Happiness is being married to your best friend plaque

I realize this is a niche situation but it bothered me so much I wanted to share here.
For years I’ve shopped at Eddie Bauer, it makes up maybe 80% of my daily wardrobe and I’ve never had an issue. All of my shopping is done at the retail location in VV mail.
The last time I had a problem was about 2 years ago when one of their fleece jackets zipper broke after a couple months. Since they have a 365 day warranty and it was a defect issue there was no problem.
So yesterday I stop by with my autistic son to buy a pair of dress socks for him and noticed some cool looking hemp button up shirts that were 50% off which was a pretty good deal so I snagged 3 of them. And since my son is not cool with me going into dressing rooms (and because I’ve shopped there for maybe 20 years and know their sizing) I just grabbed them off the rack.
Service was friendly and we exchanged a few jokes and paid for the shirts and left.
So this morning it’s a nice sunny day and I think hey what a great day to wear my new hemp shirt. So I pop the tag and put it on, but hold up - the shirt fits like ass, it has a broad lapel that goes halfway down my chest and so I think “ok swing and a miss, I’ll take these back this afternoon.”
So I bring the 3 shirts back with the receipt less than 24 hours later thinking no problem, same couple of people working this afternoon too, so this should be a breeze.
Right away I notice there’s a problem, the cashier who sold me the shirts doesn’t look happy to see me again. I make a joke and some small talk as she scowls and take the shirt out of the bag.
“Did you take the tag off?” She asks.
Well yeah I said I tried it on and thought I was going to wear it so of course I took the tag off. But what difference does it make?
YOU HAVE A 365 DAY RETURN POLICY AND ITS BEEN LESS THAN 24 HOURS.
But apparently this is not the case.
According to the store workers, if you remove a tag, there is no return.
“What do you think, I wore the shirt last night and decided I’d just “borrow” it and get my $35 back the next day?”
“Well if you didn’t do that why would you have taken the tag off?”
So things went downhill from there. This policy is nowhere on the EB website and not mentioned at all in their 365 day return policy - only that you return with a receipt within a year of your purchase.
Again this was purchased less than 24 hours ago, never worn, and returned with receipt.
But because I removed the tag I was told I had to suck it up and take the loss.
So BUYER BEWARE, I realize I’m speaking to maybe 12 people on this subreddit that shop at Eddie Bauer LOL…
But don’t take that tag off!
Oh and I did get my refund, it wasn’t pretty but I was enormously insulted not only by the “policy” but how I was treated by the staff after spending $$$ over many years which was clear from my rewards account (with maybe 3 returns in the past decade).
Sorry guys had to rant 😜

Hey there!
like the title says I'm looking for my best friend, someone I can vibe with and talk to about anything never feeling judged or uncomfortable about it. someone I can watch movies with, joke around with go get some amazing food with and just genuinely enjoy our time together!
Honestly I would love for it to blossom into something romantic at some point however I want there to be a strong connection and friendship first and foremost.
You're probably wondering a bit about me so here's some quick info - I am a father to a beautiful 4 year old girl, I have a stable job and work from home, I have my own place too! I like to play PC games (wow, league, apex, POE to name a few), I love to cook and miss having someone to cook for, I love all animals and recently really got into fish keeping. as for movies I usually tend to watch comedies or thrillers as my main go-tos but happy to watch anything with the right person. as you can probably tell I'm a bit of a nerd which is very true so almost anything nerdy I'll probably like haha.
Physically I'm 6ft tall, and on the chubbier side of a dad body and while I do embrace the dad bod, as I am a dad, I am working on that by going to the gym and trying to live a healthier lifestyle as I want to stay active to keep up with my kiddo.
If this has peaked your interests and you'd like to talk more, please feel free to shoot me a message on here and I'll get back to you as fast as I can. Maybe start by letting me know the last thing that made you smile, and why? :)

First of all maybe this is written awfully but I just don't know from where to start and I need desprete help. I (16F) my boyfriend (16M) we knew each other since 8th grade but we started getting close back in March 2024. him and I have been dating for good two months and let me tell you the amount of shit we had to go through to just date were uncountable from fighting my crazy Psycho ex who SA me which I kind of didn't move on from plus his mum finding out Abt our relationship and threatened to call my mum also she tried to manipulate him into thinking I am playing him and I am dating two guys at the same time. It was horrible, really bad era that I would never wish to go back to. And Bec of the trauma my late ex caused my mental state probably isn't the best plus I got a lot of issues like I get really stressfed, anxious and worried over any minor inconvenience, I need attention and love 24/7 and lastly I get really moody at times but I still try to be my best for him...we are really great couple and I know it's pretty early to judge but the things we went through were not easy nor little, at least that's what 16 years old think. Through my relationship with him most of the time I am the needy and clingy one in the relationship but today It was the way around which scared tf out of me right away. Today morning he texted me and said that he might not be responsive Bec he got issues at home, I knew that a long time ago, his family issues are real bad. His parents fight all the time, they never were a great match. Moving on, him and I talked a lil bit through the day, we were texting in TikTok, we were laughing, happy and yk everything is fine (kind of) then he randomly went like "can I ask u favour?" I didn't reply right away cause I didn't notice the notification (I didn't take long like a min or less) then he send another text saying "sweetheart are u there?" I was confused asf, I texted back and asked him what is it. He said "please never leave me" that stabbed me and anxiety hit me, what's going on? What is happening??? I asked him if he is okay and he said he is fine. I didn't believe it so I kept asking more questions and that's when he gave in and told me everything. He said his father hasn't been constantly at home and he hasn't been home the last 4 days, however, today early morning at 4 am to be exact he tried to sneak in to take some of his stuff. His mother woke up and his parents talked for a lil bit then for some reason she opened his backpack and fucking saw protections and sex related medicines. Her only response to that was screaming her oldest son name which is my bf, he woke up went running to her and saw both of his parents standing in their bedroom. The moment his father saw him he closed the door but he could still hear them fight. His father admitted that he got married secretly to a second wife, he also have intentions to have kids with that woman and his only excuse for cheating and abounding his three children is that he didn't feel loved through this marriage. He kept telling her Abt how hot and perfect his new wife is which brought my boyfriend's mother into tears, he also told her his grown ass used to watch porn Bec she left him deprived. I was honestly left speechless when my boyfriend told me Abt the whole thing, he will have to take care of his younger siblings (they are twins 10f and 10m) and also his mum. His father absence means that he have to fill that rule at fucking sixteen. Fucking sixteen, he didn't even make it to college yet. I am scared for him, I don't know what to do. I comforted and assured him that I will take care of him but i can't help but cry for him, I am really weak and fragile..I want to get stronger mentally to take care of him but I don't know how. Please someone help me and give me tips. I need that.

Tl;dr I just found out that my best friend of seven years/roommate, Natalie (26F), is seeing a married guy (mid 50’sM). She thinks he is leaving the wife but highly unlikely, is there any way to snap her out of it?
Just found out through friends that one of our friend, Natalie (26F) is seeing a married guy (mid 50’s M). I’ve been on a month long holiday abroad so I haven’t seen Natalie in few weeks. I did check up on her after the third roommate mentioned to me that Natalie’s never home these days. When I asked Nat, she said her mom’s been ill so she’s been visiting her mom more often. I believed her since I had no reason to doubt her until our two friends spotted Natalie with not-her-man but her man at a restaurant we all go to often. They described this guy as gray hair balding and having scruffy beard. (He’s older than Nat’s dad!! And no she doesn’t have daddy issues from what I know. Her dad’s so good to her and her mom) Since one of the two friends who spotted her works with Nat, she recognized the guy as a manager at a different department working in the same building. He has two kids around our age, and very much married. The two friends confronted Nat but Nat denied everything. So they gathered information and confronted her (her “business trips” his “business trips” and holes in her stories etc) and Nat finally admitted. And said things like “I know it’s wrong but I can’t stop having feelings for him”,“he said he is separated from his wife and the wife knows about me” I’m going back home in couple of days and since she’s my roommate, I’ll be seeing her. What do I say to snap her out of her fantasy that she’s just a side piece being played? We want to tell the wife but what if the wife is fine with it (ie. open relationship, already knows and ok as he seems to be a serial cheater). We are not sure how to even break the news to the wife or even if we should. I just know if I were in her shoes, I would like to know!! I personally believe if you don’t have the balls to face the consequences of your actions then don’t act. I honestly could care less about Nat’s reputation at work and consequences she’ll have to face. But I do worry about my other friend who works with Nat being negatively impacted. Nat seems to really believe that he is leaving the wife but I highly doubt it. What do I say to slap some senses back to her?

