Seven letters tabs too sorry for apologies

So I was around seven when this happened and I was over at my dads. Mind you, im 13 now, and know the full meaning of the word. A little bit of a background check, just so you get the jist! My mom and my dad divorced in 2016, so my dad moved in with my grandmother. He eventually found he liked his crushed since 7th grade, my step-mom. Let's call her...step-mom. I also have some step-sibling. My brother, and older sister. We'll call them brother and older sister. One time we went camping. At this time my older sister had maybe just turned 8 and I was still 7. Brother was around 5 maybe. I was sitting in a dicks sporting goods chair, this will come in handy later, so remember it, and I was looking out at the pond that was near our camping site. I saw the dicks sporting goods logo, turned around, and told brother "Oh brother, your a dick." Je started rolling on the ground with laughter, or tears. It would be bad if he was crying cause he knew what it meant, but it would be even worse if he was laughing and knew what it meant. My dad came over, picked me up, and started carrying me over to the tent saying that I shouldn't have said that. Step-mom shot me a mean glare and said, very baitum, "You really shouldn't have said that." I pleaded and cried saying I didn't know what it meant. And I didn't. I was 7. "Yeah, sure you don't. Your a guy and you don't know what that means? Pft..." and then kept looking at me with this wildly mean face. My dad put me in the tent and left me there for a minute.
A few minutes later.
My dad came over and asked "Do you really not know what that word means?" I kept on shaking my head, trying to prove I didn't. AND I DIDNT! I AM WAS 7! My dad told me what dick meant, and I immediately ran from the tent without my dads permission, darted passed him whilst he yelling at me to get back there, and I hug my brother and say, "I'm sorry, I didn't know what it meant." He said I was okay. I walked back to my dad and step-mom talking. Step-mom said I should be put in the tent for the rest of the day, and that I was lying when I said I didn't know. I butted in and said "Uh, know I do. So thusfore your argument is invalid." I quote for quote said that. My dad looks down in astonishment and asks me how old I was. I told him I was 7. He says to step-mom, "I don't think he needs to spend anymore time there." I apologized to step-mom for being a jerk to her, but she huffed...puffed...then stomped away. So what, am I the jerk, for being 7 and not knowing what a word was?

Throwaway here
Up until a few days ago I (39m) was dating/just establishing a relationship with a single mother (41f). We have been seeing each other for just over 2 months. Not a long time I know but the ease in which we connected really felt very unique and different than past relationships. A fact she acknowledged more than once. We share similar perspectives, find enjoyment in many of the same things, equally dorky and awkward. We really felt in sync.
I know the intensity of feelings I felt towards her were disproportionate, in a typical sense, to the amount of time we spent/knew each other. When speaking with friends I even said it was stupid I felt this strength of connection so quickly. I know it's easy to think I was naive or seeing things that weren't there, but I am confident that's not the case. There were real reciprocation of feelings and intensity in moments that we both identified. I think I communicate well, I am clear, and understanding, and a good listener. She really appreciated this quality and as such was very open and clear about her feelings towards me as well. Saying things like how she's never dated someone like me (I've been through some shit, did therapy, became pretty emotionally intelligent and self-reflective as a result), telling me how appreciative she is for me, gave me a card stating this on the day she started to pull back actually, how my touch gives her tingles. Straight up telling me a week before how she really likes me.
Yes we were intimate a few times. Intense and mutually satisfying, had improtu spicy chats during the day including the day before we last saw each other. On top of her words and discussions there were actions that also spoke to her really being serious about the connection we were developing. She happens to live right next to her parents and her sisters family. Now she could have kept me separate from all that, but she didn't. I met her sister pretty early on when having a date night at her house. Then a week later she invites me to her sister's house for a little BBQ, was an excellent night. And I ended up meeting her parents too. Not by happenstance either, but rather here come inside my parents house and say hello. And she was having conversations with her son about me and trying to get him comfortable with the idea of meeting me. I even helped her move appliances with her and her dad 3 days before the pull back and 1 week before she ended it. I even installed the washer and dryer for her, then encouraged her to go to an event for her son right after I got done, without me. I didn't do it for any other reason than I really liked her and acts of service are one of the ways I show how I care and it made me feel good to do it, to be there for her. This all has a certain connotation or level of seriousness in a relationship all in its own.
My emotions fed off of her words and actions, maybe my openness and honesty felt like a bit much at times, like I was oversharing. But it was honest and reciprocated every time. There were palpable moments of electricity between us.
Then came the pull back...she is a nurse who works 12 hour shifts and has shared custody of her son. I work a typical m-f schedule. So as we are building this whatever it was, spending time together was a challenge sometimes. I completely respect her keeping me separate from her son until the time was right, never pushed, always accepted that her role as a mother comes first.
So she asks me if I want to do dinner at my house for this past Tuesday. Tuesday is my golf night, but I made an effort to go to work early, leave early, get my match done early so we can have a nice evening. I even took the morning off in case we were up late, so we could maybe wake up next to each other and enjoy sometime together in the morning. She was really excited about this, or rather implied that she was. Even had the spicy talk the day before.
Then she arrives and I can tell something is off. Shes not as receptive to my touch, dynamic is off. After dinner we sit on the couch and she breaks down in tears. She's feeling like we are moving fast, she feels like our texting is taking away from time with her son, wants to dial it back. She has her son for a 5 day stint starting the next day, doesn't want to feel tethered to her phone, wants to feel present. Okay, I get it, respect it, no problem at all. She then tells me about how her divorce went down, kind of wild and not exactly how she made it seem at first. She definitely still is working through that stuff and the ex dynamic is poor and I think he bullies her and knows her buttons. I straight up told her that if I was her partner I would be there and defend her and not let his bullshit slide (maturely, I'm 40 and don't need to be physical). She did say a few times that she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop with us because of her past relationship trauma. But guys, I have no other shoe. I'm a god damn gentleman doing his best to operate in a time when women are more independent, and I support it and respect it.
I send her an email the following day apologizing if I came in to strong, I believe in what we are building, I respect boundaries and her and all her terrific attributes. She responds by saying it was beautiful and she looks forward to moving forward with me. I also suggest phone calls or Video chats in lieu of texting moving forward. And I assured her I didn't need to be in contact 24/7 and that I like my independence as well.
Over the next couple days I let her lead the conversation. If she texted I responded. Typically it wasn't immediately but within 15 minutes unless I myself was busy. I wouldn't try and engage in long discussions. Just little check ins it seemed like. Then her text style changed again, less frequent, no emoji, no real engagement from her in to my activities. I felt it coming.
She was ill over these past few days with bronchitis and was having her period, she felt cruddy and I felt bad I couldn't be there for her like I wanted to. I would ask how she was doing, if she needed anything. Her response was that I was sweet but she could manage. But she began to not ask me about what I was up to, or really engage much at all.
Saturday she ends it, says she hasn't really put all her focus on being a mom since her divorce (4 years ago), she made some relationship mistakes post divorce, still healing, really wants to be there for her son (kid sounds amazing btw). But okay, yeah I am bummed but I respect it. What else can I do right? Kid comes first, I get it.
But you know what really bothered me is that when asked about what we were felt for each other, if it was real, she denies we had this special connection and that she thinks she was forcing it....so my long winded question here is... After all that, does that sound like she was forcing it? She said she felt there was an incompatibility but couldn't identify what it was. She's sorry for leading me on, then tells me not to lose her number. Like wtf? I think she is either lying to herself to make herself feel better or there is something else going on. My hypothesis is that our potential scared her, she doesn't want to get big time hurt again and is anxious about it and somebody put the bug in her ear that the feelings she is having is because she is forcing it (she mentioned a comment a coworker made to this extent about it being forced because she wasnt as giddy as she had been, I think she was fearful and this person labeled it as force). I say this because it all doesn't make sense, I am probably wrong, help me make sense of this, please.
Tl;Dr built a wicked connection with a woman, have evidence it wasn't one sided, special connection, met her parents, installed her appliances, got dumped a week later and was told it wasn't real but forced.

Throwaway here
Up until a few days ago I (39m) was dating/just establishing a relationship with a single mother (41f). We have been seeing each other for just over 2 months. Not a long time I know but the ease in which we connected really felt very unique and different than past relationships. A fact she acknowledged more than once. We share similar perspectives, find enjoyment in many of the same things, equally dorky and awkward. We really felt in sync.
I know the intensity of feelings I felt towards her were disproportionate, in a typical sense, to the amount of time we spent/knew each other. When speaking with friends I even said it was stupid I felt this strength of connection so quickly. I know it's easy to think I was naive or seeing things that weren't there, but I am confident that's not the case. There were real reciprocation of feelings and intensity in moments that we both identified. I think I communicate well, I am clear, and understanding, and a good listener. She really appreciated this quality and as such was very open and clear about her feelings towards me as well. Saying things like how she's never dated someone like me (I've been through some shit, did therapy, became pretty emotionally intelligent and self-reflective as a result), telling me how appreciative she is for me, gave me a card stating this on the day she started to pull back actually, how my touch gives her tingles. Straight up telling me a week before how she really likes me.
Yes we were intimate a few times. Intense and mutually satisfying, had improtu spicy chats during the day including the day before we last saw each other. On top of her words and discussions there were actions that also spoke to her really being serious about the connection we were developing. She happens to live right next to her parents and her sisters family. Now she could have kept me separate from all that, but she didn't. I met her sister pretty early on when having a date night at her house. Then a week later she invites me to her sister's house for a little BBQ, was an excellent night. And I ended up meeting her parents too. Not by happenstance either, but rather here come inside my parents house and say hello. And she was having conversations with her son about me and trying to get him comfortable with the idea of meeting me. I even helped her move appliances with her and her dad 3 days before the pull back and 1 week before she ended it. I even installed the washer and dryer for her, then encouraged her to go to an event for her son right after I got done, without me. I didn't do it for any other reason than I really liked her and acts of service are one of the ways I show how I care and it made me feel good to do it, to be there for her. This all has a certain connotation or level of seriousness in a relationship all in its own.
My emotions fed off of her words and actions, maybe my openness and honesty felt like a bit much at times, like I was oversharing. But it was honest and reciprocated every time. There were palpable moments of electricity between us.
Then came the pull back...she is a nurse who works 12 hour shifts and has shared custody of her son. I work a typical m-f schedule. So as we are building this whatever it was, spending time together was a challenge sometimes. I completely respect her keeping me separate from her son until the time was right, never pushed, always accepted that her role as a mother comes first.
So she asks me if I want to do dinner at my house for this past Tuesday. Tuesday is my golf night, but I made an effort to go to work early, leave early, get my match done early so we can have a nice evening. I even took the morning off in case we were up late, so we could maybe wake up next to each other and enjoy sometime together in the morning. She was really excited about this, or rather implied that she was. Even had the spicy talk the day before.
Then she arrives and I can tell something is off. Shes not as receptive to my touch, dynamic is off. After dinner we sit on the couch and she breaks down in tears. She's feeling like we are moving fast, she feels like our texting is taking away from time with her son, wants to dial it back. She has her son for a 5 day stint starting the next day, doesn't want to feel tethered to her phone, wants to feel present. Okay, I get it, respect it, no problem at all. She then tells me about how her divorce went down, kind of wild and not exactly how she made it seem at first. She definitely still is working through that stuff and the ex dynamic is poor and I think he bullies her and knows her buttons. I straight up told her that if I was her partner I would be there and defend her and not let his bullshit slide (maturely, I'm 40 and don't need to be physical). She did say a few times that she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop with us because of her past relationship trauma. But guys, I have no other shoe. I'm a god damn gentleman doing his best to operate in a time when women are more independent, and I support it and respect it.
I send her an email the following day apologizing if I came in to strong, I believe in what we are building, I respect boundaries and her and all her terrific attributes. She responds by saying it was beautiful and she looks forward to moving forward with me. I also suggest phone calls or Video chats in lieu of texting moving forward. And I assured her I didn't need to be in contact 24/7 and that I like my independence as well.
Over the next couple days I let her lead the conversation. If she texted I responded. Typically it wasn't immediately but within 15 minutes unless I myself was busy. I wouldn't try and engage in long discussions. Just little check ins it seemed like. Then her text style changed again, less frequent, no emoji, no real engagement from her in to my activities. I felt it coming.
She was ill over these past few days with bronchitis and was having her period, she felt cruddy and I felt bad I couldn't be there for her like I wanted to. I would ask how she was doing, if she needed anything. Her response was that I was sweet but she could manage. But she began to not ask me about what I was up to, or really engage much at all.
Saturday she ends it, says she hasn't really put all her focus on being a mom since her divorce (4 years ago), she made some relationship mistakes post divorce, still healing, really wants to be there for her son (kid sounds amazing btw). But okay, yeah I am bummed but I respect it. What else can I do right? Kid comes first, I get it.
But you know what really bothered me is that when asked about what we were felt for each other, if it was real, she denies we had this special connection and that she thinks she was forcing it....so my long winded question here is... After all that, does that sound like she was forcing it? She said she felt there was an incompatibility but couldn't identify what it was. She's sorry for leading me on, then tells me not to lose her number. Like wtf? I think she is either lying to herself to make herself feel better or there is something else going on. My hypothesis is that our potential scared her, she doesn't want to get big time hurt again and is anxious about it and somebody put the bug in her ear that the feelings she is having is because she is forcing it (she mentioned a comment a coworker made to this extent about it being forced because she wasnt as giddy as she had been, I think she was fearful and this person labeled it as force). I say this because it all doesn't make sense, I am probably wrong, help me make sense of this, please.
Tl;Dr built a wicked connection with a woman, have evidence it wasn't one sided, special connection, met her parents, installed her appliances, got dumped a week later and was told it wasn't real but forced.

I contemplated writing this all day but decided it might be helpful to someone else if I shared my bittersweet EDC 2024 experience.
This year was my second year at EDC, and despite a few negative experiences sprinkled throughout, I honestly had the time of my life.
Saturday, while I was sitting on the turf mound at Basspod VIP, I was assaulted. A guy, we’ll call him Mo, had come up to where me, my wife, and my wife’s friend were sitting and started talking to my wife. They chatted briefly. Then, my wife returned to dancing, and Mo turned around talking to someone else.
A few minutes later, Mo tapped me on the shoulder and said, “You and your wife look so good together.” I replied, “Aww, thank you so much,” and returned to resume my head banging. Not even five minutes later, as I was zoned out, feeling the music and vibes, I felt something brushing against my back. It was Mo.
Now, I know it’s nearly impossible not to brush up against other people, so I try to be super tolerant and understand that most people aren’t trying to be creeps; it’s just close quarters.
But no sooner than I had moved forward a bit, I felt someone’s hand underneath my vest pouch fondling and massaging my breast. Initially, when I looked back, I was confused, but I realized that Mo was lying on his back and had reached his hand under my vest.
When I turned around like, “Wtf are you doing?” He threw his hands up and just started apologizing profusely. I tried to tell him to gtfoh and go someplace else because I didn’t feel comfortable with him behind me, but he just kept saying, “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.”
I don't know if my wife’s friend, sitting on my right, saw what happened, but I know she saw me fussing at this guy, trying to tell him to gtfoh. She didn’t say or do anything. Then, I told my wife, who had been talking with another couple, what happened, and that I had tried to ask him to go somewhere else because I didn’t feel comfortable with him behind me but that he just stayed there apologizing over and over. She asked if I wanted to switch seats with her or if I wanted her to do anything, and I just said no.
The boy was clearly faded; he had mentioned this to my wife, and I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s experience, so I just turned around and tried to shake it off. I knew this wasn’t the end, and I was ready.
Again, not even five minutes had passed, and I felt a hand grip my right shoulder. I hear Mo start saying, “I’m so sorry, I…” but before he could finish, I turned around and punched him with probably the best right hook of my life. Or maybe it just felt that way because of how good it felt watching his body reel backward and seeing the anger rise in his face as the realization that he just got socked by a 5’4” 130 lb female set in.
As soon as I punched him, his friends came rushing in, pulling him back like, “Hey, chill! Our friend is just really fucked up right now,” blah blah blah. My wife turned to see the commotion and was like, “Aye, the next time your friend puts his hands on my wife, he’s getting beat tf up.”In response, one of the friends said, “This is my wife right here, so I understand,” trying to tell us we needed to calm down. My wife told them basically, “No, y’all need to get your friend because my wife was just about to cry when your friend was groping her breasts. Do you want to put your wife between him and my wife then?”
Maybe they only saw him grab my shoulder and me socking him, but no matter how I try to justify it, there are so many things wrong with everything that happened. First, if I ever see a woman straight up punch a man TWICE her size, I’m immediately going to ask her wtf happened and if she is ok.
Second, this experience has taught me a lot. It’s been painful, mainly because it still boggles my mind that sexual assault is so quickly brushed off. I’m not expecting anyone to lay hands on someone for me, but a little solidarity would have gone a long way in that situation.
I’m annoyed it didn’t become a scene until I punched him. No one wanted to get up and stand up to this man after he sexually assaulted me in front of hundreds of people—but throw a punch and, wow, the outrage.
None of the friends asked me if I was okay or tried to take him far away from me. I understand my wife and her friend not stepping in too much in the beginning; it is a man who is bigger and likely stronger, and women are often afraid that worse will happen if they make a scene, but still. If we all stood up to him and forced him to leave after assaulting me, it would have felt a hell of a lot better than having to wait to be touched again so that I could physically handle it myself.
With that, my only request is that my fellow rave-goers, please don’t be a bystander or an enabling friend. If you see something, say something. Every conflict doesn’t have to be resolved by violence. Myself and even five other people standing up to Mo saying hey you need to leave or there’s gonna be a scene, would have likely been enough to pressure him to find somewhere else to be a creep. Instead, I had to sit with this man less than a foot behind me who had just fondled and groped my breast and waited for him to strike again to defend myself. Even after I hit him, he and his friends just stayed. Please be the friend that understands when shit has gone too far, and get your friend somewhere different if they are being a nuisance.
It’s a hollowing experience. After I punched him, though, I felt 10000000 times better. I’m saddened that that’s what it had to come to, but the actions of everyone around me indicated that handling it myself was the only option. Maybe everyone around was too fucked up to register what was happening; perhaps they thought it would be better if they minded their own business, I don’t know.
The best part, though, was that afterward, a guy with a bag of wooden fucks gave me one. He said I had zero fucks when I punched that guy, so here’s a fuck. That was genuinely the highlight of my weekend, and if anyone knows this zero fucks given guy, send him my appreciation.
Despite this interaction, I had the most incredible time for the remainder of my weekend. For this one jackass, hundreds of people were kind to me in small ways throughout the weekend. Shout out to all my Basshead headbangers and our new friends from New Mexico, Steve-O, and Alexis, who were ready to find Mo for a little ‘chat’ after we told them what happened later that day. Although we didn’t take them up on the offer, that’s the kind of showing up that I appreciate. I can’t wait to see you all underneath the electric sky again next year.
TLDR: I was groped by a stranger, no one batted an eye, then I punched him, and suddenly, I need to chill. Please don’t be a bystander. See something, say something.

