Jar guy video

Hi all,
I am a young English teacher based in VIC. With the new study design I have noticed a shortage of VCE English content on YouTube - guys like Darren Tan who have done this in the past have finished up, and I’ve always been interested in short instructional videos to assist students state-wide.
My question is: what are the laws around creating educational content outside of the workplace? If this content was monetised, how stringently is it followed in terms of intellectual property? I’ve heard small things about it being a legal minefield in terms of proving IP is yours, rather than your school’s.
Any guidance would be appreciated!

Hey everyone, my name is Eila, I’m from the US (MDT), and in approximately a week I will turn the wonderful age of 18! I’m in a desperate search for any group or people to game with, as I’m terribly bored. It should be noted that I just graduated high school, so my schedule is (mostly) wide open. I’m really just looking for a good friendship if I can find it, someone I can play with on a regular basis, and someone who’s not a jerk and who I can get along with.
- List of games is further down the post if you’re looking for it -
Getting to know me:
I’m not that serious of a player and I’m more here for fun, of which I promise I’m a blast to be around, and I’m super eccentric. If someone who is really talkative and weird is not your style, you’re probably looking in the wrong place. I’m a huge nerd who’s into Comics, Movies, Pop Culture, DnD, Writing, Music, and Digital Art. I’ve also just started (successfully) figuring out how to mod games and a few of the ones listed below have already been tinkered with :D. I would LOVE a friend that likes to chat about stuff outside of gaming too.
Sorry (not sorry) to say that if you’re anti-gay, racist, transphobic, or sexist, I would really prefer if you didn’t reply to this post with the intention of becoming my friend, because it just won’t work out. I am happily a part of the LGBTQ+ community and I don’t tolerate that hateful bs. On a separate note, I fully don’t mind if you have a religion you are dedicated to, just please show some respect and don’t try to convert me. I don’t think I’d be comfortable gaming with anyone too far out of my age range, so unfortunately if you think you’re too young or old for this post, you probably are.
GAMES:
Games I play right now (The ones I'm really looking for): Fortnite, Stardew Valley, Baldur's Gate 3, Sky: Children of light, and Minecraft Bedrock (soon to additionally be Java).
Games I have played (of which I could be a little rusty): Diablo lll, Fall Guy, Sea of Thieves, Human Fall Flat, Elder Scrolls Online, Roblox, 7 Days to Die, and ARK survival.
Games I have downloaded: Halo 5, Forza Motorsport, Diablo lV, Minecraft Dungeons, Apex Legends, Overwatch 2, Among Us, Among Us VR, and VR Chat.
There are some other games I've considered, but I don’t have a tendency of buying games without actually playing them, so you might have to sell me on it if you want to play it together.
Anyways, hopefully someone will find this post and say to themselves “Man she sounds cool, maybe I can be cool too and play video games with her.” but until that happens, this post will stay up. If you’re interested, by all means, message me with your age, your name, and the games we have in common that you’d be looking to play!
Let me know, and see ya later

Hello guys, new here. Just found these two watches that are 1:1 to the original Apple watch Ultra for 45-60$ and I felt that I need one. Don't get me wrong I use my watch as an accessory more than a gadget. The two things that I want and need to be working fine are to show the time correctly and to have notifications (especially from Facebook messenger) with sound.
Can you share some experience about both watches. If you can provide a video of the watch receiving a notification just to see how it looks and sounds I will be very happy.
Other info why should I buy HW3+ instead of HK9 or vise versa will be appreciated!

