Hi everyone! We have been in Toronto for 2 months and we need a date night. Nothing fancy, but I’d like to go somewhere with a cool ambiance (if possible) but also on a budget where the food will not disappoint. We love mexican, italian, burgers, sea food — not picky. We love both love beer but it could also be a wine kind of night. We haven’t gone out in a date here, so we have no idea where to go (we live by Dufferin Grove if that helps at all). We wanted to enjoy the nice weather, so a place with a patio or where we could stroll afterwards would be nice. I appreciate any suggestions!

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

As always, if you know of an event that's not listed here, feel free to share it (with a link) in the comments. Feedback on events you've attended or plan to attend is welcome.
*Free (or no admission/cover)
--Recurring Event
Noteworthy: May 13-19 is American Craft Beer Week. May 16 is National Barbecue Day.
Weekend & Multi-Day Events
May 13-19 Dallas is Lit (Literary Festival) at multiple Oak Cliff venues
May 16-19 DSO: Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini at the Meyerson
May 17-18 Dallas Black Dance Theatre Spring Celebration at Wyly Theatre
May 17-19 Wildflower! Music and Arts Festival at Galatyn Park Urban Center, Richardson
May 17-19 Main Street Fest - A Craft Brew Experience at Historic Downtown Grapevine
May 17-25 Now THAT’s What I Call TV Improv 90s Sitcom at Stomping Ground Comedy
May 18-19 Black Heritage Celebration at the Dallas Arboretum
Through May 27 Scarborough Renaissance Festival, Waxahachie
Through May 18 Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer at Bishop Arts Theater Ctr
Through May 25 Echo Theatre: Beyond the Yellow Wallpaper at the Bath House Cultural Center
Through Jun 9 Hamilton at Winspear Opera House
May 17-June 1 Teatro Dallas: Cloud Tectonics at the Latino Cultural Center
*May 11- May 24 Women in Art – A Joyful Journey Exhibition at Art on Main
*Through May 19 The Art of Embroidery from India to the World at NorthPark Center
*Through June 28 Central Library Staff Art Exhibit at Dallas Public Library Central Branch
Monday, May 13
Dallas Mavericks vs. OKC Thunder: Playoffs Round 2 Game 4 at AAC
Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche Watch Party at Shark Club Sports Bar and Grill
Texas Rangers vs. vs. Cleveland Guardians at Globe Life Field, Arlington
British Film Institute Book Club Presents: Mean Streets at Texas Theatre
“Spider Mondays” The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on 35MM at Texas Theatre
Augustana: Something Beautiful Tour with Valley Boy at Club Dada
*Ryan Glenn at Truck Yard Dallas
*Music Bingo at Guitars and Growlers, Richardson
*Songwriter's Open Mic Hosted by Justin Collins at Dan's Silverleaf, Denton
*Poor David’s Pub Virtual Open Mic on Facebook Live
Tuesday, May 14
Texas Rangers vs. vs. Cleveland Guardians at Globe Life Field, Arlington
*10-Year Destination Master Plan Community Town Hall - West/South Dallas at West Dallas Multipurpose Center
Dallas Winds Concert: In This Circle at the Meyerson Symphony Center
*--Free Rooftop Movie: Easy A at Sundown at Granada
The Variety Show with The Lost Boy Presents at Arts Mission Oak Cliff
Jimmy Gnecco of Ours at Opening Bell Coffee
Qveen Herby at House of Blues
*Book Presentation: An Evening with Andrés Neuman at The Wild Detectives
*Book Signing and Discussion - Jannese Torres: Financially Lit at Interabang Books
*--W.O.W. (Words Over Wine) Poetry Open Mic at Chocolate Secrets
*Just Dance Series - Salsa Lessons at Harwood Park
*Indian Cultural Heritage Foundation Dance performance at Pleasant Grove Branch Library
Wednesday, May 15
Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche: Round 2 Game 5 At American Airlines Center
Texas Rangers vs. vs. Cleveland Guardians at Globe Life Field, Arlington
Dallas Wings vs. Chicago Sky at College Park Center, Arlington
10-Year Destination Master Plan Community Town Hall - North Dallas at Prism Center
Dallas Architecture Forum Presents: Brian MacKay-Lyons at Dallas Museum of Art
*--Salsa Night/Beginner’s Lessons at Vidorra Dallas
Transformers: 40th Anniversary Event at Texas Theatre
*Nerd Night: Old School Video Games at Celestial Beerworks
*Pat Peterson at The Kitchen Cafe
Swingin' at the Sons at Sons of Hermann Hall
Piano Men: An Elton John & Billy Joel Tribute at Sky Blu Rooftop
Daniel Sloss: Can't at The Majestic
*--Improv Jam at Dallas Comedy Club
Part One Tribe - A $7.77 Show at Deep Ellum Art Co.
3-course Beer Pairing Dinner at Windmills, The Colony
Thursday, May 16
10-Year Destination Master Plan Community Town Hall - East Dallas at Harry Stone Rec Center
Dallas Zoo After Dark Wild Canvas at the Dallas Zoo
*Bombshell Dance Project Performance at Dallas Museum of Art
*Kaleta Doolin in Conversation on Feminist Art History at Dallas Museum of Art
Maifest at the Brewery at Community Beer Co.
Analog Art Show at Flea the Scene
Sip & Paint at Aloft Dallas Downtown
Murder Mystery 3-Course Dinner at Bourbon and Banter
*PNC Patio Sessions - Pretty Boy Aaron at Sammons Park
*Books Signing and Discussion - Noah Gittel, Baseball: The Movie at Interabang Books
The Rhinestone Teardrops Tour at Three Links
Michelle Wolf: It's Great to Be Here at House of Blues
David Slater and Veronica Williams at Sammons Center for the Arts
*Adult Coloring at Mountain Creek Branch Library
HipHop & Healing at Highland Hills Branch Library
Master Gardeners: Taking the Mystery Out of Plant Propagation at Lakewood Branch Library
59th Academy of Country Music Awards at Ford Center at The Star, Frisco
Friday, May 17
Texas Rangers vs. Los Angeles Angels at Globe Life Field
*‘til Midnight at the Nasher Sculpture Center
*--DJ Binosaur at Vector Brewing
Backyard Concert: Meridian Brothers and Elkin Pautt at The Wild Detectives
*Booker T. Washington HSPVA Singer-Songwriters at Opening Bell Coffee
Cinéwilde Presents: The Matrix at Texas Theatre
Larry g(ee) EP Release with Dezi 5 and Cozy Campos at The Kessler
Girls' Night Out Stand-up Comedy Showcase at Dallas Comedy Club
Nimesh Patel: Fast and Loose Tour at the Majestic Theatre
The Reverent Few / Joe Blow / The Brandon Callies Band at The Double Wide
Chap Stick (Cheap Trick Tribute) at Sundown at Granada
*Trey Gonzalez at The Rustic
Dallas Poetry Slam 30th Anniversary Showcase at Oak Cliff Assembly
Aaron Aryanpur Live at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center
Saturday, May 18
Texas Rangers vs. Los Angeles Angels at Globe Life Field
Dallas Wings vs. Chicago Sky at College Park Center, Arlington
Ultimate Frisbee Dallas Legion vs. Houston HAVOC at Jesuit Dallas
*Cycling: Group Ride at Community Beer Co.
Morning Bird Walk at Trinity River Audubon Center
*AAPI Heritage & Dragon Boat Festival at the Bath House Cultural Center
Art Talk: Laure de Margerie at the Nasher Sculpture Center
Discover Downtown Dallas Movie Series: Sweet Home Alabama at Harwood Park
9th Anniversary Brewery Fest at Texas Ale Project
*Pawty on the Patio with Golden Retriever Rescue at On Rotation
*Asian Am., Native Hawaiian, & Pacific Islander Heritage Celebration at AT&T Discovery District
*AAPI Family Weekend at Sammons Park (Dallas Arts District)
Hope Starts Here 5K at Klyde Warren Park
Deep Ellum Wine Walk: Rosé Olé at Discover Deep Ellum
*Conversation and Party: Colombe Schneck and Merrit Tierce at The Wild Detectives
*Art Exhibitions Opening Event at Ro2 Art
*Analog Art Show at Flea the Scene
6th Annual Adult Science Fair at Celestial Beerworks
Andrea Gonzalez Caballero Spanish Guitar Concert at Kalita Humphreys Theater
Pepe Aguilar at American Airlines Center
Sunday, May 19
Texas Rangers vs. Los Angeles Angels at Globe Life Field
Dallas Jackals vs. Seattle Seawolves at Choctaw Stadium, Arlington
State Fair Records: Songwriters Round on The Green at The Kessler
*En Plein Air Painting Demonstration at the Dallas Museum of Art
Dilbeck Architecture Conservancy Homes Tour at University Park
K Pop Music Bingo Brunch at the Sweet Tooth Hotel
Abducted By The 80's at House of Blues
Paint and Sip at Peticolas Brewing
Turtle Creek Chorale: Pages at Northaven United Methodist Church
*Cars for CASA Car Show at Rockwall Courthouse, Rockwall

