Jeffrey dahmer polaroid pictures he took

The Science of Deduction

2013.01.11 00:34 neowu The Science of Deduction

A place to practice your Sherlock like observation
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2023.05.29 15:00 stonescoldtakes NFL Update: 05/22/2023 - 05/28/2023 - OTAs are Back!!!

Layout:
— Individual Team News + Stone’s Cold Takes
— Miscellaneous/Other NFL News
— Restaurant of the Week - Washington D.C.
Arizona Cardinals:
After some decent news the last couple weeks for this organization there wasn’t really anything great from this week besides maybe the fact that if WR DeAndre Hopkins was a distraction to the team he now no longer is one. It will be interesting to see how things play out this year.
Atlanta Falcons:
It sounds like the situation with Keith Smith should get resolved rather quickly and was more of a misunderstanding than anything else. It will be fun for this young team to have joint practices with Miami and it will be a good way for their defense to get an initial test from an elite offense. I am sure the Dolphins won’t reveal all of their tricks but either way they will have to worry about guarding an elite offense with elite playmakers.
Baltimore Ravens:
It is crazy to think about how just about a month ago the news around the Ravens was all negative and that it seemed like the relationship with Lamar was fractured. Now here we are and Lamar seems about as happy as can be and is excited about the offense that is being installed under new OC Todd Monken. It will be exciting for him as well to have WR Rashod Bateman back who I still think can be a key playmaker on the team. It appears the Ravens could be set for big things even in a tough division.
Buffalo Bills:
Great to see the that S Damar Hamlin was back out practicing. I know it has been some time since his collapse on the field but it still feels like yesterday that I was watching that game in complete shock at what I had witnessed and worry for him and his family. WR Stefon Diggs being absent at OTAs is not a big deal to me. QB Josh Allen has a lot of other guys he needs to get familiar and work in with anyways and a lot of star players don’t attend OTAs to either get rest/recovery or to do their own workouts with their private coaches. I imagine he and Kincaid will be deadly this year and who knows they may even have WR DeAndre Hopkins joining them as the Bills were one of two teams that inquired and had talks about a trade for him.
Carolina Panthers:
Not too much news here other than what we saw and heard from OTAs about Bryce Young getting to take most of the 1st team reps. It appears that he looked good and his teammates were saying great things about him. It is tough to judge any quarterback though in the offseason because no matter what folks always say their young or new quarterback is looking amazing and things are progressing nicely. I will say though I have heard the most good things coming out from camps about him and Anthony Richardson of the Colts.
Chicago Bears:
Good news for Chicago fans who are excited for their move. It seems that things are proceeding nicely with the process of moving to a new stadium. Also, great to hear that Chase Claypool may be able to make more of a difference this year. It would be hard to be less effective than what he was last year for this team. I still believe he can be a major impact player like many expected him to be when he entered the league. It will be key for him to become Fields’ go to receiver over some of the other talent they have on the team.
Cincinnati Bengals:
This team has a lot to do in terms of contracts that they need to get figured out. The team view Tee Higgins in very high regard and so does Joe Burrow as they should. They also really want to get Logan Wilson signed. However, what will come out to being the biggest of the contracts they do this offseason is that of Joe Burrow. What will continue to make things tough here is the longer it takes for Justin Hebert to get his deal done because Burrow will likely be the last of the 4 quarterbacks to sign his because it is presumed he will get the most money and has an agent who like to wait til the last minute.
Cleveland Browns:
All good news for Browns fans so far. The team is looking good and their appears to be a lot of good vibes coming out of practice. WR DeAndre Hopkins is even considering coming to Cleveland for the chance to play with his old QB. Also, WR Elijah Moore is looking crisp and at least for the moment it appears he is much happier. It will all depend on if he actually gets the ball thrown to him during the season though.
Dallas Cowboys:
Not too much news here which is good for this franchise because they are almost always the center of attention. The main thing I took away from this week was just that things seems to be going well with McCarthy and Dak working together on the offense but that there have been some growing pains at least initially getting used to new systems as expected.
Denver Broncos:
It appeared to shock just about everyone when the news broke about K Brandon McManus getting released because he had become a fan favorite over the years in Denver. QB Russell Wilson has lost a lot of weight and it is evident just from seeing him this offseason. I didn’t think his weight was the issue hindering him last year but hopefully he can feel he is playing at a healthier weight. What I think most Denver fans were excited to see was RB Javonte Williams back on the practice field. He is going to end up being the real difference maker this year and whether this team competes with the top of the AFC or not will largely depend on him making the rest of the offense’s life easy or not.
Detroit Lions:
A lot of news here. Let’s start with the bad news. It appears that they may be having more penalties come down on their team/players due to the league’s gambling policy as their is an ongoing investigation into a 5th player from the team. Also, David Montgomery and Malcolm Rodriguez left the field with injuries. It is still early though and they appear to be minor injuries so hopefully it won’t affect them in the long term. Now some good news. It sounds like WR Jameson Williams is progressing nicely and the team got a new kicker in Riley Patterson from the Jaguars who should help the improve there. Lastly and maybe the biggest news is that Calvin “Megatron” Johnson was at OTAs hanging out with coaches and players. Many are hoping those good vibes carry over into the season.
Green Bay Packers:
Exciting news that Green Bay will get the draft in 2025! I was thinking they would try and stick to more southern states but they clearly are willing to go North with Detroit and now Green Bay being the hosts of the next two. HC Matt LaFleur appears to be being honest with everything and trying to temper expectations a bit with Jordan Love taking over. This could be to help take pressure off of Love and also just be the flat out truth that with any young quarterback it is going to take some time.
Houston Texans:
I am not surprised about DeMeco Ryans hesitancy about pursuing Jadeveon Clowney. First of all he just may not want to reveal his cards to others in the league about what he is thinking. The other thing is that he is one that likes for his defense to have an identity and a really good work ethic. I am not saying that Clowney can’t fit that mold but it just makes the selection process for what Ryans wants on defense that much more thorough. The other news that surprised some but something I mentioned a couple of weeks ago is that QB Davis Mills will compete with Stroud for the starting job and is viewed as a desirable QB to other teams around the league. I know his stats haven’t been the best but I am not sure any of the young quarterbacks would have done well with what the Texans organization has been the last couple years. At the end of the day CJ Stroud will end up being the team’s starter due to draft status and probably will be the more talented, better option.
Indianapolis Colts:
Overall things seems to be good for the organization. The main thing we are all waiting on is when Shaq Leonard will be able to get back out there and start practicing. It makes sense not to have him practicing now since things are optional anyways. The hype has been there for QB Anthony Richardson thus far and it appears he may be closer to starting right away than a lot of people thought.
Jacksonville Jaguars:
Not too much news out of Jacksonville other than the change at the kicker position. Things got busy and they were able to trade K Riley Patterson to the Lions rather than release like the reports had said prior. Then they went out and got a proven veteran in K Brandon McManus who had just been released from the Broncos squad. This team is going to be interesting this year and will go as far QB Trevor Lawrence can take them. Does not hurt to have the veteran kicker for the big moments that could be coming for this organization.
Kansas City Chiefs:
HC Andy Reid who normally is pretty quiet and doesn’t get too involved was in front of the media a lot this week it felt like. First, he is not a fan of the new kickoff rule and it appears most coaches are not. Second, he talked about how the team will not be using a FB because they are being phased out of the NFL and he feels that the TEs they have on the team can play the role when needed. Overall it seems things are going well for the Chiefs and things could be a going a lot better here soon as they appear to be a top option for WR DeAndre Hopkins and one the few teams that had trade talks before he was released.
Las Vegas Raiders:
It appears there is never a dull week with the Raiders. The news this week about Jimmy seem to add context potentially to what Davante Adams’ comments were about recently. With Tom Brady recently joining the ownership group here it makes us all wonder if the injury is not cleared up is there a way for him to un-retire once again…only time will tell.
Los Angeles Chargers:
Big news here getting the deal done with Austin Ekeler even if it still only keeps him around for 1 year. Thankfully now he should be semi-happy for that one year before he can go out and chase a big contract if he wants to.
Los Angeles Rams:
Not much news here really. Sounds like Matthew Stafford has taken Stetson Bennett under his wing and started to work with him and help him learn more about the transition to the NFL compared to college.
Miami Dolphins:
I loved seeing Tua wearing the helmet cam. I had not thought about it before but it should be great for him to be able to show McDaniel exactly what he is/was seeing out on the field to add context and allow McDaniel to better coach him and understand what is going on. I think this should be something all quarterbacks do and especially the top ones because it could gives coaches that much more information and a better understanding of how to help young quarterbacks in the future.
Minnesota Vikings:
All signs appear to be pointing towards RB Dalvin Cook getting released. In other news it will be good for the defense to develop the aggressive mindset that Brian Flores wants and should bring in the attitude from Miami that wad established during his time there that was so effective and led to them winning games.
New England Patriots:
The Patriots seems to always be up to something. It sounds like they were penalized the 2 days of OTAs and fined because of a meeting that Joe Judge held that lasted more than the permitted amount of time. Other tough news came when Raekwon McMillan got injured.
New Orleans Saints:
What a story. TE Foster Moreau finds out he has cancer in a physical with the team a couple months and gets ahead of things and is now practicing with them at OTAs. Interesting story here about former HC Jon Gruden working with the team because during his time with the Raiders many said that he and Carr did not get along. This team has a big opportunity to take over the NFC South and is probably the bet setup to do it with the team they have.
New York Giants:
It seems that everything is going great except the Saquon Barkley situation. There isn’t much new insight into it either after HC Daboll refused to speak on anything contract related. In good news it seems like TE Darren Waller is really enjoying being with the team and working with QB Daniel Jones. This is a team to me that is going to play inspired football like they did last year no matter what is going on because their HC.
New York Jets:
I imagine Jets fans held their breath when they saw Aaron Rodgers get injured as well as Allen Lazard. The good news is that those are not going to be issues in the long run. However, it reminded us all that QB Aaron Rodgers is not a young guy anymore and there is always the possibility that he like any other player in the NFL can get hurt. Hopefully the deal with Quinnen Williams can get done sooner rather than later. I am looking forward to the joint practices with the Bucs because they have a solid defense and it will be fun to hear how they fare in the early phases of implementing a lot of things from both Nathaniel Hackett and Aaron Rodgers.
Philadelphia Eagles:
Jordan Davis is going to be a key piece for the team this year in my opinion so it is great to hear he has made major strides. He is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to his sheer size and the more he can be weaponized the better.
Pittsburgh Steelers:
Great move to get Markus Golden. He can be dangerous in this defense and is only one season removed from a double digit sack year. Also, good to see that Robinson and Pickett appear to be getting along. I am curious to see who shakes out to be the #1 receiver on this team but have a feeling it will end up being Pickens because of how good he was last year and the chemistry he and Pickett already have. A QB likes it when his receiver makes life easier and bails him out. Pickens has already done that on multiple occasions for him.
San Francisco 49ers:
It is official the 49ers will host the 2026 Super Bowl! After speculations and rumors it finally became official this past week. Also, there was a lot of good QB news this week with all 3 of the QBs on the roster. Sounds like Brock Purdy is healing properly and as expected, Trey Lance is looking really good in OTAs along with Sam Darnold. Once again this offseason no one is sure who will be starting for the team come week 1.
Seattle Seahawks:
Good news for Seahawks fan that Tariq Woolen will be back around training camp time after his procedure. Other than that there was not much news here. They got a solid rotational/depth player in Artie Burns though.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
Great to see that Tampa has joint practices with the Jets. They have a tough defense and it will be good for Baker and the offense to get some work against that defense early on. The Bucs have some great weapons on the offensive side of the ball to really compete with those top defenses and if they can all stay healthy this team could be a dark horse team to watch. Overall this should be a good all around team.
Tennessee Titans:
Interesting to see that S Kevin Byard was not at OTAs after earlier this offseason it was rumored he was asked to take a pay cut. Definitely a situation to watch. The main news that came from OTAs is that QB Will Levis appears to be looking good and some folks think he could be putting pressure on Tannehill early on and moving himself up the depth chart.
Washington Commanders:
Feels like a lot happened with the Commanders. First off, I think QB Sam Howell is in a great spot to learn and develop this year with mentors like Jacoby Brissett and then his OC Eric Bieniemy. They will hold him accountable like has already been happening and help bring out the best in him. Now it definitely is an organization surrounded by distractions. First off the trademark application for the team’s name was denied and they hope to get something figured out but could lead to another name change. Also, the team is still working through the Josh Harris bid and there need to be some adjustments in order for it to get accepted by the other NFL Owners and the league. These distractions even though they may not always be good for the team they probably do help a young quarterback because he is not the only thing to talk about at this point in the offseason.
Miscellaneous/Other NFL News:
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Restaurant of the Week: (Washington D.C. - TACOS 5 DE MAYO)
Don’t really have a great picture of this place but that may be a good thing. Often times I find that the places least advertised and that are holes in the wall is typically where you get the best Mexican food. This place is about a 10 minute drive from the stadium and probably closer to 15-20 minutes on game days depending on the time you go. Personally I recommend the Tacos Al Pastor. Those are basically a marinated pork taco that is slightly spicy with some sweet pineapple flavor in it. You cannot go wrong with Tacos Al Pastor and are by far my favorite. The other thing to keep an eye on is the Pupusas. While Pupusas are from El Salvador this place actually does a pretty dang good job of making them. For those that don’t know what Pupusas are they kind of resemble a stuffed pancake but are made of corn in most cases stuffed with either just cheese, cheese and beans, or cheese and pork. My order here would be 3 tacos al pastor and a cheese and bean pupusa. Enjoy!
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2023.05.29 14:39 fvdly_tyler The man at target

I feel bad for the dude in this picture.
Imagine you're in target with your family buying a doll for your daughter and you smell something funky. You're not sure where it's coming from, but then you hear someone breathing very loudly from their mouth.
You look behind you, and see a fat sweaty smelly 20 something year old sporting an unshaved neckbeard, wearing a fedora and a silk screen shirt. He's holding a smart phone covered in Rick And Morty stickers, you realise that he just took a photo of you and your family. he opens his mouth to reveal foul yellow teeth and he bellows out the words "HA FACEPALM MOMENT!!!!"
submitted by fvdly_tyler to copypasta [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 14:38 REALCellWaters Emails, Dr. Garrett, Dr. Coplan, May 2017, Duping

Duping
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My Email:
Thu, May 11, 2017, 7:26 PM
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I just took 12 mg of Invega for the “delusions”. I’m taking it BECAUSE I’m a sexual abuse victim. And no one validates it. They tell me I’m “crazy”. It’s frustrating!
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When I mentioned on Facebook that I increased my medication, my Dad said: “Proud of you, very proud of you. Love you”
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On the surface that looks nice, but I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. It’s very insincere.
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It’s more what he doesn’t say than what he does. It’s really him taunting me
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They say, trust your intuition about someone.
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He’s trying to paint a phony picture of himself as an involved Father. And me as a “crazy” son.
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He thinks he duping everyone – such as doctors (like you).
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And the people he isn’t duping, don’t care enough to help. They turn a blind eye.
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He doesn’t love me. In fact, he doesn’t even view me as a son. I’m just a pawn in his sick game.
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He was using me to hurt my Mom, and he gets sexual pleasure from my mental suffering.
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He only stays in my life for his own sick amusement.
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Maybe I need to give the medicine time to numb my mind, so I can run from the truth.
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Dr. Garrett said:
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Fri, May 12, 2017, 8:56 AM
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Andrew
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I do not want to be in the position of arguing with any authority about what did or didn't happen to you. There is third party consensus that you were bullied. So far, you have not been able to point to any corroborated evidence that you were sexually abused. You have a strong feeling that you were sexually abused, but this feeling rises and falls, like the tide. Facts do rise and fall, but feelings certainly do. Your feeling at times that your mother was involved in sexually abusing you years ago, and that she persists in a cover-up, is contrary to your own deepest feelings about your mother.
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We will continue our work next Wed. In the meantime I want to direct your attention to one aspect of the way your mind works when you are gripped by strong emotions. In your email you say,
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It’s more what he doesn’t say than what he does. It’s really him taunting me.
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It seems to me that you are saying that the LESS evidence there is for something (what he doesn't say) the MORE you believe it to be true. You feel taunted by uncertainty to even greater certainty on your part. Uncertainty might be expected to lead to doubt, but in your mind it leads to the opposite - conviction. If I have the implication of your email right, you are saying that you mind is governed to a large degree by what you feel to be true rather an what can be objectively demonstrated to be true. This would not surprise me. The bullying has left an imprint on your mind with such a burden of painful memories and feelings to express, that emotions have taken charge.
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Much is known in psychiatry and psychology about this way of emotional thinking. We will continue to discuss.
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Dr G
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Dr. Coplan said:
May 12, 2017, 11:02 AM
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I think it's sincere Andrew.
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2023.05.29 14:34 JackeyDanger Small White Specs in Dog Poop

