Jfc, a green text I actually relate to.

My kid has a friend that used to have an unstable situation. No details, but it was rough enough courts got involved.

But when they were part of a d&d group via discord, my kid mentioned me being a forever DM. So, I would end up in voice chats telling old stories to the group when the DM had obligations.

A few weeks into this, my kid asks permission to stay up late for this other kid. I’m not known for bending health related stuff like good sleep without a damn good reason, but I made an exception and let them chat a while.

But, my kid falls asleep, and I hear this other kid crying, and my heart fucking breaks. I pick up the tablet and ask if I can help. The kid asks me to tell them a story like I do when DM can’t play.

So I did. Maybe fifteen minutes in, I hear snoring.

For a while after that, the kid would ping my kid here and there and ask if I could talk. They were alone, and scared, and feeling a lot of hurt, and sometimes a voice over a device was all they could get. Which was fucking brutal on my end. I’m a well known asshole, but some things just get you. Nobody should be that lonely, you know?

Anyway, it isn’t the same thing, but it resonates.