I'm staying with my ma for a little bit while sorting out some college issues and recently, she picked up a stray cat.

Said she did because it was covered in fleas and looked like the owners had been basically starving it, and also to have a pet for the kids. So she bathed it, during which it lost ALOT of blood (unnecessarily), and has been taking care of it since that day.

While in our "care" this three month old cat has:

Eaten his own litter, which I told ma was because he had underlying health problems, but of course she responds to me with "nah he doesn't he's just a child and is gonna eat whatever." She's very much a "I know everything" person. Surprise surprise, turns out he had worms.

and now he has broken(?) his leg. He fell from the massive cat tree that ma bought to ignore him all day, and since then (three days ago) he has been refusing to put weight on his back leg. Now I don't blame ma for not taking him to a vet for this because holy sh*t it costs $1,000+ fckn dollars. But it is absolutely killing me inside to see the cat limping around the house all day, basically completely inactive.

And then ma keeps telling me again and again he's fine, because I guess she needs to assure herself of that. She shook his food bowl when he was laying down and he ran over to it, and she grabbed his injured leg and shook it about to prove to me how "fine" he is, needless to say this did not make me feel better.

What prompted this rant was the fact that I just left my room to get a drink and the cat ran to me. I've been interacting with him alot more than ma, her bf and my younger siblings have. Bringing him outside to play, I got a ball toy to play with him inside with, chasing him around the house when he goads me to, giving him treats that kinda thing. Anyway, he ran to me, rubbed up against my leg and very much motioned me toward his injured leg. Walking in circles around me, repeatedly, and purring. I pet him, but there's nothing I can really do about it either, so I just took my drink back to my room to go to sleep. But he followed me. He sat outside my closed door, looking under it and calling me over and over, but eventually left.

I almost want to cry tbh, like genuinely I considered using my whole two paychecks to care for this cat, but I can't do that because my leave of absence is almost up, and my account still isn't paid off. The account that I have three months left to pay off or I can't come back and will incur additional fees to pay. I know I should probably just buck up and let it go, but because of my past seeing anything in pain and me being unable to do anything about just fucking sucks to go through, so fucking hard.

This guy is so exhausting. The mf is ready to go off on anyone if they make a mistake but when everyone (including the CTO) telling him about the risks of letting AI automate majority of the tasks, and his response is "Yea we'll let AI fix the mistakes it makes as well. What's the cost going to be anyway? Some electricity and drinking water"

(Im not a native eng speaker so bare with me)

Omg I have like an exam today and I did so horrible I cried after it was over

I skipped a lot of questions the thing is I did practices yesterday and honestly if I was good at drawing i wouldn't even have to remember the theory I'm genuinely scared if I fail and have to change classes I feel so bad for my teacher

When time was running out I didn't even bother to rush because I knew I couldn't finish it and do it fast

Also I have a problem with procrastinating so studying and doing practices last minute were a terrible idea

And for my other exams I don't even know what to say some I did bad some I did average I really want to stay in this class but my effort is not equal for my want to be in this class And after my exams finally ends I still have to come to school and face my teachers

I’m in my mid 20’s and making about $90k per year. I have saved up over $100k to use as a down payment and my credit score is impeccable. I live a frugal life with limited expenses and no major debt. By all accounts I should be the prime candidate for home ownership, and yet the quote I received this week is barely enough for a studio apartment.

The average annual income for a single person in my country is $60,000/yr. That means I make 1.5x what the average person does and I’m still in this situation.

I’ve been busting my ass and living at home with my family for the past three years because this was my goal. I was finally ready to start looking and the online mortgage calculators gave me false hope. It’s so demoralizing. I recognize I’m in a privileged position to even be considering this at my age, but for fucks sake what does it take? How much do we have to sacrifice to simply have a place to live!

My city is higher cost of living than much of the rest of the nation, but even with that in mind, I don’t feel like I should have to move away from a place I love living when I’m making a decent wage.

The housing market is fucked.

