For the last few years, I have been toying with the idea of going no contact with my father. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned more about the abuse he put my mom through, before and after their marriage. Physical abuse, stalking, stealing money, the whole nine yards. As a child I had court ordered visitation with my dad so he’s always kind of been around, but present if that makes sense.
When I was 11 he went to prison for a horrible crime. Coming from a small town, this was absolutely humiliating and tarnished the years of key growth in my life. He got out when I was 18 and I always allowed some kind of visit, whether it was at my grandparents or with a cousin present. His abuse and narcissistic tendencies have always been present in our relationship, but more so know that he is slowly realizing I slowly cutting off contact. I am scared to do a complete chop, because I know my grandparents will cut me off too. They did it to my cousin when she cut off her dad (my dad’s brother) who did the same awful things to my aunt and my cousin. When my cousin who cut off her dad, was tragically killed by a drunk driver at 17, they were still so upset that she cut off her dad, my grandparents didn’t go to the funeral. But still continue to welcome other’s condolences.
I love my grandparents. I’m not sure why the way they treated my cousin hasn’t forced me to go no contact with them, but I’m scared of what they will do if I go no contact with my dad. They are all each others flying monkeys, even some of my cousins. I am scared.
Any advice? I’m a 23 year old girl trying to navigate this the best I can.

I am not The OOP, OOP is u/Decent_Lecture_1514
I run a DnD group with kids aged 7-11 at my local YMCA, and some parents are trying to get the game outright banned. I have to have a meeting with both parents and HR Department and effectively present my case. Please help!
Originally posted to DnD
Thanks to u/PitaEnigma for suggesting this BoRU
EDITORS NOTE: because it's mentioned and some may not remember or been born when it happened, a quick synopsis of the satanic panic
The Satanic panic is a moral panic consisting of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse (SRA, sometimes known as ritual abuse, ritualistic abuse, organized abuse, or sadistic ritual abuse) starting in the United States in the 1980s, spreading throughout many parts of the world by the late 1990s, and persisting today.
Original Post May 9, 2024
Sorry if this is a longer post, but important context below ⬇️
So yeah I'm a program coordinator at our local YMCA and I run an after-school program (effectively am a glorified babysitter hahaha). This past school year I passively mentioned that I play a lot of DnD when one of the kids asked me if I had any plans that weekend, and it totally piqued their interest when I explained to them what the game was like/about. Naturally they asked if they could try and play and I figured sure why not, I'll write a fun and fam friendly one-shot for them.
They all absolutely loved it. It's turned into a proper campaign with about 7 of the 24 kids me and my coworkers look after consistently playing. I've had to limit the sessions to just 1-2 days of the 5 day school week, because I have other kids too that aren't interested in it, and I obviously still need to give them attention and interaction as well (and as you know DnD can be a very engaged and attention demanding). I thought this was a fair compromise. Days that it's nice outside we are always out running around, being active, playing sports -- but if it's a rainy day, or on our weekly Friday Movie Day, we generally play. It's been such a blast sharing something I love so deeply with kids who I care about so much.
So here comes the issue:
Almost every parent of the core group that plays loves that we are doing this (one even plays weekly and we bonded over it haha), but there is one child whose parents certainly do not; they want their kid just constantly active and engaged and playing sports, not playing "silly make believe", which I guess I get to a degree because this is kinda the MO of the YMCA traditionally; healthy active living.
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I've explained that most days of the week we do just that, and that this is something we only do on Fridays or rain days when we are stuck inside, but they aren't budging. I think they have a misguided idea of the game and what it is, or maybe they are just fundamentally against it, I'm not sure. I don't think it's to the level of like the era of thought where media and the masses thought DnD was some kind of satanic game, but I feel like there could certainly be a bit of that.
​
Anyway they want it to stop immediately. I've told them I'm not forcing anyone to play, and that if they really feel that way they are within their rights to tell their child they don't want him playing, but they are trying to take it a step farther and get it banned. ALSO I would feel horrible if this child were forbade from playing while all his friends have a blast doing so. Just doesn't seem right.
I understand that it's a game that can involve more mature themes and gameplay, and probably isn't reeeeeeeeally for super young folk, but I feel the way I'm running it mitigates this for the most part: there's no PVP (so no bullying can happen), I'm dealing with waaaaaay less serious themes and stakes, and I don't even include any circumstances where they fight any other humanoids -- strictly just heroes fighting big bad monsters and saving towns. You know the drill.
So yeah long story short(ish) the parents of the one child have called a meeting with HR to discuss the playing of this game at the YMCA. I have it on Sunday. I'm confident I'm gonna have to effectively state my case and explain why I think this is not only an okay thing to be doing, but actually in fact a good thing. I don't know if I'll be able to fully sway them if their mind is already made up, all I can do is just speak my truth haha.
I do whole-heartedly think this game can be super beneficial for young folk. I'll spare you my long form thoughts, but between the teamwork and communication required and rewarded, the problem solving (both ethically and logically and mathematically), AND the improvisation emphasized, I think it stimulates a young mind very well. Lets them escape their own world for a bit and take agency and feel they have control, something young people so desperately desire.
So in conclusion, I'm kinda just writing this to get it off of my chest and vent, BUT I guess my questions would be:
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• do you have any advice on how to properly communicate my points on why this game can be beneficial for young minds?

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• Do you know of any other benefits I'm missing?

​

• have you ever had experiences similar to this?

Or maybe you disagree with me and think I'm out of line here, which is totally fair too. Just looking to start some dialogue.
RELEVANT COMMENTS
Thackebr

I know it is a hassle, but if you get to keep Dnd, you might want to start requiring permission slips. That way, you could avoid this in the future.

The_Law_Of_Pizza

This will make it less likely for the OP to get a surprise angry parent, but I don't like the precedent of demanding permission slips for a mundane board game.
It sets up an expectation that D&D is different in some way, and gives ammunition to these weirdos who are still trapped in the Satanic Panic - it lets them point to the permission slips and say, "Look, even your own policies admit that this is something to be hidden behind barriers and parental approval."
At a certain point we have to stand up to these people in society and tell them that they're being ridiculous and that we won't concede to their demands under any circumstances. That takes a great deal of backbone by the YMCA administration, though.

~
probloodmagic

Geez. Really putting the "C" in YMCA. I imagine looking into how people fought back during the "Satanic Panic" might provide some good advice for this.

u/efrique had a great comment about handling a new round of the satanic panic
Here
Many offered sites that share good info about why DnD is helpful and beneficial to kids
thatdanglion

You can point the leadership and parents to the numerous studies showing the many ways playing D&D is beneficial for kids, too. One, for example.

g3rmb0y

I just looked through this thread, there's a ton of great stuff here.
Some additional good orgs that talk about the therapy side are: https://gametogrow.org/ https://geektherapeutics.com/ https://rollforkindness.com/ (That's me) https://www.thebodhanagroup.org/

dgendbreau

D&D has also been shown to be useful in teaching kids about social skills, creative writing, theory of mind, mental math, team work, problem solving etc.
https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/educators

Update May 13, 2024
Made a post a few days ago about how I run a DnD campaign for some kids in an after-school program I run for the YMCA, and subsequently how the parents of one of the kids was trying to get the game banned and whole operation shut down. I wasn't sure the best way to make an update, but I linked the whole original post above so you can have a read if you'd like ^
So firstly genuine genuine genuine big thanks to everyone who took the time to read and respond with input and suggestions. It means a ton and really helped a lot. So I'm just gonna jump right in with what happened.
Firstly, I took the advice about getting testimonies from parents who were super happy that I was playing this game with their kids -- we weren't allowed to have outside visitors involved in the actual meeting with HR, but I got emails and messages from mostly every parent (besides the one complaining about it lmao) to voice their support and why they think this is not a harmful thing, and in fact actually a good thing. I really think this helped a lot and was a big factor, so thanks everyone who suggested. It's not something I would've thought to do on my own ahahah.
I didn't want to come in toooooo heavy with the articles and very clear scientific proof about the benefits of developing minds playing TTRPGs', because (as it turned out) this was actually more just conversational and "pleasant" than I thought it was gonna be, at least from HRs side. I did mention to them the multiple studies done on this exact scenario, but it turned out I didn't even really need them. There were definitely moments of tension, but this was a more civil conversation than I anticipated from all parties involved. I'm not sure if it was the fact that the parents who complained had to talk to me in person WITH my bosses and HR reps present and it calmed them down a bit? But yeah anyway.
I wish it was a more dramatic story, but basically I just levelled with them person to person.
People who said they were betting on it being a Christian, satanic-panic angle: you were right, mostly anyway. As in, that was definitely a main part of their argument. They are in fact Christian and were concerned, but it was really coming from a place of ignorance about what this game is about, and they specifically didn't understand the fact that the DM (me) can entirely control what the contents of it is. I'm assuming they just googled DnD and probably saw some things they didn't agree with, but once I explained that the way we were playing it included no demon spawn or worshipping, or any killing of other humans, or allowing of murder-hobo activity, they softened up a bit. I told them it's a strictly G/PG rated experience that I'm curating for them. And of course I explained the social and academic benefits of DnD, and how much of a bonding activity this is for the group, and how much their son in particular loves it. This helped big time.
Ironically, it was their other argument about wanting active engagement for their child (ie; sports lol) that was a little harder to combat. From their and HRs perspective, this whole program and the YMCAs MO IS in fact healthy active engagement. I explained that most days of the week we are doing just that. I'm a tennis instructor as well and have played sports all my life (and they know this), so I tried to assure them that I get their child a SOLID amount of engagement (plus free tennis lessons effectively haha). I'll save you the whole back and forth, but this was a majority of our 45 minute meeting.
Im trying to wrap this up with a bow but not sure exactly how, so I'll just finish with the bullet points from the end of the discussion:
• The game is not banned! HOORAY HOORAY!
• I am now only allowed to play it with them once a week (on Friday), but all things considered I'll take this as a win!
• and best of all, the complained parents are letting their kid continue to play!!!! I'm sending them a detailed summary of the contents of my game so they can look it over, but they said with it now "officially" only being once a week, and with a better understanding of what it actually is, they will let him to continue to play. I'm so unbelievably happy.
So boom. Happy ending. Again big thanks to everyone for giving their advice and linking resources; it helped so much and meant a lot. This is a big win for "the community" I feel, at the risk of sounding too corny. You are all the best. I love this game so much 🥹
RELEVANT COMMENTS
OOP explains how they made DnD G/PG rated