Throwaway account because of complete mortification. I was staying as a guest at a friend-of-a-friend's very fancy house while traveling. Period came unexpectedly and I woke up with blood everywhere - all over my pajamas and sheets and even soaked into the mattress cover (thankfully not the bed below it). I tried to covertly wash the sheets and mattress cover with handsoap in the sink, all panicked and all before coffee. I got it mostly out, but not completely. The very nice host lady had explicitly told me the night before not to strip the bed because "she has her own system." The very nice host guy saw me with the sheets and said "oh no, you're not supposed to do that, she has her own system, I'll help you put them back on." I fumbled something about "oh I completely forgot, must be habit, haha" and "well let me just get some coffee first and then I'll put it back together myself" to which he thankfully went along with. I put the sheets and mattress cover back on, so then it was either obvious what had happened OR looked like I peed the bed which isn't much of an improvement.
It would have been slightly less mortifying if it was either a good friend OR a complete stranger, but this was in the awkward in-between when you have to be "on your best behavior."
Well, you say, this could happen to anyone. BUT why the hell can't I just get an app and track when my period might arrive, like every other sensible female? Why does my brain like to pretend I'll not have another period ever again? I FEEL SO STUPID. I've had 34 YEARS of periods. I should have learned by now!!!!
Once I'd had time to think about it, it would have been so much better to say to the nice host lady "I'm so very sorry, this is totally embarrassing, my period came unexpectedly and I seem to have made a mess, so I've brought the sheets and mattress cover down to the washing machine." I'm sure as a female she would have been understanding. I can only say I panicked and wasn't thinking clearly.
Since I don't have a time machine, PLEASE y'all do me a favor and go get an app if you don't have one, and turn on notifications, put a towel underneath when you're staying as a guest somewhere within a few days of your period arrival. And any words of comfort to lessen my mortification would be most welcome.

Hi… this is a throwaway account, and I will be deleting this after getting some advice. I don’t want this becoming popular, I just need some unbiased opinions. My (20M) boyfriend and I (22F) have been together for almost 7 months. We started out long distance, having met online through our university. He’s residential, and I just graduated from the online program. He and I went on a trip together with friends over winter break, which is where we met in person for the first time.
In the beginning of our relationship, we fell hard. We were talking about marriage and children by the second or third month of dating (to the point of making a guest list for the wedding and writing down names for future children). I will add that he and I are both religious (Christianity). After meeting him in person, it became very difficult to stay long distance since during that week-long vacation, we had gotten used to being physically near each other. I began driving back and forth between him and where I currently live (6 hour drive) to spend my off weekends with him. He does not have a car right now since he lives on campus and because of his class schedule and work, he’s not able to come to me.
(Side note: my parents didn’t know about him prior to the trip and were extremely unsupportive of my decisions and the relationship… more on that later).
He and I talked about me moving closer to him, and I began looking for jobs and apartments near our university. I currently have an apartment where I stay when I’m in town, but it’s now been over 4 months of unsuccessfully searching for a job.
I will sugarcoat it for the sake of this post, but for my safety, it’s best if I move out of my parents’ house (no SA, but threats of violence have become more frequent the more independent I become). That being said, my boyfriend and I had a bad fight the other night, in which he said that there “wasn’t anything he could do about it” in response to me saying that I was upset about something. We talked about things and I didn’t realize me telling him about the things my parents said and did was effecting him so negatively. I also said some harsh words, specifically that I was the one that had to live with what I talked to him about. After settling with that for a bit, we both apologized.
Out of that same fight, my boyfriend backed out of a lot of the things he’s said he wanted from our relationship. He assures me that he loves me, but he’s not sure whether he wants to get married or have kids. He said that that wasn’t something he should have committed to so early on in our relationship (it’s the first relationship either of us have had). Over the last few months, “getting married by the end of the year” turned to “getting engaged by the end of the year,” which morphed to “engaged after he graduates,” and the last time we talked about it, we had settled on waiting a couple years for marriage.
I feel like in this relationship, I am being forced to live by his timeline. Being the older of the two of us, that’s understandable, and I was completely okay with waiting for marriage until he’d graduated and found a good job. I made it clear months ago that I don’t want to move in together until we’ve gotten married. He seems content with just being in a relationship for now, but the uncertainty and open-ended-ness of him not knowing whether he wants marriage from our relationship is causing a lot of emotional distress for me, in addition to the worry, stress, and anxiety that living with my parents/not being able to find a new job continues to cause.
I have a therapy appointment tomorrow to hopefully work some of this out, but my biggest concerns are that I’m moving six hours away from home to be with someone I love, and that someone isn’t sure what they want from our relationship anymore. It makes me feel like I’ve wasted time, money, effort, and energy on something that may leave me alone in an unfamiliar city in the end.
He and I have agreed to sit down and talk about our expectations from this relationship, but he’s currently at his parents’ home (3 hours away from the city I’m moving to) packing the rest of his things so that he can move into an apartment with his roommate off campus for his last year of college. He plans to go to graduate school at the same college immediately after graduating (I’m in an online MFA program, btw).
We love one another, but being so far away from each other makes it hard to really sit down and discuss what needs to be discussed. I want to marry him, but it doesn’t have to be right this second. I told him that until he makes a decision on what he wants, I don’t want us to be intimate again. He agreed to that, saying that he accepts my reasoning, but that I don’t need one if I ever don’t feel like being intimate. He’s incredibly kind, loving, and supportive. I think I’ve just put too much on him, both in expectations and emotional stress. The main reason I was upset with him during our fight was that everything he was saying was in direct opposition to what he’d said previously about what he wanted from our relationship. He himself said that the decision/realization of not wanting to get married or have kids yet hit him just as hard as it hit me.
Any advice? I love him. I don’t want to lose him because of crappy circumstances.
TL;DR - My boyfriend has told me that he doesn’t know whether or not he wants to get married, when in the beginning of our relationship we both expressed that’s what we wanted.

