24F Height: 154cm Weight: 125lb
Medical history: asthma, tinnitus, occasional cervical vertigo flare ups when working on laptop No current medications Non-smoker, non-drinker
Heavy phone and laptop user due to work, lots of typing. I am right handed but I use both hands equally when typing on both phone and laptop.
Tremors started a week ago and was manageable but is now interfering with daily activities. I use voice to text more often as typing is a hassle with tremors. Even when I'm not typing, I feel some discomfort and a weird tingle in my thumb.
Should I seek medical assistance for this or can it be managed at home? Are there any remedies for this?

◼️ Part of : Mithila Cultural Archive

 ✰✰✰ 

History of Maithili Literature - Resources

Having previously shared resources on the history of Maithili literature (here), I am now going to compile a list of actual Maithili literary classics, both classical and modern. If you have any recommendations, please suggest them. ​

📌 Early Maithili Literature (circa 700–1350 AD):
This era witnessed the emergence of ballads, songs, and dohas. Among the earliest authors was Jyotirishwar Thakur. His notable contribution to Maithili literature is the Varṇa Ratnākara (1324), an encyclopedic work presented in prose.
1. Varṇa Ratnākara (1324) by Jyotirishwar Thakur - The earliest prose work in the Maithili language, this literary piece offers valuable insights into the life and culture of medieval India. The text is structured into seven Kallolas (waves): Nagara Varṇana, Nāyikā Varṇana, Asthāna Varṇana, Ṛtu Varṇana, Prayāṇa Varṇana, Bhaṭṭādi Varṇana, and Śmaśāna Varṇana.
📩: PDF
🛒: Exotic India Art
​
📌 Middle Maithili Literature (circa 1350–1830 AD):
This period was characterized by a flourishing of theatrical writings. Notable Maithili writers of this era included:
- Vidyapati (1350–1450)
- Srimanta Sankardeva (1449–1568)
- Govindadas (late 17th century)
- Manbodh (17th century)
​
1. Purush Pariksha by Vidyapati - Purushpariksha" is a narrative created by Vidyapati. He composed it under the guidance of Maharaja Shiv Singh. The text presents instructive tales in the tradition of Panchatantra. This work stands as a unique creation not only for sociologists, historians, human scientists, and political scientists but also for philosophers and literary enthusiasts.
📩: PDF
🛒: Exotic India Art
2. Vidyapati Padavali by Vidyapati - A compilation of Vidyapati's poetry exists in various versions. One version is an English translation by Coomaraswamy, digitized by Project Gutenberg. Another version is provided by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts & Clarion Books. Additionally, there is a version by Narendranath Gupta. I will be providing links to all three versions.
📩: PDF (Vidyāpati: Bangīya padābali - Project Gutenberg)
📩: PDF (Vidyapati Ki Padawali - Narendranath Gupta)
🛒: Exotic India Art (Vidyapati: Padavali - Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts & Clarion Books)
3. Goraksh Vijaya by Vidyapati - This text is in Sanskrit, but the poetry is in Maithili. To my knowledge, there is no online copy available. I personally had a physical copy, which I have uploaded to the Internet Archive. Feel free to check it out there.
📩: PDF
🛒: don't know if available or not
4. Vivada Chintamani by Vachaspati Mishra - A book that serves as a concise commentary on the Hindu law that is prevalent in Mithila. The book covers a wide range of topics related to the Hindu law, including marriage, inheritance, property rights, and religious practices.
📩: PDF
🛒: Forgotten Books
​
I'm still on the lookout for more texts. If you come across any additional Maithili literature works from that period,do suggest in the comments. This list is a work in progress, and I'll be updating it bit by bit.
​
📌 Modern Maithili Literature (1830 AD to date):
George Abraham Grierson, an Irish linguist, and civil servant made a huge impact on the growth of Modern Maithili. His detailed research on Maithili folklore and grammar set the stage for its development today. Magazines and journals also played a big role in shaping Maithili during this time. Baldev Mishra, Surendra Jha 'Suman,' Radha Krishna Choudhary, Jaykant Mishra, Binod Bihari Verma, Dr. Dhirendra, Parichay Das, and Gajendra Thakur were key players in this linguistic journey.
1. Payasvini by Surendra Jha - A collection of 25 poems about beauty of nature, colourful imagery and simplicity of rural life.
📩: PDF
🛒: couldn't find
2. The Kinsmen of Ugna (Ugnak Dayabad) by Surendra Jha - This novel is highly readable, especially for those seeking a different model than those centered on class struggle. It also appeals to those interested in the people and culture of Mithila.
📩: PDF
🛒: Amazon
3. Bidagari by Chandranath Mishra - The novel deals with social problem in marriage like dowry, unmatched marriage and likes that dogged the society of Mithila.
📩: PDF
🛒: couldn't find
4. Angarejee Phoolaka Chitthee Dr Ramdeo Jha - This novel is a series of exchange of letters between two newly married girls who takes sacred oath to maintain lifelong friendship.
📩: PDF
🛒: couldn't find
5. Dattavati by Surendra Jha - This Mahakavya is based on a simple story from the Kathāsaritsāgara also Kathasaritsagara of 11the century.
📩: PDF
🛒: couldn't find
6. Madhushravani by Dr Shailendra Mohan Jha - A beautifully crafted love story, this novel is set against the backdrop of Mithila's refined cultural heritage. The main characters, Nalini and Kamal, share a deep love for each other. However, their pure and pristine love fails to blossom into a marital relationship.
📩: PDF
🛒: Amazon
7. Pratigya Pandav by Babuaji Jha - Pratigya Pandav in 11 cantos is based on the Sabha Parva of Mahabharata in which the poet has very vividly described the forebodings of war and advocated the need for peace, national integrity and morality.
📩: PDF
🛒: couldn't find
8. Saon Bhadav by Surendra Jha - A nature poem depicts the rainy season of Mithila--the land of frequent flood.
📩: PDF
🛒: couldn't find
9. Sharda Vijay by Upendranath Jha - A short epic written by renewed poet and author Upendranath Jha ‘Vyas’ which is considered one among the classics of Maithili literature.
📩: PDF
🛒: couldn't find
10. Simantini Akhyayika by Ramdeo Jha - (Tale of Simantini) is a story based on one of the anecdotes of Brahma Puran.
📩: PDF
🛒: couldn't find
11. Vidyapati Gosthi by Shailendra Mohan Jha - Translation of an important research work on Maithili poet Mahakavi Vipyapati.
📩: PDF
🛒: couldn't find
12. The Melting Stone & Other Plays by Ramdeo Jha - The Melting stone is an anthology of seven one-act plays that helped shape the trajectory of Maithili drama. Covering a wide range of social issues, it provides a cultural and social barometer of the times.
📩: couldn't find
🛒: Exotic India Art
​
This is a growing list that I'll update as I receive recommendations. Thank you!

I am looking for footage of phones on networks that no longer exist making/receiving calls, sending/receiving texts, using data, etc. I'm specifically looking for footage of Nextel/iDEN phones, CDMA phones, TDMA phones, or Analog phones. I'm also interested in any other networks not mentioned. I do not need any GSM footage. Any network shutdown videos are welcome too (GSM included). I'm also interested in footage of certain network services which haven't been well documented such as Sprint Readylink, Cingular PTT, old Verizon PTT, Nokia PTT, video calling on old 3G phones, etc. Thank you.

Well hi there! How's the weekend been treating you?
Mine's been alright, but that's not what you're here for is it?
You saw the title on this post and now you're all curious right?
I bet you're wondering what boyfriend stuff includes? Let's start with:

• Getting texted back regularly with an option for phone calls!
  
• Going out on dates with possible holding hands or making out!
  
• I'll make you laugh with all sorts of jokes from the sophisticated cynicism, cutting sarcasm to childish fart jokes I can do it all!
  
• You can get home cooked dinners! And breakfast too if I'm working overnights!
  
• You'll get all sorts of attention and compliments!
  
• I'm emotionally available and completely over my ex's!
  
• Flowers!
  

....and so much more!
Sounds pretty great right?
But who am I?
I'm a nearly middle aged divorced ex stand up comic that's worked himself into full on burnout working in hotels for the last twenty years. It's made into someone that's very empathetic and caring while still being to be cold as fuck when needed.
In my free time I'm kind of a traditional nerdy white guy. Gaming, cartoons (not anime though), science fiction, detective stories, alternative history, sketch comedy, various sitcoms, hiking, cooking and mowing the lawn occupy my off hours. I also tried getting back into writing again, but it's been challenging.
Now it's your turn! PM me and we can start planning the first date!

