So I met this guy two months and we hit it off super well. He was cute in real life and we had great banter. We went to a museum for our first date and stayed till closing and after the date he asked for my number and consistently asked me out for dates for a month straight. Here I was thinking…wow…this could be the one. And then one day randomly he didn’t ask to meet me again. He says he’s so busy with work and we don’t see each other for two weeks. I was like hmmm ok ok but the date after two weeks went well so I was like whatever. And THEN he doesn’t ask me out got another MONTH. I was like wtf?? I pretty much lost my mind because I was so confused. I asked him earlier when we were dating what’s he’s looking but he said he’s looking for a relationship so I was thinking ok cool we’re on the same page but on our last date after the month I was like we need to communicate more?? Like wtf?? And he said AT MOST he can only see me once a week and when we first started dating he just had a lot of time but now he doesn’t because of work?? Like what kind of job takes up this much time where you can’t see the other. He said he’s basically a glorified secretary which takes up a lot of time for him. He would constantly say he barely even has time for himself and would get home at a really late hour (like 7 pm-8pm). Also he mentioned to me that he’s only seeing me and he’s not a casual dater and would rather just date but because we don’t see each other often and it t wouldn’t be sustainable. Anyways at the end he said he doesn’t have time to start a relationship but we could pick things up down the road when work isn’t as busy (which I’m not sure how truthful that is). My gut is telling me not to wait and I’m not but it just sucks to meet a person on this garbage app and actually have a connection. I wish I knew what made him pull away but I know at the end of the day I know it doesn’t matter because if a man wanted to he would right?

Im sorry but I CANNOT stand Mariana AND Callie. I genuinely don’t know why they made a series for them two. Most of the seasons they’re barely communicating. Like sure they’re sister but it doesn’t show how their bonds form. Callie is always doing something stupid and Mariana is out doing the same. And they are flat out THE WORST characters. Mariana takes adderall and talks to/sees Nick. And NO ONE says anything to moms. But whenever someone else does something bad that Mariana finds out about, she tells on them. Like Brandon living w/that girl with the baby. She told their grandparents when she really didn’t need to. Mariana gets mad that Jesus was dating Lexi but had not problem dating Matt AND Nick THEN sleeping with Wyatt. Like?? Boundaries are only set for her?? And then Callie.. she’s full on dating AJ goes and kisses Aaron and then has the audacity to get mad when Mike gets concerned over his foster son?? Maybe.. just MAYBE they reason your getting “offended” is because Mike is right. And then Callie gets mad at AJ for getting mad at Aaron for calling her cute like ????? That’s not a joke! That’s disrespectful!! ESPECIALLY if you know you have feelings for someone who has a bf. And then Callie has the AUDACITY to get mad at AJ and say “he’s trans” well… how is he supposed to know?? You keep AJ out of the loop. I mean shit, you didn’t even tell him you kissed Aaron until like MONTHS later. I just genuinely can’t stand Callie. A better show would be a spin off her sister Sophie. She’s rich and depressed?? Make a show about her. Not these two hypocritical clowns 😭 Okay sorry for my rant

Note: Got questions? Try here first: An Introduction To The Book That Is Me : ASMRScriptHaven (reddit.com)
Note: Wanna know what else I've got? Try here first: Masterlist for edgiscript : ASMRScriptHaven (reddit.com)
Here's Part 1: [FF4M] Mafia Dog - Part 1 of 7 [Paramilitary Group] [Rescued Listener] [Severely Wounded Listener] [Concerned Caring Speakers] [Good Boy] : ASMRScriptHaven (reddit.com)

Part 2

Jane: (Very soothing and calm.) There you go. Yeah, just like that. One step at a time. You’re doing great.
(Pause.)
You’re frowning. Don’t you like being with me?
(Pause.)
I see, you’re worried about walking. I understand.
(Pause.)
No, I just like to see you smile. You’ve got a nice smile.
(Pause.)
No, we’re not going to go very far. Just down the hall and back today. The doctor said you need to start moving around a little bit. We need to start strengthening your legs, ok?
(Pause.)
Yes, Suzanne is very nice. You know I think she’s sweet on you.
(Pause.)
Oh, I’m only teasing. She’s sweet with everybody, but it’s cute to see you blush like that.
(Listener stumbles.)
Whoa there. It’s ok. I’ve got you. Yeah, that’s right. Hold on to my hand. I won’t let you go.
(Pause.)
It’s ok. I know this can make you a little nervous. You might fall. This is why the doc said you need to move around a little. You’ve got to get your strength back.
(Pause.)
Oh, did you mean you were a little nervous about holding my hand? Don’t worry about that. Even if I wasn’t helping the Doc out by working with you, what girl wouldn’t want to hold hands with a cute guy like you.
(Gentle laugh.) There you go blushing again. You are so adorable when you do that. I think I’m going to make it a game to see how many times I can get you to do that.
(Pause.)
There’s a smile. I’m glad I can make you feel better. Do you feel safer with me around?
(Pause.)
Well, I’m glad to hear it.
And Mike too? Yeah, he’s a good guy. We’ll watch over you and make sure everything’s ok while Carissa’s out.
Oh, look, here comes Carissa now. I’ll bet you want to say hi, don’t you?
Carissa: How’s my good boy doing today?
Jane: Carissa, hi. He’s doing great. Aren’t you, boy?
Whoops. Spoke too soon there. He’s still working on his legs.
Carissa: It’s ok. Jane’s got your left hand, so I’ll take your right. We’ll both support you as you keep walking.
Jane: Yeah. We’re here for you, big guy. You’re doing great.
(Pause while listener takes a few more steps.)
Carissa: Hey, look at that. You really are doing great. You’re getting stronger as we go. You’re going to be running down these halls in no time.
Jane: There’s another smile. You’re not just getting stronger, you’re feeling better, aren’t you?
Carissa: Well, we’re almost back to your room. Why don’t we get you back in bed. Jane and I can help you with the physical therapy Suzanne told us we could help with.
There you go. Climb in. Jane, can you help him on the other side?
Jane: Of course. Here you go. That’s right. Lean on me. You got it.
Carissa: Now, I’ll take one leg and Jane will take the other. We’ll rotate back and forth with your stretching exercises, ok?
(Pause.)
There’s one. Good boy. You’re doing so well.
Jane: Ok, now it’s my turn. I’m going to push in and you try to resist a bit.
(Pause.)
Good, now let’s go back out. Wonderful.
Carissa: You’re my good boy as you have been since you got here. Do you think you’re feeling up to pushing through a few more of these exercises?
(Pause.)
Are you sure? You don’t have to if it’s going to hurt you.
(Pause.)
No, now remember what we talked about. I’m not your mistress. You don’t have to do what I say. I’m not going to punish you.
Jane: Carissa, maybe it would help if he could call you something else.
Carissa: What were you thinking?
Jane: What… what if he called you mommy?
Carissa: What? Jane, I’m not going to…
Jane: No, no. Hear me out. He looks up to you. You’re caring for him and protecting him. You don’t want him to be afraid of you. He’s like a lost little puppy right now. Mommy just fits.
Carissa: Well…
Jane: What do you think, good boy? Would you like to call Carissa “Mommy?”
(Pause.)
Oh, just look at that smile. I think we have our winner.
Carissa: Oh brother. Kent is going to give me no end of teasing for this.
And don’t you tell Ronnie. For right now, this is between the three of us.
Oh, Suzanne, I didn’t see you there. Ok, the four of us.
Mike? When did you get in? Look, just don’t tell Ronnie, ok?
Jane: Oh, Carissa. What’s the harm? You’re a good mommy. Isn’t she, good boy?
Carissa: All right. If it makes you feel good, you can call me mommy. Now you stay here with Suzanne. It looks like the Doc wants to check on your progress. I’ve got to go update Kent on a few things.
And Jane, I’m going to get you for this.
Jane: (Laughs.) What? Oh, come on, Carissa. It was a good idea.
(Carissa leaves.)
Oh, don’t worry, good boy, she’s not really mad at me. She’s just being playful.
Now that we’ve decided what we’re going to call her, we should really decide what we’re going to call you.
(Pause.)
Yes, you are our good boy, but that’s not really a name. But I think I figured out what will work just a minute ago. What if we give you a code name, like you’re our special agent? Does that sound fun?
(Pause.)
Ok, what about “Puppy.” We’ll call you “Puppy” from now on because you’re our good boy. Would you like that?
(Pause.)
Ok, then Puppy it is.
(Kiss.)
There, a kiss on the cheek because I’m still playing our game to see how many times I can make you blush.
(Gentle laugh.) I’ll go update Mommy.
(To the doctor.) Ok, Doc, he’s all yours.
(To the listener.) See you around, Puppy.
Part 3 coming

The title. I was nervous to go on a date with this cute guy which to which I made the genius decision to drink more than I should have on our dinner date. This resulted in me getting very inebriated very quickly. After he invited back to his place where I passed out in his bed, I awoke to an unmistakable sensation. Myself, his bed, and the pants he let me wear to bed was soaked in…pee. I freaked out on the inside but figured it was probably best to wake him up and come clean. He was actually nice about it, changed the sheets and gave me some clothes to change into. He said he would like to see me again but I can’t tell if he actually meant it or if he’s just being nice🥲 In retrospect it could have been worse but I’m so embarrassed about it. If anyone has any similar stories to make me feel less like an idiot I would greatly appreciate it! TL;DR: Had a little too much to drink on the first date, slept over at a guys house and wet his bed.

