We made plans months ago to surprise my mom for her 60th birthday this week. My sister was to fly in from out of town today and we were going to drive the three hours to my parents tomorrow. First we were going to spend a day here in my city. In five years she’s never seen the apartment I’ve lived in all this time and we rarely get time alone. I was so excited. I took the week off work. I cleaned my car and apartment. I arranged dinner reservations and two of our friends took off work to join us and see her.
And then, early this morning— she texts to say she changed her flight to tomorrow to fly in to my parents city instead. She says she got too sick to go today. She called my dad hyperventilating and apologizing. Says she was puking and sweating. She apologized a million times and didn’t sound sick at all. She said she was ready to go, bag by the door, but just could not stop puking suddenly.
Ok but: -last night at 9pm her time, she texts me “I’m so excited to see you! Going to bed in the next 30 mins. Woo!” -she’s lied before about big things. She lied about cheating on her now fiancé— he still doesn’t know the truth. She lies about a lot of things. -the flight change cost her nothing— in fact she got a credit because the airline had a wait list -she has clinical, unmanaged anxiety -she has no chronic illness— no issues that could cause a bout of puking this bad.
My bullshit meter is screaming. And I don’t have a choice now but to absolve and move on from my thoughts— if I confront her, I risk her not coming at all/ruining the surprise for my mom. I refuse to let this ruin this week for my mom. I still don’t know if she’ll come tomorrow— that’s how little faith I have. She said she’s going to call her doctor and “will see how I feel tonight” 🙄
Yeah…she’s a liar.
End rant. Thank you for reading!

Batman roles
The new generation of Rouges: Arkham City had been left to its own devices and once the initial war over, land disputes resolved and loyalties solidified all had settled. Years had passed and the walls between Gotham and Arkham had grown thin but even the worst of the worst had grown more tame in their old age, Joker was no different. Settled into being an arms dealer and book maker watching over his kingdom comfortably, he in time had married Harley, they had two children Johanna, 23 and Jack 18. Their daughter was the carbon copy of her father with the beauty of her mother, she stood as the figure front to the Joker's empire while their son was a successful MMA fighter, making his money in underground fights. Tonight was one of the biggest fight nights of the year. Everyone who's anyone was in attendance and it was a good place to meet. But rumors spread in Arkham, people didn't say quiet for long and people once alias now enemies. The rumor going round at the moment was Joker was fixing all the fights involving his son. The skinny runt of a boy was fast, skilled and deceptively strong meaning all his fights were won on his abilities alone. Johanna finds herself on high alert as she mingles with the "Comon folk" on the floor as Joker sat in a VIP box watching over the fight.
I'm looking for someone to play again my OC Johanna Quinzel, you can play as an OC that is an old friend, business partner, enemy or stranger. Your character can be completely your own just preferable the child/Relative of an OG Batman characteVillain
The clown and the billionaire
Gotham was a sad and dirty place, the criminal's run the streets living in fear not of the GCPD but of the Batman. Arkham City had fallen, a cesspit of crime and corruption led to the demise of the City leaving Arkham Asylum the last front against the worst of the worst. The joker had been quite too quiet for a long time, then his usual a huge big heist, bombs, batman and arrests. The clown Prince himself disappeared into the night but they got the next best thing, his princess.
In the transport van it was noted Harley was exceptionally compliant with guards, the biggest red flag if there was one, then when the scuffle at the processing desk and the young new recruite panicked and floored the clown princess her screams of "I'm pregnant, stop, please, I'm pregnant". Echoed through the halls of Arkham.
With the meeting called the next day, with officials and doctors and the health board. Arkham wanted nothing to do with her, blackgate couldn't accommodate her, they couldn't release her to the public. Arkham agreed to keep her if the child was terminated, until Arkham's biggest benefactor stepped in and offered to care for the woman, give her a home, food, medical care and supervision.
That was a few weeks ago and there was an uneasy alliance between Bruce Wayne and Harley Quinn, she knew if she had any chance of keeping her child it was with Bruce Wayne. Could the pair become friends? Or will the clown princess return to her master? With Harley living in Wayne manner and Alfred lining up a job for her at Wayne tech the roumour Mill tabloids were losing their minds.
Thank you for reading this far. I'm looking for someone to play as Bruce Wayne/Batman All partners must be 18+

So yesterday I (F19) was relaxing at home, after a hectic weekend of mother's day celebrating, 3 days of being busy, celebrating my mum, and my grandmothers. It was frankly exhausting and I was feeling bloated and bad after eating "junk food" all weekend. So I was taking it easy come Monday. I played on my Nintendo, read, and drew with procreate on my iPad.
Around 3pm my brother swept the floor, I did the dishes and took trash out and fed and watered the dogs, and picked up the kitchen and living room, and did one load of laundry and my other brother dusted and cleaned the cat litter.
Around 6pm my dad got home and was pretty cranky, which is understandable, he worked all day after an exhausting weekend. I understand. I scooped out supper for everyone (my mother made the supper I just served it) and we sat and ate and watched TV together as a family.
Sometime during the TV show my sister paused it to go to the bathroom and my dad told my mother we couldn't go camping next weekend like planned, because we had to go to my grandparents house to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. This upset my mother, who has a shaky relationship with my grandparents and has been rescheduled the camping the trip multiple times and really wanted to go. This caused a minor argument between them and made my dad even more cranky.
After the show ended we got ready for bed and my dad was visibly mad after he tried to joke and ease my mums anger and she just ignored it.
As I was gathering my stuff and putting cats to bed (we have an entire room for them to sleep in so they don't bother us at night, they have food water and bathroom) I went back to the kitchen because I heard noise, which sounded like cleaning, and I was going to help. My father was cleaning the kitchen up and was getting on to my brothers for playing videogames when he said the stairs were dirty and it wasn't swept well. He saw me and started telling me the same things. He asked me if I did laundry today and I said I did some, he then told it would all be done tomorrow, he asked if I did this and that and usually the answer was some, not all. He got frustrated and said my Nintendo was going in their room.
Not a big deal, they payed for it. It didn't super upset me.
My dad then went halfway down the stairs, then suddenly turned around and came back up and asked if I read some books he gave me over the last summer. I said halfway, which was true, and he got upset and said my iPad, which I use to draw, was going in their room too. This upset me. They didn't pay for it. I PAYED 475$ for that iPad, the apple pen, the screen protector, and the case. I payed for it by working at a boutique. And it belongs to me. But they took it. I'm was upset but just said ok. I put it in their room and didn't say anything and went to bed. But I'm angry he took it, and want it back.
But I first need to finish the laundry, read all the books he gave me, and clean, clean, clean. Which is not fair. He can take the Nintendo, I'll miss it, but I didn't buy it. But I bought that iPad. What should I do? Am I right to be angry? AITA????

Im a 36F with no major health issues. This image is 4 home EKG I took within 10 minutes on my Kardia mobile unit. 10 days ago I was at a kids birthday party at a horse farm and they did not tell anyone the fences were all electric. I went to pet a horse and did not touch the fence, I had my hand through the fence and the horse touch my hand and must have touched its body to the fence, we both were then shocked. I felt it in my heart the most right then. I didn't lose consciousness or anything like that, but for the last 10 days I have had a LOT of sensations of fluttering, galloping, pounding heart, high resting heart rate (130s,, 140s) waking up to HR over 100, etc. I do take Adderall so I sometimes feel this anyway, but the last week I was on a very small dose of instant release pills cuz my regular XR pills were out of stock.
I told my Dr about it when asking about refilling my meds on Friday last week (6 days later) and they wanted me to go to the ER for an EKG, which I couldt/cant/dont want to do. I bought the Kardia unit on amazon and delivered Saturday morning so I've been using it the last few days. My dr office has been really persistent, emailing me several times and insisting I stop my Adderall entirely and come in for EKG tomorrow, which I will do. Im hesitant to make a big deal out of this, its not out of the norm for me to have these heart sensations I guess, and Im sure there are people with worse issues. I feel like I "cried wolf" so to speak in mentioning it to them, and now they want to do an EKG. I dont see much on these graphs but Im not a dr. They were within 10 minutes of me chilling in my office chair. I last took a 20mg XR adderall at 6am and these were at 130 or so, so its usually not working much anymore by that point, and Id be taking a 10 IR (but I saw the email from Dr saying to stop so I havent taken it). If necessary- I take 20 XR and 10IR adderall, 20mg Lexapro, singulair 10mg, spironolactone 150mg, and daily generic allergy pill. I have a nexplanon implant. When pregnant, I had elevated thyroid antibodies and took synthroid to prevent miscarriages, but otherwise no thyroid issues.
The graphs are showing Sinus tachy (normal given adderall but again, resting or sitting in my office chair as a therapist since 10am), unclassified, and Afib, all within 10 minutes. What the fuck is going on? Is this thing not valid?

