I (teen) enjoy jewelry making as a hobby, and have been doing it for 2 years now, but during this story I was 1 year into the hobby. My mom would sometimes borrow some bracelets from me, which is fine, but she seldom gave them back. I understand that this could be because she is forgetful or plans on wearing them later, but is her response to me asking for them back wrong? One night, while she was saying good night to me, I suddenly remembered that she had some bracelets that I made in her room that she had borrowed a few weeks ago, so I asked her about them and told her to give them back. She seemed a bit surprised by my suddenness, which is fair, and asked me why I wanted them back. In all honesty, I didn’t have a “good” reason for wanting them back (like wanting to wear them tomorrow), so I just told her the truth, that I suddenly remembered that she had asked to borrow them, and that I wanted them back now. She did not like that answer, and got extremely angry at me. She went to her room, grabbed the bracelets I lent to her, and slammed them onto my desk before leaving my room and slamming the door shut. I was confused on why she was angry, and at the time I thought it wasn’t that serious as she often has mood swings or is just angry, so I just went to bed. The next morning, I got up and got ready for my badminton lesson, and I felt bad for making her angry last night, so I went to go give her back the jewelry. However, she was still pissed, and was not accepting the jewelry anymore, and in my opinion, being kinda petty about it. It kinda hurt me, but she often does this when she is in a bad mood so I let it go for a bit and instead went to eat breakfast. While I was eating, my dad came downstairs and asked me why my mom is in such a bad mood. I told him what happened last night, and he told me to go apologize. I was confused on what I did wrong (and I still am), and refused, but he kept pushing me, saying that my mom was crying and sad and kinda guilt tripping me. Then, my mom came down and was crying. My dad tried to comfort her, but she ignored him and pushed him away. She turned to me and talked about how she does everything in this house, how I couldn’t just let her have this one thing, that I was mean and couldn’t even give her the jewelry or help out around the house, etc. (My dad often tried to make me go talk to my mom whenever she was in a bad mood, probably because he was scared of her anger. I don’t remember much from when I was a kid, but I remember that they often would argue, and that my dad would ask me if I wanted them to divorce in the way that’s like “You don’t want me and your mom to divorce, right?” My brother was diagnosed with some mental illness, idk what but likely autism, when he was young, so he always got out of having those conversations.) Growing up, my family never apologized to each other for anything serious. The typical way arguments would go was fight, silence, and move on. My family still doesn’t apologize for anything, which is why I was so confused on why my dad was so insistent. I tried to argue that it wasn’t my fault, and that I just wanted my jewelry back, but he wasn’t listening. He kept pushing me and telling me to apologize and I was crying so much. I eventually stood up to just get it over with, but he basically dragged me to the home office where my mom was, not physically but he was acting so annoyed with my behavior. When I apologized, I felt so humiliated and angry, and my mom didn’t even accept or acknowledge my apology at first. I had to apologize a few times before she even looked at me, and when she finally accepted, I feel like she was talking down at me, like I was a dog who ripped up her favorite pair of shoes. This story may be biased because it was written from only my perspective, but I just want to know if I did anything wrong or if my feelings are valid. Also any advice for a bad mental family life (constant arguments, sibling favoritism, etc.) but a good material life (a nice house, food, clothes, etc.) is very much appreciated.

Summer Camps For Kids
Title: "Exploring the Benefits and Excitement of Summer Camps for Kids"
Introduction:
Summer camps hold a special place in the hearts of many children and parents alike. These retreats offer a unique blend of adventure, learning, and socialization, creating memories that last a lifetime. In this article, we'll delve into the world of summer camps for kids, exploring their benefits, popular activities, and tips for choosing the right camp for your child.
Benefits of Summer Camps:

1. Outdoor Exploration: Summer camps often take place in natural settings, providing children with opportunities to explore the great outdoors. Whether it's hiking through forests, swimming in lakes, or roasting marshmallows around a campfire, these experiences foster a deep appreciation for nature and encourage physical activity.
   
2. Seasonal social Development: Camps bring together children from diverse backgrounds, allowing them to form new friendships and develop important social skills. Through teamwork, cooperation, and shared experiences, campers learn to communicate effectively, resolve conflicts, and build confidence in their interactions with others.
   
3. Personal Growth: Away from the familiar comforts of home, children have the chance to step out of their comfort zones and embrace new challenges. From trying out new sports and creative arts to conquering fears through outdoor adventures, summer camps empower kids to discover their strengths, overcome obstacles, and build resilience.
   
4. Skill Building: Many camps offer specialised programs focused on developing specific skills or interests, such as music, theatre, sports, or STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). These immersive experiences allow children to hone their talents, explore new passions, and gain valuable knowledge in a supportive environment.
   

Popular Activities at Summer Camps:

1. Sports and Recreation: From soccer and basketball to swimming and rock climbing, sports activities are a staple of many summer camps. These activities not only promote physical fitness but also teach valuable lessons in teamwork, sportsmanship, and leadership.
2. Arts and Crafts: Creative arts and crafts workshops allow campers to unleash their imagination and express themselves through painting, drawing, pottery, and other artistic endeavors. These hands-on activities foster creativity, fine motor skills, and a sense of pride in one's work.
3. Adventure and Outdoor Skills: Whether it's navigating a ropes course, learning to build a fire, or embarking on a wilderness hike, adventure-based activities challenge campers to push their limits, develop problem-solving skills, and connect with nature in meaningful ways.
4. STEM Exploration: Camps focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics offer interactive workshops, experiments, and projects that spark curiosity and foster a love for learning. From robotics and coding to astronomy and environmental science, these programs inspire campers to explore the wonders of the world around them.

Tips for Choosing the Right Camp:

1. Consider Your Child's Interests: Look for a camp that aligns with your child's passions and preferences, whether it's sports, arts, nature, or academics.
2. Research Camp Options: Explore different types of camps, read reviews, and reach out to camp organizers to learn more about their programs, facilities, and staff qualifications.
3. Evaluate Safety Measures: Prioritize camps that prioritize the safety and well-being of campers, with trained staff, proper supervision, and emergency protocols in place.
4. Involve Your Child in the Decision: Discuss camp options with your child and involve them in the decision-making process to ensure they feel excited and invested in the experience.

Conclusion:
Summer camps offer children a world of adventure, learning, and friendship, providing valuable opportunities for personal growth and exploration. Whether it's mastering new skills, making lifelong memories, or simply enjoying the joys of childhood in the great outdoors, the benefits of summer camps are boundless. By choosing the right camp and embracing the spirit of adventure, parents can set their children on a path to a summer filled with fun, discovery, and endless possibilities.
Camp North Star is situated in beautiful Poland Spring, Maine, surrounded by many beautiful and natural landscapes that we get to share and enjoy with our campers. Trips are offered every session and happen on the days we are not on our normal activity schedule. Trip days are a time to relax and enjoy time with friends and bunkmates.
Camp North Star is the top premier Maine sleepaway camp for boys & girls. We offer the best overnight summer camps for kids & teens in New England. Call Now: (207)998-4777.
We give Different types of camp north star like-

• Sleep away Camp
• Summer Camp
• Sport Camp
• Boys & Girl Camp

Thank You, For More Service’s Please Visit Our Websites.

Passed on my first try. My biggest advice is pay for the test geek supplemental and watch every free video you can find on YouTube. I can honestly say most of the information I retained were from videos and not the Kaplan Textbook. I did read the book and write notes/flashcards but read it over at most once. Some chapters not at all. Might be different for everyone but I just think I’m more of a video/audio learner.
My overall performance score on Kaplan was 73.87% and I used 37.10% of the Q Bank.
I definitely spent way too much time over thinking math problems. I had 2, and one was parity which was a series 7 question. Read the answer set SLOWLY. It’ll be the last 2 words that make the statement false.
Overall thank you to all the creators on YouTube for free review content. Without them I don’t think any of this information would’ve stuck with me. Now time to ask my boss for that raise! (;
Tip: use the free YouTube premium trial and find the 66 review and play it in the background when doing chores/driving/working out.

Ugh, I hate to admit this, but I was just scammed from a seller in person for $800. The guy completely ghosted me after the sale and is ignoring my calls and texts. I tried calling him on another line, he answered and then hung up. I should’ve trusted my gut.
If anyone has 2 GA tix please let me know. Will do PayPal g&s for shipping and willing to meet in person in the Bay Area. Need proof of purchase and photo id. Hard lesson learned. Thank you

There have been an increasing number of juniors visiting this sub asking for advice about writing essays. Below are some tips and advice for making your essay stand out as excellent. Feel free to ask questions because I will answer every single question in the comments.
I know from experience that many of you are struggling to identify a good topic for your essay. Conventional wisdom says to start by brainstorming a list of potential topics, and chances are, you have already started a mental list of ideas. You might think you only have a few choices for topics, based on your activities or experiences, or essay examples you read, or the rough draft you already started (or worse, that GPT started...). I advise, however, that you put down your list of topics and back away from it. Forget that exists for a moment. Seriously - thinking about this initial list tethers you to certain ideas that might not actually be your best options.
Now you can begin brainstorming with a clean slate.
Start with thinking about what you want to show in your entire application, not just one essay. Every single component in your app has one purpose – to tell more about YOU. Filling out the rest of the application by rote and focusing solely on the essay is short-sighted and will leave so much potential untapped in your application.

It's About You. Tell Your Story - And Be The Protagonist

An admissions officer’s goal is to understand you fully, in the context of your background and the rest of the applicant pool. They will begin this with assessing your academic abilities and potential. Then they will evaluate how you will fit into the student body they’re trying to curate. All of this can be somewhat broad and diverse and touch on several institutional goals. But they will dig deep to find out what each applicant is like, what your core values and motivations are, what kind of student you will be, how you will contribute to the vibrant and intellectual campus community they’re building, etc.
Your goal with essay brainstorming is to ascertain how to powerfully tell your story in a manner that will fit these criteria. The entirety of your application (again, not just one essay) aims to showcase your abilities, qualifications, and uncommon attributes as a person in a positive way. Before you begin outlining or writing your application, you must determine what is unique about you that will stand out to an admissions panel. All students are truly unique. Not one other student has the same combination of life experiences, personality, passions, or goals as you do. Your job in your application is to frame your unique personal attributes in a positive and compelling way. How will you fit on campus? What personal qualities, strengths, core values, talents, or different perspectives do you bring to the table? What stories, deeper motivations/beliefs, or formative experiences can you use to illustrate all of this?
It is always helpful to start with some soul-searching or self-examination. You might not immediately know what you want to share about yourself. It’s not a simple task to decide how to summarize your whole life and being in a powerful and eloquent way on your application. Introspection prior to starting your application takes additional time and effort rather than jumping straight into your first draft. But it is also a valuable method to start writing a winning application that stands out from the stack.
You'll see the advice everywhere that all essay prompts are really about the same thing - you. The goal of each essay then is to showcase who you are, what matters to you, and how you think. I guarantee if you're on this sub enough, you'll hear the advice to "show, don't tell" when writing about yourself. But what does this mean really, and how do you do it well? How do you even get started on an essay that does this?

Introspection Questions

It’s often easiest to start thinking in terms of superlatives, especially those related to personal insights -- what are the most meaningful things about you, and what do you value the most? Here is a list of questions to help you brainstorm broadly before you narrow down your focus for writing:

• What are your interests?
  
• What sparks your curiosity?
  
• About what topics do you enjoy reading?
  
• With whom do you enjoy spending time? Who has impacted your life the most?
  
• Reflect upon “superlatives” in your life. What moments were most memorable, formative, enlightening, enjoyable, or valuable? What physical possessions, experiences, dreams, or lessons could make your superlatives list?
  
• Stop and think about what things, people, or circumstances in your life are really unique, fascinating, or outlandish. Are there any that really have a lot of "cultural flavor" (whatever your culture is)?
  

I have a free introspection worksheet with over 100 questions like this designed to help you find ideas worth exploring in your essays. You can find it on the A2C Discord or download it directly here.

Find Your Story And Arc

Think of a small anecdote or story from your life that you could share that serves as a microcosm of who you are and what is important to you. It will massively help you narrow this down and find a gem of a story if you first start by thinking about your application arc or theme. This is the one-phrase summary of your entire application. It could be "brilliant entrepreneur who started her own successful business" or "talented athlete who wants to study economics and finance as they pertain to sports", or even "avid baker whose hobby sparked an interest in chemistry". It doesn't have to be related to your intended major, but it can help your arc be stronger and clearer if it is.
Once you have an arc determined and a story to share, think about what you want that story to say about you. This is where it can help to think of this as something you would share on a date - what impression does it make about you to the reader? Once you know this, start showing, not telling this attribute of yourself through your story. For example, instead of saying that you're compassionate toward others, you show an example of a time you were compassionate, then elaborate on why, and what it means to you.

Essay Brainstorming Techniques

If you are having trouble finding a story, or simply have writer’s block once you have picked your topic, here are some ideas to get your juices flowing:

• Stream of consciousness writing -- Start writing whatever is in your head, and don’t stop for 30 minutes. You probably won’t use what you just wrote for your essay, but it will help you find a starting point.
  
• Journaling -- Answer the prompt as if you were writing in a journal. This will get you in the habit of writing about yourself and establish comfort with the concept. It will also take you to a new level of introspection and self-awareness.
  
• Twitter X style -- Write several rapid-fire responses to the prompt in 280 characters or less. Choose an idea from these responses to expound upon in your essay.
  
• Read each essay prompt, then go through your introspection worksheet responses and connect the stories and insights to one or more of the prompts. Some students like using color coding to visually see how their different ideas might work together.
  

Why Essays Matter

Here's the thing a lot of people don't realize about college admission: it's not an award for being the smartest, most accomplished, or most impressive. It's an invitation to join a community. Far too many students think that if they can just show that they're smart enough, they'll get in. Yale even says right on their admissions website that 75% of their applicants are academically qualified to succeed at Yale. But only ~4% are getting in. That should tell you that they're looking for more than just top tier test scores and grades. To be perfectly clear, you will need top tier grades and (optionally) test scores to show that you're qualified, and the vast majority of my students come to me with this part already in the bank. But what sets the admits apart? It's personal insight - sharing who you are, how you think, what matters to you, and how you engage community. You can't just say "/IAmVerySmart, please admit me," or even "I did a cool thing guys! Isn't that neat!" You need to go deeper and show them your core values, personal strengths, motivations, aspirations, character traits, foundational beliefs, personality, etc. And you need to do it in a charming, winsome way that makes them like you and want to invite you to join their community.
So how do I get students to do this? All of my students complete that introspection worksheet. We go through it and find the stories, examples, anecdotes, conversations, memories, relationships, and other things from their life that will help us craft a strong and personally insightful narrative. We also make lists of the values, strengths, and key personal qualities we want to showcase. Once we have some topics, outlines, abstracts, or rough drafts, we talk about which stories to tell where, how to tell them well, and what details to include to present the best they have to offer. Then we refine, edit, polish, and enhance over and over until the story sings, but more importantly shows their heart and soul. We also go through all the other application components to ensure consistency, quality, and distinctiveness.
Here's why this works so well: at most highly selective colleges there is a primary reader (or 2-3) who will review everything first and then present it to the admissions committee, who then votes on whether to admit you. That presentation typically goes one of three ways:

1. Total enthusiasm, energy, and excitement. They strongly advocate for admission and paint a clear picture of how you will contribute to their goals and community. Everyone in the room picks up on that energy and is leaning forward in their chairs, looking for reasons to admit you. This is quite rare, generally less than 5 out of every 100 applications, even among those which are "fully qualified." When you do this right, you show depth, meaning, and valuable personal insights so the reviewer is learning about who you are and how you might engage the community they're curating. You come alive off the page as a person, not just another file.
   
