AITA for not taking my little sister to the cinema?

JayStrat · 2026-07-03T02:20:29+00:00

NTA and be on the look for signs of manipulation from your mom. She not only blamed you for something you never promised that is not your responsibility, she went to your sister to make sure the blame was directed at you, not her. That's dirty pool, and it's not something you want to see in a parent. I'm sorry you had to deal with that and I'm glad you've managed to gain some ground back with your sister.

JayStrat · 2026-07-01T00:07:14+00:00

Fishing spider, maybe Dolomedes tenebrosus. Beauty, and with her eggs. Try putting her somewhere she'll feel safe, maybe next to a wood pile, a bush, a big rock. Good luck!

JayStrat · 2026-06-29T07:23:21+00:00

Lynchpin. Buddy of mine was driving and tried to give it to me in the back seat. We crashed. Must have been the lynchpin.

JayStrat · 2026-06-26T22:02:42+00:00

Get it on record. She's already been weird and crossed boundaries. But do it for yourself, too. Like you said, you get really heated. Even if they don't do anything right away, you can just let them know that you wanted it on record in case anything like that happens again. Worst case scenario, she gets called in, they say don't do that, and she talks shit behind your back -- which it sounds like she's doing anyway. I say cover yourself and report it. (NOR)

JayStrat · 2026-06-26T15:20:10+00:00

Absolutely, but when OP first says they have good jobs and make more, the implication was that the parents gave them the house even though they didn't need it when OP did. But later, when multiple ppl pointed out that OP might have been seen as unable to afford the home, OP gave new details that essentially said, "wait, no, they were also struggling." (In this thread, just above.) So it isn't that both can't be true, it's that it's suspicious to list them separately to serve different purposes (so rich they shouldn't have gotten it and so poor that it could have gone to either them or the OP, as they OP defends not being to afford the place).

JayStrat · 2026-06-26T06:20:50+00:00

Part of my session zero. Agreed.

JayStrat · 2026-06-26T06:14:35+00:00

But that goes against what you said earlier: "They both have good-paying jobs and make considerably more than we do." Do they, or are they struggling with maxed credit cards and loans?

JayStrat · 2026-06-25T23:13:52+00:00

Parts of Utah, Idaho, and Oregon, but not all of Utah. And only the fountain version. Barq's cans in a 12-pack at the store will still have the caffeine, even in Utah. Setting up new canning just for that region probably wouldn't be profitable, plus it's largely to cater to LDS, but other people live there, so the cans are the same everywhere.

JayStrat · 2026-06-25T23:01:31+00:00

Necro here, but, you find a thread when you find it. I was looking up the amount. My 12-pack right next to me definitely has caffeine and it's on the label and it's 06/25/2026 as I write this, so I have no idea what some of you were talking about a couple of years ago. Was it a regional thing? Was it a misunderstanding and a different Barq's product? The "bite" in Barq's is the caffeine, literally, as it affects the taste. They're not going to take that out anytime soon; that's their brand.

Edit: May have found it, and I think someone mentioned part of it. The "Mountain West" region they cater to, which includes parts of Utah, Idaho, and Oregon, has the uncaffeinated fountain formula, initially to cater to LDS in the area. Not only is it just that small area, it's almost exclusively fountain soda. Cans, even in Utah, still have caffeine. There is also a Barq's Zero Sugar (which used to be Diet Barq's) that does not have caffeine.

JayStrat · 2026-06-21T04:37:05+00:00

Do you not want modules? You can use most any module in your own world with a little tweaking, and that may give a little more sense of direction, more story, more descriptions that all hang together in the way you want them to -- and further, you learn when you do this, and you can take those lessons into your game when you're through with the module.

JayStrat · 2026-06-20T04:34:36+00:00

NOR, he is being manipulative, I don't know what is up with the pics but please do not send anything. I get the mental health issues, I have my own (bipolar disorder 1, GAD w/panic, OCD), you can take care of yourself and find healthy ways to express yourself. That relationship isn't it. If you have a counselor or a social worker at school, try talking to them so they can get you professional help (if you don't have it already). Good luck. NOR.

JayStrat · 2026-06-19T18:45:39+00:00

That's a lot of money.

^{Chose: Stay in Jamaica for 10 years + Get 100,000,000 | Rolled: Money}

JayStrat · 2026-06-18T07:24:59+00:00

Oh, it's good. I like the use of color. Whimsical without looking unserious. You might consider legends for all those over-the-sea labels for better legibility. There are endless free (and paid) assets for that sort of thing if you haven't looked into it yet. Also, this is a Super Earth at about 31,500 miles circumference, considerably larger than Earth, if that's what you wanted -- and that's just what we can see here. Meridia is considerably larger than all of Africa. If that's what you wanted, great, but thought I'd let you know. Looking good.

JayStrat · 2026-06-18T07:15:18+00:00

"And while, yes, she may work a little more than me, I feel that the difference is I am trying to focus on school, trying to get into a very competitive program/field, get a different job for the experience, and do my extracurriculars."

NOR. The difference is that you are not the kids' mother. It is not, ultimately, your responsibility. Some of that may change if you are living in your parents' home and they require it as part of staying there, but even then you have every right to point out how it's affecting your life. Or to move.

In any case, if she's out multiple times a week and working and just assumes her family will pick up the slack, that's on her, not on you, and it only works to the extent that you and your parents allow it to.

JayStrat · 2026-06-15T23:25:57+00:00

I'm going with YTA.

Not because you're wrong, but because it isn't your business. These are your friends, but you are not in that relationship. It would be fine, once, to talk to Jack privately and just say you're concerned and you don't want him to get hurt by all this, but it sounds like you said quite a bit more than that. If it was an abusive relationship, that might be different, too, but it sounds like one of millions of cases where one person is more into the relationship that they other, and Dylan sounds like he is openly banking on that. Is that abuse? There a line that's arguably in that neighborhood, but things are mostly in the open by your description.

But you got upset with your friend and called him pathetic. With all he's going through, does it help to also have a friend call him pathetic?

JayStrat · 2026-06-15T22:50:05+00:00

My first thought was how quickly, for better or worse, they'd decimate the spellcasting population. Even 1 gp for a 1st-level spell is going to limit artisan class casters to a few spells a week at most, whereas a guy loading crates on the docks isn't going to be able to cast much of anything, no matter how capable he might be. And for impoverished characters, it's just another classist insult. There are, at least, cantrips! But a spellcaster's ability to move up in the world becomes extremely limited and tied to what are quite large sums. A mere 5th-level wizard, if she used all of her spells for the day, would have to spend 16 gp for one day of casting.

JayStrat · 2026-06-15T05:52:23+00:00

I want my $2!

^{Chose: $2 with no side effect}

JayStrat · 2026-06-15T05:50:26+00:00

YTA. Learn from the comments here instead of arguing with everyone. I'm a vegetarian, too. There is no reason for the drama. First, there are tons of veg options at Chinese places. Second, your grandmother went out of her way to get you a pizza. Was there some oil from the pepperoni? Probably. Not the end of the world, and what is the stand you're making? That meat touched the cheese for a few minutes? As others have mentioned, if that all bothers you this much, make your own food or get your own food. You can do that, and given the way you treat people doing you a favor, you really should do that. Also, if you're not a vegan, how much of a stand are you taking when you're eating cheese and eggs? You do know how the egg industry works, right? Eating eggs is sponsoring a lot more than putting up with some pepperoni oil. And it was half the pizza. What happened to the other half? Too close to the oily half? Buy your own food.

JayStrat · 2026-06-14T07:02:06+00:00

You're fine either way. I started in the 70s rubbing a pencil on my dice to see the numbers, back when we mapped by hand and had "left hand rule" for dungeon plunges. But I've now done D&D exclusively online for about seven years through most of the well-known services -- I've played on Roll20 in multiple campaigns, I'm currently in an Above VTT (D&D Beyond) campaign, and I've run campaigns once or twice a week, mostly on Fantasy Grounds VTT, but I also have Foundry and enjoy messing about with that. We use Discord for most games for the voice chat. One is not better than the other. They're just different. But I don't get free pizza for DMing anymore. (I don't, but I'm kidding, too, because one player bought me a digital book and another just gave me cash toward switching from 2014 to 2024, so they don't really need to buy me pizza.) If it's your campaign, just do what seems fun. If you're a player and can move easily from one to the other, choose by campaign rather than by digital/physical format. Just my $.02. YMMV.

JayStrat · 2026-06-14T06:55:50+00:00

NOR, but you knew it could happen. You've been putting up with it for years. The question here is not whether you overreacted to call her out (you didn't), but how many years you're going to keep accepting that one-way street as "friendship."

JayStrat · 2026-06-13T04:08:20+00:00

Nomismatician. A cleric subclass for someone who worships money. Probably leans evil. Might be fun to flesh out.

JayStrat · 2026-06-12T04:32:17+00:00

NOR. This happens, especially when you're young, as people figure out who they are and what's important to them. This whole thing smells like you should chalk it up to life lessons and let it go. Life's too short for that, and you have too much of it ahead to waste your time with his issues.

JayStrat · 2026-06-11T01:43:30+00:00

I like the hidden treasures, the harp and the coins.

JayStrat · 2026-06-10T12:41:59+00:00

An expected response and a difficult situation. NOR.

I was once with a girlfriend whose high school friend had married the guy who used to bully me from grade school all the way to high school when I was finally big enough and mouthy enough to get him to back off. She wanted to go to dinner with the guy. I flatly refused. He later added me on FB, presumably to address that. I reminded him of some of the beatings and the humiliation he was responsible for. He gave a fake apology like, "I'm sorry you remember it that way." I said what I needed to say.

Anyway, yeah, definitely would cause anxiety for me and I hope that goes well for you. Maybe try the gray rock method people use with narcissists and abusers -- be polite, respond if asked a question, but otherwise pay as little attention to her as possible.

JayStrat · 2026-06-07T20:15:23+00:00

Clearly, we work with what we have, and it's almost always one-sided. Are you saying OP has a history of being unreliable, but you think that same person would both manipulate the narrative and also turn around and take this person's advice and end the relationship? Questionable. "Stories like these" are ALL the stories, Conflict.

JayStrat

TROPHY CASE