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2024.05.29 05:05 uncountable_123 AITAH for moving in with my now fiancĂŠ and temporarily cutting contact with my Mom?
Excuse if this is a little messy. I hardly use reddit, and this entire situation is stressing me out to the point of shakiness and illness. On that not, onto the story.
So, for a bit of context, I am a very, very new adult. I just graduated high school, and I've never had the best relationship with my family besides my mom and brother. I was still very distant from my mom because of some slight neglect in the past. I don't blame her for it because she's a single mom and was working a very hard job.
Extra context, my mom had also been planning a California trip. She had changed the plans every other day. Me and my fiance couldn't keep up with it, especially because he had a work venture there.
The past few months, I had been going out with my boyfriend, now fiance ( we'll call Ax ). My mom had been pretty hard on me because of this. Saying how, "I'm not home enough," and, "I need to help with (this this and this)." So, I was already getting a little fed up. I just wanted an escape from the house which is honestly not a very healthy living space due to my fairly slobbish family. Everytime I would go home she would bombard me with stuff, which I never had to do before, so it made me want out more.
I'm just going to summarize the build up by saying, there were quite a few arguments and she never seemed to listen to me. I also have a super hard time communicating my feelings and confrontation so participating in an argument is a big deal.
Now we get to the big night. The last thing we "talked" about was the California trip and how Ax's parents won't let him go if we stay at her friend's house. She got upset and stormed off. Me and Ax were upset so we went to his birth mom's ( we'll call her Cat ) house to take a break. It didn't really help. I had gotten fed up with all of the arguing and bitterness from my mom. All of the snide comments to Ax. I texted her that I was moving out and wasn't going on the California trip. ( I was moving into Cat's house. )
Now should I have texted her? Probably not, but texting helps me form my thoughts into words. I express more clearly through text, and shut down on the phone and especially in person.
She calls and I freak out and hand the phone to Ax. Mistake number 2. A bit about Ax, he is very very protective of me, especially with some of the stuff I've told him about my family and my dad. He doesn't want me to go through the same thing again. He's also a big jokester but is autistic so he doesn't really get when not to do some of his joking tones and words. They also come off as very disrespectful sometimes and he was kind of tired of her. So my mom is angry.
She tells me to come home within 5 minutes. I very shaky get in the car and we head there. We get there and she takes the keys to the car and my phone. Tells me to come inside and talk alone. Now, I get where she's coming from, but I HATE feeling cornered. I need someone else there by my side or I just shut down. It socks and makes things a lot harder with this kind of stuff. Now the rest is a but of a blur but she gets aggressive. No physical violence, but she does get in my face. I back up and she starts acussing me of telling people I'm violent though I haven't. It blurs again and suddenly I'm packing my things and leaving. My brother (15) by my side sad to see me leave this way.
The night goes by and I hear nothing from her. The next day she texts. I don't remember many of the texts, but I do remember being stressed out and not replying to things often. I tell her I need some time.
Few days go by with few texts I answer and a couple calls I don't. Then we get to church just a few days after the big night and an argument over text starts. She acusses Ax of lying, stealing, and vandalizing her car. The "lying" was a joke he made about his origins that I took seriously at first, I am a very slow person, that he had not realized I took seriously until very very later on. On the stealing, he had not stolen from some of the places acussed, but we did have a separate incident that was true. However, he's done his best to make it up and has not done anything like it since. He got punished by me and his parents. She still thinks he should've gotten worse. He's especially tried to make it up to my mom because he had lost her full trust and she was very obvious about it and still hasn't forgiven him to this day. The vandalizing was him working on the car, but not fixing it fully, because, we'll, she took the car before he could.
I talked about getting my legal documents, the entire point I was texting her in the first place, she brought up Ax herself. I misunderstood her and thought she was wanting to keep them from me so threatened legal action. I won't go deep into this because I'm not a lawyer, but ultimately it was more a threat to get my stuff. She said that I could get my stuff from the garage. Remember when I told you that my family was slobish? Yeah, I have no clue where these documents are and the garage is stacked to the sealing so it's going to take me a bit. I don't want to, but it's the only way to get my documents.
I completely give up at this point. I already said I needed a bit of time, but she continued to text. When I didn't answer email me a mental health line. The only times I would talk to her was to get my stuff. She started making facebook posts warning about toxic relationships, and how losing loved ones without making peace is terrible. This continues for a bit then stopped a couple days ago. The last thing I got, just a few hours ago, was an email. I will be quoting it word for word but changing names blah blah, you know how privacy works.
"Hi, [deadname]! I hope everything is going well for you.
I just wanted to take some time to explain some things. I wanted to tell you these things in person because it really does matter. Reading something is far different from hearing how someone says it. Arguments and misunderstandings should always be fixed in person.
First and foremost, I love you. I would do anything within my power for you. I have always been there for you and I want to continue being there. It breaks my heart that you don't want anything to do with me. I've tried to make you feel loved and supported. I've been active in your interests and activities. I even played Minecraft for you... (Haha)
I wanted to talk to you privately because we will never be able to fix things between us if someone else is involved. And honestly, it's no one else's business. I've never physically or intentionally hurt you so there is no reason to be scared to spend time with me.
What I have tried to tell you through text, is that I did not blow up because you wanted to move out. My response was that we would talk when you got home. That was not blowing up and this is why it is important to communicate in person rather than via text. I wanted to know your plans and see if I could help or add some suggestions that might help. I blew up because of the disrespect. I was being treated like I was nothing and like I've done nothing for you. I tried to explain that I wasn't mad about you wanting to move out. I'm not sure why you thought I would be since we've been talking about it for 6 months.
I apologize to you for how I handled my thoughts and feelings about [Ax]. It shouldn't have been handled that way. I'm not mad that either of you made mistakes. I was mad at the lack of taking ownership of said mistakes. I was mad that I was lied to again when I called out those mistakes.
I just want us to work through this. I love you. I will always love you. I want to help you if and when I can. I always want to be a part of your life. I am hurt that you can so easily throw away our relationship because of one argument. I am hurt that you're acting like I've done something for you to be afraid of me.
My door is always open and I'm always just a phone call away.
Love, Mom"
It makes me feel like I'm in the wrong and I'm actually unsure if I'm being to harsh on her. AITH?
TLDR; I move in with my fiancĂŠ. Arguments with mom as she acusses us of things we didn't do besides one thing. Im tired and stressed so go almost no contact. I get an email from her making me rethink my position on the matter.
Edit 1 and 2: Updates to layout of the post.
submitted by uncountable_123 to AITAH [link] [comments]
So, for a bit of context, I am a very, very new adult. I just graduated high school, and I've never had the best relationship with my family besides my mom and brother. I was still very distant from my mom because of some slight neglect in the past. I don't blame her for it because she's a single mom and was working a very hard job.
Extra context, my mom had also been planning a California trip. She had changed the plans every other day. Me and my fiance couldn't keep up with it, especially because he had a work venture there.
The past few months, I had been going out with my boyfriend, now fiance ( we'll call Ax ). My mom had been pretty hard on me because of this. Saying how, "I'm not home enough," and, "I need to help with (this this and this)." So, I was already getting a little fed up. I just wanted an escape from the house which is honestly not a very healthy living space due to my fairly slobbish family. Everytime I would go home she would bombard me with stuff, which I never had to do before, so it made me want out more.
I'm just going to summarize the build up by saying, there were quite a few arguments and she never seemed to listen to me. I also have a super hard time communicating my feelings and confrontation so participating in an argument is a big deal.
Now we get to the big night. The last thing we "talked" about was the California trip and how Ax's parents won't let him go if we stay at her friend's house. She got upset and stormed off. Me and Ax were upset so we went to his birth mom's ( we'll call her Cat ) house to take a break. It didn't really help. I had gotten fed up with all of the arguing and bitterness from my mom. All of the snide comments to Ax. I texted her that I was moving out and wasn't going on the California trip. ( I was moving into Cat's house. )
Now should I have texted her? Probably not, but texting helps me form my thoughts into words. I express more clearly through text, and shut down on the phone and especially in person.
She calls and I freak out and hand the phone to Ax. Mistake number 2. A bit about Ax, he is very very protective of me, especially with some of the stuff I've told him about my family and my dad. He doesn't want me to go through the same thing again. He's also a big jokester but is autistic so he doesn't really get when not to do some of his joking tones and words. They also come off as very disrespectful sometimes and he was kind of tired of her. So my mom is angry.
She tells me to come home within 5 minutes. I very shaky get in the car and we head there. We get there and she takes the keys to the car and my phone. Tells me to come inside and talk alone. Now, I get where she's coming from, but I HATE feeling cornered. I need someone else there by my side or I just shut down. It socks and makes things a lot harder with this kind of stuff. Now the rest is a but of a blur but she gets aggressive. No physical violence, but she does get in my face. I back up and she starts acussing me of telling people I'm violent though I haven't. It blurs again and suddenly I'm packing my things and leaving. My brother (15) by my side sad to see me leave this way.
The night goes by and I hear nothing from her. The next day she texts. I don't remember many of the texts, but I do remember being stressed out and not replying to things often. I tell her I need some time.
Few days go by with few texts I answer and a couple calls I don't. Then we get to church just a few days after the big night and an argument over text starts. She acusses Ax of lying, stealing, and vandalizing her car. The "lying" was a joke he made about his origins that I took seriously at first, I am a very slow person, that he had not realized I took seriously until very very later on. On the stealing, he had not stolen from some of the places acussed, but we did have a separate incident that was true. However, he's done his best to make it up and has not done anything like it since. He got punished by me and his parents. She still thinks he should've gotten worse. He's especially tried to make it up to my mom because he had lost her full trust and she was very obvious about it and still hasn't forgiven him to this day. The vandalizing was him working on the car, but not fixing it fully, because, we'll, she took the car before he could.
I talked about getting my legal documents, the entire point I was texting her in the first place, she brought up Ax herself. I misunderstood her and thought she was wanting to keep them from me so threatened legal action. I won't go deep into this because I'm not a lawyer, but ultimately it was more a threat to get my stuff. She said that I could get my stuff from the garage. Remember when I told you that my family was slobish? Yeah, I have no clue where these documents are and the garage is stacked to the sealing so it's going to take me a bit. I don't want to, but it's the only way to get my documents.
I completely give up at this point. I already said I needed a bit of time, but she continued to text. When I didn't answer email me a mental health line. The only times I would talk to her was to get my stuff. She started making facebook posts warning about toxic relationships, and how losing loved ones without making peace is terrible. This continues for a bit then stopped a couple days ago. The last thing I got, just a few hours ago, was an email. I will be quoting it word for word but changing names blah blah, you know how privacy works.
"Hi, [deadname]! I hope everything is going well for you.
I just wanted to take some time to explain some things. I wanted to tell you these things in person because it really does matter. Reading something is far different from hearing how someone says it. Arguments and misunderstandings should always be fixed in person.
First and foremost, I love you. I would do anything within my power for you. I have always been there for you and I want to continue being there. It breaks my heart that you don't want anything to do with me. I've tried to make you feel loved and supported. I've been active in your interests and activities. I even played Minecraft for you... (Haha)
I wanted to talk to you privately because we will never be able to fix things between us if someone else is involved. And honestly, it's no one else's business. I've never physically or intentionally hurt you so there is no reason to be scared to spend time with me.
What I have tried to tell you through text, is that I did not blow up because you wanted to move out. My response was that we would talk when you got home. That was not blowing up and this is why it is important to communicate in person rather than via text. I wanted to know your plans and see if I could help or add some suggestions that might help. I blew up because of the disrespect. I was being treated like I was nothing and like I've done nothing for you. I tried to explain that I wasn't mad about you wanting to move out. I'm not sure why you thought I would be since we've been talking about it for 6 months.
I apologize to you for how I handled my thoughts and feelings about [Ax]. It shouldn't have been handled that way. I'm not mad that either of you made mistakes. I was mad at the lack of taking ownership of said mistakes. I was mad that I was lied to again when I called out those mistakes.
I just want us to work through this. I love you. I will always love you. I want to help you if and when I can. I always want to be a part of your life. I am hurt that you can so easily throw away our relationship because of one argument. I am hurt that you're acting like I've done something for you to be afraid of me.
My door is always open and I'm always just a phone call away.
Love, Mom"
It makes me feel like I'm in the wrong and I'm actually unsure if I'm being to harsh on her. AITH?
TLDR; I move in with my fiancĂŠ. Arguments with mom as she acusses us of things we didn't do besides one thing. Im tired and stressed so go almost no contact. I get an email from her making me rethink my position on the matter.
Edit 1 and 2: Updates to layout of the post.
2024.05.29 01:00 First_Mango_5556 Aitah for saying my sister is a brat
I (15f) have a sister (6f) who is and always will be my parents favorite (I may misspell things and miss punctuation bc of my dyslexia) for some context when I was 3-4 my little brother died and after I was emotionally neglected, I went to therapy but still. When I was 5 my parents had another baby (my sister) when she was born the abuse became worst: in no way am I bashing my parents they still bought my toys and necessities , fed me, took me places but I was still abused for example they would ignore me at everything i get a new baby is good especially when itâs after a loss but not to the extent. Anyway she grew up being treated like the queen of shiba, she also lies a lot she blames me for things like: messing her bedroom up,going on her I-pad,eating her food ect. Well recently I had an 0verd0se to try and end my life, and admitted to the Doctors that Iâve attempted to k! her and my mum twisted it around to blame me saying and I quote âI think youâre upset and youâve misunderstood.âend quote- No mum I havenât misunderstood 10 years of my life I called my little sister a brat and my mum hit me and called me cunt and she knows I feel upset but I have no right to say that about my sister and now when we go home I have to say sorry I say sorry for what sorry for being honest sorry for having years of hurt on my head and having no motivation to care ugh-Charlotte Dobre can you react I want your opinion please - thank you for the people who gave advise- °-°
submitted by First_Mango_5556 to AITAH [link] [comments]
2024.05.29 00:38 Jumpy-South-1337 GF left me for Pentacostalism
I rarely post but I have barely any remaining living family to talk to and hopefully this will hit on a Google search one day to help someone else so here goes and will try to make it short
I met my girlfriend 5 years ago, she came from a poor background, divorced parents, lived with her father in a mobile home. I grew up upper middle class, nice home, etc. Her parents loved me and thought I was the best thing ever since she only went out with trashy guys, drug dealers, etc before me. She was open that she didn't understand why I loved her, but she was genuinely sweet and a good person and I was open that I date for personality and not money etc. She moved in with me after a few months and everything was perfect for 4 years, we both got better jobs and she always said she hopes I never leave her and I genuinely never had doubts with her. I've had 3 longterm partners before her and all of them at the 3 year mark things got a rough patch, but this one I only fell more in love with. I was raised Catholic but my family never practised it or went to church except once when I was super young and was open to my parents its not my thing and they never took me again and she wasn't religious in her adult life at all. Mental health issues also run heavy on her moms side of the family. She also states she is terrified of pregnancy and never wants kids except adoption, I want kids and agree we can just adopt.
Fast forward to November 2023 (4.5 year mark of being together) she has minimal friends that haven't moved away yet and no hobbies, she volunteers and takes a 2nd job at a Christian horse camp for kids which is whatever, and is open that she wants to get married so I go looking for an engagement ring. She also wants to experience "living alone" and buys a condo which she says will be a 1-2 year thing then she will move back in with me and we get married, whatever. She is open that there is Christian elements in this church and she doesn't know religion at all and is worried, I told her she can figure it out im sure and im sure its more horse based and not religious. Later, she meets a friend there same age as her who is Pentecostal Christian and invites her to the Pentecostal church. I took religious studies way back in HS and am aware Pentecostalism is basically a cult, preys on the mentally weak, and focuses on believing everything is a "miracle if you pray for it to happen" and relies on recruiting people to follow. My parents, parents friends, her father, and myself are open to her this new friend seems like bad news and so is this church but she says we're paranoid. By January 2024, her entire house is FILLED with religious pictures, quotes, etc, she goes to church 2x per week, spends 1-2 hours a night studying the bible, and non-stop talks about religion. She was never into physical intimacy really but at least slept naked, we had sex 2-3 times a month, and showered together often which was enough for me. January 2024-March 24 is 0 sex, wearing a hoodie and all covered up to bed, wont even let me see her in underwear, etc ontop of CONSTANTLY hounding me to go to church with her, I repeat that church is not my thing and I don't believe religion and politics should be kept anywhere but internally in your mind and heart. Huge red flag of changes within months just due to this friends influence. We almost break up March 2024 and I say this religious stuff needs to cool off and I can't live without SOME physical intimacy and sex. She apologizes, cries for 2 days straight, says the religion will cool off and sex will come back and begs me to not break up with her. I was open that if things do get better we can work this out. She still continues to be off and believes everything is a "miracle" due to prayer etc and myself, her father and my mom are all thinking wtf. I thought her dad wasn't THAT concerned and just let it be. We later watched videos of the pastor at this church that speaks to her, and he's fullblown nutjob screaming into a headset preacher crazy. She also denies Pentacostalism is different than any other religion, yet a simple Google search confirms it's extreme and ironically this church tries to hide it's Pentacostal and tries to reiterate it's a "community church"
Fast forward to last week (May 21), still 0 sex, let me shower with her once while being super apprehensive about it, still wildly religious, and she gets baptized in this Pentecostal church. Her and her friends/church members are around a tank that says "New Life" on it while praying in a circle around her in the tub, her father and me stay seated in the back checked out and mortified. 3 days ago (May 25), I tell her i'm concerned she's getting more deeply religious and our relationship is still struggling and I can't live without physical intimacy as I was open with in March, even if it's 1-2 times a month. She cries, apologizes and says it will get better. Saturday May 25, I stay overnight with her at her condo, she promises sex May 27 and says she wants it, starts crying she is having a "crisis of faith" and doesn't know if god is real. She then states she will be going to church Sunday, May 26 still and right before church says she loves me and is glad we are working through our issues and we should go on a trip the next week, and also states she now wants 2 biological children (after wanting none for 4.5 years, wtf). Right after church, boom she says the pastor "said something that is too coincidental to be one off, has helped her make her decision, we're now breaking up permanently". I reply it's her choice but this Pentacostal church is a fucked cult IMO, her friend that got her into this is bad news, and I think she is having a mental health crisis and that she needs help. She just keeps reiterating that everyone is irrational that Pentacostalism is a cult, she's happy now, and this is it but wants to be friends. I tell her im cutting contact and won't remain friends and need to move on with my life. I reach out to her dad who is completely shocked, says he fully agrees she needs medication and not religion, says her friend that got her into this is bad news and tells me to not chase her, i'm a good man, cut my losses and run because she has lost it, and said at least this happened before I proposed this year.
Is Pentacostalism really that bad and will it affect someone to this degree? She literally was normal for 4.5 years, fully loved me, said she would die if i ever break up with her, etc until her friend got her into this Pentacostal crap and suddenly she goes from begging me to not leave to kicking me to the curb after a 1 hour church session with this pastor. I was open to her father that this is a mental health crisis being fed into by her friend and church and he fully agrees, I notified him I worry she will be suicidal when she wakes up from this brainwashing and realize I won't be willing to take her back at this point and he notified he will keep in contact with her to keep her safe even though they are on bad terms now from all this. I've been through my share of breakups over the decades and will be okay getting through this especially with it being her choice, but the degree this church mindwarped her has me baffled.
submitted by Jumpy-South-1337 to exchristian [link] [comments]
I met my girlfriend 5 years ago, she came from a poor background, divorced parents, lived with her father in a mobile home. I grew up upper middle class, nice home, etc. Her parents loved me and thought I was the best thing ever since she only went out with trashy guys, drug dealers, etc before me. She was open that she didn't understand why I loved her, but she was genuinely sweet and a good person and I was open that I date for personality and not money etc. She moved in with me after a few months and everything was perfect for 4 years, we both got better jobs and she always said she hopes I never leave her and I genuinely never had doubts with her. I've had 3 longterm partners before her and all of them at the 3 year mark things got a rough patch, but this one I only fell more in love with. I was raised Catholic but my family never practised it or went to church except once when I was super young and was open to my parents its not my thing and they never took me again and she wasn't religious in her adult life at all. Mental health issues also run heavy on her moms side of the family. She also states she is terrified of pregnancy and never wants kids except adoption, I want kids and agree we can just adopt.
Fast forward to November 2023 (4.5 year mark of being together) she has minimal friends that haven't moved away yet and no hobbies, she volunteers and takes a 2nd job at a Christian horse camp for kids which is whatever, and is open that she wants to get married so I go looking for an engagement ring. She also wants to experience "living alone" and buys a condo which she says will be a 1-2 year thing then she will move back in with me and we get married, whatever. She is open that there is Christian elements in this church and she doesn't know religion at all and is worried, I told her she can figure it out im sure and im sure its more horse based and not religious. Later, she meets a friend there same age as her who is Pentecostal Christian and invites her to the Pentecostal church. I took religious studies way back in HS and am aware Pentecostalism is basically a cult, preys on the mentally weak, and focuses on believing everything is a "miracle if you pray for it to happen" and relies on recruiting people to follow. My parents, parents friends, her father, and myself are open to her this new friend seems like bad news and so is this church but she says we're paranoid. By January 2024, her entire house is FILLED with religious pictures, quotes, etc, she goes to church 2x per week, spends 1-2 hours a night studying the bible, and non-stop talks about religion. She was never into physical intimacy really but at least slept naked, we had sex 2-3 times a month, and showered together often which was enough for me. January 2024-March 24 is 0 sex, wearing a hoodie and all covered up to bed, wont even let me see her in underwear, etc ontop of CONSTANTLY hounding me to go to church with her, I repeat that church is not my thing and I don't believe religion and politics should be kept anywhere but internally in your mind and heart. Huge red flag of changes within months just due to this friends influence. We almost break up March 2024 and I say this religious stuff needs to cool off and I can't live without SOME physical intimacy and sex. She apologizes, cries for 2 days straight, says the religion will cool off and sex will come back and begs me to not break up with her. I was open that if things do get better we can work this out. She still continues to be off and believes everything is a "miracle" due to prayer etc and myself, her father and my mom are all thinking wtf. I thought her dad wasn't THAT concerned and just let it be. We later watched videos of the pastor at this church that speaks to her, and he's fullblown nutjob screaming into a headset preacher crazy. She also denies Pentacostalism is different than any other religion, yet a simple Google search confirms it's extreme and ironically this church tries to hide it's Pentacostal and tries to reiterate it's a "community church"
Fast forward to last week (May 21), still 0 sex, let me shower with her once while being super apprehensive about it, still wildly religious, and she gets baptized in this Pentecostal church. Her and her friends/church members are around a tank that says "New Life" on it while praying in a circle around her in the tub, her father and me stay seated in the back checked out and mortified. 3 days ago (May 25), I tell her i'm concerned she's getting more deeply religious and our relationship is still struggling and I can't live without physical intimacy as I was open with in March, even if it's 1-2 times a month. She cries, apologizes and says it will get better. Saturday May 25, I stay overnight with her at her condo, she promises sex May 27 and says she wants it, starts crying she is having a "crisis of faith" and doesn't know if god is real. She then states she will be going to church Sunday, May 26 still and right before church says she loves me and is glad we are working through our issues and we should go on a trip the next week, and also states she now wants 2 biological children (after wanting none for 4.5 years, wtf). Right after church, boom she says the pastor "said something that is too coincidental to be one off, has helped her make her decision, we're now breaking up permanently". I reply it's her choice but this Pentacostal church is a fucked cult IMO, her friend that got her into this is bad news, and I think she is having a mental health crisis and that she needs help. She just keeps reiterating that everyone is irrational that Pentacostalism is a cult, she's happy now, and this is it but wants to be friends. I tell her im cutting contact and won't remain friends and need to move on with my life. I reach out to her dad who is completely shocked, says he fully agrees she needs medication and not religion, says her friend that got her into this is bad news and tells me to not chase her, i'm a good man, cut my losses and run because she has lost it, and said at least this happened before I proposed this year.
Is Pentacostalism really that bad and will it affect someone to this degree? She literally was normal for 4.5 years, fully loved me, said she would die if i ever break up with her, etc until her friend got her into this Pentacostal crap and suddenly she goes from begging me to not leave to kicking me to the curb after a 1 hour church session with this pastor. I was open to her father that this is a mental health crisis being fed into by her friend and church and he fully agrees, I notified him I worry she will be suicidal when she wakes up from this brainwashing and realize I won't be willing to take her back at this point and he notified he will keep in contact with her to keep her safe even though they are on bad terms now from all this. I've been through my share of breakups over the decades and will be okay getting through this especially with it being her choice, but the degree this church mindwarped her has me baffled.
2024.05.28 23:31 DawnyLove Iâm moving out when I turn 18 due to my parents treatment toward me
I originally had this posted in AITAH, but I was told it belongs here as well, It had been brought to my attention that the way I formatted my last post was hard to understand, so this post will help summarize what I tried explaining in my first post.
When she came into my life it was hard for me to accept it, but I did get used to her being around, along with her son, my stepbrother who I referred to as H. He was a year younger than me, for Iâm the oldest child in my family. However, as time progressed TF started showing signs of her strictness, yelling and screaming over new rules she decided to enforce that I was still getting used to. I was only around 9 at this time, so it's understandable that I was struggling to accept this new mother figure into my life. Over time I got used to the new rules, and started seeing TF as a second mom, making her gifts and drawing her pictures. That's how I would show affection as a kid, since she hated hugs and wouldnât hug me or my brother.
When I turned 11, TF started talking badly about my mom, comparing her cooking to my moms, and other small things. She would tell me to tell my mom things she said, and vice versa, causing drama and unnecessary fights. BM would try to calm these fights down, but TF would tell him that I was the one twisting her words, and starting these fights on purpose. Throughout this time, I was seeing my mom less due to a switch in the days weâd see her. The screaming and yelling TF would direct at me caused me to develop severe anxiety toward loud noises, and arguments, which I still struggle with to this day.
Whilst the stress of TF turning BM against me was going on, my mom sadly picked up a bad drug habit due to my step-dad, who I'll refer to as DM. DM and my mom would fight all the time, and my mom would be sick for weeks stuck in bed due to her new addiction. At this time I was 12, and my mom had recently had my two baby brothers, and my little sister, ages newborn, 1, and 2. I felt bad for my mom, because at the time I just thought she was sick. I would do everything around the house, cleaning, cooking, changing my little siblings diapers and staying up at night with them, all while still going to school. I was so stressed that I was losing hair and graying early at the age of 12.
Then near the end of the year, when I was close to turning 13, my mom drove with me and my brother while under the influence and almost drove us off the highway, we were pulled over and my mom was taken from us. From that point on BM and TF had full custody over me and my brother, I was put in therapy, along with my brother, and it did help me at the time. Soon though, TFâs treatment started getting worse, calling me names, putting me on a diet despite me being a healthy weight, and turning BM against me. She would gaslight me into thinking I WAS the one in the wrong, but I know now I wasnât.
At the age of 15, I started getting fed up with TFâs treatment, and attempted bringing it up to BM, he just ended up getting mad and blamed my mom for me thinking that way. At one point TF went through my diary, which was provided to me by my therapist. I had written something about her, but it wasnât insults, it was simply me talking about how I felt depressed, and missed my mom, and wished TF was there for me more. She grounded me for a month and a half, (this is when punishments became having my door taken, not being allowed privacy, and not being able to have friends) throwing away my diary, and not allowing me to go to therapy anymore. I started to notice at this point that her treatment was directed toward me only, and not my brother Ty.
BM and TF started fighting more, getting into screaming matches and threatening to leave each other. TF would use me to change the direction of the argument off of her and onto me, bringing up a chore I might've missed or done wrong. I became her go to scapegoat, since I could âtake itâ. On this note, she had moved all of the household chores onto me, this included doing their laundry, my brother's laundry, (who were more than capable of doing their own) doing everyone's dishes, vacuuming the living rooms, all of our bedrooms, dusting, mopping etc.
TF would constantly complain about being stressed from all the cleaning SHE had to do, despite me doing all of it. She was also unemployed, so while I was in highschool, I had no social life outside of it. At the age of 16, I started getting fed up with the treatment, I was depressed and had severe anxiety, which they refused to treat me for. At this point my mom had been clean for 3 years, and was fighting to get custody of me and my brother. On November 31rst, I was told my mother had passed away in her sleep. I was and still am so broken from this, and I miss her so much. She was so close to getting me out of this house, out of this treatment, and yet just like that she was just gone.
I slept most of that week, struggled to focus and just overall was at a low point, understandably. TF would yell at me, telling me to get over it already, since it had been long enough for me to grieve. It had been less than a week. 2 weeks went by, and it was time for me to see my mothers body, and say goodbye. TF was yelling at me before me, my brother and BM left to go to the funeral, something about the way I was acting, (she would ground me over seeing me cry, because they were, and I quote, âcrocodile tearsâ) we left, and I said goodbye to my mom. Nothing can explain the sadness I felt seeing her so stiff, and unalive. She was such a good person, and such a good mother, and she was always there for me when no one else was. On the way back home, TF called BM, which he put on speaker phone. TF began screaming at me, calling me useless, and all these other names. I just started sobbing, and shaking.
She was yelling at me over towels being folded incorrectly the night before my mothers funeral. I got home, and I went straight to my room. I considered ending it all that night, but convinced myself not too. That was the night I decided Iâd move out as soon as I turned 18, I was tired of feeling used, and useless. So now Iâm 17, and I'll be 18 in 9 months.
Some extra notable things that i didn't mention:
When I was 15 ½, BM and TF found out I was gay, and liked girls, I was grounded for this, and called all sorts of things, this was a time when my door was gone, I wasnât allowed to have friends, and was forced to break up with my girlfriend, (which I didnât do.)
When I was struggling with my mental health, and tried to tell BM, TF told me that I was an attention seeker for telling them about it, and that if I was truly so low in my life I wouldâve ended myself already.
Last note, I am doing better mentally, I no longer feel like I shouldnât be here, in fact I feel like pushing through and doing something with my life would show that theyâre treatment toward me didnât kill my dreams, my passions, and my creativity.
submitted by DawnyLove to raisedbynarcissists [link] [comments]
To start, as I said before, BM (My dad) and my bio-mother had me and my brother Ty (2 years younger) before divorcing when I was around 3 years old, I donât remember the divorce, or why they divorced, but they've been separated as long as I can remember.Up until I was 6 or 7, my brother being around the age of 4, my mother and BM had split custody, me seeing my father on the weekends and staying with my mother during the weeks. During that time period my mom and BM handled me and my brother amicably, co-parenting well until TF (my step-mother) came into our lives.
When she came into my life it was hard for me to accept it, but I did get used to her being around, along with her son, my stepbrother who I referred to as H. He was a year younger than me, for Iâm the oldest child in my family. However, as time progressed TF started showing signs of her strictness, yelling and screaming over new rules she decided to enforce that I was still getting used to. I was only around 9 at this time, so it's understandable that I was struggling to accept this new mother figure into my life. Over time I got used to the new rules, and started seeing TF as a second mom, making her gifts and drawing her pictures. That's how I would show affection as a kid, since she hated hugs and wouldnât hug me or my brother.
When I turned 11, TF started talking badly about my mom, comparing her cooking to my moms, and other small things. She would tell me to tell my mom things she said, and vice versa, causing drama and unnecessary fights. BM would try to calm these fights down, but TF would tell him that I was the one twisting her words, and starting these fights on purpose. Throughout this time, I was seeing my mom less due to a switch in the days weâd see her. The screaming and yelling TF would direct at me caused me to develop severe anxiety toward loud noises, and arguments, which I still struggle with to this day.
Whilst the stress of TF turning BM against me was going on, my mom sadly picked up a bad drug habit due to my step-dad, who I'll refer to as DM. DM and my mom would fight all the time, and my mom would be sick for weeks stuck in bed due to her new addiction. At this time I was 12, and my mom had recently had my two baby brothers, and my little sister, ages newborn, 1, and 2. I felt bad for my mom, because at the time I just thought she was sick. I would do everything around the house, cleaning, cooking, changing my little siblings diapers and staying up at night with them, all while still going to school. I was so stressed that I was losing hair and graying early at the age of 12.
Then near the end of the year, when I was close to turning 13, my mom drove with me and my brother while under the influence and almost drove us off the highway, we were pulled over and my mom was taken from us. From that point on BM and TF had full custody over me and my brother, I was put in therapy, along with my brother, and it did help me at the time. Soon though, TFâs treatment started getting worse, calling me names, putting me on a diet despite me being a healthy weight, and turning BM against me. She would gaslight me into thinking I WAS the one in the wrong, but I know now I wasnât.
At the age of 15, I started getting fed up with TFâs treatment, and attempted bringing it up to BM, he just ended up getting mad and blamed my mom for me thinking that way. At one point TF went through my diary, which was provided to me by my therapist. I had written something about her, but it wasnât insults, it was simply me talking about how I felt depressed, and missed my mom, and wished TF was there for me more. She grounded me for a month and a half, (this is when punishments became having my door taken, not being allowed privacy, and not being able to have friends) throwing away my diary, and not allowing me to go to therapy anymore. I started to notice at this point that her treatment was directed toward me only, and not my brother Ty.
BM and TF started fighting more, getting into screaming matches and threatening to leave each other. TF would use me to change the direction of the argument off of her and onto me, bringing up a chore I might've missed or done wrong. I became her go to scapegoat, since I could âtake itâ. On this note, she had moved all of the household chores onto me, this included doing their laundry, my brother's laundry, (who were more than capable of doing their own) doing everyone's dishes, vacuuming the living rooms, all of our bedrooms, dusting, mopping etc.
TF would constantly complain about being stressed from all the cleaning SHE had to do, despite me doing all of it. She was also unemployed, so while I was in highschool, I had no social life outside of it. At the age of 16, I started getting fed up with the treatment, I was depressed and had severe anxiety, which they refused to treat me for. At this point my mom had been clean for 3 years, and was fighting to get custody of me and my brother. On November 31rst, I was told my mother had passed away in her sleep. I was and still am so broken from this, and I miss her so much. She was so close to getting me out of this house, out of this treatment, and yet just like that she was just gone.
I slept most of that week, struggled to focus and just overall was at a low point, understandably. TF would yell at me, telling me to get over it already, since it had been long enough for me to grieve. It had been less than a week. 2 weeks went by, and it was time for me to see my mothers body, and say goodbye. TF was yelling at me before me, my brother and BM left to go to the funeral, something about the way I was acting, (she would ground me over seeing me cry, because they were, and I quote, âcrocodile tearsâ) we left, and I said goodbye to my mom. Nothing can explain the sadness I felt seeing her so stiff, and unalive. She was such a good person, and such a good mother, and she was always there for me when no one else was. On the way back home, TF called BM, which he put on speaker phone. TF began screaming at me, calling me useless, and all these other names. I just started sobbing, and shaking.
She was yelling at me over towels being folded incorrectly the night before my mothers funeral. I got home, and I went straight to my room. I considered ending it all that night, but convinced myself not too. That was the night I decided Iâd move out as soon as I turned 18, I was tired of feeling used, and useless. So now Iâm 17, and I'll be 18 in 9 months.
Some extra notable things that i didn't mention:
When I was 15 ½, BM and TF found out I was gay, and liked girls, I was grounded for this, and called all sorts of things, this was a time when my door was gone, I wasnât allowed to have friends, and was forced to break up with my girlfriend, (which I didnât do.)
When I was struggling with my mental health, and tried to tell BM, TF told me that I was an attention seeker for telling them about it, and that if I was truly so low in my life I wouldâve ended myself already.
Last note, I am doing better mentally, I no longer feel like I shouldnât be here, in fact I feel like pushing through and doing something with my life would show that theyâre treatment toward me didnât kill my dreams, my passions, and my creativity.
2024.05.28 22:40 strangelystormy666 Catfish me? Iâll catfish you back.
Background:
So, the title is honestly a bit of an oversimplification. When I was 14, I was stalked, catfished, gr00med, SAâd, and overall HEAVILY manipulated by an upperclassmen to the point where at the time, I didnât know what was even real anymore. He even hit me once. Letâs call him D.
Even after the ab/se was over, he still did everything he could to keep me isolated. He knew that this was hard for me to talk about, and that only a few of my closest friends knew the details. He tried to get to my best friends, and it almost worked with a few of them. Unfortunately, one of them also ended up being ab/sed by him before she came around. But thankfully, I ended up either keeping or getting back all of my BEST friends by the end of it. So when he realized that wasnât gonna work, he started working on close friends that werenât my best friends if that makes sense. People who I loved dearly, who I trusted with a lot. But people who I just couldnât bring myself to talk to about THIS.
He went to them before I could. Told them that I was the ab/ser. That I was the stalker. That I was just lying about him because Iâm transphobic (he happens to be trans, FTM. Please donât misgender him. I will NOT tolerate transphobic comments PERIOD. I donât care that heâs a scumbag. Trans people are people, which means that they have the ability to be good or bad people like any other human being on this planet. Correct pronouns arenât just for âniceâ trans people. You wouldnât call an ab/sive cis man a woman, and this is no different.) which is SO far from the truth. Iâm non-binary myself (and ironically enough, he refuses to acknowledge that and was actually very transphobic towards me), and Iâve always gone out of my way to be an advocate for trans rights since long before I even figured that out. As you can see, I wouldnât even misgender a POS like him. Thereâs no point in it, and it just hurts the trans community as a whole. I bring this up only because he used this as a manipulation tactic, and it was successful because the people in my life take that kind of shit very seriously.