My dilemma is that I'm already writing love letters about someone just a day, maybe even an hour, after meeting them.
For example, I just recently hung out with this guy I knew for a few years at a club (first time meeting him). We had absolutely the best time. The chemistry and connection was fully there. The vibe was great to me. l've been thinking about him nonstop and have been writing about him so much in my journal. Mind you, we were only together for probably less than 40 minutes because he made the event so he was busy working (I was there with my friends as well). We've been texting a bit since then, but I haven't heard anything from him today and I'm crashing down so hard.
It's just exhausting to feel so intensely and be on such a high and come down so hard every fucking time. And this isn't his fault or anyone else's but mine because it doesn't take long for me to be all starry eyed about someone. I just want a slow burn. I need a slow burn. l've also just recently graduated from college, and plan on going to grad school, so I do have a lot on my plate during this time. So something serious isn’t ideal right now since I have other things to focus on. I would be fine with something casual and if something more develops months from now, that's fine. I don't like having sex with strangers or random men I don't know. I just want to have sex with a cute guy I have chemistry with and I do want to spend time with him outside of it as well and it doesn't have to be dates. I'm young (21F) and I like to have fun so going out to parties and yachts, etc would be perfect for me. Or simply hanging out at each other's place. I'm not asking for much, but with the way I get infatuated and consumed by a man I meet and click with, it seems impossible. How can I make it possible?
Upon further reflection, I feel I just want the casualness of dating, but everything about me is the complete opposite of casual and I just don’t know how to navigate this.

ok so basically junior prom just happened and somehow me and my friends' prom dates all happen to be a friend group themselves. most of us were going just as friends (which is what i thought my date and i were going as). prom was ass and i spent the whole time trying to avoid my date bc he started to drop hints that he was into me but the after party was fun. at the after party my date was all over me and it was highkey gross 😭 but basically we all drank a lot and were just having fun.
one of my friends (we're not super close but we're still good buddies) went with this guy that i've always kind of liked and who i've always thought was super cute and funny. my friend was NOT into him at all though, and they barely hung out together at prom. after prom and before the party i was in the bathroom with her and i asked her if she liked him and she said "hell nah he's so annoying" and when i was like "i lowkey fw him" she said "yeah u have my blessing i'm not into him at all." but later on that night she got totally wasted and was lying on top of him totally blackout drunk and he kissed her even though she was obliterated. the next day my friend wasn't bothered that he kissed her but she said that she wouldn't have wanted it if she was sober. all of the girls got really mad and were like "he assaulted her" (which i lowkey don't agree with bc he was also drunk and she kissed him back) and the guys were all making fun of him and created rumors that he raped her 💀
ok so by now everything has blown over but everybody knows what happened between the two of them and there's some bad blood. also i've had to deal with my date and it was very awkward but i friend zoned him. i really like the guy who's now hated by a lot of my friends 😭 should i make a move or not? also i haven't spoken about liking him to the friend that went with him since the kiss happened. i really don't want to upset her, but i don't think that would happen bc she literally did not care abt everything that went down. however, our friends really hate the guy
tldr i like a guy who my friends hate for "taking advantage" of my friend and who is friends with the guy i just friendzoned. would it be bad of me and will there be bad repercussions if i make a move 😭

Ok this is gonna be a very long, rambling, and probably somewhat disorganized post, so please bear with me.
I'm sure other people have had this same idea as well, but I'm not subscribed to the rebornevo forums and I'm not very active on this subreddit either, so I don't know how frequently it's been discussed outside of the small number of times I've seen it on Twitter, which still was after I had the thought when I first played V12 years ago. Even if it is I still wanted to try and organize my thoughts about it and present all of the evidence that brought me to think this even without engaging much with the larger community.
To jump right into it, the theory that I've been subscribing to for a pretty long time and was very confident in (until realizing some flaws with it) is that Madame X is the incarnation of Nymiera from Maria(nette)'s now dead universe, which is likely the same universe that Clear, Kieran, and potentially the Thunder Warrior Tapu Koko are from. She was defeated by her universe's Indriad but somehow managed to escape with her life, albeit badly injured, and was effectively out of commission, which led to Indriad eventually being able to bring about Storm 9 which would eventually lead to the end the world. Nymiera then likely got help from either her world's Xara and Jean, or Clear and Kieran themselves to construct her suit and escape to the next universe.
There's quite a few reasons I have to think this. I feel like a ton of evidence from throughout the game supports the idea, and I've been making note of them for years at this point. This is gonna be a bit meandering, but it's really difficult to organize thoughts about a plot as complicated as Rejuv's even if you're focusing on only one character, so again please bear with me:

• The most obvious point is that Madame X shows up directly in the prologue, to the Maria that becomes the one we meet in the Chrysalis manor. She clearly already has some amount of control over time at this point as well, meaning she had likely already claimed her world's time diamond but was unable to stop Indriad using it.
• Nymiera clearly still remembers the old world we learn about in the Third Layer. She knows Adrest by name and recognizes his presence within the player, hints at the emergence of the Zeight in the present day, and knows about the Archetype. Madame X, in the first cutscene where she's introduced at Blacksteeple, immediately refers to the player as the Interceptor, and she also clearly recognizes the power the Melia gains from the Archetype in the Bad Future. They in general seem to possess similar knowledge of major concepts like these.
  • Although you could argue that she might simply have learned about these things from Clear and Kieran, the fact that we see Madame X specifically talking to Maria in the prologue shows that she was at least aware of the Archetype already.
• This is an admittedly very small point that is potentially a coincidence, but I still want to acknowledge it: Madame X's suit seems to be evoking the image of a dragon and mostly uses dark colors. The two characters that we know are directly descended from Nymiera, Alexandra and Damian, favor Dragon and Dark type Pokemon, respectively.
• We know that Nymiera dual wielded crystal swords as her primary weapons rather than relying on Pokemon, and Madame X engages in combat almost exclusively with her sword. The only exception that we see is her attacking the player with her Yveltal at Blacksteeple Castle.
• We see the aforementioned crystal swords, as well as the corpse of Hazuki's Aegislash, within the storage room of the Chrysalis Manor, which all but confirms that Nymiera and the Defenders of Aevium were soundly defeated by Indriad in this timeline and he claimed their weapons as trophies.
  • As a small thought on the full fate of her world's defenders: Vivian was already dead because of the botched ritual, Hazuki was most likely killed, Anju was defeated but taken alive and imprisoned, likely to act as a potential vessel for Indriad (which is something I'd also like to talk about but that's best saved for another post). Given how cruel of a man Indriad is and how much he likes to torment people, I think that crippling Nymiera so she could no longer stand against him and then forcing her to live with the pain of her failure sounds like the type of thing he'd do. This is more of a headcanon, though, not something I'm actually trying to present as a major evidence for the theory.
• Because of .Karma Files we have explicit confirmation that Nymiera is an incarnation of Xerneas; it's a little on the nose for sure, but this can explain why she so heavily associates with the letter X, including why she took her name and took the name of Team Xen for her own, new organization even though it otherwise seems to be completely unrelated to the Team Xen of the Miera Region.
• If her mask is destroyed at the Pyramid, and she's effectively defeated prior to Clear and Kieran's intervention, she makes a remark about how the battle would have gone differently if not for her suit. It's vague, yes, but the implication is that the suit places some sort of limit on her power and she'd be far stronger without it, as while wearing it she can't fight at full capacity. This explains why she only wields one sword instead of two, as she likely can't dual wield without her full physical strength.
  • This next bit is straying into headcanon territory, so I don't fully count it for the theory, but we don't know exactly why she's wearing the suit; it's definitely not just to hide her identity, because there'd be far easier ways of doing that. I like to think that it's necessary for her to survive and limits her power to keep her from overexerting herself, similar to Darth Vader's suit from Star Wars. This would make sense with the idea I have that she was grievously wounded by Indriad even though she survived her fight with him.
• We know that there's a second Blacksteeple Castle on the same island that's hidden behind a protective barrier, which only Madame X can pass through. It's likely that this is the original Blacksteeple Castle and the one that we occupy during the prison arc is just a replica. We see in the Bad Future that Blacksteeple Castle has some sort of connection to Nymiera with the mosaic that we see. It's confirmed by Madame X that Blacksteeple was once Nymiera's castle, that she lost in the war mentioned in the legend that Nymiera tells to us. This would explain why Madame X is so protective of the original castle in the present day and why she can access it.
  • This would also explain why so much Xerneas iconography is still included in the replica of the castle.
• Speaking of Blacksteeple in the Bad Future: when confronted with the mosaic of Nymiera, Madame X calls her a cowardly and weak woman who couldn't protect what she needed to when it mattered most. This attitude already does make sense for her to have, but if she is the Nymiera who was defeated by Indriad in Maria's timeline, it only makes even more sense. She is so disgusted at herself for her own failure that she threw away her old name and forsakes her old actions, and looks down upon the Nymiera of the current timeline for making the same mistakes that she feels she did.
• We already know from the Regi sidequests in V13.5 that Nymiera's view of morality was a bit... warped, and she was willing to do some truly inhumane and manipulative shit if she thought it was necessary for the good of the many. Madame X's methods are obviously far more extreme than Nymiera's ever were, but even though her motivations and ultimate goal are unclear there's still hints that all of the things she's responsible for are, to her, just a means to an end. If Madame X is Nymiera, with her spirit having been broken by her failure to stop her world's Indriad, it's not hard to see how that already warped "Good of the many no matter the cost" mentality could evolve into doing absolutely anything to achieve her goals.
• The underground chamber in Kugearen where we find the Weird Diary has a lot going on, but the notable things are the statues of the Defenders,drawing of the Archetype, and map of present day Aevium. Hazuki's is missing, and Anju and Nymiera's are destroyed, with the game specifically noting that their eyes are torn out. There is no statue of Hazuki, and Vivian's is not only intact, but poised for battle. To break this all down a bit:
  • The Archetype symbol being so prominent as well as the present-day map show that it's someone who can both time travel and knows about the Archetype
  • The three states are of the Defenders that we know will suffer a poor fate.
    • Hazuki's is missing because she is the only that survived.
    • Vivian's is standing and complete because she was the only one able to mostly die on her own terms, but her spirit still struggled because of the failed spell; being poised for battle still lines up with the curse placed on her reincarnations.
    • Anju and Nymiera are both missing in the present day and were never seen again. Anju's fate is ambiguous, but obviously there's something going on with Angie (Which I have another theory about, but again, story for another post). Nymiera's spirit has appeared, but clearly can only do so much, as her only real act aside from talking to the player is transferring Hazuki's power to Saki.
  • Nymiera fancied herself an artist, and seemed to especially like working with stone given the many statues in Blacksteeple as well as the multiple stone carvings in her room.
  • All of this points to someone who can reliably time travel, knows of the archetype, has knowledge of Rift Pokemon, and has an intimate knowledge of the Defenders and their fates. Madame X is the only person who meets all of those first few qualifications, and it's also worth noting that Madame X's suit distinctly lacks eyes, similar to the two statues.

