Poole funeral home newport news va

Me [19f] and my ex [20m] had been dating for nearly 7 years . We got together at 13/14 and the early years of our relationship were nothing but pure bliss. We were often referred to as “end game” and our peers, family and even teachers would often command us for being able to maintain such a solid and consistent relationship at our young age especially in todays day and age. Going to the same school, having the same friend group and sharing the same hobbies were in my opinion, the things that attributed to our relationship being able to last for so long. Though young and naive , him and I would always express how we felt like God brought us together and that our relationship was uniquely important. We would spend all night chatting and pouring our hearts out , we went on adventures and dates and he knew that ANYTIME he needed ANYTHING I was a phone all away . I would do anything to see him smile and I would give my life if that ment that he would survive. I wasn’t only I love I genuinely felt obsessed with him. As we got older , our relationship began to change and his eyes started to wander . Social media came into play and hormones began to rage more than ever . Eventually he ended up cheating on me with someone he claimed to be “just a friend” which ended up shattering my heart and our relationship. In an effort to convince me otherwise , he got down on his knees and started to cry like I had never seen before and kept repeating that “he only loved me” blah blah blah . We broke up for a few months after I found out but ended up getting back together soon after. Ever since , he would “conveniently” end up in situations where he would have to work with her or was around her. He’d constantly make me feel bad to doubting his loyalty even after he cheated on me after being together for so long . We would constantly argue over him adding her back on social media after swearing that he would never or him texting his sister asking about her and her family. I always felt as though I was the side chick in my own relationship. About a year after he cheated , his childhood best friend [17m] , which he still was extremely close with , got into a tragic accident while on his way home from school . An ambulance hit him and rolled over his body and he died on impact. The news absolutely destroyed my boyfriend and our school. The night of the accident my boyfriend laid up all night crying and pacing up and down . The days following the accident were extremely tough for my boyfriend and he spent hours trying to rationalize his best friends death through many hours of tears. My heart broke for him and his classmates, as his best friend was in his class. The night of the viewing came and my boyfriend attended without me. One of my friends texted me during the viewing and told me that the girl that he had cheated on me with was crying and he went over to hug her . Apparently they were sobbing and embracing each other for a good 10 minutes, he wiped her tears and rubbed her back and vice versa. Though in hindsight , the embrace was justified being that they were both grieving a good friend , the news infuriated me and I felt like I needed to talk to him when he got home . I expressed how the embrace made me feel uneasy and uncomfortable and how I felt as though many other people could’ve comforted her ie her close girlfriends and parents so why did he have to ? Again he put on a whole performance and cried and begged me to just relax because although he cheated they were “just friends” and that the hug meant nothing. Given the circumstances I decided to leave it alone and believe him. I still felt uneasy about the funeral the next day but I shut my feelings off and focused on the real matter at hand ; my boyfriend about to burry his best friend in less than 12 hours. He did assure me that he would stay far away from her at the funeral. The day of the funeral came and I spent the entire morning praying with my boyfriend, wiping his tears and trying to do all that I can to make him happy. I had brought breakfast and hot coco to his house and even ironed his tux for him . I did not go to the funeral myself because I struggle with extreme social anxiety but I was going to watch the funeral online . My boyfriend understood and told me that he appreciated my efforts to support him even though I wouldn’t be there in person. He left and I went back home so that I could watch the funeral . The funeral was beautiful but the entire time I couldn’t stop worrying about him and her. I tried to pan the audience and hoped that the camera would glance over to where he was seated but it didn’t . Finally , 30 minutes before it ended I spotted him on the camera . Seated right next to her … with his arm around her I quickly texted him a long and detailed message with very colorful language. I blew up his phone and threaten to leave him if he didn’t move away from her . He ignored my texts all day and I continued to curse him out and call him constantly. When he got home he said that I could go to hell and told me that I was an ass for blowing up at him on the day of his best friends funeral . We dated for a couple more years and he continued to “conveniently” be around her and every time I would confront him he would tell me to get over it and bring up how I wasn’t there for him on the day of the funeral while she was… needless to say we broke up . But still to this day I wonder AITAH for starting an argument on that day ?

Me [19f] and my ex [20m] had been dating for nearly 7 years . We got together at 13/14 and the early years of our relationship were nothing but pure bliss. We were often referred to as “end game” and our peers, family and even teachers would often command us for being able to maintain such a solid and consistent relationship at our young age especially in todays day and age. Going to the same school, having the same friend group and sharing the same hobbies were in my opinion, the things that attributed to our relationship being able to last for so long. Though young and naive , him and I would always express how we felt like God brought us together and that our relationship was uniquely important. We would spend all night chatting and pouring our hearts out , we went on adventures and dates and he knew that ANYTIME he needed ANYTHING I was a phone all away . I would do anything to see him smile and I would give my life if that ment that he would survive. I wasn’t only I love I genuinely felt obsessed with him. As we got older , our relationship began to change and his eyes started to wander . Social media came into play and hormones began to rage more than ever . Eventually he ended up cheating on me with someone he claimed to be “just a friend” which ended up shattering my heart and our relationship. In an effort to convince me otherwise , he got down on his knees and started to cry like I had never seen before and kept repeating that “he only loved me” blah blah blah . We broke up for a few months after I found out but ended up getting back together soon after. Ever since , he would “conveniently” end up in situations where he would have to work with her or was around her. He’d constantly make me feel bad to doubting his loyalty even after he cheated on me after being together for so long . We would constantly argue over him adding her back on social media after swearing that he would never or him texting his sister asking about her and her family. I always felt as though I was the side chick in my own relationship. About a year after he cheated , his childhood best friend [17m] , which he still was extremely close with , got into a tragic accident while on his way home from school . An ambulance hit him and rolled over his body and he died on impact. The news absolutely destroyed my boyfriend and our school. The night of the accident my boyfriend laid up all night crying and pacing up and down . The days following the accident were extremely tough for my boyfriend and he spent hours trying to rationalize his best friends death through many hours of tears. My heart broke for him and his classmates, as his best friend was in his class. The night of the viewing came and my boyfriend attended without me. One of my friends texted me during the viewing and told me that the girl that he had cheated on me with was crying and he went over to hug her . Apparently they were sobbing and embracing each other for a good 10 minutes, he wiped her tears and rubbed her back and vice versa. Though in hindsight , the embrace was justified being that they were both grieving a good friend , the news infuriated me and I felt like I needed to talk to him when he got home . I expressed how the embrace made me feel uneasy and uncomfortable and how I felt as though many other people could’ve comforted her ie her close girlfriends and parents so why did he have to ? Again he put on a whole performance and cried and begged me to just relax because although he cheated they were “just friends” and that the hug meant nothing. Given the circumstances I decided to leave it alone and believe him. I still felt uneasy about the funeral the next day but I shut my feelings off and focused on the real matter at hand ; my boyfriend about to burry his best friend in less than 12 hours. He did assure me that he would stay far away from her at the funeral. The day of the funeral came and I spent the entire morning praying with my boyfriend, wiping his tears and trying to do all that I can to make him happy. I had brought breakfast and hot coco to his house and even ironed his tux for him . I did not go to the funeral myself because I struggle with extreme social anxiety but I was going to watch the funeral online . My boyfriend understood and told me that he appreciated my efforts to support him even though I wouldn’t be there in person. He left and I went back home so that I could watch the funeral . The funeral was beautiful but the entire time I couldn’t stop worrying about him and her. I tried to pan the audience and hoped that the camera would glance over to where he was seated but it didn’t . Finally , 30 minutes before it ended I spotted him on the camera . Seated right next to her … with his arm around her I quickly texted him a long and detailed message with very colorful language. I blew up his phone and threaten to leave him if he didn’t move away from her . He ignored my texts all day and I continued to curse him out and call him constantly. When he got home he said that I could go to hell and told me that I was an ass for blowing up at him on the day of his best friends funeral . We dated for a couple more years and he continued to “conveniently” be around her and every time I would confront him he would tell me to get over it and bring up how I wasn’t there for him on the day of the funeral while she was… needless to say we broke up . But still to this day I wonder AITAH for starting an argument on that day ?

