I’ve been to PR a lot, I’m on a neighboring island.
Me and some buddy’s are going the second week of June for my 30th birthday. We have 2 full days and two travel days.
I’ve been to La Factoria, La Placita, found myself in La Perla at 3am a couple times, I’ve done the rainforest hikes, Rincon, Luquillo, and Pork Highway, ziplone..
Looking for a couple new things, night life being one of them.. Where do the hipster locals hang out? Looking for good craft cocktails with a dive bar vibe.
Also day trips, I really liked the Pork High Way. Any other mountain towns with good food and vibing day parties on the weekends?
We’re staying in San Juan, but renting a car one day is an option. Any new and popular restaurants, bars, museums, and hangout spots would be great. I’m looking to have chill lazy days, and a fun drunken nights.

Friends and I are going to a show at the Smith Center and want to grab dinner beforehand. Don't want anything too touristy or too fancy. Coming from Town Square area. Looking for upscale casual, Yard House, Lazy Dog are our best options so far but I can't say I've been exactly impressed by either place. Would love some other recommendations.

I was so surprised by the chaos and drama of my current playthrough that I wanted to type it all out to share. Would love to hear your stories!
Background
Lunabelle Tweed is the youngest daughter of my original character and the young mayor Benjamin Whitfield. Her name is a portmanteau of Luna McBelle, the lighthouse worker who saved us, and Isabelle Whitfield, who tragically died in an early game spallpox epidemic. The name is very Renesmee coded, but I was running out of creativity and did not anticipate sharing this out.
Her parents, who were elderly by the time she was born, passed away soon after she reached adulthood and so Lunabelle lived alone with her older brother, Lucian. While Lucian succeeded his father as mayor, Lunabelle inherited the family farm. She grew up curious and shy, but with great love of the outdoors—a good little kid with every privilege at her fingertips, seemingly poised for a beautiful life.
Chapter 1: The Beginning
As a young woman, Lunabelle frequents the Sleeping Siren Inn in search of good company and elusive gold star meals. As the island prospered, the inn grew in popularity, requiring two innkeepers and an apprentice to keep up with demand. Lunabelle becomes dear friends with all three: Penelope Hull, Hollie Cooper (the apprentice), and most important of all, Jolene Hutton.
It was also at the inn that Lunabelle first meets Ruben, the third generation child of the Bayley family and the local fisher. They are the person of Lunabelle’s dreams—romantic, stubborn, and quick. Lunabelle is immediately enamored. She gifts them roses and homemade candies, dreaming of a future together.
Just before Lunabelle can propose—a shocking betrayal! Jolene and Ruben announce an impromptu engagement. Lunabelle is devastated. While she resents Ruben, nothing can compare to her fury towards Jolene. For the first time, Lunabelle notices Jolene's cruel, selfish nature.
Lunabelle begins an on-again, off-again romance with Penelope Hull, who deserved far better than to be a rebound. Penelope is perfect—kind, genius, and unflirty (a healthy change)—but Lunabelle struggles to forget Ruben. The two go on dates, and despite the ring in her inventory, Lunabelle never proposes. Making matters worse, every time she speaks with Ruben (and now, their young daughter Imogene), they complain about how poorly Jolene treats them.
Lunabelle harbors dark thoughts, considering giving Jolene a death cake and marrying Ruben herself—but resists. She’s no murderer. Instead, Lunabelle resolves to treat Penelope right. She purchases a final bouquet from Lavender Boutique and the most expensive ring she can from the blacksmith, ready to move on to the next stage of her life.
Chapter 2: The Epidemic
The next morning, Penelope is nowhere to be found. The town is eerily quiet. Those walking about look strange—grey skin, heavy eyes. The visiting sailors spread consumption through town.
Penelope dies first. Ruben follows. By the next weekend, almost every adult in town has perished. By some miracle, Lunabelle’s older brother Lucian and his husband Tom Hull (Penelope’s brother) survive, but it’s small consolation. Lunabelle wonders why Penelope and Ruben had to die, but Jolene lives on. The entirety of winter is back-to-back funerals.
Lunabelle is distraught with grief, but grateful to have her brother and his family. In solidarity with the townsfolk, she adopts Erma O’Dell, an orphan who lost her entire family—all grandparents, both parents, and older brother—during the outbreak. This new family, however, proves more difficult than anticipated. Erma develops a lazy, selfish personality, and the two frequently bicker.
Despite the trauma of losing both Penelope and Ruben, Lunabelle still hopes to find love and build a legacy. She goes on a date with now-grown Hollie Cooper, who apprenticed at the inn with Penelope and Jolene, and the two reminisce over fond memories of days gone by. However, the shared grief proves too much—Hollie rejects Lunabelle’s proposal. It’s for the best: they should look to the future, not linger on the past. The two part amicably.
Chapter 3: Jolene Is Enemy
With few surviving eligible options, Lunabelle goes on a date with Anna Hutton… sister to the cruel Jolene, her enemy. Despite bad blood, so much time and grief has come between them, and Lunabelle cares about Ruben’s daughter Imogene like her own. They could all become one big, happy family. But Jolene had other plans.
The date is disastrous. While Anna is nice enough, Jolene ambushes their date at the waterfall, sitting behind them and scribbling notes. Lunabelle is livid and storms off before the hour is up.
In an effort to repopulate, newcomers begin to move to town, arriving on ships each weekend. Lunabelle tries her luck, to no avail. The new hunter quickly marries the blacksmith; the new innkeeper marries the new doctor. Unlucky in love, Lunabelle resolves to break from dating and focus on her family.
Every day, Lunabelle visits her brother and his two children, gifting them homemade candy and toys when she can. Her nephew Jamie has grown into a fine young man and the spitting image of his grandfather, Benjamin Whitfield. Her niece Francis is a diligent, kind child, and even Erma has grow up well, succeeding the O’Dell family legacy as milliner. Despite their rocky start, Erma and Lunabelle find common ground. Lunabelle is, at last, proud of her daughter. Her only worry is Imogene, Ruben’s daughter with Jolene, who has grown up as cruel as her mother.
Chapter 4: Jolene Strikes Again
All seems peaceful—too peaceful. The next morning, Lunabelle finds a wedding invitation in her mailbox. It’s none other than Jolene...and Jamie. The wedding is in five days. Lunabelle knows what must be done.
As if by fate itself, the witch Astra Vosen sends Lunabelle a surprise gift: a death cake by mail. The day before the wedding, Lunabelle waits for the inn to open. Behind the counter is Jolene, wearing her same cruel smirk. Jolene, her former friend. Jolene, who stole Lunabelle’s lover and bullied her own child. Jolene, who sabotaged Lunabelle’s relationship with Anna. Jolene, who now targets Jamie. Lunabelle offers the cake as an engagement gift. The deed is done.
At Jolene’s funeral, only Jamie cries. Little did anyone know, because of the back-to-back funerals from the consumption epidemic, Jamie and Jolene already married in secret, and somehow had time to both have a child and for Jamie to become pregnant with another. Lunabelle was too late. Her only regret is not killing Jolene sooner.
With Jolene gone, Lunabelle finally marries Anna Hutton, and this time nobody ambushes their romance. It isn’t love, per se, but at least they aren’t lonely. Together, they have two children: Fortuna and Prospero, named with the hope they will meet better fates.
The Finale
Jolene’s memory haunts her. Lunabelle dwells in regret that she could not save Jamie from Jolene’s grip—a mistake she vows never to repeat. She wonders what her fate might have been had she murdered Jolene all those years ago.
Another invitation, this time the wedding of Imogene and Francis, Lunabelle’s niece. Excitement gives way to dread. Lunabelle once loved Imogene as a daughter, but Jolene’s influence has taken its toll. Imogene might resemble Ruben, but she inherited her mother’s cruelty. Lunabelle will do whatever it takes to protect Francis, even at the cost of her soul. She purchases another death cake.
This time, Lunabelle grapples with guilt and indecision. She still sees the little girl she loved as her own. She keeps the cake in her inventory and runs her errands, hoping to clear her head.
Then, the unthinkable happens—or perhaps, it was destiny all along. As evening progresses, Lunabelle grows peckish. In a moment of carelessness, she eats the poisoned cake herself.
That was the end of Lunabelle Tweed.

