I (26F) met my ex (27M) and my former best friend (25F) at the beginning of university. I introduced them, and we were close throughout our studies. After graduation, I moved away, and my relationship with my ex ended, though we remained friends. About a year after our breakup, my former best friend visited me for my birthday and mentioned that my ex had been asking her out after our relationship ended. Although I had no intention of getting back together with him, I felt uncomfortable with him dating a mutual friend. I decided to remove him from my social media and move on, but I stayed friends with her since, as far as I knew, she wasn't pursuing him romantically.
Two years later, she visited me again and revealed that my ex had actually started asking her out during the last two years of our relationship, and neither of them told me. They had grown closer while I was studying abroad, staying together in another country. This actually felt like a major betrayal. There's nothing I value more than my time, and both of them had just let me waste two years in a relationship where my partner was trying to cheat on me.
She apologized and mentioned that even though he had a new girlfriend, he was still asking her out, and she didn't know how to handle it. I told her that I had lost my trust in her, and she promised to rebuild it. However, a few weeks later, she and my ex took trips to two different countries for about a month together without his new girlfriend. In the past, if you'd told me they had something going on behind my back, I wouldn't have believed you, but this, along with everything else, was really changing my perception. They were now doing the same thing to his new girlfriend. It's not my place to say anything to the new girl, but I do feel very bad for her. I decided to cut both of them out of my life. I didn't share this story with our mutual friends to avoid damaging her social circle, believing she might eventually change and she'll need those friends more than me for now.
However, I learned that she told our mutual friends that I cut her off because of my ex, which isn't true. Many things have come to light about my ex since our breakup, revealing that he wasn't a good person, and I regret the time I spent with him. The reason I ended the friendship was the loss of trust in her, not because of my ex.
Am I the AH? How should I handle the social fallout? I love my life now - I'm in a prestigious grad school, have supportive family and lovely friends outside of my uni bubble, I have a really well-paying job, and am beyond grateful for everything. However, it bothers me that our mutual friends only know her version of events. Her family still reaches out to me, and I don't have the heart to tell them about our falling out. Her mom once said to me, "I love you because of how much you love and take care of my daughter." It sucks to lose them, but I'm okay with whatever version she tells them because I don't want to disrupt her relationship with them. I was thinking of paying off one of her student loans as a birthday gift before I realized she was spending it with my ex. I helped out another friend with grad school fees and bought gifts for my mom instead. Is there something I'm missing? Was I unfair to her in any way?

It was the start of a new year, and with that Seouls 4 major school saw a large increase of new students. Everyone was talking about the gang who used to rule over Seoul suddenly disappearing, and nobody was taking ownership of it. (read the Extra info at the bottom, it will help a lot, and it'll explain how things work for new people)
---------------------------North Seoul High--------------------------- A tall, blonde, guy was making jokes with a few of his classmates, most of them where about the Soviet union and WW2. Ivan Alexander (u/Away_excitement3116)
In the corner of class a tall, silver haired boy was training without his shirt on, a few watched while some tried to look away from his muscular build. Klein (u/ProfessionalLuck268)
Simply sitting at his desk doing his schoolwork was one boy, most would says he's normal. But then again, being to only normal guy makes you kind of special. Yuseong (u/Outer-god369)
A tall black dude was talking with his friend, trying to improve his language skills as h had only recently come to Korea. His shirt hiding his very muscular build. (u/TheGloryBe_throwaway)
There was a large group of students talking, making jokes, laughingand just having a good time, in the center of attention was the short curly haired- Ren Yuzaki (u/LeoIsAngry)
There was a boy sleeping on his desk, standing next to him was another boy dressed just like a body guard. He would scare off anyone who got close. The boy sleeping was Kai Edward Tristan (u/KaiAugustInsi)
Some skinny guy was watching the popular newtube channel (How To Fight), he was inspired by Hobin due to the fact they both got bullied a lot. He now wats to be just like him. Kim Suho (u/federal_tip9311)
--------------------------South Seoul High----------------------------
The class watched as an boy with Orange hair, and black leather gloves was polishing his newest Trophy. It's seemed like that was the only thing interesting him at all. Dexter (u/Greensvenner1234)
A short and skinny boy is playing with his Lego bricks. While most see it as immature he's doing it to get a better understanding on a buildings stability and weak points. As he loves working on construction sites. Seok Mujuk (u/domengoenfuego)
Sitting in some expensive designer clothes, was a boy who normally couldn't afford it. But after beating up some bullies who harrased others, and then them offering him their money he gladly took it. Kai Wang (u/wesjsndsjsnss)
"Come and hit me!" a Dude screamed while his Classmates punched and kicked him, yet he was still standing as if nothing had happened at all to him. Lam Lee (u/Dull-tax-4713)
Sitting away from all the noice, enjoying his favorite manga was Kim Jin (u/random_guy_Q)
Amongst the people who tried to punch Lam Lee was one boy who actually manged to hurt him a bit, he didn't notice was Lam was hiding it but his attacks where effective. Adam (u/Theman2326)
---------------------------East Seoul High------------------------------ A boy with gum in his hair was playing games on multiple phones, yet he obviously didn't enjoy it. That's because he was forced to farm stuff for bullies. Su-Jin Park (u/RainProfessional8105)
People stared as there was some guy who brought a few stray cats and dogs with him to class. Some people enjoyed the animals, others saw it as weird. Zanegs (u/Warrenchae)
Some nerds ran up to an average sized boy with white hair, calling him sir and giving him some money, he told them that they are safe as long as the money keeps flowing Hyuk Hwang (u/Rutsch3r)
There was someone silently talking to himself, but not silent enough. Other people could hear h but they didn't understand what he was saying. Myul (u/Longjumping-date-367)
He was not a student of this school, yet he would still come here everyday. He fought someone drunk dude from this school who he now follows around. Ran Yong-Su (u/Any-Lingonberry-3589)
Some drunk dude, he got I trouble a lot for drinking while on school grounds. Beat up some guy once while drunk, who's now following him around. Chao Ming (u/Even-Caramel-9309)
Staying way from other, watching movies about martial arts while simultaneously reading a martial arts magazine was Forgettable (u/Forgettabletiger)
--------------------------West Seoul High-----------------------------
A football (it's called football not soccer) just ended in a 30-0 win. His teammates where all gathered around him praising him for his amazing shots and dribbling. Hyoma Kurona (u/Fungiloo)
Skipping school so he could work in his parents teashop, was a boy who was fascinated by his Chinese roots. Vincent Lee (u/Base_loose)
A boy was going around with a group of scary looking guys. He would try to beat up people and then have them join him. He war cruel to them yet made them yet on rare occasions asked if they are hurt. Jintaro Suzuki (u/SlashDaOne)
Talking to his teacher as if they where best friends was one boy who didn't care about social rankings and as everyone as a friend. Hae Minsu (u/Real_Abrocoma_9377)
After unsuccessfully flirting with a few girls, this boy decided that training his body again was the best way to get their attention. Jin Na (u/Causality_A)
This boy gets along with many people, yet he gets nervous when you ask him about his glove and weirdly large pinky fingers. Ryuk Eun-Soo (u/Elegant-Ad-2431)
---------------------------------Extra Info----------------------------------
Here are a few rules and things you should keep in mind.

1. How does anything work? Just make a comment saying what your characters is doing or what he wants to do. I will respond with a scenario. Onec your scenario is finished I'll tell you, you can act again in the next part.

If you fight another OC, it will be put into the next part as these are special fights.

1. You're allowed to do anything, you want as long as ng as it's in character.
   
2. You can be permanently crippled, lose limbs and die.
   
3. Random encounters are a thing. They have different rarities, common ones are like you meeting some thugs, while more rare encounters could result in you meeting people like Gun.
   
4. After an successful encounter you're rewarded with all kinds of thing, stat buffs, special items, Uniqe Abilities. The more rare the encounter is, the better the rewards. You can also fail the encounter.
   
5. Stats are important even outside of fighting. You can raise every single stat by training or from rewards.
   

Strength: how strong your hits are, how much you can lift/Carry around. And other physical tasks. Speed: how fast you attack, move and think. Potential: is basically how fast you grow from training, Someone with higher potential will gain more than someone with low potential from the same amount of training. Intelligence: your battle IQ as well as your overall IQ. If your int is low your plans will almost always fail even if your plan is really good and detaild. And someone with high int will almost always be successful even if their plan is bad. Endurance: Your Defense, and how much energy you have.
Stats are also hidden, this is so you have to be careful around every person you don't know. High Intelligence character might find out your stats. And some cards also let you view stats.

1. If you want to do something in secret DM me. This way only you and I will know about it. This could be a betrayal or maybe a secret plan.