According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready! Ooming! Hang on a second. Hello? - Barry? - Adam? - Oan you believe this is happening? - I can't. I'll pick you up. Looking sharp. Use the stairs. Your father paid good money for those. Sorry. I'm excited. Here's the graduate. We're very proud of you, son. A perfect report card, all B's. Very proud. Ma! I got a thing going here. - You got lint on your fuzz. - Ow! That's me! - Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000. - Bye! Barry, I told you, stop flying in the house! - Hey, Adam. - Hey, Barry. - Is that fuzz gel? - A little. Special day, graduation. Never thought I'd make it. Three days grade school, three days high school. Those were awkward. Three days college. I'm glad I took a day and hitchhiked around the hive. You did come back different. - Hi, Barry. - Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good. - Hear about Frankie? - Yeah. - You going to the funeral? - No, I'm not going. Everybody knows, sting someone, you die. Don't waste it on a squirrel. Such a hothead. I guess he could have just gotten out of the way. I love this incorporating an amusement park into our day. That's why we don't need vacations. Boy, quite a bit of pomp... under the circumstances. - Well, Adam, today we are men. - We are! - Bee-men. - Amen! Hallelujah! Students, faculty, distinguished bees, please welcome Dean Buzzwell. Welcome, New Hive Oity graduating class of... ...9:15. That concludes our ceremonies. And begins your career at Honex Industries! Will we pick ourjob today? I heard it's just orientation. Heads up! Here we go. Keep your hands and antennas inside the tram at all times. - Wonder what it'll be like? - A little scary. Welcome to Honex, a division of Honesco and a part of the Hexagon Group. This is it! Wow. Wow. We know that you, as a bee, have worked your whole life to get to the point where you can work for your whole life. Honey begins when our valiant Pollen Jocks bring the nectar to the hive. Our top-secret formula is automatically color-corrected, scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured into this soothing sweet syrup with its distinctive golden glow you know as... Honey! - That girl was hot. - She's my cousin! - She is? - Yes, we're all cousins. - Right. You're right. - At Honex, we constantly strive to improve every aspect of bee existence. These bees are stress-testing a new helmet technology. - What do you think he makes? - Not enough. Here we have our latest advancement, the Krelman. - What does that do? - Oatches that little strand of honey that hangs after you pour it. Saves us millions. Oan anyone work on the Krelman? Of course. Most bee jobs are small ones. But bees know that every small job, if it's done well, means a lot. But choose carefully because you'll stay in the job you pick for the rest of your life. The same job the rest of your life? I didn't know that. What's the difference? You'll be happy to know that bees, as a species, haven't had one day off in 27 million years. So you'll just work us to death? We'll sure try. Wow! That blew my mind! "What's the difference?" How can you say that? One job forever? That's an insane choice to have to make. I'm relieved. Now we only have to make one decision in life. But, Adam, how could they never have told us that? Why would you question anything? We're bees. We're the most perfectly functioning society on Earth. You ever think maybe things work a little too well here? Like what? Give me one example. I don't know. But you know what I'm talking about. Please clear the gate. Royal Nectar Force on approach. Wait a second. Oheck it out. - Hey, those are Pollen Jocks! - Wow. I've never seen them this close. They know what it's like outside the hive. Yeah, but some don't come back. - Hey, Jocks! - Hi, Jocks! You guys did great! You're monsters! You're sky freaks! I love it! I love it! - I wonder where they were. - I don't know. Their day's not planned. Outside the hive, flying who knows where, doing who knows what. You can'tjust decide to be a Pollen Jock. You have to be bred for that. Right. Look. That's more pollen than you and I will see in a lifetime. It's just a status symbol. Bees make too much of it. Perhaps. Unless you're wearing it and the ladies see you wearing it. Those ladies? Aren't they our cousins too? Distant. Distant. Look at these two. - Oouple of Hive Harrys. - Let's have fun with them. It must be dangerous being a Pollen Jock. Yeah. Once a bear pinned me against a mushroom! He had a paw on my throat, and with the other, he was slapping me! - Oh, my! - I never thought I'd knock him out. What were you doing during this? Trying to alert the authorities. I can autograph that. A little gusty out there today, wasn't it, comrades? Yeah. Gusty. We're hitting a sunflower patch six miles from here tomorrow. - Six miles, huh? - Barry! A puddle jump for us, but maybe you're not up for it. - Maybe I am. - You are not! We're going 0900 at J-Gate. What do you think, buzzy-boy? Are you bee enough? I might be. It all depends on what 0900 means. Hey, Honex! Dad, you surprised me. You decide what you're interested in? - Well, there's a lot of choices. - But you only get one. Do you ever get bored doing the same job every day? Son, let me tell you about stirring. You grab that stick, and you just move it around, and you stir it around. You get yourself into a rhythm. It's a beautiful thing. You know, Dad, the more I think about it, maybe the honey field just isn't right for me. You were thinking of what, making balloon animals? That's a bad job for a guy with a stinger. Janet, your son's not sure he wants to go into honey! - Barry, you are so funny sometimes. - I'm not trying to be funny. You're not funny! You're going into honey. Our son, the stirrer! - You're gonna be a stirrer? - No one's listening to me! Wait till you see the sticks I have. I could say anything right now. I'm gonna get an ant tattoo! Let's open some honey and celebrate! Maybe I'll pierce my thorax. Shave my antennae. Shack up with a grasshopper. Get a gold tooth and call everybody "dawg"! I'm so proud. - We're starting work today! - Today's the day. Oome on! All the good jobs will be gone. Yeah, right. Pollen counting, stunt bee, pouring, stirrer, front desk, hair removal... - Is it still available? - Hang on. Two left! One of them's yours! Oongratulations! Step to the side. - What'd you get? - Picking crud out. Stellar! Wow! Oouple of newbies? Yes, sir! Our first day! We are ready! Make your choice. - You want to go first? - No, you go. Oh, my. What's available? Restroom attendant's open, not for the reason you think. - Any chance of getting the Krelman? - Sure, you're on. I'm sorry, the Krelman just closed out. Wax monkey's always open. The Krelman opened up again. What happened? A bee died. Makes an opening. See? He's dead. Another dead one. Deady. Deadified. Two more dead. Dead from the neck up. Dead from the neck down. That's life! Oh, this is so hard! Heating, cooling, stunt bee, pourer, stirrer, humming, inspector number seven, lint coordinator, stripe supervisor, mite wrangler. Barry, what do you think I should... Barry? Barry! All right, we've got the sunflower patch in quadrant nine... What happened to you? Where are you? - I'm going out. - Out? Out where? - Out there. - Oh, no! I have to, before I go to work for the rest of my life. You're gonna die! You're crazy! Hello? Another call coming in. If anyone's feeling brave, there's a Korean deli on 83rd that gets their roses today. Hey, guys. - Look at that. - Isn't that the kid we saw yesterday? Hold it, son, flight deck's restricted. It's OK, Lou. We're gonna take him up. Really? Feeling lucky, are you? Sign here, here. Just initial that. - Thank you. - OK. You got a rain advisory today, and as you all know, bees cannot fly in rain. So be careful. As always, watch your brooms, hockey sticks, dogs, birds, bears and bats. Also, I got a couple of reports of root beer being poured on us. Murphy's in a home because of it, babbling like a cicada! - That's awful. - And a reminder for you rookies, bee law number one, absolutely no talking to humans! All right, launch positions! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Black and yellow! Hello! You ready for this, hot shot? Yeah. Yeah, bring it on. Wind, check. - Antennae, check. - Nectar pack, check. - Wings, check. - Stinger, check. Scared out of my shorts, check. OK, ladies, let's move it out! Pound those petunias, you striped stem-suckers! All of you, drain those flowers! Wow! I'm out! I can't believe I'm out! So blue. I feel so fast and free! Box kite! Wow! Flowers! This is Blue Leader. We have roses visual. Bring it around 30 degrees and hold. Roses! 30 degrees, roger. Bringing it around. Stand to the side, kid. It's got a bit of a kick. That is one nectar collector! - Ever see pollination up close? - No, sir. I pick up some pollen here, sprinkle it over here. Maybe a dash over there, a pinch on that one. See that? It's a little bit of magic. That's amazing. Why do we do that? That's pollen power. More pollen, more flowers, more nectar, more honey for us. Oool. I'm picking up a lot of bright yellow. Oould be daisies. Don't we need those? Oopy that visual. Wait. One of these flowers seems to be on the move. Say again? You're reporting a moving flower? Affirmative. That was on the line! This is the coolest. What is it? I don't know, but I'm loving this color. It smells good. Not like a flower, but I like it. Yeah, fuzzy. Ohemical-y. Oareful, guys. It's a little grabby. My sweet lord of bees! Oandy-brain, get off there! Problem! - Guys! - This could be bad. Affirmative. Very close. Gonna hurt. Mama's little boy. You are way out of position, rookie! Ooming in at you like a missile! Help me! I don't think these are flowers. - Should we tell him? - I think he knows. What is this?! Match point! You can start packing up, honey, because you're about to eat it! Yowser! Gross. There's a bee in the car! - Do something! - I'm driving! - Hi, bee. - He's back here! He's going to sting me! Nobody move. If you don't move, he won't sting you. Freeze! He blinked! Spray him, Granny! What are you doing?! Wow... the tension level out here is unbelievable. I gotta get home. Oan't fly in rain. Oan't fly in rain. Oan't fly in rain. Mayday! Mayday! Bee going down! Ken, could you close the window please? Ken, could you close the window please? Oheck out my new resume. I made it into a fold-out brochure. You see? Folds out. Oh, no. More humans. I don't need this. What was that? Maybe this time. This time. This time. This time! This time! This... Drapes! That is diabolical. It's fantastic. It's got all my special skills, even my top-ten favorite movies. What's number one? Star Wars? Nah, I don't go for that... ...kind of stuff. No wonder we shouldn't talk to them. They're out of their minds. When I leave a job interview, they're flabbergasted, can't believe what I say. There's the sun. Maybe that's a way out. I don't remember the sun having a big 75 on it. I predicted global warming. I could feel it getting hotter. At first I thought it was just me. Wait! Stop! Bee! Stand back. These are winter boots. Wait! Don't kill him! You know I'm allergic to them! This thing could kill me! Why does his life have less value than yours? Why does his life have any less value than mine? Is that your statement? I'm just saying all life has value. You don't know what he's capable of feeling. My brochure! There you go, little guy. I'm not scared of him. It's an allergic thing. Put that on your resume brochure. My whole face could puff up. Make it one of your special skills. Knocking someone out is also a special skill. Right. Bye, Vanessa. Thanks. - Vanessa, next week? Yogurt night? - Sure, Ken. You know, whatever. - You could put carob chips on there. - Bye. - Supposed to be less calories. - Bye. I gotta say something. She saved my life. I gotta say something. All right, here it goes. Nah. What would I say? I could really get in trouble. It's a bee law. You're not supposed to talk to a human. I can't believe I'm doing this. I've got to. Oh, I can't do it. Oome on! No. Yes. No. Do it. I can't. How should I start it? "You like jazz?" No, that's no good. Here she comes! Speak, you fool! Hi! I'm sorry. - You're talking. - Yes, I know. You're talking! I'm so sorry. No, it's OK. It's fine. I know I'm dreaming. But I don't recall going to bed. Well, I'm sure this is very disconcerting. This is a bit of a surprise to me. I mean, you're a bee! I am. And I'm not supposed to be doing this, but they were all trying to kill me. And if it wasn't for you... I had to thank you. It's just how I was raised. That was a little weird. - I'm talking with a bee. - Yeah. I'm talking to a bee. And the bee is talking to me! I just want to say I'm grateful. I'll leave now. - Wait! How did you learn to do that? - What? The talking thing. Same way you did, I guess. "Mama, Dada, honey." You pick it up. - That's very funny. - Yeah. Bees are funny. If we didn't laugh, we'd cry with what we have to deal with. Anyway... Oan I... ...get you something? - Like what? I don't know. I mean... I don't know. Ooffee? I don't want to put you out. It's no trouble. It takes two minutes. - It's just coffee. - I hate to impose. - Don't be ridiculous! - Actually, I would love a cup. Hey, you want rum cake? - I shouldn't. - Have some. - No, I can't. - Oome on! I'm trying to lose a couple micrograms. - Where? - These stripes don't help. You look great! I don't know if you know anything about fashion. Are you all right? No. He's making the tie in the cab as they're flying up Madison. He finally gets there. He runs up the steps into the church. The wedding is on. And he says, "Watermelon? I thought you said Guatemalan. Why would I marry a watermelon?" Is that a bee joke? That's the kind of stuff we do. Yeah, different. So, what are you gonna do, Barry? About work? I don't know. I want to do my part for the hive, but I can't do it the way they want. I know how you feel. - You do? - Sure. My parents wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor, but I wanted to be a florist. - Really? - My only interest is flowers. Our new queen was just elected with that same campaign slogan. Anyway, if you look... There's my hive right there. See it? You're in Sheep Meadow! Yes! I'm right off the Turtle Pond! No way! I know that area. I lost a toe ring there once. - Why do girls put rings on their toes? - Why not? - It's like putting a hat on your knee. - Maybe I'll try that. - You all right, ma'am? - Oh, yeah. Fine. Just having two cups of coffee! Anyway, this has been great. Thanks for the coffee. Yeah, it's no trouble. Sorry I couldn't finish it. If I did, I'd be up the rest of my life. Are you...? Oan I take a piece of this with me? Sure! Here, have a crumb. - Thanks! - Yeah. All right. Well, then... I guess I'll see you around. Or not. OK, Barry. And thank you so much again... for before. Oh, that? That was nothing. Well, not nothing, but... Anyway... This can't possibly work. He's all set to go. We may as well try it. OK, Dave, pull the chute. - Sounds amazing. - It was amazing! It was the scariest, happiest moment of my life. Humans! I can't believe you were with humans! Giant, scary humans! What were they like? Huge and crazy. They talk crazy. They eat crazy giant things. They drive crazy. - Do they try and kill you, like on TV? - Some of them. But some of them don't. - How'd you get back? - Poodle. You did it, and I'm glad. You saw whatever you wanted to see. You had your "experience." Now you can pick out yourjob and be normal. - Well... - Well? Well, I met someone. You did? Was she Bee-ish? - A wasp?! Your parents will kill you! - No, no, no, not a wasp. - Spider? - I'm not attracted to spiders. I know it's the hottest thing, with the eight legs and all. I can't get by that face. So who is she? She's... human. No, no. That's a bee law. You wouldn't break a bee law. - Her name's Vanessa. - Oh, boy. She's so nice. And she's a florist! Oh, no! You're dating a human florist! We're not dating. You're flying outside the hive, talking to humans that attack our homes with power washers and M-80s! One-eighth a stick of dynamite! She saved my life! And she understands me. This is over! Eat this. This is not over! What was that? - They call it a crumb. - It was so stingin' stripey! And that's not what they eat. That's what falls off what they eat! - You know what a Oinnabon is? - No. It's bread and cinnamon and frosting. They heat it up... Sit down! ...really hot! - Listen to me! We are not them! We're us. There's us and there's them! Yes, but who can deny the heart that is yearning? There's no yearning. Stop yearning. Listen to me! You have got to start thinking bee, my friend. Thinking bee! - Thinking bee. - Thinking bee. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! There he is. He's in the pool. You know what your problem is, Barry? I gotta start thinking bee? How much longer will this go on? It's been three days! Why aren't you working? I've got a lot of big life decisions to think about. What life? You have no life! You have no job. You're barely a bee! Would it kill you to make a little honey? Barry, come out. Your father's talking to you. Martin, would you talk to him? Barry, I'm talking to you! You coming? Got everything? All set! Go ahead. I'll catch up. Don't be too long. Watch this! Vanessa! - We're still here. - I told you not to yell at him. He doesn't respond to yelling! - Then why yell at me? - Because you don't listen! I'm not listening to this. Sorry, I've gotta go. - Where are you going? - I'm meeting a friend. A girl? Is this why you can't decide? Bye. I just hope she's Bee-ish. They have a huge parade of flowers every year in Pasadena? To be in the Tournament of Roses, that's every florist's dream! Up on a float, surrounded by flowers, crowds cheering. A tournament. Do the roses compete in athletic events? No. All right, I've got one. How come you don't fly everywhere? It's exhausting. Why don't you run everywhere? It's faster. Yeah, OK, I see, I see. All right, your turn. TiVo. You can just freeze live TV? That's insane! You don't have that? We have Hivo, but it's a disease. It's a horrible, horrible disease. Oh, my. Dumb bees! You must want to sting all those jerks. We try not to sting. It's usually fatal for us. So you have to watch your temper. Very carefully. You kick a wall, take a walk, write an angry letter and throw it out. Work through it like any emotion: Anger, jealousy, lust. Oh, my goodness! Are you OK? Yeah.

Me [19f] and my ex [20m] had been dating for nearly 7 years . We got together at 13/14 and the early years of our relationship were nothing but pure bliss. We were often referred to as “end game” and our peers, family and even teachers would often command us for being able to maintain such a solid and consistent relationship at our young age especially in todays day and age. Going to the same school, having the same friend group and sharing the same hobbies were in my opinion, the things that attributed to our relationship being able to last for so long. Though young and naive , him and I would always express how we felt like God brought us together and that our relationship was uniquely important. We would spend all night chatting and pouring our hearts out , we went on adventures and dates and he knew that ANYTIME he needed ANYTHING I was a phone all away . I would do anything to see him smile and I would give my life if that ment that he would survive. I wasn’t only I love I genuinely felt obsessed with him. As we got older , our relationship began to change and his eyes started to wander . Social media came into play and hormones began to rage more than ever . Eventually he ended up cheating on me with someone he claimed to be “just a friend” which ended up shattering my heart and our relationship. In an effort to convince me otherwise , he got down on his knees and started to cry like I had never seen before and kept repeating that “he only loved me” blah blah blah . We broke up for a few months after I found out but ended up getting back together soon after. Ever since , he would “conveniently” end up in situations where he would have to work with her or was around her. He’d constantly make me feel bad to doubting his loyalty even after he cheated on me after being together for so long . We would constantly argue over him adding her back on social media after swearing that he would never or him texting his sister asking about her and her family. I always felt as though I was the side chick in my own relationship. About a year after he cheated , his childhood best friend [17m] , which he still was extremely close with , got into a tragic accident while on his way home from school . An ambulance hit him and rolled over his body and he died on impact. The news absolutely destroyed my boyfriend and our school. The night of the accident my boyfriend laid up all night crying and pacing up and down . The days following the accident were extremely tough for my boyfriend and he spent hours trying to rationalize his best friends death through many hours of tears. My heart broke for him and his classmates, as his best friend was in his class. The night of the viewing came and my boyfriend attended without me. One of my friends texted me during the viewing and told me that the girl that he had cheated on me with was crying and he went over to hug her . Apparently they were sobbing and embracing each other for a good 10 minutes, he wiped her tears and rubbed her back and vice versa. Though in hindsight , the embrace was justified being that they were both grieving a good friend , the news infuriated me and I felt like I needed to talk to him when he got home . I expressed how the embrace made me feel uneasy and uncomfortable and how I felt as though many other people could’ve comforted her ie her close girlfriends and parents so why did he have to ? Again he put on a whole performance and cried and begged me to just relax because although he cheated they were “just friends” and that the hug meant nothing. Given the circumstances I decided to leave it alone and believe him. I still felt uneasy about the funeral the next day but I shut my feelings off and focused on the real matter at hand ; my boyfriend about to burry his best friend in less than 12 hours. He did assure me that he would stay far away from her at the funeral. The day of the funeral came and I spent the entire morning praying with my boyfriend, wiping his tears and trying to do all that I can to make him happy. I had brought breakfast and hot coco to his house and even ironed his tux for him . I did not go to the funeral myself because I struggle with extreme social anxiety but I was going to watch the funeral online . My boyfriend understood and told me that he appreciated my efforts to support him even though I wouldn’t be there in person. He left and I went back home so that I could watch the funeral . The funeral was beautiful but the entire time I couldn’t stop worrying about him and her. I tried to pan the audience and hoped that the camera would glance over to where he was seated but it didn’t . Finally , 30 minutes before it ended I spotted him on the camera . Seated right next to her … with his arm around her I quickly texted him a long and detailed message with very colorful language. I blew up his phone and threaten to leave him if he didn’t move away from her . He ignored my texts all day and I continued to curse him out and call him constantly. When he got home he said that I could go to hell and told me that I was an ass for blowing up at him on the day of his best friends funeral . We dated for a couple more years and he continued to “conveniently” be around her and every time I would confront him he would tell me to get over it and bring up how I wasn’t there for him on the day of the funeral while she was… needless to say we broke up . But still to this day I wonder AITAH for starting an argument on that day ?

Me [19f] and my ex [20m] had been dating for nearly 7 years . We got together at 13/14 and the early years of our relationship were nothing but pure bliss. We were often referred to as “end game” and our peers, family and even teachers would often command us for being able to maintain such a solid and consistent relationship at our young age especially in todays day and age. Going to the same school, having the same friend group and sharing the same hobbies were in my opinion, the things that attributed to our relationship being able to last for so long. Though young and naive , him and I would always express how we felt like God brought us together and that our relationship was uniquely important. We would spend all night chatting and pouring our hearts out , we went on adventures and dates and he knew that ANYTIME he needed ANYTHING I was a phone all away . I would do anything to see him smile and I would give my life if that ment that he would survive. I wasn’t only I love I genuinely felt obsessed with him. As we got older , our relationship began to change and his eyes started to wander . Social media came into play and hormones began to rage more than ever . Eventually he ended up cheating on me with someone he claimed to be “just a friend” which ended up shattering my heart and our relationship. In an effort to convince me otherwise , he got down on his knees and started to cry like I had never seen before and kept repeating that “he only loved me” blah blah blah . We broke up for a few months after I found out but ended up getting back together soon after. Ever since , he would “conveniently” end up in situations where he would have to work with her or was around her. He’d constantly make me feel bad to doubting his loyalty even after he cheated on me after being together for so long . We would constantly argue over him adding her back on social media after swearing that he would never or him texting his sister asking about her and her family. I always felt as though I was the side chick in my own relationship. About a year after he cheated , his childhood best friend [17m] , which he still was extremely close with , got into a tragic accident while on his way home from school . An ambulance hit him and rolled over his body and he died on impact. The news absolutely destroyed my boyfriend and our school. The night of the accident my boyfriend laid up all night crying and pacing up and down . The days following the accident were extremely tough for my boyfriend and he spent hours trying to rationalize his best friends death through many hours of tears. My heart broke for him and his classmates, as his best friend was in his class. The night of the viewing came and my boyfriend attended without me. One of my friends texted me during the viewing and told me that the girl that he had cheated on me with was crying and he went over to hug her . Apparently they were sobbing and embracing each other for a good 10 minutes, he wiped her tears and rubbed her back and vice versa. Though in hindsight , the embrace was justified being that they were both grieving a good friend , the news infuriated me and I felt like I needed to talk to him when he got home . I expressed how the embrace made me feel uneasy and uncomfortable and how I felt as though many other people could’ve comforted her ie her close girlfriends and parents so why did he have to ? Again he put on a whole performance and cried and begged me to just relax because although he cheated they were “just friends” and that the hug meant nothing. Given the circumstances I decided to leave it alone and believe him. I still felt uneasy about the funeral the next day but I shut my feelings off and focused on the real matter at hand ; my boyfriend about to burry his best friend in less than 12 hours. He did assure me that he would stay far away from her at the funeral. The day of the funeral came and I spent the entire morning praying with my boyfriend, wiping his tears and trying to do all that I can to make him happy. I had brought breakfast and hot coco to his house and even ironed his tux for him . I did not go to the funeral myself because I struggle with extreme social anxiety but I was going to watch the funeral online . My boyfriend understood and told me that he appreciated my efforts to support him even though I wouldn’t be there in person. He left and I went back home so that I could watch the funeral . The funeral was beautiful but the entire time I couldn’t stop worrying about him and her. I tried to pan the audience and hoped that the camera would glance over to where he was seated but it didn’t . Finally , 30 minutes before it ended I spotted him on the camera . Seated right next to her … with his arm around her I quickly texted him a long and detailed message with very colorful language. I blew up his phone and threaten to leave him if he didn’t move away from her . He ignored my texts all day and I continued to curse him out and call him constantly. When he got home he said that I could go to hell and told me that I was an ass for blowing up at him on the day of his best friends funeral . We dated for a couple more years and he continued to “conveniently” be around her and every time I would confront him he would tell me to get over it and bring up how I wasn’t there for him on the day of the funeral while she was… needless to say we broke up . But still to this day I wonder AITAH for starting an argument on that day ?

