's former lover.

OSIAN

Osian is Welsh meaning "young deer" and derives from the Irish legendary poet and warrior Oisín, who was regarded as the greatest poet of Ireland and a warrior of the Fianna (small warrior-hunter bands). He was a demigod son of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and Sadhbh.
ACOTAR role: The author of A Brief History of the Great Sieges

RABATH

Rabath is an anagram of Bharat, one of the names of India. Derived from the Sanskrit word bharata, meaning "to bear, be maintained" it can also mean "one who is engaged in search of knowledge."
ACOTAR role: Lord of the Western Wind and ancestor to Merrill.

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JURIAN

Jurian is Greek in origin and means "farmer, earthworker."

GRAYSEN

Graysen is of English origin and translates to "son of the steward/gray-haired man."

NOLAN

Nolan is Irish in origin and denotes a "child of nobility, champion."
ACOTAR role: Nolan is Graysen's father.

ISAAC HALE

Isaac is Hebrew in origin and means "one who laughs or rejoices." Hale is Old English in origin and means "nook, recess" and denoted someone who lived in a nook or hollow.

TOMAS MANDRAY

Thomas is Hebrew in origin and means "twin." No clear reference to Mandray, though Mandrew is Greek and means "man, warrior."
ACOTAR role: Tomas was Nesta's former betrothed.

CLARE BEDDOR

Clare is French in origin and means "bright, clear." No reference found for Beddor.

AUNT RIPLEIGH

Ripleigh is Old English and means "shouting man's meadow." It is connected to the name Ripley meaning "strip of clearing in the woods."
ACOTAR role: Aunt Ripleigh is the feigned aunt Feyre takes care of.

Ms. Laurent

Laurent is French in origin and means "from Laurentum" and "bay laurel."
ACOTAR role: Ms. Laurent is the mortal caretaker of the Archeron estate.

BRIAR

Briar is of British origin and means "thorny bush of wild roses, brambles."
ACOTAR role: Briar is the mortal woman rescued by Feyre and Azriel.

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HUMAN QUEENS

VASSA

Vasilissa is Greek in origin and means "queen, empress." It is also the name of a Christian child martyr who was left unharmed during her capture, but after her release was slain in a field as she prayed.

BRIALLYN

Briallen is a Welsh name meaning "primrose." Primrose comes from the Latin word meaning "first" and the primrose flower often represents youth and renewal (SJM, you dog—this may be my favorite tongue-in-cheek naming thing you did).
ACOTAR role: Briallyn is the first queen who enters the Cauldron and is rewarded with immortality as a withered old hag.

DEMETRA

Demeter was the mother of Persephone, an Ancient Greek goddess of the harvest and an emblem of growth.
ACOTAR role: Demetra was the golden queen who provided the mortal half of The Book of Breathings to the Night Court and was subsequently slain by the Attor.

ANDROMACHE

Andromache means "fighter of men." In Greek mythology, she was representative of the suffering of Trojan women during the war and was famous for her virtue and fidelity. Andromache was also the name of a famous Greek Amazonian who fell at Troy.
ACOTAR role: Andromache was the former mortal lover of Mor.

FAE CHARACTERS

DRAKON

Drakon is of Greek origin and means "dragon."

NEPHELLE

In Greek mythology Nephele, meaning "cloud," is a cloud nymph who is considered the goddess of loyalty, generosity, peace, and shyness.

THE SERAPHIM

A seraph is a celestial being regarded as belonging to the highest order of angels in Christian angelology.

HUMAN CHARACTERS

MIRYAM

Miriam of of Hebrew origin and means "sea of sorrow." She is the Biblical daughter of Amram and Jochebed and sister to Aaron and Moses.

URSTIN

No plausible connections found. Potentially an anagram for Rustin, an English name meaning "Rust's estate" or Surtin, a Middle English name meaning "reliable, trustworthy."
ACOTAR role: Urstin is a cousin of the Archerons via their mother.

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MAIN CHARACTERS

THE SURIEL

Suriel is a Hebrew name meaning "God's prince, divine authority." May also reference Sariel, an angel from Judais tradition, one of the seven holy angels. He is considered to be a primordial power invoked for his protective powers.

ATTOR

Possibly an altered form of the German tatter meaning "goblin, puppet." Likely inspired by the Ahool, a bat or primate-like winged cryptid said to live in the jungles of Indonesia.

DEATH GODS

THE BONE CARVER

Self-explanatory.

STRYGA AKA THE WEAVER

Stryzga is a female demon in Slavic mythology similar to a vampire. Stryzga stems from the mythological Strix of Ancient Greece, referring to birds of ill omen (and also witches) who fed on human flesh and blood.

KOSCHEI

Koschei is a common villain in East Slavic tales. He is often given the epithet of "the Immortal, the Deathless" and is said to hide his death inside nested objects for protection. He often takes the role of a malevolent rival figure who competes or entraps a male hero's love interest.
Fun note: The love interest trapping tidbit has interesting connotations for both Lucien (regarding Vassa) and Azriel (regarding Eris). For a breakdown of the Azriel x Koschei scene in ACOSF, see HERE.

PRISON INMATES

BRYAXIS

Bryaxis was a famous Ancient Greek sculptor. His name may mean "delight, lust."

LANTHYS

No information or connections found (and it is KILLING me).

LUBIA

In Albanian mythology, the lubia is a multi-headed, serpentine-like, female watestorm demon-dragon. Her irresistible taste of flesh leans toward that of young girls.
ACOTAR role: Also called Seven-Headed Lubia, imprisoned for preying on girls on the western coast of Prythian.

ANNIS

The Black Annis is a bogeyman in English folklore, depicted as a blue-faced witch with iron claws who has a taste for human flesh, especially that of children.
ACOTAR role: Also called Blue Annis, imprisoned for her craving of female flesh.

VESPERUS

In Greek mythology, Hesperus is the Evening Star. Her Roman equivalent is named Vesper.
ACOTAR role: Vesperus is the Asteri found beneath the Prison.

MINOR CHARACTERS

MIDDENGARD WYRM

Midgard is the realm of human beings in Norse mythology, ie Earth. Wrym is an Old Norse word and refers to a wingless and limbless dragon.

THE BOGGE

Bogge is a Middle English word meaning "frightening specter" from which the term bogeyman originated. Bogeyman have no specific appearance and conceptions vary drastically by culture.
Fun fact: A boggart is a supernatural being from English folklore and also derives from the term bogge (Harry Potter facts, yo).

NAGA

Throughout various Asian religious traditions, Angus are a divine or semi-divine race of half-human, half-serpent beings residing in the netherworld.
Fun fact: A female naga is called a Nagi or a Nagini (more HP facts, yo).

MARTAX

A manticore is a Persian mythological creature similar to the Egyptian sphinx. The martax describe in ACOTAR has a head like a lion's and three rows of teeth. A manticore has the body of a lion and eats its victims whole with its three rows of teeth. The term manticore stems from Latin and Ancient Greek.

PUCA

Púca is Irish for "spirit, ghost" while puca is Old English for "goblin." They were said to be shape-changers.

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MEALLAN

Meallán is Irish in origin meaning "small pleasant one."
ACOTAR role: Helion's pegasus.

ELLIA

Ellia is of various origins and can translate to "beautiful fairy maiden" with hints to the "Otherworld."
ACOTAR role: Mor's horse.

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For Part 2: World Map, Items, Terms & Other, click HERE

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Hi. Recently my mom(52F) and I(15M) got into a brief disagreement over my phone. I have pretty free rein over it, and I don’t keep anything incriminating on my phone, it’s just a lot of embarrassing stuff(things about my identity, friends, writing, etc).
I’ve had a password on my phone for nearly two years already and my mom has never complained about it. Like I said, I don’t have anything to hide, but I do like having the feeling of having something that’s my own little corner of the world. I don’t do much online, I have Instagram to talk to one of my friends and an art account(that I asked for permission to make from my mom a few weeks ago, so I’m not creeping around behind her back) and TikTok, but I don’t interact with others a lot.
Recently an issue with an Instagram account dragging students at my school was discovered and the school called CPS to talk to the parents about social media and phones. My mom mentioned it and I said she probably doesn’t need to go since she knows a lot about it already, and I know she hates going to those extra stuff for school. She asked me how she’s supposed to keep me safe if I have a password on my phone and can’t see what I’m doing.
Before you say it, I know I’m a teenager, I know it’s her house and her rules, and I know she just wants to keep me safe. But I just want some privacy. She’s super involved in everything else in my life, constantly poking around in my school books when I’m not home, going through stuff, and other stuff I can’t remember right now. Point is, I don’t feel like I have a lot of privacy over all. my phone has been a space for me to just relax and do my own thing. It doesn’t get in the way of school work, sleep, etc. I’d like to believe that I’ve got relatively good control over that.
She and I had a run in similar to this a while ago where she went through my phone without asking. Nothing incriminating again, but she saw I was messaging some of my friends and not telling her and she told me I need to stop texting them for a while. It was just random teenager stuff so im not sure what got her feathers all ruffled. She knew the kids bcs she taught at the school I was at and saw them regularly.
I always fall flat when we’re arguing over it because she’s clearly convinced I’m up to nonsense on my phone, and all I can say is ‘I have nothing to hide I just want privacy’ which sounds a bit shaky.
Any advice for smoothing this over? It’s really annoying and we argue about enough trivial things as it is, I don’t want to add another conflict to the mix.
TLDR: my mom thinks I’m hiding stuff on my phone because I have a passcode, what can I do to get her to stop thinking that?
Thanks in advance.

I think I can consider myself fluent when it comes to reading and listening, since I can understand about 98% of books.
With that level of proficiency in a target language, where there isn't much more vocabulary to learn unless I read a specific book about, for example, quantum physics, would listening to an audiobook be equivalent to reading a book in terms of language learning and continued improvement?

