Dr seuss craft ideas for preschoolers

Hey everyone, I hope y'all are doing well.
I won't waste words: I've been seriously trying to find a girlfriend for something like seven years now, with basically zero success. I'm like, 0-12 for asking girls out. Only three girls have ever expressed interest in me, and two of those were in extreme mental health crises (also one was underage, yikes).
The problem is that I don't know what to do about it.
Outside of my relationship status, I'm satisfied with myself. I'm doing well in school and set up for a great career, I've got plenty of great friends, I have hobbies I'm invested in, I'm physically and mentally healthy, I'm patient and a good listener, and I'm good at managing my relationships. I'm not a slob, I don't treat women like garbage, I'm not just looking for sex, I'm not a lunatic, I'm not an asshole, and I don't any have insane political opinions. If I'm waving other red flags, I don't know about them.
Sure, I'm not perfect: I'm short (5'7), I'm not super attractive, I'm not ripped. I'm intensely nerdy, and I'm pretty much entirely disengaged from pop culture. I sometimes suffer from anxiety/insecurity in my relationships, although I am generally self-possessed.
Obviously I know that these are "flaws", but I also know that none of them are insurmountable. So, then... why does it feel so impossible for me to find a relationship???
My friends are stuck on repeat. They tell me I should go to the gym (I want to, but have no time), go to bars (I don't like alcohol), use dating apps (in my experience, exploitative and ineffective), or to "be patient" (if it worked I'd be sleeping instead of writing this post rn).
I myself am out of ideas... but I'm hurting so badly. Getting rejected, listening to pretty girls talk about their love lives, spending Valentine's day alone... it's just constant heartache, and I'm feeling increasingly dejected.
So... here I am. Any advice or insight is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
TL;DR I'm not perfect, but I am successful and happy with myself. What am I doing wrong? What do I do?

for context, I'm a trans woman DMing for an all lgbtq+ party.
In the last session, the players found a lost red tiefling civilization, and red tieflings were established to never be seen. One of the rulers, referred to as "the Arcanister" is a blue male tiefling. The Arcanister is the only member of the civilization with contact with the outside world, and since being red would create too much undesired attention, he true poly-ed himself to be blue. Him being blue was also a hint for the background of a purple tiefling NPC (red + blue = purple). The party cast detect magic and sensed a transmutation aura coming from the Arcanister.
Later, the party theorized about him possibly being a trans man, and I immediately canonized the idea since I saw no harm and that wouldn't affect the lore in any way. During a conversation between him and the party, the PC of a transfem player cast dispel magic on him, which revealed he was a red tiefling and, since I just decided he is trans, also reverted him to pre-transition (in this case, pre true poly).
Seeing she just detransitioned a NPC made her feel really bad, to the point she had to leave the space we were playing and breath a little. After talking to her, I understood that she was triggered and I retconed the casting of dispell magic, but the damage was already done.
Furthermore, at session 0, I said one of the things I would not do under any circumstance is torture, and she believes that rule was broken (in my mind, he could just cast true poly again and be fine). What should I've done and what can I do now?
TL;DR: the party theorized about a NPC who was secretly under true-poly being trans, and I made it canon without them knowing. A PC played by a transfem cast dispell magic on the NPC, revealing his detransitioned original form. The player got very sad about the situation and was not well to talk about it and suggested I asked for help here

I’m at a crossroads right now, my head is telling me no but my heart is telling me yes. The story is a bit complicated so I will do my best to explain our relationship so you can understand the full picture.
I’ll start with the way we initially got together. We come from the same country ethnically, but I lived my whole life abroad. When I was 17 I met her in my home country while I was visiting for the summer. We only spent one day together at a family gathering, she was a friend of a friend. Well since that day we became good friends and we started texting for years. Eventually I felt romantic interest in her but she declined because she wasn’t interested at the time. This was 6-7 years ago. Since then we didn’t talk as much. Then about 3 years ago during the summer, I was visiting again and we crossed paths again. It had been like 4 years since we last talked. We had a great conversation and it was as if we never stopped talking. We had extremely good chemistry and we both felt a spark. After that I knew she had interest in me, we kept texting and she sent me a really long paragraph about how she caught feelings for me and she regrets rejecting me in the past, and how she would really love it if I gave her another chance to get to know each other romantically. I felt the same way about her so I decided to give it a shot. Keep in mind I only saw her in person that one time, I left back to my country after just two days. But we were both willing to do long distance because we were extremely attracted to each other and we saw a future together.
So our entire relationship was basically long distance, all of it was over the phone. But our relationship escalated very quickly, she told me it happened like it was straight out of a movie. Eventually she was telling me things like I’m the one and she wants to marry me and she’s never been this sure of anything in her entire life. I felt the same way. It was one of those things where “when you know you know”. I had already know her previously and her personality. We had a really deep bond together. It truly did feel like we were meant for each other. We always seem to find our way back to each other. Our entire relationship was basically perfect up until the end, we never had any fights, any arguments, any problems. She never did anything to make me jealous or angry, she’s is the most sweet kind and innocent girl. Anyways, we didn’t really have a plan to close the distance, but we were willing to stick it out until I could move to her. It would’ve taken 2-3 years. But of course we had to meet each other first and date in person. After a whole year of dating, we planned a trip together to Italy so we could finally spend time with each other for the first time. We waited a long time for this moment. I thought the trip went great and that it solidified our relationship, she told me she had a great time and that the chemistry was still there in person.
Well a few months after that trip, which was last January, she broke up with me. We lasted for almost two years. She basically said she couldn’t do the distance anymore even though she thought she could. And that she wasn’t able to see me only once a year, and keep saying “one day” without an actual plan. Which is completely understandable, I don’t blame her at all. It was probably doomed to fail because of that. But afterwards, I was so heartbroken by the breakup that I reacted very emotionally. I wrote her a long letter explaining my feelings and how I couldn’t understand why she would give up after all the promises. Now I completely understand, but at the time I didn’t because I was blinded by my own feelings. I kept pushing her and bothering her for more answers, and eventually she snapped at me. She said a lot of things that were hurtful and disrespectful. She said that she was forcing herself to be comfortable with me on the trip, that it wasn’t the type of comfort it should be with the one, she said that the distance wouldn’t have mattered if it was the right person (which contradicts her previous excuse about distance), she also said that she just didn’t love me anymore, and she didn’t want to settle for someone she has to learn to love, she wants to find a love that comes naturally to her. She also said that she might’ve just loved the idea of me because it felt different on the trip. And that if we had a base together, maybe it would’ve worked. But we never got to know each other physically, we got into a committed relationship for a year without ever seeing each other in person.
So basically, her initial reason was the distance, but after she snapped at me she said that it was because she didn’t love me and that I’m not the right person for her. Even though she believed with all her heart that I was the right person during the relationship. So maybe it was a combination of both reasons, I don’t know. Maybe the extreme distance led her to lose feelings and realize I’m not the right guy for her. Anyways, we ended it in January and we went no contact since then. Not a single text. I was extremely heartbroken for months and very hurt at the things she said to me. I couldn’t understand how she moved on so quickly and discarded me from her life. As if I never meant anything to her. We were planning our future together.
I just want to add that now 4 months after the breakup I completely understand her. I understand why she felt uncomfortable with me. We met each other for one day and then spent an entire year talking over the phone and got into a committed relationship. We never had the opportunity to get to know each other physically. In a normal relationship you would spend time together in person and THEN decide to commit. So over the course of a year we built up an idealized version of each other in our heads. When we met on the vacation, physically we were strangers. I’ll admit, I felt a bit uncomfortable too, and it felt a bit weird, but after a few days I did feel comfortable with her. I figured it was normal since we have to get used to each other. But I was willing to look past it because I loved her. And she is definitely the type of woman that needs to spend a long time with someone before feeling comfortable being intimate with them. Also, it was her first serious relationship and she’d never even had her first kiss before. She’s a very reserved and shy girl. Maybe I rushed things by trying to kiss her too soon, I should’ve went way slower and just focused on getting comfortable with each other. On top of all that, we were also in a strange environment that we’ve never been to before (Italy), with a person that is a stranger physically. Yes we talked for an entire year but physically we were strangers. We spent a year in a committed (digital) relationship, so by the time we met, there was all this expectation built up of how it was supposed to be. We were supposed to immediately behave as committed couples do. When in reality, what we probably should’ve done was get to know each other first. we should’ve probably just talked for a year without actually committing, and then decide if we want to be together after we actually meet. But since we both rushed into it, there was a lot of expectation. So overall it completely makes sense that we were uncomfortable because we never had a base to build off of.
Now it’s been about 4 months since the break up with no contact. A turn of events happened in my life and I ended up moving to my country this month, much sooner than I expected, for a work opportunity. It’s the same country where my ex lives. I wasn’t planning to move there for another 2-3 years, but it just so happened that I ended up moving back just 4 months after we broke up. As soon as I settled in, my ex reached out to me telling me that she heard I moved back to this country. We talked for a bit and we ended up meeting up so we could catch up with each other. She picked me up and we went for a drive, with no expectations to rekindle anything, just to have fun together. And we actually had an amazing time. A short drive turned into a whole day spent with her. We talked, we laughed, and I felt the same chemistry and spark that I felt when we first met. We hung out the next day, and the next day, then on the 4th day, she ended up telling me that she realized she still has feelings for me and wants to get back together. This time, it would be different because we are actually in the same country, there’s no more long distance.
I told her I needed to think about it, and now I’m here typing this. I don’t know if I should take her back or not, mainly because of the things she said to me during the break up. Yes, distance may have played a role in her losing feelings, and I give her the benefit of the doubt. But I can’t forget the things she said to me when she snapped. She told me HERSELF that she just didn’t love me, and that the distance wouldn’t have mattered with the right person. She made the decision to completely give up on me. She moved on so quickly and was completely fine without me in her life. When she broke up she had it in her mind that she wanted to find someone better. How can I forgive that? I tell myself, all of this happened because we could never be close, we never got to start the relationship the proper way. But I also tell myself, if she was the right person, would she have given up on me? I know that “the one” isn’t some magical feeling you only get with one person, and that circumstances sometimes cause relationships to not work out. But even under all these circumstances, maybe the right person would’ve stayed? Maybe the right person would’ve felt comfortable with me on the trip. I mean, a lot of you guys in this sub were nevermets, and there’s so many cases of people never meeting for years, and they still end up working out. Just because we now have a chance to be together now in close proximity, does that mean I should do it? Do I want someone that would only decide to love me if I am close to them? I don’t know if I am being reasonable by questioning these things. Maybe she is the right person but circumstances actually couldn’t let us be together until now. I can’t tell if I should say no because I should find someone that would stick with me through anything, I don’t even know if that person exists. I don’t know if anyone would be able to handle the relationship we had, so maybe it’s unfair to blame her for giving up on me.
I told her all these things and she gave me a huge apology and said she was wrong. She explained why she felt uncomfortable and why she felt like she lost feelings, and it was basically everything I explained before. But she said now she realized she was wrong and that she is comfortable with me and that she made a huge mistake. She said she confused her feelings and thought that I wasn’t the one when I actually was. I told her that she said she was settling for me. And she said she only said that because I made her mad so she snapped, I kept bothering her so she just wanted to push me away, and that she didn’t actually mean it. Now she wants to take everything back but I don’t know if I can believe her. She said she will do anything to prove to me that she’ll be loyal and that this time she will stay. She also said that she hasn’t dated anyone at all since we broke up, so there was no rebound or cheating involved. It was just because she felt like we wouldn’t work out in the long run.
But now, we’re close together, and we have an opportunity to start over and have a wonderful relationship together, the right way. And we had an amazing time together the last few days, we both have intense feelings for each other. I just don’t know if I should take her back after she gave up on me. Let’s say I did take her back, I would always be worried that she’ll do the same thing again. I would have to trust her again. I understand that the relationship was probably doomed to fail, but I never would’ve given up on her in a million years. Maybe women are wired differently. I honestly still have a lot of love for her, and I still want to be with her. But I don’t want to get hurt again. I’m thinking of just telling her let’s keep hanging out without any expectations and just see where it leads. But if I were to get back together with her I feel like I need proof that she won’t do the same thing again. But how would she prove it? Tell her to wait for me for a year? That doesn’t make sense but it’s the only thing I can think of. What do you think? Should I give it a chance or am I better off finding someone new?
TL;DR - I'm (24M) torn about getting back with my ex (22F). We had a long-distance relationship, but she broke up with me due to the distance and said some hurtful things. Now that I've moved back to our home country, we've reconnected, and she wants to try again. While the chemistry is still there, I'm unsure if I can trust her after she gave up on us once. Should I give it another shot or move on?