OOC: co-written with NotTooSunny
It was an ordinary day at the New York City Library. People wandered in and out of the building, unaware of the monster that lurked among them.
The only people who seemed to know the danger these mortals were in were Harper and Amon, who entered the building with glowing bronze swords at their hips. The bulky weapons seemed to have escaped the notice of the other library patrons, which was a good thing. The job description had made it clear that they were meant to remain inconspicuous in completing their task.
Harper had traded her usual bright orange camp shirt for a more discrete cropped black t-shirt and pleated pants. She had been insistent on coming up with a persona for them on the train ride from Montauk Station into New York City. They were meant to act as high school students researching for a World History paper on Ancient Greece. Now that they were inside the library, she had stopped her incessant rambling to peruse a riddle book, in what she had insisted was preparation for their job.
As they wandered through the bookshelves, she remained absorbed in the dog-eared children’s book, thumbing through the pages to find a riddle that would be fitting of a sphinx.
“Here’s one, Amon,” she said, narrowly avoiding a collision with another library patron as she read, “What is something that runs but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?”
The dark-haired son of Apollo glanced over from a shelf of dusty atlases, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. “That is an easy one,” he replied simply. "River. Try me with something more challenging next time around." He adjusted the collar of his striped button down, which he had layered with a navy blue sweater in preparation for the chill of the air-conditioned interior.
“The real riddle is where we can find this sphinx,” Amon glanced around the spacious reading area, eyeing the dark wooden staircase with its ornate railings. “The boyfriend and girlfriend who tried this last time, they found her by a bookcase.”
“A bookcase,” Harper repeated derisively, closing her book to theatrically scan their surroundings. “That narrows it down.”
Ignoring Harper’s mockery, the son of Apollo paused suddenly, his dark eyes glazing over with concentration. His hearing dulled, the surrounding footsteps and rustling pages fading into the background as if muffled by a thick curtain. Amon searched for the energy signature of the monster he knew lurked among the mortals. It was a subtle shift, like trying to discern a whisper in a crowded room, but he felt a faint, abnormal energy hanging somewhere up above.
“I say we try the second floor,” he said as he snapped out of the tracking trance, offering no other explanation to Harper.
“We could do that, sure,” Harper said, words laced with blatant doubt at his sudden certainty. “I say we try asking the Visitor’s Center. I know she's supposed to be disguised by the Mist, but the librarians have to have noticed something.”
“You can go ahead and do that.” The small smirk from earlier was now spreading across his face. “But you can’t be upset if I find the sphinx and solve her riddle before you even get there.”
Harper rolled her eyes, but she made no attempt to stop Amon from walking towards the staircase. After a moment she set off after him, footsteps even against the wooden steps.
Up on the second floor, Amon moved quietly, his dark eyes scanning the hallway for anything out of the ordinary.
I know you’re up here.
He stopped at every heavy-looking mahogany door, peering through each muted glass insert. He felt the air grow thicker with ominous energy at every step, so he knew the monster must be near.
One of the doors was slightly ajar, a suspiciously open invitation. Or a trap. The dark-haired boy caught sight of a cat-shaped figure on the other side before ducking down and motioning sharply for Harper’s attention. He unsheathed his kopis from his belt, bracing himself for confrontation.
Harper crouched against the wall, hand on the hilt of her sword as she tried to peek through the frosted glass pane. She held her breath, ready to move at Amon’s signal. He held out three fingers and then put them down one by one. When he hit zero, they stood in unison, flinging the door open together.
When Amon and Harper stepped inside, the body of the sphinx lay motionless on the floor.
The rest of the room was in disarray, littered with disheveled chairs and broken bits of chalk. A window on the other side of the room had been forced open, the curtain fluttering in the wind.
“No way,” Harper said. The door clicked shut behind her as she pushed past Amon into the room and kneeled to study the monster’s limp figure.
The sphinx had the large body of a lion and the eerily human face of a middle-aged woman, hair tied back in a severe bun and foundation caked onto her high cheekbones. Fangs jutted out of her red-painted lips, and eagle wings sprouted out of the space between her shoulder blades, folded tight against her back.
“Monsters dissolve into dust when they die,” Amon remarked, keeping his distance as he watched the subtle rise and fall of the monster’s ribs. “She must have been knocked unconscious.”
“Right,” Harper agreed, “The real question is who. And why.”
She hovered a hand over the cat's shoulder, set on rousing her. Before she made contact, the sphinx's eyes snapped open, round irises surrounded by shocking yellow sclera.
"Slain!" she wailed. Harper staggered backwards. Amon’s arms instinctively reached out to catch her, but she didn’t stumble near enough to make contact. "I am slain!"
With feline grace, the sphinx rose to her feet. A white tape outline marked the placement of her previously prone body on the floor. The muscles in her legs rippled as she paced in front of Harper and Amon, massive velvet paws silent against the carpet.
"And you, my dear heroes," she roared, eyes narrowed in an accusatory glare, "were too late to save me!"
The sphinx sniffed, composing herself. She leapt onto a wooden table. The table legs creaked underneath her weight. "Fear not," she tutted, "Fear not. For you can still avenge me. If you are able to determine the murderer and their weapon, then I will obtain justice, and all will be right with the world.”
“Your riddle is a murder mystery,” Harper said, confusion written across her face. Amon raised an eyebrow. The sphinx chuffed, a low rumbling sound reminiscent of laughter.
“You sought that hackneyed question about man? The Sphinx that the storytellers remember is far less adaptive than I am. I am not interested in your ability to regurgitate the information you have read. Nor am I interested in taking advantage of the nonsensical rules of your English language.”
“I am here to satisfy my own curiosity: does modern mankind still possess the ability to engage in deductive reasoning, or do they only seek to make themselves appear intelligent? Do not speak,” the sphinx said, a pointed look at Harper, who had opened her mouth to interject, “You will answer my questions when you play my game.”
“The potential murder weapons are scattered throughout this room,” she continued, leaping off the table. “And the suspects have already provided their testimonies for your review. Rest assured, I have made certain that their statements contain no lies.”
A shimmering, translucent energy began to swirl around Harper and Amon’s feet, beginning to take shape as holograms with a flickering, ephemeral quality.
A projection of Cerberus materialized first, his three massive heads snarling and snapping in unison. A ribbon of text appeared by his paws to translate his growling: "I was guarding the entrance, my duty unbroken."
Next came the Minotaur, his towering form pacing within the labyrinth on Crete. He snorted and pawed at the ground, the holographic maze shifting behind him in the background. The translation text appeared: "Confined within these walls, no escape for me."
Lamia's projection flickered into view, her serpentine lower half coiled around her as she wept in her cave. She glanced mournfully at the holographic images of her lost children: "My grief consumes me, innocent of this crime."
A shimmering Hydra emerged next, its nine heads snapping at invisible foes. Each one moved independently, showcasing its ability to act on its own. The translation for the hissing head at the center read: "Engaged in battle, I could not have killed."
Typhon materialized with a thunderous roar, his colossal form fighting against restraints under Mount Etna. His immense size and power were palpable, even in scaled down holographic form: "Bound by chains of the earth, I could not have roamed free."
Echidna’s hologram appeared last, her form a mix of human and serpent, lounging in a dimly lit cave. She looked directly at the viewers, her expression both defiant and amused. The translation text by her side read: “I dwell in my lair, uninvolved in such petty affairs.”
The sphinx swiped at the last projection as it faded, deeming her handiwork satisfactory. “There is not enough information to deduce the killer using evidence alone. Because I am fair, I will provide you with three hints before your final guess. Be forewarned: if you fail to provide a correct answer, you will both perish. Is this understood?”
Harper spoke. “If we answer correctly, you will leave this library for good.”
“If you answer correctly, I will permanently relocate. It is a preferable option in comparison to another death. Now, do you agree to the terms and conditions?” the sphinx said primly, regarding Harper and Amon with casual disdain. The pair nodded. “Very well.”
The sphinx dropped onto the floor and let her head loll back, pretending to be dead once more.
Hint #1

Suspects	Weapons
Cerberus	The Shirt of Nessus
The Minotaur	Siren Song
Lamia	Harpy Talon
The Hydra	Celestial Bronze Sword
Typhon	A-C Encyclopedia
Echidna	Cerberus Fang