I just got invited to a party tomorrow night by an old colleague of my who's a good friend of mine. They've booked an apartment in London to have the party and there's like 9 people coming excluding me. She first told me to really come because she wanted to link me up with another guy of mine who'd take good care of me and shower me with money when she knows I'm taken, then I reminded her I'm in a relationship with my boyfriend, she then asks me to send a video of myself because the guys want to see what I look like before I get there so I send it to her since I trust her but I still thought it was weird since they're going to see me anyways.
The party starts at 10pm tomorrow and it's overnight, she insisted that I come and said stuff like don't let your boyfriend tell you what to do and idk I just felt really weird, I asked her if my boyfriend can drop me off and she goes yh as long as he doesn't come it's fine cuz it'll be weird otherwise.
All of a sudden maybe I'm just overthinking but I had a sudden gut feeling that I shouldn't go and it wouldn't be safe for me to go. I don't know anyone there apart from her. I've never had such a gut feeling of danger before but it's gone now but I don't know if I should still go.
My mind kept telling me something terrible might happen or I might get killed lol.
Should I go or not?
P.s After a few hours my boyfriend calls me telling me he had a dream that I got beaten up by a group and killed in a separate dream?? He wasn't sure if it was me so..

literally just a moving block sprite in the water but collision logic was being annoying. Still, my guy can swim. hell yea
ignore that water tile ruining my video

I’m taking your guys advice and starting in the Scandinavian countries first instead of doing south to north like I planned.
I have been looking into Nordlandsruta as well as Kungsleden as 2 possible long-distance hikes to start with. They look fantastic but I have been watching YouTube videos and it looks like it’s just constant rain and wind, specifically on Nordlandsruta. Is this the reality for July/August? Is there a better time of year for these trails? Are my feet going to be wet 24/7? For anyone who has done these trails I would definitely appreciate some advice! Thanks

Hi Guys,
New to PS4 Pro. Just bought and jailbroke on v11
I am using goldhen cheat manager 1.1.4. I installed few games. I update cheat manager database online (default options in cheat manager). Specially looking for 60 fps patches. I applied 60fps patch for NFS Heat but it's also not hitting 60 fps while playing. When I start game, it says patch is applied and so many number of lines applied.
Do I need more sources for patches from somewhere else?
Do we still need to do this process shown in video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwe1Wbp9-HU ?
I read that illusion patches are already merged in new goldhen cheat manager so assuming they are already available.
I have god of war, bloodborne, spider-man miles and morales, PT are installed currently.
Plugins loader is enabled in goldhen settings.

I’m AuDHD and I (28m) generally don’t struggle socially, but romance/seduction/dating is a foreign language to me.
I’ve never dated anyone, I can’t remember the last time someone took interest in me, and nothing I do seems to move the needle let alone give me some idea of how to improve.
Something’s gotta give. I need to find fairly specific guidance.
“Just be yourself” and “don’t be creepy” are not only unhelpful but they’re too broad. When you need to learn how to drive, you need someone to teach you how to buckle your seatbelt, start the car, check your mirrors, etc. It doesn’t help for someone to tell you to drive cautiously or to be relaxed. (And it certainly doesn’t help for someone to tell you to just get out there and crash into things until you eventually intuit how not to crash).
So for the autistic guys on this sub who have found success, what was it? Is there a book or YouTube video or TV show you recommend? Anything?
(Requests for “seduction” advice tend to attract toxic PUA and “red-pill” ideas. Respectfully, I will not reply to such responses.)

So I just recently switch from Nintendo switch to pc, and it's actually not going very well. My aim is horrible and I can't play Lucio anymore. Especially when I binded my jump to scroll wheel. Is there any tips or videos that help you guys understand how to wall ride with the scroll wheel? Or the more I try to play the more I will get the hang of it?

im friends with this guy at school and i like him a lot. i decided to follow him on tiktok today and he immediately followed me back. a few hours later i got a notification that he went through my page and liked all my videos (there's only 5 of them.) what does this even mean? he's been giving me mixed signals lately too so i genuinely don't know if he feels the same way. sometimes talking to him at school just feels so normal like he's a friend, but when i get home i want him. im actually so confused. are we just friends? does he like me or does he not? what do guys even if they like a girl?

Hi guys, I figured this would be the best place to ask. I want to inlay some sort of token or small coin, into a handle of one of my Spydercos. Inlay is usually into wood but is there a way to do it into plastic? If so any ideas or good videos/articles to check out?

im friends with this guy at school and i like him a lot. i decided to follow him on tiktok today and he immediately followed me back. a few hours later i got a notification that he went through my page and liked all my videos (there's only 5 of them.) what does this even mean? he's been giving me mixed signals lately too so i genuinely don't know if he feels the same way. sometimes talking to him at school just feels so normal like he’s a friend, but when i get home i want him. im actually so confused. are we just friends? does he like me or does he not?

