TW for death!! just a heads up(:
so today i (nb18) was with my nmom in the car. she knows death is a very sensitive subject for me. long story short, i lost a loved one in 2020 in a very horrible way, and i miss him dearly, but that’s besides the point. she started randomly talking about her death plan. she told me she wanted to have a necklace of her ashes made when she dies to give to me so i can “bring her everywhere”. even thinking about death makes me have panic attacks so i was uncomfortable. my mother and my relationship is VERY turbulent and she knows that- why tf does she think id wear a necklace of her ashes when i hate thinking about death at all in any way? i mustve seemed taken aback and she teared up and started talking about how id miss her when she was gone and she just wanted to be with me forever. it turned into this big guilt tripping session. very uncomfortable, very random. anybody else’s nparent do stuff like this? my mother does relatively frequently, but never like that. i’m starting to honestly think she was trying to make me uncomfortable and upset earlier but i’m not sure.

I have a sick mother with whom I stay with 24/7, I haven't went out in months and my life has been on hold since I finished my studies. The only time I used to get some relief was when I used to go study, basically. I have always been her caregiver, since none of her other children care enough to do anything. Lately I'm starting to go crazy, I can't take it anymore, my mother calls me any time, she doesn't care if I'm in the middle of something or sleeping for example, this year has been so hard. When she calls me, she can go on for hours and not stop untill I go to her. I dread and hate her voice now, whenever I hear it, my stomach hurts and my heart sinks. I have developed a fear and extreme annoyance from it. She doesn't have any limits. I started hearing voices ringing in my ears whenever there's a high pitched noise in the background, sometimes while the kids are playing outside in the park, from all the noises and screams I hear my mother's voice in between them. It's like a train is coming from a distance. It made me so paranoid, I feel my stomach shrinking and my heart pounding faster. I started snapping at her, yelling and saying rude stuff to her and then she tells me that she will not do it again but it's always the same. I am so disgusted from myself from being that rude to her but I hate her so much when she constantly over steps my boundaries, I have no rest. I can't even focus on a task anymore, my body is always on fear mode, decrypting every noise around me, I feel like a prey. I resent her and I hate myself so much especially when I see her scared of me when I snap at her and start screaming and crying bc I feel so exhausted, and no one helps. I don't know what to do, i pray for god to give me more patience and that my love for her will make my angst and rage go away. But I can't, it's always here, at all times. I don't want to hate her, but in moments like that I can't control my emotions. I'm just very tired and lost.

TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF MEDICAL PROCEDURE
I've had the nexplanon in for nearly three years to manage PCOS, so I am ready to take it out and try something new since it hasn't worked at all for helping me manage my periods that never seem to come and then never seem to stop when they do come.
So I go into the doctor's office, I lay down, and we do all the prep work. The doctor warns me there could be risk of pain and brusing and swelling and all that good stuff, and I tell her its fine. So she numbs my arm and then slices me open and starts digging around. She then puts a bandaid on and tell me she can't do it, and that she needs to refer me to a "specialist."
So, I think, okay, this is unlucky, but it is what it is. She is taking precautions to make sure she doesn't do any damage to me or anything I'm guessing. Sure, I'm in pain, and sure, now I have a hole in my arm, but things happen, and I don't want to get anyone in trouble for things that sometimes just happen.
But I seem to be the only one who thinks this as everyone I know, especially my mom, is freaking out and saying that there should have been some process to check if the procedure could be done first like and X-ray or ultrasound before doing the procedure. They are borderline accusing the doctor of medical misconduct, and are urging me to file a complaint.
Am I taking this too lightly, or are they taking this too personally? I KNOW that this is unfortunate, and I'm not happy about it either, but medical misconduct? Isn't that too extreme? What do you guys think, and has this happened to you guys before?

I feel completely and totally lost. My current situation is that I was asked to house it my mom's home while she watches her mom. I work second shift so I have different hours on top of working second shift I have bad sinuses sleep apnea and other things which make me sleep later. My mom just told me that she's frustrated that I can't even come out to ask her if there's something I can do and she says that she physically struggles too but she is still able to do 10 things in one hour.
Honestly I want to tell her I'm tired of this arguing and I just want to get out of her life. I feel like I'm going kind of crazy and sometimes I feel like saying things as blunt as possible is the only way that things can get worked out.
I feel like maybe I'll even tell her that I can't stand the situation and I need to get away from her because I feel like crap around her.

So I've been meaning to go try any Teppanyaki style restaurant for quite some time now but never pushed through with it. Now that my birthday is coming up, I want to treat my family to a Teppanyaki restaurant. However, I can't seem to find one down south, most of the teppanyaki I find are in Pasig or Makati.
Any Recos for the birthday boy?

I've proceeded to analyse tominecon_decoy.7z, to hopefully give you some hints / useful info:

"data" file - decoy.7z

I've checked it's distribution to see if it's a random file (probably created with dd from /dev/urandom) or in fact an encrypted file. It's most likely pure random data.

#=============================================================================# # dieharder version 3.31.1 Copyright 2003 Robert G. Brown # #=============================================================================# rng_name filename rands/second mt19937 data 1.82e+08 #=============================================================================# test_name ntup tsamples psamples p-value Assessment #=============================================================================# diehard_birthdays 0 100 1000.14824994 PASSED diehard_operm5 0 1000000 1000.99221054 PASSED diehard_rank_32x32 0 40000 1000.62322888 PASSED diehard_rank_6x8 0 100000 1000.94647366 PASSED diehard_bitstream 0 2097152 1000.39253237 PASSED diehard_opso 0 2097152 1000.75828360 PASSED diehard_oqso 0 2097152 1000.87984506 PASSED diehard_dna 0 2097152 1000.29672829 PASSED diehard_count_1s_str 0 256000 1000.73366092 PASSED diehard_count_1s_byt 0 256000 1000.20492264 PASSED diehard_parking_lot 0 12000 1000.14511226 PASSED diehard_2dsphere 2 8000 1000.27126738 PASSED diehard_3dsphere 3 4000 1000.54520320 PASSED diehard_squeeze 0 100000 1000.78978626 PASSED diehard_sums 0 100 1000.00770937 PASSED diehard_runs 0 100000 1000.04017858 PASSED diehard_runs 0 100000 1000.62921475 PASSED diehard_craps 0 200000 1000.26167301 PASSED diehard_craps 0 200000 1000.97952518 PASSED marsaglia_tsang_gcd 0 10000000 1000.91089978 PASSED marsaglia_tsang_gcd 0 10000000 1000.65922260 PASSED sts_monobit 1 100000 1000.85781635 PASSED sts_runs 2 100000 1000.99942293 WEAK 

"secret.mp4" file - decoy.7z

Transcript.srt (Whisper v2)

