Leaving have baby wishes

Baby due July 2024. Wedding June 2025.
We have the venue/registrar booked, everything will be at the venue (ceremony, reception/ food etc) and I have a dress, but we need to sort vendors (photographer, florist etc) within the next few months. The plan was to do this before the baby comes but and my fiancé are struggling to find time to sit down and sort things as we are both busy with finishing up work before our leave starts.
I'm taking at least 6 months maternity leave and my fiancé will be off the for the first 4-6 weeks too. I just had a thought that we might be able to sort some stuff when we are off together during that time... Is that crazy? Do we just need to get our asses into gear and get it sorted before the baby comes?
Thanks in advance!

Passed D206 with no revisions. It took about a week. I read the rubric and literally took about 2 days to wrap my mind around how tedious it seemed to be before I got started on any work. I saw something a while ago where someone said they wished they had just chosen the Churn data set from the beginning and stuck with it. That made me think that the Churn data set was the only consistent data set throughout the program. So I chose the Churn data set for D205 but then I saw instructions in this course to choose the opposite of what you chose in D205. Looking back, I think that was likely a suggestion and not a mandate. Regardless, I chose the medical data set and would like to stick with this one for the remainder of the program because I have medical background anyway.
I was looking forward to this course because every training I've ever taken on data analysis has stated how crucial data cleaning is and then spends very little time actually showing how to clean the data. So I learned a decent amount from this course that I had never been exposed to before. Even simple things like learning that there is a "category" datatype in pandas. I've used pandas very regularly for the last 2 years and never knew this! I didn't know about any advanced imputation methods or various means of assessing how to handle missing data. I had never heard of PCA before. But my goodness am I glad it's over because I really hated the format of the PA.
Resources used:

• I had some prior knowledge especially with using libraries like pandas and matplotlib
• The D206 course guide was very helpful in providing more detailed information about how to tackle the PA according to the rubric and where to find information for specific portions of the assignment. This was helpful in finding credible sources to use for blocks of code or content citation.
• Data Camp videos. I found the videos to be useful. I like the idea behind having the coding practice immediately following videos - this is similar to CodeAcademy which I've used extensively in the past, EXCEPT I don't like the way the coding practice is set up in Data Camp. I don't like that they give you half the code and then leave _ _ _ _ for you to fill in even though the code you fill in is much longer than that. I would rather them just give me a completely blank screen than to fill in blanks of the wrong length for their code. After the first few practice areas, I just started skipping the coding practice. I would watch a video and make any relevant notes to come back to that portion if I needed for XYZ portion of the PA. Or I would complete that portion of the PA right then.
• I read some of the textbook linked - mostly the section involving code related to PCA.
• Other Reddit posts about this course.

The PA wasn't really hard. I just really didn't like the fact that I had to talk about how I was going to assess the data quality, then later justify why I was going to go that route, then explain why I was choosing Python. Then assess the data quality but not actually do any cleaning, then talk about the issues I found, then justify why I was going to take action regarding the cleaning, then say what was going to happen when I cleaned the data, then actually clean the data... etc.. etc.. It's so counter to the way I solve problems and very inefficient. I guess I can understand why it's set up that way but I really spent more time being annoyed about breaking everything out in a non-intuitive way than anything else. I also went down some pretty useless rabbit holes regarding how to handle certain variables based on domain knowledge. I knew at the time that they were useless rabbit holes but sometimes the self-diagnosed ADHD in me really enjoys going that route anyway. Thankfully the PA was accepted on the first attempt with no revisions. I took a couple days off and started on D207. Just submitted it today so maybe I'll have another review soon.

Sorry about the title didn't really know what to write, but I have something to say about 'recen't events, again, sorry if this sounds mean, but am I the only one getting fed up with how firefly is getting buffed and buffed and loved by the waifu enjoyers? It's getting to the point that I've been wanting to leave the main sub because how much soft-porn fan art of her is shown there and I'm speaking as a pansexual person. I was very neutral towards her in the beginning of everything but the game forcing you to date her is what made me...start disliking her, and when boothill was announced I legit felt bad for him because these so called 'firefly enjoyers' were mad at him for literally no reason? Sure your waifu didn't get announced first but all you gotta do is wait! No need to bring down a character because of it, all of these factors are making me dislike firefly even more it's like there is no escape from this...
And this is not the only thing I'm here to kind of rant about it too, It took one year for us to get a male harmony character, that barely counts because he is the male counterpart of stelle, we literally have mostly female harmony characters compared to ONE, which is caelus. I really wish Hoyoverse started cartering to the male collecting side of the fan base too, just once. Most of the male characters we have right now are DPS or sub-dps...comparing to 2 healers and one harmony, for me as a f2p (even having every single male character in the game) I struggle to make a male-only team because most of the time I need a female character. Hell, I had to roll on sparkle because I don't have bronya.
Look I know Hoyoverse probably carters more to the male fan base because of their waifus and whatnot, but I don't think it would hurt them to make male characters that aren't DPS or Sub-DPS.
I might be too stupid to be thinking these things, but they just make me upset.

TDLR: Ex texted a bestfriend behind my back ending of last year ruining the friendship. Broke up with her, during that time I rekindled with someone else while occasionally texting my ex still not back together. Felt like I missed the warmth of my ex and dropped the new girl going back to my ex fully beginning of this year. Missed the support and love from my ex that I never truly got. Girl told me ex about our dirty laundry, causing trust issues in the whole relationship. Tried fixing them by removing girls, sharing location, etc. I felt scared my ex is gonna get revenge and started being distant at the end which pushed her away as well. We broke up beginning of May this year. I thought we would get back together as always, found out she’s been adding guys she removed a long time ago. I got upset and texted her ugly nasty shit, and texted her dad saying his daughter is a “sl*t” etc. I thought by doing this I’d move on quicker, he told me to leave them alone. I understand I fucked up if I had received a message like this from my daughter ex I’d be fuming too. I want to apologize to the parents for the lack of character I had but feel like it’s too late to backtrack on the stupid shit I said. Am I being selfish by sending a text?
Hello all, This is gonna be long. I really appreciate anyone who takes time to read and help with some words. I have no therapist or friends this seems like the best option.
I have never posted on here but seriously feel torn up. I know that I have been in the wrong in all this but I truly was dealing with a weed addiction till I finally sobered up and realized how fucked I am. This relationship has been a rollercoaster, but something I didn’t want to get off. She showed me many first things and it was my longest relationship of three years. She cared for me when I had no job, to every job, skinny fat, etc and I did the same with her struggles. To make a long story short back in August of 2023 I found my ex texting one of my bestfriends that worked with her at the time(I had quit that spot and found another job). No lust or crazy texts just work laughing but I confronted her about it it was jealousy and she said it was nothing.
After a few weeks come September I kept feeling this jealousy boil over. If she had texted anybody else I wouldn’t have said much but I felt like cause it was MY friend she should have brought up the convo they had even if it was light and funny. I was pestering her about him, she then decided to text him behind my back saying I’m being jealous. They text back and forth and he’s calling me a kid and disrespecting me even though he’s known me for longer, and she was laughing sending him laughing emojis and stuff. He then texted me asking me to fight because somehow she told him I threatened him. I got pissed she ruined a friendship and told her I’m done blocked her on everything. From September to December 2023 I was all alone focused on work and meeting new people. In December I rekindled with a girl I knew no feelings just stupid lust. While talking to the new girl, my ex sends me a heartfelt email since I had blocked her on everything, saying she’s sorry and understands I don’t want to hear from her but wishes me the best. I softened up and began texting her here and there, but still was talking to the new girl.
After a while in Jan/Feb 2024 I met with the girl I had rekindled with and we had done some things. However during this time I started seriously missing my ex and the way I felt comfortable around her. So I was talking to my ex again fully and wanted to make it work again. The problem came when my ex wanted to visit me since she’s long distance. She flew all the way to me and everything was good, till that new girl decided she wasn’t getting my attention anymore and texted my ex lying to her telling her I was begging for her etc. My ex broke down and asked why and I childishly said because of what she had done by texting my bestfriend and that we weren’t together. She cried in my arms and I balled with her cause I truly didn’t want to hurt this girl like this. I offered her to leave me and understood I fucked up. But to my surprise she wanted to stay and asked to fix our trust. I tried my hardest to fix it, I gave her my social passwords, she had my location, everything she wanted she got, even removed all girl friends to gain trust and she removed guys. However after some time around March 2024 I felt like all that I did wasn’t building up that trust again, and I began having flashbacks to trauma where I got left and cheated on within a week. I felt like my ex got back with me to seek revenge. So I started pushing her away scared.
During April she came again to visit me and booked a flight without asking me to pay or anything and genuinely asked to spend every minute of the day with me. I should have taken her coming to see me without me asking as her sign of true love but I ignored it.
Beginning of May 2024 came and our problems began. I started seeing her go out with friends to bars, even to houses I didn’t know and she would take a little longer to respond. I began thinking something is up due to my trauma and started being distant with her. She kept asking me to stop doing this, and cried a few times but I was truly scared of behind hurt and thought by being distant I’m protecting myself. She told me this once and it’s stuck with me “you’re gonna regret doing this”. After that convo she became cold with me too to the point where I didn’t even know who she was anymore. Our final convo was May10. We argued on the phone, and she blamed me for everything, I brought my ex bestfriend and her and how they hurt me she said she had already apologized and I said I did too for cheating but I knew what I did hurt more. She told me to leave her tf alone that I haven’t been the man she needs saying she’s seen better guys treat gfs better etc. That she wants time alone that she wouldn’t go around like I did with girls fucking randoms guys. I blocked her but I genuinely thought we would breakup and get back together as always.
However a week passed and I heard nothing. For some reason I felt like I deserved an apology cause during our arguments I was being more respectful and it felt like she kept saying stuff on purpose to hurt me. I saw she had logged onto my socials and I locked her out and logged out of her accounts cause I felt like it was better. However I was still stalking her Instagram following number and began seeing it go up fast. I started getting guys being suggested to me that follow her and I noticed it was all guys she used to work with and removed for “trust”. I felt broken cause it felt like she did what my first ex with the trauma did , just move on within a week. I felt sad, but the sadness turned to anger. I thought by burning bridges I could move on quicker. And I began blowing her up with calls to no answer, so I switched to texting and said some of the most heinous shit I’ve said to anyone. I then texted her mom telling her her daughter got a new type being childish but nothing too disrespectful to the mom. I texted the dad however and called his daughter names, which he got back at me with a threat and called me childish and that he’s happy his daughter isn’t with someone like me and to lose their numbers. I said lmao cool being even more childish.
I genuinely felt bad the same day I texted the parents this. I felt like bringing them into childish arguments and saying what I said made me look like a true child which I try not to be fast in situations but I was impatient and dumb. I felt like I was the one being stubborn in the relationship and pushed her away, then got upset when she did walk away I just didn’t appreciate her at the end and it hurts my soul I’ve felt this heaviness on my chest ever since like I lost the person for me. I know blaming it on the weed is childish but I feel like it game me that I don’t give a F feeling till it bit me in the ass. I spoke to my only friend and my parents who didn’t even accept the relationship at first due to culture, but they told me I had fucked up and told me with time they will heal, and that in time I can send a message to the parents if I wanted to to get my conscious clear and be able to move on with a better image.
Is it smart to reach back out to the parents to show respect as an adult or just let them be? I know this was a lot but it’s on my heart and brain everyday since. A part of me says apologize in the hopes of getting this girl back one day which I know is selfish, the bigger part of me just hates the image I left of myself cause I have never left a relationship in this manner