Species: Dog
Age: 11 months
Sex/Neuter status: M/Neutered
Breed: Corgi
Body weight: 25lbs
History: Sensitive stomach
Duration: A few days
Your general location: Eastern US
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My poor little guy has an upset tummy every 3-4 weeks for one reason or another it seems. He had an upset stomach about 3 days, ago and it has gotten progressively better until today. We decided to try plain white rice and boiled chicken. This morning there was small white specs in his stool (pic below), I'm thinking it's the rice, but would love confirmation. We have an appointment for him this week, but want to know if I should rush him to the ER.
https://imgur.com/a/zaLQRxu
Please ignore that red things that blew onto his poop before I took the picture.
Thank you.
submitted by JackeyDanger to AskVet [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 14:23 TheChumscrubber123 5.28.23 - Soul Sorrow & Longing (& 5.27.23 - brother's stream)

Yesterday (5.27.23), your brother streamed and I dropped in to chat with him. You then joined his game at some point. While on one hand, I was very happy to have your company (and my soul was absolutely thrilled), on the other hand, I felt weird and conflicted again because it must look so strange and awkward to you and probably makes you feel uncomfortable. "Why the hell does this guy keep chatting with my little brother whose like half his age??" And it's awkward for you because your brother knows I was/am your OG viewer and mod. Even to me it looks really strange. But then he opened up (several times) in yesterday's stream and expressed how much me being there means to him. He expresses this every stream I stop by, but really emphasized it yesterday. He said I was literally the reason he keeps streaming and how much he appreciates and loves me so much and really hopes I continue to stop by. It was very touching. This also seems like further evidence he is our soul brother. But even if he wasn't, he's a fellow human being that I love and care for, enjoy connecting with, and would love to help out if I can.
In one of my earlier entries here years ago, I wrote how I suspected he was my soul brother. I said I'd bet if he and I were to connect (especially in person) he would sense some kind of connection with me. He might not feel the soul connection I feel, but I said that he'd probably feel there was something about me that made him feel a deeper connection with me. I wrote this before we had ever communicated in any way. And the way he feels about me now given our extremely limited interactions via Twitch (I've only stopped by and chatted in like a handful his streams) and Disc DMs (little more than a handful of times only) seems to prove I was right. He doesn't even know anything about me. (Who I am irl or what my connection with you or him is.) All he knows is I'm some guy you played with on PS4 and became your Twitch viewemod, and now I meditate and am spiritual. Oh and yesterday I said I used to be in the entertainment industry, but didn't elaborate. That's pretty much all he knows of me. I obviously haven't told him anything about our soul connection(s) as I wouldn't want to put you in an even more uncomfortable position.
He also messaged me on Disc before that I got him into meditation and that one of our conversations on his stream about a year ago has become one of his core most influential memories of his life. Wow. He must've been referring to our Alan Watts chat. We got into that because I remember seeing him listening to Alan Watts a lot in Disc a while ago. That's part of why I was very interested in chatting with him. That and of course because I feel he may be our soul brother. At the level of the person, although he is nearly half my age, he really is an interesting person to me, and I really do like his friends. They all seem very deep, interesting, intelligent, and like really good kids.
Oh, one other very surprising time he messaged me was when he was going through a problematic time with his friend. He messaged me asking for help in how to let go of the bitterness he felt. I was so surprised because again, on the 3D level, I'm almost a complete stranger whom he's had such little interaction with. And so him messaging me out of the blue like that asking for help caught me off guard. But on the other hand, I realized it was likely his soul recognizing my soul (his big bro) and he somehow sensed that and came to me for help. But this was only one of our handful of interactions.
Anyway, in spite of weird/awkward appearance on the surface (I'm really, truly sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable!), I can already see the positive impact I am having on him and how that may grow far, far more. So I can at least see why HS is having me keep in touch with him.
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Today:
I've been feeling waves of sorrow coming and going all throughout today. I didn't even know that I can still feel sorrow...amazing. I wonder if I'm feeling your sorrow too? It is a different, higher vibrational sorrow than the ordinary human sorrow, and not the type that drags me down into suffering or depression--that lower vibrational sorrow has been permanently purged from my system. This is a beautiful sorrow. The sorrow of love--of my soul deeply longing for his eternal beloved. And intense soul love. My soul truly does yearn to be with you. I haven't felt this intense soul love since Higher Self took control and pulled me away from you over a year and a half ago. I still have no idea what that was about. Did HS put Soul to sleep or something? It's like the insane soul love and longing was instantly ended in that moment HS took over. It was so strange and confusing because it had absolutely nothing to do with anything you said or did or anything that happened in external reality.
Perhaps Plan A did fail, and HS took over to pull me away to see if a Plan B could be worked out. That's how it seems anyway. All the warnings of "time is running out, she needs to leave her succubus bf now or she will be trapped in the nightmare fate for the rest of her life!!" and the innumerable 666s everywhere that all kept building in frequency and intensity over several months, and then suddenly HS coming in in that one moment (the "possession" experience) and all of it coming to an end in that single moment with my connection to you going from 1000 to 0.
I didn't want to admit it, but as time went on, I began to feel that we really did run out of time and you got locked into the nightmare track. I didn't think I would ever connect with you again. Or if I did, perhaps just as a friend/acquaintance, with no intentions of Union. I was so shocked and in such disbelief. Especially since we had finally just begun connecting, with you modding me and me at last being able to chat with you via Twitch. "Finally! We are at last moving forward! We are going to make it!!" My hopes were at their highest, and I was so convinced we were at last moving towards Union. And then very shortly after, HS came in and it all came to an end. Too little too late, I suppose.
I guess we either really needed to connect beyond Twitch and sooner, since Twitch chatting is just so limited and superficial. It is admittedly a bit frustrating chatting via Twitch. I'm all about honesty, openness, authenticity, and deep connection--even moreso now, and I can't even really connect with you in those ways via Twitch, nor vice versa. Not only am I reduced to mere text on a screen, but I have to talk about superficial, surface-level stuff that you feel is appropriate to discuss on your platform. I can't express how I really think/feel and I can't really connect with you. But anyway, I can see how there's no way that our connection of me just being words on a screen was going to get you to leave your boyfriend and move out to pursue a relationship with me. And especially in such a limited amount of time, with "time running out." So perhaps it was much too little, much too late. The warnings did begin months prior to, after all. I can't remember if they began before you moved to CO the first time or just after you moved. But I know they at least definitely began before you moved the second time within CO.
Now that I think about it, had you not moved to CO, it would've been so much easier for us to connect. You wouldn't be living with Ethan, after all. And you wouldn't feel so dependent on and grateful to him. And with him being in an entirely different state, your soul cord and connection with him would've been far easier to dissolve--meaning it would've been much easier for you to leave the relationship. While it's interesting to reflect on, it's in the past, so unless there's something to learn from it, none of it matters Now. All that matters is what we can do from now on.
I did look back and reflect occasionally since then and wondered wth went wrong, why Union failed, and what I could've done differently or how I could've saved you. I just couldn't believe we actually failed Union. I was 100% convinced we would make it. 100%, not even 99.9%. I thought I was doing everything I could. I was constantly doing clearings and energetic work for you and I, and constantly working on my own growth--and I certainly grew lightyears in a very short time beyond what most will ever grow over their entire lives, not only on a personal level, but also on a spiritual level. I tried every approach I could think of and followed guidance as much as possible to connect with you, from being extremely forward and open with my feelings and intentions to being more casual and just texting/DMing, but both would result in eventually getting ghosted. I asked if there was a better way to communicate, like talking on the phone or playing games together, but that was also ghosted. So then I tried backing off even more and just showing my quiet support by being there for all your streams and actually actively watching every stream (not just lurking) while just working even more intensively on my own growth. But after 2 years of that, all it led to between us was the promotion to interacting with you as text on your screen on your public platform, which again resulted in much too little much too late.
I reflect on this now to see if I might gain insight into what I might've missed. If Union really is still something the Divine is going to push for with a Plan B, it may be helpful to learn from the past. But on the other hand, having established direct connection with HS and HS now able to intervene, I guess if there really is something I can do differently, I will be pushed to take action in just that way if/when the time is appropriate. Beyond that, we must and will respect your choices/reactions completely, no matter what they may be. Or...who knows, perhaps it really is already too late for us and Union really did fail beyond chance and I will just be a friend. Or perhaps I will be taken away again.
Whatever's going on, at the very least, it is very interesting watching play out. And such a mystery. I have no idea what to expect at any moment. Yes, I'm obviously concerned for you and really, truly hope we are able to help you achieve your highest good--whatever that may be. Even if that meant staying with Ethan, I'd absolutely send my blessings and wish you the absolute best, happiest life. Although I have a hard time imagining that would be anything near the best case scenario for you, given the multitude of desperate warnings in the past that indicated that would be the worst case scenario for you. But in any case, I know that HS is doing everything in his power to help that to happen through me and whatever I can influence, and the rest is beyond my control.
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Last night, another interesting surprise occurred. My soul suddenly took over (I sort of became him) and started playing soul song messages. Songs that this person/mind didn't even know. I listened to the lyrics with surprise as they were all very clearly his voice of intense yearning and love for his beloved (you). And then he added "Don't Give Up On Me" by Illenium to our Spotify playlist for you. That one I recognized and remember you playing years ago in the PS4 days on Spotify. I cried when I listened to it back then. I knew it was your soul's message to mine.
Oh yeah, I noticed you had logged onto PS4 about a month ago. That was a big surprise. It made me consider that maybe you really were doing that for me. It's also interesting considering this is when I started to feel the tug of my soul towards yours again for the first time. It was like he was waking up again. He started occassionally checking your PS4 (Spotify) for song messages again occasionally. It's been a while since I've done that. Also interestingly, the PSN app on my phone needed to be updated, so it wasn't properly working a month ago. If it had been, I would've received a notification on my phone through the app that you had logged on. Idk if I would've done anything about it at the time, but I suspect my soul might've as he had just started to reawaken.
Thinking back to the early PS4 song message days, you the person might not have even intended that song for me--it could've been for Ethan. In fact, I still really have no idea whom any of the songs were for. Or maybe you were just listening to them and not intending them as messages for anyone. Or maybe you the person intended all of them for Ethan. But whatever the intentions of you the person, the way I experienced all those songs and the timing of me listening to them all and the way it triggered my soul, I think it was absolutely your soul having your person play those songs for me and my soul.
I remember questioning back then if you were even a real person or some sort of spirit guide that was guiding me. The accuracy and timing of each of those song messages was so insane. This was before I knew anything at all about spirituality, awakening, or soul connections. I remember tripping out so hard over this, as this the very beginning of all the supernatural stuff that I'd never experienced before. I didn't know soul connections were even a thing. It was like I would think or feel something, and then you'd play a message that would respond in a very specific way to what I was thinking/feeling. Song after song after song for hours each day. You kept responding to my thoughts and feelings with the perfect song. The timing again was bizarre. I remember testing this. For example, I'd log on (invisible so you couldn't even see I had just logged on), I'd see you were offline, no music listened to in the past 4 hours. Then I'd think something really quickly, and immediately after check your profile and see you playing a song that was responding to what I was thinking. I was so weirded out. "Holy shit! WTF is this??! WTF is going on??? Who is this person?? Is she even real?? Am I imagining this?? Have I lost my mind??" And then I started to think that if you were a real person, you were some kind of all-powerful psychic who was intentionally connecting with me on a psychic level, somehow reading my mind, and guiding me through the songs. Little did I know you were completely oblivious lmao XD
There were also times when I thought we were having song communications (mostly love songs) where I'd play a song and you'd respond. Again, I have no idea if this was actually happening with you the person or just between our souls, with your person completely oblivious and/or playing them for Ethan and me believing it to be for me. Because timing-wise, I think you had just started seeing him shortly after meeting me online. I'd like to think the love song communications were actually between us persons too, as it's really romantic. But even those song messages from you seemed to be perfect responses to my love song messages for you. I added some of those song messages to my Spotify playlists around that time, but many of them weren't added, as I was just searching them and playing them in the moment without adding them to playlists.
Your soul doesn't provide me with guidance like this anymore because I no longer need it. It was just needed to awaken my soul and have me remember who you are. Now, not only is my soul the awakened one and yours still asleep, but I also have direct connection to HS, which goes beyond even the soul level and beyond guides. Once in a while I do still get messages and even song messages from your soul, but they no longer need to come from you the person playing them for me (they may, but don't need to), since I have connection to higher levels of consciousness and higher dimensions of reality. Since my disappearance a year and a half ago, your soul's messages to me have been pretty heartbreaking, desperate, and disturbing.... The last song message from your soul was "1216" by Echos:
​
Welcome to the room I hide inI'd invite you in to stay, but I'm trying to get out of hereThe windows see my pain, they feel itThe curtains know my name, they scream it, get out of here
I don't know why I can never leaveWhen all that I'm left with are memoriesI guess I want your ghost as my company
This house is full of the things we didBut you're still ringing in my empty headI can't let go of the way we left, I can't let go of you
And now I'm hanging on by a threadBut you're still ringing in my empty headI can't let go of the way we left, I can't let go of you
To the left and down the hallwayPictures hang from crooked nailsGet out, get outI can't get out of here
The doors keep falling off, I feel themThe rooms have twisted thoughts and I hear themGet outGet out of here
I don't know why I can never leaveWhen all that I'm left with are memoriesI guess I want your ghost as my company
This house is full of the things we didBut you're still ringing in my empty headI can't let go of the way we left, I can't let go of you
And now I'm hanging on by a threadBut you're still ringing in my empty headI can't let go of the way we left, I can't let go of you
And this house is full, of the things that we didAnd my bed has known, every inch of your skinWell I can't let go, of the way that we leftNow my bath, it floods with your silhouette
This house is full of the things we did
But you're still ringing in my empty headI can't let go of the way we left, I can't let go of you
And now I'm hanging on by a threadBut you're still ringing in my empty headI can't let go of the way we left, I can't let go of you
​
Another recent song message from your soul was "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. Each time I would receive one of these soul messages, I would ask HS, "How can we just leave her like this??? Isn't there something we can do to help??" But everytime the answer was "No. Keep away." It's been the hardest thing for me to accept.
Going back to "Don't Give Up On Me" by Illenium, I remember it shaking me so deep down to my soul when I listened to it. I wrote down somewhere that if I ever felt like giving up on our connection or running, to play that song as your soul's message to me. I don't think I ever did play it. But last night, my soul played this on repeat last night and even again today. This time, rather than your soul's message to me, it was definitely my soul's message to your soul. After my soul withdrew/receded, I was left with residuals of his intense sorrow, longing, and love for you. My god does he love you like crazy....
As usual, I have no idea what the plan is or what HS intends. But the fact that HS allowed Soul to take control and do all this seems to indicate HS is pushing for Union. I wonder if more and more control will be given to Soul as we connect, and he is going to take over. I guess I will just have to see how things go with you and between us. Whatever happens, I hope you are well, and I love you so much.
submitted by TheChumscrubber123 to u/TheChumscrubber123 [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 14:16 endersgame69 Kayobi's Days Off C9