Essentially, the image I see with this is a Nymiera who became so disgusted at her own failures that she threw everything away, including her old identity, and and decided the best way to create a good world was to tear everything down and rebuild it herself, taking her belief in "The good of the many" to its furthest extreme and becoming a vengeful and bitter person in the process. She keeps "protecting" the Interceptor in hopes that their own quest will eventually guide them to resetting everything and destroying Karma for good.
However... in the process of thinking through this all over the last couple days, I realized several holes in this theory that I have to acknowledge, and keep it from really being an effective one.
First, if Nymiera is the avatar of Xerneas, then why is Madame X only ever seen using a Yveltal?
Second, the one aspect of Madame X's backstory story that she elected to reveal to us is about her mother. In her own words, "My "mother" was a weak individual who gave her life to protect me". Not only does Nymiera never hint at anything remotely similar this, but none of Adrest, Variya, or any of the files Adrest sends to Erin hint at anything even remotely close to this for Nymiera.
Third, which I think is the biggest issue: when we see Madame X's mask get broken by Sakitron at the pyramid, what little we see of her appearance doesn't exactly match up with Nymiera. What appears to be black hair could also just be a broken piece of her mask, her eyes are a bright red, and even though we barely see any skin, it visibly is not as dark as Nymiera's.
The first point is actually pretty easy to explain: the Yveltal is Indriad. Obviously we don't know how Indriad became a Yveltal, but there is precedent for shit like this happening and there's multiple hints towards it:

• Indriad is confirmed at the end of .Karma files is an avatar of Yveltal in the same way that Nymiera is one of Xerneas.
• In the Bad Future, when Melanie summons her Yveltal, she explicitly refers to it as her father. Melanie is a bad future version of Melia, Melia is in some capacity connected to Maria and is still explicitly related to Indriad's kids, the implication is pretty clear.
• There are other physical avatars of legendaries in the game: Spacea and Tiempa, who both can transform into the legendaries they are the avatars of. I don't know if it's ever been confirmed if Griselda was an explicit avatar of Giratina, but nonetheless, she was permanently transformed into one and can't change back. It's not unreasonable to see something similar happening to Indriad given that we don't know his final fate in the game's main timeline yet.
• Yes, this means there's some fucky shit going on with Angie, I have ideas about that as well but that also takes a ton of explanation and is best saved for a different post.

The other two though... I think more or less disprove the theory. Family-related trauma is already one of the game's biggest theme; if Nymiera had something related to her mother, it would have been made clear by this point. And there's just no way that I can think of to really justify the drastic difference in appearance between the two. I could simply handwave it and say "The differences in appearance are either a spriting error or a lighting thing with her helmet" and "We just haven't learned about Nymiera's mother yet", but both of those would just be copout answers to ignore.
I'm still confident that I'm onto something here and there is a connection between these two characters,
...so instead I came up with a crackpot theory that nonetheless I think has a nonzero chance of being true, although its much less liekly .
Madame X isn't an alternate universe Nymiera. She's an alternate universe Nim.
Is it a stupid assertion? Yes. But hear me out, starting with some of the more minor points:

• There is very obviously a connection between Nim and Nymiera. The game's placed a lot of emphasis on Nim's relationship to Alexandra and Damian, Nymiera's direct descendents, and Nim took her name from Nymiera's. When Nim appears in the flashback with Alexaandra and Damian she's calling out the names of Hazuki and the player character, yelling for them to watch out. This implies four things:
  • Nim originates in the past and was sent into the future.
  • Given that we haven't met her in the past, she probably comes into existence in the state that she already was.
  • Nim will meet the player and Hazuki in the past during some dangerous event, most likely a final battle with Indriad before Storm-9 fully hits, as we still don't know the final fate of the Defenders.
  • She doesn't say Anju and Nymiera's names, implying either something already happened to them or Nim was cut off in the middle of her sentence when she was sent forward in time.
• Despite Madame X claiming that Nymiera is dead, her spirit has appeared multiple times and is still very aware of the ongoing plot. Her body, however, has not.
• Clear going out of her way to manipulate Nim shows that Madame X likely has an interest in Nim herself.
• While she obviously prefers to use her psychic abilities, Nim's still clearly proficient with melee weapons as there's a handful of times where she uses her... hairpin things as a polearm of sorts.

There's three main reasons I think there actually is something here though: Nim's physical appearance, Madame X's "mother", and the reason Madame X needs her suit despite it making her weaker.
First: Nim's physical appearance is extremely similar to Madame X's under her mask. As Lorna, we can see that her pupils have a red hue very similar to Madame X's. Looking at both Nim's sprites and her official art, her skin tone is lighter than Nymiera's but still darker then most of the rest of the cast, which also lines up with the broken mask. Finally, assuming Madame X actually has black hair and that's not just a broken part of her mask in the sprite, Nim's hair is the same color.
Second: When Madame X mentions her "Mother", its quoted, presumably for air quotes. While it could just be her disrespecting her "Mother", it feels far more significant than that, like its moreso implying that whoever she's talking about wasn't her mother in the traditional sense. Madame X also states that the difference between her "Mother"'s sacrifice and the player's mom's sacrifice is that the player's mom's didn't matter; thus indirectly implying that Madame X's mom's sacrifice was important even if she looks down upon her mom for it. Assuming that Nymiera shares some connection to Nim- be it that Nymiera created her, Nim is her reincarnation, or something else- it's not unreasonable to think that Nim, after overcoming her memory issues, could view Nymiera as something of a mother figure, especially considering that Nim took her name Nymiera's because she felt a connection.
Third: The suit. There's a very obvious reason that Nim would need a suit to suppress her own power: to keep herself from draining the life force of her subordinates and stop her own Storm from getting out of control. It's a leap, sure, but it would explain why she needs a suit that actively inhibits her.
Why would Nim be doing all of this, and how would she become such a cruel and vengeful person? We see something similar happen to our own Nim through Clear's manipulation through preying on her fears and insecurities. Assuming bad enough shit happened to her, I could absolutely see an alternate universe Nim who lacked the support of characters like Aelita, Melia, and the Player going down this path.
Is this theory accurate? Probably not, but it was really fun to think about. I never fucking know what's gonna happen with this game which is why it's so fun to speculate about the absolute mess of lore that it has.
Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this massive ramble, it was fun to write and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

