People Break Down Which Things They Desperately Want To Know The Truth About
"The truth will set you free, but first it'll piss you off"
Have truer words ever been spoken? Especially at the beginning of a song? Probably not. But the thing about truth is that sometimes, no matter how hard we try, it's just not something we can ever really know.
One Reddit user asked:
What is something you desperately want to know the truth about?
And honestly we were expecting the answers to be full of conspiracy theories and aliens. Some people wanted to know about that, of course, but it seems like a lot more people are interested in more mundane personal truths.
Missing heirlooms, sketchy incidents, and friends who just vanished into thin air all pop up in people's answers right alongside those aliens we mentioned.
So have a read through and then tell us what truths you really want in life.
Where's The Ring?
I had a 200 year old ring stolen out of my house, handed down from my great-great grandmother and grandmother (every other generation) who are also my namesakes. I was at a low point in life when my grandmother gave it to me, and it kind of felt like - "I still believe in you. You CAN still live up to the name," and it meant SO much to me.
Just after moving into a house for the first time, someone broke in and stole it. There is almost no chance it would be recognized for its true worth or age, or history. And obviously, it could never have that sentimental value. I'm terrified it will have been dismantled.
I'd give anything to know where it is / get it back.
Alone
ancient aliens GIFGiphyAre we alone in the universe?
The universe is enormous. The chances that life exists in other places is not only likely but might even be fairly common. But the universe is enormous. If there was life on the nearest star to ours it would take a generational ship to get there and explore. And that is the very closest star.
Even if we just wanted to send a message with a radio wave and see if anything in that stat system had the intelligence to intercept the radio wave and interpret it as different from background radiation it would still take years for that radio wave to get there, and years for that system to respond back. In summation it is virtually guaranteed that earth is not the only planet with life on it, but the chances of ever meeting aliens is almost zero. Space is just too big. Even if you could travel at the speed of light (which we cant and physics seems to say we never can) we still wouldn't be able to travel far enough to explore space for other life
- Maharog
That's just space. Don't neglect how huge time is. That nearest star could have fully-realized spacefaring civilization, but it exists two billion years in the past - - or the future.
We're ships passing in the night in a sea of time as well.
Indus Valley
Maybe not as exciting as some of the other historical mysteries, but I've always wanted to know more about the Indus Valley Civilization.
They were one of the earliest civilizations on the planet and built complex cities with extensive planning, including efficient sewage systems! And yet their writing script remains undeciphered to this day and thus a lot of what we know about their culture and society is mere speculation.
There's just so much about them I'd love to understand- What was the language they spoke and what family it belonged to? How extensive were their trade networks? What were their cultural practices and religious beliefs and what relation, if any, did these have to those of later societies in the Indian subcontinent?
Consciousness
What actually happens to our consciousness when we die?
Yes this! And how does it originate when we are born?
- poorees
From a technical point a consciousness is an evolutionary trait that develops as an infant matures and it has 3 stages
- non active from 1-2
- passive from 2-8 (when it acquires all of the societal values and is able to think however will follow what its environment mandates)
- active, post 8, once all societal values are accepted and critical thinking becomes much more accessible
Babies dont have a consciousness as it hasnt developped yet and this trait is only found among few animals as an evolutionary trait that allowed us to survive.
This said, in theory we should cease to be once we die , the very same way we came into the picture
So the consciousness would be the same as pre-birth, nothingness once the brain ceases all activity. I would find it much more disturbing and horrifying if a consciousness doesnt fade away and makes you spend an eternity trapped in a void similar to when you re half awake after you passout
Now that would be horrifying.
Ceasing to exist, however, is just something that will happen and I don't think anyone should be afraid of what will happen as it would be the same as pre-birth
Solicitors
I wanna know why these people keep ringing my doorbell while the baby is sleeping trying to sell me pest control or a new roof.
Motherf*cker it's 2020. If I need some bugs killed or a new roof, I'm not sitting on my @ss waiting for somebody to ring my doorbell to give me a sales pitch.
I put a sign on the front door that said please do not knock or ring the bell. And it worked wonders! Never had a knock or bell ring even when I ordered take out and forgot about it haha but I was waiting patiently for my take out of course lol.
Gundam
gundam GIFGiphyThis is going to sound petty, but to me it's more important then anything political, I want to know what happened to the Victory Gundam Toy I leant to my friend when I was in the first grade. It was the MS in Pocket V- Dash.
My grandmother got it for me for my birthday, which means my parent's actually got it for me and wrapped it and put her name on it but she pretended to know what it was and I appreciate that to this day.
My parents probably got it from a store in Springfield Mall called "Another Universe". It was a one stop sci-fi novelty shop and after my dad took me in there one day I fell in love with the "Japanese Robots" because I grew up watching Robotech, and Ronin Warriors.