My daughter Anne has issues and a lot of horrible qualities. But she calls me every day and needs my help with basic tasks because she doesn’t have anybody anymore. No friends, partner, anybody. She had a daughter young. Her name is Sara. She didn’t treat Sara well and it caused problems within the family for years. She would isolate Sara from us the second we said something she didn’t like. But she treated her horrible. I supported her financially by buying essentials, foods, and clothes for her because Anne couldn’t be bothered.
Anne has struggled with mental illness since she was a teenager and I had to get her hospitalized twice. When Sara was growing up, it took over her. She was a neurotic control freak. Controlled how often she showered (Not letting her every day) Hid and monitored the food in the house. And we got into multiple arguments and screaming matches about Anne being odd about things. Such as not letting Sara sleep on her bed or eat at the dinner table because of her OCD fear of messes. She made her sleep and eat on the floor for years.
Every time I saw this, I yelled at my daughter and asked her why the fuck she’s treating her like that. I came over their place one evening when Sara was about 10-11, and she was screaming on the hallway floor scratching herself saying she can’t take her mother anymore. I took her out of the house for a week, and my heart broke for her.
As a toddler, I heard Sara screaming for somebody to help her. We all lived together. She would put Sara in dark hallways, closets, scare her with the dark when she’d get frustrated with her. Sara told me that she’d say things like “The aliens are coming to get you. Goodbye” and lock her bedroom door so Sara can’t get in. All I heard was screaming all the time. My daughter screams daily.
She tore her down about her looks, body, everything. When she moved out at 18, she came to my house insecure and lost.
She hasn’t spoke to Anne in over a year. It makes holidays impossible. Because I love my granddaughter. And want to see her. But she won’t even be in the same room as her mother.
And I told her “Sara, I had to forgive my mother and it freed me. You will forgive her. For yourself. You never know how you’ll feel in the future” and now she wants to stop talking to me. I’ve never excused what my daughter did. I condemned her all the time.
I did everything for her. Bought her what she needed. Took her out of the house growing up when I could. Fought endlessly with my daughter. But it’s never enough. She’s taking it out on her grandmother. I did everything I could for her. I would never excuse what my daughter did. But I remind her sometimes that life can change, and she won’t know how she feels years down the road. Nobody knows what to do in situations like this. It’s unfair that I’m the one getting blamed and forced to chose between my granddaughter, my daughter, and her other kids. I speak to my daughter still because she will use the other kids as leverage and isolate them from me.

I’m finally putting the pump away after 3 (almost 4) of the most mentally draining months of my life. I have learned and realized so much, and I want to share my story to hopefully help someone else who is currently in the position I was in.
Before I had my baby, I planned to BF as long as I possibly could. When I felt like a failure because BF didn’t work for us, I became obsessed with the idea of exclusively pumping. And Lord, I had absolutely no idea what I was signing myself up for. EP is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Harder than birth. Harder than losing a family member. Harder than my previous battles with mental health. I was drowning in the sea of stress with having low supply, on top of pumping every 2 hours, on top of having a newborn, on top of cleaning the pump, on top of cleaning the bottles, on top of being alone with my baby for 12-13 hours a day while my boyfriend was at work.
I completely lost myself. I had never been so full of anger and hate. I fully blame the stress of feeling like I had no choice but to BF or EP for my extreme postpartum rage. I broke things. I screamed. I said things I will never be able to take back. Thankfully I was blessed with such an amazing partner and father to my child. But even with him being the most understanding and patient, I almost lost him, too. Our fights were so terrible. I felt like no matter what he did, the labor of raising our daughter was never equal, and I started to hate him. It had gotten to the point where we barely even spoke to each other because so much had been done and said.
Still, I was convinced, she HAD to have breastmilk.
My daughter and I left and had fully planned to start living with my mom. During our stay at her house, she noticed I was slipping. She told me she didn’t recognize me. She suggested that I drop down to 2 pumps a day and supplement with formula for the rest of the feedings. I hated her for even making the suggestion, but out of pure exhaustion and desperation, I caved. And thank god I did. I had been pushed over the edge so long before that I couldn’t even see it anymore. After just 8 days of staying with my mom and supplementing formula, I felt the fog clear. I felt the wave of guilt crashing over me when I realized I was responsible for hurting the two things I love most in this world- my daughter and her father. I robbed my baby of the smiling, joyful mother she deserves, and I robbed my partner of the bond we had spent 2 years creating.
I became so obsessed with the benefits of breastmilk for my baby that I caused more harm than good. Moral of the story is, fed truly is best. And when you’re in the trenches, sometimes you’re too far gone to see that as the truth. But it is the only truth. I realized that breastmilk isn’t essential to my baby’s development- but a stable and happy mother is. I called my boyfriend. I came home. I washed my pump one last time, and put it in my bottom dresser drawer. And instead of mourning my “giving up”, We opened a bottle of alcohol and celebrated my success. And the strength it required to realize it was time to walk away. My baby gained 4.5 pounds because of my boobies, lol. She had breastmilk for 107 days. She is healthy. She is happy. And I finally have my life back.
To all of the amazing mothers who continue to make this sacrifice for their babies everyday, I want to say I am so so proud of you. And I hope you never forget what an amazing thing you’ve done to give your baby any breastmilk at all- even when it felt damn near impossible. And thanks for reading my lil life lesson as a first time mom. ❤️

My daughter Anne has issues and a lot of horrible qualities. But she calls me every day and needs my help with basic tasks because she doesn’t have anybody anymore. No friends, partner, anybody. She had a daughter young. Her name is Sara. She didn’t treat Sara well and it caused problems within the family for years. She would isolate Sara from us the second we said something she didn’t like. But she treated her horrible. I supported her financially by buying essentials, foods, and clothes for her because Anne couldn’t be bothered.
Anne has struggled with mental illness since she was a teenager and I had to get her hospitalized twice. When Sara was growing up, it took over her. She was a neurotic control freak. Controlled how often she showered (Not letting her every day) Hid and monitored the food in the house. And we got into multiple arguments and screaming matches about Anne being odd about things. Such as not letting Sara sleep on her bed or eat at the dinner table because of her OCD fear of messes. She made her sleep and eat on the floor for years.
Every time I saw this, I yelled at my daughter and asked her why the fuck she’s treating her like that. I came over their place one evening when Sara was about 10-11, and she was screaming on the hallway floor scratching herself saying she can’t take her mother anymore. I took her out of the house for a week, and my heart broke for her.
As a toddler, I heard Sara screaming for somebody to help her. We all lived together. She would put Sara in dark hallways, closets, scare her with the dark when she’d get frustrated with her. Sara told me that she’d say things like “The aliens are coming to get you. Goodbye” and lock her bedroom door so Sara can’t get in. All I heard was screaming all the time. My daughter screams daily.
She tore her down about her looks, body, everything. When she moved out at 18, she came to my house insecure and lost.
She hasn’t spoke to Anne in over a year. It makes holidays impossible. Because I love my granddaughter. And want to see her. But she won’t even be in the same room as her mother.
And I told her “Sara, I had to forgive my mother and it freed me. You will forgive her. For yourself. You never know how you’ll feel in the future” and now she wants to stop talking to me. I’ve never excused what my daughter did. I condemned her all the time.
I did everything for her. Bought her what she needed. Took her out of the house growing up when I could. Fought endlessly with my daughter. But it’s never enough. She’s taking it out on her grandmother. I did everything I could for her. I would never excuse what my daughter did. But I remind her sometimes that life can change, and she won’t know how she feels years down the road. Nobody knows what to do in situations like this. It’s unfair that I’m the one getting blamed and forced to chose between my granddaughter, my daughter, and her other kids. I speak to my daughter still because she will use the other kids as leverage and isolate them from me.