1 00:00:00,000 00:00:06,000 Kids get the best of it with WDCA Channel 20 in Washington, D.C. 2 00:00:06,000 00:00:14,000 Think twice before you answer. 3 00:00:14,000 00:00:16,000 Think twice. 4 00:00:16,000 00:00:20,000 Think twice before you say yes. 5 00:00:20,000 00:00:23,000 Think twice before you answer. 6 00:00:23,000 00:00:26,000 Think twice before you say yes. 7 00:00:26,000 00:00:28,000 You know, I know y'all saying this and that. 8 00:00:28,000 00:00:31,000 Look at this food. Got this watermelon here. 9 00:00:31,000 00:00:36,000 The reason why I say think twice is because... 10 00:00:36,000 00:00:40,000 That's giving me a little air. That'll give me a little air, y'all. 11 00:00:40,000 00:00:45,000 The reason why I say think twice is because... 12 00:00:45,000 00:00:54,000 I just can't understand how we as black people started eating watermelon in the closet. 13 00:00:54,000 00:00:57,000 Lord have me. 14 00:00:57,000 00:01:00,000 This is called the heart. 15 00:01:00,000 00:01:06,000 You know, it makes me feel so bad sometimes when I see black... 16 00:01:06,000 00:01:08,000 My black brothers and sisters. 17 00:01:08,000 00:01:14,000 And they'll see me eating a piece of watermelon like this here. 18 00:01:14,000 00:01:17,000 And they'll go... 19 00:01:17,000 00:01:20,000 And they'll go to frown their faces on me. That's despicable. 20 00:01:20,000 00:01:22,000 But it's good. 21 00:01:22,000 00:01:24,000 And you know the thing that makes me mad? 22 00:01:24,000 00:01:28,000 When I go to their parties, they will take a big pretty watermelon like this... 23 00:01:28,000 00:01:31,000 And cut all kinds of gadgets. 24 00:01:31,000 00:01:34,000 And then cut the inside. 25 00:01:34,000 00:01:36,000 You see this good piece of watermelon here? 26 00:01:36,000 00:01:39,000 Cut all the guts out that good watermelon. 27 00:01:39,000 00:01:42,000 And mix it up and mess it up with something else. 28 00:01:42,000 00:01:44,000 Man, sometimes they got a notion to put liquor in it. 29 00:01:44,000 00:01:49,000 And then after they cut them little crevices in it, then put it back inside of that hood. 30 00:01:50,000 00:01:55,000 Man, that's a waste of watermelon when all you got to do with it is pick it up like this here. 31 00:01:55,000 00:01:58,000 Look here, let's pick it up like this here. 32 00:02:03,000 00:02:05,000 I don't mess it up. 33 00:02:05,000 00:02:07,000 I can work my eye out. 34 00:02:07,000 00:02:10,000 That's the way you eat a watermelon. 35 00:02:10,000 00:02:13,000 And I don't care if you use a PHD, if you use a whatever. 36 00:02:13,000 00:02:17,000 You can't tell me cutting all that out, putting it back in there. 37 00:02:20,000 00:02:22,000 Yeah, Lord. 38 00:02:22,000 00:02:24,000 It's better than this here. 39 00:02:24,000 00:02:26,000 Now, I know you're sitting at home. 40 00:02:26,000 00:02:28,000 That's an ignorant nigga. 41 00:02:28,000 00:02:30,000 But this is a sweet watermelon. 42 00:02:30,000 00:02:34,000 I ain't going to waste no time cutting no watermelon up and mixing it up in no fruit cocktail. 43 00:02:34,000 00:02:37,000 All I'm saying to you, be yourself. 44 00:02:37,000 00:02:39,000 Because I went to a party the other night with some white folks. 45 00:02:39,000 00:02:40,000 They didn't have it in that thing there. 46 00:02:40,000 00:02:41,000 They had slices. 47 00:02:41,000 00:02:43,000 Walk around, Peter Green, you want a slice? 48 00:02:43,000 00:02:44,000 I said, yeah, give me a slice. 49 00:02:44,000 00:02:48,000 One of them, they said, I don't think, I didn't think you blacks eat watermelon like that. 50 00:02:48,000 00:02:50,000 You can't eat watermelon like that no more. 51 00:02:50,000 00:02:52,000 I said, look, lady, don't try to get out on me, you understand? 52 00:02:52,000 00:02:55,000 You just want to eat the good part and want me to cut it all up and do it. 53 00:02:55,000 00:02:59,000 And then, you know, I was mad with niggas for putting salt on a watermelon until two old bamboos. 54 00:02:59,000 00:03:02,000 I was talking to two cold-blooded country bamboos. 55 00:03:02,000 00:03:04,000 And I said, why y'all put salt on watermelons? 56 00:03:04,000 00:03:05,000 Niggas were a man in my home. 57 00:03:05,000 00:03:07,000 I said, you know, I'm down in that bottom in Virginia. 58 00:03:07,000 00:03:08,000 I said, let me tell you about salt, Peter. 59 00:03:08,000 00:03:11,000 He said, you Washington niggas put too much salt on it. 60 00:03:11,000 00:03:13,000 I said, I watched you, Peter. 61 00:03:13,000 00:03:21,000 You dump salt on it and say you put a twang of salt on a sweet melon and it brings out like accent. 62 00:03:21,000 00:03:22,000 I said, what you say? 63 00:03:22,000 00:03:24,000 He said, man, I love watching you Washington people. 64 00:03:24,000 00:03:26,000 Y'all dump salt on it like you got chicken. 65 00:03:26,000 00:03:29,000 He said, but you twang it. 66 00:03:29,000 00:03:31,000 I never knew that. 67 00:03:31,000 00:03:37,000 But I just want to sit here this evening and let y'all know there's two things you don't do. 68 00:03:37,000 00:03:42,000 Don't cut the insides out of no watermelon and mix it with nothing else. 69 00:03:42,000 00:03:46,000 And don't put no two sticks around a corner rochner. 70 00:03:46,000 00:03:48,000 You know, y'all niggas put two sticks. 71 00:03:48,000 00:03:49,000 Don't do that. 72 00:03:49,000 00:03:55,000 You get one of them big rochners, saturate it with some butter and hit that. 73 00:03:55,000 00:03:57,000 Be yourself. 74 00:03:57,000 00:04:01,000 And always remember that I got it off the vine. 75 00:04:01,000 00:04:02,000 It's sweet like, honey. 76 00:04:02,000 00:04:04,000 And I'll plug it all the time. 77 00:04:04,000 00:04:06,000 Sit back, y'all. 78 00:04:06,000 00:04:08,000 This nigga's good and crazy. 79 00:04:08,000 00:04:09,000 Hold it, boy. 80 00:04:09,000 00:04:14,000 I tell y'all just. 81 00:04:14,000 00:04:17,000 Adjust the color in the taco. 82 00:04:17,000 00:04:19,000 Give yourself a slice of watermelon. 83 00:04:19,000 00:04:22,000 And get ready to groove with Petey Green's White. 84 00:04:52,000 00:05:21,000 Mm hmm. 85 00:05:21,000 00:05:48,000 Mm hmm. 86 00:05:48,000 00:05:49,000 Mm hmm. 

https://chat.openai.com/share/e/6f2d2803-f158-4d03-811f-366c8900ac35

A friend and I had dinner tonight at a pretty upscale restaurant. Next to us a family of four, mum, dad, two toddlers. Kids in pajamas, screaming, throwing food, running around, they approached our table, touched our food, kicked my dog who was sleeping under our table. Went back to their table, fought over a tablet. No headphones, the sound of some kids program playing super loud. They ate their kids menu (spaghetti) with their hands, there was sauce everywhere, and just constant screaming. We went there because the food and atmosphere is exceptional, we spent a bit over $500 on this, am I the asshole for telling them to control their kids and please tone it down? I’m in a country where kids are accepted and welcome everywhere, but that was too much for me. When I finally lost my shit and asked them politely to tell their kids to be quiet, the mum asked the waiter to throw us out because of my dog. She said her daughter is allergic to dogs. Staff then asked them to leave, and on their way out that lady spat on our table. I never experienced anything like that and I think we weren’t the only ones complaining. AITAH for calling them out on their behavior? Aren’t parents responsible for their kidding s behavior? If my dog was barking nobody would tolerate it, or if we would scream like these kids did. Why do parents take kids to that kind of place and expect everyone else to accommodate their needs? Stay home, or get a nanny and go out, or teach your kids manners if you want to take them.

so recently i have had interactions in which i genuinely felt uncared for due to the other party not recognizing my wish to distance from a topic because of worsening mood (despite warnings such as “hey i don’t want to talk about this, i am not in the mood for this” during conversation). the other parties were insistent due to feelings of worry, however the discussion would not be constructive or productive so i wished to ditch the subject. since they refused to change the subject and i wanted to protect my good mood, i ended the conversation entirely.
i do want to protect my peace as much as possible as i find it hard to deal with overly negative emotions that are expressed by others - mostly because i’m quite depressed myself so i prefer to hold onto my happy moments. however i’ve had feedback on this boundary, and to simply put, it said “other people have emotions too” which, honestly didn’t mean much to me as i happen to be one of those people (and if the other party does not respect it, i don’t see the point in doing so either).
is this a healthy boundary? should i alter my ways? if so what do you guys think i can change?

