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2010.06.22 06:26 Toy Story
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Toy Story
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2024.05.16 23:38 archunlimited Ollie’s story
 | I lost my cat last Friday and been having a hard time. So I wanted to share his story plus some pictures. Sorry it’s a little long. submitted by archunlimited to cats [link] [comments] TL;DR: Ollie was cool. Pet your cat and give them a treat for Ollie. Ollie and his sister came with the house. We observed them from windows for the first few months and, eventually, at strategically placed food bowls around the outside of the house. Ollie was the first to eat from them, the first one not to run from us, the first one to let us touch him, and the first one inside. He didn’t want to stay inside but he was curious. Afterall, he was a street cat and he enjoyed prowling around at night no matter how much I wish he didn’t. We got to know him over nearly four years as a feisty, older street cat. He was likely four to six years old in 2019 and still had lots of energy. He liked to patrol his domain (our house) and we frequently caught him on camera walking around outside late at night. There were also fights we had to break up. Despite being territorial, he still wanted attention and would never pass up an opportunity to roll around at my feet or even jump into my lap for pets. Inside the house, he didn’t bother the cats and kept to himself. That is until he discovered the bed and wanted to lie on my chest all night. We called him a sack of potatoes since he would pass out. Being an outside cat, I knew his life was more dangerous than I hoped. During our second winter, we lost power for three days and had to leave. I worried about him and even stopped by to feed them, but they were gone. When we finally got power again and returned home, he was on the roof and he calmly strutted down. A year later, he disappeared during the summer for three days. I thought he was gone; he was an outdoor cat, but I still searched for him and posted online. One night, he returned for dinner like nothing happened. Other dangers include a few puncture, a cough the vet said he would beat, and even a somewhat recent rip to his ear from some cat battle. Still, Ollie was our outdoor street cat, and he slowed down into retirement. I stopped finding him in fields across the street and most of the time he was in our backyard or the vacant lot next door. During the winter, he came into the house at night. Every night he got wet food and snacks. He followed me around during yard work and while barbequing outside. He rolled on my feet and let me rub his belly. I even named my grill after him and his sister. He was always around and often rolling in the shade. He especially loved cold nights when he could sleep in bed with us. He also loved a felt cat toy we had indoors. Last Thursday, he did not show up for breakfast. I searched for him again. I hoped he would return like before. He returned Friday night, but not like nothing happened. He was sick and could hardly move. The vet later told me it was blockage in his urethra and his kidneys would not be able to recover. I took him in and fulfilled my promise that I would let him go when he was in too much pain. They wrapped him in a blanket and let me hold my sack of potatoes one last time. He stretched like he did in my lap and went to sleep. I miss him more than I realized. I thought I would see him sitting on our back porch watching or I would see him running over to get wet food with his sister. She is still around and I wish she would stay inside, but she mostly spends her time outside on our back porch. I hope Ollie is sitting in the shade somewhere on a warm day and rolling in dirt or concrete. He was loved and is still loved. |
2024.05.16 23:11 Weathers_Writing They call Silicon Valley the tech capitol of the world. They're wrong
I won't disclose its actual location, so if that's why you're here, sorry to disappoint. It's not time for that yet. However, I do think it's time to start getting the word out. I've noticed an increase in what I'll call "Antennas" lately, or people who can detect cross-planar phase shifts. Without getting into all the math (some of which I don't even know), this is basically a phenomenon which refers to entropy seeping into our universe from other realms or universes or whatever you want to call it. Simply put, people think our universe is a closed system to entropy, meaning that the disorder of any variable in our universe can only increase or decrease in direct proportion to other variables in that same system (the universe). Under this precept, we can establish rules like the Laws of Thermodynamics, and for most people, they're effective. But not for Antennas.
Put another way, if you throw a bunch of bouncy balls into a box, there are a number of different configurations that the balls could take on, with different speeds and magnitudes. You can calculate all of those if you have the right numbers. Now let's say you throw in another set of balls that you don't consider in your calculations of the initial set. Well, then you're not going to get an accurate picture of what's happening. Most people only see the first set and calculate based on that, but some people can see two, three, four or more sets.
You'll understand the concept better when I tell you the story, but I wanted to give you a primer on an important concept that will help you understand why this place, which I'll call "Area X", exists, and what the goals of the people who work there are.
Also note that I'm going to be using the alias "Trent" moving forward. Please refer to me as such in any direct messages.
***
Eighteen years ago I started working as an independent Home Inspector. I dropped out of community college after my first semester (not because I didn't find some of the subjects interesting, but because deference to a man or woman has never been my style) and started working some odd jobs. I did construction work for a couple years, then plumbing. I even drove a garbage truck for six months. I've always found pleasure in using my hands, and getting dirty was never a problem for me. Still, having a boss really dragged ass, so I spent my free time working on creating my own business. It took a few years and lots of savings, but I finally managed to get basic set of Home Inspection equipment: Tyvek coveralls, a cheap half-face respirator, voltage & AFCI/GFCI testers, CO2 and radon monitors, an IR camera, and telescoping mirrors in addition to the boots, safety glasses, electric gloves, ladder, and toolkits I already had on hand.
My buddy at the time was in the business, but he was moving off to the coast, so he helped me get set up and even introduced me to some of his clients. Of course, by that time I had already gotten my State license, but I still was a bit apprehensive to work with insurance agencies. I thought I could make a living working independently, inspecting for mold or sizing up a house for a prospective buyer. Eventually, though, I realized I should probably take every job available to me.
Easing into the business went about as well as it could have. The clients my friend referred to me were very satisfied with my work, and I was able to retain them. Then, in order to increase my reach, I hired someone on Fiverr to build a website for my company which led to a marked increase in traffic and conversions. About six months through, I began to get on a first-name basis with the boys and girls down down at Allstate and Progressive, and they fed me some of the bigger cases. In fact, I got so booked by year's end that I had to hire someone to help manage my schedule and the Excel spreadsheet with all my finances. I capped off a successful year with a 5-star Google rating and a trip to Ireland to visit some family and friends and get piss drunk. When I got back, it was the grindstone all over again, until the summer when I discovered… well, you'll see.
First off, I want to say that I was never one to believe in the paranormal. I grew up watching the movies and hearing the ghost stories round the campfire like every other kid, but it never struck a chord with me. If I can't touch it or see it or hear it, does it really exist? Probably not. So don't go thinking this was a scared man seeing his own shadow. That being said, I had this sense that something was off about this house when I parked along the curb and looked through a large window, perhaps two times the size of my van, to a dingy, dark foyer.
The entire neighborhood was stacked with upper-middle class domiciles, though it seemed like only two thirds of them were occupied, mostly by professionals who commuted to the City every weekday, and the rest were empty. As a man who understands real estate, to say this was strange would be an understatement. Still, I had no problem appraising the mini-mansion for a couple of newlyweds looking to enter the community. I did some research on the property ahead of time, and it seems that it was owned by a couple of old timers who had gone off the grid some time ago. The water and electric bill were both unpaid dating back to 2004 (it was June of '06 now). The bank had repo'd the house (which only had about 100k left on it) and held it for a year and a half before putting it back on the market. I tried to find out more about the old couple who vanished, but there was nothing in the news.
I stepped out of the van in my coveralls and grabbed my suitcase which had my mask, gloves, and eye protection in it. I liked to do a preliminary survey first, running an eye test on the exterior then interior before bringing out the big guns (that way I could identify the areas where I think there could be problems instead of running a metal detector over the whole damn ocean seaboard). I was about to do just that when the window caught my eye again. It felt uncharacteristic of me to be so occupied with this window, but I detoured to the front porch and peeked inside anyway.
Most of the furniture had already been moved out, meaning all that was left was a single three-seater couch, a couple candlesticks on the fireplace mantle, a pristine chandelier overtop a dining room table, and the kitchenware: an oven, gas stovetop, marble countertops, and an island. I could see into the living room very clearly with the afternoon light, but the dining room was dim enough that there were a few structures I couldn't quite make out in the distance. One of them appeared to be some kind of china cabinet or bookshelf—I figured it was the former considering where it was located. The other shadow looked kind of like a grandfather clock. Or at least that's what I thought until it moved.
When I say it "moved", I don't mean to say that it picked up and walked away. If you're not familiar with the Necker Cube, I suggest you search it up, because that kind of illusion is the best way to describe what I saw. At first I was seeing the grandfather clock in a certain way—pushed into the corner of the room—and the next second my vision "corrected" and it was maybe five feet to the left of its former position. I shook my head and looked again and saw the grandfather clock in its second orientation, standing in the center of the room against the wall. I figured I was just seeing things, but even so I spent a little extra time dawdling around the Egress window, taking notes, and delaying the interior inspection.
When I finally grew a pair and went inside, I walked straight to the dining room. Sure enough, the grandfather clock was stowed away in the corner of the room. I spent a couple minutes watching it with my pencil and travel notebook out. I'm the kind of guy that likes to collect hard data when the chips are down. Unfortunately, the clock apparently already had enough fun and was content with sweating me. Oh, well.
I fitted my pencil behind my ear and pocketed my travel notebook, then flipped the rest of the first floor lights on and completed my prelim. I concluded that everything was pretty standard. If anything, the house was in better shape than I'd expect considering it presumably hasn't been lived in for a couple years. I say "presumably" because one can never count out squatters, even during those times. Mainly I was expecting more dust build up and cobwebs than there were. Perhaps someone from the department had come by recently. It's unlikely, but possible.
I did the same check upstairs and it came back mostly clean. There was a bit of staining near the attic I wanted to check for mold. Based on its color, it was probably just a minor case of Aspergillus, but better safe than sorry. Then I got to the basement, and, well, let's just count out the idea of anyone dropping by. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I found.
The first thing that caught my eye was the long, slender body of a birch tree lying pale and dead across a large portion of the even larger unfinished basement's cement flooring. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but, yep, there it was. Its crown was sealed up in the wall with only its trunk hanging out, which made me think of those medieval pillory devices which locked up people's heads and arms. Then confetti-scattered around the tree and all over the basement floor was a minefield of broken glass and ceramic tangled up with a set of random objects. And when I say random, I mean random. There was an unfurled Somali flag (the blue one with a single star in the center), some packaged drinks and condiments branded with all sorts of different languages (I could only make out Gaelic and Chinese or Japanese, I couldn't quite tell), a broken dome-shaped security camera, an otoscope (the thing the doc uses to check your ears), Hot Wheels cars (okay that one isn't so strange), and the list goes on.
At that moment, I wasn't freaked out or disgusted. I was more or less just confused. I started walking through the rubble, trying to avoid the sharp fragments but pretty confident that my steel toed boots would crush most the pieces anyway, when I heard a clink just up ahead. I was able to spot the coin in time, just before it jingled to a halt atop an old Life magazine. I picked it up and noted right away its oval shape and bronze color—clearly not American made. I tried reading it, but not only was the language not English, it appeared to be so old that most of the lettering had been filed down. I looked up at the ceiling to see if it dropped from a shelf, but there was nothing that could have been holding the coin. I considered for a moment, looking around at the other junk, and had the crazy idea that maybe all this stuff just appeared here. I popped the coin in my pocket and headed back to the van when I stopped by the tree and realized something. It wasn't a birch tree—it was a palm tree. I just didn't realize because of how ashy and decayed the bark was.
Now at this point you might think I've been acting a little nonchalant for such a strange occurrence, and I don't blame you, but if you're gonna stick around with me that's just something you're gonna have to get used to. I guess I was just born with a screw loose, but I really don't scare easily, and I tend to look at everything pragmatically. If you dig deep enough, you'll always find another plausible explanation. That being said, I do want to get to the part about Area X, so let me give you the rundown on what I learned about this basement.
I ended up trekking back to the van and picking up my gear. I was no longer running the routine inspection, obviously, but I figured I might as well throw 30 thousand dollars of scanning equipment at whatever the fuck anamoly existed in that basement. Most of it came back negative. There was a bit higher-than-usual EM interference as picked up on the voltmeters, but nothing that screamed danger close. Still, it was enough for me to set up my volt testers and IR camera while muddling through the rest of the junk. I won't bore you with another list of items, but I did find one thing of value: a diamond necklace. And not just any diamond necklace, it was one of those Queen-wearing, multi-row, big-jeweled necklaces like out of some Historical Fiction movie from the thirties. I almost didn't pocket it because I'm used to expensive items being owned by someone… someone who might want it back. But I figured if there was ever a place the finder's keeper's rule applied, it was probably in this Quantum graveyard.
7 O'clock rolled around and I hadn't eaten. I'm a pretty bulky guy, carrying my share of both muscle and fat, and most people think that means I need to eat a ton but that's really not the case. Mostly I just get dehydrated easily, especially in the summer. That said, I was bordering on famished territory and considered heading out for a bite when I heard another sound. The first thing I did was check my scanners, and sure enough the voltage needle was fully spun to the right side of the dial. EM interference. Then I went to see what had dropped. I was able to pick the object out pretty quickly since I had spent the last 6 hours staring at the mosaic of a basement floor. It was a silver briefcase, like one of those out of a crime novel, and it was cracked open.
I had this sense then that I was standing at a precipice, and if I opened the briefcase and looked inside, I wouldn't be able to stop whatever would come afterwards. Part of me deep down knew that I was just that type of guy that had to know, and maybe this was my Hamlet moment where it would be a trait gone a step too far. But then again I didn't really believe in any of that sentimental bullshit, so I opened the briefcase.
The gun surprised me a little, but not as much as the piece of paper laid atop a case file reading in large black font, "FIND ME". I expected the envelope to have some missing person file in it, but instead there were all these schematics and blueprints for some kind of device. Whatever it was, it was pretty massive. Some of the lengths were hundreds of meters long. And what's more strange is based on the blueprint's locale, it appeared to be underground. I looked back through the pages a couple times, then checked the note—nothing strange there. The gun appeared to be a simple glock. I was no gun expert, but I had been to the range pretty regularly with my construction buddies, so I got used to the feel of a pistol and rifle and some of the different names; however, I realized pretty quickly it wasn't your standard glock when I couldn't find mag-release. That's when I noticed how light the gun felt. I tried to chamber a round, but again, there was no hammer. What the hell kind of gun was this?
I ended up throwing everything back in the briefcase, including the necklace, coin, and a few Koozies I found that were branded with one of my favorite sports teams (never let an opportunity go to waste). I put up all my shit back in the van and spun over to a local burger joint, got my fill, and went home. I made sure to draft an email to the prospective buyers, telling them the house had several patches of black mold and a bit of a rat problem before drifting off to sleep. Although I really didn't do much of that.
When I woke up, I took a cold shower and downed a can of Reign, then commuted to my gym and got a lift and some sauna time in before making the trip back to the house. I brought some extra supplies with me for some experiments I cooked up while not sleeping the previous night.
First, I had two camcorders set up on a couple tripods in either corner of the basement. I wanted clear footage of these mystery objects spawning in. Then I set up a voltmeter in a similar fashion, but I had a wire extending out of it on a circuit which fed to an alarm that would blare when the reading was over 250 volts. Upstairs, I rearranged some of the furniture so that the small number of tables, chairs, clock, cabinets, and other little pillows or vases I could find were scattered across the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then I pulled up a lawn chair to the front porch window and waited.
I didn't have to wait long though. In about a minute, I started to notice some of the objects moving. It was strange. When a few of them would shift simultaneously, it was like looking at a holographic card that would change shape depending on where your eyes were in relation to the image. Every time I saw a shift, I felt an awkward feeling in my eyes. They went blurry for a fraction of a second, then there was a twinge of pain, as if my brain couldn't handle the contradictory stimulus. It didn't get more crazy than that though—until the alarm went off.
I had cracked open the small rectangular window in the basement to the side of the house so I would hear it. It took four hours and several strange stares from passersby walking their dogs before it rang, so I was a bit lost in my thoughts, but when I heard the beep I perked up fast. It lasted for maybe 5 seconds total, but what I saw was truly miraculous. The best way I can describe it is a pool of silver or gray or translucent light emerging in the foreground between me and the objects in the different rooms. A series of twisting tentacles sprouted from the gray octopus-like head and spun in a way that reminded me of that little kids ride at the amusement parks. Then the objects started to "heat up" is the way I describe it. Their position became relative, meaning they were here one second, there another, then they popped out of existence entirely. Suddenly the rooms were all empty, then they were full of things I had never seen before. Then five seconds passed and the octopus vanished and it was back to the same old objects in their usual places.
It took a few minutes to process what I saw, and even then I wasn't sure I really saw it. I went inside and looked around at my distribution of the house's furnishings. They were all there, intact. Then I went downstairs to check the cams. I rewinded a couple minutes and played it back, but there was no flying object to be found. Instead, there was some gray static that lasted half a second and then the object, a kid's treasure chest toy, was there on the ground. But you want to know the really strange part? I rewinded the tape again, and when I watched the footage back, the treasure chest was always there.
