Squishy Haul

... was just so soft and squishy and huggable that I made... whole team gathered around our haul. Poké Balls, medicines, TMs, and...

Lonely_Dolphin posted... Ever an impressive haul! Like Nod-Krai the early bosses ... see, maybe the boss is squishy enough it does not matter. ...

Lonely_Dolphin posted... Ever an impressive haul! Like Nod-Krai the early bosses ... see, maybe the boss is squishy enough it does not matter. ...

Lonely_Dolphin posted... Ever an impressive haul! Like Nod-Krai the early bosses ... see, maybe the boss is squishy enough it does not matter. ...

Lonely_Dolphin posted... Ever an impressive haul! Like Nod-Krai the early bosses ... see, maybe the boss is squishy enough it does not matter. ...

Lonely_Dolphin posted... Ever an impressive haul! Like Nod-Krai the early bosses ... see, maybe the boss is squishy enough it does not matter. ...

Lonely_Dolphin posted... Ever an impressive haul! Like Nod-Krai the early bosses ... see, maybe the boss is squishy enough it does not matter. ...

... way you can cloak your squishy land units too. Then drone... modern mechanized/armored division can haul something around 500-700 tons of...

... safety, to protect my decidedly squishy meat bits, of course. Instead... settled in for the long haul, considering our tenure into Imperial...

... thinking?" I grimace as I haul my fat ass off the ... overbalancing, having expected a nice squishy neck to stop his swing, ... it as a crutch and haul myself to my feet. Yeah, ...

... the weight, but everything was squishy, bouncy. It was like being... hand launched. We could probably haul it up with a few ...

..., I found something soft and squishy parting beneath my claws like ... strong catfolk with nets to haul in. Now? It was dinner. ...

..., I found something soft and squishy parting beneath my claws like ... strong catfolk with nets to haul in. Now? It was dinner. ...

... hesitate to allow the tow/haul mode to select for engine... much more sturdy than the squishy feeling you will experience. Source...

... an increased demand for the squishy NeeDoh “Nice Cube” products. ‘Made ... to report $40bn trad­ing haul ▸ Iran war rekindles mar­ket ...

... in it for the long haul. Maybe more. It depended on... can fight forever, but us squishy organics need to take breaks...

... beautiful posture, even in a squishy chair! Mum’s book club reading ... trusting, but then I did haul him off to the vet ...

... grip tightening just enough to haul both of them fully onto..., "it was either my very squishy ass or you." Mark stared ...

... there's a problem, my dumb squishy meat brain is being stupid... were more than enough to haul the station around it along...

... sort of carpet that felt squishy to the touch, and the... form as they prepared to haul the unconscious not-scavenger all the...

... materialize out of nowhere and haul him off, so his Pavlovian... that kinda trauma. Too many squishy parts that jostle around in ...

... crashing into a dense, vertical, squishy cloud. The cloud softly bounced... of the cloud and carefully haul herself on top. At first...

... eyes receded. "So... A good haul this time?" She smiled softly... something to put between my squishy flesh and her Juuken up...

submitted by /u/puppygirl4206769 to r/ageregression [link] [comments]