I’m at a crossroads right now, my head is telling me no but my heart is telling me yes. The story is a bit complicated so I will do my best to explain our relationship so you can understand the full picture.
I’ll start with the way we initially got together. We come from the same country ethnically, but I lived my whole life abroad. When I was 17 I met her in my home country while I was visiting for the summer. We only spent one day together at a family gathering, she was a friend of a friend. Well since that day we became good friends and we started texting for years. Eventually I felt romantic interest in her but she declined because she wasn’t interested at the time. This was 6-7 years ago. Since then we didn’t talk as much. Then about 3 years ago during the summer, I was visiting again and we crossed paths again. It had been like 4 years since we last talked. We had a great conversation and it was as if we never stopped talking. We had extremely good chemistry and we both felt a spark. After that I knew she had interest in me, we kept texting and she sent me a really long paragraph about how she caught feelings for me and she regrets rejecting me in the past, and how she would really love it if I gave her another chance to get to know each other romantically. I felt the same way about her so I decided to give it a shot. Keep in mind I only saw her in person that one time, I left back to my country after just two days. But we were both willing to do long distance because we were extremely attracted to each other and we saw a future together.
So our entire relationship was basically long distance, all of it was over the phone. But our relationship escalated very quickly, she told me it happened like it was straight out of a movie. Eventually she was telling me things like I’m the one and she wants to marry me and she’s never been this sure of anything in her entire life. I felt the same way. It was one of those things where “when you know you know”. I had already know her previously and her personality. We had a really deep bond together. It truly did feel like we were meant for each other. We always seem to find our way back to each other. Our entire relationship was basically perfect up until the end, we never had any fights, any arguments, any problems. She never did anything to make me jealous or angry, she’s is the most sweet kind and innocent girl. Anyways, we didn’t really have a plan to close the distance, but we were willing to stick it out until I could move to her. It would’ve taken 2-3 years. But of course we had to meet each other first and date in person. After a whole year of dating, we planned a trip together to Italy so we could finally spend time with each other for the first time. We waited a long time for this moment. I thought the trip went great and that it solidified our relationship, she told me she had a great time and that the chemistry was still there in person.
Well a few months after that trip, which was last January, she broke up with me. We lasted for almost two years. She basically said she couldn’t do the distance anymore even though she thought she could. And that she wasn’t able to see me only once a year, and keep saying “one day” without an actual plan. Which is completely understandable, I don’t blame her at all. It was probably doomed to fail because of that. But afterwards, I was so heartbroken by the breakup that I reacted very emotionally. I wrote her a long letter explaining my feelings and how I couldn’t understand why she would give up after all the promises. Now I completely understand, but at the time I didn’t because I was blinded by my own feelings. I kept pushing her and bothering her for more answers, and eventually she snapped at me. She said a lot of things that were hurtful and disrespectful. She said that she was forcing herself to be comfortable with me on the trip, that it wasn’t the type of comfort it should be with the one, she said that the distance wouldn’t have mattered if it was the right person (which contradicts her previous excuse about distance), she also said that she just didn’t love me anymore, and she didn’t want to settle for someone she has to learn to love, she wants to find a love that comes naturally to her. She also said that she might’ve just loved the idea of me because it felt different on the trip. And that if we had a base together, maybe it would’ve worked. But we never got to know each other physically, we got into a committed relationship for a year without ever seeing each other in person.
So basically, her initial reason was the distance, but after she snapped at me she said that it was because she didn’t love me and that I’m not the right person for her. Even though she believed with all her heart that I was the right person during the relationship. So maybe it was a combination of both reasons, I don’t know. Maybe the extreme distance led her to lose feelings and realize I’m not the right guy for her. Anyways, we ended it in January and we went no contact since then. Not a single text. I was extremely heartbroken for months and very hurt at the things she said to me. I couldn’t understand how she moved on so quickly and discarded me from her life. As if I never meant anything to her. We were planning our future together.
I just want to add that now 4 months after the breakup I completely understand her. I understand why she felt uncomfortable with me. We met each other for one day and then spent an entire year talking over the phone and got into a committed relationship. We never had the opportunity to get to know each other physically. In a normal relationship you would spend time together in person and THEN decide to commit. So over the course of a year we built up an idealized version of each other in our heads. When we met on the vacation, physically we were strangers. I’ll admit, I felt a bit uncomfortable too, and it felt a bit weird, but after a few days I did feel comfortable with her. I figured it was normal since we have to get used to each other. But I was willing to look past it because I loved her. And she is definitely the type of woman that needs to spend a long time with someone before feeling comfortable being intimate with them. Also, it was her first serious relationship and she’d never even had her first kiss before. She’s a very reserved and shy girl. Maybe I rushed things by trying to kiss her too soon, I should’ve went way slower and just focused on getting comfortable with each other. On top of all that, we were also in a strange environment that we’ve never been to before (Italy), with a person that is a stranger physically. Yes we talked for an entire year but physically we were strangers. We spent a year in a committed (digital) relationship, so by the time we met, there was all this expectation built up of how it was supposed to be. We were supposed to immediately behave as committed couples do. When in reality, what we probably should’ve done was get to know each other first. we should’ve probably just talked for a year without actually committing, and then decide if we want to be together after we actually meet. But since we both rushed into it, there was a lot of expectation. So overall it completely makes sense that we were uncomfortable because we never had a base to build off of.
Now it’s been about 4 months since the break up with no contact. A turn of events happened in my life and I ended up moving to my country this month, much sooner than I expected, for a work opportunity. It’s the same country where my ex lives. I wasn’t planning to move there for another 2-3 years, but it just so happened that I ended up moving back just 4 months after we broke up. As soon as I settled in, my ex reached out to me telling me that she heard I moved back to this country. We talked for a bit and we ended up meeting up so we could catch up with each other. She picked me up and we went for a drive, with no expectations to rekindle anything, just to have fun together. And we actually had an amazing time. A short drive turned into a whole day spent with her. We talked, we laughed, and I felt the same chemistry and spark that I felt when we first met. We hung out the next day, and the next day, then on the 4th day, she ended up telling me that she realized she still has feelings for me and wants to get back together. This time, it would be different because we are actually in the same country, there’s no more long distance.
I told her I needed to think about it, and now I’m here typing this. I don’t know if I should take her back or not, mainly because of the things she said to me during the break up. Yes, distance may have played a role in her losing feelings, and I give her the benefit of the doubt. But I can’t forget the things she said to me when she snapped. She told me HERSELF that she just didn’t love me, and that the distance wouldn’t have mattered with the right person. She made the decision to completely give up on me. She moved on so quickly and was completely fine without me in her life. When she broke up she had it in her mind that she wanted to find someone better. How can I forgive that? I tell myself, all of this happened because we could never be close, we never got to start the relationship the proper way. But I also tell myself, if she was the right person, would she have given up on me? I know that “the one” isn’t some magical feeling you only get with one person, and that circumstances sometimes cause relationships to not work out. But even under all these circumstances, maybe the right person would’ve stayed? Maybe the right person would’ve felt comfortable with me on the trip. I mean, a lot of you guys in this sub were nevermets, and there’s so many cases of people never meeting for years, and they still end up working out. Just because we now have a chance to be together now in close proximity, does that mean I should do it? Do I want someone that would only decide to love me if I am close to them? I don’t know if I am being reasonable by questioning these things. Maybe she is the right person but circumstances actually couldn’t let us be together until now. I can’t tell if I should say no because I should find someone that would stick with me through anything, I don’t even know if that person exists. I don’t know if anyone would be able to handle the relationship we had, so maybe it’s unfair to blame her for giving up on me.
I told her all these things and she gave me a huge apology and said she was wrong. She explained why she felt uncomfortable and why she felt like she lost feelings, and it was basically everything I explained before. But she said now she realized she was wrong and that she is comfortable with me and that she made a huge mistake. She said she confused her feelings and thought that I wasn’t the one when I actually was. I told her that she said she was settling for me. And she said she only said that because I made her mad so she snapped, I kept bothering her so she just wanted to push me away, and that she didn’t actually mean it. Now she wants to take everything back but I don’t know if I can believe her. She said she will do anything to prove to me that she’ll be loyal and that this time she will stay. She also said that she hasn’t dated anyone at all since we broke up, so there was no rebound or cheating involved. It was just because she felt like we wouldn’t work out in the long run.
But now, we’re close together, and we have an opportunity to start over and have a wonderful relationship together, the right way. And we had an amazing time together the last few days, we both have intense feelings for each other. I just don’t know if I should take her back after she gave up on me. Let’s say I did take her back, I would always be worried that she’ll do the same thing again. I would have to trust her again. I understand that the relationship was probably doomed to fail, but I never would’ve given up on her in a million years. Maybe women are wired differently. I honestly still have a lot of love for her, and I still want to be with her. But I don’t want to get hurt again. I’m thinking of just telling her let’s keep hanging out without any expectations and just see where it leads. But if I were to get back together with her I feel like I need proof that she won’t do the same thing again. But how would she prove it? Tell her to wait for me for a year? That doesn’t make sense but it’s the only thing I can think of. What do you think? Should I give it a chance or am I better off finding someone new?
TL;DR - I'm (24M) torn about getting back with my ex (22F). We had a long-distance relationship, but she broke up with me due to the distance and said some hurtful things. Now that I've moved back to our home country, we've reconnected, and she wants to try again. While the chemistry is still there, I'm unsure if I can trust her after she gave up on us once. Should I give it another shot or move on?

I AM NOT OOP. OOP IS u/ThrowRA-sad_mom123
Originally posted on relationship_advice
Content warning: mentions of stalking, domestic violence, homicide
2 updates - mediumish
Original post - June 7th, 2024
Update 2 - June 9th, 2024
Update 3 - June 9th, 2024
My (47F) pregnant daughter (22F) is going to marry an incarcerated man (29M). How can I go about this situation?
I’m concerned for my child. Yes she’s an adult but I feel like she’s making the worst decision for herself. I don’t approve AT ALL.
My daughter had good things going on for herself. She graduated high school, went to college and graduated with her associates, got accepted into dental school and all of its going down the drain because she’s chosen to invest her time and energy into her “soulmate”.
About a year ago, my daughter started writing letters to prisoners as a pen pal to keep them company. At first I was uncomfortable with the idea for many, many reasons (it never crossed my mind that she’d fallen for a criminal) but I still rented a P.O. Box for her so she wouldn’t give out her address.
My daughter was in a healthy relationship with her now ex-fiancé. They’ve been together since her senior year in high school. They just had their first child over a year ago, expecting another, and they got engaged 6 months ago. A month ago, my daughter told me that she and her fiancé were taking a break and two weeks ago she called off the engagement and left him. He’s a complete wreck. He told me it hurts that his family that he created with my daughter is now broken. He feels so blindsided as do I because I believed my daughter was truly in love but she wasn’t, she wasn’t happy.
I’ve been very supportive of my daughter during this whole situation, that is until she told me she was already in a new relationship. I was taken aback. I obviously started questioning her about it and she confessed that she had fallen for one of the prisoners she’s written to, in fact, they’ve been together for 3 months. It makes me sick to my stomach even typing this out right now because I just can’t believe it. She said they’ve been in contact for almost 8 months and since then they’ve fallen more and more in love with each other. She’s visited him multiple times, in fact she’s even taken my grandson to see this man. She’s shown me pictures of them embracing and him holding my grandchild. I’ve done some research and looked up his charges and I’m livid she even brought my grandson, even herself around someone who could do such horrible things. I’m terrified for my daughter and grandson.
I’ve tried expressing my concerns to her but she’s in a whole other world. She told me the last in person visit they had he popped the question and she said yes, that’s when I snapped. I was and am very pissed about this whole situation and she’s hurt that I’m not supportive of her decisions. She defended their relationship and her choices and we started arguing. It got so bad that now she’s not speaking to me or allowing me to see my grandbaby and it breaks my heart. I love my child but I will never approve of this relationship.
I understand that as an adult, she has the right to make her own choices, and l've always been proud of her independence. But as someone who truly loves her deeply, it's hard for me to watch her make a decision that I feel could be harmful to herself and my grandson. I'm scared for her because of what I've learned about this person's past, and I can't shake the fear of what could happen. I don't want to lose her or my grandchild to a situation that seems so risky. I don’t know what else I can do and I feel so hopeless. Please, what else can I do?
TLDR: I'm worried because my daughter, who's achieved so much, is throwing it all away for a prisoner she fell for while being a pen pal. She's left her fiancé for him, and it's hard for me to stomach or support this decision.
Relevant Comments
terayonjf
I would personally give all the information you have on the new guy to the ex and implore him to get to family court immediately and fight for full and sole custody of the kids. You can't stop your adult child from ruining her life and putting herself in danger BUT you can assist in getting your minor grandchild away from this situation and away from her poor decision making. She may hate you for doing this but the safety of the child is more important than her clouded feelings right now and maybe the courts threatening to remove her child might be the wake up call to stop the foolishness
cassowary32
Is the former fiancé fighting for custody? How does your daughter plan to support her two kids? Hopefully the ex will be able to make sure the kids are safe and get CPS involved if they are not. I have a feeling that the exhaustion from single parenting a newborn will have your daughter coming to her senses soon.
How much longer is her partner in jail for?
Her ex fiancé still doesn’t know about her new relationship. When my daughter ended their relationship, he felt completely blindsided because he didn’t see it coming, no one did. If he knew she was in another relationship, especially with a criminal, it would be a living nightmare. I mean he has the right to know because she’s bringing his children to see this man.
For privacy reasons, i will not give out any names. He’s currently serving a life sentence (I’ll let you guess) but he could get out early due to parole. He has a history of domestic abuse and breaking protective orders.
In later replies, OOP reveals that daughter's new beau is in prison for stalking, violation of protective orders, and murder. Mostly that last one.
KaleidoscopeRude4370
A LIFE SENTENCE?!?!?!??!
You need to explain to your daughter now before you take legal action to gain sole custody with the father. She needs it spelt out on paper how this person is literally dropping an atomic bomb on her life while literally being locked up.