7.1 Fight other OCs is something risky, the winner can decide what to do with you. They can to the things mentioned in (2) but they can also try to recruit you.
7.2 Beating an OC will give Special rewards. So it's encouraged by keep in mind that you can suffer a lot if you fail.
If you don't remember something about your OC just DM me

Please understand I’m not looking for sympathy and before people start saying “you’re not stupid” “how can you say that about yourself” I’ve literally been called stupid by friends, classmates, and family since I was 4 years old. I’m in my early 30s now and can say I’ve without doubt done stupid things so I don’t want to hear people say I shouldn’t call myself and idiot when I am. I feel like I’m a functioning person with no common sense whatsoever causing me to get by in life while being a complete idiot along the way.
Now, having said that I managed to get by in school, despite my stupidity and I obtained overall average grades. Afterwards I went university and graduated with a below average marks but admittedly this was due to me doing literally no work when I was in university. I pretty much spent at a push 10% of my time studying. Foolish I know and was doing a challenging degree.
Despite that set back I pursued a career in banking and so far earn above the London average salary. Things on paper don’t actually seem to be bad right? Yet I do stupid things from time to time. In addition to this my memory is bad, particularly my short term memory. It’s caused me humiliation over the years and even as of recent. It makes me so depressed when I think of all the dumb things I’ve done over the years and feel like I’d be the happiest person in the world if not for my stupidity. I feel like I’d be sooo much more confident in myself if not for my stupidity. Below are some examples of the stupid and weird things I’ve done over the years:
1) Bad memory - will do something and forget a couple mins later at times; like forgetting the number of the locker I put my gym clothes in, when I was learning to drive I kept forgetting the basics such as putting the handbrake fully down. There are times where I’d forbid myself to say something only to stupidly say it a few minutes later. - there are more examples I could use but simply put this is my primary issue and it’s gotten a little worse as I’ve gotten older.
2) Sometimes I can’t hear things properly- I’ll hear words but not the right words forming at times - but this maybe happens a handful of times a year if that. Not an everyday thing at all but nonetheless still a problem.
3) Forgetting to open the wine bottle cap before pouring into the glass a few times on dates.
4) Not knowing that paracetamol could be classed as a painkiller. Always just referred to it as medicine.
5) Sometimes I’ll read something then temporarily forget it. E.g. on someone’s Instagram post a woman said she was having a boy. In the subsequent post showing the birth of her baby for some reason I thought it would be a girl just because the pictures looked like it would be one.
6) Only recently classing coffee as a hot drink. For whatever reason i classed hot drinks as hot lemonade or hot versions of any other forms of fruit juice.
7) Didn’t realise “cuppa” meant coffee for some reason. Whilst I was familiar with the phrase cuppa coffee for some reason if someone just said “cuppa” I’d be a little puzzled.
8) As a child I was known for throwing a ball and doing pushups weirdly. - maybe this was an early sign of poor motor skills?
I think you guys get the idea, I’m an idiot. I could list so much more examples but don’t want this turning into a long winded essay.
In addition to the above I’ve always struggled with concentration, distractibility and of course poor memory which makes me think I have ADD or maybe some form of dyspraxia.
As mentioned above I’m not seeking sympathy or attention I just want straightforward answers on how I can get better and whether the above examples could be linked to a form of learning disability. I just want to get better and potentially receive treatment via the NHS.
Thanks

I apologize in advance, as english is not my first language. Pretty much everything here I've translated on google. Two weeks ago, my wife (F26) and I (M30) were at a party, her father's birthday party. It was going well, then her parents ntroduced us to an old couple of friends of theirs, from when they were around our age, and their daughter (F29) too, who I recognized as an old friend from high school. Let's call her Andrea (fictional name). For context, me and my wife are not the jealous type, as our relationship is based on trust, and has always been. So, when Andrea and I sat together on a table and started talking, my wife didn't mind it, and stayed with her family. I remember Andrea as being the fun kid when we were in highschool, and she was still just as funny. We're laughing and having a good time, and she started getting a bit "touchy", but nothing worth worrying about, I thought. I was wrong. She was definitely getting touchy, feeling my arms and asking if I started working out and this type of stuff. That's when I fucked up, because I didn't stop her. In fact, I held her hips at some point, and then my wife came in. She was obviously jealous and angry, but didn't make a scene. She started asking Andrea if she's married, or has a boyfriend, that type of territorial stuff, and at some point, Andrea got uncomfortable and excused herself. I told my wife she was being rude, and she started accusing me or flirting with Andrea. Of course I told her I wasn't, that she was overreacting and Andrea was just an old friend, but my wife insisted that I was flirting and cheating. Then I got mad. Cheating? I snapped at her and said she was being childish and insecure, overreacting. What then if I was enjoying the attention? It is definitely not the same as cheating, is it? She then said something that made me go silent, something along the lines of "cheating starts in thought, you don't need to have sex with someone else to cheat". I insisted I didn't cheat on her, and that I never would, but she just gave up on arguing and tried to enjoy the party with her family. When we got home, later that night, my wife was silent. I didn't say anything either, just assumed that we were over it, since she didn't bring it up. For the next couple weeks, she still didn't mention anything, and neither did I. We didn't talk much, and she was also never in the mood for any intimacy. I thought it was okay, and that everything would be back to normal in a week or two. It didn't, and now I know I made all the wrong decisions. Last night when I got home, my wife was in our bedroom, staring at herself in the mirror with a grimace. I asked if she was alright, and she just shake her head. I kept asking what was wrong, and she broke down in tears saying she looked hideous. For context, my wife is far from hideous. To me, she's the complete opposite, and so to everyone else. I'm not exaggerating when I say she can't even go out for groceries without people ciming to compliment her beauty and her nice hair. So, to hear she say that, it broke me. Of course I told her she's beautiful, but she kept on sobbing and saying she never felt so ugly before. I didn't know what to do or say, I just held her and kept telling her just how pretty she is, but she had that apathetic and gloomy expression on her face, and kept crying herself to sleep. I'm writing this as she sleeps besides me. My heart is completely broken, and I just wish I could go back in time and never hurt her in the first place. My wife mean everything to me, and I don't know how to fix things. Has anyone here ever been through something like this? How do I make my wife feel pretty and special again?

We are two daughters of our parents. My father is a business man. He has always been dominating and had the audacity to raise hand on my mother. He had that arrogance of providing us with food and stuff. Though he gave us good education, he was very restrictive and strict. There was no TV, we were not allowed to go out with our friends, we were not allowed to invite our friends at home too and much more. I am a younger one. I use to be good in studies. I use to be an obedient child and always made sure to make my parents proud. On the contrary, my elder sister was average in studies. Even there were 1000 restrictions on us, my sister did some blunders in past like bunk school or having male friends (which obviously we were not allowed to at all). She once was caught with a phone (it was her friend's phone) when she was in 10th class and my mother beat her so bad. She promised that she needs to mend her ways otherwise she will tell our dad. But my sister got so scared that she attempted suicide. But by god's grace, she was saved. I just can't forget that day. This way you might get a glimpse at what level we were afraid of him. My mother never raised voice against my father even after physical abuse. I remember the days when i use to sit outside their room for hours and hours during night with a pillow as they use to fight. I use to be scared what if something happens wrong, though i never has the courage to stop them. I thought that this might be disrespectful. Many nights i just use to sit outside their room with a pillow and when they get to sleep, i use to go back to my room and sleep. When I was 17-18 years old, my father made a plan to thailand with this friends. We were not so happy as we also wanted to go for a trip. Anyhow, not seeing our reaction, he planned. Our mother never had an issue with this as our father use to bribe her with some gold or something (she was fond of jewelry). Also, he never treated our mother right (especially during trips-physical abuse or marital rape we can say) so she use to avoid going out. I myself sensed this thing many times. I use to share bed with them when any relatives use to come to our place. I use to sense him asking for sex and then my mother denying. He use to hold her from neck and that use to rip me apart but i never had the courage to stop him. So yeah, he travelled to thailand and cam back home. One fine day, he asked me and my sister to delete our the unnecessary photos and videos from him phone. I took the phone and started deleting. The next thing i saw was a video and i trembled. We saw a video of my father dancing with a girl in a hotel room. I WAS JUST SO SCARED. Phone fell from my hand. It was a long video, but i only saw 5-6 secs of it. Me and my sister deleted the video and never told anyone about it. We ourselves also never discussed it with anyone. My father use to click pictures with air hostesses and some random girls that he met in thailand. He use to post those pictures as no one had the courage to say him anything on this face. Punjabi people, especially men find it very normal but not normal if any women does it. Years passed, my sister turned 23. One day my sister got caught with a boy in a hotel room. She told that she had a bf who was 5-6 elder from him and was involved in a travel agency job. He belonged to a service class family, average looking and middle class background. My father refused. He met the guy and was not happy. Proper blackmailing like you broke my trust, how can you find a bf, it is our responsibility to find one for you etc started. She was tortured. She was made sit at home for one year. All household work was done by her and she was always taunted. They turned everything hell for her. I also was not able to do anything as I had no idea how could i help. Even i didn't had that mind to understand if she was right or no. When she turned 24-25, marriage talks popped up. My father found a rich business class guy for her. We all were happy and she got married in two months. Thankfully it turned out good for her that she got to get out from this home. I started having problem with my father here. He use to pretend such a nice guy infront of everyone. He use to portray that he is the nicest man and can do anything for her family. Though deep inside we were aware he is the worst person who beats up his wife, makes every little thing work as per his own choice, does not give a fuck about his daughters and does not respect. Every other person started thinking that he is such a gentleman and my mother is arrogant which was not true. My father is a business man and knows how to talk in a group of people and how to pretend. My mother on other hand, is introvert, so some might think of her as an arrogant person. He started gifting expensive stuff to my sister's in laws place to make himself look good. And when we use to ask for money and stuff, he never gave us enough to meet our needs. We always use to compromise. Never wore brand or never went to good place for dinners etc but they were gifted brands, thousand and lakhs of money were given to them, though they never demanded and always use to say no to those gifts. At this stage, my age came of getting married. And my perspective for my father changed. Whenever my marriage talk popped up, it use to scare the shit out of me. I started thinking what if my partner turned out to be just like my father. What i will do where will i go and how will i manage everything. Because i was aware once i get married, there is no turning back. I have to make that marriage work no matter what happens. My parents will never support me or take me back if my partner turns out to be bad. They will ask me to accept it saying it is your destiny. When it comes to marriage, every girl try to sees her father's characteristics in her to be husband. And when i use to imagine, i started running away from the word of marriage. I just got scared that every other men is like him who is dominating, disrespectful and raise his hands on his wives. I tried to escape from it saying i want to pursue my studies. On the other hand, I met a wonderful guy. I never thought i would fall for a guy like him. He is a goofy guy with a good heart. He is a senior manager in a government bank. The man of my dreams, i never ever met guy in my life who was so nice and kind to talk. Though i had few male friends, i never felt like that for them. I opened my heart and my mind infront of him. I shared everything with him, even those things which i never use to think of alone or which use to scare the shit out of me. Now the problems comes. He is basically from Himachal Pradesh, further from a small town, a very simple family. Our teva also doesn't matches. We belong to a upper business class family. I talked about this with my father and mother and my god, it turned out so bad. He threatened me saying he will boycott me and ask my sister and other relatives too to cut me off. I don't want to lose touch with my sister as she is the only one who i have. She also cannot do anything for me. I love him alot and we cannot live without each other. My sister's husband is nice but he will also not approve of him because he also has that richie rich mentality. I don't have anyone's support and now i feel suicidal. I don't know what to do and where to go #pleasehelp