Last year was my first Mother’s Day. My sister and I went over to my mom’s house to give her a couple gifts and to of course wish her a happy Mother’s Day. We all sat down at the table and my mom gave my childless sister a “dog mom” present. It was this big basket of little dog mom related things. I wasn’t expecting anything prior to going over there but when I saw that my sister had received a present I assumed I would get one too especially since it was my first Mother’s Day. My present never came though. Now in fairness I really couldn’t care less about gifts. I found it odd though that my sister who isn’t even a real mom got a present but I got nothing. After we left my sister even texted me thinking it was weird that I didn’t get anything and figured my mom just spaced. So I confronted my mom a couple days afterwards and asked her “Do you realize you got my sister a dog mom present but didn’t get me anything?” And she responded with “Yes, I know that. You’re not my mother so why would I get you something?” And I just felt so taken back by that. I left it alone but my feelings continued to be hurt by the situation. Fast forward a whole year to this Mother’s Day. I go onto Facebook and see that my mom commented on our pastors wife’s post, who just gave birth, and commented “happy first Mother’s Day” and when I tell you the amount of rage I felt was overwhelming. According to my mom, she won’t wish happy Mother’s Day to someone who isn’t her mother so why would she say that to her? I was only 3 months postpartum last year and was in the depths of postpartum depression. We struggle with infertility and last month we had a miscarriage. So Mother’s Day was already hard this year. I truly don’t care about gifts but the fact that she would wish someone she hardly knows a happy Mother’s Day but absolutely refuses to acknowledge me as a mother is so crazy to me. Especially when I’ve gone through so much. So I made the decision to not say a single thing to her that day. I spent the day with my husband and daughter and it was amazing. She called me yesterday and asked me “did you forget to say something to me yesterday?” And I said “no, why?” And she said “you didn’t wish me a happy Mother’s Day” and I replied with “well I’m a mother too now” which she replied “but you’re not my mother” and I said “well neither is the pastors wife yet you wished her a happy Mother’s Day” instantly my mom got mad at me. She said “you’re just being rude now” and I said “I think it was rude that last year was my first Mother’s Day and I was struggling and you didn’t say shit to me but got my sister a dog mom present” she then hung up on me. I don’t regret my decision though. I feel as though I deserve an apology. Thoughts?

I’m not sure if this is the right place or if a lawyer may be who I should be asking. Located in England.
My ex partner was accused by a family member of SA when she was under the age of 16.
When the police came knocking they didn’t say what it was for and that they were trying to get in contact with him for another force in another area.
Originally my ex claimed they must have been looking for him for Assault on a different family member.
He attended a voluntary interview (just him and an on duty solicitor) under caution which is where the allegations came out.
He told me that he was accused of SA of a minor but that he was innocent. After the interview it took around a year for him to be contacted to say that at that point there was not enough evidence however if more evidence came to light they would be in contact. That was where it was left.
When he moved out, he left all of his stuff in my house and whilst I was sorting through our files of mixed paper work I came across a letter from what i assume was a confirmation of what the final outcome was. The only thing that stood out to me was that it didn’t say SA it said R*pe of a minor. He was always adamant of his innocence and that it was SA only.
Some questions that I have are:

1. Would allegations made by someone under the age of 16 be automatically classed as R or would there be SA claims too? I don’t know why but I just assumed that any allegation made by a minor would be classed as R due to the fact that they are underage but I don’t really know if that is the case.
   
2. Would the fact that he was questioned under caution appear on things like a DBS or a Claire’s Law check? Or would these not show because he was never charged with anything?
   
3. We have a daughter together (born before the allegations), due to the nature of a family member being the accuser, if further information came to light and he was requestioned or charged would this information be shared with me? If yes at what point would that information be shared?
   

My boyfriend of a year and his sister got into an ugly argument and are not speaking to each other. I have had good relationship with her but have always gotten irritated by how unaware and entitled she is to her surrounding. so she shuns everyone if both of them have an argument and has no sense of accountability to her wrong doings which gets frustrating if it is repetitive which was one of the reasons they had an argument and I have also called her out on this multiple times but have not seen any changes
now I did not want their argument to be something to come between us so I reached out to her multiple times as her birthday is approaching but got a sense of this attitude from her and told her that I will not be putting up with this and there will only be a handful of times I will invite/make her feel included in things if she keeps saying no to things.
her reply to this was" I am not going to meet you with him around, you alone I have no problem to make any plans with".now I feel like I should respect this and not force them but also will be very hard for me to plan anything for her birthday because they live in the same house.
I decided to reach her out a couple more times to not let our relationship strain but felt it was one sided because her attitude was all over the place as if she has not done any wrong. So I decide to take a step back and let her reach out to me as she said it was their problem and nothing between us which implies she should reach out to me as she used to reach out to me ten times a day when they were not arguing and it has been two weeks and she still has not
now it is 5 days away from her birthday and I am confused as to how to proceed because I love him a lot and I know at a time they will talk again so I don't want her to feel like I did nothing when she did a lot for my birthday even if she could not physically be present but also am irritated by the attitude and feel disrespected and not want to do anything because she kept saying she did not want to do anything at all but I see her getting all hyped about her birthday with her co workers and it feels as if she is just being mean here and isn't apologising or reaching out to anyone and is all normal there.
suggestions as to what to do and to not please

So I was thinking buying Factorio for my birthday but is expensive af in my country (never spent more then 15 euro for a game) and I wanna put some questions about the game.

1. Is the game forgiving?

I know the game is hard and I don't mind it but when I make a mistake I can repair it in time? I don't want to make a mistake and realize I have to restart the run. On short I don't like FOMO. I want so I can play the game on my pace, to take things slow and learn the game.

1. Are the bugs a big problem?

I like building things and thinking a better way to do things. I don't want to have to deal with too many bugs. I don't mind the idea but I don't want to be a tower defence game more then a factory game.

1. How is the game difficulty?

I know is hard but how hard it gets? It gets harder the further you go or is harder at the start and get easier the more you play? I've heard the game helps you improving your coding skill, is it true?

1. How many hours can you spend on the game?

I know infinite but lets say how many it takes to experience everything in the game? No mods just vanilla. And just curios tell me how many hours you guys have in the game.

1. How are the multiplayer servers?

Worth playing? There are many trolls? How is the community of the game in general? They will hate me for not being a pro at the game?

1. Is the game still getting updates or is finished?

Just curios not rly a deal breaker if is not bcs the game is very big and complex and have many mods.

1. How many fps Factorio gets?

I've played the demo and it runs perfectly but in demo you don't get to make a very big factory. How the game runs when you have a big factory? I have an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Mobile (laptop), CPU Intel i5-9300H 2.40 GHz, 16 Gb RAM.

1. How are the mods?

Not only the mod that adds gameplay but how about the visual mods? Maybe it sounds silly but Id like to play Factorio while being an Among Us character or some goofy character.
I think that's all I wanted to ask. Ty for everyone reading this and for everyone who took time to comment. I've played the demo and I liked it, I had a very trashy factory and I have much more to learn.
Sorry if there are too many question but I wanna make sure on what to expect when I spend 32 euro on a game.

The Factory Must Grow!!

Hello everyone. I hope it is alright that I post here as a parent. I often read and lurk here in an effort to try and learn more about my daughter and how she may be feeling, however I try not to post or comment to respect your space.
My daughter (6) is level 3. She is minimally verbal (kind of like the level of a young toddler, though making great progress every day), uses an AAC (mostly for requests), not potty trained at the moment. She’s a big sensory seeker (proprioceptive and vestibular), and can have some pretty explosive meltdowns when she’s not well regulated and/or upset and frustrated. She’s very silly and active and smart, loves to be outside and play with us and her grandparents and her dog and family friends. She’s the sweetest kid ever.
About 3-4 weeks ago, she refused a new diaper after being changed. This happens sometimes when she’s agitated so we didn’t force the issue and said no worries, just let us know when you’re ready. She continued to refuse her diaper for the remainder of the day, and has not worn once since. Problem being—she was/is not potty trained or really developmentally ready for it (I think her interception is not quite ready).
We offered her undies, have been having her sit on the potty a ton (which she has grown comfortable with since we bought her a special seat and let her watch the iPad while she’s on it). I also put some of her favorite sensory items in the bathroom too. She will go sometimes, but only pee and only like once a day.
Anyway—since that day, she refused diapers or underwear, any and all clothing (normally we don’t make her wear clothes at home, only outside of the house), or to even leave the house in the car. So we we’ve pretty much all been trapped inside, and unable to go anywhere, since she’s fully naked and mostly peeing/pooping around the house while we clean up after her and try to encourage her to use the potty as much as she reasonably can without making her anxious.
So she’s missed like 3 weeks of kindergarten (which she always seemed to love and enjoy and was doing really well), and speech therapy (which she also loved because they had a big play gym). Luckily her OT already came to the house so she still comes to play.
We’ve been working nonstop to try and make sure her sensory needs are being met. We made sure she wasn’t sick and didn’t have an infection. We tried other fits and brands of diapers, undies with her favorite colors and characters and different fabrics, and every form of bribery on the planet. She loves milkshakes, cake pops, the beach, target, visiting her grandparents, the trampoline park, aquarium, zoo, etc. And despite offering all of these things if she will leave the house in clothes, she will not budge.
The only thing that has helped so far is that I bought zip up dresses that are normally swim covers, and she is okay wearing those to play in the yard or go on walks (but still no diaper or undies). I think the clothes over her head and ankles were agitating her. I bought like 8 of these covers and keep one in the car, on hooks by the doors, etc so we are ready whenever she wants to go out.
We started seeing a pediatric psychiatrist on (he sees us on zoom since we can’t leave the house) who has been really helpful. I told him this seems like anxiety and autistic burnout (idk if that’s the right term?), and he agreed. We had been talking about medication anyway for aggression (she’s hurt me pretty bad a few times on accident when angry). He prescribed something to help with anxiety and meltdowns, and it seems to be helping. It’s only been a week, but she’s sleeping better at night and happy during the day. No meltdowns or tantrums, and doesn’t appear to have any bad side effects. But she still won’t get dressed to go in the car anywhere.
I feel so bad because she can’t explain why and despite trying every way I can think of, I can’t figure out what it is. We are trying to keep demands low at home and not force her. Everyone, including teachers and therapists, have all been really supportive and agree nobody should force her, and they all FaceTime her during the week to say hi and tell her they miss her.
Has anyone here experienced this? Or can you offer insight? I really want to help her. And I know it’s not about us (the parents), but I’m just so exhausted and stressed out and sad.

