Background on me: Work for a consulting firm in data entry, recently promoted to a QC team, 10 year veteran of the company, WFH.
So, I also have been going through a mental health crisis which I'm working on with a therapist. My direct supervisor has been very kind regarding this situation and understands I have issues with brain fog (I'll be seeing my primary healthcare provider later this month to determine if this is physical) and to send an email so I can sort out my thoughts before replying.
The vice president above them is the exact opposite - VP even accused me of walking out of a meeting in a private message when my computer had a bad connection in Zoom.
I asked my supervisor and was told this person is a notorious a-hole. I've never had the pleasure of dealing with someone like this. Any suggestions?

I asked her out on a date - she said she was busy - I told her to reach out to me when she is free in a nonchalant way - I get blocked on Snapchat shortly after- couple of weeks go by and she likes my story on instagram. I ignored it.
Couple days later she replies to my story and sends me a message about my post. I ignored it and left it as seen. Even after that; she continues to watch my stories as if she didn’t block me on another app. Feels like she is just shit testing or giving me breadcrumbs because she wants my attention but is not interested in me. What gives ?

My (25f) friend (25f)since freshman year of high school has ghosted me since mid january. I’ve known her for 10+ years, and we’re best friends / practically sisters. We would talk all day every day on multiple platforms. In November of last year, I was staying at her house for the weekend cause her bf was out of town, and she didn’t want to be alone. When going out one morning, she backed into my car. She ended up having to give me money to pay to get it fixed and a rental. She had been stressed about money before, but I think this stressed her out even more.
I was very calm and cool about the whole situation, cause I knew she was good for it and wouldn’t blindside me. She didn’t want to go through insurance, so I didn’t. I practically did everything she asked of me to a T - which place to go to, how many quotes to get, etc(Ironic considering it’s MY car - I think I should’ve called the shots).
Once she dropped the check off to me, I noticed she was kinda distant and acting off. She’s a very huggy person, so the day she dropped it off she didn’t bother giving a hug and was kinda cold. It was kinda like here you go, and bye. I just chalked it up to stress and she was about to go on vacation. Once she got back, I wasn’t hearing from her as much. I never had the chance to ask what was going on, cause our convos never really flowed enough. It was about one or two texts per day or every other day, but there was so much time in between it was hard to hold a convo. Looking back, I wish I did say something. She also never once asked me about my ca if I got it back.
For the rental car, she gave me enough for a week cause I believe she thought that’s how long it would be in the shop. My car ended up being in the shop for about a month. Instead of bothering her for more money to keep the rental, I returned it and was just stuck at home for the next 2-3 weeks. She has no idea of this cause she never bothered to ask.
The holidays came around too, and I know she was stressed cause she wanted to have a holiday party at her house, but ended up canceling it. Her work was stressing her out, too. She bought her house about 2-3 years ago, but she had something come up with her breaker - and I think it was a lot more serious. She most likely had to shell out more than she thought. Once that happened, she sent a group text to our friend group saying she was going ghost and wanted to be alone to “get her life together”. In another group message she said if people had questions, to ask me. Meanwhile, I didn’t even know what was going on.
Her online behavior hasn’t changed at least. She’s still chronically online. I think the only thing that’s changed is she’s just not talking to any of us. My friend group has group chats on snap and insta, she just opens them and never responds. I saw her like and comment on another friends insta post and it broke my heart and made me realize she’s not ghosting everyone just certain people.
I was actively trying to give her space and support her from afar. I sent a text early March saying I missed her, hope she’s doing well, would love to see her, etc. it took her a couple days, and she just hearted the message.
April came along, and it’s a hard month for me emotionally. The anniversary of my dad’s death came around, and she usually always says something. This time she didn’t, and it hurt. The same day as the anniversary, she was at a young adult worship event that was a mile away from my house. She’s been leaning into the worship groups lately. She got baptized, but it hurt that she was a mile away, right near my house. I would’ve loved to have supported her in this, especially since it’s so close to me.
I sent a text again being like I miss you, would’ve loved to be there, etc. she hearted the message again.
I guess i just don’t know what to do from here. I don’t want to keep reaching out if she’s not going to reply. Is it possible that she would actually come back to me and the friend group? I feel like this is her way of just ending the friendship, which would be so shitty.
I find myself crying all the time wondering what happened. This is a person I trusted with my life, who I never saw blindsiding me.
TLDR: my friend of 10+years has ghosted me and a couple other friends cause she has a lot going on and “needs to get her life together”, but part of me feels like it’s because she hit my car / doesn’t want to be friends with any of us

I started working in a new company in 2021. Made some good friends and came to know my ex through one of them.
She was a team lead and one of my then good friend was posted under her. She started talking to me out of blue on insta and whatsapp, first it was general office gossips then it was about each others day.
One day she told me that my friend confessed her and she rejected him. Then she told me he is being obsessed with her and stalking her without her consent. I confronted my friend and things got rough between us eventually he was moved out to different team.
Then I continued talking to her and soon developed feelings for her. I confessed her in Oct 2022 and she said shes aroace and dont have romantic feelings for anyone but shes NOT SURE. I was shocked but still i tried being friends with her and bond got deeper from my side.
So again in Aug 2023 i asked her same and she said we could try if it works out. So we got in relationship. At first i was very happy having the person i always wanted but then differences came up and we started to fight frequently mainly because of our loving styles. She used to hate touches or any kind of romantic touch /talk and i figured my loving style was physical. This caused many fights between us so much so that i had to break up in jan 2024 , i and she decided to be friends.
But i wasnt over her, i still had feelings for her. I came to know she has started seeings guys from feb itself which just left me broken and i told her i can no longer be friends with you as i havent moved on and she replies if you want to go you can go. You are being obsessive and i dont want to drag myself down with you.
I feel very used and i lost all my office friends by taking her side in disputes and now im the one whos alone.

I started working in a new company in 2021. Made some good friends and came to know my ex through one of them.
She was a team lead and one of my then good friend was posted under her. She started talking to me out of blue on insta and whatsapp, first it was general office gossips then it was about each others day.
One day she told me that my friend confessed her and she rejected him. Then she told me he is being obsessed with her and stalking her without her consent. I confronted my friend and things got rough between us eventually he was moved out to different team.
Then I continued talking to her and soon developed feelings for her. I confessed her in Oct 2022 and she said shes aroace and dont have romantic feelings for anyone but shes NOT SURE. I was shocked but still i tried being friends with her and bond got deeper from my side.
So again in Aug 2023 i asked her same and she said we could try if it works out. So we got in relationship. At first i was very happy having the person i always wanted but then differences came up and we started to fight frequently mainly because of our loving styles. She used to hate touches or any kind of romantic touch /talk and i figured my loving style was physical. This caused many fights between us so much so that i had to break up in jan 2024 , i and she decided to be friends.
But i wasnt over her, i still had feelings for her. I came to know she has started seeings guys from feb itself which just left me broken and i told her i can no longer be friends with you as i havent moved on and she replies if you want to go you can go. You are being obsessive and i dont want to drag myself down with you.
I feel very used and i lost all my office friends by taking her side in disputes and now im the one whos alone.

Should I be worried that my GF (19f) is going to leave me (18m)?
This is a really long story so please bare with me.
Ok so first of all, you're all going to see that I'm not innocent in this but I just couldn't help myself as you'll see.
So for context, my gf and I have been dating for 3 months now at long-distance. I've visited her every 2 weeks since we met and I feel we really do like/love eachother.
However, there has been some road bombs since we started dating but this story only concerns one of them.
And it's important to note that my GF has had a few "crushes" and 1 or 2 short "relationships" in highschool before me. One of those includes a crush on a guy who we'll call Frank. This was at most just the 2 of them having a deep interest in eachother and they both knew. All of this being around 2 years ago.
In early April, my GF's older cousin got an invitation from one of her friends, who we'll call Oliver, to go to his Birthday Party. And he told my GF's cousin to invite all of her cousins if she wanted to. Including my GF.
And lord and behold, guess who was also going to the party? Frank.
And when Frank got word that my GF was going, my GF, who at the time told me all of this btw, said that Frank let out a joyful "yes" in response to her going.
Now, I obviously HATED hearing this, but I appreciated the fact that my GF told me when she didn't have to if she didn't want to.
So a week goes by and the party is coming up...
Everything is going well between us until...the night of the party. On the day of the party, we were both good as usual. We talked, called, she went to work just before the party and she sent me cute pics of her and all that stuff until after her shift.
After she finished work, she was immediately taking the bus to the party and that's when things went south. We called whilst she was on the bus and she suddenly became so cold to me. I can't explain it but she just became cold and her tone sounded mad at me. I kept trying to talk to her until she cut the call and texted me: "we're done".
I called her back and texted but she was still cold. I to talked her about all the things we've said and done and what they meant to her and she basically said "I don't care". I was depressed but after trying too much, I stopped texting.
2 hours later, at around 1am, I get a text from her calling my name:
"Toby?"
I answer:
"Yes?"
To which she replies "I'm sorry". It kept going a bit like that until she started telling me about why she ended it. And the first reason was because we were so far apart. And I'm like, ok sure, I understand that, but why not talk to me about it rather than making me feel so shit about myself?
That kept going for a bit and a few other things happened but aren't important. Let's skip to when she arrived back home.
As she was back home, in her bed, we continued texting. And this is when she told me the second reason as to why she ended it. Which was the fact that, a week earlier, I brought up how she's going to uni soon and that I was concerned about her meeting new people there and potentially leaving me. And I guess this kinda backfired because it apparently put doubts in her head about whether or not I'd leave her. So essentially, she ended it before I could, so she wouldn't have to endure that pain.
So we talked we talked we talked, and in the end, about 4 hours of reassuring her later, we got back together.
So the next day, we started talking about the party. And that's when she opened up about something. So apparently, Frank, had approached her during the end of the party when she wanted to go home and started talking to her about how he left his old gf and blah blah blah, obviously trying to show an opening but my gf didn't show any interest, allegedly. I didn't think much of this, even though once again, I HATED it.
Now let's skip to today.
So this is where I also become an AH in this. A week ago, when I was visiting her, she logged into her Instagram on my phone because her phone died. And when I left, she didn't log out.
So curiousity got the best of me. I snooped around in her DMS. First of all, there are absolutely zero guys in her DMS. Cool. But the main reason I was snooping was actually precisely because I wanted to see what she was gossiping to her close friends about, especially on the night of the party.
And as I scroll, I see something.
In one of her DMS with her friend, she talked about the moment Frank got word that she was going to the party.
And to cut it simple, she talked about how he was excited she was coming and all that until I see:
"I feel bad"
Her friend replies:
"About what?"
To which my gf replies:
"About thinking for a second about leaving Toby for Frank".
When I read this, my heart, dropped.
The next messages were her friend saying I'm better, my gf agreeing and all that stuff.
But then my gf says "put me back on the right path please". Like what?
She then went on to say that she knew Frank wasn't worth it regardless of what she felt and that she was just flattered in that situation. "As all girls are".
Needless to say, regardless of the fact that they said I was better, that hurt me like a mf.
And then in another DM with another friend, they talked about the moment Frank approached her at the party. And essentially, they said what I said earlier but in no way did my GF say anything like "No I'm not interested" or "I have a BF". In fact, she was talking about how bad his flirting skills were with her.
I feel so down rn after having seen all of that.
But it's worth noting that my GF expressed many times before that she doesn't support cheating in any way. She HAS good values (doesn't like exposing herself, partying often all that stuff) and she is a good person overall. And she has expressed recently as well, to her friends via DMS, about how much I make her happy and that I have no red flags or whatever. And that she loves me a lot.
So I just don't know what to think or do.

