Hello! 😊👋🏼
If you're looking for your new best friend and your biggest cheerleader sprinkled with a little bit of Golden Retriever energy, you've come to the right post! 🐶
I’m somebody who loves to chat the day away, getting to know all there is to know about a person (I actually kinda do this for a job!) and forming lovely connections.
A little about me - I’m an introverted extrovert. I love my home comforts, but in the comfort of my own home and with people I love, I’m a bit of an oddball. I love to read, watch horror & comedy movies, listen to metal and country music, get way too invested in WWE, collect Funko Pops, bake, laugh at bad jokes and great memes, and send unsolicited videos of me lip syncing to my friends. I’m a fiancé and a mum to my cute pup and my three lovely cats (crazy cat lady who?). Happy to exploit them for my own personal gain by sharing pictures of them without their consent should you wish. Also, I have watched Always Sunny more times than I can count and will quote this at you regularly ☀️
I like to be upfront and let people know that I’m pierced and rather chonky (here I am) because if that bothers you then we probably aren’t gonna make great friends ❤️
If you think we’d get along, or simply that you can lip sync better than me, then get in touch! Looking forward to meeting some lovely new people 🌻

this is purely speculative and absolutely not a shipping post. i’m cross posting from a previous write-up i did on tumblr a while ago because i am super curious to see what others think or if i’ve missed anything! there’s so much set up/at play in the acotar universe right now i’m really curious to see if/how these plots might be resolved. Please be wary of spoilers for all books and HOFAS.

• The Illyrians (this spans multiple points)

1 - attempts at training the Illyrian women and ending wing clipping. Given that Emerie became a Carynthian even with clipped wings, and is a full fledged valkyrie now I think we will see more of this plot point, hopefully with Emerie having more success in getting Illyrian women to train!
2 - Growing Illyrian dissent. This is connected to the first point, but also with the significant losses they suffered during ACOWAR, along with Rhys's arguably ineffective governing strategies :(. Theoretically Cassian will be dealing mostly with this, but the Valkyries may end up in the middle as well (Gwyn being the first non-Illyrian carynthian)
3 - Mount Ramiel. it's been hinted at something being under the mountain, possibly another dread trove? or something worse? whatever it is, it will likely also involve our resident Illyrians and Valkyries. Nesta is connected to the Trove/Cauldron/The Mother, while Gwyn, Emerie, Cassian, and Azriel (& Rhys ofc but he’s on dad duty) are all technically connected to Ramiel as Carynthians. With (HOFAS spoilers) Gwydion returned to Prythian as well, and having been given to Nesta, along with her major supporting role in HOFAS sets us up for more of her adventures (regardless of whether she's a POV or not - I think she's going to be very present in future books)
i don’t have the quote but i believe it was implied by rhys that the illyrian stuff will have to wait until whatever Mor is dealing with abroad is figured out (mortal queens? koschei? etc. but will the illyrians actually wait?) if someone has that quote that would be amazing (i don’t own copies of the books). Also, with Nesta and Azriel playing such large roles in the HOFAS Prythian portion it seems like SJM is having a lot of fun with them at the moment - hinting at azriel book next?
the other major points seemingly takes us out of the night court:

• Koschei (what is he? death god? and what does he want?) (he is located on the continent - does this connect us to what Mor has been doing while she’s been away?)

1 - Queen Vassa's curse. Considering she was one of the last people to spend extensive time with Papa Archeron (who somehow bargained to free her from Koschei), it seems likely that SM will resolve her storyline somehow. Her connection to Lucien through that trip (and continued partnership after), and her alliance with Jurian seems to be priming Vassa to assume power over the human kingdoms) while also pursuing cooperation with the different fae realms. She will need to be freed from her curse, if Lucien has cursebreaking powers from Helion (his biological father?)
2 - Koschei's interest in the trove - we saw this through his manipulations of Briallyn but I doubt it will stop there. He may seek to manipulate other forces to further his agenda. The other mortal queens? Other fae leaders (cough Tamlin cough Beron cough)? What about our cauldron-bonded seer Elain? Is she in danger? Does she still have powers? Does he want to retrieve the cauldron from where it is hidden (Miriam and Drake)?

• Autumn Court Drama

1 - Eris wants to overthrow his daddy. This has been building for a while, a coup (whether just an attempt or a success) is probably in the future.
2 - Lucien's true parentage. With Feyre figuring out that the Lady of Autumn had an affair with Helion (HL of Day), resulting in Lucien, it seems like it is only a matter of time before all of this information comes out in the wash (LoA and Helion rejected mating bond is also speculated)
3 - The Eris and Mor mess. there's a lot of speculation here, and obviously horribly traumatic history. I can't help but wonder if Eris will have something to say about what happened to/with Mor in the future (it seems SJM has hinted at this). Or maybe we'll get more information from Mor herself (Mor novella? one can only hope!!)

• Other threads:

-just how much power did Nesta relinquish in the end of ACOSF. in HOFAS we see her using her silver flames and fighting with the mask - what did she actually give up / how much did she actually give up?

• the "High King" plot-line. Why does Amren want Rhys to claim the title?
  
• baby Nyx was saved by The Mother? (acting through Nesta)...are there any ramifications for that or are we just going to leave it be lol
  
• Azriel's mom. We know that she's still alive (HOFAS) / at least it's heavily implied. It's been mentioned she lives somewhere called "Rosehall." Cassian thinks the library would be a good/healing place for her. if/when we get Azriel's POV we'll likely get more information about her, hopefully get to meet her character
  

-Merrill's research. this was technically resolved with HOFAS proving it true but would love to hear characters thoughts on this! does Nesta tell Gwyn about their strange visitor, and then Gwyn tells Merrill, or would Rhys go to Merrill directly? Could Rhys have Merrill start looking for a way to protect Prythian from future unwanted visitors (world-walkers)

• HOFAS Spoilers. When Bryce more or less revives/ heals Avallen she wonders if this could have had an effect across worlds (the island of Avallen seems to be connected to the Prison island due to the barriers between worlds being thinner in certain places?). Did the prison island "wake up" as well/was it revitalized? Are there pegasi there too (i hope so! this could totally be a mini Valkyrie plot!!! i want it so bad!)
  
• objectively elain has been very absent from the narrative, and there seem to be hints that she may be up to more than just gardening. i personally want to really see what she is like (from her own POV!), see her friendship with Nuala and Cerridwen, and also her thoughts on everything that has happened!
  
• the spring court mess with Tamlin. this could also involve Lucien (maybe even Jurian and Vassa if they are close to the wall), but if the court is being mismanaged and the magic is unrestrained/ unstable (because Tamlin is) —what does this mean for neighboring courts? the human lands? the overall health of Prythian?
  
• the burning elephant in the room: elain and lucien's mating bond. this isn't a shipping post but this point will need to be resolved sooner or later :/
  

…
that's a lot! i'd love to hear others thoughts, like did I miss anything important? any more nuanced elements i may have glossed over? again this isn't a shipping post at all, i'm just trying to organize plot threads! also please share/link/send me theories in regards to any of these points!!!!

Hi all - just had my wedding in Los Angeles that I planned as I have a special events/planning background and thought I’d share some tips.
Hire a same day coordinator - nothing and I mean nothing is more important than this. My coordinator was not at my ceremony (only reception) and I regret this immensely.
Start choosing vendors early. I saved so much money by wedding planning early on and being able to get quotes from top vendors. First I was quoted 10k for photography and videographer and was able to save 4k by calling around and getting to know other vendors.
Choose a unique restaurant or venue that doesn’t need a ton of decor. We did a restaurant buyout in Los Angeles with food and drink included and because the restaurant has a treehouse vibe, I needed very little decor to make it look beautiful and it was still way cheaper than a transitional wedding venue or hotel conference space.
Florals - choose bud vases or candles. We had a family style dinner (guests loved this) and it prevented us from going overboard with table florals. Our color bud vases were such a hit
Bring in games! I did a garden party courtyard cocktail hour and bought life size jenga and customized cornhole and everyone loved it. The kids ended up going back out there to play which made the parents happy.
Live band > DJ - my personal preference but my jazz band was incredible and so affordable
We chose a live portrait artist as wedding favors and it was absolutely adorable. I could hear guests talking about how great of an idea it is.
Let go of traditions and have fun. The more you plan, the more stressed you will be. We did our best to get speeches (under 5 minutes) and cake cutting done in 15 minutes so we could enjoy our guests.
Use a massive spreadsheet to track everything - it was a godsend
Vendors who are slow to respond (I mean weeks on end) are going to frustrate you so much the week of your wedding.

I guess it makes sense, pwBPD love religion since it allows them to force their ways onto other people under the guise of religion. It's honestly made me resent religion altogether for the hurt and damage it causes. The church doesnt help since it seems like they enable pwBPD, and do nothing to fix the core issues.
My pwBPD has a habit of forcing her religious guilt onto me. As far as she is concerned, her walk with God is something I am responsible for. If she feels not godly enough, the onus is on me to fix her spirituality for her.
The second thing she does is twist Bible verses around or take them completely out of context to force her way through. She'll quote one part of a verse, and then ignore the second part. Or she cherry picks the verses she likes, and ignores the ones she doesn't like.

