Ships That SUNK | Reading Reddit Stories

23:43But I have to also consider the fact that, like, if my boyfriend was in a traumatic brain, had a traumatic brain injury, that I would want to go there. I don't know that I would be like, well, I want to party, so I'm going to do that. I feel as though, especially because the dynamic is that he's selling his gaming PC so as to come see her. That's also a whole dedication. It feels like she, I don't know. I feel like if my boyfriend was doing something like that, I would also want to be like, well, hold on. He was about to do this huge gesture for me. I need to go be by his side while he's going through this.

24:19So I don't think that it's intentional, but it unfortunately reads a little bit selfish to me. Yeah, I can see that. I'm upset that he is in a hospital bed by himself when his girlfriend is with another guy. I love the idea of involving him more in some type of way because, again, I think it's a completely okay decision to still go to prom. Yeah. But I just also feel as though she's putting more of her devotion to the event and to the party. And for him, it seems like it was just really important because it was important to her. Yeah. So maybe people's priorities are just a little mismatched. That's true because, I mean, he's 19, so I guess he's already had his mom.

24:56He's a year more mature. Yeah, he's a year more mature. He's a grown man. But yeah, it does seem like, and that's kind of the issue with like their age of long distance. Like you're living your both separate lives. Like you're not, like, I don't know. I do agree with you. It is kind of like if I was his friend, I'd be like, hey, maybe she's like, this is her priorities. Yeah. That's not necessarily wrong, but it's important for you to go, like, maybe I should think about this. But I don't know. Right. It's tough. I also think, like, you know, there's something about, like, assuming OP is only interested in women and his girlfriend is only interested in men, there's something about having a guy take your place where you're like, I was going to wear a suit like that.

25:41Like, that could have been me. You know, I don't know. It's a tough thing to feel specifically not like my girlfriend's still going with some friends as opposed to that guy is taking my place. I'd be twisted up by that. She has to go with another date. It is a date, yeah. Yeah, and it's like she clearly wanted this prom experience a certain way. She wanted a date, seemingly a guy, to take her and do all of these things, the dinner and the pre and the whatever and stuff like that. So for her, it wasn't like it has to be my boyfriend. It's really just like, well, as long as there's a guy there, I get my prom experience.

26:16And that's fine because that's what she wants. To speak to the feelings and the long distance of it all and being in high school, what I feel like I can offer there too is I know when you are that age, it feels so heavy and real, right? So intense. You're like, because even just with friends, you're like, these are the buddies I'm going to have for life. This is my life forever. And, oh, my first girlfriend or boyfriend or whatever. I actually hit the jackpot right off the bat. Endgame, yeah. Found them. It feels like the entire world. I mean, like, I think when you're 19, you can't fathom past 30.

26:51Right. So you're like, this is my life forever. It's like, you have no idea how long a life is. Exactly. So I think that there's some validity, too, in, you know, doing what you can to make it work. And, you know, being willing to sacrifice a lot of different things in order for your timeline to work out. So it's a little bit easier for us to comprehend from afar and be like, maybe don't do long distance. And it's like, no, actually go through that. Learn how hard it is. So then in the future, you'll be able to discern how large your mile radius should be on Hinge. No, that's, I think, extremely valuable advice.

27:28Like you're living your life and maybe you have to go through this. Because I went through so many hurtful things with relationships. and it's like, I look back and I'm like, I think maybe I needed to. Yeah. You know, it's like, I could have, if I could go back in time and say, don't do this. It's like, would I become who I, like, would I end up where I'm at? It's like, maybe you have to deal with it. I think so. And his values are great, right? His commitment and stuff, it's like, no, those are valuable things. I'm not saying to not be that way. It's just, but it is also tough. Like the context, you don't have that context of that age.

28:01So it's like, you don't want to also lose those values in the process. Right, right. So assuming they're going to be together and this is what he wants. The only advice I would really give is like, you have to be able to voice it. If a relationship is okay for you, and who knows, this could be your forever. You don't have the context. Go for it, live your life, learn. But like, you have to be able to bring it up. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't, gaming PC, because you're in my world a little bit now too. First of all, that's not just an item. That's like your hobby. That is a connection with friends if you're playing things online.

28:34There's a lot to that. and$900. I feel really bad that his family, like, you know, his family has to know that he sold his gaming PC in order to get a ticket to go see his girlfriend and then suffered a traumatic brain injury playing lacrosse. Like, he seems like such an upstanding person. I'm like, man, and he's like, I'm not getting that money back. I'm like, damn, I feel so bad for this guy. But also, I can't fathom a build that he would have unless it's like multiple, multiple years old that's worth, if it's a gaming PC like a desktop, only$900 to sell. I feel like he got fleeced. And not even to mention the medical bills that he's now going to have to deal with as well.

29:16Like all of these like... It's a lot. This guy got hit. This is the beginning of one of those coming of age movies. Yeah, he's going to have an awesome life later. It could have been an 80s romance teen movie or like let's have our own hospital prom and then like da-da-da with the U and I kind of like background music. his arch nemesis on Fortnite is like, where is he? He didn't show up to Dead Man's Club to win the girl. And it's the guy she's on the date with. Oh, he bought the PC. Okay, comments. Someone said, well, contact the airline ASAP to see if you can get a refund, given you are in the hospital.

29:53Sometimes they make exceptions for those cases. Someone said, dude, you just had a brain injury. You can't be stressed. You need to just let this one go and put yourself first. He'll rest up. There are endless amounts of girls in the world. Your health is the priority. OP said, definitely just really bummed about this outcome. Just a total loss. Someone said, that is really rough, bro-tato chip. Do not give this girl any more of your time or money. And OP responded saying, you're a fucking loser. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. Sorry, that's the concussion talking. OP responded saying, can't even play the new 007 now.

