Godskin duo cheese

Need help with Godskin duo, got 1 person already we need another or 2

Pw : LTBU

I’ve been working my way back up through ranked this season on a new platform (switched to PC from Diamond III on PS4, never had the time for a real Masters push), and since I’m already an experienced player, I’ve been sorted fairly quickly into higher level lobbies by the hidden MMR. Now that my teammates are typically always Diamond or higher (I’m Gold II), I’m unsurprisingly being paired more and more with rats. Either I’ll have someone break off solo to land in some cheesy Olympus spot (looking at you Phase Runner) or a duo clearly communicating with each other in Discord avoiding even whispers of gunfire at all possible costs.
Obviously, this is frustrating to play with. I play Apex to have fun and improve, and ranked has always been my favorite way to play because everyone is trying to win, rotations matter, etc. That said, I can’t think of a reason why the people ratting are wrong. It was detailed very clearly in the new ranked breakdown that placing 10th or above means you are going to gain LP. Gaining LP is the core motivator that separates ranked from pubs, and with a near guaranteed way to do so, it makes perfect sense to want to cheese that system. Say what you will about truly “earning” masters or whatever, but players were told they could hide their way to high ranks and they just said “okay.”
I want to take fights in ranked and win them. I want to make it to the intense endgame rings with red shields and win lobbies. However, aside from KP bonuses and higher placement accelerating my climb, I don’t currently feel like I’m making the optical choice when engaging another team. I just feel like I’m unnecessarily introducing the risk of lower placement and losing points.
Is there something logically that I’m missing? Game design and how it informs player decisions is something I think about a lot in every game I play, and I just don’t quite understand the design intent behind the new system. This isn’t a rhetorical question and I don’t mean to say the system is necessarily bad. I am just curious to hear thoughts because it hasn’t quite clicked for me.

I'm at the Dragon Temple (not transept) grace, password is ayy
Thank you!

For me it has to be the godskin duo

Just trying to get through some of these bosses after I stopped playing for a while. I don’t mind returning the favor and helping you with something too. Password Tarnishd

Playing Ds1 for the first time and just got to Anor Londo. I’ve beaten godskin duo with no summons a few times without too many attempts, but I want a rough guage of O&S before the fight without spoilers.

