All Hail The Great Uniter!

I was cast aside by my own parents like I meant nothing to them. How could I just stand by and watch the same thing happen to my nation when it needed someone to guide it?

History: Born a rambunctious earthbender, Kuvira was a problem child who frequently ran away from home. After nearly killing her mother during an outburst when she was 8, Kuvira's parents left her in the tutelage of the metalbending master Suyin where she grew up learning the importance of discipline. Kuvira joined Suyin's family and learned metalbending while becoming her protege.
Kuvira grew up to become the captain of the Zaofu city guard and a member of Suyin's dance troupe. Kuvira was horrified when she saw the Earth Kingdom in shambles following the Earth Queen's demise and further so when Suyin declined to take charge of the chaos. Gathering the best of the Zaofu guard and many of the city's richest citizens, Kuvira set off to restore order to the Earth Kingdom. Granted emergency powers by the world's governments, Kuvira started a military campaign to reunite her nation, earning her the name The Great Uniter.
After 3 years Kuvira's continued until she held the allegiance of the entire Earth Kingdom. Declining to give up her emergency powers, Kuvira instead declared the monarchy illegitimate and herself the new leader of an Earth Empire. Aided by a vast and technologically advanced military and a powerful weapon utilizing spirit energy to devastating effect, it was only the intervention of Avatar Korra and many of her allies that proved Kuvira's undoing. After standing trial for her crimes Kuvira helped quash an attempted resurgence of the Empire, hoping for redemption from sins past.

Source Key: The Legend of Korra Season & Episode = S#E# Ruins of the Empire = RoE The Art of the Animated Series, Book 4 = AoAS 

Notes

• During S4E6 Korra still suffered from debilitating PTSD and was out of practice. Kuvira was also toying with her throughout the fight, going out of her way to make an example of Korra ^AoAS
• Scaling: 1. Korra 2. Suyin 3. Guan 4. Asami 5.Mako 6. Bolin

Physicals

• Strength
  • Performs a synchronized routine with her dancing troupe ^S3E5
  • Catches Tonraq after he falls off a mountainside ^S3E12
• Durability
  • Takes an Avatar State-amped airblast from Korra that hurls her away and gets back up ^S4E6
  • Opal & Jinora airblast Kuvira away and she gets back up ^S4E6
  • Shrugs off a metalbending attack Korra hits her with to keep fighting ^S4E13
  • Shrugs off airbending attacks and throws from Korra before getting blasted away into debris ^S4E13
  • She gets right up from the above to continue fighting before the mech they fight within explodes and sends them flying, only to get up yet again with a counter attack and retreat ^S4E13
  • Downed by an electro belt designed to stun her ^{RoE 1}
  • Hit by Guan firing a stone at her and counterattacks right after ^{RoE 3}
• Speed
  • Outfights several earthbenders descending on her at once, incapacitating all of them ^S4E1
  • Weaves through Korra's attacks in their first duel, repeatedly gaining the upper hand while toying with her without taking any hits ^S4E6
  • Outfights Suyin ^S4E10
  • Later duels with Korra more evenly, with both combatants landing, evading, and blocking attacks ^S4E13
  • Escapes capture, outspeeding Asami, Bolin, Mako, Guan, and several guards ^{RoE 2}

Bending

Projectiles

• Metal
  • Embeds strips into a boulder to tear it apart ^S4E1
  • Fires five metal strips in quick succession ^S4E6
  • Evades and deflects Suyin's projectiles while releasing several of her own rapidly ^S4E10
  • Catches a cargo container thrown at her and flings it a distance away where its impact sends up debris ^S4E10
  • Uses Suyin's own armor to fling her a distance away ^S4E10
  • Exchanges attacks with Korra, using meteorite and her environment to throw Korra around and crush her through metal ^S4E13
  • Exchanges more attacks with Korra, shifting meteorite into shields and projectiles as it hovers around her ^S4E13
  • Throws a desk across a room ^{RoE 3}
• Earth
  • Juts out a column to knock away Korra's arm while stunning her with a rock to the gut ^S4E6
  • Sweeps the ground out from Korra to hit her with a rock, and soon after catches Korra's foot to hit her with another rock ^S4E6
  • Sends out jagged tremors of earth from beneath Korra ^S4E6
  • Throws a boulder from the ground that shatters against Korra ^S4E6
  • Throws rocks that shatter against Korra's defense, then catches a fridge-sized boulder she explodes to down Korra ^S4E6
  • Amplifies her own jumps and launches a mech into the air to land it atop another soldier ^{RoE 2}
  • Projects the ground beneath Guan to throw him back ^{RoE 1}

Binding

• Own armor
  • Propels herself backwards from an expanding moat of lava ^S3E8
  • Evades several earthbenders' attacks as they descend from a mountainside while quickly binding and blinding all of them using metal strips from her armor ^S4E1
  • Throws a strip of metal across a woman's mouth to silence her, then drops its hold ^S4E1
  • Weaves through attacks from Korra, binding metal strips to her she uses to flip Korra around ^S4E6
  • Evades more of Korra's attacks, catching her foot with earth and blinding her with metal to throw her to the ground again ^S4E6
  • Binds Korra's wrist with a metal strip she uses to throw her a distance away, then follows with an attack from the ground ^S4E6
  • Evades Korra, throws her off balance, grabbing her with another strip, and throwing her down ^S4E6
• Environment
  • Strangles Varrick with metal on his own uniform, holding him out of a speed train before hurling him back in ^S4E5
  • Binds Korra's wrists, craters her into the ground, and binds her limbs with earth ^S4E6
  • Crushes together the metal around Guan's neck and holds him in the air, causing him to gasp for air when he is released ^{RoE 1}
  • Deflects Guan's attack, bringing a metal wall down on him before wrapping another wall around Mako ^{RoE 2}

Armor

• Thin metal strips stack atop eachother to form her armor, allowing her to more easily bend pieces off while retaining coverage ^AoAS
• Ascends the side of a mountain with metal cables ^S3E12
• Sharpens strips from her armor to a finer edge ^S4E6
• Forms armor into a blade on her arm, reshapes the blade to catch a railing, and releases a metal cord to fling her opponent away ^S4E10
  • The blade morphs into the whip, conserving her gauntlet's mass ^AoAS

Strength

• As a child blows a hole in a wall ^{RoE 1}
• As a child crushes a metal dollhouse ^{RoE 3}
• Levitates and crushes a medal ^S4E3
• Crushes the front of a car racing toward her ^{RoE 3}

Utility

• Idly plays with meteorite, shifting it into different shapes ^S4E6
• Lifts the shutters on a window to reveal her army ^S4E5
• Pulls a hidden piece of machinery from clothing on a person she suspected of sabotage ^S4E10
• Senses Lin and Suyin metalbendinig within her mech's arm ^S4E13
• While bound, bends two helmets onto two targets and cuts herself free with a metal strip to escape ^{RoE 3}

Misc

• Considered a bending heavyweight ^AoAS
• Rotates the ground beneath Korra to throw her off balance ^S4E6
• Catches Guan's metal strips fired at her and turns them into a whip ^{RoE 3}
• Splits a car thrown at her in half, turning it to shards she uses to pin Guan to a wall ^{RoE 3}

​

Mecha Colossus

A massive mecha suit powered by spirit vines, manned by teams of metalbenders, and piloted by Kuvira herself through meteorite controls, the Colossus was armed with a powerful energy canon on its arm.
Physicals

• Specs
  • Exterior constructed of platinum from Zaofu's domes ^AoAS
  • Korra says it is over 25 stories tall ^S4E11
  • Unaffected by an electromagnetic pulse that downs a squadron of mecha-suits ^S4E12
  • Briefly blinded by paint bombs, but has jets of water to clear it away ^S4E12
  • Its platinum exterior and joints make it impossible to metalbend from the outside ^S4E12
  • Slaps away attempts to cut through it, even reaching a spot on its back that should be difficult ^S4E12
  • Blown apart from the inside when its energy source is overcharged with electricity ^S4E13
• Strength
  • Swipes its hand through a skyscraper ^S4E12
  • Korra encases the mech in ice and it begins to break out as machines cut through its exterior ^S4E12
  • Breaks out of much of the ice encasing it, though briefly resisted by more ice Korra lifts as Team Avatar enters a hole cut into it ^S4E12
  • Fully pulls itself from the ice encasing it ^S4E13
  • Tears off its own arm and hurls it a distance away, embedding it into a building ^S4E13
• Durability
  • Its foot sinking into lava, its legs tied with metal cables, and Korra with several airbenders begin to push the mech over, though even after further efforts to topple it the mech recovers ^S4E12
  • Staggered by repeated blows from gigantic chunks of stone debris shattering against it ^S4E12
  • A building collapses on it and it stands back up ^S4E12
  • Metalbenders pulling apart the arm mechanism from the inside disables it ^S4E13

Energy cannon

• Direct hits
  • Blows a hole in giant rocks during a test run ^S4E10
  • Destroys an outlook post ^S4E11
  • Has a loading mechanism, and tears through battleships ^S4E11
  • Tears through the top half of a city, creating explosions across the skyline ^S4E12
  • Tears through more of the city ^S4E12
  • Tears through a city street ^S4E12
• Effect of periphery
  • Uses targeting sights to pinpoint Team Avatar on a flying bison, with the periphery of the blast sending the bison tumbling. A second blast destroys a hilltop ^S4E11
  • Creates an explosion that tears through a building and flings away Team Avatar ^S4E11
  • Scatters some airbenders on the periphery of its blast, tearing through a skyscraper to take out the top floors ^S4E12
  • Blasts apart several buildings, scattering and knocking out many on the periphery ^S4E12
  • Tears through more buildings and knocks people on the periphery away ^S4E12