Soon after the Sphinx had laid back down, Harper and Amon began to scour the room. A small pile of prospective murder weapons formed on a nearby table.
“We can easily eliminate the siren song,” Amon rushed to speak over Harper, eyeing the small glass vial of swirling gray matter that they had found nestled behind a row of books on metalworking. “It is a luring mechanism, not a murder weapon.”
“We could rule out Cerberus’ fang too,” he pointed at the enormous yellowing tooth, about the size of the small baseball bat Amon used to have when he played in the little league. “If we take the hologram as ground truth, all of his teeth were intact there.”
Harper used her kopis to prod at the stained tunic that had been hidden in a desk drawer, being careful not to touch it with bare skin. “The Shirt of Nessus is a viable option. It would be easy for any of the suspects to lay it down and wait for the hydra venom to kick in.”
“I am not ready to rule out the bronze sword either,” Amon noted. “Monsters have access to heroes and the weapons they leave behind.”
“Most of these monsters don’t even have opposable thumbs,” Harper argued, running a hand over the sword they had found by a power outlet. ”They don’t have the dexterity to wield a sword.”
“I do not imagine that the technicality would be that granular.”
Harper laughed. “Oh, the number of teeth in the Cerberus hologram tell all, but we’re drawing the line at opposable thumbs.”
“I suppose that that logic would also rule out the harpy talon and the encyclopedia easily as well,” Amon admitted. “Which would be too easy.”
“I’m just that good at logical deduction.” Harper said proudly. “If my assumption is correct, then the poisoned shirt is the only one that makes sense.”
Amon scoffed, folding his arms across his chest as his dark eyes bored into Harper. “It would not necessarily matter what our first guess would be anyway.”
“Can you provide an argument for any other weapon? Or are you intent on purposely making an illogical guess?” she countered cooly.
“Fine,” Amon acquiesced. “Since you are so adamant about the shirt, we can guess the shirt, and be incorrect. It does not matter. What about the suspects themselves?” He clasped his hands behind his back, his steps measured as he started to pace across the plush red carpet of the room.
Harper smiled, smugly accepting her victory. She strode towards a chalkboard at the side of the study room, inscribing the list of weapons and suspects with a fresh piece of white chalk.
“All of them have alibis,“ she began. “I think that-”
“Some make more sense than others,” Amon spoke over Harper, irritated by her minor triumph. “Cerberus, for example, is under the service of Hades. He says he did not leave his post, and he could not have done so without permission or dire consequences on the process of the dead.”
Harper silently seethed as Amon spoke, meeting his rationale with reluctant acceptance before starting again in a louder, exaggerated tone. “I think that the ones with the shakiest alibis are Lamia, the Minotaur, Typhon, and Echidna. No witnesses can confirm their locations. In fact, Lamia provides no location at all.” Harper circled those names. She looked at Amon with a forced smile, allowing him a moment to provide more commentary.
“Lamia? Well,” there was a hint of mockery in the sneer that tugged on the corner of Amon’s lips. “I would imagine her emotions rendered her… Too fragile and unstable to carry out such an act.”
“You’re kidding,” Harper scoffed, searching Amon's face for the slightest hint that he was joking. “Her grief is what moved her to kill children in the first place. I doubt it would suddenly be incapacitating. She’s just appealing to your sense of superiority, and I can’t believe that you’re falling for it.”
"It is not about superiority. It is about logic," Amon retorted, bristling in defense. “You cannot deny that emotions cloud judgment. Maybe the sphinx wants us to leverage our knowledge about her past crimes to reason that she was not thinking clearly in this case either.” Amon had no other evidence that pointed towards Lamia as the top suspect, but he had dug deep enough where he was now ready to stand firm in his reasoning.
“Murder,” Harper countered, eyes narrowed in a venomous stare, “-does not require you to think clearly. Haven’t you heard of a crime of passion? If anyone’s judgment is clouded right now, Amon, it’s yours.”
The son of Apollo squared his shoulders, his expression hardening. "I understand the concept of crimes of passion, thank you.” His dark-eyed stare returned Harper's gaze, unflinching at the intensity. “But our investigation must be rooted in facts, not assumptions based on emotions. And the facts are,” he resumed his pacing once more, “that Lamia cannot be the culprit, as she is the only suspect that openly admits to being innocent of this crime.”
Amon had considered this from the very start, but provoking Harper like this had proved to be far more amusing.
Harper crossed Lamia’s name off of the board. She swallowed down her anger, fighting the urge to continue pressing the issue in favor of returning to their list of suspects. She pointed her piece of chalk at the next names on the list. “The Minotaur and Typhon are trapped, or so they say. How could they have done anything?”
“Their alibis revolve around their inability to escape,” Amon pointed out. “Not that they were unable to commit murder. The Labyrinth, in fact,” he raised a dramatic finger, “has several moving passages that could have permitted the Minotaur to move and commit murder without an official escape.”
Harper considered his words for a long moment, trying to find the flaw in his reasoning. Seeing none, she placed a dot next to the Minotaurs's name.
“Typhon escaped his prison in the Second Titanomachy. He could do it again,” Harper said thoughtfully. “Though I don’t understand why he would do something like this. He’s the Sphinx's father. The same goes for Echidna.”
Amon, who had been nodding at Harper’s assessment of Typhon’s abilities, pursed his lips at her observation of parentage. “I do not see how this could possibly be relevant to the logical puzzle at hand.”
Harper spoke slowly, as if the answer was obvious. “What motive would they have to kill their own daughter?”
“Harper,” Amon began curtly, folding his arms across his chest. “Half of the Greek myths revolve around immortals killing their own children.”
“Then we should pick one of them,” Harper declared, pivoting her argument instead of admitting her logical blunder. “They would have more of a motive than the rest of the suspects, if anything.”
“The Minotaur can escape much more easily than Typhon can. Motive aside, it is the most logical guess,” Amon concluded, adjusting his collar haughtily. “I will remind you that we picked your choice of weapon. It is only fair that I select the monster.”
“Fine.” Harper agreed, her gaze stormy as she turned back towards the sphinx. “We accuse the Minotaur of killing the sphinx with the Shirt of Nessus.”
The sphinx opened one eye. “None of these are correct!”
Hint #2

Suspects	Weapons
Cerberus	The Shirt of Nessus
The Minotaur	Siren Song
Lamia	Harpy Talon
The Hydra	Celestial Bronze Sword
Typhon	A-C Encyclopedia
Echidna	Cerberus Fang

“Two more hints left.” Harper announced, crossing off the Minotaur’s name and the poisoned shirt on the chalkboard with a flourish. It was not ideal that her initial logical deductions had been incorrect, but at least Amon had also been wrong. She couldn't resist a snide comment. “I knew it wasn’t the Minotaur.”
“So you still think it’s Typhon.” Choosing to ignore Harper’s taunting, Amon rested his hand on a nearby desk, studying the lists on the chalkboard before him. He had taken the Minotaur error as a personal failure, and was determined to get the suspect right this time.
“I do.”
“Why not Echidna?”
“She’s too emotional to kill someone, obviously.” Harper said sarcastically. “Her frail female arms are probably too weak to even hold a weapon.”
The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes. “Objectively,” he began, ignoring her quip once more, “Typhon could not have lied about his inability to roam free. A natural disaster freed him from Mount Etna during the Second Titanomachy, but he could not recreate those conditions on his own.” Though his tone remained aloof, it was clear that Amon was relishing in the opportunity to flaunt his mythology knowledge.
“Maybe,” Harper argued, stubborn. “But Echidna’s statement was less ambiguous than his. Typhon just explains his predicament; he doesn't provide a real claim. Echidna explicitly says she was not involved.” She thought for a few more moments, rolling the piece of chalk in her hands. “Echidna could have released him? They would be accomplices.”
Amon shook his head. “There was a single murderer. Not two. The sphinx would not lie about the premise of the game.”
Harper stared at him coldly, but could offer no rebuttal. She turned her attention to the board. “Typhon is a giant. He’s capable of using the sword.”
“But the specificity of Echidna’s denial is still incredibly suspicious. ‘Petty affairs’ is a strange way to phrase a murder. But,” Amon added reluctantly, “I understand the logic behind Typhon. I suppose it is your turn to choose the monster, and we will still have another guess to work with.”
“As for the weapon,” he continued, “I still think the sword is the most viable option, given that the siren song and the fang can be ruled out and the shirt with the venom was, well,” Amon pursed his lips, fighting the urge to smile, “incorrect.”
Before Harper could interject, Amon turned towards the sphinx at the front of the room. “We accuse Typhon of killing the sphinx with a Celestial Bronze Sword.”
“One of these is correct!”
Hint #3

Suspects	Weapons
Cerberus	The Shirt of Nessus
The Minotaur	Siren Song
Lamia	Harpy Talon
The Hydra	Celestial Bronze Sword
Typhon	A-C Encyclopedia
Echidna	Cerberus Fang

“Aha!” Amon raised a triumphant finger before pointing it at Harper. “I told you,” he gloated, “Typhon had no escape route.”
“You were right,” Harper admitted, staring down at the carpet so that she would not have to look at his smug expression.
“Let’s get this over with,” she muttered, and turned back towards the lioness with crossed arms. “We accuse Echidna of killing the sphinx with a Celestial Bronze Sword”
“One of these is correct,” the sphinx announced. Her mouth twisted in amusement, fangs bared in a menacing smile.
READ PART 2 HERE

On 05/12, I was kicked out of the apartment my mother and I share. I am not on the lease. I lived there since November. I paid $400 to rent, the internet, and the power. When she kicked me out, she said I had till midnight to get everything out. Her phone and Apple Watch are in my name. They are in a contract through Verizon and she has not paid for them completely. I cut them both off. Turned the internet off as well.
I went over there and moved most of my stuff. She kept yelling I had 20 minutes to get out of her house. So I called the cops and told them she was kicking me out and wouldn’t let me get my stuff. They showed up 45 minutes later. She started talking before I could say anything and talking over me. Any time I would try to explain my side the cops would yell at me to stop bickering that they weren’t staying there all night for me to get my stuff. I kept trying to explain I just wanted to be able to come back and get my stuff.
After saying all day that I couldn’t, when the cops showed up she said “I’ve been telling her all day that she could come back tomorrow at 3”. She only ever said that after I called the cops. While waiting on the cops I was putting more stuff into bags and I opened a kitchen drawer and found my car keys. I could not find both sets of my keys all day. Just the one that doesn’t have my house key and mailbox key on it. I called my mamaw because the car is in her name. My mom told everyone that she didn’t have my keys, that they were in a basket by the door. She texted my sister and said “your sisters keys are in the basket by the door. That shows you how stupid she is” My keys were never in the basket. She stole them and then hid them in a kitchen drawer to keep me from getting back into the apartment.
I left and came back the next day. She refused to give me the phone and Apple Watch. She repeatedly told me she was never going to give it back and that she was either gonna shatter or sell the phone. I turned off the power. When I went back, she kept trying to say stuff was hers when I bought it. I have the receipts for all of it. When I was upstairs and she was down stairs, I opened her dresser drawer and found the phone. I took as much stuff as I could and told her I needed to come back.
She found out I took the phone and said she was going to throw away all my stuff and putting a restraining order out on me. There’s over $2,000 worth of electronics still there. They were set aside to be kept up front and I had forgot to grab them.
The police department said I have no rights in the situation and there’s nothing I can go. The magistrate says what she did is illegal and I need to go to small claims court.
I Any advice will help.
She is telling people that I am on drugs and stole her stuff from her along with her phone. That she has paid for it and I spend all my money on drugs. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Half of my family is addicts and I will not tempt fate for any reason. I don’t even drink. The reason she didn’t want me to have the phone is because she’s playing several different men and they don’t know about each other. She tells every one of them a different story. I’m guessing she’s worried I’ll tell them about each other.

