Happy birthday nephew sayings

Today was my child's 3rd birthday, it wasn't a big get together....just a few family members and a cake. A family member showed up and proceeded to be a negative nancy the entire time, pulling a woah me, my life sucks and proceeded to trauma dump on anyone who would listen. I tried to redirect the conversation, ignore them, and finally was like "this isnt the place to talk about adult subjects". They proceeded by telling me I should "just go and leave"
I told them it was time for them to leave and a few other family members spoke up to defend them saying that they didnt need to leave and everything is okay. I blew up saying I refuse to leave my OWN child's party I was hosting, proceeded to pack up the party and left. Several family members are now saying I was being ridiculous and I should have at least st "left the cake" and I was overreacting. I feel like I might have been the asshole for canceling the party but it was starting to go in a chaotic direction and I wanted my child to just enjoy his party. Am I the asshole for canceling and leaving?

thought I would make post and see if anyone wanna talk and see if we vibe. I'm looking mostly long term conversations and friendships
About me; so I'm very much into games like survival games or Rogue like games, very into shooter games like the finals so I would say I'm pretty good at the game, my biggest passion is magic the gathering card game. I invested a lot of time and money during 6 years of investment and time into it so I can say for sure it is my fav card game, I mostly do Commander now, I used to do standard 4 years ago ago but I got burned out and went with commander format.
I enjoy watching movies too, one being my most fav donnie darko and spirited away.
I also read books, recently brought book called the master and margarita so I'm quite looking forward reading it some point in the week.
My personality wise is I am very talkative in voice, always tries to make others laugh and try to be ethical, I can sometimes be attached but I am learning to stop doing that but it's definitely harder than it is haha. I can be stubborn but I'm learning. Only recently turned 26 haha
My music is all kind but I'm happy to share if like to, one of the songs I been mainly vibing to is goth, by sidewalks and skeletons.
Feel free to dm me to ask questions. Talk soon

Explore the unforgettable moment on May 19, 1962, when Marilyn Monroe sang a sultry rendition of "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. This video delves into the background, the spectacle, and the enduring legacy of one of the most iconic performances in American pop culture, just months before Monroe's tragic death.
https://youtube.com/shorts/vhZMVte-Gyg

Explore the unforgettable moment on May 19, 1962, when Marilyn Monroe sang a sultry rendition of "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. This video delves into the background, the spectacle, and the enduring legacy of one of the most iconic performances in American pop culture, just months before Monroe's tragic death.
https://youtube.com/shorts/vhZMVte-Gyg

Explore the unforgettable moment on May 19, 1962, when Marilyn Monroe sang a sultry rendition of "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. This video delves into the background, the spectacle, and the enduring legacy of one of the most iconic performances in American pop culture, just months before Monroe's tragic death.
https://youtube.com/shorts/vhZMVte-Gyg

I (f 30) am the youngest of two. My older sister (f 36) lives in the same state but a few hours away. She never came home after college because she was in a relationship. When we were younger she was a total mother's girlie girl and I was a daddy's girl. With that dynamic you can conclude that me and mom (f 55) weren't very close back then. When my sister went to college and it was just me and mom, we clashed all the time. I couldn't wait to go to college and be free. Unlike my sister, when i graduated from college I went back home and lived with my mom. While in school she found out she had cancer and I realized how important she was to me, during the summer I would take care of her. I became super protective because my dad (m 60) had died the second part of my freshman year. I guess realizing you only get one dad and mom did something to me and our relationship changed. Strangely, while in college I transformed into a girlie girl with all female roommates that treated me like a toy by dressing me up and taking me to parties. So, when I came home I started working right away. Had some messy relationships and crappy jobs, but my mom always supported me. From what I seen my mom and sister were still close, even with the distance. When Shawn would come home her and mom hung out, sometimes she would stay with us, sometimes not but they talked often. Note, I don't know if it was the age difference or what but me and my sister never got along. Somewhere in my 20's I realized that we were never going to be "those sisters" and called it for what it was. We are blood, but not friends, and I know if we weren't related we would never befriends on purpose. Don't get me wrong, I love her and if Shawn was hurt or in trouble I would help her but for now, for my mom's sake I talk to her on major holiday's and important family matters, but not to just catch up or anything. I honestly don't care. Sadly, if other family member didn't ask "how is your sister", I could probably go years without thinking about her. Anyways, it started off slow, like Shawn would come to town not stay with us, then she would come to town and not reach out until she was leaving, and then we wouldn't know she was in town at all unless she called my grandmother or posted something on social media in a familiar place. It was weird because they would always link up. Shawn loves mom's cooking and would come home just for that. Mom would go visit her and go to work events with Shawn, at the last one mom said they got into an argument because she was tired from driving 5 hours, going to the event without a nap and being on her feet all night. After the event mom just wanted to go back to Shawn's apartment and rest, but there was an after party she wanted to go to. Not wanted to go to the after party mom just wanted her to walk her back to the apartment and then Shawn could go. Shawn wanted mom to go with her and said they wouldn't be there long, but mom was tired. She was trying to convince her that she would only stay for 30 minutes, but we both know when Shawn is in a room she will talk to everyone and 30 minutes could turn into 3 hours real quick. When mom put her foot down and asked her to take her home Shawn got upset and started yelling "this is mom's side of the story", you never want to do anything, ugh, why can't you just have fun, ugh..... She said Shawn was just yelling her on the corner of the street while people were walking. Shawn stays in town where a lot of people walk and everything is close by. Then she agreed to walk mom back but walked super fast and mom couldn't keep up. She is shorter than me and my sister. When they got back, she let mom in, changed her shoes and went back out. When mom came home and told me what happened I was so confused. It isn't like them to argue. I guess you can say this was the beginning of the end. Shawn stopped calling her as often, went out of the country and said nothing about it until the day of. There were just a lot of things she was doing without communicating with mom, it came to a head when our phone plan bill went up 100's of dollars. See, the bill is in Shawn's name but mom pays the bill, well she use to until Shawn got an iPhone and added the cost of the phone to the bill. Mom and I have Samsung's. She did this without telling mom and because the bill was automated it took mom while to notice. When she did, she told Shawn to start paying the bill for the portion of the phone itself. She agreed but wouldn't pay it on times, there were times that my phone was off but didn't notice because I was always near wifi. Somewhere in the middle of this she got another iPhone and the bill went again. Shawn didn't know that just because she got another phone didn't mean she wouldn't have to pay off the other one. They went back and forth on the phone one day arguing, Shawn claiming she paid and mom asking her to go through the payment history and tell her where...... the arguing ended when she started yelling at mom, saying "you're triggering me, you're triggering me" my mom just stared into the phone in disbelief... We're black and raised in a very much black household so for those who know, know those are words that we just don't say..... Well that was last week and this past weekend was mothers day and Shawn didn't call mom.... We have a family group chat of about 23 people and she said it there but not directly to mom or sent a card or anything.... I asked her the Thursday before if she would be sending mom something on mother's because we usually work together to get her something or she send me money and I get her something and Shawn will send a card. But nothing. She didn't even call our grandmother.... I went to my boyfriends house after then mother's day dinner at my grandmother's house, where I stay most weekends and while there she called me. Mom calls when she says things are too much to text. bet she went home and found a package with a 15 pound weight in it and a note saying "I hope your mother's day brought you some joy",.... Um what??? I want someone to tell me why she picked this as a mother's day gift.... and just one ... one 15 pound weight, not a set. Mom works out but already has a set for 5,10,15, and 20 pounds weight that I know Shawn knows she has. Mom was really sad and she isn't the super emotional one of us 3, the emotional one is me. If there is one thing I hate is my mom feeling bad, but then for it to be caused by her own child was different. Shawn NEVER answers the phone like NEVER, I had to tell her our dad passed away via text after calling almost 100 times. Mom sounded like she wanted to cry and just kept asking me " Brit, what did I do wrong, I don't know what I did wrong". Dang, that broke me. Now I'm the bigger of the two of us, and my sister knows me well enough that she don't want these problems so instead for even calling I sent a long text, basically saying I was disappointed to call her my sister and she should be ashamed of how she is treating our mother because when she got fired and unemployment wasn't paying enough to cover her bill's mom paid. Shawn never paid her back. Over all she is one of the most selfish people I know. I just asked her how hard is it to say happy mother's day or send a card. I didn't expect a response, but she did, in only 15 minutes. She said " I appreciate your concern and believe me, this runs much deeper than a phone bill. I don't have the same relationship with mom as you. You only know what you experienced and what happened to you. So, I'm not going to try and explain the various dynamics between mom and I that led to where we are now. It maybe hard for you to understand today. Pls don't blame it all on me. I love you. " I don't even know what that means. I responded something like other than physical, emotional, or mental harm i don't know what could have happened so bad that she couldn't call and say happy mothers day though. I can't imagine my mom doing any of those things. but again she gave some therapy like response and asked me to give her time to heal.... Mom has no clue what various dynamics she is talking about. I'm asking for advice because I feel like she is going down the same path she did with our dad. After our parents marriage ended and we were living with dad, mom still came over 3 times a week and cooked, had us on weekends. It was like she never left the only difference was she didn't sleep at home. When the arrangement changed, dad came 2 weekends in a row. then every other weekend, then once a month, then we were lucky if we saw him at all. It broke my heart in high school when a boy in my class told me to tell my dad that he would be late for practice. I was confused and bugged him all day to explain what he meant. I found out that my dad was coaching baseball across the street from our subdivision about 3 times a week with games on the weekend. So, he could see random boys at my school almost everyday for at least 3 hours and couldn't come over before or after to see his own kids? I actual walked over to the park one day because I refused to believe it, but there he was. We never talked about it. I just started walking there and sitting in the dugout to be near him and he would drive me the 2 minutes back home. All of the players lived in our neighborhood and dad had a flat bed so he would drop them off too. When Shawn graduated high school she never talked to our dad again after that day. She never told me why. He also developed cancer while I was in college and was very sick, when he got better he tried to get back in our lives and I let him in mine, called him on holidays but he did some messed up stuff to me my first year of college so I pushed back a little between that dad would call me and tell me to call my sister on 3 way, if she answered she was forced to talk to him. She wouldn't say much and would always say she was busy or had to do something to do and promise she would call him back and never would. So, now .... as part of my trying to figure out what my mom did, I reminded her how she cried when she found out our dad passed and she just kept saying she thought she had more time and who would walk her down the ail when she gets married and never got a chance to fix things. I would hate for that to happen with our mom too. I know because of our relationship once mom passes away we will most likely not talk or see each other ever again. So, I asking what did my mom do to her? What can I do to help fix this or should I even try? Anyone have any suggestions or ideas, also sorry for the typos or misspelled words or if its hard to follow, but I ask for anyone's input if they have experience this type of situation? Side note, idk if this helps but when Shawn came to town the last few times she stayed with our Aunt Carla. She has baby of the family syndrome, where she thinks she had hard but was actually spoiled rotten and believes all her sisters and brother and their wives are jealous of her. It's total BS but once when mom and I weren't getting along and I stayed with her, she told me some crazy stories about mom sleeping around, getting drunk, trying to fight her and someone else and some other stuff. This was when I was in college and I believed what she said mom and I continued to be on the outs for awhile before I found out about her cancer and became her protector and caregiver for a while. I don't believe those stories so much now be her and mom had issues before, Carla has actually had issues with all her siblings at one point and finds the need to the the main character of her own story and everyone else's. Simply she's a "One Upper". Aunt Carla getting in Shawn's ear is one idea I believe, also Shawn's friend have ummmmm "other people problems" like mellow dramatic soap opera drama and she maybe internalizing their issues. But yeah help, where do I go from here?