I’m Olivine Peridot, subreddit mod, staff artist, and administrator of our unofficial Discord server. I’ve been playing this game since the ARR beta and I’ve been fortunate enough to attend every single North American fanfest since 2014 (and even had tickets for the doomed 2020 Fanfest). Since I’ve been doing this for a while, I wanted to write up a review of this year’s event for those who are curious and might want to attend in the future. Full disclosure: this year Square Enix offered the subreddit staff two media passes alongside a significantly higher number of content creators and media representatives than previous events, which we really appreciated. There were no conditions attached to our attendance and we paid for our travel and accommodations ourselves. While I won’t go into details, I can assure you that the FFXIV team still has their eyes on this subreddit! Keep on posting your feedback, comments, memes, constructive criticism, or at the least your eloquent and well-organized rants. On to the review: The Venue The queue on day 0 before registration opened Anaheim’s late April weather was mild and pleasant. I subconsciously packed for Vegas and ended up rather chilly inside the venue, with a few of us joking they’d cranked the air conditioner as part of Evercold’s marketing. One of our drivers told us this is LA’s “winter” and the temperature will rise until October, which I hope Square Enix keeps in mind when scheduling future Fanfests. The venue itself is the largest yet, and Fanfest was given plenty of floor space to spread out. The main stage had its own room with ample seating for the panels and concerts, with large screens and overflow seating in the activity room so nobody had to miss anything. The decor was fantastic with the Aetheryte, photo spots, and the giant Dancing Green. And THE COUCH. The signature board had been taken over by sticker traders giving away goodies left and right, while the areas outdoors around the fountain were great for cosplay and meetups. There were a decent number of food options in the area, both inside and outside the convention hall. Media was provided with lunch, but my poor husband had to stand in line at the snack bar next to the stage for an hour to get something close to our seats. There were a few food stands in the other room with decent food. On day 2 I managed to snag him a tasty burrito the size of a brick and a can of pop for $20 with no line. The plaza outside had two rows of food trucks, the surrounding hotels had their own restaurants and food courts, and Downtown Disney was a short walk away. The lines on day 0 and 1 were immense, as expected. Staff were very good at managing the lines and making sure people got in promptly when the venue opened. I arrived a bit late on day 2 so the line was non-existent when I showed up. While there was a lot of standing outside, registration was indoors in its own room with plenty of space. I saw a few people with shade parasols which I would highly recommend for sun protection for future fanfests. Venue staff were professional and enthusiastic, a definite improvement over 2023. All previous NA Fanfests have been held in Las Vegas. 2014, 2016, and 2018 were held on the Las Vegas strip in October or November, surrounded by food options, entertainment, and (most importantly) shelter from the Vegas heat. 2023 was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center in July: a veritable food desert where attendees were subject to long waits outside in direct sunlight. The lines for the interior food trucks were unreasonable, with many of us ordering delivery to the venue doors so we wouldn’t have to leave. Getting back to the Vegas strip required a tram ride. I recall day 2 of the 2023 fanfest being nearly empty because many had given up and decided to watch the panels from their hotel rooms, only showing up at the end of the day for the Primals concert. Day 2 of this year felt about as busy as Day 1, even without a Live Letter. All in all I was satisfied with the new location and will be happy if they hold the next one here as well. Panels and activities Our lanes in the alpaca race I won’t speak much on the content of the panels, but I will say that the crowd was hyped and enthusiastic for pretty much everything. It was a pleasant relief after the lukewarm reception of Dawntrail and subsequent internet dooming, restoring my faith in the community. And while I never lost faith in the devs or the community team, their enthusiasm on stage reassures me that they’re always earnest in their desire to make a great game. The amount of content revealed during the keynote and subsequent panels was great. People joke that NA fanfests never reveal good content, but I felt satisfied and I’m looking forward to the announcements in Berlin and Tokyo. One major disappointment with the Lyrics panel: the AI bit was cringe, and there definitely was awkward laughter and boos from the crowd. FFXIV, we love your original content, no AI please. I unfortunately spent so much time meeting people and doing sticker trades that I wasn’t able to participate in many of the floor activities. I regret not queuing for the Dancing Green activity because it looked like everyone was having a blast, and I was kinda bouncing along to the music as I roamed the show floor. I won a ticket for the Meet & Greet, where I not only had a chance to talk to Koji, but got to see him, Soken, Foxclon, and Matt Hilton interact with the rest of the fans in line as well. Just seeing these guys interact with everyone, posing for photos while making time for quick chats, is a treat. Someone gave Soken an otamatone and he played a few notes. When it was my turn to talk to Koji I gave him a light hearted apology bow on behalf of this subreddit (just in case) but he assured me he was cool with us. But he asked for hugs, so now he has Reddit Mod cooties. One last note, where the heck was the Battle Challenge? I look forward to it every year and prepped pictures of my hotbar in anticipation, so I was disappointed that it wasn’t included in this one. I wonder if there’ll be no additional trial included in the Hildibrand story? Ironmouse I admittedly have no interest in Vtube Idols and barely knew of Ironmouse before her guest announcement. It’s definitely not my thing. But learning more about her, I have a lot of respect for her for making the best of her circumstances after everything she’s gone through with her health. Seeing them roll her out on a big mobile screen was funny, but she contributed so little to the music panel, I’m not sure why she was included. I’d like to have heard her speak more about music and lyrics rather than sit beside Koji and nod as he spoke. Her concert was fun, and a lot of people in the audience were really hyped even as me and the rest of the old people in my row stared with bewilderment. Her singing is good. If she comes back next time, I might wave a pink penlight a little. The Merch Line One of the merch displays in the registration hall The merch line, if anything, is the one thing a lot of people can agree was a disappointment. I pre-ordered a lot of my merch online before the convention, but I always enjoy snagging a few more things at the venue. Our plan was to queue on Day 0 immediately after getting our wristbands, but they had a problem with the system and had to give us paper reservation tickets instead. By the time it was our turn a few of the big-ticket items (like the Mini Aetheryte) were sold out. Merch has always been a nightmare except for in 2018. I don’t understand why they won’t do pre-ordering for on-site pickup like the 2018 Fanfest did, which was the only time merch was ever run smoothly. The App I still had the official Fanfest app installed from last year and admittedly used it as little as possible, since I found it to be finicky and inconvenient. I did appreciate the push notifications telling us when lines were capped and when panels and concerts were about to begin. Freebies The goodie bags were nice this year, with the sticker book greatly appreciated by all the sticker traders who surely inspired it. The hat and pins are good quality. The mini messenger bags provided were nice looking, but I’d say the 2023 bags were my favorite (I’m using the cross-body bag as my travel purse). The zipper pulls on the 2026 bag were prone to falling apart, and by day 2 dozens of them were littering the ground of the venue. If you still have one, make sure you reinforce it before it falls off. One disappointment I have is that the bag didn’t come with any sort of pen, which all previous fanfest bags came with (useful for getting signatures and swapping usernames). Also, nothing tops the squishy stress grapes. I’ll also join the chorus in wishing for in-game items to be included with the price of the ticket rather than a separate purchase on the cash shop. My humble request for next year is a mini ita bag with a window for us to put all these pins and stickers in! ADA One of my biggest concerns about this year’s fanfest was ADA compliance, which was a huge problem in 2023. I’m able-bodied, but I happened to be sitting near the ADA section in Vegas, so witnessed several of the incidents attendees were complaining about, such as the removal of ADA seating for the concert mosh pit and asking standing attendees to step back into the ADA area. At the start of Day 1 I spoke to a few people in the ADA line and asked them to contact me if there were any violations, and as of now I’ve heard zero complaints. As far as I saw myself, ADA attendees this year were given proper accommodations. The Community My last shot of the signature wall before we left on saturday Outside of the panels and concerts, the community was the absolute highlight of the event. I brought over 1000 buttons to give away on behalf of the subreddit, plus subreddit/discord art sticker sheets and stickers of my personal WoL for the sticker trade. I spent half the convention handing those out and getting all sorts of goodies in exchange. The sticker traders absolutely took over the signature wall, and it was a delight to see so much art slapped across it (as long as they politely kept their stickers off other people’s signatures). The reusable sticker books given to us this year hint they definitely knew about it, but I must have gotten enough stickers to fill three of them. I could measure my stack of stickers in inches, not to mention the ribbons, MtG tokens, and 3D printed trinkets other people handed me. The sticker trade is a pillar of the community at this point, so I hope Square Enix works it into the next Fanfest’s festivities. There were all sorts of unofficial events around the venue as well. Several streamers were on the floor doing pop-up meet & greets with con-goers forming orderly lines on their own behest. The tables behind the food trucks outside had Mahjong set up. There was a Final Fantasy XI meetup by the fountain which I snuck into, and some absolute madman had a real DJ booth set up. Not to mention the Aquarium Meetup, which I wish I could have attended. The biggest takeaway is that everyone I encountered was in high spirits. In 2023, so many people had been beaten down by the heat wave and were frustrated over poor management and the venue’s terrible location, so 2026 was a breath of fresh SoCal air. The FFXIV community is as healthy as ever. Travel My husband and I are non-drivers so we rely on rideshares and public transportation to get around. It cost us about $85 to get from LAX to our AirBnB (15 minutes from the convention center) though it was around rush hour. You can take a train from the airport to get closer to Anaheim before getting a ride share, but it would have still cost us $50 plus the price of the train tickets, so we went for the more convenient option. On Sunday our friends just rented a car. If future fanfests take place in Anaheim I’ll try to get a hotel within walking distance of the venue. Requiem Cafe Requiem decor, very inclusive Square Enix kindly gave us entry vouchers for the Requiem Cafe FFXIV collab, which we attended on Thursday night. I got the New Adventurer Drink and the Good King Moggle Mog sundae. The drinks and treats were a little too sweet for my taste, but the collab goods were well-designed and I picked up some acrylic clips and keychains. I think I would have enjoyed it more if there wasn’t such a huge line, since I felt bad for the WoLs standing outside waiting for us to finish. I hope the success of this collab encourages Square Enix to do more cafe collabs or open permanent Final Fantasy/Eorzea Cafes in other locations across North America. Jollibee Jollibee with it's decked out drive-thru I’m already a fan of Jollibee, so I was way too excited when the collaboration was announced. Square Enix gave me a food voucher so I made my way towards the local dressed-up Jollibee on Sunday night, and I was honestly impressed by pretty much everything. They went all-out on the decor inside and out (I was laughing at the fake turf in the drive-thru lane so you could feel like you were riding through Eorzea), and it was shockingly clean for a restaurant which had been swamped all weekend. A very polite man at the door kept the line in order, while the cashier kindly offered to split our order without us asking so we could get two /eatchicken emotes instead of one. Unfortunately, they were all out of the blue raspberry drink, but they substituted it for the delicious pineapple drink. I’d highly recommend Jollibee if you’ve never been there before, they’ve got one of the best fast food chicken sandwiches you can get in America. Sticker trade haul That’s all I can think of at the moment, but if you have any questions about this or past Fanfests I’ll gladly answer. Likewise, I’d like to hear your personal experiences! submitted by /u/OlivinePeridot to r/ffxiv [link] [comments]

Preface: This post was written with zero input from artificial intelligence. Human stupidity only. This event marks the first time that wormholes have received new permanent PVE content in 17 years. The Rampant Drone Fabricator combat sites have very interesting design features, such as: Ramping rewards and difficulty the more waves you complete, up to a max of 30 Non-deadspace & ungated room, opening up different tactics for hunters and defenders alike No cheesing the PVE with drones or smartbombs Bonus rewards (and difficulty) for committing capital ships to grid Loot wreck disables warp and cloaking in a large radius, preventing ninja looting Almost impossible to solo (if you want to finish before you die of old age) and fairly difficult to multibox, encouraging fleet gameplay (note that trying to solo-run the capital escalation by multiboxing essentially condemns yourself to acute carpal tunnel syndrome) Killing the NPCs fixes Triglavian and EDENCOM standings What you see in the screenshot is the product of running a total of approximately 50 of these sites since the event began, and doesn't even include the loot from the sites we ran as a group. The sites don't respawn in one system reliably, so the vast majority of them were found in chain. Since we now live in a Class-5 wormhole, my method has been: Scan chain to 2 jumps deep, find sites, run them multiboxed while holding zero hole control, go home, roll the static connection for a new chain, and repeat. Ironically, my lust for these PVE sites fueled my obsessive rolling and scanning, which in turn has directly led to some fun PVP engagements. CCP has strongly hinted that these sites will return as a permanent fixture of wormhole space after adjusting it post-event. If you want in on this kind of action, it's time to consider moving to wormholes. Space Madness is recruiting. Now, I've been a regular on this subreddit for almost a decade now, so I know what y'all are gonna say. Let me pre-empt some of your silly and off-topic comments: Q: You no-lifer, get a life, you terminally online loser. A: Yes, I am a turbonerd that plays EVE basically every day, but I certainly didn't grind this event 24/7. I averaged only 2 sites per day (very doable by anyone), and this was in between a real job 😨, many fleet fights, as well as the logistics of moving our entire alliance into a new system. Q: REEEEE WORMHOLE BLUE DONUT MAN BAD A: As an independent alliance shitter, I find the discourse around the WHCFC blue donut largely exaggerated. We didn't have to pay any racketeering fees nor have to kowtow to HAWKS or HK leadership for the privilege of running these sites. We simply moved in after negotiating with the former residents of our new home system (who were also long-time independent residents). In fact, some members of the WHCFC reached out and offered to help us out. It's almost like they want more squishy targets around to brawl (which I'm ok with). What I have seen in the past 4 weeks is that if these sites are indeed permanent, then Class-5 space can support a much larger population of independent groups and the space is largely open for taking. Q: Isn't this super risky? A: Short answer: Yes. Long answer: No, actually. The sites don't scram, so you can simply leave if you're paying attention to incoming danger. It is as dangerous as any other PVE activity in wormholes, and the only difference here is that you're incentivized to stand your ground and fight for the loot you've accumulated. Q: Your estimated value isn't accurate. A: As they say, "everything is worth exactly what its purchaser is willing to pay for it", and the drones currently do sell for that much. Besides, 51B of that amount is the fixed-price tokens, which sell to NPC buy orders, so it's a good haul regardless. Q: Did you write this guide to actually be helpful and recruit, or is it for bragging and luring more targets into your home? A: Yes. Thank you, CCP, for a great event (as well as the reassurance that liberal democracy only exists to line the pockets of the space rich 🙏 /s ) submitted by /u/TwitchyBat to r/Eve [link] [comments]

