Guy chops his balls off actual video
Idiots Nearly Dying
2016.12.26 22:29 God_loves_irony Idiots Nearly Dying
Almost dying . . . almost. No actual death, dismemberment, or gore; this sub is for close calls or things that could have gone much worse. This is a Safe For Work sub.
2018.01.05 11:35 VilePug Lads that you’re in awe at the size of.
Absolute Unit : an Animal or Public Figure, who is larger than we should normally expect.
2019.03.19 02:27 gene100001 The subreddit for off-brand celebrity doppelgangers
This is a subreddit for images/gifs/videos of people who look or act like off-brand versions of celebrities or other well known characters. The posts can range from near-perfect look-alikes/doppelgangers/doubles through to terrible knock-off versions of the celebrities/characters, as long as there is some resemblance. we also allow actual photos of celebrities in walmarts.
2024.06.09 22:44 hau4300 NOOB Mining LLC Day 40 update. Deadland Workshop, 10 Model 30, Specialist KLR,.. Our 14 guy squad barely survived.
 | submitted by hau4300 to Kenshi [link] [comments] |
2024.06.09 22:38 TempusCarpe The Confirmed Hoax Fallacy
 | The Confirmed Hoax Fallacy An Old Argument Raises Its Ignorant Head Yet Again TEMPORAL RECON JUN 8 submitted by TempusCarpe to JohnTitor [link] [comments] I was recently invited to write an essay by someone who I respect greatly in their own personal search for truth. He asked that, while an update to Conviction of a Time Traveler is not necessarily in the offing, he did wonder if I might be amenable to a friendly reminder of the evidence provided in COATT nearly a decade ago now. What spurred his request was that he had noticed recently that several people online had been echoing the ‘confirmed hoax’ trope when discussions would might around to the John Titor series of posts which occurred online back in 2000/2001. His noticing of this false argument was nothing new; I had also noticed it crop up from time to time over the last 20 years. I hold the ‘confirmed hoax’ argument in special and particular disdain. Why? Primarily because evidence exists and was provided in Conviction of a Time Traveler in 2009 that Titor was legitimate and, ironically enough, was read by many of the so-called experts espousing the ‘confirmed hoax’ lie. So when these fake experts tell you that the Titor story was a ‘confirmed hoax,’ they are lying to you. Conviction of a Time Traveler provided new and original evidence that has never, to date, been debunked since its publication; a full 14 years. The evidence provided (which many of these lazy forum participants are aware of) pointed to one, inexorable and inescapable conclusion: Titor was legit. But this evidence, while never disproven, is always ignored. Why is that? We’ll put a pin in that… Pledge your support Ironically, not only has the evidence documented in Conviction of a Time Traveler never been debunked, but it has also even been plagiarized by lazy authors who can’t be bothered to do original research or, lacking the intellectual horsepower necessary to do even that, fail to provide appropriate attribution to their source material. So what of this, ‘Confirmed Hoax’ claim? Is it true? HAS the John Titor episode actually been ‘confirmed’ as a hoax? When someone in a position of pretend authority declares from their cardboard pedestal that the John Titor story is a ‘Confirmed Hoax,’ have you ever noticed they never provide the person who did the confirming? “Confirmed hoax?” ‘Confirmed’ by whom, pray tell? When the term ‘Confirmed Hoax’ is used, what imagery comes to mind? I dare say it implies that some sort of shadowy group of learned scholars sat around a big wooden table, carefully assessed and addressed the claims. All the evidence and counter-arguments were carefully measured while hidden away in some stone castle somewhere until a white puff of smoke curls over its stone-tiled rooftops, declaring to the world once and for all, “Our confirmation is complete. John Titor was a hoax!” Bullshit. Here’s the dirty little secret of the ‘Confirmed Hoax’ statements: they are actually shorthand for, “I don’t have the intellectual capacity to argue in favor or against, so in order to come off like some sort of authority and maintain my fake position of authority, I’ll just take the safest position and simply declare that the Titor story is a hoax, that it was ‘confirmed’ and let’s please just move on to some other topic.” ‘Confirmed Hoax,’ is a coward’s gambit, a bet, that there won’t be anyone to come along to rock the boat and topple these posers off their flimsy stage of pretend authority. This was the environment I walked into when I first published Conviction of a Time Traveler in 2010, and apparently, it hasn’t changed in 15 years. When I first posted on Paranormalis (IIRC) announcing that I had written a book that documented the evidence in favor of Titor’s veracity, the then-reigning Titor authority (‘Darby’) haughtily pronounced, “Present your evidence and we’ll discuss it.” Share It was in that moment that I chose a path that nobody before me had ever embarked upon. I said, “No.” Nobody had ever said ‘no’ before. There are pages and pages of forum posts by people before me who discovered some of the same bits and pieces that I discovered that pointed to Titor’s truth. And they were excited to show what they had discovered! And, owing to their excitement, and unfortunately, their naivete, they excitedly shared their evidence, wrongfully believing that the forums’ leadership was interested in getting to the bottom of the Titor episode. Little did they suspect that ‘Darby’ and others were acting as gatekeepers of truth, whose sole purpose was to establish and maintain a lid on the narrative that was the John Titor episode. He, and his ilk gaslighted and bullied these poor naifs into silence by using their fake authority to debunk and explain away the very real evidence they had discovered. That is, until COATT was published. Unfortunately for these enemies of Truth, the internet is forever. In my research leading up to the publication of Conviction of a Time Traveler, I had the benefit of not only studying Titor’s posts, but also all the follow-on discussions after their departure. I reviewed literally years of online forum content and, as I did so, I made a very curious observation: in all the years of discussion after Titor departed, not one piece of evidence ever (ever) caused ‘Darby’ or any of the other fake authorities to question their ‘it’s a hoax!’ position. They NEVER saw a piece of evidence that they didn’t dismiss, mock, ignore or explain away with contortions of logic that would make Wetzel’s Pretzels blush. This is in stark contrast to how someone who was truly in search of truth would act. If ‘Darby’ and the others truly were curious, isn’t this a little odd? Really? Not ONE piece of evidence ever caused ‘Darby’ to pause and say, “hmm, that’s interesting…” Not once, ever. And there are years of forum posts to confirm this. So, when Darby commanded from his perch of fake authority that I ‘present my evidence so that we might discuss it’ I laughed in his face [paraphrasing], “No. A real discussion of the evidence hasn’t occurred here for years, and I do not recognize your so-called position as some sort of ‘expert’ on the Titor story. LITERALLY EVERYTHING there is to learn, or study, is published in the Titor posts for all to read. You hold no special knowledge, no special position, no special nothing. I do not submit to your fake authority. You want to learn about Titor, read the book.” Or words to that effect, anyway… In the end, the evidence provided in COATT was so unassailable and the argument so solid that ‘Darby’ and his ilk suddenly became more and more quiet as they slowly realized I wasn’t going to wilt under their “authoritay.” Eventually, they slinked away with their rhetorical tails tucked. But this was not the end of the story! Because ‘time travel’ had become quite the pet interest of mine (owing to the further evidence I discovered after publication), that I continued to post online in various discussion forums. I even wrote numerous essays on a variety of topics, all spurred on by the ‘time travel’ question and all its implications. Fast Forward Fast forwarding to today, we’re back at the ‘confirmed hoax’ argument again. What was once offered up (“HOAX!”) by Darby and others, is now cold soup served by the latest crop of fake authorities. And what happens when fake authority utters the ‘Confirmed Hoax’ discussion-brake? The same thing that happened a decade ago: the earnest neophyte shrugs their shoulders secure in the false belief that others smarter than they have studied the topic and arrived at some irrefutable conclusion; no further discussion necessary (or allowed). They have no idea just how close they came to uncovering something truly fantastic, had they only relied on their own judgment instead of the know-nothing proclamations of others. Pledge your support Which brings me to why I wrote COATT in the first place. Instead of simply doing my research and arriving at my own (private) conclusion, I realized that too many people were believing fake authority and ignoring Titor’s warnings about our future. Once I realized that Titor was legitimate (caveated, of course), how could I NOT share my findings? The stakes were simply too high. IF what Titor said were true 24 years ago, that the world was heading for an upending change in the status quo, and that many people would die as a result of it, how could I remain silent and not inform others that his warnings were something to be listened to? Perhaps people with ears to hear might take heed and make the appropriate preparations. I know I did. But, as my friend has informed me, it appears that the fake experts have reared their ugly and useless heads once again telling us that there is ‘nothing to the Titor story’ and that it is a “confirmed hoax.” THIS was the reason that I was recently asked to provide my evidence once again. And THIS is the reason this essay is dragging on. These pretenders to authority are like roaches; as soon as the exterminator leaves, they come out of the woodwork intent on dismantling the Truth once again. God’s work never ends, it seems, even with a 99% success rate… So, now that we’ve got all THAT out of the way, and as a sort of transition, I’d like to bring you up to speed on what I’ve been up to since I published Conviction of a Time Traveler in 2010. To be perfectly frank, after COATT’s publication, I thought I was done with the Titor story; I had said my piece and was perfectly willing to move on with my life and prepare for the event that causes the change in the status quo. But the annoying fact was that the Titor story itself didn’t end with the cessation of Titor’s posts in 2001. As new evidence appeared in the months and years following publication, like dog shit on my shoe that I can’t scrape off, I could never cleanly cleave myself from the Titor story. Not that I wanted to, mind you, it is a fascinating topic, regardless of your opinion. But what surprised me the most was that new evidence continued to appear, year after year. And, as more evidence appeared, my curiosity was consistently kept piqued and on alert. Trust me, it is exhausting. To give you a sense of what I discovered, I can tell you that your experts are wrong and that ‘time travel’ is neither novel nor unusual; we are very literally awash in ‘time travelers.’ My research suggests that ‘time machines’ have been present in our past going as far back as 850AD. But I digress. Share Suffice it to say that the Titor rabbit hole is but one example of a massively large group of programs from an unknown number of organizations from across time. The ‘time travel’ question runs much deeper (and much farther back in time) and crosses over into more (so-called) esoteric topics than anyone gives it credit for. As I said, it’s exhausting. My whole point here is that, even after I published in 2009, my curiosity in the topic (and its implications of yet larger vistas) did not wane. And, because of this continued and unabating curiosity, I discovered yet more evidence, crafted more theories and came to more conclusions. A philosopher once described the acquisition of new information as an ever-expanding circle surrounding the man; a horizon where known and unknown meet where new answers only beget new questions which push the circle farther and farther out. This has been my experience over the last 15 years re the Titor narrative and the larger ‘time travel’ question. How could it be otherwise? Unfortunately for you, you are being convinced by fools that the Titor episode is a ‘Confirmed Hoax.’ You haven’t even made the leap to the possibility that ‘time travel’ is even possible. How can you explore the implications of ‘time travel’ when you can’t even consider its reality, a fundamental starting point? I have a very strong (ehem) conviction that our collective naïveté on the subject will be violently revoked in the very near ‘future.’ The Two Camps, The Two Mistakes During my research, I observed that within the Titor commentariat there are two basic camps: the Debunkers and the True Believers. The Debunking camp will provide any contortion of logic to maintain the ‘Titor was a hoax’ narrative. The True Believers, on the other hand, will believe any contortion of logic that maintains their belief in The Gospel of John. What if I told you both camps were wrong? Now, the debunking camp will tell you that Titor must be a hoax because his predictions didn’t come true. Oh, well…his predictions didn’t come true? I guess we’re done then? Obviously, his whole purpose for posting was to make predictions like some Magic Eight Ball, right? And if those don’t pan out, well, ‘CONFIRMED HOAX!’ Get the Book On the other side of that coin, the True Believers out there, who never saw a confirmation bias they didn’t love, will tell you that Titor’s predictions didn’t come true because he changed the future. This of course is a recipe for explaining away literally any detracting evidence thus making Titor true no matter any evidence to the contrary. Let’s take the True Believers first: The concept of Divergence, while a handy explanation, does not/cannot explain all differences in histories away. In fact, were what Titor said was true (remember, we are True Believers for the moment and are taking Titor’s words as gospel) he absolutely must take measures to minimize divergence as much as possible and NOT allow it to span wildly. Otherwise, the entire power of the ‘time machine’ is rendered moot. I accept that Divergence is likely a real measurement necessary for the efficient execution of ‘time travel’ missions, but it should, by no means, be the magic skeleton key to explain away every question. In fact, while divergence is very likely a real ‘thing’ or artifact or measurement of difference between world lines, the Truth is that divergence must absolutely be kept to a minimum to make any practical use of the gravity engine sitting in the back seat of your old blue Geo Metro. So, no. Divergence cannot be the handy tool we need to contort ourselves into believing, as much as we might like to. Now for the debunkers: The debunkers have a variety of options available to them to argue that Titor was a ‘confirmed hoax.’ Regardless, these arguments typically boil down to two primary classes: He has special training or knowledge, and/or He’s just a lucky guesser. Unfortunately for the debunkers (and those who listen to them), these explanations make a very serious error: that predictions are a relevant metric to judge Titor’s truth at all. They are not. Serious question: Why should a ‘time traveler’ be subject to the same metrics that a psychic is to determine if his claims of ‘time travel’ are true? The point here is that you can’t compare a horse to a whale and complain that the horse can’t swim. They are two completely different animals, and the same goes for ‘time travelers’ and psychics or tarot readers or any other domain whose reputation is dependent on the true-ness of the information they provide. Comparing Titor’s predictions to actual, experienced history is also an imperfect and inappropriate metric if one is to objectively assess Titor from a blank slate starting point. This points to a much deeper insight into the true purpose of the Titor posts, but that’s for a different day. So, because of both these problems, any real researcher worth their salt would have to find some other way to determine the truth/falsity of the Titor narrative. Remember, when first approaching the Titor question as an objective investigator, Titor is both equally a hoax and legitimate. Imagine Schrodinger’s cat meets Columbo… I’ll give you this observation for free, just to get your juices flowing: Did you notice that absolutely none of John’s predictions (event + date) came true, but all his statements concerning conditions about our future did? Don’t you find this interesting? Or hadn’t you noticed, too blinded by the bright and shiny, attention-grabbing predictions of nuclear war? But I am getting ahead of myself; we still haven’t provided the evidence that it’s simply more likely that Titor was an actual time traveler than some ‘hoaxer genius.’ And so we finally get to the whole point of this essay in the first place, a reminder and summary of the evidence first provided in Conviction of a Time Traveler all the way back in those halcyon days of 2010:
– J. Titor, Nov 7, 2000
-J. Titor
– J. Titor, Nov 15, 2000
– J. Titor, Feb 15, 2001
-J. Titor, Feb 21, 2001
-J. Titor, Feb 25, 2001
-J. Titor, Feb 25, 2001
He predicts an optical measurement system for atomic clocks. He predicts the new system measures oscillation and not some other aspect. He predicts this new system increases measurement precision and not some other aspect. “The C206 uses 6 cesium clocks but they use an optical system to check the oscillation frequency. This makes the worldline divergence confidence much higher.” – J. Titor, Nov 7, 2000
But, the middle question, ‘…what is Ginger…’ did not violate either of those two questions so he acquiesced and answered it. He answered by saying, “It looks like a sort of motorized scooter. What do you think IT is?” – J. Titor, Jan 29, 2001 This answer immediately got my attention because, in 2000 when the question was asked, the answer was truly unknown, thus Mr. Kolesnik’s question. However, in 2009 when I was first looking into the Titor narrative, I knew what Ginger was because I remembered it. Hindsight truly was 20/20. As a bit of background, during 1999 (the exact timing escapes me), a ‘viral’ marketing campaign was underway by an inventor named Dean Kamen. While never revealing what this new product was, the billboards merely asked, “What is IT?” or “What is Ginger?” That was all they said. It is obvious now, and was obvious even then, that Kamen was attempting to create a buzz for his new invention. Fair enough. It also explains why it was asked of Titor in 2000. Kamen’s ad campaign was working! People were truly wondering. Now understand, the hype (and I use that term specifically) surrounding the Ginger ad campaign was fairly strong. Kamen predicted that his invention would reinvent how people moved about cities; it would cause their utter redesign and how they were laid out and organized. Big claims, to be sure. So strong in fact that Kamen was able to land a spot on Good Morning America where he finally revealed what his invention was. In December of 2001, and live on the air, Kamen, with Katie Couric, revealed Ginger to the world. Ginger was none other than the Segway. And what did Titor say it was? “A type of motorized scooter” And Stella says there’s nothing more to learn… Get the Book Titor’s absolute spot-on declaration of what Kamen’s invention was nearly a year before it was unveiled hit me right between the eyes. Eight years later, I already knew that Ginger was the Segway because I remembered the event. Here was a maniac on the internet claiming to be a ‘time traveler’ and he correctly ‘guessed’ what Ginger was a mere 2 ½ hours after it was asked and 11 months before it was officially unveiled? It was Titor’s statement here that caused me to look deeper (much deeper, in fact) into the Titor narrative and, after exhaustive research and extensive supporting evidence, I concluded that Titor was in fact, legitimate. Now here’s the truly interesting part of this piece of the Titor saga: you can’t find this statement about Ginger online anywhere anymore. It has been scrubbed from online sources everywhere. Now, when I first discovered the Titor story, I saw that there appeared to be a couple different versions of the posts and I just, by chance, found a version of the posts with the Ginger reference in it. I saw that some versions had the Ginger reference, and some did not. At the time, I did not know how to understand this. But I do now. Revisiting Old Theories As I mentioned before, hindsight is 20/20, and that is especially true when discussing ‘time travel’ and ‘time travelers.’ So, it seems oddly appropriate to provide a few examples of updated information that only revealed themselves with the fullness of time after publication. ‘leader’ In Conviction of a Time Traveler, I found the following quote especially interesting: “The President or “leader” in 2005 I believe tried desperately to be the next Lincoln and hold the country together but many of their policies drove a larger wedge into the Bill of Rights. The President in 2009 was interested only in keeping his/her power base.”
Of course, here we are 24 years after Titor’s statement and 12 years after I wrote COATT, and I have now come to a different conclusion about the quotation marks around the word ‘leader’. I now surmise that Titor was referring to Biden and not Obama when he wrote that. Because I personally didn’t have a ‘time machine’ at the time, I never could have expected the dementia patient currently ‘in’ the White House and supposedly ‘leading’ the country. For anyone watching, it is patently obvious that Mr. Biden isn’t ‘leading’ anything. So, in the context of this and our current national situation, those quotation marks sure make a hell of a lot more sense now, don’t you think? This reassessment obviously puts a giant bullseye on the 2024-2025 time period for what Titor commented upon in 2000. So, yes. I have reassessed this particular conclusion since publishing Conviction of a Time Traveler due to the slow passage of time and its equally slow revelation of Truth. Gates Another interesting comment by Titor had to do with Bill Gates. Recall that in 2000/2001, Bill Gates was ‘merely’ the CEO of Microsoft. He was among the richest men in the world and many news stories of the time commented upon this fact. Almost kind of like Elon Musk’s notoriety in both scope and scale. So, as such, a forum participant named ‘Joe’ asked Titor for any information regarding Bill Gates’ future. Titor’s response? “This I do know but I won’t discuss.” -J. Titor, Feb 23, 2001 An interesting, if not completely unhelpful, answer. Wouldn’t you say? Considering we now know how Gates has morphed from Tech Titan selling mediocre products to Farmland baron, GMO mosquito breeder and mRNA advocate and (alleged) mass murderer in India and elsewhere in the third world, Titor’s statement that he does know about Gates’ future rings true. In fact, what was also a bit interesting was when someone later pressed him on any information regarding Gates’ future. To which he responded, Just curious, why is he of such interest? -J Titor, Mar 5, 2001 Considering what we know now about Gates and his predilections (his ‘wife’ deserted him upon revelation of his visits to Epstein Island), I’m willing to bet that John was naturally curious as to why Gates, of all people, was of such interest to the forum participants that they would ask twice about him. Coincidence? Or did Titor suspect a mole from a different program in the forum? Who knows. His curiosity about their curiosity in Gates is interesting, nothing more. Conclusion And there you have (some of) it. A summary of some of the evidence documented in Conviction of a Time Traveler written nearly 15 years ago. The evidence contained in that small book has never been debunked or disproven. It has been plagiarized by some and ignored by others. If you were unaware of COATT and are a regular participant in the online discussions about ‘time travel,’ you should ask yourself why the ‘leadership’ on those forums never mention COATT. Curious, don’t you think? The reason I wrote COATT in the first place was because, after I had done my own research to satiate my own personal curiosity, I realized that some people online were downplaying his posts’ importance in the hopes that they could dissuade people from believing in Titor and the possibility of ‘time travel.’ I saw this dishonesty and decided to fight back against it by merely providing the information I discovered. From my point of view, Titor was warning us about a very severe time in our future that would upend the status quo and was to be a highly dangerous one. Taken at face value (always a good starting point), Titor’s warnings merited being taken seriously. Had the naysayer’s deceit been left unanswered, how many of you would have failed to prepare for what is just around the corner? You have prepared, haven’t you? And yes, as is readily obvious to many, those hard times are right around the corner. Looking at Titor’s statements 24 years later and simply looking around at the state of America and the world, do his statements seem so outlandish now? John’s ‘final’ words to the forum in March of 2001 ring eerily prescient now: Bring a gas can with you when the car dies on the side of the road. -J. Titor, Mar 23, 2001 It is my sincerest hope that my small book project (and the essays that followed) spurred you to think twice about the world we live in and take the necessary actions you feel you should to keep you and your family safe for the world’s awakening and rebirth. As Ever, Temporal Recon Share As Ever |
2024.06.09 22:36 working925isahardway Hidden Message: The SPLINT HE WAS WEARING!!!!
Ok Right of the bat- there are a lot of clues in DFV's latest youtube live stream.
There are smarter apes who found most of them and continue to scrutinize the video frame by frame.
I am a medical guy. I didnt think anything of it but- what was that thing he wore on his left arm.
Well wouldnt you know.
Its called a COCK UP SPLINT.
What is a cockup splint used for?Dyna Cock-up splint helps to hold the wrists and hands "cocked-up" in a single position and immobilise the wrist during healing of wrist injuries. Wrist injuries are typically caused by one of two reasons. The primary cause is due to repetitive use of the wrist.
Ok so where else have I seen this reference???
check the images. Also he took off the sling around his neck but did not take off the one on his wrist. Hmm....
Time to buy more.. hahaha
submitted by working925isahardway to Superstonk [link] [comments]
There are smarter apes who found most of them and continue to scrutinize the video frame by frame.
I am a medical guy. I didnt think anything of it but- what was that thing he wore on his left arm.
Well wouldnt you know.
Its called a COCK UP SPLINT.
What is a cockup splint used for?Dyna Cock-up splint helps to hold the wrists and hands "cocked-up" in a single position and immobilise the wrist during healing of wrist injuries. Wrist injuries are typically caused by one of two reasons. The primary cause is due to repetitive use of the wrist.
Ok so where else have I seen this reference???
check the images. Also he took off the sling around his neck but did not take off the one on his wrist. Hmm....
Time to buy more.. hahaha
2024.06.09 22:32 Dry_Description_2936 I saw my brother cry for the first time.
My (16) brother (M23) is an incredibly selfless person from a age he was the one protecting us from our drug and alcohol addicted parents on good days they'd just leave us alone which meant that my brother would be forced to take care of me and my eight siblings but on the bad days they'd find any reason to be mad and beat us, my brother would stand in front of the door way nake sure they would beat him instead of us. They'd use irons, bats anything to make us feel pain but my brother protecting us he would get the worse of it all, he still has a lot fo scars from it all but he has some tattoos that cover them up.
He never got any chance to have a childhood. And even now life hasn't gotten any easier, this last year has been crazy. He lost his best friend of ten years to a drug overdose, and only a month later we lost my little brothers both (M13), my cousin (F16) and my younger sister (F10) car accident a
All three of them ended up in a coma but eventually passed away one by one during this time my brother wouldn't leave their side, he never slept, didn't sleep or drink water. He'd only drink coffee and enegery drinks to stay awake.
And finally we lost our grandmother. She and my brother were always super close, and she passed away. After her passing things quickly went downhill from there. He couldn't sleep, he would've eat and I'm pretty sure he didn't take his meds that are meant to help him with his bipolar.
One day I came home from school and I found out that my brother tried to kill himself so he was sent to the psych ward.
We got to visit him while he was there but he wasn't like himself, he isn't really happy go lucky he can sometimes be like Wednesday Addams but he just looked so drained and dead inside. The nurse said that he had signs of burnout, a mental breakdown and psychosis.
He's been home for about a week now and there is no difference in his behaviour. He is still cold, distant and sometimes I catch him starring off into the distance. I can tell he feels very vulnerable position but he won't let any one of take care of him.
I'm gonna get to the point now today I came home from soccer practice to my uncle and aunt trying to get me to talk to my brother because they got into a fight. I don't wanna get into to much detail but it started over coffee and developed into them blaming him for the car accident.
When I went upstairs he was in a ball crying telling me he's sorry and that I shouldn't have to see him like this. When I bent down to try and comfort he moved from me quickly begging for me not to touch him saying that he doesn't want to hurt anyone and that he is tried of hurting people. I told that it was okay but before I could say more to comfort him he just screamed to leave him alone.
I'm not sure what to do from here. I called my godmother and she left about thirty minutes ago. She managed to calm him down with some herbs.
Do you guys have any advice or tips on how I can help him? Please please help me. Thank you
submitted by Dry_Description_2936 to ComfortLevelPod [link] [comments]
He never got any chance to have a childhood. And even now life hasn't gotten any easier, this last year has been crazy. He lost his best friend of ten years to a drug overdose, and only a month later we lost my little brothers both (M13), my cousin (F16) and my younger sister (F10) car accident a
All three of them ended up in a coma but eventually passed away one by one during this time my brother wouldn't leave their side, he never slept, didn't sleep or drink water. He'd only drink coffee and enegery drinks to stay awake.
And finally we lost our grandmother. She and my brother were always super close, and she passed away. After her passing things quickly went downhill from there. He couldn't sleep, he would've eat and I'm pretty sure he didn't take his meds that are meant to help him with his bipolar.
One day I came home from school and I found out that my brother tried to kill himself so he was sent to the psych ward.
We got to visit him while he was there but he wasn't like himself, he isn't really happy go lucky he can sometimes be like Wednesday Addams but he just looked so drained and dead inside. The nurse said that he had signs of burnout, a mental breakdown and psychosis.
He's been home for about a week now and there is no difference in his behaviour. He is still cold, distant and sometimes I catch him starring off into the distance. I can tell he feels very vulnerable position but he won't let any one of take care of him.
I'm gonna get to the point now today I came home from soccer practice to my uncle and aunt trying to get me to talk to my brother because they got into a fight. I don't wanna get into to much detail but it started over coffee and developed into them blaming him for the car accident.
When I went upstairs he was in a ball crying telling me he's sorry and that I shouldn't have to see him like this. When I bent down to try and comfort he moved from me quickly begging for me not to touch him saying that he doesn't want to hurt anyone and that he is tried of hurting people. I told that it was okay but before I could say more to comfort him he just screamed to leave him alone.
I'm not sure what to do from here. I called my godmother and she left about thirty minutes ago. She managed to calm him down with some herbs.
Do you guys have any advice or tips on how I can help him? Please please help me. Thank you
2024.06.09 22:30 HelloHi9999 I would just like to leave a bit of hope since I needed it ❤️🩹
This may come off as unrelated but hear me out. If anyone here has played the video game Persona 5 Royal, you may know where I am going here. NOTE: If you are playing the game or plan to. STOP READING: SPOILERS!
I just went on YouTube and rewatched the character Morgana’s end speech. This scene made me ball my eyes out, still does. This game changed my perspective of life. It’s amazing how much the game actually reflects what’s happening right now. Really need to remember my strength and have hope.
“Even if you feel that only darkness lies ahead - as long as you hold hands together, see it through as one, the world will never end. The world exists within all of you.”
I need to stop letting this looming Project 2025 keep me down in the dumps.
submitted by HelloHi9999 to Defeat_Project_2025 [link] [comments]
I just went on YouTube and rewatched the character Morgana’s end speech. This scene made me ball my eyes out, still does. This game changed my perspective of life. It’s amazing how much the game actually reflects what’s happening right now. Really need to remember my strength and have hope.
“Even if you feel that only darkness lies ahead - as long as you hold hands together, see it through as one, the world will never end. The world exists within all of you.”
I need to stop letting this looming Project 2025 keep me down in the dumps.
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 22:23 Inevitable-Pepper657 The Yak State of the Union
Let me preface this post by saying this; we’re all spending time reading a subreddit about a show that’s two most reoccurring topics are farts and boobs. We take it far more seriously than we should. I am now going to proceed to continue doing just that, but at least we acknowledged it. My goal of this is to compartmentalize any common ongoing concerns with The Yak, and bring forth any helpful analysis or suggestions. It will become immediately clear that I have perhaps watched far too much of this show, for far too long now. It’s not an obsession, it just takes up a very large portion of my brain. So, let me dust off my keyboard, in order to psychoanalyze and deeply critique the people on this show, who consistently bring me great joy completely free of charge.
Mook
We might as well get the most frequently posted about subject out of the way first. In order to be an everyday personality on a successful daily talk show, you ordinarily are required to possess at least three of the following six qualities.
Confident
Charismatic
Creative
Funny
Intelligent
Interesting
Alternatively, you can also just be physically attractive.
Mook is none of these things. Zero. This is the simple and true reason why he is receiving flack for being on the show every day. Every other member that sits in The Yak studio checks off their respective boxes.
If you go back and watch some of the earliest shows that took place in the old Chicago office, Mook was an integral part of them. The crew was still figuring things out, and with a smaller cast for various reasons, he sort of naturally filled in. The thing is, he wasn’t a bad fit at all. In fact he was a good one, but unfortunately this didn’t last long. He went from a quality NBA sixth man, to benchwarmer, to over the past few weeks, if not months, playing like he belongs in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (Puerto Rican basketball league). People have said he has become a scapegoat, just as Owen and a young Sas were as well. In reality, none of them have been scapegoats, they all at one point or another have just been the weakest link on the show, and received hate for it, that’s as complicated as it is. Owen was nothing more than overwhelmingly negative most of the time, providing good one liners in between vape hits. In the end, he left of his own volition, and the show improved. Sas was almost a decade younger than Mook is now, and had a lot of room to grow. With time, he did. Retrospectively, Sas also always had the talent, he just needed to get his shit kicked in a bit by the world to harness it. Mook isn’t negative, he’s in fact quite a positive guy, and has already gotten his shit kicked in plenty. What I’m saying is his problems are not the same problems as anyone else previously on the show, he is in a boat of his own.
These are not just the thoughts of the obviously autistic and schizophrenic man typing this though, but of the general Yak fanbase. The comment sections of those aforementioned early shows loved Mook, almost unanimously; they were overwhelmingly positive. Going back and reading them is quite a shock, only having read the comment sections of late. Commenters back then were calling for him to be a regular in droves, and so he became one; now these same people are calling for his head. I am somewhat guilty of never giving Mook his flowers so to speak back then, so I will do so now for anyone who might not remember his best moments: Rap video cameo, Perth trip, gay hands, Mintzy prank calls, the Fella Friday debacle, and he had more as well in just a short time. It has just dawned on me that it is 3AM, and I am writing a manifesto in which gay hands is a point of emphasis. Anyways, Mook by all accounts had a good run, albeit a bit brief. So, what changed?
Allow me to fully don my parasocial glasses, and introduce the primary theory I have. Two things: he’s always been an avid comment reader, in addition to nothing more than him simply running out of shit to talk about. Mook has brought up the comment section himself on a number of occasions, and he’s probably always read them since he’s been on the show. They built him up, and then tore him back down. Any confidence the comments gave him, has been torn to shreds by the same device. The other reason he probably felt comfortable early on is because he had these key moments on the show that were genuinely funny, the only problem is that they were entirely built around stories about himself. He really struggles to make jokes about others, which is a massive portion of what makes The Yak great; everyone can rag on everyone. And when it comes to self-deprecation, the concept is a fine line between recalling embarrassing or out of place situations, and refraining from saying shit that should only rattle around inside one’s brain. He’s resorted to the latter as of late now that he’s run out of the former material, and with him not being a particularly good conversationalist, there’s really nothing he can fall back on. I can’t speak on his stand-up comedy as I have not seen it, but if it’s any good it just hasn’t been translated to The Yak. While he’s not immune to having funny comments, his success rate with jokes is incredibly low.
This is absolutely no slight on him though, as almost all of us would be in the same position, given we are also not qualified to be on the show. We’d run out of shit to talk about in a week, if we had anything original or interesting to say at all. In a way this makes a lot of sense; Mook is not all that different from most of us, about a year ago he was a full time accountant. I don’t know how many accountants out there could successfully fill a spot on this show, but there can’t be many of them. We’ve devolved to his only highlights in the past few months being him essentially bullied about his relationship with a woman, and him injuring himself on a bicycle.
There is one final test I can offer up as a means of understanding this predicament if you don’t already. Truly imagine each member of the show performing in an improv comedy group; if you’ve done this, they should’ve, all in their own unique ways, provided for a good laugh, except one of them. Mook would plainly, be downright painful to watch. More than likely he'd freeze up, and if he delivered anything that wasn’t a bit about cum, it’d be an anomaly. That’s not good.
This is all to say, I think Mook has a place on The Yak. As does Danny Conrad, White Sox Dave, Max, or whomever the flavor of the month is that fans are heaping praise on. These guys are all great in doses, when they have something to talk about, and can also adequately fill in, when necessary, but when it comes to hosting a daily show, you have to be a special sort of talent to make that work. The only reoccurring guests on the show who come close to being on this level, are Feits, Guilio, and Bader. I’m not even going to get into the weeds regarding Mintzy, only time will tell how that develops, or doesn’t. I trust the crew to decide who belongs in a permanent fashion, but I just hope they really evaluate Mook’s role and give him the break that it frankly seems he needs, even if it’s a tough decision. Whatever they decide to do, I’m sure it will work out in the long run as it always does; have some faith folks. For the record, as an avid listener of ANUS as well, I think he fits his role as a producer just fine on there (he’d be a horrendous producer on any respectable podcast).
Kate
People have been coming at Kate’s neck for a while, so I’d like to address that. That is, right after I talk about the kind of person she is, being sure to mention the fact that she has a broken back, just went through a miserable pregnancy, and still showed up for more workdays in the last year than plenty of her co-workers. Never mind the fact that she’s an absolute badass and true patriot, but nobody tell her that. If you don’t find Kate funny, you’re an idiot, but that’s fine, humor is subjective. And yes, she needs to spend at least half as much time on TikTok as she does, but if you’ve read to this point, you need to at least double the amount of time you spend outside. She’s clearly beloved by everyone on the show, as she should be. Kyle would take a bullet for her; Nick wouldn’t, but that’s only because the gunman wouldn’t be able to hit his rickets riddled legs. It should be entirely obvious to any regular viewer of the show at this point, that Kate doesn’t help just host the show, but she also doubles as a producer. Not in the typical podcast producer sense, but more in the spirit of a TV producer. A lot of the great premeditated ideas and bits on the show are of her creation, and even those that aren’t, she leads the coordination behind the scenes. Nobody puts more effort and love into the show than her, except for the first 120 seconds of it, given her forgetfulness to be there for those. She would be sorely missed if she wasn’t a member of the show, and I just hope people who don’t already think this can learn to appreciate her, despite her quest to have a seemingly never-ending list of flaws; that’s a hobby if you ask me, Cate. In all seriousness, she had a bit of a funk throughout the past three seasons of the show we’re calling one season, for as many reasons as one could have, but she’s fully back in her groove now.
T.J.
People have also been whining about T.J. for one reason or another. If you don’t realize how important he is to the show, you have not been watching long enough. The Yak was not nearly the same prior to his arrival, despite the cast not changing in any significant way. He’s got the fastest sticks in the (Mid)west, and while we might not all appreciate his humor, he absolutely knows how to get the most out of the show. He’s the perfect cameraman and real-time editor for the job, and he’s proven this many times over. E.g. Francis big head, Rone green face, any patented Brandon mid-bite zoom in. Given the complete technological ineptitude of most Barstool producers, it’s frankly a minor miracle we have been stuck with him. Ultimately, he knows what the guys find funny, and what the audience does as well. Has his ego inflated since dropping more than a hundred pounds in weight? No shit it has, that’s how that works, good for him. And yes, he is chronically online. He averages three sentences per stream, I can take him saying something mildly annoying every now and then; any other expectation would be absurd for a behind the camera personality, or anyone for that matter.
Big Cat
Get off your damn phone. Him constantly being on his phone and ruining the flow of conversation was long a pet peeve of mine before he brought it up himself a couple of weeks ago. His solution of giving his phone to Cheah (which worked, by the way) lasting all of one show, is hilarious. It only rubs salt in the wound when he pretends to not just be scrolling Twitter and reading the YouTube chat, saying he’s promoting the show instead. Even if that is the reason a small percentage of the time, I could not think of a less trivial task for him to do whilst on air; truly, any of the many, many employees working under him, who are otherwise not doing anything, could do it for him. Nevertheless, him constantly being on it does indeed derail discussions when he tunes back in, and they have to be rehashed because he wasn’t listening. It’s overall just rude behavior, and inconsiderate to his actual friends sitting right beside him, as well as the audience. I’m sure this in particular irks me more than most, but it really is just such an easy thing to get better at that would improve the show.
Nick, Kyle, Brandon, and Titus are all our perfect little angels and will certainly steer clear of any criticism or malice brought forth by anyone, for any reason whatsoever, for the foreseeable future.
Additionally, I petition for The Yak to host a weekly Ronesh Hashana and Sash Wednesday session, naturally observed every Wednesday. Again, there is a reason why you and I could not be on the show, what the fuck was that. Just have them Zoom in for the second half of a show once a week, it would be great to have those boys on and just yakking it up far more often. I would even be willing to compromise, by tapping into Sas’s Xbox Live party while he’s in a COD lobby, if that is what we must do to accommodate his busy work schedule. And I’m sure Brandon would be relieved to move down to at least second in RSMPE (Racial Slurs Muttered Per Episode). The King of New York simply can’t grace the Chicago plebeians with his presence and just go up and leave; we must have our fix. Of course, we must also have Rone involved to stir the pot, or as the Yiddish say, טאָפּ.