• I would ask her questions like:
• how can you marry someone you have never seen interact or function in LEGIT REAL SOCIETY?!!?
• why is she so quick to not look into his past
• how can you marry someone you have never seen interact with another person?
• how can you bring your children around someone who is in for life? OP I know you aren't sharing but did this dude kill someone?

This is the craziest post I have ever read. Please update us and I am sorry this is happening.
Updates 1 & 2 - 2 days later
I wanted to start off with thanking everyone that took time to give me some advice. After receiving a lot of comments with suggestions on how i should handle this situation i went ahead and told the father of my grandchildren about what’s been going on. He was my soon to be son in law and I’ve grown to love him as if he was my own. I believe he has every right to know about the wellbeing of his children so I confessed everything to him. Thankfully, I have a family therapist who is a very close friend of mine. She’s been here with us since the divorce between me and my ex husband.
I called her, we spoke about the situation and she agreed to guide me to tell the kids father. I called him over to my home and we all had a very long talk. I let him know everything and he broke down, crying hysterically. It was horrible. He felt so violated not only as a partner to her but as a father to their kids. I made it very clear that I would support him no matter the circumstances, at this point it’s not only about my daughter but my grandkids. We discussed the charges against my daughters new fiancé, and he was beyond livid. He actually suggested himself taking my daughter to court and I agreed with him that it would be the best thing to do. We came to an agreement that he wouldn’t tell my daughter what he knew that way I could get more information to help him plead his case. But yesterday, shit hit the fan.
Yesterday, I received some angry texts from my daughter and it didn’t end well. I posted the texts here : https://www.reddit.com/texts/s/9dNmfkfBab
Text are transcribed below, feel free to skip to where this post resumes.
D = Daughter; M = Mom (OOP)
D: Mom
D: Why aren't you answering me ??
D: Dude Answer your phone *eyeroll* *facepalm*
D: HELLOO????
M: I'm sorry I couldn't answer the phone, I was driving and my phone wasn't connected to the Bluetooth.
M: What's wrong babe, is everything ok?
D: Wht tf do you have me so much
D: Like what the fuck is wrong with you ?? Why are you going out your way to tell my business to [redacted] for ?
M: [redacted] babe I love you but please don't speak to me like this.
M: Can you please try telling me what's going calmly.
D: The fuck do I need to be calm for all you do is stress me out. I'm 7 months pregnant and high risk and you want me stressed for what ?????
M: [redacted] honey I don't want you to be stressed and I don't want to be the reason to cause it.
D: SO why the fuck are you telling [redacted] my business?
M: What do you mean?
D: He's been blowing up my phone all night long.
D: He called me again on his break this morning and said you brought him to see Dr [redacted] and told him that I've been cheating on him throughout our relationship.
D: You told him about [redacted] and that ive been letting him around [redacted]
D: Wtf is wrong with you?
M: [redacted] honey there's nothing wrong with me. I understand why you're upset but babe this man is a very dangerous criminal.
M: He's doing life for a reason. He murdered his ex. He abused her and she went to get an order of protection against him and he violated all of it.
M: I love you and [redacted] with all my heart and I can't imagine a life without you both.
D: OH MY GOD
D: YOURE SO FUCKING NARCISSISTIC *facepalm**facepalm*
M: [redacted], I'm asking you to please be respectful. I don't deserved to be spoken to like this.
D: [in reply to M: [redacted] honey there's nothing wrong with me. I understand why you're upset but babe this man is a very dangerous criminal.] Dangerous?? You don't even fucking know him
M: Did you skip over the message right after that. He was abusing a poor girl. She didn't feel safe and went to get a protective orders against him and he violated them and ended up murdering her. [redacted] open your eyes.
M: He's guilty and serving time.
D: He's not guilty of a damn thing. You clearly don't understand how any of this shit works.
D: He wasn't found guilty he took a plea deal
D: He still got life but he can still get out on parole
D: He did this to avoid getting life without parole.
D: You don't understand anu of this shit
M: He still killed someone. Why are we not addressing this? He's a murder
D: No he's not. He's a victim that needed to defend himself.
M: Defend himself? He was a grown ass man beating on a woman.
D: So men can't be victims of abuse?
D: The bitch would start fights, hit him and play victim in the end. It was a whole cycle
M: [redacted] can we not do this over text? Please answer your phone.
D: No I don't want to we can talk thru text or don't have to talk at all *grinning smily*
M: What is your issue?
D: My issue is you.
D: You're weird as fuck going behind your daughters back
D: I'm your kid. You should have my back
M: I do have your back, but I also care for the livelihood of my grandchildren. This situation is unhealthy and unsafe for children. You as an adult can whatever you please, but when children are being put in these toxic situations, action needs to be taken.
D: oh so you agree with [redacted] that I'm an unstable, unfit mother *crying-laughing**crying-laughing**crying-laughing*
D: You're such a narcissistic bitch
D: I can see why dad divorced you before he dies.. I wouldn't want to be buried next to you either
M: I've had enough of the disrespect [redacted] I've been nothing but calm and respectful and you've disrespected me over and over.
D: We've been past respect. You told my business to my baby daddy.
D: You disrespected me so I'm returning it *laughing-crying*
M: You've changed. You have become such a nasty individual and it's upsetting that as my only daughter you treat me this way after everything I've done for you.
D: yeah I have changed
D: I had a fucking baby
D: Went through postpartum by MYSELF
D: [redacted] would see me struggling and didn't do shit. I was working to provide for my family. I ahd no emotional support. I WAS BY MYSELF
D: just me and my son. When I found out I was having baby 2 i was by myself. Yeah [redacted] had a job and took care us but he wasn't there to help me
D: I WAS BY MYSELF.
D: I found a man who yes made some mistake in his past but he's making up for it. He finished school, is allowing god to lead him in life, and he's positive
D: He respects me and pushes me to be strong. He motivates me and he provides emotional support. I don't need a mans money because I make my own but I needed love and he provided that for me
D: I don't understand why you felt the need to go out of your way to disturb our peace but I'm happy and very much in love with him and I'm not leaving him.
M: Look at how you're acting [redacted]. You're spiraling. This man is no good.
D: Omg gtfo I'm tired of the back and forth *facepalm*
D: Like I told [redacted], good luck taking me to court *finger*
D: Until then, you won't be seeing me, [redacted], or the baby for the sake of our mental health.
D: You bring nothing but drama and negativity into our lives and we'd be much better off without you. Please don't contact me or your will be blocked
POST RESUMES HERE
I called the children’s father to ask him what the hell was he thinking and he explained that he wasn’t. He’s been apologizing nonstop but the damage has already been done. I’m at a loss for words. I’m devastated. I’m heartbroken. I’ve ofícially lost my daughter and grandkids and I don’t know what else to do. I can’t imagine not being a part of their lives and it hurts me deeply. What did I do wrong to deserve this? Is there any way I could fix this ?
Relevant Comments
trishsf
Time. Guarantee this guy has other women on the hook. Why not? He’s got nothing going for him and will never see the light of day again. Maybe it’s possible to hire a PI that can find out if there are others? At some point, she’s going to miss being touched. Dates. Hugs in the morning and at night. Just be there when she crashes because she will. That’s all that you can do. I’m so sorry.
TrifleMeNot
Keep supporting the father. He will get them eventually and you can still be Grandma. Your daughter was lost before you even posted. She may come back but keep in with the Dad. Good luck OP.
He feels really guilty for my daughters reaction but I believe it was only a matter of time before she was going to crash out. At this moment in time, I’m worried for my grandson. It makes me question if my daughter can get so angry with me with something like this, how angry can she get at my grandbaby 💔
SnooWords4839
Your grandchild's dad can still get custody.
Daughter is making horrible choices.
After rereading her messages, I think it’s possible my daughter was suffering from postpartum depression and by getting pregnant again so soon her body didn’t get enough time to heal. Her hormones are all over the place and her mental is declining.
She wasn’t like this a year ago, she was a happy, respectful, caring soul but all of that’s changed. and I feel horrible. I wish I could’ve seen her behavior myself. I could’ve gotten her the help she needed right then and there 😞
Marked ongoing.
If you have comments, keep them HERE. DO NOT brigade over to the original post to comment. DO NOT harass the OOP with dms or replies.
Stay safe and remember: at least 37% of your after 5 pm beverage sales must consist of mixed/blended call drinks.

Hello! My partner's birthday is approaching, and I want to decorate our space for him as a surprise. The bedroom itself definitely has the potential to exude even more of a fairy-like ambiance, and I'm on the lookout for any suggestions or ideas for DIYs, arts and crafts projects, or anything else I could add into the space. I'm aiming to create a fairy/forest/nature theme and feel like I'm about halfway there, given that the bedroom is already quite cozy and features wooden accents. Any comments or input regarding this project are greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading :)

TL;DR at the bottom
Met at a party 2 months ago, spoke for 7 hours, fell asleep together, when we made out he *trembled* severely(he was the one who very nervously initiated the first kiss, with a shaky voice). He said he was very intimidated by me (I've been recruited by modeling scouts, and go to an Ivy league school w/ a STEM major, about to go to med school), he got my number the next day and we were texting non stop.
He told me multiple times that he’s very insecure, has a big fragile ego, didn’t get girls until he was 17, has body dysmorphia and feels fat, that he was "fugly" until last year only got hot a year ago (he is very attractive now and in great shape), bad fear of rejection (told me he never would have made the first move with me), got dumped by his first girlfriend last year and was heartbroken, had a rebound last summer, walked around without a shirt on last summer just so he could get stared at (clearly has a lot of issues). He said he was depressed most of last summer bc he thought he no longer had a positive impact on people's lives and said it's important to him to feel like he brightens the day of everyone who crosses his path.
A few days after we met, he reached out to me from the hospital after being in a bad accident and being severely injured (went on his mom's phone to DM his friend to have him DM my friend so she can text me and let me know he was hospitalized and not ghosting me) (just to give you an idea of how much he was into me) just so I didn't think I was being ghosted. He was asking the nurses for me bc he thought I worked in the hospital. A mutual friend was there and he said this guy just kept repeating "I have a date with a 24 y/o med student". He was concussed and had a fractured spine.
Five days after we met he said "tell me what I need to do to make you happy, it's the entire job description" (implying he'd be my boyfriend). When I asked why he was trembling the second time we made out he said "I'm nervous and I don't know what you like".
The next day he came to a pregame at his friends' place for a party that he wasn't invited to (but he had my name put on the list) just so he could walk me to the party. Initially, he was shy and avoiding eye contact, and was talking to my friend instead of me (she told me later that he was looking at me when I wasn't looking). He introduced me to a bunch of his friends. I had to be the one who initiated hand holding and kisses, and he eventually warmed up a lot more and got comfortable. On the walk to the party he was bragging to his friend about me going to an Ivy and going to med school and sounded SO genuinely excited about it, like he was pumping his fist, almost giggling about it, and there as a skip in his step (like he seemed in awe of this).
Next day, after the sex after the first date, he said "you're so fucking hot and I just want to do a good job". Next day he texted me and said the date was "AMAZING" and "I hope you had anywhere as much fun as I did"
He said "I'm supposed to be good at this" when he couldn't get me off during the second time we had sex (after the second date), but I did a bad job as well (had an anxiety attack) and did not match his rhythm when I was on top (I was counter thrusting, we had to pause and restart a few times, but he still got off within a couple minutes, I didn't) I was quiet too (mentally checked out from the anxiety attack) and he nervously said "why are you being so quiet"?, I moved my hands awkwardly, and he asked "what are you doing?" twice lol
However, before the sex and on the way home from the second date, He was holding my hand, playing his favorite music for me on the ride back to his place, laughing and calling me so cute when I was hiccuping right before the sex. We had that awkward sex (he slipped out twice, couldn’t find the cl**, he got off, I didn't, he said "I had fun" right after, I said nothing (or might've said "uhuh"), he got very quiet (he hates silence and normally never shuts up, complete yapper), avoided eye contact with me next morning, looked taken aback/uncomfortable when I kissed him goodbye. Was not nearly as affectionate overnight as he was after the first time we had sex. All he said the next morning was "do you have your earrings".
I will say on the second date (this was in the midst of finals), he did seem more intent on sex and focused on making out with me/having sex with me and was different from the first date (trying to get to know me more). He made a lot of effort to keep in touch with me and was highly engaged and enthusiastic in text between date 1 and 2 during a very stressful time for him finals (texted me from therapy). Over text over the past weeks he was making a lot of effort to get to know me and to keep the convo going.
Next day he texted me thanking me for the night before and said he had a lot of fun, but from then on, his texts were not at all as engaging as they used to be. He used to put a lot of effort into keeping the convo going, but he stopped doing that, was just replying to my texts. He did tell me on the second date that when he loses interest in someone he will respond politely but not ghost and not initiate any texts, which is what he started doing after that night, but he was oscillating between being engaged and withdrawn over text too.
He texted "Hopefully I'll see you some other time" after I cancelled our previously scheduled third date/party invite (for a legit reason and he knew that too) and I just hearted it but did not respond to it and asked when I could drop off his sunglasses. From then on, mixed signals and delayed responses from both sides. I did text him a week later explaining I had an anxiety attack that night and to apologize for being checked out that night, but he already pulled away by then and his tone turned from playful and silly to more distant and formal. A week after that I asked him to ice cream and he said he really wanted to, but again sounded dismissive and avoidant and just said "i'll let you know" and didn't pick a date.
He was replying to my texts promptly until I asked to have a talk, and he left me on delivered 14 days ago. 7 days ago I sent him a very vulnerable and open message saying I felt self-conscious about what happened that night and if we could address the shift in our dynamic since that night (at my therapist's recommendation) and he left me on read.
I really don’t know what happened here. This guy was SO into me, and only switched immediately and withdrew after the sex on the second date. I’ve never experienced this before and I do feel surprised because of how quickly he pulled away but mostly confused by what happened. Did he lose interest in me because of the sex or was it about his own insecurities? I keep getting conflicting advice. I'm okay with brutal honesty.
TL;DR:

• Met at a party 2 months ago, spoke for 7 hours, fell asleep together, when we made out he *trembled* severely.
• He said he was very intimidated by me. I've been recruited by modeling scouts, and go to an Ivy league school w/ a STEM major, about to go to med school
• He told me multiple times that he’s very insecure, has a big fragile ego, didn’t get girls until he was 17, has body dysmorphia and feels fat, that he was "fugly" until last year only got hot a year ago (he is very attractive now and in great shape), bad fear of rejection, got dumped by his first girlfriend last year and was heartbroken, had a rebound last summer, walked around without a shirt on last summer just so he could get stared at (clearly has a lot of issues). He said he was depressed most of last summer bc he thought he no longer had a positive impact on people's lives and said it's important to him to feel like he brightens the day of everyone who crosses his path.
• Went on his mom's phone to DM his friend to have him DM my friend, so she could text me and let me know he was hospitalized and not just ghosting me (he got hit by a car 5 days after we met). He was concussed and repeating "I have a date w/ a 24 y/o med student" (my friend was there and saw this).
• Made several comments about wanting to please me. a week after we met, he texted "tell me what I need to do to please you, it's the entire job description." (implying he'd be my boyfriend), the second time we made out (1.5 weeks after we met) he trembled badly again and when I asked why he said "I'm nervous and I don't know what you like"
• Was bragging to his friend when we were walking together about how I went to an ivy and am going to med school, sounded so excited and was almost giggly and was pumping his fist when he said it? (When friend asked me where I went to school). Like he sounded almost in awe.
• After the first time we had sex (he got off, I didn't) he said "You're so fucking hot and I just want to do a good job". Was just as enthusiastic and engaged over text between date one and date 2.
• Sex after date 2 went poorly. He slipped out twice (looked embarrassed when I told him), missed the cl**, said "I'm supposed to be good at this" when he couldn't get me off. I was quiet (he said "why are you being so quiet"?), I moved my hands awkwardly and he said "what are you doing?". Then I got on top and did a bad job too (had an anxiety attack from getting high for the first time). I counter-thrusted, couldn't match his rhythm, we had to pause and restart, but he still got off within minutes, I didn't. He said "I had fun" (which he also said after the first time), I said nothing (or maybe "uhuh"). He got completely quiet (and hes never quiet, he hates silence). Next morning he looked awkward, uncomfortable, avoided eye contact, looked taken aback and like he really unprepared for me to kiss him goodbye and he wouldn't even look at me when I got close to him and before/after I kissed him goodbye?
• Texts completely changed after that. He started to withdraw. No longer making an effort to keep the convo going but was polite and friendly. We kept texting for about three weeks, and he ghosted after I asked if we could address the shift in our dynamic that night (this was 1 week ago).

TL;DR at the bottom
Met at a party 2 months ago, spoke for 7 hours, fell asleep together, when we made out he *trembled* severely(he was the one who very nervously initiated the first kiss, with a shaky voice). He said he was very intimidated by me (I've been recruited by modeling scouts, and go to an Ivy league school w/ a STEM major, about to go to med school), he got my number the next day and we were texting non stop.
He told me multiple times that he’s very insecure, has a big fragile ego, didn’t get girls until he was 17, has body dysmorphia and feels fat, that he was "fugly" until last year only got hot a year ago (he is very attractive now and in great shape), bad fear of rejection (told me he never would have made the first move with me), got dumped by his first girlfriend last year and was heartbroken, had a rebound last summer, walked around without a shirt on last summer just so he could get stared at (clearly has a lot of issues). He said he was depressed most of last summer bc he thought he no longer had a positive impact on people's lives and said it's important to him to feel like he brightens the day of everyone who crosses his path.
A few days after we met, he reached out to me from the hospital after being in a bad accident and being severely injured (went on his mom's phone to DM his friend to have him DM my friend so she can text me and let me know he was hospitalized and not ghosting me) (just to give you an idea of how much he was into me) just so I didn't think I was being ghosted. He was asking the nurses for me bc he thought I worked in the hospital. A mutual friend was there and he said this guy just kept repeating "I have a date with a 24 y/o med student". He was concussed and had a fractured spine.
Five days after we met he said "tell me what I need to do to make you happy, it's the entire job description" (implying he'd be my boyfriend). When I asked why he was trembling the second time we made out he said "I'm nervous and I don't know what you like".
The next day he came to a pregame at his friends' place for a party that he wasn't invited to (but he had my name put on the list) just so he could walk me to the party. Initially, he was shy and avoiding eye contact, and was talking to my friend instead of me (she told me later that he was looking at me when I wasn't looking). He introduced me to a bunch of his friends. I had to be the one who initiated hand holding and kisses, and he eventually warmed up a lot more and got comfortable. On the walk to the party he was bragging to his friend about me going to an Ivy and going to med school and sounded SO genuinely excited about it, like he was pumping his fist, almost giggling about it, and there as a skip in his step (like he seemed in awe of this).
Next day, after the sex after the first date, he said "you're so fucking hot and I just want to do a good job". Next day he texted me and said the date was "AMAZING" and "I hope you had anywhere as much fun as I did"
He said "I'm supposed to be good at this" when he couldn't get me off during the second time we had sex (after the second date), but I did a bad job as well (had an anxiety attack) and did not match his rhythm when I was on top (I was counter thrusting, we had to pause and restart a few times, but he still got off within a couple minutes, I didn't) I was quiet too (mentally checked out from the anxiety attack) and he nervously said "why are you being so quiet"?, I moved my hands awkwardly, and he asked "what are you doing?" twice lol
However, before the sex and on the way home from the second date, He was holding my hand, playing his favorite music for me on the ride back to his place, laughing and calling me so cute when I was hiccuping right before the sex. We had that awkward sex (he slipped out twice, couldn’t find the cl**, he got off, I didn't, he said "I had fun" right after, I said nothing (or might've said "uhuh"), he got very quiet (he hates silence and normally never shuts up, complete yapper), avoided eye contact with me next morning, looked taken aback/uncomfortable when I kissed him goodbye. Was not nearly as affectionate overnight as he was after the first time we had sex. All he said the next morning was "do you have your earrings".
I will say on the second date (this was in the midst of finals), he did seem more intent on sex and focused on making out with me/having sex with me and was different from the first date (trying to get to know me more). He made a lot of effort to keep in touch with me and was highly engaged and enthusiastic in text between date 1 and 2 during a very stressful time for him finals (texted me from therapy). Over text over the past weeks he was making a lot of effort to get to know me and to keep the convo going.
Next day he texted me thanking me for the night before and said he had a lot of fun, but from then on, his texts were not at all as engaging as they used to be. He used to put a lot of effort into keeping the convo going, but he stopped doing that, was just replying to my texts. He did tell me on the second date that when he loses interest in someone he will respond politely but not ghost and not initiate any texts, which is what he started doing after that night, but he was oscillating between being engaged and withdrawn over text too.
He texted "Hopefully I'll see you some other time" after I cancelled our previously scheduled third date/party invite (for a legit reason and he knew that too) and I just hearted it but did not respond to it and asked when I could drop off his sunglasses. From then on, mixed signals and delayed responses from both sides. I did text him a week later explaining I had an anxiety attack that night and to apologize for being checked out that night, but he already pulled away by then and his tone turned from playful and silly to more distant and formal. A week after that I asked him to ice cream and he said he really wanted to, but again sounded dismissive and avoidant and just said "i'll let you know" and didn't pick a date.
He was replying to my texts promptly until I asked to have a talk, and he left me on delivered 14 days ago. 7 days ago I sent him a very vulnerable and open message saying I felt self-conscious about what happened that night and if we could address the shift in our dynamic since that night (at my therapist's recommendation) and he left me on read.
I really don’t know what happened here. This guy was SO into me, and only switched immediately and withdrew after the sex on the second date. I’ve never experienced this before and I do feel like surprised because of how quickly he pulled away but mostly confused by what happened. Did he lose interest in me because of the sex or was it about his own insecurities? I keep getting conflicting advice. I'm okay with brutal honesty.
TL;DR:

• Met at a party 2 months ago, spoke for 7 hours, fell asleep together, when we made out he *trembled* severely.
• He said he was very intimidated by me. I've been recruited by modeling scouts, and go to an Ivy league school w/ a STEM major, about to go to med school
• He told me multiple times that he’s very insecure, has a big fragile ego, didn’t get girls until he was 17, has body dysmorphia and feels fat, that he was "fugly" until last year only got hot a year ago (he is very attractive now and in great shape), bad fear of rejection, got dumped by his first girlfriend last year and was heartbroken, had a rebound last summer, walked around without a shirt on last summer just so he could get stared at (clearly has a lot of issues). He said he was depressed most of last summer bc he thought he no longer had a positive impact on people's lives and said it's important to him to feel like he brightens the day of everyone who crosses his path.
• Went on his mom's phone to DM his friend to have him DM my friend, so she could text me and let me know he was hospitalized and not just ghosting me (he got hit by a car 5 days after we met). He was concussed and repeating "I have a date w/ a 24 y/o med student" (my friend was there and saw this).
• Made several comments about wanting to please me. a week after we met, he texted "tell me what I need to do to please you, it's the entire job description." (implying he'd be my boyfriend), the second time we made out (1.5 weeks after we met) he trembled badly again and when I asked why he said "I'm nervous and I don't know what you like"
• Was bragging to his friend when we were walking together about how I went to an ivy and am going to med school, sounded so excited and was almost giggly and was pumping his fist when he said it? (When friend asked me where I went to school). Like he sounded almost in awe.
• After the first time we had sex (he got off, I didn't) he said "You're so fucking hot and I just want to do a good job". Was just as enthusiastic and engaged over text between date one and date 2.
• Sex after date 2 went poorly. He slipped out twice (looked embarrassed when I told him), missed the cl**, said "I'm supposed to be good at this" when he couldn't get me off. I was quiet (he said "why are you being so quiet"?), I moved my hands awkwardly and he said "what are you doing?". Then I got on top and did a bad job too (had an anxiety attack from getting high for the first time). I counter-thrusted, couldn't match his rhythm, we had to pause and restart, but he still got off within minutes, I didn't. He said "I had fun" (which he also said after the first time), I said nothing (or maybe "uhuh"). He got completely quiet (and hes never quiet, he hates silence). Next morning he looked awkward, uncomfortable, avoided eye contact, looked taken aback and like he really unprepared for me to kiss him goodbye and he wouldn't even look at me when I got close to him and before/after I kissed him goodbye?
• Texts completely changed after that. He started to withdraw. No longer making an effort to keep the convo going but was polite and friendly. We kept texting for about three weeks, and he ghosted after I asked if we could address the shift in our dynamic that night (this was 1 week ago).