I stumbled across this subreddit and although I'm strictly not over 40 myself, my relationship lends to being with someone older than me, so I'm looking for thoughts and opinions from people in that demographic. Hopefully that's okay....
For a little context, I was in my first and only relationship which lasted 18 months. It was an age gap relationship, she was 43/44 at the time, so 12 years older than me — I'm 33 now and she had a little daughter who was around 10 who I treated like my own. She was married for 14 years, divorced for 3 before I come along and was a breath of fresh air and “put the wind back in her sails” as she put it and the "love of her life" and "soulmate" and all that stuff…But ultimately, in August 2022 after our holiday as a trio to Mallorca, she told me she no longer found me attractive, or attractive anyway, she was never in it from day one when she met me, only saw me as a friend.
She told me she thinks she should be with someone more her age, established, has the executive job title (as she finds the self made type an “attractive” quality), fancy car, house, body. I think she saw a power imbalance because of the age gap and she was a high earner herself.
I think she has/had her own issues she never dealt with, because I was never toxic or abusive or shouted or argued and did everything to try meet her needs. I would've moved mountains and walked over broken glass for her. There were these emotional wobbles every few months, where she would burst into tears upset telling me she wasn’t sure what she wants, she doesn’t want a relationship and can go through life focusing on her career, daughter and doesn’t need or want a guy. But being nieve would ignore that, calm her down, reassure her I’m there for her, sleep on it and go again and then the cycle would repeat after a few months - another wobble and another. I guess ultimately I'll never really know the true reason as I guess people say things in the heat of the moment.
She turned incredibly cold and heartless after I tried to save things, be reasonable and text, and then all of a sudden we were in no contact at all. After a year of being blocked everywhere except for WhatsApp, she unblocked me on Instagram just before the most recent Christmas, but never reached out. Could be something, could be nothing. I guess 6 months later, it's nothing.
I guess I'm a little lost still, all this time later, and would welcome thoughts and an open conversation for comfort..

I am a closeted gay boy (16) in highschool with homophobic friends who I am really close with and don't want then to drop me. As a kid my expierences werent like having a crush on a guy but were more like doing feminine things. I have had this thing where I would get turned on my trans women and crossdressers, not because they were attracted but because I wanted to crossdress.
The first accurance of this happening was when I was like in 1st grade where I had the family Ipad and I searched men with lipstick and got like euphoria from it.
Later in 4th grade I was more femme than Inhave ever been. I used to dress in my mothers dresses and my sister litteraly would help me wear her dresses (thank god she doesnt remember that). I would grow my hair out long and all these things gave me the euphoric affect.
In 6th grade I am surprised how no one thought I was gay. It was around the time of vsco girls and they used to wear scrunchies around their rists so I thought if I did that it would be super feminine. Some girl would give them to me because she had a crush on me but I would wear them and act superrrrr gay but would hide them outside of school. There was also a gay kid in our school and I would ask him a lot of questions.
During quartine I discovered drag and became obsessed but after a while I would surpress the thought of drag and me trying to crossdress because I was trying to be straight. Then when we went back to school from quarantine I changed to look a lot more masculine, started getting into football, and made all my homophobic friends. There was also a time where my mom saw me following a bunch of drag queens and told me that if my friends saw this they would treat me differently but I told her it was a hacker and she believed it.
During high school would go in and out of phases where I would be gay one week and straight the next. I would always deny myself that I could be gay until this school year (10th grade) on my birthday and I was in my room before school looking at men on instagram I told myself I can't control it and just fully realized that I was gay.
A little off topic but this spring I had been liking a lot of posts of naked men on instagram and my mon has my account and she for some reason checked the likes. She confronted me once seeing the likes and said that I should not like things like that and that if i was gay she would support me but I just said ok. My mom now knows but respects me by not talking about it. I am at a place where I don't care as much and if I were asked by a stranger I would say I was gay.
I would really like an answer or just an idea. thanks

As we are getting a trailer for a much changed version of the Second Age today, I decided I would share what a first season in a series might look like for the story of Tolkien’s Second Age, while staying very close to the timeline and characters. I’ve taken some ideas I’ve seen from other creators who have made similar attempts at this, namely Council of Rings and Tolkien Untangled, but most are my own. As of now I’m not aware of a complete outline that exists for the first season of this sort of adaptation. In any case, this outline is essentially a summary of a complete text with 10 chapters that exists but is still in progress.
I’ve split the season into 10 episodes, as I think that’s ideal, and into pairs of 3-episode arcs I call Sagas, which will cover certain time periods. But each of these sagas will more or less function like a contained story, following certain characters during periods of their lives. And each is about 3 episodes between 50-60 minutes, meaning each is the length of a long film.
I started with a compressed timeline where season 1 would take place between 1200-1600, starting with the year Annatar arrives in Ost-in-Edhil. In this timeline Tar-Aldarion would essentially switch places with Tar-Surion. I think that the actual canon timeline allows for a very interesting look at the differences in passage of time between elves, Númenoreans, and Middle Men. It's more challenging but also more rewarding. The drawbacks of the canon timeline are that Aldarion dies close to mid-season, whereas in the compressed timeline we could follow Aldarion as he ages throughout the season. Therefore the whole season takes place between SA 725 and SA 1600.
That being said, there are still a few alterations and non-canon additions. The big alteration is that Annatar steals the nine when he leaves Eregion around SA 1500, instead of when he destroys Ost-in-Edhil around SA 1695. The other non-canon additions are Middle Men characters, which there are few examples during this time period, that Annatar can begin to seduce with the Rings of Power.
This was just a bunch of fun for me, but I hope this effort will demonstrate that we can have a great story that stays faithful to Tolkien’s timeline and characters.

Sagas of the Second Age: Season 1
Saga 1 (Episodes 1-3): The Mariner (covering events from SA 725-750)
Elrond. In the first prologue scene around SA 440, Elros as an old man arrives in Mithlond to visit his brother Elrond. Elros is fulfilling a promise to Elrond to visit him when he senses death is near. The two brothers spend time together before Elros departs back for Númenor.
Aldarion. Three hundred years later around SA 725 in Númenor, Aldarion and Erendis witness the corination of his father Tar-Meneldur in Armenelos. The next day, Aldarion sets out from Númenor with his grandfather to spend a year at the court of High King Gil-galad, but he is told by Meneldur not to go beyond Mithlond. Eventually, Aldarion decides to travel outside Mithlond, against his father’s wishes. Elrond offers to join him, seeing an opportunity to spend time with his brother’s descendant. Together they discover the dwarf cities of Ered Luin, and then the future site of Vinyalondë at the mouth of the Gwathló. Aldarion discovers the that the Men of Middle-earth are not as evil as he was told by his family in Númenor, and that some even speak the same language of the Edain that he does. Elrond and Aldarion then travel to Amroth’s kingdom in Belfalas. While Amroth is showing Aldarion the black lands of Mordor in the distance, they are ambushed by orcs, and narrowly escape with their lives. Before departing back for Númenor, Aldarion says goodbye to his new friend Elrond and the High King Gil-galad. Back in Númenor, Aldarion meets Erendis again and proposes to her. She asks if he is done with his travels, he says he is, and she accepts.
High King Gil-galad. Gil-galad endeavors to heal the trauma of Middle-earth. While Aldarion is travelling the lands of Middle-earth, he goes to settle a conflict between kingdoms of Gwaithirum and Breeland. A battle ensues between these kingdoms of Men and Gil-galad is unable to stop it. Before Aldarion departs back for Númenor, Gil-galad tells him that he would very much welcome his help in mediating the conflicts of the tribes of Middle-earth, as Aldarion speaks their language. Gil-galad perceives the return of the shadow of Morgoth, and departs to discover the source.
Galadriel. By lake Evendim, Galadriel admits Celebrimbor into her company. Despite the history of their families and some initial distrust between them, they realize they have a shared vision for continuing the great works of Gondolin. Together they discover the dwarf kingdom of Kazad-dûm. Galadriel is able to convince the dwarves of the mutual benefit of their cooperation in crafting. Durin III is eventually convinced, he agrees to allow and to help with the establishment of the future capital of Eregion: Ost-in-Edhil. There the works of the Noldor and dwarves will benefit each other for many centuries.