The water washed over the side of the boat and made a drizzle that clung to my face as I turned to wipe it away. The sea was too rough around the boat to see much, and the clouds had come right down to my level, blotting out what the sea had not. The ship was heading towards deeper water, and between the rain, the mist, and the boiling fog, the ever more distant coast was a blur.
The storm had brewed up late in the day and had taken it’s time to reach the fevered pitch it was displaying presently. The sea was rising so high, it would block the view to land, making it impossible to see what was happening ashore. I should have been asleep in my bunk moored in the harbor, but instead, at this late hour, the boat and I were fighting this storm for survival.
As each wave passed, my vessel would glide into the valley behind, the walls of water on all sides stretching vertically to merge with the sky. Just as soon as the previous wave receded, a new mountain of water would present itself directly, forcing the little boat to again climb high up a watery slope. The ship would crest, giving me a glimpse of the rough and tumble ocean scape ahead, just before diving down into another valley.
Even so, I was happy to brave the weather, as the alternative was unthinkable. If this poor little vessel were to be smashed on the rocks with only me and my salt water soaked clothes to survive, I would count myself lucky. Clinging to some slick, slime covered boulder until the storm passed and the sun came out the following morning. I would fare better than my fellow villagers who were caught unawares by this impromptu disturbance. Some of whom had surely been swallowed up in the mist.
When I was young, my family lived in a small coastal village on the north side of White Rock island. Our old, whitewashed house rested on a small rise just south of the harbor. If you stood in the living room and looked out north through the plate glass window, you could see the harbor stretch out into the ocean beyond.
Each of the various boats in the harbor had a faded splash of blue or red or yellow color around the pilot house. Some had flags fluttering in the breeze. Aside from the windowed superstructures, they were all the same shade of white, stained with rust, barnacles and other imperfections. Each ship was unique in it’s own way, but only subtly so. Viewing them from afar, it was hard to notice, as they all looked the same.
I never really left White Rock, unless you count the time I went off and joined the Navy to fight in the war. I was foolishly excited to join the Navy. I believed the propaganda posters plastered all over town. I had no idea the horrors I would experience as an Engineman on a destroyer cruising through enemy waters. But that is a different story for a different time.
I attended school on that island. There was a small population, hardly big enough to justify a school, but we were very isolated and it was more difficult to travel to and from the mainland to attend school. There was only a handful of students of all ages and we had classes together in a one room schoolhouse about a mile east of our home on the hill. All of those people I went to school with are also still here on the Rock.
When I returned from the war, the reception was warm. I soon caught up with old friends and settled into a routine. I was able to recruit a few of them to help my brothers and I crew the Schooner which had patiently waited the several years I was absent. She is a 45ft ketch with a main sail, a foresail and a jib to help with tacking. We can unfurl a fisherman’s sail high above the main in open waters to add some speed. We carry nets and crab pots amidships, along with a small tender up under the fly bridge. My ship also has a 200hp diesel motor used for trawling and harbor travel. There are two holds and fully loaded, she can carry a good 20,000 pounds of fish. We have only ever filled her up about halfway on a week long journey. My Brothers, my childhood friends, and I make a jolly crew, and I am mostly thankful for the time I spend with them.
My Father was a mechanic and he worked on many of the smaller fishing boats in the harbor. He never left the island much and we did not own a boat growing up. The old timers would sit around, outside his workshop, playing dominos and telling tall tales. If I was not busy with chores, I used to love to listen to the tales the grizzled old fishermen would tell me as my Father worked on their dilapidated boats.
There were some common themes to these tales, and it didn’t take me long to understand that they were mostly bluff and bluster. They would recite fairy tales about mermaids and deep sea monsters. They would talk about long lost islands that were shown on no maps. There were stories of buried treasure and lost civilizations. All good fun and light hearted, chuckles and good natured ribbing all the way around.
Then there were the stories about the mist. The old timers would hush up and become reticent when this topic was broached. They would look over their shoulder as if paranoid someone or something was watching. You could feel a shiver run down your spine just at the mention of the mist, The air grew heavier, all of the color draining out, becoming more pale and dense.
The mist, from the stories, was a thick gloom that would originate somewhere out in the water and slowly drift into town with the wind. On days when the mist would visit, you could see it forming miles out in the distance. Getting thicker as morning grew into midday. At some point in the early afternoon, the old timers would say, with a shift in the wind, that thick soupy darkness would start to creep towards the island.
This was a warning to all of the inhabitants to get indoors, batten down the windows and doors, and camp out in the cellar until dawn. The mist can see as if it has eyes, they would say. The mist could hear you breathe, as if it had ears, they would say. The mist could pick you up and take you away, as if it had hands, they would say. And to speak, yes, the mist could speak as if it had a voice. The mist could convince you to leave the safety of your home and go on a journey. The mist could trick you into thinking a small child was outside and needed help. “Help me” the mist would sigh. “I am soaking wet and I am only 5, please let me in so I can get warm. It’s so cold out here…”
As entertaining as these stories were when I was a kid, they were just that, stories. Time passed, people came and went. The old timers faded away along with their boats. As I grew older, I was more and more concerned with ever more adult things and stories of spirits and water sprites were trivial. Fairy stories and tall tales didn’t pay the bills and I had a life to live.
My Father died in an accident when I was only 15. He was working on a trawler that had run aground just south of the entrance to the bay. The engine had failed and the boat had drifted into the rocks. My father was aboard when there was an explosion. He was burned over most of his body. We would visit him daily at the doctors house where he lay, suffering, in a delirium. He lingered for the better part of a year before passing on.
My Mother was devastated and she was never the same. We moved out of that old white house into another owned by my Uncle. I felt like I had to provide for her and my younger brothers. I soon found myself working as a hand on my uncle’s fishing boat. I learned the way of the sea, and would spend more and more time offshore. Each time I returned, I found that my Mother had grown more distant. She was spending more and more time with my Father in the great beyond and didn’t have as much to give to the real world. She was surrendered to a fantasy and soon she was unable to return to reality. Some call it dementia. When she passed, I was alone with my Uncle and my Brothers.
As a crew, and as a family, we had some great adventures. We travelled far and wide. We visited many a strange port and I held company with many a beautiful lass. We crewed my uncles boat, the Majestic Spirit, until he was too old for the work. When he decided to retire, he gave his boat to me. Now my Brothers, my friends and I ably vie the sea, aboard the Maj, in search of fame and fortune.
All this so I can describe to you my current predicament. You see, this morning started off like normal. After waking and eating my breakfast, I had strolled down to the docks to get an early start on some maintenance to the Maj. I had been putting it off for the last week. We had a long cruise coming up, planning to sail to the South Onda Straits, and I wanted to repair the fore hatch coaming before we set out.
As I descended the hill to White Rock Harbor, I noticed a dark gloominess miles off in the distance. Remembering the old stories made me feel uneasy. I told myself to ignore those old fairy tales and focus on the task at hand. I put my head down and walked faster.
As I arrived at the Maj, I noticed the gloom was thicker now. It was visibly rolling and changing color from gray to black and all shades in between. There were faint flashes of light from deep within. “Is that lightning?” I asked myself. Apparently I had spoken aloud as another fisherman, Phillip O’Perry, who owned the adjacent trawler, had overheard me as he jumped down onto the docks from the deck of his boat. “It’s the mist a’formin.” He said as he walked away. “I, for one, plan on getting drunk on Rum this ‘even…locked away in my cellar with wife and babes. I suggest you do the same.”
I hadn’t felt that chill since I was young. “Don’t be silly Phil!” I yelled back. “Fairy tales and sea shanties are fun, but they don’t put food on the table.” “Suit yerself” he said over his shoulder as he rounded the corner. “You’ll have a new story to tell either way tomorrow”. “if you live.” This last he added while sticking his head back around the corner he had just passed. A devious grin from ear to ear on his face, he said“Good luck to ya!” and then he was gone.
The white rock saved me.
Part 2 to follow soon! :D

Hey there!
like the title says I'm looking for my best friend, someone I can vibe with and talk to about anything never feeling judged or uncomfortable about it. someone I can watch movies with, joke around with go get some amazing food with and just genuinely enjoy our time together!
Honestly I would love for it to blossom into something romantic at some point however I want there to be a strong connection and friendship first and foremost.
You're probably wondering a bit about me so here's some quick info - I am a father to a beautiful 4 year old girl, I have a stable job and work from home, I have my own place too! I like to play PC games (wow, league, apex, POE to name a few), I love to cook and miss having someone to cook for, I love all animals and recently really got into fish keeping. as for movies I usually tend to watch comedies or thrillers as my main go-tos but happy to watch anything with the right person. as you can probably tell I'm a bit of a nerd which is very true so almost anything nerdy I'll probably like haha.
Physically I'm 6ft tall, and on the chubbier side of a dad body and while I do embrace the dad bod, as I am a dad, I am working on that by going to the gym and trying to live a healthier lifestyle as I want to stay active to keep up with my kiddo.
If this has peaked your interests and you'd like to talk more, please feel free to shoot me a message on here and I'll get back to you as fast as I can. Maybe start by letting me know the last thing that made you smile, and why? :)

This mantra has CHANGED my fitness game during pregnancy. As an athlete who was training for a comeback in my sport(shoutout to my rugby mamas) I found working out demoralizing and frustrating. I was tired most of my first trimester and when I did go to the go to the gym I felt like I got nothing accomplished. It has also been a hard transition on the changes within my body.
But after a long conversation with my husband and best friend (mostly crying) I realized I needed to switch my perspective. I needed to lower my expectations when going to the gym and just move my body in a way that felt good that day. This is not the time for me to gain strength or speed. It’s my era for growing a human. That has helped me in the last several weeks to be confident and happy when I can workout.
I wanted to share in case there’s anyone else who is struggling with the transition between being a competitive athlete to slowing down with pregnancy.