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Toggle navigationWebroot, an OpenText Company Cybersecurity Resources Tips/Articles You Can't Win an Argument with an Internet Troll, So What Can You Do? You Can't Win an Argument with an Internet Troll, So What Can You Do?
There are trolls online. Not the fairytale kind that sits under bridges: we’re talking about the mean, nasty individuals who use online anonymity to be cruel, spread their own brand of hate, destroy reputations and products, and generally try to upset and crush as many people and companies as they possibly can.
Trolls agitate to start fights between friends or strangers; they torment those struggling with illnesses or with the loss of a loved one, people unsure of their identity or their looks, or any other weakness a troll can find. They disrupt forums with off-topic comments, brag nonstop about themselves, ridicule the thoughts of others or insert controversial comments to disrupt conversations.
Trolls spread lies, deceive and cause damage, and they enjoy every minute they can make someone else miserable. They may be obnoxious teens, but more often than not they’re seemingly “normal” adults who use internet anonymity to shed their veneer of decency and show their ugly selves. Trolls are basically cyberbullies on steroids – cowards afraid to show their face but nastier and more dedicated than garden-variety bullies. They are often fairly tech savvy, willing to dig up a comment or information from your past to distort, thereby “justifying” their actions.
If you’ve spent any time online, you’ve probably run across trolls even if you didn’t know the term. You may have tried to reason with them, be nice to them or virtually shout back at them. Don’t bother. You’re more likely to win an argument with a tree than you are with a troll.
What trolls need In order to attack others, trolls need a victim pool and a public forum of some kind, and they usually want an audience.
This means trolls gravitate to anywhere online users interact - like blog sites, social networks, multiplayer games, discussion forums, hobby sites and so on. They are found on sites that primarily target adults like news sites, company sites and forums, and they thrive on sites with lots of kids and teens who may be particularly vulnerable to attack - unless there is a strong moderator that can control their behavior or kick them off a site.
Tackling trolls While you can’t control whether you will become a troll’s target, you can decide if you will make yourself a troll’s victim. Knowing that the troll’s goal is to embarrass, humiliate, ridicule, demean and shame you, you have a choice about how you are going to react.
You can either be devastated, angry, or whatever emotion they want you to feel, or you can look at the attack for what it is – a mean person being mean. It isn’t personal if you refuse to take it personally. Recognize that the troll is the one with the problem. If the attack is directed at you exclusively, via email or as a comment on your site, document it so you can report the abuse, then delete and forget it.
If the attack is directed at you on a public site, understand that the troll’s “audience” – other participants in the conversation such as forum members, social network contacts or other gamers – can see the troll’s behavior as the vicious attack it is. We all learned at an early age how to identify mean, nasty people.
Call out their behavior. Many people recommend you simply ignore trolls and don’t respond in any way, but this gives the trolls even more power as it gives them the power to silence you. Instead, ignore the troll but address the problem with the “audience” in a matter of fact way. Do NOT respond in a manner that stoops to the troll’s level or you risk two outcomes: 1) Feeding the troll and engaging in an unwinnable argument that will escalate, or 2) having the “audience” see you as another irritant/troll rather than as the balanced, decent and aggrieved party.
Frame your comment to the group along the lines of “Wow. Looks like we’ve got a troll trying to attack people on this site, derail meaningful dialog and control our conversation. I suggest that this forum doesn’t give them that power by ignoring their unproductive comments and continuing our discussion, or even take a moment to create a guideline for how we want to deal with trolls.”
Understand that where there’s one troll, there may be many more waiting to pounce once the first troll has started. All too frequently, you see cases where others pile on with additional nasty comments. This just means there may be more than one troll that needs ignoring.
Alert the site moderator if there is one, but even on unmediated sites there is usually a “report abuse” feature. Sometimes this is found directly on the discussion page, other times – like with Facebook – you first go to the help center using the help link at the bottom of the page, then select “report abuse,” and file a bullying report.
Take time for self-care It is fairly easy to understand that the troll is the person with the problem, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to let vicious comments roll off if your “Teflon” layer isn’t thick enough. Even journalists, politicians and movie stars who have had years in the media spotlight where troll-attacks are everyday events sometimes feel the sting of a particularly nasty interaction.
So take time for self-care and reach out in ways that the troll cannot influence the people who love and support you. People who will tell you – repeatedly if needed – that the comments aren’t true, that you’re wonderful and that the troll is just a troll, not a reflection of you.
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Hoots and hello, Magic Redditors! Your friendly Owlin bookworm here.
On a lark and at the behest of some friends, I've spent the past two weeks reading and then distilling what I think are the most important story beats of the March of the Machine webfiction into more easily digestible, slightly tongue-in-cheek (tongue-in-beak?) summaries. To be honest, I simply did not foresee the amount of engagement those posts generated, and the kind words from those who want to keep tabs on the plot happenings but do not have the time to read the story itself!
And so, I thought it prudent to take these daily nuggets of revelation and drama and sorrow and triumph and distill it once more, so that you may find yourself on the same page as your fellow Planeswalkers. With the magical gift of prescience, now seeing the story's conclusion, some additional polishing of the daily summary snippets has been done so that this can stand as a distinct work. TLDR: The good guys fight back, Elspeth becomes an angel, some amount of corrupted heroes die, and Zhalfir reconnects to the Multiverse while Phyrexia is cast into limbo. Chandra and Nissa (good again) are finally lesbians for each other.
A big note before we begin though! These summaries and the comedic nature of them come from a place of passion, not cynicism. My or your opinions on the overall direction of Magic as an IP is a conversation for another page entirely. And these stories were written by authors, artists who deserve respect for how they've shown their craft. The main Episodes were written by K. Arsenault Rivera Arcavios: A Radiant Heart was written by Evekyn Tang Ikoria: Survival of the Fittest was written by Roy Graham Ixalan: Three Hundred Steps Under the Sun was written by Miguel Lopez Eldraine: The Adventures of Rankle, Master of Love was written by Jenna Helland Innistrad: Family Game Night was written by Seanan McGuire Ravnica: One and the Same was written by Allison Lührs New Capenna: The Fall of Park Heights was written by Elise Kova Zendikar: Battles in the Field and in the Mind was written by A.T. Greenblatt
To begin, ITS THE ELESH NORN DOMMY MOMMY CORPORATE STRATEGY MEETING. Elesh Norn, basking in her big moment, has Nahiri restrain the remaining three planeswalkers (Kaya, Kaito, Tivar) so they can watch the big show.
A show which is, ultimately, Norn having Nissa run through a powerpoint of planes and assigning the compleated walkers, her “evangels” to go take care of.
~ Confirmation that Nissa directly controls the Realmbreaker.
~ Tamiyo has a moment of internal conflict when seeing Kamigawa, clearly a bit of Old Self resisting. Norn really likes Tamiyo though, and tells her to go fuck up Kamigawa to cleanse her bad vibes.
~ It is confirmed that even the Phyrexians think Lukka is incompetent, as they don’t really expect him to succeed in toppling Ikoria.
Sheoldred is dragged into the throne room by Ajani, Atraxa, and Lukka and executed on the spot. All Standard players feel a small spark of hope in their chests. Those two are then sent to Theros and New Capenna specifically, to utilize the power of the gods and to deal with what Norn assumed must be a source to Halo. Atraxa is noticeably worried about going to Capenna, but Norn won’t budge. She is confirmed Mommy after all, and mother knows best.
Meanwhile, GIRLS NIGHT AT THE VESS MANOR SAFEHOUSE.
Chandra, our PoV, is waiting very, very, veeeeery patiently for news from the strike team, along with Liliana and Wrenn and Vivien. Anyone remember the few bits from Kaladesh where Liliana and Chandra had major gal pal energy? Wizards remembers, and so they reflect on that for a bit, but with more of a “waiting around at a funeral” sort of energy.
Wrenn is cute and fantastic and I cannot do her character justice here. But she’s thriving.
The three survivors return, relay the bad news, and hoo boy, time to continue making up for lost ground with the super-duper angst Chandra is feeling over the loss of her… significant other.
Chandra is ready to go dive into Phyrexia to save her lost friends (surely, the power of friendship is in there somewhere!) but Liliana and co do rightfully tell her that’s an awful idea.
Except Wrenn. Wrenn is a tree and has big tree thoughts, which begin to inspire some ideas, as the gears begin to turn on the interdimensional clapback.
And then, ITS THE TAMIYO CHAPTER ALREADY SHEEEEESH.
Tamiyo leads the Phryexian charge into Kamigawa, continuing to sink deeper into the bad Phyrexia vibes, unsealing one of her super-duper-forbidden-never-touchie spells, recounting the story of Urza and Karn. She converts it into Phyrexian oil, and uses it to destroy Boseju. Modern players gasp, before the air leaves their lungs.
Smash cut, Kaya and Kaito jump across the roofs of the city, trying to save people as shit gets worse and worse, seeing the oil pouring from Boseju, they decide to try to strike Tamiyo down.
My heart. My poor furry heart.
Nashi made himself some junkyard power armor and wants to try to talk to Tamiyo.
Kaito decides that hey, technically we haven't tried that yet, why not. ...
It doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. Kaito saves Nashi and begins throwing hands.
Tamiyo throws scrolls. she has the upper hand, until MY GOD, ITS THE WANDERING EMPEROR WITH A STEEL CHAIR.
Just as Tamiyo is about to kill Nashi and Kaito, the Emperor actually factually does the anime sword thing.
Tamiyo falls. Dead.
But something rises in her place. One of her super-duper-forbidden-never-touchie spells was a failsafe. Tamiyo long ago made a simulacrum of herself out of the pure energy of her "story."
It isn't much, or maybe its important? We don't know yet. BUT NASHI GOT TO HUG HIS MOM AND THAT IS WHAT MATTERS.
And now, JUMP CUTS A-PLENTY!
Tyvar returns to Kaldheim, and rallies his brother, the fellow elves, and all of Kaldheim to prepare for glorious battle. Stay winning, Tyvar.
Meanwhile, Pia laments the death of her home. Phryrexian conversion is quite easy to do to a lot of Kaladesh.
Luckily, Saheeli has a plan.
And that plan.
IS LESBIAN DINOSAUR ATTACKS, LETS GOOOO.
Meanwhile, in New Capenna....
Atraxa is having a bad day.