Hey baby girl,
I miss you so much and I’m so sorry that the last time we seen each other it hurt your feelings I want you to remember me. For the last 10 years, you have been my favorite person in the world. I have enjoyed so much time with you. Thank you for caring about me so much. You’re the reason that I stayed out of so much trouble over the years so you can be extremely proud of that. You changed my entire life for the better over the years so you can be extremely proud of that. You deserve so much happiness and I know you are going to be an amazing person for the rest of your life. Don’t let anyone change that you are so brave. I’m so proud of you. You are so strong and you have overcome so much. I sent a text to your mom today and I told her to tell her boyfriend thank you for being so good to you. He seems like a really good man and I pray that your mom marries him so you have a good father in your life. I know you’ve dealt with so much heartbreak and so much hurt already in your life but baby you’re gonna be fine. Please keep being the person that you are because you’ve always been so kind and caring you’ve always thought about everyone else first my heart has shattered during our last couple conversations because I know you see how much pain I’m in and I never wanted to show you this side of me. You have been my everything. Hey don’t forget you have family in Texas too. They still love you. I know your Texas mom still loves you very much. She was really good to you and I’m so grateful for the time that we all got to spend as a family. Those were some of my most cherished moments in life.. I just want you to know this is my decision and I know it’s selfish and I’ve tried to help but nothing works anymore. Grow up and be much better than I ever was remember baby it’s OK to fail. It’s not OK to give up. When my marriage failed, I didn’t give up I put in the work I needed to, but unfortunately, it was too late and things kind of got out of hand from there for me. You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray…. I’ve got a 45 minute long recording of us from when you were seven. And I’ve listened to it once and cried the entire time.. That was probably my favorite conversation that we ever had. That was the dad I wanted to be for you. And I’m so sorry that I diminished into the person that I am now. I’m just so lost and every day is getting worse. If you have any questions about me then ask your Texas mom she knew me better than anyone. She also has a special box for you make sure you get that box from her. Go live out all of your dreams no matter what people tell you. When they tell you, you can’t do something prove them wrong. Use it as a learning lesson to get better try again sometimes in life there will be things where you fail and you don’t have another opportunity and that’s OK. Just be the best version of yourself and I know you will be unstoppable.
Daddy loves you from the day you were born to the end of eternity

It was my cousin sister's wedding and we are Indians, so if you are Indian or know Indian friends/weddings, you know the drill - the daysss long wedding events, the heavy dresses and jewelry, and also, some serious family dramas.
My cousin and I are very close even if there is a huge age gap between us. Naturally, when her wedding came around I was very excited and I helped a lot with the planning and decoration and the food - literally everything. It was exactly as we have imagined her wedding to be like. Just perfect in every way possible. But again, it's a wedding. How is a wedding ever complete with a Drama Llama? So dear potato community, here is the tea.
The man that my cousin was marrying to, my current BIL, is an amazing man who has been with my cousin since their college days. They were friends in their college days and when they started working they joined the same company so they remained close to each other. Friendship turned into love and they decided to date and eventually get married. Both the families were informed and everyone was very happy with their decisions, except just one person. BIL's sister. She didn't have any personal problems with my cousin, her only issue was that her best friend liked my BIL, let's name this friend the 'idiot' (because she truly is an idiot and this is honestly the nicest word I can use for her).
When idiot found out that BIL loved someone else and is getting married, she went ballistic. She has been trying to get his attention for so many years and he didn't even turn towards her even for one day and he was being head over heels for my cousin. I understand her being upset, I have been a girl in love and in heartbreak too, but I wouldn't try to break someone's marriage because of my heartbreak.
Yes she tried to stop their marriage via BIL's sister. The two forged all types of absurd accusations on my cousin and tried to anonymously sneak in the accusations in means of messages from unknown numbers to my cousin's then future FIL and MIL, to emails and even letters delivered to their doorstep. My cousin was really stressed because she thought the FIL and MIL would think the accusations are true and would stop the wedding. I told her, "don't worry sisso, I am here." (add dramatic music here and imagine a cape on my back).
My cousin's father (my maternal uncle), me and my brother first went to the FIL and MIL to let them know that all of this was false and that my cousin is innocent. We asked them for some time and that we will find proof of who has been sending them those false news and will let them know of everything and then they are free to judge and make decisions from their side. We got the permission from them and decided to get to work immediately.
One thing I forgot to mention was that BIL used to live in his own house in a different state from where his parents lived after he got a job. Before this, my cousin and BIL used to live in one town and went to college together. Once they got their jobs, they both came to my city, BIL got his own house and my cousin came to live with me. His family came to live with him when he told them that he wanted to marry so they came help him with the wedding arrangements. What's unfortunate is that the sister also brought her best friend, the 'idiot', who was in love with my BIL since she was 15 and BIL was 17.
I mentioned BIL having his own separate house in a new town because it was important to mention. Both his sister and the idiot didn't know he installed security cameras in his house and that the camera was pretty well hidden so they couldn't have noticed either. We asked BIL if we can see the camera's recordings and we saw someone early in the morning at 4 am dropping a letter. Guess who it was... THE IDIOT!! We showed it to my cousin's FIL and MIL and they cross questioned the idiot about it and she was in tears and admitted to everything. She and BIL's sister apologized for everything. They were forgiven and it was a happily ever after... or so you thought...
Everything after that was pretty peaceful, all the arrangements were made and we are now at the wedding day. My cousin was really jumpy and on her toes at all times, she was panicking so bad about everything. My brother and I had to sit her down and talk her out of her panic. She however mentioned that she was scared that idiot might try to pull up some sick stunt to ruin her wedding day. I however told to her calm down cause I wouldn't let my precious angel's wedding get ruined. I have seen enough Charlotte's videos to know that we must always have a backup plan prepared in advance in situations like this. And so I did. I collected a lot of information and evidences and kept them in place in case they come in handy.
I had my suspicions that they would do something to mess up the wedding way before it even became a thought in my cousin's mind, so I did a little research about the two. Since we all belong from the same hometown, I got in contact with my friends who still lived in the town that my cousin and my BIL used to live in. I asked around about these two baboons and found out that BIL's sister had a boyfriend and has even slept with him. Premarital smex is a big no no here. As for the idiot, I found out that she was slowly getting BIL's sister into illegal substances and into becoming a call girl. Again, a big no no. And I think no parent in this world would want their child to do something that would end up in trouble for them and the child as well. I knew my cousin's FIL and MIL would be worried about their daughter and take actions immediately if I let them know of this. I would have told them this after the wedding was over anyway, but that would have been in private so no one else would know, but I guess the girls wanted something else.
Once the wedding ceremony started and the guests were all there, they were enjoying, everyone was having fun and giving their blessings to the new husband and wife to be. These two pain in the asses were going around and gossiping about my cousin to everyone. We noticed that, and we came up with a quick solution. I asked two of my male friends, who is very attractive to go and talk to the girls. However I told them to switch on their recorder and be with them no matter what. God bless my two friends, they did exactly what I told them without thinking twice. They came to me after an hour or so and told me what was going on.
The two girls were planning to ruin her wedding dress. When I tell you that shit was costly, IT WAS COSTLY. It was really heavy with all the heavy stone work that was done on the cream colored lehenga and if it was stained it would be ruined. We could not afford that in any cost. She was taking a glass of juice from the juice counters and tried sitting right behind the bride but I stepped in and told her to go sit behind her brother and that I would sit behind my cousin. She was trying so hard but me and my brother kept pushing her off and away from my cousin. Eventually she did manage to throw it but it accidentally landed on someone from the groom's side and she got scolded by her. While her grumpy face was funny to see, I still had enough because if that aunty wasn't there, it would have been my cousin. After the wedding was over and people were going to start taking the photos with the couple, I announced that me and my brother had some things to say. Initially we talked about the bride and the groom but then we shifted the attention to the groom's sister and her friend. We played the audios of the calls I had with her friends in the hometown as a surprise to the groom's sister. There were a lot of angry faces, some on the sister and some on me and my brother. I tried to explain, that had she and her friend not try to ruin my cousin sister's wedding dress, this wouldn't have been broadcasted to the entire wedding venue. I then called my two male friends and both of their faces was in gasps. Both of them pulled out their phones and I played the recordings on one of the phones, which explained how they were still spreading fake news about my cousin and also them planning to ruin my cousin's dress. We also got the video recording of them actively trying to throw the red colored drink on my cousin's dress.
Both of them got kicked out from there and weren't allowed to enter until the rest of the ceremony was over. Both of them stood outside, making attempts to convince anyone who would listen to them and let them in, but no one paid heed to them. Once everyone got home they were scolded badly and my BIL's sister kept screaming at me that I was so mean and rude to have their truths exposed to not just her family, but to every relative and friends who was there to witness the show. While my cousin was glad that I had her back and my brother is standing in support of me, my parents and some of our relatives think that it should have dealt within the family and shouldn't have been exposed to anyone outside of the immediate family members. AITA?
Note: I am so sorry if the post ended up being too long but I just wanted to give all the context that would be required to judge the entire situation and my actions as well. Also if something doesn't make sense just blame it on my sleepy head cause I wrote it in half sleep mode.

General
I am looking for a lady between 28 and 35 years old, for a committed monogamous childfree relationship. My goal is to become a true team, supporting each other, caring for each other, nurturing each other and helping each other grow and realise our goals and dreams as much as possible. I'm hoping to find someone that values a relationship as much as I do and takes it seriously. It's not the only thing my life revolves around, but it's also not just something 'nice to have' for me.
I tried to be as concise as possible while still providing what details I think are crucial to know; I realise this post turned out very long, but I prefer those because I can get as good an idea as possible with detailed descriptions, bar actually talking to the person, and find that very valuable, so if that also applies to you, that would be awesome.
Basics
I am 186cm tall, slim/fit built, dark brown hair, brown eyes. Both my arms are tattooed (full sleeve), as are my calves and the areas above my ankles. Regarding pictures see below. I am a runner (ranging from 5k to full marathon), training multiple times a week. I'm also vegan. My love languages are physical touch and words of affirmation. While I am mostly securely attached, withdrawing from me triggers anxiety and I have made a horrible experience with a fearful avoidant partner in the past, so that is something I fear I cannot deal with again.
I am also an atheist.
I am a very warm, soft and sensitive person, I think I am humorous, I am self reflecting a lot and I can also be really passionate and romantic. Those are traits that also are really important to me in a woman.
I can be quite social, I am a good talker, but also love to listen to really get to know someone on a deeper level. I can enjoy an evening out with friends just as much as the silence of sitting at the shores of the river and watching the sunset in solitude (although I've been craving to watch it together with a partner for a really long time now). I can be out in a pub, at a rave, a metal show or in the stadium watching football and have the time of my life, but I cannot do these things every day; I need recharge time (on the sofa, in the woods for a run, a lazy Sunday staying in bed etc.). This should give you an idea; basically, I am a homebody that thoroughly enjoys going out in moderation.
I won't say too much about hobbies; suffice it to say I am into the dark, the obscure, the macabre, the occult, the mysterious, the erotic. It won't surprise you that I had a gothic phase in my youth, bonus points if you did too!
What I am looking for
Although similar hobbies and interests are a plus (and there have to be at least a couple things we have in common), emotional and sexual compatibility are more important to me. I am a very sensitive and emotional person (I do cry easily and by this point I don't think I'll ever be able to change that, sorry), so if you're too, we will definitely understand each other. I need someone who I can open up to (which I do rather quickly, anyway), be myself, bare my soul to and I need these things from you, too. I've had my share of emotionally unavailable women who were afraid of intimacy so I know I can't deal with that again because of the way how those things affect me. I am always emotionally invested with the woman I pursue and in those cases that was to my detriment. But my ability to feel so deep is also something I wouldn't want to change because as of yet, although it's getting harder, I haven't given up on finding someone.
With those emotional needs come two requirements that I found to be vital over the years: First, being able to be silly and cutesy together and to accept each other's inner child and care for it. I am not talking about having to deal with another person's immaturity or inability to perform basic adult skills, rather with the way sadness, hurt, anxiety and being overwhelmed manifests for me (and maybe for you, too?). I need someone who is able to comfort me, to hold me, to allow me to be weak and needy for a while until I've calmed down, and I'm more than ready to offer the same. Your inner child can come out for a while, no problem (: Also in a positive way: Thankfully, today everyone seems to be understanding of the cuteness overload cats (or any animal baby, really) can cause; I need that with a partner. I also still have plushies as comfort animals (some of which in quite a litteral sense as they make for really amazing pillows) and ideally, you do too.
There is a saying that in every relationship, one person is the stronger one. In the past, I have been with women who obviously were stronger than me, but that doesn't mean they always had to be strong, far from it. I certainly, like I said, need to be able to feel protected, but it's not like I'm a particularly needy partner, like everyone, I have my ups and downs, but I can pull my weight and have been told by past partners that I am very caring and that they felt safe and understood with me, and providing that for my partner is really important for me as well – this just to put the picture I'm (somewhat haphazardly) trying to paint into perspective.
Second, sexual compatibility. I have a high libido and I have kinks, so you should, too, in order that we can explore and enjoy them together. I found out how fulfilling living out those fantasies can be after years of never being able to try and in a relationship, sexual fulfillment for both partners is a must for me. Someone on here has coined the term 'filthy best friends and partners' which I have no shame to be stealing because it's such an apt description.
I'm looking for a balance between healthy independence and being emotionally present. A relationship where we 'get' each other; we're both each other's number one and treat each other like royalty. Where a disagreement leads to more intimacy between us as we understand better, not to resentment. Where we're comfortable baring our souls to each other, becoming a safe haven and secure base for each other. I don't like the modern notion that you 'should never feel too safe in a relationship' because that sounds like running from the mafia (and believe me, I love mafia movies); you should always put in effort, yes, but safety is one of the things I always want to experience and provide in a relationship. We shouldn't fear that a disagreement leads straight to breakup. I know ‘self-sufficiency’ is trending right now, but I feel like as partners, we’re partly responsible for each other and not our own but also each other’s happiness. Being dependant and dependable at the same time is important; making each other’s wellbeing a priority. I love the relationship model outlined in Stan Tatkin’s ‘Wired for Love’ and you should, too. If you’re not able to healthily depend on someone and their support while you’re having a hard time, look elsewhere. I know codependency is the latest thing everyone’s afraid of, but experiencing someone you’ve grown very attached to just bailing because they’re counterdependent and can’t stand working on themselves while simultaneously letting you in is something I’d rather not go through again. If I have to be afraid you’ll run at the first major problem that surfaces, even if it’s a ‘you’-problem, it’s not going to work. I think that all things can and need to be talked about. If you think ignoring someone for days is a form of communication, please look elsewhere. If you think’s it’s okay to lovebomb someone and then leave after a couple of months with the minimum amount of information and no proper conversation because you’re not ready to own up to what’s happening to you emotionally, please look elsewhere.
I am looking for someone real. We all have our problems, I don't want or need a 'perfect' person. You don't have everything figured out or 'all your shit' together. Be imperfect. Admit when you feel sad and angry, lonely, hopeless or even helpless – it's all relatable. Don't hide it. Be quirky, be dorky, be witchy, be opinionated, be yourself. Don't pretend.
I'm looking for someone to share romance with. Not great gestures, but small, meaningful ones. Poems for each other, expressing our feelings; cards with heartfelt messages that we put our perfume/cologne on, and a symbol that means something to us only, the print of your lips with lipstick, the way I sign and seal my letters for you.
Just as important to me is agreeing on living a healthy life, staying in shape both for ourselves and for each other, regularly working out and eating healthy. I am drug and disease-free and expect the same of you. I do drink as I love a good beer or glass of wine, rum or whiskey, but I've never really been drinking much and especially during the past year have further reduced it. One vice I have is that I enjoy a couple of cigars a year, but I can definitely accommodate you in this regard.
Another important point is aligned life goals: many childfree people seem to be adventurous, but that is a trait I don't associate with myself at all. I value safety more than adventure. I want to build a home together with my partner, a safespace for the both of us, where we always feel loved and protected, a place that we create together, make it cozy together so we just love to get back home there wherever we might have been, a home we decorate together for Halloween (my favourite holiday) or Christmas or Springtime, as we live in tune with the seasons, seeing them change around us, enjoying nature on a walk or the rain outside, reading in our cozy home. I value stability and harmony.
Appearance-wise, I am into ladies on the smaller side (albeit not regarding height), so I'm looking for someone petite/slim/skinny/healthy-fit. Likewise, I am not really muscular and don't have visible abs; like I said, I'm a runner, so if you're more into the gym-type, I'm not a good fit.
The natural progression for me would be to move from text to voice calls, videochat and then meeting up, all of that rather sooner than later. Not that there’s a need to rush anything, but having my heart broken because I already developed feelings due to a longer timeframe and then everything unexpectedly turning to shit is not something I want to have to live through again. I’d rather see earlier if we’re compatible or not; as someone who catches feelings fast I need to protect myself, I unfortunately had to learn that
Caveats/Possible red flags

• I don't like travelling as it stresses me out; I don't mind being somewhere else for a week or two, but the organisation part of it drains my energy very quickly and dealing with stuff that doesn't work out is overwhelming to me. Smaller trips are ok, but I'm not the right person to travel the world with.
• I am not the most awake person in the morning (i.e. I identify as nightowl)
• I need space for my own projects/time to recharge after social interaction.
• While I feel like I am in tune with my inner child and working on/with it through therapy, I realise this is something that could be a turn-off for people.
• I have been diagnosed with depressive episodes in the past and am taking anti-depressants right now. I realise that I am a work in progress, maybe more so than in times past, but I manage and the fact that I'm putting myself out here is based on me being ready to get to know someone new.
• I want to create a home together here, as I'm firmly rooted where I was born; I realise this is a lot to ask, but I have seen many people here being open to moving, so I want to at least try reaching out to them.

