EPISODE 3: VIRAL AND VENGEFUL/ Mooooving ON..

Have you ever seen a video about someone embarrassing themselves online?
Maybe someone you knew — a neighbour, a classmate — going batshit crazy?

Well, I have.

And there’s always that one thought in your head: was it justified??

Whoever invented the internet — fuuuck you and your Wi-Fi router to infinity.….

Actually, I take that back. I just streamed all seasons of Vampire diaries for the sixth time. Internet, we’re good. For now.

Speaking of heartbreak — what did they do to my boy Stefan? Not only did they rob him of the girl but he died. I get it. Damon; tall, those blue eyes evil and handsome aside. What was Elena thinking…? Actually...I get it.

Still, it’s not fun being Leah Harper lately.

People at cafes would whisper, “That’s her,” when I entered. The barista would write “Stay Strong Queen” on my latte.

Oh. My. Fucking. Dragon.
Give me a break.

I started making my own coffee.

After three weeks of avoiding eye contact with humanity and doing my best to ran down the honeymoon suite tab that Ethan was paying for. Sweet, petty revenge.

But I have to be honest, life wasn’t life-ing.

Clara and Ethan still looked happy and in love. Posting brunch selfies and making an apology video, the bastards. The algorithm truly has no shame.

I soundtracked my heartbreak/self-pity with Taylor Swift. My girl knows what she’s singing about.

“…I knew you were trouble when you walked in…..Ah ahhhhaa trouble! Trouble! Trouble!....”

Some bit of Ed Sheeran:

“..Don’t fuck with my love, that heart is so cold , all over my own. I don’t wanna know that baby….ala um lala.”

I mean if Ed Sheeran can get heartbroken how could I possibly be immune?

Other than VD, I also rewatched some of my favourite sitcoms, trying to find some laughter in life. One of them was How I Met Your Mother.

Yeah, okay, get all your frustrations about the ending.

Done??

While watching, a few things stood out. This show is too Goated. Ah, I‘ve become one of THOSE people, trying too hard to prove I’m young with Gen Z lingo.

This is the real trauma.

I’m just 33, Fuck it, I’m still young. Right? Right?

Anyway, my focus in on Episode 5 and 6 of season 4. After Stella, left Ted with a note, considerate move honestly but what I found interesting was how Ted delt with it.

At first, he pretended he was fine, then avoided her and finally decided to confront her with great words mind you but eventually did not.

And it just hit me— what should I do now that I’m in a similar situation?
Should I just erupt on them? Like full on fucking destroy them with all the curse words I was saving for my high school bully.

It’s funny, I wasn’t one to play the victim but what did I do that was so wrong? People fall out of love everyday, it happens okay. But why did they have to waste my time huh? If we’d just talked about this before I bent over backward to plan the wedding. I can’t even.

Well, I did eventually see them but then again, I am getting ahead of myself.

Before all that I had a bit of a problem online. I read a comment. 

I know, stupid.

This fucking bitch @timeless love45 made me mad.

“@Leahharperplanner, you should just let your sister be happy and stop being a bitch.”

I should have known; it was rage bait but you have to remember she called me a bitch. Me. I swear I wasn’t going to engage but I had to, right?

“Dear timeless love MOTHERFUCKER, shut the fuck up and go find something better to do than obsessing over me. You walking forehead.”

Just being as kind and clear as I could.

But she replied.

“Hello there you dragon bride, shut the fuck up slut and stop being a witch.”

And that - that was the moment I lost it. Looking back now, I’m sort of ashamed of what I said and do apologize if it triggered anyone. I won’t even go to the details of what was spoken, who said what and all that.

Some words like ‘cunt’ were being thrown over but that’s neither here or there.

My notification became a war zone with everyone against me. Can you believe this bitch posted our private messages and accused ME of cyberbullying HER. Like what the fuck. 

And no one wanted to hear my side of things either.

I wasn’t Leah anymore.

I was the Dragon Bride. Literally.

There are pictures of myself photoshopped breathing fire. I actually look badass but that’s not the point.

My meltdown was their entertainment.

My pain was their content.

And yet….I couldn’t look away.

I watched, read, opened bot accounts to balance out the comments.

Counting how many likes and followers some of them got, I was regretting why I didn’t listen to Maya and start a podcast. Look at the Hawk tuah girl, she’s making bank….

That night, I finally closed my laptop since morning and it hit me;

That silence? Was fucking louder than anything. Unbearable

And for some weird reason I started to cry. Full on ugly cry. And I couldn’t stop.

You ever notice how silence after a scandal feels louder than the scandal itself?
The pings stop. The hashtags fade. People move on to a new villain of the week, and you’re left alone with the echoes of your own stupid decisions.

That was me, three weeks after my last viral outburst — a.k.a. “Dragon Bride.”
well, this wasn’t one of those times because the internet did not stop.

I was scrolling one night, half out of habit, half out of masochism. My DMs were a graveyard of strangers asking for “updates” or pitching podcast collabs. I think Maya was one of them. Some woman wanted me to endorse her “Heartbreak-to-Healing” candles.

I wanted to tell her to shove them up her scented ass.

Instead, I just typed, “No thanks.”
Growth, right?

Still, I couldn’t sleep. My brain was a rerun of everything—Ethan, Clara, Mom, Maya, the talisman, the dragon. I swear it just kept chuckling harder every time my phone buzzed.

At 2.a.m., I finally got out of the hotel room, grabbed my keys and drove. I had no destination in mind but eventually I found myself outside Grandma’s home. The porchlight was not lit, obviously I was the one who did that, but it looked so empty.

I didn’t go in but staring from the car, I remembered something else Grandma used to say.

“The talisman doesn’t stop bad things from happening, Leah. It reminds us that we’re still standing, grounding us in the now.”

Didn’t I say grandma was wise?

She had this way of saying things that sounded simple but stuck in your brain like gum on a shoe. Back then, I thought it was just some old-country superstition. But sitting there in my car, I realized — maybe it was never about dragons or curses.

Maybe it never truly was about being yourself when everything else burns down.

Because that’s what the internet does, doesn’t it? It burns you alive one click at a time, until there’s nothing left but smoke and hashtags. And yet somehow, you’re still breathing. Still here.

I think that’s what Grandma meant. The talisman doesn’t protect you from pain — it just proves you can survive it.

I sat there, staring at that dark house, whispering to no one in particular,
“I’m still standing, Grandma. Barely. But I am.”

When I finally drove off, I caught a glimpse of the rear-view mirror — the talisman hanging there, gently like it was nodding. I might have imagined it but it looked like the dragon was smiling.

And for the first time in weeks, I didn’t check my phone the next morning.

Didn’t scroll. Didn’t care. I was done with that.

I guess that’s why they call it MOVING ON.