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2024.05.17 00:13 LilaBackAtIt The MAFS Facade
I love Lauren, completely supported her throughout the series, she’s iconic. However, Jono’s claims do seem pretty credible to me. Let’s be real, many of them go on the show because of the exposure it gives. It jumpstarts careers as influencers / low level celebrities.
Given that Lauren is literally an expert in PR and social media marketing, is it really so far fetched that she would have said that it’s pathetic to actually think you’ll find love on the show? I’ll be honest, I kind of think that myself.
Her problem is that she’s too outspoken and honest, so she probably said it to Jono thinking he was on the same page. So he said yes and played along until he flipped the switch and used it against her (like the snakey man we know him to be).
But this would all really explain why Jono and Ellie were so harsh towards her. They found a genuine connection (two snakes, like for like) and wanted to try a genuine relationship, why would they let a fake PR relationship get in the way of this?
It also explains why Sara did what she did. I think she had the same attitude, which is why she thought it okay to visit her ex.
I think this is the problem with MAFS, it’s hard to know how genuine it all is. Especially with the way they are talking about editing, even moments like the Eden missing her flight which dominated much of an episode appear to be edited to make it something it wasn’t.
The cast talk about how their reactions and expressions are used for different moments to create storylines.
Now I know of course reality tv is always heavily edited and dramatised, but this seems particularly manipulative? I don’t know.
submitted by LilaBackAtIt to MAFS_AU [link] [comments]
Given that Lauren is literally an expert in PR and social media marketing, is it really so far fetched that she would have said that it’s pathetic to actually think you’ll find love on the show? I’ll be honest, I kind of think that myself.
Her problem is that she’s too outspoken and honest, so she probably said it to Jono thinking he was on the same page. So he said yes and played along until he flipped the switch and used it against her (like the snakey man we know him to be).
But this would all really explain why Jono and Ellie were so harsh towards her. They found a genuine connection (two snakes, like for like) and wanted to try a genuine relationship, why would they let a fake PR relationship get in the way of this?
It also explains why Sara did what she did. I think she had the same attitude, which is why she thought it okay to visit her ex.
I think this is the problem with MAFS, it’s hard to know how genuine it all is. Especially with the way they are talking about editing, even moments like the Eden missing her flight which dominated much of an episode appear to be edited to make it something it wasn’t.
The cast talk about how their reactions and expressions are used for different moments to create storylines.
Now I know of course reality tv is always heavily edited and dramatised, but this seems particularly manipulative? I don’t know.
2024.05.17 00:06 hmwhatever_ AITAH, her dad called me and said i ruined her whole life.
I knew my gf for about 4 years and even rejected her once in the first year of our meeting because of certain conditions. We couldn't meet or talk to each other even on phone in the day and i would have to breach the local firewall and use instagram on a pc to talk to her... We met like 3 times in 4 years but we talked on the phone at night toooo much.... The hell(due to studies, asian families take away the phone and try to force you into the books) i was to experience the Hell for about 1 and half years more so i knew for a fact that if i started a relationship we would end up breaking up due to the long distance and totally no physical time together and even talking or chatting was hard i used to chat to her every 3 4 days due to the hell being at its climax... I needed her to hold out for 4 5 months more, i couldn't reject someone and make them stay for me for a year waiting... I was a coward not to tell her the true reason of me rejecting her..... And made it up that i think of her as only a bestie.....fast forward 4 months..... She suddenly chatted that she has a bf now after 20 days of not Chatting with me(she had her phone and she was out of her hell for about 4 5 months) she sent me a photo of her and her bf (🥺😣😣😔)heartwrenching pic man, he was holding her from behind and that was in the bathroon mirror. Pridefully and as a good man i told her to live happily and i understood that she has moved on and this is life.... I sat on that chair all night and didnt sleep that night..... Long story short she had to leave him because her ex was a abusing hitting bastard who would hold other girls' hand and sympathetically gain her trust back and even forced her to be intimate.... Fast forward 4 months..... I was out of the hell and we started talking where i tried to tell her to stay in the relationship but when i knew that he was a bastard i tried to break them up.... But still i knew i had no place in her heart.... She broke up.... I kept on talking.... Fast forward 6 months.... She once again went into a relationship for the same reason(insecurities) and now with a guy she knew just for 3 days and was even intimate with him.... That guy was too a bastard and only wanted a fbw.... She got tricked again and she started to talk to me again..... Now the third time she started talking to some other guy and they were dirty talking.... I found that out and i saud that she should push for a relationship and leave me..... I believe that only bf or bsf should exist at once.... So the other guy also wanted a fbw...... She git tricked again.... We met like 3 4 times in 4 years but we were so connected through phone that we knew everything about each others lifes..... One fine day we tried to secretly go on a trip.... It worked out and we went on a 10 day trip where our family didn't knew we were together.... I finally proposed her at the end of the trip and expressed all of thoughts and concerns and why i rejected.... She told me thag she loved me all this time but she couldn't help but think i only say her as a frd.... Fast forward to now... Due to her other relationships she was so insecure that even if i watch a movie with females in it she would start taunting me that i didn't like her and wanted to have sex with the actresses.... And i felt so wronged.... I finally bursted one day and confronted her that she was the one who went to other guys and i stayed single because i lived her all the time.... And she was even intimate with other guys(i cannot fathom this part man, i just cannot) but i love her..... So she taunts me until i break down mentally and start crying but then she says that she has no control and she is trying to fix the bad parts created by her past..... This continues for 3 4 months and i am now just exhausted.... I used the word breakup to threaten her to stop her taunting and even said that she was the one who was intimate with other guys.... She started crying very hard very hard..... And her dad called me up and confronted me that i ruined her whole life and her career and her studies..... Man her past relationships are what ruined her not me.... But when she taunts me i just keep seeing this scene of her kissing her ex or making out or being physical with her ex and it is unbearable.... Due to her trauma i have got a trauma now..... We were in a long dist frdship and now were in a long dist relationship.... And here dad said to never call her again......
submitted by hmwhatever_ to AITAH [link] [comments]
2024.05.16 23:42 longdistamce Here is a way to get your Credit Karma transactions in a CSV file. Tutorial retrieving transactions from Credit Karma based on Month using Javascript code (No coding experience)
Since I have been getting messages randomly, I figured this might be helpful. This is created off another users post from here https://www.reddit.com/mintuit/comments/197g5nz/use_a_script_to_extract_transactions_from_credit/
Anyways I will try to make this beginner friendly with step by step instructions. It isnt very hard, you just might do somethings on the browser you haven't done before. High level, all were doing is running some code that will help us download what is on the screen of Credit Karma transactions
Steps:
Let me know if you have any questions or any other requests and I'll try to make it
submitted by longdistamce to mintuit [link] [comments]
Anyways I will try to make this beginner friendly with step by step instructions. It isnt very hard, you just might do somethings on the browser you haven't done before. High level, all were doing is running some code that will help us download what is on the screen of Credit Karma transactions
Steps:
- Go to https://www.creditkarma.com/networth/transactions
- Go to Dev Tools Console, you can use any of these methods
- Right click anywhere on screen, select "Inspect", go to the "Console" tab
- If using Chrome on Mac, shortcut keys to open the console is Command + option + J
- Screen should look something like this (keep in mind you want to be on the Console tab highlighted in red):
- Copy and paste this code into the console:
function convertDateFormat(inputDate) { // Parse the input date string var parsedDate = new Date(inputDate);
// Extract day, month, and year var day = ("0" + parsedDate.getDate()).slice(-2); var month = ("0" + (parsedDate.getMonth() + 1)).slice(-2); var year = parsedDate.getFullYear(); // Construct the new date format var newDateFormat = month + "/" + day + "/" + year; return newDateFormat;}
function extractNumber(inputString) { // Use regular expression to match the number with parentheses, dollar sign, and commas var match = inputString.match(/\$(([)]+))/);
// If there's a match, extract the number, remove commas, and convert it to a float if (match && match[1]) { var numberWithCommas = match[1]; var numberWithoutCommas = numberWithCommas.replace(/,/g, ''); return inputString.startsWith('-') ? -parseFloat(numberWithoutCommas) : parseFloat(numberWithoutCommas); } // If no match, return NaN or handle it according to your requirement return NaN;}
function extractNumber(inputString) { // Use regular expression to match the number with or without a dollar sign and optional minus sign var match = inputString.match(/-?\$?(\d{1,3}(,\d{3})*(.\d+)?.\d+)$/);
// If there's a match, extract the number, remove commas, and convert it to a float if (match) { var numberString = match[1].replace(/,/g, ''); var extractedNumber = parseFloat(numberString); return inputString.startsWith('-') ? -extractedNumber : extractedNumber; } // If no match, return NaN or handle it according to your requirement return NaN;}
function extractAmount(element) { const selector1 = '.row-value div:nth-child(1)'; const selector2 = '.f4.fw5.kpl-color-palette-green-50 div:nth-child(1)';
let amountElement = element.querySelector(selector1); let temp = ''; if (amountElement) { temp = amountElement.textContent.trim(); } else { amountElement = element.querySelector(selector2); temp = amountElement ? amountElement.textContent.trim() : ''; } return extractNumber(temp); // return temp;}
function extractTransactionInfo(element) { const transactionInfo = { dataIndex: '', description: '', category: '', amount: '', date: '' };
// Extracting dataIndex transactionInfo.dataIndex = element.getAttribute('data-index'); // Extracting description const descriptionElement = element.querySelector('.row-title div:nth-child(1)'); transactionInfo.description = descriptionElement ? descriptionElement.textContent.trim() : ''; // Extracting category const categoryElement = element.querySelector('.row-title div:nth-child(2)'); transactionInfo.category = categoryElement ? categoryElement.textContent.trim() : ''; // Extracting amount // const amountElement = element.querySelector('.row-value div:nth-child(1), .f4.fw5.kpl-color-palette-green-50 div:nth-child(1)'); // temp = amountElement ? amountElement.textContent.trim() : ''; // transactionInfo.amount = extractNumber(temp); transactionInfo.amount = extractAmount(element) transactionInfo.transactionType = transactionInfo.amount >= 0 ? 'credit' : 'debit'; transactionInfo.amount = Math.abs(transactionInfo.amount) // Extracting date const dateElement = element.querySelector('.row-value div:nth-child(2), .f4.fw5.kpl-color-palette-green-50 div:nth-child(2)'); transactionInfo.date = dateElement ? dateElement.textContent.trim() : ''; return transactionInfo;}
function extractAllTransactions() { // Select all transaction elements in the current window const transactionElements = document.querySelectorAll('[data-index]');
// Iterate through each transaction element and extract information return Array.from(transactionElements, element => extractTransactionInfo(element));
}
function combineTransactions(existingTransactions, newTransactions) { // Check for duplicates and add only unique transactions const uniqueNewTransactions = newTransactions.filter(newTransaction => !existingTransactions.some(existingTransaction => existingTransaction.dataIndex === newTransaction.dataIndex) );
return [...existingTransactions, ...uniqueNewTransactions];
}
function filterEmptyTransactions(transactions) { // Filter out transactions with all information empty // return transactions.filter(transaction => // Object.values(transaction).some(value => value.trim() !== '') return transactions.filter(transaction => transaction.amount !== null && transaction.amount !== undefined && transaction.date !== '' ); }
function convertToCSV(transactions) { const header = 'Date,Description,Original Description, Amount, Transaction Type, Category, Account Name, Labels, Notes\n'; const rows = transactions.map(transaction => "${convertDateFormat(transaction.date)}","${transaction.description}","${transaction.description}","${transaction.amount}","${transaction.transactionType}","${transaction.category}",,,\n ); return header + rows.join(''); }
function saveCSVToFile(csvData, fileName) { const blob = new Blob([csvData], { type: 'text/csv' }); const link = document.createElement('a'); link.href = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob); link.download = fileName; link.click(); }
function logResults(allTransactions, filteredTransactions, csvData) { // console.log('All Transactions:', allTransactions); console.log('Filtered Transactions:', filteredTransactions); console.log('CSV Data:', csvData); }
// Function to scroll down the page function scrollDown() { window.scrollTo(0, window.scrollY + window.innerHeight); }
// Use this function to capture transactions and scroll down with a limit of 3 scrolls async function captureAndScroll(scrollLimit) { let allTransactions = [];
// Capture transactions in the current window and scroll down until the scroll limit is reached for (let scrolls = 0; scrolls < scrollLimit; scrolls++) { const newTransactions = extractAllTransactions(); allTransactions = combineTransactions(allTransactions, newTransactions); scrollDown(); await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000)); // Wait for content to load (adjust the delay if needed) } // Filter out transactions with all information empty const filteredTransactions = filterEmptyTransactions(allTransactions); // Convert transactions to CSV const csvData = convertToCSV(filteredTransactions); // Save CSV data to a CSV file saveCSVToFile(csvData, 'transactions.csv'); // Log the final results logResults(allTransactions, filteredTransactions, csvData);} async function captureTransactionsInMonth(targetMonth) { let allTransactions = [];
while (true) { // Capture transactions in the current window const newTransactions = extractAllTransactions(); // Combine newly captured transactions with existing ones allTransactions = combineTransactions(allTransactions, newTransactions); // Check if any transaction is in a month prior to the target month const priorMonthTransaction = newTransactions.find(transaction => { const transactionDate = new Date(transaction.date); return transactionDate < new Date(targetMonth.getFullYear(), targetMonth.getMonth(), 1); }); // If a transaction in a prior month is found, stop scrolling if (priorMonthTransaction) { break; } // If no new transactions are loaded, stop scrolling if (newTransactions.length === 0) { break; } // Scroll down scrollDown(); await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 1000)); // Wait for content to load (adjust the delay if needed) } // Filter transactions for the target month const currentMonthTransactions = allTransactions.filter(transaction => new Date(transaction.date).getMonth() === targetMonth.getMonth() && new Date(transaction.date).getFullYear() === targetMonth.getFullYear() ); // Convert transactions to CSV const csvData = convertToCSV(currentMonthTransactions); // Save CSV data to a CSV file saveCSVToFile(csvData, `transactions_${targetMonth.getMonth() + 1}_${targetMonth.getFullYear()}.csv`); // Log the final results logResults(allTransactions, currentMonthTransactions, csvData);}
// Usage example: Capture transactions for March 2024 const targetMonth = new Date(2024, 2); // March is 2 (zero-based index) captureTransactionsInMonth(targetMonth); - Press Enter, you should see your screen scroll and continue till it reaches the end of the month (this might take a minute or two depending on how many transactions you have). For example, in the code it specifies new Date(2024, 2); // March is 2 (zero-based index) so the screen will scroll until it reaches February 2024 and then downloads the file for March 2024 transactions. Depending on your browser settings, the file should download once the code is done scrolling and running
Let me know if you have any questions or any other requests and I'll try to make it
2024.05.16 23:37 GreyClash Blogging isn’t dead in my book
Ignore me I'm feeling a bit intoxicated and I would like to express my thoughts.
Although the new Google core update released in March had a significant impact on small blogs, I believe that blogging is still alive and well.We need to put in more effort to secure a spot in the top 5.
I firmly believe in the principle of investing money to generate greater returns, and that is exactly what I intend to do with my blog.
I am currently dedicated to developing a substantial presence on social media and creating engaging video content.
submitted by GreyClash to Blogging [link] [comments]
Although the new Google core update released in March had a significant impact on small blogs, I believe that blogging is still alive and well.We need to put in more effort to secure a spot in the top 5.
I firmly believe in the principle of investing money to generate greater returns, and that is exactly what I intend to do with my blog.
I am currently dedicated to developing a substantial presence on social media and creating engaging video content.
2024.05.16 23:33 flyfightandgrin Exclusive Interview With Emmy Award Winning Movie, TV, and Soap Star Sean Kanan about acting.....
I recently interviewed Sean Kanan, star of 20 films and 1500 episodes of network TV. I asked the Emmy winning actor some questions specifically to help you guys in this Reddit room. He appeared in the Karate Kid 3 and Cobra Kai season 5.
He was in his early 20s when he beat out 1500 other actors to land the leading protagonist role of Mike Barnes in Karate Kid 3. Sean recently has been hosting low cost acting workshops, here are his internal and external takeaways from his training:
Internal:
Health Self Image: Actors face tremendous odds against them so healthy self image is vital. Do things to build up confidence and celebrate your wins. That small commercial appearance? That’s a brick in a powerful wall. Landed a supporting role in a play? Add it to your acting resume and keep going.
Internal Growth and Healthy Motivation:
Embrace Continuous Learning: Acting is a craft that requires constant honing. Take acting classes, workshops, and seminars regularly to refine your skills. Sean constantly took classes to develop his range as an actor which led to him being cast in both television AND movies.
Develop Emotional Intelligence: Understand human emotions deeply to portray them authentically on stage or screen. Practice empathy and observe people around you to understand different emotional nuances.
Cultivate Resilience: Rejection is a significant part of an actor's life. Learn to handle rejection positively, and use it as a tool for growth. Every audition, regardless of the outcome, is an opportunity to learn and improve.
Stay Physically and Mentally Healthy: Acting demands both physical stamina and mental agility. Exercise regularly, eat healthily, and practice mindfulness or meditation to maintain balance and focus. Sean spends a lot of time studying Philippine martial arts and making sure that regular cardio is a part of his day.
Set Realistic Goals: Break down your long-term career goals into smaller, achievable milestones. Celebrate each accomplishment along the way to stay motivated. Understand WHO you want to be and grow into that archetype.
External Actions to Grow Your Career:
Build Your Network: Attend industry events, workshops, and seminars to connect with fellow actors, directors, and casting agents. Networking plays a crucial role in finding opportunities and building relationships in the industry. Sean is known for being easy to work with, having good energy, and giving back in mentorship and guidance for new actors.
Create a Strong Portfolio: Invest in professional headshots, acting reels, and a well-crafted resume. Your portfolio is your calling card, so make sure it showcases your talent and versatility effectively.
Utilize Online Platforms: Create profiles on casting websites like Backstage, Casting Networks, or IMDbPro. These platforms often post casting calls for various projects, providing opportunities to audition for roles.
Seek Representation: Consider getting an agent or manager to represent you. A good agent can help you navigate the industry, negotiate contracts, and access auditions that may not be publicly available.
PR: If you cannot afford a PR firm, you can still do DIY with articles, videos, and short form social media letting the world know about new projects, your experiences and your skills in the acting world.
Attend Auditions Regularly: Keep an eye out for audition notices in trade publications, online platforms, and through your agent. Prepare diligently for each audition, researching the character and script beforehand.
Volunteer for Independent Projects: Offer your talents to student films, independent productions, or theater companies. These opportunities not only provide valuable experience but also help you expand your portfolio and network.
Specific Tips for Getting Television and Movie Roles:
Research Casting Directors: Identify casting directors who specialize in television and film projects within your niche. Follow them on social media, attend their workshops, and submit your materials directly to them when appropriate.
Study Scripts and Characters: Analyze scripts from popular television shows and movies to understand different genres and character archetypes. Practice cold reading and improvisation to adapt quickly during auditions. Sean landed Karate Kid 3 because of the intensity he brought to his character. He was so heated in his audition that Ralph Macchio literally said, “get this guy off me.” In that moment, he was not Sean Kanan, the casting director saw Mike Barnes, “Karate’s Bad Boy” and the rest was history.
Stay Informed About Casting Calls: Subscribe to industry newsletters, follow casting websites, and join online communities where casting calls are frequently shared. Be proactive in seeking out audition opportunities.
Prepare for Screen Tests: Screen tests are common for television and film auditions. Practice performing in front of a camera, focusing on nuances like facial expressions and body language that may be magnified on screen.
Be Versatile: While having a niche can be advantageous, versatility is also essential for landing diverse roles. Showcase your range during auditions by demonstrating your ability to embody different characters convincingly.
Remember, success in acting often comes from a combination of talent, perseverance, and luck. Stay dedicated to your craft, remain open to learning and growth, and keep pushing forward even in the face of challenges. With determination and hard work, you can carve out a fulfilling and successful career in acting.
Thanks for checking this out. If you guys have acting questions, please share below and Ill ask him the best ones and return with his answers and guidance.
submitted by flyfightandgrin to acting [link] [comments]
He was in his early 20s when he beat out 1500 other actors to land the leading protagonist role of Mike Barnes in Karate Kid 3. Sean recently has been hosting low cost acting workshops, here are his internal and external takeaways from his training:
Internal:
Health Self Image: Actors face tremendous odds against them so healthy self image is vital. Do things to build up confidence and celebrate your wins. That small commercial appearance? That’s a brick in a powerful wall. Landed a supporting role in a play? Add it to your acting resume and keep going.
Internal Growth and Healthy Motivation:
Embrace Continuous Learning: Acting is a craft that requires constant honing. Take acting classes, workshops, and seminars regularly to refine your skills. Sean constantly took classes to develop his range as an actor which led to him being cast in both television AND movies.
Develop Emotional Intelligence: Understand human emotions deeply to portray them authentically on stage or screen. Practice empathy and observe people around you to understand different emotional nuances.
Cultivate Resilience: Rejection is a significant part of an actor's life. Learn to handle rejection positively, and use it as a tool for growth. Every audition, regardless of the outcome, is an opportunity to learn and improve.
Stay Physically and Mentally Healthy: Acting demands both physical stamina and mental agility. Exercise regularly, eat healthily, and practice mindfulness or meditation to maintain balance and focus. Sean spends a lot of time studying Philippine martial arts and making sure that regular cardio is a part of his day.
Set Realistic Goals: Break down your long-term career goals into smaller, achievable milestones. Celebrate each accomplishment along the way to stay motivated. Understand WHO you want to be and grow into that archetype.
External Actions to Grow Your Career:
Build Your Network: Attend industry events, workshops, and seminars to connect with fellow actors, directors, and casting agents. Networking plays a crucial role in finding opportunities and building relationships in the industry. Sean is known for being easy to work with, having good energy, and giving back in mentorship and guidance for new actors.
Create a Strong Portfolio: Invest in professional headshots, acting reels, and a well-crafted resume. Your portfolio is your calling card, so make sure it showcases your talent and versatility effectively.
Utilize Online Platforms: Create profiles on casting websites like Backstage, Casting Networks, or IMDbPro. These platforms often post casting calls for various projects, providing opportunities to audition for roles.
Seek Representation: Consider getting an agent or manager to represent you. A good agent can help you navigate the industry, negotiate contracts, and access auditions that may not be publicly available.
PR: If you cannot afford a PR firm, you can still do DIY with articles, videos, and short form social media letting the world know about new projects, your experiences and your skills in the acting world.
Attend Auditions Regularly: Keep an eye out for audition notices in trade publications, online platforms, and through your agent. Prepare diligently for each audition, researching the character and script beforehand.
Volunteer for Independent Projects: Offer your talents to student films, independent productions, or theater companies. These opportunities not only provide valuable experience but also help you expand your portfolio and network.
Specific Tips for Getting Television and Movie Roles:
Research Casting Directors: Identify casting directors who specialize in television and film projects within your niche. Follow them on social media, attend their workshops, and submit your materials directly to them when appropriate.
Study Scripts and Characters: Analyze scripts from popular television shows and movies to understand different genres and character archetypes. Practice cold reading and improvisation to adapt quickly during auditions. Sean landed Karate Kid 3 because of the intensity he brought to his character. He was so heated in his audition that Ralph Macchio literally said, “get this guy off me.” In that moment, he was not Sean Kanan, the casting director saw Mike Barnes, “Karate’s Bad Boy” and the rest was history.
Stay Informed About Casting Calls: Subscribe to industry newsletters, follow casting websites, and join online communities where casting calls are frequently shared. Be proactive in seeking out audition opportunities.
Prepare for Screen Tests: Screen tests are common for television and film auditions. Practice performing in front of a camera, focusing on nuances like facial expressions and body language that may be magnified on screen.
Be Versatile: While having a niche can be advantageous, versatility is also essential for landing diverse roles. Showcase your range during auditions by demonstrating your ability to embody different characters convincingly.
Remember, success in acting often comes from a combination of talent, perseverance, and luck. Stay dedicated to your craft, remain open to learning and growth, and keep pushing forward even in the face of challenges. With determination and hard work, you can carve out a fulfilling and successful career in acting.
Thanks for checking this out. If you guys have acting questions, please share below and Ill ask him the best ones and return with his answers and guidance.
2024.05.16 23:33 Legion_Spyglass My first experience with Fallout 76 and unforgettable memories with a kind player
Hey guys
I'm not very experienced when it comes to posting on Reddit, but I felt like I should post about this. English is not my first language, so i apologize for any mistakes in the post. And if I'm violating any rules of this subreddit, I offer my sincerest apologies.
I'm not exactly a newcomer (at least not in the expected sense) to Fallout 76. I bought the game when it was released, but for reasons that I don't even remember, I never got to play the game beyond character creation/leaving Vault 76.
Today, 05/16/2024, around 6 or 7 PM (Lisbon GMT) I decided to play the game for the first time after creating my Vault Dweller yesterday. I went through the introduction, explored the Vault a little, collected my items, spoke to Mr Handies, opened the door, spoke to some of the NPCs around the Vault, etc.
I initially decided to go to Wayward after talking to the two girls who were looking to get into Vault 76 in search of supposed treasure. As I walked down the steps leading to the Vault and down the hill, I was approached by a high level player. He was a lvl 200-500+ and appeared to be a veteran. He was armed with a flamethrower and wearing a dark green Power Armor, which I couldn't recognize the model, it was probably some cosmetic/skin.
He started sending me friendly emojis, including hearts, hand waves, and military salutes. I initially stayed, it wasn't something I expected, and as I had just finished and started the game, and wasn't familiar with the controls, I limited myself to crouching and standing up repeatedly as a way of greeting him. After that I decided to go my own way, only to realize a few moments later that he had followed me. He ran downstairs and greeted me with emotes again, and I, limited only to the Minecraft crouch-stand language, went back to crouching down and standing up to greet him back.
When I least expect it, he throws a crate on the ground, not far from me, and shoots it with his flamethrower. I quickly understood what he meant, and opened the crate to find about 25-30 units of Stimpaks and Rad-Away. This left me speechless and it was definitely something I didn't expect, but I was equally grateful. I thanked him as much as I could through Minecraft's non-verbal language, and rushed to the help menu to find out how to send emotes, since I wanted to thank him properly, it was the least I could do.
When I finally got out of the menu to properly thank him for the gift, he was gone.
After that I tried to remember his nickname and look for him a little around, but to no avail. I closed the game and stopped to breathe and think a little. I tend to be quite emotional, and I'm not going to lie, the whole situation made me shed some tears. It was an incredible experience and certainly something I'll never forget. My friends always told me that the Fallout 76 community was amazing and welcoming, and after what I experienced, I now know they were right.
I felt compelled to share this story and express my happiness and optimism with the game, and, however small the chance, maybe meet that player again one day.
Dear Player
As small as the chances are that you are reading this, I would like to tell you that your kindness did not go unnoticed, and helped make someone's day better. Your altruism has inspired me, and once I can master the basics of the game, I hope to be like you, and allow another newbie to feel the same happiness and have the same touching experience that I felt and had when you helped me. I don't know how small or big the chances are, but I hope to meet you again during my journey through the Appalachia one day, so that I can thank you personally and properly for your help, but for now, I'd just like to say: Thank you !
To everyone who has read this far, I apologize for the long story, but I thank you for your attention. See you soon in the place we belong - West Virginia
submitted by Legion_Spyglass to fo76 [link] [comments]
I'm not very experienced when it comes to posting on Reddit, but I felt like I should post about this. English is not my first language, so i apologize for any mistakes in the post. And if I'm violating any rules of this subreddit, I offer my sincerest apologies.
I'm not exactly a newcomer (at least not in the expected sense) to Fallout 76. I bought the game when it was released, but for reasons that I don't even remember, I never got to play the game beyond character creation/leaving Vault 76.
Today, 05/16/2024, around 6 or 7 PM (Lisbon GMT) I decided to play the game for the first time after creating my Vault Dweller yesterday. I went through the introduction, explored the Vault a little, collected my items, spoke to Mr Handies, opened the door, spoke to some of the NPCs around the Vault, etc.
I initially decided to go to Wayward after talking to the two girls who were looking to get into Vault 76 in search of supposed treasure. As I walked down the steps leading to the Vault and down the hill, I was approached by a high level player. He was a lvl 200-500+ and appeared to be a veteran. He was armed with a flamethrower and wearing a dark green Power Armor, which I couldn't recognize the model, it was probably some cosmetic/skin.
He started sending me friendly emojis, including hearts, hand waves, and military salutes. I initially stayed, it wasn't something I expected, and as I had just finished and started the game, and wasn't familiar with the controls, I limited myself to crouching and standing up repeatedly as a way of greeting him. After that I decided to go my own way, only to realize a few moments later that he had followed me. He ran downstairs and greeted me with emotes again, and I, limited only to the Minecraft crouch-stand language, went back to crouching down and standing up to greet him back.
When I least expect it, he throws a crate on the ground, not far from me, and shoots it with his flamethrower. I quickly understood what he meant, and opened the crate to find about 25-30 units of Stimpaks and Rad-Away. This left me speechless and it was definitely something I didn't expect, but I was equally grateful. I thanked him as much as I could through Minecraft's non-verbal language, and rushed to the help menu to find out how to send emotes, since I wanted to thank him properly, it was the least I could do.
When I finally got out of the menu to properly thank him for the gift, he was gone.
After that I tried to remember his nickname and look for him a little around, but to no avail. I closed the game and stopped to breathe and think a little. I tend to be quite emotional, and I'm not going to lie, the whole situation made me shed some tears. It was an incredible experience and certainly something I'll never forget. My friends always told me that the Fallout 76 community was amazing and welcoming, and after what I experienced, I now know they were right.
I felt compelled to share this story and express my happiness and optimism with the game, and, however small the chance, maybe meet that player again one day.
Dear Player
As small as the chances are that you are reading this, I would like to tell you that your kindness did not go unnoticed, and helped make someone's day better. Your altruism has inspired me, and once I can master the basics of the game, I hope to be like you, and allow another newbie to feel the same happiness and have the same touching experience that I felt and had when you helped me. I don't know how small or big the chances are, but I hope to meet you again during my journey through the Appalachia one day, so that I can thank you personally and properly for your help, but for now, I'd just like to say: Thank you !
