Vocabulary workshop answers book d

I know this is asked a lot but I want to ask again with my own circumstances:
We are both 32. Unexpectedly my mom called and asked to take the kids for the weekend which is rare. I work weekends and night shift and have a crazy schedule. But, I would like to take off and take my wife somewhere nice where we can spend the weekend together Friday 24th-Sunday 26th.
Willing to make a decent drive, but would have to leave after she gets out of work at 3 on Friday so want to be mindful of that.
Any suggestions on where to go or anything special going on that weekend in particular?
Milwaukee, galena, lake Geneva maybe Michigan is on my mind but would love to hear any special input.
She loves books, boutique shops, breweries among other normal things you’d expect a 32 year old mom of 3 to like.
Thanks for any input!

It is the early morning, when the day has yet to quite begin and the remnants of night linger still. As such, there is little light in this dreary office. Merely a lamp and a laptop, and even the latter lacks brightness. Books, pages, and clusters of documents are strewn about, all leading back in a very disorganized manner to an ornate desk, where a man hangs his head as he slumps over an opened binder.
“Were it not practically time for me to clock in, I’d simply leave by now…” he mutters underneath his breath, and a familiar raccoon paws at his leg. “Yes, Karl, I will feed you soon. Worry not.”
Poe holds a high role in the Guild. Third highest he can possibly get. In terms of pay grade, anyway. Regardless, this comes with much responsibility, and being the head archivist… well, one of those just happens to be “spring cleaning”.
This would be tedious on its own, no matter how dull the year prior to it had been. However, this year, Yokohama has been one of the worst possible places to be. As he slaves over document after document, he realizes all the more that this city is but a boiling pot for tragedy after tragedy, crisis after crisis. All of it makes him think, over analyzing every detail and every decision. Did they make a mistake coming here? Did they make a mistake by staying? Did he make a mistake all on his lonesome by getting into a relationship he couldn’t keep? God forbid, did they make a mistake by turning a blind eye to the death of one who had technically been one of their own?
He closes the binder, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. He probably needs more water, less coffee…
[Open RP for Guildies or anyone who has a reason to be there! Revival of Poe because I miss him.]

I had surgery just under 2 weeks ago, my friend Jen knows exactly what surgery I had, the complications I had on top of it in great detail and she visited me a few days after as well and saw how much I was struggling physically and mentally. I’ve also kept her up to date on how things are going with me after that in our friend group.
A simple Google immediately says my initial recovery time is 6-8 weeks without complications, 3 months for a really full recovery. Jen is a doctor so she doesn’t even need to Google but if she’s unsure I’m sure can refresh herself on it before she decides how to approach me confidently on the situation.
Last week, just 1 week after my surgery, she asked if I can come out for coffee with her. I was extremely shocked she was doing this but also very disappointed in her. I was hoping she wouldn’t do this because of her history.
Jen is a doctor and as long as she first started training to be one until now being an experienced doctor has used it as a way to diminish any health issues her friends have, with a rolling eyes attitude to anything you say you have or think you have, treating you like a hysterical medical time waster and like everything you think you have is you exaggerating or wanting to be ill. She’s never wanted us to go to her for medical advice and we’ve always respected that, but as friends talking about being ill in general occasionally and medical things come up in personal conversations (I had to go to A&E last night etc), she herself talks about her own.
Once I mentioned I’d had a migraine at the weekend and she immediately interrupted me with disdain patronisingly saying a headache isn’t a migraine. I said I had to go A&E as I could barely walk or see. She shut up straight away but you’d think she’d stop doing things like that after getting responses like that everytime but she never does. Only when you’re in an undeniable active serious medical scenario she gives you grace and support. But when she has a simple cold she makes a huge deal about how she can’t come out, which is completely understandable but very different to her attitude to others being unwell.
She even tried to diminish the suspected illness I currently had before I was given a surgery date that I could use to prove to her it’s being taken seriously by MY doctor. During the surgery time and immediate days after in hospital she acted supportive answering questions, because there was no way she can diminish that, but then went back to acting like it’s nothing and brushing me off when I had a scary complication at home and tried to ask her if it needs following up tonight or not. It did need following up and needed antibiotics, if I’d gone by her reaction I’d have left it.
Jen never asked me again how I am, asked me to go for coffee 1 week post surgery, when I said I’m not anywhere near leaving the house stage she said nothing. She never asked how I am again since either and now less than 2 weeks post surgery she’s asking me to go out shopping and for lunch with her like my surgery never happened.
This time I’m really angry. I’ve always been the kind of person to not make others feel awkward or embarrassed and laughing off situations like this, especially with Jen’s attitude and comments towards me and others, I always underplay it for her instead of making her feel bad. I don’t want to escalate the situation or spend a lot of energy on it especially in my physical and mental state of recovery but I do want to reply to her briefly and succinctly putting her in her place for once. How shall I reply to her?
TL:DR - My doctor friend keeps asking me to come out and ignoring I’ve had surgery

I know this is asked a lot but I want to ask again with my own circumstances:
We are both 32. Unexpectedly my mom called and asked to take the kids for the weekend which is rare. I work weekends and night shift and have a crazy schedule. But, I would like to take off and take my wife somewhere nice where we can spend the weekend together Friday 24th-Sunday 26th.
We live in Manteno. Willing to make a decent drice, but would have to leave after she gets out of work at 3 on Friday so want to be mindful of that.
Any suggestions on where to go or anything special going on that weekend in particular?
Milwaukee, galena, lake Geneva maybe Michigan is on my mind but would love to hear any special input.
She loves books, boutique shops, breweries among other normal things you’d expect a 32 year old mom of 3 to like.
Thanks for any input!

Yelena watched the doorway through which the young Ashfield scion had just left for a few moments more as she pondered over the meeting they’d just had.
*Precocious indeed,* she thought with a smile.
A smile that only grew as her gaze flitted over to her childhood friend’s… complicated expression.
It seemed young William’s decision had come as much a surprise to his instructor as it had come to Yelena herself.
“He said no,” Joana said after a few moments.
Yelena nodded slowly as she reclined into her friend’s surprisingly comfortable chair. Given what she knew of Griffith, the Queen had half expected the thing to be harder than mithril when she first sat down - but it was surprisingly plush.
“Not without good reason,” Yelena said as she shifted about.
“Good reason?” Joana scoffed. “You offered him your daughter’s hand.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “You offered *all* of your daughter’s hands.”
Yelena rolled her eyes at her friend’s tone. “And if he’d accepted I would have considered it a bargain.”
A minor scandal and the loss of a number of future marriage alliances was ultimately nothing compared to the ability to raid Kraken nests. And that was ignoring that a hypothetical means to slay kraken in deep water would undoubtedly have other applications.
Applications that would be incredibly useful in the months to come.
Though, perhaps, if young William’s plans came to fruition that coming storm could be delayed by a few years.
“…Are things truly that desperate?” Joana asked quietly.
“They’re not great,” Yelena admitted, massaging the bridge of her nose. “The Blackstones… I knew they’d resist the reforms, but to threaten open rebellion?”
She’d not expected that. Not even in her wildest dreams. Lindholm’s only human ducal house had ever been wilful, and their antipathy towards the Orcs who dwelled in the Sunlands was well documented, but surely even they could see why Yelena was doing what she was.
Regardless of what her critics said, her decision to end the slave trade in Lindholm was most assuredly not the result of ‘useless sentiment’.
Far from it.
Oh certainly, Yelena had no love for the institution of slavery, for reasons both moral and financial, but that wasn’t why she’d created the abolitionist movement.
With each passing year, the Homeland’s view of Lindholm grew ever more covetous. More and more the Sun Empress and Desert Khan’s rhetoric centred less on their ongoing deadlock with each other and more on the idea of ‘recovering wayward territories’.
Certainly, that could have been a reference to Old Growth as much as Lindholm, but Yelena doubted it.
Lindholm might have scared the Solites and Lunites into retreating by choosing to engage them over deep water, but ultimately those victories were borne of a lack of conviction on the part of her foes.
Had the two disparate fleets been willing to risk the permanent loss of a small portion of their mithril cores in order to achieve victory and push towards the mainland, they may well have been able to flip the allegiances of a number of Lindholmian houses.
Oh, certainly, the high elves and dark elves of Lindholm might have prided themselves on maintaining the strictures of equality that defined the Old Empire – but with either Solite or Lunite airships hovering over their family castles, she couldn’t help but wonder if some might reconsider their stances on their fellow elves.
No, while an invasion of Lindholm would certainly be costly, it was entirely within the realm of reason.
An invasion of the Old Growth however?
There was a reason the Wood Elves – as they named themselves – had managed to remain independent of both the other two, much larger, nations despite sharing land borders with both of them.
Their strange magics might have been muted and weak beyond the borders of their home, but within their territory they were nigh invincible.
No, if there was to be any ‘reclamation’ of any territory belonging to the old Aelven Imperium, it was likely to come from Lindholm.
To that end, the kingdom could ill afford to keep feeding people and iron into the meatgrinder that was the Sunlands. Could ill afford to keep orcs that might otherwise be valuable mages laboring in the fields under the eyes of watchful taskmasters.
Lindholm needed every mage-knight it could get – regardless of the color of their skin or the shape of their ears.
Yet after year and years of negotiations and attempts to shift public opinion on the matter, the North still remained willfully ignorant of that truth.
“Surely they know that even if they win, any kind of division between us will just see the Homeland sweep over them?” Joana said.
Yelena shrugged. “I have a feeling that Duchess Blackstone’s victories over both the Lunites and Solites has left her confident of repeating the fact should it come to that.”
Foolhardy, in her eyes, but no one had ever accused the Blackstones of being meek. Nor being incapable of backing up their sometimes insane claims. What other House could lay claim to an ancestry that had once beaten back the Old Imperium at the height of its power?
Where other human nobles had been sworn into the Old Imperium on their knees with their battered armies scattered to the winds, the Blackstones managed to resist long and hard enough that the Imperial Legions had been forced to come to the negotiating table.
Ultimately, the Blackstones had still been absorbed into the Empire, but they’d done so on their terms with their heads unbowed.
…Though it was somewhat ironic that nearly a thousand years on, it was now those same humans in the position of the old Imperial Legion while it was the free orcs who now utilized the same strategies as the old Blackstone tribes – right down to the Wyvern riders.
“I could imagine that,” Joana muttered.
“Is it strange that I think she might pull it off?” Yelena said – though only because she was sure that no one beyond her friend and silent guards was listening.
“Part of me wants to argue that, but… do you think it’s a human thing?”
Yelena thought about the Blackstones and the young man who’d just turned down a chance to be king one day.
“Perhaps,” she admitted.
Personally she thought it was because humans didn’t live as long – and there was more of them. When your life could be measured in but a single century, perhaps you were a bit more inclined towards taking risks that might make an elf balk?
…Risks like trying to take your first year team up against a third year team in the name of trying to avoid a war.
Or at least delay it.
“I still can’t believe he said no to your offer,” Joana said, something… complicated in her friend’s expression.
Yelena grinned at the sight, though she wrestled down the urge to ask a number of probing questions of her normally straight laced friend, who seemed to have a childish crush on a young man nearly ten years her junior – and her student beside.
Normally she’d be all over a scandal that delicious.
Alas, right now was work time. “I can. He gave me his reasons and they were solid.”
Well, solid enough. If you squinted a bit. And tried to think ‘human’.
Rather than all-but guarantee a war by having the Crown break off his betrothal, he intended to do it himself.
Loudly and publicly.
And if he won – and that was a big *if* – he’d all but destroy any kind of excuse the Blackstones might have to declare war in response. Indeed, by being ‘shamed’ in such a public manner they’d need to spend a few years at least regathering lost support.
After all, who would want to follow a house into a civil war just after their heir was publicly humiliated by a team of cadets two years her junior?
Academy fights weren’t just schoolyard squabbles. They were civil conflicts writ small. A microcosm of the constant jostling and jockeying of Lindholm’s houses.
In other words, they held weight.
If Willaim could beat his fiancée, Yelena knew she’d owe him more than she could ever truly repay. A few more years of preparation would turn an almost guaranteed defeat into something *much* more even.
Especially if she could scoop up who knows how many mithril cores that were otherwise just littering the ocean. Ninety percent of them would be of limited use immediately, but a few years would give her time to construct at least a few more airship hulls to house the devices.
All that was required was for William to win.
“Solid,” Joana scoffed. “His plan is to go up against a group of third years with a team of firsties.”
Yelena tried to keep the intensity she was feeling out of her tone as she leaned forward. “You don’t think he can do it?”
Joana opened her mouth before hesitating. “I… normally I’d say no. Talented as they are, the gap in experience is just too wide.”
“But…”
The dark elf rolled her silver eyes behind her glasses. “But, with William’s newest invention…” The woman paused. “Son of a bitch.”
For just a moment Yelena was treated to the rare sight of her friend laughing. “I can’t believe I thought he ‘just wanted to use it in a schoolyard fight’,” the Instructor said.
“Well, he sort of is, in a way.” Yelena shrugged. “It just so happens to be a very important schoolyard fight.”
Joana laughed. “I suppose it is.”
“Still, do you think he can win?”
Joana straightened up. “I genuinely don’t know. With his new invention he might be able to catch her off guard. If he can skew the numbers in his favor at the start, they might have a chance.”
Yelena frowned. Not exactly the ringing endorsement she wanted to hear, but that was part of why she valued Joana’s friendship.
Always had really, even when the girl had first come to court at the age of ten as a potential playmate for Yelena’s daughters and told her that her dress made her look like some kind of tropical bird.
Something Yelena realized upon closer inspection was true.
Ever since, the Queen had made a point of checking in with the girl from time to time, if only for the occasional shot of unvarnished truth.
It was a strange ‘friendship’ from the outside looking in, but one that got less so as time went by and the age gap became less stark.
“Well, let’s hope the human capacity for the nigh impossible isn’t relegated entirely to the Blackstones,” Yelena muttered.
Because if it wasn’t, the boy would either have to marry one of Yelena’s daughters or die.
She *could* *not* afford the knowledge in his head to reach the Blackstones. To that end, he’d either accept her offer – rolling the dice on the onset of war and all that might come with it – or he’d suffer an accident.
As much as it pained the royal sovereign’s heart to see such a bright and enterprising soul be snuffed out before its time.
Being forced to make such decisions was simply the price of wearing the crown.
“Still,” Joana said, and Yelena was grateful for the distraction as she looked up. “Will you actually leave him alone if he pulls this off?”
Yelena scoffed.
“Of course not. If anything I’ll up my offer.” She shrugged. “I’ll give him you, myself and half my court if it means getting my hands on what’s in his head.”
It was actually a little amusing how Joana flushed at her words, even as she shook her head.
“Yes, that sounds a lot more like you.”
Yelena nodded. Damn right it did.
Though as she did, a thought occurred to her. “Hey Joana?”
“Yes?”
“In your reports to me, didn’t you mention the Ashfield boy having some kind of nickname.”
The dark elf pondered the words for a moment before stiffening. “Hmm, he does actually. A rather apt one considering. Apt enough that I’m wondering if whatever he used to kill Al’Hundra is related.”
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense. What is it?”
Joana leaned back, her head craned upwards, as if seeking strength from above.
“Kraken Slayer.”
Yelena laughed. She couldn’t help it.
“Of course it is.”


