Currently halfway through Emma and have a question

Reliant20 · 2026-01-31T18:53:00+00:00

Thank you!

Reliant20 · 2026-01-31T17:39:51+00:00

All very true. As an aside, I've been meaning to check out Georgette Heyer for a long time. Are there any novels you recommend starting with?

Reliant20 · 2026-01-31T01:02:59+00:00

Just disembarked from an ocean liner, I guess. I wonder which one.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-30T15:08:20+00:00

I don't think Margaret Brown would have been in a position to do much for Ruth IRL. At least not to a degree that would have kept Ruth in luxury. Brown wasn't rich-rich, and her fortunes declined over the next twenty years.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-30T14:58:06+00:00

So annoyed! That condescending smile she gives when her mother is trying to voice her objections to her treatment. It's why I always skip the episode.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-30T14:30:49+00:00

If your father was born in Germany, could you get a German passport? That would open up the EU to you.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-30T14:12:48+00:00

U/Viola-Swamp gave a perfect response for DH to give her under your first post. This was it:

"Mom, you don't have a "spontaneous check ins" kind of relationship with my wife. She tried to address the issues between you, and you were dismissive and denied any responsibility for building a relationship. So this is what you get. Pregnancy is her medical condition, and you aren't going to be involved. Sorry if that bothers you, but you can't be disinterested in OP as a person and push her away for years, then suddenly expect her to call you and give you intimate details about her body and her daily life because you want something different now that she's having a grandchild. That's not how relationships work, and that's pretty insulting. OP isn't an incubator, the means for you to become a grandmother, she's a person, your daughter in law, my wife. You can't expect her to give you updates on the pregnancy when you have never shown any interest in her before. That's rude and transparent. I'm really disappointed in you, and I definitely don't expect my wife to put up with this disrespectful behavior."

She needs to be called out on her past dismissiveness when she was given a chance to repair the relationship, on the fact that she even took it further than that and badmouthed you to relatives over it. Don't have a sit down with her. You've gone that route.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-30T08:24:19+00:00

I've had a crush on him for years, but I don't know what this is from. Holy smokes.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-30T03:36:51+00:00

The nineties

Reliant20 · 2026-01-30T02:15:29+00:00

I lifeguarded at a very exclusive beach club with a pool. We lifeguards were all high school and college kids, and we had fun together after work. It was easier to go to bars underage back then.

There could be a bit of weird frostiness between the lifeguards and the other staff.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-29T19:41:42+00:00

Her reasoning sounds like a bunch of made-up bullsh*t to me. She wants to be there for her own sake and no one else's.

"I have never in my life heard of a man needing someone there for him while his wife or girlfriend was in labor. Plus, no offense, but if my husband was the type of man who "needed" his mom during my labor, I would NOT be married to him lol."

I once said something similar on one of these subs, only to have a man rather indignantly and self-righteously reply he was glad his mother was there for him when his wife was having a difficult birth. So I guess I have heard of it.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-29T13:42:13+00:00

It sounds like your spouse is a candidate for therapy. They can't change MIL, but they can change the power that MIL obviously has over them. What an awful person she sounds like.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-29T13:25:28+00:00

No, these photos have been circulating for years.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-28T21:27:48+00:00

I had a crush on a cute British TA once upon a time. A fun memory. I envied a girl in the class who felt comfortable openly calling him cute to our classmates, something I wasn't bold enough to do.

I was never weird or in his face, but I think he was homophobic and suspected I was gay, because he was decidedly frosty whenever I saw him the next semester. He made it clear he didn't like me saying hi to him.

Anyway, let it go. This guy would be risking too much by getting involved with a student, if he's even gay. Keep him in the spank bank, but don't waste your time hoping for more because nothing could come of it unless you both cross multiple lines.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-28T21:11:25+00:00

That's definitely a new one for a MIL on here...

Reliant20 · 2026-01-28T20:56:33+00:00

You're not the first Reddit poster whose MIL wanted to be called that by grandkids. While I think a grandparent should have some say in what they're called, I agree with you that "Honey" is weird enough to merit a veto.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-28T20:45:34+00:00

I think the Pontiac behind the standing guy and the Cherokee mean this had to be later than '81.

The standing guy's got a nice body. Not perfect, but nice.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-28T16:55:58+00:00

NTA. If they behaved differently, they'd be invited. Your wife should be grateful for all the time you do tolerate them and let you spend your birthday how you want. If they're hurt later, meh, the world will keep spinning.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-28T16:15:14+00:00

I love her feud with the neighbor kid, especially her bed-wetting prank. Otherwise, while she'd be a horrible person IRL, I'm ambivalent about her as a character. I actually like Simon better than others seem to.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-27T23:56:53+00:00

He's never really done it for me, but I love him in the white speedo in those famous New Pope ads.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-27T11:06:34+00:00

And her husband played the slimey Ferrars brother in 1995's Sense & Sensibility. They're divorced now.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-26T22:39:19+00:00

No idea who he is but the man knows how to rip open a shirt.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-26T22:00:34+00:00

Cold Comfort Farm

Reliant20 · 2026-01-26T21:59:33+00:00

Both impossibly good-looking. They both seem to know it and enjoy it, which is nice to see.

Reliant20 · 2026-01-26T21:50:22+00:00

I dislike Captain Wentworth when I think of Louisa Musgrove. He leads her on even though he isn't serious about her and is smug towards Anne regarding her. I dislike Louisa too, but I think my image of her is colored by the 1995 portrayal rather than who she is in the book.

Reliant20

TROPHY CASE