I have an orange cat named Jeff that I got 7 years ago and I absolutely adore him. He’s my baby. He can be such a sweetheart, but he also has a really difficult side to him. He’s a smart cat and knows what to do to make me mad.
I want him to be an indoor cat, but he absolutely loves going outside. It’s been years of trying to keep him inside or trying different variations of letting him outside at certain times or only once a day, whatever. It doesn’t matter how much we let him out, he always gets so mad when we don’t let him outside. I don’t let him out once it’s dark outside ever, if I can help it. And everytime he comes back inside, he gets lots of treats. It’s the expectation at this point.
Tonight, he snuck out the door after dark and I was able to go outside and grab him and I got him back outside. He was PISSED. So so mad at me. I gave him treats and lots of love but he was just so mad. Hours later, I figured he was over it. He seemed fine, he was just napping in my room on his special spot on my couch. Then I got up to take a shower. When I came back into the room, he was sitting on the bed, but quickly hopped up and wanted out of the room so I let him out. I didn’t realize until hours later that HE HAD PEED ON MY BED. I had to change all the sheets because it soaked through.
This is by far the first time he’s done this. We have to keep shower curtains over beds that aren’t being used or else he will pee on them. If I leave clothes on the floor, he will pee on them. He ruined a rug in the living room from constantly peeing on it. It’s such a big issue and my whole family resents him for it, even though he truly has a sweet side to him.
I just don’t know what to do. He’s not doing this because his litter box is unavailable or dirty… we have 3 of them throughout our whole house and we keep them all very clean. He does use the litterbox regularly. He does this out of spite. He is very easy to anger. It makes me so unbelievably mad when he does this… it’s not like it’s an accident, this is purposeful. It’s so bratty and I don’t know how to stop it.
In addition to this, he seems constantly bored. When he’s inside, he paces around the house for hours just meowing SO loud. He will do this all night long and it keeps everyone up, it’s crazy how loud he can meow. I don’t know why he does that but I believe it’s out of boredom. I’ve gotten him lots of toys but he doesn’t like them and still meows and paces.
He’s such a difficult cat but I love him to pieces… what on earth do I do?