“You killed Al’Hundra.”
William was still reeling a little from the conversation he’d just had, so he was actually a little caught off guard by a finger being shoved into his face the moment he stepped back into his teams quarters.
*Ah,* he thought. *I promised answers.*
Though it seemed that in his absence his team had managed to figure out some of those answers without him.
Glancing past Olzenya’s outstretched arm, he saw Marline shaking her head – as if to vehemently deny she’d told them anything.
She needn’t have bothered, her geass precluded it as an option. Hell, even once everyone found out it would preclude it as an option.
Which was for the best for the moment because now he wasn’t so much trying to hide what he’d done as *how* he’d done it. Admittedly, Marline didn’t know anything beyond the broadest details, but she knew enough to know that it was some kind of enchantment combined with alchemy.
Now it was possible the forces working against him – or rather simply to profit off him – had already figured that out and he’d hear the alchemy lab exploded any moment now, but he’d sooner put it off for as long as he could.
To that end, he turned to Olzenya – though not before politely lowering her pointing arm.
Something that, to her credit, the high elf allowed – actually looking a little embarrassed by her outburst and thus rudeness.
“Honestly, I was expecting something like that to come from Bonnlyn, not you,” he said to the slightly flushed high elf.
As he glanced over toward where the dwarf was sitting, she shrugged. “I realize I may not be the most classically polite individual around, but I’ve been a merchant long enough to recognize when someone’s got a trade secret they want to keep close to their chests.”
If anything, Olzenya flushed harder, as while she might not have been familiar with trade secrets, she was most definitely familiar with the notion of house spells that needed to be kept secret.
“I also thought ambushing him at the door was a little rude,” Verity murmured from the back of the room.
Olzenya coughed, before backing up. “Of course, I apologize for that William.”
More bemused than anything else, especially as the elf curtsied, he waved a hand dismissively. “It’s fine. Or, understandable, I guess.”
“Good,” Ozlenya smiled, glad for his acceptance… before she shouted again. “Because you lied to us.”
“I did?”
“He didn’t,” Marline said. “He said he had something to bet against Tala.”
Indeed he had, something he’d kept hidden under a sheet. After all, he’d not wanted his big surprise to be spoiled by the rumors of his coming beating him to the cafeteria.
And they would.
Rumors in the academy somehow managed to move at light speed.
“He implied it was gold,” Olzenya shot back.
“And you said Tala wouldn’t go for it, but you came with us anyway,” Bonnlyn said.
Indeed, he had implied it was gold. Or ‘something valuable enough to catch her interest’.
“To comfort him after she shot him down,” Olzenya said. “Instead I damn near tripped over my own feet in front of everyone when he pulled an honest to goddess mithril core out of his ass.”
William was actually a little thrown off – and amused – by the sudden display of crassness from the noble girl.
“But he didn’t lie.” It was actually a little surprising – and heartwarming – to hear Verity speaking so forcefully.
And that Olzenya didn’t immediately snap at her for doing so. The team really had come a long way in just a few months.
*Ah, the joys of shared suffering,* William thought as he watched the girls bicker amongst themselves.
“As I’m sure you’ve all guessed, I have indeed been less than open about a few things,” he said, silencing all of them – except Marline who’d yet to speak in the first place. “With that said, I’ve never once lied to you about my end goal.”
“Breaking off your betrothal,” Marline said finally.
“Breaking off my betrothal *without* starting a war,” he said. “If it were that easy, the Queen would have done it for me just now.”
“You met the Queen?” Olzenya sounded a little faint.
“I did.”
Oh, how he did.
“Oh ancestors, please don’t tell me you hit on the queen!?” This time Marline sounded a little faint.
And he actually felt a little offended. “What!? Why would you think that.”
“You’re doing the same thing you do when we talk about Instructor Griffith,” Bonnlyn said with studiously neutral voice. “Or Instructor Morline. Or Instructor Flen. Or some of the guards.”
“Or that one cafeteria lady,” Verity chimed in, a little red in the face.
“Or the-”
“I do not!” He’d finally had enough of these aspersion on his character.
Across the room, a number of sighs rang out, even from the elves.
“At least now I knew why he never checked me out,” Bonnlyn said. “He’s got mommy issues. And I’m not old enough to tickle them.”
“Still, the Queen?” Olzenya hissed.
“I mean, have you seen her?” Marline muttered back. “I mean, I don’t agree with him… but I get it.”
“I didn’t ‘perv’ on the Queen.” Some part of him died on using such childish language. “We had a meeting about my plans and… what occurred with Al’Hundra. Needless to say, the fact that I’m here means she’s agreed to go ahead with them and I’m also to keep quiet about anything I may or may not have had to do with any Kraken going missing. Or their cores.”
He deliberately left out the royal marriage offer.
Still, with those words the room went silent. After all, if the Queen had told him to say nothing, he was expected to say nothing. Just because the North in general didn’t have much respect for royal authority didn’t mean the rest of the kingdom did.
Quite the opposite.
“Well, if the Queen has commanded you to *remain* silent, I suppose there’s nothing to be done,” Olzenya muttered. “Though I would like answers some day.”
“Hell, I’d like to know why you brought Marline in on your plans,” Bonnlyn said, glancing at the Dark Elf. “You know, and not the rest of us.”
There was no missing the hint of hurt there – which he understood.
“I can promise you it was purely a matter of convenient circumstance,” he said. “And I can promise you, I didn’t confide in Marline for free.”
All the girls glanced up as the dark elf nodded slowly. “He’s not lying – though I can’t say anymore. Literally. It’s a price I paid willingly, but one I doubt any of you would be interested in.”
Almost as one, he could see the lightbulbs turn on in everyone’s brain simultaneously – except for Verity, who took a few seconds.
*‘Geass,’* thought none of them said it.
This time though, when the girls looked between him and Marline, there was a definite sense of wariness to it.
“Well, I suppose there’s nothing else to say then,” Bonnyln said. “I guess we should…”
“…Go to bed,” Olzenya nodded warily.
William grinned. “Good idea. Big day tomorrow and all that.”
That was an understatement, and he could tell everyone was thinking it as they made their way over to their rooms.
Still, it was true all the same.
They’d need their rest if they wanted to stand a chance tomorrow.
Indeed, they’d need every advantage they could get.
To that end, William could only hope he’d stacked the deck in their favor enough to matter.
…It took him a long time to get to sleep.
When he did awake, in the early hours of the morning, it was to the sound of an explosion.
*In the direction of the old alchemy labs if I’m not wrong,* he thought with a grim smile.
It seemed someone had decided to investigate his storage room even sooner than he’d anticipated.
Annoying, but it hardly mattered at this point in time.
All that really mattered was going back to sleep.
He had a big day ahead of him, after all.
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Selling a keynote speaker in London—or anywhere—requires a strategic approach to attract clients and showcase the value the speaker can bring to an event. Here are some effective ways to sell a keynote speaker:

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View Poll

As we approach June, I am curious what some of your favorite reads have been. They don’t have to be books that came out this year, just books you finished this year.
Mine are (and these are in order of favoritism):

1. Brian Evenson’s The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell.

A wonderful collection of short stories. His futuristic sci-fi horror in an ecologically burned out world scratched an itch that I didn’t know needed scratching. I loved reading this.

1. Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation.

I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book quite like this. It was gripping, I brought it to work and was sitting in a Subway restaurant reading it and I could not put it down. I’d seen the film first, and the film was great, but like we always say, the book was better. In this case, way better.

1. Laird Barron’s Swift To Chase

This is a tough one, as Barron is one of my favorite authors, but he’s had some stiff competition this year (could have been Michael Cisco or JR Johnson as easily). I picked Swift To Chase because, while I really enjoyed a lot of the content, I didn’t get it in total. It confounded me, and I have thought about that a ton since I finished it. I plan to re-read it soon-ish.
What are your three favorite reads so far this year?

I had this long-standing issue with my boyfriend where he would use bigoted words and phrases to joke with his friends and i would repeatedly ask him to reevaluate the use of these words and ask him to stop. He never actually had any biases against the groups he would make insensitive jokes about but he did it for shock humor. This deeply bothered me as he was contributing on a small scale to the stereotypes and discrimination of these people. I have to say I seriously asked him to stop about 3-4 times and would casually mention it quite often.
Eventually this all culminated in a family trip I went on with him and his family. I impulsively decided to ask about if he’d made any progress with his vocabulary, and he admitted that he had been lying to me and never even attempted to change his behavior. I sobbed for hours and honestly looking back I would have ended the relationship if it werent for us having to see each other the remaining 3 days of the trip.
A lot of time has passed and he changed his behavior and I’m pretty sure he definitively stopped making offensive jokes, but i was looking through his old texts (with his permission) and found out that back then, he was not only lying to me, but also making fun of me with his friends. For example, one conversation i saw was along the lines of this:
His friends: is (my name) there?
My boyfriend: Nope!
(and then him and all his friends would make racist jokes)
Even though the problem has been resolved, seeing this has just opened new wounds and I’m slightly put off by the idea of even seeing him right now. It just hurts that he’d laugh at me like that while acting like he loved me. It makes me feel like he never took me seriously and makes me doubt that he even does now. Is it even worth talking about? It’s such old business and there isn’t even anything he could do about it because it’s in the past. I feel like it would be stupid to break up with him over this at this point.
Otherwise our relationship is pretty good. I don’t feel negative feelings when I’m with him and we get into an occasional argument but nothing that serious. He’s very loving but the biggest issue is that he’s very avoidant of his issues, and I think that included his hesitancy to change his vocabulary. Right now I’m having a similar issue with him where he keeps putting off attending therapy despite my repeated asking of him to. Should we break up? Should we take a break? Should i give him an ultimatum? Should I wait a little longer? I don’t know.
For context we have been together for about a year and a half and the argument we had on that family trip was 6 months ago.
TLDR: My boyfriend lied to be about trying to fix his behavior and made fun of me with his friends, but since changed his behavior. I’m just now realizing how messed up his behavior was and reconsidering our relationship.

Hello Reddit,
Scenario: I have a RTX 3090 that I have just converted back into air cooled and it is in a Razer core x chroma.
I am selling my desktop parts because I now require a laptop rather than a desktop.
Question 1: what internal laptop gpu would you say still makes sense to keep the 3090 egpu?
Question 2: which internal gpu will outperform the 3090 in an egpu?
Question 3: In my research I have seen certain laptops have more pcie lanes available for the egpu which will bring more performance and that I need a laptop that has thunderbolt 3/4 or usb4 to be compatible. 3a) which new laptop would you recommend to get the most out of the 3090 egpu? Which have enough pcie lanes and the correct port.
3b) which old laptop would you recommend to get the most out of the 3090 egpu? Which have enough pcie lanes and the correct port?
4) in your current setup, What is your laptop? does your laptop sound like a jet taking off when you are doing tasks? What tasks are they?
5) if you had to choose an old laptop to use with an egpu, choose one: A) 2 in 1 B) low end gaming laptop C) high end gaming laptop D) low end business laptop E) high end business laptop F) workstation laptop
6) same question as 5 but choose new laptop.
I have searched the internet for a few days and I think the answers to this post would help anyone in a similar scenario.