TW: alcoholism, illness
Hi all, this is my first time posting here. I lost my best friend a month ago. We have been friends since we were 5.
I have a group of 10 (now 9) extremely close knit, best friends. We had his celebration of life on Saturday. It was a great time; there was a drag show, and his former band performed his favorite songs. We cried a lot, too.
He had apparently been struggling with severe alcoholism, but hid it extremely well, as he was a functioning alcoholic. We all so badly wish that we had known, or that he asked us for help. He told one of our friends that even if we knew and tried to help, he would have pushed us away. But still.
He was in end stage liver failure from alcoholic cirrhosis in December, but very luckily got a transplant. He was getting better, but it suddenly took a turn for the worse. He had a lung abscess that could only be removed surgically, and he would not survive the procedure so they took him off the machines and he died a couple hours later. I got to see him and say goodbye which I am grateful for.
Today has been the hardest day since April 11th, the day he died. The weekend with my friends (some of whom flew in from out of town) was so cathartic, it was like medicine. We cried, and we laughed until we couldn’t breathe. But I knew the end of the weekend would also be the final goodbye. I haven’t stopped crying since last night. I feel this deep aching pain in my chest. It hurts so badly. I don’t know how I am supposed to go on and continue living. I feel so robbed. I have lost my grandparents, but they all died in their 80s and 90s. He was only 32.
Thanks for listening.

So I've been meaning to go try any Teppanyaki style restaurant for quite some time now but never pushed through with it. Now that my birthday is coming up, I want to treat my family to a Teppanyaki restaurant. However, I can't seem to find one down south, most of the teppanyaki I find are in Pasig or Makati.
Any Recos for the birthday boy?

When I was 12 it was my sister's birthday and she invited her friend who was also our neighbor (who I will call n) over for the party. N was 9 at the time. My parents ordered a giant inflatable slide for the party and at one point during the party me my sister and n were all playing on the inflatable slide. For some reason my 12 year old brain decided that I wanted to touch ns foot/feet because I had a foot fetish when I was 12. I think just because I wanted to touch feet due to my fetish and I guess i never touched a girls feet before so stupid 12 year old me decided that this was my opportunity to do so and from what I can remember it had nothing to do with n in my head as I wasn't attracted to her because she was too young I simply only was focused on her feet. So I literally came up with a game for me my sister and n to play where they had to run away from me and I had to try and catch them but for me I created the game just for an opportunity to grab/touch ns foot when I was chasing her but mostly my plan was to grab it when she went down the slide. From what I can remember I was successful a few times and I got to grab ns feet and I can't remember if I would feel around her foot or if I just grabbed it but the possibly that I might have felt around it scares me a lot even though i I don't think i did and I think I just grabbed the foot. I also might have tried to hold on to it as long as possible so probably around like 2 3 seconds and I feel disgusting for this and like I was a disgusting pedo especially because I think she was 3 years younger and I'm also afraid that what I did was sexual harassment or assault. Like I said it had nothing to do with n in my dumb 12 year old mind and more so with her feet and just the opportunity to get a chance to touch feet but it still makes my stomach sink and I don't know if I deserve to live anymore remembering this.

I have been through lots of SAs and sexual harassment incidents in my life in person and online and I would either feel fear, heaviness in the body or numbness. There are times where I would feel nothing during the incident and I would just try to laugh it off to make things less “awkward” or I would feel threatened. There were two incidents in my life where people have said that it was rape but I find it hard to believe because I did consent or go through it eventually and a part of me felt like things were my fault and I would get blamed for it.
The first incident would be 5 years ago when I was in college. I met a guy on a dating app and we got along quite well and talked for a few weeks. He tried to make the conversation sexual eventually and at that point, I didn’t mind it that much. Fast forward to us meeting for a date and I wasn’t too comfortable around him and towards the end of the date, we were in his car and asked me if I wanted to have sex. I froze and couldn’t give a straight answer because I was a pushover and felt scared. He kept driving and touching me the whole time until we ended up in a motel and he asked me again and I didn’t give an answer. He kept touching and kissing me until I gave in because I felt guilty and that I had no choice. a part of me felt scared as well knowing that he was part of a frat and they had a scary reputation. During sex, i let him do everything and just pretended that I liked it. He would keep going for as long as he wanted to while I barely did anything and just tried to be happy and pretend I’m enjoying. This went on for a few more times and I would only go cause he kept pushing and pushing for it to the point where I would get annoyed. At some point, i tried to entertain his sexual convos or comments online in the hopes of making him stop and I tried to initiate twice just to make him see that i “wanted it” which thankfully didn’t push through.
The weird thing that happened to me was that during the first meeting, I found myself “fixated” on him and had a crush like feeling even when I found him gross. I can’t explain why my brain gave me that despite me feeling disgusted. I found him more and more repulsive as time went on and I felt free when things stopped. While it happened 5 years ago, the heaviness and disgust came back differently like it did before. I feel a sense of heaviness thats sad and I triggered by sexual stuff or anything reminding me of it and even cut myself more than once.
The second story would be 2 years after the frat guy. I would try weed and psychedelics during a difficult period in my life and I met a guy from a dating app as well who asked me if I want to try weed brownies and I said yes in the hopes to help me with my situation. I told him that I hope he would respect my wishes to not have sex should it go in that direction and he said yes. He treated me respectfully until I reached the peak of my high and I laid down and closed my eyes because I couldn’t feel my body well and my head was pounding. Soon, I felt him get on top and started rubbing himself on me and got naked. I felt afraid given my state but tried to laugh it off in my head and let him do what he wants cause I didn’t want a worse state to happen. Thankfully, he didn’t penetrate me because I said I had a UTI then but he kept rubbing himself on my body, kissed me and came all over me. I just laid there and didnt touch him. He left me to go home alone and I felt like I was going to die in my state.
Weeks later when I recovered from my UTI. I met the same guy again for weed brownies (stupid of me I know) cause my state was still awful and I told him the same things again where I don’t want to have sex if I don’t feel like it and he was being a lot nicer than he was when we first met. Things were going fine and until I reached my high again and he started initiating sex a few times. I didn’t give him an answer all those times cause I felt scared. He moved closer to kiss me and I kissed back and we eventually had sex because I felt like it’s what I had to do especially cause drugs were involved and I was afraid he might do something worse. I did what I can to satisfy him while I prayed in my head for it to be over. After sex, I told him that I don’t want to see him anymore and stopped all communication. Unlike the frat guy, with this one, I just felt like a whore and tried to push my discomfort and thought of the good times I had with him. A year later, I started to feel a lot of heaviness and I asked myself if I got taken advantaged of and if it was rape but I just told myself that I consented and that this heaviness is on me. Eventually, I couldn’t take the feelings anymore and told my then boyfriend who broke up with me because he was disgusted by me. I just told myself that it’s all ok and it’s all on me.
At present, I’m still trying to navigate these experiences and accept it for what it is but I can’t be sure of reality because I feel like I don’t have the right to feel heavy because I did consent eventually all those times despite my discomfort. I was a pushover and I don’t understand why my body reacted the way it did and I wish I just said no. I told my current bf and some friends about it and they were accepting but I feel like my family and everyone else will reject me and be disgusted.