30:26No. Somebody. Can we find this man? Can we send him a gaming PC? The gaming PC brands, please send this man a free PC. Update. Okay, let's see if we get some good news for this guy. Please. Go to Russia and to Marvel. Please. Unfortunately, I wasn't eligible for a refund from Air Canada since I missed the flight. Canada? Tag Air Canada. No, that's great, because he's in the hospital in Canada. They'll give you money for that. That's true. Oh, that's right. Okay. Free healthcare. So, that's good news, that he lives in Canada. Yes. Replace your blood with maple syrup. I wasn't eligible for a refund from Air Canada since I missed the flight and didn't have travel insurance.

31:04It sucks, but there's not much I can do about it now. If I recover somewhat, I'm going to try to get a summer job if my doctors clear me for work. Hopefully, I can save up enough money to buy a ROG Ally so I can at least get back to gaming. Republic of Gaming, Aces brand. Is it a good one? It can be. Okay. So at least I can get back to gaming and have some sense of familiarity from all of this. Still a pretty rough situation, but I'm trying to focus on recovering first and figuring everything else out later. I wish we had more context about their relationship, but, you know, it is what it is. My king.

31:40It's really hard. The fact that he's not talking immediately about, like, you know, I'm going to go see her in a different time. Like, he's just talking about getting a job, healing up. So it seems like he might be. I wonder if more happened. Yeah, maybe. I'd be curious. Yeah, it's tough. I think it's one of those things, though. He's like, it's a total loss. And I'm like, it's kind of though one of those things where you look back five years later and you go, oh, that was such a growing moment for me. For sure. In ways that you kind of can't comprehend in the moment. Yeah, he's got a bright future.

32:08Yeah, this will internally, it can make him so much more. Yeah. I don't know, it's so interesting how that works. Oh man. Yeah, tough. Really tough. Really tough. I feel really bad for the dude. I love him. So. Okay, our next story comes from the subreddit board games. Games you play when you're bored. Honestly, when you said that, that was my first thought. Yeah, I knew. My girlfriend just broke up with me over a board game, and I'm not even joking. I do wonder how often board games make people break up. Oh, some people are very competitive. This could go either way. This is not clear-cut. Nope.

32:48We were playing Catan. I knew it! Sorry! You knew it was going to be Catan? I was going to say Catan, yep. We were playing Catan last night with another couple. She had the longest road. I had an oar port she desperately needed. She offers me a deal. I decline because it helps her more than me. She got silent, scary silent. After our friends left, she goes, you know what your problem is? You care more about winning a fucking board game than making me happy. I laughed because I thought she was joking. She packed a bag and went to her sisters. Texted me this morning that she needs space to think about our relationship.

33:21Over Catan. Am I insane or is she massively overreacting? We've been together three years and she's ending it over a trade in Catan. Genuinely don't know if this is actually about the board game or something deeper, but either way, what the fuck just happened? I mean, it's gotta be something. Right, right. It's gotta be. I mean, maybe like it's layered in that way of like it's similar circumstances. Like what she said gives us so much. Yeah. Yeah. You know, your focus is this rather than making me happy or over making me happy. It also wasn't a one-off of like, I didn't like the way you did that during that game.

34:01It was, do you know what your problem is? Yeah. That there's a lot under that. 100%. Yes. That's my inclination. It was the catalyst. It was the catalyst. It had to be. It had to be. Again, some people are incredibly competitive and they do get very fired up when it comes to stuff like that. because we all know that feeling too when you're in a game and like sometimes, yeah, you're on top and you need somebody else to help you win in that way, whether it's like by trade or like, you know, you don't want them to like steal your star or something in Mario Party or something like that. And it's like a move like that if you are really like invested in this game and you're, you know, following through on that plan and then somebody changes it.

34:42Like sometimes it can get a little heated. Totally. To go so far as to end a three-year relationship feels... That's a lot. And this was the next day. Like the next day she was still mad. Right. Like it wasn't like just that night. It's like, okay, I cooled down. Yeah. The next day she texted saying she needs space to think about their relationship. It's bigger. And he says it's over Catan. She's not saying that. She's. Yeah. It sounds like there is a lot going on. This was just the final thing. Yeah. That triggered that same feeling. Yeah. That gets that context too. Because if he's just like, yeah, it's over a board game.

35:18Like there could be so many things he's missing. Yeah. Or not. Maybe it is over a board game. People do get heated. But for context, for anyone who doesn't know Catan out there, the game is about like you got to acquire resources and you get points at the end based on whether you have the longest road or the most cities. But there's a chance aspect of like rolling a dice to see where you can, or rolling a die to see where you can put things down. So sometimes you need something because you just didn't get to settle anywhere near sheep and someone has all the sheep. and the game is about trading and giving them an offer they can't refuse.

35:53And if they do refuse and you're stuck because you don't have sheep, that's the whole point of the game. You don't get to win and that's how it goes. Yeah, I think that's a really great point in that because he's the one who's reporting this, he's writing it out, he is kind of also saying it just in context of the game. Whereas if she were to write it out, I'm sure she would be like, and this one time he did this and the second time this and then when we were playing Catan, this happened and it made me feel like all of this stuff. He's kind of, I think, just maybe blindsided. Yeah. Because he isn't realizing the other times.