Saga 2 (Episodes 4-6): The Stirring of Númenor (Covering events from SA 1075-1350)
Elrond. About three hundred years later in SA 1075, Elrond arrives in Númenor to see his friend, now king, Tar-Aldarion. He is also tasked to ask the Númenoreans to prepare for war, as Gil-galad is now certain of the return of the shadow of Morgoth. Tar-Aldarion, now an old man, has reached an age where he must yeild the sceptre, in the tradition of the Kings of Númenor. He decides to leave Númenor’s official response to Elrond as a decision to his sucessor. Aldarion has only had one daughter Ancalimë with Erendis, and it is clear that there has been much friction in the marriage. His sister’s son Soronto is the nearest male heir. This situation causes a conflict in Armenelos between supporters of Soronto and supporters of Ancalimë, also between those who want to heed Gil-galad's call and those who don't. Ancalimë is seen as the elf-friend, while Soronto is staunchly against the armament of Númenor. Aldarion decides to change the law succession in Númenor in favor of Ancalimë. When Ancalimë is crowned, she reverses her initial position to heed Gil-galad, and decides to preserve Númenor as a land of peace.
Galadriel. Ost-in-Edhil is a great city now, and both elves and dwarves are seen thriving. A visitor from Aman arrives who calls himself Annatar. He demonstrates himself to be akin to the Noldor in his love and expertise with crafts, and says he was a student of Aüle. He wins the favor of Celebrimbor and the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, the crafter's guild, and soon becomes the favored partner of Celebrimbor. As the friction between Galadriel and Annatar increases, Annatar moves the Gwaith-i-Mírdain turn on Galadriel. She decides to depart to Lórinand by route of Kazad-dûm with her daughter Celebrían, while Celeborn stays behid in Eregion. Galadriel is graciously welcomed in Kazad-dûm, and her relationship with the dwarves grows greater. At last, she arrives in Lórinand and meets the King Amdír.

Saga 3 (Episodes 7-9): The Rings of Power (covering events from SA 1500-1590)
Celebrimbor. More than a hundred years later, sixteen Rings of Power are forged in Ost-in-Edhil. Celebrimbor and the Gwaith-i-Mírdain agree that seven of the rings should be gifted to the dwarven kings, as a token of thanks for their help in building Ost-in-Edhil. Celebrimbor, however, decides that the rings are too dangerous for Men. Annatar and Celebrimbor have a heated disagreement on this point, and Annatar accuses Celebrimbor of withholding the bliss of Aman from Middle-earth. Annatar absconds with the remaining nine rings. Sensing that he has been deceived, Celebrimbor crafts the Three in secret. He gives two to Gil-galad, and the remaining to Galadriel, and admits that he was wrong to doubt her.
Gil-galad. Minastir, the heir of Númenor, stays in the halls of Gil-galad as Aldarion once did. Minastir meets with the descendants of the Middle Men Adlarion befriended, though many more generations have passed for them than for Minastir. Aldarion’s travels are a tale that some believe to be myth. Gil-galad and Minastir travel the lands of Eriador and mediate the conflicts of Middle Men.
Elrond. Elrond travels to Númenor for the first time in several hundred years on order of High King Gil-galad to implore once more that the Númenóreans to prepare for war. Tar-Teleprian, the second Queen of Númenor, rules in Númenor now. When Elrond arrives and presents the request of Gil-galad, there is a conflict between supporters of Ancalimë’s policy of isolation and those who believe that they should heed Gil-galad, the latter being lead by the Lord of Andunië – Silmariën’s heir. When Elrond presents further evidence that the shadow of Morgoth has returned, Tar-Teleprian ultimately decides that Númenor must prepare for war.
Annatar. Annatar begins seducing the Kings of Men and gifting rings. Annatar arrives in the halls of a Gwaithirum king called Halmir, a descendant of one of the generals of the battle in the first saga. Annatar tells Halmir that the Noldor are withholding the power of prolonged life from mortals, and gifts him a ring. As Halmir is an elf-friend, his ancestors all being loyal to High King Gil-galad, he refuses Annatar’s suggestion. Eventually, Halmir succumbs to his curiosity and doubt and puts the ring on, entering the Realm of Shadows. He perceives immediately that his decay has been slowed, and indeed that the Noldor may have deceived him.

Saga 4 (Episode 10): Orodruin (1600)
Sauron crafts the One Ring in Orodruin, and Barad-dûr, the largest fortress ever built, has been completed. We Annatar standing on at the height of Barad-dûr wearing the One, below his vast legions of orcs.
As soon as the One Ring has been crafted, Galadriel, Celebrimbor, and the others realize they have been deceived and that Annatar was in fact Sauron, and they remove their rings.
The Men who received Rings of Power from Sauron realize too late they are deceived, as they are completely subservient now to the will of Sauron.

Today my son (6) had a girl (6) from school over at our house. Everything was normal until the mom came to pick her daughter up. They had been playing with my daughter (3) for a while.
My son came to answer the door with me and than I think we saw him go upstairs. I went up to see where they were and couldn't find them. Went downstairs to check the garden and outside our fence, still nothing.
The mom and I went to check upstairs again together. Every drawer seemed to be open but nothing. My husband got involved, he had been working in the attic, still nothing. I called for them a lot and made a lot of noise with the candy jar. I checked the kids beds. I checked under our bed. Everything was very quiet too.
Vaguely I registered our own bed was unmade and didn't check if anyone was in there. Maybe I was embarassed for the other mom to see it. I totally forgot that I did put the blankets back in the morning. Or maybe I didn't register the bed because they made a mess of the rest of the floor too, with 3 kids playing.
We had been searching for twenty minutes inside and outside and widened our search. Still nothing. The other mom told me her daughter took off on another recent occasion as well so I was definitely starting to think outside. My son also has a habbit of running out when it's pick-up time. He says it's because he is a loyal friend.
Than my son showed up out of the blue and said that he checked at daycare (it's up the street) if his friend was there. He said that he was worried too. He told me he didn't know where she was.
I started to worry and thought about calling the police. The other mom went home to check if her daughter was there. I finally put my own children in front of the TV and went upstairs again. I called out once more. Than I heard the floorboards creaking and called out again. Still no answer. I finally checked our own bed and there she was, still dressed like a princess.
It turns out that my son was flat out lieing that he didn't know where his friend was because he had been hiding there with her.
We were all surprised that they didn't answer when we called for them for an hour. I do feel really stupid now. Can't imagine what her mom felt like with her daughter missing.
So I told my son no more playdates this week. I also tried to tell him how important it is for him to be honest when someone is missing.
I feel very responsible because I didn't check that one last place (they usually never play in the parents room). Do I need to apologize to the other mom? Next time they are playing at her house, that's for sure!

Hello everyone, I saw a movie within the last 2-3 years, and it’s driving me crazy trying to remember what it was.
I believe it was a pretty new release when I watched it. I don’t recall much about it but I’ll list what I do below.
There was a father and a daughter, I think they were the main characters but I don’t really remember what it was about at all aside from them being in it.
I think it was filmed in a documentary (mockumentary?) style. I want to say it was a comedy, but I’m not even sure if it was.
At one point, the daughter is speaking to the camera and the father is offscreen and she mentions that the father often screams or moans in his sleep, but I don’t think we are ever given any explanation for why he does (and I don’t think it really comes up again). Since I can’t remember the rest of the movie it may be implied why he does this, but it’s definitely never straight up addressed.
And that’s all I can really recall. I know it’s not a lot to go on, but I also know the people in this sub are really good. I’ve seen even vaguer queries solved within minutes, so I figured I’d give it a shot.
Thanks in advance, and if you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer but again, this is really all I can think of to say about it, unless specific questions trigger more memories of it that I’m blanking on at the moment.