This will be a challenge 😈

Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance- old 401k- $21,704 and IRA- $27,218 I don’t currently have a 401k through my employer and I’m totally fine with that, I max out my IRA in January of every year.
Savings account balance-$24,042
Checking account balance-$6,445, this is pretty high for me, I transfer $5,000 to my brokerage account anytime this hits $7,000
Brokerage account- $214,695
Credit card debt- just my current monthly balance, right now it’s $900
Total Net Worth- $293,204
Section Two: Income
Income Progression:
So I have been posting diaries every year for several years now so feel free to go back and check those for a detailed income progression. Last time I wrote a diary I was a nanny in DC. Shortly after I interviewed for my current job, the family and I meshed perfectly. It was the perfect situation for me so I pounced on it. I have no intention of leaving my current job anytime soon, I love the whole family and the kids love to say that they have three parents and that warms my heart. My year anniversary at my job is coming up and the parents and I spoke and they really want me to stay so in a few weeks I will be getting a raise to be making $121,000 a year.
Main Job Monthly Take Home:
I get paid weekly and if it is a 4 Friday month I make $5,600 a month and if it is a five Friday month I get $7,000 a month. Once in a while I work overtime and then that gets added in. There are no deductions here other than taxes, I don’t have a 401k and I’m still on my parents health insurance.
Side Gig Monthly Take Home
I occasionally babysit for the family I nanny for, and they pay me in cash for that. I also occasionally babysit for other people or dog sit and I also get paid cash for both of those. I probably make less than $2,000 total a year from this though, it is incredibly infrequent.
Section Three: Expenses
Rent- I don’t pay rent since I live with the family I work for, they obviously don’t charge me anything in terms of rent or utilities and they pay for almost all my food.
Retirement contribution- Maxed out at the beginning of the year.
Donations- I donate to libraries often by paying them extra when I go to book sales. I also donate to planned parenthood and food banks semi-regularly. I probably donate between $3,000- $5,000 a year, but I don’t keep track.
Cellphone- I pay my mother $55 a month for my phone.
Subscriptions- Spotify duo for my boyfriend and me, $12.99.
Car payment / insurance- I own my car and bought it cash and then I pay $106 a month for insurance. I have a work car that I use for everything during the week so I’ve been thinking about just getting rid of my personal car because I use it so infrequently.
Cast of main characters-
A- 9 yr boy I nanny
B- 6 yr girl I nanny
C- 18 month baby I nanny
L- my boyfriend
Day 1
6:15am- I wake up and find A coloring so I sit with him and start a new book, Pineapple Street, while he colors.
7:30am- Coffee and breakfast time, I have an iced latte and some oatmeal today. I say goodbye to the big kids before school and then go off to shower and get ready. I notice I am running low on Nespresso pods and shoot L a text asking if he wants anything, he requests two sleeves he has been meaning to pick up, so I place an order from the Nespresso site for 5 sleeves total plus I got a free sleeve. ($56)
9am- time to start work! During the day it is just me and C. Almost every day we have some form of a mommy and me class and today is no exception. I make us green smoothies to take and then we head out to class.
10am- Class is over and we head to the park for a bit. It is pretty nice out and we love picnics so I pick up lunch for us on the way there. I got tuna salad and a veggie wrap for us to share. I asked for ½ a pound of tuna but they gave us a whole pound of tuna and I was too shy to say anything, oh well. Ok also this might be an unpopular opinion but whenever baby and I go out to lunch I put it on my personal card. We have food at home and I don’t think the parents should pay for mainly me wanting to go out for lunch, even though they would be totally fine with me putting it on their card. ($23)
11:30am - We have our picnic lunch and play for a little longer before we head home for nap time which is at 12:30. On our way home I swing through H&M and get B a cute dress since her birthday is coming up soon. ($24.03)
12:40pm- C is napping which means I get to enjoy a nice quiet house. I throw a load of laundry in and read my book on the couch for a few hours and finish Pineapple Street and I loved it. I also do some light online shopping and place an order from Old Navy for some long summer dresses to wear for work. I order several with the intention to only keep a few. ($83.85)
3:30pm- C wakes up from their nap and A and B get home from school. We do a quick snack and then have to head out to drop A at basketball. We come home and play for a bit before I finish working.
5pm- I am done for the day! I head out to go to a library book sale. I have dinner plans that I am running late for so I do a quick look around and get 15 books. Library book sales are often super cheap and charge max $2 for books, this one said that they were charging me $10 for all these books but I gave them a $20 and told them to keep the rest as a donation. ($20)
6:30pm- I arrive at my mothers house for dinner, my aunt and some cousins are visiting from out of town and I am very excited to see them and catch up. We have chicken, burgers, and veggies on the grill for dinner.
9pm- My cousins and aunt head out and I help my parents clean up a bit before I head to bed. I try to start Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes and fall asleep after a few pages.
Day 1 total- $206.88
Day 2
6am- I wake up and scroll tiktok for a bit before deciding to finally get up and make myself a latte. I take my latte outside and read Giver of Stars while I drink my coffee.
8am- I shower and get ready and have half a cream cheese mini bagel and a banana for breakfast.
10am- I head out for another library book sale and there is a line out the door before the sale even starts. I get in and realize that more than half the people here are book resellers who are grabbing everything in sight and scanning all the barcodes and just being pushy and rude. Book resellers at library book sales really frustrate me because I feel like that is not what book sales are about, in my opinion. This made me think about all the other possibilities for these books and it sparked an idea in my mind to set up a bookshelf at a women's shelter or a hospital near me with a large variety of free books for people there to take as they please. They wanted to charge me $7 for over 20 books, so I gave them $20. ($20)
11am- I meet L at a different nearby library. He is studying for the bar right now so I decide to use this time to teach myself how to code. I find a course that I want to take on coursera and sign up for it. It’s $50 a month but I get a 7 day free trial for now.
1pm- I get hungry and talk L into going with me to Whole Foods for lunch. I loveeee the Whole Foods hot bar and we each get a box and in mine I get the kale salad, roasted chicken, and some pasta salad and L gets roasted veggies and chicken. Somehow the price always surprises me, I pay for both of us. ($46.05)
3pm- I finish my work and head home. I hang outside in the hammock and read Giver of Stars for a bit before my brother tracks me down for some family game time. We decide on Catan and in the middle of the game L shows up and goes to the home office to finish up his bar prep for the day. I win Catan and some people are a little salty about it.
6:30pm- For dinner my parents get a pizza and salad for all of us since no one feels like cooking.
8pm- L and I are tired from all the work today so we head to bed and watch The Fosters for a bit before falling asleep.
Day 2 total- $66.05
Day 3
6am- I wake up early and decide to be productive so I go organize some cabinets in the kitchen before L wakes up.
7:30am- Everyone is up and my parents are a little confused by my random early morning mass reorganization. I make my latte and head outside to drink it while I finish Giver of Stars.
9am- We have crepes and french omelets for breakfast, L and I go on a 3 mile walk around the neighborhood before he heads out to study for a bit before his graduation ceremony later. I impulsively make an offer of $85 on some lightly used Veja sneakers on poshmark and it gets accepted, with tax and shipping it ends up being more than I planned to spend. ($97.27)
11am- My brother builds model rockets and launching them is a family affair. We head over to a local park with huge fields to launch the rocket. I get to launch the rocket today (woohoo!) Everyone else has the job of tracking the rocket to figure out where it lands so that it can hopefully be retrieved. After 5 minutes of looking for it we find it in the middle of the road and it remarkably is almost in perfect condition.
12:30pm- I keep seeing pasta salads all over my tiktok feed so I head to the grocery store to get the ingredients for one. I get radicchio, pasta, basil, anchovies, a lemon, roasted red peppers, and shallots. ($28.16)
