#wish i had a transcript

[notwiselybuttoowell]

Once again, I'm absolutely staggered by all the possiblities of seaweed if handled correctly

For World Ocean Day, Gaia Vince finds out how the planet’s seas could help us to generate clean power, capture CO2 and feed the world. Gaia is joined in the studio by science journalist and marine biologist Olive Heffernan. She dives into the controversy regarding the potential of mining in deep oceans and discusses whether the seas could become the location for Industrial Revolution 2.0.

We’re used to seeing seaweed wrapped around our sushi rolls but it’s so much more than that. As well as being a tasty addition to what we eat, seaweed plays a vital role in absorbing CO2. Gaia speaks to Vincent Doumeizel, a senior adviser on oceans to the UN Global Compact; he’s also the food programme director at the UK-based charity Lloyd’s Register Foundation. He’s confident that seaweed could enable us to sustainably feed a growing global population in the coming decades.

Phytoplankton – microscopic species of algae that exist on the surface of the sea – also absorb huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. Sir David King, founder and chair of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group and former chief scientific adviser to the UK Government has the radical idea that artificial whale poo could boost phytoplankton growth, leading to an increase in fish stocks and, consequently, improved biodiversity in the oceans. He tells Gaia about his project and the potential it has for carbon capture.

When we think of energy generation from the oceans, we tend to think of offshore technology such as wind turbines. But what about generating electricity using the water itself? Gaia speaks to Eco Wave Power’s Inna Braverman who reveals how her project harnesses the power of the waves by attaching to existing coastal structures such as piers and jetties, to provide a source of clean, renewable energy.

[galedekarios]

talking with my friend @voliialpha reminded me of how much content was cut from gale going from early access to the full release version of the game:

the two biggest scenes that were cut:

-the deer stew scene -the loss scene (which included another way to start the romance with him)

shorter ! conversations:

-his reaction after the fight in the abandoned temple of jergal -his reaction after you failed to save arabella / stood by to watch it happen -his reaction after talking to the paladins of tyr and agreeing to go after karlach -his reaction after edowin and the tadpole reveal -his reaction after mayrina giving ethel's wand to her or breaking it -his reaction after handing astarion over to the gur or defending him -his reaction to reaching the druid grove for the first time -his reaction to the player killing lae'zel after they feel the symptoms of ceremorphosis and comforting them -his reaction to reaching the goblin camp & looking for halsin -his reaction to killing the druids -his reaction to priestess gut & the brand & the cult of the absolute -his reaction after killing dror ragzlin and talking to the dead mind flayer -his reaction to the bugbear and the ogre couple -being able to give him the necromancy of thay book to read (not as an item to consume) -his various reaction after you dealt with ethel or made a deal with her -his reaction to the zhentarim chest -his reaction to the myconids after entering the myconid colony for the first time -his reaction to arabella dying

these were all conversations, marked with a !. some of the lines used in these conversation survived as ambient one liners ("the loot isn't for your pockets only." line for one).

i didn't realise it was this much. i was thinking about making a post with the actual transcripts of these conversation because it's just sad that they are all gone now. they gave a lot of insight into the character.

one of the few conversations that did survive are his reaction to nettie poisoning the protag, his story after saving mirkon, the story about the yawning portal after stepping in front of sazza, and his reaction to saving arabella from kagha.

[hello-eeveev]

I adored the scene between Orym and the Wildmother. I thought it was beautiful. they cannot make me hate either of them. but of course I must take it upon myself to address some responses to it that I’ve seen floating about, especially bc the way some people talk about emotions makes me concerned:

1) an appeal to emotion is not inherently manipulative. it’s a normal part of communication, and treating it as “playing dirty” will negatively affect yourself and your relationships with others. trust me. you are allowed to express your feelings, and other people are allowed to take your feelings into account and adjust their behavior. it’s actually a good thing! that’s healthy communication!

2) “see you soon” is not a death wish, nor is it a firm belief that he will die in the upcoming battle. it’s an acknowledgement that on the grand, cosmic scale of time, their separation is only for a short while. I suppose it would depend on the belief in an afterlife of the people around you, but have you never heard this sentiment expressed? not once?