Does anyone know that guy on youtube who did the most amazing cover of Hallelujah in a church (or something) it wasn't best video recording. But it was the most amazing rendition of it and it was on youtube for years. Finger plucked. Please! Thank you!
(He also tuned about 2 mins into playing if that helps.)

So I don’t know why but the godskin apostle (one in the basement) was the hardest boss I’ve fought so far in Elden ring, even harder than Radahn. So I’ve finally beaten him and I want to use his sword because I like the meteoric ore blade but I just don’t think it can keep up anymore, however when I equip godslayer sword I’m too heavy, so I decided to go get great jars arsenal but now I’m having too much trouble with the guys you fight there, any tips???

Butterfly - Smile
As you can see, in the music video above or notably Blue (Da ba dee) by Eiffel 65, there were music videos that had a mix of low budget CGI with love action characters. Something about that Butt Ugly Martians level bad CGI kinda feels right. It gives me a so bad its good feeling. This wasn't really the beginning of that, as the Money for Nothing music video did that in 1985, but it became sorta mainstream in the late 90's early 2000's.

(mods took this down and said put it in discussion, but i can’t put it there because it’s too long i think. if it needs to get taken down i understand! but ive seen others up so im giving it another try)
doing a relisten as I write this :) ratings all /100
overcompensate - 78: incredible song on its own. people have been saying ALL the singles feel separate from this album, but i think that’s just because they’ve been out much longer. OC is the only song that truly feels separate. that being said, absolute banger and still a crazy way to start an album/live shows
next semester - 80: this was my most listened to song of all time three days after it dropped. love the 2000s punk vibes. that ending sells it for me. absolutely beautiful. was really surprised when paul did the “production peek” and there’s not a single guitar on this song😟
backslide - 82: looking back, this song gave us a huge look into what a lot of the album would sound like. dry delivery, passionate chorus, and filled to the brim with weird noises and synths. this one feels underrated because i know a lot of people aren’t a huge fan, but this became my favorite of the three singles after a few listens. that chorus is beautiful. the end is so weird too but it scratches my brain. thank you paul meany
midwest indigo - 93: that second verse is probably on of my favorites in their whole discography. CLOUD COVERAGE MATCHED MY OUTFIT TO A KNIFE (heavily processed scream) I REQUESTED COUNCIL WITH THE COUNSELOR AND HE CANCELED TWICE‼️‼️‼️ that’s all i have to say.
routines in the night - 95: my favorite here on first listen. the chorus is so catchy and the vocal production is so clean. i like the slightly autotuned second verse. his flow is great and the tricks they’re doing to the vocals is so cool. the prechorus on this song is also beautiful. “the space between a painful reminder and a terrible dream” the writing on this record is amazing
vignette - 100: masterpiece of a song. feels like im getting pushed out of a plane. i could not BELIEVE that chorus when i first heard it. one of tyler’s best falsettos and maybe best recorded vocal performances. it all feels very self titled, but if it were produced by modern twenty one pilots. im so glad they’re using real (or at least very convincing) string sections.
the craving - 72: beautiful love song. none of the previous album love songs were quite as “real” as this one. truly feels like the intersection between personal struggle, insecurity, and unrelenting love for another person. i’m a little iffy on some of the vocal deliveries and it does slow down the album a bit. however, after i listen to the album more, i feel like it’s a much needed slowdown and the placement is really thoughtful.
lavish - 75: this song is ridiculous. it grows on me every single time i listen. that beat truly does feel like a million dollars and it’s hilarious hearing tyler rap over it. i didn’t like the chorus initially but again, after more listens, it works so well and it adds so much to the song. and then of course there’s the proctologist line. it took me so long to get it and even now i only have a vague understanding of what it could mean😭 either way it makes me laugh every time and im grateful for the inclusion
navigating - 85: ive seen the next semester music video so many times that the bass lick from navigating has been drilled into my head as the start of next semester. now it’s forever tied to that song and it’s so jarring hearing that part here. anyways this song ROCKS. feels super interpol to me. the drumming on this whole album is fantastic and a step up from previous albums but josh stands out here like he never really has. i can’t wait to hear this live and see josh going crazy on the drums. MY OH MY‼️
snap back - 55: i think the thing that gets me is that silly mallet synth in the background. it’s not bad, but it pulls me out of the song and album a little bit. i actually like tyler’s vocal delivery a lot, but unlike most of the vocal tricks on the album, the weird panning high shifted vocals don’t do it for me. all of the sung parts that occur in the first minute and 55 seconds kinda bother me. the song really gets better for me after 1:55, but it isn’t enough to save it for me. i really hope that this one grows on me because there are a ton of cool ideas.
oldies station - 70: people were saying this sounded like AJR. i was confused until i heard those crowd vocals😔 i am not a fan of the way that was executed and it unfortunately does feel very AJR. i thought it was going to be repeated a ton of times, but i was happily very incorrect about that. the song builds out beautifully, and even with the crowd vocals part, this song is written incredibly. was the only song besides maybe next semester to have me holding back tears.
at the risk of feeling dumb - 75: was afraid seeing the name of this song when the tracklist was revealed. it felt a little immature? but knowing what it’s actually about puts me at ease. the intro feels a little silly for the subject matter, but the song it builds into what i was hoping for by the end of the first verse. i love the sentiment and i think it’s communicated perfectly in this song
paladin strait - 83: the only thing holding this back from a 100 is the fact that the bird part wasn’t 6 and a half minutes instead of one minute😔 but for real, JOSH SINGS? i think. i saw someone point it out in the discord, and it sounds like his voice in the “making my way towards you”. i hope that’s him, i really do. i wish this song was really 6 and a half minutes of material instead of 5, but we can only dream of the true 6.5 minute song. its a great closer to this album, but im a sucker for piano ballads so i wish there was at least a little bit of piano in here, but that goes with what i think about the lore. i will elaborate in full album review.
personal ranking:

1. routines
2. vignette
3. midwest indigo
4. backslide
5. lavish
6. navigating
7. next semester
8. overcompensate
9. paladin strait
10. the craving
11. at the risk of feeling dumb
12. oldies station
13. snap back

i love this album. it’s not trench, but it doesn’t have to be. i’m still a trench lover until the day i die, but this album has so many different ideas whereas trench had a cohesive sound palette. the reason i bring up trench at all is because so many people are comparing the two when i feel like they fill their own roles. anyways, this is an incredible collection of songs and i feel like josh truly gets a chance to shine here. tyler’s vocal performances are better than they ever have been, recording wise, and i think everything from the album cover, to the tracklist, to the singles were executed really well. one thing is for certain, this is not the end of the lore. only two songs were directly tied to the lore, being the first and last. whether it’s through videos, singles, concerts, or even another album, i can’t wait to see the true end to it all. personally, i wouldn’t like the non-lore songs to become videos that actually help end it all. it was fine on SAI with saturday and the outside, but i preferred lore related songs with lore related videos like on trench. i don’t believe there will be a double album just because they’ve already done all the promotion, music videos, sold physical copies, and are touring THIS album for the coming year. the only thing they could do immediately in terms of new music would be to release clancy 2 or clancy deluxe with the same aesthetic, but that’s no fun. i simply think tyler and josh are lying and we’ll get another album that’s more lore heavy. paladin strait does not feel like an ending to even the story this album is trying to set up. closer? yes. but not an ending. it’s very transitional and i’d be genuinely surprised if it doesn’t lead into a future album. especially with blurryface popping up at the end. if you got this far, thank you for listening to the ramblings.
album rating: 84/100