Whatever you do, never drink to cure a mental issue.
First
Previous
You know the drill: credit to SpacePaladin15 for the universe.
Thank you JulianSkies for proofreading.
Memory Transcription Subject: Gillab, Gojid Citizen, Father
Date [Standardized Human Time]: March 28, 2142
I made sure to wake up as early as possible so I could do what I needed to do before Billy woke up. First things first, get rid of all the liquor in that fridge. If Billy was going to get better, the first thing he needed to do was stop drinking. He was only running from his problems and as long as he had that out he was going to take it.
I pulled a trash bag in front of the fridge, propped it open as best I could, and started stuffing it full of bottles. Cheap Venlilian liquor was being poured down the drain by the second, it almost made me feel bad for anything living in the sewers. This stuff had enough alcohol in it to kill someone, a rat would be dead in seconds.
By the time I poured the last bottle down the drain, I had probably sanitized the entirety of the New York sewer system. I hoisted the bag onto my back, making sure not to break the bag with my quills, and started to make my way to the dumpster. Thankfully Billy’s apartment was on the first floor so the journey wasn’t too long.
I tossed the bag into the dumpster carelessly, causing a few of the bottles to break when they hit the others that had been thrown in yesterday. It was only the second day, but I felt like we had already made some progress. I was able to make him admit he was just scared of feeling the pain of his memories, even if it was only accidental. Small steps were still steps, now all I had to do was make him realize that he didn’t deserve this. I have a feeling that once he jumps that hurdle, everything should come much easier.
A familiar song brought me out of my thoughts, drawing my attention to my phone. I had changed the ringtone to the first Human song I had ever heard, T-Shirt, to always remind me of my time on the Cradle. I pulled out my phone and accepted the call, smiling as I saw just who it was.
“High sweety, having a good morning?”
The camera shook up and down in sync with my daughter's face. “Yeah, but I wish you were here.”
“Oh sweety, I know you do, but I have some important work to do and I can’t come home. Just know that I will always love you. Now you have a good day at school, you hear?”
“Mmhm, I will. Here’s mommy.”
The camera shook again as it passed from my daughter’s claws to my wife’s. In the background, I could hear the chitter of my daughter’s voice and then rapid footsteps away. When the camera stopped shaking, I was met by the most beautiful woman in existence.
“Hello, Sweet-fruit.”
Kirala smiled and tilted her head. “Hello, my big guolo tree. I missed you this morning.”
“I missed you too. I had to sleep on an uncomfortable couch and I think it messed up my back a bit.”
“Oh, how the mighty veteran is felled! Surviving a plasma wound to the chest but felled by the mightier couch.”
I flicked an ear in amusement. “To be fair, it was one vicious couch.”
I couldn’t help but melt at her laugh, it was like sunshine during the darkest night. It was light and cheerful and genuine, and I couldn’t imagine myself living without it.
With a final few chuckles, Kirala pulled herself together enough to respond. “Well, it sounds like you need to wear some armor to bed then.”
I feigned a thoughtful expression. “Maybe I will, I already sleep with clothes on.”
She threw her head back in disgust. “Ugh, I still don’t know how you do that. I still feel a little uncomfortable when I wear them when I’m awake, I couldn’t imagine sleeping with them.”
“It’s an acquired taste, you’ll come around.”
“Mmhm, I’m suuure.”
I sighed. “How’s Julaly doing?”
“Well, she misses you, obviously, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. She was good yesterday, but we both wished you had given us a little more of a warning. I didn’t expect your little trip to the memorial to turn into an impromptu therapy session.”
“Sweet-fruit, you know I wish I could have too. It was sprung on me just as much as you. I’m just glad I found him when I did, do you know what I found in his room? A suicide note.”
Kirala gasped slightly. “Oh dear I… I really-”
“It’s fine. I didn’t know either. But just think, if I had come back for just one day, he would be dead. I made the right call here, even if I was torn at the time.”
“You need to get back to him then.”
“I’ve got a little longer. He’s still asleep. I was throwing away some alcohol when you called me, and when I get some free time I’m going to go to the nearby bars and tell them not to serve him. Today I’m thinking I’ll try and get him to go to a veterans’ meeting so he can connect with some others like him, let him know he’s not alone and it’s not just me who cares about him.”
“Still, you should go back to him. And stay safe. He sounds unstable, just keep an eye on him.”
“Sweet-fruit, he’s not dangerous.”
“You don’t know what’s going on in his head. Promise me you will stay safe.”
“I promise.”
“Like you mean it.”
“I promise with all of my heart that I will stay safe.”
“Good, now get back to it. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
The call blinked out and left me staring at my home screen. It was true that I missed them both dearly, even a day without them left me longing, but I knew what I was doing was right. Billy needed someone to save him, and I was the only one available. Kirala was right, I needed to get back to it. I couldn’t leave Billy alone for too long, it would only end in disaster.
As soon as the door clicked open, Billy descended upon me. “Gillab, what did you do?! Where’s the liquor?!”
I stepped past him and made my way to the living room. “I threw it all away. You were poisoning yourself and I needed to put an end to it.”
Billy was stunned for a moment. “You fucking- GILLAB! Get the FUCK out of my house!”
“I’m not going anywhere! Not until you heal!”
Billy looked back and forth, raising his arms in frustration. “What the FUCK does that even mean?! You keep spouting this fucking ‘healing’ word like it’s some catch-all miracle wonder word that means everything!”
“I mean, you need to come to terms with what you’ve done, accept them, and move on! Otherwise, you are just going to rot in this room for all eternity. You are so much better than this, and you know it. You are strong enough to carry on, and you know this. You know, deep down, that you don’t deserve this life. But you are stuck thinking that you do! I saw you at the memorial and I literally didn’t recognize you, remember? That is how much you have changed, but it doesn’t have to stay like this. You can end the pain, and not in that way, all you have to do is trust me. And not just say that you do.”
I paused for a moment to catch my breath. “You said that you would go through the motions for me, right? This is just another motion. The next one is to find other veterans who are or have been through what you have and talk to them. They will make you realize that you aren’t trash or a parasite or any of that! It’s just another motion, right?”
Billy growled and stormed towards me. “You are on thin fucking ice right now.”
“Good. It means you care. Now sit down, we are going to set up a meeting with a group of veterans.”
“I don’t want to go meet some fucking soldier. I’m fine without that.”
“It’s just the motions, right? Humor me.”
With a deep sigh, Billy sat in the chair across from me. That was all I needed to see to confirm it, Billy really did want help, he just couldn’t even admit it to himself.
“You still haven’t given me your promised speech from yesterday. The hour-long one about how much I don’t deserve what I’m doing to myself.”
“Oh trust me, it’s coming. But right now we are going to set up a date for you to meet a veterans’ group. After that, let’s clean up a little more, get some food, maybe go for a walk in a park, then you’ll get the speech. Okay?”
Billy rolled his eyes and waited for me to pull up a website. After a bit of scrolling, I found a phone number I could call to find a meeting time. I prepared everything and set the phone on the table, but didn’t call yet.
“Okay Billy, I’m leaving this up to you. All you have to do is say your name and ask for a time you can come to the meeting.”
“Why can’t you set it up for me?”
“That’s not how it works. You need to be the one that calls them, not me. Plus, I don’t think they would accept me signing you up. The person coming has to be the one to set it up. Are you ready?”
Billy sighed. “Yeah.”
I called the number, set the phone on a table between Billy and I, and waited. After a few rings, a man began to speak.
“Hello, you have reached Richard’s group therapy for veterans, how can I help you?”
Billy looked up to me for guidance, to which I only motioned for him to speak to the man. “H-hi Richard, m-my name is Billy. I was… wondering if I-I could join your next meeting.”
“Oh course, we are always open for more. You didn’t even need to call, you could have just shown up at the meeting. We accept anyone and everyone at any time. Our next meeting is tomorrow at noon if you are available. If not, the next one is that same day at six-thirty.”
Billy glanced at me twice before giving his answer. “The… six-thirty one sounds good.”
He was pushing it back as much as he could, but at least he would get to it eventually. There was some quiet clacking in the background before the man responded. “Great, I’ve reserved you a seat. I’m happy to have you join us. Is there anything else you need?”
“No, that’s all. See you tomorrow.”
Billy set his phone down and sighed deeply. His face quickly changed from concerned and awkward to angry and annoyed. I could see him prepare to say something, but it ended up dying in his throat. Instead, he stood up suddenly and stomped back to his room, wanting to be left alone.