[unpretty]

Thanks for the transcripts!! Your fake social media and chats are so fun, and they're even better with transcripts telling me who everyone's icon is :D I keep hitting kudos even tho I've left them before so here's some hearts for you directly ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

yeah, screen readers/transcript users get the secret bonus that sometimes i explain a visual gag or else make explicit which parts of the visual i consider important that you might gloss over in a screenshot (like notifications appearing and disappearing, or the extra cells in nominal that you have to read the formula bar for)

[royalarchivist]

Pac: Fit. Where are you, Fit? Where are you, Fit? Where is my official gossip???

It's always very funny hearing Pac and Fit complaining when the other person hasn't logged onto the server yet, lmao.

[julijbee]

they dont want you to know that a gay cat and gay dog can find love together on this earth.

[s-dixon]

full special multi-21 presser transcript

Q. Before Malaysia you were viewed as the good guy, but since then you have become the bad guy. How do you feel about the situation? SV: I don't consider myself being the bad guy. I don't think I did something that was in particular bad. I think I said everything I had to say after the race, and I apologised to the team - which was important to me to get things straight. I took the opportunity to go see the team after the race straight away and explain what happened from my point of view, like I did to you after the race, and that is it.

Q. Helmut Marko has been quoted as saying there will be no more team orders at Red Bull. How much more difficult does that make your job of winning the championship? SV: I don't know. I haven't seen Helmut yet. But it makes no difference.

Q. How do you define your relationship with Mark Webber now, and do you think you can count on his support? SV: I think being completely honest, I never had support from his side. I have a lot of support from the team, and the team has supported both of us the same way. But in terms of relationship to Mark, I respect him a lot as a racing driver, but I think there was more than one occasion in the past where he could have helped the team and he didn't.

Q. Is that why you did it then? SV: I explained to you why I did it. But whether you believe me or not is on a different page.

Q. But you said that Mark never helped you. Were you paying him back? SV: You could say indirectly so, but as I tried to explain to you after the race, in my opinion it is always best to be truthful. But sometimes the truth is not what the people want to hear. As you can see controversy is more popular than the truth. I told you after the race what happened. I was racing, and as a racing driver I was solely focused on winning the race and I got a call on the radio, which I heard, but I didn't understand at the time. I should have understood. That is why I apologised to the team, because in my action I put myself above the team. Whether you believe me or not is up to you.

Q. Didn't you know exactly what you were doing though? SV: I apologised to the team because it was the last thing I want as a team member, which is what I am and how I feel. I am one of the guys, you might say I am more or less important but I feel more or less on the same level and as a team member I didn't obey the team's order, which as I said was not my intention. My intention if you look at it as a racing driver is to win the race, so I don't apologise for winning the race.

Q. Going back to earlier in the race, was the decision to change to slicks at the first stop your call, or was it made by the team? SV: It was my call. I came on the radio at the beginning of the lap saying that it looks pretty dry. At the end of the lap I felt it was the point of crossover and I thought I would come in and take the risk, because I thought it was dry enough. Unfortunately as it turned out it was not the perfect call and it was probably one lap too early. Plus I had the gap, so I was not in need of being the first one in. But I felt it was the right time and that is why I went for it. As it turned out it was still a bit damp, plus I came out in traffic, turn 1/2/3 was still a bit damp so people passed me straightaway on inters, and then I was behind them when I came onto the dry section and couldn't make use of that. So the bottom line is that I lost too much.

Q. Was what happened later on your way of making up for it then? SV: Well what happened was that I was racing and I wanted to win. In that regard, I succeeded.

Q. You apologised to Mark after the race, but you are not doing so now. Have you changed your mind? SV: These kinds of things I sort out with him straight away, face to face. I think everything that happened in the past, there was sometimes more talk about what happened, sometimes less. It is not my style to run to the media and explain myself. If I have something to say then I prefer to say it internally.

Q. During the race you were backed into the Mercedes by Mark. Did that annoy you? SV: Not annoyed, I came on the radio and said that I was faster. I think it was a bit misunderstood because probably what I said came across a little bit arrogant but what I actually meant was that I had pressure from behind. Mark speeded up as soon as I got closer and to be fair he was even a little bit faster towards the end of the stint. At the beginning I ran a little bit into the back of him, which I am not blaming him for, and Lewis was very close, Mercedes had strong race pace and fortunately from our point of view they ran out of fuel and they could not keep pushing until the end.