Though it may not seem it, I am truly not here to judge the character of anyone on The Yak. It is just an internet show after all, and I don’t dislike any of them, far from it. In all my years of watching, I have never posted on here before, nor commented on a Yak video, nor in the chat. I’m only writing this now because I am overly passionate about the show, and the people on it. The show seems to be going through a period of growth right now, or at least it is reaching a new audience, and during this time I want to see it at its best. Does anything about the show truly need to change? No, it doesn’t. We watch it every day for good reasons. Though it is inevitable that we will always find something to whine about; there are too many moving parts and people involved with it on a daily basis for us not to. And in fairness, it does have its issues like anything else, so if some minor ones could be addressed, everyone might be a little happier. And yet, if it remains exactly the same, that's actually a pretty desirable outcome; I already fucking love this show.
If they want to keep Mook on, then fine, let it be. At the very least, we can try and not drown the dude in hate, maybe he’ll somehow get his mojo back. Hell, while we’re at it, let Kate start her stories about something that nobody saw, that turned out to be about something that wasn’t true, that somehow ends with her being made fun of for having sexual relations with a high school mascot. Let them continue to rib T.J. and diabetic Brandon for their massive collective weight loss of going from two diabetic Brandon’s to two diabetic Brandon’s. Let Big Cat continue to cosplay as a hometown Chicagoan from Massachusetts who went to school in Wisconsin. Let Cheah continue to grill Sas on hypotheticals about his mother’s brassiere. Let Nick speak only about the opening paragraphs of Wikipedia pages. Let Rone manspread the width of four Zah’s. Let Kyle harp on Ecuadorian thickies. Let them continue to bring up Titus’s massive monster of a cock; we’re not happy about it, but we’ll allow it. Let’s just enjoy The Yak.
submitted by Inevitable-Pepper657 to itstheyak [link] [comments]
Mook
We might as well get the most frequently posted about subject out of the way first. In order to be an everyday personality on a successful daily talk show, you ordinarily are required to possess at least three of the following six qualities.
Confident
Charismatic
Creative
Funny
Intelligent
Interesting
Alternatively, you can also just be physically attractive.
Mook is none of these things. Zero. This is the simple and true reason why he is receiving flack for being on the show every day. Every other member that sits in The Yak studio checks off their respective boxes.
If you go back and watch some of the earliest shows that took place in the old Chicago office, Mook was an integral part of them. The crew was still figuring things out, and with a smaller cast for various reasons, he sort of naturally filled in. The thing is, he wasn’t a bad fit at all. In fact he was a good one, but unfortunately this didn’t last long. He went from a quality NBA sixth man, to benchwarmer, to over the past few weeks, if not months, playing like he belongs in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (Puerto Rican basketball league). People have said he has become a scapegoat, just as Owen and a young Sas were as well. In reality, none of them have been scapegoats, they all at one point or another have just been the weakest link on the show, and received hate for it, that’s as complicated as it is. Owen was nothing more than overwhelmingly negative most of the time, providing good one liners in between vape hits. In the end, he left of his own volition, and the show improved. Sas was almost a decade younger than Mook is now, and had a lot of room to grow. With time, he did. Retrospectively, Sas also always had the talent, he just needed to get his shit kicked in a bit by the world to harness it. Mook isn’t negative, he’s in fact quite a positive guy, and has already gotten his shit kicked in plenty. What I’m saying is his problems are not the same problems as anyone else previously on the show, he is in a boat of his own.
These are not just the thoughts of the obviously autistic and schizophrenic man typing this though, but of the general Yak fanbase. The comment sections of those aforementioned early shows loved Mook, almost unanimously; they were overwhelmingly positive. Going back and reading them is quite a shock, only having read the comment sections of late. Commenters back then were calling for him to be a regular in droves, and so he became one; now these same people are calling for his head. I am somewhat guilty of never giving Mook his flowers so to speak back then, so I will do so now for anyone who might not remember his best moments: Rap video cameo, Perth trip, gay hands, Mintzy prank calls, the Fella Friday debacle, and he had more as well in just a short time. It has just dawned on me that it is 3AM, and I am writing a manifesto in which gay hands is a point of emphasis. Anyways, Mook by all accounts had a good run, albeit a bit brief. So, what changed?
Allow me to fully don my parasocial glasses, and introduce the primary theory I have. Two things: he’s always been an avid comment reader, in addition to nothing more than him simply running out of shit to talk about. Mook has brought up the comment section himself on a number of occasions, and he’s probably always read them since he’s been on the show. They built him up, and then tore him back down. Any confidence the comments gave him, has been torn to shreds by the same device. The other reason he probably felt comfortable early on is because he had these key moments on the show that were genuinely funny, the only problem is that they were entirely built around stories about himself. He really struggles to make jokes about others, which is a massive portion of what makes The Yak great; everyone can rag on everyone. And when it comes to self-deprecation, the concept is a fine line between recalling embarrassing or out of place situations, and refraining from saying shit that should only rattle around inside one’s brain. He’s resorted to the latter as of late now that he’s run out of the former material, and with him not being a particularly good conversationalist, there’s really nothing he can fall back on. I can’t speak on his stand-up comedy as I have not seen it, but if it’s any good it just hasn’t been translated to The Yak. While he’s not immune to having funny comments, his success rate with jokes is incredibly low.
This is absolutely no slight on him though, as almost all of us would be in the same position, given we are also not qualified to be on the show. We’d run out of shit to talk about in a week, if we had anything original or interesting to say at all. In a way this makes a lot of sense; Mook is not all that different from most of us, about a year ago he was a full time accountant. I don’t know how many accountants out there could successfully fill a spot on this show, but there can’t be many of them. We’ve devolved to his only highlights in the past few months being him essentially bullied about his relationship with a woman, and him injuring himself on a bicycle.
There is one final test I can offer up as a means of understanding this predicament if you don’t already. Truly imagine each member of the show performing in an improv comedy group; if you’ve done this, they should’ve, all in their own unique ways, provided for a good laugh, except one of them. Mook would plainly, be downright painful to watch. More than likely he'd freeze up, and if he delivered anything that wasn’t a bit about cum, it’d be an anomaly. That’s not good.
This is all to say, I think Mook has a place on The Yak. As does Danny Conrad, White Sox Dave, Max, or whomever the flavor of the month is that fans are heaping praise on. These guys are all great in doses, when they have something to talk about, and can also adequately fill in, when necessary, but when it comes to hosting a daily show, you have to be a special sort of talent to make that work. The only reoccurring guests on the show who come close to being on this level, are Feits, Guilio, and Bader. I’m not even going to get into the weeds regarding Mintzy, only time will tell how that develops, or doesn’t. I trust the crew to decide who belongs in a permanent fashion, but I just hope they really evaluate Mook’s role and give him the break that it frankly seems he needs, even if it’s a tough decision. Whatever they decide to do, I’m sure it will work out in the long run as it always does; have some faith folks. For the record, as an avid listener of ANUS as well, I think he fits his role as a producer just fine on there (he’d be a horrendous producer on any respectable podcast).
Kate
People have been coming at Kate’s neck for a while, so I’d like to address that. That is, right after I talk about the kind of person she is, being sure to mention the fact that she has a broken back, just went through a miserable pregnancy, and still showed up for more workdays in the last year than plenty of her co-workers. Never mind the fact that she’s an absolute badass and true patriot, but nobody tell her that. If you don’t find Kate funny, you’re an idiot, but that’s fine, humor is subjective. And yes, she needs to spend at least half as much time on TikTok as she does, but if you’ve read to this point, you need to at least double the amount of time you spend outside. She’s clearly beloved by everyone on the show, as she should be. Kyle would take a bullet for her; Nick wouldn’t, but that’s only because the gunman wouldn’t be able to hit his rickets riddled legs. It should be entirely obvious to any regular viewer of the show at this point, that Kate doesn’t help just host the show, but she also doubles as a producer. Not in the typical podcast producer sense, but more in the spirit of a TV producer. A lot of the great premeditated ideas and bits on the show are of her creation, and even those that aren’t, she leads the coordination behind the scenes. Nobody puts more effort and love into the show than her, except for the first 120 seconds of it, given her forgetfulness to be there for those. She would be sorely missed if she wasn’t a member of the show, and I just hope people who don’t already think this can learn to appreciate her, despite her quest to have a seemingly never-ending list of flaws; that’s a hobby if you ask me, Cate. In all seriousness, she had a bit of a funk throughout the past three seasons of the show we’re calling one season, for as many reasons as one could have, but she’s fully back in her groove now.
T.J.
People have also been whining about T.J. for one reason or another. If you don’t realize how important he is to the show, you have not been watching long enough. The Yak was not nearly the same prior to his arrival, despite the cast not changing in any significant way. He’s got the fastest sticks in the (Mid)west, and while we might not all appreciate his humor, he absolutely knows how to get the most out of the show. He’s the perfect cameraman and real-time editor for the job, and he’s proven this many times over. E.g. Francis big head, Rone green face, any patented Brandon mid-bite zoom in. Given the complete technological ineptitude of most Barstool producers, it’s frankly a minor miracle we have been stuck with him. Ultimately, he knows what the guys find funny, and what the audience does as well. Has his ego inflated since dropping more than a hundred pounds in weight? No shit it has, that’s how that works, good for him. And yes, he is chronically online. He averages three sentences per stream, I can take him saying something mildly annoying every now and then; any other expectation would be absurd for a behind the camera personality, or anyone for that matter.
Big Cat
Get off your damn phone. Him constantly being on his phone and ruining the flow of conversation was long a pet peeve of mine before he brought it up himself a couple of weeks ago. His solution of giving his phone to Cheah (which worked, by the way) lasting all of one show, is hilarious. It only rubs salt in the wound when he pretends to not just be scrolling Twitter and reading the YouTube chat, saying he’s promoting the show instead. Even if that is the reason a small percentage of the time, I could not think of a less trivial task for him to do whilst on air; truly, any of the many, many employees working under him, who are otherwise not doing anything, could do it for him. Nevertheless, him constantly being on it does indeed derail discussions when he tunes back in, and they have to be rehashed because he wasn’t listening. It’s overall just rude behavior, and inconsiderate to his actual friends sitting right beside him, as well as the audience. I’m sure this in particular irks me more than most, but it really is just such an easy thing to get better at that would improve the show.
Nick, Kyle, Brandon, and Titus are all our perfect little angels and will certainly steer clear of any criticism or malice brought forth by anyone, for any reason whatsoever, for the foreseeable future.
Additionally, I petition for The Yak to host a weekly Ronesh Hashana and Sash Wednesday session, naturally observed every Wednesday. Again, there is a reason why you and I could not be on the show, what the fuck was that. Just have them Zoom in for the second half of a show once a week, it would be great to have those boys on and just yakking it up far more often. I would even be willing to compromise, by tapping into Sas’s Xbox Live party while he’s in a COD lobby, if that is what we must do to accommodate his busy work schedule. And I’m sure Brandon would be relieved to move down to at least second in RSMPE (Racial Slurs Muttered Per Episode). The King of New York simply can’t grace the Chicago plebeians with his presence and just go up and leave; we must have our fix. Of course, we must also have Rone involved to stir the pot, or as the Yiddish say, טאָפּ.
Though it may not seem it, I am truly not here to judge the character of anyone on The Yak. It is just an internet show after all, and I don’t dislike any of them, far from it. In all my years of watching, I have never posted on here before, nor commented on a Yak video, nor in the chat. I’m only writing this now because I am overly passionate about the show, and the people on it. The show seems to be going through a period of growth right now, or at least it is reaching a new audience, and during this time I want to see it at its best. Does anything about the show truly need to change? No, it doesn’t. We watch it every day for good reasons. Though it is inevitable that we will always find something to whine about; there are too many moving parts and people involved with it on a daily basis for us not to. And in fairness, it does have its issues like anything else, so if some minor ones could be addressed, everyone might be a little happier. And yet, if it remains exactly the same, that's actually a pretty desirable outcome; I already fucking love this show.
If they want to keep Mook on, then fine, let it be. At the very least, we can try and not drown the dude in hate, maybe he’ll somehow get his mojo back. Hell, while we’re at it, let Kate start her stories about something that nobody saw, that turned out to be about something that wasn’t true, that somehow ends with her being made fun of for having sexual relations with a high school mascot. Let them continue to rib T.J. and diabetic Brandon for their massive collective weight loss of going from two diabetic Brandon’s to two diabetic Brandon’s. Let Big Cat continue to cosplay as a hometown Chicagoan from Massachusetts who went to school in Wisconsin. Let Cheah continue to grill Sas on hypotheticals about his mother’s brassiere. Let Nick speak only about the opening paragraphs of Wikipedia pages. Let Rone manspread the width of four Zah’s. Let Kyle harp on Ecuadorian thickies. Let them continue to bring up Titus’s massive monster of a cock; we’re not happy about it, but we’ll allow it. Let’s just enjoy The Yak.
2024.06.09 22:22 Working-Spirit-3721 Monkey D luffy DD U DONT WANT TO MISS
Good afternoon anybody, somebody, nobody, & everybody
all evidence DM ME
My name is Jain Kunwar
I am a retail trader for 3.5 years.
I am not an ape, I am not an institutional investor, I am not a hedge fund.
Nor do I have any clients.
I do not provide personalised investment advice for fees or commissions or tax purposes.
I'm just an individual investor who did my own research like Detective Columbo/Pikachu.
I come from a broken family, I have been to prison, I have been homeless even at 15 for many years.
I am not a good person, but I am seeking salvation from God.
I been doing Heroin since the age of 13, sober 8 years since the day I pleaded out to God in Merton station London at 1 am asking God to save me.
Which I believe in myself he did because shortly…….
Soon after, I went prison by confessing all my crimes and the judge let me run it concurrently for being honest that I need help and I had no foundation and healed a bit moving forwards in life.
I was born on May 10th, 1994, in Nepal Butwal. Home of the Gurkhas
I came to England 2002 November & have lived here since.
I class my self as Asian British A9
I have been repenting for my sins happily, paying off my debts and learning to be a good human being for I was a sinner till I met Jesus in Church of England.
My one and only father Jesus.
I have been following and invested in Game stop for a long time.
I started educating myself about the stock market since then.
I have been buying shares of GameStop Since 2021 But since 2021 June been incurring losses through market manipulation techniques I.E.
I had been denied withdrawals/ buying or selling options, leveraging options from Capital.NLY
Which incurred me 6 Grand losses on June 2021 and God knows how much/many other investors BIG or small in all exchanges that this effected.
I also have evidence of numerous times the trading app has halted its trade for more then 30 minutes to an hour in a single day! But for these I have videos more then images
I am happy to hand it over if you tell me where to send it.
They kept ignoring me until a month ago in May the 10th 2024 will touch base here later(miracle)
I have what’s app records of me trying to make complaints throughout the years with no redemption or straight answers.
I once spoke to an employee male & female one said, “We are experiencing some technical difficulties” this was about 1-2 years ago.
The Craziest thing was the ticker was moving in other exchanges just not in the one I was trading from.
Once it didn’t even open for 1.5 hours when it was open everywhere else
It finally opened at 10:49 how I know? I experienced this.
Under the FCA regulations all registered Trading Companies have a duty to protect investors from glitches and “technical difficulties”
Which They failed to do so for me I speak for myself and only what I have experienced.
The company even has glitched my leveraging system of 5-1 which was the setting since joining the company.
where, even if you pick 5-1 you only receive 2-1.
I have evidence of this as well & it’s not the first time either.
I know this has been done 100x of times if you take a Deeper Dive in the company’s own trading platform.
You won’t be able to find in other exchanges as other exchanges are working well so you cannot see the reason as its all “inter- linked”.
“Inter-linked “exchanges one falls apart whilst others are moving causing direct market manipulation.
Quoting blade runner “inter-linked”
Since then, I have been sent death threats anonymously.
Which also I can prove It was sent by him by connecting some dots with you
I met the owner in Wembley stadium in Corporate Box I was invited by Mr Stephen O
He contacted me and invited me to his corporate box on 8/6/24 I went there to find clarity as hackers have been going through my phones and social media with death threats.
Currently he is getting his hackers to find out where my siblings are and such as those are the type of questions I am getting in my social media platforms.
I call it phsing, smishing and vhising all 3 were used on my network.
Using carefully relaying questions in segment to build a definitive answer by narrowing down the wrong answers.
Like how it asks me what horoscope I am, Questions like use your initials to create a Japanese name.
Narrowing down an answer what every analytical mind would do.
I have been going through this since May 10th after he contacted me.
I have said my name is J to every one of these questions should be in my social media history.
Notice how it says JJ DEAD MAN COVER
i.e
Notice how I met the Owner at 8/6/24 1 pm corporate box …there are plenty cameras there.
I like to be clear here I do not know this person or have his number for him to be coming to my social media as people “whom I know”.
I believe it was the vhising technique of his goons on hire you can see my history for the past month in call history I been getting scam calls left right and centre.
I will also give a copy of screen recording on request.
Then I went home and put a video of his trading app chart not moving like other exchanges for example having a 1-minute ticker symbol does not move for 30 minutes in graph line on my social media suddenly,
I see a people “whom you might know” soon after I posted the video.
I only went to the corporate box because he told me he has over 300 people retail traders coming which I was the only retail there apart from 5 millionaires 4 of which I believe they own the company only speculation whom others are currently.
But I felt an eerily vibe So I did not eat their food or take their hospitality which was probably funded by investors like me getting robbed blind because he thought no one would notice.
I also met a man there I spoke to him he told me His trading account was transferred to their platform.
The clue is there which accounts have been moved without consent or choice?
He will plan to bring all in one to have more control and doing this also erases all traces of manipulation in the trading platform it moved from a very sly way to delete history.
Should not affect me though I joined capital.com ticker symbol. NLY as my first and only trading app.
I have lost all history of my trade’s funds and even portfolios deleted without notice of consent why is he observing my account and why is he deleting everything without my consent? He knows he did me wrong that’s why because he uses capital.com to manipulate the market into his interest.
I can identify all 4 of them even though I only spoke to Mr S.O over the phone and only know their name.
I ended up being the only retail trader there, A poor man in a Billionaires Club
So out of place
I just can’t figure out why, Can you?
The ticker symbol has to be moving according to the time even if the price does not fluctuate the time has to keep moving like kinetic energy.
It has to be moving unless halted which can be only 35 minutes per day but I have counted over 1 hour gone in some days
I have been through mental trauma with hackers trying to hypnotize me with flashing lights and other spiral colour techniques mind you.
I am an epileptic which I grew out of when I was 15 which is highly reactive to epileptic people.
Miracle indeed, as many don't, certainly not after adult hood.
Also, they have tried to ask me questions to figure out whom I am on my social media,
I got closer to their crimes and my truth and they wanted to know what I know or make me join them as per the invitation I believe bribing me to survive another few years maybe?
Hope you Enjoyed the Corporate box Kenny it was from the money you stole from me!
Steal from the poor how dare you?
pushing pornographic and other Hypno/flashing light techniques to my social media platforms
also using racial harassment by calling me Paki Psycho
At least get the country right! Originally from Nepal BITCH Gurkhas Salute!
We both know whom we are now S.O
Which over the past 3 years have also caused me to lose everything…..
money, love, joy, sanity & dreams.
I have been Robbed constantly from these techniques they use also the withdrawal rejection from 10000 to even 100 this was very recently too. Have some images to reference this too.
I log almost everything I do.
That’s just how I found healing/clarity by writing it down.
I spoke to a person named Emma who told me to withdraw,
I have to show all my cards even the bank card “HSBC” which was bankrupt and stopped without consent.
Jokes on them I still had it Q.Q ahahaaha even after I showed them it didn’t work.
Until 3 days later after I lost 65% of my investment.
I like to point out, I mentioned to HSBC many times I am currently struggling and am willing to pay in an instalment plan.
What I can because I did not want my account to close ever as it would effect my credit score most indefinitely.
Also, the weirdest request was they asked me to show them a picture of the different Barclays Cards I have with the same account number.
saying it must be the same card but it’s the same account number same card basically so why?
I replied, I put the money from my apple pay send it back to my apple pay card he said please send us an email of all your cards indirectly refusing to let me withdraw whilst I am in profit.
So, I sent them by email which I should have on my email “for reference”.
He also mentioned he will be my account manager and watch my account after the first time he called me because I am a “premium” account.
I still am a premium account with minimum 5-1 leveraging glitched to 2-1 with only 400 pounds left in my account and still watches where and when as my judgement has been good when to buy.
Buy low sell high! Or just hold but I couldn’t do any of these.
I believe it took him this long for many years the issue was my real name and my social media are not the same people.
As I do not have a social media account anywhere with my real name.
He started taking control of my account and portfolios since the day he contacted me on 2024 May 5-15 around the same time I started losing again drastically.
Unfortunately, I cannot provide you how much money I had made in profits or losses because “My account manager of a premium account less then 50 grand had deleted all my portfolios and trade history to clear his name”.
My account portfolio was called Bullish-CFD
Glory CFD and 3 gbps cfds I ended up with one named GBP usd
How the name changed I do not know
I suspect he closed my shared and opened it in a different portfolio causing 8888 amc share sale in my account 1112 GME shares.
As these most of these shares were bought months ago which I believe he has to pay for borrowing he doesn’t have to pay if it was new trades, I suspect this happened here.
Why else would I not the Portfolio I had designated names on.
This can also explain why my trade history has been wiped.
I did not do this I did not consent this nor was I notified.
Let me make this clear I do not have any controls or jurisdiction to wipe my history of trades if you could compare with other users to see if they have been wiped out and why it has been wiped out as its detrimental for Securities Agency to have correct data of everything that is going on with trading exchanges.
Which makes me believe more in the investment of AMC & GME.
I also believe Mr S.O prior to 2 years ago before all these new rules started coming, he was using his trading account to artificially increase profits by making a profit/gain.
I.E you open a position in a stock that is about to split in the market or going through one.
Let’s say its 2 5-1 reverse split now its 10 he made 8 decimal gains instead of changing the shares according to the split.
This crime trick he used to manipulate the market ended when sundial went for a share split reverse.
I came to realise this when I ventured in a demo account, and it worked but I didn’t do it with real money as that is not the right way.
I am trying to be good doing it the right way.
I have worked physically demanding jobs for many years working 6 days -7 days per week doing 55-65 hours per week, killed my joy in life and even went without food to invest in this company as I believe in the Company board, company outlook and company fundamentals all 3 checks out as a great investment to my eyes a hat trick to a quad trick now.
Putting money in it almost every month in the past 3-4 years.
My journey ends here with my Losses from market manipulation but I will reveal the truth!!!
They have robbed us again and again even the government has been robbed.
just for their benefit ruined many people’s lives all over the world.
Especially now that the company managed to be stable and grow profits.
But the issue here is not my losses it’s the market manipulation.
the company is doing all they can to not close their losing trade which is the
THE BOX everyone is talking about, but no one is knowing about somebody may know though.
Maybe investigate their wives’ accounts and you might find it on a marginal line red line in this account.
The blonde lady. Wearing navy blue jeans. Bingo!
Mr Stephen O has tried bribing me in social media sending women over my home to seduce me but my dog did her job right! And sensed the intentions I know this because I had a media pushed through my social media saying do you want me to send you two women to seduce me in hiding his criminal behaviours but this is not about me
He has robbed millions of people .
I have evidence of this as well to turn it in his favour as I believe he is short on GameStop which is a direct Conflict of interest “the reasons why I am been having these trading technical issues “
Trying to turn you into a gambler not investor! By taking away the withdraw, buy or sell!!!
You see,
The universe spoke to me, and I am becoming the voice for everybody who are being robbed by this man.
Call it a sign, a cohencidence or just dumb luck!
I am not a messiah though I just uncovered the truth!
2 weeks before my birthday on May 10th,, a stray kitten gave birth to 4 kittens and left only one behind. The squeeze began on my Birthday no fucking way!!!!!!!!
I/we have since, been taking care of her.
Meet My Newborn Kitten.
At 2 weeks old.
I also have a conspiracy theory on this as an attempt to harm my kitten.
To destroy me and make me stop trading.
I have frozen the medication Dr Elliot not a regular vet from that practice.
Well not the ones we see anyways 2 out 3 times.
My kitten was very ill shortly after taking the medication was also recommended to euthanised my kitten.
If you see her now you won’t believe why they would ever recommend this.
Of course, I argued and took control of the situation and saved her.
When I am back on my feet, I am going to a professional to check it out completely.
I like to remind you I already have a dog in this house for that cat to dare to come in my yard and give birth its like it was meant to be here cats? get it?
She is about 2.2 times her size now! Growing strong !!! just like GAMESTOP
CANT STOP WONT STOP GAME STOP
In Jesus name can I get AMEN!
b4 I continue...
I currently work as a civil engineer and am on the quest to turn my life around in my Pursuit of Happiness.
Thank heavens as I do not even hold a GCSE another miracle!
That I have this job.
I am a troubled child, but I still have dreams... of making it in life.
Which is providing my future wife and kids with everything I did not receive,
love, attention, guidance and more importantly a home they can sleep comfortably knowing they will have a place to sleep again tomorrow.
But I do not blame anyone as it was a first time for everyone being a father... a mother...even me a son just as guilty.
But I want you to keep reading this story… as it is very important if you have lost in the stock market as there are many other stocks that are missing in chart it was probably getting diluted for someone’s benefit to maybe stabilise their losing trading account.
I get the desperation that’s how I felt scrounging, borrowing money when I felt like I was about to be margin called totally human reaction.
The way he gained the money to stabilise it was totally criminal though.
I feel like he is digging himself a bigger and bigger hole and that hole is up some skunks arse hole by now.
I also like to point out Mr S.O has notified me that capital is a British company, but I have seen it being registered in the state of
This is the Final frontier.
My judgement was clouded by addiction made me do bad things...
I apologise to everyone I caused harm/inconvenience in the past and now.
I really am.
From the bottom of my heart.
my actions were clouded by addiction it took me more than a decade to defeat my heroin addiction.
At this sober state, now If you ask me anything; I’ll tell you even if it gets me in trouble
without a second thought.
I like to point out through out my columbo detective move I came across various information some even I should not know.
All I’m seeking is justice and peace right now and I hope someone can help me get this as I have proof for most of these speculations.
But I believe Mr S.O has been sending his hackers to feed numbers into my head by keep pushing it into my feed.
Because of this I purposely lost all my trades as I will not participate in insider trading sent by Mr S.O to convict me to silence.
Realising I was being watched by numerous people.
I went into a state of hallucinations, insanity.
It was hard but I crawled back out of the hackers infiltrating my device to corrupt my mind and decisions.
I suffer with anxiety and depression already too and have been suffering further since Mr S.O has called me.
I just didn’t know this before he called me, and all the pieces started to connect.
As this type of speculations and claims are only for the wealthy and privileged.
I know I am neither.
I am a very poor man with no land no inheritance no support.
Everything I earn is from these hands that push tools and this mind that tries to learn investing.
At my day job I give my 110% physically
at home
I work my mind 110% to try being an experienced smart investotrader as I know once I have knowledge and skill, I can make money easily after.
Currently, I am sharpening my day trading skills to further increase my knowledge from investor to a trader.
I earning ends meet living pay-check to pay-check and I will continue doing so to save earn invest and one day have a place, which my future family can call our home proudly safely.
But I still see the deep value in a growing company as the more room for growth the more gains the investment will make.
I learnt this from reading and following great investors of this decade I.E DFV videos of GameStop 3 years ago.
I especially like the one where we roll the 8 ball and just find a random ticker and analyse it you never know what dumb luck can bring you.
A school dropout like me to GameStop and I have learnt more things than I did in my lifetime.
You can learn anything in YouTube now amazing really we should use technology to assist us not work for us I strongly believe not use it for our own personal gain just because you have coders.
If you look through their trading app they chart doesn’t even revert the history into split prices SUPER MANIPULATION.
1 I love the stock/I believe in the stock.
2 the company has board members who doesn’t even get salary.
For this they have my trust of my investment and that they will do everything in their knowledge and power to make this company successful as toys brings “JOY” even to adults.
I kept putting more and more invested in this company, but the stock is being manipulated so it doesn’t work everyone will lose as how the conflict-of-interest person wants it he has survived until now because of this but there were no major leads of this I believe.
[Again, I am here to speak about GameStop and the TRUTH]()
I still see GameStop as a great investment.
The company survived Covid 19, also is profitable and stable currently.
With all the current market price fluctuations
Also the price has not dropped below 40! pre split price.
which further strengthens my speculation,
I currently own only 18 shares of GameStop I did have over a thousand.
But the company owners of; Capital.com ticker symbol NLY.
Have done everything they can to make me lose a winning investment.
They took my buy button my sell button and even stopped trading for more than 30 mins and hid it from none trading eyes in the bigger picture.
He also took my shares and diluted it I have incurred about 61 grand losses from my history of trading because of these market manipulation techniques over the past 3-4 years.
I as an investor a client of capital trading app was not treated fairly.
1 Even when I have raised complaints numerous time over the past 3-4 years was shrugged off because I am just well a NOBODY.
I call it a poor man's privileges.
2 Under FCA regulations Glitches or technical failures that cause financial harm to customers is a breach of this rule.
3 I am formally writing a complaint here and raising awareness with evidence of market manipulation!
would like support regarding the Law side of things and what i can recover from being ridiculed and robbed.
Using my food & leisure money to invest in this company.
I sacrificed my Joy for this investment with my hard earned money by working 50-60 hours a week labour 52 weeks per year non stop you can check my work rota records sometimes even 70 per week in physically demanding jobs.
1He has sent me Death threats today of what I am revealing now since meeting him in Wembley Stadium 8/6/26 (have a image of sending me death threats after meeting him today using paid hackers)
1 3/half weeks ago he called me to say I am in a premium account there are 300 of you and I would like to invite you to meet him today
which was really weird why is he putting my account on premium and saying He is going to look after it I am retail trader I have barely any money in account!
and deleted all my portfolio and trade history everything wiped clean!
+I suspect this was getting rid of evidence as I am right at the heart of the Griffin
I know why he took ownership from me without my consent and sold it without me knowing by derivatives and decreased the market value for his personal benefits.
Because he is already manipulating using this trading platform to control the prices elsewhere.
I have evidence of this you can only see it just DM me
if you look at the charts in their trading platform you can see it yourself to say it’s not photo shop.
no one else can notice it if you are not using the same app!!
+
2 Mr Stephen and his goons have been manipulating the stock since gamestop! 2021
+prior to 2 years ago his app would increase profits even from a split share!
I came across this information on 2022 You should recheck all files that are linked to him and splitting shares tickers as he has robbed them blind too.
I was the only retail investor, there alongside his corporate buddies which I am happy to identify and stand as witness.
I felt safe though as I don't even Fear the Darkest Night as I always walked by faith and believed in God has a purpose for me too..
A nobody like me maybe could be somebody one day!
(all hail great DFV) got to pay your respects !
I learnt trading since 2021
“Once there was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to a baker every week.
After several weeks of purchasing butter from the farmer the baker decided to weigh it. To insure it was indeed a full pound.
When he weighed it, he discovered the butter felt short of a pound which enraged him and made him feel cheated and decided to take the farmer to court.
The judge asked the farmer what his method is of weighing the butter.
the farmer replied “your honour, I am poor I do not own any exact measuring tool.
How ever I do have a Scale.
The judge then inquired if the farmer uses the scale to measure the butter the farmer explained.
“Your honour I have been buying a 1 pound of loaf from the baker Long before he began purchasing butter from me,
When ever he brings the bread, I place it on the scale and measure out the same weight to give him in return.
So, if the baker is not receiving a pound of butter he is also not delivering a pound of bread as promised.
The moral you get what you give if you try to cheat others of what they promised them.
You will be cheated in return.
KARMA IS REAL AND KARMA WILL PUNISH ALL OF YOU WILL GO PRISON
submitted by Working-Spirit-3721 to u/Working-Spirit-3721 [link] [comments]
all evidence DM ME
My name is Jain Kunwar
I am a retail trader for 3.5 years.
I am not an ape, I am not an institutional investor, I am not a hedge fund.
Nor do I have any clients.
I do not provide personalised investment advice for fees or commissions or tax purposes.
I'm just an individual investor who did my own research like Detective Columbo/Pikachu.
I come from a broken family, I have been to prison, I have been homeless even at 15 for many years.
I am not a good person, but I am seeking salvation from God.
I been doing Heroin since the age of 13, sober 8 years since the day I pleaded out to God in Merton station London at 1 am asking God to save me.
Which I believe in myself he did because shortly…….
Soon after, I went prison by confessing all my crimes and the judge let me run it concurrently for being honest that I need help and I had no foundation and healed a bit moving forwards in life.
I was born on May 10th, 1994, in Nepal Butwal. Home of the Gurkhas
I came to England 2002 November & have lived here since.
I class my self as Asian British A9
I have been repenting for my sins happily, paying off my debts and learning to be a good human being for I was a sinner till I met Jesus in Church of England.
My one and only father Jesus.
I have been following and invested in Game stop for a long time.
I started educating myself about the stock market since then.
I have been buying shares of GameStop Since 2021 But since 2021 June been incurring losses through market manipulation techniques I.E.
I had been denied withdrawals/ buying or selling options, leveraging options from Capital.NLY
Which incurred me 6 Grand losses on June 2021 and God knows how much/many other investors BIG or small in all exchanges that this effected.
I also have evidence of numerous times the trading app has halted its trade for more then 30 minutes to an hour in a single day! But for these I have videos more then images
I am happy to hand it over if you tell me where to send it.
They kept ignoring me until a month ago in May the 10th 2024 will touch base here later(miracle)
I have what’s app records of me trying to make complaints throughout the years with no redemption or straight answers.
I once spoke to an employee male & female one said, “We are experiencing some technical difficulties” this was about 1-2 years ago.
The Craziest thing was the ticker was moving in other exchanges just not in the one I was trading from.
Once it didn’t even open for 1.5 hours when it was open everywhere else
It finally opened at 10:49 how I know? I experienced this.
Under the FCA regulations all registered Trading Companies have a duty to protect investors from glitches and “technical difficulties”
Which They failed to do so for me I speak for myself and only what I have experienced.
The company even has glitched my leveraging system of 5-1 which was the setting since joining the company.
where, even if you pick 5-1 you only receive 2-1.
I have evidence of this as well & it’s not the first time either.
I know this has been done 100x of times if you take a Deeper Dive in the company’s own trading platform.
You won’t be able to find in other exchanges as other exchanges are working well so you cannot see the reason as its all “inter- linked”.
“Inter-linked “exchanges one falls apart whilst others are moving causing direct market manipulation.
Quoting blade runner “inter-linked”
Since then, I have been sent death threats anonymously.
Which also I can prove It was sent by him by connecting some dots with you
I met the owner in Wembley stadium in Corporate Box I was invited by Mr Stephen O
He contacted me and invited me to his corporate box on 8/6/24 I went there to find clarity as hackers have been going through my phones and social media with death threats.
Currently he is getting his hackers to find out where my siblings are and such as those are the type of questions I am getting in my social media platforms.
I call it phsing, smishing and vhising all 3 were used on my network.
Using carefully relaying questions in segment to build a definitive answer by narrowing down the wrong answers.
Like how it asks me what horoscope I am, Questions like use your initials to create a Japanese name.
Narrowing down an answer what every analytical mind would do.
I have been going through this since May 10th after he contacted me.
I have said my name is J to every one of these questions should be in my social media history.
Notice how it says JJ DEAD MAN COVER
i.e
Notice how I met the Owner at 8/6/24 1 pm corporate box …there are plenty cameras there.
I like to be clear here I do not know this person or have his number for him to be coming to my social media as people “whom I know”.
I believe it was the vhising technique of his goons on hire you can see my history for the past month in call history I been getting scam calls left right and centre.
I will also give a copy of screen recording on request.
Then I went home and put a video of his trading app chart not moving like other exchanges for example having a 1-minute ticker symbol does not move for 30 minutes in graph line on my social media suddenly,
I see a people “whom you might know” soon after I posted the video.
I only went to the corporate box because he told me he has over 300 people retail traders coming which I was the only retail there apart from 5 millionaires 4 of which I believe they own the company only speculation whom others are currently.
But I felt an eerily vibe So I did not eat their food or take their hospitality which was probably funded by investors like me getting robbed blind because he thought no one would notice.
I also met a man there I spoke to him he told me His trading account was transferred to their platform.
The clue is there which accounts have been moved without consent or choice?
He will plan to bring all in one to have more control and doing this also erases all traces of manipulation in the trading platform it moved from a very sly way to delete history.
Should not affect me though I joined capital.com ticker symbol. NLY as my first and only trading app.
I have lost all history of my trade’s funds and even portfolios deleted without notice of consent why is he observing my account and why is he deleting everything without my consent? He knows he did me wrong that’s why because he uses capital.com to manipulate the market into his interest.
I can identify all 4 of them even though I only spoke to Mr S.O over the phone and only know their name.
I ended up being the only retail trader there, A poor man in a Billionaires Club
So out of place
I just can’t figure out why, Can you?
The ticker symbol has to be moving according to the time even if the price does not fluctuate the time has to keep moving like kinetic energy.
It has to be moving unless halted which can be only 35 minutes per day but I have counted over 1 hour gone in some days
I have been through mental trauma with hackers trying to hypnotize me with flashing lights and other spiral colour techniques mind you.
I am an epileptic which I grew out of when I was 15 which is highly reactive to epileptic people.
Miracle indeed, as many don't, certainly not after adult hood.
Also, they have tried to ask me questions to figure out whom I am on my social media,
I got closer to their crimes and my truth and they wanted to know what I know or make me join them as per the invitation I believe bribing me to survive another few years maybe?
Hope you Enjoyed the Corporate box Kenny it was from the money you stole from me!
