How to swap bodies with mother
Drunk or a Kid?
2010.04.22 07:35 xtirpation Drunk or a Kid?
This subreddit is for stories of the greatest stupidity. Inspired by How I Met Your Mother, this subreddit was created for the purpose of hearing amusing stories and having other try to guess if you were drunk or a kid.
2014.05.15 09:28 kenshirothefist NiceHash - Platform for Mining and Trading Crypto!
NiceHash is a Bitcoin centered platform, providing a complete ecosystem of mining and BTC payment services with the goal to accelerate Bitcoin adoption worldwide.
2009.11.30 07:50 Support and knowledge about breastfeeding
**This is a community to encourage, support, and educate parents nursing babies/children through their breastfeeding journey. Partners seeking advice and support are also welcome here.**
2024.06.09 22:41 aybismol I failed the only thing I care about
I have been depressed for a long time. About 5 or so years ago I moved away from a place with people I felt like I truly belonged with. The place I moved was a tiny, tiny island. I went to one of the only English-focused schools that was on the island. My class had about 6 people in it. I never really connected with any of them. Thankfully, I remained connected to my friends from my previous location. But, it was different. They went to parties and hung out irl and talked about the newest shit that happened in their school. I was disconnected in some way. This, coupled with the pandemic that hit made me fall into a deep pit that I never got out of. I would wake up go to school go to sleep and repeat. But a highlight of this place was my dog. I loved my dog so much. She would be the only thing I was excited about when I came home. But not even that could get me out of the muck I was in. I didn't shower for months during online school, so how could I possibly get out of bed to walk her. I still loved her. I played videogames with my overseas friends but we never talk about our feelings. Male friendships are like that. When I moved to my final location, my family brought her with us. My depression got so bad I stopped showing up to school. I found attempting to make friends exhausting. Not showing up became this feedback loop of not showing up and feeling shame in showing up. I spent the last year and a half of high school online, and passed. And then my dog died. She started acting weird one day and then two days later she started yowling in pain. We took her to the e.r. A stay in the I.C.U would have costed a ridiculous amount, so my mother said we should just take the recommended medicine and go home. When she got home, she start gasping for air, and that was it. Autoimmune disease or something. Just like that. And I could never give her the quality of life she deserved. No one but me and my dad even walked her. But she never complained. And the last year my dad has been overseas. She died so young too. 4 years old. My depression has not only eaten my life up, but it has greatly harmed another. She died like, 30 minutes ago. I can't even look at her fucking body. She was in so much pain. Now I have nothing.
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2024.06.09 22:34 storiesarefunright Phaal's Poker.
Aidin didn't need another cautionary tale about the Phaal, but he could tell from the slight crinkle of Isa's forehead that he was about to hear one.
"There's something else you should know," she said.
So predictable. "If you're going to tell me how deadly-"
"It's not that," she interrupted, and it suddenly occurred to Aidin that he was probably just as predictable to her as she was to him. "It's something else. Something worse."
"What's worse than-"
"They can read minds. They can read your mind. Human minds. They might be reading your mind right now."
"I see," nodded Aidin, digesting the information. "Actually, I don't think I do see. Why is that worse?"
"Because the only way we're getting out of here is if you can beat them at Phaal's Poker."
Aidin and Isa were sat on the floor of a holding cell, but it was unlike any of the cells they'd found themselves in before. And they'd found themselves in plenty. For most artefact dealers, there was a fine line between running a successful operation and staying on the right side of The Expanse's arbiters. Usually you had to pick one.
Their cell was shaped like the number 8, with two, circular chambers separated by a gap just wide enough to squeeze a human arm through. They could've passed items to each other had they been allowed to keep anything worth passing. Instead, all they'd exchanged so far were words and glances. And thoughts.
Each half of the cell was empty save from a polymer bucket, and a singular light hung in the gap, half-heartedly illuminating both halves at the same time.
It was hard for either of them to know how long they'd been there. There were no windows, and besides, time moved strangely in these far-flung corners of The Expanse. Still, Aidin's stomach had given way to a deep, aching growl. They'd clearly been here for too long.
___
Phaal's Poker. Aidin had only heard the rumours. Invented by the Phaal, mastered by the Phaal. It was said that nobody could beat them at their own game, least of all humans, and now he understood why. How do you deceive something that knows what you're thinking?
"Can't you play?" asked Aidin.
Isa shook her head. "They can't read me. They'll insist on playing you."
Aidin's eyes dropped and settled on his moaning gut. He was used to hunger, but this felt different. Like his body had resorted to feeding on itself.
"Right. Excellent. And if I lose?"
Isa raised an eyebrow. "Don't lose."
Aidin sighed. This was not what he had envisioned when he took the job, but jobs like this rarely went as planned. That much he knew. "So what're the rules?"
"Ah, yes." Isa straightened, her eyes widening with an enthusiasm that felt at odds with their current predicament. "It's actually a rather elegant game."
"Well then, lucky me," said Aidin, his patience eroding with every gurgling hunger pang. Isa persevered.
"Two players face each other. Each player takes a coin - but it can be anything small and flat - and places it - secretly, mind - into one of their hands - or whatever they use to hold stuff." Isa's excitement continued to build. "You win by finding your opponent's coin and tricking them into missing yours."
"What if you both find each other's coins?"
"Then the game starts again. Same if both players get it wrong, but-" she caught herself. "But-"
"-Phaal don't get it wrong." offered Aidin.
Isa slumped back against the wall. "No, they don't. At least, not when they're playing humans."
"So if the Phaal never miss, it means I can't win," reasoned Aidin. "I can only delay the inevitable by forcing a rematch."
"Yes. That's the long and short of it," said Isa. "But perhaps..." she trailed off, and Aidin interrogated the slight narrowing of her eyes. He'd seen that squint before.
"You've got an idea, haven't you?" he said.
"What if," ventured Isa, "there is a way?" At this she stood up, her dormant bones clicking back into action. She paced back and forth across the diameter of her half of the cell, moving in and out of Aidin's view through the small gap that separated them. Her lips moved silently, her fingers traced patterns in the air.
"I'm listening," said Aidin, veiling his intense relief as best he could. She always had an idea. "Whenever you're ready."
After what felt to Aidin like an age, Isa stopped in the middle of her cell and moved close to the gap, locking eyes with him again. The light hovered above her head, and it reminded Aidin of the cartoons he used to watch back on Earth. This was an idea alright.
Isa pointed at him: "You have one advantage over the other humans who have played Phaal's Poker, don't you?" Aidin nodded, but he didn't know what she was talking about. Isa sensed it. "Aidin, you know they can read your mind. The others won't have known. We can use that."
"Okay. Yeah. I can see it. Fine." He stared at her blankly. "But how exactly? If I'm thinking about lying about which hand my coin is in, they're still going to know I'm lying."
"Sure", said Isa. She was confident now, like a detective about to reveal the culprit. "But what if you don't think about the game at all?"
___
Aidin's eyes burned into the silhouetted backs of the two human guards that escorted him down a dark, seemingly endless corridor. "You can talk to me y'know," he spat. No response. Fucking traitors.
The width of the corridor fluctuated. In parts it was wide - almost palatial - but then the wood-panelled walls would tighten inwards and suddenly it was so narrow that the guards had to walk in single-file. Then they'd open up again. Intermittent lights along the ceiling made their shadows shorten and stretch.
He hadn't seen wood for some time, let alone wood-panels. These Phaal were wealthy - trees didn't grow on planets in these parts. If not for his bounds he would've reached out and ran his fingers along them.
Without warning the guards stopped outside a door. One turned to face him, and Aidin opened his mouth, ready to tell him what he thought about humans that had crossed over. But all he could muster was a stifled gasp.
The guard's eyes had been gouged out, leaving two, pitted caverns in their place. Two smaller holes punctured a flat, scarred surface where his nose should've been, and his mouth was sewn shut with rusted, blood-stained wire. His ears were still in tact.
The guard reached for the door handle with a gloved hand, and Aidin scrambled to gather himself. This is what could happen to me, he thought. This is what could happen if I lose.
The door swung open. Aidin's hunger continued to eat away at his insides.
___
A small, wooden coin was placed in front of each player by one of the mutilated guards that had escorted Aidin to the room. Like his cell, the room was empty save for the metal table and chairs on which they sat and a light that glowed above them. But unlike his cell, this one was square. Disgusting place, he thought.
He glanced up at the Phaal sat across from him, remembering with a spike of panic that his thoughts weren't private anymore. But it was unclear to him whether it was listening: just like the two human guards stood either side of them, the Phaal were faceless.
He had never seen one in real life before, but Isa's description was pretty accurate. Humans are mostly carbon and oxygen, Phaal are mostly calcium and keratin. Imagine if you tried to piece together a human using only bones, teeth, nails and hair.
Its whole chest was covered by a wooden-beaded necklace, which, based on the differing shades of brown, looked like an assortment of various woods. More posturing.
With a sudden lurch, the Phaal raised a hand and placed it on top of its coin. The hand was human-like in shape, but paper-white and hard. Thick cables of hair coiled around each finger, digging grooves into their surface like a vine eroding the brick of a decaying building. It dragged the coin off the table with a screech that felt like it was peeling away at Aidin's eardrums.
Aidin - his bounds cut once the door to the room had been shut - took his own coin in response, passed it between his sweat-lined hands and recited Isa's words in his mind over and over, like a mantra. Grip one half of the coin with your left hand, and the other half of the coin with your right. Then focus on what you'll eat when we get out of here.
The Phaal angled its head slightly, and Aidin wondered whether it was listening now. After a moment, the blank oval of bone, hair and teeth rocked back and fourth very slowly. It was nodding. Then it placed two clenched fists on the table.
Grip one half of the coin with your left hand, and the other half of the coin with your right. Then focus on what you'll eat when we get out of here.
Aidin closed his eyes and thought about food. He knew that the food he'd be eating if he ever escaped this place would likely be the same food he and Isa had eaten since they'd met all those years ago. A grool of proteins, most of which could be harvested from even the most barren atmospheres of The Outer Expanse.
But his mind was a pantry, and he had stocked it with a myriad of memories. He remembered melted cheese on home-baked bread. He could almost taste his mother's cinnamon apples and golden custard. He could recall the smell of fried potatoes with such precision that it almost felt to Aidin as though they, and not his own coiled hands, had just been placed onto the table in front of him.
Focus on what you'll eat when you get out of here. Fruit. Grapes. The juice of those grapes. God damn I miss grapes. Fucking grapes. I never even wanted 'em when I was a kid. Now I'd kill for a grape. Fuck it I'd die for a grape. I'd-
A cold, callous touch to his right hand dragged his mind away from the grapes and back into the room.
The Phaal had made its choice. And as soon as Aidin realised what was happening, the Phaal knew that it had chosen wrongly.
The coin had found its way into Aidin's left hand.
My turn, thought Aidin, and the Phaal nodded once again.
submitted by storiesarefunright to HFY [link] [comments]
"There's something else you should know," she said.
So predictable. "If you're going to tell me how deadly-"
"It's not that," she interrupted, and it suddenly occurred to Aidin that he was probably just as predictable to her as she was to him. "It's something else. Something worse."
"What's worse than-"
"They can read minds. They can read your mind. Human minds. They might be reading your mind right now."
"I see," nodded Aidin, digesting the information. "Actually, I don't think I do see. Why is that worse?"
"Because the only way we're getting out of here is if you can beat them at Phaal's Poker."
Aidin and Isa were sat on the floor of a holding cell, but it was unlike any of the cells they'd found themselves in before. And they'd found themselves in plenty. For most artefact dealers, there was a fine line between running a successful operation and staying on the right side of The Expanse's arbiters. Usually you had to pick one.
Their cell was shaped like the number 8, with two, circular chambers separated by a gap just wide enough to squeeze a human arm through. They could've passed items to each other had they been allowed to keep anything worth passing. Instead, all they'd exchanged so far were words and glances. And thoughts.
Each half of the cell was empty save from a polymer bucket, and a singular light hung in the gap, half-heartedly illuminating both halves at the same time.
It was hard for either of them to know how long they'd been there. There were no windows, and besides, time moved strangely in these far-flung corners of The Expanse. Still, Aidin's stomach had given way to a deep, aching growl. They'd clearly been here for too long.
___
Phaal's Poker. Aidin had only heard the rumours. Invented by the Phaal, mastered by the Phaal. It was said that nobody could beat them at their own game, least of all humans, and now he understood why. How do you deceive something that knows what you're thinking?
"Can't you play?" asked Aidin.
Isa shook her head. "They can't read me. They'll insist on playing you."
Aidin's eyes dropped and settled on his moaning gut. He was used to hunger, but this felt different. Like his body had resorted to feeding on itself.
"Right. Excellent. And if I lose?"
Isa raised an eyebrow. "Don't lose."
Aidin sighed. This was not what he had envisioned when he took the job, but jobs like this rarely went as planned. That much he knew. "So what're the rules?"
"Ah, yes." Isa straightened, her eyes widening with an enthusiasm that felt at odds with their current predicament. "It's actually a rather elegant game."
"Well then, lucky me," said Aidin, his patience eroding with every gurgling hunger pang. Isa persevered.
"Two players face each other. Each player takes a coin - but it can be anything small and flat - and places it - secretly, mind - into one of their hands - or whatever they use to hold stuff." Isa's excitement continued to build. "You win by finding your opponent's coin and tricking them into missing yours."
"What if you both find each other's coins?"
"Then the game starts again. Same if both players get it wrong, but-" she caught herself. "But-"
"-Phaal don't get it wrong." offered Aidin.
Isa slumped back against the wall. "No, they don't. At least, not when they're playing humans."
"So if the Phaal never miss, it means I can't win," reasoned Aidin. "I can only delay the inevitable by forcing a rematch."
"Yes. That's the long and short of it," said Isa. "But perhaps..." she trailed off, and Aidin interrogated the slight narrowing of her eyes. He'd seen that squint before.
"You've got an idea, haven't you?" he said.
"What if," ventured Isa, "there is a way?" At this she stood up, her dormant bones clicking back into action. She paced back and forth across the diameter of her half of the cell, moving in and out of Aidin's view through the small gap that separated them. Her lips moved silently, her fingers traced patterns in the air.
"I'm listening," said Aidin, veiling his intense relief as best he could. She always had an idea. "Whenever you're ready."
After what felt to Aidin like an age, Isa stopped in the middle of her cell and moved close to the gap, locking eyes with him again. The light hovered above her head, and it reminded Aidin of the cartoons he used to watch back on Earth. This was an idea alright.
Isa pointed at him: "You have one advantage over the other humans who have played Phaal's Poker, don't you?" Aidin nodded, but he didn't know what she was talking about. Isa sensed it. "Aidin, you know they can read your mind. The others won't have known. We can use that."
"Okay. Yeah. I can see it. Fine." He stared at her blankly. "But how exactly? If I'm thinking about lying about which hand my coin is in, they're still going to know I'm lying."
"Sure", said Isa. She was confident now, like a detective about to reveal the culprit. "But what if you don't think about the game at all?"
___
Aidin's eyes burned into the silhouetted backs of the two human guards that escorted him down a dark, seemingly endless corridor. "You can talk to me y'know," he spat. No response. Fucking traitors.
The width of the corridor fluctuated. In parts it was wide - almost palatial - but then the wood-panelled walls would tighten inwards and suddenly it was so narrow that the guards had to walk in single-file. Then they'd open up again. Intermittent lights along the ceiling made their shadows shorten and stretch.
He hadn't seen wood for some time, let alone wood-panels. These Phaal were wealthy - trees didn't grow on planets in these parts. If not for his bounds he would've reached out and ran his fingers along them.
Without warning the guards stopped outside a door. One turned to face him, and Aidin opened his mouth, ready to tell him what he thought about humans that had crossed over. But all he could muster was a stifled gasp.
The guard's eyes had been gouged out, leaving two, pitted caverns in their place. Two smaller holes punctured a flat, scarred surface where his nose should've been, and his mouth was sewn shut with rusted, blood-stained wire. His ears were still in tact.
The guard reached for the door handle with a gloved hand, and Aidin scrambled to gather himself. This is what could happen to me, he thought. This is what could happen if I lose.
The door swung open. Aidin's hunger continued to eat away at his insides.
___
A small, wooden coin was placed in front of each player by one of the mutilated guards that had escorted Aidin to the room. Like his cell, the room was empty save for the metal table and chairs on which they sat and a light that glowed above them. But unlike his cell, this one was square. Disgusting place, he thought.
He glanced up at the Phaal sat across from him, remembering with a spike of panic that his thoughts weren't private anymore. But it was unclear to him whether it was listening: just like the two human guards stood either side of them, the Phaal were faceless.
He had never seen one in real life before, but Isa's description was pretty accurate. Humans are mostly carbon and oxygen, Phaal are mostly calcium and keratin. Imagine if you tried to piece together a human using only bones, teeth, nails and hair.
Its whole chest was covered by a wooden-beaded necklace, which, based on the differing shades of brown, looked like an assortment of various woods. More posturing.
With a sudden lurch, the Phaal raised a hand and placed it on top of its coin. The hand was human-like in shape, but paper-white and hard. Thick cables of hair coiled around each finger, digging grooves into their surface like a vine eroding the brick of a decaying building. It dragged the coin off the table with a screech that felt like it was peeling away at Aidin's eardrums.
Aidin - his bounds cut once the door to the room had been shut - took his own coin in response, passed it between his sweat-lined hands and recited Isa's words in his mind over and over, like a mantra. Grip one half of the coin with your left hand, and the other half of the coin with your right. Then focus on what you'll eat when we get out of here.
The Phaal angled its head slightly, and Aidin wondered whether it was listening now. After a moment, the blank oval of bone, hair and teeth rocked back and fourth very slowly. It was nodding. Then it placed two clenched fists on the table.
Grip one half of the coin with your left hand, and the other half of the coin with your right. Then focus on what you'll eat when we get out of here.
Aidin closed his eyes and thought about food. He knew that the food he'd be eating if he ever escaped this place would likely be the same food he and Isa had eaten since they'd met all those years ago. A grool of proteins, most of which could be harvested from even the most barren atmospheres of The Outer Expanse.
But his mind was a pantry, and he had stocked it with a myriad of memories. He remembered melted cheese on home-baked bread. He could almost taste his mother's cinnamon apples and golden custard. He could recall the smell of fried potatoes with such precision that it almost felt to Aidin as though they, and not his own coiled hands, had just been placed onto the table in front of him.
Focus on what you'll eat when you get out of here. Fruit. Grapes. The juice of those grapes. God damn I miss grapes. Fucking grapes. I never even wanted 'em when I was a kid. Now I'd kill for a grape. Fuck it I'd die for a grape. I'd-
A cold, callous touch to his right hand dragged his mind away from the grapes and back into the room.
The Phaal had made its choice. And as soon as Aidin realised what was happening, the Phaal knew that it had chosen wrongly.
The coin had found its way into Aidin's left hand.
My turn, thought Aidin, and the Phaal nodded once again.
2024.06.09 22:27 HuskyWuskyowo My O'Reilly AutoParts Experience
I'm on mobile, writing this brought back a lot of emotions. So if it's sloppy,I apologize.....
I've debated about posting this, but it's been a year now. So I should be ok. I've posted on Reddit before, asking about situations at the company but changed some things. So here we are, and here's a full run down of my time there
I started in May, 2019. Part time and straight out of highschool. By November, I was full time and had store keys, training to be a closing manager (RSS)
In 2020, we had a coworker stalk a new hire, as he really wanted to date her, she felt uncomfortable but since he was a manager, she felt inclined to do as he wanted. She came to me as we were close in age. I helped her talk with our boss. He was soon let go.
Then we hired another girl, and she was.... Something.
She decided that she was going to get the boss to fall for her, and be the favorite. Boss was annoyed by her, and she found it funny to walk up behind me when I was on a phone call, reach around and grab my chest. She did this in front of customers as well. Our store had no cameras.
Even after I told her to knock it off, she kept on. Soon the customers were trying to treat me the same. Trying to touch me, asking if they can "Rent me" and other gross things.
I'd told my boss, SM. But at the time, we had a very.... Slow to act DM. So nothing was done.
One day, I was training a new hire. I was on the phone with a customer, and he was beside me at the counter with a customer. She walked up behind me, reached around, but this time, one hand went up, one went down and she was telling our new hire "it's ok to do this cause there's no cameras" and slowly started undoing the buttons on my shirt.
I'd gotten permission from my boss at the time to react in anyway I had to to get her off me, as our DM didn't want to get involved but wouldn't allow him to fire her.
so I kicked her as hard as I could. She fell, and started laughing. After she left, I explained to him what's been going on. He understood but was upset and uncomfortable, not that I blame him. She'd been written up for this before.
The next day, DM was there. New hire had called tips, and told them if they didn't do anything about this he would go public, forcing the DM to do something. Well, we found out this day, that we had a new DM. As the company "had decided due to so many complaints under this DM, that they needed to take him from DM, and make him a SM again for awhile"
This one took swift action. She was canned. After this, the new hires we got were so much better. But unfortunately, the system we used, showed our phone numbers and addresses. So this, now ex coworker, started stalking me. Sending me threatening messages and following me home, company said just block and ignore. Police wouldn't help til she did something threatening my life. I'd come outside to my tires all flat, my car scratched, I'd be followed home, it was a mess. A few times I'd be followed, run off the road, one morning on the way to work, I called the store and told them I was being followed. Everyone knew by now what was happening, and they watched as I pulled in, my SM went outside to tell the girl to leave, as she tried to slam her car into mine. I'd Changed everything by then, moved, new number, new route to abd from work. Hadn't seen her in awhile.
I left that store in Feb of 2021, and went to a bigger store to be trained as a ASM and as a safety precaution, to create more space in case the chic came back. (As she still circled the store time to time) Once there, I helped run the store. I was there til August of that same year, I was "loaned" out to help a different store, but still was expected to run my second store. As the SM was out due to family issues.
So now I'm running two stores, one store where no one respects the store manager, and one store where there is no store manager. So I'm training people at one location while running this other store as the store manager is sleeping off a hangover In the office.
During this, I was training some guys from the second store, and on October 19th, 2021. I had been at store #3 getting stuff ready for the upcoming inventory, so I got home around 12AM. My phone was dead, I was tired and I had a husky needing to go outside. When two of the guys I was training pull up. They had gotten my address off of the computer and were here because "they were sick of the management and needed me back there" they knew what apartment number I was so they ran up the stairs and beat me to the door. I was tired and not in the mood to get into it that night, so they passed out on the couch and next morning, I'm being called due to them not coming in. So I answer and told them that they are currently passed out on my couch, I got in trouble for them not coming into work.
It went smoothly for awhile, then December 13th, 2021 comes along. At this time, my relationship with my mother was rocky. I had gone low contact with her. I also never told anyone my business, as I figured it wasn't anyones need to know. My personal life stays personal. Well, two store managers take it upon themselves to integrate me. It's their day off, so I'm running the store, only have one delivery driver that day, short staffed, they pull up and have me go into the back of the store, which has no walls. So everyone can hear what's being said.
And they lay into me. For 3hrs til I'm in tears and have told them everything that went on with my mother and why we're low contact. The store manager decides she's going to be my hero and go confront my mother, have her husband beat my mother up and have this show down. They told me to not worry, return to work and they'll handle it. And left. Leaving me crying, shaking and still trying to run a store, get people to lunch and my teams now more focused on me, what they heard in the conversation and some are calling the DM to report what just happened. This made a very awkward month, as now DM is involved, the SM's got a talking to and I had to relive this twice more. Once with the DM, then HR. Tho HR labeled this a "in house issue" and weren't willing to help.
After this, it calmed down. The SM's were now out to get me for "getting them in trouble" but otherwise, it seemed fine. Tho I was working with the store managers daughter, so she kept her mom updated, and made sure to mention my mothers abuse towards me and tell others about it as well. She liked the gossip of it.
Then on March 5th, 2022. The store managers daughter had been slacking. Big time. On her phone in the office, taking "favors" for reduced product, or just ignoring her job and making others pick up the slack. I was spread thin, mentally and physically. Trying to help with training a new store manager, training staff at my second store, and keeping this third one up. So when I was catching up on freight, and found she was off in the back on her phone watching TikTok, I got on her about it. She got upset, and said "you've been really moody lately. I think you're pregnant" to which I told her I'm stressed trying to get stuff going, I haven't had a break in awhile, and you aren't helping at all.( She also has this mindset that I slept with my first store manager. And that I was still with him and pregnant by him. )
She rolled her eyes, and on her break, she went out and bought a pregnancy test. When she returns, she hides my clipboard and paperwork, and had blocked my car in. Then, in front of the few staff I had that day, announces that I'm to take this pregnancy test, or she'll destroy the paperwork, and tell the SM that I wasn't actually in store, didn't do my paperwork and have been flaky. She had the DM and SM's wrapped around her finger. So I told her this isn't appropriate and that I'd rather not. This went back and forth, to the point of her getting in the way of me answering phones and helping customers, she'd physically take the phone from my hand and hang up, or tell the customer that I couldn't help them at this time.
So I told her, if I do, I'm going home for the rest of the day. I had 2 hours left of my shift. She said fine. But she needed to be in the bathroom as I took it, so I don't "cheat".
After that, she moved her car and I left. For the day. Went home, called HR. They told me it's an in store issue, and unfortunately they rather not get involved with it. So I told the DM. He had already received reports from the other staff, telling him what happened. She was talked to, but that's it. For the rest of the week, she talked about how cute it would be if I had a baby with my first SM, asked about what he was like in bed and if we did it in the store - this SM and I were close, he was a father figure/role model to me. If I couldn't figure something out, he was my first call. She ruined the friendship I had with him, as we both felt awkward when we worked together due to her. As she told her mom and the gossip spread like wildfire.
March 15th, 2022. I requested a week off. I needed a break, my car needed maintenance and I figured I would head to the ocean with my husky for a couple days. So the first day off, the 12th, I drop my car off at the dealership so they can replace a recall. They say it'll be 5 hours so I walk around town, just relaxing. Then they tell me that unfortunately, they found a new issue and are going to keep my car for a month, and have no way of giving me a loaner. I try to figure out why and it's the runaround, my buddy comes to my aid and helps me get my stuff from my car as they wouldn't let me back there to get my stuff. Then we go to my mother's house to try and get the spare car I have. But the rack and pinion blew on it the same day. So next day I spend trying to tear it apart. I get halfway through when work calls, and let's me know my vacation request ends early as the SM's daughter had an emergency and I need to cover for her. I tell them I'm without a car, in a city an hour away, and the SM says "not my problem. Figure it out. I need you in. If you aren't in, I'm writing you up and firing you"
So I rush to get the car going, and on the 14th, Im stressed, tired, sore and anxious. I push a tool a bit to hard and it slips on grease, comes flying out of the wheel well and hits me in the head, hard. My mother comes back an hour later to find me knocked out. My first concussion. (By this time, we'd had a better relationship/understanding and were working towards building it)
So that night, she drops me off at my apartment. No rental places had any cars, so that morning, I grab my scooter, my husky, and walk the 4hrs to the store. Two hours in, I start to have an asthma attack. My body's shaking, my heads killing me, but we get there. Almost falling in the parking lot. We get in, I sit by the door catching my breath. A driver who used to volunteer at the fire station, comes over and checks my pulse, gets worried and recommends I go to the ER. I tell him I'm okay, the SM has already left for the day. So I need to be here to close. I get cleaned up, and the DM calls. Saying the SM called to tell him I hadn't shown up, and to ask where I was. I told him I just walked there, im wheezing and he's concerned too. I tell him she threatened to fire me if I didn't get here. He said he'd talk to her. Nothing ever came of it.
July 6th, 2022. The DM decided to move me permanently back to my 2nd store, as the store manager was going through personal stuff and I was needed there. So I went. It had been a couple weeks before this, but on the 6th, my shifts were 7am to 7pm. Or til 9:30 if the closer didn't come in. So I come in on time, start working, and go into the back of the store to get hose for a customer. I'm still feeling the symptoms of the concussion from March, but power through. I'm not sure how, but I managed to slip on a piece of paper, fall back and hit the base of my skull on the shelf, then when I was getting up, hit my forehead on it too. A coworker came looking for me. And found me, in his words "in a puddle of blood". He gets me up and takes care of the customer, and gets me to the bathroom and cleaned up. Then we go to the SM and let her know.
She says "You're standing up. You can work. Clean yourself up and get on the counter" I had a two week vacation scheduled, starting the next day. So she thought I was trying to get off work early. Something I had never done. So I go the front after cleaning myself up, the nasty gash on my head swelling up and getting attention. The store is hot, it's 90 outside, and I'm in my jacket shivering cause I'm cold. This happened at about 9AM. I went to her at 12PM and requested a break so I could go out to my car, grab some pain pills and come back. She said no, as I might not return. So I worked through it. I tried calling a couple people to see if they could cover me, as I was feeling worse and worse. But nothing. By 3, a coworker comes in and sees me. His shift didn't start for another two hours, but he immediately told me to go home.
By how, the SM has sent two others home early as we were " slow" and didn't need them. She also wanted to leave, which would mean I'd be the only manager there. He was a manager in training. But he counted my til down and the SM said as I left "since you don't feel good, maybe you shouldn't go to your sister's and just relax. But if I see any pictures of you on vacation after this, I'll know you lied to get out of it."
I went out to my car, which was a 2019 base model Sentra, I left at 4pm. I didn't get home til 8:30/9pm. A drive, with traffic takes an hour. My car had no lane deparcher or blindspot monitoring. When I pulled into my spot at my boyfriend's apartment, as I had moved in with him after coworkers kept finding out where I lived, or gave my address out to random people. My car was scratched up, the rims had curb rash, the passenger side had scratches. I don't know where I went or why it took so long to get home. I remember getting into my car, turning it on, turning on the A/C and that's it.
I went inside and passed out on the bed, my boyfriend couldn't wake me up for dinner, next morning my mother came and got me, taking me to the ER. I had yet another concussion. The doctor told me to stay away from screens, loud noises, drink water and just relax. Refrain from hitting my head again.
After my vacation, I returned with a letter of resignation. As I did some thinking. I couldn't stand the job anymore, the gossip, the crap... The random guys who would get my number and say "someone gave me your number at the store." And I'd have to change my number again. I have a folder of some of the weirdest ones.
I gave my resignation to the SM I currently was under. She denied it. Said no, she needed me to run her store while she took care of stuff, but this was the same SM who believed that I slept with my first SM, denied my raise and SM training as "according to the 3rd store I was sent to. I didn't do anything of what I was supposed to do, got the SM and her friend and the daughter in trouble, I took my vacations without thinking of anyone else"
I went to my first SM, he faxed the paperwork in. My last day was scheduled for August 18th, 2022. Clearly stated on my resignation letter. I gave my two weeks notice on Aug. 4th. 2022.
Everyone started freaking out in management. My DM tried getting me to stay, as it was a shock to him. But I couldn't. On my last day, she scheduled me for a closing shift. With nothing on the following days. She put me on for that Saturday. She calls me, asking where I am. I tell her my last day was Thursday. She tells me no. That she decides when my last day is, and I'm needed there right now. She thought we had talked it out, and that I would "come to my senses" and see reasoning. I told her I was firm on no longer working there, and I had already turned in all my keys. She blew up. Calling me every name in the book, degrading me, she called other stores and a lot of my friends there, turned on me. As she told them straight lies.
I blocked everyone as I started getting hate messages, people commenting on my social media, saying awful stuff. It was hell. I blocked everyone, and for awhile. I had to block accounts or deactivate my stuff. Finally, it all stopped.
I thought I was going to be with that company forever. I missed friends events for it. Family stuff, and events I wanted to go to, cuz of the job..,.. but in the end, those who were assholes to me, got placed in higher positions. Praised for "dealing with everything" and took credit for everything I did. I still get messages asking how to do something, but those go unanswered.
I miss the challenges, the interactions with customers and cars. But I don't miss how HR worked. How tight some are, that they can easily sway things to benefit them just cuz they know each other outside of the company.
It was fun. But I'm glad I got out, and it's burned me... I miss certain people there. But I can't ever be positive about that company again
submitted by HuskyWuskyowo to OReillyAutoParts [link] [comments]
I've debated about posting this, but it's been a year now. So I should be ok. I've posted on Reddit before, asking about situations at the company but changed some things. So here we are, and here's a full run down of my time there
I started in May, 2019. Part time and straight out of highschool. By November, I was full time and had store keys, training to be a closing manager (RSS)
In 2020, we had a coworker stalk a new hire, as he really wanted to date her, she felt uncomfortable but since he was a manager, she felt inclined to do as he wanted. She came to me as we were close in age. I helped her talk with our boss. He was soon let go.
Then we hired another girl, and she was.... Something.
She decided that she was going to get the boss to fall for her, and be the favorite. Boss was annoyed by her, and she found it funny to walk up behind me when I was on a phone call, reach around and grab my chest. She did this in front of customers as well. Our store had no cameras.
Even after I told her to knock it off, she kept on. Soon the customers were trying to treat me the same. Trying to touch me, asking if they can "Rent me" and other gross things.
I'd told my boss, SM. But at the time, we had a very.... Slow to act DM. So nothing was done.
One day, I was training a new hire. I was on the phone with a customer, and he was beside me at the counter with a customer. She walked up behind me, reached around, but this time, one hand went up, one went down and she was telling our new hire "it's ok to do this cause there's no cameras" and slowly started undoing the buttons on my shirt.
I'd gotten permission from my boss at the time to react in anyway I had to to get her off me, as our DM didn't want to get involved but wouldn't allow him to fire her.
so I kicked her as hard as I could. She fell, and started laughing. After she left, I explained to him what's been going on. He understood but was upset and uncomfortable, not that I blame him. She'd been written up for this before.
The next day, DM was there. New hire had called tips, and told them if they didn't do anything about this he would go public, forcing the DM to do something. Well, we found out this day, that we had a new DM. As the company "had decided due to so many complaints under this DM, that they needed to take him from DM, and make him a SM again for awhile"
This one took swift action. She was canned. After this, the new hires we got were so much better. But unfortunately, the system we used, showed our phone numbers and addresses. So this, now ex coworker, started stalking me. Sending me threatening messages and following me home, company said just block and ignore. Police wouldn't help til she did something threatening my life. I'd come outside to my tires all flat, my car scratched, I'd be followed home, it was a mess. A few times I'd be followed, run off the road, one morning on the way to work, I called the store and told them I was being followed. Everyone knew by now what was happening, and they watched as I pulled in, my SM went outside to tell the girl to leave, as she tried to slam her car into mine. I'd Changed everything by then, moved, new number, new route to abd from work. Hadn't seen her in awhile.
I left that store in Feb of 2021, and went to a bigger store to be trained as a ASM and as a safety precaution, to create more space in case the chic came back. (As she still circled the store time to time) Once there, I helped run the store. I was there til August of that same year, I was "loaned" out to help a different store, but still was expected to run my second store. As the SM was out due to family issues.
So now I'm running two stores, one store where no one respects the store manager, and one store where there is no store manager. So I'm training people at one location while running this other store as the store manager is sleeping off a hangover In the office.
During this, I was training some guys from the second store, and on October 19th, 2021. I had been at store #3 getting stuff ready for the upcoming inventory, so I got home around 12AM. My phone was dead, I was tired and I had a husky needing to go outside. When two of the guys I was training pull up. They had gotten my address off of the computer and were here because "they were sick of the management and needed me back there" they knew what apartment number I was so they ran up the stairs and beat me to the door. I was tired and not in the mood to get into it that night, so they passed out on the couch and next morning, I'm being called due to them not coming in. So I answer and told them that they are currently passed out on my couch, I got in trouble for them not coming into work.
It went smoothly for awhile, then December 13th, 2021 comes along. At this time, my relationship with my mother was rocky. I had gone low contact with her. I also never told anyone my business, as I figured it wasn't anyones need to know. My personal life stays personal. Well, two store managers take it upon themselves to integrate me. It's their day off, so I'm running the store, only have one delivery driver that day, short staffed, they pull up and have me go into the back of the store, which has no walls. So everyone can hear what's being said.
And they lay into me. For 3hrs til I'm in tears and have told them everything that went on with my mother and why we're low contact. The store manager decides she's going to be my hero and go confront my mother, have her husband beat my mother up and have this show down. They told me to not worry, return to work and they'll handle it. And left. Leaving me crying, shaking and still trying to run a store, get people to lunch and my teams now more focused on me, what they heard in the conversation and some are calling the DM to report what just happened. This made a very awkward month, as now DM is involved, the SM's got a talking to and I had to relive this twice more. Once with the DM, then HR. Tho HR labeled this a "in house issue" and weren't willing to help.
After this, it calmed down. The SM's were now out to get me for "getting them in trouble" but otherwise, it seemed fine. Tho I was working with the store managers daughter, so she kept her mom updated, and made sure to mention my mothers abuse towards me and tell others about it as well. She liked the gossip of it.
Then on March 5th, 2022. The store managers daughter had been slacking. Big time. On her phone in the office, taking "favors" for reduced product, or just ignoring her job and making others pick up the slack. I was spread thin, mentally and physically. Trying to help with training a new store manager, training staff at my second store, and keeping this third one up. So when I was catching up on freight, and found she was off in the back on her phone watching TikTok, I got on her about it. She got upset, and said "you've been really moody lately. I think you're pregnant" to which I told her I'm stressed trying to get stuff going, I haven't had a break in awhile, and you aren't helping at all.( She also has this mindset that I slept with my first store manager. And that I was still with him and pregnant by him. )
She rolled her eyes, and on her break, she went out and bought a pregnancy test. When she returns, she hides my clipboard and paperwork, and had blocked my car in. Then, in front of the few staff I had that day, announces that I'm to take this pregnancy test, or she'll destroy the paperwork, and tell the SM that I wasn't actually in store, didn't do my paperwork and have been flaky. She had the DM and SM's wrapped around her finger. So I told her this isn't appropriate and that I'd rather not. This went back and forth, to the point of her getting in the way of me answering phones and helping customers, she'd physically take the phone from my hand and hang up, or tell the customer that I couldn't help them at this time.
So I told her, if I do, I'm going home for the rest of the day. I had 2 hours left of my shift. She said fine. But she needed to be in the bathroom as I took it, so I don't "cheat".