I could see him using the same damn tactics on these girls that he did with me, and it made me sick. D got REALLY obsessed with one of them in particular. Weâll call her S. I didnât care that she hated me at that point and thought I was a POS. I could see this ramping up, and I just wanted her to be safe. I needed proof of the kind of person he was to get her away from him (all of them really, but ESPECIALLY S). But what could I do? I didnât have any proof. D had manipulated me into deleting all of the concrete evidence I had against him while I was in active ab/se. Thatâs when I remembered the catfishing. He used to do it for multiple different reasons. Mostly just to manipulate me, tear down my self esteem, and warp my sense of reality. But another big thing he used these personas for was to get information about me that he could use. So, I decided to give him a small taste of his own medicine.
The Revenge:
I set up a fake Instagram profile. Picked a girl he would have been into. She was a model, but a very underground one that wasnât even from our country. This allowed me to get several pictures to make it look real, without running the risk that he would recognize her. I said something in the bio about how she got locked out of her old account to make the fact that it was created recently seem less sus. I said she was a college student from the other side of the country. I followed the school, several organizations within it, and several students. Then, I started following a bunch of LGBTQ accounts that I knew he interacted with. I posted several âselfiesâ, pictures of the campus, some random quotes, and some other stuff to make it look real. I spaced them out over the course of several days, interacted with a bunch of the accounts I followed, waited for several of them to follow me back. Then, after a few days, I followed his account. I made sure to make it seem like I had just found his account because we followed several of the same accounts. Then, I finally started interacting with his posts. I made a few comments that I knew would fuel his ego, and waited for him to reach out to me. It didnât take long. He direct messaged me asking to be friends within hours of my last comment.
I fed into every lie he told me. Acted like a friend (just like he had done to me with his personas), and the dude just wouldnât shut up! He went on and on about the sexual relationship he supposedly had with S (this was NOT TRUE! Heâs always done this. When he has an obsession with someone, and is trying to manipulate them, but itâs taking a while, he will talk about his fantasies as if theyâre a reality). The way he talked about her (and several of the other people I was also worried about, but mostly her) was absolutely VILE. I kept up the act for a few weeks until I was 100% positive I had enough evidence. And I discovered a lot more than I even anticipated⌠I donât want to get into the other stuff too much, but it was BAD. This dude was also obsessed with one of our lunch ladies. It was to the point where she was scared for her and her childrenâs safety, but she didnât know what to do about it because she didnât have proof⌠but after what he said to me? I did.
After I had everything I needed, I screenshotted EVERYTHING and then deleted the account. I sent the screenshots about S to a mutual friend of ours (since at this point, me and S were no contact), explained the situation, and she was horrified. She sent all of the screenshots to S, and S was clearly even more horrified. She blocked him on everything, and apologized to me profusely for believing him over me.
Then, I sent my mom all of the screenshots I had about the lunch lady. I didnât know how to go about sharing these with her because, well⌠she was my lunch lady. Lucky for me though, my mom is a hairstylist, and just so happened to be HER stylist. So my mom spilled ALL the beans at their next appointment. (This is when it came out how scared this poor woman had been of him).
The screenshots got around, and everyone I had been worried about managed to get away from him. By doing what I did, EVERYONE around him finally saw his true colors, and he lost pretty much everybody he had under his control at the time. If you keep playing with fire, eventually youâre gonna get burned. Every time I think about it, I smile. I managed to protect so many people from going through what I went through, or worse. And in the process I gave him a tiny sliver of a taste of his own damn medicine. I like to hope that he was paranoid for a good while after that. Just like i was.
submitted by strangelystormy666 to traumatizeThemBack [link] [comments]
So, the title is honestly a bit of an oversimplification. When I was 14, I was stalked, catfished, gr00med, SAâd, and overall HEAVILY manipulated by an upperclassmen to the point where at the time, I didnât know what was even real anymore. He even hit me once. Letâs call him D.
Even after the ab/se was over, he still did everything he could to keep me isolated. He knew that this was hard for me to talk about, and that only a few of my closest friends knew the details. He tried to get to my best friends, and it almost worked with a few of them. Unfortunately, one of them also ended up being ab/sed by him before she came around. But thankfully, I ended up either keeping or getting back all of my BEST friends by the end of it. So when he realized that wasnât gonna work, he started working on close friends that werenât my best friends if that makes sense. People who I loved dearly, who I trusted with a lot. But people who I just couldnât bring myself to talk to about THIS.
He went to them before I could. Told them that I was the ab/ser. That I was the stalker. That I was just lying about him because Iâm transphobic (he happens to be trans, FTM. Please donât misgender him. I will NOT tolerate transphobic comments PERIOD. I donât care that heâs a scumbag. Trans people are people, which means that they have the ability to be good or bad people like any other human being on this planet. Correct pronouns arenât just for âniceâ trans people. You wouldnât call an ab/sive cis man a woman, and this is no different.) which is SO far from the truth. Iâm non-binary myself (and ironically enough, he refuses to acknowledge that and was actually very transphobic towards me), and Iâve always gone out of my way to be an advocate for trans rights since long before I even figured that out. As you can see, I wouldnât even misgender a POS like him. Thereâs no point in it, and it just hurts the trans community as a whole. I bring this up only because he used this as a manipulation tactic, and it was successful because the people in my life take that kind of shit very seriously.
I could see him using the same damn tactics on these girls that he did with me, and it made me sick. D got REALLY obsessed with one of them in particular. Weâll call her S. I didnât care that she hated me at that point and thought I was a POS. I could see this ramping up, and I just wanted her to be safe. I needed proof of the kind of person he was to get her away from him (all of them really, but ESPECIALLY S). But what could I do? I didnât have any proof. D had manipulated me into deleting all of the concrete evidence I had against him while I was in active ab/se. Thatâs when I remembered the catfishing. He used to do it for multiple different reasons. Mostly just to manipulate me, tear down my self esteem, and warp my sense of reality. But another big thing he used these personas for was to get information about me that he could use. So, I decided to give him a small taste of his own medicine.
The Revenge:
I set up a fake Instagram profile. Picked a girl he would have been into. She was a model, but a very underground one that wasnât even from our country. This allowed me to get several pictures to make it look real, without running the risk that he would recognize her. I said something in the bio about how she got locked out of her old account to make the fact that it was created recently seem less sus. I said she was a college student from the other side of the country. I followed the school, several organizations within it, and several students. Then, I started following a bunch of LGBTQ accounts that I knew he interacted with. I posted several âselfiesâ, pictures of the campus, some random quotes, and some other stuff to make it look real. I spaced them out over the course of several days, interacted with a bunch of the accounts I followed, waited for several of them to follow me back. Then, after a few days, I followed his account. I made sure to make it seem like I had just found his account because we followed several of the same accounts. Then, I finally started interacting with his posts. I made a few comments that I knew would fuel his ego, and waited for him to reach out to me. It didnât take long. He direct messaged me asking to be friends within hours of my last comment.
I fed into every lie he told me. Acted like a friend (just like he had done to me with his personas), and the dude just wouldnât shut up! He went on and on about the sexual relationship he supposedly had with S (this was NOT TRUE! Heâs always done this. When he has an obsession with someone, and is trying to manipulate them, but itâs taking a while, he will talk about his fantasies as if theyâre a reality). The way he talked about her (and several of the other people I was also worried about, but mostly her) was absolutely VILE. I kept up the act for a few weeks until I was 100% positive I had enough evidence. And I discovered a lot more than I even anticipated⌠I donât want to get into the other stuff too much, but it was BAD. This dude was also obsessed with one of our lunch ladies. It was to the point where she was scared for her and her childrenâs safety, but she didnât know what to do about it because she didnât have proof⌠but after what he said to me? I did.
After I had everything I needed, I screenshotted EVERYTHING and then deleted the account. I sent the screenshots about S to a mutual friend of ours (since at this point, me and S were no contact), explained the situation, and she was horrified. She sent all of the screenshots to S, and S was clearly even more horrified. She blocked him on everything, and apologized to me profusely for believing him over me.
Then, I sent my mom all of the screenshots I had about the lunch lady. I didnât know how to go about sharing these with her because, well⌠she was my lunch lady. Lucky for me though, my mom is a hairstylist, and just so happened to be HER stylist. So my mom spilled ALL the beans at their next appointment. (This is when it came out how scared this poor woman had been of him).
The screenshots got around, and everyone I had been worried about managed to get away from him. By doing what I did, EVERYONE around him finally saw his true colors, and he lost pretty much everybody he had under his control at the time. If you keep playing with fire, eventually youâre gonna get burned. Every time I think about it, I smile. I managed to protect so many people from going through what I went through, or worse. And in the process I gave him a tiny sliver of a taste of his own damn medicine. I like to hope that he was paranoid for a good while after that. Just like i was.
2024.05.28 21:51 DawnyLove AITAH for planning to leave when I turn 18? (Update)
AITA for planning to move out as soon as I turn 18? (Update)
It had been brought to my attention that the way I formatted my last post was hard to understand, so this post will help summarize what I tried explaining in my first post. Also thank you so much for the supportive comments.
When she came into my life it was hard for me to accept it, but I did get used to her being around, along with her son, my stepbrother who I referred to as H. He was a year younger than me, for Iâm the oldest child in my family. However, as time progressed TF started showing signs of her strictness, yelling and screaming over new rules she decided to enforce that I was still getting used to. I was only around 9 at this time, so it's understandable that I was struggling to accept this new mother figure into my life. Over time I got used to the new rules, and started seeing TF as a second mom, making her gifts and drawing her pictures. That's how I would show affection as a kid, since she hated hugs and wouldnât hug me or my brother.
When I turned 11, TF started talking badly about my mom, comparing her cooking to my moms, and other small things. She would tell me to tell my mom things she said, and vice versa, causing drama and unnecessary fights. BM would try to calm these fights down, but TF would tell him that I was the one twisting her words, and starting these fights on purpose. Throughout this time, I was seeing my mom less due to a switch in the days weâd see her. The screaming and yelling TF would direct at me caused me to develop severe anxiety toward loud noises, and arguments, which I still struggle with to this day.
Whilst the stress of TF turning BM against me was going on, my mom sadly picked up a bad drug habit due to my step-dad, who I'll refer to as DM. DM and my mom would fight all the time, and my mom would be sick for weeks stuck in bed due to her new addiction. At this time I was 12, and my mom had recently had my two baby brothers, and my little sister, ages newborn, 1, and 2. I felt bad for my mom, because at the time I just thought she was sick. I would do everything around the house, cleaning, cooking, changing my little siblings diapers and staying up at night with them, all while still going to school. I was so stressed that I was losing hair and graying early at the age of 12.
Then near the end of the year, when I was close to turning 13, my mom drove with me and my brother while under the influence and almost drove us off the highway, we were pulled over and my mom was taken from us. From that point on BM and TF had full custody over me and my brother, I was put in therapy, along with my brother, and it did help me at the time. Soon though, TFâs treatment started getting worse, calling me names, putting me on a diet despite me being a healthy weight, and turning BM against me. She would gaslight me into thinking I WAS the one in the wrong, but I know now I wasnât.
At the age of 15, I started getting fed up with TFâs treatment, and attempted bringing it up to BM, he just ended up getting mad and blamed my mom for me thinking that way. At one point TF went through my diary, which was provided to me by my therapist. I had written something about her, but it wasnât insults, it was simply me talking about how I felt depressed, and missed my mom, and wished TF was there for me more. She grounded me for a month and a half, (this is when punishments became having my door taken, not being allowed privacy, and not being able to have friends) throwing away my diary, and not allowing me to go to therapy anymore. I started to notice at this point that her treatment was directed toward me only, and not my brother Ty.
BM and TF started fighting more, getting into screaming matches and threatening to leave each other. TF would use me to change the direction of the argument off of her and onto me, bringing up a chore I might've missed or done wrong. I became her go to scapegoat, since I could âtake itâ. On this note, she had moved all of the household chores onto me, this included doing their laundry, my brother's laundry, (who were more than capable of doing their own) doing everyone's dishes, vacuuming the living rooms, all of our bedrooms, dusting, mopping etc.
TF would constantly complain about being stressed from all the cleaning SHE had to do, despite me doing all of it. She was also unemployed, so while I was in highschool, I had no social life outside of it. At the age of 16, I started getting fed up with the treatment, I was depressed and had severe anxiety, which they refused to treat me for. At this point my mom had been clean for 3 years, and was fighting to get custody of me and my brother. On November 31rst, I was told my mother had passed away in her sleep. I was and still am so broken from this, and I miss her so much. She was so close to getting me out of this house, out of this treatment, and yet just like that she was just gone.
I slept most of that week, struggled to focus and just overall was at a low point, understandably. TF would yell at me, telling me to get over it already, since it had been long enough for me to grieve. It had been less than a week. 2 weeks went by, and it was time for me to see my mothers body, and say goodbye. TF was yelling at me before me, my brother and BM left to go to the funeral, something about the way I was acting, (she would ground me over seeing me cry, because they were, and I quote, âcrocodile tearsâ) we left, and I said goodbye to my mom. Nothing can explain the sadness I felt seeing her so stiff, and unalive. She was such a good person, and such a good mother, and she was always there for me when no one else was. On the way back home, TF called BM, which he put on speaker phone. TF began screaming at me, calling me useless, and all these other names. I just started sobbing, and shaking.
She was yelling at me over towels being folded incorrectly the night before my mothers funeral. I got home, and I went straight to my room. I considered ending it all that night, but convinced myself not too. That was the night I decided Iâd move out as soon as I turned 18, I was tired of feeling used, and useless. So now Iâm 17, and I'll be 18 in 9 months.
Some extra notable things that i didn't mention:
When I was 15 ½, BM and TF found out I was gay, and liked girls, I was grounded for this, and called all sorts of things, this was a time when my door was gone, I wasnât allowed to have friends, and was forced to break up with my girlfriend, (which I didnât do.)
When I was struggling with my mental health, and tried to tell BM, TF told me that I was an attention seeker for telling them about it, and that if I was truly so low in my life I wouldâve ended myself already.
Last note, I am doing better mentally, I no longer feel like I shouldnât be here, in fact I feel like pushing through and doing something with my life would show that theyâre treatment toward me didnât kill my dreams, my passions, and my creativity.
So Iâll ask, Am I the asshole? I donât think so
submitted by DawnyLove to AITAH [link] [comments]
It had been brought to my attention that the way I formatted my last post was hard to understand, so this post will help summarize what I tried explaining in my first post. Also thank you so much for the supportive comments.
To start, as I said before, BM (My dad) and my bio-mother had me and my brother Ty (2 years younger) before divorcing when I was around 3 years old, I donât remember the divorce, or why they divorced, but they've been separated as long as I can remember.Up until I was 6 or 7, my brother being around the age of 4, my mother and BM had split custody, me seeing my father on the weekends and staying with my mother during the weeks. During that time period my mom and BM handled me and my brother amicably, co-parenting well until TF (my step-mother) came into our lives.
When she came into my life it was hard for me to accept it, but I did get used to her being around, along with her son, my stepbrother who I referred to as H. He was a year younger than me, for Iâm the oldest child in my family. However, as time progressed TF started showing signs of her strictness, yelling and screaming over new rules she decided to enforce that I was still getting used to. I was only around 9 at this time, so it's understandable that I was struggling to accept this new mother figure into my life. Over time I got used to the new rules, and started seeing TF as a second mom, making her gifts and drawing her pictures. That's how I would show affection as a kid, since she hated hugs and wouldnât hug me or my brother.
When I turned 11, TF started talking badly about my mom, comparing her cooking to my moms, and other small things. She would tell me to tell my mom things she said, and vice versa, causing drama and unnecessary fights. BM would try to calm these fights down, but TF would tell him that I was the one twisting her words, and starting these fights on purpose. Throughout this time, I was seeing my mom less due to a switch in the days weâd see her. The screaming and yelling TF would direct at me caused me to develop severe anxiety toward loud noises, and arguments, which I still struggle with to this day.
Whilst the stress of TF turning BM against me was going on, my mom sadly picked up a bad drug habit due to my step-dad, who I'll refer to as DM. DM and my mom would fight all the time, and my mom would be sick for weeks stuck in bed due to her new addiction. At this time I was 12, and my mom had recently had my two baby brothers, and my little sister, ages newborn, 1, and 2. I felt bad for my mom, because at the time I just thought she was sick. I would do everything around the house, cleaning, cooking, changing my little siblings diapers and staying up at night with them, all while still going to school. I was so stressed that I was losing hair and graying early at the age of 12.
Then near the end of the year, when I was close to turning 13, my mom drove with me and my brother while under the influence and almost drove us off the highway, we were pulled over and my mom was taken from us. From that point on BM and TF had full custody over me and my brother, I was put in therapy, along with my brother, and it did help me at the time. Soon though, TFâs treatment started getting worse, calling me names, putting me on a diet despite me being a healthy weight, and turning BM against me. She would gaslight me into thinking I WAS the one in the wrong, but I know now I wasnât.
At the age of 15, I started getting fed up with TFâs treatment, and attempted bringing it up to BM, he just ended up getting mad and blamed my mom for me thinking that way. At one point TF went through my diary, which was provided to me by my therapist. I had written something about her, but it wasnât insults, it was simply me talking about how I felt depressed, and missed my mom, and wished TF was there for me more. She grounded me for a month and a half, (this is when punishments became having my door taken, not being allowed privacy, and not being able to have friends) throwing away my diary, and not allowing me to go to therapy anymore. I started to notice at this point that her treatment was directed toward me only, and not my brother Ty.
BM and TF started fighting more, getting into screaming matches and threatening to leave each other. TF would use me to change the direction of the argument off of her and onto me, bringing up a chore I might've missed or done wrong. I became her go to scapegoat, since I could âtake itâ. On this note, she had moved all of the household chores onto me, this included doing their laundry, my brother's laundry, (who were more than capable of doing their own) doing everyone's dishes, vacuuming the living rooms, all of our bedrooms, dusting, mopping etc.
TF would constantly complain about being stressed from all the cleaning SHE had to do, despite me doing all of it. She was also unemployed, so while I was in highschool, I had no social life outside of it. At the age of 16, I started getting fed up with the treatment, I was depressed and had severe anxiety, which they refused to treat me for. At this point my mom had been clean for 3 years, and was fighting to get custody of me and my brother. On November 31rst, I was told my mother had passed away in her sleep. I was and still am so broken from this, and I miss her so much. She was so close to getting me out of this house, out of this treatment, and yet just like that she was just gone.
I slept most of that week, struggled to focus and just overall was at a low point, understandably. TF would yell at me, telling me to get over it already, since it had been long enough for me to grieve. It had been less than a week. 2 weeks went by, and it was time for me to see my mothers body, and say goodbye. TF was yelling at me before me, my brother and BM left to go to the funeral, something about the way I was acting, (she would ground me over seeing me cry, because they were, and I quote, âcrocodile tearsâ) we left, and I said goodbye to my mom. Nothing can explain the sadness I felt seeing her so stiff, and unalive. She was such a good person, and such a good mother, and she was always there for me when no one else was. On the way back home, TF called BM, which he put on speaker phone. TF began screaming at me, calling me useless, and all these other names. I just started sobbing, and shaking.
She was yelling at me over towels being folded incorrectly the night before my mothers funeral. I got home, and I went straight to my room. I considered ending it all that night, but convinced myself not too. That was the night I decided Iâd move out as soon as I turned 18, I was tired of feeling used, and useless. So now Iâm 17, and I'll be 18 in 9 months.
Some extra notable things that i didn't mention:
When I was 15 ½, BM and TF found out I was gay, and liked girls, I was grounded for this, and called all sorts of things, this was a time when my door was gone, I wasnât allowed to have friends, and was forced to break up with my girlfriend, (which I didnât do.)
When I was struggling with my mental health, and tried to tell BM, TF told me that I was an attention seeker for telling them about it, and that if I was truly so low in my life I wouldâve ended myself already.
Last note, I am doing better mentally, I no longer feel like I shouldnât be here, in fact I feel like pushing through and doing something with my life would show that theyâre treatment toward me didnât kill my dreams, my passions, and my creativity.
So Iâll ask, Am I the asshole? I donât think so
2024.05.28 21:13 Few_Story7683 I'm gonna go nc with my "cousin"
I(23F) have a cousin(30F) who was always on and off with my family. What I mean by that is she would ask my folks for help. The end result is the same every time with my cousin who I'ma refer to as S for the post always caused drama and lies about my family before cutting us out of her life. S contacted my mother a year ago to ask for some help,claiming she changed so my mother believed her hoping she did actually change. At the time it was discovered s was pregnant and need the house to be worked on. My mother of course being kind and helpful to my cousin helped split the living room in half to make another bedroom a long with painting it and setting up the electricity in it. Everything was well until the baby was born,S had a baby girl who I will call E. My parents were excited to baby sit E and even helped S with E at every chance as needed. Before I say the next part of the story I want to say something for context with my family,we have 4 cats and 3 dogs inside. It's important for this part as from December to February my mom was babysitting E while S went back to work. Everytime my folks watched over E we noticed the poor baby was red,had blisters and other stuff going on but we didn't know what was happening until mid February where it was told to my mother that E developed a deadly allergic reaction to animals. My mom immediately contacted S saying she couldn't watch E as it wouldn't end well and she didn't want to be responsible for if anything happened to E as even if we moved the animals out of the house there is still animal dandruff everywhere. S texted my mom saying that my mom needed to watch over her as she made an excuse saying she had no one to watch E which is completely false as she has had her best friend watch over her a few times when my mom was sick. S has a terrible history of lying and being a master manipulator when it comes to twisting the story in her favor. I say that because as you can imagine when my mom told S that she wasnt risking E's life as she's thinking about what's best for the baby. How does my cousin respond,oh by berating my mother,claiming she had had to work and tried forcing my mom to watch E but mom held her ground. S started being a jerk towards my mom claiming she never loved her,she never helped her when my mom done everything for her. S has done this multiple times in the past,even lying to her partners just to cause chaos. A week after the fight, S made a FB post basically defaming my mom and even making false claims. The false accusations were ranging from my mom didn't feed E to even my mom didn't take care of E but I knew this wasn't true because my mom done everything for that baby. My mom fed E,took care of her and done everything to help and protect her yet my cousin didn't care about E's health or that my mom couldn't take her as it would kill E if she came back with this many animals at home. To me it's very frustrating that S doesn't care about E's health and chose to harass my mother about watching E when she knows E has a deadly animal allergy. I'm sorry if I'm rambling alot on this,I just don't know what else to do cause I'm over the drama S brings and I don't want E to suffer as I had a deadly allergy before and it isn't fun to have. I'm gonna cut all contact with S as I don't do drama,I hate it yet when it comes to her I always get pulled into it. I wasn't even apart of the problem till my mom told me about it and showed me the texts which confirms what I was told about everything. Im terribly sorry if this is long,also the reason I put cousin in quotes is because S isn't my cousin but she also is. Context to what I mean is her family is terrible but her dad was my dad's best friend at the time. Let's say S's father isn't a good person and S would always seek my family to help her. S did care about us in the beginning,that was until she became the way she is now.
submitted by Few_Story7683 to offmychest [link] [comments]
2024.05.28 20:15 IdenticalThings Garland's Civil War: I think I have evidence there's a wider race war going on behind the scenes (Spoilers)
I know people think this film is apolitical and are irritated by left and right interpretations, and it's about journalism, which it is. For sure. I don't give a shit about politics and I'm a white guy that doesn't any kind of agenda, I'm not even American. I generally despise conversations about people looking too far into art/media but this film has the ol' wheels turning.
So I drank the Koolaid so you don't have to, and will present a case, I don't necessarily believe all of this but here's how the full Pepe Silvia / Charlie argument would go.
TLDR: there's a good amount of implied evidence that the Civil War in the film is somewhat connected to a wider race war. Would only be apt since the first Civil War was kind of about race... or was that just... state's rights (to WHAT?).
Hotel Bar Scene
Sammy: "And you can't get anywhere near Philly. So you gotta go west, maybe as far as Pittsburgh."
Question is why can't we go anywhere near a city that's still in the loyalist part of the US? It's 700 miles from the front lines, and thousands of miles away from the successionist states, so what's going on? (43% of Philly identifies as black, the most in PA.)
Sammy: "But... you gonna make me explain why I have to be there?"
Why the fuck does Sammy have to BE THERE in particular? Job security? Both Lee and Joe don't have a response and look semi-ashamed after he says this, they then agree to take him to Charlottesville, he is 100% fearful of going near Washington, possibly because he's big boned.
Road Trip Through PA
Impartial counterpoint: on the way out of NY into PA, a few of the checkpoint soldiers are indeed black or POC - but these are possibly just militarized police, conscripted MPs or National Guard, the Gov't is getting squashed in the war and probably aren't sparing real manpower to lowly checkpoint posts.
Sammy: "You don't wanna miss this" - he has Jesse look to up at the road - the US version of the highway of death in PA - Sammy damn well knows it's coming up (cars are pointing West - the direction they're travelling, likely on the Westbound road out of Philadelphia toward Pittsburgh. (digital highway sign says MINES AHEAD).
This is possibly an allusion to the infamous (in the 90s and 2000s at least) "Highway of Death" from the Gulf War, US/UK/Canada/French forces destroyed some 3000 mostly stolen Kuwaiti fleeing vehicles on the road from Kuwait to Basra mostly by airpower.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_of_Death
So WHY were these people in particular targeted when other cities and people seem to functioning? These people weren't WF, maybe just sympathizers. They were clearly fleeing and stopped by force, fleeing from Philly going west?
Impartial counterpoint: Two looters strung up (and shot off screen) are white.
Sammy suggests hardball questions Joel should ask the President, obviously he's thought a lot about what he'd like to ask him himself but for some reason can't go to DC himself (possibly he's too big boned)
Sammy: "State of the nation is QED"? (Don't know what this means)
Hawaiian Shirt Militia scene
Like 80% of the Hawaiian shirt militia are POC. They execute a (white) wounded solider on sight and very happily machine gun three of the captives (white). This is the literal definition of a war crime. Joel is seen having a good laugh with the "war criminal henchman" afterward, the others are nonplussed as usual. But Joel is characterized as a generally good dude, so what gives?
Stadium Refugee Camp
Most people in the refugee camp stadium are POC, like 90%. No where anywhere does it say this, and it's a stretch, but is this a cordoned off ghetto? This can't be geographically far from idyllic pristine white town scene that comes next. The girl that lets them in looks like a volunteer, UNICEF type person, so maybe not.
Through exposition, Jesse's and Lee's parents are revealed to be back home on a farm 'pretending it's not happening'. They're white and possibly don't have an existential stake in this war for whatever reason.
Idyllic Town in West Virginia
All white, where are the POC? Sammy doesn't go in to the shop for whatever reason and leans against the truck on the curbside, physically covering his big bones from the line of fire from the two snipers on the roof, the camera pans up to reveal they've been watching him closely. He says be subtle when he asks Lee to take a look, then asks her "you actually bought something?". But not in a judgmental tone, just one of mild surprise. Lee says this is everything she'd forgotten (normalcy) and Sammy says it's everything he's remembered (people watching him with suspicion).
At this point the 'all white townspeople' dispels the notion that Garland just casted random extras for all the scenes. For me at least.
Meth Damon and the Genocide Boys
Meth Damon and the two guys are using 3 military earth movers, the SUV they captured (Hong Kong guy and Jesse) was forcibly parked and detained off camera just out front of a nicely kept estate with a freshly mowed lawn, the secret mass graves are literally in the backyard. This means the "secret" mass graves are mostly in plain sight.
From a distance Joel guesses they're "not government forces, not up here". Implying they're too far from the front line to be an active Gov't unit. So they're possibly deserters or extreme (very extreme) far right local civilian LARPers. Possibly taking advantage of the chaos and having a good laugh while ethnically cleansing their neighborhood.
However they have a CIB patch and SSI on their left shoulders which imply at least the uniforms are Gov't military. Nametags/rank/etc, are stripped from their uniforms and they don't seem to be enforcing much of a dress code, hence the sexy non-reg glasses. So they've been operating without oversight for a good while.
All of the people in the dump truck bed being dumped into the mass grave are POC.
Here's a stretch - they could be the far right US Gov't version of the Einsatzgruppen (Nazi death squads). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsatzgruppen The Nazis tended to choose real hardliners for these units, guys who violently put down prison revolts, etc., seems within character with Meth Damon.
The first execution is the most obvious POC - no questions asked. Next is Joel, while facing execution, Joel pauses and is trembling when he's compelled to say he's from Florida, which the audience expects will seriously piss off Meth Damon because Florida is a (fucking) successionist state leading an insurrection against the US government.
Meth Damon replies 'central', as in "Central America", implying he cares more about Joel's ethnicity than the fact he's hailing from a literal enemy state.
Meth Damon gives the two white people (Jesse and Lee) free passes for being from Colorado and Missouri. American. Then shoots guy from China. The mass grave is full of POC, including lots of women, women weren't spared on account of them being women, but white. Post scene exposition regarding what the holy fuck just happened is completely missing because Sammy is dying and because of Sturgill Simpson.
There's definitely a kindergartener in the mass grave.
Counterpoint: Some people in the grave look potentially white/have white people looking hair.
My takeaway is that they're just a side effect of the chaos and lawlessness near the front - they're what the farthest of the far right neo nazis would do - Even the reporters haven't seen anything this bad, the underestimate it.
Counterpoint - If Garland wanted us to think they were legit, Govt forces carrying out policy he'd have out them in full kit, full name badges, receiving orders from superiors, etc. Clear decision here to leave the fundamental reasons ambiguous, but 100% racially motivated.
Why don't the journalists know any better? They don't know shit about the war.
At the hotel scene Sammy, a New York Times reporter, says the WF supply lines are collapsing and they are operating in anarchy, competition with one another, and will turn on themselves once the war is over. Totally not true when we see finally see the WF FOB, even reporters have been fed propaganda and don't know shit what's going on out there. There doesn't seem to be a functioning Internet anywhere on the road, outside of the hotel, which is slow and prone to disconnects (probably firewalled worse than China's).
After Sturgill Simpson
Super ambiguous - Lee says "it may sound fucked up there were so many ways it could have ended for him, and a lot of them a lot worse. He didn't want to quit." Why does Sammy have horrifying potential deaths and not the rest of them? Big bones?
White House
Presidents staffers and staff in the Beast are white. Secret service all seem white, I didn't rewatch this part closely so don't quote me.
Counterpoint - Press Secretary ? who tries to negotiate the President's extradition is black. However, the black lady WF soldier is the only person the squad allows to speak to her, the others don't interrupt, and she is the only person to open fire on her - a single shot, no backup fire or doubletapping. Why? At no point is she leading the squad so why does she speak for them? Seems like an very specific and intentional decision by the director.
Counterpoint - Before she dies, he requests the President's extradition to a neutral territory - Greenland or Alaska - Alaska isn't part of the US anymore (Alaska has been solely run by Republicans since the 1960s, and is only 4% black)
The most telling point of the film:
The three "Navy Seals" and the other WF Forces holding the President at gunpoint are white, except for WF black lady. The black WF soldier is allowed to fire the only two execution shots. The others don't jump the gun or ask if they can be the hero who pulls the trigger, or fire additional shots.
Imagine how thirsty Seal Team 6 was to be the guy who shot fucking Bin Laden. Why did Garland write this so only the black female soldier gets the kills shot?
That's what I got.
submitted by IdenticalThings to movies [link] [comments]
So I drank the Koolaid so you don't have to, and will present a case, I don't necessarily believe all of this but here's how the full Pepe Silvia / Charlie argument would go.
TLDR: there's a good amount of implied evidence that the Civil War in the film is somewhat connected to a wider race war. Would only be apt since the first Civil War was kind of about race... or was that just... state's rights (to WHAT?).
Hotel Bar Scene
Sammy: "And you can't get anywhere near Philly. So you gotta go west, maybe as far as Pittsburgh."
Question is why can't we go anywhere near a city that's still in the loyalist part of the US? It's 700 miles from the front lines, and thousands of miles away from the successionist states, so what's going on? (43% of Philly identifies as black, the most in PA.)
Sammy: "But... you gonna make me explain why I have to be there?"
Why the fuck does Sammy have to BE THERE in particular? Job security? Both Lee and Joe don't have a response and look semi-ashamed after he says this, they then agree to take him to Charlottesville, he is 100% fearful of going near Washington, possibly because he's big boned.
Road Trip Through PA
Impartial counterpoint: on the way out of NY into PA, a few of the checkpoint soldiers are indeed black or POC - but these are possibly just militarized police, conscripted MPs or National Guard, the Gov't is getting squashed in the war and probably aren't sparing real manpower to lowly checkpoint posts.
Sammy: "You don't wanna miss this" - he has Jesse look to up at the road - the US version of the highway of death in PA - Sammy damn well knows it's coming up (cars are pointing West - the direction they're travelling, likely on the Westbound road out of Philadelphia toward Pittsburgh. (digital highway sign says MINES AHEAD).
This is possibly an allusion to the infamous (in the 90s and 2000s at least) "Highway of Death" from the Gulf War, US/UK/Canada/French forces destroyed some 3000 mostly stolen Kuwaiti fleeing vehicles on the road from Kuwait to Basra mostly by airpower.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_of_Death
So WHY were these people in particular targeted when other cities and people seem to functioning? These people weren't WF, maybe just sympathizers. They were clearly fleeing and stopped by force, fleeing from Philly going west?
Impartial counterpoint: Two looters strung up (and shot off screen) are white.
Sammy suggests hardball questions Joel should ask the President, obviously he's thought a lot about what he'd like to ask him himself but for some reason can't go to DC himself (possibly he's too big boned)
Sammy: "State of the nation is QED"? (Don't know what this means)
Hawaiian Shirt Militia scene
Like 80% of the Hawaiian shirt militia are POC. They execute a (white) wounded solider on sight and very happily machine gun three of the captives (white). This is the literal definition of a war crime. Joel is seen having a good laugh with the "war criminal henchman" afterward, the others are nonplussed as usual. But Joel is characterized as a generally good dude, so what gives?
Stadium Refugee Camp
Most people in the refugee camp stadium are POC, like 90%. No where anywhere does it say this, and it's a stretch, but is this a cordoned off ghetto? This can't be geographically far from idyllic pristine white town scene that comes next. The girl that lets them in looks like a volunteer, UNICEF type person, so maybe not.
Through exposition, Jesse's and Lee's parents are revealed to be back home on a farm 'pretending it's not happening'. They're white and possibly don't have an existential stake in this war for whatever reason.
Idyllic Town in West Virginia
All white, where are the POC? Sammy doesn't go in to the shop for whatever reason and leans against the truck on the curbside, physically covering his big bones from the line of fire from the two snipers on the roof, the camera pans up to reveal they've been watching him closely. He says be subtle when he asks Lee to take a look, then asks her "you actually bought something?". But not in a judgmental tone, just one of mild surprise. Lee says this is everything she'd forgotten (normalcy) and Sammy says it's everything he's remembered (people watching him with suspicion).
At this point the 'all white townspeople' dispels the notion that Garland just casted random extras for all the scenes. For me at least.
Meth Damon and the Genocide Boys
Meth Damon and the two guys are using 3 military earth movers, the SUV they captured (Hong Kong guy and Jesse) was forcibly parked and detained off camera just out front of a nicely kept estate with a freshly mowed lawn, the secret mass graves are literally in the backyard. This means the "secret" mass graves are mostly in plain sight.
From a distance Joel guesses they're "not government forces, not up here". Implying they're too far from the front line to be an active Gov't unit. So they're possibly deserters or extreme (very extreme) far right local civilian LARPers. Possibly taking advantage of the chaos and having a good laugh while ethnically cleansing their neighborhood.
However they have a CIB patch and SSI on their left shoulders which imply at least the uniforms are Gov't military. Nametags/rank/etc, are stripped from their uniforms and they don't seem to be enforcing much of a dress code, hence the sexy non-reg glasses. So they've been operating without oversight for a good while.
All of the people in the dump truck bed being dumped into the mass grave are POC.
Here's a stretch - they could be the far right US Gov't version of the Einsatzgruppen (Nazi death squads). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsatzgruppen The Nazis tended to choose real hardliners for these units, guys who violently put down prison revolts, etc., seems within character with Meth Damon.
The first execution is the most obvious POC - no questions asked. Next is Joel, while facing execution, Joel pauses and is trembling when he's compelled to say he's from Florida, which the audience expects will seriously piss off Meth Damon because Florida is a (fucking) successionist state leading an insurrection against the US government.
Meth Damon replies 'central', as in "Central America", implying he cares more about Joel's ethnicity than the fact he's hailing from a literal enemy state.
Meth Damon gives the two white people (Jesse and Lee) free passes for being from Colorado and Missouri. American. Then shoots guy from China. The mass grave is full of POC, including lots of women, women weren't spared on account of them being women, but white. Post scene exposition regarding what the holy fuck just happened is completely missing because Sammy is dying and because of Sturgill Simpson.
There's definitely a kindergartener in the mass grave.
Counterpoint: Some people in the grave look potentially white/have white people looking hair.
My takeaway is that they're just a side effect of the chaos and lawlessness near the front - they're what the farthest of the far right neo nazis would do - Even the reporters haven't seen anything this bad, the underestimate it.
Counterpoint - If Garland wanted us to think they were legit, Govt forces carrying out policy he'd have out them in full kit, full name badges, receiving orders from superiors, etc. Clear decision here to leave the fundamental reasons ambiguous, but 100% racially motivated.
Why don't the journalists know any better? They don't know shit about the war.
At the hotel scene Sammy, a New York Times reporter, says the WF supply lines are collapsing and they are operating in anarchy, competition with one another, and will turn on themselves once the war is over. Totally not true when we see finally see the WF FOB, even reporters have been fed propaganda and don't know shit what's going on out there. There doesn't seem to be a functioning Internet anywhere on the road, outside of the hotel, which is slow and prone to disconnects (probably firewalled worse than China's).
After Sturgill Simpson
Super ambiguous - Lee says "it may sound fucked up there were so many ways it could have ended for him, and a lot of them a lot worse. He didn't want to quit." Why does Sammy have horrifying potential deaths and not the rest of them? Big bones?