AITA for being Jealous of Lesbians?
I've only ever read these but feeling crazy right now so figured I'd go to the internet. Sorry this is probably going to be long.
Slight backstory. I've been in a very complicated non relationship with S(47M) for over a decade. We met when I(33F) wasn't ready for a relationship working multiple jobs barely had time for sleep. So we were just a regular hookup and that worked for both of us. After about a year he got back with his ex that hated me so he wasn't allowed to talk to me which I respected. It sucked cause we were friends but I would never disrespect their relationship. I won't lie it hurt a little but I moved on with my life. But we are in a itty bitty town so a lot of mutual friends and I ended up being in the same place a lot. Now they didn't last very long maybe 4months. The day before they broke up we were both at the bar having a smoke at the same time. He started talking to me and tried to kiss me but I stopped him and pointed out that his girlfriend already hated me enough. They broke up within a month we were spending almost all my free time together. I don't like who I was in my previous serious relationships so casual was fine with both of us we were FWBs. Now when I say FWB I mean we were constantly together everyone thought we were together just never put a label on it. That's how it has been for the majority of the decade which was fine with both of us. Now periodically I'd want more and we'd talk and he made it clear he didn't want that and that I should move on and I did try. He never slept with anyone but I did trying to move on and it never worked out. I wanted him and I really don't need a label as long as we were honest with each other. The pandemic hit and we basically lived together. We were us and it still had no label and was great. Fast forward to 2years ago. A mutual friend ended up dating his friend so we were basically double dating constantly. He needed to get out of his apartment so he moved in with me. Now everyone kept saying we were together and I'd tell them no and we were out and I just asked him and he said ya and it was really uncomfortable for me. Well that lasted 3months. Before I got to see him on my camera packup his stuff and move out of my house without talking to me and his friend called and asked if I was okay. Again small town everyone knows everyone been forever so all our friends are the same. So there was no avoiding. My friends said they'd exclude him but that didn't seem fair to him to be outcast. So we still spent a lot of time together. He left a week before my birthday which they had already planned and asked if he could go and I agreed. He came home with me and we both broke down and there was a lot of alcohol and a lot of black outs of the conversation. But just was he freaked out and we both love each other and I deserve better. We stayed split but anytime we'd end up out together drinking we'd end up together. We did eventually have a sober talk that broke me. But in the end we went back to how we were. Now he moved around to a few place but ended up back living with me. In the beginning it was amazing. Having someone live with me really helps my ADHD I had a schedule and stuck to it hell I was putting laundry away right out of the dryer. Including his laundry and mess.
Side Note. I'm not dirty but I'm super messy. I know where everything is but generally looks like a bomb went off. My dad raised me to be a strong independent woman that can fix her own car house basically anything I would need a man for. My mom taught me how to be a good house wife that also brought home the bacon.
Now this was fine for 6months. It's not like he didn't do anything to help. He did his share. But something changed about 2months ago.
He started spending a lot of time with these two girls that are in a relationship lets call the T & K. They were around before but it was all good we were all new friends. But when the previously mentioned 2 friends broke up even though I let him move into my house I was still really good friends with his ex. Which apparently they needed to stick their nose into and were very rude to her new guy and her. So they put a bad taste in my mouth so I pulled away from spending time with them.
But S didn't spends a lot of time with them. Looks after their cat does favors for them. Texts everyday. Which I don't think would bother me as much if he didn't stop doing anything for me. Everything I do just became expected. Hell he can't even change a toilet paper roll. I'm currently renovating my house and he'll sleep in till 2pm after spending the night drinking with them and coming in and waking me up. While I try not to be too loud trying to get things done and when he does wake up will just watch or get in the way. I know I don't ask for help but he generally doesn't either but I always help him.
So at this point I can feel the girl I hate being come out. I want to do crazy things like change their numbers in his phone and block their actual numbers. (His phone tells you when they're blocked). I want to send them nasty messages or just yell at them when I see them. I don't like this feeling. Logically I know that even if something was happening it's not their fault it's his. I have no right to be jealous because we aren't together. I need to cut him out of my life.
Problem is, I love him, I've spent so long in my life in love with him I don't know how not to be in love with him. I'm fine if it was what we've always been but he's pulling away from me and it's to them. I'm never going to be able to avoid him everyone we know and go are mutal and basically the only places to go. I do know I win the friend group that was made clear when he left me. But that's not fair to him. I can't just hermit because my depression will win. The only thing that's ever been able to stop it when it gets to the end it all has been him. I have lots of people in my life that love me and I would fight to survive for but I don't think I can win that fight without him.
So atih for being crazy and jealous of these lesbians. Honestly it's more of just the one not the other she seems pure women

I just upgraded from the iPhone 13 Pro to the 15 Pro, and when it finished transferring I lost all 6 of my open tab groups and all but 30 of my tabs. I have yet to reset my old phone, and the tabs and groups are still open on that one. Is there a way to recover them on my new iPhone? Any help is appreciated.

I (20F) have an adopted brother (29M), my parents always wanted kids but they struggled to conceive and at some point they just gave up and decided to adopt. Few years later, I had me. We lived a very comfortable life as our parents are relatively well off.
All was fine and dandy until my brother went off to college started asking questions about his biological family. This created a huge rift between him and my parents, they didn’t want to give up any informations but he was insistent, they fought constantly and eventually they gave him an ultimatum of either he gives up on finding his bio parents or they will write him off the will.
They fought and eventually he decided that he wants to find them above all else and they gave him his bio mom’s contact and he went NC with them ever since. I heard from him periodically and he would talk about his bio mom and their relationship while my resentment grew.
This was a terrible time for me, I was sad kid and mad at both my parents and my brother. I couldn’t comprehend why my brother preferred meeting a woman that willingly gave him up over keeping the peace in our household. I also resented my parents for making such a stupid ultimatum and breaking our family apart.
Anyways, my father passed away two and true to his word, my brother was not in the will. My brother despite going no contact all those years came to the funeral and patched things up with mom.
Later, My brother asked me to split my inheritance with him because even if my dad hasn’t regarded him as a son the past few years I should still regard him as a brother and share the inheritance.
I had planned to use the inheritance to finish up my degree debt free, but I just got my family back together and didn’t want to create strife again, i figured it’s a small price to pay to have the family reunited again.
For a while it was all good within the family and we were happy, until recently my brother’s bio mom passed away and she left everything to my brother, she wasn’t rich by any means but she did leave a substantial amount of money.
When I heard this news I approached my brother and suggested he splits his inheritance with me as well, as I was struggling financially to put myself through school while his was paid fully by dad+ he got half the inheritance meant for me.
My brother got very mad at this suggestion and told me I have no ties to his bio mother therefore no claim to her money and I’m being greedy and entitled. We fought about this and mom who was on his side completely and she told me that we share her and dad but his bio parents are his alone therefore I can’t demand he splits his inheritance with me.
On one hand i understand I’m not entitled to his money on the other I feel like he got an unfair advantage and should be willing to help me out.
So AITA?

Sorry if this is the wrong subreddit, but I'm usually only on here for watches. Last August, I tried to kill myself. It was the worst time of my life. After I left the hospital, I thought it would get better and then... it just didn't. For the past 10 or so months, I watched my life fall apart. I failed out of college, attempted suicide (again) and got heavily into drugs. I go to therapy, see a psychiatrist, everything. Then, two days ago, I missed my best friend's graduation. I don't know why, but that was it. It's slow going, but I ate a meal that I cooked today for the first time in 10 months. I put sheets on my bed for the first time in 6 months. I threw all my drugs in a dumpster (flushing drugs can negatively affect sea life and the ecosystem at large). I deleted my dealer's number. My best friend said she would help decorate my room, because I only have one picture in there, and she even said that we could hang out while I cleaned it! I'm going to see a baseball game tomorrow with my family. This is the first day I've had since AUGUST of 2023 where I wanted to be alive. While I do feel sad that 10 months of my life are now just gone, I'm happy that I'm still here. My sheets smell good, I got to tell my favorite person in the world that I'm proud of her, and I start a summer class in a week. I feel good.

The theory of evolution has been bandied about for decades as the answer to how humans came to exist, as well as how many other species also came to exist. While there is evidence of evolution in the purely "look, there was this creature in the record, and now we have this creature, they look similar" sense, no actual in between stage has ever been verified. There is no partially evolved specimen to have ever been found and verified to be that partially evolved form between the older organism and the newer one. While this certainly does not discount evolution, I find it extremely arrogant for scientists to insist that evolution MUST be the only explanation, without being able to provide that complete and incontrovertable proof. Science should never teach something as Fact, while it has not yet been completely proven. As an aside, I find no reason that, if evolution is indeed proven, that it should cause any issues with faith. If you believe in a Creator that is actually all knowing, why should this being not be using a natural system, such as evolution, to create living creatures? Do we ourselves not do so virtually in games and systems? Creating first a lower product and seeing how it changes, inducing changes perhaps ourselves in our simulations? It seems to me that many people become very hostile, with no true need to be.
PS. If someone does have evidence that the scientific community at large HAS discovered and revealed such a specimen and I am mistaken, please share it. (verified only. archaeopteryx, contrary to belief is NOT a verified specimen that proves this. There is no firm indication that the creature was anything more than a new type of dinosaur found, especially considering that many dinosaurs did have feathers. Please cite only verified and firm discoveries. I am more than happy to be proven wrong.)