This is my first time writing on Reddit, so I don't really know how to start, but I need to share my experience with someone because I need a different perspective on this. I'm fairly young. I heaven't experienced something like this before, so I'm turning to Reddit, the last place I expected I would be sharing my life on but here I am. I'm a male young I won't disclose my exact age. I've been experiencing constant feelings of being drained recently chest pain, owervealming sense of sadness, rage when I can't just be alone, My mental health has started to deteriorate since I have "passed out" from inhaling a HHC vape (for a disclosure I'm from Europe) my dumb as- did it at school after I didn't return to class they found me in a bathroom stall bearly speaking MY heart was going fast and my breathing was shallow they called an ambulance after taking me to the office that was on the floor they found me I was conscious but on the outside I doubt they could make much sense of what I was saying I was falling asleep just sitting when the paramedics arrived they put me on a stretcher and loaded me into the ambulance and took me to the hospital I had closed eye's most of the time They put me into a room hooked me up onto a IV bag and let me sleep idk how long have I been laying there but my mother came into the room I could normally speak already I don't remember saying to her much of anything than her asking if I wanted to keep my phone with me I said no which turned out to be a mistake the next day I was fine I was let go not long after I was picked up by my mother and we went to take my stuff that I left at school the day went as usual I wasn't ridiculed much I think they we're just happy I was alive I doubt that my sister (19F) was tho when I got home I asked my mother to give me my phone back she said she has charged my phone at work I checked my battery and it was at 59% so that was the first thing that tipped me off I didn't give it much thought and texted my friends that I was all good few weeks went by fine not much drama.
Now to the more present stuff this is the time my mental health started to get bad I began to consider that suicide as an option as it would only benefit my mother as I do not want to be a problem and now that stuff has come up with her knowing I indulge in the use of cannabinoids (THC) well she knew way back before this but this just messed up everything I woldn't be able to continue consuming (THC) which has been one of the few things I live for besides my friend group I just find I have nothing to live for my life will just be hell with no escape as I do not even have my own room I have a shared room with my sister so I get no privacy as well as the fact we hate each other as we are the sole opposites she is a very non drug based person only drinking coffee, she has a very immature personality as doing petty thing's having no respect toward's me only seeing me as a annoying brother even tho I don't even speak to her if I don't have to the point is it just makes it a lot worse as I have to keep up a act that I'm all good sometime's I snap and curse her out or make a argument I love my mother very much but I can not help myself from making arguments and correcting her about stuff as what acually stuff is and such she is a what I would call "natural medicine believer" like a typical mom for a disclosure I do not consume THC daily I heaven't smoked 3 month's prior to this incident and having them make fun of me for smoking and such is annoying me with as well as threth's of being put into a rehab because they think I might be addicted has made me very uncomfortable not having a single day of being just happy or going out with friend's which I can not do anymore so I have nothing to make me happy or escape my constant thought's not being able to just relax and the only thing making me somewhat feel good being working out which I can do only at home to not be accused of doing drug's with friend's outside only being able to exercise when my sister or mother isn't at home making me not even have a reliable thing I can do to get my head straight and keeping my self look fine not even able to have a resting expression on my face or look at them the wrong way without them complaining about it make's me sometime's break which Is the most recent symptom the first time that it happened to me was in the shower when I just got some time to just think just rage while my eye's we're crying but I didn't sob or anything it was just really weird I was kinda laughing, looking back at it I need time alone which is hard to get with my situation constantly being around people idk what's going to make me snap next but I'm loosing control I won't hurt anyone, I hope, When I smoked w**d it kept me sane and happy I don't know if I should keep smoking and risking getting caught or not and keep my head down and wait it out, I don't know if it's hormonal change's with the testosterone level's going up and down with the stress and everything going on I'm sorry for anyone reading this mess but I need some advice It's 5am I heaven't slept just feeling constantly on edge and I can't share my problem's with anyone I know because that would just make the situation even worse.
Now that I think about it with my mother bringing up past thing's with from my childhood feeling like an idiot saying this as a teenager but I have strived to just cease to exist from the age of seven just my sister making my life a living hell from such a young age It was a miracle I even got to that age with me taking antibiotic's as a two-year-old. I've got back memories's from when I was a young child just trauma my brain hid to keep me sane with my mother keep bringing up what my father did what he is not wanting me to even keep meeting him It's making me think that she's trying to manipulate me.
I would be grateful for any advice. English isn't my first language, so sorry for my bad grammar and writing skills.
I'll prob make a more refined version of this.

Hello,
I recently got a 2023 ID.4 pro S, and after parking it in my garage for the first time found the car has zero cell phone reception. Can I not connect to my home WiFi? If I cannot connect to WiFi, and I have no cell phone reception, it seems I am missing out on some nice features of the car (connecting to warm up, check charge status, etc).

My mom is not tech savvy, and asks me how to do things on her android phone. It causes me to constantly look up how to do things for her as I am an iPhone. So there’s a few things my mom never bothers asking.
One of them is how to make her phone go on silent mode while she sleeps. She used to keep it downstairs and it never bothered her. But she’s going through chemotherapy now. She keeps it with her in case she needs to call my dad or me. (She’s saying in the guest room so she can sleep without being woken)
Her sister decided last night to group text the siblings at 10:30 pm a picture that she finished painting. My mom was woken up by it, and texted her not to text non emergency texts this late at night. My aunt got mad at my mom telling her to put in on silent mode as she explains how to do it on an iPhone. My mom explains she has an android and doesn’t want to silence it. She needs it in case she needs to call us and we call her back.
My aunt is still upset that she can’t text my mom or the group whenever she wants. She thinks my mom needs to change settings in her phone. But my mom who isn’t savvy and thinks the etiquette rule of 9am - 9pm should still be applied.
I side with my mom as I don’t text certain people after 9pm assuming they’re getting ready for sleep. I don’t know whether my family and friends have their phones on silent mode at night, and just remember to text them during the day.
Is it outdated to use the etiquette rule still?
Note: my aunt is the youngest of the family and the older siblings ate asleep at those hours.
Should I try to figure out how to make it go on silent mode for my mom? Or should my aunt learn to not text my mom so late?

I have a 13 year old female pitbull (spayed). I got her as a rescue when she was 8. She is up to date on all vaccines.
(History) A few years ago she was bleeding from her vagina, a couple years after she got spayed, so I took her to the emergency vet and they told me it was cancer and to put her down. I got a second consultation with my vet and they found she had bladder stones and put her on a special food and we've had no issues since.
She has really bad allergies and sees a specialist. The specialist has her on a steroid to help control the itch.
She takes Cosequin for her joints.
Almost every year, once a year, she gets diarrhea really bad and has to go to the vet. Normally it's because she likes to eat grass and it doesn't agree with her. A round of antidiarrhea and antibiotic and she's good to go.
(Current Issue) On Tuesday (5/22), I went out of town for work and when I came back on Wednesday, I was told that my dog had diarrhea by the people watching her starting Tuesday night. They said she didn't get into anything and they didn't feed her anything unusual. I gave her imodium to try to help but it didn't work at all. She had diarrhea continuing until Thursday but Thursday I noticed she had blood in her poop. By Thursday night, she was pretty much only pooping blood and had vomited once.
I took her to the emergency vet Thursday night and after 7 1/2 hours, they were unable to find anything wrong. They did blood work, x-ray, and fecal testing and found nothing out of the ordinary. They said she had some granular stuff in her lower intestines but it wasn't obstructing anything. They decided to treat her for the symptoms and gave her some probiotic, antibiotic, and gastroprotectant to take for the next few days. They said she was nauseous and gave her an anti-nausea shot. They also said she was dehydrated and gave her an under the skin liquid injection. When she had diarrhea, I limited her food and when we came home from the vet, I tried to give her a bland diet but she wouldn't get near it. I was able to hand feed her some dry food this morning and by this afternoon and she was super hungry, which is a great improvement over yesterday when she just barely ate the bland diet of baby food and rice.
When we got home from the vet, she was super tired and slept most of the day Friday. She was moving slow and didn't want to do anything. Today was more of the same. When I take her out she'll go pee but then she just lays in the grass and it's like pulling teeth to get her back inside. She is having trouble doing stairs and needs help going up and down stairs or getting on and off the bed. She seems better than yesterday in getting up and moving around but she's still not her normal. When she had diarrhea she was her normal active but she was going poop every two hours or so for three days. I'm not sure if there's something more seriously wrong with her or if she is just worn out from being sick. I called the emergency vet and they told me to bring her in if I'm concerned about it but they can't give medical advice over the phone. I understand that but I don't want to take her back and get her more worked up (she hates the vet and doesn't do well with other dogs) when she is just tired from her illness. She hasn't pooped since Friday morning and there was no blood in it but it was still diarrhea.
(Side note: I found a dead opposum in my yard that was missing its legs and tail, which is my dog's MO for stuffed animals. However, no one has let her out of their sight so it might not even be her but I wanted to include so as to not rule out any causes)

This started awhile ago. One morning, my S10e's screen suddenly turned off and I couldn't do anything about it. Restarting it would cause the phone to vibrate and pressing on the lock button then swiping on the screen then tapping on it would also cause it to vibrate. It meant the keyboard and screen are working "fine" but the screen itself isn't turning on.
After trying to restart it for a couple of times, the screen finally became visible. Fortunately my first instinct was to backup my 2FA keys in case this reoccurred. Sure enough, a few days later the screen would NEVER turn on anymore, yet I could still feel it vibrate when I'm restarting/tapping on keys/charging.
I took it to the Samsung store, but because it's an international variant, I'm shit out of luck. I also imagine anyone repairing it would have to wipe the data. The only reason I want to repair it was to backup my photos.
I tried using an HDMI cable to see the screen on my monitor, but I would get this lockscreen. Goodluck entering the password without seeing the keyboard.
Today I tried using a USB C hub connected to the phone, with the HDMI and an external keyboard. Using the external keyboard, I was able to unlock the phone. Problem is, doing almost ANYTHING would cause the phone to freeze then shutdown, even with full battery. Swipe down the notification tray? Shutdown. Open settings? Shut down. Open Drive? Shutdown.
To add salt to the injury, I can open the gallery just fine and see my photos. Trying to use the share button does nothing. Even with the phone unlocked, I'm unable to make my PC, ADB, or Smartswitch recognize my device when unlocked and connected.
I have no idea what is wrong with this piece of junk. I really want to have my photos. I share the blame for not having backup synced, but I didn't expect the phone to fuck off all of a sudden. Is there anyway I can salvage this?