White House
Presidents staffers and staff in the Beast are white. Secret service all seem white, I didn't rewatch this part closely so don't quote me.
Counterpoint - Press Secretary ? who tries to negotiate the President's extradition is black. However, the black lady WF soldier is the only person the squad allows to speak to her, the others don't interrupt, and she is the only person to open fire on her - a single shot, no backup fire or doubletapping. Why? At no point is she leading the squad so why does she speak for them? Seems like an very specific and intentional decision by the director.
Counterpoint - Before she dies, he requests the President's extradition to a neutral territory - Greenland or Alaska - Alaska isn't part of the US anymore (Alaska has been solely run by Republicans since the 1960s, and is only 4% black)
The most telling point of the film:
The three "Navy Seals" and the other WF Forces holding the President at gunpoint are white, except for WF black lady. The black WF soldier is allowed to fire the only two execution shots. The others don't jump the gun or ask if they can be the hero who pulls the trigger, or fire additional shots.
Imagine how thirsty Seal Team 6 was to be the guy who shot fucking Bin Laden. Why did Garland write this so only the black female soldier gets the kills shot?
That's what I got.
2024.05.28 20:14 IdenticalThings Garland's Civil War: I think I have evidence there's a wider race war going on behind the scenes (Spoilers)
I know people think this film is apolitical and are irritated by left and right interpretations, and it's about journalism, which it is. For sure. I don't give a shit about politics and I'm a white guy that doesn't any kind of agenda, I'm not even American. I generally despise conversations about people looking too far into art/media but this film has the ol' wheels turning.
TLDR: there's a good amount of implied evidence that the Civil War in the film is somewhat connected to a wider race war. Would only be apt since the first Civil War was kind of about race... or was that just... state's rights (to WHAT?).
Throughout my two rewatches - I absolutely was NOT looking for political undertones, just more background reasons for the war itself. There's lots of there's lots of showing, not telling in this film and here's what I've got:
Hotel Bar Scene
Sammy: "And you can't get anywhere near Philly. So you gotta go west, maybe as far as Pittsburgh."
Question is why can't we go anywhere near a city that's still in the loyalist part of the US? It's 700 miles from the front lines, and thousands of miles away from the successionist states, so what's going on? (43% of Philly identifies as black, the most in PA.)
Sammy: "But... you gonna make me explain why I have to be there?"
Why the fuck does Sammy have to BE THERE in particular? Job security? Both Lee and Joe don't have a response and look semi-ashamed after he says this, they then agree to take him to Charlottesville, he is 100% fearful of going near Washington, possibly because he's big boned.
Road Trip Through PA
Impartial counterpoint: on the way out of NY into PA, a few of the checkpoint soldiers are indeed black or POC - but these are possibly just militarized police, conscripted MPs or National Guard, the Gov't is getting squashed in the war and probably aren't sparing real manpower to lowly checkpoint posts.
Sammy: "You don't wanna miss this" - he has Jesse look to up at the road - the US version of the highway of death in PA - Sammy damn well knows it's coming up (cars are pointing West - the direction they're travelling, likely on the Westbound road out of Philadelphia toward Pittsburgh. (digital highway sign says MINES AHEAD).
This is possibly an allusion to the infamous (in the 90s and 2000s at least) "Highway of Death" from the Gulf War, US/UK/Canada/French forces destroyed some 3000 mostly stolen Kuwaiti fleeing vehicles on the road from Kuwait to Basra mostly by airpower.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_of_Death
So WHY were these people in particular targeted when other cities and people seem to functioning? These people weren't WF, maybe just sympathizers. They were clearly fleeing and stopped by force, fleeing from Philly going west?
Impartial counterpoint: Two looters strung up (and shot off screen) are white.
Sammy suggests hardball questions Joel should ask the President, obviously he's thought a lot about what he'd like to ask him himself but for some reason can't go to DC himself (possibly he's too big boned)
Sammy: "State of the nation is QED"? (Don't know what this means)
Hawaiian Shirt Militia scene
Like 80% of the Hawaiian shirt militia are POC. They execute a (white) wounded solider on sight and very happily machine gun three of the captives (white). This is the literal definition of a war crime. Joel is seen having a good laugh with the "war criminal henchman" afterward, the others are nonplussed as usual. But Joel is characterized as a generally good dude, so what gives?
Stadium Refugee Camp
Most people in the refugee camp stadium are POC, like 90%. No where anywhere does it say this, and it's a stretch, but is this a cordoned off ghetto? This can't be geographically far from idyllic pristine white town scene that comes next.
Through exposition, Jesse's and Lee's parents are revealed to be back home on a farm 'pretending it's not happening'. They're white and possibly don't have an existential stake in this war for whatever reason.
Idyllic Town in West Virginia
All white, where are the POC? Sammy doesn't go in to the shop for whatever reason and leans against the truck on the curbside, physically covering his big bones from the line of fire from the two snipers on the roof, the camera pans up to reveal they've been watching him closely. He says be subtle when he asks Lee to take a look, then asks her "you actually bought something?". But not in a judgmental tone, just one of mild surprise.
At this point the 'all white townspeople' dispels the notion that Garland just casted random extras for all the scenes. For me at least.
Meth Damon and the Genocide Boys
Meth Damon and the two guys are using 3 military earth movers, the SUV they captured (Hong Kong guy and Jesse) was forcibly parked and detained off camera just out front of a nicely kept estate with a freshly mowed lawn, the secret mass graves are literally in the backyard. This means the "secret" mass graves are mostly in plain sight.
From a distance Joel guesses they're "not government forces, not up here". Implying they're too far from the front line to be an active Gov't unit. So they're possibly deserters or extreme (very extreme) far right local civilian LARPers. Possibly taking advantage of the chaos and having a good laugh while ethnically cleansing their neighborhood.
However they have a CIB patch and SSI on their left shoulders which imply at least the uniforms are Gov't military. Nametags/rank/etc, are stripped from their uniforms and they don't seem to be enforcing much of a dress code, hence the sexy non-reg glasses. So they've been operating without oversight for a good while.
All of the people in the dump truck bed being dumped into the mass grave are POC.
Here's a stretch - they could be the far right US Gov't version of the Einsatzgruppen (Nazi death squads). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsatzgruppen The Nazis tended to choose real hardliners for these units, guys who violently put down prison revolts, etc., seems within character with Meth Damon.
The first execution is the most obvious POC - no questions asked. Next is Joel, while facing execution, Joel pauses and is trembling when he's compelled to say he's from Florida, which the audience expects will seriously piss off Meth Damon because Florida is a (fucking) successionist state leading an insurrection against the US government.
Meth Damon replies 'central', as in "Central America", implying he cares more about Joel's ethnicity than the fact he's hailing from a literal enemy state.
Meth Damon gives the two white people (Jesse and Lee) free passes for being from Colorado and Missouri. American. Then shoots guy from China. The mass grave is full of POC, including lots of women, women weren't spared on account of them being women, but white. Post scene exposition regarding what the holy fuck just happened is completely missing because Sammy is dying and because of Sturgill Simpson.
There's definitely a kindergartener in the mass grave.
Counterpoint: Some people in the grave look potentially white/have white people looking hair.
My takeaway is that they're just a side effect of the chaos and lawlessness near the front - they're what the farthest of the far right neo nazis would do - Even the reporters haven't seen anything this bad, the underestimate it.
Counterpoint - If Garland wanted us to think they were legit, Govt forces carrying out policy he'd have out them in full kit, full name badges, receiving orders from superiors, etc. Clear decision here to leave the fundamental reasons ambiguous, but 100% racially motivated.
Why don't the journalists know any better? They don't know shit about the war.
At the hotel scene Sammy, a New York Times reporter, says the WF supply lines are collapsing and they are operating in anarchy, competition with one another, and will turn on themselves once the war is over. Totally not true when we see finally see the WF FOB, even reporters have been fed propaganda and don't know shit what's going on out there. There doesn't seem to be a functioning Internet anywhere on the road, outside of the hotel, which is slow and prone to disconnects (probably firewalled worse than China's).
After Sturgill Simpson
Super ambiguous - Lee says "it may sound fucked up there were so many ways it could have ended for him, and a lot of them a lot worse. He didn't want to quit." Why does Sammy have horrifying potential deaths and not the rest of them? Big bones?
White House
Presidents staffers and staff in the Beast are white. Secret service all seem white, I didn't rewatch this part closely so don't quote me.
Counterpoint - Press Secretary ? who tries to negotiate the President's extradition is black. However, the black lady WF soldier is the only person the squad allows to speak to her, the others don't interrupt, and she is the only person to open fire on her - a single shot, no backup fire or doubletapping. Why? Seems like an very specific and intentional decision by the director.
Counterpoint - Before she dies, he requests the President's extradition to a neutral territory - Greenland or Alaska - Alaska isn't part of the US anymore (Alaska has been solely run by Republicans since the 1960s, and is only 4% black)
The most telling point of the film:
The three "Navy Seals" and the other WF Forces holding the President at gunpoint are white, except for WF black lady. The black WF soldier is allowed to fire the only two execution shots. The others don't jump the gun or ask if they can be the hero who pulls the trigger, or fire additional shots.
Imagine how thirsty Seal Team 6 was to be the guy who shot fucking Bin Laden. Why did Garland write this so only the black female soldier gets the kills shot?
That's what I got.
submitted by IdenticalThings to TrueFilm [link] [comments]
TLDR: there's a good amount of implied evidence that the Civil War in the film is somewhat connected to a wider race war. Would only be apt since the first Civil War was kind of about race... or was that just... state's rights (to WHAT?).
Throughout my two rewatches - I absolutely was NOT looking for political undertones, just more background reasons for the war itself. There's lots of there's lots of showing, not telling in this film and here's what I've got:
Hotel Bar Scene
Sammy: "And you can't get anywhere near Philly. So you gotta go west, maybe as far as Pittsburgh."
Question is why can't we go anywhere near a city that's still in the loyalist part of the US? It's 700 miles from the front lines, and thousands of miles away from the successionist states, so what's going on? (43% of Philly identifies as black, the most in PA.)
Sammy: "But... you gonna make me explain why I have to be there?"
Why the fuck does Sammy have to BE THERE in particular? Job security? Both Lee and Joe don't have a response and look semi-ashamed after he says this, they then agree to take him to Charlottesville, he is 100% fearful of going near Washington, possibly because he's big boned.
Road Trip Through PA
Impartial counterpoint: on the way out of NY into PA, a few of the checkpoint soldiers are indeed black or POC - but these are possibly just militarized police, conscripted MPs or National Guard, the Gov't is getting squashed in the war and probably aren't sparing real manpower to lowly checkpoint posts.
Sammy: "You don't wanna miss this" - he has Jesse look to up at the road - the US version of the highway of death in PA - Sammy damn well knows it's coming up (cars are pointing West - the direction they're travelling, likely on the Westbound road out of Philadelphia toward Pittsburgh. (digital highway sign says MINES AHEAD).
This is possibly an allusion to the infamous (in the 90s and 2000s at least) "Highway of Death" from the Gulf War, US/UK/Canada/French forces destroyed some 3000 mostly stolen Kuwaiti fleeing vehicles on the road from Kuwait to Basra mostly by airpower.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_of_Death
So WHY were these people in particular targeted when other cities and people seem to functioning? These people weren't WF, maybe just sympathizers. They were clearly fleeing and stopped by force, fleeing from Philly going west?
Impartial counterpoint: Two looters strung up (and shot off screen) are white.
Sammy suggests hardball questions Joel should ask the President, obviously he's thought a lot about what he'd like to ask him himself but for some reason can't go to DC himself (possibly he's too big boned)
Sammy: "State of the nation is QED"? (Don't know what this means)
Hawaiian Shirt Militia scene
Like 80% of the Hawaiian shirt militia are POC. They execute a (white) wounded solider on sight and very happily machine gun three of the captives (white). This is the literal definition of a war crime. Joel is seen having a good laugh with the "war criminal henchman" afterward, the others are nonplussed as usual. But Joel is characterized as a generally good dude, so what gives?
Stadium Refugee Camp
Most people in the refugee camp stadium are POC, like 90%. No where anywhere does it say this, and it's a stretch, but is this a cordoned off ghetto? This can't be geographically far from idyllic pristine white town scene that comes next.
Through exposition, Jesse's and Lee's parents are revealed to be back home on a farm 'pretending it's not happening'. They're white and possibly don't have an existential stake in this war for whatever reason.
Idyllic Town in West Virginia
All white, where are the POC? Sammy doesn't go in to the shop for whatever reason and leans against the truck on the curbside, physically covering his big bones from the line of fire from the two snipers on the roof, the camera pans up to reveal they've been watching him closely. He says be subtle when he asks Lee to take a look, then asks her "you actually bought something?". But not in a judgmental tone, just one of mild surprise.
At this point the 'all white townspeople' dispels the notion that Garland just casted random extras for all the scenes. For me at least.
Meth Damon and the Genocide Boys
Meth Damon and the two guys are using 3 military earth movers, the SUV they captured (Hong Kong guy and Jesse) was forcibly parked and detained off camera just out front of a nicely kept estate with a freshly mowed lawn, the secret mass graves are literally in the backyard. This means the "secret" mass graves are mostly in plain sight.
From a distance Joel guesses they're "not government forces, not up here". Implying they're too far from the front line to be an active Gov't unit. So they're possibly deserters or extreme (very extreme) far right local civilian LARPers. Possibly taking advantage of the chaos and having a good laugh while ethnically cleansing their neighborhood.
However they have a CIB patch and SSI on their left shoulders which imply at least the uniforms are Gov't military. Nametags/rank/etc, are stripped from their uniforms and they don't seem to be enforcing much of a dress code, hence the sexy non-reg glasses. So they've been operating without oversight for a good while.
All of the people in the dump truck bed being dumped into the mass grave are POC.
Here's a stretch - they could be the far right US Gov't version of the Einsatzgruppen (Nazi death squads). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsatzgruppen The Nazis tended to choose real hardliners for these units, guys who violently put down prison revolts, etc., seems within character with Meth Damon.
The first execution is the most obvious POC - no questions asked. Next is Joel, while facing execution, Joel pauses and is trembling when he's compelled to say he's from Florida, which the audience expects will seriously piss off Meth Damon because Florida is a (fucking) successionist state leading an insurrection against the US government.
Meth Damon replies 'central', as in "Central America", implying he cares more about Joel's ethnicity than the fact he's hailing from a literal enemy state.
Meth Damon gives the two white people (Jesse and Lee) free passes for being from Colorado and Missouri. American. Then shoots guy from China. The mass grave is full of POC, including lots of women, women weren't spared on account of them being women, but white. Post scene exposition regarding what the holy fuck just happened is completely missing because Sammy is dying and because of Sturgill Simpson.
There's definitely a kindergartener in the mass grave.
Counterpoint: Some people in the grave look potentially white/have white people looking hair.
My takeaway is that they're just a side effect of the chaos and lawlessness near the front - they're what the farthest of the far right neo nazis would do - Even the reporters haven't seen anything this bad, the underestimate it.
Counterpoint - If Garland wanted us to think they were legit, Govt forces carrying out policy he'd have out them in full kit, full name badges, receiving orders from superiors, etc. Clear decision here to leave the fundamental reasons ambiguous, but 100% racially motivated.
Why don't the journalists know any better? They don't know shit about the war.
At the hotel scene Sammy, a New York Times reporter, says the WF supply lines are collapsing and they are operating in anarchy, competition with one another, and will turn on themselves once the war is over. Totally not true when we see finally see the WF FOB, even reporters have been fed propaganda and don't know shit what's going on out there. There doesn't seem to be a functioning Internet anywhere on the road, outside of the hotel, which is slow and prone to disconnects (probably firewalled worse than China's).
After Sturgill Simpson
Super ambiguous - Lee says "it may sound fucked up there were so many ways it could have ended for him, and a lot of them a lot worse. He didn't want to quit." Why does Sammy have horrifying potential deaths and not the rest of them? Big bones?
White House
Presidents staffers and staff in the Beast are white. Secret service all seem white, I didn't rewatch this part closely so don't quote me.
Counterpoint - Press Secretary ? who tries to negotiate the President's extradition is black. However, the black lady WF soldier is the only person the squad allows to speak to her, the others don't interrupt, and she is the only person to open fire on her - a single shot, no backup fire or doubletapping. Why? Seems like an very specific and intentional decision by the director.
Counterpoint - Before she dies, he requests the President's extradition to a neutral territory - Greenland or Alaska - Alaska isn't part of the US anymore (Alaska has been solely run by Republicans since the 1960s, and is only 4% black)
The most telling point of the film:
The three "Navy Seals" and the other WF Forces holding the President at gunpoint are white, except for WF black lady. The black WF soldier is allowed to fire the only two execution shots. The others don't jump the gun or ask if they can be the hero who pulls the trigger, or fire additional shots.
Imagine how thirsty Seal Team 6 was to be the guy who shot fucking Bin Laden. Why did Garland write this so only the black female soldier gets the kills shot?
That's what I got.
2024.05.28 20:09 iamthebighunt My career related experiences that prove the lawâs efficacy
Hi guys!
I recently changed my career trajectory and was reflecting on how I manifested exactly what I assumed every time I consciously manifested anything about my career. My experiences will tell you how accurate the law is and how it never rejects your assumptions, enacting exactly what you assume to the T.
2017: I was in my final year of school and wanted to get into the top-ranked business college in my country, with a <1% acceptance rate. By conventional logic, it seemed next to impossible. My teachers advised me to give up, saying, âItâs not going to happen.â âEven the best of the best donât get in,â they said. Yet, my assumption was, âI will get in without any ifs or buts; it is inevitable.â Fast forward to the exam results and college cut-off releaseâI made it to the first admission list, no waiting. This manifestation single-handedly changed the way I looked at life and made me realize the power within.
2020: I was in my final year of college (still new to Neville) and was manifesting a well-paying job. The most prestigious one was a global consulting firm, literally the most prestigious and renowned consulting firm in the world. As you might have thought, the firm only selected around 2-3 students out of a batch of 900. My seniors told me that my extracurricular record was great, but my grades were not enough to get shortlisted. So my assumption was, âI will get shortlisted, again no ifs or buts.â âIf not me, who else would they select?â âI will get placed by the end of the first week of the placement season.â Guess what? I got shortlisted (only 8 people did). I went to the final round but didnât get in. Also, guess what? They selected no one. (If not me, who else?) This was really weird to me, and I was devastated because, for the first time in the placement history of the college, they selected no one. However, I did get placed in one of the top 7 consulting firms that made a surprise appearance on the second last day of the first week of the placement seasonâit wasnât planned for them to come to the college, yet they did. Here, there was a subtle defect in the way I assumed. I didnât go to the end. I assumed getting shortlisted, which I did. However, I didnât assume that I would get my dream job, so I didnât. I did, however, assume that I would get placed by the end of the first week, and I did. It enacted to the T.
2022: I was fed up with my job (lol). I was traveling a lot to client sites for work and was just so tired. I think I lowkey manifested that too. I now remember a certain conversation with another fed-up colleague who told me how the company was always sending him to remote client sites with no perks, and that really rubbed off on me. I ended up going to remote client sites frequently while all my other colleagues were enjoying luxury travel. Anyway, I wanted to manifest another job that was more convenient and paid double my current one. Within the next week, I was headhunted by a recruiter for a major global startup that primarily offers remote jobs. They usually do 6 rounds, but I got selected after 2. Although the recruiter initially told me that my quoted salary wasnât going to work, they eventually offered me the figure that was exactly double my current job. It all happened so fast.
These were the major inflection points that made me believe in the law. The law is the absolute truth. It cannot fail you. Just thought Iâd share them here for those who occasionally have doubts about the efficacy of the law. My friend, the law is absolutely efficacious!
submitted by iamthebighunt to NevilleGoddard2 [link] [comments]
I recently changed my career trajectory and was reflecting on how I manifested exactly what I assumed every time I consciously manifested anything about my career. My experiences will tell you how accurate the law is and how it never rejects your assumptions, enacting exactly what you assume to the T.
2017: I was in my final year of school and wanted to get into the top-ranked business college in my country, with a <1% acceptance rate. By conventional logic, it seemed next to impossible. My teachers advised me to give up, saying, âItâs not going to happen.â âEven the best of the best donât get in,â they said. Yet, my assumption was, âI will get in without any ifs or buts; it is inevitable.â Fast forward to the exam results and college cut-off releaseâI made it to the first admission list, no waiting. This manifestation single-handedly changed the way I looked at life and made me realize the power within.
2020: I was in my final year of college (still new to Neville) and was manifesting a well-paying job. The most prestigious one was a global consulting firm, literally the most prestigious and renowned consulting firm in the world. As you might have thought, the firm only selected around 2-3 students out of a batch of 900. My seniors told me that my extracurricular record was great, but my grades were not enough to get shortlisted. So my assumption was, âI will get shortlisted, again no ifs or buts.â âIf not me, who else would they select?â âI will get placed by the end of the first week of the placement season.â Guess what? I got shortlisted (only 8 people did). I went to the final round but didnât get in. Also, guess what? They selected no one. (If not me, who else?) This was really weird to me, and I was devastated because, for the first time in the placement history of the college, they selected no one. However, I did get placed in one of the top 7 consulting firms that made a surprise appearance on the second last day of the first week of the placement seasonâit wasnât planned for them to come to the college, yet they did. Here, there was a subtle defect in the way I assumed. I didnât go to the end. I assumed getting shortlisted, which I did. However, I didnât assume that I would get my dream job, so I didnât. I did, however, assume that I would get placed by the end of the first week, and I did. It enacted to the T.
2022: I was fed up with my job (lol). I was traveling a lot to client sites for work and was just so tired. I think I lowkey manifested that too. I now remember a certain conversation with another fed-up colleague who told me how the company was always sending him to remote client sites with no perks, and that really rubbed off on me. I ended up going to remote client sites frequently while all my other colleagues were enjoying luxury travel. Anyway, I wanted to manifest another job that was more convenient and paid double my current one. Within the next week, I was headhunted by a recruiter for a major global startup that primarily offers remote jobs. They usually do 6 rounds, but I got selected after 2. Although the recruiter initially told me that my quoted salary wasnât going to work, they eventually offered me the figure that was exactly double my current job. It all happened so fast.
These were the major inflection points that made me believe in the law. The law is the absolute truth. It cannot fail you. Just thought Iâd share them here for those who occasionally have doubts about the efficacy of the law. My friend, the law is absolutely efficacious!
2024.05.28 20:06 IdenticalThings Garland's Civil War: I think I have evidence there's a wider race war going on behind the scenes (Spoilers)
I know people think this film is apolitical and are irritated by left and right interpretations, and it's about journalism, which it is. For sure. I don't give a shit about politics and I'm a white guy that doesn't any kind of agenda, I'm not even American. I generally despise conversations about people looking too far into art/media but this film has the ol' wheels turning.
TLDR: there's a good amount of implied evidence that the Civil War in the film is somewhat connected to a wider race war. Would only be apt since the first Civil War was kind of about race... or was that just... state's rights (to WHAT?).
Throughout my two rewatches - I absolutely was NOT looking for political undertones, just more background reasons for the war itself. There's lots of there's lots of showing, not telling in this film and here's what I've got:
Hotel Bar Scene
Sammy: "And you can't get anywhere near Philly. So you gotta go west, maybe as far as Pittsburgh."
Question is why can't we go anywhere near a city that's still in the loyalist part of the US? It's 700 miles from the front lines, and thousands of miles away from the successionist states, so what's going on? (43% of Philly identifies as black, the most in PA.)
Sammy: "But... you gonna make me explain why I have to be there?"
Why the fuck does Sammy have to BE THERE in particular? Job security? Both Lee and Joe don't have a response and look semi-ashamed after he says this, they then agree to take him to Charlottesville, he is 100% fearful of going near Washington, possibly because he's big boned.
Road Trip Through PA
Impartial counterpoint: on the way out of NY into PA, a few of the checkpoint soldiers are indeed black or POC - but these are possibly just militarized police, conscripted MPs or National Guard, the Gov't is getting squashed in the war and probably aren't sparing real manpower to lowly checkpoint posts.
Sammy: "You don't wanna miss this" - he has Jesse look to up at the road - the US version of the highway of death in PA - Sammy damn well knows it's coming up (cars are pointing West - the direction they're travelling, likely on the Westbound road out of Philadelphia toward Pittsburgh. (digital highway sign says MINES AHEAD).
This is possibly an allusion to the infamous (in the 90s and 2000s at least) "Highway of Death" from the Gulf War, US/UK/Canada/French forces destroyed some 3000 mostly stolen Kuwaiti fleeing vehicles on the road from Kuwait to Basra mostly by airpower.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_of_Death
So WHY were these people in particular targeted when other cities and people seem to functioning? These people weren't WF, maybe just sympathizers. They were clearly fleeing and stopped by force, fleeing from Philly going west?
Impartial counterpoint: Two looters strung up (and shot off screen) are white.
Sammy suggests hardball questions Joel should ask the President, obviously he's thought a lot about what he'd like to ask him himself but for some reason can't go to DC himself (possibly he's too big boned)
Sammy: "State of the nation is QED"? (Don't know what this means)
Hawaiian Shirt Militia scene
Like 80% of the Hawaiian shirt militia are POC. They execute a (white) wounded solider on sight and very happily machine gun three of the captives (white). This is the literal definition of a war crime. Joel is seen having a good laugh with the "war criminal henchman" afterward, the others are nonplussed as usual. But Joel is characterized as a generally good dude, so what gives?
Stadium Refugee Camp
Most people in the refugee camp stadium are POC, like 90%. No where anywhere does it say this, and it's a stretch, but is this a cordoned off ghetto? This can't be geographically far from idyllic pristine white town scene that comes next.
Through exposition, Jesse's and Lee's parents are revealed to be back home on a farm 'pretending it's not happening'. They're white and possibly don't have an existential stake in this war for whatever reason.
Idyllic Town in West Virginia
All white, where are the POC? Sammy doesn't go in to the shop for whatever reason and leans against the truck on the curbside, physically covering his big bones from the line of fire from the two snipers on the roof, the camera pans up to reveal they've been watching him closely. He says be subtle when he asks Lee to take a look, then asks her "you actually bought something?". But not in a judgmental tone, just one of mild surprise.
At this point the 'all white townspeople' dispels the notion that Garland just casted random extras for all the scenes. For me at least.
Meth Damon and the Genocide Boys
Meth Damon and the two guys are using 3 military earth movers, the SUV they captured (Hong Kong guy and Jesse) was forcibly parked and detained off camera just out front of a nicely kept estate with a freshly mowed lawn, the secret mass graves are literally in the backyard. This means the "secret" mass graves are mostly in plain sight.
From a distance Joel guesses they're "not government forces, not up here". Implying they're too far from the front line to be an active Gov't unit. So they're possibly deserters or extreme (very extreme) far right local civilian LARPers. Possibly taking advantage of the chaos and having a good laugh while ethnically cleansing their neighborhood.
However they have a CIB patch and SSI on their left shoulders which imply at least the uniforms are Gov't military. Nametags/rank/etc, are stripped from their uniforms and they don't seem to be enforcing much of a dress code, hence the sexy non-reg glasses. So they've been operating without oversight for a good while.
All of the people in the dump truck bed being dumped into the mass grave are POC.
Here's a stretch - they could be the far right US Gov't version of the Einsatzgruppen (Nazi death squads). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsatzgruppen The Nazis tended to choose real hardliners for these units, guys who violently put down prison revolts, etc., seems within character with Meth Damon.
The first execution is the most obvious POC - no questions asked. Next is Joel, while facing execution, Joel pauses and is trembling when he's compelled to say he's from Florida, which the audience expects will seriously piss off Meth Damon because Florida is a (fucking) successionist state leading an insurrection against the US government.
Meth Damon replies 'central', as in "Central America", implying he cares more about Joel's ethnicity than the fact he's hailing from a literal enemy state.
Meth Damon gives the two white people (Jesse and Lee) free passes for being from Colorado and Missouri. American. Then shoots guy from China. The mass grave is full of POC, including lots of women, women weren't spared on account of them being women, but white. Post scene exposition regarding what the holy fuck just happened is completely missing because Sammy is dying and because of Sturgill Simpson.
There's definitely a kindergartener in the mass grave.
Counterpoint: Some people in the grave look potentially white/have white people looking hair.
My takeaway is that they're just a side effect of the chaos and lawlessness near the front - they're what the farthest of the far right neo nazis would do - Even the reporters haven't seen anything this bad, the underestimate it.
Counterpoint - If Garland wanted us to think they were legit, Govt forces carrying out policy he'd have out them in full kit, full name badges, receiving orders from superiors, etc. Clear decision here to leave the fundamental reasons ambiguous, but 100% racially motivated.
Why don't the journalists know any better? They don't know shit about the war.
At the hotel scene Sammy, a New York Times reporter, says the WF supply lines are collapsing and they are operating in anarchy, competition with one another, and will turn on themselves once the war is over. Totally not true when we see finally see the WF FOB, even reporters have been fed propaganda and don't know shit what's going on out there. There doesn't seem to be a functioning Internet anywhere on the road, outside of the hotel, which is slow and prone to disconnects (probably firewalled worse than China's).
After Sturgill Simpson
Super ambiguous - Lee says "it may sound fucked up there were so many ways it could have ended for him, and a lot of them a lot worse. He didn't want to quit." Why does Sammy have horrifying potential deaths and not the rest of them? Big bones?
White House
Presidents staffers and staff in the Beast are white. Secret service all seem white, I didn't rewatch this part closely so don't quote me.
Counterpoint - Press Secretary ? who tries to negotiate the President's extradition is black. However, the black lady WF soldier is the only person the squad allows to speak to her, the others don't interrupt, and she is the only person to open fire on her - a single shot, no backup fire or doubletapping. Why? Seems like an very specific and intentional decision by the director.
Counterpoint - Before she dies, he requests the President's extradition to a neutral territory - Greenland or Alaska - Alaska isn't part of the US anymore (Alaska has been solely run by Republicans since the 1960s, and is only 4% black)
The most telling point of the film:
The three "Navy Seals" and the other WF Forces holding the President at gunpoint are white, except for WF black lady. The black WF soldier is allowed to fire the only two execution shots. The others don't jump the gun or ask if they can be the hero who pulls the trigger, or fire additional shots.
Imagine how thirsty Seal Team 6 was to be the guy who shot fucking Bin Laden. Why did Garland write this so only the black female soldier gets the kills shot?
That's what I got.
submitted by IdenticalThings to FIlm [link] [comments]
TLDR: there's a good amount of implied evidence that the Civil War in the film is somewhat connected to a wider race war. Would only be apt since the first Civil War was kind of about race... or was that just... state's rights (to WHAT?).
Throughout my two rewatches - I absolutely was NOT looking for political undertones, just more background reasons for the war itself. There's lots of there's lots of showing, not telling in this film and here's what I've got:
Hotel Bar Scene
Sammy: "And you can't get anywhere near Philly. So you gotta go west, maybe as far as Pittsburgh."
Question is why can't we go anywhere near a city that's still in the loyalist part of the US? It's 700 miles from the front lines, and thousands of miles away from the successionist states, so what's going on? (43% of Philly identifies as black, the most in PA.)
Sammy: "But... you gonna make me explain why I have to be there?"
Why the fuck does Sammy have to BE THERE in particular? Job security? Both Lee and Joe don't have a response and look semi-ashamed after he says this, they then agree to take him to Charlottesville, he is 100% fearful of going near Washington, possibly because he's big boned.
Road Trip Through PA
Impartial counterpoint: on the way out of NY into PA, a few of the checkpoint soldiers are indeed black or POC - but these are possibly just militarized police, conscripted MPs or National Guard, the Gov't is getting squashed in the war and probably aren't sparing real manpower to lowly checkpoint posts.
Sammy: "You don't wanna miss this" - he has Jesse look to up at the road - the US version of the highway of death in PA - Sammy damn well knows it's coming up (cars are pointing West - the direction they're travelling, likely on the Westbound road out of Philadelphia toward Pittsburgh. (digital highway sign says MINES AHEAD).
This is possibly an allusion to the infamous (in the 90s and 2000s at least) "Highway of Death" from the Gulf War, US/UK/Canada/French forces destroyed some 3000 mostly stolen Kuwaiti fleeing vehicles on the road from Kuwait to Basra mostly by airpower.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_of_Death
So WHY were these people in particular targeted when other cities and people seem to functioning? These people weren't WF, maybe just sympathizers. They were clearly fleeing and stopped by force, fleeing from Philly going west?
Impartial counterpoint: Two looters strung up (and shot off screen) are white.
Sammy suggests hardball questions Joel should ask the President, obviously he's thought a lot about what he'd like to ask him himself but for some reason can't go to DC himself (possibly he's too big boned)
Sammy: "State of the nation is QED"? (Don't know what this means)
Hawaiian Shirt Militia scene
Like 80% of the Hawaiian shirt militia are POC. They execute a (white) wounded solider on sight and very happily machine gun three of the captives (white). This is the literal definition of a war crime. Joel is seen having a good laugh with the "war criminal henchman" afterward, the others are nonplussed as usual. But Joel is characterized as a generally good dude, so what gives?
Stadium Refugee Camp
Most people in the refugee camp stadium are POC, like 90%. No where anywhere does it say this, and it's a stretch, but is this a cordoned off ghetto? This can't be geographically far from idyllic pristine white town scene that comes next.
Through exposition, Jesse's and Lee's parents are revealed to be back home on a farm 'pretending it's not happening'. They're white and possibly don't have an existential stake in this war for whatever reason.
Idyllic Town in West Virginia
All white, where are the POC? Sammy doesn't go in to the shop for whatever reason and leans against the truck on the curbside, physically covering his big bones from the line of fire from the two snipers on the roof, the camera pans up to reveal they've been watching him closely. He says be subtle when he asks Lee to take a look, then asks her "you actually bought something?". But not in a judgmental tone, just one of mild surprise.
At this point the 'all white townspeople' dispels the notion that Garland just casted random extras for all the scenes. For me at least.
Meth Damon and the Genocide Boys
Meth Damon and the two guys are using 3 military earth movers, the SUV they captured (Hong Kong guy and Jesse) was forcibly parked and detained off camera just out front of a nicely kept estate with a freshly mowed lawn, the secret mass graves are literally in the backyard. This means the "secret" mass graves are mostly in plain sight.
From a distance Joel guesses they're "not government forces, not up here". Implying they're too far from the front line to be an active Gov't unit. So they're possibly deserters or extreme (very extreme) far right local civilian LARPers. Possibly taking advantage of the chaos and having a good laugh while ethnically cleansing their neighborhood.
However they have a CIB patch and SSI on their left shoulders which imply at least the uniforms are Gov't military. Nametags/rank/etc, are stripped from their uniforms and they don't seem to be enforcing much of a dress code, hence the sexy non-reg glasses. So they've been operating without oversight for a good while.
All of the people in the dump truck bed being dumped into the mass grave are POC.
Here's a stretch - they could be the far right US Gov't version of the Einsatzgruppen (Nazi death squads). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsatzgruppen The Nazis tended to choose real hardliners for these units, guys who violently put down prison revolts, etc., seems within character with Meth Damon.
The first execution is the most obvious POC - no questions asked. Next is Joel, while facing execution, Joel pauses and is trembling when he's compelled to say he's from Florida, which the audience expects will seriously piss off Meth Damon because Florida is a (fucking) successionist state leading an insurrection against the US government.
Meth Damon replies 'central', as in "Central America", implying he cares more about Joel's ethnicity than the fact he's hailing from a literal enemy state.
Meth Damon gives the two white people (Jesse and Lee) free passes for being from Colorado and Missouri. American. Then shoots guy from China. The mass grave is full of POC, including lots of women, women weren't spared on account of them being women, but white. Post scene exposition regarding what the holy fuck just happened is completely missing because Sammy is dying and because of Sturgill Simpson.
There's definitely a kindergartener in the mass grave.
Counterpoint: Some people in the grave look potentially white/have white people looking hair.
My takeaway is that they're just a side effect of the chaos and lawlessness near the front - they're what the farthest of the far right neo nazis would do - Even the reporters haven't seen anything this bad, the underestimate it.
Counterpoint - If Garland wanted us to think they were legit, Govt forces carrying out policy he'd have out them in full kit, full name badges, receiving orders from superiors, etc. Clear decision here to leave the fundamental reasons ambiguous, but 100% racially motivated.
Why don't the journalists know any better? They don't know shit about the war.
At the hotel scene Sammy, a New York Times reporter, says the WF supply lines are collapsing and they are operating in anarchy, competition with one another, and will turn on themselves once the war is over. Totally not true when we see finally see the WF FOB, even reporters have been fed propaganda and don't know shit what's going on out there. There doesn't seem to be a functioning Internet anywhere on the road, outside of the hotel, which is slow and prone to disconnects (probably firewalled worse than China's).
After Sturgill Simpson
Super ambiguous - Lee says "it may sound fucked up there were so many ways it could have ended for him, and a lot of them a lot worse. He didn't want to quit." Why does Sammy have horrifying potential deaths and not the rest of them? Big bones?
White House
Presidents staffers and staff in the Beast are white. Secret service all seem white, I didn't rewatch this part closely so don't quote me.
Counterpoint - Press Secretary ? who tries to negotiate the President's extradition is black. However, the black lady WF soldier is the only person the squad allows to speak to her, the others don't interrupt, and she is the only person to open fire on her - a single shot, no backup fire or doubletapping. Why? Seems like an very specific and intentional decision by the director.
Counterpoint - Before she dies, he requests the President's extradition to a neutral territory - Greenland or Alaska - Alaska isn't part of the US anymore (Alaska has been solely run by Republicans since the 1960s, and is only 4% black)
The most telling point of the film:
The three "Navy Seals" and the other WF Forces holding the President at gunpoint are white, except for WF black lady. The black WF soldier is allowed to fire the only two execution shots. The others don't jump the gun or ask if they can be the hero who pulls the trigger, or fire additional shots.