thought I would make post and see if anyone wanna talk and see if we vibe. I'm looking mostly long term conversations and friendships
About me; so I'm very much into games like survival games or Rogue like games, very into shooter games like the finals so I would say I'm pretty good at the game, my biggest passion is magic the gathering card game. I invested a lot of time and money during 6 years of investment and time into it so I can say for sure it is my fav card game, I mostly do Commander now, I used to do standard 4 years ago ago but I got burned out and went with commander format.
I enjoy watching movies too, one being my most fav donnie darko and spirited away.
I also read books, recently brought book called the master and margarita so I'm quite looking forward reading it some point in the week.
My personality wise is I am very talkative in voice, always tries to make others laugh and try to be ethical, I can sometimes be attached but I am learning to stop doing that but it's definitely harder than it is haha. I can be stubborn but I'm learning. Only recently turned 26 haha
My music is all kind but I'm happy to share if like to, one of the songs I been mainly vibing to is goth, by sidewalks and skeletons.
Feel free to dm me to ask questions. Talk soon

Everyone I talk to about this situation is one-sided about it and I genuinely need other's opinions. I 16F was in a relationship with D 16F for 6 months but together for a year. Our relationship at first was going really well and he was everything Ive ever wanted and was the best thing to ever happen to me.
Overtime, I started realizing how attached we were to eachother and we started arguing a lot, a lot of insecurity, a lot of his problems with Mary Jane, overall we both had several issues. I had asked him for a break but we still continued texting like normal. Later we were back together but all my friends were calling me dumb, how he wasnt worth it and I was just wasting my time. I kept thinking maybe I did stop loving him and I was getting tired of being in a relationship, but deep down I knew I still had so much love for him. As time went on I broke up with him and told him I didnt love him anymore. For a week we stopped texting then went back to texting frequently.
I was happy, I felt joy with him, I felt like I needed nothing else in the world. We had agreed that we would get back together but had to give it time as we both needed to focus on things. This is where things take a turn and I mess up. To be completely honest, I was so happy with D and I dont know why i made this dumb move. Me and a guy N(17) had made eye contact for like two-three days and on a Friday we had started texting. The thing with N is, D always had a bad feeling about him. I used to find N cute as of last year but never did anything as I heard he had just gotten out of a relationship and I respected that. N and D had befriended eachother and at a point I told D "I used to think N was cute before but nothing else". I had never thought about N once during my relationship with D, and it was only as we were broken up but on terms of basically wanting to get back together.
The same day me and N started texting, I cut D off and said it was over and that I had stopped loving him. I thought I had done the right decision because of what my friends were saying. A few days after, D found out and was mad upset saying things about N, but nothing about me. I was at a party the other day and afterwards I went to go see N, and I dont know what came over me, but I started thinking about D and our relationship. Did I miss the memories we had, Did i miss him or just the idea of him in my head? The next day I cut N off and told him I still loved D. I stupidly went to go text D asking to talk, and I wont get into how much I was begging to talk but I am blocked on Imsg and on Instagram.
I miss D but I dont know in what way. Everyone I know is telling me I didnt do anything wrong, but i know its biased opinions as there my friends and people I am close with. No matter how harsh it may sound, please give me your honest opinions on what I should do moving foward or what you think about the situation. I know I am still young for all of this, but its something different and I need help. AITAH for how I messed up my relationship?

thought I would make post and see if anyone wanna talk and see if we vibe. I'm looking mostly long term conversations and friendships
About me; so I'm very much into games like survival games or Rogue like games, very into shooter games like the finals so I would say I'm pretty good at the game, my biggest passion is magic the gathering card game. I invested a lot of time and money during 6 years of investment and time into it so I can say for sure it is my fav card game, I mostly do Commander now, I used to do standard 4 years ago ago but I got burned out and went with commander format.
I enjoy watching movies too, one being my most fav donnie darko and spirited away.
I also read books, recently brought book called the master and margarita so I'm quite looking forward reading it some point in the week.
My personality wise is I am very talkative in voice, always tries to make others laugh and try to be ethical, I can sometimes be attached but I am learning to stop doing that but it's definitely harder than it is haha. I can be stubborn but I'm learning. Only recently turned 26 haha
My music is all kind but I'm happy to share if like to, one of the songs I been mainly vibing to is goth, by sidewalks and skeletons.
Feel free to dm me to ask questions. Talk soon

My daughter was adopted from foster care at three. I can’t tell you have often I heard that excuse, “i have anger issues”. Oh my God don’t we all. Years of Catholic schools to keep her from the trash she gravitates towards. Years of ballet, zoo, amusement parks, nice house but it was never enough. On her 18th birthday out the door to live with a messed up family from school with single dad. No drugs, not sex just didn’t like me telling her what to do. Oh no, sure u can take the car I paid for to another city to meet 20 year old suicidal male met online. Did I mention wreck the car on the way for third time. Oh darn that guy wasn’t what u expected huh but did u learn anything, no. Next one was former gang with bullet wound to abdomen. He dumped u. Meanwhile u couldn’t wait to talk to your druggie prostitute mom & tell her how much u love her Facebook. Not to mention assured her u were never comfortable calling me mom. Now u say u don’t mean it, that u r good at being two faced. Well I’m not good it. I want to tell you how angry I am but I can’t because I need to get u to move away from those awful people & take the money from me to pay for your dorm. Why? Do i want to control her with the money. Hell no, i want her to have a chance at life & it won’t be because I abandoned her. If she screws this up then it is on her. I’m tired of the excuses & feeling sorry for u. I look like a fool to everyone I know. I saw it happened to one adoptive parent i know after the other, i could always see their faults & know what they did wrong & know I would do better. Even if u flunked out of college i was still okay, i showed you facebook of your real family. I gave u so much slack. Funny see how I wrote real family instead of birth family. I swear I’m beginning to think no matter how bad u should have stayed with them. This all has broke my heart & Ok I was a fool but I didn’t deserve this from u