My return to Lagos had me at first paranoia stricken and looking for people from the village around every corner. After a few uneventful months though, I was feeling like the old Duke again. The nightmares stopped plaguing me entirely.
I felt so good with myself in fact, that I decided to try my luck with Ameh again. Ameh was a fellow associate at my office. I’d made several advances in the past and been blown off. She was just playing hard to get though, I knew she was. Other than Dellia, Ameh was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen – you think that would have warned me but it didn’t. I knew I could get in trouble with HR if she decided she’d had enough but it definitely felt worth it.
I was just entering her office, prepared to ask her out and be turned down yet again when we were both called into Mistress Death’s office by her secretary. Mistress Death is what we called our General Manager, Mrs. Lara. She was known for her ruthlessness and cruelty. She was so distant from her juniors that none of us even knew her first name and honestly, I didn’t care to know.
Being called into her office meant one of two things; you were either being given a serious opportunity and she wanted to impress the importance of your success on you or you’d fucked up terribly and she wanted to drop the axe herself. I prayed to all the divinities I knew that it wasn’t the second option.
When we got into the office, her chair was turned toward the wall away from us. She was inspecting a painting that by my guess had been recently installed. It was an odd choice if you ask me, it had a man on it eating what appeared to be a decomposing dog carcass with his hands while a man in regal clothing watched.
She didn’t turn to face us for about two minutes after we’d entered and we knew better than to speak first or presume to sit without being told. Both of which I did – I still have no idea why.
“Good day, Mrs. Lara. Wonderful weather we’re having today.” I said as I settled into one of the chairs opposite the table from her. Ameh hesitated for a second then followed my example.
“Hmm?” She seemed surprised as she turned to face us. “Pardon me. I was absorbed in the painting.” That was unusual. She never apologized for anything ever.
“Please, sit.” She said as she sent us a piercing look that made Ameh wince.
“Thank you ma’am. You’re looking very wonderful today.” She attempted some damage control but Mrs. Lara didn’t care for it.
Without even acknowledging the words spoken, Mrs. Lara continued talking about the painting. Are you familiar with the story it is inspired by?”
“What ma’am?”
“The painting of course!”
“Oh. Well, I’m afraid not ma’am.” I replied for both of us since Ameh was too terrified to answer.
“The story is rather straightforward. It goes like this; once upon a time, the favorite hunting dog of a great king fell gravely ill. The king ordered that the dog be put out of its misery and buried as a member of the family.
The king’s animal master however, seeing an opportunity to ingratiate himself to the king, asked that the animal be given to him and he’d revive it. The man knew a lot about animals and was confident he’d cure the dog.
The priests also had something to tell the king. They told him they would perform royal rites for the dog only if it was given to them that day. Any more delay and they would no longer be willing to bend their sacred laws. The animal master insisted, claiming there would be no need for a burial at all if it was given to him. The king gave in and entrusted the animal to him.
Try as he could, he couldn't save the dog and it died. Perhaps it was just too old, who knows? The point is, it died in his care and this naturally, infuriated the king who gave the animal keeper a cruel, disgusting and unusual punishment.”
Please don’t tell me he made the man eat the dead dog!
“He made him eat the dead dog. Raw.”
God no! Why would he do that?
“The animal master ate the corpse, was stripped and forced to wear its fur as his only clothing before being banished forever.”
“All that for a little mistake? The king went overboard for sure, not to mention defiled the body of the dog he supposedly loved.” I’d forgotten myself and spoken freely. Rookie mistake.
Despite my blunder, all I got was a little “hmm” and she went on with her monologue about the painting. “You might be wondering why I told you this story, but it’ll make sense soon.”
“You see, there’s a very big, very problematic client we’re looking to acquire. I can’t give them to any high tier agents because I can’t have any single one of them devote their entire capacity to any one portfolio and I can’t give them to a team of lower level agents because I actually want to acquire them as a client.”
I love where this is going
“That’s where you both come in. You’re somewhere in the middle of these two groups. You two are more competent than seven of my lower ranking agents and put together might just be a match for one of my best agents.
Now, this client is the dog, you the animal master and I, the king. I’ll only ask this once, can you take this job on? If you’re successful, one or both of you could be looking at making partner in the near future.
However, if you fail this, my punishment for losing this client will be severe, cruel and to quote you Duke, “overboard”.
So? What will it be? I want an answer now.”
This was a huge opportunity. How could I possibly say no? This was the sort of opportunity everyone hoped for. “I accept ma’am. I won’t let you down, I promise.”
“You’d better not. What about you, Ms. Okon?”
“Hmm?” Ameh seemed dazed by what she’d just heard “I uum… I accept as – as well ma’am.” She sounded slightly unsure.
“Good. I expect you both to work around the clock on this. I don’t care if that means staying awake till the day of our meeting with their representatives – it’s in a week by the way. Mind you, staying awake is no excuse to show up to the meeting drowsy. I expect perfection at the meeting. One slip up and you won’t like the outcome.
With that, we were dismissed and I went to get the files on the new client from Mrs. Lara’s secretary. There, I had my first incident since the village. Just as she passed me the folder, I had what I could only say was a vision.
The secretary morphed into Dellia only this time she had red eyes and long white-blond hair that waved in the breezeless air like tentacles. She looked me in the eye and told me: “I’ve come for you at last sweetheart. I’ve been so lonely since you abandoned me back in the village.” She looked at me disapprovingly before her face softened and she smiled. “Doesn’t matter though I’m here now.”
“D-Dellia. How?” I asked in shock.
“We can’t be separated. Not even by distance. You love me remember?”
“No!!” I shouted at her.
“Uh… Mr. Obasale, is everything alright?” A voice that was definitely not Dellia’s asked me. I looked to see Mrs. Lara’s secretary staring up at me holding the folder and looking confused. “These are the files you asked for.”
“Right, right. I’m fine. Perfectly fine. Thank you very much.”
There were no more incidents that week. Not while I spoke with Tiny Tim about my plans to ask Ameh out again, not when I asked Ameh out over drinks after work, not when she turned me down or when I found out she was from Esa (a distant village that my village has had a generational feud with for… well, generations).
No, all was perfectly normal the entire week up to the day of the meeting. The meeting was going well all things considered, the clients seemed interested and my presentation was a hit – I made it, so no surprise there – and then it happened.
I saw her again. In the chair opposite mine. I would have assumed I was seeing things had Ameh not screamed “Who are you and what are you doing here, you witch?” She put her hand over her mouth as if she’d misspoken, but that was all the confirmation I needed.
I leapt at Dellia like a wild animal and attempted to choke her to death.
“Die, witch. Die and leave me alone.” I screamed at her as I squeezed with all the force I could muster. Suddenly something heavy smacked into the side of my head and I fell to the floor.
Getting up, I saw the lead representative of the client gasping for air as his colleagues attended to him. Ameh was standing in a corner looking terrified and Mrs. Lara had a keyboard raised over her head ready to swing in my direction. I could see security already on their way. I had no idea what was going on.
At the end of the day, Ameh and I both lost our jobs and Mrs. Lara promised us we’d never work in advertisement or brand management anywhere in Nigeria ever again. She said she’d let us off easy because my mental illness made her “feel sorry” for me.
Ameh was devastated. She completely refused to speak to me and left the office in tears. I felt terrible. I knew how much she loved her job. I decided to put an end to my problems once and for all. I needed to reach Dellia somehow and set her straight.
I picked up my phone to call someone and ask for her number but wouldn’t you know it? Her number was already in my phone. In fact, it was top of my ‘recent contacts’ list even though I’d never called her before. Definite withcraft but whatever it was, I was done with it.
I called her and told her as much. She didn’t protest, didn’t even sound worried. Her only reply was “When I’m home, we’ll talk more about this okay? Why don’t you rest a bit while you wait for me?” before she hung up.
“Wait, what? Dellia, when you get home where?” I asked in confusion.
“Our house, of course. Or don’t you know where you are?” She giggled like I’d just cracked a joke.
I had no idea what she was talking about and I didn’t want to find out. I tried calling back but the line didn’t go through. I sat up on the bed while wondering what to do. All of a sudden, I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see Dellia on the bed behind me.
I should have been freaked out and screamed or run away, but I just leaned into her as she kissed me and straddled my legs. She kissed me again and again, more passionately than before as she guided me inside her and her body undulated on top of mine.
I couldn’t think straight, I was lost in her and in the moment. I kissed her neck, then the well of her collarbone, before my lips shifted to the swell of her breasts and I sucked on her nipples as I got closer and closer to climax. The only sounds I could hear were her moans and the rhythm of our bodies colliding.
Just as I was about to finish, I heard her shriek above me and her body began to convulse. The sound of her climax drew mine out of me. I grunted out my release and collapsed back into the bed panting.
She looked down at me smiling, I smiled back. I was still riding the high of my orgasm. She lay hear head on my shoulder and stroked my chest. “It’s done now.” She said.
“What is?” I asked, unsure what she meant.
“The bond between us.” She said with a satisfied smile. “We are one now, you and I. You are mine like I am yours.” With that, she placed another kiss on my lips and I jolted awake. I was alone in my bed.
“Oh, it was just a dream. I must have fallen asleep.” I said rubbing my eyes. I felt a slimy wetness in my pants. I’d had a wet dream. Stories about spirit wives and spirit husbands came to mind immediately. I would have dismissed that as stupid superstition some months before, but now those thoughts had me scared out of my skin.
I didn’t know what to do, but I knew one thing for sure; I wasn’t staying in that house by myself and I definitely couldn’t allow myself to fall asleep again. No way.
I picked the nearest place that popped into my head: Tiny Tim’s house. I rang the doorbell and waited for Tim to answer the door while looking round to make sure Dellia wasn’t hiding behind a tree somewhere.
As soon as he opened the door, I burst into the house without even giving him time to ask what I was doing there. As soon as I was inside, he of course asked what I was doing in his house without warning.
“Yeah, sorry about just barging in without even calling first. It’s just…” I thought about telling him the truth, but he’d only think I was crazy or worse, he’d actually believe me. Either way, he’d want me out of his house as soon as I started talking. So instead…
“… I’m just devastated by everything y’know? I lost my job and not only that, I’m pretty sure I’ll never get to work in Lagos ever again. I think I might be in the middle of an emotional breakdown. I just need to be with a friend this evening. Awake, definitely awake.” I was aware I sounded weird stressing the awake part, but it was very important.
“Honestly Duke, I would love to help you out. Hang out and everything, but my wife just got back from a long journey and we’d like to spend some time alone together. I’m sure you understand.”
I didn’t know what to say, I hadn’t even imagined that Tiny Tim had a wife. After all, we called him that because he had a childish demeanor to him and seemed to suddenly become handicapped whenever women were around. Honestly, I didn’t believe him.
“Timothy, I really need help okay? It’s not because any emotional breakdown or whatever.” I decided to tell him the truth - the whole unabridged version. He didn’t even seem to fully process my story, just gave me the same reply as before. I wasn’t going to let him push me out there with…whatever Dellia was especially not after it had gotten dark.
“Tim, stop with these lies about your wife. Which wife? You can’t even talk to a girl and you’re trying to tell me that you were actually able to propose to someone? Let’s be serious now, come on.” I said the last line with a laugh, imagining Tiny Tim trying to propose to some mystery lady.
My smile faded when I heard a woman’s voice from within the house. “Hon, I’m out of the shower and ready for you. Hold on, is there someone else with you?”
“Just a friend from work. Don’t worry though, he’s about leaving.”
My jaw dropped open and didn’t close until I was standing outside Timothy’s door. I got into my car and drove off with the windows up. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go but I’d drive round the entirety of Lagos forever if I had to.
“Where are we going babe?”
“I don’t know Dellia, I’m just trying to get away from… from you.” I quickly turned to the back seat but was greeted by an empty car.
“Listen, I’m tired so let’s just go back home alright?” I realized I could see her in the rearview. “I don’t want to go anywhere with you! What do you want with me!?” I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“Nothing really, I just want you to love me. That’s all.” I felt her hand rubbing my chest even though I couldn’t see it. “Won’t you love me? Please?” I remembered what she’d told me the night we first met.
“You need me to say it seven times right?” I didn’t care anymore, I needed to get rid of her. “I love you, I love you, I lo…”
“Stop, stop, stop!!” She screamed at me in an otherworldly voice that chilled my bones and nearly stopped my heart. “You can’t claim to love me when you’re scared. There are certain emotions love can’t mix with. Fear is one of them. You have to try your hardest to mean it when you say I love you.”
“I can’t Dellia, I don’t love you. I’m sorry.” I said, hoping she’d accept that and leave me alone at last.
“No. You can and you will.” She screamed at me again in the voice. Letting my fear take over my body, I stopped the car suddenly and bolted into the nearest public compound I could find.
Turned out to be a hotel. I found two guards sitting in chairs outside. I walked up to them. I offered them both #20,000 for every hour they stayed awake with me and kept any mirrors away from me. Those were the two ways I had seen her manifest.
I called Driver up to ask where he was and if he could come meet up with me. He said he was in Lagos on business and he could come meet me immediately. I don’t know why I thought to call him before anyone else. I waited for him for a few hours before a car that looked like his pulled into the parking lot.
Out of the car however, stepped Dellia not driver. She walked towards me seductively. I tried to run but the guards I was sitting with held me down so I was unable to move. She moved closer and closer and then… The guards shook me awake.
Apparently, I had fallen asleep and the guards couldn’t wake me up until Driver came along. We went in his car and he drove me round Lagos. I wracked my brain for the next step to take. That was when I remembered: Ameh saw her back at the meeting, maybe she could help me out. Or at least, I’d have a comrade in my perils or whatever.
I got to her house just as her roommate was leaving. I met her sniffing into tissues wrapped in a blanket and looking all-round defeated. I tried explaining my situation to her and asking her what she saw or thinks she saw at the office. She didn’t even seem receptive to my story.
She did say she was glad to know it was my spiritual problem and not hers.
As we were talking, something cut through her doors and Dellia burst through. I hid myself behind a chair in the dining. Ameh rather than hiding, actually went to face Dellia and promptly got thrown into a corner.
Scared, I stood and held my hands up in surrender as she walked menacingly towards me with her hair waving even though there was no wind. Unexpectedly, she smashed into a wall and then smashed into it again repeatedly. Dumbfounded, I turned to see Ameh with her hands stretched towards the helpless Dellia. Her eyes glowed blue and her nails had grown longer than I thought possible.
Dellia was able to throw herself off the wall and at Ameh starting a fight that had it been under other circumstances, I would have found entertaining. Under the present circumstances however, my first instinct was to run. Still, against my better judgement, I stepped in to break up the fight.
Big mistake that, I got a slash across the chest for my peacemaking ways. It sent me into the opposite wall and hurt like hell. The girls ceased their fighting immediately and rushed to my side.
“Duke! Are you alright?” Dellia asked.
“Yeah. I’m fine. It’s just a bruise.” I replied, wincing at the pain.
“It can’t be a bruise.” Dellia said, sounding worried. I got up and showed them my chest where my shirt was sliced through. A few welts had already formed, but nothing more.
“How? It can’t be. She used those nails to slice through my door. That’s a bulletproof door. You can’t just be bruised.” Ameh sounded very perplexed.
“I dunno, I’ve never gotten hurt beyond bruising in my life. Just seems normal” it had never occurred to me how weird that was till that moment.
“It’s true then.” Ameh spoke with an almost religious tone in her voice. “I knew it was true.”
“That’s why Bámí and the rest of the coven wanted me to get him in so badly.” Dellia mused.
“What?” I asked, holding my chest and having absolutely no idea what was going on.
“You, Duke Obaìsàlè are one of the chosen, the co-heir to the thrones of witches and the marine realm.” Ameh said, looking at me like she’d just seen a million dollars.
Prev Next