made this for my narrative essay in american literature, but one of my friends said i should share the story
“But I Still Need You” Throughout my life, I had always fallen easy for girls. The elementary mindset of, “she’s cute, so I have a crush on her,” prevented me from developing a legitimate relationship with any girl I tried to talk to. The few times that my feelings were reciprocated, I had no idea because I was already on to the next girl, and this continued until I was left with a multitude of friend-zone situations and a list of “crushes.” My charisma already lacking, it seemed each year that passed, previous to 3rd grade, I grew in weight and therefore awkwardness. The struggle to interact with women lessened as I grew up, while the fat remained. So, by the 8th grade I was the ideal guy friend; easy to talk to, kinda funny, understanding, and unintimidating. My approachable “funny fat friend” nature had its ups and downs. While guys, for reasons I still don’t fully understand, suspected me to be gay, girls found it intriguing and it made them want to be friends with me more. Back then I didn’t know, but now I know that by being forced to be friends first, after finding out I was in fact not gay, the right woman for me would want to be with me for my personality. In the winter of 2021, I fell hard for a girl named Madeline. Maddie was no different than many of the other girls in that she had a bland personality and I thought she was cute. She had brunette hair with bangs, big glasses, way too much makeup on, and a unique fashion sense. Her sense of fashion was one of the few interesting things about her, yet it was disregarded by the public. Not too many guys found her appealing, but I did, for whatever reason. I was dead set on getting to know her better in hope of becoming more than friends. Unfortunately, she hardly paid attention to me, but I didn’t give up. I merely slowed down because of my interest in her friend, Isabella. Isabella is the Spanish and Italian variation of Elizabeth (derived from the Hebrew name Elisheba). The meaning of Elishiba can be translated to, “God is my oath.” In Arabic, the beginning of Isabella, “Isa,” is the classical Arabic name for Jesus, while in the French language, the shortened version of Isabella, “Belle,” translates to “beautiful.” I had met Isabella in the sixth grade, and grew a tiny crush on her, in the elementary sense, before we all went into hibernation (COVID). I barely knew her though, and she had no idea who I was, so when we interacted in my last two classes, if we did at all, it was like two strangers who kept running into each other. I sat by her in my sixth period, and one seat up and to the right from her in seventh. We only ever made small talk and the occasional joke, but when I spoke with her I felt content. Still barely knowing her, all I could admire was the little things in the way she laughed and spoke. I longed to know more about Isabella, she was mature, intelligent, and very opinionated, but still light-hearted and made time pass at the speed of light. It wasn’t until she was in my group in sixth period one day that she began to open up a little by sharing the details of her current long-distance relationship. The shards of my heart stabbed and crushed my stomach; hope, the oxygen to my mind, depleted faster than the air of a broken space shuttle; palpitation, nausea, asphyxia, and neurosis bombarded me like Persian arrows on the Greeks. Then, all at once, the excruciating tidal wave evaporated, but instead of calm waters, I was left with a drought. Every emotion muted or gone, my body went numb while everything I cared for vanished from my mind. I didn’t speak throughout the rest of that day, and went directly from the bus to decaying in my bed. I was devastated, so I retreated to my pointless crush on Maddie. Unrelated to the rather sad lovelife, my anxiety and depression worsened throughout 8th grade, and while I was going to therapy, most of my issues wouldn’t and still haven’t been worked through. Throughout the school year I had developed a toxic system of self pity, in which I would spend hours a day cycling through the feelings of hope, anger, and despair- never that of joy. I knew what I was doing, gathering enough hope to face the school day just before I reflected on the doubts and grievances going on throughout my life. I’d bring myself up just for a greater fall because honestly, overtime I became numb to the natural pain. If I were going to fall into the pit that is depression, the higher I peaked in terms of optimism the more excruciating the freefall of nausea and the heavy flow of salt water. At that point in my life, I saw no point in getting out of bed to do anything, school or even my own mother’s birthday. By the end of eighth grade I had spent almost a total of six weeks absent, two of which were from me being quarantined. Typically over the span of one or two days, others up to four, I would be in my bed “sick.” During these mini-vacations I would sleep all morning, if my mom let me, and stay up all night, oftentimes listening to Radiohead or Cigarettes After Sex while staring at my ceiling. I wanted to stay up, I wanted to feel the bags grabbing and pulling towards my cheekbone, I wanted to feel empty, emotionally and physically. During the day, my anxiety attacks became panic attacks and I would get sent home for vomiting. I'd throw up to give Mom a reason to let me stay home. I’d throw up to feel something, anything. I’d throw up to keep my stomach empty. I’d throw up because I had to, because the nerves and overthinking forced me to. Every morning, I’d drag my black air force ones across cement, carpet, tiles, and marble, each step leading towards Mrs. Clements’ homeroom. For every step, a different worry or insecurity flashed through my brain. But then, out of the blue, I’m “Lincoln” again. I walk into homeroom with an ear-to-ear grin and dap up “the boys”. I’d spend the morning building up hopes of making Isabella laugh today, or maybe calling her once I got home, but I knew that nine times out of ten my hopes were delusional. To “Lincoln,” this was no problem, he would make a gay joke, join the boys with teasing a cute girl in my class, and laugh until just for a moment, the despair was gone. Finally, the sixth period would come and I’d get to see Isabella. In here I got the least work done out of all my classes as I would find myself strategically planning my next interaction with her, just for said plans to go out the window when I was brought face to face with her. Typically seventh period followed the same pattern except Ms. Shirley Davis could never allow small talk in her classroom. When the last bell rang, I went straight to the buses. I’d sleep on the way home, dreaming of a call that would hardly happen. On the off chance my phone didn’t reach its feared 11th cry, we’d talk for hours at a time. On a weekday or not, it seemed that, when we did call, it was guaranteed to go into the early morning. It’s hard to put my finger on a specific topic, or even general. In our conversations, we discussed anything and everything. Everything, except her own love interest. I admired this, as my inability to keep who I’m thinking about at the time a secret is a major flaw of mine. The more that me and her spoke, the more I grew to love her. Our talks were so honest, so raw, that the secret I held began to eat away at me. My core collapsing like a dying star, each day it felt like the pain got worse. To cope with the feelings I had buried deep inside me, I’d turn to my friends. At first, they said to come forward with my feelings, but I knew that’s what any friend would’ve said. The relief I got from venting the conflicting hurricane within me was brief. Overtime, their words of encouragement turned to annoyance, and understandably so. When people grew sick of the same old sadistic untold love, I turned to Isabella. I wrote a text so full that, to read it, one needed to tap on an arrow at the bottom right corner of my message. The essay was compiled with the confliction I had, developing feelings for a friend, and the sorrow that filled me each day that passed without her. I described the perfect imperfections that I admired about her, how life was complete when I spoke to her, the beauty that paralyzed me every time I saw her in person, and the character that I felt God had curated specifically for me. Sitting there unsure if I should press send, a fear grew within my chest that Isabella would see right through me. I could hear the music that so often triggered tears; the vocals of Thom Yorke or the beats of Kanye West, they faded in and out. What if she didn’t even respond? What if she thought I was a creep? What if- then she responded. Suddenly, the ominous 808s & Heartbreak pounding vanished, my respiratory chaos became paralyzed, and time stood still. I couldn’t breathe until I finished reading, and once I did, my sigh was all but relieving. Isabella explained to me how unhealthy my habits were; even in comparison to the anguish that would follow, I’d suffer far more and far longer should I suppress my emotions. She told me how that level of affection, in the context of the warped concept of romance most men had, was something she had only dreamt of. Isabella said that holding these feelings would eat away at me, exponentially increasing in severity, until I broke. Not only would I be hurting myself, but I would be depriving the person I care about most from the appreciation they deserve. I became bloated with fear of the friendzone, those insecurities, all based upon inference, became a reality with Isabella’s last piece of advice. She said, “If she doesn’t reciprocate those emotions, then don’t worry. I’m sure there’s a girl out there who can appreciate your compassion.” The blame had no other place to go than my shoulders, after all, I got what I asked for, advice on another girl. Isabella, even if she saw the crush I had on her, is far too kind to address it. She cared for everyone, and to her, she was merely boosting up a friend who’s down. For the rest of the night her text echoed through my mind; pain, regret, and admiration caused my mind to sporadically leap from conclusion to conclusion. Two years later, those words still haunt me, reiterations of that phrase torturing me when I least expect them. The school year progressed, but my aspirations with Isabella didn’t. Over time, the frequency of my writings grew to be weekly, at times reaching two a week, and the weight of my confessions depleted. I opened my audience to a mutual friend of Isabella’s, Miley, with the intention of acquiring useful advice. Eventually, my choice to try concealing what I felt for Isabella became too heavy of a burden, weighing down on me in forces I had not endured before. Soon, the love I had for Isabella turned to hatred for myself. I was relentlessly criticizing every aspect of myself and my mind. I hated how fat I was, my smile, my voice, my laugh, and most of all my personality. What I had thought was my greatest strength, was revealed as my worst trait. The gullibility I exhibited when thinking for a second Isabella could possibly like me; the lack of confidence that caused me to chicken out of confessing my feelings to her; my insufferable need to make people laugh; the hyperfixation I would develop for those that I love. Everything about me was wrong. I stopped eating, stopped sleeping, stopped caring, and eventually I stopped living. The “Lincoln” my friends had grown to recognize, the only remnant of the joy I felt when I was younger, died, and I was left with only my love for Isabella and resentment for myself. I began testing the limits of what was left of me, praying for relief. At first in the middle of the night, an anaconda would find its way to my throat, wrapping around my neck. Its cold black scales gracefully gliding across my skin before silencing my cries with the swift tug of its metallic USB head. The snake would maintain pressure until I let go of it, the entire time whispering into my ear, begging me to hold on. Some nights it came with what must have been a full stomach for it was drastically wider, it was brown these nights, with leather skin, and a slight warmth, but it behaved the same. Most visits from the snake ended with my vision blurry, my breath short, or my head dizzy. The only consistency of our transactions was Asia’s Death Lake that streamed down my face from start to finish. Eventually, the snake seemed closer and closer to silencing me forever, but I also became used to its visits. I began writing letters to everyone I loved so that, should the snake come out victorious, they’d have a final goodbye. Once I had sorted out my notes, I called the snake to my room. This time it came striped with shades of blue, its skin a soft fabric. For once, I controlled the snake, because our intentions finally aligned. I locked the door, sent out my texts, placed the written notes on my dresser, and joined the snake at my closet door. Holding onto the doorknob, the snake wrapped itself around my neck just as it had done in nights of the past. It whispered to me, “let go,” for I had been on my knees in hesitation. I followed the snake’s order by making a sort of plank with my body, the bottom half resting on a stack of dirty laundry and pillows while the top was supported by my elbows. Pressure swiftly fell down on my neck and didn’t stop. “This is it,” I thought to myself. My eyes seemed to pop out of my skull, and my tears, falling down like summer rain, became blurry dots as my vision went dark. Next thing I know, I’m waking up, snot, saliva, and tears strung between my face and the carpet floor. My head pounding and my eyes burning, I looked up at the “snake” that was the tie my mom had gotten me for Sunday service. Although my mind was more clear, it was not out of revelation, but from a muted sense of the world around me. Other than Isabella, nothing mattered anymore, and the little emotion I felt was squashed by my immortal love. The following day I get called to the counselors office on charges of suicidal thoughts and self harm. I said what I had to in order to escape her grasp, but left infuriated. Not only had my own friends betrayed me, but the lady who was supposed to guide me essentially scolded me for being sad. Throughout the day my anger faded out and my focus became making an excuse as to why my parents got a weird call from my counselor, then I’d find the traitor who sold me out. That afternoon, I lost two friends, and for the first time ever got mad at Isabella. Apparently, Miley, Maddie, and Isabella all reported me to the counselor that morning. They said I had been traumatizing them with what was going on in my life, being normal and messing around at school, then detailing my thoughts and actions to them outside of school. I felt like I had been tricked. I thought they were my friends. I thought they understood me. They asked me if I was okay, they said they wanted, cared, needed to know, but now I had scared them? I addressed what had happened with Miley first. She immediately lashed out at me, saying I should be thanking them, not be mad. While I didn’t want to accept it, I understood the core of her choices. On the other hand, Maddie’s response to my confrontation was disgustingly cruel. She said I had been unfair and just seeking attention, that no thirteen to fourteen year old should hear about what I was going through because it was unnatural. Before she continued, I apologized, that’s all I could think to do, because deep down I believed her. She told me it wasn’t all my fault because my brain was messed up, and that opening up to the girls would only make them not want to be friends with me. The one word that rang through my head then, and still does today, was “creep,” she claimed that what I felt wasn’t love, but I was just mentally unstable and creepy. Any remnants of the sweet kid from elementary school who just wanted a friend and loved everyone were obliterated. Maddie was right, all I had done was hurt and scare them, it didn’t matter what I thought. I told her all I could, that I didn’t know what to say other than I was sorry for the damage I had done, and I would try and get better. Her response, like a branding iron on my mind, was, “It’s not damage, it’s baggage. Imagine if the roles were reversed.” It was only then that I stopped texting back. I wish I could say it was out of frustration or self respect, but the reality of my manipulative traits is what silenced me. Shockingly, the response that hurt the most was from Isabella, yet it somehow meant the most to me too. Isabella told me that she needed me in the world. She told me that if I ever got those thoughts again, to think about her as well; to think about the pain I’d be causing her; to think about the trauma she’d live with for the rest of her life. After repeating the phrase, “I need you in my life,” she acknowledged how selfish it was, but still didn’t care. Isabella continued elaborating, she didn’t care because no label of selfishness outweighed the value of my life. What she said that night has been vivid in my mind since, but my only wish is that she had needed me as I needed her. Tears began to hide my freckled cheeks as I texted her about how much her words meant to me, how much she meant to me, and I apologized to her. I said sorry for the baggage I caused, the “creepy” behavior, and any other ways I had wronged her. I said sorry for loving her, and told her I’d do better. She disregarded my apologies, telling me that I could always talk to her because no matter the baggage she could carry, it’d be worth taking the smallest bit off of me. Her words meant so much to me, yet hurt me just the same. I hated myself for it. I couldn’t see a life without an affection for her, it was pathetic. If I truly loved her, I’d let my feelings go, right? What kind of person did that make me? Summer came and went. Hoping that time would kill the crush I had on Isabella, I prohibited myself from contacting her. Instead I spent time with my family and a few friends, but Isabella never left my head. Even when accompanying my dad to Berry College for the Governor’s Honors Program, she’s what filled my head. At first I felt frustrated because before I had come forward to her, she had known about the feelings I had. I came to the conclusion that she had been dragging me along, but even then I knew how easily that thought would be abandoned. First day of High school, I got in touch with her. For maybe two weeks, I maintained a platonic relationship before free falling into the ominous pit once again. This time felt different though, it felt like what I had thought about everyday, for what seemed eternity, could be more than a daydream. We texted each other throughout the school day and facetimed after her cheer practice and my band practice. Eventually, Isabella was falling asleep on call. Before, we’d talk long into the night, and it began to drain the energy out of the both of us. Now, we were listening to music, playing Roblox, watching Netflix, or just sitting in silence. I had never felt comfortable with silence, but she made it seem better than having a conversation with anyone else. It’s a beautiful thing when words aren’t required to appreciate someone. The moment I had the courage to do so, I asked her out to Steak n’ Shake. It’s just my luck that the restaurant was hardly a shell of what I remembered as a kid. At first the conversation was awkward because we hardly spoke in person, but as time progressed so did we. I still remember the tightness of my cheeks as I failed to suppress my ear-to-ear grin. The euphoric nausea and beating heart that disappeared throughout our conversation. I remember the booth we sat in, the fact that she wanted me to swap seats with her because of her creaky seat, the way she giggled, how I fought tooth and nail to pay for such a small bill, the way she smiled when she said, “next time you’ve gotta let me pay,” and the shared excitement for our next hangout. Even though Isabella and I were still friends, even though the restaurant was a disaster, even though the fries were stale and the milkshakes chunky, that moment is one of the best in my life. With how well things were going, I thought that it was my best chance at making something more out of this friendship. So, I shot my shot. I told her that despite my efforts the summer before, she still held a special place in my heart. Isabella responded with her own struggles with recovering from a past relationship, detailing the trust issues and pain she still felt almost a year later. I was yet again, devastated. Then she added that despite her own feelings, she had to be careful and the risk of losing our friendship scared her. I understood her reasoning, but it made me sick to think of how close I was. In response, I expressed how I could relate to those feelings, and the conflict I had with them. It felt ridiculous having opened myself up once again, to just be friendzoned. Her response struck me with both hope and devastation, “I f*cking love you a ton Lincoln, but I’m struggling to differentiate my admiration as a friend and as something more. I’m terrified of losing you.” Previously I would have seen this as a sign to keep trying, but at that moment, I couldn’t see past the blatant friendzoning. After pursuing her for so long, it felt cruel of her to continue dragging me along like this, even though she was being honest. My reaction to the straw that broke the camel’s back is one of, if not, the biggest regrets in life. Homecoming was a little over a week away and she was going (as friends) with my buddy, Davis, so in a storm of hatred for myself and the situation I was in, I gave up on her. Our conversations grew to be minimal and far apart. Soon, I started to resent her. Each day since then, I have somehow felt more remorse than the last for not asking her to Homecoming. Homecoming night is when I began flirting with Claire, a sweet redhead from gym class. We connected on not going with the person we had hoped for. All it took was me joking that I should’ve spent more time around her, instead of leaving the dance early, for Claire to lose her mind. Over the next month or so, I was becoming closer and closer with Claire, despite her irritable “quirks”. I only spoke to Isabella if she reached out to me first with the only exception being when I would ask her for “advice” about Claire, which was a shameful habit I started as petty revenge on Isabella. Eventually, Isabella blocked me on Snapchat, but it didn’t matter. Things with me and Claire were going great, she made me feel like I didn’t need to starve myself to be good enough for her. She made me feel like I was enough. For the next two and a half months, life was great. After the first couple months of ignorant bliss, I was sick of her. Sure, there were a variety of reasons to find her annoying, most people I knew could list more than they have fingers and toes, but she didn’t do anything wrong. I shouldn’t have gotten into the relationship in the first place not only because of Isabella, but also the speed at which me and Claire started dating. She was still growing out of the elementary relationship phase, so while it was nice to connect with someone so quickly, it was rushed. Another issue being that I was her first real boyfriend, the baggage that followed me was detrimental to her and I couldn’t give her the attention she needed. As me and Claire began our month long drift apart, I was unblocked by Isabella. She and I caught up, and we quickly began to talk trash about Claire while on call. It was unbelievably toxic, and I’m embarrassed of how I handled things to this day. Eventually, with the support of Isabella, I decided it was time to break up. The only issue was the guilt I had in such a terrible choice, I could never do it. So I began to get more distant by the day, ignored texts and calls, and stopped walking her to classes because “I had to pee.” Eventually she caught wind of my plans and called me after school one day. Sobbing, she told me what she had heard and how she knew it wasn’t true, but it still worried her. I began to get ready to break the news, but she was already crying so what's the worst that could happen? I wish I had never asked myself that, because next she told me she’d been cutting herself. My heart sank in remorse for what I knew I would do. If I led her on longer, the aftermath of my cold actions would lead to even more catastrophe. I was scared, but knew the lesser of the two evils I had to pick from. I calmed her down, quickly notified her friends to be keeping an eye on her, and then dumped her. To this day, I am disgusted by my actions. Throughout the past three months, Claire expressed how she had loved and trusted me, yet I threw that all away. There are so many ways I could’ve handled the situation differently, but two stood out the most. Showing respect by speaking to Claire the moment I realized my feelings had fleeted was the bare minimum that I disregarded, but the second was far simpler. I had known from the start that I was still in love with Isabella and that love never faded, but was only suppressed. The entire relationship we developed, while we both enjoyed parts of it (her more than me), was a lie, and essentially a cruel joke played on Claire. There’s no excuse for my actions, and even worse, I could’ve cared less back then. It was only when time had passed that I began to understand the damage I had done. Without Claire holding me back, my newfound freedom led to a closer friendship with Isabella. I dove headfirst into the familiar pit all over again. A friendship was not enough, I appreciated every interaction I had with Isabella, but my life depended on a future with her. It’s likely she felt this as she slowly began to drift away from me. Before I had stayed up speaking to Isabella, but now I couldn’t sleep out of the tormenting absence of her voice. The only path to good health was time; distance was best for the both of us, and I knew it. For the rest of that school year, everything around me was going, but I stood still. It was like my life was just a sitcom, and I was no longer the main character. The summer that followed was just the same, I was living but dead, moving but still, speaking but silent. I was dissociating from my friends and family, but the absence of that violent snake made my depression insignificant. Living a life without her was more punishment than death itself, and I didn’t deserve relief. Even now, I think of that summer and remember almost nothing, for my life isn’t worth remembering without Isabella in it. Sophomore year began, and so did my conversations with Isabella. This go around, I was subtle with my feelings for her. The excitement I had for speaking with her was under control, but it was because the spark inside me had faded, even when it came to Isabella.The years of self pity and depression had left a toll on me that could never be reversed, and it didn’t help that Isabella began to build a relationship with another guy. When we spoke, if we did, Isabella’s concern for my mental state outweighed the friendship we were struggling to preserve. I had come to the conclusion that pursuing Isabella would only make things worse, and I needed to just be her friend. Since I couldn’t lose the feelings I had for her, I just sat in them. While I sat in the pit, Isabella and I had one particular Facetime call in which I brought up how much I regretted dating Claire. To that, Isabella added, “Yeah, she’s so annoying. I can’t remember if you told me why you got together in the first place, what led you to her?” I paused with the thousand-yard stare of an American private fresh out of West Point. “I guess I was just so disappointed with myself for not being able to go to homecoming with you and being stuck on you for so long that I impulsively got with another girl to forget about my shortcomings,” I said with reluctance and stuttering every few words. She told me that she would’ve said yes to homecoming without a second thought, but I knew she meant as friends. Then, to my dismay, Isabella revealed that whenever I got with Claire, she still had feelings for me. It was me talking to Isabella about how great things were with me and Claire that led her to block me and cut contact with me. The piano melody from “No Surprises” by Radiohead began looping through my mind as tears ran down my face. I forget how I ended the call, but once I did, I broke. I lost my breath, my head got light, my eyes became blurry, my stomach was nauseous, and my insides sank as far as they could. Everything I wanted, dreamed of, needed had been so close, and I blew it. Everything was my fault. Later I would ask her why she lost them, and her answer proved how much better she was than me. Isabella answered, “I had been hurt, so I moved on. Just got over it.” We hardly spoke anymore, but one text message has found a permanent home in my mind. After asking me how I was, Isabella wasn’t satisfied with, “it’s complicated.” She asked that I explain it to her so that she could try to understand. I told her about all the issues going on in my life, except the torch I still held for her. She wrote, “I know you’re not religious, so it may not mean anything, but I pray for you every night, Lincoln. Even though it sounds bad, I think that I've known you weren’t in the greatest mental place for a while. I want you to know I'm not judging you, I want you to feel comfortable enough to share that with someone. You have to be able to recognize how you’re feeling in order to even fix it.” These words broke me despite their simplistic appearance. Reading that she prayed for me hit me hard as she had always tried to get me to believe in God again. I’m agnostic, and nothing has come closer to bringing me back to faith as Isabella did. The idea that if God were real and I could see her in heaven was appealing, but should Christianity be the wrong choice, I wanted to be wrong with Isabella. In the following days, Isabella told me about Alex, a guy she had been talking to a lot, and how they were at most a month away from being together. I hated everything about Alex, which is a stupid name in the first place. I hated his choice of friends, I hated how white-washed he was, I hated how he dressed like a conservative cowboy, I hated the underbite that made him look like a pug, I hated his short curly hair, I hated the fact that he was a diehard Trump supporter while people of his race were being oppressed, I hated how he pretended to be someone else when he was around Isabella, I hated how he hid unhealthy habits from her, I hated that a guy like him garnered Isabella’s affection when I couldn’t. I barely knew the guy and I was wasting my energy with hatred for him, when in reality, he was just a mind-numbingly basic douche among the hundreds just like him at our school. Isabella regularly complained about Alex, but hardly did anything. Instead she stopped bringing it up, saying that talking about her issues with others only makes it worse and that she was just wining. The monotone delivery of her reasoning hurt my soul, it was like she was reciting a text from Alex. Each day that passed, I felt the urgency of expressing my feelings one more time rising. Soon Isabella and Alex would be official, and I would lose my chance to try and express how I felt one more time. I reached out to Isabella and asked if she was free to hangout that friday. On November 10, 2023, Isabella picked me up around 5:30 in the evening. She kept the inside of her SUV looking brand new in contrast to the familiarity of her smile. My nerves left me winded after every sentence and shivering in her passenger seat. Quickly our conversation became more natural as I cracked jokes to ease my anxiety, but my shaky breathing never stopped. We went to Publix to grab some snacks and drinks and headed right back to my neighborhood park. At the Grove Point Park, we found a swinging chair to sit in. Due to the time of the year, the sun had already set, but Isabella’s beauty was indifferent under the moonlight. I haven’t the slightest clue how long we sat there together. When I’m with Isabella, even Father Time gives me grace, for he knows that he is as powerless as I am to the frequency of these moments. After a while, I mentioned that it was getting late and she agreed. On the ride back to my place, I mustered the bare minimum of strength it took to confront my feelings. As she drove over the speed bump before entering the roundabout, I began to open up. I briefly told her that I still felt the same way I did two years ago, that I had tried to forget about the feelings I had with no success, and that I was sorry to once again ruin our unstable friendship. She told me it was fine and my feelings were natural, nothing to regret or be ashamed of. Her words meant nothing to me this time because I had already heard them. Defeated, I paused for a moment, then said, “Isabella, you reciprocated my feelings in the past, so after Alex, do you think that maybe we’d have a chance?” She looked at me with pain in her eyes, not for herself, but for me. She quietly said, “I- Lincoln, you know I can’t answer that. I’m with Alex now, it wouldn’t be fair.” All I could get out was, “Oh- I- I’m sorry. Uh yeah no, you’re uh- you’re right.” Everything in me pulled and begged at my lips to say what I wanted to, but I couldn’t. I still look back on that night and wish I had said the few words I never got to tell her. What if saying them could’ve changed something? Realistically, it wouldn’t have, but the regret remains. I doubt Isabella would have even remembered where my word choice stemmed from. Regardless, the words rang in my head then, and never stopped. All I wanted to say at that moment was, “but I still need you.” Today, 1,725 days since I first saw Isabella, 822 days since I first facetimed Isabella, and 178 days since that heartbreakingly beautiful night, I still love her the same. Looking back on my experience with her, I regret many things (oversharing, Claire, the snake, etc.), but the one thing I have never regretted was meeting and loving her. It was only recently that I realized that loving her has been one of the biggest mistakes in my life. For three years, day in and day out, I’ve thought about her. Three years where I could have met other people, worked on myself, enjoyed my friends and family, but instead I’ve loved her and nothing, nobody else. The one lesson that was essential for me to take away from my experience was impossible. In eighth grade I was 5’7 and 215 lbs, today I’m 5’10 and 165 lbs. In eighth grade I spent time with my parents, today I hide in my room. In eighth grade, I told people how I felt, now I’m too scared. In eighth grade, I talked about my depression, now I am left alone to deal with it. In eighth grade, I had many friends, now I rarely speak to them. In eighth grade, I needed Isabella, but the one lesson I should’ve learned never took effect. I still need her.