Oh you don't need anyone else to be happy!
Just pay money to consume products like a pig eating slop while you live all alone making corporations RICH AS FUCK over having connections with other people find a hobby, bro
You need to be focusing on careers and accumulating capital because the harder you work and the more you accumulate and give back to the market the bigger the yatchs for shareholders can get so you can "prove" your an adult and worthy of life not a drag on a relationship
Just be alone your entire life mate, women enjoy this too, it's not even anti-male, I sincerely want men AND women to be completely alone and not held back by pesky human emotions like love, empathy, and a desire for connection

What is this absolute horseshit I read all the time here? Humans are SOCIAL animals. We NEED each other! I'm sick of the bullshit Americanisms I see here, I'm sick of pro-corporate individualism, I'm sick ot the promotion of such a diseased and alienating culture. The industrial society and digital society do not MEAN you should be alone. Humans are not evolved to live lives of solitude. People here seriously want men and women to believe that the ideal life is to be a cog in the machine and consume your little products in your lonely little life to fill the void. It's vicious. It's psychotic. And I'm sick of reading this horse shit whenever someone says they are lonely.
You wanna know creatures that don't feel lonely? Cats don't feel lonely. Spiders don't feel lonely. Sharks don't feel lonely. Rhinos don't feel lonely. Eagles don't feel lonely.
The only animals that experience loneliness are social animals. We would not feel lonely if we did not need each other. Anyone telling you to fill the void with commodities, "self-improvement" (treating yourself like a product, the goal is never happiness in itself), or, fuck, your goddamned career is literally selling you the route to misery so they never have to question the status quo
This is shit and atomizing rhetoric that targets both men and women and shames us for feeling lonely and desiring connections while at the same time telling us the only true connection we need is to the self and to inanimate objects. It's more typical neoliberal brainrot of the post-Reagan US culture and it needs to go the way of the Dodo.
I do notice it's women that promote this neoliberal discourse much, much more than the men who generally know humans need each other to be happy, but it targets both genders with anti-human bullshit equally.
Because yes, this shit is aggressively anti-humans, we aren't solitary bugs meant to live alone, we aren't machines meant to work and need only repairs, you do not exist to be an atomized economic input, much love ❤

I have been broken up with my ex for about 3 years. We started dating in high school and were together for about 3 years before he broke up with me. He was my first love, first everything and so I took the breakup pretty hard. We still would hook up during that summer that we were broken up (honestly in hopes that we would get back together) until about November. During my breakup I started hanging out with my old high school friend group and started getting close with one of the guys in the group that I’ve known since forever. I never knew he had any feelings for me but once he realized I was single things progressed pretty fast and I felt like I was in falling in love with him. At the end of December we became official and I was very happy. This relationship was very different from my first - I went from being the chaser to being chased and it felt good to be with someone who felt so strongly for me. Once my ex found out I was seeing someone else, he completely changed tune and decided he wanted to get back together. As hard as it was for me I told him it was too late and that was that. He moved away for about a year and I stayed back home. Although he eventually did return, I never ran into him or saw him for the entire three years that I was dating my current bf. Fast forward to a couple months ago, I was out with some girl friends when he comes up to my group to say hi. I felt my heart drop to my stomach, i was in shock, spiraling, feeling guilty, a ton of emotions. He was very friendly and just wanted to catch up but I felt like I was so caught off guard at the moment that I I didn’t really have much to say. It ended like that and I didn’t see him again until last night. My friend was graduating and she invited him to her party. I knew he was coming so I mentally prepared myself for seeing him. I also brought my bf with me so I felt a little more safe. Once we got there we said the awkward two second hello and I went to be with my friends and he was with his. There was even a moment that my bf and my ex were talking to eachother for about an hour. A seemingly friendly conversation where according to my bf they were telling eachother that they don’t have any bad feelings for one another, that it should be normal seeing eachother, that my current bf never tried anything while I was with my ex for all those years (Which is true). I on the other hand felt very anxious the whole night, felt like I was looking over to him the whole time, just felt a ball in my stomach and I don’t really know why. I really couldn’t sleep and dreamt about my bf and my ex last night. I woke up this morning feeling anxious too about these emotions I’m feeling. Which I can’t really describe. I love my bf so much. He’s been an amazing partner to me. And after being with him, I realize now that my ex was right - as much as we loved eachother, we weren’t compatible. Or maybe we were too young to be in such a serious relationship. Either way, we didn’t work. And when you are with someone where everything is easy, you can tell the difference. But obviously every relationship is different and things I have in this one, I didn’t have in the previous and vice versa. sometimes I find myself comparing certain things but I also feel that’s natural when you’ve had two big loves in your life. I guess what I want to ask is if it is normal to have these feelings after being broken up with for so long and being with someone else for so long. I try to get advice from my friends, but no one has ever really been in the situation I’ve been. Some say it’s completely normal and some say its not - that there is a deeper meaning to it. Hoping someone out there has experienced this and can help :(

We were friends since the age of 15, I still remember how we met and we ended up becoming best friends. We used to hangout all the time growing up, we would party, get high, get drunk, we were roommates too. Around 2013 when I moved, got a good job, we made plans to move to a different state, save up a good amount of money. A year later you ended up finding love and tossed all the plans aside which I of course was bitter about. I got over it though and ended up meeting the love of my life the beginning 2015. Funny thing was it was your woman's best friend.
From all the things that have happened, 2020 started and you changed, it wasn't too bad but what got me is that you would tell your Coworkers about all my faults, about how I was dark and depressing. Which okay, I had my issues I was going through a tough time battling alcoholism, substance abuse yet my love still stuck around to help me through all that. You continued to remain embarrassed of me and refused to introduce me to your "friends" you know, the coworkers who put you down for the things you enjoy, the ones who will not give you the time of day outside of work yet you still praised them more than me and would put me down.
You would always place the blame on me for when we would drink together, finishing two bottles and you'd still get more and say it was my fault when bad shit would go down. Too much of a coward to admit we enabled each other. I honestly feel like you enabled me to continue drinking to hold myself back and you knew how bad I was getting. I knew I wanted out but i still stuck around and you'd feel good about me being the lower friend. Come the end of 2023 I ended up moving to start a life 3 cities away with my wife, I went sober and started hitting the gym, my health was improving, both mental and physical. 2024 starts and I was out of a job for about a month.
THIS IS WHERE IT ALL HAPPENS
My wife started a job at a great place, making good money, good benefits and started making friends back in August 2023, I still continued talking to you but you started becoming indifferent to the changes in my life. You didn't get how I stayed consistent with the gym, you didn't get how I watched my diet, you would pick all that up and get discouraged a week later because changes wouldn't happen or you're just too stubborn to understand discipline and you remain a fat shit always wondering why you're the way you are. I never brought any of that up though, I did my best to support you making better changes for your health.
Seeing how my wife life has improved from where she works I wanted in too. So I kept going to her workplace, talking to them, I even started making friends with her friends and guess what? They like me for me, they respect me and support my way of life. Around 4 days before we decided to hangout with those friends you decided to end the friendship with me, you broke my fucking heart man. So I said fuck you, and ghosted your dumbass completely. I even blocked your number, I don't want anything to do with your fucked up self anymore. I was sad for a week but the healing began and we hung out with these new friends and I love them. They love us.
Next thing you know I got an interview at my wife's workplace and got hired on the spot, we work in different departments so it isn't weird. We hung out with our new found friends again last night and we had some good laughs, no alcohol involved, just talking and shooting the shit. It was a good time, something we never experienced hanging around you because you always wanted to watch dumb shit on YouTube, talk shit about depressed people, have awful opinions on people who didn't want kids, and just drink the night away.
NSFW I hated the way you were transphobic, homophobic racist, classist, an animal abuser and to this day I still question if you SAd that drunk girl 13 years ago. Sadly, I have no definite proof so I can't turn you in for it. But I know that if you did? you have to live with that shit and I hope one day it catches up with you. I would question you about that occasionally and you would get really defensive and angry about it saying you didn't do anything. Being drunk isn't an excuse either if you did commit that crime. It still bothers me to this day but going no contact with you was necessary.
I resent you, I really really do. You held me back, you kept me around so you can feel better about yourself. You have a lot of ugly secrets hidden that not even I know of,, and honestly? Your wife deserves a lot better. She's a good person and it's a shame she's blinded by your lies. You even lied to her saying I stole your GFS in the past! You lied to my wife about things that never happened, just to make me look like a jerk and cover up your guilt.
I hate you for what you've become.
I am so happy I have met these new friends, they are good people and encourage me and my wife to move up in our lives. We only known them for a short time and we all have a much deeper connection than me and you had the last 15 years.
I send my good graces to your wife and pray one day she opens her eyes and puts you in the trash where you belong.

Say you can't be happy no matter what you do. Or die alone knowing you're forgotten forever or die alone slowly losing everyone. Which to choose?
Die alone or live long enough till everyone forgets you.