Everything's so cute! All well bubble wrapped & shipping was quick too! 🥳 So happy to be able to buy things from japan now hehe submitted by /u/Imaginary-Bear659 to r/doorzohaul [link] [comments]

Had a successful hunt today! Hello Kitty from Claire’s. Disney ones plus strawberry drink from Five Below. The rest are from a mystery box from the Walmart app. Hope everyone had a good day! submitted by /u/Ok-File-9121 to r/squishmallow [link] [comments]

I am NOT the Original Poster. That is Funny_Leather_5540. She posted in r/AITAH Paragraph breaks added for readability. Thanks to u/BakingGiraffeBakes for the rec! Do NOT comment on Original Posts. Latest update is 7 days old. This has not been posted in this sub before. Mood Spoiler: some good but still a LOT unresolved and frustrating Original Post: January 4, 2026 I only have four days to make a decision. I have been going back and forth trying to decide if I should cancel my husbands birthday reservations I made for him at this really cool indoor golf place followed by reservations for dinner. He's always commented on wanting to try both and I thought it would make a nice gift. His birthday is only a few days after mine. For Christmas he legit took the time to buy and wrap me a box of diapers for our daughter in the next size up and presented it to me as my gift. I'm still angry about that. No, gag gifts for Christmas has never been a thing between us. Last year he got me a spatula and I thought this year he would do better after the falling out we had over the spatula. A little bit of Background info: Our daughter is now two months old and we have been working on replacing the floor and painting our home since before she was born with the goal of having it done before she can crawl. Over the summer he did the nursery floor and in the fall, a week before she was born, he did the flooring in our older son's room. Mind you, the flooring was given to us for free from my dad, and my dad bought my husband his own miter saw for Christmas to get the job done so we would no longer have to borrow his. I do all the painting. This past week as we have been clearing things out of our bedroom for me to do the painting and him the flooring he brought up my birthday. He said, "wow, all this work for your birthday gift." I said "Excuse me, what gift? He said "All the work of putting the flooring in our bedroom, but don't worry I'll still do a dinner for you and we can invite your mom and my family, what do you want me to cook?" I said "I would like to just have a quiet birthday dinner, you, me and the kids at Longhorn Steak House, come home and watch a movie together. Also, the flooring is not my gift. This is something we've been planning now for a year. And with the house torn up, I don't want to host anyone in our home especially after having hosted for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Besides we don't even have a place for people to sit. We have all the bedroom furniture, and our clothing in the living room. I'm currently sleeping on the mattress on the floor in here. Plus, I'm not a fan of your brother coming over so you two can sit and just drink beer all evening while I watch our and his kids." He said no, I'm going to cook at home, just tell me what you want me to cook. I said "Ok, I want to do steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans." (But there is a problem here, he can't make mashed potatoes to save his life and only likes green beans if their boiled. I like fresh green beans slowly sautéed with olive oil, garlic and herbs. So if I want it cooked this way, I will have to do it.) He said "no, we're not doing steak, it will cost to much if the family comes over. I'll just do a chicken." I lost it. I said again, "For MY birthday... I DO NOT want people over." He kept arguing the issue and I said "fine, do what you want for my birthday." Side note: Last year, he ordered the traditional tres leches cake but he ordered it with peaches. I hate peaches, he likes peaches. I like strawberries. Plus, my name was spelled wrong on the birthday cake, he thought it was hilarious. I am now seriously considering cancelling his b-day golf outing & dinner reservations, leaving home if he invites his family for my birthday, buying him a box of diaper wipes and presenting it with a card that says "Happy birthday. I painted the house for you." Would I be the Asshole? OOP's only comment: To a longer comment: Thank you. This is the first post I've read that basically wasn't calling me an asshole for not divorcing him over Christmas and birthday this year. And yea, about 2 weeks after Christmas last year, when I had time relax, I asked him for a genuine answer about the spatula as a gift and what the hell he was thinking. He said that he was at the store and saw that it was blue, the type of blue I like and and he thought of me and thought that it would match the utensil holder and our blue microwave that I found in the store one day and geeked over. He said he thought I would like it because of the pretty blue color. That's about as deep as the thought went. He said that he never thought the gift would be sexist, or imply that I had to do more cooking for him. To make up for the spatula though he did go out and buy me the KitchenAid stand up mixer I had my eye on for over 2 years. I was really happy about it...Until he said "So when are you going to make me some homemade bead?" We had the talk about never, ever buying kitchen appliances for someone as a gift unless directly asked for. That kitchen things used by the whole family is not a gift for one person. When I am no longer angry about the diapers, I'll be able to calmly ask him "after the 2024 Christmas spatula debacle, what the hell were you thinking gifting me diapers 2025." I mean hell, I'm thinking if this is how its gonna be, we might just make it a pact to buy each other practical gifts for the home. No more disappointment that way. Update (Same Post): Later that day Update: Birthday plans: I have since logged in and cancelled his birthday golf outing and dinner reservations for next week. Tomorrow is my birthday and his day off work so he will be watching baby as I have also booked myself for a 90 minute massage. After that I will be stopping by Starbuck for my favorite drink and one hour of un-interrupted time with my new book that my son got me for Christmas. Then I will be picking him up from school and taking him to go see a movie. I will round off the day by coming home, taking a long hot bubble bath, ordering DoorDash and ending my day holding baby girl. That sounds like an amazing birthday to me. For him, I will just be getting him a card that reads "Happy Birthday, I painted the house for you." The bag will contain a case of diaper wipes. If he looks disappointed, I will just tell him "I cancelled the Golf outing and dinner reservations and instead go this bulk pack of wipes; the perfect gift to accompany the box of diapers you got me for Christmas." He will get the message. Divorce: As for the people advocating for divorce, kicking him to the curb, leaving with the kids in the middle of the night, claiming that he isn't a good husband to me and father to our baby, please know that you only got one little glimpse into our life. He is a loving and caring father to our children. We struggled with infertility for a very long time so this baby was a surprise but a welcomed blessing. Every day I prayed to not miscarry and even feared death during labor as my pregnancy was high-risk. He took a month off of work to care for me as I recovered from 3 degree tearing and a bruised tailbone. Every night he does the night time routine: Bath, pajamas, story time, and rocks baby girl to sleep. While he does that, I do the house reset: dishes, garbage, sweep. He wakes with me for all her feedings and prioritizes my sleep over his to make sure that I am rested enough to care for our daughter during the day. This is the same man who, during pregnancy, cooked me breakfast every morning and massaged my feet every night. Before he leaves for work every day he will make sure I have time to self-care (shower, brush my teeth, eat breakfast, and pump) before handing me the baby (if she's awake). Then he will make sure I am happy on the couch with baby girl and anything I could need before he leaves-blanket, remote, water cup, my phone, phone charger, a clean binky and bottle for baby. As soon as he get's home from work, he will take her and give me 30 minutes to myself before we start talking dinner plans. We make a good team when it comes to daily life. I don't have to make him lists of things to do. I like that when were low on milk, he will just pick it up on his way home without having to be asked and he doesn't wait for a "thank you" like he did me some big favor the way I have seen other men seek gratitude for doing basic tasks. He sucks at gift giving and this year and last year, so yes! I will be doing nothing for him for his birthday. Despite the shitty thoughtless gift and non-birthday birthday plans, I will be holding off on kicking him out and just matching his energy for his birthday. For Christmas 2026, I think I will get him an IKEA toddler bed to assemble for our daughter and call it a day. Update 2 (Same Post): January 6, 2026 (Next Day) Birthday update: Yesterday was my birthday. Hubby surprised me with breakfast out at my favorite local spot and we did a Home Depot run for more flooring. After that, I did go for my massage, It was wonderful, and I did stop at Starbuck for my free birthday drink. I didn't have time to sit and read before I had to pick my boy from school, but that's ok. Instead of going to see a movie at the theater we came home and began a Harry Potter Movie marathon. I LOVE Harry Potter. However, my son, without my knowing, had texted my dad and my best friend to come over and surprise me with a visit. He didn't know that I had already had my best friend and her niece scheduled to come over to look through a pile of clothes before I took a large haul to donate at the Salvation Army. It was so much fun watching her niece try on dresses. We wrapped up the night with some pizza and cheesy bread. Hubby surprised me with a little gift: two new books, a pack of my favorite cookies, and a squishy niffler that I can add to my Harry Potter book shelf. Overall, I had a great day. :) OOP's Comments: OOP comments a stand alone comment and is downvoted: I am disappointed that an AITA post became a dumping ground for people advocating for divorce... He does not deserve to lose his family. I don't deserve to become a single mother, and my children don't deserve to have their family torn apart over this. I was only looking to see if I would be an ASS for matching his energy when it comes to gift giving, not throw the whole marriage away. However, because of all the negative comments, calling me an asshole if I don't leave him, telling me that I have no self-worth. I have decided that I am going to still make the original birthday plans I had for him happen. I'm going to do it not because he didn't do something for me, I'm going to do it because I want my kids to see him happy. I want him to be happy. I want my son to see me do the right thing and not be petty. Despite how I felt on Christmas/birthday he is such a good father & husband in other ways and that is something I don't need to justify here on Reddit to make other people feel good. My original idea to be petty and match his energy died when I read all the hateful comments here on Reddit. So thank you Reddit readers, all the hate made me see how small this really was in comparison. He sucks at gift giving but is still worthy of love and respect for all the rest that he does for me and this family the other 363 days in a year. Marriage takes work, time and a whole lot of patience. No relationship lives in perpetual happiness because we are human and we make mistakes. CatPerson88: My husband wasn't quite this bad, but he did get me a vacuum during one of our first Christmases together. He got a lecture about what giving a woman household appliances says, especially when your wife also works full time... I learned to send him a list of specific items in a wide price range. He still occasionally screws up, but he's much better. We're still married 30+ yrs. Set ground rules. If he's a poor gift giver, I recommend doing what I do- when it's time to get you a gift, offer him a specific list, with site links, sizes, and colors. Any home repairs in lieu of gifts is to be discussed openly, not assumed, and both parties need to agree. It will get better. OOP: (downvoted) Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I'm thinking that next year I will be making him an Amazon wish list and sending it to him. He can pick something off that list and it will still be a surprise as to what he chose. submitted by /u/LucyAriaRose to r/BestofRedditorUpdates [link] [comments]