I was super stoked to get this, and loved it dearly. And because I loved my best friend and sharing is caring etc, when he asked to borrow it one night, maybe a week after I got it, I let him. I never saw it again. We stayed friend's up until high-school when we started to drift apart, and it legitimately bothers me to this day that I never found out the truth.
Elisa
What ACTUALLY happened to Elisa Lam. Like, come on. She couldn't have dropped herself into that tank. She didn't have keys to the roof, and she was too tiny to lift the hatch anyway. So, what? Did an employee kill her?
Your average hotel employee couldn't haul a sober young woman to the roof, restrain her, open that heavy-ass hatch, and throw her inside. Not without somebody noticing. There's no surveillance footage either. Besides all that, there's no evidence that Elisa was raped or assaulted, so what would be the motive for murder?
And she wasn't intoxicated. No drugs, no alcohol. But... why the weird behavior in that elevator, then? Why the imaginary conversation? Why hide from nothing?
Yes, she was bipolar, which could attribute to the strange behavior. Elisa was mentally ill, but that doesn't explain everything.
I lived down the street from that hotel when she went missing, I remember the posters going up around the neighborhood. What happened was a terrible, unfortunate accident and nothing more. In fact I wish the internet would stop trying to turn it into a "spooky mystery" because I can't imagine what the family must be going through.
The main thing you have to remember about the hotel she was staying at is it wasn't a normal Holiday Inn kinda place you're used to seeing. It was a run down building over 100 years old that was being used for low income housing that had started renting out rooms to tourists. I lived in one similar when I was really poor.
They're not well maintained, they're not well staffed (maybe some kid working security), and you can pretty much have your run of the place without anyone messing with you because no one who works there cares. Security cameras? LOL. I'm impressed the ones they had were actually working, most of the time they're just there to warn off people. The most mysterious part about the hotel is why anyone would chose to stay there on purpose.
Now imagine a girl off her meds having a breakdown (which is what authorities and her family have said is what happened). I talked to employees at local shops who saw her and told me she was acting crazy. She's in this beat up hotel, can't get the elevator to work, can't figure out what's going on. She ends up on the roof wandering around and takes a dive into the water tank and can't get out. That's it. Nothing mysterious. Just a tragic accident.
Poisoned Pooch
Who killed my dog with poison. My dad knows but he doesn't want to tell me because he said it's going to be troublesome. Don't get me wrong he loved that dog but he got reasons to hide that from me. We live in a dangerous neighborhood.
Tumblr Trouble
I had an internet friend who suddenly stopped posting on Tumblr at around 2014. I didn't realize it at first because I had multiple friends who would leave for a few days and come back again, but after a few weeks with no activity I started to worry. I think I even assumed that she wanted nothing to do with ME specifically because she wouldn't reply to my messages until a mutual internet friend of ours messaged me to ask me if I knew where she went.
She never came back. She wasn't sick, she wasn't going through anything, she never said she was going to switch accounts (she had multiple accounts dedicated for some core things she liked. When she stopped posting on her main blog, I checked to see if there were any activities on the others. Nothing.), etc. She was just there one day and then she suddenly wasn't. I guess I'd just like to know what happened to her.
Maybe A Little Too Great
The Great Pyramid.
Either the truth about how long it took and how Egyptians built it, or who actually did it.
History books say it took 20 years to build, which is just ridiculous to believe. 20 years was definitely not enough to build it, but that's only one of many facts that make me raise an eyebrow:
"Pharaoh Khufu began the first Giza pyramid project, circa 2550 B.C."
Egypt was founded around 3000 B.C. so the Pyramid was built pretty much at the beginning of their civilization, and I believe they claim the Sphynx is even older than that.
So these people had the skill and knowledge to build a monument that would last through eternity, featuring some of the most astonishing mathematical and physical properties but could never better themselves? Never in the history of our species, we have witnessed a civilization reach their engineering peak at the very beginning and then get progressively worse. It just doesn't make sense.
For reference, the Great Wall of China is 25ft tall, has roughly 4M blocks and it took several centuries to finish with the help of millions of workers. The Great Pyramid (just one of the 3) is nearly 500ft tall, made of over 2M blocks of stone, and only took 20 years???
In 2550 B.C humans could build at amazing speed with unmatched precision and a few millenniums later we lost all that skill?
If we wanted to, nowadays we could replicate any building or construction that's ever been made with the help of machines. But not the pyramid. Modern engineers admitted that even with our best technology, we would struggle to replicate a 4 faced pyramid of that size. Imagine building an 8 faced one that has VERY PRECISE astronomical and mathematical properties; the amount of resources and hassle required for such a feature would be ridiculous even for today's standards.
"The Great Pyramid embodies an advanced knowledge of geometry, geodesy (the science of earth measurement), and astronomy. It incorporates not only the value of pi but also the golden section, phi, found in the growth patterns of living things.
The Pyramid stands at the center of the earth's landmass and represents the earth's northern hemisphere on a scale of 1:43,200."
