I paused my nearly completed (12/15 chapter) longfic in October 2022 because I had a new idea for the ending, was unsure on how to include it and also lost motivation thanks to a lack of feedback. After a while I added it to a private collection until I rewrote it because reading what I wrote made me cringe and I didn't want to delete it completely.
A bit ago someone asked in the comments of another fic where my fic had gone and I decided to start working on it again. I've now rewritten the first 3 chapters (ca 22k words) and feel happy with them.
Now I'm not sure what to do with them. I guess it makes sense to wait until I rewrote the rest of the chapters, but do I just delete the old ones from the story and replace them, pull it from collections and release it all at once? Or just bit by bit, since a few things have changed from what I originally posted. Or maybe it makes more sense to post a completely new fic?
I'd just like to hear the thoughts of the people here. By now I don't even care about any kind of views or kudos (at least that's what I'm telling myself) but I just want to know what makes most sense for people who have read the original one and for those that haven't.
Thank you for commenting^{^}

Hey Reddit! Excited to share a groundbreaking work available on Amazon in Kindle Unlimited, paperback, and hardcover: "8 Colored Psychotypes." This book ventures beyond conventional psychology, exploring how distinct body zones influence our psyche and interpersonal relationships.
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You will find themselves on a journey to understand the deep-seated connections between physical areas and psychological behaviors, which can improve personal relationships, foster personal growth, and provide clearer career direction.
Feedback and honest reviews are highly valued as they help spread the word and enlighten others about these unique insights. If you're intrigued by a new perspective on behavior and relationships, this book is a must-read.
Thanks for the support, and happy reading!

I wanted to say thanks to all of the people here who provided the advice and own personal experiences for others. Primarily because of the information provided on this reddit, I was formally diagnosed with ADD by my PCP back in Nov. 2023 at 32. I've been on Vyvanse since then and it's been night and day different for me.
I no longer feel terrible about existing, but I do still have a hatred for myself I don't think I'll ever recover from. However, this isn't stopping me from progressing forwards. I know I've probably lost about 5-10 years of my career because of the ADD, but I am indeed moving in the right direction now.
So again, thank you fellow ADHD Redditors. You guys have helped me in more ways than I can put in words before I forgot what I was going to say!

Hello, everyone! I am by no means new here, as I have been part of this subreddit for quite awhile! But it just so happens to be my very first post within!
This post was supposed to be written the beginning of May, but here I am, composing it only a couple days before my flight!
To say that I am terrified of flying is an understatement! I have never ever been to an airport, have not a whole lot of knowledge about how security works, where to get your ticket, and so on.
Think that I will just list what absolutely terrifies me, makes me nervous, and causes such anticipation. Here we go- Heights, turbulence, taking off, landing, getting air sick, someone next to me getting/being air sick, feeling stuck with nowhere to go, not being in control
Going to take two Dramamine (50 mg) to prevent anything. Hopefully it does the trick and helps, because the last thing I want to add to the mix on top of already being incredibly scared is airsickness!
My flight leaves at 5:53 pm and lands at 8:50 pm, then I have a 1 hour and 53 minute layover, and then about another 1 hour flight, landing at 11:47 pm.(All within the us, total trip time is about 6 hours and 54 minutes!) I am already frightened of flying once, and have no choice but to do so twice!
I realize that this post is all over the place some, but the anticipation is really really starting to kick in, and has been since it became the first of may!
Anybody with words of wisdom for me, or any tips and tricks and or reassurance, I am immensely grateful for! Thank you so much❤️

Hello everyone,
It's nice to "meet" you all. I am the adoptie. Found out around 11 or 12. Asked a few questions and dropped. Never looked that hard for my bio family. Fast forward to Christmas last year and my partner gets a DNA test. Of course I found my half siblings. Contact everyone is very nice and accepting of me. Even did a f2f with one sister and brother this last weekend.
​
OK now to the part I find "odd" (not sure what word to use.). Seems like both sides have adoptions in them. Dad was adopted and he adopted his step children. Mom put me up for adoption and this step dad adopted her children.. I ended up marrying a gal who was also adopted...
​
Anyone else find their family and have so many adoptions on both sides? Or is this kind of the norm?
​
Thanks...

Hey, Hi, Hello. This is a sensitive subject so bare with me please. I recently discovered that I need a colposcopy (not to be confused with a colonoscopy) and if you know what the process is, it’s needless to say I am scared shitless. Terrified. I’ve heard and read many a horror story about the pain and lack of care doctors have used during the procedure and being that I have some past smegsual trauma, I don’t want to go to just any OB-GYN. If anyone in Houston as any OB-GYN recommendations and has had a colposcopy done by them, I would greatly appreciate some name suggestions. Even if you haven’t had one done, but know of any OB-GYN’s that are thorough and make you feel like they care, I’m open to researching them as well. I’d also appreciate names of one that I should avoid cause that’s also very helpful. Thanks in advance for any suggestions and/or kind words. Have a good day!

Hi! I’m Emily! I’m a MTF Girl from Scotland. I'm looking to make some friends or gaming friends here! I am pretty shy at times and not really good at making conversation but i believe i can follow up pretty well as long as i don’t get dry responses! I also don't like people with super unrealistic, unfair expectations when they don't even get mentioned (Instant responses and such). I've had people bully me and randomly unfriend me and such without a fair reason.
Due to reasons that happened in the past very frequently, I most likely won't approach you / start a convo etc for a while until i am very comfortable and trust that you won't freak out. You saying "I won't" will not be enough for me. I'd need to trust you.
I only respond to people who are 18+, Speaking to minors makes me very uncomfortable!
I also prefer if you was from the UK (or are able to talk during reasonable times!) It isn’t fun being woken up at 8am.. I would like a longer lie in bed sometimes! Please also respect that i could be away and busy and won't always instantly reply to you.. I have a life!
I have a few options to play games on! PC, PS5 and my Switch! I primarily play on my PC as i have most multiplayer games on there! I have a wide variety of games! I don't have many games on the PS5 at the moment. I play the following games - Genshin Impact (EU), Valorant, Destiny 2 and a few other single player games! I can get into games
If you are wishing to talk to me and be friends with me.. Please do send me an INTRODUCTION and not some boring one-two worded message that i will ignore! I like to know who is messaging me!
I'm Autistic, Please have patience! I also will not not VC or send pictures as i get very uncomfortable! If i am to VC, I won't talk and will text! Thanks!

Hi! I’m Emily! I’m a MTF Girl from Scotland. I'm looking to make some friends or gaming friends here! I am pretty shy at times and not really good at making conversation but i believe i can follow up pretty well as long as i don’t get dry responses! I also don't like people with super unrealistic, unfair expectations when they don't even get mentioned (Instant responses and such). I've had people bully me and randomly unfriend me and such without a fair reason.
Due to reasons that happened in the past very frequently, I most likely won't approach you / start a convo etc for a while until i am very comfortable and trust that you won't freak out. You saying "I won't" will not be enough for me. I'd need to trust you.
I only respond to people who are 18+, Speaking to minors makes me very uncomfortable!
I also prefer if you was from the UK (or are able to talk during reasonable times!) It isn’t fun being woken up at 8am.. I would like a longer lie in bed sometimes! Please also respect that i could be away and busy and won't always instantly reply to you.. I have a life!
I have a few options to play games on! PC, PS5 and my Switch! I primarily play on my PC as i have most multiplayer games on there! I have a wide variety of games! I don't have many games on the PS5 at the moment. I play the following games - Genshin Impact (EU), Valorant, Destiny 2 and a few other single player games! I can get into games
If you are wishing to talk to me and be friends with me.. Please do send me an INTRODUCTION and not some boring one-two worded message that i will ignore! I like to know who is messaging me!
I'm Autistic, Please have patience! I also will not not VC or send pictures as i get very uncomfortable! If i am to VC, I won't talk and will text! Thanks!