Hello all -- first time poster here. Sorry for the really long post, I guess part of this is therapeutic for me just to write out.
I've really been struggling recently, as my wife has come to absolutely despise by 67 year old mother, and I'm not sure if there's anything that can fix it.
A little bit of my history. I've always been very close with my family. I grew up in a south Asian household (although I always felt we integrated nicely with a lot of American culture -- both me and my sibling have lived in a large US city our entire lives and consider ourselves American both in culture as well as nationality). However, as in many Asian cultures, respect for elders is extremely important. I always had a parent-child relationship with my parents (meaning that they were in charge, and not interested in being my friend, but rather my mentors and provided invaluable guidance over the years). Both of my parents sacrificed a lot for me and mysibling, but especially my mom who chose to forgo advancing her own career, and to work part time in order to raise my sibling and I. I've always had a good relationship with my mom, although we've had our share of fights over the years (we're both pretty stubborn), but they typically last no more than a 3-5 days on average and then things are completely back to normal. I would say this happens an average of 1-2 times per year at most. I do feel very close with my mom (& my dad as well, but my wife doesn't seem to have any issues with my dad so I'm not focussing on that part). I do believe that much of the success I have achieved in life is directly attributable to the sacrifices my mom made as well as the time she spent raising and teaching me. I have always respected my parents, which is typical of Asian culture. By respect, I mean things like not talking back, valuing their opinions, and trying to make their life easier or happier in small ways (visiting them on weekends, going out to dinner together -- we live roughly 40 minutes apart).
A bit of my wife's history -- she grew up with her parents being divorced from a young age. Both of her parents are wonderful people who I really adore, but they were extremely lenient with her growing up (they were not on top of her with regards to schoolwork, she would talk back to them at times without getting in much trouble, she was able to sneak out of her house as a teen, etc.). These are by no means egregious offenses, and I suspect many kids do the same at that age. However, there was a clear difference in her relationship with her parents -- there was no real enforcement of rules or punishment for breaking rules. Through my lens, it seems that this has manifested as a lack of respect for her own parents, as well as her elders. She mostly has a good relationship with both of her parents, but when she does disagree with them, she talks to them in ways I could never imagine speaking to my own parents (talks back, hangs up on them, etc.). She says that she needs to "put them in their place" at times, which I also find rude. Overall, I would say she grew up much less "family-oriented" than I did, for what it's worth.
My wife is also somewhat of a nomad (mostly not by choice). She moved a few times growing up (within the same state, but different areas), and then went out of state for college, only to leave after 1.5 years and finish at a local state school (in a different state) where her mother lived at the time. Because of this, she has very few close friends, and the ones that she does have are spread out all across the country on different coasts. This is in stark contrast to me. I've been lucky to maintain the same group of friends that I've had since we were 8 or 9 years old. On top of that, most of them have stayed in the same area that we grew up in (where my wife and I now live). I think the lack of a social circle has affected my wife since she moved to my city, but I'm not sure what solution there is for that since there is no city we could live in where she would have a group of close friends or family (her parents live in different states and split time between different states, her 3 closest friends live in 3 different states).
I've known my wife for 8 years and we've been married for 2.5. I love her. She is a great person; she is kind, compassionate, loving, and at her core truly does care deeply about others (though I feel that this does not always come across in the way she talks to her own parents). She's funny, adventurous, and up until recently, I was always happier around her. We were recently blessed with the birth of our son, who is now 11 months old. Our son is the best thing that has ever happened to us, but his arrival seems to have simultaneously strained our relationship in ways I did not anticipate. I knew that the sleep deprivation would be hard, and our lives would change drastically. What I did not envision was a deepening hatred that my wife has developed for my mom.
Prior to the birth of our son, my wife did not have much of an issue with my mom other than thinking she was "needy" for wanting to see myself and my sibling once a week, even if it was just for a dinner (again, we live roughly 40 minutes apart, and my parents are typically willing to drive to us, meet us at a restaurant, or have us over). My mom does tend to be picky with where we eat out (she doesn't eat most meat, and prefers vegetarian options), but that never really bothered me, though it seems to bother my wife that my mom is "getting her way", even though this was at most 1 meal in the week.
I know that my mom can certainly be stubborn and hard to deal with at times, but I know her very well, and I always felt that she was inclusive of my wife, and never did anything that warranted being strongly disliked. The one exception to this was during our son's baby shower. We had planned a large party with a lot of family and friends that my parents hosted (their house is large enough to accomodate a party of that size). During the baby shower, my mom helped arrange catering of food, ordering tables, chairs, tablecloths, and hiring a bartender (my parents also paid for all of this). My wife did not like my mom's taste with regards to tablecloths and chair decorations and she was irritated that my mom wanted to help and be involved in the planning (though to her credit, my wife did not outwardly show this discontent to my mom, though it was certainly made known to me). My wife handled the floral arrangements and other decorative pieces such as a backdrop, and spent a lot of time and effort getting them exactly how she wanted. I kind of sensed that my mom felt that she was being taken for granted and underappreciated by my wife (she did take care and pay for a lot), and my wife felt that my mom was being overbearing with planning, and also felt that my mom was purposefully spiteful (my wife claims that every other member of my family commented on how nice the floral arrangements were, but my mom never did). This culminated in a "fight" where my wife wanted a decorative piece in one part of the yard and my mom wanted it in another part. There was some exchange of words at the time, though I did not witness this. This left my mom feeling that my wife was "disrespectful" and left my wife hating my mom for not honoring her decision about where to place the decorative piece, since this was her baby shower. This led to a very upsetting experience for my wife and I as we really did not enjoy the baby shower at all (although this was not evident to our guests or other family members, as we were able to "fake it"). My wife was particularly upset after the baby shower when we drove home since she felt that it was supposed to be a special day for her, and my mom ruined it, which I mostly agreed with. To her credit, my mom did apologize to both my wife and me the following day, and told us that she had been under a lot of stress with many family members staying at their house, taking care of meals, sleeping arrangements, etc., and her stress got the better of her. I was willing to accept her apology and move on, but my wife has always held a grudge since that time, and feels that the apology wasn't genuine. Again, I've known my mom for a long time and she would rather not apologize at all than do so disingenuously. My wife however insists that she can read my mom better than me, since I'm biased. Nonetheless, we moved forward.
After the birth of our son, my parents and my wife's parents were overjoyed (he is all of their first grandchild). Again, we live near where I grew up so my parents are much closer to us than my wife's parents are. After the birth of our son, my wife's mom rented a place near us for 4 months to help with the baby and chores, etc. I never had any issue with this, even when she would come over multiple times a day, or even unannounced at times (this was not something that bothered me). My parents were (& are) also very eager to spend time with their grandchild, and initially were coming over every other day to see the baby, which then decreased to about twice a week, since he has been 3 months old. My wife has begun having major issues with my parents coming to see our son twice a week now. Perhaps what is most irritating to me is the fact that I anticipated this issue beforehand. I specifically asked my wife when our son was 1 or 2 months old "how often would you be okay with my parents coming to see him?", and her answer was "I would be so happy if it was just twice a week", (which she felt would be a huge improvement over the every other day they were initially coming when our son was a newborn). I assured her that twice a week was very reasonable and she said she'd be happy with that.
Fast forward to now -- my mom comes to visit twice a week for 3-4 hours and my wife says its too much. She says it's suffocating, that she shouldn't have to live her life around my mom seeing our son (which my wife does not, she always tells my mom which days to come, and they are different each week depending on what my wife wants to do), that she feels like she had a kid just for my mom to play with. Again, my mom is never insistent on what days or even times to see our son. She certainly appreciates seeing him regularly, and I always wanted my son to have a close relationship with his grandparents (both sides), as both myself and my wife did growing up. However, my wife's parents do not live near us (and don't come to visit that often). I think this plays a role in terms of her being irritated that my family sees him regularly, but I don't see any solution. Her family is financially able to visit us (very regularly) if they wanted to, but they don't make it a priority. Again, her parents are wonderful people, but they seem to be more interested in their own lives and relationships than they are in forging a deep connection with our son, their grandson (I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it, but it's the opposite of my family who really want to be close with their grandson, even if it's at the expense of time with their own friends).
I should also add that for the past 3 years my wife has not worked. This started prior to us getting married. She left her job because she hated it, and I am lucky to be in a position to financially support us on my own. However, she always told me she would (& wanted to) get a job in a field that she was more interested in, though she has never been able to articulate what that field would be (actually she was adamant that she would have a job before we got married). I tried to encourage her to find fields that appealed to her, even advised her to take risks with entrepreneurship, to see if she could make a career out of something she considers a hobby. I've paid for countless courses, certifications, etc. (90% of which she did not complete -- things like real estate certifications, social media certifications, photography lessons, camera lenses, etc.). Furthermore, I paid for her to see a therapist of her choosing for a few months hoping it would help her gain clarity with regards to what she wants to do career-wise (it did not). All in all, I've probably spent in the neighborhood of 7-8K on online courses, certifications, and she does not have anything to show for it. Once we got pregnant, we agreed that she would take on more of a domestic role (which is what she said she wanted as well, I did not force her into this -- and she was also not doing anything else for work anyway). The point I'm making here is not that I feel she needs to work, it is just that she gets to see our son all the time (it's not like she's going to work and handing our son off to my mom). Also, many times my wife will say "Oh why don't you come on Monday" when we see my mom (which my mom will then do). Then Monday rolls around and my wife is texting me at work all day constantly complaining about how my mom is interacting with our son (she doesn't watch him closely enough, or she doesn't put him in his crib to nap, or she feeds him when she's not supposed to, etc.), how long my mom is staying, how she feels trapped in the house when my mom is there, etc. She basically wants my mom to come over for no more than 2 hours and then leave (again we live about 40 minutes apart).
This issue she has with my mom seeing our son a couple of times a week for a few hours, has started to cause bigger and bigger fights between us. Part of me understands that my wife's lack of her own social circle of close friends, and not having family nearby is contributing to her unhappiness with our current situation. But the other part of me can't help but feel like I've done everything in my power to help, and it feels that she is just complaining about my mom because she's unhappy with where she is in life. I have tried helping her find a career that she would like, I have tried telling her she can remain a stay at home mom if she wants, I have tried getting her a therapist to help her work through her issues, I have tried encouraging her to join mom & baby classes to meet new friends (which she now attends, but hasn't made any real friends during them), I have offered to joint local couples meetups with her to meet new friends if that would make her more comfortable, I have encouraged her to invite the few local friends she does have over for dinner or even go out with them while I watch the baby, I have offered to move to a part of the city that is even further from my parents, and I've even offered to move cities altogether to be closer to her own family (although her family does not reside in just 1 city, they split time between a few). I've also told her to voice her issues to my mom and hash out whatever the issues are, but she says my mom will see it as disrespectful and "make things even more awkward" (which may in fact be true, but in that case I've told her we would just see my mom less, which is what she wants anyway...). Each time I suggest something, I feel that it is met with resistance or some excuse as to why it won't work (for instance when I suggest moving cities, she says no because I'll "use that against her" in the future if we fight). I'm just not sure where I can take it from here. I'm sure couples counseling has to be a part of the solution in some way, but I'm not sure what they are going to be able to offer that I haven't already tried.
I guess I'm just looking for advice. My guess is my wife wants me to just straight up tell my mom she can't come over twice a week anymore (but I could see my wife having a problem even if it was just once a week), for no good reason. My mom has no idea my wife despises her, and me just randomly telling my parents they can't come over anymore for no apparent reason would cause a rift between me & them. I love my parents and they're only getting older. They're not going to live forever, and I would feel awful if I told them they just can't come to see their grandson because my wife doesn't like my mom for no particularly legitimate reason.
Thanks in advance to whoever read through this, and for whatever advice you can provide.
TLDR - I feel like I've bent over backwards to make my wife happy but she still has a major issue with my mom that I don't know how to resolve.