TW: talk of 🍇 and S🅰️ (reddit moderators don’t like me)
Ok. this has gone on in my brain for too long and i’m ready for answers because i don’t know the answer.
in 2019, i asked this boy (when i was 13) in middle school, on a date as a dare over text. he said no cause he wasn’t interested in me and had a girlfriend. i respected that and left his phone # in my inbox. 15 minutes later, i get texts from 3 guys telling me they want to 🍇 me, have ykw with me, and saying I deserve better this kid, and other stuff that i have blurred from my memory. i hate myself for forgetting this, but from 5 years ago, im surprised i remember that this moment even happened. they would not stop spamming my inbox. obviously, i am shaking and terrified. why the heck am i getting these messages? i’m crying my eyes out. i continue to ask them to stop over and over strong but nicely but they wouldn’t stop spamming me. i also reply with a few “what the heck?”s. i finally man up and tell one of them to flip off and leave me alone. i suffer from OCD (diagnosed, OK) and i pick my bug bites, sometimes causing me to bleed. kids always notice the scars on my legs. i even once ate a scab. (disgusting, i know, but im a curious kid). this kid said “no one likes you because you pick your scabs and eat them.” i started shaking. how did he know?! i have been so secretive. without thinking, i deleted all three and went downstairs. i was scream sobbing to my mom. i told her what happens and she asks for my phone. i give it to her but the numbers were deleted. i never knew who those kids were. turns out, he posted my message on snapchat on his story and i didn’t see it because i didn’t have it then and those three guys saw my number at the top of the screen. they saw it because he didn’t crop my number. since then, i moved schools and exposed him for his acts on social media.
so reddit, am i a victim? i’m sorry if that is truly insensitive but im so so so confused and need answers.
also, any victims, please please don’t come for me. i know you know the answer, and im so sorry for any of that shit that has happened to you. i am always open to talk. i just truly need closure.

Are there any actual living people at PM Support? This is just a rant because ultimately the issues I’m describing here were resolved in favor of both parties but both times I have had to reach out to support they fix the wrong problem.
In March a sale was delivered to the buyer’s Post Office (Alaska address so this didn’t seem weird to me). The item sat at the post office awaiting pick up, so after a few days I reached out to PM Support. I briefly explained the situation and essentially asked, “how long before my funds get released?” I thought they would send an email reminding the buyer to pick up their item. A couple days later they sent me a message that they considered the item “lost”, although the tracking information clearly stated it was delivered and awaiting pick up. They refunded the buyer and released my funds. I never got any communication from the buyer and they did not open a case so idk if they ever received the item they bought. I figured best case scenario; the buyer got the item free and I still got paid, so no harm no foul.
More recently I sold a set of items that arrived to the buyer with half of the set broken. They immediately opened a case. I responded asking if the buyer wanted a partial refund or return. The buyer asked for a partial refund. I submitted a 50% refund offer. The buyer never responded to or accepted the refund offer. Again, after a few days I reached out to PM Support asking for guidance. I included a screenshot of the convo with the buyer where they asked for and I submitted the partial refund. I was essentially asking them how to resolve (close) the case if the buyer doesn’t respond to the refund that they had requested. I thought maybe they would send the buyer an email explaining that a refund offer had been submitted and instructions on how to accept the refund. However, today PM sent me a message stating that they refunded the entire purchase amount to the buyer and released my funds. They also chastised me for not packaging the item better. These were plastic candle holders that I wrapped in tissue paper, then bubble wrap bags, and a padded foam shipping material on the top and bottom of the box.
I’m glad that the issue is resolved for my buyer but a little annoyed that PM doesn’t seem to actually read the information that is provided when I reach out for help. I’m also concerned that these issues will ultimately end up counting against my account in some negative way and that if I have issues in the future PM will not address them properly again. Anyone else have problems like this with support, should I do something different next time?

So I've been seeing this girl for a while now. We have kissed already but it's nothing too serious so far. Today, she messaged me asking how I was doing. I replied that I was just heading home from another city and asked "Why do you ask?"
Suddenly, out of the blue, she responded with: I see that you're already tired of me.
I replied: What do you mean?
She answered: I feel like you’re already tired of me.
I asked: Why do you think that?
She said: Because we hardly have any contact with each other and when we do, it’s only for a short time. That makes me feel like you’re tired of me.
I replied: Well, you had your final exams recently, so I didn’t want to bother you.
She said: I told you that you never bother me.
I replied: I understand. But besides the exams, I feel like I haven't really been able to catch a common language with you.
She said: so what's next?
I replied: I don't know, maybe we should talk about it, like back when I told you about my feelings, but you ignored me?
I replied with another one: From the start, it’s been a bit awkward. I’ve tried to have conversations, but it rarely work out. (she would always answer with a really short sentence or just single word and don't ask me back anything) You never initiated any conversations, physical contacts or gave compliments, (yes, she never gave me any compliments, even a simple "you too" after my compliments towards her or something like that) so I thought you were just shy and decided to give you time to open up. I’ve been patient, but after a couple of months not much has changed. The last time I told you face-to-face that I struggle to talk with you, you didn’t say anything. No reaction at all, which honestly discouraged me a bit.
She responded: I told you I’m quiet and I can’t keep a conversation going, even if I want to. (I don’t remember her ever saying this)
Her response to the part where I mentioned telling her I struggle to talk to her face-to-face was: What was I supposed to say to that? (anything???)
Her response to my part about discouragement was: So I discouraged you, I see 🙂
I didn't respond to this because I had to think about this whole situation.
Then she sent another text: So I was right, you are tired of me. If you don’t want to have contact with me, just fucking tell me.
So, what do you guys think about this whole situation? What should I do? She seems to be manipulative and gaslight all the blame on me when I try to discuss the situation. I like her but don't know if it's worth pursuing anymore.
TL;DR: I've been seeing a girl recently, and she accused me of being tired of her due to our limited communication. Despite my efforts to be patient and understanding, She gets defensive and manipulative when I try to discuss it. Looking for advice on how to handle this situation and improve our communication.

I first found out about my mother's infidelity when I was around 8 years old, and it has never left my mind since. At that age, I didn't own a phone, so I always borrowed my mother's. One day, out of curiosity, I explored her phone and found a conversation with someone who wasn't my father. They referred to each other as "by." As a kid still navigating the world, I was confused about why my mother was calling that guy "by." Innocently, I let it slide.
As I grew older and started understanding the world better, I recalled that conversation and realized my mother was cheating on my father. At that moment, I felt disappointed, mad, and betrayed. Yet, I didn't tell a single soul—not even my mother. I couldn't face her to ask why she had done that. I was angry and scared that our family might get ruined if I told on her. So, I let it slide once again.
When I entered high school, I started checking her phone again. She let me borrow it, thinking no one knew about her infidelity. I went through her messages and found out she was still in touch with the same guy she called "by" when I was 8. Initially, I thought it was a different guy, but I connected the dots and realized it was the same person. It felt like my heart was pierced when I read their intimate conversations. Seeing how comfortably she talked with him, how they exchanged jokes, and how they told each other "I love you" pained me deeply. I was outraged and asked myself, "How can she do this to us? To my father? To our family?" But I couldn't confront her. I didn't have the courage. I was still afraid of our family falling apart and the possibility of my siblings and me having to choose whom to live with. So, I blocked the guy from my mother's contacts without her knowing. Surprisingly, they stopped communicating at that time. I hadn't found any more inappropriate conversations, and I felt a sense of relief. I felt I had finally taken action and saved our family.
Years passed, and then the pandemic came. They did not have any contact at all—at least, that's what I thought. I couldn't trust my mother after all.
Ten years have passed since I first discovered my mother's infidelity, and as an 18-year-old woman who no longer trusts my mother, I once again checked her phone. As I opened her messenger app, I trembled, and all my fears started resurfacing. I found a strange old lady's name with the guy's surname at the top of her messages. I clicked it. It was his mother's account, but it was him—the same guy from 10 years ago. The same guy my mother has been cheating with all over again. I read their conversations. He reached out to my mother first, and I was right; they had stopped communicating for years. But that doesn't really matter now that they're at it again. The guy said something, and my mother replied, "I actually don't know why I replied to you. I could've made a different choice and blocked you instead, but I didn't." I crumbled. I blamed myself for why it continued, but I also couldn't keep myself from hating my mother all over again.
I think it started just recently because I always check my mother's phone and found nothing until that recent moment. It became my habit to check my mom's phone while she slept and read their nasty conversations. Well, the guy's nasty messages to my mother—she unsent her messages after he saw them, so I really don't know what her responses were. I despised her more. She seems to be doing well with my father while also having an affair. My poor, clueless father. I really want to tell him. I badly, badly, badly want to confront my mother. But I don't want to have a broken family. I hate myself just as much as I hate my mother and the guy she's having an affair with. I don't know what to do.