Yesterday my ex from 2021 wrote a lovely introspective about our breakup. It was a long message, but essentially said that when I was reciprocating his effort every step of the way, he began to try to max out his life and was envisioning every other partner out there that might be a better match. That I was encouraging and adored him so much that maybe, he thought, that he could do better. But that he's ashamed of thinking that and he's sorry for breaking up with me out of the blue and I had deserved better. Thankfully, he left it at saying he'd always think I'm a tremendous and attractive human, without trying to get back together. I think I would have cut him as a friend if he had asked about that possibility.
It wasn't surprising though because he's the fourth ex to do this. Which means I'm 4/4 out of all my exboyfriends coming back months or years later saying they were blind to how good we had it. They admit they were still looking toward greener pastures. That they shouldn't have because I'm so sweet, so smart, so affectionate, so cute, so sexy, so good at communication, so logical, so easy to resolve conflict with, so... everything lined up with their checkbox of what they want (but how does that make sense? They left because they wanted more so I'm not everything they wanted). 3 out of 4 have attempted to rekindle and give the relationship another try.
I've asked them about any blindspots I might have had, and they say that I was great through and through along with the relationship we had. That they wouldn't change a thing about me, except one joked it would be nice if I were an heiress, and another that said he had lied about his feelings on family planning and actually struggled with the idea of meeting my kids and becoming a stepdad but was ready now. I appreciated the candor from him and we tried again, but I ultimately didn't feel like he really wanted to date me and was settling. He was talking about engagement and delaying proposing and then fully back to being uncertain.
So I've learned that you should never go back to an ex. It'll only cause you pain. So that's not an issue or anything I need to learn.
However, how do I stop dating men who don't appreciate what they have and are going to breakup with me even when the relationship is going well? Or how can I combat their growing feeling that really good isn't enough?
And because it's reddit, I feel like I need to include that I'm not chasing the top 10%. I swipe on guys based on the bio they've written.
I've dated a range of everything. I've been down to date people as long as they've been kind, respectful, and share some of my mostly nerdy interests/hobbies. Men who are ambitious/chill, oldeyounger, attractive/not attractive (but attractive in my subjective view), paycheck to paycheck or have retirement all figured out , single dads/divorced/never married/never dated before because of social anxiety, shy/gregorious --- and you get the idea.
Even if I were stuck on someone ideal to my specifications for shallow traits it's still realistic: They'd be the type that enjoys food a little too much and would be fun to go to the gym with, so they're mostly healthy, strong, but also has a bit of a gut. Great eyes and a warm smile. I love short guys and anyone in a range around 5'3" is perfect. But height is only a preference and I've dated tall too. I'm happy dating outside my ideal as long as they're kind, respectful, and gentle.
Then the second issue, attracting creeps. I spent a year intentionally single because I felt emotionally unavailable. I hopped back into dating apps in earnest starting in January and was fine until April. April/May has been unreal. It's completely worse than anything I've encountered before. I've never dealt with anything too creepy or severe sexual harassment before, but it's everywhere I go now.
-First dates have groped me after I said no.
-Flashed their penis and rubbed it on me while in public. (Police report submitted)
-Pressured me for sex right away and this guy, a salesman by trade, was not accepting no for an answer, so I said I would next date but couldn't go to his place that night - just to get away. But messaged him after and told him that I had lied to get away, wrote 100 no's and 1 yes doesn't mean yes, and blocked him.
-I found out another was a sex offender who was convicted of digital voyeurism of a kid under 14 (and preferred Stars Wars over Star Trek, doubly troubling, just kidding 😜)
-Another man anonymously called my work, could have been a prior date or completely random, and the recording of that could be used as the start of a horror film. He wouldn't tell me who he was, but acted like he knew who I was, and then lewdly asked about my bathroom usage...
-A guy I had barely met, but was not a date with nor interested in, must have hid my phone, then sent me to grab something, got into my phone, I caught him, and listened to him justify that he liked me and just needed to know what kind of person I was before getting attached. I just said it wasn't going to happen and left. He ended up sort of stalking me for a few days before mutual friends out the kibosh on him.
I'm sick of it. I've never felt unsafe meeting people in public, I figured public places were enough protection until this month.
I don't know what I'm doing differently to suddenly be preyed on by a bunch of creeps. I think I'm acting like I always have, but I have gained weight and maybe that's why? But why only now and not in January? Is it all coincidental?

Hello, I'm 14 years old and I've been suffering from death anxiety since 2023.(While I'm writing this I'm scared that I'm manifesting my death) Whenever I think about death and leaving my loved ones I feel my heart fell in stomach. I hate hearing about death or that someone died whenever I'm watching a film or simply watching any video online. Whenever someone dies I think "what if that's a sign and it means I'll die soon" I keep thinking that I'll die on August 22 I'm really afraid of the summer holiday coming. I tried stop worrying but I can't. I keep thinking what If my thoughts are real and something inside me is telling me the truth. Whenever I hear these words (Future, next year, summer, July, August, 10th grade, 2025) Everything related to future, I feel short-term colic in my stomach and then something immediately inside me tells me "you'll die this year". I don't want to listen to that and I always try to stop thinking about it, but it always comes in my mind. It's the first thing I think about it when I wake up and before I sleep. Sometimes I'm afraid to sleep so I don't die. I think "what if this is my last year of school and this is the last time I study this subject and I'll not see my teachers and friends again" and same goes to my parents, they love me and so do I, I'm afraid of leaving them. When someone dies I think " what if that's a sign for me and that I'll die". The thoughts that come are involuntarily, I can't control them and at the same time I don't want to think of them. I feel that my brain is like filling in the blank by itself, like when I hear the word death something say you'll die, I can't control and I don't want to hear it, I try to ignore it but i keep remembering. That sounds crazy I know,but I'm not crazy . That's the only problem ruining my life. Also Whenever I get sick or something hurt me, I think that because I'll die and these are symptoms of death. I know that angel numbers are fake, but I always see the number 11 or 111. I searched about it's meaning, it said that that "you're on the right path, listen to your gut and your inner voice, your thoughts are true and intuition is true". After reading that, I got totally terrified. Does that mean my fear of death is intuition and number 11 is a sign that confirmed that? Like once I saw a reel about how the cell of a organism looks when he die, and all the comments were written before 11 hours. I felt scared and thought it's a sign. I'm really afraid of the summer holiday especially August 22 and that I'll die, I don't want to die. I just want to forget and stop overthinking,
Whenever I'm having fun with friends suddenly something says "you'll die, and this is the last time you'll be happy" IT'S TERRIFYING.I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT
The last thing I want to ask that: Is my fear of death and thinking I'll die in summer holiday or August 22 is intuition and number 11 is a sign, or are these thoughts that my brain remember whenever I see or hear anything related to future and these are just whispers from my subconscious mind because it kept the information that leads to my fear of death?