2. Business as usual. You're another great applicant in a pile of great applicants. They share a basic review of the facts, your profile, stats, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Maybe someone on the committee finds something they love, and they really push for admission. More likely, not and you get deferred/waitlisted even though there wasn't anything "wrong" with your application. They just didn't love you enough to commit.
   
3. "Here's a stack of 20 applications that I didn't find all that compelling, so we won't present them individually, but you guys are the committee and you make the decisions. So let me know if there are any you want to talk about." In this case, unless there's a letter of endorsement from an athletics coach or your last name matches several buildings on campus, you're probably not getting additional consideration, much less admission. They will regret to inform you.
   

Everything we're doing is designed to help them get to know themselves, present the best they have to offer, and land in that first group. Having top tier essays is the single best way to get there. Get started on brainstorming in the next few weeks so you'll have time to get a few essays completed over the summer.

it's my first time posting here so please bare with me. i started becoming aware that my sister wasn't someone i could "win" against or prove a point to about 4 years ago. in therapy i talked about trying to disengage and grey rock her while still maintaining a relationship because cutting her off didn't feel right.
most of the time, interacting with her leaves me so confused. i will admit i handle it badly and i have no idea what to do because it feels like no matter how much i prepare for it and tell myself to keep a level head, i reach a point where i explode and start yelling things that don't make sense to even me. i feel so stupid after like im surrounded by an ongoing wreckage that i caused
she has so many expectations for me that are entirely impossible to meet. i used to feel bad and upset with myself for not being what she wanted and scared of her disappointment, now i just feel angry that it's being imposed on me
i'm angry that im always compensating for her feelings and jumping hurdles to avoid fights in the house. i'm fed up with hearing her monologues about how much she's done for me my whole life and how terribly i've treated her.
i know i need to calm down in order to get to tomorrow, the real problem is how i messed up tonight. she's graduating from grad school in two days. we (other sister and i) asked her if she'd like to find a place to eat 2-3 weeks ago and her response was she wasn't sure what she wanted, she felt it would be a hassle, and she couldn't decide. cue us telling her it's her decision and we'd like to celebrate her however she'd prefer. we'd go in circles, i know she seeks validation and will never be satisfied with how much i'm willing to give before i feel like a sheep. each time we asked it was the same answer. yesterday we agreed to a meal after the ceremony but not on a place. we said she should pick a place and we'd make the reservation. today i'm texting her restaurants to choose from. the added issue is who pays for the meal because she's currently unemployed and my mom is also low income so they will split it.
planning a reservation for a large group comes with its own issues and those could've been handled but it started to feel impossible when she started saying "i just thought you guys would handle it after you said you would last night but now it feels like it's falling on me." after telling her that there's a miscommunication here because we only said we'd book the reservation after a place was decided, she brought up feeling disappointment and uncared for 6 more times. that's when i exploded and said that this was ridiculous and started arguing. the only way she would've stopped repeating that is if i had apologized for not doing better. she says she was so happy that we took the responsibility and stepped up for once, that she was bragging to best friend about it today
according to my other sister, narc sister is mostly now upset that i yelled and threw my feelings at her. i know 100% that for years now she'll be saying i ruined her graduation and that we as a family have never treated her well and that for all my graduations she did everything a big sister should do to make me happy
im so fed up truly i feel lost and deranged and like im hallucinating. i drafted a text to send in the morning apologizing for lashing out but i'm dreading having to see her in the morning and hear her dry responses that see no issue in how she expected us to be mind readers and take full control of the planning

I started playing a little over a year ago now and have gotten to a rating on lichess of about 1500 on rapid. I mainly progressed with puzzles, watching streamers and learning by osmosis lol, I went through a gothamchess beginners bootcamp course, reading logical chess: move by move, and just playing a bunch. But once I got to 1500 I have become very confused on how to continue. I want to start studying more seriously, but I have no clue how and I feel overwhelmed in some sense.
I have a bunch of books, as gifts from family and just finding them in pdf form online. In my beginning phase after shooting up in skill after the gothamchess course, I bought another one (Middlegames masterclass). I tried analyzing my games which made me feel even more confused on where to start because I've realized I have a bunch of giant pitfalls in my chess. I noticed I dont really have a plan or a sense of direction and I just kind of play, I have bad board vision, bad at more positional understanding, and so much more. I dont even know if any of this is true, because I barely know how to analyze!
The worse part is I havent really done any of these. I have so much stuff I dont know where to start. I think I started one page of like a book called 45 positional techniques but then I stopped because I dont even really know how to read these books effectively. I started that course but didnt get past the first lesson, because it is so long and I dont even know if it is helpful. And I stopped analyzing my games after just one time because it took so long (2 hours!!) and I dont even know if it would be helpful because I dont know if I am analyzing it correctly!
Maybe like a structured study/play plan for each 'session' of chess would help? Idrk. Please help lol Im losing my mind.

I currently (40M) had my ex (35F) completely destroy our relationship while I was working out of town for a few months. This happened a year ago and wish I had these stories as a resource while going through it. I have just started to use Reddit and been reading the experiences of others here and have decided to share my story in hopes it will maybe help others. That way some good may come from some of the worst times of my life.
A little backstory for context for the story and insight to some of the decisions I made. When I turned 30 I left the major city in my Province (it is like a state if you are an American) because buying just a simple house is over a million dollars and I don't make near enough to afford that. My goal was to move to somewhere more rural to buy a house, meet someone, get married and have a child or two. It was my only dream I had and believed I could attain it. I lived out in the bush on my step dads property in a run down trailer I bought so I could save money for the first 3 years. I had my dog but the loneliness of living in the middle of nowhere had got to me. By then I had saved a fair amount of money, so I decided to move into the town. It was nice, it cut my commute down by 40 minutes, I had started to make a few friends and no longer felt so isolated. It was through my friends I met my future ex. Let's call her Kali. She had a long term boyfriend when we first met. Their relationship ended a couple of years after meeting her and we started dating a few months after.
We mostly had a great relationship for the next 4 years. The only thing was it was on again off again. She would dump me after I did anything really special for her for a week and beg me to take her back. It was like clockwork. I used to think it was because of her depression and that she didn't believe she deserved to be truly happy. Nowadays I actually think she might have been cheating the whole time and just felt guilty about it when I did nice stuff for her but I will never know the truth. I don't care what the reality is anymore anyway, Time has a funny way of making stuff like that irrelevant. We did have one bigger break of about 5 months. When it happened I took time off work to travel in my RV the whole time. From spring to summer. I really didn't like the town I lived in and decided to use that time to check out the rest of my Provence to figure out where I wanted to restart my life. She was basically the only reason I stayed for so long. I did have a decent job and family close by but most people I met there were not good people. Lots of drug users, liars, and general scumbags. I had only a few real friends there. After I got back and had decided where I was going to move to she had decided she wanted me back. She begged me to stay and be with her. She told me that she wanted to get serious. We started making real progress about getting married, having kids and looking at buying a house. Everything was coming up Milhouse and I couldn't be happier. So You can probably guess this is when my tale becomes interesting for you and life got real bad for me.
My career is seasonal. I work from spring to the end of fall and can go on unemployment insurance or find work. My dad had asked if I could help on his farm breeding horses that winter when I had still planned to leave my town. I had promised him that I would because it would give me a place to stay before people in my field of work would be looking for employees. This had been agreed upon before me and Kali had got back together. Now I have always been a man of my word. It's something I take great pride in. I have always hated liars. I don't mind a little embellishment to make a story more fun or if two people's stories are different as long as they both believe that was how the events happened. Everyone remembers things slightly off. She was upset that I had intended to keep my word to my dad but I had every second weekend off. The town my dad is in was only a 2 hour drive. So I told her I would be back twice monthly for weekends and that it would only be for 4 months. For the first two months everything seemed fine. During this time I started to look at rings to pop the question and booked an expensive spa for two days in May to propose. There was only one weird thing that happened during the first two months. On one of my visits she confided in me that her brother's wife had cheated on him and that their newborn baby was most likely not his. I was shocked that she not only knew but didn't plan to tell him. She said she didn't want to tell him for fear of breaking up the family. I told her that he has the right to know and that she was being a bad sister by knowing and not telling him. I also informed her if he found out she knew and didn't say anything that he would most likely kick her out of his life. She made me swear I wouldn't tell him. Even though I thought it was wrong I did agree to not say anything. It did get me wondering how she could not only not tell him but stay friends with someone that could do that to her brother. I think that's when I started to question her morals. The third month she asked that I didn't come out because she was "sick". I told her I didn't care, I could still come out and take care of her. She convinced me that she didn't want me to come so I just worked on the farm instead. I switched weekends so I could come out the next instead of in two weekends. The weekend she was "sick" her phone was off the whole time, lasting into the week. She told me her phone went through the washing machine. She was actually on a bender but I didn't learn that till later.
So I head out the following weekend. As soon as I arrive I start getting super sketchy vibes. I was already weirded out about the stuff with her brother and ghosting me for 4 days as we talked/texted multiple times a day normally. At first she acts great to me, cooks me steak and we go out to the bush to have a fire in the snow. At the fire she really started drinking heavily. She then mentions a guy she had been hanging with lets call him Brad. So alarm bells start going through my head. We go back to her house and she keeps drinking. I wanted to keep a clear head so I only had three beers all evening. She put her phone down unlocked because of how drunk she was and I took it to the bathroom with me to look up texts between them. I felt so guilty for doing it at first but once I see the text between the two of them the guilt is replaced with rage. I go to her room to confront her and she breaks down. First, how dare I go through her phone, this never would have happened if I would have broken my promise to my dad, nothing really happened between them, blah, blah, blah. I was furious and drove off. She blows up my phone the whole time. I don't answer. Ten minutes after I left her mother called me. She lives at her moms house. I took the call and her mom said she is freaking out and has harmed herself. I decide to go back and she has a bandage wrapped around her arm. Her mom hid all the sharp objects she could find. She was having a full on panic attack and begs me to not leave. I told her I would stay if she told me the truth. She admits to hooking up with him one time just that last weekend when she asked me not to come out. It kind of matches the messages and I believe her. I stay there till she falls asleep. Once she does I send Brad a text saying that she has a boyfriend with some screen shots of our conversations me and her have had that week. I was about to drive back to the farm when the dude called her phone. I pick up the call and tell him I am her boyfriend. He asks if that was a joke and I assure him it is not. He said he didn't know and actually apologized. I tell him that I'm pissed but if he didn't know I couldn't blame him. I should have asked him more questions but I was tired, not thinking straight and just wanted to go back to the Farm even though it was two am by this point. I get home and crash. Turned my ringer off because I know once she wakes up she will start calling like crazy. After getting the horses in for the night I decided to look at my phone for the first time all day. Around thirty missed calls and a ton of texts. I decide I need another day before I talk to her. Now while the whole day all I can think about is that it was just one time, she seems to be genuinely remorseful about it, how I'm 39 and really want children before I get too old. I took a call from her the next day on Sunday in the morning. She is still wasted. She hadn't stopped drinking since I was there Friday. We talk and I tell her that I am really upset but am willing to give us another chance. I still was in love with her and wanted to have kids, get married and buy a house with her. It was the dream I felt I worked so hard for. She was so happy I took her back and swore to me nothing like this would ever happen again. Basically I was a fool lol.
So I decided on my next set of days off to borrow my stepdads summer home on the river so we can have the place to ourselves. I grab food that she loves so I can cook her dinner and try to make it very romantic. I want to rekindle my love with her so I wanted to go all out on an amazing weekend. I pick her up and she is already a little drunk. I kind of wanted to hang sober but I don't wanna mess up with her so don't say anything thinking we can do a sober day when I take her out to go shopping and dinner the next day. When we get there she gets hammered. Kali had brought a big of bottle fireball on top of a bunch of white claws. I again didn't really drink that night. Once she was drunk and tired I carried her to the bed. As Kali is in my arms she looks up at me and says in slurred words "I don't know why you even felt threatened by Joe" I ask "what did you just say?". "I don't know why you even felt threatened by Brad" she replied. I put her to bed and my mind starts racing. Now her ex before me has a really close name to the one she said first but I also know she has a friend named Joe I only met a couple of times. They were not close or even hung out but were more like acquaintances. I go in her purse to look at her phone again but the battery is dead and I can't find her charger. I have an Iphone so I can't charge it up to look. I didn't sleep that well that night with everything going on in my head. I woke up at 6 am to her being very loud on the phone. I went out to the living room and she had drank all the booze left over from the night before. I ask her who she was on the phone with and she tells me an uber to leave. I ask why is she going to leave? Kali tells me she is upset that I tried to get into her phone. Guess I didn't put it back in her purse. Must have been out of sorts and forgot. I tell her I can drive her once I go to the washroom and get some clothes on. I go to do that, come out of the washroom to see Kali has already left. She was so drunk that she had left half her stuff behind. I decided to have breakfast before bringing her stuff to her house. After breakfast I packed her stuff into my SUV and noticed it had snowed that night. I could see her footprints out into the driveway. While Dropping off her stuff I noticed there were no footprints leading to her house, so I tried calling Kali. No answer. I left her stuff in the snow and decided to drive by her brothers and sisters house to see if there were footprints going into any of their houses but there were none. I sent her a nasty text about knowing she didn't go home, to go be with Brad or Joe or whoever and never call me again. It was a lot more profane than that but that's the gist of it. Cleaned up the house my stepdad lent me and back off to the farm yet again. The next day she blows up my phone and again I wait another day to talk to her. She tells me that she went home but I know that can't be true from the snow, but she says I must have been mistaken. She apologizes for getting drunk and leavening and that she is going to stop drinking after her birthday in two weeks. She has rented a hotel in the town I'm in for her birthday and wants to spend it with me. I agree just because I have to know the truth and want to look at her phone to make sure I am not crazy. She had gaslit me to the point I was questioning what I saw with my own eyes. A couple of days later I decided to send Joe a message on Facebook to see if he would give me the truth. I get a text from her telling me not to bug her friend and that she is embarrassed. I apologize and tell her I am excited about her birthday soon.
The weekend of her birthday comes so I go to meet her at the hotel. She brought her sister and other friend along. It actually is a really fun time. The girls did coke the first night into the second evening. I don't really like it but I figured she can let loose especially if she is going to stop drinking after her birthday. I also knew by Saturday night that they would all crash hard so it would give me time to look at her phone so I could know the truth. As I mentioned the weekend was really fun so I felt bad about going into her phone yet again. I did it anyway and my whole world came crashing down. Now I figured that I would maybe see Brad or Joe texts and Facebook messages. Seemed like Brad was done but Joe and her were totally hooking up. I also found out that she had slept with 3 other guys. I also saw she was using coke all the time now. She did it maybe three times a year when we dated but now it was every weekend. It looked like she started using regularly right before I left for the farm. Joe helped get it for her too, out of all the guys he was the one she hung with the most. Turns out he was also a meth head who was trying to quit for her. She also went to his house the morning she left the other weekend to hook up and buy coke. I was floored. I just staired and took screen shots till the early morning. I decided I wasn't just going to dump her but I wanted to ruin her life not realizing she was already doing that all by herself but hindsight is 20 20. So I started coming up with a plan of what I was going to do. I woke up the next morning and acted like everything was fine and went back to the farm. I was still so upset and didn't want to harm myself or others so had a family friend take my firearms for a while. I don't think I would have used them on myself or others but I knew I wasn't thinking clearly and didn't want them in my house while I was like that.
I didn't have to see her till I moved back because the next set I had off I had tickets for a concert in the city I used to live in. During that time all I thought about was how I was going to do something to ruin her life. I came up with some small things but my main plan was to pretend like we were fine and ghost her when my contract was up with my boss next winter. I had promised him another year after kali and I had gotten back together. Just typing it out makes me look back and cringe that I was so crazy. When I went to the city for the concert I told my best friend, my brother and a few others my plan. No one liked it and thought I should just go no contact, cut her straight out of my life. That probably was the smart thing to do but emotion was clouding my judgement. Also you all would get this story. They even informed me that because I would be lying to her, that I would be compromising my morals and turning into a worse person they didn't recognize. I either didn't see it that way or care. I have a hard time recalling what my brain was thinking during that time. All seems like a haze now that it's been a year. I think I was really upset that my dream and all I had worked for was ruined. A friend later said I may have been in love with the dream and not her. Maybe that's the reason I kept up all this insanity.
My time on the farm had come to an end and I was moving back to the town me and my ex lived in. I was set with my plan, excited to implement it and have what I considered just. But you know what they say of the best laid plans. My ex wanted to go to hang at her brothers as a welcome home party. I went but ended up drinking. Heavily drinking, to the point of black out. I don't remember much from that night but have had it recounted for me. I woke up in the drunk tank. Guess I couldn't lie and play it cool then huh? The story I was told later is, while at her brothers I had gotten drunk and loud. Kept waking up the new baby and we were asked to leave. So we caught a cab and I confronted her in the cab but all I could do was call her a lying, cheating, whore on repeat. She got upset and ran into the house locking me out. I had a bunch of my stuff in her house so I went to the door and demanded she let me in. All the while still only referring to her as the aforementioned 3 words. She told me to leave but my jacket and wallet were inside. It was below freezing at night still and probably wouldn't have made it home in the state I was in. I then kicked in her door to keep calling her LCW and grab my stuff. She was on the phone to the police, so I was taken away by them. One of the lowest points in my life. It still brings me so much shame to this day but it is what happened and I am not going to sugar coat it. I never laid a finger on her and I am so happy that I hadn't. Laying hands on women in that way is one of the scummiest things a man can do. I had to go back to her house once they let me out because my stuff was still there. I apologized to her mom who had been at her boyfriends that evening promising to repair the door for her. Kali begged me to talk to her and like an idiot I didn't just leave. I told her I saw everything and she only admitted to Brad and Joe. Lying about them and the others the whole time. Even when I brought up the screen shots she still couldn't come clean. I left just shaking my head. There is still a ton to this story but this is long enough. I could do a part 2 if there is interest. Catching you folks up to where I am now and the messed up things that happened in between.