Hi! I’m Emily! I’m a MTF Girl from Scotland. I'm looking to make some friends or gaming friends here! I am pretty shy at times and not really good at making conversation but i believe i can follow up pretty well as long as i don’t get dry responses! I also don't like people with super unrealistic, unfair expectations when they don't even get mentioned (Instant responses and such). I've had people bully me and randomly unfriend me and such without a fair reason.
Due to reasons that happened in the past very frequently, I most likely won't approach you / start a convo etc for a while until i am very comfortable and trust that you won't freak out. You saying "I won't" will not be enough for me. I'd need to trust you.
I only respond to people who are 18+, Speaking to minors makes me very uncomfortable!
I also prefer if you was from the UK (or are able to talk during reasonable times!) It isn’t fun being woken up at 8am.. I would like a longer lie in bed sometimes! Please also respect that i could be away and busy and won't always instantly reply to you.. I have a life!
I have a few options to play games on! PC, PS5 and my Switch! I primarily play on my PC as i have most multiplayer games on there! I have a wide variety of games! I don't have many games on the PS5 at the moment. I play the following games - Genshin Impact (EU), Valorant, Destiny 2 and a few other single player games! I can get into games
If you are wishing to talk to me and be friends with me.. Please do send me an INTRODUCTION and not some boring one-two worded message that i will ignore! I like to know who is messaging me!
I'm Autistic, Please have patience! I also will not not VC or send pictures as i get very uncomfortable! If i am to VC, I won't talk and will text! Thanks!

Hi! I’m Emily! I’m a MTF Girl from Scotland. I'm looking to make some friends or gaming friends here! I am pretty shy at times and not really good at making conversation but i believe i can follow up pretty well as long as i don’t get dry responses! I also don't like people with super unrealistic, unfair expectations when they don't even get mentioned (Instant responses and such). I've had people bully me and randomly unfriend me and such without a fair reason.
Due to reasons that happened in the past very frequently, I most likely won't approach you / start a convo etc for a while until i am very comfortable and trust that you won't freak out. You saying "I won't" will not be enough for me. I'd need to trust you.
I only respond to people who are 18+, Speaking to minors makes me very uncomfortable!
I also prefer if you was from the UK (or are able to talk during reasonable times!) It isn’t fun being woken up at 8am.. I would like a longer lie in bed sometimes! Please also respect that i could be away and busy and won't always instantly reply to you.. I have a life!
I have a few options to play games on! PC, PS5 and my Switch! I primarily play on my PC as i have most multiplayer games on there! I have a wide variety of games! I don't have many games on the PS5 at the moment. I play the following games - Genshin Impact (EU), Valorant, Destiny 2 and a few other single player games! I can get into games
If you are wishing to talk to me and be friends with me.. Please do send me an INTRODUCTION and not some boring one-two worded message that i will ignore! I like to know who is messaging me!
I'm Autistic, Please have patience! I also will not not VC or send pictures as i get very uncomfortable! If i am to VC, I won't talk and will text! Thanks!

Hey, Hi, Hello. This is a sensitive subject so bare with me please. I recently discovered that I need a colposcopy (not to be confused with a colonoscopy) and if you know what the process is, it’s needless to say I am scared shitless. Terrified. I’ve heard and read many a horror story about the pain and lack of care doctors have used during the procedure and being that I have some past smegsual trauma, I don’t want to go to just any OB-GYN. If anyone in Houston as any OB-GYN recommendations and has had a colposcopy done by them, I would greatly appreciate some name suggestions. Even if you haven’t had one done, but know of any OB-GYN’s that are thorough and make you feel like they care, I’m open to researching them as well. I’d also appreciate names of one that I should avoid cause that’s also very helpful. Thanks in advance for any suggestions and/or kind words. Have a good day!

Hi!
I wrote this query in kind of a rush as I’m planning to submit it to Berkley’s open call which ends in … one day.
But the small press I’m publishing another book with has also expressed interest—and honestly, I am wondering whether certain things about this book would make it un-marketable for a Big 5 publisher (or any publisher at all), such as the age gap between the MC and the love interest (18 and 32) and the fact that it doesn’t seem to fit squarely into YA or Adult territory (the protagonist is 18 but there are very adult themes throughout, both main characters are morally gray, etc).
Or the fact that it’s using a theme that I’ve recently learned is quite cliché (assassin falling in love with her target).
Well anyway, please tell me what you think. Thanks!
_____
Dear Berkley,
Myn is part of the Rimena clan, a once-proud people who were banished from the kingdom nearly twenty years before. When Myn is eighteen years old, her great-aunt reveals a secret she’s been keeping from her her entire life: Myn was born with the “light,” the ability to do magic. Now that she is an adult, she can finally fulfill the mission her great-aunt has been planning for her for years: to train with, and eventually assassinate, the reclusive, terribly scarred magician named Crow. As a young teenager, Crow was responsible for killing most of her clan and driving the rest out, and Myn sees this mission as a chance to gain glory in the eyes of her people, as well as to avenge her parents.
When Myn arrives at Crow’s tower, she initially finds him to be a stern and unpleasant teacher. But as the weeks pass and he slowly opens up to her, telling her stories from his past, she starts to see him as more human. The late King used Crow as a tool—much as how Myn’s great-aunt wants to use her. Myn begins to doubt that she can go through with her mission to kill him.
One night, soldiers sent by a mysterious lord attack the tower and attempt to assassinate Crow. At this point, Crow and Myn find themselves caught up in a plot involving the throne. As they attempt to unravel these threads, they also begin to develop feelings for each other, and Myn realizes that by throwing away her mission, she risks betraying her entire family.
CRUEL MAGIC is complete at 90,000 words and can be described as UPROOTED meets TO KILL A KINGDOM.
Sincerely,
me
_____________
First 300 -
Most of Myn’s family had died long ago. Her mother and father were fragments lost in the past, smoke escaping through holes in her memory. She had only her aunts, her great-aunts, her cousins, and a few dozen other stragglers from the once-proud Rimena who now lay scattered like a handful of dirt over the rocky hills of Lorlas. Ever since they had been banished from the kingdom nearly twenty years ago, their history had grown mouthless. No legends, no stories. At least not any stories that they could be proud of. Their nomadic hunter’s lifestyle was no longer a revered tradition, no longer something to be honored, but rather the mark of a people who were always a few steps away from starvation.
Growing up, Myn knew little of what lay beyond the river that separated Lorlas—the area known to the kingdom as the Wild Lands—from the kingdom of Xianthe. All she knew was that when the wind blew from the south, the air brought with it a charred, acrid scent, like the remnants of a cook-fire, mixed with something sharp and silvery. A clear, ringing scent. The way the stars might smell, if they were close enough.
One day, when Myn was little, and the wind was blowing from the south: “That’s Crow’s scent,” her aunt Lila said, wrinkling her nose. But Lila did not turn from the wind. She let it gust through her hair, lifting the greasy strands like the touch of a lover, and when she narrowed her eyes, Myn thought she saw tears in them.
Myn was so young then that she came to believe there was an enormous bird living beyond the river. For months she went to sleep thinking of it and woke still half-dreaming, with the rustle of wings at the back of her mind.

