Xpost from relationship_advice, looking for opinions.
we've been together just over 10 months. Over that time some odd things have happened which made me question my trust in her and I like her but have been slightly wary of her since. I've been staying with her at her apartment for the past couple months or so and lately nothing too weird has happened and she seemed to be much better overall. But she recently asked if I wanted to move in and I just felt like I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment at this point as I was still trying to regain her trust and wasn't fully over some of the stuff that happened, and so I ended things. She is completely heartbroken, says she's in love with me and wants me in her life. And I question whether I made the right choice and whether I overreacted to some of the stuff the has happened.
I wanted to write out all the situations but the post got way too long too quick. But one of the bigger incidents was once (before I was staying there consistently) we were texting throughout the day and then suddenly she stopped replying, And I didn't hear from her for the rest of the day. I tried again the next morning and then finally she replied that afternoon but it was a very short response that's very unlike her. Then that night she texted saying a guy had gotten stabbed outside of her apartment while trying to help her with something. So she brought him up to her apt and tended to his wounds and had him stay the night there (she says he stayed out on the couch). I didn't know what was going on and was a little bit angry as well and then she called me. She acted like it was no big deal but she could tell in my voice I was not in a good mood (I was trying to figure out what was happening) and she said I was being rude and hung up on me, and also said the guy had left.
She called again moments later (or I did I can't remember) and there was some guy talking in the background who I thought was one of her roommates but she said it was the guy. I said "I thought he left," she said "he came back." I didn't know what to say and then she's like "ooooh you got real quiet" in a mocking type way. The guy is super drunk and she's pretty drunk too I think. They were both being a little disrespectful to me and he mentioned how they played cards together the night before (something that was a thing her and I had started doing together recently which I really enjoyed) and they mentioned they were going to play a game this night too. He was telling jokes and in one of them mentioned the town and street I live on which was really weird. Also mentioned at one point that his son or sons came over as well (I think to check on him but also it sounded like they hung out for a bit too).
It seemed like he was going to stay the night again. I didn't know what to do but my instincts were going wild and while it was late and I had to go to work early and it's like a 35 min drive to where she lives, I said I was coming. We also facetimed and the dude was chilling laying back on her bed. I stayed on the phone the whole way there. Once I said I was coming she got a little quiet and the guy started acting nervous and at one point said "you didn't mention you had a boyfriend" (she says she did mention it) and "at least we didn't have sex". He kept saying he's got to go but she said stay and meet my boyfriend. I get there and they're in her room with beer cans and tobacco everywhere and then he leaves. She said to him "you can stay but we are taking the bed," (she may have said "room" but I'm pretty sure she said bed) which shouldn't that go unmentioned?? Once he was gone she's like "are you breaking up with me?" I wanted to in that moment but I pictured her just calling up that guy and having him come back if I did right then plus I was still in shock as to what just happened so said "no."
We talked a little about it in the following days and she knew I was not happy with what happened but we didn't have any huge in-depth discussion about it. Since that day she makes random comments here and there like "you're the only guy I want in my room," or "you're the only guy who would be anywhere near my bed" little comments like that in conversation.
There was a point where she was trying to get off of a certain medication, without a doctors help and was struggling with it big time and acting extra crazy due to it and I can't remember if this was during that time or not, but either way it's a bit messed up right? And even though she's been way better lately, I can't help but still be disgusted by this.
There are a few more incidents in the past I'd like to share but this one's probably the worst. And it's too bad because she seems to have changed for the better lately now that she's getting proper medication and whatnot from a doctor but not enough time has passed to where I have regained my trust on her and not think of incidents like this.
TLDR: My girlfriend wanted me to move in and despite feeling a strong connection at times, I ended things because of past incidents which I haven't fully regained trust in her yet from.

This might be a bit of a long post, so I apologize in advance. TL;DR at the bottom.
For context, I’m living in a major city and my current lease ends at the end of next month. My current roommates and I are all splitting up and going to different places, and I originally planned to move in with another friend before those plans fell through. A friend of mine from my first year of college is planning on moving back to the city to finish school and work, and jumped at the chance to find a spot with me to live.
He’s a good friend: he’s fun, can socialize, and we share a lot of the same interests. He actually came back to the city this past weekend to tour apartments with me, and spent about five days at my apartment while we checked out different spots and hung out. It seems like a good deal, but at the same time it feels like he’s one of those friends that you love, but couldn’t live with.
I already wasn’t too sure about living with him when he brought it up originally. He’s a good guy, but seems to be really into things (whether it’s school, a hobby, or a job) for a couple weeks/months before losing all interest immediately. Freshman year he dropped out of school halfway through the year and moved home. He then transferred to a different school, lasted there for a maybe a year max and dropped out again. He did this a third time with a community college in his home town before quitting school altogether and focusing on work. Even then, he wasn’t able to hold a job and quit most of them after only a few months. My biggest concern is that he’s going to do the same thing here, but this time we’re going to be on a 12 month lease and if he bows out, I’m fucked.
Additionally, there was just some interactions this weekend that threw me off. He would wake up really early while my roommates and I were asleep and then immediately start having loud phone calls, playing video games, and just generally not giving a fuck about keeping it down. I asked him to try and be quiet in the mornings, and he did get better about it, but would still rip weed and cough so loud it woke all of us up.
One day while we were out in the city, I tried talking to him about a possible roommate agreement and my expectations (I’ve lived with some really shitty roommates before) and he shut me down entirely. He got defensive, called roommate agreements “gay as fuck”, and tried calling me out for my own mistakes in staying on top of cleaning freshman year. I wasn’t even accusing him of anything, just trying to lay out simple guidelines for us (literally the most basic roommate etiquette) and what I’m looking for and he got flustered and wouldn’t even humor the conversation.
Finally, last night, we were going over the apartments we toured and which ones we wanted. He was dead set on one that at the end of the day I wasn’t that interested in. It happens, I wasn’t expecting to get exactly what i wanted and was willing to talk it over. But, again, he wouldn’t even humor a conversation and got loud and defensive when I tried to point out the pros and cons of the two places we were deciding between, and what I saw as a better deal for both of us. The worst part was him claiming that he was being generous by “letting” me search for the apartments, schedule the tours, and keep us on track all by myself while I’ve been busting my ass with school. I dropped all my responsibilities to hang out with him and do these tours this weekend and let him crash at our place, and by the time he left he didn’t even say thanks.
So yeah, sorry for the bit of rant/vent, but that brings you up to speed. I ended up requesting applications for the apartment he wanted more, we got them, and he left this morning. It’s just now that he’s gone (and after reading this all out again), I don’t really think I want to live with him.
How do I tell him? Am I a piece of shit if I bail on this now even though his hopes are up? Is it too late and should I just bite the bullet and hope for the best? I don’t want to lose him as a friend because, despite how bad this post might make him look, he’s genuinely a really close friend of mine and we get along really well in most other ways. I’m just pretty damn positive that cancelling this plan will ruin our relationship.
I’m confused and frustrated and more than a little unhappy. Any advice on how to approach this situation would be appreciated. Thank you.
TL;DR - My freshman year college buddy is planning on moving back to the city and living with me. He came up this past weekend, we toured apartments, and found one that we can manage and that he really likes. It’s just that I got more and more frustrated with him over the weekend, it didn’t seem like he cared about being respectful while here, and I’m nervous due to his previous unreliability. I’m not sure about living with him anymore or how I should tell him this. Ideally, I’d want to stay friends with him, but no matter how gently I break the news he’ll probably blow up. Any advice on how to approach this is welcome.

We went for my childs (6 yr old) first therapy session today, when it was time for her to go speak one on one, she had a fit and started to cry cause she didn’t want to be alone with the therapist. I was trying to coax her and explain id be nearby but she wasn’t having it. The therapist grabbed me by my arm and yelled at me that I needed to leave the room. I snapped and said I wasn’t leaving my kid im that manner. After a bit, I slowly walked out and watched from outside but the tantrums were still going and he was getting nowhere so came out to see me and I explained that it wasn’t going to happen unless I was in there my child has a lot going on. Eventually I was able to go in the room. He then asked her at the end if she was ok with him being her therapist and she said yes, but not assertively and I could tell she wasn’t being honest. When we left my oldest who was outside was extremely upset that he heard the guy yell at me. I know I should’ve grabbed her and left at that point but it all happened so fast. Clearly, I don’t want her to see a therapist who loses his cool and puts his hands on someone and yells at them because in my mind by me staying instead of grabbing her and walking away I sent the message that it’s ok for someone to treat you like that and that is NOT THE CASE. We have a second session scheduled and I’m trying to figure out how to “politely” request another therapist. Am I wrong for this? I’ve never been in this kind of situation but clearly doesn’t feel right.

We went for my childs (6 yr old) first therapy session today, when it was time for her to go speak one on one, she had a fit and started to cry cause she didn’t want to be alone with the therapist. I was trying to coax her and explain id be nearby but she wasn’t having it. The therapist grabbed me by my arm and yelled at me that I needed to leave the room. I snapped and said I wasn’t leaving my kid im that manner. After a bit, I slowly walked out and watched from outside but the tantrums were still going and he was getting nowhere so came out to see me and I explained that it wasn’t going to happen unless I was in there my child has a lot going on. Eventually I was able to go in the room. He then asked her at the end if she was ok with him being her therapist and she said yes, but not assertively and I could tell she wasn’t being honest. When we left my oldest who was outside was extremely upset that he heard the guy yell at me. I know I should’ve grabbed her and left at that point but it all happened so fast. Clearly, I don’t want her to see a therapist who loses his cool and puts his hands on someone and yells at them because in my mind by me staying instead of grabbing her and walking away I sent the message that it’s ok for someone to treat you like that and that is NOT THE CASE. We have a second session scheduled and I’m trying to figure out how to “politely” request another therapist. Am I wrong for this? I’ve never been in this kind of situation but clearly doesn’t feel right.

Loosely inspired by this prompt a few days ago

Chunky

Cyrus strained to remember Botaski body language. Hairtendrils poofed straight out matched... human eyes bugging out? Disbelief? "Gerrota, fess up - something about the Fleet Nine Task Order Roster is bothering you?"
"Yes, Ser-geant Cy-rus. Much I do and do not understand."
"It's okay to drop the rank with other noncoms, Ger - your navy's Corbindermander is about where I am on the food chain. But other than soul-crushing boredom, what's wrong with our Roster? I have to memorize the stupid thing - you exchange staff only need familiarization."
"Cy-rus, why is the number of vessel types the same as the number of ships?"
"Hmm. Well, technically they ARE all different. Look at column TG instead - the type-groups may make more sense."
"There are still forty-two groups, out of 311 ships. Why?"
"Your home fleet has what, four ship classes?"
"Yes, Cy-rus. Would not standardization benefit your war efforts?"
"They ARE standardized, just not at the ship level."
"Tell me more. Three-hundred-eleven unique ships... hurts my brains."
"Okay, let me tell you a story. You know this fleet links by chitter-fling methods?"
"Stutter-blink drives?"
"No, that's different. Still takes intermittent FTL field activation though, just moving through third underspace, not fourth overspace. Anyway - what's your acclimatization intro package say our next link is?"
"Gotorry-Beta - 148.45 light years in your units?"
"Ages ago we patrolled through here using chitter-fling, and this one link had us in and out of FTL maybe five thousand times in ninety minutes."
"Your quartermaster issued me a mouth guard for this reason?"
"Right. It's like riding a jackhammer as a pogo stick."

"Sorry. Cultural reference: it bangs us around. Did then and still does. But then, as separate ships, transit varied from 4500 chitters to 5200 or so, and inevitably we scattered over a tenth of the target star system. So back sixty years ago that 'normal' transit trashed three destroyers and nineteen of the Gotorry navigation buoys. Chitter-fling is WAY faster than... do your fleets use Torpal Compression Drive?"
"Yes."
"Well, fleets need maintenance all the time. No biggie, normal attrition, who cares - right?"
"Not right, Cy-rus. Our fleets never experience such casual damage."
"Hmm - right - just a tenth the speed..."
"Hu-mans take crazy risks. This I knew when I signed up for exchange duty."
"Risk, shmisk. Stuff breaks. But that fleet carried an entire Quartet of Imperial Auditors; senior ones. Their ship arrived not on top of a nav beacon, but just downstream of the destruction of one. Imagine a shrapnel shower while you're still transit-groggy..."
"I will agree that is a horror. Please let me forget the image before sleep cycle!"
"Whatever. Anyway, the Auditors got shook up, and they in turn shook down our Admiralty Engineering Division with a 'Fix Or Else' order. They did, and now you see the approach of the rest of the fleet on the screen?"
"Why are they crowding us, Cy-rus? How can your navigators fly in formation so tight?!"
"Heh. Not formation, buddy - contact. Big human fleets now do chitter-fling together. Look, you were wondering earlier why our frigate looks so - *blocky* did you say?"
"Or *chunky*, Cy-rus."
"No lie, our vessel morphology is nothing like your Navy's. You folks what, *grow* those streamlined shapes?"
"Yes. A Bo-taski ship-plant is not a *factory* plant, but an *organic* plant. Your language is odd."
"I hear you. But how often do you guys *need* aerodynamic smoothness - what, maybe every year or three you dip in-atmosphere? Anyway - the Auditors also dinged the fleet for excessive customization, so the solution wound up standardizing - I think 95% of our construction?"
"That failed obviously. What Kind Of Standard Is 311 Ship Classes?! "
"Wise guy. The chunky look explains that. Our standardization is at the functional module level. The machines and weapons and structure of this frigate could make four mostly-functional sloops. You could glom two of us together and get a nasty destroyer. Likewise if we salvaged a wrecked human cruiser, most of its bits would make spares, replacements, or enhancements for anything between a patrol ketch and an Uber Battlewagon. Maybe not a Lyft Battlewagon - those lean toward carrier duties so you'd fix one with pieces from slingshot brigs, transport barks, maybe escort cutters. The Lyfts can shatter into an overpowered keel and hundreds of fighter craft."
"Shatter... from battle damage?"
"Noooo - intentionally shatter: split or scatter. You noticed the blobs abeam our aft turret? Those are parasite missile cutters - they deploy the same way. We're classed F2/Gamma/Toroid-Blue/N40/Dry. An F2/Gamma/Toroid-Blue/N36/Wet like the Henderson there has more fuel stowage and one less missile cutter. Maybe they're a Toroid-Teal - I don't remember.
"See, the engineering division that was told to fix the problem was - still is - in Billund, Denmark. I know that doesn't mean anything to you - old city on our homeworld. The facility there, the Logistics & Engineering General Office, has been doing work on interconnectability for centuries. Supposedly since before humans went to space.
"Put your... ear frills I guess? up against the wall. Hear some clicks and thumps? We're now snapped onto the starboard stern of the flagship, Juggernaut Prime, and other vessels are still attaching. Once done, we will be one big vessel that will chitter-fling *without scattering*.
"You'll still need the mouthguard though. Let me 'splain 'jackhammer'. "

So I’ve been talking to this lady (L) and myself (J) have been on an off we went on dates for a while. I haven’t popped the question because like my past I’m too nervous to even get attached, it has lead me down some dark roads to say the least. I know my self worth and I feel as if I’ve already noticed red flags, talking about how she hangs out with guys and doesn’t have female friends, and a supposed “gay” Russian kid (M) if you are reading this and you know who I am talking about congrats. She states that all her ex’s were toxic and that she never had a true decent relationship. That said I’m kinda of lost in a spiral of just dropping it and moving on since I am joining the military soon. That said I’m a bit lost and confused, I try to be there for her but she never has time or has made semi valid excuses to which I don’t know how to feel, I find myself trapped in my place most of the day because I don’t have friends in general. That said, I’m not sure wrong from right, am I dating a narcissist? Like hmmm.
-gets upset when I leave her on read
-came on fast and I told her the red flags from the start.
-has shown me up in the past
-tells me I can’t have female friends as if I’m going to go fuck them. (I’ll be honest with you I have morals and respect for others something this world is lacking and I hold myself up to utmost degree)

So, I actually tried asking this question over in AskMen and it actually got taken down because I violated one of their rules- so I'd thought I would ask this question here because I want to hear the opinions of other LGBT people as an LGBT person myself because I feel like I have never really gotten an answer- so I'm just gonna copy and paste what I wanted to ask over there onto here, and I want to hear some of you guys' takes on this topic:
So, I'm a bisexual cis man- more specifically I'm Achillean, which is under the bi umbrella, meaning I am attracted to men (cis and trans) and masculine-presenting/transmasc non-binary people (AMAB/AFAB non-binary people who identify with masculinity and may medically transition to appear more masculine, but without identifying as a man). But for intensive purposes, I'm just bi who's attracted to men and masc non-binary people. That's it.
Seeing the whole discourse on "can men be friends with women?" as an LGBT outsider looking in must be so fucking sad- because my bi ass over here is just wondering: "Wait, if men can't be friends with women because they just wanna sleep with each other secretly in the back of their heads, then how can bi or pan people make friends with the gender(s) they're attracted to? How are LGB people friends then? How the fuck am I, a bisexual man, able to be friends with a man or non-binary people without wanting to sleep with them?". Like, can I not be friends with any man? I can't be friends with any man without wanting to sleep with them? Or any non-binary person? I can't be friends with anyone of the genders I'm attracted to without wanting to f*ck them? Really? My best friend of almost 8 years, since middle school, is an asexual cis man and I never had any feelings for him beyond just being like he's my brother. Never. I've never had any sort of a crush on him. Like, he's not ugly, but I just don't find him sexually or romantically attractive. He's not bad-looking, but that's it. He's just a friend. He's like my brother. But also, I feel like bi men who are attracted to women can be friends with women without wanting to f*ck all of them. Like, where do bi or pansexual people fit into all of this? Or what about queer people or people who are attracted to more than one gender identity at large?
So, I just thought I wanted to ask all the straight men of Reddit: If straight men and women can't be friends because one of them will end up wanting to f*ck the other, then how are us bisexuals supposed to have any friends? Can bisexuals be close, best friends with each other? With the gender(s) they are attracted to? Can bi men be friends with men, women, or nonbinary people without falling in love? What about bi men who are attracted to the binary genders- men and women- they can't be friends with either of them? Or what about bi men who are attracted to women and non-binary people? Or hell, on that note, what about pansexual people? Or polysexual people? They can't be friends with ANYONE, or anyone who is of the gender(s) they are attracted to? Can pansexual people make friends? Or what about gay men, can they be best friends with the other men? No one says that gay men can't be best friends with other gay men? Same-sex attracted people can be friends with people of the same sex without ever wanting to f*ck or date them? Does the same hold for lesbians?
Does the same apply to trans men? Can trans men and trans women be close, best friends with each other? Or is it just WOMEN in particular that men/male-aligned people can't be friends with? If that's the case: can bi, pan, or polysexual men be friends with women? Why is it JUST straight men can't be friends with women, but no one thinks that bi or pansexual men can't be friends with women? Bi and pan men don't have a problem being close friends with women without wanting to sleep with them, they seem totally fine. LGB men in particular can be best friends with the gender(s) that they're attracted to, so why is it so hard for straight men? I can be friends with men without wanting to f*ck every guy friend that I have ever had.
You know what, how is anyone in the LGBT+ community friends with anyone? Do you think we're all just f*cking each other, that we don't have a SINGLE friend that we've never f*cked, ever? That just seems kinda sad.
Also, where do non-binary people fit into all of this? What about AMAB non-binary people, who don't medically transition but just don't identify as men, they have a sexuality too. AMAB non-binary people can't be friends with women if they're attracted to women? How do they work?
Also, why is it just that straight women can be friends with straight men without falling in love, but not the other way around? Are you seriously telling me that you CAN NOT for the life of you be friends with any woman without just falling in love with them? If so, why do you think that men fall in love with their female friends much more than women fall in love with their male friends? Why is it easier for women to be close friends with men without wanting to sleep with them than it is the other way around for men?
I just feel so confused over the whole men-women friends discourse because where the fuck do we LGBT people exist in this convo? Like, I feel like LGBT people over here are just chilling and we're not arguing over if gay men can be friends with other gay men. Of course, the LGBT community is not perfect by any means, but do you guys actually believe that YOU PERSONALLY can't be friends with any women?
Sorry for the blurge. I just needed to rant because I feel like no one can answer this question.

Hello! I'm an aspiring Law Student, hoping to start Law School this June! Recently I took a Law School Admission Test in a certain blue school and only got 42.86% of the answers right 😅 But I still got called in for interview so I guess I still have a chance to get in...? (I have heard it's all for formalities anyway, but still, I can't help but worry :<)
I'll be interviewed by the Asst. Dean this coming friday and before that, I was hoping to know if you guys know any possible questions that would arise and how do you think I should answer them?
Aside from that, can you guys recommend any tips, resources for someone who will (hopefully) enter Law School soon? Any study, recit answering methods, or books I should purchase to ready myself maybe? Just recently I bought a Law Dictionary from Rex Bookstore, as well as Legal Writing Plain and Simple by Ortiz, in hopes it would prepare me for the things that'll come!
I know a lot of ppl might tell me to take the time to indulge the free time I have left and relax, but to be frank with you I don't like coming unprepared, especially when I'm not academically excellent (possibly below average tapos nakatsamba lang in my undergrad course) 😞 I am aware Law School is a super tough thing to go through, even tougher than achieving my undergrad course!
Any comments, advice, resources are super appreciated!! Thank you soo much! Love lots po sainyo! 🩷

It is a man, old and scraggy. He wears a jacket that lays over the red plaid button shirt and blue jeans. He wears an old baseball cap and a pair of glasses. He yelled something to Dad, holding his hands up like he was pleading, although we couldn’t hear it over the truck engine. They talked, but we couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“Hey, what are they saying”, I asked, while petting Matt’s hair, calming him. The old man then put his hands down and came close to Dad in a cautious way. They seem to start having some kind of conversation.
“I don’t really know, hopefully, something good”, Mom answered. They talked for a little while, with daylight beginning to disappear, giving us a sense of dread, and making me more worried about what weird creature was going to show up. Eventually, the old man turned and pointed toward what I think is the northeast. They then shook hands and walked back to their respective vehicles. “What’s going on”, Mom asked as Dad got into the truck.
“Well, our new friend here invited us to dinner at his farm”, Dad replied.
“Does he have supplies?”
“Well, he says has supplies for us to make the journey.”
“Should we even trust him? We just met h-”
“Relax, he’s just an old man, living alone at his farm, feeding his cows. What could go wrong”, Dad countered. The old man then entered the truck that was running and drove slowly, expecting us to follow him.
“Alrighty then, but we have to be cautious”, Mom said, with her suspicions of the old man. We then followed the old truck along the dark, frozen road. It just feels like something is going to show up along the road, but nothing happened. Matt did eventually stop crying, but he is still upset about the Joe escape thing.
“Where are we going”, Matt lamented, with the prior series of events in mind.
“I guess somebody is offering us dinner”, I answered.
“Why can’t we just go home?”
“It’s only going to be a stop, like a hotel. After that, we go to our new home, I guess”, I said, taking another look at Matt and cradling to comfort him. “It’s going to be okay.” I stared out into the darkness. I looked to the sky from the window and I faintly saw something in the clear, dark sky, lit up by the waning moon. They were brilliant, green auroras that defy the bright moon, dancing across the sky like ribbons in the wind. The truck eventually took a right-hand turn into another road, with us following suit. I can see a bright, orange light emerging from a patch of tree. When we passed by, it seemed it was a house, at a farm, burning in a massive flame.
“I guess those people aren’t so, uh, lucky”, Dad said, taking a quick look at it before looking at the road. Passing by, we went on and continued to follow the old man’s truck. We passed onto another intersection until he turned into a driveway to what I believe to be his farm. Going into the driveway, I can see an old house, along with a dilapidated farm further away, barely visible by the headlights. The old man parked by the house, where there were a few other trucks there. We parked alongside the truck and we got out into the cold, near-silent night.
“Welcome to sanctuary, where all are welcome”, the old man bellowed. This is the first time I’ve heard his voice. Matt was the last to get out of the truck, slowly and clumsily climbing out of the truck.
“What’s your name”, my Mom politely asked the old man.
“Oh, I guess your husband didn’t tell ya. My name is Steven, but you can call me Steve”, the old man said, with some crackling in his voice. “I am very proud to host a dinner for you and your family”, he continued. “What’s your name, ma’am?”
“Oh, my name is Janice”, Mom replied, quite pleased at his politeness.
“Hello, Janice, and what are their names”, Steven asked, pointing to me and Matt.
“That’s my daughter Kate and my son Matt”, Dad said to Mom.
“Oh, what wonderful names for a couple of beautiful children you have”, Steve grinned. “Come, it is dangerous out here.” We followed him to the house, which looked like it had seen better days. He entered through the double-set door, the first a solid door and a screen door behind. Entering the house, it smelled like what you’d expect, old man. Looking onto the floor is made of glossy wood and walls with cracks, likely caused by the earthquake. It is dark in there, lit by candlelight from many candles, yet it’s fairly warm here. I don’t know why we went into the house, but Dad was right, Steve is just a lonely, old man. Matter of fact, there seems to be nothing wrong here, other than the cracks in the walls. “Sorry, the power went out. Had to resort to the candles. I knew my wife would come in handy”, Steve explained as he took his coat off. “Oh, supper will be ready right away. Had to use the fireplace to cook. Also, can you take your boots off?” We took our boots and set them aside. We went into what seemed to be a living room, with dusty old-style furniture.
“So, where do we sit”, Mom asked.
“Oh, well, follow me”, Steve commanded, leading us to the dining room, with a long, wooden table and six wooden chairs, along with their corresponding old-fashioned plates, glasses and cutlery, lit up in the candlelight. We noticed that everything on the table was covered in a thin veil of dust. “My apologies, the recent shocks dropped a bit of dust on the table”, he explained as he noticed us looking at the plates and moved into another room nearby. “Take your seats if you like.” We all settled onto the chairs, and blew off our plates of the dust settled there.
“When will we eat”, Matt impatiently said.
“Once Steve comes out with the food”, Mom answered. Matt sat there with a tired look on his face. Dad seemed to be in a better mood than before and it looked like he wanted to start a conversation.
“Hey, should we talk about something”, Dad asked. I then see Steve with a bowl and a silver plate.
“Here we go, may not be much, but at least it’ll fulfil the soul”, Steve said, smiling when he served us mashed potatoes and meatloaf. “So, shall we pray?” That came unexpectedly, as we are not too religious, but we were in his house and gave us shelter and food.
“Sure, we can do that”, Mom said and we all bowed our heads and put our hands together. Steve cleared his throat
“Thank you, Lord, for this good food to feed the soul in these hard times. I shall pray, in the name of the Lord and Jesus Christ, that these hard times shall be over, so we can get on with our lives. Amen.” We raised our heads and grabbed whatever food there was onto our plates. “Oh, there’s no gravy, so we have to deal with bare potaters and meatloaf.”
“Oh, not to worry. Thank you for the food”, Dad thanked Steve. We began to eat the food once we got it sorted.
“So, what brings you here”, Steve asked.
“Well, there is an evacuation order in effect for this area, so we had to go to Regina”, Dad explained, with Steve taking in every word. “So, we came from Strasbourg, we tried going south towards Regina, but we hit an obstacle in the way and we had to take another route, leading us here.”
“And we encountered a few odd things along the way”, Mom added.
“Huh, interesting. What do you guys think is going on”, Steve inquired.
“By the things we saw, we have no idea. Dinosaurs, devil dogs, hell pigs, the whole deal. I shouldn’t forget the earthquake. They told us a pipeline leak caused by the earthquake”, Dad clarified to Steve.
“Hmm… is that so”, Steve wondered. “Wonder what I think is happening? The Rapture is happening. Do you know how the Bible tells us of the end times? Good people sent to be with God and his kingdom, the rest here to suffer the Hell unleashed by Satan.” By this point, he was beginning to rant, but we couldn't stop it as we all began to feel tired and powerless. “So, the Devil will send his demons in the form of these illusions so that they can torment the sinners. It is happening, it is-” Steve manically continued as I drew towards blackness and his voice becoming less coherent. My vision is now all black.
I saw those same lights, but more rapidly than before. I then emerged onto the same clear sky, but something felt different. I can smell something in the air. I can smell what seems to be chemicals in the air. Looking down, I was terrified. Dark, grey rock in the shape of ropes and folds, similar to those I saw of lava flows on a volcano in pictures. This went on as far as the eye could see. I can see no tree this time, just the cooled lava everywhere. I then walked, feeling every bump and crag. I thought I walked forever until I heard a rumbling sound and woke up.
I am in total darkness. It is cold and it smells like cow manure. I tried to move my hand, but it seemed to be bonded behind my back by a rope. I tried to move my feet, but they were also bound by rope to the legs I tried to speak, only to realise my mouth was agape by a cloth in my mouth. I heard shuffling nearby but I could not see. It was then shone in light when Steve entered the door, holding a candle, revealing all of us in the same situation. I then can see what we are in. We are in that same wooden dilapidated barn we saw earlier and seems to be more damaged than the house, wood creaking can be heard.
“These sedatives are more effective than I thought. Maybe I should use them more often”, Steve smoothly explained, like he’s some kind of agent and began pacing. “Wonder why you are here? Well, I wondered the same thing to myself, why didn’t God take me to his heaven? When I first heard of the government telling us of those evacuation plans, I thought it was that, a leaking pipe. I began to notice things I couldn’t believe myself, at least at first. Earthquakes, weird creatures showing up, people disappearing, the whole spiel. I connected the dots. The Rapture is happening, for sure, but why me? Why was I the one left here on this Earth”, Steve calmly ranted, pacing around the barn, but it seemed to sound crazier and angrier the more he paced. “I thought I had lost my way. I’ve been unfaithful to God and his son. But, I realised that God always has a plan and he left me on this Earth to serve a purpose. I wondered what my purpose was until I had a moment.” He then stopped in place and calmed down. He turned to look at Mom with accusing yet crazed eyes.
“I’m supposed to keep the sinners here in line, to earn a place in God’s kingdom, or suffer in Hell. I know you are a sweet woman, Janice, but your treachery with Satan is over and I am going to do what’s right.” Mom then looked at all of us, with assuring eyes like that of an innocent yet caring mother we all know knew. I began crying and trying to speak through the cloth, but I was helpless to watch by. “Forgive me, Father, for what I am going to do.” He then pulled a knife from his pocket and plunged it into Mom’s neck with no mercy. I looked away once he did that, trembling, with tears pouring out and my vision glazed and I fell limp. I could see my brother tearing up, but he did not look away. I can hear Dad behind me, with his screams of agony and anger covered by the cloth. It felt like I was in slow motion, taking in every moment.
I then heard the chair, screeching as Steve dragged the chair containing Mom’s lifeless body towards the door, leaving behind a trail of blood. I couldn’t bear to see my mother like this. I shut my eyes very hard and hoped it would go away. The door then shut, leaving us alone with a candle, fearing what would come next. I stared at the candle, seeing it dance in the flames like a woman dancing in the darkness. Is this how it’ll end, I thought. End up dying to this sick man? My Mom was killed in front of me. I sobbed with that thought, then I began to think about the inevitable death of me. I hope there’s something after I die. Maybe I’ll see Mom again.
It was silent for a while, nearly no sound other than our moans. Dad seems to be fidgeting at the back of his chair, rocking it slowly. Looking past him, I shuddered at the glistening pool of blood, where Mom was last alive, could be my fate. I then see Dad release his arms from the back of the chair and remove the cloth from his mouth. He silently stood up and bent down to untie his legs from the chair legs. He then went to me and removed my cloth.
“H-h-how did you do that”, I silently wept, fearing that Steve would show up at the door and kill us all.
“My binding is loose. The old man probably took a liking to me”, Dad whispered. “I should remove your binds.” He untied them, releasing me, doing the same for Matt. “Now, we need to be quiet.” We then walked, quietly, along the painfully creaking wood in the near dark, following the blood trail, glistening in the candlelight. We cringed and dreaded each sound we made and watched the door in case it began to creak open. A few silent steps later, we made it to the door and we slowly opened it so as not to make any noise. What was revealed to us is nothing new, other than the blood trail continuing in the snow directing towards the back of the barn. “Okay, Kate, Matt, you guys run to the truck.”
“What about you”, I sobbed.
“Don’t worry about me”, Dad responded, giving me his keys and forcing them into my hand. “If I’m not back in a few minutes, leave. Don’t look back, take care of your brother, okay? I love you, no matter what happens.” He then kissed me on the head and ran to follow the blood trail. We quickly walked towards the black truck, stranded there for maybe hours. Getting closer, freedom is getting closer. When we got to a fair distance to the truck, I heard footsteps behind me and, the next thing I knew, I was knocked over to the ground into the hard snow on my face. A hand turned me over to give me a glimpse of a crazed Steve, his eyes wilder than before.
“Oh, yes, trying to escape”, he bragged. I looked at him, frozen in fear, like a deer in headlights and he caressed my face with his bloodied blade. “You do have a pretty face, but I’m afraid you are just one of Satan's creations, made to pull me to lust.” He then raised his knife in the air when a familiar side emerged, out of the blue.
Joe came and bit him in the arm that was holding the knife. Steve screamed in agony the moment he realised what happened. He shook Joe off and stood up to stand his ground. I stood up as Joe hissed and walked around the crazed being he wounded, not in fear but in aggressiveness. “Is this one of your pets, demon”, Steve screamed as Joe came in for another attack, but Steve countered that with a slash to the snout. Joe then ran away, whining, into the darkness. This sequence of events gave me the chance to enter the truck on the driver’s side. I had some trouble starting it, besides this is my first time driving a truck.
Steve menacelily walked towards the when Dad came barreling and tackled him to the ground. Dad was on top when he went limp. I finally put the keys in the engine turned it on and backed out, with memory serving me the instructions on such a vehicle. Steve pushed Dad’s body and stood up, but by that time, we left the farm.
“Turn back, we have to get Dad”, Matt cried, but I was very emotional, accepting what happened. I felt that, without my parents, I feel… useless.
“Dad’s dead”, I screamed at Matt and he began gagging uncontrollably in tears. I began to feel sorry for him. “Sorry, I, I don’t know.”
“It’s okay”, Matt sniffled. “I guess Mom and Dad are dead anyways.” It was silence for a few more minutes, tears welling in our eyes.
“Hey, our parents are in a better place”, I said, trying to make the situation positive.
“But we are stuck here, without them? Don’t we deserve to go to a better place?”
“Don’t say that”, I huffed and I paused for a bit. “I know we are in the, uh, right place now. Let me tell you something, once we get to Regina, I will take care of you, no matter what life throws at us.”
“What about Joe”, Matt asked.
“He’ll be fine. He probably found his girlfriend already.”
“Hey, don’t you have a boyfriend?”
“I, uh, I don’t have one. That I know of”, I spoke, bringing me back to Sam, remembering that she’s the only friend that I ever knew, and I left her. Without her, I felt alone, no one would ever relate. I began to tear up. “I don’t have any friends. I am alone,” I sobbed.
“What do you mean? I’m your brother!” I looked at Matt, and smiled, happy that he acknowledged that we were in this together.
“Thank you”, I thanked him. I slowly stopped on the road, just to hug Matt hard, crying my eyes out. We then heard what sounded like an elephant in front of us. We looked up to see a walking snow-covered brown fur wall with four pillar-like legs in front of us. Its curved tusks gleaned in the light and the eyes reflected in the light. The furry trunk waved around like a searching snake from a tree. We both knew what it was.
“Hey, look at that, a woolly mammoth”, Matt said, excitement running through him. At this point, we weren’t surprised.
“Yep, that is a woolly mammoth”, I added. The mammoth turned to us on the road, seemingly confused about where it was. It looked at our truck and seemed to growl, like an elephant. We are starting to realise this thing is becoming aggressive.
“Uh, should we move”, Matt asked. I remembered hearing something about standing your ground in case of an encounter with an elephant. I hoped it would work for a bigger, furrier version of one.
“No, we have to stand our ground.”
“But, it’ll attack u-”
“Trust me!” I then honked my horn and it backed up. It then rushed, then stopped, a mock charge. Eventually, it moved out of the road, disappearing into the darkness. We sighed in relief.
“That was close”, Matt sighed. I then continued to drive in the night, headlights leading the way. The road is bumpy, as noticed by every ditch and peak we hit, but surprisingly, Matt was fast asleep. I began to get comfortable driving and used to the road by that point. It was silent for a while until we hit a smaller intersection. That is when the truck shut down, completely and stopped. I tried the gas many times but with no effect. There is no light, nothing. It is near-darkness here, shone only by the moonlight.
“Shit”, I yelled, desperate to turn the truck on without much success. Matt woke up, confused.
“What happened”, he yawned.
“The truck turned itself off. I can’t get it back on”, I fretted and at that moment, Matt was just as panicked as I am.
“Why?”
“I-I don’t know. One moment, we were driving, another it just-”, I quavered, when I heard something rustle in the distance. We stood still, hoping whatever it was didn’t find us. I looked around, hoping to see something in the moonlight. I then see a long, walking animal. It looked like some sort of alligator at first, except for a dinosaur-like head. Once I strained my eyes to the darkness, my fear levels rose as I could see it walk on its hind limbs, with its forelimbs dangling nearly touching the ground.
It was wandering around on the road when I heard a near-crocodilian growl at Matt’s side of the truck. Another of those creatures appeared, seemingly looking into the window like a hungry bear, giving us a chance to see its scaly head. Its exposed alligator teeth gleaned in the light like knives, but more terrifying was the eye. Its serpentine pupil shone brilliantly in the light like eyes in the dark. It then ducked down, gave a hiss, and moved towards the other one. A few more showed up and formed a group.
“What should we do”, Matt asked. “Should we stay?” I looked around, hoping for another way to escape them without them noticing. I further strained my eyes and mentally mapped out the area. There is a cemetery on my right-hand side, a grain bin storage yard on my left and a series of trailers on the other side of the highway, which is ahead of us, from the storage area. There, I see a series of white, storage buildings, something we can go to and wait it out inside.
“Okay, so slowly open the door”, I instructed Matt. The click of the doors opening cringed us. We looked at the group, but there was no response from them. We then, as slowly as we could, opened the door and stepped out. Still no response. Matt then quietly ran to the other side, towards me. “Okay, we are going into the storage yard and go to the other entrance”, I said, pointing to the other right-hand corner. I wanted to get as far away from these things as possible before making a safe crossing. “Then, we cross the highway on the other side, run into the buildings and stay there for the night. Are you ready?”
“I guess”, he whispered, looking at me in fearful doubt.
“We are going to do this”, I whispered back. We then silently ran over, having to rely on our night-adapted eyes, to the corner, walking past the bins. We made it and nothing behind us so far. “We’re good so far.” We then crossed the road and noticed nothing. We noticed a tanker truck, leaking some sort of fluid across the road. I easily recognized it as fuel, based on its distinctive, sickly smell. I wouldn’t be worried about it if it weren’t for a collapsed light pole that is somehow still flickering with electricity near the area where the fuel would be flowing. We quickly avoided the fluid when I froze to see the group of the walking alligators, running towards us. “Run!” Matt tried to run, but one of those things appeared and clamped its jaws at the back of his neck. He yelped in pain and it took him down to the ground. “Matt”, I yelled, helplessly watching as the creature tore into him.
Matt reached out his arm before the others came to him, then a flash of fire came. At this point, I knew what happened, but I couldn’t even think before it exploded. It blew me towards the building, far away. I was knocked out for a few seconds before I regained consciousness, groaning in pain on the ice. I noticed something especially painful just below my chest. I reached towards the area with my hand. I pressed on it, more painful than ever and raised my hand, only to see blood, brightened by the fire. I realised I was wounded, maybe by shrapnel made by the explosion.
I looked toward where the truck was and all I saw was a blaze. Those things weren’t there, at least. I also noticed something else, too, there’s no Matt. I tried to look around for something, some sort of sign of my brother within the fire, but I saw none. I then wept, realising I had failed. I have failed to keep him safe. I have failed to give him a better life. I failed him as a sister. I could’ve done better. The thoughts poured in as tears glazed my eyes. At that moment, I failed to look around me.
I noticed a dark thing beside the blaze. I thought it was Matt, preparing to greet him back, even though I knew he couldn’t survive the explosion. The image became clearer and clearer as I noticed it was one of the walking crocs that, glazed by the fire, was coming towards me.
“Just kill me”, I screamed, preparing to painfully die to meet my maker. The creature was about to attack me when something large, silent as the wind, came charging and clamped down its massive jaws, filled with conical teeth on the hapless creature and raised it. The crocodile struggled before going limp with a crunch within its strong jaws. The big, dark and scaly monster that it is towered over me and is as long as a bus, possibly longer. Its large legs are a contradiction to its small arms that hide beneath its scarred, bulky body.
It turned to look at me with an oddly bird-like expression, revealing in the firelight numerous scars from battles I could never know and looked at me with its beady bird-like eyes, breathing out wisps from its nostrils like a dragon in the cool air. I recognized it as a creature I know too well, a T. Rex. I breathed heavily and sickly, looking at the thing, nearly expecting me to drop the body and go after me. Instead, it simply walked away, carrying its bloody prize with it, and steadily retreated into the darkness.
I then lay down in agonizing exhaustion on my back, thinking of the next step of action like I'm on a suicide mission I would never come back from. I looked in the direction of the graveyard and had one thought. I guess I am dying. a graveyard will do. I struggled to stand up, noticing my blood-soaked clothes and felt a broken left leg. I grasped my wound, limping step by step and enduring the sharp pain while shaking in the cold. Every step I took, I remembered all the memories, good or bad, that I had with my parents. My brother. My friends. My family. I eventually reached the cemetery and slouched at a tree.
“Guess I’m joining you, guys”, I said, speaking to the snow-covered gravestones, only to hear something. A familiar sound of chirping emerged and, lit by the blaze, it was a sight I can hope for. “Joe, what are you doing here”, I depressingly cheered as Joe went to me and curled up in my lap as if he were a cat. I noticed the new-found scar he had on his little snout, but I paid no mind as I petted him. “I guess you came back. Thank you so much for what you did”, I thanked him, not expecting such a loyal creature would be with me, comforting me, to the end, like what my mother used to do when I was a newborn. I heard another noise, this time a deep rumble.
I thought it was another earthquake coming, but it got louder the closer it got to me, becoming more animalistic only felt small vibrations I barely felt. Joe stayed put, oddly enough, as T. Rex, different from the first one, came. It walked towards us until it stopped short of us. It began to produce a low-pitched, bird-like purring, attracting Joe. I realised something, that this T. Rex is Joe’s parent. He joined the rest like him, whom they showed up and all chirped around.
The grown Rex then brought its snout closer to me, not to kill me, but to look at me. It did not reveal its teeth and was still purring. I put my hand out and its nose came close to it. It rubbed it against my hand and started to pet its cold, scaly skin as it breathed through its nose and put it on my chest. I rested my head on it before it pulled away. It gave out a hiss, but I knew it wasn’t that of a threat, but more of a thank you for bringing its small, sometimes immature, child home.
That gave me relief, as it felt like I at least did something for once. They walked away, along with Joe, towards the darkness amongst the gravestones in the cemetery. I glimpsed one last desperate look at Joe before walking beside his parent. I looked up at the sky and I could see all the stars, twinkling, and the dancing green auroras. I began to feel limp and felt the cold embrace of death coming over me, tears pouring out of my eyes. The sky then grew brighter and brighter, the stars faded into the light and I could see my family welcoming me to a new home. It then slowly went black, darker than a cave.
You would think this is the end of me. It wasn’t, or else I wouldn’t be writing this right now. I eventually woke up in a hospital in Regina. I was told I was rescued by a team that transported me while I was in a coma. The doctors said I was very lucky to be alive, as the shrapnel narrowly avoided my vital organs. After that, I was adopted into a new family, but I was only with them for a couple of years before finding a new job and moving out.
As for Sam, I don’t know what happened to her. I would like to think she is safe, somewhere else. As for my family, I think of them all the time. I was in a depressive period right after that. Eventually, over the years, I accepted that they were gone and went to a better place. For Joe, I would like to think he is all grown up, like his parents, and becoming the king of the jungle. I hope we meet again.
As for the evacuated area, it wasn’t some pipeline rupture that caused an evaluation, but an anomaly, with the exact reason not known. There are excuses for the claims of weird stuff going on in there, from disease to chemicals, to eventually a previously unknown geological event, but I saw through it all.
You may ask how, it's because I've been there. Take it or leave it, this is the story I have. As the decade came by, cover-ups were made to hide it, even walls were put around it. Since the incident, the exclusion zone grew from a mere 80 kilometers in diameter to 460 kilometers in diameter, emptying entire cities of the likes of Regina and Saskatoon. I had to move to North Battleford, by the recommendation from the same government covering it up, making me think that time will tell before the floodgates of truth open.
The anomaly didn’t have a name initially, however, over the years, everyone agreed on one name in particular: The Saskatchewan Anomaly.

I met this guy on an online dating site just under a year ago and it started great don’t get me wrong but it always starts off great with new people. Before he and I got together I was cheated on in my previous relationship and it genuinely wrecked me especially finding out that my ex admitted to not loving me for 2 out of 3 years we were together but kept me around because I took care of him when he started having heart problems, mentioning my ex is important I promise. Moving back to the main topic person I was talking to his sister in law so I could get to know her and her me to try and build a connection. She told me that he has some anger issues but he hasn’t had any outbursts in a few years and that he means well he and his brother are exactly the same on that. A few months later he starts talking about how his ex’s were and how they were either mentally or emotionally unstable. One day there was a fight between him, his brother and grandmother. When I wouldn’t get in the middle of something that clearly was not my business he turns to me and says he wished he ex was here instead since she would’ve actually done something and if I wanted to leave this was my “way out”. He repeats this a few more times on separate occasions. Flash forward it’s New Years he’s picking me up from work and things are better we were communicating about whatever was bothering us then the 2nd of January I ask him what’s wrong and he tells me I’m boring him intimately so I said okay that hurt my feelings let’s break up. I started talking to this other guy who seemed perfect but ghosted me so in a mess of emotion I regrettably hooked up with the guy before. Call me stupid I know especially for this next part I’m now pregnant with his kid. I of course told him since I was constantly sick and that thought never crossed my mind and he jumps to us being together. This goes on for a month until he starts talking about how HE wants the kid to be raised and how HE wants the baby to take his last name and his family names not even letting me get a word out. Here’s were its getting to my initial question, he has a history of heavy drug and alcohol use and has it set in his mind that he and I will be married and living together for the sake of the child. I confided in him when I found out my former employer is telling customers that I left because of my pregnancy and how I found out. He started saying he doesn’t like the people I talk to and I shouldn’t be talking to them. Having dealt with someone telling me this before I had the feeling I needed to break things off now before it got way too late and papers got signed. I genuinely don’t want to be with this person but he said he won’t be involved with the baby unless he “has me”. I feel like I was right to leave yes my baby needs a father but I don’t want my baby to have their life controlled. What do you guys think, regardless I’m not getting back with him I’d prefer to be alone for a while I just want to know people opinions on this.

TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING ⛔️ ⚠️
SPEAKING ON SENSITIVE TOPICS AND ADD*****n
AITA: so to give some context. I have a friend from early high school. We have been friends sense we were 14 or so. We made friends over a guy cheating on us, he had slept with her, and I around our sophomore year and cheated on me. Ever since we were inseparable. There were a few instances, though where it seemed like she was purposefully, trying to go out for people that I would date. Fast forward to adulthood. We both struggled with Opat dependency. She had told me she was sober and came to visit, but indeed was not. At this time I was sober. And just early in my recovery.
I had a entire 6 month set back. Absolutely made my life worst. And of course part of that is my own actions aswell. Falling into peer pressure and temptation. And during this time she had convinced me to allow her to live in our spare room. Eventually she randomly disappears with some guy for days on end, and refuses to respond to me. We pack all her stuff up and when we’re packing I find a note she wrote to my fiancé (now husband) about how she felt she wouldn’t be able to control herself around him and found it very tempting but wrapped it up with “I hope she’s okay”.
This was a immediate kick out as u can imagine. We talked it out, as she’s halfway across the states now claiming to be getting help and reuniting with her son. But here’s the issue, she asked me a few weeks ago to come pick her up from the airport because she has to fight a case in my state. She told me to pick her up Tuesday night at 8 PM. And then in the weeks following messages me and lets me know that’s she’s talking to my baby daddy, “just as friends though”…. (He b*at me up when we broke up🤦🏼‍♀️) . I drop it and say whatever that’s just her atp.
I get to sitting around thinking and start to feel like I’m being used a bit. I’ve offered for her to stay in my house in the past, and I felt like she tempted my sobriety and used me, along with tried to fk my husband. she got involved with one of my best friends, and he ended up dying from an ose, and I feel like that’s where some resentment is lying as well. He was only 20 and never had d* interests before hand.
She messaged me today and said that she’s coming today at 9 PM. I asked her well I thought you were coming on Tuesday and she said no she was coming Monday (after weeks of saying Tuesday?) ¿? She wants me to drive her two hours to her court date. which was was let known late aswell. Here’s the thing…. I feel like I’m going to be manipulated. She hasn’t told me where she’s going to stay or how she plans to get there other than saying she just wanted me to pick her up from the airport. She claimed to be sober and have gas money.
Combining all these experiences together I started to feel more and more sick today about having to pick her up. I’ve worked HARD to stay sober and I don’t feel comfortable opening that door. I also don’t feel comfortable not having any plan whatsoever other than “I’m suppose to pick her up” and I feel majorly uncomfortable with the fact that A. IF she was sober her family could pick her up and B. She couldn’t even accurately give me the dates she was flying in which makes me think she is using.
I didn’t pick her up. I blocked her in fact. But now I feel like a dick head leading her on that I was going to pick her up. But she did claim to have gas money which is uber, bus, or other ride money. So it’s not like she’s stranded stranded. But in the whole grand scheme of things, I feel like I’m protecting my peace and my household. My husband and I JUST got married yesterday and she’s wanting to come in our house or catch a ride with us during my honeymoon. I just dont feel okay about this situation at all tbh. I feel bad, but I don’t in a sense because I’m protecting my household, my self, my husband, my kids. But I do feel like a AH.
Idk. My sponsor always tells me it’s a hard feeling to put a boundary down but ur never in the wrong for protecting yourself. But idk.
In the grand scheme of things I just can’t over look all of this. I think of my friend who ov** do**** with her everyday. He’s gone. He will never get his life back. And my babies need their mom. But I’ve also been that human that’s needed help…. A extra reach. A uplift.
So AITA?
Feel free to give it to me, i lowkey feel shitty for not picking her up because I said I would. But yk the human brain.
EDIT: I’ve edited this and censored every possible word that could be offensive or triggering.

TW: Suicide, Mental Illness, SA, Porn Addiction, Abuse, Pedophilic Thoughts.
Hi, this post is going to be insanely long post as I am gonna go over a lot of things in detail throughout my life. I am going to premise this with a very important disclaimer: I am not looking to be the victim. I am not trying and do not want to make you feel bad for me. Things I saw will end up sounding like attention-seeking and victim mentality, but please know that no matter how much it sounds like that, that is not my intention. I'm basically going to go through my entire life story, so buckle up.
We'll start at the beginning of my life in 2005. I'm born and have an older sister, who is still my only blood sibling. At 3 years old I experience my first traumatic events that I can remember. I start hiding in the bathroom whenever my parents fight, and after a fight, I try lightening the mood by dancing in a goofy manner, but I end up falling and slashing a big hole in my knee and have to go to the hospital. At 4 years old my parents get divorced, and my dad moves in with his girlfriend. I vaguely remember crying as he took his last suitcase out the door. I also start pre school at this time, and my parents start realizing I have mental issues. I get tested and come up with ADHD and autism. I hate loud noises, get overstimulated, hate fire, and can be very irritable. At 5 I do my second year of pre school, because my parents feel I wasn't socially ready. I did competitive cherr with my sister which was fun, except for a mean teammate and an unsupportive father. At 6 I start kindergarten, and have more traumatic events. I doodle on my paper and get yelled at by my very menacing teacher, which just stuck with me for some reason as I am very sensitive to arguments and such. I start having my first memories of being abused by my mom. She wasn't beating me but she would slap me, grab me, push me, and she threw my sister down the hall one time. At 7, I have the same types of memories, but good ones too. My sister starts getting in on the abuse and hitting me too. Her and mom start fighting all the time. And this is where my first sign of real issues shows up. My aunt babysat me after school every wednesday whike my parents worked their jobs. I was scrolling on my old chunky laptop and came across it. Gay porn. It was two men on a bed doing some sort of act. Im confused but cant stop watching. My aunt eventually comes in and puts an end to it, berating me. But I start getting worse. I keep looking it up on my tablet and getting caught by my dad and mom, and even get caught looking up how to end myself. I get the same talk that it wasn't good or whatever. And one time, I even tried getting my 2 year old nephew to "lick it" because I didnt think there was anything wrong with that. The next few years, the same trends become increasingly worse, and my parents also gave up trying to get me to eat healthy because of my picky eating habits due to the autism. I became overweight and no longer did any sports. I have a few more traumatic memories of my mom hitting me or destroying my stuff and making me clean it up. My porn addiction becomes worse. I start getting exposed to things like incest and beastiality. I also start having my first experiences with pedophiles. I was taught by another kid how to masturbate on xbox. And got into a party with someone else. They were atleast in their mid to late teens and possible older. They convinced me to teach them how to masturbate aswell. My addiction got worse and I would masturbate multiple timed a day at a very young age. I started hiding things from everyone. I started actually being attracted to the incest porn I was seeing so often and got into the taboo of it. As I got older I started fighting with myself, begging myself to fix my issues before it became to late, but I didn't listen. I started hiding my porn addiction really well and kept letting myself get groomed. I would show myself to pedos on omegle because I thought it felt good to get the attention. A 16 year old told my 12 year old self to send a booty pic, and I did, but blocked him immediately after. When I got into 7th grade I also started getting corrupted by public porn, and started masturbating at school. I was being bullied for my weight, and being smelly by that point, and was just so fucked up and never got help. If I ever talked to someone, I'd just lie and water down so everyone would think I was fine. In 8th grade I got bullied really bad, but covid ended that early luckily. I never masturbated in class again after this. This is where it gets worse, again. I become so deprived of human contact and addicted to sex, that I start sneaking videos of my father in the bathroom after his showers. To note, I don't have an amazing relationship with him. He was always very intimidating and bad at controlling his temper. Never good at having conversations either, so I've since closed myself off to him. I kept taking pictures of him, and eventually, started sneaking pictures of people I found either attractive, or even people that didn't repulse me. This included strangers, classmates, teachers, etc. I started really internally fighting with myself at this point. I hated myself. Who I had become. I tried and tried to make myself stop and become healthier, working out, watching else porn, trying to delete pictures I took of others, but to no avail. I eventually on rare occasions, masturbated to beastiality porn. I always felt so disgusted before, during, and after. These always felt like intrusive thoughts that I was acting on, but I didn't know that was actually the case until much later. I also starting convincing my grandpa to show me what it "felt like" as a 15 year old, until at 17 in 2023, he eventually coerced me into doing it to him, which I can't tell if it's SA or a taste of my own medicine, since I was a minor. I'm gonna go back to 2022. My sister's husband, who I consider my only brother, committed suicide. I was devastated. All i ever wanted was a brother, but I decided it wasnt meant to be. A few months later, I saw a cute guy at a local fair near my house, and feel deeply in love. I didn't masturbate or even look at porn for an entire week. I could not think of him sexually at all. Until eventually, the effect wore out. I started becoming addicted again, and also became to overbearing to the guy I was in love with because I texted him too much. He was 28 and I was 17, and he had no idea I actually liked him. This crushed me too, and the school year started soon after. I started imagining him and his friends withbme wherever I went and stalked his page constantly. I couldn't stop thinking about him. Later on in thar school year, I fucked up with both of the friend groups I was in, and lost them all. The rest of the year passed by slowly, but it still ended up okay. Now onto this school year, my senior year. I come back to school and no matter what I do, I can't get myself to stop. And a few months into the year, I finally get caught. I get suspended and don't come back for a few days. I get bullied as expected and lay low. My mom takes my phone and deletes everything, and I eventually tell her most of what I've said here. I relapse occasionally and watch certain porn that I feel guilty about, or snap a pic of someone. Luckily, I finally deleted everything myself and never took a picture of someone or watched beastiality again, and will continue that path. My current consensus is that I'm a classic case of a kid who never had a support system, which led me to making bad decisions, and just never stopped and got worse. I also now have been diagnosed with OCD, Anxiety, and depression. I was always big on recording and taking pictures of everything memorable, which contributed to this. I also have very intense intrusive thoughts which are still unmedicated. When I took that first picture of someone I thought was attractive, I felt disgusted with myself for months. But the thoughts got stronger and stronger, and I did it again to make them go away, until eventually they got more often and consistent. I myself don't want people to be uncomfortable. I hate people that do stuff like that, and I wouldn't wish the feeling on anybody. No matter how many times I tried to push the thoughts away, or stop what I was doing, I couldn't. I lost all self control. The good part of me wants to help people, make them feel safe, loved, and attended for, but that side lost the fight. My morals were completely washed away over the years as my thoughts worsened, and I kept doing what I could to appease them. I consider the thoughts another being inside of me. It's super powerful and no matter how much I try to push against it, it always wins eventually. I got prescribed meds and picked them up today to help with the thoughts, and I hope it works. I found out this is called Purity OCD, which is when you have intrusive thoughts, and eventually give in and act on them to get them to go away. I also have Brain Loop Syndrome, which is when you get into a bad behavior, and want nothing but out, and physically cannot do it. I also want to clarify again that I am not looking for sympathy. I'll take any questions or advice on where to go from here. I've been telling myself that I deserve to be tortured, raped, and killed, or to burn in hell if I end myself. Again, not for sympathy/victimization. People I've told about the situation in real life keep saying "well it's not like you committed a serious crime, lots of people are curious and many take pics but are afraid to admit it" but I feel like that doesn't make it any better?? It's still weird and wrong. But anyways, I'm open to any questions or comments about this, if you want to just comment "ky$" or "I hate you" I understand, it's totally valid. I just needed to say it, get some advice and answer questions. Have a good night ya'll.
Quick edit before the comments start coming in: Apologies for the long read btw. I also wanted to say if you're ever experiencing negative thoughts regarding anything I stated here, or have any issues in general, PLEASE SEEK HELP. Do not do what I did. More people will understand you than you believe. You are not as alone as you think. Please don't let it get to this point!!

Previous post a few weeks ago I posted about my son’s mom filing for an increase. I go to court & she’s not there. When I got the papers in the mail, it didn’t say anything about the state filing. It was her signature & it gave me the impression SHE went down & filed for an increase. All the signs pointed to her & not the state. Idk if she’s working or not but last year when we went she was. Nonetheless she didn’t show so im assuming they’ll throw it out because of her not showing. I give the guy my papers & he says you’re making $500 more dollars. I literally had the last 5 checks but he used the most recent one. I make $20.00 an hr & I gross about $1300 a check. Again GROSS not NET. They ask me if she’s working & I say idk you tell me. Pull it up on the computer. How do they have my info but not hers?? He said “is she on public assistance)? Like receiving cash? I say IDK but I’m paying $400 a month to. Why would she get cash from yall if I’m paying support? I mean HOW don’t they know if she’s getting cash ?? They can’t look it up in the system?? I mean that doesn’t make sense. This one check I grossed $1800 but that’s because of a lil OT. I don’t get overtime at all so when i got it I did it this ONE TIME!! He crunched the #s & it came back $750 plus my rears. I fucking snapped! One because of the money but two SHE DIDNT SHOW!! iv been to court several times with this bitch & aplenty times has she not shown & they’ve thrown it out. Why didn’t they?? Why would they give her MORE cash if I’m paying support?? Why wouldn’t they force her to work if she doesn’t have a job? How can she be the custodial parent but NOT work with kids?? HOW?? Btw I only have 1 kid w her. She has 3 by 3 different men. The guy said he wasn’t going to put the order in until he spoke to his supervisor about if she’s receiving cash from the state. This was Thrus the 9th & today is the 13th. First he called me & told me nothing happened but he’d call me by Monday which is today. He didn’t call me! I just happened to check my stub online but I don’t get paid until Friday. They took $356.59 for 2 weeks!!! Wtf!!! How & they didn’t give me & specifics? She never showed, HOW can they just take my bread like that!!!! Yall I barely work 80 hrs every check. It’s more like 69 or 70! wtf do they go by GROSS & not NET??! Why do they tax on money that I DONT ACTUALLY TAKE HOME??!! Does that make fucking sense?!! So now Friday I gotta go back down there, PAY FOR FUCKING PARKIKING & the FILING FEE just for a FUCKING MAYBE (Decrease). What’s my luck on that?? If I bring new stubs with my actual hours & pay would they give me a decrease??? wtf do I do yall??! I can’t afford $800 dollars a month!!!! Help please

That was more than I planned on typing. So this is a post, instead of a comment.
Chris, I understand that you are here reading thighs that are posted. That should be obvious to everyone, it's the primary place to talk about it on Reddit, and well, you mention Reddit as a source. So let me start off by saying, I sympathize with you here. This would be horrible to be at the center of. Even after reading what you wrote and gaining understanding of what you experience has been like, I don’t think my imagination could even be capable of truly picturing what this must be like for you. I'm so sorry you have had to go through this.
I liked your piece. I agree with you on a lot of what you said. I’ve seen posts here that are insane Qanon shit. I mean there was one about matching symbols to tarot cards and the freemason ???????
Yeah all you full blown K-anon fuckers, abuse alleging fuckers, AND ESPECIALY all yall motherfuckers who wont shut the fuck up with the canine shit need to listen, or shits not gonna be ok. Yo ya hear me?
As the butterfly said, SHUT THE FUCK UP! (I’ll be honest, I'm not sure if that is actually a real quote, but it very well could be right? Hey sounds believable enough so I'll just s—
NO. I remember. I am conflicted. As all things are.
As you fuckers should remember too. You might be conflicted to reach but you must, stop, and think.
What if these walls could talk?
Well they would say things like, I AM A SUPER HOTEL FOR THE RICH. DO YOU REALLY THINK THE 1% OF THE WORLD, WOULDN’T LOVE HAVING THE LUXURY OF BRINGING THEIR DOG WITH THEM? AND IT'S TAKEN CARE OF FOR YOU PROBABLY AS WELL? WELL SHTI THAT SOUNDS LIKE A FUCKING GOOD IDEA THAT CAN ATTRACT MORE OF THE 1%
I AM TELLING YOU THE IDEA OF BEING ABLE TO AFFORD TAKING YOUR DOG WITH YOU IS SIMPLY A LUXURY.ONE THAT 99% OF US SIMPLY DON'T HAVE.
So remember. SHUT THE FUCK UP!
UNLESS YOU HAVE A CONCRETE THEORY (YOU MOST LIKELY DO NOT) THAN STOP and on that stop consider…
How can I ask this as a question?
And then consider again, well how can I disprove that question.
And if you to yourself, “ehh well yeah that is a good argument buuuuuuuuuut”
Then you are making accusations at that point.
DO NOT MAKE WILD ACCUSATIONS.
THIS IS A HIGHLY SENSITIVE MATTER AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH.
DO NOT GO MESSAGING, FOLLOWING, OR INTERACTING WITH THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THIS.
Ok, sorry about the all caps there, been wanting to say that but hey, sleep deprivation. :)
I guess Chris, I just want you to know I hope this all blows over soon and you don't have to deal with this anymore. But I do ask that you hear me out. Please, at least just this one time.
And the same goes for any of you I might have annoyed, pissed off, or confused by this pont. And yeah you might only experience more of those emotions after reading this, I am super sleep deprived after all. And it doesn't really matter, all that matters is that you hear my case with an open heart and mind.
For me, this has to be the largest amalgamation of human thought converging suddenly onto a single point. This has been truly an incredible mass social event. Even more so for me, since you know, I do fit the stereotype of a KendrickLamar lurker incredibly well at times.
And yes a massive event like this does bring with it a lot of people who are not equipped to handle the temptation of rampant speculation.
For especially in moments such as this. It becomes so easy to think or even maybe hope? That you might have at least caught a glimpse of.. Something? Yeah, there's probably the vapors of… something…. there… right?
And it becomes so easy for the vapor to plant its roots in your mind. Because only then could you nurture the roots so they embed deeply and grow into a mighty tree that produced the most amazing fruit you have ever seen.
I mean can you imagine? Me, out of everyone in the world? I am really the first person to make this connection that no one else has had? And then I can spread this gift with everyone nearly instantly?
Well shit, who wouldn’t take a bite of the forbidden fruit then?
I mean fuck, I probably did overstep my boundries in my lust.
Sex.
But I tasted the fruit. Well, at least… I think I did.. but does it matter? Whatever it was, it felt amazing.
But why am I rambling on about fruit like some kind of scholar trapped in a realm of infinite knowledge?
I should be talking about this beef, this truly legendary beef. So let me stake my final piece.
The truth is some people really are looking into this simply because they find this to be insane. I mean, DAMN!
Someone is out here claiming they have a way to blackmail Drake.
AND this happens right after multiple of the greatest diss tracks of all time!?
I mean are you kidding? Who isn't going to see this and get a bit curious?
Especially if you are a terminally online white guy under 40.
But what do we do? What is the solution?
Well it feels kind of obvious to me.
First site needs to have a team of moderators who are able to shift and handle large influxes of volume. Reddit you will have to eventually pay your moderators. I mean shoutout to the mods of the subreddits involved, I feel yall did as well as you could. Even if you did take down a post of mine…But yall cant do it alone. Nah, Reddit you will have to start paying moderators one day. I mean how many more Boston bombings and EbonyPrinces can you handle before it really starts eating into share prices?
But that does bring me to my second pont. A space with as much potential as this needs to be guided and directed in the correct way. Unfortunately that sounds really hard to figure out as you have to factor in developing procedures that quickly adapt to sudden spikes of both helpful and harmful lines of thinking, and because of the whole no sleep thing and it's not my job. No, it's the job of the rich people running social websites to safeguard against events like this. Unless Reddit wants it to be my job, then I would love to talk. (wow very reddit of me, as is all of this, probably…)
So yeah, thank you to anyone who reads this. I think I’ll check if any updates have happened while I wrote this for the past two hours and then unplug, relax and sleep. I think that is what Kdot would want right now for me and for a lot of you.
I wanted to end it with a verse here but couldn't think of anything and I know, Im yapin.

TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING ⛔️ ⚠️
SPEAKING ON SENSITIVE TOPICS AND ADD*****n
F 24 M 26 F 21 M 20
AITA: so to give some context. I have a friend from early high school. We have been friends sense we were 14 or so. We made friends over a guy cheating on us, he had slept with her, and I around our sophomore year and cheated on me. Ever since we were inseparable. There were a few instances, though where it seemed like she was purposefully, trying to go out for people that I would date. Fast forward to adulthood. We both struggled with Opat dependency. She had told me she was sober and came to visit, but indeed was not. At this time I was sober. And just early in my recovery.
I had a entire 6 month set back. Absolutely made my life worst. And of course part of that is my own actions aswell. Falling into peer pressure and temptation. And during this time she had convinced me to allow her to live in our spare room. Eventually she randomly disappears with some guy for days on end, and refuses to respond to me. We pack all her stuff up and when we’re packing I find a note she wrote to my fiancé (now husband) about how she felt she wouldn’t be able to control herself around him and found it very tempting but wrapped it up with “I hope she’s okay”.
This was a immediate kick out as u can imagine. We talked it out, as she’s halfway across the states now claiming to be getting help and reuniting with her son. But here’s the issue, she asked me a few weeks ago to come pick her up from the airport because she has to fight a case in my state. She told me to pick her up Tuesday night at 8 PM. And then in the weeks following messages me and lets me know that’s she’s talking to my baby daddy, “just as friends though”…. (He b*at me up when we broke up🤦🏼‍♀️) . I drop it and say whatever that’s just her atp.
I get to sitting around thinking and start to feel like I’m being used a bit. I’ve offered for her to stay in my house in the past, and I felt like she tempted my sobriety and used me, along with tried to fk my husband. she got involved with one of my best friends, and he ended up dying from an ose, and I feel like that’s where some resentment is lying as well. He was only 20 and never had d* interests before hand.
She messaged me today and said that she’s coming today at 9 PM. I asked her well I thought you were coming on Tuesday and she said no she was coming Monday (after weeks of saying Tuesday?) ¿? She wants me to drive her two hours to her court date. which was was let known late aswell. Here’s the thing…. I feel like I’m going to be manipulated. She hasn’t told me where she’s going to stay or how she plans to get there other than saying she just wanted me to pick her up from the airport. She claimed to be sober and have gas money.
Combining all these experiences together I started to feel more and more sick today about having to pick her up. I’ve worked HARD to stay sober and I don’t feel comfortable opening that door. I also don’t feel comfortable not having any plan whatsoever other than “I’m suppose to pick her up” and I feel majorly uncomfortable with the fact that A. IF she was sober her family could pick her up and B. She couldn’t even accurately give me the dates she was flying in which makes me think she is using.
I didn’t pick her up. I blocked her in fact. But now I feel like a dick head leading her on that I was going to pick her up. But she did claim to have gas money which is uber, bus, or other ride money. So it’s not like she’s stranded stranded. But in the whole grand scheme of things, I feel like I’m protecting my peace and my household. My husband and I JUST got married yesterday and she’s wanting to come in our house or catch a ride with us during my honeymoon. I just dont feel okay about this situation at all tbh. I feel bad, but I don’t in a sense because I’m protecting my household, my self, my husband, my kids. But I do feel like a AH.
Idk. My sponsor always tells me it’s a hard feeling to put a boundary down but ur never in the wrong for protecting yourself. But idk.
In the grand scheme of things I just can’t over look all of this. I think of my friend who ov** do**** with her everyday. He’s gone. He will never get his life back. And my babies need their mom. But I’ve also been that human that’s needed help…. A extra reach. A uplift.
So AITA?
Feel free to give it to me, i lowkey feel shitty for not picking her up because I said I would. But yk the human brain.
EDIT: I’ve edited this and censored every possible word that could be offensive or triggering. I got in some dokie in a different group for my words so that’s why it’s so censored

Extroverts are one of the groups for which people have a love-hate relationship. Some people hate the way a lot of extroverts act but the same people would love the relationships extroverts have. This guide is not to become an extrovert but to become better at socialisation.
Socialisation or having a great social circle is one of the most important things in the world. It is one of the most important things in terms of mental health. I would argue it is more important than something like working out. So this is my guide for Socialisation.
WHO IS IT FOR?
It is for primarily people who are in college, university or school. If you are working this is not for you as all my guides come from my personal way of solving my problems and I don’t have experience with social circles while working a job.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
I would consider myself as an ambivert, I am very middle of the pack when it comes to extraversion traits. I had a problem where I failed 11th class and then stayed at home for 12th class and then covid happened and because of that I spent like 2-3 years at home. And because of that I was super shy and antisocial in the start of college and didn’t try to make friends, but over time I made some great friends where my social circle is more than 10 friends who I like to spend time with, which is very great for me. So this is how I did it.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE:

1. JOIN A SOCIETY: I don’t know how it works in foreign universities but I live in India and we have different societies in college as well as school like theatre, dance, music, or even things like debate, community service etc. My guess would be that foreign universities also have that and in my experience that has been the best way to meet people both girls and guys and they have things in common with you plus some tasks where you work together.
   
2. FIND WHAT YOU ENJOY: A lot of time we tend to just do what our friends do like clubbing, parties etc. But personally I never liked them. My preferences in social settings got confirmed in college and I don’t do clubbing or parties. But I found out what I like to do, which is concerts and activities like bowling, swimming etc. Even in huge social circles I like when there is not too much noise like clubs but where we sit, eat something and talk. So I geared people around me towards things like that. So find out what you enjoy doing and do it with other people.
   
3. SAY HELLO: Saying hello to people around you is the easiest way to start a conversation, I mean yeah no shit sherlock, but what worked for me was a framework where I said hello, my name, then asked for their name and acknowledge what we have in common and then build from there. This framework which I build unconsciously tends to work for me.
   
4. STOP AND TALK: One last thing which helped me was when I talked to someone once, using the above framework, I then whenever I saw them in college campus stopped and talked with them even if that is for 3-4 minutes and that helped form a lot of acquaintances with many different people.
   

SUMMARY:
Join a social group or a society, find what social activity you like to do, for example Bowling, Concerts , Say hello, your name, ask for their name, what you have in common and build from there. Stop and talk with people you have applied the framework on when you see them.
Again this is not to become an extrovert but if you follow it you would develop some traits which are usually attributed to extroverts. If you have any review for me tell me in comments.

Extroverts are one of the groups for which people have a love-hate relationship. Some people hate the way a lot of extroverts act but the same people would love the relationships extroverts have. This guide is not to become an extrovert but to become better at socialisation.
Socialisation or having a great social circle is one of the most important things in the world. It is one of the most important things in terms of mental health. I would argue it is more important than something like working out. So this is my guide for Socialisation.
WHO IS IT FOR?
It is for primarily people who are in college, university or school. If you are working this is not for you as all my guides come from my personal way of solving my problems and I don’t have experience with social circles while working a job.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
I would consider myself as an ambivert, I am very middle of the pack when it comes to extraversion traits. I had a problem where I failed 11th class and then stayed at home for 12th class and then covid happened and because of that I spent like 2-3 years at home. And because of that I was super shy and antisocial in the start of college and didn’t try to make friends, but over time I made some great friends where my social circle is more than 10 friends who I like to spend time with, which is very great for me. So this is how I did it.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE:

1. JOIN A SOCIETY: I don’t know how it works in foreign universities but I live in India and we have different societies in college as well as school like theatre, dance, music, or even things like debate, community service etc. My guess would be that foreign universities also have that and in my experience that has been the best way to meet people both girls and guys and they have things in common with you plus some tasks where you work together.
   
2. FIND WHAT YOU ENJOY: A lot of time we tend to just do what our friends do like clubbing, parties etc. But personally I never liked them. My preferences in social settings got confirmed in college and I don’t do clubbing or parties. But I found out what I like to do, which is concerts and activities like bowling, swimming etc. Even in huge social circles I like when there is not too much noise like clubs but where we sit, eat something and talk. So I geared people around me towards things like that. So find out what you enjoy doing and do it with other people.
   
3. SAY HELLO: Saying hello to people around you is the easiest way to start a conversation, I mean yeah no shit sherlock, but what worked for me was a framework where I said hello, my name, then asked for their name and acknowledge what we have in common and then build from there. This framework which I build unconsciously tends to work for me.
   
4. STOP AND TALK: One last thing which helped me was when I talked to someone once, using the above framework, I then whenever I saw them in college campus stopped and talked with them even if that is for 3-4 minutes and that helped form a lot of acquaintances with many different people.
   

SUMMARY:
Join a social group or a society, find what social activity you like to do, for example Bowling, Concerts , Say hello, your name, ask for their name, what you have in common and build from there. Stop and talk with people you have applied the framework on when you see them.
Again this is not to become an extrovert but if you follow it you would develop some traits which are usually attributed to extroverts. If you have any review for me tell me in comments.

Extroverts are one of the groups for which people have a love-hate relationship. Some people hate the way a lot of extroverts act but the same people would love the relationships extroverts have. This guide is not to become an extrovert but to become better at socialisation.
Socialisation or having a great social circle is one of the most important things in the world. It is one of the most important things in terms of mental health. I would argue it is more important than something like working out. So this is my guide for Socialisation.
WHO IS IT FOR?
It is for primarily people who are in college, university or school. If you are working this is not for you as all my guides come from my personal way of solving my problems and I don’t have experience with social circles while working a job.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
I would consider myself as an ambivert, I am very middle of the pack when it comes to extraversion traits. I had a problem where I failed 11th class and then stayed at home for 12th class and then covid happened and because of that I spent like 2-3 years at home. And because of that I was super shy and antisocial in the start of college and didn’t try to make friends, but over time I made some great friends where my social circle is more than 10 friends who I like to spend time with, which is very great for me. So this is how I did it.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE:

1. JOIN A SOCIETY: I don’t know how it works in foreign universities but I live in India and we have different societies in college as well as school like theatre, dance, music, or even things like debate, community service etc. My guess would be that foreign universities also have that and in my experience that has been the best way to meet people both girls and guys and they have things in common with you plus some tasks where you work together.
   
2. FIND WHAT YOU ENJOY: A lot of time we tend to just do what our friends do like clubbing, parties etc. But personally I never liked them. My preferences in social settings got confirmed in college and I don’t do clubbing or parties. But I found out what I like to do, which is concerts and activities like bowling, swimming etc. Even in huge social circles I like when there is not too much noise like clubs but where we sit, eat something and talk. So I geared people around me towards things like that. So find out what you enjoy doing and do it with other people.
   
3. SAY HELLO: Saying hello to people around you is the easiest way to start a conversation, I mean yeah no shit sherlock, but what worked for me was a framework where I said hello, my name, then asked for their name and acknowledge what we have in common and then build from there. This framework which I build unconsciously tends to work for me.
   
4. STOP AND TALK: One last thing which helped me was when I talked to someone once, using the above framework, I then whenever I saw them in college campus stopped and talked with them even if that is for 3-4 minutes and that helped form a lot of acquaintances with many different people.
   

SUMMARY:
Join a social group or a society, find what social activity you like to do, for example Bowling, Concerts , Say hello, your name, ask for their name, what you have in common and build from there. Stop and talk with people you have applied the framework on when you see them.
Again this is not to become an extrovert but if you follow it you would develop some traits which are usually attributed to extroverts. If you have any review for me tell me in comments.

I (13M) have parents (52F, Mom 50M, Dad) who hound me about every little thing. They tell me exactly when I should take a shower, or brush my teeth, or do chores. They tell me exactly when I should go to bed, which is usually pretty early. Around 9:00 or so. I still go to bed early anyway, because I'm so exhausted, but it's not very nice to know I don't have the option to stay up later if I want to. They hound me about my grades, even if I am passing the class. They do a bunch of other things I can't list because of character limitations. And worst of all, trying to hangout with my friends. I dont know if this is normal, but they make me get my friends parents number to check if it's ok for me to come over. That makes me uncomfortable to get it, and probably them aswell asking for their parents phone number. However, I have 2 friends. They've been family friends for my whole life, and it's easy to contact them to hangout. But with others, it's hard. I already have a small social circle, and it's hard for me to make friends because of my bad reputation, mostly just being weird in the past and people still resent me for it, and my social anxiety. Making friends for me is rare, and my parents make it harder when they need my friend's parent's phone number to check if everything's ok. All this and they still wonder exactly why I don't want to spend time with them at all.
On the other hand, one could argue I'm just being ungrateful. When we had a talk, which kinda completely ruined my relationship with them, they talked about how they worked hard to give me clothes, food, a house, and stuff like that to live, but it just feels as if they're guilt tripping me. My parents always say they want me to be truthful, but I don't think I should have said anything. It completely ruined my relationship with them. I said I didn't want to be here anymore because they negatively impact my mental health by being too strict, I have to deal with it at school, and I come home and just deal with it more. My dad got really mad, he said stuff like: He didn't care if I hate him, he was being really aggressive, and just looked done with everything. I said I didn't want to be here, I'd rather be somewhere like the streets, and he said I wouldn't survive a week out there. I didn't reply back, but I was thinking about my indomitable human spirit. I don't care if I survive. I either succeed or die trying. I just want to be away from you. That's all I could think. He said I just have to turn 18 and be done with them, but I have to deal with them in the mean time. My mom said that she and my dad are still my parents, and can't just not care about what I do. She didn't really care about what I had to say.
I don't know if I'm just being ungrateful, but it genuinely negatively impacts my mental health that they're so strict. Everyone else has not strict parents, and then there's me. Well that's it.

Hi guys! I was inspired by the posts and the legit advices I read here, so I thought I should also share my story.
I got pregnant at 17 (now I'm 34) and my ex was 19 that time. I was about to turn 18 when I told my family and kahit almost prepared na lahat for my 18th bday, I chose to not have a big party and asked mom if I can just use the money for my birth. We were both students by then, he took Accountancy and I took Tourism. Since the term just started and I just enrolled, mom asked me to just finish the term. Yet, ex needs to find work ASAP because that's the right thing to do.
Fast forward, as an 18 yo pregnant teenager, of course it was high risk. Got admitted to a private hospital and mom took care of all the bills. Ex's salary is only enough to cover for my daily needs (cravings, vits, baby things, etc). Don't get me wrong, I am not the maluho at maselan type of preggy. He continued with work and I took care of my baby.
Fast fast forward. I live in QC and he's from Pque. It's literally north to south travel and he once asked if we can schedule staying home for a week then south (though he works in Q.Ave) palit palit kumbaga. His father gave him a car though, so I agreed kasi it's not much of a hassle for the baby naman since may car. That was the setup. Maybe he's just homesick and wants to be with his family kahit sya mahirapan everyday papasok. The first few weeks went fine until one day, I found out he's cheating. Mind you, not only 1 sidechick, but 3.
This was way back keypad phone days and I was bothered by the series of text msgs na naririnig ko sa phone nya. No passcodes, everything manual. He's taking a bath then, and I felt the urge na pakialaman yung phone. I don't normally do that, but it felt like GO GIRL YOU GOTTA CHECK IT TODAY. Then lo and behold, 1 girl was telling him she cooked their lunch. The other one was asking, sabay ba sila papasok. The other one is nagtatampo kasi di narereplyan. I felt betrayed of course, but remained calm (i'm proud cos when this happened I am under PPD). It wasn't easy. I just told him, "Bilisan mo na maligo at hinihintay ka ng 3 babae mo!", then never said anything about it.
I need to have a job so I can break up with him. I have my family to help me start again and I am positive I don't need his help. So I plotted the plan, that's to apply somewhere in Makati. Because of the cold shoulder, he then finally realized what I'm doing and became aggressive. For some reason, parang gusto nya ibalik ang dati, but for me it's a never. I believe in HE DID IT ONCE, HE'LL DO IT AGAIN type. I managed to get a job and escaped from the hell hole.
This is getting longer so here are the highlights: 1. When mom asked to meet his mom about the pregnancy, Tita said "So anong gagawin natin dyan?, which made my mom angry. She's insinuating that we should get the baby aborted. She even said "Sinira mo naman buhay ng anak ko.", like he's the girl in our relationship and I don't have a future waiting. Hence, my mom don't like his family.

1. I was battered when he found out I had a bf at work (technically we broke up from the day he cheated). I had to have sx with him para lang makaalis ng bahay every day. With that, I got pregnant with my 2nd child. This was technically, RPE, but I don't want to see it that way cos my baby was a blessing.
   
2. When we separated, he took my eldest and told me "BUHAYIN MO MAG ISA ANAK MO, AKIN TONG ISA". This means maghahati kami sa mga bata at wala ng pakialamanan. He even shoved to my face na di ko kaya bumuhay ng bata dahil wala ako matinong work.
   
3. I borrowed my eldest on my bday and never talked to them again. Why? Go, sue me. I am the mom. From then on, I took care of everything.
   

2024, my kids are now 15 and 13 years old. They're now at the age kung san they want to know what really happened. Growing up, I never told them the story, never even brainwashed them against their dad, I am not raised like that. I allowed his absence to tell the truth. My 13yo did a research, found her tita's and tito's in Facebook, asked me if she can message them. I said go ahead, but never ask anything from them. While my 15yo just wants to move forward with her life. This is becoming an issue with my kids kasi di sila magkasundo kung tatahimik ba or magpapakilala.
In all honesty, I want to see my ex again. I wanted to show him where I'm at, kung pano ko pinalaki mga anak ko ng wala sya, how beautiful and well mannered they are. And of course, I want to see how they will react. I am now working at a BPO for 6yrs, also owns a clothing business. Di pa rin ako mayaman, but I managed to achieve everything over the yrs as a single mom. Ito na yung sinabihan nya dati na DI MO MABUBUHAY MGA ANAK MO. I wanna shove this to his face.
I did my research too, found out he's in UK. Living a life he don't deserve. He abandoned my kids. He ignored me once when I asked help cos my bunso had dengue. Well, here's where I need the advice.

1. Should I keep silent and let things be? Pigilan yung bunso ko na hagilapin sya?
2. Do something and file a case for child support at kunin kung ano ang dapat matagal ng nabigay sa mga bata?

My 15yo wants peace, my 13yo wants justice. What should I do? Where to start?

So. Recently posted about my EMU visit, how anxious I was that I'd get smacked with a hysteria diagnosis. I had a lot of stuff happen. Most interestingly, in my second sleep deprivation day (basically self-administered, might I add), I had some pretty intense episodes. One of them I fell into some kind of microsleep and emerged extremely sexually aroused, which I was able to identify as the same feeling as my sexsomnia which baffled a sleep doctor. Another one, during sleep dep, I felt this profound and abnormal sense of mental clarity, got excited, felt aggressive, almost like I took amphetamines, faintly hypomanic, and had an extremely intense visual aura with my migraine symptoms an hour or two afterwards, along with a host of my typical seizure symptoms and impairment, though without headache. My final one, after being up for 32 hours, I slept for about two and woke up still dreaming, with extremely impaired awareness, confused as hell, feeling like I was in danger, not able to make sense of what was happening, didn't know where I was, and took about ten or fifteen minutes to return to awareness, typical of what I suspect to be nocturnal seizures I have. Despite getting all of these, by the second or third day they had already told me this was PNES, they weren't catching any epileptiform discharges. I sort of figured this would happen. Whatever.
This part may be ever so slightly out of order, because I didn't record it. Not a mistake I'm ever going to make again. I'm going off my memory, and the memory of a family member who was there and agrees this is what happened.
Today, I'm getting discharged. A doctor I'd never seen comes in. Don't remember her name. She tells me that because there was no epileptiform activity it's PNES and that I need to see a therapist for treatment. I start to have a conversation with her, saying that feels a little "circular" because my three mental health providers told me to pursue neurological care, and that I'd been receiving mental healthcare for twenty years with no improvement. I'm working towards having a conversation with her about how some epilepsy, like TLE and FLE, may not actually present on an EEG. Before I get there, she asks me what symptoms I have that make me think it's epilepsy. Give her a brief rundown of my history, which she didn't know at all despite the fact that I gave some decent history the day I was admitted. Talk about sleep issues I had, all these psychiatric diagnoses I got which didn't do anything, how I couldn't function as a kid and my life fell apart. I mention, among my symptoms that make me think I specifically have TLE, dissociation is one of the most significant ones. I think among this she asked what my triggers are, and as I mention THC is one, she laughs and interrupts me loudly saying "well that should be easy to avoid!" and I try to say alcohol is also a trigger, but I'm pretty sure she spoke over me. She says that the dissociation is a sign of the mental health issues that would be causing my seizures. I say the dissociation precedes the events which caused my mental health issues and begin to describe childhood experiences that make me think it's epilepsy. She seems a bit blindsided by this. She moves on to say it actually isn't PNES but instead it's that I'm hypersensitive to minute changes in my body that other people wouldn't be aware of. This is something I agree with, I mention that I'm able to zero in on really fine stuff and I've spent the last couple years not taking anything for granted and noting all the strange sensory experiences I get. She suggests biofeedback therapy, I tell her I have a long history of neurofeedback therapy and it didn't really help much. That my neurofeedback therapist told me my brain behaved in weird ways, looked strange on EEG, and suggested I see a neurologist about it. She seems to be getting frustrated at this point. I ask if I'm being diagnosed with PNES or not, and she says no I'm not. She says that she's not telling me it's all in my head, or that it's psychological, but that it's sensory things I'm just noticing too strongly. I believe at this point, my dad chimes in and says that I was diagnosed with autism as a child, that I had sensory issues which overwhelmed me. Which, might I add, pissed me off. The doctor seems relieved, leans into that and says that's what would cause me to be oversensitive to sensations. I mention some of my lifelong sensory issues, largely tingles that climb up my spine and make my shoulder jerk, or cold chills that wrap around my head. I mention that I've grown to be very tolerant of my sensory issues, and that the symptoms that concern me are my episodes of memory loss, emerging from sleep in bizarre altered states of consciousness, motor symptoms, and primarily the cognitive issues I have. I emphasize how I'm unable to drive. She then says it's my sleep. She says it's a sleep disorder that's causing all of this and that I need to get a sleep study. When going over my history I emphasized that I had sleep issues as a kid, especially with emerging from sleep and with daytime sleepiness (one of the things that makes me suspect TLE!) and have already had multiple sleep studies which showed nothing, but that I have another one scheduled. She seemed to grab onto that, saying yeah that's definitely what it is, make sure to get to that, and quickly changed subjects and asked me about 10,000IU doses of vitamin D I'd been taking, asking if that was from my PCP. Now. I'm seeing an endocrinologist to treat hypogonadotropic hypogonadism which I have had probably forever, none of my T tests were within range for my age going back to my early 20s and I had symptoms since I was a teenager, and it's just gotten worse in tandem with my suspect epilepsy. I have read several papers which say hypogonadotropic hypogonadism is a condition which presents with TLE in a fashion that is clinically significant, drawing links. I believe some say it's an outright symptom. I say to her "That's from my endocrinologist, actually, and that's one of the things that I'd like to mention which made me think this was TLE--." I am abruptly interrupted. Through an obviously frustrated smile, toothy and saccharine, this doctor interjects to emphatically say "Which it isn't! haha It's not epilepsy!" and continues to say she's going to write this up and send it to my doctor. I sort of checked out at that point, frankly. I don't remember it very well, but she left the room shortly after. So, she didn't read any of my history, didn't read any of my notes I gestured to, didn't give me an opportunity to discuss things I have concerns over, and eventually got frustrated enough to simply interrupt me altogether in order to put her foot down. Tells me to move forward by attending an upcoming sleep study. Whole thing very clearly felt like the doc trying to reverse-engineer some bullshit excuse to justify the conclusion that I just have hysteria, more or less, regardless of what the actual truth of the matter is.
A little while later, I get my discharge packet. One of the very helpful nurses shows me the "patient communication" section in the packet and says this is what she said to my doctor. I find this interesting, but I'm too pissed off to dive right into it. Eventually, after spending a while bitching to my dad about how weird this is once we're alone, I take a look at it. She wrote: "Some of your spells are consistent with psychogenic non-epileptic events. The recommended treatment is therapy focused on identifying and coping with psychological stressors. Please follow up with psychology as an outpatient. Other spells are more likely due to hypervigilance of normal physiologic symptoms." She had explicitly told me she is not diagnosing me with PNES when I asked her earlier. What she ended the conversation on, after I provided context to my history of care (which I specifically mentioned previously and she had absolutely no awareness of) explicitly telling me it's not PNES and that it is a sleep disorder I'm experiencing. Another point in this packet highlights that, according to Minnesota state law, I cannot legally drive for three months following any event with a loss of awareness or voluntary control. Which she actively disregarded in order to settle on each of the four or five different diagnoses she offered before settling on telling me it's a sleep disorder.
I have a followup with the epileptologist who ordered this EMU study. I'm sharpening my swords, so to speak, and trying to find as much substantiative evidence as I can through studies and what resources I can find to explain why it is I suspect I have TLE. I'm finding a lot! I'm more convinced than I ever was this is, in fact, lifelong TLE which has been very difficult to diagnose. I'm reaching out to previous mental health professionals who urged me to seek neurological care to back me up, reaching out to my other providers, and I'm going to begin looking for another epileptologist just in case. But I'm really, really kicking myself for not recording this discussion like I've been meaning to do with all my communiques with doctors. Wondering if I should try to initiate some kind of administrative action against this particular doctor.
The strange thing is the doctor who was interpreting my EEG, different woman, spoke to me several times. She had told me on the second and third days that there were no evident epileptiform waves during my episodes. I would like to add that my blood pressure shot up like fucking crazy during these, and my eyes were always open during them, and it sounds like PNES is typically with eyes closed and causes far less heart rate and blood pressure variability than epilepsy does. Just as an aside. But I mention to her that I'm aware of some kinds of epilepsy which sometimes don't show up on EEG, specifically temporal lobe and frontal lobe, because they happen deeper in the brain. She says yes, that is true, explains a little bit of it to me, but says that this is the gold standard of diagnosis at the moment, with our current technology. We spoke a little about how I have almost 20 years of mental health care under my belt, how circular this all feels. She was sympathetic and laid this out as: as per our technology, VEEG is currently the gold standard of epilepsy diagnosis. According to this gold standard of diagnosis, I do not have epilepsy. Given my history, it would be reasonable to conclude that my issue is not psychological either, and that I'm just unfortunately in a "gray spot." Which I did admire, even if I didn't have a chance to totally voice my concerns, and felt it was sort of bullshit.
So! If anyone in Minneapolis knows an epileptologist to look out for, that would be cool, I guess! Or maybe a lawyer! Who knows! Not really sure what to do with any of this! Because what the hell! Would appreciate any input at all or tips on how to actually get somebody to read my fucking chart in the first place, let alone the notes I shove in their face, and listen to what I have to say. Because this only made me more convinced this is epilepsy, and goddamn I need care ASAP.
p.s. do you guys think i might, maybe, perhaps, a smidge, present the hypergraphic compulsion to write with this two thousand words of bullshit i just hammered out and didn't proofread or anything? lmao. sorry!
tl;dr: doctor i never saw prior rotated through several different diagnoses in the span of a single conversation, obviously did not read any of my history, ignored my notes, interrupted me when I tried to explain concerns, landed on telling me it was a sleep disorder, and then soft-diagnosed me with PNES when she explicitly said it's not PNES and she isn't diagnosing me with PNES

I've reached out to a few people from my college's class of 2028 page and a few people have DMed me too. I've been able to strike up a convo with everyone that goes somewhat like:
"Hi! I saw you on the class of 2028 page, congrats! I saw you like [insert hobby/artist/major] here, and I do too! What's your favorite [something related to that hobby/artist/major]?"
But the thing is, now I'm talking to everyone about that thing and not about actually rooming. There is one person who really fits the roommate bill well--- same hobbies, same preferences, same dorm--- and I want to ask her if she's willing to be my roommate, but how do I do that? There's no way I can just be like "do you wanna be roommates :D" out of the blue? Or can I?
I swear, telling the guy I liked in freshman/sophomore year that I liked him (he did not like me back) was easier than this. 💀