The internet is a strange place, inadvertently designed to bring out the best and worst in people. People can be whoever or whatever they want to be. For predators and malignant narcissists and who live in their own delusions to begin with, it's like a hunting ground. They can create whatever persona they wish, fill their victims' heads with lies and half-truths that paint them out to be someone they are not, and by the time their victim actually meets them, it's too late - they've already created an image in their mind of this perfect person the narcissist has convinced them they are, and it usually takes time before the curtain comes down, the lies fall apart, and the mask breaks away.
I'm no saint, and I've learned my own tough lessons from the internet. I grew up under not-so-great circumstances, only getting 5 years of education before I turned 18 and was largely raised by a computer screen. Along the way, I catfished a woman in her mid-20's when I was 14-16 years old. It wasn't intentional at first, I told everyone that I was in my mid-20's and I worked as a bouncer at a bar in NYC. I never meant any harm, I was just raised by a computer and spent all my time alone playing MMOs and learned quickly that if I told people how old I was, they'd stop playing with me. So a bouncer seemed like a job I could bullshit about easily enough, and I was a big dude at 6'1 260lbs so I figured I could maybe pass it off as legit if it ever got hectic.
I started playing with this woman in her 20's and her husband frequently. We became friends fast, and soon we were virtually inseparable on the game. Her marriage ended up not working out, and after they separated she told me she had feelings for me. I should've admitted I wasn't who I said I was then, but I was young and dumb and she was the only real friend I had, so I kept up the ruse. Eventually I did come clean, and she broke it off with me not long after. We stayed friends, albeit with my heart hurting pretty bad, for a few months afterwards - until she met Jack.
When she first told me about Jack, he sounded like a great catch. He had his own IT business in Canada, was a couple years older but not by much, and she was infatuated with him. Obviously I was crushed and didn't handle it well, being a practically feral teenager at the time, so not long after they started getting serious she ghosted me altogether. I was around 17 at the time, and shit started going off the rails for me. After I got out of juvie, I started drinking heavily on a near-daily basis and selling and doing drugs. This led to a lot of pathetic, inebriated, desperate attempts to contact her and apologize for how I acted.
After months of being ignored, eventually grief and regret turned to anger, and finally acceptance. When the pain passed and I came to my senses a bit, I had an epiphany and realized that if I loved her as much as I thought I did, the best thing for both of us would be to let her go. I was a high school dropout with no job, selling drugs to get by. She had 2 kids, and what kind of life could I provide for them? She made the right choice, my age and the fact I made a grown woman fall in love with a teenager not withstanding, and as bad as it hurt I realized it was selfish of me not to accept the way things were and leave her alone, so I did.
10 years or so later, I had gotten my shit together. Worked my way up from cleaning dead shit out of swimming pools, to an entry level position at an environmental consulting firm, to a Project Manager at one of the largest firms in the field in the DC area. I'd met someone, got her pregnant, and for some reason I felt a pull to contact her again. Not to rekindle an old flame, but because she had been a tremendously positive influence on my life in a time where I had few. She was the first good thing I had in my life at a time when I was sleeping on old blankets on a hard floor in an abusive home, and what I'd held onto from our time together wasn't our romantic relationship, it was the best friend I'd ever had. And something made me want to tell her that all that work she put into getting my head right wasn't in vain, and I'd finally made it out of the gutter.
So I messaged her on Facebook, and to my surprise she actually responded. We started talking again, and soon it was back to every day. When my baby mama got back on drugs and turned abusive and was putting my daughter's life in jeopardy on a near-daily basis, she was the one who convinced me I could fight for custody - that I had to fight for custody. So I did, and I won, and I've had full custody of of my daughter since she was 6 months old and for the 10 years since.
But eventually we parted ways again. I'd started seeing someone, and part of me knew I couldn't commit to another woman while I was still carrying on with her. Our relationship had started turning romantic again, and she had dropped some hints about old Jack that would come to the forefront later, but she wasn't ready to leave him and I didn't want to be that guy, so I sent her a message explaining why we had to stop talking, apologized, and ghosted her.
7 more years went by after that night. The relationship I abandoned her for soured quickly when I found out that chick was a carbon copy of my baby mama, and I quit dating to focus on my career and raising my daughter. But on the long, 2+ hour commutes each way from work, I often found myself stuck pondering the "what ifs". What if I hadn't ghosted her? What if our age gap wasn't there, and we'd never had to split up to begin with? I knew in my soul I was never going to find someone like her again, but I made peace with it. I imagined her happy life, her kids with Jack, and convinced myself I made the right choice.
Then COVID hit, and near the start of it, I stumbled on a post on reddit about this dude who sent his high school sweetheart a message many years later apologizing for how he treated her and telling her how her presence impacted him, and I thought to myself, "Hey, I did that!". So I started writing a reply, and for the first time told the story of this girl and I. I'd never told a soul about what happened with us, not even my family or closest friends. Maybe it was the stigma of having an online relationship back in those days that carried over, or maybe it was just too personal to share with my friends or family. It got long, so eventually I just decided to start a new thread. When I was done, it was so long I figured no one would ever read it, but I hit submit anyway and put my phone down and got back to work.
Well, I was wrong. People did read it - a lot of people. Soon my phone started blowing up. Thousands of comments, hundreds of DMs, people offering me book deals and asking if they could have the rights for a screenplay or have me on their podcasts. It was fucking surreal, and being generally a private person who tries to fly under the rader, it got overwhelming fast. Eventually I reached out to her again on Facebook, warned her about what happened, and apologized for putting her business out there.
She didn't respond for a couple weeks, and when she did we started talking again almost immediately. And then in mid-April 2020, she told me that she needed to talk to me. She spilled everything, and told me exactly who Jack was. How he would hack into her devices to spy on her, threaten to kill her and her partner if she ever left him, say vile things to her and her daughters, calling the young girls cunts and bitches. How he alienated all her friends and family, and kept them all isolated in the house her parents bought them that he would rarely leave.
And I felt deceived too. All those years I'd convinced myself that she was happy, that she got together with Jack and was living the life she deserved. In reality, Jack intentionally got her pregnant not long after he flew out to her state the first time. He quickly moved into her house, and refused to work or provide not only for her kids or their kids, but for the other 3 children he abandoned in Australia and Canada who he had no relationship with, with 3 different women he victimized in the same manner. When she was 8 months pregnant with their first kid, she was working nights doing hospice care while he sat on his ass playing videogames all night and talking to his ex. In 17 years, this fucking loser with 7 kids by 4 women worked a grand total of 5 weeks, quit his job, claimed he got PTSD from the experience, and somehow manipulated his way into getting SSDI for it. They survived off SSDI and her parents' charity for years.
But Jack was reading all of this, because like I mentioned earlier, he was hacking her devices and watching us talk remotely. Jack knew the jig was up, and slowly started to unravel. She told him she wanted a divorce, and that she was not going to sever her friendship with me again. And he pretended to take that well, going as far as to try to befriend and manipulate me. He tried every trick to keep her he'd done for years - telling her he was going to get help and would change first, then when that failed he made suicide threats and somehow got his therapist to call her and tell her as long as she didn't leave him he wouldn't kill himself, and then he tried to intimidate her. Eventually he went off the rails completely and sexually assaulted her when he thought she was sleeping.
She called me from her parents' house crying the night it happened, and I convinced her to file a police report. She did, and a couple weeks later Jack got removed from the home, served with a protective order, and charged for sexual abuse. This of course did nothing to stop Jack - he broke into their house a couple days later when she and the kids were out to upload a folder of revenge porn to his Google Drive under the guise of wanting to drop off a cake for her birthday.
Then the stalking started. Jack would relentlessly message her all day and night on Facebook, switching between rage, trying to garner sympathy, convince her he would change, and threatening self-harm. We later found out via a cyber forensics report that he was hacking into the laptop she had taken with her while she hid at her parents' and had been so bold as to steal her Victim Impact Statement and send it to all his World of Warcraft buddies as a joke.
And he didn't just stalk her, he came for me too. Constant unauthorized attempts to access my accounts for everything from Windows to my bank, spam calls and emails - shit, the wormy little fuck even got his friends to stalk my social media and pretend to be strangers to gaslight me. I ignored all of it, and he got desperate enough to send me a lovely message attempting to extort and blackmail she and I, claiming he had "all my posts" but wouldn't do anything with them if I called him. The tipping point for me is when he subscribed to my small YouTube channel - which had nothing on it but 3 videos of my daughter. That veiled threat wasn't lost on me.
But Jack fucked up. I don't know if he thought his insane nonsense would scare me off, or if in his delusions he really thought he was the bad mother fucker he convinced himself he was, but Jack didn't know jack about me. I'm a crazy fuck too, and while he was sitting on his fat ass playing World of Warcraft all day every day for the past couple decades, I was selling drugs and hanging with some of the grimiest mother fuckers Baltimore had to offer. I've seen and experienced a lot of real violence outside a computer monitor, and the prospect of a violent resolution to this saga didn't phase me a whole lot. I'd spent years trying to be a better person and avoid conflict, but I sure as shit wasn't afraid of it either. Leading up to this point, I was already trying to calm myself down and talk myself off the ledge and not pack my guns and drive out there to keep watch until the police did their thing and put him away, which took a lot longer than it should have - this fucking guy violated his protective order 80 times in just a couple weeks.
So I called him, and he spent the next 26 minutes crying over the phone like a drunk little bitch, while I tried my best to be kind and to talk him off the ledge. And yes, I did record it, and yes it is hysterical listening to it now in hindsight, and yes I still have the recording. Anyway, I told him he was scaring the shit out of her and the kids, and he promised to leave us alone and I told him if he could chill the fuck out I would try to talk her into giving him more access to the kids. The next day, she got an email from her first ex-husband - Jack had reached out to him with a link to my reddit post trying to get help from him to come after me, which he promptly shut down and sent to her.
The next few weeks were terrifying as Jack descended further into madness and became more scared and desperate. He knew she was gone and not coming back, and he was facing real charges and real jail time, and while Jack is a fucking moron in a lot of ways, I'm sure he knew a fat, greasy computer nerd with a sex offense conviction wasn't going to have a good time in County. Jack was a murder-suicide waiting to happen, the police were doing nothing to stop his stalking, and I felt powerless to help her. Eventually after he sent her $50 over PayPal at 4:00am with what appeared to be a suicide note, I had enough. I called the DA's office, asked them why the fuck this was being allowed to happen, and promised them I'd been taking meticulous notes and if anything happened to her I would be taking it straight to the media. The DA told me if I was going to make threats the conversation was over, but sure enough he was finally arrested not long after.
Ironically we had remained platonic friends through most of this, but the shared experience of dealing with this psycho brought us closer together and things quickly changed. We knew he wasn't going to stop when he got out of jail, I felt responsible for her safety after my stupid reddit post started this chain of events that led to Jack's unraveling, and with the world seemingly coming apart during COVID, decided if we were ever going to meet it felt like it was now or never. So I booked a plane ticket across the country, spent a week with her and her family, and a few days after I came home she flew out to visit me and meet my family.
We went into it with no expectations. I fully accepted we might not click and our relationship would go back to being platonic. For my part, I just wanted the closure of finally meeting this person who had such a profound impact on my life before COVID mutated or something and killed us all.
But we did click, and the next two weeks were life-changing. I met and cooked for her entire extended family the day after I arrived, and it went well. While I was there I got her mom's email address, and after I went home I had an idea. I knew her parents had met in DC, so I emailed her mom and asked her for a list of places that were special to her, and she told me about the church her parents had met in. I asked her to keep our conversation secret so it would be a surprise, and she did.
So when she comes out to the east coast, I take her on a tour through DC and park the car a few blocks down the street from the church. As we're walking by, she notices the church and comments on how beautiful it is.
I keep it cool and respond, "Yeah, that's a pretty important place.".
She looks at me and says, "Oh? Why's that?".
"That's where your parents met.".
She audibly gasps, giddily bounces a bit, starts to cry, and we pulled down our masks (fuckin covid) and kiss. Her reaction is easily one of the greatest memories in my life. What I didn't know at the time, was that her parents had told her about that church since she and her siblings were kids. When the church changed denominations, the church took the angel statue off the top and brought it back to her home state, and her parents had taken them to see it a few times throughout her childhood.
Anyway, getting sidetracked here, the sappy love story stuff is a different story altogether.
A month after we met for the first time, I had quit my job, sold everything I couldn't fit in my sedan, and she flew back out and drove across the country with my daughter and I.
Sounds crazy as hell, and it was, but it worked out better than it should have. I got a good job making more than I did back home right away, her kids loved me, and my daughter loved her and adjusted to her new home fast. And by the time Jack got out of jail for felony cyberstalking, sexual abuse, and Intimidation of a Witness in a Domestic Violence case, we had cameras all over the house, and I had taught my fiancee how to shoot - which she quickly became better than me at.
But Jack's time in jail didn't slow him down, and the 2-10 year suspended sentence didn't deter him at all. As a matter of fact, on his first day out one of the first things he did was start trying to hack her accounts again. He managed to con an elderly couple he knew threw World of Warcraft from a different state into letting him live with them, and from there he spent a lot of time and energy stalking us and hacking our devices to the best of his ability. He also convinced these poor, very stupid elderly people from his videogame to bankroll a lengthy, expensive divorce. Somehow a man who hadn't worked in almost 20 years managed to run us into over $50,000 in legal fees in two years. How a marriage with zero assets turned into a two year battle when both parties were officially in poverty before the divorce, or how the family courts never saw through the bullshit is beyond me.
To Jack's credit, he did a pretty good job remaining a thorn in our side. Largely due to the complete and utter ineptitude and indifference of the police and District Attorney who could and should have put a stop to his bullshit at any point in that time. Old Jack got hit with a permanent criminal stalking injunction and a 10-year protective order along with his probation, and no amount of effort on our part would get the police, DA, or probation to put a stop to it, despite mountains of evidence.
He successfully managed to draw the divorce out right up to the wedding we planned a year and a half prior, with his attorney putting in motion after motion to delay the process. With all our family and friends coming from all over the country and as far away as Japan, we accepted our wedding would just be a celebration and not an official wedding. Until the night before the wedding, she got a call from her attorney - he had made a call to the clerk's office at the court and got her to move the paperwork to finalize the divorce to the top of the pile, and she was officially divorced. Our wedding would be a real wedding after all, and despite Jack's best efforts, he lost again. We had the wedding on a remote ranch that we rented for a week, and foolishly decided to cater and decorate ourselves, which would have been a colossal undertaking without the extra 4 hours to drive into town and get our marriage certificate at the courthouse. But we pulled it off and it was everything we could have hoped for and then some, and we were officially married.
Jack of course didn't stop after the divorce was finalized. The list of shit he tried to do to us before and after that is too long to spell out in an already too long post, but here are some choice bits:
He wrote a demented letter to the oldest of his kids with her who severed her relationship with him, calling my wife and her mother "vipers and cowards" and promising we would "answer for what we've done sooner or later".
He continuously hacked our computers, miscellaneous accounts tied to our emails, and any other devices he could get into - dropping in remotely via Amazon Alexa, phones, etc.
He set up bots to send us thousands of spam emails, sign us up for dozens of international newsletters all at once, and requests for consultations for things like solar panel installations.
He told the kids vile lies about my wife and I, although the most egregious was when he used a court-ordered therapy appointment with his second oldest daughter to accuse me of distributing child porn, told the therapist I am an "evil man", and told him I wasn't safe to be around his daughters. This led to her being forensically interviewed by the police, where she spelled out what happened, but of course they did nothing.
He gave the two youngest children cell phones to sneak into our house, with Google accounts activated and location tracking turned on.
He sent packages to our house 5 times in the space of a few months, one of which was addressed to himself and contained nothing but a bag of Stevia and a pack of gum. These packages generally came to our door the day before his scheduled visitation with the kids.
During this time my bank account was hacked four times in the span of just a few months with nearly identical fraudulent charges. In each of these instances, I had completely changed my bank account information.
He filed false reports with CPS twice, alleging we were beating the children, locking them in the closet, and not feeding or bathing them. This led to a CPS agent coming to our house to investigate.
We brought all this to the police over and over as it happened, and they did nothing. The DA running the case wasted 5 months subpoenaing a fake email address that we told them when we reported it was fake and spoofed. After finding out about that, we went to the DA's office to find out what the fuck was going on. A Victim's Advocate met with us, and was horrified about how the case was handled, looked up the prosecutor assigned to the case, rolled her eyes and said "Oh...it's Stephanie", confirming what we already knew - this prosecutor was completely incompetent, an elect3d politician moonlighting as a prosecutor. She called us the next day to tell us the actual DA called a meeting and a warrant was put out for Jack's arrest. For some inexplicable reason, they pulled the warrant back, and the advocate told us it was because the DA was pursuing more serious charges.
Then, they stonewalled us. The Victim's Advocate we had met with that actually tried to help us was moved off our case, and the new one assigned refused to talk to us or return our calls. The few exchanges we had with her, she made it abundantly clear she had the DA Office's interests in mind and not ours. We decided to just stay quiet and let the process play out and hope for the best, up until we received an email on Friday night before Election Day from the Detective telling us Stephanie had closed the case. I assume she didn't want her incompetence coming to light, and didn't want to shut the case down before Election Day knowing we would be on the warpath.
Eventually, Jack caught wind that he was officially under criminal investigation, but clearly had no idea they were never going to press charges. He got quiet for a bit, until he was ultimately let off probation early. We still get the occasional reminder he's out there watching, but his fear of going back to jail and the belief it might happen cowed him a bit. So instead he harasses us through the family courts, filing constant bullshit motions with no evidence to support them, and for some reason the courts let it continue. Somehow a man who makes ~$800 from SSDI and is only paying $30 a month total to support his 3 kids with my wife is able to fund tens of thousands of dollars worth of legal proceedings every year, and no one in the family courts has ever stopped to ask how he is paying for it or why all this money isn't being spent on supporting these children.
But despite Jack's best efforts, his bullshit hasn't worked. My wife and I have been together for four years soon, and married for two. His kids call me dad and hate his guts, only seeing him because the courts force them to. I continue to advance in my career, landing two major promotions in the past 2 years and now running a division in one of the largest companies in my field in this part of the country. I just enrolled in college to go back to school and get a degree in family law with a focus on domestic violence. The most frustrating part of the whole experience with ol' Jack was having no one to turn to when all the institutions who were supposed to keep this from happening ignored us, and even though I'll be well into my mid 40's before I accomplish my new goals, I plan to advocate for domestic violence victims and do everything I can to lobby for change to these laws to keep as many people as I can from going through what my wife and I did. I learned that the only way to beat these people at their game is to play on the same field right along with them, and that's what I intend to do.
My wife went back to work too once she healed from some of the trauma, making $30 an hour as a personal assistant for a fella who's had two movies made about his life. Our kids struggled a bit with school and dealing with all their biological parents' issues, but they quickly turned it around and have been excelling. We're all happy, healthy, and doing better now than ever.
As for Jack? Well, he's pushing 50 and still spending his days alone, playing World of Warcraft and jerking off in this old couple's basement. Nothing has changed there, and now he's too fat, old, and visibly an enormous fucking loser to victimize women in the same way he did in his youth. I have no doubts he'll find another victim eventually, probably when these old weirdos bankrolling his life now finally wise up, but one thing Jack forgets is that karma is a mother fucker, and I have a giant database of evidence that I can and will send out to whoever I please to help pull that mask down and keep him from doing this to someone else. Nothing is more appealing to a potential love interest than hearing their man cry like a drunk bitch for 26 minutes to the man he claims stole his wife, while simultaneously admitting to sexually assaulting said wife.
As wonderful as it would have been for Jack to go to prison where he can't hurt anyone again, there is some catharsis knowing Jack will forever be in a prison of his own making. His children want nothing to do with him, and he'll never see them graduate or walk them down the aisle. Jack will die miserable and alone, and in his narcissistic delusion will still be blaming everyone else for the colossal failure of his life, while continuing to fail to grasp the one thread that ties all his misery together - himself.
And since he somehow manages to find and stalk most of my social media, I'd wager Jack will end up reading this too. I hope he does in all honesty. And Jack, if you are reading this, I want you to know that you can kick, flail, manipulate and lie, cry and complain until you're red in the face. None of it matters. You don't matter. You'll leave this world alone, as sad and bitter as you are now, and the world will be a better place for it.

