Story #1

I recently moved to a different country and have been temporarily living with my sister and her husband. Growing up, I always looked up to my sister because of her no-bs attitude. Sis and BIL have been married 10 years now and for the most part, I always thought they had the best partnership based on what my sister told me over the phone and my BIL's phone etiquettes. But living with them since 3 months has completely overturned my perceptions and exposed all the red flags.

My sister has been dealing with a lot of health issues in the past few years including type-1 diabetes, obesity and losing an ovary. She was very healthy before marriage but her LVM husband forced them to get pregnant. My sister hated kids growing up and was never interested in starting a family. Ever since her pregnancy 7 years ago, she has been battling so many health conditions but her LVM husband keeps on living his life selfishly. He goes out to chill with his bros every Friday, does not lift a finger around the house and doesn't give a shit about childcare. Yet my sister continues to adore him and tries to appease him everyday. Just goes to show how an LVM can rob away even the little bit of individuality you have and turn you into a sad pick-me.

Story #2

Planning to visit a very close friend of mine who's living in a different city. She is in a live-in situation with her bf. They live in a house that my friend bought a few years ago. She used to have a gregarious personality, always hanging out with her friends, doing things, incessantly posting on social media etc. But ever since she got serious with her bf, she has become unbelievably introverted. She said her bf doesn't like her social media addiction and doesn't want her to hang out with her friends too much during the pandemic. Ok, makes sense. But now my friend tells me that her bf and his whole family are unvaccinated because they believe COVID is a conspiracy theory and I'm like WTF. Both of them work in a very big corporation in very high positions. Oh and the cherry on top is that they're pregnant. Dare I ask if he's going to put a ring on it?

Reinforces my decision to stay single by default, unless a miracle HVM enters my life.