So me and this boy been liking eachothers stories back and forth for awhile now and last night I just straight up told him he was cute. He said the same thing and I was like thank you and he said you welcome. I liked the message since it was late. The next morning my friend was like post on your story and drop hints. I’m like k, cool. But like y’all🫠 Idk if that’s gonna be effective. Like everyone lowkey agreed to just drop hints because I don’t really know him like that but idk. Also I liked his message saying you’re welcome last night and haven’t said anything since

He emailed the store, asking for recommendations, prices etc on some gear. A colleague (I'll call Bob) replied with a list of stuff he recommended.
The guy replied asking for a quote for that stuff so he could pay with a direct deposit. He wanted the quote sent to a different email and he let us know the email.
I replied this time, essentially telling him he can just buy the stuff online since it's a lot easier.
He replies again, asking for a quote again, specifying again that he wanted it sent to a different email.
Bob replies again, saying "it's a lot easier to buy it online since we can ship it immediately afterwards, if you pay with a direct deposit then we have to wait for the funds to clear", but he never said he wouldn't do the quote, he just tried to convince the customer to do it online to make everybody's lives easier.
Afterwards, the guy called the store. I picked up, and this was the conversation:
C: I need to speak to Bob
Me: unfortunately Bob went home for the day (which was true), how can I help?
C: (very angry and aggressively) I've been speaking to Bob in the emails and he's refusing to give me a quote, and not only that he keeps sending emails to my work email and not my personal email! My wife sees my work email and now I'm fucked because she knows I'm buying stuff I shouldn't be! I asked him repeatedly to use my personal email but he never did! I'm so fucking pissed off!
Me: Bob never refused to do the quote, he just told you it's easier to do it online, but not once did he say he wouldn't do it. If you just replied saying "it has to be a quote, can't do it online", then he would have done it.
C: Doesn't change the fact that he's been emailing the wrong email, I don't even know how he got that email?
Me: ....what? He-
C: I asked him repeatedly to email my personal email, but he didn't!
Me: If communicating through that email was so important to you, why didn't you just email us from that email? That way replies would have gone to that email.
C: I FUCKING WAS EMAILING YOU FROM MY PERSONAL EMAIL, BUT YOUR REPLIES KEPT GOING TO MY WORK EMAIL. I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW YOU GOT MY WORK EMAIL.
At that point, I realised I was speaking to a genuine idiot. He was emailing us from his work email, and we were replying to his work email, and he was confused as to how we knew his work email.
Confidently stupid is painfully tedious.
I just wrapped up the conversation after that because I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere with him. The entire thing was behind his wife's back though, that's why he couldn't buy stuff online. He didn't want her to see the transaction on their account so he was just going to withdraw some cash, go down to our bank and transfer the money. I don't know why she's controlling over their money, but after speaking with him for just a few minutes, I agree with her completely.
This guy is just the tip of the iceberg though. Sometimes I feel like selling archery gear attracts the idiots because we just get so many fucking morons that make me want to rip my tongue out so I don't have to talk to them. That could just be confirmation bias though, perhaps because I see the idiots more I feel like they're a higher majority of our customer base than what they are.

So I met this guy two months and we hit it off super well. He was cute in real life and we had great banter. We went to a museum for our first date and stayed till closing and after the date he asked for my number and consistently asked me out for dates for a month straight. Here I was thinking…wow…this could be the one. And then one day randomly he didn’t ask to meet me again. He says he’s so busy with work and we don’t see each other for two weeks. I was like hmmm ok ok but the date after two weeks went well so I was like whatever. And THEN he doesn’t ask me out got another MONTH. I was like wtf?? I pretty much lost my mind because I was so confused. I asked him earlier when we were dating what’s he’s looking but he said he’s looking for a relationship so I was thinking ok cool we’re on the same page but on our last date after the month I was like we need to communicate more?? Like wtf?? And he said AT MOST he can only see me once a week and when we first started dating he just had a lot of time but now he doesn’t because of work?? Like what kind of job takes up this much time where you can’t see the other. He said he’s basically a glorified secretary which takes up a lot of time for him. He would constantly say he barely even has time for himself and would get home at a really late hour (like 7 pm-8pm). Also he mentioned to me that he’s only seeing me and he’s not a casual dater and would rather just date but because we don’t see each other often and it t wouldn’t be sustainable. Anyways at the end he said he doesn’t have time to start a relationship but we could pick things up down the road when work isn’t as busy (which I’m not sure how truthful that is). My gut is telling me not to wait and I’m not but it just sucks to meet a person on this garbage app and actually have a connection. I wish I knew what made him pull away but I know at the end of the day I know it doesn’t matter because if a man wanted to he would right?

So disclaimer this is everything my roommate did when she lived with me from my perspective. Also this is a really long story because a lot happened, and I do tend to get sidetracked.
Before we became roommates, I had a situationship with this guy. Let’s call him John. John and I met in our first semester of college and hit it off right off the bat. John was a mutual friend of me and my psychotic roommate, which is how we were introduced. Let’s call her Shortstack. So Shortstack knew I had a thing for John, and was encouraging us to start a relationship which I thought was nice. Eventually, though, when there was a lull in our relationship she admitted to liking John, and I backed off because it was looking like a relationship between me and John wasn’t gonna happen. I did my best to subtly wingman and they ended up dating.
Right before they made it official, I had met someone new. We’ll call him Tim (I’m trying to use generic/default guy names to keep some anonymity). Tim and I hit it off right off the bat. He’s honestly the most genuine, talented, thoughtful, and interesting guy I’ve ever met. Anyway, right before John and Shortstack started dating, I got a text from Shortstack saying she had the hots for Tim and asked if I he was free game. I was a bit bothered by that, but she respected my answer when I politely told her that Tim and I had something good and I didn’t want anyone interfering. At least, I THOUGHT she respected my answer.
Almost a year later and I had asked Shortstack if she wanted to be my roommate so we could both live near school while not having to live on campus. Worst decision ever.
She moved in before I did, and when it was my turn to move in the place was an absolute disaster. Dirty clothes and empty Dominos boxes covered the floor. She had also set up her decorations all over the entire apartment (not really leaving any room for me, which was made worse by the fact that we shared a room, and the apartment was very tiny so we were basically living on top of each other). I brushed it off, but it never really got any better. Normally I wouldn’t be too upset, I’m not a huge neat freak or anything, but it peeved me that she would always point out any mess that I had made.
Here’s a list of some of her really gross habits: dirty underwear everywhere kept old dominos boxes everywhere would buy salads and let them expire and they would sit there until I took them out Refused to do any chores or contribute in any way our shower didn’t fully drain so hair was often left in the tub, but she never cleaned up after herself (meaning I was scrubbing her pubes out of the tub) Used tissues would be left on the ground Not flushing I never once saw her do laundry in the 6 months we lived together
I’m sure there’s more but these are just the ones that I remember. To be fair, here were my gross she took issue with: Leaving dishes in the sink for a long-ass time Letting my laundry basket overflow Walking around in a towel after I took a shower, even when her tinder dates were over (mostly cuz I didn’t give a shit and everything was covered, but I also understand that her glares when I would do that were a little deserved).
That was the easiest part of living with her that I had to deal with. It got so so so much worse, and slowly she started to reveal her true colours.
She had a job at a jewelry store, got fired. Moved to a job at a grocery store across the street, got fired. Bummed around for a few weeks, mostly just sitting on the couch doing arts and crafts. Tried a Zumba class, quit after 2 sessions. Finally she got hired at a movie theatre, but she would only work Friday and weekends. All the while a lot of new things were appearing in our apartment. New makeup, a makeup chair, a tiny plastic Dreamhouse, posters and picture frames, lights, you name it. She was also buying premade meals and continued to order Dominos and DoorDash, never making her own food.
That’s around the time I found a buried letter from our landlord saying she was 2 months behind on rent. (Also an honorable mention about her RGB lights, she would keep them on while I was trying to sleep, even when I had work in the morning which was most days and she’d throw a little hissy fit whenever I asked her to turn them off because it was midnight and I had to get up in a couple hours).
She would constantly be having guys over, but would never tell me, so I’d always come home to a stranger on our couch and I’d uncomfortably lock myself in our room. Walls were thin so I had to listen to her awful flirting and occasionally kissing noises. She had made a goal for herself to kiss at least 30 guys so she could write a book about it, one chapter for each guy. It’s funny because the book is coming out soon, I’m not gonna share the name because I don’t wanna promote an incel’s diary but if you happen to be one of the guys she wrote about, just know that she has said several times her type is “Generic kinda ugly white guys.” I don’t think that’s her type, I think she just says that because all of the super attractive guys she went after all shot her down so quick.
While she’s collecting “ugly-ish white guys” (her words), she has promised herself to some dude in the military overseas who has a ring with their initials carved into it (his name is Matt. I’m not censoring that because I genuinely hope he sees this even though chances are insanely slim. She’s Jodie-ing you my guy, and she wants to elope and marry you to piss her parents off and for financial benefits because she can’t keep a job).
ONTOP of all this, Tim (who at this point I had been with for over a year) would come over and visit sometimes. She was always miserable, but perked up and suddenly became so sweet and friendly whenever he was there. Tim kept trying to drop some social cues that he did not want to talk to her, but she ignored it. I also want to mention that Tim is incredibly attractive, physically and personality wise, which is the main reason I think that “ugly” isn’t actually her type, it’s just all she can get.
Oh quick mention one of her tinder guys was 17. She was close to 20 at the time. She said their age gap made her uncomfortable but she invited him over because she wanted to, and I quote, “lick his abs.” Take that as you will.
My breaking point with her was when I woke up one day with a random man in the room sleeping next to her. She let a random man from tinder have full unsupervised access to 2 unconscious girls and all of their valuable items. There’s more stuff she did but this is already super long so I’m going to leave it on this note. Let me know if you guys wanna hear the rest.