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I try not to post in forums without a strong understanding of the lay of the land and how the community likes to run things. From what I can tell this subreddit is mostly dedicated to news articles and a thread about the current week’s show. I’m going to take a dare and start this broader thread in hopes that it won’t be too far out of character.
It seems like the show’s audience is expanding a lot recently and perhaps there are people who, like me, would like to express the how and why they are so attracted to this show.
I’m not much of a podcast listener, and though I listened to a few episodes of TWiR v1.0, it wasn’t until the middle of last year that I became a regular listener. For this kind of program format, I’m inclined to listen, not watch on YouTube.
My love for TWiR surrounds an important weekly event. My son has a job out in the country every Sunday. We’re up at 5:30 am to make the 40 minute commute to his workplace (that’s frigid zero dark thirty five or six months of the year). This sounds like a real hassle, right? It could be - but I prefer not to frame things that way, and as such this has become what might be my favorite part of the week.
I live in New Jersey - and if you are only familiar with the state from TV and film, you are only aware of a tiny (and mostly negative) aspect of the state and the people who live here. In southern New Jersey where we live (think Philadelphia not New York), picture beautiful rolling farmland, not the highways, industrial stations, big box stores, and mini-mansions you see on The Sopranos. New Jersey is not known as the “Garden State” for nothing. Long county routes that link a few small tows with farms in-between. It’s a beautiful drive, and if you are someone who likes to drive like I do, a very fun one if you avoid the wildlife. For parts of the year, I even get to witness the sunrise on my way to or from his workplace in the morning.
There's one catch... the little jerk sleeps on the ride in! I was 17 once, I get it.
This is where TWiR comes in. Before I pull out of the driveway, I press play and my early Sunday mornings are filled the intellectual stimulation of hearing Neil, Dave, and sometimes Chris go on about all things retro. The show makes me think, it makes me laugh, and it sparks my interest in heading home and researching or looking something up that they discuss.
When I retrieve my son in the afternoon, I have him trapped - we know that we’ll have 40 solid minutes a week where we can talk about life, school, work, and more frequently than you’d expect, vintage and modern video games and computer systems.
I will forever have these memories, and This Week in Retro will forever be a part of it. Until the sad day my son gets his own drivers license and I'm released from this task, I won't even listen to TWiR outside of this ritual... I don't want to spoil the feelings and association. Just hearing the intro of the show fills me with warm and fuzzies - nostalgia in the present. I wouldn’t have stuck with the show if it weren’t so damned good, and for me, it’s all about the presenters. I could listen to Neil and Dave (and Chris) talk about anything, to be honest. I think you’ll find when it comes to any podcast or radio show, it’s that chemistry that builds affection with the audience far more than the content, and these gentlemen have that charisma in spades. I’ll confess, I even get a little excited when there is no guest. Though none have ever detracted from the show, I like the pure experience the best.
I’m done carrying on - do any of you have a similar relationship to the show?

So i just quit CSGO because people there are insane toxic.
and im level 19 on Valorant now, i just unlocked Kay/o and i had a team mate who keep throwing grenades at me, and being very toxic in chat, because i dont know how to play Kay/o
And i play Unranked game, So where can i actually play and learn a Agent without people griefing me and being toxic ?

Hey Reddit, so I (14f) had a pretty weird teacher (42f) a few years ago that I would really like some advice about. So at the start of 6th grade, I was really depressed, and decided to tell my teacher at the time since I hadn’t told anyone else. She started talking to me almost every lunch break about the stuff I was going through. I ended up telling her I was questioning my sexuality, (I’m a christian and have now realized that I’m straight). Anyways she started to over validate that, telling me all her political and religious views. She would almost act as my therapist, and I’d also act like hers, as she’d always tell me about her messy divorce that happened about 10 years prior, and also told me advice that her own therapist gave her. I feel like she got creepily close with me and crossed some boundaries that she wasn’t supposed to. There was one time she hugged me without asking after I gave her a Christmas gift, which I found kind of strange, because I never initiated it. At the end of the year she gave me a rock and gave me some sappy words and told me to keep going and stuff. She said I could put it in my pocket or something, and then she said she has a rock that she puts in her bra, which I was pretty weirded out by. She also would tell me during our talks at lunch break how to do chores and stuff, and was acting like she was my mom. She taught me how to make spaghetti and do laundry, which I found pretty strange because she knew I had a really good mom that was highly involved in my life. I also had her in third grade, and she used to always trash talk her boyfriend's daughter and vent to us about random things, and again tell us all her political views. She would trash talk her hockey billets and was crying one time and asked us our advice on which school her hockey billet should go to, as he got expelled. There was one time in 6th grade, where there was this kid with some mental issues that was acting out. She made us third graders all form a circle around her going around and saying things we didn’t like that she was doing while everyone was crying and freaking out. At the end of 6th grade, she left and went to teach at another school. This literally broke me and led me to a really depressive state, as I basically idolized her. I’d fantasize about her adopting me or me getting abused and going to live with her. She’d go on to send me quite a few emails into the next school year, asking how I’m doing and things. Eventually when I came to my senses, I sent her an angry email expressing how I felt like she crossed a lot of boundaries with me. She just responded saying to contact kids' help phone, and we’ve never spoken since. I went to the principal about it when I was still at that school, and she just brushed it off, saying she’d talk to the teachers at the next teacher meeting to be more careful. She didn’t at all validate my feelings, and it’s not like she does with anyones, and there’s been fist fights at that school where no parents were called. Anyways I'm just wondering if I’m crazy and this is all in my head, or if there’s anything I can do. Because I almost k*led myself because of her, and now she just makes my blood boil. I apologize if this is really stupid. I’ve told my mom about it but she doesn’t take it that seriously either. Oh and the teacher also would call me “miss (my first name)”, when she’d never cal any other student any pet names, and also would always talk to me with the door locked and would trash talk her colleagues and the school.

I struggle with depression and anxiety and have for a few years. But I’m just tired of struggling. It pains to think about how I can’t function without my medication. Right now I ran out of meds and am waiting for my doctor to send my prescription to a pharmacy near me. It’s been a few weeks and I’m falling apart, thinking of ending my life at work and school. I’m not excited by anything. I’m scared of everything and I’m just so tired. I just want to sleep and never wake up again