Live Music

• Bret Blackshear, Backyard Island Cafe at Meehan's, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm,
• Sam Pacetti, Marina Munch, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm,
• Rob Peck, The Cellar Upstairs Wine Bar & Restaurant, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm,
• Chillula, St. Augustine Food + Wine Festival 2024, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm,
• Alanis Sophia, Pierre's Pub, 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm,
• Vange Durst, Casa de Vino 57, 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm,
• Eric Groves, Mill Top Tavern, 4:30 pm – 8:30 pm,
• Denny Blue, Guy Harvey Resort, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm,
• Dakota, Marina Munch, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm,
• Kevin Mark, Embassy Suites by Hilton, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm,
• Dewey Via Band, Fish House & Oyster Co., 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm,
• Contact Buzz, Oasis Deck & Restaurant, 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm,
• Amy Hendrickson, O.C. White's Seafood, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm,
• Committee, The Cellar Upstairs Wine Bar & Restaurant, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm,
• Burn Unit, Harry's Seafood Bar & Grille, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm,
• Jimmy Bragg, Donovan's Irish Pub, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm,
• New Guys on the Dock, Hurricane Patty's Bar and Grill, 6:00 pm – 9:30 pm,
• Millie & Galín, King's Head British Pub, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm,
• Dyer Davis, Pierre's Pub, 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm,
• Pierre Kendrick, Murray Bros. Caddyshack, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm,
• Heather Craig, Meehan's Irish Pub & Seafood House, 8:00 pm – 12:00 am,
• Alex Richman, Hillary's Chicago Pizza, 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm,
• 5 O'Clock Shadow, A1A Ale Works, 8:00 pm – 12:00 am,
• Smokin' Joe Schauer, Ann O'Malley's Deli and Pub, 8:00 pm – 11:55 pm,
• Glory Tributes, Arnold's Lounge, 8:30 pm – 12:30 am,
• Remedy Tree, Dog Rose Brewing Co., 8:30 pm – 11:30 pm,
• Live Stream, Tradewinds Lounge, 9:00 pm – 1:00 am

Amphitheatre Farmers Market

• The St. Augustine Amphitheatre Farmers Market offers visitors a variety of goods such as local fresh produce, handmade arts and crafts, baked goods, plants directly off the farm, freshly-caught seafood, cheeses, and more. The farmers market makes for a morning of family-friendly fun with live entertainment on select dates.
• In addition to the impressive variety of organic produce offered by local farmers, a number of local artists and craftspeople also display their wares at the market.
• Admission: FREE
• Where: St. Augustine Amphitheatre located at 1340 A1A South St. Augustine, FL 32080.
• When: Every Saturday morning from 8:30 am - 12:30 pm.

Sunflower and Tomato Festival 2024

• Wesley Wells Farms welcomes visitors to their annual springtime festival, celebrating the sunflower and the tomato, on Saturday, May 11, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• At the farm, visitors will find activities such as a kids zone, salsa tasting contest, handmade market, live entertainment, food trucks, and other family-focused activities. Guests can pick their own produce or flowers, and purchase produce that's been picked from Wesley Wells Farms.
• Admission: $7.00 in advance and $10.00 at the gate. Children under two are free. Beginning on March 1.
• When: Saturday, May 11, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Where: Wesley Wells Farms U-Pick Field, at 2680 Ada Arnold Road.
• From St. Augustine, take State Road 16 to just past the I-95 interchange, and turn left onto County Road 208. Ada Arnold Road is 8.3 miles from the intersection with S.R. 16, and Wesley Farms is .3 miles down Ada Arnold Road.

St. Augustine Ballet: Snow White

• The St. Augustine Ballet performs Snow White at Flagler College Lewis Auditorium. There are two performances on Saturday, May 11: a matinee at 1:30 p.m. and an evening performance at 7:00 p.m.
• Snow White is a classic tale of a maiden, a mean queen, and the seven miners who help Snow White. This story is an excellent way to introduce ballet to younger audiences.
• The St. Augustine Ballet offers performance opportunities to ballet dancers from the St. Johns area and surrounding locations. The company engages professional dancers to create large ballet shows alongside local students, who learn throughout the process. This is one of two full-length productions performed each year. The other is the Nutcracker. The St. Augustine Ballet is a nonprofit performing arts organization founded in 2010.
• Admission: Prices range from $35.00 to $45.00 for adults, children, and seniors.
• When: Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
• Where: Flagler College's Lewis Auditorium is located at 14 Granada Street, St. Augustine, Florida 32084[](tel:+1 (904) 810-5670)

San Marco Chamber Music Society

• The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center presents members of Jacksonville's San Marco Chamber Music Society in a concert that focuses on music by Black composers, on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 3:00 p.m.
• The professional musicians in the San Marco Chamber Music Society are committed to serving their community and being culturally inclusive. This concert at the Lincolnville Museum features work by Joseph Chevalier de St. George, Scott Joplin, Florence Price, Kathryn Bostic, Fred Onovwerosuoke, and Joseph Copeland Garland.
• The San Marco Chamber Music Society ensemble is Eric Olson on oboe, Ellen Olson on viola, Les Roettges on flute, Patrick Graham on clarinet, and Maya Stone on bassoon.
• Admission: $25.00
• When: Saturday, May 11, 2024, beginning at 3:00 p.m.
• Where: At the meeting hall on the second floor of the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Heritage Center, 102 Martin Luther King Avenue, St. Augustine, Florida 32084
• The entrance to the second-floor hall is from Pomar Street and is accessible. There is free parking at that entrance, and paid parking in a lot on Martin Luther King Avenue.
• The cover art for this event is a painting that Anna Miller created for the San Marco Chamber Music Society to honor their 2022 trip to perform in Germany.[](tel:+1 (904) 824-1191)

Romanza Festivale: Unscripted

• The Romanza Festival 2024 presents Unscripted on Saturday, May 11, 2024, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
• In this two-part unscripted comedy experience, audience members will participate by offering improv actors suggestions to inspire games, scenes, and even a completely made-up-on-the-spot one-act play. This theatrical experience has never been performed before, and, it will never be performed again. It's a one-time opportunity to see a show where actors are sans script.
• Admission: Tickets are $10.00 in advance and $15.00 at the door.
• When: Saturday, May 11, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
• Where: Third Space Improv, 200 Malaga Street, #7, St. Augustine, Florida 32084 — Third Space Improv has a free parking lot.
• This event is part of the Romanza Festivale of Music and the Arts, an annual festival of two weeks of historical, cultural, and creative events celebrating all things St. Augustine. From May 3 -19, the nation's oldest city will be jam-packed with music and dance concerts, living history events and historical tours, live theater, and art exhibits.

St. Augustine Community Chorus - Masterworks Concert

• Romanza Festivale presents The St. Augustine Community Chorus in their 75th Anniversary Masterworks Concert on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.
• To celebrate their 75th Anniversary, the St. Augustine Community Chorus presents " Sing On!" a concert filled with compositions that their audiences have loved for years. In addition, the concert will premier a new work by composer Z. Randall Stroope, A New Constellation, which was commissioned by the chorus.
• Michael Sanflippo is the conductor and Shannon McKay accompanies the chorus on piano.
• Admission: Tickets are $30.00 for adults; $15.00 for those 11-17, and $10.00 for active duty military with I.D. Children under 11 are free.
• When: 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, 2024
• Where: Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, 38 Cathedral Place, St. Augustine, Florida 32084[](tel:+1 (904) 316-4354)

Damon Fowler At Cafe Eleven

• Cafe Eleven presents Damon Fowler on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 8:00 p.m.
• Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Damon Fowler hails from Florida's Gulf Coast and creates music that stems from the American experience.
• With music combining soul, blues, and rock, Fowler wins over audiences and critics from far and wide. Nominated by the Blues Foundation for his work on Alafia Moon, Fowler continues to prove that his mixed styles and distinct vocals set him apart from the average southern artists.
• Some of Fowler's other albums include The Whiskey Bayou Session, Sounds of Home, Easy Livin', Devil Got His Way, Sugar Shack, and his recent album titled Damon Fowler and Friends Live at The Palladium.
• Admission: Tickets cost $15.00 if purchased in advance and $20.00 on the day of the show. Reserved seating costs $25.00. Purchase tickets in advance online or purchase them at Café Eleven on the day of the show.
• When: Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 8:00 p.m.
• Where: Café Eleven, 501 A1A Beach Blvd, St. Augustine, Florida 32080. On the corner of A1A and 11th Street, one block from St. Augustine Beach.

Movie Night at the Fort!

• Where: Castillo de San Marcos11 S. Castillo Dr.St. Augustine, FL 32084
• Admission:Free
• Enjoy a fun family night out at the Castillo de San Marcos.
• Starting at 6 p.m. on the grounds of the Fort, there will be games, crafts, lights & sirens with local law enforcement agencies, and the showing of Illumination's animated film, Migration at 8:15 p.m.
• Bring snacks, a blanket or chairs and enjoy a free family night out.

I am unable to post the sources because they are getting flagged as spam since they are all similar in name. So please visit this site for the list.
Written out urls here tinyurl.com/yjkw32kd

For future events please visit the Discord.

https://discord.gg/NG4eZSWAgR

Live Music

• Bret Blackshear, Backyard Island Cafe at Meehan's, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm,
• Sam Pacetti, Marina Munch, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm,
• Rob Peck, The Cellar Upstairs Wine Bar & Restaurant, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm,
• Chillula, St. Augustine Food + Wine Festival 2024, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm,
• Alanis Sophia, Pierre's Pub, 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm,
• Vange Durst, Casa de Vino 57, 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm,
• Eric Groves, Mill Top Tavern, 4:30 pm – 8:30 pm,
• Denny Blue, Guy Harvey Resort, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm,
• Dakota, Marina Munch, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm,
• Kevin Mark, Embassy Suites by Hilton, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm,
• Dewey Via Band, Fish House & Oyster Co., 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm,
• Contact Buzz, Oasis Deck & Restaurant, 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm,
• Amy Hendrickson, O.C. White's Seafood, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm,
• Committee, The Cellar Upstairs Wine Bar & Restaurant, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm,
• Burn Unit, Harry's Seafood Bar & Grille, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm,
• Jimmy Bragg, Donovan's Irish Pub, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm,
• New Guys on the Dock, Hurricane Patty's Bar and Grill, 6:00 pm – 9:30 pm,
• Millie & Galín, King's Head British Pub, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm,
• Dyer Davis, Pierre's Pub, 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm,
• Pierre Kendrick, Murray Bros. Caddyshack, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm,
• Heather Craig, Meehan's Irish Pub & Seafood House, 8:00 pm – 12:00 am,
• Alex Richman, Hillary's Chicago Pizza, 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm,
• 5 O'Clock Shadow, A1A Ale Works, 8:00 pm – 12:00 am,
• Smokin' Joe Schauer, Ann O'Malley's Deli and Pub, 8:00 pm – 11:55 pm,
• Glory Tributes, Arnold's Lounge, 8:30 pm – 12:30 am,
• Remedy Tree, Dog Rose Brewing Co., 8:30 pm – 11:30 pm,
• Live Stream, Tradewinds Lounge, 9:00 pm – 1:00 am

Amphitheatre Farmers Market

• The St. Augustine Amphitheatre Farmers Market offers visitors a variety of goods such as local fresh produce, handmade arts and crafts, baked goods, plants directly off the farm, freshly-caught seafood, cheeses, and more. The farmers market makes for a morning of family-friendly fun with live entertainment on select dates.
• In addition to the impressive variety of organic produce offered by local farmers, a number of local artists and craftspeople also display their wares at the market.
• Admission: FREE
• Where: St. Augustine Amphitheatre located at 1340 A1A South St. Augustine, FL 32080.
• When: Every Saturday morning from 8:30 am - 12:30 pm.

Sunflower and Tomato Festival 2024

• Wesley Wells Farms welcomes visitors to their annual springtime festival, celebrating the sunflower and the tomato, on Saturday, May 11, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• At the farm, visitors will find activities such as a kids zone, salsa tasting contest, handmade market, live entertainment, food trucks, and other family-focused activities. Guests can pick their own produce or flowers, and purchase produce that's been picked from Wesley Wells Farms.
• Admission: $7.00 in advance and $10.00 at the gate. Children under two are free. Beginning on March 1.
• When: Saturday, May 11, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Where: Wesley Wells Farms U-Pick Field, at 2680 Ada Arnold Road.
• From St. Augustine, take State Road 16 to just past the I-95 interchange, and turn left onto County Road 208. Ada Arnold Road is 8.3 miles from the intersection with S.R. 16, and Wesley Farms is .3 miles down Ada Arnold Road.

St. Augustine Ballet: Snow White

• The St. Augustine Ballet performs Snow White at Flagler College Lewis Auditorium. There are two performances on Saturday, May 11: a matinee at 1:30 p.m. and an evening performance at 7:00 p.m.
• Snow White is a classic tale of a maiden, a mean queen, and the seven miners who help Snow White. This story is an excellent way to introduce ballet to younger audiences.
• The St. Augustine Ballet offers performance opportunities to ballet dancers from the St. Johns area and surrounding locations. The company engages professional dancers to create large ballet shows alongside local students, who learn throughout the process. This is one of two full-length productions performed each year. The other is the Nutcracker. The St. Augustine Ballet is a nonprofit performing arts organization founded in 2010.
• Admission: Prices range from $35.00 to $45.00 for adults, children, and seniors.
• When: Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
• Where: Flagler College's Lewis Auditorium is located at 14 Granada Street, St. Augustine, Florida 32084[](tel:+1 (904) 810-5670)

San Marco Chamber Music Society

• The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center presents members of Jacksonville's San Marco Chamber Music Society in a concert that focuses on music by Black composers, on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 3:00 p.m.
• The professional musicians in the San Marco Chamber Music Society are committed to serving their community and being culturally inclusive. This concert at the Lincolnville Museum features work by Joseph Chevalier de St. George, Scott Joplin, Florence Price, Kathryn Bostic, Fred Onovwerosuoke, and Joseph Copeland Garland.
• The San Marco Chamber Music Society ensemble is Eric Olson on oboe, Ellen Olson on viola, Les Roettges on flute, Patrick Graham on clarinet, and Maya Stone on bassoon.
• Admission: $25.00
• When: Saturday, May 11, 2024, beginning at 3:00 p.m.
• Where: At the meeting hall on the second floor of the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Heritage Center, 102 Martin Luther King Avenue, St. Augustine, Florida 32084
• The entrance to the second-floor hall is from Pomar Street and is accessible. There is free parking at that entrance, and paid parking in a lot on Martin Luther King Avenue.
• The cover art for this event is a painting that Anna Miller created for the San Marco Chamber Music Society to honor their 2022 trip to perform in Germany.[](tel:+1 (904) 824-1191)

Romanza Festivale: Unscripted

• The Romanza Festival 2024 presents Unscripted on Saturday, May 11, 2024, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
• In this two-part unscripted comedy experience, audience members will participate by offering improv actors suggestions to inspire games, scenes, and even a completely made-up-on-the-spot one-act play. This theatrical experience has never been performed before, and, it will never be performed again. It's a one-time opportunity to see a show where actors are sans script.
• Admission: Tickets are $10.00 in advance and $15.00 at the door.
• When: Saturday, May 11, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
• Where: Third Space Improv, 200 Malaga Street, #7, St. Augustine, Florida 32084 — Third Space Improv has a free parking lot.
• This event is part of the Romanza Festivale of Music and the Arts, an annual festival of two weeks of historical, cultural, and creative events celebrating all things St. Augustine. From May 3 -19, the nation's oldest city will be jam-packed with music and dance concerts, living history events and historical tours, live theater, and art exhibits.