Hey everyone! I’m 23 years old ( I’ll be 24 next week 🥳) and I’m from the Caribbean. Im looking for genuine companionship and a great time 💕
I really love chatting and getting to know you as much as you’re comfortable with. Your comfort is my biggest priority as long as respect can be reciprocated ❤️
If this is your first time, don’t be afraid to ask me questions I’d be happy to answer them. I conduct all of my GFEs on
💙telegram : tetsubabyxo
Available: Cashapp Apple Pay PayPal
“I am an 18+ Adult offering SFW companionship to other 18+ adults only.”

Hi all!
I just booked my flight for Japan in October and now I’m looking for hotel recs if anyone has some suggestions!
My budget is right around $100 a night. I planned on staying close to Ueno station in Tokyo and closer to one of the stations near Gion in Kyoto.
For both locations, I’m hoping to find a place that has a decent amount of bars/restaurants/shops around it and has a 24/7 front desk.
In Kyoto, I’d like to be within walking distance of Gion. There are a lot shrines/activities I want to do in that area, but also plan to visit the Inari shrine area which I plan to take the train to. I’m also contemplating a day trip to Nara.
In Tokyo, I’d like to be within walking distance of Ueno station, Akasuka, and Ueno Park.
It does not have to be anything fancy. I just want a decent place in a good area that makes getting around easy. Just a no-frills, clean hotel, but it would be very nice if they are English friendly too!
Thank you in advance to anyone who posts!