Hi, I’m reposting a shortened version of a really big issue I (34f) am having with my husband (32m). My original post didn’t get any comments I think because it’s super long.
My husband and I are in the middle of a big argument (it’s day 3) because he says since he works and I’m a stay at home mom, the financial burden is on him and I don’t have any right to “b***h” at him for help with cleaning, the baby etc.
I brought up how I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with everything, and noticing he’s stopped doing things he used to do to help. For example- washing bottles before he goes to sleep so I’m not left doing it after putting our baby to sleep, getting up with baby early mornings on his days off, offering to hang out with baby so I can shower etc. He leaves his dishes all around the house, if he uses the last of the ice in the ice mold, he just leaves it in the counter for me to fill up. They are small things but when he used to do them, it showed me that he at least wanted to help me out a little bit.
He is the most mad at me I have ever seen him. He isn’t telling me he loves me- we are big “I love you” people, usually saying it to each other multiple times a day.
He’s called me dramatic, crazy, and that I’ve lost my mind over this. He is so cold towards me.
I want to mention that I do what I can to earn my own money to help with groceries and small things like formula or diapers. Sometimes the timing of side gigs overlap with his work schedule so I’m not able to earn any money that day, but I do try.
I would normally ask my brother for advice since his wife is an AMAZING sahm, but my brother is my husband’s boss so it might make things awkward.
I feel so lost and lonely. Does he have a point? Do I have no right to ask for help with housework or our baby since he is the money earner?

Hi Reddit — Im a resident of Western PA, and I have some questions about wildflower meadow site establishment. This year I have begun preparing a 2-acre lot for planting wildflowers in the fall, using a cover crop of brassicas to replace the existing turf. What I want to know is: Should I harvest (or at least mow) the brassicas before broadcasting the wildflower seed, or should I let them decay?
I have read that the thick root systems of brassicas work well to aerate the soil – I have presumed that this means they leave gaps as they decompose. I have also read that tilling the soil before planting will bring dormant grass/weed seeds to the surface, which I wish to avoid. So my instinct is to NOT harvest the brassicas this fall. My concern, however, is that they will regrow in the spring and compete with the wildflowers.
Since this is a nuanced question, I am having trouble finding an answer online. Does anyone have experience with this that you can share?

Hi Reddit — Im a resident of Western PA, and I have some questions about wildflower meadow site establishment. This year I have begun preparing a 2-acre lot for planting wildflowers in the fall, using a cover crop of brassicas to replace the existing turf. What I want to know is: Should I harvest (or at least mow) the brassicas before broadcasting the wildflower seed, or should I let them decay?
I have read that the thick root systems of brassicas work well to aerate the soil – I have presumed that this means they leave gaps as they decompose. I have also read that tilling the soil before planting will bring dormant grass/weed seeds to the surface, which I wish to avoid. So my instinct is to NOT harvest the brassicas this fall. My concern, however, is that they will regrow in the spring and compete with the wildflowers.
Since this is a nuanced question, I am having trouble finding an answer online. Does anyone have experience with this that you can share?

My situation is not terrible, but it is very bland. I have always been someone who struggles to make choices, not for lack of will but for lack of desire. After finishing school, I no longer have any guide to show me the way. At the moment, I am working, but the mere thought that even this will end demoralizes me, and besides, I hate the job-searching process. I don't know if I should go to university; I really don't know anything. My passions bring me less and less joy, I've lost my appetite, I'm much more irritable than usual, and I feel much more toxic than before. I don't recognize myself. I keep asking myself what the purpose of my existence is, what value the life I'm leading has. My anxious thoughts have worsened, and I only feel good when I manage to forget everything around me. I just wish I didn't have to worry about my future, finding a stable job, or a house. I have lost the spark of life; I am completely apathetic. I dream of lying under palm trees without worries, without discomfort, feeling the wind rustling through the leaves and resting. I know there are people who have it worse than me but i just can't help how i'm feeling.

Just went grocery shopping, couldn’t get everything I wanted cause didn’t have enough and had to get a few things that were reduced (about to go out of date) just to save some money, I’m getting in my car about to drive off and some bitch with 3 teeth in her mouth comes up to my window asking for £2 I said I ain’t got no change, she says can I just go to the atm and give her £5, I said I really don’t have much money, was about to tell her I couldn’t even afford everything in the shop I wanted today, she then interrupts me calls me a stupid black cunt piece of shit. I just laughed it off and drove off I had to do u turn at the end of the road and come back on my self to leave and I see her at the end of the road talking to someone so I horned at her and stuck my middle finger up at her, she turned her back to me as soon as she saw me coming. Shit pissed me off just tryna calm down right now. Wish I had an opened drink to throw at her lool.

Hi Reddit — Im a resident of Western PA, and I have some questions about wildflower meadow site establishment. This year I have begun preparing a 2-acre lot for planting wildflowers in the fall, using a cover crop of brassicas to replace the existing turf. What I want to know is: Should I harvest (or at least mow) the brassicas before broadcasting the wildflower seed, or should I let them decay?
I have read that the thick root systems of brassicas work well to aerate the soil – I have presumed that this means they leave gaps as they decompose. I have also read that tilling the soil before planting will bring dormant grass/weed seeds to the surface, which I wish to avoid. So my instinct is to NOT harvest the brassicas this fall. My concern, however, is that they will regrow in the spring and compete with the wildflowers.
Since this is a nuanced question, I am having trouble finding an answer online. Does anyone have experience with this that you can share?

it's been radio silence for a while. i'm pretty sure they want more than one baby. maybe that's why she's so away from the internet? she did have a tough first pregnancy.
it totally makes more sense for her to be gone for so long if she's doing more than one maternity leave at a time. unless she's solely a full-time stay-at-home-mom now & that's what she's decided to do.
i really miss her though, hope she's doing well. really wish she would let people know if she knows for sure she's not coming back, like i've heard people said taz said.
mods, feel free to delete if speculation is not allowed

Hi reddit — I’m a resident of Western PA, and I have some questions about wildflower meadow site establishment. This year I have begun preparing a 2-acre lot for planting wildflowers in the fall, using a cover crop of brassicas to replace the existing turf. What I want to know is: Should I harvest (or at least mow) the brassicas before broadcasting the wildflower seed, or should I let them decay?
I have read that the thick root systems of brassicas work well to aerate the soil – I have presumed that this means they leave gaps as they decompose. I have also read that tilling the soil before planting will bring dormant grass/weed seeds to the surface, which I wish to avoid. So my instinct is to NOT harvest the brassicas this fall. My concern, however, is that they will regrow in the spring and compete with the wildflowers.
Since this is a nuanced question, I am having trouble finding an answer online. Does anyone have experience with this that you’re willing to share?

