Hung older

I'd originally posted in another thread, and some of the commentors ( u/one85fortunes and u/Jeciew) had asked for elaboration as to the incidents that happened in my house.
I'll try to fill in as much as possible. This will probably be ridiculously long, so strap in.
My SO and I moved into this house a little under 2 years ago. It's an average looking rancher, built in 1990. We're the second owners of the house. The original owner was an older man, who'd cared for his wife after she had a stroke. She ultimately passed away (not in the house, but in hospice) and being in his late 70's he'd decided to move to Florida. We met him briefly during one of the inspections, and he wasn't creepy or anything. Nothing in the house seemed off. No signs of satanic rituals, etc. All jokes aside, I add these details because I assume some of these questions will come up.
There was a hurricane the night we moved in. Rushing back and forth from the AirBnB to get situated with our two cats that first night was stressful to say the least. We basically throw down an air mattress, got out the litterbox, cat food, and other basics and then passed the hell out.
When I woke up the next morning my cat Oscar was dead. As he was only 7, and not knowing if a danger existed that would harm his brother Max or us, I rushed and had an autopsy done. The vet said he basically threw a clot, probably because of the stress of the move. I miss him, he was a hell of cool cat. I think he's still around - his spirit or whatever, and I am almost positive he visits and plays with Max some nights. Just seeing Max start chasing (literally nothing) around, the way they used to chase each other. I'm probably crazy but I feel better believing it.
One of the first weird things that occurred was a few weeks in. I was in my office building some shelves. An idiot proof kit, with hardware in bags numbered, you open them depending on the step you're on. I was on the last step, which involved hammering in these four feet.. each one similar to a giant thumbtack. Just big enough to keep the shelf system from scratching up the floor. I hammered in the first 3, and the 4th was just gone. I stood up, searched the room. Searched the hallway (no clue how it could have moved, I was sitting immobile on the floor but who knows). It's nowhere. I check Max, he's a Maine Coon so maybe it got stuck in his hair. After an hour of tearing apart most of the house, I give up and stack some quarters where that foot would have gone. Told my SO to keep an eye out for it. We then found it 3 days later on the top shelf of my coat closet, under a ballcap. It's about this point I should mention it's just the two of us, no one else lives in the house, at least not full time. We do have a room over the garage that one of the kids calls home when she's not in college. As this was all around early October, she was away at school.
We'd start hearing things. The amount of times (to this day) we'll rush into one of each other's rooms only to find neither of us called each other, but one of us at that time had distinctly heard someone yelling for us, well it's not even scary anymore just annoying. Maybe the entity wants me to lose some weight and get my steps in *shrug*. Other times we'll hear crashing sounds. In the early days, with boxes and things scattered and being unpacked, I figured the cat just knocked something over. I'd go check and find nothing amiss.
Lights would start being on in rooms we hadn't used. Again, we chalked a lot of this up to confusion, or carelessness. It's a new house, neither of us had our routines yet, it was all a bit of a hot, sleepless mess, and I can't always swear I didn't go into that back bedroom and maybe turn the light on while on autopilot (even though I totally didn't). I'm a big fan of horror (post history proves that) and I don't spook easily. I'm also pretty pragmatic and realistic, so I'll try to find a rational reason for most things before jumping to the paranormal and metaphysical concepts.
Eating dinner one night we heard a weird noise, and we got up to investigate to find the bathtub running at full blast. Around this time we'd also find oddities like pictures on the walls being askew. Overall things started escalating. My SO and I promised to each other, on penalty of ending the relationship, that neither was pranking the other. That pact holds to this day.
At this point in the game, I'd started looking into metaphysical things that I could do to help. I'm talking amethyst and obsidian pieces in the house, saging, stuff like that. I honestly don't believe in it, but I also don't NOT believe, so what can it hurt. It didn't really do much that I could tell. Things continued to happen.
Twice in the same day, at vastly separate times and in different bathrooms, we both experienced an incredibly loud pounding in the attic over the bathroom as we were doing our business. I assume the ghost doesn't like whatever we ate that week. My bad, homie.
The locks had been changed at this point. I started looking throughout the house, wondering if someone was phrogging. I've seen a few horror movies about it. Nothing out of the ordinary. The attic has two entrances, one needs a ladder from the hallway, and the other is through an opening in the eaves, which you can get to from the FROG (Finished Room Over Garage). I stacked things in front of that eaves door, just to make sure nothing was coming and going. I did come to the realization that the attic was FULL of stuff from the previous owner. Luggage, clothes, random stuff. I still haven't cleaned it out, so maybe something up there is tied to an entity. No clue.
I've never felt anything malicious from the entity/spirit/energy/demon/whatever. My other half is terrified of it. Came home from the store one day to find the last rites crucifix in the bedroom turned sideways and half opened. Also felt every hair on my body stand up when I went in the room. The hair-on-end happens often when activity is spiked, I can't tell if it's energy literally raising my hair, or just me being creeped out.
I went to check the aforementioned stacked items in the FROG one night to find that all the LED strips the girl had put up were blazing red. She hadn't been home in weeks and never uses that color. I was up there just a few days prior and all the lights were off.
Halloween was fun. Giving out candy, talking with the cul-de-sac neighbors. One cute kid, maybe 4 years old turns to look to his right (my garage) and says you have a goblin in your garage. We didn't have any decorations on that side of the house. I'm sure just random kids being weird kids, right?
I have a habit of being flippant, and I started talking to the entity. SO also tried it once. At this point we'd started hearing breathing in the dark sometimes. One night she's in the hall, cleaning the cat litter. She felt something behind her, heard breathing. She calmly said "I'm busy right now, please leave me alone". The feelings and sensations instantly left, then all the doors in the hallway slammed shut. We both started wearing amethyst and obsidian jewelry, just in case.
I noticed movies I'd leave up on my computer (I watch stuff while I'm working) would be playing, or finished when I know I had them paused. I thought maybe if you are a ghost you're bored af, so I spoke to the ghost and setup a dozen books in the back bedroom. A mixture of my stuff and my SO's, not knowing what the thing might be into. I'm nothing if not a gracious host. The next day one of the books was turned upside down and opened, as if being put down after being read. I kept more books out but it never happened again.
For Xmas we had 6 different mini-nativity scenes throughout the house (yes, she has a problem lol). We found various pieces from the nativity scenes moved into scenes they didn't come with. We also had these little xmas gnomes that we sat on the curtain rods, we found one sitting upright in the middle of the couch one morning, a good 12 feet away from where it was before.
One night we were sitting out front having a smoke, came inside and heard music. There was a snowglobe that was playing music. It was an old heirloom, she'd forgotten it also could wind up and make music.
A box of kleenex that we keep on the living room end table was found in the garage one day.
One night, she sends me a video while I'm out - We have a first gen Alexa, that was playing Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran. She came inside from having a smoke and recorded it blasting away. I had unplugged it earlier that day when our new toaster arrived. FYI, first gens dont' have battery backups.
Another night we came back inside to find one of our butcher knives on the kitchen floor, instead of in the knife block.
One evening while getting ready for bed I noticed an earring on my night stand, it was part of a set her grandmother had left her, the other part was buried in a box under some clothes in a drawer.
One night I woke up to hearing knocking at the front door. I could see through the glass it was a decoration we had hung outside, beating against the door. I opened the door expecting to see a storm brewing but the night was completely calm, the trees weren't even swaying. No wind whatsoever.
The previous house owners smoked in the house at one point, that much we know. Weirdly, sometimes when you go into the back bathroom it'll smell like someone is actively smoking a cigarette.
There's been a crazy amount of times we've been outside and see movement, what appears to be a person in a window out of the corner of our eye. Friends and family who visit have also noticed this kind of stuff.
Things go missing, and reappear in random places far too often.
So those are most of the big things. I'll try to pre-emptively answer the common questions.

• No, we don't have cameras inside. We've considered it. Feels like a lot of work to maybe catch something moving. Having video proof of any of this isn't going to sway a non-believer either (anything can be faked on photo/video imo). That said I do have photos and videos of some of the events (the alexa, the music box, the butcher knife).
  
• The neighbors filled me in a bit about the familial history of the home. The father worked hard, his kids were drug addict shitbags who trashed the place and partied a lot. No one died in the house that I know of, nor were there any other weird activities. Could they have gotten drunk and sacrificed a cat on a ouija board? Sure, I dunno.
  
• We considered getting the church to bless the home, but she was raised very catholic and I'm more of an agnostic mutt so I haven't jumped on board the idea. Again, I don't believe but don't NOT believe when it comes to most spirituality, mysticism and religion.
  
• I did look to see if there were any paranormal investigators nearby, and it doesn't look like there are any local ones. The activity in the house is so intermittent that I can't justify offering someone to come down when there are months that go by with nothing, then a bunch of stuff for a week straight. I thought maybe it was cyclic, tied to an event, hell even the phase of the moon, but so far I've got no clue. I also really have no interest in paying someone to investigate.
  

Last thing that might be worth mentioning, my SO is 95% positive her grandmother was a witch. The bonafide, keeps their baby teeth hidden away in a box so you can't be cursed, type witch. She often dreams of her when things start acting up in the home. It was HER jewlery mentioned before, and HER last rites crucifix. I don't know if that changes things or not, I've done some reasearch but I honestly learn more from episodes of Supernatural than what I find on the internet most days lol
If you've gotten this far thanks for reading, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

TLDR: I haven’t played in like 3 months. It’s not because of work, but the husband won’t go with me. I can’t go by myself. He won’t play. Every experience I’ve had screams I cannot go alone.
The first shop I ever went to I got hired by, when the owner realized I wasn’t gonna sleep with him I got fired. Had a boyfriend. Was very clear.
The next store a dude flipped a f**kin table and accused me of cheating because there was “no way” I’d get lucky enough to draw the same card that won me the game twice in a standard game where you can run 4 of each of the friggin cards. I lost every other game that night. Same shop had a drunken brawl happen in the middle of Friday night magic. Decided place was not for me.
The next store a guy literally yelled at me in a casual game of commander where we were teaching a new guy to play. He’d brought his “ultra CEDH deck that makes everyone cry” and because me and the other dude were helping the new guy he won. This angered Mr ultra high power CEDH. Why I was the only one who was yelled at in the scenario I have no f**kin clue, the new guy was just as confused, the other guy tried to tell him it wasn’t my fault, but it honestly made me cry so I just left and never returned. Why? Because he is a regular there and the other regulars agreed I was just being a baby. Since that’s the player pool I want nothing to do with it. Didn’t want to be part of that psychotic echo chamber.
Next shop was just to far away. I can live with no one respecting my opinion unless my husband repeats it when it comes to magic, but I can’t drive 4 hours round trip to go play.
Next shop a dude seriously misunderstood our friendship and I had zero idea until we were on a trip outta town to go to a magic shop for some singles we needed. He suggested a restaurant and I said sure till we got there. Highly romantic couples place and I had to drag him back out and ask what the actual FK, I HAVE A BOYFRIEND, YOU KNOW HIM, WE HANG OUT TOGETHER, WHAT THE FK?! An his response was well you’re always at my house. CAUSE WE PLAY MAGIC TOGETHER! WERE FRIENDS! Just because a chick hangs out with you doesn’t automatically mean y’all are dating or that she wants to sleep with you! When I say I have no idea I mean NO IDEA. I’m autistic. High functioning, but I am not good with social queues at all. I missed ALL A THAT HOT MESS and wound up on the most awkward car ride home of my life.
The last shop that caused me to lose ALL HOPE in the male gender I got to be friends with the shop owner who I thought was entirely safe to interact with cause the man’s married. He got me into Pokémon and I was happy to just have an actual friend. I took every dmn precaution I could. No hanging out alone, no hanging out at his house, made sure my relationship with the now husband at this point was 100% evident and mentioned previous mishaps. Everything was fine for a while. I noticed his wife getting kind of testy(?) with me, so I stopped coming around the shop as much after she “accidentally” dropped her actual live dog on my board state during a commander game. Cut back on contact. I assumed I was doing something that made her upset. I had to be. Like half a year passes then this man starts sending me random roleplay texts while we’re planning to meet up to play Pokémon and I was like ??? The fk is this ??? He said he was sorry and he just liked to do the asterisk roleplay with people and I told him yeah I’m not into that. Then one day we’re having a conversation about the next pre release of mtg and he throws a *spanks you for your naughty talk in because I disagreed that a card would be played a lot in standard and I just blocked him until the husband got home. Didn’t go back for months and randomly got a text from an unknown number and all it said was 2 texts. “Hey it’s Arseface” and “I really miss you.” I responded to fkin neither of them because I. AM. MARRIED. That owner is gone now and it’s run by another dude who isn’t fond of me cause he was friends with the previous owner. Apparently a rumor circulated that I was trying to get with a married man even though I NEVER HUNG OUT WITH HIM ALONE. NEVER. Not one god forsaken fkin time.
I literally cannot go alone, in the 8 or so yrs I’ve been into this game it’s NEVER gone well and my husband doesn’t want to go now because he’s tired of dealing with the “oh I would have beat you if I drew this card” people. He won’t play with me because he “doesn’t like beating his wife” even though he hasn’t beaten my new test deck once….i honestly feel like he’s secretly spiteful that my first attempt at a CEDH deck that he said wasn’t going to work it just crushing his decks.
Magic is the one place I feel like being a girl is actually genuinely looked down upon or like an object. I never see many girls play. The few I do see work in the stores, but don’t play, are much older and can’t play often or too young to be friends with and are eventually driven off by dudes literally hitting on an actual child. I had to step in at a previous shop when a 30 something was asking a 17 yr old about her favorite sex positions. Was she into it? No idea, but I knew it was beyond inappropriate. The only other consistent girl I see I do not believe is there for magic. Is she playing? Yeah, but all she’s doing the whole time is trying to get people to go to her onlyfans or come to the strip club she works at and she flat out told me she doesn’t like my “housewife ascetic” whatever the hell that meant.
I feel hated and/or used. I have no fkin clue what I’ve done to people who do hate me. I have no idea why no one will respect my fkin marriage. My literal Xbox bio was just “I AM MARRIED” until I ran out of characters. Do I need to staple that sht to my god dmn forehead??? I love magic, but this community is just full of awful people.