I had a strange relationship with deconstruction as my dad was trained at a university level to do apologetics. He was an LDS chaplain in the Army, and every night for scripture study, we got discourses on the nuances of our faith and justifications for every question we ever had. I didn’t swear until I was 18 years old, or drink caffinated anything until about that time as well, because it was never a matter of justification. It was what my family, my tribe, my people did, to go to church on Sunday, and to be worthy. I was senior patrol leader and assistant to the bishop if that clarifies who I was. I didn’t have “God will reveal it in due time” parents. I had “Here’s the answer, here’s contemporary discussion about it. Here’s some reading material if you want to learn more” parents, except for they were wicked smart, and had biased conclusions.
I was called to serve in the Mexico City East mission. Shortly before opening my mission call, I broke up with my girlfriend at the time. i left BYU-I and went home to prepare. I received my endowments after lying to my stake president about my worthiness to enter the house of the lord. I came clean, and he threatened to not let me go out for a year because I was unclean. The prick made me talk to a therapist to be cleared for the mission field. The therapist had a brain and let me go out. When I was giving my mission farewell speech, I wrote it to include the teachings of many religions in it. I had drawn inspiration from the 13th article of faith “We believe all things, hope all things-“ and wrote a poem about how Adam and Eve related to the Resurection and Atonement of christ. My dad tells me the stake president was shifting in his seat like he wanted to pull me down from the pulpit. Prick.
The CCM was a pleasure to attend because of my district. The guys in my district there held a secret thanksgiving feast after hours when we were supposed to be in bed with food we had smuggled out of the cafeteria. We had look outs so we wouldn’t be caught by the patrolling teachers. My district was placed under surveillance because of politics against our spanish teacher who we could tell actually cared about us, and we were transferred into a classroom with one sided mirrors, and microphones hanging from the ceiling. An apostle came to speak to the entire CCM, and I thought we would get a chance to meet with him directly, or that he would be even remotely accessible in some way. He was kept away from us, separate and removed even though we had the same mission. I played a lot of volley ball, and got into shape enough that I touched the rim of a basketball hoop for the first time while I was there.
My first companion was a native speaker, and liked to spend the mornings in the cyber (Internet Cafe). He would make sure I was on LDS.org while he looked at softcore porn on instagram. We would spend hours there, and I was disappointed that this was the mission.
We went to a previous investigators house, and while there, we saw preparations for an animal sacrifice. These guys were putting alcohol, cocaine, and blowing smoke onto a white chicken, and placed in into a cardboard box with a bunch of black chickens. They showed us a room full of weapons, with blood and feathers strewn all over the floor. We noped the fuck out, and went home.
I requested an emergency transfer after spending most days in the cyber, watching my companion deface JW’s property, and being an all around dick to me by telling me how to shower and how to sleep.
For his replacement, the person that would help me with his bastion of knowledge, they gave me a white guy who spoke as much Spanish as I did because he was only a transfer further into his mission than me. They made this poor kid senior companion to me before his first transfer was over. Why? Because the kid was a workaholic.
The first thing this elder and I did when we got to our apartment was to pick up and leave to go to the house of a member who had just died. We sang at the wake. I sang in a language I didn’t know, for people I didn’t know, with a companion I didn’t know. We sounded pretty damn good. The elder began setting appointments with the non-believing family members during the service. I just sat and watched the mindless kids chase the family dog.
This elder skipped lunch every day, and made me do the same. We knocked every door in our area twice that transfer. One time, he got very sick, and was delirious out in the sun with me while we were walking. I made us go home for lunch that day, and he made me promise to wake him up after thirty minutes so we could get back to the Lord’s work. Three hours later he woke up, chewed me out for letting him sleep that long, and then begrudgingly thanked me for making him rest.
One time, while walking, this Elder expressed to me that he also had some questions, but he was afraid to share the details because he knew my own testimony was fragile. I pressed him for details of his plight, and he revealed to me the darkest part of church history that he had learned while we were in the CCM, that Joseph Smith had drank alcohol while in Carthage Jail before he died. Thoughts of Fanny Alger, of Mountain Meadows Massacre, and of my own mother’s rather recently implemented looser interpretation of the word of wisdom all flashed through my head. This guy was supposed to be my teacher? All I could do was express how sorry I was for his confusion, and told him to have faith. Heaven knew I couldn’t help him.
One night with this companion, it was storming hard, and the streets were flooded. This guy refused to let us go home. We climbed along fences to avoid getting our already wet shoes soaked, and waded through a foot of water to get to the doors that were slammed in our faces. There was a loose wire on a door bell, and when I rang it, I was shocked by the completed circuit the water made. Rejection after rejection piled up. Finally, my “senior” companion said that this was the last row of houses. On the last house of the last row, there was a family that was all deaf. The father opened the door, and was suprised to see us and didn’t know who we were. I remembered the sign for Jesus from my grandparents who started and ran the ASL endowment ceremony in the Saint George temple. The family was thrilled we knew the sign. When I asked if we could come in, the family politely waved goodbye and closed the door on our faces.
Another time when it rained, something fell into my eye. It was one of those freak nature accidents, and small enough that I couldn’t figure out how to get it out without a mirror. The thing stayed wedged in the corner of my eye for hours before we got home and I could finally get the foreign object out. Looking at it on my finger, I could see it was a small green spider. Days later, still in pain, I pulled what I can only assume was accumulated webbing from the spider that I’d crushed against my eyeball off of my lower eye lid. The pain stopped after that.
I bought a $500 camera. It was stolen within a month.
This Elder and I had the good luck before transfers to baptize two children. They would have been baptized anyways, so I didn’t do any actual converting, but I taught a few lessons, got in the water and did the dunk. Bucket list item, check.
I didn’t have enough time for laundry on P-Day, so I’d wash my outfit and dry in on the radiator through the night. Transfers happen, and my new companion lied to our land lords about the electricity bill, paying it in full but not giving a reason as to why it was so high. I didn’t care anymore, I just needed something clean to wear, but these land lord had treated me and my previous companion well, better than the previous landlord who had stolen our cleaning supplies. I felt these people deserved honesty. My senior companion capitulated eventually, and he and I butted heads regularly after that on the morality of things. I think in hindsight he was a smarter and better man than I was.
The new land lords, the “Lagunez Family”, were wonderful. They included us in their activities, and I felt like I had some people in my corner. When I eventually came home from my mission, a daughter of the family had written me a goodbye letter. She is currently serving a mission. They made some great music, and I have “Infiltradors” on CD, the official name of the band the father of the family was a part of (he was the drummer).
I knew the whole area by heart by that point, so I navigated us to our appointments. Half of the landmarks I watched for to know our location were interesting buildings with unique colors. The other half of my landmarks were dead dogs whose decaying corpses had become second nature to see. I began marking how much time had passed by how deeply a certain dog on a certain dirt path’s chest was caved in.
There was an apartment complex in my area that I had been told not to proselytize in because “It’s dangerous.” Turns out, those people didn’t have any money, so the church didn’t want them. That complex was past the dog and to the east about ten blocks.
My companion and I knocked on a door, and visited a man who was missing his legs. His daughter was there, putting dirty water on the aching wounds. He had a single room for a house, and wheezed when he spoke. He couldn’t afford medication. He still went out and worked all day for his daughter, and gave her whatever money he made, trusting her to keep him alive somehow. The church expected this man to pay tithing. The church expected me to tell this man to pay tithing.
I got the chance to hike up a mountain. At the top, I played chess with a chess set I’d procured from one of the best rapid chess players I’ve ever met. He had been the ward mission leader. He was a good man, a good father, and I wish him the best.
I found another man who was deaf and spoke sign language. I sat with him, and convinced him to come to church all by myself while my companion talked with some tienda tender. I was so excited because this was my own personal project and it was going well. The man came to church, and I sat with him through sacrament meeting. In Sunday school (I can’t believe I did this), I accidentally drooled on the guy. I was just talking so he could read my lips, and I guess I forgot to swallow at some point because a dolup of spit landed on his arm. I apologized profusely, and he played it off, but I never saw that investigator again.
My companion and I knocked a door one day, and a man answered. He wore tattered clothes, and maggots were burrowing into and out of his feet. He muttered something about the stars, missing his wife, and he began to tear up. My eyes stung from the stench. The door closed. Somehow, I knew the man would be dead in a matter of weeks.
I had lost hope that I was doing anything worth while. I looked down on the Doc Martins that had stayed with me five months at this point. I was angry with myself for being so useless in the field, angry with the church for giving me leaders that didn’t listen to my needs or perspective, angry with my mom for drinking while I had to teach people that it was a sin, angry with my dad for giving me the skills and knowledge to justify anything, even pedophilia in the early days of the church, to the point where I could look someone in the eye, and knowing the kind of man Smith was, tell them he was a good man and a true prophet of God. Suddenly a man approached us. He said he recognized us as missionaries, and asked about our message. This never happened. People didn’t just come up to us unless they were crazy or dangerous. But this was a public place, and this guy was genuine. My companion talked to him, and gathered his story, but I was plotting something else. I was done with not caring about these people in a way that mattered. I was tired of walking in another man’s shoes, a man who wasn’t me, who believed different things than me. The chopped leg, the rotting dogs, the infested feet, it all swirled into a single thought in that moment.
What would Jesus do?
I walked over to the man, and in broken Spanish asked him to stand next to me. He did so, and I compared my shoe size to his foot. It was a perfect match. He protested, but I didn’t let him get a word in edge wise. I took off my shoes, put them on his dirty feet, and laced them up nice and tight. Those shoes had cost a ton, and had been meant to last the whole mission. All I had left at this point were my fancy dress shoes that gave my blisters back at the apartment. I didn’t care. I walked home in my socks that day, happy as a lark.
Covid-19 hit a month later. I was one of the few they brought home instead of quarantining. After having served only 6 months. I told God if he wanted me to stay home, he’d have to make them release me.
They released me. I think I was one of maybe a hundred missionaries that were released due to Covid. The church realized their mistake pretty soon after I was released. Once Covid infrastructure began to develop, they didn’t release any more. I guess I didn’t serve a full two years, but I did serve a full mission.
My brother served, and he nearly killed himself due to intense depression brought on by Covid quarantine and poor leadership (I’ve got a few mission president stories, but those are for another time).
I learned lying to someone’s face from my mission, and spent the rest of my time at BYU-I as “nuanced” until the last two years, over which the most epic hoe phase imaginable became my new mission. I spent those years terrified of getting a call from the honor code office.
I’m married now, with my degree irrevocably in my possession. I have friends and loved ones that are in the church and are working on their mission papers. I’m beginning to feel powerless again. I’m seeing the decay again, not on legs, feet, or dogs anymore, but in the souls of the people who the church raises to do their dirty volunteer work. I see them like the animal sacrifices I saw being prepared. I’m not sure what shoes I have left to give to those people that I know are going to be in pain.
My parents are out completely now. It was a long time coming, but they are out and so much happier. I’m working on building a new relationship with my family, one based off of the fact that we won’t be together forever, so we have to make the most of our time together now.
Happy Sunday guys, best of luck to you all. And most importantly, chupa la piña.