After that, she moved her car and I left. For the day. Went home, called HR. They told me it's an in store issue, and unfortunately they rather not get involved with it. So I told the DM. He had already received reports from the other staff, telling him what happened. She was talked to, but that's it. For the rest of the week, she talked about how cute it would be if I had a baby with my first SM, asked about what he was like in bed and if we did it in the store - this SM and I were close, he was a father figure/role model to me. If I couldn't figure something out, he was my first call. She ruined the friendship I had with him, as we both felt awkward when we worked together due to her. As she told her mom and the gossip spread like wildfire.
March 15th, 2022. I requested a week off. I needed a break, my car needed maintenance and I figured I would head to the ocean with my husky for a couple days. So the first day off, the 12th, I drop my car off at the dealership so they can replace a recall. They say it'll be 5 hours so I walk around town, just relaxing. Then they tell me that unfortunately, they found a new issue and are going to keep my car for a month, and have no way of giving me a loaner. I try to figure out why and it's the runaround, my buddy comes to my aid and helps me get my stuff from my car as they wouldn't let me back there to get my stuff. Then we go to my mother's house to try and get the spare car I have. But the rack and pinion blew on it the same day. So next day I spend trying to tear it apart. I get halfway through when work calls, and let's me know my vacation request ends early as the SM's daughter had an emergency and I need to cover for her. I tell them I'm without a car, in a city an hour away, and the SM says "not my problem. Figure it out. I need you in. If you aren't in, I'm writing you up and firing you"
So I rush to get the car going, and on the 14th, Im stressed, tired, sore and anxious. I push a tool a bit to hard and it slips on grease, comes flying out of the wheel well and hits me in the head, hard. My mother comes back an hour later to find me knocked out. My first concussion. (By this time, we'd had a better relationship/understanding and were working towards building it)
So that night, she drops me off at my apartment. No rental places had any cars, so that morning, I grab my scooter, my husky, and walk the 4hrs to the store. Two hours in, I start to have an asthma attack. My body's shaking, my heads killing me, but we get there. Almost falling in the parking lot. We get in, I sit by the door catching my breath. A driver who used to volunteer at the fire station, comes over and checks my pulse, gets worried and recommends I go to the ER. I tell him I'm okay, the SM has already left for the day. So I need to be here to close. I get cleaned up, and the DM calls. Saying the SM called to tell him I hadn't shown up, and to ask where I was. I told him I just walked there, im wheezing and he's concerned too. I tell him she threatened to fire me if I didn't get here. He said he'd talk to her. Nothing ever came of it.
July 6th, 2022. The DM decided to move me permanently back to my 2nd store, as the store manager was going through personal stuff and I was needed there. So I went. It had been a couple weeks before this, but on the 6th, my shifts were 7am to 7pm. Or til 9:30 if the closer didn't come in. So I come in on time, start working, and go into the back of the store to get hose for a customer. I'm still feeling the symptoms of the concussion from March, but power through. I'm not sure how, but I managed to slip on a piece of paper, fall back and hit the base of my skull on the shelf, then when I was getting up, hit my forehead on it too. A coworker came looking for me. And found me, in his words "in a puddle of blood". He gets me up and takes care of the customer, and gets me to the bathroom and cleaned up. Then we go to the SM and let her know.
She says "You're standing up. You can work. Clean yourself up and get on the counter" I had a two week vacation scheduled, starting the next day. So she thought I was trying to get off work early. Something I had never done. So I go the front after cleaning myself up, the nasty gash on my head swelling up and getting attention. The store is hot, it's 90 outside, and I'm in my jacket shivering cause I'm cold. This happened at about 9AM. I went to her at 12PM and requested a break so I could go out to my car, grab some pain pills and come back. She said no, as I might not return. So I worked through it. I tried calling a couple people to see if they could cover me, as I was feeling worse and worse. But nothing. By 3, a coworker comes in and sees me. His shift didn't start for another two hours, but he immediately told me to go home.
By how, the SM has sent two others home early as we were " slow" and didn't need them. She also wanted to leave, which would mean I'd be the only manager there. He was a manager in training. But he counted my til down and the SM said as I left "since you don't feel good, maybe you shouldn't go to your sister's and just relax. But if I see any pictures of you on vacation after this, I'll know you lied to get out of it."
I went out to my car, which was a 2019 base model Sentra, I left at 4pm. I didn't get home til 8:30/9pm. A drive, with traffic takes an hour. My car had no lane deparcher or blindspot monitoring. When I pulled into my spot at my boyfriend's apartment, as I had moved in with him after coworkers kept finding out where I lived, or gave my address out to random people. My car was scratched up, the rims had curb rash, the passenger side had scratches. I don't know where I went or why it took so long to get home. I remember getting into my car, turning it on, turning on the A/C and that's it.
I went inside and passed out on the bed, my boyfriend couldn't wake me up for dinner, next morning my mother came and got me, taking me to the ER. I had yet another concussion. The doctor told me to stay away from screens, loud noises, drink water and just relax. Refrain from hitting my head again.
After my vacation, I returned with a letter of resignation. As I did some thinking. I couldn't stand the job anymore, the gossip, the crap... The random guys who would get my number and say "someone gave me your number at the store." And I'd have to change my number again. I have a folder of some of the weirdest ones.
I gave my resignation to the SM I currently was under. She denied it. Said no, she needed me to run her store while she took care of stuff, but this was the same SM who believed that I slept with my first SM, denied my raise and SM training as "according to the 3rd store I was sent to. I didn't do anything of what I was supposed to do, got the SM and her friend and the daughter in trouble, I took my vacations without thinking of anyone else"
I went to my first SM, he faxed the paperwork in. My last day was scheduled for August 18th, 2022. Clearly stated on my resignation letter. I gave my two weeks notice on Aug. 4th. 2022.
Everyone started freaking out in management. My DM tried getting me to stay, as it was a shock to him. But I couldn't. On my last day, she scheduled me for a closing shift. With nothing on the following days. She put me on for that Saturday. She calls me, asking where I am. I tell her my last day was Thursday. She tells me no. That she decides when my last day is, and I'm needed there right now. She thought we had talked it out, and that I would "come to my senses" and see reasoning. I told her I was firm on no longer working there, and I had already turned in all my keys. She blew up. Calling me every name in the book, degrading me, she called other stores and a lot of my friends there, turned on me. As she told them straight lies.
I blocked everyone as I started getting hate messages, people commenting on my social media, saying awful stuff. It was hell. I blocked everyone, and for awhile. I had to block accounts or deactivate my stuff. Finally, it all stopped.
I thought I was going to be with that company forever. I missed friends events for it. Family stuff, and events I wanted to go to, cuz of the job..,.. but in the end, those who were assholes to me, got placed in higher positions. Praised for "dealing with everything" and took credit for everything I did. I still get messages asking how to do something, but those go unanswered.
I miss the challenges, the interactions with customers and cars. But I don't miss how HR worked. How tight some are, that they can easily sway things to benefit them just cuz they know each other outside of the company.
It was fun. But I'm glad I got out, and it's burned me... I miss certain people there. But I can't ever be positive about that company again
2024.06.09 22:17 mikeramp72 Endgame #1 WINNER
WINNER: Twila Tanner (Vanuatu - 2nd)
and it wasnt even fucking closeu/SMC0629:
Twila is an excellent character, full-stop. Although I used to have her slightly character, I never stopped loving her. She's got an excellent personality, she doesn't take shit from anyone, and her dominant run in the post-merge is so entertaining. The true centerpiece of her character is when it all comes back to bite her in the end, as she's basically torn apart by the jury. It's honestly heartbreaking, even if she takes it well, but it's still a great downfall to her character.
~
u/DryBonesKing:
Which casting director found Twila? And which producer decided to go forward with her specifically on a gender divided season? I hope everyone involved in this decision is set for life! Twila is probably always guaranteed to be a perfect casting choice every time she’s cast, but in Vanuatu, she provides so much amazing content. Like, I don’t even know where to start on this; her relationship with Scout, her feud with Elizas, the dynamic between her and Ami, her friendship with Sarge that she promptly destroyed, everything about her relationship with Chris… I could go on. Honest to god, if I were doing her writeup, I’d be concerned it would not end. She might be one of the densest characters in Survivor history when it comes to meaningful content to discuss.
For the sake of these little “condensed” write-ups, I suppose it’s mostly fitting to just focus in on the moral dilemmas she faced when it came to swearing on her son. Twila’s story could probably be best described as Faustian as she digs herself multiple holes for the bodies of the Vanuatu castaways she ruthlessly slaughters on her quest for a million dollars, only to realize she had actually been digging her own grave alongside it. Twila really helps sell the idea that the road to hell is paved in good intentions, as you truly leave the season understanding why she did everything she did for her son, but also completely understand why nearly the whole jury – from Sarge to Leann to Eliza – just want to watch her suffer.
Vanuatu is actually my mother’s favorite season and the dynamic between both Twila and Scout is my Mom’s personal favorite. One of our favorite moments in Survivor history occurs right before Final Tribal Council when Chris and Twila are laying in the hammock and it just snaps on them. And then it cuts to Twila just belly-laughing the most genuine, sincerest laugh. After literally going through hell, and right before the hell gets worse, Twila is just shown smiling and laughing and relaxing, and it’s probably one of the single most endearing moments in the show’s history. Twila has a credible claim to the most tragic tale in the show’s history, and I will always love her forever for it. Even though she is only my number five of all time, I am fully expecting her to win this Rankdown, and I’ll be very very sad if she doesn’t. Cause goddammit, she deserves it.
Overall Rank – 5/821
~
u/Tommyroxs45:
Twila is a huge badass and absolutely drives so much of the conflict that Vanuatu is known for. She’s is an incredibly entertaining character and never misses with her fights with people like Mia or Eliza, which also really culminate into a great story and a downfall for Twila.
~
u/Regnisyak1:
Twila, Twila, Twila. A beautiful story on Vanuatu, she quickly becomes the heart and soul of the season, with her attitude on the season and the complexity around her storyline in bonding with the women on the tribe. She was never able to fit in, so her flip felt powerful and tragic for the women on the tribe, creating a tense endgame. However, Twila and her status as a villain is centralized by the concept of her swearing on her son’s life and it affects her entire game. “I Swear” effectively ruined Twila’s game, but also her character and how people perceive her, and watching her realize she lost the million dollars over such a critical mistake leads to one of the most fascinating FTC performances.
Personal Rank: 3/821. 10/10
~
u/ninjedi1:
The real queen of Survivor! Twila is clearly one of the best character's on Survivor, and is the best part of Vanautu. Her not really connecting with the women on her tribe which causes the divide, her bonding with the men at the swap only to jump ship at merge to vote with the women, and then burning them later down the line after swearing on her son, all iconic. Then her FTC is so good to watch as she has to come to terms with what she's done with the game. Twila's whole story that season is just a roller coaster I never want to get off of!
~~~~~
u/Zanthosus:
Twila is one of a kind in the best way possible. I absolutely adore everything about her. She’s one of very few “perfect” characters in the show’s history that I can really point to. There’s no part of her story that leaves me wanting or disappointed. It’s an excellently crafted narrative built around an endlessly intriguing person who is my favorite runner-up in the history of the show. And for me, the thing that really makes her stand out above so many others is the way she’s unabashedly and unapologetically herself the entire time. All too often on Survivor, you see people putting on a mask or an act. And that can be fun in its own right from time to time, but Twila is genuine through and through and she’s all the better for it in my opinion.
Twila’s personality really drives conflict throughout her Survivor journey. We see this early on in the way you’d expect. She’s a hard worker who wants to get everything done right away while most of the rest of her tribe would rather spend the first day or two resting. This isn’t anything groundbreaking. Even at this point in the show, this is pretty standard early game conflict. But it is indicative of the kind of person that Twila is, and it sets a good baseline for how she plans to play the game. That being to her own tune; she’s not playing for anyone but herself. And during these early episodes on Yasur, Twila ends up in many spats with her tribemates. Notable examples are Dolly, Mia, and of course Eliza. These “sorority girls” as she calls them get on her nerves like nothing else. These conflicts are, again, pretty standard Survivor faire. Don’t get me wrong, they’re entertaining. But it’s nothing revolutionary. In fact, that’s how I’d describe the pre-merge of Vanuatu as a whole. Good, but not particularly remarkable in any significant way. But once the merge hits, all hell breaks loose. And this is where Twila really steps into her own and becomes one of the best characters in the history of the show.
After the swap, Twila had gotten a chance to bond with a few of the guys, namely Chris and Sarge. They had bonded fairly deeply on Lopevi and had gotten close. So when the time comes for her to choose a side at Alinta inaugural tribal, she sides with the women and takes out Rory. It’s this decision that sends shockwaves through most of the cast. The men are distraught that the person they thought they could trust just betrayed them. Meanwhile many of the women are surprised that Twila is even still interested in working with them after the time she spent on Lopevi. In fact, aside from Scout and Ami, she shocks everyone with this decision. And it’s this choice that kick starts her journey through the post-merge.
The fallout from the Rory vote is incredibly TV. There’s really no other way to put it. Seeing Twila butting heads with the likes of Chris and Sarge, two people she got so close with before, is incredibly engaging. And it doesn’t bubble over into anger or rage, but rather disappointment. Seeing these two guys express sadness and wishing for what could have been with Twila as part of their numbers is a legitimately interesting thing to see unfold and it helps to add layers to both of these men that we otherwise wouldn’t have gotten the chance to see. And its in these moments that we get a bit of insight as to how Twila sees the game. She’s not letting her emotions get in the way of what she believes that she needs to do in order to make it further. In stark contrast to the older women archetype you’d expect like T-Bird or Trish Hegarty, she’s willing to make the tough decisions if it means she survives another day. Maybe the best comparison would be to Sandra and her “anyone but me” mentality, but even then Twila takes a comparatively much more hands-on and active role during the season.
Because even despite Sarge and her taking a moment to reconnect a bit, and him reiterating that he wants her as part of his and Chris’s final four alliance, Twila sticks to her guns and takes him out, continuing the Pagonging of the men. At this point, Chris has largely given up hope of repairing the bridge that Twila burned, and instead finds himself scrambling, doing whatever he can to just not be the next casualty. Whether that’s winning immunity for himself, or making another player seem like a juicier target. And initially, this isn’t too much of a tall task for him. Chad is a fairly obvious next choice for elimination. But after that, he’s the sitting duck as the final man on the island. He’s a prime candidate for an easy vote. But Twila sees an opportunity there where others don’t. You see, even despite working with the women during the post-merge, she still hasn’t been getting along all that well with either Ami or Eliza. As a result, she’s interested in making sure they’re the next two eliminated. After all, Chris is an easy vote down the line. He can just be taken out at any point that’s convenient. But Ami? She’s dangerous. She has power in the game and has started to catch wind of Twila’s distrust of her. So the solution? Ami needs to be taken down a peg. However instead of actually going all the way and taking out Ami herself, they decide to target her right-hand-woman, Leann. To Chris, this accomplishes the same thing. He’s still in the game. But for Twila, this really doesn’t accomplish what she had hoped it would.
The fallout from the Rory vote was impactful and a wake up call to much of the cast. The fallout from Leann’s elimination though is a whole other beast in and of itself. Immediately, of course, there’s the fight that occurs between Ami and Twila back at camp. But in a more broad perspective, this is showing to both the jury and her tribesmates that she’s not afraid to cut throats and burn bridges if it means getting her way. Her loyalty lasts for as long as it’s convenient for her, and that’s a scary proposition for those sitting beside her and an unflattering look to those on the jury. “You’ve been had. Get over it. Screw you.” is a quote that particularly sticks out to me, both as a hilarious quip out of context, but also in showing how Twila’s character has stayed congruent to how we saw her even at the start of the game. It’s astonishing how brazenly herself she is willing to be, even to the detriment of her own game. Maybe even more unbelievable though is how she fails to see how with every decision and statement like this, her already miniscule chances of winning dwindle more and more. Swearing on her son’s life in particular puts her in the bad graces of everyone once she breaks that promise, and that’s really just the tip of the iceberg.
And I know that this is where many detractors of Twila point to when explaining why she doesn’t work for them. “She’s way too mean-spirited and negative” is one that I hear most often as a point against her. And I do understand where that is coming from. One of my earliest writeups was talking about how Corinne’s ceaseless negativity in Gabon makes her insufferable to me. So I get why that would be a deal breaker in theory. But when it comes to Twila herself, there’s something so authentic about her that players like Corinne never manage to replicate. Twila is making these choices to further her game, and that is in line with not just her established motivations and personality, but it builds upon what we already know about her in ways that we’d otherwise be unlikely to see. Meanwhile with Corinne, it feels like she’s being cruel and nasty for the sake of it in a desperate attempt to get more screen time. So while I understand and can empathize to an extent with those who don’t find Twila to be as amazing a character as I do, I simply can’t agree. Because when all is said and done, Twila’s story is a masterpiece. And the magnum opus is the final five of Vanuatu.
Everything immediately after the Ami elimination is utter chaos. Twila and Eliza are constantly at each other’s throats, with Julie frequently joining Eliza in ridiculing and insulting Twila. Meanwhile, Chris is adamant on keeping the bond between himself, Scout, and Twila strong and steady, as that’s his only real option forward. Even if Eliza would be willing to work with him for one vote to take out Twila, he’s certain she'd immediately flip on him and take him out at four instead. After Eliza wins an important immunity, Chris decides that there’s value in letting chaos continue at camp and opts to vote for Julie, resulting in her elimination.
This final four is so fucking funny when you really think about it. You have Chris, the final guy who, realistically, should have been gone ages ago but has survived due to the women being at each other's' throats at every turn. Then there’s Eliza, the one who is seen as wholly undeserving of having even made it that far. Scout is perhaps the least intriguing of the bunch, though she herself isn’t very respected by most of the cast due to her general hands-off approach and seemingly apathetic attitude towards the game. And then there’s Twila. The one who nobody truly wants to win. Someone who has burned just about every bridge possible because she’s going to play the way she deems necessary. To those sitting on the jury, this is the worst case scenario. And it’s only going to get crazier. Because that beef between Eliza and Twila? It’s not stopping any time soon! The finale may be the crescendo of the rivalry between the two of them, but nothing truly gets resolved. By the end, they still hate each other's' guts, and that bitterness will carry into the FTC.
But before that, Twila has one last bridge to burn. You see, she wins the final immunity challenge and thus has the ability to choose whether she wants to take Scout, her constant ally throughout the game. Even if she couldn’t count on anyone else, she knew that Scout would have her back. Or, she could choose Chris. Someone that, if you asked any of the women, should have already been gone over a week ago. Someone who survived due to his ability to build relationships and keep in peoples’ good graces while Twila actively chose to do the opposite. It’s one of the starkest juxtapositions between two finalists we’ve maybe ever seen. Not just in how they got to the end, but in how their performances at FTC are so starkly different. Twila is still her same blunt self, not caring if what she says hurts feelings. She’s going to tell it as it is, and if you don’t like it, then that’s your problem. But with Chris, he’s willing to tell people exactly what they want to hear. He’ll lie to them and butter them up if it means it gives him a better chance to win. He uses those relationships he built, the very same ones that Twila refused to forge, to defeat her in a 5-2 vote. This FTC is a perfect encapsulation of Twila’s story this season. Vanuatu is a season that I have a lot of love for. The post-merge is damn near perfect, and Twila holds so much responsibility as for why that is. She’s one of few perfect characters, and is well deserving of a spot in endgame.
Well, there it is. My final writeup for Survivor Rankdown VIII. Not gonna lie, I’m kinda burnt out, but this was one hell of a fun ride. And what better way to cap off this incredible experience than one final love letter to one of my favorite characters of all time. Even through all the ups and downs of this rankdown, I had an absolute blast taking part in it. Thank you to everyone who has followed this experience and cheered us on throughout. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Love and cheers to you all!
SMC0629: 2
DryBonesKing: 5
Zanthosus: 7
Tommyroxs45: 4
Regnisyak1: 3
DavidW1208: 3
ninjedi1: 4
Average Placement: 4.000
Total Points: 28
Standard Deviation: 1.633 (Lowest)
2024.06.09 22:12 West-Dragonfly-3824 Weight, Desirability, Loneliness
CW: Mentions of weight gain issues, eating disorders, sexual themes
This has been weighing on my mind for a while now, so I thought this would be the best place to anonymously share my thoughts.
Bridgerton Season 3 – the release has been a huge success, and it’s certainly different from many other romance focused TV shows, especially since the female love interest is plus-size. She is absolutely stunning and has done an excellent job in the role. I’ve seen so many comments, discussions etc. since the release in May rejoicing at finally having an actress who represents a greatly ignored body type when it comes to selecting the main female love interest. How women who are plus-size/overweight/fat etc. (take your pick of word) also deserve to find love, and to be desired. And 100%, we do.
Maybe I am projecting too much, but I began to wonder how much of the positivity is reality? How possible is it for a man to desire me as I am, without changing my body type/size? Is it really possible for me to find someone who will be attracted to/love me for my personality and not just value how someone looks?
I (23F) grew up overweight, and I don’t recall a time I could ever be considered skinny/thin. At times (seldom) I have used food as a source of comfort instead of dealing with my emotions/issues/problems, but what really irks me is that I can eat the smallest amount of carbohydrates and I would gain an enormous amount of weight. My metabolism is slow and since I have PCOS and am prediabetic, this complicated things further. (For context, I’m 155cm and 115kg at present.)
I think my weight is such an ingrained part of my body and self that though I am huge, I kind of ignore it. At the same time however, it seems to underscore my every action or interaction – e.g. feeling like I’m not worthy of something, feeling like I am an embarrassment to be with In public or be friends with, etc. Although I know there's been many movements to make society more accepting (or tolerable?) of those who are overweight, I still feel ostracised when I choose to eat food in public, whether the food may be unhealthy or not, my first meal in ages or not.
My mother keeps reiterating that when I lose the weight all my problems (e.g. low self-esteem or confidence, depression, anxiety, health issues, etc.) will disappear and I’ll feel like a new person. I've tried many diets in the past to no avail - usually because I've lost motivation at how long it takes. I think it's also partly because I keep thinking, if I cannot love myself as I am now, would I even love myself when I do lose the weight?
I started Ozempic recently and I haven’t really changed my diet or exercised more while on it, but I have experienced severe bouts of nausea and a reduced appetite (which feels odd because I know it’s artificial.)
I know deep down this is coming from a place of love and concern; but part of me always wonders if it would be possible for a man to love a woman not just for her figure. She has always insisted that men go for looks above all else, and that’s the way things are. She has made the off comment about how me becoming anorexic would solve my issues, and though I know she was joking, it’s these lines that stick with you for life.
I have had a few online long distance relationships which I don’t really think count because I think I went for them because no one seemed attracted to me IRL, and it was easier to hide behind the comfort of a screen. They seemed to be aroused by parts of me like my voice, body parts etc, but who knows if they were lying just to get off to a random woman on the internet, no matter her looks. Some did tell me they loved me (these were relationships that lasted 0.5-1 year) for who I was, but I just don’t know.
I sometimes wonder why I went through with those situations, because I felt sick and nauseous at the thought of being used for so long afterwards. Maybe I was desperate for some sign to prove to myself that I am desirable?
Maybe it’s just plain as day, and I just need to accept that without losing weight of any kind, I’m essentially undesirable and not worth a man’s sincere attention? (I know a woman’s worth is not based of what a man thinks of her, but it feels good to be desired by someone who truly cares for you.)
Thank you for reading my messy rant all the way, and I hope you are having a good day/night wherever you may be. <3
Please do not PM me with creepy messages or asking to see how I look etc., I really am not in the right headspace for that.
submitted by West-Dragonfly-3824 to lonely [link] [comments]
This has been weighing on my mind for a while now, so I thought this would be the best place to anonymously share my thoughts.
Bridgerton Season 3 – the release has been a huge success, and it’s certainly different from many other romance focused TV shows, especially since the female love interest is plus-size. She is absolutely stunning and has done an excellent job in the role. I’ve seen so many comments, discussions etc. since the release in May rejoicing at finally having an actress who represents a greatly ignored body type when it comes to selecting the main female love interest. How women who are plus-size/overweight/fat etc. (take your pick of word) also deserve to find love, and to be desired. And 100%, we do.
Maybe I am projecting too much, but I began to wonder how much of the positivity is reality? How possible is it for a man to desire me as I am, without changing my body type/size? Is it really possible for me to find someone who will be attracted to/love me for my personality and not just value how someone looks?
I (23F) grew up overweight, and I don’t recall a time I could ever be considered skinny/thin. At times (seldom) I have used food as a source of comfort instead of dealing with my emotions/issues/problems, but what really irks me is that I can eat the smallest amount of carbohydrates and I would gain an enormous amount of weight. My metabolism is slow and since I have PCOS and am prediabetic, this complicated things further. (For context, I’m 155cm and 115kg at present.)
I think my weight is such an ingrained part of my body and self that though I am huge, I kind of ignore it. At the same time however, it seems to underscore my every action or interaction – e.g. feeling like I’m not worthy of something, feeling like I am an embarrassment to be with In public or be friends with, etc. Although I know there's been many movements to make society more accepting (or tolerable?) of those who are overweight, I still feel ostracised when I choose to eat food in public, whether the food may be unhealthy or not, my first meal in ages or not.
My mother keeps reiterating that when I lose the weight all my problems (e.g. low self-esteem or confidence, depression, anxiety, health issues, etc.) will disappear and I’ll feel like a new person. I've tried many diets in the past to no avail - usually because I've lost motivation at how long it takes. I think it's also partly because I keep thinking, if I cannot love myself as I am now, would I even love myself when I do lose the weight?
I started Ozempic recently and I haven’t really changed my diet or exercised more while on it, but I have experienced severe bouts of nausea and a reduced appetite (which feels odd because I know it’s artificial.)
I know deep down this is coming from a place of love and concern; but part of me always wonders if it would be possible for a man to love a woman not just for her figure. She has always insisted that men go for looks above all else, and that’s the way things are. She has made the off comment about how me becoming anorexic would solve my issues, and though I know she was joking, it’s these lines that stick with you for life.
I have had a few online long distance relationships which I don’t really think count because I think I went for them because no one seemed attracted to me IRL, and it was easier to hide behind the comfort of a screen. They seemed to be aroused by parts of me like my voice, body parts etc, but who knows if they were lying just to get off to a random woman on the internet, no matter her looks. Some did tell me they loved me (these were relationships that lasted 0.5-1 year) for who I was, but I just don’t know.
I sometimes wonder why I went through with those situations, because I felt sick and nauseous at the thought of being used for so long afterwards. Maybe I was desperate for some sign to prove to myself that I am desirable?
Maybe it’s just plain as day, and I just need to accept that without losing weight of any kind, I’m essentially undesirable and not worth a man’s sincere attention? (I know a woman’s worth is not based of what a man thinks of her, but it feels good to be desired by someone who truly cares for you.)
Thank you for reading my messy rant all the way, and I hope you are having a good day/night wherever you may be. <3
Please do not PM me with creepy messages or asking to see how I look etc., I really am not in the right headspace for that.
2024.06.09 22:08 kattsumia Need help
I'm not sure where to begin. I'm 35. Female. All my life I felt abnormal and was labeled weird. At 25 (after graduating college, go figure) I was finally diagnosed with ADHD and screened for autism. Never got a complete test for that but the doc said she was 90-something percent sure I had it, but was worried if getting the information on my records was worth it at this point. Might do more harm than good.
I should also state that when I was born I had a subarachnoid hemorrhage. A bad one that required me to be in the hospital for a few weeks. Even then the doctor was worried it would effect me later. But it seems that slipped through the cracks? When I was younger (somewhere between 3-5 grade) a teacher noticed my oddities and suggested I get tested. Apparently I had been. But my mother refused to believe the results. Loathed the very idea of putting me on something like Adderall and such meds and buried it.
There's also a bunch of trauma from when my dad had a head injury and completely changed.
So long story short, I've always been weird, felt out of place, and very insecure eitha lot of trauma dumped on top of that. But I was still able to function somewhat. But after having my second child.... even almost 5 years after, I feel like I can't function at all. Taking care of my self is a struggle. Thankfully I'm able to somehow manage taking care of my children, but I also recognize it's not at the level I wish it were.
It's better at the moment, but for almost 2 years there I hardly moved from the couch. Only to help the kids with something did I move. I was always tired, no matter how much or how little I slept. I felt worthless. And honestly, if not for my children I might have killed myself. I'm not like that now. It's a bit better. But I know for a fact that stuff I used to be able to do without much thought, I simply can't do now or it frustrates me so much I snap. A few times I got super stressed/triggered by them and snapped horrible. So now whenever something upsets me I try and push it down and detach. Breathing exercises in the moment don't work because I simply can't remember them when I'm in the throws of fight/flight.
Worse in all of this is that I'm very self aware of all of this. I know the problem. I see them. I breakdown exactly how I got there and through research know the psychological factors. But then that triggers the imposter syndrome. Is it all just some lame justification for being difficult and lazy?
But this too I recognize as not truth. Who the hell would willingly put themselves in this position? I'm not happy. I'm not comfortable. My life isn't easier if I was an imposter pretending to have all this. Is that not the point of pretending?
So I'm aware of all of this... and yet nothing ever changes. I'm still stuck here.
And getting help? If you know anything at all then you should know the task of finding someone is daunting alone without the issue of insurance (i'm talking about adhd issues here). I loath meeting people. Zooms not better because then I can't read the person's body language, and i'm still overwhelmed with sensory overload issues.
Texting is a little better since I can stop amd think what I want to say... but are there even doctors that work like that? Not to mention so much information then gets lost...
I dont know. And now, after all this I'm second guessing whether I should even do this. What's the point? I know from dealing with my dad's issues that there isn't a cure or any real solution. Most times the go to answer is medication. And while I have that and it sometimes helps, it's hit or miss. And usually I'm suffering from insomnia so I can't even take it.
I'm either ranting or making excuses now. I can't tell...
submitted by kattsumia to AskPsychiatry [link] [comments]
I should also state that when I was born I had a subarachnoid hemorrhage. A bad one that required me to be in the hospital for a few weeks. Even then the doctor was worried it would effect me later. But it seems that slipped through the cracks? When I was younger (somewhere between 3-5 grade) a teacher noticed my oddities and suggested I get tested. Apparently I had been. But my mother refused to believe the results. Loathed the very idea of putting me on something like Adderall and such meds and buried it.
There's also a bunch of trauma from when my dad had a head injury and completely changed.
So long story short, I've always been weird, felt out of place, and very insecure eitha lot of trauma dumped on top of that. But I was still able to function somewhat. But after having my second child.... even almost 5 years after, I feel like I can't function at all. Taking care of my self is a struggle. Thankfully I'm able to somehow manage taking care of my children, but I also recognize it's not at the level I wish it were.
It's better at the moment, but for almost 2 years there I hardly moved from the couch. Only to help the kids with something did I move. I was always tired, no matter how much or how little I slept. I felt worthless. And honestly, if not for my children I might have killed myself. I'm not like that now. It's a bit better. But I know for a fact that stuff I used to be able to do without much thought, I simply can't do now or it frustrates me so much I snap. A few times I got super stressed/triggered by them and snapped horrible. So now whenever something upsets me I try and push it down and detach. Breathing exercises in the moment don't work because I simply can't remember them when I'm in the throws of fight/flight.
Worse in all of this is that I'm very self aware of all of this. I know the problem. I see them. I breakdown exactly how I got there and through research know the psychological factors. But then that triggers the imposter syndrome. Is it all just some lame justification for being difficult and lazy?
But this too I recognize as not truth. Who the hell would willingly put themselves in this position? I'm not happy. I'm not comfortable. My life isn't easier if I was an imposter pretending to have all this. Is that not the point of pretending?
So I'm aware of all of this... and yet nothing ever changes. I'm still stuck here.
And getting help? If you know anything at all then you should know the task of finding someone is daunting alone without the issue of insurance (i'm talking about adhd issues here). I loath meeting people. Zooms not better because then I can't read the person's body language, and i'm still overwhelmed with sensory overload issues.
Texting is a little better since I can stop amd think what I want to say... but are there even doctors that work like that? Not to mention so much information then gets lost...
I dont know. And now, after all this I'm second guessing whether I should even do this. What's the point? I know from dealing with my dad's issues that there isn't a cure or any real solution. Most times the go to answer is medication. And while I have that and it sometimes helps, it's hit or miss. And usually I'm suffering from insomnia so I can't even take it.
I'm either ranting or making excuses now. I can't tell...
2024.06.09 22:05 RemindMeToTouchGrass I finished the Bunker Shooting Range Challenges on console. Help me put together some advice for others trying!
If you bought the gun range for your bunker, you know that there are 18 challenges-- 6 weapons in 3 difficulty tiers. Completing all of these is part of your career achievement (only for next gen consoles maybe? +/- PC?).
When I was looking for information on completing it, I repeatedly saw comments that it was impossible or nearly impossible, and many suggestions for a commonly known exploit. The other main advice is to get good.
I'm here to tell you that even for someone with average to below average aim, you can get it done (without exploits). I did pick up a few bits of helpful information along the way, but I am by no means an expert, so I'm hoping others can either offer additional feedback, or even criticize the advice I give if it doesn't work for you.
ALL WEAPONS
Take note of what weapon you're using. If you have a custom loadout enabled, say to hide your pistol MK2, you won't be able to use hidden weapons for the challenge, so be sure to unhide the ones you want to use. Alternately, if you want to use a different weapon, hide the one it selects... but I don't think you ever want to use a weapon other than the best one, which is what will be selected if all weapons are unhidden.
Remember that if you have an MOC with a Mk 2 workshop inside, it's only a short jog to make changes to your weapon and try different things.
HEAVY SNIPER RIFLE
This one is the most straightforward. Hit all headshots, make sure you have the extended magazine. Don't zoom in too much or it will slow down your aim.
PISTOL
Use the MkII with extended clip. I actually did it with the suppressor but I suspect it would be easier with the compensator.
If you start out aiming for low body shots on the low targets and headshots on the high targets, you can hit the targets twice each before they go away-- but only if you squeeze the trigger twice. If you hold it down, it won't shoot fast enough. I shot each target twice until I got the 3x bonus then swapped to single headshots. (Don't look at the bonus, you'll slow your aim, just note the point values of your shots or count.)
AUTOMATIC WEAPONS
The rest are automatic weapons. Personally I found the SMG, Assault Rifle, and Combat MG to be the easiest challenges (including pistol/sniper), and the Carbine rifle to be the hardest of all.
Be sure you have a muzzle brake for greater stability, an extended clip, and of course all the other things you probably already have on your Mk 2 weapons- grip, barrel, etc.
Don't try to "time" it. Use your ears instead. You'll get into a rhythm based on the sound-- PApaPApaPApaPA(1-2-3-4-5-6-7) instead of "shoot for 1/2 of a second" or "shoot until you see the target move."
You can get in at least 2 more headshots on the upper targets before they go away than you can on the lower targets, depending on which class in this category you're talking about. For example, with the carbine rifle, you can get 5 headshots on the bottom targets, but 7 on the upper targets, before they go away (because of the angle of the target as it moves away from you; if you were going for body shots, you could get an extra couple in on the bottom, but you shouldn't be going for body shots.)
Play with your scope, distance in 3rd person, and zoom (don't forget you can tap the R stick to scope in). You may find your optimal combination is different from mine. I did not think any of these were easier in first person scoped in-- too far zoomed, the flicks are too long. However, on some weapons I opted for a higher zoom level, while in others I put on a lower zoom scope but changed my 3rd person view to be closer to the character model.
For the carbine rifle, I completed the challenge while not scoped in. However, I got multiple 2975 and 2950 scores (out of 3000) while scoped, so you can do it either way, I'm sure.
Prioritize 100% headshots over speed once you have the maximum bonus! The thing that takes away most of your time is switching between targets and reloading, and the targets go away after X number of shots, so there's no reason to be an extra fraction of a second quicker shooting your target in the black. If you're not seeing a string of 45s, you're not going to complete the challenge.
Don't stop shooting because you missed a shot. I would suggest not getting in the habit of backint out and restarting just because of some early misses. Remember, not every miss resets your bonus-- you get a "grace" shot on some of the faster shooting weapons, so just keep aiming for the head.
MATH FOR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS
This is for the Carbine; I can do them for others if it would be helpful, but I figure one example gives you a pretty good idea of your goals.
-If you hit 72 headshots in a row without missing, you'll end up with 3015 points, enough to clear the mission.
-Suppose you lose your multiplier after your 30th shot after getting all headshots until then: You will then need to hit a total of 77 headshots (plus the two missed shots for 79 total) to clear 3000 points.
-If you miss after your 30th and 60th shot, you'll need 82 headshots (plus 4 missed shots for a total of 86)
-Suppose you never reset your multiplier, but 10 of your shots hit the outermost rim of the target (for 3 points instead of 15): now you'll need 75 total shots instead of 72 to clear the level.
You can use this to get an idea of how close you are to being on track, but I think it also drives home the point: accuracy is more important than speed. I can easily get 91-95 shots off with the carbine at 80% accuracy, but I might not even break 1200 points doing that. Most of my attempts fell around 79-82 shots and 95-97% accuracy when I was doing well and closing in on 3000.
TARGET SELECTION AND ACQUISITION
When you get to tier 3, targets will come and go fairly quickly. It's important that once you lock onto your current target, begin deciding on your next target and move your eyes there before you're done shooting your last target. It's also important to track the order of targets that popped up, at least in a general sense. If you're shooting at top targets and bottom targets start popping up, for example, it's essential to know which bottom target popped up first, and will therefore be the first to go away.
You don't have to shoot every target! And you don't have to unload the full amount of shots into every target! To be clear, you normally should be trying to unload a full clip into each target, but let's say you just finished shooting a bottom target, a top one popped up, and by the time you finished shooting the top one, you have 3 more bottom targets. By the time you acquire a bottom target again, there's a good chance you won't have much time to shoot whichever one came up first. It's okay to just ignore that one, and shoot the other two. By then, another target will probably be up anyway.
Any time you're reloading, be sure your crosshair is on the target you want to shoot next before the reload is finished. If you have plenty of targets to shoot at when you reload, you may want to move on to the next target in line if you can. If you take time to reload, then shoot your prior target for the last one or two shots, then immediately have to acquire a new target, that's a lot of wasted time for those one or two shots. And that wasted time can result in a juicy target going away before you can get to it. This is a judgement call of course-- if the next target is crappy anyway (eg front bottom to back top) or there are only one or two targets up, and/or you only shot the target once or twice before reloading, it might be better to finish the one you're on and hope a new, better target pops up by the time you're done.
THE MENTAL ASPECT
One thing to be aware of: RNG is going to come into play here. If you're an aim god, you don't need this guide anyway. If you're like me, even your best won't be good enough unless you get the perfect set of targets.