Advice please!
On 05/12, I was kicked out of the apartment my mother and I share. I am not on the lease. I lived there since November. I paid $400 to rent, the internet, and the power. When she kicked me out, she said I had till midnight to get everything out. Her phone and Apple Watch are in my name. They are in a contract through Verizon and she has not paid for them completely. I cut them both off. Turned the internet off as well.
I went over there and moved most of my stuff. She kept yelling I had 20 minutes to get out of her house. So I called the cops and told them she was kicking me out and wouldn’t let me get my stuff. They showed up 45 minutes later. She started talking before I could say anything and talking over me. Any time I would try to explain my side the cops would yell at me to stop bickering that they weren’t staying there all night for me to get my stuff. I kept trying to explain I just wanted to be able to come back and get my stuff.
After saying all day that I couldn’t, when the cops showed up she said “I’ve been telling her all day that she could come back tomorrow at 3”. She only ever said that after I called the cops. While waiting on the cops I was putting more stuff into bags and I opened a kitchen drawer and found my car keys. I could not find both sets of my keys all day. Just the one that doesn’t have my house key and mailbox key on it. I called my mamaw because the car is in her name. My mom told everyone that she didn’t have my keys, that they were in a basket by the door. She texted my sister and said “your sisters keys are in the basket by the door. That shows you how stupid she is” My keys were never in the basket. She stole them and then hid them in a kitchen drawer to keep me from getting back into the apartment.
I left and came back the next day. She refused to give me the phone and Apple Watch. She repeatedly told me she was never going to give it back and that she was either gonna shatter or sell the phone. I turned off the power. When I went back, she kept trying to say stuff was hers when I bought it. I have the receipts for all of it. When I was upstairs and she was down stairs, I opened her dresser drawer and found the phone. I took as much stuff as I could and told her I needed to come back.
She found out I took the phone and said she was going to throw away all my stuff and putting a restraining order out on me. There’s over $2,000 worth of electronics still there. They were set aside to be kept up front and I had forgot to grab them.
The police department said I have no rights in the situation and there’s nothing I can go. The magistrate says what she did is illegal and I need to go to small claims court.
I’m in North Carolina. Any advice will help.
She is telling people that I am on drugs and stole her stuff from her along with her phone. That she has paid for it and I spend all my money on drugs. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Half of my family is addicts and I will not tempt fate for any reason. I don’t even drink. The reason she didn’t want me to have the phone is because she’s playing several different men and they don’t know about each other. She tells every one of them a different story. I’m guessing she’s worried I’ll tell them about each other.

Understanding Understanding several key factors that will influence your Kentucky mortgage loan approval. Here’s what you need to review before applying for a mortgage loan in Kentucky.

Credit Score​ for Kentucky Mortgage Loan Approval

Your credit score is a major factor in determining the interest rates and loan terms you’ll receive and your loan approval. In Kentucky, a score of 620 or higher is generally considered favorable for conventional loans, but programs like FHA loans may accept scores as low as 580.

Kentucky Mortgage Loan Work History Requirements:

Lenders typically require a stable work history, usually two years or more in the same job or field, to ensure you have a reliable income stream to cover mortgage payments. Does not have to be same job but job gaps should be minimal and you can use college transcripts to supplement a 2 year work history with

Kentucky Mortgage guidelines for Income and Debt-to-Income Ratio: Balancing Your Budget

Your income level and debt-to-income (DTI) ratio are critical in assessing your ability to afford a home. A Debt to income ratio below 50% is ideal, as it indicates a healthy balance between debt and income. For example, if you make $4000 gross a month, then your new house payment plus your monthly payments on the credit report should not be more than $2000 total. There are two different ratios. Front end, which should be in the range of 30 to 40% of your gross monthly income, and a maximum of 50% for conventional loans and 55% or higher for VA and FHA loans, while USDA loans usually need a 33% front end max ratio and on the backend ratio no more than 45%__USDA loans are much tougher on debt to income ratios while FHA and VA are the most lenient.

Kentucky Mortgage Bankruptcy and Foreclosure: Understanding the Waiting Period

If you’ve experienced bankruptcy or foreclosure, there’s a mandatory waiting period before you can qualify for a mortgage. For FHA loans, this could be as little as 1-2 years post-bankruptcy and 3 years post-foreclosure1. See link for more info

Kentucky Mortgage Down Payments:

While traditional loans may require up to 3-5% down, Kentucky offers programs that allow for down payments as low as 0%. Additionally, down payment assistance programs can provide up to 5% of the sales price or 10k KHC down payment assistance to help cover these costs

Kentucky Mortgage Loan Limits:

Loan limits vary by county and loan type. In Kentucky, conforming loan limits for a single-family home can reach up to $647,200 for conventional loans, with higher limits for FHA and VA loans1.

Government-Backed Loans: Kentucky FHA, VA, USDA Rural Housing

These loans offer benefits like lower down payments, zero down with down payment assistance and more lenient credit requirements, 580 credit scores. The VA loan, for instance, may require no down payment at all for eligible veterans or active-duty service members1.

Kentucky Housing: Down payment Assistance and lower mortgage market rates with MRB Rates.

The Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) provides various programs, including the Conventional Preferred and Preferred Plus 80, down payment assistance and low mortgage revenue bond rates which offer competitive interest rates and down payment assistance for those who qualify

Down Payment Assistance Welcome Home Grant

Kentucky’s down payment assistance programs can be a boon, offering loans to cover down payments and closing costs, making homeownership more accessible for first-time buyers.

Joel Lobb Mortgage Loan Officer

American Mortgage Solutions, Inc. 10602 Timberwood Circle Louisville, KY 40223 Company NMLS ID #1364
Text/call: 502-905-3708 fax: 502-327-9119 email: [kentuckyloan@gmail.com](mailto:kentuckyloan@gmail.com) http://www.mylouisvillekentuckymortgage.com/
NMLS 57916 Company NMLS #1364/MB73346135166/MBR1574
The view and opinions stated on this website belong solely to the authors, and are intended for informational purposes only. The posted information does not guarantee approval, nor does it comprise full underwriting guidelines. This does not represent being part of a government agency. The views expressed on this post are mine and do not necessarily reflect the view of my employer. Not all products or services mentioned on this site may fit all people. NMLS ID# 57916, (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org).
several key factors that will influence your Kentucky mortgage loan approval. Here’s what you need to review before applying for a mortgage loan in Kentucky.

Credit Score​ for Kentucky Mortgage Loan Approval

Your credit score is a major factor in determining the interest rates and loan terms you’ll receive and your loan approval. In Kentucky, a score of 620 or higher is generally considered favorable for conventional loans, but programs like FHA loans may accept scores as low as 580.

Kentucky Mortgage Loan Work History Requirements:

Lenders typically require a stable work history, usually two years or more in the same job or field, to ensure you have a reliable income stream to cover mortgage payments. Does not have to be same job but job gaps should be minimal and you can use college transcripts to supplement a 2 year work history with

Kentucky Mortgage guidelines for Income and Debt-to-Income Ratio: Balancing Your Budget

Your income level and debt-to-income (DTI) ratio are critical in assessing your ability to afford a home. A Debt to income ratio below 50% is ideal, as it indicates a healthy balance between debt and income. For example, if you make $4000 gross a month, then your new house payment plus your monthly payments on the credit report should not be more than $2000 total. There are two different ratios. Front end, which should be in the range of 30 to 40% of your gross monthly income, and a maximum of 50% for conventional loans and 55% or higher for VA and FHA loans, while USDA loans usually need a 33% front end max ratio and on the backend ratio no more than 45%__USDA loans are much tougher on debt to income ratios while FHA and VA are the most lenient.

Kentucky Mortgage Bankruptcy and Foreclosure: Understanding the Waiting Period

If you’ve experienced bankruptcy or foreclosure, there’s a mandatory waiting period before you can qualify for a mortgage. For FHA loans, this could be as little as 1-2 years post-bankruptcy and 3 years post-foreclosure1. See link for more info

Kentucky Mortgage Down Payments:

While traditional loans may require up to 3-5% down, Kentucky offers programs that allow for down payments as low as 0%. Additionally, down payment assistance programs can provide up to 5% of the sales price or 10k KHC down payment assistance to help cover these costs

Kentucky Mortgage Loan Limits:

Loan limits vary by county and loan type. In Kentucky, conforming loan limits for a single-family home can reach up to $647,200 for conventional loans, with higher limits for FHA and VA loans1.

Government-Backed Loans: Kentucky FHA, VA, USDA Rural Housing

These loans offer benefits like lower down payments, zero down with down payment assistance and more lenient credit requirements, 580 credit scores. The VA loan, for instance, may require no down payment at all for eligible veterans or active-duty service members1.

Kentucky Housing: Down payment Assistance and lower mortgage market rates with MRB Rates.

The Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) provides various programs, including the Conventional Preferred and Preferred Plus 80, down payment assistance and low mortgage revenue bond rates which offer competitive interest rates and down payment assistance for those who qualify

Down Payment Assistance Welcome Home Grant

Kentucky’s down payment assistance programs can be a boon, offering loans to cover down payments and closing costs, making homeownership more accessible for first-time buyers.

Joel Lobb Mortgage Loan Officer

American Mortgage Solutions, Inc. 10602 Timberwood Circle Louisville, KY 40223 Company NMLS ID #1364
Text/call: 502-905-3708 fax: 502-327-9119 email: [kentuckyloan@gmail.com](mailto:kentuckyloan@gmail.com) http://www.mylouisvillekentuckymortgage.com/

Hi all - all of a sudden my VW Tiguan and my phone cannot seem to talk to each other only when it comes to google maps. The car play works, I’ve got music, my contacts, texting, but google doesn’t work. The car is over 2 years old and my phone is now asking me to get some Verizon prepaid account. I’ve disconnected and connected everything twice to no avail. Help!