36:27He's not being self-aware. And he's not even trying to understand. It doesn't sound like he's trying to understand what else could be going on here. He's not like, okay. His reaction is like over a board game. That's going like, hey, let's talk. What are you feeling? What's going on? Let's unpack this. Let's unpack this board game. That also makes me think, though, is in previous situations, like maybe it was also her responsibility, though, to bring that conflict up and be like, hey, I have a problem beforehand. Like maybe, again, we don't have this context, but it might not be that he's not self-aware, but he literally has never heard anything from her.

37:07And this is the first time that she's said, you know what your problem is? And he's like, whoa, well, the only time you're bringing this up is when we play this game. So it has to do with this game. Sure. I also think he would have, you know, if this is a world where, you know, he's trying to say things in his favor and leaving out a lot of things, either knowingly or unknowingly, he would have probably said something to the effect of like, yeah, my girlfriend gets really competitive. She often does. Yeah. And he's not mentioning any kind of pattern. But again, if it is truly just this, for me, I love games.

37:36I love board games, card games. I play magic, things like that. there is it is an awful feeling when you know that playing the game to the best of your ability being like oh I've got a great move I've got a great card to play is going to upset someone and there is therefore a cost to it it makes it hard it makes it really difficult totally video games too like if someone's gonna be like fuck like you did the ah ah you guys won this round it's like oh okay yeah I um I it's to this day I still laugh at it but uh I was one time I'm invited to a board game day with some friends, right? And most of the people I didn't know that well, but it was one of my friends, two people I knew pretty well.

38:18And then my friend's roommate was there and a bunch of other people were playing this big, intense, Catan-like game, but even more intense than Catan. It was like a five to six hour game. Wow. And there came a part later on in the game where I had a move that I could make that I was like, this is kind of my only move. but by doing it I was I was going to eliminate someone now mind you the point of board games is to play to win beat other people yeah yeah it's not like oh we all won Scrabble this time like it's like you kind of have to do a move so I was like okay I'm gonna do this and it was gonna screw over my friend's roommate completely and so I do it because I'm like yeah like I'm like haha like whatever like all right like cool and he luckily wasn't mad at me he was for some reason mad at my roommate because my roommate was kind of like sort of helping me at the time like i was asking his advice whatever and i'm not kidding he truly left the room he left the apartment he's like no it's fine he's fine he truly like as he was leaving he's like saying to my friend he's like he's like we'll talk we'll talk about this later like whatever and like left oh shit and i was like oh my god sorry i was like whoa and it was definitely like a this kind of happens vibe.

39:32Sure. And I was like, that's embarrassing as fuck. And watching it happen, I was like, I, because I am competitive. I've said it like on board AF, like when we play games, I'm competitive, but I leave it, you leave it on the field. You finish the game and you go. I love playing games with you because like, it's good to be chill, but at the same time, if everybody's like, oh, well, I don't care. I'm like, why are you playing? That makes me more mad. It's worse. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have to care and be like, I'm doing my best here. And then, ah, I did. You didn't get to win. And you didn't get to, and that's okay.

40:03Listen, I've also, I've been in that position too where like, you know, I was on a family trip a couple years ago and I was playing Mario Party with my brother and my cousins. And like, listen, I was way ahead, right? And my brother, like he starts telling our cousins, he's like, guys, we have to team up against Arasha, like out loud in the room. And so they all like, you know, steal the stars and whatever. And I was like, and why'd you do that? And like, actually, why'd you do that? And I like got upset. Sure. And, you know, and my sweet brother was like, no, you're right. I shouldn't have teamed up against you.

40:37And I was, and it literally, it lasted about two minutes. And then all of a sudden I was like, I can't believe I'm doing this. This is Mario Party. This is a video game. And I'm actually like pissed off at you guys. And we had a huge laugh about it because I had gotten so worked up. But then I all of a sudden was like, wait, nothing matters. It's a video game. Like the competition aspect, it's so valid. but this idea of leaving it at the table or like stepping outside of that for a second, zooming out and being like, wait, no one's winning anything. There's no money on the table. Like, I mean, I guess sometimes there is and sometimes in the context of bets and stuff, it's a bigger stake at the end.

41:16Sure. But this just sounds like meaningless fun. Yeah. Like there's no reason to get so riled up. I think I do get a little tilted when there is that vibe of like team up against them. Like I play a lot of Magic the Gathering and that's fine because when you play in a four-person group, someone's going to be the threat. Someone's going to call it out and be like, they're the threat. And then everybody sort of goes in for a minute. But like, I don't know. There was a Smosh Games video a long time ago where like we were playing Smash Bros. And if you didn't win, you had to drink a gross smoothie.

41:47And I love Smash Bros. It's one game that I think I'm, you know, I'm not competitive like level at, but I'm pretty good with the average person. And I was like, okay, great. I'm not gonna have to drink the thing. And like almost immediately they were like, Damien's a threat, team up. And it was my first time like playing it on the channel too, like publicly. Don't let him play. Yeah, that's what it kind of feels like. It's like, don't let him play. Like everyone's stomp on Arash's character. Like that part sucks. That could be something like, hey, I didn't appreciate that you did that in our group game night.

42:19Like that kind of sucked. I didn't get to play. Totally. As opposed to I didn't get to win. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. It's tricky, but now that we're even talking about it, I'm kind of like, yeah, games can get a little tense. Well, we also have the layer of like, oh, like we're trying to make a video together. Right. There is also where I get most frustrated when we're playing board games or video games is when I'm like, shit, this moment is boring because an epic thing didn't get to. Like we're trying to make something exciting. And when I'm like, oh, because I lost, there's no, like there's no, what's the climax of this?