Q. Have you been punished by the team? SV: There are a lot of marks on my back! No. As I said, I like to deal with these things face to face. I have always been open and I think I have always been truthful so if I have something to admit or talk about something I did wrong, then I have no problem admitting it. It is probably not the easiest to say the truth but that is what I did straight away after the race, and straight away to the team as well. My intention was not to put my interest above the team's interest because as I see my position, I am a team member, I am one of them - and the team is putting a lot of effort to give me a good chance to win races and have a strong car, and ultimately trusts me. I want to give that trust back as much as I can.

Q. Do you think Christian Horner's position has been weakened by your actions? SV: Well you could say so... but as I said, I went to talk to everyone straight after and explain what happened. The intention was not to undermine the decision by the team principal.

Q. How do you go about resolving the situation with Mark? Can you trust each other? SV: I wouldn't call it trust, to be honest. I think we have a professional relationship. As I said in the past, obviously, there was more than one occasion where things didn't work the way they should have, and as I said - I respect him a lot as a driver. I think he has achieved great things in his career in F1, and also before F1, and I respect that.

Q. Do you want a different team-mate next year? SV: It is not for me to decide.

Q. No it's not your decision, but you can have an opinion. Do you want a new team-mate? SV: I see where this is going...but I don't like talking bad about other people. It is not my style to complain or talk to everyone about everything. If there is something that I feel I have to say, I do address it to the people that are important for the decision.

Q. Had you understood the team order properly, would you have obeyed it - as you had saved the best tyres for that final stint? SV: I think as you mentioned, I was faster in the end. That is why I was able to overtake. Overtaking is not easy, let's not forget that, in F1. If I had understood the message and would have thought about it, I am not sure I can give you a perfect answer on this because thinking about it, obviously I probably had realised in the moment that there is quite a conflict, because on the one hand I am the kind of guy who respects team decisions and the other hand, probably Mark is not the one who deserved it at the time.

Q. So you would do it again under the same circumstances? SV: I am not sure I can give you a proper answer because in the moment it might be different, but I would probably do the same.

Q. How do you deal with racing Mark now? SV: It is not the end of the world here. At the end of the day I cross the paddock entrance every morning because I do something I love, I love racing and I love coming here, I love working with the team and the guys, I enjoy that a lot. It gives me so much satisfaction and I cannot think of anything else that gives me that much pleasure. I think the bottom line is I don't want to forget that. Sometimes we have easier or more difficult times but at the end of the day I am here for that, and that is what I enjoy most.

Q. Christian Horner said that there was no point in ordering you to give up the lead in Malaysia as you would have ignored it. Is that a sign that this is your team now, and that Christian is no longer in control? SV: I don't think that is right. I think the circumstances for that have a different nature. He is the boss, he is in control of all the employees and he is leading the team so I think I am not in any other position than I am. I am the driver.

Q. But you broke an order and you got no sanction? SV: I did speak up and I did apologise and I meant it. Sanction as in punishment? Maybe it is a little bit of a dreamland that you all live in, but what do you expect to happen. Make a suggestion! We dealt with it internally. As I said I did apologise to the team, I took it very seriously, I went to see the whole team as soon as I could, not just the people working here, and told them as well.

Q. So if Christian had asked you to give the position back, would you have done it? SV: I didn't mean to ignore the team's order because I didn't understand it. I heard it but I didn't understand it in the proper way, the way I should have. I apologise for that because with my action I disobeyed the team order and put myself above the team. Had I understood the message and had I thought about it, reflected on it, think what the team wanted to do, to leave Mark in first place and me finishing second, I think I would have thought about it and I would probably have done the same thing. He didn't deserve it. To me it is best to be myself. I have always been truthful and I said the truth after the race.

Q. You said that you don't like to talk about other people - but you complained about Mark earlier in the race on the radio... SV: Your translation is complain, my translation is that I can see why, because if you take it word by word, I can see how it means and how it comes across. The fact is I was faster at the time and I was under pressure from behind. As soon as I closed the gap to Mark he speeded up - I had no problem with Nico at the time, and I was able to pull a little bit away from Lewis. In the end it wasn't enough but I am not blaming him for that.