St. Augustine Community Chorus - Masterworks Concert

• Romanza Festivale presents The St. Augustine Community Chorus in their 75th Anniversary Masterworks Concert on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.
• To celebrate their 75th Anniversary, the St. Augustine Community Chorus presents " Sing On!" a concert filled with compositions that their audiences have loved for years. In addition, the concert will premier a new work by composer Z. Randall Stroope, A New Constellation, which was commissioned by the chorus.
• Michael Sanflippo is the conductor and Shannon McKay accompanies the chorus on piano.
• Admission: Tickets are $30.00 for adults; $15.00 for those 11-17, and $10.00 for active duty military with I.D. Children under 11 are free.
• When: 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, 2024
• Where: Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, 38 Cathedral Place, St. Augustine, Florida 32084[](tel:+1 (904) 316-4354)

Damon Fowler At Cafe Eleven

• Cafe Eleven presents Damon Fowler on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 8:00 p.m.
• Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Damon Fowler hails from Florida's Gulf Coast and creates music that stems from the American experience.
• With music combining soul, blues, and rock, Fowler wins over audiences and critics from far and wide. Nominated by the Blues Foundation for his work on Alafia Moon, Fowler continues to prove that his mixed styles and distinct vocals set him apart from the average southern artists.
• Some of Fowler's other albums include The Whiskey Bayou Session, Sounds of Home, Easy Livin', Devil Got His Way, Sugar Shack, and his recent album titled Damon Fowler and Friends Live at The Palladium.
• Admission: Tickets cost $15.00 if purchased in advance and $20.00 on the day of the show. Reserved seating costs $25.00. Purchase tickets in advance online or purchase them at Café Eleven on the day of the show.
• When: Saturday, May 11, 2024, at 8:00 p.m.
• Where: Café Eleven, 501 A1A Beach Blvd, St. Augustine, Florida 32080. On the corner of A1A and 11th Street, one block from St. Augustine Beach.

Movie Night at the Fort!

• Where: Castillo de San Marcos11 S. Castillo Dr.St. Augustine, FL 32084
• Admission:Free
• Enjoy a fun family night out at the Castillo de San Marcos.
• Starting at 6 p.m. on the grounds of the Fort, there will be games, crafts, lights & sirens with local law enforcement agencies, and the showing of Illumination's animated film, Migration at 8:15 p.m.
• Bring snacks, a blanket or chairs and enjoy a free family night out.

I am unable to post the sources because they are getting flagged as spam since they are all similar in name. So please visit this site for the list.
Written out urls here tinyurl.com/yjkw32kd

For future events please visit the Discord.

https://discord.gg/NG4eZSWAgR

Minor spoilers for Acts 1 and 2.
So, as the title says, I think I somehowmissed my chance for romance between either of them. I have the approval as Exceptional for both, but nothing romance-related has happened yet.
After I saved the Grove, I tried talking with Shadowheart, but she never offered me the wine. Similarly, I tried taking to Karlach, and after I mentioned liking her, she said we were better off as friends.
Recently, I reached Act 2 and gave Shadowheart the night orchid. I also gave Karlach the second piece of infernal iron, but there was no kiss option, only a hug. Afterwards, when my Tav asked if she had someone in mind, she just mentioned Withers.
I am currently in the Gauntlet of Shar, and it seems like I have made no progress with either of them. I know I can't romance both, but I wanted to romance at least 1 of them, and it seems like that will be impossible.
Could anyone help me figure out if I did something wrong or missed something? I think I'm screwed.
EDIT: Oh, and in case it helps, I slept with Lae'zel but ended things with her way before I saved the Grove so I could romance others. Additionally, since I wasn't making much headway with either of them in the post-Grove party, I decided to sleep with Astarion since he was offering, but I haven't pursued anything with him since.
I have a little over 100 hours into the game, so I can't just go to an older save or anything like that.
Regarding the Shadowheart or Karlach romance, am I screwed, or is there just something I haven't done yet?

Hi! We are getting married in Naxos and going immediately on our honeymoon to other spots in Greece. Our current itinerary is
• Naxos to Crete • one week in Crete: 1/2 in Chania, next half on an olive grove more central Crete. planning to do hikes, historical sites, wine and food tours, beaches • fly back to Athens then rent a car go immediately to Delphi, stay the night there • Delphi down to nafplio next day • explore nafplio along with some day trips to monemvasia, Mycenae (3 days)
Is the second portion after Crete over doing it? We are worried it’s too much go go go and a lot of car travel for a honeymoon
We are debating if we should do one more island after Naxos such as Milos and then do a longer time in Crete.

The size of my mana pool used to be a point of pride until I had to spend an hour tinkering with four rune enchantments. Then, I realized how shallow it was. Four rune enchantments required twice as much mana as three rune enchantments, and after a few tries, I was sweating cold. I couldn’t even imagine how much mana the creator of Firana’s fluttering cape had to pour into the enchantment to make seven runes work.
I reexamined my notes.
The cape creates a small wind current.
The cape recognizes its user.
The cape recognizes movement.
The cape recognizes direction.
The cape recognizes the user’s intent to activate the effect.
Finding the Wind and User runes wasn’t particularly difficult. As soon as Astrid failed to activate the wind pebble in my hand, the entries were added to the Rune Encyclopedia, which piqued my interest. To learn a new rune, I had to engrave it successfully and know its particular function inside the circuit. The Encyclopedia would not index any rune I randomly added to the mix.
I sighed. The remaining three runes played hard to get.
I considered the best way to decode the remaining tunes. I could always ask Loki to assist me. The Rune Debugger would help me outline the enchantments, and Loki would help me test them without spending massive quantities of mana. Convincing Loki wouldn’t be easy. He preferred to doze off near the stove and play with the kids. Elincia and Ginz ignored if the long sleeping schedule was normal Changeling behavior.
I left the desk and sat on the bed with my legs crossed. I focused on my mana pool. The next time I opened my eyes, I was in the circular room with walls covered in runes. Most of the runes were still unknown, but I noticed the User rune repeated every few lines. I decided to ignore the implications and focus on the bottom of my mana pool, where the walls were still shattered by Corruption.
The fight against the group of assassins didn’t do any favors for the patch of black Corruption on my chest. Still, it was a small fraction of the initial wound. It would disappear eventually, as long as I were a good enough teacher to get more [Favorite Teacher] stacks.
I focused on the Fountain, grabbing small strands of golden mana and adding them to my mana pool. Suddenly, the walls of my mana pool came to life, and the Fountain mana slowly turned blue as I assimilated it into my reserves. The patch of Corruption blocking a bigger patch of the runes slowed the process.
I only recharged a fraction of my mana pool before someone opened the bedroom door.
“Mister Clarke, blonde Firana wants to talk with you!” Nokti said with a big smile on her snake-like face.
“Blonde Firana?” I asked, just to realize who the snake girl was referring to. “Oh. Corin. Thanks, Nokti. I’ll be there in a second.”
The snake girl waited for me in the doorway and offered me her hand. I gladly accepted it, and we walked down the corridor to the kitchen. Looking through the windows, I saw my class sparring under the gray sky. I had to stop to take a second look. Was Risha blocking their swords with his bare hands?
I sighed. So much for the safety measures I had been engraving in the kids’ heads.
“What do you think of Risha?” I asked Nokti now that we were alone. It hadn’t passed a week, but Risha and Astrid seemed to fit well into the manor’s life—at least with the orphans. Elincia didn’t seem entirely on board with having them around. Some wounds took time to heal completely.
The snake girl thought for a moment before answering.
“Risha is like Wolf but funnier, and his breakfast is good. I wonder if he likes potatoes,” Nokti happily replied.
“Yeah, I wonder,” I replied. The seven-year-old me would’ve pissed his pants at the sight of Risha, but the kids seemed accustomed to half-orcs. “It would be strange if he didn’t like potatoes, right?”
“Right,” Nokti nodded as we reached the kitchen. “I have to go back to play. Bye.”
I opened the door to find Elincia arguing with Astrid about the preserved fruits on Wolf’s birthday cake. I decided to ignore them. As much as they didn’t like each other, they had to find peace for themselves. In the corner of the table, Corin swiftly ate a bowl of gruel.
“You know you can chew, right?” I greeted her.
Corin jumped to her feet and swallowed without chewing.
“I have a message from Prince Adrien. It’s about the tournament,” she said. “I was told to inform you about a small change in the duel format. Prince Adrien decided to drop the point system and adopt the old imperial duel system to improve spectator attendance. That’s all.”
I blinked, confused.
“What is the old imperial duel system?” I asked, not sure if I would like the answer. Usually, there was an inverse correlation between the participants' safety and the audience's enjoyment.
Elincia stopped scolding Astrid and joined the conversation.
“The point system requires a referee, while the old imperial duel requires a Fortifier to set a certain amount of barriers around the participants,” she explained, biting her nails. “I’m afraid the change would disfavor the teams that can’t afford a Fortifier and haven’t trained under this ruleset.”
“Like us,” I pointed out. Only Ilya had fought with the Fortifier’s barrier around his body, which had happened once.
Elincia gave me a nervous look.
A smile crept onto my face. The secret technique I had taught Wolf and Zaon would be especially effective with the Fortifier barrier as a point system, but that wasn’t the main issue. I couldn’t help but smell foul play. As Elincia had pointed out, such a change in the rules would favor the richer families to the detriment of those who couldn’t afford a Fortifier.
“What’s the deal with that creepy smile?” Elincia asked.
“Don’t worry about it. The kids are ready,” I said. The changes in the rules weren’t drastic enough to worry about. “Corin, can you relay a message for me?”
The girl nodded.
“I need you to relay a message to Lady Lyra Jorn. She is currently staying at the Great Hall. Tell her we are worried about her delay, and she can turn to us if she needs anything,” I said.
I wasn’t really worried about Lyra’s well-being; she was the daughter of a duke and a guest of the Marquis at the end of the day. However, I couldn’t help but think that whoever held her back knew about the attack. It was one thing to attack an orphanage of commoners, and a completely different one was attacking the residence of a duke’s daughter.
I put a few bronze coins in Corin’s hand, a couple more than the usual rate, and excused myself, saying I needed to return to my workshop. Corin shoved a couple more spoonfuls of gruel into her mouth before speeding through the door into the backyard and around the manor.
Elincia grabbed my arm before I could leave.
“Do you think they changed the rules to reduce our possibilities of winning?” She asked.
Despite being a kid’s tournament, there was much at stake. Credibility, after all, was a heavy coin in politics.
“They are trying to improve their chances,” I replied.
Without us knowing, the tournament had already started.
It took me a couple of hours, Loki’s begrudging help, and a lot of Fountain Mana to figure out the rest of the runes. The three remaining runes were hard to grasp because they lacked an effect by themselves. Just as I had theorized, they worked as modifiers and conditions for the main effects.
The easiest to discover of the three was the Direction rune.
A Light-Direction-Gradual-Recharge circuit transformed a light stone into a flashlight. If I exchanged the Light rune for the Wind rune, I would have a hair dryer. I made a note to add a Fire rune to the mix to enchant a hair dryer that used warm air. Elincia would love to dry the kids’ hair in winter.
The last two runes were harder to decipher because they worked like logic gates. The Rune Encyclopedia tagged the first as Activation, which was nothing but an ‘if’ statement. The second rune was Movement, which was the condition for activation. It made perfect sense, considering how Firana’s cape worked. If there was movement, the effects activated.
I couldn’t yet comprehend how the Activation rune discriminated between regular movements, like walking or signaling, and the movements Firana made to activate the cape deliberately, let alone how it modified the Direction rune. I sighed, worried. If the System could read my memories, then it wouldn’t be surprising if it could determine people’s intent. As far as I understood, skills were activated by intent alone.
I stretched my back, and a wave of pleasure traveled through my body. A long day of work at the law firm never felt this good. My job at the orphanage was completely different. It had meaning.
Loki slept belly up on the desk, his whiskers and little feet moving as if he were having a bad dream. Much like the runeweaving process, Loki’s transformation also required a lot of energy. After several dozen failed attempts, Loki was exhausted, but we had a working prototype.
The cape’s circuit was Wind, User, Activation, Movement, Direction, Instantaneous, and Recharge. In other words, 'If the user activates the effect with a movement, create a wind current in the direction of the movement'. My prototype for the sling was Wind, User, Direction, Gradual, and Recharge. For starters, I didn’t think I could enchant more than five Runes simultaneously. Then came the problem of the ‘feel’ of the sling. As much as I wanted to power the shot, I also had to avoid making it uncontrollable.
“You did good work, buddy,” I said, scratching Loki’s belly.
He slapped my hand away with his little rat paw and grumbled something that sounded like his usual ‘damn beast’.
The excitement of the rune discovery slowly disappeared, and I couldn’t help but feel nervous. The Encyclopedia indexed the runes, yet the whole process still felt esoteric. In the worst case, I could delay Wolf’s gift and try the enchantment again tomorrow when I had more mana.
I grabbed my notes, put Loki inside my pocket, and exited the room.
Ginz was inclined over his workshop table, working on a piece of leather.
“The Ginz I used to know would have the order ready by now,” I taunted him from the doorway.
Ginz grunted.
“Knowing the idiot who commissioned this sling, I decided to make it as sturdy as possible,” he replied, applying a coat of dark liquid all over the leather. “It’s Skeeth oil. It will make the Laughing Fox leather even more resistant.”
“Sounds good, I guess,” I said.
As socially inept Ginz was, he knew craftsmanship backward and forwards.
“You should start respecting me, Robbo. My inventions have become so popular among nobles that I got an invitation to see the tournament from the VIP section,” Ginz added with a huge grin.
“Do you mean my inventions?” I laughed.
“Our inventions,” Ginz pointed out with a laugh.
I smiled back, and I sat by the sideline. Just like watching Elincia brewing potions, watching Ginz work was soothing.
“Corin brought the payments for the last shipment,” Ginz said, vaguely pointing toward the cabinet near the door with his brush. “Most of the nobles already commissioned their decks of cards, so we can move to phase two. Use crap materials and expand the market to commoners.”
On top of the cabinet was a leather pouch full of gold and silver. With that amount, Ginz could’ve been considered the breadwinner of the orphanage, but I avoided saying it not to overfeed his ego. I had to admit, Ginz had a good nose for business.
“I took some of it to pay my debt to the Odrac-Aias loan sharks,” Ginz added. “I thought cutting all ties with them would be best.”
“Good call,” I said.
Our alliance with the royalist faction had dissuaded Kellaren from attempting anything against the orphanage so far. Despite being the most obvious suspect, I was starting to doubt his participation in the last attack. If Kellaren were allied with the Osgirians, a direct attack on royalist allies would be too dangerous for the kingdom's cohesion. Whether I liked it or not, Osgirians needed the rest of the noble houses to fill their pockets with money. Without a seller and a buyer, there were no trade routes.
Ginz summoned a high-intensity white flame from the tip of his finger and passed it over the Skeeth oil-impregnated piece of leather. A pungent, acrid smell filled the room. My eyes teared up, and I had to cover my nose and mouth with my shirt.
“The fumes are toxic. I recommend you get to the window,” Ginz said, unfazed by the stench.
I opened the guillotine-style window and threw the entire top half of my body out of the workshop. Outside, the older kids were still training with Risha while the smaller ones ran near the farm plot. Elincia had loosened the rules about playing outside as the days became warmer.
The little ones waved at me, and I did my best to hide my tears.
After a minute, Ginz said, “We need a development fund. I want to start experimenting with magical materials. Maybe that way, we could bring your crazy ideas to life.”
“I’ll make sure to put some money aside when I review our books,” I coughed.
Ginz continued working in silence, unfazed by the putrid fumes, until, half an hour later, he announced the sling was ready. I left my position near the window and approached the working bench. I was left without words.
“The rope is made with braided Shrewmouse Flax, and the pouch is made of Laughing Fox leather treated with Skeeth Oil. You can probably tie up a Wendigo with it,” Ginz said, proud of his work. “I branded a wolf on the pouch. It’s Wolf’s name and his tribe’s guardian animal. I thought it was fitting for the occasion.”
Ginz craftsmanship was astonishing.
“I guess it’s my turn now,” I said. Elincia wouldn’t be happy when she knew Ginz was aware of my enchanting powers.
I grabbed the sling and hoped for the best.
I inscribed the runes' outline on the pouch's outer side, aiming the Direction rune in the opposite direction of the spin so it would speed the sling up instead of slowing it down. Then, I opened my mana reserves and poured a wave of magic into the circuit. The runes drank the mana like desert sand, and for a moment, I thought I wouldn’t have enough to complete the enchantment. I tapped into the Fountain to slowly replenish my reserves as the circuit continued to ask for more.
You have obtained Mana Depletion (Minor). Temporary
I brushed the prompt off, knowing a minor mana depletion stack would be gone by morning. A moment later, without announcement or fanfare, the circuit closed.
“Did it work?” Ginz asked, his eyes shining with amazement.
“I don’t know,” I replied. The runes were there, but the actual effect might vary from what I had in mind. “Do you know how to use a sling?”
“Please,” he raised an eyebrow and snatched the sling from my hands.
Ginz examined our creation as if he were trying to detect any difference in the materials. Then, he pulled a small metal ball from one of the drawers and put it in the pouch. As much as I wanted to keep the present a secret until the last moment, I wasn’t entirely on board with testing it indoors.
“What now?” Ginz asked.
“Make it spin and channel a little mana,” I said.
The sling started spinning, slowly at first, then faster and faster. I moved out of the way and crouched behind the desk. I noticed a small problem. The enchantment would have benefited from an abort mechanism, but I lacked the knowledge or the mana to implement it. Once in movement, one had to shoot.
The sling slipped through Ginz’s fingers, and the metal bullet flew across the room. A vase of wine that rested on top of the shelf burst into thousands of pieces, and the bullet ended up embedded in the wood. We exchanged a knowing look just to burst into laughter.
The wind-powered sling was a success.
New recipe achieved! Updating Rune Encyclopedia. Robert’s Wind Sling added to the recipes tab.
That looked good, but it will have to wait.
“I guess I’m going. I haven’t even greeted Wolf today,” I said, grabbing the sling and walking to the door.
Ginz gave me a quizzical look.
“You will help me clean up the wine, right?” He asked. “Right? Rob?”
I smiled, hoping that would help teach Ginz to warn me before gassing me out with toxic fumes. I closed the door behind me and whistled through the eastern wing and into the backyard. The enchantment, although crude in some respects, had been a success.
“Happy Birthday, Wolf!” I yelled across the backyard.
The kids stopped the light sparring session and came to greet me.
“Shouldn’t we be celebrating Wolf’s birthday instead of sparring?” I asked. During Ilya and Firana’s birthdays, we spent most of the time inside, eating, dancing, and chatting. Even if it was the day before the tournament, I didn’t see why we couldn’t have a lovely, relaxed celebration.
Firana jumped forward because anyone could reply. Her face told me she was discontent with the day's activities. “Wolf said he wanted to spar like any other day, so here we are. This is by far the lamest birthday ever!”
“It is,” Ilya nodded.
The sudden attack made Wolf all flustered.
“What?! I enjoy our regular training schedule. There’s nothing better than training the body and the mind to become stronger,” he muttered.
It was the first time I had seen Wolf so flushed, but that wasn’t enough for the girls to stop their attack.
“And here I thought Zaon was the teacher’s pet,” Firana sighed.
“I thought it was Ilya,” Zaon jokingly said just to earn a murderous glance from the girls.
“Enough of that. Firana, you are in charge of sorting today's training material. The sparring is over. You need to be well rested for tomorrow.” I interrupted the conversation. “If you don’t mind us, I would like to chat with Wolf. Just the two of us.”
Firana grumbled but ultimately obeyed. Before she could convince Zaon to help her, Ilya grabbed the elf boy and dragged him to the farm plot where the small kids were playing. Even Risha turned a deaf ear and walked away, leaving his wooden shield on the big stump.
“Alright, I understand; I’m sorry,” Firana grumbled as she grabbed the equipment.
I looked at Wolf and signaled the grove with my head. We both walked in silence until we reached the tree line. There, Wolf leaned against a tree and let out a long sigh.
“Not used to the attention?” I asked with a sympathetic smile.
Wolf shook his head. “I haven’t told them I plan to leave the orphanage after the tournament. They are talking about giving the Imperial Academy a try. Firana, more than anyone, wants us to stay together.”
“I’m sure Firana will understand if you explain it to her,” I said. “She might be an airhead sometimes, but she wants the best for every one of us.”
“I hope so. I don’t want to make anyone sad, but I probably will,” Wolf replied, defeated.
I remember the time I left my home to go to college. It wasn’t that far, but the goodbye was hard, even with cell phones and video calls being a thing. In retrospect, it was probably even harder for my dad.
“Wolf, listen. If returning to the tribes is what you want, we will be thrilled to help you. It’s your life we are talking about, and only you can make the final decision,” I said. “Of course, Elincia and I will try to give you the best advice possible. You are strong and smart, and the orcs will be fortunate to have you among their ranks, but the Imperial Academy is also a good option. The rank of Knight opens up many avenues. In the end, it’s your call. We will always be here for you.”
“Thanks,” Wolf muttered. “It means a lot coming from you, Mister Clarke.”
This day looked more like a funeral than a birthday, and it wasn’t the slate gray sky over our heads. I hoped the enchanted sling was enough to light up Wolf’s day.
“I saw your relatives using these, so we thought it would be a good present,” I said, offering Wolf the enchanted sling. “Happy birthday.”
Wolf extended his arms and grabbed the sling. He carefully examined the craftsmanship, and the more he looked at it, the more his lips curved up.
“It’s beautiful, thanks,” Wolf said. “Can I try it?”
“Be my guest.”
Wolf grabbed a stone the size of a tennis ball, and for a moment, I thought the leather pouch would be too small. Ginz, however, had gotten ahead of the problem, and the projectile fit perfectly. With their size and strength, it was no surprise orcs preferred bigger bullets.
The sling spun over Wolf’s head.
“Give it a bit of mana,” I said, stepping to the side.
“I don’t have a lot of mana. I’m not Ilya,” Wolf replied.
“Just do it! We have been working on meditation for months now!” I said.
Wolf’s eyes suddenly shot wide open as the sling gained more velocity. He pushed the little mana a classless person could muster into the sling and aimed for a low branch. He let go, and the stone hit right in the middle, splitting the branch from the tree. Unlike Ginz, Wolf was a great shot.
I smiled, not because of the enchantment's success but because of Wolf's gleeful expression. The young half-orc laughed to his heart's content as he prepared a second shot. With his arm, he could knock down a deer.
Loki peeked out of my pocket, looking as angry as a sleepy rat could be.
“Damn beast!”
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My (38F) fiancé (50M) and I see no need for a formal wedding for a lot of reasons but want to have a big party with our family and friends! Trimming the guest list wasn't considered, so we started to look at other ways to cut costs. We both agreed early on we wanted a very casual, picnic-like wedding. Communicated this on the invites.
Our venue is a sportsmen's club they we're both members of. The banquet hall, riverfront grove, commercial kitchen, 2 bartenders and cleaning fee will run us $900. It's a simple venue but it's right on the water and the grove is beautiful and has a large pavilion and gazebo.
Venue offers a consumption bar, and prices are reasonable. $48 per case of domestic beer, $45 per bottle of well liquor, $40 per box of wine, $40 for a canister of pop. I figure we'll offer 3 brands of domestic beer, well vodka, whiskey and rum, a red wine and a white wine. Based on our guest list this should cover everyone. The venue has a public bar attached where guests could purchase craft beer, top shelf, anything else they wanted. We're budgeting $1,700 for a mix of heavy and light drinkers.
For catering we're doing a drop off buffet. We are getting 3 entrees, 2 sides, a specialty salad and dinner rolls with butter from a well regarded local caterer dropped off for $21.00/ person including plates, napkins and utensils. $3,556 after tax and delivery. My niece is a BOH manager and we are hiring 2 of her trusted employees on the side for $150 each to tend the buffet lines and generally help out. (Our caterer didn't have an option to provide servers.)
Instead of a cake we're doing a donut display. Borrowed the display board from a friend who did the same and are getting 13 dozen mixed donuts from a local donut company. $340 after tax.
It's an afternoon wedding and we plan on having the buffet around 3:00PM. When things are wrapping down around 8PM we are going to order pizza and wings for the remaining guests. This part is actually important to me because I LOVE pizza, our city is famous for chicken wings and we have a lot of guests coming in from out of town. We're not sure how many people will still be around at 8 (starts at 2), but we're figuring 4 sheet pizzas and 200 wings, $350 after tax. Adding more would be no bog deal. We figure picking up the pizza could be the last task for our 2 helpers, the place is only a few blocks away.
We're budgeting $700 for gratuities (15% for caterer, $100 each for the bartenders who will also get guest tips). VistaPrint invites were $78. RSVPify is $120. My hai clothes/ shoes will be under $500 all in. I don't wear makeup.
We aren't having a photographer. Not only do I not want to spend the money, I would be SUPER self-conscious taking posed photos and/ or knowing someone could always be watching me/ photographing me. I know I'm probably a weirdo, but I just don't like the idea. We signed up for WedUpload and are going to put cards out with a QR code if any of the guests want to share their photos with us. This is not something I'm stressed about. Photos don't matter much to me.
We aren't having a DJ. The venue has a robust speaker system both inside and out and we're going to build a playlist that a friend will curate during the event. This is more of a "picnic" wedding than "dancefloor" wedding so I'm not stressed about it (blind draw cornhole tournament after the buffet and fishing on the docks lol). There are only 2 songs I care about that I want played at specific times and I trust friend to handle that.
Right now I'm at about $8,600 budgeted. What am I missing???? I really don't want to go over $10K for this but have a little wiggle room as of right now.