3pm- The pasta salad was very delicious, I get ready for L’s law school graduation tonight and head out with my family. We meet his family there and sit through a very normal graduation ceremony.
8pm- After some pictures and hugs we head to his parents house for some light food and cake. Which is sweet and fun. After I head back to my nanny family's home and get ready for the week ahead. While laying in bed I start regretting my sneaker purchase and dm the poshmark seller and ask if I can cancel my order. I then scroll tiktok until I fall asleep.
Day 3 total- $125.43
Day 4
6:30am- I don’t know why I keep waking up so early this week, it is starting to get annoying. I pick out a new book, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, and sit on the couch and read for a while. I get a dm back from the poshmark seller saying she already dropped them off at the post office this morning (I’m calling bs but whatever).
8am- Starting work a little earlier today, I put the big kids on the bus and then take C with me to my room to get ready for the day. I let them pick out my outfit and then they hang out with me while I brush my teeth and all that jazz.
9am- I throw some laundry in before we head out for the day. Today we go to a new playground and play for a while and I meet some nice moms. We exchange numbers to get the kids together some time. Making work friends is often hard for me, many mothers don’t want to be friends with nannies for some reason and many nannies around here are older and don’t want to be friends with me.
12pm- We head home and do lunch. Hummus with nutritional yeast, cucumbers, and pita for C. Leftover chicken, melon, and cucumber for me.
2pm- I’m craving a smoothie but C is still sleeping so I take the blender outside and make a green smoothie and save some for C when they wake up. My go to is Kale, spinach, mango, pineapple, almond milk, greek yogurt, ginger, chia, flax, and collagen powder. I leave the collagen powder out of C’s smoothie because I don’t think toddlers should be having that (not sure on this though and now I’m going to be doing some research.)
4pm- Big kids came home, did snacks and homework and we headed out to drop them off at their after school activities. C and I head to whole foods to pick up food for the house. We get milk, chicken, kale, berries, eggs, and a few other random things. The total is $63 but I put it on the parents card. I also was running low on collagen powder and I obviously had to facetime my gym rat brother so he could decide for me, he picked one for me and that I paid for myself. ($35.90)
6pm- Dinner time, we have leftover pasta and meatballs with broccoli and the parents come home and we catch up about the day.
7pm- I take a shower and finish Cleopatra and Frankenstein and do some more work on the coursera course that I signed up for before I go to bed at 9:30.
Day 4 total- $35.90
Day 5
6:20am- I’m officially annoyed that I haven’t slept in once this week but whatever.
7am- Coffee, start a new book, this one is The Way I Used To Be.
8am- Put the big kids on the bus and take C with me to shower and get ready. Then I throw a load of my laundry in. They are extra cranky today for some reason and throwing themself on the ground crying over everything. I quickly make some spinach scrambled eggs for myself for breakfast before starting the dishwasher and running out the door hoping fresh air will calm them down.
10am- We just finished a 3 mile stroller walk and now we have a library mommy and me class today. C is a little less cranky but still not their normal chipper self. After library class we hang out in the library and play with other kids until it’s lunch time.
12pm- I’m craving a bagel again so we go out for bagels and I get my normal whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and C gets a mini bagel with cream cheese, I pay. ($6.22)
12:30pm- C is napping so I pop my airpods in to listen to my book on libby. I make another outside green smoothie, fold my laundry, unload the dishwasher, and make chicken and carrots for dinner. Then I sit outside and work on my coursera course until the big kids get home from school.
4pm- More homework, reading and then rushing to after school activities. It is my personal opinion that kids these days are way too overbooked and if I have children I am signing them up for one after school activity a week and that is it. C and I go to a local library until we have to pick up A and B.
5:30pm- Dinner of chicken and carrots and leftover wild rice and then we all had leftover chocolate cake for dessert. Parents get home and I dip out quickly tonight and go to my own space. The amount we hang out after I’m done working varies drastically day to day, sometimes we all hang out and other days I disappear almost as soon as the parents are home, depending on how overstimulating the day was.
6pm- I do a face mask and unwind while I scroll tiktok and reddit. Once in a while I feel a desire to delete all social media but I never actually follow through. I don’t post on social media at all though, other than an occasional reddit post, so I kind of have that going for me.
7:30pm- I read until I finish my book and then I scroll on tiktok until I fall asleep around 10pm.
Day 5 total- $6.22
Day 6
6:45am- Slightly better wake up time. I move to the couch and start The Housemaids Secret. At 7 I make my coffee and then shower and get ready.
8:30am- I grab C and we hang out in the kitchen while I make breakfast for myself. Today I do toast with jam and cream cheese. I then make our green smoothies and we head out.
9:15am- We take a nice 2 mile long stroller walk to a friend's house. They have a music teacher come over once a week and hold a music class in the backyard for about 15 of us.
11am- Class is over and we head to the playground for a bit and we were going to have a picnic lunch but C is in a mood. So we go to the grocery store and all C wants to eat are raw green beans so they snack on those while I shop. I pick up some random ingredients to make a variation of the pasta salad that I made earlier this week that maybe the kids will eat. I get mozzarella, artichoke, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and olives and put it on the parents card. Mid shopping I realize that my period just came on fast and heavy and I am bleeding through my light blue shorts in the grocery store. We check out quickly and run home.
12:30pm- Very fun dealing with a period mess while having a curious toddler in the bathroom with you. C is napping and I listen to my audiobook while I make pasta salad.
4pm- Once again homework, snack, reading time, and then rushing out the door for afterschool activities. C and I go to the playground between dropping off the big kids at their different activities.
6pm- I have plans with four friends today so I head out to a bar to meet them. I don’t drink but my friends always want to go to bars so I just go to have fun. On the way there I want a sweet treat and swing through Wendy’s for a small frosty. ($2.49)
10pm- I get home and instantly crash.
Day 6 total- $2.49
Day 7
7am- Finally I am awoken by my alarm. Coffee and then a shower and finishing The Housemaids Secret.
8:30am- I start working and C hangs out with me while I make breakfast. Today an omelet with kale, tomatoes, and spinach. Of course we then make a green smoothie to share.
9am- We head out for a stroller walk before our mommy and me class of the day. We get a good 3 miles in and then go to class.
11:45am- class wraps up and we head to Whole Foods to get everything I forgot yesterday. We get salmon, spinach, berries, bread, and a few other random things. I put it on the parents card. I get the notification from poshmark that the sneakers got delivered and I’m reminded of how stupid of a purchase that was.
12pm- We do a quick lunch of pb and j with flax and chia, and pineapple before an overtired C goes down for their nap. During nap I make salmon for dinner and fold A’s laundry and put it away. I then do a little more of my course and realize it is not as extensive as I thought it was and I am not going to learn much from it at all and withdrew from the course.
4pm- What a surprise; time for homework, snack, reading, and then dashing off to after school activities. Today B doesn’t have anything so after we drop A and a friend off we come home and play outside before dinner.
5pm- A gets dropped off by his friends mother and we have salmon and leftover pasta for dinner. I then hang out with everyone until the kids go to bed.
7pm- I facetime L and we chat for a while until he has to go have dinner. Then I finish Housemaids Secret and scroll tiktok until I fall asleep.
Day 7 total- $0
Weekly total- $442.97
Clothes and beauty- $205.15
Food and beverage- $197.82
Books- $40
Reflection: Other than those very regrettable sneakers, this was a very standard spend week for me, maybe slightly on the higher side. I put everything on my credit card normally and my bill is normally right around $1,000 a month. I love my job and I love that my expenses are so low that I don’t need to worry too much about budgeting because I’m always saving around 80% of my monthly income every month. I know my living situation is very unique so if anyone has any questions I would love to answer them in the comments!