I wasn't entirely sure where to chronicle the wonderous tale of Clyde, because this spans multiple websites including reddit. Not enough drama localized here for it to be subredditdrama , and not enough on the Discord for it to be considered discordhorrorstories, and not enough TTRPG for rpghorrorstories.
Mods, feel free to direct me to the proper place if this isn't it. Anyway, on with the disaster.
Our tale begins on a subreddit in a semi-niche community of the RP side of Reddit, which I won't name because of Rule 9. It's a medieval-themed board where you can post memes if you want, but is mainly known for it's "encounter posts" and long, long chains of IC conversations between the regulars of the sub. I myself love the place, my Doctor Who OC (isn't relevant to the tale so I'll keep info on that brief) is one such regular, having decided to become that planet's Doctor stand-in. Long irrelevant story. Check my comment history, I'm all over that sub. Any references to that character are just to provide examples for how things work there.

Some background to understand the landscape:

Character creation is pretty lax there. One doesn't necessarily have to be a knight, (such as my character for example) but most people choose to be. It's gotten some controversies in the past concerning technology limitations to some extent, mainly asking folks to flavor things fantasy-style, such as my character being viewed as an eccentric artificer who lives in a box of miracles. A phrase I see commonly for when people ask questions about this is something like this:

"You can have an F-22 Raptor, but it cannot be an F-22 Raptor. Perhaps a Da-Vinci style flying machine propelled by magic to have comparable speed instead?"

Stuff like that. The community doesn't want to stifle creativity, but also don't want people to ruin the DnD-style universe with technology far outstripping the era (hence why my character must be secretive about his Tardis; Meta-perspective it's to avoid violating the tech rule more than it already does by nature). There's also a no-NSFW/ERP rule (unless its in DMs), which will come into play later.
Due to rulings like this, it has the obvious problem of how to settle things like duels, or how various people groups see each other IC. This caused a mutual agreement over on the discord to have the combatants agree on the terms of the duel beforehand, either in DMs or OOC somewhere. Stuff like, HP per character, highest D20 wins/best of 3, or first to Nat 20. Alternatively, self-hosted Encounter Posts can have their own rules, which must be outlined in the comment section by OP. Here's an example stat block from one such encounter:
https://preview.redd.it/xlo49rq4ih0d1.png?width=1122&format=png&auto=webp&s=dd7c9908af081c25953ebebcb1ed1a3a40c04eb6

Now, where does Clyde come into play?

Once upon a time, there was a user I'll call Clyde. Clyde is effectively the most anime character of all anime characters I've ever seen in my time in that community. To put it bluntly, he refuses to lose. I don't mean like he's very determined or super good at the combat, or a clever RP-er. I mean, his characters (of which the Tupperbox list on the Discord is FULL of, which will come up later), have miscellaneous excuses as to why they can literally never lose any engagement. Not one. Hence the nickname, "The Nuh-Uh King"
Here's a word for word excerpt from the Bio of one of his characters. Keep in mind, he's no troll. I've talked to him in VC before. This is completely, unironically, serious.

She was also born with several vampiric abilities yet none of the weaknesses.

I have plenty of more snippets just like this if not worse, including one that I couldn't relocate to post here that in summary said "can cast Wish as a Cantrip" (Clyde typically prefers to use DnD for organization of his very overpowered moveset.) or claiming to be level 50, despite DnD maxing at 20.
Note: Clyde insists on DnD-puritanism in his interactions, only to immediately violate his own rules.
By far the most cursed of his lineup is the Golden Half-Dragon. This character supposedly can predict the opponent's moves before they make them. Most Encounter Hosts try to make him roll for this, but he insists it's an innate ability that doesn't have to be rolled, and he has "+30 on every roll" (despite the Encounters not typically allowing modifiers) so he cannot fail anyway. Additionally, there is no Saving Throw for the opponent. Using the same justification, you cannot circumvent it. It's always a Critical hit, and he flaunts this totally fair ability to one-shot anyone and anything, including Lovecraftian Elder Gods (We have a Warlock or two who have dark pacts with Outer Beings)
Clyde seems to have no concept of fun for people other than himself. There's been several incidents of him joining other people's threads, of course one-shotting their instance of the Encounter and declaring himself the winner. People often just ignore him, but sometimes people will try to argue with him about it, and he gets very defensive and picks a fight with the person who won't just let him steamroll their combat. Not to mention, the hypocrisy can be smelled a MILE away.
Here's another lovely message in one such argument. TLDR-ed because there was a bunch of anime exposition that I'm not gonna make you read.

"I snap my fingers and the entire army falls dead, (TW: Violence) their heads severed from their bodies in a fraction of an instant with my blade."

The person protests about ruining the fun (Encounter involved liberating an occupied village by stealth or counter-raiding or assassination of the General, a boss. It was open ended, but they asked for creativity in the post. You were allowed to challenge the army, but you couldn't John Wick them, the Host asked that a Tactical victory be done through soldiers of the Commenter's own). They argued that it was overpowered to do that alone and not very fun to host. Posts a hypothetical of what if someone with the same unimaginably powerful level of a character was able to take down his character in one hit and received this as a response:

"If I ever meet a character that strong I won't consider them canon nor interact with them. My characters are too powerful and they can't lose so it wouldn't happen anyway."

Once more, this was without /s, this was without a hint of irony. I've seen trolls do something similar before, but no one has gone to a practically cartoonish level with it. Everyone is pretty tired of it, and he's been warned by the Mods of both the Subreddit and the Discord multiple times, which brings us to Part 3:

Clyde Joins the Discord

Oh, boy. THIS is a story. So the Discord has several separate sections, places where people can interact OOC and talk about games or other interests outside of Text RP. They also have threads for IC stuff if, say, your character wanted to rent a room at the local Tavern, or conduct business at the marketplace, or visit a shop run by someone else.
The moment he discovered that a Discord existed, the Tupperbox creation channel was absolutely flooded with his characters, and ALL of them are almost impressively overpowered in some form or fashion. I won't go into detail, but it's a long list.
Pretty quickly, a nasty habit of "ghost-pinging" or @ ing someone repeatedly and then deleting the messages developed. One of his warnings was due to this habit, and to his credit it happens less often now, but if you don't respond for more than a minute after he continues, the spam begins until you return. Now, I understand sending a reminder to be sure they remember the interaction/figure out if they're ghosting, but this is insane.
The other warning so far was his rampant violation of the No-ERP rule. I'm friends with one of the mods on the Discord, and they showed me a thread of him writing a lengthy scene between two of his Tuppers in the public channels, after being told he couldn't. I've seen a lot worse, but it wasn't pleasant to read over regardless.
This adventure is still ongoing, I'll be sure to post more Clyde Stories if you liked this one. Why he hasn't been banned from both yet, I have no idea, but it makes for amazing tales.

Hi everyone,
I've been using some note taking apps and it's been hard to find one with the "Scribble to erase" feature available, I know a few like GoodNotes and Nebo but I really don't like them, in my opinion the handwriting is awful in both. I've seen many apps with stabilization, like Element, and the change is huge.
My use is just for handwriting, I don't want to convert it to text. I just want an app where I can scratch or scribble to erase, easily, and if the app has stabilization, much better.
Thanks for the help.

I’ve been typed in MBTI but as a multitude of different types, and only once by Socionicists before (is that a word?), but was in a very unhealthy mental place then and I’m not sure it was accurate. I've filled out the questionnaire and tried to be thorough, although I think it comes across as rather muddled in some points, so I'm happy to clarify any bits. Thanks in advance for any help or input!
What do you study or do for a living? How did you come to do that? What do you like or dislike about it?

• I study medieval languages and literature and folklore at a PhD level. I came into this somewhat accidentally - I’ve always been interested in history (not solely medieval), but began to specialise a bit more and found I had a knack for picking up several dead languages quite quickly. I always say I came to it by accident, but that sort of downplays how much I love it, and how I’ve been obsessed with history since I was a child.
• I love getting perspectives from the past and thinking about different belief systems, how perspectives on the world have changed diachronically and vary geographically. I want to understand the people of the past, sort of as an example of innate archetypical humanity in incredibly varied contexts. Reading these texts helps me understand people I know, myself, and humanity as a whole better. I also love how varied my day can be - I go to new places each year, I work on different projects each month, and I solve different problems each day.
• I dislike some of the instability surrounding future jobs - although I’m in one of the best departments in the world for this topic, it can be very difficult to get a job post-PhD in academia, something that remains a worry despite not being an imminent problem to solve.

What else do you do on a daily basis? What are your interests and hobbies? Why do you do them?

• I work a lot and my partner says I don’t know how to relax. So a lot of my “hobbies” are doing things like learning extra languages (I recently started German), specifically languages that will be useful for my future studies/work.
• I work out pretty consistently, a mix of strength-training and cardio. I try to keep it even (although I read somewhere that a 60/40 split is optimal, 50/50 is close enough). I do this for a mix of health benefits, stress-relief (possibly could be considered a health benefit) and vanity. I will drop workouts when work becomes too busy though (it’s not priority number one)
• I like rock-climbing and hiking when I can, but I don’t do this daily.
• I plan future travels and work, and I also really like organising social events, but most of that is centred around organising and helping run departmental events at the moment. Despite this, I can be a bit of a shut-in on a day-to-day basis.
• I also play video games as stress relief, if I’ve completed enough stuff in the day. Games like Skyrim, Ghost of Tsushima, etc.
• I also spend a lot of time on reddit reading about various topics related to fantasy novels or videogames, mythology, psychology and psychiatry, various personality-typing systems, true crime (although less into this one than the others) also watch youtube videos about such things.