Steal from the poor how dare you?
pushing pornographic and other Hypno/flashing light techniques to my social media platforms
also using racial harassment by calling me Paki Psycho
At least get the country right! Originally from Nepal BITCH Gurkhas Salute!
We both know whom we are now S.O
Which over the past 3 years have also caused me to lose everything…..
money, love, joy, sanity & dreams.
I have been Robbed constantly from these techniques they use also the withdrawal rejection from 10000 to even 100 this was very recently too. Have some images to reference this too.
I log almost everything I do.
That’s just how I found healing/clarity by writing it down.
I spoke to a person named Emma who told me to withdraw,
I have to show all my cards even the bank card “HSBC” which was bankrupt and stopped without consent.
Jokes on them I still had it Q.Q ahahaaha even after I showed them it didn’t work.
Until 3 days later after I lost 65% of my investment.
I like to point out, I mentioned to HSBC many times I am currently struggling and am willing to pay in an instalment plan.
What I can because I did not want my account to close ever as it would effect my credit score most indefinitely.
Also, the weirdest request was they asked me to show them a picture of the different Barclays Cards I have with the same account number.
saying it must be the same card but it’s the same account number same card basically so why?
I replied, I put the money from my apple pay send it back to my apple pay card he said please send us an email of all your cards indirectly refusing to let me withdraw whilst I am in profit.
So, I sent them by email which I should have on my email “for reference”.
He also mentioned he will be my account manager and watch my account after the first time he called me because I am a “premium” account.
I still am a premium account with minimum 5-1 leveraging glitched to 2-1 with only 400 pounds left in my account and still watches where and when as my judgement has been good when to buy.
Buy low sell high! Or just hold but I couldn’t do any of these.
I believe it took him this long for many years the issue was my real name and my social media are not the same people.
As I do not have a social media account anywhere with my real name.
He started taking control of my account and portfolios since the day he contacted me on 2024 May 5-15 around the same time I started losing again drastically.
Unfortunately, I cannot provide you how much money I had made in profits or losses because “My account manager of a premium account less then 50 grand had deleted all my portfolios and trade history to clear his name”.
My account portfolio was called Bullish-CFD
Glory CFD and 3 gbps cfds I ended up with one named GBP usd
How the name changed I do not know
I suspect he closed my shared and opened it in a different portfolio causing 8888 amc share sale in my account 1112 GME shares.
As these most of these shares were bought months ago which I believe he has to pay for borrowing he doesn’t have to pay if it was new trades, I suspect this happened here.
Why else would I not the Portfolio I had designated names on.
This can also explain why my trade history has been wiped.
I did not do this I did not consent this nor was I notified.
Let me make this clear I do not have any controls or jurisdiction to wipe my history of trades if you could compare with other users to see if they have been wiped out and why it has been wiped out as its detrimental for Securities Agency to have correct data of everything that is going on with trading exchanges.
Which makes me believe more in the investment of AMC & GME.
I also believe Mr S.O prior to 2 years ago before all these new rules started coming, he was using his trading account to artificially increase profits by making a profit/gain.
I.E you open a position in a stock that is about to split in the market or going through one.
Let’s say its 2 5-1 reverse split now its 10 he made 8 decimal gains instead of changing the shares according to the split.
This crime trick he used to manipulate the market ended when sundial went for a share split reverse.
I came to realise this when I ventured in a demo account, and it worked but I didn’t do it with real money as that is not the right way.
I am trying to be good doing it the right way.
I have worked physically demanding jobs for many years working 6 days -7 days per week doing 55-65 hours per week, killed my joy in life and even went without food to invest in this company as I believe in the Company board, company outlook and company fundamentals all 3 checks out as a great investment to my eyes a hat trick to a quad trick now.
Putting money in it almost every month in the past 3-4 years.
My journey ends here with my Losses from market manipulation but I will reveal the truth!!!
They have robbed us again and again even the government has been robbed.
just for their benefit ruined many people’s lives all over the world.
Especially now that the company managed to be stable and grow profits.
But the issue here is not my losses it’s the market manipulation.
the company is doing all they can to not close their losing trade which is the
THE BOX everyone is talking about, but no one is knowing about somebody may know though.
Maybe investigate their wives’ accounts and you might find it on a marginal line red line in this account.
The blonde lady. Wearing navy blue jeans. Bingo!
Mr Stephen O has tried bribing me in social media sending women over my home to seduce me but my dog did her job right! And sensed the intentions I know this because I had a media pushed through my social media saying do you want me to send you two women to seduce me in hiding his criminal behaviours but this is not about me
He has robbed millions of people .
I have evidence of this as well to turn it in his favour as I believe he is short on GameStop which is a direct Conflict of interest “the reasons why I am been having these trading technical issues “
Trying to turn you into a gambler not investor! By taking away the withdraw, buy or sell!!!
You see,
The universe spoke to me, and I am becoming the voice for everybody who are being robbed by this man.
Call it a sign, a cohencidence or just dumb luck!
I am not a messiah though I just uncovered the truth!
2 weeks before my birthday on May 10th,, a stray kitten gave birth to 4 kittens and left only one behind. The squeeze began on my Birthday no fucking way!!!!!!!!
I/we have since, been taking care of her.
Meet My Newborn Kitten.
At 2 weeks old.
I also have a conspiracy theory on this as an attempt to harm my kitten.
To destroy me and make me stop trading.
I have frozen the medication Dr Elliot not a regular vet from that practice.
Well not the ones we see anyways 2 out 3 times.
My kitten was very ill shortly after taking the medication was also recommended to euthanised my kitten.
If you see her now you won’t believe why they would ever recommend this.
Of course, I argued and took control of the situation and saved her.
When I am back on my feet, I am going to a professional to check it out completely.
I like to remind you I already have a dog in this house for that cat to dare to come in my yard and give birth its like it was meant to be here cats? get it?
She is about 2.2 times her size now! Growing strong !!! just like GAMESTOP
CANT STOP WONT STOP GAME STOP
In Jesus name can I get AMEN!
b4 I continue...
I currently work as a civil engineer and am on the quest to turn my life around in my Pursuit of Happiness.
Thank heavens as I do not even hold a GCSE another miracle!
That I have this job.
I am a troubled child, but I still have dreams... of making it in life.
Which is providing my future wife and kids with everything I did not receive,
love, attention, guidance and more importantly a home they can sleep comfortably knowing they will have a place to sleep again tomorrow.
But I do not blame anyone as it was a first time for everyone being a father... a mother...even me a son just as guilty.
But I want you to keep reading this story… as it is very important if you have lost in the stock market as there are many other stocks that are missing in chart it was probably getting diluted for someone’s benefit to maybe stabilise their losing trading account.
I get the desperation that’s how I felt scrounging, borrowing money when I felt like I was about to be margin called totally human reaction.
The way he gained the money to stabilise it was totally criminal though.
I feel like he is digging himself a bigger and bigger hole and that hole is up some skunks arse hole by now.
I also like to point out Mr S.O has notified me that capital is a British company, but I have seen it being registered in the state of
This is the Final frontier.
My judgement was clouded by addiction made me do bad things...
I apologise to everyone I caused harm/inconvenience in the past and now.
I really am.
From the bottom of my heart.
my actions were clouded by addiction it took me more than a decade to defeat my heroin addiction.
At this sober state, now If you ask me anything; I’ll tell you even if it gets me in trouble
without a second thought.
I like to point out through out my columbo detective move I came across various information some even I should not know.
All I’m seeking is justice and peace right now and I hope someone can help me get this as I have proof for most of these speculations.
But I believe Mr S.O has been sending his hackers to feed numbers into my head by keep pushing it into my feed.
Because of this I purposely lost all my trades as I will not participate in insider trading sent by Mr S.O to convict me to silence.
Realising I was being watched by numerous people.
I went into a state of hallucinations, insanity.
It was hard but I crawled back out of the hackers infiltrating my device to corrupt my mind and decisions.
I suffer with anxiety and depression already too and have been suffering further since Mr S.O has called me.
I just didn’t know this before he called me, and all the pieces started to connect.
As this type of speculations and claims are only for the wealthy and privileged.
I know I am neither.
I am a very poor man with no land no inheritance no support.
Everything I earn is from these hands that push tools and this mind that tries to learn investing.
At my day job I give my 110% physically
at home
I work my mind 110% to try being an experienced smart investotrader as I know once I have knowledge and skill, I can make money easily after.
Currently, I am sharpening my day trading skills to further increase my knowledge from investor to a trader.
I earning ends meet living pay-check to pay-check and I will continue doing so to save earn invest and one day have a place, which my future family can call our home proudly safely.
But I still see the deep value in a growing company as the more room for growth the more gains the investment will make.
I learnt this from reading and following great investors of this decade I.E DFV videos of GameStop 3 years ago.
I especially like the one where we roll the 8 ball and just find a random ticker and analyse it you never know what dumb luck can bring you.
A school dropout like me to GameStop and I have learnt more things than I did in my lifetime.
You can learn anything in YouTube now amazing really we should use technology to assist us not work for us I strongly believe not use it for our own personal gain just because you have coders.
If you look through their trading app they chart doesn’t even revert the history into split prices SUPER MANIPULATION.
1 I love the stock/I believe in the stock.
2 the company has board members who doesn’t even get salary.
For this they have my trust of my investment and that they will do everything in their knowledge and power to make this company successful as toys brings “JOY” even to adults.
I kept putting more and more invested in this company, but the stock is being manipulated so it doesn’t work everyone will lose as how the conflict-of-interest person wants it he has survived until now because of this but there were no major leads of this I believe.
[Again, I am here to speak about GameStop and the TRUTH]()
I still see GameStop as a great investment.
The company survived Covid 19, also is profitable and stable currently.
With all the current market price fluctuations
Also the price has not dropped below 40! pre split price.
which further strengthens my speculation,
I currently own only 18 shares of GameStop I did have over a thousand.
But the company owners of; Capital.com ticker symbol NLY.
Have done everything they can to make me lose a winning investment.
They took my buy button my sell button and even stopped trading for more than 30 mins and hid it from none trading eyes in the bigger picture.
He also took my shares and diluted it I have incurred about 61 grand losses from my history of trading because of these market manipulation techniques over the past 3-4 years.
I as an investor a client of capital trading app was not treated fairly.
1 Even when I have raised complaints numerous time over the past 3-4 years was shrugged off because I am just well a NOBODY.
I call it a poor man's privileges.
2 Under FCA regulations Glitches or technical failures that cause financial harm to customers is a breach of this rule.
3 I am formally writing a complaint here and raising awareness with evidence of market manipulation!
would like support regarding the Law side of things and what i can recover from being ridiculed and robbed.
Using my food & leisure money to invest in this company.
I sacrificed my Joy for this investment with my hard earned money by working 50-60 hours a week labour 52 weeks per year non stop you can check my work rota records sometimes even 70 per week in physically demanding jobs.
1He has sent me Death threats today of what I am revealing now since meeting him in Wembley Stadium 8/6/26 (have a image of sending me death threats after meeting him today using paid hackers)
1 3/half weeks ago he called me to say I am in a premium account there are 300 of you and I would like to invite you to meet him today
which was really weird why is he putting my account on premium and saying He is going to look after it I am retail trader I have barely any money in account!
and deleted all my portfolio and trade history everything wiped clean!
+I suspect this was getting rid of evidence as I am right at the heart of the Griffin
I know why he took ownership from me without my consent and sold it without me knowing by derivatives and decreased the market value for his personal benefits.
Because he is already manipulating using this trading platform to control the prices elsewhere.
I have evidence of this you can only see it just DM me
if you look at the charts in their trading platform you can see it yourself to say it’s not photo shop.
no one else can notice it if you are not using the same app!!
+
2 Mr Stephen and his goons have been manipulating the stock since gamestop! 2021
+prior to 2 years ago his app would increase profits even from a split share!
I came across this information on 2022 You should recheck all files that are linked to him and splitting shares tickers as he has robbed them blind too.
I was the only retail investor, there alongside his corporate buddies which I am happy to identify and stand as witness.
I felt safe though as I don't even Fear the Darkest Night as I always walked by faith and believed in God has a purpose for me too..
A nobody like me maybe could be somebody one day!
(all hail great DFV) got to pay your respects !
I learnt trading since 2021
“Once there was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to a baker every week.
After several weeks of purchasing butter from the farmer the baker decided to weigh it. To insure it was indeed a full pound.
When he weighed it, he discovered the butter felt short of a pound which enraged him and made him feel cheated and decided to take the farmer to court.
The judge asked the farmer what his method is of weighing the butter.
the farmer replied “your honour, I am poor I do not own any exact measuring tool.
How ever I do have a Scale.
The judge then inquired if the farmer uses the scale to measure the butter the farmer explained.
“Your honour I have been buying a 1 pound of loaf from the baker Long before he began purchasing butter from me,
When ever he brings the bread, I place it on the scale and measure out the same weight to give him in return.
So, if the baker is not receiving a pound of butter he is also not delivering a pound of bread as promised.
The moral you get what you give if you try to cheat others of what they promised them.
You will be cheated in return.
KARMA IS REAL AND KARMA WILL PUNISH ALL OF YOU WILL GO PRISON
2024.06.09 22:22 Intelligent-Tie-4284 What Max has been up to
Max had recently returned from his fight with the rogue Gundalians and most notably their army of Mechtogan. Max thought that the battle beetwen Alpha turned Leviathan Hydranoid and Infinity Helios was tense, but fighting a near endless ending hoard of Mechtogan absolutely blew that out of the water. Partnered with Dawn getting corrupted by some kind of dark energy, and the recent incursion at the hands of the Neathian zealot that rigged a battlefield and challenged Mike to a battle. So to say Max, who hasn't known true combat until now, was distraught was an understatement. To take out his anger he went to Interspace to let of some steam.
He was currently locked in a brawl with a man around his age. A brawler called Ren Suzuki. He had brown hair, red eyes and dark skin. He wore casual clothes which were mostly red. His partner was a digital Pyrus Iron Dragonoid.
The two bakugan had just landed on the field for a second time, this time on Max's gate card. Ren's life gauge was at 20 percent while Max's was untouched at 100 percent. The battle slightly reminded Hydranoid of the time he and Masquerade faced off against Dan Kuso and his Ultimate Dragonoid all those years ago.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 1200 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 900 Gs
“Ability Activate!” The Pyrus brawler called out. “Iron Dragonoid!”
Iron Dragonoid roared ferociously as a fire ball charged up in his jaws. A few seconds later he unleashed the attack, which hit Hydranoid head on.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 1200 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 900+400= 1300 Gs
Hydranoid didn't even try to dodge. When the smoke cleared Hydranoid stood still, like the attack didn't land at all.
“Is that it?” Hydranoid deadpanned. “I expected more. Max?”
Max nodded. “We'll crush them Hydranoid! Ability Activate! Eraser Trident!” Hydranoid's six heads roared as they instantly charged up six balls of Darkus energy. Moments later Hydranoid unleashed them. Mid air each ball split into six, as the total of 36 energy balls which flew towards Iron Dragonoid.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 1200 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 1300-600= 700 Gs
Max chuckled. “All too easy.” He said with uncharacteristic glee at stomping down on his opponent. “I guess you and your little Dragonoid aren't up to snuff-”
“Max!” Hydranoid called out.
“What Hydranoid?!” Max shouted back at his partner. “What's so important that you had to interrupt me- oh.”
When Max actually turned his attention to the battle he could see his opponent had activated two abilities which were currently glowing on his BakuMeter. “Double Ability Activate! Pyrus Reflector plus Blazing Dragon!”
Before Max could load in a counter, the Pyrus Reflector ability threw Hydranoid's own attack back at him. On top of that, the attack was boosted by the power of Blazing Dragon. Hydranoid got hit head by the attack and was sent flying to the edge of the arena.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 1200-600-300= 300 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 900+600+300= 1600 Gs
“What's the matter with you Hydranoid?! Get up!” Max yelled at his partner.
“What's the matter with me?! You could have nullified that easily with Double Dimension if you actually paid attention instead of wasting breath with gloating.” Hydranoid snapped back at his partner.
For a split second actual anger toward his partner flashed through Max’s eyes. Reaper’s ball form was glowing purple in Max's pocket, but no one could see that.
Thankfully Max managed to calm his anger. “You're absolutely right Hydranoid. I am sorry, I am just a little… tense after everything.”
“Hey, no need to get so upset you know. It's just a game after all.” Ren said casually to try and lighten Max’s mood, but it only seemed to reignite it instead.
“Just a game? Yeah right. Though I guess you would think that. But guess what? We don't plan on losing to you and your clone. So get ready, because we're about to crush you. Right Hydranoid?”
Hydranoid got up and flexed his eight wings. He was worried about Max’s aggressiveness but he didn't disagree with the sentiment.
“Uhh huh.” Ren said. “Listen if you're done venting, can we continue with the battle? No hard feelings right?”
That only fueled Max's reignited rage. “Oh sure. No hard feelings. Fusion Ability Activate! Dread Decimator!”
Hydranoid's fourteen heads all charged up with Darkus energy. Soon after he unleashed 14 beams of energy which bombarded the Pyrus bakugan. The dragonoid hit the edge of the arena, almost hurting Ren in the process.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 300+1800= 2100 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 1600-600= 1000 Gs
“How's that for no hard feelings?” Max shamelessly mocked his opponent.
“Hang in there Dragonoid! Ability Activate! Iron Valiant! This is Iron Dragonoid's ultimate ability! It brings his power level to the highest point it's been in the battle and it adds the opponent's current G Power to Iron Dragonoid. And it can only be nullified by another Pyrus Dragonoid.”
Leviathan Hydranoid: 2100 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 1000+600+2100= 3700 Gs
Even though Ren’s tone was nothing but friendly, if a little competitive, Max couldn't help but take it as an insult. “I don't need to nullify your pathetic little ability. In fact. Gate Card Open! Pyrus Reactor!”
The gate card opened as a storm of fire surrounded Iron Dragonoid for a few seconds before disappearing. Iron Dragonoid's G Power was now at 4200.
“You raised my G Power?” Ren asked. “But I am double over your power level now.”
“It doesn't matter. It won't be enough. Come on. Give us your best shot.” Max challenged his opponent.
Ren raised his eyebrow. But if Max wasn't going to attack, he had to take the lead. “All right then! Iron Dragonoid, triple ability Activate! Olan Terror plus Garran Demura plus Fusion Ability, Ultimate Dragonoid!”
Iron Dragonoid was then surrounded in a giant twister of Pyrus fire and pretty much roared down the arena.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 2100-800-500-1000=0Gs Iron Dragonoid: 4200+500+700= 5400 Gs
Iron Dragonoid then unleashed the twister or pure unadulterated Pyrus fire directly towards his opponent. Ren felt bad about widening the power gap beetwen Hydranoid and Dragonoid so much, but he just did what Max told him to. Max however held no such feelings.
“Double Ability Activate. Darkus Equalizer, plus Grand Down!” Max said coldly with a cruel grin on his face. He already had a plan formed. Once the dark hydra was hit by the attack, he didn't even budge. Like the first attack of this round, it had no effect on Hydranoid.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 0+5400= 5400 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 5400-500= 4900 Gs
“Sorry. I used Darkus Equalizer to bring Hydranoid's power level up to your own, and then used Grand Down to shut down my gate card which was giving you 500 Gs.” Max said mockingly.
Ren just whistled in response. “Not bad, not bad! You're pretty good Max. Honestly this is the most fun I’ve had in a brawl yet!” Ren exclaimed excitedly.
Max’s eye actually twitched at that. Reaper’s ball form glew even brighter, but no one could see it still.
“Sorry to ruin your fun, but Hydranoid and I will be winning this match now. You might as well give up.”
Ren chuckled at the remark. “Sorry. Never heard of a “give up”. Not in my vocabulary. Let's go Dragonoid! Ability Activate! Ultimate Boost Striker!”
Leviathan Hydranoid: 5400 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 4900+800= 5700 Gs
Iron Dragonoid flew up into the air and roared. All around him flaming meteors appeared, ready to descend upon Hydranoid at any second.
“Tsk tsk tsk. They never learn.” Max said as he lifted his arm up to show off the ability he was activating. “Merge Shield~” he sing songed mockingly.
Hydranoid was surrounded by a twister of Darkus power, some of which was drained from his opponent. When the meteors were launched at Hydranoid, they were all torn apart to pebbles the instant they collided with the aura of Darkus power that surrounded Hydranoid.
“What the- what is that ability?” Ren asked as he looked at his BakuMeter only to be met with a horrifying sight.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 5400+400+600+300+600+2100+500+500+700+800= 11 900 Gs
Iron Dragonoid: 5700 Gs
“No way…” Ren awed at the power level. “How did you… wait I get it. You tok all of my power increases from the fight and gave it to your Hydranoid! Makes sense why you would set down a Pyrus Reactor card, you knew that power boost would go to Hydranoid eventually. But wait! I can still nullify it-”
“Too late! Triple Ability Activate! Fusion Ability Hydra Cannon plus Spice Balista plus Fusion Ability Final Demolition!”
Leviathan Hydranoid: 11900+600+500+1000= 14 000 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 5700-500= 5200 Gs
Max grinned as he saw the power gap widen even further. Really all he needed was Hydra Cannon to prevent Merge Shield or his offense from being nullified. But he decided to go the extra mile, just to see his opponent squirm a little. “Now Hydranoid!” He said before raising his hand and then snapping his fingers. “Dispose of him!”
Hydranoid roared and unleashed the hurricane of Darkus power towards his opponent.
“Dragonoid get out of there!” Ren called fruitlessly. Iron Dragonoid did try to fly out of the way, but was forcefully pulled in by the force of the tornado. He screeched and squirmed helplessly for several seconds, enduring the pain of being hurt by the Darkus power and almost torn apart by the tornado. It looked like Iron Dragonoid was three seconds away from being literally torn apart by Hydranoid's attack.
Fortunately for him luck was on his side in that moment. He reverted back to ball form and shot off next to Ren's feet.
Max just laughed as Ren's life gauge instantly depleted to zero. A moment later he victoriusly caught Hydranoid in his hand.
“Good game. No hard feelings right?” Max said mockingly before turning around and walking away from the arena. “Next time try to provide an actual challenge, okay?” is the last thing Max said before leaving the arena.
Hydranoid in stark contrast to his partner's glee, was worried. Max had been acting a little off ever since the battle with the Mechtogan army, but now he was acting completely out of character. Taking joy in brutalizing bakugan and demoralizing his opponent, even if their bakugan was a digital clone was complete opposite of who Max is.
While this battle had started with Iron Dragonoid reminding Hydranoid of his final battle with Drago, it ended with Max reminding Hydranoid more and more of his original partner…
Battle Log: Max Howlet vs Ren Suzuki
R1: Darkus Leviathan Hydranoid vs Pyrus Iron Dragonoid. Winner: Darkus Leviathan Hydranoid. Winner: Max Howlet.
R2: Darkus Leviathan Hydranoid vs Pyrus Iron Dragonoid.
Turn 1:
Leviathan Hydranoid: 1200 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 900+400-600= 700 Gs
Abilities used: Iron Dragonoid and Erasure Trident.
Turn 2: Leviathan Hydranoid: 1200-600-300= 300+1800= 2100 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 900+600+300= 1600-600= 1000 Gs
Abilities used: Pyrus Reflector, Blazing Dragon and Fusion Ability Dread Decimator.
Turn 3: Leviathan Hydranoid: 2100 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 1000+600+2100= 3700+500= 4200 Gs
Abilities used: Iron Valiant.
Gate card opened: Pyrus Reactor
Turn 4: Leviathan Hydranoid: 2100-800-500-1000= 0+5400= 5400 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 4200+500+700= 5400-500= 4900 Gs
Abilities used: Olan Terror, Garran Demura, Fusion Ability Ultimate Dragonoid, Darkus Equalizer and Grand Down
Turn 5:
Leviathan Hydranoid: 5400+6500= 11900 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 4900+800= 5700 Gs
Abilities used: Ultimate Boost Striker and Merge Shield.
Turn 6:
Leviathan Hydranoid: 11900+600+500+1000= 14 000 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 5700-500= 5200 Gs
Abilities used: Fusion Ability Hydra Cannon, Spice Balista and Fusion Ability Final Demolition.
Winner: Max Howlet
submitted by Intelligent-Tie-4284 to BakuMedia [link] [comments]
He was currently locked in a brawl with a man around his age. A brawler called Ren Suzuki. He had brown hair, red eyes and dark skin. He wore casual clothes which were mostly red. His partner was a digital Pyrus Iron Dragonoid.
The two bakugan had just landed on the field for a second time, this time on Max's gate card. Ren's life gauge was at 20 percent while Max's was untouched at 100 percent. The battle slightly reminded Hydranoid of the time he and Masquerade faced off against Dan Kuso and his Ultimate Dragonoid all those years ago.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 1200 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 900 Gs
“Ability Activate!” The Pyrus brawler called out. “Iron Dragonoid!”
Iron Dragonoid roared ferociously as a fire ball charged up in his jaws. A few seconds later he unleashed the attack, which hit Hydranoid head on.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 1200 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 900+400= 1300 Gs
Hydranoid didn't even try to dodge. When the smoke cleared Hydranoid stood still, like the attack didn't land at all.
“Is that it?” Hydranoid deadpanned. “I expected more. Max?”
Max nodded. “We'll crush them Hydranoid! Ability Activate! Eraser Trident!” Hydranoid's six heads roared as they instantly charged up six balls of Darkus energy. Moments later Hydranoid unleashed them. Mid air each ball split into six, as the total of 36 energy balls which flew towards Iron Dragonoid.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 1200 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 1300-600= 700 Gs
Max chuckled. “All too easy.” He said with uncharacteristic glee at stomping down on his opponent. “I guess you and your little Dragonoid aren't up to snuff-”
“Max!” Hydranoid called out.
“What Hydranoid?!” Max shouted back at his partner. “What's so important that you had to interrupt me- oh.”
When Max actually turned his attention to the battle he could see his opponent had activated two abilities which were currently glowing on his BakuMeter. “Double Ability Activate! Pyrus Reflector plus Blazing Dragon!”
Before Max could load in a counter, the Pyrus Reflector ability threw Hydranoid's own attack back at him. On top of that, the attack was boosted by the power of Blazing Dragon. Hydranoid got hit head by the attack and was sent flying to the edge of the arena.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 1200-600-300= 300 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 900+600+300= 1600 Gs
“What's the matter with you Hydranoid?! Get up!” Max yelled at his partner.
“What's the matter with me?! You could have nullified that easily with Double Dimension if you actually paid attention instead of wasting breath with gloating.” Hydranoid snapped back at his partner.
For a split second actual anger toward his partner flashed through Max’s eyes. Reaper’s ball form was glowing purple in Max's pocket, but no one could see that.
Thankfully Max managed to calm his anger. “You're absolutely right Hydranoid. I am sorry, I am just a little… tense after everything.”
“Hey, no need to get so upset you know. It's just a game after all.” Ren said casually to try and lighten Max’s mood, but it only seemed to reignite it instead.
“Just a game? Yeah right. Though I guess you would think that. But guess what? We don't plan on losing to you and your clone. So get ready, because we're about to crush you. Right Hydranoid?”
Hydranoid got up and flexed his eight wings. He was worried about Max’s aggressiveness but he didn't disagree with the sentiment.
“Uhh huh.” Ren said. “Listen if you're done venting, can we continue with the battle? No hard feelings right?”
That only fueled Max's reignited rage. “Oh sure. No hard feelings. Fusion Ability Activate! Dread Decimator!”
Hydranoid's fourteen heads all charged up with Darkus energy. Soon after he unleashed 14 beams of energy which bombarded the Pyrus bakugan. The dragonoid hit the edge of the arena, almost hurting Ren in the process.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 300+1800= 2100 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 1600-600= 1000 Gs
“How's that for no hard feelings?” Max shamelessly mocked his opponent.
“Hang in there Dragonoid! Ability Activate! Iron Valiant! This is Iron Dragonoid's ultimate ability! It brings his power level to the highest point it's been in the battle and it adds the opponent's current G Power to Iron Dragonoid. And it can only be nullified by another Pyrus Dragonoid.”
Leviathan Hydranoid: 2100 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 1000+600+2100= 3700 Gs
Even though Ren’s tone was nothing but friendly, if a little competitive, Max couldn't help but take it as an insult. “I don't need to nullify your pathetic little ability. In fact. Gate Card Open! Pyrus Reactor!”
The gate card opened as a storm of fire surrounded Iron Dragonoid for a few seconds before disappearing. Iron Dragonoid's G Power was now at 4200.
“You raised my G Power?” Ren asked. “But I am double over your power level now.”
“It doesn't matter. It won't be enough. Come on. Give us your best shot.” Max challenged his opponent.
Ren raised his eyebrow. But if Max wasn't going to attack, he had to take the lead. “All right then! Iron Dragonoid, triple ability Activate! Olan Terror plus Garran Demura plus Fusion Ability, Ultimate Dragonoid!”
Iron Dragonoid was then surrounded in a giant twister of Pyrus fire and pretty much roared down the arena.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 2100-800-500-1000=0Gs Iron Dragonoid: 4200+500+700= 5400 Gs
Iron Dragonoid then unleashed the twister or pure unadulterated Pyrus fire directly towards his opponent. Ren felt bad about widening the power gap beetwen Hydranoid and Dragonoid so much, but he just did what Max told him to. Max however held no such feelings.
“Double Ability Activate. Darkus Equalizer, plus Grand Down!” Max said coldly with a cruel grin on his face. He already had a plan formed. Once the dark hydra was hit by the attack, he didn't even budge. Like the first attack of this round, it had no effect on Hydranoid.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 0+5400= 5400 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 5400-500= 4900 Gs
“Sorry. I used Darkus Equalizer to bring Hydranoid's power level up to your own, and then used Grand Down to shut down my gate card which was giving you 500 Gs.” Max said mockingly.
Ren just whistled in response. “Not bad, not bad! You're pretty good Max. Honestly this is the most fun I’ve had in a brawl yet!” Ren exclaimed excitedly.
Max’s eye actually twitched at that. Reaper’s ball form glew even brighter, but no one could see it still.
“Sorry to ruin your fun, but Hydranoid and I will be winning this match now. You might as well give up.”
Ren chuckled at the remark. “Sorry. Never heard of a “give up”. Not in my vocabulary. Let's go Dragonoid! Ability Activate! Ultimate Boost Striker!”
Leviathan Hydranoid: 5400 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 4900+800= 5700 Gs
Iron Dragonoid flew up into the air and roared. All around him flaming meteors appeared, ready to descend upon Hydranoid at any second.
“Tsk tsk tsk. They never learn.” Max said as he lifted his arm up to show off the ability he was activating. “Merge Shield~” he sing songed mockingly.
Hydranoid was surrounded by a twister of Darkus power, some of which was drained from his opponent. When the meteors were launched at Hydranoid, they were all torn apart to pebbles the instant they collided with the aura of Darkus power that surrounded Hydranoid.
“What the- what is that ability?” Ren asked as he looked at his BakuMeter only to be met with a horrifying sight.
Leviathan Hydranoid: 5400+400+600+300+600+2100+500+500+700+800= 11 900 Gs
Iron Dragonoid: 5700 Gs
“No way…” Ren awed at the power level. “How did you… wait I get it. You tok all of my power increases from the fight and gave it to your Hydranoid! Makes sense why you would set down a Pyrus Reactor card, you knew that power boost would go to Hydranoid eventually. But wait! I can still nullify it-”
“Too late! Triple Ability Activate! Fusion Ability Hydra Cannon plus Spice Balista plus Fusion Ability Final Demolition!”
Leviathan Hydranoid: 11900+600+500+1000= 14 000 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 5700-500= 5200 Gs
Max grinned as he saw the power gap widen even further. Really all he needed was Hydra Cannon to prevent Merge Shield or his offense from being nullified. But he decided to go the extra mile, just to see his opponent squirm a little. “Now Hydranoid!” He said before raising his hand and then snapping his fingers. “Dispose of him!”
Hydranoid roared and unleashed the hurricane of Darkus power towards his opponent.
“Dragonoid get out of there!” Ren called fruitlessly. Iron Dragonoid did try to fly out of the way, but was forcefully pulled in by the force of the tornado. He screeched and squirmed helplessly for several seconds, enduring the pain of being hurt by the Darkus power and almost torn apart by the tornado. It looked like Iron Dragonoid was three seconds away from being literally torn apart by Hydranoid's attack.
Fortunately for him luck was on his side in that moment. He reverted back to ball form and shot off next to Ren's feet.
Max just laughed as Ren's life gauge instantly depleted to zero. A moment later he victoriusly caught Hydranoid in his hand.
“Good game. No hard feelings right?” Max said mockingly before turning around and walking away from the arena. “Next time try to provide an actual challenge, okay?” is the last thing Max said before leaving the arena.
Hydranoid in stark contrast to his partner's glee, was worried. Max had been acting a little off ever since the battle with the Mechtogan army, but now he was acting completely out of character. Taking joy in brutalizing bakugan and demoralizing his opponent, even if their bakugan was a digital clone was complete opposite of who Max is.
While this battle had started with Iron Dragonoid reminding Hydranoid of his final battle with Drago, it ended with Max reminding Hydranoid more and more of his original partner…
Battle Log: Max Howlet vs Ren Suzuki
R1: Darkus Leviathan Hydranoid vs Pyrus Iron Dragonoid. Winner: Darkus Leviathan Hydranoid. Winner: Max Howlet.
R2: Darkus Leviathan Hydranoid vs Pyrus Iron Dragonoid.
Turn 1:
Leviathan Hydranoid: 1200 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 900+400-600= 700 Gs
Abilities used: Iron Dragonoid and Erasure Trident.
Turn 2: Leviathan Hydranoid: 1200-600-300= 300+1800= 2100 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 900+600+300= 1600-600= 1000 Gs
Abilities used: Pyrus Reflector, Blazing Dragon and Fusion Ability Dread Decimator.
Turn 3: Leviathan Hydranoid: 2100 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 1000+600+2100= 3700+500= 4200 Gs
Abilities used: Iron Valiant.
Gate card opened: Pyrus Reactor
Turn 4: Leviathan Hydranoid: 2100-800-500-1000= 0+5400= 5400 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 4200+500+700= 5400-500= 4900 Gs
Abilities used: Olan Terror, Garran Demura, Fusion Ability Ultimate Dragonoid, Darkus Equalizer and Grand Down
Turn 5:
Leviathan Hydranoid: 5400+6500= 11900 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 4900+800= 5700 Gs
Abilities used: Ultimate Boost Striker and Merge Shield.
Turn 6:
Leviathan Hydranoid: 11900+600+500+1000= 14 000 Gs Iron Dragonoid: 5700-500= 5200 Gs
Abilities used: Fusion Ability Hydra Cannon, Spice Balista and Fusion Ability Final Demolition.
Winner: Max Howlet
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 22:16 Mbazazelouis girlfriend 27F with whom I 30 F have just moved in with in a new city is a serial cheater. How should I handle this? She wants to fix things and I can't just move out or kick her out
I've posted the same story in offmychest. I'm new to reddit and this might be not the way of handdeling things. But I'm desperate for input as I feel I'm going crazy. English is not my first not my second language so please excuse me if i make mistakes.
I've enjoyed listenning to reddit stories on those YouTube video's for a while now and was always amazed by the amount of input the community always gives. Now with my situation and not really knowing what else to do to cope I thought I'll give it a try.
So here is my story. I 30F met my girlfriend 27F in augustus of last year on a dating app. I remember finding her absolutly beautiful. We started taking and very soon we were calling each other everyday for hours . I communicated that I wasn't looking for a relationship as i was starting a bachelor degree combined with full time work. I was happy just being friends as I enjoyed her vibe. We were both talking to other people and she would confide in me how the others people were. We met up at my place the first time as I felt like I already knew her from so much talking. She got drunk. Looking back she definetly tried to initiate something but I was carefull and she was minutes later throwing up in my toilet so i put her to sleep.
The following days she opened up about her past trauma's. She was adopted in a white family, she was born in Asia, as a baby. But she never really gotten the proper guidance to deal with it. Besides her brothers were way older so she didn't have a real connection with them. She was also SA'd by one of the brothers and the family wasn't dealing with it. Like not adressing it, giving her proper therapy and so on. Beside that there were some other problems in the familly that eventually when we got together and she introduced me to the familly, one of the brothers asked me what i was studying. I study something that translates like familly sciences. When i told that brother he joked that his familly would be a good case for my studies.
Basically to state that she has a difficult past and she was upfront with it. I have also my trauma's like SA from family members, not feeling connected to the country we live in or my birth country. I wasn't adopted but I immigrated to here when I was 10. I've been abused in every way by my family. That plus the distance makes that I'm astranged from them. In the courant country where I also experienced a lot of harsh rasism, always the outsider. So basically when i heard all that I felt like we could relate on that and was hoping we could be there for each other. Either way I never hinted towards a relationship. I just wanted to be there for her. I have had been in therapy since i was 21 years and was finishing it. I was finally in a good place.
We met up a few more times. One of the times was to help her clean her appartement. She was moving back to her father as she had had a deppressive episode and neglected the place and payments and was in debt. She didn't know who to ask from her friends. I offered. I came took over, cleaned the place. In the evening she even left me alone to finish up as she had a family date she couldn't miss. I honestly didn't mind i finished up. she went to her familly and later she came back. We went out and when we came back in the early morning I just fell a sleep. Later once we were together she told me she wanted to thank me with sex. She did introduce me to a friend that did tell me that everyone dumps her in every relationship. He thought that i was her date and i didn't want to emberass her so I didn't ask much more questions and decided to ask her instead at an other time. But this is one of the redflags i missed looking back.
After that we met up one more time to go out. She knew that in the morning I would go see that other girl i was talking to. I hadn't met that one in real life but had also a good connection with her. But that evening she confessed having feelings for me. I couldn't denie that i was attracted by her and wanted to give her all the love we both never experienced. We kissed and ended up at my place in the morning. I just cancelled on the other girl.