Put sign down near Dragon Temple Transept site of grace. Will summon Bernhal as the 3rd unless multiple people respond. Pw: waymore. I’ve got sleep pots to take the fat one out of the fight in the beginning. Ty! (RL 145)

Apologies this is late, I completely lost track of the date/time difference!
Disclaimer: I am very grateful to have had a lot of parental assistance over the years and also have serious mental health diagnosis, both of these flavour my money choices heavily (e.g. private healthcare and lack of car loan/insurance)
I am also heavily pregnant so please excuse any baby brain related errors!
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START SCENE
Retirement Balance: $62,000
Equity: $35k of a $680k property, we bought our 3 bedroom apartment last year using my parents’ equity, so no deposit was required.
Savings account balance: 20k - a lot of health/baby related costs have come out of it lately!
Credit card debt (and how you accumulated it): $800 which I pay off each monthly pay, if it wasn’t for the grocery rebates I’d consider getting rid of it.
Student loan debt (HECS): BA in passion/fun area, then IT/Accounting degree, very proud to say I am down to my final $19k!
My husband P earns around $90,000 in healthcare but can be more with overtime, he has around $30k in super and his HECS debt is due to be wiped out following our recent election so won’t be including that.
Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I had been working in retail full time after loving full time work instead of uni, until my transition to IT so started as a retail casual worker on $30k 10 years ago and changed to IT 6 years ago, jumping from $55k to $95k in that time, mostly through promotions, 1 company merger and 2 company changes.
Main Job Monthly Take Home: I am paid $5200 monthly and P is paid fortnightly at $2400 to $3000 depending on his shifts. Both our pay excludes tax, HECS payment and medicare levy, his pay includes salary packaging.
Section Three: Expenses
Mortgage: 3150 (locked rate until next year, pending interest rise)
Savings contribution: $500
Donations: $25-75 a month mostly to various MH organisations
Electric/Council/Water: 400 (we’re currently overpaying ahead of Mat leave)
Internet/our mobile phones: $320 (we’re currently overpaying ahead of Mat leave)
Subscriptions (Newspapers (NYT, SMH), Youtube, Xbox, online backups/cloud, VPN, pregnancy app, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Bitlocker, UberOne, Spotify Duo): $110
Private Health insurance: $420 for Top CoveTop Extras + pregnancy
Car insurance: covered in my parents plan, our car was a gift from my parents
Regular therapy: Psychologist $220/fortnight and psychiatrist $280/quarter
Transfer to P for things like fuel: $500
7 Day Money diary:
Thursday:
5am
I’m staring at the ceiling while the baby kicks my kidney, P snoring next to me, contemplating my existence. I’m trying not to start ‘the list’ run through in my head (buy milk, have I booked my next blood test, where is my winter coat, etc).
5.30am
Give up on sleep and get up for the day, I make a weak coffee for me and a regular coffee for P (I like the taste of coffee, weak lets me have 2-3 cups throughout the day without hitting my pregnant caffeine limit) and start packing up my lunch and bags for work. It’s OB day so I won’t be in the office until 10am today.
9am
After a dance party in the car we’re at the OB, all good news and another list of final scans and tests, we’re now in the downhill run! I pay for my last half of (private) OB management fee since we’re passed 28 weeks now. ($2500 (Medicare rebate soon: $580))
Stop at a bakery to treat myself before work, danishes are the breakfast of champions! ($12.00)
2pm
Last vendor meeting of the day, and i’m ready to take a nap. I’ve decided to spend the rest of the afternoon working on my handover document, I’ve only got 8 weeks to go before Mat leave!
3pm
Text my psych to convert our Saturday afternoon to a Zoom call, I’m not up for extra waddling to the train this week.
5pm
Spend the train ride home working on my crackhead baby spreadsheet (colour-coded, multi tabbed, shopping list, meal prep list, etc) and researching baby items.
P meets me at the station to grab my bags and we walk home, well he walks ahead and I move at a more stately pace.
7pm
Crawl into bed with a bowl of pasta and Ambulance UK on the iPad, kitten at my feet, older cat at my hip. Eventually P awkwardly maneuvers around blankets, my pregnancy pillow and cats.
11pm
Spontaneously adding to my online chemist wishlist of things I need for post birth and hospital bag. Cats and P grumble when I once again get up to pee, pregnancy feels so glamorous now.
Total: 2512.00 (pending MR)
Friday:
6am
Wander around the apartment with coffee in hand and contemplate the nursery layout options, I’ll measure it all tonight and make a floor plan so I can visualise it better. After boarding the train, I scroll through my due date Bump Group on Discord and catch up on the topics, many of the mum’s are NA based so the chat pops off 12am - 4am my time. I message a few friends and my bestie spams me with tiktoks. We tell a few dark MH jokes and I try not to laugh on the train.
8am
Arrive at the office, coffee number 2 in hand and I jump into a few Teams chats with various groups, including my manager and counterparts in another city’s office. They’re in a different time zone ahead of us so they flag any issues that started earlier our time and I’m grateful.
1.30pm
Where the hell did today go? I’ve barely left my desk and can’t believe the amount of firefighting I’ve been doing today, following up vendors, coordinating fallback solutions for outages, soothing ruffled feathers and talking team off the ledge in stressful situations.
I’ve definitely not eaten enough today and decide to place an ubereats order instead of raiding my mini fridge stash - Subway it is! ($18.97)
I spend my lunch break reading my latest pregnancy/birth book (The Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth) and it’s honestly my favourite one I’ve read so far. I’m also a big fan of the podcast the authors run. I have queued up this week’s episode for the trip home as the mum featured has a similar mental health issue to me and I’m excited to hear her journey, also to get ideas for things to raise with my care team.
5pm
Security protocols kick us out of the office building and I am thrilled to escape! P picks me up from work since he’s off today, and my hips and feet are very grateful. There’s a quick stop in at Coles for pizza ingredients, milk and the very essential choc chip waffles. ($46.94)
Once we’re home P feeds the cats and unpacks while I get started on the bases, my birthday present last month was a KitchenAid and at the rate I’m going the cost per use is coming out pretty damn good! I leave the base to rise, pop my feet up and do my nightly blood pressure (127/82) which I log into my health app. I also add my weight from yesterday’s OB appointment and I'm thrilled to say I’ve stopped losing weight now the suspected HG has finally settled.
7pm
Take several brag photos of my pizzas #homemade and settled in front of the TV with blankets, footrest and P. I do send P back to the kitchen twice for serviettes and my water bottle, but once I’m settled, I’m not bloody moving.
I queue up the latest Top Chef (International All Stars Season 20) on Plex and get ready to support my fellow Aussie! P grumbles about my fixation with Top Chef, but all he gets is side eye in response. It’s a great episode for creativity, he even admits the winning dish is impressive. He vanishes the second the episode’s over for his office and a rewatch of the extended, super, mega, special edition of The Hobbit. I move on to Ambulance UK and annoy him over text with questions about the medical terminology being used.
8pm
Bedtime with a heat pack as my back is killing me! I try to convince P to come to bed and hold it against me since bubs is not allowing stomach laying anymore.
8.30pm
Success! P is helpfully holding it against me while I finish the episode and scroll the Iconic. Oh no! There’s now Stanley cups on there, I add it to my wishlist and promise myself I’ll think about it first. I want to also be a chic put together Stanley cup girlie!
Total: 65.91
Saturday:
3am
Back scrolling the Iconic and on a hunch check my credits (after rage returning maternity clothes a few weeks ago) and bingo there’s a credit there. I play around with wishlist items and stacking discounts, there’s a pale pink theme developing between the pink pregnancy overalls and the Stanley cup.
3.30am
Screw it, I’m ordering (10 points if you can guess what room of the apartment I made this order from) and it’s all due this afternoon except the pregnancy belt I've been grumbling about wanting. ($14.95)