Hello I don’t know if I should do something about it or what could I do, but I have been living with a family in oxford , so it’s the mom dad and her two daughters, and her niece and the niece’s friend.
So recently like the lady and me got in an argument then her daughter came in the kitchen and the lady started complaining her but as I was on a call I wasn’t paying that much attention or didn’t even wanna pay attention to what she said. But after that her daughter started giving slangs and really bad ones. And then when I went to keep my stuff in the fridge the girl shut the fridge door aggressively on me when I was putting stuff in and then when I confronted her she just started shouting out bitch bitch several times. It really made me feel quite bad that time, her mom( the lady) was seeing it and wasn’t really reacting but when I was like what’s up then she just told her daughter don’t say anything. This all just felt super wrong.
Also They have always been super inconsiderate that an outsider is living at their place. Playing excessively loud music always in some other languages, always being noisy , even have banged on my door few times recklessly, have been at a constant bad behaviour. They are not children that I would ignore , they are all above 21.. On some days when the parents weren’t home they played loud music outside my room till 4-5 am got in boys did shit , I ignored because I felt respectful towards the landlady their mother.
It all doesn’t seem right now, it has affected my mental health also a lot. They didn’t care to apologise even. Only the lady next day tried to pretend by asking if I’m okay as she knows I normally pay the rent in the middle of the moth ( which means I haven’t yet ). I’ll leave the place hopefully soon , but if I could get some guidance here that would be really helpful

Just for a quick backstory I (23F) have been interested in my best friend's uncle (27M) since I was 12. I met her uncle when I was 12. He's your average athletic guy. Fit, funny, good looking. We bonded over music. He told me stories of his past. He'd even help me study french when I needed help on my homework One night I went to my best friend's house. Unaware that she wasn't at home, but he was there. So we began to talk eventually I confessed my feelings for him. He was shocked. But then my best friend came So we exchanged instagrams. Decided to continue our conversation afterwards. Later that night he texted me asking so many questions on when did I have a crush on him, why I had a crush on him. I told him everything and eventually he confessed that he too felt the same way but it was wrong due to a bunch of complications. We'd still continue to talk but within two weeks of texting back and forth, we decided to make it official Although we agreed to keep it a secret. It felt so right he is special it killed having to pretending to either be single or date another guy. After he and I were together for 7 months I asked him if we could get a more physically involved he told me no since i was too young by this time i was already 13.
I felt I had made to relationship a bit awkward so i distanced myself a bit and would only speak to me bsf and try to ignore him. I remember so clearly how upset he was he'd nonstop text or call and when I'd go over he'd try and talk my bsf eventually noticed and told me to be careful her mom walked in and overheard our conversation telling me the same thing. Later on her mom asked her to help her with something so I sat on rocking chair sofa and i see the door open and he walks in I greeted him and he just walked past i couldn't say i was surprised after all I was avoiding him first but he stopped at the doorway of the kitchen walked back and i a low tone he was scolding me so a talked back and we had our first argument I knew i was in the wrong so in mid sentence i put my arms around his neck and kissed him he put his arms around waist and pull away from the kiss to tell me how much he missed me and he had a surprise since he knew i was coming we then heard my bsf and her mom coming so he went back outside and sat back down and acted like nothing had happened.
2 months after I turned 15 we almost got caught doing it on her sister's bed Which he was where he was sleeping at the time I felt happy. Our relationship lasted for 4 years. One day in the morning when I woke I saw a message from him, I felt nauseous. He said he was sorry, but he had to leave, so he broke up with me over text, he said he really wished He could've stayed but It didn't feel right. He didn't want to hide who he was with. He said that being with me would only hurt both of us, I was so depressed, I'd constantly cry couldn't get over it And I couldn't tell my best friend.
(So now where i really need help) I recently went to my bestfriend's new house. I was invited to her mother's birthday party. And as a surprise, her uncle came, and we saw each other again. We catched up a bit and just talked from time to time. My best friend would look at us. Make faces, so I tried my best to avoid him after a while. When I'd look at him, he was talking to a girl I did not recognize I assumed that was his plus 1 or something, so I ended up drinking. Eventually I was drunk to a point that I couldn't walk my best friend's mom told the uncle (her cousin) to take me to her room So I could rest a bit. My best friend came along with us. I could hear them discussing about how she suspected that I had a crush on him or if there is something going on to quit it, he kept denying everything so she warned him that she would be keeping an eye on him. Her mom called her so she had to go, When she left the room, I stood up, but he told me to lay down and rest. And I started crying. He comforted me and I told them I was upset, and he explained that the girl who he was talking to was his sister.
I felt like an idiot. He then told me that it was cute how i was jealous in the heat of the moment we kissed and did it again. He then proceeded to tell me how much he missed me. how he never forgot me and that I'm still very special to him.He asked to be in a relationship again but I don't know? I feel guilty. Having to hide it from my bestfriend . I'm scared of what she'll do or say when she finds out What do I do? I have no idea?So what I wanna know is AITA for not telling my bestfriend about her uncle and I?.

Introduction

Pertaining to Taylor Swift, "Female Rage" has deviated from its intended meaning after Swift debuted a new performance of The Tortured Poets Department during the Eras Tour. Now, according to Swift's use of the phrase, female rage is interpreted as public backlash against Swift's dating choices rather than as a response to the broader injustices against women and women's rights. This post examines Taylor Swift's flawed feminism, philanthropy, branding, and the controversial trademark petition for the phrase "Female Rage: The Musical". Swift's background as an entertainer, indeterminate politics, and alignment with capitalism over feminism pervades her legacy, again threatening her public tolerance as not just an individual but as a brand.

Once Upon a Female Rage...

If you were cognizant in the early 2010's, you've heard countless jabs at Taylor Swift in the media. Magazines, radio, or online. Music critics did not take her seriously as a songwriter; parents put a woman on an unrealistic pedestal as the ideal role model for their children; she dated too much and used men as lyrical fodder. No matter the story, it inevitably spread, conjoined with everyone's respective opinions, and you'd be left to wonder, "Why does everyone hate this girl so much?"
Taylor's target demographic has always been young or adolescent girls, more so when Swift herself was one. She made music that spoke to the awkward misfit, cultivating a para-social relationship with fans on MySpace, then later twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, where Taylor posted relatable vlogs showcasing the life of a homegrown American girl. Taylor had a delayed public "growing up" and, compared to her female pop contemporaries, Swift never "gratuitously sexualized her image and seems pathologically averse to controversy" (and, apparently, never even had a sip of alcohol until she turned 21). She was more than happy to spin this narrative to allude to an inherent moral superiority above other women in the industry (Better Than Revenge, heard of it?), engaging in the very slut-shaming that she herself endured (the Madonna and Whore archetypes). The victim complex arose with the need to prove Taylor as a different type of pop girl. Based upon her holy and clean image, Swift had been dubbed "a feminist's nightmare", and that "[To Swift] other girls are obstacles; undeserving enemies who steal Taylor’s soulmates with their bewitching good looks and sexual availability." Feminism and Tennessee-Christian country values don't exactly mix, it seems.
Years later, Swift befriended Lena Dunham and thus experienced white feminism osmosis, where Dunham taught Swift that real feminists defend rapists, makes insensitive jokes about rape and abortion, and prioritize all-white casts. Swift then declared herself a feminist in 2014, saying,

"Becoming friends with Lena – without her preaching to me, but just seeing why she believes what she believes, why she says what she says, why she stands for what she stands for – has made me realize that I’ve been taking a feminist stance without actually saying so."

I suppose the male-centric songwriting subject that permeates Swift's discography contained covert feminism and that we just didn't see that. Perhaps, the "Bad Blood" song and music video were written only in jest and not about poor Katy Perry, for Swift, as a feminist, would "never make it a girl fight" or tear other women down (though all Katy did was date your terrible ex-boyfriend and allegedly steal three backup dancers from your tour). In 2013, Swift said, in response to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's joke towards her serial dating, "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women."
There was that time in 2015 Taylor said that Nicki Minaj was "invited to any stage [she is] on" (as if Taylor expects to have access to every stage, award, and platform that Nicki might not otherwise have as a black female artist...yikes!) in response to Nicki's criticism of the white + thin VMA nominations. Later, Nicki responded with confusion, as Swift continued, "It’s unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot..". Of course, this 'beef' was 'squashed' when Nicki performed with Taylor at the VMAs, with Nicki quite literally only having 38 seconds of stage time without Taylor. Maybe all that parading around with a legion of famous white women - similar to the way Taylor might've done with her numerous 1989-era handbags - was in fact a stance against gender inequality, and that this display of "girl power" should be enough to constitute Swift as a feminist icon.
Even while Swift says that Dunham informed her feminist outlook, she dances around the exact contents of those beliefs: "what she believes, what she says, what she stands for" is not exactly insightful towards what beliefs Swift might have inherited. Taylor never broaches women's rights topics such femicide, FGM, forced pregnancy & marriage, sex trafficking, women in slavery, women's financial and political oppression, women's educational rights, women's health, or women's autonomy, so we can assume she only gives a fuck about "girls supporting girls" (whatever that fucking means).
Despite some questionable (and sometimes vindictive) behavior, Taylor as a young woman did not deserve every media lashing that she received. We cannot deny that most headlines and criticisms perpetuated a misogynistic rhetoric which has plagued Swift for a majority of her career. Acknowledging events such as the development of her ED, her sexual assault trial, "Famous" lyric and MV depiction of Taylor, and the explicit Twitter deepfakes, for example, as both disgusting and unfortunate things that happened to a young woman in Hollywood does not negate the fact that Taylor is mostly a performative feminist.