I later came to understand that these poppings in-and-out of our reality are only conceivable to a conscious mind that can track the interference patterns—not rote computational instruments. In fact, even most people can't do it (although everyone has at least a slight awareness of it, even if only subconsciously). Plus, locations like the basement of this house are very rare and kept under tight lock. That became obvious to me two days later when, after my normal morning routine, I pulled up to a driveway and curbside filled with unmarked government vehicles. Either bravely or stupidly, I pulled up to a few officers (they were wearing suits in 85 degree weather, so I assumed…) who were idling by the large fence of crime scene tape and asked them what the score was.
"There was a crime," said the short man with a unibrow.
"Oh, is that right? Damn shame. Someone break in? I have a niece who lives nearby, so…"
The man looked at his two compatriots, both of whom were wearing sunglasses and a "get this civilian fuck out of here" expressions. "Oh, yeah," he started in a reassuring tone that was so condescending it would have annoyed anyone except me, "we found a body. We think it was a homicide. Best to keep your kids away from here for a while."
I thumbed the stubble on my chin, my other hand outstretched on the wheel, and considered moving on, but my mouth had other ideas. "That right? But uh, isn't this house vacant? I mean, I don't remember no one living in it."
The short man, now tall with temper, said, "Yeah, some squatters. We think there was a dispute over some drug money. Nothing for you to worry about though, we got it under control. Now if you wouldn't mind moving along, we have a lot of work to do."
Oh, I'm sure you do, I thought, but only said, "Of course, sir, sorry for keeping you from your job." Then I rolled up the window and cruised on, keeping my eyes on the house which slowly diminished in the side-view mirror.
Luckily I had been smart enough to break down my camp and lug home all my equipment each night, so I didn't leave anything incriminating. I didn't move the furniture back, so maybe that would come back to haunt me, but considering the kind of shit going down in that house, I didn't think they would notice.
For any of you wondering about the conclusion of the house story, I went back a couple weeks later after the suits had left and the tape was taken down and confirmed that not only was the basement entirely cleaned out, but it was no longer exhibiting any strange properties. I looked for a story related to the house, maybe a made up murder of some kind, but there was nothing. That bastard lied to me and didn't even bother to cover his story up.
Now, in the aftermath of an event such as this, I really only had one of two options. I could forget it, move on, continue living life. The necklace was surely worth a fortune. I could sell it and have enough to retire, or at least hire enough people and expand my business large enough to retire within ten or so years. Or I could take all that money and invest it in my own PI business with only a single objective: finding out what those people knew, and why they were hiding it.
I think you know me well enough by now to guess which line of reasoning appealed more to me.
***
For the sake of brevity, I'm going to omit most of my encounters along the journey to discovering Area X. There's a lot to tell, and if it appeals to you perhaps I'd be willing to share at a later date, but for now I want to get this part of the story, the more proximal part, out in the open.
Three years ago, I discovered the source of what I'll call "The Receiver". This is the device that was schematized in the documents that I found in the briefcase. What it does is a complex answer, and how it does it is pretty much all speculation, but here's what I've been able to find out: this universe we live in is a node in a network of many other spaces. These spaces exist in higher dimensions that we cannot directly perceive, but using a conceivable analogy, just think about a flower with petals. The petals are these other dimensions which bleed into our world, which is at the center. However, it's not that pretty. We see the physical world through the lens of spacetime: sizes, speeds, etc. These other dimensions don't necessarily have space or time. In fact, what actually exists there, I couldn't say. The only data I have on them is from two sources: correspondence information and server data from the secret agency (which I'll call "the Organization") that keeps this under wraps, and first-hand experience with realms from these other entities, either directly (I experience it) or through the eyes of someone else with the same or greater abilities than I possess.
I referred to these people with abilities earlier as "Antennas", and I will continue to use the term. Antennas really come in three flavors, marked by the strength of their ability: weak Antennas, like me, are able to observe spontaneous interactions between our universe and other dimensions (phase shifts) when there is a strong force of collision like existed in the basement; moderate Antennas may see phase shifts occur at any point, and they usually are able to retain memories from across the different transformations; strong Antennas, and I don't know if they exist yet, but they are able to consciously interact with these other realms and cause phase shifts to occur.
I mentioned that moderate Antennas are able to retain memories from before and after a phase shift. Technically, all Antennas have this ability, but it's about degree. I can recall only very specific instances and without much detail. Moderates are usually able to pick out much more nuanced minutiae. At the lower end of moderate scale, most of those details fade or get fuzzy over time, but for the very strong Antennas, they hold onto almost everything. One other property that scales with strength is interaction with other conscious entities. Only a small percentage of moderates are able to do this. What's interesting is that these entities can possess (yes, like ghosts) people who aren't even antennas, but no one is aware of such possession at this deep of a level. I have several companions now, and only two have had interactions with these otherworldly beings. Not all of them are malevolent, some of them are whimsical or kind, but there are a fair share of demons out there.
Getting back to the point, Area X started as a government funded project in the 70's. At that time, they were focused on a few subjects: Artificial Intelligence, DNA sequencing, and psychedelics. Yes, they were part of the infamous LSD experiments. But they looked at these subjects through a common lens—there was something that the burgeoning tech industry, fueled by the advent of a commercial computer market, was missing. As the tech giants rose in the early 2000's and began to collect mass amounts of data, this other agency was decades ahead in a different metric, although it was completely (and still is) hidden from the public. Their efforts to understand psychedelic experiences led to a formalized method of understanding interactions between multiple realities. They built certain scanning equipment to detect anomalies like the one I found in the basement; although their tools were much more sophisticated and didn't utilize voltage readings. Then they ran tests in these areas. One area in particular is a hot-bed of phase shift interactions. That's where Area X is located (and the Receiver).
The Receiver is a giant electromagnetic orb that has trapped the kind of multi-dimensional energy that causes the phase shifts; since the Organization seized control of the lab, it's effectively become a map of the Earth in relation to these other worlds. For the past twenty or so years, the Organization has been studying this map, using the data big Tech companies have collected to essentially develop a Rosetta Stone for interpreting the meaning of the fluctuations in their scanning equipment. Recently, the public, though going the long way round, was actually pretty close to a breakthrough in this same department until recently when ultra-powerful LLMs surfaced, and the whole world began going down what I'd argue is the wrong rabbit hole of language processing. But I digress.
Area X is essentially a private military base built for defending the most impactful piece of technology ever invented. With the Receiver, the Organization now has the power to essentially predict any and all future outcomes, the only thing holding them back is the limitations of their own scanning equipment which will get better with time. To put it into perspective, the Organization has access to a kind of data allocation tool which in one day can produce over ten thousand times that the Big Data companies combined would be able to filter through in the next decade. You might think, then, that the problem is merely asymmetric power, and that is certainly a concern, but it isn't the main concern. The main issue is that this organization is actively recruiting (and kidnapping) Antennas from around the world in an effort to find or make one of them into a strong Antenna. In other words, they want a subject who is able not only to see the future, but to manipulate it at will.
balance to the world. I've been working on amassing resources, capital, and building my own team, and now I'm ready. You might ask why I'm posting this here. Wouldn't it be better to keep all this secret? Well, yes, it would be. But that's the problem. Nothing is secret anymore. They know about me and the others, and if I don't make a move, they will. In a way, this is a letter directly to the organization that I know, and I'm coming.
In a different way, I wanted to release this information to the public. There are lots of people out there waking up and realizing that the world they experience is not the one others experience. If you think you might be an Antenna, don't be afraid—you have a special gift that can be controlled. If you want more details on how to control it, or if you're interested in my mission, don't be afraid to reach out. This hasn't always been my life's work, but it is now.
At least until I die.
submitted by Weathers_Writing to weatherswriting [link] [comments]
Put another way, if you throw a bunch of bouncy balls into a box, there are a number of different configurations that the balls could take on, with different speeds and magnitudes. You can calculate all of those if you have the right numbers. Now let's say you throw in another set of balls that you don't consider in your calculations of the initial set. Well, then you're not going to get an accurate picture of what's happening. Most people only see the first set and calculate based on that, but some people can see two, three, four or more sets.
You'll understand the concept better when I tell you the story, but I wanted to give you a primer on an important concept that will help you understand why this place, which I'll call "Area X", exists, and what the goals of the people who work there are.
Also note that I'm going to be using the alias "Trent" moving forward. Please refer to me as such in any direct messages.
***
Eighteen years ago I started working as an independent Home Inspector. I dropped out of community college after my first semester (not because I didn't find some of the subjects interesting, but because deference to a man or woman has never been my style) and started working some odd jobs. I did construction work for a couple years, then plumbing. I even drove a garbage truck for six months. I've always found pleasure in using my hands, and getting dirty was never a problem for me. Still, having a boss really dragged ass, so I spent my free time working on creating my own business. It took a few years and lots of savings, but I finally managed to get basic set of Home Inspection equipment: Tyvek coveralls, a cheap half-face respirator, voltage & AFCI/GFCI testers, CO2 and radon monitors, an IR camera, and telescoping mirrors in addition to the boots, safety glasses, electric gloves, ladder, and toolkits I already had on hand.
My buddy at the time was in the business, but he was moving off to the coast, so he helped me get set up and even introduced me to some of his clients. Of course, by that time I had already gotten my State license, but I still was a bit apprehensive to work with insurance agencies. I thought I could make a living working independently, inspecting for mold or sizing up a house for a prospective buyer. Eventually, though, I realized I should probably take every job available to me.
Easing into the business went about as well as it could have. The clients my friend referred to me were very satisfied with my work, and I was able to retain them. Then, in order to increase my reach, I hired someone on Fiverr to build a website for my company which led to a marked increase in traffic and conversions. About six months through, I began to get on a first-name basis with the boys and girls down down at Allstate and Progressive, and they fed me some of the bigger cases. In fact, I got so booked by year's end that I had to hire someone to help manage my schedule and the Excel spreadsheet with all my finances. I capped off a successful year with a 5-star Google rating and a trip to Ireland to visit some family and friends and get piss drunk. When I got back, it was the grindstone all over again, until the summer when I discovered… well, you'll see.
First off, I want to say that I was never one to believe in the paranormal. I grew up watching the movies and hearing the ghost stories round the campfire like every other kid, but it never struck a chord with me. If I can't touch it or see it or hear it, does it really exist? Probably not. So don't go thinking this was a scared man seeing his own shadow. That being said, I had this sense that something was off about this house when I parked along the curb and looked through a large window, perhaps two times the size of my van, to a dingy, dark foyer.
The entire neighborhood was stacked with upper-middle class domiciles, though it seemed like only two thirds of them were occupied, mostly by professionals who commuted to the City every weekday, and the rest were empty. As a man who understands real estate, to say this was strange would be an understatement. Still, I had no problem appraising the mini-mansion for a couple of newlyweds looking to enter the community. I did some research on the property ahead of time, and it seems that it was owned by a couple of old timers who had gone off the grid some time ago. The water and electric bill were both unpaid dating back to 2004 (it was June of '06 now). The bank had repo'd the house (which only had about 100k left on it) and held it for a year and a half before putting it back on the market. I tried to find out more about the old couple who vanished, but there was nothing in the news.
I stepped out of the van in my coveralls and grabbed my suitcase which had my mask, gloves, and eye protection in it. I liked to do a preliminary survey first, running an eye test on the exterior then interior before bringing out the big guns (that way I could identify the areas where I think there could be problems instead of running a metal detector over the whole damn ocean seaboard). I was about to do just that when the window caught my eye again. It felt uncharacteristic of me to be so occupied with this window, but I detoured to the front porch and peeked inside anyway.
Most of the furniture had already been moved out, meaning all that was left was a single three-seater couch, a couple candlesticks on the fireplace mantle, a pristine chandelier overtop a dining room table, and the kitchenware: an oven, gas stovetop, marble countertops, and an island. I could see into the living room very clearly with the afternoon light, but the dining room was dim enough that there were a few structures I couldn't quite make out in the distance. One of them appeared to be some kind of china cabinet or bookshelf—I figured it was the former considering where it was located. The other shadow looked kind of like a grandfather clock. Or at least that's what I thought until it moved.
When I say it "moved", I don't mean to say that it picked up and walked away. If you're not familiar with the Necker Cube, I suggest you search it up, because that kind of illusion is the best way to describe what I saw. At first I was seeing the grandfather clock in a certain way—pushed into the corner of the room—and the next second my vision "corrected" and it was maybe five feet to the left of its former position. I shook my head and looked again and saw the grandfather clock in its second orientation, standing in the center of the room against the wall. I figured I was just seeing things, but even so I spent a little extra time dawdling around the Egress window, taking notes, and delaying the interior inspection.
When I finally grew a pair and went inside, I walked straight to the dining room. Sure enough, the grandfather clock was stowed away in the corner of the room. I spent a couple minutes watching it with my pencil and travel notebook out. I'm the kind of guy that likes to collect hard data when the chips are down. Unfortunately, the clock apparently already had enough fun and was content with sweating me. Oh, well.
I fitted my pencil behind my ear and pocketed my travel notebook, then flipped the rest of the first floor lights on and completed my prelim. I concluded that everything was pretty standard. If anything, the house was in better shape than I'd expect considering it presumably hasn't been lived in for a couple years. I say "presumably" because one can never count out squatters, even during those times. Mainly I was expecting more dust build up and cobwebs than there were. Perhaps someone from the department had come by recently. It's unlikely, but possible.
I did the same check upstairs and it came back mostly clean. There was a bit of staining near the attic I wanted to check for mold. Based on its color, it was probably just a minor case of Aspergillus, but better safe than sorry. Then I got to the basement, and, well, let's just count out the idea of anyone dropping by. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I found.
The first thing that caught my eye was the long, slender body of a birch tree lying pale and dead across a large portion of the even larger unfinished basement's cement flooring. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but, yep, there it was. Its crown was sealed up in the wall with only its trunk hanging out, which made me think of those medieval pillory devices which locked up people's heads and arms. Then confetti-scattered around the tree and all over the basement floor was a minefield of broken glass and ceramic tangled up with a set of random objects. And when I say random, I mean random. There was an unfurled Somali flag (the blue one with a single star in the center), some packaged drinks and condiments branded with all sorts of different languages (I could only make out Gaelic and Chinese or Japanese, I couldn't quite tell), a broken dome-shaped security camera, an otoscope (the thing the doc uses to check your ears), Hot Wheels cars (okay that one isn't so strange), and the list goes on.
At that moment, I wasn't freaked out or disgusted. I was more or less just confused. I started walking through the rubble, trying to avoid the sharp fragments but pretty confident that my steel toed boots would crush most the pieces anyway, when I heard a clink just up ahead. I was able to spot the coin in time, just before it jingled to a halt atop an old Life magazine. I picked it up and noted right away its oval shape and bronze color—clearly not American made. I tried reading it, but not only was the language not English, it appeared to be so old that most of the lettering had been filed down. I looked up at the ceiling to see if it dropped from a shelf, but there was nothing that could have been holding the coin. I considered for a moment, looking around at the other junk, and had the crazy idea that maybe all this stuff just appeared here. I popped the coin in my pocket and headed back to the van when I stopped by the tree and realized something. It wasn't a birch tree—it was a palm tree. I just didn't realize because of how ashy and decayed the bark was.
Now at this point you might think I've been acting a little nonchalant for such a strange occurrence, and I don't blame you, but if you're gonna stick around with me that's just something you're gonna have to get used to. I guess I was just born with a screw loose, but I really don't scare easily, and I tend to look at everything pragmatically. If you dig deep enough, you'll always find another plausible explanation. That being said, I do want to get to the part about Area X, so let me give you the rundown on what I learned about this basement.
I ended up trekking back to the van and picking up my gear. I was no longer running the routine inspection, obviously, but I figured I might as well throw 30 thousand dollars of scanning equipment at whatever the fuck anamoly existed in that basement. Most of it came back negative. There was a bit higher-than-usual EM interference as picked up on the voltmeters, but nothing that screamed danger close. Still, it was enough for me to set up my volt testers and IR camera while muddling through the rest of the junk. I won't bore you with another list of items, but I did find one thing of value: a diamond necklace. And not just any diamond necklace, it was one of those Queen-wearing, multi-row, big-jeweled necklaces like out of some Historical Fiction movie from the thirties. I almost didn't pocket it because I'm used to expensive items being owned by someone… someone who might want it back. But I figured if there was ever a place the finder's keeper's rule applied, it was probably in this Quantum graveyard.
7 O'clock rolled around and I hadn't eaten. I'm a pretty bulky guy, carrying my share of both muscle and fat, and most people think that means I need to eat a ton but that's really not the case. Mostly I just get dehydrated easily, especially in the summer. That said, I was bordering on famished territory and considered heading out for a bite when I heard another sound. The first thing I did was check my scanners, and sure enough the voltage needle was fully spun to the right side of the dial. EM interference. Then I went to see what had dropped. I was able to pick the object out pretty quickly since I had spent the last 6 hours staring at the mosaic of a basement floor. It was a silver briefcase, like one of those out of a crime novel, and it was cracked open.