9am
P brings me coffee, the kitten and the statement that he’s approved our Medicare Safety Net balance (he’s our primary family member) which means the rest of our refunds will be great going forward!! I’m very excited for 90% back on out of pocket costs for most medical things from now until December. Between my mental health and pregnancy I’ve beaten my normal record of September for the max you can pay OOP.
12pm
I’m sitting on the floor in the nursery trying to sort out piles of tiny clothes and remember to get P to help me off the floor before he heads to work. I head to the kitchen and start the bread process, I make our bread from scratch every weekend and the KitchenAid has made this sooo much easier. I decide one x1 wholemeal seed bread for P and x1 rosemary focaccia for me. Once they’re rising I head off to bed for a nap before therapy this afternoon.
3pm
I made myself some tea and washed my face to prepare for therapy as I woke up from my nap feeling like I was on another planet. I head into my office, no no now the nursery, damn I slightly tear up at the thought of my nice office now being a small desk in the corner. Well that can be another topic for my session today!
3.30pm
My psych and I go over all of the last 3 weeks worth of appointments with my health team and what my next steps are. I need to sort out my postpartum stay referral and lock in when I’m starting my top up meds. We talk through some of my work frustrations (not clear cut sexism but a level of obliviousness some of male managers are showing) and how I’m tracking mood/symptoms wise across the pregnancy. We’re both very aware that the final few weeks of pregnancy and the accompanying hormones can cause serious issues, so we go over warning signs and coping mechanisms. We go over the difference between ‘normal pregnancy feelings’ and my mental health condition feelings.($220)
4.30pm
Session done and my bread has all risen nicely despite the cold weather, I start the baking process and contemplate dinner. P is at work until 10pm so I’m on my own, which means all the Top Chef reruns and Ambulance UK my heart desires! I have a craving for spätzl so dig that out of the cupboard and defrost the schnitzel.
Iconic delivery!! I am officially a Stanley cup owner! I ordered the original, not the soft matte because Tiktok told me to, so I’m hoping I’ve made the right choice. Something about cold water through a straw just hits the spot. My glittery Starbucks cup looks on in disgust.
10pm
P finds me at my desk working on my spreadsheet of crazy, I mean baby, and is impressed but also too tired to focus on it now. I hear him calmly explain to the kitten that he can’t join him in the shower but he isn’t entirely successful.
We get into bed and P puts headphones in so I can drift off faster (or because I threatened more Ambulance UK? We’ll never know!).
Total: $234.95 (pending MR)
Sunday:
4am
And I’m up early again, my passenger is apparently an early riser these days which leads to me looking down and asking for more sleep “pleeeeease!” I try 37 positions and try to get comfy before finally drifting off again.
8am
I steal P’s dressing gown (mine’s now got an awkward gap due to the bump) and start the coffee process, the kitten joins me after finding a piece of plastic to pinball around the kitchen with, I am not coordinated enough these days to dodge him so I remove him and plastic to the living room.
I’m craving an egg muffin so I cook some sausages, eggs and toast english muffins and enjoy a mindless tiktok scroll while I eat.
12pm
I’m surprisingly tired after doing nothing all morning and head back to bed for a nap. I really hope the tiredness isn’t a sign my illness from last week is back! I’ve got a support group meeting in a few hours so I set an alarm.
2pm
I join the support group Zoom and immediately hear about how many people are sick or recovering from some flu or cold thing. There’s a lot of bugs going around at the moment! I meet some new people who have the same disorder or same ‘family’ of disorders as me and I update the group on my pregnancy journey. I really bond with 2 of the new ladies and I offer my email up to both to keep in touch before next week’s meeting.
5pm
I’m happily browsing Facebook Marketplace for baby things when Mum calls, she’s been shopping for baby (uh oh) and is excited to tell me about it. Amazingly she’s bought a bedside bassinet very similar to the one I was planning on buying secondhand and a safari themed lamp for the nursery. She’s also ended up with a high chair for their house on the coast and a bunch of themed fabric for swaddles, pillows, etc.
Total: 0.00 thanks Mum!
Monday
7am
I wake with my alarm for once, which would be odd except for how awful I feel. I end up deciding to call in sick, the flu thing that knocked me around until early last week appears to be back. Pregnancy means lots of cold/flu meds etc are not an option so I can’t soldier on. I alert my manager, set my team up with urgent tasks, chuck my OOO on and crawl back into bed.
A few things debit like SMH and Youtube (accounted for in monthly expenses above)
10am
I open my phone to a flurry of emails on my personal account, OH! It’s healthcare cover day! We have finished all our waiting periods and the beacons are lit! Let the floodgates of services and information begin! Our hospital and health fund both email to welcome me to their online learning platforms.
11am
A nice lady from our health fund calls to give me the spiel. I'd normally be wary about what all these amazing services are going to cost, but it’s all covered! She tells me about the learning platform (Nourish), the sleep clinic calls I’ll get after the baby's arrival and the welcome pack I’m going to be mailed. I get my login details as soon as we hangup, another fun thing to explore tonight once I’m feeling human again.
P is amused by how excited I am for all this information, he does caution me against over planning/over researching which is something I’ve been working on with my psych. I struggle to find a good balance between planning for problems and over planning to the point of stress. It’s a work in progress. I suspect I’ll always have issues with control/over planning.
4pm
I’ve napped most of the day, dealt with 1 urgent work issue and am now getting access to the hospital’s learning platform (Cradle). I'm grateful they’re short 5-7 minute long videos so put some on the iPad while I make tea and toast before deciding to tackle the nursery again.
7pm
Mum calls about more baby things - they’ve bought me a change table!? I’m slightly annoyed then I’m thrilled - it’s a brand I like that’s normally $400 ish for $30 at auction yesterday (a Sunday afternoon family hobby). They've just collected it, they’re going to sand and paint it for me in a nice green for the safari nursery. Another thing ticked off the baby spreadsheet.
Dinner tonight was heated up leftovers, I’m too tired for cooking.
Hmm blood pressure is high, I hope this is just sickness related and log it in my app.
8pm
Bed time! Despite sleeping all day I am exhausted and pass out almost immediately.
Total: 0.00 thanks again Mum!
Tuesday
11am
I’m in the office however I cannot tell you what I’ve done today, it’s all a blur and when I sit down with my ipad to make notes for this money diary my brain goes blank. I scroll through my sent emails and can see I’ve sent 26 emails (herding a difficult vendor, setting up meetings for later in the week, submitting my sick leave for yesterday and setting up a new starter orientation). I make another coffee and realise the mini fridge hasn’t been restocked (because I am the one that stocks it each week sigh). I jump online and do a grocery order - yogurt, cheese, salami, tomato paste, sliced bread, babybel cheese, apples and several juices) (52.00) it’s due in next 2 hours.
1pm
I make myself toasted sandwiches and try not to eat the entire packet of babybel. My work lunch group tells hilarious stories from their level of the office and it’s a nice escape from my level’s workload.
2pm
I send off my psychiatrist's referral for my private postpartum care stay (1-3 weeks long) and check it’s all covered with my health care fund (it is!). The private place I’ll be staying at calls me to check in, advise me of next steps and to give me my tentative booking date of 1 week after birth. I’ve got a spare 20 mins so do my intake assessment with them over the phone and get the all clear to be accepted in a few weeks. I’ll get another assessment 2-4 days after I give birth just to make sure I’m still a good candidate. I look over the welcome pack, what to bring lists and advice on partner overnight stays that all hit my email when I hang up. I forward the relevant bits to P and jump back into work.
5pm