Please note this is the original submission I sent Refinery29. In the current post,they have given me a second credit card with a 100$ balance, as well as generational trauma from World War II and cut context for other things. I am trying to get that fixed.
Per previous discussion in comments here: The espresso machine is a Bezzera, which ranges from 2-5K. We got ours on sale for 1.7K, it’s a work house and we use it everyday, still hurts that we spent that money on a coffee maker.
I do understand mortgage is debt but when you compare it to rent to a lesser value condo in Vancouver it feels like not debt at all, which is how I tend to think of it. Yes I owe my mortgage but also I get my house instead of renting-which may not have become clear.
Please see in full the diary, below (edit for formatting via mobile)
Occupation: Sr Business Analyst
Industry: Tech
Age: 30
Location: Vancouver Island, BC
Salary: 92,000$ (Spouse makes 60,000$ for a combined income of 152,000$ before tax)
Net Worth: ~ 1.2 Million ( house is valued at 989,000$ currently, we have a combined 150,000 in pension, and ~60,000 in various company stocks, and GICs)
Debt: 3,000$ in a zero interest credit card for a 10 month period. We balanced transferred and pay 400$/month. Debt was acquired in Q4 2023 when we had to buy Snow Tires, and do a full break replacement as well as Christmas. 480,000$ in a mortgage, we refinanced in September 2023 for five years fixed rate at accelerated biweekly, however I don’t consider our mortgage debt due to the equity we are gaining, and that our mortgage for a five bedroom, 3 bath single family home is less than rent for a two bedroom condo in Vancouver
Paycheck Amount (Every 2 Weeks): 2,555$ after taxes. (Just mine). Spouse makes 2,308$ after taxes. Our pay periods are alternating.
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses Mortgage: 1450$ biweekly (100$ extra to the principal).
Utilities: ~200$ (includes water [paid quarterly], hydro [paid bimonthly], gas, sewetrash [paid quarterly] phone [highly discounted due to work plans for spouse and myself] and car gas) Loan Payments: 400$/Credit Card
Car Insurance: 84$
Life Insurance: 167$ combined (67$ me, 100$ spouse)
Health & Dental Insurance: 60$ deducted from pay (coverage for myself and spouse from my employer. Spouse also has coverage for both of us deducted from pay)
Retirement Contribution: 400$ (Employee matches me), (Spouse has a defined pension through work and contributes ~200$ month)
Union fees: 70$ Spouse
Subscriptions: Crave 22$/month (Recent splurge for Binge watching the Rookie), Playstation Plus 100$ (annual bought on Black Friday Deal), Amazon Prime 80$ (Annual), BCAA 120$ (annual) Gym 30$/month (we both have one so 15$/pp)
Note: My spouse and I have completely commingled finances. I will be tracking both as it’s essentially I spent whatever they spent
Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
There was always the expectation. My father was very clear, we were very smart. There was no way we’d be wasting our potential. He wanted me to be a lawyer, but unlike other immigrant parents, I got to choose my major and went into social sciences and got my masters in history. I deferred my PhD too much so I got dropped by the program.
I chose my university by where I got a full first year scholarship and then after that took about 15k in student loans for my undergraduate. My parents paid my rent and I got a part time job for food.
For my masters, I had a student line of credit and 5 k student loans otherwise it was all my savings and scholarships. With the line of credit, I had a total of 30K in student loans and paid it off in about four years.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
Save. We talked about how you get a dollar allowance and half of it goes into long term saving with 25% in short term and 25% in spend.
Investing came after I was eighteen. Family would like us to invest in property, however I don’t really want to be a landlord, but also we wouldn’t get to really enjoy profit of owning a rental property due to other family circumstances.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
Ice cream parlour I was twelve and my parents made me get it for responsibility. I lasted three weeks because I hated it.
Did you worry about money growing up?
I grew up thinking we were not rich, because we didn’t get big plane vacations (I didn’t count flying from Toronto to Vancouver every summer as a vacation since we were just seeing family but staying in a house my parents owned) and I had only been to Disney twice.
But we had a big new build house in the rich end of town, my mom stayed home to raise all of us. We had to work for things (like going to see a movie opening night or a new CD) but we always had money and got what we wanted. In retrospect, my family was/is fairly well off.
Both my parents grew up poor, with parents working multiple jobs and different shifts to make ends meet, the strive/drive to not have that childhood, and for my father to be able to retire his parents really impacted mine and my siblings and cousins lives. My father showed me the apartment he grew up in Chinatown a few years back. It’s light years away from the house my grandparents owned when I was a kid and how I grew up.
Do you worry about money now?
Of course. Inflation is real and we are actively planning a wedding for the next year, as well as a baby in the next few years. We also need to buy a second car, so we’re saving for that.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
Fully financially responsible? Twenty five. I lived in a family property where I didn’t pay rent in one of the most expensive cities in Canada, so even though I paid all my bills (food and phone), I didn’t have to pay rent. I in fact made money, as I rented rooms out and used the income for house utilities, and paying my student loans down faster. When I moved in with my spouse, I just paid condo fees until we bought our house two years ago which gave me plenty of time to save.
Our financial safety net is family, and our savings. I know my family would bail us out. My spouse’s father would as well. Conversely, we are my spouse’s mother's safety net and we have to keep all our plans in mind that we will be subsidising her.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain. Yes, I received 50K from my parents once they sold my childhood home, as did both of my siblings. I have also received 10K from one set of grandparents which paid off my car and part of my student loans when I was 21. I will be receiving another inheritance when probate is done for around ~100K. My spouse also has received inheritance which allowed them to buy their first condo in their early twenties when the market was much better. That condo, 50k, and the subsequent upgrading helped us afford our house.
Day 1
10 AM: I drive to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. Not how I want to start my Sunday morning but y’know. Normally I’d walk since it’s about 20 minutes but I have a UTI. I’m “lucky” that despite not having a dr because of the health care shortage, my work pays for the Maple app so I could get a dr to write the prescription and order the lab work at 1 am. I’ll do the lab work later this week when I can get an appointment but will take the relief now. Insurance makes the antibiotics free, but I also buy hydrogen peroxide because we’re out and we have a dog that thinks everything is meant to be in her mouth. We’ll buy a bigger one at Costco later. I also bought some oral wound mouthwash because we were out. I come home and my spouse made us breakfast.
Total: 15.90$ paid with debit.
1-2:30 PM: We do our taxes. I have a mini meltdown when I realize the part time bakery job I had for a few months didn’t take off income tax last year, so I owe 800$. Luckily, my partner is getting a refund so we net out positive 400$. The bakery took off income tax in 2022, so unsure why they didn’t in 2023. I made us lunch.
3-6:30 PM: We walk the dog, and watch the Rookie. Some time during that time period, a venue emails us back and is surprisingly affordable at 3k. I also get told that the tattoo artist I want to book with, has not chosen me.
6:30-7:30 PM: I explain what lazy girl dinner is to my spouse and make a lazy girl dinner. After not really grocery shopping since Feb for things besides fresh veg, we need to do a big pantry shop and neither of us want that. We debate about buying a food saver and if we should wait for a sale. My spouse is more frugal than me and has determined we should.
8-9:30 PM: We start season 3 of The Rookie, and then after two episodes we go to bed
Day One Total: 15.90$
Day Two
5:45-8 AM: Wake up and start work. I get up to date with what’s happened on the weekend and check that my automated reports. Sometime before 6:30, I get the kettle on for my spouse’s pour over before I go back to my meetings. There’s a twenty minute gap where I get changed and do my skin care and brush my teeth. I’d love to be a skin care person but honestly I’ve spent too much money on product that I don’t use and that just goes bad. Washing my face and using sun screen is a win.
I also make sure that Spouse’s lunch is in his bag and I get our travel mugs ready. Before, we used to go to Starbucks every day. Starbucks used to do free refills on coffee and tea if you were a rewards member if you bought a coffee or tea so it would cost us $5/day (2.5/pp), and we could get refills all day. While that’s 20$/week, 80$/a month and yes, we could have saved it but back then, that 80$ wasn’t turning the dial anywhere significantly for us—a privileged view.
But now, after COVID where I stopped drinking tea after one day working from home having like 10 cups and thinking I was dying, and Spouse has bought a good grinder and we recently splurged on a stupidly expensive espresso machine we call his Engagement Espresso since it costs the same price as my stupidly expensive ring, we bring our coffees.
8-8:30 AM: We drive to work. Prior to buying our house, we were both work from home and lived in a city with amazing transit. We only needed the one car. Since buying the house and moving to a city where public transit is a joke (the one bus goes past our house every 1.5h), Spouse changed jobs and is in office every day and I have to go in 3 days a week. We need a second car or the e-bike rebate to come through. We debate this in the car, since I’m done at 1 pm, and Spouse works normal hours, I either have to take the bus home, or go to the gym for three hours. Today though, I drop Spouse off. I will pick him up later as he has a half day because of the dentist
8:30-12:30 AM/PM: Work. I find a tech manager and ask them to get me more triple a batteries. Work won’t provide or let me expense batteries for my mouse, despite them replacing my usb mouse with a battery one. The poor admin had to tell me the decision is that we’ll all supply our own batteries. Luckily the tech managers have to have batteries on hand and give them out freely.
I ask my boss how the work from home tax forms work, and he is going to find out.
I run more meetings and work on a request for a dashboard and a business case for a new feature that I have to convince leadership to spend money on.
12:30-1 PM: I drive back to my Spouse because he has a dentist appointment.
While I wait for a spouse, I am incredibly hungry. I’m usually not hungry/don’t eat a proper meal until around 1 in the afternoon and my two granola bars I already ate at the office. I go to the bakery by Spouse’s work and buy a cheese bun for me (3.65$), and an apple pie scone (2.55$) for Spouse as a snack. Spouse points out he won’t be able to eat until after his appointment.
Total: 6.20$ debit
1-1:30 PM: I drop Spouse off, and the car stops working. The engine won’t catch. I try multiple times and then run into the dentist to dramatically announce to Spouse and the receptionists that the car won’t start. Spouse asks me what he wants me to do about this, since he’s about to go into an appointment. A very kind receptionist tells me it might be the alternator. I don’t know what that is.
I go back to the car to Facetime my father. He also asks what I think he can do to help since he lives 3000 km away. Weirdly, and sexistly, I thought a man who grew up at race tracks, in a racing family, or the man who has collected and worked on sports cars for forty years might be able to help.
Spouse texts me to remind me we have BCAA while my father also tells me that. I finally get the engine to catch and drive the very long way home, going the speed limit and getting stuck in traffic, construction and a bus. It takes me 20 minutes to get home instead of 10.
1:30-2:30 PM: I walk the dog, mail a (late) birthday card and then start researching what an alternator is. The car is over a decade old and until the house, the most expensive thing I ever bought at 12K back in 2015. We have the funds for the cost, but it’s my first car and the fact it might be the end of its life is scary.
Alternators can cost between 400-800$ repair with labour, so that’s fun.
My dad calls me back and apologises for asking me what he could do away. He advises me that there’s probably a bald spot on the alternator and advises me to go to the mechanic to check or replace it, if the car doesn’t start again.
I call the mechanic to book an appointment, and to also get the snow tires off and to buy new rims for the snow tires. The mechanic lets me know that the alternator part is 500$, and an hour of labour so with taxes we’re looking at around 700$
That future appointment next week (we’re going down a highway this weekend which requires snow tires) will cost ~1.5K, assuming we replace the alternator.
I make lunch and sigh.
2:30 PM: The car starts thankfully. I drive incredibly slow. I pick up Spouse by idling the car. We get an email back from a venue saying they cost 75,000$ minimum. The timing is hysterical.
Due to the nature of the dentist, Spouse owes 618$, as they haven’t flipped it under my insurance. They split it in half, as he has a follow up in two weeks. After the next appointment they will flip the whole amount under me and we’ll get reimbursed for the whole amount.
Total 309$/credit card.
3-10 PM: We walk the dog, make dinner (Spouse makes white sauce pasta, with chicken and peas) and watch The Rookie. There are thirteen episodes in season three, and we will be busy every night this week besides Friday and Sunday, and I would like to finish season three so we can start season 4 next Monday. I don’t want to pay for more than one month of Crave. We have five episodes left
Day Two Total: 315.2$
Day Three
1 AM: 100$ is automatically transferred from our account to the credit card debit. We have an auto transfer of 100$/every Tuesday to a Visa where we balance transferred both our cards. We have an offer for 0 interest for 10 months, so we did that for some of the bigger expenses (snow tires, break replacement and general Christmas) and are on track to pay it back within the next 6 months. That visa is our emergency card that we just have in the back end and utilise for promos like this. It allows us to keep our two cards balances manageable and lets us pay in an easier way than taking big chunks out of our various savings.
Total: 100$/direct deposit
5:45-9 AM: Work. Meetings, reports, trying to convince a colleague that the process does include them and refusal to follow it means that their requests won’t be done. Spouse has another half day so I can go into the office at my leisure—if the car starts
9-9:20 AM: The car starts, I get into the office and refresh a data flow before a meeting with a new stake holder. It takes longer to drive into work today because the tourists are starting to come and their van builds or campers are not exactly highway speed and with a two lane highway, if you don’t merge over fast enough you’re stuck.
10:05-10:20 AM: Meeting done, car starts again and I drive home for more meetings. The least amount of time in the office is preferable for me.
10:30-11AM : Meeting with my manager where we discuss future salary and promotion. I am due for a promotion in the start of Q2, which would push me to six figures. I’ll believe it when I see it but, I’m really excited at that possibility for my family.
11:15 AM: Spouse leaves for work, we discuss what groceries are needed, as well if he’ll go to Home Depot tonight to buy more clover seeds for the yard, as we need to reseed before it starts raining. I eat a muffin and my dog and cat decide to try and eat each other.
11:15-1:30 PM: Work runs late. There’s some issues with the data and we can’t figure it out. We call it a night, and I’ll record the video presentations tomorrow, once we fix the data.
1:30-4 PM: Nap time! It’s bad for me, but honestly I don’t sleep well during the night so naps are what keep me alive.
4-6 PM I prep dinner (smash burgers and fries), and get chores done and walk the dog.
6-7:30 PM: Spouse comes home, we eat dinner. Groceries come to 96.83 for two 7 pound pork loins, two packs of bacon, chicken nuggets, coffee, pop, 8 pack of peppers, milk, tomato, pickles, rice, avocado, mushrooms, sour cream and lettuce.
Not too bad, we average about 300$/month in groceries because we can buy bulk and have a second freezer.
For the month of March we are currently at 123.61$ for groceries and there is twelve days left. We went on a small weekend away, so we ate out a fair bit but even then our current food budget is 272.27$ today.
Total: 96.83/ debit
7:30-10 PM: Spouse makes a coffee and plays video games with his friends. They do it every week. I have a shower, fold and put away laundry and read in bed.
Day Three Total: 196.83
Day Four
1AM: Our biweekly accelerated mortgage payment comes out of 1450$. I’m tracking it here to be honest on our spending but I tend not to think of it as money spent because in my head it’s already money gone. To pay for a house equivalent in Vancouver, the mortgage would be over 6k. Renting a two bedroom condo would be 3K. It feels like the mortgage is just cheaper rent, even though each time I own more of my house.
5:45-9 AM: Work. I find out the limits of how many people I can invite to a Teams Meeting as well as that the Thursday before Good Friday is a catholic holiday when a few people ask me to reschedule a training forum for over a thousand people. Sometime in there I make us coffee, make sure Spouse has lunch packed (leftovers). Spouse has walked the dog and has the recycling and compost out for pick up. I drop Spouse off at work.
10-11:45 AM: I leave the office for home and more meetings. I walk the dog and go record training videos. I get an email that Amazon is doing their big spring sale. I send a link to a robot mop and vaccum that’s on a big discount to Spouse. We want one, but I’m not in charge of the research on it. I send links to play grounds to my friends with toddlers
11:45-12:30 PM : I shove lunch in my mouth, last night’s left overs. I’m running late, and decide to get myself later by collecting all the random dishes and mugs that just show up places and start the dishwasher. I get to the lab ten minutes early but need to buy gas on the way home.
I tell my team I’ll be MIA for a bit and leave the work phone in the car.
I buy 15.6L of gas for 30$ at 1.879/l it sucks. I don’t fill up because we’re going to my in laws this weekend and there’s a Costco Gas Bar there.
Total: 30$/credit card
12:30-1:30 PM: Work goes long again.
1:30-2:30 PM: Nap!
2:30-4:30 PM: Walk the dog and drive to the gym. I usually go three times a week but with last week’s weekend away and this week’s weird half days from Spouse, today’s the only day. I make it up by doing both upper and lower body and a 30 minute circuit.
4:30-7:30 PM: I pick up Spouse and we go to Costco. We pick up nachos, ham, cheese buns and some other items. We debate buying our friend’s kid a toddler set of clothes and decide no. We end up buying work pants for Spouse, and a garden hose. It comes out to 116.90
I order our Costco dinner of hot dogs and fries for a grand total date night of 6.41$
Total: 123.31/ credit card
8-9 PM: Dance class! We bought a series of six lessons of introduction to ballroom back in December for a new date night idea. We paid 60$/pp and this is the fifth lesson tonight.
9 pm: We’re home, we let the dog out. Spouse spends an undetermined amount of time watching ballroom videos while I sleep.
Day Four Total: 1603.31$ or 153.31 excluding the mortgage payment.
Day Five
5:45-9 AM: Work. All the meetings. Thursday is the meeting day. I debate with a friend what’s the earliest call we’ve had. 4:30 am still wins. I pack lunch for Spouse and his coffee and he leaves. I end up cleaning up cat puke as the cat decides to drink milk from Spouse’s cereal and vomit it up on camera in a meeting.
9-9:30 AM: I make myself a matcha and walk the dog.
9:30-1 PM: Work and I treat myself to a lunch of a cheese bun and ham sandwhich. We used to eat it every Sunday while growing up but the cost of ham has been outrageous. The deal at Costco yesterday was 1.5$/100 g which is really good.
1-1:30 PM: I seal the wooden deer Christmas decoration we bought last year. It sits outside our front door and needs to be weather proofed, and I’ve been putting it off for five months. But the weather is good and we have newspapers. We have left over wood sealer after the sign we bought a year ago so I use that. The dog and the cat both don’t like my wooden deer.
1:30-4 PM: Nap!
4-5 PM: I basically just watch youtube and drink a root beer. I have no energy.
5-6:30 PM: Spouse comes home, we walk the dog and I make dinner (Kraft Dinner and nuggets–I swear we eat veggies but today is not that day). We discuss the possibility of our dog at our wedding as a flower girl, and if she’ll be in a tutu or a cheongsam like me. I am now researching if they make dog cheongsams and if she can match us. The cat, despite all my heart wanting it, won’t physically be there because he will have an anxiety attack and probably die.
6:30-10:30 PM: Board game night! We go to a friend’s to repeat the same scenario we’ve lost two weeks in a row.
10:30-11 PM: I pack Spouse’s breakfast (oatmeal and frozen berries), lunch (spicy tuna and mayo) since he’s trying to go to the gym before work, and feed the animals before we go to bed.
Day Five Total: 0$
Day Six Friday
5:45-9 AM: Work. I have a deep focus block which means I can get the script for the training I have to run. Public speaking is not my strong suit and it’s a group of a thousand people so I’m not looking forward to it. Spouse almost makes it to the gym. I get an email that my new work phone has shipped. I’m surprised because they wouldn’t order us any for the past four years, but I guess my new iPhone will show up next week. I might give my old work phone to my mother in law, since she smashed the camera on the phone we bought her last year.
9-9:30 AM: I walk the dog, make a matcha and make a todo list for what we have to get done before we leave to my in laws tomorrow. I text my mother in law happy birthday, and hope that she got the card in time. She did.
9:30-11:30 AM: My last meeting for the week ends and I’m debating calling it a day so I can nap. Instead I make lunch (cheese bun and ham), text my other mother in law our plan for Saturday, and unload and reload the dishwasher and go back to work for at least another hour.
12:30-1 PM: I shower and do skin care
1-3 PM: Nap! Somewhere in this time FedEx comes and since I’m sleeping, we have to pick up on Monday. I’m not too sure what it is, I assume it’s our custom address stamp from Etsy because that’s the only thing I’ve bought recently but not too sure. I just realized in retrospect, this might be my new work phone.
3-5 PM: I prep dinner (nachos), unload the dishwasher, pack my overnight bag and confirm all our venue tours by email. I start a load of laundry and do a quick clean. I feel like this is not the best image of our diet. I swear we generally eat healthy but we both have been feeling really blah over the past two weeks so have been going for quick and easy over healthy and balanced. I do have three whole peppers and two whole avocados in the nachos though.
5-7 PM: Spouse comes home, we walk the dog, have dinner, and plan out next week. We have a big Wednesday next week (mechanic, I have a nails appointment, dance class), and we are having our friends over for Easter so we need to prep for that. We pack the car so tomorrow is a very easy start.
Spouse also gets paid today. We’re lucky that we’re on alternating pay periods, we used to be on the same and it always felt stressful. Spouse also lets me know his union has secured a 3% cost of living raise to start in Q3. I really like his union for negotiating a base 2% year of cost of living raise, with potential addition raises depending on inflation. It’s a bit away but that’s still good news.
7:30-10:30 PM: We finish The Rookie Season 3 and head to bed. Crave reminds me that I have 10 days until I’m charged again. Sadly, I think we’ll have to pay for 2 months.
Day Six Total: 0
Day Seven Saturday
8:30-9:30 AM: Wake up. No one (except the dog) slept well so we’re not in a morning mood. Spouse makes coffee and walks the dog, while I finish packing the car and give the cat a lot of attention. Our first venue tour is at 11 and the one that is the most expensive (8-10K), but also the one we probably want the most. We live about an hour away but the highway is two lanes and one accident can back everything up for hours.
10:40-1 PM: We visit our dream venue. We stay way longer than expected. Basically if the quote is under 10K, we’ll get it. Just waiting now.
1-2 PM: We get to our in-laws and have a lunch of egg salad sandwhichs. We need to buy gas. My in laws drive us to a pottery painting store.
2-4 PM: We paint pottery. My mother in law only wanted to do this for her birthday. They’ll pick it up in a week after it’s been thrown. I paint a vase (28$), Spouse paints an Easter egg (18$), father in law paints a mug (30$), and mother in law paints a plate (50$)
Total:143.36/credit card
4-5 Pm: We see another venue. It’s an instant no. My in laws decide they want to try Korean fried chicken. We call ahead for take out to get two fries and 16 pieces of half and half. It comes to 50.83$ that my in laws pay for.
5-10 PM: We come back and see that our dog has pooped in their house and also has gotten into their pantry and eaten an entire bag of dog food. It is not a fun night.
We spend the night drinking wine and discussing the wedding and watching TV.
10PM: We go to bed. That’s the end of this week, but tomorrow we will be buying gas and probably lunch for my other mother in law as we will be touring another venue.
Day Seven Total: 143.36$