I sat in our dark bedroom, the computer screen glaring with a harsh, white light. A banner flashed before my eyes: “Seek wisdom by understanding yourself.”
“Chloe, check this out,” I called over my shoulder to my girlfriend playing The Sims on her laptop.
She glanced up, her brow furrowing in confusion before giving me a bemused look. “What the hell are you looking at?” she asked.
“It’s some cult,” I replied, unable to hide my fascination. “I fell down a rabbit hole and found this local place downtown. It's a derivative of Aleister Crowley and Golden Dawn bullshit.” I pointed to the Google Street View image of a dilapidated storefront in an ethnic shopping center.
She smirked, a hint of amusement in her eyes. “I never pegged you as the religious type.”
“Check this out,” I continued, clicking through the site. “They have some photos.”
We spent some time going through the albums celebrating various solstices. Most were taken in an odd room with black and white checkered floors, adorned with Egyptian pseudo-artifacts, bathed in the glow of red and purple lights that transformed the scene into a surreal dreamscape.
The people certainly had an alternative vibe. Tattoos were plentiful, but other than that they looked like they came from all different walks of life. Many of them looked like they had their fair share of bullying in high school - no shortage of that. But most of them looked relatively normal aside from the occasional piercing.
One photograph in particular caught my eye. A woman, sitting in a bright red room, sat on an altar, holding a staff in her right hand, wearing nothing. A man was kneeled before her, his arms tied behind him, rope anchored to the ceiling. They were sliding a knife down his back, a small trickle of blood dripping to the floor.
“Damn,” Chloe started. “She’s butt-ass naked.”
“You wanna go?” I asked. “They’re having a get together tonight.”
“You know what, fuck it. Why not? It’s not like we’re doing anything.” she replied.
“Good,” I smiled, standing up. “Because I already ordered an Uber.”
She sighed before opening a drawer and pulling out a small pipe. “I’ll go, but i'm not going sober.”
It was a cold, shitty Seattle winter night. We got dropped off in the parking lot and spent a few minutes looking for the storefront. We finally found it next to a dog groomer and Pho restaurant with some pun for the name I can’t seem to remember.
We entered the shop, which consisted of two narrow isles separated by wood shelves barely big enough for me to fit down. We spent some time looking at the various items, my attention diverting to a vial of elk blood. I remember wondering if they were even allowed to sell this without some type of medical certification they definitely did not have while Chloe shuffled through a bowl of mix and match crystals.
“Can I help you?” I heard a woman say from the back as she emerged from a beaded curtain. She was a short, overweight woman wearing what I could only describe as a sports bra and hula skirt.
“Hi, uh,” I stuttered. “I’m George and this is Chloe. We’re here for the… winter solstice celebration?”
“Oh, goodie! Newcomers!” she said with an out of place, overjoyed expression as she clapped her hands. Chloe and I laughed nervously.
“The door is in the back, but you can come through here just this time.” she said with a smile, arm holding the beaded curtain open.
We walked through a dark hallway, somehow more cramped than the shop, into a rather large room. A gaggle of people were huddled in the back, which Chloe and I quietly shuffled into.
A bearded man paraded around the room, white robes and red headdress cascading into a cloak, knuckles adorned with several large rings gripping a spear, held vertically in front of him. Behind him, another bald man, white robes and yellow cloak, followed behind, white sleeves crossed over his chest.
I glanced at Chloe’s bloodshot eyes, THC clearly flowing through her system. I gave her a knowing look, as if to say Having fun yet? She returned a slow smile.
Without warning, the entire crowd clapped their hands together over their heads as a woman in blue robes walked past, waving a censure leaking white smoke. We awkwardly followed to match the group.
The blue curtains on the back wall opened to reveal an older Asian woman sitting perched on the altar I saw in the photos, again, completely naked. And before you ask, no. She wasn’t attractive. It’s never the ones you hope it is. The red robed man kneeled down and softly kissed her knees.
I glanced back at Chloe. Her smile was so big I was afraid she was going to laugh at any moment. I pinched her on the side and whispered into her ear “Do. Not. Fucking. Laugh”. Honestly, I think I just made it worse. Her face turned beet red as she bit her cheeks.
The ritual went on for another half hour or so. They must’ve said “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law” at least a dozen times.
We were getting kind of bored and were ready to leave before the woman in the blue robes wandered in with a caged chicken.
"No fucking way" I thought. Surely enough, the man in the yellow robes held the chicken high in the air, before slitting its throat and draining blood into a large metallic basin. The man winced as the chicken flailed violently, scratching up his arms, before eventually succumbing to blood loss.
One by one, each person there stood between a white and black pillar saying love and intention in Greek before eating a piece of something, taking a sip of blood, and saying “There is no part of me that is not of the Gods.”
Chloe and I hung back, and politely declined when our turn came. Once all was said and done, they busted out some alcohol and started celebrating. We slipped out into the street, bursting out laughing. After we finally collected ourselves, Chloe whipped out her phone and showed me she took dozens of pictures of the ritual.
We laughed our asses off the entire way home. First thing she did was open her laptop and post the pictures on Twitter, tagging the lodge with the caption “me and the boys chilling right now”.
We returned to the usual rhythm of our lives. I went to work, conducting meetings and answering emails, while Chloe went back to her classes. A few days later, Chloe checked her Twitter and saw that she had gained a few thousand likes. The whole ordeal became a running joke between us.
I would eat fruit snacks and sip on my soda, saying, “There is no part of me that is not of the Gods”. A few weeks later, we had mostly forgotten about it, except for the occasional recounting as a funny story to regale our friends.
One night while Chloe and I were spending our evening the usual way with me on the computer and her on her laptop, I felt her furiously tap my shoulder while staring wide eyed at the window. Confused, I took my headphones off and walked over, pulling back the curtain to reveal 6 people standing in black robes and animal masks watching us from the hillside.
“What do we do, should I call the cops?” Chloe whimpered.
“No, they’re just a bunch of larpers. They’re not going to do shit! Just trying to scare us.” I said angrily as I closed the blinds and hopped back on my computer.
Chloe sat there for a few minutes in a tense pose with her arms folded together. She went to double check the door was locked, before we continued our night as normal.
The next day I got a text from Chloe frantically telling me to come home immediately. When I arrived, there was a squad car parked outside our building. I ran up the stairs to see two officers standing by Chloe in the doorway. I nearly shouted asking what was going on. They lead me inside to show me a massive black symbol drawn on our wall, a six-pointed star made from one continuous line.
We finished our police report and they told us they’d get back to us if they find anything. I’ve been robbed often enough to know that means they’re going to forget about this before they’ve even gotten back into their squad car.
Furious, I stormed over to the shop and banged on the window. The hula skirt woman came over and cracked the door open just enough for me to see one of her eyes.
“What the fuck do you think your little posse is doing!?” I screamed at her. “Breaking into my apartment like that!? You all are fucking psychos!”
“I haven’t any idea what you’re talking about”, she said with a sly grin.
“Oh, yeah?” I said pointing a finger in her face. “If anyone tries any shit like that again I’m going to burn your goddamn shop to the ground, do you hear me?”
She looked at the ground, clearly nervous. I have never blown up at a stranger like this but I could tell my threats were working.
After a moment of silence I stormed off again, back towards home.
“You meddle with forces you do not understand!” she called out from the shop.
I picked up a glass bottle from the sidewalk and chucked it, smashing against her shop window, forcing her to close the door and disappear into the shadows. I’m not particularly proud of how I behaved in this moment, but unless you’ve had someone break into your home and draw shit on the walls, hold on to your judgment.
The next few days passed without so much as a peep from them. Chloe and I began to relax, convincing ourselves that the cult had been scared off. Life seemed to be returning to normal, and the unsettling incident became just another story.