Hey everyone, my time has come. It’s been a roller coaster to say the least. The valleys were low and the mountains were great. But I can no longer justify the blood, sweat and tears of continuing this business. I am a Proud 5 ⭐️ host, with 5 🌟 rated vehicles, but I just can’t keep doing this. About a year ago I had a car involved with a large claim that Turo only paid out half the damage that they themselves quoted. I couldn’t for the life of me find a body shop to let me Pay them ahead of time for the parts and then just bring the car in for the actual repair- they ALL wanted to keep my car the entire time from ordering parts to completion. That did me in financially. The car was in the shop for 4 months, at which point Turo denied the supplement the repair facility submitted because they said it was submitted too late- and I had to pay a large sum out of pocket just to get my car out of the repair facilities possession. I’m filing bankruptcy with my wife and we’re walking away from all of it. I wish all of you well- I see your stories and know you’re all in this for the right reasons- not to become rich but to provide additional safety net income for your families! I’m so proud of all of you out there and you’re all so inspirational with what you do to keep your businesses alive. Take care everyone and thanks for your dialogue, silly questions, advice to one another that I read daily etc it has kept me going until now. Love you all ✌🏻

So, that happened. From T'riss meeting Mother Dark to the birth of the Andii and the First Liosan...
Kagamandra Tulas and Sharenas Ankahdu's friendship is something I love when it comes. To know that T'riss murdered an Eleint and lost her memories. She's the Sister of Dreams, eh?
The sea does not dream of you... T'riss words are ominous and I think the Warlock Resh and the Shake understand this so much better and are frightened by it.
T'riss really had no tact with any of this.
This third part of the book was a letter of tragedy. I have this insane urge to just sit and cry.
From the very beginning of this part
We see the death of an innocent man in the hands of Olar Ethil. We see the consequences wrought upon Olar Ethil. We see Arathan grow up. We see his acceptance of the child and of Feren walking.
We see Renarr and Osserc. A woman abused and left broken if not for healing. Urusander finally beginning to grasp what Hunn Raal has been doing behind his back in his name.
Hunn Raal and Syntara really are made for each other in their ambition and manipulation.
We see Spite killing her sister on accident and then we see subsequent murders in Dracons Hold in covering that mistake. We also discover the sisters once killed or nearly killed Arathan. Draconus's household is a mess and I worry for Sandalath.
Then the next chapters with Jaen Enes, Enesdia, Kadaspala and Cryl. I don't want to go in to this chapter or the one after that. Kadaspala's commentary on art, the death of the child, the way he dressed down the corporal... His vow to make a God just by belief and his paint, I see so many little eggs in this book that connect BotF. Kadaspala's PoV is one of the best experiences of this book. I am grieved by Enesdia's death. If it can be called that. It's... not. I can't call that death. It's torment. Torment as her closest ones are killed. I have suspicions. The Hearthstone Caladan Brood laid, the way Enesdia finally realizes her feelings towards Cryl. Am I supposed to look deeper here? Is this supposed to be some kind of poetic justice against emotional infidelity?
Also can I say that Grizzin Farl reminds of Kruppe in his kindness. The Protector... I'd love to see more of him.
I feel for Andarist. He really is the best of them all. Silchas being the voice of reason and mediation between the other two... he really is clear headed isn't he?
I don't blame Anomander for wanting to embrace vengeance. Vengeance is after all anger and anger can be wielded as a weapon. It means staying in control. Grief on the other hand is surrender and there's no control in surrender. No getting back up until it relents. Not something a man in command would want, not until every last enemy is struck down.
This whole book is a talk of faith and religion or the birth of a new religion. The whole point of religion is to have hope, hope for a better future, a better life for our loved ones, to lead a better life.
I see Mother Dark's stance. Shedding blood in her name would be to consecrate her in a way that can't be taken back. But her stance is feasible. Not for long. She can't take sides. But people on Urusander's side are already shedding blood in his name, in both their names.
The topic of faith and what it constitutes in this book has given me so much to think about. Gods and what they make of the faith and devotees, what the devotee in turn makes of the God... it's all messy. People lose themselves in this messiness and do things that they'd never do.
Tiste society is so so messed up. I fear for the Shake. The other Dog Runners/Imass.
I see how badly Tiam's chaos has twisted people. Sukul Ankhadu is kind. Scara Bandaris is kind and clear headed and outright jovial with Silchas.
Does Infayen Menand have anything to do with Menandore?
The death of Hood's wife sure did set the tone for this book, didn't it? Fuck Errastas and damn him to the deepest pits of Abyss.
This book is messy. It's gory. Has needless death which in turn is very necessary, if that even makes sense.
I have so many conflicted feelings about this book and so many quotes saved. Steve really poured so much into this book and I love each aspect of it.

Narcissistic grandmothefamily ( mostly grandmother )
Where do i begin.... So my grandmother has always been abusive to me. For as long as i can remember.
As a child my mum and dad practically dumped me on my grandmother and grandfather's step. They took me in. My grandad was always my angel. He loved me so much and I was always the apple of his eye. Sadly in 2009 he died from leukaemia. He was diagnosed on his birthday. Died a year later on his birthday 😔 me and my grandmother never really got along. She always looked down her nose at me. Like I was a piece of shit under her shoe.
It was just me who got dumped on my grandparents step. My sisters went with my mum and my brother with my dad when they split up.
Now.... I don't know much about her upbringing because I literally can't speak to the woman. She is very... Undermining and passive agressive. So I just don't bother as its never pleasant to speak to her. Never has been.
So I have 2 sisters and a brother. My grandmother idolises them. Very openly, almost like it's done purposely to make me feel as low as possible. I am constantly left out of family outings, holidays, meals. You name it. It's making me resent my own siblings.
I became the black sheep very quickly. I have to watch my family doing things together, while I'm constantly left out. Watching from the sidelines, Unacknowledged, Forgotten about if you will.
Fast forward... At this point id had enough. So I moved in with my then boyfriend. I was obviously extremely happy to get away from my grandmother and family. I moved to a different city.
Things were great at first... Sadly he started to change after a while. He started to abuse me also and get violent towards me. I found out he had abused 2 women before me. I escaped with my life barely. But I had nowhere to live or any money as my ex had taken everything off me and used me for my money the entire time and I would like to add that this man also made me disabled. ( trauma induced fibromyalgia, chronic pain and fatigue, ptsd, depression, the whole lot )
So I had to move back in with my evil grandmother, but this time... I'm disabled at this point 😔 the trauma and stress of previous life abuses and obviously the trauma of domestic violence had made me extremely ill. I couldn't even walk. I've been in and out of hospital and doctors you name it.
So now, my grandmother has an evil new tactic up her sleeve. Because I'm now disabled, she uses my illness as a weapon to abuse me. Saying "your brain has gone" " you're crazy " . And calling me and i quote a " fat tw*t " obviously because of my ptsd, I was terrified to leave the house and now my own grandmother is attacking my appearance and mental health and disability all at the same time. My illness has turned my life upside down.
She is taking nearly all my money from me, so I'm unable to save up to leave. Shelters are only offering me places half way across the country, alone, which would absolutely terrify me.
I have had a pretty lonely existence and still live a lonely existence. My pets are my everything and shelters also do not allow pets. So I feel trapped now. I cannot survive without my pets. They're all I have.
I'm trapped with a woman who causes a fight with me any time I leave my bedroom. She attacks my disibilty, my mental health, calls me names, she bins my belongings and throws my stuff around all over the floor. She purposely breaks my belongings. Then she gaslights me.
She literally says I'm imagining things when she does all this stuff to me. All while turning the rest of my family against me by telling them, I'm unruly. Because I'm defending myself and standing my ground on what I know to be true. I've even resorted to recording her when she starts these fights with me. But even when I show my siblings. They instantly side with her or say it's nothing to do with them. Even if I tell my mum. She doesn't care. My mum is a very selfish woman. She has a drug addiction. So she only cares about herself and herself only. My dad has just got a whole seperate life now and a new gf. Wants nothing to do with me or anyone else besides his gf.
I've been abused my entire life. I'm still being abused. I've had enough.
What do I even do about this? I feel like I'm getting more sick by the day because of all this trauma. I'm literally trapped. I'm tired. My soul is literally tired.
If I alert authorities. My entire family will turn on me. All but one. My grandmother's daughter. My auntie. Is also cast out by her. So I do speak to her about the abuse which helps.
But it doesn't help my situation. I'm still trapped here. My auntie has a full house and is also dealing with illness herself. So that's not an option unfortunately.
Has anyone experienced anything like this with their grandmother?
It makes me sick because everyone thinks she's a lovely old lady. She puts on this false image in public. But behind closed doors. She's a monster. An absolute monster. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff she says to me I can barely believe it myself. She's told me to unalive myself and that nobody loves me and she hates me.
I know it's awful to say. But I cant wait until she passes 😢 I can then be free of her abuse once and for all. I hate that I think this way about someone. But when theyve abused you your entire life, Belittled you, called you names, attack you, bullied you, destroys and bins your belongings and has trapped you, then blames you for it. You will think and feel the same way. All whilst rubbing how much she loves my siblings in my face.
She makes me feel like there's something wrong with me. Like I'm unlovable. What did I ever do to her!?!
I remember asking this question once and she said I'm imagining things and im being childish and told to grow up and stop being crazy and that I'm weak.
She loves calling me weak and keeps telling me I'm playing the victim. Well.... I am the victim. You're literally abusing me.
It's not crazy if it's reality right?
Sometimes I feel like Im just not from this family. Even my siblings have nothing in common with me and look down on me and don't bother with me. We are 100% from the same mother and father. I just can't understand how I'm cast out and treated like this. I've never done anything wrong to anyone 😔😔
I've asked many times what I've done to deserve this treatment and they just keep saying the same thing. Stop playing the victim or I'm imagining things and to grow up. My feelings are not valid.
I'm constantly just in my bedroom, because if I come out. I become a target. I barely even eat 😢😢 I have 2 meals a week if that and that's when my grandmother goes out. I go down and make something quick to eat. I tend to buy a lot of snacks online. Things I can keep in my bedroom to snack on when I get real hungry, just to avoid coming out of my bedroom.
Not sure how much more heartbreak I can take.
I've planned a day out at the weekend for the first time in 2 years to go see all my friends. To a rave. Because my legs have gained a bit of strength recently after being bed bound for over a year because I've been so ill. Obviously I'm extremely nervous about leaving my house, but I'm trying to force myself to try get myself out of this rut I'm in. My grandmother has done nothing but attack my image, calling me fat and basically trying to destroy my confidence, so I don't go out and calling me other horrible names because it's a rave I'm going to.
Now I used to rave a lot. So it's the only time I get to mix with like minded people. It's always the same people who go and i class them all as my rave family. I've been super excited and obviously nervous about this rave. I planned it just a week ago. My grandmother of course. Is doing everything in her power to try get me to not go. My friends all live dotted around the country, so i barely ever get to see anyone.
I'm not allowed to be happy. Or have a life or do anything for that matter.
I've been trying to exercise using my hula hoops and other flowtoys. Like my leviwand for example. It cost over 300 pound and my grandmother has gone into the tube it's kept in and binned the chargers and string for it. Rendering it useless and saying she's not touched it and im making stuff up and im going crazy!!!
I know she had done it as it was in her cupboard in her room. It had moved completely from where I actually put it. My room is very cluttered as I've had to cram me, my things and my pets all in here with me, due to having left my ex in such a hurry. I feel like I'm living in a closet. So I thought this one item would be safe in that cupboard as it was expensive. She had moved it and shoved something in its box that I know wasn't in there when I put it in there. She's lost all the attatchments, which I know was all together in that box. So now I can't use it at all. Of course.... It's all in my head and I'm the one who's lost these things even though i know for a fact I kept it all safe and together.
She's constantly sabataging me and saying it's all in my head.
I'm Quickly fading. Giving up. But then.... She will attack me for that too. Fcked if I do. Fcked if i don't. I can't win. No matter what I do.
Even if for example... Something has been on its way out... Breaking for a while and she's aware of it, if it breaks, it's automatically my fault.
According to her... Anything that breaks. Even if I haven't touched it. It's my fault. She will deliberately leave things to deteriorate and then blame me when it finally breaks completely. I'm at my wits end.
I'm so lost and just devastated at how horrible my life has been.
Can anyone give me any advice on what I should do about this situation?