The first months were good. I noticed that she was imature on some levels but could explain it due to her past, the lack of therapy, and her overbearing father that doesn't let her grow up.
She introduced me to all her friends and they all liked me. They explain that she has a past of dating people who aren't good for her. They all approved of me and I liked them too. I didn't have a lot of friends. I had learned to prefer my own company over friends after being burned a few times and deciding not to befriend just anyone for my own mental health. I was rather be alone after all the betrayal i've been throught. People are just unpredictable and when i care I go fully. So to protect myself and because all the friendships before therapy were somewhat toxic I just prefered to stay alone. I did miss belonging to a group tho so I was extatic to gain a girlfriend I felt could understand me to a deeper level and a friendgroup welcoming me and simular to me. She seemed to intagrate me in the group well and they were really nice. I felt i was finally having that chosen familly a lot of people who go no contact with their familly talk about. I was taking drugs so i can study, work and manage this new relationship and friendship circle. I was determinated to make it work.
The first issue i noticed was that we would be videocalling and she wouldn't pay attention. She would be texting her friends and checking Insta or Facebook while she expected me to stay connected till she fell a sleep. She would even call me when she would wake up in the middle of the night. I did night shifts so i didn't mind about her wanting me around to sleep. I did complain about the lack of attention when she was still awake. She didn't adjust her behaviour just yet. I had to complain and make a big deal out of it before she did some efforts. Just the bare minimum.
But i knew she needed therapy and thought to understand where this behaviour was coming from. I just encouraged her that she can talk to me to about eveyrthing. But mostly I stayed patient, thinking she hadn't been in a healthy relationship. I believed with time, working on communication and showing her she could trust me, that all would be fine
There were some other issues i ignored as redflags about this relationship and still wanted to live together with her. I first proposed in moving in my appartement with no strings attached. If it didn't work out she just could go back to her dad and I am okay too. None of us looses anything. But she was not sure how her father who hadn't met me yet would react. He is a more sober person and has disapproved all her partners before.
So eventually she found the balls to tell me that she wasn't in that idea. She wanted her father to approve and so on. She had lived before with a partner her father didn't approve of cuz they both felt she was taking advantage of my girlfriend to get her papers. By the way they are still friends and i like the ex too. She doesn't seem capable of manipulate someone to get get papers. But that is an other story.
After I met her father she was okay moving in together in the Capital, a fresh start for me and her too. I was excited to start forever happly after. I had never loved someone like I've loved her. She was so vulnerable from the start that i just wanted to care for her. Like stated before i wanted to give her the love we both missed.
We moved end mai in our appartemment. I was stressing as i had to find something on time so that i don't end up homeless. I needed to find a new job and so on. I was also the one who made all the appointments and took on the stress to find us something. All she had to do is like the place. I did everthing
We moved in in the last weekend of april. On the 18th of mai was pride in our city. I had to work even tho i wanted to go. She was stating to stay home as we had spend a lot of money to move. We were almost broke both of us. i could see she wanted to go as all her friends were going and texting her. She does have been irresponsible when going out, too much drinking, losing her stuff and over spending. So i proposed guidelines to follow so she could go have a good time and not stay alone at home and still not regret the day after. We agreed that she would take her old phone just in case, eat enough as she would be drinking and retrieve the money she was going to spend so she doesn't go over her budget. That way she can't spend more than her budget.
She who is always texting me didn't say a word alle night. When i did call to check up on her she just passed me a friend to talk to them. I was pissed but happy she was unharmed in our appartement. In the morning i came home. Most of the people were still sleeping and she was acting annoyingly wierd. I couldn't make a scene as her friends were there. I just entertained them and went to sleep. I was mad. Next day she tried to make up and after some talk Mostly explaining why I was mad. She had done nothing of the steps we had taken for her to go out safly. But when i calmed down anyway she dropped the bom that she also kissed someone there. One of the people she was talking to around the time we met. Someone she eventually deemed not a match.
I was broken by that. I just couldn't believe it. Okay our sex and love life had been less since the stress of the move, finding a new job in a new city, exams and a tighy wallet. but i thought she understood as i voiced my stress.
I was miserabel when she told me, just broken, not eating physically ill and all my issues re-triggered. I felt so stupid and trapped as we had just signed for 3 years in a 1 bed appartement. I just slipped back in depression while she seemed remorsefull as if she made a mistake. She was trying to care for me and fix things. One week later i was still not okay completely broken by the betrayal still and the huge mistake i made to cosign for 3 years with no other options to move out or kick her out. She touched me at some point and I felt better with her in my arms. I decided to give her an other chance. It was discussed that cheating the only non negotiable cause for a break up was for me and that everything else is can be talked over. i should have respected my own rule...
Well same week, few days later she told me a friend of her, beacause she is friends with a lot of people she flirted or hooked up with, well that they confessed their feelings towards her. I had met this person and she had explained to me not wanting to persu my girlfriend in the past. Now they were just friends. I was okay with that. I was glad she told me and we composed a message together for that girl stating that she had told me, that I' not mad but she will stay true to me.
Now thursday she kept talking about said friend and the things my girlfriend was saying weren't adding up. It didn't seem like something said friend would say or do without context so when she got home I asked her to read the messages with said friend to try to understand. When j read the messages i was floored. Most of them were deleted and it was my girlfriend always asking about the feelings that friend would have for my girlfriend. The reason said friend was freaking out is that my girlfriend told her I took her phone and texted the girl. She was shocked understandbly. My gf was creating drama and i still haven't understood why. Like if she wanted to actually cheat why make me aware?
Its been 4 dats now and I just don't know how to advance from this. I'm still very aware of her past and the lack of therapy. I still care for her in a sence but I also hurt and I feel so stupid. She now is again remorsefull and relize now I'm the first one to show her true love. I've broken up with her as I just need to respect myself but i still have a soft spot for her besides everything. She now wants to fix everything, she'll go in therapy and so on. I sometimes find myself being the one to comfort her even after it all. I'm so lost and don't know what to do. I want to keep it a healing exprericence for her, but want to protect myself and love her again at the same time.
This is just a little of the quesionable behaviour she had done, basically the most recent one. I'm just too hurt and blindsided to deal this on my own but i finished therapy like 6 months ago. I can't go back to my therapist. I plan on looking for a new one in the new city but i need advice and guidance since we live together in this 1 bed appartment. She is not really giving me space to think this trough. How should i handle this?
submitted by Mbazazelouis to relationship_advice [link] [comments]
I've enjoyed listenning to reddit stories on those YouTube video's for a while now and was always amazed by the amount of input the community always gives. Now with my situation and not really knowing what else to do to cope I thought I'll give it a try.
So here is my story. I 30F met my girlfriend 27F in augustus of last year on a dating app. I remember finding her absolutly beautiful. We started taking and very soon we were calling each other everyday for hours . I communicated that I wasn't looking for a relationship as i was starting a bachelor degree combined with full time work. I was happy just being friends as I enjoyed her vibe. We were both talking to other people and she would confide in me how the others people were. We met up at my place the first time as I felt like I already knew her from so much talking. She got drunk. Looking back she definetly tried to initiate something but I was carefull and she was minutes later throwing up in my toilet so i put her to sleep.
The following days she opened up about her past trauma's. She was adopted in a white family, she was born in Asia, as a baby. But she never really gotten the proper guidance to deal with it. Besides her brothers were way older so she didn't have a real connection with them. She was also SA'd by one of the brothers and the family wasn't dealing with it. Like not adressing it, giving her proper therapy and so on. Beside that there were some other problems in the familly that eventually when we got together and she introduced me to the familly, one of the brothers asked me what i was studying. I study something that translates like familly sciences. When i told that brother he joked that his familly would be a good case for my studies.
Basically to state that she has a difficult past and she was upfront with it. I have also my trauma's like SA from family members, not feeling connected to the country we live in or my birth country. I wasn't adopted but I immigrated to here when I was 10. I've been abused in every way by my family. That plus the distance makes that I'm astranged from them. In the courant country where I also experienced a lot of harsh rasism, always the outsider. So basically when i heard all that I felt like we could relate on that and was hoping we could be there for each other. Either way I never hinted towards a relationship. I just wanted to be there for her. I have had been in therapy since i was 21 years and was finishing it. I was finally in a good place.
We met up a few more times. One of the times was to help her clean her appartement. She was moving back to her father as she had had a deppressive episode and neglected the place and payments and was in debt. She didn't know who to ask from her friends. I offered. I came took over, cleaned the place. In the evening she even left me alone to finish up as she had a family date she couldn't miss. I honestly didn't mind i finished up. she went to her familly and later she came back. We went out and when we came back in the early morning I just fell a sleep. Later once we were together she told me she wanted to thank me with sex. She did introduce me to a friend that did tell me that everyone dumps her in every relationship. He thought that i was her date and i didn't want to emberass her so I didn't ask much more questions and decided to ask her instead at an other time. But this is one of the redflags i missed looking back.
After that we met up one more time to go out. She knew that in the morning I would go see that other girl i was talking to. I hadn't met that one in real life but had also a good connection with her. But that evening she confessed having feelings for me. I couldn't denie that i was attracted by her and wanted to give her all the love we both never experienced. We kissed and ended up at my place in the morning. I just cancelled on the other girl.
The first months were good. I noticed that she was imature on some levels but could explain it due to her past, the lack of therapy, and her overbearing father that doesn't let her grow up.
She introduced me to all her friends and they all liked me. They explain that she has a past of dating people who aren't good for her. They all approved of me and I liked them too. I didn't have a lot of friends. I had learned to prefer my own company over friends after being burned a few times and deciding not to befriend just anyone for my own mental health. I was rather be alone after all the betrayal i've been throught. People are just unpredictable and when i care I go fully. So to protect myself and because all the friendships before therapy were somewhat toxic I just prefered to stay alone. I did miss belonging to a group tho so I was extatic to gain a girlfriend I felt could understand me to a deeper level and a friendgroup welcoming me and simular to me. She seemed to intagrate me in the group well and they were really nice. I felt i was finally having that chosen familly a lot of people who go no contact with their familly talk about. I was taking drugs so i can study, work and manage this new relationship and friendship circle. I was determinated to make it work.
The first issue i noticed was that we would be videocalling and she wouldn't pay attention. She would be texting her friends and checking Insta or Facebook while she expected me to stay connected till she fell a sleep. She would even call me when she would wake up in the middle of the night. I did night shifts so i didn't mind about her wanting me around to sleep. I did complain about the lack of attention when she was still awake. She didn't adjust her behaviour just yet. I had to complain and make a big deal out of it before she did some efforts. Just the bare minimum.
But i knew she needed therapy and thought to understand where this behaviour was coming from. I just encouraged her that she can talk to me to about eveyrthing. But mostly I stayed patient, thinking she hadn't been in a healthy relationship. I believed with time, working on communication and showing her she could trust me, that all would be fine
There were some other issues i ignored as redflags about this relationship and still wanted to live together with her. I first proposed in moving in my appartement with no strings attached. If it didn't work out she just could go back to her dad and I am okay too. None of us looses anything. But she was not sure how her father who hadn't met me yet would react. He is a more sober person and has disapproved all her partners before.
So eventually she found the balls to tell me that she wasn't in that idea. She wanted her father to approve and so on. She had lived before with a partner her father didn't approve of cuz they both felt she was taking advantage of my girlfriend to get her papers. By the way they are still friends and i like the ex too. She doesn't seem capable of manipulate someone to get get papers. But that is an other story.
After I met her father she was okay moving in together in the Capital, a fresh start for me and her too. I was excited to start forever happly after. I had never loved someone like I've loved her. She was so vulnerable from the start that i just wanted to care for her. Like stated before i wanted to give her the love we both missed.
We moved end mai in our appartemment. I was stressing as i had to find something on time so that i don't end up homeless. I needed to find a new job and so on. I was also the one who made all the appointments and took on the stress to find us something. All she had to do is like the place. I did everthing
We moved in in the last weekend of april. On the 18th of mai was pride in our city. I had to work even tho i wanted to go. She was stating to stay home as we had spend a lot of money to move. We were almost broke both of us. i could see she wanted to go as all her friends were going and texting her. She does have been irresponsible when going out, too much drinking, losing her stuff and over spending. So i proposed guidelines to follow so she could go have a good time and not stay alone at home and still not regret the day after. We agreed that she would take her old phone just in case, eat enough as she would be drinking and retrieve the money she was going to spend so she doesn't go over her budget. That way she can't spend more than her budget.
She who is always texting me didn't say a word alle night. When i did call to check up on her she just passed me a friend to talk to them. I was pissed but happy she was unharmed in our appartement. In the morning i came home. Most of the people were still sleeping and she was acting annoyingly wierd. I couldn't make a scene as her friends were there. I just entertained them and went to sleep. I was mad. Next day she tried to make up and after some talk Mostly explaining why I was mad. She had done nothing of the steps we had taken for her to go out safly. But when i calmed down anyway she dropped the bom that she also kissed someone there. One of the people she was talking to around the time we met. Someone she eventually deemed not a match.
I was broken by that. I just couldn't believe it. Okay our sex and love life had been less since the stress of the move, finding a new job in a new city, exams and a tighy wallet. but i thought she understood as i voiced my stress.
I was miserabel when she told me, just broken, not eating physically ill and all my issues re-triggered. I felt so stupid and trapped as we had just signed for 3 years in a 1 bed appartement. I just slipped back in depression while she seemed remorsefull as if she made a mistake. She was trying to care for me and fix things. One week later i was still not okay completely broken by the betrayal still and the huge mistake i made to cosign for 3 years with no other options to move out or kick her out. She touched me at some point and I felt better with her in my arms. I decided to give her an other chance. It was discussed that cheating the only non negotiable cause for a break up was for me and that everything else is can be talked over. i should have respected my own rule...
Well same week, few days later she told me a friend of her, beacause she is friends with a lot of people she flirted or hooked up with, well that they confessed their feelings towards her. I had met this person and she had explained to me not wanting to persu my girlfriend in the past. Now they were just friends. I was okay with that. I was glad she told me and we composed a message together for that girl stating that she had told me, that I' not mad but she will stay true to me.
Now thursday she kept talking about said friend and the things my girlfriend was saying weren't adding up. It didn't seem like something said friend would say or do without context so when she got home I asked her to read the messages with said friend to try to understand. When j read the messages i was floored. Most of them were deleted and it was my girlfriend always asking about the feelings that friend would have for my girlfriend. The reason said friend was freaking out is that my girlfriend told her I took her phone and texted the girl. She was shocked understandbly. My gf was creating drama and i still haven't understood why. Like if she wanted to actually cheat why make me aware?
Its been 4 dats now and I just don't know how to advance from this. I'm still very aware of her past and the lack of therapy. I still care for her in a sence but I also hurt and I feel so stupid. She now is again remorsefull and relize now I'm the first one to show her true love. I've broken up with her as I just need to respect myself but i still have a soft spot for her besides everything. She now wants to fix everything, she'll go in therapy and so on. I sometimes find myself being the one to comfort her even after it all. I'm so lost and don't know what to do. I want to keep it a healing exprericence for her, but want to protect myself and love her again at the same time.
This is just a little of the quesionable behaviour she had done, basically the most recent one. I'm just too hurt and blindsided to deal this on my own but i finished therapy like 6 months ago. I can't go back to my therapist. I plan on looking for a new one in the new city but i need advice and guidance since we live together in this 1 bed appartment. She is not really giving me space to think this trough. How should i handle this?
2024.06.09 22:16 mikeramp72 Endgame #2
2nd: Ian Rosenberger (Palau - 3rd)
friends forever <3u/DryBonesKing:
Claims to be a dolphin trainer. Yet, he shows us no dolphin tricks. Even worse, there aren’t even any dolphins showed with him. Literally unwatchable, zero out of ten. I’m sure a New Era Dolphin Trainer would have the decency to have a flashback scene with pictures of a dolphin…
I opt to meme about Ian instead of trying to do a writeup because what is there to fucking say? It’s Ian fucking Rosenberger! I think I know more people who have Ian as their number one favorite Survivor of all than any other Survivor. That’s the pull that this guy has! I currently have placed all my chips on Twila being the one who will end up winning this Rankdown, but I think Ian is just as likely and is just as equally deserving. And just like Twila, he also has the distinct pleasure of being one of the most tragic figures in Survivor history after a very complicated story of having his morals completely and utterly tested in the worst ways possible.
The entire relationship between Ian, Tom, and Katie feels scripted. That’s how good of a story it is, because I almost refuse to believe that somehow reality can actually work the way that it did. Watching this goofy, smiley, joyful guy at the beginning and seeing him completely broken holding onto a buoy in the final immunity challenge – not even out of a desire to win but almost out of instinct and a desire to figure out who he is as a person – is some of the rawest shit I’ve ever seen. And somehow, despite all of the tragedy involved in his tale, seeing him finally make peace with himself at the very end of a brutal, neverending challenge and going out seemingly on his own terms just feels so much more personally satisfying than any other possible ending I could have imagined. Palau is a brutal, emotional watch and Ian is an incredible rollercoaster experience to observe as well, but goddamn, when it’s all said and over, it truly feels worth it by the end of it all.
Overall Rank – 6/821
~
u/Zanthosus:
Ian is my favorite character in the history of the show. I adore everything about his story. I’m naturally drawn to people who let their emotions influence their decisions in the game over strategy and there’s really nobody else to exemplify why I adore that than Ian.
~
u/Tommyroxs45:
Ian has one of the best stories in Survivor history, and I think to most, including me, that’s an object fact. His story is a testament to what Survivor does to you mentally and how important vital relationships are in Survivor, not because of the game, but for you. It’s told absolutely brilliantly and he makes the endgame of Palau probably the best endgame in the history of Survivor. He deserves his spot here, among the greats!
~
u/Regnisyak1:
Ian has one of the strongest, most emotional, incredible, captivating, enticing, exciting, craziest, and engaging stories ever on Survivor. That’s a lot of adjectives, but I think he is such a complex character and helps make Palau, Palau. Watching his breakdown at the end of the season is so rough, but such an important story and it encapsulates the power of friendship, how the island wears you down over time, the conflicting storylines involving leadership, and a subversion of gender roles of those traditionally expected in society. I love Ian, I love his relationships with other characters like Tom, Caryn, and Katie, and his place in Endgame, and eighth time overall, is completely deserved.
Personal Rank: 2/821. 10/10.
~
u/ninjedi1:
Ian is an interesting guy on Palau. He's the one that ends up beginning the formation of the dominant Koror tribe, and is pretty much in the driver's seat with Tom the entire time in premerge. However, his relationships start to fall apart as the game progresses, to the point where he's a huge emotional, mess, and makes the big decision to throw himself on the sword to let his friends make it to the end of the game.
~~~~~
u/SMC0629:
Ian Rosenberger
I think I’m done with Survivor after this writeup. I’ve come to realize that the show just isn’t for me anymore. There’s many different things I’m interested in, and have become more interested in than Survivor. It’s been nine years, nine long, but amazing years of being a loving fan of the show. From elementary school, where I’d come home awaiting the newest episode, making tribes out of people in my classes. To middle school, where I discovered Survivor content on Youtube, interacting with the people in the comment sections (if you know who A.J Deets is you’re a real one), and discovering what the “edit” was. To high school, where I discovered rankdowns. That first rankdown from 2022, and this one, have made me consider who really is my favorite character in the show. For the longest time, my favorite character has been Jonny Fairplay 1.0, and I still hold to that. However, he was sadly cut before endgame, so I had to find a second option. I had to think, who is my favorite? More importantly, what character encapsulates why I keep coming back to this show, and what makes me love it so much? There were many options, a lot of them in this very endgame roster, but one stuck out to me. One character that I’ve adored since my first watch of their season back in 2017, one that stayed in my mind when scrolling through survivor in middle school, and one that has been ranked high for me in these rankdowns. Maybe one day, he’ll even find himself at the coveted top spot, and that character is Ian Rosenberger.
Going back to that original state of mind I had, a casual Survivor fan in 2017, just now experiencing old-school Survivor (with the exception of All-Stars). Why did I like Ian right off the bat? Well, my dad’s name is Ian, I’m sure that had some part in it, along with his funny looking hair. His occupation was being a “dolphin trainer,” which I thought was really cool. On top of that though, he seemed like a chill guy, and back then I always rooted for the more physical competitors. After all, he just won the first “challenge” of the season, by racing back to shore and winning the immunity necklace. This would only continue throughout the first few episodes of the season, as Ian would be a dominant figure in the Koror tribe, being more nice than someone like Tom, but not as big in the picture. He even retrieved the reward Koror had lost at sea after their first immunity challenge.
Skipping ahead to the later half of the premerge, and I suppose the early merge as well, Ian’s charisma really shines. This is something that’s really important, not just for his character, but why I enjoyed him so much too. Back in middle school, I referred to most of my favorite old school characters as just being ones that were likable. Obviously, this doesn’t hold up now, like most of my survivor era takes (along with great ones such as “Ghost Island is my 16th favorite season”), as I had a big preference towards the newer seasons with some exceptions. However, due to the nostalgia I had for Palau, that season was always one of my favorites, and Ian was always one of my favorite contestants. While he may never have been the center of attention until the very end, he was always there in the background, making a smart comment or something. His voting confessionals are a great example, like the one for Gregg: “Gregg, you’re the dark horse, so now it’s time for the dark horse to ride out into the sunset.”
However, that background status plays into two different relationships perfectly, the two most important of the season, mind you: Katie and Tom. Katie represents his social game, the person who Ian has created the biggest bond with throughout the season, as seen through numerous moments. As for Tom, Ian’s other best friend, it plays into the factor of the game. See the thing is, Tom has always had his mind on the game, whether it’s questioning his threat level, using Steph’s target to his advantage, or thinking about his different alliances. Ian on the other hand, has floated in the background, letting Tom take the heat, intentionally or unintentionally. Either way, Tom is seen as the bigger player, and his first two immunity wins are nothing to scoff at either. It’s at the final six where both of these relationships begin to clash, and the downfall of Ian begins. At first, Gregg becomes too comfortable, making his ideal final three plan too clear, alarming Tom “it’s the cake, we didn’t come here for the icing.” With this, Tom brings in Ian to conspire against Gregg, working together with Caryn to blindside him. Once again, Tom is taking the reins, proving to be a smarter player overall than Ian, but something different happens this time. Instead, it’s Ian who takes the heat when he is forced to pull in Katie at the last minute. Katie agrees, breaking her word with Gregg and Jenn, basically sinking any chance she might have had at beating someone. Things go from dicey to outright bad for Ian quickly, as he wins the final five reward challenge, but brings Tom with him after agreeing to bring Katie beforehand. Katie is furious at Ian, and when he gets back from the reward, she lays into him, both of them shedding tears. It’s such an impactful and real moment, but the two’s friendship overcomes it, and they come together to vote out Caryn that night.
By this point, Ian knows he needs to get Tom out. That’s all he needs actually. Him and Katie in the final two is an easy 1 mil for him, he just needs to eliminate his best friend. Unfortunately, Tom pulls out another immunity win. Despite that, Tom values his friendship with Ian, and is fine keeping him around to vote off Jenn. Ian however, is foaming at the mouth to get Tom out, so bad that he actually slips up in front of him, saying that it would have been a tough decision had Tom not won immunity. Immediately, Tom’s alarm bells ring, and he knows Ian is gunning for him. The mood at tribal council is dramatically different than at camp. What could have been a remorseful goodbye to Jenn has turned into a showdown between two friends. Tom scolds Ian for betraying their friendship, and no matter how much Ian denies it, the pieces have already fallen in place. Despite Ian saving himself in fire, he may as well be a ghost to his two best friends. Katie and Tom haven’t said a word to him since tribal, and Ian breaks down in a confessional. He didn’t want to be the bad guy, it shouldn’t have gone this way. This scene really struck a chord for me on my first watch, and has always stuck with me. Despite it all, Ian still has one last chance to score the big prize, the final immunity challenge. Pretty quickly, Katie drops out, leaving it down to the final showdown against Tom. Tom still doesn’t say much to Ian, with Ian trying to stay confident. During the whole challenge though, you can tell Ian’s masking his true feelings, he wants to say so many things to Tom and Katie but can’t. The two stay up on those poles for almost 12 hours, until finally, Ian’s mask comes off. Ian says he’ll step down, and Tom can take Katie to the final two, to show that he still cares about their friendship. And for the first time in this challenge, Tom gives him a genuine response, agreeing to his wishes. Ian immediately dives off, losing his chance at the million, but winning back his two best friends. Tom votes Ian off, not his competitor Ian, not his tribemate Ian, but “my buddy Ian.” That’s all you need to hear to show that everything’s gone back to normal. Ian is the final person voted out of the game, thus ending the story of one of my favorite characters the show has ever seen.
Ian’s in a pretty close race for my favorite character of all time, there’s a lot of contenders. Fairplay, Twila, Fabio, Chris D, Sandra, all very close together alongside Ian. However, if there was one character I could choose to take their story away from the show, it would be Ian’s. I would want to be like Ian, and I think his story is inspirational to people who might not have confidence, might not be sure of themselves or what they want. Ian’s values are what I aspire to have, and I couldn’t be more thankful that I connected so much with his story. If this is the final writeup I have on this show, I’m more than happy with that. Thank you all for supporting me throughout the rankdown, thank you to the rankers for being a great group of people, thank you Survivor, and most importantly, thank you Ian.
SMC0629: 1
DryBonesKing: 6
Zanthosus: 1
Tommyroxs45: 3
Regnisyak1: 2
DavidW1208: 15
ninjedi1: 19
Average Placement: 6.714
Total Points: 47
Standard Deviation: 7.319 (7th Highest)
2024.06.09 22:15 Dry-Bell-7560 I (22M) am afraid someone will take my boyfriend (23M) - I thought I was overthinking but now...?
TL;DR: I'm overthinking that other guys are trying to get my boyfriend to themselves and now it might be happening, although my boyfriend is denying it.
Hi! I start by saying that I love and trust my boyfriend completely. We've been together for 2 years now. We live in different cities, 3h drive. We meet 2-3 times a month, but text almost every half hour and both are still very in love with each other (maybe even more than before). It's my first real relationship and I've never felt so happy in my life.
In the past I've been hurt (emotionally) by a few guys - they told me I'm theirs only and then later I found out that they secretly sent pics and flirty texts with many other guys (and went to gay bars and found people there etc etc, you all know the basic cheating thing...)
My boyfriend is a cute nerd, a bit shy and doesn't go out much. Now he's starting going out with work friends (girls) and to gay clubs to dance and have a drink. We have Snapchat live location ON (he suggested that so I wouldn't worry). That's all fine, I'm glad he's socializing.
But since I've been hurt in the past and an emotional guy then now I've become quite jealous and a big overthinker... Because a lot of things that I was afraid of in the past became true... So... What if my bf is actually sexting with other guys he found at a gay club or what if he's secretly on Grindr, what if there's one dude who knows how to charm etcetc. I feel so stupid...
Now a few days ago he went to sleep and forgot his phone unlocked. Now I'm a jerk for doing this next thing but... I checked his phone. No Grindr, no dating apps. On Messenger there were chats with family and friends. Same with Snapchat. Until... I found that he was texting two guys time to time (they're gay, I saw both of them on Grindr years ago) on Instagram, reacting to their storys (which is fine) but then also sending them some gay memes/content (ex: Romeo & Liam playing around on Insta, some top-bottom jokes) and the other way around. And I scrolled up and saw this message from one of the guys to my boyfriend: "I know you're in a relationship. But if u ever wanna fool around, u can turn to me." My bf replied: noted, but I have a boyfriend (and no more messages that day/night). I also found that same guy replying to a hot gay joke my bf sent him: "You know how I feel about you, I would drool" or something. And a few weird things like that as well. But they also chatted about some video game and some random normal stuff, nothing flirty.
I asked my boyfriend in the morning who is that guy and if they're talking on Insta (didn't tell him I looked through his dm's...). He said that this dude has tried hitting on him but my bf told him to calm down and stop. Which was all true. So basically my boyfriend told me that yes there is this guy and they don't meet irl and text few times a month (but actually few times a week, very little conversation tho, but still enough to make lose my mind...).
So now I'm really broken... My overthinking has gone worse. I'm scared when he's going out in the future. I... I don't know 😣 I can't ask him to stop texting people, I don't want to be that controlling toxic boyfriend. I'm afraid of losing him and you know what they say: "If you keep thinking about something it might eventually happen if you think enough..." It scares me...
What should I do, how should I control my thoughts, should I ask my bf something? I beg for advice, please, how can I calm myself down?
submitted by Dry-Bell-7560 to relationships [link] [comments]
Hi! I start by saying that I love and trust my boyfriend completely. We've been together for 2 years now. We live in different cities, 3h drive. We meet 2-3 times a month, but text almost every half hour and both are still very in love with each other (maybe even more than before). It's my first real relationship and I've never felt so happy in my life.
In the past I've been hurt (emotionally) by a few guys - they told me I'm theirs only and then later I found out that they secretly sent pics and flirty texts with many other guys (and went to gay bars and found people there etc etc, you all know the basic cheating thing...)
My boyfriend is a cute nerd, a bit shy and doesn't go out much. Now he's starting going out with work friends (girls) and to gay clubs to dance and have a drink. We have Snapchat live location ON (he suggested that so I wouldn't worry). That's all fine, I'm glad he's socializing.
But since I've been hurt in the past and an emotional guy then now I've become quite jealous and a big overthinker... Because a lot of things that I was afraid of in the past became true... So... What if my bf is actually sexting with other guys he found at a gay club or what if he's secretly on Grindr, what if there's one dude who knows how to charm etcetc. I feel so stupid...
Now a few days ago he went to sleep and forgot his phone unlocked. Now I'm a jerk for doing this next thing but... I checked his phone. No Grindr, no dating apps. On Messenger there were chats with family and friends. Same with Snapchat. Until... I found that he was texting two guys time to time (they're gay, I saw both of them on Grindr years ago) on Instagram, reacting to their storys (which is fine) but then also sending them some gay memes/content (ex: Romeo & Liam playing around on Insta, some top-bottom jokes) and the other way around. And I scrolled up and saw this message from one of the guys to my boyfriend: "I know you're in a relationship. But if u ever wanna fool around, u can turn to me." My bf replied: noted, but I have a boyfriend (and no more messages that day/night). I also found that same guy replying to a hot gay joke my bf sent him: "You know how I feel about you, I would drool" or something. And a few weird things like that as well. But they also chatted about some video game and some random normal stuff, nothing flirty.
I asked my boyfriend in the morning who is that guy and if they're talking on Insta (didn't tell him I looked through his dm's...). He said that this dude has tried hitting on him but my bf told him to calm down and stop. Which was all true. So basically my boyfriend told me that yes there is this guy and they don't meet irl and text few times a month (but actually few times a week, very little conversation tho, but still enough to make lose my mind...).
So now I'm really broken... My overthinking has gone worse. I'm scared when he's going out in the future. I... I don't know 😣 I can't ask him to stop texting people, I don't want to be that controlling toxic boyfriend. I'm afraid of losing him and you know what they say: "If you keep thinking about something it might eventually happen if you think enough..." It scares me...
What should I do, how should I control my thoughts, should I ask my bf something? I beg for advice, please, how can I calm myself down?
2024.06.09 22:13 Dejavinh My ex bf from high school has a new gf and it touched me
I (27F) have dated that guy who’s almost 32 now if I’m not mistaken (omg time flies) back when I was 17-18 (yes I wasn’t legal hen we first met but whatever), we met online and from there we started to hook up regularly. I inevitably ended up catching feelings for him. I asked him to be my bf which he declined quite harshly. I was hurt, so I just came back to the app I was using at the time and eventually found another guy (19M at the time being) I dated for one year and half. Ironically (or not), he deeply regretted saying no and kept pursuing me the whole time I was with the other one. Once he even came to sit down at the table where that guy and I were having a meal, alpha style lol. Truth is, I wasn’t over him either so I ended up cheating on the guy with him (bad, I know). We broke up a few weeks after and my now official bf and I started to date. There’s been an incident at the very beginning of that new relationship, where I found out he was texting random male strangers, way older than him, to jerk off with via Skype… I confronted him it, I remember trying to be as comprehensive and not shameful as possible even though I was very confused. He brushed it off, probably ashamed about the nature of those interactions. But I did the most damage in the relationship, I must admit. My very first boyfriend wasn’t loyal nor considerate towards me so I eventually coped by doing the same afterwards, and trust me I truly regret all the pain it has caused to my then bfs. I guess I just wanted to quit but couldn’t find the words nor the courage to so I sabotaged it in whole. I remember the last time we saw each other before officially breaking up he was begging for me to stay even though I did him so wrong. I was embarrassed, almost pissed off and in the moment I acted very cold. So it ended. We stayed officially together two years and half, he’s been my longest relationship. He kept wishing me my birthday as well as a Happy New Year for a long time after we got apart, but it never went further than these small interactions. He only stopped about two years ago (I had to check, I’m actually shocked it lasted for even longer than I thought) and I assumed he met someone, I felt kinda relieved somehow. In the meanwhile I’ve grown, I’ve learned and I met my wonderful bf (23M). I love him so much; that’s the first time I experiment a relationship where’s there’s absolutely no redflags and where I actually see my future with my loved one. We communicate very well and we have each other’s back 100%. Back to that guy, while I was just waking up this morning I’ve received a FB notification saying he’s been identified in a picture (I hardly use FB anymore and I never bothered cleaning my FB list which is freaking huge, I’m too lazy for that). That ex in particular has never been into socials nor pictures, so out of curiosity I clicked on it. And that’s how I had the visual confirmation he had someone. I wasn’t expecting that reaction from me, never thought it would move me the way it did but it did. I mean it’s been a long while since we both moved on, yet it made me think about all of what I’ve talked previously, going through some type of deep introspection. It’s hard to describe how I feel… I’m genuinely happy for him, I am too although I can’t help but feeling a bit sad. I regret that his family, especially his sisters, got in the way (he has an engineering background and after art studies I decided to do modelling full time so it has been fairly common in my relationships that the entourage made assumptions based on stupid stereotypes). It affected my self esteem so much and I resented him for never standing up for me while we were together, before all went down from my part. He told me he did tell them to shut up after we broke up though, and it’s even more triggering to me. Right now I see my mistakes, I know what went wrong and I regret that I hurt him, even though I have no desire to get back to him, neither do I have feelings for him. I think it’s just nostalgia speaking… I feel kinda guilty though, my bf will see I’m feeling blue so I’ll have to tell him, I tell him everything. But I’m scared it’s gonna sting. I love him I don’t want to hurt his feelings :(
Sum up : I saw a picture of my ex high school bf and his gf and it’s making me nostalgic
submitted by Dejavinh to offmychest [link] [comments]
Sum up : I saw a picture of my ex high school bf and his gf and it’s making me nostalgic
2024.06.09 22:11 DexterTheRando Put my ML into some fun poses.
 | Pose 1: Mega Man pose for Model 9 Iron Man. The boots are the main reason. submitted by DexterTheRando to MarvelLegends [link] [comments] Pose 2: EMH Captain America pose for Civil Warrior. I used the peg handle for the connection, and this pose was because of my general nostalgia. Pose 3: Next Avengers Iron Man throwing Ultron pose for Model 24. This is also for nostalgia, but mostly because it works so well. You can even Model 24’s remove the Model 24’s shoulder pads to replicate the scene where Iron Man rips off his own shoulder pads when Ultron tries to take control of the suit. Pose 4: FNF BF Week 8 pose for Model 9. The weird articulation of Model 9 really lent it towards this goofy pose. Pose 5: Virtual Insanity grab for AI Iron Man. I just love the music video of the song, and I wanted to recreate the most memed frame of it. Also it is kind of clever. Pose 6: Shocked man pose for Venom. I just had to recreate this dude absolutely tweaking out, because it is actually my favorite meme ever. |
2024.06.09 22:08 Several-Opposite-190 The inspiration behind "6:16 in L.A." has been right in front of us the whole time. Meet the self-described 616god, Milkavelli.
 | https://preview.redd.it/xzogqcbhrl5d1.png?width=1083&format=png&auto=webp&s=f8231d1445dc3940c8662d140c62fb69ec0e9ef4 submitted by Several-Opposite-190 to DarkKenny [link] [comments] 1. Zack Bia’s connection to the 616god Yesterday, I made a post about Zack Bia. I mentioned how “6:16 in L.A” makes references to Zack Bia at the end of the song. You playin' dirty with propaganda, it blow up on yaAfter continuing research into Zack Bia, his clothing brand, Psychworld, was found. Psychworld is a clothing brand founded in 2018 by Zack Bia that grailed.com describes as the following: “Founded by multi-hyphenate DJ and producer Zack Bia, the streetwear brand trades on exclusivity and elusiveness.” Drake appears to be involved with Psychworld, at least on the modeling side. There are multiple pictures of Drake modeling Psychworld apparel on their Instagram. https://preview.redd.it/jz0dx4xipl5d1.png?width=552&format=png&auto=webp&s=226acd0617ebbb4ec479ea25403b0747e3e77e42 While scrolling through Psychworld’s Instagram, there was a post which referenced apparel with the number “616.” https://preview.redd.it/wm5ziwulpl5d1.png?width=554&format=png&auto=webp&s=c5753ad2c8aadb27c23d3ae7b13397d6dee1a414 This post has been mentioned before when “6:16 in L.A.” dropped. Previously, nothing was found relevant to the song. I dug a little deeper in case something was missed. I started by following the accounts tagged on the post, dvlgng and slowthai. https://preview.redd.it/mun95f7opl5d1.png?width=535&format=png&auto=webp&s=9ced5ffcd2c4b68d3f1d6568a6560495b4323e92 dvlgng is an account for a clothing brand called 616 Clothing. Since dvlgang was tagged in Psychworld’s post, and Psychworld advertised selling 616 Clothing, it appears that the companies did a collaboration. https://preview.redd.it/s9qyoefvpl5d1.png?width=554&format=png&auto=webp&s=81a7b88ac411d2b526fea79d9059c8edbc98bb1e 2. What is 616 Clothing? 616 Clothing is a brand affiliated with UK rapper Milkavelli. Milkavelli describes himself as the “616god.” He uses the number “616” in a lot of his posts because it is affiliated with his crew, 616. 616 is a crew of rappers in the UK. https://preview.redd.it/5kp9sojxpl5d1.png?width=552&format=png&auto=webp&s=a8571f77aa738f288eb716faa84b0cc3f09d11e7 Milkavelli also regularly references cults and being anti-religious through his social media. The image below is one example of one of his posts. https://preview.redd.it/aefewgc0ql5d1.png?width=556&format=png&auto=webp&s=ba0f74eeead36705ed09a870d3257aaa26aba97f I started looking up “milkavelli” to find more information on him. I found the following posts, which are all alleged and unproven. The first poster's username has been censored. https://preview.redd.it/ew8ow2mprl5d1.png?width=641&format=png&auto=webp&s=273f2123ccc9595066e26318fb449ad5d7495bfb Then, I found this news article. One of Milkavelli’s alleged friends, Ceon Broughton, has an overturned manslaughter conviction for filming “his girlfriend dying from a drugs overdose at Bestival.” Milkavelli posted a picture of him and Ceon together with the caption, “Reunited with my actual twin. Theres no feeling so great.” https://preview.redd.it/d2fbs206ql5d1.png?width=601&format=png&auto=webp&s=0e69d87b52f166becf7995b4c476cf5ac41cf1da Louella Fletcher-Michie died in 2017 after overdosing on 2C. There have been theories that "toosie" is a double entendre reference to 2C. https://preview.redd.it/bksrju78ql5d1.png?width=608&format=png&auto=webp&s=6971b3c40b00743ff62dc07b7960815ebf20502f 3. Conclusion Why is “6:16 in L.A.” referring to Milk? I don’t know yet, but I am guessing the 616 crew was in L.A. and did... something. Milkavelli appears to have taken a break from the Internet in 2018. Although he still posts on Instagram, he has not updated his Twitter since February 2018. Although it may not be relevant, I would like to throw out that it appears he was visiting L.A. in February/March 2018, and the Delilah incident happened in March 2018. Again, this does not inherently mean anything, just a potential lead. I also believe this is why there is such a heavy emphasis on God in "6:16 in L.A." Milk uses a lot of devil and cult iconography in his posts and art. If this song was referencing Milk/616, of course Kendrick would likewise bring up religion as an allusion. One last thing: ever since my research on Zack Bia began, I have become almost positive “6:16 in L.A.” is a warning shot to both Drake and Zack. I believe it is possible Zack Bia is so intertwined in Drake’s mess that whatever is going on behind the scenes may bring him down too. I wasn’t sure until I had a revelation. The opening of “6:16 in L.A.” is not referring just to Drake. It’s also referring to Zack Bia. Zack Bia claims Virgil Abloh is his mentor and friend. In the video of Hasan Piker discussing Zack Bia, his Wikipedia description shows the following. https://preview.redd.it/gpmfq4mmql5d1.png?width=571&format=png&auto=webp&s=576bd6b3d62a35ae2753cd3ced0bfaddc2e994a6 Today, Zack Bia’s Wikipedia page is not as descriptive, but still describes Abloh as his mentor and friend. It is the only other sentence in his “Personal life” section besides his dating history. https://preview.redd.it/r21v621oql5d1.png?width=447&format=png&auto=webp&s=a0caa713f6486ea508253d80bed65942401ad632 Also, one of his first Instagram posts is a pair of shoes seemingly signed by Virgil Abloh. https://preview.redd.it/2i2ybmhpql5d1.png?width=620&format=png&auto=webp&s=39663c735af6f76e1970e337d6d2fd122d81928c Virgil Abloh is the founder of the luxury brand Off-White. Zack Bia appears to be a massive fan of Off-White because of this. Zack Bia is also known as a professional “fame fucker,” in the words of Olivia Rodrigo. He is known for seeking out the biggest stars to befriend and network them. Some stars, like Drake, are so big they could even be described as the Sun. Off-white Sunseeker at the MarinaZack Bia is the off-white sunseeker. Also, coincidentally, today is Zack Bia's birthday. Happy birthday to the 6/9 god! |
2024.06.09 22:08 mykelflurry Got attacked in Dallas last night
 | Last night, after finishing a ride I parked next to an empty plot, hunting for more rides. A guy approached me and threw huge brick sized rocks at me and my car even tho I was legally parked on public property minding my own business but he told me to "get the F outta here or else bla bla bla". Half of my window was down. When I acted like I'm not scared of him, he actually picked up the huge rocks, threw them at me and the car. I dodged one of the rocks with my elbow and he managed to save my car as much as I could've. Drove off to a safer spot. After that you can see in the video he's fleeing away in his car. Anyway I'm fine now. Completed the proper police and Uber proceeding etc. Let's see. Some videos and pics are in this Google Photos album. submitted by mykelflurry to uberdrivers [link] [comments] |
2024.06.09 22:06 Alarming_Clock3748 Are these 2 shelters scams: https://www.tiktok.com/@hamislyta?_t=8n3om10uStZ&_r=1 and https://www.tiktok.com/@patrickanimashelter?_t=8n3ol8BChkb&_r=1
I came across these 2 small Ugandan dog shelters and am wondering if they are scams. I know these tend to be scams quite often so I investigated.