I just became aware of the Karlach-Dammon romance so that's the "canon" one, but who would the other guys date? I have some couples in mind but I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks.

• Karlach - Damon: was supposed to be canon if playing as Karlach (?), possibly the cutest couple in the game, I can't romance Karlach anymore since I found out about it because she belongs with him.
• Shadowheart - Lae'zel: perfect enemies to lovers pipeline, you can't tell me these two don't belong together and I will take no further questions. I don't care if neither is an NPC.
• Astarion - Abdirak: kinky couple goes brrrr, I don't know about the emotional aspect because unfortunately we know so little about Abdirak, but I imagine they'd have a cozy underground dungeon to have the wildest sex worship Loviathar together.
• Gale - Alfira: I imagine they'd spend a lot of time talking about arts, music, history and all the nerdy things while sipping on some good wine. In my games I always make Gale help her with her song. Too bad she's with someone else I guess.
• Will - Mayrina: hear me out, he's the Blade of Frontiers and she's out there leading a group of hag fighters, they would be so dope fighting the bad guys together to make Baldurs Gate a safer place and in act3 she seems to somewhat get over her dead husband.
• Minthara - Nere: same background, both evil as fuck and broken by the absolute, I'd love to see these two together and it's a pity they can't actually meet in the game. She'd finally put Twat Soul in his place. Ok chill guys I get it drows don't do things that way
• Halsin - Zevlor: I guess? Maybe they bonded over the whole grove thing and ended up together. I'm honestly not too sure about this one tho.

Stage info

Date	Stage	Route	Length	Type	Time
Mon. May 06	03	Novara>Fossano	166 km	Easy	ca. 17:15 CET

Climbs

Climb	Cat	Km	Length	Avg	Asc. ↑
Lu	4	km 115	2.0 km	4.8 %	96 m

Sprints

Location	Km
Masio	km 79.1
Montegrosso d'Asti (Intergiro)	km 97.6
Cherasco (Bonus)	km 144.1

Weather

Cloudy with a chance of rain enroute: Novara, Fossano

Stage breakdown

Stage 3

After opening with two difficult days, tomorrow a brief lull in the race will begin, with the first of three sprinter-friendly stages in a row. For the third consecutive day, we will stay entirely within Piedmont, with the race slowly beginning to move southwards.
There’s not much to say about tomorrow’s course: it’s a largely flat day. The first part of the stage will develop through an area best known for its rice fields, and what pairs well with a delicious risotto? Wine, of course! A large part of the day will take place through renowned winemaking regions: the Monferrato, the Roero and the Langhe. While these areas can get quite hilly as they rise towards the Apennines, the stage will mostly keep to the plains. There is just one cat 4 climb today, leading to Lu, a joint record-holder for the Italian town with the shortest name… this fact is probably more interesting than the climb itself, which is as short as its name. Additionally, there will be two intermediate sprints in Masio and Montegrosso d’Asti.
The last 30 kms get a bit more rolling, and they include two short uncategorized climbs, although neither seems too hard on paper. The second one, however, comes with just 3 kms to go, and while its gradients are pretty mild, it does have some tight bends, meaning that sprinters and their teams will need to be careful when positioning themselves. In other words, they will need to build their trains carefully, which is pretty apt for the area considering that nearby Savigliano hosts one of Italy’s most important train manufacturing plants. The last km is completely straight and takes place on a large avenue in the middle of Fossano.

Rider discussion

Nearly every major sprinter in the pro peloton is at this Giro making it a true sprinters championship. We don't have a lot of information on form quite yet but there's been a few standouts during the spring
Tim Merlier has shown speed and timing during major sprint races like Scheldeprijs. Likewise, Jonathan Milan has taken big victories and looked threatening throughout the classics. At the Tour of Turkey, Lund Andresen was a breakout star taking three stages.
Olav Kooij would be a top favourite but after taking a tumble on Stage 2, he may not be at his best uncertain. Both Caleb Ewan and Danny van Poppel showed interest, and form, on the uphill intergiro sprint on Stage 2. Kaden Groves tends to enjoy finishes that are slightly uphill or preceded by a small climbs similar to tomorrow's.
Who else is here? Well, everyone. Pure sprinters like Fabio Jakobsen, Phil Bauhaus, Fernando Gaviria and Juan Sebastian Molano as well as classics men like Biniam Girmay, Laurence Pithie, will all see this as an opportunity.
With all this in mind, here are our predictions for tomorrow's stage:
★★★ Milan, Merlier
★★ Groves, Kooij
★ Ewan, Andresen, van Poppel

Fantasy

Enter our daily fantasy game Guess the Gap here!
See the popular picks from the Stage Winners League here
More Games: SWL / RFL / SRFL / TFTPT / GTP
That's it from us, what are your thoughts/predictions?

I will not be answering DMs but I'm happy to respond to questions in the comments.
Photos here: https://imgur.com/a/QisZMUd
I know a lot of us here have a smaller budget, and I wanted to share how we had a 75-person wedding in the Bay Area in April for $23,550.63. This still sounds like so much money to me but in the bay, it's considered a budget wedding! I got so much helpful information from this subreddit and I hope someone with a similar budget finds this post helpful! Overall we were thrilled with our wedding and while it was stressful to plan, a smaller budget didn't stop us from having the time of our lives.

What this breakdown does NOT include:

Engagement ring, honeymoon, joint bach party, wine (gifted), cocktail hour snacks (gifted), and of course, we did not pay for our families' priceless labor for event set up and break down.