Hello fellow potatoes! And to the potato queen herself, girl, you're amazing!!! I just found your channel a few months ago, but I'm a huge fan. I don't have a lot of time for videos, but when I do get to watch, I watch yours.
Have I got a boomemil story for you! Let's go on an adventure...warning...I tell stories with rabbit holes and tangents. This is probably gonna be too long. I'm sorry!!!
So, the characters are me (40f), boomer MIL (64f BM for short, like bowel movement bc she's caca), my oldest son, (17m), and my church "mom" (65f CM for short).
A little background: BM thinks she's an awesome mom and grandma even though she's not. She uses my kids as facebook props to show off how "wonderful" she is. The only reason she was around my kids so often was because we went to the same church. She lived 10 minutes down the road from us, but could never be bothered to come over or have anything to do with any of us is if we didn't initiate. She has always said that if we ever try to threaten to keep our kids away from her, like if we were having a disagreement, that she would not fight to see them. We've never threatened to keep our kids from her, she just wanted us to know that she didn't give a sh!t to see her gandkids. So, that tells you right there, that she's a grandma when it's convenient for her.
She's of the boomer mentality that mental health issues are made up and aren't real. "You have nothing to be depressed about." "Just snap out if it." "Just be happy." You get the point. I struggle with depression, I always have. She doesn't understand or even try to understand and is the least empathetic person I've ever met.
When I get overwhelmed, I get depressed, and I start shutting down. My plate is overflowing right now. Between the end of the school year and the possibility of us moving states, I've been overwhelmed. My oldest is a senior and the last month of senior year is crazy busy. I have another child (11m) in public school and this is his last year of elementary school, so this has been an extremely busy month for him. I have 3 more kids that do online public school/homeschool. So, they're home all day with online classes, but since they're a public school, they have mandatory state testing just like regular public school. I have had to take them to do state testing on 4 different days overyhe last few weeks and the meeting place was 45 minutes from home, at a conference room in a mall. I also babysit 3 kids (1m, 4m, 4f), so hanging out for 4 to 5 hours a day on 4 different days with a shitload of kids at the f#cking mall was not easy. Not to mention the positions and "jobs" that I hold at church. To say I'm busy is an understatement.
We've been planning on moving for the last few months because a position at my husband's work is coming open near where he grew up, which is in another state. His parents recently moved back to their hometown after my FIL retired, so one reason for the move would be to be closer to them. They are getting older, so I would be taking care of them once they needed it, so moving closer seemed like a great option. Also, it's a lower COL area than we live in now. Currently we live in the metro area of a capital city and we would be moving to a middle of nowhere po'dunk town.
Told you, rabbit holes, thanks for still being with me!!!
And this is just the straw that broke the camel's back, this is not the only reason for my decision.
So, to the actual story...
Last week, I got a mother's day card in the mail from BM. She's a dollar tree card fanatic. It was a very typical card that she sends me. Nothing handwritten except for "love, grandma and grandpa." This is what she writes in all my cards. (Another tangent...last year my mom passed a month before mother's day and that actual mother's day was her and my dad's anniversary. And I had a super complicated relationship with my momster. So, it was an exceptionally hard day for me. The card she got me said "Daughter" in huge letters on the front. I thought it was so incredibly passive aggressive and completely inappropriate for that year. If it would've been any other year, it would've been fine. Also, she never gets me cards that just say "daughter" so, to me, it was a low blow.) (Yet another tangent...she does passive aggressive crap all the time, for instance when she used to do fb birthday posts, she would always ask me to send her a pic to post. I'm picky about what pics are used and she knows that. Last year, I sent her a great pic of me and her son to use. So, she used one from about 12 years ago that looked like absolute poop. It was a surprise pic, so like not even posed, stupid look on my face. No matter what pic I send, and usually send like 3, she uses a completely different one that doesn't even look good.) I got the card last Tuesday. Hubby happened to be talking to her while driving home from work that day, so when he got home, I thanked her for the card and just wanted to give her a heads up that I hadn't gotten a chance to mail hers yet because of everything I had going on. I kinda broke down and was sharing how I felt and she basically just said, "suck it up, it'll be fine." She's always been dismissive of my feelings, always.
So, my CM is the sweetest lady you'll ever meet. She listens to me, lets me share my feelings without being dismissive, and actually shows she cares. I see her twice weekly at church, and text with her during the week. Since BM has moved 8 moths ago, she has called or texted "just to talk or check in on us" less than a handful of times. She only calls/texts when she needs something or on a special occasion. She called my husband to ask about something, not just to talk. I understand now why the oldest grandson, my nephew, didn't even bother to invite her to his and his girlfriend's baby shower where he proposed. She thinks she's an amazing grandma bc she sends birthday money in a card and posts their pics on Facebook. And, she even stopped posting the kids birthday messages on fb bc she said it was "too much trouble." So, she just sticks to her 30 daily inspirational Bible quotes posts. She's the type that was so pissed off that both of her kids went with courthouse marriages instead of going into debt for a wedding because she didn't get to walk down the aisle at her kids' weddings and post pics on fb. She's mentioned this several times, but definitely wasn't even willing to spend a dime towards a wedding that no one wanted except her. She was also unwilling to take a day off work to go to the courthouse with us. With both of her kids' marriages, the kids and partners were together for a while and had kids before getting married, so spending tons of money on a huge wedding for either of us couples wouldn't have been the best way to spend money.
On mother's day, I gave my CM a card with a few lines written in it about how amazing she is and how I'm so grateful for her. I'm way closer to her than BM. CM is my chosen family and to me, your chosen family is the one that means more because you chose them, you didn't just get stuck with them. My blood family is incredibly toxic, so I stick with my chosen family. CM made a fb post with all that she got for mother's day. It was gifts and cards from her own children, and of course my card as well. CM & BM are fb friends, so of course BM saw it. Also, BM has everyone convinced she's this sweet, little old church lady, but she is far from it.
So, this Tuesday she got her cards in the mail. I always give her one from hubby and myself, and a separate one from our boys. I wrote a nice little note in it. Not long, a line or 2, but it was more effort than she put into my card. She sent me and hubby the following in a group text...
Copy and pasted, only edited out names.
"Got my cards in the mail today. 😭. They were post marked Saturday. You could of kept them til I got there or next year. It's like yall bought them Saturday, wrote a few words and rushed to get them to post office. My heart 💔broken. I thought I deserved better. I wish I could send pictures of my card verses [CM] 😩 card. I couldnt tell which gift was yours. But least I have a year to try do better and be worthy of such wonderful words of love and praise that was written to her.
I don't mean to complain or seem ungrateful but I wished you hadn't mailed them.😭😭. I can't explain how crushed I am.😔 Anyway hopefully I will see yall on the 20th."
Note: my oldest son is graduating on the 20th. She was supposed to drive down and spend the night with us to attend the graduation. I honestly believe she picked this fight because she doesn't want to drive the 6 hours down here.
If you "don't mean to complain or seem ungrateful" then why tf did you send it? I asked my husband what was his initial reaction and he said, "Really?!? All she had to do was say thanks."
So, after I talked to my husband and oldest son (I wanted to make sure everyone was on board with what I was saying before I sent it) , I sent her this response:
"I mailed them on Friday, I bought them several weeks ago. I told you I hadn't mailed them yet because I've been in a deep depression and you dismissed my feelings like always. I have real, valid feelings and you always dismissed them as silly. And come after me because now you're feelings are hurt. Wow, ok. The absolute audacity. And it's not just with your cards that I'm slacking. It's with everything. Because I have depression. I'm overwhelmed on top of that and literally the only thing you care about is a card. I tried to express my feelings the other day on the phone and you dismissed them like you always do. I know things will be fine, but in this moment they are not and you don't get that. Because you don't understand how or why I feel the way I do, then my feelings are silly or invalid to you.
And I never gave [CM] a present. Don't know why you thought that.
Don't worry about coming down on the 20th."
She replies by trying to blackmail me;
"Well my am so sorry I said anything. I never realized you thought that about me. I never dismissed your depression but yes i never knew what to do for you. I am not going to go back and forth about this. I will text [son] and let him know you told me not to come."
She's not sorry to me for being dismissive, she's sorry because now she doesn't get her "Proud MeMe moment" and can't post pictures of her at his graduation on fb. And even if she didn't "know what to do" for me, all she had to do was ask. Or listen. Or give a damn hug. But, no, she just dismissed me bc to her depression isn't real. And she's not going back and forth bc she knows shes wrong! Little did she know that I had already cleared it with hubby and son before sending the text, so I think she thought it would make me look bad to my oldest son that I told her no to come. Oldest son said, "I'm neutral, I don't care if she comes or not. It's not like she's had anything to do with us since she moved, and barely had anything to do with us when she was here."
So, my last text to her said, "He knows. I asked him before I texted you, and he's good with it."
All she had to do was say thanks or not even say anything at all. But, no, she had to say something stupid. Even her own son said that she's lucky she even got a card bc if it was up to him, her actual son, she wouldn't have gotten anything. So, not only is she not invited to the graduation, she's never welcome in my home again. The great part is I don't have to share my holidays with her ever again!!! And please know that I'd never keep her grandchildren from her, but if she wants a relationship with them, she'll have to put some effort in. And we all know boomers hate effort.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading my rant. I appreciate you my friends!