Get Your Fucking Ass Up and Be a Philanthropist, It Seems Like Nobody Wants to Be a Philanthropist These Days

In 2013, Taylor Swift cut the ribbon at the grand opening of the Taylor Swift Education Center at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. The donation amount - $4 million - was the largest individual artist gift ever donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame, which is, of course, mentioned on Swift's website. The two-story facility features three classrooms, an instrument room, and an interactive children's exhibit gallery. Swift also performed at "All for the Hall" charity shows and has donated numerous artifacts from her career (such as notable guitars, tour costumes, etc) to the museum.
This was over 11 years ago, and it is still the only notable philanthropic contribution Taylor Swift has made.
For a woman of her net worth and stature, and a woman who recognizes the difficulties for women in film and music, you would think that Taylor Swift might establish a scholarship program for women to study the arts or something. Perhaps Swift might even consider becoming a member of organizations that support female artists, or one that supports LGBTQ+ causes (since she is now proudly an ally), yet she remains superficial with her graces. Broader philanthropy, such as donating relief aid to Palestinian women or women impacted by violence and discrimination will probably never receive any financial support from Miss Swift because then she'd be using her money towards philanthropies involving anyone but white entertainers.
She even says herself in Miss Americana, "My entire moral code as a kid and now is a need to be thought of as 'good'." Well, she's certainly thought of as good, though her actions say otherwise. She's more than happy to do a vaguely altruistic song and dance for a clip-worthy interview quote and mass appeasement, then fuck off to one of her mansions on a 20 minute private jet flight, rather than actually contribute to anything pertaining to the causes she has endorsed. Yet, far too many people continue to give a woman such as her their money, time, and energy, and she hoards these resources to herself.

I Like Some of the Taylor's Songs, But What the Fuck Does She Know About Feminism?

Swift continued with her self-proclaimed feminist campaign, positioning herself as a political activist and LGBTQ+ ally in the Miss Americana documentary. The primary focus of the documentary consists of the sexual assault trial, Andrea Swift's cancer diagnosis, Taylor's ED and body dysmorphia, media scrutiny, and, largely, finally speaking up about her politics publicly, mostly her opposition to the 2018 Tennessee Republican senate candidate, Marsha Blackburn, and Blackburn's beliefs. Swift says, following a scene discussing her experience during the trial,

"I just couldn't really stop thinking about it. And I just thought to myself, next time there is any opportunity to change anything, you had better know what you stand for and what you want to say."

We must ask ourselves, though: when has Swift ever spoken up to change anything? Okay, pulling her entire catalogue from Spotify because they didn't pay their artists enough and similarly pulling her catalogue from Apple Music are changes that she leveraged due to her revenue potential and power, but they are not pertinent to the average woman's rights. Moreover, these are issues that directly impacted Taylor's income, which was enough reason for her to protest in the first place. Swift has sold the most units for a female artist in first week sales, is the first female artist with 100k monthly Spotify listeners, is the first female artist to win the Album of the Year Grammy 4 times, and is the first female artist to do X, Y, and Z, all while being inoffensive and family-friendly to boot. The actual Taylor Swift seems unwilling to compromise the brand of Taylor Swift by contributing in meaningful ways to feminist causes, especially if it is for women outside of America and Hollywood.
The reason political anthems such as "The Man" and "Only the Young" of the Lover era feel disingenuous and corporate is because, well, it is. Taylor has taken every opportunity to advance her career or public image at the expense of other women. What is truly genuine to Taylor's outlook on other women is vying for male attention, taking down female competition, and vocalizing feminist injustices only if they directly impact her and her money. Some will argue that it's satisfactory for a woman with such a huge platform to even TALK about feminism, but that just isn't enough. It's even less impressive when you candidly look at the scope of her feminist lens: "If I was the man, then I'd be THE MAN", or "I really resent the ‘Be careful, buddy, she’s going to write a song about you’ angle, because it trivialises what I do", and, of course, "We all got crowns". Feminism, but only when it happens to me. It gets worse when you look at Taylor's track record of copying other famous women and removing other female artists as potential threats to her pop prowess.
It's good for PR to align yourself with certain blanket feminist and political beliefs, therefore good for branding, therefore good for ticketing and merchandise sales, therefore good for business. And Taylor Swift is a business.
She's not a feminist. Taylor Swift is a capitalist.

I Can't Pay Those Sweatshop Workers a Livable Wage or Benefits! How Else Would I Make My Billions?

Recently, Taylor's team filed to trademark the phrase "Female Rage: The Musical" after Taylor said during Paris N1 of the Eras Tour,

"So you were the first ones to see The Tortured Poets at the Eras Tour...or as I like to call it, 'Female Rage: The Musical'."

This trademark petition was filed last week on Saturday, and news comes about just as numerous unofficial fan-made merch designs have cropped up with this phrase plastered on Fruit of the Loom basics. I'm of the opinion Swift's team motioned for a trademark so that they can send out cease & desists to all those that make knockoff merch, which disrupts potential sales for Bravado, UMG's choice merchandising company; however, since it was filed earlier, perhaps Swift has bigger plans with the bizarre use of the gendered phrase. One Swiftie referred to the phrase "female rage" as "a funny Eras Tour joke". Could it be a possible fourth version of the Eras Tour Movie? Whatever the reason, the motion to capitalize off of such a concept is disgusting, but not unsurprising, for a woman that profits on her vain feminism.
Swift, through her company, TAS Rights Managements, has also trademarked over 200 phrases, including "1989", where she owns the property rights to this calendar year on keychains, phone cases, sunglasses, stationary, bags, beverage ware, clothing, entertainment services, your subconscious, and, of course, Christmas ornaments.
The vapid consumerism in Swiftie culture is, frankly, disgusting. Bravado's sustainability statement is non-existent, the quality control is abysmal, and the materials they use are horrible. The materials, such as acrylic and polyester, are made from petrochemicals. This means they are non-renewable, shed microplastics, and are quite toxic in production. The manufacturing process to make all of those lazy-rushed Eras Tour logo graphic tees is a huge blow to environmental well-being. Apparently, though, Swifties don't give a fuck. They sell out products in seconds and either have to face the manufactured scarcity or buy from a scalper that resells for 200% of the already ridiculous retail price. This doesn't include the environmental impact of vinyl records, CD, and cassette production, of which Taylor produces many variants that sell unsustainable amounts.
If we're talking about women's rights violations, why is no one acknowledging the women that work in the inhumane sweatshop conditions that have to pump out fugly t-shirts and hats? The millions of plastic microfiber dander they are inhaling, or the toxic dyes that touch their bare skin? Are they being compensated fairly for their skilled labour and are they in safe working environments? Do these women have minimal bargaining power, and do they have authority over their worker's rights? Is Taylor Swift female raging at their injustices? Does Taylor Swift ever feels bad that her wealth was built on the backs of women of color, disadvantaged by the demands of the global economy and garment industry? Do you think she ever says a little white feminist prayer for them before she goes to sleep at night?
What's even crazier is not that Taylor herself doesn't care, it's that Swifties don't care. There CANNOT BE ethical billionaires. You only make a billion dollars if you are exploiting other human beings for capital gain. Based on public perception of the possible "Female Rage: The Musical" trademark, it seems like Swifties are already asking for merch with this phrase. "If Taylor made it, I'd buy it." Oh, cool. So not only do you champion Miss Swift's avarice and billionaire status, but you also are unashamed to admit to your blind consumption of her music and merchandise, no matter where they might originate in production or sincerity. Just as Swift takes and takes and takes, Swifties' consumerism of Taylor Swift cannot be quelled.
The tortured artist's most vulnerable and sincere poetry...available now in 21 different versions!