I (26F) met my ex (27M) and my former best friend (25F) at the beginning of university. I introduced them, and we were close throughout our studies. After graduation, I moved away, and my relationship with my ex ended, though we remained friends. About a year after our breakup, my former best friend visited me for my birthday and mentioned that my ex had been asking her out after our relationship ended. Although I had no intention of getting back together with him, I felt uncomfortable with him dating a mutual friend. I decided to remove him from my social media and move on, but I stayed friends with her since, as far as I knew, she wasn't pursuing him romantically.
Two years later, she visited me again and revealed that my ex had actually started asking her out during the last two years of our relationship, and neither of them told me. They had grown closer while I was studying abroad, staying together in another country. This actually felt like a major betrayal. There’s nothing I value more than my time and both of them had just let me waste 2 years in a relationship where my partner was trying to cheat on me. She apologized and mentioned that even though he had a new girlfriend, he was still asking her out, and she didn't know how to handle it. I told her that I had lost my trust in her, and she promised to rebuild it.
However, a few weeks later, she and my ex took trips to two different countries for about a month together without his new girlfriend. In the past I’d you had told me they had something going on behind my back I wouldn’t have believed you but this along with everything else was really changing my perception. They were now doing the same thing to his new girlfriend. It’s not my place to say anything to the new girl but I do feel very bad for her. I decided to cut both of them out of my life. I didn't share this story with our mutual friends to avoid damaging her social circle, believing she might eventually change with and she’ll need those friends more than me for now. However, I learned that she told our mutual friends that I cut her off because of my ex, which isn't true.
Many things have come to light about my ex since our breakup, revealing that he wasn't a good person, and I regret the time I spent with him. The reason I ended the friendship was the loss of trust in her, not because of my ex.
Am I the AH? How should I handle the social fallout? I love my life now – I'm in a prestigious grad school, have supportive family and lovely friends outside of my uni bubble, I have a really well paying job, and am beyond grateful for everything. However, it bothers me that our mutual friends only know her version of events. Her family still reaches out to me, and I don't have the heart to tell them about our falling out. Her mom once said to me “I love you because of how much you love and take care of my daughter”, It sucks to lose them but I'm okay with whatever version she tells them because I don't want to disrupt her relationship with them. I was thinking of paying off one of her student loans as a birthday gift before I realized she was spending it with my ex lol, helped out another friend with grad school fees and gifts for my mom instead. Is there something I'm missing? Was I unfair to her in any way?

Started experimenting with alcohol very young, was drunk and smoking cigarettes before double digits. Growing up in a big family, my parents had drinks every evening and cocktail hour is when everyone came alive, when we would communicate and interact. Booze to me was the oil in the engine. Our large extended family had varying levels of alcohol abuse. Definite vibe that the ones who quit or were in AA had somehow failed the test. The goal was to drink as much as possible, but keep your shit in check.
High school, college, young adulthood… so much assault, pain, bad decisions, bad choices. And so much guilt, anxiety and despair! Asking what the hell is wrong with me?
Married young and had two kids. Stopped smoking and drinking for pregnancy and remember someone telling me it was okay to have a glass and me saying what the hell is the point? I drink to get drunk, one glass will just annoy me.
Onto life of a suburban drunk mom surrounded myself with other “party” families. Always sad or guilty about my behavior so in my 30s went to a psychiatrist who gave me Xanax and told me I was normal. Luckily I hate pills.
40s come kids are teen/pre teen and I just cannot function anymore. Start my attempts at quitting and it becomes obvious that this is a problem. So for my 43 birthday I gave myself the gift of a year sober. It started out as taking a break, but when people pressed me I said it was an experiment to get through a year with no booze. That year i got my barre training certification - never could have done it while drinking.
Year ends and I have done it! I have proved that I do not have a problem with alcohol!!! Flash forward a short week later and it is back to drinking almost every night. Everyone likes me better and I hate myself.
Couple more years, couple more quits and some really creative and pathetic attempts at moderation. Still feeling this is a me problem.
Start reading some quit lit and find Annie Grace. Start reading but put off by the “you can still drink” while you read part so put it down. Then at 48 find myself on a plane with nothing unread on my kindle except this naked mind. Read it, picked my date and it has stuck.
I knew the reaction I got when I quit the first time and knew that I would have to do this alone. Googling resources and found stop drinking. And I felt like I was saved.
No one in my real life wanted me to stop (party pooper), EXCEPT the only two people who matter, my kids. Now young adults they are very happy for me, we talk almost daily and they tell me to forget what other people think, that I am doing the right thing.
When I think about apologizing for my alcohol fueled behavior I get kind of angry. Then only people I have apologized to are my children (and my dogs :)
I am in the NONE group - not one, not ever. I spent years carving deep ruts of addiction in my brain, I was not made for moderation and I know this.
My visual - No matter how far down the road, you are still the same distance from the ditch - I am fully aware where a misstep will lead, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation.
And my favorite- Quitting drinking may not lead to heaven, but it unlocks the doors of hell and lets you out. The idea that rings most true to me. Things will be bad, but they’ll never be hungover bad.
My environment now has not changed much, but I have. I try to stay in my own lane, make choices that other people may be unhappy with when I need to, and to provide an example that having a social life does not require drinking poison.
3 years and I feel like I am just beginning. My brain is continuing to heal, my body is strong and my spirit is grateful. I am really proud of myself, my partner is now proud of me and people comment positively on my age/health/looks. While I try to be kind, i do indulge in a little gloating when people around me are hungover.
If anyone thinks they can’t do this because they are in a codependent drinking relationship, you can. My partner still drinks (less, but…) and it has been very hard. But the contrast, the battle, the having to be a champion for my self - it has been clarifying.
I feel strong and know I am doing the right thing. When my family mocks me, when my friends look at me with pity, when society tells me I am missing out, I say Fuck Off and look to myself, my kids and to SD and know I am in the right place.
Thank you to everyone here, from day one to dinosaur. I have such respect and appreciation for all of the education and support available in SD. IWNDWYT

We have this group project where we would make up a business and present it to the teachers. There were only four of us, and the progress of the project went well working with the two of them as one of them are my close friend.
But there's this fourth member we had and he was difficult to work with. Whenever we assigned him something to do, he always says that he doesn't understand it, and we have to teach him how, making it time consuming. He's a very nice guy, but he just lacks the discipline to finish up a school work and is often late or absent.
Our school has a 'completion week', a week where we need to pass everything the teachers assigned us in order to graduate. If you fail to pass everything by the end of completion week, you're not going to be able to graduate.
When it was the FINAL day where we have to do our presentation, we were getting everything ready. And then all of the sudden...
HE LEFT THE SCHOOL BEFORE WE GET TO PRESENT.
I went around the school in panic, asking why he left, and his girlfriend said that he needed to go to work.
While I don't know much about him, I understand he works probably due to financial reasons, but WHY prioritize work over graduating? It's not like he has a permanent job. He could just explained to his boss that he can't go because he has schoolwork to do!
My group and I were so mad at him, we tried to contact him, but he was offline. It was supposed to be the FINAL day where we need to pass everything to finally graduate, and then he's gone. Fortunately, the teachers said we can carry on with our presentation without him and that he has failed the subject. Basically, all that stress for nothing because I thought they wouldn't let us present because we have one member missing.
So finally, we finished and felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I didn't really care what happened to him since that's not my problem to begin with.
But then at Monday, he messaged me, explained there was an 'emergency' he had to attend at his work. He talked to the teacher about it and she said he could do a video presentation instead. He begged me to teach him on what to do, what to say, what to explain and blah blah blah.
I simply text to him that just read whatever we did on our project and try to explain it, becuase I'm too tired to deal with his problem that I'm not obligated to fix.
This made me feel guilty afterwards, but I keep telling myself I can't be the one who has to keep adjusting so he can pass, he's the one who has to do it himself.
In my opinion, it's not an excuse to bail on your group just to go to work, especially when you're still in highschool man.