Before I dive in, know that I love my wife and I want to fix this. I’m posting in RelationshipAdvice for a reason. It will be a lot, but please don’t read it like an AITA post and pass judgment. I need some honest advice, and I’m miles away from my real-life support network.
The TL; DR is that my wife has (re)developed a bunch of conversational habits from hanging out with her brother. These habits leave me feeling excluded, stressed, and are messing with my work. Trying to address them has opened a whole can of worms, mainly that my wife hates my entire problem-solving style.
I’m keeping details vague in case she stumbles upon this post. Please, if you think my story doesn’t add up, or you think you know where I am and want to offer real estate advice or whatever, keep it to yourself.
We got hitched and moved in together right before before Covid hit. Started off great, but after six months of lockdowns and masks, we realized we could live anywhere in the country without paying through the nose for coastal housing. For context: I work in tech, and my wife is a performer. We met in a bar, and honestly, Covid was the wake-up call that my career hadn’t lived up to my potential, probably due to alcohol. So I accepted the reality that maybe my career isn’t going where I hoped, and isn’t likely to – and instead of chasing after it, we should downsize our expenses. I counted my blessings for having a wonderful wife instead.
I negotiated permanent remote work. We aimed to move to the low-cost state she grew up in. Her brother, who I like way more than my own family, hooked us up with a place to rent near his house. Bigger than we needed, but I was okay with it because it had space for a home office. We boxed up our lives into a truck and moved.
Here’s where it gets complicated. My wife has always been talkative, and she can be pretty dang loud. Not sure how much of this I didn’t fully realize before. When we were dating, we only saw each other a couple of days a week, and in our first place together, we never had visitors thanks to the pandemic. But when she's with her brother, she talks like she's trying to command a room full of first-graders. She also doesn’t adjust her volume when she’s close to me. I have tinnitus, and she has literally made my ears ring by talking while leaning on me
Next up. I feel like a jerk saying this, given what I know about the word ‘shrill’, but hear me out. If the two of us are in the same room, she’ll use a tone of voice that seems intended to be impossible to ignore.
Third, if I try to join the conversation, my wife will interrupt me and steamroll right over me. Part of this is because she has a strange conversational rhythm where she seems to be done talking but then BAM! She jumps back in at an even higher volume, after the pause. So if you think it’s your turn to speak, you get interrupted. She does this even when no one else is talking. She will interrupt me to finish my sentences, nearly always incorrectly. She will interrupt me to tell me I’m wrong about something, ruining my flow. She will interrupt me to take over telling a story, telling it worse by missing key facts and rambling at higher speed.
Fourth, she doesn't seem to organize her thoughts before speaking. At all. Couple with what I just mentioned, you've got her cutting off anyone who dares to chime in until she's “talked out” the subject with everything she can think of. By then, everyone else is bored and over being interrupted when they try to jump in. So, the topic just fizzles out, and she covers that up with nervous laughter.
Fifth, if I try to ask questions to follow along, she gets mad that I’m interrupting her or ruining her flow. So I’ve given up on questions. If I lose track, I either catch up or I don’t. I can’t zone out because of her volume and tone.
Sixth, after she’s been around her brother, she maintains this kind of conversational energy when it’s just us. Her brother can be just as loud, and raises his voice and talks over her right back in the moment. But when we’re in any group that does not include my wife, he’s back to an energy I can converse with. She does not switch back, not unless she hasn’t seen him for at least a week.
Seventh, their parents’ first language isn’t English, and they immediately switch to it as soon as I leave the room. If you know the language I mean, it makes every conversation sound like a fight. I figure, if they’re not including me anyway, why talk in English while I’m around? Why can’t I just leave you guys to talk? No, because then my wife gets mad that I’m a bad host, that I “hate” her brother, or calls me a “rude teenager”.
Eighth, 90% of their what they talk about are their opinions, mostly of family members, reality TV, or random AITA stuff. They just keep regurgitating the same views about people, social issues, capitalism, America, over and over. When I do get to throw in my two cents, they often react with anger. It feels like a low-effort bonding activity: like we’re constantly reaffirming the group values – and verbally punishing transgression – rather than discuss anything new. Her brother isn’t like this away from her.
However I slice this, it’s incongruent. If they want me involved by speaking English, why not let me chime in? If they think they're entertaining me, why not make sure I'm following? And if I'm supposed to zone out, why use a tone and volume that's impossible to ignore?
The impression I get is that my wife thinks my role is to be her passive audience, plain and simple.
There’s more about my job, but first, how I’ve failed to address this so far.
First, the loudness. According to both of them ‘that’s just the way we are,’ so it ain’t changing.
I haven’t addressed the tone, I can’t figure out how to without starting a fight.
Interruptions. My wife has had four levels of reactions when I have brought this up. First, she straight-up ignores it. Second, she acknowledges it, but with an eye roll like I'm just being petty. Third is to get mad, call me an asshole, or accuse me of silencing her. Fourth, she blows up and yells all kinds of crap (“you’re evil,” “you just hate my brother,” and incongruently, “you two are douche-bros together”), which after she’ll say she didn’t mean. She’ll then start crying about losing me, or even making her brother hate her. She’ll make me swear to keep reminding her. But in the moment, when she’s not upset, she’s back to eye rolling.
Rambling. My wife’s response is that I do the exact same thing, and that when I do it, it’s extremely boring. What she means is that if I’m excited by or trying to explain anything technical, she tunes out as soon as she hears a word she doesn’t understand, and stares right through my head until I stop talking. Apparently, this is ‘polite’. Asking questions, saying I'm not interested? Just rude.
How she changes her behavior around her brother. Raising it makes her mad. She has straight-up told me, “I will always pick my brother over you.” In her more honest moments, she’s admitted the thought of me developing a beef with her brother is one of her worst nightmares, so her anger is really for of that outcome, directed at me. She gets that this is counterproductive, sometimes. But this conversation is tough.