If you're curious about my thoughts on previous Yakuza games, here are my much shorter (except for 4, thats pretty long too) reviews for Kiwami 1, Kiwami 2, Yakuza 3 (Remastered), and Yakuza 4 (Remastered).
All of my reviews are made pretty quickly after I finish the game, this was written right after I finished but I haven't posted it till a month later because its so long I thought no one would ever read this but whatever I gotta get my truth out there.
Per usual I played the remaster of Yakuza 5. I'm not sure of any outstanding changes or things of note like with 3 or 4, but if something I say is exclusive to the remaster please let me know! I may sound overly praising or overly critical of this game, who knows but please be kind when you tell me i'm an idiot for feeling the way I do! Lastly and most importantly please please please don't spoil future games in the comments! Also warning I'm way too active in the comments section.
Because I am an utter psycho and decided to write a fuckin bibles worth of yakuza 5 ramblings, Part 1 is just reviewing the plot and Part 2 goes over everything else. I split this up last second so there's likely some spots where I say something like "we'll expand on this later" then I never bring it up again, that's because it's probably in part 2. If you want my thoughts on things like the substories, side stories, gameplay, and settings you can read Part 2 here: https://www.reddit.com/yakuzagames/comments/1cvrybw/yakuza_5_a_mega_big_ole_reviewsummary_for_a_big/
The Plot:
Like with Y4, I will discuss my thoughts on each section of the game rather than in one long chunk just because I find it more fun. I'm not even gonna try to not summarize this time because this game is so big it needs broken down.
Part 1: Kiryu
You might often find me compare Y5 to Y4 a lot in this review because they're honestly quite similar games and feel like a package. When I started playing 4 I was worried I wouldn't like playing as primarily strangers for a majority of the game, but one thing they did absolutely right was making Kiryu the final protagonist you play as in that game. So going into 5 I was very apprehensive about starting off with Kiryu, I worried they showed their hand too soon and that it would be difficult to stay invested the whole time.
With this feeling going into the game, I was immediately somewhat losing it over Kiryu being an incognito taxi driver with the worst disguise of all time (some sunglasses and a face mask, don't worry he's literally the only one in the game that seems to think it's a good disguise). Right off the bat, this game feels...sad. Kiryu watching Haruka giving an interview on the TV and storming out rather then defend her to some losers who don't get what ART is, was SAD. This part of the game felt so mundane for awhile, but not in a bad way! You wakeup as Kiryu, walk to work, drive your taxi, and go home late at night (usually) alone. The whole time my eyes were drawn to a facedown picture frame and wondering what it could be, but I certainly had a guess. Kiryu is going through a hard, isolating, and depressing time and you can feel that so well from the game and how they have you play as him. Anyways there's also a random gal named Mayumi that will not leave Kiryu alone despite him asking her to. All you're doing by the end of chapter one is going "Huhhhhhhh?" Anyways Kiryu is approached by two dudes named Morinaga and Aizawa in chapter 2, telling him Daigo was???? Kidnapped?? GASP.. Admittidly I wasn't too fond of this duo at first. One thing that was consistent through my playthrough is that I was completely incapable of predicting anything correctly, and it had felt like these two were gonna be my pals for the rest of the game and I just wasn't clicking with them. Not to mention this weird semi-one sided-romance going on with Mayumi.
In chapter 3, we begin with the most heartbreaking thing that could ever happen to me, Yakuza 3 superfan. Kiryu has been pushed out of running the orphanage by a lady named Miss Park. It's all making sense now. He does it so the orphanage can have money and so Haruka can follow her dreams. DOESNT MAKE IT EASIER TO DEAL WITH FOR ME :( . Then we meet Watase, first thoughts? I was like "god I hope this guy isn't the main villain he's kinda lame" Soon after we meet Aoyama and I thought literally the same thing. Clearly by this point in the game I didn't have the highest hopes. I was mostly sad and not liking most of the new characters. But then... things take a turn.
Mayumi was actually a spy! thank god honestly. Kiryu meets Aoyama again but then Morinaga shows up and fuckin kills Aoyama and says he buried Aizawa alive HOLY SHIT? and then soon after I'm told Majima is fucking dead. Figured he wasn't actually dead cuz I've seen pictures of him from later games but holy shit I somehow cried just at the THOUGHT of him being dead. Also at some point here we met a detective who is an important player in this story but at this point not too integral. Also before Kiryu leaves he picks up the picture frame and its the orphanage ;-;
Kiryu final thoughts: This part of the game was fantastic. I'm so glad they started with Kiryu in this case despite my initial unsureness with it. Chapter 4 especially is when everything really falls into place and starts going 100 miles an hour but I also love the slowness of the previous 3 chapters. I do wish we got more Morinaga as this is unfortunately the last we hear of him despite this being a wonderful set up to a really interesting villain. Mayumi was a pretty shit character per seemingly always with any full grown woman in Yakuza games. While I think it's cool she was secretly a spy she was clearly an afterthought as we never hear about her again so that's cool. Basically a mixed bag of new characters overall.
Part 2: Saejima
I jokingly said to myself "Wouldn't it be funny if I had to spend half of this section breaking out of prison again. Thank god that's not the case." and continued hanging out with Majima until I was arrested for two more years of serving my sentence and OH NO IM BACK IN THE BUILDING.
Yeah I was VERY unsure about breaking out of prison again being a good call. Thankfully, and sorry to Y4, this is a much better prison sequence. Another thing I was really unsure about was BALD SAEJIMA! But actually... it kinda slays harder? In Y4 he looks like that guy from the game The Hatred (an insult) maybe it wouldn't be so bad if bro washed or brushed it but he never did and so instead bald was a slay. Anyways We're dropped in at nearly the end of Saejima's serving period with his group of friends/cellmates, newest one being some dude named Baba. We are relentlessly tortured by the scariest man I've ever seen, Viktor Zsasz-I MEAN! Kugihara. Who's honestly scarier looking then Zsasz somehow. But it is ON because Viktor Zsasz framed my bestie Baba and I will not let that slide so I beat the fuck out of him and it's revealed Zsasz was instructed to be a dick to me. By who??????????????????? Then it's double revealed to me that Majima is dead and I'm sad all over again :(
Turns out our warden is actually really chill and nice and somewhat tries to help us survive. What a breath of fresh air after Satan (Saito) from Y4. This guy is so cool infact we are encouraged to break out by him. So Baba and I do in the dead of the night and tell me why I cried over leaving my two other cellmates ;_; they were such bros. Zsasz hinders my escape and we fight, but my absolute PAL Himura fuckin shoots him it was an amazing turn of events and I cheered so loud and was devastated to leave him behind but anyways-
FUCK YEA SNOW MOBILES (they were kinda jank to control honestly but its the thought that counts). I am so glad I didn't know I was going to be fighting a bear going into this because that was easily the most camp thing ever and so hilarious. Then some old guy saves me (and later Baba) and we chill in the mountains for a little while. The mountain has a whole crazy detailed side story of it's own that I'll explain in more detail later but basically it was cool.
So then a ton of important stuff happens in Tsukimino, most notably we hang out with Baba in a bar which is great because I love Baba and him and I are super tight and he's easily the only person I could ever trust at this point without potential for betrayal! :)
Anyways me and Baba fuckin kidnap this guy because his chair is by a sewer manhole? He's gone in a flash so all I can imagine is dragging him down the hole by his ankle or something. Then we talk for awhile, Majima is mentioned woohoo, THEN HE'S sniped! The way I gasped. Longstory short :( Baba is the one who sniped him and not only that he kind of set everything up and wasn't my best pal all along :( Why Baba Why? Then Baba basically confesses his love for Saejima and can't go through with killing him, AAAAAAND Im back on the Baba train. That detective I mentioned from earlier arrests Saejima but not to throw him back in jail, to assemble the Yakuza avengers.
Final Saejima thoughts: This was shockingly fantastic. I was probably least impressed with Saejima's section in Y4, so it was shocking to have basically the same structure and general narrative beats but done well. It wasn't perfect, I didn't love it as much as Kiryu's section as I'm partial to a slow burn, but it was fun I have no real complaints, except MAYBE more then one chapter in Tsukimino would be a better choice.
Part 3 (first half): Haruka
I did not know I was going to get the HONOR of playing Haruka going into this game. We start off very strong, dancing to the greatest song of all time "So Much More." I mean we really get the full idol experience here with mean ass teachers and shady management. I didn't expect to get an Idol simulator in my Yakuza game but it might be the best thing ever. I decided right off the bat to put everything I had into this section of the game so immediately I did literally everything I could. Most of this chapter feels like a bit of a reflection of Kiryu's were working and going back home alone, it's all as monotonous and isolating as can be (except you're a predebut idol) and I love this. We quickly meet a girl who will serve as my bestie named Akari and yes I indeed would die for her thank you. Meeting Akari introduces us to this sections version of combat, DANCE BATTLES! I know some people might be disappointed you don't get to punch people as Haruka, and I get that, but this feels like a more genuine gameplay style for her character. It's hard to imagine Haruka fighting thugs in the street due to her personality (not that i'd be against it, especially after that weird virtual reality game where I get to wack dudes with a wand) plus I found this gameplay style so refreshing. I was never groaning or sighing because I had to dance against someone. I think it helps that I wasn't forced to do it 15 times in a row walking down the street, but I had the option to most of the time unless it was part of a quest. Maybe that's how all the gameplay should be? I don't mind being approached by thugs sometimes but it always feels like it happens too often in these games and with getting the option to while getting to walk around carefree otherwise in Haruka's section was just SO NICE.
Anyways, We get the whole set up here, we are participating in a competition show that will single handedly set the course for our debut. We're competing against this band called T-set. I hate them so much. They're so mean :(. At some point we see Miss Park absolutely SLAY and tell off Haruka's dance teacher and she doesn't take his shit at all. At this point I was like "Uh ohhhh I don't wanna like her but...she kinda rocks" my decent into stanning Miss Park only continues from there. We have to go convince some guy named Christina (interesting name to take but also a slay, much respect to Mr. Christina and his fedora) to be our new dance instructor. This causes drama with me and Akari which devastated me because I love Akari but we made up like immediately so it's chill.
Then at one point, I forgot the context, Haruka is shopping for a gift for Miss Park when stupid T-set shows up and STEPS ON THE BROACH I BOUGHT FOR HER. I was back and forth on them until now, now they may burn in hell. Especially after they made Haruka get on her knees and beg for forgiveness like ???? what gives ??? Park shows up and SLAYS and gets rid of them. Park then wears the broach :(((((((((
Then one of my favorite parts happen in chapter 2, Haruka and Miss Park go hit the town and just bond together. It's so stinking cute I wanted to cry. This whole time I was trying to not get emotionally attached to Park because it really felt like she was gonna end up betraying us. But the night continued and we get some mother daughter vibes going, even so far as holding hands????? Also Im somewhat glad I didn't get to wear the outfit I bought at the store with Park because I was going for a Cheetah girls inspired look then realized far too late how tacky that might come off, not everyone is Raven Symone ya know?
Anyways at this point I'm like wow this is the cutest game ever, nothing can ever go wrong, Park MIGHT betray me but I don't even care. She gives us a cool pen and a tragic anime backstory with an abusive ex husband and everything and we call it a night Well the next fuckin day my world crumbles because PARK IS DEAD! She "committed suicide" as if!
Part 3 (second half): Akiyama
I can't tell you how devastated I was to realize I'd only get to play as Akiyama for half of a section of the game. However, I was also thrilled to see him at all. Apparently he's opening a Satenbori office and also he is the one who financed Park's dream to debut Haruka so that's how he has a hand in all this. There is tragically very little Hana, she calls you twice and both times were fantastic but I wish I had more :(. Anyways Akiyama has heard about Park's death and goes to the office and meets Haruka. I didn't think they'd even really know each other and assumed we'd have an interesting reveal that they both know Kiryu later but nah they know each other. It honestly probably works better this way because we don't have time for such trivial things! Akiyama is a fuckin detective now. I don't know why he has been tasked to do this but he does it so well I don't even mind. He quickly figures out Park didn't actually kill herself and they simply need evidence to prove this. I'm unsure when this happens but at some point while talking about the mystery SOMEONE FALLS OFF THE ROOF! It was Horie :( who I haven't mentioned yet but he's my manager and a real pal. Thankfully he lived but we found out that the former dance teacher pushed him off. I think he also killed Park or Kanai did, who knows, either way someone did and they suck for it.
Chapter 4 has a lot going on, but basically the president of Osaka talent is sus and he's also the secret chairman of Ousaka Enterprises, which is a different thing... but sounds similar. Ousaka is basically a higher up family in the Omi alliance, so he's part of the bad yakuza!!! Haruka keeps doing the competition and T-set keeps sucking. She wins the princess league by a landslide. I don't even see the point in a third round if she won both of the other rounds? Is the third round just worth more points? Either way Haruka destroyed them and they suck. Her poor vocal instructor is working as her manager now. At some point we find out Parks ex husband was none other then Majima! Which is quite the revelation. Japan is such a small world, everyone seems to know each other. This does mean that Majima at least hit Park (I think after her abortion) and I think he's like 10 years older then her yet they were already married when she debuted at eighteen... Is it time for me to confront the possibility that my favorite crazed murderer might not be the most upstanding citizen?
It ends with Haruka being kidnapped, (nothing out of character there), and Akiyama saving her. He and Haruka make their way to Japan for the big ole concert Park had been planning. Wow this story is really picking up! I hope nothing grinds it to a sudden stop!
Part 3 final thoughts: God this was amazing, every step of it. My only complaint is I wanted more, more Akiyama and MORE dancing but I might be the only one who wanted 40 more hours of dancing. Detective Akiyama and Haruka duo was not the team I knew I needed but Im glad it happened. I found all of the music and gameplay here SO fun and I loved the plot too. I really liked Parks character. I wouldn't necessarily hang out with her, but I found her to be pretty well written and its hard to hate anyone Haruka clearly treasures, I am very sad she is actually dead because up until the end of the game I kept thinking she was going to come back.
Part 4: Shinada:
We have come to a sudden stop. We start with a flashback to 1997 where Shinada has debuted as a baseball player for the wyverns, don't forget this moment because the rest of this section of the game constantly calls back to it. In the modern day Shinada is a loser who is really heavily indebt and lives in a weird grimey rooftop shack. He also now writes like ? smut articles ? And he's friend with a girl named Milky which is the craziest name I've ever heard. A loanshark who talks about his kids a lot constantly follows Shinada around and takes his money. There was a lot of promise with this gag, like maybe instead of letting me keep the 100k and still acting like I'm broke he shows up after every side mission to rob me but nope. At the end of the chapter we run into a masked man who is frankly just Daigo stealing Kiryu's disguise idea.
Shinada and loanshark (his name is Takasugi) walk around town looking for leads on uncovering the truth of Shinada's past. Because you see, Shinada one time got fired from baseball cuz everyone thought he cheated, oh you already knew that? yeah same but don't worry you'll hear it at least 40 more times. Daigo asked him to go look for clues about this, why does he care? I still don't know honestly. Takasugi is forcing him to go because...I guess money? and he's walking around with me and were acting like friends now for some reason. Shinada is incapable of having any agency for himself, he just does what people tell him to. He also keeps nearly dying like a looney tunes character with shit falling out of the sky and stuff. Eventually we find out the Nagoya family fixed the match and then some guy Shinada used to know does get smashed like a looney tunes character. Skip ahead, were called to help by Milky and she betrayed us. I am sad cuz I thought Milky was a friend for life. Turns out literally everyone Shinada knows aside from the fkn loanshark are evil, even the old baseball lady. This plot was so convoluted I frankly don't understand why they were doing what they were doing, all I know is they were more like a neighborhood watch situation then Yakuza even though they seemed to do the exact same thing. Also when I say literally everyone he knows is evil I mean everyone, even his old coach or whatever. For way too long I thought they meant the middle school baseball coach so I was hella confused. Anyways we then find out that actually Takasugi is Shinada's number one baseball fan. Okay? Anyways
Chapter 4 things finally pick up a little. Daigo reveals himself like anyone ever was doubting it was him, and he also reveals he cares because he went to highschool with Shinada. Is that fr how were connecting this? Daigo got expelled from highschool because he protected Shinada from a rival school. Once again, okay? I guess Shinada doesn't like that Daigo is a yakuza and punches him out the door. I wasn't a fan of this. Daigo goes down pretty easily, pitiful Daigo strikes again. I love him but can he do anything right? Anyways I guess the fight meant nothing cuz they're pals now and go to Tokyo together. We get a cut to Takasugi getting his money back from Shinada as well as a signed baseball...okay that's really cute I nearly cried. I wish they actually left it there but instead Shinada runs away last minute to meet up on that stupid baseball field from 1997 that we cant go 5 minutes without hearing about and we fight this guy named Sawada who was like the kind of mastermind and also the pitcher. Had Sawada not thrown an easy pitch, Shinada wouldn't have hit it and thus been kicked out for cheating. We fight some Omi then play baseball and OMG WHY ARE WE DOING THISSSSSS
Finally it ends and we go to Tokyo
Shinada final thoughts: If you cant tell I was not a fan of this. I found Shinada to be really inconsitently written. In side missions or when he's playing off of certain characters he's quite entertaining and un, but most of the time, he seems to just be a blank slate who does whatever and only talks about baseball. And omg maybe if I liked baseball this would have been the best thing ever but we did not need THAT much baseball talk or constant referencing to that baseball game in 1997. I get its central to his character but it became a meme how often he'd get misty eyed and talk about getting kicked out. Why did he move Nagoya to escape his image as a cheating baseball player when 1) he constantly talks about it anyways, 2) everyone literally knows who he is here anyways. They make it seem like at first he wants nothing to do with baseball anymore but he also goes to the batting cages all the time and also thinks about nothing but baseball. The plot here is just SO hard to follow and not at all what I want to be dealing with after we were really in the thick of things with part 3's ending. I'm not saying it was impossible for this to be good, I think there was so much potential here! Like seemingly all of Yakuza 4, the concepts are there but the execution is iffy. I think it's biggest downfall is when it happens. It would have made so much more sense to make the last section before the finale the Haruka section. Shinada would have felt much better to play as maybe as a part two or even a part three, but NOT part four. The odds were stacked against him being amongst a cast of characters that I already know and love. I definitely was more of a Tanimura fan, but I liked Shinada as a person. His inconsistent writing, unfortunate story, and tendency to be a little annoying really dragged this part of the game down for me.
Part 5: The Finale
This finale is crazyyyyyyy so strap in. I would expect nothing less then insanity from this game. First Kiryu shows up in Kamurocho WERE HOME BABYYYYYY. Were being followed by BABA!! I missed him. We fight for fun or something then we cut to Saejima who is meeting with the detective who tells us we gotta find Morinaga. OH YEAH THAT GUY. So we go to the Florist and we go to the arena only to find... AIZAWA??? The fuck? I thought Morinaga fuckin killed him cold blooded and made me think he was a cool as fuck villain. Only to find out that GASP Morinaga is actually dead. At this point I literally don't believe it because I guess I was in my era of not believing anyone ever dies.
We go to Akiyama who is told by Osaka ceo to not let Haruka perform. Akiayam says hell no. We also find out that Park and him planned to make Haruka and T-set a group and debut them at the same time but I somehow missed this when playing and didnt realize that till way leter. ANYWAY At some point we also see the CEO doing naked push ups in his penthouse which was so weird. ALSO there is a Date-san reveal. The scream I screamt! I didn't know I missed him or needing him so much in a game till I saw him again. Usually I'm wondering why he's even there or what he adds but I finally get it now, he adds being Date to the table and that's all you need.
Then I do a tower sweep at Kamurocho hills and OMG is this what Majima was building the whole time? To be fully honest it's beautiful and im very proud but its so different and lowkey off-putting. Kind of like Majima himself. I miss him. A whole game and I only be hearing about him second hand its not fair. Question, did literally anyone choose Saejima to do the tower sweep? Anyway were on the top of the tower; Kiryu, Saejima, CEO Katsuya, and Watase. We all have to fight eachother to draw out the one true bad guy and also cuz this is a yakuza game, so off our shirts go and everyone fights. Basically everyone gets shot and the bad guy is revealed... THE DETECTIVE. Who saw it coming? I still kept thinking Park would come back or Morinaga but by this point I was definitely suspecting him too. I don't fully get why he's doing all this but long story short he's purging both the Omi and Tojo of nice? Yakuza? I guess? I think it mostly has to do with him making way for his son to inherit a role in everything but thats not further explored till later. Not to worry tho! Daigo has shown up!!!! But because he is Daigo you should definitely be worried because once again he cant do anything right and he gets shot by Kanai. God dammit Daigo. He is now in critical condition, this is the SECOND TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED DAIGO. He's such a damsel in distress, never change.
Baba tells Haruka the message Kiryu had for her, to never give up. He also asks her to come with him to convince to Kiryu to chillax but she refuses. Sad for no one but me. At the New Serena, where that absolute BOP of a song is blaring, Kiryu is sleeping, while the rest of the crew are chilling and chatting. I forgot to mention Akiyama and Shinada briefly teamed up but frankly who cares. Shinada talks about baseball alot here too just incase you were worried he wouldnt. They conclude that detective bad guy is gonna attack Haruka's concert which I will NEVER allow. I guess Shinada's purpose here is actually tha the knows the stadiuk layout pretty well which I will buy in to. Also I believe here Haruka gets told about her and t-set being a band together now called Dreamline. I also dont love this. The idea of it is fine, Im all for a disney channel original movie plot where the bullies are actually great and we all become friends at the end but the issue is they don't properly develop T-set to do that. The short haired girl gets one little moment of being somewhat nice to Haruka then the very next time I see her she's stepping on my boss's broach and making me beg on my knees like sorry but it's really hard to come around on liking them. Even now when Haruka stumbles duing practice they're rude! This is a tragic ending if anything but Haruka seems happy I guess... Dont worry they will be nothing more then Haruka's glorifed backup dancers.
Okay final chapter, and it's a doozy. We send Shinada of all people to go help Haruka at the stadium, I know i just said I get he knows the layout of the stadium but like :( he's literally the only one who hasn't met her. I guess they don't end up interacting really anyways. Saejima is going to go after Majima because btw he's alive and at the top of the millenium tower. Akiyama and Kiryu stay on the ground to defend against attackers and they probably punch/ kick at least 10000 men. All the while Haruka gives her concert. But Baba is lurking and gonna shoot her, I thought he learned to be good again but whatever. Him and Shinada end up having a confrontation that ends in Baba losing and he's about to kill himself when !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my prison besties and the wardon show and up stop him! Oh my god I loved that so much what a nice resolution for Baba and I love that those guys went straight to a Jpop concert just for their pal. Meanwhile Saejima confronts Detective evil man on top of the millenium tower and !!! there he is, finally Majima is here. But he is not having a good time, turns out he's allowed himself to be captured and tortured for the sake of Haruka and now Majima and Saejima have to fight for the same reason. Then! Daigo shows up, while im literally begging him to actually shoot the bad guy but instead they all talk. Haruka is safe from harm (Baba wouldn't have done that shit anyways) and we officially learn about the plot of him attempting to put his son in charge of everything. Kiryu goes to Tojo headquarters to stop whoever this suspicious son is and Akiyama fights Kanai. Then literally all our friends ever show up to help and that was damn cute.
Kiryu shows up and it's eerie, completely silent with dead people everywhere. We go to the meeting room and the guy behind it all along was Aizawa. I definitely did not see that coming because I forgot he existed. But I suppose thats the point, he was so unassuming. I guess that means Morinaga actually was dead all along. We fight Aizawa while Haruka sings a song that seems very pointed at Kiryu wins (duh) but he is not doing well and tries to make his way through the streets. Meanwhile Haruka announces her retirement because she cant hide who she is or stay away from her family any longer and runs away to find Kiryu and THE GAME ENDS. Other games gave me a after credits scene that somewhat eased my concerns, but 5 is a overall very sad game and it's scene is her managing to him but he's bleeding out in the streets and falls unconcious in her arms.
Finale final thoughts: This was quite the finale! It was much better then Shinada's section but it was still a bit messy and left a lot of plot threads up in the air or had some unfortunate revelations. Nothing bad but things I think shouldve maybe been revealed earlier, like Aizawa. Only finding out with like 20 minutes of the game to go makes it feel too empty or even rushed when we know this game is otherwise not rushed at all. I was a little sad about the ending, I don't think it was bad at all I was just sad. The whole time I imagined it ending with the whole gang going to Haruka's concert and having a good time. For once I dont think the game fully dropped the ball on the finale like they tend to do so I commend it for that.
TLDOverall plot final thoughts: As a whole this is one of the most well written Yakuza stories since Yakuza 3 (obviously in my opinion). I can see that for some people all the plot twists and surprises might have felt like too much but I loved it, I never once could predict where this game was going. Morinaga dying off screen was such a let down and missed opportunity, at the end of Kiryu's section I was thinking he was going to be the best Yakuza villain in awhile but instead he went out in such a lame way. I do kinda wonder who killed him, I assumed it was just the detective guy but Aizawa seemed at least somewhat sad about Morinaga's death. I wonder if that was all a show? Another thing I dislike not just because of how it went, but also that it ended up going no where, Mayumi. They made quite the big deal about her at first and I do like the plot twist that she was a spy, but she wasn't even really acting any different when she was in spy mode and in normal mode. Plus you literally never see her again. I think Saejima's section was just very reminicent of his in 4, but done well. Aside from it taking quite so long to get to the city, by the time you leave it feels slightly rushed. I think the chapter in the woods didnt need to be its own thing. Absolutely no notes with Haruka, only that I'm sad this is all we will see of Park, I found her to be a really interesting character. Akiyama is where my main issues arise, only because I really do think he needed his whole section. He felt a little tacked on otherwise when I think he really didn't need to feel that way. I had hoped he would be part of half of Haruka's section then half of Shinada's where he is used to introduce us to Shinada as a character. But instead we get dropped into that like nothing. I know im probably the only one who cares about Hana this much but I really wish we got more of her. I basically said all my issues with Shinada at the end of his section but once again, I really didn't enjoy that plot. The finale was a mess and unfortunatly left at quite a cliff hanger which I wouldve rather it didn't but Im also okay with how it did. Some other things I wanted in this game was MORE MAJIMA I get why he wasnt for narrative purposes but Im gonna say that in every game. I wouldve loved more Okinawa orphan content. That being said there is way more content for them in this then in Y4 which is wild considering we spent like 5 seconds in Okinawa during a flashback and you never actually see them. It was so nice to hear what theyre up to second hand and some of the side missions expand on them a little more but I am devastated they werent there.
Lastly to briefly compare it to Y4, as they do feel like connected games. Y5 realy does feel like they took all of the concepts of the 4th game that needed to be reworked, and then re-did them to be better. The villains are better, prison break outs are better, and just like way more. I do think there are things in Y5 that are lacking compared to Y4, like general atmosphere, and I do think Tanimura's section in 4, as flawed as it is, is better then Shinadas. Akiyama's in 5 is great, but I love his in Y4 more simply because he doesn't have to share the spotlight. But I really have to emphasize, story and character are done better in Y5, ATMOSPHERE is done so much better in Y5.
TLDR for the TLDR: I liked this game :)
And there you have it, the longest goddamn review of all time. It was a really great game and I wish I could play it for the first time again because it was just SUCH a great experience. If you read this far I am so impressed by you and eternally grateful you even cared to. Please let me know your thoughts! I'm so excited to talk about this game with people. As for my rating, It was going to be a 10/10 until I got to Shinada's section now I'm in between an 8 or a 9. Ill just say 8/10 to be mean.
I am already neck deep in Yakuza 0 so I'm excited to write a much shorter review for that one soon.
Thank you for reading!