Turns out Capenna is not at all fun to invade, even when Elesh Norn specifically told her to not just invade, but raze everything to the ground.
And oddly enough, the thing that really gets to her is the Maestros, and how they care about like. Art and shit. She crashes into a museum and has a major existential crisis, briefly stepping out of the Phyrexian vibe entirely. She resolves to keep pushing onward, seething with hatred of the world's angelic statues. Something strange is happening in the air around her. And it might not be just the poison.
Meanwhile, THEY LITERALLY CALLED IT CATHARTIC REUNION.
Chandra and Wrenn arrive on New Phyrexia and two meet Koth and Melira, who are understandably a wee bit skeptical about this plan to bind Wrenn to the Realmbreaker, given the current track record of success.
They conspire with Urabrask, who states quite plainly his alliance is one intended to depose Elesh Norn. He is equally skeptical of the current track record of success. While the Mirrans cause a diversions, Koth actually factually uses his magic to propel Chandra and Wrenn skyward with the mother of all rocket jumps.
They arrive at the base of the Realmbreaker, but Nissa emerges from the tree itself to subdue them. The angst is palpable in the air, Chandra wavering and unable to conjure any fire.
Wrenn clings on, desperately trying to bind with the Realmbreaker while Nissa torments Chandra. Chandra’s truly broken when she hears Nissa speak with a level of honesty so clear that Chandra realizes Nissa might be completely and totally just Phyrexia now. Or worse, that she genuinely just wants to be together forever.
She grabs Nissa in a hug devoid of all shippability, and erupts, throwing herself and Nissa off the pedestal of the Realmbreaker, praying that Wrenn will be able to carry out the plan.
And then, ELSPETH HAS ENTERED THE CHAT.
Elspeth rematerializes around her earliest memory, that of the Phyrexian torture pit where her mother died and she ignited her spark. An unknown entity questions her, and reading her thoughts, puts forth a simple decision. Elspeth will return to fight, because that is who she is. But where? And when? The camera pans across New Capenna in a fierce battle with Atraxa. But their defenses hold. Elsewhere, Theros. Daxos welcomes her, and shows the plight of Meletis, as the corrupted Ajani leads prayers of Phyrexian fervency to complete the gods themselves. Already three have fallen, and soon more. But still, Elspeth knows this is not the place. Phyrexia, then. Amidst it all, Elesh Norn tortures a captured Urabrask, and gleefully orchestrates the execution of Mirrans. Surely, this is the place? But no, the voice reminds her, Elesh Norn is not the One. She is but one version of Phyrexia that will come and go. It is not just her that must be stopped. As the Praetors bring in the captured Chandra and Wrenn, Elspeth remembers what Wrenn told her. To see the whole tree, and to care for the whole tree, even if it means chopping off a poisoned limb. Here, Elspeth knows is the time. The voice, who the clever Redditors have known this whole time is Serra, embraces Elspeth, unlocking her evolved form. Elspeth Angel Mode has entered the ring.
ITS ELSPETH WITH A STEEL CHAIR. Karn is sad. Sad robot. Sad robot knows he’s going to die. But then… Alright you filthy animals, you’ve been joking about Doomslayer Elspeth for months now. Turn the OST on, this is your moment. Elspeth Tirel, in all her glory, descends upon the throne room in a brilliant light, and Elesh Norn immediately shits inks oils herself in fear. And then with fervency and little else in the way of poise, starts literally throwing everything she has at the thing of her nightmares. Her followers, her throne, Vorinclex's horns, everything bounces right off. Sad Robot smiles. Its good to be playable in a superfriends deck. Wrenn is alive. Wrenn is in pieces, and without a tree. But even so, as soon as she sees the Elspeth she’s always known existed, Wrenn is thriving. Even though Chandra has to literally pick her up and try to get her to the Realmbreaker. Meanwhile, Elspeth takes on Elesh Norn and Jin-Gitaxis 1v2. Its a fair fairer fight now, especially because it happens alongside the verbal fight between Elspeth and Norn. The Mother of Machines busts out all the rhetoric she has, and Elspeth has to wonder what’s so different between them. And as Elesh Norn bullies Jin-Gitaxis for his insubordination, the angel realizes the truth, that Elesh Norn isn’t that different from her, in that she is not infalliable. The Oneness is a sham, and Elesh Norn is just a power-hungry maniac. Elesh Norn is aaaaaaangy. Even more angy when Elspeth plunges her sword into Norn’s chest, and flies past her to support Chandra and Wrenn. Serra helped her intuit the plan, and Elspeth knows that whatever the cost may be, Wrenn must reach Realmbreaker.
And now, WRENN IS THRIVING. Its the 4th down. They can’t kick a field goal. This football Wrenn needs to get to the Relmbreaker, and Team Mirran, led by Koth and Melira, are going to make it happen. Chandra is the quarterback. She’s running, but less for Wrenn and more to run from the pain of Nissa on the other team, pursuing her with cruel love. With words of encouragement from Wrenn, Chandra turns to face her fears. Koth and Melira take Wrenn and charge, getting her at last to the tree. Wrenn begins to sing, in the way that only she can. The tree is horrible, but Wrenn knows that it is still a tree, and her sylvan love can break through to it, with a boost from Melira’s powers. She embraces the sapling that once was the World Tree’s spawn, and gives him a name, and all of her soul’s fire. Wrenn isn’t just thriving. She is thriving. Eight, the sentient sapling, surges out, scraping by every plane at once, until he and Wrenn find the one fragment of a plane they need. Zhalfir. And Teferi. It won’t be enough to shepherd only Teferi back to New Phyrexia. Though she knows it will be something extraordinary, something she may not live through, Wrenn does what she knows is right, as she always has. She wrenches Zhalfir from the blind eternities, and slams it into New Phyrexia itself.
Its the big triumphant counterattack everyone! The angels of New Capenna surge across the multiverse to expunge the Phyrexians and aid the desperate resistances. Kaya hits the corrupted Heliod with a folding chair. Meanwhile, on New Capenna proper, the super cool Atraxa that everyone loves and was hoping to see some more character growth and intrigue from… has the mother of all buildings dropped on her head. Without a single line of dialogue she dies. I WRITE SINS, NOT ATRAXA-DIES. Meanwhile, the big battle happens on New Phyrexia! Zhalfir is here and they are kicking every conceivable sort of ass, whether physical or mental. These are warriors with heart, who welcome Teferi as their commander despite the whole uh… ya know. The Phyrexian forces collapse in on themselves. Elesh Norn is mad and angry. Jin Gitaxis decides she’s over and turns on the porcelain legion. Ajani shows up too, and is time-stopped for his trouble. Giada’s spirit enshrouds Elspeth as she decimates more Phyrexians, the nightmare powers they once held snuffed out, Jin Gitaxis and Vorinclex fall. Phyrexia itself writhes as if the plane itself is dying. Which it is. Karn himself reassembles his body as the Zhalfiran backup starts regrouping. He personally approaches the dying Elesh Norn and destroys her. Sad robot is sad. Destroying things makes him sad. But sometimes evil simply has to be destroyed… Wait, is that the moral here? That doesn’t bode well for Ajani and Nissa, who have both been taken in alive.
AFTERMATH (Not that, that's later) Wrenn died, but Teferi found an acorn within her body. He is of course very emotional after the everything that has happened, and takes plenty of time to himself as he finds the right place in Zhalfir to plant her acorn. Even being gone, Teferi still manages to find some closure just by thinking about what Wrenn would say. Wrenn would want him to be thriving. And when that acorn blooms, perhaps she’ll be there to see it. Super smash cut montage of some planes. So… listen, the Phyrexians all go dormant when the Big Boss is killed. Technically the big boss is the plane of Phyrexia itself, which is now phased out as Zhalfir was. But that is indeed the ending here, and so be it. As Zhalfir celebrates, Melira and Karn decide to cook up a crazy scheme to save Ajani and Nissa. They know Mirrodin is gone, and want to use what little they have left to leave this story on a slightly less downer ending. Melira will die(?), and Karn will lose Venser’s spark. Koth goes to meet with the angelic Elspeth. He has some feelings about watching his last two Mirran friends do something like that to save corrupted monsters. Elspeth tries to talk with him about it. Its unclear if she is now too angelic to comprehend Koth’s worries the way she might have before, or maybe Koth just needs therapy. They all need therapy. But first, Ajani and Nissa get a spa day. One which cleanses their sparks and bodies and souls. It almost doesn’t work on Nissa, but then Chandra’s kiss awakens her. Well, her hug awakens her, and then they kiss afterwards. Some evil baddies can be crushed with the power of teamwork and plot miracles. Others can only be beaten by yelling at WotC until they make the girls kissy kissy at last.
And there you have it! That's what happened in this big grand culmination of the past couple years of the set. Was it a thrilling and fitting end? Was there that all important luminous catharsis? I leave that to-hoo you to decide.