Q. Will the war in the team affect your title hopes? SV: I don't think we have a war, to be honest.

Q. So what part of Multi 21 did you not understand? SV: It is a code....believe it or not is up to you. I can only say what really happened, whether you buy it or not. I was looking on the steering wheel and got a little bit not confused but couldn't find the map change as we do map changes all the time in the races, you don't get that usually. I am not sure if you got the code as well. We have this code for quite a while in the team and I should have understood, full stop. But I didn't.

Q. Why do you believe that Mark did not deserve to win? SV: I don't like to talk about other people. It is not my style. I have said enough. The bottom line is I was racing, I was faster, I passed him, I won.

Q. Is it not the case that you passed him because you knew that Alonso was out of the race? SV: Honestly I didn't care where Fernando was.

Q. But he is likely to be your main competitor. Maybe you don't consider Mark as your ultimate competitor and you couldn't go away from that race leaving seven points on the table? SV: Well, to be honest with you I didn't think maximum points, maximum points. I thought winning the race, winning the race. It is race two of the championship. I know there are so many races. We have won the championship three times in a row. I know how many things will happen. Sometimes you will like it, sometimes you will not like it. But over the course of the season...things like what happened to Fernando when he damaged his front wing slightly, and that meant end of the race, zero points. These things will happen to everyone over the course of the season. Like it or not. Can you get away without it happening? No. There is probably a reason but you are also a little bit lucky. But these things, they hit on everyone and in that moment, race two of the championship, I don't think about numbers. I don't think about points. I think about winning the race. Ultimately you can say it is stupid, but from my point of view if I think about the championship and the points situation too much then I am not in the moment. I am not racing. I will give away a gap, or I don't go for the gap, because maybe I think it is too risky, I shouldn't do that because I might lose points - and it is better to have 12 points in the bag for fourth than three more points for third. You don't have time in the car where, if you are really going for that gap that all of a sudden is there, to reflect on whether it is right or not? Is there the right amount of risk or not? If you see a gap and you are free in your mind, you go for it. If you have any doubt you go for it and you crash. I can give you an example. Last year I started dead last in the pit lane in Abu Dhabi. I damaged my front wing and I was dead last again. I was fourth at the end of the race, with Jenson to pass. He was very difficult to pass because he was as quick as I was. You could say, I came from last, Fernando was only two places ahead, what is the point for three points? I am in the lead of the championship, so relax. Take the points and don't risk the very risky manoeuvre I had with Jenson. I saw the gap and I wanted to finish on the podium. I went for it. I knew the championship is important and I wanted to win it; but I saw the gap and went for it. I didn't think twice. And I got third place, and won the championship by three points. So...that is my view.

Q. There is a lot of tension between you and Mark. How are you dealing with it? SV: We say hi just like we do every other time.

Q. Is this ultimately a big fuss about nothing? You gave the fans what they wanted to see, you were given a team order and you said screw it, I am here to win, I am here to race... SV: I had a very normal two weeks, very quiet. I had time to prepare for this race which I am happy for. I tried to prepare and I am here in the best shape I can be and I am looking forward to driving the car. Maybe that sounds too simple for you, but that is how I feel.

[arthur-lesters-nose]

Me whenI go to a neglecting your child contest and Arthur Lester is my opponent

[the-heron]

IM SORRY

[rokurookajima]

puhlease tell me about your waava ice age au 🥺🙏

LMAO I AM SO GLAD U ASKED

the answer is actually not that interesting but no one has ever questioned this header somehow. it was from the original ss waava chat room in 2013-2014. esp in the early days, we would constantly propose worse and worse au concepts, and sometimes people would write little bits of them that were.. deranged? most famous i remember someone wrote one where wan was a chair that for sure included lines like “sitting against his rock hard wood” and ended with “the life of a chair is great” (things that will never leave my mind).. and the infamous Thanksgiving Badsmut by @nyenuma and og mina which was… jesus christ. i do not remember who said “waava ice age au” (it coulda been me.. honestly .. who can say) as in like. the MOVIE. the movie ice age. something about those words struck a chord for me and i had to make it my header immediately…. and 11 years later i’ve never changed it

BUT i wish i remembered if we elaborated on this AT ALL.. i do not. i’ll never know who was sid the sloth now

[gigglegangster]

Cringe on main sorryyy

? Why? Why? Why? Why

?

like whyyyy bru 😭 you pmo so bad why would you actually say that. November 11th 2023 You Gotta Kys. I hate flopsmp so bad. Why would you say that. Do you know the irreparable damage this did. to me when it first exited that boys mouth through twitch . It was awful . He was real asf though all the way to the end

[bistaxx]

Genuinely though I am curious why Elq decided to take Q's place for this... like outside of possibly genuinely not wanting Q to go through purgatory Elq also mentioned an 'operation' ... what does all of this have to do with whatever operation he's doing and why would've Q being there put it at risk...