Switching in English. They forget this and slip back to ‘politeness’ rules. I have to be careful how I word ‘I have no interest in this conversation’ or ‘You don’t need to talk in English’ or they both say I’m rude and get mad.
My wife has also said she hates the way I solve relationship problems, calling it ‘patronizing hippy crap’. For instance, I ask people what their goal is in saying or doing certain thing (“What’s your intention in talking so loud?”). This immediately makes my wife mad, like she thinks I’m playing sociology professor and using brains to outsmart her. Thing is, she will say a LOT of things she doesn’t mean in an argument, and I tend to take things literally, so I need to check that she doesn’t actually mean “You’re evil”, otherwise the argument escalates for other reasons.
I feel like she retaliates for feeling like I’m trying to impose some kind of intellectual superiority over her by trying to impose some kind of “social intelligence” superiority over me. “Of course people don’t mean everything they say in fucking arguments, are you retarded?”. She’ll misinterpret what I’m saying in a way that implies I’m real dumb, then moves the conversation on before I can defend myself. All of which is exacerbated by how her habits push me out of the conversation.
Onto work problems. My job requires two things from me: hard problem-solving which needs long periods of uninterrupted focus, and rapid incident response. Being interrupted/talked to while I’m deep in work disrupts both of those. Neither my wife nor her brother (who’s a contractor) stick to regular office hours, and they both like to knock back a few during the day. Now, I have no issue with that, but I do have a problem when he comes over, starts drinking with my wife, they have loud conversations which I can hear from my office. Often from one room to another.
My wife doesn’t appreciate me complaining about this since she “should be free to enjoy her own home” and I “can easily get another job.” I’ve tried explaining to her that no, I can’t easily get a job that pays the same in this state. Either I’d have to hunt for increasingly scarce remote work, or we’d need to suck up downsizing and potentially moving away from her brother. She refuses to entertain any of this.
Things have improved slightly since I started composing this post, but only after a chaotic incident. She stormed into my office to look for something, mid-argument with her brother. In frustration, I took off for a drive to clear my head. Of course, there was an incident while I was out, I missed the notification, and got written up for it.
I’ve tried talking to her brother one-on-one. He’s a realist. Rent a private office, and get ourselves into couples therapy. My objection is straightforward: the cost of commuting, office rent, couples therapy (no cheaper here, lower quality by all accounts), on top of our current expenses, exceed what we were paying before we moved. All this because my wife won't adjust her behavior to accommodate my needs, or respect my job.
They often invite me to drink with them during lunch and sometimes suggest blowing off the rest of the day. Despite my repeated refusals, they persist, considering it polite. I find it rude and disrespectful to keep pushing. They've even labeled me as "boring”. But what really grinds my gears is when they invite me out and I decline, they think they've got a right to grill me about why. A few times, when I've had enough of their pestering, I’ll state my position more firmly, and then they’ll get real mad that I’m being “judgmental”, and think I’m better than them. So now if they invite me anywhere, I just shut it down with a simple "no" and zero explanation. Which bugs them, but at least it keeps the peace.
There are a ton of other emergent/secondary annoyances I could get into, but let's cap it at three.
One, since I’ve said they’re both being hypocritical about me being ‘judgmental’ (even though I wasn’t) in refusing to join their plans, when the majority of their conversations are judging other people: it has become a game to them to point out every time they think I’m a hypocrite. I answered my wife from another room once. She brings it up as my ‘hypocrisy’ whenever I mention she’s yelling to her brother in another room, and she’s right next to me.
I think it’s different: her yelling in the house upsets me, but my ‘hypocrisy’, she enjoys that. We aren’t trading vices. If I realize I’m upsetting my wife, I stop doing whatever it is that’s upsetting her. She seems to be telling me that she doesn’t care to adjust her behavior to stop upsetting me. And that the real problem is that I keep talking about it, rather than just quietly suffering through it.
Two I've likely developed obnoxious habits just to maintain some space in conversations with my wife, such as speaking louder to overcome interruptions.
Three, my wife will talk to me at any time, without paying any attention to what I’m doing or even whether I’m wearing noise-cancelling headphones. She’ll interrupt me whilst I’m holding a mop, vacuum, trash bag to remind me to mop, vacuum, or take out the trash. She’ll interrupt me while I’m tackling a chore to give me instructions. I don't understand them, she'll take over, do it the exact same way I was, then huff about it. She’ll interrupt me whilst I’m getting ready to remind me to take my wallet, throwing off my train of thought and making me forget what I was looking for. Which I’ll then forget. She’ll interrupt me while driving, for random observations (‘look, a cute dog!’) no matter how many times I tell her it’s dangerous.
It’s hard to explain how much more restrictive this makes my life feel. I avoid tasks that will take over 20 minutes unless my wife is out. My wife and brother both mock me for traits (lousy memory, lack of focus, disorganization) which they exacerbate with their behavior.
When my wife is away from her brother, she returns to her usual self, the woman I fell for.
My gut tells me her family has a toxic way of communicating (the rest of her family are borderline abusive), and she learnt to tone down of those tendencies while away from them. She is more at ease with that way of speaking with her brother, and she falls back to it with him – and is trying to force me to adapt to it. There’s probably a side order of some history of feeling sidelined in male-dominated groups, so she’s acting out on that trauma and making sure out-talks us both. She’s got zero patience for boredom, which is why she butts in and won’t take extra time to make sure I understand – and why she thinks my ‘long rants’ are way longer and more boring than hers.
Her view is that conversations are boring unless people are excited, and excited people interrupt and talk over each other constantly. I hate that, because a conversation just feels like a constant fight to participate. It’s draining and I’d rather not socialize at all.
She describes the way I’d rather talk – back and forth – as “pompous, like you think you’re a king who can’t be interrupted”.
I don’t have a support system here since everyone I know here is through them, and everyone back home still believes I successfully rode off into the sunset. So, Reddit, how do I better communicate my needs to my wife? Both to not lose my job, and to enjoy conversations with her?