That was strange. Very strange. One show passed into the next and I wasn’t sure just what was going on…I mean, I didn’t notice it at first, he has other friends. He could have stopped by someone else’s place.
‘Could they have ‘not’ listened to me after all?’ That thought did occur to me, that maybe the ones who hit him, got together a group and ambushed him? My brow furrowed, ‘If they did that…’ I paused the show right as the boorish butch girl was getting ready to punch the computer nerd…because what’s a trash anime without dramatic overreactions?
I began to tap my foot, then checked the time on my phone. ‘School ended two hours ago…’ I thought while I read off the time. Jin was generally the sort of boy you could almost, if not quite, set your watch by. He always left for school early, and even if he dallied a little bit on his way home, he ‘generally’ didn’t delay except at the end of the school week.
And today was a Thursday.
So I did the only logical thing, I shifted back to my natural state to cast a more powerful spell. A swapper’s body isn’t that different from that of a human, at least in its basic body plan. Like if all a human saw of us was our shadow, they might think they were looking at a slightly ‘off’ human’s outline.
Basic, low level magic didn’t require any transformation or ‘swapping’ of my form, but search magic was different, there’s so much data in the world at any given time that without our natural biology to filter it, we just can’t use the spell.
[H’craes r’etemarap Jinn] I spoke the spell aloud to increase it’s potency, just in case, and a white dot formed in the air above my outstretched palm, it pulsed, then exploded like a star going supernova, the billions of little photons spreading out from my palm and touching everything as they dispersed, passing through objects and feeding an endless stream of images into my brain all at once, which I was rapidly filtering through. I didn’t really like to use a spell like this.
Point in fact… I hated it.
I hated it because you can see just… all the things, including things you don’t want to. I winced as points of light passed through occupied bathrooms and busy bedrooms in surrounding apartments. “And I had the nerve to call Jinn a hentai.” I muttered under my breath as more images flowed into my head, the spell was beyond the apartments now, and the endless points of light that were so minute that it was no more than starlight on a cloudy night to human eyes, continued to spread out over streets and into other buildings, offices and places of employment.
The bullyboys were sitting on the old bench where I met them before… they were not nearly so cocky as before, if anything, they were quite sullen. ‘Strange for them to be there at an hour like this… just doing what… nothing?’ I wondered about that, but there was no time to think on it. At least I could safely rule them out. I was now well outside the reach of the neighborhood, and there was no sign of him.
‘It isn’t any of your business.’ I told myself, but I didn’t cancel the spell.
The search went on.
And then… I found him.
And I felt stupid.
‘The hospital… there he is, sitting next to a bed, and yes, there’s his mother…’ She didn’t look good. There was a tube in her throat, an intravenous drip in her arm, her eyes were closed, and she even had tubes in her nose. None of those were desirable as far as I knew.
I didn’t know a lot about human sickness, and why would I? Human viruses and bacteria don’t impact me. But I knew those weren’t good things. I’ve never heard someone say, ‘My health is great, I’m actually getting some tubes shoved down my throat this weekend.’ So I figured it was pretty much the opposite of a good sign.
I canceled the spell. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could do about her being sick. Healing magic isn’t something I know anything about. My skills are far more…visceral.
That didn’t mean I was completely helpless.
I reclaimed my human guise, hit the shower, and changed into a plaid skirt and white button down shirt with some flat shoes. I even took the time to take a brush to my fox-fur colored hair and straighten it out before giving it one tie in the back close to my head.
Search magic over an area that large was… not inconsiderable, especially when searching for an individual target, so I did still have to wait a few minutes to cast another spell, or rather, to make sure I could cast it twice.
[t’ropelet f’les l’atipsoh] and then… I was gone. It was dark out when I reappeared on the roof of the hospital, and I rolled my eyes at my absurdity. ‘Of course it put you on the roof, it was the place closest to the target you pictured…’ The winds were blowing high and my skirt danced around me as my hair was lifted up from my back, and I went to the edge to peer down to the bottom. There was nobody around, at least. So… I added some wings to my back, and hopped off, I knew well enough how to make ones that would arrest my descent, that was actually one of the first things I did when I picked Earth as my vacation site.
Swappers aren’t the most popular race in the Universe, and you never know when you’ll have to get gone fast, or how. So I made sure I knew all sorts of shapeshifting techniques to adapt to a wide variety of situations.
I landed out of view, dropped down to one knee and drew the faux wings back into my body, then walked around the front entrance. The lights inside were on and flickered a little when the glass double doors opened. Like most hospitals, this one had a lot of seating in the front area, halls diverged in every direction. A bored, sleepy receptionist in white sat behind a curved wooden desk that had a series of computer monitors evenly spaced along it… but hers was the only one occupied.
I approached the woman, she had curly hair and a world weary expression while she worked at her computer, and didn’t look up when I came near. “Hi, I’m here to see Miss Toriyama, can you tell me what room she’s in?” I asked as cheerily as I could.
She looked up from her computer screen for a moment and huffed, “Visiting hours are over.”
“But-” I started to ask.
“Visiting hours are over. You can return tomorrow morning at nine. Thank you.” She said, then pretended I didn’t exist.
I knew these types. We have them at the agency. Bureaucrats don’t change much from one world to the next, I guess.
“That’s fine, I’ll be happy to come back tomorrow, but could you tell me what room I’d need to go see, so I don’t have to waste your time first thing in the morning?” I batted my eyelashes at her, and at the prospect of not having me come see her twice, she seemed to waver.
“Room nine-zero-one.” She answered after a moment’s look, and I turned around to walk away.
But I never reached the exit. I just waited until I was sure I wasn’t going to be seen, doing what I did next.
submitted by endersgame69 to TheWorldMaker [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 14:11 st0nednsnse My (29F) boyfriend's (24M) EX showed up at my apartment building.

I met my boyfriend at work six months ago and we’re practically inseparable. He was at the tail end of a two-year relationship that he decided to break off when he met me. She was staying with him for a month due to being displaced from her parent’s place, and was in the process of getting her own place when the break up happened. He gave her a deadline to be out his apartment (he paid all his own bills), and she was out within a two-week time frame. After the breakup, he blocked her on every social media platform, including her number. This was back in February. Fast forward to the end of April, we were on our way back to my place from getting dinner, and as we were getting out of his car, a woman called towards him from her car. Turns out it was his ex-girlfriend’s cousin, sister, and ex all in the car together. The cousin was questioning why he dumped her and isn’t with her. It turned into heated argument between him and the cousin, but he walked away from it. He basically told her, they both parted ways, moved on, and there’s no need for this negative exchange to happen again. After that exchange, we proceeded to walk towards my apartment building but in the back of my mind, the whole thing made me uncomfortable knowing they saw where I lived. Fast forward to last night, I looked on the ex-girlfriend’s FB page and came across something disturbing. She posted pictures in my apartment building’s lobby. There’s a huge mirror when you first walk in, and she took multiple selfies. I know the pictures were recent, at least within the last week or so. Seeing this made me extremely uneasy, as I’ve lived in this building for six years and have NEVER seen her here before. I brought it to my boyfriend’s attention and though he’s also alarmed, he said she probably has a friend in the building and there’s nothing he can do. This whole situation is making me uncomfortable as the thought of possibly running into her while I’m with my boyfriend is alarming to me. I’m not sure how to move forward in this situation?
submitted by st0nednsnse to relationship_advice [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 14:01 nankilla I just ended a toxic relationship after 6 months

My ex and I got together in october, technically started dating on Halloween. So Basically first month and a half was great then we started arguing and fighting. Im easily brought to anger and prone to say very mean things and call names. She gaslights and uses manipulation and confusion tactics to discredit any point I make or bascially any feelings i would express. This led to me eventually starting the break up/get back together cycle. That lasted around 5 months, so based on the person I know she is, i began to suspect she might be hiding something from me. there were tiny clues, little loose ends, i would see, she would get defensive about messaging certain people, there was another dude in NY that she was also 'dating' but long distance, other simps and dudes around our town who were always close to call upon and utilize for her. No productive conversation came of most of the things i expressed though i must say im bad at expressing things like that so alot of times i just got mad and then an argument then i would say something mean or cold and then that was the focus and we never fixed the problem. She does onlyfans fulltime and if u know the workings of that its way more than onlyfans, its instagram, twitter, sextpanther, manyvids, fetlife, throne, reddit...all of it, so she never wasnt working even when she wasnt active online that day everything she does is for that, her main motivation every day was to get pretty and show strangers her pussy n stuff, and get suggestions for tasks and punishments and such. I took it all with a grain of salt and let the punches roll to the best of my ability until she would do some new blatantly disrespectful thing like send me to her profile with gifs of her ex fucking her in her back yard at the top of the page. So at least once a week for about five months i would break up with her and leave and then come back when i calmed down a day or so later. i suspect she slept with people on those times but i only ever got proof of one time. this would be the break up before the real break up so essentially about two weeks ago, i drove to another state to retrieve her car because our mutual friend had gotten arrested in it and if i didnt go get it it would be towed. so i went and got it to show her im there for her hoping to get back together. we sat in her car for a while and talked and i happened to open her glove compartment and noticed two polaroids of her and this black fellow fucking, using our spreader bar. crushed. i was so hurt i couldnt stand it. So we eventually talk and i start thinking that someone had to take the pictures i saw and realize it was my best friend, so i ask did u fuck him too? she says no. okay, sure. some time later that day were riding with a friend to another part of town and she hands me her phone to plug into the charger, i couldnt resist, i opened the photos app in her phone and theres a video of her blowing my best friend. i almost threw it out the window, but i threw it back to her instead. now for the sake of transparency, i have been abusive, not like beat her up abusive, but abusive, on one occasion she punched me first no excuse but its what happened, as well as during one argument i was going to leave and shes begging me to stay and she said she would do anything so i told her to blow me and she did, I felt horrible for it so i stopped it i was slut shaming her essentially, so she could argue i had done those things leading up to her doing what i saw in the pictures and video. now this all happened three days after we had broken up. just three days. its why it was so hard to see. so i tried to forgive her, tried to over look this behavior that proved all i had been thinking up to this point. and i couldnt, my pride and my heart were hurting while i stayed with her, so i left, and came back that night and i realized i dont love her, i dont love myself, and i dont want to be here listening to anything she has to say anymore. so i left, it was a fight getting out the door but i did leave finally. she hates me probably and i dont really think about her too much, im recovering from constant gaslighting and im working on getting my anger back in control because she brought something out of me i never knew was there. i never knew i could be such a huge asshole. i did things i thought i would never do. it sucks because nothing between us will ever be okay again and she was my friend, previous to this we had been through some rough times together and has relied upon one another readily. i just hope she can one day accept responsibility for her actions and be real with herself about who she is.
submitted by nankilla to relationships_advice [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 13:59 jrjocham How would you suggest I prime my newest town?

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about finally expanding my primary game and adding expansion packs. I took all your suggestions, as well as recommendations from a couple of youtube videos out there, into account and narrowed down my choice to seven expansion packs. Everyone has their own opinions on what items and features they need in the game, and these are the expansion packs that make sense to me.
Ambitions, Generations, Seasons, Pets, Master Suit Stuff, Outdoor Living Stuff, and Town Life Stuff.
These selections make sense for the way I play. I set up a town with all its conditions in place and then play the longest marathon game I can. I stick to one town; I have no interest in traveling to other areas, islands, or cities that some of the expansion packs offer, so I didn't choose any of those for this update.
And now that I have them all installed and ready to go, the next step is to prime my playing field. Before ever creating by sim, I want to make everything else first. And I welcome any of your suggestions for the following categories:
1: The town - I could stick to the default sunset valley since I already know that map pretty well, but knowing what towns might be included in those expansion packs, can you recommend a city similar to sunset valley but better? I do like the country feel of the village, where there are wooded areas and waterfalls, and getaway spots. Nothing high traffic city based.
2: The Premade Structures - some buildings I'm going to build myself, but for the most part, ill pick a lot of the previously made structures waiting to be placed. I know where I want my sim to live. So every open plot of land other than that location should be filled. What kind of buildings do you suggest I add to my city? This is one of the reasons I got the town life stuff expansion pack. Other than the grocery stores, restaurants, and art galleries already existing in sunset valley, what else should my town have? I want every empty lot filled with something that adds to the game.
3: Townies - If I'm going to fill every lot with a house, then I should create families to fill those houses to make my city a lot more interesting. So suggest to me a character or a family I should start. For example, in a run-down house, I plan to create a crime family. Every family member would be in the crime profession and be modeled after all the stereotypical no-good hooligans you might picture being in such a family. Maybe I'll make a posh family filled with we'll dressed, exceptionally beautiful, but exceptionally dumb people you could think of. I'm playing around with the character traits here. Pick a personality trait or two (Grumpy and Insane) and create a character around it. Grumpy Carl can always be seen walking around the neighborhood muttering to himself; stay away from him cause he could go off on you if you're not careful. See—compelling characters to fill my town with. So have fun and suggest a character and what traits and professions you feel would mix well to create such a character.
I welcome all your suggestions.
submitted by jrjocham to Sims3 [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 13:59 hot_sauce278 I don’t know what to title this?

A few weeks ago I posted about my husband not wanting to have sex with me anymore. Well yesterday I happened to peak next to me as he was on his phone and saw 5 girls on his Snapchat that he’s been talking to. So I took his phone when he wasn’t looking and only took it to take pictures of the names for proof. I didn’t read the conversations or anything. Should I have? Should I say something to him? Help 😩
submitted by hot_sauce278 to DeadBedrooms [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 13:57 Odpea Primitive fun oneshot(probably)