For example, given that you can hit 7 headshots with the carbine rifle on the upper targets, it's nice to get a lot of uppers in a row... except unlike the bottoms, the front upper targets block headshots to the back upper targets, requiring you to either fire a string of body shots to get the closer target out of the way, or re-aquire a headshot (sometimes only to be blocked once again by a 3rd target.) So getting a front-to-back line of upper targets is a huge boost. Getting two blocked headshots in a row by closer upper targets just means "gg go next." Likewise, the lower targets are closer together and faster to acquire, so getting a bunch of lower targets in a row is also great. Upper and lower alternating? You're kinda screwed.
Even with no change in your accuracy or target acquisition, the random aspects can make an easy 500 point difference and probably more, eg if a target gets blocked, then blocked again, then you finally go to shoot at your first target and it goes away so you shoot the wall instead.
When chasing the 3000 on carbine, I would guesstimate that I scored <1000 points on about 10% of my attempts, <2000 points on about 30-50%, and between 2000-2500 on like 30-40% (at least towards the end when I was really locked in). Getting between 2500 and 3000 was uncommon for me, probably <10% of the time; I did hit some 2975 and 2950s, and a handful of 26xxs, but most were lower.
Or to put it another way: if you're not an aim god, your results are going to fall on a bell curve, and the peak is going to be way below 3000. Don't look at it like "I have to keep closing in on 3000, and if most of my results are 2200-2400 and I'm not consistently climbing, I'll never win." Look at it this way: most of your results won't be good enough to win, and by the nature of reality, you won't be getting your top 5% results every time. What you're looking for is for your best performance (rare) to overlap with the best target RNG (rare). Keep at it, and one of those times, which will probably feel no different than any other time, you'll look at your score and gasp, and see that it hits the goal. I kept trying the carbine tier 3 challenge repeatedly from 11:30pm to 3am before I got it, with small breaks for otter pops and buying more supplies for my bunker.
PROBABLY BULLSHIT ADVICE BUT I'D LOVE FEEDBACK
I felt like the visibility of certain targets was different from different spots on the range. Sometimes the light casts a hard shadow on some targets in some areas but not others, making it harder to see the headshot. I didn't objectively test this, going back and forth and noting specific targets, so it may be in my head.
I played around with night vision (do NOT use thermal lol) and was undecided on whether it helped. It makes the circles no longer red, and they're a little subtleharder to see on the targets that are clear anyway, but it also makes it easier to see the targets in the back. The main reason I went with no vision aids is because the goggles kept glitching out anyway, where they'd suddenly deactivate, and I got tired of resetting them. The specific advantage of NVG was when I was on a certain position on the range, the metal apparatus and the head of the target itself kind of blended together in shadow, and the NVG made that difference crystal clear-- but again, at the cost of making it harder to see the specific red zones. On the other hand, the head is a cricle, and you're shooting the middle of the circle, so how important is the red color really? This is probably down to preference, but this is also where I thought moving to the far left position eliminated the problem of the shadows (if I'm not just accidentally full of shit.)
STUFF I NEED MORE INFO ON
Here are some things I'd love to know if anyone has the info or wants to figure it out:
-What are the rules on when missing shots resets your bonus? You can miss one for example with the carbine rifle... and if you miss the second, it resets. What if you miss one, and hit 3 shots, then miss another? 1/5?
-Why does the multiplier counter keep ticking up even after you hit 3x? Is this related to the missed shots? Once you hit 3x you're maxed out, but the next 4 shots still fill up bits of your multiplier bar. Don't know if this is just a graphic design decision or if it's functional in some way.
-Are the targets that flash truly random? Or are there a few set patterns? Even if no one is going to memorize the pattern, just knowing eg that there's going to be a string of low targets towards the end is helpful, or being able to say "THIS IS THE GOOD ONE!"
-I saw some advice on altering your field of view and your dead zone. I didn't play with this, but it does seem useful. Normally I like to see as much as possible so I can view threats, but for this specific challenge, it's unnecessary, so maybe tweaking it gives an advantage.
CONCLUSION
Thanks for helping! Feel free to also send your favorite links. I didn't watch a lot of video guides (maybe 4 or 5) because I prefer text guides, but it's possible I missed out on some good info as a result.
Good luck out there!
submitted by RemindMeToTouchGrass to gtaonline [link] [comments]
When I was looking for information on completing it, I repeatedly saw comments that it was impossible or nearly impossible, and many suggestions for a commonly known exploit. The other main advice is to get good.
I'm here to tell you that even for someone with average to below average aim, you can get it done (without exploits). I did pick up a few bits of helpful information along the way, but I am by no means an expert, so I'm hoping others can either offer additional feedback, or even criticize the advice I give if it doesn't work for you.
ALL WEAPONS
Take note of what weapon you're using. If you have a custom loadout enabled, say to hide your pistol MK2, you won't be able to use hidden weapons for the challenge, so be sure to unhide the ones you want to use. Alternately, if you want to use a different weapon, hide the one it selects... but I don't think you ever want to use a weapon other than the best one, which is what will be selected if all weapons are unhidden.
Remember that if you have an MOC with a Mk 2 workshop inside, it's only a short jog to make changes to your weapon and try different things.
HEAVY SNIPER RIFLE
This one is the most straightforward. Hit all headshots, make sure you have the extended magazine. Don't zoom in too much or it will slow down your aim.
PISTOL
Use the MkII with extended clip. I actually did it with the suppressor but I suspect it would be easier with the compensator.
If you start out aiming for low body shots on the low targets and headshots on the high targets, you can hit the targets twice each before they go away-- but only if you squeeze the trigger twice. If you hold it down, it won't shoot fast enough. I shot each target twice until I got the 3x bonus then swapped to single headshots. (Don't look at the bonus, you'll slow your aim, just note the point values of your shots or count.)
AUTOMATIC WEAPONS
The rest are automatic weapons. Personally I found the SMG, Assault Rifle, and Combat MG to be the easiest challenges (including pistol/sniper), and the Carbine rifle to be the hardest of all.
Be sure you have a muzzle brake for greater stability, an extended clip, and of course all the other things you probably already have on your Mk 2 weapons- grip, barrel, etc.
Don't try to "time" it. Use your ears instead. You'll get into a rhythm based on the sound-- PApaPApaPApaPA(1-2-3-4-5-6-7) instead of "shoot for 1/2 of a second" or "shoot until you see the target move."
You can get in at least 2 more headshots on the upper targets before they go away than you can on the lower targets, depending on which class in this category you're talking about. For example, with the carbine rifle, you can get 5 headshots on the bottom targets, but 7 on the upper targets, before they go away (because of the angle of the target as it moves away from you; if you were going for body shots, you could get an extra couple in on the bottom, but you shouldn't be going for body shots.)
Play with your scope, distance in 3rd person, and zoom (don't forget you can tap the R stick to scope in). You may find your optimal combination is different from mine. I did not think any of these were easier in first person scoped in-- too far zoomed, the flicks are too long. However, on some weapons I opted for a higher zoom level, while in others I put on a lower zoom scope but changed my 3rd person view to be closer to the character model.
For the carbine rifle, I completed the challenge while not scoped in. However, I got multiple 2975 and 2950 scores (out of 3000) while scoped, so you can do it either way, I'm sure.
Prioritize 100% headshots over speed once you have the maximum bonus! The thing that takes away most of your time is switching between targets and reloading, and the targets go away after X number of shots, so there's no reason to be an extra fraction of a second quicker shooting your target in the black. If you're not seeing a string of 45s, you're not going to complete the challenge.
Don't stop shooting because you missed a shot. I would suggest not getting in the habit of backint out and restarting just because of some early misses. Remember, not every miss resets your bonus-- you get a "grace" shot on some of the faster shooting weapons, so just keep aiming for the head.
MATH FOR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS
This is for the Carbine; I can do them for others if it would be helpful, but I figure one example gives you a pretty good idea of your goals.
-If you hit 72 headshots in a row without missing, you'll end up with 3015 points, enough to clear the mission.
-Suppose you lose your multiplier after your 30th shot after getting all headshots until then: You will then need to hit a total of 77 headshots (plus the two missed shots for 79 total) to clear 3000 points.
-If you miss after your 30th and 60th shot, you'll need 82 headshots (plus 4 missed shots for a total of 86)
-Suppose you never reset your multiplier, but 10 of your shots hit the outermost rim of the target (for 3 points instead of 15): now you'll need 75 total shots instead of 72 to clear the level.
You can use this to get an idea of how close you are to being on track, but I think it also drives home the point: accuracy is more important than speed. I can easily get 91-95 shots off with the carbine at 80% accuracy, but I might not even break 1200 points doing that. Most of my attempts fell around 79-82 shots and 95-97% accuracy when I was doing well and closing in on 3000.
TARGET SELECTION AND ACQUISITION
When you get to tier 3, targets will come and go fairly quickly. It's important that once you lock onto your current target, begin deciding on your next target and move your eyes there before you're done shooting your last target. It's also important to track the order of targets that popped up, at least in a general sense. If you're shooting at top targets and bottom targets start popping up, for example, it's essential to know which bottom target popped up first, and will therefore be the first to go away.
You don't have to shoot every target! And you don't have to unload the full amount of shots into every target! To be clear, you normally should be trying to unload a full clip into each target, but let's say you just finished shooting a bottom target, a top one popped up, and by the time you finished shooting the top one, you have 3 more bottom targets. By the time you acquire a bottom target again, there's a good chance you won't have much time to shoot whichever one came up first. It's okay to just ignore that one, and shoot the other two. By then, another target will probably be up anyway.
Any time you're reloading, be sure your crosshair is on the target you want to shoot next before the reload is finished. If you have plenty of targets to shoot at when you reload, you may want to move on to the next target in line if you can. If you take time to reload, then shoot your prior target for the last one or two shots, then immediately have to acquire a new target, that's a lot of wasted time for those one or two shots. And that wasted time can result in a juicy target going away before you can get to it. This is a judgement call of course-- if the next target is crappy anyway (eg front bottom to back top) or there are only one or two targets up, and/or you only shot the target once or twice before reloading, it might be better to finish the one you're on and hope a new, better target pops up by the time you're done.
THE MENTAL ASPECT
One thing to be aware of: RNG is going to come into play here. If you're an aim god, you don't need this guide anyway. If you're like me, even your best won't be good enough unless you get the perfect set of targets.
For example, given that you can hit 7 headshots with the carbine rifle on the upper targets, it's nice to get a lot of uppers in a row... except unlike the bottoms, the front upper targets block headshots to the back upper targets, requiring you to either fire a string of body shots to get the closer target out of the way, or re-aquire a headshot (sometimes only to be blocked once again by a 3rd target.) So getting a front-to-back line of upper targets is a huge boost. Getting two blocked headshots in a row by closer upper targets just means "gg go next." Likewise, the lower targets are closer together and faster to acquire, so getting a bunch of lower targets in a row is also great. Upper and lower alternating? You're kinda screwed.
Even with no change in your accuracy or target acquisition, the random aspects can make an easy 500 point difference and probably more, eg if a target gets blocked, then blocked again, then you finally go to shoot at your first target and it goes away so you shoot the wall instead.
When chasing the 3000 on carbine, I would guesstimate that I scored <1000 points on about 10% of my attempts, <2000 points on about 30-50%, and between 2000-2500 on like 30-40% (at least towards the end when I was really locked in). Getting between 2500 and 3000 was uncommon for me, probably <10% of the time; I did hit some 2975 and 2950s, and a handful of 26xxs, but most were lower.
Or to put it another way: if you're not an aim god, your results are going to fall on a bell curve, and the peak is going to be way below 3000. Don't look at it like "I have to keep closing in on 3000, and if most of my results are 2200-2400 and I'm not consistently climbing, I'll never win." Look at it this way: most of your results won't be good enough to win, and by the nature of reality, you won't be getting your top 5% results every time. What you're looking for is for your best performance (rare) to overlap with the best target RNG (rare). Keep at it, and one of those times, which will probably feel no different than any other time, you'll look at your score and gasp, and see that it hits the goal. I kept trying the carbine tier 3 challenge repeatedly from 11:30pm to 3am before I got it, with small breaks for otter pops and buying more supplies for my bunker.
PROBABLY BULLSHIT ADVICE BUT I'D LOVE FEEDBACK
I felt like the visibility of certain targets was different from different spots on the range. Sometimes the light casts a hard shadow on some targets in some areas but not others, making it harder to see the headshot. I didn't objectively test this, going back and forth and noting specific targets, so it may be in my head.
I played around with night vision (do NOT use thermal lol) and was undecided on whether it helped. It makes the circles no longer red, and they're a little subtleharder to see on the targets that are clear anyway, but it also makes it easier to see the targets in the back. The main reason I went with no vision aids is because the goggles kept glitching out anyway, where they'd suddenly deactivate, and I got tired of resetting them. The specific advantage of NVG was when I was on a certain position on the range, the metal apparatus and the head of the target itself kind of blended together in shadow, and the NVG made that difference crystal clear-- but again, at the cost of making it harder to see the specific red zones. On the other hand, the head is a cricle, and you're shooting the middle of the circle, so how important is the red color really? This is probably down to preference, but this is also where I thought moving to the far left position eliminated the problem of the shadows (if I'm not just accidentally full of shit.)
STUFF I NEED MORE INFO ON
Here are some things I'd love to know if anyone has the info or wants to figure it out:
-What are the rules on when missing shots resets your bonus? You can miss one for example with the carbine rifle... and if you miss the second, it resets. What if you miss one, and hit 3 shots, then miss another? 1/5?
-Why does the multiplier counter keep ticking up even after you hit 3x? Is this related to the missed shots? Once you hit 3x you're maxed out, but the next 4 shots still fill up bits of your multiplier bar. Don't know if this is just a graphic design decision or if it's functional in some way.
-Are the targets that flash truly random? Or are there a few set patterns? Even if no one is going to memorize the pattern, just knowing eg that there's going to be a string of low targets towards the end is helpful, or being able to say "THIS IS THE GOOD ONE!"
-I saw some advice on altering your field of view and your dead zone. I didn't play with this, but it does seem useful. Normally I like to see as much as possible so I can view threats, but for this specific challenge, it's unnecessary, so maybe tweaking it gives an advantage.
CONCLUSION
Thanks for helping! Feel free to also send your favorite links. I didn't watch a lot of video guides (maybe 4 or 5) because I prefer text guides, but it's possible I missed out on some good info as a result.
Good luck out there!
2024.06.09 21:25 ykprin suggested a car as a graduation gift, should i take the offer??
Now I know the obvious answer would be yes, but as an survivor of an abusive and neglective childhood, im not used to anyone ever caring about me nor giving me a gift. I never ever recieved a gift for anything since my childhood was filled with homelessness, and my parents not providing the basic necessities such as water,food, clean clothes, etc. I've never felt seen and I learned from an early age that it was me against the world since cps didn't help much and I was trapped in hell for 16 years, and still kind of in hell but im 18 now, i buy myself hygiene stuff, clothes, and food. I'm trying my best to get away from anything even connected to my childhood honestly, but thats besides the point
one of my mom "friends" that she uses offered me a car, I been had an idea that she was considering it since she's been asking me about cars since I turned 18. this woman is a good and successful lady, she looks out for homeless people, abused kids, and people in fucked up situations. I want to accept it but i don't want to be my mother, shes using her for granted and for material things and selling the lady a naked lie of her being abused along with us, while in reality it was never that. My dad never held my mom hostage, my mom walked out on me multiple times when were homeless and forced me to be outside begging due to her pride, she never bothered to get a job,and let me go to school without clean clothes, didn't provide a toothbrush even, nor female products which resulted in me being horribly bullied in school. I think its fair to hold her accountable and to not blame everything on my dad since she was a full bodied adult and let 6 kids grow up traumatized because she chose my dads military benefits over us, which she has now since he's deceased, so ig it all played out how she wanted it too.
enough with the rambling though, im scared to accept because no one has ever cared for me.. not even my own parents, and i don't want to use this lady sweet heart like my mother is since she knows the lady is romantically interested in her. This lady sends 15-20 bags of grocceries randomly every month, takes us out on weekends, plans trips, and gives money and I just feel so bad for her because behind closed doors my mom says shes not interested in her, and says stuff like "i'll get so and so to pay it or pay to fix it" And she knows this lady just came out of a similar situation 10 years ago when she was dating a woman and taking care of her kids for a good 10 years just to find out shes being used! and here goes my mom doing the same thing but she denys it
my question is should i accept it?? I'm not used to this at all, i buy everything for myself. I bought all my graduation stuff myself too even, no one looks out for me and for a woman who i havent known for a year to do this for me is wild to me. I must say though, she has bought me clothes behind closed doors because she said she knew i didnt have a lot of clothes when i was 17 along with shoes, and honestly it scares me because my mom never did none of this for me...
submitted by ykprin to Advice [link] [comments]
one of my mom "friends" that she uses offered me a car, I been had an idea that she was considering it since she's been asking me about cars since I turned 18. this woman is a good and successful lady, she looks out for homeless people, abused kids, and people in fucked up situations. I want to accept it but i don't want to be my mother, shes using her for granted and for material things and selling the lady a naked lie of her being abused along with us, while in reality it was never that. My dad never held my mom hostage, my mom walked out on me multiple times when were homeless and forced me to be outside begging due to her pride, she never bothered to get a job,and let me go to school without clean clothes, didn't provide a toothbrush even, nor female products which resulted in me being horribly bullied in school. I think its fair to hold her accountable and to not blame everything on my dad since she was a full bodied adult and let 6 kids grow up traumatized because she chose my dads military benefits over us, which she has now since he's deceased, so ig it all played out how she wanted it too.
enough with the rambling though, im scared to accept because no one has ever cared for me.. not even my own parents, and i don't want to use this lady sweet heart like my mother is since she knows the lady is romantically interested in her. This lady sends 15-20 bags of grocceries randomly every month, takes us out on weekends, plans trips, and gives money and I just feel so bad for her because behind closed doors my mom says shes not interested in her, and says stuff like "i'll get so and so to pay it or pay to fix it" And she knows this lady just came out of a similar situation 10 years ago when she was dating a woman and taking care of her kids for a good 10 years just to find out shes being used! and here goes my mom doing the same thing but she denys it
my question is should i accept it?? I'm not used to this at all, i buy everything for myself. I bought all my graduation stuff myself too even, no one looks out for me and for a woman who i havent known for a year to do this for me is wild to me. I must say though, she has bought me clothes behind closed doors because she said she knew i didnt have a lot of clothes when i was 17 along with shoes, and honestly it scares me because my mom never did none of this for me...
2024.06.09 21:25 UnhappyEmu8547 AITA for telling him I don’t want to be responsible for making him feel better?
Husband (38M) and I (33F) are celebrating our ten year anniversary in Italy. Traveling is our thing and we try to take at least one overseas trip a year. The only issue is that my immune system sucks and something usually comes up on these trips. Once it was seasonal allergies that got really bad. Once it was an extremely painful UTI. Nothing that a quick pharmacy trip can’t fix, but it still happens almost every time. I eat extremely healthy, stay active, and do everything I can to keep my body at its peak. I also pack a little first aid kit of things I might need on the trip so that I can fix anything quickly.
This trip I’m the sickest I’ve been in YEARS. Before the flight was even done I was vomiting everything up including water. That stopped but I was still nauseous. I took tablets to help with the nausea and it helped a little but I still felt too sick to eat. After a few days the nausea went away but swapped out for a chest cough. I took DayQuil and that mostly helped. Now that the cough has faded the nausea is coming back (no vomiting though).
In the past my husband has told me that my inability to stay healthy ruins trips for him. He expresses how inconvenient it is when I get sick at home but he gets extra upset when it’s during a trip. I’ve developed contamination OCD as a result of his constant judgment of my immune system. When traveling, I always encourage him to go out and enjoy the city and do planned events even if I can’t but he tells me it’s not fun on his own. This would be sweet if he wasn’t so vocal about how I’m ruining vacations for him.
Italy is his dream trip. I tried to keep up so he could have fun. I tried soooo hard. I tried not to talk about how sick I felt because he would get all quiet and distant if I did. I tried to make sure we went to all the museums and restaurants had planned even if I couldn’t eat anything. But today I finally told him I needed to sit in the hotel room and rest.
As expected, he got quiet and distant. He assured me that he’s not mad at me for being sick, but he’s still sad that he can’t enjoy his vacation because he’s too worried about my wellbeing. I asked if he could please order us room service since he didn’t want to go out to the city for his meal and he said he can’t, he has social anxiety. He has literally never said this in the 12 years we’ve known each other. He moped silently on his phone while I ordered us food.
I told him that it sucks that he gets all distant and visibly upset when I’m sick and when I finally ask for help he tells me no. I feel like I have to put my own health on hold to take care of his emotions first. He told me I was mean for saying I didn’t want to take care of his emotions and he’s allowed to be sad.
AITA for feeling like at the very least I shouldn’t have to make him feel better about me being sick?
submitted by UnhappyEmu8547 to AmItheAsshole [link] [comments]
This trip I’m the sickest I’ve been in YEARS. Before the flight was even done I was vomiting everything up including water. That stopped but I was still nauseous. I took tablets to help with the nausea and it helped a little but I still felt too sick to eat. After a few days the nausea went away but swapped out for a chest cough. I took DayQuil and that mostly helped. Now that the cough has faded the nausea is coming back (no vomiting though).
In the past my husband has told me that my inability to stay healthy ruins trips for him. He expresses how inconvenient it is when I get sick at home but he gets extra upset when it’s during a trip. I’ve developed contamination OCD as a result of his constant judgment of my immune system. When traveling, I always encourage him to go out and enjoy the city and do planned events even if I can’t but he tells me it’s not fun on his own. This would be sweet if he wasn’t so vocal about how I’m ruining vacations for him.
Italy is his dream trip. I tried to keep up so he could have fun. I tried soooo hard. I tried not to talk about how sick I felt because he would get all quiet and distant if I did. I tried to make sure we went to all the museums and restaurants had planned even if I couldn’t eat anything. But today I finally told him I needed to sit in the hotel room and rest.
As expected, he got quiet and distant. He assured me that he’s not mad at me for being sick, but he’s still sad that he can’t enjoy his vacation because he’s too worried about my wellbeing. I asked if he could please order us room service since he didn’t want to go out to the city for his meal and he said he can’t, he has social anxiety. He has literally never said this in the 12 years we’ve known each other. He moped silently on his phone while I ordered us food.
I told him that it sucks that he gets all distant and visibly upset when I’m sick and when I finally ask for help he tells me no. I feel like I have to put my own health on hold to take care of his emotions first. He told me I was mean for saying I didn’t want to take care of his emotions and he’s allowed to be sad.
AITA for feeling like at the very least I shouldn’t have to make him feel better about me being sick?
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Elemental [2023] (MA + 150 points)
Hannibal season 1 [2013] (Vudu)
How To Train Your Dragon 3-Movie Collection (MA)
Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The [1996] (MA + 150 points)
Hunchback Of Notre Dame 2, The [2002] (MA + 150 points)
Lady & The Tramp II: Scamps Adventure [2001] (MA + 150 points)
Mickey's Christmas Carol [1983] (MA + 150 points)
Mr. Popper's Penguins (MA or Google Play/ports)
Robots [2005] (MA, iTunes or Google Play/ports)
Succession season 1 (iTunes)
Veep season 5 (iTunes)
Veep season 6 (iTunes) or both for $8
Warriors, The [1979] (Vudu or iTunes)
🦝
$4 HD
Creator, The [2023] (MA + 150 points)Day After Tomorrow, The [2004] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Hitman [2007] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Iron Claw, The [2023] (Vudu)
Justice League x RWBY: Superheroes & Huntsmen Part One [2023] (MA)
Locke [A24] (Vudu)
Marlowe [2023] (MA)
Monsters vs. Aliens [2009] (MA)
Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie (Vudu HD or iTunes 4K)
Rosemary's Baby [1968] (Vudu HD or iTunes 4K)
Wish [2023] (MA + 150 points)
Wonka [2023] (MA)
🦝
$3️⃣ Codes
$3 4K UHD
Aladdin [2019] (iTunes/ports + 150 points)Alien [1979] (iTunes/ports)
Angel Has Fallen (Vudu or iTunes)
Assassin's Creed [2016] (MA)
Back To The Future Part II [1989] (iTunes/ports)
Back To The Future Part III [1990] (iTunes/ports)
Big Hero 6 (iTunes/ports + 150 points)
Bourne Identity, The [2002] (iTunes/ports)
Bourne Ultimatum, The (iTunes/ports)
Cinderella [2015] (iTunes/ports + 150 points)
Dracula Untold (MA)
Dredd (Vudu)
Fantastic Four [2015] (iTunes/ports)
Fast & The Furious, The [2001] (MA)
Frozen II [2019] (iTunes/ports + 150 points)
Gemini Man (Vudu)
Guardians Of The Galaxy [2014] (iTunes/ports + 150 points)
Hacksaw Ridge (Vudu)
Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, The [2021] (Vudu or iTunes)
Interstellar (iTunes)
John Wick (Vudu)
John Wick: Chapter 2 (Vudu)
Jurassic Park [1993] (iTunes/ports)
Jurassic Park III [2001] (MA)
Keeping Up With The Joneses (iTunes/ports)
Little Mermaid, The [1989] (iTunes/ports + 150 points)
Logan Lucky [2017] (iTunes/ports)
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Vudu)
Moana (iTunes/ports + 150 points)
mother! [2017] (iTunes)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (iTunes)
Prometheus (iTunes/ports)
Rango [2011] (iTunes)
Revenant, The [2016] (iTunes/ports)
Sicario (Vudu)
Snitch (Vudu)
Spiral: From The Book Of Saw (Vudu or iTunes)
Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker (iTunes/ports + 150 points)
Thor: The Dark World (iTunes/ports + 150 points)
Toll, The [2021] (Vudu, iTunes or Google Play)
Top Gun (iTunes)
Wolf Of Wall Street, The (Vudu)
🦝
$3 HD
101 Dalmatians [1961] (MA + 150 points)Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel [2009] (MA)
Angry Birds Movie 2, The [2019] (MA + Sony points)
BFG, The [2016] (MA + 150 points)
Birdman [2014] (MA, iTunes or Google Play/ports)
Birth Of The Dragon [2017] (MA)
Black Adam [2022] (MA)
Breaking Bad season 6 (Vudu)
Cats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite (MA)
Chronicle [2012] (MA)
Color Purple, The [2023] (MA)
Desperation Road [2023] (Vudu HD or iTunes 4K)
Disneynature: Bears [2014] (MA + 150 points)
Friday The 13th, The [1980] [Theatrical] (Vudu HD or iTunes 4K)
Fruitvale Station (Vudu)
Ghostbusters II [1989] (MA + Sony points)
Goosebumps 2 [2018] (MA + Sony points)
Grown Ups 2 (MA + Sony points)
I Am Vengeance: Retaliation [2020] (Vudu or iTunes)
Insidious: Chapter 3 (MA + Sony points)
I, Tonya [2017] (MA)
Line Of Duty [2019] (Vudu, iTunes or Google Play)
Little House On The Prairie season 5 (Vudu)
London Has Fallen (iTunes/ports)
Lone Ranger, The [2013] (MA + 150 points)
Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match (MA)
Northman, The [2022] (MA)
Orange Is The New Black season 1 (Vudu)
Phoenix Forgotten (MA, iTunes or Google Play/ports)
Planes: Fire & Rescue [2014] (MA + 150 points)
Project Ithaca [2019] (Vudu or Google Play)
Promised Land [2012] (iTunes/ports)
Promising Young Woman [2020] (MA)
Rambo III [1988] (Vudu/GP HD or iTunes 4K)
Ray [2004] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Rocky Horror Picture Show, The [1975] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Searching [2018] (MA + Sony points)
Sin City (Vudu)
Slender Man [2018] (MA + Sony points)
Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs [1937] (MA + 150 points)
Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse (MA + Sony points)
Stoker [2013] (MA)
Stuber [2019] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Superfly [2018] (MA + Sony points)
Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail (Vudu or Google Play)
Venture Bros: Radiant Is The Blood Of The Baboon Heart [2023] (MA)
Walking Dead season 9, The (Vudu or Google Play)
White Boy Rick [2018] (MA + Sony points)
Wolverine, The [2013] [Unleashed Extended Edition] (MA, iTunes or Google Play/ports)
World's End, The [2013] (iTunes/ports)
Yesterday [2019] (MA)
Zombieland: Double Tap [2019] (MA + Sony points)
🦝
$2 Codes
💲2️⃣ HD
12 Years A Slave (MA or Google Play/ports)13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi (iTunes 4K)
1917 [2019] (MA)
21 Jump Street (MA + Sony points)
2 Guns (iTunes/ports 4K)
31 [2016] (Vudu)
About Last Night [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (MA)
Action Point [2018] (Vudu)
After Earth [2013] (MA + Sony points)
Age Of Adaline, The (Vudu, iTunes or Google Play)
Alien Covenant (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA/GP)
All Eyez On Me [2017] (iTunes)
Allied [2016] (iTunes 4K or Vudu HD)
Aloha [2015] (MA + Sony points)
Alpha [2018] (MA + Sony points)
Alpha & Omega 2: A Howl-lday Adventure (Vudu)
Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Road Chip (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Amazing Spider-Man, The [2012] (MA)
America: Imagine The World Without Her (Vudu)
American Assassin [2017] (iTunes 4K or Vudu/GP HD)
American Girl: McKenna Shoots For The Stars [2012] (MA or iTunes/ports)
American Hustle [2013] (MA + Sony points)
American Reunion [Unrated] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (Vudu or iTunes)
Annie [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Ant Man & The Wasp [2018] (MA + 150 points/no iTunes option)
Arrival [2016] (Vudu)
Assassin's Creed (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Avengers: Infinity War (MA + 150 points/no iTunes option)
Bad Boys For Life (MA + Sony points)
Bad Words [2014] (iTunes/ports)
Barbie & The Secret Door [2014] (iTunes/ports)
Battleship [2012] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Baywatch (iTunes 4K)
Beauty & The Beast [1991] (MA + 150 points/no iTunes option)
Beauty & The Beast [2017] (MA + 150 points/iTunes option is expired)
Before I Fall [2017] (MA)
Before I Go To Sleep [2014] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Beirut [2018] (MA)
Ben-Hur [2016] (Vudu)
Best Man Holiday, The [2013] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Between Worlds [2018] (Vudu or Google Play)
Black Panther [2018] (MA + 150 points/no iTunes option)
Blockers [2018] (MA)
Bohemian Rhapsody (MA or Google Play/ports)
Book Club [2018] (iTunes 4K)
Boss Baby, The [2017] (MA)
Bourne Identity, The (MA)
Bourne Legacy, The (iTunes/ports 4K)
Boy, The [2016] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Breakthrough [2019] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Bridesmaids [Theatrical] (iTunes/ports)
Broken City [2013] (MA)
Bumblebee (iTunes 4K or Vudu HD)
Cabin In The Woods, The (iTunes 4K)
Captain America: Civil War (MA + 150 points/no iTunes option)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (MA + 150 points/no iTunes option)
Captain Phillips [2013] (MA + Sony points)
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (MA)
Carrie [2013] (Vudu or Google Play)
Case For Christ, The [2017] (MA)
Christopher Robin [2018] (MA + 150 points/no iTunes option)
Contraband (iTunes/ports)
Counselor, The [2013] [Theatrical] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Croods, The [2013] (MA)
Curse Of Chucky [2013] [Unrated] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Daddy's Home (Vudu)
Daddy's Home 2 (Vudu)
Danny Collins (iTunes/ports)
Darkest Hour [2017] (MA)
Darkest Minds, The [2018] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Dark Tower, The [2017] (MA + Sony points)
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Dead In Tombstone [Unrated] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Deadpool 2 [2018] (MA)
Deepwater Horizon (iTunes 4K)
Despicable Me 2 (iTunes/ports 4K)
Despicable Me 3 [2017] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Devil's Due [2014] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Die Hard [1988] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Divergent Series: Allegiant, The (iTunes 4K or Google Play HD)
Django Unchained (Vudu)
Doctor Strange [2016] (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA + 150 points)
Dog's Journey, A [2019] (MA)
Dolittle [2020] (MA)
Dom Hemingway (MA or Google Play/ports)
Downton Abbey [2019] (MA)
Dracula Untold [2014] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Dream House [2011] (iTunes/ports)
Dredd [2012] (Vudu or Google Play)
Duff, The (iTunes or Google Play)
Edward Scissorhands (MA or Google Play/ports)
Emoji Movie, The [2017] (MA + Sony points)
Ender's Game (iTunes 4K or Vudu/GP HD)
Endless Love [2014] (iTunes/ports)
Epic [2013] (MA, iTunes or Google Play/ports)
Equalizer, The [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Equalizer 2, The (MA + Sony points)
Escape From Planet Earth (Vudu)
Ex Machina (Vudu)
Exodus: Gods & Kings (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Fate Of The Furious [F8] [Theatrical] (MA 4K or iTunes/ports 4K)
Fences [2016] (iTunes 4K)
Ferdinand [2017] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Fifty Shades Darker [2017] [Unrated] (MA 4K)
Fifty Shades Freed [2018] [Theatrical] (MA)
Fifty Shades Of Grey (iTunes/ports 4K)
Fighter, The [2010] (iTunes)
Flight [2012] (Vudu or iTunes)
Footloose [2011] (Vudu or iTunes)
Frozen Ground, The [2013] (Vudu)
Fury [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Game Of Thrones season 2 (Vudu)
Get Out [2017] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Ghostbusters [2016] [Theatrical & Extended] (MA + Sony points)
Ghost Team One [2013] (Vudu or iTunes)
Gifted [2017] (MA or Google Play/ports, iTunes option is expired)
G.I. Joe: Retaliation (iTunes 4K)
Gods Not Dead 2 [2016] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Gods Of Egypt (Vudu/GP HD or iTunes 4K)
Greatest Showman, The [2017] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Grey, The [2012] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.2 (MA + 150 points/no iTunes option)
Hacksaw Ridge (Vudu or Google Play/iTunes option expired)
Hail, Caesar [2016] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Halloween [2018] (MA)
Hanna [2011] (iTunes/ports)
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters [Unrated] (Vudu)
Happytime Murders, The [2018] (iTunes 4K)
Hateful Eight, The (Vudu or Google Play)
Heat, The [2013] [Theatrical] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Heaven Is For Real [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Hell Or High Water (iTunes 4K)
Hercules [2014] (iTunes 4K or Vudu HD)
Here Comes The Boom [2012] (MA + Sony points)
Hitman's Bodyguard, The (Vudu or Google Play/iTunes option is expired)
Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (MA, iTunes or Google Play/ports)
Homefront [2013] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Honey 2 [2011] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Hop [2011] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Host, The [2013] (iTunes/ports)
How To Train Your Dragon 2 (MA)
Hugo [2011] (Vudu or iTunes)
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, The (iTunes 4K or Google Play HD)
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, The (iTunes 4K or Vudu or Google Play HD)
I Can Only Imagine [2018] (Vudu, iTunes or Google Play)
Ides Of March, The [2011] (MA)
Imitation Game, The (Vudu)
Impossible, The [2012] (Vudu)
Indiana Jones & The Raiders Of The Lost Ark (Vudu)
Inside Out [2015] (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA + 150 points)
Insidious: Chapter 2 (MA + Sony points)
Instant Family [2018] (iTunes 4K)
Internship, The [2013] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Into The Woods [2014] (MA + 150 points)
Invisible Man, The [2020] (MA)
I Still Believe [2020] (iTunes 4K or Vudu/GP HD)
Jackass 3 [Theatrical] (Vudu or iTunes)
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (Vudu)
Jarhead 2: Field Of Fire [Unrated] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Jason Bourne [2016] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Jigsaw [2017] (iTunes 4K or Vudu/GP HD)
John Wick (iTunes 4K)
John Wick 1 & 2 (Vudu or Google Play)
John Wick: Chapter 2 (iTunes 4K)
John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum (iTunes 4K) or all 3 iTunes for $5
Joy [2015] (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (MA + Sony points)
Jurassic Park III (MA)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (MA)
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Kingsman: The Secret Service (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Labor Day [2014] (Vudu or iTunes)
La La Land (iTunes 4K)
Last Knights [2015] (Vudu)
Last Witch Hunter, The [2015] (iTunes 4K or Google Play)
Les Misérables [2012] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Life [2017] (MA + Sony points)
Life Of Pi [2013] (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Lockout [2012] [Unrated] (MA + Sony points)
Logan [2017] (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Logan Lucky [2017] (MA)
Longest Ride, The (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Looper [2012] (MA + Sony points)
Lorax, The [2012] (MA)
Love, Simon [2018] (MA)
Lucy [2014] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Magnificent Seven, The [2016] (Vudu)
Mama [2013] (iTunes/ports)
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again [2018] (MA)
Marauders (Vudu)
Marine 4: Moving Target, The [2015] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Maze Runner, The [2014] (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Mechanic: Resurrection (Vudu/GP HD or iTunes 4K)
Men In Black 3 (MA + Sony points)
MI-5 [2015] (Vudu)
Mile 22 (iTunes 4K)
Million Ways To Die In The West, A [Unrated] (iTunes/ports)
Mindgamers [2017] (MA)
Minions [2015] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Mission Impossible: Fallout (iTunes 4K)
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (iTunes 4K)
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (iTunes 4K)
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Miss You Already [2015] (Vudu)
Moneyball [2011] (MA + Sony points)
Money Monster [2016] (MA + Sony points)
Monuments Men, The [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Mortal Instruments: The City Of Bones, The [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Mother's Day [2016] (MA)
Mr. Peabody & Sherman [2014] (MA)
Mulan [2020] (MA + 150 points)
Mummy, The [2017] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Murder On The Orient Express [2017] (MA or Google Play/ports)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (iTunes/ports)
Neighbors [2014] (iTunes/ports)
Noah [2014] (Vudu or iTunes)
Non-Stop [2014] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Now You See Me 2 (iTunes 4K or Google Play HD)
Nurse Jackie season 7 (Vudu)
Nut Job, The [2014] (iTunes/ports)
Oblivion [2013] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Orange Is The New Black season 2 (Vudu)
Oranges, The [2012] (MA)
Ouija [2014] (MA)
Pain & Gain [2013] (Vudu)
Paranormal Activity [2009] [Theatrical] (Vudu or iTunes)
Paranormal Activity 2 [Unrated Director's Cut] (Vudu or iTunes)
Paranormal Activity 3 [Extended] (Vudu or iTunes)
Paranormal Activity 4 [Unrated] (iTunes)
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension [Unrated] (Vudu)
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones [Theatrical] (Vudu or iTunes)
Paranorman [2012] (iTunes)
Passengers [2016] (MA + Sony points)
Patriots Day (Vudu or Google Play/iTunes option is expired)
Paul [2011] [Unrated] (iTunes/ports)
Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters (MA, iTunes or Google Play/ports)
Pet Sematary [2019] (iTunes 4K or Vudu HD)
Pitch Perfect (iTunes/ports 4K)
Pitch Perfect 2 (iTunes/ports 4K)
Pitch Perfect 3 (MA)
