I know several examples of people growing up in two parent homes who turned out worse than people in single parent homes. My parents are prime example of that. Both my parent's parents were married for over 70 years, yet my parents have more issues than me, & I grew up in a single parent home. My mom & her siblings have many issues stemming from childhood, resentment, self esteem issues, & some of them always wants the approval of others. My maternal grandfather was a great father & grandfather, but he allowed my grandma to control everything & my grandma was never the best parent to do that because she herself had her own issues & terrible judgment (according to stories). I even overheard my maternal grandma confronting my grandpa about an affair he had years ago. So obviously their marriage had their issues. My father's parents? Even worse. My paternal grandfather AND my grandmother had numerous affairs on each other, they were poor, & they weren't the best parents either. My grandma would brag about how she was never a loving mother to her children, and referred to her grandchildren as "mfs". My paternal grandfather wasn't a hands on dad either. There's stories about my grandma always being the one to provide for the family, meanwhile my grandpa was at the nearest bar getting drunk. My dad & his siblings turned out bad too. One uncle drank himself to death, another uncle died from an overdose. And a couple of aunts were also on drugs. My dad did fairly well for himself considering the type of background he comes from, but he has some scary sociopathic ways about him. He has no empathy for anyone, and sometimes he can make downright awful comments to people. Saying their mothers should've flushed them down the toilet, calling his nieces & nephews (WHO ARE CHILDREN), little bastards etc. He can also go from 0-100 in a matter of seconds randomly. What he says can sometimes be unpredictable & you never know when things can go left. I know other people from two parent homes who have just as much issues. I say that to finally say all this, I've seen children in single parent homes turn out to be much better with less issues. Not just from regular people I know, but look at how many sucessful actors, actresses, singers, etc, who come from struggle & end up having amazing & succesful lives. I just feel like nowadays people always emphasize the fact that it's better when there's a two parent home, when that's not always the case. I'm not a parent, but it also seems like single mothers are easy targets to put the blame on, when a child turns out bad.

I revisited this album and now I have multiple questions relating to these two songs that I would like clarity on if anyone has answers, I'll list quotes from the songs, followed up with my questions related to the lines:
​

Whitney's hurt, the purest soul I know, I found her in the kitchen
Askin' God, "Where did I lose myself? And can it be forgiven?"
Broke me down, she looked me in my eyes, "Is there an addiction?"
I said "No," but this time I lied, I knew that I can't fix it
Pure soul, even in her pain, know she cared for me
Gave me a number, said she recommended some therapy
I asked my momma why she didn't believe me when I told her "No"
I never knew she was violated in Chicago, I'm sympathetic
Told me that she feared it happened to me, for my protection
Though it never happened, she wouldn't agree Now I'm affected, twenty years later trauma has resurfaced
Amplified as I write this song, I shiver 'cause I'm nervous
I was five, questioning myself, 'lone for many years
Nothing's wrong, just results on how them questions made me feel
I made it home, seven years of tour, chasin' manhood
But Whitney's gone, by time you hear this song, she did all she could -'Mother I Sober'

(All relevant lines for most context)
1). This is the most confusing one to me. To my understanding this is the moment Whitney finds out about Kendrick's infidelity/lust addiction. It reads as though this convo occurred when he was 25 years old ("twenty years later, after I was five") so this would be at or around 2012-2013, which fits in with him saying Whitney asked him about this soon after the GKMC tour. Which he mentioned earlier on 'Worldwide Steppers'
"good kid, m.A.A.d city tour, I flourished on them stages, Whitney asked did I have a problem I said, 'I might be racist'"
So this kind of makes it sound like this was a conversation they had over a decade ago? The "I made it home, seven years of tour, Whitney's gone" line makes this more confusing because I would assume the GKMC or Yeezus tour or even the Drake one were the first ones he was a part of back in 2012/2013, unless he is just talking about 7 years prior to the original interpretation where he would just be doing random shows back when he was K.Dot. Unless he's saying this is when the conversation happened, they remained together until sometime recently they split, but this would be unsubstantiated. So personally I think it is clear when Whitney found out about his infidelity sometime 10+ years ago, however it's very unclear when or if Whitney is even really gone and if they don't live together, see each other, or parent their kids together. The meta perspective of her appearing on the album multiple times and being a part of the artwork, and posting a ton of her own self growth stuff on IG as well an Kendrick never really saying anything contrary besides this one line leads me to believe they're still very much together?
​

So I set free my cousin, chaotic for my mother's pain
I hope Hykeem made you proud 'cause you ain't die in vain -'Mother I Sober'

2). Obviously this is referring to Kendrick's cousin who is the parent of Baby Keem (who I always thought was Kendrick's first cousin, and not his first cousin once removed), but who is this cousin? Is this the cousin that was accused of touching Kendrick? I assume this isn't the same cousin from Auntie Diaries due to the similar age? Also do we know how or when they died? I feel like I'm missing something obvious. For some reason a Genius annotation says this is a female "his female cousin who’s the mother of Baby Keem" I'm not sure where this is concluded from.
​

"Mother cried, put they hands on her, it was family ties" -'Mother I Sober'

3). This is saying that someone in the family hit his mother, not that someone in the family was the one that molested his mother?
​

"Mother's brother said he got revenge for my mother’s face, Black and blue, the image of my queen that I can't erase" -'Mother I Sober'

4). Kendrick's Uncle beats up another family member to avenge what happened in the previous line above?
​

"I asked my momma why she didn't believe me when I told her "No"
I never knew she was violated in Chicago, I'm sympathetic" -'Mother I Sober'

5). I assume we have no further context to what happened here, whether or not this incident happened by someone in the family or not, just that it happened previously when she lived in Chicago before moving to Compton?
​

My Auntie is a man now -Auntie Diaries
Where is your uncle at? 'Cause I wanna talk to the man of the house -Family Matters

6). Final question regarding 'Auntie Diaries'. There was a little bit of discourse over Drake's line in 'Family Matters' regarding Kendrick's Aunt/Uncle. From my understanding, yes Kendrick's Auntie is a transman, but just because that's the case doesn't necessarily mean that he wants to be referred to as an Uncle. Is it reasonable to believe that because of the title of the song, the repetition of "My Auntie is a man now", and no other indication in the song, that Kendrick's Auntie retained the Aunt title regardless of transitioning to a man? (Technically making Drake's line incorrect/hurtful?) (Note: also in an interview around 2013 Kendrick referred to him as his Auntie then for what that's worth)

I (19F) am still living with my mom (60F) for the time being, as I'm planninv on moving out sometime in the next 2 or so years. Over the last nearly-a-year, I've been trying to get a job, but due to inexperience, not many places have wanted to hire me as of late (I have an interview at 4pm the day I'm writing this).
Mom, who has been as supportive as she can through all this has- we'll say "encouraged with the angry stare of a-thousand suns" for me to, and I quote, "get my ass in gear, and find a job." My mom, though she doesn't want to admit it, has an anger issue. Though I have not been hurt physically, I have gotten my feelings hurt by the truth. A little over a week ago is a good example:
I was thinking of donating plasma to A- help someone who needs the transfusions, and B- get about $50 or so to put in a savings account, my gas tank, etc.. I had mentioned it to my mom (about donating for money, couldn't get much more into her head about anything else.) and I got vehemently shut down, got told that was the "most laziest, cop-out of finding a job she had ever heard of" and got accused of putting the money to dr*gs. I'm not.
Relavent point: My niece is planning a trip from where she lives (about 8 hours away from me) to come down, she her grandma and me, meet my moms bf, etc. I had misunderstood, and though she was coming down sooner than expected.
Back to the plot- My mom thought I was paying for my nieces gas with the money I was going to get from my plasma donation (of which I'm planning for at least gas money, if not towards a new apartment). I'm not. When I tried to explain that I misunderstood what my niece said, she accused me of lying, and that I was "playing her" (her words, not mine).
Other important thing- I used to have a bad lying streak, especially when I was a kid and teenager in high school. My most recent time of me lying to her was about a guy I met on OkCupid, and wanted to meet him without my overprotective mom breathing down my neck. She found out, and I was deemed untrustworthy ever since- at least that's what it feels like. And since then, I've had to verify to my mom that I was actually putting in work via screenshots and texts of me "updating my progress on getting a job".
Back to the plot (again)- She thought I was "playing her" and she won't believe me. My niece is coming down at some point late this year at the earliest or next year. I tried asking my mom if she'd hear my niece, (hear the truth from the horses mouth). I was told she didn't need to hear her.
Main reason for the rant- I had an interview at 11am at the time of writing this (10:30am). The company emailed me yesterday, saying all of their positions were filled. My mom believes that I'm playing her, when I can't show the email (of which I deleted last night when I was going through my email, and emptied my email trash- aka gone forever), and I suddently don't have an interview anymore. I have another around 4pm, and I'm honestly, the abandonment issues are coming out. I feel like I'm making a moutnain out of a molehill, and like I need to leave because I'm making her unhappy.

I (F38) am separated from my husband (M49), with a child (F6) and trying to work it out. I unexpectedly fell pregnant and it’s a big mess. I’m high risk being older and on medication difficult to come off. My husband and I are in shock and have a lot to sort through. Telling our family and friends is going to come with lots of questions and potentially upset people.
A few days ago I told my sister as she is the only person I know who has gone through the emotions of an unplanned pregnancy (she was 19 at the time). I said it’s only early, and even without the other complications I wouldn’t want to tell anyone until the first trimester is over. Please keep it private.
Well… she told my 13yo niece who immediately told my 7yo nephew. “Couldn’t help herself”
I’m pissed at my sister. Kids can’t relied on to keep these things to themselves, it’s not fair on them to try. Pushing aside that our whole family will probably find out in a matter of days now (we live interstate to them all) our 6yo daughter who won’t know she’s getting a very much wanted sibling until first trimester is over. In case of the worst, and because she will tell everyone and sundry before we’re ready.
So I told my sister that she shouldn’t have done that and her response was if I didn’t want her children to know I shouldn’t have told her and why haven’t I told my daughter?
I put the boundary down that because she broke my trust, I won’t be trusting her with any other private information because she’s said she will tell her children. Second, that her kids can’t FaceTime my daughter (they live interstate) until we tell her at 13 weeks, just over a month.
She’s said if I’m going to shame her the I can f*ck off out of her life and now posting on Facebook quotes about the power of stepping back from relationships etc. My nephew has been trying to call constantly repeatedly since he found out. AITAH?