TL;DR at the bottom
Met at a party 2 months ago, spoke for 7 hours, fell asleep together, when we made out he *trembled* severely(he was the one who very nervously initiated the first kiss, with a shaky voice). He said he was very intimidated by me (I've been recruited by modeling scouts, and go to an Ivy league school w/ a STEM major, about to go to med school), he got my number the next day and we were texting non stop.
He told me multiple times that he’s very insecure, has a big fragile ego, didn’t get girls until he was 17, has body dysmorphia and feels fat, that he was "fugly" until last year only got hot a year ago (he is very attractive now and in great shape), bad fear of rejection (told me he never would have made the first move with me), got dumped by his first girlfriend last year and was heartbroken, had a rebound last summer, walked around without a shirt on last summer just so he could get stared at (clearly has a lot of issues). He said he was depressed most of last summer bc he thought he no longer had a positive impact on people's lives and said it's important to him to feel like he brightens the day of everyone who crosses his path.
A few days after we met, he reached out to me from the hospital after being in a bad accident and being severely injured (went on his mom's phone to DM his friend to have him DM my friend so she can text me and let me know he was hospitalized and not ghosting me) (just to give you an idea of how much he was into me) just so I didn't think I was being ghosted. He was asking the nurses for me bc he thought I worked in the hospital. A mutual friend was there and he said this guy just kept repeating "I have a date with a 24 y/o med student". He was concussed and had a fractured spine.
Five days after we met he said "tell me what I need to do to make you happy, it's the entire job description" (implying he'd be my boyfriend). When I asked why he was trembling the second time we made out he said "I'm nervous and I don't know what you like".
The next day he came to a pregame at his friends' place for a party that he wasn't invited to (but he had my name put on the list) just so he could walk me to the party. Initially, he was shy and avoiding eye contact, and was talking to my friend instead of me (she told me later that he was looking at me when I wasn't looking). He introduced me to a bunch of his friends. I had to be the one who initiated hand holding and kisses, and he eventually warmed up a lot more and got comfortable. On the walk to the party he was bragging to his friend about me going to an Ivy and going to med school and sounded SO genuinely excited about it, like he was pumping his fist, almost giggling about it, and there as a skip in his step (like he seemed in awe of this).
Next day, after the sex after the first date, he said "you're so fucking hot and I just want to do a good job". Next day he texted me and said the date was "AMAZING" and "I hope you had anywhere as much fun as I did"
He said "I'm supposed to be good at this" when he couldn't get me off during the second time we had sex (after the second date), but I did a bad job as well (had an anxiety attack) and did not match his rhythm when I was on top (I was counter thrusting, we had to pause and restart a few times, but he still got off within a couple minutes, I didn't) I was quiet too (mentally checked out from the anxiety attack) and he nervously said "why are you being so quiet"?, I moved my hands awkwardly, and he asked "what are you doing?" twice lol
However, before the sex and on the way home from the second date, He was holding my hand, playing his favorite music for me on the ride back to his place, laughing and calling me so cute when I was hiccuping right before the sex. We had that awkward sex (he slipped out twice, couldn’t find the cl**, he got off, I didn't, he said "I had fun" right after, I said nothing (or might've said "uhuh"), he got very quiet (he hates silence and normally never shuts up, complete yapper), avoided eye contact with me next morning, looked taken aback/uncomfortable when I kissed him goodbye. Was not nearly as affectionate overnight as he was after the first time we had sex. All he said the next morning was "do you have your earrings".
I will say on the second date (this was in the midst of finals), he did seem more intent on sex and focused on making out with me/having sex with me and was different from the first date (trying to get to know me more). He made a lot of effort to keep in touch with me and was highly engaged and enthusiastic in text between date 1 and 2 during a very stressful time for him finals (texted me from therapy). Over text over the past weeks he was making a lot of effort to get to know me and to keep the convo going.
Next day he texted me thanking me for the night before and said he had a lot of fun, but from then on, his texts were not at all as engaging as they used to be. He used to put a lot of effort into keeping the convo going, but he stopped doing that, was just replying to my texts. He did tell me on the second date that when he loses interest in someone he will respond politely but not ghost and not initiate any texts, which is what he started doing after that night, but he was oscillating between being engaged and withdrawn over text too.
He texted "Hopefully I'll see you some other time" after I cancelled our previously scheduled third date/party invite (for a legit reason and he knew that too) and I just hearted it but did not respond to it and asked when I could drop off his sunglasses. From then on, mixed signals and delayed responses from both sides. I did text him a week later explaining I had an anxiety attack that night and to apologize for being checked out that night, but he already pulled away by then and his tone turned from playful and silly to more distant and formal. A week after that I asked him to ice cream and he said he really wanted to, but again sounded dismissive and avoidant and just said "i'll let you know" and didn't pick a date.
He was replying to my texts promptly until I asked to have a talk, and he left me on delivered 14 days ago. 7 days ago I sent him a very vulnerable and open message saying I felt self-conscious about what happened that night and if we could address the shift in our dynamic since that night (at my therapist's recommendation) and he left me on read.
I really don’t know what happened here. This guy was SO into me, and only switched immediately and withdrew after the sex on the second date. I’ve never experienced this before and I do feel like surprised because of how quickly he pulled away but mostly confused by what happened. Did he lose interest in me because of the sex or was it about his own insecurities? I keep getting conflicting advice. I'm okay with brutal honesty.
TL;DR:

• Met at a party 2 months ago, spoke for 7 hours, fell asleep together, when we made out he *trembled* severely.
• He said he was very intimidated by me. I've been recruited by modeling scouts, and go to an Ivy league school w/ a STEM major, about to go to med school
• He told me multiple times that he’s very insecure, has a big fragile ego, didn’t get girls until he was 17, has body dysmorphia and feels fat, that he was "fugly" until last year only got hot a year ago (he is very attractive now and in great shape), bad fear of rejection, got dumped by his first girlfriend last year and was heartbroken, had a rebound last summer, walked around without a shirt on last summer just so he could get stared at (clearly has a lot of issues). He said he was depressed most of last summer bc he thought he no longer had a positive impact on people's lives and said it's important to him to feel like he brightens the day of everyone who crosses his path.
• Went on his mom's phone to DM his friend to have him DM my friend, so she could text me and let me know he was hospitalized and not just ghosting me (he got hit by a car 5 days after we met). He was concussed and repeating "I have a date w/ a 24 y/o med student" (my friend was there and saw this).
• Made several comments about wanting to please me. a week after we met, he texted "tell me what I need to do to please you, it's the entire job description." (implying he'd be my boyfriend), the second time we made out (1.5 weeks after we met) he trembled badly again and when I asked why he said "I'm nervous and I don't know what you like"
• Was bragging to his friend when we were walking together about how I went to an ivy and am going to med school, sounded so excited and was almost giggly and was pumping his fist when he said it? (When friend asked me where I went to school). Like he sounded almost in awe.
• After the first time we had sex (he got off, I didn't) he said "You're so fucking hot and I just want to do a good job". Was just as enthusiastic and engaged over text between date one and date 2.
• Sex after date 2 went poorly. He slipped out twice (looked embarrassed when I told him), missed the cl**, said "I'm supposed to be good at this" when he couldn't get me off. I was quiet (he said "why are you being so quiet"?), I moved my hands awkwardly and he said "what are you doing?". Then I got on top and did a bad job too (had an anxiety attack from getting high for the first time). I counter-thrusted, couldn't match his rhythm, we had to pause and restart, but he still got off within minutes, I didn't. He said "I had fun" (which he also said after the first time), I said nothing (or maybe "uhuh"). He got completely quiet (and hes never quiet, he hates silence). Next morning he looked awkward, uncomfortable, avoided eye contact, looked taken aback and like he really unprepared for me to kiss him goodbye and he wouldn't even look at me when I got close to him and before/after I kissed him goodbye?
• Texts completely changed after that. He started to withdraw. No longer making an effort to keep the convo going but was polite and friendly. We kept texting for about three weeks, and he ghosted after I asked if we could address the shift in our dynamic that night (this was 1 week ago).

Hello fellow armchair generals,
I'm looking for advice for my most recent Basque in Glory attempt.
So far this is my only viable run after a bunch of restarts, i managed the Burgundian inheritance. And was lucky to already be at war with Austria at the time. So they haven't (yet?) declared when I kept the lowlands (I was able to ally them right after the war). Now, if I remember right they don't have to be loyal for the horse event to fire, so am I good on that front?
Now I just finished the restoration of union war with Aragon, Savoy and Austria by the skin of my teeth (big thanks to the 4 siege-pip mercenary general and the noble sacrifice of my allies) they seperate peaced Naples for some provinces as well, that may or may not be good for me. Since my subject is now even bigger but even further from loyal.
I am expecting trouble from France and Castille, they do not like me at all right now and can both coalition me. I did get Labourd from England, but France wrecked my shit and took it plus a bunch of Burgundian provinces.
I'm not doing great on tech but not terrible, I chose diplo ideas but I can still change it if there are better options. War reps can pay for my debt and they are currently holding me afloat financially
Now I am just done for today, this was very stressful. So any tips or strategies? Should i attack France and Castille preemptively? Castille is fighting the reqonquista right now
tl;dr Doing a Navarra run and I'm looking for advice in next steps

I have a weird uncomfortable relationship with both my dad and my stepmom, and I'm not sure what to do about it for Father's day.
My parents were divorced when I was very young; my dad met my stepmom, Sarah, when I was around 14-15 (can't remember exactly when). At this time I had pretty bad social anxiety, so I never grew that much of a relationship with Sarah or her daughter, who is a few years younger than me. I met Sarah one time briefly before she moved in with me and my dad. Sometimes she'd suggest doing something like horseback riding together (I was pretty into horses as a kid), but we never did anything. I also didn't meet Sarah's daughter until after she had moved in with us, when we were both home alone. I wasn't close to my dad beforehand, so having Sarah around made me even more shy, and I stayed in my room 95% of the time when I was at their house. I feel pretty guilty about this lack of effort to get to know Sarah and her daughter. Sarah did make attempts to show me she cared, by getting gifts and whatnot, but we never spent much time together. As a teenager I was pretty thoughtless and selfish, so I often didn't make much effort to reciprocate. This is something I've felt guilty about for awhile, and I've coped by mostly keeping my distance from them, which does make me feel even more ashamed. It's just a stupid cycle of guilt and avoidance that I haven't figured out how to deal with yet.
Since moving out around 19, my social anxiety has improved a lot. However I barely speak to my dad, and he occasionally reaches out on holidays. Sarah however will text me every few months. In these texts, she asks me how I'm doing, asking me why I don't visit them or make plans to see them. She does very occasionally ask me if I want to join plans they have; sometimes I join them (although I haven't seen them for the past year or two). I do feel guilty and ashamed about not seeing them, but I always feel weird and uncomfortable when I do go. Sometimes Sarah will make passive aggressive comments when I do visit. For instance, one time we went out to dinner and she was upset I ordered a bowl of soup and wasn't that hungry, and basically shamed me for eating too much prior. I think she also compared it to her daughter's eating habits whose are better. I also got a CD of Celine Dion one time for my dad's birthday since it was kind of an inside joke between my dad and I (kind of? again we were never that close, but I thought it might be funny. Again I was a dumb teenager) and she made a comment about how he doesn't even listen to Celine Dion or use CD's. These are just a few little examples. I don't dislike her; I actually think she's very kind most of the time, but I just end up feeling horrible every time I visit them, and I've ended up avoiding them and those feelings altogether. I just feel like a terrible daughtestepdaughter. I was pretty lazy and shy as a teenager, and I think that's probably why Sarah dislikes me, or seems to. I just get the sense that she doesn't like me, and is trying to involve me out of obligation. But I also know I've given her reason to dislike me, so I can't fault her.
Now, I am graduating with a Bachelor's degree. I was given 2 guest tickets to my convocation, of which I was planning to give to my mom and my dad. I'm his only child (aside from Sarah's daughter, as a comment mentioned below) and I would feel guilty if I robbed him from this experience. I haven't seen my dad, Sarah, or her daughter for 1 or 2 years now. I am worried it will be a little awkward, but I think it will be good for both of us.
Anyway, Sarah recently texted me about the convocation and Father's day. I told her about how I could only invite my mom and my dad, but she suggested we do something for Father's day and said she would plan a dinner and movie. I told her I would figure it out and plan something, and she said in response to please involve her and her daughter. But now I'm wondering if it would be horrible if I just did something with my dad. Again we are not close at all, but I am interested in seeing him more often than I see him now, and I feel like I'd be more at ease without them there. Not that I never want to see Sarah or her daughter again, but it might be nice to do something with just the two of us given I rarely talk to any of them. My kneejerk reaction is to avoid it altogether, along with the awkwardness and having to face me being a failure in this entire situation, but I know that won't help me or them in the long run.
I'm just not sure how to deal with the situation or how to go about making it better for everyone. Is my idea of doing something with my dad alone a good start? I know I'd have to apologize to Sarah and explain it somehow. Not sure how to go about this.
Edit: Also to clarify I don't mean to tell my dad who to spend Father's Day with. If I were to ask him to do something just him and I would ask to do something another day. I totally understand how I wrote it made it seem like I didn't want Sarah and her daughter involved but that's not what I meant.
TL;DR:
I have a complicated relationship with my dad and stepmom, Sarah, due to my parents' divorce and my social anxiety during my teenage years, which hindered building any connection with Sarah and her daughter. Despite Sarah's efforts to bond, I often stayed distant, leading to guilt and avoidance. After moving out at 19, my social anxiety improved, but I still rarely speak to my dad and feel uncomfortable during visits due to Sarah's passive-aggressive comments, though I recognize her kindness and thoughtfulness. With my upcoming graduation, I plan to invite my mom and dad, and Sarah suggested a Father's Day celebration involving the family. I feel spending time alone with my dad might help improve our relationship but am unsure how to handle the situation, and am seeking advice on whether or not this is a good approach.