An afternoon of meetings meant I did no deep/focus work or work on my handover, but I accept that and move on. I top up my Opal card for the week (50.00) via the app and it’s loaded by the time I’m tapping on the train. I’d normally account for this in the expenses up top but my train trips are very sporadic right now due to pregnancy waddle, so I’ve been carpooling with coworkers and P has been collecting me if his shifts line up along with the occasional UbeShebah.
5.15pm
I’m pinged regarding a site issue and it looks like the site is down. I jump on via my phone and iPad while on the train, I also start my time tracker for out of hours work. I scrap the conference call between my team and the vendor at 6pm and instruct the site to rollover to fallback mode, my team member gets them online again. I email my manager a quick update and switch back to tiktok scrolling. I’m really enjoying not having to fight for a seat most train trips now since I’m so visibly pregnant!
6.30pm
P meets me at the station again, is horrified that I’m dragging 3 books, several cups to wash, my coat (I overheated on the train) and my iPad around in multiple bags, he snatches it all and we start the walk home.
He’s made bolognese and it is the best smell to walk into after a cold day! I smother mine in cheese and prop my feet up to depuff. Then I puppy dog eyes at him and he agrees to Ambulance UK, we’re now in the London seasons and I’m loving the big city vibes. He still cringes at the medical sounds, but takes the time to explain how these patients would be treated at his hospital after their ambulance trips. I enjoy his commentary and it adds a background I would never normally know about.
8pm
I take my blood pressure and it’s high for the 2nd night, I’m a bit concerned but trying not to stress. It’s not 160/100 aka get your butt to ED but it’s still over normal. I log it in my health app and make a note to monitor it and call the OB if it’s up again tomorrow.
I message a friend about his opinion of epidurals (since he does them all day) and ask for the dumbed down reality check, he’s been an amazing support this pregnancy so I know he’ll give me a great answer, and he replies back with all the pros/cons as well as the common issues and how they get fixed. He reminds me to ask my OB since I’ve got pregnancy hypertension, it’s likely I would almost benefit from that common side effect and I make a note in my phone to ask at the next appointment.
Total: $102.00
Wednesday
5am
Coffee, kitten pats, older cat snuggles and then a small cry because I forgot to wash my preferred pregnancy leggings. I thankfully remember I’ve got an onsite vendor meeting today so don’t dress like a potato! I still wear Stan Smith’s but a cute knit dress and scarf up top so I look presentable. I bathe in embryolisse cream after washing my face (fun pregnancy fact - you can develop dry skin patches that make you look like a lizard!) and actually put some makeup on (Charlotte Tilbury base, YSL touche elcat, innisfree powder, lancome mascara and CT blush) followed by Replica’s By the Fireplace perfume. Ready for battle!
7am
On the train scrolling through the morning reports, I’m relieved to see all systems are reporting green after a few small hiccups yesterday. I move onto discord and catch up the overnight conversations in bump group.
9am
Quick catchup with my team and then I spend the morning preparing for the big cross time zone/country catch up with all IT team leads also updating my WIP tracker. I obviously then forget to save it and rage stomp off to the kitchen to make conciliation coffee.
I rage shop for KitchenAid accessories but don’t actually buy anything and my manager comforts me over teams.
12pm
I’m wrapping up in person site meetings to see a bunch of messages from P, he’s grocery shopping and querying baby wipe brands. (One of the best tips I got was to buy a pack of nappies and wipes each grocery trip to build your stockpile so it’s not such a shock, since newborns go through 10 nappies a day!). I reply but I’m a bit late and he finishes in Aldi, Coles and the butchers for the next fortnight (389.23). I’m getting very over this cost of living price increase on basic things like milk. He’s a smart shopper so I know that he didn’t overdo it.
3pm
I’ve taken my blood pressure a few times today and it keeps coming back high. I ring the OB’s office and book in for tomorrow morning (spoiler: my blood pressure meds are increased and I’m asked to check in with my pregnancy nephrologist sooner)
4pm
What the hell is this debit? Oh it’s the meal delivery service I forgot to suspend this week, guess we’re going to be a bit overstocked on food this week. I’m just going to class this as idiot/baby brain tax. (69.95)
5pm
P collects me and I have a small cry in the carpark, he’s had the baby capsule installed and driven to collect me with it so I can see it. Things are starting to feel very real now! I practice removing it and carrying it up to the apartment when we get home.
Leftover bolognese for dinner and we do separate screen time. I head to my computer after a bit to review my spreadsheet, since P has smashed out a bunch of things today in Baby Bunting. Nappy bin, capsule + install and baby bath are all ticked off! I get the receipts off our emails to log the costs (375.16)
7pm
Mexican bowls for dinner and we decide to try out the new RPA reboot that’s recently come back to TV (from the 90s!). I honestly hate every minute of it, the talking heads are really cringe and after the gritty realism of Ambulance UK (and Nurses Down Under) I can’t cope with it. We switch over to Ambulance UK after 1 episode and discuss deleting the rest. I was also really disappointed by how “doctor focussed” it was to the point where the nurses and allied health professionals (physios, ambos, etc) were cut out of certain shots, but you could still see their hands or shoes, that’s just not reality in Australian healthcare they’re the people patients see 90% of the time! Okay getting off my soapbox now.
8pm
I start my out of hours tracker and handle an issue for a site 3 hours behind me, in the end the onsite team and I get our part done, one of the vendors does not. We decide to tackle it tomorrow and a flick off a complaint to our account manage regarding this vendor rep. I notice a few of my counterparts are all in a teams call in their timezone and realise they must be cutting over a new system since it’s so late their time. I make a note to not bother them first thing tomorrow since they’ll likely all be start late.
9pm
Yep blood pressure is still high, so I’m glad I’ve got the appointment booked for the first thing tomorrow. P takes it for me twice just in case I’m doing something wrong with the cuff but unfortunately it’s still high. I’ve finished my new pregnancy book and I would recommend it to any Aussie mums or dads to be out there, P even flicks through it.
Why are both cats trying to sit on me? Oh we forgot to feed them! I sort them out and all is well again in their world.
10pm
My glorious bed calls me to me and I bundle myself up in the blankets, scroll through tiktok and happy cry at birth videos.
Total: 834.34
END SCENE
Weekly Total: $3749.20
Food + Drink: 589.09
Fun / Entertainment: 0.00
Home + Health: 2720.00
Clothes + Beauty: 14.95
Transport: 50.00
Other (Baby): 375.16
REFLECTION:
Besides the health care costs, this is a pretty normal week for me! I’m obviously thrilled to hit the Medicare max as this makes things so much easier with health care costs. I feel really relieved to know all my future costs are being covered by private health or what isn't is at a higher rebate now. Seeing my hospital estimate last week (before private health covers 95%) was really confronting and made me briefly reconsider my choice to go private, but the things that are now covered by health fund are amazing and worth nearly $30k over the first 3 months of the baby's life (especially if we end up needing special care nursery).
I’m pretty impressed about how many wtf and ffs I say in real life that I’ve removed from this diary. I find the Aussie approach to swearing can be a bit relaxed haha, so I did my best for you guys!
The impact of the baby brain is very real, aside from mental blanks at work, I had to check things like my subscriptions and ask P a few times, since so much of it is bpay and auto-debit, I don’t pay attention to it! There’s a few charges we have always had historically like tolls and ubereats that we’ve cut way back over the past few months.
I'm also considering a "what it costs to have a private baby in Aus" as well as a follow up in a few months once I've settled into Maternity Leave life (minimum wage, not my current salary) because tracking was fascinating and I'm a data hoarder.
Happy to answer any questions in the comments if I've explained something poorly.