So for some context I am disabled and can only work about 2-3 days a week. Used to be able to work more but I can't any more.
Both of our parents are dead and I have manic depressive bipolar plus ADHD and meds do not seem to help much. Whereas my aunt has anger issues and ptsd. And I live with my aunt because of this. My brother (25M) and I (27F) have never really gotten along, he used to chase around with knives and torture me essentially.
He has been in and out of prison and has 3 kids. Well last year he got out of prison and his baby momma didn't want anything to do with him so I let him stay with me. He did not have a job but was looking for one, he did get food stamps and helped around the house though, so I had no issue with it.
I had a really cushy stay at home job at the time that worked with my disabilities and I loved it. Then my grandmother went on hospice so I had to take care of her too. Then while she was on hospice at my house he asked if his baby momma could stay for a couple of days so grandma could see his newborn so I said yes. It went downhill from there.
Grandma passed, I asked him to help me clean out grandma's apartment because I couldn't do it on my own. I also paid him to help so he would bring it to my house so I could go through it later when it was so fresh. He didn't even bring half of it, the safe as missing and he stole and sold stuff and I didn't trust him after that
He would also use my Doordash account to make himself money then not help pay bills or find a different job. They would not clean up after themselves and got mad at me for trying to. Their (Grandma’s) room looked like a DCFS case. I tried to kick them out multiple times but they wouldn't leave and since they stayed over 2 weeks the cops couldn't do anything.
They took over grandmas room f*cked on her Deathbed and let their 3 year old wipe his feces from his diaper onto my 60” tv and just left it there for me to find after it had crusted.
The job terminated me because of the background noise of them and the 2 kids screaming and them beating each other. So I couldn't take it anymore, so since they wouldn't leave I did and I moved in with my aunt.
Now it's a year later they got kicked out of that apartment, moved to Effingham and got into an argument with his BM’s mom and he ripped the door off the hinges and she kicked them out. My aunt went to go get them now the cycle is repeating and she just doesn't seem to care because and I quote “that's our family and my grandbabies.”
So because they f*cked up I am screwed again. I pay the majority of bills since I work and my aunts on Disability. So if I leave she loses the house, but I don't see any other option. I can't do this again, I just can't.
So here I might be the asshole. I know if I leave she’ll get kicked out and it's not like I make enough to pay the bills and save enough to leave anyway. I brought this up several times but she just doesn't seem to understand.
So I don't know what to do. I just feel lost and stuck. So I'm going to tell her (my aunt) tomorrow, that it's them ( which is him his 3 kids and his baby momma) or me but I already know which one she'll pick, so wish me luck.

This is haunting me and I need help. I (22M) am the oldest of 6. My sister (17F) is the 3rd oldest of our bunch. Growing up, we didn’t have a great childhood which has lead to separation between me and my younger sisters. While I was visiting my grandparents, my uncle (40M) asked to have a beer and I went out to smoke with him. Things are going normal as we were chatting about life, moving, and other matters.
While we were chatting about updates on his divorce, he told me that my sister and him were moving into an apartment together in the city. That didn’t phase me much as I knew they were close and she had previously lived with him, my soon to be ex-aunt and cousins in another state a few months ago. This is information that my mom, dad, and grandparents know, but I’m the first of the children that know.
As we continue shooting the breeze, he tells me that he has something to tell me about. Something that would want me to yell him out for, or just walk away and never look back. In my mind I thought it was something about suicide or abuse as he is going through not the greatest divorce and has been struggling.
Then he drops a fucking nuke, HE GOT MY SISTER PREGNANT. I’ll be as precise as possible about the details but I still feel shockwaves after hearing it. He told me the reason they’re moving in is because he is the father of my sister’s baby and besides him and my sister, I am the only family member who knows. He said that everything that transpired was consensual and that their intent is to keep the baby. And the reason they are moving out is to keep my sister protected from the backlash. He repeatedly told me that I can do with I want with this information and that he won’t judge me if I tell everyone in the family. But I am left in awe that he would
1) Be romantly involved with his blood related niece
And 2) think that I am fit and able to carry this information
It’s only been a few hours as writing this post, but I just feel sick being the only one outside of them who is burdened with this information.
A few details that I should mention that is scrambling in my head. their move in date is only a few days away. The baby is dew late this year (Oct-Nov). My uncle is in the process of being divorced and has two kids of their own. My uncle is our mom’s brother. My uncle and sister are religious (Christianity). My uncle has never been a person to tell a lie, or at least not to me.
So I come to you Reddit as a source of help. How do I handle this information?? After talking to my girlfriend, she pointed out that it seems that he wants me to be the one to break the news to the family. But I just can’t handle my parents not knowing that them moving out is actually because they are having a kid. She’s not a legal adult yet so I’m not sure what laws were broken on top or incest. I’m going to bed after writing this but I’ll try to edit or reply when I can.
TL/DR: My uncle got my sister pregnant (blood related) and I’m the only one who knows.
EDIT: grammaspelling errors, I have also told my parents, me and my girlfriend have been reading your comments and I appreciate all your advice, I will do a full update tonight as more comes out and I have the energy to make a post.

AITAH for last minute cancelling attending my sister’s wedding? For background my sister and I have had a rocky relationship for some time as she is not very nice to me and falsely accused me of physically assaulting her. That was a few years ago and after we didn’t talk much. There’s never any talking things out with her when there is an issue, she just screams at me or over me and it’s her feelings and no one else’s matters. Week of the wedding she called me and she was telling me how basically I need to tuck my trauma with my mom down and deal with it alone. My mom has been abusive physically and emotionally my whole life and my mom has been spreading false allegations about me to include rape which I do not take lightly. My mom would be attending the wedding and she and I behind closed doors were in hard disagreement about the way she treats me and I put my foot down with her finally. So then she goes to all of my siblings saying things that aren’t true escalating the situation further now to where everyone else knows and is now having a say or is involved. Thus my sister calls and she’s telling me I need to deal with my trauma alone. I told her finally, very calmly and kindly it’s not ok to tell me how to deal with my trauma as a victim with our mom and she starts screaming at me and hurls a bunch more insults. We had paid over 2k to attend the wedding. She’s a flight attendant and she got free flights for all of my siblings, aunt, and mom, not my husband and I. We paid for our flights and all expenses out of pocket. That was it for me and the last straw. I cancelled. With my sister and my mom I do not wish to pay my hard earned money to be continuously verbally and emotionally abused. I respectfully wrote letter to her and her husband explaining why we would be absent and still apologized, offered to pay any costs they might accrue due to our last minute cancellation, and kept it professional. I also did not tell her husband she had screamed at me so as not to reveal the real reason that she was part of the reason we did not attend. I have received numerous verbal abusive assaults in texts from my sister since and I have blocked. I have gone no contact with my mom as well and they proceeded to escalate everything further by lying to my nieces (who my sister does not have custody of) and saying I blamed my dads death on them and now my nieces have no relationship with me. I am 7 months pregnant and was 6 months pregnant at time of wedding. The stress of everything ended up putting me in the hospital. I felt I made the right decision for my family and I to protect ourselves from the abuse of my side of the family.