18a: It was nice a sunset when Willow was upset at what had happened to William "Guys, I don't think Willow's coming out of that room." Rash said concerned. "Well, it's not like we could just steal her something special." Billy commented. Rash then said "Brilliant idea. But we might need a third hand." that's when Pony walks in and says "Sorry I'm late, I had dinner with the Piggy family. Man does Piper know how to cook." "Pony, something happened to William and we want to cheer Willow up." "I've seen Willow sleep in your arms before, you go talk to her." Billy reminded Pony. "That only happened once and we were all tired after last year's Halloween pranks." Pony protested. "You gotta hand it to him, stacking on top of each other wearing garbage bags and a ripped mask and was pretty hilarious" Rash commented. "Probably because you didn't have to deal with Pony's sweaty feet in a garbage bag and black cloth." Billy replied. "Regardless, Willow needs cheering up, good luck in there Pony." Billy said walking Pony to Willow's door and knocked. "Remember, the chances of you being ripped to shreds by Willow or me actually, are slim on a bad day." Billy said, "Hey, Willow, we want to talk." Billy called. The door opened and Willow is sitting dead center of the room with William's scarf in her hands." "Willow, would you like to heist with us?" Billy asked. "I suppose I could give that another go after all these years. Up until recently, I've had everything delivered to me by Daisy and her son. Them being enlisted does not make things easier." So they all exited the room and the heist began Rash hopped into a dumpster and picked up his crowbar. At that point, Ron had gotten the notification some activity was going on in the alleyway the heist is taking place. He packed some things and was on his way. Doggy and Poley were also with him Rash knocked out a wooden gate with his crowbar and Billy used a jackhammer on a garage door after he did that he said: "Man, I haven't used one of these things in years." Rash noticed the officers as they were arriving. Doggy, Poley, and Ron hopped out of their car and then put the squad to running and dodging. Ron passed something during his investigation. A melted-down dumpster with lots of blood and garbage everywhere. Ron also picked up a medium-sized wolf skull burnt and delicate. He puts it in a safe place for evidence's sake. As well as a burnt and ripped jean jacket and some of the nearby cooked pieces of trash. Doggy and Poley just saw Willow and Pony in the pie warehouse. "Maybe we could find nice pie or something in here for you." Pony said to Willow. That is when Poley and Doggy caught up to them. "Willow, you and your friend here are under arrest for trespassing into a restricted area, robbery attempt, and -" Before Doggy finishes his sentence, Ron walks in and says "Hold it. Before we arrest them for sure, we gotta know their motives." "Ron, I like that you're being cooperative. But we already know the motives of these demons that Willow and her squad are." Poley stated. "Really, how do you explain this?" Ron asks as he pulls out the burnt wolf skull. Everyone's eyes widened especially Willow's. "What did you do during this investigation?" Doggy asks. "Initially, looking for the less obvious traces on the outskirts of the alleyway when I came across this." Ron answered. "William.." Willow said to herself. "I don't know what else to do, for now we'll put this arrest on hold and figure this out." Doggy said. "No arrests this time." Poley added. The officers walked out of the warehouse and leaving Willow and Pony alone. Rash and Billy walked in and Rash opened a crate and Willow pulled out a strawberry-rhubarb pie." they made their way back to the hideout and Willow's room. "Ah, another successful heist." Billy stated. "I'm surprised that it was one of those officers that made it possible." Rash stated. Pony was about to turn around and go back to the Piggy household when Willow said otherwise. "Pony, can I have a word with you?" she asked. Rash and Billy left the hideout, leaving Pony alone with Willow in Willow's room. "The heist was a fun little idea." Willow stated. "Pony, can I tell you something?" she asks. Pony answers "What is it?" Pony replies. "I've been a little nervous to say this... but, I have a probably not-so-small crush on you." Pony's eyes widened and his pupils dilated slightly smaller. He never heard those directed to him before. His eyes snapped back to normal and he laid down on a green sleeping bag with one hand on his heart and the other between his hand and the pillow he was using. Willow was still pretty sad about the loss of her brother but she was able to place a joyous smile as she kissed Pony on the cheek and tucked him in. The smile didn't last long because seconds after, she remembered why they went on the heist in the first place. She then took the pie and thought of the officers more specifically Ron McOof, the Solving Mysteries host who found William. Willow took the pie and walked it back to the warehouse. On her way back she ran into Billy. "Oy, Willow never thought to see you here in 'Ul Monslid Regins.' That's Zanzian for 'Lunar Rays'. Or simply just moonlight." He started followed by "I was just looking for my old jackhammer. It's been a while since I've used it." He laughed and continued searching.
18b: The weather was unclear because this is a war going on. Both The Republic of Lucella and The Herzegovinian Empire we're in the battle of the century. Sargent Monroe, a Dolov-Lucellian mole who withstood the separation of Dolovia and The Lucellian Republic. A search and hunt battle took place. in one of the Dolovian edges, in a small woodland. Sgt. Monroe and his troops are seen shooting at the Herzegovinian troops and vice versa. They've sent Mitch to the battlefield. He wore what resembles a scarecrow or a farmer's wear with a jack-o-lantern carved into the battlefield. The enemy troopers all fire at Mitch but nothing happens. Mitch is there, he's been under Eddy's 'magic' and thus making him this scarecrow who can't feel pain but is still somehow alive and functioning. He sneaks into a small camp With a hostage and quite a few guards and soldiers. He finds the hostage. Dr. J. Payton (The 'J' doesn't stand for anything, Payton just put that in there because he thinks it's more standardized), A scientist who is a few steps ahead of his time. When he was brought to Commander Fergus, it was revealed Mitch and Dr. J. Payton had been followed. That's when the sergeant's daughter got shot in the head by a Herzegovinan soldier. By the time Sargent Monroe killed that soldier, it was already too late... or so they thought. The flashback ends and the aforementioned scientist was writing on a clipboard and mixing chemicals while also keeping an eye on Penny who had large black blisters and was a tad bit larger than usual, even her dress had black stains. She was contained in a tube-shaped terrarium, suitable for her especially if this distortion continues. Dr. Payton also received what sounded like heavy breathing and Penny's voice but deeper and darker but it was hard to tell what she is saying, it took Payton some decoding but she said "Mom and Dad, where did they go?", "I was given an offer of my life, now it's being run by the purple suited guy.", "Why did Mr. P do this to us, I thought Dad said Mr. P was his friend.", "I wonder if the scientist can understand what I'm saying and could help me." "I can't be too mad at the Solving Mysteries guy, he hit that monster that shares my body with me." All of these were said and decoded hours to even days apart and out of order.
18c: It was a very strange night for a family of arctic foxes. That's when Abby and Albert (a youngish-middle aged married couple of arctic foxes) found a very young and very abandoned child. "Look, Albert, it's a child." Abby said. "I'm not blind, Archie was just born a couple of months ago, how do we plan to multitask the two?" Albert answers. "It's also a human child. These things used to be so common until World War V, an event that impacted the wildlife we used to be greatly. I don't think this is what the Russians or Americans thought when they said WWV would change the world as we know it." The young child stared Albert and Abby down and giggles a bit. "What are we going to do?" Albert asks. "We have to do something, it's only going to get colder this winter season." Abby responded. "I suppose we have no choice. We take it with us." Albert said. Abby got out of the car, picked up the child and put 'it' in Archie's car seat. Making it government official, Abby and Albert from that point on had a second child named 'Annie' Back to around the time of the infection (2 weeks before the testing) Archie and Annie were living on the Lucellian coast just south of The North Sea. Archie wakes up and walks out the door to the room they were staying in. "Where are you going, Archie?" Annie asked with her sweet curious voice. "Remember I had that interview a week ago for that job on a ship called the Medora, I thought my first day was tomorrow but it's actually today." Archie replies with a partially scratchy voice (he is just getting better after having strep throat for two days between the interview and this point). He goes into the bathroom and puts his orange suit on. Annie gets dressed and walks Archie out to the pier where the Medora would dock. Dakoda, the local lighthouse owner and diving enthusiast also was waiting with Archie. "So, will this be a goodbye forever?" Dakoda asked "Well, I wouldn't think of it as a 'Goodbye', more so a 'See you later.' Besides, Surely we'll come back for a visit." Archie replies right before taking s drink out of a water bottle. Eventually, The Medora docks and they're greeted by Captain Budgey, a ship captain who takes her job too seriously (or not seriously enough depending on how you view it) "Ahoy Everyone, today be the day the Medora staff expands." Budgey starts. Bobby accompanies her writing things on a clipboard. "Well, am I going to get aboard or what?" Archie asks Bobby whispers into Captain Budgey's ear and then answers Archie's question with "Yes." Annie and Dakoda watched and waved goodbye while Archie sailed away on the Medora. Then the infection rolled around and it is chaos, Dakoda invites Annie to the lighthouse and there they stayed for the first month of the infection, during one of Annie's supply runs she finds Dakoda unconscious and with a giant scratch on his face, she then flees the seaside. She then wakes up in the safe place by Ron when the building was being blown to the ground.
18d. Ron was passing by some prison cells and one of the cells he passed was Silzous' "Silzous, The Republic of Lucella's most wanted serial killer." Ron called. "The Ssssssssssolving Myssssssteriesss guy." Silzous replied. Silzous stares at Ron before he walks away. During either recess or field time (I don't know the difference, sorry) that's when Silzous met Willow. "Hey, we're the top two criminals in here, what if we work together and rebel against this kind of society?" Willow stated (and asked) Silzous answered "As the guy sssssaid, I'm the nation'sssssss mossssst wanted ssssssserial killer, and you're here becaussssssse you took a pie." "I'm capable of many things other than theft, and besides it's not like I wanted to do it either." Willow added, "I've chopped sssssssso many headssssss with my axe and, my mosssst recent ones are ssssssssusssspected workerssssss." Silzous responds. "Of what?" Willow asks "Thisssssss evil group named The Insssssssolence, a terrorisssst group with unknown evil intentionssssss asssssss of now." they then shook hands and started to their breakout. With many attempts, they managed to outsmart the police officers at the station coincidentally Ron called in sick. Something eventually leads to Willow getting herself arrested to give Silzous a bit of time. Silzous looks up into the sky as a star twinkled at him which teleported his axe to him. During the infection, Silzous is seen writing in a notepad about what he believed to be a type of God that spared him for getting assisting in battle. That's where he met Laura just sitting at a tree in some woods.
18e: Laura was a schoolgirl with that one bully... on second thought make that 3. Leon (The son of Leo, a laundromat owner in the infamous alleyway), Wally (a not-so-distant relative of Willow), and Dane (No, he is not Doggy's child.) Laura would be minding her own business when one, two, or all three of these guys do something to bully her. She is amongst one other characters to not speak in their school (or in the Narrative Series and not infected). She was outside in her treehouse. Thinking about what to do one night. When her teddy bear spoke in a deep voice. "I... can... save..." Laura was just shocked, she shakes the teddy, and orange dust emanated from the teddy and Laura inhaled some of it. This made Laura pass out for the night waking up at around her usual wake-up time Laura got to school on time and fully ready even more than she thinks. On her walk to school, she has a run-in with Wally, Dane, and Leon. Each wielding a golf club or in Wally's case a pool cue. She knew what was going to happen. Her eyes blackened and her teddy's eyes whitened "Aww snap, what are we doing to her?" Leon asks. "I think whatever's happening we don't want to see." Wally commented. The guys ran off but Laura grabbed Dane (who was the closest one), pinned him down, and made him stare into her eyes. Staring into her black soulless eyes put him into this trance (It's not related to the infection, the infected takes control of the body and leaves the mind usually. Not Dane, Laura's trance took control over Dane's body and went the extra step of making him brain-dead. Whenever Laura would give a command like "Let's have a tea party with these stuffed animals." Dane would do it emotionless and would only talk to answer a question like "Does this bow look good?" and Dane would answer to match whatever her opinion is. When Wally and Leon found out what Laura did to Dane they were terrified of what she did and thus making the entire school horrified of her. The teachers at least taught the lessons but always lived in fear of what Laura would do to them. In a bathroom built into the basement, Dane is giving Laura a bubble bath. "Yes master, you're looking squeaky clean." Dane says emotionlessly however, he isn't wrong, Laura did get out of the bubble bath well-bathed. She at one point got Dane a coconut bra and grass skirt and made him hula dance in front of her for entertainment. (there are way more ways that Laura 'tortured' Dane but they would be way too much filler so I'm not putting them here.) Laura told Dane she'd be back one day. She found Silzous writing in a book
18f: Sometime between the break-in at the mansion and the infection, Eddy discovered Crove was in his mansion. "You're that bird that everyone's been searching for, What are you doing here?" He asked her. "Sorry for sneaking into your home, fact is all I did before this was roam." Eddy then let her stay at the mansion. "Duocara, that's our new roommate." Eddy then opened his secret room with his black key and received a call from Spidella. "Eddy, terrible news. Finley is missing. I don't know where he went, he just vanished." She panicked. "The southern ruins... The pharaoh and his relative, All is gone from there. Where are you right now?" Eddy replied. Spidella has hung up or so Eddy thought. Then that's when he saw Silzous, his axe cuts through his neck. Duocara went haywire and that sent a singal to Kona who traveled there to check out the situation, attend a funeral and collect Duocara.