This just happened today and I'm still fuming. I had a sales rep come to my home to give me a quote on refacing my kitchen cabinets. I told him from the beginning (and several more times during the visit) that I was not planning on having the work done until next spring. The kiosk rep had told me that I could get a free estimate and lock in a price for twelve months. The visit itself went fine, he showed me the materials and took measurements. He gave me the estimates for a 12 month locked price, but explained I would save money by buying in 30 days (not much, mind you) and that everyone gets that. I told him again that I was not interested in doing the reno that soon, I was only interested in the 12 month locked estimate. He said he thought I meant this spring. He then asked if I would pay for the gas it cost for him to come out here. I laughed in his face and said "Why would you ask that?" And then he muttered that his wife and him won't eat dinner tonight because he didn't make a sale. I told him that I needed to pick up my daughter from school and that he needed to leave. He quietly packed up his sample and left, but not before pointing out that I probably had to pay a lot for the new flooring.
I kept my cool until he left but I was completely floored by this guilt trip. It's not like one of those overly friendly salesman who become jerks when you turn them down; he was even-keeled the whole time but then made those stupid remarks. He only travelled 30 min to get to my house, and it's not my fault if you can't feed your family. And I never said no, I just wanted to get my 12 month estimate.
The AIO part is that I called his company to complain about the encounter and they were also floored that it had happened. They told me that the sales rep was immediately suspended from sales calls, pending an investigation. He's an older gentleman, and I know he hasn't been with this company long, so he's likely in hot water now. The company offered to send me a gift in the mail but I turned it down, saying that would be inappropriate. So, did I overreact in potentially jeopardizing this man's employment? Honestly, he reminded me of Gil from The Simpson's.

hi i just read “even if it hurts “ it follows aubrey and dares relationship, in the epilogue after aubrey and dare win prom king and prom queen , dare tells hannah to join him and aubrey to their hotel room so they can have “fun” im confused, isn’t he supposed to be possessive ? hannah of course declined and ran, and when aubrey laid down on dares chest she noticed a new tattoo, this is the quote -
“now, he looks down at the busted clock, the glass splintered and bursting up toward him, the hands set to midnight .”
“i never asked him what that one meant, it’s cool, though. I like it.”
WHAT ?!! why is dares tattoo a busted clock with hands toward 12 o clock. if y’all read the book you would know , hannah is basically considered “cinderella “ and dares tattoo points at midnight clock . that’s when cinderella had to go home ?!!!
does he like hannah ?!!

So I have a new buddy here with me, a rescue 6mo kitten and he's super cool, only been five days so far and he's now comfortable with the house and the dog (both now showing mutual interest and sharing respectful nose boops). Outside soon, but not yet...
Anyways, one thing he's done is heavily imprinted on me, likely as I've been here almost 24/7 and am his primary feeder, strokes provider, play friend and 'safe zone' (I'd keep the dog away when he was showing too much interest too early).
When I'm at work on the computer I've set up a nice bed for him close by so after he's done typing my emails for me in the morning he's got a place to rest. Here's the thing... whenever I get up to make a coffee or whatever, he will follow within 30seconds. I'm not against it at all, it's cute, but I cant help wonder if I could just communicate with him that I was going to be back very soon and that he didn't need to get up from what looks like a very comfy slumber.
Not sure what's going on in his little cat mind. 'shit, safety has gone!' 'why does he keep going? why!' 'no idea where he's going, best find out', unlikely but maybe: 'dude cant look after himself! best go check it's ok!' (more a dog thing there). I don't think it's motivated by hunger.
I cold just ignore it, but that's not how my mind works .. I'm interested to hear any insight.

I’m having a mixed baby and desperately need help with names 😫 I’m having a boy and boy names are extremely hard honestly.. i don’t want anything basic. My friend is having a mixed baby and naming him zikaya which is super cute. please please please comment some ideas or suggestions! only name i thought of so far that i liked is aries but honestly dont think i will use that. thank you in advance :)

So disclaimer this is everything my roommate did when she lived with me from my perspective. Also this is a really long story because a lot happened, and I do tend to get sidetracked.
Before we became roommates, I had a situationship with this guy. Let’s call him John. John and I met in our first semester of college and hit it off right off the bat. John was a mutual friend of me and my psychotic roommate, which is how we were introduced. Let’s call her Shortstack. So Shortstack knew I had a thing for John, and was encouraging us to start a relationship which I thought was nice. Eventually, though, when there was a lull in our relationship she admitted to liking John, and I backed off because it was looking like a relationship between me and John wasn’t gonna happen. I did my best to subtly wingman and they ended up dating.
Right before they made it official, I had met someone new. We’ll call him Tim (I’m trying to use generic/default guy names to keep some anonymity). Tim and I hit it off right off the bat. He’s honestly the most genuine, talented, thoughtful, and interesting guy I’ve ever met. Anyway, right before John and Shortstack started dating, I got a text from Shortstack saying she had the hots for Tim and asked if I he was free game. I was a bit bothered by that, but she respected my answer when I politely told her that Tim and I had something good and I didn’t want anyone interfering. At least, I THOUGHT she respected my answer.
Almost a year later and I had asked Shortstack if she wanted to be my roommate so we could both live near school while not having to live on campus. Worst decision ever.
She moved in before I did, and when it was my turn to move in the place was an absolute disaster. Dirty clothes and empty Dominos boxes covered the floor. She had also set up her decorations all over the entire apartment (not really leaving any room for me, which was made worse by the fact that we shared a room, and the apartment was very tiny so we were basically living on top of each other). I brushed it off, but it never really got any better. Normally I wouldn’t be too upset, I’m not a huge neat freak or anything, but it peeved me that she would always point out any mess that I had made.
Here’s a list of some of her really gross habits: dirty underwear everywhere kept old dominos boxes everywhere would buy salads and let them expire and they would sit there until I took them out Refused to do any chores or contribute in any way our shower didn’t fully drain so hair was often left in the tub, but she never cleaned up after herself (meaning I was scrubbing her pubes out of the tub) Used tissues would be left on the ground Not flushing I never once saw her do laundry in the 6 months we lived together
I’m sure there’s more but these are just the ones that I remember. To be fair, here were my gross she took issue with: Leaving dishes in the sink for a long-ass time Letting my laundry basket overflow Walking around in a towel after I took a shower, even when her tinder dates were over (mostly cuz I didn’t give a shit and everything was covered, but I also understand that her glares when I would do that were a little deserved).
That was the easiest part of living with her that I had to deal with. It got so so so much worse, and slowly she started to reveal her true colours.
She had a job at a jewelry store, got fired. Moved to a job at a grocery store across the street, got fired. Bummed around for a few weeks, mostly just sitting on the couch doing arts and crafts. Tried a Zumba class, quit after 2 sessions. Finally she got hired at a movie theatre, but she would only work Friday and weekends. All the while a lot of new things were appearing in our apartment. New makeup, a makeup chair, a tiny plastic Dreamhouse, posters and picture frames, lights, you name it. She was also buying premade meals and continued to order Dominos and DoorDash, never making her own food.
That’s around the time I found a buried letter from our landlord saying she was 2 months behind on rent. (Also an honorable mention about her RGB lights, she would keep them on while I was trying to sleep, even when I had work in the morning which was most days and she’d throw a little hissy fit whenever I asked her to turn them off because it was midnight and I had to get up in a couple hours).
She would constantly be having guys over, but would never tell me, so I’d always come home to a stranger on our couch and I’d uncomfortably lock myself in our room. Walls were thin so I had to listen to her awful flirting and occasionally kissing noises. She had made a goal for herself to kiss at least 30 guys so she could write a book about it, one chapter for each guy. It’s funny because the book is coming out soon, I’m not gonna share the name because I don’t wanna promote an incel’s diary but if you happen to be one of the guys she wrote about, just know that she has said several times her type is “Generic kinda ugly white guys.” I don’t think that’s her type, I think she just says that because all of the super attractive guys she went after all shot her down so quick.
While she’s collecting “ugly-ish white guys” (her words), she has promised herself to some dude in the military overseas who has a ring with their initials carved into it (his name is Matt. I’m not censoring that because I genuinely hope he sees this even though chances are insanely slim. She’s Jodie-ing you my guy, and she wants to elope and marry you to piss her parents off and for financial benefits because she can’t keep a job).
ONTOP of all this, Tim (who at this point I had been with for over a year) would come over and visit sometimes. She was always miserable, but perked up and suddenly became so sweet and friendly whenever he was there. Tim kept trying to drop some social cues that he did not want to talk to her, but she ignored it. I also want to mention that Tim is incredibly attractive, physically and personality wise, which is the main reason I think that “ugly” isn’t actually her type, it’s just all she can get.
Oh quick mention one of her tinder guys was 17. She was close to 20 at the time. She said their age gap made her uncomfortable but she invited him over because she wanted to, and I quote, “lick his abs.” Take that as you will.
My breaking point with her was when I woke up one day with a random man in the room sleeping next to her. She let a random man from tinder have full unsupervised access to 2 unconscious girls and all of their valuable items. There’s more stuff she did but this is already super long so I’m going to leave it on this note. Let me know if you guys wanna hear the rest.