I am NOT OOP. OOP is u/justathrowaway282641
Originally posted to TwoHotTakes + her own page
Previous BoRU #1, BoRU #2, BoRU #3, BoRU #4, BoRU #5, BoRU 6
Editor’s Note: removed all relevant comments from older posts to make space for new updates. To see all older relevant comments, check out the previous BoRUs above
NEW UPDATE MARKED WITH ----
[New Update]: My family forgot to invite me to my grandparents funeral, but they are convinced I was there.
Trigger Warnings: death of loved ones, emotional manipulation, gaslighting, harassment
RECAP
Original Post: November 14, 2023**
I’m 30s F and caused a major blowup in my family and now none of them are talking to me. For background, my hometown is tiny (500pop) and when I went 2 hrs away to “the city” (15,000pop) for college, I loved it. I ended up staying after graduation, got married, and am happy here for a decade. I visit my home town every few weeks or so, call/text my family near daily, and thought we were all good. My family’s pretty small. Just my brother, mom, step dad, dad, step mom, and an aunt and uncle (mom’s siblings, never married, no kids). My mother's grandparents moved to my home town when I was in high school and were just down the street from us. My family has always been pretty drama free (aside from my parent’s divorce when I was a kid) and we’ve been happy. The step-parents were blended in perfectly and we share holidays and celebrations together. We’re all super close and just the perfect little group.
Ever since I moved away, the topic of “when am I moving back?” is constant, and I’ve always laughed it off. My home town has nothing. You have to drive 30 minutes for milk and bread. 60-90 minute one-way commutes to work. And floods shut down the main road every Easter. I love the town, but I love here more. I have parks, stores, community events, a library! The “city” is great. My family grumbles that I need to move back, but I refuse. I've been trying to encourage them to come here, especially since it's not an hour drive to the nearest medical facility.
Now to the meat and potatoes: both my grandparents passed over COVID times. They were both old and their health had been failing for a while so it was only a matter of time. Thankfully they didn’t catch it, but it made visiting them impossible and we survived mostly through FaceTime. They both passed in their sleep months apart. Both were cremated and kept securely under the kitchen sink for safe keeping while the pandemic blew over. That was 2021.
Well, I just found out my family held a funeral for them and scattered the ashes in my uncle’s maple grove over the summer. No one said a word to me about it. I’ve visited numerous times before and after and not one word. I only found out because my great uncle from California posted on Facebook a few weeks ago that he is entering hospice and was so thankful his health stayed strong enough for him to see his little sister (my grandma) to her final resting place. I was confused and called my mom. She was all “Yeah, the funeral we had in July, remember?” Ya’ll, I visited them for the 4th of July. They did the funeral the 8th. Not a word about it to me. They had planned this for months. Long enough to arrange for my infirm great uncle to be brought over from the other side of the country. Apparently, they talked about it “all the time”.
Everyone is convinced I was at the funeral. They SWEAR I was there. I can prove I wasn’t because Google’s got my location history. My hubby is baffled because he was supposedly there, too, but he had to work every weekend in June and July. Time clock doesn’t lie. My family straight up forgot about me. I’m hurt. I’m sad. And they’re pissed at me “for lying”. They think I’m causing drama over nothing. Nothing I say can convince them I wasn’t there. My family is united in this. And they’ve all put me “on read” until I admit I’m wrong. They think I’ve gone nuts. Either there’s a doppelganger of me attending events, or my family doesn’t want to admit they screwed up. I’m not backing down.
Thanksgiving is coming up, and my family’s been vague posting on Facebook about “forgetful kids” and mental health. It’s so freaking weird and I don’t know if I’m in bizzaro world or what’s going on. My mom’s best friend reached out and said I should just admit I was wrong and apologize, that I’m causing my mom so much unnecessary stress. I asked her if she’s checked everyone’s home for CO2. She hung up on me. (We checked our CO2, and our testers are running just fine.) I have reached out to a few people in my home town to check in on my folks, and they all say they're fine. I even spoke with the local volunteer fire fighter group to see if they could check for gas leaks. Not sure if they were able to.
I don’t know what to do. I’ve shown them the proof I wasn’t there, but they know I’m tech savvy and just assume I’ve Photoshopped it. Hubby says we need a break, and we’re going to be staying home this holiday season.
Edit: I don't know the update rules, so I'll post updates to my profile should anyone want them.  
Update #1: November 27, 2023
Not sure how to do updates on posts, so figured I'd post anything on my profile. Folks have private messaged me and this will be easier I think?
It's 11/27 and Thanksgiving just happened. Hubby and I stayed home. We got a small turkey and made our own little thanksgiving. It was nice. We ate around noon, then watched a movie, and later sat outside with a bottle of wine to watch the sun set behind the trees and neighbor houses.
We usually take the day before off, drive to my folks, stay the night, and help with the Thanksgiving Day cooking. So it wasn't until Wednesday night that my mom broke the silence. Mom called and asked when I was showing up, and I told her we were staying home this year, but for them to have a happy Thanksgiving, and to give the rest of the family my love. She was quiet for a long time after I said that, and I think she eventually mumbled an "okay", or something, and hung up. It wasn't an angry hang up. Just a hang up. On Thanksgiving day, I sent a group "Happy Thanksgiving!" gif to our family group chat. I received a few "happy Thanksgiving"'s back. No one's said anything else. There's been no posts on Facebook.  
Update #2: December 12, 2023
So, I think I mentioned in one of my comments that my dad and I usually talk on the phone every Sunday morning. We're both early risers so we'd chat over our morning coffees and watch the sunrise. Him and I haven't really spoken since this all went down and it's been tough. I'm used to talking to him, you know?
Well, I was sitting outside in my usual spot, watching the sun rise and freezing my butt off, and he called me. I'm not entirely sure how to describe the emotions I felt. It was a mix of panic, hope, terror, happiness, and dread. I ended up answering because I just had to know what he wanted. It was an awkward conversation. He didn't address the current "drama", but instead tiptoed around the situation with all the grace of an cow on stilts. For instance, a simple "How are you doing?" Type question was answered with a "Not good." And the whole conversation would stall out for a bit because he knew why I wasn't doing well. So we ended up talking about the weather, the various winter birds we'd seen in our feeders, and the Christmas decorations around town. Things like that.
Eventually he asked if we were coming out for Christmas, and sounded sad when I told him we weren't. He asked if him and step mom could come visit us instead, and I told him it wasn't a good idea this year. That hubby and I were going to spend a quiet holiday together. I let him know he should be receiving some gifts at his PO Box any day now, so to please pick them up from the post office and put them under the family tree for everyone. He said he'd ship ours to us as well.
And that was pretty much it. No crazy drama to report. The only posts on Facebook have been the usual Christmas excitement ones, countdowns, photos of Santa, silly gift ideas, photos of company Christmas parties.
On a personal note: Hubby and I are doing alright. Our health is good, our spirits high, and we're as solid as ever. We each got Christmas bonus' at our jobs, so we're excited about that. They're not large, but we're happy to have them. We have also done advent calendars for the first time ever. I got him a Lego one, and he got me a hot chocolate one. We're going to do the calendars again next year. Maybe make a tradition out of it.
Everyone please have a safe and happy holidays.  
Inheritance: December 16, 2023
I've received a lot - A LOT - of messages and private DMs urging me to check into inheritance and such. I'm really touched a lot of Internet strangers are worried about me and I wanted to ensure everyone that inheritance is most likely not an issue here. I'd almost be relieved if it was, because then it would at least make some sense. Money does weird things to people, you know?
No one in my family is wealthy by any means. After my grandparents' passed, their small estate was used to pay for their end of life expenses and remaining assets split up. Everyone directly related got an equal split (so excluded my dad and the step parents). I don't remember the exact amount I received, but it was around $5k if I recall. My brother gave me his share, too, so I could finish paying off my college debt while the interest freeze was active.
The great uncle from California has kids and grand kids, and great grandkids of his own, and also isn't wealthy. I think one of his kids makes good money doing something in finance, but I'm not entirely sure. I can't imagine he left us anything, as we hardly knew him. My mom, aunt, and uncle only met him a few times in their lives, and my brother and I even less. Grandma and him were close, but I don't think he liked my grandpa much.  
Christmas: December 25, 2023
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I've received a lot of support through my posts and I'm really grateful. Writing these updates have had a therapeutic effect.
Yesterday was Sunday, but I didn't answer my dad when he called. I just really didn't feel up to a pointless chat, so let it go to voicemail. He tried to reach me a few times throughout the day, but I didn't answer.
Our bestie last minute invited us over to his house for Christmas day lunch (today), so husband and I were busy all Christmas Eve making cookies, peanut brittle, and homemade suckers/hard candies for his kids. Mom tried to reach out as well, but I also ignored her calls.
We had a BLAST at lunch! Our friend's kids are a lot of fun to be around. They got some techy presents from their grandparents (Quest vr headset and steam decks, lucky little rascals) Friend and his wife aren't good with tech, while hubby and I are, so we helped get them set up while our friend played a good host to his folks and inlaws. The grandparents didn't realize that a Steam deck required a Steam account, so we got the kids all their own accounts set up, added them to our steam friends lists, and gifted them some games. We also bought them a few VR games for their headset, and they were off to the races with Beat Saber in no time.
As for my folks: My brother texted and asked if we could talk sometime tomorrow. I think me ignoring mom and dad has caused some kind of upset. Which they deserve.  
Brother’s call: December 26, 2023
Spoke with my brother over the phone this morning.
For starters, he apologized for everything. Him and I are good (for now). For a bit of background, my brother and I are only 2 years apart. There weren't a lot of kids around growing up, so the two of us were often stuck doing stuff together. So we have a lot of shared interests and passions. He's been pretty silent on this whole matter, but still "part of the group", if you know what I mean. I think the thought of losing him out of my life was probably the most painful, because he's always been there. He was my rock until I met my husband. He's definitely a Mama's boy, though, so anything mom wanted, he made sure she got. I'm happy to have him back.
Without further ado, here's the story from the horse's mouth:
Mom apparently had a cancer scare late last year (which no one told me about, go figure), and dad had a stint put in his heart back in January (which I did know about). This "sense of mortality" has apparently lit a fire under Mom's ass to get me back home. But since I wasn't reacting to her passive aggressive hinting, she and step mom decided to go full crazy. My great uncle's health was bad, and he'd been asking about funeral arrangements for his sister (my grandma) for a while, so the moms decided to plan it. And use the event as a giant middle finger to me. They kept all the planning pretty hush-hush between the two of them, so no one on our side of the family actually knew about the funeral until like 2 weeks before. The moms said they'd invited hubby and I. No one thought anything about it. No one thought to mention, confirm, or check with me.
The plan was to scatter the ashes, say a few words, and maybe head to town for lunch. It was a small affair. The mom's didn't even tell the family that our great uncle was coming for it. Like I said, it was a small thing. Barely a footnote. No one thought it was odd because we're pretty chill people.
4th of July happens. Hubby and I are out. No one thought to mention it, as we were all busy celebrating and having a great time. Any time the topic of "this weekend" would start, the conversation would be quickly shifted by one of the moms. We went back home.
8th of July happens. Great uncle rolls into town with a few of his kids, grandkids, and great grandkids, and it's a surprise to everyone (but the moms). Everyone drives to the maple grove and the moms have brought a ton of food and stuff. It's a full blown party. No one on my side noticed I wasn't there, because there were so many extra faces outside the usual group. They did the spreading of the ashes, they said their words, they ate, they had a great time. It wasn't until our great uncle left, and all his side left with him, that they realized I wasn't there. And hadn't been there.
And this is where the crazy went up a notch. My brother says the moms were happy no one noticed I wasn't there. And that this was proof to everyone that I needed to move back because I was so easily forgotten about. Because none of them thought to reach out, right? They basically did a ton of guilt tripping manipulation bullshit and it made everyone upset at me for not showing up. Somehow it was my fault for being excluded. So suddenly everyone was on their side with "sticking it to me".
But then a few months went by, and tempers cooled, and then I guess the horror of it set in. Followed by the shame, but by then they were "in too deep". How do you undo something like this? And since I hadn't brought it up, I guess they figured they would all just stay quiet about it and hope I never asked about a funeral.
That's when I discovered the situation from my great uncle's Facebook and called my mom, who panicked and went with the stupidest solution. Claiming I was there. Don't I remember?
I ended up talking with a few friends from high school, mentioning the situation, and word got back to those in town. So suddenly town gossip and little old church ladies got involved. Was I, or wasn't I at the funeral? Did my family forget to invite me to the funeral of the only grandparents I'd ever know? Or am I just causing a ruckus? My brother said they all just went with mom's answer. Of course they wouldn't forget me. Of course I was there. Of course they're good people. And it just snowballed.
The family expected me to eventually fold. I'm usually a nonconfrontational person, so me sticking to my guns was unexpected. And then I missed Thanksgiving. And now Christmas. With no sign of backing down. And I guess the realization that I could just stop being part of their lives is setting in and my parents are panicking. He's tried just getting them to apologize and explain, but stubbornness prevails. They want to rug sweep, but I'm not letting them.
My brother is upset with everything that's happened. He's realized just how crappy it all has been and he wants nothing to do with it anymore. But since he lives with my mom, he can't "get away from it".
He has asked if he can come stay with us for a little bit. I spoke with hubby, and he's in agreement with me that my brother can come crash in our spare bedroom for as long as he wants. Brother works remotely, so it's no trouble for him to pick up and go. I believe he's making the trip today or tomorrow. Not entirely sure, but I expect crap to hit the fan when he arrives.
On a side note, hubby's stoked that my brother and I made up. The two usually game together, but haven't due to "the situation". He's downstairs right now setting up his man cave in preparation for my brother's arrival. I'm happy to see him so excited.  
Brother's Here: December 27, 2023
My brother rolled in late last night. He'd obviously been crying and when I opened the door, he just held me and sobbed. I'd never seen him like that before and soon both of us were just standing in the doorway crying into one another. He kept apologizing. Over and over again. Said he wasn't sure why he went with it. Just kept saying sorry. Hubby got him all set up in the spare bedroom while brother and I talked. My brother's a wreck. He's always been a big guy, but he's lost a lot of weight and his clothes just hang off him. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was on drugs. We talked for a little bit before bed and he re-explained everything for my husband. I'd told hubby the story, but it was just so weird that hearing it again helped.
This morning my brother was up at dawn making some coffee and getting his work day going. Hubby's off all week (lucky) so hubby made us working folk some pancakes and bacon. So far everything's peaceful. We've decided not to answer any calls from our family. They've been made aware that he arrived safely, and that we are going to spend the New Years together, and that we're not answering any calls until January 1st. They may text if they wish. I'm sure they're losing their minds. Serves them right.
Everyone, have a safe and happy new years! Don't drink and drive!  
Happy 2024!: January 2, 2024
I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holidays, and may the new year be full of joy and happiness!
Not too much of an update. Things here have been quiet. My brother's settled in nicely and he's a great housemate. Our place isn't very big, but we have full basement and a nice outside patio/porch area so it doesn't feel crowded at all with the extra addition. He's a quiet and clean guy. No hassle at all. He got some fresh clothes from the Walmart, a haircut, and trimmed his beard, so he's more "presentable" now. He's a lady killer when he gets cleaned up. He's made nice with the (very nosy, but kind) retired couple next door and is adapting to "city living" nicely.
Folks back home have been mostly well behaved. There's been a few texts back and forth, as we're not answering calls. Mom mainly wants to know when brother's coming back, but he's keen on staying here for a while. Mom said I can't "keep him" and I told her he's a grown ass man and can do what he wants. Brother says he has her blocked after she ORDERED him to return home.
Brother has tentatively asked if he could stay long term, should he decide to, or at least longer than a usual visitor would stay. Which we're fine with. He has a good paying job and could afford an apartment, but he's never lived on his own and I would guess he has some anxiety about it. Should that be the case, he'll start paying us some rent and we'd probably adjust to give him the basement as his own space.  
Had to change the locks: January 17, 2024
My brother is officially staying with us for the long haul. Hubby and him spent all Sunday organizing the basement and shifting things around so he now has his own area to be comfortable in. He's pretty handy and has also started fixing little things around our house. Our windows and doors have never closed and locked/unlocked smoother. He even fixed one of the closets we never use because we can never get the darn door open. Sadly, he also had to change the locks on our house and get us all new keys.
This is because while hubby and I were out this Saturday, the moms showed up. They'd been calling and texting us all week, but we weren't really answering them, so I guess the two decided to drive over and hash it out in person. They have emergency keys to my place, and just let themselves in. Brother told them to leave, they argued, and my nosy (but kind) neighbors called the police when they noticed the commotion. So, we get a call from neighbor's wife, return home to some cops in our yard, all the neighbors out "vacuuming their trees", and my nosy (but kind) neighbors standing on my porch with my brother behind them, doing their best Gandalf "You shall not pass" impression.
Had to talk with the cops, explain that we were having a family dispute and word vomited. I don't really remember what all I said, and was shaking a lot. Our local cops are really great. Fantastic guys and gals in blue, and took it all in stride. It's really cold here, so one had me join him in his cruiser with the heat on, and gave me a bottle of water to calm down while we talked. They asked if we wanted the moms trespassed but I wasn't sure if that counted as a criminal charge so just asked the cops if they could just make them leave, which the cops did with no fuss. I think the moms were shocked we were taking this so seriously. They didn't fight or scream at us. Just left quietly.
My dad promised me he'd make sure his wife left us alone. "Or else". He said he'd also have a stern talk with my mom. Him and I talked Sunday morning, and he seemed absolutely at the end of his rope. Husband jokingly told my dad he could move in, too. To which he declined.
Not sure where to go from here, but we're getting some ring cameras installed once they arrive. And everyone but my dad is blocked. Hopefully they all just leave us alone.  
Nothing New To Report: February 2, 2024
Had a lot of DMs for updates, but don't have much anything to report on. The moms are behaving themselves. All's quiet on the western front. Felt weird ignoring or copy/pasting "no updates" to everyone, so here's what we've been doing, should anyone care.
Dad got a new bird/squirrel feeder from Amazon (looks like a little picnic table for a child's dolly but has a mesh top for the bird seed. I think it's supposed to be for chickens?) It's totes adorbs. To his horror, it also works as a Cooper hawk feeder, so now he's "fortifying his defenses" and putting up some trellises around it. He'll have to wait till warmer weather before planting anything to grow on them.
We had some ring cameras installed and put in a motion-activated camera that double functions as a light bulb. It goes in the light fixture outside the front door and is pretty cool. Video quality isn't all that great, but it's a nice addition I guess. It does overlook the bird feeders, so I've been watching it on my lunch breaks on the days I have to go into the office.
Hubby and brother are feuding. They started a coop farm in Stardew Valley a few days ago and they both want to romance Leah. My husband confided in me that he's also been romancing Sebastian as a backup. I'm not sure why he's keeping this a secret, but he's pretty smug about it.
RELEVANT COMMENTS
fractal_frog I hope your dad can outsmart the hawks!