I had this sense then that I was standing at a precipice, and if I opened the briefcase and looked inside, I wouldn't be able to stop whatever would come afterwards. Part of me deep down knew that I was just that type of guy that had to know, and maybe this was my Hamlet moment where it would be a trait gone a step too far. But then again I didn't really believe in any of that sentimental bullshit, so I opened the briefcase.
The gun surprised me a little, but not as much as the piece of paper laid atop a case file reading in large black font, "FIND ME". I expected the envelope to have some missing person file in it, but instead there were all these schematics and blueprints for some kind of device. Whatever it was, it was pretty massive. Some of the lengths were hundreds of meters long. And what's more strange is based on the blueprint's locale, it appeared to be underground. I looked back through the pages a couple times, then checked the note—nothing strange there. The gun appeared to be a simple glock. I was no gun expert, but I had been to the range pretty regularly with my construction buddies, so I got used to the feel of a pistol and rifle and some of the different names; however, I realized pretty quickly it wasn't your standard glock when I couldn't find mag-release. That's when I noticed how light the gun felt. I tried to chamber a round, but again, there was no hammer. What the hell kind of gun was this?
I ended up throwing everything back in the briefcase, including the necklace, coin, and a few Koozies I found that were branded with one of my favorite sports teams (never let an opportunity go to waste). I put up all my shit back in the van and spun over to a local burger joint, got my fill, and went home. I made sure to draft an email to the prospective buyers, telling them the house had several patches of black mold and a bit of a rat problem before drifting off to sleep. Although I really didn't do much of that.
When I woke up, I took a cold shower and downed a can of Reign, then commuted to my gym and got a lift and some sauna time in before making the trip back to the house. I brought some extra supplies with me for some experiments I cooked up while not sleeping the previous night.
First, I had two camcorders set up on a couple tripods in either corner of the basement. I wanted clear footage of these mystery objects spawning in. Then I set up a voltmeter in a similar fashion, but I had a wire extending out of it on a circuit which fed to an alarm that would blare when the reading was over 250 volts. Upstairs, I rearranged some of the furniture so that the small number of tables, chairs, clock, cabinets, and other little pillows or vases I could find were scattered across the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then I pulled up a lawn chair to the front porch window and waited.
I didn't have to wait long though. In about a minute, I started to notice some of the objects moving. It was strange. When a few of them would shift simultaneously, it was like looking at a holographic card that would change shape depending on where your eyes were in relation to the image. Every time I saw a shift, I felt an awkward feeling in my eyes. They went blurry for a fraction of a second, then there was a twinge of pain, as if my brain couldn't handle the contradictory stimulus. It didn't get more crazy than that though—until the alarm went off.
I had cracked open the small rectangular window in the basement to the side of the house so I would hear it. It took four hours and several strange stares from passersby walking their dogs before it rang, so I was a bit lost in my thoughts, but when I heard the beep I perked up fast. It lasted for maybe 5 seconds total, but what I saw was truly miraculous. The best way I can describe it is a pool of silver or gray or translucent light emerging in the foreground between me and the objects in the different rooms. A series of twisting tentacles sprouted from the gray octopus-like head and spun in a way that reminded me of that little kids ride at the amusement parks. Then the objects started to "heat up" is the way I describe it. Their position became relative, meaning they were here one second, there another, then they popped out of existence entirely. Suddenly the rooms were all empty, then they were full of things I had never seen before. Then five seconds passed and the octopus vanished and it was back to the same old objects in their usual places.
It took a few minutes to process what I saw, and even then I wasn't sure I really saw it. I went inside and looked around at my distribution of the house's furnishings. They were all there, intact. Then I went downstairs to check the cams. I rewinded a couple minutes and played it back, but there was no flying object to be found. Instead, there was some gray static that lasted half a second and then the object, a kid's treasure chest toy, was there on the ground. But you want to know the really strange part? I rewinded the tape again, and when I watched the footage back, the treasure chest was always there.
I later came to understand that these poppings in-and-out of our reality are only conceivable to a conscious mind that can track the interference patterns—not rote computational instruments. In fact, even most people can't do it (although everyone has at least a slight awareness of it, even if only subconsciously). Plus, locations like the basement of this house are very rare and kept under tight lock. That became obvious to me two days later when, after my normal morning routine, I pulled up to a driveway and curbside filled with unmarked government vehicles. Either bravely or stupidly, I pulled up to a few officers (they were wearing suits in 85 degree weather, so I assumed…) who were idling by the large fence of crime scene tape and asked them what the score was.
"There was a crime," said the short man with a unibrow.
"Oh, is that right? Damn shame. Someone break in? I have a niece who lives nearby, so…"
The man looked at his two compatriots, both of whom were wearing sunglasses and a "get this civilian fuck out of here" expressions. "Oh, yeah," he started in a reassuring tone that was so condescending it would have annoyed anyone except me, "we found a body. We think it was a homicide. Best to keep your kids away from here for a while."
I thumbed the stubble on my chin, my other hand outstretched on the wheel, and considered moving on, but my mouth had other ideas. "That right? But uh, isn't this house vacant? I mean, I don't remember no one living in it."
The short man, now tall with temper, said, "Yeah, some squatters. We think there was a dispute over some drug money. Nothing for you to worry about though, we got it under control. Now if you wouldn't mind moving along, we have a lot of work to do."
Oh, I'm sure you do, I thought, but only said, "Of course, sir, sorry for keeping you from your job." Then I rolled up the window and cruised on, keeping my eyes on the house which slowly diminished in the side-view mirror.
Luckily I had been smart enough to break down my camp and lug home all my equipment each night, so I didn't leave anything incriminating. I didn't move the furniture back, so maybe that would come back to haunt me, but considering the kind of shit going down in that house, I didn't think they would notice.
For any of you wondering about the conclusion of the house story, I went back a couple weeks later after the suits had left and the tape was taken down and confirmed that not only was the basement entirely cleaned out, but it was no longer exhibiting any strange properties. I looked for a story related to the house, maybe a made up murder of some kind, but there was nothing. That bastard lied to me and didn't even bother to cover his story up.
Now, in the aftermath of an event such as this, I really only had one of two options. I could forget it, move on, continue living life. The necklace was surely worth a fortune. I could sell it and have enough to retire, or at least hire enough people and expand my business large enough to retire within ten or so years. Or I could take all that money and invest it in my own PI business with only a single objective: finding out what those people knew, and why they were hiding it.
I think you know me well enough by now to guess which line of reasoning appealed more to me.
***
For the sake of brevity, I'm going to omit most of my encounters along the journey to discovering Area X. There's a lot to tell, and if it appeals to you perhaps I'd be willing to share at a later date, but for now I want to get this part of the story, the more proximal part, out in the open.
Three years ago, I discovered the source of what I'll call "The Receiver". This is the device that was schematized in the documents that I found in the briefcase. What it does is a complex answer, and how it does it is pretty much all speculation, but here's what I've been able to find out: this universe we live in is a node in a network of many other spaces. These spaces exist in higher dimensions that we cannot directly perceive, but using a conceivable analogy, just think about a flower with petals. The petals are these other dimensions which bleed into our world, which is at the center. However, it's not that pretty. We see the physical world through the lens of spacetime: sizes, speeds, etc. These other dimensions don't necessarily have space or time. In fact, what actually exists there, I couldn't say. The only data I have on them is from two sources: correspondence information and server data from the secret agency (which I'll call "the Organization") that keeps this under wraps, and first-hand experience with realms from these other entities, either directly (I experience it) or through the eyes of someone else with the same or greater abilities than I possess.
I referred to these people with abilities earlier as "Antennas", and I will continue to use the term. Antennas really come in three flavors, marked by the strength of their ability: weak Antennas, like me, are able to observe spontaneous interactions between our universe and other dimensions (phase shifts) when there is a strong force of collision like existed in the basement; moderate Antennas may see phase shifts occur at any point, and they usually are able to retain memories from across the different transformations; strong Antennas, and I don't know if they exist yet, but they are able to consciously interact with these other realms and cause phase shifts to occur.
I mentioned that moderate Antennas are able to retain memories from before and after a phase shift. Technically, all Antennas have this ability, but it's about degree. I can recall only very specific instances and without much detail. Moderates are usually able to pick out much more nuanced minutiae. At the lower end of moderate scale, most of those details fade or get fuzzy over time, but for the very strong Antennas, they hold onto almost everything. One other property that scales with strength is interaction with other conscious entities. Only a small percentage of moderates are able to do this. What's interesting is that these entities can possess (yes, like ghosts) people who aren't even antennas, but no one is aware of such possession at this deep of a level. I have several companions now, and only two have had interactions with these otherworldly beings. Not all of them are malevolent, some of them are whimsical or kind, but there are a fair share of demons out there.
Getting back to the point, Area X started as a government funded project in the 70's. At that time, they were focused on a few subjects: Artificial Intelligence, DNA sequencing, and psychedelics. Yes, they were part of the infamous LSD experiments. But they looked at these subjects through a common lens—there was something that the burgeoning tech industry, fueled by the advent of a commercial computer market, was missing. As the tech giants rose in the early 2000's and began to collect mass amounts of data, this other agency was decades ahead in a different metric, although it was completely (and still is) hidden from the public. Their efforts to understand psychedelic experiences led to a formalized method of understanding interactions between multiple realities. They built certain scanning equipment to detect anomalies like the one I found in the basement; although their tools were much more sophisticated and didn't utilize voltage readings. Then they ran tests in these areas. One area in particular is a hot-bed of phase shift interactions. That's where Area X is located (and the Receiver).
The Receiver is a giant electromagnetic orb that has trapped the kind of multi-dimensional energy that causes the phase shifts; since the Organization seized control of the lab, it's effectively become a map of the Earth in relation to these other worlds. For the past twenty or so years, the Organization has been studying this map, using the data big Tech companies have collected to essentially develop a Rosetta Stone for interpreting the meaning of the fluctuations in their scanning equipment. Recently, the public, though going the long way round, was actually pretty close to a breakthrough in this same department until recently when ultra-powerful LLMs surfaced, and the whole world began going down what I'd argue is the wrong rabbit hole of language processing. But I digress.
Area X is essentially a private military base built for defending the most impactful piece of technology ever invented. With the Receiver, the Organization now has the power to essentially predict any and all future outcomes, the only thing holding them back is the limitations of their own scanning equipment which will get better with time. To put it into perspective, the Organization has access to a kind of data allocation tool which in one day can produce over ten thousand times that the Big Data companies combined would be able to filter through in the next decade. You might think, then, that the problem is merely asymmetric power, and that is certainly a concern, but it isn't the main concern. The main issue is that this organization is actively recruiting (and kidnapping) Antennas from around the world in an effort to find or make one of them into a strong Antenna. In other words, they want a subject who is able not only to see the future, but to manipulate it at will.
balance to the world. I've been working on amassing resources, capital, and building my own team, and now I'm ready. You might ask why I'm posting this here. Wouldn't it be better to keep all this secret? Well, yes, it would be. But that's the problem. Nothing is secret anymore. They know about me and the others, and if I don't make a move, they will. In a way, this is a letter directly to the organization that I know, and I'm coming.
In a different way, I wanted to release this information to the public. There are lots of people out there waking up and realizing that the world they experience is not the one others experience. If you think you might be an Antenna, don't be afraid—you have a special gift that can be controlled. If you want more details on how to control it, or if you're interested in my mission, don't be afraid to reach out. This hasn't always been my life's work, but it is now.
At least until I die.
2024.05.16 23:10 Weathers_Writing They call Silicon Valley the tech capitol of the world. They're wrong
I won't disclose its actual location, so if that's why you're here, sorry to disappoint. It's not time for that yet. However, I do think it's time to start getting the word out. I've noticed an increase in what I'll call "Antennas" lately, or people who can detect cross-planar phase shifts. Without getting into all the math (some of which I don't even know), this is basically a phenomenon which refers to entropy seeping into our universe from other realms or universes or whatever you want to call it. Simply put, people think our universe is a closed system to entropy, meaning that the disorder of any variable in our universe can only increase or decrease in direct proportion to other variables in that same system (the universe). Under this precept, we can establish rules like the Laws of Thermodynamics, and for most people, they're effective. But not for Antennas.
Put another way, if you throw a bunch of bouncy balls into a box, there are a number of different configurations that the balls could take on, with different speeds and magnitudes. You can calculate all of those if you have the right numbers. Now let's say you throw in another set of balls that you don't consider in your calculations of the initial set. Well, then you're not going to get an accurate picture of what's happening. Most people only see the first set and calculate based on that, but some people can see two, three, four or more sets.
You'll understand the concept better when I tell you the story, but I wanted to give you a primer on an important concept that will help you understand why this place, which I'll call "Area X", exists, and what the goals of the people who work there are.
Also note that I'm going to be using the alias "Trent" moving forward. Please refer to me as such in any direct messages.
***
Eighteen years ago I started working as an independent Home Inspector. I dropped out of community college after my first semester (not because I didn't find some of the subjects interesting, but because deference to a man or woman has never been my style) and started working some odd jobs. I did construction work for a couple years, then plumbing. I even drove a garbage truck for six months. I've always found pleasure in using my hands, and getting dirty was never a problem for me. Still, having a boss really dragged ass, so I spent my free time working on creating my own business. It took a few years and lots of savings, but I finally managed to get basic set of Home Inspection equipment: Tyvek coveralls, a cheap half-face respirator, voltage & AFCI/GFCI testers, CO2 and radon monitors, an IR camera, and telescoping mirrors in addition to the boots, safety glasses, electric gloves, ladder, and toolkits I already had on hand.
My buddy at the time was in the business, but he was moving off to the coast, so he helped me get set up and even introduced me to some of his clients. Of course, by that time I had already gotten my State license, but I still was a bit apprehensive to work with insurance agencies. I thought I could make a living working independently, inspecting for mold or sizing up a house for a prospective buyer. Eventually, though, I realized I should probably take every job available to me.
Easing into the business went about as well as it could have. The clients my friend referred to me were very satisfied with my work, and I was able to retain them. Then, in order to increase my reach, I hired someone on Fiverr to build a website for my company which led to a marked increase in traffic and conversions. About six months through, I began to get on a first-name basis with the boys and girls down down at Allstate and Progressive, and they fed me some of the bigger cases. In fact, I got so booked by year's end that I had to hire someone to help manage my schedule and the Excel spreadsheet with all my finances. I capped off a successful year with a 5-star Google rating and a trip to Ireland to visit some family and friends and get piss drunk. When I got back, it was the grindstone all over again, until the summer when I discovered… well, you'll see.
First off, I want to say that I was never one to believe in the paranormal. I grew up watching the movies and hearing the ghost stories round the campfire like every other kid, but it never struck a chord with me. If I can't touch it or see it or hear it, does it really exist? Probably not. So don't go thinking this was a scared man seeing his own shadow. That being said, I had this sense that something was off about this house when I parked along the curb and looked through a large window, perhaps two times the size of my van, to a dingy, dark foyer.
The entire neighborhood was stacked with upper-middle class domiciles, though it seemed like only two thirds of them were occupied, mostly by professionals who commuted to the City every weekday, and the rest were empty. As a man who understands real estate, to say this was strange would be an understatement. Still, I had no problem appraising the mini-mansion for a couple of newlyweds looking to enter the community. I did some research on the property ahead of time, and it seems that it was owned by a couple of old timers who had gone off the grid some time ago. The water and electric bill were both unpaid dating back to 2004 (it was June of '06 now). The bank had repo'd the house (which only had about 100k left on it) and held it for a year and a half before putting it back on the market. I tried to find out more about the old couple who vanished, but there was nothing in the news.
I stepped out of the van in my coveralls and grabbed my suitcase which had my mask, gloves, and eye protection in it. I liked to do a preliminary survey first, running an eye test on the exterior then interior before bringing out the big guns (that way I could identify the areas where I think there could be problems instead of running a metal detector over the whole damn ocean seaboard). I was about to do just that when the window caught my eye again. It felt uncharacteristic of me to be so occupied with this window, but I detoured to the front porch and peeked inside anyway.
Most of the furniture had already been moved out, meaning all that was left was a single three-seater couch, a couple candlesticks on the fireplace mantle, a pristine chandelier overtop a dining room table, and the kitchenware: an oven, gas stovetop, marble countertops, and an island. I could see into the living room very clearly with the afternoon light, but the dining room was dim enough that there were a few structures I couldn't quite make out in the distance. One of them appeared to be some kind of china cabinet or bookshelf—I figured it was the former considering where it was located. The other shadow looked kind of like a grandfather clock. Or at least that's what I thought until it moved.
When I say it "moved", I don't mean to say that it picked up and walked away. If you're not familiar with the Necker Cube, I suggest you search it up, because that kind of illusion is the best way to describe what I saw. At first I was seeing the grandfather clock in a certain way—pushed into the corner of the room—and the next second my vision "corrected" and it was maybe five feet to the left of its former position. I shook my head and looked again and saw the grandfather clock in its second orientation, standing in the center of the room against the wall. I figured I was just seeing things, but even so I spent a little extra time dawdling around the Egress window, taking notes, and delaying the interior inspection.