So, I've kind of posted about this in other threads, specifically on askreddit, but by some users request, I will do my best to fully relay this entire tale up to the current point, as well as provide as much context I am able (and will provide missing context if asked in comments).
TL;DR
A friend of mine of 4 years drank himself into liver failure and his wife cheated on him, so I offered him a free room to try and put his life back together, and I was repaid for the thought with a divorce of my own, but honestly, it's probably not that bad.
Part 1: CONTEXT
Me and my wife have been together since early 2014, and married in late 2017. We have been through much together, including two extended deployments, one of which was 10 and a half months long. We have traveled the world together, lived on both coasts of the US, and despite much of our struggles and how things eventually went down, I was always convinced we would work as a team to overcome any issues.
The friend in question was, largely, an online friend. We met playing an MMO during covid and we quickly formed a very tight knit, but small, community that were very close that included me, my wife, my friend, his wife, and 4 other friends. Covid was a wild time and I was surprised how easy it was to form friends in this group and we kept in touch, as a whole, even once quarantine had ended and most of us had moved on from that particular game. This was a group that, while it started online, we have met most of these people several times IRL and had vacations to spend time together and just hang out.
Part 2: His Problems
Fast forward to about January of 2024. My buddy, from here on out I will refer to as Z (and for a quick add, I will refer to my wife as D), contacts us to tell us his condition is dire and he has been diagnosed with stage 4 cirrhosis of the liver as a consequence of his extensive drinking. Shaken, we quickly charter a flight out to visit. Within a week, we're staying with him and his wife and his roommate and a couple members of his family who are taking care of him. This man is bloated, yellow, and probably about 350lbs now. We are worried, but stay supportive and positive that help can be found, especially since he seems keen on changing his lifestyle for the better. Some of his family start a gofundme that we donate to, and many of the people in our gaming circle who have grown close also donate several thousand dollars (One member of our raid team donated 10k. You never know who is stealth rich on the internet I guess). Me and several other friends discuss the possibilities of helping him get on disability and even getting ourselves tested as compatible living donors. Sad, but hopeful, we depart about a week later, and stay in constant touch.
About a month later, I'm getting a call from one of our mutuals letting me know that "Hey, so I may have goofed up." and tells me how Z's wife had visited him and had a 3 way with him and his wife. I am obviously irate at this and turn to back Z up with comments like "So much for in sickness and in health, huh?" I do what I can to stay supportive, and my wife, D, also makes it a point to stay in touch with him as he has found himself banished to the couch of his apartment. Not even allowed to sleep in his own bed and frequently uncomfortable even being in his bedroom to use the PC.
I'm not particularly rich, but I am not poor either. I served in the military and have a high VA rating which means a constant income and have a steady job and a couple side gigs that pay well enough. My love language, in many ways, is gift giving. I pride myself on being able to pick a good gift, even if it's a little early for an occasion such as a bday or christmas, and will often pull the trigger on something if it means a lot or I think it will help. In this case, my brother was selling an old steam deck because he wanted a new OLED model, so I figured "two birds, one stone", and buy the steam deck off him and send it to Z so we can still game together.
In the intervening months, Z and D start playing games that I have no interest in (Disney Dreamlight Valley), but I am happy to play other games and hang out and chat. Really, nothing seems amiss, but since his banishment, me and my wife are both pushing for him to come and take up the spare bedroom we have in our home. Soon enough, I buy him a plane ticket and he arrives with little more than the clothes on his back and we take him in, no cost other than the expectation that he might help around the house a bit (he was a chef, so having a cook and someone to help clean was ideal for me who often did not have the time or energy to handle these tasks as thoroughly as I would like).
Part 3: The Incident
Now, I am skipping ahead a little bit here, but there's not much to be said about the time between. My wife worked part time hours, and when she did go to work, she'd have him tag along just so he wouldn't "Sit and stew with bad thoughts" at the house alone. I will admit that throughout this entire ordeal, I have had several, several times where my brain tried to warn me, but I ignored ALL of those signs because I trusted him, but more importantly, I trusted her with my life.
One new, frequent argument I found myself having with her was she would fall asleep on the couch, and when I finally tried to go to bed, I'd do my best to wake her and drag her upstairs. These became extremely frequent occurrences and I expressed to her how frustrated I was that I had to fight with her just to come to bed so we could sleep (mind you, this is not even about sex. Often I'm taking her to bed at like, 1am and I work at 7, so I really just wanted her to be sleeping in the bed). Hell, one time, I started catching the vibes that the longer I sat and waited for her to be ready to go upstairs, she just never would be, because they were waiting for me to leave so they could talk in hushed tones. On THAT particular night, I went upstairs alone with her finally awake, and she did not join me for another half hour.
Finally, the day arrives. Its Sunday. We are all downstairs hanging out. One of their newest habits I can't really stand but just dealt with is that she'd sit and crochet while he doomscrolled or strummed on a guitar I bought him and listen to music videos on youtube endlessly. Eventually, I grow weary and give my wife a kiss and tell her I'm gonna go upstairs and play some GW2 for a bit.
About an hour passes, and she enters the game room and tells me "I am uncomfortable. I really need to talk to you. Oh, you're dying!" (As she entered the room, I immediately turn face to talk to her and disregard the game, but she decided that my Charr was more important that what was about to happen, so she of course warns me.) We step into the bedroom and close the door.
"You're going to hate me," she says through tears, "me and Z kissed!" At this point, my brain short circuits and I recall one of my first thoughts being "Oh lord, here we go." and just a general desire to not be a part of this conversation. Shock sets in almost immediately. Still with a healthy dose of denial, I talk to her about what had happened and told her that it needed to end. Even at this point, I did not want to send this man home. Was it shock? Denial? Probably a mixture of the two, or some other additional emotional responses. She gets up after some discussion and goes downstairs, promising to shut him down, but comes back about 15 minutes later sobbing "I couldn't do it! I couldn't end it..." (Side note: In my confused haze of a mind, I feel personally threatened, and after she leaves the bedroom, I lock the door and grab a metal water cub I keep at my side and prepare to actually fight if it comes to it, but once she returns, I back off that idea again.)
Talking with her more, I present her with two options; Couple's therapy, or divorce. BOTH of these options are world ending to her, and she even goes so far as to suggest that just because I said the "D word" that it was what I wanted, which was objectively untrue. We talk back and forth about things I don't quite recall at this point, aside from one point where she comes back and locks herself in the master bath and tells me to call 911, she doesn't care, because she's going to take a bunch of pills, but after a couple of hours, Z shows up to the door and knocks and asks if he can come in. I tell him he may enter, and we talk for a bit. After about 5ish minutes, we decide to go downstairs to the living room and continue the discussion.
Once I sit down on the sofa, I immediately feel like I'm being positioned as the bad guy. I'm in the corner of our sectional, and she's on my left, he's on my right. She tells him "He said it's either a divorce or couple's therapy." "Oh, so he gave you an ultimatum?" I continue to argue that yes, those are the two only options. Z tells me "You're not being fair to her emotions. She is telling you there is another option." I am thoroughly baffled at this statement.
D: I didn't think it was possible and I didn't mean for it to happen, but I have fallen in love with another man. My heart has room for two. I truly have two soulmates. I have never been happier than sleeping on the couch next to my two boys.
Z: There is no reason you guys can't stay married, and we can explore what we've found. I mean, look at how happy she has been since I have been here!
Sick to my stomach, I get up to go vomit in the toilet. Now, I wore a silicone wedding ring, and often find even with a hand wash, a little water tends to get trapped under it. After I finish and wash myself up, I come back and am playing with my ring to dry it. She sees this as a sign that I am uncomfortable again wearing my ring, and takes off her ring as I sit back down and hands me her wedding ring.
Me: Uh, excuse me?
D: This is what you want, I can tell.
Me: No? I was washing my hands and water gets stuck under my ring...
D: Oh... I thought... okay. (And she takes back her ring from me)
I tell her, very clearly, the options are to either end things with him, or end things with me. At this point, I'm still in shock, but sober in mind enough to decide that this is not worth fighting over. I will not argue with my own wife my merits or why she shouldn't just pack up and leave with a jobless, now essentially homeless man, and if she cannot figure that out herself then I will eventually move on.
Crying, sobbing, she sits down in front of him and says, "I'm so sorry, I fought for you. I really did. I told you I'd fight for you and I failed. I loved being your girlfriend, but I need to be a good wife and stay."
Z says "Alright." and starts to go gather his things to leave. As he does, she grabs him and says "No, wait! Please don't go. I don't know what I want."
Z: Ok, well if we're getting all this out in the open, I want to say this. I love this girl. I love her with my whole heart, and without her, life is not worth living. I will not leave this house if you (me) tell me to. Only her. You are taking this very well right now, I can tell you want to hit me (Still in shock, no, I can genuinely say that emotion or thought had not actually registered outside of the event upstairs earlier), but this is my stand.
D: OP, we had a good run. I'm sorry.
And with that, I get up and go to get my sandals and leave the house to get some air. As I try to go, she runs to the door and he follows her. She pushes the door closed and says "No wait, please!"
Me: No, this is the deal. I'm going out to get some fresh air. I am not threatening self harm to "win you back".
D: Will you be back?
Me: I don't know.
Z: Man, I'm telling you, you don't understand, you think I am your enemy, but I am not.
And with that, I leave and shut the door.
In the about, hour, I am gone, I drive around near the house and I call my supervisor who I have a very good relationship with (and I did not want to involve direct friends or family yet because I'm afraid it's too early to start spreading this news). I go over to her house nearby and we chat shortly. After our talk, I have at least something of a clear head and go home, with words for both of them.
As I arrive home, there is no one downstairs. I go upstairs. His door is closed. I knock on the door.
Z: Uh, one second.
I wait for about 5 agonizing seconds, but I refuse to be shut out of rooms in my own home and open the door. He is shirtless, and she is hiding in the corner just out of sight of me. I look him in the eye.
Me: Really?
Z: Yep.
Me: Get out of my house.
And with that, they both silently pack their things and leave.
The second I hear the front door close, I start calling people. I am not above pettiness, and the first person I call is her mom, whom I have a good relationship with. She is SHAKEN and immediately calls her. (I find out later that it was a particularly harsh verbal beating by her, but it really doesn't change anything.)
When I come downstairs to check the state of the house, I see her wedding ring on the counter. I call out of work the next day and lay down and hope I die.
Part 4: Her Problems
So, there is some additional context that I did not add in part 1 because a lot of it is red flags I ignored over the course of our relationship that, in the days following, started to become more and more obvious. There are many that I spent much effort playing off or covering her for, but I will try to briefly list much of what I see as glaring issues in the relationship that were never remedied.