OOP: He'll be able to, I just know it. He's used to dealing with the wildlife and having hawks about, but he just wasn't expecting one to snag a meal right from his new feeder.
I told him it was "technically" still a bird feeder. Just....for bigger birds. Which he thought was funny. He said he might make a little "no hawks allowed" sign to put up next to it.

MissOP: keep the updates coming. the moms are so close to folding it's just a little bit more. LMAO also, the bro mance between your husband and brother is so cute. lol Honestly, I think your husband making sure he has a side piece of Sebastian is absolutely the play.

OOP: So far still no word from the moms, but I hope you're right. I would love an apology and for us to begin moving past this. But I NEED that apology. I feel selfish saying that, but I refuse to "be the bigger person" on this. I just won't.
As for my brother and husband, yeah, they're basically soul mates. The two hit it off immediately when they first met, and they've been thick as thieves for years.  

Update: February 27, 2024
My dad came out for a visit over the weekend. We had a good time and the weather was lovely for some grilling and beers. It was really nice to see him again and he seemed healthy and in good spirits.
Here's his report from back home: Step mom (dad's wife) has started to realize she's screwed up. I credit her change of mindset to the fact that my dad sat her down and laid it out for her: she leaves his kids alone, or she's getting divorce papers. That apparently shut her up right quick, because they had a prenup done when they married and I'm not sure the details of it, but it wouldn't end favorably for her. She hasn't worked in years, so I imagine she'd be eligible for alimony? But I'm not versed in any of that legal mumbojumbo. Dad didn't seem too worried about it, so I'm not gonna worry about it.
Step dad was pissed the police were involved in the last "mom visit" (despite no one getting arrested or anything) and was in a "the kids are out of control and need to be reigned back in" mindset. When my dad pointed out that "the kids" in question were all in their mid-30s, it took some of the steam out of stepdad's sails. According to my dad, even my mom looked a little surprised when he said that. So, part of me is wondering if a good chunk of this whole thing is my mom not truly realizing that her kids were grown, and no longer children she could make demands of. Both of the moms have left us alone. I expected my mom to continue to kick up a fuss, but I think the cops spooked her.
There was a wonderful suggestion by a comment or to get their pastor involved, which I passed along to my dad. Dad has since spoken to their pastor about everything. He's a young guy, relatively new to their church, and joked that his first month on the job he had to do 3 funerals in a row and his new "flock" were just dying to get away from him, so he's got a sense of humor which is nice. The new pastor agreed to sit down with everyone and help the family hash it all out in a true "Come to Jesus" type moment next month, so that maybe we could celebrate Easter together as our first holiday as a family. Dad said the pastor was aware our family was having some troubles, but unsure of exactly what was going on, and since he was new, the pastor didn't want to pry. He has also agreed to do a small service down at my uncle's maple grove later in the summer, as it usually floods and is a muddy mess all spring. According to my dad, my aunt and uncle are so over all the drama and just ready to move on, so I expect hugs and apologies from them when we next meet.
Stardew Valley Update: My brother was victorious in the grand fight for Leah. It was a hard battle. Well fought. When my husband exposed his plans to woo Sebastian all this time, it was quite the betrayal. Dramatics aside, their farm is really cute and I'm so happy they're enjoying the game!  
Update 4/1 - Final one I think - April 1, 2024
Happy April Fools everyone! I hope you all check your caramel apples for stray onions before taking a bite! I also hope your Easter weekend was a delightful one.
It is with great joy that I tell you all about our most recent update! Possibly even a conclusion to this whole ordeal.
The entire family (aunt, uncle, moms, dads, brother, me, husband) and pastor met at my dad's house and we all sat down to hash the situation out. As expected from what my dad said, my aunt and uncle greeted us all with apologies and hugs, which was nice. My uncle usually helps host the Easter egg hunts with the church and he brought our Easter baskets to give to us in case us kids weren't sticking around the for the weekend. I'm not sure why but seeing it made me tear up and feel stupid, because it was just a basket of candy but it meant a lot to me for some reason.
The pastor led us in a prayer and talked about forgiveness and such. He then asked us all to talk one at a time about how we're feeling and what we want the end result of today to be. No one was allowed to interrupt so everyone got to talk. It was nice. The consensus for the group was that most everyone wanted things to go back to "normal". The only ones who had any variance off this was my mom and step dad. They both wanted all us kids to move back to the area.
The pastor asked them why they wanted us back, and neither could give a good reason other than "because family", and the pastor asked us if we were thriving where we were. And we said we were. He asked if we were happy there. Which we were. He then asked my mom and step dad if they wanted us to give up our happiness to make them happy.
And Mom broke down and said no. We all had a good cry. The pastor then asked about the funeral and lies that led up to it and followed it and how it made us all feel and what we wished we'd done differently if we had the chance. It was all very emotional, but in a good way, you know? Everyone apologized and admitted they f-ed up and did a really crappy thing.
We all talked for a long, long time and the pastor was a great mediator. Eventually we all reached some sort of resolution and I think we're good now. Emotions are still high and a little raw in areas, but we stayed for Easter weekend and had a nice time. We're going to keep moving forward slowly and try to repair the relationship, but I believe we're well and truly out of the woods.
As for my brother, he's still staying with us, and mom will stop trying to guilt trip him back home. He's thinking about renting a small apartment in our area but we're not pushing him to make a decision. He knows he's welcome to stay as long as he wants. I think he wants to try dating (he's had a few girlfriends but never anything serious) and is embarrassed to bring any girls around our place, lol. He's been going to a few random classes/bookclubs at the local library for something free to do and hitting it off with all the little old ladies who attend, and they keep trying to hook him up with girls his age who they know. He has been on a few lunches/coffee dates with a couple girls, but I think he's too embarrassed by the attention to give it a real try at "dating" any of them. He's happy, though, which is all I could ask for.
I'm not sure if there will be any more updates, as I think it's all be resolved about as much as it can be at the moment. I wanted to thank you all for your words of advice and giving me a place to vent and scream into the void. Please be kind to one another and to yourselves. Thank you.
Relevant Comments
emjkr: What a nice and hopeful update, I’m really glad you stuck to your guns when everyone threw sanity out the window!
But, could your mother explain how she thought this would work out in her favour?