Both titles are currently published exclusively on my AO3 account, but obviously I'm also known to post stuff here and on DeviantArt as well. I tried having Dreamwidth and a Tumblr page for this stuff, but they're just not as easy to share things the way these other pages currently are.
Lethericon Books Presents: * Comix — An AU based on characters from the Solemn Graces universe. Here, Grace is in high school, Gallo lives in a house a few blocks away with his sister Sable, and they meet one day while Gallo is working on an art project of his called Sorrow Comix, inspired by my own previous work on Sorrows Of Blackwood as a franchise. I was working on this earlier this year while working through some personal issues, and it's a coming of age story that I might continue; but it's also slice of life, and I'm not sure where to go with it. I'm also not going through that stuff anymore, so I'm not sure if I'd like to channel that energy again, since I've moved on to more adventurous stuff in the Pick-n-Mix stable now. * The Green Room — This was intended as a prequel to Solemn Graces: A Gothic Retelling and was inspired by storylines I had been intending to use for what was supposed to be the central Sorrows Of Blackwood novel, which is permanently on hold due to missing time and notes I've lost access to, as well as a majority of the narrative work I did being on a hard drive I currently can't access. So it goes. Anyway, it's about Hugo Lockhart, host of a talk show called The Spirit Whisperer in Idyllville, being called home by his automaton father Rhett when his mother Alma dies, leaving the two of them to explore their new dynamic. While here, Hugo also meets the witch Grace Morgan, in town for the mystery surrounding Tristan Grimshaw, which was intended to give the novel its name. Like Comix, this one was also born from my personal life at the time — processing new changes in my life after my own death in the family, and using these familiar characters as a way to do it — so it's not very canonically relevant or interesting, and I'd have to be still processing that stuff to continue it. But maybe someday. Probably not, though. * Solemn Graces: A Gothic Retelling — The first attempt to make a new adaptation of Solemn Graces as a story. It's about Grace coming to Grimstead for the first time, but also features a much heavier focus on Gallo's role as the Ghostly Gravedigger amongst the populace in town, as well as some non-canonical youth characters for some extra storyline spice. It was intended to be ongoing, but — like with all of these — it was a little too unfocused and I had trouble working on it with no central structure or format to pin storylines too, like I have now with the Pick-n-Mix stable, so I found it hard to stay motivated in continuing it. Also, I kept coming up with spinoffs I'd rather be writing, and never felt like working on those either. So it goes. * Supergirls In The Spotlight — A reprint of the 2012 character blog, written by and starring Sarah Gardner as Solar Girl (although I'm not sure her name is given in any of the entries there, obviously). I'm still working on collecting these under this posting — my original attempt was somewhere around October of last year, 2023, which turned out a nicely-formatted draft that I had actually managed to include the extra Twitter account messages and the posts from Dr Synergy's companion blog, Dr Synergy's Laboratory Of Sin, which ran alongside Supergirls In The Spotlight during that time in 2012 (and his Twitter posts too, of course) — but it was a draft, and I forgot to incorporate it as an updated post or change the dates on it or reupload it or anything, so AO3 ended up deleting it. I haven't had the time since that span to bother with re-archiving it the same way, so the current status is a bit hiatusy, but it's important if the Wordpress page ever gets taken down, so here we are. This storyline leads into The New Adventures Of Solar Girl, although it wasn't intended at the time, so it's important for preservation's sake. * The New Adventures Of Solar Girl — Somewhere between a sequel, a continuation, a reboot, and a reimagining. I started this up in 2024, earlier this year, hoping to use it as a way to incorporate Solar Girl lore into a workable modern canon, but the idea of canon is stupid and behind-the-scenes updates to worldbuilding led me to decide that I can just decide what is or isn't canon, so it's kind of on hiatus now in favor of Solar Girl stuff that's been and is being properly incorporated into the Pick-n-Mix universe. In any case, it was set in 2024, starting with that popular eclipse in April, and was at first a way for Solar Girl to keep blogging (with the first two entries being posted much earlier, in February, before personal stuff shifted my focus and I lost interest again) before I changed the perspective to third-person and had the cosmic being Meanwhile reboot the universe. But again, I lost interest in that version of the canon and hated that the 2012, Earth-based storylines were connected to the Other Realms this way (since Earth doesn't exist in the Other Realms, it just felt like a weird, out-of-place connection to include), so I had to decanonize it along with the original blog.
Pick-n-Mix Comix Presents: * Couriers Of The Cove — Set in the Other Realm of Dorriya, Couriers Of The Cove is a cyberpunk-fantasy story about the world of Elzan-Covarin, an island citystate on the planet Dorriya, where the dictator Eskyra Lobuck had risen to power, the majority of the city use crystalline lucidite implants to extend their life and alter their bodies, and the youths of the city are destitute and split into gangs of courier clubs to deliver new things to people's homes in an era where no one ever goes outside anymore. Although the first issue is set in the future and establishes a frame story surrounding the time-traveller Atrellian Kinnard, the bulk of the story is about Elzan-Covarin and the details and events of Eskyra's dictatorship, and how things play out from there. * Dr Connector — A solo-based ongoing title about the science hero Dr Connector, who works with the Builders in Inglenook and likes to do weird experiments with dimensional physics. The first arc, "Dr Connector Meets The Freedom Beyond", is in progress, and each chapter is its own issue of the ongoing title as a whole. * Help! The Monsters Are Trapped Here Too. * Idyllville Mysteries + Idyllville Mystery Theater * Solemn Graces — An adaption of the 2018 novella series, which officially lasted one and 90% of a second installments but has lingering outlines for many, many more episodes. This version sees Grace enter the town of Grimstead for the first time, which is here called Grimshaw for plot reasons, with each chapter of the AO3 posting being its own issue (split up into multiple sub-chapters, for ease of reading). * Tales From The Lorebook * The Teambook — A work of pure metafictional intention, The Teambook is a listing of all the teams, factions, organizations, groups, and more to be found in Inglenook and the Other Realms (as per the Pick-n-Mix canon, anyway), organized in-universe by the Loremaster and his assistant Codex, who occasionally comment in various files and dossiers they include during each chapter. Each chapter is a different team, and it's a constant work in progress, but it's intended as a reference guide for canonical details and story bible-esque presentations about some of the characters and factions who can be expected to show up throughout the Pick-n-Mix stable, generally speaking. * Thistlemas Through The Ages — Intended as the first of a potential series of holiday-themed anthologies, Thistlemas Through The Ages is a series that explores the Inglish holiday of Thistlemas from different perspectives, mostly as a worldbuilding exercise to help develop its traditions and rotate it in my hands to view it from as many different angles as possible.

As we all know we may be getting a TV series (which I’m not particularly a fan of, I like movies more as they aren’t so long and drawn out). This got me thinking, what would be a good series plot?
My idea would be something based on Dr. Loomis as he is the shining light in this series. Title is: The Loomis Files. It would follow around a young(er) Dr. Loomis and each season would give us a story about a patient he is treating. Cameos by Nurse Chambers, Brackett, etc. throughout but not focused on anyone in particular but Loomis. The final scene in the series would be a young Michael Myers sitting down and we hear the famous “I met him, 15 years ago; I was told there was nothing left; no reason, no conscience, no understanding in even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil, right or wrong. I met this... six-year-old child with this blank, pale, emotionless face, and... the blackest eyes - the Devil's eyes” as we pan out for the series finale.
Would love to hear everyone else’s idea

How can I (20M) make this work with my (19F) girlfriend
I (20M) and my girlfriend (19F) are trying to figure out what to do for school next year. I have an opportunity to play baseball at a school I really like and finish out my last two years there and get a degree in something I’m passionate about. I really want to go and I’m most like going to pull the trigger on the offer and go to school there. She doesn’t really know what she wants to do for school and she’s paying for school herself. I’ve suggested loans and a gap year to save up or give her time to make money whilst still going to school. We’ve also talked about community college but we live in the state next over so she’d either have to wait a year to go or use her home address which is about an hour and 45 drive. We’ve been living together for the better part of a year and have agreed that living together is something we’d like to keep doing as well as her getting a degree. I know now-a-days degrees aren’t the end all be all but her and I both think it would be very beneficial for both her and I to have one. The school is not overly expensive as it would be about 7k a semester to go there, but as a student with a part time job and rent we’d have to take care of it would be hard for her to pay both rent and school each month. I’ve been trying to think of a solution and so has she but we’re both at an impass and stuck on what to do. She mentioned living at home, but we tried long distance before and we both agreed it would be too difficult and put a huge strain on us. I’d also like to add her family paid for school before, but won’t now. They also will not allow her to take out student loan to pay for school. Her and I are both very stressed out and would love some advice or alternative ideas on what we should done. Should we do community college, should she taken gap year and save up, should she try to make it work at the school I’m going to? I just don’t know and could really use some help. Thanks!
TL;DR - I need advice on what I can do for my girlfriends college situation, for me and her to be able to possibly live together and her go to school. She doesn’t know how she’s gonna pay for it, and if she can even make it work and we both want it to so I’m looking for options to where we can live together and I can go to my school and she can be happy.

TL;DR: Student teaching this fall & graduating in December, considering teaching private lessons on weekends during the semester & possibly continuing after graduation. Have a few questions about the logistics of teaching private lessons like what to charge, location of lessons, dealing w taxes, and if it’s even possible to support myself financially teaching privately.
Hi all,
I’m a senior art ed student slated to student teach this fall and graduate in December. At this point, after teaching in person practicum units in elementary, middle, and high schools, I have no interest in or intention to teach art in a public K-12 setting after graduation. I think it’s such important work and I respect it so much, but I simply do not think I am cut out for it. I’m way too deep into my degree to switch majors now so that’s not an option unfortunately. I do love the idea of teaching art, but the school systems just do not seem to make the effort worth it.
I also will need a way to financially support myself while I am student teaching. The professors at my school heavily discourage working another job while student teaching but like… I have to eat & pay rent so that’s not realistic for me whatsoever.
I’m considering teaching private children’s art lessons on weekends while I am student teaching, and if I like it enough and it ends up being decently successful, I may continue after I graduate. I have a few questions for getting started on something like this.

• In what price range should I charge? I’d want things to be accessible for lower income families too, so could I incorporate something like a sliding scale for pricing or offer cheap/free group lessons occasionally?
  
• Is it better to teach the lessons at my own home, or could I travel to the families’ homes to give lessons? Would that change how I price the lessons?
  
• How would it work legally, with taxes and business ownership type stuff? Is there any resource or guidelines out there for this?
  
• How likely/possible is it that this could end up being successful enough for me to support myself? Cost of living in my city is pretty close to the USA average if that’s helpful.
  

Thanks for reading, I appreciate any advice or thoughts anyone has to offer.

I boosted a WW and got full honor greens, crafted my 2x 528 items, and did the Blitz and Epic BG weekly. I have yet to do the rated arena weekly because I am pretty sure I will get butt-blasted. I also haven't queued shuffle because I know the MMR starts around ~1800 now and I don't want to get butt-blasted and also butt-blast my team because my gear sucks.
Any ideas? Spamming Blitz seems so inefficient. I am sitting at 1,277 conquest and need way more for the weapon. Then there's tier.......

Hi again, I have posted on here before. I was just curious about something, so I’m going to use fake name but you'll probably get the gist of what I'm saying either way.
TL:DR I called my abusive ex his dead name, not infront of him (her now), I think I was wrong for it but my current boyfriend thinks I have a right for all of the terrible things he did to me.
So my ex let's call him (her now) Daniel has recently come out as trans and is going as let's say Danielle, I haven't seen him in years so I haven't called him Daniel to his face but I have called him that infront of people and I was wondering if it was wrong to keep referring to him as Daniel because it’s his dead name.
My boyfriend thinks I have a right to because of all thing things he put me through from the age of like 6 to 11 and I just ghosted him from there because I couldn't deal with all of the emotional abuse, I'll put this out there now yes we were very young but I am a very relationship orented person so I have always been trying to be in a relationship.
The things he did to me were cruel and just awful, he would physically and emotionally abuse me (this started at around 9 years old btw we were both the same age) then he started to get his friends to touch me in places that obviously shouldn't have been touched on a 9 year old, at around ten it’s when the further SA started so you get the point.
Oh and my parents have no idea any of this happened because he did it in such discrete ways like pinching my arm or something like a child does but when nobody was around he'd do it to places like my thighs and I'd blame it on something like I hit my leg on a table or a chair.
I’m just honestly curious if I do actually have a right to call him Daniel instead of Danielle?
ATIJ?