What are your values, and why?

• I value determination, grit, and intelligence in friends quite a bit, and a sort of “can-do” optimism
• I value inclusivity, I dislike cliquish behaviour.
• I sort of don’t know how to describe this, but I find it annoying when people try to interfere in my work to suit their agenda - I value a sort of friendly “live and let live” mentality.
• Following on that, I value approaching people with an understanding rather than judgmental mindset

Describe your relationships with family and friends. What do you like and dislike about them?

• I am not super hands on with my family - I live on the other side of the world from them - but I do like them, and keep connected electronically and through weekly or fortnightly Skype calls. I sometimes feel that they don’t really understand my interests, but they do care and try to pay attention regardless, and I know they see me as somewhat distant, but they see that as a personality quirk rather than indicative of lack of affection.
• I don’t have a super large friend group at the moment but have in the past. I’m focussing on quality over quantity at the moment, after spending a lot of time working in nightlife earlier in my life and having the massive social circles.
• I appreciate that my friends are intelligent, passionate, well-travelled and ambitious people.
• I struggle sometimes when friends don’t take me into account when I have done so for them, and I also sometimes find people a bit too caught up in their own worldviews and concerns without seeing what (to me) is the bigger community picture. I also really dislike when people try to apply moral pressure on me (that I have to care about a cause or I’m a bad person, etc.). I also find it frustrating when I’m the sole organiser of events or meet-ups.

What do you look for in friends? In romantic relationships?

• This was somewhat answered above, but I also enjoy outgoing and warm people, and people who I think I can rely upon. I try to take people as they come, though, and have had all sorts of friends.
• In romantic relationships, I like when people are ambitious, determined, and intelligent but also kind and passionate people. I like them to have a level of overlapping interests with me (my partner is also a medieval scholar, but works more with artefacts and museum work).

What conflicts have you encountered recently with other people? Why did they happen? Which kinds seem to happen on a regular basis?

• I can be accidentally rude at times without realising, and also can be a bit dismissive of views I think are dumb, sometimes hastily so.
• I can over-explain or simply talk too much or over-theorise
• I can be a bit of a people-pleaser
• A recent conflict was my trying to organise a departmental event and the other graduate students not contributing or seeing the larger picture of how that would help our department as a community, which I got very frustrated by.

What are your strengths? What do people like about you? What do you like about yourself?

• I work really hard
• I try to create opportunities not just for myself but for those around me. I think we (not the whole world, obviously, but those around me) can all succeed.
• I am thorough in everything and don’t really half-ass stuff.
• I am pretty friendly and always up for a chat or to be a shoulder to cry on, and am pretty nonjudgmental (one friend says I always try to attribute other’s actions to a positive motive)

What are your weaknesses? What criticism do you often face from others? What do you dislike about yourself?

• I can be impatient and don’t know how to relax/wait for things.
• Sometimes I can come across as weird or intense, and I wish I was better at toning that down and relating to people
• I get pretty insecure about what people think of me at times, and wish I was a little better or more confident there.
• I take on too much work - I have been called an “arbeidsoptimist” before
• Sometimes I can be overly conflict-avoidant - I’ll get frustrated by people, but try to work around that.
• I can be a bit hesitant about making decisions
• I have a moderately murky sense of self - hence the need for a typing questionnaire and struggles with self-typing
• When stressed, I catastrophise a lot, and can have quite a lot of anxiety about not living up to my potential or failing at the things I am working on.

In what areas of life can you manage well on your own? In what areas of your life would you like help?

• I am good at keeping myself on task and working towards goals, I don’t really struggle with motivation or such.
• I’m pretty good at building connections and friendships with professors and other people and maintaining a sort of warm, friendly atmosphere in workplaces.
• I need help at times figuring which information is important and which can be left out. My work tends to spiral outwards and things like page-counts in papers or time-limits in presentations seem horrendously oppressive.
• I need help with taxes.
• I sometimes need help figuring out why I’m upset about things.
• I would like help figuring out my socionics type ;)

What things do you dislike doing? What things do you enjoy more than others?

• I dislike cooking (it just doesn’t interest me, although I enjoy tasting different kinds of food, I am also happy eating the same thing everyday, which I do when I live on my own).
• I dislike things like taxes.
• I am struggling with this question. I guess I dislike when I cannot plan and have to wait and see about more information (not strictly a “dislike doing” answer). Unresolved problems or conflicts give me a lot of anxiety.
• I enjoy going to museums, climbing, exercise (while listening to a podcast about an interest, preferably in another language), analysing medieval literature, planning initiatives, theorising and brainstorming with professors and some friends.

What goals, aspirations, or plans do you have for the future, and why?

• I want to publish more articles in and outside of my field. I have a couple I’m working on now, which range from 19th century literature (recently accepted as a journal article!) to niche folklore topics (recently presented at a conference) to medieval travel literature (readying for publication), so that is my immediate term, along with some travel for language-study later in the summer.
• Long term, I want to finish my PhD and become a professor in my field at a research-heavy (R1 or the equivalent) university
• I hope to master more languages (I need working competency in 5 to even pass my PhD qualifying exams), and to do so, I plan to travel (and acquire funding for that).
• I also want to be a little closer to my family, and take care of my partner and eventually marry.

What kinds of things do you do to manage and/or beautify your environment (your room, your house, etc.)?

• I have a lot of trinkets, artifacts, candles, and pieces of artwork up in my room. They are pretty varied, from statues (a bronze buddha from Sri Lanka, a basalt Horus from Egypt, and so forth) to artwork (Dante’s inferno by Botticelli, a Dali painting is up too at the moment), to some tibetan prayer flags, etc. Basically just stuff I’ve gotten from travels or as gifts.
• I’m pretty clean, in all honesty. I don’t mind clutter, but I don’t like when things are dirty.

If you won the lottery and didn't have to work anymore, what would you do?

• Exactly what I am doing, but I’d have a nicer place to live and worry a little less. I acquire external funding for a lot of my travels, etc., so that stuff wouldn’t really change.

What traits do you find endearing that others might dislike? What traits are considered positive/neutral by others but tend to annoy you?

• I find it somewhat endearing when people talk a lot about their own interests. I can usually relate it to things I am interested in without needing them to do that for me, and I also usually just find those things interesting.
• I find it endearing when
• I sometimes find it difficult when people leave all decision-making up to me, even if they’re trying to be flexible/easy. I can make the decisions, but don’t always like to.

How do you behave around strangers?

• I am very polite, but don’t really engage with strangers that often. I can be a bit shy, and used to have a decent amount of social anxiety, but lately I’m just not interested in interacting with strangers.

How do you react to conflict? What do you do if somebody insults or attacks you?

• Conflict really causes me a lot of anxiety if it’s with someone I know or have to see in the future. In those instances, I usually just don’t end up in conflict with them: I’m pretty friendly and try to see people’s perspectives.
• If not, and it’s with a stranger, I kind of just ignore them.

Would you ever be interested in starting a business? Why or why not? What role would you play in it? What kind of business would it be?

• Not sure. I kind of prefer doing what I’m doing now - the research and teaching aspects. I don’t really know what sort of value I’d be adding to the world with a business, but I suppose if I could find something that was both interesting for me and seemed to fill a needed niche, sure.
• I like the business Facsimile finder, they make medieval manuscript reproductions. Perhaps something like that, or creating a sort of community centre/third place (I used to think about owning a pub, back in my bartending days).

How do you dress or manage your appearance?

• I keep things pretty simple, and try to stick to classic clothes (rather than trendy). Timeless and simple, more or less. That being said, I enjoy colours, and try to model my wardrobe a bit off of an autumnal palate (I got really into colour season theory a couple of months ago briefly, and was “typing” all of my friends and myself, now I just use it when thrifting for new clothes).
• I pretty much exclusively get clothes either as gifts or through thrift stores. I sort of really dislike shopping otherwise.
• I take care of myself physically, and keep a simple but effective skincare routine and eat moderately healthy. It stresses me out when things like skincare have too many steps, though.

Do you like kids? Why or why not?

• Yeah, I think kids are nice. I appreciate how much potential they have and how good-hearted and imaginative they usually are. That being said, I don’t always find them particularly interesting, so I guess more of a generally benevolent ambivalence from my end.

In what situations or times in your life did you feel most fulfilled, and why?

• I’m pretty fulfilled right now, in all honesty. I have work that challenges me but is super interesting and allows (and pays) for lots of travel, I have a loving partner, I have a relatively secure future for the remainder of my PhD programme (minimum four more years).
• I do wish I had a better social circle right now though, but I honestly haven’t put enough effort in to build one (I have two social circles but we’re all busy/inconsistent).

i broke up with my boyfriend who i am very much in love with and we’re both heartbroken and he is making me question whether i made the right decision. so he and i met in 2020 and dated all of that year and midway into 2021. we broke up because i found out that he was cheating on me with the mother of his children. we went no contact for a long time and eventually we ended up reaching out to see how each other were doing. it turned out that he had gotten back with her and they got married and were actually separating again because she is a serial cheater herself(ironic right??) so anyway, after extensive conversation and promises made on his part that he had changed i decided to give him another chance. this began in february of 2024 and it was going great until last week. due to our prior history, i had asked him if he could just keep me updated on when he’s talking to his ex/kids mom because they had cheated before in the past and i just wanted to be aware of when they were gonna be communicating. i started having weird gut feelings and anxiety about things. i asked him if he could show me their texts so i could just confirm that they’re only talking about kid stuff and nothing like last time for my own peace of mind and he told me that he deleted the thread. the whole text thread was deleted off his phone and out of his recently deleted and his entire call log was cleared too. he said that he knew it would cause an argument if i saw how often they text but it’s all about the kids. his kids are 9 and 7. they have split custody and their days never change. they don’t even do pick up and drop offs, each of them is able to get them from school on their days. so i broke up with him. now he is heartbroken saying how much he loves me and how he only lied about the stuff bc he thought we would argue about how much they were talking. but my gut feeling tells me that there was more in that text thread than he is admitting to because that is what happened in the past. did i make the right decision?