Howdy y'all.
I'm kinda just putting out feelers since I haven't created a public Discord server before. But the idea around it would be to get a bunch of like-minded people together to go on day-adventures, book events, and just share experiences. I'd want it to be inclusive, safe, and fun.
A bit about me: I'm 30M, moved to Toronto a bit over a year ago, but still very new. Westest end (Etobicoke, near the Lakeshore). Huge nerd. I like DnD, board games, video games, movies, all things horror, all kinds of music (anything from metal & punk, to folk & electro). I'm currently interested in learning to sing and play guitar, I do improv, and I'm a scare actor during the Halloween season. I have ADHD and so I often find myself picking up random hobbies all the time, before putting them down for new things.
I'd be really keen on getting folk together to watch movies, go to concerts/music festivals, do conventions, even go on the odd walk or so. Would love to setup board game days, etc. But also I'm okay with setting things up online too, and just using the Discord to vibe and share interests.
Would anybody be interested?

Hi, I'm studying to become a core developer, and I'm looking for good textbooks to teach me the fundamentals. I'd very much prefer hands-on books/courses where I am assigned many projects. But if there aren't any, I don't mind assigning myself projects. The completeness and clarity of the content is more important to me than hands-on books/courses.
Current Knowledge:

• I know a little bit of programming (just above beginner level, I'd say)
• I know what a blockchain is, and a very superficial idea of how it works
• Currently undertaking Chainlink's Hackathon where I am to build a dApp. No idea what I'm doing, but the whole point is to learn how to figure things out on the way. This way, I'd have some context to 'hang' my newfound knowledge of how things really work.

Thanks!

Trigger warning - religious differences
I always bragged about how awesome my extended family was. NO family is perfect, but I heard horror stories and always counted my blessings that I had strong ties with my Aunt and uncles since I was raised an only child. That was until a few months ago when my last living Aunt, whom I considered a second mom, shattered me.
Ok, some backstory here. My aunt is a Jehovah’s Witness. Now before you get all judgy, I have always loved her, my uncle and her son with all of my heart. I still do. I respect that they have found faith and live by this code on the daily. I have met many people from their congregation and loved them all (ok, a couple of exceptions). I also appreciate the community they have and love they all show each other. If it weren’t for the religion itself, I would have converted.
I, however, am pagan and have always been since I was about 5 (even the first book I signed out from the school’s library was about witchcraft). Not raised that way, but always found spiritual comfort in nature and the natural world. I have a very strong connection and dedication to my Powers That Be and work every day to help the world be a better place. My Aunt did not know my religion until about 7 years ago. That being said, she and I would have very philosophical conversations when we hung out together. Even at the age of 8, I would listen to her preach to me and ask questions to which she never had answers. I remember her telling me how only 144,000 people would be allowed in heaven and didn’t I think that would be wonderful knowing that our whole family could be together again after we died. We’d all be in heaven if we were all Jehova;s witnesses. I had gone with her many times to do field service (door to door) and asked her why they do that if there’s only a certain number of people allowed. Didn’t that lessen her chances of getting in because I’m sure there were many people more deserving than myself. How did she know for sure she’d be one of the ones to get in and was that fair to keep bringing people into the religion when all the spaces were probably already filled up?
At 8 years old, I had many questions and was just trying to figure these things out. Since she was an adult, I figured she had the answers. My questions were not with malice, just for a want of better understanding. When she didn’t have the answers, I'd ask my mother and grandmother. While they were extremely amused, they said they never understood either. They never said anything bad about her or her attempts to get them to convert, just allowed me to explore religion and spirituality as I wished so I could make my own decision of what was right for me.
Once I was an adult, I avoided talking to her about religion, but found that if I didn’t ask questions and just let her talk, it made her happy. I know she’s a good person at heart and that’s all that matters. After my Mom passed, my aunt and I talked almost every week. I loved talking to her and she became even more like a mom to me. She gave me encouragement and we supported each other through health and emotional crises. I’d make it a point to try and visit at least once a year for a few days so she could visit with my daughter and I. We’d always do lunch with her friends and I loved it. I fell in love with some of the people in her congregation and wished we could live closer to hang out more. I, however, never wavered on my spiritual beliefs, but I have never cared about the religion, race, or sexuality of anyone. If we got along, we were friends and that was that.
My aunt and I had come to an understanding that I would not convert and that we would love and respect each other regardless. Religious talk was off the table for the most part until both of my uncles (my aunt’s two brothers) passed and she had a very hard time dealing with it. She was the last surviving sibling and she was sinking into a depression. I’d talk to her at length and listen to her as she mourned the fact that she would never have contact with them (and my mom) in heaven because they never converted. When she asked me what I believed, I told her that I believed that the soul lived on after the body died and that I believed in reincarnation. I explained my beliefs were closer to hindu and buddhism than christianity (so she had context). We had very long talks and she expressed that she respected my views and actually found comfort in talking with me.
That was until my daughter and I opened our store about 3 years ago. It’s a metaphysical shop and we have crystals, teas, gifts, jewelry, candles and more (about 10% strict;y pagan). My aunt was happy for us until it dawned on her that we might sell pagan stuff. I told her what we sold and she asked me if I was a witch. I replied that I suppose that was one way to describe me, but, again, I considered myself spiritual and that I followed a path closer to buddhism, hinduism, native american. I sent a couple of pictures of the jewelry that we made and she said when we came down, we should bring the jewelry making.
We did, I brought down our best crystals to wrap and bracelet materials and my daughter and I made her a necklace with a very expensive stone (A $200 piece). She brought her friends over and they picked out crystals that they wanted, made bracelets and such. We had fun and I was happy to do it, though I wasn’t expecting people that I had never met before. Still, we had fun. My daughter and I also brought her a basket with local items from our hometown, (Raw honey, handmade stoneware mugs, cutting board, herbal tea and some other items made by us as well) She was thrilled. My aunt and uncle had taken a couple of bad falls a few months before and so my daughter and I made them hand carved cedar walking sticks as well because we knew they went for regular walks and thought it would help their balance. It felt amazing to lavish expensive and heartfelt gifts on them as I has struggled so long with money. I was finally in a place that I could do it. To say the gifts probably totalled in excess of 1K is on the low side, but I was still happy to do it.
Besides the fact that they tried converting my daughter when I wasn’t around, it was a lovely visit. The only problem I had was with a new person my aunt introduced us to. This woman, we’ll call her Dee, ignored me and only talked to my daughter. She was my age if not older, but conversed with my daughter, 17, like I wasn’t there. They traded contact info and Dee insisted that they keep in touch while my daughter was in college. Dee said she was going to keep an eye on her. I thought that was odd, but I did enjoy the feeling of having an extended family sort of since I actually had no family besides my Aunt.
Let’s jump forward to the following year and we were struggling financially. Not horrible, but unable to lavish the gifts that we did the year before. Instead, I created a beautiful aromatherapy candle, some delicious herbal teas and we found a couple of very rare antique tea cups that had amazing value to them (about $100 a piece). We made a basket for her and I decided we would cook for them. (gluten free, soy free, dairy free etc). Our visit went so well, it was great to see them. We just enjoyed hanging out with them and talking. They loved the meal we made for them and the dairy free organic chocolate I made. Everything was great until the day we were leaving. Dee showed up and again ignored me, talked to my daughter and chastised her for getting a pet snake as that was an animal associated with the devil. My daughter is one to push the envelope a bit and said how she wanted to get a tattoo as well, one of a snake. Both my aunt and Dee were shocked and said she should never get a tattoo.. Again related to the devil, I went to the bathroom as I was not involved in the conversation and knew my daughter could hold her own. Little do they know that my daughter is also trans. I told her not to say anything to them just yet. I came back to them talking about how college was going and I thought my aunt and Dee would faint when she said her college roommate was male. She quickly explained that it was fine because he was gay and how awesome he was (he is btw). She quickly realized what I meant when she saw their reaction to him being gay. It wasn’t that she was living with a boy, it was that he was gay and “why did he choose to be gay.” I tried redirecting the conversation a couple of times, but they ignored me.
They finally let it go, but just after Dee left, we were getting ready to depart as well. My aunt returned the basket I made for her (minus the expensive tea cups). She said she could not accept them as they were touched by the devil. Shocked, I asked what she meant. She said that because they came from my store, they carried Satan's influence and she could not have them in our home. Truthfully, I explained that I made those items for her and that the only things that came from the store were the teacups. She was confused why I had gotten upset. When I explained that I gave her a gift and if she didn’t want it, she could regift it or throw it away. That gift came from my heart with all the love I have for her and that I didn't need to know her opinions about the gifts because It insinuated I, myself, was evil and it was extremely hurtful. She basically continued on insisting that I was just not aware of how much Satan had a hold of me. All I could do was tell her how much I loved her and leave.
I didn’t take her calls and cried about this for over a month. I finally felt strong enough to talk to her and again she insisted that because those items touched my hands, they were influenced by satan and she wished I could understand how they just can’t have that influence in their home. Frustrated, I asked how she could shop at grocery stores or buy anything from department stores because she can’t guarantee that those items didn’t touch hands that were influenced by satan. Also , I asked her how they could have eaten the food I prepared for them and why did they even invite me into their home to begin with if that’s the way she felt about me. She suddenly needed to go.
We talked a few times since then but it always came back to religion. At one point I asked her again why she would even invite us to her home if she felt that way. Her response was to save my daughter. The pain and heartache she has inflicted is immense, but I cannot bring myself to argue the point because I’m afraid if I make my point to her, it will break her. She’s in her 80’s and I believe has the beginnings of dementia. Her religion brings her comfort and I don’t want to say anything that might make her doubt her religion at her advanced age.
I’ve decided it is probably best for both of our mental health to stop all contact with her( with the exception of sending cards telling them how much I love them) even though I’ve always seen her as a second mom. AITA for making this decision and not trying to work things out with her or allow her to believe that I still might convert?
*** Please understand this is not a bash on any religion. Everyone has the right to believe in whatever religion they wish. That includes me, so if you feel the need to bash them or me for our spiritual choices, you can move along ***
I have never felt like I needed to hide any part of me from my friends, family, and the public in general. Not until now. Buckle up, this is a bumpy ride.
I've always been kind hearted, almost to a flaw. I took care of my grandmother, my step-dad, my mom and helped with a family friend during long term and terminal illnesses. I had my daughter and, without her father's help, raised her on my own with very little to no support. I helped friends with their farm who left me homeless in the end because I want interested in an extramarital affair. I lost my home and all that I loved including my husband because he lied to me and never paid it mortgage while I was recovering from an illness. In short, I have had a tough life, but it has never made me turn my back on anyone who needed help or in difficult family when they were ignored by the others. That's just some background before I tell you this situation.
Three years ago, after a bout of covid, my daughter was suicidal. She had been in the top three of her HS class and yet at that point almost failed her junior year. Not knowing if she would have the emotional strength to face college and adulting in general, I set up a plan B for her. I started a store in her name and that way she'd have something at least to fall back on if she was unable to function in the m-f 9 to 5 world. We started slow by doing craft fairs, seeking crystals, candles, jewelry, and gifts. We were kicked out of one because the person running it assumed we were witches. She was not wrong exactly as we identified as pagan, but we lived our life closest to the Buddhist and Hindu traditions, not traditional wicca. These were people who knew us for years and were considered acquaintances if not friends.
Our business flourished and we ended up opening our brick and mortar that fall after remodeling our garage/ barn and turning it into a store front. Even though I run it for my daughter, it is hers and we work together to keep it going.
In the past few years I've lost my mom, and two uncles. I have no family besides my mother's sister and her husband which we were pretty close. My aunt knew that I was pagan and had tried recruiting me into her religion since I was 5. Even at that tender age her religion never made sense and I would ask her questions to which she never had answers. I accepted her and respected her and her religion even though I didn't agree. I loved the people she introduced me to that were in her church and I always got along with them. That is until we visited the year after we started our store. My aunt was thrilled about us bringing crystals down and making jewelry with her. We met a new friend of hers (middle aged woman) who ignored me completely and oozed affection on my daughter. She got my daughter's contact info and contacted her frequently. Trying to convert and ”save” her. My daughter wasn't having it as even though she was in a delicate state, she is very level headed and strong willed.
This year we visited and we brought herbal tea, candies, and rare vintage tea cups for my aunt. The day we were leaving, she handed back everything but the vintage tea cups and told me she couldn't accept them because they were touched by Satan (aka made by my hands). To say I was devastated is an understatement. This woman was always like a second mom to me and we had grown closer after my mom passed away. It was a 20 hour drive home and I cried most of the way. I cried for weeks after a well. Thinking of it now still brings me tears. As she was telling me that Satan had a hold on me and that she was trying to save me, all I did was remind her how much I loved her and my uncle. Every time since then that we have talked, she says the same thing, but now she told me I was a lost cause. I feel like trying to stay in touch is detrimental to her mental health ( and my own). I don't want to give up or abandon the last of my family, but I can't talk to her and endure the endless insinuations that I'm evil because I don't believe in her religion. She took a bad fall and broke her arm. The last time we spoke, she talked as if it was my fault for bringing the devil into her home.
While I could usually brush this off as delusional ranting, it hits hard because the same day she fell, my dad died. I know the Powers That Be only give as much as we can handle, I just wish they didn't have so much faith in me.
They are in their 80s. I know in all the pieces of my broken heart that they'll never be able to accept my daughter and I unless we change religions and it has crossed my mind just to say we have to put her at ease, but I can't lie like that to them and we cannot betray ourselves like that either. By