This is a repost. The original was posted in r/whatdoIdo by user No_Penalty9836. I'm not the original poster. Status: Ongoing Content Note: Harry Potter Editor's Note: I added paragraph breaks Original January 5, 2026 I only have four days to make a decision. I have been going back and forth trying to decide if I should cancel my husbands birthday reservations I made for him at this really cool indoor golf place followed by reservations for dinner. He's always commented on wanting to try both and I thought it would make a nice gift. His birthday is only a few days after mine. For Christmas he legit took the time to buy and wrap me a box of diapers for our daughter in the next size up and presented it to me as my gift. I'm still angry about that. No, gag gifts for Christmas has never been a thing between us. Last year he got me a spatula and I thought this year he would do better after the falling out we had over the spatula. A little bit of Background info: Our daughter is now two months old and we have been working on replacing the floor and painting our home since before she was born with the goal of having it done before she can crawl. Over the summer he did the nursery floor and in the fall, a week before she was born, he did the flooring in our older son's room. Mind you, the flooring was given to us for free from my dad, and my dad bought my husband his own miter saw for Christmas to get the job done so we would no longer have to borrow his. I do all the painting. This past week as we have been clearing things out of our bedroom for me to do the painting and him the flooring he brought up my birthday. He said, "wow, all this work for your birthday gift." I said "Excuse me, what gift? He said "All the work of putting the flooring in our bedroom, but don't worry I'll still do a dinner for you and we can invite your mom and my family, what do you want me to cook?" I said "I would like to just have a quiet birthday dinner, you, me and the kids at Longhorn Steak House, come home and watch a movie together. Also, the flooring is not my gift. This is something we've been planning now for a year. And with the house torn up, I don't want to host anyone in our home especially after having hosted for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Besides we don't even have a place for people to sit. We have all the bedroom furniture, and our clothing in the living room. I'm currently sleeping on the mattress on the floor in here. Plus, I'm not a fan of your brother coming over so you two can sit and just drink beer all evening while I watch our and his kids." He said no, I'm going to cook at home, just tell me what you want me to cook. I said "Ok, I want to do steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans." (But there is a problem here, he can't make mashed potatoes to save his life and only likes green beans if their boiled. I like fresh green beans slowly sautéed with olive oil, garlic and herbs. So if I want it cooked this way, I will have to do it.) He said "no, we're not doing steak, it will cost to much if the family comes over. I'll just do a chicken." I lost it. I said again, "For MY birthday... I DO NOT want people over." He kept arguing the issue and I said "fine, do what you want for my birthday." Side note: Last year, he ordered the traditional tres leches cake but he ordered it with peaches. I hate peaches, he likes peaches. I like strawberries. Plus, my name was spelled wrong on the birthday cake, he thought it was hilarious. I am now seriously considering cancelling his b-day golf outing & dinner reservations, leaving home if he invites his family for my birthday, buying him a box of diaper wipes and presenting it with a card that says "Happy birthday. I painted the house for you." Would I be the Asshole? Consensus: Not the asshole for cancelling, but people tell her she is an asshole for staying with someone who clearly doesn't like her or cares about her Comment by OOP: About 2 weeks after Christmas last year, when I had time relax, I asked him for a genuine answer about the spatula as a gift and what the hell he was thinking. He said that he was at the store and saw that it was blue, the type of blue I like and and he thought of me and thought that it would match the utensil holder and our blue microwave that I found in the store one day and geeked over. He said he thought I would like it because of the pretty blue color. That's about as deep as the thought went. He said that he never thought the gift would be sexist, or imply that I had to do more cooking for him. To make up for the spatula though he did go out and buy me the KitchenAid stand up mixer I had my eye on for over 2 years. I was really happy about it...Until he said "So when are you going to make me some homemade bead?" We had the talk about never, ever buying kitchen appliances for someone as a gift unless directly asked for. That kitchen things used by the whole family is not a gift for one person. When I am no longer angry about the diapers, I'll be able to calmly ask him "after the 2024 Christmas spatula debacle, what the hell were you thinking gifting me diapers 2025." I mean hell, I'm thinking if this is how its gonna be, we might just make it a pact to buy each other practical gifts for the home. No more disappointment that way. Update January 5, 2026, same day later Birthday plans: I have since logged in and cancelled his birthday golf outing and dinner reservations for next week. Tomorrow is my birthday and his day off work so he will be watching baby as I have also booked myself for a 90 minute massage. After that I will be stopping by Starbuck for my favorite drink and one hour of un-interrupted time with my new book that my son got me for Christmas. Then I will be picking him up from school and taking him to go see a movie. I will round off the day by coming home, taking a long hot bubble bath, ordering DoorDash and ending my day holding baby girl. That sounds like an amazing birthday to me. For him, I will just be getting him a card that reads "Happy Birthday, I painted the house for you." The bag will contain a case of diaper wipes. If he looks disappointed, I will just tell him "I cancelled the Golf outing and dinner reservations and instead go this bulk pack of wipes; the perfect gift to accompany the box of diapers you got me for Christmas." He will get the message. Divorce: As for the people advocating for divorce, kicking him to the curb, leaving with the kids in the middle of the night, claiming that he isn't a good husband to me and father to our baby, please know that you only got one little glimpse into our life. He is a loving and caring father to our children. We struggled with infertility for a very long time so this baby was a surprise but a welcomed blessing. Every day I prayed to not miscarry and even feared death during labor as my pregnancy was high-risk. He took a month off of work to care for me as I recovered from 3 degree tearing and a bruised tailbone. Every night he does the night time routine: Bath, pajamas, story time, and rocks baby girl to sleep. While he does that, I do the house reset: dishes, garbage, sweep. He wakes with me for all her feedings and prioritizes my sleep over his to make sure that I am rested enough to care for our daughter during the day. This is the same man who, during pregnancy, cooked me breakfast every morning and massaged my feet every night. Before he leaves for work every day he will make sure I have time to self-care (shower, brush my teeth, eat breakfast, and pump) before handing me the baby (if she's awake). Then he will make sure I am happy on the couch with baby girl and anything I could need before he leaves-blanket, remote, water cup, my phone, phone charger, a clean binky and bottle for baby. As soon as he get's home from work, he will take her and give me 30 minutes to myself before we start talking dinner plans. We make a good team when it comes to daily life. I don't have to make him lists of things to do. I like that when were low on milk, he will just pick it up on his way home without having to be asked and he doesn't wait for a "thank you" like he did me some big favor the way I have seen other men seek gratitude for doing basic tasks. He sucks at gift giving and this year and last year, so yes! I will be doing nothing for him for his birthday. Despite the shitty thoughtless gift and non-birthday birthday plans, I will be holding off on kicking him out and just matching his energy for his birthday. For Christmas 2026, I think I will get him an IKEA toddler bed to assemble for our daughter and call it a day. Update 2 January 6, 2026, 1 day later Birthday update: Yesterday was my birthday. Hubby surprised me with breakfast out at my favorite local spot and we did a Home Depot run for more flooring. After that, I did go for my massage, It was wonderful, and I did stop at Starbuck for my free birthday drink. I didn't have time to sit and read before I had to pick my boy from school, but that's ok. Instead of going to see a movie at the theater we came home and began a Harry Potter Movie marathon. I LOVE Harry Potter. However, my son, without my knowing, had texted my dad and my best friend to come over and surprise me with a visit. He didn't know that I had already had my best friend and her niece scheduled to come over to look through a pile of clothes before I took a large haul to donate at the Salvation Army. It was so much fun watching her niece try on dresses. We wrapped up the night with some pizza and cheesy bread. Hubby surprised me with a little gift: two new books, a pack of my favorite cookies, and a squishy niffler that I can add to my Harry Potter book shelf. Overall, I had a great day. :) ___ *I'm not the original poster* submitted by /u/Schattenspringer to r/BORUpdates [link] [comments]