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

Link to my previous post regarding this whole situation… https://www.reddit.com/nocontact/s/v2J7j3tCKA
Also apologies for the crazy long post.
A quick recap, I’ve been in this relationship for over a year and they moved to live with me for the past 10 months. They decided to move back to where they’re from very abruptly without communicating or having conversations about it with me, but still wanted to be long distance. I was not happy about that in any way, but was supportive and agreed to working on long distance.
A couple days after leaving, they got mad at me for calling and not knowing if they were hurt or not. There was no response for a couple days till they finally sent me a text that I’m “not being normal” by calling trying to reach them. Immediately after, blocked me and went no contact with me. That left me confused and hurt. Just in general wondering what even happened and why they were behaving this way towards me.
A week after blocking me, they finally sent me a message saying they love and miss me, and wanted to hangout over the phone. I took a day before even responding to respond calmly, but agreed. We messaged back and forth a few times the night I responded, and they were excited to hear from me. I figured just call and talk a bit, so we did. They were over the top excited to see me and talking about a bunch of random things. I was weirded out at this point since nothing has been done to even address the whole block and ghost situation. They then admitted that they could have communicated with me better and avoided a situation like that and apologized for making me worry. But then immediately got angry at me for not apologizing right off the bat for “acting psycho and calling so many times”. I said I was not trying to hurt them in any way, but I was worried for their safety after they had just told me at the beginning of leaving that this neighborhood is super sketchy. Much more than they even remember, and I didn’t know if they were hurt or even alive. I did not ask for an apology from them, and didn’t understand being demanded an apology. I did say I was sorry and wasn’t trying to invade any of their space.
But they wanted to just jump right back into our relationship and continue long distance. They said they love and miss me. They wish I was there right now and just wanted to hold me ect. They said they wanted to take time the next day to plan a trip for me to come visit there the next night during the little movie date night. Went very quickly into the NSFW details about our sex life and how much they want me. At this point it’s about 6:30-8am in the morning and I fell asleep somewhere in there.
The next day when they had said they wanted to watch a specific movie together over video chat, I had messaged them earlier in the evening asking if that was still the plan. They said they were busy with work calls but we’ll definitely still watch it that night. It was hours later around 1:30-1:45am my time when they finally called, and I was falling asleep at that point but woke up for it. We set everything for the movie, but then for the first 45ish minutes of it I was sitting there staring at the living room because they went over to the kitchen to cook food.
At the end of the movie, I briefly asked if they still wanted to plan a trip. They immediately got angry at me saying we already planned a trip the night before. I do not remember this in any way, and apparently we planned a trip together while I was falling asleep early in the morning (I have a history of having full blown conversations with people even while I’m asleep. You can ask me questions and I will completely answer everything, but not remember anything because I’ll be dead asleep). I told them I still had details to sort out with them in that case because I don’t remember these plans and still have more to talk about. They sarcastically asked what I even have to talk about. I made a goofy joke trying to lighten the mood and giggle a bit. They just said “ok cool I’m going to bed. Bye.” and hung up on me. I messaged them and said I’m sorry I don’t remember making any plans, I just remembered you saying let’s make plans the next day (meaning that night).
I left it alone the next day till they messaged me in the evening. I was on the phone with my sister when they messaged, so after I finished talking to her, I called them. We were on the phone for almost an hour, 15 minutes of that was spent actually with me, 20-30 minutes I was on hold while they were on the phone with their best friends mom. The rest was spent just watching sports. I was confused and just wanted to spend quality time together. They said they were tired after a few minutes and are going to hang up, finish the game, take a shower, then watch a show and go to bed. We previously used to do stuff like that on video chat when we were long distance previously, and I didn’t understand wanting to abruptly leave. I asked if they can at least message me the next day.
The next day, I didn’t hear anything till later afternoon/evening. I told them what I was doing that day and asked what they were up to. I hear back later at almost 3am and they were mentioning a song. I messaged back at 5am when I saw the message, then got a couple texts at 6am about dinner they made.
Later that day then mentioned an episode of this show we used to watch together that came out. I didn’t see it initially, but tried to call when I saw it. They called me back an hour later and I was busy for a few minutes. Call them back and we’re on the phone for a while.
I asked about actually discussing issues and setting boundaries they we both might need. I attempted to explain my perspective on things and open up discussion. I mentioned how we’ve talked on the phone a little over the past week but haven’t talked the past couple days besides a few text messages here and there. I was just asking for a little more and communication. They got mad at me immediately saying I’m being psycho and we’ve talked so much the past few days what am I even talking about. I disagreed and mentioned that I would just like to spend more quality time together. They increasingly just got more heated at me and angry then abruptly hung up on me. At that point I start crying my eyes out and don’t even understand any of this behavior.
I messaged that I’m trying. I’m trying to actually have a serious discussion with them I called back and when they answer I’m trying not to make it obvious but I’m sobbing. They said I’m just trying to manipulate them and I’m being crazy/psycho and that I can’t act like a normal person at all. I have no idea what to even think at this point. He hangs up and texts me I don’t want to talk since it won’t be productive. I messaged back and told him I was trying. I wasn’t trying to have any crazy arguments. I did want to talk but in a constructive way as adults. If anything I was just trying to spend time together.
I tried calling the next day 2 different times (only calling once in the morning the once in the evening). But I haven’t heard anything and the way my calls instantly went to voicemail, I’m assuming he blocked me again. It’s been a couple days and I haven’t reached out since, but I don’t even understand this behavior or how to respond to it.

It was hard to believe that Link could ever really die. Link, the iconic hero of the Legend of Zelda series, is distinguished not just by his bravery but by his seemingly perpetual resilience, which stems from his possession of the Triforce of Courage. This sacred artifact, imbued with the essence of the goddess Farore, grants Link more than just bravery—it provides him with a supernatural safeguard against death. Throughout each of his adventures, whether he faces the dark magic of Ganon or the bewildering trials of alternate dimensions, the Triforce of Courage acts as a bastion of protection. It ensures that Link can withstand mortal dangers that would overwhelm others, allowing him to continue fighting and striving to restore balance to the realms he cherishes. This divine protection is a cornerstone of his character, symbolizing that as long as he bears the Triforce of Courage, Link will always rise to meet any challenge, undeterred by the specter of defeat or demise.
So with that understood, how do we explain the downfall timeline? Well I think I've got an answer.
The Triforce of Courage grants the bearer the courage to face overwhelming odds and protects them from losing their essence or being overwhelmed by external evils. In the Zelda series, this Triforce piece often manifests its power by aiding Link in overcoming supernatural threats and challenges that would otherwise be insurmountable.
After the events of Ocarina of Time, There are two separate timelines created, one with Link, and one without link. The timeline with Link is the child timeline, where young link returns to Kokiri Forest to seek out his friend Navi. What happens next is undetermined, until now...
Once there, Link gets lost, but not just lost, lost without a fairy. In the lore of Ocarina of Time, those who get lost in the Lost Woods without a fairy companion are said to become Skull Kids. However, Link, even after returning to his childhood and losing Navi, carries the Triforce of Courage. This artifact's essence not only embodies bravery but also fundamentally protects the wielder’s spirit from corruption and transformation. Essentially, the Triforce of Courage acts as a shield, preserving Link's identity and purpose against the transformative magic of the Lost Woods.
Link's venture into the Lost Woods, safeguarded by the Triforce of Courage, sets off a remarkable event. Instead of succumbing to the fate of becoming a Skull Kid—a common destiny for those who lose their way in this enchanted forest—the Triforce of Courage interacts with the mystical energies that saturate the woods. The Lost Woods are not only a mysterious and ancient place but also the location of the Kokiri's Emerald, a sacred stone left by the goddess Farore. Farore is known for her power to create realms, as seen in Skyward Sword.
This unique interaction between the protective power of the Triforce of Courage and the realm-creating magic associated with Farore' s Emerald generates a rift or portal. This portal leads to the creation of a new timeline: a fantasy timeline beginning in Termina, an alternate dimension that mirrors and distorts the realities of Hyrule. This pivotal moment marks the divergence from the known paths of Hyrule's history into new, uncharted territories.
(This fantasy timeline explains why their are are fantasy characters' in these particular Zelda games. Like Mario characters in Link's awakening or Din in the oracle games. These characters are fantasies.)
Why Termina?
Termina can be seen as a physical manifestation of a trial created by the Triforce of Courage for Link to overcome. This world, laden with impending doom, peculiar inhabitants, and twisted versions of Hyrule’s characters, is essentially a crucible designed to test Link’s bravery and resolve. The challenges within Termina are direct reflections of the inner fears and the courage needed to confront them, perfectly aligning with the purpose of the Triforce of Courage—to push its bearer beyond their limits in the face of true adversity.
Majora’s Mask, with its dark themes and existential threats, serves as the ultimate test of courage for Link. The Triforce’s influence ensures that Link not only survives the journey but is also given a chance to grow and understand the depths of courage. It guides him subtly, ensuring that he stays true to his quest of not only saving Termina but also finding his lost friend, Navi.
At the end of Majora's Mask, Link has successfully navigated the trials of Termina, proving his courage and fortitude. With his mission in Termina complete, and his attempts to find Navi (his fairy companion from Ocarina of Time) unresolved, Link departs from the unknown realm. As Link continues his wandering in search of Navi, the Triforce of Courage leads him to Hytopia, thus bringing us to the next game in the fantasy timeline, Triforce heroes.
After the events in Tri Force Heroes, where Link and his two duplicates successfully lift the curse on Princess Styla, the magical bond that linked the three Links dissipates. This could be explained by the Triforce of Courage, having fulfilled its purpose in Hytopia, leading Link to new challenges where his heroic virtues are needed. With Hytopia’s immediate crisis resolved, Link sets out to explore new lands, possibly still in search of his original quest to locate Navi or driven by a restlessness instilled by his continuous heroic callings as he is still unaware of the fantasy timeline that he’s in.
The Triforce of Courage, still with Link, guides him to new lands with emerging threats. This mystical artifact, sensing disturbances in the balance of good and evil in distant realms, might lead Link to Holodrum and Labrynna. These lands, unlike Hytopia, face dire existential threats that require not just courage but the ability to adapt to changing environments and timelines, which are central themes in Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages.
Link's Awakening occurs after Link’s heroic deeds in the Oracle series. In this narrative sequence, Link sets off on a personal journey to train and prepare for future threats. Still unaware that he's in a fantasy timeline. He travels by boat, seeking wisdom and strength to be better equipped as Hyrule’s guardian. This journey symbolizes a hero’s need to reflect and grow, a common theme in legends.
The central twist of Link’s Awakening is the realization that Koholint Island is a dream realm created by the Wind Fish. As Link gathers the instruments and prepares to awaken the Wind Fish, he faces a moral and existential dilemma: awakening the Wind Fish will erase the island and its inhabitants from existence. This challenge is a test of Link’s courage and wisdom, pushing him to understand the complexities of reality and illusion, a theme deeply embedded in his quest to overcome this fantasy timeline he’s created.
Upon awakening the Wind Fish, the island fades away, and Link finds himself adrift on the open sea on a piece of his shipwrecked boat. This conclusion represents a rebirth for Link, a literal and metaphorical awakening. He is left to reflect on the nature of his journey and the lessons learned about impermanence and the power of belief and dreams.
Unbeknownst to the people of Hyrule, Link has not died but has instead been transported to yet another dimension or time, continuing his adventures elsewhere or even struggling to find his way back to Hyrule. In this newly created timeline, however, his perceived death leads to the absence of a hero when Hyrule most needs one, resulting in the realm's downfall. The downfall timeline.