I finally published for the first time. Not the first time I've finished a novel, but certainly the first time I have actively published one .. one that I've been a little proud of. I know it's a long process to get noticed, or even start to see some traction in sales & downloads, but how do you go about promoting your novel? I feel like I'm stuck. 😕
Beginning of chapter one below - if anyone would like to provide feedback that would be lovely. 🙂
[2,310] It began like a surreal haze, a fever dream dancing with unknown figures swirling around her like a languid tornado, their movements seemingly slowed by some unseen force as she awoke to a world spinning out of her control. She found herself surrounded by strangers who moved like spectres in a dream, fragmented flashes who assaulted her consciousness - a woman gently pressing a cloth to her throbbing head, another offering sips of water while she coughed and struggled to swallow, a man peering down at her with a furrowed brow, and a mysterious figure lingering in the doorway with an unsettling glint of desire in his eyes.
The room buzzed with a quiet urgency as they hovered around her, their faces etched with concern and something else she couldn't quite place - an undercurrent of tension that seemed to pulse in time with her own racing heart. These disjointed images flitted in and out, creating a mosaic of fragmented reality. Awake, her body throbbed with pain; asleep, she plunged into a black abyss, time slipping away unnoticed. Each awakening brought the desire for oblivion as her mind plunged back into the depths of darkness.
Beth jolted upright, startled by the sharp bang of a car backfiring. A cry of pain escaped her lips as she attempted to sit up, her back and legs resisting her will. A woman, the same from her fleeting visions, hurried into the room with a damp cloth and a glass of water.
"Easy now," the woman spoke gently, her mild Spanish accent adding warmth to her sharp words as she pressed the cloth to Beth's forehead and helped her sit up, "you're weak, rushing won't do you any favours. The sooner you regain strength, the sooner you can move."
A man, the one with the odd expression in her visions, appeared in the doorway once again; "and the sooner we can leave this place, I'm sick of it." He grumbled, striding away with urgency and frustration. His steps were heavy and fraught with agitation, each one seeming to leave a deep imprint on the ground beneath him. His grumbling was like distant thunder, punctuated by the clenching of his jaw and the tightening of his fists.
"Don't mind my brother," the woman interjected sharply, "it's not you - he hates everyone." Hate, Beth pondered, wondering what she might have done to earn his disdain.
"Are you hungry?" The woman stood, walking to the other side of the room to adjust another pillow behind Beth's back. Beth nodded; "I'll get you some soup."
Left alone, Beth surveyed the room - beige walls, a shattered TV, torn brown curtains. She squinted at the notepad on the side table, revealing the branding - Mill Village Motel Eatonville. The coffee pod machine at the room's far end, covered in dust, hinted at a neglected past.
"You're awake," startled, Beth turned to find the man with the furrowed brow at the door - tall and dark, with piercing brown eyes, he appeared softer now, "how are you feeling?" Beth managed a brief smile before adjusting herself, wincing in pain. He rushed to offer a hand, and she took his arm to shift as he adjusted the pillow.
"Want to give walking a try?" The man's warm, brown eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled down at her, his features etched with concern, his furrowed brow now smooth and his brown eyes sparkled with an unfamiliar kindness.
She shook her head, and the woman returned with soup and water; "she needs to eat before attempting to walk, Austin," she said, setting the tray before Beth.
"Then we'll try again tomorrow," Austin expressed, heading towards the door, "the sooner we leave, the better - we've been here for too long." His footsteps echoed with determination and authority, less frustrated than the other man's but equally resolute.
"I apologise if it's cold. Heating options are limited here. Need a hand?" The woman offered. Beth shook her head, the pounding of her headache resonating through her body.
"Well I'll leave you to it then. Shout out if you need anything, if you can talk at all." Beth glanced down at her bowl of soup, parting her lips as if to speak, but no words escaped. A deep sigh escaped from the woman's mouth as she turned and left the room, leaving Beth alone with her cold, untouched meal. The silence in the room was deafening, broken only by the sound of muffed chatter outside.
The days stretched longer as Beth's need for rest diminished. Boredom and confusion settled in, intensifying as the people from her visions became tangible presences, moving in and out of her room. They attended to her needs but seldom engaged in conversation. At night, their muffled voices in the adjoining room became a distant comfort, and the faint echoes of their arguments a source of intrigue.
"We need to leave," a frustrated male voice pierced through the thin walls, "we have to head further south before winter traps us with little supplies and an extra mouth to feed - considering you're all so intent on keeping this girl alive."
"This woman," a familiar female voice retorted, likely the one who had been caring for her, "needed help - I distinctly remember a time when I wasn't doing well and needed it too."
"You're my sister, of course, I wasn't going to leave you behind."
"I'm not talking about you, Luis," she yelled, "I'm talking about before you came back from Minnesota and found me."
"Why can't we just leave her here with some supplies and a gun. Why do we need to bring her with us?"
"Jesus Christ Luis we're not leaving her here alone and you two can have it out later," intervened another man, "but Luis is right - we need to leave before the snow settles in."
The argument faded into muffled voices again, and Beth strained to catch the words exchanged between the trio. A knock at the door startled her.
"May I come in?" A young girl, the same from her visions, had opened the door quietly without her even noticing. "I thought the yelling might have woken you." Beth nodded, maintaining her silence.
"I'm Chantelle." Her soft Southern accent flowed like a gentle breeze through a cornfield. She pulled up a chair beside the bed. "Luis can get into it with everybody, but he means well. Well, no, that's a lie. I don't know why I said that. He's a dick."
"I gathered," Beth whispered and laughed a little, suddenly overtaken by a violent cough.
Chantelle rushed to hand her water; "so, you do speak. From the way Austin and Val were sayin' it, it sounded like you were mute. I thought, you couldn't be deaf because you've been nodding and smiling like a dang puppet."
Beth laughed and took another sip; "I didn't really have anything worth saying until now. No one has bothered to make conversation."
"Your accent, where are you from?" Chantelle sat down on the wooden chair, her long dark hair cascading down her back in gentle curls. Her bright brown eyes sparkled with kindness as she looked towards Beth.
"Australia," Beth paused, realising she hadn't thought about home for a while, "I'm from Australia," she repeated.
Chantelle pulled out a deck of cards; "well, I figured you might be bored and needed a little human interaction that didn't make you feel like you were in a hospital."
Beth's eyes lit up, and Chantelle smiled; "what do you want to play?"
— — —
"What do you think you are doing?" Austin stormed into the motel room.
"We're leaving. Today," Luis' words cut through the air.
"The van's still in bad shape, and we won't survive this winter on foot." Austin's arms were folded tightly across his chest, the muscles in his biceps and forearms bulging with tension. His jaw was clenched, and his brows furrowed in frustration.
"Then fix the damn van!" Luis yelled, the sound piercing through the walls and resonating outside the motel room for others to hear the heated exchange.
"Oh, sorry, I'll just take it down the road to the mechanic, shall I?" Austin raised a quizzical eyebrow, smirking at his friend. The men paused their argument, exchanging laughter.
"Luis, what's going on with you?" Austin softened his tone, taking a seat on the other bed. "We've been friends since high school, grew up together, served in the army together. This isn't you."
"I don't know, man." Luis sat on the other bed, facing his friend, his face buried in his hands. He rubbed his face hard, threw his head back, and sighed heavily. "This just isn't—" he paused.
"Isn't what?"
"Isn't life." Luis gestured around the room.
"We'll get to the coast, find a boat, just like we planned." There was a slight taste of bitterness in the air, as if Austin's mild frustration was tangible.
"And then what?"
"Do the best we can," Austin stood up, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, "we all have our dark moments, brother. You helped me get through mine, I'll help you get through yours."
Austin walked out of the motel room into the crisp morning air. The atmosphere was fresh, with a subtle scent of dew and grass. The sweet aroma of winter's imminent arrival filled the air, mingling with the faint scent of burning oil from their broken down van across the parking lot.
"Ben thinks he can fix the van by tomorrow. He found the parts we need on the other side of town." Val caught Austin as he had walked outside.
"He went scouting alone?" Austin looked across the lot at Ben, deep into the hood of the black church van they had found a while back.
Chantelle bounded up before she could answer; "Beth seems much better today. She's eatin' and drinkin' more. I think she could try walkin' today."
"Beth?" Val and Austin remarked in unison.
"Mmm, she speaks - she might have a lot more to say if either of you bothered to converse with her instead of just talkin' to her." She walked off towards Ben, a light air in her hopeful stride.
— — —
Austin found Beth sitting on the edge of her bed, her feet bare and dangling idly over the side. Her toes were curled, squeezing them tightly as she wiggled them back and forth. Her face was tense with concentration as she tried to alleviate the tingling sensation in her feet.
"Beth." His voice was soothing and calming, his words spoken with a gentle tone as he tried to ease Beth's discomfort.
"Chantelle?" She looked up at him, as he nodded, smiling gently. "She's a good kid." She smiled and looked back at her toes.
"Do you want to try walking today?" He walked towards the chair on the other side of the room and sat down as it creaked underneath the weight of him.
"The sooner I can walk, the sooner you can get out of here." She said with a sarcastic air, mocking Luis.
"The sooner we can get out of here." He repeated sarcastically with a smile, a light spread of jest washing over him as he joined her in mocking his friend.
"Your friend Luis seems to be very against bringing me along with you." She looked back at him.
"I'm not in the business of leaving people behind. Especially in Washington in the middle of October," he sat forward, leaning his elbows on his knees, "you wouldn't survive the winter."
"Then maybe you should have just left me to die." She turned her body to face him abruptly. He opened his mouth to speak, but she interjected before he could respond.
"Why did you help me? You don't know me, why did you even bother?"
"Like I said, Beth," he stood up, his wistful tone switching back to cold and dry, "I'm not in the business of leaving people behind." He walked over to her slowly.
"I've lost too many people. I've watched people kill others over a can of soup. I've seen friends leave friends behind to save themselves," he sat down on the end of her bed, "I don't leave people behind."
His brown eyes cut through his words like a thunderstorm. She looked at his face, tired and weathered from sleepless nights with one eye open to ensure his group's safety. She pegged him as their leader - strong and determined with clear military training.
"What happened to you?" She asked softly.
"What happened to you?" He countered; "I refuse to believe you survived a pandemic alone for six months in a foreign country."
She said nothing and looked back at her feet. They sat in silence for a while before he stood up and headed for the door.
"We're leaving the day after tomorrow. We need to head south before it's too cold, and we don't know how long the van or the car will last, so part of that might be on foot."
"I'll try walking today." Beth nodded obediently.
"I'll send Val and Chantelle in to help you." He replied, his voice maintaining the cold cadency.
"Thank you." She smiled, wriggling her toes as the numbness started to dissipate. Before he could leave, she looked up at him again.
"Austin?" He stopped at the door and turned to her. "I know you've all done a lot for me, including putting your friendship with Luis on the line, so thank you. But I have a favour to ask," her voice grew quiet, "before we leave."
"What is it?" He asked sternly at her audacity to ask for another favour.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. He noticed her green eyes glisten with the added layer of acridity and the change in her demeanour; "before we leave, I need you to help me bury my husband."