I (38 F) have been married to my husband (41 M) for 7 years, this coming June and together for 9 years. We have two kids, twin boys, that are 5 months old. I'm going to give a long backstory so stay with me or scroll to the bottom for the TL;DR.
2 weeks before Mother's Day, I found out my husband had been cheating on me for at least 7 months. I used his phone to use the Lowe's app to order lawn chairs since it's tied to our Lowe's card and I wanted to use our rewards. While I was looking for the particular set I want, he received a Snapchat notification from a woman. I didn't even know he had Snapchat so it peaked my interest. During this time, my husband was mowing the grass.
I open the snap and it's a nude of a woman looking to be in her mid-20s with the caption "I miss you being inside of me". My jaw hit the floor. I started going through his text messages and there were no conversations there with other women except employees from his practice (he is a dermatologist) that were harmless.
I started looking through his Snapchat and I guess he deletes everything because there were no chats between him and this woman. I am not familiar with Snapchat so I Google how to use it while I'm trying to figure out if I can retrieve deleted messages. I don't want to spend all the time I have left of him mowing reading through articles so I give up. I do go through his friend's list and end up coming back to it to take a picture of with my phone.
I look through the rest of the apps on his phone and they all seem benign except this secure folder. I open it and there's a passcode. I try three or four until I figure it out (the date of our first date, ironically) and it opens. There are dozens of nude photos of at least 3 women, including the woman from Snapchat. I know it's the woman from Snapchat because she has a very distinct tattoo on her stomach. Not only are there nudes but there are 2 videos of this same woman giving him oral.
My heart felt like it was trying to come out of my chest. I started shaking and tears started flowing. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down and then grabbed my phone and started taking pictures of the evidence. I even recorded clips of the videos, I just couldn't watch them in their entirety.
I look through all the apps again and realize that maybe he has some hidden. So, I google hidden apps on android and follow the instructions. Three apps were hidden. Two messaging apps and a hook-up app called Adult friend finder. I debated even opening them because I was so scared of what I would find. But I ended up viewing them because knowing is better than not knowing for me.
He had been messaging at least 4 different women, including the video girl. He had sex with at least two of them that I found proof of. All messages made me sick but the video girl's messages were the worst and completely shattered my heart. I had to stop to go throw up because of the stress and anxiety.
Some messages that hurt me the most were: Her: "Tell me how much better my p***y is than your wife's." Him: "Wetter, tighter and infinitely better."
Her: *sends nude* "How does my body compare to your wife's?" Him: "There is no comparison baby, you are a goddess."
There were so many others but those two come to mind as the ones that made me feel the absolute worst. Remember, I just had twins 5 months ago. I am very insecure due to all of the changes that happened to my body and my c-section scar. I am also 25 pounds heavier than I was pre-pregnancy. My husband and I stopped having sex because it was so uncomfortable for me about 2 months before I gave birth, around the same time he started messaging these women coincidentally. We've only had sex about three times since they were born due to my insecurity issues and just being so exhausted caring for and breastfeeding twins every day. I also have a business and work from home around the twins' schedules so I can stay at home with them.
I take photos of everything, using my phone again like before. The earliest messages were sent 7 months ago so I know it had been going on for at least 7 months, while I was freaking pregnant with our twins. Oh, I also found out that the night after I had a c-section and while our newborn preemie twins were in the NICU, he met with video girl for a hook-up at her apartment. He told me he was going to get food and check on his office. With our twins being preemies, anything could have happened and he wouldn't have been there because he was with her. But, that wasn't a thought for him I guess.
I close out all the apps, make sure the hidden ones are hidden from his home screen and put his phone back exactly where I found it. I also make sure the snap notification was gone. I was nervous that he would find out about the snap that was opened but he didn't.
I call my best friend of over 33 years who is also my business partner. I tell him everything and have a good cry to let it all out. He helps me to collect myself and gives me some sound advice. He tells me to not tell my husband I found anything yet and to speak with a divorce lawyer as soon as possible. He said to meet with the best ones in my area so that they couldn't represent my husband. He offers me and the twins a place to stay at his home if I need time away from my husband, assuring me that his husband would love to have me there.
Over the next week, my BFF helps me take care of the twins while meet with 5 different divorce lawyers and end up hiring, in my opinion, the best. She tells me not to leave the family home so I end up not going to stay with my BFF. She starts the divorce paperwork immediately. During this time, I am doing my best to continue on like nothing is wrong. I want to make sure all of my ducks are in a row before he realizes what I know.
Fast-forward to Mother's Day. My husband makes me breakfast in bed, gives me very expensive jewelry, flowers, the works. I can't enjoy it, of course, because it feels so fake now that I know what he's been up to. I pretend to love it though.
My husband's father planned a cook out that afternoon for my husband's mother, sister (let's call her Julie), sister-in-law (let's call her Fran) and me. We all have infants under a year old so it's everyone's first Mother's day, except my MIL's of course. I told my husband that I didn't feel like going and he guilt-tripped me by saying that my FIL had a big surprise for me and he's been really looking forward giving it to me. So, I reluctantly agree. I ask if my BFF can come since his mother sadly passed away just under a year ago. He calls his dad and my FIL replies that of course he can come. My BFF agreed to come to offer me support since he knew it would be very difficult for me to be there.
I plan to act like nothing's wrong and try to enjoy the day since it's my first Mother's Day after all. I tell myself that I will focus on the twins and get cuddles from my two nieces. Julie has an 8 month old daughter and Fran (husband's brother's wife) has a 10 month old daughter. I'm also the closest to Julie out of all his family since we became friends 10 years ago and she's the one who introduced me to my husband.
We get there and everything is fine. My husband is helping his dad, brother (let's call him Chris), BIL (let's call him Roger) cook on the grill. My MIL and the women are taking turns holding the babies. My BFF took over the kitchen, finishing up all of the sides so the moms could relax. It started out to be a really good day. I kept myself from thinking of my husband's betrayal for the most part and focused on the family.
After we eat my MIL starts taking pictures of the family. I'm sitting on the couch and she tells my husband to sit beside me for the photo. He does and then she tells him to put his arm around me and jokingly says "pretend like you love her" and I lose it. I start to uncontrollably sob.
My MIL pulls me up and hugs me and my FIL comes over and joins in the hug. My BFF comes to stand right next to me. My FIL asks me what was wrong. I look at my BFF and he gives me a "tell if you want" look.
I tell them that I found out my husband has been cheating on me for at least 7 months. Julie gasps and everyone stares at my husband. He stands up and says "that's not true at all, why would you think that? You know you and the boys are my whole world." Everyone is silent, looking at me. I tell them all that I found messages, pictures, the hook-up app and even videos on his phone. My husband looks faint and sits back down. Nobody says anything for at least 2 minutes.
Finally, Julie asks my husband, while crying herself, why? My husband tells her that "I made a mistake, I only talked to the women, I never physically cheated." My BFF quickly replies, "Liar!" Julie then asks me what all I found. I tell them everything, the nudes, the videos of my husband receiving oral, the messages and even tell them what those horrible messages said about me. He continues to deny it! I pull up a few message photos and show them to Julie, my MIL and FIL. My husband tries to gaslight me by saying that he admitted to talking to other women but he never slept with any of them. I really don't want to show them the video but I do find a few messages where my husband and a woman talked about their previous sexual encounters. My husband again says that he admitted to talking to them but never really cheated. He literally says "if the message talks about sex it was just role playing."
Roger (Julie's husband) goes over to my husband and jerks his phone out of his hand. My husband tries to get it back but Roger is 6'7 and my husband is 6'1 so he just holds it up where my husband can't reach. He asks me what his passcode is and I tell him. He then asks me where to find things and as I start to tell him my husband grabs his phone back.
At this point my MIL, Julie and Fran are all crying. Chris starts getting upset with me. He tells me this was not the time nor place to bring this all up and that I ruined Julie and Fran's first Mother's Day. Julie speaks up and says no, my husband is the one who ruined it. Chris starts yelling and saying that our personal business needs to stay private and that I had no right to bring it up to his family and ruin the only first mother's day the women will get. Fran agrees with him and tells me I'm definitely in the wrong for bringing it up, if it even is true.
At this point both of my twins start crying. I am not going to breastfeed them there and I want to get out of that house as quick as possible. I ask my BFF to take me home and we transfer the car seats from my husband's vehicle into his. My MIL follows me outside and says that Chris was right, I should have kept it all to myself and that now future Mother's Days will be a reminder of this fiasco for everyone. I just ignore her and put the twins in the car. My husband comes outside and asks if we can please talk. I tell him no, get in the car and my BFF, the twins and I leave. I end up feeling horrible and guilty that I let it all out to everyone.
My husband didn't come home and ended up staying at his parents house and has been there the past two nights. He got my FIL to come over Sunday evening and pick up clothes, toiletries, work stuff and various other items. While he was here I asked him, did I ruin Mother's Day? He tells me no that my husband did. He said that he asked me what was wrong and I was honest. He said he understood now why the "pretend like you love her" comment caused me to breakdown. I asked him about my MIL, Chris and Fran since I know Julie and Roger aren't mad at me. He said that they are still angry with me but they will eventually get over it.
TL;DR - I found out my husband had been cheating on me for at least 7 months with multiple women, starting while I was pregnant with our twins and continuing after I gave birth. I didn't tell him I knew for 2 weeks. At a Mother's Day cookout that his family hosted for his mother, me, his sister and sister-in-law, his mother made a comment that made me break down. I ended up telling everyone about the infidelity. His brother, SIL, and mother told me I ruined his sister and SIL's first Mother's Day. and that I shouldn't have said anything about the affairs.
Am I the AH?

I (20M) found her (20F) on Tinder and after just few messages she gave me her instagram, and we found out that we are from the same university, literally the same building. Within an hour of texting she said she's not a messeging type and if I wouldn't mind seeing each other irl. (That's the context so you know why I think she likes me)
We met once in a café and then walked around this park. She is super nice, bit introverted same as me, she also likes architecture (we are studying it), etc, etc... But. We aren't able to talk. Obviously there were some basic questions about each other but other than that, we are silent. She is probably very shy, but when I try to give a new topic, there isn't this natural flow of conversation that I would hope for. Where others would progress in the conversation, she replies with just simple answers. You can feel how we both are trying to look for something to say.
We met for the second time today, I suggested we could go drawing, because it's what we both enjoy and do since we study architecture. We went to the city centre, sat on a few peaceful places and just drew. Over texts she 'sounded' very excited about it. So I feel like it was little bit better than the last time, but still... I think that she is shy, there have been a few moments though where she just randomly laughed about something and it was the most random thing, but that's exactly what kind of moments I would like to see more, because it felt without pressure, it felt natural and it was great.
If we had better, smoother conversation, she would be a dream girl I think. I think we fit personality-wise, also hobbies are similar, she is cute. But we don't have this smooth automatic conversation together.
Do you think it will get better? Or what should I do? Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