Also Charlie, Phil, and Quackity's tickets being unique like- what was up with that???

And why did the cinematic single out these guys in particular 😵‍💫?!

[offthewall1979]

my review of Moonwalk: hot mess. ★★★.

[sporco-filth]

A tthought for the slob city setting. Water is out, and every variety of soda and sweet drinks are in. Yet, for many of these drinks, they are best had when they're cold. But if there's no clean water, how do they get ice? Or is it like the ice cubes made from liquid sugar or different drinks?

I will like to preface this by saying I actually don't drink soft drinks. I pretty much just drink water, tea (unsweetened) and sometimes milk. So I do not really consider things like this at all.

By liquid sugar, I assume you mean syrup (water/sugar mix). The problem with this and soft drink 'ice' is that the sugar makes it hard to freeze (it's a bit like how alcohol won't freeze easily). With a high enough water content, it could work. Otherwise I think it ends up like a slurry (according to a brief internet search).

The bigger point to consider though is how they would be consuming their drinks. Because to use ice, you need to pour it into a glass. And honestly, since 1) they're going to drink the whole bottle/can and 2) it's more effort to pour into a glass, I don't think they would even really use ice if they had it. 99% of the time I picture my slob characters drinking straight from the bottle.

Also if they just store it in the fridge or freezer (and let it melt a bit) then it should be cold enough if they don't leave it out.

This is such a minor issue but I am pleased you think enough about this world for minutiae like this to cross your mind. I'm sorry I don't have a great answer for you, so I'll leave you with this science fact:

Interestingly enough, adding sugar will decrease the temperature of water (for 100 mL of water, my calculations say it goes down by 0.2 degrees Celsius with each teaspoon you add (~4 g)), but you would need to add a lot of sugar to get a noticeable decrease (50 teaspoons for 10 degrees C) and at that point it might be saturated, especially since the drink probs already has sugar in it, so you'd just get syrupy stuff and the sugar will eventually crystalise out).

And on the subject of adding sugar to soft drinks, I am reminded of one of my favourite videos that has been lost to the sands of time: Chikaranese's "My Tribute to Junkfood". At one point, Chikara lists his junk food combos (frosting and caramel on doughnuts, marshmallows on pizza, etc) and one goes "soda is sweet, but it can always be made sweeter by adding syrup".

[rooolt]

does anyone remember what episode the shivering prick bit was in c3 it is SO IMPORTANT

[atlxolotl]

Transcript and links to Reddit under the Read more:

I miss my husband so goddamn much

February 27th, 2025

I (35M) divorced my husband (36M) three years ago. And God, I miss him. I asked for a divorce for a few reasons, most of which being that his depression got exponentially worse day after day and he refused to seek treatment. Sometimes he wouldn't even go into work and ended up getting fired from his job. I stayed with him for so fucking long, praying that one day he would start trying to get better. It was all I ever wanted, but that day didn't come. I sobbed the entire time signing those papers, and when I handed them to him and asked for a divorce, he just gave me the emptiest, deadest look and signed them without a word. My heart felt like it had been shattered with a hammer, anger and sadness and fear tied together in the world's tightest, ugliest knot and inset deep into my chest.

I put on a brave face for my friends, tried to frame it as shackles coming off and a new beginning, but it was a lie. It just hurt, and it keeps hurting, and it will never stop hurting. He was my soulmate. I'll never love anyone like I loved him. He used to be so sweet and loving, so passionate and happy and every other wonderful thing a man could want from another.

They say each day gets easier, but it isn't for me. It's been three years and I'm still reaching over to the other side of the bed in the morning to pull him close, and it always stings when my hands touch fabric and not his skin. It's been three years and I'm still expecting to see his car in the driveway when I get home from work. It's been three years and my heart isn't any less broken than the day he left.