I relate to this quote a lot. I don't know who made it, but it's stuck with me for a while.
I've always been in love with people. Not necessarily romantically, but I'll meet someone, and I become...in love? I'll ignore the red flags, I'll think about them a lot, and I'd do anything for them.
It's taken a while to realise it's almost never reciprocated. I've had best friends, but I've never been someone's best friend. My parents prefer my sister over me. My past relationship...I don't want to talk about that lol.
But, what would it take for me to become the muse? For someone to love me the way I love them? Why am I so replaceable?

Quote texts are his comments that I replied to.

It’s been shoved down our throats 24/7 since 2020-2021.

Pride has existed way longer than then. The reason Pride exists, the reason there’s an emphasis on promoting LGBT people in media, is to normalize their existence for millions of people who are often times indoctrinated by their parents into hating those people. Pride is the only reason I broke out of the homophobic, bigoted environment I was raised in and began to accept people.

Prior to that, no one knew or cared about pronouns, now it’s all the rage.

Pronouns have existed for as long as various languages have existed. Even the use of the singular “they” has been used in English since the 1300s. The “rage” surrounding pronouns is merely people stating what shortened form to calling them by their name they prefer. That’s it. You’re acting like this is some “Let’s eat TidePods” -esque internet trend. It’s harmless. I’ve been on the internet in plenty of spaces that had LGBT people, and, in the past 3 years or so, I can count on one hand the amount of times I had to make any effort to remember someone’s pronouns. It’s not that complicated, nor does it signify the downfall of society that you make it out to be.

God forbid I call a man a man, a woman a woman, or people, people.
You literally can’t make any sort of valid criticism towards LGBT without getting labeled a homophobe / transphobe.

Damn. I wonder why they call you a transphobe. What an enigma.

There’s the option to put your pronouns on social media, which is absolutely fucking stupid.

Why? Because you don’t want to use it? Then don’t. There also remains the option to link your other social medias, link your website, post your phone number, advertise your business, pay to promote your own ads on other people’s feeds, direct message celebrities who obviously won’t respond to you, or follow bot accounts that will probably just send your porn or try to scam you out of your money. All of these things have something in common: you can choose to participate, or you can choose to ignore. If it bothers you, just don’t use the feature or delete the app. To your surprise, I’m sure, there are millions of people who gladly use the pronouns feature. You are extremely sensitive and bigoted if this genuinely gets you up in arms. My lord.

There’s people who honestly believe that men menstruate.

Transgender men and intersex men can and do menstruate in many occasions. Cisgender men obviously cannot. When people say “men can menstruate” they are speaking of trans or intersex men. You just choose to ignore this fact because you believe there is no such thing, which you are wrong about.

There’s men dressing up as women desperately trying to get near children to read them books for “Drag Queen story time”.

There’s adult men putting on ridiculous costumes and wearing makeup and attending children’s gatherings to entertain them. What are we gonna do about clowns?
“Desperately trying to get near children” Sounds to me like you can’t imagine a scenario where an adult can wish to read to children they aren’t related to without immediately thinking of sexual abuse. These events occur in public spaces under the supervision of parents. They read to these kids books about loving and accepting yourself and treating people equally. You act like they’re a bunch of sex offenders straight out of prison trying to show children what dildos are. You are absolutely delusional, and your homophobia is showing.

I go to Target, and there’s rainbows and LGBT flags printed all over children’s clothing. Not just in June during “Pride” month. It’s there year-round.

Oh, I know. When I was a kid I had to endure the trauma of reading books about families with straight couples. Oh, the horror! How dare they introduce children to such filth! Leave the kids alone!
I can’t believe they put ideological flags all over kids’ clothes regarding topics they don’t understand. Stop putting those American flags on my kids’ clothes! Quit indoctrinating them into a tribalistic belief of national supremacy!
In all seriousness, why is this an issue? If you believe it’s okay to be gay in the same ways you believe it’s okay to be straight you would not act this way. If you don’t like the existence of gay people (you know, almost like a homophobe), then just say so. Stop pretending to view straight and gay people the same. You don’t.

You have our President announcing Easter Sunday that day is “Trans Awareness” day.

Trans Awareness day has occurred on March 31 every year for the past fifteen years. In case you weren’t aware, the date of Easter changes every single year. This year, both events happened to fall on the same day. President Biden acknowledged both events on that day. Anyways, since when is only one celebration allowed to occur per day? Hanukkah and Kwanzaa occur at the same time. Should they fight to see who deserves their holiday the most? That’s like being mad that some people are born on Christmas and celebrate both occasions. Besides, why is it so blasphemous to celebrate those specific events on the same day? If you believe in Jesus, don’t you believe he loved everyone and wanted everybody to care for their neighbor? Why do you fight so valiantly to demean LGBT people? That seems to go against a belief that we are all created and loved equally, but you can just go ahead and make up your own rules to the religion. That’s how it works, right?

Now June is known as “Pride” month, when in reality, it’s Mens Mental Health month.

Now October is known as “ADHD Awareness” month, when in reality, it’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. Fuck your ADHD awareness! My condition takes priority over yours! This month is all mine! No one else’s!
It’s ridiculous and tribalistic to act like every month should only focus on one unprivileged group at a time. I guess we have to consolidate all the cancers into one month, first off. Maybe combine all the historically oppressed minority groups into one month as well. This guy on Reddit knows to focus on the real issues.
Men’s mental health has only gotten worse since the awareness month became a thing in 1994. The month obviously hasn’t worked very well. Especially considering I didn’t even know it was a thing until 10 minutes ago. Pride Month has been celebrated since 1970, and it became official in 1999. Since then, support for LGBT rights has skyrocketed. To claim that a wholly ineffective month takes precedent over something as iconic and impactful as Pride month shows how out of touch you are.
For the record, I’m entirely in support of acknowledging Men’s mental health awareness, and I am sorry for the loss of your friend, but whoever is promoting this month needs to do a WAY better job. Male suicide has only increased since that month became a thing. These days, too many men try hard to act tough instead of admitting their true emotions, resulting in pent up anger that is often times lashed out at innocent people for unnecessary reasons. I think that’s why you have so much hate for the LGBT community; either that or you’re very susceptible to propaganda.
I can assure you the reason men’s mental health is shit is not because of some kinky pride events. It’s because we are a society by men, for men, expecting all men to be breadwinners who are also tall, buff, and attractive. It’s because women have become commodified and it’s way easier to get a boyfriend as a girl than it is to get a girlfriend as a man. There are many things to blame: political leaders, our economic system, our own testosterone…
LGBT people are not one of them.
Shift your focus to the real issues at hand and stop demonizing people who suffer many of the same mental health issues you to claim to care about.

Every Sunday, or whenever it is possible, I give a recap of the sermon I heard at church today. I am Orthodox but I visit Catholic and Protestant churches to learn about them when we don't do the Liturgy. Keep in mind that this is a recap of the sermon I heard; this does not necessarily mean I agree with it. This is to share what is actually being taught in Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches, which may challenge or perhaps strengthen preconceptions.
Today's readings:
Exodus 24:3-8

Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

Hebrews 9:11-15

Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Mark 14:12-16,22-26

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?” And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.” So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Today is a great and joyful day for this church, for this family. Today is the day of first communion for seven children: today, Christ will give Himself in you, He will make you living tabernacles of God. In you we will receive the joy of witnessing Christ giving Himself as food and drink for the life of the world.
Today also is the day of a teenager's profession of faith. This family will be a witness to your profession of faith, and you yourself will invite us to join you in proclaiming our faith, our confidence in the Lord.
The first reading of today shows the joy of what we are celebrating now, as we will receive the body and blood of Christ. What happened then is what happens now at every Mass! Like the Hebrews, we proclaim before God that “we will do, and be obedient.” Moses spoke and the people heard and promised to obey, and was sprinkled with blood. Today the same will happen, although with a difference: Christ Himself will make a covenant with us and we will be sprinkled with His blood.
Today, there is much evil in the world and we are often tempted to despair, or to take a side and vow ourselves to it, the left or the right... and forget our calling. We are called “Christians” not so that we may boast about having taken the “correct” position, but rather so that we may be a sign of love, of hope... for all. So, will we exit church today by vowing to God our faithfulness and confidence in Him?
You parents have come to accompany your children today. Your presence in their life is essential, as you are by their side while they make the experience of encountering Christ. However, sometimes, we may be timid, and so the Mass loses its significance because we no longer understand it... Prayer is often something difficult, and that is because we do not know how to pray. But we must not forget: Christ is present with us every day. He is not kept away from us while we do not pray, but He is always with us and we simply need to realize it. Let us therefore pray with thankfulness: in the morning, let us at least thank Him for the breath of life, for the day to come, and in the evening, let us ask Him to help us because we are tired, and ask Him to watch over us. Do not worry about praying for a car, for a house, for wealth: He will not grant such senseless prayers! That is not the Christian life that we vowed ourselves to! But rather, at the beginning of today's Mass, these children asked of Christ that He grants them to partake of His body and blood, and become one with Him. Therefore, leave them the freedom to have their own personal experience of Christ, and be there to help them come to Him as you are doing today.
Today's Gospel reading shows us an exchange between Christ and His Apostles. On Easter, they share this meal which gives one the strength, the energy, needed for one's life. Then they go out so as to fulfill what He told them to. The covenant means the commitment to follow His voice; this commitment is communion. The broken bread is the sign of the new mankind, which in Christ becomes one bread, the Church, our community. The spilled blood is spilled for all, therefore all have the right to be accepted by said community. There is no race that is superior or inferior, pure or impure, worthy or unworthy! In the Eucharist, all men and women are equal, being made and manifested as one through communion with Christ. This is the sacrament of love, of unity.
To those who will do their first communion: May God affirm you in you life. May Christ be your faithful friend, always present. Always trust in Him, and not only when things aren't going well! He is truly faithful and He will never abandon you. Now, when you pray, His reply will not be immediate. It may take hours, days, months, years, even decades. But He will simply give you what you need when you need it as He knows it; He hears you and He will extend His hand to you every day; today, tomorrow, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
To the one who will do his profession of faith: This family, this church, will be a witness to your confidence in God. May it be strong and lasting. As a family, we help one another, we will help you be strengthened in the faith, and so we will help your progression. You are the captain of your own ship, and Christ will always be present in your life to help you drive forward. Be courageous.