I only have four days to make a decision. I have been going back and forth trying to decide if I should cancel my husbands birthday reservations I made for him at this really cool indoor golf place followed by reservations for dinner. He's always commented on wanting to try both and I thought it would make a nice gift. His birthday is only a few days after mine. For Christmas he legit took the time to buy and wrap me a box of diapers for our daughter in the next size up and presented it to me as my gift. I'm still angry about that. No, gag gifts for Christmas has never been a thing between us. Last year he got me a spatula and I thought this year he would do better after the falling out we had over the spatula. A little bit of Background info: Our daughter is now two months old and we have been working on replacing the floor and painting our home since before she was born with the goal of having it done before she can crawl. Over the summer he did the nursery floor and in the fall, a week before she was born, he did the flooring in our older son's room. Mind you, the flooring was given to us for free from my dad, and my dad bought my husband his own miter saw for Christmas to get the job done so we would no longer have to borrow his. I do all the painting. This past week as we have been clearing things out of our bedroom for me to do the painting and him the flooring he brought up my birthday. He said, "wow, all this work for your birthday gift." I said "Excuse me, what gift? He said "All the work of putting the flooring in our bedroom, but don't worry I'll still do a dinner for you and we can invite your mom and my family, what do you want me to cook?" I said "I would like to just have a quiet birthday dinner, you, me and the kids at Longhorn Steak House, come home and watch a movie together. Also, the flooring is not my gift. This is something we've been planning now for a year. And with the house torn up, I don't want to host anyone in our home especially after having hosted for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Besides we don't even have a place for people to sit. We have all the bedroom furniture, and our clothing in the living room. I'm currently sleeping on the mattress on the floor in here. Plus, I'm not a fan of your brother coming over so you two can sit and just drink beer all evening while I watch our and his kids." He said no, I'm going to cook at home, just tell me what you want me to cook. I said "Ok, I want to do steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans." (But there is a problem here, he can't make mashed potatoes to save his life and only likes green beans if their boiled. I like fresh green beans slowly sautéed with olive oil, garlic and herbs. So if I want it cooked this way, I will have to do it.) He said "no, we're not doing steak, it will cost to much if the family comes over. I'll just do a chicken." I lost it. I said again, "For MY birthday... I DO NOT want people over." He kept arguing the issue and I said "fine, do what you want for my birthday." Side note: Last year, he ordered the traditional tres leches cake but he ordered it with peaches. I hate peaches, he likes peaches. I like strawberries. Plus, my name was spelled wrong on the birthday cake, he thought it was hilarious. I am now seriously considering cancelling his b-day golf outing & dinner reservations, leaving home if he invites his family for my birthday, buying him a box of diaper wipes and presenting it with a card that says "Happy birthday. I painted the house for you." Would I be the Asshole? Update: Birthday plans: I have since logged in and cancelled his birthday golf outing and dinner reservations for next week. Tomorrow is my birthday and his day off work so he will be watching baby as I have also booked myself for a 90 minute massage. After that I will be stopping by Starbuck for my favorite drink and one hour of un-interrupted time with my new book that my son got me for Christmas. Then I will be picking him up from school and taking him to go see a movie. I will round off the day by coming home, taking a long hot bubble bath, ordering DoorDash and ending my day holding baby girl. That sounds like an amazing birthday to me. For him, I will just be getting him a card that reads "Happy Birthday, I painted the house for you." The bag will contain a case of diaper wipes. If he looks disappointed, I will just tell him "I cancelled the Golf outing and dinner reservations and instead go this bulk pack of wipes; the perfect gift to accompany the box of diapers you got me for Christmas." He will get the message. Divorce: As for the people advocating for divorce, kicking him to the curb, leaving with the kids in the middle of the night, claiming that he isn't a good husband to me and father to our baby, please know that you only got one little glimpse into our life. He is a loving and caring father to our children. We struggled with infertility for a very long time so this baby was a surprise but a welcomed blessing. Every day I prayed to not miscarry and even feared death during labor as my pregnancy was high-risk. He took a month off of work to care for me as I recovered from 3 degree tearing and a bruised tailbone. Every night he does the night time routine: Bath, pajamas, story time, and rocks baby girl to sleep. While he does that, I do the house reset: dishes, garbage, sweep. He wakes with me for all her feedings and prioritizes my sleep over his to make sure that I am rested enough to care for our daughter during the day. This is the same man who, during pregnancy, cooked me breakfast every morning and massaged my feet every night. Before he leaves for work every day he will make sure I have time to self-care (shower, brush my teeth, eat breakfast, and pump) before handing me the baby (if she's awake). Then he will make sure I am happy on the couch with baby girl and anything I could need before he leaves-blanket, remote, water cup, my phone, phone charger, a clean binky and bottle for baby. As soon as he get's home from work, he will take her and give me 30 minutes to myself before we start talking dinner plans. We make a good team when it comes to daily life. I don't have to make him lists of things to do. I like that when were low on milk, he will just pick it up on his way home without having to be asked and he doesn't wait for a "thank you" like he did me some big favor the way I have seen other men seek gratitude for doing basic tasks. He sucks at gift giving and this year and last year, so yes! I will be doing nothing for him for his birthday. Despite the shitty thoughtless gift and non-birthday birthday plans, I will be holding off on kicking him out and just matching his energy for his birthday. For Christmas 2026, I think I will get him an IKEA toddler bed to assemble for our daughter and call it a day. Birthday update: Yesterday was my birthday. Hubby surprised me with breakfast out at my favorite local spot and we did a Home Depot run for more flooring. After that, I did go for my massage, It was wonderful, and I did stop at Starbuck for my free birthday drink. I didn't have time to sit and read before I had to pick my boy from school, but that's ok. Instead of going to see a movie at the theater we came home and began a Harry Potter Movie marathon. I LOVE Harry Potter. However, my son, without my knowing, had texted my dad and my best friend to come over and surprise me with a visit. He didn't know that I had already had my best friend and her niece scheduled to come over to look through a pile of clothes before I took a large haul to donate at the Salvation Army. It was so much fun watching her niece try on dresses. We wrapped up the night with some pizza and cheesy bread. Hubby surprised me with a little gift: two new books, a pack of my favorite cookies, and a squishy niffler that I can add to my Harry Potter book shelf. Overall, I had a great day. :) submitted by /u/Funny_Leather_5540 to r/AITAH [link] [comments]