Imagine how thirsty Seal Team 6 was to be the guy who shot fucking Bin Laden. Why did Garland write this so only the black female soldier gets the kills shot?
That's what I got.
2024.05.28 16:04 3lettergang Bot gets upvoted for reposting 3 year old tweet for 3rd time this week by fluent in finance hivemind.
 | submitted by 3lettergang to IlliterateInFinance [link] [comments] |
2024.05.28 15:31 xfallenangelx95 [28/F] It's not easy to find someone to get along with because not all personalities match - I'm looking for someone to talk to on a daily basis - someone friendless, honest,kind and talkative. I'm looking for like minded people - in the same situation as mine :) Let everyone be happy đđş
(Only Europe, Please) - short note - If you're not into reading or receiving long messages,don't read any further + Please If you don't want to read everything because of my post being too long for you & instead of reading It all - ..skip some parts - find another person to talk to.Let's respect each other and our free time. All people criticizing/making fun of me & other people - will be blocked.Pretty much as people questioning my post and giving me unsolicited advice.I'm not here for any conflicts and I know I can't please everyone - I know I never will.. However It's me who should feel comfortable in my new potential friendship & obviously someone who wants to be my friend - not the whole world.. which is why I don't need any advice from people who don't even want to be a part of my life. The amount of rude people on Reddit always criticizing others and making fun of them is unbelievably high but let me tell you something - NEVER let anyone make choices for you and criticize you only because you're different! Always fight for your dreams and never let anyone make you think you're worthless! It's your life and you're the one deciding what's best for you - If you want to judge me despite not even wanting to talk to me or give me advice better block me! I'm an adult woman and I make all decisions on my own.I'm not trying to "fit in" and be like everyone else - just to get more attention.Accept me for who I am or let go - is my motto.
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Hello guys! đ (read everything before you decide to send me a message) Please send me a message ONLY If you're in the same situation and If your expectations are the same as mine.I want to find like minded people from Europe (Why Europe? Read my post to find out) I'm looking for something permanent (remember - you can feel lonely even If you're surrounded by others - If there's no emotional bond) I'm fed up of meeting people who never make time for me & only text me once or twice a week to ask me "what are you up to?" Out of boredom.I don't want to meet people asking others a million of questions like "what's your favorite movie?" Just to give them one word answer and ask them another question "and music? Your favorite song?" I'm looking for something "deeper" & different đ
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What kind of friend would I like to find? Someone to talk to on a daily basis - Someone who needs It & wants It just as much as me
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What are my expectations? I would like to meet someone in a similar situation â why? Because I honestly feel like only a person with the same expectations and a similar outlook on life would get along with me & because I feel more comfortable talking to people like me..Friendless people who need a strong bond - people without friends and partners.. Don't get me wrongâŚMost people deserve to be happy and It's good to have friends but people who have friends or families in real life are usually more focused on them (which is completely understandable) & have less time for others + I simply don't want to be replaced by anyone..I kind of envy people who can call others , true friends given I don't have an emotional bond with any of my acquaintances. Please send me a message only If you're not In a relationship and don't have friends for the same reasons I've already mentioned before
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Whenever I hear that others have friends I simply get sad because (believe it or not) If I had to choose between 20 people to talk to (acquaintances) and one special person - I'd choose that one special person without any hesitation .
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I also want to talk to others every day because..I want to see someoneâs effort & be someone's first choice - not another person to have random conversations with..some people ask me "Why do you want to talk to people from Europe?" Well..Because I would like to see someone I'd get along with - In the far future - face to face :) + I don't want to wait any longer than 6 hours to receive a message - waiting 6 hours to receive a message is more than enough
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I'm by no means criticizing people who don't want to talk to others often / People who really are super busy & People who want to find someone to have unimportant conversations with - I'm aware that not everyone has the same expectations which is why everything you're reading now - is here for a reason :) All I'm suggesting is - I don't want anything temporary and I don't want to be the one always giving more than receiving.Listen people - I used to ignore being..ignored by others..always being just an option to talk to during tough times or moments of boredom.I was too young to realize that I was never important enough for most people that were a part of my life. I don't know who needs to hear this but..No one is too busy to make time for you! People make excuses to avoid others because they prioritize everything and (maybe) everyone..over them. It's true that most people are busy - but It takes only a few seconds to start a conversation (If you're into short messages) and a few minutes (1-10/15) to type a long message . Don't let anyone lie to you.
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Truth is that most people either don't like you enough to make time for you or just simply - feel no need to talk to others often but are they too busy? No..You don't need to send me a message just to ask me and tell me "Do you really want to talk every day? I like long messages but I can't promise to contact you often" If you really are unsure please don't send me a message.I don't need more acquaintances aka people to talk to - occasionally.
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I'm not trying to sound rude but conversations once or twice a week wouldn't be enough for me and I don't need them... Let me tell you one thing â A true friend would never just give up on you for no reason :) Itâs always possible to find someone to have a random conversation with â someone willing to send you one message once or twice a week..but..Itâs almost impossible to find people willing to make more time for you.
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Iâm not asking a busy person to make time for me by changing some plans! Absolutely not! Iâm here to find someone who wants to talk daily (throughout the day or maybe even night) of oneâs own will.Someone looking for the same kind of connection.Strong friendships are based on mutual support. One of the best things you can do for a friend in need, is just to be there for them when they want to talk.I often see posts from people who always say how friendless they are because they don't feel loved or appreciated by their "friends" remember! A true friend - someone who truly likes you or someone who wants to get to know you - will always find time for you.
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I'm not interested in small talk/short messages - I love long and meaningful conversations. It's so easy to find someone who loves abbreviations and questions like "How are you?" How was your day? Or what are you interested in? But so hard/almost impossible to find a person who knows how to keep a conversation going & show others some effort.Building and maintaining friendships takes time and effort.Never allow pursuits or possessions to become bigger priorities than your relations with other people.Close friendships are so important to us because they are so difficult to form + Having friends can help you feel as if you belong to something that brings purpose and connection to your life
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⢠I do NOT respond to any âHey,hmuâ or âu want to talk?â type of messages (super short messages or messages full of abbreviations â I literally canât stand abbreviations and acronyms in text messages) ALL messages full of abbreviations will immediately be ignored.I also don't like it when people ignore everything I say in private messages just to focus on a random question or? When they start talking only about themselves and don't ever ask me anything. I love conversations with people referring to everything I say...I want everything I say and do - to be reciprocated
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⢠No NSFW profiles (checking mental health subreddits NOT included as I'm a huge empath and always try to understand others) - Please! I'm not looking for anyone to flirt with and I'm not looking for a partner either. I always check people's profiles (even comment history) - To avoid guys, trying to get inappropriate pictures from adult women or? flirt with them + I don't want to see you with no clothes on so If you're on Reddit only because you want others to see what's underneath your clothes - I'm not for you! I just simply don't want to see any s e x related activity on your profile If you want to talk to me.
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⢠If both of us (you and I) are from the same country (I live in a non-English speaking country) - I want to communicate with you in our first language! No - Not because I don't understand English - because as you see - I do. Why then? English is simply overrated and people don't appreciate other languages as much as they should. So.. If we're from the same country and you want to talk only in English (which is quite common on reddit) - Talk to someone else. I just don't want to talk to a person from the same country as mine - in a foreign language as It's just something I don't understand even If all you want is to improve your language skills
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⢠Please only adult people 18-36 (age range) It doesn't matter to me If you're younger or older than me (as long as you're not underage) So.. don't worry! I just want to have discussions with emotionally mature people :)
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⢠I donât respond to messages I donât find interesting even If they're long - If after receiving and reading your message I don't feel comfortable or think "I wouldn't get along with him/her" I simply do not respond (what Iâm suggesting is that I donât always respond to someoneâs first or second message because..sometimes you just know If youâd get along with someone or not- Iâd never ignore anyone after days or weeks of daily conversations though) just because I donât want to do anything forcefully & because I donât want to lead anyone on. I read all messages but I definitely don't respond to all of them! I want to make it clear because I don't want to be accused of not responding and not reading people's messages! - Some people don't message me back as well and even If It's a bit disappointing I'm ok with that! - as long as there's no emotional bond - Not responding to someone's first or second message Is completely OK! If people think they wouldn't get along with a stranger - is there a reason to start a conversation? I don't think so. I can't stand being ignored after days or weeks of daily conversations and seeing people changing priorities over time.. but that's something different - something I don't want to go through ever again for real. If I'm really interested in someone's message it's impossible to hear from me "I'm too busy" because I know myself and If I had no time for others - I wouldn't be here. I don't want to pretend someone I'm not and always try to find some cheap excuses to avoid others. (unlike most people who don't want to talk to others)
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⢠Donât ask me âCan you tell me something about yourself?â If you really want to get to know me - you can ask me questions :) I'm an open book.
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⢠It would be better If you guys were into emojis - like me - to describe your emotions In text messages. Two emojis - đ and đ are completely enough! I just don't like emotionless conversations.I also don't like it when people say "yeah" or yea"as it sounds dismissively. First impression Is everything to me! I want to see your kindness even in a text message - Emojis are very helpful to express your emotions.I don't want to meet people who say "crying Is a weakness" - It's OK to cry even If you're a guy!
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⢠I want to talk on reddit first (just to make sure If I'd get along with you) before moving to Discord or some other app
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⢠I would rather talk to a homebody - not another person who always has something to do as people who are very busy don't even have time for daily conversations
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⢠If you're another person interested only in "childish conversations" such as "HEYOOO! I'M BORED! Ya like Pizza or cheese? xDDDD đ¤Ł" I'm begging you! Don't send me a message.I'm not a child anymore and such messages don't make me smile or laugh.I'm looking for someone interested In serious discussions - not another person just seeking some entertainment out of boredom . Conversations with sarcastic undertones (even when It comes to some emojis such as đ¤Łđ) are not for me. Your typing style matters to me! Why? when It comes to online conversations with someone new - It's not always possible to know If someone Is laughing at you.. or with you. Let me tell you something else! Jokes about cancer, disabilities and death are UNACCEPTABLE to me. If you find joy In someone else's misfortune you are not a person I want to know.
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⢠Time response matters to me a lot! I would never ask anyone to be online all day long and I'm NOT asking any of you for any instant messaging as I'm someone who would rather wait an hour or two to receive a proper response instead of some short and pointless messages but I'm interested only in daily conversations and I don't want to wait any longer than 6 hours to get a message from you.I don't need unbelievably long messages either! Messages as long as the second paragraph of my post - are completely enough. If you like longer messages? you can send me a longer message, but If you want to send me one word or one sentence as a response to my post - don't expect a reaction from me. I don't want to come across as rude - I just don't want to waste your time
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⢠I'm strongly AGAINST picking on people you don't even want to chat with - and making fun of them! I can't stand people who criticize others publicly or make fun of them! (only because they disagree with someone they don't even know) There's no place In my life for someone using Reddit, to hurt other people
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⢠I'm not into foul language and I definitely don't want to talk to people who swear a lot...
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⢠I want to meet assertive people who know what they want and always stand up for their friends
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⢠I want to meet someone willing to call me In the future, someone spontaneously sending me pictures of animals or food, et cetera. I want more than just text conversations.. đť
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Why canât you see any of my hobbies listed down below? Because what really matters to me is..who you are (If youâre honest, talkative ,understanding, caring and trustworthy â for example) just simply â It matters to me what youâre like! not what you like.Donât get me wrong â you can tell me what your hobbies are but from my point of view - people's hobbies are important - If you want to find a gaming buddy or If you want to meet someone to hang out with in real life and..go bowling for example.What most people seem to care about are other people's passions â I donât. I get along with other people despite having completely different hobbies but I absolutely donât get along with people way different than me (different expectations and outlook on life â way different sense of humor or personality traits â Itâs just an example) It doesn't make ANY DIFFERENCE to me If you're a gamer or? Someone interested in photography! It doesn't make any difference - > as long as you're talkative and kind and If you also want to find someone willing to stay in your life..for good - But If you're into small talk and all you want is to...type and receive super short messages or If you're here only because you're bored and don't know what to do + If you're a very sarcastic person - I'm definitely not for you! I don't get along with overly sarcastic people turning everything into a joke. Friendships should be natural â not forced. I wouldn't get along with people who laugh at everything.. In my opinion most people are way too sarcastic.. It's quite sad... Sarcasm can also be another form of passive-aggressive behavior.
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People who want to be to friends should feel comfortable and have something in common. No - not necessarily a similar taste in music or movies but something else..Most friendships don't fizzle out because of people not having the same hobbies but..because they just simply have different expectations when It comes to something important.I'm not here out of boredom and trust me - I'm not here to meet as many people as possible.I choose quality over quantity.I highly value myself and my time & Sometimes one person but a person who makes you feel comfortable and understood - is more than enough :) We ALL can choose what kind of people weâd like to talk to and maybe even become really good friends with and I? I donât want anyone to be disappointed.We all have some expectations after all.I know that people don't have to talk as often as possible in order to become friends but I'm interested only in daily conversations. If you really need someone to talk to due to loneliness and If you have time to talk to me daily (throughout the day and maybe even night) I always make time for others.I'm literally always available.I could even stay up all night long only to talk to someone important to me. Iâm ready to commit but only If thereâs some chemistry between me and someone else.I donât do anything forcefully.
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If you want to talk to me tell me your story - tell me why you're here, what kind of friend would you like to meet :) Et cetera.Such messages are way more interesting to me than...someone's long list of hobbies. I know! It's unusual on reddit but I don't make friends based on hobbies..I want to meet someone with the same mindset as mine to finally feel understood and get close to someone new. You can share your problems with me - I absolutely don't mind "complaining" as I've been through a lot in my life.What do people usually tell you when you tell them that something's wrong? "Don't complain" or "Life's not over yet - one day you'll be happy" or "There are worse situations than yours" and..obviously "Find a therapist" Life's not a fairytale and sometimes things don't go as planned.Emotions shouldn't be bottled up.I'm sick of people always telling others "everything's gonna be ok" move on " & more..Trust me people - not everyone wants to hear "Just believe in yourself and everything's gonna be ok" Some people take it as reassurance - but others? They would rather hear something different đImagine being told that things will be okay, only for them to get worse..Do you guys know why telling someone "everything's gonna be ok" Is wrong? Because you can't see the future.
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You can't guarantee others that one day they'll finally be happy + when It comes to social interactions - We're responsible only for ourselves - not others & as you guys know people let us down quite often (sometimes even when there's no reason) so instead of telling people how they should move on, forget everything and be happy or asking them to find a therapist - be there for them! Always be willing to listen to them If you really like them or want to get to know them & don't suggest everyone in a tough situation to find a therapist because even the best therapist won't ever replace a true friend + It's quite normal to be disappointed If people always do something to hurt you. Sharing your hardships with other people in a very similar situation or exactly the same one - is VERY helpful If the other person understands you & wants to start all over by just letting it all out! Feeling emotional support instead of always hearing some "positive quotes" or someone saying "Stop complaining let's talk about something else - Is very important! "Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on. I appreciate sensitive people who always try to understand others. If after hearing a sad story all you want to say is "forget the past and move on" you're not for me. It's important to be a good listener and provide emotional support to others
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Please - If you're a completely different person than the described type of person I'm looking for (If you love abbreviations,If you don't need a stable friendship, If you're sarcastic and quiet) or If you simply disagree with my post - don't force yourself to send me a message.I want my new potential friendship to be natural which is why I want you to contact me only If your needs are the same - I don't want you to pretend someone you're not - only to please me - Pretending to be someone you're not - is the worst.I want to finally be happy again & find someone "always" wanting to talk - sending me random pictures throughout the day - food pictures or pictures of some animals. What is the most important to me? I want to find people who value online friendships as much as they would value real life ones as there's another human being on the other side
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No comments please.Only Private messages and chat requests đş
I know It's possible to meet people with exactly the same expectations as mine but It's just not easy because most people are Interested In temporary and entertaining conversations. People like me are just "different" I really want to finally find someone who loves emojis as much as I do.. someone who loves sweet, warm and serious discussions at the same time. Emojis really do - change conversations đ
submitted by xfallenangelx95 to MeetNewPeopleHere [link] [comments]
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Hello guys! đ (read everything before you decide to send me a message) Please send me a message ONLY If you're in the same situation and If your expectations are the same as mine.I want to find like minded people from Europe (Why Europe? Read my post to find out) I'm looking for something permanent (remember - you can feel lonely even If you're surrounded by others - If there's no emotional bond) I'm fed up of meeting people who never make time for me & only text me once or twice a week to ask me "what are you up to?" Out of boredom.I don't want to meet people asking others a million of questions like "what's your favorite movie?" Just to give them one word answer and ask them another question "and music? Your favorite song?" I'm looking for something "deeper" & different đ
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What kind of friend would I like to find? Someone to talk to on a daily basis - Someone who needs It & wants It just as much as me
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What are my expectations? I would like to meet someone in a similar situation â why? Because I honestly feel like only a person with the same expectations and a similar outlook on life would get along with me & because I feel more comfortable talking to people like me..Friendless people who need a strong bond - people without friends and partners.. Don't get me wrongâŚMost people deserve to be happy and It's good to have friends but people who have friends or families in real life are usually more focused on them (which is completely understandable) & have less time for others + I simply don't want to be replaced by anyone..I kind of envy people who can call others , true friends given I don't have an emotional bond with any of my acquaintances. Please send me a message only If you're not In a relationship and don't have friends for the same reasons I've already mentioned before
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Whenever I hear that others have friends I simply get sad because (believe it or not) If I had to choose between 20 people to talk to (acquaintances) and one special person - I'd choose that one special person without any hesitation .
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I also want to talk to others every day because..I want to see someoneâs effort & be someone's first choice - not another person to have random conversations with..some people ask me "Why do you want to talk to people from Europe?" Well..Because I would like to see someone I'd get along with - In the far future - face to face :) + I don't want to wait any longer than 6 hours to receive a message - waiting 6 hours to receive a message is more than enough
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I'm by no means criticizing people who don't want to talk to others often / People who really are super busy & People who want to find someone to have unimportant conversations with - I'm aware that not everyone has the same expectations which is why everything you're reading now - is here for a reason :) All I'm suggesting is - I don't want anything temporary and I don't want to be the one always giving more than receiving.Listen people - I used to ignore being..ignored by others..always being just an option to talk to during tough times or moments of boredom.I was too young to realize that I was never important enough for most people that were a part of my life. I don't know who needs to hear this but..No one is too busy to make time for you! People make excuses to avoid others because they prioritize everything and (maybe) everyone..over them. It's true that most people are busy - but It takes only a few seconds to start a conversation (If you're into short messages) and a few minutes (1-10/15) to type a long message . Don't let anyone lie to you.
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Truth is that most people either don't like you enough to make time for you or just simply - feel no need to talk to others often but are they too busy? No..You don't need to send me a message just to ask me and tell me "Do you really want to talk every day? I like long messages but I can't promise to contact you often" If you really are unsure please don't send me a message.I don't need more acquaintances aka people to talk to - occasionally.
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I'm not trying to sound rude but conversations once or twice a week wouldn't be enough for me and I don't need them... Let me tell you one thing â A true friend would never just give up on you for no reason :) Itâs always possible to find someone to have a random conversation with â someone willing to send you one message once or twice a week..but..Itâs almost impossible to find people willing to make more time for you.
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Iâm not asking a busy person to make time for me by changing some plans! Absolutely not! Iâm here to find someone who wants to talk daily (throughout the day or maybe even night) of oneâs own will.Someone looking for the same kind of connection.Strong friendships are based on mutual support. One of the best things you can do for a friend in need, is just to be there for them when they want to talk.I often see posts from people who always say how friendless they are because they don't feel loved or appreciated by their "friends" remember! A true friend - someone who truly likes you or someone who wants to get to know you - will always find time for you.
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I'm not interested in small talk/short messages - I love long and meaningful conversations. It's so easy to find someone who loves abbreviations and questions like "How are you?" How was your day? Or what are you interested in? But so hard/almost impossible to find a person who knows how to keep a conversation going & show others some effort.Building and maintaining friendships takes time and effort.Never allow pursuits or possessions to become bigger priorities than your relations with other people.Close friendships are so important to us because they are so difficult to form + Having friends can help you feel as if you belong to something that brings purpose and connection to your life
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⢠I do NOT respond to any âHey,hmuâ or âu want to talk?â type of messages (super short messages or messages full of abbreviations â I literally canât stand abbreviations and acronyms in text messages) ALL messages full of abbreviations will immediately be ignored.I also don't like it when people ignore everything I say in private messages just to focus on a random question or? When they start talking only about themselves and don't ever ask me anything. I love conversations with people referring to everything I say...I want everything I say and do - to be reciprocated
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⢠No NSFW profiles (checking mental health subreddits NOT included as I'm a huge empath and always try to understand others) - Please! I'm not looking for anyone to flirt with and I'm not looking for a partner either. I always check people's profiles (even comment history) - To avoid guys, trying to get inappropriate pictures from adult women or? flirt with them + I don't want to see you with no clothes on so If you're on Reddit only because you want others to see what's underneath your clothes - I'm not for you! I just simply don't want to see any s e x related activity on your profile If you want to talk to me.
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⢠If both of us (you and I) are from the same country (I live in a non-English speaking country) - I want to communicate with you in our first language! No - Not because I don't understand English - because as you see - I do. Why then? English is simply overrated and people don't appreciate other languages as much as they should. So.. If we're from the same country and you want to talk only in English (which is quite common on reddit) - Talk to someone else. I just don't want to talk to a person from the same country as mine - in a foreign language as It's just something I don't understand even If all you want is to improve your language skills
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⢠Please only adult people 18-36 (age range) It doesn't matter to me If you're younger or older than me (as long as you're not underage) So.. don't worry! I just want to have discussions with emotionally mature people :)
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⢠I donât respond to messages I donât find interesting even If they're long - If after receiving and reading your message I don't feel comfortable or think "I wouldn't get along with him/her" I simply do not respond (what Iâm suggesting is that I donât always respond to someoneâs first or second message because..sometimes you just know If youâd get along with someone or not- Iâd never ignore anyone after days or weeks of daily conversations though) just because I donât want to do anything forcefully & because I donât want to lead anyone on. I read all messages but I definitely don't respond to all of them! I want to make it clear because I don't want to be accused of not responding and not reading people's messages! - Some people don't message me back as well and even If It's a bit disappointing I'm ok with that! - as long as there's no emotional bond - Not responding to someone's first or second message Is completely OK! If people think they wouldn't get along with a stranger - is there a reason to start a conversation? I don't think so. I can't stand being ignored after days or weeks of daily conversations and seeing people changing priorities over time.. but that's something different - something I don't want to go through ever again for real. If I'm really interested in someone's message it's impossible to hear from me "I'm too busy" because I know myself and If I had no time for others - I wouldn't be here. I don't want to pretend someone I'm not and always try to find some cheap excuses to avoid others. (unlike most people who don't want to talk to others)
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⢠Donât ask me âCan you tell me something about yourself?â If you really want to get to know me - you can ask me questions :) I'm an open book.
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⢠It would be better If you guys were into emojis - like me - to describe your emotions In text messages. Two emojis - đ and đ are completely enough! I just don't like emotionless conversations.I also don't like it when people say "yeah" or yea"as it sounds dismissively. First impression Is everything to me! I want to see your kindness even in a text message - Emojis are very helpful to express your emotions.I don't want to meet people who say "crying Is a weakness" - It's OK to cry even If you're a guy!
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⢠I want to talk on reddit first (just to make sure If I'd get along with you) before moving to Discord or some other app
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⢠I would rather talk to a homebody - not another person who always has something to do as people who are very busy don't even have time for daily conversations
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⢠If you're another person interested only in "childish conversations" such as "HEYOOO! I'M BORED! Ya like Pizza or cheese? xDDDD đ¤Ł" I'm begging you! Don't send me a message.I'm not a child anymore and such messages don't make me smile or laugh.I'm looking for someone interested In serious discussions - not another person just seeking some entertainment out of boredom . Conversations with sarcastic undertones (even when It comes to some emojis such as đ¤Łđ) are not for me. Your typing style matters to me! Why? when It comes to online conversations with someone new - It's not always possible to know If someone Is laughing at you.. or with you. Let me tell you something else! Jokes about cancer, disabilities and death are UNACCEPTABLE to me. If you find joy In someone else's misfortune you are not a person I want to know.
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⢠Time response matters to me a lot! I would never ask anyone to be online all day long and I'm NOT asking any of you for any instant messaging as I'm someone who would rather wait an hour or two to receive a proper response instead of some short and pointless messages but I'm interested only in daily conversations and I don't want to wait any longer than 6 hours to get a message from you.I don't need unbelievably long messages either! Messages as long as the second paragraph of my post - are completely enough. If you like longer messages? you can send me a longer message, but If you want to send me one word or one sentence as a response to my post - don't expect a reaction from me. I don't want to come across as rude - I just don't want to waste your time
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⢠I'm strongly AGAINST picking on people you don't even want to chat with - and making fun of them! I can't stand people who criticize others publicly or make fun of them! (only because they disagree with someone they don't even know) There's no place In my life for someone using Reddit, to hurt other people
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⢠I'm not into foul language and I definitely don't want to talk to people who swear a lot...
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⢠I want to meet assertive people who know what they want and always stand up for their friends
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⢠I want to meet someone willing to call me In the future, someone spontaneously sending me pictures of animals or food, et cetera. I want more than just text conversations.. đť
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Why canât you see any of my hobbies listed down below? Because what really matters to me is..who you are (If youâre honest, talkative ,understanding, caring and trustworthy â for example) just simply â It matters to me what youâre like! not what you like.Donât get me wrong â you can tell me what your hobbies are but from my point of view - people's hobbies are important - If you want to find a gaming buddy or If you want to meet someone to hang out with in real life and..go bowling for example.What most people seem to care about are other people's passions â I donât. I get along with other people despite having completely different hobbies but I absolutely donât get along with people way different than me (different expectations and outlook on life â way different sense of humor or personality traits â Itâs just an example) It doesn't make ANY DIFFERENCE to me If you're a gamer or? Someone interested in photography! It doesn't make any difference - > as long as you're talkative and kind and If you also want to find someone willing to stay in your life..for good - But If you're into small talk and all you want is to...type and receive super short messages or If you're here only because you're bored and don't know what to do + If you're a very sarcastic person - I'm definitely not for you! I don't get along with overly sarcastic people turning everything into a joke. Friendships should be natural â not forced. I wouldn't get along with people who laugh at everything.. In my opinion most people are way too sarcastic.. It's quite sad... Sarcasm can also be another form of passive-aggressive behavior.
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People who want to be to friends should feel comfortable and have something in common. No - not necessarily a similar taste in music or movies but something else..Most friendships don't fizzle out because of people not having the same hobbies but..because they just simply have different expectations when It comes to something important.I'm not here out of boredom and trust me - I'm not here to meet as many people as possible.I choose quality over quantity.I highly value myself and my time & Sometimes one person but a person who makes you feel comfortable and understood - is more than enough :) We ALL can choose what kind of people weâd like to talk to and maybe even become really good friends with and I? I donât want anyone to be disappointed.We all have some expectations after all.I know that people don't have to talk as often as possible in order to become friends but I'm interested only in daily conversations. If you really need someone to talk to due to loneliness and If you have time to talk to me daily (throughout the day and maybe even night) I always make time for others.I'm literally always available.I could even stay up all night long only to talk to someone important to me. Iâm ready to commit but only If thereâs some chemistry between me and someone else.I donât do anything forcefully.
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If you want to talk to me tell me your story - tell me why you're here, what kind of friend would you like to meet :) Et cetera.Such messages are way more interesting to me than...someone's long list of hobbies. I know! It's unusual on reddit but I don't make friends based on hobbies..I want to meet someone with the same mindset as mine to finally feel understood and get close to someone new. You can share your problems with me - I absolutely don't mind "complaining" as I've been through a lot in my life.What do people usually tell you when you tell them that something's wrong? "Don't complain" or "Life's not over yet - one day you'll be happy" or "There are worse situations than yours" and..obviously "Find a therapist" Life's not a fairytale and sometimes things don't go as planned.Emotions shouldn't be bottled up.I'm sick of people always telling others "everything's gonna be ok" move on " & more..Trust me people - not everyone wants to hear "Just believe in yourself and everything's gonna be ok" Some people take it as reassurance - but others? They would rather hear something different đImagine being told that things will be okay, only for them to get worse..Do you guys know why telling someone "everything's gonna be ok" Is wrong? Because you can't see the future.
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You can't guarantee others that one day they'll finally be happy + when It comes to social interactions - We're responsible only for ourselves - not others & as you guys know people let us down quite often (sometimes even when there's no reason) so instead of telling people how they should move on, forget everything and be happy or asking them to find a therapist - be there for them! Always be willing to listen to them If you really like them or want to get to know them & don't suggest everyone in a tough situation to find a therapist because even the best therapist won't ever replace a true friend + It's quite normal to be disappointed If people always do something to hurt you. Sharing your hardships with other people in a very similar situation or exactly the same one - is VERY helpful If the other person understands you & wants to start all over by just letting it all out! Feeling emotional support instead of always hearing some "positive quotes" or someone saying "Stop complaining let's talk about something else - Is very important! "Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on. I appreciate sensitive people who always try to understand others. If after hearing a sad story all you want to say is "forget the past and move on" you're not for me. It's important to be a good listener and provide emotional support to others
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Please - If you're a completely different person than the described type of person I'm looking for (If you love abbreviations,If you don't need a stable friendship, If you're sarcastic and quiet) or If you simply disagree with my post - don't force yourself to send me a message.I want my new potential friendship to be natural which is why I want you to contact me only If your needs are the same - I don't want you to pretend someone you're not - only to please me - Pretending to be someone you're not - is the worst.I want to finally be happy again & find someone "always" wanting to talk - sending me random pictures throughout the day - food pictures or pictures of some animals. What is the most important to me? I want to find people who value online friendships as much as they would value real life ones as there's another human being on the other side
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No comments please.Only Private messages and chat requests đş
I know It's possible to meet people with exactly the same expectations as mine but It's just not easy because most people are Interested In temporary and entertaining conversations. People like me are just "different" I really want to finally find someone who loves emojis as much as I do.. someone who loves sweet, warm and serious discussions at the same time. Emojis really do - change conversations đ
2024.05.28 15:26 xfallenangelx95 28/F I'm slowly losing hope I'll ever find someone new to talk to đ I'm looking for people who really want to make friends and talk on a daily basis - People who talk a lot and never lie to others đ¤ I'm looking for like-minded people who also have no friends and love serious yet warm discussions
(Only Europe, Please) - short note - If you're not into reading or receiving long messages,don't read any further + Please If you don't want to read everything because of my post being too long for you & instead of reading It all - ..skip some parts - find another person to talk to.Let's respect each other and our free time. All people criticizing/making fun of me & other people - will be blocked.Pretty much as people questioning my post and giving me unsolicited advice.I'm not here for any conflicts and I know I can't please everyone - I know I never will.. However It's me who should feel comfortable in my new potential friendship & obviously someone who wants to be my friend - not the whole world.. which is why I don't need any advice from people who don't even want to be a part of my life. The amount of rude people on Reddit always criticizing others and making fun of them is unbelievably high but let me tell you something - NEVER let anyone make choices for you and criticize you only because you're different! Always fight for your dreams and never let anyone make you think you're worthless! It's your life and you're the one deciding what's best for you - If you want to judge me despite not even wanting to talk to me or give me advice better block me! I'm an adult woman and I make all decisions on my own.I'm not trying to "fit in" and be like everyone else - just to get more attention.Accept me for who I am or let go - is my motto.
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Hello guys! đ (read everything before you decide to send me a message) Please send me a message ONLY If you're in the same situation and If your expectations are the same as mine.I want to find like minded people from Europe (Why Europe? Read my post to find out) I'm looking for something permanent (remember - you can feel lonely even If you're surrounded by others - If there's no emotional bond) I'm fed up of meeting people who never make time for me & only text me once or twice a week to ask me "what are you up to?" Out of boredom.I don't want to meet people asking others a million of questions like "what's your favorite movie?" Just to give them one word answer and ask them another question "and music? Your favorite song?" I'm looking for something "deeper" & different đ
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What kind of friend would I like to find? Someone to talk to on a daily basis - Someone who needs It & wants It just as much as me
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What are my expectations? I would like to meet someone in a similar situation â why? Because I honestly feel like only a person with the same expectations and a similar outlook on life would get along with me & because I feel more comfortable talking to people like me..Friendless people who need a strong bond - people without friends and partners.. Don't get me wrongâŚMost people deserve to be happy and It's good to have friends but people who have friends or families in real life are usually more focused on them (which is completely understandable) & have less time for others + I simply don't want to be replaced by anyone..I kind of envy people who can call others , true friends given I don't have an emotional bond with any of my acquaintances. Please send me a message only If you're not In a relationship and don't have friends for the same reasons I've already mentioned before
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Whenever I hear that others have friends I simply get sad because (believe it or not) If I had to choose between 20 people to talk to (acquaintances) and one special person - I'd choose that one special person without any hesitation .
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I also want to talk to others every day because..I want to see someoneâs effort & be someone's first choice - not another person to have random conversations with..some people ask me "Why do you want to talk to people from Europe?" Well..Because I would like to see someone I'd get along with - In the far future - face to face :) + I don't want to wait any longer than 6 hours to receive a message - waiting 6 hours to receive a message is more than enough
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I'm by no means criticizing people who don't want to talk to others often / People who really are super busy & People who want to find someone to have unimportant conversations with - I'm aware that not everyone has the same expectations which is why everything you're reading now - is here for a reason :) All I'm suggesting is - I don't want anything temporary and I don't want to be the one always giving more than receiving.Listen people - I used to ignore being..ignored by others..always being just an option to talk to during tough times or moments of boredom.I was too young to realize that I was never important enough for most people that were a part of my life. I don't know who needs to hear this but..No one is too busy to make time for you! People make excuses to avoid others because they prioritize everything and (maybe) everyone..over them. It's true that most people are busy - but It takes only a few seconds to start a conversation (If you're into short messages) and a few minutes (1-10/15) to type a long message . Don't let anyone lie to you.
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Truth is that most people either don't like you enough to make time for you or just simply - feel no need to talk to others often but are they too busy? No..You don't need to send me a message just to ask me and tell me "Do you really want to talk every day? I like long messages but I can't promise to contact you often" If you really are unsure please don't send me a message.I don't need more acquaintances aka people to talk to - occasionally.
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I'm not trying to sound rude but conversations once or twice a week wouldn't be enough for me and I don't need them... Let me tell you one thing â A true friend would never just give up on you for no reason :) Itâs always possible to find someone to have a random conversation with â someone willing to send you one message once or twice a week..but..Itâs almost impossible to find people willing to make more time for you.
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Iâm not asking a busy person to make time for me by changing some plans! Absolutely not! Iâm here to find someone who wants to talk daily (throughout the day or maybe even night) of oneâs own will.Someone looking for the same kind of connection.Strong friendships are based on mutual support. One of the best things you can do for a friend in need, is just to be there for them when they want to talk.I often see posts from people who always say how friendless they are because they don't feel loved or appreciated by their "friends" remember! A true friend - someone who truly likes you or someone who wants to get to know you - will always find time for you.
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I'm not interested in small talk/short messages - I love long and meaningful conversations. It's so easy to find someone who loves abbreviations and questions like "How are you?" How was your day? Or what are you interested in? But so hard/almost impossible to find a person who knows how to keep a conversation going & show others some effort.Building and maintaining friendships takes time and effort.Never allow pursuits or possessions to become bigger priorities than your relations with other people.Close friendships are so important to us because they are so difficult to form + Having friends can help you feel as if you belong to something that brings purpose and connection to your life
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⢠I do NOT respond to any âHey,hmuâ or âu want to talk?â type of messages (super short messages or messages full of abbreviations â I literally canât stand abbreviations and acronyms in text messages) ALL messages full of abbreviations will immediately be ignored.I also don't like it when people ignore everything I say in private messages just to focus on a random question or? When they start talking only about themselves and don't ever ask me anything. I love conversations with people referring to everything I say...I want everything I say and do - to be reciprocated
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⢠No NSFW profiles (checking mental health subreddits NOT included as I'm a huge empath and always try to understand others) - Please! I'm not looking for anyone to flirt with and I'm not looking for a partner either. I always check people's profiles (even comment history) - To avoid guys, trying to get inappropriate pictures from adult women or? flirt with them + I don't want to see you with no clothes on so If you're on Reddit only because you want others to see what's underneath your clothes - I'm not for you! I just simply don't want to see any s e x related activity on your profile If you want to talk to me.
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⢠If both of us (you and I) are from the same country (I live in a non-English speaking country) - I want to communicate with you in our first language! No - Not because I don't understand English - because as you see - I do. Why then? English is simply overrated and people don't appreciate other languages as much as they should. So.. If we're from the same country and you want to talk only in English (which is quite common on reddit) - Talk to someone else. I just don't want to talk to a person from the same country as mine - in a foreign language as It's just something I don't understand even If all you want is to improve your language skills
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⢠Please only adult people 18-36 (age range) It doesn't matter to me If you're younger or older than me (as long as you're not underage) So.. don't worry! I just want to have discussions with emotionally mature people :)
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⢠I donât respond to messages I donât find interesting even If they're long - If after receiving and reading your message I don't feel comfortable or think "I wouldn't get along with him/her" I simply do not respond (what Iâm suggesting is that I donât always respond to someoneâs first or second message because..sometimes you just know If youâd get along with someone or not- Iâd never ignore anyone after days or weeks of daily conversations though) just because I donât want to do anything forcefully & because I donât want to lead anyone on. I read all messages but I definitely don't respond to all of them! I want to make it clear because I don't want to be accused of not responding and not reading people's messages! - Some people don't message me back as well and even If It's a bit disappointing I'm ok with that! - as long as there's no emotional bond - Not responding to someone's first or second message Is completely OK! If people think they wouldn't get along with a stranger - is there a reason to start a conversation? I don't think so. I can't stand being ignored after days or weeks of daily conversations and seeing people changing priorities over time.. but that's something different - something I don't want to go through ever again for real. If I'm really interested in someone's message it's impossible to hear from me "I'm too busy" because I know myself and If I had no time for others - I wouldn't be here. I don't want to pretend someone I'm not and always try to find some cheap excuses to avoid others. (unlike most people who don't want to talk to others)
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⢠Donât ask me âCan you tell me something about yourself?â If you really want to get to know me - you can ask me questions :) I'm an open book.