mostly just a vent, advice if you have any? not expecting any though, I just need to vent also not proofread, sorry
the following is very long, tldr I am incredibly lucky and well off and have every reason to be happy but I'm a shitty selfish person who wants easy instant gratification more than to improve and I can't get myself to care about anything enough to try hard enough
I have grown up in an upper middle class family, my parents are cheap because they grew up poorer then dirt but I have never felt insecure about money or that my needs and wants weren't met financially. my parents have some issues, products of traumatizing childhoods they treated with alcohol when they were younger and now they try and ignore, but they are certainly not awful. My dad can irrationally angry and yell, my mom will flip from being the most loving adoring person to seemingly despising me over the exact same thing, but I have in no way ever been physically abused and at worst maybe got a couple overly harsh words... well paragraphs (she does not know when to stop talking even when she's just digging a deeper hole for herself) from my mom. their worst attribute is probably just the gaslighting that fights never happened or went differently then I remembered but it's not that big of a deal and to be fair I have god awful recall so maybe they are right???
I have a wonderful boyfriend, he lives across the US from me right now because his dad is in the coast guard but we spent a very nice couple months together and are still going very strong. he is the most kind, loving, and supportive person in the world, I love him more than I knew I could love anything.
I don't have many friends because I either pushed them away directly or indirectly because I am a shut-in online college student and will forget to respond to text messages for weeks sometimes, but I have a couple who still try even despite how god awful of a friend I am.
I am not doing the greatest in college, but I am not doing terrible either, my state has the Running Start program where you can take partially school-funded college classes from the local community college to count as high school credits junior and senior year, I've been doing that the last 2 years. I am graduating from highschool next month and from college with a business associates next year in March hopefully. I also skipped kindergarten, meaning I am very far ahead in things.
I am in discussion with a local CPA accounting firm about a part-time junior accountant position which is an incredible opportunity in the accounting field as is regardless of how young and relatively inexperienced I am to be having these conversations. It's one of the few things I'm actually good at (at least so far) that I don't despise AND makes good money, I am very excited for it.
I am a trans guy, took me a while to realize it because I tried so hard to convince myself I just needed to "be a girl better" and that's why I hated myself, literally made my own "girl-bootcamp" where I tried to teach myself to be a girl in the most toxic feminity misogynistic way possible like a fool. I'm out of it now though! I am dressing the way I want, I go by a preferred name now, I was out in my highschool's theatre program and everyone was chill with it, I am not working right now so I'm not stuck getting dead named and misgendered all day anymore, and I just had my first appointment with the best gender clinic in my state and I'm supposed to start testosterone in a month. I should be happier then I've ever been.
but in the last month I almost killed myself 3 times, I had only gotten that close to an attempt once before. I've gained this sickening awareness, now that I've met all the imaginary conditions for happiness and success, that I am not getting any better, and it's because I don't want to.
As a kid I daydreamed so hard about the future, so sure the future would make everything better for me, that I became a maladaptive daydreamer and I am still no better about that to this day. eventually I stopped being able to imagine having a future at all, any event planned to happen past this afternoon doesn't feel real until it's occuring. I got out of toxic friendgroups, got in a relationship, got out of it, did therapy, got ADHD meds, did more therapy, got antidepressants, did virtual intensive outpatient therapy, did more therapy after that. I got good grades, I discovered myself, I got a job, I dropped the job to focus on school and myself, I fell in love, I make planner after planner after planner trying to organize my life, I try everything I can to find things I enjoy doing that make my happy and might give me motivation, I have did everything I was supposed to and I am the same trash I was at the start.
I take a shower maybe once a month I brush my teeth maybe once every couple months I eat average 2 meals a day, often just one I stay up late into the night, sleep long into the morning, or fall asleep a 6pm and wake up at 6am, I fall asleep all the time randomly and fatigue clings to me like plastic film I pace for hours and hours daydreaming, or ranting out loud to myself when I'm home alone I doomscroll until my eye sockets feel hollow I play stupid games I know are wasting my time when there are urgent things to be done I rot. I lay in my bed in rot. I sit on the couch and rot. I pace in the kitchen and rot. I sit on my phone and rot.
I can not control myself, I only care about self-fulfilling instant gratification and nothing else. eating is hard and I don't like it, won't do it. showering is hard and I don't feel like it, won't do it. brushing my teeth is hard and I am tired, won't do it. going outside is hard and I know secretly they can't help but judge my stupid girly voice the moment I open my stupid fucking mouth, won't do it studying is hard and I am too stupid for this shit anyways, won't do it
I am not getting better, I am only getting worse. I am at the highest dose of ADHD meds I can comfortably take before the side effects start to bug me, I take a pretty high dose of anti depressants. I know I am chemically better than before, it's not raw exhaustion and disinterest and misery, I get very happy and excited and energetic, but only if does something for me NOW. I get excited about dandelions and weird bugs and Hank green tiktoks and playing Stardew valley and city bus rides and zoos, but only in the moment and once it is gone I am hollow. if something is at all out of reach, no matter how good it is, how much ecstatic euphoric joy it brings me in the moment, I will not fight for it. no matter how miserable I am, if improving the situation is perceived as even slightly more uncomfortable for the tiniest moment, I won't do it. I sometimes have... bladder control issues, absolutely not fucking fun. I used to be so ashamed and proactive about it, and I still feel awful and disgusting and ashamed, but if it's the usual small amount where I can convince myself "it'll dry", I'll literally rot in my own filth for a week or so. it's disgusting, I am disgusting. I have been trying so hard to do better but it's never enough because I can't put my full heart in it, I just want my simple easy pleasure and then die. I am still trying to keep up with things, but I am continuing to worsen. the same cycle happened to me with both jobs I worked, I'd start out a star employee, learning really fast, showing up early, being very responsible, then I'd progressively show up a little later, just barely on time, a minute or two late, 5 minutes late, 10, 20, I call out "sick" an hour before my shift, I do this a couple times, I put in my two weeks/quit. I make up some excuse, usually some mysteriously serious and private family matters, and rot in bed because I fell behind on work or just couldn't find the energy to go and then I realized I'm a shitty employee and leave. I am at the "realizing I'm a shitty employee and leaving" stage in my life as a whole, but that's not allowed. Giving up is a terrible sad tragedy, but the only cure to sadness is to want to be happy. The only way to get better is to want to improve and push through the hard times and work hard and someday things will be easy and good. There's no cure to being the selfish asshole who cares more about not having to brush my teeth then living for my loved ones. I don't want to fight anymore, I am tired, the fighting isn't making me better, my ADHD and depression and arfid all keep from doing the things to fight my ADHD and depression and arfid enough as is, simply not having the will to fight is the final nail. I'm so tired, I want to take off from school and ignore the job opportunity and ignore any needs or responsibilities or meals and just play games and watch science videos and walk around town solely just to walk and look at things in stores I'll never buy and make weird clothes and pick flowers and impulse buy that Amtrak ticket to Monterey so I can visit the aquarium and sleep outside because I'm too young to book and stay in a hotel room alone and catch a bus going somewhere I don't know just to see where I end up and walk through the woods behind my house and try to find animal bones or a snake or something, I want to scream and cry and tear myself to shreds and laugh until I can't breath and spend every second and those awful unproductive dangerous stupid expensive waste-of-time wonderful perfect soul-filling tiny tiny little moments and then just drop dead. no more responsibility to anyone, certainly not myself, just ecstasy and permanent sleep.
it's not fair, I don't deserve that at all, it's selfish to want it when every person in my life has been through so much worse and are doing a thousand times better, I'll hurt people, life isn't that hard, ADHD and depression and common and executive dysfunction happens to people all the time and they do incredible amazing things and all I'm asked is to eat my dinner, take my 2 online college classes, and not fucking kill myself and I am failing at all 3 and I don't deserve to be getting away with this, even if I live but keep up tis behavior I will hurt people and ruin myself, but I just don't care enough to try because at night when I'm standing in front of the bathroom door, more than enough energy to brush my teeth for two minutes, knowing I should, knowing it's easy and fine and good for me and I need to I really need to, I still turn my head and walk into my room. I yell at the people trying to help me, I shove everyone away, and ruin my own life again and again and again and I'm never going to stop because I don't want to. I am shitty selfish person and I don't fucking care and I want to care but I just can't fucking care.

My (23Fw/BPD) ex (40M) and I had a very toxic relationship. He is active in his addiction and we have a long history of heated arguments and physical violence (both of us have been at fault. I’m not innocent either.) The last straw was one he put our child (4) in danger due to his drinking. He came to my house and assaulted me. He had our son in the back seat of the vehicle and had a BAC of .26%. Neighbours phoned the police and they caught him red handed. After the incident (which he was arrested, charged, and found guilty for) I had only let his father visit our son sober and under my supervision. But he was pretty angry with this arrangement and would not meet me half-ways. He refused most visits and getting help. I was growing and doing everything on my own, and he was making life super hard on me and my son. The constant abuse was too much for me to handle. I decided it was in my best interest to leave for the sake of our child so we could start a better life (which is going pretty good!)
I have split on my ex hard since the incident- no trust, respect, love, want nothing to do with him, etc. but I kept it civil and my emotions in check to not add fuel to the fire. I’m not sure at this point it would be good for my son to have any contact with his father unless he went rehab. Even then I’m skeptical as it has been 8 months since we have left and the father shows no interest in changing or wanting to see his son. I have a meeting with a lawyer next week to discuss me getting sole custody and possibly terminating his dads parenting rights. Mediation is not possible because I fear for my safety and mental wellbeing. I hope to go through this process without seeing/speaking to him at all. I also don’t want any child support from him for our child if he is not going to get help and be there for our child. My ex sees this all as me being malicious, but I just don’t want my son to grow up with a hostile parent lost in addiction. I’m not sure what I am really looking for here but hoping to get some advice/support.

A terrifying movie or book or show gets your blood pumping in the moment of consumption, sure—we covered our eyes in Squid Game with the rest of the world. But for the most part, you rest easy afterward knowing that what you've witnessed is fiction, deliberately spun up to creep you out. When the real world gets eerier than anything Stephen King could dream up, that's when you have every right to get a little scared of the dark.
Once in a while, a story of a dreadful disappearance, demonic possession, or devil worship will land in the local paper instead of a pulpy old paperback. We've rounded up the most unnerving real-life tales below. In honor of spooky season, here are eleven we can't stop thinking about.

The Axe Murder House

The Villisca Axe Murder House in Villisca, Iowa is a well-known tourist attraction for ghost hunters and horror lovers alike. The site of a gruesome unsolved 1912 murder, in which six children and two adults had their skulls completely crushed by the axe of an unknown perpetrator, was purchased in 1994, restored to its 1912 condition, and converted into a tourist destination. It costs $428 a night to stay at the old haunted home, where visitors always report strange paranormal experiences, such as visions of a man with an axe roaming the halls or the faint screams of children.
But in November of 2014, the haunting took a darker turn. Robert Steven Laursen Jr., 37, of Rhinelander, Wisconsin was on a regular recreational paranormal visit with friends when true horror struck. Per VICE:

His companions found him stabbed in the chest—an apparently self-inflicted wound—called 9-1-1, and Laursen was brought to a nearby hospital before being helicoptered to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said Laursen suffered the self-inflicted injury at about 12:45 a.m., which is around the same time the 1912 axe murders in the house began.
Laursen recovered from his injuries, but has never spoken publicly about what occurred that day. For Martha Linn, the owner of the home, the incident was very upsetting. "It's publicity, but it's not exactly the kind of publicity you desire to have. I don't want people thinking that when they come to the Villisca Axe Murder House something's going to happen that's going to make them do something like that.” The house remains open for tourist visits and overnight stays today.
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The Haunted Doll

When you think of haunted dolls, it’s likely the creepy old Victorian-looking porcelain kind that springs to mind. None of which you probably have laying around. Still, don’t get too comfortable around any kids toys too soon, though: a Disney’s Frozen Elsa doll that was gifted for Christmas 2013 in the Houston area made headlines earlier this year when it seemingly became haunted.
Per KPRC2 Houston News:

The doll recited phrases from the movie Frozen and sang “Let It Go” when a button on its necklace was pressed.
“For two years it did that in English,” mother Emily Madonia said. “In 2015, it started doing it alternating between Spanish and English. There wasn’t a button that changed these, it was just random."
The family has owned the doll for more than six years and never changed its batteries. The mother says the doll would randomly begin to speak and sing even with its switch turned off.

The family decided to throw the creepy doll out in December of 2019. Weeks later, they found it inside a bench in their living room. “The kids insisted they didn’t put it there, and I believed them because they wouldn’t have dug through the garbage outside,” Madonia told KPRC2 Houston News.

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At that point, Elsa ceased to sing the English rendition of “Let It Go” altogether, speaking only Spanish when pressed. The family then double-bagged the bizarre doll and placed it at the bottom of their garbage which was taken out on garbage day. They went on a trip shortly after, but when they returned, Elsa too had come back, and was waiting in the backyard of their home.
This time, the family mailed Elsa to a family friend in Minnesota, who taped the haunted doll to the front bumper of his truck. It doesn’t seem to have made its way back to Houston yet, as per Madonia’s latest February Facebook update on the creepy doll.