Planes [2013] (MA + 150 points)
Premium Rush [2012] (MA + Sony points)
Prince, The [2014] (Vudu)
Prometheus (MA or Google Play/ports, no iTunes option)
Proud Mary [2018] (MA)
Purge, The [2013] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Purge: Anarchy, The [2014] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Purge: Election Year, The [2016] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Quiet Place, A [2018] (iTunes 4K)
Ralph Breaks The Internet [2018] (MA + 150 points/no iTunes option)
Rambo: Last Blood (Vudu 4K or iTunes 4K)
Redemption [2013] (Vudu)
Red Dawn [2012] (Vudu or Google Play)
Replicas [2019] (Vudu/GP HD or iTunes 4K)
Riddick [2013] [Unrated] (iTunes/ports)
Rings [2017] (Vudu or iTunes)
Risen [2016] (MA + Sony points)
Rise Of The Guardians [2011] (MA)
Risen [2016] (MA + Sony points)
Robin Hood [2018] (iTunes 4K or Vudu/GP HD)
Rock Dog (iTunes)
Rocketman [2019] (iTunes 4K)
Roger Corman's Death Race 2050 [2017] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Runner Runner [2013] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Rush [2013] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Saban's Power Rangers (iTunes 4K or Vudu/GP HD)
Safe House [2012] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Scoob! [2020] (MA)
Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption (iTunes/ports)
Scrooged (Vudu)
Search Party [2013] (iTunes/ports)
Secret: Dare To Dream, The [2020] (Vudu, iTunes or Google Play)
Secret Life Of Pets, The (MA 4K or iTunes/ports 4K)
See No Evil 2 [2014] (Vudu)
Sex Tape [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Show Dogs [2018] (MA)
Sicario (iTunes 4K)
Silent House [2012] (iTunes/ports)
Sing [2016] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Sinister (Vudu, iTunes or Google Play)
Skyscraper [2018] (MA)
Smurfs: The Lost Village [2017] (MA + Sony points)
Snow White & The Huntsman [2012] [Extended] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Sparkle [2012] (MA)
Spider-Man: Homecoming [2017] (MA + Sony points)
Spy [2015] [Unrated] (MA, iTunes or Google Play/ports)
Star Trek [2009] (iTunes 4K)
Star Trek: Beyond (iTunes 4K)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA + 150 points)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi [2017] (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA + 150 points)
Step Up All In [2014] (Vudu)
Step Up Revolution (Vudu or Google Play)
Straight Outta Compton [Unrated] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Super 8 (Vudu)
Super Buddies (MA without points)
Taken 3 [Unrated] (MA, iTunes or Google Play/ports)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows (iTunes 4K)
Terminator: Genisys (iTunes 4K)
Texas Chainsaw [2013] (Vudu)
Thing, The [2011] (iTunes/ports)
Think Like A Man Too [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Titanic (Vudu)
Top Gun (Vudu)
Tower Heist [Theatrical] (iTunes/ports)
Tremors: A Cold Day In Hell (MA)
Tremors: Shrieker Island (MA)
Trolls: World Tour [2020] (MA)
True Grit [2010] (Vudu or iTunes)
Turbo [2013] (MA)
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (iTunes 4K)
Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral (Vudu, iTunes or Google Play)
Underworld: Awakening [2012] (MA + Sony points)
Underworld: Blood Wars [2016] (MA + Sony points)
Valerian & The City Of A Thousand Planets (Vudu)
Venom [2018] (MA + Sony points)
Vice [2015] (Vudu)
Walk Among The Tombstones, A (iTunes/ports)
Warcraft [2016] (iTunes/ports 4K)
War For The Planet Of The Apes [2017] (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
War Room [2015] (MA + Sony points)
Wedding Ringer, The [2015] (MA + Sony points)
We Die Young [2019] (Vudu, iTunes or Google Play)
When The Game Stands Tall [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Whiplash [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Wolf Of Wall Street (iTunes 4K)
Woman In Black, The [2012] (MA)
Wonder [2017] (Vudu/GP HD or iTunes 4K)
Wonder Park [2019] (iTunes 4K or Vudu HD)
Woodlawn [2015] (MA)
World War Z (iTunes 4K)
X-Men: Apocalypse (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
X-Men: Days Of Future Past (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA)
Zero Dark Thirty (MA + Sony points)
Zootopia (MA without points)
🦝
💲2️⃣ SD
127 Hours (iTunes/ports)All About Steve (iTunes/ports)
Black Swan (iTunes/ports)
Bride Wars (iTunes/ports)
Crazy On The Outside (iTunes/ports)
Dragonball: Evolution [2009] (iTunes/ports)
Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who! (ITunes/ports)
Hitman [2007] [Unrated] (iTunes/ports)
Love & Other Drugs (iTunes/ports)
Max Payne [2008] [Unrated] (iTunes/ports)
Texas Rising season 1 (Vudu)
This Means War (iTunes/ports)
Unstoppable [2010] (iTunes/ports)
🦝
$1 Codes
💲1️⃣ HD
2 Guns (MA)Alex Cross (Vudu)
Bad Moms [2016] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Battleship [2012] (MA)
Big Hero 6 (Google Play/ports)
Book Club (Vudu)
Butler, The [2013] (Vudu)
Deadpool (iTunes/ports 4K or HD MA/GP)
Despicable Me 2 (MA)
Despicable Me 3 (MA)
Divergent (iTunes 4K or Vudu/GP HD)
Divergent Series: Insurgent, The (iTunes 4K or Vudu HD)
Duff, The [2015] (Vudu)
Expendables 2, The (iTunes 4K or Vudu/GP HD)
Expendables 3, The [Theatrical] (iTunes 4K or Google Play HD)
Fast & Furious [2009] (MA)
Fast & Furious 6, The [Extended] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Fast Five [Extended] (MA)
Fate Of The Furious, The [8] [Theatrical] (MA)
Fences [2016] (Vudu)
Frozen [2013] (MA + 150 points/no iTunes option)
Furious 7 [Extended] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Girls Trip [2017] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Good Day To Die Hard, A (MA or Google Play/ports)
Gunman, The [2015] (MA)
Hell Or High Water (Vudu or Google Play)
Hillsong: Let Hope Rise [2016] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Hunger Games, The [2012] (iTunes 4K or Google Play HD)
Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The (iTunes 4K or Google Play HD)
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, The (Vudu)
I, Frankenstein (Vudu, iTunes or Google Play)
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Vudu)
Jason Bourne (MA)
Jurassic Park [1993] (MA)
Jurassic World (iTunes/ports 4K)
Leprechaun: Origins (Vudu)
Les Misérables [2012] (MA)
Lone Survivor [2013] (iTunes/ports 4K)
Lost World: Jurassic Park, The (MA)
Maggie [2015] (Vudu)
Minions [2015] (MA)
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (Vudu)
Mud (Vudu)
Now You See Me [Extended] (Vudu or Google Play) or [Theatrical] (iTunes)
Other Woman, The [2014] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Parental Guidance [2012] (MA)
Red 2 (iTunes 4K)
Ride Along 2 (MA or iTunes/ports)
RIPD Rest In Peace Department (MA)
Safe [2012] (Vudu, iTunes or Google Play)
Secret Life Of Pets, The (MA)
Shack, The [2017] (Vudu, iTunes or Google Play)
Skyfall (Vudu or Google Play)
Snitch (iTunes 4K or Vudu/Google Play HD)
Son Of God [2014] (MA or Google Play/ports)
Star Trek: Beyond (Vudu)
Star Trek: Into Darkness (iTunes 4K)
Taken 2 (MA)
Ted [Unrated] (MA or iTunes/ports) or [Theatrical] (iTunes/ports)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014] (Vudu)
Terminator: Genisys (Vudu)
Transformers: Age Of Extinction (iTunes 4K)
Transformers: The Last Knight (iTunes 4K or Vudu HD)
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (iTunes 4K)
Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection (iTunes)
Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions Of A Marriage Counselor (Vudu or Google Play)
Unbroken [2014] (MA or iTunes/ports)
Warm Bodies (Vudu)
XXX: Return Of Xander Cage (Vudu)
Zootopia (Google Play/ports)
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💲1️⃣ SD
22 Jump Street (MA + Sony points)Act Of Valor (iTunes)
After Earth [2013] (MA + Sony points)
Alpha [2018] (MA + Sony points)
Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (iTunes/ports)
Amazing Spider-Man, The [2012] (MA)
Amazing Spider-Man 2, The [2014] (MA + Sony points)
American Hustle [2013] (MA + Sony points)
Arthur Christmas [2011] (MA + Sony points)
A-Team, The [2010] [Theatrical] (iTunes/ports)
Blood Father [2016] (Vudu)
Bourne Identity, The (MA or iTunes/ports)
Call, The [2013] (MA + Sony points)
Call Me By Your Name [2017] (MA + Sony points)
Captain Phillips (MA + Sony points)
Chappie [2015] (MA + Sony points)
Charlie's Angels [2019] (MA + Sony points)
Date Night [2010] [Extended Edition] (iTunes/ports)
Day The Earth Stood Still, The [2008] (iTunes/ports)
Deliver Us From Evil [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Elysium [2013] (MA + Sony points)
Equalizer, The [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Expendables, The [2010] [Extended Director's Cut] (iTunes)
Goosebumps [2015] (MA + Sony points)
Hangover, The [Theatrical] [2009] (iTunes/ports)
Here Comes The Boom [2012] (MA + Sony points)
Hotel Transylvania [2012] (MA + Sony points)
Hotel Transylvania 2 (MA + Sony points)
Hotel Transylvania 3 (MA + Sony points)
Hours [2013] (Vudu)
House At The End Of The Street, The [2012] (iTunes)
Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (iTunes/ports)
Immortals [2011] (iTunes)
Insidious: Chapter 2 (MA + Sony points)
Insidious: The Last Key (MA + Sony points)
Looper [2012] (MA + Sony points)
Men In Black III [2012] (MA + Sony points)
Monte Carlo [2011] (iTunes/ports)
Monuments Men, The [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Mortal Instruments: The City Of Bones (MA + Sony points)
Nerve [2016] (Vudu)
Olympus Has Fallen (MA + Sony points)
Orange Is The New Black season 1 (Vudu)
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Paranoia [2013] (iTunes)
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (iTunes/ports)
Perfect Guy, The [2015] (MA + Sony points)
Peter Rabbit [2018] (MA + Sony points)
Predators [2010] (iTunes/ports)
Raven, The [2012] (iTunes)
Rio [2011] (iTunes/ports)
Risen [2016] (MA + Sony points)
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (iTunes/ports)
Rite, The [2011] (iTunes/ports)
Robin Hood [2010] [Unrated] (iTunes/ports)
Safe Haven (iTunes)
Sausage Party [2016] (MA + Sony points)
Shark Night [2011] (iTunes)
Sparkle [2012] (MA)
Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse (MA + Sony points)
Star, The [2017] (MA + Sony points)
Taken [2009] [Extended Cut] (iTunes/ports)
That Awkward Moment [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Think Like A Man Too [2014] (MA + Sony points)
Tyler Perry's Madea's Tough Love (Vudu)
Underworld: Awakening (MA + Sony points)
Vow, The [2012] (MA + Sony points)
Wanted [2008] (iTunes/ports)1
Warrior [2011] (iTunes)
Water For Elephants (iTunes/ports)
Wedding Ringer, The [2015] (MA + Sony points)
When The Bough Breaks [2016] (MA + Sony points)
White House Down [2013] (MA + Sony points)
X-Men: First Class (iTunes/ports)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (iTunes/ports)
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Super Cheap SD & HD Codes
All movies are 3 for $1 but must spend at least $1 on total order.🦝
Cabin In The Woods, The (iTunes SD only)
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Expendables 2, The (Vudu SD only)
Expendables 3, The [Unrated] (iTunes HD only)
Fast Five [Extended] (iTunes/ports HD)
Furious 7 [Extended] (MA ports HD)
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John Wick 3 (Google Play HD only)
Life Of Pi (iTunes/ports SD)
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Vudu HD only)
Perks Of Being A Wallflower (iTunes SD only)
Skyfall (iTunes SD only)
Star Trek: Into Darkness (Vudu HD only)
Taken 2 (iTunes/ports SD)
Transformers: Age Of Extinction (Vudu HD only)
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (Vudu SD only)
2024.06.09 21:21 whateverbeaver Navigating the sibling fallout of no contact with father
Hoping for some advice on how to handle a pretty delicate situation in my family. It’s about me (34M), my sister (36F) and my father (65M). My parents divorced when I was a kid so my mother is not directly involved in any of this. At the end of this post, there is a very concrete situation that I need advice on how to handle so if you don't want to read too much you could skip to the final part (The situation), but the first parts provide a bit of background.
My father and I
My father and I haven’t had any contact for 6 years whatsoever. To put it briefly, we’ve always had a very tumultuous and downright antagonistic relationship and after many, many years of pain, sorrow and disappointment I finally gave up on having a relationship with him at all. One night, in a fit of fury, I told him how I felt about him and in no uncertain terms. I told him that I regard him as a child abuser and a vile, moronic narcissist and that he means less than nothing to me. I meant every word, still do and shortly thereafter, I sent him a massive text message that made it very clear exactly how he has harmed me and how it has affected my life. I then immediately blocked his number as my mind was made up and I just wanted him gone. For good - and I couldn't care less about his response or any future communication.
So, there is no reconciliation possible, and I’m as fine as anyone could be with that. That's not my goal, and I have no remorse or guilt about how it ended and I have never for a second doubted that it was the right choice for me.
Collateral damage
When I broke off contact, the hardest part was that I realized this would make it incredibly difficult to sustain my relationships with members of my extended family on my father's side. Although it pained me greatly, I made that sacrifice willingly thinking that that would be the end of it. At that point, it was about self-preservation and I was absolutely ruthless in guaranteeing myself freedom from his influence. Whatever it took, I was willing to do it. But, of course, it wasn’t going to end just like that as these things so rarely do. In my case, primarily because of my sister.
My sister has, historically, been chiefly on my side in all of this because she witnessed the abuse I suffered directly and was unable to prevent it despite numerous attempts at diplomacy. She carries a lot of guilt because of this, but at the same time, her and my father were always quite close. My father's abusive tendencies also targeted my sister but in a very different manner, and she is much more of a people pleaser kind of person than I ever was. Where I was routinely shamed, blamed and ridiculed, my father made her into a mother-figure and confidante meaning she's been his personal therapist ever since her teens. She resents him for this but her feelings are far more murky and ambivalent than mine, and despite her complaining about him and his behavior constantly even to this day, she hasn’t broken off contact with him because she wants her children to have a relationship with their grandfather. To me, that’s her choice and I’ve never criticized her for that regardless of how I feel his influence might come to harm my nieces and nephew.
My father and I have successfully avoided each other for 6 years and I think we're both quite terrified of the day that we meet. But as long as navigate around each other, that's not a problem.
The situation
Recently, my sister gave birth to her third child and the christening is set for August. Where I'm from, it's a big occasion where all family members (inner and extended) are invited along with friends and their significant others and children. And of course, my sister doesn't know what to do about me and our father because we haven't seen or talked to each other for 6 years. She knows exactly how I feel about him and that I don't want to be anywhere near him or ever see him or hear him talk again. In that, I have found peace, but my father is unwilling to accept that he will not be invited to the christening because I don't want him there and deeply upset about my sister originally not inviting him.
So, he's been emotionally pressuring/blackmailing my sister into inviting him. My sister has said to him that I'm the one who gets to be there if me and my father cannot agree that it is alright for the both of us to be there - somehow. She's told him that she thinks that he is supposed to be the mature one and that it's his responsibility to reach out and make amends with me, if he wants to be there for his granddaughter's christening. So, he said to her that he would reach out to me. My sister then texted me to tell me that my father might contact me because they'd had that conversation.
At first I didn't think he would contact me at all because he generally doesn't follow through on any promise he makes and he's a massive coward when it comes to dealing with me - or any conflict for that matter. But to my surprise, I received a text from him today that reads:
I'm reaching out because your sister has expressed that she wants the three of us [him, myself and his wife] at the christening and I was hoping that we could agree to being in the same room for this and future events. We don't have to shake hands or even talk, we just need to behave like adults. Kind regards...
Never mind that my sister has not expressed that she wants him and wife at the christening or how aggressive the tone of this message is, it has provoked way more emotions in me than I thought possible. I thought I was over it, but there's a lot of anger and to a lesser degree also sorrow and anxiety. Emotionally, I regret unblocking his number for this message deeply since it has left me in quite the state of emotional turmoil, but I also don't know what to do about the situation with the christening at hand. I've narrowed it down to three options:
Thanks in advance to anyone who took the time to read and respond.
submitted by whateverbeaver to entitledparents [link] [comments]
My father and I
My father and I haven’t had any contact for 6 years whatsoever. To put it briefly, we’ve always had a very tumultuous and downright antagonistic relationship and after many, many years of pain, sorrow and disappointment I finally gave up on having a relationship with him at all. One night, in a fit of fury, I told him how I felt about him and in no uncertain terms. I told him that I regard him as a child abuser and a vile, moronic narcissist and that he means less than nothing to me. I meant every word, still do and shortly thereafter, I sent him a massive text message that made it very clear exactly how he has harmed me and how it has affected my life. I then immediately blocked his number as my mind was made up and I just wanted him gone. For good - and I couldn't care less about his response or any future communication.
So, there is no reconciliation possible, and I’m as fine as anyone could be with that. That's not my goal, and I have no remorse or guilt about how it ended and I have never for a second doubted that it was the right choice for me.
Collateral damage
When I broke off contact, the hardest part was that I realized this would make it incredibly difficult to sustain my relationships with members of my extended family on my father's side. Although it pained me greatly, I made that sacrifice willingly thinking that that would be the end of it. At that point, it was about self-preservation and I was absolutely ruthless in guaranteeing myself freedom from his influence. Whatever it took, I was willing to do it. But, of course, it wasn’t going to end just like that as these things so rarely do. In my case, primarily because of my sister.
My sister has, historically, been chiefly on my side in all of this because she witnessed the abuse I suffered directly and was unable to prevent it despite numerous attempts at diplomacy. She carries a lot of guilt because of this, but at the same time, her and my father were always quite close. My father's abusive tendencies also targeted my sister but in a very different manner, and she is much more of a people pleaser kind of person than I ever was. Where I was routinely shamed, blamed and ridiculed, my father made her into a mother-figure and confidante meaning she's been his personal therapist ever since her teens. She resents him for this but her feelings are far more murky and ambivalent than mine, and despite her complaining about him and his behavior constantly even to this day, she hasn’t broken off contact with him because she wants her children to have a relationship with their grandfather. To me, that’s her choice and I’ve never criticized her for that regardless of how I feel his influence might come to harm my nieces and nephew.
My father and I have successfully avoided each other for 6 years and I think we're both quite terrified of the day that we meet. But as long as navigate around each other, that's not a problem.
The situation
Recently, my sister gave birth to her third child and the christening is set for August. Where I'm from, it's a big occasion where all family members (inner and extended) are invited along with friends and their significant others and children. And of course, my sister doesn't know what to do about me and our father because we haven't seen or talked to each other for 6 years. She knows exactly how I feel about him and that I don't want to be anywhere near him or ever see him or hear him talk again. In that, I have found peace, but my father is unwilling to accept that he will not be invited to the christening because I don't want him there and deeply upset about my sister originally not inviting him.
So, he's been emotionally pressuring/blackmailing my sister into inviting him. My sister has said to him that I'm the one who gets to be there if me and my father cannot agree that it is alright for the both of us to be there - somehow. She's told him that she thinks that he is supposed to be the mature one and that it's his responsibility to reach out and make amends with me, if he wants to be there for his granddaughter's christening. So, he said to her that he would reach out to me. My sister then texted me to tell me that my father might contact me because they'd had that conversation.
At first I didn't think he would contact me at all because he generally doesn't follow through on any promise he makes and he's a massive coward when it comes to dealing with me - or any conflict for that matter. But to my surprise, I received a text from him today that reads:
I'm reaching out because your sister has expressed that she wants the three of us [him, myself and his wife] at the christening and I was hoping that we could agree to being in the same room for this and future events. We don't have to shake hands or even talk, we just need to behave like adults. Kind regards...
Never mind that my sister has not expressed that she wants him and wife at the christening or how aggressive the tone of this message is, it has provoked way more emotions in me than I thought possible. I thought I was over it, but there's a lot of anger and to a lesser degree also sorrow and anxiety. Emotionally, I regret unblocking his number for this message deeply since it has left me in quite the state of emotional turmoil, but I also don't know what to do about the situation with the christening at hand. I've narrowed it down to three options:
- I can tell my sister what reading his message did to me and that I'm clearly not able to cope with being anywhere near him seeing as I can't even read a message from him without imploding emotionally. That would mean she has to choose between us, and I don't want to put her in that position or risk antagonizing her and ruining our relationship. If I go down this path, I'm honestly afraid she'll consider me incredibly cowardly or suspect me of agitating the conflict on purpose. And then decide that I'm the one who won't get invited to the christening.
- I could defy every emotion and instinct I have, try to man up and tell my father that we can both go as long as he keeps his distance and avoids talking to me or about me. I absolutely mean it when I say that I have no way of predicting exactly how I will react if he tries anything, but it could get very, very ugly as it has many times before. I won't know until it happens but I am definitely at risk of losing my temper and making a scene. Also, I find the idea of being at the christening with that many people around almost publicly humiliating (because they all know what's going on with me and him) and I feel like I'll be spending the entire day avoiding my father and his wife - and then, what even is the point of being there if I have to be hyper vigilant and anxious? I broke off contact with him exactly because I could no longer ignore my own feelings or downplay myself just in order to keep the peace. And on that promise to myself, I will not - under any circumstance and on my life - go back, so there's a real risk that it might end extremely badly.
- I tell my sister that I'm simply not emotionally ready for this happen (every inch of my body is communicating this to me but I have only thought about it for one day so this might change). And then, I suggest that I'll pass this time and then me and my father can sort of take turns at participating in her events so we don't have to see each other and so she does not have to feel like she's caught in between or that she has to intervene or mediate between us (which, as she explains it, is actually the biggest issue for her). I'm not a big fan of this because I will have to "cede territory" to him and there's another, warrior-like part of me who is telling me hell no, you will cede nothing to this demon of a man and if he tries anything you'll [insert varying, non-violent vengeance fantasies]. But come the day I do not know if I'm strong enough to assert myself sufficiently to make him uncomfortable enough to avoid any future events. Keep in mind also that I'm dealing with a man who many suspect of being a sociopath, so... yeah, that's probably not a battle any wise person would take willingly.
Thanks in advance to anyone who took the time to read and respond.
2024.06.09 21:19 NoBit7925 Just some of my thoughts/Why I left
Alrighty, so I (m19) left the church about 3 years ago today, and I attended this church for 13 years of my life. I left for a lot of reasons, mistreatment, judgment, curiosity, and hypocrites. It never really clicked with me, like how they do things and the things they teach, and how they go about teaching it. They made it seem like it was the only way, and if I left, I would be condemned for eternity. My whole life it always felt like I was walking on eggshells because I lived in a small town where everyone knew everybody and if you made one "wrong decision" OHH BUDDY, you were sat down, shamed, and prayed for, and it made you feel like an awful person.
The big reason I left was when an elder put his hands on me. To elaborate, a lady in the church shamed me for not helping her with the church musical (I am a music major now, music was my life). She started spreading rumors about my family pretty much saying we were white trash. Now, I am a people pleaser, but when I am provoked in the way she provoked, I am the pettiest mf to exist. With that said I sent a paragraph of a text to her, calling her names, telling her how much I hated her and how she is in no position to be judging my life. I felt so good, and my petty a** walked into church the next week like nothing happened. Word got out quick though, and I was pulled into the elder's office. I was shamed and yelled at for doing what I did, but I argued back and then decided I was going to leave the conversation. So, I went to leave and right as I was about to reach the door he squeezed and yanked my arm pulling me back, mind you I was 16 at the time. I was absolutely speechless because my parents didn't even touch me like that. I was the same height as him, so I got in his face and told him to never lay a f****ng hand on me ever again. I then walked out of the church and called my mother who attended the church but was not there that week. She was furious and called the elder and let him have it. We did not go back after that.
Now, here's some of my thoughts as an outsider looking into it. I have had a lot of time to think because it has been 3 full years. Christianity is like a clique to me. They are a bunch of judgmental people who are no better than everyone else but feel like they are because they go to church and are "disciples". These people are supposed to bring people to God and share the word, but I have not seen anyone in my old church, or any church around me, make an effort to publicly share the word. It's funny because half of them drink, smoke, swear, and had kids out of wedlock. I'm not judging, but these are all things people were shamed for by the higher ups, but the shaming only applied to certain people. The churches are indoctrinating people and children to be hateful towards LGBTQIA+, the government, and modern education. This is also funny as they preach to not get involved in worldly things, are these not worldly?!?! lol
As far as my doubt and curiosity goes, I struggle to believe in a religion. I want to believe there is a god, but it's just that I was raised in a religion that thought it was the only correct religion. That leads me to question everything, did I waste 13 years of my life? how do I know if religions right or wrong? is there a heaven and hell? Every religion is different when it comes to teachings, a god or gods, baptism, attendance, heaven and hell, which makes it hard to believe in. How do we as people know that the bible hasn't been tampered with over time? The bible is supposed to be the real accounts of Jesus's time from people and disciples. Why would I waste my life walking on eggshells and living this "holy" life when in reality I don't even know if it's true. Christianity is full of so much hatred towards people who are simply living a different life. Newsflash it's not 1980 anymore, women have a right to their body, and we are fighting for LGBTQIA+ rights and to end racism. Christians hate change and they talk bad about these people not knowing people like them are the reason we have to fight for basic human rights. The hatred and hypocrisy are what gives me the doubt that ultimately led to me leaving the church, although I should have left sooner and not wasted 13 years of my life.
Now, me making this post is not to judge people who are religious, I am just explaining my experience and thoughts :)
submitted by NoBit7925 to exchristian [link] [comments]
The big reason I left was when an elder put his hands on me. To elaborate, a lady in the church shamed me for not helping her with the church musical (I am a music major now, music was my life). She started spreading rumors about my family pretty much saying we were white trash. Now, I am a people pleaser, but when I am provoked in the way she provoked, I am the pettiest mf to exist. With that said I sent a paragraph of a text to her, calling her names, telling her how much I hated her and how she is in no position to be judging my life. I felt so good, and my petty a** walked into church the next week like nothing happened. Word got out quick though, and I was pulled into the elder's office. I was shamed and yelled at for doing what I did, but I argued back and then decided I was going to leave the conversation. So, I went to leave and right as I was about to reach the door he squeezed and yanked my arm pulling me back, mind you I was 16 at the time. I was absolutely speechless because my parents didn't even touch me like that. I was the same height as him, so I got in his face and told him to never lay a f****ng hand on me ever again. I then walked out of the church and called my mother who attended the church but was not there that week. She was furious and called the elder and let him have it. We did not go back after that.
Now, here's some of my thoughts as an outsider looking into it. I have had a lot of time to think because it has been 3 full years. Christianity is like a clique to me. They are a bunch of judgmental people who are no better than everyone else but feel like they are because they go to church and are "disciples". These people are supposed to bring people to God and share the word, but I have not seen anyone in my old church, or any church around me, make an effort to publicly share the word. It's funny because half of them drink, smoke, swear, and had kids out of wedlock. I'm not judging, but these are all things people were shamed for by the higher ups, but the shaming only applied to certain people. The churches are indoctrinating people and children to be hateful towards LGBTQIA+, the government, and modern education. This is also funny as they preach to not get involved in worldly things, are these not worldly?!?! lol
As far as my doubt and curiosity goes, I struggle to believe in a religion. I want to believe there is a god, but it's just that I was raised in a religion that thought it was the only correct religion. That leads me to question everything, did I waste 13 years of my life? how do I know if religions right or wrong? is there a heaven and hell? Every religion is different when it comes to teachings, a god or gods, baptism, attendance, heaven and hell, which makes it hard to believe in. How do we as people know that the bible hasn't been tampered with over time? The bible is supposed to be the real accounts of Jesus's time from people and disciples. Why would I waste my life walking on eggshells and living this "holy" life when in reality I don't even know if it's true. Christianity is full of so much hatred towards people who are simply living a different life. Newsflash it's not 1980 anymore, women have a right to their body, and we are fighting for LGBTQIA+ rights and to end racism. Christians hate change and they talk bad about these people not knowing people like them are the reason we have to fight for basic human rights. The hatred and hypocrisy are what gives me the doubt that ultimately led to me leaving the church, although I should have left sooner and not wasted 13 years of my life.
Now, me making this post is not to judge people who are religious, I am just explaining my experience and thoughts :)
2024.06.09 21:10 Bonjonsie The Jonsie Burrows: Help Wanted 2 Part 8.999
Previous part: 8.99.
One thing that I'm not getting here is why Vanessa is even a part of Vanny or Glitchtrap's situation since Double-V is true. When I originally thought up Double-V, I was originally thinking that Vanessa and Vanny were two different people and/or were sharing the role of "Vanny".
It's just one of them was more willing than the other to be a part of Glitcthtrap's machinations than the other. I didn't put too much thought into it, but it was something I wanted to look for until that Security Team revelation came about.
But now, I'm left with this puzzle piece called Vanessa that I'm not quite sure what to do with now that I know that Vanny is an entirely separate person from her.
She has to be involved with Vanny and Gltichtrap somehow. Maybe the therapy tapes will help.
Also, after going through Vanny's secret dialogue in Help Wanted, Vanessa's overall demeanor in both Security Breach and the Retro Cds clashes hard with Vanny's in both games. Where Vanny sounds and reads eager and nervous, Vanessa is defiant and reluctant with depressed undertones.
Is Vanessa really infected with Glitchtrap?
Yet now that I'm thinking about it, Glitchtrap has no need to do this as him sitting through Vanessa's therapy session with her would give him this info if she was infected. Who's ever doing this doesn't much about her, but would very much like to. Is it Vanny or Gregory...
Wait, hold on. Vanessa's first therapist mentioned that messages were encrypted and couldn't make out what the conversation was about. But the second therapist can understand these messages to know that they're manipulative in nature. Are these two different messengers?!
" I’ve read them, but it’s not clear what you’re talking about in these conversations. I can’t make sense of it. You must be getting something from these that I’m not getting." - The first Therapist
"but what bothers me about what I read is that the messages you're getting seem very manipulative in nature." - The second Therapist
What changed? Hmm... What exactly is an encrypted conversation? Maybe explaining that will help.
Encrypted text messaging is a method of secure communication that converts your messages into code. This means that only the recipient with the correct decryption key can read it. - Google
That sounds like what the first Therapist is referring to, but she mentions that they got the transcripts for it. Does that mean that got the code or the decryption key to read it? No, she says transcripts, which means the code itself.
But whatever the first Therapist saw in that transcript was legible enough to read and comprehend. This means the conversation wasn't in computer coding that would require someone in the tech field to decipher it, but just ordinary talk that's hard to understand what it's about.
Okay, that clears things up, they're still the same messenger.
Again the "he" here, and the "he will always be watching" part allude to Glitchtrap at first glance. And again, it can't be him because he should be within Vanessa since they merged in Help Wanted! Even if you dismissed the ending I proposed for Vanny and went with the ending where she gets locked up by Glitchtrap, it still wouldn't be him messaging her about watching here because he would be in her body!
And like I already said before, Vanessa has shown no memory problems or bodily control problems, which would've suggested Glitchtrap's control. No, this means that Gregory is doing all of this.
But why is he going after Vanessa? Geez, It's been a while since I even thought about his past before Security Breach. I forgot how much of a black hole of questions he is, regarding the lore. I'll give my updated thoughts about him after the Double-V revelation later.
For now, after going through all of Gregory's dialogue in Security Breach. It looks like he's not quite aware of the ongoings within the Pizzaplex and is shocked by the level of security can employ later in the night. There may actually be a hint of his hacker background in his dialogue if you squint. And Gregory has absolutely no idea what the rabbit laddy's name is until he gets to Fazerblast.
As for Gregory's involvement with Vanessa... Huh, that's weird. Gregory doesn't say Vanessa's name even once in Security Breach. Matter of fact, after the beginning sequence where Vanessa confronts Freddy about him, Gregory just stops talking about or even mentioning her for the rest of the game. This includes the confrontation that leads to her locking him up in Lost and Found and after it...
No matter how you slice it, Gregory's silence about her is super loud with alarm bells. Sure, he dismisses her as working with Vanny in the beginning, but it shouldn't mean that she should be an afterthought to him! Like, Gregory only talks about or mentions "the rabbit lady" after the beginning of the game.
In fact, if we were to rank every important character that Gregory talks about or mentions in his dialogue for Security Breach from most to least, it would look like this.
Even when discovering Vanny's hideout in Fazerblast and Freddy suggests that Vanny is Vanessa due to deduceing Vanny's name being a combination of Vanessa + Bunny, Gregory remains silent about it! No, "Oh maybe you're right." or "That sounds too simple to be right", but instead there's no response to what might be the identity of your pursuer!
It's like he doesn't want to talk about her...
He knows her, he has to know Vanessa! Yet, he said, "I don't know who she is, but she's trying to get me!" to Freddy. Is he lying? No, he just knows about her.
I'll admit that I'm ignorant about therapy, but should your therapist have access to stuff you created outside of therapy? Unless Gregory created the program on a computer in therapy. It could explain how he's gotten access to Vanessa's files. But I'll drop that talk for now.
Something that's being made clear to me now is that Vanessa is not as connected to the villains as Gregory is, as she's more surprised by the changing of therapist than he is. In fact, Gregory knows why the therapists are disappearing, knows exactly when the therapists do something that would cause them to disappear, and doesn't seem upset when they show up mangled and dead.
But more than anything, Gregory knew Vanny long before Security Breach started. There's no reason why Gregory would know Vanny has enough control over the Pizzaplex to cut off Freddy from the network, in just one encounter. If anything, he should have assumed she was some weirdo stranger in the Pizzaplex that the security and the police needed to take care of.
But he already knew that Vanny had power in the Pizzaplex, maybe not the full scope, but enough to know that if she and he ever came into conflict with one another that ended with her wanting to hurt him then he needed to get out of the Pizzaplex.
Funnily enough, this actually lines up with the first-ever trailer for Security Breach, where Vanny says: "Gregory, I may have lost my temper earlier. But it was just a glitch!" Which implies they were talking neutrally before whatever made Vanny lose her temper. Again, I'm not using this as evidence as it's been cut, instead, I'm suggesting that the idea might have merit.
But what about Vanessa? Is Gregory hacking into her files or is it Vanny and Glitchtrap? Or perhaps Gregory is hacking into her files on behalf of Glitchtrap and Vanny. Either way, Vanessa is getting dragged into Gregory and the Villian's group chat.
Speaking of the therapy, if we take into account the Retro-CD's numbering system the first two numbers are the patient ID number, and the last two numbers are the number of times both Gregory and Vanessa have been to therapy, then we can uncover some invaluable information.
Gregory has been in therapy longer than Vanessa and he was also in therapy before her too. But combining this CD's numbering system with a theory from the Talesbook story, GGY, that Gregory only goes to therapy on Sunday. Then Gregory has been going to therapy for a year and a half.
And if Vanessa is following the weekly therapy session pattern, then she's only been going to it for a little more than half a year. This means she started her therapy just about after Gregory hit his half-year mark for therapy. In addition to all that, Vanessa stopped going to therapy once she was transferred to a new location and never met the fourth and final therapist of the CDs.
Just something you all should keep in mind.
But Gregory definitely knows about her at the very least. That knowledge, I guess, is the reason why he's so shocked to see her face under Vanny's mask in the "To The Rooftop" ending. He knows that Vanessa and Vanny are two different people, but doesn't know that they look alike because he never encountered Vanny before Security Breach without her mask or costume.
On the subject of costumes, I still got no answer for Vanessa's purchase of fake animal fur or what's even happening with her now.
To be honest, this would be so simple and easy if Vanessa was just Vanny. But like as I have shown many times before in both this series and the previous one, simple and easy answers are not always the correct ones.
So, instead of looking for signs of the villain's goal with Vanessa in the lore. Let's look at the similarities and differences between the double Vs.
Vanessa's characteristics are.
Anyway, as you can see, there are some very similar likes between the two and very stark differences in traits as well. I'm not about to list them to save word space, but instead, I want to answer a question. Could Vanessa still be Vanny despite their differences? This isn't so much for me, but for the people who believe Vanny = Vanessa despite my Double-V evidence.
At first, I thought there might've been a chance for that as they both like flowers, to read, and enjoy the outside, or at least the summer in Vanny's case. But now, after listing everything out they're just too different to say they're the same.
Even if we say that Vanny's love of pizza, general bad diet, and trashy room is the result of Vanessa coping with her depression and her situation with Glitchtrap and that her graffiti is the by-product of therapy, along with her interest in growing flowers. That doesn't negate the fact that in Ruin when given the chance to express her anxiety, Vanny doesn't take it.
If you don't know, on the wall where Vanny drew her face next to a slice of pizza in the main lobby near the Superstar Daycare entrance, there is a painted graph. The artist who made the graph also wrote on the right side of it; "TAG YOURSELF".
On all four sides of the graph, the artist made the furthest sides of them represent something. The top Y-axis is Wizard, the bottom Y-axis is Cedar, the left X-axis is Filled with a word that ends in a y, and the right X-axis is Filled with anxiety.
What this graph is showing, or what the artist trying to convey with it, is that each of the four points represents not quite the opposite thing but the furthest thing from each other. Of which, Vanny decided to tag herself on the [furthest left X-axis](https://imgur.com/j9ND1V3), not the right.