I've been stalking his socials, I'll admit. He's been getting back to the gym, started meds, and I see him smiling so genuinely in these photos. He looks so incredible. Maybe if I had just waited, he would have changed his mind and went to a doctor like he is now? Or was it me that held him down? Was I making it worse?

I hope not. I wanna go over to his place and just fall into his arms and beg him to take me back. Maybe he's wishing the same thing about me. If there's even a chance I could have my boy back I feel like I should try. I'll never know otherwise.

EDIT: One: I am a homosexual man. My husband is a homosexual man. I am not a woman. Yes, I know I'm effeminate and kind of emotional. Get creative.

Two: my husband was a binge drinker. He refused treatment no matter how much I begged. We got antidepressants but he wouldn't take them. I know he's started meds now because he's posted about them and his 2 yrs sober chip that he got last month.

Three: I never stopped loving him. I never loved him any less. Near the end of our marriage, I started drinking to cope. The second I realized I was, I realized he was dragging me down with him, and I couldn't help him anymore. I didn't dip the second it got hard. Many of you are being kind of rude. I'll accept that I wasn't the perfect husband, nobody is. But claims that I never loved him are just wrong and make me feel sick to my stomach.

EDIT 2: No, I am not the catalyst for this. His depression started when his young brother died terribly and unexpectedly. It's not because he just hated me so much. We were childhood sweethearts and had been together for years when this happened.

[UPDATE] I met my husband that I divorced 3 years ago

March 2nd, 2025

Well, with Reddit's advice, I did it. A few days ago, I called my (35M) ex-husband (36M) whom I divorced after 6 years when he refused to seek treatment for his depression.

I called him later in the evening. It was the first time we'd spoken since a bit of trouble he'd had while he was still drinking 2 1/2 years ago. He picked up on the second ring. Our conversation was a little stilted at first, as to be expected, but he said he was really glad to hear from me. We ended up meeting up for coffee yesterday as so many of you suggested. I'll admit: it was kind of hard to see him, but in a good way? He looked so much better than the last time I had seen him, but he looked exactly like the man I married. He had put off a ton of weight (he gained like 75ish pounds during his struggle with depression, and before some dick says so, I didn't leave him because of his weight gain), he looked way healthier and very put together. I'll just say it: he looked incredibly hot. What made it hard was that I couldn't kiss him hello like I used to. But God, the way his eyes lit up when he saw me, I barely needed to.

We got our coffee and sat, and he updated me a little on his life in the last 3 years.

What really turned his life around was in part the divorce but moreso a DUI (nobody was hurt, he was caught a few blocks from his apartment). He's since gone to rehab and AA, gotten his license back, and had to use a breathalyzer whenever he started his car for a while. He hasn't had a drop of alcohol since and I told him I was so fucking proud of him. He's also started antidepressants, and made a point of telling me that they're not SSRIs, but when I asked what that meant he got embarrassed and told me nevermind (???). Bottom line is that they've been helping him, he's back to being a gym rat, and he's almost completely turned his life around. This was around the point I started tearing up. It just felt so good knowing he was okay. Better than okay, he was *good*.

I also apologized to him for not sticking by him. He cut me off and said I had nothing to apologize for. He was a wreck, and I was being dragged down with him. That also felt good to hear. I apologized for not contacting him much during the last 3 years. That apology, he accepted.

He was dating someone for a few months, too. He broke up with him once he tried to get him to drink on New Year's. He seemed dismissive of the guy. Guess it wasn't too serious.

We got up and went on a walk after a few hours, and I think we both realized it felt like a first date. I had to stop myself from trying to hold his hand at a few points, I'll admit. We ended up sitting on a bench in a nearby park, and I confessed.

I told him I missed him more than anything, how I never stopped loving him, and how if he wanted to, I'd love to try again from the beginning this time. We'd go to couples' therapy, keep our heads above the water, and take it slow. He was quiet for a minute before he told me something. He said he was doing better now, but there may be a time where he sunk low again. Depression isn't easily cured, and he was far from cured. He still had bad days, but he said there would be one difference: he promised he would never stop trying to improve. He was never going to give up like he did before, and refused to neglect me like he used to. If I was willing to accept that truth, he was willing to try again. I agreed, and he pulled me into an embrace and snuck a kiss to my temple. You know when it's the first warm day of spring after a cold, harsh winter, and the soft breeze and basking sun hit your skin at the same time? It felt something like that, to the 1000th degree. After a while he walked me back to my car and squeezed my hand goodbye, and the second I got inside I started sobbing like a baby. Happy tears, though.