How do you go about dating if your over 21+ but you rely on parents for transportation
Hi. I am an individual with multiple disabilities/health conditions (anxiety adhd and possible autism) and I’m 25. I was wondering how you go about dating if you rely on your parents for transportation. Unfortunately I have a condition that causes limited depth perception so I am not sure driving is the best option for me and I’m also afraid to learn even though my doctors say it wouldn’t hurt to learn. I also have t1 diabetes. Unfortunately I live in a rural area with limited transportation options too. Given that I am My mother’s only child she is very overprotective of me (and the few friends I have always comment this). However, she does talk about me moving out but I’m almost certain she wouldn’t let that happen because she’s over protective even though we fight all the time. I should also clarify that I love my mother and she can be my friend but she’s also very overprotective.
Case in point: I needed to get somewhere the other night and neither my parents (my father seems to think my mom is the only one who needs to drive me around sometimes) could take me, and I put it out on fb (just my friends list) that I needed a ride but my mom saw it and said I’m not letting you get in car with someone I don’t know. I mean I wouldn’t have gotten a ride from a murderer…but she yelled at me and made me take it down. Thankfully I did get a text from a family member that they could take me where I needed to go. But that incident made me think what if I met a guy on a dating site and we clicked but I needed a ride to get there and my mom said no. I mean dating is part of how I would move out, but I’m not sure my mother understands that online dating is how the majority of people meet these days. I don’t feel like my mom is abusing me or necessarily being mean but she’s just way over protective. I do plan to bring this up with my therapist as well. Does anyone have any ideas?

How do you go about dating if your over 21+ but you rely on parents for transportation
Hi. I am an individual with multiple disabilities/health conditions (anxiety adhd and possible autism) and I’m 25. I was wondering how you go about dating if you rely on your parents for transportation. Unfortunately I have a condition that causes limited depth perception so I am not sure driving is the best option for me and I’m also afraid to learn even though my doctors say it wouldn’t hurt to learn. I also have t1 diabetes. Unfortunately I live in a rural area with limited transportation options too. Given that I am My mother’s only child she is very overprotective of me (and the few friends I have always comment this). However, she does talk about me moving out but I’m almost certain she wouldn’t let that happen because she’s over protective even though we fight all the time. I should also clarify that I love my mother and she can be my friend but she’s also very overprotective.
Case in point: I needed to get somewhere the other night and neither my parents (my father seems to think my mom is the only one who needs to drive me around sometimes) could take me, and I put it out on fb (just my friends list) that I needed a ride but my mom saw it and said I’m not letting you get in car with someone I don’t know. I mean I wouldn’t have gotten a ride from a murderer…but she yelled at me and made me take it down. Thankfully I did get a text from a family member that they could take me where I needed to go. But that incident made me think what if I met a guy on a dating site and we clicked but I needed a ride to get there and my mom said no. I mean dating is part of how I would move out, but I’m not sure my mother understands that online dating is how the majority of people meet these days. I don’t feel like my mom is abusing me or necessarily being mean but she’s just way over protective. I do plan to bring this up with my therapist as well. Does anyone have any ideas?

Hi! Dealing with some feelings as I prepare to plan my own wedding. My boyfriend is going to propose soon, and we’ve started laying the groundwork for a wedding next year, but I dont even want to tell my BFF about our plans because of how she treated me when I was her maid of honor.
Last year, my best friend got married and I was her MOH. The bridal party was just MOH/best man, no other bridesmaids or groomsmen. The wedding was in her in-laws’ backyard and to be honest, it was a nightmare. A beautiful wedding, but zero consideration for the guests.
I live out of state and I went to stay with her for a week before the wedding, so we could get our nails done, finish DIY projects, prep the venue space, etc. Honestly she seemed MISERABLE all week. Was short with everyone. I heard her say “thank you” maybe twice the whole time I was there. This is usually not like her! So I figured hmm…we’ll wait til the wedding day is over and see if she feels happier.
I was so excited to spend the actual wedding DAY with her but we barely saw each other. We got her ready for photos (I did her hair and makeup) but she left me alone in her apartment to get ready solo. I had no one to zip my dress, put my hairpiece in, etc. I had to walk to the venue myself, carrying buckets of flowers she’d forgotten to make arrangements for.
During the cocktail hour and reception, I missed group photos because I was working. There was NO WATER or other nonalcoholic beverages out for the guests, so I prepped those and got them into the coolers/dispensers. I barely had time to sit and eat because I was the designated “go to” person for questions, so guests would find me if they needed directions to town, help finding the bathroom, etc.
Here’s the part that really hurts my feelings: when I was shopping for my bestie’s bridal shower, I found thank-you cards that matched her invites EXACTLY. It was incredible! I sent a pic and said “hey — want me to buy these???” She responded with a huge yes. They were on clearance at TJ MAXX so ~100 cards for $10. Not a huge expense at all. But…
It’s been a year and I haven’t received a thank-you card. No one has. And I get that, no one wants to do thank-you cards! But I haven’t received ANY acknowledgment for my efforts. And it really hurts. The day before the wedding, her now-husband was excitedly showing me the thank-you gift package he had chosen and assembled for his best man. I know the best man received his thank-you gift the day after the wedding because he posted about it in his wedding photo dump.
It’s been a year and I haven’t received a single thank you from my “bestie.” Her husband has shown more gratitude to me than she did. And now that I’m planning to get engaged…I don’t know if I should bring this up ahead of time and clear the air, or if I should leave it be. Our friendship feeeeels pretty normal and we talk regularly, but every time I think about this, it makes me want to NOT invite her to the wedding. I don’t even care if it’s not as elaborate as what the best man received, I just want SOME acknowledgement of my effort. There’s definitely some added bitterness because she is a stay-at-home wife and lives off her husband’s income, so I feel jealous she has time for craft projects and creative/leisure activities that I have to fit into my demanding career…but she can’t find time to send me a thank you? Ugh. I feel so dumb but after 15 years of friendship, I just want my effort to be acknowledged in SOME way. :(

This is kind of just a funny story. I'm not technically out to my family, but rather vocal about not caring for a relationship.
One of my friends is getting married and I said something along the lines of:
"Well, he (her fiance) is not my type, but as long as she's happy."
And then my dad said "Well, your type has four legs" (Referring to me loving my dog and horse to bits XD)
So yeah, just a funny interaction I wanted to share!

How do you go about dating if your over 21+ but you rely on parents for transportation
Hi. I am an individual with multiple disabilities/health conditions (anxiety adhd and possible autism) and I’m 25. I was wondering how you go about dating if you rely on your parents for transportation. Unfortunately I have a condition that causes limited depth perception so I am not sure driving is the best option for me and I’m also afraid to learn even though my doctors say it wouldn’t hurt to learn. I also have t1 diabetes. Unfortunately I live in a rural area with limited transportation options too. Given that I am My mother’s only child she is very overprotective of me (and the few friends I have always comment this). However, she does talk about me moving out but I’m almost certain she wouldn’t let that happen because she’s over protective even though we fight all the time. I should also clarify that I love my mother and she can be my friend but she’s also very overprotective.
Case in point: I needed to get somewhere the other night and neither my parents (my father seems to think my mom is the only one who needs to drive me around sometimes) could take me, and I put it out on fb (just my friends list) that I needed a ride but my mom saw it and said I’m not letting you get in car with someone I don’t know. I mean I wouldn’t have gotten a ride from a murderer…but she yelled at me and made me take it down. Thankfully I did get a text from a family member that they could take me where I needed to go. But that incident made me think what if I met a guy on a dating site and we clicked but I needed a ride to get there and my mom said no. I mean dating is part of how I would move out, but I’m not sure my mother understands that online dating is how the majority of people meet these days. I don’t feel like my mom is abusing me or necessarily being mean but she’s just way over protective. I do plan to bring this up with my therapist as well. Does anyone have any ideas?