So the method I've taken is that this is mainly an explorative and mystery solving campaign. There is combat occasionally, but it's heeeeeavy on the RP aspect of these aforementioned things (aka 7 kids screaming over each other lmao)
I briefly mentioned in the previous post that when I do involve combat I don't include any that js player versus any humanoids -- so no "killing" of bandits or raiders or pirates or anything resembling, it's strictly taking out big bad monsters, or a big spidebats/owlbear or whatever when it does happen. This takes a big amount of the potential nastiness out: Timmy cant go home saying "Mom I killed 4 dudes today!", regardless if he understands the deeply political and socio-economic rooted reasons why it may be justified he did that 🙄 hahahah.
So yeah eliminated that entirely, strayed away from words like "kill" or "dead" or certainly "murdered", and have a very very "heroes save the town from mishaps" type adventure. For a quick example our last plot hook/beat (which ended up taking up like 3 Fridays because of how long it can take with young kids hahaha) involved them stumbling into a town and discovering that it holds the map to an ancient treasure that is rumoured to be buried in a magical woods nearby. Maaaaaany puzzles and skill checks later they found it deep in the woods by a magic tree and had to answer (very basic) riddles from the speaking and living tree in order to get access to it. They succeeded and absolutely loved it and there was no combat at all.

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

Recently, it was my birthday, and I originally planned to go to the aquarium with my friend. On the day of, she canceled because she was sick, so I spent the day with my mom instead. We met up again after my birthday, and she said she felt bad about it and was sorry she didn’t give me a present. We went to her house, and she gave me some stickers that she didn’t want anymore or use, as my birthday gift. The thing is, some of those stickers were the ones I gave her, or they were pretty ugly. I don’t mind getting those stickers, but it’s just that it felt like I was essentially just taking her trash. She said she’s bad at giving gifts and would forget to buy them, but on my birthday, we originally planned to leave the aquarium early so she could buy her brother a gift (his birthday was the day after mine). We’ve been friends for a long time and gotten really close this year, so I feel a little disappointed.
I also feel bad about feeling disappointed because this is such a minor thing, and in the end, she did give me a gift because she knows I like stickers. Since I received the gift, I can’t exactly confront her with what I am feeling without being a jerk.
Perhaps the disappointment stems from feeling like I’m always on the short end of the stick in this friendship. She would always ask me to pay for something for her and say she will pay me back, but she would forget the next time I ask her about it. Once we went out, and I asked for my money back; instead, she would buy food for me but take half of it and call it even. Or if we split the bill, she always offers to pay more and acts like it isn’t a big deal. I don’t usually mind if I pay more IF I offered. Having someone offer for you is so iffy to me.
(Just wanna say she isn’t a bad friend, and we have a lot of common interests and fun. We would go to the gym together, and she would always make sure if I’m okay and patiently teach me how to use the equipment. It’s just that I feel like in some situations she is more willing to take than to give.)

I’m a (18/f) all my life I’ve felt like a npc in my own life. I have no goals, no dreams, no wishes. All my life is felt lonely and lost, like I just don’t belong, I struggle with a lot of depression and anxiety so maybe that’s the reason. Since I was young I’ve been stuck with the responsibility of taking care of my mom, without any help from anyone especially my siblings, and also getting ridiculed for how I’m taking care of her even tho I’m trying my best. From when I can remember it’s always just been me and my mom (60/f) it’s always been me taking care of her, it’s always me getting the backlash when she’s mad or upset, it’s always me having to deal with things that I shouldn’t have had to deal with. I’m 18 years old and I’ve never felt or been in love, and of course I know I’m still young and I have time and teen love probably isn’t the best, but it’s not even just about the love, it’s about the fact that I’m 18 and haven’t even experienced a teen life. I know people have different perspectives of a teen life and some might not agree with the ones I have but, I’ve never been to a party, I never snuck out with a group of friends, hell I don’t even have a group of friends, I’ve never got shit faced with some friends, haven been to the mall with friends. I’ve never experienced a romantic connection even tho I really want one, I’ve tried to put myself out there but I don’t get noticed, my mom says it’s the way i present myself and she’s probably right but I just wish at least once someone would come up to me and ask to be my friend or to ask me out. I feel lonely and like I don’t have anyone or anything, people who I thought I could treat like family don’t even reach out to me, people I thought were friends don’t reach out, even my actual family doesn’t reach out. I don’t have any drama surrounding me I’m not an unlike able person I’m actually really the opposite once I start talking i can be really funny and interesting but there’s literally no one who has even tried to get to know me, including my family. I just wanna experience some sort of life just to say that I experienced it. I want friends, I want my family to actually know me, I want teen love even if it ends bad, I just want to experience things or learn a lesson.

my sister talks to my parents a lot more than i do. super long story but they were just abusive asf, not good parents and it’s just not a good relationship for me it has lots of bad memories and trauma and idk we just don’t have any kind of bond really like they never nurtured any kind of relationship between us when i was younger so it’s uncomfortable to pretend there’s anything there like idk how to talk to them even really and truly
anyway i used to try i guess a bit like id pick up the phone more or maybe call sometimes too i think. they don’t rlly reach out to me either btw but anyway i passed my sister some sickness i got (sorry sister) and she went over to my parents house and she does go over more frequently and i do not at all and i guess my mom told her how it had been 2 months since she saw me or talked to me and she was really sad abt it so we decided to go today
literally within. 5 mins of me being there my mom makes a comment basically saying how ive gained weight like one of those “i can tell you don’t bla bla bla” like okay well now its gona be 3 or more months this is exactly why i never reach out or try like how is that gona be basically the first thing u say to me and it’s something she has alwayssss done always always comments on my weight especially when i was younger and telling me i was fat
i got rlly skinny for a bit but i was literally not eating and going through a really hard time so i lost a lot of weight fast and yeah maybe i looked better but i actually eat now so yeaaa i gained some weight back but that happens when u eat more than 1 bagel and a snack in a day lmao
and she only lost weight bc she was in a life threatening accident so stopped drinking for a while so lost a lot of her like alcoholic weight that they carry but also has been bigger before.
i’m just so tired of being made to feel guilty too for not being present when they don’t even make themselves like nice to be around like why am i going to choose now to be around someone who ruins my night nd makes me feel bad and makes negative comments on my weight for 21 years i lived w her and was forced to listen to so many unnecessary comments that rlly affected how i feel towards myself and im not gona choose to be around thst anymore
it just sucks cus i was having a conversation today where i was expressing how i felt about my weight gain and my unhappiness abt it personally so it just sucked to have reassurance tonight like yep u did! love that for me i shouldn’t have even gone over -_-