OOP: I don't think mom thought too far ahead. I believe she assumed it would all just magically work out the way she wanted it to. She said she wasn't sure what she was expecting to happen (which I think was a lie, but I wasn't going to push it).

mak_zaddy: This was a great update! But ummmmmm no stardew valley update? What gives? Has Sebastian been woo’ed? How’s Leah? What’s happening?

OOP: Sebastian has indeed been wooed (and whoohooed) There's kids and cows and chickens. The two are still having a wonderful time at the game. They're working on completing the community center but it's slow going as they aren't trying to speedrun and just doing things as they want. I believe they're thinking about going into the desert mines once they complete that bundle, but they're both super chicken shit about it!

-my-cabbages: I don't really understand what you had to apologize for ... but I'm glad you're happy and the situation seems to be settling down

OOP: There wasn't much of an apology on my end, as everyone agreed I had done nothing wrong. Mine was more of a "I'm sorry you didn't feel as though I would listen." Type apology, which I don't really believe is a proper apology because apologies like that push the blame back on another. I mostly expressed my feelings and the shock of it all, and how betrayed I felt.  

----NEW UPDATE----

Small, happy update: May 7, 2024 (1 month later)
Things as wonderful as the moment. Still doing baby steps with The Moms. We're texting and talking on the phones more, which is nice. Very civil.
Dad "accidentally" bought a bunch of hand crafted bird feeders at a craft fair. By accidentally, I mean: he had a little too much fun in the beer tent, went for a stroll while step mom wasn't looking, and stumbled upon a guy's booth and bought "one of each". He wouldn't tell me how MANY "one of each" was, but he cackled like a witch when I asked. Step mom said she's forcing him to give a few to me, so I'm expecting a delivery or a Dad-visit any day now.
My brother is officially "going steady" with a girl. We've met her a few times and she seems like a real sweetheart. She's our age and has a little boy (5-6 years old, I haven't asked) from a previous relationship (The dad's not in the picture from what I can gather). She's the granddaughter of one of his Book Club members, so the old ladies made good match makers in the end. The relationship is still very new and I'm routing for them.
No new Stardew Valley updates. Work has been a little crazy lately and I haven't been able to play much of anything, and brother has been distracted by his new lady friend. So, husband finally started Baldur's Gate 3, and fell for Gale's "magic trick" so now those two are a thing. I expect him to be sufficiently distracted from reality for the next few weeks.
 

DO NOT COMMENT IN LINKED POSTS OR MESSAGE OOPs – BoRU Rule #7

THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT OOP

Okay so I know people are going to see that title and immediately think “wannabe” but please hear me out. There’s a lot of backstory in this.
I 21m think I might have ADHD but I’m confused, lost, I don’t know where to start and I don’t want to embarrass myself and just turn out “I’m normal.”
I have a somewhat regular life now. I live alone, pay my bills, work, socialise, etc. However recently I’ve been overthinking a lot about my lifestyle and I just am unsure what to do. For example, my sleep schedule is royally fucked. I can’t sleep for the life of me. I feel uncomfortable if I move a smidge and just start thinking about stupid shit and fantasies until my body is quite literally exhausted enough to sleep. Which results in me then getting up at a random time 4 hours later. Can’t go back to sleep but will then sleep again 3 hours later for another 4 hours. I have to just lay there for hours on end to get a “good nights sleep.” Then at work I’m so underwhelmed and feel a force to work. I feel like I have to force myself to work or I won’t do it. I’m so bad at finishing things. I prepare things and make a plan in my head but it takes me double the time to actually finish it because I just get so bored and then have to force myself to do it again. I’ve also felt unmotivated recently and to be truthful it’s because this is the longest period I’ve had at work where I have not been promoted. Just plain feeling what’s the point at the moment. And the coffee. I’m mugging the company off completely. If I don’t have 3 I will just lollope.
Outside of work I also am backed up on so much stuff I have to do. I have my gym membership I haven’t cancelled yet. I haven’t cleaned my bathroom which I said I’d do 2 weeks ago. I haven’t sent my mum the bedsheets I saw that she wanted yet. I haven’t organised my washing properly in weeks. Just so many task that take so long to do for no reason at all and I can’t explain it. I could be lazy but I just can’t seem to do them on time. Don’t get me started on Christmas. Every year I am running around on the last week looking for anything. I left it so late last year I didnt even have any Christmassy wrapping paper. I also don’t know if this is a thing but if I enjoy a song I will play it over and over and over again until I will randomly no longer like it. I will replay the song so many times until I don’t get any enjoyment from it at all.
Now for some backstory. When I was around 12 I started getting panic attacks. I have anxiety and a panic disorder which I have been diagnosed with. My mum then started to notice difference with me and spoke with the family worker I had at the time. I had troubles in school and they suspected at the time I had autism. My family worker was a very nice lady and hope she is doing well but was very unsure if it was autism at the time, however suggested to my mum that I might be masking. At 12 this made no sense to me at all but I can see what she meant at the time. It took 2 years to get me referred and I went to get diagnosed. I just remember this woman giving me a book and asking me to explain the pictures and then pick an object out of a box and then talk about my school life. I didn’t lie, I was an utter shit show. I was expelled from 2 schools at that point. After that was done it took another month until my mum got the news that I did not have autism. I just remember her being devastated and confused on what was wrong with me. I then continued being a shit, until I turned into a bigger shit. I started smoking and drinking and then bam kicked out my 3rd school by age 15. I was then enrolled into a school for kids who had previously been bullied or suffer with other disabilities which make it no longer possible for them to attend mainstream schools. I remember her having to apply for this thing with the council so my education was paid for “truthfully I think I still have that document standing to this day.” This school offered lessons either one on one with a teacher or small groups. They also offered students with trained therapists and my one was an absolute gem. He enjoyed my company and I enjoyed his. A few months went by and me, my mum, my head teacher, another teacher and my therapist were in this meeting. I don’t remember much about it just shit I didn’t bother to listen to. However my therapist suggested to my mum that I might have ADHD and spoke with her about symptoms he had noticed which I didn’t even really pay much attention to. My mum flat out said no and said she wasn’t going to wait another 2 years for me to get seen to. So I continued to live my life yet again, get head boy, become a mentor, run an afterschool club, attend music, photography and art club. Then just randomly dropped out. Don’t know why I did this.
I just don’t know where to start, how do I even go about it. Do I just ring my doctors and say I think I have this? What if I look like a complete idiot? I just am so confused and lost and scared and where to start? I just can’t keep living like this I just want a bit of normality in my life and am just so tired of being like this.

Most recent example of Impasse with "them upstairs"
Hi there, When a student books 2 classes back to back are they considered two classes within the lesson history? And also in the user ratings are they just counted as one lesson? I've noticed this because when a student has two lessons with me I only noticed my user ratings for the number of classes to go up by one and not two. Is there any reason for this? That I don't understand, thank you.
Hello ***,
Thank you for reaching out. When a student books two classes back to back, they are considered two separate lessons within the lesson history. However, in the user ratings, they are counted as one lesson. This is why your user ratings for the number of classes only increase by one, even if you have consecutive lessons with the same student. I hope this helps.

If disguised under a preposterous or “absurd” appearance, [a UFO’s] effects would be undetected for a long time. I believe this could be a key to the confrontation with UFOs. ~Jacques Vallee

In 1954 the sociologist Gordon Allport published a book called The Nature of Prejudice. In it, he and some colleagues elucidated a link between increasing Intergroup Contact and reducing Racial Prejudice. At the time this was breakthrough research; repeated contact between members of the “in” and “out” group reduces stigma toward the “out” group.
In 1954 this could be easily illustrated by the attitudes of the public-at-large toward racial minorities over the preceding 100 years – shifting attitudes toward slaves and their descendants, as well as the previous 10 years – attitudes toward Japanese-Americans over the course of WWII.
As it turns out one of the most effective ways at reducing prejudice is “equal status contact between majority and minority groups in the pursuit of common goals.”
For African slaves, their descendants, Japanese-Americans, and countless others across history, this contact has been stained with blood and tears. But contact it was nonetheless, and our stigma toward these “out” groups declined overtime as they became part of the “in” group. They became ‘American’ and their “out” group identities and goals have become, and are becoming, less stigmatized.
Today, I believe we are watching this dissolution of stigma play out en masse on the world stage. The funny thing is that this time, all of humanity is part of a microcosmic “out” group and the aliens in their UFOs are part of the macrocosmic “in” group trying to get us to adopt their goals. What then, is so unsettling about humanity that they take such a slow-going route of stigma dissolution? Why don’t they just introduce themselves as equal status individuals?
—————————∞—————————
Attitude Rebound and Stigma
A few weeks ago I made the same post in both UFOs and Aliens. The post contained what I thought to be a reasonable, logical hypothesis that could easily explain away all paranormal phenomena… Yes, all paranormal phenomena. The post got about as much attention in each subreddit, however the reactions to its content was drastically different on each subreddit.
I will admit that I was being a little overzealous in my efforts to “raise the consciousness of humanity” and was proselytizing to some folks in the comments. My B 🙇🏻. What I found very very interesting, however, was how commenters on UFOs were much more critical and reductive than commenters on Aliens, who seemed more open to my zany hypothesis and its possibilities.
Now, I am not a physicist. I can barely remember the unit circle. I got a D in calculus at university. That is why/when I decided to get a liberal education rather than a scientific one. Having said that, I am very passionate about science and the scientific method. I am a nurse by trade, and for twelve hours a day, three days a week, according to my profession, I conduct three to five “n of 1” studies and report the results of these studies to a medical doctor. My job is to experiment on human beings and document outcomes.
What I observed when I made those posts was that one community was receptive and the other was hostile. I joined both UFOs and Aliens so that I could keep up to date on the latest disclosure news. I have noticed in my time browsing these subreddits that UFOs tends to request hard, ‘scientific’ data from posters, whereas Aliens seems to have more interest in the subjective experience of posters. Of course there is a lot of overlap given the content of these subreddits.
This is all just to say that the same message may be received differently, and it’s content interpreted differently, even by the same/overlapping populations, due to the stigma some individuals harbor. So I think it prudent that we introspect and hold an awareness of our own stigmas and biases, understanding they may be seated deep in our unconscious mind. We should reconsider the things we find absurd, for in the absurdity there may be a powerful lesson.
—————————∞—————————
Thank you to those who upvoted/downvoted and commented. Thank you for participating in this community. Thank you for being unwitting participants in this accidental study, and I will leave you with this quote from Gordon Allport:

It is here that we encounter the central theme of existentialism: to live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering. If there is a purpose in life at all, there must be a purpose in suffering and in dying. But no man can tell another what this purpose is. Each must find out for himself, and must accept the responsibility that his answer prescribes.

Hey folks -
I know I said I was done posting FV content, but as much as I was intending to step away, theorizing about stuff helps order my mind so I am back to posting. My retirement lasted all of a week 😂😂
I want to explore some of the concepts and inspirations of the Fractalverse from Marathon.
For those who don't know, Marathon is a video game series from Bungie (yes, that Bungie)... The series is often regarded as a spiritual predecessor of Bungie's Halo series.
Significantly for us, it is one of Chris' favorite games of all time, and a lot of the content from Marathon is used as inspiration in the Eragon/Fractalverse series.
https://twitter.com/paolini/status/1661742366028623874
Man, I hope the new #Marathon game is good. The original three were a huge, huge influence on me. Some of the best sci-fi writing out there.
One

If it's a game that doesn't use a mouse, like the old Marathon games, then I use 8426 (with 7 &9 for strafing) for movement and left-hand keys like space, command, option, etc. for shooting, swapping weapons, activating, etc.

Two

Hey, big Marathon fan, which is how I found your work. Been listening to your Leela cover a lot while writing.

Three

Marathon series, Halo, Mass Effect, and the Myst series (although those might be counted as fantasy).

Four

Myst (and sequels), the Marathon trilogy, Escape Velocity, Mass Effect 1-3, Halo 1-4, Skyrim, Oblivion, Portal 1&2, and more.

Five

Since no one guessed it, the sketch I posted earlier was from the end-screen of Marathon Infinity, last game in an awesome trilogy.

Six

@TheDragonUniver Ha! I beat the Vidmaster challenges in the old Marathon games, in the Total Carnage setting no less!

Seven!

@ndemordaunt Awesome. Glad to hear it. I've been playing Halo since it was called Marathon. 🙂 Hope you enjoy my future books!

Alright, I think I've proven my point. Let's get started.
First things first, let's talk about the Jjaro:

The Jjaro were an extremely advanced species--or an extremely advanced individual--which vanished from the Milky Way galaxy... The Jjaro possessed high-quality cyborg technology, such as that used to create the S'pht, as well as a star-destroying weapon known as the trih xeem, the ability to move entire planets by warping space around them as was used by the S'pht'Kr, some sort of time manipulation technology, and various ways of dealing with the W'rkncacnter

Sound familiar? Let's take it line by line with a few tangents along the way.

The Jjaro were an extremely advanced species--or an extremely advanced individual--which vanished from the Milky Way galaxy...

Hmm. Extremely advanced species. Who mysteriously Vanished. Check.

The Jjaro possessed high-quality cyborg technology, such as that used to create the S'pht

We'll get into this a bit later, but there is evidence that the Old Ones created/manipulated the Wraunai. Specifically from the Terminology section:

WRANAUI: sentient, space-faring race originating from the planet Pelagius... Some evidence indicates they may have been genetically modified by the Old Ones at some point in their distant past (Appendix III, TSIASOS).

Not a perfect fit, but lines up well enough. This next bit is extremely curious though -

The Jjaro possessed high-quality cyborg technology, such as that used to create the S'pht, as well as a star-destroying weapon known as the trih xeem

A star-destroying weapon. We haven't seen anything like that before... Or have we?
I've speculated on this in one of my previous posts; I think the "star-destroying weapon" is the black ball in this picture, which was some early concept art for TSIASOS.
You see the Black Ball heading for the sun? Check this out -
Compare it to the picture of the Trih Xeem.
Black ball with a trailing cloud, heading right for the sun? It's a perfect match with the concept art.
This is also significant for the World of Eragon, because:
MURTAGH SPOILERS BELOW
The visions from Azlagur all have him "rise" from the ground to "eat the sun"
Which is SUPER significant, because of the implications of the Marathon Infinity backstory:

In Marathon Infinity, a W'rkncacnter is imprisoned in the sun of planet Lh'owon. It is theorized by some that the W'rkncacnter's powerfully chaotic nature may be responsible for the jumps between realities seen in the game. When the Pfhor use a trih xeem device to send the star into early nova, the creature is released, to the horror and destruction of the Pfhor.