I'm an 18-year-old guy, and I recently finished up my first year of university. I've had a lot of free time lately since I don't start working for another week, and I stumbled upon some blackpill/incel content online. Since then, it's been about 3 weeks, and I can easily say that whatever confidence I've built up over the last few years has been completely burnt down.
For reference, I'm about 173 cm (5'8) and live in Canada. I've been weightlifting and working out consistently for 2 years, and am in good shape. I'm South Asian and grew up in a pretty diverse neighborhood, so I didn't feel too out of place because of my race for the most part. Around 20 days ago, I stumbled upon the shortguys and ExposingHeightism subreddits because I saw a TikTok making fun of guys around my height. I don't think I've had serious issues about my relatively short stature up until now, primarily because I haven't started dating seriously and have been extremely occupied with hobbies (chess, politics, comp sci, reading, etc). After watching some of the content here, I feel like I've become addicted to it, and I feel like all my free time is spent watching more and more content about how unattractive my height is. Seeing TikToks and tweets online making fun of guys my height and shorter, and also how many women find short men repulsive has seriously damaged my confidence. Along with that, seeing statistics about how many women put up height requirements in online dating and about how many of them find tall men attractive has made me super insecure about my masculinity as a whole. I feel like I've seen so many TikToks where women around my age view men shorter than them, or just shorter in general as subhuman. I've spent so much time drowning in this incel content that it's the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep. I've thrown all my hobbies out the window to stay up late and wallow in this depressive content. I'm addicted, and I've spent countless hours over the last few days consuming this content.
I've been constantly comparing myself to other people. I find myself searching up celebrity heights just for the sake of it. I've brought up height so much in casual conversations that my friends and family are starting to pick up on this crippling insecurity. I find myself trying to fix my posture and stand up as straight as possible when I'm around my close friends, just to feel like I'm almost at their eye level. All of them are taller than me (around 182+ cm, 6'0 and up) and it has taken a serious drag at my perspective of masculinity and how people perceive me. I'm constantly thinking about height and feel like I have reduced myself and the people around me to that, and nothing else. I feel as if height is so important, and there's nothing I can do about it. I seriously think being tall is one of the greatest genetic gifts, and it pains me that I will never experience it. To all of you wondering, there is no chance I will get taller as well, my mom is only 4'11, and my dad is 5'4.
A lot of my taller friends (190+ cm, 6'3 and up) have talked about how nice it is to be tall and how much it has positively impacted their dating experience. I haven't even started talking to girls seriously, I've never been on a date, and haven't had my first kiss. I feel like my ethnicity and looks are going to be a huge shortcoming when I start doing so, and I already know that when I get rejected it's going to take me down completely. I used to be confident in myself, happy, and viewed the world and myself optimistically. Now, I've scared myself into believing that dating and finding serious relationships is gonna be a huge struggle, that I'm too ugly to feel good about myself, and that I'll never be good enough. I feel like I can't even look at myself in the mirror without tearing up. My recent obsession with height, facial attractiveness, dating statistics, blackpill content, and the incel movement has transformed me from an extremely happy teenager to a guy that sits in my bed all day feeling depressed and horrible about myself. How can I get myself out of this rabbit hole?
tl;dr: I (18M) consumed a bunch of blackpill/incel content regarding height and looks and now can't take myself seriously. Feeling very insecure and looking for advice.