A about to turn 23 year old guy from a small hilly town who was along with his family subjected to a lot of useless hate and disgust for belonging to a certain community from a certain state (might have guessed from which state). Mom belonging to same community as father but was born in this place itself where I was born and my father migrated to this place for business opportunities. My father is a timid personality with his false sense of manhood only in our house and within family, else he has no traits of a MAN, excessive rant about useless things and super low self esteem. On the contrary every character a man should have my Mom has it as she had to be a man as her father and brother were useless. Now I think I have got the traits of my father unfortunately which was not the case some time before like about 3 years ago. Due to this I have become super timid and fear conflict even when I am on the right side which is killing me inside. Currently a last year BSc Computer science student with poor academic record due to trying to fit in with the community which subjected hate towards my community because I can't be alone and due to being looked down upon for belonging to certain community I have developed low self-esteem as well and due to trying to fit in I always end up with the group of lazy bastards and I become one of them. In high school same thing happened but I brought myself out of it but again I didn't wanted to be perceived as some weirdo I again fell into the wrong group. To make matters worse I am super lazy and have no focus at all to learn skills so I can get a job and my college is ending this mid July and now I realise I am a failure who has done nothing in his life yet and with same factors making me weak, I am not going to do anything worthwhile in life. I have tried many times to stay disciplined but always after a week or so maximum I again fall into my old patterns. If I didn't have a family that would grieve my loss, I would have probably killed myself until now.