Thank you to u/Far_masterpiece_7739 for proofreading and suggesting edits
this is my first story on NoP and hopefully my first good one, excuse the dates, i just put the date i went to the fair i describe in the story and put it in the year the main story takes place, for reference this is meant to be before the bombs dropped.
​
Memory transcription subject:Talik, Venlil exchange program participant
Date[Standardised human time]:13.05.2136
As My exchange partner and I stepped out of his house and into his car I was quite unenthused about where we were going. We were headed to a steam fair, yes an actual real life steam fair, this is something a yotul would enjoy, and I was no mere uplift.
[2 hours later]
It took half a spheking paw to get here, ugh, at least it was a chance to listen to more of that wonderful, though oddly named, human music, of the metal genre, my current favourite song being full circle by Five finger death punch, an odd and very predatory name, but it seems the same is true for a lot of human music. As we pulled into the seemingly random field there was an old man, in what my human had told me was a hi vis jacket, making strange hand gestures at us that my human somehow understood, we drove into another field, this one full of semi orderly rows of many different types of cars, we then got out and walked through the long grass towards a green booth of some kind in front of a small also green bridge, there were two middle aged human women in the booth, after my human paid £10 we were allowed in, at first it was less than impressive to our left was a man in an oddly coloured suit and purple top hat on a large stage, in front of us was a large empty area fenced off with rope, and many older vehicles were off to our left along with some “bouncy castles'' as my human had explained to me before and several stalls selling various items.
We went over to the left, past the stage and several food stands that smelled absolutely incredible, we made our way to a large horizontal wheel that suspended five other horizontal wheels that each had three sets of seats suspended from them, my human decided this would be a good way to “break me into it”, I decided against pointing out the very predatory language, and agreed to go on, my human gave the ride operator £3 and we both got on, my human being the bigger of the two of us had to sit next to the padded wall likely to reduce the effects of inertia, after a short wait for it to fill up, the ride started to play some music and slowly spin each the top one spinning the opposite direction to the others, the ride slowly got faster and after about a minute the operator announced, over the PA of the ride,that it was “time for turbo mode” and to “squish your partner”, and so I did, I allowed myself to slide across and bump into him at speed, I hit him harder than I intended, and apologised, he said nothing and simply pushed against the centrifugal force pushing us into the padded wall and moved us both to the opposite side of the cart, and laughed saying that he barely felt my impact “of course you didn’t, you have the most messed up physiology I have ever seen” I laughed out smiling in spite of myself.
After the ride stopped we moved past a giant vertical wheel, that my human called a Ferris wheel, and a large tower with a slide running around the outside, called a helter skelter my human said, and on to what my human said was one of his favorite rides ever, the swinging boats, from where we stood they looked quite tame, something was wrong, my human was an “Adrenaline junkie” as he and several of his friends had called him, meaning two rectangular boxes with seats in them just hanging there was clearly not all there was to the first steam powered ride I had seen at this steam fair, as we ascended the stairs to get on I saw an old man in amongst many valves, levers and gauges, my human paid the man £3 and one other person was on the ride with us, we were at one end and she was at the other, she smiled at us and laughed at my concerned face after my human gave some obscure hand sign, I should really learn the human hand, face and head language, just then I noticed a sign that read “all riders do so at their own risk” I was now very worried, I didn’t say anything though as I knew that my human would never intentionally endanger me, just then an ear peircing screeching sound started, causing me to Jump in fright, we were then told to hold onto the netting behind us and put our feet on the bench in front of us, then the box we were in started to swing, and I realised what they would do, after about [20 seconds] we were swinging so far that the box, or boat as my human had corrected me several times now, went from horizontal to vertical, with every swing, my human and the other one on the ride were smiling and laughing with each other while i firmly closed my eyes, my human noticed my discomfort and spoke, as softly as he could to be heard over the sound of the rushing air, comforting me and making sure i was ok, and trying to lighten the mood with a small joke here and there, eventually I felt brave enough to open my eyes and see the open sky on the other side of the netting, then we swung back and i was looking down at the human female smiling comfortingly at me, then i felt the air rushing in my face as we swung back and i couldn't help but bleat in surprise, this caused both humans to “awww” simultaneously quickly followed by the human female saying “jinx” and them both laughing, this time i joined in too.
About a minute later we were off of the ride and i felt like the ground was moving under me for a few seconds after i got off, right next to the boats was a small booth with several confectionaries on the rear wall and several very old looking weapons on the counter, there was a human mother helping their child to aim one of them at the confectionaries and then a small pop was heard as a cork flew from the end of the weapon and i saw a small pink cuboid with a green being called a dragon(that looked like if someone recoloured an Arxur and made it more square) on it, labelled “CHEWITS” fall backwards off its shelf, the woman running the stall then collected the tube from the trough at the bottom and passed it to the child who ran off happily, with his mother in tow. My human decided to challenge me at this game, I foolishly accepted and quickly wasted £15 of my human's money to only glance at a very large tin of biscuits, my human on the other hand had hit all bar 1 shot and we now had several boxes of confectionery.
The next ride we went on was called “THE SUPER SKID CARS” according to the sign above the ride entrance. My visual translator had a hard time with that one due to the very odd font. My human said he used to love riding these with his mum when he was a child, and that he was somewhat surprised such an old machine was still in service, (frankly I was surprised any of these machines were still in service at all). My human told me that these were a precursor to “waltzers” and said that based on my reaction to the boats it may be for the best if i watched first, i agreed, as my human was about to get on, he saw one of his friends, she was called Summer and she was a very lovely person, once you got past her shell of self loathing depression and their exchange partner, Janak was her name, after the two of them had hugged, we collectively decided that the humans should go on and we would watch to decide if we wanted to join them the second time, so my human and Summer went on together, the ride worked by a large central wheel spinning with several carts facing inward being pulled around by it, with a break pedal that would slow the cart enough that it would rotate about its hinge to the point that it was facing the direction it was traveling, when you then let go of the break it would fling the cart around at high speed to face the other way and repeat, all the while a human song was being played quite loudly, the one playing while our humans were on was dancing in the moonlight, our humans were singing along, and quite loudly, until the ride sped up causing summer to scream slightly and then laugh with me,Janak and my human , as they were flung so hard that they bounced back and forth several times, this continued for a little while more with Summer squealing in delight at every swing, my human singing and laughing along all the while.
After summer got off we all walked back around to the food stalls, where Janak and I had the leaves of a lovely vegetable called a lettuce, according to Summer, slices of a purple vegetable with white stripes in rings through it, called a red onion, according to summer, this prompted me to ask why it was called a red onion if it was purple and white, both humans looked at me and laughed at that, before my human said “sometimes human names are very on the nose, and other times, not so much, don’t worry about it.”, all while laughing, our meal was then wrapped in a thin-ish flat disk of strayu, I asked how humans had strayu in large enough quantities to sell like this, so soon after meeting us, this caused summer and Janak to laugh and my human to look confused, Janak explained that the humans had many different types of strayu, called bread apparently, and that they developed it independently and much, much earlier on in their cultural evolution than us, he also said that it tasted, different, not necessarily bad, but definitely not the same. The humans had chosen a bratwurst hot dog each from a german food stall, run by the british catering company, whilst mine and Janak’s was from a greek stall, also run by the british catering company.
After eating we went up to the stalls to the right of the entrance, where, my human bought a new wallet, and I bought several human confectionaries, at the end, there were several very primitive cloth tents, with people walking around in clothes that were very clearly not of this century, and they all carried weapons, such as knives, swords and axes. My human got quite excited at this and went over to speak with a group wearing helmets, chainmail and animal skins with jewellery woven into it, they had a table full of axes and swords with shields around it and spears poking out of the ground nearby, one of them holding a Dane axe!, after a lengthy conversation with a few of them we walked away with a card containing contact information, so that my human could join their re-enactment group. The central area was now host to two humans on motorbikes performing stunts and various tricks, while an announcer spoke to the crowd, as we walked down the backside of the central ring and towards the boats again we saw several small and quite slow steam engines making their way in our general direction, after we passed them I saw a dog, a truly fearsome beast tied to the front of a colossal steam engine, with, what i assumed to be the engine’s owner nearby talking to a woman with another dog, after we passed them we decided to have a go at the plate smash stand, Janak, summer and myself did terribly but my human hit every shot bar one, then we kept on moving, Janak and I had decided to go on the “THE SUPER SKID CARS'' with our respective humans. IT WAS A HUGE SPECKING MISTAKE!!!! A few seconds in, I was clinging to my human’s arm crying, he was holding me, softly stroking my head and speaking soothingly to me. About a minute in, i was able to open my eyes and sit there, still clinging to my human, as he continued to hold me, i noticed that he too seemed to be on the verge of tears, although i suspected for a different reason, after a while i got used to the speed, and asked my human to start swinging us, he did and i screamed in delight, it was so much fun, we sung along to a song i don't know the name of and moved so fast, i could feel my stomachs shift and shake around inside my body, after the ride finished i was so high on adrenaline that i felt like i could do anything, the same could not be said for Jamak, he looked utterly petrified and on the verge of throwing up. We returned to the shooting area and this time we only spent £5 each and i missed every shot, but it was fun, my human only got a tube of CHEWITS this time, but we still had fun, we then made our way back to the ferris wheel, we all went on and once we reached the top we stopped and i thought that something was wrong, until i looked down, now i'm braver than most venlil but this height was insane, however i now knew why we had stopped, a man and his son were getting on, however as i leaned back it caused our seating pod to rock back and forth, this made me freeze in terror as i pictured us falling and going splat on the ground below, and then we were moving again, and then we were on the ground, but we were still moving and then we were high in the air again, after this cycle of up and down had repeated another three times we finally got off, my whole body quivering with the after effects of terror, Jamak was clinging onto Summer’s arm and refused to let go as she lugged him around.
We made our way back to the boats and we all decided to go on, all except Jamak of course, at least he had let go of summer by now, this time i kept my eyes open the whole time and several of the other humans on board were screaming in delight, it was hilarious, my human, summer and i were all laughing, and as the boat slowed down, my human let go of the netting and put his feet back down, then the operator told him to put them back up and to keep holding on, so he put his hands up to hold on again and as he went to put his feet back up, the boat sped up again leading to my human hanging vertically and as we came back down, summer an i tried to hold him in place and check to see if he was ok, but he just wouldn't stop laughing, after the ride had stopped and we had gotten off, he finally stopped, and loudly exclaimed “DID YOU SEE THAT, IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME, HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!” this prompted summer to loudly exclaim “suicidal cunt, your going to give me a heart attack one of these days!”, this caused him to chuckle again and say “you’re one to talk aren’t you? And I'm way more likely to have a heart attack than you, genetic disorders, remember?”This went on until we reached the car parking field, where we went our separate ways, i was buzzing the whole way home as we listened to even more music and chatted, once we arrived home my tiredness hit me like a stampeding mazic and i fell face first onto the sofa.
When I woke up my human had bought me a glass of apple juice and was sitting next to me with one of his dogs on his lap, the large German shepherd Labrador cross breed, named Leela. She was huffing happily as my human rubbed her stomach. It had taken quite a while to warm up to the large and loud beast, but now she was a brilliant addition to my little herd and I can't imagine living without her here.
“Thank you, for the day out, it was wonderful, and I’m sorry for the way I acted about it this morning.”
“That’s fine, I had fun, and it seems you did too, that’s all that matters, that we both had fun.”
“You're the best friend a venlil could ask for, you know that right? I love spending time with you Oscar, even if you don’t love me, just know that I love you…. sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Hey, hey” Oscar said, softly, as I started to cry. “Just because I’m aromantic, doesn’t mean I can’t feel love, just not romance, I still love you, just platonically, now come and give me a hug, you silly sheep!” He said happily.
“I'm not a sheep, you stupid ape!” I responded jokingly, feigning indignation.
“I love you oscar”
“I love you too, Talik, now let’s get some dinner, we have to go back to work tomorrow.” and with that he stood up, finished his apple juice and walked into the kitchen.
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2023.05.29 13:25 Tomatopotato1_ My roommates boyfriend has been taking pictures of me without my consent.

I (24F) found myself trapped in a nightmare when my roommate's boyfriend crossed all boundaries by invading my privacy and violating my trust. Determined to put an end to his creepy behavior, I confronted him, but the fallout was far more intense than I anticipated.
My roommate, Sarah (24F), had been dating a guy named Mark for several years. They recently got engaged and are to be married in the next year or two. However, it is only Sarah and myself on the lease, and her boyfriend Mark occasionally visits, as does my own boyfriend, Jake.
One day I was walking around our apartment when I noticed Mark, who was sitting on the couch near me, had his camera pointed towards me. He was taking a picture of me by the way the phone was held. I walked up to him and snatched his phone, only to see that he had sent a candid picture of me with my back turned zoomed on my backside to some sort of boys group chat.
I was livid and demanded to see if there were any other pictures of me on this groupchat. Mark got all defensive and tried to snatch his phone back, but I had already clicked in the shared media section of the GC and was shocked to see an albums worth of pictures of both me and many other girls. All of them candid pictures taken without the girls consent.
He begged me not to tell my roommate and tried to guilt trip me into believing I was going to ruin their relationship and engagement. I threw the phone back at him and went in my room and locked it. I called my boyfriend to tell him about the incident and he was furious. He doesn’t want Mark coming around anymore and I don’t either.
I decided to tell Sarah yesterday. I shared the disturbing truth about her boyfriend's actions. To my shock, she defended him, accusing me of overreacting and causing unnecessary drama. She claimed that I must have provoked him or misinterpreted the situation. She defended Mark and accused me of trying to sabotage their relationship out of jealousy.
I am considering moving out as soon as I can. My boyfriend told me I can go and stay with him, and I am making arrangements to do so ASAP.
Now I'm left questioning myself—am I the asshole for confronting my roommate's creepy boyfriend after discovering he took inappropriate pictures of me?
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2023.05.29 13:20 OwlCouncil23 Tales of Mundane and Magical (Book1) - Chapter 3