Genocide looked to the sky. He thought of his mentor. The one who had saved him. He remembered his childhood. How powerless he was. He remembered the anger. He never wanted to hurt anybody. He thought of all the times he showed compassion. How much they hurt him for it. He saw the world before him, a graveyard. Humans. People that were supposed to be made in the image of some divine creator. They were but maggots feasting upon his remains. They ate away at his very being until nothing human remained. His thoughts were no longer his own. He had no joys in life that mattered. He hated humanity more than he could love anything about himself. He remember his first killing spree. Being gunned down by police. Left for dead. He remembered a hooded figure moving towards him. Getting closer the more he neared his death. He saw its pale face. Its impossibly black eyes. It was a man. This figure in question appeared to be of Japanese nationality with long, straight, loose hair. It emanated extreme malice. It offered him a choice. A purpose. Power. He thought the figure a reaper but it identified itself as Amakusa Masataka. Masataka guided him on how to kill and gave him specific locations to kill people in. In a sense, he became a hitman for quotas of people. He inquired what Masataka was. The presence of evil, his ability to appear and disappear at will, how he could control what people could see him and what people couldn't. While vague, years of killing for this being offered some insight. Amakusa Masataka belonged to a group of people not of this world. His people had been corrupted by a dark force long ago and had aligned themselves with the warlord who had subjugated their version of Japan. Their dark high priest assisted the warlord along with two others. These four rulers in turn served a larger order. The four were tasked with bringing about the end of the current world as an act of retribution for some fallen deity. Masataka's people acted as covert operatives for this empire. They were feared across the land and were collectively referred to as "Shinigami". An agent of the coming apocalypse, a servant of evil possessed by the will of those gods of death, Genocide would walk the earth.
Genocide stepped toward the station. A police cruiser rammed into him. He pulled out a knife and stabbed the hood of the car. The inhuman force of the knife created sparks which burst the engine into flames. The car crashed into a streetlight and exploded. A second cruiser neared the scene. No way a man could have done this. Yet still, out of the fires Genocide strode forth. It set upon the second vehicle, shooting out it's tires while jumping 9 feet into the air. The car tries to reverse but crashes into a wall. Genocide lands on the hood and kicks through the front window. Glass shatters under its boot, blinding the two officers inside. Genocide shoots one of the officers with a shotgun, killing him. The second officer in the passenger seat readies his pistol and takes aim. Only two shots fired, both directed at Genocide's head. It casually cocks its neck to avoid them. Then it grabs the officer's arm, breaking it. Genocide uses its free hand to grab the officer's head and bangs it into the dashboard no less than 5 times. The skull is shattered on the final impact. Genocide jumps off the car and continues on his mission.
Detective Evans speaks through a megaphone," This is your first and final warning. Stand down or we will use any and all means at our disposal to put you down." Genocide dropped its shotgun and raised its hands. A group of five SWAT team members rushed out the station, surrounding Genocide with riot shields. An officer accompanies them, edging behind the figure to apply handcuffs. Suddenly, Genocide springs to life , grabbing the officer behind him. He flips the officer over his head, slamming him into the pavement at his feet. Then Genocide stomps his head causing it to burst. Genocide drops a flash bomb from his coat sleeve, blinding the SWAT team as he draws his knife. He drives it into one SWAT member, the knife puncturing the shield and piercing his chest. Genocide kicks the corpse away withdrawing his knife. He goes to another, this time using the end of his boot toe in a rising kick to disarm their shield. He grabs them by the throat and drives the knife slowly into their eye socket. Another is tackled to the ground and beaten to death despite still being under the shield. Another is picked up and thrown into the fires still burning from the first auto incident. In no time, Genocide stood before an indistinguishable mass of gore, blood streaking across his black leather outfit. He laughed" So this is all you can give me. I'm not entertained." Officers took aim from the station windows, and snipers did so from other rooftops. Genocide laughed maniacally as he was rained down upon from all sides by a hailstorm of bullets. His body convulsed, but he did not fall. Moments more and he was on his knees. Still though, their efforts were futile. Gracia looked out and saw a black mist coalescing around the man in black. His blood. Blood erupted from his body only to transform into this dark mist that reentered his wounds. Genocide screamed. No. It was just an elevated pitch in his laughter. Optimism failed everyone yet again. Gracia saw Genocide holding something in his right hand. She could only make out a beeping red light. Genocide pushed the button triggering the carefully concealed explosives he laid in preparation for this event. C4 explosives went off in all the places he saw fit. The sniping posts he couldn't reach. The assault of lead lightened. Then Genocide drew an RPG from...somewhere. He collected himself and fired at the station's entrance. The explosion shook the station. From inside, the lights began to flicker. Communications were down on all fronts. Had he modified the rocket with some type of EMP? Not good. Amisdst the confusion Genocide entered using smoke bombs to mask his presence. Moving like a shadow, he killed everyone in the lobby silently with his knife. He made his way to the holding cells. Still they chanted. Still they praised. Still they raved for the arrival of genocide. Genocide shot the lock opening the cell. Jim Jimenez walked out and bowed before his master. Genocide smiled. He couldn't have imagined how proficient he had gotten with possession. Well, not quite possession. He had known of the Shinigami's ability to share their thoughts and emotions with humans. Shinigami like his mentor were ancient. They had so many years of memories, such strong a hatred for life that they overwhelmed the personality of the victim. The victim sees themselves as one of them. Shinigami can't force the will of the victim, so they find those who are already similar to them in some way. Genocide found the collective universal distrust of police to be a prime sentiment to capitalize on. He armed the inmates, infecting them with samples of his own dark essence.One particular inmate caught Genocide's eye. He knew the man's work. An arsonist. The one whom he recalls was responsible for blowing up his first car way back in high school. Rather than a standard firearm, Genocide gave the man a random assortment of grenades containing a special surprise. Genocide showed them visions of anarchy, of sending a message to a society that used and disregarded them. While this was also true of how he felt, years of living in darkness had changed him. He needed no purpose. No end goal. No justification. He just wanted to watch the world burn.
Genocide's small army broke off to engage several different wings of the station. Genocide went to the security room. He found Wayne, his informant, playing some FPS on one of the monitors. Wayne took of his headphones and asked," You kill everyone yet?" Genocide responded," No. You should get going before that happens. Your life becomes fair game if I run out of pigs to cook." Wayne clapped his hands, "Aight, GC my man, say less." He packed his things and left. Genocide drew a twin pair of handguns and laid waste to the station. He followed a group that took cover in the men's restroom. Kicking open multiple stalls he was surprised to find...nothing. Where had they gone? He turned around and saw his mentor, Masataka, smiling at him. It looked like him. Long, dark hair, black clothing, and soulless, empty eyes. But it wasn't. It was Genocide's own reflection in the mirror. Genocide smiled. He didn't notice the changes at first. They must have happened gradually. Subconsciously. From the final stall, an officer sprung into action, rushing Genocide, hitting him point blank with a shockgun round. Genocide felt the tingling sensation electrifying his body and grew numb. In spite of the pain, he took a single step. Then, another. He came within striking range of the officer and snatched the shockgun. Two more officers erupted from another stall, battering him with baton strikes. Genocide felt nothing. He clutched the shockgun in his hand like a bat and went to work pulverizing his attackers. An officer kicked in the bathroom door, a woman holding a pistol. She fired multiple times to no effect. Genocide stood covered in blood. He even let her reload. Twice. He wanted to see her despair. Her hopelessness. He walked towards her, shrugging off bullets as they pierced his body. His wounds healed nigh instantly due to the dark essence he had been imbued with. He held her face with both hands, lifting her body off the ground. As she screamed, he used her head to shatter the restroom mirror, running down the full length of it while smashing her into it at several points. He dropped the remains of what he held, washed his hands with soap, dried them, then exited the restroom.
The inmates that rallied for the cause of genocide attacked the station. Fortunately, they were nowhere near Genocide in terms of power and only carried one type of firearm each. They shared his healing ability but could be killed quite easily. Gracia encountered a sniper on the end or a west wing hallway. Other officers waited behind corners unable to get close. Gracia noticed the faulty lighting. In this hallway, the lights flickered in intervals of 3 seconds. Finding a pattern and timing her movements, she rushed the sniper at the exact moment the lights went out. Running the length of the hall, Gracia zigzagged, dodging the sniper inmate's bullets. She jumped on a wall, ran 3 feet on it, then kicked off it, pouncing on the assailant. She fired five shots into him, making sure to hit the brain and the heart. Two severe injuries that were impossible for Shinigami essence to heal simultaneously. Elsewhere, Evans took on another escaped inmate. A vehicular arsonist named Carson. Carson had a bag filled with an assortment of different grenades and was happily giving them out like candy on Halloween. "A flash bang here, a bit of tear gas there. Oh. Wait! Was that an ice grenade? Did the explosion freeze your leg to the floor? Whoops. Maybe a fire grenade will melt that for you. Hold on let me get one fore you," Carson rambled gleefully. Evans looked at the carnage before him. Officers burning. Officers partially frozen in blocks of ice. He took a breath and aimed his wristgun. He steadied his right forearm. Carson readied to throw a random grenade. Evans shot it the moment it left Carson's hand. The grenade exploded directly in front of Carson. Both Evans and Carson looked at each other in shock. Confetti. A party grenade? Carson quickly fumbled for another but was tackled and restrained by several officers. Meanwhile in the South wing, Lary had some colleagues set a trap for another shotgun toting inmate. He had them bait the inmate and flee. Giving chase he turned a corner and ran straight into Lary's fist. The inmate recovered and motioned to shoot Lary. "Let's tango. " Lary gave the code word. Nearby officers activated a device. A signal jammer of sorts. The inmate shoved the barrel of his gun into Lary's gut and pulled the trigger. Nothing. The special signal jammer in question was designed for firearms. It was a last resort as it left officers just as defenseless. Lary was having fun. He boxed the inmate in hand to hand combat. Despite the inmate's enhanced strength, Lary's technique pulled through. Lary ducked under one of the inmate's wide punches and did some type of rising uppercut where he jumped off the ground while spinning. One of the other officers whispered" The rising dragon." Lary smiled giving a thumbs up" Yeah, it was a rising dragon uppercut. Saw it in one O my kid's vidya games. Thought I'd try it out while I'm jacked on adrenaline".
Jim Jimenez looked long and hard at himself in the mirror. He was in the women's restroom. Some brainless woman had broken the men's restroom mirror with her face. For the first time in a long while Jim could think clearly. He was becoming sane. At the least he was no longer a raving lunatic. The life essence of the dark gods had healed the wounds to both his body and his mind. He saw his face, his scraggly dirty beard. He found a razor and shaved. He trimmed his beard somewhat. He liked it. He washed his hair. It fell down his face like silk, no longer greasy. His bloodshot eyes once burning with crazed intensity had cooled. He blinked. Just for a second, he saw the man known as Genocide. The man that attacked him. The one that killed him and gave him new life. The drug dealers. The police. They were all the same in his eyes now. They were all to blame for the world being what it is. Jim wanted to hate them. He wanted to take revenge, but he felt nothing. It didn't matter. He knew he was wronged, could logically justify acting against them, but he just didn't care anymore. About anything. He was finally free. Sensing his presence was no longer needed here, Jim vanished into the night. He needed to find someone who had had the answers he needed. Himself. Who had he been? Who was he now? Who could he become? Where was he going? So many questions to ponder indefinitely. So much time left in the rest of his life.
Genocide ran down the station's halls raining hailstorms of bullets upon its occupants. He had a handgun in each hand as well as a wristgun on each wrist. This effectively gave him 4 separate firearms that he could use simultaneously. Lary regrouped with Gracia, Evans, and a handful of others. They radioed all surviving officers near Genocide to flee to the roof. This plan had been set in motion days before the assault and had been kept hidden from most of the force. The plan involved scheduling flights for several helicopters to arrive at some point after Genocide arrived. There would be no way for him to prepare for them and pre-scheduling their arrival ensured they arrived regardless of if they were called or not. Lary and the others set about preparing the second jamming device. Genocide stood among a hallway of bodies. He saw one man clinging to life trying to crawl away. He decided on trying that other thing he saw his master do. He grabbed the dying man and pinned him to the wall. Slowly he drove a knife into his chest. As the man's life slipped away, something else entered his body. Genocide channeled a small amount of his essence into the vessel. He had steadily done this with other casualties around the station whose bodies were somewhat salvageable. He dropped the body he was holding and looked upon the others. He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, his eyed were black, both sclera and iris. The scene before him changed. Genocide had a vision. He saw a dead gray wasteland littered with bodies. These people however weren't cops and wore traditional Japanese attire. In his hand wasn't a gun or knife but a short sickle akin to a farming tool. He heard a dark voice call out to him. Slowly, the corpses around him began to rise, now mere puppets bound eternally to their master's whim. The bodies sold to the reaper who had claimed their lives. Genocide's vision ended. His eyes had returned normal. Around him, dead cops began to rise. His dark essence had entered their bodies and reanimated them. He sent his dead army to attack the officers fleeing to the roof of the station. These zombies swarmed the stairwell giving chase to the few survivors. There were five of them. They had two flights of stairs to climb and a horde of their former colleagues close behind them. One officer tripped and was set upon by the horde. The zombies didn't bite them but held them firmly in place. The other four officers stared down wondering what to do. They could hear Genocide chuckling. They could hear humming. They could feel the temperature rising. Their colleague and the two zombies holding him were hit by an enormous green fireball. Genocide had fired a Magnum Opus and had charged the bullet to level 3. The Magnum Opus was simply a magnum that shot fireballs, with bullets that could be charged by holding down the trigger. It had three levels of charges. Level 1 was a small reddish ball of plasma. Level 2 was slightly larger and yellow. Level 3 was the maximum charge and resulted in a large slow moving green blast of energy. The officer was ignited and Genocide watched gleefully as the force of the blast sent him flying through a wall. The four officers continued up firing occasionally to slow down the zombies. Soon they made it to a door leading to the roof. Before one officer could reach it, he was sniped by Genocide, a bullet to the head killing him instantly. The remaining three made it out. They regrouped with the others already there, 12 in total, including Lary, Evans, and Gracia. This would be their final stand. They just had to hold out until Genocide made it up there. They just had to keep Genocide occupied until the helicopters arrived. Genocide slowly ascended the stairs behind his horde. On the roof, the remaining survivors faced off against waves of the undead. Evans recognized the attackers. These zombies were being controlled by nanomachines. He heard the stories of several weapons encountered by soldiers on the battlefield. These creatures were called Metaldeads as they were reanimated via machines. They had been officially banned by most of the worlds' governments for being unethical. However, this did not stop the technology from being spread still between shady organizations, terrorists, etc. Evans wondered how Genocide got this form of nanotechnology. Evans long speculated that the dark essence used by most of the killers they encountered was a a form of nanotech however it was different from anything else he had seen or heard about. The dark essence seemed to be an amalgamation of other types of nanotech. Evans had to save his inquiries for later. He reloaded his wristgun and took aim at the approaching group of Metaldeads. Gracia steadied her handgun and shot two Metaldeads in the head. From the single door countless arms seemed to spill forth from the darkness. The other officers took turns firing in intervals. this allowed them to create a steady stream of fire where no more that three guns needed to be reloaded at once. The horde seemed to thin out over time as if they were making progress. In actuality, the Metaldeads were just making room for Genocide to enter. Genocide exploded in a sprint from the door. Everyone fired upon the killer. Genocide had now chosen a wrist mounted mini flamethrower to use as his weapon. He stormed past the oncoming bullets taking some damage, but refused to slow down. He unleashed a stream of fire that caught five of the officers in one fell swoop. Gracia fired five rounds into Genocide's face. He stumbled back. Lary took the chance to fire several mine gun bullets at Genocide's feet. The mines quickly detected his movement and exploded. In seconds, Genocide was on his back.
Staring at the night sky Genocide saw the moon. He reached for it. He called for the darkness to give him more power. His wounds began healing. In the sky he could hear the whirl of propellers. There were six helicopters in total. The first two had evacuated the survivors while the others stayed to engage Genocide. Genocide got up and unstrapped the sniper rifle from his back. He stood before the searchlights as a black silhouette, cornered but unwilling to back down. Lary stared down at him smiling. "Okay!" He shouted, "Let's Tango!" Upon this declaration the second jamming device was activated. Now, isolated on the roof, Genocide's guns couldn't be fired and the helicopters were out of range of the device. Now Genocide stood like a sitting duck. A helicopter fired a rocket. Genocide side stepped and grabbed it. He turned his body redirecting the rocket to hit another helicopter. As it exploded Genocide drew his knife and threw it at another helicopter. Behind the knife was such force that it shattered the helicopter window's glass, embedding itself in the pilot. This helicopter too went down where it exploded. "Holy clucknuggets!Did you see that!?" Lary said dumbfounded. Evans looked out the helicopter door he was in jaw open in shock. "There's no way." He collected himself quickly and radioed the remaining two helicopters to keep moving and to use their machineguns as much as possible. The helicopters reigned down upon Genocide tearing apart his body. Shreds of leather and darkened blood sprayed across the pavement of the roof. Gracia watched as Genocide's body was destroyed repeatedly as it tried to heal. Surely he had to stop at some point. After 10 minutes the helicopters had exhausted their cache of ammunition and soldiers opted to fire their own rifles and occasionally throw grenades. After about six minutes, they too had run out of bullets. Genocide stood unfazed. He had long since healed himself and now appeared intangible with gunfire seeming to pass through his body. His coat once ripped , now appeared whole though on closer inspection seemed to writhe. Gracia looked in horror as she remembered the tales her adopted father had told her. Tales he had in turn heard from his predecessors. Every so often officers had reported encounters with ghost like beings cloaked in a cloud of living dark mist. The beings were rumored to be responsible for the deaths of multiple people ranging from scientists, veterans, mafia, politicians, etc. They were seen near such crime scenes and even more shockingly appeared around several sites where suicides were committed. These beings were reportedly impervious to bullets and filled anyone who got near with an impending sense of dread. If Genocide was connected to them or somehow turning into one , there was little chance they would be able to defeat him. Gracia's fears were confirmed when she saw that Genocide's leather coat had been destroyed and he had replaced it with the dark mist coalescing from his own spilled blood. The dark mist, swirling, grew larger and several tendrils sprouted out from it. Gracia could briefly make out a figure standing next to Genocide. A hooded figure cloaked in the same black substance. The figure stared up at her with soulless, blackened eyes which seemed to beckon her to jump from the aircraft she was standing in. Compelling her to give in to the death that plagued the earth. Genocide kneeled to his master. The Shinigami, Masataka stared down at his disciple. "You have done a great service to us. Even now the sealed god stirs in its slumber. Its...Awakening will soon be upon us. It calls out for war. It begs for famine. It longs to continue its conquest. We are the death it so desires. The death that is necessary for this civilization to grow. Use the power that I have bestowed upon you. Finish the mission as you see fit." The Shinigami vanished and Genocide stood.Genocide stared at his hands. He remembered the first killing spree. He was on a bus. It stopped. A woman got on the bus and walked to the back smiling as she passed him. Something about her eyes unnerved him. They were so bright but something dark reflected inside them. He ignored the thought and put in his headphones. In minutes he had dozed off. He jumped awake. He looked around and froze in panic. All around him, everyone had been hacked to pieces. He saw the driver, actively being stabbed by a masked assailant. The mask, painted white with black eyeholes, stared back at him. It raised a finger over where its lips would be. Even under the expressionless visage, he could feel that same smile. He ran home that morning. He went to his room to find it destroyed. His posters, his computer, his tv, everything, had been ruined. He turned around and saw a man at the end of the hallway holding a sledge hammer. "The hell you been, boy?", his stepdad sneered. The man dropped his hammer and walked closer, veins pulsing with rage. He tried to explain how his car had caught fire forcing him to walk 4 miles to the nearest bus stop, but the man's fist was faster than his words. "Boy!Answer me when I talk to you!!" the man says as he backhands the taste out of the would be Genocide's mouth. He took that beating for several minutes before being left to stare at his ransacked room. He hated how his stepdad went out of his way to destroy the things he loved. Soon, another set of footsteps could be heard. It was his mother standing behind his locked door. She didn't knock, or say anything. She just stood there, doing nothing as always. He never knew if she came to talk to him or apologize. All he knew was that she could never bring herself to speak to or even acknowledge him. Maybe out of guilt or perhaps shame. A year or two later after he had had enough he ran away from home. Living out on the streets alone, without friends, or family, he would embark on countless killing sprees. These killings weren't of his own volition however. He was coerced by some corrupt officers from The Unit. They made him kill on their behalf. Sometimes they were protesters, sometimes they were drug dealers, other times, petty criminals they couldn't be bothered to process. It was routine for him to be used to kill entire houses of drug riddled addicts. During one such venture he entered a drug den, killing the dealer as instructed. He took out several junkies before turning to leave. A woman who survived her injuries clung to his heel begging him to stop. Looking down he aimed the handgun he was carrying at her head of long disheveled brown hair and fired. Feeling nothing, he kicked her body aside like trash when it hit him. Her face. This woman had been his mother. What was she doing in a place like this? He felt a shock of emotion. He wondered if she had always been like this, or had she changed after he left. He never made amends, but decided to stop killing from then on. The unit did not like that. Once it became apparent that he was no longer of use to them they started a manhunt to apprehend him with lethal force. They found him. They killed him. But he survived.
He remembered the girl on the bus. He remembered her eyes. Those of a sadistic killer. Still there was something else inside them. Something faint but deeper. So. Much. Sadness. Just like him. He felt the hatred begin to spread. His purpose, he decided, was to make all humans rot in the hell they created for him.
These people, he thought to himself, these living diseases, all needed to die. Their struggles, their problems, they spread like cancer to others. The only cure for humanity's sin, its collective wrongdoings, was genocide.
Around him, dark tendrils continued to form and expand, spinning in a vortex. Genocide pulled out two pistols. He squeezed the triggers to no effect. "As I see fit, huh? Hehe." He squeezed both guns in his hands, breaking them into pieces. He concentrated. In his hands, two more guns materialized now completely black due to being forged from the dark essence. Forged by his will. Immune to the jamming device that shut down conventional firearms. He raised his arms at each remaining helicopter and opened fire. Countless tendrils whipped out and slashed at his targets joining the dark essence bullets. It was chaos. Dark tendrils and bullets tore through every direction as Genocide spun and swirled around in 360 degrees firing randomly with purpose. A tendril pierced Gracia's right arm, another, her abdomen. She was however, fortunate, as the other passengers of her helicopter were dismembered. She barely had time to jump from the vehicle before it crashed. She fell 2 yards onto solid concrete. She felt immense pain as her right shoulder shattered on impact. She looked up to see Genocide's blade like appendages ripping through the other escape helicopters. She rolled onto her back and tried to steady herself. Within seconds her body began to repair itself. The nanocells inside her had saved her life but were now depleted. She would need another supplement lest she receive another fatal injury. The standard nanocells she and the others had were much less potent than those of the killers they faced. In truth, they had only minimal strength boosts being able to lift 5-8 more pounds than before and healing being limited to one or two fatal injuries so long as death didn't occur instantly. Gracia blacked out. She awoke the next morning in a hospital. There the doctors refilled her nanocells. She learned that the station had been left in ruins. Genocide had detonated some type of minature nuke following his rampage. He always blew up the stations as if to send a message. Gracia looked out the window thinking about why she became a cop. Twice her family had been murdered by them. Her biological family had been killed in an on record drug raid committed by a group of corrupt officers called The Unit. She had been adopted by another officer that arrived at the scene who found her as a child hiding in a closed. Sadly, he too was killed for trying to expose the activities of The Unit. Gracia joined the force to avenge both losses and bring justice to the killers that disguised themselves as normal people. Law enforcement was neither good, nor bad. It depended upon the people that made it up. In the dying corrupt world Gracia lived in, she vowed to be a beacon of light. Evans laid in a bed adjacent to Lary. "That damn Genocide's somethin else in' he?Like the stories you told us were understatements. That man could legit not die at this point in the story. Like he has friggin plot armor or somthin.'' Evans cut him off" I get it. We all got our asses handed to us. But did you see that ..thing that appeared next to him. Right before he created that black vortex that wiped us out. That must have something to do with his power. Maybe there's a still a way to stop him."Lary chimed in," That fella looked like he was on the way to a black metal concert wit all the black facepaint he was wearin' Creeped me out to be honest." As the survivors mulled over their predicament, the cycle of evil continued to spread elsewhere.
Budley flips through the pages of a magazine. He checks his watch. He looks around the gas station and doesn't see any customers. Seizing the opportunity, he puts in his headphones and begins playing an imaginary guitar as he jams to a progressive deathcore album. Oblivious to the screams coming from outside, the store clerk moves on to thumping two candy bars on the counter to simulate drums. Budley sees that his shift has ended and begins locking up the store. He sweeps the aisles and jumps as a shadow appears behind him. He turns and sees a well groomed bearded man dressed in a black hoodie, black shirt, and black and gray camo pants. The man holds out his hand and smiles. Budley rings up the pack of nicotine substitute gum. "Tryin to kick the habit huh?" Budley asks. The man replies, "Somethin like that. Gotta get my priorities back in check. Focus on the things that really matter. That damn KonCreep's a hell of a band aren't they?" He nods to the playlist on Budley's phone. "Yeah, they're killer. just got into them a month back." Budley answers. "You know, I'm something of a musician myself. Maybe you'll hear of me on the news someday." Jim Jimenez says as he sees himself out. He walks to the back of the building and passes an ominous form of graffiti. A woman lays unmoving and above her, written on concrete in red is a message that simply says "Genocide Reigns".