My (25F) wife and I (26M) have been together for 8 years, married for 2. When we first started dating in college things were pretty normal. We would go out with friends, attend school events, go on dates, etc. My wife has always had anxiety and depression, but recently it's been getting worse and really effecting our lives. In college my wife held down a part time job and went to classes full time. This wasn't without struggle for her, some days she would be so anxious or depressed she wouldn't go to work, but was an overall reliable and stable worker who was offered a promotion she turned down.
When she turned 21 she gained access to stocks her grandfather left for her, this was also at the beginning of covid so she quit her job and resolved to live off of her stocks until the pandemic was over and focus on school while I kept working my job and attending classes. At this point in time we were living together and as long as she could come up with her half of the rent and groceries I did not say anything about how she wanted to spend her inheritance. Fast forward to a year into the pandemic and her stocks have run out just as her uncle passes and leaves a good sum of money to her. Seeing how fast she went through the first lump of money I convinced her that it would be smart for her to work still and not count on living off of this money as it wouldn't last very long. She agreed and got a job doing office work. We got married and were doing well, finally moved into a place without roommates and got some gur babies. A few months after getting married her anxiety was worse than before regarding working and began to effect her reliable and work performance. As time passed she began jokingly stating how she was learning she's autistic from TikTok and how much autistic people can't work. Everything she would point out did make sense and match up with her so I have no doubt she is autistic. As things progress she gets to the point where she quits her job stating it's too much for her anxiety and she needs a break before finding a new job due to being burnt out and needing to focus on her mental health. During this break she takes a turn. She becomes so depressed and anxious that I don't know how to help her outside of encouraging her to get appointments with a therapist and rework her meds all while her second inheritance is running out because my job alone cannot support us.
She's been out of work for a year now and we moved to a new city with some friends (a plan long in the making). I have a full time job and before moving to the city we spoke about her working part time (10-16 hours a week) so we could afford our new life. She agreed and we set a deadline of "before May" she should have strong leads on jobs and interviews. It's now well into May and she hasn't done a single interview, gets so overwhelmed at the thought of working it causes anxiety attacks, and she's gotten to the point where she will not leave the house alone or with me. The only time she leaves the house is to accompany me in driving to pick up groceries or if we are going out with a group of friends.
She states that she doesn't know how she's expected to find a job when she's autistic and agoraphobic, seeing her worked up over it I gritted my teeth and am now looking for a part time job I can work outside of my full time job. I can't help but feel resentment building inside me knowing I will be working 50-60 hours a week just for us to scrape by when she gets to be home and has been home for over a year now with the responsibility of doing a little over half of the house chores. And being resentful that we could have had a good size savings at this point if she had been working all that time instead of living off of her inheritance.
How do I go about this? I don't know what I can do to stop the resentment in me and help her get to a place where she can function as a self dependent human being again. I see her melt down about leaving the house and how stressful finding a job is, but anytime I try to help her or comfort her she snaps at me and tells me not to patronize her which is only adding to my frustration. If I offer to do something for her, 99% of the time she responds with "No you shouldn't have to do that for me, I should be able to do it myself". Even getting her to make a virtual doctors appointment to refill her medications is at the point of me setting up the app and handing it to her ready for her to click the "join" button to speak with someone and she can't do it. Any advice is greatly appreciated, I love my wife and our little family but I know this isn't sustainable.

Since FNaF: Into The Pit was revealed to the public, there were a lot of theories about "What new things will this game bring that, perhaps, were not completely clear in the novel?" Well, after some leaked info about Jeff, the owner of Jeff's Pizza (Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in the past), some people (me included) think that is very possible that his true identity was Michael Afton all along. This even made more sense as a possibility when Mega Cat Studios revealed a glimpse of Jeff in the game; purple-skinned, for some strange reason, and that it was revealed since the Graphic Novel Edition that "Into The Pit" was set in 2020.
Now, Michael being Jeff make that some weird things about Jeff's original description in the novel make a lot of sense:

Today, like all other days, Jeff looked as if he hadn’t slept in a week. His dark hair was sticking up in weird places, and he had alarming bags under his bloodshot eyes. It was funny. Jeff’s expression never changed. He looked tired and miserable even when he was being extra nice. And when he thought about it, Jeff was kind of creepy, too. He looked a hundred years old but was probably just thirty. With those heavy-lidded, bloodshot eyes, the stained apron, and the slow speech and movement, he was like a zombie pizza chef.

The last description is the most important, because we all know since FNaF: Sister Location's Custom Night minigames that Michael ended up looking like a zombie with a slow pace, and from his monologue it is known that his intonation was also just as slow. And if you take a quick look at what a one hundred year old person looks like, they sadly fit to a zombie-like description (most of the time.)
The most interesting thing to me about that description is the mention of Jeff, probably, being a 30 year old guy, because... why did they draw such a direct conclusion, and on top of that, classify it as a "probability"? If I have to guess, it's because that description was meant to reveal the age Michael Afton had when he died.
This alone is not enough to draw a specific conclusion about the chronological location of FNaF: Sister Location, beyond the age one can assume of Michael in 1983, which still leaves us with a wide repertoire of options. But this is where a page from the Survival Logbook comes in that I had not given enough attention to at the time, but now makes me believe that it was always the answer; the page 32 39.
This is one of the few pages that Mike uses to draw something. At the time, most of us thought that it was only supposed to depict that this book was clearly meant to reveal Golden Freddy's soul name. And even if I still believe that's the case, there's still the question of "why would Mike draw a tombstone in the first place?" Perhaps we should take a look to what the page is about:

One way to find hope in a seemingly hopeless situation is to fast-forward and try peeking into the future. Let's give it a try-what will your like look like in five years?

Most of the people believe the book is meant to give us a better look at Mike during the events of FNaF 1, with several of us believing the same despite the book actually being meta (not an in-universe logbook). Since the strongest stance that FNaF: Sister Location takes place after FNaF 1, because Michael mentions having already met the Missing Children and the "Dittophobia" story revealing lore of Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental, is very clear for most of us that Michael had his first death after FNaF 1.
If this page was meant to depict that he died five years later, and "Into The Pit" was meant to reveal that he died being a 30 years old guy, then not only we would reach the conclusion that FNaF: Sister Location is set in 1998, but also that Mike would have been a 25 year old guy during FNaF 1. Now, where we've seen that same age for Mike before?

At twenty-five years old, Mike was okay with his age. He was cool with his looks, too. He was five foot six and in pretty good shape, even though he didn’t have time to work out too much. He didn’t think his dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and regular features were particularly handsome, but they weren’t ugly, either.

Yes, FNaF: The Offical Movie Novel, where Mike Schmidt is a 25 year old guy. We have the right to question whether Mike's age during the year 2000 in which the movie takes place is appropriate for what he was in FNaF 1 for obvious reasons, but at the same time, it is a probability considering what Scott Cawthon said he had planned to do with these films during Dawko's interview:

and people who go to see the movie aren't gonna want to see a retelling of the books. They're gonna want to see the first game. They're gonna want to see a retelling of the story that got them interested in the first place, you know? The first game had the right atmosphere, the right characters, and that's what people are gonna want. And um, ideally, if the first movie does really well, I think it will work great as a trilogy. Um, Five Nights at Freddy's 1, Five Nights at Freddy's 2, and Five Nights at Freddy's 3, based on the first three games.

And since then, there were a lot of statements either from Scott and the people involved on the movie themselfs that FNaF: The Movie was clearly meant to reimagine the first game.
My conclusion would be that FNaF: Sister Location takes place in 1998 (not sure in what season tho, maybe Autumn?) and that Michael Afton was a 15 year old kid during 1983, a 25 year old guy in 1993, and finally, a 30 year old man in 1998. What do you think?