Every Sunday, or whenever it is possible, I give a recap of the sermon I heard at church today. I am Orthodox but I visit Catholic and Protestant churches to learn about them when we don't do the Liturgy. Keep in mind that this is a recap of the sermon I heard; this does not necessarily mean I agree with it. This is to share what is actually being taught in Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches, which may challenge or perhaps strengthen preconceptions.
Today's readings:
Exodus 24:3-8

Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

Hebrews 9:11-15

Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Mark 14:12-16,22-26

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?” And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.” So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Today is a great and joyful day for this church, for this family. Today is the day of first communion for seven children: today, Christ will give Himself in you, He will make you living tabernacles of God. In you we will receive the joy of witnessing Christ giving Himself as food and drink for the life of the world.
Today also is the day of a teenager's profession of faith. This family will be a witness to your profession of faith, and you yourself will invite us to join you in proclaiming our faith, our confidence in the Lord.
The first reading of today shows the joy of what we are celebrating now, as we will receive the body and blood of Christ. What happened then is what happens now at every Mass! Like the Hebrews, we proclaim before God that “we will do, and be obedient.” Moses spoke and the people heard and promised to obey, and was sprinkled with blood. Today the same will happen, although with a difference: Christ Himself will make a covenant with us and we will be sprinkled with His blood.
Today, there is much evil in the world and we are often tempted to despair, or to take a side and vow ourselves to it, the left or the right... and forget our calling. We are called “Christians” not so that we may boast about having taken the “correct” position, but rather so that we may be a sign of love, of hope... for all. So, will we exit church today by vowing to God our faithfulness and confidence in Him?
You parents have come to accompany your children today. Your presence in their life is essential, as you are by their side while they make the experience of encountering Christ. However, sometimes, we may be timid, and so the Mass loses its significance because we no longer understand it... Prayer is often something difficult, and that is because we do not know how to pray. But we must not forget: Christ is present with us every day. He is not kept away from us while we do not pray, but He is always with us and we simply need to realize it. Let us therefore pray with thankfulness: in the morning, let us at least thank Him for the breath of life, for the day to come, and in the evening, let us ask Him to help us because we are tired, and ask Him to watch over us. Do not worry about praying for a car, for a house, for wealth: He will not grant such senseless prayers! That is not the Christian life that we vowed ourselves to! But rather, at the beginning of today's Mass, these children asked of Christ that He grants them to partake of His body and blood, and become one with Him. Therefore, leave them the freedom to have their own personal experience of Christ, and be there to help them come to Him as you are doing today.
Today's Gospel reading shows us an exchange between Christ and His Apostles. On Easter, they share this meal which gives one the strength, the energy, needed for one's life. Then they go out so as to fulfill what He told them to. The covenant means the commitment to follow His voice; this commitment is communion. The broken bread is the sign of the new mankind, which in Christ becomes one bread, the Church, our community. The spilled blood is spilled for all, therefore all have the right to be accepted by said community. There is no race that is superior or inferior, pure or impure, worthy or unworthy! In the Eucharist, all men and women are equal, being made and manifested as one through communion with Christ. This is the sacrament of love, of unity.
To those who will do their first communion: May God affirm you in you life. May Christ be your faithful friend, always present. Always trust in Him, and not only when things aren't going well! He is truly faithful and He will never abandon you. Now, when you pray, His reply will not be immediate. It may take hours, days, months, years, even decades. But He will simply give you what you need when you need it as He knows it; He hears you and He will extend His hand to you every day; today, tomorrow, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
To the one who will do his profession of faith: This family, this church, will be a witness to your confidence in God. May it be strong and lasting. As a family, we help one another, we will help you be strengthened in the faith, and so we will help your progression. You are the captain of your own ship, and Christ will always be present in your life to help you drive forward. Be courageous.

Every Sunday, or whenever it is possible, I give a recap of the sermon I heard at church today. I am Orthodox but I visit Catholic and Protestant churches to learn about them when we don't do the Liturgy. Keep in mind that this is a recap of the sermon I heard; this does not necessarily mean I agree with it. This is to share what is actually being taught in Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches, which may challenge or perhaps strengthen preconceptions.
Today's readings:
Exodus 24:3-8

Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

Hebrews 9:11-15

Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Mark 14:12-16,22-26

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?” And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.” So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Today is a great and joyful day for this church, for this family. Today is the day of first communion for seven children: today, Christ will give Himself in you, He will make you living tabernacles of God. In you we will receive the joy of witnessing Christ giving Himself as food and drink for the life of the world.
Today also is the day of a teenager's profession of faith. This family will be a witness to your profession of faith, and you yourself will invite us to join you in proclaiming our faith, our confidence in the Lord.
The first reading of today shows the joy of what we are celebrating now, as we will receive the body and blood of Christ. What happened then is what happens now at every Mass! Like the Hebrews, we proclaim before God that “we will do, and be obedient.” Moses spoke and the people heard and promised to obey, and was sprinkled with blood. Today the same will happen, although with a difference: Christ Himself will make a covenant with us and we will be sprinkled with His blood.
Today, there is much evil in the world and we are often tempted to despair, or to take a side and vow ourselves to it, the left or the right... and forget our calling. We are called “Christians” not so that we may boast about having taken the “correct” position, but rather so that we may be a sign of love, of hope... for all. So, will we exit church today by vowing to God our faithfulness and confidence in Him?
You parents have come to accompany your children today. Your presence in their life is essential, as you are by their side while they make the experience of encountering Christ. However, sometimes, we may be timid, and so the Mass loses its significance because we no longer understand it... Prayer is often something difficult, and that is because we do not know how to pray. But we must not forget: Christ is present with us every day. He is not kept away from us while we do not pray, but He is always with us and we simply need to realize it. Let us therefore pray with thankfulness: in the morning, let us at least thank Him for the breath of life, for the day to come, and in the evening, let us ask Him to help us because we are tired, and ask Him to watch over us. Do not worry about praying for a car, for a house, for wealth: He will not grant such senseless prayers! That is not the Christian life that we vowed ourselves to! But rather, at the beginning of today's Mass, these children asked of Christ that He grants them to partake of His body and blood, and become one with Him. Therefore, leave them the freedom to have their own personal experience of Christ, and be there to help them come to Him as you are doing today.
Today's Gospel reading shows us an exchange between Christ and His Apostles. On Easter, they share this meal which gives one the strength, the energy, needed for one's life. Then they go out so as to fulfill what He told them to. The covenant means the commitment to follow His voice; this commitment is communion. The broken bread is the sign of the new mankind, which in Christ becomes one bread, the Church, our community. The spilled blood is spilled for all, therefore all have the right to be accepted by said community. There is no race that is superior or inferior, pure or impure, worthy or unworthy! In the Eucharist, all men and women are equal, being made and manifested as one through communion with Christ. This is the sacrament of love, of unity.
To those who will do their first communion: May God affirm you in you life. May Christ be your faithful friend, always present. Always trust in Him, and not only when things aren't going well! He is truly faithful and He will never abandon you. Now, when you pray, His reply will not be immediate. It may take hours, days, months, years, even decades. But He will simply give you what you need when you need it as He knows it; He hears you and He will extend His hand to you every day; today, tomorrow, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
To the one who will do his profession of faith: This family, this church, will be a witness to your confidence in God. May it be strong and lasting. As a family, we help one another, we will help you be strengthened in the faith, and so we will help your progression. You are the captain of your own ship, and Christ will always be present in your life to help you drive forward. Be courageous.

Listen. If you’ve loved this show for many years ya gotta love the camp, and either put up with or enjoy some lovely junk. So what is your favorite part of that? Stuff that others roll their eyes at, episodes that cause some cringe, tropes that have beaten a dead horse for decades, what is your fancy?
For me, I’ll admit it, I love every time the master comes back in disguise to somehow surprise the doctor for the billionth time. Somehow doesn’t get old for me, it’s overly dramatic, and funnier as time goes on. Sometime they should land the TARDIS, read the name tag of an employee with a master pun name and leave and take off without an explanation, roll credits.
Also, the schrodingers Gallifrey every few years has become amusing.
And whether the final population is aware of aliens of course. (Although that’s just kinda necessary to retcon or write an explanation for every once in a while for soft and hard reboots, it’d be kinda annoying if aliens were common place to average people for every new writer joining the show).
The vague and random easter egg hinting at a soap opera ending to a season like bad wolf. Even all that nonsense with the crack in the wall even though I still don’t fully get it.
So there, name your doctor who guilty pleasures.