The Breakdown

Expense	Cost	Vendor	Notes
Venue	6805	Piedmont Community Hall	Venue alone costs $5270. We paid for extra time ($530), teahouse we used as a bridal suite ($475), and amphitheater which we got married in ($375). $175 was for insurance.
Photography	1900	St. Sure Photography	This covered 7 hours. Kristin was the best. She helped keep everyone on time and organized and is hilarious. I highly recommend! She was able to accommodate my huge family in limited time and the photos are so so beautiful. Her pricing is cheaper than a lot of other photographers in the area but her skills are just as good.
DJ	1300	GoodTime DJ	This covered 6 hours. Our ceremony was outside and reception was inside. Mark set up in both locations and everything ran smoothly. Mark was overall great to work with and we got compliments on our playlist. Also highly recommend!
Bartender	1200	-	Not going to name or recommend this vendor. I will say we found them through an independent contractor website, not a bigger company. We found their info on a site for contractors. They said this price included glassware for 75 people, but day of they came with no glassware, just plastic cups! Had I known, I would have added glassware onto the party rentals. The bartender also stole a few bottles of wine at the end of the night. If they had asked, I'd gladly give them some, but it was just so weird to take them without permission. They served the alcohol and helped with cocktail hour clean up just fine.
Party Rentals	1573	AM Party Rentals	This included drop off and pick up of all linens, napkins, dishes, silverware, and drinking glasses for 75 people. At the end of the night, dirty dishes and linens went back into the containers they came in. Super easy!
Alcohol	513.84	-	Champagne (378.20) and Costco beer (135.64). Red and white wine was gifted.
Florals	609.11	Events by Litsa	This included 1 bridal bouquet, 4 bridesmaids bouquets, and 4 boutonnieres. I found photos of Litsa's bouquets on her website and asked her to create something for me. She did great and totally nailed what I was going for. For centerpieces, I bought roses, baby's breath, and eucalyptus from Trader Joe's which were put together by family.
Cupcakes	400	Kara's Cupcakes	75 normal cupcakes, 5 vegan, and 5 gluten free. No complaints! Super easy to order and delicious.
Tux + alterations	500	Men's Warehouse	My fiance opted to buy a suit that he would wear again instead of a tux rental.
Dress	1642.63	BHLDN	I absolutely loved my dress and felt like a princess. I tried dresses on at David's bridal and BHLDN. Both were great experiences. BHLDN was a little nicer in that they offered us champagne. My shoes were like 20 bucks from Target.
Dress alterations	700	Seamless Seamstress	Stephanie was recommended to me by BHLDN and came to my house for alterations - once to pin and measure and once for a final try on. I really liked the convenience and she did an amazing job. She created a bustle that truly complimented the dress. She also added cups for the top and adjusted the straps.
Hair and makeup	900	Brushed by Ngan	300 was for the trial and 600 was for day of. I was so happy with my hair and makeup. It felt a little heavy (I don't normally wear makeup) but looks perfect in the photos and lasted the entire night. Ngan was really sweet and friendly as well.
Wedding rings	250	Etsy
Stationary	440.91	Minted	Save the dates and invites were from Minted. Kind of pricey but they were pretty and I liked the printed envelopes. Spent like 20 bucks on Amazon for thank you cards.
Catering	1642.43	Chef Gillys	Tacos, toppings, rice, beans, chips/salsa, horchata, and lemonade for 75 people. They were able to accommodate vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free. They stayed on site and served buffet style. We got a lot of compliments on the food! No one gets upset over tacos.
Gifts for wedding party	400		$50 per person - I did Lush gift boxes and he did custom duffel bags.
Rehearsal dinner	720	Grill Kebabs and Gyros	We picked up a catering order after rehearsal and had the dinner at our house. Love this little restaurant! Total was 600 + tip
Tips for vendors	500		2 servers, 2 bartenders, and MUA each got $100
Amazon	1553.51		Various things for the wedding including decor, guest book, card box, flower girl/ ring bearer things, polaroid stuff, coffee/tea bar items, and mini planter boxes (I propagated plants as gifts). Table centerpieces were simple- just wood slices, candles, and vases.
TOTAL	23550.63

Notes:

• Parking at this venue is first come first serve and then there is street parking. Our guests didn't seem to have any issues finding parking and everyone made it on time. The venue includes set up and breakdown of all tables and chairs and has staff on site to keep the public out.
• We got married in April, which gets cold around 4pm in the spring. We had our ceremony super quick outside and cocktail hour and reception inside. There was also a chance it would rain so it was nice to have an indoor venue.
• We relied SO MUCH on help from family for set up and breakdown. This is an absolute necessity for a budget wedding. And they were happy to do it! You'd be surprised how many people want to help you on your wedding day.
• My MIL acted as wedding coordinator-also a necessity! She took care of all of the vendors and created our cocktail spread (fruit, veggies, cheese, meat, crackers) and cupcake tower. She directed vendors and table/ centerpiece set up and breakdown. We didn't stress about anything day-of. She is an absolute angel and we couldn't have done it without her. We considered a day-of coordinator had she not been able to do this.
• One bridesmaid is in the wine industry and gifted us all red and white wine. We bought champagne and beer from Costco.
• Another bridesmaid is an artist by trade and did a lot of the DIY crafts, including a seating chart, table numbers, and a wedding sign to put outside.
• All bridesmaids and groomsmen bought their own attire. Bridesmaids did their own hair and makeup.
• Independent contractors can be really helpful for budgeting, however we had a bad experience with our bartender, which I didn't name here. Something to keep in mind. Most of our other vendors were also independent contractors and did an amazing job. Don't forget to leave reviews if you liked their service!
• Budgeting means you can't have everything you want! We opted to spend money on things that were important to us and cut corners on things that were not as important. I wanted to feel like a Disney princess so I spent $3000 on my day-of look. I didn't care about fancy food, just that people were fed and the food was tasty, so we spent $1600 on tacos. You do you! It's your party!

Things we could have done to make it even cheaper:

• David's Bridal had some beautiful dresses in a variety of sizes that would have cost $500 after alterations.
• A potluck-style rehearsal dinner would have saved money on catering.
• I could have DIY'ed for less: Haimakeup, invitations, bouquets, wedding party gifts, and cake
• We paid a little extra to have the owner of the DJ company be our DJ. If we used his assistant it would have been a few hundred cheaper.
• Could have used disposable cups, plates, napkins, and silverware
• The venue hall alone was only $5250 which would be enough for the ceremony and reception. We added on the amphitheater, which is where the ceremony took place, and teahouse, which we used as a bridal suite.
• We also considered the Fort Mason Firehouse ($5k) and Stern Grove in GGP (under $5k)
• We got married on a Saturday but the venue has lower pricing on Friday and Sunday.
• I spent way too much panic buying on Amazon last-minute. A lot of "just in case" purchases that could have been avoided with better planning.

Overview and Scope A subscription box is a collection of tangible items that are given to clients on a regular basis in boxes.
Sizing and Forecast The subscription box market size has grown rapidly in recent years. It will grow from $31.4 billion in 2023 to $36.8 billion in 2024 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.2%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to consumer education, initial subscription hype, supply chain optimization, convenience and time-saving, entrepreneurial culture..
The subscription box market size is expected to see rapid growth in the next few years. It will grow to $71.77 billion in 2028 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.2%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to personalization and customization, innovative packaging and presentation, value-oriented packages, customer engagement strategies.. Major trends in the forecast period include customer experience enhancement, subscription flexibility, social media influence, market diversification, value for money, sustainability and eco-friendly products..
To access more details regarding this report, visit the link: https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/subscription-box-global-market-report
Segmentation & Regional Insights The subscription box market covered in this report is segmented –
1) By Type: Replenishment Subscription, Curation Subscription, Access Subscription 2) By Gender: Male, Female 3) By Application: Health And Fitness, Food And Beverages, Apparel, Education, Personal Care And Cosmetics, Books, Other Applications
North America was the largest region in the Subscription box market in 2023. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in the subscription box market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa.
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Major Driver Impacting Market Growth Significant growth in the e-commerce sector is expected to propel the growth of the subscription box market going forward. The e-commerce sector refers to a business that involves the exchange of products and services, and the sending of money or data across an electronic network, most notably the internet. E-commerce involves continuous packing and fulfillment processes on a recurrent basis to deliver subscription boxes to customers that can improve the customer's lifetime value significantly. For instance, in August 2022, according to a report published by the U.S. Census Bureau, a US-based statistical agency, the total retail sales of products through e-commerce platforms in 2021 were $240.9 billion, which then increased to $257.3 billion in 2022 the United States. Therefore, significant growth in the e-commerce sector is driving the growth of the subscription box market.
Key Industry Players Major companies operating in the subscription box market report are The Hut Group Limited, TechStyle Fashion Group, Amazon.com Inc., BarkBox, Blue Apron Holdings Inc., Dollar Shave Club Inc., FabFitFun Inc., Grove Collaborative Inc., Harry's Inc., HelloFresh SE, Loot Crate LLC, FemTec Health Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Company, Try The World LLC, Sips By, Personalized Beauty Discovery Inc., Unilever plc, Kroger Co., BFA Industries Inc., KiwiCo Inc., Causebox Inc., Winc Wine Club, Nestlé SA, ButcherBox Inc., Scentbird Inc., Stitch Fix Inc., Nordstrom Inc., Frank And Oak Inc., MeUndies Inc., The Edgewell Personal Care Company
The subscription box market report table of contents includes:

1. Executive Summary
2. Market Characteristics
3. Market Trends And Strategies
4. Impact Of COVID-19
5. Market Size And Growth
6. Segmentation
7. Regional And Country Analysis . . .
8. Competitive Landscape And Company Profiles
9. Key Mergers And Acquisitions
10. Future Outlook and Potential Analysis

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In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
I greet you all with the Quranic greeting of Peace: Peace be upon you all (Salamu 'alaykum) :)!

Introduction:

This will be a longer post because I will be interpreting three chapter in Songs of Solomon. Chapter 1, 5 and 6.
It becomes evident upon careful observation that these chapters primarily hold a prophetic essence, but poetic and a bit cryptic in nature. However, the chapter dedicated to Moses (Chapter 1) most likely serves as a recounting of his life story, albeit in a subtle manner, because Solomon is thought to have come after Moses in history. Nevertheless, it undeniably pertains to Moses. Chapter 5 focuses on Muhammad, while Chapter 6 revolves around both Jesus and his mother, the Virgin Mary. Shall we proceed with the exploration? Let's start with Chapter 1, the one about prophet Moses.

1. Songs of Solomon Chapter 1 - Moses:

Verse 2: בישקני מנשיקות פיהו כי־טובים דדיך מיין:
The verse says the words: "with kisses from kisses of his mouth." In this context, "מנשיקות" does not necessarily refer to physical kisses but symbolizes "Revelations." Therefore, "מנשיקות פיהו" translates to "from the utterances of His mouth" or "from the words of His mouth," signifying divine communication or revelation, not physical affection.
This is explained in Hebrew dictionaries:

Heb: נְשִׁיקוּת (f.)
"(preced.) attachment, love. Cant. R. to I, 2 יוציא לי קול נ׳ וכ׳ may He issue forth unto me the voice of attachment."

Also:

Heb: נְשִׁיקָה f. (b. h.; נָשַׁק) 1) kissing, kiss. Gen. R. s. 70; Ex. R. s. 5, a. e. נ׳ של גדולה the kiss of homage; נ׳ של פרקים the kiss of meeting again; נ׳ של פרישות the kiss of parting; נ׳ של קריבות the kissing of relations. Deut. R. s. 11, end ונטל … בנְשִׁיקַת פה and took his (Moses’) soul with a kiss of the mouth. B. Bath. 17ᵃ מרים נמי בנ׳ מתה Miriam, likewise, died with a (divine) kiss (without agony); M. Kat. 28ᵃ. Ber. 8ᵃ נ׳ דמיא וכ׳ death without agony is like taking &c., v. בִּינְתָא II; a. fr.—Pl. נְשִׁיקוֹת. Ex. R. l. c. Cant. R. to I, 2 מה"ש אמרוהו יתן לנו מנ׳ וכ׳ the ministering angels said the verse, ‘May he give us of those kisses which he gave to his sons’ (at Mount Sinai). Ib. בסיני נאמרה יוציא לנו נ׳ מתוך פיהו at Mount Sinai the verse was said (by the Israelites), ‘May he let kisses go forth to us out of his mouth’; a. e. —2)

Source: Both excerpts are from Jastrow's classical Hebrew dictionary.

Verse 3: גלריח שמניך טובים שמן תורק שמך על־כן עלמות אהבוך

The phrase: "גלריח שמניך טובים שמן תורק שמך":
The interpretation, as Rabbi Ezra has it:
Ezra ben Solomon on Song of Songs 1:3:2:

"Your name is like oil poured forth: Your name is like fine oil, poured from one vessel into another. The seventy names are emanated from the seven sefirot. tiferet and the Crown are for Israel, the singular people, for Israel nurse from the trunk of the tree, tiferet and Crown, all joined as one. But its aroma travels a great distance. So too Your name increases and is poured forth as pure light to shekhinah, which is contained and sealed into all. Counting her they are seventy-two. This is the meaning of “therefore the maidens love you.”

Now that we know what the first part of the verse means, let's see what the actual definition of Moses' name is in Hebrew, according to Jews themselves:

"The first and most obvious is the definition of Moses, draw out of water. Pharaoh’s daughter indeed drew Moses out of water, the waters of the Nile. She drew him out of the one of the most significant gods of Egypt, Hepi a fertility god who was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile. The flood deposited fertile soil on the river banks. Why was Pharaoh’s daughter’s at the Nile? It says in Exodus 2:5 that she came to wash herself or to bathe. Bathe in the sacred waters, not likely, especially a daughter of Pharaoh who took luxurious baths in tubs filled with all sorts of fragrances like myrrh and frankincense. The word used in Hebrew here for washing or bathing is rachats which means to pour water upon yourself. "

Source: https://www.chaimbentorah.com/2018/04/hebrew-word-study-moses/
Note: "to pour water upon yourself."
The third verse subtly yet unmistakably alludes to Moses, using poetic and metaphorical language. This is particularly evident when considering Moses' role in anointing Aaron and his sons as priests, as instructed by God in Exodus 29:7:

"Then take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head." (Exodus 29:7)

Another notable event involving Moses is the anointing of the Tabernacle and its furnishings. Exodus 40:9-11 directs Moses to anoint the Tabernacle and all its contents with oil:

"Then take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy."

Verse 4: משכני אחריך נרוצה הביאני המלך חדריו נגילה ונשמחה בך נזכירה דדיך מיין מישרים אהבוך:

The KJV translation:

"Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee."

My translation:

"Pull me along with you1, we will desire the king to bring me his chambers, we will rejoice in Baka2, we will remember your love, my Egyptian3, my beloved."

Explanations:
1: In Hebrew, the term "רוּץ" (rutz) translates to "run." This could be interpreted in the context of Moses assisting the daughters of Jethro, as narrated in both the Bible and the Quran. It's worth noting that the Bible doesn't specify that Moses had seven daughters; this discrepancy likely arises from the mistranslation of "Shava" (possibly referring to Saba, the Yemeni city), which the Masoretes erroneously rendered as "Sheva" (seven), as they have done every other time the city Saba was mentioned in the Bible (the "well of Seven" instead of "Well of Saba" etc).
2: The Hebrew phrase "ונשמחה בך" appears suspect. The Codex Sinaiticus suggests "βοωϲιν" (Bocin), which can be interpreted as "to cry" (correlating with "Bakka" in Hebrew and Arabic, meaning "cry"). The Greek word "βοωϲιν" may also connote "heifer" or "young cow," rooted in the verb "βοάω" (boaō), meaning "to cry out."

The Codex Sinaiticus:
"βοωϲιν το ονομα τηϲ νυμ"

It's worth noting that Google's speech recognition and search algorithms have trouble processing this word for some reason, often substituting "βοώσιν" instead of "βοωϲιν." It can just be that this specific word is a very ancient word and is not recognized, but I doubt it because it is refusing to even pronounce it, and Google even forcefully changes it into "βοώσιν" in its search results.
3: The term "משרי" (mishri) translates to "Egyptian" or "from Egypt" and aligns with the Arabic term for "Egyptian" (i.e., Masri). The verse is literally saying that he is from Egypt, not necessarily an Egyptian, but from that location, just as Moses was (where he grew up).
It has by now become very evident that this is about Moses.

Verse 5: השחורה אני ונאוה בנות ירושלים כאהלי קדר כיריעות שלמה:

The "bride" says:

"Black am I, yet lovely, daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon."

Zipporah, the wife of Moses, was a woman of black ethnicity from Ethiopia. She resided in Arabia, where the tents of Kedar were situated.

Verse 9: "I compare you, my darling, to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots."

This verse even makes a literal allusion to the era of Moses. It is becoming increasingly challenging not to recognize this chapter for what it is. One might wonder why the Rabbis of old did not disclose that this Song was an account of Moses' life. If they had, it would also imply that any other Song mentioning both Jesus and Muhammad could potentially be prophetic. The notion that these Songs are merely love stories or erotica between Solomon and his brides would quickly unravel before our very eyes.
Let's move on to Chapter 6, the one about Jesus and Mary.

2. Songs of Solomon ch. 6, Jesus and Mary:

Verses 2-3: "My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies. I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine, he who shepherds his flock among the lilies.”
This is mirroring Matthew 6:28-29:

“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.

Jesus is referred to as a shepherd in the gospels, and here he is described as browsing in the garden shepherding his flock among the lilies. He also explicitly refers to Solomon for some remarkable reason, and it is only now that we can clearly see why he mentioned Solomon: To quite literally refer back to Songs of Solomon ch. 6 because it was prophesying him and his mother. Can't get any clearer than this.
Verses 5-6:"Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is missing."
Mirroring Jesus as a shepherd´and his ascent and descent from heaven.

Luke 15:3-7: "Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?"