If you're interested, feel free to message me and include some pictures of yourself and I will reply with my own. Have a nice day (:

I am looking for a lady between 25 and 35 years old, for a committed monogamous childfree relationship. My goal is to become a true team, supporting each other, caring for each other, nurturing each other and helping each other grow and realise our goals and dreams as much as possible. I'm hoping to find someone that values a relationship as much as I do and takes it seriously. It's not the only thing my life revolves around, but it's also not just something 'nice to have' for me.
I am 186cm tall, slim/fit built, dark brown hair, brown eyes. Both my arms are tattooed (full sleeve), as are my calves and the areas above my ankles. Regarding pictures see below. I am a runner, training multiple times a week. I'm also vegan. My love languages are physical touch and words of affirmation. While I am mostly securely attached, withdrawing from me triggers anxiety and I have made a horrible experience with an avoidant partner in the past, so that is something I fear I cannot deal with again.
I am also an atheist.
I am a very warm, soft and sensitive person, I think I am humorous, I am self reflecting a lot and I can also be really passionate and romantic. Those are traits that also are really important to me in a woman.
I can be quite social, I am a good talker, but also love to listen to really get to know someone on a deeper level. I can enjoy an evening out with friends just as much as the silence of sitting at the shores of the river and watching the sunset in solitude (although I've been craving to watch it together with a partner for a really long time now). I can be out in a pub, at a rave, a metal show or at a football game and have the time of my life, but I cannot do these things every day; I need recharge time (on the sofa, in the woods for a run, a lazy Sunday staying in bed etc.). This should give you an idea; basically, I am a homebody that thoroughly enjoys going out in moderation.
I won't say too much about hobbies; suffice it to say I am into the dark, the obscure, the macabre, the occult, the mysterious, the erotic. It won't surprise you that I had a gothic phase in my youth, bonus points if you did too!
What I'm looking for
Although similar hobbies and interests are a plus, emotional and intimate compatibility are more important to me. I am a very sensitive and emotional person (I do cry easily and by this point I don't think I'll ever be able to change that, sorry), so if you're too, we will definitely understand each other. I need someone who I can open up to (which I do rather quickly, anyway), be myself, bare my soul to and I need these things from you, too. I've had my share of emotionally unavailable women who were afraid of intimacy so I know I can't deal with that again because of the way how those things affect me. I am always emotionally invested with the woman I pursue and in those cases that was to my detriment. But my ability to feel so deep is also something I wouldn't want to change because as of yet, although it's getting harder, I haven't given up on finding someone.
With those emotional needs come two requirements that I found to be vital over the years: First, being able to be silly and cutesy together and to accept each other's inner child and care for it. I am not talking about having to deal with another person's immaturity or inability to perform basic adult skills, rather with the way sadness, hurt, anxiety and being overwhelmed manifests for me (and maybe for you, too?). I need someone who is able to comfort me, to hold me, to allow me to be weak and needy for a while until I've calmed down, and I'm more than ready to offer the same. Your inner child can come out for a while, no problem (: Also in a positive way: Thankfully, today everyone seems to be understanding of the cuteness overload cats (or any animal baby, really) can cause; I need that with a partner. I also still have plushies as comfort animals and ideally, you do too.
Apparently in every relationship, one person is the stronger one. In the past, I have been with women who obviously were stronger than me, but that doesn't mean they always had to be strong, far from it. I certainly need to be able to feel protected, but it's not like I'm a particularly needy partner, like everyone, I have my ups and downs, but I can pull my weight and have been told by past partners that I am very caring and that they felt safe and understood with me, and providing that for my partner is really important for me as well.
Second, intimate compatibility. I am rather insatiable and love to experiment when it comes to the bedroom, so you should, too, in order that we can explore and enjoy together. I found out how fulfilling living out those fantasies can be after years of never being able to try and in a relationship, this kind of fulfillment for both partners is a must for me. I found the term 'filthy best friends and partners' to be a perfect description.
I'm looking for a balance between healthy independence and being emotionally present. A relationship where we 'get' each other; we're both each other's number one and treat each other like royalty. Where a disagreement leads to more intimacy between us as we understand better, not to resentment. Where we're comfortable baring our souls to each other, becoming a safe haven and secure base for each other. I don't like the modern notion that you 'should never feel too safe in a relationship' because that sounds like running from the mafia (and believe me, I love mafia movies); you should always put in effort, yes, but safety is one of the things I always want to experience and provide in a relationship. We shouldn't fear that a disagreement leads straight to breakup. I know ‘self-sufficiency’ is trending right now, but I feel like as partners, we’re partly responsible for each other and not our own but also each other’s happiness. Being dependant and dependable at the same time is important; making each other’s wellbeing a priority. If you’re not able to healthily depend on someone and their support while you’re having a hard time, look elsewhere. If I have to be afraid you’ll run at the first major problem that surfaces, even if it’s a ‘you’-problem, it’s not going to work. I think that all things can and need to be talked about. If you think ignoring someone for days is a form of communication, please look elsewhere.
I am looking for someone real. We all have our problems, I don't want or need a 'perfect' person. You don't have everything figured out or 'all your shit' together. Be imperfect. Admit when you feel sad and angry, lonely, hopeless or even helpless – it's all relatable. Don't hide it. Be quirky, be dorky, be witchy, opinionated, be yourself. Don't pretend.
I'm looking for someone to share romance with. Not great gestures, but small, meaningful ones. Poems for each other, expressing our feelings; cards with heartfelt messages that we put our perfume/cologne on, and a symbol that means something to us only, the print of your lips with lipstick, the way I sign and seal my letters for you.
Just as important to me is agreeing on living a healthy life, staying in shape both for ourselves and for each other, regularly working out and eating healthy. I am drug and disease-free and expect the same of you. I do drink as I love a good beer or glass of wine, rum or whiskey, but I've never really been drinking much and especially during the past year have further reduced it. One vice I have is that I enjoy a couple of cigars a year, but I can definitely accommodate you in this regard.
Another important point is aligned life goals: I value safety more than adventure. I want to build a home together with my partner, a safespace for the both of us, where we always feel loved and protected, a place that we create together, make it cozy together so we just love to get back home there wherever we might have been, a home we decorate together for Halloween (my favourite holiday) or Christmas or Springtime, as we live in tune with the seasons, enjoying nature on a walk or the rain outside, reading in our cozy home. I value stability and harmony.
Appearance-wise, I am into ladies on the smaller side), so I'm looking for someone petite/slim/skinny/healthy-fit. Likewise, I am not really muscular and don't have visible abs; like I said, I'm a runner, so if you're more into the gym-type, I'm not a good fit.
I’d prefer to move from text to voice calls, videochat and then meeting up, all of that rather sooner than later. Not that there’s a need to rush anything, but I’d rather see earlier if we’re compatible or not; as someone who catches feelings fast I need to protect myself.
Caveats

• I don't like travelling as it stresses me out; I don't mind being somewhere else for a week or two, but the organisation part of it drains my energy very quickly and dealing with stuff that doesn't work out is overwhelming to me. Smaller trips are ok, but I'm not the right person to travel the world with.
• I am not the most awake person in the morning (i.e. I identify as nightowl)
• I don't want children and had a vasectomy
• I need space for my own projects/time to recharge after social interaction.
• While I feel like I am in tune with my inner child and working on/with it through therapy, I realise this is something that could be a turn-off for people.
• I have been diagnosed with depressive episodes in the past and am taking anti-depressants right now. I realise that I am a work in progress, maybe more so than in times past, but I manage and the fact that I'm putting myself out here is based on me being ready to get to know someone new.
• I want to create a home together here, as I'm firmly rooted where I was born; I realise this is a lot to ask, but I have seen many people here being open to moving, so I want to at least try reaching out to them.

If you're interested, feel free to message me and include some pictures of yourself and I will reply with my own. Have a nice day (:

Wade held Jasmine in his arms as he flew a low height down the long road to another section of the staryard, Tina on his back and Nathan and F right behind them in the air. Together, the five glided across the base grounds, taking care as to not irritate the aerial security during their search for the meeting room. Being outside for the flight, the group considered it a blessing that Wade's 'enhanced cooling unit' allowed his body to tolerate the breaching sun in the still cloudy sky, which, according to F, was dangerous to drones like her due to the inefficient cooling she and disassembly drones like her suffered from. Given F's physical fault, she had to fly under shady areas in order to safely traverse the base at day.
Originally, Wade and his friends had planned to walk to the meeting zone, but after running into a trooper experiencing a health mishap, the group did what they could to help the distressed officer. By the time he was brought to the medical ward by other soldiers, Wade found that him and his team would be at least a few minutes late if they kept on their way with their walk.
Deciding to speed things up, Wade, understanding the concern for performing such an effort, opted to carry the Fowleys around the base to the meeting area. Reluctantly, F decided to come along, carrying Nathan in a similar manner that Wade was carrying Jasmine. Taking notice of the time on his HUD, which read, "9:47 AM", Wade scouted for the building he and his friends were directed to. "8072" He said to himself, the number being for the building that would house the imminent meeting.
"They said it was down here, right?" Wade asked aloud to Tina before stopping himself in mid-air, the girl holding onto him tightly as he tried to speak over the growing sound of a retrofit Apache flying overhead.
Looking about, Tina nodded as she spotted the target building. "Yes, I believe that's the one over there!" Pointing past his head, Wade followed her finger to a large building ahead at his right. The structure was moderately tall, only about two stories high, with several soldiers and officers going in and out of the building. Wade smiled as he noticed the target number, as well as the big, bold words describing the building's designation. "8072, Briefing Center B"
"Good eye, honey. Hang on!" Continuing his low glide, Wade zoomed towards the building's entrance before stopping just meters above the ground, his two friends close behind as they slowed down as well. The troopers around them initially looked startled by the sudden arrival of Wade and his group, but quickly regained their composure as Wade hovered still above them.
"At ease! Just visitors." One of the soldiers declared as they identified the newcomers, who touched down before Wade let Jasmine down to her feet, Tina hopping onto the ground along with her.
Putting his hands up, Wade apologized for his swift surprise. "Sorry for the scare, we got delayed for a meeting we're invited to."
The soldier gave an understanding nod as he replied to the former worker drone sternly. "I can see that, just be a bit more careful next time, Mr. Carter. You gave the boys here quite a scare."
Wade returned the gesture in embarrassment as F put a hand to his back, chuckling at his efforts as Tina questioned the officer. "Is Mrs. J in there? She's the one who called for us."
The guard gave his reply as Wade and Tina pulled out their IDs for clearance. "Yes she is, Miss. The meeting's set to begin in under ten minutes." Checking the two drones' IDs, Jasmine and the others pulled out theirs as well, the watchman motioning another trooper over to verify the group. Once the guard finished checking the five's cards, he nodded in approval as the watchman spoke once more. "You're clear to enter."
"Thank you Sir, again, sorry about that spook back there." Wade replied with a smile as the trooper gave one of his own, the disassembly drone and his allies making their way towards the office door before stopping upon the call of a voice.
"Hey, Felice!" Wade turned to find the origin of the voice, F doing the same as the two quickly spotted a quartet of soldiers walking excitedly towards F. The disassembly drone glanced to her friends with a smile before turning back to the approaching entourage.
Wade examined the four troops as they got closer: Two human men, one woman, and a male worker drone. One of the male soldiers had short, blonde hair, and a small scar to the right side of their face. The second man bore a tan skin tone and had black hair, with blue strips that went down slightly in a mullet style. The woman bore a set of long, dark green hair, with the hair going down and over her left shoulder. As for the worker drone, he wore the standard green soldier helmet, single eye visor and all. He had no hair on him from what Wade could tell, and bore a pair of whiteish purple eyes on his visor.
As F walked over to the soldiers, the same one that called to her spoke again. "Felicity, I didn't expect to see you around here today! Where you been?"
The girl soldier interrupted his initial chatter. "Hang on Carlos, do you even know if she remembers us?"
"Aye, don't she have one o' them memory locks, or sumthin?" The drone added in a heavy Scottish accent.
F waved her hand as she replied to the group. "Easy, everyone. Thankfully I still got my memories, courtesy of my technician back at Central." Lowering her hand, F let down her usual persona as she gave a wide smirk to the soldiers, clearly pleased to see them. "Good to see you guys around here."
The soldiers gave light cheers to F as they all embraced her, the group having a surprise reunion as Wade and the others watched in surprise. These must've been F's old colleagues from when she was in the service, Wade thought. Quite the coincidence for them to be here at this base of all places.
Not bothering with the convenience of the matter, Wade shook the thought off as he and his friends watched F and her old friends breaking the hug, Tina wrapping an arm around her boyfriend as the second male human spoke to her in what the two discerned as Spanish. "Ay, who your new friends, F?"
"Oh, these guys?" F replied in the same language, quietly startling Wade and the others as they had never heard her speak like that until now. Glancing over to Wade, F motioned him and the others to come over. "Everyone, these are some friends I made in the past few days. Wade, Nathan, Tina, and Jasmine." She pointed her hand to the four as she said each of their names. "I met the boys here during my time on Ceres. Jasmine and Tina here are sisters."
The four soldiers gave various forms of excitement, ranging from hearty laughs to low woops and even a whistle from one of the guys. As F stood next to her old teammates, they each introduced themselves to Wade and his friends. The blonde soldier went first. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all, name's Carlos, Lieutenant Marksman."
"I'm Private Alvaros, good with close-range and stealth operations." Said the tan soldier with a salute.
"Sergeant Lucia Vasquez, usually the one who leads this bunch around these days." The female warrior stated with a humorous smirk.
"And Corporal Duncan Wallace, at your service!" The soldier drone stated proudly as he saluted to the bunch in front of him, who gave warm smiles as Wade shook his hand.
"Quite honored to meet you all, seems you have quite the history with F." The former worker drone said as Carlos patted F on her back.
"Oh, we do! She's the one who took charge when we didn't! Did you all hear of the Pasting of Nola VI?" Jasmine and Tina gave nods of affirmation while Wade, not as familiar with such history, held his hand up in a questioning manner.
"I think, wasn't that the battle where the Navy just barely held the outpost in that system? From the Stryker Clan?" Wade asked as Carlos nodded approvingly to him.
"That's right, and if Felice weren't there, WE would've been the ones getting pasted!" Carlos' statement brought victorious cheers and "oorahs" from the group, F letting a blush loose as she chuckled at her team's praise of her efforts.
"Well, that's not wrong." Although she didn't want to break off from her friends and discuss the past few years since they'd last met, F remembered the briefing. Clearing her throat, she continued. "And as much as I'd like to chat about the good times, I've been called to a meeting here, as have Wade and his crew."
The soldier group gave understanding looks to F as Lucia spoke up. "Thought so, Carl here was real eager to see you, though."
"Maybe we can talk after the meeting?" Nathan proposed as the soldiers collectively nodded in agreement, F readying a smartcomm attachment before turning to face her friends again.
"We're probably getting low on time, you all go in, I'll catch up in a sec." Wade nodded in acknowledgement before taking Tina's hand, the lover drones continuing towards the briefing center as Jasmine and Nathan followed behind them.
Passing through the door, the four guests observed a short hallway, which seemed to split into two paths as they came closer to the other end. Looking to a sign on the wall above, they saw arrows pointing to two separate areas, "Primary Briefing Room; Main Lobby + Secondary & Tertiary" Going to the right, they entered the moderately active lobby, several officers walking and standing about in mass chatter. Walking over to the desk up against the wall to their left, Wade and his group waved a hand to the occupying attendant.
"Welcome, what do you need?" The desk attendant asked as Tina raised a finger to reply.
"We're here for a meeting, Mrs. J called us here."
The attendant nodded in understanding before directing an arm towards the other end of the room, where a single door stood. "She should be in the second briefing room down that way."
"Thank you." Tina replied warmly before she and Wade began walking towards the door, their friends behind them as they proceeded into the room.
The room beyond the door was quite sizable, a large circular table occupying the middle with several chairs surrounding it. The walls went up a few meters, with four whiteish blue lights illuminating the room. On the wall opposite to Wade and Tina were three monitor screens, all of which showed the USN in bright blue. In several of the seats were faces both familiar and unfamiliar, several men and women in varying styles of uniforms conversing about quietly or taking notice of the recent visitors. Standing up near the monitors were three people: A decorated officer whom Tina identified as a ship captain, and the so-called operatives, Tessa, albeit as a hologram, and J.
Walking slowly into the room, Wade gave a low wave of his hand as he tried to hide his nervousness. Noticing his shyness in front of the officers, Tina held his hand and rubbed his arm comfortingly while returning a pleasant smile to the staff in the room.
"Ah, Wade, Tina. Glad to see you all here." J stated with a smile as she scanned the group, raising a digital eyebrow as she noticed one missing guest. "Or, most of you, I see. Did F run off somewhere?"
Wade shook his head as he replied to his fellow disassembly drone. "Oh, no. She just ran into some old friends, she should be back-"
"Right now." F finished aloud as she entered the room, seemingly having heard Wade speaking about her absence. The warrior drone fast walked to Wade's team, taking a seat near them as they prepared to do the same. "Not too late, are we?"
"Not at all." The standing officer answered as the group took their seats, Wade and Tina sitting next to each other as they got comfortable. The captain examined the lot for a moment, glancing to J as he asked about them. "So, these are the ones you helped rescue from the Mojave?"
"Yes Captain, and they helped us out greatly in turn. This is Wade Carter, one of the captured drones whom became a disassembly drone before we could mount the rescue. The luckiest one, if you ask me." Motioning her arm over the others, she continued. "And there's his girlfriend, Mrs. Tina Fowley, and her sister Jasmine." Smirking to F and Nathan, she finished her friends' introductions. "And these two are Serial Designation F and Mr. Nathan, whom I've heard were once under your ranks."
The military captain gave a welcoming smile to the five as they returned the gesture, eyeing F and Nathan specifically before speaking to them. "Indeed they were, we still have records on their contributions to the colonies." Eyeing F, he continued. "Though, in Mrs. F's case, I won't blame her if she doesn't remember us. We've been very well aware of JCJenson's 'memory suppression' protocols when it comes to their DDs."
F laid back in her seat with a smug look as she replied to her former superior. "Well, my friend on the station's a good tech gal. She's... waived that hindrance from me."
"I see, that means your still with us, am I right, Mrs. Lee?" Unlike her friends next to her, F was not startled by her original name being said aloud, rather smiling proudly as she saluted to the captain. "Good to see you again."
"Pleased to be here, Sir." F replied as she lowered her arm, glancing to her companions next to her as J spoke up.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Captain Preston Mitchell, commander of the USNV Vickers down at the stardock."
Wade gave a respectful salute to Preston as he spoke first. "It's an honor to meet you, Sir."
"Thank you, Mr. Carter. I've heard about your efforts from J, you did an admirable job back there, son." Wade failed to hide an embarrassed blush from the compliment, but it quickly faded as a beep sounded from a small device on the table. It was swiftly silenced by the captain as he tapped a button on the small, pyramid shaped timer, then facing Wade's group before continuing. "Though, as much as we could use some small talk, it'll have to wait till later."
"Indeed, we're running late at this point." Said another officer, a highly decorated member of the base with dark skin, dark grey hair and a thin beard. He immediately won the attention of everyone in the room as he spoke up. "I'm General Hugh Hood, overseer of this base. I'm certain you know some of the reasons you're here with us, correct?"
Wade nodded as he spoke to Hood. "Yeah, it's cause of those rogue agents from the JCJenson corporation." Glancing to J, the corporate drone nodded in affirmation before speaking herself.
"Tessa and I spent the last hours of yesterday evening clearing up the matter with General Hood, along with several other officials stationed here." She stopped as the middle monitor behind her flashed with a banner at the top, reading, "INCOMING TRANSMISSION", and in place of the USN emblem was a textless version of the JCJenson logo. Below the profile image was another two lines of text. "N. Jenson (Company Exec); Comms Source: Yottrite IV"
"And also told our boss about what happened here too, he wanted to give his say on this ordeal." Looking to the general, J asked him, "May I put him on?"
Hood only gave a nod of approval to the corporate drone before she picked up a remote on the table and tapped a button, accepting the call as the picture shifted to show a middle-aged man in a pristine-looking business suit on the screen.
Wade and Tina glanced to each other before J introduced their guest on the screen. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the CEO of JCJenson: Mr. Noor Jenson."
Jenson gave a pleased nod to his subordinate as he spoke to J. "Thank you for the pleasantries, J. I see we are ready to discuss our plans on dealing with this 'recall' disaster I've bore witness to on the news this morning?"
J nodded as she replied to her boss. "Indeed, I've explained to General Hood here about our efforts yesterday, and, as of recent, we've just received a message from a source we believe to be close to the company."
Mr. Jenson looked down to J attentively as he spoke to her. "Well, that's quite intriguing news, J. Do you have this message available for us to view?" J and Hood both nodded in affirmation, but didn't get an immediate reply as Jenson gazed to Wade and his friends. "...And I presume these are some of the drones rescued from one of the factories?"
Again, J nodded to her superior before explaining her colleagues. "Yes Mr. Jenson, the two drones at the front in particular were among those taken by the Administrator and their subordinates." Pointing an arm to Wade and Tina, she introduced the drone couple. "The disassembly drone here is Mr. Wade Carter, a brother to his-technically speaking-owner, the late Ron Carter. The latter helped us recover Wade during an initial raid inside the Nevada facility." When bringing up Ron, J gave an apologetic look to Wade as to show she did not mean to be offending on him and his brother's relationship. "And this is his romantic partner, Mrs. Tina Fowley. I heard she and her sister Jasmine are pilots."
Jenson looked over the two drones as his obedient employee described them to him, quietly sighing as Wade and Tina returned the gaze with nervous smiles. Once J finished, Jenson spoke to Wade. "I... would say it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Carter. But, given recent events, I don't hold fault to you for feeling frustrated at me for my... former subordinate's actions."
Wade shook his head lightly, taking Jenson's light apology with a faint smile as he replied to the CEO. "Actually, I don't. The only person I have such feelings put towards is," He hesitated for a moment, his anger at Dr. Halloway returning for a short moment before he eased himself. "..That bastard Halloway."
"The feeling's mutual, Mr. Carter. Dr. Halloway has been trying my patience for years now, especially with you and your fellow disassembly drones." Looking to J, then F, he returned his gaze to Wade before questioning him on his new body. "I don't know if J has told you of this, but if there's one truth my company has admittedly not held up to for a while, it's our quality. Recently, some of my research staff here made blueprints for an upgraded variant of the disassembly drone design. It's intended to fix several faults we expected to be nonexistent previously, most notably that atrocious cooling unit."
As a schematic pulled up on the left monitor, everyone glanced to the improved design before F spoke up about it. "If I may ask, Mr. Jenson, how big of an improvement is this new cooling unit supposed to be?"
"Good question, F. Frankly, it's supposed to do away with the issue entirely. Saves us from sacrificing enormous supplies of oil for the poorly built unit in the previous iterations. We even tested it with a repaired drone just a few days ago, and it worked flawlessly." Then, glancing to Wade again, he questioned the former worker drone on his new form. "Speaking of, how does your enhanced body feel, Mr. Carter? I'm certain it feels better to not have to-"
"Actually, Mr. Jenson," Wade interrupted, pulling out one of his canteens as he answered the CEO on his upgrades. "I guess Halloway changed up the blueprints, cause unfortunately this new cooling unit didn't cure the overheating problem. I... kinda learned that the hard way." Wade glanced to Tina apologetically, still feeling bad from her seeing him eat the corpse of the dead murder drone back at the factory.
The corporate CEO grimaced in frustration as he took in Wade's statement, already intolerant of the head researcher's actions as he replied. "...I was worried about that, Edgar always likes to run things his own way, making excuses for that 'Administrator' he watches over." Taking an agitated breath, he continued on with his spew on the two culprits of yesterday's events. "It was only because of all the very impressive creations and enhancements she and her research team provided that I tolerated them for so long, but this..." Sitting up straight in front of the camera, Jenson finished sternly. "J said the Administrator... Cyn, I believe? She was apparently something worse than we presumed originally, and I'm very inclined to believe so after yesterday."
"As well as the program tied to the Administrator, the AbsoluteSolver." J clarified before receiving an agreeing nod from Mr. Jenson, standing corrected on his placing of blame.
Raising a hand, Nathan asked about the supposed plans. "Yeah, about this "Solver Project", what do we plan to do about that?"
"Good question, Nate." Tessa replied as she crossed her arms before looking to Jenson and beginning her explanation. "Initially, we were going to investigate the other factories spread across Earth in order to get some more info on the Administrator before things get worse. But, just this morning, it seems someone else saved us the trouble." Just as Tessa neared the end of her sentence, J held up the remote again, tapping a few buttons before the left monitor shifted to show a slightly grainy video onscreen.
The video only showed a single being, a worker drone, dressed in a chrome suit and bearing a set of yellow eyes. Behind them was what appeared to be a vacant room, a few shelves holding many books within them standing still in the back. The drone's visage indicated they were filled with immense anxiety, terrified of being caught as they spoke quietly to the camera.
"I can only hope someone gets this in time, they're gonna be on me once they find out the transmitter screens are down!" Turning the camera, he showed what appeared to be a large factory room, several more of the mysterious conveyor belts like at the factory slotted next to each other. It was hard to discern every detail due to not only the window reflection, but also the dark lighting in the inactive conveyor room. Filming the room beyond, the drone continued. "Dr. Halloway's a madman, he's got more of those stolen drones being brought here and he's going to be overseeing it in the afternoon tomorrow! I've seen what happened back in Nevada, I can't take this any longer! I'm at coordinates ##.######, -###.###### Please, send someo-"
The suspicious, partially scrambled transmission immediately cut off to static, leaving Wade, Tina, and their friends with confused expressions as Tessa spoke up. "Yeah, that caught me by surprise too."
"So, that guy says they got more drones being sent 'there', but... where is there, exactly?" Jasmine asked with immense curiosity.
"I was hoping you'd ask that, Mrs. Fowley." The technician replied as she glanced to J, who tapped a few more buttons on the remote before speaking over her boss-friend.
"While the transmission itself isn't much to work off of, our friends from Comms over here managed to intercept the signal earlier, and even better, discern where it originated from." As J started her explanation, the screen shifted once more to show a large city, with one skyscraper highlighted in red as it was zoomed towards on the screen. "That scrambled audio wasn't a simple glitch, it was intentionally done so as to hide key information for us to uncover. Upon cleaning up the message, we managed to recover a set of coordinates, which direct to this structure here, in San Francisco."
Wade and his friends stared at the building in shock, examining the tall structure as it stood over the shorter buildings in the city. Tina broke the silence in her gaze. "So, this is another factory? It looks... terribly different from the one we got out of."
"Not exactly, Mrs. Fowley." Mr. Jenson answered, Tina and the others looking to him as he continued. "THAT is the Administrator's main laboratory, its location was kept on the down low so other authorities and terrorist groups wouldn't find out what the buildings true purpose was." Sighing, Jenson completed his reply. "But, with this recent mistake of Halloway's, that place has lost all purpose for us at the company."
Wade raised a hand to speak. "So, we're going to pounce on that place? Get Halloway before he runs off again?"
"Exactly." General Hood replied as he looked up to Mr. Jenson. "This whole 'recovery/recruitment' effort has gotten out of hand all across Sol. We've gotten countless reports of people being killed because of this, be it the brutal robberies here in Nevada or the bloodbath on Ceres. Even if Mr. Jenson refuses to cooperate, this has become a dire matter for us now. One way or another, this insanity will be stopped with due haste."
The CEO nodded in acknowledgement before explaining his own plans for the mission. "Speaking of cooperation, upon seeing what was happening at Earth, I ordered a detachment of our corporate starships in orbit at the time to depart for Sol in order to help with investigating the situation. They're not warships, but they are well-armed. I'll dispatch them to your authority upon concluding this call." Glancing to Wade and his team for a moment, Jenson continued. "As for the mission, I may not have much of a say, but let it be known that you have my blessing to do whatever it takes to end this madness. I don't care what you do with Halloway or any of his lackeys, or what happens to that facility down there... I want that program shut down."
"Thank you for the extra hands, Mr. Jenson. We'll make sure this Administrator is dealt with." Hood replied gratefully as Wade sat firm in his seat, Tina and the others following suite.
"General?" The former worker drone said aloud, catching Hood's attention before he made his request. "I know I'm not a soldier, but I want to help with dealing with Halloway and his grunts. After what he did, after losing my brother, I can't rest until I see that man stopped."
Tina raised a finger as well. "As do I, Wade could use a hand with those people, and given how we did during our escape run out of that place, I think the two of us make quite the duo." She glanced to Wade with a smirk as she referenced their combat prowess when flying together.
Nathan and F stood up before the latter gave her own request. "Sir, I wish to take part in this mission as well. I can also recommend Wade for you too, as I fought alongside him during the factory raid."
"Wouldn't mind giving a hand myself! And I'm sure my pal Kurtis would love to help, he's here at the base too!" Nathan added with a confident smirk, the group's determination encouraging Jasmine to stand up as well.
"I'd like to help too." She stated simply, a smile on her face as the general and his companions observed the five guests.
Admittedly, Hood knew it would be a bit absurd to allow these people to take part in an operation which would certainly involve bloodshed, especially considering most of them merely had civilian status at the moment. But, upon careful evaluation of the five, their desire to see this problem dealt with, and the fact that some of them had experience on the field...
He paused his train of thought as Captain Mitchell spoke to him. "General? I read up on the Fowleys' files when we recovered Mrs. Jasmine here, they provided service in their early careers." He smirked to the pilot sisters as he finished adding his say. "And to be frank, we need more people like them here. The records we have of them showed them to be damn fine pilots."
Tina blushed at the praise from Mitchell as she spoke to the general. "That is true, we uh... did get discharged for our... 'fancy maneuvering'."
"Sir?" Jasmine said, the general's attention on her as she added to the conversation. "Even if our flying is a bit out of protocol, Tina saved a lot of people on that starjet a few days back. I can promise you, she's an excellent woman to have at the wheel."
Glancing to Wade again, Hood took in his face, one of begging desperation as he spoke once more. "Please, Sir. My brother, the troops he brought from the Coalition, Halloway's gotten them all killed cause of this. I want to do this. I HAVE to do this, at least for them."
The good general took a deep, quiet breath, considering his decision once more before finally revealing it to Wade and his friends. "Mr. Carter, Fowleys? I'm probably making myself a fool for saying this, but you're permitted to assist us in this mission."
The drone couple contained their gratefulness in the form of ecstatic grins as Wade replied to the general. "Thanks, General. We won't let you down."
"And Mrs. Lee?" Hood said as he glanced to F, who returned the gesture as he told her, "You're technically under Mr. Jenson's authority, whatever his answer is, it's mine as well."
Bringing her yellow-orange eyes to her CEO, F awaited Mr. Jenson's answer. "F, yes? I heard Mr. Hood call you by a different name just now, I assume you have some experience with the army?"
The warrior drone nodded as she explained herself. "I once inherited the name of Felicity Lee, Mr. Jenson. I served under the USN Defense Forces before joining the DD Division." Then, glancing to the military staff near her, she finished with, "I had hoped to provide my enhancements to the Force one day."
Jenson gave a hint of a proud smile as he finally gave his decision. "Well, it seems you'll finally get that chance. From now on, even after this mission on Earth is over with, you're hereby dispatched to serve under the USN."
F admittedly couldn't hide her excited smirk as she flung a salute to her now former boss. "Thank you Sir!"
Looking up to Jenson, General Hood asked the CEO, "Mr. Jenson, how long until your ships can reach Earth?"
Jenson glanced down at his communication console as he answered the military leader. "At max speed, their Ion drives should be able to bring them into orbit in as little as one to two days. I believe there should be some ships within the system that could help as well."
"Signal them when you can, Mr. Jenson. We could use all the help we can get from them." The CEO nodded to Hood as he stood firmly to the viewer, the general turning to face Wade and his colleagues. "And Mr. Carter? We'll be mobilizing our forces immediately after this meeting concludes. It'll be a minute, but I want you to gather whatever items and belongings you'll need for this operation. Be ready to head to the flight pads in no more than three hours."
"Understood Sir!" Wade said with a salute, Tina, Jasmine and Nathan giving their own as Jasmine raised a finger.
"What about the area around the lab? That place looks like it's in the middle of the city."
J raised a finger as she told Jasmine and the others about their resolution of the civilian obstacle. "Shortly after reporting our findings on the transmission, Hood told us that they were sending in some teams to clear out the civilian population within several miles of the facility. Once we get there, it should be of no concern."
Jasmine sighed in relief as Tina spoke up. "So the people should be safe from any sort of danger?"
"Correct, Mrs. Tina." Preston answered before continuing. "Given the resistance Halloway and his men showed during the Coalition's raid, they most certainly won't hold back there."
"One more thing, Sir." Nathan asked. "The Coalition's going to help us out with this too, right?"
"You can count on it, Mr. Nathan." The Vickers' captain replied as he looked to J, then to Jenson as he spoke further. "I met the leader of the Coalition's detachment working with us when I was introduced to J and Mrs. Elliott here, they intend to see this conflict finished. I highly doubt they're willing to sit back and let us do this by ourselves."
"And their help will be much appreciated." Hood added, everyone's attention returned to him as he looked to Tessa, curious eyes scanning her holographic form. "And Mrs. Elliott, if I may. Do you mind heading down here to assist us in our investigations later on?"
"Funny you say that, General. I'm almost done with my own snooping around on the JCJ up in orbit, Cyn has some small departments of hers aboard, and I thought I'd gather some more intel before coming down." Glancing to Mr. Jenson, she saw him giving an understanding nod before returning her gaze to the military staff. "I should be down there by the evening, judging by where you're located."
"Do what you must, Mrs. Elliott. We could use whatever you find." Hood replied firmly as he turned once more to the JCJenson CEO. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Jenson. We will get to the bottom of this."
"It's my pleasure, General." Glancing to J and Tessa, he spoke to them once more. "J? Contact me when you've finished with Halloway and his Administrator."
"It'll be done, Mr. Jenson." The obedient servant answered before saluting firmly, receiving a final nod from her boss before he ended the transmission.
With their off-world guest out of the way, Hood looked to Wade and his friends, J, Tessa and Captain Mitchells sharing the gaze with them as the general spoke to them in finality. "Well, you know what comes next everyone. You're all dismissed for now. And remember, landing zone by 1300."
"We'll be there Sir." Wade said with a nod as he and his friends stood up, pushing in their chairs before making their way out to the door.
As they neared it, Wade stopped for a moment as they heard Hood call to one of his friends. "And F?" The soldier drone looked to the general as he continued. "Before we depart, would you mind changing your uniform? I believe it could help with identifying you from the other disassembly drones more easily." Glancing to J, then back to F, he finished with, "I recall hearing about the most formidable drones having clones prepared, yes?"
"Correct, Sir. I'll stop by the nearest barracks while I can." F replied before turning back to the door with her colleagues, Wade opening the door for them all as they passed through. After them, Wade passed through himself, shutting the door to the meeting room as he returned to the lobby.
Walking about together, F spoke to Wade and the others. "Well, that went smoothly. I'll be heading down to the barracks, then head over to your place to help out."
"Actually," Wade replied, raising a finger up as he asked his fellow murder drone, "You think you could bring your friends over? We could get to know each other while we're getting ready."
F glanced to Nathan with a smile before returning her eyes to Wade. "I could see about that. You're gonna like them, I can promise you that."
Taking Tina's hand, Wade walked with his girlfriend alongside Jasmine and the others, nearing the hallway they came through as they prepared for the walk back to the apartment.