Thank you to Space paladin for the canvas and u/Acceptable_Egg5560 for proofreading and critique
Content warning; Educator abuse and syrupy love
[First]-[Prev]-[Next]
Memory transcript: Maarchal , MESEA Astronomers. Date: [Standard Farsul calendar ] January 26th, 3667
PLUNCK
Ponthyts blue stick clattered on the board, rolling around in a circle. Before settling on three. He then pumps his paw and moves to move a soldier that many paces.
“Well, I got you cornered now, whatcha going to do about it?” I smirk at Ponthyts soon to be dashed confidence as I take out my red stick and flip in the air much higher than he did with his own.
It hits the board with a loud clatter, bouncing on each end before settling on rolling. To which it landed on seven. I move my last interceptor through his ranks and take his general. The gobsmacked look on his features was evident, with his previously wagging tail so still it made stone seem fluid.
“I win.”
“How did you do that?”
I rolled my shoulders and readjusted my legs underneath. “Well, you left a clear path for my interceptor.” I pointed to the gaps in his remaining pieces.
“I know that! I mean how did you know you'd get a high enough number to do that? Your interceptor was all the way back here and it's your last red piece!!!”
I lean my head back and lean against the wall behind me. “I didn't, I just saw an opportunity and took it.”
He pointed a digit at me “ Mershit, that was some grandmaster trap!”
I give him the ear position of resignation with a mirthful little grin. “I promise you it was just luck.”
He waves his paw dismissively. “I don't believe you.”
“Well believe it, because I don't plan ahead like that. Want to play another game?”
He shakes his head. “Nah I think four games is enough for one night.” He begins moving the pieces into their containers and folds up the board and places it on top of them. Closing the box. He then stands up and offers me his paw, I use it to pull myself up off the floor.“Well Maarchal, I’ll see you tomorrow at the observatory. I’ll bring the set if you want to play it during lunch if you want.”
I froze, “what! What time is it? He turns over to look at the clock above his strove.
“Ahh about Fifteen minutes past 18.”
“Uh, that's not that late! We could play another game! C’mon let's have a tie breaker!”
He rubs his eyes, “I’m tired and we have work in the morning. Is there something you're avoiding?”
I rub my upper right arm and look off into the corner. “...”
He took on a worried look, “Why don't you want to go home Maarchal?”
I sighed and took a seat at his dining room table. “I… I don't like that house, I’ve lived there since I moved to LIghra six years ago but it's not a… home like here.”
I looked around at the messy abode. Dirty cloaks were strewn about on the back of chairs and the rubbish trough was just barely not overflowing. Paintings either from family or Ponthyts own paw were hanged up in the hallways, and the lightbulbs cast a warm orangish light. While the dishes from our dinner were placed in the sink, covered with animal gravy slathered all over them. It was tidy yet just barely so. A place filled with all the markers of being lived in.
“You've lived here less than a year but it feels like it's always had you in it. I feel … so comfortable here. My own home is so… cold and sterile. I Worked a lot the first few months I moved here. I just never got around to making it a home. It feels so bare, I started to work overtime just to avoid it. Which just made the problem worse.”
He sat down across from me, He put his head in his paws and looked at the scratched wood of his table. He held that position for a minute or two before breaking it and placing his paw on my own. “Maarchal, you are my best friend, I want you to feel comfortable. So if you want you can sleep on my coach, I can also help you make your home feel like one."
​
I shake my head, “no no, I shouldnt of imposed on you. Making myself feel at home is a job I need to do and have been avoiding for far too long. It's just… it's just so much easier to avoid you know?” I grabbed his paw and squeezed it. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
​
I stand up and make my way to his front door before he speaks up.
​
“Uh hey Maarchal?”
​
I turn to address him “yeah?”
​
He shifts in his seat and fidgets with his fingers. “I’m uh, going to Ootra lake next week. I was wondering If you'd like… to come with me? I promise if you don't have a tent I’ll bring you one. We could have a fire, roast some meat on it and share ghost stories and stargaze… if you want?”
​
“ What about work?”
​
He rocks in his chair. “We'd have to call in for a day or so.”
​
I contemplated his words and mulled them over. It would be the first time I’ve ever willingly taken off a day, tarnishing my perfect attendance. But the prospect of spending more one on one time with Ponthyt was overwhelmingly tempting.
​
“Sure, I’d love to go. But I haven't gone camping for years so you will need to bring me a tent.”
​
He leapt from his chair, launching it backwards, before calming himself down. “I’ll take care of all the prep. You just have to come along. I promise it’ll be loads of fun!”
​
I chuckled while I watched his clearly restrained display as I slowly closed the door.
​
I could hear him howl with enjoyment as I turned into the driveway to get to my auto.
​
**\*
​
“Huff, Huff, you doin alright there Ponthyt?” I turned back to see him walking behind me.
​
“Yeah, oof I haven't walked this much in years!”
​
I waited for him to catch up, we sat together when he did and we caught our breath before tuning to make our way back up the bluff. When we reached it there was a stone gazebo made of limestone. The angle of the sun let it shine into it. We walked into it and sat down on the stone benches. I looked around at the lake.
​
It was surrounded by steep hills with many rock faces visible, the layered stone was clearly visible. The topography of the area around the bluffs was shaped like a bowl, with the sight of land of higher elevation faintly visible in the distance despite its gradual slope. Giving a scene of depth that was not as extreme then in more mountainous areas. This view was normally hidden by the trees below.
​
“Well isn't this view alone worth the trip?” Ponthyt proclaimed.
​
I looked around letting the mid morning sun warm my back, I stretched my arms and breathed deeply. Taking in all the wonderful scents of nature.
​
“Yeah, it's beautiful.” I let myself relax, just letting the sounds and scents of nature calm me like I have never been since I was a pup on an archeological trip with mom and dad.
​
“Hmm, I've missed this.”
​
I don't know for how long I had been like this, but Ponthyt broke the silence “Ahhem, so, you've gone camping before?”
​
I nodded, “yeah when I was a pup my parents would sometimes go off to a site for a couple of weeks and we would come with them. We would have to get homeschooled then. But we would always have to camp and I and my siblings would go off exploring while they worked during the day.”
​
He smiled and his tail was wagging.” That sounds wonderful. I only got to camp for a couple days a year. It was always so hectic. Me and my siblings would just muck around the camp and eat, sometimes hiking around. Heh” Ponthyt looked towards the ground and held his paws together, rubbing his digits together.
​
“What's wrong Ponthyt?”
​
“Oh it's nothing it's-” I put my paw on his shoulder which drew his attention towards me.
​
“I know that's not true, you can trust me. Just tell me what's wrong ok?”
​
He gave a look of reluctance before caving to my request “… sigh… I grew up in a big family, and I love them all but… I was born at a strange time. I was second to last of my parents pups. Which meant they were busy with the older ones' events and taking care of the youngest. I kind of got mixed up and forgotten. My interests rarely lined up with the others and I often messed up tasks that my sibling would just fix or do for me. It got to the point that I… didn't really do anything. They will never say this but… I don't think my parents ever expected anything of me.”
​
I rub his shoulder,” well… I know that you have amounted to something. I mean, you're an astronomer! You work to understand the nature of reality. You're also so… kind and patient. I tried to scare you off but you weren't deterred at my standoffish behavior.”
​
He turned his head and gave me a shallow but joyous expression. “Heh well living in a house that's rarely quiet leaves you with a high tolerance for stubbornness. '' he wipes away a single tear “Sniff well… should we make our way back to camp? Or can I take out my stuff?”
​
I shake my head. ”Nah, you can paint. I’ll just sit here and let this place wash over me.”
​
He smiles and gets up and sets up his easel, taking out his supplies from his bag and gets to work painting the landscape ahead of him. He was slow and each brushstroke was as deliberate as he could manage. He… wasn't very good, only starting out when he moved here. But his drive to get better was admirable. Even in adulthood he tried to learn, to grow, to become more than he was yesterday.
​
I kept staring at him. Feeling something warm in my gut, something an academic wasn't supposed to feel. Shame overwhelmed me and I quickly turned away. Cursing myself for having those accursed feelings.
​
​
**\*
​
Ponthyt, returned from his cauto (Cargo auto -> pickup truck) with an armful of wood he brought with us. He set most of it aside and threw a piece onto the fire he had started, causing a cascade of embers to fly into the late evening air. The dull purple of the sky cast overhead between the canopy of the trees as the chill of the night began to come in. A pleasant coolness that most would take advantage of to seek the comfort of warming oneself close to a fire.
​
Not me, I paced to a fro as Ponthyt set up our campsite. He had placed his painting for the day inside the cabin of his cautoa and was now seasoning some raw meat strips to cook on the open fire. Snacking on one or two as he did so. He hung them on the tripod to roast, the fat that dripped off them as they were cooking sizzled as they burned on the coals below.
​
“I’ll have these done as soon as I can, please sit down Maarchal. Walking like that is only going to make the wait worse.” He says as he prods the suspended meat with a claw like utensil.
​
“Hmm, ok I’ll just sit and wait. Waste my time. Make a waste of the whole evening!!!” I snapped back at him, throwing my paws into the air.
​
Ponthyt recoils from my outburst with his ears pinned back. “ We’re camping, there is no way to waste it.”
​
I turned to address him, “we shouldn't be here! This trip means nothing and we are just wasting our TIME!!!” I cross my arms and scratch at the biceps. Rufflying the fur and making a mess of myself.
​
Ponthyt drops his utensil and walks over to me. “ We’re together and we spent the whole day just mucking about. How is this any more of a waste than that?” He says as he looks at me with eyes full of worry.
​
“We’re scientists, academics!!! We don't waste time like the ignorant masses! We should spend our time wisely!!! Every action of connection is just another moment we waste that could be spent to advance our field.” I had tears forming in the corners of my eyes. Scratching at my fur until I felt a wetness on my arms and paws.
​
“We’re supposed to sharpen our minds! No-not seek pointless relationships! ” I said as I bared my teeth and began growling at him.
​
The look of betrayal and abject worry he had on his face was overwhelming. I didn't want to hurt him. What am I doing? He doesn't deserve my ire. My legs gave out and I cried into my hands.
​
Ponthyt walked over to his cauto and brought out a cover. He wrapped it around me and rubbed my arms through it. He rested his head on top of mine while I sobbed. I couldn't take this anymore. Repressing and lashing out at any attempt to connect. Ponthyt hugged me and rocked back and forth. Humming and rubbing on the cover. He was warm and soft. I don't know how long we had been like this but by the time my sobs turned to a faint whine the meat over the fire was well done and the sky was pure black and the stars were out.
​
“I-I think i’m good no-now.” I choked out. Ponthyt grabbed my hand and helped me stand up. We didn't say another word. He collects the meat and places it on two plates. I stare at my portion for some time, Ponthyt doesn't eat any of his either.
​
“Sigh… I know you might not want to but… Could you tell me why you said those things earlier?” He says with trepidation clearly miring his words.
​
“Yeah, it's just… When I entered college It was… not what I was expecting… I was sort of a hyper teen. Always going off about some book I read. Drawing pictures of stars, space stations or colonies we would make on inhospitable planets.”
​
He sits up and places his plate by his side. “You draw? I’d love to see some of them.”
​
“I used to. But I haven't since that first year of college.” I turned to stare at the dying inferno warming us. I pull the cover around me tighter.
​
“When I was doodling before class one day the professor walked by me. He noticed what I was doing and grabbed my paper. I objected but he just stared at me. When he started to address the class he showed it off and mocked me for wasting my time.” Ponthyt turns his head to look at me.
​
“That's a dick move, But at least he couldn't do the same when you did it in your free time right?” I turned to him with a somber expression. He seemed to understand the implications though he seemed to be confused as to how.
​
“He couldn't have gotten into your room right? That'd be a huge breach of privacy!!!”
​
I grabbed the poker and stirred the coals of the fire. “You're right, he couldn't. But he didn't need to, my roommate would take them with her to class and he’d pin them up on the board to mock. I called the staff but since she was my roommate she didn't break any privacy laws and since my art was only ever worth the paper it was on it wasn't even enough to get a misdemeanor theft charge. I tried to hide it but she would always find them. I tried to get another roommate but he stonewalled my attempts and I couldn't afford to rent a place in town. ”
​
He took on a look of absolute despair. “... How… how could he be so aggressively intolerant of such an innocent hobby?”
​
I chuckled “It wasn't just mine, a few others had made the mistake of having a roommate with the same professor. I remembered one who loved going out in the woods for hikes. When he found out about that he mocked him for “Pointless exercise and admiring a random assemble of dead and dying shit””. I waved my arms about to emphasize how he inflicted his words.
​
Ponthyt stared at the ground between us with a look of utter confusion.” … He mocked someone for appreciating nature and being healthy?”
​
I nodded, “if you were not engaging with study of his topic you were wasting his and everyone else's time.”
​
Ponthyt looks at me with concern and shared pain. “Why, why didn't you go to a different school?”
​
I stared at him in his eyes. A scene of shame overtook me. “It was the top class in the country. My family was so proud of me. I was so proud of myself, I didn't want to disappoint them and me. Looking back on it, I realize my own pride was something I rarely contended with until then. It didn't help when he found out who my family was.”
​
Ponthyt recoiled and waved his arms in a “what” fashion. “Wait, what does your family have to do with this?”
​
I poked at a log to knock off the charcoal to expose the untouched wood underneath. “They were happy. He spent a lot of time in academic circles so naturally he met people who knew my parents. And the way they described this happy family irritated him something fierce. He gave me such a hard time with it. Mocking me for being a lazy nepotism pick who didn't deserve her seat in his class. He mocked anyone for having any kind of non professional relationship, we never spoke to each other outside of class. We never left or met with friends or family. If we tried too he’d find out and call the one in question a “Lazy sentimental idiot.””
​
I breathed in deeply, “... that hurt my pride so severely that I just stopped seeing them or any of my friends. I always said I was busy or had a field study, but I was just reading and rereading his lectures. I didn't even go home for the summer breaks, I just apprenticeshiped at his museum to study even more. At graduation he looked so… proud, I only realized he was proud of what he turned me into and not what I did a few weeks after I met you. How I let him turn me into an angry starile shell of a person.”
​
Ponthyt turned his head towards the fire. His ears straight up and a soft growl in his throat. “... If I ever meet that piece of.. nuclear waste, I’ll kill him.”
​
He turns to me and his features soften immediately. “Anyone capable of manipulating someone as passionate and creative as you... I can't even imagine the kind of living hell he made you seek…”
​
I chucked and a slight wag entered my tail.” I’m responsible for my life. MY pride kept me there for him to mold. I hate him, but I hate myself for it too.”
​
Ponthyt shoots up and screams at me “MERSHIT, Maarchal, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You had a right to expect your teachers to be respectable people. Not abusive and manipulative Sherkires (Ambush insect. Commonly seen as sneaky and unhonorable due to making pheromones and calls imitating other insects mating signals). He starts to speak softer as he turners to address me.
​
“Even this version of you, so cut off of why you love space in the first place is just.. You are one of the most remarkable people I have ever met. So humble with addressing yourself. You inspire me to be a tenth of the person you are.” He kneels in front of me and grabs my paws in his own.
​
“You are… you are so passionate, so creative. Even with being a self described shell. I can't even imagine how you will be when you open up again and explore your creativity in full and banish that monster's influence for good.”
​
I turn and I can't help but smile at his words.”... I haven't been in practice in years. But … I’m willing to relearn it with you.” I stared deeply in his eyes and that feeling again bubbles within me. The feeling of never wanting to leave his side, the feeling as though I found a piece I had been missing. Before I knew it I bit on his snout, recoiling when I realized what I had done.
​
‘I-I’m so sorry!!! You were just so close and and I felt something and before I knew it-” I was caught off guard when he bit my snout, holding my top jaw between his own set. I bit down on his lower jaw and we locked together. He tried to let go after a while. But I growled to let him know I wasn't ready yet and I used my leverage to lead him into my tent.
​
**\*
​
I got up and exited my tent. I stood up and stretched and twisted my back around. Lifting my arms above my head and pulling them as far out as I could. I looked at the coals still burning in our firepit, I could only tell they were burning from the heat going off of them as the glow was hidden by the sun's light. Before noticing the meat Ponthyt prepared last night still on the plates on the log we sat on.
​
“Pff, hey Ponthyt. Come out here!!!” I said behind me. He crawled out my tent with a head of messy fur.
​
“Wut ?” He said with half closed eyes and a disposition of utter exhaustion . I pointed to the cold meat. He still had a look of drowsiness before he realized what the significance of the strange strips were.
​
“Heh, I guess we won't need to make breakfast?” I chuckled as I sat down and hugged his head. I groomed his messy fur as I absorbed the morning sun. I don't know what the future of my career looked like anymore. But it was no longer the most important thing in my life. I loved space, I loved to learn. But In these years I had lost track of what was truly important. As I groomed him Ponthyt fell asleep with his head in my lap.
​
As I felt the joy of reciprocal love again for the first time in years I leaned back and watched the sunrise, caressing my love's head and breathing in the fresh air.
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I’ve seen a lot of discussion about Haley online recently, especially on tiktok. I think Haley is an interesting character so this is a good thing! But it seems there’s a big gap between Haley as she exists in the game and Haley as she exists in the minds of a lot of fans.
There are a lot of tiktok videos about Haley right now using ‘Good Luck Babe’ by Chappell Roan, which if you didn’t know is about a sapphic relationship where the love interest is repressing her feelings and convincing herself that she’s straight, leading to the end of the relationship. It’s a great song, but I’m really struggling to see how it connects to Haley. I’ve married her as a female farmer expecting this to be a big part of her arc and it just… isn’t? She never mentions struggling with her sexuality, never denies her feelings for you. She just seems happy that you’re interested in her. It’s like she’s been out as bi/lesbian since before you arrived in town. But if you were to only watch tiktoks and read the discussions about her you’d be led to believe that you are the cause of her lesbian awakening and that she has to go through this whole inner battle with herself before she can accept her feelings and then you ride off into the sunset together.
To me, Haley is a character who teaches you the lesson of not judging a book by its cover. She appears to be a vapid valley girl at first glance and is pretty rude to you before you get to know her. At her heart she’s a generous and layered person who has most likely downplayed her interest in photography because people never bothered to ask about her interests, never cared enough to pay attention to anything more than her appearance. This trend of pretending that she’s uncomfortable being anything but straight seems to be based completely on her appearance as a conventionally pretty blonde girl, and ultimately I think making this judgement about her based purely on her looks goes completely against the point of her character’s role in the story.
I also think it’s worth mentioning the amount of people saying that Haley is autistic-coded and twisting what is pretty clearly meant to be rudeness into a lack of social skills, which just seems incredibly lazy to me. I am autistic, I believe there are characters in the game who could be seen as autistic (mostly Emily), but the popular girl who judges people based on their appearance is pretty much the polar opposite of an autistic-coded character. I’m all for headcanons but if you actually spread this interpretation of the dialogue like it’s a solid theory I think you’re just not very good at interpreting text. At the end of the day, sometimes people are just rude on purpose, and not every hobby is a special interest.
TL;DR: Haley according to the game and Haley according to a large portion of the fandom are two completely different characters.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. I’m gonna go pick a sunflower and give it to my virtual wife.