Hello everyone. I posted this in the INTJ community and very much and need some help in deciding if I am INTJ or not. I edited the post a bit for the INTP community. I am a 35 yo male, married, one toddler with another on the way. Like most of you, I have read countless articles, columns, descriptions, a couple of books on MBTI and the cognitive functions. Taking many MBTI tests and my first test I scored as an ISTP, but I am not good with my hands, not athletic, don't like fighting, working with cars, etc. So I kept testing and got INTP.
But if I am being honest, I don't like reading all that much. Im not that nerdy and I have pretty good fashion sense. I like nice things. I skim over reading until I find what I deem is what I am looking for and use it. Not trying to be offensive with stereotypes just honest. lol When building furniture, I like to follow instructions until I have done something several times. Then I will build by memory and/or my gut. I research topics all the time such as the best restaurants in a city I am visiting. I am into checking out historical places to visit or places of prestige, importance over just going to were people are amassed and partying/socializing.
I don't really have any friends at them moment. I feel like people have let me down in the past. In the past, the only way I feel I could get friends was to fake being more extroverted, easy going, funny and a lover of drinking. But this has attracted a bunch of sensors which I spent most of my energy on rather quickly and need to retreat. When I retreat, I usually watch tv shows/movies, play my videos games or go for a drive and listen to podcasts like Joe rogan. Other leisure time is spent on reddit/internet.
I am always looking on improving my lifestyle, my status quo. I am not satisfied for too long. For instance, when I purchase a car, I am immediately within months thinking of what is the next best car I can get. It has to be a little sportier, a little more prestiges, and definitely has to be faster than the last.
I don't like small talk, and drama and gossip is infuriating and annoying to me. I constantly get upset when my loved ones don't heed my advice or what it is I am saying. I tell my wife, sister and Mom all the time that they should be careful and prepare for their futures by investing money more and spending less. My senior mother is a recent victim of catfishing and I felt immediately I had to step in and help clean up the mess and build her back up. My father passed away and my sister isn't of much help with this so I help my Mom. I have gone on quite a bit and understand that I need more detail but thanks for reading some of this. Appreciate the help. What made you decide you were INTP?
TL/DR
I am questioning my MBTI type, initially testing as ISTP and INTP, but not fully identifying with either. I prefer practical research over extensive reading, enjoy solitary activities, and value self-improvement and status. I dislike small talk and drama, and often advise loved ones on financial matters. Im confused on my type. What made you decide you were INTP?