(Thanks to SpacePaladin for creating NOP)
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Memory Transcription Subject: Elder Researcher Slira of the Vyr Exploration Initiative
Date [standardised Vyr time]: Day 102/321, Year 110
I remembered when they drilled to the top of Rime.I had been studying to be a computer engineer at the time, only a single course away from graduating. My home city of Frozen Perch had been chosen for the project, something that no local really paid any mind to. Almost no one believed there was anything to find within Rime’s depths, for she didn’t have any of the gifts her Sisters did. There was no ore or soil like Stone had, no warmth or light like Glow’s magma. Even Abyss held corrupted treasures of Tide’s life which members of her Second and Third Church used with enthusiasm to survive and thrive in places were the very water would crush you to nothing.
We all knew they’d give up after drilling up for a few kilometres and Vyrkind would be content that nothing lay above our heads up Rime’s endless ice, that reality was only so big and that we had explored almost everything that exists besides for some patches within the dark deeps.
I admit, I didn’t have much passion for my career of choice. I’d likely end up as a system admin somewhere, managing networks and improving what we already had, never creating anything new because we already built everything we needed.Born too late to explore the world…
When the engineers working on the drill reported that the ice was thinning, that they were getting faint signals from beyond… curiosity and passion ignited in my soul, in the soul of nearly every vyr that lived and breathed.The drilling project went from a boring little science project only a choice few geologists and industrialists held any hope for to a global event which caught the eye of all vyrkind.
I remember lying in my nest, surrounded by pillows and swaddled in blankets while my eyes were glued to a livestream of drill’s progress. My tail was playing with a tassel of a stuffed toy, which if I remembered rightly was modelled after my first pet, a grumpy but sweet crab named Admiral Cookpot.I remember the smell of burnt squid, because my father had been cooking a meal at the time and got distracted by world events, same as me. The only sound in my room was the tideheater’s propeller whirring softly.
I was too scared to breathe, worried that if I was too loud I’d scare away the most interesting thing that had ever happened in my entire life.And when the drill finally pierced the top layer of Rime I and every Vyr caught our first sight of a world beyond our little planet. The sky a black void so unlike that of Abyss, my eyes filled with the light of thousands, millions of…
Stars.
A luminous field as beautiful as any glittering reef or magma vent, uncountable jewels and embers. I stared at them for over an hour, until the blazing personification of Glow herself arose from beneath the horizon, which I’d later learn… no, discover was our own personal star.
I knew what I’d dedicate my life to then and there. My life’s mission would be to uncover the secrets of this strange new realm beyond Rime, which scientists named and priests baptised as Space.
-][-
It has been many rotations around our star (now named Beacon) since I was a young college student. I got a degree in physics and with my computer simulations I managed to not only chart the movement of celestial bodies, but predict their movements as surely as the currents. I hadn’t intended to become one of the founding mothers of the field of Astrophysics but I was more than happy to lead the charge, to explore this new frontier as thoroughly as possible.
Now I was being invited to a meeting of some of the most important people in my country, perhaps of vyrkind. Sure, I had spoken to some of them before, but only over text or video chat. Only ever about theories and possibilities.
Now it would be in a physical location, all in one big room, still about theories but now much more tangible, life altering things. And I wasn’t going to be an advisor or a consultant. Just as some people were seen as leaders of armies, planners of cities or managing agricultural regions, I was being invited as our foremost expert on… Space.
It was funny and terrifying how one can wake up one morning and suddenly realise you are a world leader, responsible for guiding the fates of every creature you or anyone else had ever met.
As scared and nervous as I was, this was no time for imposter syndrome. I was one of the oldest, most experienced astrophysicists on the planet. Of course I was, I helped invent it dammit! I was still as passionate about Space as the day I started, because it was the first time we realised what a day was. I had worked with members of fields related to mine for so long I was practically an expert at those too, including engineering.There is no one more qualified to do this than I, Elder Researcher Slira! Vyrkind needed me!
…
Great, now I also feel nervous about being too arrogant. Still, I managed to clear some of my self-doubt and packed my bags. I had an elevator to catch.
-][-
Castle Yarshu was absolutely filled with people, busier than I’ve ever seen it before. Normally it’s just a museum, filled with old relics from the time of the last Forge Lords. Technically it’s owned by the Ka’lai Militia though and their leader has made sure to keep it well renovated. It is that very leader, General Taraksus, that has invited us all to the Castle’s massive Roundhall, filled with trophies and spoils of conquests that exist only in memory.The hall’s centre stage was covered in posts, perches and seats for the over one hundred representatives the General had invited, with boxy camera drones jetting here and there to capture the discussion for all to see.Around the hall Vyr crowded and swarmed to get a look at us, even clinging to the pillars and ceiling to see the “action”. The castle and our meeting was open to the public after all, and anyone could enter as long as occupancy allowed and they brought nothing dangerous with them besides their claws and fangs.
From my perch I spy Taraksus sitting atop the old Forge Lord’s throne, on its headrest to be precise, discussing something with a fellow general curled up on the armrest and an aide lying at the foot. The seat itself was filled with a sponge-stuffed dummy dressed to fit any monarch, albeit with a sign around its neck with a slur word written on it in a language few speak anymore.
Taraksus themself wasn’t too impressive a sight, well below the size average for females and decently above it for males. Their only ornamentation was a black stripe painted over his head to create a striking contrast as it went over their eyes, and a chain which held a few dozen metal strips, each with the name of a fallen comrade written on it. Or so I hear.
Taraksus ends his conversation and takes up a spear from a guard, the rear of which he uses to stamp the ground.
“Pipe down you lot! I’m calling this meeting to order!” Their voice pierced through the cacophony with a clarity that surprised me.
“As ridiculous as it feels to say, we’ve been contacted by aliens. You all saw the translation broadcasted live from our friends over at the VEI. Suffice to say the contents of their message to us is… concerning. I’ve already forwarded recommendations to our R&D sectors to start working on designs for military spacecraft. Certainly not something I or most anyone else here thought or hoped would ever be needed. I’m hoping that the consensus we reach here will keep that true. Before any of that however I call upon one of the most prominent members of the aforementioned VEI, Elder Slira, to clue us in on the nature of what we face and go over her team’s conclusions.”
I quickly check the notes on my portable computer which my assistant Neeran had so kindly organised for me before erecting myself on my perch.
I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, coupled with the near oppressive silence. I took a steady breath, trying to gather my courage. “You can do it Slira!” echoed a voice from the back of the hall. The chuckles that followed was evidence enough that I hadn’t imagined it, and I felt some of my fears dissipate.
“Greetings, vyr from across the world. I’ll jump right to the meat of the issue and start with an analysis of the ‘Sivkit’ that spoke to us. One of the most startling discoveries we uncovered in our investigation was the incredibly high possibility of them breathing… gas.”
I spotted the ears of more than a few vyr shoot up in shock, including those of the stout administrator of the Vrental Commune’s heartlands, Ireni.
“Gasbreathers? Surely such a thing is not possible?”
“The footage clearly indicates a lack of liquid, and the sivkit’s chest is clearly contracting and expanding in a manner that indicates breathing. We could be wrong, but likely we are looking at an organism that defies our current understanding of how complex life can develop.”
I typed away at my computer, bringing up my second point.
“Next we have their next statement, something about us being Arxur…”
A delegate I do not recognise raises a claw.
“Do we know who these Arxur are? The Sivkit seemed ready to bolt at the idea of them.”
“We currently have no information on the Arxur. All we can extrapolate is that they are another sapient alien species, that we resemble them somewhat except for our eyes and that they represent a clear threat to the Sivkit. Also, for whatever reason, the sivkit mistook us for a prey species because our eyes are on the side of our heads…”
…
“That’s… no, I don't have a way to soften that, that’s stupid as shit.”
“It’s… not scientifically correct, no. But it made them mistake us for fellow kindred among the stars, their captain even going so far to gift us translator technology.”
“Was it a mistake?” Taraksus asks, seemingly in thought. “I mean clearly they mistook us for something we are not, but is it impossible for us to be kindred?”
I understood his question, and sadly had no real answer.
“I don’t know General. The kind of friendship you describe is a two-way street, and if they are not willing then there is nothing we can do. But that does not mean we can’t do anything about it. Diplomat Zhara, your turn.”
A vyr across the stage from me straightens herself. Her body is wrapped in colourful fabrics and her various bits of jewellery show a clear love of ornamentation and precious stones.
“Thank you Elder. The Sivkit Captain promised to return at a time less than [3 weeks] away. Irrelevant of any bigger picture, he seems to care mostly about establishing relations with us and getting access to the deposits on our planetary neighbour Turqo. Whether for personal wealth or aiding his kin, who’s to say. He seems to assume we are part of a larger civilisation, likely unable to sense us underneath all the ice and mistaking our surface city for some kind of local outpost. Whatever the case may be, our diplomatic strategy is simple: lie through our fangs and trade metal.”
An uneasy murmur fills the hall.
“I know, lying may come back to bite us. But we need to be cautious, we know nothing about these aliens and if pretending to be a larger civilisation of peaceful herbivores will put them at ease then so be it. In addition my friends in the industrial sector tell me we don’t have any need for such a vast amount of heavy metals, so mining the deposit and trading the resources to the Sivkit for what they have in abundance seems good business. It will also help further the ‘small mining outpost’ facade and aid us in getting more information about who these ‘meat-eating humans’ are.”
“Excellent! We’re right on time!”
A gasp passes through the crowd. My eyes dart around and my ears swivel every which way, trying to identify the source of the shout. The crowd of onlookers to my left were making way, clearly shocked at… some new arrivals? What under Rime…?
Two vyr had entered the hall.
The first was a small male, their body wiry and covered in scars. Even the tip of their flat tale had a V-shaped chunk cut out of it. A sash of black cloth covered in white pictograms was wrapped around his chest, and attached to the sash was a broad, bladed weapon almost comically large for him. The second was a rather average female, still almost twice the size of the male. Black robes and a hood hid her form, though I noticed a pair of silver reading glasses sitting on her snout and a… by Glow, was that a fucking tome? An actual book, with thick kelp-fibre pages and bound in Nesis bark.
My brain almost refused to recognise the two, but finally sense overruled logic. The male was Krattron, and the female was Kahltrak. The highest authorities of the Second and Third Churches of the Abyss respectively.
Krattron swam up to the stage, eyes brimming with what I could only describe as maniacal glee.
“Greetings, children of Vyrkind! When do we set out to hunt the demons of Void?”
Kahltrak follows shortly behind. I would have been able to hear her sigh from the surface.
“Hello delegates. We’ve come to pledge our aid, and to discuss how we shall be dealing with our enemies.”
[Previous] [First] [Next]

I recently got into 2e, using the remaster as a good time to start learning. Was a 1e player for nearly as long as it existed. I bought the ancestor guide, but it’s missing the stat blocks for some ancestries, I assume because their stat blocks are listed in another book. I want to make an Undine character, but the stat blocks are not listed on Archives of Nethys, at least not anywhere I can find. So my question is which book contains their stat blocks?
On an another note, I am loving the remaster. It’s nice to see Pathfinder getting their own unique identity instead of just being seen as DnD 3.75.

Ravens fan here. We attended last year's Ravens-Titans game. What we learned from attending NFL Europe game last season
1. Register on the NFL Europe website early and often. Have various family members register on the NFL Europe site, using different email addresses. Note that each team’s season ticket holders get first dibs on tickets before they go on sale to the general public. DO NOT pay ticket brokers for tickets, they are massively overpriced and not worth it. You can always get a ticket cheaper, right up to game day. Our tickets went on sale in mid-June. Actually, registering early doesn’t matter, for the next reason:
2. Everyone will be tossed into a queue randomly the day tickets go on sale. Have all family & friends report their place in the queue, and go with whomever gets in first. Important note: The ticket site is hosted by NFL Europe. They will show you the start time for purchasing in Greenwich Mean Time. Make sure you convert that time to your time zone. For us it was 7 am EDT. Once you get online and into the queue, DO NOT LEAVE. This is an easy way to get bumped. I had my daughter watch my place in the queue while I was at work, and had her buy the tickets.
3. Speaking of the queue, do not blow a gasket when you see your spot is #229,767 in the queue:
a. All 5 NFL Europe games go on sale all at once;
b. Like you, everyone registered with 5-10 different email address and family member name combinations;
c. That number literally was our spot in the queue, and we cleared the queue in 90 minutes and got tickets.
d. Be ready to make an instantaneous decision – Don’t mess around trying to get a better seat. They go fast. We ended up getting 4 seats, not together, but in the same section.
e. If you miss out, don’t worry because plenty of fans sell them back as the Summer progresses.
4. Book air travel as soon as you know you have tickets. When you fly into London (recommend Heathrow), take the Underground right into Central London. The station is right at the Airport outside baggage claim. It’s a 45 -60 minute trip into Central London. When returning to the airport, make certain that you are getting on the line that goes to Heathrow. There is also a Heathrow Express train, but it’s only 15-20 minutes faster and costs a lot more than the Underground. Buy an Underground pass at a kiosk in the airport outside baggage claim.
5. The hotel situation in London is great, we had no issues getting a room. Recommend booking the hotel early, since you can always cancel if you don’t get tickets or change your mind. If I can make a recommendation that is convenient to a lot of attractions, including the underground to get to Hotspur stadium, check out this hotel: https://arosfalondon.com/ We had NFL fans from across Europe staying at our hotel.
6. Speaking of which, stay in Central London. Make a week out of it. The NFL and the teams usually have a week-long celebration around the city. Access to the stadium is easy via the Underground.
7. Usually the local soccer clubs are typically on break the week of NFL Europe games, and those tickets are a tough get anyway. But if you have a favorite club, schedule a tour of their stadium. It’s worth it.
8. Speaking of Stadiums, Hotspur Stadium is one of the newest and is massive. It is all enclosed around the seating areas. But the roof is open, and most seats are covered. Do not worry about the weather on game day. Sweat pants and a sweatshirt/game jersey was more than adequate. Getting to and from the Underground, however, you will be exposed to the elements. Do not bring an umbrella, wear a rain jacket if rain is in the forecast.
9. You will see jerseys of all 32 NFL teams represented at the game. Over a third of the fans are from the UK or Europe. They are just there to see “proper football”, as the person sitting next to me said. The fans get into the game, and have a really good time. The people surrounding us bought us beers and sang much of the game. It’s a ton of fun.
10. On game day, take the Tube to Hotspur Stadium. It’s about a 10 block (.75 mile) walk to/from the stadium. You can ride a bus to the stadium from the Underground, but do not expect it on the way back. The atmosphere surrounding the stadium is amazing. The stadium is surrounded by activities, including a lot of people who don’t have tickets, but are there for the spectacle. Eat a good brunch/lunch before going. Do not expect to be able to get seated at a restaurant near the stadium. And do not expect great food in the stadium, it was a major disappointment.
11. Upon conclusion of the game, it will be a massive river of people heading for the tube. I do not recommend taking the Overground train to leave, the queue can be quite long. Instead, just follow the flow of people to the regular underground stop 10-11 blocks south of the stadium. Don’t worry, the long line goes surprisingly fast. And the fans are still having a good time.
12. Feel free to ping me if you have questions!