I graduate tomorrow with my twin. I may not be a valedictorian or anything, but I’m still proud of myself for all of my hard work and perseverance throughout the years. I managed to graduate with honors: magna cum laude, and I think it’s a pretty great achievement. I will also be going to a pretty good university with a 45% acceptance rate, which I also think is a pretty good achievement. But during a time that should be about me and my twin, my family decides to feud and I keep getting screwed over.
Starting off, I just need to vent about how unfair it is for twins during graduation season. I’m about to graduate. I don’t need “congrats grad” merchandise, especially with my grad year on it. At least I can pass down the stuff without a glaring “2024” printed on the front. I can’t speak for all grads, but all I want is money to save or spend for my dorm decor. I don’t mean to sound selfish, but all I have gotten was a $5 makeup bag, 6 water bottles with some saying indicating I’m a 2024 grad on it, and some random gift card for $15 for a bunch of places that aren’t even in my local area. Like??? I get I’m a twin and paying double gets expensive, but my parents gave your child and their older sibling $50. On top of that, college tuition is not cheap. No one who isn’t a twin will never understand. I have been screwed over my entire life, and when I finally thought I was gaining independence, people go and do this.
Now to the juicy stuff: family drama!! My life is not the best, but I am grateful for the people in it that actually care for me. Then you have people like my brother, who is ten years older than me, married, has a kid that I haven’t seen in over a year, and still acts like a child. I swear he has some dominance fetish because he is always looking for people to play “following the leader” with. He likes submissive people that essentially bow down to him at every whim and feel grateful when he graces them with forgiveness. When you are graced with his forgiveness after apologizing for something you didn’t do or after being deemed worthy, you can go skip with him in the flower field and pretend like nothing happened. He is arrogant, selfish, and the ultimate narcissist. If you can’t tell, I somewhat hate him, though it wasn’t always like this. My twin and I actually used to adore him before he went psycho, which probably fed his fetish. The reason for his current behaviors is a long story I shall save for another time. Basically, he hates me because I’m not submissive and he doesn’t like that, which is why he likes my twin more because she is very shy and can be taken advantage of very easily. I don’t put up with that, but I am still a girl that can experience emotions of sensitivity and such. Recently, I have actually thrown up after deliberating over this whole situation on repeat on top of graduating, finding a roommate, having feelings that I can’t imagine myself in the future, financial issues, my already present anxiety and depression, having my family constantly confide in me as the “calm one,” etc. It all piles up and it is so mentally draining that I broke. To top it all off, my twin invited this monster to our graduation without my consent. But of course I would have no say. He actually called her today after she told him that she wanted to move forward from this pettiness and visit him with our mom, dad, and me. He had a stipulation: it was either us, the twins, or no one. He is such a coward. Claiming that our poor mother is brainwashing us without even considering the fact that I’m perfectly capable of forming my own beliefs. Our mother loves us all to a fault, and he loves to take advantage of her on repeat by constantly toying with her emotions (for example, he would only unblock her on social media if he wanted her to see something then block her again; he would claim that she is brainwashing us; he called her a narcissist and monster that abused him when he was a kid - total and complete lie by the way. He lived a perfectly comfortable life and had his Xbox taken away once but I digress). Anyways, he basically does not want to come to our graduation, and I am so tempted to send him a very angry message. The only thing that is stopping me are the consequences of my actions in a heated moment since I don’t know if this text will negatively impact my future. But I do know that my brother will have to face the consequences of his actions for being the only one who didn’t attend our graduation, and you bet I am going to hold that over him for the rest of my damn life. I’m going to wave it high and proud like an American flag on the 4th of July because my own brother, that I once had a close relationship with, decided to be a coward just because he wants control and my parents won’t let him. I don’t care if I ever see him again since I know the brother I knew and loved is king gone in all of his hatred. Even during the time I was close to him, he was not who I thought he was. I am now hearing all of these terrible things as I grow older, and he is and was a terrible person, a bully above all else. You so badly want to believe the person you love, especially someone who shares your blood, is inherently good. Now that my rose-tinted glasses were shattered the day he told me to “get the fuck out of my house,” I can now see him for who he truly is. I wish he would just get over himself and finally admit that he isn’t all-knowing or all-dominant. That he needs his family.

So, the pitch is for a show called "Till the End of The Line." And it's about Steve and Bucky's friendship when they were kids, and how they became friends. I know that there's comics showing it, but not a lot of people know about it, so I wanted to make it more mainstream. I was also searching through the wiki, and apparently Bucky has 3 siblings, so maybe we can also show their families' lives, like Steve living with his mom, and Bucky tormenting his younger siblings. The show will open to Bucky in the present day, and he'll see something that triggers a memory from his childhood, then said memory would play out for the audience. It'll be like a bunch of short films, but still really wholesome and cute.

Alright! Look, listen…this here story is somethin’ I’m not too keen on sharin’, mainly because I ain’t got too much to say about it all but, also, because it’s more a flashback of something from my ravaged brain. Due to it being from my ravaged brain, I ain’t to certain it’s a real memory or something implanted to make me a more sympathetic type person. Either way, if you ask me to explain who I am, it might start like this: A long, long time ago…
18 years ago…
The icy clash of shattered glass mixed with the shrill scream of twisting metal as the crushing weight of the cylinder bared down on the old car. First, its hood crunched down to pop the headlights, and to make the fenders press and slice into the tires, tires already flattened by time and now made completely useless. Then the windshield crackled and the cabin crumpled. One rear tire still inflated suddenly deflated as the load of weight popped the sidewall to release a long, loud hiss. The rest of the car’s windows were missing already and, as the conveyor fed the last of the junkheap in the crusher, Alex looked on in satisfaction.
“Didn’t think we’d get that pile finished before sundown!” Alex said as he reached up to pull off his hat and wipe sweat from his brow. As he let his foot off from one actuator on the ground and, also, he let go of a large handle that sprung back into place. As he did so, the large crusher came to a slow grinding stop. When the glass settled and all was quiet, he pulled off his gloves and breathed a sigh of relief.
“You want me to get the truck?” Little Alex, his young daughter asked, her high voice came from behind to surprise her father.
He turned around with a jump. “What in the?!” He was startled, not just by his little girl, but by the fact that she was in the wrecking yard at all. “Who let you back you here?” he looked around before looking to his girl. “You know you’re not supposed be back here, LA.”
The little long-haired brunette did not shy away as she used her thumb to point over her shoulder, back at the door. “Mom said I’m big enough to be back here,” she smirked.
“Listen…” he knelt down to her, eye to eye and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. “Where the truck is at…” he nodded in that direction, over her shoulder, but was careful to keep eye contact. “And…out around the side-yard with Butch and Cassidy…yes…you’re big enough to be back there. But, look,” he pointed to a sign that said ‘Hardhat Area.’ “Signs like that are important and you need to pay attention to things like them.” He stood and took off his hard hat and looked at it as he continued. “LA, when your mom or I say the phrase ‘back there…’ well, it’s what we say when we go behind the office…it makes things easy for the customers to understand. But, you’re old enough to know the difference now, so, let me show you something.” He took the hardhat and placed it on little Alex’s little head. “First thing’s first: you’re gonna’ need one of these.”
“Are we going to get the truck?”
“Not just yet. You need to learn about the signs of danger back here.”
Only a few minutes had passed before the two found themselves standing at the back door entrance to the office. LA could hear her mom faintly talking with a customer up front, and started to reach for the doorknob, but Alex spoke up to say, “Hey, take a look at this.” LA stopped and turned to look. There, covered in years of grime and smudged with all manner of grease and oil, an assortment of signs had been nailed to the wall, adjacent to the threshold. “Have you ever noticed these before?” he looked to LA as she scanned the signs and slowly nodded. “Have you figured out what they mean?” Again, he watched her slowly nod. “Okay…” he raised his head in curiosity and pointed to a Hardhat sign, one that resembled what he had pointed out earlier near the crusher. It did not have any of the wording, it only had a little black figure of a man with a bright yellow hardhat, all surrounded by a thick bright-red circle. It did not click with LA, and Alex could see that. “Here, let me give you a hint.” He reached out and took the hardhat from her head and put in on his own, making sure to take a step sideways, just right enough to be in the same view of the sign so that LA could visually compare them.
She gasped with realization and a smile. “You need a hard hat!”
“That’s right!” Alex said excitedly as he bent down, grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her up into his arms. Even being nine, LA felt as light as a leaf in Alex’s muscled arms and, with one arm, he held her close as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He was about to point to the sign about needing to wear gloves in the back but, just then, he caught the scent of something unwelcome and, with his free hand he pointed to another sign. “What’s this one mean?” He asked as he scanned the area.
LA looked at it with concentration on her face.
The sign had what she knew to be a cigarette on it with a huge red circle that crossed through the cigarette. She crooked her head in slight recognition and pointed at it, “I’ve seen that at the diner, but…”
Alex found what he was looking for, and, with a smile and raised brow, he nodded. “That’s right. Do you know what it means though?” Trying not to break LA’s focus, Alex wiggled off the glove of his free hand and began snapping his fingers towards Jim, a man standing towards the back of the room.
As Jim looked up, a cigarette dangling from his lips, Alex’s face became stern as he discreetly motioned about the cigarette.
LA thought about it and, finally, shook her head to make her pony tail lightly whip and tickle against Alex’s neck, bringing his attention back. “What’s it means, dad?”
“It means No Smoking,” he said just loud enough for Jim to hear, looking at him one more time. “Cigarettes are bad for many reasons but, back here, they can set things on fire.” He watched as Jim, dejected, snuffed out the little fire-starter. He looked back to LA, then, the sign and pointed out a couple more items. “There’s lots of things back here that can hurt you. Corrosive stuff. Electrical things…you remember what happened in Robocop 2, when Murphy grabbed that electrical box?”
LA’s eyes went wide. “His name was Alex, too!”
Alex let loose a roaring laugh. “Yes! But you’re missing my point…remember how he got fried?”
LA nodded with her eyes growing even wider.
“Well…I don’t want THIS Alex fried!” He bopped her on the nose with his index finger. “You understand?”
With a giggle and a smile, LA gave a short little nod.
Hoping she understood, Alex turned to make sure Jim had really put his cig out but found no sign of the man. He set LA down, turned and opened the door and, in an instant, he saw the orange flick of firelight flash up. Not wanting to hurt LA, but it was all he could think to do in such a short time, he kicked her in the butt to send her sailing up the hall.
LA tumbled to the floor as thunder and orange light slammed the door closed behind her, throwing off the Employees Only sign that skipped across the floor to a stop at LA’s feet.
Present day…
When I woke up, the Crossout was well underway but enough about me, that’s a story for another time…right now, we need to get to the real story of things.
It all started when…

So, need advice on how to navigate this situation politely and maturely.
Past week we went to a local park during the weekend with my kid who is 3. The sandbox or pit , whatever it is called has some random toys there already but we bought our own sand toys to avoid situation of crying and snatching with other kids for the common toys available (there are only like 2 -3 of them there).
So , anyways, I was sitting my daughter while she was playing with her truck toy and filling with sand and a boy toddler swoops in takes the truck and runs and I end up saying, "hey, hey , hey..." the toddler couldn't care less and I couldn't find an adult responsible for the toddler around immediately so I was contemplating what to do next. My daughter , avoids conflicts or hates it, she just said, i want my toy back. I told her go and ask him to give your toy back as you were playing with it and he did not ask permission.
She tried ones, may in her mind LOL... no one could hear and she tried again, I said go to him and say it louder etc etc. then the toddlers mom came and I told her and she corrected the situation. The toddler gave her a tough time too.
But later back home, I was wondering how best could I have interacted in the situation where the adult is not present and the toddler is acting like a douche (of course not to their full awareness) .
I myself hate interaction and dealing such cases but willing to face it for my kid. I don't want my daughter to think her mommy did not help her ? I don't know. It gets too political in these situations.
I don't want to end up being or sounding rude to the toddler and be in a situation where it is right at the moment their parents arrive with their guards up.