When I finally grew a pair and went inside, I walked straight to the dining room. Sure enough, the grandfather clock was stowed away in the corner of the room. I spent a couple minutes watching it with my pencil and travel notebook out. I'm the kind of guy that likes to collect hard data when the chips are down. Unfortunately, the clock apparently already had enough fun and was content with sweating me. Oh, well.
I fitted my pencil behind my ear and pocketed my travel notebook, then flipped the rest of the first floor lights on and completed my prelim. I concluded that everything was pretty standard. If anything, the house was in better shape than I'd expect considering it presumably hasn't been lived in for a couple years. I say "presumably" because one can never count out squatters, even during those times. Mainly I was expecting more dust build up and cobwebs than there were. Perhaps someone from the department had come by recently. It's unlikely, but possible.
I did the same check upstairs and it came back mostly clean. There was a bit of staining near the attic I wanted to check for mold. Based on its color, it was probably just a minor case of Aspergillus, but better safe than sorry. Then I got to the basement, and, well, let's just count out the idea of anyone dropping by. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I found.
The first thing that caught my eye was the long, slender body of a birch tree lying pale and dead across a large portion of the even larger unfinished basement's cement flooring. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but, yep, there it was. Its crown was sealed up in the wall with only its trunk hanging out, which made me think of those medieval pillory devices which locked up people's heads and arms. Then confetti-scattered around the tree and all over the basement floor was a minefield of broken glass and ceramic tangled up with a set of random objects. And when I say random, I mean random. There was an unfurled Somali flag (the blue one with a single star in the center), some packaged drinks and condiments branded with all sorts of different languages (I could only make out Gaelic and Chinese or Japanese, I couldn't quite tell), a broken dome-shaped security camera, an otoscope (the thing the doc uses to check your ears), Hot Wheels cars (okay that one isn't so strange), and the list goes on.
At that moment, I wasn't freaked out or disgusted. I was more or less just confused. I started walking through the rubble, trying to avoid the sharp fragments but pretty confident that my steel toed boots would crush most the pieces anyway, when I heard a clink just up ahead. I was able to spot the coin in time, just before it jingled to a halt atop an old Life magazine. I picked it up and noted right away its oval shape and bronze color—clearly not American made. I tried reading it, but not only was the language not English, it appeared to be so old that most of the lettering had been filed down. I looked up at the ceiling to see if it dropped from a shelf, but there was nothing that could have been holding the coin. I considered for a moment, looking around at the other junk, and had the crazy idea that maybe all this stuff just appeared here. I popped the coin in my pocket and headed back to the van when I stopped by the tree and realized something. It wasn't a birch tree—it was a palm tree. I just didn't realize because of how ashy and decayed the bark was.
Now at this point you might think I've been acting a little nonchalant for such a strange occurrence, and I don't blame you, but if you're gonna stick around with me that's just something you're gonna have to get used to. I guess I was just born with a screw loose, but I really don't scare easily, and I tend to look at everything pragmatically. If you dig deep enough, you'll always find another plausible explanation. That being said, I do want to get to the part about Area X, so let me give you the rundown on what I learned about this basement.
I ended up trekking back to the van and picking up my gear. I was no longer running the routine inspection, obviously, but I figured I might as well throw 30 thousand dollars of scanning equipment at whatever the fuck anamoly existed in that basement. Most of it came back negative. There was a bit higher-than-usual EM interference as picked up on the voltmeters, but nothing that screamed danger close. Still, it was enough for me to set up my volt testers and IR camera while muddling through the rest of the junk. I won't bore you with another list of items, but I did find one thing of value: a diamond necklace. And not just any diamond necklace, it was one of those Queen-wearing, multi-row, big-jeweled necklaces like out of some Historical Fiction movie from the thirties. I almost didn't pocket it because I'm used to expensive items being owned by someone… someone who might want it back. But I figured if there was ever a place the finder's keeper's rule applied, it was probably in this Quantum graveyard.
7 O'clock rolled around and I hadn't eaten. I'm a pretty bulky guy, carrying my share of both muscle and fat, and most people think that means I need to eat a ton but that's really not the case. Mostly I just get dehydrated easily, especially in the summer. That said, I was bordering on famished territory and considered heading out for a bite when I heard another sound. The first thing I did was check my scanners, and sure enough the voltage needle was fully spun to the right side of the dial. EM interference. Then I went to see what had dropped. I was able to pick the object out pretty quickly since I had spent the last 6 hours staring at the mosaic of a basement floor. It was a silver briefcase, like one of those out of a crime novel, and it was cracked open.
I had this sense then that I was standing at a precipice, and if I opened the briefcase and looked inside, I wouldn't be able to stop whatever would come afterwards. Part of me deep down knew that I was just that type of guy that had to know, and maybe this was my Hamlet moment where it would be a trait gone a step too far. But then again I didn't really believe in any of that sentimental bullshit, so I opened the briefcase.
The gun surprised me a little, but not as much as the piece of paper laid atop a case file reading in large black font, "FIND ME". I expected the envelope to have some missing person file in it, but instead there were all these schematics and blueprints for some kind of device. Whatever it was, it was pretty massive. Some of the lengths were hundreds of meters long. And what's more strange is based on the blueprint's locale, it appeared to be underground. I looked back through the pages a couple times, then checked the note—nothing strange there. The gun appeared to be a simple glock. I was no gun expert, but I had been to the range pretty regularly with my construction buddies, so I got used to the feel of a pistol and rifle and some of the different names; however, I realized pretty quickly it wasn't your standard glock when I couldn't find mag-release. That's when I noticed how light the gun felt. I tried to chamber a round, but again, there was no hammer. What the hell kind of gun was this?
I ended up throwing everything back in the briefcase, including the necklace, coin, and a few Koozies I found that were branded with one of my favorite sports teams (never let an opportunity go to waste). I put up all my shit back in the van and spun over to a local burger joint, got my fill, and went home. I made sure to draft an email to the prospective buyers, telling them the house had several patches of black mold and a bit of a rat problem before drifting off to sleep. Although I really didn't do much of that.
When I woke up, I took a cold shower and downed a can of Reign, then commuted to my gym and got a lift and some sauna time in before making the trip back to the house. I brought some extra supplies with me for some experiments I cooked up while not sleeping the previous night.
First, I had two camcorders set up on a couple tripods in either corner of the basement. I wanted clear footage of these mystery objects spawning in. Then I set up a voltmeter in a similar fashion, but I had a wire extending out of it on a circuit which fed to an alarm that would blare when the reading was over 250 volts. Upstairs, I rearranged some of the furniture so that the small number of tables, chairs, clock, cabinets, and other little pillows or vases I could find were scattered across the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then I pulled up a lawn chair to the front porch window and waited.
I didn't have to wait long though. In about a minute, I started to notice some of the objects moving. It was strange. When a few of them would shift simultaneously, it was like looking at a holographic card that would change shape depending on where your eyes were in relation to the image. Every time I saw a shift, I felt an awkward feeling in my eyes. They went blurry for a fraction of a second, then there was a twinge of pain, as if my brain couldn't handle the contradictory stimulus. It didn't get more crazy than that though—until the alarm went off.
I had cracked open the small rectangular window in the basement to the side of the house so I would hear it. It took four hours and several strange stares from passersby walking their dogs before it rang, so I was a bit lost in my thoughts, but when I heard the beep I perked up fast. It lasted for maybe 5 seconds total, but what I saw was truly miraculous. The best way I can describe it is a pool of silver or gray or translucent light emerging in the foreground between me and the objects in the different rooms. A series of twisting tentacles sprouted from the gray octopus-like head and spun in a way that reminded me of that little kids ride at the amusement parks. Then the objects started to "heat up" is the way I describe it. Their position became relative, meaning they were here one second, there another, then they popped out of existence entirely. Suddenly the rooms were all empty, then they were full of things I had never seen before. Then five seconds passed and the octopus vanished and it was back to the same old objects in their usual places.
It took a few minutes to process what I saw, and even then I wasn't sure I really saw it. I went inside and looked around at my distribution of the house's furnishings. They were all there, intact. Then I went downstairs to check the cams. I rewinded a couple minutes and played it back, but there was no flying object to be found. Instead, there was some gray static that lasted half a second and then the object, a kid's treasure chest toy, was there on the ground. But you want to know the really strange part? I rewinded the tape again, and when I watched the footage back, the treasure chest was always there.
I later came to understand that these poppings in-and-out of our reality are only conceivable to a conscious mind that can track the interference patterns—not rote computational instruments. In fact, even most people can't do it (although everyone has at least a slight awareness of it, even if only subconsciously). Plus, locations like the basement of this house are very rare and kept under tight lock. That became obvious to me two days later when, after my normal morning routine, I pulled up to a driveway and curbside filled with unmarked government vehicles. Either bravely or stupidly, I pulled up to a few officers (they were wearing suits in 85 degree weather, so I assumed…) who were idling by the large fence of crime scene tape and asked them what the score was.
"There was a crime," said the short man with a unibrow.
"Oh, is that right? Damn shame. Someone break in? I have a niece who lives nearby, so…"
The man looked at his two compatriots, both of whom were wearing sunglasses and a "get this civilian fuck out of here" expressions. "Oh, yeah," he started in a reassuring tone that was so condescending it would have annoyed anyone except me, "we found a body. We think it was a homicide. Best to keep your kids away from here for a while."
I thumbed the stubble on my chin, my other hand outstretched on the wheel, and considered moving on, but my mouth had other ideas. "That right? But uh, isn't this house vacant? I mean, I don't remember no one living in it."
The short man, now tall with temper, said, "Yeah, some squatters. We think there was a dispute over some drug money. Nothing for you to worry about though, we got it under control. Now if you wouldn't mind moving along, we have a lot of work to do."
Oh, I'm sure you do, I thought, but only said, "Of course, sir, sorry for keeping you from your job." Then I rolled up the window and cruised on, keeping my eyes on the house which slowly diminished in the side-view mirror.
Luckily I had been smart enough to break down my camp and lug home all my equipment each night, so I didn't leave anything incriminating. I didn't move the furniture back, so maybe that would come back to haunt me, but considering the kind of shit going down in that house, I didn't think they would notice.
For any of you wondering about the conclusion of the house story, I went back a couple weeks later after the suits had left and the tape was taken down and confirmed that not only was the basement entirely cleaned out, but it was no longer exhibiting any strange properties. I looked for a story related to the house, maybe a made up murder of some kind, but there was nothing. That bastard lied to me and didn't even bother to cover his story up.
Now, in the aftermath of an event such as this, I really only had one of two options. I could forget it, move on, continue living life. The necklace was surely worth a fortune. I could sell it and have enough to retire, or at least hire enough people and expand my business large enough to retire within ten or so years. Or I could take all that money and invest it in my own PI business with only a single objective: finding out what those people knew, and why they were hiding it.
I think you know me well enough by now to guess which line of reasoning appealed more to me.
***
For the sake of brevity, I'm going to omit most of my encounters along the journey to discovering Area X. There's a lot to tell, and if it appeals to you perhaps I'd be willing to share at a later date, but for now I want to get this part of the story, the more proximal part, out in the open.
Three years ago, I discovered the source of what I'll call "The Receiver". This is the device that was schematized in the documents that I found in the briefcase. What it does is a complex answer, and how it does it is pretty much all speculation, but here's what I've been able to find out: this universe we live in is a node in a network of many other spaces. These spaces exist in higher dimensions that we cannot directly perceive, but using a conceivable analogy, just think about a flower with petals. The petals are these other dimensions which bleed into our world, which is at the center. However, it's not that pretty. We see the physical world through the lens of spacetime: sizes, speeds, etc. These other dimensions don't necessarily have space or time. In fact, what actually exists there, I couldn't say. The only data I have on them is from two sources: correspondence information and server data from the secret agency (which I'll call "the Organization") that keeps this under wraps, and first-hand experience with realms from these other entities, either directly (I experience it) or through the eyes of someone else with the same or greater abilities than I possess.
I referred to these people with abilities earlier as "Antennas", and I will continue to use the term. Antennas really come in three flavors, marked by the strength of their ability: weak Antennas, like me, are able to observe spontaneous interactions between our universe and other dimensions (phase shifts) when there is a strong force of collision like existed in the basement; moderate Antennas may see phase shifts occur at any point, and they usually are able to retain memories from across the different transformations; strong Antennas, and I don't know if they exist yet, but they are able to consciously interact with these other realms and cause phase shifts to occur.
I mentioned that moderate Antennas are able to retain memories from before and after a phase shift. Technically, all Antennas have this ability, but it's about degree. I can recall only very specific instances and without much detail. Moderates are usually able to pick out much more nuanced minutiae. At the lower end of moderate scale, most of those details fade or get fuzzy over time, but for the very strong Antennas, they hold onto almost everything. One other property that scales with strength is interaction with other conscious entities. Only a small percentage of moderates are able to do this. What's interesting is that these entities can possess (yes, like ghosts) people who aren't even antennas, but no one is aware of such possession at this deep of a level. I have several companions now, and only two have had interactions with these otherworldly beings. Not all of them are malevolent, some of them are whimsical or kind, but there are a fair share of demons out there.
Getting back to the point, Area X started as a government funded project in the 70's. At that time, they were focused on a few subjects: Artificial Intelligence, DNA sequencing, and psychedelics. Yes, they were part of the infamous LSD experiments. But they looked at these subjects through a common lens—there was something that the burgeoning tech industry, fueled by the advent of a commercial computer market, was missing. As the tech giants rose in the early 2000's and began to collect mass amounts of data, this other agency was decades ahead in a different metric, although it was completely (and still is) hidden from the public. Their efforts to understand psychedelic experiences led to a formalized method of understanding interactions between multiple realities. They built certain scanning equipment to detect anomalies like the one I found in the basement; although their tools were much more sophisticated and didn't utilize voltage readings. Then they ran tests in these areas. One area in particular is a hot-bed of phase shift interactions. That's where Area X is located (and the Receiver).
The Receiver is a giant electromagnetic orb that has trapped the kind of multi-dimensional energy that causes the phase shifts; since the Organization seized control of the lab, it's effectively become a map of the Earth in relation to these other worlds. For the past twenty or so years, the Organization has been studying this map, using the data big Tech companies have collected to essentially develop a Rosetta Stone for interpreting the meaning of the fluctuations in their scanning equipment. Recently, the public, though going the long way round, was actually pretty close to a breakthrough in this same department until recently when ultra-powerful LLMs surfaced, and the whole world began going down what I'd argue is the wrong rabbit hole of language processing. But I digress.
Area X is essentially a private military base built for defending the most impactful piece of technology ever invented. With the Receiver, the Organization now has the power to essentially predict any and all future outcomes, the only thing holding them back is the limitations of their own scanning equipment which will get better with time. To put it into perspective, the Organization has access to a kind of data allocation tool which in one day can produce over ten thousand times that the Big Data companies combined would be able to filter through in the next decade. You might think, then, that the problem is merely asymmetric power, and that is certainly a concern, but it isn't the main concern. The main issue is that this organization is actively recruiting (and kidnapping) Antennas from around the world in an effort to find or make one of them into a strong Antenna. In other words, they want a subject who is able not only to see the future, but to manipulate it at will.
balance to the world. I've been working on amassing resources, capital, and building my own team, and now I'm ready. You might ask why I'm posting this here. Wouldn't it be better to keep all this secret? Well, yes, it would be. But that's the problem. Nothing is secret anymore. They know about me and the others, and if I don't make a move, they will. In a way, this is a letter directly to the organization that I know, and I'm coming.
In a different way, I wanted to release this information to the public. There are lots of people out there waking up and realizing that the world they experience is not the one others experience. If you think you might be an Antenna, don't be afraid—you have a special gift that can be controlled. If you want more details on how to control it, or if you're interested in my mission, don't be afraid to reach out. This hasn't always been my life's work, but it is now.
At least until I die.
submitted by Weathers_Writing to nosleep [link] [comments]
Put another way, if you throw a bunch of bouncy balls into a box, there are a number of different configurations that the balls could take on, with different speeds and magnitudes. You can calculate all of those if you have the right numbers. Now let's say you throw in another set of balls that you don't consider in your calculations of the initial set. Well, then you're not going to get an accurate picture of what's happening. Most people only see the first set and calculate based on that, but some people can see two, three, four or more sets.
You'll understand the concept better when I tell you the story, but I wanted to give you a primer on an important concept that will help you understand why this place, which I'll call "Area X", exists, and what the goals of the people who work there are.
Also note that I'm going to be using the alias "Trent" moving forward. Please refer to me as such in any direct messages.