Background
The Dunmer population of Windhelm is composed primarily of refugees (or born of refugees) who escaped Vvardenfel’s disastrous living conditions after the eruption of the Red Mountain in 4E 5, known as the Red Year. The migration of most of these refugees likely took place in the years following the disaster. In the roughly 200 years since, they’ve built a sizable community within Windhelm’s ghetto, formerly known as the Snow Quarter. The squalor they live in during the present time (4E 201) is indicative of their long struggle to integrate with the Nord majority. Now, why has there been such a struggle?
According to a variety of non-Dunmer NPC dialogue, the common sentiment is that the Dunmer keep to themselves, they do not try to integrate, they do not work hard, and they do not get involved with the war effort. The in-game book Scourge of the Gray Quarter by Frilgeth Horse-Breaker makes many complaints on the Dunmer’s existence in Windhelm, reiterating such sentiments and claiming they do not contribute to the city. That the book makes reference to Ulfric as jarl, it can be assumed that these are at the very least the sentiments of the present time.
The Struggle
The book notably compares the Dunmer of Windhelm to the Dunmer of Riften, claiming the Dunmer of Riften are able to integrate because they are more hard working and engage in honest labor. In this explanation the writer (quite obviously) shows their bias in they neglect the crucial detail of describing the cities themselves. The people of Riften do not have the same level of xenophobia that those in Windhelm do. They do not have a jarl whose actions encourage the separation of multiple “outsider” groups and Nords. The people of Riften engage with the Dunmer like they would anyone else, contrasted with Windhelm where a Dunmer is more often than not labeled as an “outsider”.
The treatment of Dunmer refugees in Riften also differ in that they were not relegated to a ghetto. This is not to say that Windhelm explicitly forbids Dunmer from buying homes outside of the Gray Quarter (although dialogue of Aval Atheron might suggest so), but rather they are not afforded social mobility as a whole. According to Malthyr Elenil ‘s dialogue, the Quarter “wasn't always so bad”. Judging by the architecture relative to the rest of the city, I’d argue that this Quarter was a slum prior to the Dunmer arrival. In essence, it was a slum before they got there and it remains a slum today (if not worse), but is it the fault of the Dunmer? According to the dialogue of Scouts-Many-Marshes, an Argonian living on the Windhelm docks, it is implied that an Argonian working in Windhelm makes 8 septims per day plus lodging, presumably a tenth the wage of a “proper Nord worker”. Whether or not this “tenth” is an exaggeration or not, Scouts refers to this level of pay as akin to slave labor. Comparing the squalor of the Argonians and the Dunmer, and taking into account the kind of jobs available to them in this city, it can be fairly assumed that the Dunmer do not make much more money than the Argonians when working for the Windhelm Nords. Contrasted again with Riften, where no such race based pay gap seems to exist. How can the Dunmer be expected then, to adequately maintain their neighborhoods on a pay that is a mere fraction of a Nords?
Trying to make a comparison of “work ethic” between the Dunmer of Riften and Windhelm is inherently unfair when you ignore the near diametric social conditions of the two cities. This is also indicative of the Windhelm Nord’s refusal to acknowledge the roots of Dunmer issues. The old jarls of Windhelm may have accepted the refugees, but the Nord citizens have clearly endeavored to keep them at an arm’s length, leading to the segregation of the Windhelm Dunmer we see today.
The “Good Ones” and the Model Minority
Many might look upon Beylyn Hlaalu as proof that any Dunmer can work their way out of poverty. He is the only Dunmer land owner in Windhelm, a proud man who credits his success to his hard work and resents the poorer Dunmer for complaining. But what many fail to consider is that he is a descendent of House Hlaalu, a former Great House of Morrowind. Although House Hlaalu at this point has lost all major political power, they’re still a family of considerable wealth and influence in Raven Rock, albeit under a fake name. I find it rather likely then, in a culture who so values clanship, that Beylyn Hlaalu has had monetary support from his wealthy relatives in order to at the very least kickstart his farm. And although there are no explicit pieces of lore that support this, one must wonder if it is truly coincidence that the shining example of Dunmer success is one born from a not too distantly historically powerful family.
The successes of the Altmer residents in Windhelm are also cited as proof of Dunmer failings. They are Nurelion, Niranye, Ulundil, and his wife Arivanya. Niranye is presumably the newest Altmer migrant to the city, saying she's only just arrived from the Summerset Isles. She is the only one of the Altmer to make references to mistreatment by Nords, claiming that it was difficult at first but she'd eventually proved her usefulness. Clearly she has been able to integrate with Nord society, and once again it is credited as her own hard work. But is that completely true? There are three factors for her ease of integration that are being ignored here: Unlike the Dunmer, the Altmer arrived as business minded merchants and not as refugees, There were already well established and respected Altmer living in the city prior to her arrival, and her business is unfairly propped up by her dealings with crime guilds. Her business directly competes with that of Ravyn Sadri, a Dunmer general goods merchant. By acquiring her goods through her criminal connections and selling at absurdly low prices, she is able to quite easily undercut Ravyn’s business, who operates honestly.
Referencing Scourge of the Gray Quarter again, the writing finishes by claiming that Windhelm Argonians should be the model for Dunmer behavior and acceptance. They write that the Argonian “has learned how to best contribute to their new home…toiling with utmost efficiency and bright smiles”. Once again this text omits crucial details. The Argonians are forbidden, by decree of Ulfric Stormcloak, from entering the city. And make no mistake, this segregation is not because of the racial tensions between Dunmer and Argonian. According to dialogue from Brunwulf Free-Winter it was primarily due to Ulfric’s distrust of foreigners and Nord stubbornness. They are only permitted to reside on the docks and, as stated before, make a mere fraction of the pay of a Nord worker because of the explicit reason of not being a Nord. This is the proposed model for acceptance? Exploitation, racial hierarchy, and wage slavery? Who reads Scourge of the Gray Quarter, looks at the Argonians, and genuinely thinks they’ve successfully integrated?
When holding these so-called examples of Dunmer failures to light, it’s clear to see that they hold little water. The successes of the “good ones” are not wholly the result of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps, but likely by benefitting from pre existing privileges that gave them an advantage over the Dunmer as a whole. And the proposed solution for those without such privileges? Becoming servile and catering to the Nords at the Dunmer’s own expense. In the face of mistreatment and mistrust by the majority group, an administration that refuses to listen to them, racially biased pay gaps, a competition that cheats them, and wage slavery: how rational is it to say all they need to do is “work harder”?
Another Man’s War
A common criticism of the Windhelm Dunmer is that they refuse to join Ulfric Stormcloak’s war effort. Many claim that it is their duty as residents of Windhelm, that they owe a debt to the city for taking them in as refugees 200 years ago. But I ask you this, why should they fight on behalf of a system that harms them? It should first be said that the Stormcloak Rebellion’s primary function is to release Skyrim from the rule of the Empire, so that Skyrim’s people may solely be governed by those who live in Skyrim (Ignoring for a moment that Ulfric’s rebellion was set in motion by the Thalmor to weaken the Empire, according to the Thalmor Dossier). An admirable sentiment, but it has manifested itself as highly xenophobic and oftentimes hostile (most commonly verbally) to those who are not Nords. In the case of the Windhelm Dunmer, it has led to the local Nords being more distrustful than ever before. More dialogue from Brunwulf indicates the escalation of racial tension in the city is primarily the result of Ulfric’s “Skyrim for the Nords” rhetoric. This paired with Ulfric’s complete apathy towards the issues faced by non-Nords in his hold communicates a hatred towards them and systematically harms them.
Many players are under the impression that the Dunmer received free housing and live tax free due to what is written in the Decree of Monument."untithed to any thane or hold, and self-governed, with free worship, with no compensation to Skyrim or the Empire”. I’d argue the text is referring to taxes rather than housing, and no other in-game source makes reference to the housing situation either. But does that mean it is true that the Dunmer don’t pay taxes? One of the outcomes of Revyn Sadri’s quest results in him having to pay “increased taxes” to the city of Windhelm, implying that yes, the Dunmer are currently paying taxes. I do not think it is likely that only Revyn or only some Dunmer are paying taxes. It can be fairly assumed then that at some point between 4E 20 (when the monument was placed) and the present time of 4E 201, the Dunmer were made to pay taxes like any other citizen. As for housing, I find it unlikely the Dunmer received the Gray Quarter for free. As stated earlier, it was likely a slum to begin with, meaning it would’ve been considerably cheap to move in. Perhaps offered to them at a reduced price. It is important to note that the Dunmer being refugees at the beginning does not automatically mean they were penniless upon arrival, likely poor, but it would be unrealistic to assume all of them had nothing at all. Realizing now that the Dunmer of Windhelm are tax paying citizens who are continually ignored and othered by their ruler, it surely must be understandable then why they would refuse to fight on behalf of a system that at this point only takes from them. They owe the Nordic administration no loyalty
Conclusion
With a ruling majority that will more often than not shun, insult, or exploit them, It is no wonder then how the Dunmer of Windhelm as a whole have not been able to integrate, that they “keep to themselves”, that they “don’t contribute to the city”. For how can one integrate with those who refuse to ever fully accept them? If you wonder why they do not leave, with what funds could they start anew? If you wonder why they dont help the Nords in their war, why would they fight for a cause that harms them? The system is as the system does, and that system is racism.
Author’s Note
Idk what I wrote all this for lmao. Ive been playing skyrim for over a decade so I guess I thought it would be interesting to engage with the game in another way that's new to me. It was only recently that I got more interested in actually talking to NPCs, learning more about the game world, not just in it for the cool fights and jiggle physics mods (tho i do love em). There's a good degree of guess work here, which I suppose is to be expected with what few pieces that are available we can put together. But I tried to cite as much from official lore as I can. Was def fun trying to take a more nuanced lens to this fantastical game world.
But what do you think? Do you think my analysis is accurate? I'd love to see your opinions on the topic!
SOURCES
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Year
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Scourge_of_the_Gray_Quarter
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Malthyr_Elenil
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Aval_Atheron
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Scouts-Many-Marshes
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Belyn_Hlaalu#Conversations
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/House_Hlaalu#Fourth_Era
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Vendil_Severin
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Niranye
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Revyn_Sadri
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Brunwulf_Free-Winter
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Thalmor_Dossier:_Ulfric_Stormcloak
https://en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Decree_of_Monument