Genocide Reigns
(note: I'm an indie game developer making an action/horror title called Phantasphere. This story is a spin off set in the same universe)
Year 2480X Ryze County Police Department
He's coming. The ensuing panic spread like a virus infecting all present with symptoms of looming dread. Officers worked steadfast to prepare also taking what time remained to train the few combat hardened civilians whom had fled to the station earlier. If only they knew. This demon that presented itself as a man had led a string of senseless massacres across the country. Only recently had it begun to prioritize police stations and army bases as a means of breaking the will of civilians who knew they would be next. Officers from several counties across the states were transferred here for this last stand. This Genocide must not continue. Gracia checked her pistol. Some 20 bullets remained. "I can do this", she thought, "I have to". She had dealt with similar cases before. Some poor soul is overtaken by some inextricably evil force and makes it their life's work to propagate death. Gracia had killed quite a few already. Live arrests weren't always possible. Beyond saving, careful interrogations of the scarce live catches yielded a startling connection. These killers all alluded to a well of overwhelming hatred and despair that consumed them after making eye contact with...Pale, black eyed entities. Some type of demon? Ghost maybe? The idea seemed nonsensical, but there was evidence nonetheless that some outside force was using them to fulfill some unknown purpose. At the present time, all they could do was stop the killers after they had killed. It was always too late by then and more would appear randomly elsewhere. What good could be done here in an isolated station hoping to stop one guy out of possibly hundreds? "The guy we're waiting for is different from the others," detective Evans spoke from the center of a crowd nearby. Gracia moved in closer. "The others typically strike from the shadows, hide their faces behind masks, and prefer to get up close and personal with their victims. What we're dealing with is on a completely different scale. The trail of bloodshed this guy leaves is too difficult for the media to cover up. He loves the spectacle. Headlining the news. We can't keep using the burst pipeline excuse for 6 stations being destroyed in a row. We have to stop him before the world at large finds out. You wonder why we need so many people here? Its simple. We're gonna out-man this one man. He always attacks stations through the front door. Like other killers he's fast, strong- you know the usual, but he also uses guns." "What!", a voice rang out from the crowd. "They aren't supposed to do that!" another gasped. Officer Lary spoke with a cheesy grin" Ya tellin' me we just gotta deal with a regular ass gunman eh? That's a welcome change of pace init? Heck I'm too old to be running around being chased like I'm in some scary movie". The detective rebutted" You don't get it. He uses guns. Not a handgun, not rifles, not boom sticks, not rpgs, not knives not grenades but ALL of them. He uses guns. Plural. It'll take essentially an army to match his arsenal. He used to be a man named -redacted-, but in his pursuit of chaos he has become Genocide." A dark form manifests from the night outside the station. Genocide is coming.
Bang! something slams into the front door. Everyone freezes. Officer Tatum edges slowly to it, shockgun in hand. By no means lethal, the shockgun was lighter, easy to control, and could stun targets temporarily. If Genocide was here, Tatum could stun him and duck for cover leaving the station free to light him up like a Christmas tree. That was the plan they came up with. He got closer to the glass door and peered outside. He was met with hate filled bloodshot eyes framed by an unkempt beard and wild straggly hair. Tatum felt some relief. He knew the man outside. It was Jim Jimenez. Jim was a former drug dealer turned informant. He was found out and had to flee from his old life. He became homeless, hiding in plane sight. This allowed him safety at the cost of his mental health. Tatum knew the man, but those eyes were not his. Tatum blinked and saw that the look of malice had vanished. What he instead saw was a helpless, wounded man, bleeding from the right arm pleading for help. Tatum looked behind Jim, eyeing the empty lot. The coast seemingly clear Tatum unlocked the door and let Jim in. Jim had been roaming the town looking for shelter and tried squatting in an abandoned looking apartment complex. There he found that the building contained several murdered families some succumbing to gunshots but the majority having met their end to fire and suffocation. Jim had decided to make his way to the station to tell police what happened and met trouble on the way. He described getting stabbed by a man wearing a trench coat with long dark hair. Despite the injuries, Jim could move surprisingly well and seemed to ignore the pain. Jim insisted that the man had spared him on the condition he deliver a message. "What message?" Tatum asked. Jim beckoned him to come closer. Tatum leaned in and Jim whispered, "Tell them. Tell them that Genocide is coming closer." The following events were a blur. Jim had concealed the knife he was stabbed with. He stabbed Tatum 4 times in the chest and wrestled his shockgun away. Using Tatum as a shield, Jim engaged everyone in the lobby. Jim wasn't himself. He was stronger. He was faster. He was tactical. He would stun an officer in place only to stab them and use their as a body shield. No one could get a clear shot without hitting a colleague. Gracia watched the scene unfold. In minutes Jim had acquired a magnum from the holster of one of his victims. In seconds 3 officers had their heads exploded. The magnum rounds coated the walls red with those they hit and stained the clothes of those they missed. Gracia felt fear rising in her chest. She calmed herself and tried to think. She saw the bodies on the ground. The blood. She saw how dismissively Jim stepped over them. Like they were nothing. Like trash. She saw the man firing erratically into groups of people, not so much to kill but as to cause panic. That's it! As Gracia contemplated her next move it hit her. She was knocked backwards and landed on the ground. She weakly clutched her chest. Her breathing grew shallow. Jim mad his way deeper into the station. The officers were retreating from their standoff. Jim stepped over her body and saw red staining her uniform. Just another casualty. He moved on. At this point the civilians began panicking. Everyone gave up trying to save their allies and fired blindly at the madman. "Don't shoot the messenger," Jim laughed as he stripped his latest meat shield of an automatic rifle. Detective Evans took cover behind an overturned desk. To his left Larry struggled to light a cigar. "You still think this is a cakewalk?" Evans shouted firing 2 quick shots from his gun before ducking back down. Lary lost hold of his lighter and it clattered on the ground." Crap." He reached for it and looked in the corner of the room. A mirror. He looked at it for what seemed like ages and his smirk returned " Y'know that mex'n gal with the short hair. Where is she? I didn't see her get shot." Evans glanced a peak at Jim spraying lead in all directions. Behind him was a corpse. Evans blinked. It seemed to be getting closer. Its her. Gracia painstakingly inched her way into Jim's blind spot. She was roughly 6 feet away from him. Flanking him seemed like a brilliant idea but waiting idly by for the right moment as the people around her died filled her with anger. Worse still, she had to steal a blood soaked shirt from one of the deceased officers to keep up the facade. Inching ever so steadily she mad it within 3 feet of Jim. She reached behind her belt and unclipped a pair of handcuffs. Screams could be heard as more people were hit. Gracia couldn't wait any longer. Fluidly she got to her feet and rushed Jim. She kicked the back of his knee causing him to stumble as she put the handcuffs on him. Figuratively. The handcuffs were around Jim's neck. She yanked him back causing his gun to drop. "You don't know what you're doing." Jim spat. "We all need to accept it. The end of days is upon us. Death rides his horse through these forsaken lands. We must serve or be sacrificed in turn. Accept it!"He elbowed Gracia in the ribs causing her to let go. He spun around and lunged at her. She landed on her back, Jim steadily choking her. Gracia thought fast. She couldn't struggle. Jim was too strong. She delivered a precise chop to the center of Jim's neck which was exposed. Jim lurched back to catch his breath. A clean shot. A bullet pierced through Jim's back. Weakened, Gracia rolled him over and began punching him repeatedly using the handcuffs as brass knuckles. The sound of Jim's skull cracking echoed through the station. This would go on for nearly 20 seconds before Gracia stopped, checked his pulse, confirmed Jim was still alive, then finally put the cuffs on Jim's wrists.
Click. Bodies are wrapped and moved to a makeshift storage room. Click. The available weapons are gathered and redistributed. Click. Officers are assigned to sniping positions on neighboring buildings. Click. Police cruisers circle the lot outside. Click. In the holding cell, Jim opens his eyes. Click. Lary flicks his lighter. Click. Gracia sips coffee from a paper cup. Click. Shells hit the ground at the feet of Genocide. Click. Genocide walks outside a cafe and looks at the station in the distance. Click. Lary clicks his lighter.
"All ya'll gon' fall," Jim ranted." You can't drain the ocean. You can't put out the sun. Evil will always exist. That there Genocide is proof . I saw him. Saw myself within his eyes. Saw the evil in me that I could no longer try to hide. He taught me to embrace the darkness within. Its in all of us begging to be let out. Can you hear it!" Lary clicked his lighter and got up from his chair. He grabbed a cup of liquor from another officer mid sip and walked over to Jim. He doused it on Jim, the liquid stinging his open wounds. Jim yelped. Across the station, radios blurred to life. Several of their lookouts on the outside had been killed. "He's gon' get ya," Jim smiled imitating Lary's signature grin. "Genocide! Genocide! Genocide!" The other inmates saw the chance to irritate Lary and joined in all shouting in unison,"Ge-No-Cide! Ge-No-Cide! Ge-No-Cide!" The chanting grew louder. Unbearable. They invoked upon the name of the beast, and so it came.
Genocide is upon us. A wave of dread spread across the officers. They could feel its presence. Gracia knew the sensation. The awful aura that the other killers gave off. This was different. Far more oppressive. She struggled to breathe as the air got colder. Her instincts screamed for her to run. She could only imagine what the others were going through. Its time. Across the lot Genocide stood. A siren blared over the intercom. "Everyone get into positions!" Evans yelled. Wayne finished setting the last of the c4 near the station entrance. "That's the last of them. Have remote triggers set around all the major hallways. I'll be in the security room ready to pull the switch." Wayne acted as an explosives expert. His job was to detonate bombs placed throughout the station to slow down Genocide should it enter the building. He would stay in the security room, monitoring the cameras and giving real time updates on the officers' positions. From the holding cell, inmates chanted for Genocide. Lary got off his phone" That bastard mixed us up. How did we not notice?" Evans asked what he meant. Lary, dumbfounded, said that most of the town was already dead. Genocide had broken his usual pattern. He went on a killing spree across a defenseless town BEFORE attacking the police station. They had let everyone down. The people they swore to protect. This Genocide was a monster, but he was still a man. Capable of learning from his past actions. Planning. Adapting. It wasn't in his style to stealthily kill his victims or even use a silencer on any of his guns, but an exception had been made for tonight. An exception that would cost them. Gracia was stationed on the second floor. She peered out the window. Her heart skipped a beat. Two cruisers made slow donuts patrolling the lot and standing unmoving between them was a man all in black. Gracia called in to Wayne asking if he saw anything outside. Wayne said the monitors were all clear then checked again. He cursed. He noticed small details were off. The cameras showing the outside of the station were wrong. Sure they showed the same scenery and weather but cars passed by on screen too frequently for a dead town. Too many to make sense for the quarantine they had set in place. Wayne concluded that the cameras had been hacked. Different prerecorded footage was being shown on the live feed to misdirect them. Gracia saw the man look up at her. A light rain started to fall. The officers patrolling outside were contacted. From the holding cells, inmates called for genocide.