Previous Chapter Table of Contents
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As we approached the front door, Aunt Freya turned to the dogs and said, “Jax and Apollo, wipe your paws,” in a firm but gentle tone. To my amazement, the two giant dogs obediently raised their massive paws one by one and wiped them on the towel hanging by the door.
Once their paws were clean, Aunt Fraya opened the unlocked door and led us inside. I first noticed how cozy and inviting the house’s interior was. The walls were painted a warm beige color and adorned with various paintings and photographs. The living room had a comfortable-looking couch and armchairs, with a coffee table in the center. It looked almost exactly how I remembered it the last time I was here. The only noticeable difference was the three dog beds by the door, and the pictures were newer, with people I barely recognized.
The dogs escorted us inside, one ahead and one behind me. I got a distinct feeling they didn’t trust me yet. But at least I wasn’t their chew toy.
I heard someone running towards me as I put my bags on the floor beside the coffee table. Suddenly, I felt a pair of thin arms wrap tightly around my waist. For a second, I freaked out, but I looked down and realized it was my cousin Julie! “John! I can’t believe you’re here!” she exclaimed, still holding me tightly.
Somehow shimmying and squirming, I hugged her back, feeling genuinely happy to see her for the first time in years. “Hey Julie, good to see you too. It’s been too long.” I replied, grinning.
After a few more seconds, Julie let go of me and stepped back to look at me, then suddenly punched me in the stomach. “Yeah, cause someone was too busy to visit or gone when we came to visit!” she said, smiling as I rubbed where she punched me.
I couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed at the compliment, but I smiled back nonetheless. “Well, I needed to do those projects...and trips...” I trailed off, realizing I was making excuses. “Anyways, I’m here now, so it’s all good. Where are Jake and your dad?”
As I finished speaking, I heard a voice from around the corner. “Hey there, John! We’re in the dining room!” It was the unmistakable booming voice of my Uncle Paul.
I turned to my aunt, and she said, “Let’s go say hi to everyone.”
Still standing beside me, the dogs seemed to understand her words and began escorting me toward the dining room. Aunt Fraya giggled as she walked ahead while Julie was hanging off my arm. She couldn’t decide if she wanted me to drag her or if she pulled me.
As we walked, I couldn’t help but notice the well-behaved dogs acting like my guards. They walked beside me, occasionally sniffing at my feet or hands but never pulling ahead or breaking stride with Julie and me. I was starting to wonder if they were familiars instead of pets, but my cousins being non-magical would be hard. It was clear that my aunt had put a lot of time and effort into training them.
It wasn’t far to the dining area, and as we rounded the corner, I saw my Uncle Paul sitting at the head of the table with a big grin on his face and my cousin Jake sitting with a frown. “John! Good to see you!” he said as he got up from his chair, walked up to me, and gave me a firm handshake followed by a big hug.
I hugged him back with one arm since Julie didn’t release the other. “It’s good to see you too, Uncle Paul,” I said with a smile.
Letting go of me, Uncle Paul took Julie off me as she protested and turned to Jake, saying, “Don’t be rude, son. Say hi.”
Jake got up and, with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, walked up to me and said in a frigid tone, “Hey, John. Long time no see.”
Uncle Paul shot Jake a disapproving look before turning back to me. “I’m sure you are tired as all. I know I’m always wiped when coming to visit you guys.” Turning to his kids, he said, “Well, come on then, you two go show John to his room.” Turning to me, he added, “The guest bedroom is all set up for you. Feel free to stay as long as you want,” gesturing for us to follow.
I followed Jake and Julie, but then I remembered forgetting my bags. I told my cousins, “Hang on!” and walked quickly to where I left the backpack, bag, and the box Dad gave to give to Aunt Freya. I heard hurried paw steps behind me as I grabbed them and returned to my aunt. “Here you go. Dad asked me to pass this along for you.”
Aunt Fraya responded with a pleasant smile, “Thank you, dear. You have some time before dinner, so rest up a bit. I’ll call up when food is on the table.” I nodded and walked quickly to catch up to my cousins waiting at the stairs.
As we walked towards the guest bedroom, I couldn’t help but notice the dogs walking alongside us again as if they were our escorts. It was both amusing and worrisome at the same time. I was starting to feel like the dogs didn’t trust me. I will just need to try to buy some treats and bribe them.
Once we arrived at the guest bedroom, Jake stood by the door as Julie excitedly started chattering and pointing out all the little details that she and Aunt Fraya had worked on to make the room comfortable for me. “And here’s your extra blankets. The door locks cause the dogs like to roam sometimes, and here’s the WiFi password,” she said, handing me a slip of paper.
I looked confused at the paper. “WiFi? What’s that?”
Jake laughed for the first time. “You are practically an alien in this world. This is going to be amusing.”
I felt hurt, but I was glad we had something to discuss. “Yeah, I really am. But that’s kinda the point of this experience.”
Julie asked to hang on for a min and slipped out of the room, the dogs parting just wide enough for her to slip past them in the doorway.
I looked at Jake. “Dude, come on. We grew up together. What’s up?”
He sighed, took a few steps to the bed, and plopped on it, leaning against the wall, feet dangling over the edge. “We did, but recently I realized just how different we are. It makes it hard to be comfortable with someone always so loaded for bear.”
I looked confused at him and put my bag and backpack on the bed next to him. “What do you mean.” as I sat on the chair.
He sighed. “I mean magic. You are from a world of power, and I’m from a world of Mundane.”
I scrunched my nose. “Don’t say that. It’s not nice. And I would never do anything to hurt you or Julie or your parents.” I glanced at the dogs in the door, wondering if I should extend my promise.
Jake smiled softly. “Yeah, I’m sure not on purpose.” He paused and frowned. “But to be honest, my college rejection letter also came today. And I was sure I could get into my first choice and didn’t bother applying elsewhere.”
I looked confused at him, but Julie tore back into the room before I could respond, somehow slipping between the two dogs. “Had to steal mom’s phone. I’ll explain what WiFi is, you Luddite.”
“Hey, be nice! Don’t call him names!” Jake yelled at Julie.
“I don’t know what that is, so I’m not offended.” I shrugged.
“I don’t know either, but it would fit.” Julie chirped as she sat next to John on the bed. “WiFi is what you use to access the internet.”
I pulled my own phone out. “Oh, how do I do that?”
Julie froze. “Well, now I must go slip this before I get caught.”
From somewhere in the house, Aunt Freya’s voice, “JULIE ARIEL SMITH! Give me back my phone!”
Julie looked worried as she tore out of the room through the parting dogs to the roaring laughter from Jake and me. After laughing, I said, “I’m not sure what that means about college rejection, but I’m sorry you are going through that. I just want things to be as normal as we can. Like we were when we were kids.”
Jake briefly looked at the ceiling, thinking, “Nothing changed. And I’ll figure something out eventually about college. For now, let’s just have fun.” With a smile, he got up and said, “I’ll give you some breathing room as you settle in. Let’s catch up when we get time sometime.”
After Jake left, I waited a second to see if the dogs would go. Instead, they lay down, blocking the doorway in a way that would make me move them to leave. I sighed and turned to the bags on the bed.
I unpacked my backpack and bag, placing my clothes in the drawers. They were dimensional bags as well. So I could bring everything I could need, so I only unpacked what I would need for the next week or so. I noticed the dresser was empty except for a few spare blankets and pillows at the bottom, so I took the opportunity to spread out my clothes and organize them.
I left most of my magical equipment in the backpack. I wouldn’t need anything but my wand, the summing bracelet still on my right hand. The only thing I took out was the scroll my parents gifted me. I put it on the table, admiring the intricate design and the fine craftsmanship. I was sure they had spent much money on it, so I wanted to take care of it. Not that these were very delicate, but still.
Next, I took out the gifts I had brought for my cousins from my bag. I hid them in the drawer on the table, so they would be a surprise for later. I wanted to wrap them into something, but I would have to give them as is.
I decided to check out the rest of the room. I went to the dresser and pulled open the top drawer, which was empty like the others. Looking around the room were several pictures and paintings. What was surprising to me was that they were very still.
Curious, I turned to the two doors in the room. One was clearly a closet, and that’s the first one I walked up to and pulled open. It was a good size, with plenty of space to hang clothes and store shoes. I put my backpack and bag in there to ensure they stayed out of the way.
I then turned my attention to the other door. I opened it slowly, unsure of what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find a clean, well-maintained bathroom with a shower, sink, and toilet. The towels hanging on the rack smelled fresh. I vaguely remembered how to use this shower from the last time, and I hope it won’t be a problem.
Feeling satisfied with my new living quarters, I returned to the desk and sat down. This seemed like the perfect time to tell my parents I was safe and at my Aunts house.
I pulled my old scroll from my pocket. It was much simpler than the new one my parents had given me and was meant more for local communication. It wouldn’t have a powerful spell circle to reach my parents or friends. But it did have all the imprints and contacts from them.
I conjured the wand and pointed it at the new scroll on the table. Using the transfer spell, I could transfer my friends’ imprints from the old scroll to the new one. All three items glowed pale, and it only took a moment. Soon I saw their names appear on the new scroll, indicating they were successfully added.
As I was admiring my handiwork and ensuring that every name I wanted was transferred, I suddenly heard a voice next to me. “Was that... magic?” Julie’s voice made me jump up in my seat, my heart racing, my hand shaking holding the wand, sweat beading on my brow. She was maybe 2 feet away from him, standing just outside my field of view.
At my threatening gesture, the dogs in the doorway growled. But Julie looked at them and said, “Shush.” they did.
I steadied my breathing and said, “Yeah. I didn’t get a chance to transfer information from my old scroll to my new one.”
She pointed at my hand. “Is that a wand? Can I hold it?”
I breathed and willed the wand back into storage. “Not right now. Maybe a bit later. I can show you some tricks and magic.”
She looked disappointed but said, “Okay.” Walked over to the bed and sat down. “Mind if I hang out here for a bit?”
I shrugged. “Do you mind if I write a quick letter without distractions?” She nodded, so I sat at the table, folded the old scroll, and put it aside. I moved the new scroll closer to myself, used the quill that was part of the package, and selected my parent’s imprints.
I concentrated on the quill and started writing the letter to my parents. Since this was my first time, the quill took a few tries to obey me. In glowing letters on the scroll, I wrote about how I was safe at my aunt’s place and succeeded in making it there. I also mentioned that I had transferred the imprints of my friends onto the new scroll and that I was going to try to contact them soon. And reminded them that they could always reach out.
As I finished the letter, I read it over to ensure it said everything I wanted. Satisfied, I closed my eyes and focused my energy on the sending spell. After a second, I opened my eyes as the words on the scroll lifted off the page and folded into an owl.
The owl flew straight through the wall and into the night sky, heading towards the enclave where my aunt picked me up from, which must be the nearest relay to here.
“Wow. That’s so cool.” Julie whispered from the bed, and I turned just in time to see her cover her mouth.
I smiled and said, “Yeah, magic is pretty cool. But so is your technology. I’m going to need all your help to figure it out.” And I pulled out my phone.
She looked excited. “Oh, of course, your sensei will teach you everything.” But before she could do anything, I heard a high-pitched barking bounding down the hall outside my room.
Then a tiny fur ball jumped over the two dogs and bound towards me with the fury of a starved hellhound ready to eat. I conjured my wand, but fore I could do anything or the little hellion reached me, Julie nimbly plucked him mid-jump and held him like a baby on its back. The little beat instantly calmed down and let out a happy little whine of pleasure. The two dogs in the doorway growled their disapproval.
Julie whispered, “It’s okay. He’s a friend. No eating, my cousin.” Holding him out towards me, she said, “Sparky. Say high to John.”
Sparky wasn’t convinced of my status in the family and gave a menacing high-pitched bark and a growl. However, she stopped when Julie brought him close to herself and smacked him in the nose softly. “No!” She held him out, and this time he let out an almost friendly bark.
“Nice to meet you, Sparky,” I said, not letting go of my wand.
I breathed a sigh of relief as she brought Sparky close to herself. Sparky licked her face, and Julie giggled. I was horrified for a moment when she let him down. He landed softly on his tiny feet, made a circle, and then turned to me. For a second, I thought he would attack me and prepared to defend myself, but I had Nothing to worry about. He walked up to me, sniffed my feet, then pranced back to Julie, tongue lolling and tail wagging.
Julie laughed as she stroked Sparky’s fur. “Don’t worry, he’s harmless. He just loves to bark.”
I chuckled and replied, “Well, I’m glad to hear that. He’s pretty cute, actually. When he’s not acting like an angry furry volleyball of doom.”
Julie smiled and said, “Yeah, he’s my little buddy. He’s been with me since I was a kid. Well, I guess like 4 years now or so.” Looking at me, she asked, “Do you have any pets?”
I shook my head. “No. My parents have familiars. But when I wanted a pet, my parents told me I was immature. Then when I was mature, I didn’t have time. When I have more time, I’ll probably get a pet.”
She thought momentarily and said, “I know your mom has the owl cat. And your dad has a giant three-headed dog. I guess I was expecting you to have at least something. Maybe a cat or a dog. Or maybe something more exotic like a dragon.”
My eyebrows shot up. “A dragon? That would be cool, but they’re pretty dangerous and, you know, illegal. They are very endangered. I mean, I guess a petite dragon would be an option. But they are a lot of work.”
She looked convinced. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe you should stick with a cat or a dog, for starters.”
I laughed and glanced at the dogs in the doorway who were sitting at attention. I looked back at Julie and realized her eyes were fixed on the wand in my hand. I could see a mix of curiosity and fear in them. With a jolt, I remembered what Jake had said earlier about magic being power. I started to feel self-conscious and put the wand in storage again with a small flash of magic. Julie blinked hard and looked away.
I looked at Julie with concern as she picked up Sparky, held him close, and took a deep breath. “What’s wrong?” I asked gently, noticing the nervousness in her body language. I had no idea what I did to scare her like this.
She hesitated for a moment, looking down at Sparky on her lap. She patted him for an uncomfortably long silence before finally whispering, “I don’t know how to ask this, but... can I do magic?” Her question caught me off guard, and I wasn’t sure how to respond. She looked up at me, and I could see the fear and uncertainty in her eyes, and I wanted to reassure her.
But I couldn’t.
I took a deep breath. This was going to be a delicate conversation. I had to break the news gently. “Julie, I’m sorry to say this, but only those born with magic can use it,” I said, my voice low and even. “There are two species of humans. One with magic and one without. You know how there are different kinds of dogs?” After she nodded, I continued, “There are a few different kinds of humans as well.”
Julie’s face didn’t change. “So, I can’t do magic? You are sure?” she asked, her voice quivering.
I shook my head. “I’m afraid not,” I said, trying to sound sympathetic. “It’s just the way things are. But don’t worry, you can still do plenty of amazing things without magic.”
She looked like she was about to say something else, but we heard a voice from the door before she did. “John, food is ready.” Turning, I saw Aunt Freya. “Julie, don’t forget to wash your hands before coming to the dinner table.”
Julie didn’t say anything but turned with a smile to her mom. I got a bit of whiplash from her emotional swings but didn’t say anything. She dropped Sparky to the floor and walked out the door. She paused at the door and said, “Let’s talk later.”
The big dogs parted to let her through but moved back together. Sparky walked up to the dogs, barked shortly and jumped over the big dogs, and followed Julie.
I grabbed the gifts from the drawer I hid them in and decided to just give them as is. I walked to the door, but the dogs didn’t budge. After a second, I cleared my throat and said, “Excuse me?”
The dogs looked lazily at me but didn’t leave. I heard Aunt Fray’s voice from somewhere in the house. “Jax, Apollo, leave John alone. He’s a friend.”
The dogs growled, got up, and trotted away from the door.
I said, “Thank You,” and walked behind them, letting them lead me to the dining room.
​
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2023.05.29 13:04 Royal-Abalone-5835 In-laws pattern of toxic behavior has now lead me to therapy (rant/advice)

My brother-in-law and is wife are so toxic it’s a bit scary and now I need therapy to navigate the entire situation.
My husband and his brother are super close. They are less than two years apart and have spent 99% of their time growing up together. When I first met his brother I could sense some weird energy and thought he didn’t like me, but we were cordial and didn’t have a problem until the following pattern started. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve grown to realize I might be experiencing the weirdest version of sibling jealousy or indirect “rivalry” I’ve ever seen.
It started when I became pregnant. A few weeks before I gave birth, his brother announced his ex-girlfriend was pregnant with his child while he was in another relationship. Not weird right? Well wait (lol). After I have the baby we invited the family over to see the baby. The day of he calls and says he’s bringing his pregnant ex-girlfriend to introduce her to the family kind of “hi-jacking” our event. Long story short we all find out that the timelines never matched, it wasn’t his child (I have a feeling he deep down knew this) and he tried to name the kid a name close to his mother’s name which is my daughter’s middle name.
Again, fast forward we announce our engagement, 6 months later he announces him and his current girlfriend are expecting a child and are getting married in 30 days. At this point my spidey senses started to tingle but it just got worse. Once I finally got married 2-years later (sadly because of covid) he and his wife showed up to my wedding, took pictures without us and kinda had their own photoshoot to the side, announced they planned on bringing their friends to our reception dinner at a different part of the restaurant and hour before my wedding and posted on social media that “it’s about them” the same day once everything was over.
We had some little debates and disagreements regarding political stuff during covid which many folks went through, but this seemed very odd to me and it made me uncomfortable so I blocked them on social media after his brother posted (paraphrasing) “he prays the day his brother sees how evil I am”.
Currently, it’s a repeating pattern of “me too” that could be coincidences, except it always happens for everything. My husband and I announce we are pregnant, they become pregnant. I had a miscarriage his wife had a miscarriage the same year. I’m currently pregnant with our second and announce the gender on Valentine’s Day, they announce they are pregnant and having a gender reveal today on Memorial Day. We go on our first vacation in a while to Europe , my husband tells me they post “we’re always on vacation”. Everything we do just because is called “exaggerated or not a big deal”, but their similar thing right after HAS to seem like the best thing ever.
It’s just exhausting and I feel like everyone sees and has admitted they see it happening, but no one actually addresses it because they say “he always needs to be center of attention, just ignore it”. When we are at family events both my brother in law and his wife say absolutely nothing to me, not even a cordial hello. Everyone pretends they don’t see it and they don’t treat my daughter very well at all which really drives me insane.
I’ve sought out therapy to help me handle things for myself and to hopefully not have this repeated disrespect cause issues in my marriage. My husband is kinda in a rough spot and I never want to make him feel bad because I know how important their relationship is to him, but I feel like this is continue to go on and escalate until I can’t take it anymore.
I feel like I’m not allowed to have happy moments and genuine family events without drama and that I will be made to feel like I’m exaggerating when this isn’t normal. I’ve never had issues with anyone’s family I ever dated. Dealing with this in my marriage is just so disheartening and disappointing.
Has anyone else experienced this? Am I going crazy or? Lol How would you handle it?
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2023.05.29 12:59 Responsible-Log-2991 is Old man consequences henry or William? (Theorys)

ALR so me and my friend were trying to solve the Old man consequences and we gatherd theorys Im on henrys team and this is my theory
1: old man consequences only appeared in a single game which is my theory that he is Henry all of the souls will go to heaven while henry says in the ending "but one of you will be in the darkest pit of hell so dont keep the devil waiting old friend" which also OMC says that souls will rest and blah blah , what is old man consequences you may ask? Old Man Consequences is often associated with death and destruction. He is said to be the personification of karma, and as such, he represents the consequences that come from our actions. and William did get his karma many times. so if OMC is just karma from our actions or anything associated with death and karma then henry is OMC because henry did get revenge on Willaim and that is karma. that bear when we get to old man consequences is kind of golden Freddy or just Fred bear which is possessed by Cassidy and OMC says "leave the demons to his demons (which is apparently William) rest your own soul there is nothing else" he says that to Cassidy because Cassidy already got her revenge on William so is old man consequences henry? It'd match pretty well with OMC's name as:
Henry would be pretty old (likely in his 70's or 80's) by the time of FFPS.
The FFPS fire served as consequences for William's actions.
Another thing that could suggest this is OMC's whole schtick about freeing souls, as in UCN he has a role in freeing Cassidy and in FNAF World he has sort of a role of freeing CC soul too . Henry's mission in FFPS is literally to free all of the souls that became trapped because of William's actions.
And then there's also the similarities in dialogue between the two, both basically condemning William to Hell.
Although for one of you, the darkest pit of Hell has opened to swallow you whole, so don't keep the Devil waiting, old friend. -Henry, Good Ending Leave the demon to his demons. -Old Man Consequences, UCN
this is my friend theory that old man consequences is william
OLD MAN CONSEQUENCES [CASE NO.4 *MOST IMPORTANT CASE*]
theory 1:the old man is FREDDY?!: if you set Old Man Consequences to 1 and the rest to 0, during gameplay, catching a fish will result in being sent to OMC's pond. You can move around, and you look like you're playing as golden Freddy because if you look at it, it looks like Golden Freddy (maybe because of the top hat). XD
theory 2:the old man is an animatronic: You see if you go & google "FNAF OLD MAN CONSEQUENCES" you will see lots of pictures of him and some show us that he's an animatronic that looks just like Monty from 'SB' mabey cuz he was released before monty so they took the old man & made him green?
theory 3:the old man is William [THIS IS A CRAZY ONE]: you see if in the game there is a hack that is triggered by setting all the animatronics to 0 and OMC to 1 then if you9 speed up the background audio sounds like somebody is screaming "MIKEEE, HENRYY, HELPPP, HELP MEE' yea something like that.
​
vote are you on henrys side or wiliams side?
submitted by Responsible-Log-2991 to u/Responsible-Log-2991 [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 12:57 Finzombie The Thing in the Cracks - Part 1