At the very beginning of my Freshman year, my mother and grandpa passed away. [sorry for the dramatic cold open!] I was struggling a lot that first semester, and while I was getting through the classes, I wasn't doing great at them. Not as great as I know I could.
By second semester, I ended up transferring into online classes, where I basically gave up, and dropped all of them. After that, I applied to a tiny private College-Prep liberal arts school and that's where I'm at now. It's nice, they lean heavily into having everyone do focused college-like Humanities classes and Arts. The summer before I started attending, my father also passed away. I hadn't been living with him, my parents were divorced and he wasn't in a position to take me in, but that still sucked.
Now obviously, having an entire semester of Fs on my transcript is problematic. Another issue is the fact that the school I currently go to doesn't actually do GPAs. All our grades are basically written as narrative evaluations, and since very few schools do that, it's hard to find resources outside of the web of my own school. If a College were to request a GPA, our school would be able to provide one, but that's basically a matter of the Principal reading through my evaluations, and determining roughly what they would be roughly equivalent to if I was at the nearby public school.
All of my evaluations have been absolutely solid, I'm fairly certain I would have straight As. In addition, while attending I did take a virtual French II class over the summer, Japanese 101 and Biology 101 at nearby Colleges; I have an A in all of them. I'm sure if I requested a GPA for my regular classes, I would have mostly As. I have taken Calculus I [AB], but I'm awaiting my AP score. Calculus AB/BC are the only AP classes my school offers. For what it's worth, I got a 1350 on my PSAT 11.
My goal is to go into Math. I plan to take Calculus II/BC and Engineering next year, and also Linear Algebra in the fall off-campus [which I will likely be eligible for, just need my AP score]. When it comes to colleges, I really don't know what is reasonable for me to even shoot for.
I'm in a weird nebulous position where I was supposed to graduate next year, but failed so I'm behind a year, but also have enough credits to graduate next year anyways as a Junior, if I wanted to. I've thought about it, but I don't know if that's what I should do.
I have had conversations with my principal, and I think they recommend I take the extra year simply to offset the Fs from those online classes from before I transferred. My principal jokes that now is pretty much the only time in my life where it will be beneficial to be an orphan, and I think that's probably kinda true. I had to pick myself up and take initiative for a lot of the things I'm doing, and I have constantly excelled since moving schools. I have been living semi-independently, juggling between houses [I haven't lived with my legal guardians in ~2 years, but they're still present]
When my principal was in High School, he attended Telluride for the summer, and now has the opportunity to 'nominate' students for it, and he plans to do so for me in the Fall. I'm thinking of doing that, it sounds great.
This Spring I applied for PROMYS, and although I think I did well on the application, I unfortunately, got rejected. Of course, I knew that was a reach program so I didn't expect much, but now my summer's free! There's always next time.
I also thought about simply applying to a few absurd reach schools in my Junior year (Hail Mary), since technically I could be eligible, and if I end up getting rejected from them, then I would still be fine. I could just go ahead and do my Senior year, after having gained experience with the College admissions process.
I'm also somewhat aware of QuestBridge, and that could be a good option if I went that route this Fall; if I'm eligible for the match, apply for what looks good, and if I match, then free money! If not, then try again next year with a stronger background. From my understanding, finalists for that tend to be high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds. I'm certain I fall under that umbrella. Only one of my parents graduated High School and went to College, however, given that my mom's culinary degree probably hasn't impacted my life much in about 3 years, I've been told there may be room to argue I'm a "first gen" -- No idea if that's true.
All of this is to say, I don't really know what I should do. I hope I described my situation well enough for you to get a gist of my predicament, if anyone has advice, I would appreciate it. Although I feel like I'm in a very unique situation, I'm sure there's someone else who's been in a similarly-shaped boat on here.
In the meantime, I need some rest. I have to move out soon, I'll be taking French again online this summer, and I'll be starting two independent studies in Game Design and Novel Writing; I would like to get a job with my city's public library soon, because I've been an intern for my school's library this year and that seems like a nice transition. Probably try and take the SAT in August... also need to learn how to drive.... well, I have a busy summer.

hello, i am suicidal. i have been suicidal for an awful long time but the thoughts stay dormant most of the time. i don’t find a reason in even posting this because the likelihood of anyone seeing this or even reading this far is low. but if you’d like to listen to my sob story feel free.
to start, i’m 16. and before you blame my hormones or just “growing up”, it isn’t. i’ve been on so many medications and trial and error tells me that the issue is within me somewhere. i’m a first born american from a long lineage of powerful people who have drive and verve in every aspect of life, i’ve seemed to miss that but i guess. ever since kindergarten i’ve been severely bullied for the way i presented myself; physical and social. i could never seem to get it right. once i began 2nd grade that was the first time i was ever conscious of my body and how much space my feelings took up and began bottling everything up. now as a sophomore in high school i’ve lost all drive and that bottle is about to shatter. i’m a druggie who can’t stop smoking weed every single night to cope with the fact that my pillows are wet with tears. i’m a burn out who went from a 3.8 to a 2.2. i’m a anorexic who lies to mom every night telling her i’m getting better. i’m a loser with no friends. i’m a fucking pariah who can’t keep a fucking talking stage going for more than a week. i could keep going but you get it i genuinely don’t know what i’m feeling, i feel like a fraud calling myself “suicidal” because i know i’ll never actually commit to it but i’m just wishing and praying that someday i’ll close my eyes and won’t wake up. i’m so fucking pathetic that sometimes i cross a high traffic road with my eyes closed or stand in front of the train tracks and hop off last minute. i just feel so helpless. every night i look at the lidocaine in my moms bathroom and wonder what would happen and how awful my mother would feel. the only reason i’m still breathing is for my mother. she the only light that keeps me going but i feel like soon that won’t be enough.
if you see this please help me i’m so lost

Meditation is one of the most ancient practices which almost every self improvement creator or people in self improvement tell about and it has almost a mystic essence to it. This mystic nature of meditation comes from the fact that its written account is first seen in VEDAS, Hindu Scripture, which is 1500 BCE. So it is pretty old.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
I have been meditating for almost 2 years obviously with ups and downs, going from 20 minutes a day to 0 minutes but overall I have meditated for more than 50 hours or over 3000 Minutes. I did it mostly from Waking Up App (2432 Minutes), Medito (193 Minutes) And Rest with just a timer. So I don’t have the experience of a monk but I have some experience in meditation and here’s how it has affected my life.
CHOICE AND SELF AWARENESS
One thing which meditation has given me is choice and it is probably the most relevant change I have felt in myself. As a kid and as a teenager I was an angry boy and I used to lash out on people in fit of rage and had violent tendencies which occurred when something didn’t go my way and I used to just hit people when I got angry. My mom wanted me to meditate because she thought it would help cure my anger issues. But obviously I didn’t listen to her. But later I started meditating on my own accord. And now when any event happens I automatically see the anger coming on the surface and feel a level of control on that. Do I still lash out? Yes sometimes, less than before but now I feel it comes because It is required like, to standing up for someone and not because I am just angry. It could be just a rationalisation I use to justify the anger but just the thought that I am aware of my own anger and what I use to rationalise is the new skill which I gained because of meditation.
MOVING ON AND ACTION:
Before meditating, if an event happens which bothers me and I couldn’t take action or didn’t wanted to take action on it I would get stuck on that. I would then use the anger of not taking that action towards someone else, but now when an event happens I feel like if I don’t any actions towards it because of any reason I am able to get over it more easily and don’t get stuck at any one thing, which makes me unbothered and disregard anything which is not really important and it is easier to focus on what is important.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE:

1. Waking Up App: This app is by Sam Hariss and you can get it for free if you apply for a scholarship and it has a lot of different types of meditation. Plus it also has audio courses for daily life, like Time Management, Stoicism etc
2. Medito: This app is much simpler, it too has courses, and also has daily meditation which starts from 3 minutes which makes it easier to practise daily.
3. Timer: If you are starting you can also use a timer and start from one minute and increase your meditation practice daily or weekly.
4. Smartwatches And Smart Bands: These devices has a feature called breathing which can help if you get lost in thought while meditating and brings you back to the present moment.