To everyone who has read this far, I apologize for the long story, but I thank you for your attention. See you soon in the place we belong - West Virginia
2024.05.16 23:27 TwistRepulsive6518 [OTHER] The Obey Me! Anime but as a 'Mockumentary'
![[OTHER] The Obey Me! Anime but as a 'Mockumentary'](https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/4OzTvXIqIDl1Y3yaL4CoVE8aGQS6crmVXafj8bXBszg.jpg "[OTHER] The Obey Me! Anime but as a 'Mockumentary'") | This is part 3 of stealing stuff from other franchises (LOL), but this time I'm writing about the anime because I was bored and had another thought that needs to be set free onto the world. submitted by TwistRepulsive6518 to obeyme [link] [comments] I want to preface this by saying I LOVE the anime, its funny and cute; its very 'slice of life'-ie and the boys are all so silly in this version. but I want something different, and hopefully longer episodes. So, what is a 'Mockumentary'? essentially its a mix of the words 'Mock' and 'Documentary'. Google defines it as 'a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a documentary which in itself is a subset of a faux-documentary style of film-making.' Think of shows such as 'Modern Family' and 'The Office'. i'm going to try and follow some of the plots in the actual anime but trying to get it to fit 22 minutes which is how long episodes usually are of this type. i try to keep it condensed or we'd be here all day <3 I tried my best
Ep 1: No motivation to study Main Plot points:
Plot A:
Ep 2: Ruri-chan viewing party Main Plot points:
Plot A:
Ep 3: For whom the belly rumbles Main Plot points: (I got inspired by the episode of 'Modern Family', 'Connection Lost')
Plot A:
Ep 4: Princess Asmodeous is in another Castle Main Plot points:
Plot A:
Ep 5: Mammon and the Dog Main Plot points:
A plot:
Ep 6: Detective Satan Main Plot points:
Plot A:
Ep 7: Camp Lucifer Main Plot points:
Plot A:
Ep 8: A trip for 7 Main Plot points:
Plot A:
Ep 9: Beach Babes Main Plot points:
Plot A:
Ep 10: A bunny boy's New Years' Main Plot points:
Plot A:
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2024.05.16 23:11 Sweet-Count2557 15 Things to Do With Houston Kids Over Christmas Break
 | 15 Things to Do With Houston Kids Over Christmas Break Looking for ways to keep your kids entertained and make the most of their Christmas break in Houston?Well, let me tell you about one exciting activity that will surely pique your interest. Imagine gliding across the ice, surrounded by the sparkling lights and festive atmosphere at Discovery Green's ice skating rink. It's a perfect opportunity for some family fun and a chance to create unforgettable memories.But that's just the beginning! We have compiled a list of 15 things that will guarantee a memorable and enjoyable Christmas break for you and your little ones.So, keep reading to discover the other exciting activities that await you in Houston.Key TakeawaysHouston offers a variety of holiday light displays and attractions, including neighborhoods known for extravagant lights, the Light Park in Katy, and Galaxy Lights at Space Center Houston.The Houston Botanic Garden presents Radiant Nature, an illuminated wonderland featuring Chinese lantern installations, offering a unique and enchanting holiday attraction.Ice at Discovery Green provides an outdoor ice skating rink where families can skate with Santa on select days, allowing them to embrace the holiday spirit.Indoor play spaces like Wonderwild in the Heights and Frolics Castle at Memorial City Mall offer safe and entertaining environments for kids to release their energy and have a great time during the holiday break.Holiday Lights and DisplaysLet's explore the magical world of holiday lights and displays in Houston, where neighborhoods come alive with dazzling decorations and festive cheer. Houston is known for its extravagant holiday lights, and two neighborhoods that stand out are River Oaks and Pecan Grove. These neighborhoods go all out, creating breathtaking displays that are perfect for holiday lights photography.As you drive around, you'll be amazed by the festive atmosphere that fills the air. The streets are lined with beautiful displays and decorations that will surely put you in the holiday spirit. It's a wonderful experience to immerse yourself in the joy of the season and create lasting memories with your family.If you're looking for a unique light experience, check out The Light Park in Katy. It offers a drive-thru light experience, allowing you to enjoy the dazzling displays from the comfort of your own car.Another immersive holiday event is Galaxy Lights at Space Center Houston. Here, you can explore the wonders of space while being surrounded by stunning light displays.But the holiday lights aren't limited to neighborhoods. Houston also offers other attractions that are worth visiting. The Houston Botanic Garden presents Radiant Nature, an illuminated wonderland where you can explore dozens of Chinese lantern installations after dark. It's a magical transformation of the Gardens that showcases the beauty of nature in a new light.For some outdoor fun, head to Ice at Discovery Green. They offer an outdoor ice skating rink where you can glide across the ice and embrace the holiday spirit.And if you're looking for indoor play spaces, Wonderwild in the Heights and Frolics Castle at Memorial City Mall are great options. They provide safe and entertaining environments for your kids to release their energy and have a great time.In Houston, the holiday lights and displays are truly a sight to behold. Whether you're strolling through neighborhoods or visiting attractions, you'll be mesmerized by the festive atmosphere and the stunning decorations. So grab your camera, gather your loved ones, and embark on a magical journey through the best neighborhoods for holiday lights in Houston.Galaxy Lights at Space Center HoustonAs we continue our exploration of Houston's enchanting holiday lights and displays, let's now venture into the immersive and awe-inspiring world of Galaxy Lights at Space Center Houston. This holiday event takes Houston's holiday light displays to a whole new level, transporting visitors into a dazzling galaxy of lights and wonder.Here's why you should add Galaxy Lights to your must-visit list this Christmas break:Spectacular Light Displays: Space Center Houston's Galaxy Lights boasts an incredible array of light installations that will leave you in awe. From twinkling stars to colorful planets, you'll feel like you're floating through space as you stroll through this captivating wonderland.Interactive Experiences: In addition to the breathtaking light displays, Galaxy Lights offers interactive experiences that are fun for the whole family. Step into a virtual reality experience and take a journey through the solar system, or try your hand at controlling a rover on Mars. These interactive elements add an extra layer of excitement and engagement to the event.Festive Entertainment: Galaxy Lights also features live performances and festive entertainment to get you in the holiday spirit. From holiday-themed laser light shows to live music, there's something for everyone to enjoy. You can even catch a glimpse of Santa Claus himself as he makes special appearances throughout the event.With Space Center Houston's Galaxy Lights, you'll not only get to experience Houston's holiday light displays, but also embark on an unforgettable journey through the cosmos. So gather your family and embrace the freedom to explore this enchanting holiday event that will create lasting memories for years to come.The Light Park in KatyThe Light Park in Katy offers a mesmerizing drive-thru light experience that will transport you and your family into a magical winter wonderland. As you enter the park, you'll be greeted by a dazzling display of lights, creating an enchanting atmosphere that's sure to ignite your holiday spirit. The drive-thru experience allows you to enjoy the beautiful light displays from the comfort of your own vehicle, making it a convenient and family-friendly holiday activity.As you navigate through the park, you'll be treated to a symphony of colors and shapes, with each display more stunning than the last. From towering Christmas trees adorned with twinkling lights to whimsical scenes depicting Santa's workshop, there's something for everyone to enjoy. The attention to detail is truly remarkable, and you'll find yourself in awe of the artistry and creativity that went into creating this magical light park.The Light Park in Katy is the perfect way to spend an evening with your loved ones. The drive-thru format allows you to go at your own pace and take in the sights at your leisure. Whether you're looking for a romantic date night or a fun outing with the whole family, this holiday attraction has it all.Houston Botanic Garden's Radiant NatureHouston Botanic Garden's Radiant Nature presents a breathtaking illuminated wonderland for visitors of all ages to explore and enjoy. Step into a magical illumination that transforms the garden into a nature wonderland, creating an enchanting experience like no other.Here's why you should add Radiant Nature to your list of must-see holiday attractions:Immerse yourself in the beauty of nature: As you wander through the garden, you'll encounter dozens of Chinese lantern installations that come alive after dark. These intricate and colorful lanterns illuminate the surroundings, creating a mesmerizing atmosphere that celebrates the wonders of the natural world.Witness the transformation of the Gardens: Radiant Nature showcases the garden in a whole new light, quite literally. The enchanting illumination highlights the unique features of the plants and landscapes, allowing you to see them in a different perspective. It's a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the beauty and diversity of the botanical world.Create lasting memories with your family: Radiant Nature offers a memorable experience for the whole family. From strolling through illuminated pathways to discovering hidden surprises, there's something for everyone to enjoy. Let the magical ambiance spark joy and wonder in your children's eyes as they explore this captivating nature wonderland.Don't miss out on this enchanting holiday attraction. Radiant Nature at Houston Botanic Garden promises to transport you to a world of magical illumination and natural beauty. So, gather your loved ones and embark on a delightful adventure that will leave you with cherished memories.Ice Skating at Discovery GreenGet ready to lace up your skates and hit the ice at Discovery Green for a fun-filled and festive ice skating experience. At Discovery Green, you can enjoy outdoor ice skating in the heart of downtown Houston. This popular holiday attraction offers a magical setting where you can glide across the ice and embrace the holiday spirit.The outdoor ice skating rink at Discovery Green is the perfect place to create lasting memories with your family. Imagine the joy on your children's faces as they take their first steps on the ice. As you skate hand in hand, you can feel the excitement in the air and the holiday cheer all around you.One of the highlights of ice skating at Discovery Green is the opportunity to skate with Santa on select days. This special event allows your little ones to meet Santa Claus himself while enjoying the thrill of gliding on the ice. It's an experience that combines two beloved holiday traditions and will surely make this Christmas break one to remember.Whether you're a seasoned skater or a beginner, Discovery Green's ice skating rink offers a wonderful activity for everyone. The rink is surrounded by festive decorations, adding to the holiday ambiance. So, grab your skates and join in the fun as you twirl and spin on the ice, surrounded by the beauty of Discovery Green.Ice skating at Discovery Green is just one of the many holiday-themed activities that Houston has to offer. So, take advantage of the freedom that the Christmas break brings and explore all the festive attractions in the city. From dazzling light displays to enchanting holiday events, there's something for everyone to enjoy during this magical time of year.Don't miss out on the chance to make unforgettable memories with your loved ones. Lace up your skates and let the adventure begin!Wonderwild Indoor Play SpaceWhen it comes to finding a fun and adventure-filled play space for kids in Houston, Wonderwild in the Heights is the place to be. At Wonderwild, children can enjoy exciting indoor playtime and engage in active entertainment.Here are three reasons why Wonderwild is the perfect destination for your little ones:Endless Fun: Wonderwild offers a wide variety of activities that will keep your kids entertained for hours. From climbing walls to giant slides, there's something for everyone. Children can explore the colorful play structures, navigate obstacle courses, and even bounce on trampolines. The possibilities for fun are endless, and your kids will have a blast letting their imaginations run wild.Safe Environment: Wonderwild prioritizes the safety of its young visitors. The play space is designed with padded floors and walls to ensure a secure environment for children to play freely. Additionally, the staff members are attentive and trained to maintain a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone. You can relax and have peace of mind knowing that your kids are in good hands.Physical Activity: In today's digital age, it's important to encourage children to engage in physical activity. Wonderwild provides the perfect opportunity for kids to get moving and stay active. Whether they're climbing, sliding, or jumping, they'll be getting exercise while having fun. This indoor play space allows children to burn off energy and develop their motor skills in a controlled and supervised setting.Frolics Castle at Memorial City MallLocated within Memorial City Mall, Frolics Castle is a fantastic indoor play area where kids can unleash their imaginations and have a blast. This kids play area is the perfect destination for mall entertainment and offers a safe and exciting environment for children to play and explore. With its colorful and whimsical design, Frolics Castle will capture the attention of kids of all ages.Inside Frolics Castle, children can climb, slide, and crawl through various play structures, allowing them to release their energy and have a great time. The castle-themed play area is filled with interactive elements, including tunnels, bridges, and obstacles, that will keep kids engaged and entertained for hours. They can let their imaginations run wild as they pretend to be knights, princesses, or even dragons in this magical setting.Parents can relax and enjoy some shopping or take a break while their children play in Frolics Castle. The play area is conveniently located within Memorial City Mall, making it a convenient option for families looking for mall entertainment. It provides a safe and supervised space for kids to have fun, while also giving parents the chance to browse the mall or grab a bite to eat.Frolics Castle at Memorial City Mall is a must-visit destination for families during the holiday break. It offers an enjoyable and engaging experience for kids, allowing them to burn off some energy and have a memorable time. So, if you're looking for a fun and exciting activity for your children, head over to Frolics Castle and let the adventure begin!Neighborhood Holiday LightsAs we explore the enchanting world of holiday lights in Houston, prepare to be dazzled by the neighborhoods that go above and beyond to create a festive atmosphere. There's nothing quite like taking a drive through the city during the holiday season and witnessing the magical display of neighborhood holiday lights.Here are three neighborhoods that are known for their extravagant displays:River Oaks: This upscale neighborhood is famous for its stunning holiday lights. As you drive through the streets, you'll be greeted by beautifully decorated mansions, adorned with twinkling lights and festive decorations. It's a sight that will truly take your breath away.Pecan Grove: Located in Richmond, Pecan Grove is another neighborhood that goes all out when it comes to holiday lights. The entire community comes together to create a festive atmosphere, with each house competing to have the most dazzling display. You'll be amazed by the creativity and effort that goes into these decorations.The Light Park in Katy: For a unique and immersive holiday experience, head to The Light Park in Katy. This drive-thru light park features over a million lights, synchronized to holiday music. As you drive through the park, you'll be surrounded by a dazzling display of lights, creating a truly magical atmosphere.Driving through these neighborhoods and experiencing the festive atmosphere is a wonderful way to embrace the holiday spirit and create lasting memories with your family. So grab some hot cocoa, hop in the car, and get ready to be amazed by the neighborhood holiday lights in Houston.Festive Atmosphere DriveReady to immerse yourself in the holiday spirit? Hop in the car and embark on a festive atmosphere drive through the neighborhoods of Houston, where dazzling light displays and beautiful decorations await.There's something magical about driving through neighborhoods adorned with twinkling lights and festive decorations. It's a tradition that brings joy and excitement to both young and old. As you cruise through the streets, you'll be greeted by houses decked out in colorful lights, extravagant displays, and whimsical decorations. It's a feast for the eyes and a surefire way to get into the holiday mood.One neighborhood that's known for its extravagant holiday lights is River Oaks. The houses in this area go all out, creating a truly enchanting atmosphere. Pecan Grove is another neighborhood worth visiting, as it boasts stunning displays that are sure to leave you in awe. As you drive around, take your time to admire each house and appreciate the effort that goes into creating such festive scenes.If you're looking for a more immersive experience, consider visiting The Light Park in Katy. This drive-thru light experience offers a dazzling display of lights synchronized to festive music. It's a magical journey that will leave you and your family in awe. Another option is Galaxy Lights at Space Center Houston, where you can explore a winter wonderland filled with interactive displays and larger-than-life light installations.A festive atmosphere drive is a wonderful way to create lasting memories with your family. So gather your loved ones, turn up the holiday tunes, and set off on a magical adventure through the neighborhoods of Houston. Enjoy the beauty of the lights, the joy in the air, and the warmth of the holiday spirit. It's a time to be together, to be filled with wonder, and to embrace the magic of the season.Chinese Lantern InstallationsIf you're looking for a unique and enchanting holiday attraction in Houston, be sure to explore the dozens of Chinese lantern installations after dark at the Houston Botanic Garden's Radiant Nature. This breathtaking display is part of the Chinese lantern festivals, which are cultural celebrations that showcase intricate and vibrant lanterns.Here's why you should make a visit to Radiant Nature a priority this Christmas break:Immersive Experience: As you walk through the Houston Botanic Garden, you'll be transported to a world of wonder and magic. The Chinese lantern installations create a mesmerizing ambiance, illuminating the night sky with their stunning colors and designs. It's an experience that will captivate both children and adults alike.Cultural Appreciation: The Chinese lantern festivals are deeply rooted in tradition and symbolism. Each lantern tells a story and represents different aspects of Chinese culture. By visiting Radiant Nature, you'll not only be entertained but also have the opportunity to learn and appreciate the rich heritage behind these beautiful lanterns.Family Bonding: The holiday season is all about spending quality time with your loved ones, and visiting Radiant Nature is the perfect way to do just that. As you stroll together through the garden, you can marvel at the intricate lanterns, share laughter and create lasting memories. It's a chance to slow down, embrace the freedom of the moment, and enjoy the company of your family.Outdoor Ice Skating RinksAfter exploring the enchanting Chinese lantern installations at the Houston Botanic Garden's Radiant Nature, it's time to lace up our skates and glide into the next festive adventure - outdoor ice skating rinks. Outdoor ice skating is a classic winter activity that brings joy and excitement to people of all ages. Houston may not have the coldest winters, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy this icy pastime. So, grab your warmest coats and hats, because we're about to hit the ice!When it comes to outdoor ice skating, there are a few tips to keep in mind. First, dress in layers to stay warm while on the ice. It's important to stay cozy, but also be able to move freely. Second, wear thick socks to provide extra cushioning and insulation for your feet. And don't forget to bring gloves to keep your hands toasty!Now, let's talk about the best outdoor ice skating rinks in Houston. One popular spot is the Ice at Discovery Green. Located in the heart of downtown, this rink offers a picturesque setting with the city skyline as its backdrop. Another great option is the Memorial City Ice Rink. This outdoor rink is surrounded by festive decorations and offers a fun and lively atmosphere.Whether you're a seasoned skater or a beginner, outdoor ice skating is a fantastic way to embrace the holiday spirit and create lasting memories with your family and friends. So, let's lace up our skates and glide across the ice, feeling the exhilaration and freedom that comes with this winter activity. Houston may not be known for its icy winters, but that won't stop us from enjoying the thrill of outdoor ice skating!Immersive Holiday EventWe can't wait to dive into the immersive holiday event and be transported into a world of enchantment and wonder. Here are three reasons why we're excited about this experience:Interactive Light Displays:Picture yourself surrounded by a mesmerizing array of lights that respond to your touch and movement.Engage with the interactive light installations, creating a unique and personalized experience.Watch as the lights dance and twinkle, illuminating the night and filling you with a sense of joy and awe.Magical Atmosphere:Step into a world where holiday magic comes to life, immersing you in a festive and enchanting atmosphere.Be surrounded by beautifully decorated trees, sparkling ornaments, and whimsical characters that ignite your imagination.As you explore the immersive holiday event, feel the warmth and joy radiating from every corner, making you believe in the magic of the season.Memorable Experiences:This immersive holiday experience offers the perfect opportunity to create lasting memories with your family and loved ones.Capture unforgettable moments as you marvel at the stunning light displays and share laughter and joy together.Whether it's a romantic stroll hand-in-hand, a fun-filled adventure with your children, or a gathering with friends, this event promises to leave a lasting impression.Get ready to be captivated by the immersive holiday experience and be transported into a world filled with interactive light displays, magical atmosphere, and memorable experiences. It's time to embrace the freedom of the holiday season and create cherished memories that will warm your heart for years to come.Enchanted Holiday AttractionGet ready to be transported to an enchanting holiday attraction that will captivate your imagination and fill you with wonder. Houston is home to some truly magical light installations and enchanted holiday crafts that are sure to delight both kids and adults alike.One of the must-visit holiday attractions in Houston is the Houston Botanic Garden's Radiant Nature. This illuminated wonderland features dozens of Chinese lantern installations that come to life after dark. As you wander through the gardens, you'll witness the magical transformation of the surroundings and experience the beauty of nature in a whole new light. It's a unique and enchanting holiday attraction that isn't to be missed.If you're looking for some outdoor fun, Ice at Discovery Green is the perfect choice. This outdoor ice skating rink offers a festive atmosphere where you can glide across the ice and embrace the holiday spirit. And on select days, you can even skate with Santa himself! It's a fun and festive activity that the whole family can enjoy.For those looking for indoor entertainment, Wonderwild in the Heights is an adventure-filled play space that will provide hours of fun. Let your kids release their energy and have a great time exploring the various play areas. And at Frolics Castle in Memorial City Mall, kids can enjoy free play and let their imaginations run wild.No matter which enchanted holiday attraction you choose to visit, one thing is for sure - you're in for a memorable experience. So gather your family and embrace the joy of the holiday season as you immerse yourselves in dazzling light displays and create lasting memories. Houston has everything you need to make this Christmas break truly magical.Release Energy and Have FunAs we continue our exploration of Houston's enchanting holiday attractions, let's now shift our focus to a subtopic that's perfect for kids (and adults) who need to release their energy and have a whole lot of fun. During the Christmas break, there are plenty of indoor activities and holiday-themed crafts to keep everyone entertained. Here are three options to consider:Indoor Play Spaces:Wonderwild in the Heights provides an adventure-filled play space where kids can climb, slide, and explore to their heart's content. It's a safe and entertaining environment for indoor play, allowing kids to release their energy and have a great time.Frolics Castle at Memorial City Mall offers free play for kids, giving them the freedom to let loose and enjoy themselves. With various play areas and activities, it's a fantastic option for burning off energy and having fun.Holiday Themed Crafts:Many local museums and art centers offer holiday-themed craft workshops during the Christmas break. Kids can unleash their creativity and make their own ornaments, cards, and decorations. It's a great way to engage their imaginations while enjoying the freedom to create.DIY Festive Games:Create your own holiday-themed games at home. From pin the nose on Rudolph to a Santa sack race, the options are endless. Get the whole family involved and have a blast playing these customized games. It's the perfect opportunity to release energy, have fun, and make lasting memories together.With these indoor activities and holiday-themed crafts, kids can have a blast while staying active and engaged during the Christmas break. So, let's embrace the freedom to release energy and have a whole lot of fun!Embrace the Holiday SpiritImmerse yourself in the holiday spirit with a variety of festive activities and events in Houston. Get into the holiday groove by indulging in some delightful holiday crafts and enjoying the enchanting sounds of holiday music. Houston offers plenty of opportunities to embrace the holiday spirit and create lasting memories with your family.Get your creative juices flowing by participating in holiday craft workshops. Many local art centers and community organizations offer classes where you can learn to make your own unique holiday decorations. From handmade ornaments to festive wreaths, these workshops allow you to express your creativity and add a personal touch to your holiday decor.Don't forget to tune in to the sweet melodies of holiday music. Throughout the city, you'll find live performances of your favorite holiday tunes. Whether it's a local choir singing carols or a symphony orchestra playing classical holiday music, there's something for everyone to enjoy. Let the music fill your heart with joy and put you in the holiday spirit.In addition to holiday crafts and music, Houston also boasts stunning light displays that will leave you in awe. Take a drive through neighborhoods like River Oaks and Pecan Grove, known for their extravagant holiday lights. Marvel at the beautifully decorated homes and immerse yourself in the festive atmosphere. For a unique experience, visit The Light Park in Katy, where you can enjoy a drive-thru light show that will dazzle your senses.Embracing the holiday spirit in Houston is all about celebrating with loved ones and enjoying the festive atmosphere. So gather your family, put on your favorite holiday tunes, and get ready to create memories that will last a lifetime.Frequently Asked QuestionsHow Much Does It Cost to Attend Galaxy Lights at Space Center Houston?The cost to attend Galaxy Lights at Space Center Houston varies depending on the day and time you visit. It's best to check their website for the most accurate and up-to-date pricing information.When planning your visit, consider going during off-peak times to potentially save on admission costs.Regardless of the cost, experiencing the dazzling light displays and immersive holiday event at Galaxy Lights is sure to create lasting memories for you and your family.Are There Any Special Events or Activities at the Light Park in Katy?Yes, there are special events at the Light Park in Katy that Houston kids will love! With dazzling lights and a drive-thru experience, it's perfect for creating lasting memories with your family.At the Light Park, you can immerse yourself in the holiday spirit and enjoy beautiful displays and decorations. It's an enchanting holiday attraction that will leave you in awe.Can You Purchase Tickets in Advance for Houston Botanic Garden's Radiant Nature?Yes, you can purchase tickets in advance for Houston Botanic Garden's Radiant Nature. Planning in advance is a great idea to ensure availability and secure your spot.Online booking makes it convenient and easy to purchase tickets from the comfort of your home. Pricing information can be found on their website, allowing you to budget accordingly.Don't miss out on this unique and enchanting holiday attraction, so be sure to get your tickets early!What Is the Admission Fee for Ice Skating at Discovery Green?The admission fee for ice skating at Discovery Green during Christmas break isn't mentioned without the context of Things to Do With Houston Kids Over Christmas Break.Is There a Minimum Age Requirement for Children to Play at Wonderwild Indoor Play Space?At Wonderwild indoor play space, there's no minimum age requirement for children to play. This means that kids of all ages can enjoy the adventure-filled play space and have a great time releasing their energy.Indoor play spaces like Wonderwild provide numerous benefits for children, such as promoting physical activity, stimulating imagination, and promoting social interaction.ConclusionSo gather your family and get ready to make some unforgettable memories this Christmas break in Houston! Whether you're marveling at the extravagant holiday lights in River Oaks and Pecan Grove, exploring the immersive Galaxy Lights event at Space Center Houston, or letting your kids release their energy at Wonderwild or Frolics Castle, there's something for everyone to enjoy.And did you know that Houston Botanic Garden's Radiant Nature features over 100 Chinese lantern installations? It's a truly enchanting experience you won't want to miss! submitted by Sweet-Count2557 to worldkidstravel [link] [comments] |
2024.05.16 23:11 Weathers_Writing They call Silicon Valley the tech capitol of the world. They're wrong
I won't disclose its actual location, so if that's why you're here, sorry to disappoint. It's not time for that yet. However, I do think it's time to start getting the word out. I've noticed an increase in what I'll call "Antennas" lately, or people who can detect cross-planar phase shifts. Without getting into all the math (some of which I don't even know), this is basically a phenomenon which refers to entropy seeping into our universe from other realms or universes or whatever you want to call it. Simply put, people think our universe is a closed system to entropy, meaning that the disorder of any variable in our universe can only increase or decrease in direct proportion to other variables in that same system (the universe). Under this precept, we can establish rules like the Laws of Thermodynamics, and for most people, they're effective. But not for Antennas.
Put another way, if you throw a bunch of bouncy balls into a box, there are a number of different configurations that the balls could take on, with different speeds and magnitudes. You can calculate all of those if you have the right numbers. Now let's say you throw in another set of balls that you don't consider in your calculations of the initial set. Well, then you're not going to get an accurate picture of what's happening. Most people only see the first set and calculate based on that, but some people can see two, three, four or more sets.
You'll understand the concept better when I tell you the story, but I wanted to give you a primer on an important concept that will help you understand why this place, which I'll call "Area X", exists, and what the goals of the people who work there are.
Also note that I'm going to be using the alias "Trent" moving forward. Please refer to me as such in any direct messages.
***
Eighteen years ago I started working as an independent Home Inspector. I dropped out of community college after my first semester (not because I didn't find some of the subjects interesting, but because deference to a man or woman has never been my style) and started working some odd jobs. I did construction work for a couple years, then plumbing. I even drove a garbage truck for six months. I've always found pleasure in using my hands, and getting dirty was never a problem for me. Still, having a boss really dragged ass, so I spent my free time working on creating my own business. It took a few years and lots of savings, but I finally managed to get basic set of Home Inspection equipment: Tyvek coveralls, a cheap half-face respirator, voltage & AFCI/GFCI testers, CO2 and radon monitors, an IR camera, and telescoping mirrors in addition to the boots, safety glasses, electric gloves, ladder, and toolkits I already had on hand.
My buddy at the time was in the business, but he was moving off to the coast, so he helped me get set up and even introduced me to some of his clients. Of course, by that time I had already gotten my State license, but I still was a bit apprehensive to work with insurance agencies. I thought I could make a living working independently, inspecting for mold or sizing up a house for a prospective buyer. Eventually, though, I realized I should probably take every job available to me.
Easing into the business went about as well as it could have. The clients my friend referred to me were very satisfied with my work, and I was able to retain them. Then, in order to increase my reach, I hired someone on Fiverr to build a website for my company which led to a marked increase in traffic and conversions. About six months through, I began to get on a first-name basis with the boys and girls down down at Allstate and Progressive, and they fed me some of the bigger cases. In fact, I got so booked by year's end that I had to hire someone to help manage my schedule and the Excel spreadsheet with all my finances. I capped off a successful year with a 5-star Google rating and a trip to Ireland to visit some family and friends and get piss drunk. When I got back, it was the grindstone all over again, until the summer when I discovered… well, you'll see.
First off, I want to say that I was never one to believe in the paranormal. I grew up watching the movies and hearing the ghost stories round the campfire like every other kid, but it never struck a chord with me. If I can't touch it or see it or hear it, does it really exist? Probably not. So don't go thinking this was a scared man seeing his own shadow. That being said, I had this sense that something was off about this house when I parked along the curb and looked through a large window, perhaps two times the size of my van, to a dingy, dark foyer.
The entire neighborhood was stacked with upper-middle class domiciles, though it seemed like only two thirds of them were occupied, mostly by professionals who commuted to the City every weekday, and the rest were empty. As a man who understands real estate, to say this was strange would be an understatement. Still, I had no problem appraising the mini-mansion for a couple of newlyweds looking to enter the community. I did some research on the property ahead of time, and it seems that it was owned by a couple of old timers who had gone off the grid some time ago. The water and electric bill were both unpaid dating back to 2004 (it was June of '06 now). The bank had repo'd the house (which only had about 100k left on it) and held it for a year and a half before putting it back on the market. I tried to find out more about the old couple who vanished, but there was nothing in the news.
I stepped out of the van in my coveralls and grabbed my suitcase which had my mask, gloves, and eye protection in it. I liked to do a preliminary survey first, running an eye test on the exterior then interior before bringing out the big guns (that way I could identify the areas where I think there could be problems instead of running a metal detector over the whole damn ocean seaboard). I was about to do just that when the window caught my eye again. It felt uncharacteristic of me to be so occupied with this window, but I detoured to the front porch and peeked inside anyway.
Most of the furniture had already been moved out, meaning all that was left was a single three-seater couch, a couple candlesticks on the fireplace mantle, a pristine chandelier overtop a dining room table, and the kitchenware: an oven, gas stovetop, marble countertops, and an island. I could see into the living room very clearly with the afternoon light, but the dining room was dim enough that there were a few structures I couldn't quite make out in the distance. One of them appeared to be some kind of china cabinet or bookshelf—I figured it was the former considering where it was located. The other shadow looked kind of like a grandfather clock. Or at least that's what I thought until it moved.
When I say it "moved", I don't mean to say that it picked up and walked away. If you're not familiar with the Necker Cube, I suggest you search it up, because that kind of illusion is the best way to describe what I saw. At first I was seeing the grandfather clock in a certain way—pushed into the corner of the room—and the next second my vision "corrected" and it was maybe five feet to the left of its former position. I shook my head and looked again and saw the grandfather clock in its second orientation, standing in the center of the room against the wall. I figured I was just seeing things, but even so I spent a little extra time dawdling around the Egress window, taking notes, and delaying the interior inspection.
When I finally grew a pair and went inside, I walked straight to the dining room. Sure enough, the grandfather clock was stowed away in the corner of the room. I spent a couple minutes watching it with my pencil and travel notebook out. I'm the kind of guy that likes to collect hard data when the chips are down. Unfortunately, the clock apparently already had enough fun and was content with sweating me. Oh, well.
I fitted my pencil behind my ear and pocketed my travel notebook, then flipped the rest of the first floor lights on and completed my prelim. I concluded that everything was pretty standard. If anything, the house was in better shape than I'd expect considering it presumably hasn't been lived in for a couple years. I say "presumably" because one can never count out squatters, even during those times. Mainly I was expecting more dust build up and cobwebs than there were. Perhaps someone from the department had come by recently. It's unlikely, but possible.
I did the same check upstairs and it came back mostly clean. There was a bit of staining near the attic I wanted to check for mold. Based on its color, it was probably just a minor case of Aspergillus, but better safe than sorry. Then I got to the basement, and, well, let's just count out the idea of anyone dropping by. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I found.
The first thing that caught my eye was the long, slender body of a birch tree lying pale and dead across a large portion of the even larger unfinished basement's cement flooring. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but, yep, there it was. Its crown was sealed up in the wall with only its trunk hanging out, which made me think of those medieval pillory devices which locked up people's heads and arms. Then confetti-scattered around the tree and all over the basement floor was a minefield of broken glass and ceramic tangled up with a set of random objects. And when I say random, I mean random. There was an unfurled Somali flag (the blue one with a single star in the center), some packaged drinks and condiments branded with all sorts of different languages (I could only make out Gaelic and Chinese or Japanese, I couldn't quite tell), a broken dome-shaped security camera, an otoscope (the thing the doc uses to check your ears), Hot Wheels cars (okay that one isn't so strange), and the list goes on.
At that moment, I wasn't freaked out or disgusted. I was more or less just confused. I started walking through the rubble, trying to avoid the sharp fragments but pretty confident that my steel toed boots would crush most the pieces anyway, when I heard a clink just up ahead. I was able to spot the coin in time, just before it jingled to a halt atop an old Life magazine. I picked it up and noted right away its oval shape and bronze color—clearly not American made. I tried reading it, but not only was the language not English, it appeared to be so old that most of the lettering had been filed down. I looked up at the ceiling to see if it dropped from a shelf, but there was nothing that could have been holding the coin. I considered for a moment, looking around at the other junk, and had the crazy idea that maybe all this stuff just appeared here. I popped the coin in my pocket and headed back to the van when I stopped by the tree and realized something. It wasn't a birch tree—it was a palm tree. I just didn't realize because of how ashy and decayed the bark was.
Now at this point you might think I've been acting a little nonchalant for such a strange occurrence, and I don't blame you, but if you're gonna stick around with me that's just something you're gonna have to get used to. I guess I was just born with a screw loose, but I really don't scare easily, and I tend to look at everything pragmatically. If you dig deep enough, you'll always find another plausible explanation. That being said, I do want to get to the part about Area X, so let me give you the rundown on what I learned about this basement.
I ended up trekking back to the van and picking up my gear. I was no longer running the routine inspection, obviously, but I figured I might as well throw 30 thousand dollars of scanning equipment at whatever the fuck anamoly existed in that basement. Most of it came back negative. There was a bit higher-than-usual EM interference as picked up on the voltmeters, but nothing that screamed danger close. Still, it was enough for me to set up my volt testers and IR camera while muddling through the rest of the junk. I won't bore you with another list of items, but I did find one thing of value: a diamond necklace. And not just any diamond necklace, it was one of those Queen-wearing, multi-row, big-jeweled necklaces like out of some Historical Fiction movie from the thirties. I almost didn't pocket it because I'm used to expensive items being owned by someone… someone who might want it back. But I figured if there was ever a place the finder's keeper's rule applied, it was probably in this Quantum graveyard.
7 O'clock rolled around and I hadn't eaten. I'm a pretty bulky guy, carrying my share of both muscle and fat, and most people think that means I need to eat a ton but that's really not the case. Mostly I just get dehydrated easily, especially in the summer. That said, I was bordering on famished territory and considered heading out for a bite when I heard another sound. The first thing I did was check my scanners, and sure enough the voltage needle was fully spun to the right side of the dial. EM interference. Then I went to see what had dropped. I was able to pick the object out pretty quickly since I had spent the last 6 hours staring at the mosaic of a basement floor. It was a silver briefcase, like one of those out of a crime novel, and it was cracked open.
I had this sense then that I was standing at a precipice, and if I opened the briefcase and looked inside, I wouldn't be able to stop whatever would come afterwards. Part of me deep down knew that I was just that type of guy that had to know, and maybe this was my Hamlet moment where it would be a trait gone a step too far. But then again I didn't really believe in any of that sentimental bullshit, so I opened the briefcase.
The gun surprised me a little, but not as much as the piece of paper laid atop a case file reading in large black font, "FIND ME". I expected the envelope to have some missing person file in it, but instead there were all these schematics and blueprints for some kind of device. Whatever it was, it was pretty massive. Some of the lengths were hundreds of meters long. And what's more strange is based on the blueprint's locale, it appeared to be underground. I looked back through the pages a couple times, then checked the note—nothing strange there. The gun appeared to be a simple glock. I was no gun expert, but I had been to the range pretty regularly with my construction buddies, so I got used to the feel of a pistol and rifle and some of the different names; however, I realized pretty quickly it wasn't your standard glock when I couldn't find mag-release. That's when I noticed how light the gun felt. I tried to chamber a round, but again, there was no hammer. What the hell kind of gun was this?