[ lengthy post ahead ]
Hello Be*, idk if you’ll ever see this but I’ll send it anyway. We met once at his birthday celebration. When we were still together. With the cheater I know he is, I knew he was eyeing for you since you are attractive. Without a doubt, I was mesmerized by your beauty as well, and I saw that as a chance to finally end that relationship. I joked with you pa nga "Gusto mo sa’yo na lang (ex ko)? Toxic naman yan e." That was true, yet I wasn’t wrong though. You ended up dating and even having a baby.
Fast forward to now, I came across your tiktok account, and there were no posts from you, just reposts from other accounts explaining the situation you were having—Cheating, living with a narcissist-pathological liar, and being emotionally, verbally, and mentally abused. I feel so sorry for you since I have experienced all you are going through. Don't get me wrong, I don't pity you; it's just that I wish you knew that I went through everything he made you feel while we were together. He was disrespectful to my parents and his mom, always came to our house at the middle of the night, intoxicated, and I was always afraid of what he would do if I did not accompany him because he had anger issues. The reason why I experienced trauma bonding with him. Idk, if he shared this with you, but we also had a baby.
That was our difference. You chose motherhood, I didn't. When I found out I was pregnant with him, we weren’t talking for a while (our whole rs was like that, on & off). Still informed him about it, and when he found out? he told me, "Mag-PT ka ulit, baka niloloko mo lang ako para bumalik ako." (ew) but I was afraid back then, so I did in front of him kasi akala ko gusto niya. I thought having a baby with him would change him, but it didn't. He still cheated on me despite knowing the fact that I was pregnant, so I decided not to continue my pregnancy because I had so many ambitions and couldn't risk them for someone who is incapable of loving. That includes both of us. I wasn't ready, and I couldn't imagine him being a good father to my child, nor could I because I didn't know how to love myself. Before that decision was made, a lot of “fixing” happened, I begged him several times, cried, and was still called insane while going through pregnancy just bc I was asking for assurance..
When I finally decided that there were no hopes for us, I finally blocked him everywhere and he was calling me thru his mom’s phone number— It was chaotic, and the only thing on my mind at the moment was that I needed to get rid of 'this' because my kid did not deserve what he was about to see, if he made it. I went to the OB alone and was terrified. I took three f*king PTs, and they were all as clear as water, indicating "positive". However, when they were checking up on me, the physicians informed me that they had trouble finding the baby's heartbeat. Yes, it was ectopic.
Am I a bad person if I felt relieved? Because I did. I was in anguish, too. I felt compelled to blame someone, and so I blamed it all on him. Ofc, he branded me "crazy" and had the audacity to say, "Kung di ka lang sana nag-isip nang nag-isip. Kasalanan mo yan!” After losing my kid, I never went back, but I still sobbed every fking day, wondering how in the world I could have met someone with no heart. I never even got an apology. Until December 202 (we were in no contact for 2 months, after losing my baby) he was following one of my best friends and saw me on her story, he sent my best friend a DM to introduce me to him again ‘para makabawi’ he said, I didn’t really understood what he meant by that, makabawi para sa nagawa niya? O para lokohin ulit ako? that’s when he began booty calling me again. I met with him while I was still in the process of moving on from everything and the trauma bond remained strong bc he told me he was sorry, that’s what I thought. I had no idea you were already with him at that moment, till the morning when he and I were still together, and saw that you were bomboarding his phone with messages and calls at 6 a.m. That’s when I knew. I saw myself in you. I went home feeling ashamed and disgusted with myself. Cried myself to sleep because I didn’t know anything, he fooled me once again. Worse, he made me his sidechick, something I wouldn’t even dream of becoming.
I’m sorry. I was about to confront you, but shame consumed me. I never intended to hurt another woman. But believe me, I never met him again despite of him sending me messages every now and then, despite the fact that I already blocked him everywhere & even changed my phone number, but still he asked where I was, if I was available, and anything else you can think of while you and him were together. The only thing I want from him is my money, which he owed me. Damn, I was so stupid.
But, anyhow, all I wanted to say was that while this may sound cliché, you did not deserve it, all the pain and self loathing. Scrolling over your reposts, I see you're also in pain because of your baby daddy. I am very sorry that you and your kid had to meet a monster. If you and him are still together and came across this, and the patterns remain the same. Do me a favor: get you your baby out of that boy's life because HE WILL NEVER MAN UP. I hope your find the strength to walk away because you don’t need someone who makes you feel unworthy of the right kind of love. You deserve a love you ought to give, and nothing less.
I assumed he told you about how I was the toxic one? Heck, I was. It's because he cheated on me several times, lied straight to my face after crying and running to me to come back over and over again, and still managed to hit up on girls while knowing I was pregnant. That’s what a narcissist does, I’ve had trust issues and anxiety as a result of him. In my perception, your existence was a blessing to me, it freed me from that situation. It was never easy, it really felt like I was going insane, bc how in the hell could someone do that to me— who had full of love in my heart, but shattered into pieces after offering a love that’s genuine. But I did, I was able to walk away and I hope you will too.
Girl, I sincerely hope that things will work out for you in the long run. Losing my angel, opened my eyes, and I pray it will do the same for you and your little one. I apologize if I also caused you pain. You deserve a love that is safe, calm, and at peace. Most of all, your baby do not deserve a father like that, you’ll both do fine on your own.
Please save yourself; no one will. I dodged a bullet, unaware that you would be the one to catch it. Please, just live even if it feels like dying; I promise you, it will be over shortly. Above all, prioritize your own well-being. We never deserved it; no one ever does. From woman to a woman, I am rooting for your healing, Mama. ❤️‍🩹

Let me get this out of the way: there are many teams who I hate more than the Vancouver Canucks. Sure, it was no fun losing to them in the Sedin era, but the twins themselves were decently likable. Except for Todd Bertuzzi, a legitimate piece of human filth, most of their franchise stars are, likewise, pretty likeable. Say what you well about Kesler, but it's hard to truly hate guys like Luongo, Naslund or Linden. Likewise, their team identity is simply cool: I genuinely like their color scheme, their logo, their jerseys, and the general vibe of Vancouver, housing/heroin crisis aside.
It’s a damn shame, then, that the seeds of greatness have been absolutely wasted on perhaps the worst fanbase in hockey. I’m not saying that Boston and Toronto aren’t insanely nauseating, but the Canucks fans are certainly up there. An entire season, we got to hear about how great the Canucks were, about how their team was totally not built upon sand and a high pdo, They plastered us in the regular season. They had six all-stars. Rick Tocchet was Scotty Bowman, but like, way better and balder. They brigaded the Oilers online spaces like few have ever done before. As much as Oilers fans talked a lot of shit, the Canucks kept it together in the regular season and rode that pdo to a division title. When the playoffs began, they capitalized upon one of the most single lucky performances I can ever remember to send the Predators home.
And then, the Canucks played a series against a good hockey team. My God, did the fans talk shit. The Canucks were a better team who would crush the Edmonton chokers. If you want to throw up in your mouth, look at any Canucks game thread: they had this shit in the bad. The Oilers had no defense, offense, or goaltending. And in the end, the Canucks did it. They went up 3-2. They won three whole games! The series went to seven! They came really, really close to forcing overtime! Some of the guys played with heart! They won the moral victory!
Oh, shit, that's right, they lost where it actually mattered, because that's what the Canucks do. They got their asses beat in '82. They got Messier'ed in '94. In '03, they blew a 3-1 lead to a worthless Wild team that scored one goal in the next round. In 2011... well, they took a team that was one of the best ever assembled on paper, almost choked against a husk-of-itself Blackhawks team, and then took that energy to Boston and blew a 2-0 and 3-2 lead, capped off by a 0-4 game seven. The next time you made it anywhere in the playoffs in 2020, you lost a 0-4 game seven. And now, here we are in 2024, and the Canucks have finally climbed the mountain and only lost 2-3 in the crunch.
Now, here come the buts. But Demko. But Boeser. But the refs. But the league. But actually, it was all fun and with no expectations, the second round was just icing on the top. But everything except taking responsibility and facing the truth: so long as they are tainted by the aura of the worst fanbase in hockey, the Canucks will never win shit. Going forward, this is the best roster the Canucks are going to get for years. Enjoy getting to play the "pay-or-let-walk/trade" game with Hronek, Lindholm, Zadorov, and Joshua, while also getting to replace your entire bottom six. This was your best chance, and you had two separate chances to at least make it to the WCF and make some memories. You blew it. Yeah, weird goalie injuries suck, and blood clots suck harder, but real contenders fight through those, or at least don't lay an egg in games six and seven bar a few flukey goals.
Petterson is legitmately bad when it matters. J.T. Miller had a crazy outlier year and is now really on the wrong side of 30. Ilya Mikheyev is a sack of bricks. Conor Garland sometimes looked scary, but then you look at his stats and remember he put up a grand 5 points in 13 playoff games. Hughes got outplayed by Bouchard when it truly mattered. Silovs wasn't good enough to steal the series. And it doesn't get any better from here!
We all know where this will go now: you guys will suck the Stars off and pretend that you would've have attacked them with just as much gusto had you won. You will make a bunch of pathetic posts about "GG Stars bros." We saw this with the Kings, a similarly pitiful fanbase, and we know how it goes. Maybe, just maybe, every team saying the Stars will curb stomp the Oilers will simply speak it into existence and hide the fact that your sorry-ass team can't even make it that far.
And for the record, Messier did you idiots a favor by exposing the rotten core of a soft team that couldn't win shit, and you’re too stupid to see it. Messier's presence on the team didn't force Garth Snow to be your starting goaltender, nor did it force Bure and Mogilny to never play defense. 90% of you morons couldn’t name a single thing about Wayne Maki. No Oilers fan has ever chanted "FUCK STEVE SMITH," because they have rings to cheer for instead of circlejerking their misery.
When will they learn? Even if the Canucks had won against the Oilers, had gone further, we all know that you would've just lost and rioted. Sadly, it’s not even like 2011 was the only time it happened. The Stanley Cup Victory Riot of 2___ (maybe 3___), which always be a hypothetical, will overshadow the Cup so much that when the junkies finally destroy the city for good or the prices cause literally everyone to move, assuming the Canuck fans don’t do destroy it themselves, people won’t even remember the riot was for a championship. You clowns can't handle losing, can't handle winning, and will never win a Cup.

Anyone else have this happen? Make a couples friend but when shit hits the fan they seem to get distant and weird?
The friend is getting space b/c they are focusing more on their relationship with god (they were never super religious before - and I'm not at all anymore)....and I've hurt their feelings on "several occasions" - their words (yet, I have no idea what was said or done that did so, even after apologizing and trying to offer to chat, listen to what hurt them, and share that I value them and our friendship and would like to repair it if possible). It seems odd b/c we've discussed challenging topics and disagreed with what seemed like mutual respect without anyone getting worked up or heated. I dunno. She's told me of times she's gotten into disagreements with others that seemed to get way heated, and if we did, we would share our opinions, but if we didn't agree, we would disagree, but it seemed to be without issue. I loved that. I have no idea, but maybe she didn't feel the same or avoided confrontation. Either way, I do not know b/c nothing was said about what I did that hurt her. Thinking about this later has annoyed me because I cannot be responsible for hurt feelings I was unaware of. If she wants to avoid sharing, that is her decision, but it's not something I can repair or even be accountable for when I honestly have no idea what I did that caused pain. But my brain still feels like I'm to blame (cue ADHD guilt and rumination)
This all feels strange b/c they know how I've been trying to make a plan to separate from my partner b/c of all the lying and just lack of support. They would gush about our friendship and myself and how they value both (I would also share how much I valued her, too). It was kind, and I thought so much of her. Yet, I am thinking it was possibly crap, b/c she said she wanted to avoid sharing b/c she didn't want it to be a big thing and could still be neighbors and friendly to me. That was why we should keep at our passions and be there when needed. But when I started to share how things were not okay with my spouse, it just seemed to get...odd, and after things got worse, the friend became more distant.
I am exhausted after busting my spouse for lying (about bigger issues) and just feeling fed up with it (this is not the first, second, or third time). That mess is another post in itself, but needless to say, I do have a plan, my degree will be finished in less than six months, and I am not going to let myself settle any further for being treated poorly by a person who needs to work on themselves (get a therapist) before even trying to work things out with me - couples therapy (which is also apart of the plan). But when I told the friend, they seemed to avoid the issue, apologize, and get distant and weird.
I feel like I was kicked while I was down. I have let them lean on me. I've been there and thought I would be given the same, but once my marriage seemed like it was going south and I might be looking for options, I felt ghosted. I asked if I offended or hurt them prior b/c of how they seemed distant, and they replied, "No, we are just busy and will reconnect when things calm down *we've both been busy for sure*). I asked twice (a month apart b/c they stopped being helpful with my kiddos - we'd usually help each other with our kids, like pick-up or drop off but they stopped and said how they couldn't provide that regularly (almost implying I was expecting too much and they thought it would be just once in a while- even though I cleared it with them before this as a regular thing once a week for myself after doing the same for them with their kiddo all summer). Still, after weeks of weird, distant behavior, I asked if I had offended or done something bc I was getting a strange vibe from our last interaction. I mentioned that I was sorry if I had done something to offend. I didn't want to cause an issue because I value them and our friendship. I also am/was super late on their gift (they were never home, and the gift - guacamole they said they loved that I made got eaten by the many kiddos I have in this place). I told them I would make more but wanted to deliver it when they were home (our schedules are just not aligned) and had offered (before their bday) to take them out for their bday for drinks. I only got a little in return when I mentioned this (even before the gift was late). It just felt like they wanted not to hang out. I let it go b/c I didn't want to keep at it. And then I got a long text about the god thing and what was said above after the last probe.
I cannot say this is the only reason; my kid also doesn't want to hang out with their kid as much anymore (they are now at different developmental stages—mine is a teenager while theirs is still a couple of years from that). But I'm mostly sad that when I needed a friend, they got distant when I told them how I wanted to separate and just needed to be away from my partner. I feel b/c our kids are no longer friends and that being my friend is no longer wanted (I cannot say I didn't see her do this to others by hanging with questionable people that she didn't like much, but her son was friends with them so she acted like she wanted to be their friend for her son's benefit). I wondered if I was in the same category, and I did ask this once before b/c of how she did mention avoiding one mom (whom she did give the impression were friends to this woman), and she was very adamant she loved me (as well as loved my family).
I've heard of this happening (distantly, but not anyone I KNOW), but I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this before. I have been negative for a bit after finding out about my husband's lying and how deep it goes (it has been problematic since December and just got to a breaking point in March). I try to be understanding and am willing to hear someone out and have worked hard on not getting defensive (even if I do so inside, I try to practice pausing before replying - avoiding my ADHD rigidity or my ego getting in the way of not taking feedback personally or as an identity). This hurts because I've worked hard on growth (which has been a determent to my marriage because I no longer accept that I'm always the problem). I am still determining what my marriage will look like. Still, I'd like to think that I had a real friend who would talk to me (they seemed to easily share shit that was beyond messed up and asked for my advice, which I usually suggested seeking support through therapy b/c the issues being presented seemed heavy - as well as personal perspective in trusting their feelings if something feels off *with family member turmoil and inappropriate behaviors). I figured I had a confidant; maybe are getting religious and having to let go of friends who weren't religious. I cannot deny it; I know people like that, and I moved away from all that long ago.
Maybe I am an ass, I don't know really, it just hits harder when my spouse is treating me like I'm awful and then this happens...makes me think maybe I am.