This was my personal experience with meditation, if you have any problems which you want me to make a guide on write in comments and I will make a guide to tackle that problem. If you have any review on my writing please tell me in comments I will appreciate any advice on writing as well. THANK YOU

Meditation is one of the most ancient practices which almost every self improvement creator or people in self improvement tell about and it has almost a mystic essence to it. This mystic nature of meditation comes from the fact that its written account is first seen in VEDAS, Hindu Scripture, which is 1500 BCE. So it is pretty old.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
I have been meditating for almost 2 years obviously with ups and downs, going from 20 minutes a day to 0 minutes but overall I have meditated for more than 50 hours or over 3000 Minutes. I did it mostly from Waking Up App (2432 Minutes), Medito (193 Minutes) And Rest with just a timer. So I don’t have the experience of a monk but I have some experience in meditation and here’s how it has affected my life.
CHOICE AND SELF AWARENESS
One thing which meditation has given me is choice and it is probably the most relevant change I have felt in myself. As a kid and as a teenager I was an angry boy and I used to lash out on people in fit of rage and had violent tendencies which occurred when something didn’t go my way and I used to just hit people when I got angry. My mom wanted me to meditate because she thought it would help cure my anger issues. But obviously I didn’t listen to her. But later I started meditating on my own accord. And now when any event happens I automatically see the anger coming on the surface and feel a level of control on that. Do I still lash out? Yes sometimes, less than before but now I feel it comes because It is required like, to standing up for someone and not because I am just angry. It could be just a rationalisation I use to justify the anger but just the thought that I am aware of my own anger and what I use to rationalise is the new skill which I gained because of meditation.
MOVING ON AND ACTION:
Before meditating, if an event happens which bothers me and I couldn’t take action or didn’t wanted to take action on it I would get stuck on that. I would then use the anger of not taking that action towards someone else, but now when an event happens I feel like if I don’t any actions towards it because of any reason I am able to get over it more easily and don’t get stuck at any one thing, which makes me unbothered and disregard anything which is not really important and it is easier to focus on what is important.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE:

1. Waking Up App: This app is by Sam Hariss and you can get it for free if you apply for a scholarship and it has a lot of different types of meditation. Plus it also has audio courses for daily life, like Time Management, Stoicism etc
2. Medito: This app is much simpler, it too has courses, and also has daily meditation which starts from 3 minutes which makes it easier to practise daily.
3. Timer: If you are starting you can also use a timer and start from one minute and increase your meditation practice daily or weekly.
4. Smartwatches And Smart Bands: These devices has a feature called breathing which can help if you get lost in thought while meditating and brings you back to the present moment.

This was my personal experience with meditation, if you have any problems which you want me to make a guide on write in comments and I will make a guide to tackle that problem. If you have any review on my writing please tell me in comments I will appreciate any advice on writing as well. THANK YOU

My mom's current transfer chair sucks & needs to be replaced with a better one. Up until last night, I was leaning heavily towards either a Rollz Motion 2.1 (combo transport chair + rollator that's rock-solid & built like a high-end mountain bike) or a Wheellator (an electric power-assist combo transport chair + rollator), but both of them present a few nagging problems:
* I honestly don't know whether my mom will ever regain enough use of her left arm & hand to properly and safely use anything besides a transport chair (pushed by someone)... and she's extremely resistant to anything that involves a joystick (sigh).
* She's already 99% sedentary. Literally, the only exercise she even gets is the act of standing up to transfer from her lift recliner to the transport chair (and the chair to the toilet), then back. Trying to get her to do ANY kind of actual exercise for more than a day or two before finding excuses to not exercise is almost a lost cause.
* She's at extraordinary risk of falling, and justifiably terrified of it happening again. Relying on transport chairs (and her downward-spiraling strength & stamina due to almost total inactivity as a result) is starting to feel like we're robbing Peter to pay Paul & slowly setting her up for even bigger problems down the line.
In contrast, Zeen looks like a dream come true... capable of serving as a competent (albeit large & expensive) transport chair, but also capable of enabling (and encouraging) her to start moving herself around the house (and eventually, away from the house), in a way that will (hopefully) give her a lot of protection against falls and increase her activity level.
The Zeen site mentions it kind of as an aside, but it IS fully usable by someone with only one working hand & arm (the one-hand/arm version costs $500 more).
Has anyone seen one "in real life"?

A decade ago, I had a mental breakdown or identity crisis. Friends, family, relationships, bad decisions, life consequences, etc. all weighed heavy on me; especially while diagnosed depressive (turned out auADHD definitive). I had a heavily crafted IG/twitter feed at the time with thousands of followers. My lense of my life was through these filters day in and out.
I got fed up. I threw my phone in a river, got a new number, permanently deleted all social media accounts, moved states, and never spoke to any of my friends again until recently. I would be asked if I was dead, to make a better picture of how extreme my 180° was. For the better part of the past decade, I was officially offline and kept my circle very small. I flourished in this. Fell in love, moved next to a beach, and became fairly successful and well off. Most importantly, I learned to become present with myself. I attribute this all to my extreme decision to start new.
I recently had a baby which made me revisit my social life and those who I cared about who caused no harm to me. With this, I started a new IG. It also helped me make mom friends as I wanted to feel accepted socially in this new journey and create a village. I don’t post daily or overshare, but I have a tremendous amount of guilt for being back online after so long. I downloaded TikTok as I felt pressured to understand the new wave of media consumption. From here, I notice my tech consumption large and my attention span low. My motivation is also stunted even though I continue healthy decisions daily such as eating clean, lifting weights, doing Pilates, engaging my relationships. By being online, I see myself comparing every decision and judging every environment.
I feel my extreme nature is confusing my moral compass or discipline. Has anyone felt they navigate extremes better than balancing both? Is there a good perspective on what balance looks like?
Any advice would help or past experience stories to share. I am not in a bad mental state, very far from and incredibly grateful for it, but social media makes me question things I never have before such as being a one hit wonder or extremes being seen as negative, etc.
Thanks!
TLDR: Moved and started new offline. Was offline for decade. Established success during. Back online after having a baby to connect with new moms as a first time mom. Feeling guilty using social media after not. Not knowing if there’s balance between navigating pros and cons of surfing or if it’s cold turkey only. Seeking advice.

I have a mom that really loves me in a way, but in the other she just want to have control of me all the time. Its to the point that if she tells me to do something one way, and i do it another way, like "do the dishes, but wash the plates first" and i wash the spoons first, she will start complaining about "how i am always deobeying her and doing what my dad says over what she says" (even tho my dad has nothing to do with it) and acting like my dad is absent and i am still on his side (even tho he was ALWAYS present, even more than her most of the time). Her sense of possesion over me even reaches to what i do with my body, if i use an acessorie that she doesnt like, of if i want to shave my legs because i dont like them hairy, she will complain and even threaten me. Its just so exhausting you know? Sorry for the very long text, i just wanted to blurt out :(