We will touch back on the reality jumping in a bit, but for now I want to focus on the "sun imprisonment" theme.
A cosmic-level baddie imprisoned in the sun. THAT is the endgame for Azlagur. Either he is a planetary-level villain, who will "rise" due to the Trih Xeem and Eat the Sun, releasing the equivalent W'rkncacnter, or he IS the equivalent W'rkncacnter, and will rise when the Trih Xeem is released. It all fits in with the concept art above.
And from this, we can deduce the overarching concepts of Angela's storyline.

Q: Will we get Angela lore? I feel like she could have killed Galbatorix and just didn't feel like it.
A: For those who don't know Angela is based on my sister Angela, because she breaks the fourth wall to a degree she has. Not only does she have plot armor, she knows she's in a story and can break the story itself. So, yes, she could have killed Galbatorix, but that would have made for a very bad story. That said, I do have an entire book planned around Angela, and it's very high on my list of books to write because it takes place before some of these other big stories I want to write. And that's also the difficult thing. I have my big storylines, and then I have a couple of one off side books I want to write, and it's just a question of time, energy and effort.

Given her appearance in TSIASOS, we can interpret that Angela is a "cosmic"-level character, who can cross time and space.
So... what's actually going on behind the scenes? We know she's been in/around Nal Gorgoth, and Tronjheim. She's definitely affiliated with the Draumar, and Tenga in some fashion. So... what's the actual story going on?
Let's take a look at the story of Marathon infinity:

Marathon Infinity begins as the Pfhor destroy Lh'owon using a Jjaro-derived doomsday weapon known as the Trih Xeem or "early nova". Unfortunately, the weapon also releases a powerful chaotic being: The W’rkncacnter, which threatens to destroy the entire galaxy. Because of the W’rkncacnter's chaos or by means of some Jjaro tech of his own, the player is transported back and forward in time, finding himself jumping between timelines and fighting for various sides in a desperate attempt to prevent the chaotic being's release.

So the weapon releases a powerful cosmic-level entity, which threatens to destroy the galaxy. And as a result, the "player" jumps around in time, jumping between timelines and fighting for various sides to prevent the being's release.
Sound familiar?
Jumping around in time and between timelines - that's what she's doing with the portals, the non-standard torque gates.
There are a ton of parallels with Angela and time (such as the references to her being a time lord), so for lack of better information, the most informed guess we can make is that she is trying to prevent the rise of Azlagur himself, or the creature freed by the death of the sun from Az "eating" the sun.
For lack of a better answer, Angela IS the player character from Marathon Infinity.
Alrighty, I could make several posts about the above, but for the sake of space and time, let's get back to the original passage.

the ability to move entire planets by warping space around them

Move planets by warping the space around them eh? That sounds familiar:

Then she was soaring through a nebula, and for a moment, she beheld a patch of twisted space. She could see it was twisted by the way it warped the surrounding gas. And from the patch, she felt a warped sensation, a feeling of utter wrongness, and it terrified her, for she knew its meaning. Chaos. Evil. Hunger.

Warping space around a planet. And Chaos... Sure sounds like the W’rkncacnter.
The last piece here also parallels with what we know about the series:

some sort of time manipulation technology,

Time manipulation - We know, based on various clues left throughout the series, that the Old Ones had the ability to manipulate time. Chris indicates as much here:

Right now no matter what way you swing it, we have issues in terms of time.

Correct.

Moving along, let's keep pulling the Jjaro thread together. The paragraph on Technology reads:

Jjaro technology is incredibly advanced and they have made many discoveries about the secrets of the universe. One of their ships, the Manus Celer Dei, was able to survive the closure of the universe, they uplifted the S'pht, defeated the W'rkncacnter, had mastered time control, had a station capable of compressing the mass and energy of a supernova into a black hole millennia beyond reckoning after it was decommissioned and abandoned, and a few of their artefacts were able to create a cyborg who could also survive the closure of the universe and escape it all together.

A station capable of compressing the mass and energy of a supernova into a black hole. And then it was decommissioned and abandoned.
Sound familiar, anyone?
The Great Beacons. That's what they are. The energy of a supernova in the form of a black hole, which were then decommissioned and abandoned.
We know the Great Beacons are no longer functioning. And it sure sounds like the description of a black hole (both in spacetime format, as a "whirlpool", and also visually)

and a few of their artefacts were able to create a cyborg who could also survive the closure of the universe and escape it all together.

Seeker? I'm not sure, but it sure has a lot of durability.
Alright, we're getting up there in word-count so I want to cut this short.
The last piece I want to talk about here are the parallels betwen the Wranaui and S'pht. It's not a perfect match, but there are a lot of overlaps between the two races.
First, the Wranaui:

WRANAUI: sentient, space-faring race originating from the planet Pelagius. Highly complex life cycle, with an equally complicated, hierarchical social structure dominated by Arms and a ruling form. Wranaui are naturally an ocean-based species, but through extensive use of artificial bodies, have adapted themselves to nearly every possible environment. Aggressive and expansionist, they have little regard for individual rights or safety, given their reliance on replacement bodies. Their scent-based language is exceedingly difficult for humans to translate. Even without technological augmentation, Wranaui are biologically immortal; their genetic-base bodies are always able to revert to an immature form in order to renew their flesh and stave off senescence. Some evidence indicates they may have been genetically modified by the Old Ones at some point in their distant past.

So, to summarize:

• Grew up in water
  
• Advanced scientifically due to the discovery of Vanished technology
  
• Complex hierarchical social structures.
  
• Forms & Use of artificial bodies.
  
• Genetically modified by the Vanished/Old Ones.
  

Let's compare that with the S'phet:

The S'pht were brought to Lh'owon by the Jjarro and Pthia as servants. The S'pht terraformed the planet from a barren desert into "marsh and sea, rivers and forests." When the Jjaro left Lh'owon after the death of "Pthia," the S'pht were released from their servitude, split into eleven clans, and leadership of the race was given to the S'pht royals.[6]

Genetically modified. Check.

The Pfhor forced them out of their typical forms, (as seen used by the S'pht'Kr) and into the strange garb of the Compilers and the armor of the Cyborgs.

Usage of "Forms". Check

After Pthia's death, Yrro scattered the S'pht across Lh'owon, separated them into eleven clans

Hierarchical society with different clans (Arms). Check.
The main two differences here are the usage of smell as a language, and the grew up in water.
Other than that, there are a TON of parallels.
Well, we're getting up there in word count and I've just started to ponder and fully understand the connections between the two series.
A few other random connections I noticed (I will add as time goes on):
Nmarhl and Narhl)
L'phet and S'pht
Alright, we are getting up there in word count, so I think that's it from me now. There are a lot more Eragon-specific relationships I've left out of here; I'll cover these in another post over on that subreddit.
Curious to see if anyone else has found other connections - Let me know what you think in the comments!

We’ve been together for a little over 3 years. When the 4 of us put together the band, they were already independent and active musicians. I had taken a step away from performing for university, so it had been about 2 years since performing publicly, I also had always been a solo act. I was reluctant but I joined.
Early on, we came to the group decision that if we wanted or were asked to do shows or perform individually, so long as it didn’t interfere with things the band has going on. We wanted to be sure to prioritize the band. Personally I didn’t care for the idea of doing other things musically but since I was the only one with a 9-5 profession and they were all mostly musicians for hire, it only seemed morally right. That’s how they made their money and, especially early on, if my job called, I answered bc that’s how I made my money. There had never been an issue until recently.
They were all asked to play behind another vocalist her EP release party. They told me but only after they all agreed to do it. To add insult to injury, I had to ask why we had a cancelled practice, only to find out they had decided to cancel it because that was the day of the EP release. Not only did they not tell me but they couldn’t be bothered to reschedule our practice and we had a show the same weekend. I addressed the issues, told them I was upset and hurt. Ultimately, poor judgement and bad decision making, but I love them. Forgave them and moved on.
This past weekend we were headlining at one of the biggest local venues. We’re pretty popular in our town and man did people show up. Now I’m not the social type when performing. I do the sets and take my breaks in the green rooms. I don’t wanna talk, network, or take photos. I keep to myself so I can focus and then I go home so I can come down from the adrenaline. While in the green room, a local producer or something approached my siblings and asked about me. They weren’t sure if the guy meant me or the band but sent him to the bands insta and gave them our email. My sister forgot it happened and didn’t tell me until this morning. She said he said he would send an email. I checked our email and saw nothing.
Idky, but I checked out deleted and sent emails. I didn’t find anything in deleted, the whole box was empty. So I checked the sent box. I found his email asking for me specifically and a response from one of my bandmates. Asking if I was signed, if I was interested in solo work or if it was possible to book me. One of my bandmates, idk who, responded to the email and said none of us work outside of the band and that I specifically was available to do solo work and had no interest in it.
Now idk if the guy was legit or not but it didn’t matter. One of them tried to stop an opportunity for me and then tried to hide it by deleting the original email. Whether that guy had good intentions or not, why would one of them do that? I’m so torn and hurt by it.

Hi guys, so apparently I booked the 2 BTP in advanced without going to the lessons first. I am doing the BTP in BBDC, so I’m just wondering if I can just skip the theory lessons or I still have to attend them before doing my BTT? Thanks

Hey everyone, I just recently reinstalled and I feel pretty lost on various parts of the game, so I'm hoping you guys might be able to help answer some of my questions/guide me in the right direction. Just a bit of backstory for where my account is at currently before getting into some of my questions:

• Played when the game launched in the US and created a Deathblade character. Got this Deathblade to level 39, then "quit" due to irl stuff limiting my time to play.
• Reinstalled around the time Artist came out and created a new Artist character. Got this Artist to around the same level as my Deathblade before "quitting" again due to irl stuff limiting my time to play.
• Reinstalled once again a few days ago and I just got my Artist to level 50; my Deathblade is still sitting at level 39.

As you can see, although I'm a "returning" player, I never made it very far into the game, so many of the core concepts are still quite foreign to me. Also, I am strictly F2P, so please do take that into consideration for your responses. Thanks in advance :)
Since I have a bunch of questions across various parts of the game, I've broken them into hopefully more legible sections:

Story/Location/General

• I have made it to Arthetine with my Artist, what do I do now at level 50? Do I just keep continuing to do all the quests that appear around me? When do the various dungeons and fights I've seen so much about start for me?
• I didn't explore all of Anikka before coming to Arthetine (there is still a gray area on the map, Prisma Valley). Should I go back and unlock triports and whatnot before continuing? The quests themselves never took me there, so just not sure.
• Should I catch my Deathblade up to where my Artist is at before continuing to progress? I actually really like the combat of both characters and I'm not too sure which I want to "main" as a result. Do I need to pick 1 to main? Will it really gimp my ability to do content if I try to progress both characters as much as possible?
• Is PvP dead? I remember liking that a lot when I first started out, but recently when I've tried to queue up, matches couldn't be found. Not that there was an error or anything, just the timer would continue going for a long time.
• Does a character's level go beyond 50?

Gear

• General
  • Does gear degrade?
• Dismantling
  • As I've been leveling up, I would equip the highest item level gear in each slot and dismantle everything else, including gear at the same item level I have equipped. Should I continue doing this? It has left me with 1 of each item I have equipped - will I ever need say multiple weapons or armor pieces to swap out depending on the content I'm doing? It has also left me with a lot of useful and broken gear powders. What do I do with these?
• Stones
  • I have a bunch of stones in both my characters' inventories. What are these and what do I do with all these? Somehow, I also have an ability stone equipped on my Deathblade in addition to the other stones in my inventory, but I don't remember how or why I did that. The equipped one also seems to make my Deathblade's movement slower, what gives? Do they all give some sort of negative effect? Should I also try to equip a stone on my Artist? Is there a strategy for maximizing positive effects while reducing negative effects?
• Engravings
  • I have a bunch of engraving recipes and engraving recipe selection chests/pouches. What are these and what do I do with all these? I'm assuming they combine in some way to create the 2 empty engraving item slots when opening my character profile, but just wanted someone to hopefully walk me through these as well. Do these also have negative effects like stones? If so, is there a strategy for maximizing positive effects while reducing negative effects?
• Skill Rune Effects
  • I have some items like "Focus" and "Bleed" that I've got no clue what they do or what I should be doing with them. Is this another system that could/should be walked through for me?
• Bracelet
  • I don't have items/packs/chests or anything that seemingly would fit into the Bracelet item slot for either character. Where do bracelets come from? Is this another system that could/should be walked through for me?
• Honing/Upgrading
  • I have heard these terms thrown around before, but again, I just don't know what they entail. Am I at this point in the game yet?
• Item Level
  • My Artist's equipped item level is 230.83 and my Deathblade's is 182.50. I've seen people talking about item levels more than 1k greater than even what I've got combined between both characters lol. Am I on the right track here? Should I expect my equipped item level to shoot up soon?

Cards

• I get that equipping multiple cards of the same set grants different effects, but how does it work across the roster - can I equip the exact same cards on both my Deathblade and my Artist?
• When I use cards, it asks me to confirm and says I have x spots remaining in my card catalog, where x continually decrements each time. Is this something I should be worried about? Do I need to be strategic about which cards to add to the catalog as to optimize the amount of space it has available?
  • If not, I have some card packs, should I just use/consume those ASAP?
• Are book effects separate and in addition to effects granted from equipping cards of the same set?
• What are/how to do enhancements?

Stronghold/resource gathering

• I've seen various ores, wood, and other items to gather across the world as I've been leveling up - am I meant to be gathering these? I think it was a requirement for 1 of the earlier quests, but it's been so long I don't remember the point of it, and I don't think I've gathered anything outside of those quest(s). What is the point of gathering these resources?
• I don't get the Stronghold at all. I had to create/visit one with my Deathblade way back when, but I really don't recall what it's all about, what to do, etc. I don't believe I was required to create/visit one when I created my Artist. Is it shared across the roster? What is the point?

Chests/Auras/PowerPass

• I have a lot of different chests and whatnot in both characters' inventories, the universal storage, my mailbox, and wherever else things are sent to lol I don't even know. I have a wide variety of different things (rapport chests, battle item chests, card packs, etc.). In general, what is the strategy for these, what should I be using/consuming right away, what should I be saving?
• There are some other chests and items that I don't even know what they give me. I remember Crystalline Aura and Elgacia PowerPass off the top of my head, but when I can next login, I will be sure to edit this to ask what the others do as well.
  • As far as I'm aware, Elgacia PowerPass is the only thing I have with a time limit left to claim it. What does this do? What character should I claim it on, if any?