So I bought this game when it first came out after playing the demo, and it's been sitting in a backlog since. When starting it yesterday, I remembered the demo as a goofy action jrp, with some pervy charm and humor up my alley.
Just finished it and god damn, what a fucking ride. I thought this game was going to maintain its goofy side, and not really have such an emotional ending.
I decided to go with Yohan because I figured games similar (persona) never let you romance the guy, so what the hell, why not. Also him showing up kinda late made me want to get to know the character more, as I felt bad that I got to see the other characters more. I felt like if I didn't hang out with Yohan I wouldn't really care about him.
I was actually really happy with that choice, because I have an older brother too, and I've said things like Yohan to mine. My brother is still alive (thank god), but it still made me feel closer to the character.
The hand holding mechanic seemed a little funny to me when the prompt first came up, but now it just sucks. At the end I didn't want to let go of his hand. Yohan talking about how after many years of living, his time with me, or I guess the mc, made him feel alive made it hurt to have to be the one to let him go, it felt like I was killing him.
This was actually one of the closest I've felt to a video game relationship, and I'm actually a little worried about how empty the ending made me feel. Like what the hell is wrong with me where a game with fucking tentacle hentai jokes is bringing me to the verge of tears.
Great job to the developers, came for the dumb humor, stayed for the characters. I will never forget about the porn we stole from your grandfather.

I believe the music video is in black and white with a cross-eyed bearded guy walking through the streets, switching to a bunch of other characters thorughout the video. Can't remember the name of the song.