TLDR at the bottom
Hello people,
I would like to say that I am not a pro in the world of audio so I apologize if I make any mistakes. I'm currently looking for headphones to listen casually to music while studying/gaming. My playlist usually consists of mostly electronic music and a few game soundtracks here and there. As for the games I usually play mostly War Thunder so I would probably need one with a decent enough soundstage and imaging.
I am currently rocking the hifiman edition xs paired with the fiio k11 that connects to my laptop since I've read reviews that planar magnetics are good for electronic music because of the bass extension so I blind bought the edition xs. However, I find that the bass on the edition xs felt off for me even after eqing with dolby atmos (peace eq doesnt work on my laptop most of the time for some reason, probably need to look more into it). I felt like the bass thumps hard but it disappears immediately after.
Here are some samples of the songs that I usually listen to:
yetep & LOCKBOX - Deep End (ft. artemis orion)
Distrion - Alibi (feat. Heleen)
Cryjaxx - I Could Be The One (E.P.O remix)
AIKA - Misery Fantasy
Steam Phunk - Curtain Call (ft. Lucy Neville)
DECO*27 - Rabbit Hole (ft. Hatsune Miku)
ROY KNOX - Memory Box
Over Easy, MiNDTRiX, Ashley Mehta - Rosé
CADMIUM X Teminite - When I Fall
Gryffin, Carly Rae Jepsen - OMG
Blue Archive OST 120: Dive into Summer
Undertale OST 089: SAVE the World
Fairlane & Point North - Not My Night
MitiS - Only One (ft. Drowsy) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLViWq0tEA-n5k-pU1fU5tHtFcfcoZrlPr&si=rHCSBYuZdZxF9qm6 (can you put yt playlist links?)
I'm currently interested in the focal elex/clears as from what I've read people like it for electronic music, but other alternatives are welcome as long as the headphones are not too heavy (less than 500 grams perhaps?). I also dont really mind buying used as long as I can replace the earpads.
I have tried out a few headphones before owning the edition xs like the hd58x, he400se, and the hd800s
TLDR: Used/New headphone recommendations for electronic music with a little bit of jpop and game soundtracks under 1000 CAD?
Thank you very much for stopping by and reading this, I'm sorry if this is a bit long and have a nice day!

on my mind lately but i do want to share it.
about 8 years ago, i had a lot of problems and was in a bad abusive relationship and basically he threatened me that if i didn’t let him sneak in at night that he would do something to me so i let him. this was all because he got into a fight with my brother and my mom didn’t want him over anymore. but anyways. he came one night and he got caught in my room. my mom freaked. i was already dealing with mental health problems and this made it 100000x worse. she took everything from me. i would just sit in my room and cry. eventually my doctor found out i self harmed because of taking my blood pressure and they recommended i go to a psychiatric facility. at this time my mom was being extremely horrible to me.
when i was in, i met this girl there. a quiet small girl. i decided to let her sit at my table during the day and we quickly became friends. she didn’t have a phone or socials but i gave her my info just in case. about 5 months later, i got a facebook message from her. comes out she got a phone after she begged her family for one so she can talk to me. from then on, we talked pretty much every day and shared everything with each other. she lived kind of far so i wasn’t able to see her in person until a few years later when her family got a car. she started dating this kid we also met at the hospital… i supported their relationship 100%. she was my best friend. i even taught her how to drive!
when we did see each other semi-regularly in person, i brought her with me to hang out with me my then bf and his best friend. his friend met a girl at my church and they started dating. so i brought my friend with me to hang with all of us and her and that other girl became friends. it bothered me because that other girl i knew my whole life. we never got along. but i was being nice since she was dating my bfs friend. the girls exchanged snaps i guess and they talked a lot without me knowing…
one day friend tells me she is pregnant. she misses a birth control shot and her boyfriend finished in her. she said she didn’t want him to and she doesn’t know what to do. and sure enough she is indeed pregnant. her family didn’t have much. they were about to be evicted… no one worked… it was a tough situation. she considered abortion and i told her, i will support you no matter what you decide. either way i am here.
i went to the mall one day with my bf and his friend and that other girl. we got to talking and she started saying how my friend can’t get an abortion because that’s wrong and it’s murder and idk what else. i didn’t like that she was saying that. i told her it was my friends choice no matter what.
my friend was supposed to go for an abortion. says she went. then she tells me they said she was a day too late and they couldn’t do it. i said it’s okay, i will be here to help! i spent the rest of her pregnancy finding the baby clothes, buying them groceries so she doesn’t go hungry, and so much more. i stepped up as much as i could.
my friends bf got into an accident and i dropped everything and drove to her to pick her up and take her to the hospital to see him after o took her to buy stuff for his hospital stay. mind you, i had just gotten my license yet i was driving downtown just to make sure she got to see him since no one else was able to take her. i stayed with her a while and took her home. all that.
i even went to see her and the baby when she was born and took her whatever she wanted to eat and even took photos of the baby for her. i loved that baby and her so much. she wanted me to be her godmother!
fast forward to covid, i was sad because i couldn’t visit her anymore. i wanted to keep her and the baby safe! we still talked daily like nothing. then i found out she talked to that girl from my church (the girl that dated my bfs friend) … and i told her hay she isn’t a great person. no one at church likes her and i explained to her all the reasons why. and that she also was talking crap about her wanting an abortion and the names she was calling her like murderer and whatnot. she proceeded to get upset at me and told me not to tell her who to be friends with…. so she blocked me.
one day out of the blue a few days later she asks me why this girl (who introduced me and my then bf) was telling her how i told her her business about her being pregnant and me buying her stuff and her bfs accident …. and im like ? what? and it comes out that my friend and my bfs friends ex were so pressed that they went and messaged someone who they knew i wasn’t talking to. we talked like one time ages ago and i was talking about my friend a bit with no details. but they go and text her and she spills how i told them all this and so my friend gets mad and says she doesn’t like me doing shit for her because i’m just gonna throw it in her face later. i was confused. but i couldn’t force her to talk to me. so i gave up trying to explain and reason and she blocked me on everything.
comes out the 3 girls met up just to talk shit. the third girl i mentioned who they messaged to get info from ended up not talking to them anymore and she told me how they’d talk about me and pull up my social medias to make fun of me and my now partner.
I also found out she lied to me about the abortion… she wasn’t late to get it. she didn’t even go because the girl manipulated her into not getting it because she convinced her that she would be a murderer. literally convinced her to keep a child she couldn’t support and did nothing to help yet i spent time and money making sure her fridge was stocked and the baby had clothes.
what’s fucked up is the told the girls that the groceries i got her she didn’t like or didn’t eat yet i literally still have the text message of the stuff she wanted, brands and all… and i literally got exactly what she wanted. that really helped me realize that i shoukdnt do shit for anyone because no one will ever appreciate it.
it’s also funny that her boyfriend or whatever messaged me about 2 months after this happened trying to hook up. he said he was sorry she did that to me. that he told her not to do it. and then said he wants to meet up to hookup and that he always thought i was hotter and that he only stayed with her because she needed someone LOL. so messed up. but anyways…
this whole situation caused me to spiral and almost attempt suicide. i ended my relationship as well but that wasn’t as painful as losing my best friend …. i’ve never felt a pain like that before. it hurt so much. and it still does hurt to think about. i ended up in the psych ward 3 months after my best friend blocked me. i’ve been different ever since.
the third girl i mentioned is now cool with me and we are on good terms. she apologized for engaging with them and talking to them. she assured me that what they did was wrong and i never did anything wrong in my friend ship with my best friend.
did i do something wrong? it’s been 4 years now and i still wonder what i could’ve done different.
i live in a different state and im in a great relationship now and life is great but i still miss having a close friend like that. no friendship will ever compare to the one i had with her ….
please tell me if you think i did something wrong i really want to know.
it’s eating away at me again …
***this all happened 4 years ago but she did reach out to me about 2 years ago from her dads facebook letting me know that he passed away since he really liked me a lot and i did talk to him every so often and when i would visit and take them food. it was kind of her to do that but the extent of the conversation was just that he loved me and that she wanted to let me know because he would want that. that broke me even further that she knew her family liked me yet chose to leave me anyway.

How do I start?
Hi. Im a 30M na may partner na 34M. He's my first. Naka isang gf lang ako tapos siya na. Kung san pa ko humugot ng lakas ng loob makaamin lang na gusto ko siya, and I did it over the phone.
Now, we're reaching our 2nd year.
Early stages ng relationship was like heaven. Best days of my life. Pero of course, there are shaky moments, actually madalas.
It all started when I tried to browse his phone. He came from a relationship (same sex) Where he allowed na maging number 2. Nung kinukwento nya to habang nanliligaw pa lang ako eh, I can totally feel the pain and how devastated he was. Kaya medyo nahirapan siya pagtiwalaan ako nung una. I saw some videos, during the time na nag eexplore siya (G app) Kasi prior to the number 2 situation, nagka rel pa siya na didnt end well too. I asked him why the videos are still there. ( I saw them on his very old phone na ginagamit lang nya for bank transfers) He said, years na bago ung last na check nya dun sa phone na yun and didnt know it was still there. So to put an end on this argument, I took the liberty of deleting every single thing, for my peace of mind as well.
Then there came a time na I had a problem financially during the rel. Nag offer kasi si bank ng loan, I took it. We spent it mostly, going out of town, cebu, tagaytay, galera etc, and magbili bili ng gamit sa apartment na nirerent nya. So basically, we were building our life together.
So, nung nagsimula na ung time na palagi akong CWD, tinanong nya ano nangyayare kung may loan ba ko, baket lagi ako gipit, kasi di na ko nakakapag bigay ng share ko sa expenses. I lied. Told him na wala akong loan, na majority lang ng sahod ay napupunta sa family.
This kept going on for months, ramdam ko ung stress nya sa pera dahil napapaheram na din siya sa family nya, feeling nya wala siya katulong, based don sa kwento nya sa mga friends namin, di nya masabi saken kasi nga mahal nya ko at ayaw nya ako pauwiin/paalisin.
Then, there were 2 instances din na minsan nakakuha ako pera sakanya ng di nya nalalaman. Sobrang mali. Sobrang sising sisi ako na ginawa ko yon. Moreover, nung nag stay temporarily ung isang friend namin sa apt (kasi walang wala din yon) nalaman namin na pwede pala unahan si bank sa pagkaltas, so gagawin hintayin macredit sahod then bibilisan ang transfer sa ewallet para di madeduct sa loan, don ko na lang nashare na may loan din ako, not directly to him, nabrought lang yung convo kaya nasabi ko na din.
When it comes to intimacy, we've never done penetration, ever. So I know that u guys knew what we were doing. Last time we did it was last year. After non wala na, recently nag ask ako kasi nga 1yr na nakalipas, sabe nya, puro kasi problema kaya pano gaganahan. I accepted kasi totoo naman.
Magkawork kami sa office at magkateam, after a year, napromote ako into level II. Actually sabay kami nag apply pero ako lang nakuha. Lungkot din sya non, kasi sabay kami inapproach to apply pero ako lang nakuha. He felt left behind, na parang wala siyang growth don. So he resigned.
Last year December, I lost my mom. Wala na siya sa office non, ako andon pa. Sobrang sakit mawalan ng magulang. I expressed my intention to him na reresign na din ako don kasi I lost my focus, I lost myself, gusto ko lang magkulong at magluksa.
He kept telling me na while andon pa ko and if Im planning to resign, mag apply apply na ko sa iba para di ako mabakante ng matagal. I didnt listen. Umalis ako at nagpahinga with my final pay as my only source, dun pa din sa apartment. Then, malapit na maubos funds ko saka lang ako nag apply apply, nahirapan ako, up to now naghihintay pa din ako ng final interview.
Siya naman, nakapag start na ulet mag work. Bumalik sa dati ang sitwasyon. Pinapasan nya ulit lahat, waiting for me na makabangon. Kaya lang di na nya nahintay.
He told me na napagod na siya maghintay makabangon ako, pinilit naman nya. Kasi ung pinangsimula nya, sa family nya siya umasa eh. So yun ang binubuno nya hulugan ngayon. Sabe nya saken, somehow nagsisi siya at nalungkot makita na nalugmok ako. Hindi ako nakakapag pagupit, sobrang pumayat ako, bumagsak katawan ko, bigat na bigat ako sa sarili ko.
Then sa office nila, may umaaligid saknya na guy. Nagpaparamdam. Before he started working, he gave me a headsup na hindi nya ipapaalam na Bi siya na may partner siya. I said ok, kasi discreet din kami nung una then eventually nalaman din kasi dahil saken din, I was just proud na kami, we're together.
This guy kept on sending him flirty messages, nag effort pa yun kumuha mga stolen pictures nya then isesend sa msnger with a caption "pogiii" I asked him sino yun, sabe kawork, at biro biro lang yon, palabiro talaga at may ibang nililigawan sa office. Di naman nya mapagbawalan magsend kasi di nga alam na may partner, tinatawanan lang nya pag nirereplayan nya. Pero I know na may something don sa guy. Na naaamoy nya partner ko.
Then saturday came, naginuman sila buong team. Mga 2pm na siya nakauwi, out nya 5am. Lasing na lasing, di alam pano nakauwi. So, forda alaga ako. While he was sleeping, sunday morning, I had an urge to check his phone, nilagay ko daliri nya kasi tinanggal na nya fingerprint ko at iniba ung pin dahil sa instance ng pangungupit.
The guy messaged him, called him "daddy mwa" at "wag mo ipagkalat sa office kung gano ko kasarap humalik kasi di naman ako magpapagaw"
P*******NA
Kahit tulog pa siya, talagang sumigaw ako. Sabe ako ano ibig sabihin neto at pano nya nagawa saken to. Nung sinagot nya ko siya ba nag sabe na "wag mo akong lolokohin" And then this??!!!
He said, hindi nya alam, wala siya matandaan, lasing siya. Typical reasoning.
Sobrang nagiinit ang emosyon ko, sabe ko papuntahin nya ung guy or tawagan at mag uusap kaming tatlo. Ang tinawagan nya, ung straight friend na offcmate nya to ask if nakita nya siya naghalikan, sabe non hindi nya alam, hindi nya matandaan.
Now, we're taking a break. Physically, intimately, emotionally. Dun nya nabrought ung struggle namin financially na naging deciding factor para sakanya.
Monday, the day I packed my stuff (Di ko nakuha lahat kasi andami) We had a mature conversation before I left, na aayusin muna ang mga buhay buhay, lalo na ko since wala ko work at pera, ang hirap kumilos. Then kapag ok na lahat, maybe we can try again. Focus muna ako sa sarili at pamilya ko, kasi pati rent namin sa bahay where are father lives ay behind na, malapit na kami maapaalis.
So, yun ang usapan.
The next day, siguro tinadhana na din na mahanap ko ung acct ni guy. Matagal ko na kasi talagang hinanap. Di ko napigilan at minessage ko, di ko inaway or minura. I kept it professional.
Told the guy na nababasa ko lahat ng chat nya lalo na ung inuman scene, told him na may partner is not available, not single kaya please pakitigil.
Sinend nya ung message ko na yun sa partner ko with a message "hindi ka pala single, gago ka" He said sorry to the guy.
Inabisuhan ko naman partner ko na nahanap ko ung acct, sinend ko din ung sinabi ko to prove na di ko inaway. Asked him what he feels, he said na di nya alam, na sana hinayaan ko na siya na magsabi. Sabe ko naman, kung matagal mo na sinabi, hindi aabot sa ganto.
Right now, nag uusap pa din kami. Minsan sobrang nakukulitan din ako sa sarili ko kasi nag usap na kami na time and space nga pero madalas ko pa din siya chinecheck. Maybe I'm still at the withdrawal stage. Nag apologize ako, and said unti unti kong ititigil. Na ano pang sense nung napag usapan kung araw araw pa din ako chat ng chat.
I asked an update don sa guy, sabe di na sila naguusap at nagpapansinan kasi galit nga. Na awkward na nga sa work.
Kagabi galing ako don, nag ask ako permission to stay the night kasi late na natapos interviews at wala na ko masasakyan pauwi. He agreed. Medyo inis pa nga siya na andon ako ulit eh akala nya ba may pinag usapan kami, sabe nya. Pero naging ok naman eventually.
Now, Im back home, pinipigil tanggalin siya sa sistema ko muna. Masyado ko kasi pinaikot mundo ko sakanya, kaya napabaayan ko na sarili ko. Katapos lang namin mag chat over IG pero hindi kami ok. Kulit ko din kasi talaga. Baka sa kakulitan ko eh icut na nya comms ng tuluyan para don talaga sa time and space. Kaya tumigil na ko, pipigilan ko hanggat maaari.
What are your thoughts on this po? Sobrang bait din niya kasi sabe nya pagsahod nya, bibigyan nya ko pang simula. Di na muna nya huhulugan family nya.
Im still trying to continue my life na di siya nakakausap, kasama at nakikita. Focus muna ako ibangon ang sarili ko, yun din sabe nya, na nawala na ung taong nakilala nya at minahal nya. I guess, heto muna ang mundo ko.
Help please.