I'm a long-time player who joined before the NG+ update. I had every perk by then and I played till my fifth NG+, cleared out the Orc Horde on Impossible then stopped for about a year before coming back with the new wave of updates - I've obtained every encounter-related achievement now and my achievement completion is at 97%, while my NG+ bonus is +1311% caps and +131,1% all resources.
These are my thoughts on what prestiges (or "legacy perks") are the best.
S Tier:

• Architecture of Titans - This building singlehandedly takes care of your wood and stone needs - including caps! - and also provides a dramatic output of tools, copper and iron. It's completely worth the 60 fame and a satisfying reward for beating one of the lategame bosses.
  
• Ministry of Interior - Like the Titan Work Area, but for gold and research. And it comes with extra population and supplies, as well as crystals indirectly through the extra professors. Only caveat is that it costs materials and supplies to build.
  
• Guild of Craftsmen - A must for the earlygame when the production of tier 2 resources is directly competing with your tier 1. It will fall off for the individual tier 2 buildings later on but it's still the first building you want to go for whenever you unlock the feudal age.
  
• Craftsmen - Tier 2 resources will be one of your main bottlenecks throughout the game, and these perks provide bigger and bigger boosts to them. After Craftsmen III it stops boosting tier 2 to instead boost natronite and saltpeter, which is less crucial to have.
  
• Shopkeepers and Breeders - This boosts tools, cows and horses. While the latter two are nice to have for extra money at the market in a pinch, it's tool production that puts this perk above other resource multipliers like Enhanced Axes and Irrigation Techniques. Tools will be a recurring bottleneck from the early game all the way to the lategame, and it's always a good idea to get more.
  
• Deep Pockets - We're here to remind you about possibly life's greatest joy of all: MONEY!
  

A Tier:

• Machines of Gods - Like a lite version of Titan Workshop focusing exclusively on tools, copper and iron. It's unlocked later and is less cost efficient, but certainly helps.
  
• Powered Weapons - This buffs your units starting from primitive spearmen all the way to artillery and line infantry. The early perks are the most important to get as they make your cheap, easy to spam units all the more effective.
  
• Enhanced Axes, Irrigation Techniques, Renowned Stonemasons - These are the best way to boost your base resources until you can afford deep runs and beat the Sleeping Titan. Worth noting that Enhanced Axes and Renowned Stonemasons lead to Woodworking and Stonemasons, whereas Grain Storage is already unlocked at the start.
  
• Regional Market - MONEY! You can think of these as a second bank. Probably the best use for your first coin.
  
• Resource Caps - These are vital for early afk play. This line starts weak but gets stronger and stronger. It synergizes greatly with the NG+ plus bonus, though said bonus also means you can just take the boosted caps from base buildings and make do without this perk. Though it should remain very relevant in your first few NG+ runs.
  
• Ministry of War, Ministry of Worship - Both of these greatly simplify core aspects of the game, army and magic respectively, with extra army cap, food cap, faith and mana. Ministry of War turns arquebusiers into one of the best units in the game, and Ministry of Worship grants extra lucky stones, and both of them come with extra jobs and population. The reason they aren't S tier is that in the lategame you can get enough army cap to clear every encounter (at least on normal) and enough mana to have all spells turned on even without these ministries, whereas the extra research and gold always stays paramount.
  
• Clever Villagers - The thing with research output is that it's not your main limiter until it is. When you have the other resources' production down, make sure to not neglect this perk.
  
• Library of Theresmore - This provides a nice boost to most ancient era resources. With 5 of these libraries you have a +10% bonus, which would've cost way more in fame if you were getting all the various Enhanced Axes, Deep Pockets, Strengthening Faith, etc. and you can comfortably afford up to 10 libraries.
  
• Monastic Orders - I agree with u/AGDude's description that "all of the boosts it provides make life just a little bit easier". It also has a lenient price scaling.
  
• Strengthening Faith - This lets you produce more mana and faith which lets you unlock spells faster. Affording an extra spell can be as good as affording an extra perk, or better. It's also a must if you like using Battle Angels or rely on Zenix Familiars.
  

B tier:

• Zenix Familiar - These are cheap, immortal scouts who cannot discover new nations and run on mana rather than gold or supplies. And they give you research. The fact they cannot discover civilizations may seem like a drawback at first, but it also means no splash screen will pop up and block your autoclicker if you've left that on the explore button (there's some exceptions, like the Forest of Markanat and the Demoness Castle).
  
• Hall of Wisdom - More or less like an extra school. Handy although Machines of Gods is a better use for your first Tome of Wisdom.
  
• Stock Resources - These are the equivalent of a few houses, farms and lumberjacks for free at start, which is an appreciated boost.
  
• Gift of Nature, Gift of the Creators - Also a small initial boost, this time in direct production. Lets you get a few buildings up faster.
  
• Rampart - Another good use for a coin. It's like a second wall that costs more but gives you extra fame every run.
  
• Enhanced Pickaxes - I find copper to never be a bottleneck and for iron to very rarely be, but it's handy to invest some points into these, especially if your army strategy is to spam warriors and heavy warriors.
  