PART ONE THOUSAND AND TWELVE
[Previous Chapter] [The Beginning] [Patreon+2]
Sunday
Lucas stretched and yawned in bed, taking a moment to enjoy the complete lack of needing to rise before his hand stretched out in search of Boyd.
And once again, that side of the bed was empty.
Biting back a whine of dismay, Lucas rolled until he was face down on Boyd’s pillow, breathing in the cologne they both now wore. The detective in him quickly deduced that Boyd had been gone a while based on the chill in the sheets. He curled his hands around the pillow and hugged it tight, wishing it was the big mountain of a man himself instead of this weak substitute.
As thrilled as he was about Boyd finding a new career that he was so passionately driven about, he was equally happy that his fiancé took his responsibility to his clients seriously. Still, would it have killed him to sleep in just one morning instead of abandoning their wrecked bed the morning after their engagement party?
After several minutes of wallowing, he finally accepted the inevitable that no amount of wishful thinking was going to make Boyd appear and climbed out of bed. He removed his snore rings and took a quick shower.
Once he was dressed, he felt a little better.
The next thing he had to do was strip down the bed and remake it. They’d been very busy last night, which was why he’d only just woken up at—his gaze fell upon the clock— DAMN! It’s nearly lunchtime!
“I’m gonna kill him for letting me sleep in so long,” he muttered under his breath, carrying the linen through the apartment and into the kitchen, which doubled as a laundry on their end. After nine years of living in this layout, he didn’t need to see over the pile in his arms to know precisely where he was, and with the load balanced on one arm, he turned at the right moment, opened the massive frontloading washing machine and stuffed it all in.
“Hey, Unca Luke!” Maddy’s shrill voice had him leaping into the air, slamming the door shut and swivelling around in front of it to hide the evidence. “Didja pee the bed?”
His brother and his niece were sitting at the island, Maddy with her breakfast of honey-and-cream-covered waffles, which were only half-eaten, and Levi patiently waited for her to finish since the plate in front of him was empty. The latter was grinning at him as only a brother could.
He’d forgotten all about them staying over.
It took a hot second for what Maddy asked to register with him, and when it did, his mouth dropped, and he glanced at his brother, who was twisting himself into a pretzel to avoid laughing out loud. Asshole. “No, Peaches,” he said, glaring daggers at Levi for not even trying to help him out. “Boyd and I like clean sheets every day, and it’s not fair to make somebody else wash them for us, is it?”
Bright red ringlets of hair swayed as the little girl shook her head. “Daddy makes me fix stuff too.”
Lucas moved the three feet between the washing machine to his brother sitting in Mason’s seat at the corner. “That’s because Daddies always know what’s best.” He wrapped an arm around his brother’s neck in a loose chokehold and gave him a noisy morning kiss on the cheek. “Ain’t that right, Daddy?” He said that last word in a sultry purr the way Robbie would, and the reaction from Levi was priceless.
“Fuck off with that shit, you prick!” his brother swore, shoving Lucas away with all his might.
“DADDY!” Maddy squealed in horror, and Lucas clapped his hands together once behind Maddy’s chair and raised his clenched fists in victory. He’d been angling for one swear word, maybe two to distract young Maddy from his not-so-discreet linen run. Three was a veritable home run.
Snickering quietly to himself, he went back to the washing machine, loaded it up with soap and softener and turned it on. Then, he walked over to the wooden box under the window. ‘Just think what you want,’ Charlie had told him at the party. ‘It’s a Nascerdios box that Robbie fills up throughout the night.’
He stared hard at the box while he considered his options, settling on a plate of breakfast tacos with seasoned mince, fried eggs, tomatillos, shredded lettuce, and cheese wrapped in soft tortillas buttered with a thin spread of mashed avocado.
After the last month, it didn’t surprise him in the least when he opened the lid and found that exact meal sitting there, waiting for him. Maybe the quantity, since they were piled three high, but not the meal itself.
The same could not be said for Levi when Lucas turned around with the plate in his hand. “Robbie had that ready for you too?” he asked, as Lucas grabbed a glass from the cupboard and placed it and the plate in his regular sitting place adjacent to his brother before sliding into his seat. He knew Levi wasn’t questioning Viola since the box itself was made and gifted by someone with the last name Nascerdios.
The veil was an ass.
“I told you; he did most of the catering yesterday, too,” Lucas said, reaching for the jug of juice. He was curious what it would be today. Yesterday, it had been orange and mango juice, with apple the day before.
A quick sniff made it most likely grapefruit.
He tightened the roll on the first taco and lifted it to his lips, enjoying the flavours that exploded in his mouth. Because Levi had finished whatever had been on his plate, he was watching him eat as if he’d never seen it before. It finally clicked why. “You want to try one?” Lucas asked, nudging his plate towards his brother. “There’s plenty here if you want one. Too many, if anything.”
Levi didn’t need to be told twice and reached over, using his fingers just as Lucas had. “How did he learn to cook so well?” Levi demanded, almost fitting the whole thing in his mouth.
“He’s always cooked,” Lucas answered, fudging things slightly. “When he was growing up, cooking was his chore while his mom was at work. He only stopped because Mom refused to let him help in the kitchen.”
“I would’ve fought that a lot harder if I’d have known he could produce this.”
“Yeah, you and me both, bro. Even when we were upstairs, he was forever watching the cooking channels for new ideas.” Lucas didn’t want to mention that these days, Robbie only did so to critique the so-called experts. “Have you seen Boyd?”
Levi shook his head. “I was assuming he was still in with you. If I’d known you were in there alone, I’d have sicc’d Maddy onto you.”
“I can wake Daddy and Unca’ Austin good!” Maddy said proudly. “I gets me a dolla’.”
“Ssshhh, Peaches. That’s out secr—wait. Does Uncle Austin pay you, too?”
Maddy was adorable the way she looked at Lucas like he would intervene for her. “Sorry, baby girl,” he laughed, eating another taco. “You’re on your own.”
The two brothers bantered as Lucas ate, with Levi stealing another taco, bringing Lucas’ total number down to five. Maddy told them both about wanting to be a vet, and Lucas knew precisely who to blame for that. Still, it was better than her previous choice of ‘stripping’ the way Robbie and Angelo used to. Levi’s meltdown over that revelation had been priceless, even if he, too, was firmly in the ‘fuck that noise’ camp.
When he polished them and half the juice off, he poured the last into Maddy’s cup and put his things and the jug in the dishwasher. “You can hang out here if you want,” Lucas said. “The guys and I are heading out this afternoon to play some ball over at Angus’ place, but if you call Austin and find out Pepper’s roommate is still with him, the TV over there has…”
“Every cable channel imaginable, I know. Charlotte—”
“Charlie.”
“Charlie told us last night.” Levi sat back in his seat and stared at his brother. “What do you make of Larry, Luke? Does he have kids?”
“Why?”
“He watched Maddy for me last night while I was having a shower, and Maddy loves him. You know how picky she is about people she doesn’t know.”
“I know he’s married to a career soldier and was one too before being assigned to us. I’m not sure about his past, but he’s a good guy and ridiculously protective of those either in his charge or that he happens to care about.”
Levi grunted. “Charl—lie said so too. He certainly knows his Spongebob.”
Lucas squinted. “Why all the questions?”
“Just thinking out loud. If he’s going to be here all the time with Robbie, and Austin and I get called into the house together, it’s always been a struggle figuring out where we can leave Maddy on short notice. We don’t exactly have time to drive all the way over to Queens to drop her off at either Mav’s or Mom and Dad’s. I mean, so far, we haven’t needed to, but it’s a constant concern.”
Lucas frowned at him. “We’ve been here for years. Why didn’t you ask before now?”
Levi seemed suddenly uncomfortable. “You know…” he said, gesturing to the ceiling without finishing that sentence.
And just like that, Lucas did understand.
Six men, all sharing one shoebox-sized apartment with two of them being sex workers, was not where anyone would want to drop off a little girl. Even if Lucas did vouch for all of them and swore they’d all be protective as hell over little Maddy. “Look, I can’t speak for them specifically, but Charlie’s here under house arrest for the next ten months, and Boyd now works out of his studio, so technically, someone will be here all the time. There’s not a chance in hell we’ll turn you away.”
“I’ll ask her and Miss W before we go.”
Lucas looked at what the two of them were wearing. “You know, I could duck out and grab you and Maddy some clothes just as soon as I check in with Boyd, if you like.”
He watched Levi look down at the shirt and boxers that were a little big on him width-wise and across at Maddy, who still wore Charlie’s favourite Giants’ shirt.
“That’d be good, thanks,” he admitted.
“I’ll get extras, and that way, she can have a few changes of clothes here. Actually, do you want me to grab you some spare stuff too?”
Levi stiffened in his seat. “I don’t need you to buy me clothes.”
Lucas wanted to slap him in the back of the head (and would’ve if Maddy wasn’t there). “Stop,” he commanded instead. “I’m already going to a clothes shop. It’s not going to be anything fancy, and if you hate it, you can swap it out with your own stuff later.”
Knowing his brother was still uncomfortable, Lucas waved his hand at the kitchen. “Seriously, Levi, look around. Look at how I’m living, and I’m not paying a dime in rent. Llyr won’t let me since we’ve been looking out for Sam for years. Let me do this for you, so you’ll always know you and Maddy have somewhere safe to go.”
Levi glanced around, his lips tightening before he finally nodded, unwilling to say the words out loud, and Lucas clapped him on the shoulder. “We’re family, dumb-ar—dumb,” he amended, with little ears sitting on the other side of his brother. “Dumb-dumb. I meant Dumb-dumb.”
Levi chuckled and patted his brother’s hand. “I appreciate it, bro. We’ll chill here until you get back. Don’t rush … apparently, you have a gazillion cable channels to choose from, and Maddy doesn’t want to leave until she’s seen them all.”
“I don’t think you’ll live that long,” Lucas laughed and headed back to his room to grab his gear since he was now leaving the apartment. As he clipped and slid everything from sunglasses to his wallet, keys, phone, badge bifold, and ankle-holstered BUG, he almost envied women with carryall handbags that could be grabbed on their way out the door.
Almost.
* * *
((Author's note: going out tonight, so I put this out before I left. Enjoy!! 🥰😘💕 ))
((All comments welcome. Good or bad, I’d love to hear your thoughts 🥰🤗))
I made a family tree/diagram of the Mystallian family that can be found here
For more of my work, including WPs: Angel466 or an index of previous WPS here.
FULL INDEX OF BOB THE HOBO TO DATE CAN BE FOUND HERE!