This was originally posted to pettyrevenge, but for some reason got taken down. So here goes:
The revenge I took on my grade nine English teacher was so petty that I hesitate to write about it. But Mrs. Bristle (for that is the name I will give her) was cruel to me every chance she got, and she made my first year in high school a misery. So when a file with her name on it arrived at my office, my first thought was not that I would beat her (for I was certain that I would) but rather, of the revenge I would take along the way.
I was pushing forty when Mrs. Bristle’s file hit my desk, some estate litigation where a mother’s last will and testament left my clients next to nothing, and gave their sister, Mrs. Bristle, pretty well the entire estate. When I saw the defendant’s name it looked familiar, and after a bit of Googling, I confirmed what I suspected: the defendant, Mrs. Bristle, was my former grade nine English teacher.
I remembered Mrs. Bristle very well. She was supposed to be teaching us the wonders of English literature, but what she really taught us were her rules, by which she meant her arbitrary whims, expressed in vague language, backed up by petty punishments for non-compliance. There was an art to getting along with Mrs. Bristle, and while most of the other kids learned it easily enough, somehow I did not. I have trouble learning unwritten rules, and in Mrs. Bristle’s class where unwritten and constantly changing rules were the order of the day, I didn’t stand a chance. Mrs. Bristle admonished me almost daily for ‘not paying attention’. I did detentions, re-wrote assignments, and made visits to the principal’s office, all because I apparently wasn’t listening, wasn’t doing what I was told.
Many was the time when Mrs. Bristle took me to task for missing some obvious but unstated part of an assignment. One time I handed in a sonnet, and received an “F” because the rhyming pattern was Petrarchan, not Shakespearean. But she would be nice to me, Mrs. Bristle would always say when she tossed my work back at me. She would give me another chance to hand the assignment in with the arbitrary changes she required, in the end giving me a good mark, but then heavily downgraded for being late.
Mrs. Bristle's case worked its way through the early stages, and every time I exchanged an email with her (for she was a self-rep, no need for counsel, she claimed) I thought about the unpleasant time I’d spent in her class. I had a rough time in high school, and I always resent anything that makes me dwell on it.
After a few months, the case was ready for the next stage. It was time to examine Mrs. Bristle, to find out why she thought her mother wanted to disinherit most of the family and enrich Mrs. Bristle alone. I showed up at the court reporter’s office early as usual, to get set up.
“What’s that shit eating grin on your face?” Adam asked. He was a lawyer colleague, about my vintage, and we were sitting in the lounge for lawyers only, the room that most court reporter’s offices have, a place for the lawyers to hang out and shoot the shit, no clients allowed.
“I’m going to examine my grade nine English teacher today,” I said, “and it's going to be fun.” I explained how she’d hated me back in the day, and had done her best to make my life hell.
“What’s the case about?” Adam said. Adam had been around the block, same as me, and it took only a few words for me to summarize everything that mattered in the file. “Estate fight, one sibling against four, undue influence, holograph will cutting out most of the siblings, competing with an older will, a formal one, where the shares are equal.”
Adam nodded appreciatively. “Nice fees, if the estate’s got the cash.”
“It does,” I said. We chatted for a bit, and then sat there in silence as we each did the last bit of prep for the cases we had that day, making notes, reading documents and drinking coffee. My alarm dinged just before ten, and I made my way to the examination room, and Mrs. Bristle, the teacher who’d greatly disliked the grade nine version of Calledinthe90s. I was curious to see if she would like the older version any better.
* * *
The examination started, and Mrs. Bristle and I sparred for a while, me tossing vague questions her way, and criticizing her when she did not understand. I kept her on the defensive for close to three hours, until it was getting on to one p.m.
“Aren’t you in a conflict or something?” she said to me just before the lunch break, when she’d finally made the connection, and understood that the lawyer asking her questions was a former student.
“No conflict,” I said, dismissing her concerns with a wave of my hand. “During the lunch break, there’s something I need you to do.”
“I don’t want to answer questions during lunch. I need a break.” The examination had been rough on Mrs. Bristle. She was not used to being asked questions, to being held to account, to being constantly challenged, and even having her grammar corrected now and again.
“You’ll get your lunch break. But while you’re eating a sandwich or whatever, keep this copy of the holograph will next to you.” The will on which Mrs. Bristle’s case relied was a holograph will, meaning that Mrs. Bristle’s mother had written the will entirely in hand from start to finish. The mother, or more likely, Mrs. Bristle herself, had downloaded a holograph will form from the web, and had completed it in accordance with the website’s instructions. Holograph wills are special. You can do a holograph will without a witness, without a lawyer, without anything at all, so long as you did it right. But if you got anything wrong, if you messed up in any way, it was invalid.
“You want me to read the will again over lunch?” Mrs. Bristle said.
“No. Instead, I want you to make a handwritten copy of it.”
“You want me to write it out? Whatever for?”
“There’s an allegation that the will wasn’t written by your mother, and that you wrote it up instead.” An allegation that I’d made up myself, that morning, while I was sitting in the lawyer's lounge, drinking coffee and munching on a muffin. My clients had not challenged the will’s handwriting; it was obviously their mother’s, totally different from Mrs. Bristle’s own writing. But I had decided otherwise.
Mrs. Bristle was appropriately outraged at being unjustly accused of forgery. Said she could prove it wasn’t her handwriting, could absolutely prove it.
“Then let’s settle the forgery issue once and for all,” I said, “write out the will in your own hand, so that our document experts can examine it, compare it with the original, and make a determination.”
“I don’t need the entire lunch break for that,” Mrs. Bristle said, “and I’d rather eat lunch at the restaurant downstairs.” The will was barely a page long, at most three hundred words, that being all it took for the mother to allegedly disinherit most of her children, and inexplicably leave everything to Mrs. Bristle. The mother had written up the will herself, but she’d been ninety at the time, while living in Mrs. Bristle’s house, and very much under her influence.
“I’ve retained five different experts,” I said, “and each of them will need copies.”
“Five experts? Why so many experts?”
“Each expert needs ten samples, for comparison purposes. It’s going to take you a while, Mrs. Bristle. I suggest you get started.” I overrode her protests and once she started to write, I left her in the room, and went to the lawyer’s lounge to eat their small sandwiches and drink more of the excellent coffee. After a while I stopped by the examination room to look in on Mrs. Bristle. I wanted to check in on her progress.
Mrs. Bristle asked for more time, complained of writer’s cramp, and asked me again if it was really necessary for her to write out the holograph will fifty times in her own hand, and I assured her that there was nothing for it, that it was absolutely necessary. I returned to the lounge to check my emails, leaving her hard at the homework I’d given her.
After a while my colleague, Adam, popped into the lounge. He asked me how it was going, the examination with the teacher, the teacher who had treated me so badly.
“I’m making her write lines.” Adam laughed, and laughed harder when I explained that I wasn’t kidding, that I really was making Mrs. Bristle write lines, and how I was doing it. His laughter attracted attention, and a few other lawyers asked what was up. “He’s making his teacher witness write lines,” Adam said, and the lawyer’s lounge hooted with laughter when I told everyone what was up.
It was one of the pettiest things I’ve ever done to anyone, making my grade nine teacher write lines. But the writing lines thing was just a warmup. The real revenge had yet to come. I returned to the examination room after a while, to check up on Mrs. Bristle, see how she was doing.
“This is taking forever,” she said, “and I really don’t get why you need it.” She had writer’s cramp, and was shaking her hand to get the kinks out. I picked up the stack of holograph wills she’d created, and flipped through it. She was nowhere near finished.
“On second thought,” I said, “maybe it isn’t necessary. I think you’re right. I don’t need any handwriting samples from you.”
“Why not?” she said.
“The will is invalid,” I explained, adding that because her mother had used a pre-printed form off the web, the law would not recognize the will. “A holograph will has to be entirely in the testator's handwriting,” I explained, “every single word entirely in handwriting from start to finish. This will doesn’t qualify, because your mother used a standard form, a form printed off the web, with instructions and boxes and questions and so on, and when you do that, then the will is no longer a holograph will. It’s a regular will, and regular wills need to be properly witnessed. This one isn’t witnessed, and that means it’s not a will. It’s just a piece of paper.”
“Are you trying to tell me that you only figured that out now? What kind of lawyer are you, anyways?”
“What kind of lawyer am I? I’m a lawyer who makes a witness skip lunch, and sit in a small room all alone, and write lines. Sound familiar, Mrs. Bristle?” She said nothing, and just stared at me. I closed the door on her, leaving her alone once more, and left for the Middle Temple Tavern where the lawyers all hung out. It was time to hoist a Guinness and enjoy my petty triumph.

Hi all,
My wife and I just bought a home built in the 1970s that has old cedar shake siding. All windows are single pane wooden double hung with storm windows that, while older, appear to be working fine. A few have rotted sills but the rest appear solid. We would want to paint the interior of the windows as well.
We plan to reside the house with hardi. I’ve been told by many sources we should replace the windows first, which I’m planning to do, but I was hoping to get a sanity check first. Windows are obviously a costly project, even if I DIY, so it will delay the siding project.
If we didn’t need to get the house sided, I think we’d probably keep most of these windows for at least 5 years, potentially replacing them window by window.
So Reddit, should I REALLY do windows first or is it okay to do siding first in this scenario?
NOTE: To provide more context, our insurance company has requested we fix parts of the cedar siding soon, which I’ve thought about doing myself, but I’m not sure how successful I will be. Quotes from contractors are pretty high, and presuming we plan to redo the siding at some point in the near future, seems like a waste of money.
Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/QdJpRa9 Location: North NJ Storm windows, older 3 track

It’s probably my fault this happens to me. When I was young and in my prime, nobody ever approached me. I was more or less completely inexperienced until I was 25 years old.
Of course, after my prime was already over all these guys from my college and high school came crawling out of the woodwork, telling me they had a thing for me for years. But why wait until I was older and falling apart? One of them I even liked years ago when I was young and full of life and he knew it. I told him to his face that I liked him and he never acknowledged it. I figured he wasn’t interested, so I gave up on him. Turns out he did like me back. But why now when I am 28 fucking years old?
My biggest beef with this though, is that at my age anyone in my dating pool is divorced. I’m not saying that people who have been through a divorce shouldn’t be allowed a second chance at love. However, due to my experience with dating divorced men, it’s something I’m not too enthusiastic about because even though they’ll say they are over their ex, none of them actually are. Everything seems fine until six months into the relationship and they start acting weird and I find out. It’s my ex this, my ex that. If they are so hung up on somebody who won’t even speak to them anymore, they never should have started a relationship with somebody else.
I know that I am being a bitch here. I should be more sympathetic. However, as selfish as it is, just once I would like to have someone who is actually in love with me instead of feeling like I’m a replacement for someone I’ll never measure up to. I’m sick and tired of playing second fiddle to some guy’s first love he puts on a pedestal who won’t even talk to him anymore. But at this age that’s all I’m going to get.
Keep in mind, I don’t seek these people out. I consider myself about as far from conventionally attractive as a person can get in spite of all the different ways I have tried to improve both my appearance and myself as a person over the years. I don’t actively go out there looking for someone. I just kind of do my own thing and if somebody happens to take an interest in me, I’ll give them a chance.
I don’t have high standards at all. I don’t care about height, appearance, or how much money you make. I care about personality, compatibility, and respect. But there is one dealbreaker I have - don’t make me live in the shadow of somebody else. I’ve been doing that my whole life. Don’t make me do it in a relationship too.
Yet it seems like that’s too much to ask for. Seems like I’m destined to be overlooked, second best, just a placeholder for somebody I can never live up to.

"I still hear her laughter in my dreams, and every time, it feels closer."
It started about three months ago, right after I moved into my new apartment. The place was an old Victorian house converted into several units. It had charm, but also an unsettling aura that I initially brushed off as my imagination.
The first night, I heard a faint laugh. A child's giggle, just outside my window. Considering the building was mostly occupied by older residents, it felt out of place. I dismissed it, telling myself it must be coming from a TV or maybe someone’s grandkid visiting.
Over the next few nights, the giggling became more frequent. Always around midnight, always just outside my window. It was playful at first, almost joyous. But there was something off about it—something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I asked my neighbors if they had heard it, but they all looked at me like I was crazy.
One night, curiosity got the better of me. I decided to look outside and see if I could catch a glimpse of the source. I turned off my lights to avoid being seen and peered through the blinds. Nothing. Just the empty street below, bathed in the yellow glow of the streetlights.
I was about to give up when I saw her. A little girl, no older than six, standing under the lamp post. Her white dress was stained with mud, and her hair hung in damp, tangled strands. She was looking directly at me. The moment our eyes met, she smiled and giggled, a sound that sent chills down my spine. I pulled back from the window, heart racing, and closed the blinds.
The next morning, I asked around about the girl, but no one had seen her. I started to doubt my own sanity. That evening, as I returned home, I noticed something disturbing. Scratches on my front door, small but deliberate, as if someone had been clawing at it.
I didn’t sleep that night. Every noise, every creak of the old building made me jump. Then, at exactly midnight, the giggling started again. This time, it was inside the apartment. I could hear her, moving from room to room, laughing and whispering. Her voice was everywhere, echoing off the walls.
I grabbed my phone and dialed the police, my hands trembling. By the time they arrived, the noises had stopped. They searched the place but found nothing. I could tell by their expressions they thought I was losing it.
The next day, I decided to do some research. I found out that the house had a dark history. A young girl had gone missing from this very building over thirty years ago. Her body was never found. She was last seen playing outside, right where my window overlooks.
I moved out the next week, but even now, miles away, I still hear her laughter in my dreams. And every time, it feels closer.