Since the launch of ER Malenia has always gotten quite a lot of flak. Her waterfowl and healing have often been called overtuned, and breaking souls' "hard but fair" motto that previous bosses with similar high difficulty have followed. And due to Swagapagos Turtle's video on her where he shows how Malenia doesn't act like the other enemies and her design "breaking" many of the game's rules, like "inconsistent hyperarmor" and "animation cancelling", she is frankly reviled by a huge portion of the community, at least among those who are active. And it's still going on.
Before I say anything I'd like to clarify that ER was not my first From game. DS1 was back in 2021. I essentially completed all of the Soulsborne games consecutively in a marathon and have been replaying all of them since so my memory is still relatively fresh and not clouded by nostalgia nor hype, and I am familiar with all the game's mechanics very well at this point. And I'd also like to mention that I've never once used a magic build and only ever used summoning in the Godskin Duo boss fight, so all of it is coming from a solo melee perspective. What I'm going to state after this is only my opinion.
Many people like to state that Malenia is a buggy mess. I digress. Malenia, from my experience, has been one of the most complex bosses yet one of the few bosses where all these mechanics come together in a beautiful way to produce an incredible fight. She was the most fun boss to learn and then play against with no cheesing. Her hyperarmor does not feel inconsistent, because all of the hyperarmor moves are easily identifiable. Any time her foot isn't on the ground, it's a hyperarmor move. And except few lighter weapons, it is impossible to hit her during these moves without hit trading. Her openings lie within her combos, with a few moves with long windups that can be interrupted to get openings. Aggression is highly encouraged due to her relatively low poise but overaggression is hard countered, either by a hyperarmor move, a deflect, or the dreadful waterfowl. Learning waterfowl isn't the most pleasant experience. Initially, it feels like it comes out of nowhere and feels impossible. Other moves are intuitive but waterfowl frankly isn't. Yet a lot of the problems can be traced down to the playstyle of DS3, where the only two buttons players would normally use were light attack and the dodge roll. And a lot of it simply seems like players are only trying to find out ways to dodge roll when frankly it simply isn't like that in ER. Elden Ring has many instances where instead of dodge rolling, running is a safer option or just a better option. Waterfowl is one of them. It took a lot of trial and error from my end but ultimately the best way to avoid the first flurry is running away and jumping. Just running away isn't possible unless from midrange, which a lot of players seemingly do causing a passive playstyle. The jump after a run provides enough distance for one to safely avoid the first volley, which is imo the only one that causes a problem. After that it is incredibly satisfying but yeah I do wish Fromsoft put more instances where maneuvers like this are required so that players could intuitively avoid waterfowl. There have been many complaints about the phase 2 hyperarmor kick yet I'd like to point out that atleast in phase 2, the hyperarmor kick allows for an immediate follow-up attack with any weapon, even colossals. There have also been sayings of how the rest of her moveset is simple which just makes me go "huh?'. Besides Sekiro, Malenia probably has the most complex moveset in the rpgs of From, actively reacting to the player and requiring accurate directional rolling, and her moves are designed in a way that encourages and allows counterattacks. May just be spite or may just be the intuitive nature in which all her moves, barring waterfowl, have been designed but this is one that genuinely baffles me. All of her mechanics are designed in a way that demands perfection from the player. It's a high-speed bike ride that you have to maintain without any hiccups or you'll get sent flying. Heal per hit enforces that, where breaking the flow of the fight immediately puts you at a disadvantage. It doesn't feel important when the fight is mastered but it helps enforce the nature of the fight.
I will say things like her not transitioning to phase 2 through a riposte are complete heal per hit through shields are bs. She shouldn't be able to heal through shields because she is inflicting 0 damage. Sure, increase the stamina cost but this is just dumb. But things like her being immune to stance breaks during her hyper armor attacks make sense considering her low poise. Mindless trading would be easier which the fight always tries to hard counter.
I'd say the experience of Malenia was similar to my experience getting into prog metal. At first, it seems disjointed, loud, and frankly unpleasant to listen to. But slowly getting the hang of it, all of it clicks. All of the components fall together to provide an incredibly complex yet resonant experience. And just like how prog metal is my favorite music genre, Malenia is my favorite boss.
I just feel alone in this. Wherever I go, I see nothing but complaints. People trying to show love for the boss are met with "no it's not there are better bosses", "it's a bad boss", "play other From games" or just a downvote flurry with the reasonings provided frankly seeming misguided. Where posts saying "Isshin or Gael is the best boss" is always met with unanimous agreement, Malenia is met with a discourse, ranging from "It's hard to say the best boss like that" or just disagreement. I expect the same to happen with my post. I don't think the reasonings provided will matter to many but I get it. It's just not a boss for everyone's tastes.
But at least I'd like to ask you all: do you think it is a hot take to call Malenia one's favorite boss, compared to other popular bosses in from's catalog?