Am I missing anything else? I'm sure I will have more questions as well; these are really the biggest things that have been on my mind. If anything else does come up, I will be sure to edit this to clearly include those changes as well.
I know this is a lot already, thanks in advance for any help/guidance, I do very much appreciate it!

Hi thanks to anyone who reads this.
Over a year ago my spouse and I were in the West Coast for a wedding photographer gig (our full time jobs). I regret doing this now (please don't judge me for saying this) but while I was there, I called 911 to report a suspected drunk driver because they were driving right under the speed limit in front of me and crossed over the yellows a few times, so I gave the dispatcher car details and my name and number and went on with my life, flew back home to the East Coast where we are based (we are used to flying all over the place regularly for our job). I was contacted a few days later as a follow up by the arresting officer to provide an e-mail statement where I gave them the same info I did over the phone. For months and months my husband and I had no idea what happened after this, if someone was arrested or not, if the driver was actually drunk, it just left our minds after that weekend.
(Subpoena 1): Until last November I received a certified mail subpoena from that state's court for a DUI criminal trial scheduled in Feb 2024 where I was mandated to be there as a key witness. I didn't even realize my 911 call would result in a subpoena, but after talking to my husband and a law school friend I learned I am not in trouble but I have to show up. We live almost 3000 miles away so paying out of pocket to travel was out of question, however after reaching out to the court they were willing to reimburse me for travel and lodging (nothing fancy just bare minimum stuff), and a really small daily allowance. I asked the liaison I could dial in with a video call, or can they just use my email statement they said no I have to be there in person. Even though I've forgotten much about that day let alone that specific 1 minute window of time I made the 911 call. I don't know how useful my recollections would be at this point.
The time of the trial in Feb overlapped with part of a 2 day wedding photography gig a client had booked a year in advance, and I was told that this was not a valid excuse to ignore a subpoena for a criminal trial. So despite money being tight I contacted this client and let them know that due to this legal obligation out of my control, I would need to forfeit our contract and they will need to find another photographer. Client was understanding and appreciative of the months in advance heads up, I still felt terrible.
(Subpoena 2) : Come January and guess what, I am notified that I do not have to show up to court on Feb because the trial was moved to May. I was pissed off because I have lost out on a nearly $7k package for a trial that got moved last minute. I received a separate subpoena for the May trial, I called court clerk to ask if I will have to attend and they say yes, and did not seem that concerned that I lost out on income as a result of this case dragging on. Many may know this but Apr-Sep are the most busy, popular times for wedding photography bookings and I knew that this meant that for the week of the May trial date I would have to block off my availability for bookings which is a shame because I had already gotten inquiries about that week which is a very popular week. I took the hit for the potential loss of income for that week. This time I did not have to cancel on a client though, so I was willing to do my civic duty and move on with this.
(Subpoena 3 - TBA) Well two weeks ago I received notice that the May trial has been cancelled for a "continuance" and the next trial date has tentatively been set for late-July. I have not received a subpoena for the July trial yet, but I saw this on the case details site online and that subpoenas have been sent out again to the same list of people including me. This July trial date has already been booked out to me for a multi-day wedding that would have brought in $10k+ in income for my family, and I am panicking at whether I should cancel on my clients now to give them time to find a new photographer, or I should bide my time in case this trial date ends up being moved too.
I feel like I am being punished for doing the "right thing" by calling 911 that day, now I regret this so much because I have had to put my own life on hold and lose income as a result. I don't know why there is a delay or why things are being dragged on either, I thought since this was more than a year ago everything would be over at this point.
Is this a normal thing that can happen for subpoena'd witnesses, and is there really nothing that we can do about it? Can I just retract my statement or say I don't remember anything anymore? I can't keep putting my own life and business on hold , cancelling on clients WEDDINGS last minute, and losing income and hurting my reputation by blocking off popular weeks for trial dates that keep being moved. I also don't want to sound entitled or aggressive to the courts, or get in trouble for being uncooperative, so I am not sure how to approach this.
Can I ask for additional compensation? Are there other ways I can answer my subpoena without having to be on standby to fly thousands of miles cross-country for the next few months?
Appreciate any help here thank you

A good night so far, cashed #1 MLB play Phillies and NBA top play Celtics 1st half. Smaller game bet busted by a point on a ridiculous buzzer shot. Hopefully Mavs keep playing like they did in the 1st half up 10 for a really good night!
Hope everyone tailng cashed tonight. Let me know.
Thank you in advance to those who say thanks and tip when they hit.
MLB-5-2 (Cash #1 Top/3 Top plays)
NBA=1-1 (1-0 top plays)
NHL=
MLB=11-12 Sun (Cash #!)/11-11 Sat (Cash top 2)/12-11 Fri (7-4 Top)/4-7 Thurs/11-10 Wed/11-9 Tues (Cash Top 5)/12-5 Mon (7-1 Top)/10-12 Sun/13-8 Sat (7-3 Top)/5-14 Fri/5-4 Thurs/13-8 Wed (Cash top 6 straight/12-10 Tues (Cash #1)/8-8 Mon (6-3 Top)/7-12 Sun (6-4 Top)/13-9 Sat (6-4 Top)/9-9 Fri (5-4 Top)/7-5 Thurs/14-6 Wed (9-2 TOP)/15-8 Sun (9-3 Top plays)/
452-387 YTD/ (244-175 Top plays)
*All plays are standard bets unless adorned with a star. Those adorned with a star are TOP Plays.*Top plays are listed in order of strength.
⭐️Phillies-115-W
⭐️Brewers-133
⭐️Boston-113-L
⭐️Orioles-1-110-L
⭐️Tigers-1-105-Push
⭐️Arizona-135
⭐️Royals+135
⭐️Angels-105
⭐️Guardians/Rangers Over 8-130
⭐️Oakland/Houston Over 8.5-115-W
Cubs+0.5-125 (F5/First 5 innings + RL)-W
Guardians+105
Padres-1-145
Gigantes+1.5-105
Cincy/Arizona Over 8-130
Phillies/Mutts Over 7.5-104-W
Marlin/Tigers Over 8-115-W
Rocks/Padres Over 7.5-130
NBA=2-2 Sun/2-3 Sat/1-4 Fri (1-1 Top)/1-2 Thurs/1-1 Wed/3-1 Tues (2-0 Top)/2-2mon (2-0 Top)/2-0 Sun/1-1 Sat(Cash #1 top)/3-0 Fri/3-1 Thurs/2-2 Wed/1-4 Tues/3-3 Mon (Cash #1)/5-3 Sun (4-1 Top)/5-2 Sat (3-0 Top)/4-2 Fri/5-0 Thurs/2-3 Wed/2-4 Tues/3-5 Mon/2-4 Sun/3-3 Sat (Cash top 2)/6-3 Wed/10-5 Tues (4-2 Top)/7-7 Sun (Cash top 2)/5-2 Sat (3-0 Top)/7-2 Mon (5-0 Top)/7-4 Sun (Cash 3/4 Top))/6-3 Sun (Cash 2 top)/6-5 Sat (Cash 3/4 Top)/7-3 Tues (Cash 3/4 Top)/9-4 Wed (Cash 3/4 Top)/7-3 Thurs (Cash 3/4 top)/10-2 Wed/6-2 Mon/7-1 mon/5-2 Wed (Cash 2/3 top plays)/4-1 Mon (cash 3/4 top plays)/787-700 YTD
⭐️Mavericks ML-115
⭐️Celtics-4-120 (First Half)-W
Celtics-8-114-L
ThundeMavs Over 213-118
NHL=0-2-1 Sun/1-2 Sat/2-1 Fri/1-2 Thurs (Cash #1)/2-1 Wed/1-2 Tues/0-1 Mon/2-1 Sun/1-0 Sat/0-3 Fri/0-1 Thurs/2-1 Wed/2-4 Tues/2-1 Mon/4-2 Sun (2-1 Top)/1-4 Sat (Cash #1)/3-3 Fri (2-1 Top)/4-1 Sun (Cash top 2)/3-0 Sat/4-3 Thurs/5-1 Sun/4-2 Friday (2-1 Top)/6-1 Fri/6-3 Thurs (3-1 Top)/4-2 Wed (2/3 Top)/5-3 Tues (Cash #1)/6-0 SUN/8-4 Sat/2-0 Fri/5-1 Sun (Cash 2/2 Top)/7-4 Sat (Cash 3 Top)/7-4 Thurs (Cash 3/4 Top plays)/4-1 Wed (3-0 Top)/6-3 Tues (Cash top 2 plays)/7-2 Sat/4-0 Fri/7-5 Sat/4-2 Friday/6-0 Sun/6-5 Sat/3-1 Fri/3-1 Wed/4-2 Tues/2-1 Sun/11-0 Sat/663-635 YTD
⭐️Colorado-134
⭐️Hurricanes/Rags Over 5.5-102-L
New York Rags-106-L
Dallas/Colorado Over 6-135
My picks/analysis/answering questions is and will remain free- but if you’ve been crushing the books with me, would you consider a tip for my time and effort? (and keep wife off back ha!)
As always Tips are NEVER expected but GREATLY appreciated to the newborn diaper fund/medical bills for wife.
Venmo=@ECU03 (LAST 4 DIGITS IF IT ASKS=5029)
PayPal=@superbae
Cashapp=$Alew1980

A good night so far, cashed #1 MLB play Phillies and NBA top play Celtics 1st half. Smaller game bet busted by a point on a ridiculous buzzer shot. Hopefully Mavs keep playing like they did in the 1st half up 10 for a really good night!
Hope everyone tailng cashed tonight. Let me know.
Thank you in advance to those who say thanks and tip when they hit.
MLB-5-2 (Cash #1 Top/3 Top plays)
NBA=1-1 (1-0 top plays)
NHL=
MLB=11-12 Sun (Cash #!)/11-11 Sat (Cash top 2)/12-11 Fri (7-4 Top)/4-7 Thurs/11-10 Wed/11-9 Tues (Cash Top 5)/12-5 Mon (7-1 Top)/10-12 Sun/13-8 Sat (7-3 Top)/5-14 Fri/5-4 Thurs/13-8 Wed (Cash top 6 straight/12-10 Tues (Cash #1)/8-8 Mon (6-3 Top)/7-12 Sun (6-4 Top)/13-9 Sat (6-4 Top)/9-9 Fri (5-4 Top)/7-5 Thurs/14-6 Wed (9-2 TOP)/15-8 Sun (9-3 Top plays)/
452-387 YTD/ (244-175 Top plays)
*All plays are standard bets unless adorned with a star. Those adorned with a star are TOP Plays.*Top plays are listed in order of strength.
⭐️Phillies-115-W
⭐️Brewers-133
⭐️Boston-113-L
⭐️Orioles-1-110-L
⭐️Tigers-1-105-Push
⭐️Arizona-135
⭐️Royals+135
⭐️Angels-105
⭐️Guardians/Rangers Over 8-130
⭐️Oakland/Houston Over 8.5-115-W
Cubs+0.5-125 (F5/First 5 innings + RL)-W
Guardians+105
Padres-1-145
Gigantes+1.5-105
Cincy/Arizona Over 8-130
Phillies/Mutts Over 7.5-104-W
Marlin/Tigers Over 8-115-W
Rocks/Padres Over 7.5-130
NBA=2-2 Sun/2-3 Sat/1-4 Fri (1-1 Top)/1-2 Thurs/1-1 Wed/3-1 Tues (2-0 Top)/2-2mon (2-0 Top)/2-0 Sun/1-1 Sat(Cash #1 top)/3-0 Fri/3-1 Thurs/2-2 Wed/1-4 Tues/3-3 Mon (Cash #1)/5-3 Sun (4-1 Top)/5-2 Sat (3-0 Top)/4-2 Fri/5-0 Thurs/2-3 Wed/2-4 Tues/3-5 Mon/2-4 Sun/3-3 Sat (Cash top 2)/6-3 Wed/10-5 Tues (4-2 Top)/7-7 Sun (Cash top 2)/5-2 Sat (3-0 Top)/7-2 Mon (5-0 Top)/7-4 Sun (Cash 3/4 Top))/6-3 Sun (Cash 2 top)/6-5 Sat (Cash 3/4 Top)/7-3 Tues (Cash 3/4 Top)/9-4 Wed (Cash 3/4 Top)/7-3 Thurs (Cash 3/4 top)/10-2 Wed/6-2 Mon/7-1 mon/5-2 Wed (Cash 2/3 top plays)/4-1 Mon (cash 3/4 top plays)/787-700 YTD
⭐️Mavericks ML-115
⭐️Celtics-4-120 (First Half)-W
Celtics-8-114-L
ThundeMavs Over 213-118
NHL=0-2-1 Sun/1-2 Sat/2-1 Fri/1-2 Thurs (Cash #1)/2-1 Wed/1-2 Tues/0-1 Mon/2-1 Sun/1-0 Sat/0-3 Fri/0-1 Thurs/2-1 Wed/2-4 Tues/2-1 Mon/4-2 Sun (2-1 Top)/1-4 Sat (Cash #1)/3-3 Fri (2-1 Top)/4-1 Sun (Cash top 2)/3-0 Sat/4-3 Thurs/5-1 Sun/4-2 Friday (2-1 Top)/6-1 Fri/6-3 Thurs (3-1 Top)/4-2 Wed (2/3 Top)/5-3 Tues (Cash #1)/6-0 SUN/8-4 Sat/2-0 Fri/5-1 Sun (Cash 2/2 Top)/7-4 Sat (Cash 3 Top)/7-4 Thurs (Cash 3/4 Top plays)/4-1 Wed (3-0 Top)/6-3 Tues (Cash top 2 plays)/7-2 Sat/4-0 Fri/7-5 Sat/4-2 Friday/6-0 Sun/6-5 Sat/3-1 Fri/3-1 Wed/4-2 Tues/2-1 Sun/11-0 Sat/663-635 YTD
⭐️Colorado-134
⭐️Hurricanes/Rags Over 5.5-102-L
New York Rags-106-L
Dallas/Colorado Over 6-135
My picks/analysis/answering questions is and will remain free- but if you’ve been crushing the books with me, would you consider a tip for my time and effort? (and keep wife off back ha!)
As always Tips are NEVER expected but GREATLY appreciated to the newborn diaper fund/medical bills for wife.
Venmo=@ECU03 (LAST 4 DIGITS IF IT ASKS=5029)
PayPal=@superbae
Cashapp=$Alew1980

So I have a horrible English teacher, and we do the Vocabulary Workshop Level F book. The problem is, the entire department got rid of the books last year because they weren’t benefiting students. She decided to bring them back and change the curriculum in a lot of different areas (whole other mess) and I’m now super behind in English even though I have a 100 in her class. She doesn’t teach us, and the quizzes we’d get on each unit were stupidly easy. It was matching the definitions to the word. When we did the tests in previous years it was all made by the company that made the books, not the teacher. They focused on grammar, actual word usage, definition, synonyms, and antonyms. She decided today that we are having a test from every vocabulary word we have studied which is 300 words. We need to know definitions, grammar, how to use it in a sentence, synonyms, and antonyms. The test is next week and I’m starting to freak out since it’s worth 100 points and she said it’s over 10 pages long. Our FINALS aren’t that long. She didn’t even say this to our class. I found out from the other section. We haven’t done the company’s version of the tests the whole year and now I’m terrified about it. I made a Quizlet and I have plus so I’m using that, but do you have any suggestions on what I should do? I’m also thinking about emailing the head of the English department about her since this is insane.