Hello there! I am Betfair’s Virtual assistant, here to get you the quickest answer possible. Click below to start chatting. You at 17:31, May 14: I don’t seem be able to use this bonus I don’t seem be able to use this bonus Read Betfair at 17:31, May 14:
In order for me to transfer you to the correct agent who'll resolve your query, please select which button is most relevant to your query below. 👇 You at 17:31, May 14: Promotional Issue Read Betfair at 17:31, May 14:
Pick an option that describes your issue best You at 17:31, May 14: Other Read Betfair at 17:31, May 14:
You will now be transferred to a customer service agent who can help. Betfair at 17:31, May 14:
Please be aware it may take a moment or two for our agents to get back to you Info at 17:31, May 14: You are being transfered to another agent Info at 17:31, May 14: This is Simreen and I will be looking after your query today. I will aim to reply within 2 minutes. You at 17:32, May 14: Hi Simreen I don’t seem to be able to use this bonus, it does not show as an option in any bet I have made since receiving this promotion and completing the requirements Read You at 17:34, May 14: Preview attachment Read Simreen at 17:34, May 14: Hey Craig hope you are doing great today 😊
Sorry to hear that ,I can see your query is about using your promotional offer,
May i know is this a excahnge promo or games please ? You at 17:34, May 14: I have sent a screenshot as an attachment are you able to view it Read Simreen at 17:35, May 14: yes as i see and yah i got this it is related to games please be connected i shall transfer you to our relevant team You at 17:35, May 14: thank you Read Info at 17:36, May 14: You are being transfered to another agent Info at 17:36, May 14: This is Sachin and I will be looking after your query today. I will aim to reply within 2 minutes. You at 17:37, May 14: hi Sachin are you up to date on the issue I’m having or do I need to start copy and pasting? Read Sachin at 17:37, May 14: Hey Craig, hope you are doing good. I can see that your query is regarding games.
Could you please give me 5-10 minutes to look into your query? You at 17:39, May 14: I don’t have too long to be honest, and my query is regarding a promotion that I was awarded however the sportsbook free bets the £5 I have won show up next to my balance however every bet I have tried to make since completing the requirements hasn’t had the usual tick box option in the stake window on sports book Read You at 17:40, May 14: thanks for taking the time to wait for my response….. not Read Sachin at 17:43, May 14: Thanks for waiting, You can use the £5 bonus on Bet Builder only. You at 17:43, May 14: please elaborate… Read Sachin at 17:44, May 14: To get you an answer, I need to transfer you to our specialized team who will be able to help you. You at 17:44, May 14: Seriously? Read You at 17:44, May 14: hmm ok Read Info at 17:44, May 14: You are being transfered to another agent Info at 17:44, May 14: This is Debapriya and I will be looking after your query today. I will aim to reply within 2 minutes. You at 17:45, May 14: hi Read Debapriya at 17:45, May 14:
Hi Craig , hope all is well. I will be happy to assist you with your bet query. Could you kindly bear with me for 5-10 minutes whilst I look into your query for you please? You at 17:46, May 14: Sure Read You at 17:48, May 14: Debapriya? Read Debapriya at 17:50, May 14:
Allow me to check for you please kinldy bear with me. You at 17:52, May 14: I’m waiting as patently as possible Read You at 17:54, May 14: … Read Debapriya at 17:55, May 14:
OK as I can see this 5 free bet you have received is from exchange promotion so allow me to transfer you to our exchange team and they will assist you with this. You at 17:55, May 14: no no Read You at 17:55, May 14: dpnt transfer me again Read You at 17:55, May 14: your having a laugh at my expense here Read You at 17:55, May 14: this will be the 3rd transfer Read You at 17:56, May 14: 30mins has pass total… so far.. for something that’s supposed to keep me loyal Read You at 17:56, May 14: this a joke..? Read Debapriya at 17:56, May 14:
No not at all this is related to exchange and they will guide you with this as I am not dealing with exchange related queries sorry. You at 17:56, May 14: this is not an exchange promo Read You at 17:56, May 14: its a sport book promo Read You at 17:57, May 14: It says it on the screenshot Read You at 17:57, May 14: Preview attachment Read You at 17:58, May 14: I will just cancel my Betfair account if this gets transferred and I will be making a very seriously worded complaint to the licensing ombudsman Read Debapriya at 17:59, May 14:
Yes but its related to exchange I cannot check this for you so please allow me to transfer to them and they will sort this issue for you. Info at 17:59, May 14: You are being transfered to another agent Info at 17:59, May 14: This is Alexandra and I will be looking after your query today. I will aim to reply within 2 minutes. You at 18:00, May 14: Let me know when’s you’ve got this sorted out Read You at 18:00, May 14: this an absolute joke of a service Read Alexandra at 18:02, May 14:
Hi there Craig, I hope you are doing well today . My apologies as it seems you have been incorrectly connected, Please do bear with me whilst I pass you through accordingly. Info at 18:02, May 14: You are being transfered to another agent You at 18:02, May 14: Is it home time am I getting transferred again…? Read Info at 18:02, May 14: This is Yasmine and I will be looking after your query today. I will aim to reply within 2 minutes. Yasmine at 18:03, May 14:
Hey Craig, hope you are doing well today!
Thank you for the above, Please give me around 5 minutes to read the above and look at what issue you are having. You at 18:04, May 14: My phone runs on electric…. And it’s been 30 mins with my screen left unlocked for this jokes… any paying my electric bill for this “chat”? Read You at 18:04, May 14: carbon foot print very big…? Read You at 18:06, May 14: Is it home time at wherever you’re messaging me from… am I getting transferred again..? Read You at 18:08, May 14: Time spent can never be refunded… Read You at 18:09, May 14: how do I make a complaint about this please..? Read You at 18:10, May 14: I’m happy to just share this conversation with social platforms… there is plenty of dirt on Betfair… I was hoping it was wrong Read You at 18:11, May 14: 40 minutes… + 40 minutes… + Read Yasmine at 18:12, May 14:
I am sorry for taking long as I was looking into it for you however I can see that you are asking as to why you are not able to use the bonus.
I can see that the offer you have in the screenshot is not on your account as the bonuses came from 2 different offers:
The £3 bonus came from the link below:
https://promos.betfair.com/promotion?promoCode=CASTARALL150424P
And the other £2 bonus came from the link below:
https://promos.betfair.com/promotion?promoCode=CASBFSELMID You at 18:12, May 14: Agent is waiting to clock off for the day Read You at 18:13, May 14: Right this isn’t helpful at all… Read You at 18:13, May 14: and what you’re saying in incorrect Read You at 18:14, May 14: It came from the promotions page on the casino tab of the sportsbook apple iPhone app.. Read You at 18:15, May 14: It was to spend £20 on gods storm wind.. Read You at 18:16, May 14: for a £5 bonus free bets on the sportsbook Read You at 18:17, May 14: i have screenshots of the terms and conditions specific for the offer…. And obviously I have the general promotion terms.. Read You at 18:17, May 14: this I feel with what you are saying must be some sort of false advertising Read Yasmine at 18:17, May 14:
I am sorry however from our side it shows that the bonus came from those offers.
In that case I will need a link please of the offer to look further into it for you. You at 18:18, May 14: really? ok… Thank you for the above, Please give me around 5 minutes to read the above and look at what issue you are having Read You at 18:20, May 14: https://promos.betfair.com/promotion?promoCode=GAMXSB20G50905 Read You at 18:21, May 14: Hello…? I’ve have taken the time to point you to the promotional offer offered by the company you work for… and yet I’m still being made to wait…? Read You at 18:22, May 14: Is this a scam..? Read You at 18:22, May 14: I’m feeling like it’s a scam… Read You at 18:22, May 14: are you really working for Betfair..? Or am I being hacked? Read Yasmine at 18:23, May 14:
Thank you for that. Can you please send me a screenshot of the betslip that you are trying to use the bonus on?
Make sure that you are trying to use it on a bet builder.
And yes I am sure that I work at Betfair, That is why I am trying my best to help you. You at 18:25, May 14: you’re not helping you’re making continue to do a job that I’m not paid for.. i will not be jumping through any more hoops for you. I’m copying and screenshotting this absolute joke that you call “helping” Delivered Conversation closed by you at 18:25, May 14: Survey Bot at 18:25, May 14: Your conversation is now closed. Survey Bot at 18:25, May 14: We would love to get your feedback with one quick question 😊 Survey Bot at 18:25, May 14: Based on your experience today, how likely would you be to recommend Betfair to a friend? (Where 10 is most likely and 0 is not at all likely.) You at 18:26, May 14: 0 😒 Read Survey Bot at 18:26, May 14: We’re sorry to hear that, please let us know how we can improve? You at 18:26, May 14: You could get some helpful people…? Read Survey Bot at 18:26, May 14: Thank you for your time. You at 18:26, May 14: Complaints department please? Sent Betfair at 18:27, May 14:
You will now be transferred to a customer service agent who can help. Betfair at 18:27, May 14:
Please be aware it may take a moment or two for our agents to get