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⢠It would be better If you guys were into emojis - like me - to describe your emotions In text messages. Two emojis - đ and đ are completely enough! I just don't like emotionless conversations.I also don't like it when people say "yeah" or yea"as it sounds dismissively. First impression Is everything to me! I want to see your kindness even in a text message - Emojis are very helpful to express your emotions.I don't want to meet people who say "crying Is a weakness" - It's OK to cry even If you're a guy!
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⢠I want to talk on reddit first (just to make sure If I'd get along with you) before moving to Discord or some other app
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⢠I would rather talk to a homebody - not another person who always has something to do as people who are very busy don't even have time for daily conversations
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⢠If you're another person interested only in "childish conversations" such as "HEYOOO! I'M BORED! Ya like Pizza or cheese? xDDDD đ¤Ł" I'm begging you! Don't send me a message.I'm not a child anymore and such messages don't make me smile or laugh.I'm looking for someone interested In serious discussions - not another person just seeking some entertainment out of boredom . Conversations with sarcastic undertones (even when It comes to some emojis such as đ¤Łđ) are not for me. Your typing style matters to me! Why? when It comes to online conversations with someone new - It's not always possible to know If someone Is laughing at you.. or with you. Let me tell you something else! Jokes about cancer, disabilities and death are UNACCEPTABLE to me. If you find joy In someone else's misfortune you are not a person I want to know.
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⢠Time response matters to me a lot! I would never ask anyone to be online all day long and I'm NOT asking any of you for any instant messaging as I'm someone who would rather wait an hour or two to receive a proper response instead of some short and pointless messages but I'm interested only in daily conversations and I don't want to wait any longer than 6 hours to get a message from you.I don't need unbelievably long messages either! Messages as long as the second paragraph of my post - are completely enough. If you like longer messages? you can send me a longer message, but If you want to send me one word or one sentence as a response to my post - don't expect a reaction from me. I don't want to come across as rude - I just don't want to waste your time
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⢠I'm strongly AGAINST picking on people you don't even want to chat with - and making fun of them! I can't stand people who criticize others publicly or make fun of them! (only because they disagree with someone they don't even know) There's no place In my life for someone using Reddit, to hurt other people
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⢠I'm not into foul language and I definitely don't want to talk to people who swear a lot...
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⢠I want to meet assertive people who know what they want and always stand up for their friends
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⢠I want to meet someone willing to call me In the future, someone spontaneously sending me pictures of animals or food, et cetera. I want more than just text conversations.. đť
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Why canât you see any of my hobbies listed down below? Because what really matters to me is..who you are (If youâre honest, talkative ,understanding, caring and trustworthy â for example) just simply â It matters to me what youâre like! not what you like.Donât get me wrong â you can tell me what your hobbies are but from my point of view - people's hobbies are important - If you want to find a gaming buddy or If you want to meet someone to hang out with in real life and..go bowling for example.What most people seem to care about are other people's passions â I donât. I get along with other people despite having completely different hobbies but I absolutely donât get along with people way different than me (different expectations and outlook on life â way different sense of humor or personality traits â Itâs just an example) It doesn't make ANY DIFFERENCE to me If you're a gamer or? Someone interested in photography! It doesn't make any difference - > as long as you're talkative and kind and If you also want to find someone willing to stay in your life..for good - But If you're into small talk and all you want is to...type and receive super short messages or If you're here only because you're bored and don't know what to do + If you're a very sarcastic person - I'm definitely not for you! I don't get along with overly sarcastic people turning everything into a joke. Friendships should be natural â not forced. I wouldn't get along with people who laugh at everything.. In my opinion most people are way too sarcastic.. It's quite sad... Sarcasm can also be another form of passive-aggressive behavior.
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People who want to be to friends should feel comfortable and have something in common. No - not necessarily a similar taste in music or movies but something else..Most friendships don't fizzle out because of people not having the same hobbies but..because they just simply have different expectations when It comes to something important.I'm not here out of boredom and trust me - I'm not here to meet as many people as possible.I choose quality over quantity.I highly value myself and my time & Sometimes one person but a person who makes you feel comfortable and understood - is more than enough :) We ALL can choose what kind of people weâd like to talk to and maybe even become really good friends with and I? I donât want anyone to be disappointed.We all have some expectations after all.I know that people don't have to talk as often as possible in order to become friends but I'm interested only in daily conversations. If you really need someone to talk to due to loneliness and If you have time to talk to me daily (throughout the day and maybe even night) I always make time for others.I'm literally always available.I could even stay up all night long only to talk to someone important to me. Iâm ready to commit but only If thereâs some chemistry between me and someone else.I donât do anything forcefully.
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If you want to talk to me tell me your story - tell me why you're here, what kind of friend would you like to meet :) Et cetera.Such messages are way more interesting to me than...someone's long list of hobbies. I know! It's unusual on reddit but I don't make friends based on hobbies..I want to meet someone with the same mindset as mine to finally feel understood and get close to someone new. You can share your problems with me - I absolutely don't mind "complaining" as I've been through a lot in my life.What do people usually tell you when you tell them that something's wrong? "Don't complain" or "Life's not over yet - one day you'll be happy" or "There are worse situations than yours" and..obviously "Find a therapist" Life's not a fairytale and sometimes things don't go as planned.Emotions shouldn't be bottled up.I'm sick of people always telling others "everything's gonna be ok" move on " & more..Trust me people - not everyone wants to hear "Just believe in yourself and everything's gonna be ok" Some people take it as reassurance - but others? They would rather hear something different đImagine being told that things will be okay, only for them to get worse..Do you guys know why telling someone "everything's gonna be ok" Is wrong? Because you can't see the future.
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You can't guarantee others that one day they'll finally be happy + when It comes to social interactions - We're responsible only for ourselves - not others & as you guys know people let us down quite often (sometimes even when there's no reason) so instead of telling people how they should move on, forget everything and be happy or asking them to find a therapist - be there for them! Always be willing to listen to them If you really like them or want to get to know them & don't suggest everyone in a tough situation to find a therapist because even the best therapist won't ever replace a true friend + It's quite normal to be disappointed If people always do something to hurt you. Sharing your hardships with other people in a very similar situation or exactly the same one - is VERY helpful If the other person understands you & wants to start all over by just letting it all out! Feeling emotional support instead of always hearing some "positive quotes" or someone saying "Stop complaining let's talk about something else - Is very important! "Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on. I appreciate sensitive people who always try to understand others. If after hearing a sad story all you want to say is "forget the past and move on" you're not for me. It's important to be a good listener and provide emotional support to others
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Please - If you're a completely different person than the described type of person I'm looking for (If you love abbreviations,If you don't need a stable friendship, If you're sarcastic and quiet) or If you simply disagree with my post - don't force yourself to send me a message.I want my new potential friendship to be natural which is why I want you to contact me only If your needs are the same - I don't want you to pretend someone you're not - only to please me - Pretending to be someone you're not - is the worst.I want to finally be happy again & find someone "always" wanting to talk - sending me random pictures throughout the day - food pictures or pictures of some animals. What is the most important to me? I want to find people who value online friendships as much as they would value real life ones as there's another human being on the other side
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No comments please.Only Private messages and chat requests đş
I know It's possible to meet people with exactly the same expectations as mine but It's just not easy because most people are Interested In temporary and entertaining conversations. People like me are just "different" I really want to finally find someone who loves emojis as much as I do.. someone who loves sweet, warm and serious discussions at the same time. Emojis really do - change conversations đ
submitted by xfallenangelx95 to friendship [link] [comments]
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Hello guys! đ (read everything before you decide to send me a message) Please send me a message ONLY If you're in the same situation and If your expectations are the same as mine.I want to find like minded people from Europe (Why Europe? Read my post to find out) I'm looking for something permanent (remember - you can feel lonely even If you're surrounded by others - If there's no emotional bond) I'm fed up of meeting people who never make time for me & only text me once or twice a week to ask me "what are you up to?" Out of boredom.I don't want to meet people asking others a million of questions like "what's your favorite movie?" Just to give them one word answer and ask them another question "and music? Your favorite song?" I'm looking for something "deeper" & different đ
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What kind of friend would I like to find? Someone to talk to on a daily basis - Someone who needs It & wants It just as much as me
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What are my expectations? I would like to meet someone in a similar situation â why? Because I honestly feel like only a person with the same expectations and a similar outlook on life would get along with me & because I feel more comfortable talking to people like me..Friendless people who need a strong bond - people without friends and partners.. Don't get me wrongâŚMost people deserve to be happy and It's good to have friends but people who have friends or families in real life are usually more focused on them (which is completely understandable) & have less time for others + I simply don't want to be replaced by anyone..I kind of envy people who can call others , true friends given I don't have an emotional bond with any of my acquaintances. Please send me a message only If you're not In a relationship and don't have friends for the same reasons I've already mentioned before
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Whenever I hear that others have friends I simply get sad because (believe it or not) If I had to choose between 20 people to talk to (acquaintances) and one special person - I'd choose that one special person without any hesitation .
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I also want to talk to others every day because..I want to see someoneâs effort & be someone's first choice - not another person to have random conversations with..some people ask me "Why do you want to talk to people from Europe?" Well..Because I would like to see someone I'd get along with - In the far future - face to face :) + I don't want to wait any longer than 6 hours to receive a message - waiting 6 hours to receive a message is more than enough
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I'm by no means criticizing people who don't want to talk to others often / People who really are super busy & People who want to find someone to have unimportant conversations with - I'm aware that not everyone has the same expectations which is why everything you're reading now - is here for a reason :) All I'm suggesting is - I don't want anything temporary and I don't want to be the one always giving more than receiving.Listen people - I used to ignore being..ignored by others..always being just an option to talk to during tough times or moments of boredom.I was too young to realize that I was never important enough for most people that were a part of my life. I don't know who needs to hear this but..No one is too busy to make time for you! People make excuses to avoid others because they prioritize everything and (maybe) everyone..over them. It's true that most people are busy - but It takes only a few seconds to start a conversation (If you're into short messages) and a few minutes (1-10/15) to type a long message . Don't let anyone lie to you.
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Truth is that most people either don't like you enough to make time for you or just simply - feel no need to talk to others often but are they too busy? No..You don't need to send me a message just to ask me and tell me "Do you really want to talk every day? I like long messages but I can't promise to contact you often" If you really are unsure please don't send me a message.I don't need more acquaintances aka people to talk to - occasionally.
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I'm not trying to sound rude but conversations once or twice a week wouldn't be enough for me and I don't need them... Let me tell you one thing â A true friend would never just give up on you for no reason :) Itâs always possible to find someone to have a random conversation with â someone willing to send you one message once or twice a week..but..Itâs almost impossible to find people willing to make more time for you.
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Iâm not asking a busy person to make time for me by changing some plans! Absolutely not! Iâm here to find someone who wants to talk daily (throughout the day or maybe even night) of oneâs own will.Someone looking for the same kind of connection.Strong friendships are based on mutual support. One of the best things you can do for a friend in need, is just to be there for them when they want to talk.I often see posts from people who always say how friendless they are because they don't feel loved or appreciated by their "friends" remember! A true friend - someone who truly likes you or someone who wants to get to know you - will always find time for you.
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I'm not interested in small talk/short messages - I love long and meaningful conversations. It's so easy to find someone who loves abbreviations and questions like "How are you?" How was your day? Or what are you interested in? But so hard/almost impossible to find a person who knows how to keep a conversation going & show others some effort.Building and maintaining friendships takes time and effort.Never allow pursuits or possessions to become bigger priorities than your relations with other people.Close friendships are so important to us because they are so difficult to form + Having friends can help you feel as if you belong to something that brings purpose and connection to your life
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⢠I do NOT respond to any âHey,hmuâ or âu want to talk?â type of messages (super short messages or messages full of abbreviations â I literally canât stand abbreviations and acronyms in text messages) ALL messages full of abbreviations will immediately be ignored.I also don't like it when people ignore everything I say in private messages just to focus on a random question or? When they start talking only about themselves and don't ever ask me anything. I love conversations with people referring to everything I say...I want everything I say and do - to be reciprocated
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⢠No NSFW profiles (checking mental health subreddits NOT included as I'm a huge empath and always try to understand others) - Please! I'm not looking for anyone to flirt with and I'm not looking for a partner either. I always check people's profiles (even comment history) - To avoid guys, trying to get inappropriate pictures from adult women or? flirt with them + I don't want to see you with no clothes on so If you're on Reddit only because you want others to see what's underneath your clothes - I'm not for you! I just simply don't want to see any s e x related activity on your profile If you want to talk to me.
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⢠If both of us (you and I) are from the same country (I live in a non-English speaking country) - I want to communicate with you in our first language! No - Not because I don't understand English - because as you see - I do. Why then? English is simply overrated and people don't appreciate other languages as much as they should. So.. If we're from the same country and you want to talk only in English (which is quite common on reddit) - Talk to someone else. I just don't want to talk to a person from the same country as mine - in a foreign language as It's just something I don't understand even If all you want is to improve your language skills
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⢠Please only adult people 18-36 (age range) It doesn't matter to me If you're younger or older than me (as long as you're not underage) So.. don't worry! I just want to have discussions with emotionally mature people :)
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⢠I donât respond to messages I donât find interesting even If they're long - If after receiving and reading your message I don't feel comfortable or think "I wouldn't get along with him/her" I simply do not respond (what Iâm suggesting is that I donât always respond to someoneâs first or second message because..sometimes you just know If youâd get along with someone or not- Iâd never ignore anyone after days or weeks of daily conversations though) just because I donât want to do anything forcefully & because I donât want to lead anyone on. I read all messages but I definitely don't respond to all of them! I want to make it clear because I don't want to be accused of not responding and not reading people's messages! - Some people don't message me back as well and even If It's a bit disappointing I'm ok with that! - as long as there's no emotional bond - Not responding to someone's first or second message Is completely OK! If people think they wouldn't get along with a stranger - is there a reason to start a conversation? I don't think so. I can't stand being ignored after days or weeks of daily conversations and seeing people changing priorities over time.. but that's something different - something I don't want to go through ever again for real. If I'm really interested in someone's message it's impossible to hear from me "I'm too busy" because I know myself and If I had no time for others - I wouldn't be here. I don't want to pretend someone I'm not and always try to find some cheap excuses to avoid others. (unlike most people who don't want to talk to others)
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⢠Donât ask me âCan you tell me something about yourself?â If you really want to get to know me - you can ask me questions :) I'm an open book.
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⢠It would be better If you guys were into emojis - like me - to describe your emotions In text messages. Two emojis - đ and đ are completely enough! I just don't like emotionless conversations.I also don't like it when people say "yeah" or yea"as it sounds dismissively. First impression Is everything to me! I want to see your kindness even in a text message - Emojis are very helpful to express your emotions.I don't want to meet people who say "crying Is a weakness" - It's OK to cry even If you're a guy!
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⢠I want to talk on reddit first (just to make sure If I'd get along with you) before moving to Discord or some other app
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⢠I would rather talk to a homebody - not another person who always has something to do as people who are very busy don't even have time for daily conversations
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⢠If you're another person interested only in "childish conversations" such as "HEYOOO! I'M BORED! Ya like Pizza or cheese? xDDDD đ¤Ł" I'm begging you! Don't send me a message.I'm not a child anymore and such messages don't make me smile or laugh.I'm looking for someone interested In serious discussions - not another person just seeking some entertainment out of boredom . Conversations with sarcastic undertones (even when It comes to some emojis such as đ¤Łđ) are not for me. Your typing style matters to me! Why? when It comes to online conversations with someone new - It's not always possible to know If someone Is laughing at you.. or with you. Let me tell you something else! Jokes about cancer, disabilities and death are UNACCEPTABLE to me. If you find joy In someone else's misfortune you are not a person I want to know.
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⢠Time response matters to me a lot! I would never ask anyone to be online all day long and I'm NOT asking any of you for any instant messaging as I'm someone who would rather wait an hour or two to receive a proper response instead of some short and pointless messages but I'm interested only in daily conversations and I don't want to wait any longer than 6 hours to get a message from you.I don't need unbelievably long messages either! Messages as long as the second paragraph of my post - are completely enough. If you like longer messages? you can send me a longer message, but If you want to send me one word or one sentence as a response to my post - don't expect a reaction from me. I don't want to come across as rude - I just don't want to waste your time
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⢠I'm strongly AGAINST picking on people you don't even want to chat with - and making fun of them! I can't stand people who criticize others publicly or make fun of them! (only because they disagree with someone they don't even know) There's no place In my life for someone using Reddit, to hurt other people
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⢠I'm not into foul language and I definitely don't want to talk to people who swear a lot...
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⢠I want to meet assertive people who know what they want and always stand up for their friends
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⢠I want to meet someone willing to call me In the future, someone spontaneously sending me pictures of animals or food, et cetera. I want more than just text conversations.. đť
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Why canât you see any of my hobbies listed down below? Because what really matters to me is..who you are (If youâre honest, talkative ,understanding, caring and trustworthy â for example) just simply â It matters to me what youâre like! not what you like.Donât get me wrong â you can tell me what your hobbies are but from my point of view - people's hobbies are important - If you want to find a gaming buddy or If you want to meet someone to hang out with in real life and..go bowling for example.What most people seem to care about are other people's passions â I donât. I get along with other people despite having completely different hobbies but I absolutely donât get along with people way different than me (different expectations and outlook on life â way different sense of humor or personality traits â Itâs just an example) It doesn't make ANY DIFFERENCE to me If you're a gamer or? Someone interested in photography! It doesn't make any difference - > as long as you're talkative and kind and If you also want to find someone willing to stay in your life..for good - But If you're into small talk and all you want is to...type and receive super short messages or If you're here only because you're bored and don't know what to do + If you're a very sarcastic person - I'm definitely not for you! I don't get along with overly sarcastic people turning everything into a joke. Friendships should be natural â not forced. I wouldn't get along with people who laugh at everything.. In my opinion most people are way too sarcastic.. It's quite sad... Sarcasm can also be another form of passive-aggressive behavior.
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People who want to be to friends should feel comfortable and have something in common. No - not necessarily a similar taste in music or movies but something else..Most friendships don't fizzle out because of people not having the same hobbies but..because they just simply have different expectations when It comes to something important.I'm not here out of boredom and trust me - I'm not here to meet as many people as possible.I choose quality over quantity.I highly value myself and my time & Sometimes one person but a person who makes you feel comfortable and understood - is more than enough :) We ALL can choose what kind of people weâd like to talk to and maybe even become really good friends with and I? I donât want anyone to be disappointed.We all have some expectations after all.I know that people don't have to talk as often as possible in order to become friends but I'm interested only in daily conversations. If you really need someone to talk to due to loneliness and If you have time to talk to me daily (throughout the day and maybe even night) I always make time for others.I'm literally always available.I could even stay up all night long only to talk to someone important to me. Iâm ready to commit but only If thereâs some chemistry between me and someone else.I donât do anything forcefully.
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If you want to talk to me tell me your story - tell me why you're here, what kind of friend would you like to meet :) Et cetera.Such messages are way more interesting to me than...someone's long list of hobbies. I know! It's unusual on reddit but I don't make friends based on hobbies..I want to meet someone with the same mindset as mine to finally feel understood and get close to someone new. You can share your problems with me - I absolutely don't mind "complaining" as I've been through a lot in my life.What do people usually tell you when you tell them that something's wrong? "Don't complain" or "Life's not over yet - one day you'll be happy" or "There are worse situations than yours" and..obviously "Find a therapist" Life's not a fairytale and sometimes things don't go as planned.Emotions shouldn't be bottled up.I'm sick of people always telling others "everything's gonna be ok" move on " & more..Trust me people - not everyone wants to hear "Just believe in yourself and everything's gonna be ok" Some people take it as reassurance - but others? They would rather hear something different đImagine being told that things will be okay, only for them to get worse..Do you guys know why telling someone "everything's gonna be ok" Is wrong? Because you can't see the future.
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You can't guarantee others that one day they'll finally be happy + when It comes to social interactions - We're responsible only for ourselves - not others & as you guys know people let us down quite often (sometimes even when there's no reason) so instead of telling people how they should move on, forget everything and be happy or asking them to find a therapist - be there for them! Always be willing to listen to them If you really like them or want to get to know them & don't suggest everyone in a tough situation to find a therapist because even the best therapist won't ever replace a true friend + It's quite normal to be disappointed If people always do something to hurt you. Sharing your hardships with other people in a very similar situation or exactly the same one - is VERY helpful If the other person understands you & wants to start all over by just letting it all out! Feeling emotional support instead of always hearing some "positive quotes" or someone saying "Stop complaining let's talk about something else - Is very important! "Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on. I appreciate sensitive people who always try to understand others. If after hearing a sad story all you want to say is "forget the past and move on" you're not for me. It's important to be a good listener and provide emotional support to others
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Please - If you're a completely different person than the described type of person I'm looking for (If you love abbreviations,If you don't need a stable friendship, If you're sarcastic and quiet) or If you simply disagree with my post - don't force yourself to send me a message.I want my new potential friendship to be natural which is why I want you to contact me only If your needs are the same - I don't want you to pretend someone you're not - only to please me - Pretending to be someone you're not - is the worst.I want to finally be happy again & find someone "always" wanting to talk - sending me random pictures throughout the day - food pictures or pictures of some animals. What is the most important to me? I want to find people who value online friendships as much as they would value real life ones as there's another human being on the other side
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No comments please.Only Private messages and chat requests đş
I know It's possible to meet people with exactly the same expectations as mine but It's just not easy because most people are Interested In temporary and entertaining conversations. People like me are just "different" I really want to finally find someone who loves emojis as much as I do.. someone who loves sweet, warm and serious discussions at the same time. Emojis really do - change conversations đ
2024.05.28 07:34 geopolicraticus Ibn KhaldĹŤn and the Introduction to History
Ibn KhaldĹŤn
27 May 1332 - 17 March 1406Today in Philosophy of History
Ibn KhaldĹŤn and the Introduction to History
Monday 27 May 2024 is the 692nd anniversary of the birth of AbĹŤ Zayd 'Abd ar-RaḼmÄn ibn MuḼammad ibn KhaldĹŤn al-Ḥaá¸ramÄŤ, better known to posterity as Ibn KhaldĹŤn (27 May 1332 â 17 March 1406), who was born in Tunis, under the Hafsid Sultanate, on this date in 1332 AD. His dates in the Islamic lunar calendar are 732 to 808 of the Hejira Era.
Ibn KhaldĹŤn was a Tunisian Arabic philosopher and historian who wrote a singular treatise, The Maqqadimmah, which discusses politics, history, sociology, philosophy of history, and related problems. A contemporary philosopher of history, Hayden White, wrote of Ibn KhaldĹŤn:
âReaders of Toynbeeâs Study will know that Ibn Khaldun has been acclaimed as the producer of âthe greatest work of its kind that has ever been created by any mind in any time or place.â Toynbee enshrines Ibn Khaldun in a pantheon which houses Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius, Josephus, St. Augustine, Gibbon and Turgot; and of that group, Ibn Khaldun seems, at least at first glance, the most modern of all. Evidence of his modernity is reflected in the dispute between historians and sociologists for the honor of claiming him as their own.âWhite is correct that historians and sociologists have both sought to claim Ibn KhaldĹŤn as their own, but he further notes, âIbn KhaldĹŤn cannot be classified as either historian or sociologist with any sort of terminological accuracy.â Here is some of Toynbeeâs fulsome praise for Ibn Khaldun, which includes the bit quoted by White:
âIn his chosen field of intellectual activity he appears to have been inspired by no predecessors, and to have found no kindred souls among his contemporaries, and to have kindled no answering spark of inspiration in any successors; and yet, in the Prolegomena (Muquddamat) to his Universal History he has conceived and formulated a philosophy of history which is undoubtedly the greatest work of its kind that has ever yet been created by any mind in any time or place.âIbn Khaldunâs great book is The Maqqadimmah, which means prolegomena, which means that it was intended as an introduction to the study of history, sort of like Jean Bodinâs Method for the Easy Comprehension of History. Some call The Maqqadimmah a history; some call it a work of historiography; some call it a philosophy of history; some have called it the first work of sociology. It could be said that The Maqqadimmah contains elements of all of these. Weâre probably best off sticking with Ibn Khaldunâs original intention, which is that it an introduction to history rather than history itself. This sense of being an introduction to the study of history comes out clearly in an early passage from The Maqqadimmah:
âThe (writing of history) requires numerous sources and greatly varied knowledge. It also requires a good speculative mind and thoroughness. (Possession of these two qualities) leads the historian to the truth and keeps him from slips and errors. If he trusts historical information in its plain transmitted form and has no clear knowledge of the principles resulting from custom, the fundamental facts of politics, the nature of civilization, or the conditions governing human social organization, and if, furthermore, he does not evaluate remote or ancient material through comparison with near or contemporary material, he often cannot avoid stumbling and slipping and deviating from the highroad of truth.âStill, The Maqqadimmah belongs to a number of unclassifiable works that touch on many aspects of human life and experience. Unclassifiable books are difficult to assimilate, and The Maqqadimmah presents additional problems for us. We all have difficulty understanding a work written in a fundamentally different historical era, with its alien presuppositions. For westerners, as well, there is the difficulty of reading a work conceived within a distinct civilization. But these barriers can be overcome.
The Islamic Golden Age is in some respects less alien to us than the European middle ages, since it is, like classical antiquity, and like our own times, a time of cosmopolitanism, of aspirations to universality, of plenty, and of routine travel. We can read writers like Ibn KhaldĹŤn, Ibn Fadlan, and Ibn Battutah as though they were contemporaries, whereas the works of Wolfram von Eschenbach and Gottfried von Strassburg strike us as strange, even when we find in them much that is familiar. Perhaps the virtue of being readable to posterity comes at the cost being alienated from oneâs own time.
Barbara Stowasser wrote of Ibn KhaldĹŤn in âIbn Khaldunâs Philosophy of History: The Rise and Fall of States and Civilizationsâ:
ââŚIbn Khaldunâs ideas were in some ways too realistic and hence revolutionary for the intellectually stagnant society in which he lived and worked. There is very little evidence that he had any impact on Arab thought in the late 14th or early 15th centuries. It was only in the 16th and particularly in the 17th centuries that an Ibn Khaldun rediscovery got underway, and the people who rediscovered and read and commented upon him were the Ottoman Turks. The Ottomans, as you know, concentrated much of their intellectual interest upon history and political thought, and they were fascinated with Ibn Khaldun. In the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, the study of Ibn Khaldun constituted an important segment of Turkish intellectual history. It was only in the 19th century that Europe joined the Turks in reading Ibn Khaldun.âIt is the fate of many substantive thinkers to be unappreciated in their own time. We know that no prophet is accepted in his own country, just as we know that the past is a foreign country. We could add to that that the future is a foreign country to the past. So therein lies the rub: later generations are arguably less well equipped to appreciate a work neglected in its own time, being further removed from the lived experience that was the inspiration of the work. Also we project our own concerns into a past innocent of the world we take for granted.
To a certain extent, this is unavoidable. Most of the terminology that we have today for discussing historiography and philosophy of history did not yet exist for ibn KhaldĹŤn, so in order to see the relevance of his work we often have to translate his ideas into a modern idiom, and there are certain hazards in doing so. Thatâs why Hayden White wrote that Ibn Khaldun canât be called an historian or a sociologist with any terminological accuracy. But what about conceptual accuracy? Say we agree that Ibn Khaldun is not an historian in the modern sense of the term. How then is he to be mapped onto the conceptual space of history?
I would argue that the hazards increase as we approach foundational concepts, and it is the nature of a work like The Maqqadimmah to engage with foundational concepts. The idea of history is itself a foundational concept, and the idea of knowledge is a foundational concept, and science, and so on. When we read Chapter VI of The Maqqadimmah we find a catalogue of knowledge (or sciences) that sets alchemy next to logic, and Sufism next to dream interpretation, which, to the modern mind, seems like a category error. In this sense, Ibn Khaldun reads more like St. Thomas Aquinas than a contemporary.
If we want to extract from The Maqqadimmah the perennial lessons it has to teach, we have to take it out of the context in which it was formulated. Its context is a world now lost to us, which can only be recovered with great difficulty. Part of this difficulty, for example, is that there is a lot in The Muquaddimah about magic, divination, and sorcery. Take the following, for instance:
âIn the Ghayah, Maslamah . . . mentioned that when a human being is placed in a barrel of sesame oil and kept in it for forty days, is fed with figs and nuts until his flesh is gone and only the arteries and the sutures of the skull remain, and is then taken out of the oil and exposed to the drying action of the air, he will answer all special and general questions regarding the future that may be asked. This is detestable sorcery. However, it shows what remarkable things exist in the world of man.â (Sixth Prefatory Discussion to Chapter II)Itâs worth observing that this is a falsifiable methodology, but it is unlikely to have been tried a number of times sufficient to get statistically significant confirmatory or disconfirmatory evidence. I do wonder how many readers of Maslamah did actually attempt this. On the one hand, Ibn Khaldun seems to credit this sorcery as possibly efficacious. On the other hand, his scientific detachment is evident from his final remark: he notes that this is detestable, but it remains interesting as testimony to the remarkable things that we find in the world of man. And we do find remarkable things in the world. Ibn Khaldun is absolutely right about that. I suspect that the scientifically detached Ibn Khaldun would have been ready to discuss the possibility of confirmatory or disconfirmatory evidence for sorcery. It is this scientifically detached Ibn Khaldun that we must extract from the intellectual and cultural context in which sorcery is commonplace.
While we do an author a certain degree of violence by thus extracting his ideas from their human, all-too-human context, it is not at all unusual. Reading Saint Augustine is not all that different: there is much that I have extracted from Saint Augustine that I find to be of value, despite his many digressions to profess his faith. Augustine, too, like Ibn Khaldun, is interested in divination and demonology, and since we donât credit this today we tend to gloss over these sections, although they were a large part of Augustineâs world, as they were also a large art of Ibn Khaldunâs world. Do we sacrifice this world in order to derive the perennial lessons, or do we keep Ibn Khaldun (and Saint Augustine) whole and intact, treating them as mere historical figures whose work no longer bears upon our world?
I touched on this previously in my episode on J. G. A. Pocock and contextualism, since the context of Ibn Khaldunâs work is almost unrecoverable to us, and I said that we have to strip away this context to get at what is perennially true in his work. What do we have if we donât strip away the unfamiliar context? Robert Irwin in his book Ibn Khaldun: An Intellectual Biography had this to say:
âIt is precisely Ibn Khaldunâs irrelevance to the modern world that makes him so interesting and important. When I read the Muqaddima, I have the sense that I am encountering a visitor from another planetâand that is exciting. There have been other ways of looking at the world than the one we mostly take for granted today.âSome years ago a correspondent said something not unlike this to me. The society that Ibn Khaldun described no longer exists. As such, we could say that his work belongs to historical sociology, but that isnât an adequate way to understand the book. Understanding the book in the fullness of its historical, social, and cultural context alienate the work from us and our concerns, and this meaning can only be recovered by means of the patient contextual methods pursued by Pocock and others of the contextualist school.
Despite the strangeness, there are moments within The Maqqadimmah when Ibn Khaldun seems to affirm the categories of our thought and his argument makes perfect sense. For example:
âPeople who grow up in villages and uncivilized (thinly populated) cities and who have an innate desire for scientific activity, cannot find scientific instruction in those places. For scientific instruction is something technical, and there are no crafts among the inhabitants of the desert, as we have stated before. These people, therefore, must travel and seek scientific instruction in cities where (civilization) is highly developed, as is the case with all crafts.â (VI, 8)This quote highlights a theme that runs throughout Ibn Khaldun, and that is the contrast between sedentary life in cities and the nomadic life of the Bedouin of the desert. As we can see in from the previous quote, Ibn Khaldun gives cities their full measure, acknowledging that craft specialization is only to be found in cities, but he also sees the problems with urban life, which are distinct from those of village and desert. He makes some interesting observations on urban juvenile delinquency:
âThe city, then, teems with low people of blameworthy character. They encounter competition from many members of the younger generation of the dynasty, whose education has been neglected and whom the dynasty has neglected to accept. They, therefore, adopt the qualities of their environment and company, even though they may be people of noble descent and ancestry. Men are human beings and as such resemble one another. They differ in merit and are distinguished by their character, by their acquisition of virtues and avoidance of vices. The person who is strongly colored by any kind of vice and whose good character is corrupted, is not helped by his good descent and fine origin. Thus, one finds that many descendants of great families, men of a highly esteemed origin, members of the dynasty, get into deep water and adopt low occupations in order to make a living, because their character is corrupt and they are colored by wrongdoing and insincerity. If this (situation) spreads in a town or nation, God permits it to be ruined and destroyed. This is the meaning of the word of God: âWhen we want to destroy a village, we order those of its inhabitants who live in luxury to act wickedly therein. Thus, the word becomes true for it, and we do destroy itâ.â(IV, 18)For Ibn Khladun, then, civilization and its cities are a mixed blessing, and while the Bedouin of the desert do not possess craft specialization, they are also free of the vices and luxury of urban life. Ibn Khaldun also discusses this contrast as it touches upon law:
âWhen laws are (enforced) by means of punishment, they completely destroy fortitude, because the use of punishment against someone who cannot defend himself generates in that person a feeling of humiliation that, no doubt, must break his fortitude. When laws are (intended to serve the purposes of) education and instruction and are applied from childhood on, they have to some degree the same effect, because people then grow up in fear and docility and consequently do not rely on their own fortitude. For this (reason), greater fortitude is found among the savage Arab Bedouins than among people who are subject to laws. Furthermore, those who rely on laws and are dominated by them from the very beginning of their education and instruction in the crafts, sciences, and religious matters, are thereby deprived of much of their own fortitude. They can scarcely defend themselves at all against hostile acts. This is the case with students, whose occupation it is to study and to learn from teachers and religious leaders, and who constantly apply themselves to instruction and education in very dignified gatherings. This situation and the fact that it destroys the power of resistance and fortitude must be understood.â (II, 6)One can see in passages like this why many have identified Ibn Khaldun as a sociologist, or a theoretician of culture. In Muhsin Mahdiâs book-length study, Ibn Khaldunâs Philosophy of History: A Study in the Philosophic Foundation of a Science of Culture, Mahdi characterizes Ibn Khaldunâs effort as being toward a âscience of culture.â He finishes off his book by taking a swipe at Hegelian philosophies of history:
âIbn Khaldun did not turn to history to find his standards and goal, or to see how the Idea progressively realizes itself and learn its future course so that he could join the predetermined course of history. For him, future action cannot he determined by any science. It continues to be the product of an art which requires the knowledge of the end of man and society, and the knowledge of the actual circumstances supplied by history, but which must he perfected through experience. Having equipped himself with such knowledge, it remains the responsibility of the wise man to decide what is best under particular circumstances. He is not relieved of the task of making right choices. History, even when ascertained and explained in the light of the new science of culture, may help the wise man to make a better choice, but it does not and cannot choose for him.âI suspect many people would agree with this, whether or not they have read Ibn Khaldun, or whether or not they have any interest in philosophy of history. Although Ibn Khaldun did not seek his standards and goals in history, he did understand the importance of understanding history on its own merits. Hence the need for an introduction to history.
It is worth reflecting on the idea that an introduction to history may be more difficult than history itself. Insofar as an introduction to history is a guide to the understanding of history, we can see why this is the case, though it seems counterintuitive that an introduction should be more difficult than that to which it introduces us. Anyone can memorize names, dates, and places, and anyone can follow a narrative, but understanding what is happening and why is much more difficult. The Maqqadimmah attempts to assist us with this difficulty.
There is a lot in The Maqqadimmah, but when I think about Ibn Khaldun, I keep coming back to the image of the man in the vat of sesame oil. I can imagine, in my mindâs eye, Ibn Khaldun being told about this, and hearing about it in his travels, he is invited to actually witness this sorcery or something similar. I can see the whole thing in flickering lamplight, being led to some hole in the wall in a dingy part of a city, passing the kind of disreputable characters that Ibn Khaldun wrote about inhabiting cities, and then the door opening onto to bizarre scene of a partially dissolved man being decanted from a barrel of oil. I imagine it like a scene from a Sinbad movie from the 70s.
What would Ibn Khaldun have to say about this? What would he do? How would he respond? For this, I draw on an historical analogy, which might seem a bit strained, but hear me out. When as Westerners we read accounts of the witch craze we start to get a feel for the relative scope of the rationality of the individuals involved. If you read enough, you go beyond the words and you get a sense of the man involved. The man whose words you read is a man of his time, since we all are, but there were different temperaments then as there are today, and some temperaments are skeptical, some credulous, some rational, some practical. And some of these temperaments are more consistent with what we would recognize today as rationality.
Some men confronted with witches and spectral evidence were all in. The kind of man who would be all in for a moral panic in the 16th or 17th century is the same kind of man who would be all in for a moral panic in the 21st century. Some men were skeptical, but willing to listen. We know their type today. Some were pragmatic, uninterested in claims about demons and spirits, only seeing the situation for what it is. These too a familiar characters for us. And, of course, there are men with an intuitive sense of scientific detachment, sometimes skeptical, sometimes pragmatic, always interested, even if horrified. I take ibn Khaldun to be a man like this.