Gender
If not relevant to this subreddit, please remove :)
I am a cis woman. I can confidently say that, but I do take it with a grain of salt. Because I have not always been so sure about my gender identity as I am now. I used to question my gender. Hard.
There was a period while I was questioning where, within all my questions about gender and identity and self, the worst possible outcome seemed to be cis. Back then, transness was even less accepted in society, and many online trans communities turned to exclusion of non-binary and/or genderfluid people, or generally anyone that wasn’t as clearly transgender as they felt themselves, in an effort to validate their own identity before themselves and society.
(“That isn’t real transness, we don’t claim them, they are crazy, we are the actual sane trans people. Ignore them, accept us.” Gay cis men did the same to trans people - especially trans women of color - following the stone wall riots. It’s a common reaction of any marginalised group that tries to be accepted in general society.)
Naturally, the last thing I wanted to do is invade safe spaces for trans people, take up space and resources that weren’t meant for me. I soothed myself, telling myself that my presence was valid in my pursuit of an answer. Now that I have my answer, I wonder if my experience with gender still has a space within the discussion around it.
I don’t know what it’s like to be trans.
I will never claim that.
I do know what its like not to identify with ones assigned gender at birth, and to wish the world saw you differently. As the other binary gender. Or maybe genderless.
Back then, I read an article where the trans author described a conversation they had with one of their friends, a transitioned trans man. They were asking their friend of their experience with gender dysphoria, to which the friend answered: They never had had any.
That was surprising, to both me and the author, because so far, transness had been defined by that very thing: gender dysphoria. The friend explained that they were fine with a female body, in and of itself. But they hated being viewed as a woman. They did not identify with what they had learned a woman to be. They identified as a man. So much so, that they were willing to change their physical appearance. Because you are what people view you as. How they treat you. And they did not want to be seen as a woman.
That resonated with me. My personal issues with my gender, as I realised, were deeply rooted in misogyny, both external and internalised.
Growing up, I was a headstrong little girl. I was loud, I fought with literal tooth and nail for what I wanted, I was the only girl in an anger management group for kids. In media, I associated myself with the archetype of the straight men. The ones with control over the situation, powerful, funny, strong, that saw things for what they are. In no way did I see myself in the oversexualized love interests, the ones who’s only value was connected to what they could be to their assigned man. Furthermore, I remember looking forward to growing up and having a hot woman by my side, like all of these main male characters did. Actually growing up and realising that I was meant to be - at best - that object of desire was sobering to say the least.
I wasn’t that.
I wasn’t helpless, stupid, weak. Actually. I was all of those things sometimes, as is human, but I was never, ever, ever, someone else’s. Someones girl. Adding onto that come all the expectations we have of womanhood and girlhood. Be it interests, characteristics, ways to behave and carry oneself. I wasn’t that. I was myself. Sometimes aligning with my assigned gender, sometimes not. But no matter what I did, how I carried myself and what I spent my time doing, I was always treated as a woman. And that, to me, was the worst thing of all. Still is. That people lay their eyes on me, understand me to be a woman, and then treat me like they believe a woman is to be treated, be that good or bad, regardless of how I actually am.
Altering one’s body does not feel like a dramatic price to pay in order to escape that.
To me, it was my lack of gender dysphoria that led me to accept myself as cis. I carefully tried to explore myself regardless of the gender that I am being perceived as. I know the world still views and treats me as female. I can handle it better now.
I talked to two non-binary friends of mine. I told them that if I woke up tomorrow and the whole world had forgotten what gender is, id be more than happy. Ecstatic. Relieved. I don’t feel defined by my womanhood.
They suggested that the way I feel on gender might mean that I am outside the gender binary as well. I told them no, that I am fine with who I am. I am at home in my body. Breasts, vulva, feminine facial features and all. My struggle with gender is purely external. It lies within the societal expectations, not within me. You see, I enjoy the performance of it. I am envious of femboys and drag queens who can wipe away womanhood with a cotton pad and take it off with their wigs and clothing. I am cis. But I don’t need gender. I wish gender was mine to dress up as, and not for other people to lay on me like a chain around my neck.
And I am certain that I am not the only one who feels that way. I came here wondering if anyone here can relate. Wondering what your gender means to you.
I am aware that the debate about what gender even is (a social construct, an identity, a performance) runs deep, though it’s never meant to discredit the experience of an individual.
I suppose I also ask if my experience and feelings are valid within this discussion, or if I am appropriating something that isn’t about me.