It was an early morning in the Border Collie Household. The sun was just beginning to peek through the curtains, casting a warm glow into the living room where Mackenzie, Minnie, and Little Mack were sitting, looking rather bored.
Mackenzie, the eldest of the three siblings, let out a sigh as he tossed his stuffed Bilby, Billy, up in the air and caught it repeatedly. "I'm so bored," he grumbled, glancing over at his younger siblings.
Minnie, her bright eyes filled with mischief, grinned mischievously. "I know! Let's go bug Mom and Dad until they play with us!"
Little Mack's face lit up at the suggestion. "Yeah! That sounds like fun!"
“Alright, alright. Let's go see what they're up to." Mackenzie said as he placed Billy next to Bandido and lead his siblings out of his room and to the kitchen.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Hunter and Queen were in the kitchen, having just finished the coffee they made a couple of minutes before.
“Honey?” Queen called.
“Yeah babe?” Hunter asked.
“What’s your stopwatch say?” Queen asked. Hunter looked at the stopwatch on the table next to them.
“12:22.” Hunter said. The two of them looked at each other for five seconds and then smirked.
“Three...two...one.” They both counted down. As they reached "one," Mackenzie, Minnie, and Little Mack burst into the kitchen, their faces filled with excitement.
"We're bored!" Minnie declared dramatically, throwing herself onto one of the kitchen chairs. “Can you play with us?”
“I don’t see why not.” Hunter answered as he turned to face the three. “What game do you wanna play?”
That was the thing. They didn’t exactly know what they wanted to play. Queen glanced at Hunter with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"I have an idea," she said, her lips curling into a playful grin. "How about we play... Smoochy Tag?"
“Smoochy Tag? Now THAT is a game I haven’t played in a long time.” Hunter said with a laugh.
“What’s smoochy tag?” Little Mack asked.
“It’s like normal tag, but you have to smooch someone to tag them. When you tag them, they help you tag the others. It’s really fun!” Mackenzie said as his tail wagged a bit.
“I’ll be it first. Mackenzie, can you pick a number between one and ten?” Queen asked. Mackenzie paused for a moment.
“Seven!” Mackenzie said happily.
“Seven.” Queen repeated, then she smirked. “Six…Five…Four-”
Realizing she was counting down, Hunter and the kids took off running. Hunter opened the front door and ran out of the house with the laughing children. Queen reached one and then grabbed her coffee mug.
“I’ll just finish this first.” She stated while also putting Hunter’s mug in the sink.
After a couple of seconds of running, the four of them stopped for a moment and looked around.
“We need to hide.” Hunter said as he looked around.
“But where?” Mackenzie asked. That’s when they heard a door open, they all turned to see Bandit standing at the opening.
“Oh, morning Border Collies!” Bandit said with a wave.
“Morning Bluey’s Dad, can we hide in your house?” Mackenzie asked. Bandit raised an eyebrow almost immediately, leaving Hunter to clarify.
“We’re playing a game and Queen is it.” Hunter told him.
“Say no more, c’mon in.” Bandit said almost immediately, opening the door a little bit more for them. The four Border Collies ran inside and Bandit closed the door, looking through the peephole.
“Sorry to involve you in our game Bandit.” Hunter told him. Bandit turned to him and waved it away.
“No worries, we do that to our neighbor Pat all the time. Looks like karma finally caught up.” Bandit said, he then walked away from the door. “What game are you playing?”
“We call it smoochy tag.” Hunter said, that’s when the doorbell rang. Bandit walked over to open it and saw that no one was there.
“Huh, no one. Weird.” Bandit said before closing the door and walking back to Hunter. “What’s Smoochy tag?”
“Basically a cross between tag and playing zombies, but a kiss is how you tag the others.” Hunter answered. The doorbell rang again. Bandit opened the door and looked around this time, again, seeing no one.
“Kids playing ding dong ditch?” Hunter asked. Bandit closed the door and walked back over.
“Probably.” Bandit said as Chilli walked into the room.
“Who’s dinging the doorbell?” Chilli asked.
“Probably the kids.” Bandit said. That was before he saw Bluey and Bingo hiding Mackenzie and Little Mack somewhere in the living room, and then hearing the doorbell again. “Okay, definitely not the kids.”This time, Hunter walked over to the door to open it, and when he did, Queen grabbed his arm and pulled him outside.
“Gotcha! C’mere you!” Queen smirked as she attempted to pull him into a kiss. However, Bandit and Chilli grabbed Hunter to pull him into the house, joining the game.
“Not so fast!” Bandit said as he pulled Hunter into the house. Chilli also pulled, whilst chuckling.
“It’s not gonna be that easy.” Chilli told her. Queen continued trying to kiss Hunter, but Hunter was pulled away and Chilli got a cushion to poke Queen back out of the house. “Out, out with ya.”
With Queen back out of the house, Chilli closed the door. Chilli wiped her brow with a ‘phew’ and looked at Bandit.
“What was that all about?” Chilli asked.
“It’s a game called Smoochy Tag.” Bandit told her.
“Sounds fun, I’ll ask the kids if they wanna play.” Chilli said as she walked to the living room. Bandit looked at Hunter with wide eyes.
“Run upstairs, quick.” Bandit told him. Hunter nodded and ran upstairs with Bandit. Chilli walked to the living room where she saw Bingo hiding Little Mack behind the plant.
"Hey, Bingo," Chilli said with a warm smile. "Are you and your new friend playing Smoochy Tag too?"
Bingo looked up from her hiding spot with a wide grin. "Yeah, Mum! We're helping hide Little Mack from his mum."
“Well guess what, your dad and I are playing too. But I need to know the rules first.” Chilli said as he kneeled down to Little Mack’s height. “Can you tell me the rules?”
Little Mack got out from under the table and began to explain the rules of the game.
“It’s like normal tag, but you have to smooch someone to tag them. When you tag them, they help you tag the others. Mackenzie says it’s really fun.” Little Mack answers. Chilli tapped her chin.
“Smooch someone, like this?” Chilli asked, placing a kiss on Little Mack’s forehead. Little Mack giggled.
“Yes, exactly like that.” Little Mack said.
“Good. Looks like we’re helping your mom now.” Chilli said, revealing she made herself it when she played the game. Which also meant she that Little Mack was also it. Much to the four year old’s playful disappointment.
“Aw bugger.” Little Mack said. Then both of them turned to Bingo. She quickly turned around to run.
“Quick, let’s get her!” Chilli exclaimed as she and Little Mack ran after her. The moment they were out of the living room, Bluey and Mackenzie ran out from behind the couch and ran to the backyard where they got cut off by Queen.
“Going somewhere?” She teased before running after them. Bluey and Mackenzie playfully screamed before running back inside. Queen ran after them and was gaining on them pretty quickly. She would’ve caught up if it wasn’t for Minnie running in front of her, running away from Bingo who was also running away from Chilli and Little Mack. Switching targets, Queen grabbed Minnie and kissed her forehead.“No!” Minnie exclaimed while laughing. Bingo was gonna run past, but Queen grabbed her too and kissed her on the forehead as well. Now the only ones left were Mackenzie, Bluey, Hunter and Bandit. Bluey and Mackenzie were seen running up stairs. Upstairs, the hallway presented several doors, providing ample hiding spots. Bluey gestured excitedly to the linen closet. "Quick, hide in here!" she whispered urgently to Mackenzie.
Mackenzie nodded, running into the closet with Bluey. Bluey closed the door, while Hunter and Bandit veered into the Heeler bedroom just as they heard footsteps approaching. Inside the linen closet, Bluey and Mackenzie huddled together, barely able to contain their giggles. Bluey put a finger to her lips, motioning for Mackenzie to stay quiet as they listened to the footsteps draw closer. They held their breath as the footsteps walked towards them, stopped, and then walked away from them. Allowing them to let out a sigh of relief.
In the bedroom, Hunter and Bandit were both were under the bed, and practically arguing with each other silently.
“Find your own hiding spot!” Bandit whisper yelled to him.
“I don’t know this house! This is the best I can do!” Hunter replied. The two of them where still arguing when Queen and Chilli walked into the room, and from the footsteps abruptly stopping, they more than likely got found out.
“You think they heard us?” Bandit asked. Suddenly, Hunter’s ankles were grabbed and he was yanked out from under the bed. Bandit’s wrists were grabbed and he was pulled out as well. When they were out, they realized that the other’s wife had pulled them out. Bandit was pulled out by Queen and Hunter was pulled out by Chilli. The two ladies looked at each other, smirked, nodded and switched locations, kissing their husbands to tag them.
“And then there were two.” Hunter said as he stood up looking out in the hall.
“I heard whispering in the closet before walking in here.” Chilli said as she pointed to the linen closet. Queen and Hunter started to walk towards that door and counted backwards from three before opening the door and seeing….nothing.
“Huh?” Queen questioned. Inside Bluey’s room, Mackenzie and Bluey were sneaking back down the stairs and was making their way to the playroom. On the way there, Mackenzie accidentally bumped into one of the dressers and knocked over the lamp. Mackenzie was fast enough to catch the lamp before it could hit the ground.
“That was close.” Mackenzie said in relief.
“He’s downstairs!” Little Mack exclaimed, having heard him. Mackenzie put the lamp back and he and Bluey ran out to the backyard. Little Mack was the first to go outside to try and catch at least one of them. Minnie ran outside too and both were going straight for Mackenzie, who was not too keen with getting caught so he kept dodging and juking them like he was playing a game of rugby. Bluey on the other hand was running from Bingo and ran right into Bandit who picked her up and kissed her on the nose.
“Gotcha Bluey!” Bandit told her. He then looked at Mackenzie who juked Little Mack and made him run into Minnie. Mackenzie was gonna run back inside, but Hunter was guarding the door. “Let’s get em Bluey.”
Mackenzie turned around and Queen was blocking his path back.
“Where’re you gonna go now mate?” Hunter asked him. Mackenzie looked right and saw Bandit and Bluey walking towards him.
“Going left!” Mackenzie said as he ran left. He was gonna run down the left side of the house to go to the front yard, but the moment he ran around the corner, Chilli was right there. Mackenzie turned around to run again, but he was grabbed by Hunter, who jumped over the railing the moment he went around the corner. Mackenzie laughed as he was caught, squirming playfully in Hunter's grasp.
"Nice try, buddy." Hunter chuckled before planting a kiss on his son’s forehead, ending the game. “Man, you’re getting faster kid.”
"You're not too bad yourself, Dad." Mackenzie replied, his tail wagging happily. "That was so much fun!"
"You did great, champ," Hunter said, ruffling Mackenzie's hair. "But all that running around has made me hungry, lets go get brunch.”
Mackenzie's stomach growled in agreement, and he nodded eagerly. "Yeah, brunch sounds awesome!"
Chilli and Bandit looked at each other and then nodded before turning back over to the Border Collies.
“Would you like to stay for Brunch?” Chilli asked them.
"That sounds lovely," Queen replied with a smile, glancing at Hunter for confirmation.
Hunter nodded, returning the smile. "Yeah, we'd love to stay. Thanks for the invitation."
Chilli beamed. "Great! Let's head to the kitchen then. I'll whip up something delicious for all of us."
“Allow me to help.” Queen said as she and Chilli walked upstairs to the kitchen. Hunter and Bandit played with the kids to keep them occupied. s they all made their way to the kitchen, the Border Collies chatted happily, their laughter filling the air. Hunter and Bandit found themselves engaged in a playful game of catch with Mackenzie, Bluey, Minnie, and Little Mack, while Queen and Chilli worked together to prepare brunch.
In the kitchen, Queen and Chilli shared stories and laughter as they cooked, enjoying each other's company. Queen expertly cracked eggs into a bowl while Chilli chopped vegetables for an omelet. The aroma of sizzling bacon filled the air, making everyone's stomachs growl in anticipation.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Hunter and Bandit continued their game with the kids, tossing a ball back and forth and dodging around the furniture. Mackenzie's tail wagged furiously as he chased after the ball, his laughter echoing through the house.
As brunch neared completion, Queen and Chilli set the table with plates, utensils, and glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice. The tantalizing smell of food wafted through the house, drawing everyone to the kitchen.
With everything ready, they all gathered around the table, exchanging smiles and stories as they enjoyed the delicious brunch together. Plates were filled with fluffy omelets, crispy bacon, and buttery toast, and the conversation flowed effortlessly as they savored the meal.
Later on, Queen and Chilli were playing with the kids as Hunter and Bandit were on the balcony watching them as they played, drinking some soda as they watched.
“Made quite the first impression you know.” Bandit said to Hunter, who chuckled.
“Sweet as, Bandit. You know I was a bit skeptical about the move but now...” Hunter responded, watching as Bluey playfully managed to tackle Mackenzie to the ground. “..I think I made the right choice.”
“While I don’t doubt that mate, I’m sure we’ll see.” Bandit told him.
“Yeah…we’ll see.” Hunter replied. Soon, it was time for the Border Collies to head home and the Heelers waved goodbye to them as they walked off.
“You know, I think I like our new neighbors.” Chilli said to her family.
“Will they be back to play again?” Bingo asked her dad. Bandit smiled and watched the Border Collies walk off.
“We’ll see.”