My partner and I have had a tumultuous up and down on and off relationship over the past decade. Oftentimes I feel like we are just not compatible and I can’t give him the affection or attention he requires. I do genuinely love and care for him, but he completely overwhelms me and I try to take it until I inevitably freak out. An example of this is repeatedly getting in my physical space, constant groping and slapping of my breasts, groin, and bum in a way that hurts, tickling, poking me in the neck painfully, distracting me while I’m trying to do things like prepare dinner or while I’m working, purposefully irritating me, jump scaring me when I’m immersed in something (I work from home so it’s frequently while I’m at the computer focused) and then getting upset with me when I ask him (repeatedly) to stop. I don’t like a lot of physical contact. I don’t mind cuddling and intimacy and what not but I don’t enjoy having my body parts pulled and hit, and I LOATHE tickling. I’ve told him it feels like a physical violation, and explained this multiple times but he says it’s just how he shows affection.
We have a very active intimate life, at least once per day. Usually in the morning and in the evening. So he is getting plenty of that type of affection which he states is the most important to him.
Lately he’s started recording me as I go about my day to day tasks like cleaning or whatever, and I’ve noticed he’s started recording me during intimate moments as well which I object to and push the camera away. I told him I don’t like that, it makes me feel weird. He keeps trying to show me the videos which also makes me mad cause I didn’t agree to that. He says he just thinks I’m beautiful, but I feel like….something nefarious about it in my gut.
I’m feeling extremely physically violated. I have a hard time expressing my feelings, and to be honest I don’t have an easy time even feeling anything. Like period. But I get angry and resentful and it just kind of simmers until it spills over.
This has become a pattern where I get more and more overwhelmed, then I act out in some way and it causes a huge fight. He berates me and screams at me and leaves, refusing to speak to me for days. Usually about 1 week. I am not innocent in this, because I usually do something he hates. In the moment I don’t realize this and it’s always afterwards with self reflection I can see it. I can’t seem to get ahead of the build up, or maybe I try to but I’m not effectively communicating how annoyed and overwhelmed I am. I always feel so bad after. I feel so stupid and emotionally incompetent.
We got into an argument yesterday and I’m realizing this is such a pattern. My cat got hurt and my brother came with me to take him to the vet. My partner flipped out on me so bad for going with my brother. He accused me of hanging out with guys and was acting like I made the whole thing up. Called me a liar. I messaged him with an update on the cat and he didn’t reply. I will add, I don’t ever hang out with men that aren’t blood related to me. Meaning my little brother and my father. I have exclusively female friends. I find this accusation particularly offensive, because it makes me think that he’s the one off spending time with other women if that’s his knee jerk response to me asking for some emotional support while my pet is injured. My brother doesn’t like him so I suppose that could be it.
I feel so disconnected from my feelings and my body. I’m logically trying to figure this out. Am I imagining things? Is the way he’s constantly in my physical space normal? Is it wrong for me to ask for space and have that respected? Am I a bad partner for not giving enough?
Just needed to get that off my chest. I don’t feel comfortable speaking to my friends and family due to our complicated history.

Hello, I am a student currently living in America who is from South Korea. I listen to kpop and like the artists. Recently, I know there is HYBE vs. MHJ issue. As a person that is more fluent in Korean and understand all the news that is coming from Korea’s social media, I am getting really frustrated reading reddit and seeing American’s reactions. I am trying to translate and explain all the rumors and misunderstandings due to the language difference. My translation might not be the best and will include what the google says, but I hope this help all of you understand the situation a little better and why Korean (not just tokkis, most of koreans) are on MHJ and NewJeans’ side.
I honestly am expecting lots of comments going against my translation because this would be whole different thing that what you guys are seeing, but I believe that the deeper research is VERY NEEDED in this case right now. People’s voice matters, and I am trying to inform what Koreans are thinking. Please view this post in the middle rather than sided to either HYBE or MHJ.