I '60F'raised my daughter '42F' as a single Mom. So, that means we have known each other for 42 years. When she was little I worked in a diner during the day, and I catered on weekends to make ends meet. I did have help from my parents thank god, or I don't know what I would have done. My uber intelligent daughter graduated high school with high marks and got accepted to our state's most elite university. I was able to work enough extra shifts to supplement her needs (books, groceries, movies, gas, etc.), but she did take loans and grants. She graduated college, has gone on to become an extremely popular third grade teacher and also married the district's school psychologist. She has also given birth to my two most precious grandchildren who I would literally die for. We have always been close. She was a model child, we rarely disagreed and my mother, she, and I were like three peas to a pod.
Fast forward to more recent events. After she finished her education, I decided to return to school and earn my bachelors and masters degree. I had left the catering business when my mother became chronically ill and spent the next eight years caring solely for her. My income was from her and school grants. A year ago my mother passed away. Since that time I have struggled to find work and I am still in school full-time, but now I have half the income and double the expenses because Mom and I split those. In short, I have really struggled to stay in my current place.
A couple of months ago, after receiving 3 job rejection emails in one day, I called my daughter to commiserate and when I was done, I said "I'm just not sure what I should do at this point". To which she said, "I don't know, but there is no place for you with me, so you need to figure it out." I was instantly shocked because I'm not sure that I meant for her to take me in, but okay let's explore what you mean by that, because surely push come to shove, she wouldn't let me be homeless. But, she reiterated, "you cannot come to my home regardless of your circumstances Mom, you need to figure it out."'
I hung up the phone on her because I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. I don't think that I was contemplating moving in with her, but the fact that she didn't care that I would live on the street was suffocating me. I would NEVER let a relative live on the street, not alone my mother. After calming down, I called her and said, I think we need to talk this out because my feelings are so hurt that I'm afraid it is going to really hurt our relationship. She said, "I've noticed that things are getting more challenging for you and I have been up front in warning you that I was not taking you in." Well, I must have missed that memo. In hindsight, she did ask me things like, "what are you going to do if things don't turn around?" and she did say while chuckling once, "if worse comes to worse, you aren't coming with me". I thought she was joking because it wasn't even what we were talking about at the time.
Upon hearing that she would see me in the streets, I started to make back-up plans knowing that she wasn't going to be a source of any temporary support for me. I contacted my sister, brother, and aunt who all were shocked because that is not how our family has ever operated. Of course all three said, come here. Of course all three have drawbacks like the distance it will put between me and my beloved grandchildren. Well, my sister who was livid and also close to my daughter, called my daughter (unbeknownst to me) out on her behavior. She asked her how on earth she could let her Mom be homeless, if it actually came to that. My daughter said, she won't be homeless, she has you guys. My sister said, yes, but then she won't be near the grandbabies. My daughter said, "well, sometimes sacrifices have to be made."
*side note: I am the ONLY grandparent in their lives as they (her psychologist husband and her), alienated his parents ten years ago and haven't spoken to ANY of his family since. The grandbabies do not know-nor have ever met a single person from his side.
Anyway, since the phone call with my sister, my daughter refuses to talk to me. I honestly have not made efforts to reach out to her much because when I do, she doesn't answer or has her husband answer my inquiries. I have been able to continue a relationship with the grands, but I have to go through the son-in-law to arrange it. My grandson is so attached to me because I was his primary care giver until kindergarten while his parents worked. I was already caring for Mom so it was no problem to care for him too. They did start giving me $300.00 a month starting the second or third year of watching him, which I appreciated. The point being, it will destroy him as much as me if I have to move to another state.
So, I have managed to stay in this apartment that I can't afford with school money, maxing out credit cards, refinancing my car, some gig work, and selling items on eBay. I am frantically putting out resumes etc. to try and stay close to the grandbabies. Yesterday was Mother's Day. I received a generic "happy mother's day" message in a group text and that was it. Not a boo the rest of the day. In our family Mother's Day, is huge. Brunch, flowers, cards, acknowledgment. I didn't even know the group text included me because the first name was not mine so I thought it was sent by someone on accident. I later texted her and said something to the effect of "although things are strange right now, I did want to wish you a Happy Mother's Day today and thank you for bringing my two precious grandbabies into the world". To which she replied, "i included you in a group text at 9 a.m. this morning, I'm sorry if you did not see it." Direct quote. I responded, "how personal, thank you. kiss the babies. hope you are all having a great day. enjoy the sunshine. Her response: nothing.
I'm not sure where to go from here. I am heartbroken. I want to return to the close relationship we had before, but I am also so disappointed in what has transpired. She knows that I am struggling financially, grieving my mother, scared, and basically alone. I get that none of that is her doing. I guess I just expected more compassion and grace from her. In any case, I am at a loss of how to fix this. I want reconciliation, but I also do not want to grovel for scraps of her attention. Looking for advice on whether or not I should keep trying or move on. Thank you.
****To update this post, it's after midnight here but I have spent this evening reading the Missing Missing Reasons, that was suggested to me and also reflecting on the constructive posts. After reading through all of it, I understood that my perception of her childhood, the situation we are in now, and the journey to getting here are most likely very different. I wanted to know her perception and how to move forward to healing. I decided to call her on the off chance that she would answer and surprisingly she did. I began by apologizing to her for overwhelming her with my issues and that I understood her need to have boundaries and that I would work on extricating myself from her orbit. I apologized if any of my actions came off to her as passive aggressive, I wasn't trying to except for my petty mother's day message, but that doesn't make it less inflammatory or hurtful, so I'm sorry. I asked her to tell me what I could do differently going forward to try and repair what has been done.
Her response: (I'm paraphrasing) Mom, to be honest. This has blown up to be much bigger than it needed to be. I am going through some stuff of my own. Stuff I'm not comfortable talking about right now, and stuff at work, stuff with the kids, and when you complained about the job rejections it was the straw that broke the camels back. I just blew up. I didn't feel like listening to one more person's complaints or whining and so I just blurted out fix it, you aren't coming here. She said, I mean that. You aren't coming here, but I could have said it in a more loving manner. I asked her if I had just ignored her telling me that in the past and she said, "yes and no". I've eluded to it, but I'm at fault too for not just slamming it on the table.
She went on to say that in reality this situation would have just been a call from her to me the next day to say hey sorry about my crappy mood, but in the interim her Aunt calls her and tells her what a horrible child she is and immediately her IDGAF shield is up and she's burrowed in now. She said, "I get that I could have been gentler in the delivery, but people need to mind their business, and you should have protected my position with her."
I asked her about her childhood and if she had trauma that I wasn't aware of and she said, "How can anyone escape childhood without trauma Mom? I lost a brother, I lost grandparents, I lost friends, nasty crap happens". I asked her if it was the void of a father and she laughed and said, she never once felt that void. She said she had her grandpa and uncles and they were the only male presence she needed. I asked her if she was happy in her childhood, and she said, with 100 percent certainty Mom, you gave me the best childhood. I will never complain about that. Now if we are talking later, then I will say that we have had some issues with healthy boundaries and although our family has always operated a certain way that we accept and are used to, my husband is not. I have to consider his feelings in all things and his feelings are that we need to have a healthy space between us. I would love for all of us to live in one big house like the Walton's, but he isn't wired like that and I have to respect his wishes first and foremost because he is my family.
I asked if she thought my grandparenting was overly intrusive or obsessive and she said "yes, and I love it, don't ever change that". "You can ease up on the parenting of me, but never the grandparenting of them". She went on to tell me how much her grandparents consistent presence impacted the positivity in her self esteem, and self image and she wanted the same for hers.
I asked about my returning to school and if that bothered her and felt like I was wasting my time and she said, "absolutely not!" "I'm so proud of you for doing that". "It was so far outside your comfort zone and you took a leap of faith, and I support you 100 percent." She said she thought it was a great idea and that's why she suggested it. I said, maybe I should have put gram in a home and just got a regular job. She said, Mom who knew grandma was going to be sick for so long? You are an awesome daughter, and gram was lucky to have the love and care you gave her. I am just saying up front that I don't think that is in my wheelhouse. I'm sorry, it isn't for me. I am sure glad it was in you because I would hate for gram to have gone to a home.
So, we have agreed to meet for lunch soon, not real soon. We agree to set and honor healthy boundaries and I am going to work on my own emotional attachment issues and step back from their orbit. I want to thank everyone who had strong, harsh, blunt, yet constructive criticism. I wouldn't have had the nerve to call or admit my mistakes without reflecting on your valid points of view, so thank you, so so much.
I was thinking of asking her to come on and repeat herself, but then I thought all of the naysayers on here will just accuse me of impersonating her, so what would be the point? Still, I want you to know that for those of you who wanted to twist my words, inject seedy innuendo, false narratives, and paint me as a complete degenerate, I still took your points of view into consideration too.
Peace to you all and thanks again. Goodnight, or good morning really.

I was in focus 10 and I immediately heard a phone ring. Typing this out I coulda tried more physical options but I was still fully attached to my body so reaching for a phone didn’t connect in the moment. I’m worried they’ll never call again or if every missed call is on purpose. I’ve never gotten a ring before that wasn’t automatically picked up.
I accept someone might not know but I wanted to ask the communities first. Obviously there’s subliminales in things like the matrix and that’s what I was thinking about at the time and i think it influenced how I was contacted. I felt the presence before the call but the agreement was picking up the phone. I had a good while to figure it out and I didn’t. The only thought that reassured me about it was I could ask questions about it and the quote ~”if the phone rings, answer it. If you don’t get it, it wasn’t meant for you”
I still had enough communication because I love my REBEL but I also like being naked too. Whatever the conscious construct was, it was trying to teach me something it thought I already knew. It watched me struggle and knew I had the full awareness of emotion. Idk, I didn’t dream tho so no more context. Atleast that i remember. I’ve been needing some real sleep and one night was good. Thanks to the gateway experience if my intent is set high enough I can do anything. I’m a basic human so it’s like, waking up without an alarm. Having a dream. Lucidity. I got told by a conscious construct that called itself Jesus in a joking way but delivered the promise.
He said it how I say it in the song but basically it translates to “don’t smoke tomorrow and go to sleep sober and I’ll give you the experience you want. Meet me in the church.”
It was a fuzzy recreation of downtown Westerly and Pawcatuck area. I got the information from walking the actual streets and my subconscious build the environmental construct. I tested it enough to feel grass. Wind. I was floating and asked to be let down so I could touch the grass and I was. I’m willing to surrender power to get what I want from my subconscious but when I initiate it I assume responsibility and I think that’s why I’m schizoaffective. I take responsibility for the impossible. In a dream it’s possible and I can always tell the difference. Even the ones I’ve questioned in the hospital I knew when it was real and wasn’t I just wasn’t in full control and it felt like a dream because I started it unconsciously and I trust my unconscious. He says a lot of shit I told him to just forget about it. Apparently. I asked why I was on the medication and she started reading the list of things I said (I was told it would be burned when I left even tho it didn’t matter to me) one of them was me gifting my friends wishes and she refused to elaborate, I asked to sign the papers and I never got them. Like yes I had that thought process with my subconscious but I explained why we wouldn’t word it like that and idk how I’m responsible for what I say when I’m unconscious and more upfront about it when I am conscious. And btw my friends told me I was a wish granter. That’s why it’s not crazy. I just took the role serious enough to call a friend on a night that coulda been my last chance. Idk why I did it but I was thankful I did and he was too. I don’t even remember how I got his information but we talked about it at lunch. That’s brain shattering but like a snake shedding quickly. It’s just so the new one can grow to the same size and greater.
Robert Monroe basically said do whatever unless you schizo- and that hurt. Not in any way that really mattered but that my internal experiences wouldn’t be taken seriously. Idk if it is or not but when I give advice in a completely different context it’s taken full heartedly and often times I’m right when not comforting someone in a relationship. You need to come to the conclusion it needs to end and I’ll give you my honest opinion.
For anyone not following along, you need a lot of knowledge and experience to use NVC effectively with two entities that have never met and know nothing. I’m an open book. The astral court took the only reality I did wrong beyond repair and killed him. Supposedly, I think he’s still on death row. I just needed to prove I wasn’t him.
I cared this much about my karma yes.
I needed the reassurance because all my bad is canceled and extra is debt to me. I wish I acknowledged possibilities sooner because yah getting a Yahtzee because you want one is cool but what if I cared about something more because I can’t get a Yahtzee every time and I can’t get what I want every time. I was able to do it for others too. It took time tho and intent. I can only do so much and technically it’s nothing. My aunt doubted she’d get a Yahtzee and she did. I asked for it just in time which was multiple turns before in certain cases. This one she needed so intent was there. She complained so much about not getting it tho I didn’t know if she would. She still did. I believed entirely and full heartedly in the moment. I accept I did nothing but how I thought I did it has helped me before, during and after. Idk why the esp app is the hardest lmao. I think it would be easier with physical buttons idk why. I got like 5 in a row but I was working through self questioning because when training it’s important. I’ve been right and wrong with the corrections and just listening to intuition. So that’s what is driving me crazy because while I was doing that I hit a lot of shots in battle ship using the same methodology. So maybe switching and emotional attachment to the activity is what can drive intuition. Which I knew but I’ve been on the edge of living with everything in my energy conversion box which was before I knew what an energy conversion box was.
If you’re still here, My experiences make me trust the phone ring enough to try and it was the same as someone knocking on the door but I had to unlock it. I turned off everything an the ring was still there. I saw the vibration in the blackness of the minds eye. Any information is helpful for future experiences.
Idk if I’m schizo-, I do know all I care about is leaving a positive imprint on the world and I’ve been good. I fell into the non physical because I asked what was after death. To get confirmation later in life from books that came out before you makes you feel behind. I’m open minded and honest, I’m bound to have crucial miscommunication with the doctors.
I just went because I’m suicidal and I didn’t know how to express my want of making music away from my abusers. I have that now but I’m getting kicked out because I’m with family and that’s why I wanted outside resources. I think they were going to give me it but a doctor wanted to see if I’d escape if he guided me and he gave too much context for me to follow him and I just went to bed because he said “of course he’s not crazy” and chuckled when shutting the emergency door. That’s terrifying to me and that was reality. I’m willing to answer a phone lol.
If you got any experience lmk. I only need help with this phone call. One time it was a government lady. So it could be anyone. There was multiple people. I got Invited to the after party but I didn’t know how to get there. I figured it out tho. Atleast my role and why I know nothing about what happened.
I got asked to protect us from covid and I was like this isn’t real but she was so clear, image and sound. It all matched up. She explained it mattered. I had to think about it and they didn’t leave until it was done. I prayed since it is out of my control and asked for it to be want based. I was told it could be anything. I got questioned why I didn’t do it for everyone and it was simply because not everyone wants to live. I want to die and I’ve never gotten confirmed Covid. A couple tests were positive but it was towards the beginning where they did multiple tests and conclusively said I didn’t have it. Idk the validity, it just mattered I took it serious to them and so I did. They were so conscious that they guided me who to ask. I met the woman. Personally. Probably only current woman I know in government I’d trust as president. That is not saying much though but probably means a lot to her in the way that I mean it. I even tested it and looked at her tits.i explained why and everything she was so conscious and respectful of coming to me and I immediately felt bad for testing it but she was so understanding. It was short but the longest I’ve ever really been consciously talking to another consciousness in a waking state.
I do not flaunt, I just have the luxury to still be alive to tell you what all ready happened and might not happen again. I know it ain’t real enough to say I know these people but I also just proved how some I do. I’d never bring it up. I’d probably come up with an answer if it was brought up tho. I assume I did nothing but when praying I meant it and gave it my all to show that. That’s why I made NEO
Okay lol I’ll stop now, I’ve just had 2 days to think about this experience and how to ask to for guidance. Story telling is the best I thought of in the moment.