Going forward: * Stories involving Solar Girl, the Solarian, and Moonshine will only be canonical if they're published under the Pick-n-Μix Comix label. Same goes for almost everything else, but I've had a special thorn in my side dealing with all the pre-Pick-n-Mix stuff and what I want to do with it in regards to what is or isn't part of the overall canon and continuity, so it's important to point this part out first now that I've figured it out. * The content once belonging to the story-cycles of Supergirls In The Spotlight and The New Adventures Of Solar Girl is now going to be under the Lethericon Books label, which means they're non-canonical to everything in the current stable. * Everything under Lethericon Books is going to be a different format than the Pick-n-Mix Comix stuff. I wrote a lot of different, sometimes slower-paced and less adventurous stuff before I started finalizing the format I wanted for the main continuity and they've been in a really weird limbo of canon, but now they're under this label because that's what it's for. This'll be slower-paced, literary, chapter-by-chapter, less-focused, often very introspective, experimental storylines and extra stuff that are related to the main canon but are not themselves canonical; so, AUs like the Comix universe (a coming-of-age story I've been working on now and then where Grace and Gallo are in high school together — obviously completely incompatible with current canon, for a number of reasons), older stories like Supergirls In The Spotlight that don't fit current formatting standards for what is now the canonical works of Pick-n-Mix (and, at least in that one's case, is reprinted from much older work anyway, so nothing new in regards to new content there), and literary or prose outings (like copies of Certain Kinds Of Sadness and The Lethericon). * (For reference, those last two are just older, introspective art pieces I worked on a long time ago and have no real other place to go — I might put them up for pay at some point, but I just don't know. In any case, Certain Kinds is a bunch of super pretentious "poetry" a different version of me I knew once wrote a long time ago, while The Lethericon is the basis for the imprint's name — a dictionary and glossary of neologisms and new words I made up, and occasionally still contribute to sometimes, and their associated definitions and intended usages. So, just fun, meaningless artsy pieces; nothing related to the Pick-n-Mix adventures, but at a more ruminatory period in my life, it felt worthwhile to explore those things.)
Some additional notes: * I know who Moonshine is now! This has been another thorn in the development of workable Solar Girl stories since the very first iteration of Supergirls In The Spotlight, because I wanted Moonshine to be Solar Girl's best friend and sidekick but the dynamic and civilian identities I made for her never caught on and it kept changing with every new draft of the storyline, so often that I never had one single, consistent origin and identity for her. But, I've been developing stories for the Pick-n-Mix core for Solarian/Solar Girl continuity — an ongoing called Solarian Comix, which I'll talk about momentarily, or in its own post — and things have aligned so that the new, 100% canonical version is more or less set in stone now. * As expected, this was one of the reasons I decided to pull prior storyline outings out of canon entirely and render Supergirls In The Spotlight and The New Adventures Of Solar Girl non-canon. The version of Moonshine in those stories was Caitlin Deckard, a friend of Sarah Gardner's from school, the daughter of a previous generation's superheroes (who are nonexistent in the current Pick-n-Mix canon), and she's a very difficult, emotionally-troubled character — but I've since incorporated a version of Moonshine into the Pick-n-Mix version of Inglenook's history as a major operator during the canonical 'Lonum Wars, after which she moves to Spotlight City and eventually teams up with Solar Girl — meaning, of course, that not only are Inglenook and Spotlight City connected, but that Moonshine has to be much older than Solar Girl by default now and that I have a fairly solid timeline to connect events in Spotlight City too, referencing back to crossover events where their world connects to Inglenook and the Other Realms. * This was the final deciding factor in decanonizing the previous Solar Girl stuff. Supergirls In The Spotlight and The New Adventures Of Solar Girl are set on Earth, which doesn't exist in the Other Realms. I'm very adamant about this; which meant, of course, that any canonical crossovers between Inglenook stories and those Solar Girl stories are functionally impossible. I tried to do a storyline in New Adventures to fix this — the whole series was meant to connect Supergirls into current continuity, actually — but it just didn't work because of the fundamental origins of the setting. So, they had to go.
So, current canon: * Everything under the Pick-n-Mix label is canon. Supergirls In The Spotlight and The New Adventures Of Solar Girl are not. One version is set in the fictional Spotlight City on Earth in 2012 and 2024; the canonical version (that is, the version that slots in with everything else I'm building in the unified Pick-n-Mix universe, which mostly serves to adapt and standardize all this stuff into one overarching canon specifically for this reason and purpose) is a completely isolated, standalone city. * This version of Spotlight City is floating through space, kind of like the space colony of Terra Venture in Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy or the colony of Solaris in Jason X (which we never see the surface of, but we might remember its iconic destruction when Jason causes the archaeological ship Grendel to crash into it and destroy the whole thing). I first tried to do this concept with the new storylines in The New Adventures, where the 2012 version of Spotlight City had been shunted into space by Status Quo during the break in between series (and would've ended up crashing into the Other Realms at some point after Meanwhile's reset of the universe, while the new, rebooted, Earth-based version kept on ticking, ideally), but again, that stuff is non-canon now. * I don't know why the Pick-n-Mix version is in space yet, but it will be plot relevant and it will be explored, either in Solarian Comix or a different title meant to explore it. Every Other Realm has its own gimmick, though, so they all have funky origins and they're all tied together; New Galatée from a serial I'm working on called Milk was created when folks from the Inglish nation of Galatée decided to live without association to the Kingdom and left for a brand new realm, for instance. * This means fun stuff like Spotlight City gets brand new historical stuff and its own worldbuilding now! And there can be one solid timeline, one central set of origin stories that are absolutely canon (since that also changed for each draft of the story I've been working on, especially for Solar Girl and Moonshine), and lots of crossovers between realms without being too confusing or introducing multiversal counterparts or anything. (EG, the Solarian can now appear in Inglenook sometimes, and Dr Connector and Captain Mytho can show up in Spotlight City, and it'll all be pretty much continuous and canonical, no worries, easy as. Simple.)
Final notes about the Pick-n-Mix stuff: * Moonshine is Sarah's friend, still, but she's older. They're not in the same age bracket anymore, but kind of split the difference and cover both brackets previous versions have straddled. Here, Sarah (who is still Solar Girl, although not the first Solar Girl) is a high schooler attending New Dawn High School; Moonshine is Margaret Deckard, who works as a janitor at New Dawn and is in her late 30s, meaning Solarian Comix is set sometime in the late 80s, at the very least. (Note: this is the Inglenook version of the 80s, not ours. Timelines across the Other Realms are usually in sync, unless I need them not to be, and there are some aesthetic similarities, but Inglenook and the Other Realms are still fantasy worlds, so it's a brand new 80s and not ours.) Margaret and Sarah are kind of the weirdos at the school, obviously, and Sarah likes Margaret's vibe so she ended up befriending her and they have a weird friendship. At the start of their timeline, Margaret is not Moonshine — but, she was. * Before coming to Spotlight City, Margaret lived and grew up in the Kingdom of Inglenook. Urban fantasy, magic, superheroes, all that fun stuff. From 1968 to 1972, Inglenook got involved in the realm of Carillon, a parallel world home to the corvics (crow-people) and a store of scale oil that was useful to the Silvani people. Inglenook established the colony Oiltown there under Queen Charlotte's purview, but eventually it was discovered that the oil they were drilling had been infected by a nearly-indestructible black goo called the Black Regard, forcing Inglenook's hand. Things erupted, and the 'Lonum Wars started — lots of heroes and members of the Royal Protectorate participated, either by choice or by draft. Jack Scorcher of the Legendeers (although not at that time) was one of them; Margaret Deckard, operating under the name Moonshine, was another. * During this time frame, Moonshine was partners with Nightwalk, a shadow caster who died during the war, leaving Margaret deeply traumatized, along with everything else that happened. Once the war was over, she sought to retire from operations as a masked persona, especially given what she was involved in while she was in Carillon, and so eventually moved to Spotlight City to put everything behind her. * No one knew her in Spotlight City, so she's just Margaret Deckard now. But, in the first few origin stories as depicted in Solarian Comix, her friendship with Sarah Gardner puts this retirement at risk — Sarah becomes the new Sunbearer, Solar Girl, and accidentally creates her foil and initial arch-nemesis, Socialighter, from a rival girl at school. Their fight drags Margaret into things, and Sarah eventually discovers her friend's secret history while cleaning up Margaret's attic. Finally, they're able to be spun off into the title Solar Girl & Moonshine, obviously set in the same continuity — I'm still working out the focal details and central storyline gimmicks for it, but it should be focused heavily on this stuff, and on exploring Moonshine's history in Inglenook especially — and things continue and carry on from there. * (This "found in the attic" storyline was brought in from one of the many possible origins for Solar Girl, incidentally; where the idea was, she'd find a box including the solar crystals, the suit, and the pixie Flare in her mother's apartment, discover her mother either was supposed to be Solar Girl, and take up the identity herself. But, now it's transplanted onto Moonshine because of Sarah's current canonical origin, and Margaret is the one who takes up her old identity. Only at Sarah's urging, and in a moment of desperation against a new enemy threatening the city, though. Of course.)
What is Solarian Comix? And what other titles are being worked on? * Solarian Comix is one of the many ongoing titles I'm developing for Pick-n-Mix Comix, a line of serials adapting all my content and intellectual property into one solid canon, for easy digestion and continuity purposes. They're all in the format of issue-by-issue comic titles — sometimes miniseries, sometimes ongoings, sometimes graphic novels, etc. This one is all about Spotlight City, one of the Other Realms floating through space, protected by an artificial sun that gives the Sunbearers their power. The previous Sunbearer was the Solarian; the current one is Solar Girl. Solarian Comix is something of an anthology that jumps throughout the city's timeline, telling stories in recurring features about the Solarian, Solar Girl, and other characters and heroes throughout the city's history, since there's so much content to cover. Regular features include The Sensational Solar Girl, focusing on Solar Girl's rise to power; Silver-Age Solarian, focusing on the Solarian in Spotlight City's "Silver Age" (likely lasting from the 40s to the late 70s or so); and a bunch of other headliners, such as features centered around the realm-hopping witch Hexcellence, the living glitch Glitchboard, the light-manipulating Emerald Flash and Mock Mirage, and so on. * Related titles currently include Solar Girl & Moonshine, Solar Girl: Meanwhile, and Glitchboard: Tales From The Geistmaschine, which are standalone and aren't published in the chapters and pages of Solarian Comix, but do spin off from them.
Other titles being worked on for Pick-n-Mix include: * Dr Connector, a solo-based ongoing title about my science hero, Dr Connector. The first arc is in progress, titled "Dr Connector Meets The Freedom Beyond", and centers around Dr Connector and the Legendeers discovering the Other Realm known as the Freelands. * Solemn Graces, an adaptation of my pre-Pick-n-Mix novella series of the same name, featuring the detective and witch Grace Morgan discovering the town of Grimstead, which here is called Grimshaw (for plot-relevant reasons), and deciding to get pulled into events there for a while. Each issue is a multi-chapter story, with the first issue in progress, depicting Grace's first several days in Grimshaw — her discovery of the place, her fight with the Spring-Heeled Ripper, her meeting with Gallo Belgrave, and more. It comes as it comes, so it'll be finished at some point, and there are obviously a hundred more and then some storylines planned for future issues, so it'll keep me writing for quite a while. * Help! The Monsters Are Lost Here Too. The period is part of the title, yes. This one's a dungeon-crawler isekai-style story about the new character of Jaden Crofter, who becomes trapped in the Bridgery, a liminal and parallel dungeon world, and discovers that — not only is it filled with weird, strange monsters beyond the imagination — but that it's also trapping the monsters there just like him. So, pretty simple. He teams up with a knight from another world called Sydney Storm, and they get the heck out of there. Not much of it is written currently, but there are some worldbuilding notes and potential excerpts available if you like getting an eye into the behind-the-scenes writing and development process for serials like this. * Idyllville Mysteries, which is largely being reworked into Idyllville Mystery Theater, was an early attempt at an ongoing. This one was an anthology that told short vignettes about the city of Idyllville in Inglenook, and was originally exclusive to redditserials here on Reddit (posted using a corporate account I might continue using for Pick-n-Mix stuff, but maybe not). It's still archived on AO3, but because it doesn't fit current formatting standards, it's being heavily retooled and the original ongoing is basically cancelled. Some useful bits of plot details in those tales, though, and writing it helped me work through some stuff at the time while I was writing it, so I wouldn't be here if I hadn't been there. Thought it was worth mentioning, at least.
Those are the ones that have content available already, but as you can tell — there's so much more going on for the Pick-n-Mix universe, and so much more to come.