I’m a trans woman (24) and I’m not out IRL. I dress, sound, and am perceived as a man every single day.
I live in a small and very religious town where the idea of of presenting as myself doesn’t feel like a realistic possibility.
However this year I started making YouTube videos. At first I was presenting similarly to how I do IRL, just using a more comfortable voice. But eventually I started wearing makeup (nothing major, just eyeliner and mascara), and most recently I started wearing a wig as well.
I’ve never mentioned the fact that I’m trans but it’s obvious I guess. When I first put on a wig I received some very supportive comments from people saying things like; they’re happy to see me being more comfortable and confident.
However, I don’t remotely pass. I’m taller than most men, I have broad shoulders, and if I don’t shave every single day there’s course rough hair all over me. I feel like I look like Tony Soprano with a wig and eyeliner lmao
Today I got a comment saying “A bloke in drag. I wish you all the best with your struggles in the future.” I’ve gotten comments like this before and they always take me down a notch. I know I should have thicker skin, but I don’t know. Getting comments like that makes me feel as if that’s how everyone sees me, but the other people are just too nice to actually say it.
I don’t know, I guess I’m just conflicted. These silly little videos feel like one of the only ways I can have fun as myself in my current living situation. But is it worth it if everyone just sees me as a freak anyway? Is it much different than my town? Should I just stop unless I’m able to one day pass?
Apologies if this post seems more like a venty-ramble than a nicely phrased question 😅 I’m just having a rough day I guess and am looking for some perspective