Narcissistic grandmother.
Where do i begin.... So my grandmother has always been abusive to me. For as long as i can remember.
As a child my mum and dad practically dumped me on my grandmother and grandfather's step. They took me in. My grandad was always my angel. He loved me so much and I was always the apple of his eye. Sadly in 2009 he died from leukaemia. He was diagnosed on his birthday. Died a year later on his birthday 😔 me and my grandmother never really got along. She always looked down her nose at me. Like I was a piece of shit under her shoe.
It was just me who got dumped on my grandparents step. My sisters went with my mum and my brother with my dad when they split up.
Now.... I don't know much about her upbringing because I literally can't speak to the woman. She is very... Undermining and passive agressive. So I just don't bother as its never pleasant to speak to her. Never has been.
So I have 2 sisters and a brother. My grandmother idolises them. Very openly, almost like it's done purposely to make me feel as low as possible. I am constantly left out of family outings, holidays, meals. You name it. It's making me resent my own siblings.
I became the black sheep very quickly. I have to watch my family doing things together, while I'm constantly left out. Watching from the sidelines, Unacknowledged, Forgotten about if you will.
Fast forward... At this point id had enough. So I moved in with my then boyfriend. I was obviously extremely happy to get away from my grandmother and family. I moved to a different city.
Things were great at first... Sadly he started to change after a while. He started to abuse me also and get violent towards me. I found out he had abused 2 women before me. I escaped with my life barely. But I had nowhere to live or any money as my ex had taken everything off me and used me for my money the entire time and I would like to add that this man also made me disabled. ( trauma induced fibromyalgia, chronic pain and fatigue, ptsd, depression, the whole lot )
So I had to move back in with my evil grandmother, but this time... I'm disabled at this point 😔 the trauma and stress of previous life abuses and obviously the trauma of domestic violence had made me extremely ill. I couldn't even walk. I've been in and out of hospital and doctors you name it.
So now, my grandmother has an evil new tactic up her sleeve. Because I'm now disabled, she uses my illness as a weapon to abuse me. Saying "your brain has gone" " you're crazy " . And calling me and i quote a " fat tw*t " obviously because of my ptsd, I was terrified to leave the house and now my own grandmother is attacking my appearance and mental health and disability all at the same time. My illness has turned my life upside down.
She is taking nearly all my money from me, so I'm unable to save up to leave. Shelters are only offering me places half way across the country, alone, which would absolutely terrify me.
I have had a pretty lonely existence and still live a lonely existence. My pets are my everything and shelters also do not allow pets. So I feel trapped now. I cannot survive without my pets. They're all I have.
I'm trapped with a woman who causes a fight with me any time I leave my bedroom. She attacks my disibilty, my mental health, calls me names, she bins my belongings and throws my stuff around all over the floor. She purposely breaks my belongings. Then she gaslights me.
She literally says I'm imagining things when she does all this stuff to me. All while turning the rest of my family against me by telling them, I'm unruly. Because I'm defending myself and standing my ground on what I know to be true. I've even resorted to recording her when she starts these fights with me. But even when I show my siblings. They instantly side with her or say it's nothing to do with them. Even if I tell my mum. She doesn't care. My mum is a very selfish woman. She has a drug addiction. So she only cares about herself and herself only. My dad has just got a whole seperate life now and a new gf. Wants nothing to do with me or anyone else besides his gf.
I've been abused my entire life. I'm still being abused. I've had enough.
What do I even do about this? I feel like I'm getting more sick by the day because of all this trauma. I'm literally trapped. I'm tired. My soul is literally tired.
If I alert authorities. My entire family will turn on me. All but one. My grandmother's daughter. My auntie. Is also cast out by her. So I do speak to her about the abuse which helps.
But it doesn't help my situation. I'm still trapped here. My auntie has a full house and is also dealing with illness herself. So that's not an option unfortunately.
Has anyone experienced anything like this with their grandmother?
It makes me sick because everyone thinks she's a lovely old lady. She puts on this false image in public. But behind closed doors. She's a monster. An absolute monster. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff she says to me I can barely believe it myself. She's told me to unalive myself and that nobody loves me and she hates me.
I know it's awful to say. But I cant wait until she passes 😢 I can then be free of her abuse once and for all. I hate that I think this way about someone. But when theyve abused you your entire life, Belittled you, called you names, attack you, bullied you, destroys and bins your belongings and has trapped you, then blames you for it. You will think and feel the same way. All whilst rubbing how much she loves my siblings in my face.
She makes me feel like there's something wrong with me. Like I'm unlovable. What did I ever do to her!?!
I remember asking this question once and she said I'm imagining things and im being childish and told to grow up and stop being crazy and that I'm weak.
She loves calling me weak and keeps telling me I'm playing the victim. Well.... I am the victim. You're literally abusing me.
It's not crazy if it's reality right?
Sometimes I feel like Im just not from this family. Even my siblings have nothing in common with me and look down on me and don't bother with me. We are 100% from the same mother and father. I just can't understand how I'm cast out and treated like this. I've never done anything wrong to anyone 😔😔
I've asked many times what I've done to deserve this treatment and they just keep saying the same thing. Stop playing the victim or I'm imagining things and to grow up. My feelings are not valid.
I'm constantly just in my bedroom, because if I come out. I become a target. I barely even eat 😢😢 I have 2 meals a week if that and that's when my grandmother goes out. I go down and make something quick to eat. I tend to buy a lot of snacks online. Things I can keep in my bedroom to snack on when I get real hungry, just to avoid coming out of my bedroom.
Not sure how much more heartbreak I can take.
I've planned a day out at the weekend for the first time in 2 years to go see all my friends. To a rave. Because my legs have gained a bit of strength recently after being bed bound for over a year because I've been so ill. Obviously I'm extremely nervous about leaving my house, but I'm trying to force myself to try get myself out of this rut I'm in. My grandmother has done nothing but attack my image, calling me fat and basically trying to destroy my confidence, so I don't go out and calling me other horrible names because it's a rave I'm going to.
Now I used to rave a lot. So it's the only time I get to mix with like minded people. It's always the same people who go and i class them all as my rave family. I've been super excited and obviously nervous about this rave. I planned it just a week ago. My grandmother of course. Is doing everything in her power to try get me to not go. My friends all live dotted around the country, so i barely ever get to see anyone.
I'm not allowed to be happy. Or have a life or do anything for that matter.
I've been trying to exercise using my hula hoops and other flowtoys. Like my leviwand for example. It cost over 300 pound and my grandmother has gone into the tube it's kept in and binned the chargers and string for it. Rendering it useless and saying she's not touched it and im making stuff up and im going crazy!!!
I know she had done it as it was in her cupboard in her room. It had moved completely from where I actually put it. My room is very cluttered as I've had to cram me, my things and my pets all in here with me, due to having left my ex in such a hurry. I feel like I'm living in a closet. So I thought this one item would be safe in that cupboard as it was expensive. She had moved it and shoved something in its box that I know wasn't in there when I put it in there. She's lost all the attatchments, which I know was all together in that box. So now I can't use it at all. Of course.... It's all in my head and I'm the one who's lost these things even though i know for a fact I kept it all safe and together.
She's constantly sabataging me and saying it's all in my head.
I'm Quickly fading. Giving up. But then.... She will attack me for that too. Fcked if I do. Fcked if i don't. I can't win. No matter what I do.
Even if for example... Something has been on its way out... Breaking for a while and she's aware of it, if it breaks, it's automatically my fault.
According to her... Anything that breaks. Even if I haven't touched it. It's my fault. She will deliberately leave things to deteriorate and then blame me when it finally breaks completely. I'm at my wits end.
I'm so lost and just devastated at how horrible my life has been.
Can anyone give me any advice on what I should do about this situation?

Yes- I'm 14, and the girl I like is 12. I know the age difference is significant, especially on an emotional level, but she means a lot to me (I'm relatively short for my age, so I could be mistaken for a 12 or 13-year-old). Let's call this girl "Alice".
I'm finishing middle school in about a week and have exams coming up. I've liked Alice since I first saw her in February, and I can't stop thinking about her. She's the sister of one of my classmate's ex-boyfriends (Let's call this classmate "Ava") and she was also getting a lot of attention from the girls in my class. I kept this to myself until I told my best friend (Let's call him Matthew). Initially, I wasn't sure what I was feeling because I had never liked anyone before. At some point, I was teasing Matthew, and in a moment of anger, he blurted out to the whole class that I liked Alice. The girls, including Ava, were surprised but offered to help. Predictably, the secret lasted only six days. When Alice next visited our class, Ava told her I liked her. Alice looked at me for a moment, (sorta) blushed and left the class. I didn't have the courage to talk to her while she was still outside the class, and at the end of recess one of her friends later told me Alice didn't like me. I cried almost every day during the Easter holidays. When school resumed, Ava said Alice wanted to see me. Alice, hugging Ava, seemed shy but smiled when asked to at least ask for my name. My friends thought she might like me based on her reaction. I didn't talk to Alice for a week, and none of my friends pushed me to. Then one of Alice's classmates (Let's call her Brooke) said Alice was waiting for me to talk to her. So at recess, I visited Alice in her class, and she said hi, looking embarrassed, happy, and confused at the same time. She then hid in the bathroom, and her friends, who seemed enthusiastic about the situation, assured me she was just shy. At some point, Ava called me to talk to Alice again, but Alice ran away. Ava later said Alice thought I was cute. In the following days, I visited Alice often, just to say hi, but her friends encouraged me to be more direct. I went up to her and she tried to run away, but her friends stopped her. She eventually took a deep breath and asked what I wanted to tell her. I told her I liked her, and she made the same face from a few days earlier. After that, Alice seemed to lose interested. The next day, we had a proper conversation, and she said she'd see me later, but I didn't manage to visit her during the lunch break. For various reasons, I couldn't visit her for the next week. When I finally did, Alice sent Brooke to tell me she didn't like me, so I was miserable, but after a few minutes, Brooke changed this answer to "It's not a yes or a no," which was confusing. I later realised this might've just been a little remark to make me feel better. I wasn't completely defeated since Alice hadn't rejected me in person. Ava wrote a fake love letter from me to Alice, despite my objections. She managed to sneak past me and bring her the letter. From far away, I could see that Alice seemed happy and surprised by it. However, her friends stopped talking about the situation and helping me, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but I found it suspicious. I couldn't gather the courage to talk to Alice for a month, so I decided to write her a letter expressing how much she meant to me and wanting to clear things up. The day I planned to give it to her, I found out she had gotten a boyfriend three days earlier (Don't take this seriously, but I've seen him and for the record, I could easily beat him up). She seems pretty attatched to him too, because to my dismay, they hold hands and sometimes even kiss. Alice still occasionally looks at me with a neutral expression or sometimes even says hi, for whatever reason. Anyway, I've got one week of school left and I've lost all hope, so my question is, what should I do- if anything? Should I talk to her one last time? What should I say? Should I truly give up on this forever? And also, does anyone have any idea what was going on in her head during this whole ordeal? Please, this truly means a lot to me.
TLDR: I'm finishing middle school and have liked a girl two years younger than me for the past few months. My classmates told her, and they pushed us to talk. We had a few awkward conversations, and she seemed somewhat interested. Eventually, one of her friends said she didn't like me, and my classmates stopped helping or talking about this situation. I tried talking to her myself for a month but couldn't. I wrote her a letter, but she got a boyfriend three days before I could give it to her. Now I've got one week of school left and have lost hope. She occasionally looks at me or says hi, for whatever reason. Should I talk to her one last time? And also, does anyone have any idea what was going on in her head during this whole ordeal?

Shortform

• Massive exploration of the Society beyond the big names we've spent time with in Across
• Villains forsaking their rivalries for survival and universes paving their own roads
• Gwen temporarily eating it but coming back, then leaning on her comic self (A variant)'s new Ghost-Spider ident to mark her defying fate's scythe

Premise

Here is the textual taxonomy of trilogys as I've heard in (obscure, hard-to-find) writing structure lessons

• Installment 1: Exposit - What is the subject
• Installment 2: Analyze - What is the subject's meaning
• Installment 3: Perspectivize - What is the subject's value and suasoria

Across may not have been a conclusive Act 2, but it is definitely a valid standalone one

• Expanded the 'verse and the major cast by throwing a curve into their relationships and own philosophies
• Delved deeper into what makes a Spider-Man by presenting a free will vs. determinism arc a la Civil War that also happens to have metacommentary

"I'ma do my own thing."
"We're supposed to be the good guys."
Miles summarized his new path throughout the movie, then Gwen called out the Society for their enabling of so much death and suffering to serve a misguided dogma.
There's almost certainly gonna an all-out ideological civil war (fists or not, composite of MCU and comics, but Spiders-only) like that split poster teased.
Gonna be grimly hilarious seeing Spinneret/Spiderling fight Peter B. and Mayday (the former are on Miguel's side to the left, along with Insomniac Spidey)
Yes, I believe there will be a few more new support characters in Beyond - there's a reason certain folks were at the front, and it's just really curious and a wasted opportunity that this Spider-MJ didn't interact at all with this active version of her other (stillborn) daughter or her (Mayday-616B) dad.
I very much appreciate the lifting of other Spidey variants to the zeitgeist fold - Noir, Ham, Gwendy-65, the UK/Punk and Indian ones, the weirdos like Parkedcar from Not! Pixar's Cars, a damn popsicle possibly (lol), a plushie, etc. - but they

Events and Themes

1. Universes

Serving the Installment 3 role, Beyond will probably tie up loose ends and make the above themes reverberate across universes. Like, for 42:

• Miles Prowler can prove that the world doesn't always need Spider-Heroes to save itself, only the spirit of the concept - Spider-Man isn't the center of the multiverse, and given the last movie's title, it will navigate its own fate independent of any Spider at all - let the world do its own thing

Beyond the 'verse of men of spiders, Reality-42 rises up against villainy.

• Maybe Kingpin and Dr. Octopus return someway, then emulate their TAS 1994 counterparts in allying with the Spiders out of existential pragmatics

2. Characters and Developments

By "reverberate," the Spider-Hero question is going to strike real nerves that change the Society and the world, making them examine the morality of the war they fight against anomalies like Spot; survival at all means and costs vs. idealistic stand against fate. And for certain Spiders, we could get more screentime with certain Society members and ex-members - preferably Spinneret and Spiderling, the Insomniac Spideys, and Scarlet Spider - and Endgame-ify Beyond's length.