Previous Part
At some Point Bianca and I both fell back asleep. It was all I could do at this point, getting whisked away back to those mines seemed inevitable so I might as well sleep. The morning did not go well, largely due to Bianca, who threw me off the couch with a scream when she woke up.
“What’re you doing!”
Bianca squeaked, hand darting towards her pants pocket where her dagger would usually be. I woke up very quickly somewhere between the couch and the floor. I was fully awake by the time I was pushing myself back to me feet, raising my hands in a gesture of surrender.
“What’s going on?! You’re fine you just fell asleep on my couch!”
“Why were you… why was I?”
“Hey, calm down alright. We had a few drinks last night and I guess we both fell asleep on the couch together, that’s all that happened.”
I explained, leaving out the part where she pulled me back when I tried to go to my own room earlier.
“Yeah… yeah ok. Ugh my head is killing me.”
Bianca groaned, taking a breath or two then putting her head in her hands. I didn’t have the heart to tell her she was probably hungover so I just went to the kitchen to make something for her.
I decided on toast and some bananas, it was always a go to for me after a long night. In hindsight I probably should’ve seen her reaction coming. Look at what she did in the caves because that guy grabbed her, it can’t be that much better waking up on someones shoulder and not quite remembering it. The whole thing did give me second thoughts though. If she was such a live wire did I really want her stressing out over the trials and whatever that would bring? I suppose it was too late for that though, she’d already moved herself into my house so she could keep watch, for all the good that did seeing as Shaoni waltzed right in last night.
I still had a lot on my mind when the smell of burning toast sobered me up. I swore and ran over to salvage what I could of the blackening toast.
“What’s burning in here?”
Bianca asked a little worry creeping into her voice. She still had her head clasped firmly between her hands as she walked into the kitchen.
“Breakfast”
I replied flatly, holding my arms out to either side gesturing to the mild chaos I was causing. Bianca gave me an questioning, “thanks” and grabbed the plate I had made for her while I tried to think of what to do next. Like it or not, Shaoni had people coming to pick me up and take me back out to those caves today. I had to come up with some kind of game plan and right now, it seemed letting Frank and Stein know was the best idea.
Bianca stayed back at my place nursing her hangover when I left to visit the mad scientist duo. I had no problem with that, in fact it was probably best because I’m sure she would’ve insisted on going with me if she heard I planed to take Shaoni’s “invitation”. I wasn’t sure if Shaoni would let me take Bianca with me and personally I’d rather not push her buttons and try to negotiate bringing a plus one.
“Have you seen Bianca at all?”
Frank asked hurriedly as I came in. I was afraid of this, She hadn’t told them anything and just disappeared.
“Yeah, she pretty much moved the contents of her room to my couch yesterday. Something about keeping an eye on me, she’s fine though, I wouldn’t worry.”
I answered, a little worried myself that I’d catch hell from them if they knew she was currently working her way through her first hangover on that same couch. Frank seemed to calm down at that and finally got to asking the important questions like why was I back in the house… again.
“So let us get this straight, you just plan to go right to Shaoni?”
Frank and Stein said together in disbelief as the three of us sat at the kitchen table.
“It’s not like I really have a choice in the matter, besides I can’t really fight her if she wants me to go somewhere. If I try a stunt like that things go from bad to worse for me.”
They both shook their heads in solemn agreement, recognizing I was right.
“Anyways, I had a thought on the way over here, Thunderbirds are something from native American legend right? Well, if we’ve found a real one wouldn’t she have ties to a tribe or something in the area? She was sleeping here when they woke her up in the mine, maybe there was a reason for that, maybe she was close to home?”
I explained, hoping g they’d catch on to what I was asking.
“What exactly are you getting at then Keith?”
Frank questioned, furrowing his brow with an intrigued look on his face. Stein just remained silent but I could tell he was thinking, maybe even coming to the same conclusion as I had.
“What I’m thinking, is we check reservations in the area. Maybe they know something about the creature from their legends that just so happened to be sleeping nearby. I know it’s a stretch but maybe we could learn something useful. I’d go myself but I’m not going to have the chance. You guys though, you guys could take Bianca and Rocco with you and ask around.”
I explained, hoping I was onto something. I was pulling at straws but it was the best idea I had at a moments notice. Plus it would get Bianca out of town for a little while when I was figuring out what exactly Shaoni’s trails would mean for me.
“Keith that’s… no that actually makes sense let me check some maps.”
Stein agreed, walking away and into the basement. He came back a few minutes later with a map in his hand.
“There’s a Seneca reservation not to far from here, maybe 30 miles. That’s not the only one but I have a friend there from years ago, someone I helped. There’s a good chance he’d be willing to return the favor.”
“Great, then I’ll count on you. I’ll let Bianca know, I’m sure she won’t be happy about it but I’ll feel better if she’s with all of you.”
I walked out in a rush to get back home, almost stepping on Rocco on my way to the door. He made a frightening chittering hissing sound at me as he leapt out of my path. I briefly wondered where he was going and what he was up to, probably better I didn’t know though. As I got onto the bike and headed back towards home I hoped I’d be able to talk Bianca into going along with this plan. I was sure she’d rather come with me but after this morning I wasn’t sure she was ready for that. Don’t get me wrong I’m sure she wants to help and I know she means well but she’s jumpy and snaps at the littlest things. I didn’t want her to make things worse by accident or get hurt because she froze up again. My mind was made up as I drew nearer to my house but as it turned out I’d never have the chance to talk to Bianca. As soon as I rounded the corner I saw the rusty pick up waiting in front of my house, I’d arrived just in time to meet Shaoni’s “helpers”.
The men looked normal, just like the people in the cave. Come to think of it they could very well be those same people. I waved them over as I came to a stop in-front of the house.
“Can I just go in and grab a few things?”
I asked the three men sheepishly as I walked up.
“No, your late as it is, we’ve got to get going.”
A scruffy looking man with a gruff voice said from the drivers seat. Two men got out from the back of the truck and grabbed my arms, pulling me into the back seat. They weren’t rough with me but they were very firm. Like they wanted to hurt me but were ordered not to so they just made a show of force. After I was loaded into the back I saw the reason for their demeanor. One of the men, the one in the front passenger seat, was wrapped in bandages. The bandages covered his abdomen and snaked up around the back of his neck. It was pretty obvious to me that this was the man Bianca had stabbed. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say these four were probably the same ones we had encountered in the cave. As I turned and looked out the window I saw Bianca’s face peaking out of it. She looked angry and scared, like she knew exactly what was happening but she didn’t move. Bianca just sat there, watching me be taken away and I cursed myself for not being just a little bit faster on the ride back.
We took a way out of town I’d never seen before, turning away from the road leading to the dirt path we had biked down on our expedition into the forest. Instead we drove back through town, past Bianca’s house and the Eagle’s Roost before hanging a right onto a road I’d never been down. Eventually the road made its way into the forest and ended at a wooden sign warning that the road was impassable ahead. The driver stopped the truck and got out as another man emerged from the woods, holding up his hand and opening it to reveal the eagle tattoo I’d become so familiar with. The driver rolled up his sleeve and showed his own similar tattoo. Without a word he got back into the truck and the other man moved the sign off the road. It didn’t fill me with confidence to see the entrance to this place watched in such a way. It would make sense to have it hidden but being so brazenly out in the open meant they didn't really care who saw it. Not that anyone would think anything other than that the road was impassable but still. The truck eventually pulled off the road and into the woods, following a newly made track that lead to the entrance of the old mine that we escaped from just 2 days ago.
“I think you know your way in.”
The driver growled at me, parking the truck and signaling me to step out.
“Your just letting me walk myself in? Couldn’t I just run?”
“You could but do you think you could outrun her?”
He asked threateningly, pointing up at the sky. I knew exactly who he was talking about and no, I didn’t like my chances of running from Shaoni.
“She gave us all orders to leave any runners to her.”
At that moment I decided it may be good idea to be on my best behavior.
“Yeah that’s what I thought.”
The driver barked back at me as I obediently walked towards the entrance.
Walking into the mine I realized it had undergone a huge transformation in a very short time. The walls were now host to several torches that lit the pathway back down to the coliseum. It felt like I was walking into the dark ages as I made my way down into this pit by torchlight. Although I had to admit it was homey in an “evil layer” kind off way. The coliseum was lit up with torchlight as well but its not what drew my attention. Where the awful metal structure met the stone roof of the cave I looked into a brewing storm. Lightning flashed across the roof but there was no sound of thunder. Raindrops shown in the shadows cast by the lightning but I felt none of them on my skin. I had to admit, it was a pretty impressive trick. Paintings adorned the walls, all of them seeming to be tribal in nature. Many seemed to be various depictions of the thunderbird.
“Well at least she doesn’t have an ego”
I chuckled to myself as I walked into the center off the coliseum.
There were four other people waiting in the center of the floor. A clean shaven, well dressed man relaxed against the wall of the arena. He had perfectly trimmed slicked back blonde hair and a chiseled face. His rippling muscles seemed to be for vanity rather than strength. Just by looking at him I could tell I wasn’t going to like him. The only one of the bunch I knew, Robert, stood on the far side of the coliseum, watching me approach. He looked about the same as he had from the brief glance I got at the Eagle’s Roost. Balding white hair and a unkempt beard hung off his sagging face. Despite his age he carried himself with purpose, like he deserved to be there and wanted everyone else to know it. Then there was the blonde bombshell that was making her way towards the chiseled blonde guy. She seemed incredibly confident in herself but none of it was a show. Her confidence came from a place that made her absolutely sure of it. The final person stood in the corner and seemed to be talking to himself. He was a middle aged man of native American descent with a mess of black hair atop his head. He carried a look in his eyes that spoke of wisdom beyond his years.
I walked past all of them and took a seat on the floor, trying my hardest to ignore them. The effort was ultimately wasted as the muscular blonde guy walked over and held out a hand.
“Hey, my names Brooke, you are?”
My blood turned to ice as he said that, it couldn’t be the same Brooke Bianca told me about, could it? I stared dumbly at him for a moment before I responded.
“I’m… uh… Keith. Any idea what we’re doing here?”
“No clue, only know that the thunderbird wanted us here so we came. Hopefully she makes good on her promise, to me at least.”
His voice sounded like the “to cool for you” bully from any 80’s movie, it was almost annoying to listen to him.
“So you’ve met everyone else I take it?”
“Yeah, the weird guy in the corner is John, we don’t know much about him but apparently him and that Robert guy, the old one with the beard, worked for the thunderbird. Katrina, that beauty over there is a wild card, no-one seems to know anything about her but she looks like she’s hot shit and well, just plain hot.”
As Brooke gave me the run down of everyone in the room I quietly wondered to myself if Shaoni had given everyone the same offer as me. The way Brooke had said it, “promise”… that wasn’t how I would’ve phrased it. Maybe Shaoni cut everyone here a unique deal.
“…Anyways, I’m gonna go see if I can’t figure out that bombshell’s deal, I’ll see ya later Keith.”
Apparently Brooke had been talking to me the whole time but I only tuned in for the tail end of it as he walked off toward Katrina. I wondered where exactly Shaoni was, I had expected her to be here already but, as it turned out I wouldn’t have to wait long.
A thunderous boom cracked out above our heads and we all looked up at once, but the sound was coming from outside. I heard the flap of wings as Shaoni came in for a landing somewhere above our heads. It went so silent we could’ve heard a mosquito cough, then Shaoni stepped into the room. Not from either entrance but from a balcony above us I hadn’t seen before. She was wearing the same thing she had been when I ran into her in the cave, once again looking like a hardened, tattooed Pocahontas.
“Welcome everyone! I take it you’ve gotten to know each other?”
She thundered down to us as we all shot to attention.
“I’ve gathered you here to give a gift to one of you, but you must prove yourselves deserving. I’ve told some of you what I intended to do here and others may be hearing it for the first time. So for those of you who are gathering here for the first time pay attention. There will be three trials held here, one to test your morals, one to test your strength, and one to test your judgement.”
At this point Brooke spoke up in the way only a spoiled little shit like him could.
“You made me a promise! You never said anything about trials! I got all the way out here to this shitty little backwater and now your telling me I’ve got to compete to earn what you owe me?! Sorry, but I’m going to need more than that.”
Shaoni looked like she could’ve ended him right there. She was the judge and jury here, if Brooke wasn’t careful she’d become the executioner too.
“What you asked me for is in this town, that’s all I will say on the matter.”
Shaoni responded with less venom than I had expected judging by her expression. She didn’t actually seem to care that she had to tell him something to shut him up. It was the insult of being interrupted that struck a nerve. I was a little concerned by what she said, if he was looking for something that was in town and Bianca was there… could he be looking for her? “…Today though, just enjoy the company of one another. You’re all welcome to stay here at the camp I’ve had prepared for you outside. If you wish to return to town you may but you will be watched. No-one is to leave town until the trials are completed.”
Shaoni finished, I hadn’t really been listening to her welcome speech. She said everything I cared about when she told us what the trials where going to test for, after that I kind of tuned out. Shaoni disappeared in a flash, just like she had back at my house the day before and with that the five of us were alone again. I left, heading back outside to see this camp she mentioned. The others talked with each other but I really had no desire to. That didn’t stop Robert from running to catch up with me, wheezing when he got there.
“Hey you’re the one who ran out of the bar the other night! She’s said a lot about you, I’d almost think she had a favorite.”
Robert huffed out between breaths, punching me in the arm in a friendly but wholly unwelcome way.
“I’ve heard you know nothing about the supernatural, I’d be happy to tell you what I’ve seen working with Shaoni.”
Robert offered, fishing for any reason to hold a conversation with me.
“No, that’s alright really, I’ll manage. What do you guys do anyways, working for her I mean? I get the sense she could really run this whole operation on her own if she wanted.”
“She probably could do this alone. Most of the time we don’t work directly with her, this is a special case for those of us she’s got helping with the trials. There’s maybe 50 of us total and not just here, I mean 50 of us overall. She’s very selective with the followers she keeps so there isn’t many of us. We tend to sit around up-holding her ideals till she asks something of us through dreams, like the ones that brought you here.”
Robert explained, confusing me a little bit. I found it hard to believe a crew of 50 people got everything here done. I guess it wasn’t to outlandish when put in perspective though. If you told me Shaoni got all this done herself I probably would’ve believed you so 50 people organized by her, yeah I could see that.
“Wait, so you guys barley ever actually work with her, and what are her ideals exactly?”
“Have you heard the legends of the thunderbird? A lot of it depicts the thunderbird as a spirit of justice that fights evil spirits from the underworld, that’s really watered down but you get the point. I’ve never seen her do anything like that but she does uphold a certain sense of justice and that’s what she expects of us. Sure, she seems really intimidating but she wants to right wrongs that no one else will, it makes her a little harsh but she has to be. We just do that same thing when we aren’t getting orders right from her. Maybe you think she’s in the wrong here because she pulled you into this but we really want to help, sometimes there’s a price for that.”
Robert lectured, you could tell he really believed in what he was saying though. He may have been older but when he was telling me about the thunderbird and what she stood for he was filled with vigor again. Maybe he’s not as bad as I thought, I wanted all these people working for her to be some kind of weird cult like in Imalone. The more I heard the more I doubted that. They were people who followed her for a reason, not just because she gave them some kind of power. In reality I think what she really gave them was purpose. That sort of thing is more than enough for most people to follow someone.
When I broke away from Robert and got outside I found a huge camp had been set up while we were in the cave. Tepees of various sizes had been constructed all around the entrance to the old mine and one big canvas tent had a huge table running through it filled with food. For 50 people these followers of the thunderbird sure worked fast. I hadn’t decided if I wanted to go back to town yet. I hoped Frank and Stein had convinced Bianca to go with them, at least then they could get some answers while I was stuck here. If they were gone though what reason did I have to go back? As long as I was out here surrounded by people who work with Shaoni maybe I could get some answers of my own. I wasn’t really sure what information about Shaoni would do for us but she was a mystery to me. Everyone was here for a reason, I agreed to take on a burden, Brooke was here because of some promise Shaoni made, and I’m sure the rest had similar stories. Shaoni gained nothing from any of that though, besides this burden I had agreed to take. I’m not sure why, but it felt like figuring out what She stood to gain from this was important. If I could do that maybe I could put the pieces to this puzzle together. Two people had pointed out I knew nothing about the supernatural as well, Shaoni and Robert. That didn’t seem to matter to much to me but if all the others here had some experience in it maybe it should. It seemed like we were all on a level playing field though, Brooke hadn’t heard about the trials and neither had I. Robert and that strange John guy probably had some idea but they worked with Shaoni, I would expect them to know. Katrina, the blonde was probably just as surprised as Brooke, if I had to guess. None of us knew exactly what the trials would test for, so why did everyone keep brining up not knowing about the supernatural like it put me at a disadvantage?
“Why indeed.”
A familiar voice said, sending lightning through my veins and breaking my train of thought. I just about tossed the turkey leg I’d been eating directly at the source of the noise.
“Shaoni, you have got to stop doing that.”
I said, crawling back into my skin after she scared me out of it. Shaoni still looked just as she had when she addressed us earlier, adorned in her animal skins and feathers. It took me a second but it finally clicked that she had said something strange when she sat down next to me.
“Hang on a minute, can you read my mind? Was I thinking out loud or something?”
“No, you just looked lost in thought and I figured I’d chime in.”
“Oh, alright… why?”
I squeaked out, abruptly realizing that this was Shaoni, the thunderbird who was sitting next to me. There was a second there where I wasn’t as intimidated by her as I normally was but it had passed quickly.
“I wanted to know how your doing, I know all this can’t be easy to take in.”
“I’m doing fine, I think I’m adjusting pretty well but I did want to ask you some questions.”
An amused look ran across Shaoni’s face at this. She wasn’t being as commanding as before either, she almost seemed to genuinely care about my well-being.
“Would you walk with me, I’ll answer your questions on the way.”
Shaoni asked, standing and waiting for me to follow her. Not seeing any better options I stood up and left alongside her.
We walked around the perimeter of the camp, out of ear shot of anyone else. I’m sure she did that on purpose, though I wasn’t sure if it was so no-one could hear my screams if I asked a question she didn’t like or if she just wanted privacy.
“Why me Shaoni? Why chose me out of everyone, was it just a coincidence?”
“Straight to the point hmm. Think Keith, when I found you in the position you were in you needed my help. Sure, I planned to dispose of the cultists that were threatening you anyways but I stopped to help you. You saw me descend from the sky, swoop down, and bring them to their knees, I extended an offer to you and you just took it. You didn’t bargain or ask for anything more after I shattered your perception of what does and doesn’t exist, just accepted my offer. Most people would have bargained, tried to look for a better deal for themselves but you saw what the price of my help would be and paid it, no second thoughts. That interested me Keith, you recognized what had to be done and didn’t try to avoid the cost, that’s why I chose you.”
“So I appealed to whatever sense of justice you have? That’s it, that’s the only reason?”
She looked almost hurt as I asked this and she stopped walking. I definitely stepped on a nerve, I expected her to snap but she didn’t, She just asked very quietly,
“Do you think I’m a monster Keith?”
I was stunned by the question. Could I really say she was a monster? What had she done so far? Save me, that’s what, was that really so monstrous? Sure it may have come at a cost but nothing is ever free. Shaoni even came to warn me about the trials ahead of time, just barely ahead of time but it was something.
“No Shaoni, you’re not a monster just… someone with the powers you have… it’s terrifying for a normal person. Can you really say I’m in the wrong for being afraid of you?”
Even as I said it I knew it was a lie, at least partially. I wasn’t just afraid of her, I wanted her to be evil and she just wasn’t, not really. Maybe she was a bit intense but everything she had done to me so far couldn’t be called evil.
“Fear is only natural when you see something like me, but I’m not a monster. The thunderbird has always stood for justice. That’s what I represent, I can’t be everywhere but I make it a point to uphold justice where I am. Those who I’ve chosen to follow me hold my justice in their own town, in their own lives. I can be harsh but I am just.”
She said this with such intensity I had no choice but to believe her. Her conviction to justice was zealous but I still wanted to pry a little bit more.
“So what does justice mean to you then? I don’t mean to be disrespectful but I want to hear it from you,”
I asked, growing a little more confident in talking to Shaoni. For once I didn’t feel like she would kill me on a whim. Give her a reason, and Shaoni would do it without a second thought but I don’t think she cared that much about my questioning.
“Justice is black and white, right and wrong. Normally there’s a pretty good system in place to punish those that deserve it but sometimes things slip through the cracks, that’s where I come in. I take care of the heinous acts people get away with, people that think they’ve gotten away with murder, so to speak.”
“So your a vigilante then? That’s what I’m hearing here.”
“I wouldn’t be so crass but yes, I suppose you could call me a vigilante but I promise you that’s an oversimplification. Suffice it to say my opinion on matters of serving justice is respected.”
Shaoni seemed a little uncomfortable at the word “respect”, I think a better word would’ve been “feared”. I wasn’t going to say it to her but I knew she suspected it. I could see something about that really hurt her. I couldn’t put my finger on it, the reason Shaoni didn’t want to be feared. Despite being the scariest thing I’d seen so far she didn’t want to be known for that.
We talked for a while longer about a whole lot of nothing. Eventually we got back around to the camp and she bid me goodnight despite the fact it was 3 in the afternoon at the time. She was probably right though, I was going to need the rest if I wanted to be ready for the first trial tomorrow. I found my way to a tepee conveniently marked with my name. I didn’t remember it being marked before and I didn’t understand the point of giving us specific tepees, privacy I guess? The fur sleeping bag was a rustic but welcome touch and despite lacking the amenities of a usual home the tepee was quite comfortable. As I settled in for the night I heard a rustling on the far side of the tepee, then a voice, one whose heavy accent I recognized immediately.
“So, turns out they don’t check under the truck. Ya got me here with you now.”
Rocco said, emerging from a blanket in the corner. That revelation didn’t exactly set my mind at ease. Rocco must’ve sensed my apprehension to the fact that he was anywhere near me right now.
“What?! I’m here to help out! I heard you going on about a trial or somethin’ so I figured I’d tag along under that truck when they picked you up, can’t have enough back up ya know.”
He continued, pulling a belt with several tools out from under the blanket as he spoke. I wasn’t pleased to have him here but maybe I could make use of him.
“I was hoping you’d go with Bianca and the other two but honestly, it might be nice to have a friendly face around here. Just… try to stay out of trouble.”
“Trouble? When do I ever get into trouble?”
I hoped he was being sarcastic, you can never tell with him. I bit my tongue as Rocco walked out into the camp, silently praying no-one would see him. With that I settled into my sleeping bag and tried to think of what I could expect from the first trial tomorrow.