I’m gonna try to make this as simple as possible. Basically I’ve been dealing with this woman since 2019 and at first I thought she was sweet, spiritual, and innocent, boyyyy was I wrong.. as time went on I started to see the real her. She’s very manipulative, a pathological liar, narcissist, and she has cluster B border line personality disorder. The night we met she fed me a bunch of lies which I uncovered overtime for example she told me the first night we met that she had been raped the year prior while she was in school(which I later found out was not true whatsoever. Months down the line she would even talk about exs that were “abusive” towards her which I later also found out wasn’t true. Fast forward to February of 2020 she ended up pregnant with our first child and a couple months into the pregnancy she just decided she’s not gonna deal with me anymore, so I ended up dating a woman I’ve known since middle school. She found out about this and next thing I know the sheriffs are serving me a restraining order accusing me of rape!!! When we showed up for court she immediately dropped the order before we even could talk to the judge. Fast forward to when my child was born in December of 2020 she texts me that she just had the baby and I asked if I could come up there and she said “no” and as time goes on she start’s blatantly keeping my child from me I didn’t meet my first born until February of 2021, and that’s when she tried to reconcile whatever situationship we had and would go on to apologize for the accusations saying her family foster her to do that so that I won’t be able to be in my child’s life which of course was a lie that was her decision. As time goes on the girl I was dating passed away and I was distraught so my baby mother comes around and I ended up coming up on money and decided to get us an apartment with our child two months into staying there I had a seizure while sleeping and instead of staying there to help she takes my child and leaves and proceeded to text my mom a picture of me in bed having the seizure and even tells my mom I was hitting her while having a seizure …. She blocked me again after that and a month later comes back around againnnn I guess basically to just have sex with me and then blocks me again and keeps me from my child, and at that point she was pregnant with my second child. I didn’t see my oldest for 6-7 months I had moved on to a nice relationship with a wonderful woman by that time and my second child was born, and that’s when I decided to take this stuff to court and the judge reprimanded her for isolating my kids from me and a custody order was placed for them to be with me every other weekend. During the custody court date she tried telling the judge I was abusive and all that nonsense and the judge seen right through it and didn’t pay it any attention, so two months after that she starts reaching out more and trying to have normal conversations and I would go along with it like a idiot and she wanted to hook up again and we did a few times, in which my girlfriend found out and we broke up and then weeks after that my baby moms ghost me again, still following the order tho. A month later my girlfriend and I got back on good terms and she notices and tries to get me to sabotage my relationship again! It doesn’t really work and I came to find out she would tell her family I was abusing her and a bunch of other ridiculous lies. This time CPS gets involved and investigates me for DV, which didn’t work. Now let’s fast forward to two years later, my babymom keeps coming in and out of my life(I don’t know why I let her honestly) she thinks about leaving to the military and I took the kids while she tries to go to the recruiting camp or whatever to see if she can enlist which she can’t because apparently she’s been committed by her mother a few times.. I stopped dealing with her for a while until some months back, she calls herself apologizing for everything she’s done to me and we start hanging out again but at this point I no longer am in love with her I wanted to go be with the woman I was still in love with that she thought she Sabotaged, and when I confessed this to her and that I can’t deal with how much she lies and plays these mental games and before I try to go home she tells me she’s gonna kill herself when I go home and I had her committed at her own request, she stayed for about a week and a half. Gets out and was put on meds and therapy which she stopped using after a couple of months. Me and the girl I’m in love with are still seeing each other and me and my babymoms stopped dealing with each other yet again. I get a knock on the door about a month or two later with getting served another restraining order falsely accusing me of abuse yet again I didn’t fight it cuz I’m really tired of her at this point. We started hanging out just taking the boys to the park and stuff like that just to try to bond with our kids as a family despite everything… she starts wanting to get intimate and I actually didn’t want to this time and then she starts telling me a bunch of lies about how she hasn’t been with anybody and a whole bunch of non sense that I know is false, and I snapped on her and called her out on all of it, I went wrong in the conversation and threw her phone back at her but it wasn’t in a aggressive way it hits her on the eye and I apologized and everything and I still say I don’t wanna be intimate with her and wanna be with the same woman that I’m in love with still, and then she begins to start that “I wanna kill myself” bullshit again except this time I don’t commit her cuz I realize she just tries to get pity from me and everybody else however she can. The next day she texts and asks for a bag she left at my house I told her I’d leave it on the porch for her. When she pulls up me and my girlfriend and her son are outside playing, out of nowhere her uncles jumps out her car and attacks me while my kids are watching from her car and my girlfriend’s son was right there in front of all this he then runs back to her car and they pull off quickly. The phone left her eye a lil black when I threw it at her and she even admitted that to my brother through text and to me in text that it was the phone, but typical crazy girl fashion she even texts my girlfriend after her and her uncle left a picture of her eye and says “you better leave him alone before this happens to you” she reported the incident to police weeks later but no charges were filed, CPS reached out to me yet again and I explain to them what happened over the phone and they didn’t seem to adamant about opening up a case. After the attack from her uncle I go to the courts and filed for motion of contempt for not following the custody arrangement on a few occasions, one of being that she had her u cake attack me with my kids present and one of the requirements on the order is to not let the other parent be harmed in any way in front of the children which the judge signed off on and we have court later today for. So yesterday she reaches out after it’s been almost two months since that whole attack from her uncle saying how she misses me and she wants to get the restraining order dropped, and she wants to sleep with me, and see me, and all that. And I actually let her come meet up with me at the mall just to kind of see where her headspace is. Long story short came to find out she was dating some guy and I told him all about her in which he agreed that she lies about every single thing and it’s almost impossible to believe a word out her mouth. this girl has some serious issues and I really want full custody of my boys because I’m scared for their safety being with her as she’s really unstable and flat out crazy, I know hiring an attorney would be the easiest route and me and my family are willing to go in on one but it’s so expensive that if I can do it without an attorney I would like that, would the judge wnat to hear about any of this at this custody violation hearing? Or should I open another case for that separately? I did mention to CPS when they asked me if I had any concerns about my kids being with her I didn’t really want to say too much because I was going to court anyway but I did tell them she smokes marijuana often and drinks very often. I know I should’ve just told them about her mental health problems right then and there but I was still kinda in shock they called me in the first place. Now most of this stuff is documented in texts and pictures, what would you do in this situation? Like what’s the best way of going about fighting her for full custody? This is in North Carolina btw.

[First] [Previous] [Next]
To my beloved Marcus
I know you will make sure
this Heart reaches every lost Bastard
or any curious soul in general
until this guide is no longer necessary.
It makes me so sad to think I won't live to see that day.
It is hard for me to say this, but if this book has made its way into your hands, it means that it is already too late for you. For some reason, whichever it may be, you are already in the middle of our situation. And taking the chance now that I already said something so depressing, here is another thing: there is no way for you to get out of it.

Are you being surrounded by strange events lately? I don’t know, maybe the lights around you blink more often than not, the radio changes stations without anyone touching the dial? The animals are suddenly extremely aggressive, or maybe unnaturally tame towards you?

Suddenly you can’t shake the feeling that someone, or something, is staring at you from somewhere unseen in the room…

I guess that I don’t need to mention how this all started. You probably saw something you weren’t meant to see, didn’t you. Some random person breaking the rules of reality in one way or another. A guy flying, a girl on the streets spitting fire, objects appearing out of nowhere.

Nothing makes sense and no one seems to care or know how to explain it. Well my friend, I am sorry to inform you that you have been infected. You are incubating the Arcane Infection, and you are now Awake.

Now, you are a Mage. A Bastard Mage, if you don’t have a master to guide you… which is most probably the case.

If this is the first time you read this book, or any kind of Draconian Text, this probably doesn’t make any sense. I know, it didn’t make sense for me either when I was in your place, almost seventy years ago. But trust me, everything will be explained in time. Just be patient, and stay with me, ok? Keep calm, and keep reading.

The first thing you need to learn is to shut up. You cannot talk about this with anyone who hasn’t experienced it and holds some sort of relevant position in society. Really. Famous scientists, politicians, Mayors, I don’t know. Anyone who tends to be trusted by non-mages. Just. Don’t.

If you already did, let’s hope they didn’t believe you. With some luck, you were disregarded as a fool, a maniac or a person with too vivid of an imagination.

If you survive past three days or so after opening your dumb mouth, you should be safe? Now don’t do that again. The Black Pages don’t like it when you try to talk about this…

Remember that sensation of being stalked? Let’s say that it will eventually go away, unless you are stupid or naive enough to try and bring attention to this deal.

Yes. Magic is real. Good for you. Now shut your piehole and keep reading unless you want to be remembered soon. Walls have eyes and ears, and they’ll probably continue to have them for two or three months. Trying to run away will only perpetuate this, so the best thing you can do is not think about it.

Do something stupid in these months and you will die. Disappear. Kaput. Remembered.

There are people who want to maintain this as a secret. That is another thing I will explain in time.

Right now you have two options: You can learn how to manage this new “gift” (if you want to call it that) in a remotely appropriate way; or you can just be another idiot, and try to live a normal life.

What? You think I am being unnecessarily aggressive? Well maybe I am. But you need to understand the gravity of this situation.

Because I lied. You have no options. Learn how to use this new capability to your advantage, or you will die in a freak accident.

If after reading this you prefer to just keep on with your life like nothing happened, then good for you. Close the book, and put it back where it was. With some luck it will land in the hands of someone less dense.

.

.

.

Still reading? Good. Excellent! Sit down, get comfortable, maybe grab a drink. This is going to be long.

Among the words of this tome in your hands, you will find all the information I have been able to gather along my eighty god damn years of life, or at least all that you need to know to keep yourself alive until getting a proper guide.

It will be a long journey, and many of the things here won't make much sense, especially because I had to take the time to adapt and translate documents three or four centuries old to a mostly understandable format.
So you better be thankful.

The first thing I want you to know: please, for the love of God, do not settle for the things I am exposing here. All the information in this book will be absolutely basic, it won’t replace a formal education.. All the information here is for you to know where you are, how to start, and where to aim.

And now is when I am going to start telling you what IS inside this book.