A Deadly Exorcism

In August 2016 in North London, 26-year-old Kennedy Ife began acting strange and aggressive following a pain in his throat. He reportedly bit his father, threatened to cut off his own penis, and complained of a python or snake inside of him before his family restrained him to a bed with cable ties and excessive force.
As the BBC reported:

“The family then set about attempting to ‘cure’ Kennedy through restraint and prayer over the next three days, the court was told.”

His brother, Colin Ife, told police:

“It’s clear that thing was in him, what we believed was a demon because it was not natural. It was clearly trying to kill him,” he said.
“We had to restrain him for himself. It was clear if we didn’t restrain him, he could have tried to harm people in our family.”

Kennedy Ife had been bound to his bed for three days without medical attention when his brother called emergency services, explaining that Kennedy Ife was complaining of dehydration. He appeared to have developed breathing issues, and was pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m.
As The Independent reported:

While police were at the house Colin Ife allegedly carried out an “attempted resurrection” by chanting and praying for Mr. Ife.

All seven of Kennedy Ife’s family members were accused of manslaughter, false imprisonment, and causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult. A post-mortem examination revealed over 60 wounds including a possible bite on Kennedy Ife’s body, and his father, Kenneth Ife, along with four of his brothers, sustained injuries as well.
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The BBC reported:

Kenneth Ife told jurors he ordered his sons to take shifts and use "overwhelming force" but denied that an "association with cults, occults and secret societies" played any part in the death.

After a four day jury deliberation, all seven family members were cleared of charges on March 14, 2019.
📷Witches prepare themselves for a journey by broomstick to the Black Mountain, circa 1650. From a 17th century Dutch copperplate by Adrianus Hubertus.Hulton Archive

Dead Animals in the Walls

When the Bretzuis family decided to insulate their home in Auburn, Pennsylvania in 2015, they discovered that it had already been—with scores of dead animal carcasses.
As Fox reported:

The dead animals were wrapped in newspapers from the 1930s and 40s and were among half-used spices, and other items.
After removing the items they sent hundreds of artifacts and carcasses to an expert in Kutztown.

The expert attributed the rotting animals in their walls to Pow-wow or Dutch magic, a ritual originating in the culture of the Pennsylvania Dutch to treat ailments and gain physical and spiritual protection. The Pennsylvania Dutch were a group of German-speaking settlers to Pennsylvania in the 1600 and 1700’s, and are often of Lutheran, Mennonite, or Amish faiths.
The Washington Post notes on the magic:

Many of the spells deal with the care of livestock, finding water, or the treatment of minor ailments, reflecting the conditions and concerns of early American settlers.
But powwow also has within it a tradition of darker spells, and even of such things as conjuring demons.

One notable ritual in their tradition is this hex to create loyalty in a dog:

To attach a dog to a person, provided nothing else was used before to effect it: Try to draw some of your blood, and let the dog eat it along with his food, and he will stay with you.

The mold found on the rotting carcasses in the Bretzuis home has caused illness among the family members, and they say that the odor hasn’t gone away.
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Florida Devil Worshipping

Friends noticed that Danielle Harkins, a 35-year-old schoolteacher near St. Petersburg, Florida, started acting strangely in June of 2012, developing an interest in demonic rituals.
Soon after, she was arrested for abuse of seven of her former students, as the Tampa Bay Times reported:

Danielle Harkins told the kids they needed to rid their bodies of demons as the group gathered before dusk Saturday around a small fire near the St. Petersburg Pier. They should cut their skin to let the evil spirits out, police said she told the children. Then, they needed to burn the wounds to ensure that those spirits would not return.
When Harkins held a lighter to one teen's hand, wind blew the flame out, police said. That prompted her to douse his hand in perfume before setting it on fire. The boy suffered second-degree burns, police said.
Another teen was cut on the neck with a broken bottle, police said. Harkins used a flame to heat a small key, which she then used to cauterize the wound.

The police were notified because a friend of one of the students who participated in the ritual raised alarms. However none of the students themselves told their parents about the event or would comment following the arrest of Harkins for aggravated battery and child abuse.
NBC reported:

Investigators said they've spoken to Harkins, but she didn't spell out what type of religion would require such drastic measures.
"She hasn't informed us exactly what she was trying to accomplish with this," Puetz [of the St. Petersburg Police Department] said.

The Death of Elisa Lam

Elisa Lam was last seen on January 31, 2013 in the lobby of the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. She was vacationing through the West Coast, documenting the trip on her blog, and checking in with her parents every day. On January 31 those calls stopped. Lam had vanished. Soon the police were involved and her parents arrived to help with the search.
They had nothing. That February, LAPD released elevator surveillance footage of Lam before her disappearance. The footage shows Lam behaving strangely in the elevator, appearing to talk with invisible people, peering around the corner of the door, crouching in the corner, and opening and closing the door. But what exactly is going on in this video raises more questions than answers. Theories range from psychotic episodes, to demonic possession, to unknown assailants just out of the camera's view:
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Around that time, hotel guests started reported weird things happening with the Cecil Hotel water supply. As CNN reports:
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"The shower was awful," said Sabina Baugh, who spent eight days there during the investigation. "When you turned the tap on, the water was coming black first for two seconds and then it was going back to normal."The tap water "tasted horrible," Baugh said. "It had a very funny, sweety, disgusting taste. It's a very strange taste. I can barely describe it."But for a week, they never complained. "We never thought anything of it," she said. "We thought it was just the way it was here."

On the morning of February 19, a hotel employee climbed to the roof and used a ladder to investigate the hotel's water storage tanks. That's where authorities found the decomposing, naked body of Lam, whose personal items were found nearby. After an autopsy, her death was labeled accidental. NBC Los Angeles reported at the time about the strange circumstances in the hotel's past:

The tank has a metal latch that can be opened, but authorities said access to the roof is secured with an alarm and lock.The single-room-occupancy hotel has an unusual history. "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez, who was found guilty of 14 slayings in the 1980s, lived on the 14th floor for several months in 1985. And international serial killer Jack Unterweger is suspected of murdering three prostitutes during the time he lived there in 1991. He killed himself in jail in 1994.In 1962, a female occupant jumped out of one the hotel's windows, killing herself and a pedestrian on whom she landed.

In February 2021, a Netflix doc called Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel explored Elisa's tragic case and the history of the "cursed" Cecil Hotel.

An Exorcism in Indianapolis

Last year, the Indianapolis Star published a lengthy report on a family terrorized by three children allegedly possessed by demons. The account of Latoya Ammons and her family tells disturbing stories of children climbing up the walls, getting thrown across rooms, and children threatening doctors in deep unnatural voices. It would seem like something straight out of a movie–a work of fantasy, except all of these accounts were more or less corroborated with "nearly 800 pages of official records obtained by the Indianapolis Star and recounted in more than a dozen interviews with police, DCS personnel, psychologists, family members and a Catholic priest."
One of the more chilling sections of the report includes a segment about the possessed 9-year-old:

According to Washington's original DCS report—an account corroborated by Walker, the nurse—the 9-year-old had a "weird grin" and walked backward up a wall to the ceiling. He then flipped over Campbell, landing on his feet. He never let go of his grandmother's hand.

Another segment of the piece reads:

The 12-year-old would later tell mental health professionals that she sometimes felt as if she were being choked and held down so she couldn't speak or move. She said she heard a voice say she'd never see her family again and wouldn't live another 20 minutes.

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Utah Murder-Suicide

In September of 2014, a Utah teen returned to his home to find his parents and three siblings dead. "In a notebook, a 'to-do list' had been scribbled on the pages ... The list looked as if the parents were readying to go on vacation—items such as 'feed the pets' and 'find someone to watch after the house' were written," The Salt Lake Tribune reported. It appeared to be murder-suicide, but there was no suicide note, no prior indication that they would do this, no explanation. Police could not figure out why two parents would kill themselves and three of their four children.
For a year, no one knew exactly what happened to the family, or what would drive the parents to do something so unthinkable. In January, police released more chilling details in the case. According to accounts from family members and an investigation by police, the parents were driven by a belief that the apocalypse was coming and an obsession with a convicted killer. As the Washington Post reported:

Friends and family told police that the parents were worried about the "evil in the world" and wanted to escape a "pending apocalypse." But most assumed they just wanted to move somewhere "off the grid." Investigators also found letters written by Kristi Strack to one of the state's most infamous convicted killers, Dan Lafferty, who was convicted in the 1984 fatal stabbing of his sister-in-law and her 1-year-old daughter. According to trial testimony, he killed the victims at the order of his brother, Ron Lafferty, who claimed to have had a revelation from God. The story became a book called "Under the Banner of Heaven."Police said Kristi Strack became friends with Dan Lafferty, and she and her husband even visited him in prison.

The Phone Stalker

In 2007, ABC news documented a series of cell phone calls to families with terrifyingly specific death threats. The unidentified callers knew exactly what families were doing and what they were wearing.

The families say the calls come in at all hours of the night, threatening to kill their children, their pets and grandparents. Voice mails arrive, playing recordings of their private conversations, including one with a local police detective.The caller knows, the families said, what they're wearing and what they're doing. And after months of investigating, police seem powerless to stop them.

This went on with the Kuykenall family for months, who reported a caller with a scratchy voice threatening to slit their throats.

When the Fircrest, Wash., police tried to find the culprit, the calls were traced back to the Kuykendalls' own phones -- even when they were turned off.It got worse. The Kuykendalls and two other Fircrest families told ABC News that they believe the callers are using their cell phones to spy on them. They say the hackers know their every move: where they are, what they're doing and what they're wearing. The callers have recorded private conversations, the families and police said, including a meeting with a local detective.

"The Watcher"

After moving into their $1.3 million dream home, a New Jersey family started receiving creepy death threats from someone who identified themselves as "The Watcher." As CBS News reported earlier this year:
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Since moving in, the owners said they have received numerous letters from the mysterious person. "The Watcher" claimed the home "has been the subject of my family for decades," and "I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming," Castro reported.The new owners have several children, and other letters asked, "Have they found out what's in the walls yet?" and "I am pleased to know your names now, and the name of the young blood you have brought to me."

The family was forced to flee from their home and later filed a lawsuit against the previous owners.