My name is Dr. Smith, not my real name of course, but for purposes of storytelling it will have to suffice. I have been practicing medicine at an Asian country as a general practitioner. I'm relatively new and I practice at a small village, not too far from civilization, half a day's travel by car and a few hours by boat from the country's capital, but very rural nonetheless, complete with superstitious beliefs and customs. I decided to stay here when I first graduated and passed the licensure exam for two reasons: first, I have a place to stay here, my family's ancestral home (although none of my direct relatives have lived there for years), said ancestors being one of the first people to settle in the area and second, because my family had always been the physicians in this small community as far as anyone remembers. Me, my grandfather and his father before him all went to the city to study medicine and went back here to practice it, like there was a pull, a calling, to sacrifice the convenient, fast-paced city life for the quiet and serene. My mother hated the idea, as clingy as she is to me, saying things like she wanted me to always be around where she could protect me, but you can't really help it when purpose calls. To be honest, it feels good providing a wide range of services to the honest people of our small, humble town, no greater feeling than helping the less privelaged, educating them and dispelling preconceived notions and old wives tales which are aplenty in my country, especially here.
I still recall how everything began. I made a makeshift clinic at one of the rooms of my ancestral home, it used to be my grandfather's office, but it felt old, antique, and perhaps too... professional, nothing wrong with that, but I wanted my patients to feel a more homely setting. So, I rearranged a bit, removed the imposing self portrait of my great-grandfather wearing his white coat that hang on the wall and transferred it to a more private area of the house. I changed the dim, barely functioning lights into brighter, more modern ones, removed the exceedingly extravagant chandelier and equipped the room with materials and equipment that I deemed necessary for my practice. I retained the wooden floors, but outfitted the walls with charts and more colorful decorations, in anticipation for the occasional pediatric patient. It was beginning to look less like an old abandoned house where teenagers went for the spooks and more like a place of healing and betterment, a clean place offering a clean mind...or so I hope.
"Your grandfather would have a heart attack if he wasn't dead already, seeing what you've done with his old clinic" quipped Martha, our housekeeper. All I know about Martha is that my grandfather hired her as a young teen and she has been here since then, she babysat and raised my mother as her own, and even took care of me as a toddler. Considering her age, she mostly supervises the younger and more capable help rather than doing tasks herself. None of them stay at the house, but they get called upon when me or any of my relatives were expected. Most of the family consider her as one of our own at this point.
"Well i'm sure great grandpa on the other hand enjoys the change of view" I replied jokingly. "Besides, I bet the patients would appreciate not being treated in such a dark, gloomy room."
"You know how your grandfather was..." she replies, that the idea of a dark, gloomy, old man liking dark, gloomy, old places was a no brainer. "...but everything aside, it is so nice to see you again, have you been feeling better? What did your mother think of you staying here?" she said with what I felt as outmost sincerity, "I used to chase and carry you around this estate and now look at you, about to carry out your family's legacy as a physician yourself" she continued, with a hint of pride from her tone.
I smiled. I myself couldn't think of a reason why a well respected man, revered even, by this town and it's people for everything he has done would act nonchalant and depressed, always with a jaded look in his eyes and stay in an equally dim and depressing part of his house, I've always known him to be like that, but was he always?
"I am better now. It's good to see you too, I'm glad you're staying healthy, and mom sure did not like it but well...she told me to say hi on her behalf" I told Martha. She beams up and smiles on my mother's mention.
"Well...I took the liberty of digging up your grandfather's documents, records and his patient charts, I doubt many of them still live but I thought maybe you'd like to have a look, I placed them around your desk but I can relocate them if you want me to"
"No, that's perfect. That's something I actually intended to do, i'll give it a read, thank you" I replied. I know some of those patients were either old or probably dead to be honest, but seeing data as well as the cases my grandfather had to deal with might help me in the future.
"The villagers already know Dr. Smith's grandson is here, they know you're a doctor, so expect to have a patient one of these days, perhaps as soon as you give the word that your clinic is open" Martha said, as she walks out of the room smiling and slightly waving, signalling a goodbye.
"I'm not even surprised" I think to myself. Places like these, words spreads like wildfire on topics like these, the idea of someone from a known family, coming back from the city, not to mention deciding to stay indefinitely, like the whole village needed notification, like the village demands explanation.
Hours passed and as I was satisfied with my new setup for the clinic, I took a break, sitting down and looking at the mountain of paperwork and folders placed on and around my desk. I picked one, thinking to myself that I might as well have a look now, with nothing else of note to do.
Patient #010438 Name redacted 43/Female
History of present illness: Patient had 3 day history of undocumented fever, dysuria, and bilateral flank pain Did not seek consult, no medications taken
Past Medical History Unremarkable
Personal and Social History Unremarkable
OB history illegible
Physical Examination BP 110/80 HR 102 RR 20
Nonhyperemic tonsils No murmurs Clear breath sounds Nontender abdomen (+) Kidney punch test
Noted a signature of the patient claiming she was not pregnant as a form of waiver
"Jesus grandpa, couldn't your history and physical exam get any lazier?" I thought to myself. Seeing pertinent history not asked and multiple organ systems ignored on physical examination. Given, some of the writing were already faded, the quality of the paper had deteriorated greatly, and plenty of details already illegible, all in all the documents weren't that bad. It sure doesn't help though that he writes like someone in the middle of a warzone practicing heiroglyphs.
I skimmed through more of the documents and patient files, most of the cases are relatively benign, majority are outpatient visits, some are emergency cases and there are the rare ones requiring transfer to a more developed town hours from here with better services and equipment. Time passed and as I lay down the last folder in a pile, I noticed a moderately sized box, probably the size of a briefcase, placed on the floor, dusty but obviously ornate. It piqued my interest although in my mind, I was pretty sure it was nothing but more documents, I decided to give it a look.
I picked a stack up and I started to read:
Patient #00512c Name redacted 32/Female
"Weird" I thought, it was numbered differently, and definitely none of the other documents were lettered. I continued reading:
History of present illness: This is a case of a 32 year old female who came in on date redacted due to a chief complaint of multiple hematomas, abrasions, burn wounds and lacerations on her face, trunk and extremeties..."
"Trauma? An accident? Possible abuse?" I contemplated.
"...patient allegedly noticed easy bruisability 2 weeks prior to consult, followed by alleged spontaneous appearance of abrasions and lacerations 2-3 days from onset of bruising, supposedly waking the patient at night due to the sudden sharp and searing pain, initially small cuts 3-5cm widest on her extremeties and face but eventually progressing to deep cuts measuring approximately 10-50cm on her back, chest, abdomen and lower extremeties. 1 week prior to consult, patient started noticing burning sensations on her skin, causing extreme pain and leaving reddish burn marks on her body, patient also experienced lack of appetite and inability to sleep due to loud voices and..."
"Spontaneous appearance? Easy bruising could be a lot of things, but for it to occur with 'spontaneous' abrasions and lacerations? Not to mention burn marks?" I thought out loud, having doubts about the credibility of the use of the word "spontaneous". Surely it was not an accident, considering it started 2 weeks ago with noted progression. "It could be a hematologic problem with the bruising, but that wouldn't explain the sudden appearance of cuts...maybe accompanied by a dermatologic one, the patient is prone to breaks in the skin? But then again the burn marks...the voices..." I analyzed. I was leaning towards abuse, where the cuts and bruises were inflicted by someone else and the abused, whether in some form of fear or coping, decides that it was "spontaneous" rather than inflicted, but why bother lying to yourself, perhaps the one who did it to her is a partner? Or a loved one? It made sense, someone progressively becoming more aggressive with her as time went by, becoming more and more extreme, from bruises to eventually burning.
It could a combination of illnesses to be honest, one on top of another, perhaps an overly sensitive or extremely dry skin that breaks and peels until it bleeds, an allergic reaction prompting the patient to unconciously scratch till her skin became red and lichenified, voices due to lack of sleep or a mental disorder. But looking at my grandfather's physical examination of her, none of the findings solidifies the possibility of those i've mentioned. Truth be told I also partially allowed myself to tunnel vision on the prospect of an abuse, to the point I've skipped some of the chart's contents that I deemed weren't important and tried to look for information to support my claim, or perhaps to disprove it, rookie mistake, but well, I am a rookie then.
"Patient is widowed, lives alone at a secluded area near redacted, only goes out to buy some necessities from redacted but has very minimal interaction from anyone in the village"
Okay then, either she is hiding the fact someone was with her, who is abusing her like I initially thought of, or it's self harm. "I'm pretty sure grandpa considered everything that went through my mind right now. Let me check his initial impression" I thought, with a tinge of annoyance, considering I felt that the patient lied to my grandfather, and was lying to me, decades after the fact.

1 Trauma, to consider physical abuse versus self harm;

"Alright, now we're getting somewhere" I said to myself, with a bit of pride having the same thought process as a physician with decades more experience than I do.

2 To consider mental disorder, probably psychotic - premature dementia

I chuckled. Premature dementia, didn't think i'd see that term, I thought everyone including those from his time would have used schizophrenia already, then again medicine and medical knowledge isn't as easily passed around as it is now. Psychiatry as a science would be relatively new during his time compared to other disciplines so the fact he considered it based on the patient hearing "voices"? Bravo gramps.
"Well...", I thought to myself, "...plenty of things to consider and rule out, let me check what else is there." A bit of cockiness on picking my grandfather's brain out and feeling good about my train of thought, a practice consult and so far, I'm on my way to a perfect score...

3. To consider possession probably secondary to malevolent spirit

.................
I gave the document a stern look, unmoving, unblinking, emotionless. Time has stopped, and I haven't noticed. My brain trying to digest the information, the same way my stomach would probably digest a block of steel...it's just not possible. I read one of my grandfather's diagnosis again:

3 To consider possession probably secondary to malevolent spirit

I never been one for faith. Evidence is everything. Science is everything. You can replicate it, you can prove it. Most importantly...It. Makes. Sense. I look at beliefs not based on evidence and feel nothing but skepticism if not disdain. Why won't people listen to expert opinion? Why won't people believe in facts? Why explain the unknown in such convoluted ways, requiring submission of oneself when the only thing the truth requires is but comprehension. I looked at that diagnosis feeling disappointment.
Then I felt anger. "Grandpa, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" I thought to myself. Here is a woman, full of bruises, cuts and burns all over her body, claiming that she has been suffering for weeks, barely eats or sleeps, was having auditory hallucinations, in dire need of medical, if not emotional and psychological support and one of the things that comes across your mind is possession.
I tried to calm my mind, these are records of the past anyway, I thought. Maybe it was a resignation born out of incompetence. Maybe grandpa wasn't as good of a doctor as I thought he was, that the shortcomings of his knowledge and limited technology of his time prompted him to adopt a more...liberal viewpoint to medicine. Maybe he was just superstitious himself. Maybe the people of this place had leaked some of their local beliefs into his psyche. Maybe isolation changed the man. Or maybe...just maybe...there's something to it.
I've never been one for faith. That goes for my faith in science as well. To just say that something is stupid because it doesn't align with standard, accepted scientific belief is just as detrimental as its counterpart.
I decided to investigate further when I heard the entrance to the room open with force. One of the maids leaning onto the wall by the entrance, still grasping the doorknob and evidently out of breath.
"Sir...ma'am Martha...calling...for you...says...it's...it's...an emergency..." She says in between breaths.
I quickly stood up, feeling sorry for the woman, she just ran, obviously gasping for air as she arrived at the clinic and now has to lead me back to wherever she came from with the same urgency. At first I was worried something might have happened with Martha, what the maid said didn't really give much clarity, but upon arriving at the main hall I noticed Martha, standing beside a middle aged man and woman, carrying a child, no more than 10 years old. I notice the clear panic and worry on both of their eyes as the man held the boy, who was uncontrollably shaking.
"I know you're not taking any patients yet and I was considering the time, but nobody knows what to do so I..." Martha explains, quite concerned while I ordered the parents to put the child flat on the ground, with me assessing the situation. The first thing I noticed was that the child was burning hot, "possibly febrile seizure? No, too old" I thought. I asked both the parents important details while I ordered the other maid to time the duration of the child's seizure. All the while thinking of possible diseases that may present as such, "Seizure disorder? Epilepsy? Meningitis? Encephalitis?" Eventually the shaking stopped, much to the parents' relief, and I ordered them to carry the boy as we made our way back to the clinic.
"Was this the first time it ever happened?" I inquired, as I put the child on one of the beds in the clinic, securing the corners with additional pillows, noticing the sunken face and apparent exhaustion from the boy, possibly due to the ongoing fever and the recent seizure episode. Once secured, I face the parents and continued my inquiries, I eventually explained everything, elaborating on what I believe happened, I explained that for now, lowering the fever and investigating the source were what we could address, the battery of tests I plan to do (disappointingly, most of them cannot be done here, and I would have to accompany them to a hospital on another town as soon as first light breaks), and the medications and management I plan to give. Everything proceeded as planned and I asked both parents to relax and take a breather, offering them a seat and asking the help to give them water.
Things eventually settled, little Johnny's fever subsided and color came back to him. Nowhere near clear, he can worsen anytime, but that was the best that we could do at that time. The parents were still worried, understandably so, but to an extent reassured, we have a plan after all. Martha, as well as Diane (the help from earlier), now at a calmer state. We discussed the plan, how we would travel, who would accompany us and what we would bring. Eventually, our conversations became relaxed, started to shift to other things, trivial matters, such as were they lived in the village, the date and time of my arrival, recent gossip, where Martha was more than happy to share.
"I was worried the evil spirits might have gotten my baby..." Said the mother nonchalantly, as we talked about the occurrence on a lighter note. "...that's how they got Mrs. Johnson's middle child. That poor boy was never the same after."
I smiled. Not wanting to immediately correct them and sound like an uptight individual. It's part of our culture afterall, old belief systems and a way for people to cope with loss or difficulty, who was I to deny them that. I won't approach these people the hardheaded way, but I will slowly show them the realities and truths of the things they may not understand, well, at least with regards to their health.
"Well, little Johnny is safe here, we'll do what we can" pointing to their son.
Only, their son wasn't where he was supposed to be. I look at the parents, I look at both Martha and Diane, everyone who looked at where I pointed were just as shocked as I was, a split second of silence before panic ensued. Suddenly, everyone stood up on high alert and was looking everywhere. Under covers, under the bed, corners of the room, the desk, behind curtains, hell, I saw Diane look at one of the damn drawers, as if a 10 year old would fit there.
Suddenly I heard loud vomiting, retching, followed by sounds of splashing. I follow where the sounds came from and see a large pool of black, tarry liquid at a corner of my room. I slowly trace where it was coming from and there he was...little Johnny...standing...upside down...on the ceiling.
I hear everyone in the room scream, I was probably screaming too, I couldn't remember. I do remember little Johnny screaming with us though, extremely high pitched and mockingly, with bloodshot eyes, upside down, while black liquid poured from his mouth, covering his face and dripping from his hair. How was that even possible, screaming while liters of unknown fluid dripped from his mouth? I don't know.
Then he laughed, although I was pretty sure that wasn't his voice. It was deep and guttural, it cannot be the boy's voice, it cannot be any boy's voice.
Time seemed to move in slow motion, I was noticing every detail, every expression from everyone's face, I can feel the seconds hand on my wall clock move, the slow dripping of the viscous dark liquid from little Johnny, I can feel every drop of sweat on my body. I could not cope with what i'm experiencing, was it a trick of the mind, an organized prank, have I gone mad...again? So I did the only thing I know how to do...
I tried to diagnose.
"Maybe it was dengue shock all along!" I thought to myself. "Vomiting blood, paleness, fever, an episode of seizure and definitely change in sensorium" I reasoned to myself. I was coping, and I was coping hard. I was ready to drown on my self absorbtion when a booming voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"YOU DUMB FUCK, WILL ANY ILLNESS EXPLAIN WHY YOUR FUCKING PATIENT IS HANGING UPSIDE DOWN ON THE FUCKING CEILING?" Said little Johnny, or at least whoever was speaking on his behalf, because from where I'm standing, I can clearly see that the boy was not mouthing any of the words he said.
"YOU'RE A FUCKING FAILURE, DOCTORS LIKE YOU SHOULD KILL THEMSELVES! HAHAHAHA" he laughed, I never knew laughs could sound like that, as if the words were nails, and his voice box a chalkboard.
"OH WAIT, YOU FAILED AT THAT TOO DOC! FUCKING PATHETIC!"
Of all the things that were happening...a young boy hanging upside down, a mother crying on the floor hysterically, a father staring at his son, eyes wide open and mouth agape, Martha and Diane, both crying while sharing a rosary, in the act of what I assume to be prayer...the thing that snapped me out of my trance was the words that came from little Johnny. Knowledge nobody but the closest to me should know. A secret I planned to leave behind when I left the city, a wound I intended to forget as I started anew.
Visions of my memories came flashing back...medical school...overwhelming duty...familial expectations...failure...depression...my attempt...a bottle of medications...my mother...crying...on my bedside...
"LEAVE MY SON ALONE!" Johnny's father screamed. Starling everyone in the room.
Nothing matters, the past is in the past, I am better now, and that boy needs help, more than anything.
"YOUR SON? WHY DON'T WE ASK THAT CRYING WHORE IF JOHNNY REALLY IS YOUR SON" The voice says, laughing.
At that point the mother stops crying, looks up towards johnny, then towards his husband, in a state of shock. Like what the voice said is crazier than whatever was happening at the moment.
"THE ONLY REASON THAT WHORE STUCK WITH YOU WAS BECAUSE JOHNNY'S REAAAAAAAL FATHER WOULD NOT TAKE HER!" The entity says, continuing the hysteric laughter.
We were being played. It was toying with us. And from the look on the mother's face...it seems like little Johnny did not even need to lie to do it.
Then, to everyone's horror..."It" started to run.
It ran across the ceiling in a rabid frenzy, erratic and forceful, running and jumping, hopping sideways then going on all fours, still attached to the ceiling, splashing bile and blood all over the room, all the while making a "hihihi" sound...childish and terrifying. It ran and ran, repeating the same erratic change in movements, repeating the same eerie giggle until it reached the window, stopping and standing straight, it stared outside for what felt like forever...then all of a sudden...johnny just fell, like whatever was attaching him to the ceiling just gave, headfirst into the floor, giving a very audible cracking sound.
I heard a gasp from johnny's mother. I can at least detect some miniscule chest expansion, but that cracking sound cannot be anything good. As if thinking the same thing, Martha, who was the nearest to where Johnny fell, while still clinging tightly to Diane's rosary, approached the boy.
"Johnny?" She said softly, all the while approaching an inch at a time.
As she was almost at arms length of the boy's body, she gives the mother a knowing look, confirming that he was breathing. Martha suddenly produces a piece of cloth from one of the pockets of her uniform, possibly to pack the bleeding from the head. She intended to put the cloth on top of the boy's head, but looked towards my direction, urging me forward, perhaps for me to place it properly. I walk towards the boy, takes the cloth from Martha and as I fold the cloth to circle Johnny's cranium with Martha's help, the boy immediately sat up, looks at Martha and smiles ear to ear...literally ear to ear.
"GET YOUR WRINKLY HANDS OFF ME YOU DUSTY OLD FUCK!" He barks at her, Martha screams in fear and I was taken aback.
That was all the time Johnny needed to stand and jump towards the window, breaking it and running towards the mountainside. I hear his father scream his name, quickly breaking more glass so he could fit, and immediately giving chase. The mother was still on the floor, wailing towards the direction of her child and husband. Martha, in shock, still holding the cloth she intended to wrap johnny with.
It took me a while to notice Diane shaking me vigorously. "Doctor!" She screams. "Doctor Smith! What should we do!?" She voices out, with obvious desperation.
I ignored her.
I feel scared, but taking all into consideration, I predominantly feel tired. Defeated. Insulted.
I have nothing more to give in the face of whatever that thing that took Johnny was.
I slowly walk towards my desk, I open my drawer, I take a piece of paper and I pull out my pen.
Patient #00001a Name redacted 10/M
I write, giving no thoughts to the people on the same room as me, those left behind by little Johnny and his father. "Did he catch up to him? Was the boy alright now?...is his father alright?" I wonder. I'll find out soon enough, I figured, rumors spread like wildfire around here anyways.
I continued to write with resignment, absorbed in my own little world, consumed by the horror I witnessed, the breaking of my spirit, of my beliefs, the questioning of my knowledge. I want to escape it, deny it, but that's not what should be done to the truth. So I surrendered.

1 To consider possession probably secondary to malevolent spirit

END

I am a father to a 22-year-old daughter; we lost her mom to a DUI in 2018. Her mom was very career oriented and always pushed her to go to college and have a high-paying job, she also bought all of her clothes and made sure she looked presentable. After her mom died, her grades began plummeting out of control to where she risked not passing most of her classes. I had tried filling that role to give her that push, but it only made her more distant and stubborn.

She grew very resentful and depressed to where I feared I'd lose her too. It was a very emotionally turbulent period, but she eventually opened up and revealed that she felt lost because she spent her whole life following her mom’s expectations, and now that she was gone didn’t feel like she had any direction or identity of her own to go forward.

After that my main priority shifted towards helping her discover herself and find autonomy, and part of that included going to the mall and giving her the freedom to choose whatever she wanted to wear. She gravitated towards more outlandish styles than anything her mom had ever chosen for her: fishnet, leather, plaid skirts, belts, etc. and started experimenting with vibrant hair color and styling it into mohawk. I figured it was a phase, but she really found herself in this identity and now of days makes a lot of her own designs and gets excited to send me pictures of herself when she makes a new fashion that she wants to share with me.

This change put her in a much better place emotionally, but her grades never returned to what they once were. She got rejected by the colleges she had applied for and that's around when the pandemic hit, so she opted out of pursuing college. I said she could stay with me for as long as she needs, and she's still here to this day.

The conflict: her maternal grandmother called me the other day. I guess someone had posted a photo at a protest on social media that my daughter could be seen in, and that set her off on me. She claimed that I betrayed the memory of her daughter and that her grandkid should have been graduating college this year and moving out on her own with a good man. That because she now looks like a delinquent, she’s ruined any chance of having a stable life, a respectable job, or a good husband. That she's been set up for failure, doesn't surround herself with people who will push her to grow, and will be stuck living with me. That I should have taken charge instead of letting her make these decisions for herself when she was so young, vulnerable, and confused.
Her words have been eating away at me and left me questioning if there’s merit. I do have doubts and worry about her being well off and having enough security for the future, and she has missed opportunities because of how she presents herself, but I am still proud of who she has become. AITA for encouraging and enabling her punk outlook rather than working to set her on the more lucrative path her mother had always dreamed for her?