If you own a dog, pick up after it.
I go to several dog parks around town and despite multiple bag receptacles in the parks courtesy of the city, people still don't pick up after their dog.
Honestly, how lazy are you?

TLDR: Boomer grandma cancels existing plans on a whim and manipulates her way into a family day, making it about her behavior, instead of recognizing my wife on Mother's Day.
I (M47) live about an hour from my parents. With Mother's Day in the US last weekend, I try to plan things out so that we get to see my parents and also recognize my wife for being a wonderful mom. So the plan for weeks was that we would visit my mom on Saturday so she could see the grandkids at a local festival with rides games and music. Sunday was going to be family stuff here in town for my wife.
A little background: My parents don't care much for my wife. My dad has called her a gold-digger and lazy, asked why she does not have dinner ready for me when I get off work, etc. We've already discussed that, "If I'm happy, and I'm telling you I'm happy, then you have no business poking into how we run our home." My wife is not lazy or a gold digger, but she is neuro-spicy in several ways, and some days the ADHD does not let her get much done despite her wanting to. My sister had kids much earlier than I did with her kids being in their 30's, and mine are in elementary schhool. My parents don't understand why we won't leave the kids with them for a week during the summer, but my parents are elderly and unable to do basic things like pick the kids up if there was an accident or emergency. Mom had a stroke and has difficulty speaking clearly, and dad is a heart transplant pattient. They also don't parent the same we we do. My dad wants things done the way he wants and when he wants, or he yells, and we are trying to break generational traumas, lol. Not to mention that riding in a car with my dad driving is taking a gamble with your life.
On Friday night I call to finalize plans because we need to drive an hour there and an hour back. I tell Mom that my wife has a job in the afternoon so we will be there from about 8 AM to noon. Everyone agrees to the final plan. Then I get a text an hour later. "We have decided we are not going tomorrow". I ask if everything is okay, and I'm told everything is fine.
The next morning, my nephew texts that he is in town and wants to know if we are free. I'm nervous because he is staying with my parents, but he's a cool kid. so I tell him our plans to have a family day for Mother's Day but he's welcome to join us for lunch. He replies, "Great! Grandma and I will be there." Shit.
So, my mom canceled the plans we had because she wanted more time with the grandkids (which makes no sense). Then she used my nephew as her flying monkey to find out when and where we were doing our family things so she could stomp in and make it about her. I called and explained that there were some hurt feelings from Saturday but that I expected good behavior and Mother's Day lunch was not the time to bring it up and discuss it.
This was a local place that makes like 20 different types of amazing tacos. Mom hated it. We were polite and put on a happy face, talked, and left. The grandkids were not in a mood for hugs and we have never been the type of parents who force kids to give hugs. We don't like taking their autonomy away like that. I hugged Mom because she's my mom. Then she went to hug my wife, who accepted, but stood stiff and did not reciprocate, and turned around to load the kids in the car.
I simply don't understand the manipulative behavior, and the need to make it all about them. I know I should have Stood my ground and told her she was not welcome to come, but it's difficult when your mom is crying on the phone. She is a more manipulative person than I gave her credit for.

Originally for SEUS: Film EU
Based on The Man with No Name trilogy of Clint Eastwood westerns
It was raining that day, a desultory rain whose rare droplets did more to kick up the dust than water the ground. The clouds overhead provided more relief from the relentless summer heat, letting people move around the mining town's only street in relative comfort. Not that there were many people left since the silver dried up.
I stood behind the bar, wiping out a glass as my eyes darted about the room. Half the tables were taken by the gang, rough men as likely to start a shootout as pay up in their card games. The Smith boys were in their usual corner of my saloon, the last of the old crowd, tough enough and poor enough that the gang didn't bother them much. They traded the same handful of battered coins around the table to the whims of a lazy game of poker. Jess was seated at the bar, nursing the whiskey I handed him without the need to order. Poor lad. Heard the tales of the mining rush late, and arrived on the last train to ever come down the tracks, now drinking away his funds and waiting for something to happen.
The usual customers were in, so I was surprised when a man strode in. He was tall, tall enough that I could see his weather-worn face under his lowered hat brim. He paused in the threshold, brushing the raindrops off his old, patched green poncho. I couldn't help but notice it was cut to give him easy access to his pistols, and that his eyes never stopped dancing around the room, assessing. The spurs on his boots clicked in the sudden silence as he approached the bar. Out of the corner of an eye, I saw some of the gang beginning to shift in their seats. I didn't like the way their hands were drifting below the tables, right around belt level.
Still, there was nothing to do but pretend everything was normal and hope they held off shooting until they were outside. I forced a smile I was far from feeling. "Welcome to Rattler's Gulch. What brings you here, Mr...?"
He took a stool. "Whiskey. And just passing through."
It took me a moment too long to realize that was his order rather than his name, and I fumbled with the bottles in my haste. As I set the shot before him, another twinge of nervousness wracked me, seeing a pair of gang members rise and approach on either side of him.
I swallowed. It was the same old story. "Payment, sir?" I croaked through a dry throat. If I was lucky, I could get paid before they dragged him out. It was hard enough to keep the bar going as it was.
The man nodded amicably enough and set a coin on the counter. But before I could sweep it away, the man on the right, the tallest of the gang, leaned on the counter. He set his forearm between me and the money, while blocking the stranger from reaching his drink.
"You don't belong here, friend."
"Yeah," his partner said, "So why don't you just mosey on out."
The stranger considered this for a time that felt far too long, and I froze in place, not daring to duck and draw unwanted attention. "Just getting a drink before I move on. Wasn't planning on staying long."
The tall man chuckled. "And I'm saying you've already overstayed your welcome. Git."
The stranger nodded slowly. He reached for his coin, but the shorter man stopped him. "Gotta pay the toll."
From the back, someone else piped in. "I think the toll ain't high enough, for the aggravation he's done caused."
It was a familiar scene, played out with every rare stranger to town. The Smith boys didn't look up, and Jess huddled lower over his glass. It helped me feel a little less a coward. It wasn't that there was nothing I could do, but rather that there was nothing we could do. All united in our cowardice, or helplessness, ready to watch the same old story play out again.
But it didn't this time. This time, I saw magic.
I dropped below the bar when I saw the stranger's hands move. The sound of gunfire went on longer than I expected, and too many screams rang out. At last, it was silent, and I poked my head out.
The gang was dead, every one of them. Bodies strewn about the saloon, one half-laying through a broken window, yet another collapsed in the street where he'd tried to run, the doors swinging from the force of his passage. I could only stand and stare as the stranger put away his revolvers and took his drink.
Perhaps, finally, it was time for a new story.