This tells us that Vanny feels the furthest thing from anxiety. Something Vanessa, no matter if she's under Glitchtrap's control or not, would be constantly feeling as she suffers from it.
As for what she's feeling, I don't know, the word on the left graph is unreadable and covered by Vanny's face to make it almost impossible to decipher. But what I do know without a doubt, is that Vanny and Vanessa are indeed, two different people with some common likes and polar opposite traits.
So after everything I've talked about in the last three? four? However many parts I've been going over Double-V, what is the best possible answer for the "To The Rooftop" ending stinger. Why do Vanny and Vanessa look alike?
I tried, I really did. I looked for as much possible evidence for anything that doesn't just make me give up and say "She's a Fazgoo clone!" or "She's a robot!"
If Vanny was a stranger who mimicked Vanessa's face, then that's cool and horrifying, but only where it concerns Vanessa herself. (The horrifying part, not the cool part.) It doesn't give us reasons why she would do it in the first place or a way to connect it to the greater lore and Glitchtrap, besides she's a human Mimic. Basically, it lacks motivation from everyone in the Villian party.
So it leaves me with no other conclusion except for one.
Back when the marketing for Security Breach was building up to its release. Steel Wool released four old Freddy cartoon episodes on their YouTube channel. Each episode hides a teaser image for the lore, including a character from the games with words, along with a character stinger at the end.
The last carton, which is the most distorted one, just so happened to include Vanessa as the hidden teaser, and Vanny as the character stinger at the end. And before you all jump the gun, previous episodes have already established that the hidden character teasers have no correlation to the ending Character stinger.
Now, the words in the Vanessa teaser image are quite interesting. It includes "Test and Rat" in the upper right corner, "Pool" in the bottom left corner, and "Bleak Reactant".
Test and Rat could be Test rat or Laboratory rat (Lab rat) as in the species of rat that are bred and kept for scientific research. Lab rat here can also be referring to Vanessa being a lab rat for the villain's experiment for something.
Using that explanation, "Pool" would then mean group or pool of people, which means number of people available for an organization or group to use. So Pool would mean that Vanessa was chosen out of all the Fazbear employees or people in general to be used for the experiment.
This leaves us with Bleak Reactant, which the definition of reactant is a substance that takes part in and experiences change during a reaction, while the definition of bleak could mean lacking vegetation (an area of land), dreary (a room), miserable(the weather), or unfavorable (outcome.)
All of this together means that Vanessa was chosen by the villains out of a group of people to be used for an experiment. An experiment of a change in Vanessa that predicted an unfavorable outcome for the villains.
Vanessa was going to be the next Vanny or maybe something else.
That gives a reason why the villains were so interested in her, why she would be shopping for a costume, why she would be at the Pizzaplex, and why she would be still connected to the villains when someone else is Vanny.
But the reason she was chosen in the first place, why her out of a group of people that might've included Gregory in it too, is because the one who chose her was her own twin sister.
If anyone remembers my only Ruin theory then you would remember my mentioning of Glitchtrap's and Vanny's conversation from Scott's website from a Security Breach poster.
Glitchtrap: "Stay the course."
Vanny: "I will."
Glitchtrap: "Focus on my voice."
Vanny: "I will."
Glitchtrap: "Don't let anyone lead you astray."
Vanny: “I won't.”
Glitchtrap: "Have you selected one?"
Vanny: "I have."
In my theory, I proposed that Gregory was the one that Vanny mentioned selecting here. But now, with all the revelations and new information gained, I believe Vanessa works better here. Vanny would've chosen someone for an experiment that she personally knew of or gotten to know, and who better than her own sibling that she grew up with.
Remember, Vanny is just starting out in her following of Glitchtrap. So would be new to the whole evil thing. And most of the time, the people close to you are the ones that would most likely commit a crime against you.
As for the twin sister thing, it actually didn't come from the "To The Rooftop" ending, but a discussion from the GTlive stream where Mat hosted a little get-together with some of the FNAF YouTuber theorists after Security Breach. There, John Fuhnaff suggested the idea for it from the VR Sisters boss from the Security Breach game Scott made when Security Breach got delayed again.
It's something that I saw some merit in after I discovered the Vanny ≠ Vanessa and after disproving in my head that Vanny wasn't Tape Girl either. The best part of the twin sister thing is that there's no need to throw out all that we know from Vanessa's therapy sessions as they both share the divorced parent's backstory.
As for which is the order twin between the two, I believe Vanessa is the oldest since it makes sense that her father would use the oldest to testify against their mother as she would better understand his instructions. Plus it provides a potential grudge from Vanny to Vanessa for what happened to their mother and a misguided parental affection for Glitchtrap. Unless Vanny's just a fangirl of William Afton, which could be the case.
Also, this means that the reason Vanessa looks the way she does in "To The Rooftop" end credits is because she looking at her dead sister. Oof, I realized that this also means she would've been the one who finds what's left of her in the "Disassemble Vanny" ending too. No wonder Faz Ent. is temporarily closed if they find that one employee is disassembled and the other one is having a mental breakdown from it in the morning.
But what about the "Redemption" ending? We know that by beating PQ3 both Glitchtrap and Vanny are defeated in it. What happens to her then? Where did she go? Hmm... I'm not sure.
What happens when someone is unmerged after being merged for a long time? Unlike Vanessa, we know that Vanny lives in the Pizzaplex. Even by Ruin and Help Wanted 2, she's still living in the building despite its condition so she probably needs time to think and process what happened to her and what's she done. Oh, and therapy. And a house.
But I think that just about wraps everything up for— Wait, HW2's Candy Cadet story! I forgot all about it! I know some people mentioned that the second story had to do with Vanessa, Gregory, and Gltichtrap. Let me skim through that real quick for clues.
Oh. Oh, that's really interesting... But it along with the Jeremy and the Memory dolls can wait until after next time. Sorry for the little to no pictures, I needed space to fit everything in one post and wanted to get everything about Double-V out of the way before I go on hiatus.
Don't worry it has nothing to do with burnout. It won't be too long either, though knowing my track record when saying that, you probably don't believe me.
Truth is, I've been severely neglecting my YouTube channel, and should really start catching up the YouTube version of my series with the online version. Plus, I've got more "Prove it!" to work on.
But most important of all, my birthday is coming up, and I don't want to work, think, or have anything to do with my FNAF stuff on that day. So! Feel free to read and become full with these last few Parts until I come back with more.
submitted by Bonjonsie to fivenightsatfreddys [link] [comments]
One thing that I'm not getting here is why Vanessa is even a part of Vanny or Glitchtrap's situation since Double-V is true. When I originally thought up Double-V, I was originally thinking that Vanessa and Vanny were two different people and/or were sharing the role of "Vanny".
It's just one of them was more willing than the other to be a part of Glitcthtrap's machinations than the other. I didn't put too much thought into it, but it was something I wanted to look for until that Security Team revelation came about.
But now, I'm left with this puzzle piece called Vanessa that I'm not quite sure what to do with now that I know that Vanny is an entirely separate person from her.
She has to be involved with Vanny and Gltichtrap somehow. Maybe the therapy tapes will help.
- CD 1-Therapist: — but a routine check of your online history has revealed that you spend quite a bit of time with someone in an encrypted conversation. We have transcripts, and I’ve read them, but it’s not clear what you’re talking about in these conversations. I can’t make sense of it. You must be getting something from these that I’m not getting. Right? Who are you talking to in these?
- CD 5-Therapist: — Apparently, the IT department has put together a pretty lengthy report chronicling non-job-related communications that have been coming to your computer. — what bothers me about what I read is that the messages you're getting seem very manipulative in nature. —You know who I'm talking about. What you might not know is that this person who's been sending you messages has been hacking into your personal files too.
- CD 5-Vanessa: Lots of people know more than I do. Sometimes I need to listen.
Also, after going through Vanny's secret dialogue in Help Wanted, Vanessa's overall demeanor in both Security Breach and the Retro Cds clashes hard with Vanny's in both games. Where Vanny sounds and reads eager and nervous, Vanessa is defiant and reluctant with depressed undertones.
Is Vanessa really infected with Glitchtrap?
Yet now that I'm thinking about it, Glitchtrap has no need to do this as him sitting through Vanessa's therapy session with her would give him this info if she was infected. Who's ever doing this doesn't much about her, but would very much like to. Is it Vanny or Gregory...
Wait, hold on. Vanessa's first therapist mentioned that messages were encrypted and couldn't make out what the conversation was about. But the second therapist can understand these messages to know that they're manipulative in nature. Are these two different messengers?!
" I’ve read them, but it’s not clear what you’re talking about in these conversations. I can’t make sense of it. You must be getting something from these that I’m not getting." - The first Therapist
"but what bothers me about what I read is that the messages you're getting seem very manipulative in nature." - The second Therapist
What changed? Hmm... What exactly is an encrypted conversation? Maybe explaining that will help.
Encrypted text messaging is a method of secure communication that converts your messages into code. This means that only the recipient with the correct decryption key can read it. - Google
That sounds like what the first Therapist is referring to, but she mentions that they got the transcripts for it. Does that mean that got the code or the decryption key to read it? No, she says transcripts, which means the code itself.
But whatever the first Therapist saw in that transcript was legible enough to read and comprehend. This means the conversation wasn't in computer coding that would require someone in the tech field to decipher it, but just ordinary talk that's hard to understand what it's about.
Okay, that clears things up, they're still the same messenger.
- CD 11-Therapist: So, on your breaks, it looks like you were shopping for a costume. You purchased some fake fur material.
- CD 11- Vanessa: I can't talk about this. He said he would always be watching. He could be here or there or anywhere in between.
- CD 11-Therapist: No, that's not what I mean. You can't just ignore an issue. You have to face your memory of the experiences and process them so you can let it go. So you don't get triggered anymore. you can use this sort of self-dialogue to release these things
- CD 11-Vanessa: I don't like doing that.
Again the "he" here, and the "he will always be watching" part allude to Glitchtrap at first glance. And again, it can't be him because he should be within Vanessa since they merged in Help Wanted! Even if you dismissed the ending I proposed for Vanny and went with the ending where she gets locked up by Glitchtrap, it still wouldn't be him messaging her about watching here because he would be in her body!
And like I already said before, Vanessa has shown no memory problems or bodily control problems, which would've suggested Glitchtrap's control. No, this means that Gregory is doing all of this.
But why is he going after Vanessa? Geez, It's been a while since I even thought about his past before Security Breach. I forgot how much of a black hole of questions he is, regarding the lore. I'll give my updated thoughts about him after the Double-V revelation later.
For now, after going through all of Gregory's dialogue in Security Breach. It looks like he's not quite aware of the ongoings within the Pizzaplex and is shocked by the level of security can employ later in the night. There may actually be a hint of his hacker background in his dialogue if you squint. And Gregory has absolutely no idea what the rabbit laddy's name is until he gets to Fazerblast.
As for Gregory's involvement with Vanessa... Huh, that's weird. Gregory doesn't say Vanessa's name even once in Security Breach. Matter of fact, after the beginning sequence where Vanessa confronts Freddy about him, Gregory just stops talking about or even mentioning her for the rest of the game. This includes the confrontation that leads to her locking him up in Lost and Found and after it...
No matter how you slice it, Gregory's silence about her is super loud with alarm bells. Sure, he dismisses her as working with Vanny in the beginning, but it shouldn't mean that she should be an afterthought to him! Like, Gregory only talks about or mentions "the rabbit lady" after the beginning of the game.
In fact, if we were to rank every important character that Gregory talks about or mentions in his dialogue for Security Breach from most to least, it would look like this.
- Freddy - 33 times
- Vanny - 6 times
- Chica - 6 times
- Roxy - 4 times
- Monty - 3 times
- Moon - 3 times
- Vanessa - 3 times
- Burntrap - 1 time
Even when discovering Vanny's hideout in Fazerblast and Freddy suggests that Vanny is Vanessa due to deduceing Vanny's name being a combination of Vanessa + Bunny, Gregory remains silent about it! No, "Oh maybe you're right." or "That sounds too simple to be right", but instead there's no response to what might be the identity of your pursuer!
It's like he doesn't want to talk about her...
He knows her, he has to know Vanessa! Yet, he said, "I don't know who she is, but she's trying to get me!" to Freddy. Is he lying? No, he just knows about her.
- CD 14-Therapist: —They report that they've caught you on camera, or at least it appears to be you. — Well the techs are convinced that you've hacked into their system many times. — the electronics you like? I saw in your file that you have developed software programs that talk to you and repeat phrases, right? The program asks you questions and prompts you for responses. It's kind of like your own self therapy, isn't it? Another way of talking to yourself to work things out, right? When I saw some of your recent encrypted conversation logs, that's what I thought I was looking at. It felt like I was watching someone go back and forth in their own head, but the text found something that's different than that. When I read what they found, at first I thought I was looking at more examples of you just talking with yourself. Then I realized it was different. When I study this, it sounds like there is someone else responding to you. Who is it?
I'll admit that I'm ignorant about therapy, but should your therapist have access to stuff you created outside of therapy? Unless Gregory created the program on a computer in therapy. It could explain how he's gotten access to Vanessa's files. But I'll drop that talk for now.
Something that's being made clear to me now is that Vanessa is not as connected to the villains as Gregory is, as she's more surprised by the changing of therapist than he is. In fact, Gregory knows why the therapists are disappearing, knows exactly when the therapists do something that would cause them to disappear, and doesn't seem upset when they show up mangled and dead.
But more than anything, Gregory knew Vanny long before Security Breach started. There's no reason why Gregory would know Vanny has enough control over the Pizzaplex to cut off Freddy from the network, in just one encounter. If anything, he should have assumed she was some weirdo stranger in the Pizzaplex that the security and the police needed to take care of.
But he already knew that Vanny had power in the Pizzaplex, maybe not the full scope, but enough to know that if she and he ever came into conflict with one another that ended with her wanting to hurt him then he needed to get out of the Pizzaplex.
Funnily enough, this actually lines up with the first-ever trailer for Security Breach, where Vanny says: "Gregory, I may have lost my temper earlier. But it was just a glitch!" Which implies they were talking neutrally before whatever made Vanny lose her temper. Again, I'm not using this as evidence as it's been cut, instead, I'm suggesting that the idea might have merit.
- CD-Therapist: — I have this still shot the techs pulled from the security footage that recorded you in the pizzaplex. That's you, isn't it? I know this image is distorted but I think it looks like you. And you're not alone here. You're talking to someone, or something. it's hard to tell. What are those things? They almost look like rabbit ears. What? You find that amusing? Well I guess it is.
But what about Vanessa? Is Gregory hacking into her files or is it Vanny and Glitchtrap? Or perhaps Gregory is hacking into her files on behalf of Glitchtrap and Vanny. Either way, Vanessa is getting dragged into Gregory and the Villian's group chat.
Speaking of the therapy, if we take into account the Retro-CD's numbering system the first two numbers are the patient ID number, and the last two numbers are the number of times both Gregory and Vanessa have been to therapy, then we can uncover some invaluable information.
Gregory has been in therapy longer than Vanessa and he was also in therapy before her too. But combining this CD's numbering system with a theory from the Talesbook story, GGY, that Gregory only goes to therapy on Sunday. Then Gregory has been going to therapy for a year and a half.
And if Vanessa is following the weekly therapy session pattern, then she's only been going to it for a little more than half a year. This means she started her therapy just about after Gregory hit his half-year mark for therapy. In addition to all that, Vanessa stopped going to therapy once she was transferred to a new location and never met the fourth and final therapist of the CDs.
Just something you all should keep in mind.
But Gregory definitely knows about her at the very least. That knowledge, I guess, is the reason why he's so shocked to see her face under Vanny's mask in the "To The Rooftop" ending. He knows that Vanessa and Vanny are two different people, but doesn't know that they look alike because he never encountered Vanny before Security Breach without her mask or costume.
On the subject of costumes, I still got no answer for Vanessa's purchase of fake animal fur or what's even happening with her now.
To be honest, this would be so simple and easy if Vanessa was just Vanny. But like as I have shown many times before in both this series and the previous one, simple and easy answers are not always the correct ones.
So, instead of looking for signs of the villain's goal with Vanessa in the lore. Let's look at the similarities and differences between the double Vs.
Vanessa's characteristics are.
- Depressed
- Has anxiety issues
- Tired (It's something that has been mentioned by the first and third therapists in CD-1 and CD-10. But seems to have more to do with the messages she's getting than how she usually is.)
- Likes the blue sky
- Likes to sit outside and read
- Watchful about her calorie intake
- Likes flowers or at least the sweet smell of them
- Doesn't like dark basements
- Oh, and hates kids
- Loves Pizza, especially pepperoni (Huh, no wonder she likes Chica)
- Absolutely, does not care about her calorie intake or a healthy diet (Seriously, Girl has gone full gamer mode with the amount of Fizzy Faz, straw drinks, and pizza boxes in areas with her presence in them)
- Hobbies in painting or graffiti
- Likes or used to like Glitchtrap or maybe William Afton (I talk about this in the secret ending)
- Loves Fazbear Entertainment (Vanny uses red spray paint in Ruin and has drawn two hearts on the FAZ ENT. Logo in the main Lobby)
- Likes Toy Chica
- Likes the Daycare Attendant (She seems to be fond of Moon more)
- Likes to read, or at least, read about the World History of Fazbear Entertainment
- Likes Flowers, a specific species of them(that I can't determine right now)
- Likes summer
- Is a mechanic or roboticist or both (She making something in Ruin Fazerblast and has turned Ruin Monty into her lapdog among other things)
- Super lazy (This one may or may not be true, but unless there's a good reason why she refuses to clean up her room in Fazer Blast, this is staying right here as far as I'm concerned)
Anyway, as you can see, there are some very similar likes between the two and very stark differences in traits as well. I'm not about to list them to save word space, but instead, I want to answer a question. Could Vanessa still be Vanny despite their differences? This isn't so much for me, but for the people who believe Vanny = Vanessa despite my Double-V evidence.
At first, I thought there might've been a chance for that as they both like flowers, to read, and enjoy the outside, or at least the summer in Vanny's case. But now, after listing everything out they're just too different to say they're the same.
Even if we say that Vanny's love of pizza, general bad diet, and trashy room is the result of Vanessa coping with her depression and her situation with Glitchtrap and that her graffiti is the by-product of therapy, along with her interest in growing flowers. That doesn't negate the fact that in Ruin when given the chance to express her anxiety, Vanny doesn't take it.
If you don't know, on the wall where Vanny drew her face next to a slice of pizza in the main lobby near the Superstar Daycare entrance, there is a painted graph. The artist who made the graph also wrote on the right side of it; "TAG YOURSELF".
On all four sides of the graph, the artist made the furthest sides of them represent something. The top Y-axis is Wizard, the bottom Y-axis is Cedar, the left X-axis is Filled with a word that ends in a y, and the right X-axis is Filled with anxiety.
What this graph is showing, or what the artist trying to convey with it, is that each of the four points represents not quite the opposite thing but the furthest thing from each other. Of which, Vanny decided to tag herself on the [furthest left X-axis](https://imgur.com/j9ND1V3), not the right.
This tells us that Vanny feels the furthest thing from anxiety. Something Vanessa, no matter if she's under Glitchtrap's control or not, would be constantly feeling as she suffers from it.
As for what she's feeling, I don't know, the word on the left graph is unreadable and covered by Vanny's face to make it almost impossible to decipher. But what I do know without a doubt, is that Vanny and Vanessa are indeed, two different people with some common likes and polar opposite traits.
So after everything I've talked about in the last three? four? However many parts I've been going over Double-V, what is the best possible answer for the "To The Rooftop" ending stinger. Why do Vanny and Vanessa look alike?
I tried, I really did. I looked for as much possible evidence for anything that doesn't just make me give up and say "She's a Fazgoo clone!" or "She's a robot!"
If Vanny was a stranger who mimicked Vanessa's face, then that's cool and horrifying, but only where it concerns Vanessa herself. (The horrifying part, not the cool part.) It doesn't give us reasons why she would do it in the first place or a way to connect it to the greater lore and Glitchtrap, besides she's a human Mimic. Basically, it lacks motivation from everyone in the Villian party.
So it leaves me with no other conclusion except for one.
Back when the marketing for Security Breach was building up to its release. Steel Wool released four old Freddy cartoon episodes on their YouTube channel. Each episode hides a teaser image for the lore, including a character from the games with words, along with a character stinger at the end.
The last carton, which is the most distorted one, just so happened to include Vanessa as the hidden teaser, and Vanny as the character stinger at the end. And before you all jump the gun, previous episodes have already established that the hidden character teasers have no correlation to the ending Character stinger.
Now, the words in the Vanessa teaser image are quite interesting. It includes "Test and Rat" in the upper right corner, "Pool" in the bottom left corner, and "Bleak Reactant".
Test and Rat could be Test rat or Laboratory rat (Lab rat) as in the species of rat that are bred and kept for scientific research. Lab rat here can also be referring to Vanessa being a lab rat for the villain's experiment for something.
Using that explanation, "Pool" would then mean group or pool of people, which means number of people available for an organization or group to use. So Pool would mean that Vanessa was chosen out of all the Fazbear employees or people in general to be used for the experiment.
This leaves us with Bleak Reactant, which the definition of reactant is a substance that takes part in and experiences change during a reaction, while the definition of bleak could mean lacking vegetation (an area of land), dreary (a room), miserable(the weather), or unfavorable (outcome.)
All of this together means that Vanessa was chosen by the villains out of a group of people to be used for an experiment. An experiment of a change in Vanessa that predicted an unfavorable outcome for the villains.
Vanessa was going to be the next Vanny or maybe something else.
That gives a reason why the villains were so interested in her, why she would be shopping for a costume, why she would be at the Pizzaplex, and why she would be still connected to the villains when someone else is Vanny.
But the reason she was chosen in the first place, why her out of a group of people that might've included Gregory in it too, is because the one who chose her was her own twin sister.
If anyone remembers my only Ruin theory then you would remember my mentioning of Glitchtrap's and Vanny's conversation from Scott's website from a Security Breach poster.
Glitchtrap: "Stay the course."
Vanny: "I will."
Glitchtrap: "Focus on my voice."
Vanny: "I will."
Glitchtrap: "Don't let anyone lead you astray."
Vanny: “I won't.”
Glitchtrap: "Have you selected one?"
Vanny: "I have."
In my theory, I proposed that Gregory was the one that Vanny mentioned selecting here. But now, with all the revelations and new information gained, I believe Vanessa works better here. Vanny would've chosen someone for an experiment that she personally knew of or gotten to know, and who better than her own sibling that she grew up with.
Remember, Vanny is just starting out in her following of Glitchtrap. So would be new to the whole evil thing. And most of the time, the people close to you are the ones that would most likely commit a crime against you.
As for the twin sister thing, it actually didn't come from the "To The Rooftop" ending, but a discussion from the GTlive stream where Mat hosted a little get-together with some of the FNAF YouTuber theorists after Security Breach. There, John Fuhnaff suggested the idea for it from the VR Sisters boss from the Security Breach game Scott made when Security Breach got delayed again.
It's something that I saw some merit in after I discovered the Vanny ≠ Vanessa and after disproving in my head that Vanny wasn't Tape Girl either. The best part of the twin sister thing is that there's no need to throw out all that we know from Vanessa's therapy sessions as they both share the divorced parent's backstory.
As for which is the order twin between the two, I believe Vanessa is the oldest since it makes sense that her father would use the oldest to testify against their mother as she would better understand his instructions. Plus it provides a potential grudge from Vanny to Vanessa for what happened to their mother and a misguided parental affection for Glitchtrap. Unless Vanny's just a fangirl of William Afton, which could be the case.
Also, this means that the reason Vanessa looks the way she does in "To The Rooftop" end credits is because she looking at her dead sister. Oof, I realized that this also means she would've been the one who finds what's left of her in the "Disassemble Vanny" ending too. No wonder Faz Ent. is temporarily closed if they find that one employee is disassembled and the other one is having a mental breakdown from it in the morning.
But what about the "Redemption" ending? We know that by beating PQ3 both Glitchtrap and Vanny are defeated in it. What happens to her then? Where did she go? Hmm... I'm not sure.
What happens when someone is unmerged after being merged for a long time? Unlike Vanessa, we know that Vanny lives in the Pizzaplex. Even by Ruin and Help Wanted 2, she's still living in the building despite its condition so she probably needs time to think and process what happened to her and what's she done. Oh, and therapy. And a house.
But I think that just about wraps everything up for— Wait, HW2's Candy Cadet story! I forgot all about it! I know some people mentioned that the second story had to do with Vanessa, Gregory, and Gltichtrap. Let me skim through that real quick for clues.
Oh. Oh, that's really interesting... But it along with the Jeremy and the Memory dolls can wait until after next time. Sorry for the little to no pictures, I needed space to fit everything in one post and wanted to get everything about Double-V out of the way before I go on hiatus.
Don't worry it has nothing to do with burnout. It won't be too long either, though knowing my track record when saying that, you probably don't believe me.
Truth is, I've been severely neglecting my YouTube channel, and should really start catching up the YouTube version of my series with the online version. Plus, I've got more "Prove it!" to work on.
But most important of all, my birthday is coming up, and I don't want to work, think, or have anything to do with my FNAF stuff on that day. So! Feel free to read and become full with these last few Parts until I come back with more.
2024.06.09 21:05 VexedBear1 How do you manage your anger?
Hey, I’ve been diagnosed with CPTSD a few years ago - I’m working through my trauma and have been going to talk therapy for many years consistently. One thing I cannot manage is my anger that surfaces up.
My therapist said I have to continue cbt and journaling and practice observing my memories and emotions and not let them define me. He said I kept these emotions and let my mom abu** me constantly so it’s natural it needs to surface up. But I feel like I can explode any moment. So far I haven’t done that to anyone because I don’t want to be like my mom but when I’m so angry I just lock myself up and scream in my pillow.
Long story short: how do yall manage anger? Does it get better? Will this feeling go away?
For context: I grew up with a narcissistic mom who has BPD and refuses to medicate. My father adores her (how?) and accepts her abuse and would break our physical fights but always told me to empathize with mom. It messed me up so bad because I grew up trauma bonded to them and later in life realized I was just serving their needs. I cannot be who I want to be, they were emotionally distant. Yes I was lucky they provided food, a roof over my head, and sent me to school but I later realized… wtf they actually didn’t parent me. Screamed at me when I didn’t perform well and pretending to have a loving family infront of others. When I said I was depressed they didn’t take it seriously until I actually almost d**d. When I was punched by my ex they asked I what I did to anger him. So yeah.
Thank you, please be kind I really have no one to talk to and I feel so lost …
submitted by VexedBear1 to CPTSD [link] [comments]
- I practiced observing my thoughts and letting my emotions rise and accepting it
- I journal
- I am better at knowing my triggers
My therapist said I have to continue cbt and journaling and practice observing my memories and emotions and not let them define me. He said I kept these emotions and let my mom abu** me constantly so it’s natural it needs to surface up. But I feel like I can explode any moment. So far I haven’t done that to anyone because I don’t want to be like my mom but when I’m so angry I just lock myself up and scream in my pillow.
Long story short: how do yall manage anger? Does it get better? Will this feeling go away?
For context: I grew up with a narcissistic mom who has BPD and refuses to medicate. My father adores her (how?) and accepts her abuse and would break our physical fights but always told me to empathize with mom. It messed me up so bad because I grew up trauma bonded to them and later in life realized I was just serving their needs. I cannot be who I want to be, they were emotionally distant. Yes I was lucky they provided food, a roof over my head, and sent me to school but I later realized… wtf they actually didn’t parent me. Screamed at me when I didn’t perform well and pretending to have a loving family infront of others. When I said I was depressed they didn’t take it seriously until I actually almost d**d. When I was punched by my ex they asked I what I did to anger him. So yeah.
Thank you, please be kind I really have no one to talk to and I feel so lost …
2024.06.09 20:59 Odd-Crab7707 Serious Allegations about Danny (Repost)
 | I want to preface this by saying that this is not a joke, I'm not one to joke about serious matters like this and it would be insensitive and rude to do so. submitted by Odd-Crab7707 to DannyGonzalez [link] [comments] I also want to make it very clear that these are allegations, I understand that without hard proof or a confession, claims like this shouldn't be treated as hard fact, and I wouldn't expect people to do so, but I do think that the evidence available right now is strong enough for this issue to be seriously considered. I believe that at some point, during the Summer of 2008, Danny Gonzalez kidnapped Neil Patrick Harris and stole his identity, replacing him as the actor for his character 'Barney Stinson' in CBS Sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother' I understand that some people might think that this claim is ridiculous, after all, 'How could he have gotten through NPH's A-list body guards' 'How could he have even gotten to Los Angeles, where the show was filmed, from his childhood home in Wheaton, Illinois', 'Where could he have possibly hid former broadway star Neil Patrick Harris' But I feel that, with all the evidence available, there is enough proof to substantiate this claim, or even to force Danny to properly respond to it. Firstly, I feel like the similarities between them are two great to ignore, both are American-born media personalities, both did theatre work during high school (with NPH even working on Broadway at certain points), and (while their ages are fairly far apart), given Danny's age, NPH is likely about as old as Danny's parents. This means that if Danny tried to assume Harris' identity, it wouldn't be difficult for him to do so because of how similar his and his parents' life were to NPH's And the timelines also match up: The Summer of 2008 was between seasons 3 and 4 of How I Met Your Mother, and there is a noticeable change in Barney's personality during this period. Before season 4, Stinson was a serial womanizer who didn't have feelings for anyone or anything, but season 4 portrays him very differently, as a hopeless romantic yearning for a woman (Female lead Robin Scherbatsky), but not having the courage to take action. This sort of change would occur if a different actor assumed the role of Stinson during this time. Also, the Summer of 2008 was near, right after Danny Gonzalez moved back to the United States from the UK, where he had lived with his family before for a few years. Neil Patrick Harris lived in the United States during this time, and during the summer he would likely have been residing in his childhood home in New Mexico. Is it really a coincidence that as soon as Danny came back from the UK, NPH's acting style suddenly changed? Now you may think 'But didn't Danny live in Illinois? How could he have gone all the way to New Mexico, well in Illinois, the minimum age for a driving learner's permit was 15, which Danny would have been at the time, meaning that Danny could have hijacked his car and driven it to New Mexico, under the guise of 'education'. Also, take a look at these pictures: NPH as the title character in 1989-1993 Sitcom 'Doogie Howser' Danny Gonzalez as the title character in Youtube Channel 'Danny Gonzalez' The first image is of NPH as a child in a different sitcom, 'Doogie Howser', in which he plays a genius child doctor. The second is Danny. Take a look at the resemblance, they have the same eye colour and eyebrow structure. They have the same hair colour and ear shape. They look practically identical. NPH as 'Barney Stinson' in CBS sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother' Look at 'him' as Barney Stinson after Summer 2008, HE LOOKS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. He looks nothing like his young self, has much brighter hair (not shown in the image), and is holding a glass of alcohol, which he did not as a child. Think about it logically, why did NPH previously look just like Danny before the Summer of 2008, but look just totally different after, The only logical explanation is that after Danny abducted him, he didn't want people to be suspicious about there resemblance and thus tried to change his appearance so that he wouldn't get busted for his crime. We know that Danny is a master of disguise from the whole Troy Becker or Ned Flames thing, did you ever stop to think where he learned those skills? He learned it from his previous experience pretending to be NPH. But theres only one question left to ask, Why? Why did Danny go through all this trouble to replace Neil Patrick Harris, how would doing such a thing benifit him? Well you have to thing about it critically. I already mentioned NPH's other show 'Doogie Howser', in which he played a genius child doctor who would save lives through his medical expertise. The show put NPH and his talent at the forefront of American conciousness and made millions of American expectant parents hope that their child could be a medical or acting prodigy like Howser or NPH were. The show ran for 4 years until the very year before Danny was born, meaning that Danny's parents likley would have watched it. This would lead them to hope that Danny would be an acting or medical genius iun the future, which he would not. This was probably the reason that Danny got into theatre, because he wanted to impress his parents by being like Neil Patrick Harris. Eventually, he would've grown frustrated at his inability to make his parents proud by being a successful actor or child-doctor, and would see Harris as a symbol of his failure to acheive these goals. In the end, he would decide that the only way to become Neil Patrick Harris, would be to become Neil Patrick Harris. Then, during the season break, Danny decided to strike. He used his newly gained learner's permit to drive down from Illinois to Albequerque, where NPH lived, before kidnapping and stealing his identity, replacing him as Barney Stinson in CBS sitcom HIMYM, and taking on all of his future acting roles. Over time he would learn to disguise himself, and would later develop an internal split personality. He would wake up some days thinking he was Danny Gonzalez and others thinking he was Neil Patrick Harris, and at some point mabye he began to believe he really was Neil Patrick Harris, we cannot know or look too far into the twisted inner palace of Danny Gonzalez's mind. Danny: if you're eading this, I want you to know that what you're doing is NOT RIGHT. I know it'll be hard to admit the truth after all this time and I bet that you think that you got away with it, but you have to and you didn't. I don't think you're a bad person, just that you made a terrible mistake due to abuse and frustration, and I understand it. But listen: you owe it to your millions of fans, the people around you, and Neil Patrick Harris's real family to be honest. There are people, real people, who are suffering because of your selfish actions, and who you have the power to save from their greiving. And if by any chance, Neil Patrick Harris is still alive, I beg of you, please let him go. I know itll be hard, but in your silence you're only incriminating yourself. The best option for you is to either dispute the allegations or to cooperate with the proper authorities. The choice is yours (Reposted due to the 'Incorrect Flair' being used in the original post, this is clearly just a mod attempt to discredit my theory by labelling it as 'humour', but I don't care because in the end, I know the facts will prevail. |
2024.06.09 20:52 EntertainmentOk8806 Days Gone: 2024 Retrospective Review
Days Gone: A 2024 Retrospective Review
If someone was asked to describe Days Gone they would generally say that at its core it is a zombie survival horror game mixing elements of Sons of Anarchy with The Walking Dead. However, scratch away that basic description and you will find a much deeper game. Taking control of Deacon St. John, a former soldier, now biker with just his bike and his friend Boozer to keep him company in a post apocalyptic world. At the beginning of the game we see that he puts his injured wife on a Nero helicopter to get medical aid, only to still two years later not be able to find her, but despite the general consensus that she is dead, Deacon refuses to believe this. On a chance encounter with O’Brien, the Nero agent who helped his wife escape two years prior, Deacon finds the hope and clue he needs to possibly find his wife.
The post-apocalyptic world is crawling with what are described as ‘Freakers’, not Zombies, more akin to the vampire-like creatures from I Am Legend. These creatures roam in swarms or Hordes as you later find them to be described numbering a few dozen to a few hundred later in the game. If you encounter any of these, you only have two options: Run or Kill. As the game progresses you find more advanced versions of the Freaks such as Screamers who (as you can imagine) scream in a Donald Sutherland in Invasion of the Body Snatchers way to alert all Freaks in the areas and Breakers who are Freaks literally on steroids. Deacon must travel around the map, visiting camps to carry out jobs, destroy the nests where the Freaks live and generally stay alive.
Released in 2019, it sits unfairly between the releases of The Last of Us Parts 1 (2013) and 2 (2020) and so comparisons to these games can be unfair, though understandable. In 2019, the game sold fairly well, hitting sales of six million units, but was savaged by critics for its stale and repetitive gameplay and buggy aesthetics garnering middling reviews throughout. Due to this, the game has been denied a sequel by Sony and fans of the game (myself included) have spent the good part of nearly five years trying to figure out why.
So let’s look at the game with fresh, critical eyes, the way a game would be looked at if it was re-released.
Story
The game’s story has been pulled apart as male chauvinism or egotism and this could not be further from what the game is. The game is about loss, about recovery, trusting people, fear, mental health, staying alive and not giving up hope. Through the sixty hours of gameplay you encounter a number of brilliantly crafted characters from the Truth-Nut Conspiracy theorist Copeland, complete with scary (and unexplained) scarred face, the utterly despicable Tucker and the father-like Iron Mike. Deacon St. John interacts with all the characters with a level of sarcasm, stoicism and also warmth that it is hard to read him, but when you discover his back story, you can understand why. The whole world is falling apart following the outbreak of the virus and it truly is kill or be killed. Deacon will wander around muttering to himself like a madman, but you can truly understand why he would be like this. His relationship with other characters such as Boozer and Rikki is just perfect and you will be forgiven for watching these cutscenes as if they were parts of a real TV show or Movie. It is true that a lot of the scenes are essentially the same one over and over, but it is presented in such a way that I can’t deny that I do love it. My one gripe is that cutscenes can be overlong and so you may find you are watching itching for the point where the ‘Skip’ log will appear.
9/10
Graphics.
On the surface, Days Gone is a beautiful looking game. It is understandable why companies have optioned the story for a theatrical or television adaptation. The environments look and feel real. The character models for many of the main characters look life-like without crossing into uncanny valley territory. Though the number of palette-swap faces for Ambush Camp members or Freaks feels a little lazy. Despite how amazing the game looks it is also, even now, a buggy mess with too many instances of the game just crashing. We have moments Deacon would enter a building only for the building to have lost its texture and you have to figure out how to move around or leave, cars outside that look like they haven’t been finished and Freaks just caught in mid motion or have disappeared. Deacon himself when he crashes his bike is launched with his body being more akin to Woody from Toy Story. Now, this doesn’t happen all the time and a quick restart generally solves it, but for a Triple A game this is not acceptable at all.
7/10
Sound
This game has possibly one of the best soundscapes of any I have ever heard. If you have not played this game with headphones I would recommend it as the overall audio quality of the game from the bikes, guns, Freaks and general background is beautiful. The score by Nathan Whitehead is atmospheric to the point where it makes every time I hear it mean something. His music for The Hordes is as tense and gripping as any horror or suspense film ever created and ranks up there with the Theme from Jaws. The songs used throughout, including a camp singer who will play a song at certain points is again excellent and well worth searching out.
Vocal work by everyone is just amazing and Sam Witwer as Deacon and Jim Pirri as Boozer are perfect in the roles as you would expect. The voice acting is such that I could (if there was an option, more on that later) sit and watch all the cutscenes, if I could.