• Fortune Teller, Soothsayer, etc. (Lucky Stone perks) - Nice to have, particularly if your strategy relies on getting that extra upgrade from luck buildings.
  
• Ancient Vault - A multi-purpose storage which unlike the rest of the category also raises your gold, research, faith and mana cap. Building 14 of them is fairly affordable and equals getting Ancient Treasury I and II + Service to Gods I and II.
  
• Ancient Treasury - Extra gold cap can be hard to come by in the early game. That said you will mainly rely on vaults and natronite buildings to get the cap high enough for the coin.
  
• Grain Storage, Stonemason, Woodworking - Grain Storage is good in the very early game where every bit of extra food counts - whether it's to send out more attacks, or to free up one worker from food production to something else. I find Stonemason and Woodworking to not be worth bothering with, as at my current NG+ level I can reach Architecture of Titans in fewer runs than it takes to unlock them, but they aren't bad per se.
  
• Elysian Field - This helps militarily even if you don't rely on Battle Angels. It's one of the few ways to significantly raise the food cap, and more stockpiled food means you can send the army out to attack more times per sitting. Besides that they have a niche use in getting the achievement for 15 Altars of Sacrifices, but that's very late game.
  
• Titanic Walls - These walls give you extra fame and - surprisingly - tier 2 resources. But due to how costly they are it's less of a "I must get this immediately" and more of a "When I'm already swimming in tier 2 resouces and fame, I can build these to get even more"
  
• Militia Recruitment - Like a second, more cost-efficient barracks with some added settlement defense.
  
• Free Hands - An average pick, not as good as others. You're better off boosting population through the various buildings you unlock progressing the game.
  
• Army of Men - Also average. The late perks are very powerful and they can help squeeze in just enough soldiers for a tough lategame boss on higher difficulties, but most encounters do not come down to ten extra soldiers and even when they do it's usually a problem of recruitment cost and upkeep rather than army caps.
  
• Battle Angel, Seraphim - Some people swear by them but I don't use these much as early game I have other uses for faith and mana and lategame they fall behind other units. It's pretty fun to summon a battle angel just to clear a cellar full of rats, though.
  

C tier:

• Monument, Heirlooms - A basically-free building at start with some minor assorted bonuses. The bonuses aren't very impactful, despite being costlier than Stock Resources and Gift of Nature, but I like to get one every reset because they need to be unlocked one at a time, so I can have the full collection when it's time for the next NG+.
  
• Service to Gods - Extra faith and mana cap doesn't do much besides affording you an extra level of the Fortune Grove (but you can just get the Fortune Teller line). It's pretty satisfying to clear the Mausoleum of Gods in one, two clicks on faith and mana though.
  
• Charism - I haven't done the actual math and whether at some point a boost to fame might be more efficient than getting the other perks to achieve faster runs, but I only grab this perk when I have fame to spare or have already bought the higher tiers.
  
• Hall of the Dead - Extra population would be handy but this building scales terribly, especially in the tool cost. It's worth to build a few, but you get far more value out of ministries, where population isn't even the main selling point.
  
• Undead Herds - Unless you like cavalry or are trying to get the 15 Altars of Sacrifices achievement, this is not that useful besides for freeing up some workers from the breeder job.
  
• Strong Workers - I hardly ever bother with resource clicking beyond my very first run. There may be some strats that involve building up a stockpile of stone, wood and food during the ancient era before researching feudalism (which removes the buttons), but in my experience in Theresmore the best use for an autoclicker is clicking 15 times on the wall button until it's built.
  
• Spikes and Pits - Uuuuh... neat to have? The best way to deal with enemy nations is by taking them out before they can even attack, and building an army strong enough to pass the age bosses is best done through the other perks. The later upgrades cost relics and buff the Juggernaut.
  
• Shieldbearer, Priest, Juggernaut, Ancient Balor - I never use tanks as the unit's purpose seems sorta defeated. They are meant to be low-attack, high defense frontliners but they are weak to shock which is the most damaging unit type and is very common amongst encounters. Shoutout to Ancient Balor for producing steel and helping me clear out the Orc Horde Assault on Deity, and Religious Colony-boosted Priests are hilarious.
  
• Coin Mercenary, White Company- Mercenaries cost only gold and die before the rest of the shock units. Canava Guard are slightly tankier (but still shock) mercenaries, White Company are offense-focused ranged units. They can accrue a respectable amount of boosts if you get all the Mercenary Agreements perks, but there are better uses for your gold, coins and fame. With that said, if you have Coin Mercenary and White Company you unlock the perk to recruit Cpt Gallard (who gives you gold) and after that you get another perk which unlocks a questline with a new building and new encounters.
  

D Tier:

• Mercenary Agreements - I just don't bother with these unless I'm trying to 100% the perk list. Mercenaries are simply too costly for me to consider.

F tier:

• Weapons of the Titan - Compared to the other titans upgrades it's a complete waste of 60 fame points. The units it boosts aren't my cup of tea for the endgame, either, as crossbowmen and heavy infantry outclass arquebusiers and men at arms once you defeat Nikharul and rebuild the fortress.

My name's Soham & I've been constantly learning from all the creative people who share their artwork on this community which in turn, helped me level up my motion graphic (Short Form Animation) game to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL!
It's been more than 2 years and I've come back to the very place which inspired me to start in the first place to give back to the community :D
I've uploaded a course on my community at the moment which lets you learn the ins & outs of "How to Create a Dan Koe Style animation" (Here's a reference for you) that I've been creating for creator's around the globe to share their ideas in the form of simple animations!
Since the posts on this community have been on a decline for animators / Creative souls who are being under-paid / out of work or some downright broke, I felt the need to create something which may (or may not) be of help to you guys!
Like I mentioned earlier, I've been doing this for 2 years & till date, I've worked with over 100+ creators & 10+ brands charging $6 to $12 (based on the duration and length of the project) per project!
The course is still being developed by constant feedback from the community as my idea is to make this into a community-first thing, which I haven't EVER seen anywhere on this planet & truth be told, I wished for something like this myself when I was starting out :D
The community is completely FREE to join for anyone interested & the course I've uploaded will get you up to speed with what are Short Form Animations & how you can make these animations.
As for semi-pros & veterans who already know the software, I've built a paid community for you guys to start and build your own personal brand & book your first client within 24 hours.
I've strictly tried to keep this a NO-BS course. All the methods that are mentioned in the course are what I've tried and tested. If there's any feedback from the community to either improve upon or bring a better alternative to the course, only those will be added into the course!
Thank you for reading through this and I hope all of you guys will keep creating art which inspires others like you inspired me :D
I really appreciate the time you took to read through and if there's something that I can help you with, I am THE MOST active on Instagram! Pop me a DM and mention that you're from this community and I'll be more than glad to help you guys out!
Here's the link to both the communities:
Free Community
Paid Community
Also, for anyone wondering what are Dan Koe Style Animations, please search "Dan Koe Animation" and you'll find answers to majority of the questions!

This is just a whole rant/sob story about what I’ve been feeling as of recent.
I’ve been crying about yesterday’s U2 Chemistry exam, and today’s Pure 2 assessment for the entire day.
They were horrible. I can’t begin to describe the shock I am in. I've been holding in so much sh*t for so long, but these exams have left me unable to hold it in anymore.
I have done every single past paper, from the Sample Paper to the Jan 2024 papers. I have studied really, really well. I have made sure to study so hard to a point I that there was nothing left I could do. I literally don’t know what else I could have done to prevent this from happening.
I was always ready to sacrifice everything for my grades and my future. For these A-Levels, I have ruined my health, my happiness, my social life, wasted my youth, but for what?
I get around 4 hours of sleep every night. I’m always too stressed to have an appetite to eat. I feel tense and anxious almost all of the time. I am always tired and keep getting body aches for no reason. I have no time to pursue the things I love anymore. I can count the number of times I have gone out with friends in the past 4 years on a single hand. I see all these American teens online having fun and going out every other day. I can’t even remember the last time I left the house to do something enjoyable.
Yeah, I know it sounds like I’m overreacting, and it’s just some ‘exams’, but my whole future is literally dependent on this. Regardless of all the effort and hard work I’ve put in, I f-ed up these exams.
My biggest dream has always been to get into a prestigious university on a scholarship to study medicine. But I can say goodbye to that now.
I grinded so hard in my IGCSEs to do well and I did. I got A*s for every subject and I guess that gave me false hopes that I could ace my A-Levels. Having sat these two exams, I feel so doomed. I know I performed horribley on them.
I feel nothing but disappointment, hopelessness, and fear right now. I have disappointed myself by ruining my chances of making my dream come true.
It's even worse when you feel that the others around you, who have high expectations, are also disappointed. My chemistry teacher was saying how she knew I would do well because of how hard I've worked, then when I told her about how the exam was, I saw how her face just dropped. Everyone was telling her it was terrible, and I feel like she was on the verge of crying.
Then today, before going into the math exam, my math teacher saw me trying to breathe while I was very nervous, and he said that 'it's going to be fine'. I literally told him, 'I don't think it will be', and he just tried to be optimistic about it. After the exam, I knew he'd come to ask how we did, so I tried to hide from the shame, but he found my friend and I. I was crying before, but while he was trying to make us feel better the tears were just pouring down my face.
I feel like the biggest failure ever. During the math exam, my heart started to beat so fast as I realized time was running out and I still had so many questions I was stuck on to complete. That's exactly when the 'it's over - my future is ruined' thoughts came to my head. I just kept thinking 'forget about going to a big university, the only place I can go to now in my home country'. I couldn't even hold back my tears at school. I just started crying in front of everyone like that.
The biggest shock to all of this is that my parents weren't even angry with me; they were almost sympathetic. For reference, my parents are very strict when it comes to academics, so I was expecting them to blow up on me when I told them how it went. They didn't though. They kept telling me it was okay, and that I should focus on my next exam. Not gonna lie, this probably felt worse than having them shout at me. While they didn't say anything explicitly about how they feel, I can feel that they're miserable, and it's all my fault.
I feel so guilty. Is this what my parents immigrated for? My parents have endured so much racism, so many financial struggles, and just a whole lot of sh*t for a long, long time to make sure I can get a good education and have a good future. It feels like I wasted almost 2 decades of struggle in a foreign country.
Imagine all those relatives back home who are expecting me to become a doctor to realize I messed up this bad. Then there is the other side of the family who have criticized my parents since the day I was born for wasting all that time just for education. These same people are the ones who kept trying to convince my parents to try to have another child, hoping for a boy, because 'what is a girl going to do for you when you're old and tired?' I was dead-set on proving them wrong, and honoring my parents' hard work my succeeding and giving them the best life I could afford. I wanted to be the daughter who could make her parents live a life of comfort and peace, better than any son ever could. Now what? It's not happening.
I won't get into a top university, let alone get a scholarship. I won't study medicine as I've dreamed of. I won't become a doctor. I won't retire my parents and let them enjoy the rest of lives without a care in the world if we had enough money to pay rent. I won't be able to do anything I dreamt of.
I've always been insecure. At one point in time though, I made peace with it and said that if I can't be pretty or charismatic, at least I could be smart. It's been the one thing I knew I could count on. But now I feel so f-ing stupid. Like what am I useful for anymore? If that was the one thing I could do right, but now it's gone, what even is my use in life anymore? I used to cry about being ugly, but now I'm dumb too.
Since Year 9, I have been going through a really rough time mentally. I went through a period of time when I was bullied really bad, then another where we were flat broke, then another time when my dad lost his job, then another when my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer, then half a year of my parents thinking of divorce, then dealing with the passing of 3 relatives. When does it stop being bad? I used to feed myself these corny lies of 'it's gonna get better' but it doesn't. And this exam period just proved me right.
I wanna give up now. I don't wanna sit anymore exams, and I'm just a third into it. In fact, I don't even wanna live anymore. I know it sounds dramatic to say this over an exam, but I've been holding in this entire rant for the longest time ever, and these exams just brought it out. I've attempted it twice already, but never succeeded.
Since I have no future anyways, I might as well not keep living. I swear to God, that if it weren't for my fear of going to hell, I would try to do it again. I won't though, until we see how the U2 Biology exam goes. But I don't have any hope for it to be any better.
I'm sorry for everyone who feels as though their future is ruined because of these exams, although they studied as hard as they could. May God reward us for our effort.