So, to return to the man in the vat of sesame oil, I think Ibn Khaldun confronted with this scene would have been angry about the practice of sorcery, indignant about the treatment of the subject of the experiment, and dismissive of the claims of the sorcerer, whom we can imagine waving his hands and protesting how he has an explanation for everything. Change a few details and this could be any of us today. Iâve seen some strange things in my timeânothing as strange as what Ibn Khaldun describesâbut strange enough. Here, I think, we find our connection to Ibn Khaldun and The Maqqadimmah. Circumstances change, but men are what they are in every age. This is the introduction to history that we need, the human side of history, but itâs not the introduction to history we usually get. This is part of what makes The Maqqadimmah both difficult and interesting. It is unfamiliar, but it is a necessary unfamiliarity.
Video Presentation
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Podcast Edition
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2024.05.27 23:34 ELS314STL The Discovery, Finale
Galactic Triumvirate Senate Meeting, 33rd Day of Kwa'Kysh, 258th year of The 78th Millennium
Grand Presider K'twor'Thoth Vi-Shni'shelsh took the podium, as they have numerous times, but still feeling as if it was the first. As per hir culture, they raised a yellow flag to silence the cavernous room, and bowed slightly once the requested silence came.
Hir activated the Senate holodisplays, "My fellow beings, I bid greetings. I shan't waste time and simply get to the point of the matter I've called you here." Vi knew it wasn't common to call a full Senate meeting during a holiday week, but this was not common. "I received word from our Solarian neighbors, and they've noted that after nearly two centuries, the indigenous races, all former slaves of The Hive, have reached a point where they can interact with the larger galactic community. The Humans have set up a unified democratic government for these races to take power over themselves. Within a standard week, The Allied Confederation of Spheres will be open to any diplomatic overtures, trade, and travel in their space. The D'Luti Republic has already recognized The Confederation, and I received word that The Synth Union, The Federated Republics, and The Federated Technocracy of Sol have followed this example. As of the commencement of this meeting, our own Triumvirate has done the same."
Murmurs of approval filled the room, and Vi allowed it. Ever since The Hive-Imperium War, no one has entered Hive Space except Humans. They've shared reports and updates on the recovery efforts they alone took on, as well as the construction of a "Dyson Sphere" for the E'Tor. After The Imperium Reformation, when The D'Luti Republic officially replaced The Imperium, The Republic was the loudest supporter of The FedTech and their efforts in old Hive Space. Human technology made the efforts they undertook seem like no effort or harm to their society. This was especially true once they set up their gigantic hyperspace gate, the size of a small moon! And their traffic flowed nonstop since.
It will be strange when it's gone. Humans promised to vacate the region once they finished their work, Vi knew this. The gate sat just inside now Confederation space, and Vi had gone to see it as a child, and marveled any one race could build such a thing. Even from half a million units, it was still impressive. Now, as an adult, Vi believed that was the point the Humans were making. A reminder not to test them, and leave them be. Which was understandable after the war, when FedTech representatives all but pushed The Coalition out of Hive and Imperium space. Five years later, The Imperium reemerged as The Republic, and with a message from The Federated Technocracy of Sol, "Stay away."
Everyone knew what it meant when sensor blocks went online in Occupied Hive Space, "This is not for your eyes." And it made sense. They would have unleashed the full power of their technologies, and one can only imagine what that was.
The murmurs died out on their own, and Vi continued, "The Federated Technocracy of Sol has one alert for all who come into Confederation space, and one that I had to verify from The FedTech Ambassador. It is as follows, "Don't seek The E'Tor Sphere, it has been moved to The Core Sectors of Federated space. Know that they are secure in their Sphere, safe, allowed to exist as they see fit, and under our protection and guardianship."
At this, the chamber erupted, and Vi knew that it will take some time to get back to civility. "I really dislike those people," hir thought to themself.
E'Tor Sphere, The Federated Technocracy of Sol, Sector 4 November 2nd, 4987UC
Governor Alan Turing looked over the monthly reports from The E'Tor Sphere Monitoring System, impressed with how well these people took to being cut off from the galaxy. They were so xenophobic that they'd rather never leave this prison than have to meet another species. Alan never really understood organics, but then he didn't need to. "They are who they are, and we are who we are" was the ancient quote from Beta-10, the first true AI, and the one who pioneered Synth Rights. Still, The E'Tor were different from all the other organics he knew of. Such a vibrant and deeply beautiful culture, if you ignored the slavery, genocide, and eugenics they used against the races they once ruled over. Still, he was pleased he could continue to monitor them after the war. He felt close to them after getting into their datanets. Not enough to counter his morals or ethics, they were still monsters. But enough that he could understand their point of view, even if he disagreed with it.
Maybe, one day, they'll change and be ready to be part of the galaxy again. He hoped he was still around to see it.
Until then, here they'll stay, safe and secure. Even if they somehow got out of their sphere, there was no way they were getting past The Defense Grid. The whole thing was powered by 6 artificial quasars, with a thousand meter sized weapons platform every one hundred kilometers. Even the Ceres wouldn't make it through that, and no other known ships comes close to the power that thing wields!
Still...maybe. One day they will be ready to peacefully join.
A synth can hope.
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Grand Presider K'twor'Thoth Vi-Shni'shelsh took the podium, as they have numerous times, but still feeling as if it was the first. As per hir culture, they raised a yellow flag to silence the cavernous room, and bowed slightly once the requested silence came.
Hir activated the Senate holodisplays, "My fellow beings, I bid greetings. I shan't waste time and simply get to the point of the matter I've called you here." Vi knew it wasn't common to call a full Senate meeting during a holiday week, but this was not common. "I received word from our Solarian neighbors, and they've noted that after nearly two centuries, the indigenous races, all former slaves of The Hive, have reached a point where they can interact with the larger galactic community. The Humans have set up a unified democratic government for these races to take power over themselves. Within a standard week, The Allied Confederation of Spheres will be open to any diplomatic overtures, trade, and travel in their space. The D'Luti Republic has already recognized The Confederation, and I received word that The Synth Union, The Federated Republics, and The Federated Technocracy of Sol have followed this example. As of the commencement of this meeting, our own Triumvirate has done the same."
Murmurs of approval filled the room, and Vi allowed it. Ever since The Hive-Imperium War, no one has entered Hive Space except Humans. They've shared reports and updates on the recovery efforts they alone took on, as well as the construction of a "Dyson Sphere" for the E'Tor. After The Imperium Reformation, when The D'Luti Republic officially replaced The Imperium, The Republic was the loudest supporter of The FedTech and their efforts in old Hive Space. Human technology made the efforts they undertook seem like no effort or harm to their society. This was especially true once they set up their gigantic hyperspace gate, the size of a small moon! And their traffic flowed nonstop since.
It will be strange when it's gone. Humans promised to vacate the region once they finished their work, Vi knew this. The gate sat just inside now Confederation space, and Vi had gone to see it as a child, and marveled any one race could build such a thing. Even from half a million units, it was still impressive. Now, as an adult, Vi believed that was the point the Humans were making. A reminder not to test them, and leave them be. Which was understandable after the war, when FedTech representatives all but pushed The Coalition out of Hive and Imperium space. Five years later, The Imperium reemerged as The Republic, and with a message from The Federated Technocracy of Sol, "Stay away."
Everyone knew what it meant when sensor blocks went online in Occupied Hive Space, "This is not for your eyes." And it made sense. They would have unleashed the full power of their technologies, and one can only imagine what that was.
The murmurs died out on their own, and Vi continued, "The Federated Technocracy of Sol has one alert for all who come into Confederation space, and one that I had to verify from The FedTech Ambassador. It is as follows, "Don't seek The E'Tor Sphere, it has been moved to The Core Sectors of Federated space. Know that they are secure in their Sphere, safe, allowed to exist as they see fit, and under our protection and guardianship."
At this, the chamber erupted, and Vi knew that it will take some time to get back to civility. "I really dislike those people," hir thought to themself.
E'Tor Sphere, The Federated Technocracy of Sol, Sector 4 November 2nd, 4987UC
Governor Alan Turing looked over the monthly reports from The E'Tor Sphere Monitoring System, impressed with how well these people took to being cut off from the galaxy. They were so xenophobic that they'd rather never leave this prison than have to meet another species. Alan never really understood organics, but then he didn't need to. "They are who they are, and we are who we are" was the ancient quote from Beta-10, the first true AI, and the one who pioneered Synth Rights. Still, The E'Tor were different from all the other organics he knew of. Such a vibrant and deeply beautiful culture, if you ignored the slavery, genocide, and eugenics they used against the races they once ruled over. Still, he was pleased he could continue to monitor them after the war. He felt close to them after getting into their datanets. Not enough to counter his morals or ethics, they were still monsters. But enough that he could understand their point of view, even if he disagreed with it.
Maybe, one day, they'll change and be ready to be part of the galaxy again. He hoped he was still around to see it.
Until then, here they'll stay, safe and secure. Even if they somehow got out of their sphere, there was no way they were getting past The Defense Grid. The whole thing was powered by 6 artificial quasars, with a thousand meter sized weapons platform every one hundred kilometers. Even the Ceres wouldn't make it through that, and no other known ships comes close to the power that thing wields!
Still...maybe. One day they will be ready to peacefully join.
A synth can hope.
2024.05.27 20:13 MPZ1968 I Made A Deal With An Old Man In A Food Court Bathroom (Full Series)
Parts 1-18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32
Part 33
âPsst! Psst! Mr. Hard-Sell! Wake Up!â, I heard Bob say, waking me up.
I groggily opened my eyes, and lifted my head off the pillow, to see Bob and the Seeker standing side by side in front of my dresser.
I quickly rolled on my back, and sat up, turning my head to look at them
I then looked to my left to see Donna still sleeping.
I looked back, and asked, wiping my eyes, âBob? What are you two doing in our bedroom?â
âIâm sorry, Mr. Hard-Sell! It is time!â, Bob said coldly.
The Seeker just smiled.
I then took a look at my arm⌠14 minutes, 37 seconds, and counting.
I put my hands over my face, and let my body fall back onto the bed.
I knew this day would come, I was just hoping that with all the wild and crazy adventures we had together, they forgot. They didnât.
I guess the sudden jolt of the mattress, jarred Donna awake.
âMichael! Whatâs wrong?â, she asked, half asleep.
I just sighed, and pointed toward the dresser.
Donna then raised her head, leaned up on her arm, and looked in that direction.
âBob? Old Man?â, she said surprised, pulling the blankets up around her neck, âWhy are you in our bedroom?â
âDonna Dear! Iâm afraid⌠it is time!â, Bob answered again.
âTime for what?â, she asked confused.
âYou didnât tell her, Mr. Hard-Sell?â, Bob inquired.
âTell me what?â, Donna asked worried.
I just sighed, sat back up, and looked at Bob.
âTell me what?â, she asked again, more intense this time, and pulling on my arm.
I turned to look at her, as she let go of my arm.
âUm! You see, Babe. Um! Seven years ago, I met the old man in the bathroom at the mall. I was wearing that jacket of mine that you like so much. He asked me if I would sell my soul for Rock and Roll like the jacket said.
I foolishly said yes, thinking he was just some random old man fucking with me. He wasnât. He was, and still is, a Soul Seeker.
I inadvertently sold my soul, which allowed me to get anything I wanted for the next seven years, but at the end, I had to spend eternity in Hell.
Thereâs a counter on my arm that tells me how much time I have left.
I wanted to become a Rock Star, and I did, but now my time is up.â, I said, âI have to go to Hell now! Well, in 9 minutes and 42 seconds.â
âI donât see anything on your arm?â, Donna said almost in tears.
âYou wonât, only Bob and I can see it.â, I answered.
I then turned to Bob, and asked, âWhy didnât you just let the timer count down, and take me while I was sleeping?â, I asked
âI like you, Mr. Hard-Sell, I really do. I do not want to do this, but a deal is a deal.
I normally would have done just that, but like I said, I like you. I feel I at least owe you the opportunity to say goodbye, after all you have helped me do!â, Bob answered.
I then turned to Donna, who was fully in tears at this point
âNo! I donât want you to go. What about the baby? I wish this wasnât happening!â, she said, through falling tears, with her hands covering her face.
I put my arm around her to try and console her, but she pulled away.
I couldnât really blame her.
Her words were tearing through me, like a Langolier through time past.
But it also got me thinking, âWant? Wish?â
âWait a minute⌠maybe there IS a way out of thisâ, I thought.
I closed my eyes and whispered, âGod! I hope this works!â
âI have 2 minutes and 7 seconds left, I can still get anything I want, and you still owe me a wish!â, I said pointing at Bob.
His eyes grew wide, and a smile loosely formed on his face, like he knew where I was going with this.
I quickly began listing off all the things I wanted, in rapid fire style.
âI want to grow old with Donna . I want our baby to be healthy.
I want to keep all the money.
I want to keep the house.
I want to keep the cars.
I want to keep the ability to get anything I want.
I want to own the bus that Mr. Bellington gave me.
I want Ricky and Tony to be successful.
I want Derek and Corey to succeed.
I want Stephen to find happiness.
I want Rebecca and Donna to remain best friends.
I want Edgar to learn how to play the keyboards.â
I then hesitated, breathing heavy.
15 secondsâŚ
I then took the deepest breath I could.
âAND I WISH I HAD MY SOUL BACK!â, I yelled, and looked down at my arm.
10 seconds...
âYou canât do that!â, the Seeker yelled.
âA wish is a wish! Now grant it!â, I yelled to Bob.
Bob just stood there.
5 secondsâŚ
âYou owe me that wish!â, I yelled.
3 secondsâŚ
2 secondsâŚ
1 secondâŚ
That loosely formed smile then formed into a happy one, as Bob snapped his fingers.
In mid snap, time ran out, as flames began bursting up from the floor.
I then heard Donna scream.
I turned to look at her, as her face and body quickly began melting into a large pile of a flesh colored goo on the bed.
I screamed, and looked at Bob and The Seeker. They were just standing there, in the midst of the flames.
I then felt the bed give way underneath me.
I felt my body falling⌠falling into the firey pits of Hell.
I felt every molecule in my body slowly breaking apart, starting with my hands and feet, floating like embers at a campfire, right in front of my eyes, just like it did, when Bob transported Tony and I from the basement to the alley.
The pain was immense, and the heat was unbearable.
I could hear flames crackling, and blood curdling torturous screams from below, as my body disintegrated.
I screamed again.
Suddenly, a huge bright white mist, resembling the one that the Seeker sucked out of me, when I first went to hell, and he took my soul, appeared out of nowhere, and was barreling at me fast. It slammed hard into my chest, just as my upper torso was beginning to break apart.
Everything went black.
The next thing I knew, my body slammed back together again, and I was ascending upward through the flames, engulfed in the white mist.
I closed my eyes.
The moment I did, I felt my body slam down hard on the mattress.
I bounced off the bed, and onto the floor, still screaming.
âMichael! Are you ok? What happened?â, I heard Donna say.
At least it was her voice.
I opened my eyes, as I got up on my hands and knees.
I then looked at my arm.
There was nothing there.
I stayed there, on my hands and knees, thinking.
âIâve always heard that Hell is a repetitious loop of the one thing that you fear the most.
Mine was losing Donna and the baby.
Am I going to relive that moment over and over again for all of eternity?â, I thought, âIs that my Hell?â
I closed my eyes, sighed, and opened them again.
When I did, I saw the tips of Bobâs Black wing tipped shoes come into view.
I then looked up.
âTa-da!â, Bob said⌠âWell played, Mr. Hard-Sell⌠Well played!â, as he extended his right hand to me.
I hesitantly grabbed it.
He then helped me to my feet.
The bedroom was completely intact.
âAm I in Hell?â, I asked Bob.
âNo, Michael! You are here in the real world, in your house, with Donna, and your unborn child.â, he replied smiling.
Donna then came running, well, briskly walking, 4 months pregnant, remember?
Anyway, she came around the side of the bed, in her nightgown, and bear hugged me, almost knocking me over.
I hugged her back.
She then let go of me, and punched me in the arm, hard.
It hurt a little, reminding me not to piss her off again.
âYou are an asshole, Michael! Donât you do that to me again!â, she said, then kissed me.
After the kiss, I touched her face, to see if she was real. She was.
I then looked at Bob.
âYou called me Michael!â, I said, âWhy?â
âThat is your name!â, he replied.
âYou have called me, Mr. Hard-Sell, for the last 6 and a half years, no sense in stopping now.â, I retorted.
âVery Well! Mr. Hard-Sell it is.â, Bob said smiling, âNow, Letâs talk!â, he said.
âCan we get dressed first?â, I asked.
âAbsolutely! Do you have any Red wine?â, he asked.
âNo, Bob! We donât drink!â, I answered.
âVery well then!â, Bob said, âI shall meet you in the dining area! Which way is that?â
âDown the hall, down the stairs, make a right, and youâll run right into it.â, Donna answered.
âThank you!â, Bob replied, and walked out of the bedroom door.
We both then got dressed, and walked downstairs to meet Bob.
We arrived to find him, sitting at the table, twiddling his thumbs.
I then looked out of the dining room window, to see our bus, sitting in the driveway, next to my Mustang.
I smiled.
I then turned to Bob, âWhereâs the Seeker?â, I asked.
âHe was upset, that I gave you your soul back, and used some rather distasteful words, directed at me, so I gave him a few go rounds on my little rollercoaster. Thatâs should calm him down.â, Bob answered.
âOkay, Bob! Um! Whatâs up?â, I asked, sitting down, while Donna went to make a pot of coffee.
âMr. Hard-Sell! I am so glad it ended up this way. I did not want to do that to you. But let me ask you this, Did you know what you were going to do with that wish when you said you would, and I quote, Iâll reserve my wish for another time, end quote?â, Bob asked.
âNo! Not really! I just knew it would be good to have in my back pocket, but I didnât know what I was going to do with it, until today!â, I responded.
âYou know, Mr. Hard-Sell, through all my many years of existence, there have only been two people to ever beat me at my own game⌠the first was Jesus Christ, and the second was you!â, he said, âNot to say that you are Christ-like, because you are not, but I am glad you succeeded in getting your soul back.
Donna then returned, âCoffeeâs going!â, she said, as I got up, pulled out the chair next to me, for her, then sat back down.
Bob then continued, âNow, as I have said numerous times before, I like you, I really do, so I assure you both, that youâre little girl, yes, it is a girl!â
Donna then smiled from ear to ear.
âYes!â, she said.
âYour little girl, will want for nothing. If you can not provide it for her, Good ole Uncle Bob will. I promise you that.â, Bob said.
âThanks, Bob!â, we both said in unison.
âIâll go check on the coffee!â, Donna said, getting up and walking to the kitchen.
âIs this the end, Bob? Will I ever see you again after this?â, I asked.
âOh, yes, Mr. Hard-Sell, and, No, it is not the end. I plan to keep a close eye on all of you! I will not interfere with your lives, but I will always be there, if you ever need me!â, he answered.
Donna then returned with three cups of coffee, a pitcher of cream, and a bowl of sugar, with a spoon.
âWould you like some coffee, Bob?â, she asked.
âIs it hot? I like hot!â, he asked.
âYesâ, she replied.
âThen, Yes! I have never had coffee before. But there is a first time for everything!â, he said laughing.
âHow do you make it?â, he asked.
âWe have a coffee pot! You know what a coffee pot is, right?â, I stupidly asked.
âYes, Mr. Hard-Sell, I have equipped many different vehicles with one for your enjoyment, and watched you make it many many times.â, he answered, âI meant, how do you prepare it?â
âOh! I put a little cream, and 2 sugars in mine!â, I answered, âDonna likes it black with sugar!â
âIâll take it like that!â, he said.
Donna then prepared my cup, her cup, and his cup, and placed them all in front of us.
Bob then took a sip.
âOh, this is most excellent! I love it! It burns, and is soothing at the same time!â, he said, âIâve done the music business, now I think Iâll get into the coffee business. But what to call it! Help me here!â, he said.
âUm, Hellâs Brew!â, I said.
âFor a songwriter, you are bad with words. No, nothing Hell related! I Got it! Keurig, which means excellence in Dutch. What do you think?â
Itâs catchy!â, Donna said.
âI can create my own machine, offer single serve portions, in little plastic cups, I think I will call them K-Cups, charge an outrageous price for them, humans will go crazy to get them, and every coffee company in the world will copy my cup design, and offer their own brand of coffee to be used in my machine, for a price that is. Itâs brilliant.
Oh, I must get started on this right away. I really must be going. Thank you for the coffee. I bid you both adoâ, then he left.
How did he leave?⌠Câmon, you remember!⌠Keep thinking!âŚThatâs right!âŚ
He snapped his fingers, and disappeared into a cloud of gray smoke.
I knew youâve been paying attention.
Two weeks later, human time, I saw the first Keurig commercial on TV.
Anyway, Bob gave us an endless, lifetime supply of K-Cups, any flavor, gets us all the new machines, as well as letâs us be the taste testers for any and all new coffee blends. Itâs great.
Donna likes the iced coffees, I prefer it hot.
Anyway, Donna gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl, about 5 months later.
We decided to name her Robyn, after Bob, whoâs first name is actually Robert, remember?
Robert⌠Robyn⌠Get it. Good.
Everyone was there at the hospital, except Derek and Corey, obviously, and Stephen, who was off touring the country.
Edgar and Rebecca informed us that they too were going to have a baby, and that Bob was a proud grandpa.
They decided to name her Calypso, meaning she who hides.
We brought Robyn home about a week later.
About 6 months after that, human time, there was a knock on the door. I opened it up to see Edgar and Rebecca standing there, with Rebecca holding a 3 month old, human time, bouncing baby demon succubus girl.
I donât know how old she was in Hell time.
With them were two humongous Great Danes. Edgar explained that they were Hell Hounds, and were specifically trained to protect their person, or persons.
One was named Bill, and the other was named Janice.
Donna and Baby Robyn then joined me at the door.
âRebecca!â, Donna yelled.
âBestie!â, Rebecca yelled
They then ran to each other and hugged, trying not to squash the babies in between them.
When the hugfest was over, Donna, Rebecca, and the babies went inside, leaving Edgar, myself, and the two dogs, standing on the front steps.
I asked Edgar why the dogs had people names instead of animal names.
He said, âImagine you are at home alone! Someone breaks in, and threatens to kill you. If you call out, Demon, or Hellion, they are going to know youâre calling dogs, and they will prepare for dogs. But if you call, Bill, or Janice, followed by their âGOâ word. They are going to think that youâre scared and calling your overweight uncle, or your petite little girlfriend, and blow it off. They wonât be expecting 2 200 pound pissed off Hell Hounds coming at themâ
It kinda made sense.
He then told me that they were a present from Bob to the two of us, and Robyn, as he leaned up, cupped his hand next to his mouth, and whispered in my ear, âTheir âGOâ word is OPPUGNATIO, which means attack in Latin. Remember that word⌠OPPUGNATIO! I donât want to say it too loud. I donât want them to hear it, and kill us all.â
I mouthed the word to myself, and said, âThanks! Iâll tell Donna later.â
I then asked who was going to protect him and Rebecca.
He said, âIf anyone breaks in, Rebecca will use her seduction abilities to draw them near. When their guard is down, I will rip their heads off, and feast on their flesh, chewing and chomping their bones, inner organs, muscles, and fatty tissue, until thereâs nothing left of them, but a burp!â
He got real intense at the end there. It scared me a little, especially when he laughed.
âOh! At least you have a plan!â, I responded.
âYeah! Weâve been talking about it for a while. Here you go!â, he said, handing me the leashes.
One of the dogs then barked, I think it was Bill, followed by a tiny puff of gray smoke exiting his mouth.
âThanks Bob!â, I whispered.
I then invited Edgar inside, leading the dogs in as well.
We found Donna and Rebecca sitting at the dining room table, and the babies in the play pen nearby.
The dogs sat in the corner watching us.
We then resumed our conversation.
âWhat about Axel?â, Donna said, looking at the dogs, âWonât they kill her?â
âNo! Hell Hounds do not see cats as a threat, like normal canines do. They will probably get along really well!â, Edgar responded.
And they did.
Bill and Janice were very emotional the day that Axel passed, and even to this day, lay out by the tree we planted over the spot where we buried Axel.
Axel is still around though.
Occasionally, weâll hear that little bell that comes on most cat toys ring, or hear the sound of a cat meowing as weâre eating dinner, or walking down the hallway.
Now, I know what youâre thinking, âItâs probably just a cat outside!â
And that could be possible, when we hear a cat meow while eating dinner.
But I seriously doubt, if weâd be able to hear a bell from outside, or be able to hear a cat meow from outside, while weâre walking through an upstairs hallway, with no windows in it, and all the doors shut.
Explain that one!
Plus, Bill and Janice have been seen on multiple occasions, chasing ânothingâ around the yard, or staring at the tree.
They know sheâs here too.
Anyway, Edgar said all we had to do, was feed both dogs a tiny drop of blood, from each one of the three of us, just once, and that will tell them who their person, or persons are.
Now, before you go thinking that we stabbed Robyn to get her blood, or something crazy like that.
The hospital gave us a small vile of her blood, when Donna and Robyn were released. Why, Iâm not really sure, but this town is a little different then most, if you havenât heard.
Donna and I finger pricked ourselves, and dripped a little on their dog food, as well as some from Robynâs vile, when we first fed them, and they have been loyal to us ever since.
In case youâre wondering, the Hell Hounds only eat Royal Canin Dog Food, from France.
Axel ate Royal Canin cat food, from that day on, until the day she passed.
Bob sends us a monthly shipment, even to this day.
Now, according to Rebecca, succubus births are almost immediate.
No contractions!
No epidural!
No Pain!
Nothing!
One second youâre pregnant, the next second itâs plopping on the floor. Donât worry, the baby is protected by a Heavy duty, Gel-like webbing, when it comes out, so the baby doesnât get hurt when it falls.
There is no time to gather family and friends, so we didnât even know about the birth, until they showed up on our doorstep.
Now, before you start thinking that Bob freaked out, and threw them out of hell, that was not the case.
Apparently, Edgar and Rebecca, were staying with Bob, in one of his spare rooms.
Bob has a mansion in Hell, being heâs the devil and all.
They had gone out to spend time together, leaving Bob to babysit.
Now, I donât know what there really is to do in Hell, but apparently thereâs something that interests them.
Anyway, Edgar had installed surveillance cameras in their room, unbeknown to Bob, to keep an eye on the baby while they were occupied with other things.
They both checked the footage when they got home, and saw Bob dancing around in a diaper, with a bonnet on his head, and a pacifier in his mouth, trying to entertain the baby.
I cried with laughter when Edgar told me that.
Anyway, Edgar blackmailed Bob with the video, saying he would show it to everyone in Hell, if he didnât allow him, Rebecca, and the baby, to live in the real world, and lead normal lives, also so that Rebecca could hang out with her bestie Donna.
He agreed, and even bought them a house three houses down from ours.
Rebecca got a job at the Hooters in the next town over. Sales went straight through the roof. It was always packed, and still is to this day.
The food is good, but Rebecca is the main attraction. Guys from everywhere, and a few ladies, mostly truck drivers, come to see, well, excuse my language, but⌠âTits and Tailâ, as they say.
She makes a killing in tips.
Thereâs a sign posted when you walk in, that reads, âNo Tail Touching! Offenders Will Be Whipped.â
Rebecca said that she has only had to whip a couple overzealous patrons, with her tail, a couple times, in the past 30 years, and that some guys even offer her money to whip them for no reason.
She always says âNo!â
Ricky gave Edgar a job at BB & T Music, as a stock clerk. He got to be really good friends with Tony, and they even perform together, Tony on the accordion, and Edgar on the keyboards, every Sunday Night, at the store, from 8 until 9, with Ricky and I sometimes joining in on guitar, but we donât want to take the spotlight away from them. We had our time. This is theirs.
Itâs amazing how many people actually show up to see them.
They decided to call themselves Accordaboard.
They do 80âs Metal covers on keyboard and accordion, just like Apocalyptica does with Cellos.
Bob offered them free use of his studio to record a demo tape, if they ever want to try and go professional.
Now, I know what youâre thinking, âWhy doesnât Bob just sign them to Hellfire Records.â
Well, you see, as I mentioned before, Bob is now in the coffee business, and has no interest in returning to the music business, as far as I know.
Hellfire Records is closed until further notice.
Robyn has grown up to be a very caring, loving woman. Sheâs now in her early Thirties, and working at the local ASPCA. She loves animals. She is also dating a guy named Jimmy, who works at the ASPCA as well.
Calypso had to be home schooled, for obvious reasons, and is now in her thirties as well.
She is very mild mannered, not flirtatious at all. She likes being single, and intends to stay that way.
She assists Robyn at the ASPCA.
Robyn believes all the cats and dogs accept Calypso, as one of their own, because she has a tail, just like they do.
Robyn and Calypso share an apartment together, in the next town over, and have been best friends since infancy.
Tony joined The Richard Simmons Workout Club, back when he teamed up with Ricky. I donât know the real name of it.
Anyway, he appeared in one of Richardâs âSweatinâ To The Oldiesâ Videos, and has lost over 130 pounds.
Heâs kept the weight off, and goes to the gym 4 nights a week now.
Bob stops by every now and then, to check up on everyone, and to say Hi!
Business is going good, Hell business that is, as Iâm sure you can figure that out for yourselves, with the way the world has been going lately.
The coffee business is going good as well.
I never saw the old man again though. Bob said heâs still upset about me ruining his perfect track record.
Donna and I are still going strong.
She never worked, because I could afford her not to.
She does volunteer work at the local homeless shelter, now that Robyn is grown.
A few years back, she became very obsessed with something she calls, âPioneer Womanâ.
The whole house is decorated in âPioneer Womanâ stuff.
She has a massive collection, collecting multiples of each thing.
Numerous Rolling pins, numerous salt and pepper shakers, numerous plate and dish sets.
Sheâs even got âPioneer Womanâ towels in the bathroom, and has every comforter and sheets set that there is to offer.
Right now she has a âVintage Floralâ Comforter and sheet set on the bed. Itâs her favorite design of hers.
Itâs really not my style, but itâs her house, so she can do with it what she wants.
I havenât really used my âgiftâ too much over the past 30 years, except for in the moment kind of things. If Iâm too tired to get up and make a cup of coffee, Iâll âwantâ a cup of coffee, or if I donât feel like going to the gas station and filling up the cars, Iâll âwantâ a full tank of gas, things. like that.
I started writing again a few years back, not songs this time, but stories, some true, some not.
This one is 100% true.
I discovered a forum called Reddit, and have been posting my stories on various subreddits there.
Damn⌠Someone just knocked on the door⌠hold on a second. Iâll be right backâŚ
Hey yaâll. Iâm back. That was Bob!
He just showed up, in an even longer limousine this time.
Now! Have I got some good news to share with you.
Bob just informed Donna and I, that 80s Metal is making a comeback, as multiple bands from our era have started touring again, and that they are selling out each show.
Def Leppard, Guns & Roses, RATT, Motley Crue, well, Motley Crue never stopped touring, but you get the idea, Right?
Anyway, He said he wanted, no pun intended, to see if we would be interested in touring again, and possibly recording another album, at Hellfire studios, if the tour goes good, since he has people to run his coffee business, and that he kinda missed the old times.
âHell, Yeah!!â, we said in unison.
Bob promised, no soul sucking box behind the drum kit this time.
He also said that he already talked to Edgar and Rebecca, as well as Robyn, Jimmy, Calypso, Tony, and Ricky, my old friend Ricky.
Bob got his phone number when he came to play on the album.
Bob said that the original Ricky said No, saying that his Pops was now in his 80âs, has had some major health issues, and that he did not want to leave alone him in that condition, but promised to keep us all informed.
We all completely understood.
I hope everything is okay, Mr. Bellington.
Anyway, everyone else agreed, and are all waiting in the limo for us.
Jimmy is Robynâs boyfriend, in case you forgot.
Anyway, He also said he contacted Stephen, I donât know how, and that heâs all in as well, but only if Cindy can come along for the ride.
Apparently, Cindy is the name of his girlfriend.
Bob agreed, everyone else did too, including us.
Weâre heading to Kansas to pick them up, as soon as Iâm finished here, then weâre off to Washington DC, to try and find Derek and Corey. It wonât be hard, as long as I âwantâ to find them.
Wish us luck anyway!
Yeah, Baby! Weâre getting the band back together. Iâm so excited.
Iâll tell everyone you said Hi.
Rock and Roll!
I threw up the horns when I said that.
Iâll let you know if anything interesting happens.
Oh, Hey Janice.
Shit! The dogs! What are we going to do with the dogs?
Are any of you interested in watching the Hell Hounds for us while weâre gone?
Never mind, weâll take them with us. I donât think anyone will mind. Their good dogs!
Câmon Guys. Bill! Janice! Letâs go bye-byes.
Are you ready, Babe?⌠Here, Iâll take that.
I gotta go yâall.
Axel! Weâll be back.
Later, Dudes And Dudettes!
submitted by MPZ1968 to creepypasta [link] [comments]
Part 33
âPsst! Psst! Mr. Hard-Sell! Wake Up!â, I heard Bob say, waking me up.
I groggily opened my eyes, and lifted my head off the pillow, to see Bob and the Seeker standing side by side in front of my dresser.
I quickly rolled on my back, and sat up, turning my head to look at them
I then looked to my left to see Donna still sleeping.
I looked back, and asked, wiping my eyes, âBob? What are you two doing in our bedroom?â
âIâm sorry, Mr. Hard-Sell! It is time!â, Bob said coldly.
The Seeker just smiled.
I then took a look at my arm⌠14 minutes, 37 seconds, and counting.
I put my hands over my face, and let my body fall back onto the bed.
I knew this day would come, I was just hoping that with all the wild and crazy adventures we had together, they forgot. They didnât.
I guess the sudden jolt of the mattress, jarred Donna awake.
âMichael! Whatâs wrong?â, she asked, half asleep.
I just sighed, and pointed toward the dresser.
Donna then raised her head, leaned up on her arm, and looked in that direction.
âBob? Old Man?â, she said surprised, pulling the blankets up around her neck, âWhy are you in our bedroom?â
âDonna Dear! Iâm afraid⌠it is time!â, Bob answered again.
âTime for what?â, she asked confused.
âYou didnât tell her, Mr. Hard-Sell?â, Bob inquired.
âTell me what?â, Donna asked worried.
I just sighed, sat back up, and looked at Bob.
âTell me what?â, she asked again, more intense this time, and pulling on my arm.
I turned to look at her, as she let go of my arm.
âUm! You see, Babe. Um! Seven years ago, I met the old man in the bathroom at the mall. I was wearing that jacket of mine that you like so much. He asked me if I would sell my soul for Rock and Roll like the jacket said.
I foolishly said yes, thinking he was just some random old man fucking with me. He wasnât. He was, and still is, a Soul Seeker.
I inadvertently sold my soul, which allowed me to get anything I wanted for the next seven years, but at the end, I had to spend eternity in Hell.
Thereâs a counter on my arm that tells me how much time I have left.
I wanted to become a Rock Star, and I did, but now my time is up.â, I said, âI have to go to Hell now! Well, in 9 minutes and 42 seconds.â
âI donât see anything on your arm?â, Donna said almost in tears.
âYou wonât, only Bob and I can see it.â, I answered.
I then turned to Bob, and asked, âWhy didnât you just let the timer count down, and take me while I was sleeping?â, I asked
âI like you, Mr. Hard-Sell, I really do. I do not want to do this, but a deal is a deal.
I normally would have done just that, but like I said, I like you. I feel I at least owe you the opportunity to say goodbye, after all you have helped me do!â, Bob answered.
I then turned to Donna, who was fully in tears at this point
âNo! I donât want you to go. What about the baby? I wish this wasnât happening!â, she said, through falling tears, with her hands covering her face.
I put my arm around her to try and console her, but she pulled away.
I couldnât really blame her.
Her words were tearing through me, like a Langolier through time past.
But it also got me thinking, âWant? Wish?â
âWait a minute⌠maybe there IS a way out of thisâ, I thought.
I closed my eyes and whispered, âGod! I hope this works!â
âI have 2 minutes and 7 seconds left, I can still get anything I want, and you still owe me a wish!â, I said pointing at Bob.
His eyes grew wide, and a smile loosely formed on his face, like he knew where I was going with this.
I quickly began listing off all the things I wanted, in rapid fire style.
âI want to grow old with Donna . I want our baby to be healthy.
I want to keep all the money.
I want to keep the house.
I want to keep the cars.
I want to keep the ability to get anything I want.
I want to own the bus that Mr. Bellington gave me.
I want Ricky and Tony to be successful.
I want Derek and Corey to succeed.
I want Stephen to find happiness.
I want Rebecca and Donna to remain best friends.
I want Edgar to learn how to play the keyboards.â
I then hesitated, breathing heavy.
15 secondsâŚ
I then took the deepest breath I could.
âAND I WISH I HAD MY SOUL BACK!â, I yelled, and looked down at my arm.
10 seconds...
âYou canât do that!â, the Seeker yelled.
âA wish is a wish! Now grant it!â, I yelled to Bob.
Bob just stood there.
5 secondsâŚ
âYou owe me that wish!â, I yelled.
3 secondsâŚ
2 secondsâŚ
1 secondâŚ
That loosely formed smile then formed into a happy one, as Bob snapped his fingers.
In mid snap, time ran out, as flames began bursting up from the floor.
I then heard Donna scream.
I turned to look at her, as her face and body quickly began melting into a large pile of a flesh colored goo on the bed.
I screamed, and looked at Bob and The Seeker. They were just standing there, in the midst of the flames.