The first one seemed on the more legit side since his videos mostly include his face and from what I know seem to all be original, until I found his Facebook where I found one of his new posts he had made on tiktok posted 3 months ago. The main thing that they shared was the footage so I thought maybe he's just reusing footage to get more donations. However I decided to reach out and ask him why he doesn't just send his dogs to official endorsed Ugandan shelters lime the big fix, he responded saying dogs are treated badly there however after a lot of research I discovered that this shelter does not mistreat dogs. I am waiting for a follow up from him but that makes sense since it's the middle of the night in Uganda currently.
The second one I am much more suspicious of. I discovered that he had used other peoples videos via reverse search, but I was a bit confused since there are quite a few videos on his page that are his as they show him with the dogs. I confronted him about this and he asked, where those videos were. I responded, then he said: I am in my videos. and turned off messaging, I'm trying to get a hold of him but I'm not getting an answer. I'm not sure if it's a scam since he shows his face, maybe he just needed a way to get more donations or got scared when I confronted him since there is a bit of a language barrier and maybe he thought I was trying to get him in trouble, I don't really know.
The problem is if they are scams the way these scams usually work is that the scammers starve and abuse the dogs themselves then record it asking for donations, if that's the case does any one know how to report them, I want to help the dogs.
Anyways I just wanted to see what you guys think. If you guys think it's a scam what can I do about it? I just wanna make sure the dogs are safe.
(Sorry to anyone who has already seen this, the mod team just asked me to repost it with the links in the bio)
submitted by Alarming_Clock3748 to Scams [link] [comments]
The first one seemed on the more legit side since his videos mostly include his face and from what I know seem to all be original, until I found his Facebook where I found one of his new posts he had made on tiktok posted 3 months ago. The main thing that they shared was the footage so I thought maybe he's just reusing footage to get more donations. However I decided to reach out and ask him why he doesn't just send his dogs to official endorsed Ugandan shelters lime the big fix, he responded saying dogs are treated badly there however after a lot of research I discovered that this shelter does not mistreat dogs. I am waiting for a follow up from him but that makes sense since it's the middle of the night in Uganda currently.
The second one I am much more suspicious of. I discovered that he had used other peoples videos via reverse search, but I was a bit confused since there are quite a few videos on his page that are his as they show him with the dogs. I confronted him about this and he asked, where those videos were. I responded, then he said: I am in my videos. and turned off messaging, I'm trying to get a hold of him but I'm not getting an answer. I'm not sure if it's a scam since he shows his face, maybe he just needed a way to get more donations or got scared when I confronted him since there is a bit of a language barrier and maybe he thought I was trying to get him in trouble, I don't really know.
The problem is if they are scams the way these scams usually work is that the scammers starve and abuse the dogs themselves then record it asking for donations, if that's the case does any one know how to report them, I want to help the dogs.
Anyways I just wanted to see what you guys think. If you guys think it's a scam what can I do about it? I just wanna make sure the dogs are safe.
(Sorry to anyone who has already seen this, the mod team just asked me to repost it with the links in the bio)
2024.06.09 22:06 allthedarkspaces it crawls
Like all haunted house stories, this took place right after I moved in. Cliché, right? My wife and I saved up enough money from our rental to finally put down on a house of our own. So we moved in and everything seemed right...at first.
It wasn’t until later that I realized there were warning signs. The seller seemed really anxious to close, and we were offered a much cheaper price than we expected for the space we got. While there was a moment of doubt, we brushed it off as some weird circumstance that ended in a great deal for us.
How could we possibly pass that up?
The strange occurrences were small at first. I would be up late watching TV and swore I heard something. I’d pause the show and make out what sounded like dragging noises. After investigating, I wouldn’t find anything. Even stranger was that no matter where I walked in the house, the noise always sounded the same distance away. When I focused on it, I noticed the particular noise was rhythmic.
Tap, tap...sliiiiiiide.
It was like that every single time. My wife never heard it, it was only me. None of us believe in ghosts, mind you. But as I said before it was a small thing, so I brushed it off.
One night, I woke up in a startle. I listened intently but could hear nothing. I decided to grab a late night snack from the kitchen since I was awake anyway.
Halfway down the hall, I heard something. This time, it sounded like dirt being sifted und. I knelt down and swore that the sound was louder. Before I knew it, I had my ear pressed to the hardwood floor, listening intently.
Schht, schht.....sccchhhhhhh...
I jumped up from the floor. It was that same pattern of noises, but this time it sounded like someone in the dirt. Trying to ignore the chills washing over me, I took a step towards the kitchen when…
…something grabbed my ankle.
I fell forward, almost busting my chin on the floor.
“What the...”
Flipping over, I turned to face my assailant, but there was no one behind me. I brushed it off and chalked it up to poor balance from a sleep-hangover. My wife got a good chuckle out of that one.
After that, the house began to feel.....heavier. It was this weight over me that would come and go. This was accompanied by feeling cold no matter how much we turned up the heat, and this was the middle of the summer. Even stranger, the cold seemed to only be in certain spots, particularly on the floor itself. I liked to walk around barefoot no matter what time of year it was, but it was even too cold for me.
Another night, I woke up again. My ears stood at attention, but couldn’t hear any evidence of what woke me up. I got up just like before, except I never made it to the kitchen.
I only made if halfway down our hall before I suddenly felt a horrible pain in my right leg. I had to limp to keep moving, then my other leg was wracked with a wave of pain. It was so bad I found myself face down on the ground, writhing in agony.
Then I heard it again…that awful succession of noises.
Tap, tap....sliiiiiide.
The sliding sound was coming from the hardwood floor this time, not from underneath. And the sound was getting closer and closer until...
I watched in horror as a hand came around the corner in front of me. It was soon joined by another, and they tugged at the floor. My heart hammered in my chest as a person slowly came into view.
It was a woman with long black hair, her disheveled clothing smeared with dirt and hanging off in shreds. Her mouth was crudely stitched shut. She looked up at me with empty, lost eyes and I instantly felt a lifetime of pain and misery. It took my breath away, and I had to focus on my breathing to keep myself from fainting.
Tap, tap....sliiiiiide.
That awful sound repeated as she grabbed the floor and pulled herself towards me. I was in a terrified trance, eyes locked with her as she slowly closed the distance. I could now see that she dragged herself because her legs were horribly mangled. A low moan emanated from her throat, sending ice through my veins.
Her very presence seemed to drain me, and I couldn’t move no matter how hard I tried. She made this awful gurgling sound as she got within arm’s reach. In seconds, her face was right up to mine. I tried to scream, but couldn’t make any sound.
Then...I woke up.
“AAAAHHhhh!” I shouted as I sprang up in bed.
My wife tried to console me, but it did very little. I’d never had a dream that felt so real before. Shaking, I walked out into the hallway where I had collapsed in my dream. I put a hand on the floor, expecting it to be freezing cold as usual.
But it was warm...
“Honey?” I felt the soft hand of my wife touch my shoulder.
“What’s going on? You look white as a sheet.”
“I’m okay...I just...”
On the floor in front me, I noticed the faint trace of fingernail marks.
“Was that there before?” My wife inquired.
“I’m...I’m not sure.”
“Let’s go back to bed. We’ll talk more about it tomorrow.”
I tried to hold back my stubborn expression, but she still saw it.
“C’mon, you need to rest.”
With an exasperated exhale, I went back to bed with the strange occurrence replaying incessantly in my brain.
In the morning, I told my wife about all the strange experiences. To my shock she actually believed me.
“What do you want to do, then?” She asked.
“Well...I have a theory I want to check out.”
“Theory of what?”
“Well, let’s just say that ghosts exist, and there are certain reasons why they haunt certain places. If that is true then...I think there could be a body in our crawlspace.”
“What, are you crazy?”
“I know how it sounds, but what would it hurt to look?”
“You really think there’s something down there?”
“More someone, but I’m not sure to be honest. Hopefully I can get a confirmation either way it goes.”
That afternoon, I found myself standing at the door to our crawlspace. It felt ridiculous, but so many details pointed to it. The sounds and cold spots were all related to the floor. The ghastly woman’s clothes were smeared with dirt. It was obscure, but it was all I had to go on.
I had to pry the door open with a crowbar, but I managed after a minute or two. A wave of unnatural cold air blasted me, so strong that I had to throw on a coat just to stop from shivering so badly.
I clicked on my flashlight, illuminating the eerie underbelly of our home. The dirt sifted under my feet as I crouch-walked around. After hearing it, it only confirmed what I thought I heard from under the floor.
Expecting to see more, I was almost disappointed that the crawlspace was completely bare. Not believing it entirely, I shined my light around more. The back part of the crawlspace led to concrete and it was there that I noticed one section of the wall looked different than the rest.
Hands quivering, I pushed against the section of concrete and felt it shift under the pressure. It continued to wobble around in place the more I pushed. Holding my flashlight between my teeth, I had to use both hands to pry the piece away from the wall. To my astonishment, it pulled away very easily. It was no coincidence that the section of wall fit the hole exactly, like a puzzle piece.
After leaning the piece of concrete against the wall, I found that the concrete was covering a door with a padlock.
There’s no way anything good is behind this...
Minutes later, I returned to the mysterious door with a pair of bolt cutters. I debated whether or not I’d go in. There was no reason I shouldn’t satisfy my curiosity, because if there wasn’t anything then great, but if there was something terrible, I’d simply have to deal with it. Either way, I had to know.
I clipped the metal bar off the lock and it thudded softly to the dirt floor. Taking in a deep breath, I dared to aim my beam down the opening. The crawlspace extended much further into the house, and I had a good guess where it led. I now had to crawl on my hands and knees as a knot of dread formed in my stomach.
“You always tell people not to do this in movies, why are you doing this now??!” I chastised myself.
I knew all too well how stupid this was but the part of my brain that can’t look away from a car wreck pushed me to carry along regardless.
It was difficult to navigate with the flashlight and crawl. A mild claustrophobia settled in that pushed me along with a sense of urgency. The temperature couldn’t have been any more than a meatlocker. My hands shook despite my thick jacket. Eventually, I came to a dead end.
Is this all?
I stopped for a moment and checked around with my light some more, hoping a more thorough search would bear some fruit. Yet, there was nothing.
Sighing in frustration, I decided that perhaps I was losing my mind and was just having really vivid dreams after all. How could I have been so stupid?
I made it halfway across the hidden area when I felt my legs suddenly give out. They weren’t tired or sore before this. It was as if they stopped working of their own volition. I attempted to cry out, but my mouth felt as if some force held it closed.
Just like a stitched mouth...
One of the few things I could move was my neck and I turned to the side to see...
…a tuft of a blanket?
Due to the narrow space, I must have missed it. I slowly reached for it with all the internal alarms in my body going off at once. Ignoring the warning, I pulled the cloth back to reveal a skeletal hand.
In this moment of revulsion, something turned on my motor skills again as I regained control of my legs, crawling out of there as quickly as I could muster. Heaving, I stumbled out of the crawlspace and instantly felt the rise in temperature. I sat on the porch and stayed there as I called the police and explained the situation.
It turns out that one of the previous owners of the home was a major suspect in the disappearance of a young lady fifteen years ago. There wasn’t enough evidence to conduct a home search so they were never able to find the body. And what they found was something I wish I had never known.
From examining the body, they found that her captor had broken both of her legs so she couldn’t escape and sewn her mouth shut to keep her from screaming. It was hard to tell how long she’d been locked down there before she died, but they hypothesized it was a month or two. The cause of death was unclear. This was clearly enough to pursue the former owner.
When they picked him up, the guy tried to play the ignorance card, pretending as if he didn’t know what house they were referring to. This of course made it even more suspicious.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything concrete enough to tie him to her death...until they searched his current home. Blueprints of the home showed that the crawlspace was supposed to end ten feet where the concrete wall was. No contractors were hired to do any work on the home, so someone had personally busted it up and created the door going further in. The last part of it was the padlock on the door.
When the police searched the man’s home, they found a shoebox full of seemingly innocent keepsakes. Among the keepsakes were some heirlooms, pictures of close family members, and a key. As suspected, the key matched the padlock to the crawlspace door. It was apparently enough to make him crack. It wasn’t long before he confessed to the kidnapping and murder, albeit without a hint of remorse. Turns out the bastard kept the key as a sick trophy.
They even questioned him about other possible victims since this was a trait commonly shared by serial killers. He denied it, but the police couldn’t feel any truth from it. If anything they knew that they solved one case, put a guilty man behind bars, and put a family at peace. Justice was served and he was locked away for the rest of his miserable life. Poetic justice, if you ask me. The poor girl’s parents buried her remains on a family plot.
After all this, we had serious doubts about staying in the home. Knowing something this egregious happened in our home was almost unbearable. I can’t tell you how much we cried when we heard the story of what happened to that poor girl. We were on the brink of selling the house for about a week, but one night changed all that.
I woke up from a dream, one so vivid yet it somehow escaped my thoughts like a fistful of sand. There was a strange feeling in my gut as if something was going to happen.
It was neither good nor bad, just....strange.
After drinking a small glass of milk, I meandered down the hall and stopped in my tracks. A woman stood in front of me, half-transparent with a bluish luminescence. I felt as if I knew her, although I didn’t recognize her appearance at all. She smiled, and I instantly knew who she was. Compared to her previous horrific manifestation, the woman was almost unrecognizable.
Never speaking, she motioned to her legs and I saw that they were in perfect condition. In a mild state of shock, I managed to form a smile. She beamed even wider and ran her fingers across her lips, pointing out her lack of stitches. A blanket of warmth wrapped around me, and I couldn’t resist the salty tears that streamed down my face.
Right before she waved goodbye, a voice spoke within my mind.
"It’s over now. Thank you..."
She faded away, and for the first time since we moved into that house, all hints of the oppressive energy dissipated. That was the last time I ever saw her.
It’s been 30 years now, and we’re still in that house to this day...
May she continue to rest in peace...
submitted by allthedarkspaces to scaryshortstories [link] [comments]
It wasn’t until later that I realized there were warning signs. The seller seemed really anxious to close, and we were offered a much cheaper price than we expected for the space we got. While there was a moment of doubt, we brushed it off as some weird circumstance that ended in a great deal for us.
How could we possibly pass that up?
The strange occurrences were small at first. I would be up late watching TV and swore I heard something. I’d pause the show and make out what sounded like dragging noises. After investigating, I wouldn’t find anything. Even stranger was that no matter where I walked in the house, the noise always sounded the same distance away. When I focused on it, I noticed the particular noise was rhythmic.
Tap, tap...sliiiiiiide.
It was like that every single time. My wife never heard it, it was only me. None of us believe in ghosts, mind you. But as I said before it was a small thing, so I brushed it off.
One night, I woke up in a startle. I listened intently but could hear nothing. I decided to grab a late night snack from the kitchen since I was awake anyway.
Halfway down the hall, I heard something. This time, it sounded like dirt being sifted und. I knelt down and swore that the sound was louder. Before I knew it, I had my ear pressed to the hardwood floor, listening intently.
Schht, schht.....sccchhhhhhh...
I jumped up from the floor. It was that same pattern of noises, but this time it sounded like someone in the dirt. Trying to ignore the chills washing over me, I took a step towards the kitchen when…
…something grabbed my ankle.
I fell forward, almost busting my chin on the floor.
“What the...”
Flipping over, I turned to face my assailant, but there was no one behind me. I brushed it off and chalked it up to poor balance from a sleep-hangover. My wife got a good chuckle out of that one.
After that, the house began to feel.....heavier. It was this weight over me that would come and go. This was accompanied by feeling cold no matter how much we turned up the heat, and this was the middle of the summer. Even stranger, the cold seemed to only be in certain spots, particularly on the floor itself. I liked to walk around barefoot no matter what time of year it was, but it was even too cold for me.
Another night, I woke up again. My ears stood at attention, but couldn’t hear any evidence of what woke me up. I got up just like before, except I never made it to the kitchen.
I only made if halfway down our hall before I suddenly felt a horrible pain in my right leg. I had to limp to keep moving, then my other leg was wracked with a wave of pain. It was so bad I found myself face down on the ground, writhing in agony.
Then I heard it again…that awful succession of noises.
Tap, tap....sliiiiiide.
The sliding sound was coming from the hardwood floor this time, not from underneath. And the sound was getting closer and closer until...
I watched in horror as a hand came around the corner in front of me. It was soon joined by another, and they tugged at the floor. My heart hammered in my chest as a person slowly came into view.
It was a woman with long black hair, her disheveled clothing smeared with dirt and hanging off in shreds. Her mouth was crudely stitched shut. She looked up at me with empty, lost eyes and I instantly felt a lifetime of pain and misery. It took my breath away, and I had to focus on my breathing to keep myself from fainting.
Tap, tap....sliiiiiide.
That awful sound repeated as she grabbed the floor and pulled herself towards me. I was in a terrified trance, eyes locked with her as she slowly closed the distance. I could now see that she dragged herself because her legs were horribly mangled. A low moan emanated from her throat, sending ice through my veins.
Her very presence seemed to drain me, and I couldn’t move no matter how hard I tried. She made this awful gurgling sound as she got within arm’s reach. In seconds, her face was right up to mine. I tried to scream, but couldn’t make any sound.
Then...I woke up.
“AAAAHHhhh!” I shouted as I sprang up in bed.
My wife tried to console me, but it did very little. I’d never had a dream that felt so real before. Shaking, I walked out into the hallway where I had collapsed in my dream. I put a hand on the floor, expecting it to be freezing cold as usual.
But it was warm...
“Honey?” I felt the soft hand of my wife touch my shoulder.
“What’s going on? You look white as a sheet.”
“I’m okay...I just...”
On the floor in front me, I noticed the faint trace of fingernail marks.
“Was that there before?” My wife inquired.
“I’m...I’m not sure.”
“Let’s go back to bed. We’ll talk more about it tomorrow.”
I tried to hold back my stubborn expression, but she still saw it.
“C’mon, you need to rest.”
With an exasperated exhale, I went back to bed with the strange occurrence replaying incessantly in my brain.
In the morning, I told my wife about all the strange experiences. To my shock she actually believed me.
“What do you want to do, then?” She asked.
“Well...I have a theory I want to check out.”
“Theory of what?”
“Well, let’s just say that ghosts exist, and there are certain reasons why they haunt certain places. If that is true then...I think there could be a body in our crawlspace.”
“What, are you crazy?”
“I know how it sounds, but what would it hurt to look?”
“You really think there’s something down there?”
“More someone, but I’m not sure to be honest. Hopefully I can get a confirmation either way it goes.”
That afternoon, I found myself standing at the door to our crawlspace. It felt ridiculous, but so many details pointed to it. The sounds and cold spots were all related to the floor. The ghastly woman’s clothes were smeared with dirt. It was obscure, but it was all I had to go on.
I had to pry the door open with a crowbar, but I managed after a minute or two. A wave of unnatural cold air blasted me, so strong that I had to throw on a coat just to stop from shivering so badly.
I clicked on my flashlight, illuminating the eerie underbelly of our home. The dirt sifted under my feet as I crouch-walked around. After hearing it, it only confirmed what I thought I heard from under the floor.
Expecting to see more, I was almost disappointed that the crawlspace was completely bare. Not believing it entirely, I shined my light around more. The back part of the crawlspace led to concrete and it was there that I noticed one section of the wall looked different than the rest.
Hands quivering, I pushed against the section of concrete and felt it shift under the pressure. It continued to wobble around in place the more I pushed. Holding my flashlight between my teeth, I had to use both hands to pry the piece away from the wall. To my astonishment, it pulled away very easily. It was no coincidence that the section of wall fit the hole exactly, like a puzzle piece.
After leaning the piece of concrete against the wall, I found that the concrete was covering a door with a padlock.
There’s no way anything good is behind this...
Minutes later, I returned to the mysterious door with a pair of bolt cutters. I debated whether or not I’d go in. There was no reason I shouldn’t satisfy my curiosity, because if there wasn’t anything then great, but if there was something terrible, I’d simply have to deal with it. Either way, I had to know.
I clipped the metal bar off the lock and it thudded softly to the dirt floor. Taking in a deep breath, I dared to aim my beam down the opening. The crawlspace extended much further into the house, and I had a good guess where it led. I now had to crawl on my hands and knees as a knot of dread formed in my stomach.
“You always tell people not to do this in movies, why are you doing this now??!” I chastised myself.
I knew all too well how stupid this was but the part of my brain that can’t look away from a car wreck pushed me to carry along regardless.
It was difficult to navigate with the flashlight and crawl. A mild claustrophobia settled in that pushed me along with a sense of urgency. The temperature couldn’t have been any more than a meatlocker. My hands shook despite my thick jacket. Eventually, I came to a dead end.
Is this all?
I stopped for a moment and checked around with my light some more, hoping a more thorough search would bear some fruit. Yet, there was nothing.
Sighing in frustration, I decided that perhaps I was losing my mind and was just having really vivid dreams after all. How could I have been so stupid?
I made it halfway across the hidden area when I felt my legs suddenly give out. They weren’t tired or sore before this. It was as if they stopped working of their own volition. I attempted to cry out, but my mouth felt as if some force held it closed.
Just like a stitched mouth...
One of the few things I could move was my neck and I turned to the side to see...
…a tuft of a blanket?
Due to the narrow space, I must have missed it. I slowly reached for it with all the internal alarms in my body going off at once. Ignoring the warning, I pulled the cloth back to reveal a skeletal hand.
In this moment of revulsion, something turned on my motor skills again as I regained control of my legs, crawling out of there as quickly as I could muster. Heaving, I stumbled out of the crawlspace and instantly felt the rise in temperature. I sat on the porch and stayed there as I called the police and explained the situation.
It turns out that one of the previous owners of the home was a major suspect in the disappearance of a young lady fifteen years ago. There wasn’t enough evidence to conduct a home search so they were never able to find the body. And what they found was something I wish I had never known.
From examining the body, they found that her captor had broken both of her legs so she couldn’t escape and sewn her mouth shut to keep her from screaming. It was hard to tell how long she’d been locked down there before she died, but they hypothesized it was a month or two. The cause of death was unclear. This was clearly enough to pursue the former owner.
When they picked him up, the guy tried to play the ignorance card, pretending as if he didn’t know what house they were referring to. This of course made it even more suspicious.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything concrete enough to tie him to her death...until they searched his current home. Blueprints of the home showed that the crawlspace was supposed to end ten feet where the concrete wall was. No contractors were hired to do any work on the home, so someone had personally busted it up and created the door going further in. The last part of it was the padlock on the door.
When the police searched the man’s home, they found a shoebox full of seemingly innocent keepsakes. Among the keepsakes were some heirlooms, pictures of close family members, and a key. As suspected, the key matched the padlock to the crawlspace door. It was apparently enough to make him crack. It wasn’t long before he confessed to the kidnapping and murder, albeit without a hint of remorse. Turns out the bastard kept the key as a sick trophy.
They even questioned him about other possible victims since this was a trait commonly shared by serial killers. He denied it, but the police couldn’t feel any truth from it. If anything they knew that they solved one case, put a guilty man behind bars, and put a family at peace. Justice was served and he was locked away for the rest of his miserable life. Poetic justice, if you ask me. The poor girl’s parents buried her remains on a family plot.
After all this, we had serious doubts about staying in the home. Knowing something this egregious happened in our home was almost unbearable. I can’t tell you how much we cried when we heard the story of what happened to that poor girl. We were on the brink of selling the house for about a week, but one night changed all that.
I woke up from a dream, one so vivid yet it somehow escaped my thoughts like a fistful of sand. There was a strange feeling in my gut as if something was going to happen.
It was neither good nor bad, just....strange.
After drinking a small glass of milk, I meandered down the hall and stopped in my tracks. A woman stood in front of me, half-transparent with a bluish luminescence. I felt as if I knew her, although I didn’t recognize her appearance at all. She smiled, and I instantly knew who she was. Compared to her previous horrific manifestation, the woman was almost unrecognizable.
Never speaking, she motioned to her legs and I saw that they were in perfect condition. In a mild state of shock, I managed to form a smile. She beamed even wider and ran her fingers across her lips, pointing out her lack of stitches. A blanket of warmth wrapped around me, and I couldn’t resist the salty tears that streamed down my face.
Right before she waved goodbye, a voice spoke within my mind.
"It’s over now. Thank you..."
She faded away, and for the first time since we moved into that house, all hints of the oppressive energy dissipated. That was the last time I ever saw her.
It’s been 30 years now, and we’re still in that house to this day...
May she continue to rest in peace...
2024.06.09 22:06 Weathers_Writing I think God might be real, just not in the way you think (Part 4)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
We pulled off I-51 a little after midnight, stopping at a truck stop which was couched between the highway and a large forest.
We waited in the van for ten minutes or so. Trent had increased the sonar radius to its maximum of 30 miles a little over an hour ago. Somehow the red pings had kept up with us, holding a steady distance of around 20 miles. Considering we were averaging around 80 mph, and a coyote's top speed is only around 40 mph, we figured they had been enhanced in some way. Either that, or they shape-shifted into something faster. Regardless, now that we had stopped, we waited to see if the demon spawn would try and close the distance. Luckily, or unluckily, they didn't. They kept their 20 mile buffer, but we noticed they were beginning to spread out along the circumference of that boundary.
"We're close. They know that, so they're trying to trap us in." Trent said.
"Trying to?—more like they have."
We considered whether we should stay in the van and keep watch, but we figured that would do us little good. At their speed, they could be on us in ten minutes, which means we would need to stay up all night and keep tabs on their positions. Trent offered to stay up, of course, but I shut him down.
"The demon doesn't want to kill us now. You said it yourself. Plus, we need our rest. If they come, they come."
Trent didn't like it, but he acquiesced.
The truck stop had all the essentials: a gas station and mini mart with showers and an attached McDonald's, a large parking lot for truckers to idle and sleep, and even a section with lodging for those who wanted a more comfortable night's rest. I told Trent that he should take advantage of the showers, and after a little convincing, he agreed. While he was cleaning himself up, I patrolled the dingy, half-stocked aisles of "Daisy's Quick Mart". I probably would have been appalled at the quality of the store had I actually been paying any attention to it whatsoever. But I wasn't. I was thinking hard about what awaited me tomorrow.
During the drive, I had asked Trent why the demon would want us to return to the crash site. What did he mean that I would be 'confronting a dark entity in a place he couldn't help me'? He seemed hesitant to answer, but my little stunt outside the storage facility seemed to have sufficiently motivated him.
"When I said I've never done this before, I meant it." Trent started. "I've never done this exact thing before—meaning I've never projected someone into the past."
"So, I'm time traveling?" I asked.
"No—don't think of it like that." Trent paused, trying to come up with a good explanation. "It's more like I'm opening a window for you to look through: not a door. You're going to see the past, but you can't interact with the physicalities there. But that doesn't mean you can't interact with anything."
There was a space of silence as Trent tried to let me work out his meaning for myself. "I don't get it. Are you saying there's something I can interact with? Like what?" And then it hit me. "The demon. The demon can interact with me? Meaning what? It can kill me?"
"Meaning… I'm not exactly sure. You're going to be in a kind of psychic space. If it does damage, it won't be to your body. It'll be to your mind—or spirit. But I don't know what the limits of that damage could be. I just don't have those answers."
"If you've never done this, how do you know any of it will work?"
"That's an easy one." Trent answered. "Because it's been done to me."
There was silence.
"Look, if I know anything, I know my tech. Don't doubt that this will work. It's my job to make sure it does. I just need you to be in the right mental for this. Just because it knows your coming doesn't mean it automatically has the upper hand. It won't be able to see you unless you make contact with it first. In other words, you have to initiate contact. As long as you remain a spectator, you should be okay. Trust me. Just don't make contact."
I started pacing faster—fast enough to catch the attention of the overnight shift worker, a young man whose name I can't quite remember. I know it started with a "J". Jake, maybe? Anyway, he asked if I was alright, to which I responded in the affirmative. He left me alone for another couple passes, but when I almost ran into one of the shelves, he stood up and said, "Uh—I'm going to have to ask you to stop running around. I don't want you to hurt yourself."
I must have stared daggers at him, because he recoiled from my gaze. What's gotten into me? I thought. Then, steadying myself, I apologized. I looked around and grabbed the nearest edible looking piece of merchandise: a bag of Swedish Fish, and placed it down on the counter. "Just this, please."
The cashier rang me up. It was surprisingly cheap.
"Are you sure you're alright?" the young man asked. He was tall with brown hair. He seemed tired—maybe even more tired than me. But he also seemed kind.
I smiled as best I could and said, "No, I'm not. But there's not really anything you can do. Hell, there might not be anything I can do." I furrowed my eyebrows at my own response, realizing that imminent death may have broken my verbal filter.
On the other hand, the cashier did not seem surprised at all. "Ah, I see. It's one of those problems." He responded. "Well, hey, for what it's worth, you seem like one of the resilient ones. I think you'll be alright."
I only smiled and nodded at his mildly cryptic comment. Looking back, the whole interaction was a bit strange, but I had way too much mental clutter to recognize that in the moment. I took my Swedish Fish and walked through the anteroom which led to McDonald's. I found an open yellow booth that wasn't littered with crumpled straw sleeves and sat down, chomping mindlessly on my little red fish until Trent returned. When he arrived, he took my place, and I went to shower. After we were both clean and fed, we returned to the van. The pings were still pushed safely out of harm's way. But that didn't mean we were out of harm's way. Trent asked me if I wanted to sleep in the van, saying that "it'd be the safest place."
I thought it over. He was right, obviously. The van was not only outfitted with weapons I couldn't even begin to understand, but it was also our escape, and it would be just as difficult, if not more difficult to break into than the studio-style motel rooms with their wood doors and big windows. Still, if this was going to be my last night on earth, I wanted to sleep in a bed. A real bed. Trent understood and said he'd stay parked right outside my room for the night.
After purchasing a key from the night attendant, I moseyed over to the cement walkways which connected the twenty or so rooms. Mine was room #56, which I thought was odd since, like I said, there were only 20 rooms. I lugged in my tomato plushie and dad's old book and placed them on the queen mattress.
"I'll be right outside." Trent said after I collapsed onto the bed.
"Trent," I called out, stopping him half-way through the door.
"Yeah?"
All the blood in my body rushed up to my face as I realized my unfiltered mouth almost reflexively said the word "stay". I stared at Trent, my heart beating, my face hot. I considered asking him to sleep on the floor like my dad, but that would be childish and impolite. The alternative was to share my bed… Or I could take the floor.
"I'll just be right outside." Trent said before my mind processed a solution. "Come by if you need anything. I'll be up most of the night anyway."
"Okay," I replied in a faint voice.
Trent shut the door.
I sat atop the bedsheets and acquainted myself with my new living space. A feeling of regret closed over me as I considered that even sleeping on a carseat would have been better if it meant I didn't have to be alone. With a sigh, I turned on the bedside lamp and grabbed the book and stuffed tomato, using the tomato as a backrest as I slipped my legs under the covers and situated the book upright on my thighs. I cracked it open and was immediately blasted with a puff of dusty, old book scent. It was ripe at first, and I turned my head away to sneeze, but as I perused through the pages, the scent grew on me. It reminded me of the days growing up when I'd step into dad's study and read through one of the many volumes on cryptic topics which were at least two college degrees above my Lexile range.
I was only a couple minutes into browsing the collection of different scientific and philosophical works when I came across a page which contained highlighted text. This was unusual, as my dad would never mark up his books. He was a purist on that point. I rubbed my thumb over the yellow lines, and sure enough, it was highlighter.
The highlighted text was part of a small book by Carl Jung called "Synchronicity". There were a total of three pages that were marked, and they advanced like this:
Page 5:
The philosophical principle that underlies our conception of natural law is causality*. But if the connection between cause and effect turns out to be only statistically valid and relatively true, then the causal principle is only of relative use for explaining natural processes… That is as much to say that the connection of events may in certain circumstances be other than causal, and require another principle of explanation.*
Page 19:
…there are events which are related to one another experimentally, and in this case meaningfully*, without there being any possibility of proving that this relation is a causal one, since the "transmission" exhibits none of the known properties of energy…a situation which does not yet exist and will only occur in the future could transmit itself as a phenomenon of energy to a receiver in the present…Therefore, it cannot be a question of cause and effect, but of a falling together in time, a kind of simultaneity... "synchronicity"*
Page 22:
A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window pane from outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the common rose-chafer… which contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt an urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment.
I flipped through the rest of the pages of the book. There was no more highlighted text, but there was a message on the last page which read:
Matthew 7:7-8
I'll meet you in the darkest place.
He also included his typical smiley face which had an ovular shape and three sprouts of hair which I now realized kind of resembled my tomato plushie. It was my dad's writing, of course. But why? And how? What did this mean?