I finally published for the first time. Not the first time I've finished a novel, but certainly the first time I have actively published one .. one that I've been a little proud of. I know it's a long process to get noticed, or even start to see some traction in sales & downloads, but how do you go about promoting your novel? I feel like I'm stuck. 😕
Beginning of chapter one below - if anyone would like to provide feedback that would be lovely. 🙂
[2,310] It began like a surreal haze, a fever dream dancing with unknown figures swirling around her like a languid tornado, their movements seemingly slowed by some unseen force as she awoke to a world spinning out of her control. She found herself surrounded by strangers who moved like spectres in a dream, fragmented flashes who assaulted her consciousness - a woman gently pressing a cloth to her throbbing head, another offering sips of water while she coughed and struggled to swallow, a man peering down at her with a furrowed brow, and a mysterious figure lingering in the doorway with an unsettling glint of desire in his eyes.
The room buzzed with a quiet urgency as they hovered around her, their faces etched with concern and something else she couldn't quite place - an undercurrent of tension that seemed to pulse in time with her own racing heart. These disjointed images flitted in and out, creating a mosaic of fragmented reality. Awake, her body throbbed with pain; asleep, she plunged into a black abyss, time slipping away unnoticed. Each awakening brought the desire for oblivion as her mind plunged back into the depths of darkness.
Beth jolted upright, startled by the sharp bang of a car backfiring. A cry of pain escaped her lips as she attempted to sit up, her back and legs resisting her will. A woman, the same from her fleeting visions, hurried into the room with a damp cloth and a glass of water.
"Easy now," the woman spoke gently, her mild Spanish accent adding warmth to her sharp words as she pressed the cloth to Beth's forehead and helped her sit up, "you're weak, rushing won't do you any favours. The sooner you regain strength, the sooner you can move."
A man, the one with the odd expression in her visions, appeared in the doorway once again; "and the sooner we can leave this place, I'm sick of it." He grumbled, striding away with urgency and frustration. His steps were heavy and fraught with agitation, each one seeming to leave a deep imprint on the ground beneath him. His grumbling was like distant thunder, punctuated by the clenching of his jaw and the tightening of his fists.
"Don't mind my brother," the woman interjected sharply, "it's not you - he hates everyone." Hate, Beth pondered, wondering what she might have done to earn his disdain.
"Are you hungry?" The woman stood, walking to the other side of the room to adjust another pillow behind Beth's back. Beth nodded; "I'll get you some soup."
Left alone, Beth surveyed the room - beige walls, a shattered TV, torn brown curtains. She squinted at the notepad on the side table, revealing the branding - Mill Village Motel Eatonville. The coffee pod machine at the room's far end, covered in dust, hinted at a neglected past.
"You're awake," startled, Beth turned to find the man with the furrowed brow at the door - tall and dark, with piercing brown eyes, he appeared softer now, "how are you feeling?" Beth managed a brief smile before adjusting herself, wincing in pain. He rushed to offer a hand, and she took his arm to shift as he adjusted the pillow.
"Want to give walking a try?" The man's warm, brown eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled down at her, his features etched with concern, his furrowed brow now smooth and his brown eyes sparkled with an unfamiliar kindness.
She shook her head, and the woman returned with soup and water; "she needs to eat before attempting to walk, Austin," she said, setting the tray before Beth.
"Then we'll try again tomorrow," Austin expressed, heading towards the door, "the sooner we leave, the better - we've been here for too long." His footsteps echoed with determination and authority, less frustrated than the other man's but equally resolute.
"I apologise if it's cold. Heating options are limited here. Need a hand?" The woman offered. Beth shook her head, the pounding of her headache resonating through her body.
"Well I'll leave you to it then. Shout out if you need anything, if you can talk at all." Beth glanced down at her bowl of soup, parting her lips as if to speak, but no words escaped. A deep sigh escaped from the woman's mouth as she turned and left the room, leaving Beth alone with her cold, untouched meal. The silence in the room was deafening, broken only by the sound of muffed chatter outside.
The days stretched longer as Beth's need for rest diminished. Boredom and confusion settled in, intensifying as the people from her visions became tangible presences, moving in and out of her room. They attended to her needs but seldom engaged in conversation. At night, their muffled voices in the adjoining room became a distant comfort, and the faint echoes of their arguments a source of intrigue.
"We need to leave," a frustrated male voice pierced through the thin walls, "we have to head further south before winter traps us with little supplies and an extra mouth to feed - considering you're all so intent on keeping this girl alive."
"This woman," a familiar female voice retorted, likely the one who had been caring for her, "needed help - I distinctly remember a time when I wasn't doing well and needed it too."
"You're my sister, of course, I wasn't going to leave you behind."
"I'm not talking about you, Luis," she yelled, "I'm talking about before you came back from Minnesota and found me."
"Why can't we just leave her here with some supplies and a gun. Why do we need to bring her with us?"
"Jesus Christ Luis we're not leaving her here alone and you two can have it out later," intervened another man, "but Luis is right - we need to leave before the snow settles in."
The argument faded into muffled voices again, and Beth strained to catch the words exchanged between the trio. A knock at the door startled her.
"May I come in?" A young girl, the same from her visions, had opened the door quietly without her even noticing. "I thought the yelling might have woken you." Beth nodded, maintaining her silence.
"I'm Chantelle." Her soft Southern accent flowed like a gentle breeze through a cornfield. She pulled up a chair beside the bed. "Luis can get into it with everybody, but he means well. Well, no, that's a lie. I don't know why I said that. He's a dick."
"I gathered," Beth whispered and laughed a little, suddenly overtaken by a violent cough.
Chantelle rushed to hand her water; "so, you do speak. From the way Austin and Val were sayin' it, it sounded like you were mute. I thought, you couldn't be deaf because you've been nodding and smiling like a dang puppet."
Beth laughed and took another sip; "I didn't really have anything worth saying until now. No one has bothered to make conversation."
"Your accent, where are you from?" Chantelle sat down on the wooden chair, her long dark hair cascading down her back in gentle curls. Her bright brown eyes sparkled with kindness as she looked towards Beth.
"Australia," Beth paused, realising she hadn't thought about home for a while, "I'm from Australia," she repeated.
Chantelle pulled out a deck of cards; "well, I figured you might be bored and needed a little human interaction that didn't make you feel like you were in a hospital."
Beth's eyes lit up, and Chantelle smiled; "what do you want to play?"
— — —
"What do you think you are doing?" Austin stormed into the motel room.
"We're leaving. Today," Luis' words cut through the air.
"The van's still in bad shape, and we won't survive this winter on foot." Austin's arms were folded tightly across his chest, the muscles in his biceps and forearms bulging with tension. His jaw was clenched, and his brows furrowed in frustration.
"Then fix the damn van!" Luis yelled, the sound piercing through the walls and resonating outside the motel room for others to hear the heated exchange.
"Oh, sorry, I'll just take it down the road to the mechanic, shall I?" Austin raised a quizzical eyebrow, smirking at his friend. The men paused their argument, exchanging laughter.
"Luis, what's going on with you?" Austin softened his tone, taking a seat on the other bed. "We've been friends since high school, grew up together, served in the army together. This isn't you."
"I don't know, man." Luis sat on the other bed, facing his friend, his face buried in his hands. He rubbed his face hard, threw his head back, and sighed heavily. "This just isn't—" he paused.
"Isn't what?"
"Isn't life." Luis gestured around the room.
"We'll get to the coast, find a boat, just like we planned." There was a slight taste of bitterness in the air, as if Austin's mild frustration was tangible.
"And then what?"
"Do the best we can," Austin stood up, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, "we all have our dark moments, brother. You helped me get through mine, I'll help you get through yours."
Austin walked out of the motel room into the crisp morning air. The atmosphere was fresh, with a subtle scent of dew and grass. The sweet aroma of winter's imminent arrival filled the air, mingling with the faint scent of burning oil from their broken down van across the parking lot.
"Ben thinks he can fix the van by tomorrow. He found the parts we need on the other side of town." Val caught Austin as he had walked outside.
"He went scouting alone?" Austin looked across the lot at Ben, deep into the hood of the black church van they had found a while back.
Chantelle bounded up before she could answer; "Beth seems much better today. She's eatin' and drinkin' more. I think she could try walkin' today."
"Beth?" Val and Austin remarked in unison.
"Mmm, she speaks - she might have a lot more to say if either of you bothered to converse with her instead of just talkin' to her." She walked off towards Ben, a light air in her hopeful stride.
— — —
Austin found Beth sitting on the edge of her bed, her feet bare and dangling idly over the side. Her toes were curled, squeezing them tightly as she wiggled them back and forth. Her face was tense with concentration as she tried to alleviate the tingling sensation in her feet.
"Beth." His voice was soothing and calming, his words spoken with a gentle tone as he tried to ease Beth's discomfort.
"Chantelle?" She looked up at him, as he nodded, smiling gently. "She's a good kid." She smiled and looked back at her toes.
"Do you want to try walking today?" He walked towards the chair on the other side of the room and sat down as it creaked underneath the weight of him.
"The sooner I can walk, the sooner you can get out of here." She said with a sarcastic air, mocking Luis.
"The sooner we can get out of here." He repeated sarcastically with a smile, a light spread of jest washing over him as he joined her in mocking his friend.
"Your friend Luis seems to be very against bringing me along with you." She looked back at him.
"I'm not in the business of leaving people behind. Especially in Washington in the middle of October," he sat forward, leaning his elbows on his knees, "you wouldn't survive the winter."
"Then maybe you should have just left me to die." She turned her body to face him abruptly. He opened his mouth to speak, but she interjected before he could respond.
"Why did you help me? You don't know me, why did you even bother?"
"Like I said, Beth," he stood up, his wistful tone switching back to cold and dry, "I'm not in the business of leaving people behind." He walked over to her slowly.
"I've lost too many people. I've watched people kill others over a can of soup. I've seen friends leave friends behind to save themselves," he sat down on the end of her bed, "I don't leave people behind."
His brown eyes cut through his words like a thunderstorm. She looked at his face, tired and weathered from sleepless nights with one eye open to ensure his group's safety. She pegged him as their leader - strong and determined with clear military training.
"What happened to you?" She asked softly.
"What happened to you?" He countered; "I refuse to believe you survived a pandemic alone for six months in a foreign country."
She said nothing and looked back at her feet. They sat in silence for a while before he stood up and headed for the door.
"We're leaving the day after tomorrow. We need to head south before it's too cold, and we don't know how long the van or the car will last, so part of that might be on foot."
"I'll try walking today." Beth nodded obediently.
"I'll send Val and Chantelle in to help you." He replied, his voice maintaining the cold cadency.
"Thank you." She smiled, wriggling her toes as the numbness started to dissipate. Before he could leave, she looked up at him again.
"Austin?" He stopped at the door and turned to her. "I know you've all done a lot for me, including putting your friendship with Luis on the line, so thank you. But I have a favour to ask," her voice grew quiet, "before we leave."
"What is it?" He asked sternly at her audacity to ask for another favour.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. He noticed her green eyes glisten with the added layer of acridity and the change in her demeanour; "before we leave, I need you to help me bury my husband."