Disruption
First Prev
There was a moment where Alex thought it might be prudent to reach over and grab Carbon’s jacket, just kinda ground her a little bit given what she’d done to the Royal Guard the other day. But the soldier had specifically told them to move away from him, so that might look like trying to take a hostage and he knew fuck all about this guy’s intentions.
He could say for certain he didn’t particularly enjoy looking down the barrel of a gun, though.
The only upshot so far? This guy, and the whole crew behind him, were composed. The translator was good at managing the nuance of voices and while he was loud, he wasn’t angry. He wasn’t nervous. He was doing his job. Presumably that job was protecting the ship.
From Alex. For reasons that were not obvious to anyone else in the room.
“Sergeant. I assume you believe you have reason to point that rifle at the Prince, but I would like it if you did not.” Carbon switched to Tsla, and she dropped right out of that friendly tone she’d just had, the pleasant demeanor she had carried discarded in favor of an unspoken preparation for violence. Her voice carried that as a promise, hard and low.
To his credit as a professional, the Sergeant didn’t react. He stood his ground, one eye hidden behind the sensor cluster of his rifle’s scope, the other still trained on Alex. “Princess, step away from him. He has attempted to compromise this ship.”
“Fu-” While Alex was emboldened to speak his mind by Carbon’s reaction, cussing the guy out first thing was probably not the best idea. He still refrained from making any sort of movement, as well. He had no idea how he could have compromised the ship sitting around talking about heraldry. “I haven’t done that.”
“He would not.” Carbon swiveled her chair to fully face the Sergeant, the systems on her clothing coming back online with a soft hum before racks of shield emitters that dotted her protective gear popped back to life. “Stand down now or I will make you.”
That got his attention, eyes darting to Carbon and back to Alex even though his firearm never wavered. He seemed to be taking Carbon’s words into consideration, at least, even if he did look unsure of himself now. He swallowed, ears flattening as he gripped the rifle tighter.
“I’d do what she says, just as some friendly advice.” He tried to act nonchalant despite his voice rising as fear crept up his spine. He didn’t enjoy the idea of getting shot, even if he was sure that he could get it fixed up if it was just a round or two in the chest. More time in the mediboard was not on his list of stuff to do. Alex cleared his throat gently, placing his hands on the table before he continued, hoping to set the Sergeant at ease. “Not big a deal anyway, I’m staying in this chair until I find out what’s going on.”
It didn’t seem to help, at first. He was clearly conflicted but his body stayed tense, gray eyes intent on Alex. He lowered the barrel slowly, the weapon still pointed in Alex’s direction but no longer covering him. The rest of his team followed suit.
“Thank you, Sergeant. Explain why you are here.” Carbon had dialed the venom back but her words were still sharp, commanding.
“Lady Sorenson, Communications alerted us to an unexpected transmission from this compartment’s intranet link.” He continued to eye Alex, still ready for action even if he wasn’t set to gun him down immediately.
Alex kept his hands on the table, turning just his head to look at the Sergeant. “And how does that implicate me?”
“Approximately fifteen minutes ago, an unregistered computer accessed the Human Solanet connection and began transmitting an encrypted datastream. All secured non-Tslao equipment has been checked to prevent espionage. You are in possession of the only unsecured Human electronics on the ship.”
“Okay, you know what. That is pretty good.” Alex nodded in agreement. Fifteen minutes ago was about when they arrived in the area, so potentially anything he had on him could have accessed the network. There was one little issue, though. “But. I can’t send any information. The only Human technology I have with me is my translator and implants, and neither of those have the modems to connect to networks like the Solanet. What’s more, no one in their right mind is going to let their brain implants touch the internet.”
Carbon gave a little nod in agreement.
The Sergeant was not so easily swayed. “There is no other place for it to have originated from.”
“I’m just saying, if I wanted to send data, I’d just send it via the milnet. I wouldn’t even have to roll out of bed.” He was getting a little more animated as he worked up his defense. “I had no hand in making this appointment, and I’m supposed to be the one using it as an excuse to ‘compromise’ the ship? Besides, if I had known there was a live Solanet connection, I would be up here daily.”
“The prince speaks the truth. I have seen him and he has no interest in deceit.”
The Sergeant shook his head, obstinate, which was probably a good trait in his line of work. “This is the only compartment with an open link to the Human public Solanet right now. All others are limited to their milnet. Communications stated that the stream originated from an unnamed device, not the workstation that had been issued here.”
That gave Alex something to chew over. Admittedly, it sounded like it locked him in pretty tight, even if he didn’t have the equipment, or inclination to do anything like that. He did have some lived experience that would prove his intentions out, though. “We can settle this right now. I’ll show you what I’ve been doing for the last fifteen minutes. The whole damn morning, if it makes you feel better. Come on, get those things out.” He gestured at the Sergeant’s antenna, currently resting in an interface on the back of his combat shirt.
He looked from Alex to Carbon, even glanced over at Lyshen for half a second. “You can do that?”
“Yeah.” Alex closed his eyes and exhaled a very annoyed sigh. “Yeah I can. I don’t have the antenna, but it still works. It’s a brain layout thing. You know how it works for babies or people who are unconscious?”
“I do.” He contemplated what Alex was saying before shaking his head. “It does not matter. I am not here to determine your innocence. I am here to take you into custody and move into an area where you cannot continue to transmit data.”
“Really. I’m telling you, I’m not transmitting any data. I have no way to do that.” So just fuck off. He didn’t say that part, but it was there. He wasn’t here to compromise the ship, whatever that meant exactly. He wouldn’t spy on anyone! Not on purpose, anyway. He didn’t even like the way just thinking about it made him feel...
But he worked for people who would gladly do so without issue. That was their entire reason for existing! It wasn’t the Civilian Pilot Program on the paperwork to get his Amp replaced, it was the Office of Naval Intelligence. It was the ONI that provided the Internal Translator with a custom language package. Who likely had fingerprints all over every part of his substantial list of wetware, which had been exhibiting unexpected behaviors since he got them. “Oh, fuck!”
“What? What is wrong?” Carbon jerked back around towards him, startled by his sudden burst of profanity.
“I'm fine, I just think he’s right.” Alex looked up at the Sergeant, the easy tone he’d been affecting so far gone, replaced by sudden intensity. “They cut the transmission?”
His eyes had widened slightly, the rifle back up at Alex’s chest. “Yes, it was stopped automatically.”
Lyshen’s Solanet link hadn’t gone down, it had been shut off by Communications.
“Good. Could you put that fucking thing down? You’re about to get what you came here for, so chill.” He slipped his external translator off his shoulder and started picking at the latch on the back with his fingernails as he turned to Carbon. “Could you call Eleya? I don’t have her number.”
Carbon had Eleya dialed in less than a minute.
Alex plucked the battery out of the back of the translator and dumped all the parts onto Lyshen’s desk. The lights on the device going dark after a few seconds, his Amp complaining as it lost the connection. He took the phone from Carbon. Remarkably, it worked just like a Human phone did. You just press it to your head and talk.
When the Empress picked up she sounded pleasant again, familial warmth cranked all the way to eleven. “Hello, my dearest niece. I am-”
“Hey, it’s me.” Even with the soldier’s rifles lowered again, each second waiting for Eleya had been an eternity. His suspicion about the transmission was making every moment stretch out, even though it would likely take some time to find out one way or another. “You remember that time I almost got killed?”
“Yes.” The charm had gone away, though she remained civil.
“I know you had some research done while I was out.” He assumed as much. They had the opportunity, it stood to reason they would take it particularly after what they had found out yesterday. Was that bad? Maybe. Did he care? Not right now. ”Did you do anything with my Amp?”
There were a few heartbeats of silence on the call. “Are you in a secure location?”
“Yeah.” Alex looked from Carbon to the Sergeant and over to Lyshen. “Of course.”
“All of your on-board technology was studied.” Eleya was clearly reluctant to say even that.
“Super. I need someone who’s gotten familiar with it to take a look at mine. There may be something wrong with it. Security and privacy problems, for you and me respectively. Big ones.”
Another hesitation. “Come to aft research lab six. I will meet you there and we will discuss these problems further.”
“Aft research lab six. See you there.” Alex tapped the button to end the call, which he seemed to have gotten correct. He handed the communicator back to Carbon. “I’m going to need you to translate for a bit.”
“Of course.” It sounded more like a question, but she nodded in agreement as the black rectangle disappeared back into her jacket. “What is in the research lab?”
“Something related to my Amp.” He assumed, anyway.
“Ah. I see.” Carbon seemed to be putting things together with him.
“Alright, this is going to look weird so everybody just chill. Don’t. Fucking. Shoot. Me.” That last bit was aimed squarely at the Sergeant. Alex reached up and began tapping his face in a particular series of locations. Left temple, right temple, nose, left temple again, left cheek... He ran down this physical cheat code and ended it by tapping his chin three times. All his machine interfaces shut off. “Okay. Somebody say something.”
Carbon was first to react. “What was that?”
She said it in English.
“I meant in Tsla.” He paused, a stressed laugh escaping him. That had been a little funny. “Deep brain interfaces have hardcoded shutdown sequences that sit in the body interface layer - also hardcoded - so it can’t be intercepted, or otherwise bypassed. Y’know, in case of runaway processes, lock-in, spyware your government installed. That sorta stuff.”
She rattled off something in Tsla that sounded a wee bit accusatory. He caught a ‘you’ in there, but that was it.
“Ok, it appears to be off. All the electronics I received from the ONI are currently off.” Alex stated that loudly, this whole endeavor suddenly feeling much more martial. He shrugged off his jacket, piling the translator and its battery into it and then wrapping it up into a tight bundle, which he stuck under his arm. Good thing he opted for the plain t-shirt today. “Sergeant, per the instructions of the Empress, please escort me to aft research lab six.”
It was weird to walk in such a large group and not have anyone talking. Seven people there, following Carbon as she actually knew where the lab was without having to consult a map. Everyone just walking. The single-note step of Tsla’o footfalls was even more noticeable when that was the only sound, Alex’s heel-toe stride an outlier.
Ship security had their own maglev lines, running above the main line. There were multiple tracks, with smaller, windowless, cars. Everyone filed in, and they departed for the other end of the Sword of the Morning Light.
For the first time in quite a long while, he didn’t feel like chatting with Carbon about whatever was on his mind as soon as his butt was in a seat. Alex did reach over to her and pat her knee, smiling when she turned to look. She returned it, faintly, though the thin smile disappeared when the Sergeant looked over at them.
Since they were going to be looking at them, Alex turned his attention to their escort. Two gray, two red, one blue. Wearing the gray camo uniform that Amalu had worn, but none of them were wearing body armor, or even carrying much extra equipment aside from what fit on a belt.
The Sergeant had the most detailed rank marker, despite being ‘just’ a Sergeant, and was the only one carrying a rifle. The next down was a red-furred female that reminded him of Zenshen, but clearly wasn’t. Older, more muscular. About half as much detail on her rank, and sporting what looked like a snub-nosed SMG.
The remaining three were probably the Tsla’o equivalent of Privates. One of them had a single line carved in his plate, and looked almost as young as Haraya. All of them were packing some sort of sidearm, all stowed in holsters now. Alex did recognize the Tsla’o symbol for ‘electricty’ on the neon pink magazines on the belt of the closest soldier, clearly different from the plain black mags the two real guns had. Obvious visible differences for nonlethal weapons, if that convention held between their races. It was nice to see they hadn’t all come ready to kill. If the stun baton was anything to go by, those pistols would still hurt like hell.
The car dinged its arrival, the sound more business than the friendly notes that the regular maglev played, and they exited. Two stops from the furthest aft, and Carbon gestured for them to follow to the nearby lifts.
The ride had not done anything to ease the obvious anger that was simmering just below the surface. Alex assumed he was the only one picking that up because he’d come to know her well - her face was placid as they piled into the elevator, with the exception of a brow crease that he hadn’t seen since the early months of the Kshlav’o expedition.
They went all the way up to deck twenty.
While Alex was fully comfortable with Carbon’s navigation of the ship, the Sergeant and Not-Zenshen were discussing something quietly behind him, both of them looking at a map on his communicator when he stole a glance back. Neither of them sounded worried, but the Sergeant’s tones were much more relaxed as he traced a finger along the screen. Trust but verify, apparently.
There was a particular scent in the air as they approached a massive white blast door. Ozone, and a hint of something else hidden under it. Something bitter. Large block letters in Tsla marking the door as leading to... whatever was in there. Alex still couldn’t read enough of their language to decipher it, but he did recognize the symbol for ‘6’ at the end of one line.
Carbon leaned into the access panel and it scanned her - not the usual blip of a retinal scan, either. This took seconds, lasers sweeping across her face. Down and then back up, left to right, right to left. It beeped an affirmative and the heavy doors began to retract, the better part of a meter thick.
Beyond it was a large, brightly lit social area. Benches, plants, doorways and corridors running off to who knows where. There were even a few Tsla’o sitting at tables in the back trying to eat with the Empress standing right there.
Eleya had made good on her word. The Tsal’o Empress was waiting for them on the other side of the doors, arms crossed over her chest. Clearly annoyed, and flanked by the indistinct forms of her Guard. The most curious thing about her today was the shift in clothing. Her usual formal jacket replaced with a black version of the shirt the soldiers behind him were wearing, but buttoned to the top and bereft of any adornment. She wasn’t even wearing her piercings.
“Hey, my favorite aunt!” He lied, tossing his arms out and pulling her into a hug. Alex was careful about this, putting Eleya’s head between him and Carbon and lowering his voice to the faintest whisper. “She’s already mad. Best behavior.”
He released her before the guard did anything about that, which... Alex couldn’t tell if that was a training issue, or if he was on the OK to hug the Empress list. Perhaps the shakeup that Eleya had spoken about the night before was already underway.
Eleya said something to him, unaware he did not have his translator on. She didn’t spill the beans about what he’d said, as near as he could tell, a brief glance she shot him while smoothing her shirt out did make it clear she caught it. The Empress turned her attention to the Sergeant and rattled off something that sounded very official, ending her statement with a short bow.
The entire crew that had brought them there bowed back, deeply, and turned to leave. There was another Royal Guard on the door controls on this side, the blast doors sliding closed as soon as they had crossed back into the hallway.
Eleya turned back to Alex, and started talking.
He held up a hand. “Hang on. All my hardware is off.”
“He is not getting a translation right now.” Carbon added.
Eleya’s eyes widened at hearing a version of Carbon through her translator. They started conversing, going back and forth until Carbon looked over at him. “Explain what’s happening.”
“Short of it is that your Comms team caught something on my person attempting to send data using the public network. I left my Human-made phone in our cabin, and all of my wetware shouldn’t be able to access it anyway. My going theory is one of my implants was modified to secretly record and then send that data out, but only on public networks where something like that would go unnoticed, to maintain deniability. I'll bet you anything that the Human computer in Lyshen's office has a mesh node, and that's where it gained access.” All of that came spilling out a little faster than he liked, but it was good to get it out. The idea that the ONI would use him as a tool to spy on them, well, in retrospect it really did fit. The assertion he wouldn’t actually be spying. No tradecraft. So much easier to load him up with technology and let him bumble his way through whatever might happen, soaking up who knows what in the process. And when he inevitably came back to a Confed station, or went back to Earth, it would dump it right into their lap. “I’m really hoping you’ve started developing a way to drive a keyed PIN, because that’s the only way we’re going to be able to check it.”
Eleya spoke, gesturing up a flight of stairs.
“She says we will speak with the head researcher.” Carbon was still terse, but it wasn’t directed at Eleya for once. They both had their attention drawn to a problem that needed fixing.
“Alright.” Alex breathed in deep and heaved a heavy sigh. The bitter scent in the air was a little more clear now. Something he definitely recognized, a familiar taste on his tongue. “Ok, just a little aside here... Who's making coffee?”
 