I ended up throwing everything back in the briefcase, including the necklace, coin, and a few Koozies I found that were branded with one of my favorite sports teams (never let an opportunity go to waste). I put up all my shit back in the van and spun over to a local burger joint, got my fill, and went home. I made sure to draft an email to the prospective buyers, telling them the house had several patches of black mold and a bit of a rat problem before drifting off to sleep. Although I really didn't do much of that.
When I woke up, I took a cold shower and downed a can of Reign, then commuted to my gym and got a lift and some sauna time in before making the trip back to the house. I brought some extra supplies with me for some experiments I cooked up while not sleeping the previous night.
First, I had two camcorders set up on a couple tripods in either corner of the basement. I wanted clear footage of these mystery objects spawning in. Then I set up a voltmeter in a similar fashion, but I had a wire extending out of it on a circuit which fed to an alarm that would blare when the reading was over 250 volts. Upstairs, I rearranged some of the furniture so that the small number of tables, chairs, clock, cabinets, and other little pillows or vases I could find were scattered across the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then I pulled up a lawn chair to the front porch window and waited.
I didn't have to wait long though. In about a minute, I started to notice some of the objects moving. It was strange. When a few of them would shift simultaneously, it was like looking at a holographic card that would change shape depending on where your eyes were in relation to the image. Every time I saw a shift, I felt an awkward feeling in my eyes. They went blurry for a fraction of a second, then there was a twinge of pain, as if my brain couldn't handle the contradictory stimulus. It didn't get more crazy than that though—until the alarm went off.
I had cracked open the small rectangular window in the basement to the side of the house so I would hear it. It took four hours and several strange stares from passersby walking their dogs before it rang, so I was a bit lost in my thoughts, but when I heard the beep I perked up fast. It lasted for maybe 5 seconds total, but what I saw was truly miraculous. The best way I can describe it is a pool of silver or gray or translucent light emerging in the foreground between me and the objects in the different rooms. A series of twisting tentacles sprouted from the gray octopus-like head and spun in a way that reminded me of that little kids ride at the amusement parks. Then the objects started to "heat up" is the way I describe it. Their position became relative, meaning they were here one second, there another, then they popped out of existence entirely. Suddenly the rooms were all empty, then they were full of things I had never seen before. Then five seconds passed and the octopus vanished and it was back to the same old objects in their usual places.
It took a few minutes to process what I saw, and even then I wasn't sure I really saw it. I went inside and looked around at my distribution of the house's furnishings. They were all there, intact. Then I went downstairs to check the cams. I rewinded a couple minutes and played it back, but there was no flying object to be found. Instead, there was some gray static that lasted half a second and then the object, a kid's treasure chest toy, was there on the ground. But you want to know the really strange part? I rewinded the tape again, and when I watched the footage back, the treasure chest was always there.
I later came to understand that these poppings in-and-out of our reality are only conceivable to a conscious mind that can track the interference patterns—not rote computational instruments. In fact, even most people can't do it (although everyone has at least a slight awareness of it, even if only subconsciously). Plus, locations like the basement of this house are very rare and kept under tight lock. That became obvious to me two days later when, after my normal morning routine, I pulled up to a driveway and curbside filled with unmarked government vehicles. Either bravely or stupidly, I pulled up to a few officers (they were wearing suits in 85 degree weather, so I assumed…) who were idling by the large fence of crime scene tape and asked them what the score was.
"There was a crime," said the short man with a unibrow.
"Oh, is that right? Damn shame. Someone break in? I have a niece who lives nearby, so…"
The man looked at his two compatriots, both of whom were wearing sunglasses and a "get this civilian fuck out of here" expressions. "Oh, yeah," he started in a reassuring tone that was so condescending it would have annoyed anyone except me, "we found a body. We think it was a homicide. Best to keep your kids away from here for a while."
I thumbed the stubble on my chin, my other hand outstretched on the wheel, and considered moving on, but my mouth had other ideas. "That right? But uh, isn't this house vacant? I mean, I don't remember no one living in it."
The short man, now tall with temper, said, "Yeah, some squatters. We think there was a dispute over some drug money. Nothing for you to worry about though, we got it under control. Now if you wouldn't mind moving along, we have a lot of work to do."
Oh, I'm sure you do, I thought, but only said, "Of course, sir, sorry for keeping you from your job." Then I rolled up the window and cruised on, keeping my eyes on the house which slowly diminished in the side-view mirror.
Luckily I had been smart enough to break down my camp and lug home all my equipment each night, so I didn't leave anything incriminating. I didn't move the furniture back, so maybe that would come back to haunt me, but considering the kind of shit going down in that house, I didn't think they would notice.
For any of you wondering about the conclusion of the house story, I went back a couple weeks later after the suits had left and the tape was taken down and confirmed that not only was the basement entirely cleaned out, but it was no longer exhibiting any strange properties. I looked for a story related to the house, maybe a made up murder of some kind, but there was nothing. That bastard lied to me and didn't even bother to cover his story up.
Now, in the aftermath of an event such as this, I really only had one of two options. I could forget it, move on, continue living life. The necklace was surely worth a fortune. I could sell it and have enough to retire, or at least hire enough people and expand my business large enough to retire within ten or so years. Or I could take all that money and invest it in my own PI business with only a single objective: finding out what those people knew, and why they were hiding it.
I think you know me well enough by now to guess which line of reasoning appealed more to me.
***
For the sake of brevity, I'm going to omit most of my encounters along the journey to discovering Area X. There's a lot to tell, and if it appeals to you perhaps I'd be willing to share at a later date, but for now I want to get this part of the story, the more proximal part, out in the open.
Three years ago, I discovered the source of what I'll call "The Receiver". This is the device that was schematized in the documents that I found in the briefcase. What it does is a complex answer, and how it does it is pretty much all speculation, but here's what I've been able to find out: this universe we live in is a node in a network of many other spaces. These spaces exist in higher dimensions that we cannot directly perceive, but using a conceivable analogy, just think about a flower with petals. The petals are these other dimensions which bleed into our world, which is at the center. However, it's not that pretty. We see the physical world through the lens of spacetime: sizes, speeds, etc. These other dimensions don't necessarily have space or time. In fact, what actually exists there, I couldn't say. The only data I have on them is from two sources: correspondence information and server data from the secret agency (which I'll call "the Organization") that keeps this under wraps, and first-hand experience with realms from these other entities, either directly (I experience it) or through the eyes of someone else with the same or greater abilities than I possess.
I referred to these people with abilities earlier as "Antennas", and I will continue to use the term. Antennas really come in three flavors, marked by the strength of their ability: weak Antennas, like me, are able to observe spontaneous interactions between our universe and other dimensions (phase shifts) when there is a strong force of collision like existed in the basement; moderate Antennas may see phase shifts occur at any point, and they usually are able to retain memories from across the different transformations; strong Antennas, and I don't know if they exist yet, but they are able to consciously interact with these other realms and cause phase shifts to occur.
I mentioned that moderate Antennas are able to retain memories from before and after a phase shift. Technically, all Antennas have this ability, but it's about degree. I can recall only very specific instances and without much detail. Moderates are usually able to pick out much more nuanced minutiae. At the lower end of moderate scale, most of those details fade or get fuzzy over time, but for the very strong Antennas, they hold onto almost everything. One other property that scales with strength is interaction with other conscious entities. Only a small percentage of moderates are able to do this. What's interesting is that these entities can possess (yes, like ghosts) people who aren't even antennas, but no one is aware of such possession at this deep of a level. I have several companions now, and only two have had interactions with these otherworldly beings. Not all of them are malevolent, some of them are whimsical or kind, but there are a fair share of demons out there.
Getting back to the point, Area X started as a government funded project in the 70's. At that time, they were focused on a few subjects: Artificial Intelligence, DNA sequencing, and psychedelics. Yes, they were part of the infamous LSD experiments. But they looked at these subjects through a common lens—there was something that the burgeoning tech industry, fueled by the advent of a commercial computer market, was missing. As the tech giants rose in the early 2000's and began to collect mass amounts of data, this other agency was decades ahead in a different metric, although it was completely (and still is) hidden from the public. Their efforts to understand psychedelic experiences led to a formalized method of understanding interactions between multiple realities. They built certain scanning equipment to detect anomalies like the one I found in the basement; although their tools were much more sophisticated and didn't utilize voltage readings. Then they ran tests in these areas. One area in particular is a hot-bed of phase shift interactions. That's where Area X is located (and the Receiver).
The Receiver is a giant electromagnetic orb that has trapped the kind of multi-dimensional energy that causes the phase shifts; since the Organization seized control of the lab, it's effectively become a map of the Earth in relation to these other worlds. For the past twenty or so years, the Organization has been studying this map, using the data big Tech companies have collected to essentially develop a Rosetta Stone for interpreting the meaning of the fluctuations in their scanning equipment. Recently, the public, though going the long way round, was actually pretty close to a breakthrough in this same department until recently when ultra-powerful LLMs surfaced, and the whole world began going down what I'd argue is the wrong rabbit hole of language processing. But I digress.
Area X is essentially a private military base built for defending the most impactful piece of technology ever invented. With the Receiver, the Organization now has the power to essentially predict any and all future outcomes, the only thing holding them back is the limitations of their own scanning equipment which will get better with time. To put it into perspective, the Organization has access to a kind of data allocation tool which in one day can produce over ten thousand times that the Big Data companies combined would be able to filter through in the next decade. You might think, then, that the problem is merely asymmetric power, and that is certainly a concern, but it isn't the main concern. The main issue is that this organization is actively recruiting (and kidnapping) Antennas from around the world in an effort to find or make one of them into a strong Antenna. In other words, they want a subject who is able not only to see the future, but to manipulate it at will.
balance to the world. I've been working on amassing resources, capital, and building my own team, and now I'm ready. You might ask why I'm posting this here. Wouldn't it be better to keep all this secret? Well, yes, it would be. But that's the problem. Nothing is secret anymore. They know about me and the others, and if I don't make a move, they will. In a way, this is a letter directly to the organization that I know, and I'm coming.
In a different way, I wanted to release this information to the public. There are lots of people out there waking up and realizing that the world they experience is not the one others experience. If you think you might be an Antenna, don't be afraid—you have a special gift that can be controlled. If you want more details on how to control it, or if you're interested in my mission, don't be afraid to reach out. This hasn't always been my life's work, but it is now.
At least until I die.
submitted by Weathers_Writing to weatherswriting [link] [comments]
Put another way, if you throw a bunch of bouncy balls into a box, there are a number of different configurations that the balls could take on, with different speeds and magnitudes. You can calculate all of those if you have the right numbers. Now let's say you throw in another set of balls that you don't consider in your calculations of the initial set. Well, then you're not going to get an accurate picture of what's happening. Most people only see the first set and calculate based on that, but some people can see two, three, four or more sets.
You'll understand the concept better when I tell you the story, but I wanted to give you a primer on an important concept that will help you understand why this place, which I'll call "Area X", exists, and what the goals of the people who work there are.
Also note that I'm going to be using the alias "Trent" moving forward. Please refer to me as such in any direct messages.
***
Eighteen years ago I started working as an independent Home Inspector. I dropped out of community college after my first semester (not because I didn't find some of the subjects interesting, but because deference to a man or woman has never been my style) and started working some odd jobs. I did construction work for a couple years, then plumbing. I even drove a garbage truck for six months. I've always found pleasure in using my hands, and getting dirty was never a problem for me. Still, having a boss really dragged ass, so I spent my free time working on creating my own business. It took a few years and lots of savings, but I finally managed to get basic set of Home Inspection equipment: Tyvek coveralls, a cheap half-face respirator, voltage & AFCI/GFCI testers, CO2 and radon monitors, an IR camera, and telescoping mirrors in addition to the boots, safety glasses, electric gloves, ladder, and toolkits I already had on hand.
My buddy at the time was in the business, but he was moving off to the coast, so he helped me get set up and even introduced me to some of his clients. Of course, by that time I had already gotten my State license, but I still was a bit apprehensive to work with insurance agencies. I thought I could make a living working independently, inspecting for mold or sizing up a house for a prospective buyer. Eventually, though, I realized I should probably take every job available to me.
Easing into the business went about as well as it could have. The clients my friend referred to me were very satisfied with my work, and I was able to retain them. Then, in order to increase my reach, I hired someone on Fiverr to build a website for my company which led to a marked increase in traffic and conversions. About six months through, I began to get on a first-name basis with the boys and girls down down at Allstate and Progressive, and they fed me some of the bigger cases. In fact, I got so booked by year's end that I had to hire someone to help manage my schedule and the Excel spreadsheet with all my finances. I capped off a successful year with a 5-star Google rating and a trip to Ireland to visit some family and friends and get piss drunk. When I got back, it was the grindstone all over again, until the summer when I discovered… well, you'll see.
First off, I want to say that I was never one to believe in the paranormal. I grew up watching the movies and hearing the ghost stories round the campfire like every other kid, but it never struck a chord with me. If I can't touch it or see it or hear it, does it really exist? Probably not. So don't go thinking this was a scared man seeing his own shadow. That being said, I had this sense that something was off about this house when I parked along the curb and looked through a large window, perhaps two times the size of my van, to a dingy, dark foyer.
The entire neighborhood was stacked with upper-middle class domiciles, though it seemed like only two thirds of them were occupied, mostly by professionals who commuted to the City every weekday, and the rest were empty. As a man who understands real estate, to say this was strange would be an understatement. Still, I had no problem appraising the mini-mansion for a couple of newlyweds looking to enter the community. I did some research on the property ahead of time, and it seems that it was owned by a couple of old timers who had gone off the grid some time ago. The water and electric bill were both unpaid dating back to 2004 (it was June of '06 now). The bank had repo'd the house (which only had about 100k left on it) and held it for a year and a half before putting it back on the market. I tried to find out more about the old couple who vanished, but there was nothing in the news.
I stepped out of the van in my coveralls and grabbed my suitcase which had my mask, gloves, and eye protection in it. I liked to do a preliminary survey first, running an eye test on the exterior then interior before bringing out the big guns (that way I could identify the areas where I think there could be problems instead of running a metal detector over the whole damn ocean seaboard). I was about to do just that when the window caught my eye again. It felt uncharacteristic of me to be so occupied with this window, but I detoured to the front porch and peeked inside anyway.
Most of the furniture had already been moved out, meaning all that was left was a single three-seater couch, a couple candlesticks on the fireplace mantle, a pristine chandelier overtop a dining room table, and the kitchenware: an oven, gas stovetop, marble countertops, and an island. I could see into the living room very clearly with the afternoon light, but the dining room was dim enough that there were a few structures I couldn't quite make out in the distance. One of them appeared to be some kind of china cabinet or bookshelf—I figured it was the former considering where it was located. The other shadow looked kind of like a grandfather clock. Or at least that's what I thought until it moved.
When I say it "moved", I don't mean to say that it picked up and walked away. If you're not familiar with the Necker Cube, I suggest you search it up, because that kind of illusion is the best way to describe what I saw. At first I was seeing the grandfather clock in a certain way—pushed into the corner of the room—and the next second my vision "corrected" and it was maybe five feet to the left of its former position. I shook my head and looked again and saw the grandfather clock in its second orientation, standing in the center of the room against the wall. I figured I was just seeing things, but even so I spent a little extra time dawdling around the Egress window, taking notes, and delaying the interior inspection.
When I finally grew a pair and went inside, I walked straight to the dining room. Sure enough, the grandfather clock was stowed away in the corner of the room. I spent a couple minutes watching it with my pencil and travel notebook out. I'm the kind of guy that likes to collect hard data when the chips are down. Unfortunately, the clock apparently already had enough fun and was content with sweating me. Oh, well.
I fitted my pencil behind my ear and pocketed my travel notebook, then flipped the rest of the first floor lights on and completed my prelim. I concluded that everything was pretty standard. If anything, the house was in better shape than I'd expect considering it presumably hasn't been lived in for a couple years. I say "presumably" because one can never count out squatters, even during those times. Mainly I was expecting more dust build up and cobwebs than there were. Perhaps someone from the department had come by recently. It's unlikely, but possible.
I did the same check upstairs and it came back mostly clean. There was a bit of staining near the attic I wanted to check for mold. Based on its color, it was probably just a minor case of Aspergillus, but better safe than sorry. Then I got to the basement, and, well, let's just count out the idea of anyone dropping by. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I found.
The first thing that caught my eye was the long, slender body of a birch tree lying pale and dead across a large portion of the even larger unfinished basement's cement flooring. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but, yep, there it was. Its crown was sealed up in the wall with only its trunk hanging out, which made me think of those medieval pillory devices which locked up people's heads and arms. Then confetti-scattered around the tree and all over the basement floor was a minefield of broken glass and ceramic tangled up with a set of random objects. And when I say random, I mean random. There was an unfurled Somali flag (the blue one with a single star in the center), some packaged drinks and condiments branded with all sorts of different languages (I could only make out Gaelic and Chinese or Japanese, I couldn't quite tell), a broken dome-shaped security camera, an otoscope (the thing the doc uses to check your ears), Hot Wheels cars (okay that one isn't so strange), and the list goes on.
At that moment, I wasn't freaked out or disgusted. I was more or less just confused. I started walking through the rubble, trying to avoid the sharp fragments but pretty confident that my steel toed boots would crush most the pieces anyway, when I heard a clink just up ahead. I was able to spot the coin in time, just before it jingled to a halt atop an old Life magazine. I picked it up and noted right away its oval shape and bronze color—clearly not American made. I tried reading it, but not only was the language not English, it appeared to be so old that most of the lettering had been filed down. I looked up at the ceiling to see if it dropped from a shelf, but there was nothing that could have been holding the coin. I considered for a moment, looking around at the other junk, and had the crazy idea that maybe all this stuff just appeared here. I popped the coin in my pocket and headed back to the van when I stopped by the tree and realized something. It wasn't a birch tree—it was a palm tree. I just didn't realize because of how ashy and decayed the bark was.
Now at this point you might think I've been acting a little nonchalant for such a strange occurrence, and I don't blame you, but if you're gonna stick around with me that's just something you're gonna have to get used to. I guess I was just born with a screw loose, but I really don't scare easily, and I tend to look at everything pragmatically. If you dig deep enough, you'll always find another plausible explanation. That being said, I do want to get to the part about Area X, so let me give you the rundown on what I learned about this basement.
I ended up trekking back to the van and picking up my gear. I was no longer running the routine inspection, obviously, but I figured I might as well throw 30 thousand dollars of scanning equipment at whatever the fuck anamoly existed in that basement. Most of it came back negative. There was a bit higher-than-usual EM interference as picked up on the voltmeters, but nothing that screamed danger close. Still, it was enough for me to set up my volt testers and IR camera while muddling through the rest of the junk. I won't bore you with another list of items, but I did find one thing of value: a diamond necklace. And not just any diamond necklace, it was one of those Queen-wearing, multi-row, big-jeweled necklaces like out of some Historical Fiction movie from the thirties. I almost didn't pocket it because I'm used to expensive items being owned by someone… someone who might want it back. But I figured if there was ever a place the finder's keeper's rule applied, it was probably in this Quantum graveyard.
7 O'clock rolled around and I hadn't eaten. I'm a pretty bulky guy, carrying my share of both muscle and fat, and most people think that means I need to eat a ton but that's really not the case. Mostly I just get dehydrated easily, especially in the summer. That said, I was bordering on famished territory and considered heading out for a bite when I heard another sound. The first thing I did was check my scanners, and sure enough the voltage needle was fully spun to the right side of the dial. EM interference. Then I went to see what had dropped. I was able to pick the object out pretty quickly since I had spent the last 6 hours staring at the mosaic of a basement floor. It was a silver briefcase, like one of those out of a crime novel, and it was cracked open.
I had this sense then that I was standing at a precipice, and if I opened the briefcase and looked inside, I wouldn't be able to stop whatever would come afterwards. Part of me deep down knew that I was just that type of guy that had to know, and maybe this was my Hamlet moment where it would be a trait gone a step too far. But then again I didn't really believe in any of that sentimental bullshit, so I opened the briefcase.
The gun surprised me a little, but not as much as the piece of paper laid atop a case file reading in large black font, "FIND ME". I expected the envelope to have some missing person file in it, but instead there were all these schematics and blueprints for some kind of device. Whatever it was, it was pretty massive. Some of the lengths were hundreds of meters long. And what's more strange is based on the blueprint's locale, it appeared to be underground. I looked back through the pages a couple times, then checked the note—nothing strange there. The gun appeared to be a simple glock. I was no gun expert, but I had been to the range pretty regularly with my construction buddies, so I got used to the feel of a pistol and rifle and some of the different names; however, I realized pretty quickly it wasn't your standard glock when I couldn't find mag-release. That's when I noticed how light the gun felt. I tried to chamber a round, but again, there was no hammer. What the hell kind of gun was this?
I ended up throwing everything back in the briefcase, including the necklace, coin, and a few Koozies I found that were branded with one of my favorite sports teams (never let an opportunity go to waste). I put up all my shit back in the van and spun over to a local burger joint, got my fill, and went home. I made sure to draft an email to the prospective buyers, telling them the house had several patches of black mold and a bit of a rat problem before drifting off to sleep. Although I really didn't do much of that.
When I woke up, I took a cold shower and downed a can of Reign, then commuted to my gym and got a lift and some sauna time in before making the trip back to the house. I brought some extra supplies with me for some experiments I cooked up while not sleeping the previous night.
First, I had two camcorders set up on a couple tripods in either corner of the basement. I wanted clear footage of these mystery objects spawning in. Then I set up a voltmeter in a similar fashion, but I had a wire extending out of it on a circuit which fed to an alarm that would blare when the reading was over 250 volts. Upstairs, I rearranged some of the furniture so that the small number of tables, chairs, clock, cabinets, and other little pillows or vases I could find were scattered across the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then I pulled up a lawn chair to the front porch window and waited.
I didn't have to wait long though. In about a minute, I started to notice some of the objects moving. It was strange. When a few of them would shift simultaneously, it was like looking at a holographic card that would change shape depending on where your eyes were in relation to the image. Every time I saw a shift, I felt an awkward feeling in my eyes. They went blurry for a fraction of a second, then there was a twinge of pain, as if my brain couldn't handle the contradictory stimulus. It didn't get more crazy than that though—until the alarm went off.
I had cracked open the small rectangular window in the basement to the side of the house so I would hear it. It took four hours and several strange stares from passersby walking their dogs before it rang, so I was a bit lost in my thoughts, but when I heard the beep I perked up fast. It lasted for maybe 5 seconds total, but what I saw was truly miraculous. The best way I can describe it is a pool of silver or gray or translucent light emerging in the foreground between me and the objects in the different rooms. A series of twisting tentacles sprouted from the gray octopus-like head and spun in a way that reminded me of that little kids ride at the amusement parks. Then the objects started to "heat up" is the way I describe it. Their position became relative, meaning they were here one second, there another, then they popped out of existence entirely. Suddenly the rooms were all empty, then they were full of things I had never seen before. Then five seconds passed and the octopus vanished and it was back to the same old objects in their usual places.
It took a few minutes to process what I saw, and even then I wasn't sure I really saw it. I went inside and looked around at my distribution of the house's furnishings. They were all there, intact. Then I went downstairs to check the cams. I rewinded a couple minutes and played it back, but there was no flying object to be found. Instead, there was some gray static that lasted half a second and then the object, a kid's treasure chest toy, was there on the ground. But you want to know the really strange part? I rewinded the tape again, and when I watched the footage back, the treasure chest was always there.
I later came to understand that these poppings in-and-out of our reality are only conceivable to a conscious mind that can track the interference patterns—not rote computational instruments. In fact, even most people can't do it (although everyone has at least a slight awareness of it, even if only subconsciously). Plus, locations like the basement of this house are very rare and kept under tight lock. That became obvious to me two days later when, after my normal morning routine, I pulled up to a driveway and curbside filled with unmarked government vehicles. Either bravely or stupidly, I pulled up to a few officers (they were wearing suits in 85 degree weather, so I assumed…) who were idling by the large fence of crime scene tape and asked them what the score was.
"There was a crime," said the short man with a unibrow.
"Oh, is that right? Damn shame. Someone break in? I have a niece who lives nearby, so…"
The man looked at his two compatriots, both of whom were wearing sunglasses and a "get this civilian fuck out of here" expressions. "Oh, yeah," he started in a reassuring tone that was so condescending it would have annoyed anyone except me, "we found a body. We think it was a homicide. Best to keep your kids away from here for a while."
I thumbed the stubble on my chin, my other hand outstretched on the wheel, and considered moving on, but my mouth had other ideas. "That right? But uh, isn't this house vacant? I mean, I don't remember no one living in it."
The short man, now tall with temper, said, "Yeah, some squatters. We think there was a dispute over some drug money. Nothing for you to worry about though, we got it under control. Now if you wouldn't mind moving along, we have a lot of work to do."
Oh, I'm sure you do, I thought, but only said, "Of course, sir, sorry for keeping you from your job." Then I rolled up the window and cruised on, keeping my eyes on the house which slowly diminished in the side-view mirror.
Luckily I had been smart enough to break down my camp and lug home all my equipment each night, so I didn't leave anything incriminating. I didn't move the furniture back, so maybe that would come back to haunt me, but considering the kind of shit going down in that house, I didn't think they would notice.
For any of you wondering about the conclusion of the house story, I went back a couple weeks later after the suits had left and the tape was taken down and confirmed that not only was the basement entirely cleaned out, but it was no longer exhibiting any strange properties. I looked for a story related to the house, maybe a made up murder of some kind, but there was nothing. That bastard lied to me and didn't even bother to cover his story up.
Now, in the aftermath of an event such as this, I really only had one of two options. I could forget it, move on, continue living life. The necklace was surely worth a fortune. I could sell it and have enough to retire, or at least hire enough people and expand my business large enough to retire within ten or so years. Or I could take all that money and invest it in my own PI business with only a single objective: finding out what those people knew, and why they were hiding it.
I think you know me well enough by now to guess which line of reasoning appealed more to me.
***
For the sake of brevity, I'm going to omit most of my encounters along the journey to discovering Area X. There's a lot to tell, and if it appeals to you perhaps I'd be willing to share at a later date, but for now I want to get this part of the story, the more proximal part, out in the open.
Three years ago, I discovered the source of what I'll call "The Receiver". This is the device that was schematized in the documents that I found in the briefcase. What it does is a complex answer, and how it does it is pretty much all speculation, but here's what I've been able to find out: this universe we live in is a node in a network of many other spaces. These spaces exist in higher dimensions that we cannot directly perceive, but using a conceivable analogy, just think about a flower with petals. The petals are these other dimensions which bleed into our world, which is at the center. However, it's not that pretty. We see the physical world through the lens of spacetime: sizes, speeds, etc. These other dimensions don't necessarily have space or time. In fact, what actually exists there, I couldn't say. The only data I have on them is from two sources: correspondence information and server data from the secret agency (which I'll call "the Organization") that keeps this under wraps, and first-hand experience with realms from these other entities, either directly (I experience it) or through the eyes of someone else with the same or greater abilities than I possess.
I referred to these people with abilities earlier as "Antennas", and I will continue to use the term. Antennas really come in three flavors, marked by the strength of their ability: weak Antennas, like me, are able to observe spontaneous interactions between our universe and other dimensions (phase shifts) when there is a strong force of collision like existed in the basement; moderate Antennas may see phase shifts occur at any point, and they usually are able to retain memories from across the different transformations; strong Antennas, and I don't know if they exist yet, but they are able to consciously interact with these other realms and cause phase shifts to occur.
I mentioned that moderate Antennas are able to retain memories from before and after a phase shift. Technically, all Antennas have this ability, but it's about degree. I can recall only very specific instances and without much detail. Moderates are usually able to pick out much more nuanced minutiae. At the lower end of moderate scale, most of those details fade or get fuzzy over time, but for the very strong Antennas, they hold onto almost everything. One other property that scales with strength is interaction with other conscious entities. Only a small percentage of moderates are able to do this. What's interesting is that these entities can possess (yes, like ghosts) people who aren't even antennas, but no one is aware of such possession at this deep of a level. I have several companions now, and only two have had interactions with these otherworldly beings. Not all of them are malevolent, some of them are whimsical or kind, but there are a fair share of demons out there.
Getting back to the point, Area X started as a government funded project in the 70's. At that time, they were focused on a few subjects: Artificial Intelligence, DNA sequencing, and psychedelics. Yes, they were part of the infamous LSD experiments. But they looked at these subjects through a common lens—there was something that the burgeoning tech industry, fueled by the advent of a commercial computer market, was missing. As the tech giants rose in the early 2000's and began to collect mass amounts of data, this other agency was decades ahead in a different metric, although it was completely (and still is) hidden from the public. Their efforts to understand psychedelic experiences led to a formalized method of understanding interactions between multiple realities. They built certain scanning equipment to detect anomalies like the one I found in the basement; although their tools were much more sophisticated and didn't utilize voltage readings. Then they ran tests in these areas. One area in particular is a hot-bed of phase shift interactions. That's where Area X is located (and the Receiver).
The Receiver is a giant electromagnetic orb that has trapped the kind of multi-dimensional energy that causes the phase shifts; since the Organization seized control of the lab, it's effectively become a map of the Earth in relation to these other worlds. For the past twenty or so years, the Organization has been studying this map, using the data big Tech companies have collected to essentially develop a Rosetta Stone for interpreting the meaning of the fluctuations in their scanning equipment. Recently, the public, though going the long way round, was actually pretty close to a breakthrough in this same department until recently when ultra-powerful LLMs surfaced, and the whole world began going down what I'd argue is the wrong rabbit hole of language processing. But I digress.
Area X is essentially a private military base built for defending the most impactful piece of technology ever invented. With the Receiver, the Organization now has the power to essentially predict any and all future outcomes, the only thing holding them back is the limitations of their own scanning equipment which will get better with time. To put it into perspective, the Organization has access to a kind of data allocation tool which in one day can produce over ten thousand times that the Big Data companies combined would be able to filter through in the next decade. You might think, then, that the problem is merely asymmetric power, and that is certainly a concern, but it isn't the main concern. The main issue is that this organization is actively recruiting (and kidnapping) Antennas from around the world in an effort to find or make one of them into a strong Antenna. In other words, they want a subject who is able not only to see the future, but to manipulate it at will.
balance to the world. I've been working on amassing resources, capital, and building my own team, and now I'm ready. You might ask why I'm posting this here. Wouldn't it be better to keep all this secret? Well, yes, it would be. But that's the problem. Nothing is secret anymore. They know about me and the others, and if I don't make a move, they will. In a way, this is a letter directly to the organization that I know, and I'm coming.
In a different way, I wanted to release this information to the public. There are lots of people out there waking up and realizing that the world they experience is not the one others experience. If you think you might be an Antenna, don't be afraid—you have a special gift that can be controlled. If you want more details on how to control it, or if you're interested in my mission, don't be afraid to reach out. This hasn't always been my life's work, but it is now.
At least until I die.
2024.05.16 23:10 Weathers_Writing They call Silicon Valley the tech capitol of the world. They're wrong
I won't disclose its actual location, so if that's why you're here, sorry to disappoint. It's not time for that yet. However, I do think it's time to start getting the word out. I've noticed an increase in what I'll call "Antennas" lately, or people who can detect cross-planar phase shifts. Without getting into all the math (some of which I don't even know), this is basically a phenomenon which refers to entropy seeping into our universe from other realms or universes or whatever you want to call it. Simply put, people think our universe is a closed system to entropy, meaning that the disorder of any variable in our universe can only increase or decrease in direct proportion to other variables in that same system (the universe). Under this precept, we can establish rules like the Laws of Thermodynamics, and for most people, they're effective. But not for Antennas.
Put another way, if you throw a bunch of bouncy balls into a box, there are a number of different configurations that the balls could take on, with different speeds and magnitudes. You can calculate all of those if you have the right numbers. Now let's say you throw in another set of balls that you don't consider in your calculations of the initial set. Well, then you're not going to get an accurate picture of what's happening. Most people only see the first set and calculate based on that, but some people can see two, three, four or more sets.
You'll understand the concept better when I tell you the story, but I wanted to give you a primer on an important concept that will help you understand why this place, which I'll call "Area X", exists, and what the goals of the people who work there are.
Also note that I'm going to be using the alias "Trent" moving forward. Please refer to me as such in any direct messages.
***
Eighteen years ago I started working as an independent Home Inspector. I dropped out of community college after my first semester (not because I didn't find some of the subjects interesting, but because deference to a man or woman has never been my style) and started working some odd jobs. I did construction work for a couple years, then plumbing. I even drove a garbage truck for six months. I've always found pleasure in using my hands, and getting dirty was never a problem for me. Still, having a boss really dragged ass, so I spent my free time working on creating my own business. It took a few years and lots of savings, but I finally managed to get basic set of Home Inspection equipment: Tyvek coveralls, a cheap half-face respirator, voltage & AFCI/GFCI testers, CO2 and radon monitors, an IR camera, and telescoping mirrors in addition to the boots, safety glasses, electric gloves, ladder, and toolkits I already had on hand.
My buddy at the time was in the business, but he was moving off to the coast, so he helped me get set up and even introduced me to some of his clients. Of course, by that time I had already gotten my State license, but I still was a bit apprehensive to work with insurance agencies. I thought I could make a living working independently, inspecting for mold or sizing up a house for a prospective buyer. Eventually, though, I realized I should probably take every job available to me.