This story has been gaining some small online traction over the past couple of days, and Russell Edwards has been namedropped again by Keith Bennett’s brother, Alan Bennett, on social media. I want people to be in no doubt about what Edwards did back in 2022, and I want to make sure that the following ranks near the top of Google searches too so that people can easily find information that discredits this complete and utter charlatan.
Header photo description and credits: Greater Manchester Police employing a drone in the excavation of the site searched for the remains of Keith Bennett on Saddleworth Moor, 2nd October 2022. Manchester Evening News

Who is Russell Edwards?

Edwards is a self-proclaimed “amateur detective”, who has for many years invested a lot of his own time and money in trying to get to the bottom of numerous infamous unsolved cases. He has claimed to have identified Jack the Ripper as a Polish barber named Aaron Kosminski, and wrote a book about his “findings” called “Naming Jack the Ripper” - which have since been called into question along with the credibility of both Edwards and the forensic scientist he collaborated with in regards to both Jack the Ripper and the Moors Murders, Jari Louhelainen.
Edwards also runs a Jack the Ripper guided walking tour in London. I won’t link to it because a) I don’t want to drive up clicks to it and b) the website contains a lot of misinformation as well as graphic autopsy images of Ripper victims without warning. I initially thought he had stopped doing these, but the most recent review listed on there was from January of this year.
He claimed to have started looking into Keith Bennett’s disappearance in 2015, but had been interested in the case since around the time the remains of another Moors Murders victim, Pauline Reade, were discovered in 1987.

The known facts of Keith Bennett’s disappearance and murder

Keith was walking to his grandmother’s house on the evening of 16th June 1964 when he was abducted by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. According to their accounts, he was driven up to Saddleworth Moor and endured sexual assault before he was strangled to death and buried in a shallow grave. There is a detailed and extensive write-up on Brady’s and Hindley’s conflicting accounts linked here. Tragically, to this day Keith Bennett remains the only one of the couple’s victims whose remains were never recovered.
I would strongly encourage everybody to read these FAQs around the search for Keith too. I wrote these up a while ago, and Alan himself has been kind enough to contribute to them as well after the fact.

The 2022 “findings”

First off, here’s where exactly Edwards made his “discovery” in relation to where the other bodies were found. I should state that this area consists of plenty of gullies and peat soil. If you click on the 2022 Search on Saddleworth Moor flair, you‘ll see everything we discussed in this subreddit as the search was being carried out. But I will recap what happened anyway.
In a statement published on 30th September 2022, GMP Force Review Officer Martin Bottomley said:
“At around 11.25am on Thursday 29th September 2022, Greater Manchester Police was contacted by the representative of an author who has been researching the murder of Keith Bennett, a victim of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. Following direct contact with the author, we were informed that he had discovered what he believes are potential human remains in a remote location on the Moors and he agreed to meet with officers yesterday afternoon to elaborate on his find and direct us to a site of interest.
“The site was assessed late last night and, this morning, specialist officers have begun initial exploration activity. We are in the very early stages of assessing the information which has been brought to our attention but have made the decision to act on it in line with a normal response to a report of this kind.”
It was first reported in the Daily Mail that a “skull” had been found, although the same article then went on to say that “detectives are preparing to exhume a particular area where suspected skeletal remains have been found including what experts believe to be a child’s upper jaw with a full set of teeth”. It was also reported that a small piece of blue and white striped material, and potential samples of body tissue (although this was later discredited as a probable mixture of vegetation and muddy water), had been found.
Edwards had claimed he and his team had conducted extensive soil analysis of the area, which they had discovered 4 weeks before. There were high levels of calcium, which can indicate the presence of human remains (but the team did not mention that it also indicates the presence of limestone or another high calcium natural material). Describing the dig, he said “the smell hit me about 2ft down. Like a sewer, like ammonia. I worked as a gravedigger when I was 19. It hits you, that smell of death. It is distinctive.”
Alan Bennett later stated that the smell was probably methane - of which there are pockets containing it across the moor. Edwards also falsely stated that everything was left in situ - more on that in the paragraph after the next one.
On Saturday 1st October, Greater Manchester Police issued a statement saying that “no identifiable human remains have been found” - despite what several tabloid and local newspapers had been reporting. It was confirmed that drones were being used in the search on the 2nd October, and a statement issued by GMP later that day confirmed that excavation of the site will continue for the foreseeable future.
Edwards and members of his team started posting on Facebook and declaring that Keith Bennett had already been found. On 2nd October, Jari Louhelainen, a Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology at Liverpool John Moores University and a member of Edwards’ team, posted a photo of himself analysing what he suspected was a “bunch of hair” from the dig site. He later confirmed in the comments of his post (after being called out for posting it in the first place) that it was a “look-a-like plant material”.
On 4th October, Detective Chief Inspector Cheryl Hughes, of GMP’s Force Review Unit, said: “Forensic Archaeologists and Forensic Anthropologists have now completed a methodical archaeological excavation and examination of the area previously dug and refilled by the member of the public. No bones, fabric or items of interest were recovered from the soil.
“These accredited and certified forensic experts are now continuing with a methodical and controlled excavation of the area immediately surrounding the original site to provide a higher level of assurance of the presence or absence of any items of interest. Further soil samples have been taken for analysis, but at this time there is no visible evidence to suggest the presence of human remains. The scene examination is ongoing.
“A report of possible human remains is always treated with seriousness. As such, we have deployed police search advisors who can support our scenes of crimes officers – this will result in more visible and high profile tactics, such as officers walking in lines to identify any potential sites of focus.
“GMP is committed to providing Keith’s family with answers following this report, both from the physical excavation and subsequent analysis of samples. This will take some time but we will keep the family updated at every stage and request that their privacy is respected.
“We have seen the outpouring of support since this news broke so know how our communities feel about this case but we are asking members of the public not to travel to the area and can assure them that we will provide timely and appropriate updates.”
At 2pm on 7th October 2022, Greater Manchester Police announced that they had closed the scene on Saddleworth Moor after finding no evidence to indicate the presence of human remains. “At this time, there is no evidence of the presence of human remains.”
Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Jackson, portfolio holder for crime, said: “We have always said that we would respond, in a timely and appropriate manner, to any credible information which may lead us towards finding Keith. Our actions in the last week or so are a highly visible example of what that response looks like, with the force utilising the knowledge and skills of accredited experts, specialist officers and staff. It is these accredited experts and specialists who have brought us to a position from where we can say that, despite a thorough search of the scene and ongoing analysis of samples taken both by ourselves and a third party, there is currently no evidence of the presence of human remains at, or surrounding, the identified site on Saddleworth Moor. However, I want to make it clear that our investigation to find answers for Keith’s family is not over.
“We understand how our communities in Greater Manchester feel about this case, the renewed interest in it and the shared desire to find Keith. Much of Saddleworth Moor is private land so we would ask that members of the public, in the first instance, report any perceived intelligence to their local police service. The discovery of suspected human remains must be reported immediately to enable the use of specialist resources to investigate appropriately.”
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Chief Inspector Cheryl Hughes said: “The investigation into Keith’s disappearance and murder has remained open since 1964 and it will not be closed until we have found the answers his family have deserved for so many years. We are thankful for their continued support of our ongoing enquiries. This has been a distressing time for them and we ask that their privacy is respected.
“We understand the confusion which may have been caused to Keith’s family and communities across Greater Manchester by reports to the contrary. We hope that by giving this detailed update today, we provide reassurance that GMP are committed to finding accurate answers for Keith’s family.
“In response to the report made on Thursday 29 September 2022, officers met with the member of the public who later provided us with samples and copies of the photographs he had taken. He also took officers to the location from which he had obtained these and provided grid references.
“In the days since, independent accredited forensic archaeologists and certified forensic anthropologists, together with GMP’s Crime Scene Investigators, have completed a methodical forensic archaeological excavation and examination of the identified area and beyond. An accredited forensic geologist also took a number of soil samples – analysis of which is ongoing.
“The items given to us by the member of the public have been examined by a forensic scientist and though this hasn’t yet indicated the presence of human remains – more analysis is required. With regards to the photograph, we have sought the assistance of a forensic botanist. We are now utilising the knowledge and skills of a forensic image expert to put a standard anthropological measurement to the object to assist with identification. At this stage, the indications are that it would be considerably smaller than a juvenile jaw and it cannot be ruled out that it is plant-based.
“The excavation and examination at the site is complete and, to reiterate, we have found no evidence that this is the burial location of Keith Bennett.”