Long story short, was out of the Public world for a while and have come back and I’m looking to either be partner at a regional firm or buy my own firm (either remote or small physical local).
I really want to advance my skill set as much as possible this summer before I’m out on my own or to improve my image/candidacy for partner.
I’m very strong on controlleCFO work. I’m solid on sales/operations. I want more knowledge on the tax side. I’ve done lots of simple individual and business returns, but want to learn more nuanced things.
Anything related to things like basis, R&D, leases, tax/retirement planning, tax/book differences. Anything higher level I can leverage with clients. I do CPE stuff but I’m more interested in classes or videos I can follow along on YouTube or something similar, I’ve just had difficulty finding good quality resources. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I’m talking stuff like… File organization, standard export methods, print preparation, proper file setups, workflows, proper file packaging, moving designs between programs (ex: AI to ID), efficiency tips and tricks, those kinds of things. I know design principles, I know typography, I know layout, etc. I want to know more about all the other stuff. I’ve been in a solo designer position for some years, basically right out of college, and while I feel my design skills have improved from experience and the many easy-to-find courses and books about design topics specifically, my nuts-and-bolts knowledge has barely changed. I still feel like a dumb college student, just with better designs.
I’ve been promoted to a senior position (still solo) because of my longevity, but I don’t feel I have the technical skills to back up the title if I want to move jobs. Normally I’d be able to pick up this kind of stuff on the job, from my leader or colleagues, but since I have no one I’m basically self-taught and I feel like a fraud. I know there are things I’m doing wrong. I feel like if I move to another senior-level position, I’ll get reprimanded when actually on the job for not knowing how to set up x or being so much slower at y or not even knowing that z exists.
What can I do to learn about this stuff? Literally all I ever can find are courses about improving your designs, and that’s not what I’m looking for.

I’ve always been really into ghost stories, or urban legends in general. The White Lady, haunted dolls, vampires, black eyed children, that kind of stuff. I know that, today, people my age aren’t big fans of that kind of horror anymore, preferring it things like the Backrooms, analog horror, all the new kinds of scary media. Honestly, I get it, things do need to evolve, and when we see everything that’s happening in the world, it’s understandable that a good old ghost story don’t do the job anymore.

Still, the “old fashioned” horror (it’s not that old, but things move fast on the internet) is always my jam. I grew up watching youtubers investigating haunted places, ghost hunting, with all their accessories, EMF meters, their little radio thing that they use to listen to radio frequencies so that they can hear any interference, their antenna that beeps when something approaches it, voice recorders, special flashlights, and let me tell you that all this, it was doing it for me.

So, since my, probably 7 years, I dreamt of doing these things myself. Of course, I tried everything a young boy is able to do, like Ouija or stupidly walking around my house with my phone filming, hoping that some random deceased person with unfinished business will show up to, I don’t know, have a chat. I wish I could say that other people’s judgement doesn’t affect me, but that would be a lie, so, going in to high school, I had to socially tone down my interest for those things in order to have friends. None of my friends and classmates knew about my persisting passion for ghosts and creepy stories.

I realize that keeping this such a secret is a bit ridiculous, especially approaching my 18^th birthday, but, you know, it would be even weirder to reveal it after hiding it for almost 6 years like it was something super taboo. So here I was, I started hiding my passion at 12 to avoid other’s judging it, and I’m now still hiding it at 17 to avoid others judging the fact that I hid it… A bit pathetic I got to admit.

Anyway, everything started a few days ago. I have an art history class at school and the teacher really likes to give us big works of research. This time, he had a new idea, the whole class will be divided into groups of two, and each group will receive a building from our city that the teacher had choose for his architectural and artistic interests, and we’ll have to give it a visit and write an analysis on the different things we’ll notice and link it to what we saw in class. Since all the buildings were not public places, he had asked the authorization of every property’s owner.

Honestly, this could have been worse. This actually sounded kinda cool to do. Now, what I was concerned about was who will be my partner. Obviously, I was hoping for one of my friends. After explaining the rules and exact instructions for the work, he started to announce the groups. I was waiting to hear my name, anxious, as all my friends were slowly starting to be put into their groups.

“Joshua!” The teacher said (yeah that’s my name). “You will be with…” I was holding on to my chair. “… Elizabeth!”

I turned to Elizabeth, and we looked at each other. Neither one of us seemed excited. It wasn’t a terrible pair, I thought to myself, I just didn’t know what to think of it exactly. Elizabeth was a pretty popular girl, not that I was an outcast or anything, but she was still way more popular than me. I didn’t know much more about her, despite the fact that we were in the same class since my first year of high school, but it looked like she was going to be an okay partner.

The teacher then gave us our building. I won’t reveal the real name of what he gave us so I’ll call it “Guaraldi’s Street 22”. Apparently, it was a pretty old house that had somewhat of an historic value to it. The teacher gave us some information so we wouldn’t stumble there without any prior knowledge. The owner was an old woman who had always lived there. She was apparently very glad to open her doors to young students and was ready to answer any questions we could have. He warned us that she had a weak audition and that we would have to speak loudly. The teacher then recommended us to do a little bit of research before going there, so we could already have some idea of where we were entering.

I then found myself in front of Elizabeth. I think the last time we even talked to each other was months ago when she was distributing a test to the class and that I said “Thanks”, so, yeah, not a lot of background. I noticed, and I don’t know why it took me so long, I guess I never paid much attention to her, that she was dressed in kind of an old style, she wore some clearly used dungarees. The date the teacher had scheduled for our visit was on Sunday, and we were Thursday.

“So, hum, I guess, we can both do research on our side, and we’ll meet, maybe at lunch break tomorrow to get on the same page. Is that good for you?” She asked me.

“Yeah, that’s good, we can do that.”

“Okay, then, see you tomorrow.” She said.

“See you.”

On that she turned her feet and left for her break. The rest of the day went by and I got back home. As usual, my mom wasn’t there, she often has to work late as she’s a single mom to me and my little sister Rosa. I ate my diner and went to my room. I opened my computer to start my research. It wasn’t hard to find information, even though things were repeating themselves a lot: “so much historical meaning for the city”, “a perfect example of “art-deco” architecture”, “a house filled with stories”. There was a lot of talk by local medias about it, but not much actual facts.

It was so weak, that I had to go to page 2 of the search results on google, or, as I like to call them, “the abyss of the internet” (I’m exaggerating a bit, but it’s not often that you have to go there).
Then, something caught my eyes. It was a forum about paranormal experiences, and the address was mentioned on a post. I immediately clicked on it and read the whole thing. It wasn’t exactly the most thrilling story I’ve read, but here’s what it basically said.

Apparently, the owner opened the house as a cottage during the summer, and the person posting was narrating what he experienced during his passage there. He described a very special and kinda suffocating vibe that was apparently all around the house, and the feeling of being observed all the time. He also talked about hearing voices at random moments. They were brief but often mentioned his name. The end of his testimony talked about his last night, when he said he saw a little child with no facial expression in front of his bed, who slowly started to climb into it and grabbed his legs, trying to pull him outside of his bed. The poster said he eventually succeeded to push the kid away, despite his unreal strength, and that the boy ended up running out of the room, laughing. When he spoke to the owner about it the next morning, she said that it must have been his imagination playing tricks on him, as she didn’t believe in paranormal and that nothing similar ever happened to her.