Easing into the business went about as well as it could have. The clients my friend referred to me were very satisfied with my work, and I was able to retain them. Then, in order to increase my reach, I hired someone on Fiverr to build a website for my company which led to a marked increase in traffic and conversions. About six months through, I began to get on a first-name basis with the boys and girls down down at Allstate and Progressive, and they fed me some of the bigger cases. In fact, I got so booked by year's end that I had to hire someone to help manage my schedule and the Excel spreadsheet with all my finances. I capped off a successful year with a 5-star Google rating and a trip to Ireland to visit some family and friends and get piss drunk. When I got back, it was the grindstone all over again, until the summer when I discovered… well, you'll see.
First off, I want to say that I was never one to believe in the paranormal. I grew up watching the movies and hearing the ghost stories round the campfire like every other kid, but it never struck a chord with me. If I can't touch it or see it or hear it, does it really exist? Probably not. So don't go thinking this was a scared man seeing his own shadow. That being said, I had this sense that something was off about this house when I parked along the curb and looked through a large window, perhaps two times the size of my van, to a dingy, dark foyer.
The entire neighborhood was stacked with upper-middle class domiciles, though it seemed like only two thirds of them were occupied, mostly by professionals who commuted to the City every weekday, and the rest were empty. As a man who understands real estate, to say this was strange would be an understatement. Still, I had no problem appraising the mini-mansion for a couple of newlyweds looking to enter the community. I did some research on the property ahead of time, and it seems that it was owned by a couple of old timers who had gone off the grid some time ago. The water and electric bill were both unpaid dating back to 2004 (it was June of '06 now). The bank had repo'd the house (which only had about 100k left on it) and held it for a year and a half before putting it back on the market. I tried to find out more about the old couple who vanished, but there was nothing in the news.
I stepped out of the van in my coveralls and grabbed my suitcase which had my mask, gloves, and eye protection in it. I liked to do a preliminary survey first, running an eye test on the exterior then interior before bringing out the big guns (that way I could identify the areas where I think there could be problems instead of running a metal detector over the whole damn ocean seaboard). I was about to do just that when the window caught my eye again. It felt uncharacteristic of me to be so occupied with this window, but I detoured to the front porch and peeked inside anyway.
Most of the furniture had already been moved out, meaning all that was left was a single three-seater couch, a couple candlesticks on the fireplace mantle, a pristine chandelier overtop a dining room table, and the kitchenware: an oven, gas stovetop, marble countertops, and an island. I could see into the living room very clearly with the afternoon light, but the dining room was dim enough that there were a few structures I couldn't quite make out in the distance. One of them appeared to be some kind of china cabinet or bookshelf—I figured it was the former considering where it was located. The other shadow looked kind of like a grandfather clock. Or at least that's what I thought until it moved.
When I say it "moved", I don't mean to say that it picked up and walked away. If you're not familiar with the Necker Cube, I suggest you search it up, because that kind of illusion is the best way to describe what I saw. At first I was seeing the grandfather clock in a certain way—pushed into the corner of the room—and the next second my vision "corrected" and it was maybe five feet to the left of its former position. I shook my head and looked again and saw the grandfather clock in its second orientation, standing in the center of the room against the wall. I figured I was just seeing things, but even so I spent a little extra time dawdling around the Egress window, taking notes, and delaying the interior inspection.
When I finally grew a pair and went inside, I walked straight to the dining room. Sure enough, the grandfather clock was stowed away in the corner of the room. I spent a couple minutes watching it with my pencil and travel notebook out. I'm the kind of guy that likes to collect hard data when the chips are down. Unfortunately, the clock apparently already had enough fun and was content with sweating me. Oh, well.
I fitted my pencil behind my ear and pocketed my travel notebook, then flipped the rest of the first floor lights on and completed my prelim. I concluded that everything was pretty standard. If anything, the house was in better shape than I'd expect considering it presumably hasn't been lived in for a couple years. I say "presumably" because one can never count out squatters, even during those times. Mainly I was expecting more dust build up and cobwebs than there were. Perhaps someone from the department had come by recently. It's unlikely, but possible.
I did the same check upstairs and it came back mostly clean. There was a bit of staining near the attic I wanted to check for mold. Based on its color, it was probably just a minor case of Aspergillus, but better safe than sorry. Then I got to the basement, and, well, let's just count out the idea of anyone dropping by. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I found.
The first thing that caught my eye was the long, slender body of a birch tree lying pale and dead across a large portion of the even larger unfinished basement's cement flooring. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but, yep, there it was. Its crown was sealed up in the wall with only its trunk hanging out, which made me think of those medieval pillory devices which locked up people's heads and arms. Then confetti-scattered around the tree and all over the basement floor was a minefield of broken glass and ceramic tangled up with a set of random objects. And when I say random, I mean random. There was an unfurled Somali flag (the blue one with a single star in the center), some packaged drinks and condiments branded with all sorts of different languages (I could only make out Gaelic and Chinese or Japanese, I couldn't quite tell), a broken dome-shaped security camera, an otoscope (the thing the doc uses to check your ears), Hot Wheels cars (okay that one isn't so strange), and the list goes on.
At that moment, I wasn't freaked out or disgusted. I was more or less just confused. I started walking through the rubble, trying to avoid the sharp fragments but pretty confident that my steel toed boots would crush most the pieces anyway, when I heard a clink just up ahead. I was able to spot the coin in time, just before it jingled to a halt atop an old Life magazine. I picked it up and noted right away its oval shape and bronze color—clearly not American made. I tried reading it, but not only was the language not English, it appeared to be so old that most of the lettering had been filed down. I looked up at the ceiling to see if it dropped from a shelf, but there was nothing that could have been holding the coin. I considered for a moment, looking around at the other junk, and had the crazy idea that maybe all this stuff just appeared here. I popped the coin in my pocket and headed back to the van when I stopped by the tree and realized something. It wasn't a birch tree—it was a palm tree. I just didn't realize because of how ashy and decayed the bark was.
Now at this point you might think I've been acting a little nonchalant for such a strange occurrence, and I don't blame you, but if you're gonna stick around with me that's just something you're gonna have to get used to. I guess I was just born with a screw loose, but I really don't scare easily, and I tend to look at everything pragmatically. If you dig deep enough, you'll always find another plausible explanation. That being said, I do want to get to the part about Area X, so let me give you the rundown on what I learned about this basement.
I ended up trekking back to the van and picking up my gear. I was no longer running the routine inspection, obviously, but I figured I might as well throw 30 thousand dollars of scanning equipment at whatever the fuck anamoly existed in that basement. Most of it came back negative. There was a bit higher-than-usual EM interference as picked up on the voltmeters, but nothing that screamed danger close. Still, it was enough for me to set up my volt testers and IR camera while muddling through the rest of the junk. I won't bore you with another list of items, but I did find one thing of value: a diamond necklace. And not just any diamond necklace, it was one of those Queen-wearing, multi-row, big-jeweled necklaces like out of some Historical Fiction movie from the thirties. I almost didn't pocket it because I'm used to expensive items being owned by someone… someone who might want it back. But I figured if there was ever a place the finder's keeper's rule applied, it was probably in this Quantum graveyard.
7 O'clock rolled around and I hadn't eaten. I'm a pretty bulky guy, carrying my share of both muscle and fat, and most people think that means I need to eat a ton but that's really not the case. Mostly I just get dehydrated easily, especially in the summer. That said, I was bordering on famished territory and considered heading out for a bite when I heard another sound. The first thing I did was check my scanners, and sure enough the voltage needle was fully spun to the right side of the dial. EM interference. Then I went to see what had dropped. I was able to pick the object out pretty quickly since I had spent the last 6 hours staring at the mosaic of a basement floor. It was a silver briefcase, like one of those out of a crime novel, and it was cracked open.
I had this sense then that I was standing at a precipice, and if I opened the briefcase and looked inside, I wouldn't be able to stop whatever would come afterwards. Part of me deep down knew that I was just that type of guy that had to know, and maybe this was my Hamlet moment where it would be a trait gone a step too far. But then again I didn't really believe in any of that sentimental bullshit, so I opened the briefcase.
The gun surprised me a little, but not as much as the piece of paper laid atop a case file reading in large black font, "FIND ME". I expected the envelope to have some missing person file in it, but instead there were all these schematics and blueprints for some kind of device. Whatever it was, it was pretty massive. Some of the lengths were hundreds of meters long. And what's more strange is based on the blueprint's locale, it appeared to be underground. I looked back through the pages a couple times, then checked the note—nothing strange there. The gun appeared to be a simple glock. I was no gun expert, but I had been to the range pretty regularly with my construction buddies, so I got used to the feel of a pistol and rifle and some of the different names; however, I realized pretty quickly it wasn't your standard glock when I couldn't find mag-release. That's when I noticed how light the gun felt. I tried to chamber a round, but again, there was no hammer. What the hell kind of gun was this?
I ended up throwing everything back in the briefcase, including the necklace, coin, and a few Koozies I found that were branded with one of my favorite sports teams (never let an opportunity go to waste). I put up all my shit back in the van and spun over to a local burger joint, got my fill, and went home. I made sure to draft an email to the prospective buyers, telling them the house had several patches of black mold and a bit of a rat problem before drifting off to sleep. Although I really didn't do much of that.
When I woke up, I took a cold shower and downed a can of Reign, then commuted to my gym and got a lift and some sauna time in before making the trip back to the house. I brought some extra supplies with me for some experiments I cooked up while not sleeping the previous night.
First, I had two camcorders set up on a couple tripods in either corner of the basement. I wanted clear footage of these mystery objects spawning in. Then I set up a voltmeter in a similar fashion, but I had a wire extending out of it on a circuit which fed to an alarm that would blare when the reading was over 250 volts. Upstairs, I rearranged some of the furniture so that the small number of tables, chairs, clock, cabinets, and other little pillows or vases I could find were scattered across the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then I pulled up a lawn chair to the front porch window and waited.
I didn't have to wait long though. In about a minute, I started to notice some of the objects moving. It was strange. When a few of them would shift simultaneously, it was like looking at a holographic card that would change shape depending on where your eyes were in relation to the image. Every time I saw a shift, I felt an awkward feeling in my eyes. They went blurry for a fraction of a second, then there was a twinge of pain, as if my brain couldn't handle the contradictory stimulus. It didn't get more crazy than that though—until the alarm went off.
I had cracked open the small rectangular window in the basement to the side of the house so I would hear it. It took four hours and several strange stares from passersby walking their dogs before it rang, so I was a bit lost in my thoughts, but when I heard the beep I perked up fast. It lasted for maybe 5 seconds total, but what I saw was truly miraculous. The best way I can describe it is a pool of silver or gray or translucent light emerging in the foreground between me and the objects in the different rooms. A series of twisting tentacles sprouted from the gray octopus-like head and spun in a way that reminded me of that little kids ride at the amusement parks. Then the objects started to "heat up" is the way I describe it. Their position became relative, meaning they were here one second, there another, then they popped out of existence entirely. Suddenly the rooms were all empty, then they were full of things I had never seen before. Then five seconds passed and the octopus vanished and it was back to the same old objects in their usual places.
It took a few minutes to process what I saw, and even then I wasn't sure I really saw it. I went inside and looked around at my distribution of the house's furnishings. They were all there, intact. Then I went downstairs to check the cams. I rewinded a couple minutes and played it back, but there was no flying object to be found. Instead, there was some gray static that lasted half a second and then the object, a kid's treasure chest toy, was there on the ground. But you want to know the really strange part? I rewinded the tape again, and when I watched the footage back, the treasure chest was always there.
I later came to understand that these poppings in-and-out of our reality are only conceivable to a conscious mind that can track the interference patterns—not rote computational instruments. In fact, even most people can't do it (although everyone has at least a slight awareness of it, even if only subconsciously). Plus, locations like the basement of this house are very rare and kept under tight lock. That became obvious to me two days later when, after my normal morning routine, I pulled up to a driveway and curbside filled with unmarked government vehicles. Either bravely or stupidly, I pulled up to a few officers (they were wearing suits in 85 degree weather, so I assumed…) who were idling by the large fence of crime scene tape and asked them what the score was.
"There was a crime," said the short man with a unibrow.
"Oh, is that right? Damn shame. Someone break in? I have a niece who lives nearby, so…"
The man looked at his two compatriots, both of whom were wearing sunglasses and a "get this civilian fuck out of here" expressions. "Oh, yeah," he started in a reassuring tone that was so condescending it would have annoyed anyone except me, "we found a body. We think it was a homicide. Best to keep your kids away from here for a while."
I thumbed the stubble on my chin, my other hand outstretched on the wheel, and considered moving on, but my mouth had other ideas. "That right? But uh, isn't this house vacant? I mean, I don't remember no one living in it."
The short man, now tall with temper, said, "Yeah, some squatters. We think there was a dispute over some drug money. Nothing for you to worry about though, we got it under control. Now if you wouldn't mind moving along, we have a lot of work to do."
Oh, I'm sure you do, I thought, but only said, "Of course, sir, sorry for keeping you from your job." Then I rolled up the window and cruised on, keeping my eyes on the house which slowly diminished in the side-view mirror.
Luckily I had been smart enough to break down my camp and lug home all my equipment each night, so I didn't leave anything incriminating. I didn't move the furniture back, so maybe that would come back to haunt me, but considering the kind of shit going down in that house, I didn't think they would notice.
For any of you wondering about the conclusion of the house story, I went back a couple weeks later after the suits had left and the tape was taken down and confirmed that not only was the basement entirely cleaned out, but it was no longer exhibiting any strange properties. I looked for a story related to the house, maybe a made up murder of some kind, but there was nothing. That bastard lied to me and didn't even bother to cover his story up.
Now, in the aftermath of an event such as this, I really only had one of two options. I could forget it, move on, continue living life. The necklace was surely worth a fortune. I could sell it and have enough to retire, or at least hire enough people and expand my business large enough to retire within ten or so years. Or I could take all that money and invest it in my own PI business with only a single objective: finding out what those people knew, and why they were hiding it.
I think you know me well enough by now to guess which line of reasoning appealed more to me.
***
For the sake of brevity, I'm going to omit most of my encounters along the journey to discovering Area X. There's a lot to tell, and if it appeals to you perhaps I'd be willing to share at a later date, but for now I want to get this part of the story, the more proximal part, out in the open.
Three years ago, I discovered the source of what I'll call "The Receiver". This is the device that was schematized in the documents that I found in the briefcase. What it does is a complex answer, and how it does it is pretty much all speculation, but here's what I've been able to find out: this universe we live in is a node in a network of many other spaces. These spaces exist in higher dimensions that we cannot directly perceive, but using a conceivable analogy, just think about a flower with petals. The petals are these other dimensions which bleed into our world, which is at the center. However, it's not that pretty. We see the physical world through the lens of spacetime: sizes, speeds, etc. These other dimensions don't necessarily have space or time. In fact, what actually exists there, I couldn't say. The only data I have on them is from two sources: correspondence information and server data from the secret agency (which I'll call "the Organization") that keeps this under wraps, and first-hand experience with realms from these other entities, either directly (I experience it) or through the eyes of someone else with the same or greater abilities than I possess.
I referred to these people with abilities earlier as "Antennas", and I will continue to use the term. Antennas really come in three flavors, marked by the strength of their ability: weak Antennas, like me, are able to observe spontaneous interactions between our universe and other dimensions (phase shifts) when there is a strong force of collision like existed in the basement; moderate Antennas may see phase shifts occur at any point, and they usually are able to retain memories from across the different transformations; strong Antennas, and I don't know if they exist yet, but they are able to consciously interact with these other realms and cause phase shifts to occur.
I mentioned that moderate Antennas are able to retain memories from before and after a phase shift. Technically, all Antennas have this ability, but it's about degree. I can recall only very specific instances and without much detail. Moderates are usually able to pick out much more nuanced minutiae. At the lower end of moderate scale, most of those details fade or get fuzzy over time, but for the very strong Antennas, they hold onto almost everything. One other property that scales with strength is interaction with other conscious entities. Only a small percentage of moderates are able to do this. What's interesting is that these entities can possess (yes, like ghosts) people who aren't even antennas, but no one is aware of such possession at this deep of a level. I have several companions now, and only two have had interactions with these otherworldly beings. Not all of them are malevolent, some of them are whimsical or kind, but there are a fair share of demons out there.
Getting back to the point, Area X started as a government funded project in the 70's. At that time, they were focused on a few subjects: Artificial Intelligence, DNA sequencing, and psychedelics. Yes, they were part of the infamous LSD experiments. But they looked at these subjects through a common lens—there was something that the burgeoning tech industry, fueled by the advent of a commercial computer market, was missing. As the tech giants rose in the early 2000's and began to collect mass amounts of data, this other agency was decades ahead in a different metric, although it was completely (and still is) hidden from the public. Their efforts to understand psychedelic experiences led to a formalized method of understanding interactions between multiple realities. They built certain scanning equipment to detect anomalies like the one I found in the basement; although their tools were much more sophisticated and didn't utilize voltage readings. Then they ran tests in these areas. One area in particular is a hot-bed of phase shift interactions. That's where Area X is located (and the Receiver).
The Receiver is a giant electromagnetic orb that has trapped the kind of multi-dimensional energy that causes the phase shifts; since the Organization seized control of the lab, it's effectively become a map of the Earth in relation to these other worlds. For the past twenty or so years, the Organization has been studying this map, using the data big Tech companies have collected to essentially develop a Rosetta Stone for interpreting the meaning of the fluctuations in their scanning equipment. Recently, the public, though going the long way round, was actually pretty close to a breakthrough in this same department until recently when ultra-powerful LLMs surfaced, and the whole world began going down what I'd argue is the wrong rabbit hole of language processing. But I digress.
Area X is essentially a private military base built for defending the most impactful piece of technology ever invented. With the Receiver, the Organization now has the power to essentially predict any and all future outcomes, the only thing holding them back is the limitations of their own scanning equipment which will get better with time. To put it into perspective, the Organization has access to a kind of data allocation tool which in one day can produce over ten thousand times that the Big Data companies combined would be able to filter through in the next decade. You might think, then, that the problem is merely asymmetric power, and that is certainly a concern, but it isn't the main concern. The main issue is that this organization is actively recruiting (and kidnapping) Antennas from around the world in an effort to find or make one of them into a strong Antenna. In other words, they want a subject who is able not only to see the future, but to manipulate it at will.
balance to the world. I've been working on amassing resources, capital, and building my own team, and now I'm ready. You might ask why I'm posting this here. Wouldn't it be better to keep all this secret? Well, yes, it would be. But that's the problem. Nothing is secret anymore. They know about me and the others, and if I don't make a move, they will. In a way, this is a letter directly to the organization that I know, and I'm coming.
In a different way, I wanted to release this information to the public. There are lots of people out there waking up and realizing that the world they experience is not the one others experience. If you think you might be an Antenna, don't be afraid—you have a special gift that can be controlled. If you want more details on how to control it, or if you're interested in my mission, don't be afraid to reach out. This hasn't always been my life's work, but it is now.
At least until I die.
submitted by Weathers_Writing to nosleep [link] [comments]
Put another way, if you throw a bunch of bouncy balls into a box, there are a number of different configurations that the balls could take on, with different speeds and magnitudes. You can calculate all of those if you have the right numbers. Now let's say you throw in another set of balls that you don't consider in your calculations of the initial set. Well, then you're not going to get an accurate picture of what's happening. Most people only see the first set and calculate based on that, but some people can see two, three, four or more sets.
You'll understand the concept better when I tell you the story, but I wanted to give you a primer on an important concept that will help you understand why this place, which I'll call "Area X", exists, and what the goals of the people who work there are.
Also note that I'm going to be using the alias "Trent" moving forward. Please refer to me as such in any direct messages.
***
Eighteen years ago I started working as an independent Home Inspector. I dropped out of community college after my first semester (not because I didn't find some of the subjects interesting, but because deference to a man or woman has never been my style) and started working some odd jobs. I did construction work for a couple years, then plumbing. I even drove a garbage truck for six months. I've always found pleasure in using my hands, and getting dirty was never a problem for me. Still, having a boss really dragged ass, so I spent my free time working on creating my own business. It took a few years and lots of savings, but I finally managed to get basic set of Home Inspection equipment: Tyvek coveralls, a cheap half-face respirator, voltage & AFCI/GFCI testers, CO2 and radon monitors, an IR camera, and telescoping mirrors in addition to the boots, safety glasses, electric gloves, ladder, and toolkits I already had on hand.
My buddy at the time was in the business, but he was moving off to the coast, so he helped me get set up and even introduced me to some of his clients. Of course, by that time I had already gotten my State license, but I still was a bit apprehensive to work with insurance agencies. I thought I could make a living working independently, inspecting for mold or sizing up a house for a prospective buyer. Eventually, though, I realized I should probably take every job available to me.
Easing into the business went about as well as it could have. The clients my friend referred to me were very satisfied with my work, and I was able to retain them. Then, in order to increase my reach, I hired someone on Fiverr to build a website for my company which led to a marked increase in traffic and conversions. About six months through, I began to get on a first-name basis with the boys and girls down down at Allstate and Progressive, and they fed me some of the bigger cases. In fact, I got so booked by year's end that I had to hire someone to help manage my schedule and the Excel spreadsheet with all my finances. I capped off a successful year with a 5-star Google rating and a trip to Ireland to visit some family and friends and get piss drunk. When I got back, it was the grindstone all over again, until the summer when I discovered… well, you'll see.
First off, I want to say that I was never one to believe in the paranormal. I grew up watching the movies and hearing the ghost stories round the campfire like every other kid, but it never struck a chord with me. If I can't touch it or see it or hear it, does it really exist? Probably not. So don't go thinking this was a scared man seeing his own shadow. That being said, I had this sense that something was off about this house when I parked along the curb and looked through a large window, perhaps two times the size of my van, to a dingy, dark foyer.
The entire neighborhood was stacked with upper-middle class domiciles, though it seemed like only two thirds of them were occupied, mostly by professionals who commuted to the City every weekday, and the rest were empty. As a man who understands real estate, to say this was strange would be an understatement. Still, I had no problem appraising the mini-mansion for a couple of newlyweds looking to enter the community. I did some research on the property ahead of time, and it seems that it was owned by a couple of old timers who had gone off the grid some time ago. The water and electric bill were both unpaid dating back to 2004 (it was June of '06 now). The bank had repo'd the house (which only had about 100k left on it) and held it for a year and a half before putting it back on the market. I tried to find out more about the old couple who vanished, but there was nothing in the news.
I stepped out of the van in my coveralls and grabbed my suitcase which had my mask, gloves, and eye protection in it. I liked to do a preliminary survey first, running an eye test on the exterior then interior before bringing out the big guns (that way I could identify the areas where I think there could be problems instead of running a metal detector over the whole damn ocean seaboard). I was about to do just that when the window caught my eye again. It felt uncharacteristic of me to be so occupied with this window, but I detoured to the front porch and peeked inside anyway.
Most of the furniture had already been moved out, meaning all that was left was a single three-seater couch, a couple candlesticks on the fireplace mantle, a pristine chandelier overtop a dining room table, and the kitchenware: an oven, gas stovetop, marble countertops, and an island. I could see into the living room very clearly with the afternoon light, but the dining room was dim enough that there were a few structures I couldn't quite make out in the distance. One of them appeared to be some kind of china cabinet or bookshelf—I figured it was the former considering where it was located. The other shadow looked kind of like a grandfather clock. Or at least that's what I thought until it moved.
When I say it "moved", I don't mean to say that it picked up and walked away. If you're not familiar with the Necker Cube, I suggest you search it up, because that kind of illusion is the best way to describe what I saw. At first I was seeing the grandfather clock in a certain way—pushed into the corner of the room—and the next second my vision "corrected" and it was maybe five feet to the left of its former position. I shook my head and looked again and saw the grandfather clock in its second orientation, standing in the center of the room against the wall. I figured I was just seeing things, but even so I spent a little extra time dawdling around the Egress window, taking notes, and delaying the interior inspection.
When I finally grew a pair and went inside, I walked straight to the dining room. Sure enough, the grandfather clock was stowed away in the corner of the room. I spent a couple minutes watching it with my pencil and travel notebook out. I'm the kind of guy that likes to collect hard data when the chips are down. Unfortunately, the clock apparently already had enough fun and was content with sweating me. Oh, well.
I fitted my pencil behind my ear and pocketed my travel notebook, then flipped the rest of the first floor lights on and completed my prelim. I concluded that everything was pretty standard. If anything, the house was in better shape than I'd expect considering it presumably hasn't been lived in for a couple years. I say "presumably" because one can never count out squatters, even during those times. Mainly I was expecting more dust build up and cobwebs than there were. Perhaps someone from the department had come by recently. It's unlikely, but possible.
I did the same check upstairs and it came back mostly clean. There was a bit of staining near the attic I wanted to check for mold. Based on its color, it was probably just a minor case of Aspergillus, but better safe than sorry. Then I got to the basement, and, well, let's just count out the idea of anyone dropping by. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I found.
The first thing that caught my eye was the long, slender body of a birch tree lying pale and dead across a large portion of the even larger unfinished basement's cement flooring. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but, yep, there it was. Its crown was sealed up in the wall with only its trunk hanging out, which made me think of those medieval pillory devices which locked up people's heads and arms. Then confetti-scattered around the tree and all over the basement floor was a minefield of broken glass and ceramic tangled up with a set of random objects. And when I say random, I mean random. There was an unfurled Somali flag (the blue one with a single star in the center), some packaged drinks and condiments branded with all sorts of different languages (I could only make out Gaelic and Chinese or Japanese, I couldn't quite tell), a broken dome-shaped security camera, an otoscope (the thing the doc uses to check your ears), Hot Wheels cars (okay that one isn't so strange), and the list goes on.
At that moment, I wasn't freaked out or disgusted. I was more or less just confused. I started walking through the rubble, trying to avoid the sharp fragments but pretty confident that my steel toed boots would crush most the pieces anyway, when I heard a clink just up ahead. I was able to spot the coin in time, just before it jingled to a halt atop an old Life magazine. I picked it up and noted right away its oval shape and bronze color—clearly not American made. I tried reading it, but not only was the language not English, it appeared to be so old that most of the lettering had been filed down. I looked up at the ceiling to see if it dropped from a shelf, but there was nothing that could have been holding the coin. I considered for a moment, looking around at the other junk, and had the crazy idea that maybe all this stuff just appeared here. I popped the coin in my pocket and headed back to the van when I stopped by the tree and realized something. It wasn't a birch tree—it was a palm tree. I just didn't realize because of how ashy and decayed the bark was.
Now at this point you might think I've been acting a little nonchalant for such a strange occurrence, and I don't blame you, but if you're gonna stick around with me that's just something you're gonna have to get used to. I guess I was just born with a screw loose, but I really don't scare easily, and I tend to look at everything pragmatically. If you dig deep enough, you'll always find another plausible explanation. That being said, I do want to get to the part about Area X, so let me give you the rundown on what I learned about this basement.
I ended up trekking back to the van and picking up my gear. I was no longer running the routine inspection, obviously, but I figured I might as well throw 30 thousand dollars of scanning equipment at whatever the fuck anamoly existed in that basement. Most of it came back negative. There was a bit higher-than-usual EM interference as picked up on the voltmeters, but nothing that screamed danger close. Still, it was enough for me to set up my volt testers and IR camera while muddling through the rest of the junk. I won't bore you with another list of items, but I did find one thing of value: a diamond necklace. And not just any diamond necklace, it was one of those Queen-wearing, multi-row, big-jeweled necklaces like out of some Historical Fiction movie from the thirties. I almost didn't pocket it because I'm used to expensive items being owned by someone… someone who might want it back. But I figured if there was ever a place the finder's keeper's rule applied, it was probably in this Quantum graveyard.
7 O'clock rolled around and I hadn't eaten. I'm a pretty bulky guy, carrying my share of both muscle and fat, and most people think that means I need to eat a ton but that's really not the case. Mostly I just get dehydrated easily, especially in the summer. That said, I was bordering on famished territory and considered heading out for a bite when I heard another sound. The first thing I did was check my scanners, and sure enough the voltage needle was fully spun to the right side of the dial. EM interference. Then I went to see what had dropped. I was able to pick the object out pretty quickly since I had spent the last 6 hours staring at the mosaic of a basement floor. It was a silver briefcase, like one of those out of a crime novel, and it was cracked open.
I had this sense then that I was standing at a precipice, and if I opened the briefcase and looked inside, I wouldn't be able to stop whatever would come afterwards. Part of me deep down knew that I was just that type of guy that had to know, and maybe this was my Hamlet moment where it would be a trait gone a step too far. But then again I didn't really believe in any of that sentimental bullshit, so I opened the briefcase.
The gun surprised me a little, but not as much as the piece of paper laid atop a case file reading in large black font, "FIND ME". I expected the envelope to have some missing person file in it, but instead there were all these schematics and blueprints for some kind of device. Whatever it was, it was pretty massive. Some of the lengths were hundreds of meters long. And what's more strange is based on the blueprint's locale, it appeared to be underground. I looked back through the pages a couple times, then checked the note—nothing strange there. The gun appeared to be a simple glock. I was no gun expert, but I had been to the range pretty regularly with my construction buddies, so I got used to the feel of a pistol and rifle and some of the different names; however, I realized pretty quickly it wasn't your standard glock when I couldn't find mag-release. That's when I noticed how light the gun felt. I tried to chamber a round, but again, there was no hammer. What the hell kind of gun was this?
I ended up throwing everything back in the briefcase, including the necklace, coin, and a few Koozies I found that were branded with one of my favorite sports teams (never let an opportunity go to waste). I put up all my shit back in the van and spun over to a local burger joint, got my fill, and went home. I made sure to draft an email to the prospective buyers, telling them the house had several patches of black mold and a bit of a rat problem before drifting off to sleep. Although I really didn't do much of that.
When I woke up, I took a cold shower and downed a can of Reign, then commuted to my gym and got a lift and some sauna time in before making the trip back to the house. I brought some extra supplies with me for some experiments I cooked up while not sleeping the previous night.
First, I had two camcorders set up on a couple tripods in either corner of the basement. I wanted clear footage of these mystery objects spawning in. Then I set up a voltmeter in a similar fashion, but I had a wire extending out of it on a circuit which fed to an alarm that would blare when the reading was over 250 volts. Upstairs, I rearranged some of the furniture so that the small number of tables, chairs, clock, cabinets, and other little pillows or vases I could find were scattered across the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then I pulled up a lawn chair to the front porch window and waited.
I didn't have to wait long though. In about a minute, I started to notice some of the objects moving. It was strange. When a few of them would shift simultaneously, it was like looking at a holographic card that would change shape depending on where your eyes were in relation to the image. Every time I saw a shift, I felt an awkward feeling in my eyes. They went blurry for a fraction of a second, then there was a twinge of pain, as if my brain couldn't handle the contradictory stimulus. It didn't get more crazy than that though—until the alarm went off.
I had cracked open the small rectangular window in the basement to the side of the house so I would hear it. It took four hours and several strange stares from passersby walking their dogs before it rang, so I was a bit lost in my thoughts, but when I heard the beep I perked up fast. It lasted for maybe 5 seconds total, but what I saw was truly miraculous. The best way I can describe it is a pool of silver or gray or translucent light emerging in the foreground between me and the objects in the different rooms. A series of twisting tentacles sprouted from the gray octopus-like head and spun in a way that reminded me of that little kids ride at the amusement parks. Then the objects started to "heat up" is the way I describe it. Their position became relative, meaning they were here one second, there another, then they popped out of existence entirely. Suddenly the rooms were all empty, then they were full of things I had never seen before. Then five seconds passed and the octopus vanished and it was back to the same old objects in their usual places.
It took a few minutes to process what I saw, and even then I wasn't sure I really saw it. I went inside and looked around at my distribution of the house's furnishings. They were all there, intact. Then I went downstairs to check the cams. I rewinded a couple minutes and played it back, but there was no flying object to be found. Instead, there was some gray static that lasted half a second and then the object, a kid's treasure chest toy, was there on the ground. But you want to know the really strange part? I rewinded the tape again, and when I watched the footage back, the treasure chest was always there.
I later came to understand that these poppings in-and-out of our reality are only conceivable to a conscious mind that can track the interference patterns—not rote computational instruments. In fact, even most people can't do it (although everyone has at least a slight awareness of it, even if only subconsciously). Plus, locations like the basement of this house are very rare and kept under tight lock. That became obvious to me two days later when, after my normal morning routine, I pulled up to a driveway and curbside filled with unmarked government vehicles. Either bravely or stupidly, I pulled up to a few officers (they were wearing suits in 85 degree weather, so I assumed…) who were idling by the large fence of crime scene tape and asked them what the score was.
"There was a crime," said the short man with a unibrow.
"Oh, is that right? Damn shame. Someone break in? I have a niece who lives nearby, so…"
The man looked at his two compatriots, both of whom were wearing sunglasses and a "get this civilian fuck out of here" expressions. "Oh, yeah," he started in a reassuring tone that was so condescending it would have annoyed anyone except me, "we found a body. We think it was a homicide. Best to keep your kids away from here for a while."
I thumbed the stubble on my chin, my other hand outstretched on the wheel, and considered moving on, but my mouth had other ideas. "That right? But uh, isn't this house vacant? I mean, I don't remember no one living in it."