yAYY package from @doorzo __^ Everything's so cute and adorable hehee! ☃️fast shippinggg, all was bubblewrapped well & the customer service is good and follows up tooo 🫨 submitted by /u/LittleeeeLeaf to r/doorzohaul [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/Kriemel3 to r/cats [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/Kriemel3 to r/Squishylilyloaf [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/sigheternally27 to r/PHBookClub [link] [comments]

my mOST expensive package to date just because of the dangos... 🐸 But yAYYYY me love everything! _^ All came quickly, bubblewrapped well hehe me used DHL delivery~ hassle free everythingdu submitted by /u/Littleeeleaf to r/doorzohaul [link] [comments]

Everything came in good condition! All was well bubble wrapped & shipping was quick too! 🥳 Very happy with everything!! submitted by /u/Littleeeleaf to r/doorzohaul [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/Mindless-Layer5431 to r/Squishies [link] [comments]

Played Tetris for two bags with my significant other, jack Skelly and zero were must haves for our decorations! Best promo ever thank you to my wonderful boyfriend for spoiling us ❤️🥰 submitted by /u/Odd_Sale_8746 to r/squishmallow [link] [comments]

My first Halloween squishies 🥺🫶🎃🖤 great finds! What's your favourite Halloween squishies?? submitted by /u/Fruitloopsinwhiskeyx to r/squishmallow [link] [comments]

I’m not normally a Disney collector, but those little vampire teeth on Mickey are so cute! submitted by /u/Jenn_with_2_nns to r/squishmallow [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/Maximum_Policy8801 to r/RedditLaqueristas [link] [comments]

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submitted by /u/Obvious_Case_6101 to r/FashionReps [link] [comments]