I'm currently sitting in bed, kicking my feet like a teenage girl, texting him back and forth to schedule an actual date. He said he'd plan everything, and try his best to make up for the birthdays and anniversaries he missed. He said it would "knock my socks off." What a dork. I love being in love. Not gonna lie, this is gonna be a bit hard to explain to my friends and family. Not looking forward to those conversations, but right now I don't care. My man loves me.

Thank you to everyone who had kind words to say, and all the people that messaged me with sympathy and advice. I hope we all find happiness, and love if we want it. I never would have made the leap if y'all hadn't encouraged me. Best of luck to all of you, and sorry for the overly flowery language <3

EDIT: we've scheduled a date for tomorrow evening. I'll let people know how it went two days from now in my final (unless something big happens) update.

EDIT 2: at his place presently. Shame me not, reddit.

[FINAL UPDATE] I went on a date with my ex-husband last night

March 5th, 2025

My (35M) ex-husband (36M) and I recently reconnected. I won't go over the details of why we split or our reconciliation since I'm sure the average redditor can click buttons and most likely read. He was the one taking me out, and promised that it would, in his words, "knock my socks off" to make up for his neglect of me. He sure as hell delivered.

A little backstory, we've been together since we were 15 and 16 respectively, and have never moved out of our hometown. This year would have been our 20th anniversary (of getting together, not marriage). We were dating secretly for about five years before our parents caught us one day during summer break. The fallout from finding out their son was gay actually made his parents split. His dad wanted to send him away to conversion therapy. He's seen his father maybe once per year on average, and every time he's incredibly cold towards me. Would never refer to me as his son-in-law, only my husband's "pal." I wonder why. Anyway, not what you're here to read. I'll get on with the lore.

He picked me up from the house and wouldn't tell me where we were going, but told me to dress warmly. He ended up taking me to the place where we met: a run down ice skating rink in our town. He used to do hockey, and I spent some time trying to learn figure skating until people started beating me up for it. Both sports would practice at the same time and I remember barely being able to keep my eyes off him. We went skating, I tried to pull off a few of the moves I remembered (he only had to catch me from falling on my ass once or twice, and I won't complain about an attractive man that I love hooking his arm around my waist), and we spent an hour or so there until our feet hurt. At one point I said that my face was getting cold, so he skated around in front of me and placed his gloved hands on my cheeks to warm me up. I just about burned a hole in the ice from how hard I was blushing, I swear to God.

He wasn't done then. We left and went to dinner, specifically the restaurant where we had our first date. It's a cheap hole-in-the-wall place, seeing as we were poor teenagers when we first met. We chatted and ate food that probably took 5 years off our lives, he was an incorrigible flirt, and even held my hand underneath the table like he did all those years ago. I know I said I never stopped loving him, and I stand by that, but I think I somehow fell in love with him a thousand times over again during that meal.

At the end of dinner, he asked if I had energy for one more simple thing, to which I agreed. He took me a while out of town to a dark sky zone park, specifically the one where he proposed to me ten years ago. He set out a blanket to sit on and another to cuddle under, and we went stargazing all bundled up together. You never know how much you miss the sound of someone's heartbeat until you haven't heard it for so long. We shared a bottle of sparkling grape juice in plastic champagne flutes and dumb, giggly kisses. It felt so similar yet so different. He told me in a moment of quiet that he loved me, and oh, God. It took everything I had not to cry. I barely hesitated before asking if he wanted to change venues. He seemed surprised, but eagerly accepted.

I ended up at his place, as some of you may have seen from my edit on my second post yesterday. I wanted to take it slower than this, but it was so hard to. I was so starved of affection and hadn't been intimate with anyone for just about six years. I'm gonna keep what happened at his between us, but all I'll say is that his medication was no issue and all of you should be jealous. I woke up in his bed this morning, reached over for him, and pulled him close just like I used to do. I haven't been this happy in a long time. We had a sleepy discussion and decided to get back together, but we're not using the term boyfriends. It just feels weird after all this time. So he's my partner, or my lover. He's mine.

Thank you, reddit. Wouldn't have done it without a little push from the internet. Let's see where all this goes.