10/10
Gameplay
The gameplay in Days Gone could be described as shallow, but that would be an insult to shallow things. If you had to list the things you do in the game it’s not much. You drive around, killing Freaks, destroying their nests and later the Hordes of Freaks that are dotted around the map. Some camps give you jobs which are either search missions or search and kill missions, rinse and repeat. At times you have to stealth listen to one of the people from Nero which is essentially just a stealth and don’t get caught mission. The rest of the game is just rinse and repeat of all of this. That’s it. Now, that’s not to say the gameplay isn’t fun and once you get used to playing you will find much to enjoy, but in regard to variety there really isn’t any. There are also far too many ‘escort missions’ that could simply be a cutscene and are so boring to the point where all the fun is drained out of the game. By the end of the game you have also gained so much XP or advantage from Nero injectors which increase you health and stamina or new more powerful weapons that the game becomes too easy and thus no fun anymore.
6/10
Online
There is no online gameplay. There is a Challenge Mode which has a ‘World Rankings’, but this is the only online gaming element that the game offers. This is a shame as there are times when the game would be ideal for a group campaign to take on a Horde or a Camp, but not to be.
0/10
Longevity
This all really depends on how much you love this game. At around sixty hours of gameplay it is hard to say that there isn’t a lengthy game on offer here. But once the game finishes there is very little to actually do. Even an option to watch the cutscenes again would be nice, though they at least let you listen to some of the crazy Copeland Radio Free Oregon rants which is something, I suppose. There are a number of additional options such as New Game+ to play the game again with all your existing XP, Weapons and so on. This is really only for those who want to finish all the additional Hordes with the overpowered weapons to make the game easier. This can backfire by making it too easy. Once you have gone through the difficulty modes, you can also go on to the Challenge Mode which is a number of additional Challenges which you will either love or (like me) be incredibly bad at and not bother with. One of the benefits of this is that you can play these challenges as a number of characters from the game, so if you have grown attached to Boozer, Rikki you can do this. However, by doing this Bend shot themselves in the foot, by making all these characters fully playable it does call into question why more is not done with them? Even if the option was just to be able to play some of the camp missions with these characters it would at least extend the longevity somewhat. As it is, with no daily/weekly/monthly challenges like a lot of games, there really is no reason to come back to this game and maybe with just a few of these it would mean you would come back to the world of Days Gone even more.
4/10
Overall
Days Gone is a game that fans (like myself) love. I have played a full run of this game on every difficulty level, given myself my own restrictions to try and make the game harder or increase the challenge, but overall I can’t help but admit that there is very little reason to play this game more than once. It cannot be defended on a longevity, online and to some extent in regards to the gameplay or graphics and really it is only the sound and story that is keeping the game from being declared awful. It’s not. It’s really not. Those who have played it are begging for a sequel and though Bend could have gauged the popularity of the game with a DLC with more camps and missions, it feels as though the game has been completely abandoned which is a shame. Days Gone is not a game that will be in everyone’s Top Ten, but it is definitely a game that I recommend everyone playing.
7/10
I want to give it more, I truly do, but I just cannot justify it.
submitted by EntertainmentOk8806 to DaysGone [link] [comments]
If someone was asked to describe Days Gone they would generally say that at its core it is a zombie survival horror game mixing elements of Sons of Anarchy with The Walking Dead. However, scratch away that basic description and you will find a much deeper game. Taking control of Deacon St. John, a former soldier, now biker with just his bike and his friend Boozer to keep him company in a post apocalyptic world. At the beginning of the game we see that he puts his injured wife on a Nero helicopter to get medical aid, only to still two years later not be able to find her, but despite the general consensus that she is dead, Deacon refuses to believe this. On a chance encounter with O’Brien, the Nero agent who helped his wife escape two years prior, Deacon finds the hope and clue he needs to possibly find his wife.
The post-apocalyptic world is crawling with what are described as ‘Freakers’, not Zombies, more akin to the vampire-like creatures from I Am Legend. These creatures roam in swarms or Hordes as you later find them to be described numbering a few dozen to a few hundred later in the game. If you encounter any of these, you only have two options: Run or Kill. As the game progresses you find more advanced versions of the Freaks such as Screamers who (as you can imagine) scream in a Donald Sutherland in Invasion of the Body Snatchers way to alert all Freaks in the areas and Breakers who are Freaks literally on steroids. Deacon must travel around the map, visiting camps to carry out jobs, destroy the nests where the Freaks live and generally stay alive.
Released in 2019, it sits unfairly between the releases of The Last of Us Parts 1 (2013) and 2 (2020) and so comparisons to these games can be unfair, though understandable. In 2019, the game sold fairly well, hitting sales of six million units, but was savaged by critics for its stale and repetitive gameplay and buggy aesthetics garnering middling reviews throughout. Due to this, the game has been denied a sequel by Sony and fans of the game (myself included) have spent the good part of nearly five years trying to figure out why.
So let’s look at the game with fresh, critical eyes, the way a game would be looked at if it was re-released.
Story
The game’s story has been pulled apart as male chauvinism or egotism and this could not be further from what the game is. The game is about loss, about recovery, trusting people, fear, mental health, staying alive and not giving up hope. Through the sixty hours of gameplay you encounter a number of brilliantly crafted characters from the Truth-Nut Conspiracy theorist Copeland, complete with scary (and unexplained) scarred face, the utterly despicable Tucker and the father-like Iron Mike. Deacon St. John interacts with all the characters with a level of sarcasm, stoicism and also warmth that it is hard to read him, but when you discover his back story, you can understand why. The whole world is falling apart following the outbreak of the virus and it truly is kill or be killed. Deacon will wander around muttering to himself like a madman, but you can truly understand why he would be like this. His relationship with other characters such as Boozer and Rikki is just perfect and you will be forgiven for watching these cutscenes as if they were parts of a real TV show or Movie. It is true that a lot of the scenes are essentially the same one over and over, but it is presented in such a way that I can’t deny that I do love it. My one gripe is that cutscenes can be overlong and so you may find you are watching itching for the point where the ‘Skip’ log will appear.
9/10
Graphics.
On the surface, Days Gone is a beautiful looking game. It is understandable why companies have optioned the story for a theatrical or television adaptation. The environments look and feel real. The character models for many of the main characters look life-like without crossing into uncanny valley territory. Though the number of palette-swap faces for Ambush Camp members or Freaks feels a little lazy. Despite how amazing the game looks it is also, even now, a buggy mess with too many instances of the game just crashing. We have moments Deacon would enter a building only for the building to have lost its texture and you have to figure out how to move around or leave, cars outside that look like they haven’t been finished and Freaks just caught in mid motion or have disappeared. Deacon himself when he crashes his bike is launched with his body being more akin to Woody from Toy Story. Now, this doesn’t happen all the time and a quick restart generally solves it, but for a Triple A game this is not acceptable at all.
7/10
Sound
This game has possibly one of the best soundscapes of any I have ever heard. If you have not played this game with headphones I would recommend it as the overall audio quality of the game from the bikes, guns, Freaks and general background is beautiful. The score by Nathan Whitehead is atmospheric to the point where it makes every time I hear it mean something. His music for The Hordes is as tense and gripping as any horror or suspense film ever created and ranks up there with the Theme from Jaws. The songs used throughout, including a camp singer who will play a song at certain points is again excellent and well worth searching out.
Vocal work by everyone is just amazing and Sam Witwer as Deacon and Jim Pirri as Boozer are perfect in the roles as you would expect. The voice acting is such that I could (if there was an option, more on that later) sit and watch all the cutscenes, if I could.
10/10
Gameplay
The gameplay in Days Gone could be described as shallow, but that would be an insult to shallow things. If you had to list the things you do in the game it’s not much. You drive around, killing Freaks, destroying their nests and later the Hordes of Freaks that are dotted around the map. Some camps give you jobs which are either search missions or search and kill missions, rinse and repeat. At times you have to stealth listen to one of the people from Nero which is essentially just a stealth and don’t get caught mission. The rest of the game is just rinse and repeat of all of this. That’s it. Now, that’s not to say the gameplay isn’t fun and once you get used to playing you will find much to enjoy, but in regard to variety there really isn’t any. There are also far too many ‘escort missions’ that could simply be a cutscene and are so boring to the point where all the fun is drained out of the game. By the end of the game you have also gained so much XP or advantage from Nero injectors which increase you health and stamina or new more powerful weapons that the game becomes too easy and thus no fun anymore.
6/10
Online
There is no online gameplay. There is a Challenge Mode which has a ‘World Rankings’, but this is the only online gaming element that the game offers. This is a shame as there are times when the game would be ideal for a group campaign to take on a Horde or a Camp, but not to be.
0/10
Longevity
This all really depends on how much you love this game. At around sixty hours of gameplay it is hard to say that there isn’t a lengthy game on offer here. But once the game finishes there is very little to actually do. Even an option to watch the cutscenes again would be nice, though they at least let you listen to some of the crazy Copeland Radio Free Oregon rants which is something, I suppose. There are a number of additional options such as New Game+ to play the game again with all your existing XP, Weapons and so on. This is really only for those who want to finish all the additional Hordes with the overpowered weapons to make the game easier. This can backfire by making it too easy. Once you have gone through the difficulty modes, you can also go on to the Challenge Mode which is a number of additional Challenges which you will either love or (like me) be incredibly bad at and not bother with. One of the benefits of this is that you can play these challenges as a number of characters from the game, so if you have grown attached to Boozer, Rikki you can do this. However, by doing this Bend shot themselves in the foot, by making all these characters fully playable it does call into question why more is not done with them? Even if the option was just to be able to play some of the camp missions with these characters it would at least extend the longevity somewhat. As it is, with no daily/weekly/monthly challenges like a lot of games, there really is no reason to come back to this game and maybe with just a few of these it would mean you would come back to the world of Days Gone even more.
4/10
Overall
Days Gone is a game that fans (like myself) love. I have played a full run of this game on every difficulty level, given myself my own restrictions to try and make the game harder or increase the challenge, but overall I can’t help but admit that there is very little reason to play this game more than once. It cannot be defended on a longevity, online and to some extent in regards to the gameplay or graphics and really it is only the sound and story that is keeping the game from being declared awful. It’s not. It’s really not. Those who have played it are begging for a sequel and though Bend could have gauged the popularity of the game with a DLC with more camps and missions, it feels as though the game has been completely abandoned which is a shame. Days Gone is not a game that will be in everyone’s Top Ten, but it is definitely a game that I recommend everyone playing.
7/10
I want to give it more, I truly do, but I just cannot justify it.
2024.06.09 20:46 Ok_Bumblebee_5042 Borrowed Time not to be paid back
 | Borrowed Time not to be Paid Back. submitted by Ok_Bumblebee_5042 to u/Ok_Bumblebee_5042 [link] [comments] It is sometime in the heat of Texas of 1998 and I find myself being asked by my mom if I own any guns or specifically a shotgun. She also asked if I knew how to make home made pipe bombs. Of course, I said No. Why was I being asked this- well here is what lead up to that moment in my confused hormone infused age of 16. Not fitting in with the crowd and not getting the attention by the opposite gender… dampened by daily outlook on what was my short stint of the HS Years. One could say I was the Charlie Brown cartoon that had all the dirt around him... I was grungy to say the least. I played the part well which in turn became who I was… which I regretted many years ago into y adulthood. (Bill Collectors just called me at 1240pm cst) I so hoped for that somehow… some way… a girl which I had a huge crush would notice me but this led to more self-induced let downs. How could I let such a woman, let alone a crowd that wouldn’t accept me get away with it… I manifested the hate, the embarrassment of wanting to fit in, the depression from the ingredients of a cliché family…to become vengeance. Yes, I wanted to kill myself many of times but my hormones and desire to have sex … kind of saved me. Sadly, I wish it was another topic that saved me but for now... ill leave it at that…sex. So, prior to this… I was seeing a psychiatrist and school psychologist ( did attend a special HS for students with Anger issues/depression or just plain psycho ) which had me take an array of medicines and such. All these pills did not help because the help I sought was the acceptance of the crowd I wish to belong apart of. So here I am… I had a teacher try to reach out to me on an emotional level to try and help me up so to say but all I could so is… think how I could Kil every student who was apart of the crowd, kill every teacher I found to be close to the crowd, and even teachers who I viewed as disowning of their own race (stupid and immature- this I know, but I was young and full of testosterone). Id write down plans on how to squeeze everyone running out of the same exits, so I could aim for the middle. Id come up with plans to blow and set fire to the sides exits as to force all to exit the building in one area... I had so many ideas and blueprints that it became my obsession. Long Story short- I want to fit in… I don’t fit in. I need help but I forced myself to believe my own medicine. On a Wed, I stated to a teacher, Fuck Off, you all will dead by Friday and I’m going to shoot all of you all & blow this school to hell. I probably didn’t say it like that but yeah… close enough. I got escorted out by the School Cop and sent home. School calls my mom and then I asked The Questions. I did tell my psychiatrist at the time but when I recall him writing more down on his notepad... I back tracked and said it was all a dream I had been having caused by the meds. Its 2024- Columbine is the past which still shows its face yearly and all I can think... it all started with two teenagers who probably just wanted to fit in and have sex. I am now 43 , on the verge of loosing my House, On the verge on getting Fired from my Career, Divorced for 5 years, wanting to kill myself but can’t being I will not be the cause of my mom’s heart attack which she would have- Another Story, and literally living on 50 dollars every two weeks. Swing Set- 43yo and how the hell did I get here. Was it sleeping in the hallways of hotels and motels as my dad had affairs and didn’t want me to know ( id travel with my dad for his job in hopes of getting some bonding and love, I was around 7yo ) … was it my stuttering in elementary, was it when I punched a kid with a pacemaker in the 1st grade which had me paddled by a principle in heels ? was it my disgraceful pushing of my first GF to have 2 abortions when I was 17? Was it that I used zip lock bags for condoms when I thought you had to be 18 to buy them? OR was it that I left a loving church when I was 17, listed my anxiety panic attacks more than the love of my mother, dove headfirst into the pool of music sex drugs lust and life only to find out the pool I jumped into had no water and just became more ingredient of what my life would become…. FUCKED UP. The only thing that kept the shakes of Life at bay, was my only sweet candy 1mg Ativan! Surprised I didn’t abuse it!!! This I can assure you… I took it once or twice a day ( bad times that happen ) and now I just got off of it. SUCKS. I was on it since the aged of 20 to now… 43. I am trying to live in the moment and I tell myself… smile.. enjoy the moment….for tomorrow you may be dead or coming face to face with God. All that matters is the love for my mom and doing what I can to feel “okay” with God. I cant take a credit score, house, car, or paycheck to hell, heaven, or whatever is on the other side but I am positive its hell or heaven. Man I miss being a good Christian when I was a child. Yeah it was easier… no responsibilities…just being a kid ( still in a bad childhood ) finding comfort in a church and feeling loved. The problem also for me is this… when I am told not to do something.. I tke great joy in do those things. Don’t press the red button…. Well im going to press it and jackoff… and do it with a smile. Now… nothing is taboo anymore.. Nothing!!!! People are free to be what they want… So if you cant fit in… become what you want… which is damning. Many things need to be left taboo to let others such as myself take joy in doing things when told not to. Sensitive people ruining the days and nights… claiming to want freedom but all they do is make restrictions by their own desire and lack of others needs. YOU cannot savor the taste of freedom without some laws/restrictions. Even our own bodies have restrictions, without guidance, you have chaos and death. Where is the true pleasure in that. And will society admit, us as humans, we stereotype from the get-go, its our only way to perceive what’s out there and sometimes new. Safe or Dangerous, Good or bad. Its for the other side to help transform the initial stereotype or the leave it as is. We damn ourselves or we can pave the way for ourselves to better us. BTW… Porn was better when it was rainbow colored leaving us to view it sideways which enhanced our imagination. I am not talking about the alphabet group rainbow but… porn … when you had to view it on 99 and it was blurry as hell! Nothing is taboo! Depression Anxiety comes from our bodies which is always trying to adapt and push the envelope but becomes a chaos of a mess when parenting is has done all but the things it was supposed to do… to make a healthy child become an adult. Am I an Adult- I pay my needed bills on time, but I am boke and losing my house/calife. I feed myself but I am fat and over eat to kill the dark pains of life. I go to work but wear a costume of having it together. I am tough but inside I am weaker than an egg with a broken shell. I love but love as child does… full heartedly and naïve. I am now looking for hourly jobs in other states… telling myself... if shit hits the fan… I can just run away… live in a hooker motel and just breathe. Truth is…. I am only alive so if my mom is alive…. Unless God touches me one more time. I go to church here and there but I when I cry… I yawn and feel guilty. I do not want to go to church only when I need help… and how will I find a Christian woman that can deal with my fetishes unless gods touches me…let alone deal with a financial mess of a fat man that I am. I am a child stuck in an old man’s body. I am a so disillusioned that I use “ I “ way too much and offend others that are sensitive daily. Its not that I am sarcastic but come on.. we all hurt. BTW… I so Dislike the IRS! Welp… here I am.. writing on borrowed time not to be paid back… I did once had a rattle snake wrap around my led in a California orange orchid… didn’t bite me… and I was pissing too when the snake wrapped around my ankle. I also did have sex with a woman in which after, I jumped out her apartment window, ran across some field, jumped on a train and took off. I do like the song.. never marry a railroad man by shocking blue. Ill end with this… God if your reading this. HELP ME PLEASE! If not… let me see my daughters in heaven before you send me down to hell… and also let me hug my mom on last time.. even if she does not recognize me… I know shell be going upstairs… not certain about me right now though. Im just a lost child pretending to be a normal adult. I was not meant to be flooded with so many choices in life.. I would have been good with yes or no, left or right, a or b, and only seeing the primary colors… not the many shades of life! We're the artist of our own lives, no one else! Every waking moment is a new clean blank canvas. If today is dark dull painful and full of history, well the next waking canvas morning, use brighter colors! We, you ... decide what colors to use and what to paint. We choose to be happy cause it is a choice but a tough one. Life is too short to live man's time. Live by your own paints, your own clock, and your beat! https://preview.redd.it/ilnukfbjel5d1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=74961df2fe2ed3360a0f8a370302276c3c76e032 |
2024.06.09 20:19 Nan0Fighter Vampire Mother & Daughter PART 3 [F4M] [Vampire] [Feeding] [Betrayal]
Summary: Roxy manages to capture a human and she brings that human as an offering to her mother. Her mother accepts the offering and spares the listener. Now, it is time for Roxy to turn the listener into a vampire
Usage: You can use this script wherever you want as long as you credit me. I would love to listen the finished audio, please don't forget to send a link
Previous Part: https://www.reddit.com/ASMRScriptHaven/comments/1d78f4w/vampire_mother_daughter_part_2_f4m_vampire/
__________________________________________________________________________________________
(Roxy opens the door and enters the room)
Hello, my love! I’m back.
(She gets closer to the listener)
I was afraid that my mother would hurt you when I was gone. You are okay, right? Let me take a look at you.
(She starts examining the listener)
Well, looks like she didn’t touch you. You seem to be… Wait, what’s that?
(She sees the bite mark on the listener’s neck)
I can’t believe this! She couldn’t keep her filthy fangs away from you, huh? I am so sorry my love.
(She starts stroking the listener’s face)
I am here now. Don’t worry. From now on she can’t hurt you. I will always be at your side. I’ll never leave your side again.
(Pause)
She talked about me? Oh, really? Tell me my love, what did she say?
(Pause)
Lies… Lies and more lies. I hope you didn’t believe anything she said.
(Pause)
She thinks I’m defenseless?
[Laugh]
If only she knew… If only she knew how wrong she is.
(Pause)
Let me tell you the biggest lie about her… She is not my mother! Imagine my suprise when I found out the truth. For years, I’ve lived with her. For years, I’ve called this filthy liar “mother”. I learned that my real mother died long time ago. It seems that she married my dad for his money. I searched her past and nothing. She’s not from a wealthy or royal family. I think she saw te opportunity and seduced my dad. I also believe that she’s not telling me truth about my father’s death. She told me he was killed by a vampire hunter. I don’t have evidence but I believe that she killed my father and acquired all of my families riches. The question is why didn’t she get rid of me? What’s she planning? I’ve asked around, talked with the members of my clan but nothing. Either they are turning a blind eye or they really don’t know anything.
[Sigh]
Anyway… I was furious. My whole life was a lie and that’s because of her. I wanted to kill her but I wasn’t powerful enough. I needed to get stronger, so I started hunting. Every night, she thinks that I’m at the library reading books but actually I’m out there… Hunting! I’ve killed and hunted so many humans that I’ve lost count. I’ve gained the strenghth I want and that old fool still thinks that I’m defenseless. The first part of my plan is complete. Now, let’s talk about the second and the third part. The second part is turning you into a vampire. I need you!
(She pulls out a special dagger from her back)
See this! This is a special dagger crafted many centruies ago. I am going to use this to kill my mother but I have a problem. In order to activate this dagger’s power, I need another vampire. See this little red gem inside the handle. In order to unleash the true power of this gem we need to hold this dagger together. That’s why I need you. I need you to help me achieve my plan.
(Pause)
What are you talking about? LOVE? What love?
(Pause)
What? You thought I loved you? Well, you are good looking, I’ll give you that but that’s it. Sorry to break your heart dear but I treated you kindly because I needed you on my side. I’m not in the mood for love right now. All I need is revenge. I have to finish her before she understands I’m plotting something.
(Pause)
What happens if you refuse to help me? Well, I’ll leave you to my mother and she’ll kill you. If that’s what you want, I’m fine with that. Don’t forget! You are just a tool in my mission, not an essential. My mother will keep bringing new humans after you. I can always find a new one but you really have no choice here. Do you really want to become her meal?
(Pause)
Alright! I’m glad you made the right choice. First things first, I have to turn you into a vampire. In order to do that, I am going to bite you then you are going to drink my blood. The process will take some time. When you wake up, you will be powerless, weak. I’ll feed you with my own blood. This might take a day or more than that. Don’t worry, my dear mother won’t disturb us. She’s pretty busy with her new prey right now. After you manage to gather some strength we’ll move on to next phase in my plan. While she’s sleeping, we are going to enter her room. I have a gun and a single silver bullet. I am going to wound her with that silver bullet. She’ll be too weak to defend herself. Is everything clear up to this point?
(Pause)
Okay, because here comes the tricky part. We are going to stab her with this dagger but in order to activate the gem’s power we have to hold it together and the gem must be covered in our blood. Here’s how we are going to do this. First we are going to cut our palms, then we are going to hold the blade together. Our blood will soak the gem and then it will unleash the dagger’s true power. And finally we are going to stab her with the dagger. Don’t forget! We must aim at her heart. Is everything clear?
(Pause)
Of course it’s going to be complicated. It’s a dagger made to kill vampires. Can you imagine something like that falling into a human’s hand. With precautions like that we don’t have to worry about anything. I have been studying this dagger for some time. It was made centruies ago by my ancestors. It is a weapon made by vampires to kill vampires. You see, we live in secrecy. We always lived like that but sometimes some of our family members like to cause chaos. When that happens it is our duty to finish them. We have very strict rules and laws and every vampire has to obey them. You can’t kill a vampire without a reason. If one of the members of our clan finds out about this, I’ll be kicked out of my clan and be forced to exile. That’s why I need you. I can’t just go out and find a random vampire to help me. I hope you can understand me.
(Pause)
Thank you and I’m very sorry if I broke your heart. I didn’t mean to play with your emotions. I just needed help and you were there. After we kill her, I’m going to pack my stuff and leave. If you want, you can come with me. I’ll teach you the ways of the vampire. I’ll teach you how to be a creature of the night.
(Pause)
Why do I make an offer like that? Well, I kind of feel guilty for tricking you into a situation like this. It’s the least I can do, right?
(Pause)
You don’t have to follow me, of course. You can go your own way and start building your new life as a vampire. The process is hard though, especially the first year. Your whole body will be adjusting to the change, you will be powerless and most of the time you will need help. That’s why I offered to help you but like I said, it’s up to you.
(Pause)
Yeah, you are right. Anyway, we’ll talk about that later. I’m asking you again. Did you understand the plan? There’s no room for error here. If we mess this up, she’ll kill both of us.
(Pause)
Yeah, me too. I already told you, I am not her real daughter. So… Are you ready?
(Pause)
First, I am going to bite you and drain your blood. After that, I am going to give you my blood. Shall we begin?
(Pause)
Okay, here I come… Don’t worry, It won’t hurt a lot.
[Vampire bite]
Lay your head on my lap. And now…
(She bites her wrist and spills all the blood to the listener’s mouth)
Drink my blood!
(Pause)
Close your eyes and let the change begin. Don’t resist… Don’t fight. Just accept it. It will be easier that way… I’ll be here when you wake up. Now, close your eyes and get ready to born again!
THE END
submitted by Nan0Fighter to ASMRScriptHaven [link] [comments]
Usage: You can use this script wherever you want as long as you credit me. I would love to listen the finished audio, please don't forget to send a link
Previous Part: https://www.reddit.com/ASMRScriptHaven/comments/1d78f4w/vampire_mother_daughter_part_2_f4m_vampire/
__________________________________________________________________________________________
(Roxy opens the door and enters the room)
Hello, my love! I’m back.
(She gets closer to the listener)
I was afraid that my mother would hurt you when I was gone. You are okay, right? Let me take a look at you.
(She starts examining the listener)
Well, looks like she didn’t touch you. You seem to be… Wait, what’s that?
(She sees the bite mark on the listener’s neck)
I can’t believe this! She couldn’t keep her filthy fangs away from you, huh? I am so sorry my love.
(She starts stroking the listener’s face)
I am here now. Don’t worry. From now on she can’t hurt you. I will always be at your side. I’ll never leave your side again.
(Pause)
She talked about me? Oh, really? Tell me my love, what did she say?
(Pause)
Lies… Lies and more lies. I hope you didn’t believe anything she said.
(Pause)
She thinks I’m defenseless?
[Laugh]
If only she knew… If only she knew how wrong she is.
(Pause)
Let me tell you the biggest lie about her… She is not my mother! Imagine my suprise when I found out the truth. For years, I’ve lived with her. For years, I’ve called this filthy liar “mother”. I learned that my real mother died long time ago. It seems that she married my dad for his money. I searched her past and nothing. She’s not from a wealthy or royal family. I think she saw te opportunity and seduced my dad. I also believe that she’s not telling me truth about my father’s death. She told me he was killed by a vampire hunter. I don’t have evidence but I believe that she killed my father and acquired all of my families riches. The question is why didn’t she get rid of me? What’s she planning? I’ve asked around, talked with the members of my clan but nothing. Either they are turning a blind eye or they really don’t know anything.
[Sigh]
Anyway… I was furious. My whole life was a lie and that’s because of her. I wanted to kill her but I wasn’t powerful enough. I needed to get stronger, so I started hunting. Every night, she thinks that I’m at the library reading books but actually I’m out there… Hunting! I’ve killed and hunted so many humans that I’ve lost count. I’ve gained the strenghth I want and that old fool still thinks that I’m defenseless. The first part of my plan is complete. Now, let’s talk about the second and the third part. The second part is turning you into a vampire. I need you!
(She pulls out a special dagger from her back)
See this! This is a special dagger crafted many centruies ago. I am going to use this to kill my mother but I have a problem. In order to activate this dagger’s power, I need another vampire. See this little red gem inside the handle. In order to unleash the true power of this gem we need to hold this dagger together. That’s why I need you. I need you to help me achieve my plan.
(Pause)
What are you talking about? LOVE? What love?
(Pause)
What? You thought I loved you? Well, you are good looking, I’ll give you that but that’s it. Sorry to break your heart dear but I treated you kindly because I needed you on my side. I’m not in the mood for love right now. All I need is revenge. I have to finish her before she understands I’m plotting something.
(Pause)
What happens if you refuse to help me? Well, I’ll leave you to my mother and she’ll kill you. If that’s what you want, I’m fine with that. Don’t forget! You are just a tool in my mission, not an essential. My mother will keep bringing new humans after you. I can always find a new one but you really have no choice here. Do you really want to become her meal?
(Pause)
Alright! I’m glad you made the right choice. First things first, I have to turn you into a vampire. In order to do that, I am going to bite you then you are going to drink my blood. The process will take some time. When you wake up, you will be powerless, weak. I’ll feed you with my own blood. This might take a day or more than that. Don’t worry, my dear mother won’t disturb us. She’s pretty busy with her new prey right now. After you manage to gather some strength we’ll move on to next phase in my plan. While she’s sleeping, we are going to enter her room. I have a gun and a single silver bullet. I am going to wound her with that silver bullet. She’ll be too weak to defend herself. Is everything clear up to this point?
(Pause)
Okay, because here comes the tricky part. We are going to stab her with this dagger but in order to activate the gem’s power we have to hold it together and the gem must be covered in our blood. Here’s how we are going to do this. First we are going to cut our palms, then we are going to hold the blade together. Our blood will soak the gem and then it will unleash the dagger’s true power. And finally we are going to stab her with the dagger. Don’t forget! We must aim at her heart. Is everything clear?
(Pause)
Of course it’s going to be complicated. It’s a dagger made to kill vampires. Can you imagine something like that falling into a human’s hand. With precautions like that we don’t have to worry about anything. I have been studying this dagger for some time. It was made centruies ago by my ancestors. It is a weapon made by vampires to kill vampires. You see, we live in secrecy. We always lived like that but sometimes some of our family members like to cause chaos. When that happens it is our duty to finish them. We have very strict rules and laws and every vampire has to obey them. You can’t kill a vampire without a reason. If one of the members of our clan finds out about this, I’ll be kicked out of my clan and be forced to exile. That’s why I need you. I can’t just go out and find a random vampire to help me. I hope you can understand me.
(Pause)
Thank you and I’m very sorry if I broke your heart. I didn’t mean to play with your emotions. I just needed help and you were there. After we kill her, I’m going to pack my stuff and leave. If you want, you can come with me. I’ll teach you the ways of the vampire. I’ll teach you how to be a creature of the night.
(Pause)
Why do I make an offer like that? Well, I kind of feel guilty for tricking you into a situation like this. It’s the least I can do, right?
(Pause)
You don’t have to follow me, of course. You can go your own way and start building your new life as a vampire. The process is hard though, especially the first year. Your whole body will be adjusting to the change, you will be powerless and most of the time you will need help. That’s why I offered to help you but like I said, it’s up to you.
(Pause)
Yeah, you are right. Anyway, we’ll talk about that later. I’m asking you again. Did you understand the plan? There’s no room for error here. If we mess this up, she’ll kill both of us.
(Pause)
Yeah, me too. I already told you, I am not her real daughter. So… Are you ready?
(Pause)
First, I am going to bite you and drain your blood. After that, I am going to give you my blood. Shall we begin?
(Pause)
Okay, here I come… Don’t worry, It won’t hurt a lot.
[Vampire bite]
Lay your head on my lap. And now…
(She bites her wrist and spills all the blood to the listener’s mouth)
Drink my blood!
(Pause)
Close your eyes and let the change begin. Don’t resist… Don’t fight. Just accept it. It will be easier that way… I’ll be here when you wake up. Now, close your eyes and get ready to born again!
THE END
2024.06.09 20:03 SunHeadPrime I Install Cable for a Living. My Last Job has Me Rethinking my Career Choices.
My hands are trembling to the point where I've had to restart this several times. I'm a guy who doesn't scare easily, but this encounter has me shaking like a hit dog. I'm still sitting in my work truck, trying to work up the courage to step outside again. Worse, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to tell my boss what happened. I was already on thin ice with him, and this shit might cause me to break through to the freezing water below.
But fuck it, because this was weird.
I install cable for a living. I didn't have dreams of stringing cable when I was a little kid, but my previous life choices left me with few options. In high school, I fell in with the wrong crowd. It started with skipping school, sneaking alcohol at weekend parties, and some petty theft, but it didn't stay that way for long. Soon, I dropped out and dedicated my life to committing robberies to pay for my pill addiction. I wasn't living as much as I was running on a treadmill. I did whatever I could to stay on my feet but constantly felt myself slipping.
My bottom came when I was jumped by two guys who sold me pills. I had bought from them before and trusted them, but the feeling was not mutual. Someone had dimed a buddy of theirs out to the police, and he was looking at real jail time. They assumed it was me and beat me senseless.
I was greeted at the door with a punch to the jaw that sent me reeling. My brain, already addled and slowed by Oxi, was in the middle of putting together what was happening when the next punch caught me in the temple. I collapsed to the ground and covered my neck and face as best as I could. The next few minutes were a flurry of punches, kicks, and stomps. When it was all over, I had a broken jaw, a shattered wrist, several wounds that required fifty total stitches, and a concussion.
That's how I kicked my painkiller addiction.
I can joke now, but the next six months were the hardest in my life. The withdrawals I had were the worst thing I've ever experienced. Having them while I was recuperating from my injuries was a circle of hell I didn't think existed. I wanted to die most days and felt lost in the darkness. But sobriety was the beacon on the horizon. Even during my darkest moments, I could still see the fuzzy spark of white light off in the distance. It kept me going. Six months from my beat-down day, I came out the other side healthier but weaker.
I needed a job but had limited skills. Thankfully, I had a former pill buddy who managed to keep steady employment with the cable company. We always got along, and he called in a few favors and hooked me up. I got hired, but it was a struggle. Not the work, which was easy to learn, but dealing with the public without telling them to fuck off. Worse, was trying to avoid the flood of illegal substances that are around you at all times. Customers will offer you weed or pills for all the channels, or bored co-workers will have something to "make the day pass by." It's a lot to dodge, especially if you're in recovery. Whenever I felt the itch again, I'd feel the scar tissue from my wrist surgery, and the itch would pass.
The last week has been one of those "Shit, is it Friday yet?" weeks that seem to be growing in frequency these days. I don't want to bore you with the details, but needless to say, most nights, I needed to reach out to my sponsor and have them talk me off the ledge. We recently had a turnover at the executive level, and my new boss Rory was a tremendous cock. A rager at levels science hasn't ever seen before. Just the worst dude imaginable.
Part of Rory's new crusade was coming in and firing a bunch of guys. The company called it "checking for redundancies in the labor force," but we all knew what it was. He was picking off two classes of people: high earners and guys with spotty pasts. I was in the latter group and imagined it was just a matter of time before my number got pulled. I was on pins and needles all week. I made sure I was the greatest cable installer you'd ever meet. So far, I was getting high marks but the forced joviality was wearing thin.
It's safe to say my joy had left on a one-way ticket. I have no clue when—or if—she'd return.
Back to this shit. I had just finished up my last job of the day when my work phone started buzzing. I cursed and thought about not answering, but the threat of unemployment loomed too large for me to do that. I picked up and knew from the jump my day was far from over. Denise from dispatch asked if I could cover a job left hanging because of "scheduling conflicts" (see: the original installer had been let go). It was near where I was and was a simple install.
I gritted my teeth and agreed. I liked Denise and knew she was worried about the hammer falling on her, too. She thanked me profusely, and promised to bring me cookies tomorrow. Since she's a hellcat in the kitchen and getting close to a dispatcher never hurts, I said no worries. I hung up, balled up my jacket, and screamed into it. I felt better after that.
981 Maple Street was about five minutes away, but it felt like a world away. Maple Street was at the end of the neighborhood where large swaths of grass fields faded into a thicket of woods. The woods rose up into the foothills until they graduated to mountains. To borrow a phrase from Shel Silverstein, the house resided where the sidewalk ends.
The house, an off-white birdhouse ranch type, was a little run-down but no worse than any of the others that populated this neighborhood. This place had been hit hard by economic times, and property values had plummeted. It was slowly recovering. In five years, this would be a place most current residents wouldn’t be able to afford. The front yard had a large oak tree that looked amazing but had killed the grass under its canopy. The rest of the yard looked well cared for.
I knocked and heard a few voices talking on the other side of the door. It opened, and a man in his late 40s stood there with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand. He was tall and thin, save for a middle-aged paunch. His face was starting to crinkle at the edges, but he was southern California middle-aged, which meant he was holding up pretty well. He did look tired, though—the bags under his eyes were full-on steamer trunks.
"You with the cable company?" he asked, knowing I was.
I nodded. "You requested an install, right?"
"Yes, I did. Please, come in."
He opened the door wide, and I walked in. The house was pretty bare with a bachelor pad aesthetic. That didn't make much sense since I heard a female voice talking to him. I assumed it was his wife. I believe in a lot of wild shit, but to think that a wife would be fine with their house decorated like a 23-year-old bachelor lived there was a bridge too far.
"I'm Tom," the guy said, extending his hand. I shook it. "What did you need from my end?"
"Do you know if there was a previous hookup here?"
"Ugh, yeah. There is one in this room and another in the back bedroom."
"Okay. I should put the modem in a spot that'll hit the whole house. The signal can get wonky if it's in a room behind a wall or bricks or anything."
"This room is probably the best spot then," he said.
"Perfect. I have to get under the house, check the old connections, and replace some parts. Where's your hatch to get under the house?"
"Oh, it's around back. You can exit out this side door and walk through the backyard. It's on the eastern side. You might need a screwdriver to remove the grate. Do you need one?"
I pulled a screwdriver from my pocket and showed him. "I should be good. Thank you, though."
"I should've guessed you'd have one."
"I appreciate your concern. Is there anything in the backyard I should be worried about? Dogs? Kids? Wild dogs? Wild kids?"
It was standard banter, and it always got a chuckle out of people. Same thing happened here. "Nothing to worry about," he said. "You should be good."
"Alright. I'll get started so you can get online as soon as possible."
"Great! If you need anything, I'll be doing some work in the back bedroom."
I nodded and headed for the side door. The dining room door led to the pie wedge-shaped backyard, which was larger in the back than the front made it look. The grass was as cooked as its kin in the front, but islands of green weeds seemed to be thriving. In the corner of the lot, an old metal shed stood, rusted to the point where I assumed divine intervention kept it standing. It seemed to have been there since the house had been built – or maybe several decades before.
When I turned the corner of the house, I spotted a woman and child staring into the corner of the yard, their backs facing me. The Woman wore a faded blue dress that fit her well. Tom had, it seemed, out-kicked his coverage with her. I didn't want to startle them, so I offered a friendly "hello" to the pair. The kid started to turn, but the mother placed a hand on their shoulder and kept their heads facing away from me. I squinted along the treeline, trying to see what they were concentrating on, but I didn't see anything unusual.
Just wanting to be done with the job, I let them be and moved on. I turned another corner to the house's short side and spotted the grate leading to the crawlspace. The grate looked as old as the shed, and I wasn't sure I would even need the screwdriver to open it. Hell, I was sure the thing would disintegrate in my hands as soon as I touched it.
I crouched and was about to pull it off when I heard something rustling near me. I glanced back to where I had seen the mom and kid, but they were gone. I assumed I had heard them leaving. I pulled the grate off – I was right, no screwdriver necessary – and as I set it aside, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.
