When I learned that my sweet grandpa being a soldier in the fascist army in ww2 wasn't the most fucked up bit of our family history, I kind of started wondering if I want to explore it any further.

"So tell me about our family tree! What's our herritage? How far back does this family go???"

"Son......your last name is Hitler. I'm sure you figured it out by now."

"........wait, we're THAT Hitler family???"

"I see you've mastered the art of mental denial."

Worst part is finding out that someone who was hated didnt deserve any of it and they were right all along.

My mom got into making a family tree, and the most interesting thing she found was that the grandfather of my father's half sister (no blood relation) was executed for the murder of his wife. The wife was the owner of a brothel, and he shot her in the face with a shotgun for some reason.

He was also the last person to be executed in that prison before capital punishment was removed.

My parents were part of an officially recognized "hidden cult" that was technically religious in roots but too decentralized for it to matter.

They are both highschool language arts teachers btw.

(Once you learn the politics and other context it stops sounding as bad thankfully)

One of my classmates in secondary was related to john wilkes booth, Lincoln's assasin

It can be good or bad.

My family has a history of suicide, for instance.

But my sister gifted me an archive of family pictures and papers, and I found a love letter my grandfather wrote to my grandmother from his deployment during WWII, and that was kinda cool.

My Grandfather was rather consistent and adamant about how he broke ties with his parents at 17. Pretty much up until his last days he said almost nothing about them, and even my parents hadn't met them. What he did share wasn't at all nice to hear.

After his passing my aunt (his daughter) dug up everything she could. None of it was good news. Interesting, but maybe that kind of information is better off left in the past.

My point here is that if your family doesn't have heirlooms, keepsakes, and great stories about great people, there's probably a reason that isn't being passed down.

I had an old friend in high school whose ancestors fought on opposite sides of the Civil War. His dad was a big civil war buff, as a result, and even had a shelf decorated in the living room with one half Confederate and the other half Union, and all the old portraits and memorabilia that survived decorating the respective sides. Even had a little picture of Jefferson and Lincoln at the top.

Absent the deeper historical context, it was very cute. Did not bother to ask how many slaves his family had owned.

Very timely considering I finally decided to look up what happened to the Uchiha Clan the other day. Surprisingly masterful storytelling and almost resparked my interest for the entire show.

But also, I don't know if I can recommit to watching Naruto filler again at the age of 33 lmao (can't believe it's been 20 years since it aired...)

Pure altruism hasn’t been a meta strategy since we lived in groups of 100.

My dark family lore on one side is that my grandma and grandpa were distant aunt and nephew. And that all the males on the other side of my family lead a secret double life that's not so secret. No cover-up murders, just sweet ol' Alabama & rampant womanizing. 🤷‍♂️

I was told very early in life that my father was an attempted murderer. As time went on, I began to suspect it was more than an attempt. He served his entire 20 year sentence and when he tried to contact us after release. I was denied the opportunity to speak to him. Learned much later afterwards that he remarried, had another family and died without incident st the ripe old age of 77.