The short man, now tall with temper, said, "Yeah, some squatters. We think there was a dispute over some drug money. Nothing for you to worry about though, we got it under control. Now if you wouldn't mind moving along, we have a lot of work to do."
Oh, I'm sure you do, I thought, but only said, "Of course, sir, sorry for keeping you from your job." Then I rolled up the window and cruised on, keeping my eyes on the house which slowly diminished in the side-view mirror.
Luckily I had been smart enough to break down my camp and lug home all my equipment each night, so I didn't leave anything incriminating. I didn't move the furniture back, so maybe that would come back to haunt me, but considering the kind of shit going down in that house, I didn't think they would notice.
For any of you wondering about the conclusion of the house story, I went back a couple weeks later after the suits had left and the tape was taken down and confirmed that not only was the basement entirely cleaned out, but it was no longer exhibiting any strange properties. I looked for a story related to the house, maybe a made up murder of some kind, but there was nothing. That bastard lied to me and didn't even bother to cover his story up.
Now, in the aftermath of an event such as this, I really only had one of two options. I could forget it, move on, continue living life. The necklace was surely worth a fortune. I could sell it and have enough to retire, or at least hire enough people and expand my business large enough to retire within ten or so years. Or I could take all that money and invest it in my own PI business with only a single objective: finding out what those people knew, and why they were hiding it.
I think you know me well enough by now to guess which line of reasoning appealed more to me.
***
For the sake of brevity, I'm going to omit most of my encounters along the journey to discovering Area X. There's a lot to tell, and if it appeals to you perhaps I'd be willing to share at a later date, but for now I want to get this part of the story, the more proximal part, out in the open.
Three years ago, I discovered the source of what I'll call "The Receiver". This is the device that was schematized in the documents that I found in the briefcase. What it does is a complex answer, and how it does it is pretty much all speculation, but here's what I've been able to find out: this universe we live in is a node in a network of many other spaces. These spaces exist in higher dimensions that we cannot directly perceive, but using a conceivable analogy, just think about a flower with petals. The petals are these other dimensions which bleed into our world, which is at the center. However, it's not that pretty. We see the physical world through the lens of spacetime: sizes, speeds, etc. These other dimensions don't necessarily have space or time. In fact, what actually exists there, I couldn't say. The only data I have on them is from two sources: correspondence information and server data from the secret agency (which I'll call "the Organization") that keeps this under wraps, and first-hand experience with realms from these other entities, either directly (I experience it) or through the eyes of someone else with the same or greater abilities than I possess.
I referred to these people with abilities earlier as "Antennas", and I will continue to use the term. Antennas really come in three flavors, marked by the strength of their ability: weak Antennas, like me, are able to observe spontaneous interactions between our universe and other dimensions (phase shifts) when there is a strong force of collision like existed in the basement; moderate Antennas may see phase shifts occur at any point, and they usually are able to retain memories from across the different transformations; strong Antennas, and I don't know if they exist yet, but they are able to consciously interact with these other realms and cause phase shifts to occur.
I mentioned that moderate Antennas are able to retain memories from before and after a phase shift. Technically, all Antennas have this ability, but it's about degree. I can recall only very specific instances and without much detail. Moderates are usually able to pick out much more nuanced minutiae. At the lower end of moderate scale, most of those details fade or get fuzzy over time, but for the very strong Antennas, they hold onto almost everything. One other property that scales with strength is interaction with other conscious entities. Only a small percentage of moderates are able to do this. What's interesting is that these entities can possess (yes, like ghosts) people who aren't even antennas, but no one is aware of such possession at this deep of a level. I have several companions now, and only two have had interactions with these otherworldly beings. Not all of them are malevolent, some of them are whimsical or kind, but there are a fair share of demons out there.
Getting back to the point, Area X started as a government funded project in the 70's. At that time, they were focused on a few subjects: Artificial Intelligence, DNA sequencing, and psychedelics. Yes, they were part of the infamous LSD experiments. But they looked at these subjects through a common lens—there was something that the burgeoning tech industry, fueled by the advent of a commercial computer market, was missing. As the tech giants rose in the early 2000's and began to collect mass amounts of data, this other agency was decades ahead in a different metric, although it was completely (and still is) hidden from the public. Their efforts to understand psychedelic experiences led to a formalized method of understanding interactions between multiple realities. They built certain scanning equipment to detect anomalies like the one I found in the basement; although their tools were much more sophisticated and didn't utilize voltage readings. Then they ran tests in these areas. One area in particular is a hot-bed of phase shift interactions. That's where Area X is located (and the Receiver).
The Receiver is a giant electromagnetic orb that has trapped the kind of multi-dimensional energy that causes the phase shifts; since the Organization seized control of the lab, it's effectively become a map of the Earth in relation to these other worlds. For the past twenty or so years, the Organization has been studying this map, using the data big Tech companies have collected to essentially develop a Rosetta Stone for interpreting the meaning of the fluctuations in their scanning equipment. Recently, the public, though going the long way round, was actually pretty close to a breakthrough in this same department until recently when ultra-powerful LLMs surfaced, and the whole world began going down what I'd argue is the wrong rabbit hole of language processing. But I digress.
Area X is essentially a private military base built for defending the most impactful piece of technology ever invented. With the Receiver, the Organization now has the power to essentially predict any and all future outcomes, the only thing holding them back is the limitations of their own scanning equipment which will get better with time. To put it into perspective, the Organization has access to a kind of data allocation tool which in one day can produce over ten thousand times that the Big Data companies combined would be able to filter through in the next decade. You might think, then, that the problem is merely asymmetric power, and that is certainly a concern, but it isn't the main concern. The main issue is that this organization is actively recruiting (and kidnapping) Antennas from around the world in an effort to find or make one of them into a strong Antenna. In other words, they want a subject who is able not only to see the future, but to manipulate it at will.
balance to the world. I've been working on amassing resources, capital, and building my own team, and now I'm ready. You might ask why I'm posting this here. Wouldn't it be better to keep all this secret? Well, yes, it would be. But that's the problem. Nothing is secret anymore. They know about me and the others, and if I don't make a move, they will. In a way, this is a letter directly to the organization that I know, and I'm coming.
In a different way, I wanted to release this information to the public. There are lots of people out there waking up and realizing that the world they experience is not the one others experience. If you think you might be an Antenna, don't be afraid—you have a special gift that can be controlled. If you want more details on how to control it, or if you're interested in my mission, don't be afraid to reach out. This hasn't always been my life's work, but it is now.
At least until I die.
2024.05.16 23:08 WNGBR I blame myself…
Me (20) and my now ex-girlfriend (29) were together for a year (I was 19 and she was 28 when we met). We met due to studying the same course at university and we instantly hit it off. The start of our relationship was very intense. It felt perfect. We had an amazing connection, things seemed to flow so naturally, and things therefore moved very quickly. I even visited her home country and met her family after only a month of being together. We spent so much time together and we seemed perfect for each other. As a result, we both became very quickly attached to one another. Despite how perfect things were in the beginning, there were occasional glimpses of our own issues making their way into the relationship. For example, I started noticing small, sudden shifts in her moods and behaviour towards me. She was always so talkative, bubbly, and enthusiastic towards me, but there were a few instances during which she suddenly became more distant and silent, and her behaviour felt different than usual. This confused me, especially considering I didn’t know what the reason was. It left me guessing if there was perhaps a problem between us or if it was just a natural shift in her mood. Sometimes, it was due to her having a problem with me and other times it was just a natural fluctuation in her mood. However, I would always have to guess which one it was and as a result I started to become very aware of her moods and I felt like I had to start paying a lot of attention to the relationship to not accidentally upset or disappoint her in any way. When things were good between us, I rarely felt insecure, but when I suddenly started noticing shifts in her mood or behaviour towards me, I started to feel anxious and insecure.
To further elaborate, at times in the relationship, I found it difficult to read, predict, and understand her moods and her behaviour towards me: her behaviour felt inconsistent to me at times. One day she was super loving, talkative, and interested in me, and the next day it felt different. However, I didn't know if my feelings were justified or if I was simply overthinking and overanalysing her behaviour. Since she didn't tell me what was the matter even when I asked her, I was left confused and still guessing why there were these shifts in her mood.
She did tell me that she found it scary to trust others and, therefore, to be fully open with me. She told me that was why she would push me away sometimes, meaning that my feelings were not completely unjustified. She admitted herself that she could be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. She was also older than me and more the independent type, and didn't always need a lot of attention, which is also an explanation for her change in behaviour. However, I didn't know that at the beginning of the relationship.
There were times where it felt like I had to follow an exact script on how to act or what to say to not upset her. She would become upset at times, because she didn’t think I appreciated her or because I didn’t give her the reaction she had in her mind. When I didn't live up to these unspoken expectations, she became more distant and silent (or even slightly pasisve aggressive), like I mentioned before. She wanted me to naturally know what she wanted, since in her mind it was obvious and she didn’t feel like she was a hard person to to read, but it wasn't obvious to me. This didn’t happen too often, but it still had an effect on me.
To give an example of how she could deal with these unspoken expectations, there was an instance when we did grocery shopping together. I paid for it at the time, but she told me to send her a payment request for half of it and when I did so a few days later, I immediately noticed a slight change in her energy towards me. When I questioned her about this, she told me that there was nothing wrong, but when I came round her place later that day. she was extremely cold and unaffectionate towards me. Her reaction was like I had cheated on her. I wasn't allowed to sit or be close to her, she was visibly upset, she wouldn't talk to me, and I had to sleep on the opposite side of the bed. I even mentioned if me sending her a payment request was an issue, but she told me that it was fine since she had told me that I could send her one. The next day she was hot and cold towards me, going from acting normally towards me to cold and distant again. Only after I became very upset and questioned her about it again did she tell me that the reason she was acting that way was because she wanted me to offer to pay for the groceries. She had paid for the groceries last time, so she wanted me to pay for them this time (I would have had no problem at all with paying, but since she told me to send her a payment request, I did). She told me that she became upset when I hadn't offered to do so naturally, which caused her to feel like I didn't appreciate or care about her enough. This was the most extreme example from our relationship, though. However, this situation caused me to lose some trust in her and her words.
Her behaviour wasn't intentional. It seemed to be due to a mix of her character and the things she had gone through in her past. It seemed like it was more of a coping/protective mechanism for her. She was aware of this, but her awareness wasn't always enough for her to cope in a different way.
In the cases where I felt like there was a shift in her behaviour, mood, or energy, it left me guessing if there was anything wrong. I had learned to associate a change in her mood as there potentially being something wrong. I was just afraid of there being a problem between us and not knowing about it, like the payment request situation (and other situations).
At times, my insecurities, anxious attachment, and my resulting codependency from this relationship significantly affected her and put a strain on the relationship. For example, there could be absolutely nothing wrong and I would create a problem out of nowhere. I was dependent on her for my happiness and if there was even a slight bit of attention focused on someone else, it would bother me. Sometimes, this would make me overly needy and controlling. This frustrated and triggered her a lot, because she also wanted to give other people attention and felt suffocated by my unreasonable demands. This was also a reoccurring pattern in the relationship.
My fear of there being a problem between us which I might not know about, my fear of not being as important to her as she was to me, and therefore, my fear of losing her became too strong at times, which caused me to become insecure and worried. Especially the times where my insecurity and worry was unjustified affected her a lot. During those times, she felt like I was causing issues for no reason and she felt upset and frustrated that, despite her giving me lots of attention the days before, I would still need reassurance and interpret her behaviour as there being something wrong between us. This made her feel drained, annoyed, suffocated, and upset.
Her reactions tended to be quite defensive and dismissive towards me. I understand her reaction, because her feelings were completely justified, but she chose to respond in those ways to vent her frustration. She would tell me that I was annoying, way too needy, that I should stop overthinking her behaviour, and that I should work on my insecurities. She was correct though. During these moments, I would become very apologetic. I just wanted things to be good between us. There were also times I felt like I was taking responsibility for things I didn't feel responsible for, just to make sure things were okay. She wasn't completely wrong regarding what she was saying to me, but it was harsh. It was absolutely not my intention to cause a problem or to frustrate or annoy her, but because it seemed to affect her enough for her to become so defensive, I thought that my behaviour was unacceptable and blamed myself a lot. I also started feeling like my feelings were completely irrational and therefore I started doubting myself more.
Therefore, at times, I felt like I was walking on eggshells. I was afraid of bringing up a situation in which I thought there was something wrong between us, because I was afraid of being wrong and her reactions tended to be quite defensive and dismissive. She also felt like she was walking on eggshells at times due to my tendency to overthink her behaviours. She didn’t want to cause a problem either, since even small shifts in her behaviour could worry me.
During the relationship, I could at times become jealous when I was insecure, for example when she spent time with her friends or family without me, either through texting or in real life. This would obviously frustrate her a lot and was one of the most difficult parts of the relationship for her, since she was just spending time with others and didn't see how that could be a cause of insecurity for me. I tended to be rational and calm when I was insecure or jealous, but there were occasional instances where that wasn't the case and I acted in a more passive aggressive or guilt-trippy manner. I am not usually a toxic person, but I did display some toxic behaviours at times during this relationship.
We both had past issues which we projected onto each other at times. The relationship was very intense and that meant there were also many highs and lows. We had a deep affection and care for one another and we both thought the relationship was too good to be true. For me, it felt too good to be true be in a relationship for the first time and to have a romantic experience with someone I cared so much about, because I had never experienced that before. For her, it felt too good to be true that I was so kind and caring to her, because she had never felt that before from anyone else to this extent. She had always felt let down by people before in her life and she couldn’t believe that I wasn't like them. We were both afraid of losing each other. For me, it was expressed by going above and beyond for her, a tendency to be more clingy and have a need for reassurance, wanting to always feel close and connected with her, and things like that. For her, it seemed like she could show a combination of becoming distant and pushing me away, but also becoming very vulnerable at times too and showing me lots of love and affection.
My ex told me a lot about her past trauma and how life had been quite difficult for her the past few years. Her grandmother had passed away a 6 years ago and during that time she lost her group of friends (which included her best friend) after a big conflict in which she felt unfairly treated. It seemed like she had had quite a few friendships in which she didn’t feel like her needs were being met and she tended te feel unfairly treated. It was a reoccurring theme in her life.
Her other grandmother passed away ahalf a year before we met. She didn’t really have many friendships to rely on either at that time, because she studied abroad and her friends and family were obviously not present to support her. She also struggled a lot with academic stress during our time together. She had failed a few exams and fell behind, which compounded her struggles, especially since she was still grieving the loss of her grandmother. Then, her family dog passed away very suddenly 10 months into our relationship. It felt like her dog passing away was the last drop that made the bucket overflow. She loved that dog so much and it really affected her. Her grief was very intense. These incidents played a massive role in her mood shifts, especially considering she is an emotionally sensitive person and her moods already seemed quite easily affected at times.
She wasn’t emotionally stable and her emotional regulation seemed to be lacking at times too, especially considering she was 29. I was 9 years younger than her and in general life situations, I felt like the more stable and mature person for most of the relationship. I didn’t always act that way during our conflicts, though, but in general life it seemed like I was more regulated and rational. I was also the one who tended to take on a more caretaker role in the relationship due to my codependency.
Her emotions could be intense and easily triggered by other people or life stressors. She tended to attribute her behaviour and reactions more on external factors, such as her past experiences or the bad things happening currently in her life. Of course, she did take responsibility too, but often after the fact. Initially, it always felt like the world was against her. She was often the one feeling the most hurt from her past friendships. It was hard to not feel bad for her.
As a result, during the last two months of the relationship (after her family dog passed away), her emotional instability reached its peak. It was like her world fell apart. Her moods were very up and down, and she had depressive episodes during which she broke down crying a lot. During that time, I was pretty much her only emotional support. I took care of her a lot during that period. Things became very draining for me. Towards the end, I had given everything I had for her and had put all of her needs above mine. I felt more like a parent than a boyfriend. During this difficult period, we started triggering each other more frequently. I was often worried about her well-being due to her not taking care of herself very well during this period. I was starting to find it very hard to be supportive since I had become emotionally numb around that point. I had nothing left in me anymore. When I mentioned to her that I felt drained, she would feel upset. She interpreted it as me saying that her emotions was too much and she felt invalidated. Granted, I could have worded it more clearly, but I definitely didn't say it how she interpreted it. Towards the end, my behaviour also became slightly passive aggressive and controlling/possessive at times (I told her once that it bothered me how much she was texting her friends and that I wished she would text them less), and I had made an insensitive comment. I mentioned to her that I had become slightly less attracted to her and that she had gained some weight. I had become a caretaker for her, she wasn’t really taking care of herself, and I felt like this relationship was very draining to be in, and as a result I found myself feeling slightly less attracted to her. This feeling really bothered me, because I didn't want to feel that way. I loved her and wanted to feel 100% attracted to her. I thought it would be best to simply be honest with her. However, I should have worded it differently, because it obviously hurt her a lot. I should have not made it about her attractiveness or weight. I did apologise a lot and tried to reassure her that I did still find her attractive, but the damage was already done. I meant well, but I was very naïve in thinking that bringing that up was not going to have an effect on her. That is a harsh lesson learned from my side. I still feel bad about it.
However, I also felt very unfairly treated by her during that last part of our relationship. I did so much for her during that period relationship, yet she still managed to interpret some of my behaviour as me not caring enough sometimes. She seemed to become upset more frequently about very small matters and at times it seemed like she was nit-picking problems or finding reasons to become upset at me. This resulted in her becoming distant and passive aggressive towards me. That was very frustrating and exhausting to deal with, especially when I was already starting to become emotionally drained. She would say things like “Sorry for existing then” or “I guess I’ll just stop that then” when I felt bothered by something. This was also due time her own struggles and her grief at the time, so I fully understand.
Towards the end, my needs were not getting met. I just wanted to help her through this immensely tough period and it was more important to me that her needs were met than mine. I just wanted to see her happy, because as long as she was happy, I was happy.
Overall, she was generally a very loving, funny, kind woman who obviously cared a lot for me. We created so many amazing memories together and I will never forget her or the relationship. At times, things would be absolutely perfect between us and it felt like a dream. The relationship wasn’t constantly negative. We shared periods of stability and there are many examples of times when we were able to communicate in a loving and healthy manner. We shared a real love and had an amazing connection with one another. We were together for a year so that obviously counts for something.
The relationship became unhealthy for both of us, especially towards the end. There were toxic behaviours from both sides rooted in our own issues. However, there were also periods of stability and calm. It wasn't always a constant rollercoaster. Looking back, I believe we we did share more good memories with each other than bad ones, but in the end the relationship seemed to reach a point beyond repair. She felt very drained by my constant overthinking, and my insecurity and jealousy. She felt like she had to constantly prove herself as a result, which upset her a lot. She already had her own struggles and it seemed like my insecurities became too much for her and that the relationship became too unhealthy and upsetting towards the end. This was my experience so it will undoubtedly be biased in some ways. However, it is still a valid experience and I have tried to acknowledge her side as well.
submitted by WNGBR to heartbreak [link] [comments]
To further elaborate, at times in the relationship, I found it difficult to read, predict, and understand her moods and her behaviour towards me: her behaviour felt inconsistent to me at times. One day she was super loving, talkative, and interested in me, and the next day it felt different. However, I didn't know if my feelings were justified or if I was simply overthinking and overanalysing her behaviour. Since she didn't tell me what was the matter even when I asked her, I was left confused and still guessing why there were these shifts in her mood.
She did tell me that she found it scary to trust others and, therefore, to be fully open with me. She told me that was why she would push me away sometimes, meaning that my feelings were not completely unjustified. She admitted herself that she could be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. She was also older than me and more the independent type, and didn't always need a lot of attention, which is also an explanation for her change in behaviour. However, I didn't know that at the beginning of the relationship.
There were times where it felt like I had to follow an exact script on how to act or what to say to not upset her. She would become upset at times, because she didn’t think I appreciated her or because I didn’t give her the reaction she had in her mind. When I didn't live up to these unspoken expectations, she became more distant and silent (or even slightly pasisve aggressive), like I mentioned before. She wanted me to naturally know what she wanted, since in her mind it was obvious and she didn’t feel like she was a hard person to to read, but it wasn't obvious to me. This didn’t happen too often, but it still had an effect on me.
To give an example of how she could deal with these unspoken expectations, there was an instance when we did grocery shopping together. I paid for it at the time, but she told me to send her a payment request for half of it and when I did so a few days later, I immediately noticed a slight change in her energy towards me. When I questioned her about this, she told me that there was nothing wrong, but when I came round her place later that day. she was extremely cold and unaffectionate towards me. Her reaction was like I had cheated on her. I wasn't allowed to sit or be close to her, she was visibly upset, she wouldn't talk to me, and I had to sleep on the opposite side of the bed. I even mentioned if me sending her a payment request was an issue, but she told me that it was fine since she had told me that I could send her one. The next day she was hot and cold towards me, going from acting normally towards me to cold and distant again. Only after I became very upset and questioned her about it again did she tell me that the reason she was acting that way was because she wanted me to offer to pay for the groceries. She had paid for the groceries last time, so she wanted me to pay for them this time (I would have had no problem at all with paying, but since she told me to send her a payment request, I did). She told me that she became upset when I hadn't offered to do so naturally, which caused her to feel like I didn't appreciate or care about her enough. This was the most extreme example from our relationship, though. However, this situation caused me to lose some trust in her and her words.
Her behaviour wasn't intentional. It seemed to be due to a mix of her character and the things she had gone through in her past. It seemed like it was more of a coping/protective mechanism for her. She was aware of this, but her awareness wasn't always enough for her to cope in a different way.
In the cases where I felt like there was a shift in her behaviour, mood, or energy, it left me guessing if there was anything wrong. I had learned to associate a change in her mood as there potentially being something wrong. I was just afraid of there being a problem between us and not knowing about it, like the payment request situation (and other situations).
At times, my insecurities, anxious attachment, and my resulting codependency from this relationship significantly affected her and put a strain on the relationship. For example, there could be absolutely nothing wrong and I would create a problem out of nowhere. I was dependent on her for my happiness and if there was even a slight bit of attention focused on someone else, it would bother me. Sometimes, this would make me overly needy and controlling. This frustrated and triggered her a lot, because she also wanted to give other people attention and felt suffocated by my unreasonable demands. This was also a reoccurring pattern in the relationship.
My fear of there being a problem between us which I might not know about, my fear of not being as important to her as she was to me, and therefore, my fear of losing her became too strong at times, which caused me to become insecure and worried. Especially the times where my insecurity and worry was unjustified affected her a lot. During those times, she felt like I was causing issues for no reason and she felt upset and frustrated that, despite her giving me lots of attention the days before, I would still need reassurance and interpret her behaviour as there being something wrong between us. This made her feel drained, annoyed, suffocated, and upset.
Her reactions tended to be quite defensive and dismissive towards me. I understand her reaction, because her feelings were completely justified, but she chose to respond in those ways to vent her frustration. She would tell me that I was annoying, way too needy, that I should stop overthinking her behaviour, and that I should work on my insecurities. She was correct though. During these moments, I would become very apologetic. I just wanted things to be good between us. There were also times I felt like I was taking responsibility for things I didn't feel responsible for, just to make sure things were okay. She wasn't completely wrong regarding what she was saying to me, but it was harsh. It was absolutely not my intention to cause a problem or to frustrate or annoy her, but because it seemed to affect her enough for her to become so defensive, I thought that my behaviour was unacceptable and blamed myself a lot. I also started feeling like my feelings were completely irrational and therefore I started doubting myself more.
Therefore, at times, I felt like I was walking on eggshells. I was afraid of bringing up a situation in which I thought there was something wrong between us, because I was afraid of being wrong and her reactions tended to be quite defensive and dismissive. She also felt like she was walking on eggshells at times due to my tendency to overthink her behaviours. She didn’t want to cause a problem either, since even small shifts in her behaviour could worry me.
During the relationship, I could at times become jealous when I was insecure, for example when she spent time with her friends or family without me, either through texting or in real life. This would obviously frustrate her a lot and was one of the most difficult parts of the relationship for her, since she was just spending time with others and didn't see how that could be a cause of insecurity for me. I tended to be rational and calm when I was insecure or jealous, but there were occasional instances where that wasn't the case and I acted in a more passive aggressive or guilt-trippy manner. I am not usually a toxic person, but I did display some toxic behaviours at times during this relationship.
We both had past issues which we projected onto each other at times. The relationship was very intense and that meant there were also many highs and lows. We had a deep affection and care for one another and we both thought the relationship was too good to be true. For me, it felt too good to be true be in a relationship for the first time and to have a romantic experience with someone I cared so much about, because I had never experienced that before. For her, it felt too good to be true that I was so kind and caring to her, because she had never felt that before from anyone else to this extent. She had always felt let down by people before in her life and she couldn’t believe that I wasn't like them. We were both afraid of losing each other. For me, it was expressed by going above and beyond for her, a tendency to be more clingy and have a need for reassurance, wanting to always feel close and connected with her, and things like that. For her, it seemed like she could show a combination of becoming distant and pushing me away, but also becoming very vulnerable at times too and showing me lots of love and affection.
My ex told me a lot about her past trauma and how life had been quite difficult for her the past few years. Her grandmother had passed away a 6 years ago and during that time she lost her group of friends (which included her best friend) after a big conflict in which she felt unfairly treated. It seemed like she had had quite a few friendships in which she didn’t feel like her needs were being met and she tended te feel unfairly treated. It was a reoccurring theme in her life.
Her other grandmother passed away ahalf a year before we met. She didn’t really have many friendships to rely on either at that time, because she studied abroad and her friends and family were obviously not present to support her. She also struggled a lot with academic stress during our time together. She had failed a few exams and fell behind, which compounded her struggles, especially since she was still grieving the loss of her grandmother. Then, her family dog passed away very suddenly 10 months into our relationship. It felt like her dog passing away was the last drop that made the bucket overflow. She loved that dog so much and it really affected her. Her grief was very intense. These incidents played a massive role in her mood shifts, especially considering she is an emotionally sensitive person and her moods already seemed quite easily affected at times.
She wasn’t emotionally stable and her emotional regulation seemed to be lacking at times too, especially considering she was 29. I was 9 years younger than her and in general life situations, I felt like the more stable and mature person for most of the relationship. I didn’t always act that way during our conflicts, though, but in general life it seemed like I was more regulated and rational. I was also the one who tended to take on a more caretaker role in the relationship due to my codependency.
Her emotions could be intense and easily triggered by other people or life stressors. She tended to attribute her behaviour and reactions more on external factors, such as her past experiences or the bad things happening currently in her life. Of course, she did take responsibility too, but often after the fact. Initially, it always felt like the world was against her. She was often the one feeling the most hurt from her past friendships. It was hard to not feel bad for her.
As a result, during the last two months of the relationship (after her family dog passed away), her emotional instability reached its peak. It was like her world fell apart. Her moods were very up and down, and she had depressive episodes during which she broke down crying a lot. During that time, I was pretty much her only emotional support. I took care of her a lot during that period. Things became very draining for me. Towards the end, I had given everything I had for her and had put all of her needs above mine. I felt more like a parent than a boyfriend. During this difficult period, we started triggering each other more frequently. I was often worried about her well-being due to her not taking care of herself very well during this period. I was starting to find it very hard to be supportive since I had become emotionally numb around that point. I had nothing left in me anymore. When I mentioned to her that I felt drained, she would feel upset. She interpreted it as me saying that her emotions was too much and she felt invalidated. Granted, I could have worded it more clearly, but I definitely didn't say it how she interpreted it. Towards the end, my behaviour also became slightly passive aggressive and controlling/possessive at times (I told her once that it bothered me how much she was texting her friends and that I wished she would text them less), and I had made an insensitive comment. I mentioned to her that I had become slightly less attracted to her and that she had gained some weight. I had become a caretaker for her, she wasn’t really taking care of herself, and I felt like this relationship was very draining to be in, and as a result I found myself feeling slightly less attracted to her. This feeling really bothered me, because I didn't want to feel that way. I loved her and wanted to feel 100% attracted to her. I thought it would be best to simply be honest with her. However, I should have worded it differently, because it obviously hurt her a lot. I should have not made it about her attractiveness or weight. I did apologise a lot and tried to reassure her that I did still find her attractive, but the damage was already done. I meant well, but I was very naïve in thinking that bringing that up was not going to have an effect on her. That is a harsh lesson learned from my side. I still feel bad about it.
However, I also felt very unfairly treated by her during that last part of our relationship. I did so much for her during that period relationship, yet she still managed to interpret some of my behaviour as me not caring enough sometimes. She seemed to become upset more frequently about very small matters and at times it seemed like she was nit-picking problems or finding reasons to become upset at me. This resulted in her becoming distant and passive aggressive towards me. That was very frustrating and exhausting to deal with, especially when I was already starting to become emotionally drained. She would say things like “Sorry for existing then” or “I guess I’ll just stop that then” when I felt bothered by something. This was also due time her own struggles and her grief at the time, so I fully understand.
Towards the end, my needs were not getting met. I just wanted to help her through this immensely tough period and it was more important to me that her needs were met than mine. I just wanted to see her happy, because as long as she was happy, I was happy.
Overall, she was generally a very loving, funny, kind woman who obviously cared a lot for me. We created so many amazing memories together and I will never forget her or the relationship. At times, things would be absolutely perfect between us and it felt like a dream. The relationship wasn’t constantly negative. We shared periods of stability and there are many examples of times when we were able to communicate in a loving and healthy manner. We shared a real love and had an amazing connection with one another. We were together for a year so that obviously counts for something.
The relationship became unhealthy for both of us, especially towards the end. There were toxic behaviours from both sides rooted in our own issues. However, there were also periods of stability and calm. It wasn't always a constant rollercoaster. Looking back, I believe we we did share more good memories with each other than bad ones, but in the end the relationship seemed to reach a point beyond repair. She felt very drained by my constant overthinking, and my insecurity and jealousy. She felt like she had to constantly prove herself as a result, which upset her a lot. She already had her own struggles and it seemed like my insecurities became too much for her and that the relationship became too unhealthy and upsetting towards the end. This was my experience so it will undoubtedly be biased in some ways. However, it is still a valid experience and I have tried to acknowledge her side as well.