By Fin
“Holy crap.” James Talbot stepped back from his handiwork. It was beautiful. It made him want to scream.
Talbot was a chemist, the modern form of an alchemist, and he’d discovered something as wondrous and terrible as the most extreme postulations of his forbearers.
This was it. The culmination of all his works. This is what he’d fought for decades for, why he’d abandoned connections with everyone he’d ever known. But now it was all worth it. He would reveal the Masterwork at the Grand Chemistry Convention. It would steal the show, and he would be revered beyond every other human being who had ever lived.
It had taken Talbot long enough to assemble the Masterwork that he’d shed the title of ‘young’, not to mention most of his non-gray hair. Although it was hard to tell whether that was from aging or from what he’d beheld in his long sojourn. He was only 45, after all, and the rest of his body still held firm from decades of outdoorsmanship.
Talbot stood before a wall, upon which was painted the most intricate design any human had ever seen. It was a diagram of… unknown things. A chart of runes, maps, and artfully painted lines. There was no text in any living language on the diagram, but the harmony within the full tapestry visually sang, imparting something unfathomable in a way that Talbot could somehow fathom. The man who’d made it, who’d studied it for 15 years, barely understood it himself. But he knew that it was the ultimate solution to the entirety of philosophy, containing the answers to every question humanity had ever seen fit to ask. It had existed in his notebook for a while, in bits and pieces, but today had been its first full assembly, and it was magnificent.
He had to keep it hidden, or someone would take it from him.
He retrieved a tarp and threw it over the wall, nailing it in at the top so it hung down to cover his designs. Just to be sure, he moved his desk to block the wall, then locked the door to his office when he left for the day. James Talbot was more excited than he had ever been, and he celebrated that night with a fireplace and a large bottle of whiskey.
Of all the people at his office to commit espionage, Talbot never would’ve suspected the night janitor. This may stem from the fact that he also never suspected the night janitor to be part of a massive secret organization dedicated to keeping humanity as ignorant as possible in matters of the Higher Order.
But no matter what Talbot suspected, Tim Willis was indeed part of this society, and after he’d entered Talbot’s office with his master key to do some routine cleaning, the obvious secrecy surrounding the wall at the back of the room worried him. So he moved the desk out of the way, lifted the tarp, and inhaled sharply.
This was bad. A tapestry of the Higher Order more complete than any he’d seen before, or any reported by the other Censors of the Agency for the Preservation of Humanity.
Willis quickly replaced the tarp and desk. As soon as he’d locked the room, he pulled out his phone and dialed the number for an Alexander Talc.
Talbot arrived the next morning with a song in his heart and a latte in his hand. The former died horribly as soon as he entered his office only to find someone sitting in his chair, and the latter died horribly as it fell from his fingers, limp in shock.
The person in question was a short, slight man who wore thick glasses and a dark gray suit. He was sitting on Talbot’s office chair, facing the now uncovered back wall with all of its eldritch calculations. Talbot’s desk had been moved to the side of the room, left askew with the tarp crumpled up on top.
As Talbot entered, the stranger spun the chair around so he was facing the chemist, a broad smile on his face. He was undeniably attractive, in a delicate sort of way.
“Ah! You must be the aspiring alchemist?” He spoke softly and cheerily, but with an unnerving edge. Talbot couldn’t identify any specific aspect of his voice that disturbed him, but upon further consideration he concluded that it was the incongruity of the situation, the warm friendliness of his tone grating against Talbot’s unease.
Talbot took a step back, shaken. “I don’t… what-”
“Quite an impressive display here. You’ve managed to glean a quite large amount of knowledge about the Higher Order, especially considering you’ve never consulted us at the APH.” He pronounced it phonetically, like Aff.
“What are you-”
Talbot heard a click from behind him, and turned to see Tim Willis, the night janitor, closing and locking his door. He could barely register the betrayal.
“Ah, yes. Tim is working for me. For us. The Agency for the Protection of Humankind really frowns upon anyone attempting to learn the Higher Order.”
Talbot, finally able to form a full sentence, asked, “What’s the Higher Order?”
“You know what it is, of course, although you may not have heard the term. It’s what we call the mechanics of the very fabric of the universe itself. The questions about ‘why are we here?’ and ‘is there a god?’ and all the stuff like that. All theoretical philosophy, basically. And you, apparently through sheer dumb luck,” He turned to admire the mural again, “have managed to find more of it than any human being ever, including us! Quite impressive. Big hand.” The man slow-clapped for Talbot. The small sweet-looking man being sarcastically condescending was jarringly incongruous.
Talbot felt a surge of anger, and it helped him produce a full sentence. “Dumb luck?!?” He advanced on the man. “My Masterwork is the product of 20 years of research and experience! This is the greatest thing anyone has ever done, and how dare you say I achieved it through dumb luck!”
The man raised his hands placatingly. “Okay, okay!” He chuckled. “Years of research, whatever. You found the Higher Order. That’s where we come in.”
“Why?”
“Ah. Well, you see, the reason that no one’s found the entire Higher Order is simple. It’s because we stop them.”
Talbot was incredulous. “What?! Why would you stand in the way of progress like that?!” As a scientist, the possibility that there could be anyone actively against gaining knowledge was incomprehensible to him.
The man grimaced, as though he was about to break some terrible news. “Well… there are some parts of this tapestry you’ve assembled, specifically here...” The man pointed at a small segment of the diagram, a thick horizontal line with four thin lines crossing perpendicularly that turned into five lines on the other side, “That grants access to some other planes of existence. Planes of existence that are home to some very dangerous things. And due to some logistical aspects of the Higher Order,” He gestured at another segment of the diagram entirely composed of square symbols, “if you muck about in their domain, they are able to muck about in ours. The Law of Equivalent Interference.”
“But… how would our finding answers count as ‘mucking about in their domain’? If we knew the danger, we just wouldn’t go there.”
The man was silent, then answered Talbot’s question with a question. “Tell me, Talbot. If humans discovered another dimension, do you really think they’d be able to stay out of it?”
“Fine. But then why do you have to censor the whole thing? Why not give them the benign parts that would still forward human progress by centuries?”
“Because the Higher Order is like Algebra. Or a logic puzzle from Highlights magazine. If you give someone smart enough just a few clues, they’ll eventually assemble the whole picture. Which we desperately want to avoid.”
There was a long and heavy silence.
“Ok.” Said Talbot, wrapping his head around the new information. “So the APH stops people from finding the answers to these questions so our world isn’t destroyed by Fourth Dimensional entities?”
“Exactly!” The man nodded, delighted at Talbot’s comprehension. “Well, they’re technically Fifth Dimensional. The existence of time in our reality means that this is the Fourth Dimension.”
There was another silence.
“Sorry, what was your name again?” Talbot asked.
The man looked utterly devastated. “Oh no! I can’t believe I was so rude!” He vaulted the desk and approached Talbot, stopping just short and shaking his hand. “Alexander Talc, Class 2 Censor Operative for the APH.”
“Censor as in… ?”
“Yes, I censor things. People too, if necessary.”
“So what,” Talbot asked, “You’re here to kill me?”
Talc gasped. “What?!?! No! As if we’d be so barbaric! We’re here to recruit you.”
Talbot’s eyes widened. “Wait, really?”
“Of course! You know more about the Higher Order than any human outside of the APH, and probably more than a majority of those inside of the APH. Your expertise could be vital in preventing a breach in our reality!”
“What would this job entail?”
“Well, we’d need you to fake your death, change your name, burn your research-”
Talbot recoiled.
“Now I know that sounds like a lot,” Talc backpedaled, “But allow me to let you in on a little secret.” He leaned in conspiratorially, then glanced around as though to make sure nobody was listening. Satisfied, he whispered, “The dental is off-the-charts.”
Talbot shook his head. “What happens if I don’t take the job?”
Talc winced. “Things get considerably less pleasant. I have to call in a Class 3 Purge Operative, and that’s always a hassle.”
Talbot chose not to inquire into the purpose of a ‘Purge Operative’.
Talc gently laid a hand on Talbot’s shoulder. “It’s a lot to take in, I know. How about we move to some place more hospitable and you can think it over?”
Talbot nodded, his mind elsewhere. Talc gently guided him out of the room, Willis following and closing the door behind them.
Talbot stared down into his conical paper cup, filled with water that tasted plasticy. The three men were in the lobby of Talbot’s workplace, leaning against a table adorned with donuts and a water cooler.
Talc bit into a day-old bear claw as Talbot swirled his water and considered the situation.
If he accepted the offer, he would be shipped off to another state, away from his home in Bedford, where he would join whatever on earth APH was. Talbot hated the idea of working for an agency whose entire purpose was to destroy knowledge. On the other hand, if he didn’t accept the offer, they’d likely kill him.
Purge Officer…
Would working for the APH really be so bad? Talbot liked Talc enough. Maybe they could be friends. Or… more than friends. And if the APH truly wanted Talbot to be able to suppress the Higher Order, he’d have to know the Higher Order. Which meant research. He could essentially continue on exactly as he was.
Except he would never be recognized as the genius he was. Talbot involuntarily crushed his paper cup as he realized that, if he took the offer, he’d never win a Nobel prize. He’d never present at the Grand Chemistry Convention. He’d never write a revolutionary scientific paper. He would be forgotten.
He knew what he had to do. He couldn’t say no, or he would be killed. He couldn’t accept, or he would be forgotten, which was worse. He had to escape.
But how? This was some sort of world-ruling secret agency. They probably had eyes everywhere. What could he possibly do to get away?
His eyes wandered towards the stairs. The stairs that led to his office, which held the key to every single natural law.
Talbot tossed his cup in the trash, then approached Talc.
“I think I’m ready to make my decision. But first, can I go to the restroom?”
Talc nodded. “Of course! Take all the time you need!”
Talbot nodded and jogged toward the restroom. In the tiled floor under him, he saw Willis’s warped reflection following him discreetly.
He entered the single restroom and quietly opened the window. He could see Willis’s shadow under the door as the man hovered just outside.
Talbot waited a couple seconds, then flushed the toilet, turned on the sink, and silently crept through the window. He fell a few feet to the alley below, and had to suppress a grunt.
Now what? He needed to escape, but his notebook was still upstairs. All his research was in there, and he couldn’t leave it to the APH.
The only ground level entrance to the building was the main lobby door, which was directly in Talc’s sightline. However, who said he had to enter on ground level?
Talbot’s gaze rose to the old fire escape above him. The bottom of the structure was a platform that lined up with the second floor. A ladder was folded up on the platform, an old rusty latch keeping it from reaching ground level. Talbot couldn’t reach the latch from where he was on the ground, so he looked around for a solution.
He had a bum throwing arm, so he couldn’t toss anything up to break it. Unless…
Talbot considered Talc’s words. The very mechanics of the universe itself... He felt a flare of pride as he realized how little Talc truly understood.
The sigil that granted access to the Fifth Dimension was just one of several such Seals. Over all Talbot’s years of study, those portions of the Higher Order were the most applicable. They did not just show universal aspects of reality. They represented those aspects. They were symbolic, and like all symbols, they were powerful.
They were simulacra of natural laws, and could be manipulated in order to manipulate those laws themselves. It allowed anyone who knew the Seals to weave a sort of magic, ignoring the laws of time, space, or gravity by sketching and then destroying the corresponding runes, temporarily destroying that Law’s influence over oneself. Talbot’s hypothesis was that there was a single Greater Seal for each law that controlled that law anywhere and everywhere. If that one was found and destroyed, the laws of reality would change forever.
For greater, wide-scale application, Talbot had scrawled in his notebook, The Greater Aspects must be located and manipulated.
Talbot dropped to the ground and dragged his finger through the alley gravel. He assembled the rocks into a facsimile of a tiny part of the Higher Order, one that he’d experimented with a lot. He looked around for a suitable vessel, settling on a rock. He poured all his mental energy into the stone, and used his hands to scatter the pebbles that made up the Seal of Velocity.
The rock sprang from the ground and soared upwards, clanging against the ladder before anticlimactically falling into a dumpster. From inside, Willis banged on the bathroom door and said something indistinct. Talbot’s second telekinetic toss hit the ladder before falling onto the platform itself. He broke another Seal, and his third throw smacked into the latch, splitting the rusted thing and shooting the ladder downwards.
It made a lot of noise, and Talbot could hear Willis pounding on the bathroom door inside. He seemed to be breaking it down, as Talbot heard wood split with a crunch. Talbot quickly mounted the ladder and climbed up to the platform, trying not to think about the alarming creaking sounds the old construction was making. From there, he took the stairs two at a time, spiraling up and up until he reached the sixth floor.
Six flights of stairs only had him a bit winded by the time he reached his floor. He tried the door to the inside, and found it unlocked.
Talbot entered the hallway outside his office quietly. He considered how this would play out. Willis and Talc would be storming up here at any moment. He had to move quickly.
Talbot entered his workroom, dragging his desk over to block the door. He took a moment to gaze forlornly at his Masterwork, because he would never be able to take it with him. All the same pieces and diagrams were in his notebook, but the full Masterwork was a thing of beauty, one that he would never behold again.
He snapped a picture of it with his phone. It wasn’t the same, but it’d have to do.
Talbot grabbed his notebook, its leather-bound pages bulging with decades of research. Some of the sheaves of paper stuck out at odd angles, newspaper snippets and glossy photographs glued into the most faithful companion Talbot had ever had.
Was there anything else he needed?
The door began to rattle.
Talbot grabbed a sheet of blank paper from his desk and rapidly sketched as many Seals as he could. He had an idea of how he could escape, but he needed to harness his work to do it. Using the Masterwork as a reference, he scrawled the Seal of Time, the Seal of Space, the Seal of Gravity, and, after considering it, the Seal of the Fifth Dimension.
Just in case. He thought.
With a crack, his door burst open, shoving the desk out of the way. Talc and Willis stood there, the latter looking enraged, the former strangely calm.
“Talbot, this doesn’t have to happen this way.” Talc appealed, but Talbot was done listening. He would not be forgotten. He would be immortalized, through his work.
Talbot ripped a corner off of his Seal sheet, and glanced down at the Seal of Time. With a glare at Talc, he stuck it in his mouth and began to chew.
Talbot disappeared with a pop, as Willis lunged towards where he’d just been.
Willis stopped short, then turned to Talc. He was noticeably upset at losing their quarry.
“What do we do now?”
“Well, we follow him.”
“How?”
Talc approached the Masterwork. “It’s simple. I’m sure Talbot understood that time travel doesn’t work the way everyone thinks it does. Cause and Effect are inextricably linked, and cannot be put out of order. Traveling through time actually just creates another dimension, a splintered facsimile of your original where things play out differently.”
“So… to follow him do we just use the Time Sigil?”
“Seal, Willis. And no. That will just create another splinter plane. Now that the reality has already been established, we need to follow him. Using this.”
Talc’s thin fingers traced the outline of another Seal, one Talbot hadn’t thought to inscribe.
“There are many ways to traverse the Multiverse.” Talc said, “Using Seals to rip open the barriers between planes is one of the simplest.”