Issei the Cannibal

In 1974, 24-year-old Wako University student Issei Sagawa allegedly followed a German woman to her home in Tokyo, Japan, broke into her apartment while she was sleeping, and attempted to cut a piece of flesh off her body to consume. When she awoke, she reportedly fought him and he was later captured by the police. According to a 2012 Vice documentary that covered Issei's bizarre story, he was mistakenly charged with attempted rape and his wealthy father paid the victim a settlement outside of court to have the charges dropped.
Seven years later, in 1981, he allegedly committed a murder in France—shooting and eating a fellow University student, Renée Hartevelt. Issei creepily documented the entire experience with photographs and he was captured by authorities once again while attempting to dump the rest of her body in the Bois de Boulogne lake. He was deported back to Japan and committed to a mental institution. For reason unknown, his psychologists in Japan declared that he was sane. Furthermore, a legal technicality involving the French government refusing to turn over the documents from his case meant that his murder charges were dropped completely. He checked himself out of the mental hospital and has reportedly been walking the streets as a free man ever since. Issei has even become a controversial celebrity, writing over 20 books. According to Japan Today, he most recently fantasized about an unnamed TV actress, saying:
"I'll catch a glimpse of her thigh and think, 'That sure looks tasty.' But I don't feel like I actually want to eat it. As I accomplished the act of cannibalism once, there's no meaning to maintaining the desire for it anymore. In my book, I wrote that it [human flesh] was tasty, but that was not really true; I'd much rather eat Matsuzaka (Kobe) beef. But because I'd desired to consume human flesh for so long, I'd managed to convince myself that it would necessarily be delicious."
Issei Sagawa was also referenced in the Rolling Stones song "Too Much Blood," with the lyrics reading: "And when he ate her he took her bones/To the Bois de Boulogne." He is currently 73 years old and continues to live in Kawaski City, Japan. To this day, no one knows why France did not allow Japan to give him a trial.
📷MATT MILLER

