This will depend on how long you have been dating someone. On a first or second date or whenever it is first mentioned don’t drop everything at once. Say something simple or innocuous that is true but not a full detail. Say something like “My family and I are not close because we don’t have the same values” or “My family and I are not close because they drive me a little nuts and we don’t have to get into it now” or “I am moving towards non-contact with my family”. What you want to show is that early in the relationships you can show good judgement to whoever you are dating and don’t trauma dump about your crazy family all at once.

As you date someone more you can show who you are. You can demonstrate through your actions that are a normal person and don’t follow your family dynamics. This also shows that you understand what is and what is not appropriate for first dates. From there slowly roll it out doing a high level summary like you gave above. From there just tell stories as they seem appropriate. So its going to be a full disclosure but won’t be full disclosure right away

My wife has a pretty crazy mom and dad. She did something similar where she first talked through their contentious divorce and then more details as we were together. Her story is a little different because her family isn’t as nuts as yours and she didn’t realize how toxic they were until she did lots of therapy while we were dating. So we are now reframing her quirky childhood stories and two crazy people making each other as miserable as possible and the trauma that caused. So a slow roll is what is needed.

Also note we are all messed up so you are not the only one.

Reference sections and other suggested readings from the back of books I enjoyed. This is mostly for more non-fiction books but its helpful to see what the author recommends. I have often found books I love from his method and the really good ones get recommended from multiple related books. Especially if its for some interested that is new to you.

Dude. No said no more journey psych outs

That movie is so dumb. I LOVE IT.

I think the most epic was when I was DMing my party at 5th level. They were trying to free some Yuan-Ti slaves from a large complex with a pyramid in the middle. After selling two of their party into slavery to get someone on the inside they rallies the Vanara (monkey folk) to help with their prison break by defeating a Yuan-Ti patrol to prove their worth. So they had some scouts (CR 1/2) backups along sides some commoners in the complex. So they had a tough fight. There was a deadly fight at the main entrance, a hard guarding the slaves and another hard inside with a full dungeon worth of reinforcements inside the temple. So doable if they could be to kept apart.

Before they started their prison break they wanted a big entrance. So they stole a triceratops egg to get them as their distraction. So the barbarian is rushing towards the entrance with these beasts while the wizard and artificer teleported in the gate to give the hard and ranger (inside as slaves armed with daggers) their main weapons. They got inside to arm the party and few of their slaves. The dinosaur and barbarian in front of them hit the front gate causing chaos. At the same time the slaves with the rest of the party turned on the hard encounter of Yuan-Ti guarding them. During this time the bard cast major image of a dragon to draw some fire, while the blade singer and the artificer are killing the melee crew around the fleeing ex-slaves.

The barbarian is taking hits while running towards the party. The dinosaur made some good distractions if the front guards but the reinforcements were coming around to attack the party and the temple alarm was being raised. I figured they would turn tail and run because it was looking bad.

But then the spell that turned the tide was cast. The bard cast Plant Growth. The entire massive battlefield became 4x movement to get through. The reinforcements which were 1 turn away now became 4 turns away if they dashed every round. The bard made a path for the barbarian to catch up to the party while everyone enemy was either dashing to get nowhere fast or barely taking pot shots with their weak ranged. The tide flipped and the Yuan-Ti tried unsuccessfully to retreat back inside before the ranged attacks rained now.

The entire battle took like 20 rounds over 3 play sessions. It was an epic fight all around

I’ve been doing some native / foraged foods and they always have disclaimers about plants high in oxalates might cause kidney stones. They wild grown foods typically contain 10 to 100 times more concentrated vitamins, minerals and other both helpful and unhelpful components per ounce than traditional vegetables.

The real issue isn’t the kidney stones but that oxlatic acid is an anti-nutrient that stops the body from absorbing calcium. But there is not issue unless you eat in large quantities daily. It grows in my yard as a weed so I like to eat some of it while I am weeding. Its delicious and besides its anti-nutrient effect on calcium pretty healthy for you.

Oxalates and oxalic acid are common in a lot of different foods. Anything that has the little tart taste like arugula generally contains it. So its in a large number of fruits and vegetables a lot of which are delicious. As long as you are drinking liquids on a regular basis and aren’t eating something like Yellow Wood Sorrel daily which is super high in oxalic acid you will be fine.

I enjoy a tart apple with a sharp cheddar but in general cheese and sweet doesn’t always mix. I am going to have to try fresh green onions when my garden is up and running since I have garlic chives running wild.

Also what kind of monster eats low fat cheese? Cheese is just milk fats and milk proteins. Why would you remove half of that? Its the kind of terrible diet food that just tastes awful and seems like a punishment. I would never

I love raw pasta. I like to give it a little nibble. I mostly love raw doughs. Pie and biscuit are my favorite

I’ve been making my own infused apple cider vinegar over the last year or so. I have been using it for cooking and making my own Shrubs (vinegar based drinks). I have been loving vinegar recently and pickling vegetables as well. Delicious all the ways

I used to hate cottage cheese which I think was because people used to eat it within a cantaloupe as a diet food when I was younger. But had it recently and it is amazing. I was eating it with pepper but something spicy and vinegary would be great

Well if you host it people can join.

I wonder if there should be a more generic pop-culture discussion thread to get it started. I know I enjoy a few aspects of pop-culture and would like to discuss. If you start it people will join

As a butterfly I would recommend everyone plant clovers in their lawn. They are mowable, nitrogen fixing and were common in all grass mixes before broad leaf herbicides were common. They provide the surrounding grass and themselves with their own nitrogen as well provide some bee food. White dutch clover should be available most places and Flawn has a nice three color mix for all my clover needs.

Clovers!!! Give me those tiny little red , white and crimson boys.

You haven’t been listening to enough Reel Big Fish lately?

The whole point of separation even a trial separation is to see if a divorce is needed or wanted. So people should be dating while separated especially since divorce can take a long time. So go for it. Just keep in mind this just might be a short term relationship depending on how the separation goes. Focus on it being a good STR and if it evolves into a LTR that is great as well. Good luck

If you have an air fryer put a little olive oil and salt on it and fry it at high heat. Like 5 minutes and it’s light and crispy and almost nothing. It’s amazing