When scientists presented these and a million other facts just as mind-blowing, Egyptologists said it was all a coincidence and claim that to this day.
Imagine making a tomb for your king and, just by pure chance and a bit of luck, recreate a replica of our planet that gives exact data of its dimentions and movement in space LMAO
I have been to the Plateau, Karnak and Luxor (Valley of Kings) and let me tell you, by the end of the trip my eyebrow had raised so much it became one with my hairline.
Human Relationships
I wanted to know the truth about human relationships. Now there is nothing else I want to know desperately..
There is no want anymore about anything in life. The truth is,"Human relationships are need based. They are never absolute and hence keep changing. It takes enormous energy to keep a married relationship going."
So choose wisely. Choose somebody for whom it's very easy to love himself and you. And not somebody who talks about leaving you or breakup at the drop of hat!
Death Night
grim reaper death GIFGiphyWhat the fck exactly happened in Stammheim prison on the 'Death Night' of Oct 18 1977 at the height of the German autumn.
Three prisoners of German far left-wing terror group RAF were found dead in their cells. The story goes that they killed themselves and other members of the group tried to frame it as murder by the state
But official reports have some holes and some things don't quite line up. Were they actually murdered by the secret service? Did the sercret service know about what they were planning but didn't intervene? Why was there a power loss in that prison block right around the time they killed themselves and why was the officer that was assigned to watch the cell block called away from his position by an unknown person right around the same time? One inmate killed himself with a gun, how did no one hear that?
- enderlux
After The Crisis
I work in a suicide/crisis line. We never know what happens after the call ends. And there is this one call that still haunts me, and all I desperately want to know is what happened to the caller after they hung up. I just want to know the truth.
Catfished
I talked with a girl for years. Started on a chat room, we talked with letters, Facebook, on a phone (our record was 9 hours straight), we became "a couple" at some point. We never saw each other, shared only few photos, but we had fun talking so it didn't bother me. Webcam wasn't a common thing back in 2009 and 2010 when this started and since we were young, we couldn't travel and see each other.
(Yes, this is starting to sound like a Catfish episode)
In 2011 things changed tho. I went to army for 9 months and during that time I learned that she had leukemia and she had few months to live. We talked on a phone, cried together and she told me she wanted to do the things she always wanted to do, travel to other countries. She went to USA, UK, Brazil, sent me letters and postcards. One day she was dead, just like that. We had one common internet friend who told me the news and later I saw her face to face and she gave some stuff so I could remember her.
Later Google came out with image search, where you can search images and see if that picture is on internet. I think like a year had passed at this point. I tried it, and voila, her pictures came out with some hits. She was a fake? I immediately asked her friend, what is this. She came clean that yes, she was fake and no, she didn't die. She said "I don't want to become between this, so she can tell the truth, if she wants to". Never got the truth, never heard from her again, she never explained anything.
I just want to know, why.
Just Want To Plan
When am I going to die? I have stage 4 breast cancer. I've seen and heard prognoses from two years to ten years to it can actually go away.
Obviously, I'd like it to go away, but if I only have two (or five, or ten) years left, I need to know that. That will determine how I spend my time and money.
If I refuse to entertain death as a possibility and live like I'll have the chance to become elderly, I may not do all the travel I want because "I can do it later" or "I'm paying off this new car that I need."
If I assume that I'll be dead in three years, I could be caught with my pants down in 2024, having spent all my money on my bucket list and being unable to buy a car. (Mine is a 2002, 232k+ miles)
I assume I'll know more as my death gets closer, but I'd like at least a year or so of being mentally with it before I die so I can wrap up all my loose ends.
A Detailed Catalog
I wish archeological sites hadn't been looted for centuries before the scientific method was developed. The amount of historical knowledge that has been lost to human ignorance and greed is tragic.
I also wish some angelic being would descend from the heavens and gift us a fully detailed catalog of all the creatures that have walked the Earth. I'd spend the rest of my life poring over the information on animals that evolved, thrived, and went extinct millions of years ago.
Brother Allen
What happened to Brother Allen.
20 years ago, there was a man in my church who went to Texas for work and was found bound and gagged and dead in his room. He was an FAA investigator, there was no sign of a break in at the hotel, and reportedly guests heard nothing. I was friendly with two of his daughters (we were Mormons, he had like 7 kids) and both he and his wife had served in youth leadership and education positions together. I keep thinking at some point I'll watch an episode of Forensic Files and find out the truth...
Hoping For Nightmares
Who killed my brother (happened in the 90s). My parents refuse to tell me or my siblings anything besides a few details. Pretty much, all I know is that the driver of the vehicle was a friend of his who had too much to drink.
I don't know what I would do with the knowledge if I had it.
Maybe visit him in jail if he is still there. I'm told I look eerily like my brother. So I'd go in for a visit using my brother's old clothes. Say nothing, then after a few seconds, get up and leave. Hopefully give him nightmares for the next decade, make sure he never forgets what he did.