So my wife and I have been married for a long time, we have one child between us who is twenty years old. I have two older children from a previous life and am a grandfather through them, they live interstate where their mother relocated to.
So my wife of a long time is an extrovert and has heaps of friends from school and university days of decades ago. I have met many of them, tho being an introvert I never really connected with any of them.
My wife likes to vist her friends and most of them live a great distance from us. She also likes to holiday with her friends, sometimes on trips abroad. My wife love a trip away for any reason. Good for her I say.
For years and years I just hung out at home looking after the animals, and doing deep cleaning or painting or other property matinance to keep myself occupied so I didn't miss her so much. As I'm not into her friends, I don't go with her.
Anyway, I retired early due to injury and I am financially self sufficient. We have no debts. My wife still works and that's her choice.
I decided that for one week every month I'm going to travel interstate and vist my children and grandchildren from my first marriage. I hadn't the opportunity to see them very often before, and I feel like making up for lost time. My children are delighted.
My wife was resentful of my decision and informed me the she didn't want a part-time husband. With that I said ok, you have just been abroad for two weeks with friends, I going to see my children and I'll be away two weeks like it or not.
So we have had this big fight over my decision to be more involved with my children interstate. She has conceded and agreed, that I need to get away more and seeing my family is what I enjoy the most.
Thing is tho, I'm pissed off with her because of her selfishness, and now I feel like I want a divorce and I want to move interstate. I adored my wife so much before all of this, tho I no longer see her in the same light.
I also am starting to think about my health which isn't the greatest. And I'll likely die before my wife who is younger. why should I leave all property to my wife? Who will only pass it onto our only child, and not to my interstate children from my first marriage.
The only way that I can ensure that the children from my first marriage get a reasonable share of my estate, is by doing a property settlement and willing them what's rightfully theirs.
Honestly I was blind in love with my wife, until I took stock when my wife jacked up about me seeing more of my kids. Any thoughts?

Below is a quick review on my trip on Wots, it was amazing and we loved it, the crew was the best and we met new friends along the way
Day1 - Saturday
Landed Gate C, MCO waited a good 40 minutes for our bags, called hotel for complimentary shuttle and waited 5 min at the curb, checked into courtyard Marriott in Orlando, walked to dinner at TGIF headed back to bed early.

Day2 – Sunday boarding day
Breakfast at hotel. Uber to port Canaveral $68 after tip. Handed bags to porter and walked onboard. Waited in line to book our 3-day dinner package. Picked up our free cups. Free bracelet. Solarium for lunch. Got drinks. Explored the ship, found front spot I solarium for sendoff. Went to room received 1 luggage at 3pm but state room attendant found our other bag for us. Waited in room till 5 PM dinner in MDR. Good food. Guest service to fix reservation time. Solarium pool and hot tub all night.

Day3 – Monday CocoCay
Woke up and looked out window to see Celebrity Beyond already docked (beautiful Ship). Windjammer breakfast. Packed bag and put on Bathing suits, walked to S beach. Swam to bar. Hung out on sandbar. Had lunch (birds were crazy). Headed to ship early (ship was empty). Solarium pools. Table Tennis. Showered watched send off from room with ship-to-ship horn battle. Dinner at 5 pasta night. Bought tampons in store ($8 for 10 cardboard tubes). Hung at park listened to jazz, 3 drinks at trellis bar. Attic for adult comedy. Bed

Day4 – Tuesday Sea Day
Boardwalk Cafe. Johny rockets for pancakes. Hangout aft jogging track to watch the waves. Walked to room. Solarium hot tubs pool. Lunch MDR. Walked Ship. Alpha Alpha Call. The Abyss. Room. Solarium for drinks and people watch. Nap. Jazz in park, 150 Central Park for Dinner. Food was delicious smaller portions FRIED CHEESECAKE FTW! Bed.

Day5 – Wednesday St. Thomas
Windjammer for quick Breakfast. Solarium to watch docking process. Windjammer for lunch. Crazy taxi to Magen’s Bay. Hit the water and made friends who gave us free zinc sunscreen and drinks, also there were small jelly fish larvae that stung us the entire time. (didn’t hurt more of an annoyance). Taxi back to the ship where we showered and hung out on the balcony. Formal night and we went to Chops Grill where I had the best Fillet of my life. Bed
For taxi it was $15 a person one way and $6 pp to get into the beach. Total spent $82 with tip.