This woman is 30 years old and cannot drive. She can drive and HAS driven my vehicle at the start of the relationship (albeit illegally), but after one tiny little accident where she hit a pole and knocked my side mirror off (which she paid for and fixed before telling me, it really wasn't a big deal. I was on deployment), she never drove again. Attempts to get her behind the wheel would end very quickly after they started, and the conditions to get her in the seat were often extremely time limited, scheduled, or something would come up, and every time I told her "okay, this month we're getting your license for sure" it just wouldn't happen and I'd end up feeling like the one who was at fault.
She does not have her Bachelor's degree because she did not turn in her final project for one single class. Not only that, but she has never truly pursued a career with the things she learned from the coursework, or even used her AA.
For half of the relationship, she did not work at all. When she did, it was often part time work, and if she was saddled with full time hours or, god forbid, overtime, it was a world-ending affair. She would come home and constantly be tired from her few hours at work and would do little more than sit around and crochet.
Our agreement when we bought our house was that she was going to work full time and we were going to split household duties, but I would definitely scoop the cat box because she was allergic (but she wanted cats) and wash dishes (because she hated them), and she would do laundry (because I hated it). In practice, all her version of laundry turned out to be was to throw loads in when one of us was out of clothes and just hit wash and then rotate, and then leave all the clothes in a pile on the bed. EVERYONE KNOWS folding the laundry is the worst part! Come on! Men's clothes are easy! I don't wear that much! (When we would fold, I often finished in a third of her time and would just hang out and chat until she was done)
Ultimately, this meant that for many years now, she was working barely more than part time if she was working at all, and would sort-of do laundry. Meanwhile, I am scooping litter, folding laundry, doing dishes, doing all related yard work, doing all the household cleaning, handling all the finances, I did MOST of the cooking, and all of the grocery shopping (often going alone), driving her from work if I could (she'd uber it if not) and picking her up and driving her home, as well as just generally being a chauffeur for her for 10 years, while working a full time job and a side gig online. Many nights I'd have to stop what I was doing to pick her up at closing hours, and then would sit in the parking lot for 30 minutes while she did tasks like vacuum her little crystal shop that she definitely could have done before close so I didn't end up waiting so damn long. Then we'd come home hang out and eat while we watched TV, and then if I wanted to try and go upstairs to do another hobby, I'd be silently guilted about it because she wanted to sit on the couch and crochet.
Part 5: My Problems
I am not perfect, and admit I have flaws. One of her favorite things to claim to our friends now is that I was "emotionally neglectful", and if there is truth to it, I think I can pin down the day. Before I started working full time again, I was going to school on the 9/11 GI bill. I was not a good student in my younger years, but in time, I have become rather good at school. My first two semesters back I easily maintained a 4.0 GPA. Over the summer in 2022, I, woefully, decided to take a Calc 2 class online because I could not find one in person and wanted to be ready for Calc 3 in the Fall to fill a prereq for my bachelor's, and I really liked the instructor for that Calc 3 class. This calc 2 class was painful. The instructor had clearly recorded all his lectures during Covid and we were simply given the full course of videos and given work assignments and said "Email me if you have questions." This is not how I learn, but I figured, hey, it's one class. I'm working again, but one class isn't a huge deal. I can knock this out.
I was wrong.
After the second exam, I had a low C in the class and I knew I couldn't keep up. I withdrew from the class feeling no other option. I tend to be pretty good at math, and ultimately my dream was to work with 3d printing on an industrial scale with a Mechanical Engineering degree- and if that failed I had my military history (which is engineering relevant) and a degree to fall back on and work should come easily. After clicking that withdraw button, I saw those dreams vaporize. After that, I threw myself into my government civilian job full time and slowly fell into depression. By the end of our relationship, with the toll of doing 99% of the work around the house and for her and with my dreams dead and buried, at age 33, I would wake up and pray I died. I would never kill myself, but I wanted to just die. I felt backed into a corner. I still did everything I could to support her and hoped that one day, she would pick up some of the load and maybe, just maybe, I could go back, but that day did not come (At least not in the way I expected).
Part 6: The Aftermath
This post is already too long, and if I include every single detail that has come to light since, I might actually hit the post cap, but I will go over at least some of it here.
I have had my friends come out in droves. Both of them have been effectively exiled, at least from what I can see, from every friend circle we have. After a couple of days, they flew back to live with, I guess, his parents in Vegas while they sorted shit out, because after I spoke with Z's previous roommate, he adamantly explained he was tired of all the "fucking drama" that Z had been bringing into the house and was just done with it.
I have spoken with many, many people and gotten even more context and even receipts of some of each of their conversations to our mutual friends, and some of the shit I read is just hilarious. He is "not ashamed of pursuing happiness, he is just sad that people got hurt". She is "coming to terms with emotional neglect and felt trapped, but now, yes now, she is free."
I got my neighbors to watch the cats, and took my dog up to visit my closest friend of 20 years and spent about a week and a half drinking, smoking, and talking about all this while surrounded by some of the most beautiful nature the US has to offer. Truly, without this man, I don't think I'd have gotten this far as quickly as I have. He really has been a lifesaver and I truly, to my dying day, will always appreciate him.
Paperwork has been filed, we wish to remain on good terms, and one day I still do hope I can be a friend to her, but she is woefully immature and incapable of adequately performing in an adult society. I have quit my job and am returning to school with a much lighter budget and will be getting that degree I desperately need.
It's been hard, real hard. I have put every ounce of my being into this relationship, and I truly felt like she was part of me, and nothing like this could ever happen. But it's that trust that allowed this to happen. I do not hate her, I'm just disappointed. I will pick up my pieces and, hopefully, find myself whole again soon.
Part 7: Rambling anecdotes
These are some stories I wanted to include in the previous body of text but didn't feel like it kept the same flow (if there even is any at all, I'm not proofreading this). If I remember any others after I post, Ill just toss them in the comments.
Early after Z came to live with us, my mother came to the house to drop off a package. I am pretty sure I was at work, but when my mother came to the door, both of them answered the door and the way my mom describes it "First of all, do you answer the door at your friends house? Also, the way he hovered over her made me uncomfortable. They were in the doorway and he was right up behind her poking his head out." She said my wife had told her that I was feeling unwell and was upstairs sleeping. I can't even be sure at this point.
Shortly before all the things happened, my parents were going out of town to celebrate their own anniversary, and I had agreed to dog-sit their 5 month old puppy (who, while cute, has WAY too much energy and was EXTREMELY difficult to handle, and I have raised several dogs at this point). We met up and took the dog, and then ALL of us (including Z) went to dinner. At dinner, my mother looked at my wife and asked, directly "And so how long have you been married? 6, almost 7 years? Well at least you missed that 7 year itch, huh" and my wife shortly followed with a comment about how she was not hungry and did not eat dinner that night.
All of this happened WHILE THIS CRAZY PUPPY was running around the house, and part of me thinks he pushed this to happen when it did because he could not stand having to help take care of this dog any longer (2 days).
About a week after all this happened, my wife did not text or call me, or respond to any messages or emails I sent her (I didn't send many, but they exist). Frustrated, I text her and tell her I need to talk to her about logistics moving forward, specifically about her belongings. She told me "I will talk to you when I am ready." We did not talk for another week. Also, she told me to stop talking to her mom. (I have a good relationship with both of my in-laws and while her step-father tried to remain impartial to the best of his abilities, he gave me some of the best advice I could possibly have gotten at that time, mostly about how to move forward and cope, as he has personally dealt with this with smaller relationships 3 separate times in his life which he gave me details on, and we are still on good terms.)
Their favorite TV show to watch together was Outlander, which, if you aren't aware, is basically a story about a woman who time travels and has two men in her life.
One of our biggest constant points of contention was my friendship with an old high school buddy (who I spent much of the time in the aftermath hanging out with while healing). We believe, with good reason, that she hated this man because after I had almost been hospitalized for psych reasons due to stress, he had told me I needed to talk to her about working again and doing more to help around the house. She figured out, obviously, who was telling me to say these things, and sent a very, very angry text to his wife. They all apparently made up, but I know she never let that grudge go.
One of the fairly recent hobbies I got into was D&D. It seemed like a good fit for all of us. She loved fantasy and gaming, I enjoyed 3d printing and story telling. She needed friends, and a party of people hangin out would give her at least a few connections to start. Every night she "participated" in D&D, she mostly sat quiet and did not do anything. Hell, I tried to get her to participate in 2 different games, and after she left the first one, she asked to just sit quietly in the discord call (This first one was online only, second was in person) and listen, which was super awkward. In the in person game, after 3 months of playing, she did not know how to play her character at all, and mostly spent her time at the table crocheting. (My buddy even made a comment about how at one point, he was proud of how good I was getting at DMing and I was giving particularly good exposition, and she interrupted me to hand another player at the table a dice bag she made. I don't remember it, but I absolutely believe this happened.)
The day of "the incident", she had a meltdown about how a friend of hers had ghosted her. I told her it was okay, she was much younger anyway and people grow apart. She's probably going through stuff and we should respect that path she's on. She cried about how she has no friends.
Also the day of "the incident", we were in the shower together and she told me she had met her sister's new BF on facetime. I asked "why did she break up with her old one?" "Well... she cheated on him." "Oh, that's a shame. Cheating is probably the most cowardly act a person can do to another. If you're going to start a new relationship, you need to grow a pair and end it before starting a new one." She clearly took my words to heart.
One of my biggest pet peeves about cleaning the house is our dog sheds, a lot. If I see a hairball roll through the house it immediately drains me a bit. We had a roomba. She would send that thing home when it started and never start it again. It barely ran. She would not vacuum.
One of the most common descriptors of her I've heard used by many people now that they're "allowed to" is "She was there, doing the thing with us, but it was like she wasn't there."
Something she thought that I apparently hadn't figured out by the time we talked after everything happened was that they had been talking since February. I told her I wasn't stupid and had figured it out already that this wasn't out of the blue.
Z's wife is currently pregnant with the baby of the man she cheated on him with. (And he is also married)
Anything else I remember Ill leave for comments, I know there is much, much more.