Talc sketched down two copies of the seal, then separated the two and handed one to Willis. The two locked eyes and nodded in unison. They both rent their sheets in half and disappeared.
Talbot didn’t ‘land’, per se, but he still felt off-balance when he blinked into existence in his office. He staggered, but caught himself before he could fall. The world felt… different here.
Out of everything Talbot had discovered, Multiversal travel was his least considered. He’d been too cowardly to experiment with anything but the Space, Gravity, and Velocity Seals, so this experience was new to him. Naturally, as any scientist does when faced with something unfamiliar, he started taking notes.
Effects of Time/Universe Traversal:
–Slight nausea. Somewhat noticeable. Temporary?
–World overall feels discordant. Silence sounds different than back home. My tinnitus is in another key. Feels like I don’t belong.
–Different frequency hard-coded into every reality?
Before he could assemble an entire thesis on the underlying resonance within the multiverse, he realized with a start that he had to get out of here. Talc and WIllis were likely following him, and even if they weren’t, there were copies of them in this dimension.
Talbot had willed himself about 10 minutes back in time, and it seemed like that’d worked. His Masterwork was complete and the desk and tarp were off to the side. The trio were likely downstairs in the lobby, where Past-Talbot was thinking over the pros and cons of their offer. At least, he thought so. Time travel seemed to create a splintering reality, one that maintained consistency with his original up until the point where he showed up. There were plenty of unfamiliar worlds out there, but the Seal of Time created one quite familiar. Right now Past-Talbot-
Past-Talbot doesn’t sound right. Pretty soon it’ll be my present, then my future. How about Talbot-2?
After settling upon a name to call his double, Talbot exited his office and left through the door that led to the fire escape, in too much of a hurry to close it. He scrambled down the stairs, knocked the latch off the ladder, climbed to the ground, popped open the bathroom window, and climbed inside. Right as he got his arms through, the door opened.
Talbot-2 walked in, then stopped short as he saw himself dangling halfway through the window. Talbot put a finger to his lips, and indicated Willis-2 with his eyes. Talbot-2 silently shut the door, locking Willis-2 outside.
Talbot-2 opened his mouth to speak, but barely got out one word. “What-”
“I’m you, from the future. Well, not from your future, but from a future.”
Talbot-2’s confused expression was replaced with excitement. “So the Time Seal Worked?! Fantastic! What’s it like?!”
“I’d tell you all about it, but I’m currently stuck in a bathroom window and being hunted down by two government agents. Although I don’t actually know if they work for the government…”
Talbot-2 pulled him through the window into the bathroom. “Sorry.”
Once he was in, Talbot glanced at the door behind Talbot-2.
“Okay. Here’s the thing. Some version of Talc and Willis will be here any minute. Whether mine followed me from the future or not, yours will catch on soon. We need to get out of here, and get the Masterwork to somebody else.”
“Wait, which Talc and Willis will show up?”
“One of them… or both of them. It doesn’t really matter! Do we know anybody we can send our notes to?”
Talbot-2 considered it. “Davis?”
Talbot frowned, and opened his notebook to an early page.
Dr. Wilson Davis
–Spineless fool. He calls himself a chemist, but refuses to venture outside the conventions of the industry. No true scientist works a cushy chemical production job! We journey! We endeavor!
Talbot shook his head. “He’d never publish something like this. If they tracked him down, he’d probably take their oppressive offer.”
“Johnson?”
Dr Monica Johnson
—Chemist and conspiracy nut. Super gullible, but generally a good person.
“She’ll believe anything.” Talbot said. “...Which is actually probably a good thing in this case. If she thinks it’s real, she’ll distribute it, and she’s earnest enough to leave my- our name on it.”
Talbot-2 nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Actually, it sounds like an idea, not a plan. What is our plan?”
Talbot thought for several seconds. “Here’s what we do. You pretend to accept their offer, and do whatever they tell you. If all else fails, you’ll get a cushy job working for the government. Meanwhile, I get this,” Talbot indicated his notebook. “To Johnson, and then…” He paused.
Someone knocked on the door.
“And then?” Talbot-2 prompted in a whisper, glancing behind him.
“Then… I’ll figure something out.”
Talbot-2 nodded. “Alright. Are we ready to go?”
“I think so.” Talbot replied.
Talbot slipped out of the window, and Talbot-2 opened the door to greet Willis-2.
The man peered around him. “Who were you talking to in there?”
Talbot-2 shrugged. “Myself. You know, crazy scientist stuff.”
Talbot dropped to the ground, then produced his sheet of Seals. He picked out one specific design, a circle bisected by a thin line. On one side of the line, a stylized forest thrived, and on the other a pictographic city loomed. Talbot ripped the Seal of Space from his paper and stuck it in his mouth, once again disappearing with a pop.
Talc and Willis appeared in Talbot-2’s workroom, and quickly exited. Both spun in the hallway outside, and both spotted the wide-open door to the fire escape. They both moved down the rickety metal construction and found themselves in an alley behind the building.
“See that?” Talc pointed at the window.
“Yeah. Did he go in through it?” Willis asked.
“Of course. But if he used the Seal of Time to try to come back and alert himself, I’m guessing he came through here to talk to him…self, but he couldn’t have left. The only point at which he was in the bathroom, you were right outside. He popped in, popped out, popped another Seal.”
“Is there any guarantee that he came back to alert himself? He could’ve gone to any point in time.”
“I know his type. The out-there intellectual. He’s been burned by everyone but himself. He’ll only trust himself. And if he came to himself before we’d arrived, he wouldn’t believe him.”
“Sorry, who wouldn’t believe him?”
“Him! Aren’t you-” Talc took a moment to consider the context. “You know what, nevermind. The point is that this reality’s Talbot is now in league with our Talbot, and that’s not good.”
“What do we do?”
“Well firstly, we need to cut it down to one Talbot. Two is too many to deal with.” Talc pushed on his earpiece, then spoke. “Hello? Can you hear me, Talc?” There was silence, until something dawned on him. “Ah, dammit. I can’t call my own earpiece.” He adjusted something on his earpiece. “Willis! Do you copy?” Willis heard Talc both from right next to him and through his earpiece. He didn’t hear the reply, but his earpiece buzzed as its exact copy broadcast something. Willis took his earpiece out and squinted at it, curious about the exact Multiversal properties that bonded it to its clone.
“Yes, this is Talc. But not your Talc. Listen, Talbot ran off to this dimension, and we believe he’s working with your Talbot. We need to meet up, then dispose of the dupe.”
Talc listened for a response, and Willis’s earpiece vibrated as his double presumably replied.
Talc turned to Willis. “Alright. They’ll meet us back in Talbot’s office. There we can get rid of the redundant one and track our quarry.”
Their quarry was currently depositing a large package of brown paper in a big blue mailbox.
Talbot paused as he lowered the boxy parcel. This was his life’s work, his notebook and all his scattered papers, and was the second-most important thing he owned, next to the wall that contained the Masterwork itself, which was likely being dismantled by his enemies at that very moment. This was the last 20 years of his life, and he was about to gamble it away to a crazy woman on the off-chance that his legacy might live on. Talbot wished he’d spent more time with reasonable scientists, if only to expand the pool of people he could mail his book to.
With a deep breath, Talbot released the book, wincing at the gentle ‘paff’ sound it made when it fell onto the envelopes at the bottom of the box.
His job complete, Talbot slipped the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and disappeared into the afternoon.
Guns are inelegant, Talc told his subordinate often. They’re loud, messy. Tools of thugs and soldiers, not agents of a higher purpose.
But there’s a downside to not carrying a gun, Willis countered silently. The difference between shooting a person and being forced to kill them more intimately is palpable, and not often a positive.
Willis considered this as Talbot-2 stopped struggling and finally went limp in his arms. Willis released the garotte from around the man’s throat, then lowered him to the floor of the office.
An irritated sigh came from behind him. Willis turned to see Talc shaking his head and walking toward him.
“No, you need to finish the job.” The man said. He kneeled, took Talbot-2’s forehead in one hand, his chin in the other, then jerked his head to the side, snapping his neck.
“If you stop garrotting when he goes limp, he’s just unconscious.” The other Talc, Talc-2, stated.
Willis nodded, numbly. He didn’t really hear the man.
“I know this is hard,” Talc said, shifting into a gentler tone, “But this is all for the good of humanity. If we let these ideas run wild, we’d all be dead.”
“Worse than dead.” Talc-2 added helpfully. “Our very essences would be consumed by dark beings from beyond our world.”
Willis nodded again. He’d heard it all before. So why did he still find it so hard to hurt people?
“So where’s the other one?” Willis-2 asked, seemingly unaware of his double’s predicament.
“That’s the big question, isn’t it.” Talc-2 mused, “However, before we can ponder it, first things first. We need to get a CC team in here to handle that wall.”
All four men were familiar with the APH Cognito Containment Teams, mysterious individuals in surgical masks that took away artifacts of forbidden knowledge to be stored or disposed of.
Talc-2 clicked his earpiece, then said a series of numbers and codes that were unintelligible to either Willis. He finished by saying, “Please send a Class-4 CC team. Over.”
He turned to the others. “They’re on their way. We need to secure Talbot’s place of residence.”
“Do we know that’s where he’ll go next?” Willis-2 asked.
“Not necessarily,” Talc-1 responded, “But it’s quite likely he’ll at least stop there to retrieve personal effects before going somewhere else.”
Both Willises nodded, almost in sync. The logic made sense. They would lock down Talbot’s house first.
All was silent in the small house several miles outside of town that Talbot called his abode. Then frantic footsteps sounded from outside, as someone ran up the footpath leading to the front door. Then, a faint scratching as Talbot scrambled to fit his key into the lock. A quiet clacking came next, as Talbot’s cat descended his cat-tree and approached the door to see what was happening.
Talbot swung the door open and gently pushed the cat out of his way with his foot.
“Sorry Ozzy,” he muttered.
He produced his debit card and snapped it in half, having extracted all the money from his account before arriving here. He pulled several thousand dollars from his pockets and shoved them in his wallet, his backpack, the pocket on the inside of his jacket, and his shoes.
He grabbed a spare toothbrush and tube of toothpaste from the master bathroom, shoving them into the backpack as well. He was going on the run, for god knows how long.
He paused as his eyes fell on his set of keys. He wouldn’t be taking his car or his house, so they’d likely not be necessary.
But I might as well just in case. Talbot grabbed the jangling key ring and slipped it into the inside pocket of his pants.
His cat mewed at his feet. After a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed his carrier and bowl, both monogrammed with a matching ‘Ozymandius’.
He knew bringing Ozzy was objectively a bad choice. It was impractical and stupid. The cat was loud, and would slow him down. But Talbot couldn’t bear leaving his baby here to be subjected to whatever evil ideas Talc and Willis had in mind.
Talbot coaxed Ozzy into his crate, then picked up the cat and donned his backpack. He took one last look around his house before he opened the front door and was immediately grabbed by both Willises, one of which held a chloroform rag over his mouth until he went limp.
Talbot awoke with a start. He glanced around, disoriented, and immediately registered that he was in some sort of interrogation room. His chair was metal, and bolted to the floor. Before him was a table, and above that table a blinding light mounted on the ceiling shone directly into his eyes. On the wall across from him, very much breaking the theme, was a ‘Hang in there!’ poster and a wall-mounted hand sanitizer dispenser.
Talbot tried to stand, only to find that his wrists and ankles were strapped into the chair. He strained against the bonds, cursing as the straps held strong.
He thought he heard faint snickering.
He turned to glare at the mirror to his right. “What are you planning to do to me?!”
Silence.
“What are you planning to do to my cat?!?”
More silence.
The Talcs and the Willi were standing behind the one-way mirror on Talbot’s left, looking at the back of his head as he shouted at no one. Talc looked mildly amused at Talbot’s complete misunderstanding of the room’s orientation.
Willis-2 glanced at Talc-2, who shrugged and motioned for Talc-1 to enter the larger room. Talc-1 did as asked.
The door at the front of the room opened, and Talc stepped out. He took a seat across from Talbot, and cleared his throat.
“First off, the most important thing. Your cat will be well-cared for, no matter the outcome of this conversation. Great name, by the way.”
Talbot refused to thank him for the compliment.
Talc cleared his throat, and there was a long silence.
“What about my first question?” Talbot asked, his voice trembling.
Talc sighed, then reached below the table.
Several seconds later, he came back up, notably with some difficulty. He slammed Talbot’s notebook down on the table. Next to it, he laid the sheet of seals Talbot had used to traverse space and time.
Talbot was stricken. “How did you-!?”
“Find this? Simple deduction. I’m frankly insulted that you didn’t consider that we’ve been tailing everyone you know for months. Johnson was the only person you could send this to.”
“What did you do to her?!”
“Nothing! We’re not the bad guys here, Talbot. We pulled the package from her porch before she ever got involved. We’d never hurt anyone.”
“Then where am I?” Talbot spat, then rephrased. “I mean… where is the version of me from here? Wait, are you from here or there?”
“I’m from there, assuming you mean your original reality. And Talbot-2 is fine. He’s in the next room.”
Willis winced behind the mirror.
“You never actually answered my question.” Talbot said quietly.
Talc pursed his lips regrettably.
“Well… here’s the thing, Talbot. What I’d like to do is offer you a chance to redeem yourself. I’d like to let you join the APH and help us protect humanity. But you’ve made it clear that that’s not what you want, and if we let you into our fold now, we’d forever be looking over our shoulders, wondering whose side you were truly on. And we can’t just let you go, no no. Your theories would largely be regarded as crackpot, but there are ways to prove these things, and you would certainly find them.”
Talbot swallowed. “Couldn’t you just… you know… erase my memory?”
Talc stifled a laugh. “Unfortunately, this is not Men In Black. Actions have consequences. There are no take-backs. And I’m sorry, Talbot, but this is it for you.” Talc stood, turned on his heel, and left.
“Why the hell’d you wake him up just to tell him that?” Willis muttered behind the glass.
“Hey, wait!” Talbot screamed at him as he departed, but there was no response.
Talbot tried to stand again, but slammed back into his chair as the bonds held.
Willis entered a few minutes later, holding a syringe. He winced at the sight before him. Talbot was hunched over, resting his head on the table. His shoulders were bobbing as though he was sobbing quietly.
Willis approached Talbot and tightened the strap on his right wrist. He moved around him and reached for his left hand, only to see that the strap had been sawed apart, and Talbot’s hand was free.
Willis grabbed his elbow, but Talbot struggled against the man’s grasp. The scientist was trying to keep it firmly on the table under his face.
Frustrated, Willis grabbed Talbot’s head and lifted it back, so he was sitting up straight.
As he beheld Talbot’s face, Willis felt a bolt of fear lance through him. The man was smiling, but it was not a happy smile.
It was the smile of a trapped animal that knew it would take a limb before it went down. With his eyes, Talbot indicated downwards. Willis slowly lowered his vision to the stainless steel tabletop. In Talbot’s hand was a housekey, the teeth worn down from sawing through the leather strap and scratching a symbol into the table. Right under his hand, the surface was pockmarked with the Seal of the Fifth Dimension.
Willis lunged for Talbot’s wrist, but it was too late. The alchemist brought the key across the symbol, carving another scratch to break the Seal and the boundaries between their reality and one far darker. Neither man had time to scream.
Talbot felt himself slip free of the chair, and out of the leather strap around his wrist.
Willis’s grip loosened, and it felt like he was flung across whatever intermediary pathway connected the fourth and fifth dimensions.
Part Two posted promptly!
submitted by Finzombie to TheDarkGathering [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 12:54 AtomicRadiation areslash facepalm guy 🤯🤯🥶😱