The motel had a Bible stashed away in the nighstand drawer. I got it out and looked up the verses which read the following:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
I spent maybe an hour ruminating on all of this. The whole discourse on energy and causality and a "falling together in time" just seemed so right. It was clear that my dad definitely did know what I was going through, but for whatever reason, he made it seem like he was oblivious. Why had he hidden that from me? I felt like I was being pulled in two directions. On the one hand, my dad loved me enough to leave this note, maybe even knowing the exact moment I'd need it. But on the other hand, he had neglected my struggles throughout my entire childhood. He even lied at times. Was this really enough to make up for all of that?
And then there was the section about the future transmitting energy to the past. I read back through the whole paragraph and the original writer had meant it to say this as something that wasn't possible, but my dad's highlighting made it seem like he wanted to flip the meaning. The future does affect the past. I thought about where I was headed and wondered if I would soon discover that for myself.
Lastly, dad's message. The Bible verse reminded me of the first time I prayed; how I reached out to God and received peace as an answer to my prayer. Now I feel like I'm actively seeking… something, but I don't know yet what I'll find. And then there's knocking. At first that reminded me of the story with the beetle tapping on the window, but then I went back even deeper in my memory and dug out the monster tapping at my window, and the words my dad spoke to me in order to set my mind at ease: "you're a superhero. And you know what your greatest superpower is? Your greatest power is you get to tell the monsters what to do. Because the monsters are only as strong as the stories you tell about them…so if you're ever scared, honey, just dream up a better story."
I was crying into my stuffed tomato now. I felt like all the blinking pieces of my life had finally been pulled together into a completed puzzle. This was all by design. My entire life, filled with so much chaos and confusion, was actually preparing me for this moment. And my dad thought I had the tools and strength enough to get through it. I flipped through the book one more time, thinking maybe he had left some other hidden comment—some formula to defeat this demon and return home. But there was nothing. Only that one comment: "I'll meet you in the darkest place."
What's the darkest place, dad? Is that where I'm going? Are you saying you'll be there, too?
With those thoughts in mind, my eyes became heavy shutters which, with a slight pressure on the pulley, winded shut. My swimming thoughts and firework-like fears dissipated, and I returned to a precious childhood memory. It was after an evening soccer practice. Summer. Dad was driving me to Dairy Queen. I got a cherry-dipped twist cone. I was happy.
So, so happy.
***
I woke up to sunlight blaring through my windows. Shit, I overslept, was my immediate thought. I threw off my covers and opened the front door. A glance at the clock showed 1:13 PM. I shouldn't have even been allowed to stay checked in this long. Damn, am I gonna get double-billed for this?
I heard a rummaging sound around the corner of my motel room. It sounded like a squirrel was trying to find an afternoon snack in one of the garbage bins. I stepped outside. The sun was extremely bright, to the point where I had to squint and put my hand over my eyes to even see the ground in front of me. I was trying to walk toward the van, but somehow I ended up in front of the trash bins where the animal's tail was sticking out from a turned-over, silver garbage can. Its tail was wagging excitedly, and I remember thinking that it was much too large to be a squirrel.
The animal bent down as if biting onto something, and I heard the sound of its growl as it struggled to tug whatever it was free from the barrel. Inch by inch, the creature backed out of the canister, and more of its sharp, sticky hair was revealed. I heard something snap, then the creature leapt back and I saw what it was chomping on. My eyes widened in horror as the pink tube of a human intestine was pulled taut like the end of a tangled hose. Blood and entrails were spilling out of the human's opened gut. And then, behind the canine, I saw the person's face. His face was pale white, his eyes closed, and his hair was slicked back… It was Trent.
Before I could react, I heard footsteps approaching from behind. I whirled around and saw my dad. But—no, it wasn't him. It was someone wearing a paper-mache face mask that was painted to look like my dad. The forehead of the mask was already beginning to crack, white specks breaking off like sawdust. Through the cracks, I could see the figure's true form. I didn't know darkness had its own type of light, but that's the only way to describe it. It was as if malevolence itself was reified into a skin which was actually an amalgamation of millions of little, oozing parasites that leached into the nearby light. When it finally spoke, the demon's voice was a full octave lower than the old man's at the deli. And it had an earth-stilling gravitas.
"Today's the day!" He sang and reached into his pocket. His lips curled upward into a foxy smirk. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this day." He said and held up a razor blade. Half his facade had already fallen apart, and now I could see the bugs up close, writhing in what was either horror or ecstasy. And his scent… it was somehow more rank than the rabid coyote rummaging through the trash can with Trent's cut open body inside. The demon closed in on my position, and in one, decisive motion, he brought the blade close to his chin, then sliced it across my throat. "Wake up!" He screamed.
I jumped out of my bed and grabbed my throat, feeling the cold sting of its quick slice. Hyperventilating, I patted the area down, trying to hold the blood in, but when I removed my hands, I saw they were dry. It was only a dream, I thought. Gray light was only beginning to filter in through the drapes. I'm in my hotel room. I'm safe. I tried consoling, but the pragmatic mental massages weren't enough to hold the force of my knees buckling. I dropped onto the carpet and cried for a long while.
Outside, rain was beginning to fall.
***
By the time I met up with Trent, I had already composed myself and decided to keep my dad's message and the nightmare to myself. None of it seemed particularly productive from a logistical standpoint, anyway. And I wanted to focus on the mission.
We stopped by McDonald's and bought a couple cups of coffee. Trent asked if I wanted any food, and I declined. Black coffee seemed like the only thing my stomach could take at the present moment. I could tell Trent was hungry, but he tried playing it off (I guess to be respectful of me?) I told him to knock it off and get something to eat. I didn't need my Charon getting lightheaded and dropping the paddle before he finished rowing me to Hell. He didn't care much for my joke, but he ordered a couple Chicken McGriddles at the kiosk anyway.
There were maybe ten patrons spread throughout the restaurant. We sat down at the same booth from the prior night, this time across from one another. Trent spent the first ten minutes or so babbling about our fuel supply and the logistics of the trip from here on in. Practical stuff. I've come to realize that's how he deals with his stress. He talks it out in short, durable sentences. I mostly nodded and watched as what looked like a storm front closed in on the truck stop. The sky was overcast, and there were darker clouds in the distance. The rain was still only a patter, but a middle-aged man wearing a yellow bow tie on the wall-mounted TV confirmed that there would be heavier rain and thunderstorms very soon.
After the worker delivered Trent's food and he ate it in record time, I posed the one question that was still on my mind.
"How do I fight him?" I asked.
Trent finished a large gulp of his coffee, then looked at me. It was the first substantial thing I'd said all morning; Trent could tell something was off with me, but he figured there was no point in asking what it was. "By 'him', I assume you mean the demon?"
I nodded.
Trent licked his teeth clean. "You could try praying again."
"I'm serious," I responded.
"I'm serious, too. It worked before, didn't it?"
"You mean at my house?"
Trent nodded.
"I thought you weren't a religious man?"
"I'm not. Just a practical one. If praying worked before, maybe it'll work again."
"That's the best you've got? A maybe?"
"No, I've got a lot of shit better than a maybe." He answered. "It's just not accessible where you're going. Which is why I recommend not making contact on the first run."
"First run? So we're going to do this more than once?"
"At least," Trent answered. Then, seeing my expression, he continued. "What? You thought this was going to be a one-and-done? We have to conduct some research first. I did tell you this was new for me, right?"
Somehow Trent's response had set my mind at ease a little. I was going to have more than one chance. Of course, why wouldn't I be able to go back more than once?
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? It would have gone a long way in easing my mind."
Trent lifted his hands in defense. "Sorry, I just thought that was a given. I mean, what we're doing is dangerous, just like I said, but it doesn't mean we aren't going to approach this as safely and scientifically as possible. However, there is a different problem with running multiple trials."
"The Organization?"
"That's right," Trent said like a proud parent. "Our little experiment will be like a giant spotlight, and the longer we wait around after it's on us, the greater the chance we'll have unwelcome company."
"So, safe but speedy."
"Safe but speedy. Exactly."
***
We fueled up and were back on the road a little after 8:00. From that point on, Trent and I were absolutely silent. I had the distinct feeling of being in the eye of a storm. The pings moved closer commensurate with our progress toward the crash site. The cloudfront continued its advance. And I noticed a haze beginning to descend onto the road ahead of us. It was fog.
We meandered further inland, the forest thickening around us until the rain almost stopped entirely—the leaves drinking it up before it fell onto our windshield. I kept my eyes on the radar. We were approaching the large yellow circle which indicated we had arrived. As we pulled closer, I began to feel things. Fear. Eeriness. Doubt. Then happiness. Hope. Love. Normally feelings like these had a clear source to picture, but these sensations came on in waves without any discernible reason. It was almost as if they were blinking into existence inside me.
"Here we go," Trent said like an airline pilot readying his crew for turbulence.
I still recall the exact moment we crossed the boundary into the area of higher energy. It was like something just "clicked" in my brain, and all of a sudden everything felt so much closer. The sound of the rain against the trees was almost right next to my ear. The trees in the distance would oscillate between their position a half-mile out, then suddenly seem five meters away. If I focused on something long enough, it began to radiate those same ethereal particles as when Trent released Ava's "phase lock". I checked to make sure the shifter wasn't set to "TD". Sure enough, it was still in drive.
"Can you see them?" Trent asked. "The shifts?"
"Yeah," I said in a dreamy voice. I felt like I was driving through a wonderland.
"It's the energy. I barely notice a difference. A bit of movement in the trees, but not much else. But I'm sure for you, it's a whole experience."
"What is this?" I raised my hand and caught some of the pixel dust dripping off the sun visor. It disappeared when it made contact with my hand.
"It's a kind of radiation. Everything emits it, just in different quantities. I'm still not exactly sure how it relates to the other realms, but I'm guessing it's a kind of primordial matter that helps connect our worlds."
"It's beautiful," I exclaimed. "I wish I could see the world like this all the time."
"Maybe you will," Trent whispered.
As we arrived at the crash site, I began to get glimpses of the past. My childhood dreams and memories were pushing their way out from my subconscious. I noticed an increased number of blinks, which were validated by Ava who reported the following: "Currently detecting 14,350 novel emergences and 2,777 controlled agents. Net anomalies: 2,777."
"That's a lot of blinks." I remarked. "Why doesn't Ava include them in the net anomalies?"
Trent turned his head so I could see his smirk. "Because blinks aren't anomalies."
I thought about it for a second. Blinks aren't anomalies. "I never thought about it that way."
"It's hard to think about it that way when 'normal' for most people means not picking up on a fundamental aspect of reality. But that doesn't make it any less real."
We continued past the epicenter of the yellow circle. "Are we not stopping?" I asked. "I think we already passed the crash site."
"It doesn't have to be exactly at the site," Trent said. "Plus, we don't want to stop on the side of the road and risk getting some civilian involved. There's a field about half a mile up ahead. I'm going to pull off the road and set up camp there.
The "field" that Trent was referring to was actually a large clearing that dipped down into several trench-like troughs which were filled to the brim with fog like witches cauldrons. Further on in the distance, I saw open fields, probably used for farming, and then a large hill where the trees once again reasserted themselves. We had pulled off the road and up a small incline where the trees had already been broken down, leaving a trail for us to drive through. When we surfaced at the edge of the clearing, Trent pulled us onto a flat bed of dried mud which was maybe thirty yards long.
"Here," he said with a sigh.
We both sat for a minute, looking around at the field. We had finally arrived. The rain was beginning to pick up, and the dark sky made it almost impossible to discern the time of day.
"You ready?" Trent asked.
I looked at him. Really looked at him. In his blue eyes. Was I ready? Did it even matter?
"Let's do this," I said.
***
This was the first time I was really able to inspect the back of Trent's van. He had talked up his gear a lot, and honestly, I was impressed. Not in the way that a scientist is impressed by another scientist's lab—I wasn't any kind of expert—but it still seemed remarkably well managed. Now that I was in a state where my vision had been enhanced, I could actually see the enigmatic particles circulating through the pneumatic tubes which were coiled like the pipes and valves of an elaborate wind instrument. The walls of the van, itself, were glistening white, making it easier to make out everything else inside. Along the floor were five overturned columns. Each column was dark and had a vibrating quality, as if they were charged with energy. Then atop the center three columns was a small altar which supported an apparatus with two skinny, metal arms holding a silver halo. At present, the arms were folded and the halo was suspended a few inches above the altar, faced-down. I thought maybe I'd see particles exuding from it, but instead it was emitting visible waves which bent and warped everything they touched.
"That thing is emitting a lot of energy." I remarked, gesturing toward the halo.
Trent stepped in between the columns and started pulling out the packages he had stuffed in there yesterday. "Just wait till' it's on."
Most of the packages contained only a single piece of equipment, and were otherwise packed with foam peanuts. We carefully removed each box and set them on the ground outside. I asked if the rain would damage any of the stuff inside, to which Trent only laughed and continued lugging out the boxes. When they were all out, Trent removed a box cutter from his pocket and went one-by-one opening them. There were eight pieces in total.
"What is it?" I asked as we fished the first item out.
"It's another apparatus, like the one inside. Except it'll mount on the ground out here."
I pulled out what looked like a metal tripod.
"Good, that'll go on the bottom."
"Where are we setting it up?"
"Over here," Trent said and stepped five paces away from the van. He coordinated himself up so he was centrally aligned with the inner ring, then stomped a few times. "This is the spot."
As we continued to work, I asked Trent about how the whole contraption works.
"Do you remember the first time we were in the van? When we had to escape from the semi-truck?" Trent asked and connected a secondary mounting apparatus on top of the tripod. It had four spider-like legs that made right angles and stuck into the ground.
"Of course," I said. "The 'phase lock'."
"Yeah," Trent said and gestured toward the metal stick that was in my hand. I handed it to him. "The phase lock is a seal on the level of energy that the van is allowed to release. It also controls its dispersion pattern so that it releases its energy in a steady wave. This allows Ava to scan for anomalies without causing us to become an anomaly." Trent stuck the plank into the neck of the tripod.
"So when you released the phase lock, we started emitting more energy."
"That's right." Trent confirmed. "Enough to create an alternate route through a different realm."
"So we blinked into a different realm, then back, just to avoid that truck?"
"That's right."
"But why couldn't we just move out of the way?"
"Because it had locked onto us. It was tracking our motion and adjusting its course based on the amount of energy we were emitting. So in order to escape, we had to radically skew our potential energy and then use it to shift."
"Couldn't he have just followed us?"
Trent connected four more pieces to the device which now looked like an elaborate teepee. He was fishing in the last box when he spoke again. "Yeah, he could have. But it was highly improbable that he would have found us." Trent returned from the bottom of the box with another silver ring in hand. "Think of it like this. Let's say you're trying to escape from some bad guy who's coming after you, and you enter a new room you've never seen before. Would you prefer this room to have three doors to go through, or ten?"
I thought about his riddle for a second, then responded, "It depends where they go."
Trent fastened the ring atop the teepee. "Let's say they all lead to random places, or let's say they're all closets that lead nowhere. The key is that more is better, because the more doors he has to check, the less likely he is to pick the correct one. Make sense?"
"So we opened up a bunch of doors and escaped through one at random?"
"Hence the gear 'TD', for 'Trap Door'."
I marveled at the insights, but not for long. Trent hopped back in the van and pulled a lever that I hadn't seen until now. The two metal arms raised the inner ring until it was perpendicular with the altar. Then Trent clicked one of three red buttons along the back wall, and I saw what looked like a large, glass eye suspended in a magnifying glass protruding from the wall, aligned with the center of both rings. A couple seconds later, the glass eye began to focus the energy which was being fed to it from the pneumatic tubes, and a blue pyramid of light projected from it into the first ring, then from the first ring into the second ring. All three pieces were aligned at slightly diminishing heights, so the cylinder of light beamed through the second ring, into the ground.
"Alright, time for the first trial."
I felt the nerves starting up in my stomach. Trent sensed this and hopped out of the truck. It was raining quite hard now, though it was still warm. Both Trent and I were soaked, but that hardly concerned us. He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. "I know you're feeling scared." He said. "But trust me on this. You're going to do fine. Just keep in mind what we talked about. Stay a spectator. Okay?"
I looked into his blue eyes, which seemed especially gray in the dark. Still, Trent's voice was reassuring. All I had to do was trust him. Trust myself. Trust my dad. And it was all going to turn out right.
"I'm ready," I said.
Trent was still for a second, holding my eyes in his. Then he guided me behind the outer ring and into the cylinder of light.
"I should step into it now?" I asked, afraid I'd be called away immediately.
"It's not on yet, so don't worry. I still have to press another button."
I followed Trent's instructions and stood in the blue light which was centered on my chest. Then I watched as Trent ran into the back of the van and posted up next to the glass eye. "Ready?" He yelled out. It was hard to hear him over the rain, but I yelled back. "Ready!"
The next thing I saw was a blinding blue light beam from the van. I heard what sounded like a laser, then saw the cylinder oscillate, expanding and compressing. When the energy reached the second ring, I saw everything around me light up—it looked brighter than noon on a cloudless day. Then the oscillations made their way to me, and I was swallowed up whole.
***
When I came to, I was in the backseat of a car. I felt my butt rumbling. Everything was dim and quiet. And then I heard a woman's voice from in front of me.
"Mark, please, not with Lauren in the back."
The man, who I now identified as my father, pulled the cigarette away from his lips and blew the smoke at my mom. He eyed the back seat where I was sitting, using one of five markers that hadn't rolled off my lap to color a rabbit in my animal color book.
"The kid's fine." he said and took another drag.
"Mark," my mom repeated.
I saw my dad raise his hand in a rapid motion. "I said she's fine, Cheryl. Now check the map and make sure we're going the right away. I can't see shit with all this fog."
I took a moment to make sure I was really in the back seat. I patted myself. I clearly had weight. Then I tried touching the car. At first, my fingertips met a solid surface, but when I tried to press through, my hand slipped into the car. I quickly pulled my hand away as if I had reached into a fire.
That's when I heard the little three year old next to me start crying. I turned and saw that little-me had dropped another couple markers onto the ground and was struggling to reach them.
"Hey!" my dad shouted. "What did I say about crying?"
"Quit it, Mark. She just dropped her markers." said my mom; she turned to help me pick them up.
"What did you say to me?" Mark spat with a voice full of guile. He reached out and pushed her back into her seat. "Don't," he commanded. "She has to learn how to deal with life."
"Deal…" My mom started in disbelief. "Deal with life? Do you hear yourself? What's gotten into you?"
"Sometimes shit happens. It doesn't give her the right to cry. You helping her is just going to reinforce her behavior."
"Her behavior? What about your behavior? You're acting like a total dick."
I didn't even have a moment to react before my dad's hand was across my mom's face. I felt the slap more than I heard it, my own face seeming to swell with the force of the blow. I saw my mom cover her mouth and lean away. Then little-me began to cry even louder, which only challenged my dad to step up his own volume.
"Everyone needs to get a fucking grip before I crash this car." My dad shouted and took another drag. The scariest part was I couldn't tell if he was warning us or threatening us. I felt the sudden urge to do something. There was no way this was real. I was definitely in some fantasy concocted by the demon. He wanted to turn me against my dad. That was the only explanation for something like this. My dad was a good man, not… this.
As I contemplated what to do, I saw a small, golden light appear behind little-me's window. Apparently she saw it, too, because her cries hushed as she traced the wisp with her eyes. After a second, the wisp transformed into a bunny rabbit, reminiscent of the one she was coloring. The rabbit hopped alongside the window, then did a couple circles in place. I watched little me let out a playful laugh and reach toward the window.
"What's going on back there?" my dad asked with a scowl. Apparently the only sound more disturbing than cries were laughs.
I looked back to the front and saw my mom wiping blood from her lip. Her expression was miserable. "Leave her alone, Mark."
"I'll do whatever I damn well want to do, Cheryl. It's my kid back there."
My mom was quiet.
When I looked back toward the rabbit, it was no longer a rabbit but a person. Or at least it looked like a person. The figure radiated pure gold, and atop his head was what appeared to be a King's crown. I recalled Allison's experience of seeing the sun-like figure in her moment of distress. Was that what was happening here? Was this really all true?
"Hey!" My dad shouted, eyeing little-me from the rear-view mirror. "What are you reaching at?"
I looked and saw the golden figure extending his hand toward the window, and little me's hand was reaching back. "Mom, dad, it bright." little-me said.
"What's bright, honey?" my mom asked.
"Don't encourage her, Cheryl."
"Someone there!" little me shouted happily and dropped the rest of the markers and the coloring book onto the ground.
"Who's there?" asked my mom.
"Cheryl, I swear to God. Sit the fuck down."
Everything from that moment on happened so quickly I barely had any time to process it. My mom lifted out of her seat to either get little me's attention or help me pick up my coloring book. My dad responded by grabbing onto her throat, letting go of the steering wheel entirely. He threw her back against the car door, and her head hit the window so hard, the glass cracked. My dad had dropped his cigarette, and I could smell smoke coming from under his seat, but that didn't seem to bother him at all. He turned toward little-me at the same moment my three-year-old hand reached out and grabbed onto the golden figure, whose hand diffused through the window. When my dad turned, I got a whiff of the most awful smell that I wouldn't have been able to place had I not had that nightmare last night. He grabbed onto little-me's shoulder and tugged her away from the golden figure that was trying to pull her the other way. My dad's facade began to crack, and I could see those dark bugs crawling out from the pores in his arms, marching down toward little-me.
I reacted.
I grabbed onto my dad's arm and pulled him off little-me. I heard the sound of my shirt ripping as she was torn from his grip and pulled out of the car, diffusing through it like a ghost. My brief victory was immediately overturned as I saw what was now clearly the demon smiling at me, his wretched fingers curled around my forearm.
"Caught you," He sneered.
Then the whole world once again diffused into countless numbers of particles, only this time, instead of riding through it, I felt like I was falling through an elevator shaft with each floor darker than the last. The further I fell, the less I became aware of my surroundings, and the more I felt a deep sense of loneliness. It was as if I was the only person in the whole world: and the whole world was a prison designed entirely for me. This went on for so long, I began to forget who I was. Where I was. What was.
And then I landed.
***
Source Used:
Jung, Carl. Synchronicity. Translated by Sonu Shamdasani, Princeton University Press, 2010.
submitted by Weathers_Writing to weatherswriting [link] [comments]
Part 2
Part 3
We pulled off I-51 a little after midnight, stopping at a truck stop which was couched between the highway and a large forest.
We waited in the van for ten minutes or so. Trent had increased the sonar radius to its maximum of 30 miles a little over an hour ago. Somehow the red pings had kept up with us, holding a steady distance of around 20 miles. Considering we were averaging around 80 mph, and a coyote's top speed is only around 40 mph, we figured they had been enhanced in some way. Either that, or they shape-shifted into something faster. Regardless, now that we had stopped, we waited to see if the demon spawn would try and close the distance. Luckily, or unluckily, they didn't. They kept their 20 mile buffer, but we noticed they were beginning to spread out along the circumference of that boundary.
"We're close. They know that, so they're trying to trap us in." Trent said.
"Trying to?—more like they have."
We considered whether we should stay in the van and keep watch, but we figured that would do us little good. At their speed, they could be on us in ten minutes, which means we would need to stay up all night and keep tabs on their positions. Trent offered to stay up, of course, but I shut him down.
"The demon doesn't want to kill us now. You said it yourself. Plus, we need our rest. If they come, they come."
Trent didn't like it, but he acquiesced.
The truck stop had all the essentials: a gas station and mini mart with showers and an attached McDonald's, a large parking lot for truckers to idle and sleep, and even a section with lodging for those who wanted a more comfortable night's rest. I told Trent that he should take advantage of the showers, and after a little convincing, he agreed. While he was cleaning himself up, I patrolled the dingy, half-stocked aisles of "Daisy's Quick Mart". I probably would have been appalled at the quality of the store had I actually been paying any attention to it whatsoever. But I wasn't. I was thinking hard about what awaited me tomorrow.
During the drive, I had asked Trent why the demon would want us to return to the crash site. What did he mean that I would be 'confronting a dark entity in a place he couldn't help me'? He seemed hesitant to answer, but my little stunt outside the storage facility seemed to have sufficiently motivated him.
"When I said I've never done this before, I meant it." Trent started. "I've never done this exact thing before—meaning I've never projected someone into the past."
"So, I'm time traveling?" I asked.
"No—don't think of it like that." Trent paused, trying to come up with a good explanation. "It's more like I'm opening a window for you to look through: not a door. You're going to see the past, but you can't interact with the physicalities there. But that doesn't mean you can't interact with anything."
There was a space of silence as Trent tried to let me work out his meaning for myself. "I don't get it. Are you saying there's something I can interact with? Like what?" And then it hit me. "The demon. The demon can interact with me? Meaning what? It can kill me?"
"Meaning… I'm not exactly sure. You're going to be in a kind of psychic space. If it does damage, it won't be to your body. It'll be to your mind—or spirit. But I don't know what the limits of that damage could be. I just don't have those answers."
"If you've never done this, how do you know any of it will work?"
"That's an easy one." Trent answered. "Because it's been done to me."
There was silence.
"Look, if I know anything, I know my tech. Don't doubt that this will work. It's my job to make sure it does. I just need you to be in the right mental for this. Just because it knows your coming doesn't mean it automatically has the upper hand. It won't be able to see you unless you make contact with it first. In other words, you have to initiate contact. As long as you remain a spectator, you should be okay. Trust me. Just don't make contact."
I started pacing faster—fast enough to catch the attention of the overnight shift worker, a young man whose name I can't quite remember. I know it started with a "J". Jake, maybe? Anyway, he asked if I was alright, to which I responded in the affirmative. He left me alone for another couple passes, but when I almost ran into one of the shelves, he stood up and said, "Uh—I'm going to have to ask you to stop running around. I don't want you to hurt yourself."
I must have stared daggers at him, because he recoiled from my gaze. What's gotten into me? I thought. Then, steadying myself, I apologized. I looked around and grabbed the nearest edible looking piece of merchandise: a bag of Swedish Fish, and placed it down on the counter. "Just this, please."
The cashier rang me up. It was surprisingly cheap.
"Are you sure you're alright?" the young man asked. He was tall with brown hair. He seemed tired—maybe even more tired than me. But he also seemed kind.
I smiled as best I could and said, "No, I'm not. But there's not really anything you can do. Hell, there might not be anything I can do." I furrowed my eyebrows at my own response, realizing that imminent death may have broken my verbal filter.
On the other hand, the cashier did not seem surprised at all. "Ah, I see. It's one of those problems." He responded. "Well, hey, for what it's worth, you seem like one of the resilient ones. I think you'll be alright."
I only smiled and nodded at his mildly cryptic comment. Looking back, the whole interaction was a bit strange, but I had way too much mental clutter to recognize that in the moment. I took my Swedish Fish and walked through the anteroom which led to McDonald's. I found an open yellow booth that wasn't littered with crumpled straw sleeves and sat down, chomping mindlessly on my little red fish until Trent returned. When he arrived, he took my place, and I went to shower. After we were both clean and fed, we returned to the van. The pings were still pushed safely out of harm's way. But that didn't mean we were out of harm's way. Trent asked me if I wanted to sleep in the van, saying that "it'd be the safest place."
I thought it over. He was right, obviously. The van was not only outfitted with weapons I couldn't even begin to understand, but it was also our escape, and it would be just as difficult, if not more difficult to break into than the studio-style motel rooms with their wood doors and big windows. Still, if this was going to be my last night on earth, I wanted to sleep in a bed. A real bed. Trent understood and said he'd stay parked right outside my room for the night.
After purchasing a key from the night attendant, I moseyed over to the cement walkways which connected the twenty or so rooms. Mine was room #56, which I thought was odd since, like I said, there were only 20 rooms. I lugged in my tomato plushie and dad's old book and placed them on the queen mattress.
"I'll be right outside." Trent said after I collapsed onto the bed.
"Trent," I called out, stopping him half-way through the door.
"Yeah?"
All the blood in my body rushed up to my face as I realized my unfiltered mouth almost reflexively said the word "stay". I stared at Trent, my heart beating, my face hot. I considered asking him to sleep on the floor like my dad, but that would be childish and impolite. The alternative was to share my bed… Or I could take the floor.
"I'll just be right outside." Trent said before my mind processed a solution. "Come by if you need anything. I'll be up most of the night anyway."
"Okay," I replied in a faint voice.
Trent shut the door.
I sat atop the bedsheets and acquainted myself with my new living space. A feeling of regret closed over me as I considered that even sleeping on a carseat would have been better if it meant I didn't have to be alone. With a sigh, I turned on the bedside lamp and grabbed the book and stuffed tomato, using the tomato as a backrest as I slipped my legs under the covers and situated the book upright on my thighs. I cracked it open and was immediately blasted with a puff of dusty, old book scent. It was ripe at first, and I turned my head away to sneeze, but as I perused through the pages, the scent grew on me. It reminded me of the days growing up when I'd step into dad's study and read through one of the many volumes on cryptic topics which were at least two college degrees above my Lexile range.
I was only a couple minutes into browsing the collection of different scientific and philosophical works when I came across a page which contained highlighted text. This was unusual, as my dad would never mark up his books. He was a purist on that point. I rubbed my thumb over the yellow lines, and sure enough, it was highlighter.
The highlighted text was part of a small book by Carl Jung called "Synchronicity". There were a total of three pages that were marked, and they advanced like this:
Page 5:
The philosophical principle that underlies our conception of natural law is causality*. But if the connection between cause and effect turns out to be only statistically valid and relatively true, then the causal principle is only of relative use for explaining natural processes… That is as much to say that the connection of events may in certain circumstances be other than causal, and require another principle of explanation.*
Page 19:
…there are events which are related to one another experimentally, and in this case meaningfully*, without there being any possibility of proving that this relation is a causal one, since the "transmission" exhibits none of the known properties of energy…a situation which does not yet exist and will only occur in the future could transmit itself as a phenomenon of energy to a receiver in the present…Therefore, it cannot be a question of cause and effect, but of a falling together in time, a kind of simultaneity... "synchronicity"*
Page 22:
A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window pane from outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the common rose-chafer… which contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt an urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment.
I flipped through the rest of the pages of the book. There was no more highlighted text, but there was a message on the last page which read:
Matthew 7:7-8
I'll meet you in the darkest place.
He also included his typical smiley face which had an ovular shape and three sprouts of hair which I now realized kind of resembled my tomato plushie. It was my dad's writing, of course. But why? And how? What did this mean?
The motel had a Bible stashed away in the nighstand drawer. I got it out and looked up the verses which read the following:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
I spent maybe an hour ruminating on all of this. The whole discourse on energy and causality and a "falling together in time" just seemed so right. It was clear that my dad definitely did know what I was going through, but for whatever reason, he made it seem like he was oblivious. Why had he hidden that from me? I felt like I was being pulled in two directions. On the one hand, my dad loved me enough to leave this note, maybe even knowing the exact moment I'd need it. But on the other hand, he had neglected my struggles throughout my entire childhood. He even lied at times. Was this really enough to make up for all of that?
And then there was the section about the future transmitting energy to the past. I read back through the whole paragraph and the original writer had meant it to say this as something that wasn't possible, but my dad's highlighting made it seem like he wanted to flip the meaning. The future does affect the past. I thought about where I was headed and wondered if I would soon discover that for myself.
Lastly, dad's message. The Bible verse reminded me of the first time I prayed; how I reached out to God and received peace as an answer to my prayer. Now I feel like I'm actively seeking… something, but I don't know yet what I'll find. And then there's knocking. At first that reminded me of the story with the beetle tapping on the window, but then I went back even deeper in my memory and dug out the monster tapping at my window, and the words my dad spoke to me in order to set my mind at ease: "you're a superhero. And you know what your greatest superpower is? Your greatest power is you get to tell the monsters what to do. Because the monsters are only as strong as the stories you tell about them…so if you're ever scared, honey, just dream up a better story."
I was crying into my stuffed tomato now. I felt like all the blinking pieces of my life had finally been pulled together into a completed puzzle. This was all by design. My entire life, filled with so much chaos and confusion, was actually preparing me for this moment. And my dad thought I had the tools and strength enough to get through it. I flipped through the book one more time, thinking maybe he had left some other hidden comment—some formula to defeat this demon and return home. But there was nothing. Only that one comment: "I'll meet you in the darkest place."
What's the darkest place, dad? Is that where I'm going? Are you saying you'll be there, too?
With those thoughts in mind, my eyes became heavy shutters which, with a slight pressure on the pulley, winded shut. My swimming thoughts and firework-like fears dissipated, and I returned to a precious childhood memory. It was after an evening soccer practice. Summer. Dad was driving me to Dairy Queen. I got a cherry-dipped twist cone. I was happy.
So, so happy.
***
I woke up to sunlight blaring through my windows. Shit, I overslept, was my immediate thought. I threw off my covers and opened the front door. A glance at the clock showed 1:13 PM. I shouldn't have even been allowed to stay checked in this long. Damn, am I gonna get double-billed for this?
I heard a rummaging sound around the corner of my motel room. It sounded like a squirrel was trying to find an afternoon snack in one of the garbage bins. I stepped outside. The sun was extremely bright, to the point where I had to squint and put my hand over my eyes to even see the ground in front of me. I was trying to walk toward the van, but somehow I ended up in front of the trash bins where the animal's tail was sticking out from a turned-over, silver garbage can. Its tail was wagging excitedly, and I remember thinking that it was much too large to be a squirrel.
The animal bent down as if biting onto something, and I heard the sound of its growl as it struggled to tug whatever it was free from the barrel. Inch by inch, the creature backed out of the canister, and more of its sharp, sticky hair was revealed. I heard something snap, then the creature leapt back and I saw what it was chomping on. My eyes widened in horror as the pink tube of a human intestine was pulled taut like the end of a tangled hose. Blood and entrails were spilling out of the human's opened gut. And then, behind the canine, I saw the person's face. His face was pale white, his eyes closed, and his hair was slicked back… It was Trent.
Before I could react, I heard footsteps approaching from behind. I whirled around and saw my dad. But—no, it wasn't him. It was someone wearing a paper-mache face mask that was painted to look like my dad. The forehead of the mask was already beginning to crack, white specks breaking off like sawdust. Through the cracks, I could see the figure's true form. I didn't know darkness had its own type of light, but that's the only way to describe it. It was as if malevolence itself was reified into a skin which was actually an amalgamation of millions of little, oozing parasites that leached into the nearby light. When it finally spoke, the demon's voice was a full octave lower than the old man's at the deli. And it had an earth-stilling gravitas.
"Today's the day!" He sang and reached into his pocket. His lips curled upward into a foxy smirk. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this day." He said and held up a razor blade. Half his facade had already fallen apart, and now I could see the bugs up close, writhing in what was either horror or ecstasy. And his scent… it was somehow more rank than the rabid coyote rummaging through the trash can with Trent's cut open body inside. The demon closed in on my position, and in one, decisive motion, he brought the blade close to his chin, then sliced it across my throat. "Wake up!" He screamed.
I jumped out of my bed and grabbed my throat, feeling the cold sting of its quick slice. Hyperventilating, I patted the area down, trying to hold the blood in, but when I removed my hands, I saw they were dry. It was only a dream, I thought. Gray light was only beginning to filter in through the drapes. I'm in my hotel room. I'm safe. I tried consoling, but the pragmatic mental massages weren't enough to hold the force of my knees buckling. I dropped onto the carpet and cried for a long while.
Outside, rain was beginning to fall.
***
By the time I met up with Trent, I had already composed myself and decided to keep my dad's message and the nightmare to myself. None of it seemed particularly productive from a logistical standpoint, anyway. And I wanted to focus on the mission.
We stopped by McDonald's and bought a couple cups of coffee. Trent asked if I wanted any food, and I declined. Black coffee seemed like the only thing my stomach could take at the present moment. I could tell Trent was hungry, but he tried playing it off (I guess to be respectful of me?) I told him to knock it off and get something to eat. I didn't need my Charon getting lightheaded and dropping the paddle before he finished rowing me to Hell. He didn't care much for my joke, but he ordered a couple Chicken McGriddles at the kiosk anyway.
There were maybe ten patrons spread throughout the restaurant. We sat down at the same booth from the prior night, this time across from one another. Trent spent the first ten minutes or so babbling about our fuel supply and the logistics of the trip from here on in. Practical stuff. I've come to realize that's how he deals with his stress. He talks it out in short, durable sentences. I mostly nodded and watched as what looked like a storm front closed in on the truck stop. The sky was overcast, and there were darker clouds in the distance. The rain was still only a patter, but a middle-aged man wearing a yellow bow tie on the wall-mounted TV confirmed that there would be heavier rain and thunderstorms very soon.
After the worker delivered Trent's food and he ate it in record time, I posed the one question that was still on my mind.
"How do I fight him?" I asked.
Trent finished a large gulp of his coffee, then looked at me. It was the first substantial thing I'd said all morning; Trent could tell something was off with me, but he figured there was no point in asking what it was. "By 'him', I assume you mean the demon?"
I nodded.
Trent licked his teeth clean. "You could try praying again."
"I'm serious," I responded.
"I'm serious, too. It worked before, didn't it?"
"You mean at my house?"
Trent nodded.
"I thought you weren't a religious man?"
"I'm not. Just a practical one. If praying worked before, maybe it'll work again."
"That's the best you've got? A maybe?"
"No, I've got a lot of shit better than a maybe." He answered. "It's just not accessible where you're going. Which is why I recommend not making contact on the first run."
"First run? So we're going to do this more than once?"
"At least," Trent answered. Then, seeing my expression, he continued. "What? You thought this was going to be a one-and-done? We have to conduct some research first. I did tell you this was new for me, right?"
Somehow Trent's response had set my mind at ease a little. I was going to have more than one chance. Of course, why wouldn't I be able to go back more than once?
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? It would have gone a long way in easing my mind."
Trent lifted his hands in defense. "Sorry, I just thought that was a given. I mean, what we're doing is dangerous, just like I said, but it doesn't mean we aren't going to approach this as safely and scientifically as possible. However, there is a different problem with running multiple trials."
"The Organization?"
"That's right," Trent said like a proud parent. "Our little experiment will be like a giant spotlight, and the longer we wait around after it's on us, the greater the chance we'll have unwelcome company."