I bet he didn't realize just how dedicated the fans of the "cute little blonde girl" would be. But in all honesty, he was posting about his podcast charting at number 3 I think (?) and I just took a look and it dropped to 61 which is a massive drop. I guess good things really do happen to good people while being condescending and rude leads to well...nothing, really. This isn't snark and I wish him well but I think it's so funny how he continues to play the victim and thinking he did nothing to hurt her? I have to laugh. Anyways, rylee's thriving on socials and in life so I guess it's time to move on and get excited for next season without Harry (even though I'm betting he'll try to get himself engaged with it again like the true narc he is!
Also on a sidenote, did anyone notice the new gold bracelet rylee was wearing in her snaps today? I had to do a double take because I thought it was the van cleef harry got her at first😂

So I am rereading a lot of my old faves. And I know people talk about Thomas Hunt as sort of being an ‘oddball character’ they love. But I was curious what are some choices fans odd ball side characters they just adore and wish to see more of. And I mean like really weird but oddly cute (not attractive cute but cute). Thomas was to me seems to just stick out because he might come across as ‘pretentious’ and complaining if you didn’t know the character very well.
My faves are from Red carpet Diaries. Chadley, Gloria and Markus. I am playing that scene where Markus and Jessica meet in Greece again. I always choose the scene where she goes to dinner and the disco with him. I like that scene in the hotel before it too because Markus genuinely has nothing against Jessica. The painting is never mentioned again if you choose the nice paths with Jessica. And you get such a fun scene with him at your wedding in book 3 if you don’t speak ill of Markus. I really love that friendship.
Chadley is adorable even if a bit of an airhead. I would date him willingly! (Sorry Victoria.) I have a thing for genuinely nice guys and I can handle “stupid” I would totally stick up for him. Luckily though he’s not a real LI option I still love my Matt.
And Gloria spirits or no is a great friend. She is a so fun.
There are a few more from other books but these are the big ones for me.

I (25 F) have been dating this guy (26M) for a little over two months now. From the beginning, communication has been an issue for us. It was fine when we were just talking because I don’t expect him to make me a priority in his day when he barely knows me, but now, we’ve gone on more dates than I can count, he has slept over at my apartment enough times to leave a tooth brush and some other things he needs, we are physically intimate, doing everything that a couple would be without the labels. We get along really well. The problem is, he never compliments, can’t tell me how he feels about me or how he feels about the direction we’re heading with the relationship other than “I like you” and “it’s going good” despite knowing my love language is words of affirmation and he excuses it by saying “some people just don’t talk as much as others”. His actions make me think he likes me (buys me flowers, drives 1.5 hours to see me, pays for parking by my place, pays for all my meals, takes me on cute dates, remembers almost everything about me even things I’m surprised he remembers, fixes things I’m concerned about etc.) he has told me that he is serious about me and is looking for a relationship but the lack of communication, lack of commitment, and lack of emotional intimacy is making me want to end this. I just need advice. Please be kind.

ok so basically junior prom just happened and somehow me and my friends' prom dates all happen to be a friend group themselves. most of us were going just as friends (which is what i thought my date and i were going as). prom was ass and i spent the whole time trying to avoid my date bc he started to drop hints that he was into me but the after party was fun. at the after party my date was all over me and it was highkey gross 😭 but basically we all drank a lot and were just having fun.
one of my friends (we're not super close but we're still good buddies) went with this guy that i've always kind of liked and who i've always thought was super cute and funny. my friend was NOT into him at all though, and they barely hung out together at prom. after prom and before the party i was in the bathroom with her and i asked her if she liked him and she said "hell nah he's so annoying" and when i was like "i lowkey fw him" she said "yeah u have my blessing i'm not into him at all." but later on that night she got totally wasted and was lying on top of him totally blackout drunk and he kissed her even though she was obliterated. the next day my friend wasn't bothered that he kissed her but she said that she wouldn't have wanted it if she was sober. all of the girls got really mad and were like "he assaulted her" (which i lowkey don't agree with bc he was also drunk and she kissed him back) and the guys were all making fun of him and created rumors that he raped her 💀
ok so by now everything has blown over but everybody knows what happened between the two of them and there's some bad blood. also i've had to deal with my date and it was very awkward but i friend zoned him. i really like the guy who's now hated by a lot of my friends 😭 should i make a move or not? also i haven't spoken about liking him to the friend that went with him since the kiss happened. i really don't want to upset her, but i don't think that would happen bc she literally did not care abt everything that went down. however, our friends really hate the guy
tldr i like a guy who my friends hate for "taking advantage" of my friend and who is friends with the guy i just friendzoned. would it be bad of me and will there be bad repercussions if i make a move 😭