First Prev
*****
This guy and his priorities, I swear.
Art pile: Carbon reference sheet. Art by Tyo_Dem

WIBTAH if I don’t attend my great Nieces 1st birthday
This is a long one. I (f37) am thinking about not going to my great nieces first birthday. My niece (19) and I have always been quite close. I have always been there for her growing up and was heavily involved since the day she was born. I actually watched her be born. I always held my nieces and nephews as babies, changed their nappies, bathed them, looked after them, took them places, bought them things etc. Now my niece has had a baby and it's the total opposite of how things were when my niece was a baby. She never wants people to hold baby, do things for baby, look after her or do ANY of the things I did when she was little. Every time I tried to hold her or be involved in any way it was as if I was a stranger trying to hold her baby. I always felt like I was a nobody and my niece didn't want me to acknowledge her daughter at all. I began to feel guilty for even looking at her. It all came to a head when I asked what kind of baby seat she used as I wanted to get one just incase me or my parents ever needed to have or pick up my great niece for any reason. I got shut down and was told that there was no point as she would never be in anyone else's car so there was no need to buy a baby seat. I was over trying at that point. I had put so much energy and effort into trying to be the best great aunt I could be just as I had been the best aunt I could be for my niece but I was getting rejected left right and centre. I made a generic post on Facebook saying that I was giving up trying which she obviously knew was about this situation. She wouldn't answer any of my texts or phone calls. I should mention that I suffer from depression and mental illness and was on the verge of a breakdown. I was at a very low point and decided I needed to get away. I spontaneously bought a ticket to Germany for the next day for four weeks. (My sister lives in Germany) then get a text from my niece saying the following.
Hey (name removed) Look i'm not mad at you i'm just disappointed that something as simple as telling you to buy a car seat for baby as it's not necessary causeu you to posted things on facebook and etc. It's disappointing you haven't respected husband and l's boundaries, privacy and personal choice for us and our family. On my multiple occasions you haven't taken no for an answer and I feel like i'm walking on egg shells quite frankly trying not to upset you. I feel as though I can't say"no don't buy a car seat" or no to a cuddle with baby without offending you. It's really draining constantly feeling like husband and my decisions for our baby are not being respected or understood by you at family gatherings, which doesn't bring joy and happiness into my life and my family. I understand you might mean well but at the end of the day it's not your decision on anything to do with baby it's up to husband and I and unfortunately if you can't respect that then we aren't going to want to see you, and want to catch up with you and ect. We are a private family and like to have our space we also do not have time for drama and etc in our lives. I'm sorry if this upsets you but husband and I only want the best for our baby and that includes the people around her. And it is so negative and upsetting to see that one of our family members have posted about us on her facebook and is not the type of energy we want in are daughters life. We are currently in the middle of moving house so I don't have time for long conversations like this, and that's why l haven't answered you yet but when we have settled down in our new house and everything we can catch up and talk in person. Hope you understand where we are coming from and think and process what I have said Thank you. love you.
It was like a gut punch. I totally broke down after that. The time away was good but it was super awkward when I returned home. I didn't want to engage at all. Over time things slowly improved and I felt like things were getting better. Then one day weeks back we were having a family bbq and she had put baby on the ground while holding her hands. I put my arms out to pick her up and my niece held babies hands tighter and said something along the lines of why do you always have to pick her in when I put her down. I was taken aback and left the room for a while. I kept my distance the rest of the day and haven't reached out since. I should also add that my sister and niece are very similar in the sense that if I don't reach out to them (eg call or text) NEVER hear from them. I am so drained and tired of trying and have become distant. I don't want to socialise with them or talk. My great nieces first birthday is next week and I don't want to go. I don't t have the energy to pretend everything is ok. I don't see the point in me being there.
So would I be the asshole if I didn't attend.