42:55Sure. That's true. I don't care if I want to keep playing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But if I'm playing outside of work, it's such a different vibe. I play board games so differently. So much more enjoyable. I'm definitely more locked in, but I'm just having fun. Yeah. But once again, I'm like, once we put the board game away, I'm never mad after it. Totally. So the comments on this, whatever the catalyst, it's usually because there were other issues that just kept growing until they bubbled over. The spark could have been anything. Someone said, LMAO said so many men ever. a famous quote, it's never about the dishes.

43:26It was never about the game. It sounds like to her, you often chose yourself or what you wanted over doing things she wanted, ways she felt loved or ways she wanted to be appreciated. It doesn't matter if it was intentional or not. It's how she interpreted the situations and how she felt she was treated. Lastly, someone says, I think you mistakenly posted your relationships question in a board games forum. And someone replied to that saying, and for some reason got better advice than he would have in most relationship related forums. Yeah. Sure. Man, the last thing I'll say, though, is I've played Catan a few times.

44:00And unfortunately, the groups I've played it with have been people who played plenty of Catan. And, man, it makes me think of, like, when I read about ancient history of, like, oh, you were that nation that's just like, well, I guess we're just going to, we're fighting for the love of the game. But, boy, things are not looking good. Totally. Have you guys seen the Mongol army over there? We're not. We'll just, we'll fight the good fight, I guess. It's like, I'm just like, fuck. No, I can't hear them over the rumbling. They are the rumbling. Oh, got it. Oh, shit. No, like truly, every time I play Catan, I lose in the initial where you put, where you're on the board.

44:35It's about the resources. I'm like, holy shit. It's like, okay. Yeah, it relies so much on like other people working with you. And when they do that thing of like, they're winning, like, you know, team up against them. Nobody trade with them. Then it's like, okay, well, you guys aren't giving me like a good chance. And then again, like real feelings start to come out. and it's like, all right, why am I crying to my cousin right now? Yeah. It is interesting though, like think of like the teaming up against people. Like what I think has happened in every game of Catan I've played is the person that everyone goes, oh, team up against that person.

45:05They never win, but it's because you should be thinking ahead of like, well, this other person's gonna win. I feel like that's - It's Peter Baelish, like chaos is a ladder. But actually it's that little platform at the airport where it makes you walk a little bit faster, but not faster than the dude who's got really long legs next to you. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, like they need to think about that. That's like ancient history that I read about where they're like, guys, Alexander the Great, we're all teaming up to fight Persia. It's like, should we be worried about this guy? No. Right, right.

45:34Keep your eyes open. This guy seems pretty scary. Anyways. Octavius is fine. Yeah, no, it's all good. Damien and our roommate and I were playing Mario Party back then. We played on our N64 and boy, I don't know what was going on. My luck was horrible. And there was a moment where I finally got stars. in all the times we played, I just never even had one. And I finally had two. And then a chance time happened and I lost both. And what actually, it was too funny, but what made me actually upset is Damien and our roommate both looked at me with genuine pity. It wasn't competitive. They looked at me, they were like, hey, I'm real sorry, bud.

46:09And I was like, don't do that. No, literally, literally. Because you like make fun of each other throughout. Like Shane would be like four spaces from a Bowser and he'd be rolling. I'd be like, hey, Shane, don't roll a four. And then he'd like roll a four and I'd be like, Oh, oops! And then he loses all his stars and he's just like, hey, I'm real sorry. I remember you turning to me like, hey, I'm real sorry about that. And you're like, no, don't apologize. Throw it in my face, that would be easier. Maybe we die. We gotta move on. Next story. Our next story comes from True Off My Chest. Best friend doesn't know his proposal speech is actually about me.

46:46What's up? Hi, Reddit. I just really need to air this out somewhere because I have nowhere else I can go with this. I, a 30-year-old woman, my best friend, a 30-year-old man, and his longtime girlfriend, a 26-year-old woman, all teach in a school setting. I'm going to be vague because I'm terrified of this getting back to either of them. I got my best friend Jim the job, and he met Mia pretty soon after, and they've been happily dating for seven years. Now about me and Jim. We met in university and have always been super close. Jim is a bit of an airhead, but genuinely so emotionally mature and kind, I never minded it.

47:25And I was always the one that had everything in order. I would book trips. He would happily tag along, that sort of thing. There are a lot of other things that are just part of our dynamic that I do without even thinking about it. One thing that I started doing right after the pandemic is making sure Jim had something to drink in the morning. He wasn't late to his classes necessarily, but he would always hurry in and not have any time to get settled, fill up his water bottle, et cetera, before his classes start. Meanwhile, I love being one of the first people in the building, so I have all the time in the world to fill his water bottle, power up the ancient work computer, and sometimes I get him a coffee or a tea if I think he may need it.

48:02Another thing I do is collect pictures and memes of Jim. The memes I usually make myself. During school trips and things like that, I always analyze the pictures for a good reaction meme or a funny face he makes. These I exclusively use with him or Mia, who I am also a good friend and close colleague with. I also additionally smuggle information about him to his mother and Mia for presents, surprises, and those kinds of things. And I always guard the area when Mia and Jim want some alone time during school trips. Now, Jim told me recently that he's going to propose to Mia and I was so excited.

48:35I went over to his house to proofread the speech he had prepared and my jaw dropped on the floor. I won't upload it here. It's in our native language anyway, and also personal to him. But every single example he gave about what he loves about Mia is actually about me. In the speech, he talks about how he started falling for her when she started leaving him warm drinks in winter and filling up his water bottles in summer. How she made so many candid pictures and memes of him and gathered them in a big book for his 30th birthday. She did make the book, but all the pictures were supplied by me. He even mentions some specific memes that he thinks they are proof that they have the exact same humor.

49:15He talks about how she always knows what he is thinking or what he wants and names specific examples of times where I vividly remember having a call with Mia to tell her what is going on in his mind. Now, I don't think he doesn't love Mia, nor do I think Mia took credit for any of this on purpose. but I found it so unsettling how the entire speech seemed to be more a description of my behavior and my acts of love towards him than to Mia. And of course she would notice that too. I tried to get him to change major aspects of it, but didn't dare straight up telling him everything in the speech was me.

49:49He sent me the new version of the speech today and I cannot stop reading it and thinking, oh, this situation was me and this was me. Oh, and this was also me. This is not about credit. I don't want it. I don't need to stand on a soapbox and yell that I love him better because I simply don't think that way, nor am I asking for advice. I just needed to scream it somewhere and will now hopefully never need to speak of it again. Thank you for reading. What a roller coaster. Let's start here. Who's named Jim anymore? Well, that's her fake name. The office owns that. Okay. So my initial reaction, he's like, hey, can you proofread this?

50:31he's totally wanting her to read it. You think? Yeah. Why? That's what he's doing. It's, it's, this is, he's seven years into a relationship. This is maybe me just like, romantic movies have rotted my brain to where I'm like, oh no, this is, he's seven years into a relationship, but before he commits to that fully, he needs to confess his love. Holy shit. And he's trying to do it subtly by being like, here's my proposal. And then it's like, he's actually proposing to her. but why I know that's crazy I'm just saying like why be dating Mia when clearly there's this other person who's loving and caring for you why not shoot your shot earlier it could be a situation I mean going down that rabbit hole it could be a situation of like oh well we're just best friends but Mia and I are like in relationship and when I think about forever you know I could be with Mia and you know my best friend will be there too and I can't be without her I sort of took this as like initially when she's like you know I learned all these things about him and made all these memes I was like oh girl you're either in love with him or it's a very uncomfortable, like you're kind of squeezing in on their situation.

51:34And when it was like, yeah, this proposal's about me, I was like, okay, sure, let's hear it. But if it's literally about the shit that she did that Mia has never specifically taken credit for, like that's wild. Let's say for instance though, taking this at face value, he made a mistake and Mia's worried about like hurting his feelings or coming across weird. She, or not Mia, OP. OP needs to tell him because assuming everything's above board and the people love who they say they love, he's about to make a crazy speech to someone who knows for a fact that they didn't do any of those things. So if we're all on each other's side and being truthful here, he's about to crash and burn with that proposal.

52:15That's what makes me think. I'm like, is he really gonna propose with this? Because like Mia's gonna be like, oh boy. Well, I mean, I guess she kind of did like, again, the book thing, like it feels a little vague there, But then like the warming of the drinks, that definitely wasn't Mia. So it is a little confusing. I also got that initial idea too where like she read it and was like, oh my God, wait, guys, this is about me, right? This is about me, like beautiful eyes and beautiful hair. Right. That's got to be, yeah. He's describing a woman that he loves. It must be me. But she's talking about like no specific instances.

52:47I would say then she does have to kind of spell it out, but not in the way that's like, do you love me? No, no. So if I'm her, I'm not doing that. I'm going, hey, you're saying like, you love how she fills up your water bottles. Is that, does she do that also? Are you still talking about Mia? Yeah, like sort of from like a. This feels weird. And specifically, there's a photo book where she's like, he's like, oh, I loved how you made that photo book of all those memes. And he's like, well, she's like, but I did fill the, I supplied all the photos. Oh, I think you're right. Maybe like, be like, use a better example.

53:17But it just, that's why I'm like, this is a crazy proposal. He's not, he can't be this stupid. She called him an airhead. Oh, true. But the thing is, if he's been with Mia for seven years and they all work at the same place, there's no time where they spent the night together, drove in together the next morning, and then he finds a warm drink. And assuming that it's made by the person that he just spent the night and morning with and got to work at the same time, he'd have to really... He'd have to be the world's dumbest man. The dumbest motherfucker in the world. No, I think you're right, Shane.

53:53And I think if she were to approach it, even with a little bit of just like, you know, wonder of like, hey, I think I'm the one who did this. I feel like he would also maybe give it up right away and be like, yeah. Maybe make it more specific about her. Or like, oh, yeah, you're right. Like, I guess you did do that or something. Like, maybe more would be revealed if it just like follow-up conversation was initiated. We have comments. Someone said he knows what he's doing. Someone said you need to chill with your relationship with your friend. I understand you've always been close, but it sounds like you need to learn boundaries.

54:25They are building a life together. Back off. Comments like that are kind of accusing her of leading him on. He's in the relationship. He can also set his fucking boundaries. He's in a relationship and like. Yeah. It would be on both. Like unless it's truly the most healthy, communicative, you know, two people are in a relationship and the third is the best friend that keeps guard when they need alone time on a school trip. Yeah. What the fuck? I know. That'd be so weird and uncomfortable. There is something there where like, you know, I don't know, the way she described, like, I go through his photos to find reactions and all these things.

55:01I'm like, okay. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, but I don't know if I would be like, hey, you need to back off. Not to that extent. Right, right. I guess it would just sort of be like, what is the understanding of everybody in the group? Because something like this has come up, it's clear that maybe stuff is a little blurry. How do people feel about each other? objectively Mia and Jim have been together for seven years so it's like out of respect for that relationship I think I also believe that it's up to one of them to communicate if what OP is doing is not okay I think she's just being a really solid friend and and like doing all the things like it's it is of course a little like relationship-y yeah but if Jim and Mia aren't complaining and aren't saying like you're overstepping it's like great then that just seems like a dynamic that everyone is on board for.

55:52For sure. It can be. And that, that's, it's entirely possible that that is a thing. Yeah. My fear is that because we are hearing this from OP and this situation is so unusual in my mind, like, or uncommon, unconventional, there's so much room for like unreliable narrator stuff where I'm like, what's, I, in general, and it gets me in trouble a lot, I tend to lean on distrusting OP. You know, because I'm just like, hey, you're the one telling the story, so I kind of put the onus on you. You're self-reporting. Of like, I kind of have to assume there's gaps that you're, when you're saying you're, yeah, it's like not always fair.

56:32And I'm wrong so many times, but a lot of times also we get an update and it's like, oh, you're now giving us more information you didn't give us before. and it's filling things in. Right, right. But with this one, I'm taking it also at face value of like, regardless of her behavior, his proposal is super inappropriate. Like, or just like, not super inappropriate, but I'm just like, his proposal is weirding me out. Well, he wrote about the wrong person. He wrote, I'm like, yeah, what's going on? That is weird. What are you doing? If it's literally specifically about things that she did and everybody's being truthful, you have to tell him like, oops, you got this wrong.

57:08Yeah. Specific things about Mia. I'm just like, man, after seven years, like, because, you know, when I proposed to Courtney, like, and just like in any letter I write her or whatever, it's like, yeah, you have plenty of moments to pull from that you distinctly remember. Right, you're not confused. I'm not getting to confuse me like, oh, right, sorry, that was, no, that was Ian that did that. Right, even if you are fine. I mean, she described him as emotionally mature and kind and stuff like that. So maybe he is sort of like using this as a move. Like the comment said, he knows what he's doing.

57:41Yeah, which I really don't like. Which I fucking hate. That's cheating. Of him being like, here, what do you think? Yeah, like that's emotional. Like that's, yeah, he proposed to someone else. I'm like, fuck that. Right, because, sorry, sorry. I was just going to say, because if she isn't interested and she kind of is like, no, change it and whatever, and he gets the message, so he's going to use Mia as the backup then? Yeah, awful. That's what it is. It's a last minute Hail Mary. A lot of people, there are a lot of stories of people before they get married confessing their love for someone else.

58:10And then being like, no, there's nothing there. And then they go and they get married. I'm like, oh my God. No. More comments. Someone said, why is it that everything he lists loving about her are all things being done for him? He doesn't know what love is if he thinks it's just things that he gets out of it. Does he actually list anything about her personality or anything? Like he loves how happy she gets when insert thing or he loves the way she laughs or literally anything that doesn't have to do with her doing something for him. It's a fair criticism. That's all the context we have. But edit, I now understand I would be horrible if I don't straight up tell him the things I did versus what Mia did.

58:47I'm going to call him with new feedback on his speech soon and we'll just casually go through the things he needs to change because I was doing them and come with suggestions of all she does. Please tell me there's an update. There has to be, there has to be, there has to be. Don't do this, don't do this. There is an update. Yes! Pancakes! Okay, okay, okay, okay. hey, what do we think is happening? I'm in gargoyle mode. What do we think is happening? So she's gonna deliver the feedback and she's gonna be like, hey, this is more about me than Mia. Yeah. It's a coin flip. Either he's gonna be like, oh, I didn't realize that.

59:18I gotta do some thinking. Or it's like, I know. It's definitely gonna be, I know. It's gotta be. He's like, oh, I didn't think about that. And a fly goes in here and comes out here. Ew. Okay. Okay. Update. I've been crying for hours. Soon after reacting to some comments, I called Jim to tell him he needs to rewrite his speech because the things he mentioned were things I did. Those of you who said he knew that were correct. He said he hoped laying it all out for me would make me realize I truly loved him all along. I guess the gay thing didn't really stick with him because I've been single for four years now.

1:00:01I hung up on him to call Mia before he could change the narrative on me. but Mia is a true trooper for saying she'll believe a sobbing woman over a man any day. We're going to meet up for lunch tomorrow, but I think we're both very done with Jim at this point. Thank you for the truth bombs and criticism. I don't think I'll update again. I knew it. Jim's do not exist. So if I'm reading that correctly, OP is gay. So she's like, yeah, she's not assuming that at all for obvious reasons. man. Jim. Jim. Jim, you fucking fool. Yeah. Clown behavior. Well, now he lost both of these women. Yeah. That sucks.

1:00:49It puts a lot of context to, like Mia was not thinking anything of all, like we were talking about the behavior and everything. It's like Mia's not thinking, because she's like, yeah, she's gay. Like, I'm not worried about that. Right, and Jim's like, I can change. I can still change her. Maybe she just hasn't met the right idiot. Yeah. That'd be cool. Yeah. Oh, God damn. Also, shout out to Mia. Like, there are too many stories that we hear where it's like, and now no one believes me and everything's mad. For Mia to be like, yup, I got you, girl. Mia's like, woman in tears? Yes, woman in stem.

1:01:22Yeah. I love this. I love this. Oh, damn, dude. Damn. Jim. Jim. Jim it. You gotta move now, Jim. Yeah, seriously. You can't get that job anymore, idiot. And who's gonna warm his little drinks for him during the summer? The devil, because he's in hell. He's gonna die of thirst. Oh, shit. He might actually. Yeah. But that sucks. Because he's an airhead, and he's like, oh, I forgot water. Oh, I've made of it. Oops. Yeah, stupid Jim. You gotta live with that forever. Yeah. Like, because he's 30, it's like, okay, like when he's dating someone else, it's like, oh, so why'd your seven-year relationship not work?

1:02:02He's like, well, so. I was really in love with her best friend for seven years. I just didn't say anything. And she said she was gay, but. But what does that even mean? And she was dating women, but. Right, but it was all an act. It was all like, because she didn't want me to, she didn't want, you know, she was trying to. She was just trying to be polite. Totally. I guess we know just how emotionally mature this guy really is. No, for sure. And that's very little. Not very little mature. Damn. Okay, our final story comes from the separate relationships. Okay. It was posted in 2018. Whoa. The old days.

1:02:44Yeah. There's a 28-year-old woman. She writes, my boyfriend, who's 27, of three years keeps doing the same comedy routine of trying to impersonate my cat. I know that's a really weird title, but it's kind of a really weird thing. So, last week, something startled the cat, and she did this funny jump in surprise. My boyfriend then imitated it. It actually was funny the first couple times, and we were laughing. But ever since then, he's now started copying, for lack of a better word, everything the cat does. He curls up on the couch in the same position as her. He has also tried to perch himself on the back of the couch with his legs and hands tucked under him in that ball position cats do, and it just looks ridiculous.

1:03:27He plays with the cat toys and scratching posts like she does. He sometimes runs on all fours up the stairs. If he sees she's sleeping, he'll lay down nearby and also pretend he's sleeping. He'll stay like that until she gets up or I nag him to stop because there's like actual adult things he needs to do. He imitates her meows and a couple nights ago, she started yowling downstairs while we were having sex. Right there in the moment, he made the same screeching sound while inside me. It completely ruined the mood for me. He doesn't do all this like all day 100 % of the time, but maybe half the time the cat does something, he'll do it too.

1:04:06If I tell him he's being annoying, he does stop, but within a few hours to a day, he just does another cat thing. Like a week ago, I asked why he's constantly acting like a cat. It's weird and childish. And he said, well, it's my comedy routine. I'm Catman. Yeah, dot, dot, dot. I have told him it's really not funny anymore. It was old after the first 10 times, but he keeps doing it. Now it came to tonight when I walked into the kitchen to see he'd put his plate on the floor and was eating off of it with his mouth while the cat was eating her dinner the same way. That was kind of it for me and I snapped at him.

1:04:42I said, the cat impressions are seriously annoying, not funny and plain fucking weird at this point. Then he got mad at me for taking it too seriously. He said, I don't get what the big deal is, who cares? He stomped upstairs where he's been since then. Is there something I'm missing? Is this a typical sort of humor guys have and I just don't get it? If he'd done this from day one, I guess it wouldn't be as weird, but he only started a few days ago. He has not listened to a single time I've told him how annoying it's become. He even said, but you thought it was funny. Just because I laughed the first time doesn't mean I wanted this.

1:05:17Am I totally wrong here? What the fuck is going on and how do I make him see I'm sick of his constant cat imitations? Just to start off here, I do want to say that responding with the phrase, it's my comedy routine, I'm Catman, is objectively deeply funny. And probably the most valid thing he could have responded with. Sure. But I'm Catman. Well, sorry, I am Catman. And you kind of are, that is a bit of a checkmate. And you have to go, you know what, you're right, you're Catman. and I gotta let you do this. Listen, he's got that cat in him. And then he throws up a hairball right then and there.

1:05:55Yeah, yeah. I mean, okay. When they were having sex and he imitated a cat, she did have the opportunity to scream at the top of her lungs. Yeah. To fully be like, I'm a cat too, here we go. Yeah. And then we're doing the cat thing. Yeah. Because I don't know if you have seen that. That shit's crazy. Cat play? If you were ever unfortunate enough to hear cats having sex anywhere within a mile radius, it's the sounds of hell. Right. Yeah. And you're saying they should have imitated that? I'm saying she had the opportunity to maybe end this whole thing by being like, all right, if you're a cat, I'm a cat.

1:06:39If you're a cat, I'm a cat. Yeah. And then go for it. And then let it rip. And that unlocks something new for him, which is unfortunate. Yeah, and then he's scared. Look, that sucks a lot. I do think one of the most important things before you live with a partner is know how they talk to animals. Like, I'm serious. Like, that's gonna come up a lot. I don't know. It's another one of those situations where it just has to be safe to bring something up to somebody. Like, you know, hey, I actually, I'm so sorry. I don't even know why, but this noise specifically, it really bothers me. Totally. You know, I know you're having fun.

1:07:15I'm so sorry. I feel like a jerk for even having to say it, but the noise bugs me. Can we adjust? And that's all it should really take. But the fact that she's tried multiple times and he's like, what do you mean? It's like, well, then it's funny for who? Because there's no other audience. Right. He put that plate down and was eating off of it without her in the room. That's why. He's doing this. Is he doing this for the cat? Like, does he think - Is it man cat? Yeah. Oh, shit. I think the part that stuck out for me was when she said, like, you know, that she has to nag him to go do real adult things.

1:07:47Oh, there's bigger things going on. Yeah. There's a lot. I think this is grounds for maybe talking to somebody. Yeah. It feels like, because I don't know that it feels so much of like, like, yeah, maybe in his head he's justifying it as a comedy routine, but I think, again, like you're saying, if you're doing it without anybody nearby, I think he's genuinely convincing himself that he is one with the cats. and he's behaving in all sorts of ways that isn't for an audience. You know, I'll say this. My cat Freya, when I got her from the rescue or whatever, I won her over. I've told this story before, so I'll tell a fast version, but like I would take naps like near the sofa while she was also napping.

1:08:32Like I'd be on the ground doing it to sort of like gain trust and show her it's safe. Ease her in. You know, and so there's like some behaviors you can do with an animal that is sort of like, I don't know, part of connecting with them, like curling up with them and taking a nap feels great. That's awesome. Like even if it's on the floor in a sunbeam, like yeah, lay down with your cat. But the idea of him like, I'm gonna play with her toys, not necessarily with her, but like I'm gonna play with her, or I guess they didn't establish the cats. Like he's using the scratch posts. Yes. Wait, did they say that?

1:09:01Yeah. He's using the cat toys. No, we're good. We're good. That's maybe a 51-50 situation. Yeah, yeah. I mean, there's also probably, I think some, there's a chance that this is so tied to the idea of just wanting to make her laugh the way that she did the first time. And he maybe is just remembering how good that felt. But she has not laughed in a minute. Watch the SpongeBob Ripped Pants episode. It's an allegory for exactly this. Yes, yes, actually. And it's like maybe in his brain or the way that his mind is working is he's like, I have to commit that much more to get that laugh again. And so he's like fully immersing himself in it.

1:09:41Yeah. He should go take a clowning workshop because we did that and boy, was that harsher than I thought it would be. Right. Where like you do a bit and it makes you laugh and the instructor goes, oh, the audience liked that. Oh, where can I keep going? And you do it more and then people stop laughing and the instructor literally looks you in the face and goes, they're not liking that. That's not going well. They're not finding that funny. Do something else. It was funny, but now we're over it. You've got to do something different now. And it's like, it is shocking to have someone say it It's so plainly to you.

1:10:09Yeah, this is actually just a story about how difficult comedy is. Yeah. So we understand you. It is really the worst thing about comedy is that the same thing does not work forever. Like you do a thing, you're like, oh my God, we hit. Fuck yeah, that hit. Yeah. And that's gonna get old, so we gotta find a new thing. It's the most brutal aspect of like, it's like, great, we found a funny, awesome thing. I feel like whenever we have a character or a joke that works here at Smosh, and then you hit like a couple months in and you're like, now we have to find a new one. Yeah, totally, totally. I think the cat thing could still work too.

1:10:46I think he just needs - He needs to refine it a little bit. Yeah, he just needs to make it work. No, because genuinely, I was just at a show two nights ago and this guy was talking about his show where he literally is a cat and he like shows different careers as a cat. This guy does need to find a production of cats. Yes. And get in it. Right. Like, he just needs his specific POV. So, you know, we're at cringe right now because we haven't found it, but there's something there. Put him in the right context. It's no longer cringe. It's art. Absolutely. In the right litter box. Sure. If you will.

1:11:23But very far away from the OP. Got it. So some comments. And the top comment, at least he hasn't started using the litter box, or has he? I listened to Perfect Person the other day, and there was a caller that, like, that's Miles Monsignore's podcast, but you should know he's awesome. He's the best. And he's guested here, too. Yeah, there was an episode where, like, roommates were using the litter box, and I was like, oh, that's, you have to send them to jail. I don't know what you do. Yeah, that feels like a crime. You can't, yeah. Someone said, this is weird. Are you sure he doesn't have some kind of fetish?

1:11:56I mean, meowing back at the cat or whatever is fairly normal, but putting his plate on the ground to eat off of it with his mouth? There's something else going on here. I mean, you weren't even in the room when he started doing it, so it couldn't have been for his comedy routine. OP said, what kind of fetish would this be? You mean like a furry? If he's into that, there have been no signs whatsoever. I don't think that's a furry thing. No, no, that's, yeah. Lastly, someone said, you obviously need to bark like a dog and chase him up and down the stairs. That's hot. You have to spay and neuter your boyfriend.

1:12:28Sure, sure. Sorry, Bob Barker told me I got to do it. I was watching The Price is Right. Got to cut off your balls now. Ah, I think you'd like it. Yeah, I just am like, you're meowing at your cat. Like, it's so fun to talk to your cats like they're a person. Sure, sure. But we got to get back to him doing it while they're having sex. Oh, yeah, that's a big one. You don't recover. I was about to say, you don't come back from that. No, it's over. That's it. There's only before and after. I think I'd literally rather be called a different name than hear a meow. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I'll bring it back to couples therapy, that show that I love.

1:13:08And they're dealing with all sorts of crazy shit, like cheating, horrible things. But if they were talking and they're like, yeah, he meowed at our cat while we were having sex, I think she'd be like, that's the most fucked up thing I've ever heard in my life. Leave him, girl. What the fuck? Yeah. Get him, boys. Get him. There better be an update. There's no update. That's it. What? No. But Catman. What about? What else was Catman going to do? You know, grow older. What's Catman do? What does Catman do? Find a villain. But I'm more worried about OP. Me too. Hopefully she gets out. I mean, listen, it'll be an awesome thing for her comedy routine.

1:13:48Yes. When she discusses her ex-boyfriend. Totally. Yowing. That's her future. Yeah. anyways that's it for all of our stories wow we did it we did it but thank you both for being here yeah thank you thank you Shane yeah this has been a delight of course I feel like you guys always have such great takes and advice oh thank you very level headed and a great duo thanks so oh that should be a show do you know them your duos do you know them your duos how many duo do you know in the world do you know meow bring it back Nice. Please cut that meow. The dog poop meow girl? You have to cut. All right. Thank you for watching.

1:14:39We'll see you next week, next Saturday. Goodbye. Bye. Thanks again to DoorDash for sponsoring this episode of Reddit Stories.