My parents left me when i was a child and my aunt adopted me. it's been 22 years. I'd never shared my problems with anyone since childhood and kept everything in my heart. Even though i love this family so much but I feel like i'm crushing under the weight of their kindness. My older "brother" is an entrepreneur and alpha of my family. And he has chosen almost everything for me for my own good. and now he wants me to marry this girl whom i don't love (i tried my best but that felling never came). and I COULDN'T SAY NO. Its like I am bound to their kindness and hence became enslaved to their decisions. it’s been 3 years since we got engaged. But currently I met this girl in abroad. it’s been 2 months since we’re dating. I love this girl. we both discuss about my situation. She wanted me to clear the path, which I did but this caused so much turmoil in the family. I am backing up from her with heavy heart. She understands but this is hurting both of us so much. So if this is all fate has to offer me then should i accept this and be happy even if I don't want this to happen. Or should I try to go against their decision and in that process make everyone unhappy.

Hi everyone! Here are the details for June's book club - sign up below! This is an informal gathering regardless of your reading experience. It’s fine to still contribute in other ways if you’re new to reading for recommendations! We don't read the same book, we welcome a broad scope of books. :)
Date and time? Saturday 8th June (1 - 3 pm)
Where? The Sir Daniel Arms
Why join?

• Great for beginners who are interested in reading but don’t know where to start, enthusiastic bookworms or people looking to find their love and motivation for reading again.
• Making new friends!
• A lovely, inclusive and non-judgemental atmosphere with kind individuals who also relate and empathise with anxiety and confidence issues.
• Free snacks that some members are happy to bring along.
• Borrowing or keeping books/mangas/comics that some members are happy to give away, especially convenient for those unable to afford books or unable to find the time to get their own copy.

Please sign up here oand share the word to others who may also be interested. I will DM you if numbers are good! - https://forms.gle/rdTJFSRwRv4qNG9G7
Any other questions, please feel free to contact me! :)

(Im sorry if my english is bad) For starters me (19M) and my best friend (18M) have known eachother since birth. We are both in a friend group that resulted from all of our parents being friends with eachother. The group consists of us two, another guy (19M) and two girls (18F) and (19F). We all grew up very close in Russia, however I am ukrainian. We went to school together, went on vacations together and generally were all doing everything together. Not long ago, when picking out collages, my best friend was telling me about how he wishes he could stay in Russia and how he cant because of some reasons I will not share here, and so naturally I offered that I could go to college with him in another country. Fast forward a few months later we both got into a pretty good collage in Finland. Now about our backround basically my best friend is very close with one of the girls in the group but they both stated that they do not like eachother and if you ask me, they didnt seem to have any kind of spark between eachother. However he was also very close to the other guy in the group. By close I mean that they literally acted like a couple. Whenever we would have school summer camps they would share a bed and sometimes I would even catch them cuddle, they would hug a lot etc. and generally make a lot of jokes about being gay for eachoter and liking eachother. You should know that my best friend is extremely handsome, I mean like model handsome. He is tall, not too muscular and not too skinny, pale skin, green eyes, soft blonde hair and very beautiful features. He looks so beautiful from every single angle, he looks beautiful while he sleeps, when he laughs, when he cries and is probably the most beautiful person I have ever met in my entire life. Despite that, he has never been in a relationship. A lot of girls have liked him in the past but he rejected them and he is pretty popular on social media and gets praised for his looks online as well. Aside from his looks he is also very smart. He is passionated about history and linguistics, he is good at maths and in general he is a very cultured person. He is very kind, funny, loving and has this sensitive side that he doesnt show too often. He just lights up the room everytime even though he is not that kind of positive and happy person you would imagine. He has gone through a lot in his childhood, things that I will not mention. On his 18th birthday, some things happened and I was lucky enough to be in time to stop them, which resulted into him bursting in tears in my arms and telling me how he feels about his life. A lot of time has passed since that event. Now we share an apartament here in Finland and go to college together. He seems happier, or maybe since he doesn’t spend that much time alone anymore he is just distracting himself from all the things he was going through. It is currently risky for me to go back in my home country and so I usually just go to Russia together with him on holidays. I am really enjoying all the time spent with him and I have never felt happier for such a long period of time. Recently he started hanging out with another guy from the same college and not going to lie but I feel kind of jealous. Since then I started to question my feelings for him. I never pictured myself or him actually being gay, let alone together in a relationship. I feel scared and nervous. My mother and her boyfriend will definitely hate me more than they already do and my father will probably think Im a disappointment. I feel as if I am betraying my religion and my identity but at the same time I feel so happy with this man. And here comes the biggest problem of all, what if after all he isnt gay and I will ruin our friendship. Yesterday night he went over to the new guys house.The guy likes him, he told me, asking for advice and more things about my best friend. I was kind of mad that I didnt get invited too, especially when he knows how close we are. Before going, I acted kind of rude towards him, which I regret, but he brushed it off and just left. Later at night when he came home, I was already in bed, pretending to sleep. I heard him change and get straight into his bed. A few moments later he started crying. He was crying very badly and I could tell he was trying to keep quiet. I dont know if anything happened there or if he was crying about my response or about his past because I simply didnt get up or have any kind of reaction, which again, I regret. I tried talking to him today in the morning, I didnt tell him I heard how he cried, I just acted normal, and although he wasnt his usual self, he didnt act sad or anything. I dont know wether I should or should not ask him about last night. And most importantly I dont know if I should tell him about my feelings for him and explain the situation.