It's my first time in Reddit, so if I make some mistakes I apologize. Now let me give some context.
When I was a kid, I already had a problem with failing. I don't remember why or when it started, but I remember that I used to hide my school work from my teacher, because I was scared of being wrong. I remember being very aware of my surroundings.
After 3th grade, one of my friends started to make me show my work to my teacher, so she could help me see if I was right or wrong and I started doing so. Since then, people started to call me smart, a genius, a hardworking student and I believed them. I didn't have to study get an A+, all I had to do is listen to my teacher speak. I thought I was blessed. My mom was proud of me. She always said "I'm so proud of you, you never gave me something to worry about". I felt happy, I felt like I was helping mom by being a genius and always getting straight A's.
In middle school, I started to notice the effects of being called "smart", it grew with me. I hated it, they used to compared me with everything, such as: "I got a higher grade than HIM", "I can't believe HE lost", "if HE can't do it, imagine me haha!". The title of being "smart" was heavy, so I stopped playing against others, because I was scared of losing and seeing their reaction; I stopped doing math in front of my friends, because I was scared of being wrong; I stopped competing against people, to hold my title "I'm perfect"/"I'm smart". I avoided lots of things, to continue to be the "smart kid". I avoided failure.
In my years of highschool, I noticed that I have no value, I lost the sense of being, I'm not smart and I regret not working for it. In 11th grade, a math olympiad came, I decide that I'd do my hardest to get at least a bronze or silver medal, I thought I could if I studied a lot for it. I studied for 4 months. The day came, I went and I did the test. After a month, the results came, and I got a "Honorable Mention" (it's less than a bronze medal). My world broke down: "Where did all my effort go?", "Am I doing something wrong?", "Am I really that smart?". I started to doubt myself, doubt my love for math and my love for trying.
In 12th grade, currently, I decided I wanted a gold medal in the "Brazilian Astronomy and Astronautics Olympiad". I studied for 4 months again, I used YouTube, I solved a lot of problems, I studied college astronomy. The day of the test came up, May 17th 2024. I did my hardest, I spent the max time you could (3 hours) there. I thought I did great. May 18th, the results came out, I got 5/10. My friend who only studied for one day, got 8/10. I feel shame, disappointment, angry, sadness, everything all at once. I failed again in something I actually love.
I tried to use the famous phrase "If you don't fail, you're not even trying" but it's not helping, I still feel like a failure. I feel embarrassed of myself, "The straight A's student can't get a single medal". I hate being called smart, I hate not having noticed it before, I regret myself for that. Failing in something you love, something you devoted your being, something you tried over and over again, it hurts so bad. It hurts like hell, like something is eating your insides. I'm doubting myself, I don't want to go to school tomorrow, I don't want to look at people's faces and their confused look: "Oh my god, I thought (my name) would get something!" Or "Damn, is (my name) really that smart?". I want to avoid it, my body is telling to run away but my mind is telling me to fight it, fight my worse enemy "the smart kid inside of myself"
The effect of being "smart" is not knowing how to deal with failure, I was good without trying, my ego started to speak louder than me. I never actually said I was better than anyone, but my mind believed such a thing. My mom keep saying she's proud of me, my girlfriend, my little brother, my older brother, but I don't feel proud of myself. I don't feel any worth, I feel like I lost my life holding onto a stupid title. I wish I could go back in time to taught my younger self that it's okay to lose and it's okay to not be perfect.
My feelings are all around, I wish I could cry but nothing comes out my eyes. I'm sorry for sounding so dramatic during the context. I want help, I want to stop thinking that way. Maybe it's already too deep inside my mind, and it'll take a long time for me to stop being like that. But I wanna do it. I would appreciate if someone out there could lend some warm words, give some advice or just sharing their own thoughts about it. ("How to stop being 'smart'?", "How do to deal with failure?", "Am I enough?", "How can I stop comparing myself to others?", "Can I be saved?", "How to deal with regret?" -> these are some of the questions I keep asking myself) My dream is to go study abroad in the USA, and I want to major in engineering. So, everything that's happening it hurts me so much, because I know honors speak louder than some things in your application.
Thanks for reading all this, I appreciate your time and effort. Have a nice day!

Something happened at my kids’ school last week. I really need some outside perspective.
have a daughter and a step daughter who both attend 8th grade in a small, independent Waldorf school. In Waldorf schools the teachers move up with the kids, so the girls have been with the same teacher since 5th grade. They have other teachers that teach specialty subjects, but a lot of their classes are taught by this one teacher.
This teacher is talented and devoted and loving. However she also seems to have trouble with her emotional regulation, and she doesn’t seem to have consistent standards among her students (holding the “good kids” to a much higher standards than the “problem kid.”)
Also, the fact that the school is so small means that the kids are always around the other kids in their grade, as there is only one class of 8th graders. My girls don’t really want to be around this one particular boy, especially my step daughter. I promise they aren’t bullying him. He’s just said/ done a lot of inappropriate things, including to my other step daughter, who is younger. He seems to get away with everything, and the girls don’t want to be his friend.
Last week was his birthday celebration at school, and supposedly my girls were making faces during his birthday song. Not at him, mind you, but to each other. This is obviously not the kindest thing to do, but they’re 14 and this kid has caused issues and made them uncomfortable in the past. They were being mildly (and quietly) rude in a way that the “target” of this rudeness didn’t even notice. But the teacher noticed.
Right after that was recess, but my girls were kept in. The teacher sent the rest of the kids out, brought my girls to a private room, and told them off for making faces. This conversation then somehow spiraled out of control in a way I don’t really understand. The teacher asked what they had against this boy, they tried to tell her, she claimed ignorance of the situation, it went back and forth. Apparently this boy has apologized for his past actions and the teacher expects the girls to forgive him and move on. The teacher reportedly said that she has a higher expectation of my step daughter than this boy (SD is very high achieving, talented, and well-behaved. She is also very anxious and stressed by the need to be perfect.)
According to both girls, separately, this teacher actually yelled at them. At one point my step daughter was apparently hyperventilating or maybe having some kind of panic attack. My daughter had her arms wrapped tightly around her sister, and was repeatedly asking the teacher to please stop, that they could continue the conversation but that my SD needed a break. (My daughter is more of a rebel than her sister, less of a perfectionist, and more willing to face teacher disappointment). The teacher didn’t stop.
The meeting lasted all though recess (the teacher did not join in her recess supervision duties) and then all through their next lesson (no idea what the other kids were doing without their teacher! Maybe there was another teacher?), and then somewhat into the next lesson. I’m not exactly sure how long that makes it, but it was over an hour.
No other teachers or admin were involved in this incident, it was just this teacher and these kids alone in a room for more than 60 minutes. Afterwards, nobody reached out to the parents about any of this. No emails, no calls, nothing. We pulled the info out of the girls.
My daughter is more or less okay (which doesn’t make the incident okay, but does make me less worried about her). However my step daughter is a mess, and our top priority is to support her. Her mother doesn’t even want to send her back to school for the last 12 days, but I’m really hoping we can find a solution that lets her finish out the year strong.
My main questions are: How is an hour of yelling an appropriate response to teens making faces? How was it appropriate for a teacher to have these kids alone in a room for so long, in a heated discussion? Why did nobody else at the school notice them gone? What are the proposals for a situation like this? Why in the world were none of the parents notified?
Please give me some perspective. All of my school experience as a parent has been in these little private schools, but I feel like this would not be acceptable in a public school?
Was this teacher’s response way overblown or am I the one overreacting?
Also, and most importantly how could this be fixed? We want to request a meeting with the teacher and school administration, but at this point I don’t even know what to ask for in that meeting. Thank you!!
P.s. I don’t know if this matters, but we are in the U.S.