Hey y'all!
Just wanted to give a quick summary of various things that have happened over the last 1.5 months on synysuggestions:

• Please welcome to the SYNY fam, Allie C. Esq! 🥳 Allie is a Massachusetts-based attorney whose expertise and diverse legal background is matched by her excitement in helping to get SYNY legally prepared for publishing. I can't say enough how lucky we are to have her on the team. (And if you ever need an attorney, please DM me, I will happily send you her way.) Once again, welcome aboard Allie!
• Some subtle but big art improvements are coming for the 2024 season! Expect way more "blood" underneath all of the colors this year, on every single page. 🤤 Left is 2023, right is 2024 so far—the difference is ridiculous. (And yes, SYNY gets stars this year. 😂)

https://preview.redd.it/l11615p3li0d1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2817b8188c43759cb9bcd23292fbde6b341c241
https://preview.redd.it/l0k2h3l6li0d1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f132cace39d84cc3111287d1cb1311d8ae087640
https://preview.redd.it/49rz5zi7li0d1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b96bcccb102c3d76c6fbb4d05139a7384fb280a1
https://preview.redd.it/spxcl1v7li0d1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f8e35e90007f24d260930d00ba37258a01e1d545
https://preview.redd.it/44wnib48li0d1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61bdda46c2b18bb783693ba277afece93ccfcbdc

• In synysuggestions is this post here, linking to a public PDF of a proof-of-concept on how SYNY might be most quickly brought to print. I can't say it's what SYNY will look like in print, and I'll keep many of the hairy details out of here and let them stay in that channel, but what it means is additional art may be coming to SYNY, and some existing art may be condensed for the book. (These condensations will almost certainly not have to be made for the web, so no worries about losing any art.)
• In addition to seeyounextyear, and after getting some permissions from various subreddit mods, I'm super stoked to say SYNY will also be "airing" on these fine T.V.channels subreddits for the 2024 spooky season!
  • werewolves NEW
    • (actually waiting for a community poll to close in a few days, will update once we know 🤞)
  • hellsomememes NEW
  • comics RETURNING

Full transparency: this week, I am contacting various print agencies to get quotes on what it would cost to get SYNY printing. I'm trying my damnedest to keep it cheap, but... ~400 pages is a lot of ink and paper. 😂 We'll see how things go, but no matter what happens, I'm staying positive and staying excited, but ready to explore other creative options as necessary for bringing SYNY to print to keep prices sane.
All things considered, I am already so insanely hyped for this year. I think about SYNY almost every single day, like an obsessed fan. Hell, I probably never will truly feel like I made it, and that I just get to be its easily excitable ambassador. But regardless of what is and what seems to be, I really feel like the most blessed person on earth to be able to share this story with y'all.
And finally... much love to y'all, fam. 🧡 It's great seeing and talking with you. I've seen a lot of names, and sadly my brain doesn't really hold them all in like I hope it will, but make no mistake: I do remember you, and I'm so, so glad you're here.
Here's to an even bigger, better, happier Halloween. :)
⁊ᶜ

Ravens fan here. We went to the Ravens-Titans game in London last year, and I put together these tips for anyone thinking about going to the Bears game in London this year:
What we learned from attending NFL Europe game last season
1. Register on the NFL Europe website early and often. Have various family members register on the NFL Europe site, using different email addresses. Note that each team’s season ticket holders get first dibs on tickets before they go on sale to the general public. DO NOT pay ticket brokers for ticket packages, they are massively overpriced and not worth it. You can always get a ticket cheaper, right up to game day. Our tickets went on sale in mid-June. Actually, registering early doesn’t matter, for the next reason:
2. Everyone will be tossed into a queue randomly the day tickets go on sale. Have all family & friends report their place in the queue, and go with whomever gets in first. Important note: The ticket site is hosted by NFL Europe. They will show you the start time for purchasing in Greenwich Mean Time. Make sure you convert that time to your time zone. For us it was 7 am EDT. Once you get online and into the queue, DO NOT LEAVE. This is an easy way to get bumped. I had my daughter watch my place in the queue while I was at work, and had her buy the tickets.
3. Speaking of the queue, do not blow a gasket when you see your spot is #229,767 in the queue:
a. All 5 NFL Europe games go on sale all at once;
b. Like you, everyone registered with 5-10 different email address and family member name combinations;
c. That number literally was our spot in the queue, and we cleared the queue in 90 minutes and got tickets.
d. Be ready to make an instantaneous decision – Don’t mess around trying to get a better seat. They go fast. We ended up getting 4 seats, not together, but in the same section.
e. If you miss out, don’t worry because plenty of fans sell them back as the Summer progresses.
4. Book air travel as soon as you know you have tickets. When you fly into London (recommend Heathrow), take the Underground right into Central London. The station is right at the Airport outside baggage claim. It’s a 45 -60 minute trip into Central London. When returning to the airport, make certain that you are getting on the line that goes to Heathrow. There is also a Heathrow Express train, but it’s only 15-20 minutes faster and costs a lot more than the Underground. Buy an Underground pass at a kiosk in the airport outside baggage claim.
5. The hotel situation in London is great, we had no issues getting a room. Recommend booking the hotel early, since you can always cancel if you don’t get tickets or change your mind. If I can make a recommendation that is convenient to a lot of attractions, including the underground to get to Hotspur stadium, check out this hotel: https://arosfalondon.com/ We had NFL fans from across Europe staying at our hotel.
6. Speaking of which, stay in Central London. Make a week out of it. The NFL and the teams usually have a week-long celebration around the city. Access to the stadium is easy via the Underground.
7. Usually the local soccer clubs are typically on break the week of NFL Europe games, and those tickets are a tough get anyway. But if you have a favorite club, schedule a tour of their stadium. It’s worth it.
8. Speaking of Stadiums, Hotspur Stadium is one of the newest and is massive. It is all enclosed around the seating areas. But the roof is open, and most seats are covered. Do not worry about the weather on game day. Sweat pants and a sweatshirt/game jersey was more than adequate. Getting to and from the Underground, however, you will be exposed to the elements. Do not bring an umbrella, wear a rain jacket if rain is in the forecast.
9. You will see jerseys of all 32 NFL teams represented at the game. Over a third of the fans are from the UK or Europe. They are just there to see “proper football”, as the person sitting next to me said. The fans get into the game, and have a really good time. The people surrounding us bought us beers and sang much of the game. It’s a ton of fun.
10. On game day, take the Tube to Hotspur Stadium. It’s about a 10 block (.75 mile) walk to/from the stadium. You can ride a bus to the stadium from the Underground, but do not expect it on the way back. The atmosphere surrounding the stadium is amazing. The stadium is surrounded by activities, including a lot of people who don’t have tickets, but are there for the spectacle. Eat a good brunch/lunch before going. Do not expect to be able to get seated at a restaurant near the stadium. And do not expect great food in the stadium, it was a major disappointment.
11. Upon conclusion of the game, it will be a massive river of people heading for the tube. I do not recommend taking the Overground train to leave, the queue can be quite long. Instead, just follow the flow of people to the regular underground stop 10-11 blocks south of the stadium. Don’t worry, the long line goes surprisingly fast. And the fans are still having a good time.
12. Feel free to ping me if you have questions!

Assalamualaikum, i am in need of answers for my google form questions from you all for my research, its about the use of social media on the age group that is considered "Belia" in Malaysia.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf-56cMXmvE0uSgibHNxgYgdu-k97AMq0-fQQz-S0AiJVdONA/viewform?usp=sf_link
If you have the time to answer it, please do, thanks a bunch from a sleep depraved student

I’m a 27 (F) that just recently moved to the ass end of absolutely nowhere in TN from my home state New York City. I moved with my husband, 1 year old son (4 months when we moved) and his 16 (now 17) year old daughter. We moved so far because we wanted a fresh start away. He knew his brother out here so we moved with him until his contract was over at his job and went to another state, we stayed in the home. Everything was perfect until past issues came up and an arrested warrant was put out for him.. he turned himself in and got extradited back to our home state and I was left with my two kids. Now, I always was sheltered my entire life.. my dad lifted my finger and even though I’ll always cherish these memories and things he’d given me, it completely ruined me. I don’t know how to manage on my own.. when my father died back in 2021 I was lost, I was completely lost I didn’t know what to do. Then I met my husband, who took care of me as well, granted he did because I had gotten pregnant and had severe sciatica he had to pick me up and take me to the bathroom at times.. but now that I have this little baby I’m desperately trying to hold myself together so my storm doesn’t rain on him. My finances aren’t the greatest but we manage, it’s my mental health at this point. I’m stressed over my husband.. I’ve been trying to get him a court date and pay his fines so he can come home but his lawyer goes weeks without answering me and I try not to harass him but it’s stressing me out. I also am paranoid of my son always hurting himself so I find myself at night waking up all night to make sure he’s alright. My step child has the worst attitude ever where she is awful to me and my son, and whenever her father steps in she’ll be fine for a little then reverts back to the same attitude. I also find myself going broke sometimes trying to buy her love sort of speak just so she can be nicer..My new landlord refuses to fix this house and its conditions, well let me not say refuses.. he’ll bring his friends in to “fix” problems around the house. I’m just so overwhelmed… sorry for the long post I just needed someone to hear me. I have nobody to talk to.

Hey everyone,
I'm in a bit of a bind and could really use some advice and insights from this community. A couple of weeks ago, Stripe disabled my account, citing a violation of their rules. I'm struggling to get clear answers from their support, so I'm turning to you all for help.
Background:
I run a digital marketing business that focuses on helping med spas grow. We handle lead generation, create landing pages, and provide a CRM system with extensive automations. Here’s how things were and what I've changed to hopefully align better with Stripe’s policies:
Previous Business Model:

• Services Offered: We help med spas with marketing, lead generation, landing page creation, and CRM setup.
• Business Model: We offered a 30-day performance-based trial, where we collected a $30 deposit for each appointment booked through the clients' landing pages using our Stripe account. After the trial, clients could choose to renew at $997 per month plus $30 per appointment booked through our system.
• Website: Our site advertised "Get 20-40 appointments every month," followed by scheduling a call to explain the trial.

Revised Business Model:

• Services Offered: We continue to support med spas with marketing strategies, lead generation, funnel creation, CRM setup, automations, and video editing.
• Business Model: Clients now set up their own Stripe accounts to handle deposits. We invoice them every two weeks based on the number of new appointments generated, at $30 per appointment. After the 30-day trial, clients can choose to renew at $997 per month plus $30 per appointment booked through our system. This change ensures clients handle their own transactions and disputes.
• Website: We removed any claims of guaranteed appointment numbers and now simply state a "30-day performance-based trial." Our updated website is https://krivoo-marketing.com/.

My Questions:

1. Do you think the revised business model aligns better with Stripe’s policies?
2. What are the odds of getting my Stripe account re-verified with these changes?
3. Has anyone else faced a similar situation, and how did you handle it?
4. Any tips on how to effectively communicate with Stripe support to get a human response?

I’m passionate about my business and truly care about the clients we serve. Losing our Stripe account has been a significant setback, and I’m doing everything I can to get back on track.
Thanks in advance for your advice and support!