This happened last Saturday night. I was out to dinner with my husband. We were sat in an area that has several tables and a long wooden bench against the wall, with pillows. To set the scene, this was a hipster, fine dining sort of place. Being a Saturday night, it was pretty busy.
Towards the end of the meal, I felt a bit of internal turbulence that needed release. The restaurant was noisy, so I figured no one would be the wiser. I eased out a slow rumbler reminiscent of a late evening thunderstorm. Quite satisfying. Too late, I realized that the man sitting about a foot away from me on the same bench must’ve felt the vibration.
Now I know he had to have felt it because I’m guilty of doing this in the past. Years ago, I was sitting on a wooden bench next to my niece at a clam shack and decided to give my bowels a good airing out. I thought I was being stealthy until my niece called me out on the misdeed. I suppose sitting next to your aunt and feeling the equivalent of a Harley backfiring repeatedly isn’t exactly discreet. You would think I would have learned my lesson.
I felt eye slowly turn toward me and knew I was busted. I could feel my face growing hotter as I attempted to arrange an expression of nonchalance while having a conversation with my husband. Once we left the restaurant, I shared with my husband what went down. We had a hearty chuckle.
TL;DR: Shared some (not so good) vibrations

I 44f have 4 brothers, Juan 46, Jesus 42, Adrian 32, and Jorge 27. I have a very difficult and very distant relationship with my mother. My father and I are very close. I was always the runt. My mother told me several time how much she hated me. It was my fault she had to get married (she got knocked up with me), after several failed attempts to abort me. After she had me and doctors said "it's a girl" she cried and hated me more, because she never wanted daughters. She would also tell me she loved Jesus more than any of us because she suffered more while pregnant with him. I was around 7 or 8 at this time. Adrian and Jorge were both planned after my father wanted another daughter. When they both came out to be boys, she abandoned them and left me to care for them. So at the age of 14, I had became full time mom to a kid that wasn't mine. When Jorge came around she abandoned him too, I was 16. It got too hard to raise 2 kids, be a full time mom, student, and hold a job at the age of 16, so I dropped out of high school. When I was 16, I started dating my now husband, which I knew from high school and was my neighbor, we weren't close and didn't really talk because of how crazy my life was. He was 4 yrs older than me. When we started dating, he thought my little brothers were my kids and he had a 6 month old himself. Fast forward a decade later, my father retired from the military and he finds out what is really going on at home, and my parents divorced. I know have help from my father and husband. Then I get pregnant with my first kid at age 18. My husband and I move in together and married 4 yrs later. We have 2 more kids. By age 24 I have 6 kids. Now my kids are grown adults and living their life. Come October 2023 my older brother Juan is granted full custody of my brother Jesus's new born and February 2024 I'm granted temporary custody of Jesus's other son 8yr and daughter 7yr. Juan and I are close and he helps me when I need a babysitter. My husband and I work 2 jobs to pay for loans we took out for home upgrades. Yesterday was one of my cousins wedding. This morning a few family members and I went to my mom's house for breakfast, when my aunt, who was like a mother to me and my godmother, pulled me aside and told me my mom was really upset with me for not calling her for mothers day or making an effort to rebuild our relationship. She also didn't like who stern I am with my niece and nephew and need to change my parenting style. She said maybe my mom is ready to change and she may want to rebuild the relationship, but the decision will always be mine to make. That's when I said she can kiss it. And not long after that we all left. That's just the snap things my mom has done to me. AITA?

I apologize in advance for the length of this behemoth Story time Reddit: Last night I was chilling at a camp grounds in upstate NYC and this really cute bartender was on her first day ever for the job, anyways I didn’t even notice her until a community dinner at 6pm when she got some food and went to the bar to get ready for the night because us folks at the camp were gonna party till LATE I’m 18M turning 19 and I had aspirations to be a bartender myself in the familiar country of Mexico where my family operates a gin booze business. she 22F just turned and I was eager to Yk like ask her how her first day on the jobs going right? Now I time goes by we all just chilling having dinner and our rolls out some Gigachad kitchen employees with dessert and everybody fiends the fucking ice cream sandwich bars and I hastily think about the fellow bartenders out the back of the building (it’s the girl I’m taking about whose new and one other girl whom is basically her chaperone because they are her aunt) approach the bar with 2 ice cream sandwiches asking if they wanted the last stock of what remained of dessert 😂 they politely decline and I just give them away to my boys and walk back to the main cafeteria area and around 5 minutes pass people start to clear out and I not really a drinker and not of age to drink in the US (although I have been to other countries to bars that you don’t need to be 21 to drink all fine) Sit down at the bar with the 2 bartender ladies, i start yapping about all the musical bullshit I do in life and the video game I’m developing and whatnot and that’s why I came up to nature to record the ambient sounds for my project idk why BUT then when I realize is that the girl whose new’s eyes fixated on me intensely full German stare and I’m kinda intimidated ngl, so ofc as a good bartender would ask, they ask if I want anything to drink and i politely decline because I wasn’t really thirsty 💀 We start to just chat a bit I ask about how their day went and then that’s when I realize the new girl whose bartending it’s her first day and she’s absolutely drunk out the wazoo, I feel kind of bad because she was about to just go take a walk break and I saw she could barely even move straight 💀 so I ask “so what are some good things to do around here?” They reply really excited that before it gets too dark (somehow they say that and it’s already becoming 8:30 and dark at out) I should go to this really pretty creek waterfall and the absolutely double whammy hammered chick volunteers to take me. Now me skeptical af and realizing that either A, she can’t keep her eyes of me because she’s deadbeat drunk or B, she thinks I’m cute and wants to know me this is why she offered to take me to a cool place. I accept and I have to walk this girl out the bar because she’s in heels and bouncing all over the place. We make it to a downhill section we have to cross and I see her struggling and ask if she needs a hand and she hastily accepts, next thing up her arms are basically spaghetti and rolling with the wind as we make it down this hill her holding onto me for dear life. We start to walk a bit and I start to ask the big legal concern questions that us “technically inclined” men ask like “How old are you” “Do you have a boyfriend?” And “Are you in school?” I eventually get all these answers and we by some will of god walk up to an abandoned dark horror movie looking ass tipi (basically this ⛺️ thing for u non cultured swines) for some reason my hood senses start tingling and the white girl slasher film mindset goes into my mind like “Why the fuck am I about to go in there?” But hey YOLO why not go into creepy dark crowded place with drunk girl? We waltz up into that bitch looking like injured bank robbers clobbering all over the ground because the ground muddy and we can barely fit into the small opening of it, point is in there she starts basically interviewing me fucking speed run piers style and I answer being sober decently competent. Me not trying to make her feel uncomfortable turn my flashlight on to scout the area and we realize there’s some makeshift bench in there so we have a seat. She doesn’t like the fact the lights on and then she asks “do you want to kiss” and proceeds to inform me I’m a weirdo for turning on the light. Now I’m like: “ aight what the fuck girl like it’s dark spooky af out the hell u want me to do get mauled by spiders in this Native American trap house? Then Yk me never had a girlfriend and curious accepts her kiss offer and right as we are about to friggin kiss a RANDOM ASS NPC COUPLE SPAWNS IN AND JUST WALKS UP TO OUR FUCKING TIPI! What are the fucking odds bro, like it’s pitch black basically out and I’m in the middle of the woods, now they see us (we look hella sus at that moment) and kinda just walk away after being like “ooooh cool!” But anyways I get a pretty Alr first kiss, get insulted for being a horrible kisser and walk it off quoting myself “Bro it’s cuz I’m a Libra right?” Jokingly anyways we kinda talk a bit she enlightens me on some personal facts and me too, I ask if she’s had a boyfriend and she says yeah I would had asked how many but didn’t weirdly enough and she’s asked me then if I had ever had a girlfriend and I respond honestly that nope I haven’t and she doesn’t buy it, she thinks I’m lying. She then proceeds to ask me how tall I am and me being a tall ass mf for my race i respond “6 foot 3” and she’s like DAMNNNNNNN ewwww. I’m dying of laughter and ask what’s wrong. I never get a response 😭 Anyways she then decides to empty her pockets and she came for some reason with basically a mythical rarity load out of pocket loot. 2 Cinnamon booze plastic shots, lip gloss, chapstick and a cart. Now me being the worlds biggest glorified coward who never smoked and almost never drinks was amazed she had all this shit on her. I ask her how much she had to drink tonight and she told me how for every drink she served she also drank (idk why tf weird flex but ok?) we then kinda decide to go out of the tent because all of a sudden she wants to explore the pitch black woods when we both have very little phone battery left for flashlight. I think in my sober mind that’s a horrible idea and I remember in the back of my mind we had to be back in an hour from like 8:30pm and I remind her assuming she will have it into account but fail to realize SHES DRUNK AF AND CANT PROCESS SHIT!!! Anyways we walk around the creek bed and eventually we have a seat and just weirdly enough lay down watch the stars and talk about romantic stuff, she is very kind all of a sudden and we are just laughing wholeheartedly and enjoying ourselves and occasionally she tries to sloppily kiss me and I’m kinda just laying there like : 🙃. But yeah we there doing all that and then she somehow convinced me to do shots of the weird spicy booze she brought and I was very nervous and almost about to fully fold because I had a lot of important things in my life impending in the coming days and I didn’t want to fuck something up being drunk (not knowing myself if I’m a lightweight or heavyweight drinker) We each do one and I’m kinda there lying paralyzed and shivering in my boots not because of the alcohol but because of the nerves I am chilling with a girl on a beauty of a night next to some lovely sounding creek noises and making out. Me being the newbie I am just go along with anything she says or does because I’m not trying to blow what I have going Yk. But yeah time passes we just there on essentially natures lawn hugging and kissing and talking about cute life aspirations and then I have to break the hard news to her, I inform her I won’t be staying around long by any means ( I leave the next day back to da hood for school) and I feel so bad inside! Like this girl even age difference aside whatever was very kind and I didn’t want to ruin what we had going so I try and explain how I would try to visit her and later the next day I am able to check that tickets cost roughly $50 for one ways to the town she lives in and takes 2 hours and a half something if me for love I was able to do im down ig… Now as a recap: She knows I live super duper far away, She and I both understand we don’t want to ruin what we have and we are trying to see how we can keep this going. I hear someone scream her voice and then I’m like Awww shit ur in trouble right? I check my phone and it’s MOTHERFUCKING 11PM!!!! I’m like OH SHIT WE BEEN GONE A WHILE DAMNNN, I pull her up off the ground and try to get her to her aunt who I assumed was looking for her and then we sadly said it last farewell quickly. She kisses me and then she gets yoinked and chewed tf outta by basically her big auntie bartender me feeling horrible and all because I was so immature not checking the time, I walk up to her to take responsibility for the situation and not be a beta male type character she asks me all of a sudden if I’m “ok or hurt” and I say yeah I’m fine and then she walks away and for some reason my good manners and habits kick in as I quietly shout “good night” and she shouts back “yeah good fucking night!” Slams the door with my newfound friend and they both gone. I feel real bad for the situation but hey it already happened, and I then find out from some of my fellow campers that she was threatening essentially to call the state police because people have gotten lost in the woods but in my head I’m like NUH UH I GOT S TIER GOD MEMORY!!! Anyways I do have the girl I was withs number I message her apologizing for not being more responsible and whatnot and then a lot of time happens from there on. I go to bed at 1:30am, wake up the next morning at 6:57am and I’m worried because she hasn’t responded. I paranoid and feeling like a hopeless romantic sit around stressing for hours until BOOM I get off a call checking up with my moms who was out of town get a message from my dear bartender girl! I’m beyond ecstatic and try to see if we can say goodbye because I have to go so soon that same day (today as I’m writing this) we try to compromise and plan but sadly it doesn’t work out for us and we just don’t get a well deserved farewell. I feel truly defeated and depressed about it and people I’m with are speculating how I have barely eaten in all the hours I have been up today. I reply it’s that m stresses but don’t go into detail trying to avoid ancontroversial discussion. This girls name is Sofia and I as I hope a constituted decent person hope I can keep this relationship but there are a few obstacles. 1, she lives 2 hours best case scenario from me. 2, she doesn’t really answer my messages until very late after I send them (for example i message her 12:30 she responds then doesn’t respond until past 5pm same day) and It’s hard to have a relationship with flawed communication I can see. Now for me I have always wanted to find love but never really succeeded in it and I’m truly just grateful for having any experience like this at all and I want to hear feedback from fellow guys and girl as to what I should do to keep this a respectful and responsible relationship you know?
Sincerely and looking forward to feedback, K