Trying to beat the game tonight so anything will help
Pw ; LTBU

In short, Sleepbone bolts are the most efficient way to apply sleep without making a build specifically for something like St. Trina's Sword. Use Sleepbone Bolts with a Pulley Crossbow if you want the most bang for your buck.
Sleepbone Arrows apply 6 less sleep than bolts, and using the pully crossbow allows you to shoot three at once. The crossbow is also faster and easier to pull out, shoot, and switch than a bow.
Sleep Pots while at a quick glance seam to apply far more sleep, however Sleepbone Bolts have significantly more range, and they provide much more bang for your buck. Plus you can hold a lot more. One sleep pot will apply 450 sleep over 3 seconds by default, with a maximum of 630 over 3 seconds at 99 Arcane. Each pot costs one mushroom and one Trina's Lily. Each Sleepbone Bolt applies 90 sleep instantly on hit no matter your stat. You can make ten Sleepbone Bolts for one Trina's Lily and three Thin Beast Bones. This means that each Trina's Lilly put into a Sleepbone Bolt will provide a total of 819 sleep, which is 189 more than a single pot WITH 99 ARCANE! None of this is taking into account that enemies may walk out of a Sleep Pot's cloud before all of the tics take effect. This means that overall Sleepbone Bolt is much more efficient at applying sleep than Sleep Pots are.
NOTE: When facing a situation like the Godskin duo bossfight, a Sleep Pot can be considered better as you need to put one to sleep as fast as possible, and due to their large size they are unlikely to walk out before falling asleep. THE SLEEPBONE BOLTS ARE THE MOST EFFICIET WAY TO APPLY SLEEP, NOT THE MOST EFFECTIVE. IT IS MY PERSONAL OPINION THAT EFFICIENCY IS MORE IMPORTANT AS GRINDING TRINA'S LILLYS TAKES A LARGE PORTION OF THE FUN OUT OF THE GAME FOR ME!

I really suck at this game, I don't know how to parry, my roll timings are off constantly, I'm getting killed by random mobs all the time. I'm dying - a lot. And I still love that, and I consider this game one of my top gaming experiences ever.
The only gripe I have at this game, is that all the difficulty seems to be in the minor encounters, while the large fights important for the plot at least for me are kind of... easy (compared to everything else).
Because I'm not very good I definitely try to get as much help from the game as I can - but not using any glitches. I'm using fully upgraded mimic to help me when I can, I summon NPC cooperators, I try to upgrade my weapons as fast as I can (but not running forward two game zones to get upgrade materials from there).
My build is dex/faith build which I kind of landed naturally by playing what I wanted to play rather than considering meta. I'm RL 150 now, with 50 FTH, 35 DEX and 50 VIG.
I started confessor and wanted to play some kind of "dark paladin". Weapon progression: twinblade -> godskin peeler -> godslayer greatsword -> blasphemous blade -> blasphemous blade + golden order great sword
I'm using two powerstanced +10 great swords, and I'm melting the bosses but still dying all the time to random mobs..
First the shard bearers, the most difficulty by far I had with Rennala (this boss run is imprinted in my memory now), then with Godrick, and then... not much?
My first biggest meh moment was when I steamrolled (definitely overleveled) Horah Loux the golden phantom and Morgott. Both of them on one set of flasks not even breaking a sweat. I did Radahn on the first try with the help of the summons. I did Rykard on the first try with the special weapon.
Yesterday I fought Malenia, and I was scared shitless after all the stories I heard about her, and I got her after maybe ~5th try? I was getting solid damage, my and my mimics attacks staggered her, she did waterfowl two times on the mimic and it tanked those easily. I had to dodge maybe like two katana slashes and took like 5 hits for about 60% of my health that I just healed.
And then I run out of the haligtree roots site of grace and I die like 15 times to some annoying kindred of rot pests on the cemetery who one shot me with like million arrows. Maybe it's how it is supposed to be, but it feels non-thematic if I can kill goddess of rot, but bet mauled by a few randos.
I feel like even in the bosses, the more unremarkable they are the harder they are to beat, and the more someone is important for the plot and supposed to be powerful, then the easier the fight is.
Lesser erdtree burial watchdogs probably killed me more times than all the bosses combined. The erdtree avatars in the haligtree (which are kind of bosses, but not really) were absolute nightmare and I had to cheese them - same for the ulcerated tree spirit near the Millicent.
I am constantly on my toes with this game when walking through the levels, but when a boss fight starts I know I will be able to have my summon, I know I will have a large flat nice area to fight with with room for dodge etc. Then with random mobs I get thrown off a cliff, ganked by multiple jumpers or shot from the distance with arrows I don't know where they are coming from.
Just my small vent. Just yesterday I beat the godskin duo trivially with Bernahl and mimic, and I'm heading to finish this game soon. It was an honor to try myself in the lands between.
Bosses that I had the hardest time with: - Godskin Apostle in divine tower of Caelid - I was under-leveled as hell but really wanted that sword
- Gargoyle Duo
- Some magma wyrms (I started powerstancing two swords, after I couldn't beat magma worm theodorix in one go)