We’re a same sex couple who struggled with infertility for many years and had a baby last May through surrogacy - she’s wonderful and amazing and I’m the SAHM. We had one embryo left and given my wife is 42, we decided to transfer the embryo to my wife in February. Honestly, after six failed to implant, we really didn’t think it would take. Well it did and we’re very blessed and happy. However, this pregnancy has been nothing but stress. We assumed she had issues GETTING pregnant but now we know there’s even more to it. She’s 14w and just had surgery to get a cerclage as her cervix is very small by design and she was only 2.3cm so they rushed her in and all is good except she is in constant pain, back pain, constipated, you name it. She also started getting high blood pressure so she started meds and luckily it is staying down. But she complains every second of the day - and I get it, I’m a woman who has adenomyosis and a hysterectomy so I can only imagine how painful and annoying it is. But besides carrying this kid she’s literally not able to do anything else - no picking up after herself, no taking care of our very opinionated and strong willed 12.5 month old, no waking up with her, no taking her to the park, literally nothing but complain. Everyone keeps saying it will get better but it’s legit only gotten worse! The morning sickness was bad but that didn’t really stop her from helping and she didn’t complain like she is now.
Any advice to not get so frustrated with the complaining and to get her to understand I’m not upset with HER but more so just the situation sucks right now for both of us and I’m burned out but also happy to be doing it all as this is what we wanted and I know once baby/wife recovers is here it will be much better? Having a toddler is a lot of work and now I literally feel like I have another toddler or even more difficult! It’s just difficult because when I express a frustration she automatically gets defensive and I can’t seem to get her to understand I’m not “mad” at her. I’m sure hormones are playing a big role.
Just a ROUGH period and I can’t even fathom five more months of this but we shall survive and look back on this one day as wow that was a really hard fucking time.
But maybe I need to get some more me-time? We do have a nanny who comes three hours a day but I’m also working 10 or so hours a week and going to school so I usually use that time to clean or work.

I feel shocked and hurt my my fiancé asking for a hypothetical hall pass. For context, we got together fairly young, and I was his second sexual partner and he was my first. Up until this point, honestly so much of what he's done and said has seemed like green flags; he is so sweet, honest, caring, supportive, and honestly even a little naive/innocent. He often seems "too pure for this world." Our relationship has also been defined by constant, open communication. Up until now, he also seemed to genuinely tick just about every box in terms of compatibility/what I was looking for in a life partner. I also highly doubt he has ever cheated and trust(ed) him completely.
We checked out a famous sex club a few days ago just to see what it was like. First, he asked me how I would feel if he did anything with anyone else in the club (and that if I said yes, I could do anything with anyone else), and I calmly said no (I honestly think we were both slightly high). Then, he asked if he could have a hall pass for a solo trip abroad he was considering doing in the future, explaining that about 5% of the time he wonders about having more sexual experiences, but that if the idea of it hurt me even a tiny bit, he would not go through with it, and that he would only go through with it if I also used a hall pass at the same time. Again, I think because of the drugs, I was very calm and said I would think about it, and that I was happy he felt comfortable opening up to me about it.
The next day, I felt as if my insides were tearing themselves apart, and I cried a lot and opened up to him about my feelings and fears that he would one day feel the need to cheat on me or that this meant we were incompatible, since I can't help equating monogamy with love. He was very apologetic and said he wouldn't have asked me if we weren't in that club, and he would be devastated if he were to lose me. He said it was only a small desire, not a need, and that I am his life partner and mean everything to him. I should also say I am a huge idealist/romantic and often think I need to adjust my high expectations for people (for instance, as a teenager, even the idea of my bf being possibly just attracted to anyone else would have devastated me).
Am I overreacting to an innocent, hypothetical question, or is this a point of no return/major red flag/sign of incompatibility? Should we go through with the marriage?