***
Eighteen years ago I started working as an independent Home Inspector. I dropped out of community college after my first semester (not because I didn't find some of the subjects interesting, but because deference to a man or woman has never been my style) and started working some odd jobs. I did construction work for a couple years, then plumbing. I even drove a garbage truck for six months. I've always found pleasure in using my hands, and getting dirty was never a problem for me. Still, having a boss really dragged ass, so I spent my free time working on creating my own business. It took a few years and lots of savings, but I finally managed to get basic set of Home Inspection equipment: Tyvek coveralls, a cheap half-face respirator, voltage & AFCI/GFCI testers, CO2 and radon monitors, an IR camera, and telescoping mirrors in addition to the boots, safety glasses, electric gloves, ladder, and toolkits I already had on hand.
My buddy at the time was in the business, but he was moving off to the coast, so he helped me get set up and even introduced me to some of his clients. Of course, by that time I had already gotten my State license, but I still was a bit apprehensive to work with insurance agencies. I thought I could make a living working independently, inspecting for mold or sizing up a house for a prospective buyer. Eventually, though, I realized I should probably take every job available to me.
Easing into the business went about as well as it could have. The clients my friend referred to me were very satisfied with my work, and I was able to retain them. Then, in order to increase my reach, I hired someone on Fiverr to build a website for my company which led to a marked increase in traffic and conversions. About six months through, I began to get on a first-name basis with the boys and girls down down at Allstate and Progressive, and they fed me some of the bigger cases. In fact, I got so booked by year's end that I had to hire someone to help manage my schedule and the Excel spreadsheet with all my finances. I capped off a successful year with a 5-star Google rating and a trip to Ireland to visit some family and friends and get piss drunk. When I got back, it was the grindstone all over again, until the summer when I discovered… well, you'll see.
First off, I want to say that I was never one to believe in the paranormal. I grew up watching the movies and hearing the ghost stories round the campfire like every other kid, but it never struck a chord with me. If I can't touch it or see it or hear it, does it really exist? Probably not. So don't go thinking this was a scared man seeing his own shadow. That being said, I had this sense that something was off about this house when I parked along the curb and looked through a large window, perhaps two times the size of my van, to a dingy, dark foyer.
The entire neighborhood was stacked with upper-middle class domiciles, though it seemed like only two thirds of them were occupied, mostly by professionals who commuted to the City every weekday, and the rest were empty. As a man who understands real estate, to say this was strange would be an understatement. Still, I had no problem appraising the mini-mansion for a couple of newlyweds looking to enter the community. I did some research on the property ahead of time, and it seems that it was owned by a couple of old timers who had gone off the grid some time ago. The water and electric bill were both unpaid dating back to 2004 (it was June of '06 now). The bank had repo'd the house (which only had about 100k left on it) and held it for a year and a half before putting it back on the market. I tried to find out more about the old couple who vanished, but there was nothing in the news.
I stepped out of the van in my coveralls and grabbed my suitcase which had my mask, gloves, and eye protection in it. I liked to do a preliminary survey first, running an eye test on the exterior then interior before bringing out the big guns (that way I could identify the areas where I think there could be problems instead of running a metal detector over the whole damn ocean seaboard). I was about to do just that when the window caught my eye again. It felt uncharacteristic of me to be so occupied with this window, but I detoured to the front porch and peeked inside anyway.
Most of the furniture had already been moved out, meaning all that was left was a single three-seater couch, a couple candlesticks on the fireplace mantle, a pristine chandelier overtop a dining room table, and the kitchenware: an oven, gas stovetop, marble countertops, and an island. I could see into the living room very clearly with the afternoon light, but the dining room was dim enough that there were a few structures I couldn't quite make out in the distance. One of them appeared to be some kind of china cabinet or bookshelf—I figured it was the former considering where it was located. The other shadow looked kind of like a grandfather clock. Or at least that's what I thought until it moved.
When I say it "moved", I don't mean to say that it picked up and walked away. If you're not familiar with the Necker Cube, I suggest you search it up, because that kind of illusion is the best way to describe what I saw. At first I was seeing the grandfather clock in a certain way—pushed into the corner of the room—and the next second my vision "corrected" and it was maybe five feet to the left of its former position. I shook my head and looked again and saw the grandfather clock in its second orientation, standing in the center of the room against the wall. I figured I was just seeing things, but even so I spent a little extra time dawdling around the Egress window, taking notes, and delaying the interior inspection.
When I finally grew a pair and went inside, I walked straight to the dining room. Sure enough, the grandfather clock was stowed away in the corner of the room. I spent a couple minutes watching it with my pencil and travel notebook out. I'm the kind of guy that likes to collect hard data when the chips are down. Unfortunately, the clock apparently already had enough fun and was content with sweating me. Oh, well.
I fitted my pencil behind my ear and pocketed my travel notebook, then flipped the rest of the first floor lights on and completed my prelim. I concluded that everything was pretty standard. If anything, the house was in better shape than I'd expect considering it presumably hasn't been lived in for a couple years. I say "presumably" because one can never count out squatters, even during those times. Mainly I was expecting more dust build up and cobwebs than there were. Perhaps someone from the department had come by recently. It's unlikely, but possible.
I did the same check upstairs and it came back mostly clean. There was a bit of staining near the attic I wanted to check for mold. Based on its color, it was probably just a minor case of Aspergillus, but better safe than sorry. Then I got to the basement, and, well, let's just count out the idea of anyone dropping by. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I found.
The first thing that caught my eye was the long, slender body of a birch tree lying pale and dead across a large portion of the even larger unfinished basement's cement flooring. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but, yep, there it was. Its crown was sealed up in the wall with only its trunk hanging out, which made me think of those medieval pillory devices which locked up people's heads and arms. Then confetti-scattered around the tree and all over the basement floor was a minefield of broken glass and ceramic tangled up with a set of random objects. And when I say random, I mean random. There was an unfurled Somali flag (the blue one with a single star in the center), some packaged drinks and condiments branded with all sorts of different languages (I could only make out Gaelic and Chinese or Japanese, I couldn't quite tell), a broken dome-shaped security camera, an otoscope (the thing the doc uses to check your ears), Hot Wheels cars (okay that one isn't so strange), and the list goes on.
At that moment, I wasn't freaked out or disgusted. I was more or less just confused. I started walking through the rubble, trying to avoid the sharp fragments but pretty confident that my steel toed boots would crush most the pieces anyway, when I heard a clink just up ahead. I was able to spot the coin in time, just before it jingled to a halt atop an old Life magazine. I picked it up and noted right away its oval shape and bronze color—clearly not American made. I tried reading it, but not only was the language not English, it appeared to be so old that most of the lettering had been filed down. I looked up at the ceiling to see if it dropped from a shelf, but there was nothing that could have been holding the coin. I considered for a moment, looking around at the other junk, and had the crazy idea that maybe all this stuff just appeared here. I popped the coin in my pocket and headed back to the van when I stopped by the tree and realized something. It wasn't a birch tree—it was a palm tree. I just didn't realize because of how ashy and decayed the bark was.
Now at this point you might think I've been acting a little nonchalant for such a strange occurrence, and I don't blame you, but if you're gonna stick around with me that's just something you're gonna have to get used to. I guess I was just born with a screw loose, but I really don't scare easily, and I tend to look at everything pragmatically. If you dig deep enough, you'll always find another plausible explanation. That being said, I do want to get to the part about Area X, so let me give you the rundown on what I learned about this basement.
I ended up trekking back to the van and picking up my gear. I was no longer running the routine inspection, obviously, but I figured I might as well throw 30 thousand dollars of scanning equipment at whatever the fuck anamoly existed in that basement. Most of it came back negative. There was a bit higher-than-usual EM interference as picked up on the voltmeters, but nothing that screamed danger close. Still, it was enough for me to set up my volt testers and IR camera while muddling through the rest of the junk. I won't bore you with another list of items, but I did find one thing of value: a diamond necklace. And not just any diamond necklace, it was one of those Queen-wearing, multi-row, big-jeweled necklaces like out of some Historical Fiction movie from the thirties. I almost didn't pocket it because I'm used to expensive items being owned by someone… someone who might want it back. But I figured if there was ever a place the finder's keeper's rule applied, it was probably in this Quantum graveyard.
7 O'clock rolled around and I hadn't eaten. I'm a pretty bulky guy, carrying my share of both muscle and fat, and most people think that means I need to eat a ton but that's really not the case. Mostly I just get dehydrated easily, especially in the summer. That said, I was bordering on famished territory and considered heading out for a bite when I heard another sound. The first thing I did was check my scanners, and sure enough the voltage needle was fully spun to the right side of the dial. EM interference. Then I went to see what had dropped. I was able to pick the object out pretty quickly since I had spent the last 6 hours staring at the mosaic of a basement floor. It was a silver briefcase, like one of those out of a crime novel, and it was cracked open.
I had this sense then that I was standing at a precipice, and if I opened the briefcase and looked inside, I wouldn't be able to stop whatever would come afterwards. Part of me deep down knew that I was just that type of guy that had to know, and maybe this was my Hamlet moment where it would be a trait gone a step too far. But then again I didn't really believe in any of that sentimental bullshit, so I opened the briefcase.
The gun surprised me a little, but not as much as the piece of paper laid atop a case file reading in large black font, "FIND ME". I expected the envelope to have some missing person file in it, but instead there were all these schematics and blueprints for some kind of device. Whatever it was, it was pretty massive. Some of the lengths were hundreds of meters long. And what's more strange is based on the blueprint's locale, it appeared to be underground. I looked back through the pages a couple times, then checked the note—nothing strange there. The gun appeared to be a simple glock. I was no gun expert, but I had been to the range pretty regularly with my construction buddies, so I got used to the feel of a pistol and rifle and some of the different names; however, I realized pretty quickly it wasn't your standard glock when I couldn't find mag-release. That's when I noticed how light the gun felt. I tried to chamber a round, but again, there was no hammer. What the hell kind of gun was this?
I ended up throwing everything back in the briefcase, including the necklace, coin, and a few Koozies I found that were branded with one of my favorite sports teams (never let an opportunity go to waste). I put up all my shit back in the van and spun over to a local burger joint, got my fill, and went home. I made sure to draft an email to the prospective buyers, telling them the house had several patches of black mold and a bit of a rat problem before drifting off to sleep. Although I really didn't do much of that.
When I woke up, I took a cold shower and downed a can of Reign, then commuted to my gym and got a lift and some sauna time in before making the trip back to the house. I brought some extra supplies with me for some experiments I cooked up while not sleeping the previous night.
First, I had two camcorders set up on a couple tripods in either corner of the basement. I wanted clear footage of these mystery objects spawning in. Then I set up a voltmeter in a similar fashion, but I had a wire extending out of it on a circuit which fed to an alarm that would blare when the reading was over 250 volts. Upstairs, I rearranged some of the furniture so that the small number of tables, chairs, clock, cabinets, and other little pillows or vases I could find were scattered across the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then I pulled up a lawn chair to the front porch window and waited.
I didn't have to wait long though. In about a minute, I started to notice some of the objects moving. It was strange. When a few of them would shift simultaneously, it was like looking at a holographic card that would change shape depending on where your eyes were in relation to the image. Every time I saw a shift, I felt an awkward feeling in my eyes. They went blurry for a fraction of a second, then there was a twinge of pain, as if my brain couldn't handle the contradictory stimulus. It didn't get more crazy than that though—until the alarm went off.
I had cracked open the small rectangular window in the basement to the side of the house so I would hear it. It took four hours and several strange stares from passersby walking their dogs before it rang, so I was a bit lost in my thoughts, but when I heard the beep I perked up fast. It lasted for maybe 5 seconds total, but what I saw was truly miraculous. The best way I can describe it is a pool of silver or gray or translucent light emerging in the foreground between me and the objects in the different rooms. A series of twisting tentacles sprouted from the gray octopus-like head and spun in a way that reminded me of that little kids ride at the amusement parks. Then the objects started to "heat up" is the way I describe it. Their position became relative, meaning they were here one second, there another, then they popped out of existence entirely. Suddenly the rooms were all empty, then they were full of things I had never seen before. Then five seconds passed and the octopus vanished and it was back to the same old objects in their usual places.
It took a few minutes to process what I saw, and even then I wasn't sure I really saw it. I went inside and looked around at my distribution of the house's furnishings. They were all there, intact. Then I went downstairs to check the cams. I rewinded a couple minutes and played it back, but there was no flying object to be found. Instead, there was some gray static that lasted half a second and then the object, a kid's treasure chest toy, was there on the ground. But you want to know the really strange part? I rewinded the tape again, and when I watched the footage back, the treasure chest was always there.
I later came to understand that these poppings in-and-out of our reality are only conceivable to a conscious mind that can track the interference patterns—not rote computational instruments. In fact, even most people can't do it (although everyone has at least a slight awareness of it, even if only subconsciously). Plus, locations like the basement of this house are very rare and kept under tight lock. That became obvious to me two days later when, after my normal morning routine, I pulled up to a driveway and curbside filled with unmarked government vehicles. Either bravely or stupidly, I pulled up to a few officers (they were wearing suits in 85 degree weather, so I assumed…) who were idling by the large fence of crime scene tape and asked them what the score was.
"There was a crime," said the short man with a unibrow.
"Oh, is that right? Damn shame. Someone break in? I have a niece who lives nearby, so…"
The man looked at his two compatriots, both of whom were wearing sunglasses and a "get this civilian fuck out of here" expressions. "Oh, yeah," he started in a reassuring tone that was so condescending it would have annoyed anyone except me, "we found a body. We think it was a homicide. Best to keep your kids away from here for a while."
I thumbed the stubble on my chin, my other hand outstretched on the wheel, and considered moving on, but my mouth had other ideas. "That right? But uh, isn't this house vacant? I mean, I don't remember no one living in it."
The short man, now tall with temper, said, "Yeah, some squatters. We think there was a dispute over some drug money. Nothing for you to worry about though, we got it under control. Now if you wouldn't mind moving along, we have a lot of work to do."
Oh, I'm sure you do, I thought, but only said, "Of course, sir, sorry for keeping you from your job." Then I rolled up the window and cruised on, keeping my eyes on the house which slowly diminished in the side-view mirror.
Luckily I had been smart enough to break down my camp and lug home all my equipment each night, so I didn't leave anything incriminating. I didn't move the furniture back, so maybe that would come back to haunt me, but considering the kind of shit going down in that house, I didn't think they would notice.
For any of you wondering about the conclusion of the house story, I went back a couple weeks later after the suits had left and the tape was taken down and confirmed that not only was the basement entirely cleaned out, but it was no longer exhibiting any strange properties. I looked for a story related to the house, maybe a made up murder of some kind, but there was nothing. That bastard lied to me and didn't even bother to cover his story up.
Now, in the aftermath of an event such as this, I really only had one of two options. I could forget it, move on, continue living life. The necklace was surely worth a fortune. I could sell it and have enough to retire, or at least hire enough people and expand my business large enough to retire within ten or so years. Or I could take all that money and invest it in my own PI business with only a single objective: finding out what those people knew, and why they were hiding it.
I think you know me well enough by now to guess which line of reasoning appealed more to me.
***
For the sake of brevity, I'm going to omit most of my encounters along the journey to discovering Area X. There's a lot to tell, and if it appeals to you perhaps I'd be willing to share at a later date, but for now I want to get this part of the story, the more proximal part, out in the open.
Three years ago, I discovered the source of what I'll call "The Receiver". This is the device that was schematized in the documents that I found in the briefcase. What it does is a complex answer, and how it does it is pretty much all speculation, but here's what I've been able to find out: this universe we live in is a node in a network of many other spaces. These spaces exist in higher dimensions that we cannot directly perceive, but using a conceivable analogy, just think about a flower with petals. The petals are these other dimensions which bleed into our world, which is at the center. However, it's not that pretty. We see the physical world through the lens of spacetime: sizes, speeds, etc. These other dimensions don't necessarily have space or time. In fact, what actually exists there, I couldn't say. The only data I have on them is from two sources: correspondence information and server data from the secret agency (which I'll call "the Organization") that keeps this under wraps, and first-hand experience with realms from these other entities, either directly (I experience it) or through the eyes of someone else with the same or greater abilities than I possess.
I referred to these people with abilities earlier as "Antennas", and I will continue to use the term. Antennas really come in three flavors, marked by the strength of their ability: weak Antennas, like me, are able to observe spontaneous interactions between our universe and other dimensions (phase shifts) when there is a strong force of collision like existed in the basement; moderate Antennas may see phase shifts occur at any point, and they usually are able to retain memories from across the different transformations; strong Antennas, and I don't know if they exist yet, but they are able to consciously interact with these other realms and cause phase shifts to occur.
I mentioned that moderate Antennas are able to retain memories from before and after a phase shift. Technically, all Antennas have this ability, but it's about degree. I can recall only very specific instances and without much detail. Moderates are usually able to pick out much more nuanced minutiae. At the lower end of moderate scale, most of those details fade or get fuzzy over time, but for the very strong Antennas, they hold onto almost everything. One other property that scales with strength is interaction with other conscious entities. Only a small percentage of moderates are able to do this. What's interesting is that these entities can possess (yes, like ghosts) people who aren't even antennas, but no one is aware of such possession at this deep of a level. I have several companions now, and only two have had interactions with these otherworldly beings. Not all of them are malevolent, some of them are whimsical or kind, but there are a fair share of demons out there.