"So, safe but speedy."
"Safe but speedy. Exactly."
***
We fueled up and were back on the road a little after 8:00. From that point on, Trent and I were absolutely silent. I had the distinct feeling of being in the eye of a storm. The pings moved closer commensurate with our progress toward the crash site. The cloudfront continued its advance. And I noticed a haze beginning to descend onto the road ahead of us. It was fog.
We meandered further inland, the forest thickening around us until the rain almost stopped entirely—the leaves drinking it up before it fell onto our windshield. I kept my eyes on the radar. We were approaching the large yellow circle which indicated we had arrived. As we pulled closer, I began to feel things. Fear. Eeriness. Doubt. Then happiness. Hope. Love. Normally feelings like these had a clear source to picture, but these sensations came on in waves without any discernible reason. It was almost as if they were blinking into existence inside me.
"Here we go," Trent said like an airline pilot readying his crew for turbulence.
I still recall the exact moment we crossed the boundary into the area of higher energy. It was like something just "clicked" in my brain, and all of a sudden everything felt so much closer. The sound of the rain against the trees was almost right next to my ear. The trees in the distance would oscillate between their position a half-mile out, then suddenly seem five meters away. If I focused on something long enough, it began to radiate those same ethereal particles as when Trent released Ava's "phase lock". I checked to make sure the shifter wasn't set to "TD". Sure enough, it was still in drive.
"Can you see them?" Trent asked. "The shifts?"
"Yeah," I said in a dreamy voice. I felt like I was driving through a wonderland.
"It's the energy. I barely notice a difference. A bit of movement in the trees, but not much else. But I'm sure for you, it's a whole experience."
"What is this?" I raised my hand and caught some of the pixel dust dripping off the sun visor. It disappeared when it made contact with my hand.
"It's a kind of radiation. Everything emits it, just in different quantities. I'm still not exactly sure how it relates to the other realms, but I'm guessing it's a kind of primordial matter that helps connect our worlds."
"It's beautiful," I exclaimed. "I wish I could see the world like this all the time."
"Maybe you will," Trent whispered.
As we arrived at the crash site, I began to get glimpses of the past. My childhood dreams and memories were pushing their way out from my subconscious. I noticed an increased number of blinks, which were validated by Ava who reported the following: "Currently detecting 14,350 novel emergences and 2,777 controlled agents. Net anomalies: 2,777."
"That's a lot of blinks." I remarked. "Why doesn't Ava include them in the net anomalies?"
Trent turned his head so I could see his smirk. "Because blinks aren't anomalies."
I thought about it for a second. Blinks aren't anomalies. "I never thought about it that way."
"It's hard to think about it that way when 'normal' for most people means not picking up on a fundamental aspect of reality. But that doesn't make it any less real."
We continued past the epicenter of the yellow circle. "Are we not stopping?" I asked. "I think we already passed the crash site."
"It doesn't have to be exactly at the site," Trent said. "Plus, we don't want to stop on the side of the road and risk getting some civilian involved. There's a field about half a mile up ahead. I'm going to pull off the road and set up camp there.
The "field" that Trent was referring to was actually a large clearing that dipped down into several trench-like troughs which were filled to the brim with fog like witches cauldrons. Further on in the distance, I saw open fields, probably used for farming, and then a large hill where the trees once again reasserted themselves. We had pulled off the road and up a small incline where the trees had already been broken down, leaving a trail for us to drive through. When we surfaced at the edge of the clearing, Trent pulled us onto a flat bed of dried mud which was maybe thirty yards long.
"Here," he said with a sigh.
We both sat for a minute, looking around at the field. We had finally arrived. The rain was beginning to pick up, and the dark sky made it almost impossible to discern the time of day.
"You ready?" Trent asked.
I looked at him. Really looked at him. In his blue eyes. Was I ready? Did it even matter?
"Let's do this," I said.
***
This was the first time I was really able to inspect the back of Trent's van. He had talked up his gear a lot, and honestly, I was impressed. Not in the way that a scientist is impressed by another scientist's lab—I wasn't any kind of expert—but it still seemed remarkably well managed. Now that I was in a state where my vision had been enhanced, I could actually see the enigmatic particles circulating through the pneumatic tubes which were coiled like the pipes and valves of an elaborate wind instrument. The walls of the van, itself, were glistening white, making it easier to make out everything else inside. Along the floor were five overturned columns. Each column was dark and had a vibrating quality, as if they were charged with energy. Then atop the center three columns was a small altar which supported an apparatus with two skinny, metal arms holding a silver halo. At present, the arms were folded and the halo was suspended a few inches above the altar, faced-down. I thought maybe I'd see particles exuding from it, but instead it was emitting visible waves which bent and warped everything they touched.
"That thing is emitting a lot of energy." I remarked, gesturing toward the halo.
Trent stepped in between the columns and started pulling out the packages he had stuffed in there yesterday. "Just wait till' it's on."
Most of the packages contained only a single piece of equipment, and were otherwise packed with foam peanuts. We carefully removed each box and set them on the ground outside. I asked if the rain would damage any of the stuff inside, to which Trent only laughed and continued lugging out the boxes. When they were all out, Trent removed a box cutter from his pocket and went one-by-one opening them. There were eight pieces in total.
"What is it?" I asked as we fished the first item out.
"It's another apparatus, like the one inside. Except it'll mount on the ground out here."
I pulled out what looked like a metal tripod.
"Good, that'll go on the bottom."
"Where are we setting it up?"
"Over here," Trent said and stepped five paces away from the van. He coordinated himself up so he was centrally aligned with the inner ring, then stomped a few times. "This is the spot."
As we continued to work, I asked Trent about how the whole contraption works.
"Do you remember the first time we were in the van? When we had to escape from the semi-truck?" Trent asked and connected a secondary mounting apparatus on top of the tripod. It had four spider-like legs that made right angles and stuck into the ground.
"Of course," I said. "The 'phase lock'."
"Yeah," Trent said and gestured toward the metal stick that was in my hand. I handed it to him. "The phase lock is a seal on the level of energy that the van is allowed to release. It also controls its dispersion pattern so that it releases its energy in a steady wave. This allows Ava to scan for anomalies without causing us to become an anomaly." Trent stuck the plank into the neck of the tripod.
"So when you released the phase lock, we started emitting more energy."
"That's right." Trent confirmed. "Enough to create an alternate route through a different realm."
"So we blinked into a different realm, then back, just to avoid that truck?"
"That's right."
"But why couldn't we just move out of the way?"
"Because it had locked onto us. It was tracking our motion and adjusting its course based on the amount of energy we were emitting. So in order to escape, we had to radically skew our potential energy and then use it to shift."
"Couldn't he have just followed us?"
Trent connected four more pieces to the device which now looked like an elaborate teepee. He was fishing in the last box when he spoke again. "Yeah, he could have. But it was highly improbable that he would have found us." Trent returned from the bottom of the box with another silver ring in hand. "Think of it like this. Let's say you're trying to escape from some bad guy who's coming after you, and you enter a new room you've never seen before. Would you prefer this room to have three doors to go through, or ten?"
I thought about his riddle for a second, then responded, "It depends where they go."
Trent fastened the ring atop the teepee. "Let's say they all lead to random places, or let's say they're all closets that lead nowhere. The key is that more is better, because the more doors he has to check, the less likely he is to pick the correct one. Make sense?"
"So we opened up a bunch of doors and escaped through one at random?"
"Hence the gear 'TD', for 'Trap Door'."
I marveled at the insights, but not for long. Trent hopped back in the van and pulled a lever that I hadn't seen until now. The two metal arms raised the inner ring until it was perpendicular with the altar. Then Trent clicked one of three red buttons along the back wall, and I saw what looked like a large, glass eye suspended in a magnifying glass protruding from the wall, aligned with the center of both rings. A couple seconds later, the glass eye began to focus the energy which was being fed to it from the pneumatic tubes, and a blue pyramid of light projected from it into the first ring, then from the first ring into the second ring. All three pieces were aligned at slightly diminishing heights, so the cylinder of light beamed through the second ring, into the ground.
"Alright, time for the first trial."
I felt the nerves starting up in my stomach. Trent sensed this and hopped out of the truck. It was raining quite hard now, though it was still warm. Both Trent and I were soaked, but that hardly concerned us. He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. "I know you're feeling scared." He said. "But trust me on this. You're going to do fine. Just keep in mind what we talked about. Stay a spectator. Okay?"
I looked into his blue eyes, which seemed especially gray in the dark. Still, Trent's voice was reassuring. All I had to do was trust him. Trust myself. Trust my dad. And it was all going to turn out right.
"I'm ready," I said.
Trent was still for a second, holding my eyes in his. Then he guided me behind the outer ring and into the cylinder of light.
"I should step into it now?" I asked, afraid I'd be called away immediately.
"It's not on yet, so don't worry. I still have to press another button."
I followed Trent's instructions and stood in the blue light which was centered on my chest. Then I watched as Trent ran into the back of the van and posted up next to the glass eye. "Ready?" He yelled out. It was hard to hear him over the rain, but I yelled back. "Ready!"
The next thing I saw was a blinding blue light beam from the van. I heard what sounded like a laser, then saw the cylinder oscillate, expanding and compressing. When the energy reached the second ring, I saw everything around me light up—it looked brighter than noon on a cloudless day. Then the oscillations made their way to me, and I was swallowed up whole.
***
When I came to, I was in the backseat of a car. I felt my butt rumbling. Everything was dim and quiet. And then I heard a woman's voice from in front of me.
"Mark, please, not with Lauren in the back."
The man, who I now identified as my father, pulled the cigarette away from his lips and blew the smoke at my mom. He eyed the back seat where I was sitting, using one of five markers that hadn't rolled off my lap to color a rabbit in my animal color book.
"The kid's fine." he said and took another drag.
"Mark," my mom repeated.
I saw my dad raise his hand in a rapid motion. "I said she's fine, Cheryl. Now check the map and make sure we're going the right away. I can't see shit with all this fog."
I took a moment to make sure I was really in the back seat. I patted myself. I clearly had weight. Then I tried touching the car. At first, my fingertips met a solid surface, but when I tried to press through, my hand slipped into the car. I quickly pulled my hand away as if I had reached into a fire.
That's when I heard the little three year old next to me start crying. I turned and saw that little-me had dropped another couple markers onto the ground and was struggling to reach them.
"Hey!" my dad shouted. "What did I say about crying?"
"Quit it, Mark. She just dropped her markers." said my mom; she turned to help me pick them up.
"What did you say to me?" Mark spat with a voice full of guile. He reached out and pushed her back into her seat. "Don't," he commanded. "She has to learn how to deal with life."
"Deal…" My mom started in disbelief. "Deal with life? Do you hear yourself? What's gotten into you?"
"Sometimes shit happens. It doesn't give her the right to cry. You helping her is just going to reinforce her behavior."
"Her behavior? What about your behavior? You're acting like a total dick."
I didn't even have a moment to react before my dad's hand was across my mom's face. I felt the slap more than I heard it, my own face seeming to swell with the force of the blow. I saw my mom cover her mouth and lean away. Then little-me began to cry even louder, which only challenged my dad to step up his own volume.
"Everyone needs to get a fucking grip before I crash this car." My dad shouted and took another drag. The scariest part was I couldn't tell if he was warning us or threatening us. I felt the sudden urge to do something. There was no way this was real. I was definitely in some fantasy concocted by the demon. He wanted to turn me against my dad. That was the only explanation for something like this. My dad was a good man, not… this.
As I contemplated what to do, I saw a small, golden light appear behind little-me's window. Apparently she saw it, too, because her cries hushed as she traced the wisp with her eyes. After a second, the wisp transformed into a bunny rabbit, reminiscent of the one she was coloring. The rabbit hopped alongside the window, then did a couple circles in place. I watched little me let out a playful laugh and reach toward the window.
"What's going on back there?" my dad asked with a scowl. Apparently the only sound more disturbing than cries were laughs.
I looked back to the front and saw my mom wiping blood from her lip. Her expression was miserable. "Leave her alone, Mark."
"I'll do whatever I damn well want to do, Cheryl. It's my kid back there."
My mom was quiet.
When I looked back toward the rabbit, it was no longer a rabbit but a person. Or at least it looked like a person. The figure radiated pure gold, and atop his head was what appeared to be a King's crown. I recalled Allison's experience of seeing the sun-like figure in her moment of distress. Was that what was happening here? Was this really all true?
"Hey!" My dad shouted, eyeing little-me from the rear-view mirror. "What are you reaching at?"
I looked and saw the golden figure extending his hand toward the window, and little me's hand was reaching back. "Mom, dad, it bright." little-me said.
"What's bright, honey?" my mom asked.
"Don't encourage her, Cheryl."
"Someone there!" little me shouted happily and dropped the rest of the markers and the coloring book onto the ground.
"Who's there?" asked my mom.
"Cheryl, I swear to God. Sit the fuck down."
Everything from that moment on happened so quickly I barely had any time to process it. My mom lifted out of her seat to either get little me's attention or help me pick up my coloring book. My dad responded by grabbing onto her throat, letting go of the steering wheel entirely. He threw her back against the car door, and her head hit the window so hard, the glass cracked. My dad had dropped his cigarette, and I could smell smoke coming from under his seat, but that didn't seem to bother him at all. He turned toward little-me at the same moment my three-year-old hand reached out and grabbed onto the golden figure, whose hand diffused through the window. When my dad turned, I got a whiff of the most awful smell that I wouldn't have been able to place had I not had that nightmare last night. He grabbed onto little-me's shoulder and tugged her away from the golden figure that was trying to pull her the other way. My dad's facade began to crack, and I could see those dark bugs crawling out from the pores in his arms, marching down toward little-me.
I reacted.
I grabbed onto my dad's arm and pulled him off little-me. I heard the sound of my shirt ripping as she was torn from his grip and pulled out of the car, diffusing through it like a ghost. My brief victory was immediately overturned as I saw what was now clearly the demon smiling at me, his wretched fingers curled around my forearm.
"Caught you," He sneered.
Then the whole world once again diffused into countless numbers of particles, only this time, instead of riding through it, I felt like I was falling through an elevator shaft with each floor darker than the last. The further I fell, the less I became aware of my surroundings, and the more I felt a deep sense of loneliness. It was as if I was the only person in the whole world: and the whole world was a prison designed entirely for me. This went on for so long, I began to forget who I was. Where I was. What was.
And then I landed.
***
Source Used:
Jung, Carl. Synchronicity. Translated by Sonu Shamdasani, Princeton University Press, 2010.
2024.06.09 22:03 Weathers_Writing I think God might be real, just not in the way you think (Part 4)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Content Warning: Domestic Abuse
***
We pulled off I-51 a little after midnight, stopping at a truck stop which was couched between the highway and a large forest.
We waited in the van for ten minutes or so. Trent had increased the sonar radius to its maximum of 30 miles a little over an hour ago. Somehow the red pings had kept up with us, holding a steady distance of around 20 miles. Considering we were averaging around 80 mph, and a coyote's top speed is only around 40 mph, we figured they had been enhanced in some way. Either that, or they shape-shifted into something faster. Regardless, now that we had stopped, we waited to see if the demon spawn would try and close the distance. Luckily, or unluckily, they didn't. They kept their 20 mile buffer, but we noticed they were beginning to spread out along the circumference of that boundary.
"We're close. They know that, so they're trying to trap us in." Trent said.
"Trying to?—more like they have."
We considered whether we should stay in the van and keep watch, but we figured that would do us little good. At their speed, they could be on us in ten minutes, which means we would need to stay up all night and keep tabs on their positions. Trent offered to stay up, of course, but I shut him down.
"The demon doesn't want to kill us now. You said it yourself. Plus, we need our rest. If they come, they come."
Trent didn't like it, but he acquiesced.
The truck stop had all the essentials: a gas station and mini mart with showers and an attached McDonald's, a large parking lot for truckers to idle and sleep, and even a section with lodging for those who wanted a more comfortable night's rest. I told Trent that he should take advantage of the showers, and after a little convincing, he agreed. While he was cleaning himself up, I patrolled the dingy, half-stocked aisles of "Daisy's Quick Mart". I probably would have been appalled at the quality of the store had I actually been paying any attention to it whatsoever. But I wasn't. I was thinking hard about what awaited me tomorrow.
During the drive, I had asked Trent why the demon would want us to return to the crash site. What did he mean that I would be 'confronting a dark entity in a place he couldn't help me'? He seemed hesitant to answer, but my little stunt outside the storage facility seemed to have sufficiently motivated him.
"When I said I've never done this before, I meant it." Trent started. "I've never done this exact thing before—meaning I've never projected someone into the past."
"So, I'm time traveling?" I asked.
"No—don't think of it like that." Trent paused, trying to come up with a good explanation. "It's more like I'm opening a window for you to look through: not a door. You're going to see the past, but you can't interact with the physicalities there. But that doesn't mean you can't interact with anything."
There was a space of silence as Trent tried to let me work out his meaning for myself. "I don't get it. Are you saying there's something I can interact with? Like what?" And then it hit me. "The demon. The demon can interact with me? Meaning what? It can kill me?"
"Meaning… I'm not exactly sure. You're going to be in a kind of psychic space. If it does damage, it won't be to your body. It'll be to your mind—or spirit. But I don't know what the limits of that damage could be. I just don't have those answers."
"If you've never done this, how do you know any of it will work?"
"That's an easy one." Trent answered. "Because it's been done to me."
There was silence.
"Look, if I know anything, I know my tech. Don't doubt that this will work. It's my job to make sure it does. I just need you to be in the right mental for this. Just because it knows your coming doesn't mean it automatically has the upper hand. It won't be able to see you unless you make contact with it first. In other words, you have to initiate contact. As long as you remain a spectator, you should be okay. Trust me. Just don't make contact."
I started pacing faster—fast enough to catch the attention of the overnight shift worker, a young man whose name I can't quite remember. I know it started with a "J". Jake, maybe? Anyway, he asked if I was alright, to which I responded in the affirmative. He left me alone for another couple passes, but when I almost ran into one of the shelves, he stood up and said, "Uh—I'm going to have to ask you to stop running around. I don't want you to hurt yourself."
I must have stared daggers at him, because he recoiled from my gaze. What's gotten into me? I thought. Then, steadying myself, I apologized. I looked around and grabbed the nearest edible looking piece of merchandise: a bag of Swedish Fish, and placed it down on the counter. "Just this, please."
The cashier rang me up. It was surprisingly cheap.
"Are you sure you're alright?" the young man asked. He was tall with brown hair. He seemed tired—maybe even more tired than me. But he also seemed kind.
I smiled as best I could and said, "No, I'm not. But there's not really anything you can do. Hell, there might not be anything I can do." I furrowed my eyebrows at my own response, realizing that imminent death may have broken my verbal filter.
On the other hand, the cashier did not seem surprised at all. "Ah, I see. It's one of those problems." He responded. "Well, hey, for what it's worth, you seem like one of the resilient ones. I think you'll be alright."
I only smiled and nodded at his mildly cryptic comment. Looking back, the whole interaction was a bit strange, but I had way too much mental clutter to recognize that in the moment. I took my Swedish Fish and walked through the anteroom which led to McDonald's. I found an open yellow booth that wasn't littered with crumpled straw sleeves and sat down, chomping mindlessly on my little red fish until Trent returned. When he arrived, he took my place, and I went to shower. After we were both clean and fed, we returned to the van. The pings were still pushed safely out of harm's way. But that didn't mean we were out of harm's way. Trent asked me if I wanted to sleep in the van, saying that "it'd be the safest place."
I thought it over. He was right, obviously. The van was not only outfitted with weapons I couldn't even begin to understand, but it was also our escape, and it would be just as difficult, if not more difficult to break into than the studio-style motel rooms with their wood doors and big windows. Still, if this was going to be my last night on earth, I wanted to sleep in a bed. A real bed. Trent understood and said he'd stay parked right outside my room for the night.
After purchasing a key from the night attendant, I moseyed over to the cement walkways which connected the twenty or so rooms. Mine was room #56, which I thought was odd since, like I said, there were only 20 rooms. I lugged in my tomato plushie and dad's old book and placed them on the queen mattress.
"I'll be right outside." Trent said after I collapsed onto the bed.
"Trent," I called out, stopping him half-way through the door.
"Yeah?"
All the blood in my body rushed up to my face as I realized my unfiltered mouth almost reflexively said the word "stay". I stared at Trent, my heart beating, my face hot. I considered asking him to sleep on the floor like my dad, but that would be childish and impolite. The alternative was to share my bed… Or I could take the floor.
"I'll just be right outside." Trent said before my mind processed a solution. "Come by if you need anything. I'll be up most of the night anyway."
"Okay," I replied in a faint voice.
Trent shut the door.
I sat atop the bedsheets and acquainted myself with my new living space. A feeling of regret closed over me as I considered that even sleeping on a carseat would have been better if it meant I didn't have to be alone. With a sigh, I turned on the bedside lamp and grabbed the book and stuffed tomato, using the tomato as a backrest as I slipped my legs under the covers and situated the book upright on my thighs. I cracked it open and was immediately blasted with a puff of dusty, old book scent. It was ripe at first, and I turned my head away to sneeze, but as I perused through the pages, the scent grew on me. It reminded me of the days growing up when I'd step into dad's study and read through one of the many volumes on cryptic topics which were at least two college degrees above my Lexile range.
I was only a couple minutes into browsing the collection of different scientific and philosophical works when I came across a page which contained highlighted text. This was unusual, as my dad would never mark up his books. He was a purist on that point. I rubbed my thumb over the yellow lines, and sure enough, it was highlighter.
The highlighted text was part of a small book by Carl Jung called "Synchronicity". There were a total of three pages that were marked, and they advanced like this:
Page 5:
The philosophical principle that underlies our conception of natural law is causality*. But if the connection between cause and effect turns out to be only statistically valid and relatively true, then the causal principle is only of relative use for explaining natural processes… That is as much to say that the connection of events may in certain circumstances be other than causal, and require another principle of explanation.*
Page 19:
…there are events which are related to one another experimentally, and in this case meaningfully*, without there being any possibility of proving that this relation is a causal one, since the "transmission" exhibits none of the known properties of energy…a situation which does not yet exist and will only occur in the future could transmit itself as a phenomenon of energy to a receiver in the present…Therefore, it cannot be a question of cause and effect, but of a falling together in time, a kind of simultaneity... "synchronicity"*
Page 22:
A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window pane from outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the common rose-chafer… which contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt an urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment.
I flipped through the rest of the pages of the book. There was no more highlighted text, but there was a message on the last page which read:
Matthew 7:7-8
I'll meet you in the darkest place.
He also included his typical smiley face which had an ovular shape and three sprouts of hair which I now realized kind of resembled my tomato plushie. It was my dad's writing, of course. But why? And how? What did this mean?
The motel had a Bible stashed away in the nighstand drawer. I got it out and looked up the verses which read the following:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
I spent maybe an hour ruminating on all of this. The whole discourse on energy and causality and a "falling together in time" just seemed so right. It was clear that my dad definitely did know what I was going through, but for whatever reason, he made it seem like he was oblivious. Why had he hidden that from me? I felt like I was being pulled in two directions. On the one hand, my dad loved me enough to leave this note, maybe even knowing the exact moment I'd need it. But on the other hand, he had neglected my struggles throughout my entire childhood. He even lied at times. Was this really enough to make up for all of that?
And then there was the section about the future transmitting energy to the past. I read back through the whole paragraph and the original writer had meant it to say this as something that wasn't possible, but my dad's highlighting made it seem like he wanted to flip the meaning. The future does affect the past. I thought about where I was headed and wondered if I would soon discover that for myself.
Lastly, dad's message. The Bible verse reminded me of the first time I prayed; how I reached out to God and received peace as an answer to my prayer. Now I feel like I'm actively seeking… something, but I don't know yet what I'll find. And then there's knocking. At first that reminded me of the story with the beetle tapping on the window, but then I went back even deeper in my memory and dug out the monster tapping at my window, and the words my dad spoke to me in order to set my mind at ease: "you're a superhero. And you know what your greatest superpower is? Your greatest power is you get to tell the monsters what to do. Because the monsters are only as strong as the stories you tell about them…so if you're ever scared, honey, just dream up a better story."
I was crying into my stuffed tomato now. I felt like all the blinking pieces of my life had finally been pulled together into a completed puzzle. This was all by design. My entire life, filled with so much chaos and confusion, was actually preparing me for this moment. And my dad thought I had the tools and strength enough to get through it. I flipped through the book one more time, thinking maybe he had left some other hidden comment—some formula to defeat this demon and return home. But there was nothing. Only that one comment: "I'll meet you in the darkest place."
What's the darkest place, dad? Is that where I'm going? Are you saying you'll be there, too?
With those thoughts in mind, my eyes became heavy shutters which, with a slight pressure on the pulley, winded shut. My swimming thoughts and firework-like fears dissipated, and I returned to a precious childhood memory. It was after an evening soccer practice. Summer. Dad was driving me to Dairy Queen. I got a cherry-dipped twist cone. I was happy.
So, so happy.
***
I woke up to sunlight blaring through my windows. Shit, I overslept, was my immediate thought. I threw off my covers and opened the front door. A glance at the clock showed 1:13 PM. I shouldn't have even been allowed to stay checked in this long. Damn, am I gonna get double-billed for this?
I heard a rummaging sound around the corner of my motel room. It sounded like a squirrel was trying to find an afternoon snack in one of the garbage bins. I stepped outside. The sun was extremely bright, to the point where I had to squint and put my hand over my eyes to even see the ground in front of me. I was trying to walk toward the van, but somehow I ended up in front of the trash bins where the animal's tail was sticking out from a turned-over, silver garbage can. Its tail was wagging excitedly, and I remember thinking that it was much too large to be a squirrel.
The animal bent down as if biting onto something, and I heard the sound of its growl as it struggled to tug whatever it was free from the barrel. Inch by inch, the creature backed out of the canister, and more of its sharp, sticky hair was revealed. I heard something snap, then the creature leapt back and I saw what it was chomping on. My eyes widened in horror as the pink tube of a human intestine was pulled taut like the end of a tangled hose. Blood and entrails were spilling out of the human's opened gut. And then, behind the canine, I saw the person's face. His face was pale white, his eyes closed, and his hair was slicked back… It was Trent.
Before I could react, I heard footsteps approaching from behind. I whirled around and saw my dad. But—no, it wasn't him. It was someone wearing a paper-mache face mask that was painted to look like my dad. The forehead of the mask was already beginning to crack, white specks breaking off like sawdust. Through the cracks, I could see the figure's true form. I didn't know darkness had its own type of light, but that's the only way to describe it. It was as if malevolence itself was reified into a skin which was actually an amalgamation of millions of little, oozing parasites that leached into the nearby light. When it finally spoke, the demon's voice was a full octave lower than the old man's at the deli. And it had an earth-stilling gravitas.
"Today's the day!" He sang and reached into his pocket. His lips curled upward into a foxy smirk. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this day." He said and held up a razor blade. Half his facade had already fallen apart, and now I could see the bugs up close, writhing in what was either horror or ecstasy. And his scent… it was somehow more rank than the rabid coyote rummaging through the trash can with Trent's cut open body inside. The demon closed in on my position, and in one, decisive motion, he brought the blade close to his chin, then sliced it across my throat. "Wake up!" He screamed.
I jumped out of my bed and grabbed my throat, feeling the cold sting of its quick slice. Hyperventilating, I patted the area down, trying to hold the blood in, but when I removed my hands, I saw they were dry. It was only a dream, I thought. Gray light was only beginning to filter in through the drapes. I'm in my hotel room. I'm safe. I tried consoling, but the pragmatic mental massages weren't enough to hold the force of my knees buckling. I dropped onto the carpet and cried for a long while.
Outside, rain was beginning to fall.
***
By the time I met up with Trent, I had already composed myself and decided to keep my dad's message and the nightmare to myself. None of it seemed particularly productive from a logistical standpoint, anyway. And I wanted to focus on the mission.
We stopped by McDonald's and bought a couple cups of coffee. Trent asked if I wanted any food, and I declined. Black coffee seemed like the only thing my stomach could take at the present moment. I could tell Trent was hungry, but he tried playing it off (I guess to be respectful of me?) I told him to knock it off and get something to eat. I didn't need my Charon getting lightheaded and dropping the paddle before he finished rowing me to Hell. He didn't care much for my joke, but he ordered a couple Chicken McGriddles at the kiosk anyway.
There were maybe ten patrons spread throughout the restaurant. We sat down at the same booth from the prior night, this time across from one another. Trent spent the first ten minutes or so babbling about our fuel supply and the logistics of the trip from here on in. Practical stuff. I've come to realize that's how he deals with his stress. He talks it out in short, durable sentences. I mostly nodded and watched as what looked like a storm front closed in on the truck stop. The sky was overcast, and there were darker clouds in the distance. The rain was still only a patter, but a middle-aged man wearing a yellow bow tie on the wall-mounted TV confirmed that there would be heavier rain and thunderstorms very soon.
After the worker delivered Trent's food and he ate it in record time, I posed the one question that was still on my mind.
"How do I fight him?" I asked.
Trent finished a large gulp of his coffee, then looked at me. It was the first substantial thing I'd said all morning; Trent could tell something was off with me, but he figured there was no point in asking what it was. "By 'him', I assume you mean the demon?"
I nodded.
Trent licked his teeth clean. "You could try praying again."
"I'm serious," I responded.
"I'm serious, too. It worked before, didn't it?"
"You mean at my house?"
Trent nodded.
"I thought you weren't a religious man?"
"I'm not. Just a practical one. If praying worked before, maybe it'll work again."
"That's the best you've got? A maybe?"
"No, I've got a lot of shit better than a maybe." He answered. "It's just not accessible where you're going. Which is why I recommend not making contact on the first run."
"First run? So we're going to do this more than once?"
"At least," Trent answered. Then, seeing my expression, he continued. "What? You thought this was going to be a one-and-done? We have to conduct some research first. I did tell you this was new for me, right?"
Somehow Trent's response had set my mind at ease a little. I was going to have more than one chance. Of course, why wouldn't I be able to go back more than once?
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? It would have gone a long way in easing my mind."
Trent lifted his hands in defense. "Sorry, I just thought that was a given. I mean, what we're doing is dangerous, just like I said, but it doesn't mean we aren't going to approach this as safely and scientifically as possible. However, there is a different problem with running multiple trials."
"The Organization?"
"That's right," Trent said like a proud parent. "Our little experiment will be like a giant spotlight, and the longer we wait around after it's on us, the greater the chance we'll have unwelcome company."
"So, safe but speedy."
"Safe but speedy. Exactly."
***
We fueled up and were back on the road a little after 8:00. From that point on, Trent and I were absolutely silent. I had the distinct feeling of being in the eye of a storm. The pings moved closer commensurate with our progress toward the crash site. The cloudfront continued its advance. And I noticed a haze beginning to descend onto the road ahead of us. It was fog.
We meandered further inland, the forest thickening around us until the rain almost stopped entirely—the leaves drinking it up before it fell onto our windshield. I kept my eyes on the radar. We were approaching the large yellow circle which indicated we had arrived. As we pulled closer, I began to feel things. Fear. Eeriness. Doubt. Then happiness. Hope. Love. Normally feelings like these had a clear source to picture, but these sensations came on in waves without any discernible reason. It was almost as if they were blinking into existence inside me.
"Here we go," Trent said like an airline pilot readying his crew for turbulence.
I still recall the exact moment we crossed the boundary into the area of higher energy. It was like something just "clicked" in my brain, and all of a sudden everything felt so much closer. The sound of the rain against the trees was almost right next to my ear. The trees in the distance would oscillate between their position a half-mile out, then suddenly seem five meters away. If I focused on something long enough, it began to radiate those same ethereal particles as when Trent released Ava's "phase lock". I checked to make sure the shifter wasn't set to "TD". Sure enough, it was still in drive.
"Can you see them?" Trent asked. "The shifts?"
"Yeah," I said in a dreamy voice. I felt like I was driving through a wonderland.
"It's the energy. I barely notice a difference. A bit of movement in the trees, but not much else. But I'm sure for you, it's a whole experience."
"What is this?" I raised my hand and caught some of the pixel dust dripping off the sun visor. It disappeared when it made contact with my hand.
"It's a kind of radiation. Everything emits it, just in different quantities. I'm still not exactly sure how it relates to the other realms, but I'm guessing it's a kind of primordial matter that helps connect our worlds."
"It's beautiful," I exclaimed. "I wish I could see the world like this all the time."
"Maybe you will," Trent whispered.
As we arrived at the crash site, I began to get glimpses of the past. My childhood dreams and memories were pushing their way out from my subconscious. I noticed an increased number of blinks, which were validated by Ava who reported the following: "Currently detecting 14,350 novel emergences and 2,777 controlled agents. Net anomalies: 2,777."
"That's a lot of blinks." I remarked. "Why doesn't Ava include them in the net anomalies?"
Trent turned his head so I could see his smirk. "Because blinks aren't anomalies."
I thought about it for a second. Blinks aren't anomalies. "I never thought about it that way."
"It's hard to think about it that way when 'normal' for most people means not picking up on a fundamental aspect of reality. But that doesn't make it any less real."
We continued past the epicenter of the yellow circle. "Are we not stopping?" I asked. "I think we already passed the crash site."
"It doesn't have to be exactly at the site," Trent said. "Plus, we don't want to stop on the side of the road and risk getting some civilian involved. There's a field about half a mile up ahead. I'm going to pull off the road and set up camp there.
The "field" that Trent was referring to was actually a large clearing that dipped down into several trench-like troughs which were filled to the brim with fog like witches cauldrons. Further on in the distance, I saw open fields, probably used for farming, and then a large hill where the trees once again reasserted themselves. We had pulled off the road and up a small incline where the trees had already been broken down, leaving a trail for us to drive through. When we surfaced at the edge of the clearing, Trent pulled us onto a flat bed of dried mud which was maybe thirty yards long.
"Here," he said with a sigh.
We both sat for a minute, looking around at the field. We had finally arrived. The rain was beginning to pick up, and the dark sky made it almost impossible to discern the time of day.
"You ready?" Trent asked.
I looked at him. Really looked at him. In his blue eyes. Was I ready? Did it even matter?
"Let's do this," I said.
***
This was the first time I was really able to inspect the back of Trent's van. He had talked up his gear a lot, and honestly, I was impressed. Not in the way that a scientist is impressed by another scientist's lab—I wasn't any kind of expert—but it still seemed remarkably well managed. Now that I was in a state where my vision had been enhanced, I could actually see the enigmatic particles circulating through the pneumatic tubes which were coiled like the pipes and valves of an elaborate wind instrument. The walls of the van, itself, were glistening white, making it easier to make out everything else inside. Along the floor were five overturned columns. Each column was dark and had a vibrating quality, as if they were charged with energy. Then atop the center three columns was a small altar which supported an apparatus with two skinny, metal arms holding a silver halo. At present, the arms were folded and the halo was suspended a few inches above the altar, faced-down. I thought maybe I'd see particles exuding from it, but instead it was emitting visible waves which bent and warped everything they touched.
"That thing is emitting a lot of energy." I remarked, gesturing toward the halo.
Trent stepped in between the columns and started pulling out the packages he had stuffed in there yesterday. "Just wait till' it's on."
Most of the packages contained only a single piece of equipment, and were otherwise packed with foam peanuts. We carefully removed each box and set them on the ground outside. I asked if the rain would damage any of the stuff inside, to which Trent only laughed and continued lugging out the boxes. When they were all out, Trent removed a box cutter from his pocket and went one-by-one opening them. There were eight pieces in total.
"What is it?" I asked as we fished the first item out.
"It's another apparatus, like the one inside. Except it'll mount on the ground out here."
I pulled out what looked like a metal tripod.
"Good, that'll go on the bottom."
"Where are we setting it up?"
"Over here," Trent said and stepped five paces away from the van. He coordinated himself up so he was centrally aligned with the inner ring, then stomped a few times. "This is the spot."
As we continued to work, I asked Trent about how the whole contraption works.
"Do you remember the first time we were in the van? When we had to escape from the semi-truck?" Trent asked and connected a secondary mounting apparatus on top of the tripod. It had four spider-like legs that made right angles and stuck into the ground.
"Of course," I said. "The 'phase lock'."
"Yeah," Trent said and gestured toward the metal stick that was in my hand. I handed it to him. "The phase lock is a seal on the level of energy that the van is allowed to release. It also controls its dispersion pattern so that it releases its energy in a steady wave. This allows Ava to scan for anomalies without causing us to become an anomaly." Trent stuck the plank into the neck of the tripod.
"So when you released the phase lock, we started emitting more energy."
"That's right." Trent confirmed. "Enough to create an alternate route through a different realm."
"So we blinked into a different realm, then back, just to avoid that truck?"
"That's right."
"But why couldn't we just move out of the way?"
"Because it had locked onto us. It was tracking our motion and adjusting its course based on the amount of energy we were emitting. So in order to escape, we had to radically skew our potential energy and then use it to shift."
"Couldn't he have just followed us?"
Trent connected four more pieces to the device which now looked like an elaborate teepee. He was fishing in the last box when he spoke again. "Yeah, he could have. But it was highly improbable that he would have found us." Trent returned from the bottom of the box with another silver ring in hand. "Think of it like this. Let's say you're trying to escape from some bad guy who's coming after you, and you enter a new room you've never seen before. Would you prefer this room to have three doors to go through, or ten?"
I thought about his riddle for a second, then responded, "It depends where they go."
Trent fastened the ring atop the teepee. "Let's say they all lead to random places, or let's say they're all closets that lead nowhere. The key is that more is better, because the more doors he has to check, the less likely he is to pick the correct one. Make sense?"
"So we opened up a bunch of doors and escaped through one at random?"
"Hence the gear 'TD', for 'Trap Door'."