• The RYV (Reality-18119, Renew Your Vows) Parkers confide with the others including Peter B. on family and how do they keep it together in light of their role as preserving fate and existence itself
• PS4/5 bros relate their experiences of loss and keeping going, especially to 1610B Miles. A great way of giving a layman on the games' plots while relaying their themes to the wider non-gamer audience
• Ben Reilly (Scarlet bro), being a Pete clone and a technical predecessor to Miles, will have his status put to address. His struggles with his inheritance and identity - bearing the names of Peter's parental figures - will probably mirror Ultimate Spider-Woman, and hopefully, he's a major outcrier against Miguel's misguided cause
• Jess-332's and Peter B's babies will interact, leading to the former's moral realization due to Peter B's time with Miles being the reason for his family's reconstruction - influenced solely by extrauniversal (of course anomalous) factors. Throw that Madame Web Spidey (Julia Carpenter) into the fray somehow?
• Interuniversal linkage like in the comics (616/928 and 65/8) can be explored to further the fate-changing theme; whether 928B the bad future of 616B is an inevitability - we haven't really explored 928B - and whether 42 is 1610B's worst possible self and how it can change. The Miles/Gwen dynamic could play here too, 65B and 1610B and the references to the number 8 (which happens to resemble the infinity sign - "infinite Spider possibilities") in Across. Not suggesting that Comics Earth 8's characters play any role, tho, 'cuz per the themes, the duo should connect on their terms
• Variant Miguels when, Sony - like the variant MJs, Harrys, Normans, Flashes, and Gwens, etc. Get freaking Edge of Time, not just Ultimate and 1994, in it
• The locked-up anomalous villains perhaps even helping stop Spot - like Kingpin and Ock above. Basically No Way Home's scenario but tweaked a bit and writ large; let them decide whether to have a new lease of life or to keep their exploits going - their outcomes, their terms as usual. I wonder how would Atari Osborn fare, though, XD

Feel free to add more :) Not quite a Marvel binger yet, XD

3. Fates

Another element to be addressed is the room elephant of canon events. Their loopholes, their flexibility have to be expanded upon: They are fluid like time's arrows and oceans. For one:

• George lives? Sorry, but Gwen's relationship with him remains strained, on top of her guilt from treachery and deception. Also, the canon event ain't really death, but the Captain losing their job

Maybe we even trade one event for another, as in a major death of sorts. In my opinion:

• Not Peter B., because he's a living meta rebuttal to people holding off (at the very least) on an aged-up/married/parent Peter, the 616 editorial included. Him dying, let alone Mayday (toddler, so definite write-off), would undermine this subtext
• Not Jess, 'cuz she's a mother and despite her jerkish mentor habits seems willing to look the other way for turncoats like Margo/Byte
• Not Jeff, 'cuz that would just prove Miggy's point in light of George being living proof, as well as utterly render worthless all the effort thrown into saving him
• Not Miguel (yes, how dare I), 'cuz for all his pain-motivated harshness, he deserves better than the cliche'd fatal redemption trope of villains, of which he technically ain't one (and don't "Thanos" this as unlike Migs, he knew of better options but foregone it)

Here's a unique twist: The mastermind behind this Spider- conspiracy grows a conscience after all the breaking lectures against his warped view of canon events, then resolves to save as many lives as possible, dropping all pretenses of controlling the Spider-War
At risk to himself, he'll unhesitatingly save lives while one/some of those who blindly followed him give theirs. As shitty as his Society's turned out to be, they still have their main directive of fixing multiversal incursions, and someone has to keep giving the orders, someone with the most drive and commitment (especially for atonement)
Why on Miguel? Matured thinking aside, it evokes how science and philosophy works; cognitive science has this cliché of at least two sides theorizing extremes that are contrary to one another, and as time passes with discovery, the proof points to both sides having a point and deciding on a compromise; this of course goes beyond simple personal disagreement
So who'll it be?
Spider-gents and ladies, none other than Gwendolyn Maxine Stacy of Earth-65B
In the vein of MCU Aunt May being her Pete's Uncle Ben delivering that responsibility quote, and through it occurs the Spider-Verse's true Ultimate Fallout/Death of a Spider event this way
Gwen being slain and (certainly) coming back would be a wakeup call to both her world and the Society, as well as the latter group's morality in their internal strife and conflict against Spot. Redeem her image to everybody, Miles included, while allowing them to get together on solitary terms
That way:

• Miguel's right that being a Spider is a sacrifice, it's just their assigned canon events ain't 1:1 across every universe
• Miles' right that you can have and eat two cakes - meaning canon events can be alleviated (such as debris falling on Singh without killing him) - it's just that there's a cost

It'd also be a roundabout redemption for blindly following the Society's beliefs and causing unnecessary pain to Miles, deeper than "My well-meaning side right, your well-meaning side wrong" - no, both sides can have their two cakes; say, the rest save Jeff, Gwen herself - the motherless one - saves Rio, let 1610B not be 1610A in this particular way
I'ma spitball here, but it's kinda like Nolanverse (TDKR) Batman, come to think of it. Maybe George is informed of and reveals his daughter's "demise" and publicizes her ident? The latter I admit is questionable
Maybe Gwen goes to 1610B and RVs with Miles to Florence - there's this café on the banks of the Arno - for a fine evening sitting there and ordering a Fernet Branca
XD

(Potential) Foreshadowing

• Proof for the 42 antiheroes' case:

... "We wanted to craft this moment where Miles encounters this powerful figure in his life that he loved so much and he lost," says director Justin K. Thompson. "That's when he realizes that he is not really in his own dimension, as well as the gravity of what he has lost. In this reality, Aaron had to shake off his life of crime and became a surrogate father figure to Miles."
... In this alternate reality, the Sinister Six have been able to flourish and take over the world. "Criminality runs rampant," says Thompson. "We wanted to create a world where it felt like Aaron and Miles G. Morales of Earth-42 [this reality's counterpart to Miles Morales] are the only heroes.
Zahed, R. (2023). Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: The Art of the Movie. Abrams Books. THE WORLDS → Earth-42, p.190
... This version of the character was never bitten by a radioactive spider and doesn't have any superpowers, but he has fallen into the role of becoming the vigilante the Prowler, under the tutelage of his uncle Aaron. ...
Zahed, R. (2023). Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: The Art of the Movie. Abrams Books. THE WORLDS → Miles G. Morales: The Prowler, p.200

• Here's a pattern: We meet multiple Spidey-Peters and our intro hero is, well, RIPeter, then some podcast revealed we'd be meeting multiple Gwens in Beyond; timestamp 17:51-18:45

Interviewer: Will we see other multiversal variants of Gwen Stacy in the future even if they don't have spider powers, like you do with MJ, Uncle Aaron, and Miles?
Lord: Currently yes. ... But there’s one I’m very excited about.
Miller: Yes, yeah, I know exactly the one you’re talking about.
Lord: You know the one I’m thinking of, which is based on... I’m not gonna say anything, I’m not gonna say anything.
Miller: But it is sort of plot-integral, I would say.
Interviewer: If there are other multiversal variants of Gwen in Beyond the Spider-Verse, will they impact her arc, her relationship with Miles?
Lord: I would say yes.

The Pete variants showed up after Blondie's demise, so they might reverse the sequence here - as I said, a bookend.
Yea, all these signs totally bode well for the other blonde Spidey here

• Friendly reminder they referenced fuckin' Ultimate Fallout of all storylines in Gwen's room, under which she mostly lingers while speaking with her dad. Are you telling me that scene just happened to be shot like that? No, they orchestrated it! L&M! The story that deals with Miles' overall debut and the (of course, cue pathos) fallout of 1610A Spidey's demise! Been struggling to find and spot it honestly, damn lighting and coloring
• Guess what's 1610A Pete (the original Ultimate comics version, not blond RIPeter)'s death age? 16, exactly 65B Gwen's present age. MCU Pete's too when he was snapped
• Notice the last part of the Canon Event exposition scene; Hobie's got the Spider-Man No More comic panel, Jess-332 the If This Be My Destiny one, Peter B. the wedding, and Gwen? Spidey rising from the grave in Kraven's Last Hunt, modified with herself doing the feat. The kicker here: Neither Hobie nor Gwen's displayed events have official releases yet, although Hobie did say he opted out of chasing Miles - which is to say she's next and last, as well as #4 (so deathly the connotations) on the shown list

In Defense

Now calm down before you web pitchforks on me

• People keep saying there has to be a much more nuanced wrap-up - an idea with traction around these subs in a good way; to this day, people argue whether that Mumbattan hole was Spot BS or a canon event's unraveling. Mine has that nuance IMO
• Migs up and stated Mumbattan wasn't their first canon event ruptures rodeo and they couldn't save some 'verses from them, why would he be bullshitting or even fully wrong on CEs if he had that Spider team with specialized equipment for canon event containment? They were conveniently there right as that hole formed, and hell, they could reconcile that hole with the Dead Migs dimension where everything digitally evaporates as the latter being the end result
• He put on his shitlist Spider-Holland (maybe along with Maguire, Garfield (the light one)) for a reason - not hesitating to save MCU MJ (Michelle Jones-Watson) rather than let her be Spider-Tom's ASM-121 moment - although one can argue the memory wipe counts as first love loss, along with his Iron Man being his police captain canon event - and Raimi-verse Gwen is very much (per that meme) hot, single, and alive. Observing Sinister, Supreme, and 838/Illuminati-Strange's destroyed realities made him a rage button for 2099
• Showing the other 'verses like the comic-based What Ifs and that Armored Spider-Man one from the 1994 cartoon? It's kind of like a cheat out of the dilemma, and I'm not sure the other viewers would agree. Miguel also knows of Dr. Strange and possibly his What If? versions
  • Before someone "Absolute Points solve themselves, Society's unneeded" me, we know too the APs are a nascent concept and Miguel probably thought no two universes will always solve themselves and CEs are probably spontaneous - maybe a day, a week, or even a year plus, they will happen, scapegoat or not
  • To the people who say Migs was mistaken in how he destroyed that reality and that it was an Incursion: IT WASN'T ONE, because it would have caused a collision course between that 'verse and 928B, which I don't think they have any means to stop - only someone like Strange. Aside from the trolley sacrifice of one Earth, we're not privy to what are the other seven ways to averting Incursions. Guess what, Gabri's reality went poof on its apparent own while 928B stayed very much alive. Didn't even look like 928B was approaching from the skies at the time either
  • Returning to Miles' side, I also hear of the fixed time points comparison from Dr. Who; I'd like to point out the Doctor was able to fake his death by hiding inside a, uh, humanoid ship at Lake Silencio, so I've read, despite records saying so
• They keep insisting "First time for everything," right, plus the cake stuff? Why not a Venom Blast resuscitation somehow on the brink of death, then being comatose or some other critical injury so the "lost Lenore" event doesn't stick? Or! In the style of BvS Dawn of Justice and What if? Spider-Man The Other (plus Ultimate Gwen ofc)...symbiotic resurrection (possibly even transporting that one symbiote drop in that bar in the MCU), and cue Gwenom arc in some spinoff like Spider-Women
• Alternatively, to avoid the fridged LI trope absolutely, Rio gets the Ultimate comics treatment of death somehow - but as said repeatedly, doing one's own thing, and I think this Spider-War's seen enough dead Moraleses. Miles has already grown and seen enough from the other Spiders' losses and his own. Honestly, people need to hear comic quotes often, take Mark Waid's Daredevil run:

Rachel Cole: You know what gives me the strength? My loss. We're alike that way, I imagine. Admit it, nobody who's a stranger to that particular pain could ever be as driven as us.
Daredevil: Never... Don't you ever say that to me ever again, that is a repellent statement, it's a vomituous insult to every cop, every fireman, every soldier alive who steps up to fight for those who can't! I am sorry for your loss, but if you genuinely believe that only the death of a loved one can motivate a human being to take up a cause...then get your pathetic cynical ass out of my way so I can do my job!