Going forward: * Stories involving Solar Girl, the Solarian, and Moonshine will only be canonical if they're published under the Pick-n-Μix Comix label. Same goes for almost everything else, but I've had a special thorn in my side dealing with all the pre-Pick-n-Mix stuff and what I want to do with it in regards to what is or isn't part of the overall canon and continuity, so it's important to point this part out first now that I've figured it out. * The content once belonging to the story-cycles of Supergirls In The Spotlight and The New Adventures Of Solar Girl is now going to be under the Lethericon Books label, which means they're non-canonical to everything in the current stable. * Everything under Lethericon Books is going to be a different format than the Pick-n-Mix Comix stuff. I wrote a lot of different, sometimes slower-paced and less adventurous stuff before I started finalizing the format I wanted for the main continuity and they've been in a really weird limbo of canon, but now they're under this label because that's what it's for. This'll be slower-paced, literary, chapter-by-chapter, less-focused, often very introspective, experimental storylines and extra stuff that are related to the main canon but are not themselves canonical; so, AUs like the Comix universe (a coming-of-age story I've been working on now and then where Grace and Gallo are in high school together — obviously completely incompatible with current canon, for a number of reasons), older stories like Supergirls In The Spotlight that don't fit current formatting standards for what is now the canonical works of Pick-n-Mix (and, at least in that one's case, is reprinted from much older work anyway, so nothing new in regards to new content there), and literary or prose outings (like copies of Certain Kinds Of Sadness and The Lethericon). * (For reference, those last two are just older, introspective art pieces I worked on a long time ago and have no real other place to go — I might put them up for pay at some point, but I just don't know. In any case, Certain Kinds is a bunch of super pretentious "poetry" a different version of me I knew once wrote a long time ago, while The Lethericon is the basis for the imprint's name — a dictionary and glossary of neologisms and new words I made up, and occasionally still contribute to sometimes, and their associated definitions and intended usages. So, just fun, meaningless artsy pieces; nothing related to the Pick-n-Mix adventures, but at a more ruminatory period in my life, it felt worthwhile to explore those things.)
Some additional notes: * I know who Moonshine is now! This has been another thorn in the development of workable Solar Girl stories since the very first iteration of Supergirls In The Spotlight, because I wanted Moonshine to be Solar Girl's best friend and sidekick but the dynamic and civilian identities I made for her never caught on and it kept changing with every new draft of the storyline, so often that I never had one single, consistent origin and identity for her. But, I've been developing stories for the Pick-n-Mix core for Solarian/Solar Girl continuity — an ongoing called Solarian Comix, which I'll talk about momentarily, or in its own post — and things have aligned so that the new, 100% canonical version is more or less set in stone now. * As expected, this was one of the reasons I decided to pull prior storyline outings out of canon entirely and render Supergirls In The Spotlight and The New Adventures Of Solar Girl non-canon. The version of Moonshine in those stories was Caitlin Deckard, a friend of Sarah Gardner's from school, the daughter of a previous generation's superheroes (who are nonexistent in the current Pick-n-Mix canon), and she's a very difficult, emotionally-troubled character — but I've since incorporated a version of Moonshine into the Pick-n-Mix version of Inglenook's history as a major operator during the canonical 'Lonum Wars, after which she moves to Spotlight City and eventually teams up with Solar Girl — meaning, of course, that not only are Inglenook and Spotlight City connected, but that Moonshine has to be much older than Solar Girl by default now and that I have a fairly solid timeline to connect events in Spotlight City too, referencing back to crossover events where their world connects to Inglenook and the Other Realms. * This was the final deciding factor in decanonizing the previous Solar Girl stuff. Supergirls In The Spotlight and The New Adventures Of Solar Girl are set on Earth, which doesn't exist in the Other Realms. I'm very adamant about this; which meant, of course, that any canonical crossovers between Inglenook stories and those Solar Girl stories are functionally impossible. I tried to do a storyline in New Adventures to fix this — the whole series was meant to connect Supergirls into current continuity, actually — but it just didn't work because of the fundamental origins of the setting. So, they had to go.
So, current canon: * Everything under the Pick-n-Mix label is canon. Supergirls In The Spotlight and The New Adventures Of Solar Girl are not. One version is set in the fictional Spotlight City on Earth in 2012 and 2024; the canonical version (that is, the version that slots in with everything else I'm building in the unified Pick-n-Mix universe, which mostly serves to adapt and standardize all this stuff into one overarching canon specifically for this reason and purpose) is a completely isolated, standalone city. * This version of Spotlight City is floating through space, kind of like the space colony of Terra Venture in Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy or the colony of Solaris in Jason X (which we never see the surface of, but we might remember its iconic destruction when Jason causes the archaeological ship Grendel to crash into it and destroy the whole thing). I first tried to do this concept with the new storylines in The New Adventures, where the 2012 version of Spotlight City had been shunted into space by Status Quo during the break in between series (and would've ended up crashing into the Other Realms at some point after Meanwhile's reset of the universe, while the new, rebooted, Earth-based version kept on ticking, ideally), but again, that stuff is non-canon now. * I don't know why the Pick-n-Mix version is in space yet, but it will be plot relevant and it will be explored, either in Solarian Comix or a different title meant to explore it. Every Other Realm has its own gimmick, though, so they all have funky origins and they're all tied together; New Galatée from a serial I'm working on called Milk was created when folks from the Inglish nation of Galatée decided to live without association to the Kingdom and left for a brand new realm, for instance. * This means fun stuff like Spotlight City gets brand new historical stuff and its own worldbuilding now! And there can be one solid timeline, one central set of origin stories that are absolutely canon (since that also changed for each draft of the story I've been working on, especially for Solar Girl and Moonshine), and lots of crossovers between realms without being too confusing or introducing multiversal counterparts or anything. (EG, the Solarian can now appear in Inglenook sometimes, and Dr Connector and Captain Mytho can show up in Spotlight City, and it'll all be pretty much continuous and canonical, no worries, easy as. Simple.)
Final notes about the Pick-n-Mix stuff: * Moonshine is Sarah's friend, still, but she's older. They're not in the same age bracket anymore, but kind of split the difference and cover both brackets previous versions have straddled. Here, Sarah (who is still Solar Girl, although not the first Solar Girl) is a high schooler attending New Dawn High School; Moonshine is Margaret Deckard, who works as a janitor at New Dawn and is in her late 30s, meaning Solarian Comix is set sometime in the late 80s, at the very least. (Note: this is the Inglenook version of the 80s, not ours. Timelines across the Other Realms are usually in sync, unless I need them not to be, and there are some aesthetic similarities, but Inglenook and the Other Realms are still fantasy worlds, so it's a brand new 80s and not ours.) Margaret and Sarah are kind of the weirdos at the school, obviously, and Sarah likes Margaret's vibe so she ended up befriending her and they have a weird friendship. At the start of their timeline, Margaret is not Moonshine — but, she was. * Before coming to Spotlight City, Margaret lived and grew up in the Kingdom of Inglenook. Urban fantasy, magic, superheroes, all that fun stuff. From 1968 to 1972, Inglenook got involved in the realm of Carillon, a parallel world home to the corvics (crow-people) and a store of scale oil that was useful to the Silvani people. Inglenook established the colony Oiltown there under Queen Charlotte's purview, but eventually it was discovered that the oil they were drilling had been infected by a nearly-indestructible black goo called the Black Regard, forcing Inglenook's hand. Things erupted, and the 'Lonum Wars started — lots of heroes and members of the Royal Protectorate participated, either by choice or by draft. Jack Scorcher of the Legendeers (although not at that time) was one of them; Margaret Deckard, operating under the name Moonshine, was another. * During this time frame, Moonshine was partners with Nightwalk, a shadow caster who died during the war, leaving Margaret deeply traumatized, along with everything else that happened. Once the war was over, she sought to retire from operations as a masked persona, especially given what she was involved in while she was in Carillon, and so eventually moved to Spotlight City to put everything behind her. * No one knew her in Spotlight City, so she's just Margaret Deckard now. But, in the first few origin stories as depicted in Solarian Comix, her friendship with Sarah Gardner puts this retirement at risk — Sarah becomes the new Sunbearer, Solar Girl, and accidentally creates her foil and initial arch-nemesis, Socialighter, from a rival girl at school. Their fight drags Margaret into things, and Sarah eventually discovers her friend's secret history while cleaning up Margaret's attic. Finally, they're able to be spun off into the title Solar Girl & Moonshine, obviously set in the same continuity — I'm still working out the focal details and central storyline gimmicks for it, but it should be focused heavily on this stuff, and on exploring Moonshine's history in Inglenook especially — and things continue and carry on from there. * (This "found in the attic" storyline was brought in from one of the many possible origins for Solar Girl, incidentally; where the idea was, she'd find a box including the solar crystals, the suit, and the pixie Flare in her mother's apartment, discover her mother either was supposed to be Solar Girl, and take up the identity herself. But, now it's transplanted onto Moonshine because of Sarah's current canonical origin, and Margaret is the one who takes up her old identity. Only at Sarah's urging, and in a moment of desperation against a new enemy threatening the city, though. Of course.)
What is Solarian Comix? And what other titles are being worked on? * Solarian Comix is one of the many ongoing titles I'm developing for Pick-n-Mix Comix, a line of serials adapting all my content and intellectual property into one solid canon, for easy digestion and continuity purposes. They're all in the format of issue-by-issue comic titles — sometimes miniseries, sometimes ongoings, sometimes graphic novels, etc. This one is all about Spotlight City, one of the Other Realms floating through space, protected by an artificial sun that gives the Sunbearers their power. The previous Sunbearer was the Solarian; the current one is Solar Girl. Solarian Comix is something of an anthology that jumps throughout the city's timeline, telling stories in recurring features about the Solarian, Solar Girl, and other characters and heroes throughout the city's history, since there's so much content to cover. Regular features include The Sensational Solar Girl, focusing on Solar Girl's rise to power; Silver-Age Solarian, focusing on the Solarian in Spotlight City's "Silver Age" (likely lasting from the 40s to the late 70s or so); and a bunch of other headliners, such as features centered around the realm-hopping witch Hexcellence, the living glitch Glitchboard, the light-manipulating Emerald Flash and Mock Mirage, and so on. * Related titles currently include Solar Girl & Moonshine, Solar Girl: Meanwhile, and Glitchboard: Tales From The Geistmaschine, which are standalone and aren't published in the chapters and pages of Solarian Comix, but do spin off from them.
Other titles being worked on for Pick-n-Mix include: * Dr Connector, a solo-based ongoing title about my science hero, Dr Connector. The first arc is in progress, titled "Dr Connector Meets The Freedom Beyond", and centers around Dr Connector and the Legendeers discovering the Other Realm known as the Freelands. * Solemn Graces, an adaptation of my pre-Pick-n-Mix novella series of the same name, featuring the detective and witch Grace Morgan discovering the town of Grimstead, which here is called Grimshaw (for plot-relevant reasons), and deciding to get pulled into events there for a while. Each issue is a multi-chapter story, with the first issue in progress, depicting Grace's first several days in Grimshaw — her discovery of the place, her fight with the Spring-Heeled Ripper, her meeting with Gallo Belgrave, and more. It comes as it comes, so it'll be finished at some point, and there are obviously a hundred more and then some storylines planned for future issues, so it'll keep me writing for quite a while. * Help! The Monsters Are Lost Here Too. The period is part of the title, yes. This one's a dungeon-crawler isekai-style story about the new character of Jaden Crofter, who becomes trapped in the Bridgery, a liminal and parallel dungeon world, and discovers that — not only is it filled with weird, strange monsters beyond the imagination — but that it's also trapping the monsters there just like him. So, pretty simple. He teams up with a knight from another world called Sydney Storm, and they get the heck out of there. Not much of it is written currently, but there are some worldbuilding notes and potential excerpts available if you like getting an eye into the behind-the-scenes writing and development process for serials like this. * Idyllville Mysteries, which is largely being reworked into Idyllville Mystery Theater, was an early attempt at an ongoing. This one was an anthology that told short vignettes about the city of Idyllville in Inglenook, and was originally exclusive to redditserials here on Reddit (posted using a corporate account I might continue using for Pick-n-Mix stuff, but maybe not). It's still archived on AO3, but because it doesn't fit current formatting standards, it's being heavily retooled and the original ongoing is basically cancelled. Some useful bits of plot details in those tales, though, and writing it helped me work through some stuff at the time while I was writing it, so I wouldn't be here if I hadn't been there. Thought it was worth mentioning, at least.
Those are the ones that have content available already, but as you can tell — there's so much more going on for the Pick-n-Mix universe, and so much more to come.

TL:dr my friend who is unable to live independently due to OCD is being abused by her mum, who is also her carer. I am preparing to visit her and sneak her a phone to keep on touch, and want to know what I might come up against.
My longtime friend has severe OCD and for the last 7+ years has been cared for by her mum. One aspect of her condition is she's felt unable to have visitors or talk via phone/text/email so for years I've kept in touch by writing letters.
Her mum was always the one to respond which I found odd. I knew they'd had a rocky history and my friend had described some verbal abuse from the past, but things sounded suspiciously rosy from the letters.
A couple of months ago I got a phone call out the blue from my friend on her mum's landline. She described a load of her mum's controlling behaviour over the last few years that I won't go into here, but I think it fits in this sub, nobody who cares about their children would do this shit. Her mum is very charming and sweet and apparently has my friend's healthcare team thinking she's a saint for looking after her.
Recently friend's been feeling better about using devices to stay in touch. She called me a bunch more times over the next few weeks whenever her mum was out so I believe her! But her mum has been super obstructive about getting her a new phone. The idea of her daughter speaking to someone on the outside without her knowledge clearly makes her feel out of control.
On my friend's suggestion, I wrote to her mum saying I'm down in the area in June, can I come visit? She replied saying yes, but ring first to check if friend is feeling well enough. The phone calls from my friend stopped after I sent that letter and I haven't heard from her in about six weeks.
I am going to sneak my friend a brick phone when I visit so we can keep in touch but I am pretty fucking scared. I have no idea how much her mum knows - I suspect she's found out my friend was calling someone which is why the calls stopped, and presumably checked the records and saw it was me. But I don't want to be upfront about it unless asked in case she didn't know and it gets my friend in trouble. The last thing I want is for her to get paranoid and suspicious and find the phone.
My plan is to act sweet, innocent and totally taken in by her mum's Mother Theresa act. If pressed about the calls, I'll say how great it was to hear from friend and say some vague shit about catching up.
Does anyone with first-hand experience of a parent like this have any advice on what to watch out for? How can I lower her suspicions as much as possible? Is she likely to try and catch me out?
Important: please know that I'm also researching my friend's rights and options- I need to present her with the options and get more info about what she wants to happen before pulling any triggers. I'm in the UK and our social care system is really lacking for situations like this so please don't come at me for not calling the police or reporting her mum for abuse. This could massively backfire so I don't want to do that unless I think her life is in danger or she says that's what she wants.