Getting back to the point, Area X started as a government funded project in the 70's. At that time, they were focused on a few subjects: Artificial Intelligence, DNA sequencing, and psychedelics. Yes, they were part of the infamous LSD experiments. But they looked at these subjects through a common lens—there was something that the burgeoning tech industry, fueled by the advent of a commercial computer market, was missing. As the tech giants rose in the early 2000's and began to collect mass amounts of data, this other agency was decades ahead in a different metric, although it was completely (and still is) hidden from the public. Their efforts to understand psychedelic experiences led to a formalized method of understanding interactions between multiple realities. They built certain scanning equipment to detect anomalies like the one I found in the basement; although their tools were much more sophisticated and didn't utilize voltage readings. Then they ran tests in these areas. One area in particular is a hot-bed of phase shift interactions. That's where Area X is located (and the Receiver).
The Receiver is a giant electromagnetic orb that has trapped the kind of multi-dimensional energy that causes the phase shifts; since the Organization seized control of the lab, it's effectively become a map of the Earth in relation to these other worlds. For the past twenty or so years, the Organization has been studying this map, using the data big Tech companies have collected to essentially develop a Rosetta Stone for interpreting the meaning of the fluctuations in their scanning equipment. Recently, the public, though going the long way round, was actually pretty close to a breakthrough in this same department until recently when ultra-powerful LLMs surfaced, and the whole world began going down what I'd argue is the wrong rabbit hole of language processing. But I digress.
Area X is essentially a private military base built for defending the most impactful piece of technology ever invented. With the Receiver, the Organization now has the power to essentially predict any and all future outcomes, the only thing holding them back is the limitations of their own scanning equipment which will get better with time. To put it into perspective, the Organization has access to a kind of data allocation tool which in one day can produce over ten thousand times that the Big Data companies combined would be able to filter through in the next decade. You might think, then, that the problem is merely asymmetric power, and that is certainly a concern, but it isn't the main concern. The main issue is that this organization is actively recruiting (and kidnapping) Antennas from around the world in an effort to find or make one of them into a strong Antenna. In other words, they want a subject who is able not only to see the future, but to manipulate it at will.
balance to the world. I've been working on amassing resources, capital, and building my own team, and now I'm ready. You might ask why I'm posting this here. Wouldn't it be better to keep all this secret? Well, yes, it would be. But that's the problem. Nothing is secret anymore. They know about me and the others, and if I don't make a move, they will. In a way, this is a letter directly to the organization that I know, and I'm coming.
In a different way, I wanted to release this information to the public. There are lots of people out there waking up and realizing that the world they experience is not the one others experience. If you think you might be an Antenna, don't be afraid—you have a special gift that can be controlled. If you want more details on how to control it, or if you're interested in my mission, don't be afraid to reach out. This hasn't always been my life's work, but it is now.
At least until I die.
2024.05.16 23:04 smallback Day 35 of the Best Colour for Each Species Poll Series! You all loved the Melted Mutant Moehog last time, and I don't blame you. Today is Mynci!
 | Okay hilariously Moehog was the least voted on poll by a long shot. I never know if that's on me for posting at a weird time, or if it's a reflection of how people feel about a pet. Regardless, we'll work with our small sample size! Mutant did win with 15.4% of the votes, followed by a tie for second with Baby and Wraith both taking 9%. Pastel and Stealth took third place with 6% each. Lots of ties tend to happen with fewer votes, 'cause it only takes like 6 votes to place basically. Maybe you'll feel differently about Mynci! submitted by smallback to neopets [link] [comments] Vote for Moehog if you haven't here, or check out the results here! If you'd like to see the results for the polls so far, you can check out the tracking sheet here. Click here for the Best Colour of Each Species Poll Series - Mynci!current myncis are a shadow of their former selvesClick here if you've already voted for Mynci and just want the results! I think I just completely forget Mynci exists sometimes. Sorry, little guy you're cute but just not really on my radar. 8-Bit's a fun one, I like a chubby front facing sprite. Custard's cool too, not as pale as some of the older Custard pets. Desert's got a great design, super embellished and a nice colour story. Elderly Girl is hilarious, reminds me of a specific cartoon character but I can't place her. Faerie isn't my favourite colour story but the wings are beautiful. Really lovely things happening with Marble, the soft edges make it look very glass-like. Maraquan? Meh. I do not care for the Sea Monkey though the idea is cute. Mutant's fun, looks nothing like a Mynci at all which I think helps here. The Royals both have a cool concept. I realized after they released the Nostalgic Royal pets that the converted versions of some of them just look like those dogs they dress up in Met Gala looks and post on instagram. They're sorry versions of what they once were. Great concept for Toy, too! Rare we get an accessorized Toy pet. Tyrannian of course is iconic, and Woodland has a fun concept too with the flowers and tropical vines. Also realllly cool take on Wraith! Some harder edges and lines make it look so graphic. Thoughts on the monkey? Did you forget it existed too? I'm seeing lots of these colours for the first time making this poll. Upvotes help your fellow Neopians see the polls and offer their opinions. Easy to forget, but even easier to do! Remember polls are open for a week! You can currently vote for Lutari, Meerca, and of course Moehog! |
2024.05.16 22:49 Immediate-Test8210 How can I ask someone out without being weird
Well there's a girl in my college class that I like, well I think she's pretty, and Idk, I wanted to know her better, or maybe you know, relationship, but the thing is, I suck, one of my friends told me that if I wanted so socialize easier i should just "not be weird", and then showed me the screenshot of the first time I messaged them, and dude, I don't "choose" to be weird, it just happens, like the screenshot showed when I asked them "Well, in Toy story when the toys die, do you think the kids play with a dead corpse?", and I wasn't not trying to be shocking or purposefully trying to be weird, I just wanted to know what would be their opinion on that topic, and idk man, I like this girl, but like, I'm afraid I'm gonna ruin everything by being myself..., another thing is, I don't know a lot about her, she's pretty shy and socially awkward, like even more than I am, and one time I tried to ask her about the homework (totally unrelated), and she hasn't viewed the message, TO THIS DAY, and she has pretty much no social media, so I don't even have a way to talk to her outside of college, and idk, maybe she's a lesbian, like "why would you think that?", reason is, The last girl I had a crush on was a lesbian, and the one before her (actually, the one before her was a trans man, like he identifies as man, and I didn't know that), and the one before him, so yeah, I just think she might be lesbian due to my track record with love, and idk, how can I invite her to something, or talk to her, or anything without "Being Weird"
submitted by Immediate-Test8210 to Advice [link] [comments]
2024.05.16 22:14 CaptainCyro My idea for a Miitopia TV show
Now, as you may know Nintendo series like Mario and Kirby got TV shows, now this has me wondering, what if Miitopia got a TV show, so for that, I have some ideas for it, so I felt like sharing it with you. So the fan of the games can easily understand the plot. Although most episodes will focus on the cast and their goal to save Miitopia, I'll hope include some episodes that'll help character grow and develop. Character cast: Now my idea for a cast is that I'll follow one of Miitopia's best features, being able to put in any character in the story, now I'll only have one original character, being the protagonist, other that that, all other characters would've already exist, now due to copyright, I'll only cast Nintendo characters to fill the roles , I'll also might include some Pokemon characters since Gamefreak is close to Nintendo and some celebrities [Like youtubers, voice actors, etc] here and there, so if you don't like it my casting or think the Pokemon characters will lead to copyright, you can type your own cast down below. So let the madness and fun begin. The cast: Carefree Guide: Mario Cheery Granny: Gardevoir Sassy Child: Goomba Worried Mother: Indeedee Lovely-Dovey Couple: Ash and Serena Sarcastic Guy: Toad Dubious Mayor: Luigi Dark Lord: Louie Roving Photographer: Koopa Quizmaster: Orbeetle Prodigious Postman: Pelipper Roaming Gourmet: Kirby Serious Soldier: Boo Lax Soldier: Monty Mole Royal Supports: Bandana Dee and Escargoon King: King Dedede Princess: Lana Prince from Neksdor: Bulborb Besmirched Noble's Son: Waddle Dee Great Sage: Aphmau Genie: Spike Dancing Guide: Oricorio Rambling Old Man: Jack Black Shady Merchant Family: Toadette and Garos Worried Explorer: Bowser Prickly Couple: Inkling Boy and Girl Desert Celebrity: Chris Pratt Fab Faries: Peach, Daisy and Rosalina Injured Elf: Yellow Pikmin Fab Fairies fans: Regice, Regirock and Registeel Scaredy-Cat: Torracat Green-Eyed Lady: Zelda Lazybones: Ice Pikmin Mischievous Witch: Meowscarada Town Guide: Blue Pikmin Scholary Pioneer: Donkey Kong Dark Curse: Vanillite The Protangonist: Name: Gideon Description: Gideon is a traveling comedian who although laid back, loves to entertain people and make them smile, he went to Miitopia has it heard it was in a bad shape and he thought it meant that Miitopia needed cheering up, although he has a good heart, being laid-back his laziness limits his capabilities where it often leads to him not doing something at his best. After meeting the guardian spirit, he was given the powers of a mage, in Neksdor when Louie sealed away his powers he became a warrior, and in Realm of the Fey when his powers were sealed away again, he became a thief and when his powers were no longer sealed away, he became a wizard once more. Greenhorne Allies: Mallow: Class: Chef Description: Mallow left Alola soon after hearing about the culinary cuisine of Miitopia so she set off to learn the recipes of Miitopia dishes with her family. Sadly soon after reaching Miitopia, she and her family were attacked by the Dark Lord resulting in her family losing their faces and the ambush caused her and her Tsareena to seperate. Now wanting to save them, she wanders around Miitopia look to save her family Steve [Red Pikmin]: Class: Warrior Description: Steve grew up on a long lost land, and is the best knight in his habitat. He left his natural habitat to find a purpose as he felt like his talents were wasting away, so after hearing Miitopia was in danger, he knew what he had to do, he rose to the challenge and set sail for Miitopia. But his main flaw is that he thinks highly of himself and tries to lift super heavy things on his own with little to no success. Nabbit: Class: Theif Description: The infamous thief of the Mushroom Kingdom was able to steal anything and not get caught, so in his hideout, he read of an amulet that grants insane power to control an army, and after turning on the TV, he soon saw the Dark Lord wearing the same amulet, so he set for Miitopia to retrieve the powerful artifact so he can make monsters to steal anything and is capable of reaching high speeds due to his insane energy. Meloetta: Class: Pop Star Description: During her time in Unova, Meloetta was caught by a kind and caring local singer, and soon after, Meloetta and her trainer were the best singers in Unova dropping amazing albums left and right, they came to Miitopia after receiving an invitation to perform a concert but after landing there and got to the meeting spot, it was a trap set by the Dark Lord to use the Mythical's face to make an extremely powerful monster. But her trainer was able to distract him long enough for him to escape, last thing Meloetta saw was the Dark Lord stealing her trainers faces. Being a kind soul, she often tries to stop quarrels and fights and most of the time she's the voice of reason. Neksdor Allies: Olimar: Class: Scientist Description: Olimar and his family set off for Miitopia after hearing it's excellent vacation spots, but soon after landing there, his family's faces were snagged by his coworker Louie, not wanting to be next, he hid until Louie left, and set off to save his family and stop Louie. Purple Pikmin: Name: Purp Class: Cleric Description: On his home town, Purp was a doctor attending to the injured, but after being accused of stealing a patients skeleton, he quickly lost his medical license, so instead of using medicine to heal his patients, he studied in cleric magic to heal his patients way faster, and he set off for Miitopia with his friend Rocky soon after hearing it had lots of injuries. Despite his divine magic his lack of intellect gets in the way leading to dumb scenarios. Ice Cream Sandwich: Class: Imp Description: While in his house, he hears of a land called Miitopia, where it has an animation contest in Neksdor where whoever wins gets a huge cash prize, so he invited his friends, and dog along and soon set off for Miitopia, where during the time he was there, he had a good time, eating snacks, hanging with the boys, messing around. Until after the competition where the winner was about the being announced, the event is quickly interrupted by the Dark Lord where he starts stealing everyone's faces, him, his dog and his friends went to hide in the bathroom since according to his brain, everyone knocks before entering the bathroom, before anyone said something, the Dark Lord busted in and stole his friends' faces and his dog, after checking if the Dark Lord was gone, he swore vengeance, so went around hoping to find people to help him Rock Pikmin: Name: Rocky Class: Cat Description: On Rocky's natural habitat he owned a cat sanctuary, where he helped felines find forever homes and learned how to fight like a cat, so he after hearing about the exclusive cat breeds on Miitopia, he soon set off with his friend Purp but soon after the Dark Lord stole his cat Terry, him and his friend wanted revenge, but just with Purp's healing magic and his feline abilities, it wouldn't be enough, so the set off for heroes to find so they could help them. Throughout the series, Rocky suffers from an extreme lack of IQ so he needs help when it comes to situations that require intellect to solve. And together with Icecreamsandwich and Purp, the three often do dumb stuff together and get into all sorts of trouble. Realm of the Fey Allies: Tsareena: Class: Princess Description: After soon being seperated from Mallow, Tsareena ended up in Realm of the Fey, lost and not knowing where to go, soon she met up with a potion, thirsty and out of options, she drank it where it granted her the magically abilities of royalty. After meeting up with the protagonist she soon set off with him to reunite with Mallow. Lilligant: Class: Flower Description: After stowing away on a cargo ship from Unova to Miitopia, Lilligant started exploring Miitopia and ended up in Realm of the Fey, so after befriending the local elves, she learnt the ways of harnessing the power of nature and really bonded with them, but after hiding when the Dark Lord attacked, she started to leave and set off to retrieve her friends and quickly met up with the protangonist. Having a gentle soul she sees the good in everyone often leading her to spare monsters. Golurk: Class: Tank Description: After hearing about Miitopia's situation, a bunch of Unova scientist got together and turned a Golurk into a weapon of mass destruction and was quickly shipped to Miitopia, after landing there, he started looking for the Dark Lord, and soon got orders from his creators to wait by a local inn to receive some allies to help him. During battle, Golurk will stop at nothing to defeat his opponents, even if it means firing his allies and shooting everywhere to ensure victory. He thinks he doesn't need help and often refuses assistance believing he can be a big shot and do it himself. Other Allies: Litwick: Class: Vampire Description: Litwick was caught by a vampire on vacation in Unova and the two quickly bonded. While in the land of Peculia, Litwick lived a simple life with his trainer in their mansion and his trainer taught Litwick vampire like abilities, until the Darker Lordsent a rat infestation in there, Litwick's trainer told him to get help to stop the rat invasion, soon he quickly met up with the protagonist and quickly asked him for help and after they agreed, they set off and during the journey Litwick quickly bonded with the team and after the rats were defeated, his trainer noticed his bond with the team and told them that if he wanted to go with them he wouldn't stop him, so Litwick quickly joined the party, and during his time in it, he often pulled pranks on his team and during battle, he likes to mix in fun by toying with his opponents and he calls them, his prey. Alchremie: Class: Elf Description: Alchremie lived in Peculia with a baker and together they made sweets for lotsa people. But after the Darker lord stole her trainer's face, she swore revenge, she went off to realm of the Fey to study the ways of elf magic and after learning the elf magic he returned to Peculia to look for her trainer's face soon after seeing the protagonist and his team struggle against a monster with her trainer's face, she went to the rescue and defeated the boss with ease. After her trainer got his face back Alchremie asked him if she could travel with the team to stop the Darker Lord, and her trainer quickly agreed. After this the team notice that Alchremie is a bit cautious, worries about a lot of things and likes to be ready for everything. Episode ideas: Now a lot of the series would be about the team saving Miitopia, but some episodes would be mainly about character growth and stuff like that. Some episode ideas I have: Lilligant the Shy Flower: After a battle with a strong demon, who made Lilligant worried about everything, it wouldn't wear off even in the safe spot, following a montage of the team trying to return her to normal like Mallow cooking her some magic food, Purp, Icecreamsandwich and Rocky pulling a prank on Olimar to cheer her up, Gideon telling a joke to cheer her up, or Steve just downright slapping her and many others, they figured that nothing could work until when the same demon invaded the inn and almost destroyed her team, Lilligant pushed herself and unleashed a hurricane blowing the demon away. Chaotic Tea Time: In the foreground we can see Lilligant and Tsareena having a tea party and chatting, while in the background Gideon and Golurk try to kill a fiend with all sorts of shenanigans, and the episode keeps switching from foreground to background and it ends with Golurk unleashing a powerful laser boosted with some energy cells Gideon has which ended up leveling half the forest.
submitted by CaptainCyro to videogames [link] [comments]
2024.05.16 22:07 maidtop Me ajudem a achar esse jogo do toy story 3
Eu jogava um jogo do toy story 3 no playstation 2 quando era mais novo. O jogo tinha 4 "mini-jogos" dentro, sendo: (parte principal) 1) um jogo onde vc controla o woody correndo num trem pra chegar na locomotiva. 2) um onde vc controla 3 soldadinhos de plástico q andam pela casa pra pegar o celular. (Parte secundária, embaixo da cama do andy) 3) um jogo plataforma do buzz pulando em discos voadores. 4) outro jogo plataforma em preto e branco com o Woody e o bala-no-alvo num estilo "dinossaurinho do google"
Comprei esse jogo de uma banca de jogos piratas e nunca achei nada sobre ele, todos os outros jogos do toy story 3 q eu vi são muito mais detalhados dq esse
Se alguém aí souber onde eu posso achar esse, eu ficaria muito agradecido
submitted by maidtop to QueroAchar [link] [comments]
Comprei esse jogo de uma banca de jogos piratas e nunca achei nada sobre ele, todos os outros jogos do toy story 3 q eu vi são muito mais detalhados dq esse
Se alguém aí souber onde eu posso achar esse, eu ficaria muito agradecido
2024.05.16 22:06 helloimclever 33 M looking to make friends over 30
Hello all- I'm looking for someone to talk to and hopefully develop some friendship with. A little about me:
Currently reading: Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Currently watching: Fallout, The Gentleman
Currently listening: The White Pandas
Most recent movie: Toy Story 3 (I have kids)
Time zone: Eastern Daylight
Employment: on disability
Current academic interests: learning Latin, ancient civilizations, psychology (more focused on consciousness and early human development)
If you think we will get along, feel free to send a message.
submitted by helloimclever to MakeFriendsOver30 [link] [comments]
Currently reading: Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Currently watching: Fallout, The Gentleman
Currently listening: The White Pandas
Most recent movie: Toy Story 3 (I have kids)
Time zone: Eastern Daylight
Employment: on disability
Current academic interests: learning Latin, ancient civilizations, psychology (more focused on consciousness and early human development)
If you think we will get along, feel free to send a message.