It's relevant because Rachel's stance here was that people like them who fight for causes are solely inspired by loss, only for Matt to verbally skewer her. The subtext here, synthesizing it with the Spidey mythos is that it's misguided to think that losing forever more loved ones is the only way to make a true Spider-Hero.
Flip the narrative and say "Villainy only happens if they're abused/poorly raised, alas, poor villain;" one is warranted to call it a vomitous insult to every abuse victim/improperly raised junior out there who became better than their elders/superiors - i.e. not go evil.
Either way, the greater gist of this is losing a close one for good isn't the way, emphasis on "for good"

Future Implications

Wrapping everything up like above (I mean the objectives), one way or another (not necessarily mine), would show full commitment to the theme of forging one's own destiny right down to the metatextual. The Spidersoc let confirmation bias blind themselves to possibilities and seemingly have yet to expose themselves to the preestablished branch realities where, say, Spider-People lose nobody or a Gwen Stacy ties neatly her romance quest with a Spidey. The themes of doing your own thing openly and honestly and in safety - rather than requesting permission from broken systems - resonate much with an Excel list: People who are queeof colowomen/disabled
Beyond that obviousness, we have disabled Spideys, Muslim Spideys (that female UK one), Blob-fat Spideys - even PLUSHIE Spideys, just to name a few, all to show the movie being the most diverse and inclusive Spidey work to date. These themes are so incredibly applicable to the lives of atypical people or otherwise people who live under systems that aren't designed for them to succeed. IE: POC, women, queer people, people with disabilities, etc. One can argue "doing your own thing" was what made ItSV such a breakthrough success and a decade phenomenon: Everything about the animation
I get that a teen girl dying, even temporarily - especially one who resonates much with LGBT (transgwender specifically) themes - is real bad optics, but we went through this before with Luz Noceda (bi rep exactly) from The Owl House, and things landed on their feet :)
If/When she comes back to crimefighting, this would be the moment she goes by Ghost Spider like her A self - a Gwen who fought fate and died for it, but another Spider loved her so much, he raised her from death to life in Ultimate defiance (getting flowery prose here) that prevails

Narcissistic grandmother.
Where do i begin.... So my grandmother has always been abusive to me. For as long as i can remember.
As a child my mum and dad practically dumped me on my grandmother and grandfather's step. They took me in. My grandad was always my angel. He loved me so much and I was always the apple of his eye. Sadly in 2009 he died from leukaemia. He was diagnosed on his birthday. Died a year later on his birthday 😔 me and my grandmother never really got along. She always looked down her nose at me. Like I was a piece of shit under her shoe.
It was just me who got dumped on my grandparents step. My sisters went with my mum and my brother with my dad when they split up.
Now.... I don't know much about her upbringing because I literally can't speak to the woman. She is very... Undermining and passive agressive. So I just don't bother as its never pleasant to speak to her. Never has been.
So I have 2 sisters and a brother. My grandmother idolises them. Very openly, almost like it's done purposely to make me feel as low as possible. I am constantly left out of family outings, holidays, meals. You name it. It's making me resent my own siblings.
I became the black sheep very quickly. I have to watch my family doing things together, while I'm constantly left out. Watching from the sidelines, Unacknowledged, Forgotten about if you will.
Fast forward... At this point id had enough. So I moved in with my then boyfriend. I was obviously extremely happy to get away from my grandmother and family. I moved to a different city.
Things were great at first... Sadly he started to change after a while. He started to abuse me also and get violent towards me. I found out he had abused 2 women before me. I escaped with my life barely. But I had nowhere to live or any money as my ex had taken everything off me and used me for my money the entire time and I would like to add that this man also made me disabled. ( trauma induced fibromyalgia, chronic pain and fatigue, ptsd, depression, the whole lot )
So I had to move back in with my evil grandmother, but this time... I'm disabled at this point 😔 the trauma and stress of previous life abuses and obviously the trauma of domestic violence had made me extremely ill. I couldn't even walk. I've been in and out of hospital and doctors you name it.
So now, my grandmother has an evil new tactic up her sleeve. Because I'm now disabled, she uses my illness as a weapon to abuse me. Saying "your brain has gone" " you're crazy " . And calling me and i quote a " fat tw*t " obviously because of my ptsd, I was terrified to leave the house and now my own grandmother is attacking my appearance and mental health and disability all at the same time. My illness has turned my life upside down.
She is taking nearly all my money from me, so I'm unable to save up to leave. Shelters are only offering me places half way across the country, alone, which would absolutely terrify me.
I have had a pretty lonely existence and still live a lonely existence. My pets are my everything and shelters also do not allow pets. So I feel trapped now. I cannot survive without my pets. They're all I have.
I'm trapped with a woman who causes a fight with me any time I leave my bedroom. She attacks my disibilty, my mental health, calls me names, she bins my belongings and throws my stuff around all over the floor. She purposely breaks my belongings. Then she gaslights me.
She literally says I'm imagining things when she does all this stuff to me. All while turning the rest of my family against me by telling them, I'm unruly. Because I'm defending myself and standing my ground on what I know to be true. I've even resorted to recording her when she starts these fights with me. But even when I show my siblings. They instantly side with her or say it's nothing to do with them. Even if I tell my mum. She doesn't care. My mum is a very selfish woman. She has a drug addiction. So she only cares about herself and herself only. My dad has just got a whole seperate life now and a new gf. Wants nothing to do with me or anyone else besides his gf.
I've been abused my entire life. I'm still being abused. I've had enough.
What do I even do about this? I feel like I'm getting more sick by the day because of all this trauma. I'm literally trapped. I'm tired. My soul is literally tired.
If I alert authorities. My entire family will turn on me. All but one. My grandmother's daughter. My auntie. Is also cast out by her. So I do speak to her about the abuse which helps.
But it doesn't help my situation. I'm still trapped here. My auntie has a full house and is also dealing with illness herself. So that's not an option unfortunately.
Has anyone experienced anything like this with their grandmother?
It makes me sick because everyone thinks she's a lovely old lady. She puts on this false image in public. But behind closed doors. She's a monster. An absolute monster. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff she says to me I can barely believe it myself. She's told me to unalive myself and that nobody loves me and she hates me.
I know it's awful to say. But I cant wait until she passes 😢 I can then be free of her abuse once and for all. I hate that I think this way about someone. But when theyve abused you your entire life, Belittled you, called you names, attack you, bullied you, destroys and bins your belongings and has trapped you, then blames you for it. You will think and feel the same way. All whilst rubbing how much she loves my siblings in my face.
She makes me feel like there's something wrong with me. Like I'm unlovable. What did I ever do to her!?!
I remember asking this question once and she said I'm imagining things and im being childish and told to grow up and stop being crazy and that I'm weak.
She loves calling me weak and keeps telling me I'm playing the victim. Well.... I am the victim. You're literally abusing me.
It's not crazy if it's reality right?
Sometimes I feel like Im just not from this family. Even my siblings have nothing in common with me and look down on me and don't bother with me. We are 100% from the same mother and father. I just can't understand how I'm cast out and treated like this. I've never done anything wrong to anyone 😔😔
I've asked many times what I've done to deserve this treatment and they just keep saying the same thing. Stop playing the victim or I'm imagining things and to grow up. My feelings are not valid.
I'm constantly just in my bedroom, because if I come out. I become a target. I barely even eat 😢😢 I have 2 meals a week if that and that's when my grandmother goes out. I go down and make something quick to eat. I tend to buy a lot of snacks online. Things I can keep in my bedroom to snack on when I get real hungry, just to avoid coming out of my bedroom.
Not sure how much more heartbreak I can take.
I've planned a day out at the weekend for the first time in 2 years to go see all my friends. To a rave. Because my legs have gained a bit of strength recently after being bed bound for over a year because I've been so ill. Obviously I'm extremely nervous about leaving my house, but I'm trying to force myself to try get myself out of this rut I'm in. My grandmother has done nothing but attack my image, calling me fat and basically trying to destroy my confidence, so I don't go out and calling me other horrible names because it's a rave I'm going to.
Now I used to rave a lot. So it's the only time I get to mix with like minded people. It's always the same people who go and i class them all as my rave family. I've been super excited and obviously nervous about this rave. I planned it just a week ago. My grandmother of course. Is doing everything in her power to try get me to not go. My friends all live dotted around the country, so i barely ever get to see anyone.
I'm not allowed to be happy. Or have a life or do anything for that matter.
I've been trying to exercise using my hula hoops and other flowtoys. Like my leviwand for example. It cost over 300 pound and my grandmother has gone into the tube it's kept in and binned the chargers and string for it. Rendering it useless and saying she's not touched it and im making stuff up and im going crazy!!!
I know she had done it as it was in her cupboard in her room. It had moved completely from where I actually put it. My room is very cluttered as I've had to cram me, my things and my pets all in here with me, due to having left my ex in such a hurry. I feel like I'm living in a closet. So I thought this one item would be safe in that cupboard as it was expensive. She had moved it and shoved something in its box that I know wasn't in there when I put it in there. She's lost all the attatchments, which I know was all together in that box. So now I can't use it at all. Of course.... It's all in my head and I'm the one who's lost these things even though i know for a fact I kept it all safe and together.
She's constantly sabataging me and saying it's all in my head.
I'm Quickly fading. Giving up. But then.... She will attack me for that too. Fcked if I do. Fcked if i don't. I can't win. No matter what I do.
Even if for example... Something has been on its way out... Breaking for a while and she's aware of it, if it breaks, it's automatically my fault.
According to her... Anything that breaks. Even if I haven't touched it. It's my fault. She will deliberately leave things to deteriorate and then blame me when it finally breaks completely. I'm at my wits end.
I'm so lost and just devastated at how horrible my life has been.
Can anyone give me any advice on what I should do about this situation?

A friend of mine passed recently and she absolutely loved to quote a fake album commercial Stephen did promoting “patriotic songs” - she’d always sing a line about thanking god for beef and the constitution
But now for the life of me I can’t seem to remember the exact bit it’s from or what episode it was in - during the bit he’s wearing a cowboy hat or other patriotic gear and standing in front of ridiculous green screen American imagery lol
Hard to find as I’m assuming it was a random cutaway during a monologue or different bit but I think the fake commercial for the album was at least a minute long

I know they say the key to mental health recovery is to socially engage, to develop interpersonal relationships, independence, a life, and so on. Every day I'm slipping further, and further into an inner-reality. Every day I'm slipping further, and further into a fantasyland. I feel alone, unheard, unloved, unempathized with - just basically alone in my head in what feels like solitary confinement. It feels like torture. I realize nobody is holding me at gunpoint and forcing me to post on social media all day long. It's my anxiety and agoraphobia. It's me. It's very much me.
Obviously, if you want to find a romantic partner, love - leave the house, really go anywhere, but go to mental health recovery groups, and live life. Get off social media. Get out of solitary confinement and live life.
To quote Gary Burr, love is out there but you have to go get it. It's not going to come to you. You know? No fairy Godmother is going to come waving the magic wand. I'm waiting for Godot to rescue me. Godot ain't coming.

I have an online boyfriend whom I've been talking to for over two years. He messaged me first, and it took off from there. A month ago he said he thinks we're fine the way we are, I live on the other side of the world and travelling seems like a lot to him right now and him travelling in the future isn't that likely. He's a plump person, and he was working part time when he first began speaking to me. He seemed a lot more lively back then, both on his Reddit account and on online chats. He gradually became less and less active, and now it's gotten to the point where he is often too tired to talk, or even post on his Reddit account. Even when he has a week off work, he doesn't seem interested in talking or posting on Reddit, and says he feels tired one way or another. He's been working full time for a while, plus he had college on top of this too.
Pretty often he'll go two or three days without talking and he warns me that he's going to feel too exhausted to talk after work. He usually works from five am till around one pm, but even on days where he works from nine till five he's exhausted. I dunno if this is normal or not, I just read a news article saying that being overweight can make you feel tired all the time, and I love him, so I really just want what's best for him..wibta for suggesting this could be to do with his weight, not just his work hours? Early on he told me that his weight is genetic because he eats less than his brothers but they're skinny, even though he's taller than both of them. His brothers are both skinny while he's been chubby since he was a teenager. Early on I asked him if he tried losing weight and he said not really, since he's not having any health problems due to his weight. He's five foot eleven and 24. He works a quote, mind numbingly boring job that involves making and wrapping tortillas. When I ask him when his next free day is, he'll often respond with, when I'm dead. I've asked him at least twice these past couple months if there's anything he wants to talk about but he says he's fine. Sometimes I feel like I'm having to carry the conversation, he'll give replies that are a few words, and he just doesn't seem as lively as he used to be. I've seen recent photos of him and he does look tired, with bags under his eyes that weren't there when I first met him. His weight looks like it's stayed the same in the two years we've been talking.
He knows he's fat, he's even called himself that. I actually have a preference towards bigger people but if it is starting to affect his health, I don't want him to be unhealthy.