I marveled at the insights, but not for long. Trent hopped back in the van and pulled a lever that I hadn't seen until now. The two metal arms raised the inner ring until it was perpendicular with the altar. Then Trent clicked one of three red buttons along the back wall, and I saw what looked like a large, glass eye suspended in a magnifying glass protruding from the wall, aligned with the center of both rings. A couple seconds later, the glass eye began to focus the energy which was being fed to it from the pneumatic tubes, and a blue pyramid of light projected from it into the first ring, then from the first ring into the second ring. All three pieces were aligned at slightly diminishing heights, so the cylinder of light beamed through the second ring, into the ground.
"Alright, time for the first trial."
I felt the nerves starting up in my stomach. Trent sensed this and hopped out of the truck. It was raining quite hard now, though it was still warm. Both Trent and I were soaked, but that hardly concerned us. He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. "I know you're feeling scared." He said. "But trust me on this. You're going to do fine. Just keep in mind what we talked about. Stay a spectator. Okay?"
I looked into his blue eyes, which seemed especially gray in the dark. Still, Trent's voice was reassuring. All I had to do was trust him. Trust myself. Trust my dad. And it was all going to turn out right.
"I'm ready," I said.
Trent was still for a second, holding my eyes in his. Then he guided me behind the outer ring and into the cylinder of light.
"I should step into it now?" I asked, afraid I'd be called away immediately.
"It's not on yet, so don't worry. I still have to press another button."
I followed Trent's instructions and stood in the blue light which was centered on my chest. Then I watched as Trent ran into the back of the van and posted up next to the glass eye. "Ready?" He yelled out. It was hard to hear him over the rain, but I yelled back. "Ready!"
The next thing I saw was a blinding blue light beam from the van. I heard what sounded like a laser, then saw the cylinder oscillate, expanding and compressing. When the energy reached the second ring, I saw everything around me light up—it looked brighter than noon on a cloudless day. Then the oscillations made their way to me, and I was swallowed up whole.
***
When I came to, I was in the backseat of a car. I felt my butt rumbling. Everything was dim and quiet. And then I heard a woman's voice from in front of me.
"Mark, please, not with Lauren in the back."
The man, who I now identified as my father, pulled the cigarette away from his lips and blew the smoke at my mom. He eyed the back seat where I was sitting, using one of five markers that hadn't rolled off my lap to color a rabbit in my animal color book.
"The kid's fine." he said and took another drag.
"Mark," my mom repeated.
I saw my dad raise his hand in a rapid motion. "I said she's fine, Cheryl. Now check the map and make sure we're going the right away. I can't see shit with all this fog."
I took a moment to make sure I was really in the back seat. I patted myself. I clearly had weight. Then I tried touching the car. At first, my fingertips met a solid surface, but when I tried to press through, my hand slipped into the car. I quickly pulled my hand away as if I had reached into a fire.
That's when I heard the little three year old next to me start crying. I turned and saw that little-me had dropped another couple markers onto the ground and was struggling to reach them.
"Hey!" my dad shouted. "What did I say about crying?"
"Quit it, Mark. She just dropped her markers." said my mom; she turned to help me pick them up.
"What did you say to me?" Mark spat with a voice full of guile. He reached out and pushed her back into her seat. "Don't," he commanded. "She has to learn how to deal with life."
"Deal…" My mom started in disbelief. "Deal with life? Do you hear yourself? What's gotten into you?"
"Sometimes shit happens. It doesn't give her the right to cry. You helping her is just going to reinforce her behavior."
"Her behavior? What about your behavior? You're acting like a total dick."
I didn't even have a moment to react before my dad's hand was across my mom's face. I felt the slap more than I heard it, my own face seeming to swell with the force of the blow. I saw my mom cover her mouth and lean away. Then little-me began to cry even louder, which only challenged my dad to step up his own volume.
"Everyone needs to get a fucking grip before I crash this car." My dad shouted and took another drag. The scariest part was I couldn't tell if he was warning us or threatening us. I felt the sudden urge to do something. There was no way this was real. I was definitely in some fantasy concocted by the demon. He wanted to turn me against my dad. That was the only explanation for something like this. My dad was a good man, not… this.
As I contemplated what to do, I saw a small, golden light appear behind little-me's window. Apparently she saw it, too, because her cries hushed as she traced the wisp with her eyes. After a second, the wisp transformed into a bunny rabbit, reminiscent of the one she was coloring. The rabbit hopped alongside the window, then did a couple circles in place. I watched little me let out a playful laugh and reach toward the window.
"What's going on back there?" my dad asked with a scowl. Apparently the only sound more disturbing than cries were laughs.
I looked back to the front and saw my mom wiping blood from her lip. Her expression was miserable. "Leave her alone, Mark."
"I'll do whatever I damn well want to do, Cheryl. It's my kid back there."
My mom was quiet.
When I looked back toward the rabbit, it was no longer a rabbit but a person. Or at least it looked like a person. The figure radiated pure gold, and atop his head was what appeared to be a King's crown. I recalled Allison's experience of seeing the sun-like figure in her moment of distress. Was that what was happening here? Was this really all true?
"Hey!" My dad shouted, eyeing little-me from the rear-view mirror. "What are you reaching at?"
I looked and saw the golden figure extending his hand toward the window, and little me's hand was reaching back. "Mom, dad, it bright." little-me said.
"What's bright, honey?" my mom asked.
"Don't encourage her, Cheryl."
"Someone there!" little me shouted happily and dropped the rest of the markers and the coloring book onto the ground.
"Who's there?" asked my mom.
"Cheryl, I swear to God. Sit the fuck down."
Everything from that moment on happened so quickly I barely had any time to process it. My mom lifted out of her seat to either get little me's attention or help me pick up my coloring book. My dad responded by grabbing onto her throat, letting go of the steering wheel entirely. He threw her back against the car door, and her head hit the window so hard, the glass cracked. My dad had dropped his cigarette, and I could smell smoke coming from under his seat, but that didn't seem to bother him at all. He turned toward little-me at the same moment my three-year-old hand reached out and grabbed onto the golden figure, whose hand diffused through the window. When my dad turned, I got a whiff of the most awful smell that I wouldn't have been able to place had I not had that nightmare last night. He grabbed onto little-me's shoulder and tugged her away from the golden figure that was trying to pull her the other way. My dad's facade began to crack, and I could see those dark bugs crawling out from the pores in his arms, marching down toward little-me.
I reacted.
I grabbed onto my dad's arm and pulled him off little-me. I heard the sound of my shirt ripping as she was torn from his grip and pulled out of the car, diffusing through it like a ghost. My brief victory was immediately overturned as I saw what was now clearly the demon smiling at me, his wretched fingers curled around my forearm.
"Caught you," He sneered.
Then the whole world once again diffused into countless numbers of particles, only this time, instead of riding through it, I felt like I was falling through an elevator shaft with each floor darker than the last. The further I fell, the less I became aware of my surroundings, and the more I felt a deep sense of loneliness. It was as if I was the only person in the whole world: and the whole world was a prison designed entirely for me. This went on for so long, I began to forget who I was. Where I was. What was.
And then I landed.
***
Source Used:
Jung, Carl. Synchronicity. Translated by Sonu Shamdasani, Princeton University Press, 2010.
submitted by Weathers_Writing to nosleep [link] [comments]
Part 2
Part 3
Content Warning: Domestic Abuse
***
We pulled off I-51 a little after midnight, stopping at a truck stop which was couched between the highway and a large forest.
We waited in the van for ten minutes or so. Trent had increased the sonar radius to its maximum of 30 miles a little over an hour ago. Somehow the red pings had kept up with us, holding a steady distance of around 20 miles. Considering we were averaging around 80 mph, and a coyote's top speed is only around 40 mph, we figured they had been enhanced in some way. Either that, or they shape-shifted into something faster. Regardless, now that we had stopped, we waited to see if the demon spawn would try and close the distance. Luckily, or unluckily, they didn't. They kept their 20 mile buffer, but we noticed they were beginning to spread out along the circumference of that boundary.
"We're close. They know that, so they're trying to trap us in." Trent said.
"Trying to?—more like they have."
We considered whether we should stay in the van and keep watch, but we figured that would do us little good. At their speed, they could be on us in ten minutes, which means we would need to stay up all night and keep tabs on their positions. Trent offered to stay up, of course, but I shut him down.
"The demon doesn't want to kill us now. You said it yourself. Plus, we need our rest. If they come, they come."
Trent didn't like it, but he acquiesced.
The truck stop had all the essentials: a gas station and mini mart with showers and an attached McDonald's, a large parking lot for truckers to idle and sleep, and even a section with lodging for those who wanted a more comfortable night's rest. I told Trent that he should take advantage of the showers, and after a little convincing, he agreed. While he was cleaning himself up, I patrolled the dingy, half-stocked aisles of "Daisy's Quick Mart". I probably would have been appalled at the quality of the store had I actually been paying any attention to it whatsoever. But I wasn't. I was thinking hard about what awaited me tomorrow.
During the drive, I had asked Trent why the demon would want us to return to the crash site. What did he mean that I would be 'confronting a dark entity in a place he couldn't help me'? He seemed hesitant to answer, but my little stunt outside the storage facility seemed to have sufficiently motivated him.
"When I said I've never done this before, I meant it." Trent started. "I've never done this exact thing before—meaning I've never projected someone into the past."
"So, I'm time traveling?" I asked.
"No—don't think of it like that." Trent paused, trying to come up with a good explanation. "It's more like I'm opening a window for you to look through: not a door. You're going to see the past, but you can't interact with the physicalities there. But that doesn't mean you can't interact with anything."
There was a space of silence as Trent tried to let me work out his meaning for myself. "I don't get it. Are you saying there's something I can interact with? Like what?" And then it hit me. "The demon. The demon can interact with me? Meaning what? It can kill me?"
"Meaning… I'm not exactly sure. You're going to be in a kind of psychic space. If it does damage, it won't be to your body. It'll be to your mind—or spirit. But I don't know what the limits of that damage could be. I just don't have those answers."
"If you've never done this, how do you know any of it will work?"
"That's an easy one." Trent answered. "Because it's been done to me."
There was silence.
"Look, if I know anything, I know my tech. Don't doubt that this will work. It's my job to make sure it does. I just need you to be in the right mental for this. Just because it knows your coming doesn't mean it automatically has the upper hand. It won't be able to see you unless you make contact with it first. In other words, you have to initiate contact. As long as you remain a spectator, you should be okay. Trust me. Just don't make contact."
I started pacing faster—fast enough to catch the attention of the overnight shift worker, a young man whose name I can't quite remember. I know it started with a "J". Jake, maybe? Anyway, he asked if I was alright, to which I responded in the affirmative. He left me alone for another couple passes, but when I almost ran into one of the shelves, he stood up and said, "Uh—I'm going to have to ask you to stop running around. I don't want you to hurt yourself."
I must have stared daggers at him, because he recoiled from my gaze. What's gotten into me? I thought. Then, steadying myself, I apologized. I looked around and grabbed the nearest edible looking piece of merchandise: a bag of Swedish Fish, and placed it down on the counter. "Just this, please."
The cashier rang me up. It was surprisingly cheap.
"Are you sure you're alright?" the young man asked. He was tall with brown hair. He seemed tired—maybe even more tired than me. But he also seemed kind.
I smiled as best I could and said, "No, I'm not. But there's not really anything you can do. Hell, there might not be anything I can do." I furrowed my eyebrows at my own response, realizing that imminent death may have broken my verbal filter.
On the other hand, the cashier did not seem surprised at all. "Ah, I see. It's one of those problems." He responded. "Well, hey, for what it's worth, you seem like one of the resilient ones. I think you'll be alright."
I only smiled and nodded at his mildly cryptic comment. Looking back, the whole interaction was a bit strange, but I had way too much mental clutter to recognize that in the moment. I took my Swedish Fish and walked through the anteroom which led to McDonald's. I found an open yellow booth that wasn't littered with crumpled straw sleeves and sat down, chomping mindlessly on my little red fish until Trent returned. When he arrived, he took my place, and I went to shower. After we were both clean and fed, we returned to the van. The pings were still pushed safely out of harm's way. But that didn't mean we were out of harm's way. Trent asked me if I wanted to sleep in the van, saying that "it'd be the safest place."
I thought it over. He was right, obviously. The van was not only outfitted with weapons I couldn't even begin to understand, but it was also our escape, and it would be just as difficult, if not more difficult to break into than the studio-style motel rooms with their wood doors and big windows. Still, if this was going to be my last night on earth, I wanted to sleep in a bed. A real bed. Trent understood and said he'd stay parked right outside my room for the night.
After purchasing a key from the night attendant, I moseyed over to the cement walkways which connected the twenty or so rooms. Mine was room #56, which I thought was odd since, like I said, there were only 20 rooms. I lugged in my tomato plushie and dad's old book and placed them on the queen mattress.
"I'll be right outside." Trent said after I collapsed onto the bed.
"Trent," I called out, stopping him half-way through the door.
"Yeah?"
All the blood in my body rushed up to my face as I realized my unfiltered mouth almost reflexively said the word "stay". I stared at Trent, my heart beating, my face hot. I considered asking him to sleep on the floor like my dad, but that would be childish and impolite. The alternative was to share my bed… Or I could take the floor.
"I'll just be right outside." Trent said before my mind processed a solution. "Come by if you need anything. I'll be up most of the night anyway."
"Okay," I replied in a faint voice.
Trent shut the door.
I sat atop the bedsheets and acquainted myself with my new living space. A feeling of regret closed over me as I considered that even sleeping on a carseat would have been better if it meant I didn't have to be alone. With a sigh, I turned on the bedside lamp and grabbed the book and stuffed tomato, using the tomato as a backrest as I slipped my legs under the covers and situated the book upright on my thighs. I cracked it open and was immediately blasted with a puff of dusty, old book scent. It was ripe at first, and I turned my head away to sneeze, but as I perused through the pages, the scent grew on me. It reminded me of the days growing up when I'd step into dad's study and read through one of the many volumes on cryptic topics which were at least two college degrees above my Lexile range.
I was only a couple minutes into browsing the collection of different scientific and philosophical works when I came across a page which contained highlighted text. This was unusual, as my dad would never mark up his books. He was a purist on that point. I rubbed my thumb over the yellow lines, and sure enough, it was highlighter.
The highlighted text was part of a small book by Carl Jung called "Synchronicity". There were a total of three pages that were marked, and they advanced like this:
Page 5:
The philosophical principle that underlies our conception of natural law is causality*. But if the connection between cause and effect turns out to be only statistically valid and relatively true, then the causal principle is only of relative use for explaining natural processes… That is as much to say that the connection of events may in certain circumstances be other than causal, and require another principle of explanation.*
Page 19:
…there are events which are related to one another experimentally, and in this case meaningfully*, without there being any possibility of proving that this relation is a causal one, since the "transmission" exhibits none of the known properties of energy…a situation which does not yet exist and will only occur in the future could transmit itself as a phenomenon of energy to a receiver in the present…Therefore, it cannot be a question of cause and effect, but of a falling together in time, a kind of simultaneity... "synchronicity"*
Page 22:
A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window pane from outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the common rose-chafer… which contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt an urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment.
I flipped through the rest of the pages of the book. There was no more highlighted text, but there was a message on the last page which read:
Matthew 7:7-8
I'll meet you in the darkest place.
He also included his typical smiley face which had an ovular shape and three sprouts of hair which I now realized kind of resembled my tomato plushie. It was my dad's writing, of course. But why? And how? What did this mean?
The motel had a Bible stashed away in the nighstand drawer. I got it out and looked up the verses which read the following:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
I spent maybe an hour ruminating on all of this. The whole discourse on energy and causality and a "falling together in time" just seemed so right. It was clear that my dad definitely did know what I was going through, but for whatever reason, he made it seem like he was oblivious. Why had he hidden that from me? I felt like I was being pulled in two directions. On the one hand, my dad loved me enough to leave this note, maybe even knowing the exact moment I'd need it. But on the other hand, he had neglected my struggles throughout my entire childhood. He even lied at times. Was this really enough to make up for all of that?
And then there was the section about the future transmitting energy to the past. I read back through the whole paragraph and the original writer had meant it to say this as something that wasn't possible, but my dad's highlighting made it seem like he wanted to flip the meaning. The future does affect the past. I thought about where I was headed and wondered if I would soon discover that for myself.
Lastly, dad's message. The Bible verse reminded me of the first time I prayed; how I reached out to God and received peace as an answer to my prayer. Now I feel like I'm actively seeking… something, but I don't know yet what I'll find. And then there's knocking. At first that reminded me of the story with the beetle tapping on the window, but then I went back even deeper in my memory and dug out the monster tapping at my window, and the words my dad spoke to me in order to set my mind at ease: "you're a superhero. And you know what your greatest superpower is? Your greatest power is you get to tell the monsters what to do. Because the monsters are only as strong as the stories you tell about them…so if you're ever scared, honey, just dream up a better story."
I was crying into my stuffed tomato now. I felt like all the blinking pieces of my life had finally been pulled together into a completed puzzle. This was all by design. My entire life, filled with so much chaos and confusion, was actually preparing me for this moment. And my dad thought I had the tools and strength enough to get through it. I flipped through the book one more time, thinking maybe he had left some other hidden comment—some formula to defeat this demon and return home. But there was nothing. Only that one comment: "I'll meet you in the darkest place."
What's the darkest place, dad? Is that where I'm going? Are you saying you'll be there, too?
With those thoughts in mind, my eyes became heavy shutters which, with a slight pressure on the pulley, winded shut. My swimming thoughts and firework-like fears dissipated, and I returned to a precious childhood memory. It was after an evening soccer practice. Summer. Dad was driving me to Dairy Queen. I got a cherry-dipped twist cone. I was happy.
So, so happy.
***
I woke up to sunlight blaring through my windows. Shit, I overslept, was my immediate thought. I threw off my covers and opened the front door. A glance at the clock showed 1:13 PM. I shouldn't have even been allowed to stay checked in this long. Damn, am I gonna get double-billed for this?
I heard a rummaging sound around the corner of my motel room. It sounded like a squirrel was trying to find an afternoon snack in one of the garbage bins. I stepped outside. The sun was extremely bright, to the point where I had to squint and put my hand over my eyes to even see the ground in front of me. I was trying to walk toward the van, but somehow I ended up in front of the trash bins where the animal's tail was sticking out from a turned-over, silver garbage can. Its tail was wagging excitedly, and I remember thinking that it was much too large to be a squirrel.
The animal bent down as if biting onto something, and I heard the sound of its growl as it struggled to tug whatever it was free from the barrel. Inch by inch, the creature backed out of the canister, and more of its sharp, sticky hair was revealed. I heard something snap, then the creature leapt back and I saw what it was chomping on. My eyes widened in horror as the pink tube of a human intestine was pulled taut like the end of a tangled hose. Blood and entrails were spilling out of the human's opened gut. And then, behind the canine, I saw the person's face. His face was pale white, his eyes closed, and his hair was slicked back… It was Trent.
Before I could react, I heard footsteps approaching from behind. I whirled around and saw my dad. But—no, it wasn't him. It was someone wearing a paper-mache face mask that was painted to look like my dad. The forehead of the mask was already beginning to crack, white specks breaking off like sawdust. Through the cracks, I could see the figure's true form. I didn't know darkness had its own type of light, but that's the only way to describe it. It was as if malevolence itself was reified into a skin which was actually an amalgamation of millions of little, oozing parasites that leached into the nearby light. When it finally spoke, the demon's voice was a full octave lower than the old man's at the deli. And it had an earth-stilling gravitas.
"Today's the day!" He sang and reached into his pocket. His lips curled upward into a foxy smirk. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this day." He said and held up a razor blade. Half his facade had already fallen apart, and now I could see the bugs up close, writhing in what was either horror or ecstasy. And his scent… it was somehow more rank than the rabid coyote rummaging through the trash can with Trent's cut open body inside. The demon closed in on my position, and in one, decisive motion, he brought the blade close to his chin, then sliced it across my throat. "Wake up!" He screamed.
I jumped out of my bed and grabbed my throat, feeling the cold sting of its quick slice. Hyperventilating, I patted the area down, trying to hold the blood in, but when I removed my hands, I saw they were dry. It was only a dream, I thought. Gray light was only beginning to filter in through the drapes. I'm in my hotel room. I'm safe. I tried consoling, but the pragmatic mental massages weren't enough to hold the force of my knees buckling. I dropped onto the carpet and cried for a long while.
Outside, rain was beginning to fall.
***
By the time I met up with Trent, I had already composed myself and decided to keep my dad's message and the nightmare to myself. None of it seemed particularly productive from a logistical standpoint, anyway. And I wanted to focus on the mission.
We stopped by McDonald's and bought a couple cups of coffee. Trent asked if I wanted any food, and I declined. Black coffee seemed like the only thing my stomach could take at the present moment. I could tell Trent was hungry, but he tried playing it off (I guess to be respectful of me?) I told him to knock it off and get something to eat. I didn't need my Charon getting lightheaded and dropping the paddle before he finished rowing me to Hell. He didn't care much for my joke, but he ordered a couple Chicken McGriddles at the kiosk anyway.
There were maybe ten patrons spread throughout the restaurant. We sat down at the same booth from the prior night, this time across from one another. Trent spent the first ten minutes or so babbling about our fuel supply and the logistics of the trip from here on in. Practical stuff. I've come to realize that's how he deals with his stress. He talks it out in short, durable sentences. I mostly nodded and watched as what looked like a storm front closed in on the truck stop. The sky was overcast, and there were darker clouds in the distance. The rain was still only a patter, but a middle-aged man wearing a yellow bow tie on the wall-mounted TV confirmed that there would be heavier rain and thunderstorms very soon.
After the worker delivered Trent's food and he ate it in record time, I posed the one question that was still on my mind.
"How do I fight him?" I asked.
Trent finished a large gulp of his coffee, then looked at me. It was the first substantial thing I'd said all morning; Trent could tell something was off with me, but he figured there was no point in asking what it was. "By 'him', I assume you mean the demon?"
I nodded.
Trent licked his teeth clean. "You could try praying again."
"I'm serious," I responded.
"I'm serious, too. It worked before, didn't it?"
"You mean at my house?"
Trent nodded.
"I thought you weren't a religious man?"
"I'm not. Just a practical one. If praying worked before, maybe it'll work again."
"That's the best you've got? A maybe?"
"No, I've got a lot of shit better than a maybe." He answered. "It's just not accessible where you're going. Which is why I recommend not making contact on the first run."
"First run? So we're going to do this more than once?"
"At least," Trent answered. Then, seeing my expression, he continued. "What? You thought this was going to be a one-and-done? We have to conduct some research first. I did tell you this was new for me, right?"
Somehow Trent's response had set my mind at ease a little. I was going to have more than one chance. Of course, why wouldn't I be able to go back more than once?
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? It would have gone a long way in easing my mind."
Trent lifted his hands in defense. "Sorry, I just thought that was a given. I mean, what we're doing is dangerous, just like I said, but it doesn't mean we aren't going to approach this as safely and scientifically as possible. However, there is a different problem with running multiple trials."
"The Organization?"
"That's right," Trent said like a proud parent. "Our little experiment will be like a giant spotlight, and the longer we wait around after it's on us, the greater the chance we'll have unwelcome company."
"So, safe but speedy."
"Safe but speedy. Exactly."
***
We fueled up and were back on the road a little after 8:00. From that point on, Trent and I were absolutely silent. I had the distinct feeling of being in the eye of a storm. The pings moved closer commensurate with our progress toward the crash site. The cloudfront continued its advance. And I noticed a haze beginning to descend onto the road ahead of us. It was fog.
We meandered further inland, the forest thickening around us until the rain almost stopped entirely—the leaves drinking it up before it fell onto our windshield. I kept my eyes on the radar. We were approaching the large yellow circle which indicated we had arrived. As we pulled closer, I began to feel things. Fear. Eeriness. Doubt. Then happiness. Hope. Love. Normally feelings like these had a clear source to picture, but these sensations came on in waves without any discernible reason. It was almost as if they were blinking into existence inside me.
"Here we go," Trent said like an airline pilot readying his crew for turbulence.
I still recall the exact moment we crossed the boundary into the area of higher energy. It was like something just "clicked" in my brain, and all of a sudden everything felt so much closer. The sound of the rain against the trees was almost right next to my ear. The trees in the distance would oscillate between their position a half-mile out, then suddenly seem five meters away. If I focused on something long enough, it began to radiate those same ethereal particles as when Trent released Ava's "phase lock". I checked to make sure the shifter wasn't set to "TD". Sure enough, it was still in drive.
"Can you see them?" Trent asked. "The shifts?"
"Yeah," I said in a dreamy voice. I felt like I was driving through a wonderland.
"It's the energy. I barely notice a difference. A bit of movement in the trees, but not much else. But I'm sure for you, it's a whole experience."
"What is this?" I raised my hand and caught some of the pixel dust dripping off the sun visor. It disappeared when it made contact with my hand.
"It's a kind of radiation. Everything emits it, just in different quantities. I'm still not exactly sure how it relates to the other realms, but I'm guessing it's a kind of primordial matter that helps connect our worlds."
"It's beautiful," I exclaimed. "I wish I could see the world like this all the time."
"Maybe you will," Trent whispered.
As we arrived at the crash site, I began to get glimpses of the past. My childhood dreams and memories were pushing their way out from my subconscious. I noticed an increased number of blinks, which were validated by Ava who reported the following: "Currently detecting 14,350 novel emergences and 2,777 controlled agents. Net anomalies: 2,777."
"That's a lot of blinks." I remarked. "Why doesn't Ava include them in the net anomalies?"
Trent turned his head so I could see his smirk. "Because blinks aren't anomalies."
I thought about it for a second. Blinks aren't anomalies. "I never thought about it that way."
"It's hard to think about it that way when 'normal' for most people means not picking up on a fundamental aspect of reality. But that doesn't make it any less real."
We continued past the epicenter of the yellow circle. "Are we not stopping?" I asked. "I think we already passed the crash site."
"It doesn't have to be exactly at the site," Trent said. "Plus, we don't want to stop on the side of the road and risk getting some civilian involved. There's a field about half a mile up ahead. I'm going to pull off the road and set up camp there.
The "field" that Trent was referring to was actually a large clearing that dipped down into several trench-like troughs which were filled to the brim with fog like witches cauldrons. Further on in the distance, I saw open fields, probably used for farming, and then a large hill where the trees once again reasserted themselves. We had pulled off the road and up a small incline where the trees had already been broken down, leaving a trail for us to drive through. When we surfaced at the edge of the clearing, Trent pulled us onto a flat bed of dried mud which was maybe thirty yards long.
"Here," he said with a sigh.
We both sat for a minute, looking around at the field. We had finally arrived. The rain was beginning to pick up, and the dark sky made it almost impossible to discern the time of day.
"You ready?" Trent asked.
I looked at him. Really looked at him. In his blue eyes. Was I ready? Did it even matter?
"Let's do this," I said.
***
This was the first time I was really able to inspect the back of Trent's van. He had talked up his gear a lot, and honestly, I was impressed. Not in the way that a scientist is impressed by another scientist's lab—I wasn't any kind of expert—but it still seemed remarkably well managed. Now that I was in a state where my vision had been enhanced, I could actually see the enigmatic particles circulating through the pneumatic tubes which were coiled like the pipes and valves of an elaborate wind instrument. The walls of the van, itself, were glistening white, making it easier to make out everything else inside. Along the floor were five overturned columns. Each column was dark and had a vibrating quality, as if they were charged with energy. Then atop the center three columns was a small altar which supported an apparatus with two skinny, metal arms holding a silver halo. At present, the arms were folded and the halo was suspended a few inches above the altar, faced-down. I thought maybe I'd see particles exuding from it, but instead it was emitting visible waves which bent and warped everything they touched.
"That thing is emitting a lot of energy." I remarked, gesturing toward the halo.
Trent stepped in between the columns and started pulling out the packages he had stuffed in there yesterday. "Just wait till' it's on."
Most of the packages contained only a single piece of equipment, and were otherwise packed with foam peanuts. We carefully removed each box and set them on the ground outside. I asked if the rain would damage any of the stuff inside, to which Trent only laughed and continued lugging out the boxes. When they were all out, Trent removed a box cutter from his pocket and went one-by-one opening them. There were eight pieces in total.
"What is it?" I asked as we fished the first item out.
"It's another apparatus, like the one inside. Except it'll mount on the ground out here."
I pulled out what looked like a metal tripod.
"Good, that'll go on the bottom."
"Where are we setting it up?"
"Over here," Trent said and stepped five paces away from the van. He coordinated himself up so he was centrally aligned with the inner ring, then stomped a few times. "This is the spot."
As we continued to work, I asked Trent about how the whole contraption works.
"Do you remember the first time we were in the van? When we had to escape from the semi-truck?" Trent asked and connected a secondary mounting apparatus on top of the tripod. It had four spider-like legs that made right angles and stuck into the ground.
"Of course," I said. "The 'phase lock'."
"Yeah," Trent said and gestured toward the metal stick that was in my hand. I handed it to him. "The phase lock is a seal on the level of energy that the van is allowed to release. It also controls its dispersion pattern so that it releases its energy in a steady wave. This allows Ava to scan for anomalies without causing us to become an anomaly." Trent stuck the plank into the neck of the tripod.
"So when you released the phase lock, we started emitting more energy."
"That's right." Trent confirmed. "Enough to create an alternate route through a different realm."
"So we blinked into a different realm, then back, just to avoid that truck?"
"That's right."
"But why couldn't we just move out of the way?"
"Because it had locked onto us. It was tracking our motion and adjusting its course based on the amount of energy we were emitting. So in order to escape, we had to radically skew our potential energy and then use it to shift."
"Couldn't he have just followed us?"
Trent connected four more pieces to the device which now looked like an elaborate teepee. He was fishing in the last box when he spoke again. "Yeah, he could have. But it was highly improbable that he would have found us." Trent returned from the bottom of the box with another silver ring in hand. "Think of it like this. Let's say you're trying to escape from some bad guy who's coming after you, and you enter a new room you've never seen before. Would you prefer this room to have three doors to go through, or ten?"
I thought about his riddle for a second, then responded, "It depends where they go."
Trent fastened the ring atop the teepee. "Let's say they all lead to random places, or let's say they're all closets that lead nowhere. The key is that more is better, because the more doors he has to check, the less likely he is to pick the correct one. Make sense?"
"So we opened up a bunch of doors and escaped through one at random?"
"Hence the gear 'TD', for 'Trap Door'."
I marveled at the insights, but not for long. Trent hopped back in the van and pulled a lever that I hadn't seen until now. The two metal arms raised the inner ring until it was perpendicular with the altar. Then Trent clicked one of three red buttons along the back wall, and I saw what looked like a large, glass eye suspended in a magnifying glass protruding from the wall, aligned with the center of both rings. A couple seconds later, the glass eye began to focus the energy which was being fed to it from the pneumatic tubes, and a blue pyramid of light projected from it into the first ring, then from the first ring into the second ring. All three pieces were aligned at slightly diminishing heights, so the cylinder of light beamed through the second ring, into the ground.
"Alright, time for the first trial."
I felt the nerves starting up in my stomach. Trent sensed this and hopped out of the truck. It was raining quite hard now, though it was still warm. Both Trent and I were soaked, but that hardly concerned us. He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. "I know you're feeling scared." He said. "But trust me on this. You're going to do fine. Just keep in mind what we talked about. Stay a spectator. Okay?"
I looked into his blue eyes, which seemed especially gray in the dark. Still, Trent's voice was reassuring. All I had to do was trust him. Trust myself. Trust my dad. And it was all going to turn out right.
"I'm ready," I said.
Trent was still for a second, holding my eyes in his. Then he guided me behind the outer ring and into the cylinder of light.
"I should step into it now?" I asked, afraid I'd be called away immediately.
"It's not on yet, so don't worry. I still have to press another button."
I followed Trent's instructions and stood in the blue light which was centered on my chest. Then I watched as Trent ran into the back of the van and posted up next to the glass eye. "Ready?" He yelled out. It was hard to hear him over the rain, but I yelled back. "Ready!"
The next thing I saw was a blinding blue light beam from the van. I heard what sounded like a laser, then saw the cylinder oscillate, expanding and compressing. When the energy reached the second ring, I saw everything around me light up—it looked brighter than noon on a cloudless day. Then the oscillations made their way to me, and I was swallowed up whole.
***
When I came to, I was in the backseat of a car. I felt my butt rumbling. Everything was dim and quiet. And then I heard a woman's voice from in front of me.
"Mark, please, not with Lauren in the back."
The man, who I now identified as my father, pulled the cigarette away from his lips and blew the smoke at my mom. He eyed the back seat where I was sitting, using one of five markers that hadn't rolled off my lap to color a rabbit in my animal color book.
"The kid's fine." he said and took another drag.
"Mark," my mom repeated.
I saw my dad raise his hand in a rapid motion. "I said she's fine, Cheryl. Now check the map and make sure we're going the right away. I can't see shit with all this fog."
I took a moment to make sure I was really in the back seat. I patted myself. I clearly had weight. Then I tried touching the car. At first, my fingertips met a solid surface, but when I tried to press through, my hand slipped into the car. I quickly pulled my hand away as if I had reached into a fire.
That's when I heard the little three year old next to me start crying. I turned and saw that little-me had dropped another couple markers onto the ground and was struggling to reach them.
"Hey!" my dad shouted. "What did I say about crying?"
"Quit it, Mark. She just dropped her markers." said my mom; she turned to help me pick them up.
"What did you say to me?" Mark spat with a voice full of guile. He reached out and pushed her back into her seat. "Don't," he commanded. "She has to learn how to deal with life."
"Deal…" My mom started in disbelief. "Deal with life? Do you hear yourself? What's gotten into you?"
"Sometimes shit happens. It doesn't give her the right to cry. You helping her is just going to reinforce her behavior."
"Her behavior? What about your behavior? You're acting like a total dick."
I didn't even have a moment to react before my dad's hand was across my mom's face. I felt the slap more than I heard it, my own face seeming to swell with the force of the blow. I saw my mom cover her mouth and lean away. Then little-me began to cry even louder, which only challenged my dad to step up his own volume.
"Everyone needs to get a fucking grip before I crash this car." My dad shouted and took another drag. The scariest part was I couldn't tell if he was warning us or threatening us. I felt the sudden urge to do something. There was no way this was real. I was definitely in some fantasy concocted by the demon. He wanted to turn me against my dad. That was the only explanation for something like this. My dad was a good man, not… this.
As I contemplated what to do, I saw a small, golden light appear behind little-me's window. Apparently she saw it, too, because her cries hushed as she traced the wisp with her eyes. After a second, the wisp transformed into a bunny rabbit, reminiscent of the one she was coloring. The rabbit hopped alongside the window, then did a couple circles in place. I watched little me let out a playful laugh and reach toward the window.
"What's going on back there?" my dad asked with a scowl. Apparently the only sound more disturbing than cries were laughs.
I looked back to the front and saw my mom wiping blood from her lip. Her expression was miserable. "Leave her alone, Mark."
"I'll do whatever I damn well want to do, Cheryl. It's my kid back there."
My mom was quiet.
When I looked back toward the rabbit, it was no longer a rabbit but a person. Or at least it looked like a person. The figure radiated pure gold, and atop his head was what appeared to be a King's crown. I recalled Allison's experience of seeing the sun-like figure in her moment of distress. Was that what was happening here? Was this really all true?
"Hey!" My dad shouted, eyeing little-me from the rear-view mirror. "What are you reaching at?"
I looked and saw the golden figure extending his hand toward the window, and little me's hand was reaching back. "Mom, dad, it bright." little-me said.
"What's bright, honey?" my mom asked.
"Don't encourage her, Cheryl."
"Someone there!" little me shouted happily and dropped the rest of the markers and the coloring book onto the ground.
"Who's there?" asked my mom.
"Cheryl, I swear to God. Sit the fuck down."
Everything from that moment on happened so quickly I barely had any time to process it. My mom lifted out of her seat to either get little me's attention or help me pick up my coloring book. My dad responded by grabbing onto her throat, letting go of the steering wheel entirely. He threw her back against the car door, and her head hit the window so hard, the glass cracked. My dad had dropped his cigarette, and I could smell smoke coming from under his seat, but that didn't seem to bother him at all. He turned toward little-me at the same moment my three-year-old hand reached out and grabbed onto the golden figure, whose hand diffused through the window. When my dad turned, I got a whiff of the most awful smell that I wouldn't have been able to place had I not had that nightmare last night. He grabbed onto little-me's shoulder and tugged her away from the golden figure that was trying to pull her the other way. My dad's facade began to crack, and I could see those dark bugs crawling out from the pores in his arms, marching down toward little-me.
I reacted.
I grabbed onto my dad's arm and pulled him off little-me. I heard the sound of my shirt ripping as she was torn from his grip and pulled out of the car, diffusing through it like a ghost. My brief victory was immediately overturned as I saw what was now clearly the demon smiling at me, his wretched fingers curled around my forearm.
"Caught you," He sneered.
Then the whole world once again diffused into countless numbers of particles, only this time, instead of riding through it, I felt like I was falling through an elevator shaft with each floor darker than the last. The further I fell, the less I became aware of my surroundings, and the more I felt a deep sense of loneliness. It was as if I was the only person in the whole world: and the whole world was a prison designed entirely for me. This went on for so long, I began to forget who I was. Where I was. What was.
And then I landed.
***
Source Used:
Jung, Carl. Synchronicity. Translated by Sonu Shamdasani, Princeton University Press, 2010.
2024.06.09 22:01 Euphoric_Advice_2770 Shoutout to Safeway Security
Just left Safeway on 14th St SE and I see this guy drop his bag of groceries, mostly beer, onto the sidewalk before taking off sprinting. Hot on his heels is a security guard probably in his late 60’s who was about to tackle him but stopped and started picking up the items.
Security at grocery stores in DC is usually a joke and made fun of a lot because of how they seemingly do nothing and sit on their phones. But this time I actually saw this older man put in the effort and running full tilt after this thief.
submitted by Euphoric_Advice_2770 to washdc [link] [comments]
Security at grocery stores in DC is usually a joke and made fun of a lot because of how they seemingly do nothing and sit on their phones. But this time I actually saw this older man put in the effort and running full tilt after this thief.