Throwaway account because I’m pretty sure my exes friend stalks my socials
TLDR; My ex dumped me, we went no contact and I haven’t contacted them for months until I sent one letter expressing my feelings that was absolutely not threatening and not ill-willed whatsoever and had no expectations from it, and they decided to file a DV restraining order despite there being no DV at any point — not even stalking, because seeing them sends me into panic attacks. Now I’m confused and don’t know what to do or what to expect.
So basically, my ex (we’ll call them B) dumped me back in January and kicked me out. My ex from before them (we’ll call them P) reached out to them after the breakup. Now, a little context: P and I were together for four years. It was a terrible relationship and should have ended far earlier than it did. We were both very manipulative, toxic, and abusive. While the abuse was almost completely emotional, there were a couple instances that it wasn’t. I, at one point, grabbed their wrist to make them stop yelling at me and to actually look at me because they were berating me during an argument. Doesn’t excuse my action, of course. They hit me multiple times throughout our relationship, and would apologize later over message, claiming that they hit me because whatever I’d been saying or whatever we’d been arguing about reminded them of some trauma from their childhood. There was also a substantial age difference that I am in no way justifying. P was 17, I was 23, when we started dating. I was in a very bad point of life and spent my days drunk and on a med that made me zombie like, so these days are not easy to recall in the first place. I genuinely do not believe there was ever a point where one of us asked the other out, I think P just assumed and I felt too bad to break it off. I do not forgive myself for this either way. During our relationship, P began to coerce me into sex because I refused to have sex with them for a multitude of reasons. They coerced me into a threesome, and when I told them day of that I was not comfortable with it and did not want to, P told me to drink more alcohol or smoke more weed and I’d “be fine”. I was r*ped that night. After we broke up, we remained roommates (in separate rooms) because neither of us had money to move out and we had a third roommate. We stayed friends because we’re idiots. I started dating B and P hated B profusely. At one point early into B’s and my relationship, P and I went out to the stores and I bought some clothes and left the bag in the living room couch and told P I needed to recharge before I hung out more. They did not take this lightly because they didn’t ever like when people didn’t want to do the same thing as them. They texted me alluding to destroying my clothes, and lo and behold, my clothes were no longer in the living room. After begging them to give me my clothes back, they finally opened their door and pushed the clothes into me hard enough that I hit the wall. So I hit their shoulder. I did not punch them or slap them or anything like that. I hit them in the shoulder with the same pressure that they pushed me. They had in fact shredded my clothes. My biggest mistake was never taking pictures when they did things like this. I eventually moved in with B and P moved out of state. B and I did have financial issues, mostly due to my own financial immaturity as I have never been good with money, but B never really communicated the issues with me so I didn’t even realize most of the time. I would pay large chunks of bills when I could, such as a full month’s rent, their $3000 credit card bill, our $1000 PGE bill, etc. P and I seemed to have a good friendship, but when B broke up with me and P found out, they reached out to B and essentially decided to tell them all kinds of things that were wrong about our relationship, but specifically only from their side. Screenshots lacked what they were saying, stories lacked what they were doing. So I absolutely sounded like a monster. B kicked me out even sooner than planned, and left me homeless for a week and a half while I searched for a place to live. After a month, B went completely no contact and blocked me almost everywhere. I should note that I have BPD, it is a recent diagnosis. They also do, but have been aware and in treatment for many years. I responded negatively to this and began calling and leaving voicemails on their blocked VM inbox. I was not calling from a private number, I called from my own because I knew they wouldn’t be dealing with a bunch of missed calls. I went overboard and left a lot of depressing voicemails. Never, ever threatening. Just sad, often crying, and asking why they hate me or why they would listen to someone who they experienced first hand would harass me for hours on end for not responding to their texts. I realized I was being psycho and stopped, apologized and told them I had realized I had made them my favorite person (in the BPD way), and that wasn’t fair to them. I have not contacted them since then, except for about three weeks ago when I sent a letter. The letter was simply telling them that I am sorry, I love them and miss them, and I am working really hard on myself. I told them that I truly do believe we’ll come back together someday, but that we both obviously have to live our own stories before that’s possible. There was not a single ounce of threat or ill-will in this letter. Literally not even the smallest bit, and I’m happy to share that letter with anyone to prove such. I also very clearly stated that I do not expect a response from them, but if they would like an apology someday, I’m here and ready.
Now that you have quite the context to the background of this situation, here’s the issue at hand: After I sent this letter, they decided to file for a restraining order. But not just any. They filed for a DV one, which everyone finds wild because there was never a single bit of DV between the two of us. B and I were honestly wonderful together, loved each other so much (or so I thought), and never laid a hand on one another. Even our arguments weren’t bad. I’d have splits from being triggered and I could say mean things, but it was never physical and always discussed afterwards, either that day or the next. Their friend has been watching all of my social media stories despite neither of us following each other, which has felt weird until I realized why.
I haven’t been served yet because they come to my place when I’m at school so I can’t be there. I’ll likely just go into the station to be served at this point.
But my questions are the following: - What does RO court even look like? I’ve never had to deal with this. Is it a big thing? Or is it two people at a table across from a judge? Like I genuinely don’t understand what it would look like. - How likely is it that this would even be approved? I truly don’t believe the letter could be used as evidence into something like this because it was not negative or threatening. The voicemails were crazy but never threatening and ended quickly months ago. They could absolutely use the stuff from P, but that relationship has been over for 2.5 years, and the clothes incident happened just about 2 years ago. I have proof of what the letter said, I have proof of P admitting to hitting me and to the coercion and r*pe. I have been in therapy for two years and with the same psych for about the same amount of time, so I have character witnesses. I am not a stalker, I’m actually genuinely terrified of seeing them around town because I know it will break my heart all over again. I’ve had to see them drive by twice, once in their work vehicle and the next in the car I used to drive that is in their name, and both times I ended up in a full blown panic attack. So I am obviously not seeking them out or anything of the sort. They also know what this would do to me. They know that it will not only destroy me mentally, but that it could hurt me career wise due to the field I am going to school for. So how likely is it for this to be granted?
I am honestly shocked and hurt by all of this from them, because this is not the person I fell in love with. They have gone completely cold-hearted and have had no issue hurting me over and over again since the breakup.