It was the kid. A boy around eight or so. But they weren't staring at me exactly. They were looking away from me, staring up at the roof line. I found it odd. Clearly, the kid wanted to talk to me but had turned their back on me. I coughed to let them know that I knew they were there, but they didn't respond.
"Hey man, what's up there?" I said.
"Nothing nice," he said, still keeping their gaze away from me.
"Oh," I said, "Not going to hurt me, is it?"
"Maybe," he said.
Not the answer I was expecting. "What is it?"
"They told me you'd know soon enough."
As he said that, I felt something crawling across my hand. I pulled my hand away from the house and shook it. I saw a spider land in a pile of leaves and scurry away. I let out a nervous laugh. I'm not scared of spiders or anything, but the shock of being told some unseen thing was watching me and didn't look pleased, coupled with the sensation of something on my skin, was enough to justify a quickened heartbeat.
I looked back at where the kid had been standing, but he was gone. I chalked it up to kids being little weirdos and went back to work. The faster I could get this installation done, the quicker I could go home and smoke a bowl. I let Kush be my guide. I put up my hood, turned on my small flashlight, and shimmied through the opening under the house.
I know guys who've worked for the company for years and still dread going into a crawl space. Granted, it's not my favorite thing to do, but I don't mind either. The bugs can be a nuisance but if you don't bother them, they tend to not bother you. Same with rats and mice. Raccoons, though? I crawl out and call animal control. Those little dudes are cute but nasty as all get out. My path today was nothing but cobwebs, so I was okay.
I flashed my light around and saw where the cable line went up into the living room floor. My job here was to ensure the coaxial line's integrity was still good. If it had been chewed on or anything, I'd replace it. Sometimes, I just replaced it anyway—saving myself a potential job later down the line.
I crawled over to where the line came in from the pedestal and started my once-over. I not only looked for any damage but also ran the line through my hands to make sure my eyes didn't miss anything. I was under the dining room area when I heard that side door close.
I stopped. Tom said something, but it was muffled. I wanted to be nosy, so I waited a beat to hear if anyone spoke back to him. Someone did. It was soft and quiet – I assumed it was the Boy – and I didn't make out what they asked, but I did hear Tom's response. In a firm voice, he said, "No, not right now. Run along."
There were footsteps over me that faded into another section of the home. Tom said, "He always wants to jump the gun. How many times do I have to tell him?"
I suppressed a laugh at the last line. It's the official father's lament. I kept moving my hand down the line and didn't feel nicks along the cable. In fact, on closer inspection, the line looked almost new. I was planning to change it, but this looked like it had been installed last week.
I could hear someone walk into the living room as I reached the spot where the line went through the house. Another pair of footsteps followed the first, and I heard a breathy but detached woman's voice ask, "Can we show our faces now?"
"I just told the boy 'no.' What makes you any different?" Tom said, an edge to his voice.
A chill raced through my body. I knew those words, but this conversation made me feel like I spoke another language. Can we show our faces? Why would you not?
"Do you think he'll see us?"
"If I have my way," he said, not finishing that thought. "Leave me be. I must try to get some things done before he leaves, and you two keep bothering me."
What did Tom mean to get some things done before I left? What did he have in mind? While trying to process all this, I heard something shuffle in the darkness just beyond my flashlight beam. I moved it around, trying to see the telltale glowing eyes of varmints, but nothing flashed back at me.
I heard something shuffling again, this time down by my feet. I cocked my head as best as I could and shone the flashlight into that corner of the house but, again, there wasn't anything else down here but me and a thousand spiders. I sighed and finished my inspection of the wire.
As I turned to crawl back out from under the house, I heard somebody sneaking around on the floor above me. The wood groaned as the person moved slowly. I wasn't sure what they were doing, but they wanted to keep it a secret. A shadow fell over the pinprick of light from where the cable went into the house. Someone was standing over it.
"Can you hear them down there? Moving in the dark?" It was the Boy. “They like the dark.”
"What are you saying?"
"The little shadows," he said, "They live down there. Do you hear them?"
This kid was creepy as hell. "I, ugh, I can't hear you, dude," I said, inching my body away from the wire, "We can talk inside."
"They're going to get you, but that's okay," he said, "It only hurts for a little bit, and then you're fine."
Fuck. That. I had no desire to respond to that nightmare of a statement. I hastened my inch-worming, heading back towards the open hatch. As I did, I heard more movement in the darkness around me. I tried to ignore it, but it was a fool's gambit. It was impossible to ignore.
I was getting closer to the opening when I saw a pair of tiny legs walk in front of the hatch. It was the Boy. How did he get there so quickly and without me hearing him run on the floor? I didn't have time to run through the scientific method because the Boy leaned down and placed the metal grate back over the hatch.
"Hey! Hey!" I yelled. "I'm still under here!"
The Boy didn't stop. Instead, he placed a trashcan in front of the grate, enshrouding the entire crawlspace in darkness and trapping me inside.
"Hey! I need you to move that!" I screamed. No response. I raised my fist as high as possible and punched the floor above me to hopefully get Tom’s attention. That was a mistake, as I managed to punch straight into an old nail. I felt it puncture in between my knuckles. The pain was instant, and I let out a howl.
I shook my hand and swore a blue streak. I reached up with my other hand, felt the tip of the nail I had managed to punch, and found a flat spot next to it. I banged hard on the floor and yelled again for some help. Nobody responded. Not at first.
Then I heard someone chuckle under the house.
I couldn't locate where it had come from because it sounded like it was all around me. I swung my light around as best as I could but didn't see anything. No glowing eyes, nothing. I inched forward a bit, and someone laughed again – this time, it was to my right. I turned my light in that direction and saw a sudden flood of light fill the space under the house.
"What the hell?" I said, my desire to leave overtaken by a desire to know what was unfolding next to me.
A pair of kid legs dropped down from the hole in the floor. I realized then that the hole must be an interior crawlspace. The kid had blocked off the metal grate and opened this hatch for some reason. While he dropped his legs down, he didn't move any further.
"Hey, you have to open that metal grate," I yelled. "I don't want to be trapped down here."
"They told me they needed you," he said, followed by a slight chuckle.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" I said, not caring that I was talking to a child. "Open the goddamn grate!"
"The shadows are approaching," he said, pulling himself back into the house. He placed the lid back on the hole, and I was trapped in the dark again. I cursed to myself and started pounding on the floor again.
"Hey! Someone come help me!"
That's when I felt something run across my legs. I nearly jumped out of my skin. It didn't feel like the tiny claws of a passing rat. It was cold to the touch, but as it hit my skin, I felt a burn in my bones. It's hard to explain, but I felt both extremes simultaneously. Whatever it was skittered off into the darkness of the other side of the crawl space.
The kid started laughing again, which brought me back to reality. I army crawled as fast as I could to the grate. I balled up my fist and punched in the middle of the metal. The blow knocked the old nails out of the wall, and the grate broke up. I was about to push away the garbage can when it suddenly wheeled out of the way.
I saw Tom's legs standing there.
"You okay?" he asked, concern in his voice.
I got out from under the house so fast that I left a me-sized dirt cloud in my place. Once out, I shook my body loose as if I had things crawling all over me. Tom watched but didn't say anything at first. We finally locked eyes, and he could see the rage, fear, and confusion on my face. He wisely waited until I spoke first.
"What the hell is wrong with your kid? He blocked me under there and taunted me from the indoor crawlspace."
"What are you talking about?"
"He told me the shadow people or something were watching, and then he blocked me under the house!"
Tom's face twisted up into confusion. "I...I don't understand."
"I can't make it any simpler, Tom!" I screamed, letting unprofessionalism take root.
"I don't have a kid."
It hit me like an Ali right cross. My vision got dizzy, and I struggled to catch my breath. I stared at his face, looking for the sign of a lie or a joke, but he was as stone-faced as an Easter Island statue. After a beat, I found my sense again. "I heard you talking to him in the living room when I was under the house."
"One, I was on a phone call. Two, are you spying on me? What the hell, man?"
"I wasn't spying, and you weren't on the phone," I said. I also heard you talking to your wife. She asked you if she could show her face or something."
"I don't have a wife either."
I shook my head. "I fucking saw them in the backyard! They were staring at the fence!"
Tom paused and cocked his head to the side. When he spoke, it was softly, trying to calm me down. "Are you...did you have a few drinks before the appointment? Or a pill or something? No judging – I know pill heads. I won't report you or anything, but I understand if you need to come back tomorrow with a clearer head."
"I'm sober," I said, gritting my teeth. "But I know what I saw. What I heard."
"As the tree said to the lumberjack, I'm stumped," Tom said. "You look a little flush. You want a bottle of water or something? I can show you I'm here all alone."
My adrenaline had seeped out of my body, and I was starting to feel like myself again. I nodded at Tom, and he smiled. "I'll go grab you one. Do you want to come into the AC?"
"No, I'm okay. I need to double-check the connection to the pedestal."
"Sure. Be bright back," Tom said as he walked off.
But I had no intention of checking the connections. I was going to check on Tom. I didn't believe him at all. Something weird was going on, and I needed to know what. As soon as he turned the corner around the house, I broke out my flashlight and headed back to the crawlspace.
I dropped to the ground and shone my beam into the darkness. Something had crawled on me, and I wanted to see what it was. I moved my light into every section of the crawlspace but saw no eyes glowing back at me.
"If you're under there, call back."
There was nothing. I was starting to feel like a paranoid idiot. I called out once again just to be sure, but again, nothing called back. I shut off my light and sighed. I started pushing myself back to my feet when I heard a faint woman's voice call out, "Can we show our faces now?"
"Not yet," someone hissed from the trees above me. I snapped my head up, expecting to see someone hanging on a branch over my head, but I just saw green leaves.
"Can we show our faces now?" It was the Boy. It sounded like he was on the roof. I shielded my eyes and glanced at the roof but didn't see him.
"No. He's not ready yet," someone whispered in my ear. I snapped around, throwing a punch as I did, only to slam my fist into the fence. I felt one of my knuckles crack as it hit the wood, and the pain shot up my arm like lightning. Within seconds, my hand started to puff up, and blood dripped out the wounds.
The Boy chuckled again. It came from under the house. I looked down at the grate and saw his legs disappear into the darkness.
"Hey!" I called and dropped to the ground. I pulled out my flashlight and shone into the darkness again. I was confident I'd see him, but he wasn't there. Nobody was.
I sat up and felt goosebumps turn my arms into braille. I glanced over to the corner of the house and was surprised to see the disappearing hemline of the faded blue dress. I rushed over to the corner and didn't see the Woman. I saw Tom with a bottle of water.
"You okay?"
"Where did that woman go?" I asked, my voice panicking. "She was just here."
"Sir, do you need me to call your boss for you? You're starting to scare me."
"What's up with this house? Is it haunted?"
Tom started laughing. "I hope not. I just moved in. I'd hate to have roommates again, especially ones who leave ectoplasm all over the place."
As I stared at him, I saw the Woman and the Boy emerge from the other corner of the house. They looked up on the roof, their faces obscured by their hands and the sun. I pointed a finger at them and screamed, "They're right there!"
Tom spun around and looked, but there wasn't anything there. He turned back to me, not sure what to say. Instead, he handed me the bottle of water. "I gotta be honest. I didn't see anything. Drink the water...you might have heat stroke."
I threw the bottle on the ground. "I don't have fucking heat stroke. I have a man that's lying about these things." I got close to him. "What did you have planned for me? Why do they keep asking to show their faces?"
"I don't," he said, but I didn't stay to hear him finish his thought. I walked right past him and turned the corner of the house. As I did, I saw the blue hem disappear through the door that led to the kitchen. I followed right behind her.
I walked into the house, which was as silent as a corpse. The Woman and Boy were nowhere to be seen. "Hello?" I called out. "I just saw you guys walk in here. Where are you?"
The door behind me opened up. Tom walked in, his face reddening with anger. "You can't just walk into my house."
"I saw them walk in. Where are they?"
"I keep telling you, it's just me and you here. Now, if you want to finish your work…."
I walked away from him and headed toward the bedroom where I had seen the Boy standing. I wanted to check that crawl space. The room was empty, not even a moving box in there, so finding the hatch that led under the house was easy. I went into the closet and pried the hatch open.
Tom entered the room behind me, more confused now than angry. "I don't want a line run through here."
"The Boy was standing in this spot. I saw his legs. I spoke to him. He told me the shadows needed me for something." I glared down into the darkness under the house. Despite Tom's feigned declarations that there wasn't another person in the house, I knew he wasn't being honest.
"Okay, I'm pretty sure you're back on pills and in the middle of a delusion," he said.
"How did you know I had a pill addiction?"
"The way you're acting, it wasn't a hard guess."
"I'm sober, but I did have a problem with pills. I never told you. I don't tell anyone."
Tom stood there, confused about how to answer. I stood up and stared him down. He looked away, but I didn't move my gaze. "Who are you? Who put you up to this? Was it Rory? He trying to get me fired?"
Tom's shoulders sagged. "You got me," he said. "Rory hired me to get you in trouble. I'm... I'm sorry. He offered me free cable for a year and assured me you were a bad guy and, well…. I'm weak."
"That's really fuc…," I stopped. "You're lying. Right now. You're lying. Why?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something dash past the open crawlspace hatch. I turned to the hatch opening and then back to Tom.
"Are you trying to stop me from looking in there?"
He didn't respond.
"What's under there?"
"He is," he said. "The Boy. He hides under there all the time. He has...friends down there."
"The shadow people?"
Tom shrugged, "What he calls them. I call them a menace. Impossible to get my work done with them causing a racket."
"What work?"
"Things you'd never understand in a million years," he said, "Things beyond your brain's capacity to imagine. Things that will help usher in a new world. Your kind's time is coming to a close. My work represents the new order."
I stared at him. I wasn't sure if I should run away or punch his lights out. Instead, I just spat out, "Bro, what the fuck?"
"Can we show our faces now?" the Boy called out from under the house.
I looked down at the hatch and then back at Tom. He nodded toward the opening. "Do you want to see your future?"
"Fuck it," I said. I got down, grabbed the sides of the opening, and lowered my head under the house.
I kept my eyes closed for a second, assuming I'd either see something horrifying or something would hit me in the face. When nothing struck me, I opened my eyes. It was dark, and I couldn't make out anything.
"There's nothing under here," I said.
"Can we show our faces now?" said the Boy from somewhere under the house.
"Show him," Tom said.
I sat back up, grabbed my flashlight from my pocket, and flipped it on. I looked at Tom, "If you try anything, so help me, God."
Tom just smiled. I looked back down at the hatch and sighed. I was suddenly hit with a bolt of common sense. What was I doing? My internal alarms were going off and I was ignoring them. Curiosity had gotten me this far, but my fight instincts were starting to lose to my flight. No job was worth this.
"Man, fuck this," I said, reversing course and standing. I turned to confront Tom, but he was gone. I hadn't heard him leave, but there wasn't a trace of him there. "Tom? Where the hell are you?"
He didn't respond, and I decided that I had hit my "weird shit" quota for the day. I closed the closet door and headed back into the living room to grab my gear. I'd call dispatch and tell them someone else had to come out and finish the….
The wood floor cracked, splintered, and gave way when I put my weight on it. I fell through the floor and landed with a thud on the dirt in the crawl space. On the way down, I hit my ribs on a crossbeam and heard them crack and knock the wind out of me. As I lay on the dirt, writhing in pain, my lungs did their damnedest to find a breath. It couldn't, and my vision started to blur at the edges. For a fleeting few seconds, I envisioned my death on a dirty crawlspace floor. It wasn’t comforting.
I rolled onto my back and finally took in a massive gulp of life-saving air. The blurring vision subsided, and all that remained was the aching pain of a busted rib. My muscles around my rib cage spasmed and pulled tight against my lungs. After the initial big breath, I could only take shallow gulps because the pain was searing.
I lay there for a few seconds, collecting my thoughts, when I felt something skitter across my legs again. I kicked out of instinct but didn't hit anything. Instead, I heard the chuckling again. My flashlight had fallen out of my hand. I found it and turned it on.
This time, I did see something. Pairs of eyes—dozens of them—watched me from the darkness that surrounded me. These weren't possums or rats. I never hoped to find a raccoon under the house more than I did at that moment. I knew whatever these things were, they weren't natural and they wanted to harm me.
"Still want to know what they plan to do to you?" the Boy asked from behind me.
I turned around and shone the light where I heard the voice. The Boy was lying on his stomach, his face looking down at the ground. All I could see at the moment was the top of his head.
"Wha-what's going on?" I said, the light bouncing from my trembling hand.
"I can show you my face now," he said. He raised his head and….
The Boy didn't have a face.
He had the space for a face, but there were no features whatsoever—nothing but pale pink skin pulled tight across the front of his head. At that moment, the image of a wooden art figure came to me.
“What the ever-loving fuck?"
"Want to see something really scary?" the Boy said, his lack of a mouth not stopping him from speaking. He raised himself onto the tips of his fingers and toes and started skittering toward me, laughing as he did.
I clambered out of the crawlspace as fast as my battered body could carry me. I got out of the hole and onto my feet and let out an ear-splitting scream.
The Woman in the blue dress was standing next to the hole in the floor. Like the Boy, she didn't have a face either. But I could feel her eyes on me. Looking into my mind. Into my soul. She stepped toward me, and I bolted for the front door.
I whipped it open and was greeted by Tom standing there, blocking me. He grinned. "Leaving so soon?"
"What the hell is going on?" I asked, checking behind me to see if the Woman was still coming toward me. She was, and she was gaining quickly.
"Can we show our faces now?" he asked with a laugh.
I turned back to Tom and nearly had a heart attack. His face was gone. I could feel my heart beating in my ears. My legs were jelly, but I kept myself propped up. The human desire to survive can perform miracles.
Tom reached out and pointed at a spot on the far side of the living room wall. I turned and saw three skinned human faces hanging from old nails: a man, a woman, and a boy.
"You're turn to join us," Tom whispered. But the voice wasn't said out loud. It came from inside my own head. "We can always use another body around here."
My brain clicked into action and sent an all-points bulletin to my limbs. The message was simple and actionable – "Get the fuck going, you dope."
I felt my hand ball into a fist and spun. It landed where Tom's nose would've been. It should've knocked him back, causing him to stumble and giving me time to run. But that didn't happen. Instead, his face pulled apart, letting my fist slide right through. It closed on my arm, trapping me.
I yanked and yanked, but my arm would not dislodge from his face. I glanced back and saw the Woman nearly next to me. The Boy was climbing out of the hole, moving like a cockroach. I looked back at the wall and saw Tom's hanging face silently laughing.
Something about those silent laughs cut me to my core. They were laughing because Tom thought he had outsmarted me. He had beat me. That my face would soon be hanging on the wall next to theirs. I wasn't going to let that happen.
I saw a loose brick on the walkway, and a plan flashed in my mind. I yanked hard, sending Tom stuttering forward enough for me to wrap my finger around the brick. I brought it up and sent it towards his face. As expected, the face parted again, and the brick flew through easily.
But as soon as the face curtains pulled aside, I yanked my arm free. With my limb free, I took off in a mad sprint for my truck. I got inside and fumbled my keys as I tried to start the engine. Tom, the Woman, and the Boy stood together at the front door and watched as I got the van going and rocketed down the street.
I drove like a madman for ten minutes, trying to put as much space between me and the house as possible. I finally stopped at a gas station to collect my thoughts. I was jittery, and my mind was swimming, but I was also relieved. I had gotten out.
I collected myself and called Denise to tell her I couldn't finish the installation at 981 Maple Street. I was going to suggest we cancel the order and not send another installer there. That's when the conversation took a turn I wasn't expecting.
"Where have you been? You were supposed to be off an hour ago," Denise said when I called her.
"I was trying to finish the install at 981 Maple, the one you sent me to."
"I didn't send you anywhere," she said. "With how insane Rory is being about overtime hours, I'm trying to keep everyone below the threshold."
"What are you talking about? You called and asked me. You don't remember," I said, a bad feeling growing in the pit of my stomach.
She gave me a nervous chuckle, "I swear I didn't. Are you feeling okay? You gotta come back. People are waiting for the van."
"I can prove it. I have a record of you calling me on my phone," I said. I opened my call log, and my jaw dropped. There was no call from Denise. She was telling me the truth. But if she didn't call me, who did?
"Rory wants to talk to you when you get in. I wouldn't mess around, he seems pissed" she said before hanging up.
I haven't moved since. I wanted to write this down because I felt like it needed to be recorded. Something supremely fucked up is happening at 981 Maple Street. It nearly got me. It still might. To think, on any other typical day, a surprise conversation with my boss would be the scariest thing that could happen to me. Funny how seeing a faceless ghoul can prioritize your problems. If you're hired to do work there, turn it down. Trust me, it's not worth it.
"Can we show our faces now?" they asked. "Fuck no," should be the only response.
submitted by SunHeadPrime to nosleep [link] [comments]
But fuck it, because this was weird.
I install cable for a living. I didn't have dreams of stringing cable when I was a little kid, but my previous life choices left me with few options. In high school, I fell in with the wrong crowd. It started with skipping school, sneaking alcohol at weekend parties, and some petty theft, but it didn't stay that way for long. Soon, I dropped out and dedicated my life to committing robberies to pay for my pill addiction. I wasn't living as much as I was running on a treadmill. I did whatever I could to stay on my feet but constantly felt myself slipping.
My bottom came when I was jumped by two guys who sold me pills. I had bought from them before and trusted them, but the feeling was not mutual. Someone had dimed a buddy of theirs out to the police, and he was looking at real jail time. They assumed it was me and beat me senseless.
I was greeted at the door with a punch to the jaw that sent me reeling. My brain, already addled and slowed by Oxi, was in the middle of putting together what was happening when the next punch caught me in the temple. I collapsed to the ground and covered my neck and face as best as I could. The next few minutes were a flurry of punches, kicks, and stomps. When it was all over, I had a broken jaw, a shattered wrist, several wounds that required fifty total stitches, and a concussion.
That's how I kicked my painkiller addiction.
I can joke now, but the next six months were the hardest in my life. The withdrawals I had were the worst thing I've ever experienced. Having them while I was recuperating from my injuries was a circle of hell I didn't think existed. I wanted to die most days and felt lost in the darkness. But sobriety was the beacon on the horizon. Even during my darkest moments, I could still see the fuzzy spark of white light off in the distance. It kept me going. Six months from my beat-down day, I came out the other side healthier but weaker.
I needed a job but had limited skills. Thankfully, I had a former pill buddy who managed to keep steady employment with the cable company. We always got along, and he called in a few favors and hooked me up. I got hired, but it was a struggle. Not the work, which was easy to learn, but dealing with the public without telling them to fuck off. Worse, was trying to avoid the flood of illegal substances that are around you at all times. Customers will offer you weed or pills for all the channels, or bored co-workers will have something to "make the day pass by." It's a lot to dodge, especially if you're in recovery. Whenever I felt the itch again, I'd feel the scar tissue from my wrist surgery, and the itch would pass.
The last week has been one of those "Shit, is it Friday yet?" weeks that seem to be growing in frequency these days. I don't want to bore you with the details, but needless to say, most nights, I needed to reach out to my sponsor and have them talk me off the ledge. We recently had a turnover at the executive level, and my new boss Rory was a tremendous cock. A rager at levels science hasn't ever seen before. Just the worst dude imaginable.
Part of Rory's new crusade was coming in and firing a bunch of guys. The company called it "checking for redundancies in the labor force," but we all knew what it was. He was picking off two classes of people: high earners and guys with spotty pasts. I was in the latter group and imagined it was just a matter of time before my number got pulled. I was on pins and needles all week. I made sure I was the greatest cable installer you'd ever meet. So far, I was getting high marks but the forced joviality was wearing thin.
It's safe to say my joy had left on a one-way ticket. I have no clue when—or if—she'd return.
Back to this shit. I had just finished up my last job of the day when my work phone started buzzing. I cursed and thought about not answering, but the threat of unemployment loomed too large for me to do that. I picked up and knew from the jump my day was far from over. Denise from dispatch asked if I could cover a job left hanging because of "scheduling conflicts" (see: the original installer had been let go). It was near where I was and was a simple install.
I gritted my teeth and agreed. I liked Denise and knew she was worried about the hammer falling on her, too. She thanked me profusely, and promised to bring me cookies tomorrow. Since she's a hellcat in the kitchen and getting close to a dispatcher never hurts, I said no worries. I hung up, balled up my jacket, and screamed into it. I felt better after that.
981 Maple Street was about five minutes away, but it felt like a world away. Maple Street was at the end of the neighborhood where large swaths of grass fields faded into a thicket of woods. The woods rose up into the foothills until they graduated to mountains. To borrow a phrase from Shel Silverstein, the house resided where the sidewalk ends.
The house, an off-white birdhouse ranch type, was a little run-down but no worse than any of the others that populated this neighborhood. This place had been hit hard by economic times, and property values had plummeted. It was slowly recovering. In five years, this would be a place most current residents wouldn’t be able to afford. The front yard had a large oak tree that looked amazing but had killed the grass under its canopy. The rest of the yard looked well cared for.
I knocked and heard a few voices talking on the other side of the door. It opened, and a man in his late 40s stood there with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand. He was tall and thin, save for a middle-aged paunch. His face was starting to crinkle at the edges, but he was southern California middle-aged, which meant he was holding up pretty well. He did look tired, though—the bags under his eyes were full-on steamer trunks.
"You with the cable company?" he asked, knowing I was.
I nodded. "You requested an install, right?"
"Yes, I did. Please, come in."
He opened the door wide, and I walked in. The house was pretty bare with a bachelor pad aesthetic. That didn't make much sense since I heard a female voice talking to him. I assumed it was his wife. I believe in a lot of wild shit, but to think that a wife would be fine with their house decorated like a 23-year-old bachelor lived there was a bridge too far.
"I'm Tom," the guy said, extending his hand. I shook it. "What did you need from my end?"
"Do you know if there was a previous hookup here?"
"Ugh, yeah. There is one in this room and another in the back bedroom."
"Okay. I should put the modem in a spot that'll hit the whole house. The signal can get wonky if it's in a room behind a wall or bricks or anything."
"This room is probably the best spot then," he said.
"Perfect. I have to get under the house, check the old connections, and replace some parts. Where's your hatch to get under the house?"
"Oh, it's around back. You can exit out this side door and walk through the backyard. It's on the eastern side. You might need a screwdriver to remove the grate. Do you need one?"
I pulled a screwdriver from my pocket and showed him. "I should be good. Thank you, though."
"I should've guessed you'd have one."
"I appreciate your concern. Is there anything in the backyard I should be worried about? Dogs? Kids? Wild dogs? Wild kids?"
It was standard banter, and it always got a chuckle out of people. Same thing happened here. "Nothing to worry about," he said. "You should be good."
"Alright. I'll get started so you can get online as soon as possible."
"Great! If you need anything, I'll be doing some work in the back bedroom."
I nodded and headed for the side door. The dining room door led to the pie wedge-shaped backyard, which was larger in the back than the front made it look. The grass was as cooked as its kin in the front, but islands of green weeds seemed to be thriving. In the corner of the lot, an old metal shed stood, rusted to the point where I assumed divine intervention kept it standing. It seemed to have been there since the house had been built – or maybe several decades before.
When I turned the corner of the house, I spotted a woman and child staring into the corner of the yard, their backs facing me. The Woman wore a faded blue dress that fit her well. Tom had, it seemed, out-kicked his coverage with her. I didn't want to startle them, so I offered a friendly "hello" to the pair. The kid started to turn, but the mother placed a hand on their shoulder and kept their heads facing away from me. I squinted along the treeline, trying to see what they were concentrating on, but I didn't see anything unusual.
Just wanting to be done with the job, I let them be and moved on. I turned another corner to the house's short side and spotted the grate leading to the crawlspace. The grate looked as old as the shed, and I wasn't sure I would even need the screwdriver to open it. Hell, I was sure the thing would disintegrate in my hands as soon as I touched it.
I crouched and was about to pull it off when I heard something rustling near me. I glanced back to where I had seen the mom and kid, but they were gone. I assumed I had heard them leaving. I pulled the grate off – I was right, no screwdriver necessary – and as I set it aside, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.
It was the kid. A boy around eight or so. But they weren't staring at me exactly. They were looking away from me, staring up at the roof line. I found it odd. Clearly, the kid wanted to talk to me but had turned their back on me. I coughed to let them know that I knew they were there, but they didn't respond.
"Hey man, what's up there?" I said.
"Nothing nice," he said, still keeping their gaze away from me.
"Oh," I said, "Not going to hurt me, is it?"
"Maybe," he said.
Not the answer I was expecting. "What is it?"
"They told me you'd know soon enough."
As he said that, I felt something crawling across my hand. I pulled my hand away from the house and shook it. I saw a spider land in a pile of leaves and scurry away. I let out a nervous laugh. I'm not scared of spiders or anything, but the shock of being told some unseen thing was watching me and didn't look pleased, coupled with the sensation of something on my skin, was enough to justify a quickened heartbeat.
I looked back at where the kid had been standing, but he was gone. I chalked it up to kids being little weirdos and went back to work. The faster I could get this installation done, the quicker I could go home and smoke a bowl. I let Kush be my guide. I put up my hood, turned on my small flashlight, and shimmied through the opening under the house.
I know guys who've worked for the company for years and still dread going into a crawl space. Granted, it's not my favorite thing to do, but I don't mind either. The bugs can be a nuisance but if you don't bother them, they tend to not bother you. Same with rats and mice. Raccoons, though? I crawl out and call animal control. Those little dudes are cute but nasty as all get out. My path today was nothing but cobwebs, so I was okay.
I flashed my light around and saw where the cable line went up into the living room floor. My job here was to ensure the coaxial line's integrity was still good. If it had been chewed on or anything, I'd replace it. Sometimes, I just replaced it anyway—saving myself a potential job later down the line.
I crawled over to where the line came in from the pedestal and started my once-over. I not only looked for any damage but also ran the line through my hands to make sure my eyes didn't miss anything. I was under the dining room area when I heard that side door close.
I stopped. Tom said something, but it was muffled. I wanted to be nosy, so I waited a beat to hear if anyone spoke back to him. Someone did. It was soft and quiet – I assumed it was the Boy – and I didn't make out what they asked, but I did hear Tom's response. In a firm voice, he said, "No, not right now. Run along."
There were footsteps over me that faded into another section of the home. Tom said, "He always wants to jump the gun. How many times do I have to tell him?"
I suppressed a laugh at the last line. It's the official father's lament. I kept moving my hand down the line and didn't feel nicks along the cable. In fact, on closer inspection, the line looked almost new. I was planning to change it, but this looked like it had been installed last week.
I could hear someone walk into the living room as I reached the spot where the line went through the house. Another pair of footsteps followed the first, and I heard a breathy but detached woman's voice ask, "Can we show our faces now?"
"I just told the boy 'no.' What makes you any different?" Tom said, an edge to his voice.
A chill raced through my body. I knew those words, but this conversation made me feel like I spoke another language. Can we show our faces? Why would you not?
"Do you think he'll see us?"
"If I have my way," he said, not finishing that thought. "Leave me be. I must try to get some things done before he leaves, and you two keep bothering me."
What did Tom mean to get some things done before I left? What did he have in mind? While trying to process all this, I heard something shuffle in the darkness just beyond my flashlight beam. I moved it around, trying to see the telltale glowing eyes of varmints, but nothing flashed back at me.
I heard something shuffling again, this time down by my feet. I cocked my head as best as I could and shone the flashlight into that corner of the house but, again, there wasn't anything else down here but me and a thousand spiders. I sighed and finished my inspection of the wire.
As I turned to crawl back out from under the house, I heard somebody sneaking around on the floor above me. The wood groaned as the person moved slowly. I wasn't sure what they were doing, but they wanted to keep it a secret. A shadow fell over the pinprick of light from where the cable went into the house. Someone was standing over it.
"Can you hear them down there? Moving in the dark?" It was the Boy. “They like the dark.”
"What are you saying?"
"The little shadows," he said, "They live down there. Do you hear them?"
This kid was creepy as hell. "I, ugh, I can't hear you, dude," I said, inching my body away from the wire, "We can talk inside."
"They're going to get you, but that's okay," he said, "It only hurts for a little bit, and then you're fine."
Fuck. That. I had no desire to respond to that nightmare of a statement. I hastened my inch-worming, heading back towards the open hatch. As I did, I heard more movement in the darkness around me. I tried to ignore it, but it was a fool's gambit. It was impossible to ignore.
I was getting closer to the opening when I saw a pair of tiny legs walk in front of the hatch. It was the Boy. How did he get there so quickly and without me hearing him run on the floor? I didn't have time to run through the scientific method because the Boy leaned down and placed the metal grate back over the hatch.
"Hey! Hey!" I yelled. "I'm still under here!"
The Boy didn't stop. Instead, he placed a trashcan in front of the grate, enshrouding the entire crawlspace in darkness and trapping me inside.
"Hey! I need you to move that!" I screamed. No response. I raised my fist as high as possible and punched the floor above me to hopefully get Tom’s attention. That was a mistake, as I managed to punch straight into an old nail. I felt it puncture in between my knuckles. The pain was instant, and I let out a howl.
I shook my hand and swore a blue streak. I reached up with my other hand, felt the tip of the nail I had managed to punch, and found a flat spot next to it. I banged hard on the floor and yelled again for some help. Nobody responded. Not at first.
Then I heard someone chuckle under the house.
I couldn't locate where it had come from because it sounded like it was all around me. I swung my light around as best as I could but didn't see anything. No glowing eyes, nothing. I inched forward a bit, and someone laughed again – this time, it was to my right. I turned my light in that direction and saw a sudden flood of light fill the space under the house.
"What the hell?" I said, my desire to leave overtaken by a desire to know what was unfolding next to me.
A pair of kid legs dropped down from the hole in the floor. I realized then that the hole must be an interior crawlspace. The kid had blocked off the metal grate and opened this hatch for some reason. While he dropped his legs down, he didn't move any further.
"Hey, you have to open that metal grate," I yelled. "I don't want to be trapped down here."
"They told me they needed you," he said, followed by a slight chuckle.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" I said, not caring that I was talking to a child. "Open the goddamn grate!"
"The shadows are approaching," he said, pulling himself back into the house. He placed the lid back on the hole, and I was trapped in the dark again. I cursed to myself and started pounding on the floor again.
"Hey! Someone come help me!"
That's when I felt something run across my legs. I nearly jumped out of my skin. It didn't feel like the tiny claws of a passing rat. It was cold to the touch, but as it hit my skin, I felt a burn in my bones. It's hard to explain, but I felt both extremes simultaneously. Whatever it was skittered off into the darkness of the other side of the crawl space.
The kid started laughing again, which brought me back to reality. I army crawled as fast as I could to the grate. I balled up my fist and punched in the middle of the metal. The blow knocked the old nails out of the wall, and the grate broke up. I was about to push away the garbage can when it suddenly wheeled out of the way.
I saw Tom's legs standing there.
"You okay?" he asked, concern in his voice.
I got out from under the house so fast that I left a me-sized dirt cloud in my place. Once out, I shook my body loose as if I had things crawling all over me. Tom watched but didn't say anything at first. We finally locked eyes, and he could see the rage, fear, and confusion on my face. He wisely waited until I spoke first.
"What the hell is wrong with your kid? He blocked me under there and taunted me from the indoor crawlspace."
"What are you talking about?"
"He told me the shadow people or something were watching, and then he blocked me under the house!"
Tom's face twisted up into confusion. "I...I don't understand."
"I can't make it any simpler, Tom!" I screamed, letting unprofessionalism take root.
"I don't have a kid."
It hit me like an Ali right cross. My vision got dizzy, and I struggled to catch my breath. I stared at his face, looking for the sign of a lie or a joke, but he was as stone-faced as an Easter Island statue. After a beat, I found my sense again. "I heard you talking to him in the living room when I was under the house."
"One, I was on a phone call. Two, are you spying on me? What the hell, man?"
"I wasn't spying, and you weren't on the phone," I said. I also heard you talking to your wife. She asked you if she could show her face or something."
"I don't have a wife either."
I shook my head. "I fucking saw them in the backyard! They were staring at the fence!"
Tom paused and cocked his head to the side. When he spoke, it was softly, trying to calm me down. "Are you...did you have a few drinks before the appointment? Or a pill or something? No judging – I know pill heads. I won't report you or anything, but I understand if you need to come back tomorrow with a clearer head."
"I'm sober," I said, gritting my teeth. "But I know what I saw. What I heard."
"As the tree said to the lumberjack, I'm stumped," Tom said. "You look a little flush. You want a bottle of water or something? I can show you I'm here all alone."
My adrenaline had seeped out of my body, and I was starting to feel like myself again. I nodded at Tom, and he smiled. "I'll go grab you one. Do you want to come into the AC?"
"No, I'm okay. I need to double-check the connection to the pedestal."
"Sure. Be bright back," Tom said as he walked off.
But I had no intention of checking the connections. I was going to check on Tom. I didn't believe him at all. Something weird was going on, and I needed to know what. As soon as he turned the corner around the house, I broke out my flashlight and headed back to the crawlspace.
I dropped to the ground and shone my beam into the darkness. Something had crawled on me, and I wanted to see what it was. I moved my light into every section of the crawlspace but saw no eyes glowing back at me.
"If you're under there, call back."
There was nothing. I was starting to feel like a paranoid idiot. I called out once again just to be sure, but again, nothing called back. I shut off my light and sighed. I started pushing myself back to my feet when I heard a faint woman's voice call out, "Can we show our faces now?"
"Not yet," someone hissed from the trees above me. I snapped my head up, expecting to see someone hanging on a branch over my head, but I just saw green leaves.
"Can we show our faces now?" It was the Boy. It sounded like he was on the roof. I shielded my eyes and glanced at the roof but didn't see him.
"No. He's not ready yet," someone whispered in my ear. I snapped around, throwing a punch as I did, only to slam my fist into the fence. I felt one of my knuckles crack as it hit the wood, and the pain shot up my arm like lightning. Within seconds, my hand started to puff up, and blood dripped out the wounds.
The Boy chuckled again. It came from under the house. I looked down at the grate and saw his legs disappear into the darkness.
"Hey!" I called and dropped to the ground. I pulled out my flashlight and shone into the darkness again. I was confident I'd see him, but he wasn't there. Nobody was.
I sat up and felt goosebumps turn my arms into braille. I glanced over to the corner of the house and was surprised to see the disappearing hemline of the faded blue dress. I rushed over to the corner and didn't see the Woman. I saw Tom with a bottle of water.