2024.05.16 23:02 Violet-Flowersss Maxi-Challenge 6: Results
 | Welcome back queens from our first ball! You had a tall order this challenge, and several of you did very well. Let’s not delay the results any longer! submitted by Violet-Flowersss to MissFiggysDragRace [link] [comments] Tracy Martel, you are safe Absynthe, Mistress Anna Conda, Liz Onya, Raven Starfire, B*tch, and Miz Erie, you all represent the tops and bottoms of this challenge. Now, on to the critiques. Absynthe: Absynthe, I love simple looks when they’re done right, and each and every one of your looks did simplicity right. I especially appreciate that you weaved a theme through all three looks. For your first look, I love that you went with a more recent trend. I can totally see Kim K wearing this in an “unexpected” paparazzi pic. At first, I was skeptical of the skirt, because tighter skirts or pants were more the style, but I actually appreciate that you didn’t directly copy a Kim K look. My only real critique is the shoes. I think the black laces, especially on clear shoes, takes away from the simplicity in the rest of the look and brings down the athleisurewear vibe. I would have preferred a sneaker or basic heel. I also kind of wish you had used a different lip, not only to break up a set, but also because big ass lips were more on trend for this style. Still, I really like this look as a whole. Now, your second look, I really really love. I instantly got this was a 60s look, yet it feels fresh to me. The dress is the perfect silhouette, and the squares you created are so crisp. The largest black square has a little blotch of gray that I immediately noticed, and I wish you had fixed it. But, that’s really the only thing here I can critique. I think my favorite part of this look is the mug, these eyes are just so right for a 60s look. Every choice your made with this second look is great. The third look is really the best in terms of simplicity done right. There’s not much going on, but all the details are so good and beautiful. I love the little belt below the waist, it helps convey the Greek/Roman feel you were going for. With the rest of the editing, there’s some small (small) issues. On the right side of the dress, there’s a gliterry piece sticking out that I think came from merging pieces together. I also feel like the shawl is oversaturated for this look. In a different look, it would be fine, but with the softness of the dress and overall feel of the look, that bright bright red doesn’t quite fit. Don’t think I didn’t notice that all the metals match this time though - I did and I appreciate it. Putting the small editing issues aside, this look is very beautiful and regal. In fact, all three looks are really great and beautiful. Great work Absynthe! Mistress Anna Conda: Mistress, all three of your looks have a great concept, but fall short in terms of execution. For the first one, before you added a description, I really had no idea what decade or century you were going for. With the description, I kind of see the 2010s, but that should have been conveyed clearer. The wig is the main aspect thats makes this look feel older than the 2010s. And, I don’t love that you lightened it. The original color would have matched the pants, and if you didn’t want them to match, the wig should be a color thats more different than the pants. I appreciate that you recolored the necklaces to match the earrings, but I wish you had done the opposite, because the gold necklaces blend into the top, making it look even messier. The pants totally give 2010s, and the color is really nice. However, they don’t look like jeans, they look like leggings. Adding stitching or denim patterning would’ve made them look more like jeans. Its a nice look, I like the attitude and idea, but the small details are off and it missed the main goal of the challenge. Of your three looks, I think this second look is my least favorite. For one thing, this jumpsuit for a disco look is about the most expected choice ever. The recoloring is really nice, the teal and orange combo is really pretty. But, the balance is off. There is a lottt of teal and not a lot of orange. What’s really brining this look down, though, is the wig. To be frank, it looks like a dead bush with some green spores. If there was a reference, I wish you had provided it because I couldn’t find it online. I see the idea you had, and it could’ve been cute, but the colors really need to be changed. As a whole, I think this look is suffering from a lack of creativity and needs to be amped up. The third look is the best out of the three. Its very cute, and clearly reads as 1890s. She looks like a mix of little bo peep and mary poppins. The combination of pieces is really smooth, and the top and bottom come together to make a nice, cohesive dress. The only editing issue you have is on the top. Where the pink and blue meet, theres a rough, shaky black line. I think you were trying to make them look layers, but it just looks odd, and because of the fold that stretches across the shirt, that prevents the two different colors from looking like layers. Not to beat a dead horse, but another issue with the top is the stark difference in fabrics. The skirt is a very soft, almost matte material while the top is shiny and plasticy. They don’t look like they’d be a part of the same dress, ruining the illusion. The wig, hat, and gloves were a nice touch though and help elevate the look a bit. This look is mostly accurate for the 1980s, but what’s not right for the time period is the waist. The dress you’ve created is very unflattering, in that it completely eliminates your waist. Corsets were still popular in the 1890s, so at the very least, there should be a semblance of an hourglass figure. All three looks are nice, but not particularly stunning, mainly because of the details. Liz Onya: Liz, each and every one of your looks is so great, and I can clearly tell you put a lot of thought and effort into every one. This first look of yours is so beautiful. I actually had to look up Akaska because I’ve never seen the movie, and all the references are so right. I especially like the headpiece, its very accurate to hers. My favorite part of this look is the smoke at the bottom, it really helps sell the mysterious vampire mystery. However… this is not a 2000s look. It kind of feels like a cope out. While the movie was made in the 2000s, the vampire your imitating is ancient Egyptian, and therefore dressed in a way thats meant to imitate ancient fashion. While others did imitate movie characters, their movie characters were from the 2000s canonically and therefore dressed in 2000s fashion. Vampires definitely were a big part of the 2000s, but if you had done Twilight instead, that would’ve fit the 2000s better because the fashion in that movie was from the 2000s. There’s no issues with your look, its gorgeous, but it does not fit the challenge prompt. Your second look is my favorite of the three, and dare I say, my favorite out of all the 1900s look. I could immediately tell this was from the 1980s, and I think you did the 80s in such a fun, new way. I love art, and I love when its incorporated into to fasion. The recoloring on the dress is just amazing. I love how it looks like its literally made of painted paper, and the shakiness of the lines works really well here because its accurate to the reference you provided. Even though it is very accurate to the reference, you still managed to make it your own by combining two references and through the wig and makeup choices. The body paint is fantastic, and even the white line on the wig looks like paint, a detail I love. The wig helps reinforce that this is an 80s look, and its blocky shape works perfectly with all the shapes throughout the dress. I don’t have a single negative thing to say about this look, incredible work. With your third look, I love love love that you went with a more obscure reference, and gave us a little history lesson. The editing really turns this into a stunning look. It easily could have been too basic if you left the dress as it is in the game, but that pool of blood at the bottom really amps up the horror here. The way you intertwined your fingers into the victims hair is so great and such an important detail. With the head, I do wish that the victims skin tone was different because at first glance it looks like your holding your own head. Using a different body type helped create a difference, but a different skin tone would have really hit it home. As for the victims body, I was really confused on what it was until I zoomed in on my laptop. All the dark blood all over the body makes it blend into the pool of blood, so its not clear that its a body. Less blood or a lighter outfit would have made it clearer. You do get extra credit for creating two 1800s looks, though. As for your head, the blood splatter on the face was such a great detail to add in there, I really love it. I would have liked a different mug, though. She looks almost surprised or sad - like shes not the one who just murdered a woman. A fiercer, meaner mug would’ve been better. The hair is great, it looks like the 1890s, but unkept and messy, adding the story. Overall, this look is so hauntingly beautiful, and tells such a great visual story. You just keep wowing me every challenge, Liz! Raven Starfire: Raven, out of the three looks, I feel like you put the most thought and attention into the 1800s look, and let the others fall to the wayside. For your 2000s look… I’m really not loving it. You resubmitted it (which is fine) and I wish you hadn’t because I think the first submission was better. The blonde hair does not look good, the color is all wrong, and because it is so long, it completely ruins the rest of the look. The dark brown hair was a lot more complimentary and I felt it was a nice way for you to put your own spin on a Mean Girls look. The mismatched pinks really bother me, the jacket and the skirt aren’t the same shade and you could’ve easily fixed that. I’m not loving the top skirt combo otherwise either, the jacket is athleisurewear while the skirt is preppy. I think there was a lot more you could’ve done to make this look more cohesive and more unique; as-is, it reads as a knock-off mean girl. For the second look, I actually asked my mom if this look was accurate for the 80s (because she grew up then) and she confirmed that this is accurate for a boss bitch from the 80s. The makeup is great, she confirmed there were a lot of pastels in the 80s, and I like the expression the eye and lip combo makes. While all the pieces in the outfit are time-period accurate, I don’t love the look as a whole. Starting with the wig, I, for one, am not a fan of this wig already, but I think there were ways you could have improved it. But since you mentioned the big hair of the 80s, I really wish you had gone with a different wig entirely that was even bigger. I’ve seen my mom’s high school photos, and her hair takes up about 70% of the frame, so I would've loved to have seen you go really big. The same thing goes for the shoulder pads, I barely even noticed this top had them, which I wouldn’t care about if you hadn't mentioned big shoulder pads. The pattern on the top totally gives 80s, but I wish you had used a lower level of it, one that didn’t have the weird harness on it. If you wanted to keep the harness, I think it would've been nicer if it matched the skirt so the skirt color was tied into the shirt somehow. That also would’ve made the harness feel more like an intentional choice. I appreciate that you matched the shoes so exactly to the skirt, buttt I think white would’ve stood out more and tied into the gloves. This look is very accurate for the 80s, but I’m just not in love with it. Now, your 1800s look, I totally am in love with. It totally feels like its from the 1800s while still being unique and creative. The layering on the skirt is absolutely beautiful, I especially really appreciate the lace edges, it helps bring all the layers together into a cohesive look. The ruffles, the gloves, the pleats, its all so beautiful. Something was bothering me about the skirt, and it took me a little while to figure out what, but I realized the waist is not angled correctly. The figures of the queens in the game are angled to the right, so waistlines should be angled that same way. The waistline you created is angled head-on, and since the rest of the queen’s body and dress is not, it looks off. If that detail was fixed, this dress would be perfect. As for the mug, I love these eyes for this look. I’m not in love with the lips, though - the bright coral color doesn’t match the rest of the burnt tones in this look. I think a softer pink or orange lip would’ve worked better. But, these small issues don’t distract from the overall look too much, making for a stunning and beautiful look overall. If the other two looks were as great as the third look, you would be in the top, but the third look isnt enough to save you from the bottom on its own. Btch: Btch, throughout all your looks, I can tell you really focused on refinement and cohesiveness. The first look is fine. It is not particularly inventive or creative, but it is cohesive. Even the small details go together. I especially appreciate how the zippers on the skirt match the jacket zippers, as do the silver hair accessories. The skirt color perfectly matches the fur on the jacket, which is great. Originally, my biggest issue was that you used the “Legally Drag” top to do an Elle Woods look, but then you deleted that reference pic. In doing so, you also deleted the decade you were referencing, which was in the challenge prompt. I still know you were going for the early 2000s, because I can’t erase my memory and you originally said so, but without the reference, it doesn’t totally give early 2000s. Elle Woods was over the top with how much pink she wore, that’s why she stood out - its not like that was an early 2000s trend. I don’t feel like this outfit is particularly inventive, even without the reference pic. I am grateful, though, that you took my note about using sets and didn’t use the matching hair or skirt for this top. The hair was a nice way to put your own spin on this style, and it gives early 2000s, I just wish you had incorporated your own twist into this look more. I also think the skirt you resubmitted with works a lot better for this look than the original skirt you had. Overall, the look is cohesive and solid, but not particularly creative or unique. This second look of yours is super cute, and I’m glad you took the time to recolor and resubmit it. Changing the green for the red helped simplify and refine the look- its a small change with a big effect. I am a little tired of seeing this top used for 90s looks, but the recoloring and pants help make it feel fresher. The hair is super cute for this look, but its reminds me more of Black Panthers from the 60s/70s than the 90s. It just makes me really want a Black Panter look, and sad that you didn’t give that to me. A beanie or bucket hat would’ve fit the 90s more. The shoes are cute, but they don’t really mesh with the rest of the outfit because there’s not cheetah print anywhere else. I like the little ankle bracelets, and the red cheetah print is cute, but a solid color shoe would’ve worked better. They also could’ve worked if cheetah print was incorporated somewhere else in the outfit. Its a very cute, fun look, but a tad basic. On the flip side, this third look of yours is super fun and unexpected! I adore that you went for a masculine look. I’m not always crazy about masc looks in this game, but when it’s done right, they’re so good. And this is done soooo right. Those rich brown tones look so good, and that mug is so sexy. With your editing, the hat got a little fuzzy. The ribbon around the hat could be clearer; it kind of blends into the hat. Similarly, while I appreciate that you went back to change the colors of the bows on the shoes, since they are so dark now, they just look like a blur from afar. Additionally, I really wish you had edited the hat onto a more masculine wig. The beautiful hair and sparkling earrings ruin the hot man fantasy I desperately want. I know I’ve been harsh on your editing before, and I hope that’s not why you chose not to fully edit this look. I really wouldn’t care that you didn’t fully edit if the hair didn’t pull me out of the fantasy so much. The rest of the outfit is really great and beautiful, the shining light against the dark outfit is just stunning. This look very much feels like the 1800s, but I can’t judge its accuracy to a decade because you didn’t specify a decade, which was in the challenge prompt. The inspo pic you provided shows looks from a lot of different years, and they vary, so I would’ve liked to know which decade you were trying to emulate. Otherwise, I really enjoy this look, it’s a nice twist that I didn’t expect from you! Miz Erie: Miz, you had some great ideas for this challenge, but the execution of each look fell a little short. Your first look is cute. A bit basic, but cute. The hair i really like, I could very much see someone in an early 2000s movie with this hair. Lots of denim was definitely a trend in the early 2000s, and I’m glad you brought that. What was not a trend in the early 2000s was big top little bottoms. That’s a more recent trend. Even putting that aside, I still don’t love the tiny skirt with the giant jacket. I really want some baggy pants to balance the look more. The recoloring on the skirt is really nice, it matches the jacket without blending in. I also like the recoloring of the shoes, they feel very early 2000s and pull in the pink from the top and thong. The mug is really nice too, these lips are perfect for this look are totally give early 2000s frosted lips. I am assuming you went for an early 2000s look though because you did not specify that, which was in the challenge prompt. For your second look, I’m very happy that you specified that this was showgirl look and not a flapper look, and provided some reference pics. The top, bottom and shoes look good together and definitely give 1920s showgirl. I get what you were trying to do with the headpiece when looking at your reference photos, but I don’t feel like it works. It doesn’t look fun or sparkly like the one in the photo do, and the harsh spikes bring down the playfulness in the rest the outfit. The Eyevie or So Raven wig would have matched the reference pics more and fit the rest of the outfit better. Part of my dislike for the headpiece may be because of the mug. She’s supposed to be a showgirl, but she looks so depressed, its making me sad. I just don’t understand why you went for such a sad face. For the rest of the outfit, while the top and bottom match colors and look good together in that regard, the nakedness of the top against the bottom doesn’t fully work for me. The skirt is a little slutty with the leg sticking out, but its waist is solid. She either needs to be wearing less clothes or more clothes. The shoes work really well, they’re subtle but the gold details are a nice touch. The idea is nice, but these issues bring the whole look down. Your third look is the best, but theres still some issues with it. I love the idea behind your 1850s look, and parts of it are really beautiful, but the execution fell short in a few ways. The combination of the top and dress is really nice, they come together to make a cohesive dress perfectly. There’s a slight editing issue with the wig though. On the left shoulder, one strand of hair is all choppy. The hanging bow ribbons are also choppy around the edges. I like that you changed the earrings on this wig, but they’re not actually connected to the ears. They’re just floating in the wig. The recoloring and editing on the dress is perfect, but I have a few other issues with it. The darkness in the middle looks unflattering, especially when the bust has that same pattern, but lighter. The gradient on the skirt should have been reversed. While the pattern is very pretty, its a lot to have it all over. If the bust was solid, it would make the dress less busy, and make the patterning stand out more. The pattern on the bows especially doesn’t help with the busyness; the pattern is too small on them to really be effective so they just look blurry and weird. Another issue I have with this look is that the wig doesn’t work for this dress. I know the top and wig are part of a set (which I don’t love that you used them together), but the simplicity of the wig and the fact that its hanging down doesn’t work with the fullness of the dress. An updo would’ve worked better, and been more accurate for the time period. The idea was really great, and the execution was almost there, but these issues make the look feel unfinished, and the same goes for the other two looks as well. Absynthe, your simple looks really wowed me. You are safe. You used the Golden Fig on yourself, but since you are high/safe, it has no effect. Liz, challenge after challenge, you just keep amazing me. Condragulations, you are the winner of this challenge! B*tch, you are safe. Raven, your 1800s look was stunning, but the other two were not. I’m sorry my love but you are up for elimination. Miz Erie, your ideas were great, but your execution was not. You… are safe. That means, Mistress Anna Conda, I’m sorry my love but you are up for elimination. Now, it is time for you and Raven to looksync for your life! |
2024.05.16 23:01 Fantastic-Health8743 How to help us keep this a positive, high-quality space! 🙌
Hi content creators! ✨ Mod checking in to share a bit more about our intentions with this community and what to expect here.
creators exists because we noticed a deficit in spaces where creators from different backgrounds/ platforms could commune to share ideas, progress, and have productive discussions. Many of the spaces in existence are overrun with spam/ low quality posts.
In order to create a new community where we maintain quality, we have to balance tightening up mod controls with ensuring we still give members freedom to express themselves. We don't mean everything needs to be stiff and formal, but we do expect posters to think twice about whether their post will be helpful to others and we certainly expect civility in the comments.
Here's what to expect for the time being ➡️
submitted by Fantastic-Health8743 to creators [link] [comments]
creators exists because we noticed a deficit in spaces where creators from different backgrounds/ platforms could commune to share ideas, progress, and have productive discussions. Many of the spaces in existence are overrun with spam/ low quality posts.
In order to create a new community where we maintain quality, we have to balance tightening up mod controls with ensuring we still give members freedom to express themselves. We don't mean everything needs to be stiff and formal, but we do expect posters to think twice about whether their post will be helpful to others and we certainly expect civility in the comments.
Here's what to expect for the time being ➡️
- For now, all posts require mod approval before they're public. So don't worry if your post hasn't shown up yet — someone on our mod team will get to it as soon as they can and approve it if it's not spam/ low quality. Maybe we'll come up with a more efficient system over time, but this works for now.
- Engagement may be lower due to our standards, but the value from engaging will be higher. We expect the numbers to grow over time, and we will also extend invites to related community members who we believe will bring value to the space. We encourage active members to also invite others they'd like to hear from to creators.
- We're more lax than you might think about self-promo, we just ask that it also be helpful to the community. So if you're going to ask for advice feedback/ promote yourself/ basically any selfish ask, that's totally fine, as long as you give back to the community by sharing your journey and answering questions.
2024.05.16 22:59 WNGBR I blame myself…
Me (20) and my now ex-girlfriend (29) were together for a year (I was 19 and she was 28 when we met). We met due to studying the same course at university and we instantly hit it off. The start of our relationship was very intense. It felt perfect. We had an amazing connection, things seemed to flow so naturally, and things therefore moved very quickly. I even visited her home country and met her family after only a month of being together. We spent so much time together and we seemed perfect for each other. As a result, we both became very quickly attached to one another. Despite how perfect things were in the beginning, there were occasional glimpses of our own issues making their way into the relationship. For example, I started noticing small, sudden shifts in her moods and behaviour towards me. She was always so talkative, bubbly, and enthusiastic towards me, but there were a few instances during which she suddenly became more distant and silent, and her behaviour felt different than usual. This confused me, especially considering I didn’t know what the reason was. It left me guessing if there was perhaps a problem between us or if it was just a natural shift in her mood. Sometimes, it was due to her having a problem with me and other times it was just a natural fluctuation in her mood. However, I would always have to guess which one it was and as a result I started to become very aware of her moods and I felt like I had to start paying a lot of attention to the relationship to not accidentally upset or disappoint her in any way. When things were good between us, I rarely felt insecure, but when I suddenly started noticing shifts in her mood or behaviour towards me, I started to feel anxious and insecure.
To further elaborate, at times in the relationship, I found it difficult to read, predict, and understand her moods and her behaviour towards me: her behaviour felt inconsistent to me at times. One day she was super loving, talkative, and interested in me, and the next day it felt different. However, I didn't know if my feelings were justified or if I was simply overthinking and overanalysing her behaviour. Since she didn't tell me what was the matter even when I asked her, I was left confused and still guessing why there were these shifts in her mood.
She did tell me that she found it scary to trust others and, therefore, to be fully open with me. She told me that was why she would push me away sometimes, meaning that my feelings were not completely unjustified. She admitted herself that she could be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. She was also older than me and more the independent type, and didn't always need a lot of attention, which is also an explanation for her change in behaviour. However, I didn't know that at the beginning of the relationship.
There were times where it felt like I had to follow an exact script on how to act or what to say to not upset her. She would become upset at times, because she didn’t think I appreciated her or because I didn’t give her the reaction she had in her mind. When I didn't live up to these unspoken expectations, she became more distant and silent (or even slightly pasisve aggressive), like I mentioned before. She wanted me to naturally know what she wanted, since in her mind it was obvious and she didn’t feel like she was a hard person to to read, but it wasn't obvious to me. This didn’t happen too often, but it still had an effect on me.
To give an example of how she could deal with these unspoken expectations, there was an instance when we did grocery shopping together. I paid for it at the time, but she told me to send her a payment request for half of it and when I did so a few days later, I immediately noticed a slight change in her energy towards me. When I questioned her about this, she told me that there was nothing wrong, but when I came round her place later that day. she was extremely cold and unaffectionate towards me. Her reaction was like I had cheated on her. I wasn't allowed to sit or be close to her, she was visibly upset, she wouldn't talk to me, and I had to sleep on the opposite side of the bed. I even mentioned if me sending her a payment request was an issue, but she told me that it was fine since she had told me that I could send her one. The next day she was hot and cold towards me, going from acting normally towards me to cold and distant again. Only after I became very upset and questioned her about it again did she tell me that the reason she was acting that way was because she wanted me to offer to pay for the groceries. She had paid for the groceries last time, so she wanted me to pay for them this time (I would have had no problem at all with paying, but since she told me to send her a payment request, I did). She told me that she became upset when I hadn't offered to do so naturally, which caused her to feel like I didn't appreciate or care about her enough. This was the most extreme example from our relationship, though. However, this situation caused me to lose some trust in her and her words.
Her behaviour wasn't intentional. It seemed to be due to a mix of her character and the things she had gone through in her past. It seemed like it was more of a coping/protective mechanism for her. She was aware of this, but her awareness wasn't always enough for her to cope in a different way.
In the cases where I felt like there was a shift in her behaviour, mood, or energy, it left me guessing if there was anything wrong. I had learned to associate a change in her mood as there potentially being something wrong. I was just afraid of there being a problem between us and not knowing about it, like the payment request situation (and other situations).
At times, my insecurities, anxious attachment, and my resulting codependency from this relationship significantly affected her and put a strain on the relationship. For example, there could be absolutely nothing wrong and I would create a problem out of nowhere. I was dependent on her for my happiness and if there was even a slight bit of attention focused on someone else, it would bother me. Sometimes, this would make me overly needy and controlling. This frustrated and triggered her a lot, because she also wanted to give other people attention and felt suffocated by my unreasonable demands. This was also a reoccurring pattern in the relationship.
My fear of there being a problem between us which I might not know about, my fear of not being as important to her as she was to me, and therefore, my fear of losing her became too strong at times, which caused me to become insecure and worried. Especially the times where my insecurity and worry was unjustified affected her a lot. During those times, she felt like I was causing issues for no reason and she felt upset and frustrated that, despite her giving me lots of attention the days before, I would still need reassurance and interpret her behaviour as there being something wrong between us. This made her feel drained, annoyed, suffocated, and upset.
Her reactions tended to be quite defensive and dismissive towards me. I understand her reaction, because her feelings were completely justified, but she chose to respond in those ways to vent her frustration. She would tell me that I was annoying, way too needy, that I should stop overthinking her behaviour, and that I should work on my insecurities. She was correct though. During these moments, I would become very apologetic. I just wanted things to be good between us. There were also times I felt like I was taking responsibility for things I didn't feel responsible for, just to make sure things were okay. She wasn't completely wrong regarding what she was saying to me, but it was harsh. It was absolutely not my intention to cause a problem or to frustrate or annoy her, but because it seemed to affect her enough for her to become so defensive, I thought that my behaviour was unacceptable and blamed myself a lot. I also started feeling like my feelings were completely irrational and therefore I started doubting myself more.
Therefore, at times, I felt like I was walking on eggshells. I was afraid of bringing up a situation in which I thought there was something wrong between us, because I was afraid of being wrong and her reactions tended to be quite defensive and dismissive. She also felt like she was walking on eggshells at times due to my tendency to overthink her behaviours. She didn’t want to cause a problem either, since even small shifts in her behaviour could worry me.
During the relationship, I could at times become jealous when I was insecure, for example when she spent time with her friends or family without me, either through texting or in real life. This would obviously frustrate her a lot and was one of the most difficult parts of the relationship for her, since she was just spending time with others and didn't see how that could be a cause of insecurity for me. I tended to be rational and calm when I was insecure or jealous, but there were occasional instances where that wasn't the case and I acted in a more passive aggressive or guilt-trippy manner. I am not usually a toxic person, but I did display some toxic behaviours at times during this relationship.
We both had past issues which we projected onto each other at times. The relationship was very intense and that meant there were also many highs and lows. We had a deep affection and care for one another and we both thought the relationship was too good to be true. For me, it felt too good to be true be in a relationship for the first time and to have a romantic experience with someone I cared so much about, because I had never experienced that before. For her, it felt too good to be true that I was so kind and caring to her, because she had never felt that before from anyone else to this extent. She had always felt let down by people before in her life and she couldn’t believe that I wasn't like them. We were both afraid of losing each other. For me, it was expressed by going above and beyond for her, a tendency to be more clingy and have a need for reassurance, wanting to always feel close and connected with her, and things like that. For her, it seemed like she could show a combination of becoming distant and pushing me away, but also becoming very vulnerable at times too and showing me lots of love and affection.
My ex told me a lot about her past trauma and how life had been quite difficult for her the past few years. Her grandmother had passed away a 6 years ago and during that time she lost her group of friends (which included her best friend) after a big conflict in which she felt unfairly treated. It seemed like she had had quite a few friendships in which she didn’t feel like her needs were being met and she tended te feel unfairly treated. It was a reoccurring theme in her life.
Her other grandmother passed away ahalf a year before we met. She didn’t really have many friendships to rely on either at that time, because she studied abroad and her friends and family were obviously not present to support her. She also struggled a lot with academic stress during our time together. She had failed a few exams and fell behind, which compounded her struggles, especially since she was still grieving the loss of her grandmother. Then, her family dog passed away very suddenly 10 months into our relationship. It felt like her dog passing away was the last drop that made the bucket overflow. She loved that dog so much and it really affected her. Her grief was very intense. These incidents played a massive role in her mood shifts, especially considering she is an emotionally sensitive person and her moods already seemed quite easily affected at times.
She wasn’t emotionally stable and her emotional regulation seemed to be lacking at times too, especially considering she was 29. I was 9 years younger than her and in general life situations, I felt like the more stable and mature person for most of the relationship. I didn’t always act that way during our conflicts, though, but in general life it seemed like I was more regulated and rational. I was also the one who tended to take on a more caretaker role in the relationship due to my codependency.
Her emotions could be intense and easily triggered by other people or life stressors. She tended to attribute her behaviour and reactions more on external factors, such as her past experiences or the bad things happening currently in her life. Of course, she did take responsibility too, but often after the fact. Initially, it always felt like the world was against her. She was often the one feeling the most hurt from her past friendships. It was hard to not feel bad for her.
As a result, during the last two months of the relationship (after her family dog passed away), her emotional instability reached its peak. It was like her world fell apart. Her moods were very up and down, and she had depressive episodes during which she broke down crying a lot. During that time, I was pretty much her only emotional support. I took care of her a lot during that period. Things became very draining for me. Towards the end, I had given everything I had for her and had put all of her needs above mine. I felt more like a parent than a boyfriend. During this difficult period, we started triggering each other more frequently. I was often worried about her well-being due to her not taking care of herself very well during this period. I was starting to find it very hard to be supportive since I had become emotionally numb around that point. I had nothing left in me anymore. When I mentioned to her that I felt drained, she would feel upset. She interpreted it as me saying that her emotions was too much and she felt invalidated. Granted, I could have worded it more clearly, but I definitely didn't say it how she interpreted it. Towards the end, my behaviour also became slightly passive aggressive and controlling/possessive at times (I told her once that it bothered me how much she was texting her friends and that I wished she would text them less), and I had made an insensitive comment. I mentioned to her that I had become slightly less attracted to her and that she had gained some weight. I had become a caretaker for her, she wasn’t really taking care of herself, and I felt like this relationship was very draining to be in, and as a result I found myself feeling slightly less attracted to her. This feeling really bothered me, because I didn't want to feel that way. I loved her and wanted to feel 100% attracted to her. I thought it would be best to simply be honest with her. However, I should have worded it differently, because it obviously hurt her a lot. I should have not made it about her attractiveness or weight. I did apologise a lot and tried to reassure her that I did still find her attractive, but the damage was already done. I meant well, but I was very naïve in thinking that bringing that up was not going to have an effect on her. That is a harsh lesson learned from my side. I still feel bad about it.
However, I also felt very unfairly treated by her during that last part of our relationship. I did so much for her during that period relationship, yet she still managed to interpret some of my behaviour as me not caring enough sometimes. She seemed to become upset more frequently about very small matters and at times it seemed like she was nit-picking problems or finding reasons to become upset at me. This resulted in her becoming distant and passive aggressive towards me. That was very frustrating and exhausting to deal with, especially when I was already starting to become emotionally drained. She would say things like “Sorry for existing then” or “I guess I’ll just stop that then” when I felt bothered by something. This was also due time her own struggles and her grief at the time, so I fully understand.
Towards the end, my needs were not getting met. I just wanted to help her through this immensely tough period and it was more important to me that her needs were met than mine. I just wanted to see her happy, because as long as she was happy, I was happy.
Overall, she was generally a very loving, funny, kind woman who obviously cared a lot for me. We created so many amazing memories together and I will never forget her or the relationship. At times, things would be absolutely perfect between us and it felt like a dream. The relationship wasn’t constantly negative. We shared periods of stability and there are many examples of times when we were able to communicate in a loving and healthy manner. We shared a real love and had an amazing connection with one another. We were together for a year so that obviously counts for something.
The relationship became unhealthy for both of us, especially towards the end. There were toxic behaviours from both sides rooted in our own issues. However, there were also periods of stability and calm. It wasn't always a constant rollercoaster. Looking back, I believe we we did share more good memories with each other than bad ones, but in the end the relationship seemed to reach a point beyond repair. She felt very drained by my constant overthinking, and my insecurity and jealousy. She felt like she had to constantly prove herself as a result, which upset her a lot. She already had her own struggles and it seemed like my insecurities became too much for her and that the relationship became too unhealthy and upsetting towards the end. This was my experience so it will undoubtedly be biased in some ways. However, it is still a valid experience and I have tried to acknowledge her side as well.
submitted by WNGBR to BreakUps [link] [comments]
To further elaborate, at times in the relationship, I found it difficult to read, predict, and understand her moods and her behaviour towards me: her behaviour felt inconsistent to me at times. One day she was super loving, talkative, and interested in me, and the next day it felt different. However, I didn't know if my feelings were justified or if I was simply overthinking and overanalysing her behaviour. Since she didn't tell me what was the matter even when I asked her, I was left confused and still guessing why there were these shifts in her mood.
She did tell me that she found it scary to trust others and, therefore, to be fully open with me. She told me that was why she would push me away sometimes, meaning that my feelings were not completely unjustified. She admitted herself that she could be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. She was also older than me and more the independent type, and didn't always need a lot of attention, which is also an explanation for her change in behaviour. However, I didn't know that at the beginning of the relationship.
There were times where it felt like I had to follow an exact script on how to act or what to say to not upset her. She would become upset at times, because she didn’t think I appreciated her or because I didn’t give her the reaction she had in her mind. When I didn't live up to these unspoken expectations, she became more distant and silent (or even slightly pasisve aggressive), like I mentioned before. She wanted me to naturally know what she wanted, since in her mind it was obvious and she didn’t feel like she was a hard person to to read, but it wasn't obvious to me. This didn’t happen too often, but it still had an effect on me.
To give an example of how she could deal with these unspoken expectations, there was an instance when we did grocery shopping together. I paid for it at the time, but she told me to send her a payment request for half of it and when I did so a few days later, I immediately noticed a slight change in her energy towards me. When I questioned her about this, she told me that there was nothing wrong, but when I came round her place later that day. she was extremely cold and unaffectionate towards me. Her reaction was like I had cheated on her. I wasn't allowed to sit or be close to her, she was visibly upset, she wouldn't talk to me, and I had to sleep on the opposite side of the bed. I even mentioned if me sending her a payment request was an issue, but she told me that it was fine since she had told me that I could send her one. The next day she was hot and cold towards me, going from acting normally towards me to cold and distant again. Only after I became very upset and questioned her about it again did she tell me that the reason she was acting that way was because she wanted me to offer to pay for the groceries. She had paid for the groceries last time, so she wanted me to pay for them this time (I would have had no problem at all with paying, but since she told me to send her a payment request, I did). She told me that she became upset when I hadn't offered to do so naturally, which caused her to feel like I didn't appreciate or care about her enough. This was the most extreme example from our relationship, though. However, this situation caused me to lose some trust in her and her words.
Her behaviour wasn't intentional. It seemed to be due to a mix of her character and the things she had gone through in her past. It seemed like it was more of a coping/protective mechanism for her. She was aware of this, but her awareness wasn't always enough for her to cope in a different way.
In the cases where I felt like there was a shift in her behaviour, mood, or energy, it left me guessing if there was anything wrong. I had learned to associate a change in her mood as there potentially being something wrong. I was just afraid of there being a problem between us and not knowing about it, like the payment request situation (and other situations).
At times, my insecurities, anxious attachment, and my resulting codependency from this relationship significantly affected her and put a strain on the relationship. For example, there could be absolutely nothing wrong and I would create a problem out of nowhere. I was dependent on her for my happiness and if there was even a slight bit of attention focused on someone else, it would bother me. Sometimes, this would make me overly needy and controlling. This frustrated and triggered her a lot, because she also wanted to give other people attention and felt suffocated by my unreasonable demands. This was also a reoccurring pattern in the relationship.
My fear of there being a problem between us which I might not know about, my fear of not being as important to her as she was to me, and therefore, my fear of losing her became too strong at times, which caused me to become insecure and worried. Especially the times where my insecurity and worry was unjustified affected her a lot. During those times, she felt like I was causing issues for no reason and she felt upset and frustrated that, despite her giving me lots of attention the days before, I would still need reassurance and interpret her behaviour as there being something wrong between us. This made her feel drained, annoyed, suffocated, and upset.
Her reactions tended to be quite defensive and dismissive towards me. I understand her reaction, because her feelings were completely justified, but she chose to respond in those ways to vent her frustration. She would tell me that I was annoying, way too needy, that I should stop overthinking her behaviour, and that I should work on my insecurities. She was correct though. During these moments, I would become very apologetic. I just wanted things to be good between us. There were also times I felt like I was taking responsibility for things I didn't feel responsible for, just to make sure things were okay. She wasn't completely wrong regarding what she was saying to me, but it was harsh. It was absolutely not my intention to cause a problem or to frustrate or annoy her, but because it seemed to affect her enough for her to become so defensive, I thought that my behaviour was unacceptable and blamed myself a lot. I also started feeling like my feelings were completely irrational and therefore I started doubting myself more.
Therefore, at times, I felt like I was walking on eggshells. I was afraid of bringing up a situation in which I thought there was something wrong between us, because I was afraid of being wrong and her reactions tended to be quite defensive and dismissive. She also felt like she was walking on eggshells at times due to my tendency to overthink her behaviours. She didn’t want to cause a problem either, since even small shifts in her behaviour could worry me.
During the relationship, I could at times become jealous when I was insecure, for example when she spent time with her friends or family without me, either through texting or in real life. This would obviously frustrate her a lot and was one of the most difficult parts of the relationship for her, since she was just spending time with others and didn't see how that could be a cause of insecurity for me. I tended to be rational and calm when I was insecure or jealous, but there were occasional instances where that wasn't the case and I acted in a more passive aggressive or guilt-trippy manner. I am not usually a toxic person, but I did display some toxic behaviours at times during this relationship.