So, there's a man crawling through the desert.
He'd decided to try his SUV in a little bit of cross-country travel, had great fun zooming over the badlands and through the sand, got lost, hit a big rock, and then he couldn't get it started again. There were no cell phone towers anywhere near, so his cell phone was useless. He had no family, his parents had died a few years before in an auto accident, and his few friends had no idea he was out here.
He stayed with the car for a day or so, but his one bottle of water ran out and he was getting thirsty. He thought maybe he knew the direction back, now that he'd paid attention to the sun, and thought he'd figured out which way was north, so he decided to start walking. He figured he only had to go about 30 miles or so and he'd be back to the small town he'd gotten gas in last.
He thinks about walking at night to avoid the heat and sun, but based upon how dark it actually was the night before, and given that he has no flashlight, he's afraid that he'll break a leg or step on a rattlesnake. So, he puts on some sun block, puts the rest in his pocket for reapplication later, brings an umbrella he'd had in the back of the SUV with him to give him a little shade, pours the windshield wiper fluid into his water bottle in case he gets that desperate, brings his pocket knife in case he finds a cactus that looks like it might have water in it, and heads out in the direction he thinks is right.
He walks for the entire day. By the end of the day he's really thirsty. He's been sweating all day, and his lips are starting to crack. He's reapplied the sunblock twice, and tried to stay under the umbrella, but he still feels sunburned. The windshield wiper fluid sloshing in the bottle in his pocket is really getting tempting now. He knows that it's mainly water and some ethanol and coloring, but he also knows that they add some kind of poison to it to keep people from drinking it. He wonders what the poison is, and whether the poison would be worse than dying of thirst.
He pushes on, trying to get to that small town before dark.
By the end of the day, he starts getting worried. He figures he's been walking at least three miles an hour, according to his watch for over ten hours. That means that if his estimate was right, he should be close to the town. Unfortunately, he doesn't recognize any of this. He had to cross a dry creek bed a mile or two back, and he doesn't remember coming through it in the SUV. He figures that maybe he got his direction off just a little and that the dry creek bed was just off to one side of his path. He tells himself that he's close, and that after dark he'll start seeing the town lights over one of these hills. That'll be all he needs.
As it gets dim enough that he starts stumbling over small rocks and things, he finds a spot and sits down to wait for full dark and the town lights.
Full dark comes before he knows it. He must have dozed off. He stands back up and turns all the way around. He sees nothing but stars.
He wakes up the next morning feeling absolutely lousy. His eyes are gummy and his mouth and nose feel like they're full of sand. He’s so thirsty that he can't even swallow. He barely got any sleep because it was so cold. He'd forgotten how cold it got at night in the desert and hadn't noticed it the night before because he'd been in his car.
He knows the Rule of Threes - three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food - then you die. Some people can make it a little longer, in the best situations. The desert heat and having to walk and sweat isn't the best situation to be in without water. Unless he finds water, he figures, this is his last day.
He rinses out his mouth with a little of the windshield wiper fluid. He waits for a while after spitting that little bit out to see if his mouth goes numb, or he feels dizzy or something. Has his mouth gone numb? Is it just in his mind? He's not sure. He'll go a little farther, and if he still doesn't find water, he'll try drinking some of the fluid.
Then he has to face his next, harder question - which way does he go from here? Does he keep walking the same way as yesterday (assuming that he still knows which way that is), or does he try a new direction? He has no idea what to do.
Looking at the hills and dunes around him, he thinks he knows the direction he was heading before. Just going by a feeling, he points himself somewhat to the left of that, and starts walking.
As he walks, the day starts heating up. The desert, too cold just a couple of hours before, soon becomes an oven again. He sweats a little at first, and then stops. He starts getting worried at that. He knows that when you stop sweating, you’re in trouble. It’s usually right before heat stroke..
He decides that it's time to try the windshield wiper fluid. He can't wait any longer - if he passes out, he's dead. He stops in the shade of a large rock, takes the bottle out, opens it, and takes a mouthful. He slowly swallows it, making it last as long as he can. It feels so good in his dry and cracked throat that he doesn't even care about the nasty taste. He takes another mouthful, and makes it last too. Slowly, he drinks half the bottle. He figures that since he's drinking it, he might as well drink enough to make some difference and keep himself from passing out.
He's quit worrying about the denaturing of the wiper fluid. If it kills him, it kills him. If he didn't drink it, he'd die anyway. Besides, he's pretty sure that whatever substance they denature the fluid with is just designed to make you sick: their way of keeping winos from buying cheap wiper fluid for the ethanol content. He can handle throwing up if it comes to that.
He walks. He walks in the hot, dry, windless desert. Sand, rocks, hills, dunes, the occasional scrawny cactus or dried bush. No sign of water. Sometimes he'll see a little movement to one side or the other, but whatever moved is usually gone before he can focus his eyes on it. Probably birds, lizards, or mice. Maybe snakes, though they usually move more at night. He's careful to stay away from the movements.
After a while, he begins to stagger. He's not sure if it's fatigue, heat stroke finally catching him, or maybe he was wrong and the denaturing of the wiper fluid was worse than he thought. He tries to steady himself and keep going.
After more walking, he comes to a large stretch of sand. This is good! He knows he passed over a stretch of sand in the SUV - he remembers doing donuts in it, or at least he thinks he remembers it; he's getting woozy enough and tired enough that he's not sure what he remembers anymore or if he's hallucinating. He thinks he remembers it, so he heads off into it, trying to get to the other side, hoping that it gets him closer to the town.
He was heading for a town, wasn't he? He thinks he was. He isn't sure anymore. He's not even sure how long he's been walking anymore. Is it still morning? Has it moved into afternoon, and the sun is going down again? It must be afternoon; it seems like it's been too long since he started out.
He walks through the sand.
After a while, he comes to a big dune in the sand. This is bad. He doesn't remember any dunes from when he was driving over the sand in his SUV. At least he doesn't think he remembers any. This is bad.
All the same, he has no other direction to go. Too late to turn back now. He figures that he'll get to the top of the dune and see if he can see anything from there that can help him find the town. He keeps going up the dune.
Halfway up, he slips in the bad footing of the sand for the second or third time and falls to his knees. He doesn't feel like getting back up, since he'll just fall down again. He keeps going up the dune on his hand and knees.
While crawling, if his throat weren't so dry, he'd laugh. He's finally gotten to the hackneyed image of a man lost in the desert, crawling through the sand on his hands and knees. It would be the perfect image, he imagines, if only his clothes were more ragged. The people crawling through the desert in the cartoons always had ragged clothes, but his have lasted without any rips so far. Somebody will probably find his dessicated corpse half buried in the sand years from now, and his clothes will still be in fine shape - shake the sand out, give them a good wash, and they'd be wearable again. He wishes his throat were wet enough to laugh. He coughs a little instead, and it hurts.
He finally makes it to the top of the sand dune. Now that he's at the top, he struggles a little, but manages to stand up and look around. All he sees is sand. Sand and more sand. Behind him, about a mile away, he thinks he sees the rocky ground he left to head into this sand. Ahead of him, more dunes, more sand. This isn't where he drove his SUV. This is Hell. Or close enough.
Again, he doesn't know what to do. He decides to drink the rest of the wiper fluid while figuring it out. He takes out the bottle and starts removing the cap when he glances to the side and sees something. Something in the sand. At the bottom of the dune, off to the side, he sees something strange. It's a flat area, in the sand. He stops opening the bottle and tries to look closer. The area seems to be circular, and it's dark: darker than the sand, and there seems to be something in the middle of it, but he can't tell what it is, so he looks as hard as he can but still can't tell from here. He's going to have to go down there and look.
He puts the bottle back into his pocket, and starts to stumble down the dune. After a few steps, he realizes that he's in trouble; he's not going to be able to keep his balance. After a couple more sliding, tottering steps, he falls and starts to roll down the dune. The sand it so hot that he thinks he's caught fire on the way down - like a movie car wreck flashing into flames as it goes over the cliff, before it ever even hits the ground. He closes his eyes and mouth, covers his face with his hands, and waits to stop rolling.
He stops at the bottom of the dune. After a minute or two, he finds enough energy to try to sit up and get the sand out of his face and clothes. When he clears his eyes enough, he looks around to make sure that the dark spot in the sand it still there and he hadn't just imagined it.
Seeing the large, flat, dark spot on the sand still there, he crawls towards it. He'd get up and walk towards it, but he doesn't seem to have the energy to get up and walk right now. He must be in the final stages of dehydration he figures as he crawls. If this place in the sand doesn't have water, he'll likely never make it anywhere else. This is his last chance.
He gets closer and closer, but still can't see what's in the middle of the dark area. It’s hard to focus, and lifting his head up to look takes so much effort that he gives up trying. He just keeps crawling.
Finally, he reaches the area he'd seen from the dune. It takes him a minute of crawling on it before he realizes that he's no longer on sand - he's now crawling on some kind of dark stone. Stone with some kind of marking on it - a pattern cut into the stone. He's too tired to stand up and try to see what the pattern is, so he just keeps crawling. He crawls towards the center where his blurry eyes still see something in the middle of the dark stone area.
His mind, detached in a strange way, notes that either his hands and knees are so burnt by the sand that they no longer feel pain, or that this dark stone, in the middle of a burning desert with a pounding, punishing sun overhead, doesn't seem to be hot. It almost feels cool. He considers lying down on the nice cool surface.
Cool, dark stone. Not a good sign. He must be hallucinating this. He's probably in the middle of a patch of sand, already lying face down and dying, and just imagining this whole thing. A desert mirage. Soon the beautiful women carrying pitchers of water will come up and start giving him a drink. Then he'll know he's gone.
He decides against laying down on the cool stone. If he's going to die here in the middle of this hallucination, he at least wants to see what's in the center before he goes. He keeps crawling.
It's the third time that he hears the voice before he realizes what he's hearing. He would swear that someone just said, "Greetings, traveler. You do not look well. Do you hear me?"
He stops crawling. He tries to look up from where he is on his hands and knees, but it's too much effort to lift his head. So he tries something different: he rolls over and leans back trying to sit up on the stone. After a few seconds, he catches his balance, avoids falling on his face, sits up, and tries to focus his eyes. Blurry. He rubs his eyes with the back of his hands and tries again. Better this time.
Yep. He can see. He's sitting in the middle of a large, flat, dark expanse of stone. Directly next to him, about three feet away, is a white post or pole about two inches in diameter and sticking about four or five feet out of the stone, at an angle.
And wrapped around this white rod is what must be a fifteen foot long desert diamondback rattlesnake, with a hovering tail and rattle seemingly prepared to start rattling, looking directly at him.
He stares at the snake in shock. He doesn't have the energy to get up and run away. He doesn't even have the energy to crawl away. This is it: his final resting place. No matter what happens, he's not going to be able to move from this spot.
Well, at least dying from a bite from this monster should be quicker than dying of thirst. He'll face his end like a man. He struggles to sit up a little straighter. The snake keeps watching him. He lifts one hand and flicks it in the snake's direction, feebly. The snake watches the hand for a moment, then goes back to watching the man, looking into his eyes.
Hmmm. Maybe the snake has no interest in biting him. It hasn't rattled yet - that’s a good sign. Maybe he isn't going to die of snake bite after all.
He then remembers that he'd looked up when he'd reached the center here because he thought he'd heard a voice. He is still very woozy; he feels like he might pass out soon. The sun still beats down on him even though he is now on cool stone. He still doesn't have anything to drink. Although maybe he had actually heard a voice. This stone doesn't look natural. Nor does that white post sticking up out of the stone. Someone must have built this. Maybe they are still nearby. Maybe that was who talked to him. Maybe this snake is even their pet, and that's why it isn't biting.
He tries to clear his throat to say, "Hello," but he’s too dry. All that comes out is a coughing or wheezing sound. There's no way he's going to be able to talk without something to drink. He feels his pocket, and the bottle with the wiper fluid is still there. He shakily pulls out the bottle, almost losing his balance and falling on his back in the process. This isn't good. He doesn't have much time left by his reckoning before he passes out.
He gets the bottle open, manages to get the bottle to his lips, and pours some of the fluid into his mouth. He sloshes it around, and then swallows it. He coughs a little. His throat feels better. Maybe he can talk now.
He tries again. Ignoring the snake, he turns to look around him, hoping to spot the owner of this place, and croaks out, "Hello? Is there anyone here?"
He hears, from his side, "Greetings. What is it that you want?"
He turns his head back towards the snake. That's where the sound seemed to come from. The only thing he can think of is that there must be a speaker hidden under the snake, or maybe built into that post. He decides to try asking for help.
"Please," he croaks again, suddenly feeling dizzy, "I'd love to not be thirsty anymore. I've been without water for a long time. Can you help me?"
Looking in the direction of the snake, hoping to see where the voice was coming from this time, he is shocked to see the snake rear back, open its mouth, and speak. He hears it say, as the dizziness overtakes him and he falls forward, face first on the stone, "Very well. Coming up."
A piercing pain shoots through his shoulder. Suddenly he is awake. He sits up and grabs his shoulder, wincing at the throbbing pain. He's momentarily disoriented as he looks around, and then he remembers: the crawl across the sand, the dark area of stone, the snake. He sees the snake, still wrapped around the tilted white post, still looking at him.
He reaches up and feels his shoulder, where it hurts. It feels slightly wet. He pulls his fingers away and looks at them - blood. He feels his shoulder again - it feels like his shirt has two holes in it - two puncture holes. They match up with the two aching spots of pain on his shoulder. He has been bitten. By the snake.
"It'll feel better in a minute." He looks up - it's the snake talking. He hadn't dreamed it. Suddenly he notices - he's not dizzy anymore. And more importantly, he's not thirsty anymore - at all!
"Have I died? Is this the afterlife? Why are you biting me in the afterlife?"
"Sorry about that, but I had to bite you," says the snake. "That's the way I work. It all comes through the bite. Think of it as natural medicine."
"You bit me to help me? Why aren't I thirsty anymore? Did you give me a drink before you bit me? How did I drink enough while unconscious to not be thirsty anymore? I haven't had a drink for over two days. Well, except for the windshield wiper fluid... hold it, how in the world does a snake talk? Are you real? Are you some sort of Disney animation?"
"No," says the snake, "I'm real. As real as you or anyone is, anyway. I didn't give you a drink. I bit you. That's how it works, it's what I do. I bite. Plus I don't have hands to give you a drink, even if I had water just sitting around here."
The man sat stunned for a minute. Here he was, sitting in the middle of the desert on some strange stone that should be hot but wasn't, talking to a snake that could talk back and had just bitten him. And he felt better. Not great - he was still starving and exhausted, but much better - he was no longer thirsty. He had started to sweat again, but only slightly. He felt hot, in this sun, but it was starting to get lower in the sky, and the cool stone beneath him was a relief he could notice now that he was no longer dying of thirst.
"I might suggest that we take care of that methanol you now have in your system with the next request," continued the snake. "I can guess why you drank it, but I'm not sure how much you drank, or how much methanol was left in the wiper fluid. That stuff is nasty. It'll make you go blind in a day or two, if you drank enough of it."
"Ummm, n-next request?" said the man. He put his hand back on his hurting shoulder and backed away from the snake a little.
"That's the way it works. If you like, that is," explained the snake. "You get three requests. Call them wishes, if you wish." The snake grinned at his own joke, and the man drew back a little further from the show of fangs.
"But there are rules," the snake continued. "The first request is free. The second requires an agreement of secrecy. The third requires the binding of responsibility." The snake looks at the man seriously.
"By the way," the snake says suddenly, "my name is Nathan. Old Nathan, Samuel used to call me. He gave me the name. Before that, most of the Bound used to just call me 'Snake'. But that got old, and Samuel wouldn't stand for it. He said that anything that could talk needed a name. He was big into names. You can call me Nate, if you wish." Again, the snake grinned. "Sorry if I don't offer to shake, but I think you can understand - my shake sounds somewhat threatening." The snake give his rattle a little shake.
"Umm, my name is Jack," said the man, trying to absorb all of this. "Jack Samson."
"Can I ask you a question?" Jack says suddenly. "What happened to the venom...umm, in your bite. Why aren't I dying now? How did you do that? What do you mean by that's how you work?"
"That's more than one question," grins Nate. "But I'll still try to answer all of them. First, yes, you can ask me a question." The snake's grin gets wider. "Second, the venom is in you. It changed you. You now no longer need to drink. That's what you asked for. Or, well, technically, you asked to not be thirsty any more - but 'any more' is such a vague term. I decided to make it permanent - now, as long as you live, you shouldn't need to drink much at all. Your body will conserve water very efficiently. You should be able to get enough just from the food you eat - much like a creature of the desert. You've been changed.
"For the third question," Nate continues, "you are still dying. Besides the effects of that methanol in your system, you're a man - and men are mortal. In your current state, I give you no more than about another 50 years. Assuming you get out of this desert, alive, that is." Nate seemed vastly amused at his own humor, and continued his wide grin.
"As for the fourth question," Nate said, looking more serious as far as Jack could tell, as Jack was just now working on his ability to read talking-snake emotions from snake facial features, "first you have to agree to make a second request and become bound by the secrecy, or I can't tell you."
"Wait," joked Jack, "isn't this where you say you could tell me, but you'd have to kill me?"
"I thought that was implied." Nate continued to look serious.
"Ummm...yeah." Jack leaned back a little as he remembered again that he was talking to a fifteen foot venomous reptile with a reputation for having a nasty temper. "So, what is this 'Bound by Secrecy' stuff, and can you really stop the effects of the methanol?" Jack thought for a second. "And, what do you mean methanol, anyway? I thought these days they use ethanol in wiper fluid, and just denature it?"
"They may, I don't really know," said Nate. "I haven't gotten out in a while. Maybe they do. All I know is that I smell methanol on your breath and on that bottle in your pocket. And the blue color of the liquid when you pulled it out to drink some let me guess that it was wiper fluid. I assume that they still color wiper fluid blue?"
"Yeah, they do," said Jack.
"I figured," replied Nate. "As for being bound by secrecy - with the fulfillment of your next request, you will be bound to say nothing about me, this place, or any of the information I will tell you after that, when you decide to go back out to your kind. You won't be allowed to talk about me, write about me, use sign language, charades, or even act in a way that will lead someone to guess correctly about me. You'll be bound to secrecy. Of course, I'll also ask you to promise not to give me away, and as I'm guessing that you're a man of your word, you'll never test the binding anyway, so you won't notice." Nate said the last part with utter confidence.
Jack, who had always prided himself on being a man of his word, felt a little nervous at this. "Ummm, hey, Nate, who are you? How did you know that? Are you, umm, omniscient, or something?"
Well, Jack," said Nate sadly, "I can't tell you that, unless you make the second request." Nate looked away for a minute, then looked back.
"Umm, well, ok," said Jack, "what is this about a second request? What can I ask for? Are you allowed to tell me that?"
"Sure!" said Nate, brightening. "You're allowed to ask for changes. Changes to yourself. They're like wishes, but they can only affect you. Oh, and before you ask, I can't give you immortality. Or omniscience. Or omnipresence, for that matter. Though I might be able to make you gaseous and yet remain alive, and then you could spread through the atmosphere and sort of be omnipresent. But what good would that be - you still wouldn't be omniscient and thus still could only focus on one thing at a time. Not very useful, at least in my opinion." Nate stopped when he realized that Jack was staring at him.
"Well, anyway," continued Nate, "I'd probably suggest giving you permanent good health. It would negate the methanol now in your system, you'd be immune to most poisons and diseases, and you'd tend to live a very long time, barring accident, of course. And you'll even have a tendency to recover from accidents well. It always seemed like a good choice for a request to me."
"Cure the methanol poisoning, huh?" said Jack. "And keep me healthy for a long time? Hmmm. It doesn't sound bad at that. And it has to be a request about a change to me? I can't ask to be rich, right? Because that's not really a change to me?"
"Right," nodded Nate.
"Could I ask to be a genius and permanently healthy?" Jack asked, hopefully.
"That takes two requests, Jack."
"Yeah, I figured so," said Jack. "But I could ask to be a genius? I could become the smartest scientist in the world? Or the best athlete?"
"Well, I could make you very smart," admitted Nate, "but that wouldn't necessarily make you the best scientist in the world. Or, I could make you very athletic, but it wouldn't necessarily make you the best athlete either. You've heard the saying that 99% of genius is hard work? Well, there's some truth to that. I can give you the talent, but I can't make you work hard. It all depends on what you decide to do with it."
"Hmmm," said Jack. "Ok, I think I understand. And I get a third request, after this one?"
"Maybe," said Nate, "it depends on what you decide then. There are more rules for the third request that I can only tell you about after the second request. You know how it goes." Nate looked like he'd shrug, if he had shoulders.
"Ok, well, since I'd rather not be blind in a day or two, and permanent health doesn't sound bad, then consider that my second request. Officially. Do I need to sign in blood or something?"
"No," said Nate. "Just hold out your hand. Or heel." Nate grinned. "Or whatever part you want me to bite. I have to bite you again. Like I said, that's how it works - the venom, you know," Nate said apologetically.
Jack winced a little and felt his shoulder, where the last bite was. Hey, it didn't hurt any more. Just like Nate had said. That made Jack feel better about the biting business. But still, standing still while a fifteen foot snake sunk it's fangs into you. Jack stood up. Ignoring how good it felt to be able to stand again, and the hunger starting to gnaw at his stomach, Jack tried to decide where he wanted to get bitten. Despite knowing that it wouldn't hurt for long, Jack knew that this wasn't going to be easy.
"Hey, Jack," Nate suddenly said, looking past Jack towards the dunes behind him, "is that someone else coming up over there?"
Jack spun around and looked. Who else could be out here in the middle of nowhere? And did they bring food?
Wait a minute, there was nobody over there. What was Nate...
Jack let out a bellow as he felt two fangs sink into his rear end, through his jeans...
Jack sat down carefully, favoring his more tender buttock. "I would have decided, eventually, Nate. I was just thinking about it. You didn't have to hoodwink me like that."
"I've been doing this a long time, Jack," said Nate, confidently. "You humans have a hard time sitting still and letting a snake bite you - especially one my size. And besides, admit it - it's only been a couple of minutes and it already doesn't hurt any more, does it? That's because of the health benefit with this one.