Day6 – Thursday St. Maarten
Parking Café for Breakfast and Coffee. Drank Coffee in promenade for dock in.
Then we walked to the excursion. Excursion – Captain Bobs, 15 min walk from the boat where we checked in with Captain Brett I will no spoil the excursion as there are thousands of good reviews on trip adviser, I can’t say more than good things it was worth the money as it was the highlight of the entire trip.
Shower and nap. Mason jar for dinner (not worth is IMO as it tasted like boring BBQ) Aqua Show was inTENse, awesome show, Bed

Day7 – Friday Sea Day
Sleep in. Coffee and leftover for breakfast on private balcony. Solarium to hang. Walk around ship. Every pool and hot tub is max capacity. Hear we going to Turks for a crew member emergency, all we know is that they were flown to Miami. Hangout in room afternoon and received the dreadful disembark paperwork. Dinner at MDR. We wore out bathing suits under out clothes and hit slides then the Solarium Pool as because of dinner they were EMPTY. 365 ice show which was awesome and the best show we saw. Bed

Day8 – Saturday Sea Day
Woke up to watch sunrise at 605 AM. Then slept in. Breakfast at windjammer for the hash browns. Last Rubber Duck hunt as we found 4 total all week and re hid 2 for the kids. Walked the Ship. Taste of Royal at 150, Upset that it was not wonderland as was posted. Meals were underrated and the time in between courses was 20+ min long very boring. Also, wine pairing is extra $. Took over 2 hours.
Casino to check things out. Hang out on balcony then Dinner MDR, Casino and left happy with some winnings, pool rest of the night. Hit the solarium and we were the only 2 people in the pool with a full ship, met up with new friends we made to say goodbye. Back to room to pack.

Day9 – Sunday Disembark
Woke up 545. Both showered. Breakfast at Solarium Bistro, off the boat with our bags at 730. We chose to self-disembark to not deal with the hassle of finding out bags to walked straight to GO Port to bring us back to MCO
bus left and picked more people up at Carnival Mardigras, off to MCO. By the time we got through security at gate C and relax, it was 930… flight was delayed till 4..

Some Facts-
We did have the drink package and we always had a drink in our hands.
Yes, a lot of room time as it was a good way to get away from the crowds.
This was my second cruise but first as an adult.
A lot of Solarium time to stay away from the kids so I have no complaints about them as other people have.
Food everywhere I had Sorrento’s and hot dogs whenever we passed.
I miss that blue water so
Biggest Complaint would have to the older generation, They complaint the most and were the rudest people Ive ever seen.
for MDR we had Ivan and his assistant Agus (who was on his first week) and they were amazing and made us laugh everynight.
food was good everywhere, idk why everyone complains there when i dont have to cook it and its all handed to me.
5 stars across the board

Hi, I 29F and my wonderful Husband 30M have a 2 and a half year old son. For context me and my husband have been married for almost 7 years and we started a relationship when we were 18 and 19 years old.
Our son started nursery in November 2023 he goes two mornings a week (which we pay for). He is currently being assessed for some SEN (Special Educational Needs) as he has been showing signs of certain things. We have had meetings with his teachers and we have a plan to help him moving forward, especially for when he starts his proper schooling at a different school in January of 2025. The nursery he is currently at will help her new school with a plan to keep him at his best, and help him.
Anyway I was having a conversation with my parents over video chat, we will call them "Dave" and "Jan" about all of this and they were not pleased. (For extra context, I am the youngest of their 7 children and my son (my only child) is their 8th grandchild). They expressed that their was "nothing wrong" with my child and that "he is fine when he sees them". I told them you see him for a tiny snippet of time, you don't see what he is like 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week. He only sees them for 10 to 20 minutes at a time because they are "very busy people" we they like to say... Which is incorrect.. they are unemployed and I don't think I've ever known them to work.
They went on to say that "there was none of this sh*t when you were a kid, nobody had things like this wrong with them". I said he needs some extra help and if it's going to benefit his well being then I want him to get the help. They just rolled their eyes.
Anyway I proceeded to tell them all the things that have been happening at school and at home and what he is like, as well as him not liking noises. (He's never liked noises, i.e. aeroplanes, tractors, loud motorbikes, hairdryers, etc etc.. which they knew anyway because if they put the vacuum on or something he covers his ears and hides.
They then said "Oh great so we have a Ret*rd in our family. My heart broke, I hung up the phone and they haven't called me or anything since.
I have spoken to my siblings and they are all on my parents' side apart from one sibling (the oldest, who doesn't live in our country). She was so angry when I told her and she called all of my siblings and parents and told them what a disgrace they are and that she hopes they are happy bullying a child.
Myself and my husband have chosen to wash our hands with my family (apart from the older sister of course).
My heart is broken that they would say that about their grandchild and nephew. Is this the kind of behaviour he is going to have to endure all of his life?
AITA for cutting them off?

i think she handled her 15 minutes very poorly. she should’ve stayed exclusive and not hung out with every group we all know a friend to everyone is a friend to none. and we want to watch real people real content REALness in this social media world that’s so hard to find. Her aesthetic did make her different bc at the time it was all old money vibes but now we all it’s kinda just poser vibes yes she may have been wearing the same lil t-shirts and wanna be alt but it worked. until she started talking so much and acting the complete opposite which exposes its all for show. I’m sure she’ll change her clothes soon enough. another thing, she acts way too immature for her age and that’s just weird, it only appeals to the young audience and sadly those won’t stick. she could’ve stayed having us older 23 and up audience if she just acted her age and kept it real. on every interview/ podcast she loves to bring up how she’s been on YT forever like ok and ? we didn’t know and that’s for us to find out if we’re interested in YOU which will give u the sympathy you’re looking for and respect to your name but instead she yaps too much in such a i’ve always been a superstar! way now you’re an influencer that’s slowly drifting away. so much more could’ve came out of this girl it’s literally disappointing

I don't even understand what the fuck her problem is. She was also a victim of my uncle, though not on the same level as my mom. I think she's pissed that everything my uncle did also has highlighted her in a bad light as the distant sister and aunt that did nothing.
Had this lovely phone call. I don't remember much of it since I was so pissed off, but I can try to piece it together. For context, ill be calling my aunt Aunt Cin.
Cin: Hey sweetie! Long time no talk!
Me: Yeah. What's up, Aunt Cin?
Cin: Well, I heard that you got your uncle arrested for some things that he threatened and such.
Me: Yeah? He threatened to piss on my grandpa's grave, Aunt Cin.
Cin: Well, all the things you said about him seem to also cast me in a bad light.
(YUP, AT THIS POINT I'M DONE ENTERTAINING HER)
Me: visibly angry Well, maybe if you didn't stand by and let the shit that happened to Mom and by extension me happen you wouldn't be cast in a negative light. It's not my fucking job to kiss your ass.
Cin: I'm not saying it is, sweetie. But what I am saying is that you didn't need to air out the family's dirty laundry like this.
Me: Like what, Aunt Cin? Like how you actively either did nothing to help your own sister or, worse yet, reveled in her misery because you also weren't an unwanted child? How Grandma and Grandpa left you with tons of shit and left my mom with near nothing? Like how Uncle Rob would have you run interference when he was actively beating my mom up or attempting to kill her? Let's not forget he too got you fucking raped by Great-Uncle, who also tried to molest me at 3 fucking years old. It is NOT my fucking job to make you appear in any kind of light. It is my job to destroy the generational traumas that my mom suffered so my kids don't ever deal with the shit she and by extension myself went through. And if that means that the truth paints you as the distant older sister that allowed for all of this to go on to your baby sister, then so be it. Instead of complaining to me about it, Aunt Cin, how about you fucking take some goddamn responsibility for once?
At that point she began to say something, but I hung up and muted her calls and texts. I'm not interested in her goddamn excuses.
No wonder my mom is as fucked up as she is.

I am a 24[M] and I was dating a 21[F]. We are both East Asians (specifically 'South Koreans), she was born in North America and I moved to North America at the age of 10. She was my first ever girlfriend and she had 2 boyfriends before she dated me (3 months and 1 year). We both have parents who are conservative like most other asian parents.
We met on a dating app and on the first day we met, we hung out for about 13 hours (didn't do anything other than holding hands after drinking quite a bit). After that day, we chatted online and called for 4-8 hours a day for the next 7 days so on the 2nd day we met (which was 8 days after the first day we met) , i asked her out.
On the 2nd day of meeting her, which was our first day of dating, we made out at a friends place and she made huge kiss marks/hickeys on my neck. it was my first time getting them but I was aware that it would leave a mark, so it's not like she did it without me knowing, and i found the feeling of getting it to be pretty good. I just never knew that it would turn out so god damn big. I ended up getting about 4 hickeys on my neck and two of them are quite big, maybe the size of a golf ball, or even a tennis ball.
The next day after we woke up, she said sorry a few times, and I told her never to do it on neck or arm ever again, and she said okay. She then thought that it'd be best to hide it since Korean families are usually very conservative and it wouldn't be a good look. So using a concealer, we blurred it out a bit. She also said that it would be best to say that we are dating after the hickeys go away. But I thought it would be okay even if they saw it, as my parents have always been supportive on what I did. So I just told them that I got my first girlfriend ever on the night of the same day. It turns out that they got extremely shocked when they found out about my hickeys especially because they've never seen such a big kiss mark/hickey before.
My mom and one of my sisters cried a bit (i have two older sisters), and my family was determined to make me break up with her. Which was quite shocking to me because while I probably should've done a better job hiding the hickeys but I've never had any trouble with my family before and it was my first time going "against" them. It was more of me trying to convince them to let me just continue dating for 1 or 2 months and let me just experience it myself whether the outcome is bad or good. But they were 100% sure that this relationship wouldn't end well, and was worried that I would get hurt or traumatized from the "bad ending". They were certain that it will end bad since they said that it's not normal for a girl to give such huge hickeys, and it meant that she will be extremely possessive of me, which she might not show now, but they say that she will become that way and show her true "inner" side in the future.
So the issue is purely because of the hickeys, they were just too big and it shocked my family. Personally, I didn't care much about it since i knew it would just go away after max 2 weeks (source: google) but obviously my family didn't like seeing it on me and told me to really take care of my body next time.
After almost a day of talking, I just gave up trying to convince my family and I broke up with the girl through text after just 4 days of dating. I was sad because I felt like I was starting to build a good relationship with her but my family went against it and forced me to end it. I even asked them to give me some time multiple times but they would always end each talk with me breaking up with her.
I truly think that she isn't some random party girl that my family think she is, because even though I've only been talking to her for a week and a half now, she always communicates well with me and asks what I like. She is also okay with doing anything that I like doing so we can get closer. Although she is 3 years younger than me, she will have a better specification. we go to the same university (i just graduated with a cs degree a month ago, no job yet), she is aiming to get into meds and she seems to be very smart especially in academics.
Putting the education on the side, I am honestly interested in her and want to keep building a relationship with her. Which is why I argued with my family. I think she is a caring and nice person. And for sure, it was reckless and careless for her to make hickeys on my neck, but can't it just be seen as one happening that can be forgotten about?
Or did she do it knowing that it would leave a huge hickey and while having the intentions of embarrassing me when I go outside or do an interview, and maybe looking down at me even though I am 3 years older than her. (never would've thought this way if my family didn't give me the ideas)
What can I even do now? I feel like I broke the trust with my family and I don't really want to share any information with them anymore to avoid hassle. I do acknowledge that they are doing this for me but i just think this is over-reacting.
I broke up with my girlfriend but I later said to let's just stay as friends for now as the timing is not right and she is fine with doing that. She also said that she'll go with whatever choice I think is the best for us, and was supportive while talking about not being able to convince my parents.
I live with my parents so I should go by their rules, but I am also 24 years old, meaning that I'm a fully grown adult so I should be able to make my own decisions even if my family doesn't like them. I do see that if my family isn't supportive of my relationship, then it wouldn't be too healthy and that's why I tried to convince them. My parents are very conservative though, they say that they wouldn't allow any of my older sisters or me to go camping, travelling for more than a day, and that they wouldn't allow us to sleep with a partner until marriage so 0 tolerance for hook ups. Which I did not know until today, obviously because I never asked and never had any previous relationship experience, and I found it shocking since all my friends have done it before with their girlfriends after like a week or a month in.
please let me know what everyone thinks of this. If there may be ways to convince my parents or if they will be more understanding as time passes. Or if I should just continue secretly dating my girlfriend and bring it up to them after a few months of dating (assuming that it would go well)
or any other opinions.
TL;DR short summary: on our 1st day of dating, she gave me 4 hickeys on my neck and one of them was insanely big. My family found out (mom, dad, 2 older sisters) and forced me to end my relationship on the 4th day of dating because they don't see our relationship getting anywhere. They think my girlfriend is a party girl who has tons of experience since she made many and huge hickeys on my neck. (sorry this should've been at the end and not at the start)