Lately I've been really ontiplatiting the control over my life during these times of meaningless bullshi. For the past 2 years I've been drowning my self in alcohol, weed and any else I've gotten my hands on. It's sucks to truly admit I'm addicted to substances even when I've gained to the courage to not do them. Currently I'm in a relationship with my girl "Ash". I love her dearly even if I don't show it much, but the truth is I care enough to not reveal who I can be. Maybe I'm just scared of myself or what's to come. Anyways to summarize this all I'm battling depression and my biggest opponent is myself right now. Perhaps I've always been my biggest opponent....
My request to the world is to continue playing my songs and share my content (JemustonXII) Would've never imagined myself expressing my last messages through reddit, but to each his own in this tormented reality. I'd suggest to people between the ages of 14-25 plz consider yourself more than worthy I'm sorry if life is kicking your ass just like mine, but the truth of the matter is no one is willing to save you enough more than you are willing to. In this Lifetime my submission of thought concludes pain, anger and loneliness. At the moment I feel "empty as fuck". Even when individuals notice I'm not okaii they normalize my sarcasm and exaggerated speech. They take it and chew the flavorful "Cry for Help" only to spit it out somewhere unwanted. I carry my days wondering how much more will this last and how much more can I endure this everlasting suffering on this planet. In the past 8 months I've gained much weight. Just last summer I was 180lbs, but now I'm a staggering 270lbs+. It doesn't feel very good since I lost all this weight in 2019 yet it's back just like my fears.
Initially beginning my message/goodbye for when this repurposes I just wanted to be loved by people. It's getting harder to breathe and stranger to talk with people I know much more than myself. I miss my mom. My childhood and my happiness.
Ya know after everything it might not be so bad to exist honestly but the sucky part is you have to live through bullshi you witness.
Before I input my S**cide note I first want to make sure I clear the air... Me myself I have lived a very blessed life being adopted by my aunt (Mom) mistreated in a foster home and surviving hatred from former family. Truly I have thrived very greatly. Anyways.....
First and foremost Mom, Te amo mucho y perdoname por no ser un poquito mas fuerte en estas vida. Quisiera gosar un rato mas perro me tengo que ir para lo que me espera en eternidad. Cuidadate y siempre te voy amar. Eres lo major que me has pasado!
Sister (Sol) I never hated you to be exact , but you made it very much uncomfortable to be around you at any given point especially when favor / money is involved. Its hard to forgive myself for letting you degrade me as a person time after time especially your son Raymond, but the most important part is we are both human in this world. I cherished every moment you've given me and our family especially Mom. More than anything Mom deserves your attention and kind, caring, optimistic, and unconditional love. To say you are a bad person is very much refutable. Anyways take care of the kids and my Mother.
Brothers:
I love you all and thank you Bebo for attending all my sports games and events even when my dad didnt.
Beba and Chary: I adore you both down to my core. I'm truly sorry we were split at my birth, but if anything made it worth it, it would be my existence and being able to enjoy my our first time together as me being an adult in Puerto Rico. Couldn't have asked for anymore truly ... Luv my nephews and nieces
Dad: I'm the end we didn't agree on everything but watching horror movies with you made my world much more visual to my audience. The gore in all the films define my consciousness. Regardless you couldn't be there at much as I would have liked you to but what ever was provide I cherish. I love you pops and always will!! Mom is proud of you Dude for real!!
Friends:
If we ever had a disagreement just know my thoughts process hasn't changed from the moment we argued. SadbxiiSantos man I love you dude as a brother. Thank you for all the moments and making me feel like I ever had an actual friend in real life. We've gone through a lot for dark roads yet in the end created light for each others existences. You were and still are the most outgoing person I've ever met dude. Props to your charisma and basketball skills. Remember when we were going to perform that one song on stage lol can't forget ever.

Twins #Sadbxii4life

Ash: Waddlezz I have always loved you and respected you as a person even when extreme ties had led us to believe other wise in this relationship. I'm glad our bonding had reinforced and corrupted pillar in our structure. Crazy how quickly love and move if your stuck in it. Thx for meeting my mother and I'm Honored to meet your mother and grandmother as well. It means the universe that all 3 ladies always got along so well and even seeing your moments when you have cried for family inpacted me to not feel so lonely on this dust ball. May death do us part until we meet again..
To all my audience and fanbase, ECT : This is not the end of my come up! This is simply a "I'll see you soon". Don't have very much to share at this point in time while I feel very overwhelmed by emotional intake. These past couples I have been able to sleep or I oversleep to much. I get this eerie sensation of other worldy presence calling me out of the game. As if I've been on a bench my whole life. Truly idk where life ends after this but the begining is to come after we all sleep!!
Thank you to all my supporters Thank you to all my peers Thank you to all my Teachers Thank you God for this glorious life🙏
I didn't complete my goals in full or even accomplished 1/3 of my life's worth of problems hutbyey at least I made it to the final oeriod of this sentence folks...... See you soon
(FYI: this thread is made in preparation of this day)
~Jem

I almost didn’t post this because my mom has been spying on my account. I need to share with someone though.. sorry it’s long.
In 2021, I had my first miscarriage. At my first ultrasound I was told baby didn’t have a heartbeat. A few weeks later, my sister told me she was pregnant and it was a surprise. She said she didn’t know how to tell me. I was really upset but I did my best to be supportive. Later that night I was crying on my bathroom floor telling my husband I wanted to die. He held me and begged me not to talk that way. Needless to say it was rough.. I did my best to be there for her during her pregnancy. Not going to lie, my family was kinda weird around me. Didn’t talk about her baby a lot. Didn’t ask for me to help with the baby shower. I was happy they didn’t ask much of me because I didn’t have the capacity to do those things.
A few months later, I got pregnant again. A few weeks after that, I miscarried again. It was awful. My sister was still pregnant and I had to continue to force myself to be supportive. I met my niece a few months later. Held her, smiled.
I decided to take a break from trying again. I wanted to focus on healing my mental health first. Months turned to years and I was content. I felt like I could live without kids and focus on traveling and being an aunt.
Fast forward to last summer. I had a feeling I was pregnant and took a test. It was positive. I had a mixture of feelings. Thinking back now, I was just scared. My past had traumatized me enough that I was extremely anxious about losing this pregnancy. I did everything I could to prevent that from happening. What I ate, who I spent time with, etc. Well, some things you just can’t prevent I guess. I lost my daughter right before our third trimester. It’s been 3 months. I’ve been a mess ever since. Some days are better than others. I’ve gone back to work and everyone is pregnant or their wife is pregnant. I’ve grown a huge resentment toward everyone there. I hate my job that I once loved. I don’t want to be there. I don’t want to see the happy pregnant people. I try to think nice things but the negative thoughts are so strong. I hate them. I hate their happiness. I don’t want to see them, I don’t want them near me, I don’t want to hear about their babies. I know that’s mean and unhealthy but this voice in my head is loud.
Then, yesterday, my sister text me saying she’s pregnant again. I want to die. How am I supposed to be around her when she’s pregnant? Listen to my family talk about baby stuff? I can’t. I told her I needed space until I deal with this news and it, understandably, upset her. My mom called me and told me that I need to work towards getting better and even though I can’t control what’s happening, I can control how I respond. She told me I need medication, more therapy, all that. I don’t think they really understand what’s going on in my head. It’s not that simple and it’s going to take time. They don’t understand how sick I am when I think of babies knowing I won’t ever see mine again. How angry I am at the universe or God or whatever it was that didn’t protect my daughter when I needed her to be ok. What did I do to deserve this? How could this happen again? Every time something extremely traumatic happens my sister gets pregnant and I’m supposed to deal with it? How is that fair? I hate my life and I’m in a dark place.

All the rich people I know, in my family and out, are some of the most entitled people I've ever seen in my life. It's not even jealousy. The last thing I want is luxury items and having millions of dollars in my bank account that I'll never touch. If I ever got close to a million, I'd just donate good chunks of it to charity. The rest would be for me to live a comfortable life and to help my future children get full rides to college. When it comes to 'luxuries' I'd want to spend it on an RV or at least one trip out of the country.
With my family, I have a mentally ill aunt. Throughout my life, I have heard about her issues and her lashing out. My parents did try to help her, though she did mooch off of them to hell and back until she flew back to her home state. They have not had any contact with her in many years after my nonna died. She could've been dead. Yet recently, my cousin found her while grocery shopping and they seem to mock her because she asked for money and lives in what seems like a mental hospital. They don't have to take her in, understandably, because she didn't do good when she did WAS getting helped and they're not obligated to help her. But mocking her for being broke and schizophrenic really isn't it. It's depressing too because my mom emphasizes the importance of family but she doesn't seem to care about her sister potentially dying. Not only depressing, but also embarrassing. If my dad didn't make so much and if he wasn't getting money from being a disabled veteran, my mom would never be able to retire. Mom wouldn't be able to constantly spend money on luxury items like constant Disney trips and Louis Vuitton bags either. Why laugh over that when you would be struggling to make ends met too, especially when he dies?
With my partner, his sister really gets on my nerves. She's one of those people who talks about the 'grind' and crypto and NFTS. That kind of shit. She brags about how she's a millionaire too basically and on her social media acts like she's the shit while denouncing people who work at jobs, calling them 'wagecucks' and whining because a neighbor dare try to talk to her (some can be persistent but just say you're not interested? not that hard). She also brags about how she cut off everyone in her life off that 'didn't help her succeed'.
She's always got on my nerves due to personal issues from my partner I had to hear, but recently she's been really getting on my nerves because she's taking credit for the content on a Youtube channel SHE made my partner work on. She didn't make anything on that channel. The most she does is repost memes on Twitter and on the Youtube 'community' side that have been posted to hell and back and those Pixar AI memes and AI art that nobody even likes. She has gotten literal backlash on the channel for posting AI art, AI without credit, and so on. She has gotten quote rts bashing her because she posted an outdated Pixar AI meme. But she doesn't give a shit.
She thinks because she pays my partner about $1k a month = the content is all hers. She doesn't write the scripts. She doesn't edit the videos. Yet it's HER side grind. Not her and my partner's, no. HER'S.
If the channel wasn't even a 'collaboration between siblings' like it says in the description (aka a lie), I'm sure her content will flop. Because even though she acts like she's so intelligent and she knows alll about marketing, she really doesn't. She only watches like, a few videos about marketing Youtube channels and that's it. She's made other channels but they barely gained any traction. The most she has done is advertised [certain obvious niche] which involves posting pictures. Her content isn't related to what the channel covers at all.
She just acts like she's an intellectual that's so hard for normal people to understand. But really, if she didn't invest and when her site suddenly closes payments or closes down in general, she would be screwed. She would be broke like she was in the past. She also seems to hurt the people in her life, especially her family.
People may think "but you don't know either!". Part of my degree I'm working on is focused on marketing and advertising and it teaches you to see what the people you're trying to market towards want. It also teaches you how to fix issues when you screw up. What she is doing is literally just 'I do what I want' and 'I'm going to make someone else do it for me' 'I'll only just suggest some video ideas and make then make them research it'. It's not going to make bank.
I honestly wish my partner would just make his own channel and dissociate from this 'job' his sister puts him through, especially when she's just using him as a means to fuel her sense of entitlement and ego. He wants us to get a mobile home, but I don't think he ever is with the unpredictability of Youtube and his sister only promising to pay him more once they 'get big'.
I'm more than glad I haven't barely even spoken to her and don't want to move into her house because I know I'm going to lash out at her for being such a horrible person at some point. Hell, I'm scared for the future family events I may have to go to with her as well for the same reason."
It's saddening too because like I mentioned before, his sister used to be poor. My dad also grew up poor. While I didn't mention him much, he seems the same way as every other rich people but horribly racist. He mocks black people who have to get Section 8 housing and how they 'act ghetto'.
...Just. I don't think I want to be rich. It sounds like a nightmare to become the most entitled people on Earth just because you make a lot of money.

