u/Significant_Movie814

I’ve been seeing a lot of discussions calling Bear evil or the main villain of the story, but that’s not really how I interpreted his character. To me, he didn’t come across as a villain at all, he felt like a deeply flawed, scared, and desperate person who made a terrible wish out of loneliness.
I actually found myself feeling bad for him. Wanting someone to love you as intensely as you love them is a deeply human feeling, and while his actions were wrong, they seemed driven by desperation rather than malice. In the scene where Nikki is asking him to kill her, what stood out to me wasn't evil intent, but just how utterly desperate he was for reciprocated affection. Seeing so many people completely vilify him made me question if having sympathy for him reflects poorly on my own character, but I really just saw someone completely out of his depth.
Also, regarding the scene many people label as sexual assault: if Bear had fully understood that Nikki was possessed at that moment, then yes, it would unambiguously be assault. But watching it unfold, he seemed completely confused, terrified, and overwhelmed by what was happening rather than acting with predatory intent.
Does anyone else view his character through a more sympathetic lens, or do you strictly see him as the villain? Curious to hear how others interpreted his motives.

Hi everyone, My boyfriend [30M] and I [29F] have been together for three years. We recently bought a house together, and financially we’re doing well with a combined income around $400k. The house will be paid off in a year and we reserve all the rights in the contract, just mentioned the details to explain the depth and dynamics of our relationship. We both work hard I work remote for about 10 hours a day, so I consider myself a bit of a workaholic too but my boyfriend is on a completely different level. He works 12 to 15 hours a day and often doesn’t get home until 11:00 p.m. To be clear, I know 100% he’s not cheating. His workplace has an intense culture where coworkers are online at all hours, but the truth is that most of his team members have several kids, don't overthink it, and simply log off and go home at 5:00 p.m. My boyfriend, on the other hand, feels a constant need to be extremely on top of everything and goes way above and beyond what's expected and he usually very short-tempered and exhausted during week days.
From Monday to Friday, I feel like I don’t even have a partner. Then by the time the weekend comes, we are both so burnt out that we just lay around to recover for the next week. We have almost no quality time for ourselves, and planning travel or trips feels nearly impossible because he never has the time or energy. I don't think it's just this company either. At his previous job, he was doing the exact same thing, staying until 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. every night while everyone else left on time. It really feels like a core part of his personality rather than just a demanding job.
I love him so much and he is truly the absolute best man, but I’m struggling with feeling like a ghost during the week and just resting on the weekends. For anyone who has been with a partner like this, or who used to be this way themselves, did things ever get better?

I’m 29F, child-free, and I have never once had the desire to be a parent. Lately, the societal pressure has been hitting me hard, and it’s making me question if I’m missing some invisible piece of the human puzzle. Whenever I see people online asking parents for honest advice, I keep seeing this same sentence:
"My kid is the best thing that ever happened to me, but if I could go back in time, I wouldn't have them."
I genuinely cannot wrap my head around this logic. What does that even mean?
If something is the best thing that ever happened to you, it means your life is better with it than without it. But if you would actively choose to undo it given a do-over, then it obviously wasn't the best thing for your life. Is this just massive cognitive dissonance? Parental guilt because society makes it illegal to admit full regret? Or are people just trying to soften the blow so they don't sound like monster parents?
When I look at my own life, I just can't fathom it. The thought of pregnancy and childbirth honestly terrifies me. On top of that, there has never been a single moment where I thought, "you know what would make my day better? A screaming toddler on my lap." I like peace and quiet, I value my personal time, and kids are just loud, sensory overload, and exhausting.
Then there’s the state of the world. With climate change and everything getting so unstable, I’m terrified of what the future looks like. I'm already an anxious person, so even if I was selfless enough to give up my whole life for a kid, the relentless, severe anxiety over their safety and future would completely ruin my mental health.
Yet, almost every single one of my friends and co-workers are following the exact same script. They get married and immediately start planning for babies like it's just the next mandatory chore on a list. It feels like a routine everyone mindlessly falls into, and it makes me feel like I'm abnormal or broken for not wanting it. Honestly, I'm almost ashamed to admit out loud to people in my life that I don't want kids because the judgment is real.

We just bought a house in Shepherdstown, WV, and moved in about a month ago. We absolutely love it, but lately, I’ve started feeling genuinely embarrassed or honestly, just scared to tell people where I live.
Today, we were visiting friends in D.C. When they asked where we’d moved, we mentioned Shepherdstown and explained that we’d just driven in from there (it’s only about an hour and 20 minutes). The look on their faces was… startled. One of them looked me straight in the eyes and just asked, "Why?"
I tried to explain that it’s a beautiful place to live and that, as a remote worker, it’s a great choice for us. They gave a polite "nice," but the vibe was totally off.
This isn't the first time I’ve gotten this reaction, and it’s reached the point where I’m honestly considering just saying "Maryland" when people ask where I’m coming from, just to avoid the awkwardness and the judgment.

I don’t have any debts but my mortgage at 5.75%. Would you recommend paying off the house asap or maximize my 401k?? Do you guys always contribute 24k a year? Sounds like lots of money tbh but the thing is that my company doesn’t match. I can use some help and get some insight thank you!

I don’t have any debts but my mortgage at 5.75%. Would you recommend paying off the house asap or maximize my 401k?? Do you guys always contribute 24k a year? Sounds like lots of money tbh but the thing is that my company doesn’t match. I can use some help and get some insight thank you!

Edit: I know the basics. Ik 9k of my salary is taxed at 32% and I’m already sending that to 401k. With the rate I’m paying off my house, the house will be paid off in 1.5 years putting 10k towards the principal with a guaranteed 5.75% rate. With 401k, I can’t access the money till 60. The question is whether to go up to 24k or stay at 9k for 401k. I am aware I should save for retirement, I just graduated 2.5 years ago so no I’m not a 50 yo with 0 401k. I already have investments and 401k.

My boyfriend and I are at the point where we are planning to get engaged soon. We already live together, own a house, and have shared finances, we’ve been looking at the ring shopping process as a team project.
I’m really trying to push for us to be smart about how we spend our money. I’ve been researching getting a lab-grown diamond through Aurelinne and then using Rare Carat to build the setting so we can get more value for what we spend. I really want to prioritize a high-quality stone without paying a massive premium for a big brand name.
My boyfriend is definitely more on the traditional side and feels like an engagement ring isn’t the kind of thing you should be looking to save money on. He’s a bit nervous about not going to a big-name jeweler. I guess I'm just curious if anyone here has gone the online/marketplace route and actually regretted it. Did you feel like the quality of the setting or the overall experience was significantly worse than the "fancy" brands?
I’m trying to find a way to make us both happy here. I don't want him to feel like I'm cheaping out, but I also really hate the idea of overpaying just for the sake of it when we have other goals for our money. Any advice on how to navigate this or experiences with these sites would be super helpful.

Mine was not being able to purchase anything from the original brand. Like even basic brands such as Nike and Adidas were considered fancy in my country and I used wear knock-offs. I never knew how poor we were till I came to States and saw everyone owns an iPhone and even unhoused people wear high quality stuff

My partner 30M and I 29F are really trying to push for FIRE, but looking at our setup, I feel like we’re way too heavy on real estate and not enough on the market. Looking for some honest feedback on if we're doing this the right way or if we’re putting our eggs in the wrong basket.

Income: I’m at $208k/year (40hrs/wk, no PTO), he’s at $170k/year, plus he pulls about $1,500/mo (after taxes/insurance) from a rental he owns outright.

Net Worth: Total is around $800k together.

What we have: Our 401ks combined are $310k (my portion is $30k, his is $280k, I graduated grad school at 26, so I'm playing catch-up). We’ve got a paid-off rental worth $250k and our new house worth $480k (owe $300k on it).

Right now I’m only doing 4% into my 401k (my company has no match) and he’s doing 7% (his company matches 1.5x what he contributes, up to 9%).

We just moved into our new house and are planning to go scorched-earth on the mortgage to get the $300k paid off in the next 1.5 years. Our mortgage interest rate is 5.75%.

I know we are severely lacking in actual stock market exposure, as most of our money is tied up in real estate. Is it crazy to focus so much on the mortgage, or should we be maxing out our 401ks instead? Like going all the way up to 24%?

Does it make sense to pour everything into the house right now, or are we missing out on better growth by not being in the market? I will be increasing my 401k to 10% after we pay off the house. I'd love to hear how you guys would handle this if you were in our shoes.

I recently bought a house with my boyfriend, and everyone we tell seems completely shocked and negative about it.
For context, I (29F) have been dating my boyfriend (30M) for 2.5 years and we have lived together for 1.5 years. We’ve already been through a lot together: moving from the South to the East Coast, job changes, and personal loss. We almost never fight. The only real friction we ever had was early on when his ex would call him crying, and he was being unnecessarily nice to her. I set a firm boundary, gave an ultimatum, and it ended right there.
Financially, we are in a great spot. Combined, we make a little over $400k. Our plan is to pay off the house very quickly; over the 3 to 5 years we plan to live here, we will pay drastically less in interest than we would have wasted on rent. Plus, we get to live in a beautiful home.
We do plan to get engaged and married, but I want the proposal to happen naturally and be a surprise, not just a transactional step because we decided to buy a property. Nothing in our relationship has changed since closing. We both contribute equally to the mortgage, home decor, and chores, despite both of us having high-workload jobs. The house is under a joint tenancy title, meaning we own it equally, and if one of us passes away, the other automatically inherits the property.
I love and trust him completely, and he feels the same about me. I understand people can change, but that can happen in a marriage too. I don't see how a piece of legal paper guarantees the future or quality of a relationship. People keep warning me, "Just wait until you break up, you'll see how messy it gets." We are mature adults. God forbid, if we ever did break up before marriage, we would come to a consensus on how to split the equity or sell the asset.
Coming from the Middle East, where women are heavily controlled by society and men, buying a home unmarried would be a massive taboo. It deeply annoys me that even here, in a free country, people assume a 29-year-old woman doesn’t know what she’s doing with her own money and life. Why do people think a marriage certificate is the only thing that validates a relationship's stability? Every time I tell someone I bought a house with my boyfriend, they look at me like I just told them a horrific story.
I moved across the world from a place where women are literally beaten to death for not covering their hair, to a country where I am now a top earner with a doctorate. I feel like I know exactly what I’m doing with my life, but the constant unsolicited judgment is exhausting.

Not sure, maybe you’re judging me after reading this too but again I genuinely don’t understand how a piece of paper defines the quality of a relationship??

Hey guys,
Looking for a 75" TV for our open living room (sitting about 11-12 feet back).
Our usage is pretty simple mostly movies and casual gaming on the PS5. We aren't pro gamers or anything, just want things to look great and run smoothly.
I don't have a strict budget limit, but I want to buy for durability and actual value. I really don't want to overpay for a super expensive TV if the smart software is just going to get laggy and outdated in 5 years anyway.
I was about to pull the trigger on the Samsung QN70F 75" since it's on sale, but I'm reading a lot of mixed reviews on here saying it's edge-lit and not a true Mini-LED.
I'm willing to spend a bit more for actual hardware quality and longevity, should I skip it? What's the actual sweet spot for high quality without paying a massive premium tax? Open to other brands too but prefer Samsung. Thanks!