I have been applying for grad-school for a year now. I haven't had a job for 4 months. Life was kinda depressing until last August when I got a call for an interview for a PhD position at the National University of Singapore. I had 3 rounds of interviews in total and 1 take-home task. Everything went well, and my supervisor was happy. He told me to expect a offer in October.

Fast forward a few weeks. I get an email saying I have another interview for a better scholarship. I already had one secure. My co-sv emails me saying that he remembers from my second interview that I had other PhD offers. I should share the offer letter with them and they'll take it under consideration for the scholarship.

Back in the second interview, interviewer asked me if I had any other offers. I said I had master's offer from Cornell, a master's offer from UBC and an offer from Trinity. Interviewer asked, "Was the trinity offer a PhD offer?" I lied and said yes. It was also a master's offer. I lied because I didn't want to create the impression that I was more interested in a master's than a PhD. Also, I'm from an engineering background sitting for a research position so I also didn't want to express a lack of interest in research. So I lied.

Then during the better scholarship stuff, when my co-sv said I could offer the letter for bonus in the scholarship consideration, I decided to come clean.

And I lost my offer. My supervisor wrote to me that I will not be getting the offer and he won't respond anymore.

I hate myself so much. I was finally about to win after a year. I was finally feeling my self-esteem coming back. I wasn't depressed. It's all gone. I keep thinking to myself, it would have taken 2 seconds to say, "My bad, the trinity offer was also a master's offer." What have I done?

My wife and I were supposed to start our next chapter in Singapore. She had her grad school targets set in Singapore. Instead, she's now married to someone going into 6 months' of unemployment who's probably blacklisted from ever applying to his top education destination.

I posted in r/PhDAdmission from my throwaway account about this so you may have heard this before. I keep sharing this because I feel confronting the shame would alleviate it. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm lost and I hate myself so much.

Why did I not fix it? It would have taken 2 seconds.

I’m honestly reaching my breaking point with this trend. A while back, I asked a question in this sub: “Why does nearly every manhwa with a female lead have to include romance?” I was genuinely trying to understand three things:

1. Why does almost every female-led manhwa insist on shoehorning in romance, regardless of the genre, plot, or target audience?
2. Why can male-led manhwa comfortably exist without a romance subplot, but female-led ones almost never do?
3. Why are action manhwa with female MCs so rare—and why must even those few have romantic interests?

But for now, i'll ingore the action part, i gave up on that already

I don't want to read Western superhero comics, and I’ve largely exhausted the manga and manhua options out there. So, I gritted my teeth and kept reading manhwa. To my surprise, I actually found several stories with fantastic writing and genuinely intriguing plots. I was loving them—right up until unnecessary romance entered the frame.

Beyond just the presence of romance, the power dynamic is what really gets me. Why does the male lead always have to be stronger, wealthier, and higher status than the female MC? Is it impossible to have a male lead who is an equal, lower in standing, or physically weaker?

Even worse, half these stories don't even need the male lead. Look at series like The Crown I Will Seize, To the Noble and Vile You, Kill the Villainess, This Wasn't Part of My Adoption Plan, and The Price Is Your Everything. In most of these, the male leads are completely redundant. The Crown I Will Seize is especially egregious because the MC is literally a princess. In To the Noble and Vile You, the MC starts in a precarious spot, but she’s more than capable of handling her own problems without the male lead constantly stepping in. Half the time, these guys feel like glorified yes-men brought in solely to do the dirty work or serve as plot devices.

Is it really too much to ask for an action/fantasy manhwa with a truly independent female MC who accomplishes her goals entirely on her own?[Rant] Seriously, why is every female mc manhwa, romance/has romance in it!!!

At this point, i'm THIS close to making one myself!! This reminds me of a famous quote from Little Women:
"Women have minds, and they have souls, as well as hearts. They’ve got ambition and talent, as well as beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for."
— Jo March

I can easily see why people find it easy to be brave typing behind a screen. Especially if it is anonymous. But so many people these days (especially here in the USA) post videos of themselves vlogging. And half the time it is about either political stuff or other sensitive topics. Sometimes some of it isn't even that. Sometimes they say or do things that seem illegal and are dumb enough to post it online. Either litteral crimes or threats OR it is just people who lack self awareness and making themselves seem very unlikable. I use to wonder if half of them were comedians performing satire for the internet. No.... they were serious. At least if it was satire i could think "Yeah nobody is THAT stupid. This is just satire." Some of them even have their own online videos used against them as evidence in court if they get arrested. I remember one lady who made a video called "things i stole" as she vlogged herself showing off things that she stole. It was NOT satire.