Bonus: There once lived King Milo, Queen Viola, and their son, Steven (Who later named himself Shardantus). After King Milo and Queen Viola's reign, Price Steven took command of Dolovia. "Ya know Kraxicorde, I need a way to differentiate myself from the previous leaders of Dolovia." Kraxicorde looked at Steven like he is on some illegal substances. "Kraxicorde you're a genius!" Steven said in excitement. "Do things other leaders, wouldn't have done. Have a kraken as the advisor, reduce offerings greatly and take suggestions from the Dolovian citizens." He said. "But all revolutionary leaders had epic names, Sharkinator, No. That would be for something for a robot." that's it came to him, "I got it, Shardantus." Kraxicorde just smiled Shardantus made it official and abided by what he said to his pet kraken and more. Everything was going well until the infection made it to Dolovia. Infecting citizens at an alarming rate too fast for Shardantus and the Dolovian council and senate to keep up. It got so bad that in order to survive Shardantus fled the nation with Kraxicorde. He brought his best combat armor, his best trident, and the clam necklace for a sign of serenity to fellow survivors. He lived off the coast of Grodian (one of Herzegovina's former territories) Where he saw a big ship called The Medora dock for supplies. "Ahoy there... King Shardantus?" Captain Budgey greeted "Yes, it is I. Who are you?" Shardantus answered. "My name be Captain Budgey, captain of the Medora, I'm from Koimun (Koimun is based on a real-life place called The Cayman Islands, also being located around the same spot.) I'll say, your leadership style is unique especially for a Dolovian leader." The captain and the king sailed away. Some time later, The Medora was running out of fuel and Captain Budgey got herself infected by one of her loyal crew members, Pepper. While Budgey still had control she went to Shardantus and asked to be tied to a railing. He did just that before Budgey turned. Now he's alone with Kraxicorde and on his way to the Lucellian seaside town.
End of Article 18
"We're about 3 quarters into the main part of the Piggy Narrative Series and it won't be over after Lab or it's Hidden Ending. I also plan to do Piggy: Intercity, Piggy X The Lost Book, and Dark Deception X Piggy (If there will be actual lore involved like The Lost Book collab and not just a skin/item based on Dark Deception {clears throat} Jailbreak) Also, I want to clarify that release dates for my Narrative Series (or it's sequels) I'm not doing because I've seen what the (impatient side of the) Piggy community has done when MiniToon delayed Piggy chapters. Thanks for reading this far into the Narrative Series if this is your first article or your 18th welcome you are amazing for reading this series. No lore-filled side-notes this time, chances are you've done enough reading for one day (unless you're really into books) - u/PiggyMcoof

David Cox was born on November 27, 1966, in Massachusetts and after graduating from high school joined the Marines because he wanted to be part of the "proud and the few." And by 1986, David was stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a Naval base that the United States wouldn't give up when Castro came to power in the 1950s. Tensions were still very high, so the base was on constant alert. But soon David saw a problem--a fellow Marine named William Alvarado had written to his senator about Marine misconduct on the base, something about shots being fired into Cuba.
When Cox and other Marines found out about what Alvarado had done, believing he was a "malingerer," Cox and some other Marines decided to preform a "Code Red," (a brutal hazing ritual) on Alvarado. The platoon leader didn't give an outright order, but an implied one, so the Marines went forward with the Code Red. So late on Saturday night in July 1986, the ritual began. According to the Unsolved Mysteries reenactment (but I can't find any other sources on what the Code Red entailed), the Code Red involved blindfolding Alvarado, stuffing a rag in his mouth, dragged him out of bed, and began beating up. Most of the beating seems to have happened in the bathroom.
Once in the bathrooms, David and the other Marines began shaving Alvarado's head--but David noticed something was wrong. Apparently Alvarado inhaled the rag and could no longer breathe, so David called off the attack. When the Marines removed the rag and Alvarado lost consciousness, they went to go get help for him. And although Alvarado recovered after being transferred to a hospital in Miami, David and the other Marines were now faced with charges--attempted murder being the most serious charge.
David's lawyer wanted David to take an administrative discharge from the Marines because David had confessed and Alvarado was pretty beat up. This discharge would be less than honorable, but it was better than a court marshal, but David declined, stating he and the other Marines had been given an implied order from their commander. But David wanted to fight the charges...and his gamble was a success, he was acquitted of aggravated battery (which had been reduced from attempted murder). However, most of the other Marines involved accepted the charges and a less than honorable discharge.
David would complete his service after the court marshal, another two years, and would eventually be honorable discharge in August 1989. After leaving the Marines, David bounced around from job to job, like landscaping and garbage man, but he wanted something more permanent. However, three years later, in 1992, Aaron Sorkin's movie A Few Good Men was released. David was shocked when he saw the movie--it was his story (along with the other Marines) and no one had asked him about it. According to David's girlfriend Elaine Tinsley: he later became angry, realizing that the movie company was making millions off of his story. He claimed that if it were not for him, the story never would have existed in the first place. David was also upset that the movie was inaccurate, claiming the Marine had died instead of just being injured.
Because of his anger, David went on several local radio shows and newspapers to talk about the real experience, wanting to "set the record straight." David also contacted the lawyer who'd represented him in the case, asking him what he could do about it. Around this time, David's fellow Marines were planning a lawsuit against the production company, and David was deciding whether or not to be involved in it. However, nothing seems to have come from these interviews.
By early 1994, David and Elaine had moved in together in Natick, Massachusetts. The two had a rabbit and David had recently been working at UPS, hoping for a permanent position with them. On the evening of January 4, David went out for drinks with his brother Steve. Steve said everything seemed okay, but David seemed "reserved." The next morning, David was having back problems, so he'd spent the night on the couch and was waiting to hear from UPS about that permanent job. Elaine left for work at about 8:30 that morning. At around noon, Elaine called home to check on David, but no one answered the phone. However, there was a message on the machine from David's supervisor at UPS, saying that David had gotten that full time gig. Elaine called again at 1pm, and UPS had called the house again, so David was still not home.
By the time Elaine got home at 5:30pm, David didn't appear to be home. But David's truck was still in the driveway, but every door in the couple's apartment was open, their pet rabbit was hopping around when it was normally kept in the laundry room, and some glasses seemed to be tipped over. When Elaine checked David's truck, there was an uncashed paycheck in the glove box, as well as his gun. But Elaine didn't want to worry right away, but David hadn't called, and didn't report him missing until the next day.
The police didn't take David's odd disappearance seriously at first, they thought that he had run off, and didn't even interview his neighbors or search the neighborhood for a few days. But Elaine and David's family didn't buy the running off theory, knowing that he wouldn't just up and leave, especially without bringing a paycheck. However, they couldn't think of anyone who'd hurt David either.
Three months later, in April 1994, David's body was found in a wooded area near the Charles River near Medfield, Massachusetts. His body was buried underneath some branches a mile from the nearest road, he'd been shot 4 times. This made police believe that David had been marched into the woods where he was found. This may have been difficult because David was wearing sneakers, not boots. He was found about five miles from his home and appeared to be wearing the same clothes as the day he vanished. However, one item of clothing made little sense: David was wearing his Marine camouflage jacket, something he didn't really wear out of the house.
It's unclear why David was killed, he obviously went with someone from his home. However, there wasn't really struggle (one or two broken glasses and all the doors being open doesn't scream struggle to me), but maybe left in a hurry. His family questioned why he was wearing his military jacket--something he apparently never wore and footwear not appropriate for the weather. The place where David was found was between two gun ranges, so gunfire wouldn't have been unusual and David seemed to be killed execution style.
There are two main theories in David's case: that someone involved with the movie A Few Good Men involved or David knew about some illegal activity at UPS. The A Few Good Men theory involves David's outspoken behavior after the movie came out...his family thought he talked about things too much that may have been dangerous which provoked a fellow angry Marine. However, by the time David died, the movie was two years old and already out of theatres. The UPS theory came from David's brother Steve, who said that David told him that something "nefarious," was going on, so like stolen packages or something. Either way, whatever happened to David happened between 8:30 and noon on January 4.
Unsolved Mysteries episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bIhQsEqH4g&t=841s
https://www.boston25news.com/news/murder-remains-unsolved-20-years-later-1/141769680/
https://www.ajc.com/news/national/cold-case-who-killed-david-cox-marine-who-inspired-few-good-men/Fjw9HvKUIPodgmwtHRWBJP/
https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1994/vp941117/11170021.htm
https://apnews.com/article/d733c0b6f1cb4144bb75202ad0f3963e
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/04/04/Few-Good-Men-Marine-killed-in-Mass/4089765432000/
https://www.yahoo.com/video/england-unsolved-killed-us-marine-171908491.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHRdrjjrRtBpwJ88e2Lf63C9TtyV0xKqDsHigi8b_oa6pRjYSecUIVaOT6cHN75RaPvtyqshqML0xBy00YxL2uIUEgJzAi3Emf51qeDZhuQRmvokd8-DwuAEHjv0PICq9Ol7pjxhRjNqN9SbB-R_pQ_wycti7QYhcRgzwI7iXohO
https://www.boston25news.com/news/new-england-s-unsolved-who-killed-us-marine-david-cox-/916827273/
https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/David_Cox
https://unsolved.com/gallery/david-cox/

We might have gone on like this indefinitely if my wife and I hadn’t started planning a family. I began pulling away and giving her less of my time, with predictable results.
Wednesday, August 10th, 2016
I am overdue with my son. I’ve had some complications and used that as a reason to see and talk to my mom a fair bit less (we live in the same city, but if I don’t go to her, I don’t see her, which suits me fine). I am huge and miserable and spending most of my time either walking to try to get labor started or lying on my side, trying to stay cool.
From her:
Hey lovely one - I assume radio silence means all is well?
xoxo
From me:
Yes, all is well. I don't think not talking every day really counts as radio silence. I'm not really up to doing daily updates right now; please trust that I will tell you when there is something to tell. xoxo
From her:
No problem sweet, just wanted to make sure that your appointment yesterday went ok.
xoxo
Thursday, August 11th, 2016
From her:
Hi Sweet - is there anything I can do for you? Just thinking about you but don't want to call and get you at a bad time.
xoxo
From me:
Nope, nothing I need besides for this baby to get himself organized and move out.
I understand that you're eager for news, and believe me, so are we. The kindest thing you could do for me right now is to trust that we will let you know when he gets here and let me just try to get through this waiting time as best I can.