I moved into this apartment earlier this year, it's got an upstairs & downstairs room that are connected to the same building, but are separated by a locked door so the landlord can charge rent for each and make extra money. I paid my bond and rent in advance to move in but never got a signed tenancy agreement from the Landlord. Even though there's only the version of it signed just by me, all the tenant rights still apply to me regardless--the landlord's the one who'll get into big trouble for not providing it.
A few months ago, a new tenant, a creepy, wrinkly old drag queen, moved into the downstairs area (I live upstairs). I tried to keep on friendly terms from the start, but they're an unreasonable Karen who throws tantrums when he/it doesn't get their way. One time they started hammering on my door nonstop until I answered, and demanded I put my hands in their rubbish bin to remove a small amount of trash that was accidentally thrown in there. When I refused, they stormed off and next day put a lock & chain around their bin! They then threw a big fit to the landlord, who sent over their maintenance man to do a property inspection and ask me if everything was alright. I told him MY side of the story, and he agreed that the downstairs tenant was unreasonable, and said there wouldn't need to be another inspection for 6 months since I'd kept the carpets and place in almost mint-like condition. If I had any more problems with the other tenant they said to text them.
I thought the problems would stop because I make sure to stay clear of the other tenant. But a couple weeks ago, late at night, I hear this vicious pounding on my front door again. WTF? It sounded like a SWAT team. I hit the record button on my phone and went to answer. It was the tenant again, and now It was demanding that I not make so much "noise". I had no idea what they were talking about, I'd just been chilling--no TV, music on, talking or anything. I told them such too, and that I am considerate about any noise, but warned them to stay away from pounding on my door again. I then shut it right in their face. I texted the landlord's middle-man/maintenance man immediately after so it'd be on record.
Now I'm getting texts from the landlord asking for a "meet up". I know they can't come over without 24hrs notice for maintenance and 48hrs notice for an inspection, plus their guy said they wouldn't be back for another 6 months. So I said "sure, I can meet you for coffee down the road". They said "No, it has to be at your place". "What for?" I asked. "Just a few general things", they said vaguely. I then asked "is it for an inspection?" and they said "No, just a catch up". I've got a feeling the Landlord never lodged my bond nor the other tenant's and is trying to play the field because the Karen tenant is threatening to do something about it if they don't get their way. The landlord can also probably get in trouble for not insulating the flooceiling between my place and downstairs, as I can hear the other tenant coughing/singing/talking to themselves at night.
No matter what angle you look at it, you can't make a case for me being in the wrong here and I feel like that's what this landlord may be trying to do. I think I know my rights and have myself covered, but I'm wondering if there's any other details I might've missed.

For context i am a first time mum(22) and since my baby has been born I have been pretty relaxed in letting my family and friends meet and hold my baby. That is until the day I held a family bbq and my FIL took my 4 week old baby for a walk and accidentally left his phone at our house on charge. We had no idea where he'd gone or how long he'd planned to be gone for and although it only ended up being half an hour it felt like a lifetime.
For more context I was sat holding my baby at my family bbq (which I was relived about as my MIL & FIL had practically been fighting over who was holding her all afternoon so I'd hardly been able to hold my own baby) when suddenly my FIL decided he wanted to fuss her again . He said he will 'push her in her pram for a while' which I agreed to assuming he'd be pushing her back and forth or around our garden.
I went inside for a drink, came back out and he was gone. I then assumed he won't have gone off our street and my mum was trying to reassure me by saying he won't have gone far and that I should go around the street to find him if I'm panicking.
I was putting a brave face on because I didn't want to break down in front of the rest of the in laws but I felt so panicky at the time.
On his return id told him that Id never been away from my own baby and that it shocked me but I think he took it the wrong way and laughed it off. My mum did tell him not to take my baby without telling me where he's going again as she felt I couldn't get my point across but he then proceeded to tell us that he'd been walking her all round our town.
That night I stayed up having a panic attack as I was in shock that someone could feel as though taking a 4 week old baby for a walk, away from the mother without any means of communication or knowledge of where they were going was an acceptable thing to do. I have been so upset and angry since and now its caused anxiety for me that wasn't there before.
I loved my FIL before this happened but I haven't seen him since. I feel so angry!! And now its been 2 weeks since the incident happened (he's been on holiday) I feel like I couldn't bring it up and tell him how it really upset me but I just want to scream it in his face.
What's upset me most recently is that my MIL mentioned how she'd not let her babies out of her sight for months after they were born. So in other words he didn't take his own babies away from their mother as it upset her. But felt like he could with his grandchild?
Am I overreacting? How can I deal with how im feeling?

My (23F) ex (40M) and I had a very toxic relationship. He is active in his addiction and we have a long history of heated arguments and physical violence (both of us have been at fault. I’m not innocent either.) The last straw was one he put our child (4) in danger due to his drinking. He came to my house and assaulted me. He had our son in the back seat of the vehicle and had a BAC of .26%. Neighbours phoned the police and they caught him red handed. After the incident (which he was arrested, charged, and found guilty for) I had only let his father visit our son sober and under my supervision. But he was pretty angry with this arrangement and would not meet me half-ways. He refused most visits and getting help. I was growing and doing everything on my own, and he was making life super hard on me and my son. The constant abuse was too much for me to handle. I decided it was in my best interest to leave for the sake of our child so we could start a better life (which is going pretty good!)
I’m not sure at this point it would be good for my son to have any contact with his father unless he went rehab. Even then I’m skeptical as it has been 8 months since we have left and the father shows no interest in changing or wanting to see his son. I have a meeting with a lawyer next week to discuss me getting sole custody and possibly terminating his dads parenting rights. Mediation is not possible because I fear for my safety and mental wellbeing. I hope to go through this process without seeing/speaking to him at all. I also don’t want any child support from him for our child if he is not going to get help and be there for our child. My ex sees this all as me being malicious, but I just don’t want my son to grow up with a hostile parent lost in addiction. I’m not sure what I am really looking for here but hoping to get some advice/support.

I am venting (from a separate account) and also searching for advice
I have been progressing from talking/exclusive/established in a relationship with my partner throughout the past nine months. We were long distance, however, we did text through the day every day, there were long (2-4 hour) phone conversations a couple times a month, trips, future plans/trips discussed. I was completely blindsided when I did not hear from them over the weekend. I attempted to reach out through multiple different sources (at most twice a day) through out the week. Were they sick, dead, hurt, family emergency? Nope. Ghosted. Blocked. No reasoning or explanation.
I am trying to sift through my feelings and figure out where to go from here. I do suffer from abandonment issues and this event has brought up past feelings.
If anyone has advice, I would love to hear. If you choose to end a relationship, please let them know you are not interested anymore. Then feel free to block them.
TLDR: need advice after being ghosted after 9 months

My (23F) ex (40M) and I had a very toxic relationship. He is active in his addiction and we have a long history of heated arguments and physical violence (both of us have been at fault. I’m not innocent either.) The last straw was one he put our child (4) in danger due to his drinking. He came to my house and assaulted me. He had our son in the back seat of the vehicle and had a BAC of .26%. Neighbours phoned the police and they caught him red handed. After the incident (which he was arrested, charged, and found guilty for) I had only let his father visit our son sober and under my supervision. But he was pretty angry with this arrangement and would not meet me half-ways. He refused most visits and getting help. I was growing and doing everything on my own, and he was making life super hard on me and my son. The constant abuse was too much for me to handle. I decided it was in my best interest to leave for the sake of our child so we could start a better life (which is going pretty good!)
I’m not sure at this point it would be good for my son to have any contact with his father unless he went rehab. Even then I’m skeptical as it has been 8 months since we have left and the father shows no interest in changing or wanting to see his son. I have a meeting with a lawyer next week to discuss me getting sole custody and possibly terminating his dads parenting rights. Mediation is not possible because I fear for my safety and mental wellbeing. I hope to go through this process without seeing/speaking to him at all. I also don’t want any child support from him for our child if he is not going to get help and be there for our child. My ex sees this all as me being malicious, but I just don’t want my son to grow up with a hostile parent lost in addiction. I’m not sure what I am really looking for here but hoping to get some advice/support.

My (23F) ex (40M) and I had a very toxic relationship. He is active in his addiction and we have a long history of heated arguments and physical violence (both of us have been at fault. I’m not innocent either.) The last straw was one he put our child (4) in danger due to his drinking. He came to my house and assaulted me. He had our son in the back seat of the vehicle and had a BAC of .26%. Neighbours phoned the police and they caught him red handed. After the incident (which he was arrested, charged, and found guilty for) I had only let his father visit our son sober and under my supervision. But he was pretty angry with this arrangement and would not meet me half-ways. He refused most visits and getting help. I was growing and doing everything on my own, and he was making life super hard on me and my son. The constant abuse was too much for me to handle. I decided it was in my best interest to leave for the sake of our child so we could start a better life (which is going pretty good!)
I’m not sure at this point it would be good for my son to have any contact with his father unless he went rehab. Even then I’m skeptical as it has been 8 months since we have left and the father shows no interest in changing or wanting to see his son. I have a meeting with a lawyer next week to discuss me getting sole custody and possibly terminating his dads parenting rights. Mediation is not possible because I fear for my safety and mental wellbeing. I hope to go through this process without seeing/speaking to him at all. I also don’t want any child support from him for our child if he is not going to get help and be there for our child. My ex sees this all as me being malicious, but I just don’t want my son to grow up with a hostile parent lost in addiction. I’m not sure what I am really looking for here but hoping to get some advice/support.