"You okay?"
"Where did that woman go?" I asked, my voice panicking. "She was just here."
"Sir, do you need me to call your boss for you? You're starting to scare me."
"What's up with this house? Is it haunted?"
Tom started laughing. "I hope not. I just moved in. I'd hate to have roommates again, especially ones who leave ectoplasm all over the place."
As I stared at him, I saw the Woman and the Boy emerge from the other corner of the house. They looked up on the roof, their faces obscured by their hands and the sun. I pointed a finger at them and screamed, "They're right there!"
Tom spun around and looked, but there wasn't anything there. He turned back to me, not sure what to say. Instead, he handed me the bottle of water. "I gotta be honest. I didn't see anything. Drink the water...you might have heat stroke."
I threw the bottle on the ground. "I don't have fucking heat stroke. I have a man that's lying about these things." I got close to him. "What did you have planned for me? Why do they keep asking to show their faces?"
"I don't," he said, but I didn't stay to hear him finish his thought. I walked right past him and turned the corner of the house. As I did, I saw the blue hem disappear through the door that led to the kitchen. I followed right behind her.
I walked into the house, which was as silent as a corpse. The Woman and Boy were nowhere to be seen. "Hello?" I called out. "I just saw you guys walk in here. Where are you?"
The door behind me opened up. Tom walked in, his face reddening with anger. "You can't just walk into my house."
"I saw them walk in. Where are they?"
"I keep telling you, it's just me and you here. Now, if you want to finish your work…."
I walked away from him and headed toward the bedroom where I had seen the Boy standing. I wanted to check that crawl space. The room was empty, not even a moving box in there, so finding the hatch that led under the house was easy. I went into the closet and pried the hatch open.
Tom entered the room behind me, more confused now than angry. "I don't want a line run through here."
"The Boy was standing in this spot. I saw his legs. I spoke to him. He told me the shadows needed me for something." I glared down into the darkness under the house. Despite Tom's feigned declarations that there wasn't another person in the house, I knew he wasn't being honest.
"Okay, I'm pretty sure you're back on pills and in the middle of a delusion," he said.
"How did you know I had a pill addiction?"
"The way you're acting, it wasn't a hard guess."
"I'm sober, but I did have a problem with pills. I never told you. I don't tell anyone."
Tom stood there, confused about how to answer. I stood up and stared him down. He looked away, but I didn't move my gaze. "Who are you? Who put you up to this? Was it Rory? He trying to get me fired?"
Tom's shoulders sagged. "You got me," he said. "Rory hired me to get you in trouble. I'm... I'm sorry. He offered me free cable for a year and assured me you were a bad guy and, well…. I'm weak."
"That's really fuc…," I stopped. "You're lying. Right now. You're lying. Why?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something dash past the open crawlspace hatch. I turned to the hatch opening and then back to Tom.
"Are you trying to stop me from looking in there?"
He didn't respond.
"What's under there?"
"He is," he said. "The Boy. He hides under there all the time. He has...friends down there."
"The shadow people?"
Tom shrugged, "What he calls them. I call them a menace. Impossible to get my work done with them causing a racket."
"What work?"
"Things you'd never understand in a million years," he said, "Things beyond your brain's capacity to imagine. Things that will help usher in a new world. Your kind's time is coming to a close. My work represents the new order."
I stared at him. I wasn't sure if I should run away or punch his lights out. Instead, I just spat out, "Bro, what the fuck?"
"Can we show our faces now?" the Boy called out from under the house.
I looked down at the hatch and then back at Tom. He nodded toward the opening. "Do you want to see your future?"
"Fuck it," I said. I got down, grabbed the sides of the opening, and lowered my head under the house.
I kept my eyes closed for a second, assuming I'd either see something horrifying or something would hit me in the face. When nothing struck me, I opened my eyes. It was dark, and I couldn't make out anything.
"There's nothing under here," I said.
"Can we show our faces now?" said the Boy from somewhere under the house.
"Show him," Tom said.
I sat back up, grabbed my flashlight from my pocket, and flipped it on. I looked at Tom, "If you try anything, so help me, God."
Tom just smiled. I looked back down at the hatch and sighed. I was suddenly hit with a bolt of common sense. What was I doing? My internal alarms were going off and I was ignoring them. Curiosity had gotten me this far, but my fight instincts were starting to lose to my flight. No job was worth this.
"Man, fuck this," I said, reversing course and standing. I turned to confront Tom, but he was gone. I hadn't heard him leave, but there wasn't a trace of him there. "Tom? Where the hell are you?"
He didn't respond, and I decided that I had hit my "weird shit" quota for the day. I closed the closet door and headed back into the living room to grab my gear. I'd call dispatch and tell them someone else had to come out and finish the….
The wood floor cracked, splintered, and gave way when I put my weight on it. I fell through the floor and landed with a thud on the dirt in the crawl space. On the way down, I hit my ribs on a crossbeam and heard them crack and knock the wind out of me. As I lay on the dirt, writhing in pain, my lungs did their damnedest to find a breath. It couldn't, and my vision started to blur at the edges. For a fleeting few seconds, I envisioned my death on a dirty crawlspace floor. It wasn’t comforting.
I rolled onto my back and finally took in a massive gulp of life-saving air. The blurring vision subsided, and all that remained was the aching pain of a busted rib. My muscles around my rib cage spasmed and pulled tight against my lungs. After the initial big breath, I could only take shallow gulps because the pain was searing.
I lay there for a few seconds, collecting my thoughts, when I felt something skitter across my legs again. I kicked out of instinct but didn't hit anything. Instead, I heard the chuckling again. My flashlight had fallen out of my hand. I found it and turned it on.
This time, I did see something. Pairs of eyes—dozens of them—watched me from the darkness that surrounded me. These weren't possums or rats. I never hoped to find a raccoon under the house more than I did at that moment. I knew whatever these things were, they weren't natural and they wanted to harm me.
"Still want to know what they plan to do to you?" the Boy asked from behind me.
I turned around and shone the light where I heard the voice. The Boy was lying on his stomach, his face looking down at the ground. All I could see at the moment was the top of his head.
"Wha-what's going on?" I said, the light bouncing from my trembling hand.
"I can show you my face now," he said. He raised his head and….
The Boy didn't have a face.
He had the space for a face, but there were no features whatsoever—nothing but pale pink skin pulled tight across the front of his head. At that moment, the image of a wooden art figure came to me.
“What the ever-loving fuck?"
"Want to see something really scary?" the Boy said, his lack of a mouth not stopping him from speaking. He raised himself onto the tips of his fingers and toes and started skittering toward me, laughing as he did.
I clambered out of the crawlspace as fast as my battered body could carry me. I got out of the hole and onto my feet and let out an ear-splitting scream.
The Woman in the blue dress was standing next to the hole in the floor. Like the Boy, she didn't have a face either. But I could feel her eyes on me. Looking into my mind. Into my soul. She stepped toward me, and I bolted for the front door.
I whipped it open and was greeted by Tom standing there, blocking me. He grinned. "Leaving so soon?"
"What the hell is going on?" I asked, checking behind me to see if the Woman was still coming toward me. She was, and she was gaining quickly.
"Can we show our faces now?" he asked with a laugh.
I turned back to Tom and nearly had a heart attack. His face was gone. I could feel my heart beating in my ears. My legs were jelly, but I kept myself propped up. The human desire to survive can perform miracles.
Tom reached out and pointed at a spot on the far side of the living room wall. I turned and saw three skinned human faces hanging from old nails: a man, a woman, and a boy.
"You're turn to join us," Tom whispered. But the voice wasn't said out loud. It came from inside my own head. "We can always use another body around here."
My brain clicked into action and sent an all-points bulletin to my limbs. The message was simple and actionable – "Get the fuck going, you dope."
I felt my hand ball into a fist and spun. It landed where Tom's nose would've been. It should've knocked him back, causing him to stumble and giving me time to run. But that didn't happen. Instead, his face pulled apart, letting my fist slide right through. It closed on my arm, trapping me.
I yanked and yanked, but my arm would not dislodge from his face. I glanced back and saw the Woman nearly next to me. The Boy was climbing out of the hole, moving like a cockroach. I looked back at the wall and saw Tom's hanging face silently laughing.
Something about those silent laughs cut me to my core. They were laughing because Tom thought he had outsmarted me. He had beat me. That my face would soon be hanging on the wall next to theirs. I wasn't going to let that happen.
I saw a loose brick on the walkway, and a plan flashed in my mind. I yanked hard, sending Tom stuttering forward enough for me to wrap my finger around the brick. I brought it up and sent it towards his face. As expected, the face parted again, and the brick flew through easily.
But as soon as the face curtains pulled aside, I yanked my arm free. With my limb free, I took off in a mad sprint for my truck. I got inside and fumbled my keys as I tried to start the engine. Tom, the Woman, and the Boy stood together at the front door and watched as I got the van going and rocketed down the street.
I drove like a madman for ten minutes, trying to put as much space between me and the house as possible. I finally stopped at a gas station to collect my thoughts. I was jittery, and my mind was swimming, but I was also relieved. I had gotten out.
I collected myself and called Denise to tell her I couldn't finish the installation at 981 Maple Street. I was going to suggest we cancel the order and not send another installer there. That's when the conversation took a turn I wasn't expecting.
"Where have you been? You were supposed to be off an hour ago," Denise said when I called her.
"I was trying to finish the install at 981 Maple, the one you sent me to."
"I didn't send you anywhere," she said. "With how insane Rory is being about overtime hours, I'm trying to keep everyone below the threshold."
"What are you talking about? You called and asked me. You don't remember," I said, a bad feeling growing in the pit of my stomach.
She gave me a nervous chuckle, "I swear I didn't. Are you feeling okay? You gotta come back. People are waiting for the van."
"I can prove it. I have a record of you calling me on my phone," I said. I opened my call log, and my jaw dropped. There was no call from Denise. She was telling me the truth. But if she didn't call me, who did?
"Rory wants to talk to you when you get in. I wouldn't mess around, he seems pissed" she said before hanging up.
I haven't moved since. I wanted to write this down because I felt like it needed to be recorded. Something supremely fucked up is happening at 981 Maple Street. It nearly got me. It still might. To think, on any other typical day, a surprise conversation with my boss would be the scariest thing that could happen to me. Funny how seeing a faceless ghoul can prioritize your problems. If you're hired to do work there, turn it down. Trust me, it's not worth it.
"Can we show our faces now?" they asked. "Fuck no," should be the only response.
2024.06.09 20:02 catbug_bugcat I need advice. [Friendship/growing apart]
Hey guys, I don't know where to start and frankly, I am lost, so I am here hoping to get some advice.
Quick background: I grew up in an East Asian country and moved to a Western country when I turned 21.
I am getting married and I have two maids of honor, one from the country I grew up in and one from where I live now. I am having my wedding in the country I grew up in, so the situation made sense.
Fast forward, I had my bachelorette party in the country I reside in, and my maid of honor who still lives in the country I grew up in [I will call her Asian Maid of Honor from here to make it less confusing] came all the way to celebrate my bachelorette. She is staying with me, which I was excited about because the last time we spent this much time together was when we were 20.
I was really grateful that she came all the way, but there were some issues I noticed that made me question if I even want her as my friend any longer.
Firstly, she kept making negative comments about the theme of the party mainly because it is something she wouldn't do. I mentioned multiple times that this is my bachelorette, but she constantly made nasty comments. At the same time, she followed what was asked and dressed up as required but kept making unpleasant comments about everything, which really bugged me.
Secondly, I warned her that this is a different country, so the rules and regulations work differently. Where I live, they are stricter when it comes to drinking and being drunk, unlike the country I grew up in, where they keep serving alcohol until you pass out on the floor. I already warned her that because there will be 14+ other guests at my bachelorette, I won't be able to mother her all the time, so she really needs to be more mindful as I can't take care of her 24/7. She got a little overexcited, got wasted, and managed to disappear in a country where she can barely communicate, which resulted in ruining my bachelorette night because I had to call everywhere trying to find out where she disappeared to. But there are more stories related to this which will make sense with the other point.
What really annoyed me the most, and made me question everything, was this final issue. We grew up and spent our late teens and early twenties together, where our society was quite different and we were taught to act a certain way, believing that getting attention from men is everything. However, I noticed that she hasn't grown up a bit since I left the country, whereas I feel like I have matured much more and my perspective has changed. Essentially, she was allowing creepy people who approached the bachelorette with wrong intentions to do anything and kept inviting random groups of strangers who clearly had weird intentions to our table. I told her multiple times that my other friends expressed that they were uncomfortable because most of them have spouses and are not interested in talking to these men, and most importantly, they are here to celebrate my bachelorette, not to talk to random groups of men with weird intentions, treating this as some sort of matchmaking show. Not to mention, every group she dragged to our table was pretty much harassing my friends. There were two guys from different groups who kept touching my Asian maid of honor inappropriately in a public space to the point that a patron at the bar raised it to the bartender, and apparently my Asian maid of honor said it was okay and sent the security away. Essentially, the reason why she "disappeared" was because she decided to leave the group and follow one of those strangers. It's her body and her choice, but firstly, she has a spouse herself, and each time I raised a concern and communicated that I was uncomfortable with her bringing these random people to our table, she said, "What is the problem? These men are trying to be nice and offer us free drinks," where I told her multiple times, this is not the right occasion and not the right time. I told her if she wants to go out and "make friends," she can do it on her personal trip and personal time, but this is my bachelorette and I would much prefer her to just enjoy the company and stop adding random strangers.
Also, I was told pretty rude things by her boyfriend when he discovered that I was not with her at the end of the night because she flew all the way and I was supposed to take care of her.
Fast forward to this morning, I confronted my friend and had a chat about how upset I was with her behavior. At first, she said it was unfair how I was upset with her because she was drunk and I also did stupid things because I was drunk, such as leaving her behind resulting in missing her (which started another whole argument because SHE SNEAKED OUT TO FOLLOW THIS MEN that no one knew she was gone until we were heading home). Then she said it was unfair because she was just excited for my bachelorette, so all the choices she made were because she was feeling happy for me and wanted to "enjoy the vibe" and because we don't have something like bachelorette parties where we grew up, she didn't take it seriously and thought it was just one of those girls' nights out where we can just have fun. And with the bringing creepy dudes and following one and disappearing, she simply said, "She does not remember, hence it didn't happen." Then when I told her there were so many complaints about her because of it, she said, "It is simply a different cultural background, so my friends from here just do not understand her," which I told her was not the case as there were some friends who grew up in the same cultural background and moved to this country only after their twenties. Then when I told her her boyfriend is no longer invited to my wedding because he was unreasonably rude, especially since we only met twice and he decided it was okay to speak to me the way he did last night, she said she understands where I am coming from but I am being unreasonable and am not respecting her man who was simply trying to make sure she is safe.
Then when I went over all the details of why I am not okay with her "excuses," she then decided to cry and said, "I really didn't know what I was doing was wrong and didn't know bachelorette parties were this important, I just thought it was just a simple girls' night and just wanted to have fun, but now I am upset that I have ruined your night," and just kept sobbing all day.
I told her that I really am sorry to make her upset, but I just wanted to communicate because I do not want her to behave this way at my wedding, especially at my wedding reception where the majority of guests that came to the bachelorette will be there, and she really needs to get her act together. Also, today was her last day in this country, so I don't want this (her sobbing and me confronting) to be her last memory, so if we can go out and refresh and reassess our feelings because she still is an important friend and I do value our friendship. Then she said she needs time to think, came back in 3 hours, which I later found out she went to "hang out" with one of the strangers she met online while she was here, which apparently is not a dating app, which didn't add up, but I decided not to question as I am pretty much done at this point and simply it is not my business.
I am just a bit confused as I never noticed this before, but then again it normally was me, her, and another friend hanging out without alcohol involved where she never acted this way, or we would hang out as a couple (as her then boyfriend, me and my fiance). Also, I have only seen her three times since I moved to the new country, so I don't know if my perspective has changed, or if she was always this type of person, I don't know.
I am just really upset as person that I invited to be part of my special day became the cause of ruining my special day, and no I am just questioning everything about the friendship and if I even want to remain friends because I really don't understand her and her behaviours. I am confused because I feel like she is complete stranger, not the friend I thought I knew or I thought I was friends with, and am just lost because she was my best friend for so long and I just dont feel the connection anymore.
Am I overthinking? What do I do in this situation? I am just incredibly lost. Help!
submitted by catbug_bugcat to women [link] [comments]
Quick background: I grew up in an East Asian country and moved to a Western country when I turned 21.
I am getting married and I have two maids of honor, one from the country I grew up in and one from where I live now. I am having my wedding in the country I grew up in, so the situation made sense.
Fast forward, I had my bachelorette party in the country I reside in, and my maid of honor who still lives in the country I grew up in [I will call her Asian Maid of Honor from here to make it less confusing] came all the way to celebrate my bachelorette. She is staying with me, which I was excited about because the last time we spent this much time together was when we were 20.
I was really grateful that she came all the way, but there were some issues I noticed that made me question if I even want her as my friend any longer.
Firstly, she kept making negative comments about the theme of the party mainly because it is something she wouldn't do. I mentioned multiple times that this is my bachelorette, but she constantly made nasty comments. At the same time, she followed what was asked and dressed up as required but kept making unpleasant comments about everything, which really bugged me.
Secondly, I warned her that this is a different country, so the rules and regulations work differently. Where I live, they are stricter when it comes to drinking and being drunk, unlike the country I grew up in, where they keep serving alcohol until you pass out on the floor. I already warned her that because there will be 14+ other guests at my bachelorette, I won't be able to mother her all the time, so she really needs to be more mindful as I can't take care of her 24/7. She got a little overexcited, got wasted, and managed to disappear in a country where she can barely communicate, which resulted in ruining my bachelorette night because I had to call everywhere trying to find out where she disappeared to. But there are more stories related to this which will make sense with the other point.
What really annoyed me the most, and made me question everything, was this final issue. We grew up and spent our late teens and early twenties together, where our society was quite different and we were taught to act a certain way, believing that getting attention from men is everything. However, I noticed that she hasn't grown up a bit since I left the country, whereas I feel like I have matured much more and my perspective has changed. Essentially, she was allowing creepy people who approached the bachelorette with wrong intentions to do anything and kept inviting random groups of strangers who clearly had weird intentions to our table. I told her multiple times that my other friends expressed that they were uncomfortable because most of them have spouses and are not interested in talking to these men, and most importantly, they are here to celebrate my bachelorette, not to talk to random groups of men with weird intentions, treating this as some sort of matchmaking show. Not to mention, every group she dragged to our table was pretty much harassing my friends. There were two guys from different groups who kept touching my Asian maid of honor inappropriately in a public space to the point that a patron at the bar raised it to the bartender, and apparently my Asian maid of honor said it was okay and sent the security away. Essentially, the reason why she "disappeared" was because she decided to leave the group and follow one of those strangers. It's her body and her choice, but firstly, she has a spouse herself, and each time I raised a concern and communicated that I was uncomfortable with her bringing these random people to our table, she said, "What is the problem? These men are trying to be nice and offer us free drinks," where I told her multiple times, this is not the right occasion and not the right time. I told her if she wants to go out and "make friends," she can do it on her personal trip and personal time, but this is my bachelorette and I would much prefer her to just enjoy the company and stop adding random strangers.
Also, I was told pretty rude things by her boyfriend when he discovered that I was not with her at the end of the night because she flew all the way and I was supposed to take care of her.
Fast forward to this morning, I confronted my friend and had a chat about how upset I was with her behavior. At first, she said it was unfair how I was upset with her because she was drunk and I also did stupid things because I was drunk, such as leaving her behind resulting in missing her (which started another whole argument because SHE SNEAKED OUT TO FOLLOW THIS MEN that no one knew she was gone until we were heading home). Then she said it was unfair because she was just excited for my bachelorette, so all the choices she made were because she was feeling happy for me and wanted to "enjoy the vibe" and because we don't have something like bachelorette parties where we grew up, she didn't take it seriously and thought it was just one of those girls' nights out where we can just have fun. And with the bringing creepy dudes and following one and disappearing, she simply said, "She does not remember, hence it didn't happen." Then when I told her there were so many complaints about her because of it, she said, "It is simply a different cultural background, so my friends from here just do not understand her," which I told her was not the case as there were some friends who grew up in the same cultural background and moved to this country only after their twenties. Then when I told her her boyfriend is no longer invited to my wedding because he was unreasonably rude, especially since we only met twice and he decided it was okay to speak to me the way he did last night, she said she understands where I am coming from but I am being unreasonable and am not respecting her man who was simply trying to make sure she is safe.
Then when I went over all the details of why I am not okay with her "excuses," she then decided to cry and said, "I really didn't know what I was doing was wrong and didn't know bachelorette parties were this important, I just thought it was just a simple girls' night and just wanted to have fun, but now I am upset that I have ruined your night," and just kept sobbing all day.
I told her that I really am sorry to make her upset, but I just wanted to communicate because I do not want her to behave this way at my wedding, especially at my wedding reception where the majority of guests that came to the bachelorette will be there, and she really needs to get her act together. Also, today was her last day in this country, so I don't want this (her sobbing and me confronting) to be her last memory, so if we can go out and refresh and reassess our feelings because she still is an important friend and I do value our friendship. Then she said she needs time to think, came back in 3 hours, which I later found out she went to "hang out" with one of the strangers she met online while she was here, which apparently is not a dating app, which didn't add up, but I decided not to question as I am pretty much done at this point and simply it is not my business.
I am just a bit confused as I never noticed this before, but then again it normally was me, her, and another friend hanging out without alcohol involved where she never acted this way, or we would hang out as a couple (as her then boyfriend, me and my fiance). Also, I have only seen her three times since I moved to the new country, so I don't know if my perspective has changed, or if she was always this type of person, I don't know.
I am just really upset as person that I invited to be part of my special day became the cause of ruining my special day, and no I am just questioning everything about the friendship and if I even want to remain friends because I really don't understand her and her behaviours. I am confused because I feel like she is complete stranger, not the friend I thought I knew or I thought I was friends with, and am just lost because she was my best friend for so long and I just dont feel the connection anymore.
Am I overthinking? What do I do in this situation? I am just incredibly lost. Help!
2024.06.09 20:02 LessOil7656 Trying everything to get my 6 year old dd to stay with me. NPD ex-husband owns my dd.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for your patience and I appreciate all comments.
Even though it was an arranged marriage, I loved him from the moment I spoke with him over the phone. However, something inside me hesitated. I noticed things starting to go wrong, and there were several obstacles leading up to the fateful day of our marriage. On our wedding day, I told everyone he was charming, proclaiming my love for him in public, unaware of what was coming.
Long story short, I wasted 5 good years of my life with this person and lost five more years trying to recover. I was married to a narcissist and became a victim of his abuse under the guise of marriage. Ex-husband managed to isolate me from my own family and made sure I cut all ties with my friends, leaving me available only for him and nobody else. As a result, there was no one supporting me when I broke ties with him and finally came out of that toxic relationship.
There were days when I woke up wondering why I was still alive. Growing up, I was reliant on my family, and my introverted nature didn't help me overcome my insecurities. I let others decide what was best for me. My narcissistic father, abusive mother, and sister abandoned me, offering no help when I finally left my narcissistic ex-husband. They did not believe a word of what I said. The most they did was call me crazy for trying to leave a "perfect" husband and suggest I seek psychiatric help.
Heartbroken and weak after another surgery, unable to comprehend my situation, and refusing to take medication for undiagnosed bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, I flew back home abroad. My ex-husband left our daughter at his house without asking me. When he returned, he informed me he would go back in a month to get her, or his parents would take her during their visit. My ex-husband emphasized that my daughter had not spent enough time with his parents and belittled me and my family, as a result, she had not even once stayed with my family. Then, COVID struck, and my daughter ended up spending nearly 10 months without me.
When my dd finally came back, she refused to let me come close. She shut the door in my face, asking me to leave the bedroom saying, papa doesn't like you so i don't like you. I saw my ex-husband grinning as he coerced our two-year-old to say and do these things. My daughter is extremely intelligent. From the next day after she was born, I knew my daughter was her daddy's girl. She weaned just after seven months old. Following my father's advice, I left my own house (for which I had paid a quarter of the deposit, yet it was entirely under my ex-husband's ownership), leaving my two-year-old daughter with him—a terrible mistake, I admit.
I struggled to find places to live, hopping from one rental to another, begging my ex-husband to let me see my daughter at least once a week. Without a car, ex-husband would drop her off and pick her up on the same day because she wouldn't stay with me. I can't explain my mental state as I couldn't process what was happening. I had no help then. Finally, I found a flat to rent with some privacy for me and my daughter (an attached kitchen area and a shower toilet). Seeing I had moved to a better place, my ex-husband stopped bringing my daughter over, and I had to pick her up from his house, which I didn't mind as the bus stop wasn't far. Later, my ex-husband asked me to pick her up from the bus stop next to his house instead.
We celebrated our my dd's third birthday at my previous home after living in separation. Her fourth and fifth birthdays were at my new flat, and her sixth was at my current place, where I happily live with my partner of three years. I probably wouldn't have gotten my life back if I hadn't met my partner. He made me feel normal again and gave me hope. I became more attentive and present with my daughter, and we had lots of fun, taking goofy pictures and dancing to her favourite songs. But her character would change in an instant (much like her father's). Out of nowhere, she would start screaming for her dad as if reminded she needed to go back.
Initially, I understood her frustration as I struggled to make a living and moved from place to place. Despite her cries to go back to her dad, which added to my depression, I found solace in the fact that she was with me—until she wasn't. As she grows, it's becoming apparent she might be like her father. Today, my daughter is six years and six months old. Her last visit was yesterday, even though my ex-husband had agreed she could stay with me over the weekend. This year, she has stayed with me for only two nights in the past six months. My ex-husband hurls abuses at me whenever things don't go his way, often in front of our daughter. She seems to support and enjoy it when he does.
I've tried to make my daughter understand it's not okay to hurt others, but she doesn't seem to grasp this. She asks me to stop talking, sometimes screams, covers her ears, or asks, "What did you say?" I'm not forcing her to do anything, just asking her to call me "Mama," but even that seems to fade each week I see her. She acts as if she doesn't know me or harbours pure hatred. I'm screaming inside every night she's not with me. Although my partner makes me feel safe and loved, I'm dying inside a little every moment thinking of my daughter.
I grew up as a church-going Catholic, saying prayers daily, but now I feel null and numb, unsure where to turn. I don't think I'm bipolar or schizophrenic today, but I fear I might develop these conditions. At nearly 34 years old, my career is at a halt. I had to leave a job I didn't like, and it didn't align with my current skillset. I'm applying for jobs that suit my skills, but with no success. I dreamed of revenge against my ex-husband by becoming better than him. I spent countless hours studying and preparing for a new career, but it feels like a long-lost dream. While I did manage to finish my university degree, I'm still waiting to start my career and prove myself. All I want is to make life better for my daughter, to give her the space and comfort she experiences with her dad.
Even though my current place is safe and comfortable, however small, I try my best to make my daughter happy and enjoy the little time we have together. But she makes it difficult every time with hurtful words, damaging our relationship. I don't have the money to go to court, and my ex-husband threatens that any action against him will be in vain. I'm already in debt, repaying loans.
When my daughter pointed to the TV and told me she wished I was like that (we were watching "Goodbye" on Netflix, where the mother's dead body was often shown), I asked her to confirm, "Do you wish me to die _?" She nodded with hope on her face. This was when she was just five years old. I don't take anything she says seriously, but it hurts when it happens. I will never fault my daughter for our situation. But it is really sad. I hope she knows I am there for her and feels loved and connected with me emotionally. I'm waiting for that moment. I feel guilty for giving my ex-husband my daughter as a new victim after he lost me. It was more about my daughter wanting to be closer to her dad than me. I didn't expect my ex-husband to manipulate his own child to his advantage.
I know my daughter not living with me and that I'm not her main parent is not justified. As much as it hurts, I have to accept she may never live with me and may even disown me someday. I didn't want to drag her into court fights, making things more unstable, as my ex-husband would likely win. He has zero conscience. My only hope is that my daughter won't turn out exactly like him, and I can persuade her to leave him and stay with me.
As a mother, I took care of my daughter beautifully from the moment she was born until she was 18 months old, with some help from a postpartum doula after my C-section. I've gone through psychosis, anxiety, depression, self-doubt, suicidal thoughts, and many other unknown phases ever since, to have the courage to write about my situation here. I'm genuinely trying to build a positive and healthy relationship with my daughter, but it feels like a distant dream.
I recently heard he has a new victim and married her this year, which slightly relieves me that his influence on my daughter might lessen. When my daughter told me about this lady, I immediately recognized her as one of his close friends. I recall my ex-husband and his family talking about her before, as she did indeed attend my marriage with ex-husband.
I hope my daughter will understand someday how much I love her and how hard I fought for our relationship. After all, it was the birth of my daughter that gave me strength and courage. It was also the realization of the continued abuse by my ex-husband that made me come out of my situation, although things did not happen as I had hoped. Additionally, I did not realize I was going through victim withdrawal syndrome of narcissistic abuse, and I realize now I should have dealt with things more tactically and logically. I am extremely sorry that I could not be there for my daughter when she was stuck at my ex-husband's parents' house during the pandemic.
submitted by LessOil7656 to Parenting [link] [comments]
Even though it was an arranged marriage, I loved him from the moment I spoke with him over the phone. However, something inside me hesitated. I noticed things starting to go wrong, and there were several obstacles leading up to the fateful day of our marriage. On our wedding day, I told everyone he was charming, proclaiming my love for him in public, unaware of what was coming.
Long story short, I wasted 5 good years of my life with this person and lost five more years trying to recover. I was married to a narcissist and became a victim of his abuse under the guise of marriage. Ex-husband managed to isolate me from my own family and made sure I cut all ties with my friends, leaving me available only for him and nobody else. As a result, there was no one supporting me when I broke ties with him and finally came out of that toxic relationship.
There were days when I woke up wondering why I was still alive. Growing up, I was reliant on my family, and my introverted nature didn't help me overcome my insecurities. I let others decide what was best for me. My narcissistic father, abusive mother, and sister abandoned me, offering no help when I finally left my narcissistic ex-husband. They did not believe a word of what I said. The most they did was call me crazy for trying to leave a "perfect" husband and suggest I seek psychiatric help.
Heartbroken and weak after another surgery, unable to comprehend my situation, and refusing to take medication for undiagnosed bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, I flew back home abroad. My ex-husband left our daughter at his house without asking me. When he returned, he informed me he would go back in a month to get her, or his parents would take her during their visit. My ex-husband emphasized that my daughter had not spent enough time with his parents and belittled me and my family, as a result, she had not even once stayed with my family. Then, COVID struck, and my daughter ended up spending nearly 10 months without me.
When my dd finally came back, she refused to let me come close. She shut the door in my face, asking me to leave the bedroom saying, papa doesn't like you so i don't like you. I saw my ex-husband grinning as he coerced our two-year-old to say and do these things. My daughter is extremely intelligent. From the next day after she was born, I knew my daughter was her daddy's girl. She weaned just after seven months old. Following my father's advice, I left my own house (for which I had paid a quarter of the deposit, yet it was entirely under my ex-husband's ownership), leaving my two-year-old daughter with him—a terrible mistake, I admit.
I struggled to find places to live, hopping from one rental to another, begging my ex-husband to let me see my daughter at least once a week. Without a car, ex-husband would drop her off and pick her up on the same day because she wouldn't stay with me. I can't explain my mental state as I couldn't process what was happening. I had no help then. Finally, I found a flat to rent with some privacy for me and my daughter (an attached kitchen area and a shower toilet). Seeing I had moved to a better place, my ex-husband stopped bringing my daughter over, and I had to pick her up from his house, which I didn't mind as the bus stop wasn't far. Later, my ex-husband asked me to pick her up from the bus stop next to his house instead.
We celebrated our my dd's third birthday at my previous home after living in separation. Her fourth and fifth birthdays were at my new flat, and her sixth was at my current place, where I happily live with my partner of three years. I probably wouldn't have gotten my life back if I hadn't met my partner. He made me feel normal again and gave me hope. I became more attentive and present with my daughter, and we had lots of fun, taking goofy pictures and dancing to her favourite songs. But her character would change in an instant (much like her father's). Out of nowhere, she would start screaming for her dad as if reminded she needed to go back.
Initially, I understood her frustration as I struggled to make a living and moved from place to place. Despite her cries to go back to her dad, which added to my depression, I found solace in the fact that she was with me—until she wasn't. As she grows, it's becoming apparent she might be like her father. Today, my daughter is six years and six months old. Her last visit was yesterday, even though my ex-husband had agreed she could stay with me over the weekend. This year, she has stayed with me for only two nights in the past six months. My ex-husband hurls abuses at me whenever things don't go his way, often in front of our daughter. She seems to support and enjoy it when he does.
I've tried to make my daughter understand it's not okay to hurt others, but she doesn't seem to grasp this. She asks me to stop talking, sometimes screams, covers her ears, or asks, "What did you say?" I'm not forcing her to do anything, just asking her to call me "Mama," but even that seems to fade each week I see her. She acts as if she doesn't know me or harbours pure hatred. I'm screaming inside every night she's not with me. Although my partner makes me feel safe and loved, I'm dying inside a little every moment thinking of my daughter.
I grew up as a church-going Catholic, saying prayers daily, but now I feel null and numb, unsure where to turn. I don't think I'm bipolar or schizophrenic today, but I fear I might develop these conditions. At nearly 34 years old, my career is at a halt. I had to leave a job I didn't like, and it didn't align with my current skillset. I'm applying for jobs that suit my skills, but with no success. I dreamed of revenge against my ex-husband by becoming better than him. I spent countless hours studying and preparing for a new career, but it feels like a long-lost dream. While I did manage to finish my university degree, I'm still waiting to start my career and prove myself. All I want is to make life better for my daughter, to give her the space and comfort she experiences with her dad.
Even though my current place is safe and comfortable, however small, I try my best to make my daughter happy and enjoy the little time we have together. But she makes it difficult every time with hurtful words, damaging our relationship. I don't have the money to go to court, and my ex-husband threatens that any action against him will be in vain. I'm already in debt, repaying loans.
When my daughter pointed to the TV and told me she wished I was like that (we were watching "Goodbye" on Netflix, where the mother's dead body was often shown), I asked her to confirm, "Do you wish me to die _?" She nodded with hope on her face. This was when she was just five years old. I don't take anything she says seriously, but it hurts when it happens. I will never fault my daughter for our situation. But it is really sad. I hope she knows I am there for her and feels loved and connected with me emotionally. I'm waiting for that moment. I feel guilty for giving my ex-husband my daughter as a new victim after he lost me. It was more about my daughter wanting to be closer to her dad than me. I didn't expect my ex-husband to manipulate his own child to his advantage.
I know my daughter not living with me and that I'm not her main parent is not justified. As much as it hurts, I have to accept she may never live with me and may even disown me someday. I didn't want to drag her into court fights, making things more unstable, as my ex-husband would likely win. He has zero conscience. My only hope is that my daughter won't turn out exactly like him, and I can persuade her to leave him and stay with me.
As a mother, I took care of my daughter beautifully from the moment she was born until she was 18 months old, with some help from a postpartum doula after my C-section. I've gone through psychosis, anxiety, depression, self-doubt, suicidal thoughts, and many other unknown phases ever since, to have the courage to write about my situation here. I'm genuinely trying to build a positive and healthy relationship with my daughter, but it feels like a distant dream.
I recently heard he has a new victim and married her this year, which slightly relieves me that his influence on my daughter might lessen. When my daughter told me about this lady, I immediately recognized her as one of his close friends. I recall my ex-husband and his family talking about her before, as she did indeed attend my marriage with ex-husband.
I hope my daughter will understand someday how much I love her and how hard I fought for our relationship. After all, it was the birth of my daughter that gave me strength and courage. It was also the realization of the continued abuse by my ex-husband that made me come out of my situation, although things did not happen as I had hoped. Additionally, I did not realize I was going through victim withdrawal syndrome of narcissistic abuse, and I realize now I should have dealt with things more tactically and logically. I am extremely sorry that I could not be there for my daughter when she was stuck at my ex-husband's parents' house during the pandemic.
2024.06.09 19:47 3sp00py5me Looking for advice. 7 month old won't stop screaming.
He's been fully fed, just woke up from a nap, has had Tylenol and teething drops for his teeth.
When the screaming occurs I believe it's like a form of separation anxiety because it's when he's practicing standing up and I look at him then look away. My problem is I'm literally a frigging foot or two away. He will go for HOURS. I've tried feeding him again thinking maybe he's still hungry. He will scream through the nipple and start to choke on milk or food. I've tried helping him get down and refocusing his attention on other toys. I've tried playing music to try and break him out of the loop. I've tried holding him and rocking. He just wrenches his body out of my arms. Nothing. Works.
Sometimes it feels like the only thing that gets him to stop is me sobbing or never breaking direct eye contact with him.
I'm starting to have breakdowns daily. I don't know how to make my baby happy and I feel like a failure. His screams hurt my ears and hurt my head. I can't just ignore him. Please can someone give nonjudgemental advice on how I can either get him to calm down or at least frigging cope. Last time I looked for advice online like this people lambasted me and told me I was gonna be a terrible mother just because I couldn't deal with my old cats yowling every night when I tried to sleep. Now I'm starting to think they're right.
He's even screaming now. Please help.
submitted by 3sp00py5me to beyondthebump [link] [comments]
When the screaming occurs I believe it's like a form of separation anxiety because it's when he's practicing standing up and I look at him then look away. My problem is I'm literally a frigging foot or two away. He will go for HOURS. I've tried feeding him again thinking maybe he's still hungry. He will scream through the nipple and start to choke on milk or food. I've tried helping him get down and refocusing his attention on other toys. I've tried playing music to try and break him out of the loop. I've tried holding him and rocking. He just wrenches his body out of my arms. Nothing. Works.
Sometimes it feels like the only thing that gets him to stop is me sobbing or never breaking direct eye contact with him.
I'm starting to have breakdowns daily. I don't know how to make my baby happy and I feel like a failure. His screams hurt my ears and hurt my head. I can't just ignore him. Please can someone give nonjudgemental advice on how I can either get him to calm down or at least frigging cope. Last time I looked for advice online like this people lambasted me and told me I was gonna be a terrible mother just because I couldn't deal with my old cats yowling every night when I tried to sleep. Now I'm starting to think they're right.
He's even screaming now. Please help.