I am a new player and only recently got into playing cdda. I have only used the evacuee start with a street fighter character after watching some tutorials. This time, the character spawned in an evac shelter with an NPC and I went to talk to it. It gave me the quest to survive 10 days on my own. I have done the evacuee start a lot so I knew what to do at the beginning with a survivor character and for the quest I thought I could find a cabin and stay there for 10 days. I crafted screwdriver, crowbar, quarterstaff and stuffs and went out at night to loot a house in the nearby town and to keep it as my base because i was too lazy to find a cabin. But when I opened the map I saw that there was a hub 01 near my evacuee shelter. I had heard after reading some posts that they had some advanced quests for intermediate players and their armor. I went there just to find out what it was all about. I entered the lab and got a quest to kill a prototype robot. On my way to the robot i found a portal, i entered it and got teleported some distance in front of it. when i reached the field where the robot was, since it was night i couldnt see much, the tiles were all black. i tried walking around the unexplored map tile and heard the machine whirring sound and got scared and backed off a little, but when i heard it again i got curious and thought the robot probably cant see me since i got night vision, big mistake. it saw me but i was able to outrun it thanks to dex 10. then i went back and tried avoiding the robot to find the scientist body. i found it and got two emp grenades. not knowing whether simply throwing it was enough, i went to read some emp grenade posts and got to know stuffs like 'activated but didnt throw', 'blew up myself' and stuffs. i was a little afraid but then i wielded it and activated it, then got just far away from the robot that i could hear its sound and threw the grenade there, but when the robot came into view the grenade was 2 3 tiles away from it, so i tried running around the grenade to make the robot follow me into the grenade range, then i waited for the emp to explode and that's when i thought will the emp hurt me too, it exploded and killed the robot and fried my phone too but i survived. that was a really exciting experience and i felt like it was for experiences like this that people loved cdda this much. then i got the io thingy from the robot and gave it to hub 01 and went on my way because the other quests were obviously too much and much far away from my location. i explored around the road at night and found another evac shelter but this one was infected. a zombie came at me but i was too bored to fight it. so i went away and spotted a cabin on my map. then i thought back to my NPC's quest about surviving on my own for ten days and decided that cabin was perfect. i made my way to the cabin and got attacked by earth worm thingies two separate times but killed the first one and ran away from the second. i slept at the cabin hungry because i didnt have any food. the next day i woke and decided to do foraging. BIG MISTAKE. i didn't even take 10 steps away from the cabin when a frigging graboid popped out of the earth. i ran into the cabin and it tore through the wall. i ran away the opposite way through the window and decided to visit the refugee center which was also close to my starting evac shelter. it was morning and on the way to the refugee center was a town and some zombies on the outskirt of the town saw me and started chasing me. before that i had eaten some fiddlesticks i foraged to stave off my hunger but got food poisoning (i ate them even though the game said they looked poisonous). the way i went i encountered a mass grave and i wanted to avoid it. the zombies from the town were catching up to me so i started to run around the grave, i had turned off the safe mode because it got annoying. my stamina gave off all of a sudden and before you know it i was surrounded by zombies on all sides. the end. my last words were "F*** STAMINAAAAA"

I hate myself and I feel like such a cliche. I (f)got married young (21) to my husband who is a couple years older. I think a few things led to me personally making this life choice. My parents had a messy divorce which left me estranged from my father and feeling forgotten about/replaced by my mother and I was Obsessed with starting my own family. I even thought I wanted to be a young mom at the time. So we got married young after 4 years of dating. I was also brought up religious and that combined with my mental illness made me cling to purity culture beyond a healthy amount even after I stopped being christian. My husband was my first kiss (at 18), first everything… you get it.
he’s known the whole time he’s been with me that it’s my life long dream to live in New York to pursue my dream career. he’s always been supportive and honestly he’s a great man. He’s honest and loving and so completely giving. Anyway, fast forward we’ve been married 2 years and living in New York for a year. my whole life and self has changed. Im realizing all the things I want to with my life, I’m making friends, I’m going places, on trips with my friends. My husband does nothing at all besides play video games with his friends that are back in our home town. It’s not even that he’s lazy because he’s really not. He does his part and more when it comes to chores he just isn’t taking care of HIMSELF. He never has to leave the couch because he works from home. So do I. So we are together at home all day. And I feel guilty building a life and living it. he hasnt tried making friends at all. Has no other hobbies. This man hasn’t left our tiny apartment for a year. I feel like his whole existence orbits around me and video games and it’s making me crazy. I’ve seen a difference in him from before we moved and he agreed with me he won’t stay happy long term. I’ve cried to him about this several times now but it’s just like he’s paralyzed or something. He’s not taking care of himself in any way. I feel like we’re holding each other back
i am trying to keep this short so I’m not going to go into every detail or other problems we have, like whether or not we’ll be compatible parents, but there’s one thing we all know changes and determines everything: sex. I’m just gonna give it to you straight. It’s not good. It took me forever to realize because I had nothing to compare it to. I used to think I was not a sexual person but it turns out I think he’s the one who isn’t. even today it’s been almost two weeks and he hasn’t even mentioned it. I have tried asking to try new things a couple times in the past but he’s not that receptive. I’ve been with him for 6 years total and I’ve never finished without … help. It gets to a point where when he finally does initiate I’ve already taken care of it myself or just don’t want to. And these days I just don’t feel attracted. The guilt is eating me alive. There’s nothing anyone can say that I don’t think worse of myself. Not even the most woman hating incel lol(boy would they love this story fml) I would never ever cheat but I feel like a teenager any Mild attraction I have towards anyone else spirals into endless fantasizing and it’s driving me literally crazy and again, makes me so guilty I want to die... I don’t know where to end this and its already pretty long so I guess I’ll leave it there for now. I feel Like the only person in the world with this problem. are these problems fixable? I’m left with a lot of moral questions which I guess aren’t allowed. What makes a marriage with big foundational problems salvageable? Am I being too selfish? I know certain things fade anyway but feeling like we’re already there in our early twenties is… so depressing.
tl;dr: got married young. same bs cliche problems you expect arose and I just found out youre supposed to actually really enjoy sex. And I want to. but I don’t. Not sure where to go from here

Player Character

Basic Information

Reddit Account: u/a_dolf_in
Discord Tag: ArcElliott
Name and House: Olivia Redwyne
Age: 26
Cultural Group: Andal
Appearance: Olivia has a very confident aura around her at all times, the result of just being in charge and often being the only competent person for miles around for more than a decade. In typical Redwyne fashion, she has red hair and her eye colour sits somewhere between green and blue (depending on the light). Her hair is long, reaches down to her lower back, and is usually braided in some way to keep it tame. Other than that, she is of average height and has a very hourglass-figure.
Trait: Mariner
Skill(s): Admiral (e), Cunning, Tactician, Malicious
Talent(s): Sommelier, Drawing, Gymnastics
Negative Trait(s): -
Starting Title(s): Grand Admiral of the Arbor
Starting Location: opening feast
Alternate Characters: -

Biography

Olivia was born in the year before the conquest to Osric and Joanna Redwyne, as their second child. In the very next year, Osric would be fatally injured by dragonfire at the Field of Fire, and pass before he could even be brought to a maester. Therefore, the young Redwyne never really knew her father, but both her and her older brother would soon be adopted by their uncles Simon and Lucas, the latter of which their mother Joanna would then marry and have another child with.
It is usually said that every Redwyne is born with a natural inclination towards the sea. For Olivia that turned out to be much stronger than for most others, and was only further reinforced each time one of her uncles took her along on a journey across the Arbor Strait or on some journeys south. What started as jokingly giving her command during a trip once, quickly turned into a lot of surprise for the crew when the then 6-year-old began barking orders as if she had spent four decades at sea. With each journey she was progressively given more and more responsibilities until she eventually commanded her own ship. In that regard she was outpacing her brother Clovis massively.
She was 14 when her brother Clovis, then Lord of the Arbor, ran off to Essos. Within the week she was on board of her ship sailing east in order to find him and bring him home. Unfortunately for her that happened to be precisely when the fighting was going on in the Stepstones, and upon request by Queen Rhaenys she was forced to partake in the fighting first, giving her brother more than enough time to get lost somewhere in the eastern continent.
So, for about four years she sailed from town to town giving chase until she finally caught his trail and chased him down in Qarth, drunk out of his mind, in the courtyard of some local magister. She quickly put him on a ship and sailed back to the Arbor with him.
The following years proved rather uneventful. There was the occasional Ironborn party which came too close to the island for comfort and needed to be met with force. An occasional escort for some trade convoy. Most of the time, however, she spent tending to her family’s lands whenever Clovis again decided to sail to Essos on “business”. Whenever he overstayed, it was her duty to go and fetch him again.

Timeline

Family Tree

· Osric Redwyne, deceased, father
· Joanna Redwyne, 52, mother
o Clovis Redwyne, 31, brother - AC
o Olivia Redwyne, 26 - PC
o Lydia Redwyne, 21, cousin/half-sister
· Simon Redwyne, 55, uncle
· Lucas Redwyne, 52, uncle/step-father???

Supporting Characters

Samuel Bellamy – Master-at-Arms
Henry Avery – Ship Captain

Auxilary Character

Basic Information

Name and House: Clovis Redwyne
Age: 31
Cultural Group: Andal
Appearance: For lack of a better word, Clovis Redwyne looks very polite. He’s got the typical red Redwyne hair and blue eyes, along with soft curves to his face. He’s got a short beard which is just the result of him too often being too lazy to just shave properly. Along with that his cheeks also have a bit of a red tint to them as he is often at least a little inebriated. He is a bit taller than average and surprisingly fit considering his lifestyle, but that stems mostly from him just walking so damn much.
Trait: Numerate
Skill(s): Scrutinous, Broker, Apothecary
Talent(s): Sommelier, Merchant, dodging responsibilities
Negative Trait(s): -
Starting Title(s): Lord of the Arbor
Starting Location: opening feast
Alternate Characters: -

Biography

Clovis was born a few years before the conquest. He was the firstborn and heir of Osric Redwyne so, naturally, the man built up a very close bond with his son. Unfortunately, it did not take long for him to die. And while the young lordling still had a loving mother and two pretty cool uncles, he was still undeniably left with some deep-rooted emotional issues. Putting him in a castle with the largest wine reserves on the continent was never going to end well.
He was a bright kid, skilled with numbers writing, but while his younger sister was out sailing with her uncles, he was in the cellars getting absolutely steaming, shitfaced, three sheets to the wind, plastered, buckled, bollocksed, flutered, scuttered, rotten, tit-faced drunk. Many attempts were made to keep him sane and safe, but somehow, he always managed to get his hands on some wine to self-destruct with. Sometime during all this, someone in the family got the bright idea to arrange a marriage for him, hoping that a wife would somehow make him get his life back on track.
It backfired, and a week before the arranged wedding was to take place, Clovis and some of his friends got on board of a ship and fled Westeros. However, the journey did very soon become a big mess, as none of those present were skilled sailors and managed to get stranded somewhere near Volantis. Surprisingly, it was this event which put his life on A track, not the right track, but A track. He was still a Redwyne, and Wine was still in his blood, both figuratively and literally, so in Essos he found a use for his talents, by becoming a renowned wine merchant. He would travel from Free City to Free City, from vineyard to vineyard, tasting and trying and buying and selling some of the best and most interesting wines there were.
His renown even got him as far as the gates to the jade sea, where he was hired by a magister of Qarth to obtain wine for a feast the man planned to host. It is there that his younger sister eventually found him and brought him back to Westeros to actually be the Lord of the Arbor in more than just name.
With all being said, he was actually rather decent at the job too. Well, liked by his people, competent enough, and crucially, a very skilled wine merchant. A combination of these managed to bring a time of prosperity to the island province.
In the years which followed, he would still frequently travel to Essos but also to major wine-producing areas of Westeros to do the same thing he had done before: taste and try, buy and sell the best and most interesting wines out there.