He says "...go after the lost sheep until he finds it?" precisely mirroring the verse in SoS 6:6: "like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is missing"
During Jesus' time on earth, Gilead was part of the broader region known as Perea, which was governed by Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. Jesus traveled throughout the regions of Judea and Perea, as mentioned in passages such as Luke 13:22. The Chapter is mentioning the exact location where Jesus ministry took place.
The words "Descending" and "coming up" are also mentioned here and seem very cryptic, mirroring his ascent into heaven and his descent, the second coming. I believe Jesus second coming already has taken place, shortly after the crucifixion happened. God saved him (and made a crucifixion of Jesus appear to them) and lifted him up into heaven. Jesus then came back to them (as is mentioned in the gospel of Luke, chapter 24, verses 36-43). During this second visit, he did not promise them to come back yet another time, but rather promised that "another" advocate would come to them (we will talk about this by the end of this post, let's focus on this chapter now).
Verses 8-9: "Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number; My dove, my perfect one, is unique, the favorite of her mother, flawless to her who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her."
Mirroring the Virginity and innocence of Mary.
The word used here for "perfect one" is "תַמָּתִ֔י" in Hebrew, defined the following way in dictionaries:
Hebrew dictionary:

2 - a. complete, morally innocent, having integrity
Source: מקור: Open Scriptures on GitHub
Creator: יוצר: Based on the work of Larry Pierce at the Online Bible

Verse 11: "I went down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom."
Mirroring the Quranic narrative about Mary:

"And she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a remote place. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. She said, 'Oh, I wish I had died before this and was in oblivion, forgotten.' But he called her from below her, 'Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream. And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates. So eat and drink and be contented. And if you see from among humanity anyone, say, 'Indeed, I have vowed to the Most Merciful abstention, so I will not speak today to [any] man.'" (Quran 19:22-26)

"Nakhal" (palm tree): The verse in Songs of Solomon uses the same word "Nachal" in Hebrew, and it means the same thing according to Hebrew dictionaries:

n.[m.] perhaps palm-tree (Arabic نَخْلٌ, n. unit. نَخْلَةٌ; v. PerlesJQ, July, 1899, 688);— only pl. abs., כִּנְחָלִים נִטָּ֑יוּ Nu 24:6 like palm-trees, which are stretched out, spread out (as to foliage). So Perlesl.c., who compares כערבי נחל Ecclus 50:12, 𝔊 ὡς στελέχη φοινίκων.
Source: מקור: BDB Dictionary
Creator: יוצר: F. Brown, S. Driver & C. Briggs

This verse is narrating the same story the Quran was narrating about Mary retreating to a far place unto a Palm-tree. We've had a lot of Christians critiquing the Qur'an for "taking" from apocrypha, yet here we see the same thing being said in the actual Bible.
Verse 12: "Before I was aware, my soul had placed me in the chariots of Amminadab."
The Masoretic verse: יבלֹ֣א יָדַ֔עְתִּי נַפְשִׁ֣י שָׂמַ֔תְנִי מַרְכְּב֖וֹת עַמִּ֥י־נָדִֽיב:
How it is written in the original Hebrew Bible: יבלא ידעתי נפשי שמתני מרכבות עמינדיב:
The translation provided above is my own, as existing English translations have inaccurately interpreted this verse due to Masoretic distortions through diacritics. The Hebrew text clearly mentions the name "Amminadab" and not "Ammi Nadab" with a hyphen between עַמִּ֥י and נָדִֽיב, which would otherwise mean "Noble people." This is confirmed by the Codex Sinaiticus, where it is written as "Amminadab," the name.

Codex Sinaiticus:
"12 η νυμφη ταδε προϲ τον νυμφιον εκει δωϲω τουϲ μαϲτουϲ μου ϲοι ουκ εγνω ψυχη μου εθετο με · αρματα αμιναδαβ"

Source: Click Here
Translation of the Codex Sinaiticus passage:

"There I will give you my breasts, my soul did not know it placed me in the chariots of Amminadab."

The phrase "There I will give you my breasts" signifies nursing, i.e., as a mother would nurse her child.
Prior to this understanding, the meaning of this verse was unclear, leading many to believe the Song of Songs contained s*xual or naughty connotations. However, recognizing this as a prophecy about Mary and her son, the Messiah Jesus, provides clarity, and the verse should not be considered inappropriate.
The words "my soul did not know it placed me in the chariots of Amminadab" suggest that Mary and Jesus were to be placed within that lineage of Amminadab, or possibly even within the same family. This aligns with the canonical gospels that trace Jesus' lineage back to Amminadab
Let's reconsider Chapter 5, the one about prophet Muhammad.

3. Songs of Solomon ch. 5, Muhammad:

If you are familiar with who I am, then you might already know about my post here where I argue that prophet Muhammad's name is mentioned in this chapter, and considering it as a word (instead of a name) would create a grammatical blunder in the Hebrew verse.
Check out that post CLICK HERE if you haven't already.
Prophet Muhammad is indeed mentioned and prophesied by name in this chapter, verse 16:

"His mouth is sweetness itself; in his entirety, Muhammadim. This is my beloved, this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem." (Songs of Solomon 5:16)

Let's go over it quickly:

- The phrase: "וְכֻלּ֖וֹ מַֽחֲמַדִּ֑ים"
- Transliteration: "We-khullow Maḥammadim"
- Translation: "In his entirety, Maḥammadim"
- Hebrew word(s): וְכֻלּ֖וֹ (wə·ḵul·lōw)
- Translation: "In his entirety"
- Foreign name (rootless): "מַֽחֲמַדִּ֑ים"
- Translation: "Maḥammadim"
The Hebrew grammar of "We-Khullow":
Phrase: "וְכֻלּ֖וֹ": Form: Conjunctive waw Noun - masculine singular construct third person masculine singular
It is in third person masculine singular, which means, the following word also has to be in third person masculine singular, but that's not the case. It's in plural:
The Hebrew grammar of "Maḥammadim":

Phrase: מַֽחֲמַדִּ֑ים
Noun - masculine plural

The sudden use of the plural form in the verse has a purpose: to emphasize that this is a formal name, not a noun, verb, or any other grammatical form. If interpreted as a noun, the verse would contain a significant grammatical error.
For example, consider these English translations:

"He is altogether lovelinesses"
"He is all, beauties"

These sentences do not work grammatically. The only way to maintain the verse's grammatical accuracy is to interpret "Maḥammadim" as a formal foreign name with the Hebrew plural of majesty, as found in names like "Eliakim" or "Elohim."
It is essential to note that the term in question is not "Makhmadim," as apologetics often claim. The correct term is, in fact, "Maḥammadim."
Go to this website: Click here And choose "Hebrew" and insert "מַֽחֲמַדִּ֑ים" and press "Create audio" to hear how clearly it is pronounced as "Muhammadim."
You can also hear a Rabbi in the following video literally say that prophet Muhammad's name is mentioned in verse 16 Click here (37 seconds in).
I understand that some of you may have been led to believe by apologetics that the term in question is a formal Hebrew word and should be pronounced as "Makhmadim." However, this is not accurate. To clarify, let's examine the Hebrew letters and diacritics involved:
Letter: מַֽ (Ma)
Letter: חֲ (ḥa)
Letter: מַ (Ma)
Letter: דִּ֑ (D)
Letter: ים (im)
= Maḥammadim
When the letter חֲ "ḥet" is followed by a sheva na, it is pronounced as a short, unstressed vowel sound [ħă].
These are fundamental rules of Hebrew pronunciation. It is crucial to stop spreading misinformation in the comment section, as it misleads people and does so in the name of religion. The term is not "Makhmadim," and this is widely recognized even among Jews themselves.

To read more about the grammar and linguistics, visit my initial post about it here:

Title: If "Maḥammadim" is Not a Name: Then Songs Of Solomon 5:16 Has a Grammatical Blunder - Prophet Muhammad Is Definitely Mentioned By Name (4 irrefutable reasons!!)
But let's go over some new points (and the old ones as well):

Here are seven compelling reasons why Chapter 5 is a prophecy about Prophet Muhammad:

1. His name:The Chapter is literally mentioning him by name. This is the clearest indication that this is a prophecy about him. It makes this an irrefutable prophecy. If there were a similar prophecy about Jesus in the Old Testament, Christians would likely prominently display the verse at every church entrance. This verse is widely regarded as validating Muhammad's prophethood solely due to the presence of his name within verse 16.
   
2. Hebrew Grammar:The grammar in verse 16 requires interpreting "Maḥammadim" as a formal foreign name. It is not a Hebrew word and cannot be translated without creating a grammatical error. The third-person singular "we-khullow" corresponds with the plural "Maḥammadim," which only makes sense if it is a formal name with the Hebrew plural of majesty suffix (-im).
   
3. Verse 10:This verse refers to "the chiefest among ten thousand." Interestingly, historical accounts tell us that Prophet Muhammad conquered Mecca with 10,000 companions, a moment when he forgave all the non-believers who had persecuted him and his family for years, taking the lives of many (including his own daughters).
   
4. His appearance:The chapter describes the appearance of "the beloved," which aligns with Prophet Muhammad's features, such as wavy, pitch-black hair and ruddy skin color.
   
5. Arab cities: Verse 10 is connected to Deuteronomy 33:2, which mentions three cities belonging to ancient Arabia. This chapter also references an Arab country and compares the beloved's appearance to that of Lebanon.
   
6. A new Law: Deuteronomy 33:2 states, "At His right hand was a flaming fire, a law, for them." This suggests that the person being referred to would bring a new Torah (a new Law). This idea is reinforced in Isaiah 51:4: "Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law (ṯōwrāh) will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples." The only instance of a completely new "Torah" (Law) that superseded all previous Scriptures since Moses is the Holy Quran with its "Shariah" Law.
   
7. The beloved's companions: The chapter mentions the beloved's companions, who are described as mighty and valiant. This aligns with the historical accounts of Muhammad's companions, known as the Sahabah, who were renowned for their courage and strength.
   
8. Why would God allow this?: This point serves as advice to trust in God's prophecies within the Old Testament Scriptures. Consider the following: Why would God permit such clear references and parallels to be included in His Revelations, only to have them fulfilled by a supposedly "false prophet"? Does this seem logical? It certainly does not to me. God has never before left a multitude of prophecies within His Scriptures to be fulfilled by someone who would lead people astray. If Prophet Muhammad were indeed a false prophet, his followers would have a valid argument at the Judgment of God, wouldn't they? So, why did God allow him to fulfill all these prophecies? However, it is essential to remember that God would never decree the followers of Prophet Muhammad for hell, because that would not be in accordance with justice and fairness.
   

Prophet Muhammad was a genuine prophet of God, and he indisputably fulfilled all the prophecies and revived the doctrine and methodology of Abraham, which is pure monotheism. The Holy Quran says:

"And afterward We inspired thee (Muhammad, saying): Follow the religion of Abraham, as one by nature upright. He was not of the idolaters." (The Holy Quran - "The Bee" - 16:123)

And:

"And they say: Be Jews or Christians, then ye will be rightly guided. Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Nay, but (we follow) the religion of Abraham, the upright, and he was not of the idolaters." (-''-, "The Heifer" - 2:135)

Islam is the Religion of Abraham, given the name "Islam" by God Himself. It is not a new or novice faith from ancient Arabia but rather the continuation and culmination of the monotheistic tradition established by our father Abraham.

Verse 15 mentions "Hamûdî," the nickname of the name "Muhammad," but in Hebrew (Amûdî):

שוקיו עמודי שש מיסדים על־אדני־פז מראהו כלבנון בחור כארזים:

The first word in this verse is:
Heb: שׁוֹקָיו֙ (šô·w·qâw)
Noun - fdc third person masculine singular.
Which traditionally is translated as "His legs/thighs."
It is followed by:
Heb: עַמּ֣וּדֵי (‘am·mû·ḏî)
Noun - in masculine plural construct.
Which traditionally is interpreted to mean "Pillars."
Upon immediate observation, you'll notice that, similar to verse 16, there is a grammatical inconsistency in the translation of these two phrases.
The first phrase is expressed in masculine singular form in Hebrew, but it has been translated into masculine plural form in English, indicating a lack of faithfulness in the translation.

Here's the significance of this discrepancy:

"Amudi" in this verse corresponds to the Arabic nickname for the formal Arabic name "Muhammad," namely "Hamûdî,"
The omission of the initial "H" sound in the name "Hamûdî" when it is borrowed into Hebrew as "‘ammûḏî" can be attributed to the fact that Hebrew loanwords from Arabic often omit the "H" sound at the beginning of a word.
In Hebrew phonology, initial "H" sounds in loanwords from Arabic are frequently dropped or assimilated into other sounds. This phenomenon is not unique to the nickname "Hamûdî"; rather, it is a common pattern observed in the borrowing of words from Arabic into Hebrew. This phonological adaptation occurs to accommodate the structure and phonetic patterns of the Hebrew language.
The first word, "שׁוֹקָיו֙" (šôwqâw), is likely to be understood as a verb form derived from the root "שׁקק" (sh.q.q), meaning "Desired" or "longed." The verse is in reality saying:

"His desired one, Amudi!"

And in the next verse, namely v.16 says:

"And in his entirety, Muhammadim!"

It kind of makes sense now that it says "AND in his entirety" and then a mention of his full formal name, after having mentioned him by his nickname. The pillars that are referenced later in the verse are described as being six in number, specifically "Six pillars of gold." This could potentially be a reference to the six pillars or columns that are located inside the Rawdah (Riaz ul Jannah) in "Masjid Nabawi" (The Prophet's Mosque) in Medina. These pillars hold special historical significance for Muslims and are adorned with gold.
"šôwqâw" is defined the following way in Hebrew dictionaries:

Root: שׁקק ᴵᴵ to desire. (— Qal)he desired (a hapax legomenon in the Bible, occurring Ps. 107:9). (— Hithpol.)he yearned, longed, desired. [Related to base שׁוק ᴵᴵᴵ.]Derivatives: שֶׁקֶק ᴵᴵ, שִׁקּוּק ᴵᴵ, שֽׁקִיקָה ᴵᴵ, הִשֽׁתּוֹקֽקוּת, שֽׁקִיקוּת, שׁוֹקֵק ᴵᴵ. Source: מקור: Klein Dictionary Creator: יוצר: Ezra Klein

4. The benefit in us initially not knowing that these Songs of Solomon were of prophetic nature?

The initial obscurity surrounding the prophetic nature of the Songs of Solomon serves a divine purpose, rooted in God's Eternal Wisdom. If people had known from the beginning that these Songs were prophetic, many would have falsely claimed the fulfillment of prophecies. However, God presented them as mere "Love stories," and their true purpose remained hidden for centuries.
Now, the reason for their inclusion in the Book of God has been revealed. This divine plan aims to clarify the truth for us in the modern age without the need for a new prophet or messenger (I'm only an author on Reddit who's well versed in the Scriptures).

5. The "Erchomai" (aka "Paraclete" and the promise of the "Spirit of Truth"):

Jesus promised his followers the coming of "another" advocate:

John 14:15-18:
"If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you (ἔρχομαι)."

While I am not an expert in Greek, the fact that the world cannot accept him could imply that they would reject his message, and that they do not see him could mean they do not believe in his message. It does not have to refer to an invisible Spirit.
The translation of "I will come to you" is based on the verb in its base form, "ἔρχομαι." John the Baptist uses another form of this word when speaking about someone greater than him who would come after him:

Matthew 3:11 (NIV):
"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes (ἐρχόμενος - erchomenos) one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

Here, it is clear that John the Baptist is referring to another human being who will come after him because he mentions his sandals (Holy Ghost doesn't wear sandals, as far as we know). This individual will perform a different kind of baptism—with the Holy Spirit and fire. The Holy Spirit is identified as Gabriel, and the "Fire" in this context refers to the verse from Deuteronomy 33:

"He said, “The LORD came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, And He came from among ten thousand holy ones; At His right hand was a flaming fire, a law, for them." (Deuteronomy 33:2)

The fire is this fiery Law that is mentioned here.
Furthermore, all of these locations mentioned in this verse are cities in ancient Arabia. See these ancient maps below clearly proving this:
- Sinai: (Click here to see ancient map)
Look for: Within the region of what is today known as "Tabuk, Saudi Arabia."
- Seir: (Click here to see ancient map)
Look for: Right next to "Seger", which corresponds to "Thamud" today I believe (or at least very close to it. You'll also see "Kor" right next to it, which is what the Bible also says is close to Seir.)
- Mount Paran: (Click here to see ancient map)
Look for: "Pharanite" within (or close by what was known as Arabia Petrea, but it was a vast mountainous region and probably stretched well into Arabia as well, you'll find it right next to "Modiana" in this map (which most likely is the "Midian" the Bible speaks of), and the Bible also says that Midian is close to Paran so it makes perfect sense.)
Returning to Matthew 3:11, we see that the individual being referred to is an actual human, as indicated by the mention of sandals. This person cannot be Jesus, as John the Baptist and Jesus lived during the same time and even carried out their missions simultaneously. John was referring to Prophet Muhammad (also known as "Ahmad"). The Holy Quran says:

"And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: 'O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of God (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving Glad Tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad.' But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said, 'this is evident sorcery!'" (61:6)

Additionally:

"Verily this is a Revelation from the Lord of the Worlds: the Spirit of Truth has brought it down [i.e. brought down the Quran] upon your heart, so that you become one of the warners, in plain Arabic language. And indeed, it is surely in the former Scriptures. Is it not a Sign for them that the scholars of the Children of Israel have recognized it?" (26:193-197)

The Quran directly claims that this prophecy is found in the former Scriptures and that the scholars of the Children of Israel have recognized it, and here (in this post) you are clearly seeing parallels before your very own eyes.

6. The coming the "Son of man":

Matthew 25:31-44 gives us some highly interesting statements made by Jesus himself:
"The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations"

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

This "Son of man" prophecy in Matthew 25:31-44 is not referring to Jesus, even though he did use this term to describe himself. This passage is about another "Son of man," as Jesus was not a king. This was about the prophet from Arabia:

In Isaiah 21, we read a prophecy against Arabia and someone who would flee from swords and war:

"Proclamation Against Arabia"

13 The burden against Arabia.
In the forest in Arabia you will lodge,
O you traveling companies of Dedanites.
14 O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
Bring water to him who is thirsty;
With their bread they met him who fled.
15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword,
From the bent bow, and from the distress of war.
16 For thus the Lord has said to me: “Within a year, according to the year of a hired man, all the glory of Kedar will fail; 17 and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it.”