Aftermath

It was discovered that two of Edwards’ team members, Lesley Dunlop (a geologist) and Dawn Keen (a forensic archaeologist) were not accredited professionals in their respective fields. Alan Bennett clarified in a Facebook post on 5th November 2022, in reference to Keen:
“Any professional archaeologist would ask for a scale in any pictures or video taken at a scene [in reference to the fact that police confirmed the object found was too small to be a juvenile jaw], that was not the case here and the reason police had to call in a photographic specialist to determine the scale of the supposed jawbone..which turns out to be too small for a child from what I've been told so far and, of course couldn't be found anyway and could only have been vegetation if anything at all.”
I am not entirely sure what the “blue and white striped fabric” turned out to be - I assume that nothing was found.
Alan has since posted evidence that Russell Edwards had been planning the “discovery of Keith’s remains” as part of a stunt to promote his upcoming book on the case - a book that Edwards has been radio-silent about since all of this controversy.
Edwards has refused to apologise to Keith’s family and despite being proven wrong, and him and his team being called out for the charlatans they are (with even him admitting that his own reputation is in tatters), as of December 2022 he stood by his actions and his claims that he believed he had found Keith’s body.
To my own understanding (though I do not speak on behalf of Alan Bennett or on behalf of anybody who was involved in this whole debacle, let me be clear), there has been complete radio-silence on news of Edwards’ book since this date.

Background: I'm a quant social scientist who is fairly skeptical of IQ. So I'm putting my bias out there. But I'm certainly open to changing my mind.
I keep hearing that IQ is highly predictive of life outcomes, and more predictive than any other trait. But whenever I ask for evidence of this claim, I get either:

1. standardized effect sizes: misleading for comparison, since the variable with larger variance will have bigger standardized effect.
2. incremental r^2: irrelevant to individual-level prediction.

When we talk about "predictive power," most of us have a similar thing in mind: For person A, how much does knowing A's IQ increase the precision of predicting A's income (or job performance, health, whatever). This means we need predictive intervals. But I have rarely (ever?) seen predictive intervals for IQ.
So I have a very simple question: If out-of-sample person A has IQ = 120, what is the predicted income (job performance, health, etc) level E(income IQ = 120), what is the 95% predictive interval of E(income IQ = 120), and how does this compare to the baseline E(income)?
Bonus: You can ask a similar question of IQ's relationship to genetics. Whenever people say "IQ is mostly genetics," or "genetics predict IQ," they're really talking about heritability estimates. But that's not what most people intuitively mean by "predictive." What we really want to know is: What is the out-of-sample E(IQ PGS = X) and the predictive interval of that?
Thanks in advance.

Just for fun, let's see your naming profile! Just fill out the 21-question survey below!

1. Do you prefer male, female, or unisex names?
2. Do you prefer short, medium, or long names?
3. Do you prefer traditional, trendy, vintage, or obscure names?
4. Do you prefer single- or double-barrel names?
5. Do you prefer common, uncommon, unusual, or rare names?
6. Do you prefer word names or non-word names?
7. Do you prefer zero, one, or two middle names?
8. What are your favorite common and traditional names?
9. What are your favorite vintage names?
10. What are your favorite currently trending names?
11. What are your favorite rare and obscure names?
12. What is your favorite 1-syllable name?
13. What is your favorite 4-syllable name?
14. What is your favorite 5-syllable name?
15. What is your favorite 2-letter name?
16. What are your top 10 names (any gender)?
17. What is a name in your family that you'd consider using for a hypothetical child?
18. What is a name that you would like to use but you won't because someone very close to you has that name?
19. What name has your favorite meaning, and what is the meaning?
20. For pets, do you prefer human names or not?
21. For multiple pets, do you prefer themed names, or not?

Looking forward to seeing your answers - thanks for playing! Mine will be in comments!

Last night I decided to end things with my alcoholic boyfriend. He’s been in recovery with lapses lately, and I’m really nervous about how this will affect his sobriety, but I know that’s out of my control. We work together so I will still have to see him, and I’m nervous about seeing him self destructing. We are on good terms and I think he understands my reasoning (as an ACOA, I don’t think I can be in this relationship anymore) and part of me is having trouble navigating how to show support for him, if I even should at all.
I would love some support on how to deal with having to see that. If I could also have words of encouragement, that would be really great too. thank you

I'm $350 short on fully covering my tuition. And as much as I want to, I really couldn't fit in a part-time job on weekdays anymore at all. So, I'm sorry for resorting to this 'please hire me' Reddit post.
Fee starts at $25-300, varying based on the scope of work. List of services I can offer:
-INTERIOR DESIGN (from conceptualization, layout, specification, design to costing)
-3D MODELLING. Be it anything but eng'g models.
-RENDERING
-CAD works
-PHOTOSHOP (Layout, Poster, Marketing Collats, mock-ups, etc)
-ILLUSTRATOR (not that proficient)
-Branding Package
-Conceptualize & visualize your LOGO (thru sketch/lq visual; then maybe hire someone else to vectorize it)
-ISOMETRIC ILLUSTRATIONS
-PARTY CLOWN
Sample work: https://ibb.co/8dNj9Nk
Thank you! DM me for my portfolio.

Hey everyone! I'm a TFT streamer and Competitive player, hit challenger every set since 4 (not this set! I'll tell you why). I've never posted on Reddit, but I felt like I had too many things I wanted to break down and have a conversation about. These thoughts were just too much for a Twitter post, and I'm really curious to hear how everyone else in the community feels :)!
Disclaimer: I love everyone at the TFT team, and have immense respect for everyone on it, and I know for a fact they all strive to make a product they are proud of. This post is out of love for the game.