I am a 24M and I was dating a 21F. We are both East Asians (specifically 'South Koreans), she was born in North America and I moved to North America at the age of 10. She was my first ever girlfriend and she had 2 boyfriends before she dated me (3 months and 1 year). We both have parents who are conservative like most other asian parents.
We met on a dating app and on the first day we met, we hung out for about 13 hours (didn't do anything other than holding hands after drinking quite a bit). After that day, we chatted online and called for 4-8 hours a day for the next 7 days so on the 2nd day we met (which was 8 days after the first day we met) , i asked her out.
On the 2nd day of meeting her, which was our first day of dating, we made out at a friends place and she made huge kiss marks/hickeys on my neck. it was my first time getting them but I was aware that it would leave a mark, so it's not like she did it without me knowing, and i found the feeling of getting it to be pretty good. I just never knew that it would turn out so god damn big. I ended up getting about 4 hickeys on my neck and two of them are quite big, maybe the size of a golf ball, or even a tennis ball.
The next day after we woke up, she said sorry a few times, and I told her never to do it on neck or arm ever again, and she said okay. She then thought that it'd be best to hide it since Korean families are usually very conservative and it wouldn't be a good look. So using a concealer, we blurred it out a bit. She also said that it would be best to say that we are dating after the hickeys go away. But I thought it would be okay even if they saw it, as my parents have always been supportive on what I did. So I just told them that I got my first girlfriend ever on the night of the same day. It turns out that they got extremely shocked when they found out about my hickeys especially because they've never seen such a big kiss mark/hickey before.
My mom and one of my sisters cried a bit (i have two older sisters), and my family was determined to make me break up with her. Which was quite shocking to me because while I probably should've done a better job hiding the hickeys but I've never had any trouble with my family before and it was my first time going "against" them. It was more of me trying to convince them to let me just continue dating for 1 or 2 months and let me just experience it myself whether the outcome is bad or good. But they were 100% sure that this relationship wouldn't end well, and was worried that I would get hurt or traumatized from the "bad ending". They were certain that it will end bad since they said that it's not normal for a girl to give such huge hickeys, and it meant that she will be extremely possessive of me, which she might not show now, but they say that she will become that way and show her true "inner" side in the future.
So the issue is purely because of the hickeys, they were just too big and it shocked my family. Personally, I didn't care much about it since i knew it would just go away after max 2 weeks (source: google) but obviously my family didn't like seeing it on me and told me to really take care of my body next time.
After almost a day of talking, I just gave up trying to convince my family and I broke up with the girl through text after just 4 days of dating. I was sad because I felt like I was starting to build a good relationship with her but my family went against it and forced me to end it. I even asked them to give me some time multiple times but they would always end each talk with me breaking up with her.
I truly think that she isn't some random party girl that my family think she is, because even though I've only been talking to her for a week and a half now, she always communicates well with me and asks what I like. She is also okay with doing anything that I like doing so we can get closer. Although she is 3 years younger than me, she will have a better specification. we go to the same university (i just graduated with a cs degree a month ago, no job yet), she is aiming to get into meds and she seems to be very smart especially in academics.
Putting the education on the side, I am honestly interested in her and want to keep building a relationship with her. Which is why I argued with my family. I think she is a caring and nice person. And for sure, it was reckless and careless for her to make hickeys on my neck, but can't it just be seen as one happening that can be forgotten about?
Or did she do it knowing that it would leave a huge hickey and while having the intentions of embarrassing me when I go outside or do an interview, and maybe looking down at me even though I am 3 years older than her. (never would've thought this way if my family didn't give me the ideas)
What can I even do now? I feel like I broke the trust with my family and I don't really want to share any information with them anymore to avoid hassle. I do acknowledge that they are doing this for me but i just think this is over-reacting.
I broke up with my girlfriend but I later said to let's just stay as friends for now as the timing is not right and she is fine with doing that. She also said that she'll go with whatever choice I think is the best for us, and was supportive while talking about not being able to convince my parents.
I live with my parents so I should go by their rules, but I am also 24 years old, meaning that I'm a fully grown adult so I should be able to make my own decisions even if my family doesn't like them. I do see that if my family isn't supportive of my relationship, then it wouldn't be too healthy and that's why I tried to convince them. My parents are very conservative though, they say that they wouldn't allow any of my older sisters or me to go camping, travelling for more than a day, and that they wouldn't allow us to sleep with a partner until marriage so 0 tolerance for hook ups. Which I did not know until today, obviously because I never asked and never had any previous relationship experience, and I found it shocking since all my friends have done it before with their girlfriends after like a week or a month in.
please let me know what everyone thinks of this. If there may be ways to convince my parents or if they will be more understanding as time passes. Or if I should just continue secretly dating my girlfriend and bring it up to them after a few months of dating (assuming that it would go well)
or any other opinions.
TL;DR short summary: on our 1st day of dating, she gave me 4 hickeys on my neck and one of them was insanely big. My family found out (mom, dad, 2 older sisters) and forced me to end my relationship on the 4th day of dating because they don't see our relationship getting anywhere. They think my girlfriend is a party girl who has tons of experience since she made many and huge hickeys on my neck. (sorry this should've been at the end and not at the start)

Yo just imagine how tight that would be-- Hillary Clinton decides to play the long game and strategically seduce Barack Obama over the course of the eight years that he was in office or until he finally gave into his urges.
This isn't a horny post or some shit, but it would be so tight if she did that to get back at Bill Clinton for getting that sloppy toppy in the Oval Office. She should have immediately went public with the news and with all the evidence she could provide. Preferably jizz so she could prove it 100%. Now THAT would be a power move, an epic tale of revenge that spanned decades and ended in nothing but final justice and vindication.
Plus, it probably wouldn't be hard to do. A powerful older woman who's been in politics for so long, Obama probably looked up to her. If she turned up the heat just a bit, she'd have eight years to get Obama to pork her down. Motherfucker was probably so stressed out, I bet he'd give in. And it's not like she's doing something she doesn't wanna do, Obama was pretty fucking charming and God knows the man was probably hung. I think both the left and the right can agree on at LEAST that.
It would have been perfect. Historical. Poetic. And a little hot ngl.

This will be very long get ready.
I am f(21) and during the pandemic I developed this habit of going on Omegle to chat with random strangers. I did this since 2020 up until Omegle shut down. I would put tags related to being a bigger woman, such as bbw, chubby, etc. however one night I decided to just go on with no tags. So in one of the many nights in which I would drink a lot and get stupid drunk and go on Omegle and get purposefully taken advantage of sexually by strange men, I met this one guy who since then I have been utterly OBSESSED with. And I need help forgetting him. He’s this really tall Arab man who is Egyptian. Our first interaction on Omegle was pretty blurry for me and don’t remember much because I was drunk. But I do remember him asking to see my breasts and I did and he came. After that I didn’t really think about him until the next day I get a call from an unknown number. And it was HIM! apparently I gave him my number that night. Then we FaceTimed later that night and I noticed he was calling obviously cuz he was in a very horny mood. Now because i was sober this time, I didn’t really have the confidence so when it came really sexual I hung up and blocked him. I think maybe 2 days later he texted me through his work number. And for some reason this is what had me hooked. Usually when I block people they get the hint. But even though it was so minimal what he did it still felt like to me he went out of his way. And I did find him attractive. He told me to tell him straight up that if I wasn’t interested that he will leave me alone for good. And tbh I became interested so I engaged more with. We became I guess friends with benefits but strictly online cuz he lives 6 hours away from me. We started talking every night then one night he casually mentioned he is ENGAGED. Because I didn’t want to make it seem like a crazy obsessed girl which I am I made it seem like oh okay cool. However I felt guilty, and I felt jealous at the same time. But I had a reality check and this is why I am writing this for advice. It’s gonna be a year in june of me and him talking. At first we used to talk every night. Now he only calls me when he needs to rant about his fiancée or his family back home. It’s like once a week now. And the worst part is that he consumes my thoughts. And I know he doesn’t care about me like that not Even in the slightest. I even gave him 100 bucks when he was on vacation in Egypt because he was running low on money which he never paid back. That was in November we are now in May. He also told me he was going to give me a gift from Egypt never did. Yes I am very stupid for wanting a man that is toxic, a cheater. But I got so use to him and he got so used to me being there every time. I’ve tried blocking him but every time I unblock him cuz I literally have his number memorize. Also, if you couldn’t tell, he’s a narcissist. When I first met him online I was still a virgin then when I lost my virginity I told him about it, and it was a big mistake. He called me all the horrible names and said I wasn’t pure and I was disgusting and that should have lost it to him. Btw he’s 29 years old so there’s a small bit of an age gap but I like older men hence the daddy issues.
How do I stop thinking about him? How do I stop anticipating his calls? How do I stop letting him from dictating my happiness? When he ignores me for a week or 2 weeks or even the whole two months he was in Egypt I begin to be super sad, or irritable. It’s affecting my life. I wish I never met him, how am I so obsess with a guy I have never touched. The only way I can think about solving this issue is by obsessing over someone else preferably someone from the same state.
Please no judgment. Just advice.

This will be very long get ready.
I am f(21) and during the pandemic I developed this habit of going on Omegle to chat with random strangers. I did this since 2020 up until Omegle shut down. I would put tags related to being a bigger woman, such as bbw, chubby, etc. however one night I decided to just go on with no tags. So in one of the many nights in which I would drink a lot and get stupid drunk and go on Omegle and get purposefully taken advantage of sexually by strange men, I met this one guy who since then I have been utterly OBSESSED with. And I need help forgetting him. He’s this really tall Arab man who is Egyptian. Our first interaction on Omegle was pretty blurry for me and don’t remember much because I was drunk. But I do remember him asking to see my breasts and I did and he came. After that I didn’t really think about him until the next day I get a call from an unknown number. And it was HIM! apparently I gave him my number that night. Then we FaceTimed later that night and I noticed he was calling obviously cuz he was in a very horny mood. Now because i was sober this time, I didn’t really have the confidence so when it came really sexual I hung up and blocked him. I think maybe 2 days later he texted me through his work number. And for some reason this is what had me hooked. Usually when I block people they get the hint. But even though it was so minimal what he did it still felt like to me he went out of his way. And I did find him attractive. He told me to tell him straight up that if I wasn’t interested that he will leave me alone for good. And tbh I became interested so I engaged more with. We became I guess friends with benefits but strictly online cuz he lives 6 hours away from me. We started talking every night then one night he casually mentioned he is ENGAGED. Because I didn’t want to make it seem like a crazy obsessed girl which I am I made it seem like oh okay cool. However I felt guilty, and I felt jealous at the same time. But I had a reality check and this is why I am writing this for advice. It’s gonna be a year in june of me and him talking. At first we used to talk every night. Now he only calls me when he needs to rant about his fiancée or his family back home. It’s like once a week now. And the worst part is that he consumes my thoughts. And I know he doesn’t care about me like that not Even in the slightest. I even gave him 100 bucks when he was on vacation in Egypt because he was running low on money which he never paid back. That was in November we are now in May. He also told me he was going to give me a gift from Egypt never did. Yes I am very stupid for wanting a man that is toxic, a cheater. But I got so use to him and he got so used to me being there every time. I’ve tried blocking him but every time I unblock him cuz I literally have his number memorize. Also, if you couldn’t tell, he’s a narcissist. When I first met him online I was still a virgin then when I lost my virginity I told him about it, and it was a big mistake. He called me all the horrible names and said I wasn’t pure and I was disgusting and that should have lost it to him. Btw he’s 29 years old so there’s a small bit of an age gap but I like older men hence the daddy issues.
How do I stop thinking about him? How do I stop anticipating his calls? How do I stop letting him from dictating my happiness? When he ignores me for a week or 2 weeks or even the whole two months he was in Egypt I begin to be super sad, or irritable. It’s affecting my life. I wish I never met him, how am I so obsess with a guy I have never touched. The only way I can think about solving this issue is by obsessing over someone else preferably someone from the same state.
Please no judgment. Just advice.