The sole instance of Kedar's glory waning and ultimately falling was through the prophet Muhammad. This prophecy finds its fulfillment exclusively in him, with no possibility of being fulfilled by another, given the non-existence of "Kedar" any longer. Notice the words "They bring water to him who is thirsty, with their bread they met him who fled" mirroring what Jesus said about that Son of man.
The only recorded instance of the entire Arabian Peninsula succumbing was through prophet Muhammad, a messenger who professed to be sent for all of humanity, including all earthly kings.
Nonetheless, what I want to point out is the following:

"14. O inhabitants of the land of Tema, Bring water to him who is thirsty; With their bread they met him who fled."

Directly mirroring what Jesus mentioned the king (i.e. this 'Son of man') would say, in Matthew 25:

"35. for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;"

This passage pertains to the migration (also known as "Hijrah") of Prophet Muhammad in 622 CE from Mecca to Yathrib (Medina) upon receiving an invitation, in order to escape the persecution of the warring pagans of Mecca.

Conclusion:

With this, I conclude my post, and I genuinely hope that I have brought some enlightenment to some of you and convinced you just as much as I am convinced about these prophecies.
/By your brother, Exion.

The single-family property located at 3901 Kumquat Avenue in Miami was sold for $4,460,000. The 3,383 square-foot home was purchased by Kim Ng and Tony Markward, who made a profit of $1,260,000 following renovations that included a new kitchen and flooring.

Summary of transaction details:

• Property Type: Single Family
• Transaction Amount: $4,460,000
• Market: Miami
• Acres: 0.26
• Seller: Kim Ng; Tony Markward - Silas Wines
• Buyer's Rep: Gina Gardner - Engel & Völkers
• Seller's Rep: Monica Betancourt - Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty
• SF: 3,383
• PPSF: $1,318

The transaction was facilitated by Gina Gardner of Engel & Völkers and Monica Betancourt of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty. Kim Ng, the former general manager of the Miami Marlins, sold the property for its asking price, achieving a successful real estate investment.
Learn More: Kim Ng Sells Coconut Grove Home At $4.46M In Miami Deal

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5 p.m.
Arts & Drafts at Fullsteam Brewery
6 p.m.
Queer Death Cafe at Arcana
Conquest: Night with the Sorcerer Kings at Atomic Empire
Disc Golf Putting League at The Glass Jug in RTP
6:30 p.m.
Trivia Night at Ponysaurus Brewing Company
7 p.m.
Community Board Game Night at Moon Dog Meadery
8 p.m.
Matteo Bocelli at The Carolina Theatre

Tuesday, Apr 30

Events at Boxyard RTP

• 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. - RTP Electronics Recycling Drive-Thru 2024
• 5:30-6:30 p.m. - Boxyard Run Club
• 6-8 p.m. - Bark & Bond Social

Events at Durty Bull Brewing Brewing Company

• 12-8 p.m. - Food Truck: Mike's Vegan Cookout
• 7-9 p.m. - Bull City Beer Runners Run Club

Events at The Glass Jug Beer Lab in Downtown Durham

• 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. - 3rd Birthday Party
• 5:45-6:30 p.m. - Community Fitness Classes with YMCA
• 6-8 p.m. - Music Bingo

Events at The Glass Jug Beer Lab in RTP

• 6-8 p.m. - The Glass Jog Run Club
• 6-8 p.m. - Stitch & Sip

6 p.m.
Erotic Fan Fiction at Arcana
Trivia at Durham Food Hall
Bring Your Own Vinyl with Jaffar at Rubies on Five Points
Women on the Wall at Triangle Rock Club - Durham
6:30 p.m.
Cowboys With Big Hearts at Atomic Empire
7 p.m.
Trivia at Beer Study Durham
Not Rocket Science Trivia at DSSOLVR Durham
Tuesday Blues Jam at The Blue Note Grill
7:30 p.m.
Eloquent Soul - Open Mic Night hosted by Dasan Ahanu at Missy Lane's Assembly Room
Durham Tech Sings at Motorco Music Hall
North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra at Sharp 9 Gallery
8 p.m.
Jeremy 'Bean' Clemons Trio at Kingfisher

Wednesday, May 1

Events at Atomic Empire

• 7 p.m. - Flesh and Blood Armory Event
• 7 p.m. - Magic: OTJ Commander Party

Events at Boxyard RTP

• 12-2 p.m. - Hear & There: Daniel Delorenzo
• 5:30-8:30 p.m. - Game Night
• 6-7 p.m. - Forever Young Book Club

Events at ZincHouse Winery & Brewery

• 7-8 p.m. - Signature Wine Tasting
• 7-8:30 p.m. - Laughs Comedy Night

3 p.m.
Durham Farmers’ Market at Durham Central Park
5 p.m.
Free Wednesday Wine Tasting at Beer Study Durham
6 p.m.
Triangle Area Pagan Alliance Meet Up and Tarot with Heiltje at Arcana
Hike at Horton Grove Preserve
7 p.m.
Astronomy on Tap at Fullsteam Brewery
Hammered Trivia at Hi-Wire Brewing
Karaoke Night at Mavericks Smokehouse
Benefit Jam For Congo Flood Relief at Motorco Music Hall
Music Bingo at Ponysaurus Brewing Company
Brett Chambers Open Mic at The Blue Note Grill
7:30 p.m.
Ally J on the Roof at The Durham Hotel
8 p.m.
Air Hockey Tournament at Boxcar Bar + Arcade
Trivia Night at Bull McCabe's
Karaoke at Moon Dog Meadery
Blends With Friends at The Pinhook

Thursday, May 2

Events at Boxyard RTP

• 12-2 p.m. - Taking Back Thursday: Mysti Mayhem
• 5:30-7:30 p.m. - Live Music: Kylie Robinson

Events at Durty Bull Brewing Brewing Company

• 12-8 p.m. -Food Truck: Mike's Vegan Cookout
• 7-9 p.m. - Thursday Trivia with Nick

11 a.m.
Walk on the Wild Side: Native Shrubs at Sarah P. Duke Gardens
3 p.m.
Guided Museum Tour at 21c Museum Hotels Durham
5 p.m.
Thirsty Thursdays at Dashi
Spring Grilling on the Roof: Moonbelly Meat Co. at The Durham Hotel
6 p.m.
Jonathan Groger and Carter Hodge and Tarot with Rene at Arcana
Game Designers of North Carolina Meetup at Atomic Empire
Vinyl Night with DJ Deckades at Gizmo Brew Works
6:15 p.m.
Pony Run at Ponysaurus Brewing Company
6:30 p.m.
Resin Pour Charcuterie Board at DSSOLVR
Line Dance Classes at Mystic Farm and Distillery
Boulders & Brews Meetup at Triangle Rock Club - Durham
Magick of Tarot Workshop at Weldon Mills Distillery
7 p.m.
Trivia Night at Beer Tooth Taproom
Bring Your Own Vinyl Night at Congress Social Bar
Community Board Game Night at Moon Dog Meadery
Comedy Improv with Stolen Identity & Friends at Succotash Southern & Creole Kitchen
Celebration of NC Songwriting: Jonathan Byrd, Abigail Dowd, Nancy Middleton & Kirk Ridge at The Blue Note Grill
7:30 p.m.
Trivia Night with Big Slow Tom at Clouds Brewing Brightleaf Square
Adriel and the Force at Sharp 9 Gallery
8 p.m.
Weekly Single Mingle at Boxcar Bar + Arcade
Trivia at Fullsteam Brewery
Catwolf / Miss Lonely / Pageant / Housewife at The Pinhook
9:30 p.m.
Karaoke Night at The Tavern

Friday, May 3

Events at Atomic Empire

• 7 p.m. - First Friday Lorcana
• 7 p.m. - Magic: OTJ Standard Showdown #1

Events at Durty Bull Brewing Company

• 5-9 p.m. - Food Truck: Tacos Paraiso #1
• 6:30-7:30 p.m. - Davis Dance Company Happy Hour Dance Class
• 8-11 p.m. - Open Mic Stand-up Comedy

Events at Mettlesome

• 8-9 p.m. - The Racket
• 9-10 p.m. - Hush Hush

Events at Moon Dog Meadery

• 7:30 p.m. - Swing Lesson + Dance
• 8 p.m. - Trio Factual

Events at The Blue Note Grill

• 6-8 p.m. - The Duke Street Dogs
• 9:15 p.m. - Sayer McShane

9 a.m.
F is for First Responders at Museum of Durham History
10 a.m.
Tasting at Ten at Counter Culture Coffee
5:30 p.m.
LOJO: Log Off, Jam On at Boxyard RTP
6 p.m.
Andrew Kasab and Tarot with Rene at Arcana
Friday Night Makes at Durham Arts Council
6:30 p.m.
Rebecca Kleinmann Quintet at Missy Lane's Assembly Room
7 p.m.
Live Vinyl Spinning by PhDJ at Beer Study Durham
Diggin in the Crates at Boricua Soul
Stand Up Comedy at Mystic Farm and Distillery
American Muse: Music and the Paranormal with Matt Marble at Online
7:30 p.m.
PLAYlist Concert Series: John Brown & the Groove Shop Band at Durham Central Park
Uri Gurvich/Rodolfo Zuniga Quartet at Sharp 9 Gallery
Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular at The Carolina Theatre
8 p.m.
Latin Dance at Arthur Murray Durham
Get the Led Out at DPAC
Stereo Reveries at DSSOLVR Durham
Music by Jives at Pioneers
Alexa Vélez & Daniel Levin + David Menestres at Shadowbox Studio
9 p.m.
Rebecca Kleinmann Quintet at Missy Lane's Assembly Room
Rock En Español: The Latin Rock Invasion at Motorco Music Hall
90's Karaoke at The Pinhook
Latin Nights at The Velvet Hippo Bar & Lounge
10 p.m.
Moodboard at Rubies on Five Points

Saturday, May 4

Events at Boxyard RTP

• 7-10 a.m. - 2024 Komen Triangle Race for the Cure
• 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. - Saturdaze: DJ k.ward
• 5-8 p.m. - Bop at the Box

Events at Durty Bull Brewing Company

• 1-8 p.m. - Food Truck: Weizzie's Country Kitchen
• 1-5 p.m. - Handcrafted DURM Mother's Day Market
• 3-5 p.m. - Live Music: Clare Means
• 7-10 p.m. - Karaoke Night

Distillery Tours and Tastings at Liberty & Plenty

• Every Saturday, 10-10:30 a.m. and 11-11:30 a.m.

Events at Mettlesome

• 7:30-8:30 p.m. - House Party
• 8:30-9:30 p.m. - Harold Night
• 9:30-10:30 p.m. - The Improv Jam

Guided Walking Tours with Triangle Adventures

• 2 p.m. - Downtown Durham Walking Tour
• 4 p.m. - Durham African American History Tour
• 6 p.m. - Downtown Durham True Crime Tour

8 a.m.
Cars and Coffee at 5425 Page Rd
Durham Farmers' Market at Durham Central Park
parkrun Durham at Southern Boundaries Park
9 a.m.
South Durham Farmers' Market at Greenwood Commons Shopping Center
40th Anniversary Festival at Kiefer Nursery
NCCU Graduation at NCCU
Naturally Wild presents Birding for QTBIPOC at Sarah P. Duke Gardens
9:30 a.m.
Pollinator Garden Volunteer Day at The Glass Jug Beer Lab in RTP
10 a.m.
Free Comic Book Day at Atomic Empire
Annual Spring Celebration & Plant Sale at Briggs Ave Community Garden
Hayti and Haiti: Free Soil Havens Walking Tour at Hayti Heritage Center
11 a.m.
19th Annual Strawberry Festival at Old North Durham Park
Durham Garden Tour at Various Locations
12 p.m.
May The 4th Party at Boxcar Bar + Arcade
Crafternoons at Gizmo Brew Works
1 p.m.
Wild Kratts at DPAC
2 p.m.
Durham "Bullpen" Treasure Bullpen at Fullsteam Brewery
NCCU Graduation at NCCU
3 p.m.
Cinco de Mayo Bar Crawl at Downtown Durham
Derby Day Party at Lula and Sadie's
Pops in the Park at Piney Wood Park
5 p.m.
Wild Kratts at DPAC
6 p.m.
DanceGruv Radio presents WAV 002 at 21C Museum Hotel
Bardo Bloom and Tarot with Virginia at Arcana
Emily K Center’s Mother’s Day Ball at Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club
6:30 p.m.
BeMyFiasco at Missy Lane's Assembly Room
7 p.m.
West Virginia Dance Company at ADF's Samuel H. Scripps Studios
7:30 p.m.
Private Event: Shop Closed at Moon Dog Meadery
Kevin Beardsley Quartet at Sharp 9 Gallery
The DJam at Succotash Southern & Creole Kitchen
The Howard Levy 4 at The Blue Note Grill
9 p.m.
BeMyFiasco at Missy Lane's Assembly Room
Gimme Gimme Disco at Motorco Music Hall
Punk & Drag For May The 4th Be With You at The Pinhook
10 p.m.
Gay Agenda Presents: Galactical Boogie at Rubies on Five Points

Sunday, May 5

Events at Atomic Empire

• 11:30 a.m. - Pokémon League Challenge
• 12 p.m. - One Piece TCG Tournament

Events at Durty Bull Brewing Company

• 1-6 p.m. - Food Truck: Pull Ups Mobile Eatery
• 2-4 p.m. - Hammered Trivia with Thor

10 a.m.
Durham Craft Market Spring Fling at Durham Central Park
Jazz Brunch at Lula & Sadie's
12 p.m.
Cinco De Mayo at Boxcar Bar + Arcade
Community Celebration at Nasher Museum of Art
Sunday Dollar Bin Sale for Charity at Rumors Durham
Bike Month Kick-Off: Bike to Connections Ride at West Durham
Farmers Market at ZincHouse Winery & Brewery
12:15 p.m.
Public Tour at Duke Chapel
1 p.m.
Black Farmers' Market at Durham Tech
Duke Baseball vs Longwood at Jack Coombs Stadium (Doubleheader)
2 p.m.
Hillandale Golf Beginner Clinic at Hillandale Golf Course
Cinco de Mayo Latin Day Party! at The Velvet Hippo Bar & Lounge
3 p.m.
United in Song: Music of the American Experience at Baldwin Auditorium
4 p.m.
Gardening Classes at The Glass Jug Beer Lab in Downtown Durham
6 p.m.
Nathan Hockett & Jonathan Yandel and Tarot with Emily at Arcana
6:30 p.m.
Open Mic Night at Moon Dog Meadery
7:30 p.m.
Dr. Jordan B Peterson at DPAC
8 p.m.
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the PTSD-List at The Carolina Theatre

Running Art Exhibits

Constellations: 40 Years of Explorations within Sacred Geometry at Horse & Buggy Press and Friends Gallery

• Sacred Geometry is an ancient field of physics whose equations are expressed through shape. Shape is a way to explore the universal fabric of our existence.
• Sat, Mar 30 - Tue, Apr 30
• Free admission

Jenny Blazing: Scapes - 5 Points Gallery Featured Artist Exhibition at 5 Points Gallery

• Jenny’s acrylic and collage paintings are her response to the diverse landscapes surrounding us. Each stroke of color, each layer of texture, is a tribute to the breathtaking natural panorama of our state—from our rolling hills and sundrenched fields to our skies bursting with drama.
• Fri, Apr 19 - Sat, May 11
• Fri, 5-9 p.m. and Sat, 1-9 p.m.
• Free admission

Hometown (Inherited): Ten Year Retrospective at The Fruit

• This project examines the changing landscape of our city through a series of forty mixed media pieces the artist has created since 2014.
• Third Friday openings on Apr 19 and May 17, 6-9 p.m.
• Drop-in by appointment and Wednesdays 4-7 p.m.
• Free admission

It Ain’t All Black And White at DAG Truist Gallery

• It Ain’t All Black and White is a photography exhibition that encourages us to consider emotions such as serenity, apprehension, yearning, and more.
• Captured by 11 dynamic photographers dedicated to documenting the fullness and complexity of Black life, this exhibition offers each of us an opportunity to see ourselves with renewed attention.
• Thu, Apr 25 - Sun, June 2

María Magdalena Campos-Pons: Behold at Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

• María Magdalena Campos-Pons: Behold is a monographic exhibition of a visionary voice in photography, immersive installation, painting and performance.
• Thu, Feb 15 - Sun, Jun 9
• Every week, Tue-Sat 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun 12-5 p.m.
• Free admission

Counterpoints at Durham Bottling Co.

• Counterpoints is a curated showcase of local AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) artists, delving into the convergence of AAPI identity and mental health. Inspired by the intricate layers of musical counterpoint, its purpose is to weave together diverse narratives and confront the stigma surrounding mental health within our communities.
• Wed, May 1 - Sun, June 16
• Mon - Fri, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Cameron Elyse's Divine Nine Legacy Memoir Exhibition at Hayti Heritage Center

• The Divine Nine Legacy Memoir delves deep into the history of the National Panhellenic Council (NPHC) or "Divine Nine," a collective of nine Greek Letter organizations founded on May 10th, 1930.
• These organizations were born out of the necessity to provide a voice for Black American students within the collegiate space. United by principles of service, community, brotherhood, and sisterhood, the Divine Nine work collectively to uplift society through acts of service to underserved areas across the nation.
• Fri, Apr 19 - Sat, June 22
• Free admission