We both had past issues which we projected onto each other at times. The relationship was very intense and that meant there were also many highs and lows. We had a deep affection and care for one another and we both thought the relationship was too good to be true. For me, it felt too good to be true be in a relationship for the first time and to have a romantic experience with someone I cared so much about, because I had never experienced that before. For her, it felt too good to be true that I was so kind and caring to her, because she had never felt that before from anyone else to this extent. She had always felt let down by people before in her life and she couldn’t believe that I wasn't like them. We were both afraid of losing each other. For me, it was expressed by going above and beyond for her, a tendency to be more clingy and have a need for reassurance, wanting to always feel close and connected with her, and things like that. For her, it seemed like she could show a combination of becoming distant and pushing me away, but also becoming very vulnerable at times too and showing me lots of love and affection.
My ex told me a lot about her past trauma and how life had been quite difficult for her the past few years. Her grandmother had passed away a 6 years ago and during that time she lost her group of friends (which included her best friend) after a big conflict in which she felt unfairly treated. It seemed like she had had quite a few friendships in which she didn’t feel like her needs were being met and she tended te feel unfairly treated. It was a reoccurring theme in her life.
Her other grandmother passed away ahalf a year before we met. She didn’t really have many friendships to rely on either at that time, because she studied abroad and her friends and family were obviously not present to support her. She also struggled a lot with academic stress during our time together. She had failed a few exams and fell behind, which compounded her struggles, especially since she was still grieving the loss of her grandmother. Then, her family dog passed away very suddenly 10 months into our relationship. It felt like her dog passing away was the last drop that made the bucket overflow. She loved that dog so much and it really affected her. Her grief was very intense. These incidents played a massive role in her mood shifts, especially considering she is an emotionally sensitive person and her moods already seemed quite easily affected at times.
She wasn’t emotionally stable and her emotional regulation seemed to be lacking at times too, especially considering she was 29. I was 9 years younger than her and in general life situations, I felt like the more stable and mature person for most of the relationship. I didn’t always act that way during our conflicts, though, but in general life it seemed like I was more regulated and rational. I was also the one who tended to take on a more caretaker role in the relationship due to my codependency.
Her emotions could be intense and easily triggered by other people or life stressors. She tended to attribute her behaviour and reactions more on external factors, such as her past experiences or the bad things happening currently in her life. Of course, she did take responsibility too, but often after the fact. Initially, it always felt like the world was against her. She was often the one feeling the most hurt from her past friendships. It was hard to not feel bad for her.
As a result, during the last two months of the relationship (after her family dog passed away), her emotional instability reached its peak. It was like her world fell apart. Her moods were very up and down, and she had depressive episodes during which she broke down crying a lot. During that time, I was pretty much her only emotional support. I took care of her a lot during that period. Things became very draining for me. Towards the end, I had given everything I had for her and had put all of her needs above mine. I felt more like a parent than a boyfriend. During this difficult period, we started triggering each other more frequently. I was often worried about her well-being due to her not taking care of herself very well during this period. I was starting to find it very hard to be supportive since I had become emotionally numb around that point. I had nothing left in me anymore. When I mentioned to her that I felt drained, she would feel upset. She interpreted it as me saying that her emotions was too much and she felt invalidated. Granted, I could have worded it more clearly, but I definitely didn't say it how she interpreted it. Towards the end, my behaviour also became slightly passive aggressive and controlling/possessive at times (I told her once that it bothered me how much she was texting her friends and that I wished she would text them less), and I had made an insensitive comment. I mentioned to her that I had become slightly less attracted to her and that she had gained some weight. I had become a caretaker for her, she wasn’t really taking care of herself, and I felt like this relationship was very draining to be in, and as a result I found myself feeling slightly less attracted to her. This feeling really bothered me, because I didn't want to feel that way. I loved her and wanted to feel 100% attracted to her. I thought it would be best to simply be honest with her. However, I should have worded it differently, because it obviously hurt her a lot. I should have not made it about her attractiveness or weight. I did apologise a lot and tried to reassure her that I did still find her attractive, but the damage was already done. I meant well, but I was very naïve in thinking that bringing that up was not going to have an effect on her. That is a harsh lesson learned from my side. I still feel bad about it.
However, I also felt very unfairly treated by her during that last part of our relationship. I did so much for her during that period relationship, yet she still managed to interpret some of my behaviour as me not caring enough sometimes. She seemed to become upset more frequently about very small matters and at times it seemed like she was nit-picking problems or finding reasons to become upset at me. This resulted in her becoming distant and passive aggressive towards me. That was very frustrating and exhausting to deal with, especially when I was already starting to become emotionally drained. She would say things like “Sorry for existing then” or “I guess I’ll just stop that then” when I felt bothered by something. This was also due time her own struggles and her grief at the time, so I fully understand.
Towards the end, my needs were not getting met. I just wanted to help her through this immensely tough period and it was more important to me that her needs were met than mine. I just wanted to see her happy, because as long as she was happy, I was happy.
Overall, she was generally a very loving, funny, kind woman who obviously cared a lot for me. We created so many amazing memories together and I will never forget her or the relationship. At times, things would be absolutely perfect between us and it felt like a dream. The relationship wasn’t constantly negative. We shared periods of stability and there are many examples of times when we were able to communicate in a loving and healthy manner. We shared a real love and had an amazing connection with one another. We were together for a year so that obviously counts for something.
The relationship became unhealthy for both of us, especially towards the end. There were toxic behaviours from both sides rooted in our own issues. However, there were also periods of stability and calm. It wasn't always a constant rollercoaster. Looking back, I believe we we did share more good memories with each other than bad ones, but in the end the relationship seemed to reach a point beyond repair. She felt very drained by my constant overthinking, and my insecurity and jealousy. She felt like she had to constantly prove herself as a result, which upset her a lot. She already had her own struggles and it seemed like my insecurities became too much for her and that the relationship became too unhealthy and upsetting towards the end. This was my experience so it will undoubtedly be biased in some ways. However, it is still a valid experience and I have tried to acknowledge her side as well.
2024.05.16 22:48 WannabeDragon616 Custom help: Is it possible to add a layer of plastic to this head hole to grip the ball joint?
 | Damn SSj5 head never really fit. I think I wore some of the sides away trying to make the hole deeper. It never really "popped" in to begin with, but also never seemed deep enough. submitted by WannabeDragon616 to SHFiguarts [link] [comments] It seems deep enough now and swivels fine, but doesn't stay popped in. Will some kind of plastic cement create a layer to grab onto the ball and stay in? Other than trying to find someone to 3D print the hole piece, I feel totally SOL. The figures been sold out for a while now and it's already going for $100 on AliExpress. 5ktoys even offered to put it together for me if I sent it back, but I don't think it would've worked. I might even just grind the cat head down to just the joint and use that, because the fake head works perfectly lol. |
2024.05.16 22:47 LaraStardust Filling in: Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 15, 2024
Welcome to the Peanut Gallery! Sorry for the gap in updates. As you can see, I am no where near as dedicated as the master of the craft, having to juggle work and other things too. This is apprentice Lara filling in for the master thestoryteller987 with high hopes he is doing well.
See I have a slightly different idea. Now the UK has already said we wouldn't necessarily be sad if they used Storm Shadows in Russia. which is largely a political move because there are not that many of them. but maybe, with the acquirement of US aid, Ukraine can use these to clear out their border region a bit. I think the EU needs to grow a pair of balls and lift the sanction. Let the US play at peacemakecareful positioning. Even if the UK/EU can't produce as much as the US< being able to focus US fully on defense would free up enough for over the border strikes. I can see the benefit of careful limits I think what the EU doesn't want is to see the leopards driving across into Russia. that strikes me as a big step. Arguably, russian tanks already took that step, but still. I can see why they are concerned about that. But as long as boots and wheels stay on Ukraine's side of the border, I think it's perfectly reasonable that anything else is free game.
Accept.. He hasn't. they delayed shipments to India, and so not only are they getting pissy, but other countries who took his word for it (Armenia) are now going wait... Can we actually trust this Vodca drinking guy know what he is saying?
In summary though these wanted lists are an information campaign, part of Russia's vast info war tactics. Laying the ground for future work.
‘Q’ for the Community:
submitted by LaraStardust to TheNuttySpectacle [link] [comments]
The tempo of Russian offensive operations in northern Kharkiv Oblast continues to decrease after Russian forces initially seized areas that Ukrainian officials have now confirmed were less defendedbasically, as we stated in a previous summary, Russia will park its artillery close over the Ukrainian border, but not too close that it becomes a target. Ballpark figure, lets syay within 10 KM. Then from there it can, without problem, bombard everything and anything it sees fit without the worry of western weapons striking back. Russian forces advance,, but the artillery does not. And suddenly you're in a sticky situation. A big push doesn't happen because the big guns can't reach and Russia is back to meat wave tactics against 13km and 20km of fortifications.
The US Helsinki Commission stated that the US should allow Ukraine to conduct strikes against military targets in Russia's border areas amid an ongoing Russian offensive operation into Kharkiv Oblast from Russia, although US officials continue to express unwillingness to support such strikesHence this is why the US needs to lift this silly sanction. If Ukrainian can strike, lets say 20 KM from its border, that'll deal with the building up of troops, the over the border artillery and what not.
See I have a slightly different idea. Now the UK has already said we wouldn't necessarily be sad if they used Storm Shadows in Russia. which is largely a political move because there are not that many of them. but maybe, with the acquirement of US aid, Ukraine can use these to clear out their border region a bit. I think the EU needs to grow a pair of balls and lift the sanction. Let the US play at peacemakecareful positioning. Even if the UK/EU can't produce as much as the US< being able to focus US fully on defense would free up enough for over the border strikes. I can see the benefit of careful limits I think what the EU doesn't want is to see the leopards driving across into Russia. that strikes me as a big step. Arguably, russian tanks already took that step, but still. I can see why they are concerned about that. But as long as boots and wheels stay on Ukraine's side of the border, I think it's perfectly reasonable that anything else is free game.
Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to publicly prioritize the further mobilization of the Russian defense industrial base (DIB) while also attempting to assuage possible domestic fears about the negative effects of increased Russian defense spending.He's juggling realism with politics. Realisticly, the DIB needs to pull its finger out because Russia is facing huge shortages, bigger than the shortages of the toilet paper and pasta in Covid times. But to do that he'd have to go onto a war footing (ISW thinks this would not even be enough) but he also knows that Russian's don't want that. At all.
Putin stated that "whoever masters the latest means of armed struggle faster, wins" and called for the Russian defense industry to "double, triple" production and create more effective, accurate, and powerful weapons in order to decrease Russian losses.He can call for it, doesn't mean it's ever going to happen. I calll for a million pound every day. Still hasn't happened and I honestly think I'm more likely to get that million pounds than the Russian DIB is to triple its production.
Putin specifically noted that the Russian DIB must increase the quality of Russian weapons.I'd love to see some statistics: Launches :: num of exploded on launch :: num of hit on target. Russian weapons miss a lot, blow up in the wrong place a lot, and explode with less boom a lot. Still a complete and utter pain in the ass, especially for Ukraine, but a reassurance for NATO in so far as NATO can shoot better, more accurately and with bigger boomage.
Putin is likely concerned about the economic and diplomatic implications of decreased Russian arms exports.In short, Russia is unable to keep up with its commitments to other countries, like India. It essentially said: We can supply you with fancy shmancy weapons if you allie with us. You won't need to worry about Uncle Sam filling your back yard with democracy an d liberty because Big Daddy Putin has got your back.
Accept.. He hasn't. they delayed shipments to India, and so not only are they getting pissy, but other countries who took his word for it (Armenia) are now going wait... Can we actually trust this Vodca drinking guy know what he is saying?
The Kremlin confirmed the appointments of the newly formed Moscow and Leningrad military districts (MMD and LMD) and other military district commanders on May 15.TLDR: A bunch of generals got moved about. A bunch of nobody's I don't know the names of or history. Sorry. This is why thestoryteller987 is better at this than me. In short, Russia likes to play his generals against each other to gain favour with him. Which works until they all become pissed off with him and cut off his head. Dschinghis Khan did something similar, and for him it worked... Kind of. Until he died. And the whole system collapsed/ And Putin is getting mighty old...
Russian sources speculated that the May 13 detention of Russian Deputy Defense Minister Lieutenant General Yuri Kuznetsov is only the beginning of a wider effort to root out corruption within the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD).It could be as ISW speculates although I personally think this is the cover for a bit of a purge. Putin needs yes sir men and loyalists and that chain has to remain strong. If someone becomes slightly discontent, that could spread.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced during a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on May 15 that the US will provide a two billion dollar "defense enterprise fund" to UkraineThis is going into Ukraine's DIB, the purchase of weapons, and purchasing weapons from other countries. This bit made me laugh a little:
helping Ukraine purchase military equipment and weapons from the US and other countries.Basically, hey, here's 2 billion for you to give to me so I can give you a gun.
Ukraine's Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) reportedly struck a Russian fuel depot in Rostov Oblast on the night of May 14 to 15.Pop pop! Another depo struck by Ukraine lightning. Does Russia have many of these left now?
The Kremlin continues to add European officials to Russia's wanted list as part of Russia's efforts to assert the jurisdiction of Russian federal law over sovereign NATO member states.This is so pointless. And we do it back. Putin is wanted by the hague. He's never going to stand trial, and if those individuals on Russia's list are captured, they won't either jjust for slightly different reasons. It's interesting though that Zelensky has been on and off the list a few times. Surely' he's the top target?
In summary though these wanted lists are an information campaign, part of Russia's vast info war tactics. Laying the ground for future work.
Russian forces recently made confirmed advances in northern Kharkiv Oblast, near Siversk, and west of Donetsk City.ISW has a fairly low opinion of these advances, just the usual daily grind.
Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Lytyvyenko assessed on May 15 that Russian forces will have enough tanks and armored fighting vehicles for the next year and half of fighting in Ukraine at their current operational tempoFar too long, if you ask me! Someone give Ukraine some more guns so we can end this by Christmas!
Ukrainian officials continue to warn that Russian forces are systematically and increasingly using chemical weapons and other likely-banned chemical substances in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Support Forces Command stated on April 5 that Ukrainian forces have recorded 371 cases of Russian forces using munitions containing chemical substances during the last month and 1,412 cases of Russian forces using chemical weapons between February 2023 and March 2024.Please give Ukraine what they need to bring this war to an end.
- So. US weapons striking over the border in Russia. What's your take?
- Join the conversation on /TheNuttySpectacle!
2024.05.16 22:33 WNGBR Was I at fault for the relationship failing?
Me (20) and my now ex-girlfriend (29) were together for a year (I was 19 and she was 28 when we met). We met due to studying the same course at university and we instantly hit it off. The start of our relationship was very intense. It felt perfect. We had an amazing connection, things seemed to flow so naturally, and things therefore moved very quickly. I even visited her home country and met her family after only a month of being together. We spent so much time together and we seemed perfect for each other. As a result, we both became very quickly attached to one another. Despite how perfect things were in the beginning, there were occasional glimpses of our own issues making their way into the relationship. For example, I started noticing small, sudden shifts in her moods and behaviour towards me. She was always so talkative, bubbly, and enthusiastic towards me, but there were a few instances during which she suddenly became more distant and silent, and her behaviour felt different than usual. This confused me, especially considering I didn’t know what the reason was. It left me guessing if there was perhaps a problem between us or if it was just a natural shift in her mood. Sometimes, it was due to her having a problem with me and other times it was just a natural fluctuation in her mood. However, I would always have to guess which one it was and as a result I started to become very aware of her moods and I felt like I had to start paying a lot of attention to the relationship to not accidentally upset or disappoint her in any way. When things were good between us, I rarely felt insecure, but when I suddenly started noticing shifts in her mood or behaviour towards me, I started to feel anxious and insecure.
To further elaborate, at times in the relationship, I found it difficult to read, predict, and understand her moods and her behaviour towards me: her behaviour felt inconsistent to me at times. One day she was super loving, talkative, and interested in me, and the next day it felt different. However, I didn't know if my feelings were justified or if I was simply overthinking and overanalysing her behaviour. Since she didn't tell me what was the matter even when I asked her, I was left confused and still guessing why there were these shifts in her mood.
She did tell me that she found it scary to trust others and, therefore, to be fully open with me. She told me that was why she would push me away sometimes, meaning that my feelings were not completely unjustified. She admitted herself that she could be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. She was also older than me and more the independent type, and didn't always need a lot of attention, which is also an explanation for her change in behaviour. However, I didn't know that at the beginning of the relationship.
There were times where it felt like I had to follow an exact script on how to act or what to say to not upset her. She would become upset at times, because she didn’t think I appreciated her or because I didn’t give her the reaction she had in her mind. When I didn't live up to these unspoken expectations, she became more distant and silent (or even slightly pasisve aggressive), like I mentioned before. She wanted me to naturally know what she wanted, since in her mind it was obvious and she didn’t feel like she was a hard person to to read, but it wasn't obvious to me. This didn’t happen too often, but it still had an effect on me.
To give an example of how she could deal with these unspoken expectations, there was an instance when we did grocery shopping together. I paid for it at the time, but she told me to send her a payment request for half of it and when I did so a few days later, I immediately noticed a slight change in her energy towards me. When I questioned her about this, she told me that there was nothing wrong, but when I came round her place later that day. she was extremely cold and unaffectionate towards me. Her reaction was like I had cheated on her. I wasn't allowed to sit or be close to her, she was visibly upset, she wouldn't talk to me, and I had to sleep on the opposite side of the bed. I even mentioned if me sending her a payment request was an issue, but she told me that it was fine since she had told me that I could send her one. The next day she was hot and cold towards me, going from acting normally towards me to cold and distant again. Only after I became very upset and questioned her about it again did she tell me that the reason she was acting that way was because she wanted me to offer to pay for the groceries. She had paid for the groceries last time, so she wanted me to pay for them this time (I would have had no problem at all with paying, but since she told me to send her a payment request, I did). She told me that she became upset when I hadn't offered to do so naturally, which caused her to feel like I didn't appreciate or care about her enough. This was the most extreme example from our relationship, though. However, this situation caused me to lose some trust in her and her words.
Her behaviour wasn't intentional. It seemed to be due to a mix of her character and the things she had gone through in her past. It seemed like it was more of a coping/protective mechanism for her. She was aware of this, but her awareness wasn't always enough for her to cope in a different way.
In the cases where I felt like there was a shift in her behaviour, mood, or energy, it left me guessing if there was anything wrong. I had learned to associate a change in her mood as there potentially being something wrong. I was just afraid of there being a problem between us and not knowing about it, like the payment request situation (and other situations).
At times, my insecurities, anxious attachment, and my resulting codependency from this relationship significantly affected her and put a strain on the relationship. For example, there could be absolutely nothing wrong and I would create a problem out of nowhere. I was dependent on her for my happiness and if there was even a slight bit of attention focused on someone else, it would bother me. Sometimes, this would make me overly needy and controlling. This frustrated and triggered her a lot, because she also wanted to give other people attention and felt suffocated by my unreasonable demands. This was also a reoccurring pattern in the relationship.
My fear of there being a problem between us which I might not know about, my fear of not being as important to her as she was to me, and therefore, my fear of losing her became too strong at times, which caused me to become insecure and worried. Especially the times where my insecurity and worry was unjustified affected her a lot. During those times, she felt like I was causing issues for no reason and she felt upset and frustrated that, despite her giving me lots of attention the days before, I would still need reassurance and interpret her behaviour as there being something wrong between us. This made her feel drained, annoyed, suffocated, and upset.
Her reactions tended to be quite defensive and dismissive towards me. I understand her reaction, because her feelings were completely justified, but she chose to respond in those ways to vent her frustration. She would tell me that I was annoying, way too needy, that I should stop overthinking her behaviour, and that I should work on my insecurities. She was correct though. During these moments, I would become very apologetic. I just wanted things to be good between us. There were also times I felt like I was taking responsibility for things I didn't feel responsible for, just to make sure things were okay. She wasn't completely wrong regarding what she was saying to me, but it was harsh. It was absolutely not my intention to cause a problem or to frustrate or annoy her, but because it seemed to affect her enough for her to become so defensive, I thought that my behaviour was unacceptable and blamed myself a lot. I also started feeling like my feelings were completely irrational and therefore I started doubting myself more.
Therefore, at times, I felt like I was walking on eggshells. I was afraid of bringing up a situation in which I thought there was something wrong between us, because I was afraid of being wrong and her reactions tended to be quite defensive and dismissive. She also felt like she was walking on eggshells at times due to my tendency to overthink her behaviours. She didn’t want to cause a problem either, since even small shifts in her behaviour could worry me.
During the relationship, I could at times become jealous when I was insecure, for example when she spent time with her friends or family without me, either through texting or in real life. This would obviously frustrate her a lot and was one of the most difficult parts of the relationship for her, since she was just spending time with others and didn't see how that could be a cause of insecurity for me. I tended to be rational and calm when I was insecure or jealous, but there were occasional instances where that wasn't the case and I acted in a more passive aggressive or guilt-trippy manner. I am not usually a toxic person, but I did display some toxic behaviours at times during this relationship.
We both had past issues which we projected onto each other at times. The relationship was very intense and that meant there were also many highs and lows. We had a deep affection and care for one another and we both thought the relationship was too good to be true. For me, it felt too good to be true be in a relationship for the first time and to have a romantic experience with someone I cared so much about, because I had never experienced that before. For her, it felt too good to be true that I was so kind and caring to her, because she had never felt that before from anyone else to this extent. She had always felt let down by people before in her life and she couldn’t believe that I wasn't like them. We were both afraid of losing each other. For me, it was expressed by going above and beyond for her, a tendency to be more clingy and have a need for reassurance, wanting to always feel close and connected with her, and things like that. For her, it seemed like she could show a combination of becoming distant and pushing me away, but also becoming very vulnerable at times too and showing me lots of love and affection.
My ex told me a lot about her past trauma and how life had been quite difficult for her the past few years. Her grandmother had passed away a 6 years ago and during that time she lost her group of friends (which included her best friend) after a big conflict in which she felt unfairly treated. It seemed like she had had quite a few friendships in which she didn’t feel like her needs were being met and she tended te feel unfairly treated. It was a reoccurring theme in her life.
Her other grandmother passed away ahalf a year before we met. She didn’t really have many friendships to rely on either at that time, because she studied abroad and her friends and family were obviously not present to support her. She also struggled a lot with academic stress during our time together. She had failed a few exams and fell behind, which compounded her struggles, especially since she was still grieving the loss of her grandmother. Then, her family dog passed away very suddenly 10 months into our relationship. It felt like her dog passing away was the last drop that made the bucket overflow. She loved that dog so much and it really affected her. Her grief was very intense. These incidents played a massive role in her mood shifts, especially considering she is an emotionally sensitive person and her moods already seemed quite easily affected at times.
She wasn’t emotionally stable and her emotional regulation seemed to be lacking at times too, especially considering she was 29. I was 9 years younger than her and in general life situations, I felt like the more stable and mature person for most of the relationship. I didn’t always act that way during our conflicts, though, but in general life it seemed like I was more regulated and rational. I was also the one who tended to take on a more caretaker role in the relationship due to my codependency.
Her emotions could be intense and easily triggered by other people or life stressors. She tended to attribute her behaviour and reactions more on external factors, such as her past experiences or the bad things happening currently in her life. Of course, she did take responsibility too, but often after the fact. Initially, it always felt like the world was against her. She was often the one feeling the most hurt from her past friendships. It was hard to not feel bad for her.
As a result, during the last two months of the relationship (after her family dog passed away), her emotional instability reached its peak. It was like her world fell apart. Her moods were very up and down, and she had depressive episodes during which she broke down crying a lot. During that time, I was pretty much her only emotional support. I took care of her a lot during that period. Things became very draining for me. Towards the end, I had given everything I had for her and had put all of her needs above mine. I felt more like a parent than a boyfriend. During this difficult period, we started triggering each other more frequently. I was often worried about her well-being due to her not taking care of herself very well during this period. I was starting to find it very hard to be supportive since I had become emotionally numb around that point. I had nothing left in me anymore. When I mentioned to her that I felt drained, she would feel upset. She interpreted it as me saying that her emotions was too much and she felt invalidated. Granted, I could have worded it more clearly, but I definitely didn't say it how she interpreted it. Towards the end, my behaviour also became slightly passive aggressive and controlling/possessive at times (I told her once that it bothered me how much she was texting her friends and that I wished she would text them less), and I had made an insensitive comment. I mentioned to her that I had become slightly less attracted to her and that she had gained some weight. I had become a caretaker for her, she wasn’t really taking care of herself, and I felt like this relationship was very draining to be in, and as a result I found myself feeling slightly less attracted to her. This feeling really bothered me, because I didn't want to feel that way. I loved her and wanted to feel 100% attracted to her. I thought it would be best to simply be honest with her. However, I should have worded it differently, because it obviously hurt her a lot. I should have not made it about her attractiveness or weight. I did apologise a lot and tried to reassure her that I did still find her attractive, but the damage was already done. I meant well, but I was very naïve in thinking that bringing that up was not going to have an effect on her. That is a harsh lesson learned from my side. I still feel bad about it.
However, I also felt very unfairly treated by her during that last part of our relationship. I did so much for her during that period relationship, yet she still managed to interpret some of my behaviour as me not caring enough sometimes. She seemed to become upset more frequently about very small matters and at times it seemed like she was nit-picking problems or finding reasons to become upset at me. This resulted in her becoming distant and passive aggressive towards me. That was very frustrating and exhausting to deal with, especially when I was already starting to become emotionally drained. She would say things like “Sorry for existing then” or “I guess I’ll just stop that then” when I felt bothered by something. This was also due time her own struggles and her grief at the time, so I fully understand.
Towards the end, my needs were not getting met. I just wanted to help her through this immensely tough period and it was more important to me that her needs were met than mine. I just wanted to see her happy, because as long as she was happy, I was happy.
Overall, she was generally a very loving, funny, kind woman who obviously cared a lot for me. We created so many amazing memories together and I will never forget her or the relationship. At times, things would be absolutely perfect between us and it felt like a dream. The relationship wasn’t constantly negative. We shared periods of stability and there are many examples of times when we were able to communicate in a loving and healthy manner. We shared a real love and had an amazing connection with one another. We were together for a year so that obviously counts for something.
The relationship became unhealthy for both of us, especially towards the end. There were toxic behaviours from both sides rooted in our own issues. However, there were also periods of stability and calm. It wasn't always a constant rollercoaster. Looking back, I believe we we did share more good memories with each other than bad ones, but in the end the relationship seemed to reach a point beyond repair. She felt very drained by my constant overthinking, and my insecurity and jealousy. She felt like she had to constantly prove herself as a result, which upset her a lot. She already had her own struggles and it seemed like my insecurities became too much for her and that the relationship became too unhealthy and upsetting towards the end. This was my experience so it will undoubtedly be biased in some ways. However, it is still a valid experience and I have tried to acknowledge her side as well.
submitted by WNGBR to Codependency [link] [comments]
To further elaborate, at times in the relationship, I found it difficult to read, predict, and understand her moods and her behaviour towards me: her behaviour felt inconsistent to me at times. One day she was super loving, talkative, and interested in me, and the next day it felt different. However, I didn't know if my feelings were justified or if I was simply overthinking and overanalysing her behaviour. Since she didn't tell me what was the matter even when I asked her, I was left confused and still guessing why there were these shifts in her mood.
She did tell me that she found it scary to trust others and, therefore, to be fully open with me. She told me that was why she would push me away sometimes, meaning that my feelings were not completely unjustified. She admitted herself that she could be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. She was also older than me and more the independent type, and didn't always need a lot of attention, which is also an explanation for her change in behaviour. However, I didn't know that at the beginning of the relationship.
There were times where it felt like I had to follow an exact script on how to act or what to say to not upset her. She would become upset at times, because she didn’t think I appreciated her or because I didn’t give her the reaction she had in her mind. When I didn't live up to these unspoken expectations, she became more distant and silent (or even slightly pasisve aggressive), like I mentioned before. She wanted me to naturally know what she wanted, since in her mind it was obvious and she didn’t feel like she was a hard person to to read, but it wasn't obvious to me. This didn’t happen too often, but it still had an effect on me.
To give an example of how she could deal with these unspoken expectations, there was an instance when we did grocery shopping together. I paid for it at the time, but she told me to send her a payment request for half of it and when I did so a few days later, I immediately noticed a slight change in her energy towards me. When I questioned her about this, she told me that there was nothing wrong, but when I came round her place later that day. she was extremely cold and unaffectionate towards me. Her reaction was like I had cheated on her. I wasn't allowed to sit or be close to her, she was visibly upset, she wouldn't talk to me, and I had to sleep on the opposite side of the bed. I even mentioned if me sending her a payment request was an issue, but she told me that it was fine since she had told me that I could send her one. The next day she was hot and cold towards me, going from acting normally towards me to cold and distant again. Only after I became very upset and questioned her about it again did she tell me that the reason she was acting that way was because she wanted me to offer to pay for the groceries. She had paid for the groceries last time, so she wanted me to pay for them this time (I would have had no problem at all with paying, but since she told me to send her a payment request, I did). She told me that she became upset when I hadn't offered to do so naturally, which caused her to feel like I didn't appreciate or care about her enough. This was the most extreme example from our relationship, though. However, this situation caused me to lose some trust in her and her words.
Her behaviour wasn't intentional. It seemed to be due to a mix of her character and the things she had gone through in her past. It seemed like it was more of a coping/protective mechanism for her. She was aware of this, but her awareness wasn't always enough for her to cope in a different way.
In the cases where I felt like there was a shift in her behaviour, mood, or energy, it left me guessing if there was anything wrong. I had learned to associate a change in her mood as there potentially being something wrong. I was just afraid of there being a problem between us and not knowing about it, like the payment request situation (and other situations).
At times, my insecurities, anxious attachment, and my resulting codependency from this relationship significantly affected her and put a strain on the relationship. For example, there could be absolutely nothing wrong and I would create a problem out of nowhere. I was dependent on her for my happiness and if there was even a slight bit of attention focused on someone else, it would bother me. Sometimes, this would make me overly needy and controlling. This frustrated and triggered her a lot, because she also wanted to give other people attention and felt suffocated by my unreasonable demands. This was also a reoccurring pattern in the relationship.
My fear of there being a problem between us which I might not know about, my fear of not being as important to her as she was to me, and therefore, my fear of losing her became too strong at times, which caused me to become insecure and worried. Especially the times where my insecurity and worry was unjustified affected her a lot. During those times, she felt like I was causing issues for no reason and she felt upset and frustrated that, despite her giving me lots of attention the days before, I would still need reassurance and interpret her behaviour as there being something wrong between us. This made her feel drained, annoyed, suffocated, and upset.
Her reactions tended to be quite defensive and dismissive towards me. I understand her reaction, because her feelings were completely justified, but she chose to respond in those ways to vent her frustration. She would tell me that I was annoying, way too needy, that I should stop overthinking her behaviour, and that I should work on my insecurities. She was correct though. During these moments, I would become very apologetic. I just wanted things to be good between us. There were also times I felt like I was taking responsibility for things I didn't feel responsible for, just to make sure things were okay. She wasn't completely wrong regarding what she was saying to me, but it was harsh. It was absolutely not my intention to cause a problem or to frustrate or annoy her, but because it seemed to affect her enough for her to become so defensive, I thought that my behaviour was unacceptable and blamed myself a lot. I also started feeling like my feelings were completely irrational and therefore I started doubting myself more.
Therefore, at times, I felt like I was walking on eggshells. I was afraid of bringing up a situation in which I thought there was something wrong between us, because I was afraid of being wrong and her reactions tended to be quite defensive and dismissive. She also felt like she was walking on eggshells at times due to my tendency to overthink her behaviours. She didn’t want to cause a problem either, since even small shifts in her behaviour could worry me.
During the relationship, I could at times become jealous when I was insecure, for example when she spent time with her friends or family without me, either through texting or in real life. This would obviously frustrate her a lot and was one of the most difficult parts of the relationship for her, since she was just spending time with others and didn't see how that could be a cause of insecurity for me. I tended to be rational and calm when I was insecure or jealous, but there were occasional instances where that wasn't the case and I acted in a more passive aggressive or guilt-trippy manner. I am not usually a toxic person, but I did display some toxic behaviours at times during this relationship.
We both had past issues which we projected onto each other at times. The relationship was very intense and that meant there were also many highs and lows. We had a deep affection and care for one another and we both thought the relationship was too good to be true. For me, it felt too good to be true be in a relationship for the first time and to have a romantic experience with someone I cared so much about, because I had never experienced that before. For her, it felt too good to be true that I was so kind and caring to her, because she had never felt that before from anyone else to this extent. She had always felt let down by people before in her life and she couldn’t believe that I wasn't like them. We were both afraid of losing each other. For me, it was expressed by going above and beyond for her, a tendency to be more clingy and have a need for reassurance, wanting to always feel close and connected with her, and things like that. For her, it seemed like she could show a combination of becoming distant and pushing me away, but also becoming very vulnerable at times too and showing me lots of love and affection.
My ex told me a lot about her past trauma and how life had been quite difficult for her the past few years. Her grandmother had passed away a 6 years ago and during that time she lost her group of friends (which included her best friend) after a big conflict in which she felt unfairly treated. It seemed like she had had quite a few friendships in which she didn’t feel like her needs were being met and she tended te feel unfairly treated. It was a reoccurring theme in her life.