We will start with something simple: what is Magic (or “The Art”) exactly, how did you end up in this situation and why is it important that you study it by yourself.

Then, after the general explanation, I will talk a little about our “Society”, if we can call a bunch of lonely, grumpy jackasses a “Mage Society”. There are some non-written rules of etiquette and other details that you need to keep in mind, if you want to keep the head on your neck.

Another section of the book will talk about the dangers around us… and this section will be, ironically enough, quite short, because the less you know about it, the better.

Mystery is your greatest ally, it’s everyone’s greatest ally. All that you don’t know is as important as what you do know. And that is what the fourth chapter is about. Each Mage has their own magical system, according to which they can create a Heart. There are as many ways of Magic as Mages in the world (so, not really that many), but all of them share some similarities.

Chapter Five is about the foundations of a ritual. Not every magical system has rituals, but it is always useful to learn and understand how these work, just in case you may find yourself in a desperate situation..

Finally, Chapter Six will be a directory with Formulas, Glyphs and Thrills that should serve as a starting point for all of you. Nothing too complex, but still, very useful. I left a few blank pages here, for you to add anything you learn and feel convenient.

If any of you misuses it, I swear to the Gods.

And this would be the real reason behind this tome: take whatever you can, leave what you create for others to use. I started this book as some sort of reproduction of the classic “Metodología del Fantástico”, that dear Gwendolin de Recattio left for us almost four hundred years ago, and that is obviously beyond obsolete at this point.

That and also probably burned to ashes as many other manuals end up.

Take notes damn it, I will leave spaces for everyone to make a little mark. But for the love of the Gods don’t use your real name, don’t be an imbecile.

Let’s make something together. Let’s create something important for once in our stupid lives. Let’s make the Bastard's life a little easier.

Gato.

That casual exclamation to the so-called ‘gods’ makes it clear that this book is either heretical or very old. Then again, the Wohlian it is written in is quite modern… but that could be the effect of magic, right? After all, this thing is written in ‘draconic’, which seems to be a magical language that self-translates or something?

But that was not the only thing that kinda came to my attention. This guy, Gato, is treating magic like this incredibly serious and dangerous thing… and I can’t help but feel a little nervous about it. I mean, everyone seems to be doing just fine, even if there are a few rules that I have to consider. Was this deal really so complicated?

Well, Gato was the expert, and it felt like everyone respected them plenty so… I will abide by them!

Besides, the knowledge here is beyond promising! A part of me wants to skip right to chapter 6 and start learning new runes! But no, I have to be patient, I have to learn the way it was intended and take my time absorbing/acclimating to the knowledge!

That does remind me, I have my own runes to learn and start using, too… should I begin practicing that before I start learning new ones?

“Wait. Before you do any of that… there’s more on the page?”

Huh?

I will add as much as I can! This book is a great resource but it is also a bit outdated, after all it’s been almost 80 years since its writing!

Don’t give up! We will see this through!

— Giovanni.

If I leave that idiot in charge of the notes he will undoubtedly forget things. Take his optimism with a grain of salt.

Pay attention.

— Mustafá.

Annotations?

I quickly open the file on my computer to compare… and just as I thought, these annotations are not on the scanned version. The beginning is exactly the same, but the writing makes it obvious that these two were written at different times, by the same hand but, still, copied individually!

I look down at my physical version again. Who are these people? And why did they feel the need to vandalize the book like this? I can only beg for them to actually make sensible and useful comments. If this book is as old as they say, maybe the updates will be a good thi–

Wait, only 80 years? I thought a book like this would be at least a century old.

Maybe magic is surprisingly modern after all!

“Fat chance. Gato quoted one of his sources, ‘Metodología del Fantástico’, which should be around five hundred years old.”

Hmmm, whatever the case… I should ask someone about this.

But I can’t just go right back to the Chatbox after saying I would be busy, that would be silly! I instead connect to the Messenger.

Pepe is not online, probably planning a cool vacation with his family or something. Vito is out drawing, Patricio is online but busy… ah, there it is! The group Gal made. Someone should know something there…

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Hi hi! n.n Anyone here?
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: hey Tav, just me for now! the others are busy or snoring.
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: I wish I could go for some zzz right now
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Is it late where you live? o.o
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: early, we have a few hours of difference between Wohl and Rayah.

The Commonwealth of Rayah… that’s on the literal other side of Jericho, so of course we have half a day of difference!

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Wait O.o is it like, five in the morning over there then!?
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: eyeup
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: today I gotta take care of granny’s business and that means waking up EARLY
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Damn u.u I hope you have a good day, remember to keep hydrated!
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: hah, will do, will do.
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Hmmm… hey, sorry to bother you with this but, I gotta ask… uwu
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Have you ever heard of Mustafá and/or Giovanni? uwu
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: in what context?
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: those are names, you’re saying names right now
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: In magic contexts? O.o
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: not a clue, sorry
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Bah, probably just a couple of randos then u.u
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Oh well, thank you anyways! n.n
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: where did you even find those names?
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Ah! I found them in the physical version of the book you sent me!
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: why did you go looking for that?
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I don’t like reading in electronic media TwT
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: hmmm ok but be careful
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: don’t go testing the knowledge of randos or something like that
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I won’t, I won’t -u- I will be nice and careful!

Cracking my knuckles, I finally get back into the book. Finally, some answers at hand!

Husband wants divorce need advice
Need advice. I just had a baby 5 months old. Husband said he was done and wants a divorce 2 months ago but Ive been fighting for my marriage and family since then. He says hes unhappy and our entire relationship was toxic but I asked him all the time if he was happy. We had an amazing relationship. If he felt that why would he propose to me, why would he marry me, why would he try for 2 years to have a baby with me (struggled with infertility) now he says hes done. All we wanted was a family now hes leaving. Im so broken and hurt. I love him so much i feel destroyed and betrayed. He had me sign a post nup & separation agreement. I wasnt in the right state of mind (actually went to the hospital for depression because of HIM) lawyer says he took advantage of me while being vulnerable. In these agreements it says he gets the house & i have to leave (we bought it together) advice???? And that we split our baby 50/50… but hes only 5 months he needs his mom. Oh and im on mat leave so dont make a lot currently, and that he will pay me $250 for child support.

Years ago, before they discontinued the warhammer fantasy world, I used to be part of a forum ‘round table of Bretonnia’. Besides, being an amazing place for sharing the hobby we all love. It was also a place where they organised tournaments, pretty much with similar rules to Tilt and shared and wrote stories.
It was then, as roughly a 10 year old, I started writing Bretonnian narratives and did Warhammer Fantasy D&D sessions with my older brother, which is something I still do and enjoy doing.
When end times came out, this motivated me to write a somewhat different alternative to that narrative, that didn’t destroy the world completely.
The setting in short is: Bretonnian civil war, in which the narrative presented is written by the ‘victor’ but not quite what happened.
The empire shattered, with the death of an emperor and the resurrection of several vital undead characters.
The blowing up of parts of Ulthuan, with natural disasters as a result all over the old world, but most importantly a push back of chaos for now. So everything being just a little bit more sh*t than before. It’s roughly 166 pages now 😅, and have never shared any piece of really. Just wondered what types of alternative narratives you may have come up with?
(For those interested, this is a tiny bit of it:
The Tome of Landuin: This will be the year 979 by count of the Empire, and year one of the accursed lie, that will haunt my people. My name is Landuin de Mousillon, the first of my name and the last. Foul dreams haunt my mind, I see the doom of my land, the death of my people, and no ways to end their suffering. It has been three months since our conquest or reunification of Bretonnia. The tribes of our people have been united, under one crown, and one King. My friend Gilles has managed to find a common purpose for our people in the form of ‘the lady’. However, it is the greatest deceit of our time. My heart is heavy, my mind troubled, but my honour dictates I cannot move against my king, my friend, my brother. The lady, who has united Bretonnia under one king and deity, is false. I saw her, I saw her and Gilles on the edge of Athel Loren. Their loving relationship, which would not be seemly to a true goddess. I wish, I hadn’t stayed longer, but I did. Knowing the tongue of the Sylvan Elves I understood the name they called her: Lileath. I left not knowing my presence had been noticed. Since then, dreams of death, and doom have haunted me. There is no night I truly sleep, no day I truly live. I have seen these nightmares will haunt those of my decent. Sometimes stronger than with others. Lileath uses us to keep her true people safe. True magicians might be able to discover her deceit, that’s why she takes them when they’re young. Moulding them to her own wishes. Those that are against her, she strikes down. I have already seen the changes in my land. She is not protecting the lands of Bretonnia, at least not with great feet of strength. She is simply not corrupting it, however, Mousillon is not so lucky. The Mousillon flowers are blooming in abundance. Normally only seen at former battlefields due to the rot in the ground. She is evil, for she is rotting my land from the inside. Slowly rotting the soil, so it will go completely barren.
I cannot bring myself to bring forth this truth, for Gilles, having supped from her grail, is no longer capable of his own thoughts in regard to her divinity. He would doubt my words, before he would hers, which would only doom my people. For his wrath would be boundless, and so would hers. The words I wrote are like the coming of doom, be aware, your dreams will be haunted, as long as she remains, but also, she will try and guide you to your death.
The sword I leave here is the sword of the blazing sun, its light might guide your path, when you’re in darkness. Be not afraid, for although the lady is no longer with us, so will I be.)