I Am Tortured Poet, Hear Me Whinge

Look - even if Taylor's intention is to characterize TTPD as more "tortured" and "angry", the main thread of the album is "I was ghosted by my decade-long situationship with a controversial indie boy and my fucking stupid fans wrote a 'Speak Up Now' open letter prompting me to drop him" anger, which is adequately expressed in the lyrics and performances. The extent of Taylor's "female rage" on TTPD is on tracks such as "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?", which contends with relentless media scrutiny; "But Daddy I Love Him", where Swift firmly states she'll date whoever she likes no matter how "Sarahs and Hannahs" may react; and "The Albatross", a track mythologizing her reputation and the consequences of dating her. Of course, these coincide with deep psychological wounds that formed during Swift's early years in the media, and so, from her feminist perspective, these subjects tackle the misogyny and double standards that she faced.
Yet Taylor Swift still has no grounds to be claiming that TTPD best exemplifies female rage and therefore she, in the context of this album, is female rage incarnate. As the daughter of a stock broker and mutual fund marketing executive, Taylor was born into wealth and allowed privileges like trips and subsequent relocation to Nashville all so that she might get a record deal. Her father even invested at least $120,000 into the then-fledgling label, Big Machine Records, which ensured Taylor's place with Borchetta after leaving her dead-end development deal with Sony. The fact that her parents were able to buy her a fucking brand new guitar for Christmas and pay for music lessons says so much about the financial security and safety of her childhood.
Money is privilege and protection, and despite Swift's experiences with misogyny and loser boyfriends, she does not know what female rage is.
Her rage is derived from her frustrations with her obsessive fans pulling the moral superiority card on Taylor in response to her rebound with Matty Healy. That's literally it. She's just pissed that the monster she created is no longer obediant, it's become a feral, sovereign entity that depletes the world of its natural resources and thinks it is more intelligent than it actually is because it's mommy has started to talk to it with big words. Apparently, 'illicit', 'elegy', 'nonchalant', and 'precocious' are considerably big words for the oafish monster, and I find it strange that this level of literacy is present in a group of fans that allegedly have GPAs of 3.5 or higher, but I digress.
Taylor Swift has never been one paycheck away from destitution. Taylor Swift has never experienced racial discrimination. She may have instances of gender discrimination, but she possesses the ideal white, blonde American beauty standard and therefore reaps the benefits of being a conventionally attractive woman. Taylor Swift has sufficient social capital. Taylor Swift is a billionaire woman prolonging her victimhood though she, as a woman, has mostly had control over her image and music (unlike her contemporaries). Taylor Swift is NOT entitled to be championed for her "female rage", nor should she be. Taylor Swift has never even been the struggling artist, for fuck's sake. I don't give a fuck if she's trying to fill the empty lunch tables of her past. Taylor Swift purporting herself, her unpolished album, and her lukewarm feminism as a musical bleeding with female rage is asinine.

Sigh Try and Come For My Job, Poors

Out there in the world right now is a 23-year-old woman, a recent college grad, who works as a barista. She has to wake up and get ready to go into a minimum wage job because she cannot get a job in her field. She doesn't have healthcare benefits or sick time, so she has to go into work no matter how she's feeling. All day long she is berated by vicious customers and creepy men, and, exhausted from being on her feet, she knows she has to go home to her shitty roommate that never does the dishes and her roommate's shitty dog. To comfort herself, she considers getting a treat, but thinks against it when she remembers that matcha lattes cost $15 and they taste like milky dirt. She knows that she needs to buy groceries this week, and so the woman resolves to go home, but notices that her gas tank is low. She goes to put gas in the car, but the pump stops at $27.86 because that's all that she has in her checking account. The woman, bereft and reeling, sinks into the driver's seat. "Well," she thinks, her head in her hands, "at least I don't have Taylor Swift's job. I just couldn't imagine."
Fame is somewhat of a choice. If at any moment Taylor feels that she is misunderstood, misconstrued, or overwhelmed by public opinion, she can LEAVE the public eye - Lord knows she has the retirement fund and residuals to do so. In "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart", the TTPD song about meeting the demands of your career-zenith mega-tour while in the relationship trenches, Taylor ends the song by rambling,

"You know you're good when you can even do it with a broken heart...you know you're good...and I'm good, cause I'm miserable, and no one even knows!...try and come for my job."

Yeah, obviously we wouldn't know, you recently passed the billionaire threshold and are the most famous and in-demand performer in the world right now. Taylor Swift makes an estimated $10 to $13 million dollars A NIGHT on the Eras Tour. Furthermore, the Eras Tour movie grossed $261.6 million globally, (which, as the producer, Taylor takes home 57% of the ticket sales) not counting the streaming revenue from Amazon Prime Video and the estimated $75 million deal that Disney paid to have it on Disney+. We're not even considering the income from cheap plastic popcorn buckets and drink cups plastered with colored squares in her Era-specific likeness.
It's funny. Taylor Swift often said that being famous wasn't hard, that she "isn't complaining". I'm sure it is difficult to always have to present in a good mood, else you'll end up misrepresented in the media, and I'm sure it's invasive to virtually have no privacy or semblance of anonymity. Still, Taylor Swift shows up each night of tour and performs. For a majority of her career, she has penned her sad songs while on the road. Most of "Red", her breakup album, was written in the thick of the Speak Now World tour. Now, some Swifties say they almost "feel bad" for attending the Eras Tour with Swift's revelations in this song, that they have had a 'dimmed experience' upon hearing Taylor's misery whilst performing. Despite the fact that Taylor said that "this was the happiest she's ever been" at Gilette Stadium in May, the lyrics "boohoo, woe is me, smile for the cameras and make the fans happy!!!" are jarring for Eras attendees.
While Taylor Swift was making double-digit millions a night in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and feeling miserable, Ana Clara Benevides Machado passed away due to heat exposure. The concert promoters, Time For Fun, are now the subject of a criminal investigation due to their lack of adequate hydration and safety. Taylor Swift cancelled the Sunday show that was to follow and offered VIP tent tickets to Benevides Marchado's family, which was a kind gesture, but perhaps incongruous to the incident of which they were offered as consolation. Everyone grieves differently, of course, but I'm not sure attending the very show at the very same venue that my daughter or sister passed away in two days prior, where the singer CONTINUED the show despite her death, would be healthy for closure.
There was no female rage at the show as Swift never saw Benevides Machado pass out. There was no female rage towards the disregard for fans as humans while Swift elected to proceed with her Brazil tour dates despite the country being in historic heatwaves (at risk of overheatting herself). If Taylor Swift was so shaken by touring with a broken heart or a fan's passing, she wouldn't have added an additional North American leg of Eras just two months after the Matty breakup. She's brokenhearted but willing to mend the cracks with your money and move onward with her worldwide female rage induced pillaging.
No matter what happens, even if you die at a Taylor Swift concert, Taylor collects a big fat check and flies away. She doesn't know you as anything other than a conversion rate or earning potential despite what her nearly 20-year long parasocial relationship with fans might otherwise indicate. She knows that, while some Swifties are without disposable income, they feel obligated to spend on a "48 Hours Only!" exclusive vinyl variant instead of necessities because they are so entrenched in Taylor Swift's intoxicating celebrity, they'll prioritize materialistic fandom before their needs. This is good enough for her because this means she can expand her real estate portfolio and finance her cat's lavish lifestyles. They're worth an estimated $100 million dollars. Her three cats could pool their net worth and solve world hunger.
While you and I might be denied bereavement leave and barely surviving the current political and economic climate, Taylor Swift has to, instead of gets to, perform for stadiums at full attendance for three nights in a row across the globe. You and I might be replaced by AI at our longtime jobs, but Taylor Swift is threatened with losing more and more money each time you listen to a "Stolen Version" of her songs. If we don't buy every variant of all of her albums, then who is going to pay for the fucking cats?
It is tone deaf to spend as she spends and lives as she lives in this economy, but this is her reality. She was able to donate $100,000 to all of her tour truck drivers, and that's wonderful, but it leads me to wonder about the ethos of the 2020s where one woman can hoard such life-changing amounts of money. Remember in 2014 when she gave a fan $90 ($120 in today's money) to get Chipotle because she had no fucking clue how much it cost? This is a 34-year-old woman who is increasingly out of touch with the reality for working class people and women in general. Normal everyday adults must wake up and go to their thankless jobs, and yet Taylor Swift, despite all her riches, incessantly references the lows of her life and career as a public figure and entertainer to farm sympathy and drive sales. And still, the corporate women have latched onto "I cry a lot, but I am so productive! It's an art!" as their cubicle battle cry.
Do you think that, from up in her private jet, Taylor Swift gazes at the world through her poetic, tortured eyes, and thinks, "All the little people, in their cars, walking, going about their lives...all those girls that don't support girls...do they know that I've made an album about female rage?"

Conclusion/TLDR

Thank you for reading. I would love to hear your critical insights towards this entire ordeal: TTPD, the trademark, the implications of it all.
TLDR: Taylor Swift is a bad feminist and is delusional to think that the TTPD eras set exemplifies female rage at women's injustice.

Its been a while since I've posted in here but I kinda need some help understanding some things.
First off, its the angel numbers. Throughout the journey, I've seen angel numbers, but recently I've started seeing a few alot more often. I see her birthday more than ever, I see her life path number more than ever, I see our life path numbers together all of the time (9 and 11) and I see 222 alot more often now.
I've made some posts about music in the past. Music was always quite a big part of our relationship. Before I'd mention that love songs would repeatedly play or songs that remind me of her or songs about missing someone. Today thats been apparent again but it felt like there was so much more. There was one song in particular that I would say was "our" song. I checked my most played songs on spotify for this month and it was at the number 1 spot (I don't search for it and play it, it'll just play randomly through the shuffle).
Finally, the dream that I had last night. I had a very similar dream a while ago but that didn't have anything to do with my twin I don't think. Basically, it was like we were in a video game and she had a bounty on me where she was trying to "kill" me. After the timer went out for the bounty, she came and found me and we had sex.
If anyone could help me understand any this then I would appreciate it