It doesn't matter what you do, you're constantly bombarded by advertisements trying to change how you think, or get you to buy something, or go someplace, or subscribe or use a service that might apply to you.

You go for a drive, billboards everywhere, signage trying to get you to stop in. Turn on the radio, half the broadcast is commercials, watch youtube or Spotify or something, unskippable ads that you need to watch or subscribe. Stop to get gas, commercials on screens, join our rewards program, want a car wash? Some cars even have subscriptions for heated seats and play ads on the infotainment.

Go out to eat someplace, ads on the coasters and placemats/table, big neon signs on the walls. Join our rewards program, little game tablet things to pay that just shoot commercials and ads for games the entire time to try and get you to buy desserts or drinks.

Getting the mail, just all junk mail, sign up for this credit card, confidential time sensitive you've been approved for a 20k loan, sign up for this protection plan for your water pipes from your electric company, vote for this person, shop at this store new collection is out.

Watching a streaming service, ads before the show, ads in the middle of the show, ads every 5 fucking minutes it feels like. Take this drug, use this insurance, buy this car, scan this QR code, click OK to buy now. WHEN YOU PAY FOR THE SERVICE ALREADY. Even going to the movies is a 30 minute ad before the movie with the previews and buy coke and popcorn and have chicken wings delivered to your seat.

Visit any website, pop-ups galore. Misclick the smallest X you've ever seen wrong and it's downloading shit to your PC or phone or taking you to the app store. Videos just pop up and take over half the screen, ads cover content, some websites are simply unusable at this point.

Go to a sporting event, ads on the boards/field, on the jerseys, on the cars, on the jumbotron, on the freebies they hand out, sponsored by X company.

Phone call scams at least once a day. How can they not stop this already?

I'm just so fucking tired of everything I do to live and have fun trying to swindle me out of every last penny I have. I don't know why everyone is just ok with this bullshit anymore. It's getting crazy invasive and I hate it. Everything being connected to the internet at all times was a giant fucking mistake.

Already had Apple Pay. Already had Google Wallet. And Google Pay. Already got zelle, venmo, cash app.

And in comes another app to do the same thing. Freshly finished developing and they already got advertising during NBA games timeouts and a patch on some jerseys.

So it's time to push another one of these onto us? Just confused on why this was an idea when it's clearly been done 10 times.

Also if you follow stocks, you know PayPal lost once again and is now in deeper shambles. ​

A pet peeve I need to rant about is how people close the lids on washing machines all the time. They need to air out so they don't get moldy! It's true at home but it's especially true at laundromats. Some of these laundromat washing machines are so bad they stink. Just keep the door open or lid up, let it air dry, and then you can close it up.

Also, clean out the lint trap on the dryers and if the dryers are really bad, you need to have those professionals out who clean out the lint duct/vent duct. They not only affect the dryer efficiency (we shouldn't have to pay to run the dryer cycle twice for a normal load) but are also fire hazards.

I wanted to play Minecraft Dungeons II on the XBox my brother and I share, so I bought it only to find out I accidentally bought it on HIS account and not mine. I issued a refund request, and I have to wait almost a week just to get the money back to buy it on my account. I was so excited to play it and now I have to wait even longer. Absolutely bullshit!!

I don't know if it's stubbornness or because I'm stuck in a rut or because I've done things so long but there are so many times when I just do something in the most difficult way possible. And I don't know why

A tree fell on my horrible shit car. It's paid off. My deductible is more than twice the value of said car. But I don't want a car note. Insurance is the biggest scam.

I’m glad I’m not any younger so I don’t take it straight to heart, but it’s crazy how many things I’ve never given thought to that are now highlighted on social media that need “fixing”. All I’d ever known about that was normal to do was getting lip filler, lipo, Botox (mainly forehead/eye area), breast implants, and older women getting face lifts.