Hello, my uncle is currently in the ICU. He’s had cancer twice in the last two years, and the radiation has done a number on his throat. Last week he was admitted to the hospital because he could no longer swallow anything. Then Friday night he had a stroke and they had to do surgery twice with the second one putting a stent on his brain to prevent further clotting. The doctors say he will most likely be wheelchair bound for sometime after he’s out of the hospital and into rehab. We are still not sure about what the future looks like for him, but he currently has a house that is absolutely not hospitable. We are looking to sell the house and figure out a solution for his dog. He has no children, just me (his niece) and his sister (my aunt) and her husband. He is in his late 60s, and his dog who is currently at his house is 8 I believe. I live in an apartment so I cannot take him no matter how much I want to, and my aunt has told me she cannot handle her brothers affairs and take care of her own stuff on top of a dog. With this brief backstory, I am wondering if anybody at all has experienced a similar situation and would have any advice on what to do about his dog. I am looking for some kind soul to temporarily home this poor dog that has had experience doing so in the past. He is a very regimented and spoiled mix (bulldog, boxer, bully mix) He is very set in his ways since my uncle lets him do whatever he wants. I am afraid at the potential of him being aggressive if he’s left with someone he doesn’t know but I never know what to expect from him. His name is Rux and he is as unique as his name lol. He does not do well around other dogs since he was not socialized around other dogs. My uncle did have an old pitbull when he got Rux as a pup. Rux just doesn’t know when to leave other dogs alone and never seems to learn his lesson. (He expects to get his way always lol) I have more insight into his temperament and typical lazy and sweet demeanor if anyone has more questions. Thank you in advance <3

They live in an ivory tower, they're self absorbed alcoholic narcissists who don't give a fuck about anyone but themselves and they feast on Schadenfreude the way a vulture will feast over a carcass.
Me and my bf have been revenge evicted from our 2 bedroom house (landlord decided he wanted to "sell the house" barely an hour after I'd complained about mould and a silverfish infestation) because our credit is fucked (we both have CCJS mostly got ourselves into debt trying to keep up with paying sky high rent) and my boyfriend is a self employed plumber and gas engineer (no landlords will rent to self employed people without a guarantor) we're having to live in a static caravan (no pisstakers please) we got the section 21 notice in November I went that whole time without telling them it was only when my 6 year old niece told them a month ago that my sister spun a bullshit story of us "downsizing" we haven't downsized we've literally been booted out of our home and if we didn't live in this caravan we'd be on the streets with a 3 year old cat.
My family have no idea that this ordeal has completely broken me and him, that for months I'd been waking up having anxiety attacks about where we were going to live what was going to happen etc that I've been crying and on/off suicidal (I suffer with BPD, depression and Asperges, my boyfriend has ADHD and depression) my aunt came round to see me the other day cos it was my birthday and my back went up, our bed is in our front room cos the bedrooms are too small for our bed and she was asking who sleeps on what side, she was asking why there are tshirts up on the curtains and my sister tried to explain its because it gets really stuffy and hot in the caravan and I put them up for shade and to try and make it cooler, she said I didn't "seen keen" on living here, I felt ashamed when she left with my sister I wanted to cry and it was my 33rd birthday. My family have got me moving in cards and that's nice but they have no idea how much me and my boyfriend have suffered and struggled with this they think we've chosen to move here when we haven't it's out of sheer desperation, they all own their own homes, they're all very well off they're extremely out of touch, if anyone ever tries to tell them about their difficult times they get shut down over it or they're given really patronising harsh lectures. My cousin was being bullied a few years ago and all my aunt could say to that was "me and your uncle are struggling to pay our mortgage". That's the type of family I have.
I hate that I have the kind of family I can't tell things to, they don't know I lost one of my pets last year, they don't know my boyfriend has struggled with depression and he's been in and out of work, I've had to carry all this on my own and so has he we've had 0 support from anyone not that we deserve it or are owed it but sometimes I wish I could tell them whats going on in my life, even the good things. I keep them at a distance and it's for the best for my mental well being but I hate it. It's isolating, it's lonely and it makes me bitter I think but I suppose it's for the Best.

Hi I need advise my grandpa's sister aunt Tina (not her actual name no offense to any Tina's) has pissed me off greatly you see her and her first daughter her son in law along with her grand kids and my great grand mother came to our town I'm not terribly close to her but we used to be Im closer to her two daughters but she came down to help my great grand mother go through her stuff and some back story her and my grandpa's step mother my granny died when I was 7 but before I was born my mom was promised the kiln and bisque ware for pottery and stuff well I would ask my granny if I could paint the ceramics but she didn't have paint for them so there is sentimental value. We where supposed to get them, but after my granny and great grandpa died my aunt Tina wouldn't let my mom take the kiln saying it was ruined cause one of my great grandparents dogs would pee on it well this was blatant lie my mom caught but she didn't want to argue and my grandpa is tired of fighting his sister. But when we went to visit my aunt was talking to my mom while I was out of the room saying she was going to fire up the kiln again and had gone behind my mothers back asking my grandpa for the pottery wheel he had bought for my mom and I quote " we wouldn't need it since we would be moving into a trailer" mind we're gonna buy land at the coast but my aunt had foolishly told my mother this luckily my mother hadn't heard it from grandpa. But the fact she did NOT asked my mother before she asked my grandpa. This stuck my mom in a nerve as she was very close with my granny and so was I she had already been frustrated earlier today and this pushed her over edge she didn't sleep last night which is dangerous since she works a long night shift and has to drive a long way and there's a ton of wildlife at night but what's worse is this caused her to snap at me excessively yelling a little and she called me a few hours ago telling me she was sorry for snapping she was hurt and frustrated. My mother doesn't cry very often unless she's hurt or extremely frustrated and she was both so after explaining she began to cry in her work parking lot and I'm very protective of my mother and grandmother, so this ticked me off cause this isn't the first thing my aunt's done she's caused damage to sentimental items before. For example my granny had a beautiful sunset moth in a terrarium she had my aunt took off the protective glass dome and filled it with news paper leaving the Sunset moth uncovered which caused it to get damaged and disintegrate into dust. My granny also had these collectible crystal and gemstone eggs and I was the only great grand child that met granny but also no one else wanted them but she still tried to divide them among the family when that was the only thing I asked for, but not only did her and my biological great grandmother say she wasn't apart of the family when she tried to give her opinion in a FAMILY matter and I'm tired of her toxic and passive aggressive behavior towards my side of the family and I'm very tempted to confront her over the phone tomorrow and give her an ultimatum of either respecting my family and giving back what is rightfully theirs or not talk to me every and not knowing any future children I have in the far future. Should I do it what are your suggestions please in need help
Age wise im 15 and my aunt is in her fifties my mom is in her late thirties and my grandma is in her mid fifties and my grandpa

Hi I need advise my grandpas sister aunt Tina (not her actual name no offense to any Tina's) has pissed me off greatly you see her and her first daughter her son in law along with her grand kids and my great grand mother came to our town I'm not terribly close to her but we used to be Im closer to her two daughters but she came down to help my great grand mother go through her stuff and some back story her and my grandpa's step mother my granny died when I was 7 but before I was born my mom was promised the kiln and bisque ware for pottery and stuff well I would ask my granny if I could paint the ceramics but she didn't have paint for them so there is sentimental value. We where supposed to get them, but after my granny and great grandpa died my aunt Tina wouldn't let my mom take the kiln saying it was ruined cause one of my great grandparents dogs would pee on it well this was blatant lie my mom caught but she didn't want to argue and my grandpa is tired of fighting his sister. But when we went to visit my aunt was talking to my mom while I was out of the room saying she was going to fire up the kiln again and had gone behind my mothers back asking my grandpa for the pottery wheel he had bought for my mom and I quote " we wouldn't need it since we would be moving into a trailer" mind we're gonna buy land at the coast but my aunt had foolishly told my mother this luckily my mother hadn't heard it from grandpa. But the fact she did NOT asked my mother before she asked my grandpa. This stuck my mom in a nerve as she was very close with my granny and so was I she had already been frustrated earlier today and this pushed her over edge she didn't sleep last night which is dangerous since she works a long night shift and has to drive a long way and there's a ton of wildlife at night but what's worse is this caused her to snap at me excessively yelling a little and she called me a few hours ago telling me she was sorry for snapping she was hurt and frustrated. My mother doesn't cry very often unless she's hurt or extremely frustrated and she was both so after explaining she began to cry in her work parking lot and I'm very protective of my mother and grandmother, so this ticked me off cause this isn't the first thing my aunt's done she's caused damage to sentimental items before. For example my granny had a beautiful sunset moth in a terrarium she had my aunt took off the protective glass dome and filled it with news paper leaving the Sunset moth uncovered which caused it to get damaged and disintegrate into dust. My granny also had these collectible crystal and gemstone eggs and I was the only great grand child that met granny but also no one else wanted them but she still tried to divide them among the family when that was the only thing I asked for, but not only did her and my biological great grandmother say she wasn't apart of the family when she tried to give her opinion in a FAMILY matter and I'm tired of her toxic and passive aggressive behavior towards my side of the family and I'm very tempted to confront her over the phone tomorrow and give her an ultimatum of either respecting my family and giving back what is rightfully theirs or not talk to me every and not knowing any future children I have in the far future. Should I do it what are your suggestions please in need help.
Age wise im 15 and my aunt is in her fifties my mom is in her late thirties and my grandma is in her mid fifties and my grandpa is in his late fifties he's older than my aunt and im just trying to do the right thing please any advise?