Title: Mafia Dog
Carissa is in her early 40s. She’s a higher ranking officer in this group.
Jane is in her mid/late 20s.
Note: I believe this series will most likely never be performed. It's a 7-part series that requires either an extensive collab or a VA that can do multiple voices as the same 2 speakers are in every chapter. It varies per chapter as to who has more lines. It also gets loud at times with explosions and gunfire and the like which is not very conducive to ASMR. So, I'm releasing it here without it having been performed. I usually wait until someone performs one of my pieces before I release the script publicly. I hope you enjoy the read.
Info you might want if you do perform it: An Introduction To The Book That Is Me : ASMRScriptHaven (reddit.com)
Note: This takes place after an untold horropsychotic yandere story. If any writer wishes to write that story, be my guest. If you notify me, I'll link it here. This series deals with the recovery, recuperation, and care for the rescued victim.
My masterlist: [FF4M] Mafia Dog - Part 1 of 7 [Paramilitary Group] [Rescued Listener] [Severely Wounded Listener] [Concerned Caring Speakers] [Good Boy] : ASMRScriptHaven (reddit.com)
(All talk and sfx are muffled until the secrete door is opened.)
(Sound of muffled gunfire is going on in adjacent rooms. Door is opened roughly.)
Carissa: Clear. Damn it, she’s not in here.
(Pause.)
Yes, our informant advised that this is her office. And look, here’s the information we needed about the shipments coming in tomorrow on her desk. At least we ended up with that.
Damn it, damn it, damn it! I really thought we had her this time. Our contact said she was here right now. How could she have gotten away?
(Pause.)
Yeah, I know, Mike. Obviously Kent’s not gonna like this. He was hoping this strike would put down this upstart gang for good. We cleared out the rest of her goons at this location, but if Francine is still alive… well, I don’t want to think about that right now. Jane?
Jane: Yeah, Carissa?
Carissa: Jane, you and Mike take the others and double check every room we’ve already cleared. Look for any clue as to Francine’s whereabouts or plans that we can bring back to Kent.
Jane: You got it. Come on, Mike.
Carissa: Ronnie, you stay here with me. If our intel was right and Francine was here, maybe there’s a secret passageway she used to escape, or maybe there’s something else to discover.
(Some light tapping on walls as they look. Then a tap closer to the listener.)
Carissa: Hey, I think I’ve found something. This wall, right here. There’s something behind it. Now, how to get it open.
(Pause.)
Ronnie, great work.
(Pause.)
Yes, hit that button.
(A door slides open and all is now clear to the listener.)
That did it. There’s a secret opening here that leads to… Oh, my God! Ronnie, come here.
(Pause.)
Hey, are you all right? Can you hear me?
(Pause.)
Ronnie, put that gun down. You’re scaring him.
(Pause.)
Yes, I know Kent’s orders were to eliminate everyone we find, but this is different. He’s obviously not one of them. Look at him. He’s tied and gagged, and it looks like he’s been beaten to within an inch of his life. He’s still got dried blood on him. Whoever he is, he’s not a threat to us and he clearly needs our help.
(Pause.)
Ronnie, besides the fact that what you just said reveals you to be an inhuman prick and should be ignored on its own, you need to consider the fact that he may be some use. At the very least, he may know some things about Francine.
(Pause.)
No, calling you inhuman was not a compliment. Kent’s orders didn’t account for us finding someone like this in here, and I’m going to help him.
(Pause.)
I don’t care if it is easier to put him down. I’m taking him with us. God, what is wrong with you?
(Pause.)
Yes, it will be on my head if he turns out to be one of them.
(To the listener.) Hey, you, look at me. I’m going to remove the gag, ok. I want to talk to you.
(Pause.)
No, no, no. Don’t shake your head. Stop thrashing. We’re here to help. I’m not going to hurt you.
(Pause.)
(To Ronnie.) Ugh. Damn it. He’s scared to death and he’s going to hurt himself further if he keeps this up.
(Pause.)
Yeah, Ronnie, we’ve already established you don’t give a rat’s ass if he kills himself, but just accept that I do and that I’m in charge right now and give me the bag. I’m going to use the sedative on him.
(Pause.)
Of course, I know we brought it for Francine, but she’s not here, now is she?
(To the listener.) Ok, buddy, I’m sorry if the needle stings, but this will relax you while we move you somewhere safe. See you on the other side.
(Time passes.)
Jane: Carissa, come here. He’s waking up.
Carissa: (Whispering softly.) Hey there, big guy. How are you doing?
(Pause.)
(Not angry, but forceful like she knows what she’s doing.) No, no. Stop struggling, ok? STOP!
(Pause.)
(Calm.) Good. That’s very good. You’ve been wounded. You’re in our infirmary and you’re strapped to the bed. Any struggling could possibly cause you serious harm.
Jane: Carissa’s right. At best it will make it so our medical staff have to reconnect your IVs, and you don’t want to make them work any harder than you have to, do you?
It’s ok. We’re here to care for you. Do you understand? We want to help.
(Pause.)
Carissa: Ok, good. Good. Stay calm. Look, I’m being soft and tender, see? Jane will brush your hair with her hand while you and I talk for a bit.
I know you’ve got to be scared out of your mind right now, but if you just stay calm, we’ll do what we can to reassure you that everything’s all right. Ok?
(Pause.)
(Sigh.) Good. Good boy.
Jane: Carissa, I think he likes it when you call him that.
Carissa: (To Jane.) Yeah, I think you’re right.
(To the listener.) You like that? Ok, then. That’s what I’ll call you, ok? Good boy.
Here, now I’ll hold your hand while you lay still. My name is Carissa. That gentleman over by the door is Mike, and I already told you that this is Jane. And you are my good boy.
That’s right. I’m going to take care of you, good boy. I’m not going to let any harm come to you anymore. You’re not in any danger. These two, Mike and Jane, they’re here for you specifically to make sure nobody comes in here to hurt you.
Jane: Carissa’s right. You’re completely safe. You can rest easy while we’re here. Ok? You just rest and recover and leave everything else to us.
Carissa: And I’m going to see to it that I do everything I can to make you feel safe and protected as well. Now, to do that, we need to know a few things about you. The doctor wants you to rest. She’s telling us we can only have a few minutes with you, so we’ll make this quick. Ok?
Jane: You’re being such a good boy right now. I’ll keep running my fingers through your hair while you answer Carissa’s questions, ok?
Carissa: Now, we just need you to confirm a few things. Did Francine do this to you? Was she there in the place where we found you?
(Pause as listener doesn’t want to say anything.)
Jane: It’s ok. You can tell us.
Carissa: You’re afraid, aren’t you? She did this to you and you’re afraid if you tell us anything, she’s going to punish you.
(Pause.)
No, you don’t have to say anything. I’m not trying to frighten you. I want you to feel safe with me. You’re my good boy, remember? I wouldn’t do anything to hurt my good boy.
Here you go. I’ll just stroke your hair gently as well with my other hand. I can see you really like that when Jane does it. Does that make you feel better, good boy?
Jane: It certainly does. You’re being so good.
Carissa: Yes, you are. So, let me ask an easier question. Do you know how long Francine had you there?
(Pause.)
You don’t know? A long time? They picked you up off the street in a blizzard by offering you a warm place to stay.
Jane: My God. It’s summer now so it’s been several months at least. You poor boy.
Carissa: Well, we’ve got you now, ok?
(Softly aside to Jane.) And now we’ve just confirmed that it was Francine who was there and did this to him.
Jane: (Softly to Carissa.) Ooh, clever.
Carissa: Don’t worry, good boy, you are safe with us. You can count on that.
(Aside.) Yes, Ronnie? Kent needs me? Ok, I’ll be right there.
(To the listener.) Ok, good boy. I have to go, but Jane and Mike are going to stay just outside of your room while you get some more sleep, ok?
Jane: And I’ll stay right here beside you until you fall asleep.
Carissa: The doctor will be in periodically to check on you. Her name is Suzanne and she’s very nice, so you don’t have to worry about her. When she comes by, do what she says, ok? She’s only trying to help.
And I’ll be back as soon as I can. You’re safe as long as you’re here. I can see that you’re still very tired. They’ve given you a lot of medication so you don’t feel any pain. You be my good, good boy while I’m gone and everything will be ok.
Here. (Kiss.) Just a kiss on your forehead for my good boy. You sleep now.
Jane: And if you wake up and Carissa’s not here and you’re scared, just let me know and I’ll sit with you too. Ok?
Carissa: Good boy. Get some rest.
(Time passes. Listener wakes up and hears what Carissa’s saying to Kent, but Carissa initially doesn’t notice.)
(To Kent.) No, Kent, what I’m telling you is that he was her dog, only I think she got her kicks out of… well literally kicking him. Did you hear what Suzanne said about his injuries? That bitch Francine is twisted.
(Pause.)
No, he’s been fine since we brought him in. He’s a little scared, but that’s to be expected.
(Pause.)
What? No, you can’t do that to him. He needs protection! I’m not sending him away. I’ll care for him myself if I…
(Pause.)
Oh, I’m sorry, Kent. You weren’t saying get rid of him.
(Pause.)
Yeah, I guess I am a little zealous over this one. You know where you found me twenty years ago. I guess my heart went out to the guy as soon as I saw him. I can empathize with where he’s been.
(Pause.)
Yeah, thank you for understanding, Kent.
(Pause.)
No, you’re absolutely right with that. He’s going to need some special attention for a while.
(Pause.)
Yes, of course. I’ll take full responsibility. Mike and Jane have agreed to help too. I think they feel sorry for him like I do. I promise, I’ll… Oh, hold on, Kent.
(To listener.) Hey there, good boy. You feeling better?
(Pause.)
That’s right. I told you I’d be back as soon as I could.
(To Kent.)
No, Kent, I understand. Go ahead. I’ll stay here with my good boy.
(Pause.)
Yeah, I’ll keep you updated. And thanks, Kent.
(To listener.) Did you sleep well, good boy?
(Pause.)
That’s good to hear. I’m glad you’re feeling better.
(Pause.)
Yes, the straps are still on. This is a new situation and we wanted to make sure you weren’t going to hurt anybody because you got scared, including yourself.
(Pause.)
No. I don’t think you’re violent, but it’s a precaution we take with everybody. Understand? They’ve even had to do it to me a couple times when I’ve been down here injured. I tend to move around a lot when I sleep and I can hurt myself by pulling out everything the doctors have attached.
(Pause.)
(Taken aback.) Wha…? Mistress? No, no. I’m not your mistress.
(Pause.)
Oh, don’t cry. I’m not mad at you for saying that. You’re still my good boy. Here, let me hug you. Does that feel better?
(Pause.)
There, there. You’re ok. I wasn’t mad at you, and I wasn’t rejecting you.
(Pause.)
No, you don’t have to call me… You know what? It’s ok. You can call me mistress for now if it makes you feel better.
(Pause.)
I can tell that it does. You’re more at ease. Ok, I’m your mistress.
(To herself.) I guess that’s something we’re going to have to work on.
(Pause.)
What? Oh, nothing, my good boy. Nothing you have to worry about right now.
Now that you’re awake, Suzanne has some tests she wants to run. Mostly she’s just going to talk to you, show you some lights, that kind of thing. I don’t think any needles are involved this time.
(Pause.)
I know. I hate needles too. So just relax and do what she says. And when she’s done, Mike will come in to keep you company for a while. I have some business to take care of.
(Pause.)
What should you do while I’m gone? Well, you need to make sure that when I come back, everybody tells me what a good boy you’ve been. Ok?
(Pause.)
Yes, Jane will be here in a while too. She’s out right now on an assignment, but she’ll be back.
(Pause.)
Oh, that makes you smile, does it? Well, good. I’m glad she makes you feel better. Ok, so long for now, my good boy. Know that you’re safe.
Part 2 coming.

Hola a todos! A little bit of a weird update. I am not a dreaming Spanish purist, I would have been, had I found DS sooner. lol well it didn’t exist when I started to learn Spanish 😂😂.
Backstory I took 4 years of Spanish in high school (not great lol) followed by a year in college. I didn’t learn much and couldn’t speak, or understand any spoken Spanish. Well I gave up after that. Fast forward to Jan 2023 I decided to take my journey seriously and actually learn once and for all. I started trying to watch shows on TV that I couldn’t really understand much of but thought it was helping.
CI I discovered DS in the end of November 2023 and I wish I had discovered it sooner. I was able to understand intermediate and most advanced videos I watched and it boosted my confidence. According to the road map I gave myself 1000 hours of credit. Today I reached “1500 hours” well in reality it was 500 hours of CI due to my added hours. I’ve progressed tremendously but still have a long way to go. I’m enjoying the journey. I listen to podcasts and watch native content. Sit doesn’t feel like studying or learning. But it’s working!!
Reading I have read several books and am right around 500k words. Reading is getting easier and easier and I’ve learned a lot of vocabulary from reading. I read out loud every night to get my mouth used to pronouncing unfamiliar words and words/sounds I have issues with. I don’t count time read as a part of my input hours.
Speaking I take conversation classes, no grammar, but I get corrected as needed which helps a ton. Im getting more comfortable speaking and would feel comfortable going to a Spanish speaking country and getting by. I struggle with the past tense and other tenses but I get my point across. I make mistakes everyday but I keep trying.
I linked a sample of my speaking for anyone that is interested. It’s not the best, I need work on my accent and pronunciation as well as grammar. But I’m proud of my progress so far as it can only get better from here.
I’d like to do another update once I’ve got the full 1500 hours of input under my belt to see how much more progress reading speaking and listening will get me in 1000 more hours. I’d also like to finish the books I have now and move on to native books and not translated books as well.
I’m happy to answer any questions. But as the title says, I’m actually at 500 hours of CI. But with my prior background and what level of videos I could understand when I started. I put myself at level 6. Just wanted to make that clear so that it isn’t misleading to anyone. I think it’s important to always give information about prior exposure to the language.