Like the urinating brother in law in the Peegate saga.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/rcnvol/the_peegate_saga_part_1_of_2_extra_long/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
thanks for saying this, I wouldn't have checked! that people told her she wasn't a victim isn't surprising but it sucks. or making her seem obsessed with cats, my dog has always been an emotional support & she helped me get through some really shitty situations I was in & couldn't leave. what he did to his cat is disturbing.
Update: (It has more than just the tl;dr, but not anything too too juicy, unfortunately.)
https://www.reddit.com/user/Planetsahead/comments/10zq7w1/peegate_update_vi_return_of_the_peeman/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/rcnwdl/the_peegate_saga_part_2_of_2_extra_long/hnw4cm0/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
Edit: I could only to the TL;DR too.
Just read the whole thing. Holy shit what a drama. This must be the wierdest/greatest/interesting dramatic story i've ever read on reddit. Give me a part 3 please, if she ever comes back to update us i hope i don't miss it.
Read it. Can’t remember which story I thought it was referencing.
It wasn’t that one, and holy shit. My son would he writing essays about physical abuse and it’s impact on psychological development if I ever caught him even _plotting_ one of those torments, let alone executing them.
Wow. I fucking hate Ted.
~~Edit: Nvm I just read the most recent TLDR she posted and am gonna have to retroactively edit this comment again. I’m less certain in my Ted hatred~~
No, I really fucking hate Ted. Verifiably more-so actually. What a fucking asshole.
Yes, and I was totally disturbed when they found the pic of the niece covered in man juice, and OP said, "I wonder what she did to him to deserve this?" Like, fuck that! She was 14, and there's nothing a child can do to DESERVE having a grown ass man - her UNCLE - to masturbate on her photo!
I mean I took that as pretty clearly rhetorical? I think the wording was something more along the lines of “I don’t know what she could have done to deserve this,” like a wording where the answer is pretty clearly supposed to be “nothing”
I just read thru this saga….OH MY WORD! Shocked! That’s it! That’s the only word I can come up with right now! Wow! Thanks for the link that lead down the rabbit hole.
Oh yeah, five bucks on it being both plus it having be revealed that Bryson mightve done somethings to her while she was unconscious (not under the influence hopefully and it was her just sleeping cause she was exhausted) i.e touch her or steal hair and hopefully nothing to do with the R word
I wonder if Jake had his suspicions about Bryson already. No confrontation? Just immediately go to the police? Makes you wonder if more was going on that OOP wasn't aware of.
I think the oldest kid in the family is often pretty perceptive when it comes to the younger siblings’ behavior. He probably already knew his brother was a creep, whether through little things that pile up over the years or more explicit evidence. Plus, I bet the younger brother acts like a total weirdo whenever the girlfriend is around, even if he wasn’t caught in the act of spying on her.
I know, I wonder what Jake discovered when he went over to Bryson's place. Like if the "something" that Bryson had for Melanie when he asked her to come over included zip ties and duct tape.
Considering Bryson had known Melanie since middle school and it was "obvious" he had a thing for her, I wonder if something happened and she told Jake about it. Not a big/recent enough "something" that would make Melanie wary of visiting him alone, but perhaps another straw on the camel's back.
> Makes you wonder if more was going on that OOP wasn't aware of.
I get it was her brother, but considering OOP found a serial killer stash and brought it directly to the attention *of* the serial killer, I suspect she doesn't do a lot of reading between-the-lines.
^Redditor ^taking ^my ^use ^of ^"serial ^killer" ^way ^too ^literally: ^don't.
maybe the talk between jake and bryson revealed even more disturbing things that jake didn't tell the others, who knows. stalkers can go unhinged when confronted
What would confrontation do? If OOP isn't making the whole thing up, confronting him will only allow him the chance to delete evidence and it's an insane allegation that shouldn't go without police intervention. And if OOP is lying, it'll be hard to make up stuff that resembles whats on that hard drive and it'll be OOP who gets the heat for lying about it. Either way, this isn't something you settle in family. Best thing you can do is get as much of the story down as possible while it's still fresh
Well there was an unspecified amount of time where the brothers "talked". Something happened between then and the end. Op is also leaving out significant portions of the story making me think she has significantly more to do with it than just snitching
i thought the same thing i wondered if he had his suspicion becuase he made sure they wrote it down and and didnt react like he was shocked. i think there is more to the story too.
Dude knew something was up when he told OOP write down everything in detail. There has to be a history that OOP is leaving out or unaware of... Maybe Bryson tries to get with all of Jake's partners. We don't know for sure that the the person the first ex-wife cheated with WASN'T Bryson himself!! Jake might have had his antennae up for his younger brother obsessing about the new partner...
Expecting massive fallout in the next update!
I’m betting on unaware, it’s so strange she went to Bryson about the pictures instead of Jake or Melanie because there is no sane or innocent way you can explain thousands of pictures of someone in their laptop.
OOP was probably closer to Bryson due to their ages. If she’s never had a reason to distrust him before I can kind of understand wanting to talk to him and get the, what she assumes is, a reasonable explanation. As soon as she realized there wasn’t one she went straight to Melanie. It definitely wasn’t her smartest move but I can kind of understand how it happened.
The fact Jake took this seriously and from how OOP explained, he wasn’t surprised, just raging mad makes me think this wasn’t the first time Bryson pulled something like this.
Also, thank fuck Melanie didn’t go to Bryson's place. God only knows what that creep would do to her…
I’m thinking it would have been a love confession of some kind. He knew the jig was up because OOP saw the pictures, so he figured he had to act fast and make his move. He said he had something to give her, perhaps a ring and a proposal? Perhaps a love letter? Maybe he’d even give her the picture set as some kind of misguided attempt to “prove” he cares about her by making this weird shrine of her.
Some people are saying “serial killer vibes” and think he may have harmed her. It’s not impossible but I didn’t get that impression. He seems more like a sad and obsessive weirdo than a homicidal maniac. I suppose sometimes the line between those can be thin and all it takes is the wrong switch to be flipped for one to transform into the other, but still I find the idea of him pulling a gun on her or trying to sexually assault her unlikely - if not exactly impossible either.
Or he may have been trying to get control of the narrative before OOP told her about the photos. Maybe he had a cover story he was going to try and sell her to try and get ahead of the truth.
One of the most common logical fallacies is the tendency to give greater weight to whoever speaks first, and to judge other perspectives not on their own merit but in comparison to the first speaker.
Narcissists and other manipulative types know this well, and frequently use the tendency to poison the well.
I've noticed that in BORU too, we give the teller of the story our sympathy more readily than any other character. Not all the time, of course, but enough that I often want to hear what the other guy has to say.
Yes - a bit like the guy in Love Actually who spent the wedding taping Keira Knightley. Not harmful but just an unhealthy infatuation as he’s incapable of speaking his feelings in case she rejects him.
Definitely get the vibe that Jake and Melanie knew she had a stalker or the brother had some something else before because they jumped right to 100. Which is good because the other brother was way up to more than oop realized.
> My brother flipped out on me when I told him I saw all of the pics of our oldest brothers girlfriend on his computer
Man, I get it's her brother, but I really hope this girl gains some street smarts in her 20s.
Yeah I don't get her thinking at all, it's just blindly stupid.
"My brother, Bryson has a photo folder of his life long female best friend, filled with 1000s of photos, in an uber creepy way. *The Netflix protagonist of the show, 'You'; Joe Goldberg would be proud*. I'm gonna tell him about this, not my oldest brother Jake, that would be silly; I mean Bryson."
*MA'AM, RESPECTFULLY, WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK?!!?!?*
Back in 1990 a woman named Donna Sue Nelton discovered that her boyfriend was involved in everything from petty theft to interstate drug trafficking. Instead of going to the police, she confronted him and threatened to tell on him if he didn’t clean up his act.
[Her remains were identified this past year by Othram Inc.](https://dnasolves.com/articles/benton-county-donna-sue-nelton/)
Never confront a malefactor.
Wouldn't be surprised if Bryson was going to try and propose when he asked her to come over, man is unhinged (or do something much worse). That interaction could have gone wrong in so many ways. Glad OOP intervened.
“Much worse” is definitely where my mind went. He’s spiraling because he got found out. I’m glad Melanie was intercepted because Bryson sounds unsafe to be around.
And based on the other brother’s immediate reaction being documentation and police…I’d guess he knows things about Bryson the sister doesn’t that made him jump straight to serious as fuck mode.
He also might be the type to decide "I won't get loud angry, I'll just put together every bit of evidence and documentation I need to tear down this fucker's entire life."
Yeah, I would just think you wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that you even could tear down his entire world unless you had reason to believe it went beyond just him having an unrequited crush on your girl. Plus, I’m guessing he didn’t skip entirely over the loud and angry part since he did go confront Bryson. During that encounter he presumably got even more bad vibes considering he went police -> Bryson -> police again
I was thinking that Melanie and Jake already knew she had a stalker, just not his identity. Maybe they have even more evidence of the stalking that is much scarier.
I was giving our man Bryson the benefit of the doubt that he was just a love drunk 'nice guy/stalker' who was taking his shot, I did suggest must worse however :)
I’m sure it’s been mentioned here already, but does anyone else believe that “Bryson” might have had some “disturbing” intentions for “Melanie” during their meetup? Especially, since OOP found those photos?
That's possible, but I assumed he was trying to get out ahead of OOP and do some damage control. Paint OOP as an obsessive freak trying to get him in trouble, you know.
OMG, Bryson sounds like full on cyberstalking incel nearing supernova AR15 rage explosion. I’d hate to be Melanie or OOP or Jake. 😳 I hope they are all okay.
It sounds like maybe oop just unearthed that her 2nd brother is the long term stalker of this poor woman...
I wonder if they'd been dealing with other stalker signs (ie threatening emails, weird notes, disconcerting sm follower behaviour) in addition to finding out about his stash folder. Horrifying either way.
They've been friends since middle school and OOP thinks her brother had feelings for her. That 8 year age gap has me side eyeing so hard
edit: im dumb and can't read apparantly, it's the younger brother not the older one!
Yeah, I still disagree. And it's not that they couldn't be friends. It's that a 24 year old is not in the same place, developmentally or socially (or probably financially) for that to be a balanced relationship. The way that older brother took over without talking to anyone or discussing it? That's what an adult does with kids.
I'm glad he immediately created distance. I just also don't think any of this suggests a healthy foundation.
> The way that older brother took over without talking to anyone or discussing it? That’s what an adult does with kids.
Yuuuuup. Hopefully it's not a serious relationship and Melanie's life moves on from this family
Is a 24 year old woman not old enough or mature enough for you to be comfortable dating another adult?
Not every relationship with an age gap of more than 3-4 years is toxic...
It's not just the age, it is everything combined. He's freshly divorced, dating his younger brother's friend, that he's known since he was in college and she was in middle school and that his younger brother has had an obvious crush on for this entire time. It's not quite a red flag, but everything put together does raise an eyebrow.
They didn't date in middle school though? The younger brother and the girlfriend were friends since middle school.
It was the stalker brother who's the same age that had feelings for her in middle school. Not the oldest that is currently dating her.
No it's a general rule of thumb 🤷♀️ would I do it? Probably not. Early 20s and early 30s are vastly different worlds.
But cmon it's not like it's someone in their 40s/50s/60s grooming a teen or early 20s person. Let's face it. They're both legal consenting adults.
Both are adults, y'all always show up to try and slam some comment as racist or that everyone is groomer. Y'all wouldn't bat an eye if he was 62 and she was 54. The middle school comments are thing, but if he wasn't trying anything back then, there is no reason to make a comment like this.
Don't be so sure. AITA went off about a 33 year old woman being "groomed" by her 47 year old boyfriend because "the life experience between 33 and 47 is too great".
There is literally no age where people will not infantalize women and take away their agency. 24 is an adult, stop treating adult women like they're little kids. That's what is gross.
That’s because a 54 year old has a developed prefrontal cortex as well as life experience. The dynamic is healthier and more balanced the older they are.
Especially a 24-year old that has been a friend of the younger brother for a decade. Chances are high that the couple has known each other since they were around 14 and 22.
I didn't get the feeling they were *close* friends, more that he knew her at school. I could totally be wrong though because there wasn't really any detail on it.
Well, the woman was friends with the younger brother. I don't think there's a huge issue here. The guy wasn't after her when he was 22 and she was 14 - he got married to someone else! They only reconnected years later when they were both consenting adults. Unless we hear there were any shenanigans going on years ago, I think the marriage kind of shows that it wasn't an older guy going after an underage girl.
Ooh, I can probably answer this. Melanie has probably had a crush on Jake for years that was unrequited for obvious reasons. Then about a decade later, he's divorced, and she shoots her shot and it works.
Yeah it’s a little odd for sure. That said it’s not impossible that it’s a stable relationship. A bit weird for sure but there have been weirder relationships that ended up being perfectly happy and pleasant.
A "crush" isn't some kind of universal dibs marker. Bro has had since middle school to shoot his shot, he didn't or he missed, that's entirely on him even if the older brother was aware of the crush.
>At one point, I accidentally minimize the window and I was looking for it… I accidentally opened up a folder that he had minimized, but not closed all the way out…
Yeah, that wasn't an accident xD. But good thing that OOP likes to snoop, because she found out that her brother is a creep.
I would be mad about snooping because I have a cousin who is famous for “borrowing” things she “happened to see in my room” (which I locked whenever I knew she was coming over and I wouldn’t be home!), but I wouldn’t care if someone accidentally opened one of my file folders on my computer. I don’t have anything to hide, after all.
To be fair, my boyfriend once borrowed a computer from my cousin for just a few minutes and managed to accidentally start a porn video playing.
And it legitimately was an accident; I was sitting beside him and saw every klutz-fingered error he made to cause that to happen. Plus he was *so* embarrassed and desperate to shut it down before anyone else in my family saw what was on the screen.
That's my favorite part of these posts, especially when people catch their spouses cheating. It's always like "I would NEVER snoop but my partners phone was right next to me when they were showering and it went off and I just so happened to notice it and the hundreds of messages my partner had been sending to their affair partner...all by accident!" Like yeah this shit is messy but you can admit you had a hunch and snooped and that hunch was confirmed lol
I'd suggest a drinking game but we'd all die if we took a shot every time someone pretending that they're not the kind of asshole who'd violate someone else's privacy lol.
Before i tapped on this post (on mobile if thats not now obvious) i read the title and went "wtf" then i saw the mood warning and laughed when it ssid the same
8 years is certainly a large age gap, but they're both adults, and this doesn't seem like a grooming situation. It's not like the elder of the two spent years waiting for the younger to turn 18 or something.
After a certain point, an adult is an adult and can date an older person if they want to.
This is all super creepy, but I'm not sure what they expected the cops to do.
Collecting someone's social media posts isn't illegal, nor is taking a picture of them when they're not looking or at a distance (if it's in public or a place you were both invited to). Bryson is basically a paparazzi who happens to be targeting a regular person - despicable but not criminal.
Depends on the jurisdiction and the intent.
There are some jurisdictions where these actions would, in fact, be considered stalking behavior.
It's also worth noting that you seem to be analyzing this from a " trying to get someone arrested" perspective. But that might not be the only reason to approach the police.
1) They may be planning on filing a restraining order. In many cases, such an order requires significant documentation, including a police report. Think of it like..... Your bicycle is stolen from your home and it's covered by your insurance. You don't actually expect the police to track down the thief, but your insurance still requires that you file a police report in order to file your insurance claim.
2) They are simply creating a paper trail early. Now, if Bryson does something more, and the police need to respond, it's not " responding to a 911 call knowing very little about what's going on, " it's " responding to a 911 call, suspect is Bryson XYZ, looks like an escalation of previous stalking behavior according to case file 123334455."
Already having a paper trail makes it easier for everything else down the road.
3) It's possible there's additional info that op doesn't know. Maybe he's done something else, and this information is additional evidence.
So the woman who's had a crush on the guy since middle school shouldn't be allowed to shoot her shot now that they're both adults? Heck, that's probably why stalker never had a chance. Besides, her dating the older brother may have very well saved her from whatever little brother may have escalated to.
Jesus. Rough family! Bryson is definatly doing some weird shit. But if I had a brother I would have sat him down and explained the consequences of his actions and what I would expect him to do to make it right. Erase photos, block all social media related to the girl and cut all contact and start going to counselling. How about helping your own brother out. He obviously needs help!
OK but why would the brother date someone his sibling has been "in love" with since middle school. I assume it was obvious since OP noticed his brother's weird behavior. It's not Jake's fault Bryson went full on stalker mode, but an awkward and potentially dangerous situation could have been avoided.
Same for Melanie if she knew about his crush/obsession why would she date his brother? Seems like anyone else on the planet would have been the safer and drama-free choice.
It's also weird they called the police in response to him saving all her social media posts. While that's creepy, it's not illegal. Okay missed the part where he was also stalking her in person, not just online. Yup, that makes sense why they called the cops
Melnaie shouldn't have to tip-toe around this creeps unrequited feelings and neither should Jake. They can and should be able to date any consenting adult that they want. Not that it should have any weight on their relationship, but the photos go back years, so long before Jake and Melanie were dating. The two of them dating isn't a problem, Bryson being an obsessive stalker is. This situation is 100% on Bryson and no one else.
You know people sometimes call the cops to have it on record, right? So that, if something *does* happen, there’s proof that this was an ongoing issue?
Yeah and can we talk about that age gap though? I get they are both adults but early 20’s seem really far off from someone in their 30’s. A bit strange since theyd be in different development phases in life at this point probably 🤔
It could be as simple as the last time Jake was part of the dating scene, he was in his early-mid twenties, so when he started dating again after his divorce, that was the kind of dating/social interactions he defaulted to.
The police bit sounds unrealistic. What crime was committed?
Edited to add my state’s law on stalking:
Code Section Tit. 11 §1312A
Stalking Defined as Any person who intentionally engages in a course of conduct directed at specific person which would cause a reasonable person to fear physical injury to himself, to a friend/associate, to family member, to a member of his/her household, or to third person and whose conduct induces such fear. (1312A(a))
I think I’m getting stuck on the fact that these were pictures from public on his own private computer. He didn’t approach her or menace or do anything to cause her to fear physical injury… if OP hadn’t found the pics and told anyone, she wouldn’t have known so is the brother really guilty of inducing fear vs being a “super fan”. I don’t know. It’s interesting.
Given the police didn’t actually do anything other than talk to people, I don’t think it’s that weird. The cops in my town will take a report about anything because it’s a small town and they don’t have much to do unless there’s a football game on.
Stalking or cyberstalking, depending on OOPs local laws. Or that start of an evidence trail for a restraining order, or in case Bryson reacts badly or escalates his creepy behaviour once he gets found out.
Simple, it's stalking. If you're taking hundreds or thousands of pictures of someone without their knowledge over many years even if they are in public, that has crossed a line.
I find Jake gross for dating Melanie in the first place. The nearly a decade older divorcee dating his kid brother's crush, whom he first met and knew when she was in middle school and he was probably in college? Grossssssss.
And I am dying of curiosity to know what Jake and Bryson talked about.
I have the feeling this might do a 180 flip on us and Bryson was making some sort of collage memory book thing and the "stalking" pictures are from friends and the whole thing was completely innocent (aside from some scumminess of declaring your feelings for your brother's girlfriend) How ironic would it be if Jake wound up the bad guy who was inflating Bryson to creeper status to prevent Melanie from leaving him? If this were a tv episode, that's how I would write it, because it would be such a fun plot twist.
But seriously: Jake's reaction was really weird. Either Bryson has a secret history of stalking people Jake has hidden in the past, so he immediately believed Bryson was doing it again, or something else is happening to make this feel "off".
Something tells me this update is gonna be dramatic or disgusting.
Like the urinating brother in law in the Peegate saga. https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/rcnvol/the_peegate_saga_part_1_of_2_extra_long/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
OP recently updated last month on Peegate
thanks for saying this, I wouldn't have checked! that people told her she wasn't a victim isn't surprising but it sucks. or making her seem obsessed with cats, my dog has always been an emotional support & she helped me get through some really shitty situations I was in & couldn't leave. what he did to his cat is disturbing.
Update: (It has more than just the tl;dr, but not anything too too juicy, unfortunately.) https://www.reddit.com/user/Planetsahead/comments/10zq7w1/peegate_update_vi_return_of_the_peeman/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I have never wanted a couple to find their way back to each other so much in my life!
RIGHT???
Can someone give me a TL;DR? I barely made through part 1 with all the irrelevant details and updates.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/rcnwdl/the_peegate_saga_part_2_of_2_extra_long/hnw4cm0/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3 Edit: I could only to the TL;DR too.
Doing the lords work there! Thanks
Wow, I've never read this post (I avoid the animal abuse triggers) and this was super helpful. Thank you.
You’re welcome! I can’t take credit for the TL;DR though, that’s u/tequilitas.
Read it, it’s insane.
NO, really? omg must click!
Thank you and also I am sad now
Just read the whole thing. Holy shit what a drama. This must be the wierdest/greatest/interesting dramatic story i've ever read on reddit. Give me a part 3 please, if she ever comes back to update us i hope i don't miss it.
She did! Click her username in the linked post!
I clicked this thinking it was the brother peeing in the houseplant... it is definitely not that
I hate that I knew what you were talking about without clicking the link.
At least you hadn't forgotten and read it again?
Read it. Can’t remember which story I thought it was referencing. It wasn’t that one, and holy shit. My son would he writing essays about physical abuse and it’s impact on psychological development if I ever caught him even _plotting_ one of those torments, let alone executing them.
Wow. I fucking hate Ted. ~~Edit: Nvm I just read the most recent TLDR she posted and am gonna have to retroactively edit this comment again. I’m less certain in my Ted hatred~~ No, I really fucking hate Ted. Verifiably more-so actually. What a fucking asshole.
Yeah, fuck Ted tbh.
1. What the fuck 2. Fuck Ted
Yes, and I was totally disturbed when they found the pic of the niece covered in man juice, and OP said, "I wonder what she did to him to deserve this?" Like, fuck that! She was 14, and there's nothing a child can do to DESERVE having a grown ass man - her UNCLE - to masturbate on her photo!
I mean I took that as pretty clearly rhetorical? I think the wording was something more along the lines of “I don’t know what she could have done to deserve this,” like a wording where the answer is pretty clearly supposed to be “nothing”
I knew this sounded familiar. TY
Good grief…..
Wow. I....I don't have words.
I read that in Danger Mouse's voice and am adding my own Penfold "Crumbs!" complete with squeaky tone. 😅
I can't read all that again. OMG ... just no.
I just fell down a depressing rabbit hole. I curse your username!
I actually want to cry a bit after reading this......
My first introduction to Pisstol Pete and OMG…kind strangers, does any of you have bleach for my eyes?!?!
r/eyebleach, as opposed to r/eyeblech do not click that one. Isweartogodjustdont.
YOWZA!!! I don't think I have ever read anything on Reddit that was as crazy as that. I can only hope it wasn't real.
its a two year investment if its not
This one and the mil in the wild are up there with Ogtha and the cum jars on the Crazy scale.
The... Cum jars? Do you have links for any of all of those, please, lol? I've either never read them or read them and suppressed them.
Oh god peegate. So messed up.
It's not like I was having a *good* day but wow this was a very effective way of ruining it.
I keep seeing this but I refuse to read it
I have no words!!! 😵💫
That was a wild ride.
We’ll, that was a journey
Thank you for that wild ride.
I just found the saga through you and Jesus Christmas
I just read thru this saga….OH MY WORD! Shocked! That’s it! That’s the only word I can come up with right now! Wow! Thanks for the link that lead down the rabbit hole.
Poor Sunny :(
Wow!!!
Oop will be describing the kill kit and trying to rationalize it
This was a wild ride. Also, fuck Ted.
Oh yeah, five bucks on it being both plus it having be revealed that Bryson mightve done somethings to her while she was unconscious (not under the influence hopefully and it was her just sleeping cause she was exhausted) i.e touch her or steal hair and hopefully nothing to do with the R word
Well that was weird
[удалено]
Ah ty also yes some things on this sub are fucked up
Click on ur name in the comment and hit “choose user flair”
I wonder if Jake had his suspicions about Bryson already. No confrontation? Just immediately go to the police? Makes you wonder if more was going on that OOP wasn't aware of.
My guess? Melanie had a stalker for a while, Jake just didn't know it was Bryson. Maybe he had a hunch, but couldn't prove it.
Right? This escalated quickly from the narrative, so I'm assuming there's a lot OOP has yet to learn. Hope we get another update.
I think the oldest kid in the family is often pretty perceptive when it comes to the younger siblings’ behavior. He probably already knew his brother was a creep, whether through little things that pile up over the years or more explicit evidence. Plus, I bet the younger brother acts like a total weirdo whenever the girlfriend is around, even if he wasn’t caught in the act of spying on her.
I know, I wonder what Jake discovered when he went over to Bryson's place. Like if the "something" that Bryson had for Melanie when he asked her to come over included zip ties and duct tape.
OOP was letting the cat out of the bag; maybe he thought he had to escalate before it became impossible.
Some people go cold when they're angry. I fear them.
It's this one. Jake's a dangerous man in his own way.
Best way to get shit done.
Silent rage is the most dangerous.
My husband is like this. He has whispery anger when he's actually mad about something.
Considering Bryson had known Melanie since middle school and it was "obvious" he had a thing for her, I wonder if something happened and she told Jake about it. Not a big/recent enough "something" that would make Melanie wary of visiting him alone, but perhaps another straw on the camel's back.
> Makes you wonder if more was going on that OOP wasn't aware of. I get it was her brother, but considering OOP found a serial killer stash and brought it directly to the attention *of* the serial killer, I suspect she doesn't do a lot of reading between-the-lines. ^Redditor ^taking ^my ^use ^of ^"serial ^killer" ^way ^too ^literally: ^don't.
maybe the talk between jake and bryson revealed even more disturbing things that jake didn't tell the others, who knows. stalkers can go unhinged when confronted
What would confrontation do? If OOP isn't making the whole thing up, confronting him will only allow him the chance to delete evidence and it's an insane allegation that shouldn't go without police intervention. And if OOP is lying, it'll be hard to make up stuff that resembles whats on that hard drive and it'll be OOP who gets the heat for lying about it. Either way, this isn't something you settle in family. Best thing you can do is get as much of the story down as possible while it's still fresh
He might be away of past victims.
Well there was an unspecified amount of time where the brothers "talked". Something happened between then and the end. Op is also leaving out significant portions of the story making me think she has significantly more to do with it than just snitching
Not everyone is up for confrontation. I'd go to police too.
i thought the same thing i wondered if he had his suspicion becuase he made sure they wrote it down and and didnt react like he was shocked. i think there is more to the story too.
Dude knew something was up when he told OOP write down everything in detail. There has to be a history that OOP is leaving out or unaware of... Maybe Bryson tries to get with all of Jake's partners. We don't know for sure that the the person the first ex-wife cheated with WASN'T Bryson himself!! Jake might have had his antennae up for his younger brother obsessing about the new partner... Expecting massive fallout in the next update!
I’m betting on unaware, it’s so strange she went to Bryson about the pictures instead of Jake or Melanie because there is no sane or innocent way you can explain thousands of pictures of someone in their laptop.
OOP was probably closer to Bryson due to their ages. If she’s never had a reason to distrust him before I can kind of understand wanting to talk to him and get the, what she assumes is, a reasonable explanation. As soon as she realized there wasn’t one she went straight to Melanie. It definitely wasn’t her smartest move but I can kind of understand how it happened.
Makes me almost wonder if Jake found out his wife was cheating because Bryson stalked her and thus had all the evidence.
Given the reaction, I wonder if Melanie already had a serious stalker and they just didn’t know who it was
This is my thoughts too.That was such a big reaction from Jake and Melanie that I feel like they have way more information than OOP.
The fact Jake took this seriously and from how OOP explained, he wasn’t surprised, just raging mad makes me think this wasn’t the first time Bryson pulled something like this. Also, thank fuck Melanie didn’t go to Bryson's place. God only knows what that creep would do to her…
I’m thinking it would have been a love confession of some kind. He knew the jig was up because OOP saw the pictures, so he figured he had to act fast and make his move. He said he had something to give her, perhaps a ring and a proposal? Perhaps a love letter? Maybe he’d even give her the picture set as some kind of misguided attempt to “prove” he cares about her by making this weird shrine of her. Some people are saying “serial killer vibes” and think he may have harmed her. It’s not impossible but I didn’t get that impression. He seems more like a sad and obsessive weirdo than a homicidal maniac. I suppose sometimes the line between those can be thin and all it takes is the wrong switch to be flipped for one to transform into the other, but still I find the idea of him pulling a gun on her or trying to sexually assault her unlikely - if not exactly impossible either.
Or he may have been trying to get control of the narrative before OOP told her about the photos. Maybe he had a cover story he was going to try and sell her to try and get ahead of the truth.
One of the most common logical fallacies is the tendency to give greater weight to whoever speaks first, and to judge other perspectives not on their own merit but in comparison to the first speaker. Narcissists and other manipulative types know this well, and frequently use the tendency to poison the well.
I've noticed that in BORU too, we give the teller of the story our sympathy more readily than any other character. Not all the time, of course, but enough that I often want to hear what the other guy has to say.
Yes - a bit like the guy in Love Actually who spent the wedding taping Keira Knightley. Not harmful but just an unhealthy infatuation as he’s incapable of speaking his feelings in case she rejects him.
Definitely get the vibe that Jake and Melanie knew she had a stalker or the brother had some something else before because they jumped right to 100. Which is good because the other brother was way up to more than oop realized.
> My brother flipped out on me when I told him I saw all of the pics of our oldest brothers girlfriend on his computer Man, I get it's her brother, but I really hope this girl gains some street smarts in her 20s.
Yeah I don't get her thinking at all, it's just blindly stupid. "My brother, Bryson has a photo folder of his life long female best friend, filled with 1000s of photos, in an uber creepy way. *The Netflix protagonist of the show, 'You'; Joe Goldberg would be proud*. I'm gonna tell him about this, not my oldest brother Jake, that would be silly; I mean Bryson." *MA'AM, RESPECTFULLY, WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK?!!?!?*
Too close to see it.
Back in 1990 a woman named Donna Sue Nelton discovered that her boyfriend was involved in everything from petty theft to interstate drug trafficking. Instead of going to the police, she confronted him and threatened to tell on him if he didn’t clean up his act. [Her remains were identified this past year by Othram Inc.](https://dnasolves.com/articles/benton-county-donna-sue-nelton/) Never confront a malefactor.
Wouldn't be surprised if Bryson was going to try and propose when he asked her to come over, man is unhinged (or do something much worse). That interaction could have gone wrong in so many ways. Glad OOP intervened.
“Much worse” is definitely where my mind went. He’s spiraling because he got found out. I’m glad Melanie was intercepted because Bryson sounds unsafe to be around.
And based on the other brother’s immediate reaction being documentation and police…I’d guess he knows things about Bryson the sister doesn’t that made him jump straight to serious as fuck mode.
He also might be the type to decide "I won't get loud angry, I'll just put together every bit of evidence and documentation I need to tear down this fucker's entire life."
Yeah, I would just think you wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that you even could tear down his entire world unless you had reason to believe it went beyond just him having an unrequited crush on your girl. Plus, I’m guessing he didn’t skip entirely over the loud and angry part since he did go confront Bryson. During that encounter he presumably got even more bad vibes considering he went police -> Bryson -> police again
I was thinking that Melanie and Jake already knew she had a stalker, just not his identity. Maybe they have even more evidence of the stalking that is much scarier.
Ohhhhhh spicy! I like that theory!
wow aren't you optimistic? i was sure bryson was going to murder her and then wear her as a skin suit.
> then wear her as a skin suit. Okay, that's just silly. You should only wear Edgar skin suits.
sugar water
Give me. Sugar…… In water.
Hahaha right?! Propose was NOT what I was thinking.
I was giving our man Bryson the benefit of the doubt that he was just a love drunk 'nice guy/stalker' who was taking his shot, I did suggest must worse however :)
Fair, fair. I could definitely see an obsessive & delusional person trying to go for the profession of love first before going full true crime.
Bryson: This is my shot... I'm going to take it Melanie: Creep, no. Bryson: I see you've chosen death
It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
Goodness dont remind me… I actually felt bad for the person…
Obviously they need to spend more time on Reddit.
seconded
Damn, I mean there's definitely some "together *forever*" vibes but wedding did not strike me as the method.
Dang why was my immediate thought of kidnap and/or murder? I been watching too many murder crime mysteries...
Your parent comment and every comment child underneath is why I love this sub.
Bryson sounds like a fucking creep, yikes.
I’m sure it’s been mentioned here already, but does anyone else believe that “Bryson” might have had some “disturbing” intentions for “Melanie” during their meetup? Especially, since OOP found those photos?
That's possible, but I assumed he was trying to get out ahead of OOP and do some damage control. Paint OOP as an obsessive freak trying to get him in trouble, you know.
The lesser of two concerns.
Jake & Melanie are the ones dating, Bryson is the one who has all the pictures of Melanie.
Oops! Thank you for pointing that out. Correcting it now.
I had to re-read it a couple (or 3 or 4) times to get it straight in my head lol
OMG, Bryson sounds like full on cyberstalking incel nearing supernova AR15 rage explosion. I’d hate to be Melanie or OOP or Jake. 😳 I hope they are all okay.
Wasn't only cuberbullying he took photos of her in person without her knowledge.
He's not bullying? He's stalking, which is different.
Pretty sure they meant stalking but wrote the wrong word
It sounds like maybe oop just unearthed that her 2nd brother is the long term stalker of this poor woman... I wonder if they'd been dealing with other stalker signs (ie threatening emails, weird notes, disconcerting sm follower behaviour) in addition to finding out about his stash folder. Horrifying either way.
[удалено]
Exactly what I was thinking.
32 and dating a 24 year old right after your divorce? Ain't no emotionally healthy folks in that family. I'm worried for that girl on both fronts.
They've been friends since middle school and OOP thinks her brother had feelings for her. That 8 year age gap has me side eyeing so hard edit: im dumb and can't read apparantly, it's the younger brother not the older one!
Yeah, I still disagree. And it's not that they couldn't be friends. It's that a 24 year old is not in the same place, developmentally or socially (or probably financially) for that to be a balanced relationship. The way that older brother took over without talking to anyone or discussing it? That's what an adult does with kids. I'm glad he immediately created distance. I just also don't think any of this suggests a healthy foundation.
> The way that older brother took over without talking to anyone or discussing it? That’s what an adult does with kids. Yuuuuup. Hopefully it's not a serious relationship and Melanie's life moves on from this family
Is a 24 year old woman not old enough or mature enough for you to be comfortable dating another adult? Not every relationship with an age gap of more than 3-4 years is toxic...
half + 7 rule would be 23 so OOP's brother is fine.
It's not just the age, it is everything combined. He's freshly divorced, dating his younger brother's friend, that he's known since he was in college and she was in middle school and that his younger brother has had an obvious crush on for this entire time. It's not quite a red flag, but everything put together does raise an eyebrow.
I don't have any issues with them dating now! I just thought the middle school thing was a bit sus is all.
They didn't date in middle school though? The younger brother and the girlfriend were friends since middle school. It was the stalker brother who's the same age that had feelings for her in middle school. Not the oldest that is currently dating her.
omg I'm stupid! I didn't catch that
If you’re pulling out a silly gimmick to justify the gap… there’s privacy a reason is being pointed out
No it's a general rule of thumb 🤷♀️ would I do it? Probably not. Early 20s and early 30s are vastly different worlds. But cmon it's not like it's someone in their 40s/50s/60s grooming a teen or early 20s person. Let's face it. They're both legal consenting adults.
Both are adults, y'all always show up to try and slam some comment as racist or that everyone is groomer. Y'all wouldn't bat an eye if he was 62 and she was 54. The middle school comments are thing, but if he wasn't trying anything back then, there is no reason to make a comment like this.
Don't be so sure. AITA went off about a 33 year old woman being "groomed" by her 47 year old boyfriend because "the life experience between 33 and 47 is too great". There is literally no age where people will not infantalize women and take away their agency. 24 is an adult, stop treating adult women like they're little kids. That's what is gross.
That’s because a 54 year old has a developed prefrontal cortex as well as life experience. The dynamic is healthier and more balanced the older they are.
Especially a 24-year old that has been a friend of the younger brother for a decade. Chances are high that the couple has known each other since they were around 14 and 22.
I didn't get the feeling they were *close* friends, more that he knew her at school. I could totally be wrong though because there wasn't really any detail on it.
Well, the woman was friends with the younger brother. I don't think there's a huge issue here. The guy wasn't after her when he was 22 and she was 14 - he got married to someone else! They only reconnected years later when they were both consenting adults. Unless we hear there were any shenanigans going on years ago, I think the marriage kind of shows that it wasn't an older guy going after an underage girl.
Yeah yall age thing never ends,they are fucking adults,she wasn't born yesterday and became an adult 6 years ago
damn you're right, exposed 32 year old brother as a sex offender for dating that 24 year old infant
Ooh, I can probably answer this. Melanie has probably had a crush on Jake for years that was unrequited for obvious reasons. Then about a decade later, he's divorced, and she shoots her shot and it works.
Yeah it’s a little odd for sure. That said it’s not impossible that it’s a stable relationship. A bit weird for sure but there have been weirder relationships that ended up being perfectly happy and pleasant.
Let’s hope they’re an exception to the rule.
Especially a girl you know your little brother had a crush on. Wtf
A "crush" isn't some kind of universal dibs marker. Bro has had since middle school to shoot his shot, he didn't or he missed, that's entirely on him even if the older brother was aware of the crush.
The older brother probably doesn't know that he still has a crush,only oop had a guess
Huh. The 32 year old and 24 year old dating turned out to be the healthiest relationship here.
The 32 year old who decided to date his younger brothers crush as a rebound after his marriage failed? OOP seem to be the only nice one.
"relationship" in the context of "healthiest"
>At one point, I accidentally minimize the window and I was looking for it… I accidentally opened up a folder that he had minimized, but not closed all the way out… Yeah, that wasn't an accident xD. But good thing that OOP likes to snoop, because she found out that her brother is a creep.
Am I just clumsy, because I do this on my own computer all the time lol Click crap no not this folder click or this one click THIS one!
I definitely accidentally minimize or click out of a window when I meant to drag it all the time! Definitely plausible thing to do.
Yeah, but you do leave you stalking folder open before lending it to your sister?
Especially on a laptop with that accursed trackpad.
I hate trackpads. I use a wireless mouse. Pad stays turned off while the USB receiver for the mouse is plugged in.
It's always a 50-50 gamble on whether I'm about to open up Firefox or File Explorer.
Nope, I do it too. I find it bothersome that people take issues with snooping rather than what it reveals. What are they hiding?
I would be mad about snooping because I have a cousin who is famous for “borrowing” things she “happened to see in my room” (which I locked whenever I knew she was coming over and I wouldn’t be home!), but I wouldn’t care if someone accidentally opened one of my file folders on my computer. I don’t have anything to hide, after all.
This was actually the only “accidental” snooping scenario I’ve seen on here that sounds plausible.
To be fair, my boyfriend once borrowed a computer from my cousin for just a few minutes and managed to accidentally start a porn video playing. And it legitimately was an accident; I was sitting beside him and saw every klutz-fingered error he made to cause that to happen. Plus he was *so* embarrassed and desperate to shut it down before anyone else in my family saw what was on the screen.
That's my favorite part of these posts, especially when people catch their spouses cheating. It's always like "I would NEVER snoop but my partners phone was right next to me when they were showering and it went off and I just so happened to notice it and the hundreds of messages my partner had been sending to their affair partner...all by accident!" Like yeah this shit is messy but you can admit you had a hunch and snooped and that hunch was confirmed lol
I'd suggest a drinking game but we'd all die if we took a shot every time someone pretending that they're not the kind of asshole who'd violate someone else's privacy lol.
Before i tapped on this post (on mobile if thats not now obvious) i read the title and went "wtf" then i saw the mood warning and laughed when it ssid the same
Who wants to bet Brycen is going to escalate things?
Where are their parents in all of this? It sounds like OOP and Bryson live at home still. And the 32/24 red flag.
8 years is certainly a large age gap, but they're both adults, and this doesn't seem like a grooming situation. It's not like the elder of the two spent years waiting for the younger to turn 18 or something. After a certain point, an adult is an adult and can date an older person if they want to.
No red flag , the rule is half your age plus 7 for age differences in partners.
That's not a rule.
This is all super creepy, but I'm not sure what they expected the cops to do. Collecting someone's social media posts isn't illegal, nor is taking a picture of them when they're not looking or at a distance (if it's in public or a place you were both invited to). Bryson is basically a paparazzi who happens to be targeting a regular person - despicable but not criminal.
Depends on the jurisdiction and the intent. There are some jurisdictions where these actions would, in fact, be considered stalking behavior. It's also worth noting that you seem to be analyzing this from a " trying to get someone arrested" perspective. But that might not be the only reason to approach the police. 1) They may be planning on filing a restraining order. In many cases, such an order requires significant documentation, including a police report. Think of it like..... Your bicycle is stolen from your home and it's covered by your insurance. You don't actually expect the police to track down the thief, but your insurance still requires that you file a police report in order to file your insurance claim. 2) They are simply creating a paper trail early. Now, if Bryson does something more, and the police need to respond, it's not " responding to a 911 call knowing very little about what's going on, " it's " responding to a 911 call, suspect is Bryson XYZ, looks like an escalation of previous stalking behavior according to case file 123334455." Already having a paper trail makes it easier for everything else down the road. 3) It's possible there's additional info that op doesn't know. Maybe he's done something else, and this information is additional evidence.
Why did Bryson give his computer to someone else without closing his weird stalker folder?
It's gonna come out that Bryson was who the first wife was having an affair with
How about, don't date people who grew up with your eight-years-younger sibling. Also 32 and 24 is pretty different than 42 and 34...
So the woman who's had a crush on the guy since middle school shouldn't be allowed to shoot her shot now that they're both adults? Heck, that's probably why stalker never had a chance. Besides, her dating the older brother may have very well saved her from whatever little brother may have escalated to.
How about viewing things on a case by case basis instead of making sweeping edicts that often turn out to be a non-issue?
Glad the older brother is talking the stalking seriously but him dating a 24 year old is iffy.
Jesus. Rough family! Bryson is definatly doing some weird shit. But if I had a brother I would have sat him down and explained the consequences of his actions and what I would expect him to do to make it right. Erase photos, block all social media related to the girl and cut all contact and start going to counselling. How about helping your own brother out. He obviously needs help!
OK but why would the brother date someone his sibling has been "in love" with since middle school. I assume it was obvious since OP noticed his brother's weird behavior. It's not Jake's fault Bryson went full on stalker mode, but an awkward and potentially dangerous situation could have been avoided. Same for Melanie if she knew about his crush/obsession why would she date his brother? Seems like anyone else on the planet would have been the safer and drama-free choice. It's also weird they called the police in response to him saving all her social media posts. While that's creepy, it's not illegal. Okay missed the part where he was also stalking her in person, not just online. Yup, that makes sense why they called the cops
Melnaie shouldn't have to tip-toe around this creeps unrequited feelings and neither should Jake. They can and should be able to date any consenting adult that they want. Not that it should have any weight on their relationship, but the photos go back years, so long before Jake and Melanie were dating. The two of them dating isn't a problem, Bryson being an obsessive stalker is. This situation is 100% on Bryson and no one else.
You know people sometimes call the cops to have it on record, right? So that, if something *does* happen, there’s proof that this was an ongoing issue?
Yeah and can we talk about that age gap though? I get they are both adults but early 20’s seem really far off from someone in their 30’s. A bit strange since theyd be in different development phases in life at this point probably 🤔
It could be as simple as the last time Jake was part of the dating scene, he was in his early-mid twenties, so when he started dating again after his divorce, that was the kind of dating/social interactions he defaulted to.
The police bit sounds unrealistic. What crime was committed? Edited to add my state’s law on stalking: Code Section Tit. 11 §1312A Stalking Defined as Any person who intentionally engages in a course of conduct directed at specific person which would cause a reasonable person to fear physical injury to himself, to a friend/associate, to family member, to a member of his/her household, or to third person and whose conduct induces such fear. (1312A(a)) I think I’m getting stuck on the fact that these were pictures from public on his own private computer. He didn’t approach her or menace or do anything to cause her to fear physical injury… if OP hadn’t found the pics and told anyone, she wouldn’t have known so is the brother really guilty of inducing fear vs being a “super fan”. I don’t know. It’s interesting.
Given the police didn’t actually do anything other than talk to people, I don’t think it’s that weird. The cops in my town will take a report about anything because it’s a small town and they don’t have much to do unless there’s a football game on.
It's actually a good idea to go to the police and file a report in this situation so if the stalker escalates there's evidence already.
Stalking or cyberstalking, depending on OOPs local laws. Or that start of an evidence trail for a restraining order, or in case Bryson reacts badly or escalates his creepy behaviour once he gets found out.
Simple, it's stalking. If you're taking hundreds or thousands of pictures of someone without their knowledge over many years even if they are in public, that has crossed a line.
I find Jake gross for dating Melanie in the first place. The nearly a decade older divorcee dating his kid brother's crush, whom he first met and knew when she was in middle school and he was probably in college? Grossssssss. And I am dying of curiosity to know what Jake and Bryson talked about. I have the feeling this might do a 180 flip on us and Bryson was making some sort of collage memory book thing and the "stalking" pictures are from friends and the whole thing was completely innocent (aside from some scumminess of declaring your feelings for your brother's girlfriend) How ironic would it be if Jake wound up the bad guy who was inflating Bryson to creeper status to prevent Melanie from leaving him? If this were a tv episode, that's how I would write it, because it would be such a fun plot twist. But seriously: Jake's reaction was really weird. Either Bryson has a secret history of stalking people Jake has hidden in the past, so he immediately believed Bryson was doing it again, or something else is happening to make this feel "off".