While all couples promise that they will commit to one another "till death do us part," not all couples are able to fulfill these vows.
Sadly, some couples learn after committing to one another that they were not meant to be married, resulting in a divorce.
For most couples, it's a slow discovery, as they begin to learn more about one another, as well as themselves, eventually shedding light on the fact that they simply aren't compatible.
For others, they discovered that their marriage was beyond salvation after one, eye-opening moment.
"Divorced people of Reddit, when did you know it was over?
A Worrisome Sign Of Their Future
"When her grandma died."
"It was her dad's mom and a wonderful lady, who died peacefully."
"Her dad called me sobbing, saying he was a mess and needed someone to talk to."
"I told him I would come straight over and then called my wife."
"Her response?"
"He was being over dramatic and she was with her mom (his wife) and they were ignoring his texts and calls."
"WTF?!?! "
"His mom just died."
"He is sad and alone."
"Went over there and hung out for a while and realized that if I stayed married I was looking at my future self."
"FIL is a good guy and treated like a stray dog."
'They have separate bedrooms."
"She hates him."
"Has made their kids hate him."- _Stamos
All Take, No Give
"We went to counseling."
"She talked about the things she needed and wasn't getting."
"Counselor asked me if I could work on those."
"I said yes."
"This took the whole first session."
"Second session happens a week later."
"I talked about the things that I needed and wasn't getting."
"Counselor asked her if she could work on those."
"She kept avoiding and redirecting."
"On the drive home she said she wanted to find a new counselor, this one wasn't the right one."
"Went to a new counselor a few weeks later."
"First session was a repeat."
"So was the second."
"She said we should find a better counselor."
"I asked 'one that agrees with you?'"
"And she said yes."
"Then I was done."
"Yes, I'm doing much better now."
"We don't keep in touch, but I think she is too."
"I don't want to make it seem like she was terrible and I was a saint."
"We were a bad match."
"This was just the point I knew we couldn't fix it."- PatrickKieliszek
When You COULD Wait To See Them Again
"Driving home from work, coming around the corner, and feeling disappointment to see her car in the driveway."- lucky_ducker·
Filled Their Heart With Anything But Joy
"When I realized I was more at peace when he wasn't around."
"I was calmer, less anxious, and smiling more."
"Also, when I realized I would smother my smiles or hide happy news so he wouldn't have a chance to ruin whatever I was enjoying."- LurkSmurf
Not Their Only Love
"My ex thought I was working out of town."
"She had been having an affair for about three months and totally thought I didn’t know and she had me buffaloed."
"This was way back before cell phones, but she had been call forwarding our phone to her new boyfriends number so when I called her I would think I was reaching her at our apartment."
"I came home about 10:00 pm one evening and she wasn’t home, I called her boyfriend's number, and she answered the phone."
"I asked her what she was doing and she told me she just climbed into bed for the night, I asked her whose bed she climbed into."
"There was a long pause."
" I told her I knew what she was doing and where she was."
"The last thing I said to her was that I was leaving my wedding ring on the nightstand on her side of the bed."
"That was over 40 years ago."
"Been married to a wonderful woman for a very long time now, all is good."- wyoflyboy68
Just One Of Those Nights...
"It was weird."
"I was sitting on the couch, and she was in the recliner."
"I looked at her, and it was like I didn't even know her."
"I thought... I don't like you and I wouldn't even date you now."
"We just grew apart."
"I said, 'do you want to break up?'"
"She replied, 'I thought you'd never ask... yep. It's been over for awhile'."
"It was amicable, and we went our separate ways."
"No hard feelings it was just done."- TotalDomination1952
Sad On So Many Levels
"When he told me he married me to punish me for getting pregnant and he was going to spend the rest of his life making my life a hell because I stole his childhood."
"Friends, he was 24."- Puzzleheaded-War-113
Manipulative Games
"When she filed for divorce, but didn't actually want a divorce."
"That's when I realized I couldn't put up with any more of her sh*t."
"If she was willing to file for divorce (and thought I was going to pay for it all), I knew it had gone way too far."
"I spent the next two years trying to finalize that divorce with her trying to stay married."- Azzizzi
A Literal Sign
"Left work to drive home."
"Hour commute."
"Passed an apartment complex with a vacancy sign."
"Started thinking seriously about why I was driving home."- ReallyFineWhine
Love can be very confusing and misleading.
Sometimes, we think we're in love and discover much too late that we were wrong.
Other times, even if love was genuine, it wasn't enough to fix something which couldn't be unbroken.
Every decade we learn and grow.
Well, we hope we do.
Everything changes with the passing of time.
Sex is especially fluid.
They say the older you get the better it gets.
I'm not sure for myself, but it sounds like it's working out for a lot of other people.
20s are full of verve and energy.
30s are full of bitterness and regret from the sex in the 20s.
Though that can be hot too.
Redditor Infinite_Werewolf395 wanted to hear about how things can change over the course of a decade when it comes to sexy time, so they asked:
"What is the biggest difference between sex in your 20s and sex in your 30s?"
I guess I was maybe little more confident in my 30s.
That was a plus.
Never Settle
"I gained the confidence to ask for what I actually want and say what feels good to me and what doesn't. Too many people just go with what they usually do in the sack, instead of talking about what each individual actually enjoys."
"Basically, I no longer settle for bad sex."
mynamecouldbesam
Continue
"20s: It didn't really take a lot to get me going, just 1. being in my bed, and 2. being mostly nude was enough."
"30s: I really need them to be into it, too. Like... if they act like they're only doing this to make me happy, I pick up on it and I just can't continue. I also need them to like, show some interest in me too, or it takes some monumental effort to be in the mood. I'm more particular, and more aware of what the other party is doing and how they're reacting, etc."
We1tfunk
Real Struggle
"The amount of time you have available."
frenix5
"Not necessarily. In general, life just gets busy. My husband and I are in our 30s with no kids and still find this a struggle. Life just gets busier the older you get. We have to work hard on prioritizing our relationship."
TheSilentBaker
"There’s a hell of a lot more planning involved. Gotta schedule that crap out in advance."
KosstAmojan
Learning
"I'm 35 dating a 27 yr old. I tried the pills and all kinds of different things. Eventually, we had this one time where I was really Into it (never happens anymore really. Can't keep it up so it's hard to comply when it's initiated cause I know it'll just end in disappointment for both of us) and It was the best sex we'd had in years."
"I'm still not sure what factors were different that day but I honestly think it was probably mostly emotional reinforcement. Usually, she just starts grabbing at me and there's no romance so it's hard to get... hard. I think that day we actually did some foreplay. Anyways this has really helped me a lot reading all the responses. I figured I was just freakin' cursed. Never got much action in my prime."
"It just seemed appropriate that when I was finally getting some my sh*t would stop working lol. Good to know that I'm not the only man who puts importance on the emotional component of sex. Thought that was my problem for a while too. Guess I just have emotional needs that aren't being met and it's bleeding into other facets of my life."
MurphNastyFlex
Still Hot
So Excited Reaction GIF by OriginalsGiphy"Sex in the 30s are about a million times better. Still very very horny but also experienced, skills, more willing to try things."
probablyurprofessor
I didn't find this to be true.
That's me though.
The Process
Bored Season 5 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"Sex got better. I finally figured out what my wife likes. Though a long tedious trial and error process."
SaiyanGodKing
Ruts
"Exploration is difficult once you’ve fallen into a rut. Routines become commonplace. I’m such a sub these days that I don’t mind bad sex for me as long as I can make my partner climax. It’s easy to tell with men, but with women partners I'm always afraid they’re faking or acting, so there definitely needs to be established trust first."
pissoff1818
Decades of Learning
"Teens: did it like a nympho, but sex was mediocre. 20's: did it like a nympho, sex was a little better. 30's: started figuring out what I wanted. Did it a little less, but better quality. 40's: best and most frequent sex yet. Hornier and more experimental now than ever before."
"(Edited to add: had kids in late 20's, early 30's. Kids consume so much time and energy. Kids are getting older now, so more time and energy for sex again. Honestly sex in 40's has been the freakiest, wildest, most fulfilling yet)."
ChristyCurious
Let's Sleep
"20s: sex?? Yeah!! I’ll have sex!"
"30s: sex? Hmmm okay but it’s already 8:30pm and so if we start now and stop by 9:30 we should still get a full nights sleep but also we could wait until Friday or Saturday night that might be better because if we are up too late it won’t really matter much the next day but sure yeah let’s do it! F**k it who cares wait what was that oh one of the kids is at the door."
Hopeful_Jello_7894
Perfection
"Oh man, it's so much better in my 30s than it's ever been. Multiple reasons but primarily finding a partner (my perfect wife) who has helped break down my walls through conversation and experimenting together. I feel so much less guilt about sex now and I can actually enjoy it. Not sure if it was being raised with Catholic guilt or my first gf being just the wrong partner but wow did I ever feel awful about anything sexual before."
Leebollomew
Learning and Growth
Think Winnie The Pooh GIFGiphy"I’ve got something I haven’t seen yet..."
"20s: As a dude, I’d sleep with almost any woman even if they were a horrible person or I hated their guts."
30: Anything considered a red flag or something I don’t want to deal with causes me to go limp and I lose all interest."
Slappyhandz
A decade can really change everything.
Farewell youth.
CW: Suicide.
When it comes to our family histories, it seems like there are two kinds of people: those who have very little access to family documents and history, and those who know practically everything there is to know about what each of their family members has done since the dawn of time.
But even for those who seem to know everything, all families have their share of secrets.
And those secrets or more over-the-top stories can really enrich our understanding and appreciation of our families.
Redditor Careless_Put_4770 asked:
"What is the most interesting story you have of an ancestor (past your parent's generation)?"
A Dark Past
"The Uncle of my grandfather was part of Hitler's personal SS Corps."
- Eichelhaeher-Hermann
"I have a friend whose uncle of a grandfather was a bodyguard of Hermann Göring."
"He lost both his legs after he messed up and was sent to the Russian front as punishment, but still praised Hitler and the Nazis until he died."
"I also have an SS grandfather who dug up human remains at the Swiss border in 1941."
"Some general advice here: Don't ask your German friends about their family history. You're gonna have a bad time."
- Monarch-Of-Jack
Ranch Hand for Theodore Roosevelt
"I don’t know the date’s exactly off the top of my head but they’re written down at home."
"My Great Grandfather (Grandma's dad) was born in the Black Hills Germany. He allegedly killed a German officer and went on the lam to the United States."
"He worked as a ranch hand for Theodore Roosevelt for some years before he married my Great Grandma. He was gifted a buffalo rifle from Roosevelt which was taken by one of grandmas brothers after their dad died."
- Anonymous_Whale1
For the Woman He Loves
"My great grandfather killed my great grandmother's suitor and kidnapped her a night before her wedding."
"Apparently in the region of South India I'm from, women used to pick their future husband off a lineup of men wishing to marry her."
"My great grandfather was rejected by my great grandmother, and so he went about executing the dude chosen by her and kidnapping her, which apparently was seen as an extremely macho move."
"My Grandfather was born in 1896 so the time period would've been around 1860-1880."
- Glock_and_Dagger
An Impressive Gift
"My great-grandfather lost one of his arms during WW1, and right after the war, he decided to ask my great-grandmother to marry him."
"To show her how much he loved her, he decided to give her a really nice pair of shoes from a good shoemaker who lived in the countryside, and cars were not that common at the time."
"He took his bike and rode 70 kilometers (43 miles) to the closest big city to get her a really nice pair of shoes and rode 70 kilometers back with the box on his lap to give it to her. WITH ONLY ONE ARM."
"Pretty romantic, but that's not the end of the story."
"The shoemaker f**ked up big time and gave him two left shoes by accident, so my great-grandpa took his bike the next day, and did the 70 kilometers back and forth to exchange one of the shoes."
"And they lived happily married ever after."
"Every time I tell the story to someone married, they look at their husband with disdain, which I find pretty funny (I never told the story to any of my girlfriends, though)."
- Albescents
Family Lineage
"If you trace my family line back far enough you get to Norwegian royalty. It's a second son of a third son, kind of thing."
- LoveDistinct
A Supportive Family
"I come from a VERY conservative family, and when I realized I was gay, it terrified me to come out. I came out to my mom and she didn’t have an easy time handling it, but within 48 hours, she was my best friend and a strong advocate."
"The turnaround was very strange. She also told me to never be scared to tell anyone in the family, which again seemed like being set up for failure. But it really wasn’t. Everyone was super supportive and kind and very defensive of me."
"For years I wondered why and then one day I was at a family do with my grandmother and her four sisters, the Matriarchs of each branch of the family and the five most terrifying but loving women you ever met."
"They pulled me aside and we’re VERY interested in how I was doing if anyone in the family had been mean to me, and if anyone had given me a hard time about being 'special' as they called it."
"I said no, surprisingly everyone in the family had been lovely. They didn’t ask any more questions but told me to come to them if anyone was being mean."
"This was so overwhelming to see these elderly, super-conservative women being so supportive, so I cornered my mom and demanded to know why they were so nice."
"Then my mom told me about Ravi. Ravi was a beautiful, charismatic, loving, kind, sweet teenager who was my grandmother and her sisters' best friend in the 1940s. He was allowed to hang out with the women because he was 'not a threat' (he was super gay but you didn’t talk about it)."
"My gran and her sisters absolutely adored Ravi, until one day his personality changed. He became dark and withdrawn. Eventually, he killed himself."
"My gran and her sisters were devastated and didn’t know why, until they found out that Ravi had fallen in love with a boy and his parents had figured out. Ravi’s parents destroyed him psychologically through isolation, berating and eventually questionable medical interventions. Ravi’s soul was broken so he took his life."
"My grand and her sisters never ever forgave their community or Ravi’s parents for what they did to him, so when my mother called my grandmother weeping and screaming that I was gay, my grandmother came down on her like a ton of bricks with all the power and might that she could muster. She told my mother that if I was ever treated differently, If I was ever isolated or bullied by a member of the family, they would have to face the consequences of dealing with grandmother and her sisters."
"Her sisters also told all their children to treat me with respect and love, all without me knowing, because they never wanted anyone to go through what their best most loved male friend had all those years ago."
"I owe my happiness to that man, fly free my brother, wherever you are."
- Astro493
Such a Punch Line
"My Great-Grandmother had two suitors: a man in America and a man in Manchester, UK."
"The guy in America bought her a ticket to cross the Atlantic and be with him, and she was set to go, but at the last minute, the guy in England proclaimed his love and won her over."
"And that’s how my great-grandparents got together, as opposed to my great-grandmother dying on The Titanic."
- BigRagu79
A Pirate's Life for Me
"My great great great great grandfather was abducted by pirates as a boy and raised as one… in Canada. They were river brigands. My mom has a book on him."
"Her parents were from Czechoslovakian and Germany though, so I’m not sure how that happened. I always told people I was part pirate, though."
- iluvgrannysmith
A Wild Story
"Great-great-great-great-great-great grandpa Andrew threw rocks through his landlord's windows in Cork, jumped onto the next ship to Canada, started a farm on the Ottawa River, changed his surname to MacDonald so people would think he was Scottish, and imprisoned the tax collector in his cellar when they came to demand land taxes from him."
- ImperialistDog
Aerial Escape
"My grandad was an engineer for the British army in Egypt during World War Two."
"He and a buddy got drunk one time and slept in this small town, when they awoke they discovered the Germans had taken over the town. So they evaded capture and discovered an old plane that required maintenance, and the two ended up repairing the plane and flew it over German lines and into Allied territory."
- DeviousMelons
Wild, Wild West
"One of my ancestors was Curly Bill Brocious, the leader of the infamous Cowboys gang which fought against the Earps in and around Tombstone Arizona in the 1870s/80s."
"He was killed by Wyatt Earp himself by a shotgun blast that reportedly tore him in two."
- EppurSiMuove00
Family Trees
"My grandma (mother's side) was abandoned in an orphanage by my great-grandmother because she wanted to run off and marry another man, and he would not take her children. So my great grandfather, who was in the army during WW1, came to see them and promised to come back after the next battle. It was the somme, he died."
"The same grandmother did not know how old she was, by the time she obtained a copy of her birth certificate later in life, she found out she was a year older than she thought she was."
"My Dad's Grandfather was an advertising artist, semi-famous at the time, there is an original of his passed down in our family, it is with my dad's oldest brother now. It is of a boy running down a famous road in my northern city past a famous theatre still being used to this day."
- dracolibris
The Consequences of Love
"One of my great-grandmother’s grandma was an aristocrat. She fell in love with a peasant boy working on their lands. Her father told her he would disown her if she wanted to be with that boy. So one dark night the boy got my grandma escaped from their home and they ran away. Needless to say, she was disowned."
"And that’s the story of why I have to work now, instead of just seeing my monthly allowance show up on my bank account."
"Omnia vincit amor."
- Healthy_Chipmunk_990
Connections, Connections Everywhere
"My mom and my stepdad share an ancestor about four generations back."
"Also somewhere in this range, my great-[ex?]-grandma received a letter from her brother that had left Austria."
"He said, 'Come to America. If not for your sake, then for your children's sake.'"
" She talked her husband into it, they moved to the Midwest, and several generations later I was born."
- CrumblingInInverse
Anything's Possible
"I'm 34 but my paternal grandfather was born in 1895. He got shot through both knees sideways in Belgium during World War I then had to limp miles to safety... Sounds impossible but I have a newspaper article about it!"
"His brother also survived WWI, only to die in the Spanish flu pandemic. Sadly my grandfather died quite a while before I was born."
- Fit_Peanut_8801
It's amazing how far back some of our families go and how far back some families are able to trace their family's history. Knowing a little more about what our family has done can really tell us where we have been, so we can decide where we will go next.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
At least when it comes to entertainment, we're all taught to believe that being kind will take you far and that the good guy always wins over the villain.
But even in movies and TV shows, sometimes that isn't true anymore, and that can make a far more compelling story.
Note: there are massive spoilers below. You have been warned.
Redditor careater asked:
"What is a good 'the bad guy wins' movie?"
Man on Fire
"Man on Fire."
- Sapphic_Butterfly
Nightcrawler
"'Nightcrawler,' definitely. Only a few people mentioned it in this thread, which I find surprising. It fits the definition of the 'bad guy winning' perfectly and it is also a really good movie."
- belshezzar
Valkyrie
"'Valkyrie.' Crazy to think that Hollywood didn’t have to embellish much because those events actually happened in real life."
- lawontheside
Unforgiven
"'Unforgiven.'"
"Eastwood's character is the bad guy. He killed women and children and everything that walked or crawled. He was a hired vigilante."
"Little Bill was the law. But he was also a belligerent a-hole who beat a man to death and let another get away with cutting up a woman’s face because she was a w**re. He got what was coming whether he deserved it or not."
- PoorPauly
Starship Troopers
"'Starship Troopers.'"
- B3taWats0n
"It still baffles me that some people don't get that the humans are the bad guys. Neil Patrick Harris becomes more and more Nazified over the course of the movie until he's just wearing an SS uniform in the last scene."
- SergeantChic
"Consider:"
"At no point is there any evidence to the audience (unless presented by a newscast of a fascist regime) that the bugs are the aggressors."
"No fighting takes place on human territory."
"There is no clear cause for the bugs to throw a rock at the earth."
"The bugs did nothing wrong."
- couchsurfingpotato
Infinity War
"'Infinity War.'"
- O5CR
"Serious question for anyone who's seen that movie more recently: did Thanos have a 50% chance of wiping himself out of existence when he did the snap?"
- Discuffalo
"Yes, and this was confirmed by the Russo Brothers in a Q&A as well. That's why he seems surprised and gives a little smirk before teleporting away after the snap; he sees himself being exempted as proof that he was doing the right thing."
- fredagsfisk
"Titan Roulette."
- WayneAndWax
Halloween
"Basically ALL the 'Halloween' movies. Michael wins every single time except for 'Halloween Ends,' which is a real absolute first, to be honest."
"First runner-up: 'The Collector.'"
"Second runner-up: every single 'Saw' movie."
- whitehack
Midsommar
"'Midsommar' if you treat the cult as the bad guy."
- tkdyo
"The cult is definitely the villain of the story."
- A**_a**_in99
X-Men: First Class
"X-men: First Class (2011)."
"'I prefer... Magneto" what follows is the most bada** villain theme since imperial march."
- TeamAlphaSquad
"'I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. NEVER AGAIN.'"
- killingjoke96
"Magneto is the deuteragonist of the film."
"Shaw is the Bad Guy. And he gets a penny for his thoughts (a coin through his head)."
- streakermaximus
Lad Abiding Citizen
"Depending on your perspective, 'Law Abiding Citizen.'"
- lyzaros
"I can’t stand watching that movie. Every time I hope Gerard Butler will win, and Jamie Foxx catches him every d**n time…"
- KidAndrogynous
"Such a bulls**t ending. It's like they passed out of having Gerard Butler's character win, like they couldn't show a man with 10 years of planning pull off his vengeance plan against the justice system in case the audience got ideas."
"It seemed like a case of Jamie Foxx wouldn't allow them to make his character 'lose', but this is a myth apparently. It's still s**t, though."
- vaguebiscuits
"Yeah, it p**ses me off that Butler's character loses."
"The 'good guys' only won because they broke the law. The cop and the lawyer didn't get a warrant, and it was literally shrugged away as they broke into and entered the garage. If they were actually sticking to the rules they espoused, as they should have, Butler's character would have gotten away with it."
"I know, I know... The good guys have to win, Butler's character was a murderous psychopath, ends justify the means, etc. But I think the ending was a copout."
- cstretten
Gone Girl
"'Gone Girl.'"
- solitamaxx
"Well done movie, absolutely hated it and will never watch it again. Made me so d**n mad, but I understand it did exactly what it was meant to."
- Raccoonanity
Skeleton Key
"'Skeleton Key.'"
- nursesarahrn78
"A very interesting movie. The ending... whew!"
- Forsaken_Button_9387
"The scream I scrumpt when she said, 'Baby, you just trapped yourself!'"
- soljjr
Fallen
"'Fallen.' That movie was f**king awesome, great ending."
- TheRealOcsiban
"Did I ever tell you about the time I almost died?"
- crazym108
"Now remember, I told you I was going to tell you the story of the time I ALMOST died."
- whyisreplicainmyname
"Tiii-i-i-ime... is on my side. Yes, it is..."
- AKeeneyedguy
Cabin in the Woods
"'Cabin in the Woods.'"
"Well, the bad guys actually lose, but the world ends as a result."
- Jonny-Max
"It's one of my favorite twists on a horror movie ever."
- careater
"Are they really the bad guys though? Sure, they act like a**holes about killing people, but it’s kind of important that they do it."
- Freedom_7
"The gods they are trying to appease, it’s movie audiences like you and me. We are the actual bad guys."
"If what we expect to see doesn’t happen, like a virgin sacrificial ritual, we will destroy the movie at the box office. That’s the big hand you see at the end."
- Initial_E
"So ... our nostalgia and need for cliches is the bad guy? We're the reason Hollywood only does remakes now?"
"F**k... that's darker than I realized."
- konsf_ksd
Arlington Road
"'Arlington Road.'"
- Dapper_Interest_8914
"This should be top."
"'Infinity War' and 'Empire Strikes Back' are not the ending of the story, and as we know, the bad guy eventually loses."
"This is one of the only movies where the bad guy wins, and that's it, the end. He doesn't die and win like in 'Se7en.' There's no sequel to make right the wrong. The baddies just f**king trick the protagonist big time and win."
"Leaves you feeling almost angry, stunned even."
- 8blackJack8black
Everyone can appreciate a happy ending, but these movies go to show that a movie can still be great without the good guy coming out on top.
In fact, it might even make these movies all the move impactful and memorable.