My husband and I were high school sweethearts and got married very young (I was 19), but more on that later.
For now, backstory: we both come from rather toxic families and are both black sheep. The difference being I realized early on and my husband, being very sweet and naïve at times, didn’t realize his until I started pointing it out. My intentions were never to alienate his family, however, I’ve never liked the way they treated him. Especially his mother’s side.
One of the biggest examples that comes to mind was how he worked over the summer for his Aunt one year before we even met, and instead of giving the money to him, the money was given to his mom‘s parents who kept it in an account “for him“ that he couldn’t access. Later, they bought him a car with it, but put it in their name. When I found out, I immediately pointed out that that was kind of messed up, it’s nice that he got a car, but that money should’ve been given to him and at the very least the car should have been in his name. But as he usually does, he chose to see the bright side of things, so for the most part he was just happy that he had a car. Fast-forward a year or two, and he was driving up most weekends to visit me in college when he wasn’t working (about 1 1/2 hours each way, so not very far by Texas standards), when his grandparents decided that they didn’t like that and they tried to stop him, but that argument didn’t last very long and they relented. It wasn’t until they started telling him that he couldn’t visit his dad using the car that things really got dicey.
And it’s not like his dad lived very far, he lived in the same neighborhood as his mom, and in the same neighborhood that we had grown up in. And this time they would not relent, they absolutely despise his father. The divorce was messy and even though neither is completely blameless, she definitely had the worst offenses. Just trust me on that. Since then, it’s like she never learned how to be an adult and has been a perpetual 16-year-old, always complaining about everything and with her parents always holding the purse strings (though you could argue it’s always been that way, her parents paid for her schooling to be a dance major and she never did anything with that, they defended her bad decisions during the divorce, paid the mortgage on her large house afterwards, and even now after expressing how much she doesn’t enjoy being around her parents, she refuses to leave and still lives with a family member).
Anyways, after his grandparents threatened to take away the car (which he used for work as a pizza delivery man and obviously his mom didn’t stand up for him) if he tried to visit his dad, he let his dad know and I helped him move out of his mom‘s house that night while she was at work. It made him terribly unhappy at first, especially to leave his younger siblings behind, but he knew what they were doing was wrong, and he was over 18 and thats simply a line you don’t cross. His dad baught him a car to use.
It should be noted that he likely would not have said anything to his father or moved out if I hadn’t pushed him to, and that’s probably why a good portion of his family aren’t really big fans of mine. Even several years after we were married and possibly even to this day, they think I make all of the decisions in our relationship and force him to do what makes me happy even if he doesn’t want to, which of course is not the case, we discuss and agree on every major decision. When I was pregnant with our son, our first child, we were at his dad‘s mom‘s house and I was often sitting and asking him to get things for me and the like and he ended up going to get food with one of his sisters and she literally told him that she didn’t like how I was constantly asking him to do things and I wasn’t doing anything for myself. The pregnancy was very hard on me, I LOST 11 lbs and had to work the whole time and had no paid leave, so yes I tried to relax as much as I could. These are just a few examples of their behavior, his mother and her parents are also often emotionally and psychologically manipulative and abusive, comparing him to his cousins which they often consider “more successful“ especially since he decided he didn’t want to be a doctor and wanted to work in a lab instead, and anytime he tries to argue back with his mom she does the whole “I guess I’m just a horrible mom“ thing. Something I am very well familiar with in my own life. Needless to say, I am not the biggest fan of his family.
I did one year of my university before I decided it wasn’t the right path for me and about that time he was about finished with community college and was looking to go to university next. He ended up getting excepted into the university that I had gone to, but didn’t really want to move into the dorms as someone who was older than most freshman, but also couldn’t afford an apartment on his own. So we decided that we would get married and move up there together, we were already engaged as he proposed to me on my 18th birthday. It was the perfect set up as being under the same roof as my mother again really sucked.
I don’t quite remember why we decided to get married three months from that point, it was kind of stressful. But during that time him and his mother had another huge falling out, of course with her parents being on her side, and the deal with the car was still fresh in everyone’s minds. After that I didn’t want her at the wedding, or her parents, and while it did upset him a bit(notice a trend? He is very sweet and has a tender heart and is a recovering people-pleaser) he agreed that it would just be unnecessary drama.
It was a very small wedding as my parents gave me $2000 and I used half of that on a weekend honeymoon and the other half to cover the cupcakes and the photographer (who was an old friend of ours from high school). My youth pastor who at this point also knew my (soon to be) husband was the officiant and graciously let us use the foyer the youth building free of charge for the ceremony. This was a small neighborhood church so the room wasn’t very big but we weren’t inviting a ton of people so we were fine with it, especially since it was mostly windows and it was pretty nice especially since we didn’t have to pay for it. We ended up inviting both sets of my parents, my sister and her small family, and my little sister and my mom‘s parents. (note the parents, siblings, and my closest grandparents) In the end, after his mother begged, we did end up letting her come, and then of course his father came and his siblings and his father‘s mom. (Note the parents, siblings, and his closest grandparent). Our closest friends were there which was 6 people, and then my small group from church had spent the night decorating the foyer for the ceremony so of course they were invited too. The numbers were slightly skewed in my favor as both of my parents have remarried, my sister was married with 2 kids, and both of my grandparents were still alive at the time. So yes, technicality he had less people there, but he told me that he didn’t mind after I pointed this out to him back when we were talking about who to invite. And his family really didn’t like this. We both have large families. Only mine was scattered to the four winds and his lived exclusively in Texas. If his mom‘s parents hadn’t been treating him like dirt I happily would’ve invited them too, and seeing as I didn’t even invite my step sisters who had been in my life since I was two, I didn’t think it would be appropriate to invite his cousins, especially since the room was plenty full as it was. Again, he understood and was OK with all of this.
In the end, it was very sweet and small and the reception just took place at one of our favorite restaurants.
To this day, he still catches flack for more of his family not being invited, especially is mom’s parents, and we are always told by third parties about things his family say about us and especially me. (one of them even called me a gold digger, even though at the time was working at Domino’s. His mom told us she was the only one who “stood up for me” in that moment, but the best response she could come up with was “my son doesn’t have money“).
I have no qualms about what we did. We have since moved halfway across the country, recently celebrated our 8 year anniversary, and are very happy. The things they say still weigh on us though, so I was hoping to prove a point with this post.
So, are we the assholes for not inviting most of my husband’s family to the wedding?

Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugou and All Might get nice little endings and all (we've set to see the epilogue, but now that the antagonists are defeated, and Midoriya no longer has One For All, just like when the story began, it's pretty clear that the story is over other than epilogue stuff), but what about the rest of the cast?
lets look at the other classmates, AKA, the supporting characters of class 1-A. what resolution have they gotten..? well, none. "the story of how we all became the greatest heroes" yeah sure, whatever. I like the idea of it, but that didn't happen, not really. but well, they're all skilled, so now that the All For One and One For All are basically both dead Quirks, the future of the Quirk world does look bright for the ONE YEAR STUDENTS that will be inheriting this world from the Pros... or does it? does the world really look bright, or will those same institutions lead to the very same downfall?
lets look at the villains.
Spinner was, in the end, given the fate of some kind of extremely inappropriate, far-right interpretation of the BLM movement, and i the end, had the brain of a wild beast with little intelligence and a monstrous appearance, which comes off as the 'true nature of Heteromorphs', even though that's not true at all. nice representation of POC, Horikoshi. you portrayed black people as horrifying idiotic monsters. like what?? he had multiple Quirks put in him, so he's most certainly dead, if the brain damage didn't make that obvious enough. that sucks. and having Rock Lock, a BLACK MAN be the one watch his fate is just so insulting.
Toya is burned to pieces. I wanna say they'll find a way to heal him, but at the very least, his nerves are probably all burned. He'll be lucky if anything jaw and below can move anymore if he DOES live. and then what? instead of rehabilitating him, they'll throw him in Tartarus like every other problem child, refusing to give him any help. At most, Endeavour will be able to use his Number 1 Hero status to force the government to let him and his family visit him once a month at most. oh joy.
Himiko Toga, the little girl who functions as a neurodivergent + queer allegory in the story who, after some amazing development with Uravity.. has been set up so that she'll have to (likely already has) killed herself in order to save Uraraka with her blood.. great, just great. rest in peace the most well written female character in the entire story.
Shigaraki is dead. he never got to conquer his groomer. by the time he realized what he wanted, it was too late. he faded away into nothing. the institution that failed him is still there. the government is going to be praised for all that's happened by the Heroes' hands and the Heroes themselves couldn't even save one sad, scared little boy who was used for the wills of an older man till the very end. rest in peace the best written male character in the story.
so, none of these characters who deserve justice ever got justice. at most, they were redeemed right before they died. what the hell is Horikoshi trying to say about abuse victims? "they'll turn out evil in the end, and before they get the chance to turn over a new leaf, they'll kill hundreds then die, making their lives worthless in the first place. hopefully things will improve in the future for the oppressed, oh well."
OH, THANKS HORIKOSHI. truly the uplifting message that superheroes teach us: you can't save anyone, even when in the end, they're screaming, begging to be saved. so beautiful. I'm glad to know that all the best characters in your story couldn't be saved, couldn't be redeemed, couldn't be helped and then released into society again.. in the end, the black and white notion of 'heroes and villains' wins over, and the government and military who violate hundreds of conventions every day (this is explicitly stated in universe, too) are our friends! just great! :D
I fell in love with this series as a kid back in 2016 when the anime season 1 came out. this ending sucks. all I can hope is that the epilogue finds a way to bullshit the plot into Toya and/or Toga surviving and getting to live a happy, stable life in society again. but that probably isn't going to happen. (I'll be very happy if I get to eat my words).

my mommy was my absolute best friend. i hate cancer. i hate she died this month. she was was supposed to make it to june to see my beautiful daughter be born. i’m so mad at the world but truly heartbroken at the same time. i’ve never felt a pain like this, i have been through so much and this is bby far the WORST hurt i’ve ever felt. and i’m not sure i’m even handling this well at all being 8 months pregnant. someone just tell me it gets better because im struggling so bad 😭😭😭 rest in peace mommy i’ll always be your sunshine girl….