This will be very long get ready.
I am f(21) and during the pandemic I developed this habit of going on Omegle to chat with random strangers. I did this since 2020 up until Omegle shut down. I would put tags related to being a bigger woman, such as bbw, chubby, etc. however one night I decided to just go on with no tags. So in one of the many nights in which I would drink a lot and get stupid drunk and go on Omegle and get purposefully taken advantage of sexually by strange men, I met this one guy who since then I have been utterly OBSESSED with. And I need help forgetting him. He’s this really tall Arab man who is Egyptian. Our first interaction on Omegle was pretty blurry for me and don’t remember much because I was drunk. But I do remember him asking to see my breasts and I did and he came. After that I didn’t really think about him until the next day I get a call from an unknown number. And it was HIM! apparently I gave him my number that night. Then we FaceTimed later that night and I noticed he was calling obviously cuz he was in a very horny mood. Now because i was sober this time, I didn’t really have the confidence so when it came really sexual I hung up and blocked him. I think maybe 2 days later he texted me through his work number. And for some reason this is what had me hooked. Usually when I block people they get the hint. But even though it was so minimal what he did it still felt like to me he went out of his way. And I did find him attractive. He told me to tell him straight up that if I wasn’t interested that he will leave me alone for good. And tbh I became interested so I engaged more with. We became I guess friends with benefits but strictly online cuz he lives 6 hours away from me. We started talking every night then one night he casually mentioned he is ENGAGED. Because I didn’t want to make it seem like a crazy obsessed girl which I am I made it seem like oh okay cool. However I felt guilty, and I felt jealous at the same time. But I had a reality check and this is why I am writing this for advice. It’s gonna be a year in june of me and him talking. At first we used to talk every night. Now he only calls me when he needs to rant about his fiancée or his family back home. It’s like once a week now. And the worst part is that he consumes my thoughts. And I know he doesn’t care about me like that not Even in the slightest. I even gave him 100 bucks when he was on vacation in Egypt because he was running low on money which he never paid back. That was in November we are now in May. He also told me he was going to give me a gift from Egypt never did. Yes I am very stupid for wanting a man that is toxic, a cheater. But I got so use to him and he got so used to me being there every time. I’ve tried blocking him but every time I unblock him cuz I literally have his number memorize. Also, if you couldn’t tell, he’s a narcissist. When I first met him online I was still a virgin then when I lost my virginity I told him about it, and it was a big mistake. He called me all the horrible names and said I wasn’t pure and I was disgusting and that should have lost it to him. Btw he’s 29 years old so there’s a small bit of an age gap but I like older men hence the daddy issues.
How do I stop thinking about him? How do I stop anticipating his calls? How do I stop letting him from dictating my happiness? When he ignores me for a week or 2 weeks or even the whole two months he was in Egypt I begin to be super sad, or irritable. It’s affecting my life. I wish I never met him, how am I so obsess with a guy I have never touched. The only way I can think about solving this issue is by obsessing over someone else preferably someone from the same state.
Please no judgment. Just advice.

Hey random reddit strangers! I need some advice. So i have 2 siblings and all my life ive been the outcast. I was constantly bullied at school & at home. Through the years, i gained low self esteem. I always felt like my mom didn’t love me the way she loved my siblings. Most of my life i spent my time at my grandparents (dads). I started to know my mom more at 14. Anyway.. Around November of 2023 things started to change within my family. Me and my siblings would constantly fight & my mother would pick the side of the child who she sees as her favorite in the moment. One time my pregnant sister & I both got into an physical altercation where she hit me (i didn’t hit back) that caused me to get probation. The police noticed that my mom played both sides and wanted to charge her but since she’s a CNA, i took the fall. Fast forward to December me and my mom would constantly fight whenever i didn’t give her money for her habits. My mother takes hydrocodones & percs. I never judged her because she has been through alot but its the things she says when she doesn’t get her way. She threatened to kick me out, told me she hated me & more evil things. As her addiction got worse, she came up with a total lie on her wanting to move cities and start over. She had no game plan nor money. My mom, me & my sister went and stayed with a random guy she dated years ago, she’s also married. My mother promised when my stepdad got paid from the military we would be in our new home. Once he got paid, my mother left with all her belongings. She wasn’t keeping in contact. It was just me and my sister there with this man we barely knew. Luckily he wasn’t weird, he was actually nice. He allowed us to stay for another week or so. During that week me and my sister tried contacting our mother and she would constantly say that we needed to find somewhere else to go. My little sister ended up going to my aunts but i couldn’t go because it was a full house there & my sister goes to school so it made sense. The only thing i had left were my grandparents. They came and got me in January & ive been ever since. Mind you i called my mother and begged her to let me stay with her, i even told her i would sleep in the car with her or whatever and i’ll give her money. I cried because i reached rock bottom. The only thing she could say is “figure it out” and at the time i was 17. We hung up and i didn’t talk to her much after that. Me living with my grandparents, i had to learn being alone without my siblings, i was heavily depressed & started taking adderall to put my focus on other things. My grandparents are older so they go to bed early & we had nothing in common. I love them tho. My mom called me and told me she was coming back for me. The only time i received calls from my mother was unless she was high. She’s very euphoric & happy. I knew she was high but i held out hope. Again weeks went by and she never came. Me and my siblings weren’t close anymore either. Mind you my siblings & my mom were together at my aunts while i stayed by myself. No texts, calls or anything. I distanced myself. I even seen them in the grocery store and we all pretended like each other didn’t exist. Me and my siblings were good but i felt like i was so angry that i couldn’t take it so i cursed them both out and blocked them. Months go by and last month i receive a call from my mom telling me she misses me & obviously she’s high but i talk to her. I cried because it was the first time i spoke with her in months. The next day me and my sister talks and she invited me to my nephew 6 month party.. i go and reunite with them and seen my whole family. My mother doesn’t have a place yet so she let me stay with her in the hotel room. We talked all night and i was happy. I started visiting my sister because she just got her own place but i noticed alot. Whenever i came around them, i wasn’t happy and i just wanted to be alone. They were trying to get to know me again but it just wont be the same. Even after my feelings i tried to come around but i just kept feeling like its not worth it and i’ve outgrown my family. As of today my sister asked me for 42$ for my nephew and i was considering it but she came at me disrespectful so i decided not to and my mom called me selfish. She said i was taking it out on my nephew. Which i wasn’t. All my life ive helped and received nothing. my sister got her taxes and wouldn’t even let me borrow 40$ now that she’s broke, she asking me for it. Mind you she had it. My mom tried to the big manipulation tactic on how i should for my nephew but i don’t think its my responsibility. We were planning on hanging out for my bday thursday but once i said no, i don’t think its going to happen. It hurts me know that if i say no, they don’t wanna be around me. I spent years saying yes & it caused me to drag myself to depression so adderall came handy. I was diagnosed with depression aswell. While they were having fun without me, i was all alone drowning in sadness. I only had God and my grandparents. I understand they want to move on but i feel like its something in me that just cant. The way they all act like nothing happened while i sat here daily wondering why they wouldn’t reach out. Its something in me everytime im around them that makes me wanna leave. I no longer feel apart of the family. They never call unless its a favor. We haven’t even been cool no longer than a month btw. The more i say no, i notice im worth nothing. My birthday is coming this week so i was going to keep my mouth closed so i could have my family gather with me and celebrate but i couldn’t hold my tongue. i texted my sister and let her know that they were draining me. She responded saying they were planning my bday and that she’s done with me. I’m sad because this year all I wanted was for my family to come together and celebrate me. Now the only thing I have is myself and Grandparents for my birthday. which is fine but being alone on your birthday is the worst. I’ve always cried every birthday. I didn’t wanna cry this year. I plan on leaving to the military, so I wanted to spend time with them, but things just don’t go all the time I guess. Anyway sorry for the long story. I just needed to vent if you read this thank you. please give me some advice I want to know is it me or is it them? Should i just move on with my life? If so how do i navigate cutting my family off?

I am not The OOP, OOP is u/Mediocre_Bluejay_555
AITAH for initiating a divorce while my wife is in the hospital after a car accident.
Originally posted to AITAH
TRIGGER WARNING: child endangerment, body injuries, car accidents
AITAH for telling my wife I don't give a damn how she drives when it's just her and her kids in the car but if me or our kids are in it she must be safe March 25, 2024
My wife had two kids before we got married and the have an actively involved father. We have had two children of our own.
My wife is a terrible driver but she refuses to acknowledge this. She has been in multiple accidents and even had her license suspended. Not for a DUI or anything. Just because she is a shitty driver. She will do stuff like reach into the back seat to deal with a kid rather than either pull over or let me or one of the older kids deal with it.
She got t-boned in August last year because she took her foot off the brake at a red light to pick up my son's soother that had fallen out. She didn't put the car in park. Thankfully only she was injured. All four kids were in the car.
I have had it. I told her that she is welcome to endanger herself and her kids. But that if I am in the car or if our children are in the car she will keep her eyes on the road and her hands on the steering wheel.
She is finally at the point in her rehab where she can drive again. I reminded her of what I said. I told her that I loved her. I said that her older kids were important to me and that I loved them too. But I told her that if she ever decided to do stupid shit while driving our relationship would be over and I would make it part of our divorce that she NOT be allowed to drive with my kids in the car.
She started crying and said she didn't do it on purpose. I asked her how exactly she took her hands off the wheel, took off her seatbelt, took her foot off the brake, and turned around to pick up the soother by accident. She said that I'm treating her like an idiot. I don't think I am. My children have to be safe.
Before you ask I try and do as much of the driving as I possibly can. I have stopped drinking when we go out. I traded in my car that I loved for an SUV so there is room for all of us. I offered to pay for Uber so she didn't have to drive if I wasn't available. She actually likes driving.
Her ex and her parents are on my side. He also told her that if she ever thinks about endangering his kids and he would either go for full custody or ask that she be barred from driving with his kids in the car. Her parents have threatened to stop helping her pay her stupid high insurance premiums.
She thinks we are being unfair because she loves her kids and would never intentionally harm them. She just loses concentration when one of the kids needs something and doesn't think to ask for help.
RELEVANT COMMENTS
Commenter

The part I’m hung up on is “you don’t care how she drives with her kids or if she’s alone”. If you care about her, you should. This part is alienating.
The topic itself; NTA. How you’re approaching it sounds like YTA.
Edit: I’m not defending her feelings. I’m saying all kids should be protected.

OOP

You have no idea how many times I have begged her to drive safely. But I agree that I should have been nicer.

~
I3ex_G

Yta, she’s already shown you she’s a horrible driver, why do you keep giving her changes. Tell her she doesn’t drive with any kids anymore. Her whole excuse of “I didn’t do it on purpose” she can say at the eulogy of your dead kid. Why are you guys giving her more chances? She can kill herself if she wants but ALL kids shouldn’t be in a car when she is behind the wheel. Any kids need a driver and you/ex are busy, than it’s an Uber. No excuse and no more chances

OOP

That's where we are at now. Our older kids have told her straight up that they will get out of the car or call the cops if she can't be safe.

~
Commenter

It’s the “when it’s just her and her kids” but not “me and my kids” you’re a family and this distinction alone makes you an asshole regardless of how horrible she is at driving.
If it’s that bad, you drive. And love your spouse’s kids as your own, otherwise what’s the fucking point of being a family? You remind me of my step mother because this is how she feels about me, and even after 20 years it still hurts.

OOP

Time number five. I contacted her ex husband to deal with her regarding their kids from the hospital on the day of the accident. I made sure his kids as well as mine were okay and I told him that I was basically forbidding her from driving my kids around but obviously I could not do that for his. He was at the hospital within half an hour. He agreed with me.

AITAH for initiating a divorce while my wife is in the hospital after a car accident. May 14, 2024
My wife was involved in a single vehicle accident. She was seriously injured but thank goodness no one else was in the car with her.
I have spoke to her about her driving habits and I warned her. I went to see her in the hospital and then I went to a lawyer. I am also going for full custody with only supervised visitation for her.
I am sick to death of her driving habits and I will not wait for her to injure or kill one of our kids with her bullshit.
I feel bad for doing this while she is in the hospital and facing charges. But I can't take any more chances on her.
RELEVANT COMMENTS
soycrockpot

Can you tell us more about her driving habits? Her age? Her health? Is she driving drunk? Is it something that can be worked on/is she willing to change? 100000% the kids safety comes first PERIOD. But are you ready to end a marriage without exhausting all possible options? Or maybe you have and those details aren't in your post? Forgive all my questions haha, just truly curious as to more details on the situation.
Regardless, I would document all the instances/dates of her reckless driving to have that info ready and keep the kids from riding with her at all costs.
Do other people in her life see this issue? Have other people tried to talk to her about it?? Ok that's all my questions for now. 😂

OOP

She has been in several serious accidents from getting distracted while driving. She was still doing rehab from her last accident when this one happened.

~
emjkr

NTA I remember your last post. Protect yourself and your kids.

OOP

I can't believe it happened this quickly. I'm just glad none of the kids were with her.

emjkr

I definitely understand that! Has she said anything about the new accident? Realised that she got a problem? If I remember right she was very upset about you stating that she should not drive with the kids in the car anymore.

OOP

She left some paperwork in the back seat. So she parked. Then she went to grab it. Unfortunately she left the car in gear and stepped on the gas and drove into a canal by the mall. I'm just done.

THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT THE OOP
DO NOT CONTACT THE OOP's OR COMMENT ON LINKED POSTS, REMEMBER - RULE 7