2024.05.16 22:05 helloimclever 33 M looking to make new friends here
Hello all- I'm looking for someone to talk to and hopefully develop some friendship with. A little about me:
Currently reading: Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Currently watching: Fallout, The Gentleman
Currently listening: The White Pandas
Most recent movie: Toy Story 3 (I have kids)
Time zone: Eastern Daylight
Employment: on disability
Current academic interests: learning Latin, ancient civilizations, psychology (more focused on consciousness and early human development)
If you think we will get along, feel free to send a message. I'd prefer people closer in age, but beggars can't be choosers and all that.
submitted by helloimclever to MakeNewFriendsHere [link] [comments]
Currently reading: Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Currently watching: Fallout, The Gentleman
Currently listening: The White Pandas
Most recent movie: Toy Story 3 (I have kids)
Time zone: Eastern Daylight
Employment: on disability
Current academic interests: learning Latin, ancient civilizations, psychology (more focused on consciousness and early human development)
If you think we will get along, feel free to send a message. I'd prefer people closer in age, but beggars can't be choosers and all that.
2024.05.16 22:03 Nice_Design_8497 Imagine that there's a blooper reel in the end credits (kinda like in Toy Story 2) of Hot Wheels World Race movie and all of the Hot Wheels Acceleracers movies. What bloopers do you think would have happened if these movies would have been filmed on a regular movie set?
submitted by Nice_Design_8497 to Acceleracers [link] [comments]
2024.05.16 21:51 shop_wgb Has anyone ever moved and lost their support system? Feeling so defeated.
Hubby LO 8m and I are toying with the idea of moving - we’ve essentially left and are trying to see if we can make it work. Although this is a better place for us (better weather happier people etc) as a result we’re loosing our support system ( we had alot of help back home). I want to make this move work so desperately for so many reasons but i feel like i’m falling apart at the same time. Have any of you moved with a LO and lost your support system/help if so how did you deal and keep from loosing yourself in the process? feeling super defeated any stories would help xo
submitted by shop_wgb to Mommit [link] [comments]
2024.05.16 21:27 Johnniejr20 Toddler kicked out of Daycare
Hello so my 2 year old soon to be 3 in August has been attending daycare since he was about 1.5 years old. Never had any problems. In October we moved him to a new daycare/school to help him learn. And he was doing great. He is very knowledgeable and knows so many words and things that it shocks me that he knows certain things lol. But in February they moved him up to a new section (Twaddlers for 2-3 years old) and he started to see some problems
They said he runs a lot, and tried to climb on top of the tables and what not. And sometimes screams. And he would throw objects or hit a kid every now and then over a toy. But most of this is typical toddler behavior
I sat down and watched him in the class on their cameras in the office and almost half the class is running around climbing on top of furniture.
They also said he don’t like to sit down during story times or certain activities and like to run around and play. And that he don’t listen to directions and they are unaware if he understands what is happening because he don’t talk.
When we are home he is very vocal and communicates a lot. Even when we are public he will let me know what he is doing and what is happening. And if I give him directions in doing something he will do it. For example I will tell him to wash his hands and dry them . He would do it . Or even if I say lock the door and turn off the light. At the age of 2 he understands and can go do it. Just frustrating for me to have to deal with this
submitted by Johnniejr20 to toddlers [link] [comments]
They said he runs a lot, and tried to climb on top of the tables and what not. And sometimes screams. And he would throw objects or hit a kid every now and then over a toy. But most of this is typical toddler behavior
I sat down and watched him in the class on their cameras in the office and almost half the class is running around climbing on top of furniture.
They also said he don’t like to sit down during story times or certain activities and like to run around and play. And that he don’t listen to directions and they are unaware if he understands what is happening because he don’t talk.
When we are home he is very vocal and communicates a lot. Even when we are public he will let me know what he is doing and what is happening. And if I give him directions in doing something he will do it. For example I will tell him to wash his hands and dry them . He would do it . Or even if I say lock the door and turn off the light. At the age of 2 he understands and can go do it. Just frustrating for me to have to deal with this
2024.05.16 21:16 DeadManOnCampus2024 Latest pickup is Toy Story!
 | submitted by DeadManOnCampus2024 to LaserDisc [link] [comments] |
2024.05.16 20:58 Bomzir Discord CM's ban me for typing msg's then deleting them?
 | So I got muted the other day, and I come back to them saying I was mute evading and that's why i was banned... submitted by Bomzir to thefinals [link] [comments] The crime. Ahhhh Accuse me of using a script? I was typing out :kekw: then deleting the msg At this point im actually irritated this thing is actually just toying with me for fun. At this point the CM just completely changed the story from "You are banned for mute evading" to "You are banned for scripting" both times shows me nothing supporting that just straight up source: trust me bro. I'm assuming there aint no where else i can go since their in charge of the discord kinda sucks I cant use it to form ranked groups anymore other than that its not a big deal im just irritated at the fact that this feels like someone felt like banning me so they just did it for no reason. |
2024.05.16 20:57 MaMe- All hail King Grol - Rewriting the Character, Rebalancing the Boss.
 | As great and iconic as it is, LMoP is filled to the brim with forgettable and weak Bosses. I want to share with you my King Grol: an intimidating Bugbear who fancies the myth of human kings and kingdoms - their chivalry, the jousting, the mannerism - but will surely show his true colors when the players will prove to be a tough bone to chew. I hope you'll find more memorable and challenging. (In this post you'll find different statblocks options - for parties of 4, 5 and 6 adventurers) submitted by MaMe- to LostMinesOfPhandelver [link] [comments] Table of Contents.https://preview.redd.it/bmuhaaocyt0d1.jpg?width=501&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c20442704467d2173e5539b231c332977d013459 1. Roleplaying as the King.1.1 The brute becomes the King. In our story Grol is an old Bugbear who's personality got forged by iron, dirt and blood through countless battles. He was but a brute in his youth, charging head-first in any opponent. But that was many years ago. He survived too many battlefields to count, getting both to know and to slain powerful warriors he couldn't help but admire - their immovable spirits, their skills, their eyes burning even in the face of death. He was growing older, wiser.1.2 King Grol's Personality. As you can see Grol's POV is a bit twisted, he tries his best to impersonate what he thinks a King is - a Tyrant who's deeds are justified by the fear his underlings have and who's properties are just means to show other's your status... As such, we'll divide his persolanity in three layers. At first, anyone would think of a just and chivalrous Warrior-King. King Grol will talk as a righteous creature, respecting the law and praising act of heroism and courage. He'll talk about his strenght and how he's not afraid of the players. He inspires trust and respect, especially when compared to the rest of the Bugbears. 2. Running the EncounterThe Players Arrive. Upon arriving at Cragmaw Castle, King Grol will be in his chambers talking to Vierith. Here, two human females are kept as his harem. One of wich is absolutely terrified and disgusted by the bugbear and only seeks an opportunity to escape - the other sees Grol as a necessary evil in order to still benefit of his protection from golbinoids raids to her nearby village. In this moment, King Grol has absolutely no interest in the Players and won't exit his room. He fears the SPider is using him, and his goal now is understanding what's about the Rockseeker dwarf and how worth this "map" is. In order to make sure he's getting the right amount of money from all of this. 3. Stat-BlockThis section uses u/Dragnacarta absolutely incredible "CR2.0" system. A mathematical way to precisely take into account the PCs party Power Level against certain creatures's CR.This Boss Fight is composed by one "Bloody Encounter" and one "Bruising Encounter". The Bloody Encounter has the Players against King Grol and his Dire Wolf Snarl. The Bruising Encounter starts when when Grol is weakened and uses his Lair Action su summon his Goblinoids underlings. The Following Stats take into account parties of 4 LV3 Players.
4. Fighting as the WarriorKing grol is an experienced warrior: Use his reactions to make him mobile and Snarl to punish the backlines and/or attack players with high AC thanks to the Dire Wolf's Pack Tactics. In any case, positioning him well on the field is the key.Once King Grol starts using his Lair Action (aka he's losing the fight) the Goblinoids will understand the sotuation turned dire and many will run away in fear! This encounter can be quite challenging, if the players are really about to lose think about not using the Lair Action! And if you've used that already, and the players are losing the Second Encotunter think about making Sildar Hallwinter and Daran Edermath apprear for an heroic save! When the battle ends the ramaining Goblins will ony attempt to flee. No one will hurt the players anymore. Let them have their win, and look at the goblinoids run from them! Bonus Round: What if Grol gets uttelry annhilated? He's sly and resourceful. Whenever the Lair initiative comes up again, he'll make EVERY goblin in the hall turn their bows at the players - and put them in front of a choice:1. Stand still, and let the arrows slowly kill everyone. The goblins will auto-hit if they agree to stand immobile. Starting from the players with the lowest AC. 2. Fight to survive, but Gundren dies. One Goblin will threathen to slit Gundren's throat (readied action) and will stay still until the players let the arrows rain on them - as soon as one resists, the Goblin will kill Gundren with no hesitation. If this bonus round happens, make sure the players are thorn from this decision: Option1 they die, option 2 Gundren dies. This is a bit drastic since Gundren is almost impossible to save this way... But this will allow the players to have a VERY tense Roleplay scenario even if they were toying with Grol battle-wise. |
2024.05.16 20:46 VTGayBoi33 Advice on a surgery…
Hey guys, my boyfriend recommended I ask a question here so thats what I’m doing.
So some back story, I’m 29 years old and since around the age of probably 5; I’ve dealt with horrible chronic constipation. It started slow but progressively got worse. In 7th grade I missed an entire month of school due to ‘unknown stomach pain’ it was bad. I had to sleep in the living room, couldn’t walk up the stairs to my bedroom due to how much pain I was in 24/7, couldn’t eat without getting sick, finally some X-rays and I was filled to capacity. Took a bunch of laxatives and problem solved in the moment but not forever. The problems have only gotten worse throughout the years. Daily nausea, bloating, gas, pain and the chronic constipation.
When I started to become sexually active I eventually tried bottoming and it was the most painful thing I had ever felt. I can’t describe how bad it hurt. It felt like I was being torn in half. I tried everything, more lube, less lube, different types of lubes, toys, finger(s)…ect, nothing made the pain go away. No matter how big or small the object was going into me, i felt like I was dying. So I gave up on ever being a bottom.
I’ve seen several doctors, they have run tests, oral exams, always “yup, everything looks good physically, you just have constipation.”
I’ve been with my current partner going on 2 years now, he’s verse but prefers to top but I couldn’t bottom so he did. Probably a year into our relationship and he was getting antsy, he wanted to top and was sick of bottoming and it was putting a kink in our sex life so I agreed to at least try and bottom as it had probably been a good 5-6 years or so since my last attempt and same thing, unbearable amounts of pain, thought I was going to die. We tried a couple times but needless to say it wasn’t enjoyable for him when I’m screaming in pain and bawling my eyes out so then our sex life died and conversations about an open relationship started which I don’t want and I’m not okay with so we’ve been in a pretty bad rough patch.
A few months ago I decided to see another doctor to figure out what was going on with me and he wasn’t the most gay friend doctor and didn’t really care about my inability to bottom but he took a look and said I had an anal fissure. Thinking that was the cause of my pain for all these years I happily took the medication he prescribed and it fixed nothing.
Now for the present: I decided to see yet ANOTHER doctor because my sex life was completely dead. He no longer really feels attraction for me, things have been quite rough. But anyways, so this doctor does agree that I have an anal fissure but apparently everyone has 2 anal sphincters and one you can control and the other you cant. My second one is according to him “off the charts tight” it doesn’t open and thats why anal sex is so painful for me because it has to be forced open which is almost impossible and excruciatingly painful. He wants me to have a surgery where he cuts the sphincter to make it looser so it can actually open. He says that this surgery should theoretically allow me to have anal sex. I don’t know why but I’m extremely nervous about this. Its a very simple procedure, healed up and good to go after 2 weeks but I’m scared of making it worse (not that it’s really possible) Has anyone else in this group had this done? Did it fix anything for you? I’m scared of this messing me up more than I already am.
submitted by VTGayBoi33 to askgaybros [link] [comments]
So some back story, I’m 29 years old and since around the age of probably 5; I’ve dealt with horrible chronic constipation. It started slow but progressively got worse. In 7th grade I missed an entire month of school due to ‘unknown stomach pain’ it was bad. I had to sleep in the living room, couldn’t walk up the stairs to my bedroom due to how much pain I was in 24/7, couldn’t eat without getting sick, finally some X-rays and I was filled to capacity. Took a bunch of laxatives and problem solved in the moment but not forever. The problems have only gotten worse throughout the years. Daily nausea, bloating, gas, pain and the chronic constipation.
When I started to become sexually active I eventually tried bottoming and it was the most painful thing I had ever felt. I can’t describe how bad it hurt. It felt like I was being torn in half. I tried everything, more lube, less lube, different types of lubes, toys, finger(s)…ect, nothing made the pain go away. No matter how big or small the object was going into me, i felt like I was dying. So I gave up on ever being a bottom.
I’ve seen several doctors, they have run tests, oral exams, always “yup, everything looks good physically, you just have constipation.”
I’ve been with my current partner going on 2 years now, he’s verse but prefers to top but I couldn’t bottom so he did. Probably a year into our relationship and he was getting antsy, he wanted to top and was sick of bottoming and it was putting a kink in our sex life so I agreed to at least try and bottom as it had probably been a good 5-6 years or so since my last attempt and same thing, unbearable amounts of pain, thought I was going to die. We tried a couple times but needless to say it wasn’t enjoyable for him when I’m screaming in pain and bawling my eyes out so then our sex life died and conversations about an open relationship started which I don’t want and I’m not okay with so we’ve been in a pretty bad rough patch.
A few months ago I decided to see another doctor to figure out what was going on with me and he wasn’t the most gay friend doctor and didn’t really care about my inability to bottom but he took a look and said I had an anal fissure. Thinking that was the cause of my pain for all these years I happily took the medication he prescribed and it fixed nothing.
Now for the present: I decided to see yet ANOTHER doctor because my sex life was completely dead. He no longer really feels attraction for me, things have been quite rough. But anyways, so this doctor does agree that I have an anal fissure but apparently everyone has 2 anal sphincters and one you can control and the other you cant. My second one is according to him “off the charts tight” it doesn’t open and thats why anal sex is so painful for me because it has to be forced open which is almost impossible and excruciatingly painful. He wants me to have a surgery where he cuts the sphincter to make it looser so it can actually open. He says that this surgery should theoretically allow me to have anal sex. I don’t know why but I’m extremely nervous about this. Its a very simple procedure, healed up and good to go after 2 weeks but I’m scared of making it worse (not that it’s really possible) Has anyone else in this group had this done? Did it fix anything for you? I’m scared of this messing me up more than I already am.