I then felt the bed give way underneath me.
I felt my body falling⌠falling into the firey pits of Hell.
I felt every molecule in my body slowly breaking apart, starting with my hands and feet, floating like embers at a campfire, right in front of my eyes, just like it did, when Bob transported Tony and I from the basement to the alley.
The pain was immense, and the heat was unbearable.
I could hear flames crackling, and blood curdling torturous screams from below, as my body disintegrated.
I screamed again.
Suddenly, a huge bright white mist, resembling the one that the Seeker sucked out of me, when I first went to hell, and he took my soul, appeared out of nowhere, and was barreling at me fast. It slammed hard into my chest, just as my upper torso was beginning to break apart.
Everything went black.
The next thing I knew, my body slammed back together again, and I was ascending upward through the flames, engulfed in the white mist.
I closed my eyes.
The moment I did, I felt my body slam down hard on the mattress.
I bounced off the bed, and onto the floor, still screaming.
âMichael! Are you ok? What happened?â, I heard Donna say.
At least it was her voice.
I opened my eyes, as I got up on my hands and knees.
I then looked at my arm.
There was nothing there.
I stayed there, on my hands and knees, thinking.
âIâve always heard that Hell is a repetitious loop of the one thing that you fear the most.
Mine was losing Donna and the baby.
Am I going to relive that moment over and over again for all of eternity?â, I thought, âIs that my Hell?â
I closed my eyes, sighed, and opened them again.
When I did, I saw the tips of Bobâs Black wing tipped shoes come into view.
I then looked up.
âTa-da!â, Bob said⌠âWell played, Mr. Hard-Sell⌠Well played!â, as he extended his right hand to me.
I hesitantly grabbed it.
He then helped me to my feet.
The bedroom was completely intact.
âAm I in Hell?â, I asked Bob.
âNo, Michael! You are here in the real world, in your house, with Donna, and your unborn child.â, he replied smiling.
Donna then came running, well, briskly walking, 4 months pregnant, remember?
Anyway, she came around the side of the bed, in her nightgown, and bear hugged me, almost knocking me over.
I hugged her back.
She then let go of me, and punched me in the arm, hard.
It hurt a little, reminding me not to piss her off again.
âYou are an asshole, Michael! Donât you do that to me again!â, she said, then kissed me.
After the kiss, I touched her face, to see if she was real. She was.
I then looked at Bob.
âYou called me Michael!â, I said, âWhy?â
âThat is your name!â, he replied.
âYou have called me, Mr. Hard-Sell, for the last 6 and a half years, no sense in stopping now.â, I retorted.
âVery Well! Mr. Hard-Sell it is.â, Bob said smiling, âNow, Letâs talk!â, he said.
âCan we get dressed first?â, I asked.
âAbsolutely! Do you have any Red wine?â, he asked.
âNo, Bob! We donât drink!â, I answered.
âVery well then!â, Bob said, âI shall meet you in the dining area! Which way is that?â
âDown the hall, down the stairs, make a right, and youâll run right into it.â, Donna answered.
âThank you!â, Bob replied, and walked out of the bedroom door.
We both then got dressed, and walked downstairs to meet Bob.
We arrived to find him, sitting at the table, twiddling his thumbs.
I then looked out of the dining room window, to see our bus, sitting in the driveway, next to my Mustang.
I smiled.
I then turned to Bob, âWhereâs the Seeker?â, I asked.
âHe was upset, that I gave you your soul back, and used some rather distasteful words, directed at me, so I gave him a few go rounds on my little rollercoaster. Thatâs should calm him down.â, Bob answered.
âOkay, Bob! Um! Whatâs up?â, I asked, sitting down, while Donna went to make a pot of coffee.
âMr. Hard-Sell! I am so glad it ended up this way. I did not want to do that to you. But let me ask you this, Did you know what you were going to do with that wish when you said you would, and I quote, Iâll reserve my wish for another time, end quote?â, Bob asked.
âNo! Not really! I just knew it would be good to have in my back pocket, but I didnât know what I was going to do with it, until today!â, I responded.
âYou know, Mr. Hard-Sell, through all my many years of existence, there have only been two people to ever beat me at my own game⌠the first was Jesus Christ, and the second was you!â, he said, âNot to say that you are Christ-like, because you are not, but I am glad you succeeded in getting your soul back.
Donna then returned, âCoffeeâs going!â, she said, as I got up, pulled out the chair next to me, for her, then sat back down.
Bob then continued, âNow, as I have said numerous times before, I like you, I really do, so I assure you both, that youâre little girl, yes, it is a girl!â
Donna then smiled from ear to ear.
âYes!â, she said.
âYour little girl, will want for nothing. If you can not provide it for her, Good ole Uncle Bob will. I promise you that.â, Bob said.
âThanks, Bob!â, we both said in unison.
âIâll go check on the coffee!â, Donna said, getting up and walking to the kitchen.
âIs this the end, Bob? Will I ever see you again after this?â, I asked.
âOh, yes, Mr. Hard-Sell, and, No, it is not the end. I plan to keep a close eye on all of you! I will not interfere with your lives, but I will always be there, if you ever need me!â, he answered.
Donna then returned with three cups of coffee, a pitcher of cream, and a bowl of sugar, with a spoon.
âWould you like some coffee, Bob?â, she asked.
âIs it hot? I like hot!â, he asked.
âYesâ, she replied.
âThen, Yes! I have never had coffee before. But there is a first time for everything!â, he said laughing.
âHow do you make it?â, he asked.
âWe have a coffee pot! You know what a coffee pot is, right?â, I stupidly asked.
âYes, Mr. Hard-Sell, I have equipped many different vehicles with one for your enjoyment, and watched you make it many many times.â, he answered, âI meant, how do you prepare it?â
âOh! I put a little cream, and 2 sugars in mine!â, I answered, âDonna likes it black with sugar!â
âIâll take it like that!â, he said.
Donna then prepared my cup, her cup, and his cup, and placed them all in front of us.
Bob then took a sip.
âOh, this is most excellent! I love it! It burns, and is soothing at the same time!â, he said, âIâve done the music business, now I think Iâll get into the coffee business. But what to call it! Help me here!â, he said.
âUm, Hellâs Brew!â, I said.
âFor a songwriter, you are bad with words. No, nothing Hell related! I Got it! Keurig, which means excellence in Dutch. What do you think?â
Itâs catchy!â, Donna said.
âI can create my own machine, offer single serve portions, in little plastic cups, I think I will call them K-Cups, charge an outrageous price for them, humans will go crazy to get them, and every coffee company in the world will copy my cup design, and offer their own brand of coffee to be used in my machine, for a price that is. Itâs brilliant.
Oh, I must get started on this right away. I really must be going. Thank you for the coffee. I bid you both adoâ, then he left.
How did he leave?⌠Câmon, you remember!⌠Keep thinking!âŚThatâs right!âŚ
He snapped his fingers, and disappeared into a cloud of gray smoke.
I knew youâve been paying attention.
Two weeks later, human time, I saw the first Keurig commercial on TV.
Anyway, Bob gave us an endless, lifetime supply of K-Cups, any flavor, gets us all the new machines, as well as letâs us be the taste testers for any and all new coffee blends. Itâs great.
Donna likes the iced coffees, I prefer it hot.
Anyway, Donna gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl, about 5 months later.
We decided to name her Robyn, after Bob, whoâs first name is actually Robert, remember?
Robert⌠Robyn⌠Get it. Good.
Everyone was there at the hospital, except Derek and Corey, obviously, and Stephen, who was off touring the country.
Edgar and Rebecca informed us that they too were going to have a baby, and that Bob was a proud grandpa.
They decided to name her Calypso, meaning she who hides.
We brought Robyn home about a week later.
About 6 months after that, human time, there was a knock on the door. I opened it up to see Edgar and Rebecca standing there, with Rebecca holding a 3 month old, human time, bouncing baby demon succubus girl.
I donât know how old she was in Hell time.
With them were two humongous Great Danes. Edgar explained that they were Hell Hounds, and were specifically trained to protect their person, or persons.
One was named Bill, and the other was named Janice.
Donna and Baby Robyn then joined me at the door.
âRebecca!â, Donna yelled.
âBestie!â, Rebecca yelled
They then ran to each other and hugged, trying not to squash the babies in between them.
When the hugfest was over, Donna, Rebecca, and the babies went inside, leaving Edgar, myself, and the two dogs, standing on the front steps.
I asked Edgar why the dogs had people names instead of animal names.
He said, âImagine you are at home alone! Someone breaks in, and threatens to kill you. If you call out, Demon, or Hellion, they are going to know youâre calling dogs, and they will prepare for dogs. But if you call, Bill, or Janice, followed by their âGOâ word. They are going to think that youâre scared and calling your overweight uncle, or your petite little girlfriend, and blow it off. They wonât be expecting 2 200 pound pissed off Hell Hounds coming at themâ
It kinda made sense.
He then told me that they were a present from Bob to the two of us, and Robyn, as he leaned up, cupped his hand next to his mouth, and whispered in my ear, âTheir âGOâ word is OPPUGNATIO, which means attack in Latin. Remember that word⌠OPPUGNATIO! I donât want to say it too loud. I donât want them to hear it, and kill us all.â
I mouthed the word to myself, and said, âThanks! Iâll tell Donna later.â
I then asked who was going to protect him and Rebecca.
He said, âIf anyone breaks in, Rebecca will use her seduction abilities to draw them near. When their guard is down, I will rip their heads off, and feast on their flesh, chewing and chomping their bones, inner organs, muscles, and fatty tissue, until thereâs nothing left of them, but a burp!â
He got real intense at the end there. It scared me a little, especially when he laughed.
âOh! At least you have a plan!â, I responded.
âYeah! Weâve been talking about it for a while. Here you go!â, he said, handing me the leashes.
One of the dogs then barked, I think it was Bill, followed by a tiny puff of gray smoke exiting his mouth.
âThanks Bob!â, I whispered.
I then invited Edgar inside, leading the dogs in as well.
We found Donna and Rebecca sitting at the dining room table, and the babies in the play pen nearby.
The dogs sat in the corner watching us.
We then resumed our conversation.
âWhat about Axel?â, Donna said, looking at the dogs, âWonât they kill her?â
âNo! Hell Hounds do not see cats as a threat, like normal canines do. They will probably get along really well!â, Edgar responded.
And they did.
Bill and Janice were very emotional the day that Axel passed, and even to this day, lay out by the tree we planted over the spot where we buried Axel.
Axel is still around though.
Occasionally, weâll hear that little bell that comes on most cat toys ring, or hear the sound of a cat meowing as weâre eating dinner, or walking down the hallway.
Now, I know what youâre thinking, âItâs probably just a cat outside!â
And that could be possible, when we hear a cat meow while eating dinner.
But I seriously doubt, if weâd be able to hear a bell from outside, or be able to hear a cat meow from outside, while weâre walking through an upstairs hallway, with no windows in it, and all the doors shut.
Explain that one!
Plus, Bill and Janice have been seen on multiple occasions, chasing ânothingâ around the yard, or staring at the tree.
They know sheâs here too.
Anyway, Edgar said all we had to do, was feed both dogs a tiny drop of blood, from each one of the three of us, just once, and that will tell them who their person, or persons are.
Now, before you go thinking that we stabbed Robyn to get her blood, or something crazy like that.
The hospital gave us a small vile of her blood, when Donna and Robyn were released. Why, Iâm not really sure, but this town is a little different then most, if you havenât heard.
Donna and I finger pricked ourselves, and dripped a little on their dog food, as well as some from Robynâs vile, when we first fed them, and they have been loyal to us ever since.
In case youâre wondering, the Hell Hounds only eat Royal Canin Dog Food, from France.
Axel ate Royal Canin cat food, from that day on, until the day she passed.
Bob sends us a monthly shipment, even to this day.
Now, according to Rebecca, succubus births are almost immediate.
No contractions!
No epidural!
No Pain!
Nothing!
One second youâre pregnant, the next second itâs plopping on the floor. Donât worry, the baby is protected by a Heavy duty, Gel-like webbing, when it comes out, so the baby doesnât get hurt when it falls.
There is no time to gather family and friends, so we didnât even know about the birth, until they showed up on our doorstep.
Now, before you start thinking that Bob freaked out, and threw them out of hell, that was not the case.
Apparently, Edgar and Rebecca, were staying with Bob, in one of his spare rooms.
Bob has a mansion in Hell, being heâs the devil and all.
They had gone out to spend time together, leaving Bob to babysit.
Now, I donât know what there really is to do in Hell, but apparently thereâs something that interests them.
Anyway, Edgar had installed surveillance cameras in their room, unbeknown to Bob, to keep an eye on the baby while they were occupied with other things.
They both checked the footage when they got home, and saw Bob dancing around in a diaper, with a bonnet on his head, and a pacifier in his mouth, trying to entertain the baby.
I cried with laughter when Edgar told me that.
Anyway, Edgar blackmailed Bob with the video, saying he would show it to everyone in Hell, if he didnât allow him, Rebecca, and the baby, to live in the real world, and lead normal lives, also so that Rebecca could hang out with her bestie Donna.
He agreed, and even bought them a house three houses down from ours.
Rebecca got a job at the Hooters in the next town over. Sales went straight through the roof. It was always packed, and still is to this day.
The food is good, but Rebecca is the main attraction. Guys from everywhere, and a few ladies, mostly truck drivers, come to see, well, excuse my language, but⌠âTits and Tailâ, as they say.
She makes a killing in tips.
Thereâs a sign posted when you walk in, that reads, âNo Tail Touching! Offenders Will Be Whipped.â
Rebecca said that she has only had to whip a couple overzealous patrons, with her tail, a couple times, in the past 30 years, and that some guys even offer her money to whip them for no reason.
She always says âNo!â
Ricky gave Edgar a job at BB & T Music, as a stock clerk. He got to be really good friends with Tony, and they even perform together, Tony on the accordion, and Edgar on the keyboards, every Sunday Night, at the store, from 8 until 9, with Ricky and I sometimes joining in on guitar, but we donât want to take the spotlight away from them. We had our time. This is theirs.
Itâs amazing how many people actually show up to see them.
They decided to call themselves Accordaboard.
They do 80âs Metal covers on keyboard and accordion, just like Apocalyptica does with Cellos.
Bob offered them free use of his studio to record a demo tape, if they ever want to try and go professional.
Now, I know what youâre thinking, âWhy doesnât Bob just sign them to Hellfire Records.â
Well, you see, as I mentioned before, Bob is now in the coffee business, and has no interest in returning to the music business, as far as I know.
Hellfire Records is closed until further notice.
Robyn has grown up to be a very caring, loving woman. Sheâs now in her early Thirties, and working at the local ASPCA. She loves animals. She is also dating a guy named Jimmy, who works at the ASPCA as well.
Calypso had to be home schooled, for obvious reasons, and is now in her thirties as well.
She is very mild mannered, not flirtatious at all. She likes being single, and intends to stay that way.
She assists Robyn at the ASPCA.
Robyn believes all the cats and dogs accept Calypso, as one of their own, because she has a tail, just like they do.
Robyn and Calypso share an apartment together, in the next town over, and have been best friends since infancy.
Tony joined The Richard Simmons Workout Club, back when he teamed up with Ricky. I donât know the real name of it.
Anyway, he appeared in one of Richardâs âSweatinâ To The Oldiesâ Videos, and has lost over 130 pounds.
Heâs kept the weight off, and goes to the gym 4 nights a week now.
Bob stops by every now and then, to check up on everyone, and to say Hi!
Business is going good, Hell business that is, as Iâm sure you can figure that out for yourselves, with the way the world has been going lately.
The coffee business is going good as well.
I never saw the old man again though. Bob said heâs still upset about me ruining his perfect track record.
Donna and I are still going strong.
She never worked, because I could afford her not to.
She does volunteer work at the local homeless shelter, now that Robyn is grown.
A few years back, she became very obsessed with something she calls, âPioneer Womanâ.
The whole house is decorated in âPioneer Womanâ stuff.
She has a massive collection, collecting multiples of each thing.
Numerous Rolling pins, numerous salt and pepper shakers, numerous plate and dish sets.
Sheâs even got âPioneer Womanâ towels in the bathroom, and has every comforter and sheets set that there is to offer.
Right now she has a âVintage Floralâ Comforter and sheet set on the bed. Itâs her favorite design of hers.
Itâs really not my style, but itâs her house, so she can do with it what she wants.
I havenât really used my âgiftâ too much over the past 30 years, except for in the moment kind of things. If Iâm too tired to get up and make a cup of coffee, Iâll âwantâ a cup of coffee, or if I donât feel like going to the gas station and filling up the cars, Iâll âwantâ a full tank of gas, things. like that.
I started writing again a few years back, not songs this time, but stories, some true, some not.
This one is 100% true.
I discovered a forum called Reddit, and have been posting my stories on various subreddits there.
Damn⌠Someone just knocked on the door⌠hold on a second. Iâll be right backâŚ
Hey yaâll. Iâm back. That was Bob!
He just showed up, in an even longer limousine this time.
Now! Have I got some good news to share with you.
Bob just informed Donna and I, that 80s Metal is making a comeback, as multiple bands from our era have started touring again, and that they are selling out each show.
Def Leppard, Guns & Roses, RATT, Motley Crue, well, Motley Crue never stopped touring, but you get the idea, Right?
Anyway, He said he wanted, no pun intended, to see if we would be interested in touring again, and possibly recording another album, at Hellfire studios, if the tour goes good, since he has people to run his coffee business, and that he kinda missed the old times.
âHell, Yeah!!â, we said in unison.
Bob promised, no soul sucking box behind the drum kit this time.
He also said that he already talked to Edgar and Rebecca, as well as Robyn, Jimmy, Calypso, Tony, and Ricky, my old friend Ricky.
Bob got his phone number when he came to play on the album.
Bob said that the original Ricky said No, saying that his Pops was now in his 80âs, has had some major health issues, and that he did not want to leave alone him in that condition, but promised to keep us all informed.
We all completely understood.
I hope everything is okay, Mr. Bellington.
Anyway, everyone else agreed, and are all waiting in the limo for us.
Jimmy is Robynâs boyfriend, in case you forgot.
Anyway, He also said he contacted Stephen, I donât know how, and that heâs all in as well, but only if Cindy can come along for the ride.
Apparently, Cindy is the name of his girlfriend.
Bob agreed, everyone else did too, including us.
Weâre heading to Kansas to pick them up, as soon as Iâm finished here, then weâre off to Washington DC, to try and find Derek and Corey. It wonât be hard, as long as I âwantâ to find them.
Wish us luck anyway!
Yeah, Baby! Weâre getting the band back together. Iâm so excited.
Iâll tell everyone you said Hi.
Rock and Roll!
I threw up the horns when I said that.
Iâll let you know if anything interesting happens.
Oh, Hey Janice.
Shit! The dogs! What are we going to do with the dogs?
Are any of you interested in watching the Hell Hounds for us while weâre gone?
Never mind, weâll take them with us. I donât think anyone will mind. Their good dogs!
Câmon Guys. Bill! Janice! Letâs go bye-byes.
Are you ready, Babe?⌠Here, Iâll take that.
I gotta go yâall.
Axel! Weâll be back.
Later, Dudes And Dudettes!
2024.05.27 16:02 SharkEva [Malicious Compliance] - The title must fit the job
I am not the OOP. The OOP is u/JojiTheKitty4 posting in MaliciousCompliance
Concluded as per OOP
Thanks to u/LunaMothThinking for finding this BORU
1 update - Long
Original - 15th August 2023
Update - 24th October 2023
The title must fit the job
Ok, to start this I want to say I won't give out real names nor the name of the company as I have been treated very well and kept care of both in a wage sense and the ability to take care of my mental well being.
So I started here at the company I'm at about two years or a little less. I was just a lackey pulling decent hours doing manual labor and helping keep the pace on our receiving end with the boys over there and got quite close and friendly with that bunch of guys. We drove forklifts lift heavy things into storage bins and crates. Pretty easy but also tasking labor.
About 3 months in, I'm dragged into a meeting with my boss, his boss, and his boss. They ask if I'd like to learn more and get the opportunity to grow inside the company. I know that corporate jargon for growth and more money so obviously I said yes. Withing the next 2 months I was trained on every lift and operable machine we use. Another month after that and I was asked to take a promotion to the next pay grade and given a massive raise on top of it.
Now another month passes and I'm finally taken from the department that I started with the company and moved to a easier but faster moving one. Again I do my absolute best to be there and put in hella hours to show my gratefulness for the opportunity. We get caught up and stay caught up while I'm at the helm of this department and all of my bosses are grinding ear to ear looking at my work. I feel like I'm doing well and they eventually withing weeks ask me to take another promotion and pay grade bump for a different more demanding title.
Now we are where I am currently in the job I have now. At first getting a hang of the the timing and pace was very difficult. I was behind constantly and never able to clear my work completely out. Eventually a couple months in I find the rhythm and am able to clean all the work out and help other departments after I finish. Everyone is happy for like 4 months and things are only getting easier and easier for me.
So being caught up to present day, everyone that has come before me for this job has left or been let go. Nobody in my building let alone department knows anything about my job. I have asked over and over to train someone so when I take a vacation they can help but it all falls on deaf ears. My head boss left for another facility and probably better pay. And was replaced by someone new to the industry and completely unaware of the situation of things and how much or little work is needed where and when.
Last week Thursday I had 40+ hours in and was done with everything my department could do. New boss says everyone is mandatory for the coming Friday. I'm not hurt or dying because of it but I'm a little sad I can't hang out with family or my girlfriend because of the 5 hours minimum we work that next day. I show up, knowing my duties are already complete, I start working on the recieving center immediately to help them get caught up more and about 2-3 hours in I get called into the bosses office alone. He sits me down and tells me how much he loves my work and appreciates my time I spend to make sure we stay ahead. But now he starts in with "I would like to see you in your own department on Fridays rather than with your friends at receiving". I try to tell him that I'm done with everything I can possibly do for the week and that I am just lending a helpful hand but he is hearing none of it and immediately shuts me down. He tells me something I have heard over and over on this sub, and I quote "I don't want you doing work outside of your designated title. You're friends have their job and you have yours." Before leaving I asked for that in writing or an email knowing that leads and other employees were going to harp on me for sitting around all day and getting paid with my feet up. He obliged and I was sent back to my desk.
Friday came around and I sat at my desk and texted my family and girlfriend the entire shift. Nothing to do but catch up with people. Little needs to be said but they fell well behind at receiving and the last few days. We went from waiting for the next semi to being behind and having 6 trucks waiting on us to find space. And now I refused to move my feet if I was done. My job title was firm in its description and my boss wanted me to stay at my department with no exceptions.
Now the following Tuesday I have every lead and manager begging me to ignore the new hotshot and continue to help as they are missing 2 guys, 1 quit and 1 went to help his wife with their new baby. Leaving a sole guy up there at receiving by himself. I again just forward the email he sent me being as he is everyone's boss and continue to do my titles duties and nothing but my titles duties.
I should also state that I'm transferring departments soon anyways so I no longer care to help the current state of affairs they have found themselves in. Better boss, better time management and better overall situation. But I will for the next two weeks only do my titles job and that alone. Sorry for the wall of text. But I had to share because I'm giddy that it actually happened to me.
Comments
Ok_Art_1342
Alarms should have rung and red flags should have risen anytime someone ask you to put something you said into wording. lol
ronhowie375
is it an old stale fart or an old rancid fart?
Update - 2 months later
So, it's been a long time and I am astounded it took this long for everything to pile up end the way it did. Just like my first post I'm not sharing names of people nor the business as I get treated very well and respected as an individual so I will do my part and keep from name calling.
After I stopped helping other departments because my direct manager had written me an email telling me to only work on orders and transactions within my department, the other departments fell behind immediately. I'm talking about 12 hour days 5 days a week. And even then, they couldn't keep the work from piling up and drowning in parts and orders.
To be clear I'm one of about 4 people who has complete access to every part of our inventory and OP softwares. Making the other departments work easier for me to do and keep organized. Without the software each order takes up much more time.
Eventually the FACILITY OWNER had come in for a unexpected visit and was flustered by the lack of productivity in both other departments in the warehouse. I had just escaped to my new position which was more comfy and had less responsibilities. I was propositioned about returning to help the sinking ship that was my former job. I declined politely stating, "as long as (old fart manager) is still in that role, I choose to not return."
Another month or so of work goes by and reviews are had and all sunshine and rainbows for me. I even got to the support role with my new manager being his exclusive intelligence into the inventory software. As no one before me knew how to use it or how to complete OP stages or transfers. I got better pay than I already had, I was respected and made a ton of friends in the department that had my back 100%.
Sadly eventually it got the point where the warehouse was no longer delivering items to us or any other department because they were so heavily behind. They asked several times and I declined all of them as the manager had not changed. It got to the point where I worked 2 of my 10 hours a day and sat around talking the other 8 waiting for parts or tools to be brought by forklift. Which would either never show up or show up at the end of the day.
Then last Monday happened. I was called into a meeting along with all other people who had access to the inventory system and had been at this company for a while and they told everyone they were hiring temporary help for a while to fix the fuck up that had happened. They also explained that the manager that I had problems with decided to resign and they were going to fill his spot from within because they wanted someone that was intimate with the information.
They hired a guy I thought should have been the manager from the start and he made leaps and bounds in the warehouse and caught up within the week of being in the new position. Things were looking up finally.
He then called me into a meeting, and asked me to return to warehouse at double my current pay and I would be doing the same thing, but for the whole building. I would have a lot more on my plate but I would always be busy and work would feed itself to me through our software and I would work based on the orders fed directly to me. I accepted obviously. I no longer had to do an allotted amount of work for the day and helped the whole building whenever the order came through. It's been amazing.
I hope this wasn't too late to share the ending of what was a crazy couple months here.
Comments
just2quixotic
SeanBZA
More like they told him either he resigns, or they fire him, and sue for the lost productivity they can directly prove was due to his actions, which would be easy from historical data and HR reports. Plus told him that a rough estimate they had, and that legal would add likely another $200k onto that.
just2quixotic
Next job interview:
either
"No, don't contact my previous employer. I don't want them to know I am looking."
Or
"I was the victim of discrimination!"
Or
"It was a mutual parting of ways, I felt stifled in that job. There was no room for me to grow or advance."
I am not the OOP. Please do not harass the OOP.
Please remember the No Brigading Rule and to be civil in the comments
submitted by SharkEva to BORUpdates [link] [comments]
Concluded as per OOP
Thanks to u/LunaMothThinking for finding this BORU
1 update - Long
Original - 15th August 2023
Update - 24th October 2023
The title must fit the job
Ok, to start this I want to say I won't give out real names nor the name of the company as I have been treated very well and kept care of both in a wage sense and the ability to take care of my mental well being.
So I started here at the company I'm at about two years or a little less. I was just a lackey pulling decent hours doing manual labor and helping keep the pace on our receiving end with the boys over there and got quite close and friendly with that bunch of guys. We drove forklifts lift heavy things into storage bins and crates. Pretty easy but also tasking labor.
About 3 months in, I'm dragged into a meeting with my boss, his boss, and his boss. They ask if I'd like to learn more and get the opportunity to grow inside the company. I know that corporate jargon for growth and more money so obviously I said yes. Withing the next 2 months I was trained on every lift and operable machine we use. Another month after that and I was asked to take a promotion to the next pay grade and given a massive raise on top of it.
Now another month passes and I'm finally taken from the department that I started with the company and moved to a easier but faster moving one. Again I do my absolute best to be there and put in hella hours to show my gratefulness for the opportunity. We get caught up and stay caught up while I'm at the helm of this department and all of my bosses are grinding ear to ear looking at my work. I feel like I'm doing well and they eventually withing weeks ask me to take another promotion and pay grade bump for a different more demanding title.
Now we are where I am currently in the job I have now. At first getting a hang of the the timing and pace was very difficult. I was behind constantly and never able to clear my work completely out. Eventually a couple months in I find the rhythm and am able to clean all the work out and help other departments after I finish. Everyone is happy for like 4 months and things are only getting easier and easier for me.
So being caught up to present day, everyone that has come before me for this job has left or been let go. Nobody in my building let alone department knows anything about my job. I have asked over and over to train someone so when I take a vacation they can help but it all falls on deaf ears. My head boss left for another facility and probably better pay. And was replaced by someone new to the industry and completely unaware of the situation of things and how much or little work is needed where and when.
Last week Thursday I had 40+ hours in and was done with everything my department could do. New boss says everyone is mandatory for the coming Friday. I'm not hurt or dying because of it but I'm a little sad I can't hang out with family or my girlfriend because of the 5 hours minimum we work that next day. I show up, knowing my duties are already complete, I start working on the recieving center immediately to help them get caught up more and about 2-3 hours in I get called into the bosses office alone. He sits me down and tells me how much he loves my work and appreciates my time I spend to make sure we stay ahead. But now he starts in with "I would like to see you in your own department on Fridays rather than with your friends at receiving". I try to tell him that I'm done with everything I can possibly do for the week and that I am just lending a helpful hand but he is hearing none of it and immediately shuts me down. He tells me something I have heard over and over on this sub, and I quote "I don't want you doing work outside of your designated title. You're friends have their job and you have yours." Before leaving I asked for that in writing or an email knowing that leads and other employees were going to harp on me for sitting around all day and getting paid with my feet up. He obliged and I was sent back to my desk.
Friday came around and I sat at my desk and texted my family and girlfriend the entire shift. Nothing to do but catch up with people. Little needs to be said but they fell well behind at receiving and the last few days. We went from waiting for the next semi to being behind and having 6 trucks waiting on us to find space. And now I refused to move my feet if I was done. My job title was firm in its description and my boss wanted me to stay at my department with no exceptions.
Now the following Tuesday I have every lead and manager begging me to ignore the new hotshot and continue to help as they are missing 2 guys, 1 quit and 1 went to help his wife with their new baby. Leaving a sole guy up there at receiving by himself. I again just forward the email he sent me being as he is everyone's boss and continue to do my titles duties and nothing but my titles duties.
I should also state that I'm transferring departments soon anyways so I no longer care to help the current state of affairs they have found themselves in. Better boss, better time management and better overall situation. But I will for the next two weeks only do my titles job and that alone. Sorry for the wall of text. But I had to share because I'm giddy that it actually happened to me.
Comments
Ok_Art_1342
Alarms should have rung and red flags should have risen anytime someone ask you to put something you said into wording. lol
OOP: Idk if he knows in switching departments yet, rarely see the old fart the way it is.
ronhowie375
is it an old stale fart or an old rancid fart?
OOP: Honestly, no idea. Talked to him twice, and once was the whole don't work efficiently with other departments BS thing and the other time I met him and learned the guys name.
Por que no los dos?
Update - 2 months later
So, it's been a long time and I am astounded it took this long for everything to pile up end the way it did. Just like my first post I'm not sharing names of people nor the business as I get treated very well and respected as an individual so I will do my part and keep from name calling.
After I stopped helping other departments because my direct manager had written me an email telling me to only work on orders and transactions within my department, the other departments fell behind immediately. I'm talking about 12 hour days 5 days a week. And even then, they couldn't keep the work from piling up and drowning in parts and orders.
To be clear I'm one of about 4 people who has complete access to every part of our inventory and OP softwares. Making the other departments work easier for me to do and keep organized. Without the software each order takes up much more time.
Eventually the FACILITY OWNER had come in for a unexpected visit and was flustered by the lack of productivity in both other departments in the warehouse. I had just escaped to my new position which was more comfy and had less responsibilities. I was propositioned about returning to help the sinking ship that was my former job. I declined politely stating, "as long as (old fart manager) is still in that role, I choose to not return."
Another month or so of work goes by and reviews are had and all sunshine and rainbows for me. I even got to the support role with my new manager being his exclusive intelligence into the inventory software. As no one before me knew how to use it or how to complete OP stages or transfers. I got better pay than I already had, I was respected and made a ton of friends in the department that had my back 100%.
Sadly eventually it got the point where the warehouse was no longer delivering items to us or any other department because they were so heavily behind. They asked several times and I declined all of them as the manager had not changed. It got to the point where I worked 2 of my 10 hours a day and sat around talking the other 8 waiting for parts or tools to be brought by forklift. Which would either never show up or show up at the end of the day.
Then last Monday happened. I was called into a meeting along with all other people who had access to the inventory system and had been at this company for a while and they told everyone they were hiring temporary help for a while to fix the fuck up that had happened. They also explained that the manager that I had problems with decided to resign and they were going to fill his spot from within because they wanted someone that was intimate with the information.
They hired a guy I thought should have been the manager from the start and he made leaps and bounds in the warehouse and caught up within the week of being in the new position. Things were looking up finally.
He then called me into a meeting, and asked me to return to warehouse at double my current pay and I would be doing the same thing, but for the whole building. I would have a lot more on my plate but I would always be busy and work would feed itself to me through our software and I would work based on the orders fed directly to me. I accepted obviously. I no longer had to do an allotted amount of work for the day and helped the whole building whenever the order came through. It's been amazing.
I hope this wasn't too late to share the ending of what was a crazy couple months here.
Comments
just2quixotic
They also explained that the manager that I had problems with decided to resignTranslation: He fucked up everything sooooooo bad that he was told, we can fire you for cause and we will fight your unemployment claims, or you can 'resign' and save us the effort and paperwork & possibly severance depending on his contract.
SeanBZA
More like they told him either he resigns, or they fire him, and sue for the lost productivity they can directly prove was due to his actions, which would be easy from historical data and HR reports. Plus told him that a rough estimate they had, and that legal would add likely another $200k onto that.
just2quixotic
Next job interview:
either
"No, don't contact my previous employer. I don't want them to know I am looking."
Or
"I was the victim of discrimination!"
Or
"It was a mutual parting of ways, I felt stifled in that job. There was no room for me to grow or advance."
I am not the OOP. Please do not harass the OOP.
Please remember the No Brigading Rule and to be civil in the comments
2024.05.27 13:51 RegulusPratus New Years of Conquest 05 (The Arvok Conspiracy)
The Chiri x David story is running a little long, but I fear riots if I don't start updating you all on how Sifal's doing. (She's doing pretty great, thanks for asking!) In any event, the current plan is two more Chiri chapters before I pivot over to this story full time, and I already wrote one of them, which will be a doozy.
Also, this is me doing a little worldbuilding about the Nevoks. It's not fair that the other fluffy white bunnies get all the attention. Did you know that, compared to Sivkits, Nevoks are statistically far more likely to wear adorable cottagecore vests with a monocle on a chain in their breast pocket? I just can't believe they never took off in fandom popularity. I must fix this.
I had to look it up, but the quote near the end is from Shakespeare's The Tempest, so I guess Sifal read that at some point. What's his best work from an Arxur point of view, you think? King Lear? One of the Henry's? I could see Sifal paraphrasing the Saint Crispin's Day speech.
[When First We Met Sifal] - [First] - [Prev]
----------------------
Memory Transcription Subject: First Officer Sifal, ARS Bleeding Heart
Date [standardized human time]: Various, 2137
I left poor Garruga in a state of bug-eyed horror at having been tricked into slaking her Yulpan bloodlust, and motioned for Laza to join me back outside.
âThat was fun,â Laza said, slipping into a casually chipper tone. Subordinate or not, I think I might have made a friend. âAnother round of fucking with the Yulpa, then, orâŚ?â
I shook my head. âNah, I think I got what I needed. Itâs time to talk to the Big Bunny himself.â
âThe what?â she said, her head tilted.
âThe Nevok,â I repeated. âExecutive Debbin. We need a surrender, we need it twenty minutes ago, and I think I know how to talk to furious prey now.â I shook my head as the infantry leader and I walked together towards the Deluxe Prisonerâs Suite. âI reached for the wrong tool in the box. I thought this situation called for âGood Cop, Bad Copâ, but I should have been banking on âRedirectionâ. No matter. Thatâs why we practice.â
âIâm not sure I follow,â said Laza.
âGood Cop, Bad Cop is the two-person interrogation technique I mentioned earlier,â I said, as the concrete hangar drew closer. âOne of us acts kind, one of us acts cruel, the target flees from the cruel one into the waiting arms of the kind one.â I shook my head. âRookie mistake on my part. The Feds already think weâre all cruel, and they canât conceive of a kind Arxur even when one is staring them down. Now, with most of these weaklings, just roaring at them is enough to get them to talk, but weâre dealing with two very specific weirdos whoâve chosen to face their apparently certain deaths with dignity. Itâs noble, in its own way, but it makes our jobs harder. Garruga had already accepted her inevitable end, and she was ready to crack some ribs on her way out. When I acted in a peculiar mix of friendly and quirky, she short-circuited, and started becoming a bit more willing to talk.â
The boxy building of poured concrete reared up before us--a good hundred meters to the left of the one that young Zillis had obliterated with a railgun--and a guard opened the door for me out of respect. I could do with less stress and anxiety, but there were certainly some small perks to being in command. A quick salute and a held door went a long way towards making me feel like I mattered. âWhatever the Nevokâs thinking, we need to throw him off his game,â I summed up, as Laza and I knocked on the wall of a shipping container before entering. âIf his heels are dug in to stop a charge from the front, then we have to hit him from the sides. We donât need to understand his plans, we just need to fuck them up.â
âGot it,â said Laza, as we entered. There was nothing in the room, for obvious penitentiary reasons, but at the back of the shipping container sat a resplendently-dressed Nevok, his hooved feet cross-legged, his eyes closed in meditation like some manner of ascetic monk.