areslash facepalm guy 🤯🤯🥶😱 submitted by AtomicRadiation to 2sentence2horror [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 12:45 umadbruv478 My (20M) GF's (20F) best friend manipulated my friend group to break us up, and they're still friends

This is going to be REALLY long so please bear with me. Before I begin about the manipulation I need to give context about GF and I. We’ve been together for almost 1 year and 6 months, are both introverted, have very different friends, and go to the same college.
I’m a pretty introverted gamer on my college’s esports team and I usually like to stay in the comfort of my room. It’s my personal space and my comfort zone, so I rarely like to leave. My housemate and I are upperclassmen compared to the rest of our friend group so get-togethers and parties are always hosted by us.
My GF is sweet, caring, and insanely smart but she has a hard time making friendships that last. Her housemates basically abandoned her last year and didn’t tell her they excluded her from their group until the last day of housing selection, so she had to scramble to find a new housemate. She’s still friends with those housemates, and I think some of them were pretty dismissive of her and treated her badly when they lived together. She says they aren’t like that, but that’s my impression.
Emily, my GF’s new housemate, quickly became best friends with her once they started living together last Fall. Prior to this my GF was warned by her summer program roommate that Emily is a serial liar and not to trust her. That may not be exactly what she said but that’s the gist of it.
Our relationship has been a bit rocky over the past school year. I didn’t come over to her house nearly as much as I used to, and there was a general lack of effort on my part. Because of this Emily pretty much never had a chance to get to know me, and my GF would complain to her about our relationship issues. My GF discussed our issues with her friends and the consensus was that we needed to talk, and Emily even said that I was “toxic and abusive.” That was in February and our relationship got better, I started trying a little harder and went over once or twice. However, every single time I would interact with Emily she’d make a comment about me being a shitty boyfriend. If my GF and I had any banter she’d go “omg you guys are so toxic!” Or if the two of them were sitting outside she’d say “Come hang out with us! Be an actual boyfriend!” If my GF didn’t come over to my house, then she was 100% hanging out with Emily; and each time I would go out of my comfort zone to spend time with my GF I would be met with Emily’s passive-aggressive comments. So I just wouldn’t go over to her house. I hated being around her just waiting to hear what new insult she could come up with.
Emily and my GF were also in a senior capping group together. They needed to rent an AirBnB and my GF took the responsibility of renting it. The morning that they needed to check out my GF was freaking out because it was 1:30am, the AirBnB was 40 minutes away and an Uber this late didn’t sound very safe. Emily had a car, but she didn’t want to drive my GF because she was exhausted. My GF called my hysterical crying so I ran over to comfort her. A few minutes after I got there Emily cancels the Uber and tells my GF that she’ll drive GF to the AirBnB, that she isn’t mad, loves GF and she just wants GF to be safe. Once they get there Emily tells my GF it’s super unfair to make her drive so far this late, that she’s a bad friend and that she shouldn’t do this to her. I was in shock and told my GF that is textbook manipulation, which she agreed and thinks Emily can be over the top sometimes.
Fast forward to the last few weeks of classes, my housemate and I have one last get-together to get rid of all our alcohol before the year ends. My GF asked if she could bring Emily, because Emily was going through some things and needed a pick-me-up. I of course said yes, not wanting her to hate me even more, and they arrived shortly after.
Before everyone came over I was playing video games with a very antisocial friend. He’s on the team with me and despite inviting him to social events he never attends when there’s too many people. I didn’t want to abandon him when our friends came over so I decided to play one more match (30-40 mins) and then join the party. My GF was pretty annoyed, and everyone at the party joked about me being a typical introverted gamer not socializing. Emily was apparently really pressed and kept complaining about it, and how she wouldn’t tolerate that.
A few hours after the party dies down my GF, Emily, a few friends and I are all in my room chatting. Emily left the room for a few minutes and then came back to sit on the bed with my GF and I. After she came back everyone who wasn’t inside my room left. A few minutes pass and Emily begins texting my GF. I glanced over to read what she was saying on my GF’s phone and it read “Dude. We need to talk.” I stopped reading and then Emily shot up and made some excuse that she had an assignment to do and left. My GF continued receiving texts after Emily left and was visibly upset. GF texts me saying she needs to talk to me alone, and I asked my two other friends to leave so we could talk. My GF showed me the texts and Emily said that everyone not in my room was talking serious shit about me and GF, that I’m a horrible person and I always treat her like shit. I had one experience in HS where fake friends bad-mouthed me behind my back and I was really hurt, so experiencing it again made me extremely mad. The way the texts were phrased I thought they were talking shit about my GF and I, but in reality it was just me. Emily said that most of the shit talk was from the only other girl in the group, and that everyone in the room agreed with her. I immediately sent a text to the other girl, telling her it’s not okay in the slightest to do that and banned her from my house.
The next morning the other girl texted me back saying she had no clue what I was talking about and wanted to know more. I didn’t text her back because I wanted to get the full picture before I said anything else. My GF talked to Emily and she basically did a retelling of how I’m “toxic and abusive” and that she needs to break up with me. They talked for an hour and my GF said it was really bad. Emily’s points were based in truth (I never come over to their house, lack of effort, etc.) but she twisted them so much to describe me as abusive.
Later that night I had two of the people who were in the other room come over to tell me and my GF what happened. They explained that none of what Emily said ever happened and she kept trying to engage in conversation when everyone was tired, and that she couldn’t take a hint. The whole time my GF was texting Emily back and forth, and she found out GF was at my place. Emily started attacking my GF over text, threatening to text me and tell me how horrible I am, and to even come over and say it to my face or do who knows what. Emily said “you’re ruining all your friendships over a fucking GUY.” Emily sent paragraph after paragraph and my GF was in tears. My GF decided to go back home and talk to Emily in person because she cares for Emily a lot, they’re best friends and all. GF left and didn’t text me for hours. I got worried about her safety since Emily was so hostile over text that I had one of my friends Johnathan text her, to which she responded that she was okay. Johnathan and my GF came over so we could all talk and he gave his perspective on the matter which seemed to ease her mind.
My GF and I have talked this over many times, and she’s told me that she made her choice to stay together but that she’s still going to stay friends with Emily. I have expressed to my GF my feelings on how psychotic it is that Emily would lie about all of my friends saying I’m a horrible person, which my GF has acknowledged. However, she still talks to Emily and plans to let the friendship fade as time goes on, and Emily is still invited to her grad party in June where I’m gonna have to see her.
I have told my GF how much Emily bothers me countless times, that I’ve never done anything to this girl and just want to be left alone, but it really stings that my GF is still friends with her. Last week my GF told me the things Emily said still gave her doubts about us, and I explained that I did not want to be in a relationship where she is constantly questioning me because of someone so manipulative. I’m having a hard time wording it correctly, but this whole thing has put a huge strain on our relationship and I constantly feel hurt each time she brings up Emily. I don’t know how to proceed with our relationship. Is our relationship not worth it anymore? Are my feelings valid? Am I not taking her needs into consideration with mine?
TL;DR - My GF’s best friend lied and told her that my entire friend group said I treat her horribly and that I’m a piece of shit, but my GF is still friends with her and still has doubts about our relationship based on those lies.
submitted by umadbruv478 to relationship_advice [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 11:47 MMON_ALMonline New Relationship - What Type Of Man?

New Relationship - What Type Of Man?
After the death of my partner in December 2006, I was single and dated for a couple of years. Then in January 2009, I made a decision that I wanted another long-term relationship.

What did I write down for my future?

For a long time, and since I studied a lot of personal growth and personal development material, I have believed in writing down my goals and what I wanted to achieve. That could be health, money, relationship or environment or home. Quite often in periods of transition, like when you lose a job or get divorced or the death of your husband or partner, there is a period of confusion, grieving, and sometimes fear, when you are in the mindset of “how will I manage on my own” “what will I do now I have no job” “how will I survive with less money coming in” “how can I pay the mortgage now”.
Sleepless nights, and restlessness, all add to the stress of the situation you find yourself in. It was no different for me, I went to work, did what I could, returned home and started over working on the Property Management and Rental business. Calls to follow up on, rents to be collected, maintenance to be booked in. The weeks went quickly, the months flew by and life just happened.

He’s Got To be Strong

One late night in January 2009, I was sitting in my office in the flat, and I started thinking about what type of man I wanted in my life. It had been just over two years since John had died. I had met a couple of boyfriends but nothing that became serious. Anyway, I was going to write out what I wanted in my next relationship.
So, I took a piece of A4 paper and stared at the blank sheet thinking about the night out I’d had with my friends. I remember a song that was playing in one of the bars, it was Bonnie Tyler’s singing “Holding Out For A Hero”, with the words “I Need A Hero” and “he’s got to be strong”, but what type of relationship was I looking for? I felt totally lost and confused, I don’t think I could identify the qualities I wanted in my next relationship. Perhaps I should have started with what I didn’t want. Read my post on Making Important decisions.
Anyway, I wrote on the paper that I wanted a kind and generous man, a friend, a lover and a soul mate, someone to laugh with. Someone who I could go on holiday with two or three times a year. A strong man, a confident man, someone to share my life with.
I also had a couple of profiles on dating websites and on a site that I was introduced to through a guy I had dated a few times.

Fifty Shades of Grey

That other alternative dating/meeting website was called “Informed Consent”; it is no longer online.
The site was my introduction to BDSM, the relationship dynamic or scene that was made famous by the book and film Fifty Shades of Grey. BDSM stands for ‘bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, plus sometimes sadism and masochism.
For my profile picture, I had posed in my office wearing suspenders, stockings and a lace bodice, I was also wearing high heels. I had an automatic digital camera so I posed bending over my office chair to take the backside view. My profile bio said I was blond, petite, fun, 5’2” but taller in heels. Within days of that profile going on the site, I was chatting with more than ten guys. Guys that were as far away as London, and some a little closer to home in York.
Whenever I would go online to chat I would have 4 or 5 conversations going on at the same time. I was okay with chatting, it was safe to explore different conversations. But very soon there were two or three guys who were asking to talk on the phone. This actually freaked me a little, I know it’s not like there is any danger in talking on the phone, is there? It was my own fear of how I would sound, my accent, my voice, and what would I say.

Perhaps It Was A Sign

I talked on the telephone to one guy, I wasn’t really impressed. Then I had another guy who wanted to chat on a specific evening, plus another guy who I had spoken with, funnily enough, these guys both lived in York. So one evening I’m in the office and I remember that I was meant to be chatting online with one of the guys in York, but I also had set up to chat with the other guy who lived in York, but that chat was on the telephone. I open up the website to start chatting and as usual, a few people are online, so a number of conversations are happening at once.
Then the person who I was meant to chat with appears and says hello, so I reply and exchange a few messages, then there is a loud bang and a smell of burning, the computer screen goes blank and I realise that it’s the PC tower under the desk, so the computer has blown a fuse. So that cuts that conversation short. I never did have that conversation, perhaps it was a sign that he was definitely not the right person for me.
A little later, I pick up my mobile and pluck up the courage to make the phone call to the other guy. The phone call lasted longer than I thought it would and he sounded really nice, so we arranged a face-to-face meeting for later in the week. This is how I met my next partner, the person I started a relationship with in March 2009. It was shortly after my 48th birthday.

Who did I manifest into my life?

I had found a man who was in business for himself, like me. He seemed like a gentleman, kind and considerate. Confident, but not overpowering, assertive but not controlling. Described himself as an alpha male. He made me laugh, we laughed together. He was generous, he paid for our first holiday together. It was my belief that I had found the man that was to be a friend, a lover and a soul mate. Someone, with whom I would share my life. Of course, I was cautious at first, I realised that I should tread carefully, like any new relationship, you need to take your time to get to know the person before you throw all caution to the wind.
Our first few dates seemed to go well. I remember that I was impressed by his honesty. He told me a number of things about himself that I took at face value. I didn’t see anything that could be an issue. Although there was one concern that I did have before I met him in person.

Do Some Due Diligence

He had told me to look him up on the internet, to do some due diligence, and before our first-ever meeting and lunch date he advised me to contact a friend and tell the friend that I was meeting someone new. Where I was meeting and what time and that I should let my friend know I was safe when I had met with the person. It is always a good idea to tell someone you trust about your date plans. Anyway, before our lunch date, I did as he suggested and put his name into the Google search engine, and I found his business profile. However, I’m one of those people that always end up going a bit deeper and before I know where I am, I’m discovering a lot more intimate things about this man that I am about to meet the next day on a lunch date.
I had of course found him on this “alternative” dating site that I mentioned earlier. So I started looking at his profile, and after a couple of more clicks and searches, I discovered that shock horror, he was still married. His current wife also had a profile on this site, she held nothing back in writing about her experience with this man that I was going to meet the next day. She called herself Slave Tsina, she talked of how they held a ceremony known as “collaring”. It is all a bit bizarre now I think about it.

WHAT? REALLY!

There were many revelations that I read and thought, WHAT? REALLY! I was thinking to myself, what type of guy is this person? Perhaps, I will need to write another book about some of the experiences I had, and some of the situations that played out, but this is not the place for those things.
What I did know was that for some very strange reason, I still wanted to meet this person. During our first meeting, I felt unsure of how I would come across. I also made a decision to not let him know, or say anything, about the research and finding out about his “wife” or Slave Tsina. I did say earlier that I was impressed by his honesty, because he told me he was still married, he told me that the relationship was over, that she had moved out, and he was now on his own.

After My Birthday

It was March 2009 and it was just a week or so after my birthday, he told me he had spent his last birthday alone. His birthday is just a few weeks before mine in February. He also told me a number of other things, about his life or lifestyle, he even told me he had been a “serial adulterer” in his long-term marriage with his ex-wife and the mother of his children. And I was impressed by his honesty. I have this built-in “trust mechanism”. I didn’t think he was lying to me or making any of this shit up.
So there you have it I manifested a man who had been a “serial adulterer” because he was telling me so. Be careful what you wish for!
Now, looking back I should have been more precise in what I was thinking and writing when I was making out that list of qualities for the type of man I wanted to attract into my life. Learning that he had been or may still be a “serial adulterer” should have been a red flag to me. However, I knew nothing about red flags back then. It has only been in these past two years that I started to understand more about these red flags as indicators that something needs to be questioned or otherwise validated. Often these are clues that something may be trouble in the future.

One Thing I Missed

So what else did I not include in my list? One thing I missed was health. Perhaps I should have included that I wanted a healthy man, healthy in mind, body and spirit. I soon found out that he was not a healthy type of man because here he was on our first date telling me all of his health issues. Diabetes was the main one that had altered his life and lifestyle in the not-so-distant past. The other main one was his Crohn’s disease, so his body was not in a healthy condition. Eventually, I would also find out that his mind was not in a healthy condition, his focus was often very “negative”. Not to mention the fact that he told me he was also a functioning alcoholic but that came out later.
Now I can think of many qualities that I would like to see in a man going into any new relationship. Yet at this point in time, I am not interested at all in looking for someone else. I am taking time out, time to rediscover myself, time to heal from the past trauma. I am now on a mission of discovery.

In the beginning.

March 2009 Informed Consent. The word ‘consent’ comes up constantly in conversations about kink. People often tout it as the core element that separates BDSM from abuse.
According to kinkly.com the definition of “informed consent” is consent that is given freely and willingly by someone who is aware of what they are agreeing to. Not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, not being pressured or coerced, and of legal age. Informed consent is often referenced in BDSM communities. It is vital before starting a scene, especially any scenes that involve play that appears non-consensual, such as forced orgasm.
So I was learning more about BDSM and taking part in sexual activities that I had not experienced before. Especially bondage. There are a number of things that you need to understand. It is very important to be able to trust the person you are with. I was and I am very trusting by nature. Safewords are important. So I was given a safe word to use at any time that I felt uncomfortable and wanted to stop. Red is a commonly used safe word, meaning stop. I was also instructed, to write a journal. Oh, and I nearly forgot I should call him “Sir”. That I should “thank him” by saying “Thank you, Sir” after our BDSM sex sessions or orgasms.
Actually, I did write down a few of my experiences with him and I still have the notebook. I have also written about my sexual adventures before I met him. That might be yet another type of book!! I even thought of a title for that book a long time ago. It was going to be called “Embroidered With Truth”.

A different kind of love

So having been advised to keep a journal was something no man had asked me to do. However, he was a different type of man. I felt safe and secure with him, I felt cared for. I felt he was my friend, lover, and soul mate.
So just eight weeks into this new relationship he has asked me to write, “Why do I love him?” So I write in my notebook.
Why do I love him?
He makes me feel special, loved. Wanted and sexy. He turns me on.
He makes me laugh. I like the way he makes love to me. He pays me attention and compliments me. He is a good cook, mmm!!
He spoils me!
He looks after me, I feel protected and secure when I am with him.
I feel strong emotional bonds.

First Stages Of Our Relationship

Now, obviously, all of this was in the first stages of our relationship. It all sounds fantastic, and I suppose it was at the time. Even though I was cautious and I did not want to feel the pain of loss and hurt again. I was holding my emotions in check. In the first two meetings, I was told that he felt that he’d known me for a long time. That he felt comfortable with me. I felt very comfortable as well, I put my trust in him, and I believed in him.
Later, I learned that what I had been experiencing at this stage was the “love bombing” phase. The idealization stage of narcissistic abuse. I really had no idea that such a thing existed. It wasn’t until much later that I came to see and understand more about how these types of relationships work.
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https://preview.redd.it/abz1sfmm9s2b1.png?width=1600&format=png&auto=webp&s=047cdfb138b2e1419f94539e2d88d523bfa423c4
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submitted by MMON_ALMonline to Post_SeparationAbuse [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 11:47 orisamgyeopsal a random man in public followed me around the other day and it kinda messed me up

idk why, it's not like he physically harmed me or said anything or even took pictures of me. I was doing normal people stuff, walking to the corner store to buy stuff for dinner. when I left the store I saw him in my peripheral vision and just kinda suddenly felt sick. He was walking in the same direction I was, so I ducked into several stores to see if it was a coincidence and he was always waiting outside each one. it was scary and I only got away because one employee noticed I was distressed and I asked for help
I've never been followed around in public before and I noticed ever since this happened I've been not sleeping well, feeling sad a lot, and paranoid. I figure it's because of that day, and I'm not sure if this is a normal reaction given that nothing happened to me
submitted by orisamgyeopsal to redscarepod [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 11:18 Finderella1992 Bank holiday Monday means only one thing

Bank holiday Monday means only one thing
Bank holiday Monday means only one thing
It’s bring your bird to work day
I’m 2 keyboard keys down
Poop on desk
Pellets everywhere
Small flood where he pushed his water on the floor
Staff wondering where all the screaming is coming from
A man just took a picture of me with a bird on my head as I tried to help with his enquiry
He is staring at me with disapproving eyes as I post
submitted by Finderella1992 to cockatiel [link] [comments]

2023.05.29 10:56 princessisnotamused7 Did we just dodge a scam? Or was he really just want nice pictures?

This has been sitting in my mind for months. I have tried looking through this sub to see if anybody encounter anything similar, but haven't seen any yet.
So, I and my friend travel to Amsterdam a couple of months ago. We were sitting by the canal chatting and chilling, then a guy came up to us and asked us to take pictures of him with the view, using his phone.
We took a couple of pics for him. Then, he checked the pics and was like oh his phone screen cracked so the quality of the pics were not that good. He liked Amsterdam so he really want nice pics etc.
He then asked us if we can use our phone camera to take pics for him, then sent them through airdrop. I thought it sounded weird. Like screen crack and pic quality aren't really related? So I told him we both use android phone. He was like okay thanks and left.
We saw him went to another group of girls and I think they also declined because he walked away from the canal.
So, this has been sitting on me and my friend's mind. Did we just escape a scam? Or did he really want a nice pic? He seemed genuinely bummed with the crack on his phone screen though.
submitted by princessisnotamused7 to Scams [link] [comments]