There’s a lot of debate on what it means to actually be a “single mom”, there’s some gate keeping. But for me I’m literally single and I do everything for our kid myself.
I just signed our 7 year old up for swim lessons. Paid for them myself. I paid for his eye exam and glasses recently, all by myself. I clothe our kid, pay our rent, buy his school supplies, all by myself. I do the doctors stuff and everything for him by myself.
My ex is lucky enough to have his food phone and rent paid for by his girlfriend. But I still financially support all of my child’s needs myself.
My ex got a fast food job recently and today I called him with swim school details. He mentioned he was at Walmart and didn’t have time to talk. I asked him very kindly, since he was there, would he mind picking our son up some swim trunks? “I don’t have the money for that right now.”
He never has money for our son. Never has time for him never takes him anywhere or does anything fun with him, not even a playground. But him and his girlfriend are booking a fucking California vacation later this summer!?!
He doesn’t even call our son when I have him or text to ask how he is. I’ve brought this up to him before, multiple times, his response always “Well at least I’m PRESENT. Isn’t that enough!” “I watch our son for you!”
Excuse the fuck out of me? He acts like he’s a fucking saint by doing the bare minimum as a parent and he’s BARELY present. Our son already is verbally open about how he prefers me, and I’m accused of brainwashing him and bad mouthing his father to him. NO, our son just sees the hard work I put in for him. Fuck

Note: Questions about monetization? Check here: An Introduction To The Book That Is Me :
Note: Questions about what else I've done? Check here: Masterlist for edgiscript :
Part 6: [F4M] Mafia Dog - Part 6 of 7 [Confronting Your Yandere] [Sneaking Into The Mission] [Supporting Mom] :
Note: Just realized yesterday that the tags on every chapter should be [FF4M] instead of [F4M] which some are. Sorry about that.
Note to those of you who have been reading and enjoying this series: Thank you. I hope the finale meets your expectations. I said before that this was a post-horror-yandere story. If anyone feels like writing a backstory with Francine and Puppy before he was Puppy, go right ahead. I don't do horror.
Note for future stuff: At present (5/19/24) I'm adding nearly my entire library to Reddit 1 piece at a time with some exceptions. Most notably, Crazy Cat is doing a masterful job with Mayna in "Amazon's Surprise" and she's only posted parts 1-3 so far. I will only release parts 4-7 as she does them. 3 VAs have currently done the 1st part of "The Captive Yandere" and at least 2 are considering whether or not to do more, so I'm holding of on releasing parts 2-6. And Xarty was incredibly endearing as Kaylix in "The Weakest Orc - A Love Story" part 1. I'm holding off releasing parts 2-7 until she does them or decides she won't do any more. But if there are VAs interested in performing those series, contact me and I'll send you the full scripts so you can decide if you want to do them before they're released publicly.
Now for Part 7. (Bet you didn't know this movie would come with trailers.) :)

Part 7

Carissa: (Sorrowfully.) Friends, family, loved ones, we have come today to mourn a beloved friend and colleague. We are going to miss his smile, his warmth, his courage, and his genuine love for each and every one of us, but most of all we’re going to miss the sound of his voice…
(With humor.) …because now that Puppy has married Jane, every one of us here knows that he’s never going to get a word in again.
(Sound of mild laughter of people at the party.)
Jane, you’ve been my courage, my fire, and my wisdom for so long now, I’ve forgotten what it was like without you here. Your spark has kept me going through many trying times. I’ve been able to count on your unwavering patience and your perseverance since the moment you joined our group. You have been by my side through thick and thin and you will be missed.
Puppy, in the nearly two years since we rescued you, you have been my heart and my conscience. I’m proud, very proud that you consider me as your mother, because I most definitely think of you as my son. You have also been by my side through thick and thin and you will also be missed.
Jane and Puppy, my left hand and my right, as you leave us to begin your own journey, at least temporarily, may God watch over you both, and may everyone you meet bring you as much joy as you have brought to all of us. Kent, Mike, Ronnie, and everyone present, please lift your glasses with me as we toast, to Puppy and Jane.
(Pause while they drink, then sounds of minor applause.)
Jane: (Hugs Carissa.) Thank you, mom. We’ll miss you guys.
(Brief pause, then playfully.) Puppy, you can hug Mom in a second. Let me get mine in.
Carissa: You see, Puppy. It’s started. There’s still time. Save yourself. Run.
Jane: (Laughs, then with mock irritation.) Carissa!
Carissa: Nope. I’m still Puppy’s Mom and I’ve got to do what’s best for him.
(Both laugh.)
Carissa: Seriously, you guys, be well. I know you want to show Puppy so many things that he missed growing up the way he did, but… well, just… be safe. Ok?
Jane: Oh, Mom, we’ll be fine. Stop worrying. Puppy’s going to love it.
Carissa: I know. I know. But… (Sighs.) I love both of you so much. Go have fun. See the world. Hurry. Run now before I hug you both and refuse to let go. We’ll be here when you get back.
Jane: We love you too, Mom. Thank you. You’ve been…
Carissa: (Interrupting.) No. Seriously. Go now. Go! Go, go, go, go, go!
Jane: (Laughs.) All right. We’re going. Come on, Puppy. You heard her.
(Runs off. Car door opens and closes. Car sounds as they drive away.)
Well, Puppy. How does it feel?
(Pause.)
To be married? You’re not just Puppy now. You’re MY Puppy.
(Pause.)
(Laughs/Giggles.) Yes, you’ve been my Puppy for a while, but now it’s official. Or legal, anyway.
(Pause.)
Nope. I don’t care. You’re mine. The wedding and the reception are over. I don’t have to share you with another soul for the rest of our lives. (Giggles.)
(Pause.)
Ok, we’ll see them again. I’m not taking you away for good. But you’ll still always be mine no matter what anybody else says about it. (Giggles.)
(Pause.)
Yes, it’s definitely nicer that we can be open about it. We’re so used to living in the shadows, you and me. Being out in public like a regular couple… that’s nice.
(Pause)
(Giggle.) Yes, there are definitely some things we’re not going to do out in the open. Speaking of which, there’s our stop.
(Pause)
Yep. That little house by the ocean. I rented it out just for us.
(Pause. Car comes to a stop and car door opens and closes.)
Nope. I already put all of our luggage in there before the wedding. Now, all that’s left to do is for you to carry me across the threshold. Unless, of course, you want me to carry you. We’re not exactly the most traditional couple after all and…
(Jane is interrupted by Puppy picking her up.)
(Squeals as she’s picked up and laughs. Kiss.) Oh, Puppy. Does this all feel as magical and as much like a fairy tale to you as it does to me? I can’t believe I get to call myself your wife. I love you, Puppy.
(Pause. Front door opens and closes.)
Oh no. You don’t get to set me down yet. Not until we’ve reached the bedroom. (Giggles.) I’ve got a surprise for you.
(Pause.)
(Laughs.) No, that’s not it. That’s no surprise, silly. You already knew I was going to give you that. (Giggles.) No, I’ve got something else for you.
(Pause while they reach the bedroom.)
Here we are. Now, lay me down and then lay down beside me.
(Pause.)
I love you so much, Puppy.
(Pause.)
I know you love me too. And I’m not just saying that because it’s the proper response. I want you to really, truly know that I know you love me. I meant everything I said in my wedding vows. My heart and my soul belong to you now. Ever since I’ve known you after we rescued you from that personal prison of Francine’s, you’ve been nothing but kind, considerate of others, laughing and loving everyone when you could have been broken and bitter. I love you for that, Puppy.
(Pause.)
(Giggles.) Ok, you’re kinda cute too. (Giggles.)
(Pause.)
(Note: From here on, there are no instructions on how to say the rest of this. Please let your own emotions decide how it should be done. Tender and sweet? Tearful? Joyful? You decide.)
Thank you, Puppy. I will always love to hear you say that. But I wanted you to know just how much I love you. I know you said that when you were trapped by Francine, and while she was… well, you know. She would constantly tell you how much she loved you and needed you, even while she was hurting you. She didn’t know love, Puppy. She only knew her own obsession and her lust. She took what she wanted from you without any consideration for you. When she said that she loved you, all she did was hurt you.
I know it’s why you don’t even want me to call you by your given name. It brings back memories of her and even the broken life you had before she took you. I gave you the name Puppy, and when I say “I love you,” I actually do love you. You’ve told me that you only want me to call you Puppy because that marks you as mine, and that’s what you want.
Here. Before I go on, open that drawer. Yes, that one right beside the bed. Open it.
(Drawer opens.)
Take the key that’s in there. That’s the key to your chains. I found that after we rescued you when we did a sweep of Francine’s old headquarters. I saved it… for you. It’s yours now. Nobody owns you. Nobody controls you. You’re free. You can keep it as a symbol that you control your own destiny now, or you can throw it into the ocean tomorrow morning. But you decide. Nobody else.
I know that the pain she caused you happened because all she wanted to do was take from you with no thought of your well-being. She didn’t care how much it hurt you as long as it satisfied her needs. So, Puppy, when I say “I love you,” I want you to know that I’m not taking from you. I’m giving to you. I’m giving you me, Puppy. I’m yours. I’m your wife. I’m your love. I’m your friend. I’m whatever you need me to be. Whatever you need from me, I’m here to provide it for you. I really, really love you. Ok?
(Kiss.)
You’re the most wonderful thing that’s ever happened to me. And I vow to you that I will never let you forget that for as long as we both shall live.
(Kisses.)
(Fade out.)