Hi all. Its 3am where I am and I can't sleep because I've had a bit of a back slide. I'm posting on my a burner which is funny because I've never used my real account to post here. Forgive me if this comes off as rambling I just want to use this post to get out as much raw emotion as possible.
So in 2020, I met this girl on Twitter and we kicked off a pretty cool friendship. She was older than I was but I have other friends who I share a similar gap with thanks to university so this was nothing new for me. I was in my 2nd year but she'd already finished university and was working as a biochemist which I was really enamored with because coincidentally, biochem/microbio was my passion. We had alot of shared interests such as reading and anime and I came to really enjoy speaking with her. Things got to the point where we were telling each other everything and I even opened up to her about my depression, and she shared the same with me. It was honestly very reassuring to speak to someone who had similar struggles, but was also on a level of emotional maturity that I could relate to. Things came to pass and she started taking anti depressants. I'd had friends who'd undergone the same medication route so I didn't take things to heart when she started replying to me in a strange manner. The truth of the matter is I'd already made the habit of seeing what I wanted to see. There were plenty of moments where she herself would ask why I put up with her considering she was "such a bitch to me", but in my mind, if she had the awareness to make this statement, she had what it took to treat me kinder. I realize how naive and weak I sound.
About a year in, our conversations were at our lowest. If I wasn't getting left on seen, she was only sending maybe 1 or 2 messages per day. I tried to remain patient, knowing the depressive and anxiety symptoms of anti depressants worsen before things return to normal. But I stupidly thought maybe now of all times she could use a friend so I should hang in there. I was wrong. Finally she ghosted me and it hurt. It was the first time it had ever happened to me, which shows how little life experience I had. But it hurt regardless. Especially considering how close I thought we were, and the fact we still followed each other so I could see she still was active despite never responding to me. I went through a pretty anxious time wondering what I'd done wrong or if I'd been too overbearing or even overstayed my welcome in the friendship. It was pretty devastating not receiving any answers to this but I had no choice but to move on. To try and ease some of it I stopped using Twitter all together and didn't log on until my friend had said he'd sent me a post on there he wanted me to see. This was almost a year later at this point. I checked my messages and saw that I had 2 notifications instead of 1. I thought it was a bot so I went to delete it, but it was her. There was no apology or anything. More or less she just asked "where I went" and "what happened to our convo". I was pretty baffled but stupidly I responded.
We got to catching up In a more formal manner as I was keeping her at an arms length. Until it was apparent she really was trying to pick up where we left off, as though almost a year hadn't passed. So I snapped and asked her what the fuck happened, and she had said that she met someone. Her meeting someone I couldn't care less about, but why couldn't this have just been said. If she wanted me to fuck off for the sake of focusing on the guy, then sure I'd at least know why I was being kicked to the curb. But it was for a 2 week fling that didn't last. She explained all this to me and ended it with "so there you have it 👍🏿". No real apology or resentment. Just a summary.
I don't consider myself an emotional guy, but considering it's nearly 4am now and I'm ranting about how my feelings got hurt maybe I am. But I decided to stick up for myself and tell her what she did wasn't cool. We'd spent a year talking daily, and to just leave me in the cold like that was pretty lame. If she didn't want to speak with me anymore that's all that needed to be said. I told her how I felt in a pretty long paragraph which actually felt good. She asked me if I was finished and I briefly thought I'd actually gotten through to her over how she made me feel inadequate. It turns out she was asking if I had more to say, because she was reading my "tantrum" aloud to her friends and they were all laughing at it. Even now I don't have the words to describe how it felt hearing that. The one time I decided to be vulnerable I was literally mocked. She ghosted me again shortly after.
Finally we get to the part where I ask for perspective. A few days ago I was speaking with my friend, and he remembered I'd been "talking to a girl" some time back and wondering what happened with that. I explained what happened, and he agreed she was lame. He asked me if I'd been "talking to anyone else" since then, I'd I explained that it feels weird trying to talk to new people because I have this strange suspicion that anything I say to them, they'll just share with their friends. I was joking when I said that, but he explained that he believes I'm "traumatized". I don't think that's necessarily the case as trauma is a pretty intense thing to endure, and this was more or less just a failed friendship. All this to ask, for anyone who A.actually read all of this (thank you and I'm sorry for the length) and B. Has gone through a similar situation: do I sound "traumatized"? Before this girl I truly could be described as a quiet person who didn't share things, and was just not emotional in general, so I still feel the same and maybe am therefore biased. But is this irrational fear of having my information and feelings spread a sign of something deeper? Thanks again for reading.

I'm sorry if this is long. To keep you somewhat in the loop I'm 27F, my mother is 53F, sperm donor is 60M, little sister is 25F.
My parents divorced when I was 2 and my little sister was an infant. In the split, our sperm donor took me and left my little sister with my mother. At first there was some kind of visitation happening due to help from social services, however with my sperm donor being a classic narcissist he managed to hide me from them, or evade visitation days claiming we were away somewhere.
My mother at the time was new to the country I grew up in (Nordics), so she didn't speak the language much nor did she know which cultures were normal or how the social service system worked. My mother moved to my home country, married my sperm donor the same year and I was born a year later. He kept her locked up at home, and if she wanted to see friends or go out he would drop her off, give her an hour or so, and pick her up again, complete control. She had no chance of learning more about anything even if she wanted to.
He raised me telling me my mother is an abusive, evil witch who would kidnap me back to her home country if I went to her house. Being a child, of course I believed this, and when she showed up at my school with my siblings so we could see each other I started scream crying. This was when I was 6 or 7. I went home and told him about this, and his response was to 'not believe in her crocodile tears'. She was heartbroken, but I was taught it was fake. If social services showed up with her at our house for visitation, I was told to pull my curtains and hide, not go near windows or make any noise. I didn't know who they were at the time, so I did what he told me to do.
Growing up I also spent a lot of time at my grandparents house since sperm donor had more important things to do (like meet strange women off the internet, engage in shady politics or harass foreign women (he's racist btw). This should've been a safe haven, but he didn't leave me there without giving them a long list of rules regarding how I was to be treated, what I was allowed to eat and what chores I was to do that day. My grandparents, despite being the sweetest people on earth, are extreme enablers and did not dare go against his word, probably in fear of me being taken away from them too.
With sperm donor being a textbook narcissist these things were normal to me. During my childhood I was extremely isolated from other people and their families, I was interrogated if I wanted to see any friends (not that I had many, I was the weirdo kid and got bullied throughout school), and I was forced into multiple different sports. If I got bored of one I had to pick a new one, I was always in at least 2 but sometimes juggled 3 different ones at the same time. I was a kid, maybe 9-10?
He was a hoarder, there were paths through the house you had to walk through cause there was so much stuff everywhere. He'd never throw anything away, and if he did, it was my toys and belongings. He occasionally cleaned up the house for guests, maybe once every few years. When the house became messy again due to his hoarding he blamed me for it and said it was because I left my toys/drawings/pencils out after using them.
There's a lot more to the story of my upbringing but these are the key points. I was emotionally and physically abused and because of that I have been NC with sperm donor for about 7 years now.
I left him when I was 13, lived at my grandparents house for a year (he thought it was because he told me to, cause he got "death threats"), got in touch with my mother (I did not know her at all at this time due to him cutting her out of my life) and at 14 I moved in with my her and little sister. I'd never had a mother figure and so I didn't know what to expect, but what I got was a essentially a friend instead of a mother. I didn't get many rules set for me at her house and so I tried to be a responsible kid and be home on time etc, I didn't want my freedom taken away again. She would hang out with me and my friends if they were over and sometimes she'd let us have a sneaky drink/smoke here and there (towards like 15/16), so to my friends she was the coolest mum. She didn't act like an adult, she unloaded her emotional problems on me, I was the mediator between her and my little sister when they fought and I made sure they communicated and resolved it. I'd listen and hold her when she cried, and give advice as best I could since I was a teenager. She couldn't hold down a job because of her emotional issues, so she relied heavily on benefits and whichever guy she was dating at the time. It wasn't a healthy environment, and all this was projected onto me and my sister.
My mother now lives in South America again and we haven't seen her since 2019, she's not made any arrangements to come back to Europe and visit. She still hasn't learned how to reflect on her behaviour and any attempts to talk to her about her unhealthy habits and behaviours are met with either tears or hostility as she sees it purely as criticism. She won't listen despite several attempts from me and my little sister, because of this we are both LC with her.
I left my home country at 19, I'm an adult now, and I can see so clearly why I'm so messed up, but I just can't let go. I've been in and out of talking therapy, psychiatrists, CBT and grief counselling since I was 17. I know the techniques, I have the tools, and I have been practicing them to get better, but I just don't. I've tried medication too and they work until they stop working, it's pointless. If anything, the more time passes the more sad and resentful I become.
All I want is acknowledgement from either of them, for them to say they were wrong, an apology and some self work, anything. But I am left without a real mother and father. I have great support, my auntie is the closest thing I have to a mother and she's really stepped up in that role, even though she doesn't have to. My boyfriend is amazing and looks after my every need. But I'm so stuck on the past, I can't get over it. I have so many mental issues because of them and I really struggle getting through this life. I know there are people who have had it way worse but it just feels so unfair.
I'm not really sure what I want to get across by posting this. No one has ever acknowledged that sperm donor is a narcissist who took my only childhood away.
Thank you for reading.

So, in May 2023, my friend (Em f23) and I (f28) had a conversation that started off friendly. Just chit-chat and funny anecdotes from the day. She brought up a situation with her coworker she enjoyed. It involved tourettes and one of her coworkers' specific tics.
I made a comment that I genuinely didn't think much of at the time. It was just some trivia I knew of and thought was interesting. Specifically that people with tourettes can 'catch' or involuntarily copy tics from other people with tourettes. It's something I learned from watching content made by people with tourettes. She made a comment like, "Maybe it's not like that, in this specific situation with my coworker."
Here's where I should have realised she was not interested in my trivia. What I definitely didn't realise was that it in fact made her mad, but I kept pushing anyways because I felt I was correct, that the coworker had picked up the tic from a well know streamer because it was literally identical. Em then stopped answering, after a couple hours of silence I asked her if she was actually mad about what I said and she responded with "Its fucking fine." Cue her not talking to me at all for 3 days. On the third day, she said we needed to have a sit-down conversation about boundaries because she "is having big feelings." her words, not mine.
I was so confused about what would have triggered her wanting to talk about boundaries when the conversation we had was a mild disagreement at worst. I would understand if I said something offensive, but I literally just said a fact and my opinion on her coworker, I didn't try to force her to agree, and there's proof of the streamer with that specific tic so it wasn't like I was lying to be able to one up her or something? I don't know, this whole part of the situation is incredibly confusing to me because she never talked about why that conversation triggered her to give me the silent treatment in the first place or how it led her to wanting to talk about boundaries. In the end, the boundaries she talked about much much later had nothing to do with this conversation even though it seemed to be what caused her to want boundaries. Idk, I'm still very confused about what actually caused her to want to have the discussion after the three days of silence and a minor disagreement.
At this point, still May 2023, I was in severe pain, but I did not know it was cancer yet. I was barely making it through each day with how much I was in pain. The tumor is in my leg, growing out of the top portion of my tibia in a way that has made the tibial platue hollow, or essentially a whisper thin shell of bone filled with slime, sorry but that's the best way to describe it. At any moment, my surgeon told me this later, I could have broken that thin bone and had a collapsed knee joint. I say this so you you know when I talk about pain here, I'm talking excruciating levels of pain.
So walking specifically and everything else was extremely painful, and that was taking a lot of energy and brain space. I told her I was in a ton of pain. I was exhausted and barely scraping by just to keep working while waiting for my doctors visits to hopefully figure out what was wrong. I said I would try to find a day to have "the talk," but things just kept getting worse. By the end of July I had seen four different doctors, three of which thought I was just trying to get drugs, the last one was an orthopedic doctor and she took two minutes of looking at an xray and another minute of looking at my leg to say I most likely had a tumor.
The official on paper diagnosis came in September because of the waiting time to meet with the surgeon, but we knew it was a tumor in August. I was put on essentially bed rest from august to the day I had surgery September 27th. I told Em about the tumor the day I got the MRI results which I had in mid August to prepare for the appointment with the surgeon. Her response was extremely upsetting to me.
Em: "That's a lot to deal with. The possibility of having a malignant tumor is scary and can make you really question life. When you're put into a situation like that, it forces you to look back on your life and reevaluate. You find out what you really want out of life and what you waisted too much time dealing with. That's really tough. I'm sorry I made you feel like you couldn't talk to me about your pain. Being more supportive of each other was something I wanted to talk about. Hopefully, you have a sweet and easy recovery."
That response hurt, it felt like she was saying I had a lot to regret in life and like I didn't have much time left to live to fix my regrets. But I thanked her for the empathy she tried to give and moved on. After that she never checked in on me, never asked how I was or what the plan of treatment was. My surgery was scheduled for the end of Spetember, the day after her birthday. I wished her a happy birthday. Then I let her know after the surgery that everything went well and that I was going to be in the hopsital for a few days. I was loopy on strong pain meds so i also told her that my nurse drew me a cute doodle on my white board, she said ".That's great! Hopefully you heal fast so you can go on a date with her. 😉" which was totally out of the blue. I havent dated anyone in the time Ive know or been friends with Em. Im asexual, and an extreme introvert, dating is not really my thing and she knows this. So that comment was very weird to me. After that she never even texted to check in on me or tried to visit me in the 5 days I stayed in the hospital after the surgery. Keep in mind, we are supposedly best friends.
I almost considered our friendship over by then, but I reached out to her when I was pretty much back on my feet to see what was going on and asked her what the conversation about boundaries was about. I apologized for being too chicken shit to ask about it earlier because I don't do well emotionally with getting criticism even when it's valid and I know I need to hear it. On top of that I was (and still am) dealing with fucking cancer. Not an excuse, it is an explanation though. So I apologized.
Her responses here, copy and pasted from our messages:
Em:
"First off I want so say that it's very respectable that you are willing to admit what you did wrong. Thank you for the apology.
Secondly, I don't know if the the conversation is still worth having. I'd be lying if I said I was devastated that we dropped off and didn't communicate for months. To be brutally honest, my life has drastically improved in our time apart. I'm so much more effective and positive. I'm very proud of how far I've come.
That's not to say I believed that you were the soul cause of all of my misfortune. In fact one of the boundaries I wanted to set was actual planned dates instead of spontaneous ones. Because I realized that I was using you like a form of procrastination. I couldn't do the things I needed to do because I chose to hang out with you instead. With my main distraction gone I've been able to thoroughly work through my shit, mental and physical.
When we last hung out I remembered feeling dark and heavy afterwards because it was nothing special. It was just a normal outing for us. I remember feeling angry that what we should have talked about wasn't addressed. Annoyed that it seemed like nothing had changed and that I had not changed. And scared that opening up communication could lead to me falling back into the pit again.
I don't know if we should have the original talk because so much has changed for both of us. We both equally walked over our own thresholds of hell. What I had to say months ago, I believe was true then, but I don't think it will be true now. I think it's quite possible for us to start anew and correct and develop as we go. But I think it would be just as easy to admit our friendship was a great experience. We were there when we needed each other. But it might be time to go our separate ways.
I will say, if we collectively choose to merge back together. I WON'T let it be the same. I don't want you to tell me every tiny dark secret. But I do want you to tell me that you want to stop at game stop and ask me to take you somewhere. Without fear of gas. I want you to tell me if it pisses you off that I take you to only crystal shops or that I talk about spiritually. Because I want to improve. I have no intention of continuing a relationship that doesn't inspire growth or bring me positivity."
So she stopped talking to me, because she had no self-control. She abandoned me during the worst medical crisis of my fucking life, because she doesn't know how to manage her time or her motivation. She punished me, for her problems. To be very specific the spontaneous hanging out was nearly 100% on her. I would ask to hang out rarely, because I never had the chance to because she would be asking to see me multiple times a week.
I'm not a social person, so other than work I don't have much going on and she was my best friend. I wasn't going to say no if I didn't have any other plans. She never brought up that she was procrastinating anything by hanging out with me. Never a peep. Never a hint. Nothing. I had no idea any of that was going on. If I did know I would have been 150,000% there to support her by asking how her goals were going, how her chores were going. Hell I would have helped her do chores as our hang out if she had asked. I did help her with some stuff. Painting her head board, rearranging and cleaning her room, working on crafts when she needed motivation to finish a piece for a friend, being a study buddy when she needed to focus on her mental health books, things like that.
Also in what world is learning to be accountable for your own actions and vacuuming regularly the same as going through cancer? I don't like comparing pain or life struggles usually, but this was a crossed line for me. For her to say her dealing with procrastination was an "equal threshold of hell" as my bone eating tumor and excruciating pain and the fear of it spreading to other parts of my body, it infuriates me still to think about that.
So I am now hurt and angry as hell, that she stopped talking to me over seemingly nothing that I did. I had no idea what was going on with the tourettes coworker conversation that ended in "its fucking fine" from her and then her next message was about her needing to set boundaries. And then she says her life is better without me in it.
Friendship effectively over. Or it should have been.
Here's where I'm a bit of an asshole.
I took her back. I said we could try again. That we both needed to improve but that we could do it better this time. At the time I genuinely believed it. For a couple weeks.
Then the more I thought about laying in that hospital bed, alone, wishing I had someone to distract me from the pain and fear, the more I started to realise her reasons for cutting contact was bullshit. Her wanting to have this big talk about boundaries and the boundaries she wanted were literally nothing I could do they were all her issues with her own decisions and there's was nothing I could change about myself to fix the problem she was putting 50/50 on my shoulders. Her saying her life was better without me when that whole time I was crying over missing her and trying to figure out what I did wrong where I fucked up, what I could do or say to fix it. It all just added up too much and so I sent her one last message.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking and going through my emotions and I think I'm going to step back from whatever this friendship has turned into. I'll be honest I feel betrayed that you didn't even try to support me going through cancer. I understand things were rocky when I got my diagnosis, however if our friendship was important to you on any level I can't understand why you didn't even text me to see how I was doing for months at a time when you knew I was going through one of, if not the most, difficult medical diagnosis humans can get. I felt completely abandoned, especially since the reason we even stopped talking and hanging out was because of your own procrastination issues which I had nothing to do with. If you had even just told me that you needed to get things done before we could hang out I would have supported you unconditionally. Instead you gave a vague "we need to talk about boundaries and being more supportive of each other." And then never supported me in the darkest time of my life so far. It's taken me a while to get to the root of why I feel the way I do, but I don't think I can just let this go like I wanted to. I loved being your friend and it always felt like you valued my friendship too, until you were cutting me off because of your poor time management. I know that will sound harsh, I'm sorry, but it's true. I have my own issues that hurt you, I know that and I really am sorry. I am sorry I could never reciprocate financially, I'm sorry you were the one always picking me up and driving. I'm sorry that I never gave you the birthday or Christmas gifts you wanted. Thank you for all the amazing times. Goodbye."
To clarify the gift thing, I have been very poor for a long time. I am neurodivergent and I struggle to hold down a job. But I hand made her gifts, or cooked for her. The last thing I made for her was a crochet mandala blanket, please look up Radiance Mandala Blanket to see how much effort I went to, she picked the colors and I made her a lap blanket version for christmas 2022. It took her less than a month to complain that she wished she could have picked the colors. SHE DID. I told her to pick a pallet of colors specifically for her blanket and did my best to match the colors she picked with yarn I already owned. It wasn't perfect but I got it as close as I could. I don't like to make a big deal out of things I do for people because giving to the ones I love is literally the easiest thing in the world for me. But to have her act like I didnt try to make it as perfect for her as I could hurt so much.
Anyways, back to me telling her I was done. Her reply back pissed me off, maybe because I was already angry. It felt so patronizing and dismissive. But that might just be because of all the emotions I was already feeling at the time I read it.
Em: "Your feelings are valid. I'm sorry I made you feel abandoned in the hardest time. I wish you the best of luck on your way through life. Fall in love, have your farm, raise your kids, craft wonderful creations, enjoy the many YouTube videos to come, and don't forget to live your best self. I'll take this harsh lesson and apply it to friendships in the future. Live long and prosper, my friend, and have many pleasant wanderings."
Harsh lesson my ass. If it was harsh for anyone it was harsh for me to learn my best friend gave absolutely no shits about me and couldnt be bothered to try and support me through this medical crisis. We haven't spoken since. I have her blocked on everything. So, aita for cutting off Em? Even though I'm angry, I'm conflicted because I still love her, she was my best friend for 6 years.