His eyes opened, bright and gemlike. âFirst Officer Sifal,â he said simply, like a prince addressing a courtier. âOr is it Commander Sifal?â
Shit on sheet metal, had he been chatting up my guards while he was incarcerated? Fuckerâd stolen a march on me! I shrugged, trying to play it cool. âItâs both. First Officer of the Bleeding Heart is a posting. Commander is my formal rank. Iâm qualified to Captain a small ship, or to second a large ship. Or, as the day brings us, to lead an away mission.â
The little lagomorph raised an eyebrow. âShall I await the arrival of your superior, then?â
How the fuck was this fluffy little twerp getting under my skin? âCommodore Vriss, Captain of the Bleeding Heart, has entrusted me with the finer details of this operation. You can speak to me freely.â
Debbin laughed just subtly enough that itâd be weird to assault him over it. Iâd look petty for resorting to violence so trivially. âAs you wish,â he said, smirking.
May as well get to the meat of the discussion. âWeâre here to discuss your terms of surrender,â I said.
Debbin snorted politely. âHow unprecedented!â he said, making something of an effort to avoid laughing too loudly during our negotiations. âWhy?â
âWhat?â I said, cursing my reflexes as I fed into his diatribe.
Debbin shrugged. âWeâve been at war for centuries. Youâve never once offered terms of surrender. Youâve ended worlds before ever considering peace. Why should I believe your intentions now?
I snorted. âWeâve never been kind, but weâve never been anything but earnest about what we are. Why would I offer you peace if I didnât mean it? To hear the Federation speak of us, the word âpeaceâ shouldnât even exist in my language, and yet I keep saying it.â
Debbin rubbed his eyes. âI canât speak to linguistics, only motives. What do you gain from peace? At a guess, you want a planet of slaves, but you donât have the numbers to hold it. And if thatâs what you want, why should I indulge you? Youâre going to eat us eventually. Letâs just skip to the end, then, and not watch my legacy be tainted by aiding the enemy.â
Infuriating as he was, I saw the shape of the conversation now. The main topic was walled off. I needed to steer him around the wall. Less talk about me, more talk about him. âIs âlegacyâ a matter of significance among Nevoks?â I asked.
Debbin perked up, eyeing me with confusion and suspicion. âIt is,â he said slowly. âEveryone dies eventually. The purpose of wealth is to build something that stands a chance of outliving you. Let your community remember, forever, that a man of your caliber was once a part of it. Grand tapestries still hang in my familyâs hall that are older than your speciesâ first spaceflight, ancient records of the achievements of my forebears, so that we, their descendents, will never forget them. So yes, legacy matters.â He sighed, and let the icy intensity to his voice fade away. âHonestly, though. Why do you even ask?â
I chuckled, softly. âPerks of the Rebellion,â I said simply. âNobody threatens to kill me for asking questions anymore. Iâd be wasting an opportunity if I didnât ask.â
Debbin shrugged. âI mean, I understand opportunities,â he said softly. âWhat else did you want to know?â
I looked to Laza and shrugged. âIâd frankly just love to hear about how other people live,â I said. âStudying humans was life-changing for me. Just finding out that there was more than one way to be a predator was world-shattering.â I nodded nonchalantly towards the Nevok. âIâm genuinely curious to hear how other predators go about their dark work.â
Debbin tried to keep the facade of calm up, but his eyes went wide despite himself. âI beg your pardon?â
The strong-willed among the prey always seemed to have such peculiar and interesting reactions to these sorts of predacious accusations. âHm? Oh, Iâm sorry, I thought we were on the same page about this.â I pulled out my holopad, and read from the notes Iâd compiled on the Nevok-Fissan trade wars. The Arxur Dominion had spy satellites everywhere, and a passionate disdain for the people we were spying on. Troop movements got studied, sure, but all the little day-to-day life stories our listening posts dredged up from Federation networks? The sort of information youâd use to âknow your enemyâ like Sun Tzu suggested? We had entire servers full of intelligence reports, and I think I might have been the first person to ever fucking read them. Well, the first Arxur at least. The Human cyberwarfare specialists whoâd breached our networks probably loved all the work weâd done for them.
âFrom the outside looking in,â I continued aloud, âitâs not unreasonable to study you Nevoks by contrasting you against your rivals, the Fissans. Youâre the two main mercantile players in the Federation, right? But itâs the way you talk about each other that stuck out to me. To hear the Nevoks speak of them, the Fissan Compact is full of flighty thieves who took advantage of a few loose-lipped Nevok engineers to copy your technology and undercut you. âToo gossipyâ? âLow pricesâ? Not very scary. When the Fissans speak of you, though, they go so much further. Itâs all âtyrantâ this, and âcartelâ that. Youâd almost think they were talking about us.â I put my holopad back and looked Debbin in the eyes. âAre they, you think? The Arxur Dominion, the Nevok Imperium⌠If I didnât know any better, Iâd think you guys were trying to mimic our branding.â I tilted my head, and I asked the big question with the heartfelt honesty only an empathic predator could muster. âDo you⌠want to be more like us?â
Debbin leaned back against the wall as my words hit him like a sucker punch, from an angle heâd never anticipated. He tried to keep his cool. His eyes looked shocked, his ears were angling back in distress, but he still held a contemplative paw in front of his mouth as he considered the world through the lens Iâd proposed. Considered me, for that matter. I was better at reading people than most Arxur were, but I couldnât quite yet tell what was going through his long-eared head. If I was very lucky, it was an earnest self-assessment.
Meanwhile, his other paw idly patted at his pockets until it found a little packet of paper and leaves. He pulled a little cylinder out, and then offered one to me. âI donât seem to have a light,â he said. âIâll trade you one for a bit of ignition. Can Arxur smoke?â
I shrugged. âIf the scent of burning leaves could kill us, our raids on your worlds would go rather differently,â I pointed out. I was familiar, conceptually, with the human habit of smoking, but I hadnât been aware that the Federation had any comparable tradition. I was entirely too unaware of the Federation altogether.
That being said, I was still an engineer. I had one or two means of making fire tucked away in the olâ toolbelt. With a tiny blowtorch, I lit the two thin cylinders and focused all my energy into not coughing as I breathed through mine. Whatever they were, these leaves were pungent, and I couldnât afford to look frail or weak.
Debbin stared at me for a long while before he mustered the courage to take the cigarette out and ask a question or make a statement. âI donât actually have an issue with humans,â he said at last.
âSame,â I said. âTheyâre neat.â
âThat they are,â said Debbin. âMost unique thing on the galactic stage since⌠well, you bastards.â
I shrugged. âYou going somewhere with this, or are you just flattering me?â
Debbin snorted. âNo. ButâŚâ The rabbity-looking guy trailed off briefly as he took another long drag off of his cigarette. âI thought it was a safe bet to bet against them,â he said. âThe Kolshians have been waving their collective dicks around since the dawn of fucking time. You know?â He shook his head. âI thought my people had lost their fucking minds, betting against that.â He slapped the ground below him, a wry twist to his mouth. âYou could just as easily bet against the Firmament.â Debbin stared at me abruptly. âForty to one odds, the ground will still be there tomorrow. Easy bet. Will you take it?â
I scoffed. âWhat? No, Iâve seen the specs on your mining equipment. You could quarry the whole airfield to win a bet if you felt like it.â
Debbin smiled. âSee? You get it. Of course you get it. Itâs allâŚâ he shook his head as he swirled a forepaw around in a ring. âPredatory deception, am I right?â
I was starting to grasp why his people at large had sided with a certain species of tricksy furless monkeys. âIâm not looking for food today,â I said, veering the conversation back on track, âand Iâm not looking for slaves, either. Just tribute. A small but regular donation of starship parts to keep our war effort going. Our war against other, less reasonable, Arxur, mind you.â
Debbin made a disgusted sound in his throat. âYeah. The ones dancing on Kolshian strings, apparently. Canât believe the whole Federation was just a protection racket.â He shook his head. âCanât believe I never thought of it myself.â
Nevoks had protection rackets? I thought idly. âŚNevoks had marionettes?
âYou saw how well your tithe to the Kolshians paid off when we came knocking. Our price is a lot cheaper than theirs, and we can offer more in return.â I held a paw out to the lagomorph. âLetâs make a deal.â
Debbinâs grin widened. âNow youâre speaking my language,â he muttered, as he reached his paw out to clasp mine. âI want an advisor,â he said. âAs you said: all business is predatory. I want a real predator on speed-dial.â
A real shark, specifically, I think the human saying went. I shrugged. âIâll give you my personal contact information,â I said. âWe can renegotiate if you need someone more full-time.â
âWhat a wonderful start,â said Debbin. âAlright. What kind of protections can you ensure for my people?â
âWeâre well-fed as of late, and we run a tight ship,â I said. âAnyone who kills one of your people will be disciplined severely. We need you alive and working your hardest to build or buy things for us.â
âSpeaking of: remind me again where you expect me to get starship parts on a mining outpost?â he asked.
âYou have access to markets that would shoot us on sight,â I pointed out.
Debbin shook his head. âTheyâll cut me off as soon as they find out Iâm working with you.â
âSo donât tell them.â
The little lagomorph froze up in shock for a moment as the idea sank in, and then he just started laughing. âHa! A conspiracy of our very own. I like it! Serves the Farsul and Kolshians right.â He held his paw out. âItâs a deal, then. You protect us and help us make money as you can, and we pay you a tithe in starship parts, or in whatever else you canât make or buy. Agreed?â
I took his little paw in mine once more. A great deal was one where both parties stood to benefit. Debbin seemed to think that having access to a hunterâs mind like mine might offset what weâd be costing him. Time would tell if that was a good gamble for him, but here and now, I had no reason to disabuse him of the notion. âAgreed,â I said. I never thought Iâd be striking a deal with prey, but who else did we have to turn to? As always, humans had a saying. âMisery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.â
âLetâs, ah⌠letâs keep our working relationship professional, my good man,â said Debbin, flustered.
âDidnât mean it literally,â I said, snickering. âAlso, not a man.â
âOh! Huh. You ah. You donât say.â Debbin rubbed his chin, considering me in a new light. He was spending a little too long taking in my appearance for my liking.
My eyes narrowed. âHey. Iâm gonna leave you in here if you keep looking at me like that, fluffball.â
âThink nothing of it.â The Nevok put his little paws up in a ânot touching thatâ gesture, and followed us out.
submitted by RegulusPratus to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
Also, this is me doing a little worldbuilding about the Nevoks. It's not fair that the other fluffy white bunnies get all the attention. Did you know that, compared to Sivkits, Nevoks are statistically far more likely to wear adorable cottagecore vests with a monocle on a chain in their breast pocket? I just can't believe they never took off in fandom popularity. I must fix this.
I had to look it up, but the quote near the end is from Shakespeare's The Tempest, so I guess Sifal read that at some point. What's his best work from an Arxur point of view, you think? King Lear? One of the Henry's? I could see Sifal paraphrasing the Saint Crispin's Day speech.
[When First We Met Sifal] - [First] - [Prev]
----------------------
Memory Transcription Subject: First Officer Sifal, ARS Bleeding Heart
Date [standardized human time]: Various, 2137
I left poor Garruga in a state of bug-eyed horror at having been tricked into slaking her Yulpan bloodlust, and motioned for Laza to join me back outside.
âThat was fun,â Laza said, slipping into a casually chipper tone. Subordinate or not, I think I might have made a friend. âAnother round of fucking with the Yulpa, then, orâŚ?â
I shook my head. âNah, I think I got what I needed. Itâs time to talk to the Big Bunny himself.â
âThe what?â she said, her head tilted.
âThe Nevok,â I repeated. âExecutive Debbin. We need a surrender, we need it twenty minutes ago, and I think I know how to talk to furious prey now.â I shook my head as the infantry leader and I walked together towards the Deluxe Prisonerâs Suite. âI reached for the wrong tool in the box. I thought this situation called for âGood Cop, Bad Copâ, but I should have been banking on âRedirectionâ. No matter. Thatâs why we practice.â
âIâm not sure I follow,â said Laza.
âGood Cop, Bad Cop is the two-person interrogation technique I mentioned earlier,â I said, as the concrete hangar drew closer. âOne of us acts kind, one of us acts cruel, the target flees from the cruel one into the waiting arms of the kind one.â I shook my head. âRookie mistake on my part. The Feds already think weâre all cruel, and they canât conceive of a kind Arxur even when one is staring them down. Now, with most of these weaklings, just roaring at them is enough to get them to talk, but weâre dealing with two very specific weirdos whoâve chosen to face their apparently certain deaths with dignity. Itâs noble, in its own way, but it makes our jobs harder. Garruga had already accepted her inevitable end, and she was ready to crack some ribs on her way out. When I acted in a peculiar mix of friendly and quirky, she short-circuited, and started becoming a bit more willing to talk.â
The boxy building of poured concrete reared up before us--a good hundred meters to the left of the one that young Zillis had obliterated with a railgun--and a guard opened the door for me out of respect. I could do with less stress and anxiety, but there were certainly some small perks to being in command. A quick salute and a held door went a long way towards making me feel like I mattered. âWhatever the Nevokâs thinking, we need to throw him off his game,â I summed up, as Laza and I knocked on the wall of a shipping container before entering. âIf his heels are dug in to stop a charge from the front, then we have to hit him from the sides. We donât need to understand his plans, we just need to fuck them up.â
âGot it,â said Laza, as we entered. There was nothing in the room, for obvious penitentiary reasons, but at the back of the shipping container sat a resplendently-dressed Nevok, his hooved feet cross-legged, his eyes closed in meditation like some manner of ascetic monk.
His eyes opened, bright and gemlike. âFirst Officer Sifal,â he said simply, like a prince addressing a courtier. âOr is it Commander Sifal?â
Shit on sheet metal, had he been chatting up my guards while he was incarcerated? Fuckerâd stolen a march on me! I shrugged, trying to play it cool. âItâs both. First Officer of the Bleeding Heart is a posting. Commander is my formal rank. Iâm qualified to Captain a small ship, or to second a large ship. Or, as the day brings us, to lead an away mission.â
The little lagomorph raised an eyebrow. âShall I await the arrival of your superior, then?â
How the fuck was this fluffy little twerp getting under my skin? âCommodore Vriss, Captain of the Bleeding Heart, has entrusted me with the finer details of this operation. You can speak to me freely.â
Debbin laughed just subtly enough that itâd be weird to assault him over it. Iâd look petty for resorting to violence so trivially. âAs you wish,â he said, smirking.
May as well get to the meat of the discussion. âWeâre here to discuss your terms of surrender,â I said.
Debbin snorted politely. âHow unprecedented!â he said, making something of an effort to avoid laughing too loudly during our negotiations. âWhy?â
âWhat?â I said, cursing my reflexes as I fed into his diatribe.
Debbin shrugged. âWeâve been at war for centuries. Youâve never once offered terms of surrender. Youâve ended worlds before ever considering peace. Why should I believe your intentions now?
I snorted. âWeâve never been kind, but weâve never been anything but earnest about what we are. Why would I offer you peace if I didnât mean it? To hear the Federation speak of us, the word âpeaceâ shouldnât even exist in my language, and yet I keep saying it.â
Debbin rubbed his eyes. âI canât speak to linguistics, only motives. What do you gain from peace? At a guess, you want a planet of slaves, but you donât have the numbers to hold it. And if thatâs what you want, why should I indulge you? Youâre going to eat us eventually. Letâs just skip to the end, then, and not watch my legacy be tainted by aiding the enemy.â
Infuriating as he was, I saw the shape of the conversation now. The main topic was walled off. I needed to steer him around the wall. Less talk about me, more talk about him. âIs âlegacyâ a matter of significance among Nevoks?â I asked.
Debbin perked up, eyeing me with confusion and suspicion. âIt is,â he said slowly. âEveryone dies eventually. The purpose of wealth is to build something that stands a chance of outliving you. Let your community remember, forever, that a man of your caliber was once a part of it. Grand tapestries still hang in my familyâs hall that are older than your speciesâ first spaceflight, ancient records of the achievements of my forebears, so that we, their descendents, will never forget them. So yes, legacy matters.â He sighed, and let the icy intensity to his voice fade away. âHonestly, though. Why do you even ask?â
I chuckled, softly. âPerks of the Rebellion,â I said simply. âNobody threatens to kill me for asking questions anymore. Iâd be wasting an opportunity if I didnât ask.â
Debbin shrugged. âI mean, I understand opportunities,â he said softly. âWhat else did you want to know?â
I looked to Laza and shrugged. âIâd frankly just love to hear about how other people live,â I said. âStudying humans was life-changing for me. Just finding out that there was more than one way to be a predator was world-shattering.â I nodded nonchalantly towards the Nevok. âIâm genuinely curious to hear how other predators go about their dark work.â
Debbin tried to keep the facade of calm up, but his eyes went wide despite himself. âI beg your pardon?â
The strong-willed among the prey always seemed to have such peculiar and interesting reactions to these sorts of predacious accusations. âHm? Oh, Iâm sorry, I thought we were on the same page about this.â I pulled out my holopad, and read from the notes Iâd compiled on the Nevok-Fissan trade wars. The Arxur Dominion had spy satellites everywhere, and a passionate disdain for the people we were spying on. Troop movements got studied, sure, but all the little day-to-day life stories our listening posts dredged up from Federation networks? The sort of information youâd use to âknow your enemyâ like Sun Tzu suggested? We had entire servers full of intelligence reports, and I think I might have been the first person to ever fucking read them. Well, the first Arxur at least. The Human cyberwarfare specialists whoâd breached our networks probably loved all the work weâd done for them.
âFrom the outside looking in,â I continued aloud, âitâs not unreasonable to study you Nevoks by contrasting you against your rivals, the Fissans. Youâre the two main mercantile players in the Federation, right? But itâs the way you talk about each other that stuck out to me. To hear the Nevoks speak of them, the Fissan Compact is full of flighty thieves who took advantage of a few loose-lipped Nevok engineers to copy your technology and undercut you. âToo gossipyâ? âLow pricesâ? Not very scary. When the Fissans speak of you, though, they go so much further. Itâs all âtyrantâ this, and âcartelâ that. Youâd almost think they were talking about us.â I put my holopad back and looked Debbin in the eyes. âAre they, you think? The Arxur Dominion, the Nevok Imperium⌠If I didnât know any better, Iâd think you guys were trying to mimic our branding.â I tilted my head, and I asked the big question with the heartfelt honesty only an empathic predator could muster. âDo you⌠want to be more like us?â
Debbin leaned back against the wall as my words hit him like a sucker punch, from an angle heâd never anticipated. He tried to keep his cool. His eyes looked shocked, his ears were angling back in distress, but he still held a contemplative paw in front of his mouth as he considered the world through the lens Iâd proposed. Considered me, for that matter. I was better at reading people than most Arxur were, but I couldnât quite yet tell what was going through his long-eared head. If I was very lucky, it was an earnest self-assessment.
Meanwhile, his other paw idly patted at his pockets until it found a little packet of paper and leaves. He pulled a little cylinder out, and then offered one to me. âI donât seem to have a light,â he said. âIâll trade you one for a bit of ignition. Can Arxur smoke?â
I shrugged. âIf the scent of burning leaves could kill us, our raids on your worlds would go rather differently,â I pointed out. I was familiar, conceptually, with the human habit of smoking, but I hadnât been aware that the Federation had any comparable tradition. I was entirely too unaware of the Federation altogether.
That being said, I was still an engineer. I had one or two means of making fire tucked away in the olâ toolbelt. With a tiny blowtorch, I lit the two thin cylinders and focused all my energy into not coughing as I breathed through mine. Whatever they were, these leaves were pungent, and I couldnât afford to look frail or weak.
Debbin stared at me for a long while before he mustered the courage to take the cigarette out and ask a question or make a statement. âI donât actually have an issue with humans,â he said at last.
âSame,â I said. âTheyâre neat.â
âThat they are,â said Debbin. âMost unique thing on the galactic stage since⌠well, you bastards.â
I shrugged. âYou going somewhere with this, or are you just flattering me?â
Debbin snorted. âNo. ButâŚâ The rabbity-looking guy trailed off briefly as he took another long drag off of his cigarette. âI thought it was a safe bet to bet against them,â he said. âThe Kolshians have been waving their collective dicks around since the dawn of fucking time. You know?â He shook his head. âI thought my people had lost their fucking minds, betting against that.â He slapped the ground below him, a wry twist to his mouth. âYou could just as easily bet against the Firmament.â Debbin stared at me abruptly. âForty to one odds, the ground will still be there tomorrow. Easy bet. Will you take it?â
I scoffed. âWhat? No, Iâve seen the specs on your mining equipment. You could quarry the whole airfield to win a bet if you felt like it.â
Debbin smiled. âSee? You get it. Of course you get it. Itâs allâŚâ he shook his head as he swirled a forepaw around in a ring. âPredatory deception, am I right?â
I was starting to grasp why his people at large had sided with a certain species of tricksy furless monkeys. âIâm not looking for food today,â I said, veering the conversation back on track, âand Iâm not looking for slaves, either. Just tribute. A small but regular donation of starship parts to keep our war effort going. Our war against other, less reasonable, Arxur, mind you.â
Debbin made a disgusted sound in his throat. âYeah. The ones dancing on Kolshian strings, apparently. Canât believe the whole Federation was just a protection racket.â He shook his head. âCanât believe I never thought of it myself.â
Nevoks had protection rackets? I thought idly. âŚNevoks had marionettes?
âYou saw how well your tithe to the Kolshians paid off when we came knocking. Our price is a lot cheaper than theirs, and we can offer more in return.â I held a paw out to the lagomorph. âLetâs make a deal.â
Debbinâs grin widened. âNow youâre speaking my language,â he muttered, as he reached his paw out to clasp mine. âI want an advisor,â he said. âAs you said: all business is predatory. I want a real predator on speed-dial.â
A real shark, specifically, I think the human saying went. I shrugged. âIâll give you my personal contact information,â I said. âWe can renegotiate if you need someone more full-time.â
âWhat a wonderful start,â said Debbin. âAlright. What kind of protections can you ensure for my people?â
âWeâre well-fed as of late, and we run a tight ship,â I said. âAnyone who kills one of your people will be disciplined severely. We need you alive and working your hardest to build or buy things for us.â
âSpeaking of: remind me again where you expect me to get starship parts on a mining outpost?â he asked.
âYou have access to markets that would shoot us on sight,â I pointed out.
Debbin shook his head. âTheyâll cut me off as soon as they find out Iâm working with you.â
âSo donât tell them.â
The little lagomorph froze up in shock for a moment as the idea sank in, and then he just started laughing. âHa! A conspiracy of our very own. I like it! Serves the Farsul and Kolshians right.â He held his paw out. âItâs a deal, then. You protect us and help us make money as you can, and we pay you a tithe in starship parts, or in whatever else you canât make or buy. Agreed?â
I took his little paw in mine once more. A great deal was one where both parties stood to benefit. Debbin seemed to think that having access to a hunterâs mind like mine might offset what weâd be costing him. Time would tell if that was a good gamble for him, but here and now, I had no reason to disabuse him of the notion. âAgreed,â I said. I never thought Iâd be striking a deal with prey, but who else did we have to turn to? As always, humans had a saying. âMisery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.â
âLetâs, ah⌠letâs keep our working relationship professional, my good man,â said Debbin, flustered.
âDidnât mean it literally,â I said, snickering. âAlso, not a man.â
âOh! Huh. You ah. You donât say.â Debbin rubbed his chin, considering me in a new light. He was spending a little too long taking in my appearance for my liking.
My eyes narrowed. âHey. Iâm gonna leave you in here if you keep looking at me like that, fluffball.â
âThink nothing of it.â The Nevok put his little paws up in a ânot touching thatâ gesture, and followed us out.
2024.05.27 09:14 skeletonchaser2020 Still producing "milk" months later?
Hey reddit!
So, you can look back at my post history, my milk never really came in. The most I ever pumped/produced was roughly 4oz over 24hrs of pumping for 30 minutes every 3 hours (on the dot, no sleep, only pumping.)
Ultimately we had to go with formula because 2 straight months of power pumping, constant nursing (her latch was great, she just wasn't getting enough) supplements, visits to a LC, every old wife's remedy for upping production, nothing helped so we decided fed is best, I swallowed my pride and now have a happy, thriving 8 month old.
The thing is, I haven't nursed, pumped or expressed (beyond relieving pressure) in almost 5 months and milk is still coming out. After getting my LO down for bed tonight, my chest felt crazy tight so I pinched and literally shot "milk" clear across my living room. I've had some drops express in showers or during sex when I'm stimulated, but I haven't felt this kind of build up since she was born.
I'm trying to not express in hopes that it helps to dry it up, but 5 months of nothing or dribbles then suddenly full boobs??? What do I do?
I've done the cabbage thing and wear compression tops, no more supplements or expressing, no nursing or massages, even had my husband stop stimulating my chest during sex and I'm still "producing"
I put milk and producing in quotes because I'm not sure if it is even possible to still be making milk at this point??? But, without fail, every time I snuggle her to sleep or finish feeding her I get that full/tight sensation on my outer breasts and if I squeeze, milk comes out.
How do I dry it up? Is this just life now? I don't typically leak but if it is especially cold or my breasts get stimulated I do notice milk spots on my bra and clothes.
It doesn't help that LO has developed a habit of massaging my chest while she is having a bottle.she won't nap unless her face is squished into my boob while she eats, trust me, I've tried 1001 positions and that is the only one she is satisfied with lol
How do I dry up my milk? Is it normal to still have production after so long.??
submitted by skeletonchaser2020 to beyondthebump [link] [comments]
So, you can look back at my post history, my milk never really came in. The most I ever pumped/produced was roughly 4oz over 24hrs of pumping for 30 minutes every 3 hours (on the dot, no sleep, only pumping.)
Ultimately we had to go with formula because 2 straight months of power pumping, constant nursing (her latch was great, she just wasn't getting enough) supplements, visits to a LC, every old wife's remedy for upping production, nothing helped so we decided fed is best, I swallowed my pride and now have a happy, thriving 8 month old.
The thing is, I haven't nursed, pumped or expressed (beyond relieving pressure) in almost 5 months and milk is still coming out. After getting my LO down for bed tonight, my chest felt crazy tight so I pinched and literally shot "milk" clear across my living room. I've had some drops express in showers or during sex when I'm stimulated, but I haven't felt this kind of build up since she was born.
I'm trying to not express in hopes that it helps to dry it up, but 5 months of nothing or dribbles then suddenly full boobs??? What do I do?
I've done the cabbage thing and wear compression tops, no more supplements or expressing, no nursing or massages, even had my husband stop stimulating my chest during sex and I'm still "producing"
I put milk and producing in quotes because I'm not sure if it is even possible to still be making milk at this point??? But, without fail, every time I snuggle her to sleep or finish feeding her I get that full/tight sensation on my outer breasts and if I squeeze, milk comes out.
How do I dry it up? Is this just life now? I don't typically leak but if it is especially cold or my breasts get stimulated I do notice milk spots on my bra and clothes.
It doesn't help that LO has developed a habit of massaging my chest while she is having a bottle.she won't nap unless her face is squished into my boob while she eats, trust me, I've tried 1001 positions and that is the only one she is satisfied with lol
How do I dry up my milk? Is it normal to still have production after so long.??
2024.05.26 09:31 K_dwgMittel I dread my job and I don't know what to do
I have been at this job for 6 years.
I work for a small (9-10 employees) e-commerce business in Asia owned by an American. They were looking for someone to do digital marketing. They said on the job description they would train me. I wanted to write for a living even though my English wasn't on par with them. I was not educated in an English speaking environment. On the first day the manager started yelling in the meeting room. I was there. I decided I shouldn't quit just because of that. I just needed to grow up so I stuck around but the idea of work filled me with dread.
I'll mention that during the interview I was also asked a trivia question about a quote from mcbeth because I was an English major and mentioned in my resume that I worked on a play. When i couldn't tell where the quote was from i was given the "you made it up" reaction. That really did a number to my self esteem. He also told me I didnt know anything and should be applying as an intern and interns don't get paid. I got the job anyway. I guess he was just teasing but nevertheless.
Fast forward weeks after I was hired, the manager wanted me to write marketing content. This one time I had to come up with subject lines and he only told me they all sucked. The copy were also torn apart, being told it was "pre-teen level book reports" or that the English was weird. Most of the time he would have this fed up look and take my seat and type on my desktop himself. This usually happened right befor 5 when it's time to leave.
I think I grew to dislike the way I write and always expect to be treated with disdain so I didn't have any drive. Most of the time I was left alone not told to do anything. Then I got balmed because I wasn't doing anything and I feel this huge amount of guilt about work. I think finding a new job is probably the best thing but i have been putting it off for so long. I'm also scared of an interview, being told I suck or being yelled at. I go to work each day feeling like I'm just trying to survive.
submitted by K_dwgMittel to jobs [link] [comments]
I work for a small (9-10 employees) e-commerce business in Asia owned by an American. They were looking for someone to do digital marketing. They said on the job description they would train me. I wanted to write for a living even though my English wasn't on par with them. I was not educated in an English speaking environment. On the first day the manager started yelling in the meeting room. I was there. I decided I shouldn't quit just because of that. I just needed to grow up so I stuck around but the idea of work filled me with dread.
I'll mention that during the interview I was also asked a trivia question about a quote from mcbeth because I was an English major and mentioned in my resume that I worked on a play. When i couldn't tell where the quote was from i was given the "you made it up" reaction. That really did a number to my self esteem. He also told me I didnt know anything and should be applying as an intern and interns don't get paid. I got the job anyway. I guess he was just teasing but nevertheless.
Fast forward weeks after I was hired, the manager wanted me to write marketing content. This one time I had to come up with subject lines and he only told me they all sucked. The copy were also torn apart, being told it was "pre-teen level book reports" or that the English was weird. Most of the time he would have this fed up look and take my seat and type on my desktop himself. This usually happened right befor 5 when it's time to leave.
I think I grew to dislike the way I write and always expect to be treated with disdain so I didn't have any drive. Most of the time I was left alone not told to do anything. Then I got balmed because I wasn't doing anything and I feel this huge amount of guilt about work. I think finding a new job is probably the best thing but i have been putting it off for so long. I'm also scared of an interview, being told I suck or being yelled at. I go to work each day feeling like I'm just trying to survive.
2024.05.25 23:18 WanderlustPhotograph A Slightly Late Overview Of The Weird Asides Of Forbidden Power
So, I will open this up by saying: The Incarnate of Aqshy is probably a snake. I will elaborate on this later. I'm also doing this because I found a Forbidden Power box for 50 dollars and grabbed it, so a lot of this may be them foreshadowing later stuff that has already been paid off.
I'll skip the review of what the Necroquake and Endless Spells are because that's all available on the Lexicanum and is all background stuff I expect that you will know by now. I will also only be commenting on stuff that isn't largely covered
"You fight and die for people who deny you your rightful due."
"Yeah, because you have been delaying the Ur-Gold shipments."
"Nuh-uh. Also, here's a lot of Ur-Gold, don't ask where we got it from."
"You've got it! We'll fight for Nagash now."
It's extremely funny that one of the most damaging things to Lethis was basically a Knight of Shrouds saying "Nuh-uh".
submitted by WanderlustPhotograph to AoSLore [link] [comments]
I'll skip the review of what the Necroquake and Endless Spells are because that's all available on the Lexicanum and is all background stuff I expect that you will know by now. I will also only be commenting on stuff that isn't largely covered
The Cloister Of Ashes, Or, That Elaboration I Owe You:
So, we now come to the first bit of lore that I found particularly neat- We get to learn about a Stormvault called the Cloister of Ashes which contains what I believe may be the first hint at modern Incarnates (The concept technically existed before the Krondspine but it was never major):In their arrogant pride, the spell-smiths of Tarascan summoned forth the Ember Serpent, but such magic cannot be tamed by mortal souls. Its flaming coils enveloped their great city, burning all to ashes.This, to me at least, sounds an awful lot like how an Incarnate behaves, and I will note that it is likely that the reason that they couldn't control it is because binding requires both immense willpower and the knowledge of how to actually do it that they likely didn't have on hand before getting immolated. It might not be, but it would be cool to maybe see it get a model one day. There's a bit more lore here on treasures and monsters contained within the Cloister of Ashes, but not much worth noting, as aside from an eternally burning sword that craves conquest and a beast called a Charonhydra that is locked up there, the tidbits here aren't super worth elaborating on.
The Orb-City Of Calumnexis:
We now get to the next interesting aside which is about a city in Chamon called Calumnexis. It's built on a series of rotating plates that look like the gears inside a clock and is floating in the middle of the sky, presumably for reasons that are its own. It's also surrounded by constant acidic mists so corrosive that they can strip the hull of a Kharadron sky-ship in minutes that was mentioned as being abandoned. When the Necroquake happened and the Penumbral Engine inside it failed, Grotbag Scuttlers and Clans Skryre blimps tried to make it there, and everyone trying to loot it has found it guarded by sentient clockwork automatons and every inch being trapped, and with every floor being a seemingly endless maze, Nobody has managed to get inside the outer levels, though everyone has managed to get a whole lot of themselves killed trying. I suspect that if we do see any elaboration on Gholemkind, we may see this city expanded on, because it might be that these are Gholemkind, or they might just be another kind of sentient automaton native to Chamon as there are at least a few.Shards of Valagharr
The Endless Spell the Shards of Valagharr are actually named after a guy, Mython Valagharr, an arch-mage who created them to absorb amethyst magic before it caused gheist-storms. He eventually became a Necromancer, turned them into spirit leeching devices to harvest energy for his experiments, and then Sigmar clubbed him like a baby seal and locked the shards away.Bitterblood
Bitterblood was a corpse-worm the size of a moon who Sigmar encountered during his search for Nagash, who when killed, split into ten thousand children and when they were struck, they divided again and again, so Sigmar locked them away. When the vault broke, it released them into the caverns occupied by the Mordants of the Tenebrous Court and are getting fed carrion which has made them grow in size.How To Seal Your Abomination
We then get a bit where we witness Sigmar sealing a void-thing in a Stormvault.'Now,' roared the God-King, and as one the gargants rushed forward, hammering chains of luminous metal into the stunned beast's form. From the shadows stepped a hundred and fourty four hooded mages, weaving arcane patterns in the air.That entire excerpt was from the POV of Teclis, who was watching Sigmar do this. He was none too pleased, but there's a better, and in retrospect, infinitely funnier quote much later.
The floor of the chamber began to glow. Rune markings blazed with cerulean light. Six Penumbral Engines arranged around the vaulted chamber began to spin. Gears rotated, and the air thrummed with a terrible power. Slowly, the floor beneath the void-thing yawned open. Once more the beast began to struggle, but the armoured titans held on selflessly to the binding chains. Slowly, inexorably, the void-thing was drawn into the hold beneath the chamber. Its bloated body disappeared first, tendrils lashing furiously. The gargant clung on, disappearing into the depths of the rune-marked vault alongside the defeated creature, using the last of their strength to prevent it from bursting free.
'Seal it,' Sigmar commanded, his voice grave but determined. The magi did as they were bidden, working new enchantmenets. The rune-locked door slammed shut, slicing apart the tentacles of the void-thing that still protruded therough the opening. There was quiet in the grand chamber at last, broken only by the soft whirring of the Penumbral Engines. Slowly, the room began to fade and blur, as if it were viewed through inky-black water.
How To Bribe A Fyreslayer
We then get a discussion between the Celestant-Prime and Sigmar, but it's not super interesting and we get to witness the betrayal of Greyfyrd Lodge's Runeson. It's summarizable enough as:"You fight and die for people who deny you your rightful due."
"Yeah, because you have been delaying the Ur-Gold shipments."
"Nuh-uh. Also, here's a lot of Ur-Gold, don't ask where we got it from."
"You've got it! We'll fight for Nagash now."
It's extremely funny that one of the most damaging things to Lethis was basically a Knight of Shrouds saying "Nuh-uh".
Teclis Curbs His Enthusiasm
'You thought that you could simply consign your secrets to the grave?' came a voice from the shadows. 'In Shyish of all places? One cannot so easily escape the tides of destiny, God-King. Your arrogance has unleashed a great evil upon the realms, and now we shall all suffer its wrath.'Teclis, by choosing not to help Sigmar, you probably wound up getting a lot of Lumineth killed. I suspect that even they might have some disagreements with you on this decision.
Sigmar spun, teeth bared. The Lord of Illumination stood before the throne of Azyrheim, his thin form glittering with motes of silver.
'You speak to me of arrogance?' Sigmar roared. 'You play your conceited games, Luminous One, tending only to the fate of your own kind. I wage this war for the good of all.'
'Still so contemptibly human.' said Teclis, his lip curling. 'You care for knowledge only when it can be sharpened into a weapon. You wield your power like a hammer, and care not what ruin you leave in your wake.'
'Sometimes there are only bad choices. I do not retreat from making them.'
'Clearly,' said Teclis. 'I granted you the Enlightenment Engines for the good of your people. To help them escape their limitations. To allow them a glimpse of true greatness. How long was it before you took my gift and perverted it for your own ends?'
'There was no other way. Always do the Dark Gods seek to dominate mortal-kind. To defeat them we must use every weapon available to us. Would you have discarded the artefacts that we gathered? Would you so quickly have squandered such power?'
Teclis did not reply, but simply gazed back at the God-King through his lambent eyes. Sigmar tried to rein in his hanger, to regain his focus. Now was not the time for rash action or poorly chosen words.
'So the Midnight Tomb is emptied and its prisoner loose once more,' said the aelf god at last. 'You understand what that one is capable of. Nagashizzar's power will swell even further now.'
'I know full well its nature,' said Sigmar. 'Even the Great Shatterer could not destroy that monstrosity, and so I imprisoned it in the deepest, darkest hole I could find. That act spared our people untold suffering and death, but it will not work a second time. Now we must unite, Teclis, or face the destruction of all that we have built.'
The aelf god laughed mirthlessly.
'No doubt you wish the armies of Hysh to march out in force, to erase the stain of your hubris?' he said, his voice thick with bitterness. 'Nay. There may come a day when my brother and I might have need of Azyr's might, but that time is not yet. The coming darkness is yours to face alone.'