It was the start of a new year, and with that Seouls 4 major school saw a large increase of new students. Everyone was talking about the gang who used to rule over Seoul suddenly disappearing, and nobody was taking ownership of it. (read the Extra info at the bottom, it will help a lot, and it'll explain how things work for new people)
---------------------------North Seoul High--------------------------- A tall, blonde, guy was making jokes with a few of his classmates, most of them where about the Soviet union and WW2. Ivan Alexander (u/Away_excitement3116)
In the corner of class a tall, silver haired boy was training without his shirt on, a few watched while some tried to look away from his muscular build. Klein (u/ProfessionalLuck268)
Simply sitting at his desk doing his schoolwork was one boy, most would says he's normal. But then again, being to only normal guy makes you kind of special. Yuseong (u/Outer-god369)
A tall black dude was talking with his friend, trying to improve his language skills as h had only recently come to Korea. His shirt hiding his very muscular build. (u/TheGloryBe_throwaway)
There was a large group of students talking, making jokes, laughingand just having a good time, in the center of attention was the short curly haired- Ren Yuzaki (u/LeoIsAngry)
There was a boy sleeping on his desk, standing next to him was another boy dressed just like a body guard. He would scare off anyone who got close. The boy sleeping was Kai Edward Tristan (u/KaiAugustInsi)
Some skinny guy was watching the popular newtube channel (How To Fight), he was inspired by Hobin due to the fact they both got bullied a lot. He now wats to be just like him. Kim Suho (u/federal_tip9311)
--------------------------South Seoul High----------------------------
The class watched as an boy with Orange hair, and black leather gloves was polishing his newest Trophy. It's seemed like that was the only thing interesting him at all. Dexter (u/Greensvenner1234)
A short and skinny boy is playing with his Lego bricks. While most see it as immature he's doing it to get a better understanding on a buildings stability and weak points. As he loves working on construction sites. Seok Mujuk (u/domengoenfuego)
Sitting in some expensive designer clothes, was a boy who normally couldn't afford it. But after beating up some bullies who harrased others, and then them offering him their money he gladly took it. Kai Wang (u/wesjsndsjsnss)
"Come and hit me!" a Dude screamed while his Classmates punched and kicked him, yet he was still standing as if nothing had happened at all to him. Lam Lee (u/Dull-tax-4713)
Sitting away from all the noice, enjoying his favorite manga was Kim Jin (u/random_guy_Q)
Amongst the people who tried to punch Lam Lee was one boy who actually manged to hurt him a bit, he didn't notice was Lam was hiding it but his attacks where effective. Adam (u/Theman2326)
---------------------------East Seoul High------------------------------ A boy with gum in his hair was playing games on multiple phones, yet he obviously didn't enjoy it. That's because he was forced to farm stuff for bullies. Su-Jin Park (u/RainProfessional8105)
People stared as there was some guy who brought a few stray cats and dogs with him to class. Some people enjoyed the animals, others saw it as weird. Zanegs (u/Warrenchae)
Some nerds ran up to an average sized boy with white hair, calling him sir and giving him some money, he told them that they are safe as long as the money keeps flowing Hyuk Hwang (u/Rutsch3r)
There was someone silently talking to himself, but not silent enough. Other people could hear h but they didn't understand what he was saying. Myul (u/Longjumping-date-367)
He was not a student of this school, yet he would still come here everyday. He fought someone drunk dude from this school who he now follows around. Ran Yong-Su (u/Any-Lingonberry-3589)
Some drunk dude, he got I trouble a lot for drinking while on school grounds. Beat up some guy once while drunk, who's now following him around. Chao Ming (u/Even-Caramel-9309)
Staying way from other, watching movies about martial arts while simultaneously reading a martial arts magazine was Forgettable (u/Forgettabletiger)
--------------------------West Seoul High-----------------------------
A football (it's called football not soccer) just ended in a 30-0 win. His teammates where all gathered around him praising him for his amazing shots and dribbling. Hyoma Kurona (u/Fungiloo)
Skipping school so he could work in his parents teashop, was a boy who was fascinated by his Chinese roots. Vincent Lee (u/Base_loose)
A boy was going around with a group of scary looking guys. He would try to beat up people and then have them join him. He war cruel to them yet made them yet on rare occasions asked if they are hurt. Jintaro Suzuki (u/SlashDaOne)
Talking to his teacher as if they where best friends was one boy who didn't care about social rankings and as everyone as a friend. Hae Minsu (u/Real_Abrocoma_9377)
After unsuccessfully flirting with a few girls, this boy decided that training his body again was the best way to get their attention. Jin Na (u/Causality_A)
This boy gets along with many people, yet he gets nervous when you ask him about his glove and weirdly large pinky fingers. Ryuk Eun-Soo (u/Elegant-Ad-2431)
---------------------------------Extra Info----------------------------------
Here are a few rules and things you should keep in mind.

1. How does anything work? Just make a comment saying what your characters is doing or what he wants to do. I will respond with a scenario. Onec your scenario is finished I'll tell you, you can act again in the next part.

If you fight another OC, it will be put into the next part as these are special fights.

1. You're allowed to do anything, you want as long as ng as it's in character.
   
2. You can be permanently crippled, lose limbs and die.
   
3. Random encounters are a thing. They have different rarities, common ones are like you meeting some thugs, while more rare encounters could result in you meeting people like Gun.
   
4. After an successful encounter you're rewarded with all kinds of thing, stat buffs, special items, Uniqe Abilities. The more rare the encounter is, the better the rewards. You can also fail the encounter.
   
5. Stats are important even outside of fighting. You can raise every single stat by training or from rewards.
   

Strength: how strong your hits are, how much you can lift/Carry around. And other physical tasks. Speed: how fast you attack, move and think. Potential: is basically how fast you grow from training, Someone with higher potential will gain more than someone with low potential from the same amount of training. Intelligence: your battle IQ as well as your overall IQ. If your int is low your plans will almost always fail even if your plan is really good and detaild. And someone with high int will almost always be successful even if their plan is bad. Endurance: Your Defense, and how much energy you have.
Stats are also hidden, this is so you have to be careful around every person you don't know. High Intelligence character might find out your stats. And some cards also let you view stats.

1. If you want to do something in secret DM me. This way only you and I will know about it. This could be a betrayal or maybe a secret plan.

7.1 Fight other OCs is something risky, the winner can decide what to do with you. They can to the things mentioned in (2) but they can also try to recruit you.
7.2 Beating an OC will give Special rewards. So it's encouraged by keep in mind that you can suffer a lot if you fail.
If you don't remember something about your OC just DM me

I've lost all feelings, empathy, pain. I don't feel anything anymore
I don't even know why I'm not even posting this on a fake account or whatever but I don't care. I just wanted to write this out and maybe someone can relate with me because frankly, I am just alone.
Long story short, my youth was amazing. I had friends, loved my school, loved life, and was happy. I don't ever remember not smiling. Then at 13, my parents moved countries, and my life came crumbling down. From the age of 13 onwards, I was bullied. People picked on me, threw stuff at me—you name it. I was just a sweet kid who loved nature and was kind. My parents loved me, I was happy, and the world ruined me. I was bullied, harassed, beat up. I was a poor innocent 13-year-old who came to a "new world" of bullies. It ruined me. From 13-15, I hated every second of my life, lost my smile, lost weight, lost everything. I became angry, distant, and lost myself in video games to ease the pain and suffering.
I may delete this post; I don't know why I'm typing this, but it feels good for someone to read this if anyone reads this. I was broken, hurt, and hated everything and everyone. Then, at 15, I decided enough was enough. I went all in on learning how to fight—boxing, Muay Thai, anything that could hurt people back. At 16, I became really good without being arrogant. I decided to move schools to try to finish my remaining three years of high school comfortably without hating every second. New school, same story—got picked on, fights, etc. Long story short, everyone that tried to fight me regretted that decision. I know this sounds cringe, but I'm being honest. People stopped fighting me, people stopped annoying me. Everyone stopped. I was finally at peace, you could say. I was never a bad person, never the demon I have now become. I was a sweet kid who loved life and the world hurt me. I spent those three years of high school quite comfortably; not a single person dared to annoy me. I never annoyed or bullied anyone, by the way. I only defended myself from being attacked.
I fixed my skin, fixed my hair, got a killer body, made some good money, started becoming nicer again, more myself, tried to find a girlfriend, friends, tried new activities and groups, yet no one wanted to socialize with me. The only people that ever talked to me wanted something (I come from a good family). I don't really know the flow of this message; it's just coming out of my brain, and I'm typing. I finished high school, and to this day (I'm in my 20s), I have massive problems socializing and talking to people. I'm nice, not rude, not arrogant—nothing. Girls ignore me and date the bad boys who later abuse them.
I am now in my 20s, and ever since I was 17, I've realized I feel nothing anymore. I always get into arguments with my family as they think it's fine—they say they've been bullied before, but there is only so much words can describe. I am very easily annoyed and feel terrible. Sometimes I get angry over stupid stuff like if the food cold or like someone drives too slow. Only one person in my life has ever believed my story and felt empathy for me, and that person lived a similar story to me.
I also lost most of my family. I found out they were talking behind my back, saying rude things about me and my parent and they didn't really like me and were very jealous. When I confronted them, they stopped talking to me. My parents don't understand the years of suffering I endured and the things I did to myself. I used to train and fight shadows for hours. I would punch bags so hard my skin would rip off. I'd scream so hard my throat hurt. I now feel nothing. No pain, no happiness, no empathy, nothing.
I was in a car accident recently—a drunk driver drove into me. I broke both arms and felt nothing. I felt pain, but no anger, no guilt, nothing. I've seen horrible things and felt nothing. The world has turned me cold and broken. I crave a social life, a girlfriend, someone, you know? I want someone to fix me, love me, lift me up. I want someone...
I am a good person, not a sociopath. If I ever find a girlfriend or a wife, I'd give her the world and love her to death. I would never cheat on her or anything. I know so many people who get infinite girlfriends that are stunning and treat them like shit, and the girls still love them. I am a good person deep down, but right now I am experiencing severe social rejection, and my past follows me. I now prefer to go out a night to avoid people. Seeing happy couples and friend groups makes me angry and sad. The only time I feel anything is when I drive insanely fast at night with my bike. Stupid I know. But I feel nothing. I also don’t put other people in dangers as I do it on remote roads.
I don't want this post to sound cringe or for people to make fun of me because I "bragged" about being able to fight. If you do, I'll probably delete it and this account. Admins, delete this if it's not allowed, but perhaps someone has experienced something similar to me and can help me?