1. The reason why all these started.
   1. What many believes:
      1. MHJ tried to betray HYBE and leave with NewJeans like Fiftyfifty
      2. MHJ was the one controlling Korea’s News Media.
   2. What people in Korea believe:
      1. MHJ said that she never tried or even thought about it. Whenever she said that she wants to leave the company, it’s like every workers or even college students saying “Bro I wanna drop out.” That’s why she said she was joking. Realistically, she does not have enough percentage of the Ador to buy out the company. This is a fact. She only has 20% and there is no way for her to win. Even in the Kakaotalk HYBE mentioned, whoever that sent the long message was the right hand of MHJ, not HER. The all the jokingly specifications were not made by MHJ. She only replied with “Damn.”
      2. MHJ did not control Korea’s News Media. In fact, it’s Hybe that is controlling the News right now.
2. illit copying NewJeans?
3. People keep say “Oh they are from the same label. Why does it even matter?” That’s what I thought at first, but I realized their choreographer was different and NewJeans’ choreographer finally said something “Isn’t this too much?” Please check out the new news that has been rising.
4. Please check this out:
   1. https://youtube.com/shorts/N0ln4Jl-_g0?si=r5-RXEtjT8zHMTpd
5. Why is she making it such a big dael?
6. There are so many clues that Hybe is in the wrong
   1. Dahn World
      1. This is one of the Scientology in Korea where people believe the Dangun Myth (which is a bear..) When MHJ said, "Hybe wanted me do so many things that was not normal," Koreans assumed that she might have meant this.
      2. There are so many clues in NewJeans’ movies. There are so many explanations in Korean videos. Check the music videos.
   2. pro-Japanese
      1. In the movie of Burn the Bridge
   3. Hybe not letting MHJ advertise NewJeans for Le Sserafim
7. Isn’t MHJ a pedo?
8. NO SHE IS NOT. I realized why Americans thought that she was pedo. It is probably because she said “Minji was pretty when she was younger.” When she said that, she meant that it was unfortunate to not show her teenager moment. As you can tell, NewJeans have a lot of concepts that only students can show. That’s why MHJ was mad when Hybe pushed NewJeans’ debut because of Le Sserafim.
9. She is a woman who truly takes care of her members, while Bang Si Hyuk only cares about money. She thinks of KPOP industry and criticizes the wrong culture of the album (for luck). There are so many things that Bang Si Hyuk has to fix.

This is so unorganized, but I wanted to share the news. My friend and I are getting so frustrated seeing why people are so against MHJ. She is NOT in the wrong, and the things you guys saw two weeks before were mistranslated. I am willing to explain more if you want me to or have any questions. Just comment, please.
BTW Hybe is trying to get rid of NewJeans. This is their plan and that’s why they made fake news about MHJ. In the other hand, MHJ is trying to protect NewJeans from Dahn World. Bang Si Hyuk is jealous of NewJeans and MHJ, and that’s also one of the reasons why he sent Le Sserafim to Coachella.
These are not all, but these are the least of the information that I know. I just don’t know where to start from, but I am willing to talk about this more. Please help NewJeans and MHJ, so they can work in the future as well.

I just started a new job and at first it seemed like everyones really nice and we are getting along very well. However, now after a couple of weeks im surprised to notice how no ones really interested in getting to know each others (or maybe just me since im the newest member). Theres only around 5 ppl in my team and we work together in the office every day. People do chat but its mostly about work etc but the vibe is just weird or not what im used to.
In my previous jobs im used to coming to work and asking people how they are doing, what they did last night/how the weekend was etc so i do this at the new place too - it just seems like no ones asking that back or keeping the convo going?
Examples 1. I said "I went rock climbing yesterday". My other colleague just said "oh" and walked away. The other colleague didnt really reply so i asked them if theyre ever been rock climbing, and the answer was "no i havent".

1. Im asking manager about what he is doing this weekend. He replies that hes son has a soccer game and theres also soccer on the tv. I ask a couple of things about his son, whos playing etc. After replying my q's the convos dead as idk what to say anymore and he asks me nothing.

How on earth can i crack the code or do i just have to accept that they either dont want to get to know me or they just want to talk about work and thats it?
Maybe this is how some/most work places are and ive been lucky in my previous places because ive always made good friends at work and hang out with them on my free time aswell. Please help:(

When there are lots of other things that AI could do to increase our effectiveness. For starters, we should be focusing on using AI for things that we know AI/LLMs can be good at, not spitting out 50 useless references.
So management, here are some things that would actually be useful to us to help bring down the backlog and greatly improve quality. All of these would also be a much better use of those IT development funds than AI search:
1) Automatic checking of 112 antecedent basis, and writing of the rejection. A single button push, and we just read it over and remove anything we don't agree with. We can implement with #3, and the applicant/attorney can handle most of it before it even makes it to an examiner.
2) Train a LLM that we input our best 1-5 references(that we believe teaches all the claims) into and it does the mapping and drafts the rejection. This is within the realm of what LLMs are capable of. Most of us are really good at searching, and writing the rejection is the most tedious part of this job. We have millions of rejections to train a LLM to do this. It doesn't have to be perfect, and if it can't put together something sensible for a claim, then we can either correct it, find another reference, or indicate allowability.
3) Have a user (stakeholder) facing version of PE2E so that we are all working with the same stuff. This way firms and companies can use this to manage their IP portfolios and assign work (we all know some are still using excel spreadsheets and secretaries). This also allows both sides to benefit from tool advancements in PE2E, and also would allow the examiner to contact the attorney who's actually assigned to the case. There is no reason to have a completely different system for the applicants. You can even create an API so companies can feel free to make their own customized front end versions to suit their specific needs if they want to.
4) All referenced parts of references in an OA should automatically be hyperlinked. In conjunction with #3, you could just click and it would open the reference in a new window, and highlight the referenced portions. You could also add a button that opens all the references used in an OA and highlights all the referenced figures and paragraphs. This would save examiners, attorneys, and inventors time. This can also work with attorneys arguments and can reference parts of any other document in the file (i.e. the arguments can hyperlink to parts of the OA)
5) One click analysis of IDS prior art. Essentially it's like #2, and it then shows you the highlighted pertinent part of those references (if any). This would be incredibly useful for any IDS, but moreso for those 800 reference ones.
6) Automatic checking of the application for grammar and matching of references to figures. This could be incorporated with #3 so that the applicant/attorney can potentially address these problems before it ever makes it to an examiner. Most of us don't bother checking this as it is, so this is a pure quality enhancement.
7) In SEARCH, as a part (or advancement to #2), the examiner should be able to highlight a portion of a reference, right click, and be able to associate that part with specific claim(s). It would also be smart enough to automatically associate similar claims, like if claims 2, 12, and 22 are basically the same, then you only need to click claim 2. Honestly, limit the selection menu to just the unique claims with an "expand" option in case we need it.
8) If you have #2 and #3, you can then present the applicant with a potential rejection for their amendments before they even submit it. This will eliminate poor amendments that don't really advance prosecution. You could even expand this to analyze the applicants entire spec and highlight potential portions that don't seem to have associations with the references used in the rejection.
9) Automatic checking if art is prior art for an application. We should also have a one click filter in search to limit all results to only prior art for that application. I shouldn't have to input a date or any of that crap, search is already associated with an application, so just automated this for us. This should also highlight or mark any references that are potential prior art exceptions.
10) Automatic checking for ODP. This can be done with #2s prior art and every application/patent associated with the same inventors/assignee that isn't prior art. It then writes up draft rejections for all conflicts it finds. With #3 the applicant should be able with a single click to automatically populate a TD based off the ODP rejections and submit it.
11) With #3, automatic checking and warning to the applicant/attorney for things that are missing in their response.
12) Automatic analysis of applicants claims, spec and figures such that I can highlight and right click a claim and select "show support", and it will show me only the parts of the spec and figures it believes is associated with that claim. This will save us time when we need to try and figure out what a claim actually means. This could also be expanded to write potential new matter rejections and/or with #3 and #8 to present potential issues to an applicant before they even submit an amendment.
13) Automatically attach search SEARCH history to the associated OA. Why do I need to manually do this for every OA? Same thing with IDSs, bib, and stamped amendments for being entered or not.
14) Automatically populate the OA summary form using the associated rejection. In addition auto populate the "3" for months to respond.
15) Put AIR requests on our docket as either their own tab or under "expedited". It's beyond stupid that this goes through email and isn't integrated with PE2E. This can even be more simplified for requesting an interview (either by the examiner or applicant) with #3.
All of these things are doable, and would be way more useful for the Office, examiners and applicants than dumping more and more money into useless "AI" search. Plus, if you have #2, then you can actually start to better evaluate automated search results and show pertinent portions in association with claims, which without this, any automated search is essentially useless anyway.
I'm sure other people here can add to this list of realisticly achievable things that can bring the office into the modern age and that are needed.

I (27 F) new to the dating scene and just starting going on dating apps recently. I’ve only been in one serious relationship that was about 7 years with my college boyfriend, which ended about two years ago. I met a guy (29 M) on coffee meets bagels and we went on our first date last Sunday; my first date ever since being single. Mind you, I haven’t dated since college and dating then was nothing like it is today, so I was extremely nervous to say the least, leading up to it. Driving to the restaurant I actually was calm just jamming to the music, and I kept reminding myself that I’m just meeting a friend to calm my nerves. He was inside first since I was running a tad late due to traffic. He was very attractive on his profile, but even more so in person and I became all nervous again, ugh. We hugged and then we went to the counter to order our food and drinks. I noticed right away he was very into eye contact, but I was so nervous I kept looking at the menu haha and only glanced at him as minimal as possible. After he paid for our food, we found a booth and sat down. I noticed during our whole date he was very gentleman like and doing everything—I.e. getting our food for us, fixing the table since I mentioned it was kind of far from the booth, getting us water, etc. I was very transparent when talking with him that this was my first date ever and that I was feeling awkward and nervous. It was hard to be my normal talkative self and I was so nervous I kept fidgeting. He was a really great conversationalist and tried to make me comfortable the whole time, which I really appreciated. He kept reassuring me that I was doing fine. I wasn’t mute—I was asking him questions and answering his, but I definitely wasn’t talking like I normally do. Anyways, I got to know him pretty well and he seems like a guy I would be interested in; he seems ambitious in work, works on himself physically and mentally, and values family and friends. I will say I thought it was strange that he brought up that we should go to the movies maybe 45min into our date; we were done eating, but movies are not good for dates unless you’re trying to make out. In the moment I just scratched it up to be he wanted to keep spending time together but looking back I’m not so sure. I went to the bathroom towards the end of the date and when I got back we talked some more and then he ended up holding my hand. I didn’t hate it but I was taken aback a bit since I wasn’t thinking I would have any physical touch other than maybe a hug on a first date. He could tell I was a bit hesitant and nervous about being touched, but just kept reassuring me and telling me to relax. I mentioned I had to be up early to workout the next day before work and he walked me to my car. We hugged again and then he went in for a kiss, but I dodged it. Again, I was taken aback since he knew I was incredibly nervous but was a bit touchy at the end of the night. He did acknowledge it and ask it’s too soon huh? During our whole date, he kept saying he wanted to see me again and reiterated that before he left to his car. He texted me later saying he had a good time and he hoped it went well on my end too. I thanked him for dinner and putting up with my awkwardness for the night. He replied saying he had fun talking with me and that I would loosen up over time since it was only our first time meeting. I liked the message but didn’t respond. Today (2 days later), he followed up saying good morning and asking when he could see me again. He seemed genuine and sweet the whole time we spoke, but him being touchy and suggesting a movie made me think otherwise. I need advice from you more experienced daters or the guys—is he just a fuck boy? I’m not looking to hook up, so I don’t want him to get the wrong idea if I’m not picking up certain cues that he just wants to sleep with me. Please help. Thank you in advance. (: