Funny sister stories

Cover Art!
Just because you’re transported to another world, doesn’t mean you’ll escape from your pain.
Abused by her parents, thirteen-year-old Frances only wants to be safe and for her life not to hurt so much. And when she and her class are transported to the magical world of Durannon to fight the monsters invading the human kingdoms and defeat the self-titled Demon King, Frances is presented with a golden opportunity. If she succeeds, Frances will have the home she never had. If she fails, Frances will be summoned back to the home she escaped.
Yet, despite her newfound magic and friends, Frances finds that trauma is not so easily lost. She is dogged by her abuse and its physical and invisible scars. Not only does she have to learn magic, she has to survive the nightmares of her past, and wrestle with her feelings of doubt and self-loathing.
If she can heal from her trauma, though, she might be able to defeat the Demon King and maybe, just maybe, she can find a home for herself.
[The Beginning] [<=Chapter 217] [Chapter Index and Blurb] [Chapter 219 June 11 or see the next chapter now on Patreon]
The Fractured Song Index
Discord Channel Just let me know when you arrive in the server that you’re a Patreon so you can access your special channel.
***
Ginger makes an offer to Lakadara. The rest of Telkandra's remaining brood discuss the fate of their allies.
“Not good?” Sara asked as Helias strode into the tent and made his way straight to the bottle of wine.
“Not good,” Helias muttered.
Sara nodded woodenly. “Privacy spell?
The tauroll waved his sheathed Fangroar and after pouring himself and his wife a drink, sat down. “We’re safe. Oh Galena, this is really not good.”
“How dead are we?” Sara asked, her tone light.
“We’re not dead. We’re just in a lot of danger and even if we somehow force the humans to retreat, we’ve lost this war,” said Helias.
“Explain.”
Helias drank deep, noting that Sara was also drinking deep as well. “Thorgoth is going after the humans. That part of the plan is as good as it gets. We’ll be attacking them, and using the dragons, whilst our forces hold off Titania. Our objectives are also well-chosen.” Helias buried his head into his hands and let out a deep groan. “But winning this doesn’t change anything.”
“If we can defeat the humans, why won’t that change anything?” Sara bit her lip. “Unless it renders us unable to beat Titania?”
“Yes. Even on the chance we beat the humans we won’t be able to invade them, we won’t be able to defeat Titania. We’d be at a stalemate and both armies would have to withdraw.” His hands dropping to the table, Helias stared at his wife. “And we don’t have any reserves left. We’re going to lose the war, even if Thorgoth lives.”
“If we defeat the humans—”
The general shook his head. “By defeat, I mean we’ll hurt them but we can’t prevent them from withdrawing. We might kill a few of their leaders, their important mages and Otherworlders, but they will still have soldiers. After coming so close, they won’t surrender. They’ll keep attacking until they kill enough of Thorgoth and Berengaria’s supporters that nobody will help them, or until both of them die.”
“Alright so, what do we do?” Sara asked. Helias looked at his wife, noting how still she sat. Her wings were clamped tight to her back and her lips were drawn tight.
“Sara, I don’t have good answers.”
Sara steepled her trembling fingers as best she could. “They’re going to be better than mine. I don’t know anything about war.”
“Right. Well, you need to surrender to the humans if you are captured. Present yourself as a non-combatant. Cry, scream, anything to declare that you don’t mean any harm,” Helias said.
“Why not Titania?” Sara asked.
“She has every incentive to kill you off and far less compunction about doing so. Killing our family off would allow her to have more land to give away to her loyalists. In contrast, the humans have Erlenberg troops fighting with them along with those of the Lightning Battalion. They’re going to be far more friendly to Alavari civilians,” Helias said.
Soft hands, grabbed onto Helias’s waist with a surprisingly firm grip. “What about you? I can get away, but how are you going to survive this?”
“I don’t know. I—”
“Don’t you dare! Our daughter needs her father and I need my husband!”
The general stared at his wife. “Sara, I can’t surrender to the humans if we win. They want me dead.”
Sara refilled Helias’s glass. “Then you need to help Thorgoth defeat them.”
“Then what? We’re never winning this war. Thorgoth is going to be invaded and—”
Cutting him off with the clink of her goblet against the table, Sara hissed, “And what? Why think that far? We can plan for that after this battle, so long as you are still here and with me.”
Letting out a breath Helias pushed his hair back and allowed himself a sigh. Reaching across the table, he took his wife’s hand.
“Sara, you’re right, but you know you can escape this if Thorgoth is defeated.”
The harorc placed her other hand on top of his. “We’re partners. I need you. We need you. So promise me that you’ll do your damndest to live.”
Helias closed his eyes and nodded. “I promise. First things first, before we turn in we need to talk to the dragons.”
***
Fennokra stalked slowly toward the camp. This wasn’t the collapsed side-passage where she and Yolandra had some privacy. This was the main camp where Thorgoth and their army were preparing for what had to be the final battle.
It was also where her siblings were swallowing the last of what seemed to be a side of salted pork.
“Velkandra, Makentra, we need to talk.”
Their second-eldest sister licked her lips, her neck rising to Fennokra’s level. “I am assuming you mean in private?”
“Of course.” Fennokra could see Velkandra’s haunches tensing to raise herself higher. Her sister was trying to look down on her. Allowing her head to dip, she held her height.
“Alright.” Velkandra flicked her tail and Makentra, licking his lips, followed them.
Since their enemies had set up their siege camp behind them, the Alavari camp had been reduced in size. Still, there was the alcove of the collapsed tunnel. Whilst couriers and soldiers crossed across this natural cavern to the defenses on the other side, they kept a good distance away.
Yolandra was waiting for them, scratching something into the cave wall. Fennokra let out a rumble in her throat and her sister turned from the wall suddenly, shaking her head.
“Velkandra, Mankentra—”
Velkandra puffed a cloud of smoke out. “What’s this all about?” she hissed, lips drawn back to show teeth.
Fennokra took a step away from her sister to take Yolandra’s side, her eyes narrowed. “Are you joking? Do you not think we should at least discuss what is going on?”
“And what would be the point? It is a bit late to be having this discussion. The course of the winds have been chosen,” said Velkandra.
Yolandra rose to her full height on her four legs, but even so she was still shorter than the silent Makendra. “The winds can be fickle, Velkandra, and where we are is proof.”
Velkandra pursed her lips, eyes for the first time, looking toward the ground. “The survival of our family is tied to that of Thorgoth. To abandon him would be death by the hand of the Stormcaller and her allies or by his hand.”
“Besides, if we were to abandon Thorgoth’s cause, that would be dishonorable. We promised to assist him,” said Makendra.
Fennokra blinked at her brother’s tone. It was quiet and yet there was a touch of a deep growl to his voice. His claws were ever so slightly digging into the ground.
“We are dragons. We can think and make decisions for ourselves. We are allowed to consider other options, are we not?” Fennokra asked.
Velkandra’s tail flicked violently side to side as her neck turned to her younger sibling. “Then why does it sound as if you wish to follow in the wingbeats of our elder sister?”
“Who we killed. I was there. I lost a claw striking her down!” Fennokra raised one clawed hand, flexing the remaining digits.
“On that, why did we have to kill Lakadara?”
All golden eyes fixed on Yolandra, who held the gaze of her siblings with a contemptuous scowl.
“Lakadara betrayed us,” said Velkandra, almost growling.
“I’ve been thinking over what happened. Lakadara said nothing about betraying our mother. She merely was questioning if Thorgoth was trustworthy,” Yolandra said.
A scowl flaring his nostrils, Makentra growled. “He fed us, trained us in how the humans and their allies fought. Hid us from their eyes—”
“And now Caldra is dead!” Yolandra exclaimed.
“Which is why we must kill the Stormcaller and her friends! So we can avenge him and our mother!” Velkandra almost completely unfurled her wings. Only the tips slapping the stone forced her to pull them back.
“Then what?” Yolandra asked.
Velkandra frowned. “Then what? We’d have our revenge—”
Yolandra’s tail cracked against the ground. “Then what? You all must have heard of what Thorgoth is capable of. What he’s done to others.”
Makentra rolled his eyes. “Sara’s story is just a story. She might have been just trying to turn you.”
“She was honest and she is not the only tale I’ve heard. You must have heard rumors of what Thorgoth did to his own son, Teutobal,” said Fennokra.
“Propaganda,” Velkandra hissed through her gritted teeth, while smoke wafted through the gaps. “In any case, we have no other option. We fight or we die.”
Fennokra, her claws grinding against the floor, had had enough.
“Velkandra, Makentra, have you ever considered that Thorgoth is perhaps using us for his own goals? We have not even considered what he might do to us after we’ve destroyed the humans and their allies. How do we know the Stormcaller and her allies might treat us better? Besides in the first place, she never intended to kill our mother—”
Fennokra blinked. She was flying backwards, something hard was bearing her into the wall. Dizzy as if struck by one of the Stormcaller’s spells, she realized that the force was the foreclaws of her elder sister. Mad rage lit those golden eyes that were the exact same shade as hers. Horrified, Fennokra tried to throw Velkandra off, but her sister was larger and heavier than her.
“Say that again. I dare you to say that again—ARGH!”
Velkandra rolled off, forced off of Fennokra by the Yolandra shoving into her side. As the elder dragon recovered, the smallest of Telkandra’s brood hissed, “It’s the truth! You are a fool to deny it!”
An ugly sneer on her lips, wings quivering with fury, Velkandra snorted. “The truth? Oh right so we are speaking the truth then. Well here’s the truth. Our kind is doomed!”
Makentra blinked. “Sister?”
“Of course Thorgoth is going to get rid of us or try to after this campaign. He has to, but right now he needs us and that’s what we need to rely on until we gain more strength. Of course, whether he wins or the Stormcaller’s allies win, how can we expect to survive in a world dominated by these lesser species hm? How could they ever not see us as a threat?”
Velkandra stalked toward the wide-eyed Fennokra and Yoandra. Her head turned side to side as she fixed her sisters with wild wide eyes.
“Well? Tell me Fennokra. Speak the truth Yolandra. Or are you both too afraid to admit that our kind are doomed and the only thing is to live as long as we can and hopefully avenge those that hurt us as we do so.”
“You’d have us fly to our deaths?” Makentra asked.
The stammering voice brought Velkandra around. Extending a wing, she touched its tip to her brother’s. “I would at least have us fly together.”
Fennokra shook her head. “We’d knowingly fly with a murderer of children and someone who would want to kill us after we’ve stopped being helpful to him.”
“And we have no other options,” said Makentra. Letting out a breath, he rose to his claws and walked away. “I’ll see you tomorrow, sisters.”
Velkandra, without another word, turned for the exit. “You know it’s true, Fennokra, Yolandra.”
Fennokra closed her eyes. Yolandra, though, narrowed hers. “Doesn’t change that Lakadra’s blood is on our claws.”
Velkandra flinched and left. She strode away so quickly she nearly stepped on Helias and Sara as they came to the cave. She gave the pair no acknowledgement other than a growl.
“See you tomorrow, General,” said Makentra, his tone curt. “We will talk to King Thorgoth ourselves for the plan’s details.”
“Of course,” said Helias. He bowed as the pair left before turning to Yolandra and Fennokra. “I believe we missed something important?”
“Be honest, General Helias. Even if we succeed tomorrow, your king has no use for us after we help him kill the Stormcaller, am I correct?” Fennokra asked.
Sara and Helias didn’t say anything. Their slight move to stand closer so they could hold hands was enough.
“I thought so,” said Fennokra. She let out a sigh and glanced at Yolandra, who nodded. “We will be on the battlefield tomorrow. Where are we going?”
“You’re going with me. We’re attacking the forces sallying from Kairon-Aoun. The plan is that you dragons breathe flame over their army to soften them before we attack.
“Understood. Any questions Fennokra?” Yolandra asked.
Fennokra shook her head. What could be asked anyway?”
Yolandra flashed the pair a joyless smile. “For what it is worth, you two have been good caretakers to us. Even if it was to preserve your own lives.”
Helias didn’t bow. Instead he extended a hand. Yolandra stared at him, but Fennokra, recognizing the gesture, extended a single talon.
“May you always be able to see the sun.” At the dragon’s blink, Helias smiled. “It’s an Alavari saying. It may come from when we used to be enslaved by the Goblin Empire. It means good luck.”
Yolandra nodded and Fennokra found herself smiling.
“Our mother taught us a saying as well. May you never fly alone. I wish that for you both,” said Fennokra.
“Thank you,” said Sara in a quiet voice. She curtsied and the two dragons dipped their heads. They watched Helias and Sara leave with placid smiles.
Then, when nobody was looking, they turned from the entrance to hide their bulks as best they could. The gloomy light of the alcove their only curtain of privacy.
***
Frances slowed slightly as they approached Lakadara’s enclosure. However, Ginger did not slow down.
“Hold on, Ginger, what’s the plan?” Frances asked.
Adjusting her new crown mid-stride, Ginger said, “I’ll show you. I’m certain it’ll work, though.”
Frances’ eyebrows rose. “Is that crown getting to your head already?”
The new Queen of Erisdale flashed a slightly nervous grin over her shoulder. “Yes actually, but I think that’s a good thing in some way. Don’t you?”
Frances found herself nodding. It was strange to see her friend even more confident than usual and so comfortable in the regal crown that she wore atop of a standard Lightning Battalion light blue uniform. Yet she rather enjoyed the new gait that Ginger had.
“I do.” Frances smirked. “Your Majesty.”
Ginger rolled her eyes. “Fuck you.”
Giggling, Frances stopped herself as they drew even closer to Lakadara. The dragon was drawing herself up, placing her massive foreclaws over each other.
“Lakadara. I am Ginger, the new Queen of Erisdale. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
The dragon coughed, blowing out a puff of smoke. “Greetings Ginger, Queen of Erisdale. I’m sorry for your predecessor’s demise.” Lakadara’s golden eyes narrowed. “Why are you here?”
Ginger dipped her head. “Thank you and as to why I’m here. I have a proposition. If you accept it, I will grant you and your kin, the domain of the Erisdalian mountains marked by the Kwent River Valley, Freeburg and Athelda-Aoun as your home in perpetuity, so long as you do not attack humans unless in self-defense.”
“I am unfamiliar with human geography. From the Stormcaller’s expression, I assume that is a lot.”
Frances swallowed and closed her mouth, but she didn’t question her friend. Ginger, still smiling slyly, nudged her. “It is. Frances, can you lend me a hand here?”
Nodding, Frances closed her eyes and imagined a rough map of Erisdale and its territories. With a wave of Ivy’s Sting she created an image of Erisdale, highlighting in red the expanse of the mountains that bordered Alavaria and Erisdale. The area that Ginger had described sketched a rough red triangle between the three points. It was a fairly sizeable area with a low and Alavari human population.
“My husband is in negotiations with Queen Titania and I’ll have to talk to Frances and Prince Timur, but we are quite certain that Athelda-Aoun will also be included in this area,” Ginger said.
Lakadara’s golden eyes were flickering as she examined the land. Suddenly, she turned, long neck arching toward the Erisdalian Queen. “And what must I do? Fight on your kingdom’s behalf?”
Ginger shook her head. “No.”
“No?”
“Nope. If you would like to do so we can renegotiate the agreement, but my husband and I fully intend to grant you this land.”
The dragon’s tail lifted up as her eyes narrowed. “Explain yourself and the favor you seek. This is far too generous.”
“Let me explain myself first. If what I’m told by my experts is correct, you can lay eggs by yourself without a mate, but it takes time right? A few decades?”
“Yes. Still, that doesn’t explain—”
“Here me out. This war is going to end. We may lose, but if we win, banishing you to the north is making you Queen Titania’s problem and she’ll have more than enough problems to deal with. You might just end up coming south again and we know how that ended. I’d prefer to avoid that so that means we need to make an agreement. You need a new home and I need peace for Erisdale. If the kingdom has to give up some poor agricultural land then I’m all for it.”
The dragon nodded. “I see, but why so much land? Why not just give me a cave? Or request my service as Thorgoth did?”
“And how will you eat? Hunt? Where will your grown children go? I’m making an agreement that will last for decades, not just a few years. As for service? I was tempted, but you wouldn’t agree to that anyway and why should you? We haven’t given you any reason to agree.” Ginger gave Frances a wave to dispel the map. “Maybe in the future we can work something out, especially if the dragon population increases. Your service in return for more food, but again, I want to start us off on the right path, not the left path.”
“Left path?” Lakadara asked.
“Erisdalian expression. It means the wrong path,” Frances said helpfully.
Lakadara nodded slowly. “You still ask for a boon, though.”
Ginger nodded. “Yes. I want you to speak to your siblings. Before the upcoming battle starts, tell them of my deal with you. So long as they choose to accept that deal and defect, then I will have it so our forces will not hurt them. After that, you may leave. I will not request you to fight with us.”
“You want me to show myself to Thorgoth? To the siblings that tried to kill me?” Lakadara asked, mouth agape.
Ginger stepped closer to the dragon, who lifted her head away from the queen. “I want you to save your siblings. I want you to save yourself from becoming the last purple dragon in existence. I would rather you not be alone, stewing in hatred for my kingdom and our allies who brought down your family, even if we had just cause. I want peace. What do you want?”
“How do I know I can trust you?” The dragon suddenly grimaced. “Ah, right, you want a lasting peace. You have every reason to want peace.”
Ginger, arms crossed tapped her foot. Frances could see how stiff her friend was, but the action was also comforting. That her magic-less friend had such control over the situation, despite being faced with the dragon was rather…badass.
Letting out a puff of smoke that slowly drifted into the cavern, the dragon pondered the queen’s proposal. Frances held her breath and yet the dragon remained silent, only her tail moving from side to side.
Ginger waited, still content to wait for the dragon’s answer. Frances couldn’t. The tension coiled in her chest, waiting to explode.
“Lakadara, what do you want for your future?” Frances asked.
The dragon glanced at Frances, golden eyes wide. She turned back to Ginger, who continued to stand tall, awaiting Lakadara’s answer patiently.
“I accept your offer, and your promise for the future,” said Lakadara, dipping her head.
“We are glad that you wish the same as we do,” said Ginger. She extended her hand and Lakadara, took her claw and put the tip of it on the queen’s palm.
*Author’s Note: Queenly Ginger was really neat to write 😀 *

In 1982, I and six buddies went bear hunting in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We were staying at some cabins near Twin Lakes at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula. When you hunt most critters you go out before dawn and sit until an hour or two after the sun comes up and late afternoon until dark. Most bigger game animals hunker down during daylight hours, so it doesn't pay to sit all day. This means you have a lot of time between hunts; this part of the UP has some remote areas; it is also where a lot of copper mining went on in the old days; the mines are all closed now and mostly full of water. There is a lot of big paper mill holdings there also that are still being logged so there are a lot of logging roads built by the paper mills, they are good enough roads for large double trailer logs truck filled with many tons of logs to travel on. One thng you learn quickly when you use these roads is to get the hell off the road when a truck is coming because they take up the whole raod and they don't even slow down for civilians becasue the mill owns the roads not the state or county and you are on their land, but as long as you don't get in the way they don't care. Most of the bridges across streams or rivers just constist of huge piles of large rocks with smaller gravel on top for for the road. These things look like dams but because of the large bottom rocks the water can flow through the "bridge" it's a pretty cool thing to see. We spent a lot of time driving on these logging roads exploring. On one particular day we went down a new road that lead to an actual state park at the bottom of Misery bay on Lake Superior. It's a park maintained by the state on paper mill property, there are several very rusitc camp sites at that park. We spent some time at the park and messing around on the beach. About noon we headed back down a different road, you see alot of small shacks that usually have smoke coming out of the chimneys, they are apparently used by the loggers. We eventually eneded up way out in the wilderness with no signs of logging or logging trucks, its usually like driving in a tunnel because the trees come together over the road. After a long while we came into a clear area and aronund a bend there was we came upon what we thought was a small town. The road basically went right down "main street" and as we drove through the the place it became apparent there were no people to be seen. We came to a building that was a kind of store so we stopped there. The "store" was completly empty, looking in the dusty windows you could see it had been empty for a long time. We walked around "main street" checking out the houses, a lot of them were in pretty good repair but they were completley deserted, dust on all the floors had been undisturbed for many years and ther were no signs of foot traffic anywhere. We eventually got back in the trucks and moved on we were all pretty intrigued by the town, we didn't go in any of the houses because it just looked like the owners might actually come back. The "main street" went up a pretty big hill, at the top of the hill was a large building that was obviously some kind of industrial use building covered in that old galvanized corrugated metal sheeting. We stopped that the building and found an openening in the siding. The inside of the building was wide open and it was very tall, like 30-40 feet tall inside with a lot of supporting steel work, everytihng was very rusty and obviously hadn't been touched in many years. There were large windows with no glass just open to the outside high up in the walls that allowed the sun to light it up pretty good inside. At the center of of the place there was a large hole in the floor like 15-20 feet square, we peered down into the opening and it was a deep dark hole somebody dropped a stone down the hole and it was a long time before you couls hear a faint spalsh of water so we dropped a stone and we had a couple of those old Casio watches with a stop watch function so we dropped a rock and timed it to the splash, it took almost exactly ten seconds. there were no guard rails or safety measures of any kind, it was really scary thinking about falling into that deep black hole. There was some old equipment left that looked to be like turn of the century type stuff, we assumed it was a closed copper mine.The whole time we were exploring we had two 35mm film cameras taking a lot of pictures, this was 30 years before cell phones and 35-40 before smart phones. After exploring the place for a while we decided it was time to get going because we only had a few hours before dark. After miles of running down those unmarked roads we eventually made it back to the cabins and we all went out to our hunting spots. After it got dark we all headed to the local bar where we usually went to get something to eat. One of the guys asked the the lady bartender if she knew anything about that shut down mine and abandoned town, she got kind of a funny look on her face and went toi the kitchen pass through window and said "hey Dave these guys went and visited Peterson, we all looked at each other like WTF is she talking about, the kitchen door opened up and the a the cook apparently called Dave came out dressed in typical bar cook clothes. Dave came over and said what did you see in Peterson; we said first of all we never saw a sign with a name on it but it was just an abandoned town with pretty decent looking buildings and a closed down copper mine up on the hill. Dave said yep that's Peterson some people see the signs going into town and some don't, the thing is there never was a Peterson it never existed. Whh......What the fuck are you talking about we were there, we looked into the buildings and dropped rocks down the empty mine shaft we took a lot of pictures. Dave said yep, you and a lots of other people but if you try to go back you won't find it. What? We know the road we took we can get back there, he said go ahead and try you won't find it. Dave asked did you by any chance drop a rock in the hole and time it to the bottom? Yes actually we did it took almost exactly ten seconds, Dave said yep I did too and I looked it up a falling rock or anything falls about four hundred feet in ten seconds he said Peterson is a real ghost town the whole place is a real ghost town, he said I was there and saw the same things years ago but I've tried many times to go back and I've never been able to find it, me and a lot of other people who live in this area and know it like the backs of our hands have seen it once and once only. Dave said go to Houghton Hancock and get your film developed and lets see the pictures. The next day we decided to take off from hunting and go up to town and get the film developed. Houghton Hancock is home to Michigan Tech so it's a college town with all the amenities it had a quick film developer place so we dropped the film off and went to see the sights, it's a really picturesque place. About an hour north east of HH is Copper harbor at the very top of Michigan were it ends into Lake Superior, it to is a really cool place. When we got back to HH we were dying to see the pictures so we went and got the film and tore open the envelopes. There were lots of pictures, beautiful pictures, but, not a single picture of "Peterson"..........Now just a goddamned minute this is not fucking possible a couple of the guys went back the film place and asked where are the other pictures that were on those rolls? There were no other pictures you have all the negatives we don't keep other peoples pictures we see thousands every month. There's a park in town and we stopped there and all sat at a table just kind of in shock, not saying much for quite a while. In 1982 I was 23 years old at 23 you think you know it all, when you are hit square in the face by something like that it shakes you to the core, everything you think you know is now suspect because you were in that abandoned town, it was just a cool old abandoned town, you saw it with your own eyes in the wide open sunny broad daylight, not on some dark foggy creepy night and nothing creepy happened, we took pictures that don't exist. That changed my life from that point forward. After that we went back to see Dave, gave him the stack of pictures, of the woods, the Big Mac bridge, Misery Bay, the park on the bay, logging trucks, the rock bridges, some of the shacks, one of which was just about two miles from "Peterson." Dave just kind of chuckled and said yep, that's our "Peterson" alright. For the next two days we totally forgot about hunting, we split up in two trucks and drove those roads over and over and over and never re-found "Peterson." That is my high strangeness story, we found a town that never existed, that other people have also see but only once. As I look back with what we are now hearing stories about, stuff like different timelines like this fucked up one we are in now compared to the real one we branched off from on January 20 2016. Is Peterson a place that is close to a spot where two different timelines come very close together? Is it possible that when all the conditons in the universe are just right and you happen to be in the right place when all those conditons are right you can visit Peterson? What would happen if you were in Peterson and the universal conditions changed? I wonder if we will ever find out? If you can only go there once how would it be studied? The mind warping question is who keeps track of who has been to Peterson only once and who hasn't?

Tl;Dr ok long story short my boyfriend is on facebook being too friendly for my liking. A girl shared a post saying that Gemini pisces cancer and sag’s are signs that almost had her on “first 48” and this man comments under her post tagging her name saying that she was going to have him on “first 48” when they dated years ago and they commenting back and forth being funny and she calls him a thot and he tells her that he was playing and she never gave him no problems -___- like why does this matter i dont get why he felt the need to comment under that post can you guys tell me if im overreacting

I fell in love with a part 2 months ago. We are in an AFAB body that has, among many other things, OCD, limerence, and deep insecurities.
We already had/have an outer-gf, but my inner-gf feels more like "mine". Who else can I feel their joy in my heart like it's my own... Maybe it's very indirect self love, we all have mild variations of the body's face, and I love looking in the mirror more sense loving her...so who knows. Don't care. I love her. I still do...
My inner-gf is soft, frilly, sparkly and likes pink since we were kids, and I'm ... The opposite. I am a polite but ill-mannered neurotic punk who overshares when their nervous... Ever sense our teens. The body is almost 30 now. Why we never realized we were different ppl between the amnesia, dissociation, and personality overhauls beats me. Maybe I thought I was a phase. Really funny and obvious in hindsight.
She likes being scooped up, and I like scooping. We're addictingly compatible, we can go anywhere and do anything together, and most of all we understand our pain ...and it feels amazing.
But here's all the fucked up stuff I can't tell anyone. You rdy?
My age-sliding gf holds the memories of our fathers CSA, our masc shell alters kindnesss reminds her of the father she wished she had, and now my gf is suffering intrusive sexual attraction to him because we have OCD, and we've all struggled with inappropriate sexual feelings toward any one who makes us feel safe, Because our father, our brothers, our cousins, every male person we trusted preyed on us, and it's making literally everyone in the system feel terrible, especially my gf who is now feeling suicidal for for corrupting the safest outlet she had to heal it.
This is just... Torture. It's literal torture and we're all tired.
We are both healing hypersexual parts too. I have some of those SA memories, but it's incredibly vague.
Long story: you don't have read, I just... I've seen other systems dump, and I need it... I really need it right now I'm so tired.
She coped by sexualizing her victimization, i coped by sexualizing victimizing. I've never actually victimized anyone, but I liked very "borderline" porn from the perspective of the "initiator" ,I'll say that. I have sense stopped watching it now because I realized playing "predator" is so I don't have to confront how I was preyed on... I am hypervigilant about anything that could scare her or me now.
I put in work to be better. Especially now with my sparkly GF who age regresses when she's vulnerable... Our intrusive thoughts are mutually corrosive sometimes, and my worst fear is being a monster like our father.
So... Falling in love with her meant we had to confront those wounds. I was afraid I was a monster, and she only knew monster love, so... not being able to hide them those intrusive thoughts, and having the subject just go "it's okay🌸 I like being afraid!!" Took all of my stength to rise above our mutual depravity.
It was hard, sometimes hilarious, but we actually did it. I taught her real love is when someone respects your consent. There's no such thing as "loving someone so bad you can't resist them", that's what parasites do, not ppl who love you. It made both of us trust me more, because given the chance, i never hurt her.
Apparently , that whole time I didn't realize that I'm not the only one who's afraid of being a monster... So is our shell. Let's call him "Sheller". Sheller is a strange person. I'm a strange person. We get along well now that they realize they're a part too, not a container, or robot. We still do, things are just... Awkward... It's not his fault...
Sometimes I'd blend with Sheller, and they'd struggle to seperate my love for my gf from their own. They're like me in that they don't really feel like a woman either. So we both felt NB. Till he realized he didn't.
This poor dude... Had no idea the can of worms identifying as masculine would open. The dude just wanted to see himself, and when he did, it was a big healing thing to stop feeling like he only existed as our shadow. Truly, nothing is different now, he's just like 8 inches taller, boob-less, and his shoulders are wide. He's just as nice and safe as before, although more afraid of hurting us now.
I tbh didn't mind he thought my gf was cute, cuz she is!!! I trust him , and Of course he likes being around her, she's like sunshine and rainbows, it feels good to feel her joy, and when he blends with her he just fades in the back without thinking. He blends and expresses with everyone, it's his job lol. He also feels genuine joy when I am happy, and he supported and mediated our couple issues, he has and continues to be really supportive of us. He works a job and gets us shit he doesn't care about just cause it makes us happy. But I knew he was always quietly lonely. He loved seeing my gf get scooped up by me, cause she's a part of him too, a part that needs to feel loved and cherished. We all baby her tbh, but he never crossed any boundaries.
But then, this month, he fell in love with our old shell... "Shelley". Shelley had been inside an inner "infirmary" for a bit. She went through... so much for us. Shelley couldn't talk for years after ...And when she was finally discharged with his help... They bonded over the unique trauma of being shells, and being intense and weird. And when I say this dude was down bad, I mean it, he was down bad. Me and my gf are like treble, but they're BASS. Their love was so deep, and inspiring. Me and my gf were so happy, it felt like our awkward and stunted older brother fell in love and was opening up. We were going to have a cool older couple to bond with, and they were both just funny to watch too. We also remember reaching through Shelley, who never knew she was a system, but took care of us somehow even so, so we already cared for her.
My gf was happy for them, but started getting triggered by the glimpses she would see of their intimacy, and it made her think of the things she saw our parents doing by accident. And shed pop up sometimes when Shelley would feel those bright frilly things, and it would confuse her and make her uncomfortable.
She got really upset at Sheller one day and age regressed, telling everyone how uncomfortable it made her feel, pointing fingers and crying. Sheller felt terrible... He apologized profusely to my gf, asked how to make amends, and I did my part to soothe the rift between them too.
My gf felt very ashamed of both her regression and otp reaction, so she apologized for triggering his intrusive thoughts about being a monster again. She realized when she was big again that she was misdirecting anger at our father onto him, because Sheller is actually safe. She said she thinks she just wished she had pointed fingers at our Dad when he did what he did.
I think Shellers reaction to her discomfort was so gracious, kind, and safe... that she realized how much better things would have been for her if our Dad was like Sheller.
So she asked him if he could be her Dad. ... Lmao
He, understandably, insisted he was not stable enough to do that. He has too many intrusive thoughts he was still healing from, and could not risk both his own and her mental stability having even more responsibility on top of what he does. He was also honest that he saw my gf had some weird intrusive thoughts already slipping through and making him further uncomfortable. He said if he didn't share a brain, he would accept in a heartbeat, cause he likes taking care of us. And she accepted that well, but was sad.
She apologized about the intrusive thoughts, but when she thought about it more deeply, she explained she never had a safe male role model who didn't prey on her. That she wishes she had someone who could model familial love for her, and be a safe source of intamacy when she just wanted to be held without worrying it would turn sexual. She said I'm safe, but her attraction to me and mine to her reinforced the blurry lines she has around healthy admiration and sexuality. Me being the one to love her romantically but also hold her while shes age regressed sometimes makes her feel she's still warping those lines. I understand it, cause tbh, Sheller made me feel safe in that way too, but more like a brother.
He maintained his stance but said he already saw her as something like family. She realized it was enough to just know he loved her, and wasn't going to forget about her, and that we could all have family events with games or movies, and that was enough for her to move on happily.
The next day Sheller and Shelley had a beautiful date. They kept it inncoent in case my gfs signal was pulled in by accident. It was, but it wasn't a big deal, they were just dancing. I came out too so my gf felt less awkward. We had a whole evening together the four of us, and it was very fun. We just danced to our fave songs and listened to the rain storm.
My gf actually felt so happy and content. Id dance with her, and she's look over and see Shelley and Sheller laughing at us and waving at her. She was so happy, and felt like she finally had a family. But it was like... Out of nowhere she began spiraling.
She felt like she was going to lose all of us. She felt like she'd do something to mess things up. That her heart was breaking, or someone else's was. She couldn't place where it was coming from. Just heartbreak. Twisting sickening dread. Fear of abandonment. She started pulling back again and we all tried to comfort her to no help.
I switched in to comfort her more easily... But then I felt it too... It was like this depressive miasma... I started having all the same fears. Maybe I was just blending, but it was so confusing
She spent so long trying to understand why she felt this way, and testing different ideas, and now shes having those intrusive sexual attraction to Sheller really high.
Everyone involved feels fucking terrible now.
My gf has become incredibly depressed. She's terrified I'll leave her over this- and yeah, it's pretty disturbing and triggering for me, but I'm not really upset at her. I don't think I want to leave her yet. I mean I have intrusive sexual thoughts too, I've even had them about Sheller myself! But hers are way worse, cause she gets little and sees him as a father figure sometimes, and that must be so 🤢... OCD is like a shark and the more terrible a thought is the harder it tortures you with it.
My gf is trying not to feel suicidal... She's been far away all day... She feels like she will never know peace... Everytime she finally has someone show her love, her body reacts inappropriately, and not only will she lose me, but Sheller will Lose Shelley because he's getting his own intrusive thoughts about my gf, Shelley feels terrible because this all happened when she came along but my gf is afraid Shelley hates her, when she was excited to be yinyang friends with Shelley (who is also cute but more into spooky things).
Me and Shelley feel insecure too, cause like... Sheller is more masc than me and my gf is more femme than Shelley, so we are projecting all the insecurities into it. And what if we're wrong to trust them and they just run off and decide to have some gross fucked up trauma-themed relationship? Idk man, it's so mortifying even talking about it. But I really love both Sheller and my gf still, even with this burning in my chest, and they both are struggling with suicide ideation right now, and its just...
It's a whole ass mess...Our caretaker alt thinks Shelley, (sense she's an old shell) was blending with Sheller or my gf, and we were feeling her emotions, which we know she struggles with. It probably is that tbh. Cause we can barely lock onto Shelley sometimes. We think this is why it's been so weird and we don't even sound normal lately, and our signals are coming from weird angles.
So yeah... That's where we are... I just wanted to vent I guess. Support is welcome. I don't know man... Just feel so tired and embarrassed lol. I just feel like... Were so mentally ill and I hate it. Ugh... I hate our dad so fucking much. He really fucking broke us, and we're still in so much pain.
The only good news is we all have our anger placed in the right direction, not each other. We all understand what's happening isn't more than trauma. It just hurts so damn much ... Ugh... I really some how think we'll get through this... That day was so nice... And I felt so safe and happy... We all did ... And I think that's why we all possibly mutually ruined it lolol.

So I was telling my friends stories abt me as a kid bc we were all doing that, and after I was done sharing something funny (self deprecating humour is the best kind), they all just stared at me. Like I told them their dog died. I didn’t really get why they were so shocked and they told me that I didn’t deserve to go through that and stuff? I was so confused but anyways.
So firstly, school was shit (esp primary school, I’m a teen now). I VERY LITERALLY had no friends, like 0. Don’t ask me why, I’d assume it’s something abt being neurodivergent and talking too much, but honestly? It’s anyone’s guess with my pick-me complexes and weird stuff like crushing on every guy I talked to (compulsory heterosexuality does some stuff to a lonely queer kid huh). So I’ve got a sum total of 6 friends right now which is the most I’ve ever had actually. I remember being overjoyed that I had 1 friend who kind of treated me like shit (don’t blame them, they were also a kid and we tend to be assholes when we’re young. They apologised for it later on and they’re pretty chill now.)
Next, school continued to be shit. I’m ADHD so school never really worked with me, and my grades were so bad I was failing. (Didn’t really help that my parents were yelling at me for being lazy and making them look bad, but I was pretty lazy tbh, tho I’d be concerned at your kid going deaf from it enough to calm down and check on them lol). I grew up in a pretty grade-focused culture (yes I’m Asian, how did you know?) so that’s probably a factor to why I was socially outcast I guess. Also didn’t help that I had crippling insomnia and would fall asleep in class all the time, so much that I got a nickname for it.
So anyways my life was prettyyy shit and I’d probably have done anything to get out of it. That’s when I discovered this thing called suicide. I didn’t do it, otherwise I wouldn’t be typing this post, but mainly because I was scared of pain. I did voice these ideas to my parents but I don’t think they cared, along with the weird stuff I’d say like “I try not to hope for anything, that way I’ll never be disappointed in people” (I sound like an angsty 14 year old, but I was 8, so take that as you will). I kept considering it as a way out, which was oddly calming? No matter what happened, I did have one way to get out of dealing with it. I was seriously in a bad place back then.
I’d hope my childhood was normal but that would mean a lot of kids went through what I did, which is not ideal.

I'm 24f, and I absolutely need to vent!!
Let's start, I am black, 24f, I grew up in a large city (won't say where) in a two parent household (uncommon in my community), and my parents are absolute IDIOTS!
I'm pretty sure both of my parents are undiagnosed, they've just been floating around with it though my mom is a mental health tech and my father has been in therapy for decades.
But lets start with my childhood, my dad was in a weird pro-black religious cult for most of my upbringing and my mom was practically in a christian cult. During my childhood I had a lot of unnecessary rules... couldn't wear pants, jewelry, nail polish, eat most meats or seafood, listening to certain types of music, couldn't go out on Saturdays cus of the sabboth, etc..
My father had a lot of physical illness and was constantly in and out of the hospital so once my dad got a corrective surgery at like 12 he then left for a younger woman... and barely cared to provide afterwards.
Cue in my mother, shes never truly liked me. Always made it vividly clear she preferred my older sister over me.. which I have concluded is because of the tumultuous pregnancy of my father cheating whilst pregnant.. in and out of jobs.. as well as me being more open minded and strong willed than my (very vividly mentally unwell) sister. She would compare our appearances.. since I tend to get a lot of compliments on my appearance, and would often scold me for being vain if I chose to wear makeup or dress moderately nice.
I have done well for myself academically and now financially. and whenever she could find one thing "imperfect" about me she BLEW IT UP! She often called me useless and that my accomplishments were worth nothing because of my "sins." Called me fat from gaining weight on antidepressants. She beat me twice as much as my sister growing up, sometimes my dad having to pry her off of me over something as small as dishes, she never awarded me for doing well, and would always mention how my sister was so much better than me at xyz, or called me weak for not wanting to talk about Armageddon and the intricate details of her failed marriage.
Now, as you can imagine, I support myself financially 100% and I am struggling a bit but I am good at budgeting and living far below my means. Neither parent has successfully held down a job long enough to even consider putting me on their insurance since 19.. and my sister can't work very much. Oh and OFC my mother is pacifying my sister's mental illness, and my father is fake worried with little to no action behind his useless concern.
I recently cut off my dad after he told me he wished he could go back in time and "annex" my existence, we also had some unnecessary fight after he was being weird about my "OWN" car insurance and wanting me to spend over a G to celebrate his 50th in the Caribbean. I am now thinking about cutting off my mom, for no reason as of now other than she just aggravates me and listening to the chaos of her life stresses me out (particularly because I would save her from bad decisions or give her a lot of money even in my teens) and she's always bragging about how good of job she did because of how I turned out.. but that's because I fear failure and know they'd leave me for dead so I'm hypervigilant.
I guess, I am curious how people are going on without any family at all. I don't have extended family either so I want to know how people who are completely estranged from their relatives are holding up? Honoring your parents is crippling in the black community, so it makes separating from them completely to be daunting.
(Also, so sorry about the egregiously long story... there's ofc more but that could be a book.)

I (21F) have always been the quiet introvert of my family, whereas the rest of my family is extremely extroverted and social. My brother (18) and I are both home for the summer for jobs/internships and are staying at home with my parents. It’s bringing back tons of childhood feelings of insecurity and resentment for him being the outgoing, social, well know sibling in the family, and I feel put aside. We live in a small town where everyone knows everyone, and every day when we’re all home from work my brother tells a million long stories of all the people he talked to, all the connections he made, all the funny things that happened throughout the day. I don’t resent him for having stories to tell, but it’s to the point that my parents don’t even ask about my day and I just feel pushed aside. How do you learn to converse and not feel dejected when a sibling continues to get all the attention because they’re the outgoing one? I know I shouldn’t be taking it personally, but I feel like the antisocial member of the family who no one is interested in- not even my own parents.

My brother and I were reminiscing our childhood not too long ago and came to an agreement that our dad is and always has been quite the character…
When we were young, he kept air soft guns next to his recliner and when we would come into the living room, he would shoot them at us and we’d have to dive behind furniture to dodge them. Then he would make us pick up all the little bullets lol…
He also had this little bell next to him and made it into a ‘game’ where when he would ring it, we’d have to get something for him. It took us far too long to realize he was doing it because he was too lazy to get up himself… 😂 Eventually as we got older we just started ignoring the bell hahaha I wonder if it’s still there tbh

Hey there all :D I apologize In advance if there is something that doesn't fit the rules. Please let me know and I'll adjust or delete from my post or my post accordingly. Please tell me if this even belongs here, I'm just spooked, and don't know who to ask or where to go with this.
Long Post Warning
I just woke up from a dream where I got cursed in it. I'm thinking it's a warning,maybe form the universe and my soul, and I want to make sure what I'm up against here. It's a dream about making a ritual targeting me.
I'm describing the dream. I told every detail I that I can remember, as details in dreams can mean a lot, and that maybe, this can be traced to some kind of a ritual I'm unaware of:
I was in a different house from where I live right now, living with my parents. They were planning a trip, packing stuff over the course of a couple of days, and didn't tell em anything. At the day they left, I woke up and saw my last ex standing in front of me, but I was like in a closet, seeing her in a different room in a different house.
She looked at me at like a surprise shock, also somewhat happy about it. We had an exchange of words which I do not remember, just that it felt very obvious she did something REALLY bad, and now laughing in my face and hiding it. Like she executed a malicious, villainous plan. She talked in a similar manner in our exchange. I then I woke up, sitting in a wooden chair in what was my room in the dream. There was an old metal bucket (not rusted, but just faded metal without shine), that had in it every icky thing imaginable, from worms and flees and parasites to molds and all sorts of stuff. I then tried my best to get out fo that room, brushing off anything that tried to burrow into my skinn. There were these kinds of buckets all over the house. In my parent's room, one of the coat closets, what was supposed to be my sister's room, very strategically placed. I then started to have a really bad feeling that things just won't go right, like I sometimes get. Like a steady burden of that feeling. Since that feeling, when I tried to caly parents, my gf or sister for help, the phones' network won't work every time I placed a call. Then, it went completely blacknwhen I still tried to make a call. Like it's bricked (non-functionin completely), and then turned back on immediately when I stopped trying (let go of the intention to call). It ehn tried to go down the stairs, the phone somehow fell between the stairs (floating, ascending stairs), rolled in the gap, then fell and broke it's screen (with a case on!). When I picked it up, it looked like a hammer went on it. The glass was broken shut. I then tried to go to the kitchen, spreading glass everywhere, but I wasn't injured. I tried to find tools to clean the house after tossing these bucket, not only nothing in cupboards and drawers, they were completely missing! Like my parents took them along with the contents or something. I had the question if they might have moved and kept me there, but there were valuable items in the house still remaining, so it wasn't that (my parents would never move without valuables). Then, I knew I needed to find her, or my current gf, or a friend of theirs that I knew in the dream previously and fell out fo touch with, that I felt was somehow connected to it. I knew they (the ex and this friend, and maybe more people) schemed something which I don't know the magnitude of it's negativity and darkness. I then went to visit my sister to warn her. She was just getting ready to see an employer for a job interview, and just when the employer went out of her office so summon my sister in, I just arrived, asking to speak urgently. My sister agreed, but then she got pull by someone along the way in finding a private room to discuss, and this friend (he's not someone I know irl) went next to me, glaring at me with a malicious grin and rage. I then started chasing him. He got into an elevator and called someone on his phone. The more I got away from the elevator, the door kept open. The more I ran towards him, they got more shut. Then I ran down the stairs, which was only made out of laundry dry lines (where you put up your laundry) instead of stairs, and some lines were even missing. I held a grocery store with I think milk or butter and a carton of 6 eggs. I almost fell a few stories to the ground on one of these missing stairs, and, barely managing to grab to the rail, obviously breaking at least one egg, as I saw it broken and leaking from the carton. I then felt completely exhausted, also drained by this curse, like it's meant so I'll delay in climbing back up and then continue moving down JUST enough (or even a lot) for him to get away, no matter what I would do. I just knew I gotta get down to ground floor and catch him, but was completely out of energy, took a while to even pull myself out of grabbing the rail and climbing back up in order to not fall a few stories to the floor. I heard him talking on his phone the whole way, probably with an accomplice to this scheme, even though he wasn't near me. I then woke up I think. It was like everything went south.
Idk if it's my ex that did something like that in the past, if my gf did it and sending me after the ex as projection, or who to trust about this at all.
For context: I'll add that I'm a channeler on several senses, including auditory intuition and clairvoyance (visions). Usually the visions come at day time, but I do take notice to my dreams as well. Me and my gf are both channelers, she does this for a living reading oracle cards and tarot, among other things. We also dealt with spells before, knowing my ex did put a spell on me in the past (love spell), and that we used an established expert to do a cleanse ceremony and protection from my ex, which had an expiry date I think, a long time ago. Things did get better after that ceremony, and still. Also, I've dealt with having an energetic parasite around that time being cleansed In a black candle cleaning ceremony. My gf also got a lot of times that she has an evil eye on her, even in daily messages. I also know there was (or still is) a blockage on my wealth and of living indepently.
With this context, idk if my gf did it, or my ex, or what's going on. Only I had the feeling in my dream that my ex did it, and wondered about my gf if she did it, or is in on it. I also got energetic parasite from my ex once, and in general very susceptible to energies as an empath.
Questions: 1. What can this be? Could the dream be real in some way and a warning? Or it's just a scare from my mind? 2. Do you recognize anything from this? Is it something that can be real? 3. What should I do?
Apologies for such a long post, I don't know what's relevant as important details from this, considering even one detail can mean a lot in a dream.
If you read through it, I thank you deeply, as I feel lost with it and completely spooked, and not knowing who to trust right now.

If he reads it, I'm buying it. Listening to Stephen King's new collection of short stories and WP is killing it, again. He is by FAR my favorite narrator.
Recommended books:
Dead Man's Walk by Larry McMurtrey
Thirteen Moons by Charles Frasier (all of his books, really)
You Like It Darker by Stephen King (again....the combo of SK and WP is usually a grand slam)
Funny note: if you watched Californication, you may remember WP as Karen's ex husband. He had a very memorable scene, naked at a dinner party.

I like this girl I work with. She is really funny, cute and beautiful. I get nervous around her, I feel like I cant breathe. We have a-lot of the same interests, hobbies etc. I mean she loves star wars for fucks sake (Im damn near in love with her just for that lol)
I think she flirts with me all the time. But Ive been burned before thinking women flirt with me when really they are just being nice? She play argues with me a-lot in a super flirty way so Idfk.
She always found a way to be close to me or touch me like grabbing my arm, wanting to see how much bigger my hand is compared to hers etc.
Shes been asked out by guys we work with before and shes told me the stories and how much it made her uncomfortable which is giving me some pause on asking her out. Im not trying to be the same way that would suck.
She also asked for my number and socials a few weeks back but barely ever messages me outside of work, and leaves me on delivered a-lot. But while we are at work she sends me hundreds of messages on our IM chat thing we use. We literally message back and forth all day.
Im just not sure if she would potentially be into me or not and I don’t wanna ruin things by asking her because I do genuinely like and look forward to talking to her everyday.
Any advice would be appreciated.

I (17F) was raised in the United States my whole life. I live in a diverse city, so there were Islamic schools and a significant amount of Muslims at the elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as people of other religions and ethnicities.
I’ve always thought the stories that Islamic teachers and my parents (mainly my mom) taught me were mythical. I didn’t really believe them deep down in my heart, despite saying I was a Muslim and despite saying I believe in the Prophet being so perfect. I truly backed down when my teacher said, “Are you passionately living your life?” I wasn’t. I only said I was Muslim because I wanted to feel safer from my mom’s turbulent temper. I wanted to be respected more, that’s why I wore the hijab voluntarily at the beginning of high school.
When I was in my early teens, I argued back. My mom is the type to argue every other day about the smallest things, including my unacceptable behavior. I have argued and was involved in physical altercations with each of my family members. I’m no saint. But I only retaliate because they say how dumb, crazy, angry, and how much of a disappointment I am. Really, they start the arguments saying how I’m all of these things with baseless “evidence.” When I was younger, I cried a little too much and was quiet. I didn’t listen to directions right away and was too afraid to ask because I was shy. That was enough evidence to berate me about how much of a bad girl I was. Why wasn’t I social? Why wasn’t I trusting adults that took care of me? The devil made me shy, my mom said. I was scared. I argued back because no one else stood up for me, not even my dad or my sister. I looked up to them. Now I don’t. I should’ve been a good little quiet Muslim girl, not one that yells at the top of her lungs at the people who should’ve made her feel safe mentally and emotionally. But no, “I’m only saying what’s best for you. It’s the truth. You must be fixed.”
Fast forward to now, I wear my hair in a different style at school with a silk square scarf because even though I’m not Muslim, I don’t want the attention of the Muslims I know at school. I don’t know what they’ll say or do. My parents and siblings don’t know I do this.
I have a prom and graduation coming up and I don’t want to wear the hijab or my silk square scarf. My parents won’t approve of the latter anyway. I hinted at my dad that I don’t want to wear the hijab by asking what hairstyle I should wear at prom and graduation. He said, “I don’t know!” He has a degree in Islamic Studies. I’m surprised he didn’t react negatively. BUT, my mom and sister would tell me to wear the hijab, or else I’m collecting sins. My sister doesn’t wear the hijab. I literally don’t know what to do about this. I know this will lead to a huge argument. Yes, I can NOT go to prom, but I paid a lot of money for it. (No prom date, just going with friends).
My overall plan is to find a well-paying job and save enough money to move out and pay rent in another apartment. Even though I will carefully and discreetly move out, this would still lead to a fallout and a huge ultimatum to force me to stay in the same small apartment we lived in for several years.
I do have two interview offers. I’ll give you guys updates.
This is also important: I got diagnosed with bipolar disorder 1 over a year ago. They still don’t want to hear how this disorder affects me because I’m “normal” now. I just have to pray away the negative thoughts, my mom says. Don’t worry, I’m medicated. And take my pills on time.
I’m lucky that I live in a western country. I can methodically move out. But, I feel guilty because I know this action will make my family look bad in front of their friends and family in their home country and the US. I’m almost there, but the future is unclear. Being afraid is an understatement.

This is all from the Internet. A click away from any phone.

Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought.
An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre.
Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. After a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death. He spent his last day in prison, refusing offers to help him escape.
There were four charges that were brought against Socrates. They were that he argued the weaker claim over the stronger claim, that he argue the physical over the metaphysical, that he was against the gods and that he was corrupting the youth.
Socrates was found guilty by a jury of 501 Athenians and was sentenced to drink a deadly poison, named hemlock. Many scholars have argued that the charges against Socrates were politically motivated and have understood his trial and conviction as an attack upon freedom of speech and an indictment of democracy.

The Last Moments of Maegor’s Reign, losing against a misogynistic society led by petty and ambitious nobles and against the Faith of the Seven, a religion that enforces gender roles and inequality between men and women.

By 48 AC Maegor's tyranny could no longer be borne by the realm. At Storm's End Aenys I's last surviving son, Prince Jaehaerys, put forth his claim to the throne, supported by Lord Rogar Baratheon, who was named Protector of the Realm and Hand of the King by the prince. Jaehaerys had two dragons on his side, his own mount Vermithor and his sister's mount Silverwing, against Maegor's Balerion. Learning of her brother's claim, Queen Rhaena Targaryen fled from Maegor in the night, escaping on her dragon Dreamfyre with the Valyrian blade Blackfyre, and her daughter, Princess Aerea, adding a third dragon to her brothers cause. Lord Edwell Celtigar resigned his position as Hand and returned to Claw Isle and Grand Maester Benifer secretly escaped on a ship to Pentos. Ser Olyver Bracken and Ser Raymund Mallery, two of Maegor's Kingsguard, also deserted him. Lord Daemon Velaryon, the admiral of the royal fleet, was the first of the great lords to forsake Maegor, taking the royal fleet with him, and many other lords followed his example. The great houses of Lannister, Tyrell, and Arryn came out against Maegor and in the riverlands House Tully gave support to Septon Moon and Ser Joffrey Doggett, the leaders of the Poor Fellows.
Maegor called his banners in response, but few answered, giving Maegor an army of barely four thousand soldiers. Despite this, Maegor refused to surrender. At the end of the war council, Maegor remained behind alone in the throne room to brood. He was found dead the next morning by Queen Elinor, seated on the Iron Throne with his robes covered in blood and his wrists slashed. A spike from one of the swords on the throne behind him was impaled through the back of his neck. How Maegor died was never discovered. Some say he had been killed by Queen Elinor, others that he had been killed by a knight of his own Kingsguard. Yet others say he had been killed by a builder who escaped the slaughter three years earlier and desired revenge, and many believe that Maegor had been killed by the throne itself. Others believe that Maegor killed himself by opening his wrists on the blades of the Iron Throne.

The fate of Maegor’s loyal supporters.

Owen Bush was a knight of the Kingsguard during the reign of King Maegor I Targaryen. When Maegor suspected Queen Tyanna of the Tower of betrayal, he had Owen and his sworn brother, Ser Maladon Moore, bring her to the dungeons, where she confessed.
Maegor the Cruel gradually lost political support, resulting in a rival threat in his nephew, Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen. Two of his Kingsguard defected to Jaehaerys, and Maegor lost a third guard when Owen was found dead outside a brothel in 48 AC, his member cut off and stuffed in his mouth.
Maladon Moore was a knight from House Moore and a member of the Kingsguard during the reign of King Maegor I Targaryen. When the king suspected Queen Tyanna of the Tower of treason, Maladon and Owen were dispatched to seize the queen and deliver her to the dungeons, where Maegor was said to have slain her while Maladon was present.
After Maegor died in 48 AC and his nephew King Jaehaerys I Targaryen took the Iron Throne, Maladon was accused of being involved in the death of Queen Ceryse, allegedly restraining her when Ser Owen accidentally killed her. Maladon denied these charges, insisting she died of "shrewishness". While the charges were never proven, Maladon lost his head for his involvement in Queen Tyanna's death, of which he was guilty.
When Queen Tyanna of the Tower admitted to poisoning Queen Alys Harroway during her pregnancy, Tyanna promised the same would happen to Elinor. Tyanna was proven correct when Elinor gave birth to a stillborn abomination said to have been born eyeless and with small wings. Elinor was one of the two wives who survived the king, the other being Queen Rhaena Targaryen.
After King Maegor's death, Lord Daemon Velaryon proposed that King Jaehaerys I Targaryen marry Queen Elinor to reconcile with Maegor's supporters when a bride was being considered for the king, but nothing came of the proposal. After Jaehaerys's ascent, Elinor departed King's Landing dressed in the robes of a penitent. She visited her two elder sons at the Eyrie and Highgarden before retiring to her father's seat at the Three Towers with her youngest son.
Later, King Jaehaerys commanded Elinor to go forth and spread his Doctrine of Exceptionalism to the peoples of the Seven Kingdoms, as well as the goodness of Jaehaerys and Alysanne, becoming one of the Seven Speakers. Her queenly raiment became shabbier and more threadbare each day, and she eventually gave up all claims to nobility, becoming Mother Elinor at the great motherhouse in Lannisport.
House Rosby was one of the first houses to yield peacefully to House Targaryen during Aegon's Conquest, surrendering to Rhaenys Targaryen and Meraxes. The Rosby lands became part of the crownlands surrounding King's Landing. Lord Jon Rosby was named Warden of the Sands by King Aegon I Targaryen during the First Dornish War, but Jon was killed in the Defenestration of Sunspear.
Ser Rayford Rosby defended King Maegor I Targaryen during his trial of seven, but Rayford was slain during the fighting. Lord Rosby remained loyal to the king even as his downfall became certain, and was one of the last to see the king alive. In the chaos that followed the discovery of Maegor's body, Lord Rosby drank a cup of hemlock to join his king in death. His young son received forgiveness from King Jaehaerys I Targaryen at Dragonstone.
In 47 AC, King Maegor was dealing with the issue of his lack of heirs, despite having already married three women. Lord Daemon Velaryon, Rhaena's uncle and a member of Maegor's small council, advised Maegor to wed Rhaena, to unite their claims and prevent new rebellions, and to gain her as a hostage against any potential schemes of Dowager Queen Alyssa. Later that year, Maegor summoned Rhaena to King's Landing, and she did not defy him. At the Red Keep, Maegor married Rhaena in a triple ceremony, together with Elinor Costayne and Jeyne Westerling. As the three women were all widows of men Maegor had killed, they became known as the "Black Brides". Immediately following the wedding, Maegor declared Rhaena's elder daughter Aerea as his heir until he had sons of his own, while disinheriting Rhaena's youngest brother Jaehaerys in the same decree.
After Maegor’s death, discussion arose as to who had the better claim to the Iron Throne. There were some who suggested that Rhaena's claim, as the firstborn child of King Aenys I Targaryen and Queen Alyssa Velaryon, was the strongest. Her gender argued against her, however, and Rhaena herself had come to loathe King's Landing and its court. The claims of her daughters were argued for as well. If Maegor was to be considered a usurper, the true king would have been Rhaena's first husband, Aegon, who had claimed the throne before Jaehaerys had. As such, some suggested the throne should pass to one of his daughters by Rhaena, Aerea or Rhaella.
As time passed, Rhaena began to resent the fact that her claim to the throne, and that of her daughters, had been dismissed in favor of Jaehaerys, to whom she began to refer as "my baby brother". In addition, Rhaena begrudged her mother for promoting Jaehaerys's claim over her own.
Ser Walton Towers was granted Harrenhal by King Maegor I Targaryen in 44 AC after winning a melee in Lord Harroway's Town, but Walton died soon after from his wounds. Harrenhal thus passed to his eldest son. Lord Jordan remained loyal to Maegor during the king's wars, and Lord Rosby were the last to see the king alive before Maegor's death on the Iron Throne. Along with Lords Darklyn and Staunton, Jordan yielded the Red Keep to Prince Jaehaerys, Princess Rhaena, and Princess Alysanne Targaryen. The three lords were sent to the black cells, but were eventually pardoned by King Jaehaerys I after surrendering some of their land.
Jordan eventually died of a chest congestion. Harrenhal passed to Jordan's last surviving son, Maegor Towers, as Jordan's older sons had all died fighting for King Maegor.
Maegor's father, Lord Jordan Towers, was one of the last lords of the Seven Kingdoms who remained loyal to King Maegor I Targaryen. All of Jordan's sons died fighting in the king's wars, with the exception of young Maegor.
Maegor became Lord Towers after the death of his father due to a chest congestion. When King Jaehaerys I Targaryen began a royal progress in 53 AC to celebrate the new year, his first stop was to see the new Lord of Harrenhal, then only nine years of age.
Maegor was an impoverished lord who resided in the Tower of Dread with only a cook and three men-at-arms. Since the rest of Harrenhal was empty, King Jaehaerys settled his widowed sister, Rhaena Targaryen, in the Widow's Tower in 56 AC. Maegor and Rhaena eventually became friends, and she cared for his servants after Maegor passed away in 61 AC. Harrenhal was granted to House Strong after Rhaena passed away in 73 AC.
Maegor was sickly and poor.
Socrates speaks his last words to Crito: "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt". Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely that Socrates' last words were implied to mean that death is the cure, and freedom of the soul from the body.
Asclepius, Greco-Roman god of medicine, son of Apollo (god of healing, truth, and prophecy) and the mortal princess Coronis. The Centaur Chiron taught him the art of healing. At length Zeus (the king of the gods), afraid that Asclepius might render all men immortal, slew him with a thunderbolt.
Zeus saw Asclepius & his medical skills as a threat to the eternal division between humanity & the gods. Asclepius met a tragic end when he was killed by a thunderbolt thrown by Zeus.
Socrates ultimately does not fear death because of his innocence, he believes that death is not feared because it may be one of the greatest blessings of the soul.
The reasons for Socrates not escaping when he had the chance the night prior; are made explicit before the Laws make their speech. Because escape defies the will of the Athenians, it requires stealth and bribery, shameful practices that are unjustified in the current situation.
Socrates Feared Democracies Would Elect Demagogues. The term arose in Greece in the fifth century BCE, right around Socrates's time, and is often used negatively. Socrates himself was extremely worried that the democratic format would give rise to a demagoguery.
Demagogues are political leaders who seek support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.
Modern demagogues include Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and Joseph McCarthy, all of whom built mass followings the same way that Cleon did: by exciting the passions of the masses against customs and norms of the aristocratic elites of their times.

This is why Maegor and Socrates died. They challenged authority and lost. They were silenced by the powerful lords and by the elected council of Athens whom were given power by the common people.
They were “heroes”.
“My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results... but it is the effort that's heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight.
George R.R. Martin.
King Maegor had married all his brides and gave them Queenly status.

Jeyne was married to Lord Alyn Tarbeck. She was widowed when Alyn died during the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye in 43 AC. Jeyne was pregnant when her husband died, and gave him a posthumous son a few months later.

In 47 AC, Jeyne was being courted by a younger son of Lyman Lannister, the Lord of Casterly Rock, when King Maegor I Targaryen sent for her to be wed to him. She married Maegor in a ceremony at King's Landing, along with Lady Elinor Costayne and Princess Rhaena Targaryen. As all three women had been widowed due to Maegor, they became known as the "Black Brides". The stories told of the wedding night claim that Jeyne was given a fertility potion by Queen Tyanna of the Tower, and either drank it, or threw it in Tyanna's face. After the wedding, Queen Jeyne's son was confirmed as Lord of Tarbeck Hall, and sent to Casterly Rock to be raised as a ward of Lyman Lannister.

Lord Edwell Celtigar, the Hand of the King, announced half a year after the wedding that Queen Jeyne was pregnant, and Queen Elinor's pregnancy was announced shortly afterwards. Maegor, joyful, showered both his wives with gifts and honors, and granted new lands and offices to their fathers, brothers, and uncles. Unfortunately, Jeyne's labor began three months early, and she gave birth to a stillborn child, monstrous, lacking arms and legs but possessing both male and female genitalia. Jeyne herself died soon after.

In 48 AC, Tyanna of the Tower confessed to having poisoned Jeyne's child in the womb.
This is all on the awoiaf wiki.
George is a better writer than we’ve given him credit for.
At the end of Maegor’s reign, House Baratheon, Lannister, Tyrell and Arryn rebelled against Maegor. Maegor had sent the young son of his fourth wife (Jeyne Westerling) as a ward(hostage) to House Lannister. Then he sent the two eldest sons of his sixth wife (Elinor Costayne) as wards(hostages) to House Tyrell and House Arryn. When the great houses rebelled, Lord Daemon Velaryon, the brother of Alyssa Velaryon, escaped with the Royal Fleet and left King’s Landing.
Maegor called his banners to fight against the threat but they were too few and Elinor Costayne begged him to surrender to save her two eldest sons and the son of the long deceased Jeyne Westerling. He banned her from the council room and refused to surrender and his lords and him and Rhaena made battle plans well into the night.
At the end of the war council, Maegor dismissed everyone and stayed alone in the throne room to brood.
The following morning, Elinor Costayne found the King dead, his wrists slashed and throat impaled on the back of the Iron Throne.
Lord Rosby was one of the last people to see his king alive and drank a cup of hemlock to follow him in death.
Lord Jordan Towers named his last son Maegor and died of a chest conjection after Jaehaerys’ ascension to the Throne.
Elinor Costayne left King’s Landing while donning the clothes of a penitent and eventually renounced all claims to nobility and became the owner of a Motherhouse in Lannisport.
Ser Maladon Moore was executed for his involvement in Queen Tyanna’s death whom had confessed to poisoning King Maegor’s wives.
Queen Rhaena was expelled from King’s Landing and her claim to the Throne was ignored because of her gender.
Ser Owen Bush was found dead in a brothel with his cock stuffed in his mouth.

Did y’all see this story (TW) it’s pretty grim. Actually horrific. But can everyone go look at the picture because I HAVE QUESTIONS.
Mobile link

I’ve been nannying the same family for over 3 years and have grown extremely close to them. My MB and I are close in age, and I honestly consider her to be like a friend or sister to me. I spend 8 hours a day with my NK, and started with him when he was just a baby. My NK and MB are huge parts of my life, they’ve met all my friends (on many occasions) and spend time at my house with my partner and I. Today a friend of mine told me they didn’t like my NK and that he would simply not live up to our other friends kids. Though it was a playful conversation my friend was being serious and thought it was funny to enlighten me on how they felt. Well, of course I was offended by this because this child is a huge part of my life. However, I played it cool because I didn’t want my friend to think I cared too much. Now it’s got me spiraling down thinking, do I talk about my NK too much? Am I too invested in my NK’s life? Would this upset y’all too or am I over reacting? Sometimes I feel like people don’t understand how close us Nannie’s our to our NK’s.

It was near the end of high school. I had transferred schools for my senior year. The year things really changed. But that's a story for another time. I remember the incident to an extent but not fully. I remember he was not kind. He was self-centered. He was unsympathetic. I had gone over to his house because there was a showing of our house which had been on the market for a few weeks or months perhaps. But I was laying on my stomach on his bed, working on homework. I didn't want to be there, but I had no where else to go. I told him before I got there that I didn't want to do anything, I was just going to be there until I could go home. He told me to come over and that all that was okay with him. I don't know where my dad was. I just know I didn't have somewhere to go so I went to his house. His mom and sister and nephew lived there too, but I don't remember who was home.
Anyways, I was on his bed working on homework. He was sitting at his computer playing a video game. He came over to the bed and started touching my legs. I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I told him I had stuff to do and I wasn't interested. I didn't want to do anything, I wasn't in the mood and I wasn't happy. He straddled me, positioning himself on my thighs. I told him no. I wasn't interested and didn't want to do anything right now. I tried to stay calm. Inside I was panicking and frozen. If I sounded panicked what would happen? would he stop or be encouraged? Would he know he had that power over me? Would be revel in it? So, I stayed calm. He started touching my inner thighs up to my glutes. He was almost systematic with it. I told him no and to stop. He didn't. I tried to turn my body so I could get him off of me (all of my muscle is in my legs and he was holding them down). He started moving my shorts aside...touching me....my underwear was moved next. He seemed almost trance like. Like this was scientific. He was experimenting and learning anatomy but in a way that he had control of. He kept touching me and trying to put his fingers into me, onto me, all over me. I remember I got even more stern and tried to squeeze my legs together so he wouldn't have access to me. I know he stopped. I don't remember how or why.
Days later, I talked to him about it. It was my fault. He thought I was joking. The squirming was just me playing. Me telling him to stop was just me being playful, afterall I "did it all the time". There's a difference when someone is making out with you when y'all should be doing something else (ie homework) and says we should really be doing something else, but they are willing participants and initiants. When you jump on someone and they've said they're not interested, they don't want this, you should stop and get off all in a serious tone and without any participation, that's not the same. That's a hard stop. That's not a fun ohhh we're being so naughtyyyy stop.
I didn't realize what it was. I didn't call it assault or unwarranted. He was just a guy doing dumb stuff. I told a friend about it and she's the one that looked at me with discomfort. Getting into college we had to take surveys where sexual assault was defined, and I sent it to her. It fit. The first of many.

Hey! I'm from Canada I'm looking to expand my friend circle and I'm hoping to find more genuine friends to play or chill with on discord and hopefully become long term friends!. I'm a variety gamer I play a lot of games on pc depending on my mood and wouldn't mind getting into new ones either if we connect!.
I would prefer if you are chill and non toxic because I only play games for fun and not a competitive gamer at all. I like to laugh and have a good time and don't really care if I lose the game the only thing that matters to me is that everyone is having fun but don't get me wrong I'm always trying my best to win haha. the game genres I'm into are Story based coop games, adventure, survival, horror, sandbox, party games, fighting, fps, rpg. I won't lie though I mainly play pve games as of right now but I play some pvp games from time to time it just depends if I like it or not. I love playing goofy indie games too.
I have work during the week so I get on in the evenings but on the weekends I'm off so I have a lot of time so I get on the afternoons and can play longer. I'm kind of a night owl and will stay up for long hours depending on how much fun we're having.
A few non gaming things I'm into are horror, true crime documentarys, wrestling, reading, writing sci fi, marvel, dc. I'm also down to just chill in vc and watch stuff it doesn't have to be games 24/7 if you want and we could stream our games, movies, shows.
A little about me is that I'm a extrovert and I have a pretty loud mouth so once I get to know you it will probably be hard to shut me up lol and I'll try and keep the conversation as cool and interesting as possible but if you're a introvert I don't mind having a quiet vc :). I get scared pretty easily I'm ngl so I'll probably get spooked sometimes in horror games so sorry about that lol. I like to joke around whenever we're in a bad situation in a game just to keep things light hearted. I think I'm pretty funny but sometimes my jokes can come off as cringy lmao. I might roast you here and there but it's all in good fun so don't take it personal feel free to roast me back XD. I'm active most days so I'm usaully down to play or just hangout in a vc. I'm a pretty open book once we get to know eachother and I'll put effort into the friendship as long as you're willing to do the same. I don't judge so everyone is welcome!. :D
Now finally on to the games list!
Current favourite games
Left 4 Dead 2
Cod zombies(all of them)
Terraria both modded and vanilla
Minecraft
Tf2
Palworld
Tekkken 8
Street fighter 6
Other games I'm willing to play
Don't Starve Together
Raft
Project Zomboid
Valheim
The Elder Scrolls Online
Stardew Vally
Dead By Daylight
Risk of Rain 2
The Outlast Trials
Lethal Company
Phasmophobia
Demonologist
Escape the Backrooms
Killing Floor 2
Remnant 2
GTA 5
Mk1
Halo Mcc
Like I said I'm a variety gamer so the list might change a bit often but I love trying out new games I also don't mind buying new games as long as your willing to teach me it lol.
Lastly I will say is that you please be 18+ and preferably in north america just so ping and timezones aren't a issue. Please have atleast 2 or 3 games that I got because I don't really like sticking to just 1 game unless it's new or we're both really into it. If I sound cool to you at all feel free to DM me and please tell me about yourself instead of just saying "hi" as its hard to connect with people who don't say much about themselves. I Look forward to seeing you all and thanks for reading! :)

Meron akong sister, itago na lang natin siya bilang si X. Si X is someone who’s known sa mga tao, maganda, matalino, maraming achievements sa school, and she’s now graduating. When it comes sa school, we always get compared (same school, and nagiging teacher ko yung mga teacher niya kaya hindi ko na maiiwasan yung ganon). Pero it wasn’t much of a problem to me. I just want to share with you all about this dahil ang tagal kong kinimkim tong inis ko sa kaniya. Long-story short, Maria Clara siya sa labas while a new person pagdating sa bahay. Di kami masyadong close kaya I don’t really care kung anong ginagawa niya, pero this one time talaga really caught me off guard. Naglalaro kasi siya ng game, and sinabihan niya yata yung kalaban niya na “hindi ka siguro with honors kaya ka ganiyan”, which, if hindi mo gets, a really offensive statement lalo na sa mga hindi talaga with honors. Sinabihan niya ng ganon yung kalaban niya kasi hindi marunong sa laro, which is fucked up (stereotyping if gets mo). Porket hindi with honors, bobo na? Yun yung pinaparating niya. And this isn’t even the end of it, I just laugh about how people don’t know who she really is. Lahat naman tayo may ganon, bait-baitan sa labas, pero pag nasa bahay comfortable na tayo gawin kung ano-ano. Pero si X exceeded the limits, sabihin niyo na kong oa or what, pero gugustuhin niyo bang kasama sa bahay yung tamad, makalat, ultimo napkin niya may maglilinis pa, labahan na tambak, parang ahas na nag-iiwan ng damit kung saan-saan, sumasagot kahit sa mga nakakatanda, padabog kung utusan, and so much more. Honestly, hindi ko na siya tinuring na kapatid ever since I got a little matured. Never siyang naging sister sakin nor nagpaka ate. She left her responsibility bilang panganay and pabaya saming mga kapatid niya, instead, sa mga friends niya binubuhos yung bait niya hahaha just hope na hindi niya dalhin yung ganiyang attitude niya pagtanda

I’m feeling quite helpless and am hoping for some advice on how to navigate these family problems.
TL;DR: My sister Emily, who has a history of lying, claimed our stepmom Christie was accusing her of dropping out of college and other things, which led to a lot of family stress. Christie recently committed suicide, and it turns out she was right about Emily not being in school. Now, I’m worried about my dad’s emotional state, and my sister’s ongoing lies are making family life toxic. I can’t even stay in the same house as her because I fear for my safety.
___
For perspective, my immediate family overview:
My mom and dad divorced when my mom was pregnant with me. My dad left her for my two older brothers' babysitter. I grew up with her as my step mom. There was always some tension between my brothers and her growing up, while I was more of a neutral observer. To be honest, she wasn't the best person but I did come to love her in the end. My dad and stepmom, Christie had one child together, Emily. When I was in high school my older brother passed away in a car accident, which was needless to say devasting for my parents. My oldest brother struggle with extreme drug addiction after that, going to rehab twice. He's doing very well now, with two kids and a wife in Florida. I'm in Chicago with my partner; gay, came out in high school.
____
Emily’s always been the golden child, spinning tales that often cast her as the victim or star. Last year, she started telling me these intense stories about her mom / my stepmom Christie, who was truly going through a rough depressive patch mentally. Emily used this depression and painted her as delusional and abusive. Then, Christie tragically took her own life, a decision we believe was heavily influenced by the stress of Emily’s lies about attending college—lies that we only recently discovered were actually true.
At Christie’s funeral, Emily’s behavior was off. She looked like she was dressed for a TV show rather than a funeral, and her emotional breakdown during a speech she barely prepared for felt staged. It was like she enjoyed the drama.
Her past is a complex web of claimed abuses and sexual assaults, many of which have been proven untrue. She’s excellent at manipulating narratives and even now boasts about becoming a CEO from a supposed buy-out of her PR firm (really she's just a freelancer), dropping names like Pauly D and Blake Lively as if they’re everyday business contacts.
The lies escalated in the days following her mother’s death. She claimed she was graduating a year early, was getting her diploma overnighted, that she had been named valedictorian, and that she was supposed to speak at the graduation ceremony. After her diploma didn't show up after a few days and she had excuse after excuse, had us drive 45 minutes to a friend’s house to pick up her 'diploma', only to receive a last-minute call from a random girl claiming it wasn't there after all. Random lie anyway, because why would a friend have her new diploma!?
This pattern of deceit was further confirmed when my brother and I checked with the National Student Clearinghouse and found out she wasn’t enrolled since last year and has no diploma from her university, contrary to her claims. Rather than coming clean, Emily’s response was to weave even more complex lies.
On top of all this, she’s lying about big financial moves involving my dad’s friends, like apartments in NYC and buying new houses, which just isolates us more when we can’t follow up on these claims without risking embarrassment.
Our dad is devastated. He’s always been private and protective, and these events have hit him hard. He’s still defending Emily and seems in denial, despite everything. It feels like everything’s falling apart because of Emily’s fabrications. My brother and I aren't speaking with my sister right now, and not speaking to my dad much, after we gave them ultimatums that they ignored.
I suggested family therapy, but that got shut down. I’m at a loss. I want to help my dad and find some way to bridge the gap, but Emily’s presence makes it impossible to even think about staying at his house. I’m genuinely scared of what she might do next given her track record and intensity.
So, what should I do? Is there a way to get through to my dad or to arrange some kind of intervention for Emily without making things worse? How do I find someone who can help us navigate this incredibly tough situation? I'm also open to some questions and perspectives on her outrageous lies.
And before you ask, yes, I know about What Jennifer Did, let's not bring that up!
Thanks for letting me vent. I just want to find some way to bring honesty and peace back to our family.

To preface I have really deep rooted childhood trauma growing up with an alcoholic mother, narcissistic dad, heroin addicted brother and older sister just trying to shield me but also never over stepping. I eventually ended up in an extremely abusive relationship, im F24, was with another female that practically tried to kill me more times than u can count.
Fast forward to now.. i am so used to dealing with victim blaming that even in situations where i know I handled them right and i know i wasnt wrong but something not great happened and i was the one it happened to i blame myself and find a way to say that if i told my partner this she would blame me also.. mind you she has never done that unlike everyone from my past..
The issue is that i wont tell the whole story or will tell half of the truth in a scenario where something (not even that serious) but just anything that may remotely relate to something in the past that i may have been blamed for even though i shouldnt have. I dont want to do that anymore but i get soooo much anxiety about just telling the whole story how it is.. bc of this fear that i will be judged or told i shouldnt have been doing xyz even though it would be insane for the other person to respond like that… i just still.. struggle.. idk how to just tell it like it is in this scenario anymore bc of all the trauma even though the person im telling these things to hasnt ever made me feel how i have felt in the past..
I just dont know what to do tbh.

So long story short, my girlfriend was charged $125 twice by Apple, the second time was exactly a month after the first as if it was a monthly direct debit.
Then today her sister (who is also with ME) noticed about 8 different charges from Apple.com on her account, what is going on here? Is it a scam?
Has anyone else with ME had this happen?
They returned both of my girlfriends charges and apologised but they clearly still have a problem internally.
Neither of them have ever bought Apple products