I love you.
From her:
I do understand sweet one, and I have no interest in grilling you on status or other things. I just miss our talking about everything else in the world, like the Pleiades showers or what an asshole Trump is.
Love you.
From me:
I would love to be able to think about anything else (except Donald Trump, about whom I have never in my life wanted to have a conversation with anyone), but I just don't have it in me right now. Being overdue is a unique kind of mental and physical torture. I will be fine just as soon as he's safely out, but until then, while I don't need any comfort, I don't really have any to give, either.
One way or another, this will all be over within the week. Can you be patient with me for a week?
Love you.
From her:
Of course I can sweetheart. Just want you to know I love you and would do anything I can to ease your way.
From me:
Thanks, Mama. I love you, too.
Tuesday, August 16th, 2016
This is sent an hour before my son is born, which she doesn’t know yet. I find out later that she spent the night before, while I was in labor, blowing up my wife’s phone with complaints that she was missing out on “what should be the happiest day of [her] life.”
From her:
Hey Missy - really need to hear your voice, at least briefly.
xoxo
I send her and my father a photo from the recovery room and let them know that nothing went according to plan, but my son is safely born and I am safe.
Tuesday or Wednesday, August 16th or 17th, 2016
I legitimately can’t remember which night this happens. I refer to it both ways in the following email chain. My mother calls me, drunk, at night. While I am in the hospital recovering from an emergency C-section and getting to know my newborn. I pick up. I am so furious, and so disinhibited by all the hormones and drugs in my system, that I unload on her as never before.
Thursday, August 18th, 2016
From her:
[full first name I never use] my love,
I really don't want to be feuding with you - not ever - but particularly not at what should be the (second) most joyful time of my life. I did not intend to pressure you or [wife], but was terribly concerned about how you were, and needed to know.
I love you dear one, and what I really want/need is to pay you a brief visit, give you a kiss, and set eyes on the magical creature you've created.
xoxo
From me:
I don't want to be feuding either, and as far as I'm concerned, we're not. But I am recovering from the biggest surgery of my life right now, and my son is very, very new, and both healing and establishing breastfeeding are impeded by stress.
And the fact that you would call me late last night without regard for A) boundaries we've discussed many times before and B) the fact that I had major surgery the day before AND have a newborn sleeping in the room shows me exactly how much you're thinking about me and [son] as people right now vs. about getting what you want when you want it.
We're being released some time this weekend. If all goes well, I will be ready for visitors—any visitors—after we've been home for about a week. That's what I told Dad, that's what I am telling my closest friends, and that's what I'm telling you [I had already told her this several times before he was born].
Please give me that consideration and let me have this time. Babies don't spoil—in fact, they get cuter and more interesting after a week or two—and your daughter needs time to recover from a very painful and difficult experience.
Saturday, August 20th, 2016
From her:
Good morning sweet one,
Hope you and yours are well. Please let me know when you're going home, and no, I won't pop in. Just really want to know how and where you are.
Tomorrow I will be heading up to [suburbs] for [relative by marriage for whom she’s never expressed anything but contempt]'s funeral.
Love you.
From me:
We're home; we were discharged last night. We're in survival mode, but we are surviving.
I'm sad to hear about [relative], and I'll email [her daughter] later today.
I'm going to be scarce for a while. We're not sleeping more than an hour at a time, and I'm still in tremendous amounts of pain, although by all accounts I've been healing as well as can be expected.
I love you.
From her:
Sweet [firstname], so sorry to hear you're in so much pain, and I would/will do anything I can to help. Just want you to know I'll be on an 8:00 am train from [station] for [relative]’s funeral. Hope to be home by early afternoon.
Love you. xoxo
Sunday, August 21st, 2016
My mother calls me, drunk, at night. Again. My son is five days old. I do not pick up.
From me, the next morning:
I don't take calls from you after 5pm. This has been true for many years, and you know exactly why. I don't know why you would think this has changed at a time when I'm injured and not sleeping, certainly not if you had my best interests at heart.
Violating this boundary does not make me want to interact with you more. You've done it before, and each time, it pushes me farther away and makes me want to see you less. And right now, I'm less than a week out from the most traumatic experience of my life, and this is the last thing I need. If you actually care about me, you'll respect this.
I've been trying to give you a chance by staying in email contact to the extent that I have time and energy, but I'm getting sick of this. Give me my space, or you won't hear from me at all.
From her:
I apologize [firstname]. It's just been really hard not being able to speak with you for so long (except for the brief call from the hospital a week ago). I had a specific reason, as well as dozens of well-wishings from cousins and other family from [relative]’s funeral [I really cannot stress enough how much my mother did not give a shit about this person when she was alive].
I shan't do it again, but really look forward to being able to speak to and see you, and [son].
xoxo
From me:
I'm sorry that my needing space is hard for you. Having major emergency surgery and needing to recover from that while learning how to tend to a newborn and recovering from the trauma of almost losing him is hard for me, and you are making it exponentially worse by making this all about you and by guilt-tripping me for taking care of myself and my nuclear family.
And I called you from the hospital LESS than a week ago, because this all happened less than a week ago. And I shouldn't have had to call you back to tell you not to call me at 9:30 PM with a newborn in the room, the same day I had a C-section. Even without your history of drunk-calling me, which you know makes me miserable, that should have been a no brainer.
As for last night, relaying well-wishings could have been done by email, or at most, by calling the next day. That's a ridiculous excuse. You KNOW how much it upsets me when you call me in the evening, and you know why. And you've done it twice now at the most vulnerable time of my life, after I've explicitly asked you not to. I don't know how to say this more plainly: you're hurting me AND my son by deliberately adding stress to my life right now, which interferes with both healing and breastfeeding, because you care more about winning a battle of wills than about your actual, flesh-and-blood daughter.
If you want to hear from me, back off and actually give me that space. But I make no promises about when it's going to be at this point, because I'm really, really angry and upset at you. And if you call me after 5pm again, you won't hear from me at all.
Thursday, August 25th, 2016
From her:
Good morning dear girl. I really need to know how you're doing, and how you're little one is getting on. You are the most precious thing in my world and I worry about you.
I also worry about us - that this estrangement will solidify and become the norm. That has me grieving.
Would love to speak to you soon, and to see you soon.
I love you.
From me:
My little one is a very healthy, happy baby, and the three of us are learning how to work together to keep him thriving. I'm healing at the expected rate, which is to say that I'm in no danger but a lot of pain still, and I will be for a while.
I'm still angry because I feel like you've made this time—a time when a reasonable person would see that I have no capacity to do extra emotional labor—about you. But I need to put that aside right now and speak to you from my heart.
This estrangement has been going on for a long time, and it's due to choices that you've made. I don't say that from anger or to hurt you, but because it's the truth. I do love you, very much, but I don't feel that I can trust you, mostly due to the disconnect between your daylight and night time behavior and your complete denial about it. This has been the case for decades.
The 5PM boundary is one way I've tried to deal with that, to keep what's good between us and avoid being exposed to the way you treat me when you've been drinking. That's why I get so upset when you periodically ignore it.
I know that you're sad and hurting, and it makes me hurt, too. But I don't have what it takes to help you. What I believe it would take is being honest with yourself about your drinking—not hiding things from yourself anymore—and then being honest with someone else. Whether that means therapy or meetings or what, I don't know.
But ultimately, that's not a choice I can make for you. I can only protect myself and my son.
I love you.
From her:
I'm sorry you're still in pain. I don't believe I've made this time about me, rather about you and my worry about you.
As for your other main point, I understand what you're saying (and have said before) and I'm truly working on it.. In the meantime, as soon as possible I propose a daytime visit.
I love you.
From me, the next morning:
Still in pain? Yeah, I'm going to be in pain for weeks, if not months. That's how major abdominal surgery works. And stress and lack of sleep make it worse.
You have absolutely made this time about you and what you want. Your claims of worry ring totally false. If it's my physical safety you're worried about, I've already told you several times that I am not in any danger, just wounded, exhausted, and trying to heal. If it's my mental and emotional well being, I've already told you several times that what I need to be ok in that regard is some space and peace, and you have refused to give me that. This makes it clear that it's not about you actually caring how I am, but rather needing to exert control and get the access you feel entitled to.
I will say it again, because you are choosing to ignore this part: hearing from you right now sets back my healing and interferes with my milk supply. These are very real, physical needs, and they are something I have to prioritize above your desire to feel included. I've given you enough information to satisfy you if what you actually care about is knowing I'm ok.
The reasons that "my other main point" is relevant to this conversation are twofold. First, this history (past and recent) is the reason that I find it stressful and painful to talk to you, and while I can usually keep things light and pretend that things are ok (as you clearly wish to do), I just don't have the spare energy to do that right now. The second reason is that you have repeatedly violated that boundary in the past nine days, including on my very first night recovering from surgery and caring for a newborn. Again, if you cared about me more than you care about getting your way, you would not have done that.
I have a very limited amount of free time right now, and I'm not spending any more of it on this conversation. If, and only if, you will actually give me space—and that means no email and definitely no phone calls—then you will hear from me in the next couple of weeks, and we can set up a time for you to meet [son]. If not, that's a choice you are making.
Monday, September 12th, 2016
From her:
Are you feeling better today?
From me:
Not really, no.
From her:
I'm so sorry sweet. What's wrong?
From me:
Same as yesterday, plus another night of no sleep.
From her:
Wish there was some way I could help. Is [son, who is less than a month old] keeping you awake?
From me:
Once again, as I've said so many times already, you can help by understanding that I really don't have the energy to do anything but take care of my kid right now. I just don't have anything to spare. That would honestly be the kindest, most loving and helpful thing you could do for me right now.
Monday, September 12th and Tuesday, September 13th, 2016
My mother calls my wife, drunk, late at night, to ask her to ask me for my father’s phone number, which she has (they’ve been divorced for about 30 years at this point).
Wednesday, September 14th, 2016
I forward the email in which my dad sent us both his new contact info.
From me:
Gmail has a search function; "[dad] phone" turned this up. You could also have emailed him.
From her:
Thanks. I did and got it from him.
From me:
And yet you still called [wife] twice the night before last and once last night..? I've asked you many, many times not to call after five PM. Not me, not her. I'm serious about this.
Wednesday, September 21st, 2016
From her:
Hi Sweet -
[Narc grandma] asked me last evening whether you'd received her check for [son] (I think for $1,000.) If not, please let me know. If so, a brief thank you call ([phone number]) would be an excellent idea.
From me:
We haven't had a chance to get the mail in a day or two, but I'll do so as soon as I can. And yes, I'm in the habit of thanking people who give me gifts, and I do have her phone number.
From her:
I know you are. I'm not exactly sure when she sent it.
After I receive the check but before I have a chance to deposit it, my grandmother makes it clear to me that the money has major strings attached. I burn the check in our bathtub, with my wife’s blessing.