This wasn’t much, it could have been a complete lie, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t peak my curiosity. The story was as basic as it could be, but it was so specific for it to happen in that place, which was absolutely not famous, and even less for any paranormal events. I kept that in the back of my mind and continued my research, but I didn’t find much more, so I went to sleep.

As I was lying in my bed, I was thinking. What if the person who posted his story said the truth. This was the first time I was going to enter somewhere that old and charged with history, this could be the perfect place for my first ghost-hunt. But of course, I was going for school and won’t be alone, plus, it’s not really respectful to the owner, who kindly opened the doors of her family house to us. And even if I wanted to, I’d be constantly with Elizabeth, so, it was not really an option. I looked at the EMF meter I received for a birthday on my shelf and thought to myself that this would be for another time.

The next day, as planned, I met with Elizabeth at lunch break. We started to share the results of our research, where I did not include the post from the forum for obvious reasons. We talked a bit before coming to a clear conclusion.

“Yeah, the thing is, we have the same exact stuff, there isn’t much interesting infos to be found online, except very surface level stuff.” She said.

“Yes, I think we should prepare the questions we want to ask the owner instead.” I answered.

“You’re right, do you think you can have yours for Sunday?”

“Yeah, no problem.”

We exchanged a bit more and eventually went back to class.

On Saturday, I prepared a few questions to ask the owner.

Then came today, Sunday. The meeting was planned at 11AM. I woke up normally, took a breakfast, got dressed, everything. Before leaving my room, I took one last look at the room and I saw my EMF meter. It was like he was begging me to take him. I grabbed it and left. I didn’t know if I would actually use it, but I had it. It had an option where instead of lighting the small lamps he was vibrating, so I activated that and put it in my pocket.

I arrived at the house and Elizabeth was already waiting for me. We knocked and we could hear the owner walking towards the door saying “Yes, yes, just a second.” She opened and she looked like the sweetest thing ever. She was short and had a naturally kind face. We could see that she was clearly dressed and make up for the occasion. She welcomed us and let us in happily. The hallway was very pretty, I understood why our teacher got us this house, it was indeed very interesting. The walls were covered with paintings and old pictures, mostly portraits. On everyone of these, the people had a very serious look, but that’s not unusual for old pictures.

We walked to the living room where she served us tea and we sat together.

“So, I think you have some questions for me?” She asked. You could see that she was very glad to talk. “Don’t be shy, I’m open.”

Elizabeth started to ask her first question then I did, and we could ask her everything.

The house was her family’s for many generations, but it hadn’t always been theirs. All the persons in the hallway, paintings or pictures, were previous habitants of the house, and they went as far as the 15th century, so, yeah, it was all pretty old. She said they could only know the identity of some of the first generations but that a lot of the people were non identified. She answered a lot of other questions regarding the architectural and artistic heritage of the building, and she was surprisingly very interesting to listen to. Her enthusiasm and kindness were contagious, and we both couldn’t help but ask more questions.

Eventually, we arrived to the end of our list, and it was time for us to visit, take notes, analyze, all that. She asked us not to touch anything, as a lot of things had a lot of value, but let us wander free in the house. She said she’ll be making cookies for when we’ll be done. Elizabeth and I found ourselves alone in the living room and finished our tea.

“God,… She’s adorable.” Said Elizabeth with a smile.

“Yes, she’s so sweet, I wasn’t expecting that.” I said.

“Let’s, maybe start with there.” She said, pointing to the room besides us.

We got up and entered it. The walls were covered by huge bookshelves. Elizabeth started to take notes, looking at the room, and I started inspecting the books. There was probably a more than a thousand books, and some of them looked super old. I read the titles of some of them, and the least I could say was that it needed to be rearranged. “Cooking Asian Food”, “Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince”, some old book with the title erased, and even a CD in the middle, it was a bit random.

We eventually moved on to the hallway. It was a bit oppressing with all those eyes who seemed to observe us. Elizabeth did mention how it felt a bit weird and we started to take notes again. At some point, my look stopped on one painting at the back of the hall. It was a young lady, dressed classically, maybe a bit poorly even, for someone who would have lived there. She was kinda pretty, if I’m being honest. But the reason why it caught my eyes was that it was the only one who was smiling. All the other people represented looked dead serious, but her, she smiled. A sweet, even caring and warm smile. I noticed that it seemed like she was staring at me. Of course, a lot of paintings give that same impression, but it was more intense on her.

My heart skipped a beat. I was sure that I just saw her winked to me. I let out a gasp. I was convinced she winked at me. The vibe went from slightly oppressive to extremely heavy. Then we both heard it.

“Elizabeth.”

An unrecognizable voice had just whispered. Elizabeth turned to me.

“Did you say that?” She asked.

“Elizabeth.”

A younger voice this time. We were facing each other, so we knew it couldn’t be one of us this time, and the owner was in the kitchen. Elizabeth’s eyes opened wide and she slowly walked towards me.

“Elizabeth.”

She jumped.

“WHAT THE… fuck?” I let out. We were looking around us.

“Joshua, I don’t like this…”

“Yeah, me neither.”

We were frozen in place, with all the paintings looking right to us.

“Elizabeth.”

That time it was a deep voice, and it came from behind us. We turned. Slowly, all the faces of the paintings and pictures started to clearly move. They were opening their eyes wide and opening their mouths, maintaining their serious, and now even melancholic look.

“Holy shit, holy shit, what the fuck is that, what is it!” Elizabeth was mumbling, panicking as I was starting to breathe faster.

All the people started to say her name together on repeat: “Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth…” I turned my head to the painting of the young lady from earlier, and she was the only one that wasn’t moving, still the same smile, she looked at peace.

I don’t remember exactly what I was whispering at that moment, but we were both freaking out.

We heard some scratching noise. Long, dirty hands with sharp nails, almost inhumans, were piercing the pictures and paintings. The eyes of the people were becoming all black, and their jaws were opening more than humanly possible as they kept on repeating her name. The hands were all getting closer from us. We were now touching one another, completely surrounded by those hands. Then, they moved way faster and a lot of them got their nails right into Elizabeth’s skin and pierced it while descending all over her body.

She screamed loudly out of pain. It was a terrifying scream. All the hands got to their pictures and back inside of it while closing what they pierced. Soon, the pictures and paintings were back to normal, but Elizabeth was bleeding from all over her body and was on the floor, crying. I got to her level and tried as much as possible to reassure her, but I wasn’t very effective as I was myself in shock and terrified.
We heard the owner walk towards us.

“What’s happening to you two? I heard screams, are you okay?”

She entered the hallway and saw the scene. She looked completely shocked.

“But what happened?” She asked.

Both of us were unable to answer to her, we had no idea what to say that wouldn’t make us sound crazy, so we just looked at her with whatever faces we were making at that moment. She didn’t wait long and went to take a first aid kid. She sat down and put some bandages all over Elizabeth, as I was reflecting on what happened. When she was done, we both wanted to leave, so we said that we had what we needed for now. She looked sorry and packed some cookies for each of us. As we opened the door to leave, she articulated one last phrase.

“I hope you’ll come back.” She had a look and a tone of sadness. We got out and were now on the street.

We both looked at each other. She was covered in bands, like she got into a huge fight. I started to speak but she lifted her hand.

“Not today. Another one.” She said. “I’ll see you at school.” And she left.

I got on my way too and gave one last look to the house. The old owner was watching me from her window, and I couldn’t tell what her expression was.

I was too tired so I ignored it and went back to my house.

I’m posting this now that I’m back at home. I have no news of Elizabeth, but she did add me on Instagram, so…

I have no idea what I should do now, I have so many questions, so, if anyone has any theories, I’ll take it. I’m also open to questions of course…

A friend of mine wants to get into DnD, but she doesn't often have the flexibility to join mid-week games like the party I'm playing with arranges - and tbh social anxiety could be an issue too - so we're going to start off with her playing solo and see how that goes.
For her PC, she's looking at playing a wizard. A solo wizard might be a bit on the papery side, especially at low levels, so what are some good ways to increase her survivability?
I know sidekicks are an option, but if she'd prefer to simply play the one character, what sort of low-level build can help a wizard take a hit? I read an article that suggested a mountain dwarf, as their natural armour proficiency can save a spell slot that might otherwise be taken up by Mage Armour. The same article suggested githyanki, as well as some creatures I wasn't even aware of (i myself haven't been playing very long) but we're likely going to be using Beyond for simplicity, and will be restricted to the books I've bought on that platform.
Are there any other paths, be it racial options or simply buffs and good planning, that might help out in the early days?