There's a lot to explain, and I'm pretty sure that the title doesn't do this situation justice. This is also a throwaway acc- I don't want a suddenly depressing post getting cozy with all my memes and cheery content.
A little backstory- I (16F, Soph) have had bad blood with my mom (36F) for a while, since around the 7th grade. My grades have been iffy, but since freshman year I've been working to fix them. Third quarter, I had an extremely low point. Every day was a haze and I can't remember what sent me through it, and when I snapped out of it, it was too late to change anything. I had straight F's, all except for one of my math classes, which I don't even understand how I managed to maintain. These have plummeted my semester grade, but I've fixed some of them, evened them out to high D's, low C's, and a B. Two of them are unsalvageable, which is completely my fault. I'm still working to raise one more up to a D in the semester.
This all "started" a couple of weeks ago, but I'm guessing it's been building since my last parent teacher confrence. My mother had sat us down in the living room last saturday and informed my sisters (11F and 13F) and I that we were moving, and she's putting our trailer up for sale the first of next month. She said where we find a place is where we will move, so I can't even prepare myself for what I should expect. The main issues I have with moving are;
1- I had to go through it a lot when I was younger and had a really unstable social life, most likely the root of my current social anxiety.
2- I'm nearly an adult- I'm halfway through highschool. It's not going to be easy for me to make new friends in a social climate I have no prior existence in, let alone be able to keep the friends I could potentially make when they move on for college in 2 years. Don't get me wrong, I'd still stay in contact with the friends I have where I'm at, but when you have no friends in the area you live in, it's rough.
3- When I was younger, she promised me that I'd be able to finish my edjucation here, even college if I chose any of them in my area. I know it's stupid to hang on the words of a promise, that things change and promises sometimes can't be held up, but it still hurts being ripped away when I was nearly done with highschool.
My sisters got excited and started looking for new places immediately. I know our place isn't a dream, but we came here, owning nothing but a car. I started the third grade in this town and have been here since. This is my childhood home since the age of nine, I don't remember any other houses we rented. We actually own this trailer too- we're not just renting it from someone. I helped build my own room out of an off limits area when I was 11. It's not perfect, but it's most of what I've known. So are my friends. I can't count how many I've kept since the start of middle school, even if they transfered.
Even if I don't want to leave, I'm no angel. My room is dirty almost all the time, I can't see the floor because of a bunch of dirty clothes. That's one of the reasons my mom is holding against me to make it seem unreasonable that I'm upset about moving- "You don't appreciate your own room." I have no excuse for the way my room looks. It just feels like im paralyzed on my bed afterschool and on the weekends, I'm just tired. I don't know whether or not I'm lazy, isn't being lazy supposed to be enjoyable, at least for the short term in the moment?
The other reason she's giving me are my grades. As stated before, those aren't perfect either, but I'm trying. I've even taken steps to enroll myself into summer school to recover the credits I missed this year. Sure, I have flaws, but does that mean I'm not allowed to be upset over moving at such a crucial developmental point in my life? I'm not even arguing with her about it, all I'm doing is expressing how I feel- I'm not even saying anything to her, I said my piece when she sat us down. I'm just grieving.
Earlier today, she picked me up, everything seemed normal. Then she told me she had a conversation with my dad, (39M), who's out of the picture, but still communicating. She told me that he and her discussed about things continuing "the way I'm taking them." She said if I don't change, she's just going to pull me out of school and make me get my GED. She said she was worried I was going to ruin my career. A GED isn't bad, by all means, but I want an actual diploma. I want to be there with everyone else, dressed in a solid color robe, celebrating the fact that we made it. I won't have the advantages of any early social life at all in the area. I've heard adults say it's hard to make friends once you graduate, and I don't want to be thrown into that early, while being in a new area all at the same time.
I was thinking about all this in the car and cried. I don't think I can take much more of this. It's like she wants my life to follow a certain track, and I'm derailing her train. She dropped out her sophmore year to get married and do hard drugs for a while before she had me, so in my personal opinion, I'm doing way better than she ever had. I know it sounds harsh, and maybe I am being harsh, but when you hear the same story shoved down your throat over and over and over since the 3rd grade, and now said story has been turned into a weapon, it kind of gets redundant to you.
My mom tried cheering me up while we were out for a bit after dropping that by trying to show me facebook memes and telling me funny things my guinea pigs did to eachother that day, but I gave her the cold shoulder the entire time, so now she's pissed. I didn't even say anything, she just started spouting that "I hated her" and "I'm gonna cut her out of my life when I'm older", "I'd rather see her dead than talk with her."
The first two are at least half true at this point, she's been nothing but a source of harsh criticism for years of my life, barely any encouragement or pride in me, if anything at all. If she keeps doing that, I might end up hating her and cutting contact, which just hurts to think about. I don't want to cut contact with the only parent that raised me, even if she didn't raise me well. I still love her at the end of the day, and I think I hate that more than I hate her.
I don't know if this is all just incoherent rambling at this point, I've been crying through 2/3 of the way through this I think. I know I'm not a saint, and I'm at least a partial asshole, but am I completely at fault for this? Did I fall into being a moody, hormonal teen that hates their parents for no reason on accident? AITA?
TLDR: AITA if I'm upset over my mom making me move in the middle of attending high school, on top of threatening to pull me out of school all together for "the sake of my career"?
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I just need help.

Hi guys! Currently playing skyrim SE 1.6.1130 and when I am roaming around in towns I am having upwards of 15k draw calls! This lowers my (albeit high) fps from 120 to around 60 or less. I do understand I need to remove mods that add npcs or clutter, and I have removed mods like JK's skyrim recently to help (added at least 5 fps) I currently have mods like efps, Bethini, shadow boost. I was thinking it was my enb or maybe high poly npc overhaul but no fps increase when turned off... Any suggestions?
My specs are
CPU: Ryzen 7 5800x3d 8-core processor
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8gb vram
RAM: 32gb ddr4
SSD: M.2 2tb
Mod list is:
Skyrim.esm
Update.esm
Dawnguard.esm
HearthFires.esm
Dragonborn.esm
ccBGSSSE001-Fish.esm
ccQDRSSE001-SurvivalMode.esl
ccBGSSSE037-Curios.esl
ccBGSSSE025-AdvDSGS.esm
_ResourcePack.esl
RSkyrimChildren.esm
Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch.esp
Skyrim Project Optimization - Full ESL Version.esm
Landscape and Water Fixes.esp
LegacyoftheDragonborn.esm
Occ_Skyrim_Tamriel.esp
Lightened Skyrim - merged.esp
RealisticWaterTwo - Resources.esm
Lux Orbis - Master plugin.esm
arnima.esm
Falskaar.esm
Better Dynamic Snow SE - DisableRefs.esm
Vigilant.esm
1NGarmor.esl
Experience.esl
Expressive Facegen Morphs.esl
Lux - Resources.esp
Lux Via.esp
Lux - Master plugin.esm
NorthernIce.esp
AHZmoreHUDInventory.esl
TheNewGentleman.esp
TrueHUD.esl
Wyrmstooth.esp
High Poly Head.esm
Particle Patch for ENB.esp
SkyUI_SE.esp
Audio Overhaul Skyrim.esp
SMIM-SE-Merged-All.esp
Better Dynamic Snow SE.esp
summersetisles.esp
High Poly NPC Overhaul - Resources.esp
High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition.esp
Beards of Power.esp
High Poly NPCs VHR_BOP.esp
Northern Roads.esp
Aspens Ablaze.esp
SummersetFixes.esp
COTN - Falkreath.esp
Weapons Armor Clothing & Clutter Fixes.esp
Lux Orbis.esp
Cutting Room Floor.esp
CollegeOfWinterholdImmersive.esp
fortdawnguardimmersive.esp
Landscape Fixes For Grass Mods.esp
COTN - Dawnstar.esp
Northern Roads - Lux Via patch.esp
COTN - Morthal.esp
COTN - Winterhold.esp
MysticismMagic.esp
NAT-ENB.esp
Lux Via - plugin.esp
Bandit War.esp
hearthfireextended.esp
HFE-CC Fishing Patch.esp
Dawn of Skyrim.esp
Helgen Reborn.esp
Embers XD.esp
SeranaDialogAddon.esp
Landscape and Water Fixes - Patch - LFfGM.esp
Lux Orbis - LotD patch.esp
Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp
home.esp
Lux Orbis - Dawn of Skyrim patch.esp
Clockwork.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - AI Overhaul.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Skyrim Revamped - Complete Enemy Overhaul.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - OBIS SE.esp
Immersive Weapons.esp
Morskom.esp
PrvtI_HeavyArmory.esp
Wintersun - Faiths of Skyrim.esp
Northern Roads - Lux Orbis Patch.esp
Run For Your Lives.esp
LustmordVampireArmor.esp
Lux Orbis - Morskom Estate patch.esp
SL01AmuletsSkyrim.esp
Lux Orbis - COTN Falkreath patch.esp
DBM_RelicNotifications.esp
WZOblivionArtifacts.esp
DBM_HelgenReborn_Patch.esp
DBM_AmuletsOfSkyrim_Patch.esp
DBM_OblivionArtifacts_Patch.esp
Northern Roads - Helgen Reborn patch.esp
Northern Roads - Vigilant patch.esp
BGCollectables.esp
Lux Orbis - Wintersun patch.esp
Northern Roads - COTN Falkreath Patch.esp
DBM_BGCollectables_Patch.esp
SexLab-AmorousAdventures.esp
DBM_IW_Patch.esp
DBM_Vigilant_Patch.esp
Lux Orbis - Cutting Room Floor patch.esp
Northern Roads No NR Bridge patch.esp
Occ_Skyrim_COTN-Falkreath_patch.esp
FDILOTDPatch.esp
DawnguardArsenal.esp
Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion.esp
AcousticTemplateFixes.esp
Lux Orbis - Helgen Reborn.esp
COTN Dawnstar - Morskom Estate Patch.esp
COTN Dawnstar - Embers XD Patch.esp
AdditionalHearthfireDolls.esp
PrvtIRoyalArmory.esp
Royal Armory Tweaks.esp
Lux Orbis - COTN Winterhold patch.esp
DBM_CRF_Patch.esp
Occ_Skyrim_COTN-Dawnstar_patch.esp
COTN Morthal - Embers XD Patch.esp
PaarthurnaxQuestExpansion.esp
ForgottenCity.esp
Northern Roads - Legacy of the Dragonborn patch.esp
COTN Morthal - LOTD Patch.esp
Occ_Skyrim_COTN-Morthal_patch.esp
Lux Orbis - Saints and Seducers patch.esp
Northern Roads - COTN Dawnstar Patch.esp
COTN Dawnstar - Legacy of the Dragonborn Patch.esp
AetheriumSwordsnArmor.esp
DBM_AetheriumWeapons_Patch.esp
DBM_RoyalArmory_Patch.esp
DBM_Wintersun_Patch.esp
DBM_Falskaar_Patch.esp
DBM_DawnofSkyrimDC_Patch.esp
GG's Impoverished Vanilla Whiterun.esp
Occ_Skyrim_Dawn-of-Skyrim_patch.esp
Lux Orbis - CC Fish patch.esp
LOTD_TCC_Wintersun.esp
DBM_ImmersiveCollegeofWinterhold_Patch.esp
Northern Roads - COTN Winterhold Patch.esp
icebladeofthemonarch.esp
DBM_IceBladeMonarch_Patch.esp
Lux Orbis - USSEP patch.esp
NRNRBP-Nothern Roads-Lux via Patch.esp
Lux Orbis - COTN Morthal patch.esp
Lux Orbis - Wyrmstooth.esp
DBM_Wyrmstooth_Patch.esp
Northern Roads - COTN Morthal Patch.esp
Northern Roads - COTN Morthal - Lux Orbis Patch.esp
Embers XD - Patch - Lux Via.esp
Lux Orbis - Embers XD patch.esp
Occ_Skyrim-Legacy_of_Dragonborn_patch.esp
COTN Winterhold - Embers XD [XD ESP] Patch.esp
COTN Winterhold - LOTD Patch.esp
ArtifactsOfBoethiah.esp
Lux Orbis - COTN Dawnstar patch.esp
Occ_Skyrim_Morskom-Estate_patch.esp
COTN Morthal - Clockwork Patch.esp
COTN Morthal - CC - Fishing Patch.esp
COTN Morthal - Landscape and Water Fixes Patch.esp
Lux Orbis - Immersive College patch.esp
COTN Dawnstar - Clockwork Patch.esp
DBM_ArtifactsofBoethiah_Patch.esp
DBM_Clockwork_Patch.esp
Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim.esp
Kynreeve Armor.esp
The_Sinister_Seven.esp
lotd_luxorbis_stalkinglanternsfix.esp
Northern Roads - CC Saints and Seducers patch.esp
Occ_Skyrim_COTNDawnstar-MorskomEstate_patch.esp
Occ_Skyrim_Immersive-College-Winterhold_patch.esp
COTN Winterhold - Amulets of Skyrim Patch.esp
COTN Winterhold - BGCollectables Patch.esp
Lux Orbis - Immersive Fort Dawnguard patch.esp
Kozakowy1660Gown.esp
Grass FPS Booster - Folkvangr.esp.ghost
NorthernGrass.esp
Nature of the Wild Lands - Grass.esp
Cathedral - 3D Pine Grass.esp
Grass FPS Booster - NorthernGrass.esp
[ELLE] Abyss.esp
AcousticTemplateFixes_CC_Seducers.esp
AcousticTemplateFixes_ReverbInteriorSounds.esp
AnubAnimObj.esp
AnubAnimObjAdaptedFurniture.esp
SubsurfaceScatteringShader.esp
dD - Enhanced Blood Main.esp
Dynamic Impact - Slash Effects X.esp
Dynamic Impact - Slash Effects X-01EBT.esp
AOS_EBT Patch.esp
SLAL_AnimationByBakaFactory.esp
Bandit Lines Expansion.esp
BeastHHBB.esp
BetterArgonianHorns.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Immersive Weapons.esp
Children of the Hist.esp
Dr_Bandolier.esp
BarenziahQuestMarkers.esp
Bears of the North.esp
BetterThirdPersonSelection.esp
SLALAnimObjBillyy.esp
BlackreachEerieAmbience.esp
DBM_BeyondReach_Patch.esp
CBBE 3BA Vanilla Outfits.esp
3BBB.esp
CBBE.esp
RaceMenu.esp
RaceMenuPlugin.esp
RaceMenuMorphsCBBE.esp
COTN Dawnstar - Amulets of Skyrim Patch.esp
COTN Dawnstar - Additional Hearthfire Dolls Patch.esp
COTN Dawnstar - ICOW Patch.esp
COTN Dawnstar - BGCollectables Patch.esp
COTN Dawnstar - Helgen Reborn Patch.esp
COTN Dawnstar - Wintersun Patch.esp
Cassandra Frost Witch.esp
COTN Morthal - Amulets of Skyrim Patch.esp
COTN Morthal - Additional Hearthfire Dolls Patch.esp
COTN Morthal - BGCollectables Patch.esp
COTN Morthal - Oblivion Artifacts Pack.esp
Civil War Lines Expansion.esp
CustomDifficultyUI.esp
DarkWitch.esp
DistantDragonRoars.esp
DiverseDragonsCollectionSE.esp
DragonbornShoutPerks.esp
DynamicDungeonLoot.esp
DVLaSS Skyrim Underside.esp
Elephant'sScriptLatencyTester.esp
Enhanced Enemy AI.esp
dD-Larger Drips.esp
dD-Medium Script Range.esp
FNIS.esp
FlickeringShadowsFix.esp
Forsworn and Thalmor Lines Expansion.esp
MCMHelper.esp
FEC.esp
ImGladYoureHere.esp
GDOS - Glorious Solitude Door - Rotation Fix.esp
GDOS - Splendid Mechanized Dwemer Door.esp
HappyLittleTrees.esp
PrvtI_HA_DraugrWeapons.esp
PrvtI_HeavyArmory_RareCurios_Patch.esp
PrvtI_HeavyArmory_WACCF_Patch.esp
PrvtI_HeavyArmory_USSEP_Patch.esp
ImTalkinHere.esp
Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp
FDIDGArsenalPatch.esp
Insignificant Object Remover.esp
Jewelry limiter.esp
JustBlood.esp
Knight of The Village Set.esp
LazyBodyEdit.esp
DBM_AdditionalHFDolls_Patch.esp
DBM_ForgottenCity_Patch.esp
DBM_HearthfireExtended_Patch.esp
DBM_IA_Patch.esp
DBM_HA_Patch.esp
DBM_SinisterSeven_Patch.esp
DBM_DGA_Patch.esp
Volkihar Knight.esp
DBM_VolkiharKnight_Patch.esp
LOTD_TCC_AdditionalDolls.esp
LOTD_TCC_Aetherium.esp
LOTD_TCC_Amulets.esp
LOTD_TCC_Boethiah.esp
LOTD_TCC_Clockwork.esp
LOTD_TCC_DawnguardArsenal.esp
LOTD_TCC_Falskaar.esp
LOTD_TCC_Gremlins.esp
LOTD_TCC_HeavyArm.esp
LOTD_TCC_Helgen.esp
LOTD_TCC_ICOW.esp
LOTD_TCC_IceBlade.esp
LOTD_TCC_ImmArm.esp
LOTD_TCC_ImmWeap.esp
LOTD_TCC_OblivionArt.esp
LOTD_TCC_Royal.esp
LOTD_TCC_SinisterSeven.esp
LOTD_TCC_TFC.esp
LOTD_TCC_Vigilant.esp
LOTD_TCC_Volkihar.esp
LOTD_TCC_Wyrmstooth.esp
DBM_DDL_Patch.esp
DBM_RSChildren_Patch.esp
DBM_SMIM_Patch.esp
UnreadBooksGlow.esp
DBM_UnreadBooksGlow_Patch.esp
DBM_WACCF_Patch.esp
MurderOfSongbirds.esp
NibblesAnimObjects.esp
HIMBO.esp
Nordic Winds.esp
Motion Sensitive Fix SE.esp
MaximumCarnage.esp
OBody.esp
OStim.esp
OStimCommunityResource.esp
OCum.esp
PAN_Serana.esp
ExpertPierce.esp
Shout.esp
Simplicity of Snow.esp
AHZmoreHUD.esp
Precision.esp
RSChildren.esp
Random Emotions.esp
HagravenSkinShaders.esp
Relentless Sword SE - Johnskyrim.esp
ResplendentArmor.esp
ReturnToPelagiusMind.esp
RichMerchantsSkyrim_x10.esp
Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion_VolumeSlider_Rain.esp
Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion_VolumeSlider_Thunder.esp
Shaders of Solstheim.esp
ShowRaceMenuAlternative.esp
SDA GYH Patch.esp
SDA Lustmord Patch.esp
SDA Wintersun Patch.esp
SDA-AA Patch.esp
SimpleItemSpawner.esp
SkyHUD.esp
SkyrimOutfitSystem.esp
Skyshards.esp
Sonders_Keyword_Distribution.esp
SmoothCam.esp
TKDodge.esp
TheEyesOfBeauty.esp
TrueDirectionalMovement.esp
UIExtensions.esp
ValhallaCombat.esp
VampireSun.esp
VioLens SE.esp
WildwoodEchoes.esp
XPMSE.esp
RBT.esp
cheat room.esp
wilderness_witch.esp
icepenguinworldmapclassic.esp
AdditionalHFDollsPassivesPatch.esp
HearthfireMultiKid.esp
HearthfireMultiKid_LastName.esp
High Poly Head Vampire Fix.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Cutting Room Floor.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - AI Overhaul - Cutting Room Floor.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Immersive Weapons - AI Overhaul.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Immersive Weapons - Cutting Room Floor.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Immersive Weapons - AI Overhaul - Cutting Room Floor.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - LegacyoftheDragonborn.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - MLU.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - MLU - AI Overhaul.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - MLU - Cutting Room Floor.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - MLU - Skyrim Revamped - Complete Enemy Overhaul.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Skyrim Revamped - Complete Enemy Overhaul - OBIS SE.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Skyrim Revamped - Complete Enemy Overhaul - Immersive Weapons.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - OBIS SE - Immersive Weapons.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Practical Pirate Outfit Distributed.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Practical Pirate Outfit Distributed - Immersive Weapons.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Practical Pirate Outfit Distributed - OBIS SE.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Practical Pirate Outfit Distributed - Skyrim Revamped - Complete Enemy Overhaul.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Skyrim Revamped - Complete Enemy Overhaul - Cutting Room Floor.esp
[xPatch] High Poly NPC Overhaul - Skyrim Special Edition - Skyrim Revamped - Complete Enemy Overhaul - OBIS SE - Immersive Weapons.esp
Complete Crafting Overhaul_Remastered.esp
DBM_CCOR_Patch.esp
Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim.esp
DragonbornShoutPerksOrdinator.esp
CWIOrdinatorPatchSSE.esp
nwsFollowerFramework.esp
SDA NFF Patch.esp
RealisticWaterTwo.esp
RealisticWaterTwo - Beyond Reach.esp
RealisticWaterTwo - Falskaar.esp
RealisticWaterTwo - Waves - Falskaar.esp
RealisticWaterTwo - Waves - Wyrmstooth.esp
Lux.esp
Lux - Falskaar patch.esp
Lux - Immersive Fort Dawnguard patch.esp
Lux - Vigilant patch.esp
Lux - Artifacts - The Ice Blade of the Monarch.esp
Lux - Artifacts - The Tournament of the Ten Bloods.esp
Lux - Legacy of the Dragonborn patch.esp
Lux x ICOW patch.esp
Lux - RWT Patch.esp
Lux - CC Fish patch.esp
Lux - COTN Dawnstar patch.esp
Lux - COTN Falkreath patch.esp
Lux - COTN Morthal patch.esp
Lux - COTN Winterhold patch.esp
Lux - Clockwork.esp
Lux - Cuting Room Floor.esp
Lux - USSEP patch.esp
Lux - Embers XD patch.esp
Lux - Forgotten City.esp
Lux - HelgenReborn.esp
Lux - Legacy of the Dragonborn - Artifacts of Boethiah.esp
Lux - Legacy of the Dragonborn - Aetherium Weapons.esp
Lux - Legacy of the Dragonborn - Royal Armoury patch.esp
Lux - Morskom Estate patch.esp
Lux - Oblivion Artifacts Pack patch.esp
Lux - Saints and Seducers patch.esp
Lux - Wintersun patch.esp
Lux - Wyrmstooth.esp
Lux - SLaWF patch.esp
Northern Roads - Lux patch.esp
Lux - Beyond Reach Patch.esp
Lux - Clockwork Patch.esp
Lux - Dawn of skyrim Patch.esp
Lux - HearthfireMultikid Patch.esp
Lux - Immersive College Of Winterhold Patch.esp
PAN_AIO_big.esp
PAN_NPCs.esp
PAN_NPCs_Males2.esp
PAN_NPCs_Males.esp
PAN_NPCs_Males3.esp
PAN_Brelyna.esp
PAN_MarvellousMiners.esp
PAN_DashingDefenders.esp
PAN_DevotedDames.esp
PAN_LethalLadies.esp
PAN_NPCs_DG.esp
PAN_Sovngarde.esp
PAN_WarriorWomen.esp
PAN_Valerica.esp
PAN_Shieldsisters.esp
PAN_WickedWitches.esp
PAN_BlackBriar.esp
PAN_Frea.esp
PAN_NPCs_DB.esp
NoGrassINCities.esp

Hi all, I am officially going through quitmormon.org to remove my records from TSCC! Though I come from a Jack Mormon immediate family (varying levels TBM extended fam) and have never been a full believer, I have been spending a lot of time fully diving in and processing the harm The Church has done and is continuing to do.
I never removed my records even though in the last few years I have researched enough to know I want absolutely nothing to do with this whacky ass religion. I never submitted my resignation because a) lazy and busy and b) my grandma has always joked if any of us remove our records she'll just kill us and do our temple work anyways. 😂 She's a cool Mo, progressive in many ways for her age so I don't take it seriously but there still has been a lingering feeling that I'll disappoint her.
This decision finally came about because my home-town ward clerk text me to get my current residence. Like I want to be bugged by missionaries here?? My home-town ward has always known to leave my family alone as non-active members. Now their attempt to get accurate records is making them lose a member. Also, just traveled for work and got sick of people asking me if I'm Mormon 😂 hate that I'll always have association/proximity to The Church just by being from this beautiful state.
Anyways, long rant over! My husband is very supportive of the choice but is nevermo, so wanted to share with people that would get it. Very happy to officially be joining y'all on the dark side!!

The source is from Mark Valenti himself on Facebook and on the Fan Forums. Right here... https://www.facebook.com/groups/171092232910658/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=8004305512922585 and here ... https://forums.lazytown.eu/

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