1. Novelty in TFT / Set Mechanics: Regarding Novelty in TFT / Set Mechanics: In recent sets, it's clear that the TFT team is determined to create unique and memorable moments for players, which I appreciate. However, in their pursuit of these moments, they seem to have lost sight of the essence that made TFT so magical from the start.

We can all agree that Set 10 was a huge breath of fresh air coming off the turbo-boring set that was 9.5 where everyone equipped URF legend and popped tome 2-1 and prayed. Set 10 is, in my opinion, one of the greatest sets ever designed. Everything aligned perfectly and harmoniously (music pun!), the unit and trait design was near flawless, the set mechanic was a huge upgrade to Set 4/4.5's Chosen mechanic, and the 5 Costs really did feel like premium units. It was a homerun for TFT. (The numbers show that too for all you numbers people)
Moving on from 10 and coming into 11. It was glaring to me that in an attempt to reach the destination of creating novel moments in TFT they took the wrong road. Encounters might just be one of the worst types of game mechanics to ever exist (second only to shadow items). It's a disaster lottery draw every single time it shows up that you dread won't destroy the path that you calculated was the most optimal path based on what you've gotten so far in terms of units, items, augments, etc... The main reason why Encounters are bad game design is because they take away player agency in an unhealthy way. That doesn't mean that there can't be potential encounter type mechanics that borrow player agency that are healthy. It just means this one is bad. It's a lot of quantity over quality and it leaves the player in this weird middle-ground where they're not too impactful to create a sense of excitement and awe when they pop up, but they're just useful enough to be extremely annoying when they don't benefit you at all, and accelerate other people's boards. (Obviously this isn't ALL encounters, but definitely most)

1. Unit and Trait design: Set 11 brings some of the most lackluster / boring feeling units and traits I've ever had the un-pleasure of playing. If you named all your favorite TFT units / Traits of all time do you think any of set 11's Units / Traits would make it into your S-Tier category? (Maybe Lissandra, but she's just a worse Set 6 Tahm Kench lets be real) and apart from the idea behind Exalted (It needs more work, but can be an amazing way of introducing infinite comps) not much in Set 11 stands out to me on that front. I'll delve deeper into a few things I don't want to bloat this post, but just know there's a lot more. Kayle is one of, if not the worst summon unit we've ever had in TFT. The idea behind build your own summon unit is fantastic and I genuinely hope they give this another go, but the execution was suboptimal at best. Sets 3 / 4 / 6 / 10 All had extremely life-like and memorable summons Giant Mech Garen that thrusts down sword into the arena, Giant Galio slamming into the arena and punching units to death, Bears and dragons to buff your team and fight alongside you, and even a Hecarim that gallops onto your board and buffs your team and slashes enemies. Summoned units SHOULD feel, sound, and look impactful, and not act like any unit I could buy from the store. Or else they just end up being a glorified 2 cost. Stats aside (I love stats, but this post isn't about them), my primary aim is to ensure a fun game before delving into statistical analysis. Kayle feels like a filler unit that you mostly just plop in the back and forget about, doesn't do much unless you hit the crazy (mostly unobtainable) 10 Piece trait. Speaking of unobtainable traits. It seems to me the TFT team has come up with this bandage solution of gatekeeping a lot of really fun and exciting moments behind these extremely hard-to-obtain 9-10 Piece traits. We've never had this issue in TFT; why are we now gatekeeping a lot of the exciting moments behind 100+ hours of playtime. You can tone down a lot of the exciting moments, and still keep them accessible, but challenging to obtain. You've done this for the longest time; why fix something that isn't broken. Personally, I think there needs to be a revaluation of what makes a Set engaging and fun, and what players really want to see and play around with for hundreds of hours way before you start delving into the mindset of "How do we add as much divergence, nuance, and novelty". Those roads can meet and intertwine, but they aren't the same road.
2. Items, Augments, and Orbs!: Items - Here's a little brain exercise for everyone, what would happen in TFT if we removed all item components, and strictly dropped only Ornn anvils all game? (Take a minute to think before you click the spoiler!) If you guessed it would ensue chaos, bugs, and a balancing nightmare. OR be a hell of a lot of fun! you'd be correct both ways! (New portal idea!/s) Luckily for us, that isn't the case. However, I do think we've reached a point with items where we're too comfortable with what they wish to achieve on units, and this creates a dynamic where TFT units are always being designed with items in mind, and how the items would make the unit work. Rather than creating fun and engaging units in a vacuum and worrying about the items later. It's a scary prospect to experiment with the tried and true (Think back to Set 7 when they made Rage-wing trait experimenting with units that had a different fuel source than mana, but it was a total miss or when they created the dreaded Shadow items), but it's just food for thought. Just because you didn't get it right once, doesn't mean the idea is flawed, just means you didn't get it right that one time. A time where you definitely did get it right however, is Radiant items Look how those turned out! Some of the most beloved items of all time. This is sort of what they wanted to achieve with the new expansion to the Ornn anvil items, and support items. It's definitely a step in the right direction, but can definitely be explored more.

Augments - Augments really was a happy little accidental shift in TFT's life cycle. They created the perfect concoction of how to add an almost infinite amount of variability to a game that was missing just that. (Which also adds to why Encounters are redundant and frustrating) Since then they've time and time again created really fun and engaging augments each set, that without I'm almost certain TFT wouldn't be as popular as it is. Please keep doing this, this is really good. Another little thought exercise before we continue. What would happen if most of the Encounters were just turned into Augments instead? (Think a little before you click spoiler!) If You guessed it would just create a healthier way of interacting with said encounters. You'd be correct!
If you're trying to create a new set mechanic (encounters) it shouldn't overlap with something that already exists that's just better than the new thing you're trying to create (augments). However, getting back on track. It does feel like things have gotten a little too comfortable in the Augment space, and feels like there hasn't been much room for innovative change. There's an untapped reservoir right in front of you of infinite variability at your disposal. Why aren't you experimenting harder, instead of looking for other means of adding variability that will always be suboptimal to the one you've already created almost 6 Sets ago...?
Soft Sample Examples: A new type of Augment called Radiant Augments that provide a wide range of very strong / borderline insane combinations of items and stats, but the catch is after every player combat if you lose you can choose if you want to swap your Radiant augment with the player you just faced. (Like multiple random hexes of strong stats, or 3 tailored Orrn items / Support items, or given 3 zephyrs and knowing who you're fighting next or given a 2Star-dragon that adopts your top-most trait?!) (The design space is infinite)
Orbs - Lastly, I'd like to talk about Orbs! Orbs are a lot better, good job! That's all I have to say :)!
Thank you for reading this far into my post if you have. Again, this comes from an immense love for the game and the people creating it. I have nothing but positive interactions with Mortdog on Twitter / Discord and would appreciate if you guys keep it civil and friendly :)! I really do have a lot more thoughts, and things I'd love to share, but I feel like I've already bloated this post a lot! (Assassins, Higher Cost units than 5, Midsets, system changes, loot management, meta knowledge, Portals etc..)
I've just been really bored playing this set, and that's the reason I've retired from seriously competing or climbing for this one set, and I'm very keen to read what other people have to say about my thoughts, and looking forward to discussing it thank you!