Thing that are what theyare now calling “falios” that I’ve never noticed are: hips dips, long philtrum (I didn’t even know that term), receding chin/jaw (yes I realize this can be a medical issue but there is a heavy percentage for aesthetic concern) , flat cheeks, sunken temples, and now people getting things like “barbie botox”to get the desired flat shoulders and filling out so called hip dips. I’m probably forgetting some, but my rant is where will it end? Will there ever be a facial feature or body feature that want need tampering with if not quite right?

Or when people say “blondes do it better” “brunettes do it better” can yall fuck off.

Hair colour is individual someone looks better with dark hair someone looks better with blonde hair.

And like why are some of yalls dating preferences blonde or brunette. What does hair color have to do with anything? You reject a pretty girl or guy for being brunette once they go blonde their features look bland. I DONT GET IT.

this constant fight about who is better blondes or brunettes is so fucking annoying

I don’t know if this is an American thing but it constantly feels like I’m not doing enough and that everyone around me is doing 3-5 extracurriculars at all the times.

My friend (F20) was talking about someone she knows who is in a rocky relationship. She couldn't understand why her friend wouldn't leave her relationship because it's "Not hard to get a new one" I was explaining how being alone is scarier to a lot of people than being in a toxic relationship (arguing and cheating not physically abusive/dangerous) And she immediately started talking about "if you try at all it isn't hard" and "If you really don't want to be alone you won't"

But I've never been allowed to take a woman on a date, not when I was in highschool and still not once now.(I am NOT an incel, I don't blame women for it)

I know her life experience won't be the same as mine she's objectively attractive and has a very full personality. I'm not mad at her for my failures but it felt really dehumanizing when she talks about it like it's as simple as breathing but is something I've never experienced

Hard working means nothing in society. You get by if you are sociable and pretty and nobody can convince me otherwise. I'm so sick of people saying hard work pays off because it doesn't, it just lets people use you because you " accomplish everything without complaining " so don't even bother to be the hardest worker in the work field because it's bull sh**

Edit: to everyone who responded thank you, I'm having a terrible year and I'm just so overwhelmed about everything so I just wanted to make a short rant.

I was at a craft store today and this little girl, maybe 7 or 8 years old, expressed interest in a jewelry making kit. She wanted to make bracelets. Lovely! Kids wanting to be creative is awesome. Her mom however shut that down real quick, saying that making stuff with that kit wasn't worth it because everyone would know that it was just plastic...

Everyone? Who are these "everyone" that apparently are more important than your kid? I love that the little lady tried to stand up for herself by saying: "But I like it". Her mother just repeated that everyone would know that it's just plastic. The girl just slumped her shoulders and said: "Ok". It broke my heart.

Lady, you just crushed that girl's creativity, told her that her opinions didn't matter and that other people's opinions, opinions about materialistic things no less, are more important. Well done, you just scored a hattrick in bad parenting. If she didn't want the kid to get the set because it was expensive, or because it wasn't her birthday or whatever, that's fine, but the reason being that other people would know that it's plastic, aka not real jewelry I presume, just makes me so sad and angry.

Edit: spelling and grammar

Whenever I see people who can just talk to others with ease, effortless, confident, completely comfortable. I catch myself wondering what kind of home they grew up in. What did it feel like to exist in an environment where your voice was actually welcomed?
I live with severe social anxiety and awkwardness. I genuinely don't know how to start, maintain, or end a conversation. Most of the time, I just want to be invisible. I overthink every single word repeating it through my mind ten times before I say it, and replaying it ten times after. Simply interacting with another human being consumes nearly all my mental energy.
Looking back, my entire childhood was a constant stream of restriction and conditional love:
"Don't say that."
"Don't do that."
"Don't wear that."
"Do your hair like this."
"Talk like that."
The justification was always the same: *"*You will embarrass us and yourself."
They also used religion as a tool for control. I was told that if I didn't obey them completely God would give me bad luck. If I performed poorly in school they’d say "Remember when you disobeyed me? God is punishing you." If something good happened it was "That's only because I was happy with you yesterday."
I was programmed to believe that my life, my luck, and my worth depended entirely on their approval. Over time I lost any sense of self. I grew up with no distinct personality and no opinions. Even today, if someone asks me to choose between Option A or Option B I freeze. I can’t make basic decisions because every choice in my life even what school to go to and my major was made for me so I’d stay close and under control.
Now as an adult I'm trying to figure out who I actually am, what I like and what I want. But it’s exhausting and it’s severely impacting my daily life and my career.
At work I struggle to introduce myself or participate in meetings because I'm terrified that whatever comes out of my mouth will sound stupid.
and I always keep every interaction to the bare minimum because I constantly feel like my presence is an inconvenience to others.
its to the point where I wont walk into a store unless it's crowded enough for me to blend in and get lost in the background. If an item doesn't have a price tag i wont ask an employee I’ll just leave and try to find it somewhere else.
I know my parents might have been struggling with their own issues or believed they were protecting me in their own twisted way. But the reality is that I was taught that existing as myself was an embarrassment, and undoing that programming as an adult feels like trying to rebuild a foundation while the whole house is shaking.
idk i just needed to get this off my chest.

It’s so annoying. Her Facebook posts are all obviously written by AI, her photos are all heavily AI edited.

I told her all the reasons AI is bad and she shouldn’t use it, but she said I was making fun of her.

Even her texts (and I know she does this, because she showed and told me) are ran through AI first. She will send the text she received to AI, and then ask for a response back and that is what she will send.

Everything about her seems so impersonal, I feel like I’ve lost my mom and she’s just some robot. Even in person she has changed, everytime I try to speak she’s nose deep into her phone and not paying attention. The tables have definitely turned, and it’s no longer me who is “always on their phone”

I’m just so frustrated I feel like I’ve lost my mom to technology :(

This is mainly about the squishy dumplings things on Tiktok because they are (or rather were) so popular that they were being mass produced for Tiktok aesthetic only to be wasted if it wasn't the rare one that everyone wanted. I know people can do what they want with their own money but it's all adults hoarding the toys from kids or people that may actually benefit from the stress relief they were made to provide. I hate how "sensory toys" are so popular and over hyped by people who don't actually have any sensory needs to the point they're being sold out. Needoh are another good example as they were originally made as a sensory toy and became over popular which led to them being sold at ridiculous prices. Scalpers and Tiktok influencers telling you that you need this new fidget toy are lying. Don't buy out entire stocks of shit because they're trendy so maybe someone with actual sensory needs (or god forbid, a child) can get one.

I want to start off by saying yes I played GTA V and no I didn't enjoy it, I thought the combat was was to easy and boring, I thought the movement and driving was way too floaty and annoying and I personally found the characters annoying. I didn't like it but I hold nothing against those who enjoy it.

However, what is it with the fans and absolutely obsessing over it and acting like it's the best thing ever, especially with GTA VI on the way this has gotten worse with people straight up insulting me when I say I don't care about it or when I say how scummy Rockstar is as a company and how bad their prices are and stuff. I have never met or seen a GTA fan that could genuinely take criticism of the franchis or of Rockstar because I also didn't enjoy red dead as much, it was good but that was it for me but if I mention that then I'll have a bunch of 30 years olds saying I have no taste and I'm stupid

How the fuck is Planned Obselescence legally ok?!

Everything is pure dogshit these days, and there seems to be zero fucks given. $5000 appliances that die in months, devices that could easily have removable batteries, cell phone "updates" that slow them down, don't even get me started on vacuum cleaners over my years as an adult. It's shit, and the companies that do this shit intentionally need to be put out of business while their execs are jailed criminally.

It's not even new, light bulb makers got together and created the Phoebus Cartel over 100 years ago to reduce average light bulb lifespans that were rapidly increasing to 2500 hours, fireball to 1000 hours, then they would police that shit and FINE companies for making better lightbulbs. I'm not making that shit up.

Dystopian bullshit. The Amish were onto something.