I didn’t even know I had an older brother until he showed up outside my school that afternoon. It was two years ago. I was a sophomore, my little sister Paige was a freshman. The original plan that day was to hitch a ride to a friend’s house, where we’d probably team up and knock out our homework as quickly as possible. That plan changed when we exited the building and someone called my name. “Parker! Hey, Parker!” My attention was immediately grabbed and I glanced around for anyone familiar. All I saw was a guy in his late twenties, leaning against a fancy car parked on the street. He smiled and waved me over. “Parker, over here!” Double checking to make sure there were no more Parkers in the immediate range, I decided to at least meander over. Paige was practically clinging to my backpack as we walked over, she was a little shy and I was expecting any second for this stranger to look away and find that other mystery Parker. But he didn’t. He lit up and looked right into my eyes as we walked up to him. “Wow. Parker. You’re gonna get taller than me, aren’t you?” I frowned and made sure to take a side step in front of Paige, just to put myself between this stranger and my sister. “Can I help you?” I asked. He looked a bit sad for a moment, before he sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t remember me. You were only two and Paige here,” He stood on tiptoe to look at Paige, “She was just a lil baby.” I must’ve looked super confused, because Paul reached for his wallet and pulled out a photograph. “I’m Paul. I’m your brother,” He said, handing me the photo. It was so jarring. There was my mom and dad, I was standing in front of Dad with a big old smile on my little toddler face, Mom was holding Paige, and there was a boy standing between my parents, about thirteen or fourteen years old, with the same blond hair that both me and Paige had and a grin on his freckled face. I’d never seen this photo before. But it was real and in my face and impossible to deny. I looked back up at Paul, who was back to smiling. His freckles had faded away with age, his teeth were straighter and whiter, but he still had the same goofy smile. And I could just about tell we had the same shape of our eyes, the same ears that stick out just a bit… the resemblance was uncanny. Paul reached out and clapped his hand on my shoulder. “We have a lot to talk about. Come on, you like McDonald’s?” Paige cleared her throat. “We should- we should probably just go home, mom and dad-” “They’re gonna be at work until what, five? Six?” Paul glanced over my shoulder to look at my, well, our apprehensive little sister. “If they're still the workaholics I remember, they’ll not be home for hours. We’ll only be a bit. I just wanna catch up. I’ll buy?” I should’ve known better. So should’ve Paige. But even if we did, we still got into the backseat of Paul’s car, and he drove us to the McDonald’s a few blocks away. Lunch that day had been pretty garbage, so getting a McDonald’s treat was more than welcome. Paige tried to decline, saying she wasn’t that hungry, but he ordered her an Oreo flurry and like magic her appetite came back. As we sat in a booth, I stopped inhaling my burger for a moment to confront that elephant in the room. “Why didn’t mom and dad ever tell us about you?” Paul was not at all surprised by the question, but he answered with one of his own. “You’re a good kid, aren’t you? Always home on time, straight A’s, chores done without a single complaint?” “I mean, I have a B in algebra-” I stopped myself before I nodded. “I guess so.” Paul glanced over at Paige. “You too?” He said. Paige also nodded and Paul sighed, nodding with understanding. “Yeah, that’s about right. Nothing wrong with that, but I was a bit more… high maintenance.” I pushed my fries away and leaned forward to listen. Paige, despite her apprehension, was looking with just as much interest as I was. “I guess you can say I had issues? I mean, I was fourteen, but I was already getting myself into heaps of trouble.” Paul drummed his fingers on the table. “My grades were awful, got into fights at school, I’d sneak out at night… I mean, once I got out of there, I figured out I wasn’t like most kids. I couldn’t be parented like most kids. But one day Mom and Dad just… sent me away.” Paige gasped quietly, her eyes going wide. “They sent you away? Where?” She asked. “Tennessee, friend of dad lived down there. They took a weekend trip and dropped me off at the door with a suitcase and a note.” Paul shrugged. “I don’t blame them, I mean, I was a holy terror. But man, it does sting a bit that they never even mentioned me to you guys. I’m still family… or at least, I thought I was.” A wave of sadness and disgust washed over me. Sad that I’d never gotten to know about Paul, disgust that our parents just gave up on him like that. Most fourteen year olds go through phases of being difficult, right? It sounded like he just needed some therapy, some freakin’ support, and our parents just made him someone else’s problem and erased him from our lives. Paige finally lowered her defenses, reaching across the table and resting her hand on his. “I’m sorry, Paul,” She said. Paul smiled, reaching across the table to ruffle her hair. “Not your fault. Not yours either, Parker. You were just babies, after all. But hey, I’m here now. Let’s make up for lost time. Don’t waste food, but if you want anything else, let me know. And feel free to ask me literally anything you want. I got nothing to hide.” I didn’t want anything else, but Paige did get an order of chicken nuggets. We munched and got to know our older brother. After Paul left the house he was dumped at, he had traveled all over the states. He ‘didn’t want to go home without showing he was worth something’, he said. He’s worked all sorts of jobs, waiter, mechanic, janitor, but it was his most recent job as a manager at a small store that he ran into his girlfriend… well, ‘girlfriend’. “Do you guys know what a sugar mama is?” Paige nearly choked as Paul handed us his phone, a picture of himself and a woman that was probably in her early sixties. Sure, she was pretty okay looking for her age, but damn, she was without a doubt older than our mother. “That’s Elaine,” He said, pointing at the woman. “Elaine lost her husband a few years before we met, lung cancer. She just wants some company, specifically, she wants cute company.” He poked himself on the cheek. “And I happen to be adorable.” I couldn’t stop from laughing as I picked up the phone to get a better look. “Dude, our parents would kill you,” I said. “Listen, in life, you’re up to your ears in debt until you die, you start off rich, or you marry into the good life. I mean, Elaine and I aren’t married,” He laughed at the thought of that, “But I can do whatever I want and she won’t care, long as I’m home every now and then and ready for some… snuggles,” He gave a pointed look at Paige, who scowled at the innuendo, but I just cracked up. True to his word, Paul did get us home before our parents, but once we all got out of the car he tossed the keys to me. “Registration’s in the glove box, she’s paid off and only got a few hundred miles on her. You have your driver’s license, right?” I was too stunned to do anything but nod. “Then you’re set. Think of it as the present for all the birthdays I missed. See you soon, guys.” With that, Paul just walked off in the direction of the nearest bus stop. Course, our parents had quite a few questions when they came home and all of them revolved around the car in our driveway that was easily worth over fifty grand. I just waited for them to get out all their questions at once before I looked at Paige, who crossed her arms and said what they needed to hear. “Paul came to visit.” Their faces were enough to confirm once and for all that Paul was our brother. Mom’s face went white and Dad staggered back, falling into his chair to probably avoid fainting. Mom took a seat on the couch, taking several deep breaths. “He found us?” She asked. “Found us?” I repeated, that earlier disgust starting to boil up into rage. “We moved after…” My mom swallowed, “You’re all right? He didn’t hurt you?” “Hurt us?!” I snapped. “Are you kidding me? Why- why did you never tell us about him!? He’s our brother!” My dad cleared his throat. “Half brother, actually,” he stared at our mother, who just looked at her hands, “And you need to tell him to take the car back. When he comes back, give him back the damn car.” I scoffed. “No way. You can’t afford to get me a car, if you want it gone I’ll just sell it and save the money for college,” I said. “Why didn’t you ever mention Paul?” Mom’s head was bowed in shame. “Paige, Parker, Paul isn’t- Paul’s not right-” I didn’t want to hear it. I just stormed out of the room, Paige right behind me. We’d heard all we needed to. Our parents abandoned a kid just because he ‘wasn’t good enough’. And Paul was actually not so bad now… least, we thought so, anyway. Paul showed up again the next day, at school, not at home. This time he took us to his condo, which was just as nice as you’d expect from a man just giving away luxury cars. We had a Skype call with his ‘girlfriend’, and Elaine really was nice, if not a little eccentric. “If you’re Paul’s family, you’re mine,” She laughed quietly, “So if you need anything, and I mean anything, just call me. I’ll help you however I can.” After the call, we ordered pizza and just spent the whole afternoon chilling out, playing video games and just getting to know Paul. He was competitive but never a bad winner, just giving tips about how we could improve. He gifted Paige a brand new laptop, perfect for homework and for playing video games. ‘I’ll get you your own car when you get your license,’ He promised, ruffling her hair and then asking if what movie we wanted to watch. When Paul dropped us off late that night, he didn’t come into the house, but he did wave at our parents waiting at our front porch. My mom just looked ready to die of embarrassment while my dad… I guess he looked so stern to hide any fear he had. We didn’t talk to them, we just went inside to do our homework. It went like that for a few weeks. Mom and dad would tell us to stop hanging out with Paul, but since he was always outside school at the end of the day, we just hopped in his car and took off for another fun afternoon. Mini golf, arcades, wherever we wanted to go he’d just plug it into his GPS and we’d spend an afternoon having fun. We even spent a whole Saturday at Six Flags, Paul had us take an overpriced picture and put it in an even more overpriced frame as his souvenir. I got a t-shirt, Paige got a stuffed animal that was almost as big as she was. Meanwhile, our parents were clearly upset, but we barely talked with them. I had resolved that I hated them both for cutting Paul out of our lives and I was going to do the same to them when I turned eighteen. God, the fact they moved after they left him to be someone else’s problem so he couldn’t find them? It pissed me off. Paige too, her theory was that Dad gave up on him so quick because ‘Paul’s not his kid’. It was so tense at home I wanted to spend even more time with Paul, just to escape all that. One of the final things we did was go out to a movie. By then we were all best friends, Paul, Paige, and I. We had so many expensive gifts, so many fun memories, we weren’t even a little bit afraid of him. We’d all gotten all the snacks we could carry from the concession stand and settled in to our seats when a handful of popcorn smacked into the back of my head. I turned around and internally groaned to see some unfortunately familiar faces. Paul glanced over to see the popcorn sticking out of my hair. “What the-” More popcorn flew through the air, followed by some pointed snickering and loud whispering. “Ignore them,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose, “They’re just some jerks from school.” Paul’s eyes widened. “You’re getting bullied?” He asked quietly. “I wouldn’t call it that, especially since Evan is the principal’s son,” I glanced back at the group and glared at the middle one, who only proceeded to laugh and throw more popcorn, “But they mess with me sometimes. It’s fine, they’ll get bored sooner or later.” I’d gotten a thicker skin from this sort of thing, I was already one of the tallest of my class but I was also the quiet guy who didn’t stick up for himself, so I was an easy target. Paul turned around and I swear it was the first time I saw that carefully placed mask on his face slip. The look in his eyes screamed murder. “Fuck off,” He growled at the group behind us. Evan mockingly ‘ooh’d’. “Whatcha gonna do about it?” He asked, smirking like he knew he was untouchable. Paul responded by getting up and starting to walk back the few rows where Evan and his goon squad were sitting. I don’t know what they saw, but I think Evan realized that Paul wasn’t just going to sit and take it like I was. He threw up his hands and repeatedly whispered apologies. Paul stopped at their row and leaned in close to the boys that looked ready to shit themselves. He whispered something I didn’t hear, and I think Evan did actually piss his pants a little. Paul straightened up, I heard him mutter ‘enjoy the movie’, and then he returned to his seat. Back to being fun big brother Paul, just like that. At least I wasn’t getting popcorn thrown at my head anymore, so I brushed aside any concerns I had. That night when Paul dropped us off, he didn’t stick around long. He said he needed to call Elaine, she had left him a voicemail earlier about how much she ‘missed him’, and frankly that’s all I wanted to hear. Ew. This time, my parents were waiting in the living room, together. They’d been going at it like cats and dogs for a week now, constantly having whispered arguments and I think my mom was sleeping on the couch. “Your mother has something she wants to say,” Dad said. Mom just stared at her shoes for several painfully long moments before Dad added, “Or I’ll say it, and I won’t be as nice.” Paige scowled. “What?” “You need to know the truth about Paul… so please, sit down,” Mom said, her voice barely above a mutter. I did take a seat across from them, but I probably looked as interested as I did during Algebra. “What?” Mom looked like a woman defeated. “Like… like your father said, Paul is your half brother, but that’s not the whole story.” She swallowed before she sat up straight and finally told us that whole story. “I met him at camp. I was a counselor. Your father and I were on a break,” She glared at him, while he just quietly scoffed, “After he’d cheated on me with his tutor at college. So I was bitter. I was alone. I was… empty. But Paul’s father, he was charming? Different, but charming. After camp that year, I realized I was pregnant. Paul’s father, we- we couldn’t be together, so I just went back to your father, and I let him think that Paul was his… until Paul was born, anyway. It was impossible to hide that.” Dad shuddered. “You gave birth to a monster, Andrea.” “What the hell is wrong with you!?” Paige blurted out. “Just because he’s not yours-” “I wasn’t. Being. Metaphorical.” Dad glowered at Mom, who seemed incredibly focused on the wall rather than any of us. “Tell them, Andrea.” Mom’s eyes welled up. “… Paul… Paul was born a few weeks early, and he came so fast we didn’t even have time to pack up for the hospital. And when he did, he… he wasn’t right. I can’t even describe- it’s something you’d have to see to understand.” “Paul looks fine to me,” I said. “Because he wants you to see him like that,” Mom rubbed the back of her neck, “He can do that. Within minutes he looked like every newborn baby boy. I would’ve blamed it all on the pain and hysteria if your dad didn’t see it too. And sometimes, he’d look like… that, again, if it was only me in the room.” Paige and I probably looked equally confused. “Mom, you’re not making any sense,” She said. “I know,” Mom nodded before she looked at me. “The scar on your stomach, Parker. Shaped like a triangle. Is it still there?” I hauled my shirt up to show it off. It had faded over the years, but it was still visible. “From the time I fell?” I said. “That’s not how you got it.” Mom shook. For the first time in weeks, I stopped being angry at her and was now genuinely worried. “Paul was- he was mostly like any other child until you two came along. He was a good boy. But he changed. He changed and I was afraid, terrified, to leave him alone with you. The one time I did… oh my god… I can’t, I can’t…” Mom broke down in tears, burying her face in her hands. Dad finally interjected. “He was acting up beforehand, but your mom was taking a nap in the room over. I came home from work early and I found Paul in your room. You were just laying there, eyes glazed over, and he had his mouth on you.” I nearly threw up. “What?” I had to have him repeat it. “I thought he was just being a sicko and ripped him off, but it- Parker, you were bleeding real bad,” Dad shook his head, “You only started crying when his teeth were out of you. I looked at the scar again. My head was swimming, I couldn’t breathe. “He bit me?” I asked. “He was trying to eat you.” When my dad started to shake, it was with pure rage. “I nearly lost it. He wasn’t even sorry, Parker. He was just mad I interrupted his snack.” Paige looked so white she looked ready to faint. “That doesn’t look like a bite mark,” She managed to get out. “He bit him with his real mouth.” My dad managed to get himself back under control after a deep breath. “What you’ve all been seeing, it’s not really Paul. He’s not human, because his father wasn’t. I couldn’t let him be in the house anymore. I began doing research, and I found someone-” “I thought you shipped him off to a friend,” I interrupted. “Not exactly.” Dad finally looked a little ashamed. “I found out more about Paul, and what he could be. And I found someone who could handle him, teach him to get his hunger under control. But Paul ran away from there after a few months. We’d already moved, but I didn’t sleep through the night for years because I was afraid he’d be back to finish what he’d started.” I leaned forward, trying to wrap my head around this. “How is he not human?” I shook my head. “This can’t be real.” “It is real,” My mom sat back up, wiping away some of her tears, “I never wanted to give Paul up but- he would have killed one or both of you. We didn’t have a choice.” After the room stopped swimming, I got up. “I need to be alone.” I went into my room and laid in bed for hours, just staring at the ceiling. I knew what I had to do, but I had to wait for everyone in the house to be fast asleep. Even Paige. Even if she was a part of this, I had to do this on my own. My alarm clock read 12:13 when I finally got up. If my parents heard me start the car, they wouldn’t have been out of bed before I was zipping down the road towards Paul’s apartment. I probably broke the speed limit but I didn’t want to wait. If my parents were telling a lie that was that out there, I needed to let Paul know they’d freaking lost their minds. Paul’s apartment lights were on, and by then I knew where he kept the spare key, so I let myself inside. It was quiet, but I figured he’d just drifted off to sleep on the couch while binging Netflix. He wasn’t on the couch though. I walked through the apartment, trying to hear him snoring or something. As I pressed further into the apartment, I didn’t hear snoring. I heard this wet, squishy sound like someone was wading through knee deep molasses, and it only got louder as I headed for the spare bedroom. He’d used it for storage, he told us, so I never bothered to check it out. The door was cracked just an inch, and despite my better instincts, I pushed it open. What I saw… god. What I saw. I still can’t believe it, even though it’s been years, I can’t believe it. I barely recognized the two corpses hanging by their ankles from the ceiling. Both were stripped of their clothes, completely drained of blood and their torsos ripped open, their bodies empty except for some bits of flesh and bones. The third body was still twitching a bit, and still had some color in the face, but it still took a second for me to place him as Evan. I’d never seen Evan so… blank. There was nothing going on behind those empty eyes. And the thing next to him… I don’t even want to describe it. It was humanoid, but barely so. It had two legs but only one arm, its gut stretched out so far it looked ready to topple over. Its skin was baggy and all mottled blue and green, and its arm was shrunken, curled in towards its body like a claw. Its head was pressed up against Evan’s gut, teeth set into his skin as it continued to suck blood and whatever else fluids it could get. I saw its sharp tongue stab into his gut and Evan gasped before his eyes rolled back and shut. His body caved in like the monster was draining a capri sun, liquefied guts spilled into the creature’s mouth and some dripping down its chin. It finally pulled off when Evan was hollowed out. It turned in my direction, his triangular mouth filled with rows and rows of spines that never seemed to end. Its tiny eyes blinked, and so did I… and then there was Paul, standing in front of me, looking entirely normal except for being soaked head to toe in blood. “Parker?” He said, so softly, sounding so surprised. It jerked me out of my shock. I slammed the door and ran for it. I barely got to the living room before the back of my shirt was grabbed, sending me flying onto my ass. “Parker, dammit, wait a second!” I looked up, expecting to see that thing instead of my brother. But it was Paul, out of breath and looking like a genuine serial killer. “Christ, you know how hard it is to run just after you’ve had a big meal?” I thought I was going to die. I wanted to beg for my life, remind him he was my brother, that he didn’t have to hurt me. But I didn’t have to say any of these things. Paul crouched down next to me, brushing his red stained hand against my cheek. I flinched, something he didn’t miss judging by the hurt in his eyes. “I wanted to tell you. But then there’s just so much more to explain, and I just… I just didn’t know where to start. I just wanted to say sorry for what I almost did to you as a kid, so I figured, why not give you something? Something to show I didn’t want to hurt you?” I swallowed, telling my legs to crawl backwards and away from this blood soaked maniac but I couldn’t move. I was frozen. “What are you?” I asked. “My father’s child. A son of Beleven.” Paul shook his head, tears welling up in the eyes that looked just like mine. “I’m so sorry, Parker. Back then I was so, so hungry, all of the time. And I just couldn’t stop myself, I couldn’t. And those dickwads in there? The world’s better with a few bullies gone from it, and this way, I won’t lash out at someone else. Someone like you and Paige.” I shook my head. “You killed them…” I glanced to that room, where three classmates were still hanging like meat in a freezer, “You just killed them.” “I did,” Paul nodded and I think I saw what my father saw so many years ago, that apathy for human life. “I did, and I did it for you.” I finally ran. I finally got my stupid legs moving and I fled that apartment, and Paul didn’t try to stop me. When I got home, my parents were waiting for me on the front porch. I hadn’t brought my cellphone, stupid, I know. They thought I’d gotten myself killed. I just hid in my room. I didn’t tell them that I was sorry. That they were right all along. I didn’t think I needed to. Since then, my parents have divorced. I stay with Mom most of the time, Paige stays with dad. We don’t see each other except at school or during holidays when we sneak away from our respective guardian. It’s rough, but we get by. I’ve never told her entirely what I saw that night, only that our parents were right all along and that we needed to stay the hell away from Paul. I sold the car, Paige gave away the laptop. One by one, we got rid of his gifts. Paul’s just… gone. After Evan and two of his friends were reported missing, his apartment was vacated, he left without a word or a goodbye. The bodies were never found. I don’t know if Paul just ate the rest or dumped them somewhere where they can’t be found. I don’t know. The nightmares from that night are neverending, the images of Evan just hanging there, letting Paul drain the life out of him without a fight flash before my eyes. Needless to say, I’m a bit of an insomniac. Why has this all come up now? Well… because I got a welcome letter for a job I never applied for. Alongside the letter is that picture we took at Six Flags, with the words ‘I’m waiting for you’ written on the back. It wasn’t signed, but I have a feeling who applied for me and who’s the one waiting there. So I’ll be accepting the position. Next summer, it looks like I’m going to be a counselor at Camp Golden Oak. submitted by /u/theoddcatlady to r/nosleep [link] [comments]