DAY: MAY 13, 2024

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The short story is this:
I(34F) have been with husband (33M) for 10 years. He's a wonderful man but suffers from extreme anxiety and generally poor mental health and thusly struggles to help me with any big stressful decisions in life. Lately as stress has risen he has started not only not helping me with big decisions but panicking and getting in my way. I am starting to wonder if it's worth it to continue to stay with someone who has such a negative outlook on life and massive anxiety that he's just not a good partner when things are rough in the mental load department. While I understand and feel so bad for him that he's going through something as rough as severe anxiety and depression, it's also been quite hard on me and makes me feel unstable about my own future. And if I do stay with him, how the heck do we move forward?
The long story is this:
We've been together for over 10 years. My husband has extreme anxiety. He has been going to therapy for it (although he's having to take a break right now because we're both between jobs), and generally working on improving his mental health all this time. I'm proud of him for that--it's not an easy road. A lot of people refuse to even try. I've definitely noticed improvements. In many ways he's a wonderful man.
But any time things are stressful I feel like I have to handle them alone because he just can't. Asking him to help with things like deciding where to move, what to do with our careers, finances, tricky family stuff, and even planning our wedding a few years ago mostly just sets him off. And it's not abusive or anything, but he'll either shut down and just stare into space (a trauma response I'm sure), or just like attach to some random tangent and refuse to talk about the issue, or just get mad and grit his teeth and say "fine" over and over. To be clear I don't think he has bad intentions in doing this, I think he literally just cannot process it. To some degree I'm like "eh I'd have to do this for myself anyways" but I'm also like "man I wish I could talk to him about what to do about mom getting older" for example. I've suggested for a long time that he could do something like pick up a book on finance basics and read it himself, I don't need to be involved (because if I'm teaching him that's stressful for him). But the reality is he hasn't learned even basic finances even though I've explained to him multiple times it's really important. The very idea of finance just scares him too much.
With finances for example, this backfires because he doesn't understand things like a budget exactly. I'll say "ok, we can only spend XYZ this month. I know the credit card would *let* you spend more than that, but we need to not do that. I don't want to cap it in case we need it for something though". This kind of conversation will trigger anything from "Omg we are broke and about to die of starvation" with a side of panic attack or basically behavior like I'm gonna go spend more because I feel out of control of my life with any restrictions. The dumb thing is if I just don't tell him about a budget and do things like say "Hey would you mind cooking a steak tonight" it's totally fine. But like...I don't want to feel like I have to manipulate him into staying on budget. It feels awkward and also unstable to me. This all feels especially stupid because we're actually fairly well off money-wise--but we can't afford "eat at steakhouse 3 times a day" and this is enough to set him off because he's just so detached from understanding money it's kind of all or nothing for him.
Lately stress has been extra high -- we're between jobs (but have ample emergency fund), family stuff is piling up, we've had to move, and I've made it clear our relationship is struggling lately because of this whole topic. So he's been doing weird things that to me I consider a threat to our safety. He'll stare at his bank account for hours. It makes me worry he'll do something crazy. I feel like a mega bitch for even considering "hey maybe I take your bank passwords and hold them for right now" because I'm like "are you just gonna start smashing buttons out of fear and drain all your money???". Thankfully I recognized this weird behavior a long time ago and my finances are pretty separated from his but like if we stay together I'd be responsible for him too so it's still like "Please don't go do something crazy like move all the money into some account you don't understand because you read about it for 5 minutes online". Also lately when he's applying for jobs he's been only applying for jobs he's way overqualified for or that are based in some random area that pays a lot less. He has a lot of anxiety about not being good enough if he applies for the types of jobs I tell him to (I am senior in the same field). I decided to remove myself from the equation (I get it can be hard hearing these things from your wife) and connected him with a career coach (he very much likes working with the coach) but he's still just doing stuff like applying for entry level positions even though he's far ahead of that.
And this type of behavior is where I'm like "Ok this is no longer you're sweating in the corner while I decide what to do about mom" it's like "You are making bad financial decisions that impact both of us because you're afraid and refuse to actually engage in a conversation with me where we actually talk about it and solve the problem." Like sure, he'll sit there, but he's just saying "fine" over and over or parroting back what I say without actually understanding. It's like every conversation I have with him on a stressful thing is him trying to figure out how to get out of the conversation without me "getting mad". Which is totally again a trauma thing from his childhood. I usually just end up sighing and saying "Okay...this is going nowhere, I guess I'll just go handle it..."
Then the other day when I was explaining some expenses he had the gall to say "I don't trust you with money!!!" and I was just sort of like "???" because this dude has made me manage his accounts since 1 month into dating him LOL. I was like "Do...do you think the rent just pays itself? Do you think the fridge is just magically full of food all the time? Do you even know what a credit score is and why yours is so high now? Do you think your portfolio magically built itself? You don't trust me? You've implicitly trusted me all this time because you refuse to do any of this yourself but I don't want our lives to suck so I handle it."
I bring up finances because it's the easiest to explain without context of family stuff for example but this behavior extends to many parts of our life that are "stressful".
He's super willing to do things if I do the mental load associated with it. Like ok, I figured out all the stuff about mom needing a nursing home and the logistics of that. Help me move her in? Absolutely, no problem, will 100% show up and be happy to help. Physical labor or anything repetitive where I've helped laid down structure is generally usually fine. That's part of what makes me figuring out what to do next is so hard. He wants to be better. But I'm still just like "Please don't go exploding our life because of your anxiety."
I feel stuck. I understand why he's doing these behaviors but it's like...ok I'm still left out in the cold on things. And then to get something as ungrateful as "I don't trust you with money" as if all my work on it wasn't real...ugh. And if I just leave him be a lot of the time it's fine, but if I press him on it things almost always get worse because all he does is add panic to my stressful situations. If he doesn't think too hard life isn't that bad and we can do things like go out with friends, but if I question him even a little it sets him on an anxiety and depression spiral. And I mean something simple like "Hey our friend said they're kinda tired and not sure if they want to go out tonight. You think we should maybe cancel?" Off he goes on "my friends all hate me". In this case I'm like I don't want to deal with him spiraling so I'd just make a decision on my own and be like "hey everyone, lets cancel tonight I'm not feeling the best" I do the mental load of figuring out that my friends wanted to cancel anyways and what feels like a lie to spare his feelings. Again I just feel like I'm having to manipulate things into being smooth as opposed to talking them out. Feelsbadman. And in this case I'm on the fence like "ok we'll he has to learn to deal with it" and don't want to be infantilizing him but sometimes for my own sanity I'm just like "I don't have energy for husband doom today" because it's such a constant thing. Sometimes I take the "I'll just do the executive decision for everyone so I can get on with things" choice. Which feels shit but I feel like the alternative is "deal with sad boy hours every night".
I feel lonely in the big decisions of life. I feel his lack of understanding mixed with his poor mental health is making him incapable of truly being grateful because he just can't understand everything I've done. Sometimes I just get straight up resentment because I do things like explain our budget. I so desperately want to make things work but I feel so incredibly stuck on these things after having tried to improve them for so many years.
Does anyone have advice on how to move forward?
Thank you for your time.

Hi everyone, I could use some advice. I (22F) booked a trip to meet my long distance girlfriend (22F) for the end of this month without asking my parents and I’m not sure whether it’d be best to hide it or be upfront and face their reaction. My girlfriend and I met online and have been talking everyday for the past 4 months. I’ve spoken with all of her family and they even offered to pay for my flight to travel across the country and visit my girlfriend.
Despite this offer I said no because I knew my parents would be worried since I’d be so far away and they have not taken the news well since I came out to them around almost a month ago. My mom has continuously been verbally abusive and my dad has just given me the silent treatment. My girlfriend has been my only source of comfort and while I don’t want to disrespect my family I’ve missed out on love my entire life just to not cause problems with my homophobic family.
I’m just tired of being complacent and missing out on experiences. This has been the first time I’ve been in a healthy relationship and I don’t want to risk losing her by catering to my parents wants. Still, I’ve tried to find a middle ground and have my girlfriend visit my city so my family can feel safe knowing im nearby. I’m just not sure what to do. I don’t want to ruin my trip stressing over whatever lies I tell my family to cover it up, but I also don’t know how to approach the conversation considering I live at home.

I posted a few days with steps for finding purpose at our age group. It had a LOT of great responses and follow up suggestions (plus a few batshit accusations/observations, that's Reddit for you).
I made a TikTok today about life design. I grew up with 90% of my family being drug addicts or in jail. I moved 16 times by the time I was 17, I failed out of high school and college. I moved out at 17 and moved out of state by 19. I had to figure it out on my own. Life is a challenging teacher.
Today I have a PhD, live in my dream apt with floor to ceiling windows, own two companies, and havent had a boss in 8 years. I wrote 12 books and have complete time freedom. I'm not Scrooge Mcduck rich, but comfortable.
Here is how to create the life you want:
Remember one core philosophy: You control your education, fitness level, relationship status, income, job, and where you live. ALL of these can be adjusted. At ANY age.
Most miserable people don't practice self leadership.
They get up and are reactive vs proactive. They have given up on a vision of who they could be.
Never stop dreaming (ex: Willy Wonka, tap into creativity)
Today I woke up at 430am, after I type this out, Ill be at the gym by 630am. Ill then go run, and start my work day at home by around 8:15am. Ill issue a press release for a Hollywood actor in Cobra Kai, create some PR content, and do some media pitches for clients. I'm going to sign up for a free PR cert online that will take 4 days, then Ill go to a business meetup tonight to catch up with friends.
Just by living like this, I tap into 5/6 of the areas above. This is how growth happens.
If you feel unfulfilled in life, here is how to design better: Health/Fitness
Eat more greens, exercise or walk 3x a week, journal or sketch for mental health, get outside more
Relationships
Reduce time on the dating apps, use Meetup.com to find events in your area, make a friend list and actively rotate and support your friend group
Education
Sign up for local classes or take free online courses at MIT/Harvard/Coursera
Income Create a course, write an Ebook, start a paid membership site, teach workshops, do consulting, write a paperback, create an event, develop a skill online and sell it. The internet gives you access to the world. Use it.
Job
I created my dream job. I had ZERO experience and none of my degrees are in my field. Once you nail down what you LOVE doing, you can create a business model around it. If you have a desired career and want to work for someone, Monster.com, placement agencies, and Linkedin is a great way to find it. Don't work for money, work for satisfaction.
I hope this resonates with many of you. Life design is not nearly as hard as people think. Doing the work takes effort, but over time you can live MUCH, MUCH better by simple planning.
Got tips for life improvement? Share below~! Got complaints or criticisms? Share them with your dog.