My (23F) ex (40M) and I had a very toxic relationship. He is active in his addiction and we have a long history of heated arguments and physical violence (both of us have been at fault. I’m not innocent either.) The last straw was one he put our child (4) in danger due to his drinking. He came to my house and assaulted me. He had our son in the back seat of the vehicle and had a BAC of .26%. Neighbours phoned the police and they caught him red handed. After the incident (which he was arrested, charged, and found guilty for) I had only let his father visit our son sober and under my supervision. But he was pretty angry with this arrangement and would not meet me half-ways. He refused most visits and getting help. I was growing and doing everything on my own, and he was making life super hard on me and my son. The constant abuse was too much for me to handle. I decided it was in my best interest to leave for the sake of our child so we could start a better life (which is going pretty good!)
I’m not sure at this point it would be good for my son to have any contact with his father unless he went rehab. Even then I’m skeptical as it has been 8 months since we have left and the father shows no interest in changing or wanting to see his son. I have a meeting with a lawyer next week to discuss me getting sole custody and possibly terminating his dads parenting rights. Mediation is not possible because I fear for my safety and mental wellbeing. I hope to go through this process without seeing/speaking to him at all. I also don’t want any child support from him for our child if he is not going to get help and be there for our child. My ex sees this all as me being malicious, but I just don’t want my son to grow up with a hostile parent lost in addiction. I’m not sure what I am really looking for here but hoping to get some advice/support.

I just moved into a new apartment today. I go to take a shower, and suddenly water is spraying all over the ceiling and over the top of the shower curtain! I call maintenance to get this fixed, and he becomes so rude with me over the phone! He states that this is not a emergency and he’s not going to come until Tuesday, the following day after Memorial Day! I tell him absolutely it is an emergency and he needs to come tomorrow at the latest. How is a broken shower head not an emergency?!?

Alright, I don’t even know where else to turn. Xfinity is a joke. Can’t wait to see this locked in 3 days and shoved under the rug in this sub.
March - this is when it begins, the beginning of this entire fiasco. It starts with some overages, that’s it. I contact support, they tell me they can waive my overages if I sign an agreement (first lie), they offer me a higher speed for the same cost. I agree.
April - My waived overages are back on my bill, I contact support again - they say there was an issue with the fee waiver and they were taking care of it, and to not worry (second lie).
May - I now show a past due balance, my speed has never increased from my prior plan, I now am getting service disruptions that leave me for 3-4 hours at a time without internet. I contact support… again - they give me the familiar lies, “it’ll be taken care of”, in addition they schedule a technician to come check the feed to my house.
Which takes us to today. Reddit, of all places because “support” on their app and website, as well as phone support - all absolutely no help. They are so eager to transfer you to someone else who can “help” only to get told the same thing by them. I’m convinced it’s an endless line of people there only to kick the can further down the road.
The agreement I signed, which was based on lies I was fed - has never reached the speeds advertised. After all of this, I still have a past due for fees that seemingly is never going to be waived, on top of all that, the technician who came out - told me nothing was wrong, then drove away. I’m being charged $100 for that.
I love how you’ve monopolized my area and now extort us all for money. ❤️

My (23F) ex (40M) and I had a very toxic relationship. He is active in his addiction and we have a long history of heated arguments and physical violence (both of us have been at fault. I’m not innocent either.) The last straw was one he put our child (4) in danger due to his drinking. He came to my house and assaulted me. He had our son in the back seat of the vehicle and had a BAC of .26%. Neighbours phoned the police and they caught him red handed. After the incident (which he was arrested, charged, and found guilty for) I had only let his father visit our son sober and under my supervision. But he was pretty angry with this arrangement and would not meet me half-ways. He refused most visits and getting help. I was growing and doing everything on my own, and he was making life super hard on me and my son. The constant abuse was too much for me to handle. I decided it was in my best interest to leave for the sake of our child so we could start a better life (which is going pretty good!)
I’m not sure at this point it would be good for my son to have any contact with his father unless he went rehab. Even then I’m skeptical as it has been 8 months since we have left and the father shows no interest in changing or wanting to see his son. I have a meeting with a lawyer next week to discuss me getting sole custody and possibly terminating his dads parenting rights. Mediation is not possible because I fear for my safety and mental wellbeing. I hope to go through this process without seeing/speaking to him at all. I also don’t want any child support from him for our child if he is not going to get help and be there for our child. My ex sees this all as me being malicious, but I just don’t want my son to grow up with a hostile parent lost in addiction. I have been putting this off because I’m hoping the judge doesn’t order visitation. I’ve moved 9 hours away and have no desire to have any contact. I’m not sure what I am really looking for here but hoping to get some advice/support.

Wanted to see if other hotels deal with this but it is people that make reservations without any intention of coming in for them.
It has become a problem at my hotel as of late of people making reservations and just never showing up and when they get charged for it one of three things happen

1. Card declines and we are out the money
2. Card gets charged and I get a very angry phone call and have to explain why they were charged this and normally get the same response of "I forgot I made that reservation" or "I didnt mean to make a reservation"
3. Card gets charged and I get some kind of excuse of why they couldnt make it or call us to let us know

Now dont get me wrong there are vaild reasons to no show a res and not call about it till the day after or so. I am talking about people who never intended on showing in the first place
Lately I have started using the hotels pre-auth arrival where it charges a small amount of a dollar and refunds it just to see if it is a vaild card then if it isnt I try calling the guest to see if they have another card we can use and if they are stilling coming in. Alot of them end in me canceling the res because they didnt want it anymore

This wouldn't fit on AITA but tbh I just need to rant.
TL;DR: I've had a dumpster fire of a day with my family and husband, and really don't know where to post this.
My grandmother (81) is blind.
I'm (24) trying to move her into a new apartment in my complex.
I transfer all her bills and internet. I arrange all her paperwork and payments.
The whole beurocratic process takes almost a month.
She wants lunch? I take her. She needs groceries? I get them. She needs anything at all? I'll take care of it nana.
I have been her eyes and her right hand ever since I became an adult.
Even though my brother (18) lives with her and my dad (50's) lived with her up until yesterday, I've always been the one taking care of her. However I live 30 minutes away by tollway and car, and only have a bike, so my physical visits are limited. Hence why I'm helping her move closer.
My brother and dad refuse to clean anything so there's stains and roaches everywhere when i visit She even does her own laundry.
Today should've been the last day for anything major and then it would've been smooth sailing. I just had to pick up a uhaul, and meet my little brother and his friend he said was helping him at the old apartment to pick up furniture, then we'd stop and get gas, get some lunch, unload at the new apartment, and everything would be happy ever after. My brother has had a month to pack after all.
I get upstairs and my brother has everything stuffed randomly into boxes. The bottoms look like they might fall out, the beds haven't been taken apart, not everything is packed yet, and I'm starting to feel a little stress.
Apparently my brother's friend didn't show up so I told nana it would be okay, my brother and I would load the uhaul. So I ask my brother to help me with the washer and dryer and he says "Ummm.... how about nah." I tell him we should load those first because the heavier stuff needs to be behind the cab. He says I have no idea what I'm talking about, that he worked for a moving company for four months (when??) and he's in charge here.
I feel a bit of a panick attack coming on so I grab some water and pain meds for my nana since she's been having back problems all day. The door is wide open and the dog runs out so I grab him and help him in the uhaul (he's suuuper old and has lots of leg and joint problems)
I get back in the uhaul and call my husband (24, married for 2 or 3 years, it's common law so idk) and he doesn't pick up so I call four more times and at this point the panick attack is in full gear so I admit I was impatient when I picked up the phone. My husband asks to speak to my family so I give my nana the phone and my brother sees and says that I'm just like our mother. (Our mom used to call her sisters when I was having a panick attack or any sort of breakdown and complain about how much of a burden I was and straight up lie to them for sympathy making up things I did that never happened. She also pitted my brother and I against each other a lot.)
My nana hands the phone to my brother who just hangs up on my husband.
I called my husband back, still needing help with my panick attack, and at this point I'm yelling at my brother because he won't leave me alone. My brother is sitting there cooing at our nana telling her not to worry about me as if she's a dog and he's trying to soothe her from my behavior. He smirks and twiddles his fingers at me.
I almost screamed.
He proceeds to tell my grandmother that I'm mad at him because I didn't get my way and that I'm refusing to help him and that I'm pretending to be a know it all.
I start shouting at him.
My husband tells me I'm being petulant and at that point I hang up on him myself, go for a walk somewhere in the complex and ask my therapist if she can do an emergency session.
I vaguely explain my feelings at the moment and she just tries to reassure me that they all love me even if today is hard, and to send her an email about it we can discuss in session.
I'm bawling my eyes out and consider calling the suicide hotline instead but they suck so I just sit there and sob for a while.
When I've calmed back down I go back to the truck and just tell my brother I'll help him and we'll just do it his way.
He looks at me disgusted and asks me why it looks like I've been crying. I said because he was very mean and he says hes been nothing but pleasant and he didn't mean to make me cry. I said "well you did"
He says cool and starts to whistle and hum as we walk back to the apt, cheerily says "lady's first" at the stairs.
We get up there and I ask him what he needs help with. He says he plans on loading the washer and dryer last and he doesn't need my help until then. And that he's still in charge.
So I say "fine" and leave to go have some space for a while.
He texts me again. This is copied and pasted:
"I changed my mind come help me with these boxes so we can return the truck at 7 " (we don't need to return it at 7, just before tomorrow)
I told him no, I didn't feel like being treated like he was treating me, and he already said he didn't need help.
He proceeded to taunt me saying I was a whining little girl throwing a temper tantrum and I needed to grow up, not sic my husband on him (my husband asked to speak to him, I just wanted my husband to comfort me during my panick attack), and what the fuck was wrong with me? It must be that im on my period (I'm not for the record...)
He then texts me that he's ordered me a lyft to go home, that i'm useless, worthless, a waste of space, and HE'LL drive the truck to the new place (He just got his license a week ago and has never driven a truck like a uhaul before)
I of course don't get in the lyft and berate him for wasting our nanas money on getting one (I'm about to get a new card for her in the mail that I know for a fact only she will be able to use so this won't be a problem soon)
Now here's where things become a dumpster fire. My nana stops being able to move becauze her back pain is so bad and says she needs to go to the hospital. My brother informs me of this and then locks himself in his room.
I call 911 for my nana, tell her I'll take care of everything.
She goes to a hospital in an ambulance (fuck...... this is America btw) and I organize the back of the uhaul with what my brother has loaded (he has a glass lamp sitting up on a table in the back, standing stuff has not been laid flat, just.... so shitty, glassware sitting in high places) and ask my brother if he wants me to take the dog for the night. I get back to my complex, my husband helps me unload her stuff into her new apartment (some stuff broke anyways), we let the dog go to the bathroom, and I return the uhaul. She has until the 31st to leave the previous apartment. I don't know what to do but I've done all I can today.
I get home and start a bath and my husband sits in the bathroom with me explaining WHY he said what he said on the phone (calling me petulent)
I asked him if there was anything else he wanted to tell me and he said no.
So I said I wanted to be alone and he started crying and left.
I don't know what I need right now.
Maybe just to have said all of this to someone before I implode. I don't even expect anyone to read all this. I'm just not in a good state right now.
I haven't eaten all day so I'm probably just gonna leave this here and go eat something and go to bed before I hurt myself, so sorry if I don't respond.