Conclusion:

This version of the downfall timeline is rich with the fantasy and magic central to The Legend of Zelda series. It hinges on a magical misinterpretation: the sight of Link vanishing into a rift created by the clash between the Triforce of Courage and the ancient magics of the Lost Woods. This event, seen as his death, marks the tragic beginning of the downfall timeline, setting the stage for a darker chapter in Hyrule's history where the hero is believed lost forever.

I’ve been dating this girl for the past two months, and i like her very much, so much that I have never felt this way about anyone in such a short span of time before and she feels the same way for me too. Now, she had this male friend from her hometown, who was coming to visit her and to stay at her place for 3-4 days; she had made this plan with him back in December, before she and I had even met. Now, she had a slight history with him back in their school days, he used to like her and they had kissed once in school, but she did not want things to go any further, so she told him that they should stop and they did, but then he started to spread some rumours about her, and she found out and she confronted him and he accepted and apologised, and they became friends again, they continued their friendship for about 5 years. Now my girlfriend told me that back in November, she had flirted with him a little on and off but again stopped because she realised what she was doing was not right as she was in a relationship back then(although it was on the verge of ending, but still obviously it was massively wrong on her part to even lightly flirt with another guy while being in a relationship,anyway that’s another thing). We had this big argument because obviously i was not comfortable with him coming and staying over after getting to know about this history, but ultimately we talked about it and made peace with it because it was a plan made long back and I did not want to be too rigid myself. So he came, and he started behaving weirdly towards her, even though he knew about me, he was trying to flirt with her, was changing his clothes in front of her even though she told him to go and change inside multiple times, he still did not. He constantly was saying flirtatious things to her and so on. She told me all of this that very night on the phone, And i got super mad and angry, i wanted to physically hurt him, but she calmed me down by saying that she would talk to him in the morning and would tell him to go back to where he came from and in the meantime she would come to stay with me at my place. And that is exactly what happened, she did the same and he agreed to go back quietly . I was still mad and i wanted to beat him up but she calmed me down at my place. He went back after a day and a half to his hometown. Now, it has been 4-5 days since he went back and my girlfriend told me yesterday that he also grabbed her hand while they were strolling around a street, she instantly pulled her hand back and said to him expressively “ what are you doing?” He smirked and moved on, she got very very uncomfortable and She was very quiet around him the whole time even after they went back to her place;she got so uncomfortable she did not even go in the same room as him; she stayed in her living space and was talking to me on text the whole time and again he was doing these weird things like trying to peek inside her phone to see what she was doing and so on. Now, after hearing all of this I’ve gotten this wave of anger inside of me, all i can think of me is going to his city with a bunch of my people and slapping the shit out of him, because i feel like she got physically uncomfortable and i have to do something about it. And that guy needs to realise what he did. Because he has no realisation, he did not even apologise to her after everything she told him and my girlfriend’s flatmate told her that he was roaming around with an attitude for the one day he was there at her flat alone. Now what should i do in this situation? I’m in a conflict, she simply does not want me to do anything, she says he’s out of her life forever, she’s gonna block him from everywhere, he’s out, she says that’s enough, nothing else needs to be done, but I’ve gotten all restless and mad, this thought of beating him up is not leaving my head, how could he make her feel Uncomfortable and get away like that without even realising what he did and without even apologising to her, after coming to stay at her place, how can he make her feel uncomfortable and walk away? I’m constantly having all of these thoughts in my head, i feel like it’s my intrinsic duty to protect her, but obviously there are possible consequences of beating him up, what should i do, because this is seriously messing with my brain, I’m an overthinker and this is messing with my brain, please share your advice.

I saw this post on AlternateHistory.com forums.

People keep saying just cause Saudi didnt have a mechanized army,the Saudis wouldnt even last a single weeks fighting the Japs! It won`t for the following reasons!
1)Allies would send equipment to the Saudis
2)Saudis will be doing suicide attacks
3)Japanese armies aren`t trained to move and fight in desert war fare!The Germans conquered North Africa because German troops in North Africa were well trained in desert warfare!
Just because the desert is a flat plain doesn`t mean an army could easily march over it and send tanks and other vehicles over it!Besides alot of Jap troops would be suffering from the effects of the Desert!
5)The Saudis will resort to desert warfare.Just because you dont have a mechanized army doesnt mean you can`t fight!Research Lawrence of Arabia and Omar Kutthyb(Lion of the Desert) for proof!
6)The entire Muslim World will help the Saudis Defend Mecca and Medina!Other Muslim areas such as Turkey,Egypt,Palestine,and Iran have a military force that is equiped with artillery,mechanized vehicles,and bombs!The Japanese will face numerous nations with modernized weaponry!
7)The Saudis would fight more fanatical than any Japanese soldier because Saudi Arabia is the holy land of Islam!
8)Because they lack any experience in Middle Eastern warfare and because of their Bushido code,Japanese soldiers will contiinually be slaughtered by the same tactic the Arabs used to defeat the Crusaders:luring the enemy into the desert and letting them die of thirst!
9)If the Japanese conquere part of Saudi Arabia,the Japanese will do horrible things to Saudi civillians,thus enraging the Saudis and making them even more bloodthirsty for Japanese blood and long for the deaths of Japanese soldiers!
10)The Japanese army in Saudi Arabia will eventaully abandon the invasion because of far stretched logistics and because they will continually get slaughtered by both the Arabian desert and Arab soldiers who will use rifles and bombs to attack the Japanese,their armored vehicles such as their tank,and their supply routes!
So why do most people think Saudi Arabia will be conquered by the Japanese easily in WW2?The Japs have no knowledge of desert warfare!They will foolishly contiunally be lured into the desert by Arab raiders,and they will get lost and die of dehydration!Japanese tanks are completely uselees in desert warfare!And even if they manage to land a base,the Japanese Army will still face hell because the entire Muslim world will unite and send tanks,bombs,rifles,and other modernized war equipment to the Saudis along with properly trained Muslim troops!Why do most people say this?

Its rather hilarious but its an interesting scenario whoever wrote the above quoted text. So what would happen realistically if Imperial Japan attempted to do such an operation?

It sounds horrible, but in the times where the Bible was wrote, slavery was not quite the same as what we understand today, that is, was not justified by some kind of racialism. In the ancient times, slavery was basically a punishment by a crime, a compensation for a debt unpaid or as form of imprisonment after a war lost.
It is awful and be slave was certainly not a good thing, but we should take in consideration the historical context and not project our modern understandment in the ancient times that was very harsh and brute. The Bible on the other hand is one of the first humaniarian texts in world's history that actually supported human's rights for slaves, for example, they couldn't be killed or beaten as if they were not humans:
Exodus 21:20-21 ESV “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged."
Exodus 21:26-27 ESV “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth."