Reviewing a Hat Trick of Animated Stories with Manipulative Mothers-In-Law

So recently, I've been watching these animated stories on YouTube. Some of you know what I'm talking about. Basically it's similar to the "AITA" (Am I the A-Hole) stories that have been popping up on Reddit for the last several years, and it's also similar to those text stories that have been all over YouTube since the height of the COVID pandemic. The stories are told by animated characters, it's fiction stories (no way in hell are these real life stories, but they may be based on some incidents), and they've been popping up on YouTube in the last year or so.

A lot of these stories have the same different groups. A lot of them deal with some depraved relative dismissing a person's illness/allergy. Quite a few deal with toxic parents displaying blatant favoritism. Others deal with a pregnant woman being prodded by someone (usually her parents) into giving their child to her sister or cousin who can't have kids. There are many types, but what I want to discuss is the stories featuring the meddlesome and antagonistic mother-in-law. One of the many things I can't help but love in these vids is the expressions, and one thing that gets to me is how these conniving MIL's suddenly look all sad and "poor me" when they don't get their way. That expression is the epitome of manipulation, and it comes when they ask "How could you?" or "You're choosing this person over your own mother?"

There are three instances that really stand out the most with me, and they are as follows:

Released by Vivid Tales on April 7, 2025, "My MIL Crashed Our Honeymoon, Then Demanded We Change Destinations to Include Her" centered on newlywed couple Dakota (OP) and James, who were planning their honeymoon, only to deal with the constant meddling of James' mother, Patricia. Patricia attempted to talk James out of a trip to the Maldives, claiming James had seasickness, only for James to claim that he was only seasick once at age 12. As James and Dakota are about to board, they hear a familiar voice: Patricia. Mommy-in-law dearest is set to go with them, and she changes their entire plans.

The moment in question comes after Dakota calls her friend, Maya, about her MIL's intrusion. Patricia appears and announces more changes, but James said that he and Dakota wanted to be alone. Patricia tells a tale about how she was with James as he suffered from pneumonia, and then she turns all glum and says, "I guess I'm not needed anymore." Oh boy. Patricia continues to invade their plans, and the story sees Dakota learn that Patricia's tales of James' illnesses are all lies. Those aren't the only lies she told. Patricia sabotaged James' education aspirations and his earlier relationships just to keep him under her thumb, and when it's exposed, Patricia showed her true colors and threatened to make James "regret" choosing Dakota over her.

Patricia's fate: she was forced to return home, and she ended up divorced, as Tom (James' father) called Dakota and informed her that he was filing for divorce, saying that the honeymoon incident was the last straw. Patricia does attempt an "apology" filled with more manipulated memories, but that gets shut down.

Released by MES Middle Eastern Stories on February 26, 2025, "My MIL Kicked Me Out of the Apartment Because She Didn't Have a Copy of My House Key" features Mary as the OP, as she's married to Matt but has to deal with a constant hindrance in the form of Linda, Matt's mother. Linda's central obsession is wanting a spare key to their house. She cries when she's slightly turned down, but she didn't give up. Matt's considering doing it, but Mary stands her ground and later stands up to Linda during another unannounced visit. However, Mary returns from work to find her things at her door, and Linda preventing Mary from entering because Mary "didn't understand family values."

Matt appears and is told what happened by Mary, and Matt has this flushed look. He does tell Linda that locking Mary out was wrong, but then says, "Mary, if we just gave her a key...," and that stunned Mary. Despite the fact that Linda broke into the house and locked Mary out, Matt had the nerve to suggest that none of this would have happened if they had just given Linda a key. Mary lets Matt have it, and rightfully so, before leaving with her BFF, Jess. The two women decided to covertly plan to expose Linda's true colors, which begins with Mary being allowed to return to the house to pick up the rest of her things, only to place a hidden camera to catch Linda, who does have a spare key. The pair see Linda breaking in and messing with Mary's jewelry and other things, and they confront Linda, who has the nerve to act indignant.

A family gathering takes place, and it sees Mary play the video evidence of Linda's actions. Linda accuses Mary of setting her up, but all of the relatives, including Sarah (Matt's sister) call out Linda for her actions. Even Matt lashed out at Linda for sabotaging his marriage, and then he apologizes, but Mary tells Matt to save it, because Matt always let Linda pull shit like this, and this was the last straw. As for the moment in question, after Linda's caught, that's when the nearly tearful look comes. "Everything I did is for family," Linda claims in a desperate attempt for sympathy. Sarah says that her mother's actions were all about control.

Linda's fate: she ends up shunned by her bridge club, the same group who Linda told that she was "protecting her son from that awful wife." Sarah and Tom (Sarah's husband) cut ties with her, her church friends ditched her, but she did get one thing she wanted: Matt. Matt ended up moving in with Linda, claiming that he "needed to help her through this difficult time." As Mary's narration put it, Matt couldn't face living alone in the same apartment filled with memories of his failure to stand up for Mary.

Last but not least, there's "In-Laws Showed Up At Our Honeymoon Resort 'By Surprise' & Demanded to Stay in Our Room!," which was released by AniSaga on January 19, 2025. A newlywed couple, Emma and Cody (the latter half being the OP) were set to go on their honeymoon, only to be surprised by the appearance of Emma's parents, Diana and Robert, who join in by "happenstance." Now while both parents-in-law are quite meddling, it's clear that the main antagonist of this whole thing is Diana, who tells a tale about a lost reservation, but reveals that she snooped in on Emma's socials to find out where she and Cody were going.

Now, in this, we get two instances of Diana bringing out the crocodile tears. The first comes as Cody stated that he and Emma chose their resort for privacy on their honeymoon. That's where the self-serving indignation and manipulation comes in. "Privacy? From your own mother?" Diana asks, and then she adds, "Emma, honey, do you hear how he's treating me? After everything we've done for you?" That line has stayed with me for days. All Cody said that this was their honeymoon, and they wanted to be alone, yet Diana's acting like Cody's threatening her and is begging Emma to speak up for her. Emma suggests another resort, but Diana claims there isn't one, and accuses Emma of "turning them away."

Cody later finds out from James (Emma's brother) that there was no mix-up, and his parents had been planning this for a week. With James present, Cody and Emma expose everything, and it's after Emma calls out her mother's lack of boundaries that Diana turns on the faux-waterworks again. "I do these things because I love you," Diana says, before turning manipulative yet again with, "You're my only daughter. How can you be so cruel to me? After all of the sacrifices?" Emma has had it, and she lets out years of frustration over her mother's manipulation and need for control, which actually angers Diana before Emma tells Diana to leave. Diana lashes out at Emma for "choosing Cody over her own mother," but Robert urges his wife to leave, with Emma telling Diana that she's choosing herself and her marriage, and warns her mother that their relationship may become less close if Diana can't respect her wishes.

Diana's fate: she attempted to spin the story in her favor, but it failed. Her real estate business took a hit due to her crazy actions, and regarding Robert, he's in therapy dealing with all of the years he spent enabling his wife's behavior. Diana attempted to guilt trip Emma some more, but she wasn't having it, and she ended up in therapy as well--solely as a last resort.

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I had to write about this, because I've been watching these animated videos for a good bit now. These three women in the stories aren't truly evil villainesses, but they're close. Patricia loved controlling and manipulating James. Linda was all about control and getting what she wanted. Diana took the cake, though. Out of all of the "poor me," crocodile tear, manipulating expressions mentioned here, I loved Diana's the best, because I think there actually is a sliver of reality there. I think Diana does love Emma, but she weaponizes it. Whatever real maternal love Diana has for Emma is used to manipulate Emma and to talk her husband into joining her in her nutty actions.

These videos are really something and they are all over YouTube. Check them out by searching those three titles I mentioned; I think you'll get a kick out of them.