Apologies for the long read ahead, just trying to give context 😅
(I'm SAI if that matters, no pituitary tumor, not caused my steroid use, they aren't sure of cause, possibly post partum hemorrhage and secondary post partum hemorrhage but endocrine aren't sure.)
Tips on sick dosing on hydrocortisone for tummy bugs? My normal daily dose is 10mg waking, 5mg 12-2pm 5mg 5-7pm (depending when I wake and take first dose)
Last weekend I caught a tummy bug from my kids, had doubled my dose, and I didn't feel too bad, threw up maybe 5x throughout the course of it. Come Tuesday I went into my doctor for routine bloods.. Dr didn't even take my bloods, my BP was 83/something and HR 144 and he rung me an ambulance and sent me straight to hospital from the doctors surgery 🙃
hospital had me on 24h fluids and 6hrly IV hydrocortisone 100mg.
Wednesday night i was allowed home again and told to take double my dose for a few days.
Friday was my beautiful daughter's 9th birthday and we had her best friend stay the weekend, was a busy weekend but was great, then yesterday (monday) I had awful abdominal pain and a very upset stomach, was on the toilet most of the day (sorry for TMI) i thought maybe food poisoning but my daughters friend apparently had been up vomitting since 2am Monday, so I'm thinking it's actually ANOTHER stomach bug.
I've been keeping up my anti nausea and have only thrown up once, but the gut is really not happy still.. have taken double dose again but worried I'm doubling too much/often? BP 93/74.
Just after some advice around recurrent illnesses? I'm scared for the winter bugs to come, only diagnosed in September, and have spent 7ish weeks all up in hospital since then with a multitude of different problems, all in turn effecting my cortisol, and I'm just wanting to avoid hospital as much as I can, my babies (9y and 6y) need me home ❤️ but of course they need a healthy mum too.
If you managed to get this far, thankyou ❤️

Broke up with my boyfriend because he was gaslighting me, blaming me for my feelings, not respecting my boundaries, and lying to me. He broke up with me three separate times in the month of April and told me he fell out of love with me and then changed his mind miraculously thirty minutes later. After the third time of him breaking up with me (and insisting upon seeing female friend he lied to me about and told me he would no longer be friends with) I decided I had enough and that I am worth way more than the fucked up way that he was treating me. He sobbed cried and begged me not to, promising that he would do “whatever it takes” to make it work (including going to therapy). I said we could talk in a month and take it from there but that right now I needed space and no contact until then. He couldn’t respect that, continued messaging me and leaving flowers outside my front door. I blocked him. He called me seven times from his friends phone (I ignored). Then I found out something from a friend. A girl we went to school with had told her that my boyfriend had made her uncomfortable at a party and was making moves on her. I texted the girl and, low and behold, it was true. She also sent me screenshots of the texts he had sent her a year ago (while we had been together for about eight months). One of them was after the party and said “your dress looked amazing last night”. Keep in mind that this was a girl that I had felt weird about and he convinced me that I was crazy and I apologized to him for being insecure and crazy. Then I find out I was right all along. He also used that scenario to remind me of how I had been crazy when I was feeling weird about a new female friend he had made. He justified lying about spending time alone with that woman because he didn’t want me to be crazy like I had been before. I’ve never called him names i’ve never been violent I’ve never done anything that could possibly be construed as crazy but that’s not the point.
I was completely done. I sent him one last text and blocked him for good. It’s been almost a week now. He’s sent me several emails, claiming he just tried to be friends with her. He’s convinced all his friends that he is the victim and I’m a heartless piece of shit that didn’t talk to him first before believing lies. There are no lies. She sent me screenshots. I’ve been angry and disgusted. I’m convinced he’s a narcissist. He’s admitted to not having empathy for me. I do also worry that maybe I did the wrong thing by completely cutting him off and blocking him everywhere without giving him the chance to talk. However in his emails he still takes no accountability and turns himself into the victim. We were together almost two years and I want to treat our relationship like a real relationship and him like a real person but I’m finding out more and more that he’s not a real person…
I’m conflicted on if I should respond or something. I feel like I shouldn’t and it’s so sad because I was so deeply in love with him and it was so incredibly real to me it seemed real to him too which is why this makes no sense. I wish I could get closure. Instead I am left with these unresolved feelings of shock anger betrayal sadness confusion.
I guess I’m confused on if I owe him a responsesjusybased on the fact that we were together for almost two and that he promised me he would change and go to therapy don’t know what to do

ETA: I'm sorry this is such a long post.
I'm 27F, my mother is 53F, sperm donor is 60M, little sister is 25F.
My parents divorced when I was 2 and my little sister was an infant. In the split, our sperm donor took me and left my little sister with my mother. At first there was some kind of visitation happening due to help from social services, however with my sperm donor being a classic narcissist he managed to hide me from them, or evade visitation days claiming we were away somewhere.
My mother at the time was new to the country I grew up in (Nordics), so she didn't speak the language much nor did she know which cultures were normal or how the social service system worked. My mother moved to my home country, married my sperm donor the same year and I was born a year later. He kept her locked up at home, and if she wanted to see friends or go out he would drop her off, give her an hour or so, and pick her up again, complete control. She had no chance of learning more about anything even if she wanted to.
He raised me telling me my mother is an abusive, evil witch who would kidnap me back to her home country if I went to her house. Being a child, of course I believed this, and when she showed up at my school with my siblings so we could see each other I started scream crying. This was when I was 6 or 7. I went home and told him about this, and his response was to 'not believe in her crocodile tears'. She was heartbroken, but I was taught it was fake. If social services showed up with her at our house for visitation, I was told to pull my curtains and hide, not go near windows or make any noise. I didn't know who they were at the time, so I did what he told me to do.
Growing up I also spent a lot of time at my grandparents house since sperm donor had more important things to do (like meet strange women off the internet, engage in shady politics or harass foreign women (he's racist btw). This should've been a safe haven, but he didn't leave me there without giving them a long list of rules regarding how I was to be treated, what I was allowed to eat and what chores I was to do that day. My grandparents, despite being the sweetest people on earth, are extreme enablers and did not dare go against his word, probably in fear of me being taken away from them too.
With sperm donor being a textbook narcissist these things were normal to me. During my childhood I was extremely isolated from other people and their families, I was interrogated if I wanted to see any friends (not that I had many, I was the weirdo kid and got bullied throughout school), and I was forced into multiple different sports. If I got bored of one I had to pick a new one, I was always in at least 2 but sometimes juggled 3 different ones at the same time. I was a kid, maybe 9-10?
He was a hoarder, there were paths through the house you had to walk through cause there was so much stuff everywhere. He'd never throw anything away, and if he did, it was my toys and belongings. He occasionally cleaned up the house for guests, maybe once every few years. When the house became messy again due to his hoarding he blamed me for it and said it was because I left my toys/drawings/pencils out after using them.
There's a lot more to the story of my upbringing but these are the key points. I was emotionally and physically abused and because of that I have been NC with sperm donor for about 7 years now.
I left him when I was 13, lived at my grandparents house for a year (he thought it was because he told me to, cause he got "death threats"), got in touch with my mother (I did not know her at all at this time due to him cutting her out of my life) and at 14 I moved in with my her and little sister. I'd never had a mother figure and so I didn't know what to expect, but what I got was a essentially a friend instead of a mother. I didn't get many rules set for me at her house and so I tried to be a responsible kid and be home on time etc, I didn't want my freedom taken away again. She would hang out with me and my friends if they were over and sometimes she'd let us have a sneaky drink/smoke here and there (towards like 15/16), so to my friends she was the coolest mum. She didn't act like an adult, she unloaded her emotional problems on me, I was the mediator between her and my little sister when they fought and I made sure they communicated and resolved it. I'd listen and hold her when she cried, and give advice as best I could since I was a teenager. She couldn't hold down a job because of her emotional issues, so she relied heavily on benefits and whichever guy she was dating at the time. It wasn't a healthy environment, and all this was projected onto me and my sister.
My mother now lives in South America again and we haven't seen her since 2019, she's not made any arrangements to come back to Europe and visit. She still hasn't learned how to reflect on her behaviour and any attempts to talk to her about her unhealthy habits and behaviours are met with either tears or hostility as she sees it purely as criticism. She won't listen despite several attempts from me and my little sister, because of this we are both LC with her.
I left my home country at 19, I'm an adult now, and I can see so clearly why I'm so messed up, but I just can't let go. I've been in and out of talking therapy, psychiatrists, CBT and grief counselling since I was 17. I know the techniques, I have the tools, and I have been practicing them to get better, but I just don't. I've tried medication too and they work until they stop working, it's pointless. If anything, the more time passes the more sad and resentful I become.
All I want is acknowledgement from either of them, for them to say they were wrong, an apology and some self work, anything. But I am left without a real mother and father. I have great support, my auntie is the closest thing I have to a mother and she's really stepped up in that role, even though she doesn't have to. My boyfriend is amazing and looks after my every need. But I'm so stuck on the past, I can't get over it. I have so many mental issues because of them and I really struggle getting through this life. I know there are people who have had it way worse but it just feels so unfair.
I'm not really sure what I want to get across by posting this. No one has ever acknowledged that sperm donor is a narcissist who took my only childhood away. Despite everything I have now, I feel so lost and alone. No one around me can relate. My little sister didn't grow up with him but she tries to understand. I guess I just want someone to tell me I'm not wrong, that all this did happen, that I was neglected time and time again.
Thank you for reading all of this.

Never thought I would be doing this, but here I am suing my previous employer, which I was with for 6 months. They let me go cause I made a complaint how a lead his hostile with me and the tasks he assigned is ridiculous. I worked with all men; 4 in the office, 1 in the warehouse, and the rest are out in the field. We all worked in a small building, where we hear everyone’s conversations from one end of the building to to another, in normal tone too. Even when one’s whisper, we cannot make out but can tell someone is whispering. That’s how small the office is. From the beginning , it all started off fine and we all get along. But not until they rehired a former female employee, let’s call her Snake. I was excited thinking I will have a female to go to lunch with and do girls talk. I was wrong. It all started the day of her interview. Even though we know we gonna hired her, Company’s policy she still has to go through the interview process. The day of the interview, I greeted Snake happily with a big smile, she given me a weak smile and walked off to the interview. After the interview I said “goodbye” to her and watch her walked out the door, while watching her I can see she mouth silently “WTH.” I shoved it off hoping that’s not toward me. By the way, she about 10 years younger than me. Snake’s first day on the job, she ignored me when walked in. Later in the day she came out of her office with our Division Manger, Jay, and yelled at me, in front of the other leads, why her orders came in duplicate when she just order quantity of 1. They all seen and did nothing, just quietly walked back to their office. I was embarrassed and just told her I looked into it. She even reached out to me in Teams, group message with other leads too, yelling at me for doing my work incorrectly and she does not understand, i told her to point out what am I doing incorrectly so i can correct it even though this is how i was trained, been doing it for months, and no one ever pointed out anything is incorrect. She just said, “nevermind” and drop the topic. Again, none of the leads in the Teams message said anything, all was silense. For the past few months everyone keeps their distance from me. It bothers. Then there was this one day I was on the phone with the vendor, going over pick-up schedule and charges, one of my lead, M, eaves drop on our conversation, only hear my side of the conversation, and start assuming stuff. He started yelling at me, assuming I am charging the company more. I proved him wrong by calling the vendor back and put him on speaker and have him retell our conversation. After the call M hung up and just went back to his office, no apologies no nothing. Next day during our office weekly meeting, I really thought we would go over what happened the previous day and find a solution. All Jay said is he will take part of my duties away. That is upsetting, but less work for me. Throughout the period of working there, coworkers I used to get along and loved chatting with, seems as though they are avoiding me and very obvious they given me the pitty look, that’s when I have a good feeling they gonna let me go. M usually assigns me tasks via email and details what he wants. But this time he comes up in person and assign a task and tells me in details what he expect -I went over what he wanted before proceeding. When completed and handed it to him, he yelled at me and bring me to the office with the Jay, in a low calm voice how I don’t listen and do my work incorrectly. I was upset and accepted it. Not long later he requested me to demand an unconditional release from our vendor, even though we have not made a payment. I started asking him does he know what an unconditional release is and when to request for one. He snarked at me he does. My office is next to his, i can hear his conversation clearly. Snake was in there talking to him, I can hear him asked her what is an unconditional released. I noticed how sweet and soft he talked to her and everyone else too, but me. I felt sad and disrespected and being made a fool by the tasks he assign. My last straw, was when i come up to him asking him how he want to proceed with a customer we have issues with, he snarked at me for asking him, even though that is his project! He eaves drop again listening in my conversation with our accounting department, and come up to me all nice for updates. I used the last hour of my shift to write a complain letter to my division manager, Jay, pointing out how M is hostile with me and the duties he demanded from me with the vendor is out of line and out of my hand. Once I pressed submit, it felt good and I drove home happy feeling I did the right thing. I really thought the next day he will pull us in or him have a conversation with M, and I will work in peace again. Next day M was real nice to me and asked me do I have the key to the office with me. Right away I knew I am gonna be let go. Jay took 2 days to respond to my email and all what was said was to try to ask for an unconditional release. All I felt was anger. Before week shift ended i reached out to Jay for a quick meeting. All what was meant to go over is how am I doing and am I meeting everyone’s expectation. Once he said “yes,” right away I asked him does he agreed how M is treating me and the tasks he given me. I pointed out, thinking it was a good idea, that each times M assign a task I will confirm it over email so we call can be on the same page. J don’t look happy and used the excuse he have errands to run and we can talk about this topic tomorrow. Again, I went home feeling good and thinking I did the right thing. Next day I was ready to talk to Jay, coming to the office in a good mood and thinking everything gonna get settled. Once walked in the door, I can’t explained it but everyone is being weird with me. I did a soft cry once I realized and except this is my work environment. Nothing I can do or say will change. They all are friends, even outside of work. I felt real sad and cry and decided to give up and take back my complaint and accept it. This is what it is, nothing I can do, beside looking for a new job. Jay finally pulled me into his office, once the door shut he said, “because of my dispute with M, paperwork had been gathered and they decided to let me go.” My respond was not what he expect, I thank him for making the right decision for both sides and I agreed with him. He started going on and on how he cares for me, I rolled my eyes and thank him again for his decision, that’s when he got up and excepted me out. I drove off happy I am no longer at that miserable place, but cried hard when I realized I’m jobless. I went crying to a friend, and suggested to do wrongful termination. Thank goodness I emailed myself a copy of my complain and his respond back. I selected my attorney all happily and later down the road, I feel like she don’t wanna help me and the demand letter stated settleling for really less. I don’t know what to do. Do i have the right to file for wrongful termination? Do you think i good case? Or am I wasting my time? Thank you.