I honestly don’t even know where to start, I apologize if the timeline is difficult to follow.
My (30F) husband (30M) is currently a nurse. Two years ago, my husband, let’s call him Wayne, enrolled in a one year, accelerated nursing program at a university in our city. This was a super intense program that basically shoved four years of nursing school into one year. (The program is designed for people who already have an undergrad degree and have completed pre-reqs for the program) Wayne quit his job so he could focus all of his energy on the nursing program and pass the NCLEX. I was fully supportive of this and basically told him whatever he needed to do to study and feel prepared, I was game. I think it is important to mention that Wayne and I have been together for 15 years now, we are high school sweethearts.
During the first week of his program, Wayne met two other students and became friends with them. I will call them Bonnie (27F) and Gail (28F). The three of them became fast friends and quickly made a habit of studying together every single day for almost a year. They would take turns going to each other’s houses for study sessions. The majority of the time the three would be at our house because it was somewhat in the middle between their houses and the university. Since I worked during the day, they could study all day if they wanted.
I also really liked Bonnie and Gail. Eventually, we all became friends and Bonnie’s boyfriend, Dan (27M), and Gail’s girlfriend, Tanis (28F) would come over for dinners. Before anyone asks, I had absolutely no issue with Wayne befriending women or spending time with them. Wayne and I are best friends and have a very secure relationship. I trust him completely. Not to mention, Bonnie and Gail were also in relationships, so it was no big deal. Eventually, Wayne and Bonnie even helped Gail work through some of her relationship drama and helped her break up with Tanis. The get-togethers became smaller after that, because Tanis was gone and Dan was working more and couldn’t come.
Fast forward to graduation, Wayne and Bonnie decided that they wanted to work in the Emergency Department and Gail was going to work in a less intense area. Both Wayne and Bonnie got a job at the same ER and their shifts would be similar so they would be co-workers. We all thought this was awesome because that particular ER is in a tough part of town and they see a lot of level one traumas. It’s great that Wayne and Bonnie can “debrief” after shifts and vent to each other. Gail was forced to go on night shift, which was the opposite schedule of Wayne and Bonnie. Over the past year, Wayne and Gail haven’t really spoken. Wayne rationalized that they both got really busy and just lost touch. Bonnie still spoke regularly with Gail.
Around this time, Dan proposed to Bonnie! This was a long time coming and we were all very happy for them. Bonnie said that Wayne and I were definitely invited and it was going to be so much fun! The happy couple eventually told us that the wedding would not be in town, but take place in a state far away. Easily twelve to thirteen hours drive or a flight away. While that would be a lot of money for us, we said that we would do our best to come. Bonnie asked Gail to be a bridesmaid and we were super pumped because it would be like a small reunion! At this time, I found out I was pregnant!! We had been trying for a while and we were so happy. It would work out great because our baby boy would be approximately nine months old at the time of the wedding. Old enough that we could leave him for a day or two with my parents to go to the wedding.
Fast forward to last week. On Tuesday, Bonnie hand delivered Wayne our invitation to their wedding. I was able to request off work and we’ve been slowly saving money to travel for the wedding. On Friday, Bonnie pulled Wayne aside after their shift. Bonnie said that her and Dan had a really bad fight because Bonnie invited Wayne and I to the wedding. Wayne was very confused, why would Dan be upset that we were invited? Bonnie then said:
Since Wayne, Bonnie, and Gail met in nursing school, Gail has been under the delusion that Wayne was in love with her. Apparently, Bonnie and Dan would talk with Gail almost EVERY DAY and tell Gail that there was nothing between her and Wayne. Gail would insist that Wayne was in love with her. Bonnie would tell Gail that she was in the room when such and such happened and there was nothing that happened. As time went on, Gail started to badmouth me to Bonnie and Dan. She would say that I was manipulative and I was mean to Wayne, etc. Gail started saying that she needed to break up with Tanis because Wayne and her were going to be together. Eventually, Gail thought that Wayne was going to leave me to be with her. Bonnie and Dan continued to tell Gail that she was crazy and nothing was happening. When Wayne told them that we were trying for a baby, Gail started a whole other delusion that Wayne and her were going to have kids.
According to Bonnie, during one of our dinners when it was just the four of us, I said something that Gail then passed on to Dan. This was around the time of a school shooting where an AR-15 was used. For context, I was a teacher in an urban school district for five years. During those five years, I was in five lockdowns, one of which had an armed intruder. While I am not anti-gun, I feel very strongly about school safety and gun restrictions. Dan enjoys guns and owns an AR-15. He is also very passionate about gun safety. Gail told Dan that I said something to the effect of “anyone who owns an AR-15 has those children’s blood on their hands”. I can say with 100% certainty that I never said that. I am sure because that is a super unhinged thing to say and it would never come to my mind to say that. If anything, I would have said that AR-15s shouldn’t be so readily available to citizens and there should be restrictions in place so these tragedies don’t happen.
Regardless, Gail told Dan that I allegedly said this. According to Bonnie, Gail talked to Dan without Bonnie present and she was unaware that this conversation had taken place. Dan was very angry and hurt by what Gail said and chose to internalize his anger towards me. Apparently, Dan decided he no longer wanted to see Wayne and I and lied about his work schedule so as to not attend dinners with us. It was not until a couple months after this, that Bonnie invited Dan to dinner at our house and he said, “why would I spend time with those people after what they said?”. Bonnie was confused and then Dan told her what Gail told him. Bonnie told Dan that those words were never spoken and Gail was lying. By this point, Dan had convinced himself that I had said those things and didn’t believe Gail would lie.
When they graduated from nursing school and started working, they stopped hanging out as much because of their schedules. Gail took this as Wayne “ghosting” her and “breaking up” with her. Gail continued to bad mouth me and Wayne.
When Dan found out that Bonnie had given us a wedding invitation, he was livid. He felt that Bonnie went behind his back to invite us even though “we hurt him”.
When Wayne reiterated this to me, I was shocked. We had been completely in the dark about this whole thing FOR TWO YEARS. Bonnie had been acting like nothing was wrong. After almost every shift, Wayne and Bonnie talk on the phone. Not once has she even mentioned anything about this. Gail is still in the wedding party despite this. Dan still hates us.
Bonnie wants Wayne and I to be at her wedding and says, “she can’t get married without her best friend [Wayne] there”.
Firstly, Bonnie has lied by omission for two years. Frankly, I don’t trust Bonnie anymore. I am skeptical that we have all of the information and there isn’t something more at play here.
Secondly, I am offended that Dan would think that I said those things. And I’m shocked he would blindly believe Gail, especially after her delusions about Wayne.
Thirdly, why would I want to go to a wedding where Gail is a bridesmaid? Who is to say she doesn’t start something and cause a scene? Also, why would I want to spend thousands of dollars to travel to a wedding where I am uncomfortable? AND I’m leaving my baby?
While Wayne is as confused as I am, he still wants to go to the wedding. He has trauma-bonded with Bonnie through work and values her as a friend. While I understand this, I can not get over this. Bonnie is trying to talk to Dan and convince him that we are good people and Gail twisted everything. Honestly, after being left in the dark for two years, I don’t want to have to convince anyone that we’re innocent in this. If anything, we should be getting an apology from all parties.
Wayne and I are currently still waiting to hear from Bonnie about her “talk” with Dan and Gail. As of right now, 5/21, Gail is still a bridesmaid and Dan still doesn’t want us at the wedding.
Am I wrong for feeling this way? What would you do?