2024.05.16 20:43 jellybean2010 Bonded Boars in need of Home (Orange County, CA)
 | Hello, guinea pig lovers. submitted by jellybean2010 to guineapigs [link] [comments] We have two boars that we need to re-home. Long story short, we can no longer properly care for them and want them to be in a good home. I can give you everything we have for them (c&c cage, coroplasts, extra hay, pellets, toys, fleece liners, hides, etc.) You can message me or comment for more details. I’ve included pictures of our boys, Marshmallow and Reeces. |
2024.05.16 20:08 dino_roar3304 *sigh* one year already...
It’s been one year since my (partial) Disney Adventure with my boyfriend and I’m getting sad from the reminders lol! I want to go back! We did two days at Disney – Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, with a day at Disney Springs. (Two days were at Universal Studios).
Day 1, Monday May 15
Magic Kingdom
Made it to the Magic Kingdom just before it opened. Started off with Jungle Cruise for our first ride, then Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, and Haunted Mansion. Didn't want to buy anything just yet but found some cool stuff to purchase later. Had some food (hotdogs and potato barrels aka tater tots lol) after Winnie the Pooh (which had a super long line) and Princess Carousel. Met Cinderella and another princess that I didn’t know. Did Buzz Lightyear, Carousel of Progress, and PeopleMover (that was broken down so we had to wait on that ride for a bit). Really cool when it was up and running and we saw the behind the scenes of Space Mountain (which was down for most of the day so we never rode). Hit up Mad Hatters Tea Party, Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pans Flight and It's a Small World, then Riverboat before dinner at Crystal Palace with the Winnie the Pooh gang. Did some shopping as we made our way to Main Street and got ready for fireworks. If I didn't take pictures, I never would have thought the day happened.
Day 2, Tuesday May 16
Hollywood Studios
Began the day with Mickey and Minnies Runaway Railway, which was fun then Tower of Terror. Never again. Scary galore lol. The guy beside me kept grabbing my leg until I showed him the handle lol. Then we went to Toy Story Land and did the Alien saucers and Toy Story Mania (forearms grew that day). Had lunch at Woody's Toybox and had a brisket grilled cheese, it was really good (and more potato barrels). Took in the Indiana stunt show and then went to Star Tours, MuppetVision before making our way to Star Wars land for the two rides there. If I was Star Wars fan, I'd have lost my mind. I was so impressed with the production value and the scenery. Really really great stuff, very super impressed. Had some drinks and eats at the Cantina and it was "authentic" stuff so it looked weird but tasted normal lol and closed out with Beauty and the Beast and then dinner at Mickey and Minnies restaurant and met all of them.
Day 3, Wednesday May 17
Went to Disney springs and bought some Lego sets (first ones ever, I got the Cinderella Castle lol) and had some chicken at the Guy Fieri quick service restaurant. Pretty chill day.
And that’s about it! I regret not buying the Anniversary LoungeFly backpack that I saw everywhere and kept saying I wanted it but my boyfriend said I didn’t need it (which is true) and that it doesn’t hold anything except a toothpick (which is kinda true). Bought a bunch of other cool things though so I guess it’s alright lol! Miss it a lot and can’t wait to go back (already abstractly planning things out). Thanks for reading!
submitted by dino_roar3304 to WaltDisneyWorld [link] [comments]
Day 1, Monday May 15
Magic Kingdom
Made it to the Magic Kingdom just before it opened. Started off with Jungle Cruise for our first ride, then Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, and Haunted Mansion. Didn't want to buy anything just yet but found some cool stuff to purchase later. Had some food (hotdogs and potato barrels aka tater tots lol) after Winnie the Pooh (which had a super long line) and Princess Carousel. Met Cinderella and another princess that I didn’t know. Did Buzz Lightyear, Carousel of Progress, and PeopleMover (that was broken down so we had to wait on that ride for a bit). Really cool when it was up and running and we saw the behind the scenes of Space Mountain (which was down for most of the day so we never rode). Hit up Mad Hatters Tea Party, Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pans Flight and It's a Small World, then Riverboat before dinner at Crystal Palace with the Winnie the Pooh gang. Did some shopping as we made our way to Main Street and got ready for fireworks. If I didn't take pictures, I never would have thought the day happened.
Day 2, Tuesday May 16
Hollywood Studios
Began the day with Mickey and Minnies Runaway Railway, which was fun then Tower of Terror. Never again. Scary galore lol. The guy beside me kept grabbing my leg until I showed him the handle lol. Then we went to Toy Story Land and did the Alien saucers and Toy Story Mania (forearms grew that day). Had lunch at Woody's Toybox and had a brisket grilled cheese, it was really good (and more potato barrels). Took in the Indiana stunt show and then went to Star Tours, MuppetVision before making our way to Star Wars land for the two rides there. If I was Star Wars fan, I'd have lost my mind. I was so impressed with the production value and the scenery. Really really great stuff, very super impressed. Had some drinks and eats at the Cantina and it was "authentic" stuff so it looked weird but tasted normal lol and closed out with Beauty and the Beast and then dinner at Mickey and Minnies restaurant and met all of them.
Day 3, Wednesday May 17
Went to Disney springs and bought some Lego sets (first ones ever, I got the Cinderella Castle lol) and had some chicken at the Guy Fieri quick service restaurant. Pretty chill day.
And that’s about it! I regret not buying the Anniversary LoungeFly backpack that I saw everywhere and kept saying I wanted it but my boyfriend said I didn’t need it (which is true) and that it doesn’t hold anything except a toothpick (which is kinda true). Bought a bunch of other cool things though so I guess it’s alright lol! Miss it a lot and can’t wait to go back (already abstractly planning things out). Thanks for reading!
2024.05.16 19:59 majordashes I just need some hope
In March, we adopted 2 6-month-old huskies from a man who claimed he was a “husky expert” with years of experience raising huskies. We showed up to his house to find beyond deplorable conditions. We were shocked and decided we couldn’t leave the 2 puppies in that environment, so we bought them. They are brothers.
We are 100% committed to these dogs. We love them. But we are beyond overwhelmed. They are both resource guarders. Horrible fights happen. We feed them separately in cages and the fights happen randomly after they’ve eaten. We keep modifying eating routines and letting them out separately, but if I accidentally drop a piece of kibble on the floor, all hell breaks loose.
We think they were abused and had sparse food that 10 dogs competed for. They would wince and duck when we put our hands up to pet their heads. So sad! I spoke with a trainer who said, “You basically adopted 2 feral dogs.” She decided not to take this opted not to be our trainer.
One swallowed a washcloth while and had to have surgery. This week they jumped on the counter and chewed through a Vitamin D bottle, ingesting 150,000 IUs. So grateful they are ok after another emergency vet trip. We joke around that they are eating our house. They tear out wall trim, chew on walls, eat carpet, have chewed the corners off wood stairs and furniture. I can’t even leave a potholder on the counter. They will eat it whole.
They wake up 3 times at night howling in harmony. And they’re up at 5:00 a.m. We are walking zombies.
My husband and I both work from home. I’m a freelance writer so I paused my work to help these boys. They get 3 walks daily. One walk is a “sniff walk” hike where they get an hour of exploring. We have a great backyard. They love to run and play. We dug a huge flower garden and they love to play and dig, so I’m foregoing the flowers this year and just letting it be their space. We have a large, fenced yard and huge deck. They love sunbathing on the deck and running underneath it and hanging out under it. It’s their special bat cave. They have tons of toys and old shoes that we donated to their chewing cause. :) They also have puzzles, bones, treats and plenty of cardboard they love tearing.
We train them for mental stimulation. We’ve taught them sit, down, come here, drop it and off. We were told they were potty trained and crate trained. Not true! We have the potty training down and they stay in crates at night. But not during the day.
They completely come unglued in their crates if we leave the house even for 10 minutes. Seems like extreme separation/anxiety. They were left home alone most of the day when they were with the previous owner. So they go everywhere with us and are great in the car. They love car rides and sticking their head out of the window. But it’s hard to not get a break and to be with them 24/7.
I don’t mean to whine and complain, but this is our situation and I’m just looking for hope and reassurance that this can get better. We all know huskies are independent and can be rascals, but these guys also have trauma and abandonment issues to overcome. I’d love to hear your stories of dogs that have turned around.
We have hired a trainer and we meet with him next week in our home.
Thanks for any insight, words of encouragement. We’re not giving up on these lovable guys. Not their fault they had a horrible start in life. We would rescue them again out of those horrible conditions.
I just need to know that it’s going to be ok.
submitted by majordashes to husky [link] [comments]
We are 100% committed to these dogs. We love them. But we are beyond overwhelmed. They are both resource guarders. Horrible fights happen. We feed them separately in cages and the fights happen randomly after they’ve eaten. We keep modifying eating routines and letting them out separately, but if I accidentally drop a piece of kibble on the floor, all hell breaks loose.
We think they were abused and had sparse food that 10 dogs competed for. They would wince and duck when we put our hands up to pet their heads. So sad! I spoke with a trainer who said, “You basically adopted 2 feral dogs.” She decided not to take this opted not to be our trainer.
One swallowed a washcloth while and had to have surgery. This week they jumped on the counter and chewed through a Vitamin D bottle, ingesting 150,000 IUs. So grateful they are ok after another emergency vet trip. We joke around that they are eating our house. They tear out wall trim, chew on walls, eat carpet, have chewed the corners off wood stairs and furniture. I can’t even leave a potholder on the counter. They will eat it whole.
They wake up 3 times at night howling in harmony. And they’re up at 5:00 a.m. We are walking zombies.
My husband and I both work from home. I’m a freelance writer so I paused my work to help these boys. They get 3 walks daily. One walk is a “sniff walk” hike where they get an hour of exploring. We have a great backyard. They love to run and play. We dug a huge flower garden and they love to play and dig, so I’m foregoing the flowers this year and just letting it be their space. We have a large, fenced yard and huge deck. They love sunbathing on the deck and running underneath it and hanging out under it. It’s their special bat cave. They have tons of toys and old shoes that we donated to their chewing cause. :) They also have puzzles, bones, treats and plenty of cardboard they love tearing.
We train them for mental stimulation. We’ve taught them sit, down, come here, drop it and off. We were told they were potty trained and crate trained. Not true! We have the potty training down and they stay in crates at night. But not during the day.
They completely come unglued in their crates if we leave the house even for 10 minutes. Seems like extreme separation/anxiety. They were left home alone most of the day when they were with the previous owner. So they go everywhere with us and are great in the car. They love car rides and sticking their head out of the window. But it’s hard to not get a break and to be with them 24/7.
I don’t mean to whine and complain, but this is our situation and I’m just looking for hope and reassurance that this can get better. We all know huskies are independent and can be rascals, but these guys also have trauma and abandonment issues to overcome. I’d love to hear your stories of dogs that have turned around.
We have hired a trainer and we meet with him next week in our home.
Thanks for any insight, words of encouragement. We’re not giving up on these lovable guys. Not their fault they had a horrible start in life. We would rescue them again out of those horrible conditions.
I just need to know that it’s going to be ok.
2024.05.16 19:57 Ecstatic-Feedback842 What would you like to see if Gen 3 continues
It's been known for a while now that Gen 3 is in a tight spot(go figure). If Spin Masters is convinced by the Bring Bakugan Bak-Again fan stream and Gen 3 continues, what would you want added changed. Only rule I'm putting is that ut can't change the story so far.(While Season 2 is said to either be finished or nearly finished it hasn't been green-lit yet so you can cover what you would want season 2 to be like).
What I would like to see:
●Attributes(all 8, yes, I'm including Aurlues)
●Better designs
●The legacy style
●Better animation
●Better toy designs
●New clans
●The older versions of the Gen 3 gate cards that had numbers
●Better gen 3 game
●22-minute long episodes instead of 11-minute episodes
●Organic versions of the gen 2 bakugan
● Yoshinori Nagamori(who did the design for the original series), Nevela, and Shunichiro Miura would help with the art style and animation. Maybe have them pull an Ikuo Geso and draft the bakugan's movement with cgi, then draw over it, or maybe they could do what Dragon Ball Super Superhero did and use cgi with cel-shading
submitted by Ecstatic-Feedback842 to Bakugan [link] [comments]
What I would like to see:
●Attributes(all 8, yes, I'm including Aurlues)
●Better designs
●The legacy style
●Better animation
●Better toy designs
●New clans
●The older versions of the Gen 3 gate cards that had numbers
●Better gen 3 game
●22-minute long episodes instead of 11-minute episodes
●Organic versions of the gen 2 bakugan
● Yoshinori Nagamori(who did the design for the original series), Nevela, and Shunichiro Miura would help with the art style and animation. Maybe have them pull an Ikuo Geso and draft the bakugan's movement with cgi, then draw over it, or maybe they could do what Dragon Ball Super Superhero did and use cgi with cel-shading
2024.05.16 19:31 NewRomantics16 25th Anniversary Rereleases?
On the Vue website, I see that they are listing a few films for their 25th anniversaries (Toy Story 2, She’s All That, The Mummy & The Matrix)
How likely is it that Cineworld will be showing these too?
I know that all cinemas are showing the Spider-Man films and the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter. I’m wondering whether I need to book with Vue or wait for tickets to be announced on the Cineworld website
submitted by NewRomantics16 to CineworldUnlimited [link] [comments]
How likely is it that Cineworld will be showing these too?
I know that all cinemas are showing the Spider-Man films and the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter. I’m wondering whether I need to book with Vue or wait for tickets to be announced on the Cineworld website
2024.05.16 19:19 Exact-Use-8021 How do I know I(30M) satisfy my wife (26F)?
How do I know I(30M) satisfy my wife (26F) sexually?
So me and my wife got married 1 years ago (together 3)and everything in our marriage is amazing so far. No fights, Very open communication and we even have 3 animals (one is a mini pig).
But I am having a very hard time taking her word for it when she says she is satisfied with our intamite life. She insists i satisfy her and that she is happy but the way she moves and acts when we are intimate has changed and she does not seem as "engaged" in it as much. There have been a lot of life stressors recently such as her applying for Masters.
During intimate times she does not make much noise anymore and she does not initiate as much anymore. Additionally she is only able to finish with toys and I have never been able to make her finish without toys, only 20-30min of me playing with her has worked.
She has brought up the fact that she is an SA survivor and that she is changing her perspective on intimacy as a whole as she has been going through therapy, but i cant help but hear story's of her past and how frisky she was with other guys (which is fine, no issue with her having a intamit past) and feel like i am doing something wrong, or I am just not good enough. Her explanation is that due to the trauma of what happened, she was hypersexualizing herself for validation, which makes total sense, but i still feel like im failing her somehow. I have spent a lot of money on toys and other things to try and add to the fun but I don't seem to get the big reactions I am hoping for that she is feeling good and is turned on.
Additionally, I am self consous as I have gained weight since we met (a lot, different story) and I am more of a quantity rather then duration for intimacy, meaning that I do not last super long, but i can go over and over and over if given a small break.
All this ads up to me feeling like she is not telling me the truth in her satisfaction, She used to have a high drive and want it nearly every day, but with therapy and everything else its barley 1ce a week, if that. I am so happy for her for working through everything and becoming the women i know she always was, but I still cant help but feel i am doing something wrong and am a bad lover. I am not sure where to go from here. I want to believe her, but all evidence is to the contrary. Any suggestions?
submitted by Exact-Use-8021 to relationship_advice [link] [comments]
So me and my wife got married 1 years ago (together 3)and everything in our marriage is amazing so far. No fights, Very open communication and we even have 3 animals (one is a mini pig).
But I am having a very hard time taking her word for it when she says she is satisfied with our intamite life. She insists i satisfy her and that she is happy but the way she moves and acts when we are intimate has changed and she does not seem as "engaged" in it as much. There have been a lot of life stressors recently such as her applying for Masters.
During intimate times she does not make much noise anymore and she does not initiate as much anymore. Additionally she is only able to finish with toys and I have never been able to make her finish without toys, only 20-30min of me playing with her has worked.
She has brought up the fact that she is an SA survivor and that she is changing her perspective on intimacy as a whole as she has been going through therapy, but i cant help but hear story's of her past and how frisky she was with other guys (which is fine, no issue with her having a intamit past) and feel like i am doing something wrong, or I am just not good enough. Her explanation is that due to the trauma of what happened, she was hypersexualizing herself for validation, which makes total sense, but i still feel like im failing her somehow. I have spent a lot of money on toys and other things to try and add to the fun but I don't seem to get the big reactions I am hoping for that she is feeling good and is turned on.
Additionally, I am self consous as I have gained weight since we met (a lot, different story) and I am more of a quantity rather then duration for intimacy, meaning that I do not last super long, but i can go over and over and over if given a small break.
All this ads up to me feeling like she is not telling me the truth in her satisfaction, She used to have a high drive and want it nearly every day, but with therapy and everything else its barley 1ce a week, if that. I am so happy for her for working through everything and becoming the women i know she always was, but I still cant help but feel i am doing something wrong and am a bad lover. I am not sure where to go from here. I want to believe her, but all evidence is to the contrary. Any suggestions?