Her other grandmother passed away ahalf a year before we met. She didn’t really have many friendships to rely on either at that time, because she studied abroad and her friends and family were obviously not present to support her. She also struggled a lot with academic stress during our time together. She had failed a few exams and fell behind, which compounded her struggles, especially since she was still grieving the loss of her grandmother. Then, her family dog passed away very suddenly 10 months into our relationship. It felt like her dog passing away was the last drop that made the bucket overflow. She loved that dog so much and it really affected her. Her grief was very intense. These incidents played a massive role in her mood shifts, especially considering she is an emotionally sensitive person and her moods already seemed quite easily affected at times.
She wasn’t emotionally stable and her emotional regulation seemed to be lacking at times too, especially considering she was 29. I was 9 years younger than her and in general life situations, I felt like the more stable and mature person for most of the relationship. I didn’t always act that way during our conflicts, though, but in general life it seemed like I was more regulated and rational. I was also the one who tended to take on a more caretaker role in the relationship due to my codependency.
Her emotions could be intense and easily triggered by other people or life stressors. She tended to attribute her behaviour and reactions more on external factors, such as her past experiences or the bad things happening currently in her life. Of course, she did take responsibility too, but often after the fact. Initially, it always felt like the world was against her. She was often the one feeling the most hurt from her past friendships. It was hard to not feel bad for her.
As a result, during the last two months of the relationship (after her family dog passed away), her emotional instability reached its peak. It was like her world fell apart. Her moods were very up and down, and she had depressive episodes during which she broke down crying a lot. During that time, I was pretty much her only emotional support. I took care of her a lot during that period. Things became very draining for me. Towards the end, I had given everything I had for her and had put all of her needs above mine. I felt more like a parent than a boyfriend. During this difficult period, we started triggering each other more frequently. I was often worried about her well-being due to her not taking care of herself very well during this period. I was starting to find it very hard to be supportive since I had become emotionally numb around that point. I had nothing left in me anymore. When I mentioned to her that I felt drained, she would feel upset. She interpreted it as me saying that her emotions was too much and she felt invalidated. Granted, I could have worded it more clearly, but I definitely didn't say it how she interpreted it. Towards the end, my behaviour also became slightly passive aggressive and controlling/possessive at times (I told her once that it bothered me how much she was texting her friends and that I wished she would text them less), and I had made an insensitive comment. I mentioned to her that I had become slightly less attracted to her and that she had gained some weight. I had become a caretaker for her, she wasn’t really taking care of herself, and I felt like this relationship was very draining to be in, and as a result I found myself feeling slightly less attracted to her. This feeling really bothered me, because I didn't want to feel that way. I loved her and wanted to feel 100% attracted to her. I thought it would be best to simply be honest with her. However, I should have worded it differently, because it obviously hurt her a lot. I should have not made it about her attractiveness or weight. I did apologise a lot and tried to reassure her that I did still find her attractive, but the damage was already done. I meant well, but I was very naïve in thinking that bringing that up was not going to have an effect on her. That is a harsh lesson learned from my side. I still feel bad about it.
However, I also felt very unfairly treated by her during that last part of our relationship. I did so much for her during that period relationship, yet she still managed to interpret some of my behaviour as me not caring enough sometimes. She seemed to become upset more frequently about very small matters and at times it seemed like she was nit-picking problems or finding reasons to become upset at me. This resulted in her becoming distant and passive aggressive towards me. That was very frustrating and exhausting to deal with, especially when I was already starting to become emotionally drained. She would say things like “Sorry for existing then” or “I guess I’ll just stop that then” when I felt bothered by something. This was also due time her own struggles and her grief at the time, so I fully understand.
Towards the end, my needs were not getting met. I just wanted to help her through this immensely tough period and it was more important to me that her needs were met than mine. I just wanted to see her happy, because as long as she was happy, I was happy.
Overall, she was generally a very loving, funny, kind woman who obviously cared a lot for me. We created so many amazing memories together and I will never forget her or the relationship. At times, things would be absolutely perfect between us and it felt like a dream. The relationship wasn’t constantly negative. We shared periods of stability and there are many examples of times when we were able to communicate in a loving and healthy manner. We shared a real love and had an amazing connection with one another. We were together for a year so that obviously counts for something.
The relationship became unhealthy for both of us, especially towards the end. There were toxic behaviours from both sides rooted in our own issues. However, there were also periods of stability and calm. It wasn't always a constant rollercoaster. Looking back, I believe we we did share more good memories with each other than bad ones, but in the end the relationship seemed to reach a point beyond repair. She felt very drained by my constant overthinking, and my insecurity and jealousy. She felt like she had to constantly prove herself as a result, which upset her a lot. She already had her own struggles and it seemed like my insecurities became too much for her and that the relationship became too unhealthy and upsetting towards the end. This was my experience so it will undoubtedly be biased in some ways. However, it is still a valid experience and I have tried to acknowledge her side as well.
2024.05.16 22:29 HaykakanTxa Daily News Report: 05/16/2024
Date: 05/16/2024
Reading time: 14 minutes, 2817 words🪖 Military
Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg unanimously adopts motion expressing support for Armenia
The Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg unanimously adopted a motion expressing support for Armenia. The motion condemns the forced exodus of more than 100,000 Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of Azerbaijan's military operation. It calls for the immediate release of Armenian PoWs by Azerbaijan.Armenpress, Luxembourg lawmakers urge government to act for implementation of ICJ orders by Azerbaijan
Russia expels U.K. defense attache in tit-for-tat move
Russia has expelled Britain’s defense attache in a tit-for-tat response to the expulsion of one of its own diplomats from London last week. A. T. Coghill must leave the territory of the Russian Federation within a week.Armenpress
Ruben Vardanyan's detention period was extended for another 5 months
Vardanyan was arrested on September 27, 2023, at the Azerbaijani checkpoint of Hakari Bridge. He was charged with three counts: financing terrorism, creating and participating in armed units and/or groups. Azerbaijan confirms presence of about 23 Armenian prisoners.CivilNet, Azerbaijan extends Rune Vardanyan’s arrest by 5 months
Training sessions will be held from June 11 to August 30
From June 11 to August 30, training camps of reservists will be held in Armenia. Up to 5,151 citizens will be involved in the training sessions, of which 4,647 are rank-and-file and junior non-commissioned officers. It is planned to provide 45 units of road construction equipment.CivilNet
🏛️ Politics & Government
An opposition figure was killed in Azerbaijan
Natig Mehdi, a member of the opposition Musavat party of Azerbaijan, was killed in Baku. Mehdi's disappearance was reported by his nephew on May 9, and his death was announced on May 14. His colleague Elsevar Islamov is accused of the murder. Islamov worked as a security guard at a Baku school, and Islamov was the school's deputy financial director.CivilNet
Zelenskiy visits Kharkiv describing the situation there as “extremely difficult”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy travelled to the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Thursday. He described the battlefield situation in the region as "extremely difficult" but under control. Zelenkiy postponed all his foreign trips on Wednesday as the situation deteriorated. Russia says it has taken control of 12 villages since it launched its attack.Armenpress
Red Cross visits Armenian captives held in Azerbaijan
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) representatives visited Armenian detainees in Azerbaijan. Among those detainees are representatives of the former military and political leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku officially confirms capture of 23 Armenians, 17 of whom ended up in Baku after Azerbaijan's military aggression last September.Armenpress
France accuses Azerbaijan of interference in New Caledonia riots
France accuses Azerbaijan of ‘interference’ in politics of its Pacific territory of New Caledonia, which has seen deadly riots in recent days. Azerbaijan swiftly denies the charge, adding to a growing number of tensions between France and the hydrocarbon-rich Caspian Sea state. The riots were sparked by moves to agree a new voting law that supporters of independence say discriminates against the indigenous Kanak population.ArmRadio
No new Armenia-Azerbaijan border created, the border existing at time of USSR collapse being reproduced – PM’s Office
No new border is being created between Armenia and Azerbaijan; rather, the existing de jure border at the time of the USSR’s dissolution is being reproduced. The border description is exactly as presented on the 1976 map.ArmRadio
Armenia border residents dissatisfied with delimitation
Residents Kirants are dissatisfied with the results of the delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.PanArmenian
Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan receives EU Delegation
Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan received the delegation led by Adrien Kirali, Director of Neighbourhood East and Institution Building of the European Commission. Interlocutors highly appreciated the Joint EU-US-Armenia high-level meeting held on April 5, 2024 in Brussels.Armenpress, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan meets with EU Trade Commissioner
Armenian, Jordanian Foreign Ministers express concerns over tense situation in the Armenian quarter of Jerusalem
Political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan were held in Yerevan. The parties commended the current high level of political dialogue between Armenia and Jordan. The interlocutors exchanged views on the prospects of developing cooperation between the two countries.Armenpress
Armenian Foreign Minister, PACE President exchange ideas on regional issues
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan met with the President of the PACE Theodoros Rousopoulos in Strasbourg on May 16. The interlocutors exchanged views on the issues related to Armenia’s engagement in the Council of Europe.Armenpress, Armenia involved in efforts to reopen regional communications: Mirzoyan
Prime Minister Pashinyan meets with World Bank and International Finance Corporation leadership
Nikol Pashinyan received the World Bank's Senior Managing Director Axel van Trotsenburg and International Finance Corporation (IFC) Regional Vice President Alfonso Garcia Mora. The progress of joint projects, as well as the potential for diversifying Armenia's economy, were discussed.Armenpress
Speakers of the Parliaments of Armenia, Azerbaijan have brief conversation
Alen Simonyan and Sahiba Gafarova had a short conversation in Geneva. The main meeting of the speakers of the parliaments of the two countries is expected to take place in the evening.Armenpress
Armenian Foreign Minister signs Oviedo Convention in Strasbourg
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan signed Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine (Oviedo Convention) Armenia is the 37th country to join the Convention.Armenpress, Armenia signs Council of Europe’s Bioethics Convention
Government approves housing provision program for Nagorno-Karabakh displaced people
The government approved the housing provision program for forcibly displaced persons from Nagorno Karabakh. Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Narek Mkrtchyan presented the relevant project.Armenpress, The housing problem of Artsakh residents will be solved in 3 stages, 2-5 million drams will be given. the government accepted the plan, Armenian government approves program to support refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenia to establish Embassy in Cyprus
Armenia will establish an embassy in the Republic of Cyprus, the residence in Nicosia. The project was included in the package of non-reportable issues at the May 16 session of the government. The justification for the project states that the two countries accept each other as traditionally friendly countries.Armenpress, Armenia will have an embassy in Cyprus, Armenia to open embassy in Cyprus, Armenia will open an embassy in Cyprus, Armenia to open Embassy in Cyprus
Legal basis for border delimitation with Azerbaijan relies on the last maps of the USSR- Pashinyan
Pashinyan: It was fundamental for Armenia not to create new borders, but to reproduce the borders previously confirmed by the Alma-Ata Declaration. The last maps of the Soviet Union, de jure having legal significance, he said.Armenpress, In the issue of border demarcation, Armenia has adopted the principle of "the border passes where it passes". Pashinyan, The border demarcation commissions of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a protocol, Pashinyan on Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation agreement: ‘I think it’s major success’, Pashinyan commented on the agreement reached with Azerbaijan on the issue of border demarcation in Tavush
Armen Grigoryan and Bogdan Klich discussed regional and extra-regional developments
Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Armenia Armen Grigoryan received the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Senate of Poland Bogdan Klich. The parties discussed the Armenia-Poland bilateral agenda. Ideas were exchanged on the possibilities of expanding cooperation in various fields, particularly focusing on promoting trade and economic relations.Armenpress
World leaders should steer clear of Baku climate conference unless political prisoners are released
Hrair Balian: World leaders who stand for a rules-based international order must decline participation in the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku unless 23 Armenian political prisoners jailed illegally in Azerbaijan are released. Balian says Azerbaijan is one of the most corrupt despotisms on the planet. Azerbaijan wants to turn the COP29 into a “Cop of peace”, urging countries participating in the summit to observe a ‘Cop truce”CivilNet
State revenue committee chairman meets with WBcolleagues
Chairman of the State Revenue Committee Rustam Badasyan met with his colleagues from the World Bank. The meeting discussed the progress of programs implemented with the assistance of the Bank. An agreement was reached on possible areas for further cooperation.Armenpress
Slovakia's prime minister not in life-threatening condition – deputy PM
Slovak PM Robert Fico is no longer in a life-threatening condition after being shot several times, deputy prime minister says. Fico's surgery had gone "well" and he was "not in a [life-threatening situation] at this moment", deputy PM Tomas Taraba says. Earlier the defence minister said the prime minister was "fighting for his life" after being gravely injured in an attack.Armenpress, Slovakia PM Robert Fico no longer in life-threatening condition – deputy PM
Healthcare Ministry to receive additional 3 billion AMD to cover government-paid services
The Armenian government has decided to provide the country’s Healthcare Ministry with an additional amount of 3 billion drams to cover government-paid medical services for citizens. Half of this money will be spent on aid to low-income families, 400 million on emergency aid, 500 million on hemodialysis, 300 million on cancer treatment, 200 million on transplantation, and 100 million on treating infectious diseases.ArkaAm
Yerevan Mayor visits Missak Manouchian’s tomb at French Pantheon
The official delegation led by Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan visited the French Pantheon, where the remains of French national hero Misak Manouchian and his wife Meline are buried. The ceremony took place on February 21, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the execution of the executed soldiers.ArmRadio
💵 Economy
EEU membership is beneficial for Armenia- Pankin
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexander Pankin said participation in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is beneficial for Armenia. He said the growth of the Armenian economy and its involvement in the flows of commodity production cooperation is statistically confirmed by various indicators.Armenpress
Granting market status to Armenia's economy discussed in USA
Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan met with U.S. officials in Washington. Focus was on Armenia-US bilateral trade and granting Armenia the status of a market economy. In January-March 2024, the Armenian-American trade turnover amounted to more than $108.9 million (37.4% decrease compared to the first quarter of last year)ArkaAm
''Learn & Work: YSU Expo- 2024'' launched at Yerevan State University
"Learn & Work: YSU Expo- 2024" has gathered applicants, students, graduates, university divisions, and employers under one roof. The Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine CJSC has joined the Expo with great pleasure. The mining industry is one of the most important branches of Armenia's economy.Armenpress
Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients
Yerevan State University students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. The Bank and the university have a history of successful collaboration. 10 YSU students were granted nominal scholarships of AMD 1 million each, while five others received tuition reimbursement.ArkaAm, Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients
EBRD and EU boost funding for Armenian firms via Inecobank
The EBRD is providing a US$ 7 million loan to Inecobank for on-lending to Armenian firms. The EU is complementing this support with grant incentives of up to 15 per cent and free local and international consultancy services. At least 70 per cent of loans provided to Ineco Bank will be allocated towards funding investments in green technologies.ArkaAm, EBRDis providingUS$ 10 million financial package to ArmSwissBank for on-lending to Armenian MSMEs, EBRD plans to invest up to 500 million euros in Armenia in 2024
EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso re-elected for a second term during annual meeting in Yerevan
Odile Renaud-Basso re-elected for a second term as the bank's president. The EBRD is the leading institutional investor in Armenia. The bank has invested more than €2.1 billion in 211 projects in the country’s financial, corporate, infrastructure and energy sectors.ArkaAm, EBRD Governors re-elect President Odile Renaud-Basso for a second term
Ardshinbank hostspanel discussion on economic and trade sanctions as part of 33rd EBRD Business Forum
Ardshinbank organized a panel discussion on economic and trade sanctions. The main objective of the discussion was to exchange views and assist participants in the practical implementation of sanctions compliance. The meeting also discussed the role of financial institutions in ensuring sanctions compliance, mechanisms for collaboration between the public and private sectors in combating sanctions evasion, and the importance of information transparency.ArkaAm, Ardshinbank held a panel discussion on economic and trade sanctions within the framework of the 33rd EBRD conference (PHOTO)
Armenian customs find amphetamine in package from US, suspect detained
90 pills of amphetamine found in package sent from U.S. to Yerevan Zvartnots Airport. The package was sent via Globbing Shipping forwarder company. The drug, fully banned in Armenia, was found inside the package alongside edibles and personal items.ArkaAm, SRC found 90 amphetamine tablets in a shipment sent from the USA to Yerevan (VIDEO)
Donations to Armenia:
HimnadramServicemenFund
Armenian Wounded Heroes
ArmeniaFund
2024.05.16 22:27 CederTrees ▌ELIMINA ▌ Open World RP ▌Original Setting ▌Server ▌ 21+ ▌
- Science Fiction/Fantasy/Post-Apocalypse
- Basic Rules
- No wait for Approvals
- MajoMinor Plots
- Regular Events
- Mature Content
Almost three-hundred years ago, the Earth was almost destroyed. A monumental catastrophe raked over the planet, swallowing up reality and changing everything we knew.
The great wiping of the slate allowed for a new civilization to grow into one where Humans and Fae became intertwined. New forms emerged as well, living concepts called Daemons who shepherded the Earth races toward other stars.
Elimina is a prison planet five light years away from Earth.
Exiles have been sent from all over the habitable systems to the remote planet for two-hundred years. Survivors of earlier exiles have built societies from the wastes, learning to live on what they could find.
With growing towns and settlements, getting sent to Elimina is no longer the death-sentence it used to be. The planet is now in the early days of building a new society, one that isn't solely a dumping ground for the violent and inconvenient. It's a fresh start for some, and a regulation-free eden for research and industry.
Most are thrown into the wasteland by force while others come to escape prisons of different kinds.
The Vibe
Sci-fi with magic. One member described it as "Space Australia."
We have chill one-off and casual RPs to long, world-altering plot progressions.
We don't have post length requirements because more words don't mean more information. We use all varieties of writing from long scene-setting, descriptive posts to rapid-fire dialogue and action.
We expect at least a high school level of English proficiency, which means you should be able to clearly express yourself through writing. Occasional mistakes are okay.
Most of us have some post-secondary education.
Lore:
We've built a history for a unique world, enough to provide a structure with room to create your own story. We have rock lore, dirt lore, political lore, science lore and even a little gas lore.
The server and setting have been set up to help you go from joining to making a character with a minimal time investment.
We're an active community with at least a few posts per day, but there's no activity requirement.
Click Here To Join
2024.05.16 22:26 CederTrees ▌ELIMINA ▌ Open World RP ▌Original Setting ▌Server ▌ 21+ ▌
- Science Fiction/Fantasy/Post-Apocalypse
- Basic Rules
- No wait for Approvals
- MajoMinor Plots
- Regular Events
- Mature Content
Almost three-hundred years ago, the Earth was almost destroyed. A monumental catastrophe raked over the planet, swallowing up reality and changing everything we knew.
The great wiping of the slate allowed for a new civilization to grow into one where Humans and Fae became intertwined. New forms emerged as well, living concepts called Daemons who shepherded the Earth races toward other stars.
Elimina is a prison planet five light years away from Earth.
Exiles have been sent from all over the habitable systems to the remote planet for two-hundred years. Survivors of earlier exiles have built societies from the wastes, learning to live on what they could find.
With growing towns and settlements, getting sent to Elimina is no longer the death-sentence it used to be. The planet is now in the early days of building a new society, one that isn't solely a dumping ground for the violent and inconvenient. It's a fresh start for some, and a regulation-free eden for research and industry.
Most are thrown into the wasteland by force while others come to escape prisons of different kinds.
The Vibe
Sci-fi/Solarpunk with magic. One member described it as "Space Australia."
We have chill one-off and casual RPs to long, world-altering plot progressions.
We don't have post length requirements because more words don't mean more information. We use all varieties of writing from long scene-setting, descriptive posts to rapid-fire dialogue and action.
We expect at least a highschool level of English proficiency, which means you should be able to clearly express yourself through writing. Occasional mistakes are okay.
Most of us have some post-secondary education.
Lore:
We've built a history for a unique world, enough to provide a structure with room to create your own story. We have rock lore, dirt lore, political lore, science lore and even a little gas lore.
The server and setting have been set up to help you go from joining to making a character with a minimal time investment.
We're an active community with at least a few posts per day, but there's no activity requirement.
Click Here To Join
2024.05.16 22:25 Vicksin r/afkarena Rules and Guidelines
Greetings Adventurers!
We've just restructured and consolidated our previous Rules page to be more straightforward and cohesive. Due to the character limit in a rule's description, this post will go more in-depth regarding what these rules mean, provide examples of what is and isn't acceptable under these rules, and aims to clear any confusion or misconception regarding our rules.By participating in our Subreddit, you are committing to honor and abide by our rules.
1) Be respectful and civil
As straightforward as it gets, the number one rule for a reason. Be kind to others, be good people.- Even if you disagree with someone, think they're incorrect about a statement they make, or otherwise, there are still ways to have a positive and productive discussion without being harmful to others. Uphold basic discussion etiquette and refrain from insulting or harassing others while stating your own opinion.
- Our community strives to be a safe space for all players. Before you hit send on a negative message, comment, etc., remember - there is another human on the other side of the screen with their own personal life.
2) No targeted harassment or personal attacks
In tandem with Rule 1, this rule more specifically refers to direct attacks on individuals. Under no circumstances should any individual feel like they are being unjustly targeted, attacked, or under the threats of malicious intent by any other individual(s).Do not make anyone feel unsafe or unwelcome. We do not take these situations lightly.
3) Submissions must be relevant to AFK
Keep posts relevant to AFK Arena or AFK Journey in some nature. Any discussion of clones will be removed. There must be a direct link to AFK in some form to constitute relevance.- For example, posts primarily concerning Overlord or ReZero are permitted since Ainz/Albedo and Rem/Emilia are in AFK Arena.
- Posts not directly related to AFK in some way will be removed.
4) External links and self-promotion must be approved
Any form of self-promotion, such as links to YouTube or other social media platforms, must be approved via Modmail.Posts regarding submissions to official AFK Arena contests, such as artwork contests, do not need approval.
5) No Misleading Information
Everyone is welcome and encouraged to express their (unharmful) opinions, but the outright spread of misinformation, especially when presented as factual information, can be very misleading and harmful to the community.If you are UNSURE if the information you are presenting is a fact, preface it with something to the effect of, "I think" to prevent misconception.
- For example, "Build Awakened Talene next, she's better than Awakened Athalia because she literally never dies"
- will be removed for misinformation, not simply because it is wrong, but because it is presented as fact.
- Meanwhile, "I think you should Build Awakened Baden next, because I see him used in every round of Cursed Realm, meanwhile I only see Awakened Lyca in like two rounds. But I'm not confident, so maybe wait for someone else's comment for a second opinion"
- will not be removed, because while the sentiment of "ABaden > ALyca" is objectively incorrect, the use of "I think" and encouragement to wait for someone else's opinion shares the user's acknowledgement of their potential misunderstandings.
- Discussion is always encouraged, and this rule is not made to censor or prohibit open discussion. It simply exists to ensure users are being reasonable and transparent with their statements, understanding the difference between fact and opinion, and not supplying users or the community with false information.
6) Use our designated Megathreads
To reduce clutter, our Subreddit implements the use of Megathreads to keep things organized.- If you're having trouble finding our list of Megathreads, please view our menu bar, or see our Welcome Post for all ongoing Megathreads.
- The topics our Megathreads cover, such as the RNG/Pull Showcases or account-specific advice, are very much encouraged in our community, but entire posts dedicated to such topics will quickly overrun the Subreddit. These Megathreads provide a home for such topics to be acknowledged and fair for everyone.
- Account-specific advice belongs in our weekly questions/advice Megathread
- Acceptable posts - Posts that benefit and apply to many users, such as "How much investment does Trishea need to work in Nightmare Corridor?"
- Removable posts - Posts that only benefit the poster, such as "Which e60 should I do next?" - this type of question must be posted in our questions/advice Megathread, not as an individual post.
7) Check for recurrent/duplicate topics before creating a new post
- As mentioned in Rule 6, always check if your post belongs in a Megathread instead of as an individual post.
- Sort the Subreddit by "New" to check if your question/topic has been posted recently.
- Use the "Search" feature on our Subreddit.
- For example, we'll often see users making posts such as "Where can I find teams for Treasure Scramble???"
- If you just type "Treasure Scramble" into the search bar, you'll see the most recent Treasure Scramble guides. This is less effort than writing and publishing a post asking for Treasure Scramble guides.
- For example, we'll often see users making posts such as "Where can I find teams for Treasure Scramble???"
8) Submissions that involve explicit NSFW content are prohibited
Another simple and straightforward rule - posts or comments of explicit NSFW nature are prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to:- Sexual activities
- Full nudity
- Strongly sexually suggestive actions or appearances
- Post submissions that depict partial nudity or are subtly suggestive in nature should be marked as NSFW.
- Posts marked NSFW that are not NSFW in any way will be removed under Rule 11.
9) Credit(s) must be given to the creator(s), even if it is your own work
Any post or comment which shares artwork, digital media, or content of any kind must credit the creator(s).- Falsely claiming someone else's work as your own will result in an immediate ban.
- Credits in the form of links to external sources are subject to potential removal under Rule 4.
- Links to posts or comments directly within our Subreddit do not need Modmail approval under rule 4.
- If you are not the original creator of said work, and the original creator requests the post/comment be removed, you must comply with said creator's request.
10) Poll posts must have an additional option for users to view the results of the poll
When making a "poll"-type post, an option must be included that allows users to simply see the results of the poll without impacting the results.- This option may be titled anything clearly along the lines of "See Results", for example.
11) Properly title and flair your posts
See a detailed explanation of our Post Flairs hereMisleading, incorrect, irrelevant, or otherwise non-specific post titles about a specific subject may be removed.
- For example, titling your post "Question" when you have a question about a specific topic is not sufficient enough meaningful material for a post title.
- So much as slightly elaborating on the topic, like "Question about Beast Resonance", and further expanding on your specific question within the post, is an acceptable title and post.
Report content that breaks our rules
While not a rule nor obligation by any means, we greatly appreciate users who do their due diligence and report comments or posts that break our rules.Intentionally submitting false reports with any negative intent may be subject to disciplinary action.
Disciplinary actions
Disciplinary action for breaking these rules may vary based on severity, and may include warnings, temporary bans, or permanent bans with repeated instances or escalation.Conclusion
If you have any questions or clarifications regarding our rules, or anything stated in this post, please feel free to comment below, or contact us via Modmail.Thank you all, have a great day, and be good people!
2024.05.16 22:24 dopaminewellbeing Finding Strength in Faith: Overcoming Addiction Through Prayer
In the journey of life, some paths are more treacherous than others, winding through the shadows of addiction. It’s a journey that tests the limits of our strength, courage, and, most importantly, our faith. Yet, in the midst of this battle, many have discovered a powerful ally that lights the way and offers hope for recovery: prayer.
The Foundation of Faith At the heart of overcoming addiction is the fundamental belief in a power greater than ourselves. This belief, for many, is rooted in faith—a conviction that we are never alone, even in our darkest hours. Faith assures us of God’s unwavering presence, offering a beacon of hope when the shadows of addiction seem insurmountable.
The Power of Prayer Prayer is more than a routine or ritual; it is the language of the heart that connects us with the divine. It’s a form of spiritual communication that provides strength, solace, and guidance. Through prayer, we open our hearts to receive God’s grace, enabling us to face our struggles with a renewed sense of purpose and hope.
A Source of Strength For those battling addiction, prayer serves as a source of strength. It empowers individuals to navigate through cravings, moments of weakness, and the emotional turmoil that accompanies recovery. By surrendering our fears and anxieties to God, we gain the courage to continue on the path of sobriety, even when it feels like an uphill battle.
A Path to Healing Prayer also initiates a process of inner healing. It encourages self-reflection, helping individuals to confront the underlying issues that may have contributed to their addiction. Through heartfelt prayers, we seek forgiveness for our past mistakes and ask for guidance to make better choices in the future. This spiritual dialogue fosters a sense of peace and acceptance, essential components for healing and personal growth.
Building a Supportive Community The act of praying together, whether with family, friends, or within a faith community, strengthens the bonds of support that are crucial for recovery. It creates a shared spiritual experience that uplifts everyone involved, reminding those struggling with addiction that they are not alone. This sense of community can provide comfort during challenging times and celebrate successes along the way.
Testimonies of Transformation Countless individuals have shared testimonies of how faith and prayer have transformed their lives, guiding them out of the darkness of addiction into the light of recovery. These stories are not just accounts of personal triumphs; they are beacons of hope for others facing similar battles. They demonstrate that, with faith and prayer, change is possible, and a life free from addiction is within reach.
Embracing the Journey Overcoming addiction is a journey that requires patience, perseverance, and faith. It’s about learning to lean on a power greater than ourselves and finding solace in the promise of God’s love and grace. Prayer is a key that unlocks the door to this spiritual journey, offering a path to recovery that is grounded in hope, strengthened by faith, and illuminated by divine light.
As we navigate through the challenges of addiction, let us remember that we are never alone. Our faith, coupled with the power of prayer, provides the strength we need to overcome the obstacles we face. It’s a journey of healing, transformation, and ultimately, redemption. With God as our guide, we can and will find our way out of the shadows and into the light of a new dawn.
Remember, the path to recovery is a journey of a thousand steps, and it begins with a single, powerful act of faith: prayer.
Self-Reflection Questions/Journal Prompts:
submitted by dopaminewellbeing to ChristiansAddiction [link] [comments]
The Foundation of Faith At the heart of overcoming addiction is the fundamental belief in a power greater than ourselves. This belief, for many, is rooted in faith—a conviction that we are never alone, even in our darkest hours. Faith assures us of God’s unwavering presence, offering a beacon of hope when the shadows of addiction seem insurmountable.
The Power of Prayer Prayer is more than a routine or ritual; it is the language of the heart that connects us with the divine. It’s a form of spiritual communication that provides strength, solace, and guidance. Through prayer, we open our hearts to receive God’s grace, enabling us to face our struggles with a renewed sense of purpose and hope.
A Source of Strength For those battling addiction, prayer serves as a source of strength. It empowers individuals to navigate through cravings, moments of weakness, and the emotional turmoil that accompanies recovery. By surrendering our fears and anxieties to God, we gain the courage to continue on the path of sobriety, even when it feels like an uphill battle.
A Path to Healing Prayer also initiates a process of inner healing. It encourages self-reflection, helping individuals to confront the underlying issues that may have contributed to their addiction. Through heartfelt prayers, we seek forgiveness for our past mistakes and ask for guidance to make better choices in the future. This spiritual dialogue fosters a sense of peace and acceptance, essential components for healing and personal growth.
Building a Supportive Community The act of praying together, whether with family, friends, or within a faith community, strengthens the bonds of support that are crucial for recovery. It creates a shared spiritual experience that uplifts everyone involved, reminding those struggling with addiction that they are not alone. This sense of community can provide comfort during challenging times and celebrate successes along the way.
Testimonies of Transformation Countless individuals have shared testimonies of how faith and prayer have transformed their lives, guiding them out of the darkness of addiction into the light of recovery. These stories are not just accounts of personal triumphs; they are beacons of hope for others facing similar battles. They demonstrate that, with faith and prayer, change is possible, and a life free from addiction is within reach.
Embracing the Journey Overcoming addiction is a journey that requires patience, perseverance, and faith. It’s about learning to lean on a power greater than ourselves and finding solace in the promise of God’s love and grace. Prayer is a key that unlocks the door to this spiritual journey, offering a path to recovery that is grounded in hope, strengthened by faith, and illuminated by divine light.
As we navigate through the challenges of addiction, let us remember that we are never alone. Our faith, coupled with the power of prayer, provides the strength we need to overcome the obstacles we face. It’s a journey of healing, transformation, and ultimately, redemption. With God as our guide, we can and will find our way out of the shadows and into the light of a new dawn.
Remember, the path to recovery is a journey of a thousand steps, and it begins with a single, powerful act of faith: prayer.
Self-Reflection Questions/Journal Prompts:
- Reflecting on Faith: How has your faith (or understanding of a higher power) provided strength in times of personal struggle, particularly with addiction or other challenges? Describe a moment when you felt this support most profoundly.
- The Role of Prayer: Reflect on your experiences with prayer during difficult times. How do you feel it has impacted your journey toward recovery or healing?
- A Dialogue with the Divine: Write a letter to God (or your understanding of a higher power) about your struggles with addiction. What would you ask for? What gratitude would you express?
- Strength in Vulnerability: Reflect on a moment when admitting your weakness or vulnerability led to a discovery of inner strength. How did this change your perspective on seeking help or relying on faith?
- Healing and Forgiveness: How has the concept of forgiveness—whether forgiving others or yourself—played a role in your recovery or personal growth? Consider moments of forgiveness that have sparked healing.
- Community and Support: Write about the importance of community in your life. How has being part of a supportive group, faith-based or otherwise, helped you through your struggles?
- Lessons from the Shadows: What are the most valuable lessons you’ve learned from the darkest times in your life, including any battles with addiction? How have these lessons shaped your faith or spirituality?
- The Power of Testimony: Reflect on a story of recovery (yours or someone else’s) that has inspired you. What elements of this story resonate with you most, and how does it fuel your hope for the future?
- A Conversation with Your Future Self: Imagine having a conversation with the future version of yourself, who has successfully navigated the path to recovery. What advice or words of wisdom do they offer?
- Daily Acts of Faith: Identify small, daily acts where you can express or practice your faith and spirituality. How might these acts contribute to your journey of healing and recovery?