I first started noticing that something was wrong around 3 months ago. At the time, I was working from home and would usually light a scented candle while I worked, which usually helped me relax and stay focused on my work. I would usually burn through a candle a week, but over time, the candles started to take less time to fully burn up. At first, I thought that this was because of a change in ingredients the company that made the candles used, but the problem persisted after I switched candle brands, which I once again blamed on the candle manufacturers.
I kept this belief for another week until the first incident. While getting up from my computer desk, which faces away from the candle, to take a quick bathroom break, I caught a glimpse of the lit candle. A two-inch layer of molten wax rested on another three-inch layer of solid wax, the wicks rising out at first and being somewhat visible through the molten layer, finally breaking the surface and being slowly burned away. The flames flickered as I swung the door open and walked out of the room. When I returned 10 minutes later, the molten layer was gone, and the wicks had been shortened so that the flames rested right above the solid layer of the wax. At first, I thought that the glass jar that contained the candle was leaking, but after a short inspection, I was only able to find two small drops of candle wax that had solidified right next to the candle on the bedside table. I still had 2 hours of work left to do, but I was too lost in thought and was unable to do any work for the rest of the day.
Every night before I go to sleep, I like to read for at least 30 minutes, and while reading, I usually light a candle. Around 4 days later, I had mostly forgotten about the incident and went back to using candles. Due to my naivety, it returned.
I fell asleep while reading with a candle lit on my bedside table. I woke up to loud slurping noises. As I opened my eyes, the brightness of the light I had not turned off almost blinded me. As my eyes tried to readjust to the light and focus on what was in front of me, I saw a somewhat humanoid dark gray to light blue blur that contrasted with the white paint on the walls behind it. Another gray line stretched from the shape's head to the candle on my bedside table. I could feel my heart skip five consecutive beats. I opened my mouth and tried to force out a scream for help, but the pressure I applied to my throat was way beyond what it was able to handle, leading me to only produce a light wheezing sound. I tried to sit up or to at least prop myself up, but my muscles failed me. Trying to push myself up with my arms felt impossible. As I stared at the figure that had suddenly appeared in my room, my eyes finally managed to focus, making it possible for me to see the intruder who was now staring at me. The figure was a man at least 7 feet tall, fully naked; he looked bloated; his eyes were bloodshot and looked like they would pop out of their sockets; at any point, his skin was a grayish light blue.
HIS LIPS
His lips extended from his mouth like an elephant's trunk, which had been split in half. The lips extended from the man's face to the candle; the flames had been put out. He was using his lips as a makeshift straw, slowly sucking up all the molten wax from the candle, which had fully liquified while I was asleep. I laid in bed, unable to move, unable to scream for help, staring until he emptied the jar. His lips retracted back to his face, the molten wax solidifying on their tips and cracking, flakes of wax falling off the man's lips and falling to the floor. The man grinned, staring at me. The ridges and gaps between the teeth were filled in with wax, making it impossible to make out where one tooth ended and the next one began. The man opened the door he was standing next to, but instead of walking out of the room, he stepped behind it. His face peered at me from above the door, and then once again, like he had done to drink the wax, the man puckered his lips, which stretched from his mouth and floated to me. I shook and tried to roll over away from him. I wanted to get up and run, but my fear had taken over my body. Tears flowed from my eyes. He kissed me on the cheek, leaving flakes of wax and light moisture. He retracted his lips and lowered his head behind the door.
I don't remember falling asleep, but when I woke up, I saw the empty glass jar, which at one point contained the candle. Even though I had hoped that what had happened was a dream, it wasn't. I still had flakes of wax on my cheek, and on my bedroom floor, the wax in the jar had disappeared. I called the police, but they were unable to find anyone in my apartment; they also could not find any evidence of a break-in.
After the break-in, I started looking for a new apartment to move to, thinking that the man was tied to the building I was in, but even though I had thrown out all of my candles, I could not stomach spending another hour in my apartment, constantly looking over my shoulder or walking around with my back pressed up against the wall to not allow it to creep up on me. Thankfully, my friend Emma was able to let me stay over at her apartment while I looked for a new one for myself.
Me and Emma have been friends since we were 8, and we've been there to support each other when times get rough. This isn’t the first time I've had to stay over at her house for an extended amount of time; in fact, I have had to stay over at Emma’s as many times as she has had to stay over at my apartment, whether it was because of evictions after losing a job, breakups, or a candle wax drinking squatter. I didn't even know if it was human. I mean, sure, it looked like one, but human lips are not supposed to do what his did, and somehow it didn't have a reaction to molten wax being poured down its esophagus. I didn't tell Emma about what happened—the details at least—I just told her that a man had broken into my house and was watching me sleep. The only people I told the truth to were my therapist and the cops, and all of them disregarded what I told them as my mind making things up after a traumatic event.
For a while, I believed what they said—I mean, why wouldn’t I?—but then I started seeing him again. For a few days, I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me again like it had done during the night of the incident. For split seconds out of the corner of my eye, I would see the outline of a tall, bloated figure. At first, they were hours apart, but after a while, it became constant. He was standing in each room I passed, in every single dark corner I glanced past, and then he spoke.
“FeeD MeEeee”
It stood in the kitchen, peering over from a small gap between the fridge and the sink, where the trash can that had been knocked over onto its side usually stood. His voice was raspy, and every word that came out of his mouth was distorted as if he were gargling water, but still, I could somehow clearly make out each word he said from over 15 feet away.
“Please just leave me alone I… why are you following me?”
I shouted at the figure, the same fear that had taken over my body during the night I saw him for the first time paralyzing me, making it impossible for me to move anything other than my eyes, eyelids, and mouth.
“i’M sTarviNg, I nEEd You To FeEd ME”
It replied again. Now, stepping out from behind the fridge, he stepped directly onto a rotten banana. Its mushy brown content’s seeping out of the peel under the pressure of his decomposing foot, which was covered in scabs, and took up the same grayish light blue color as the rest of his body. He mostly looked the same; his bloodshot eyes bulged from their sockets, but now his tongue was swollen. It peeked out from between his bloated, cracked gray lips; it stared at me, waiting for an answer.
“Ok, I’ll.. I’ll feed you, but please just... leave me alone.”
I replied, the tone of my voice shifting into high-pitched squeals with every quick breath I took. He looked satisfied by my response. He somehow squeezed his bloated body back into the gap that was at least four times smaller than him. After peering over at me from above the fridge, he bent over backwards, his spine releasing a series of sickening cracks until he was fully obscured by the fridge, and then he vanished.
Still barely in control of my body, I limped over to the couch tucked away in the back corner of the living room, it took me at least 10 minutes to steady my breathing and 20 more to fully regain control of my body again but as soon as I did I ran out the house and to the nearest store, during the 15-minute walk he stared at me through dark windows and the backs of cars, peered out at me from gaps between leaves in the trees and bushes, he even followed me into the store staring at me from the middle of deserted isles before disappearing right before my eyes were able to fully catch him, once I finally got the candles I randomly picked four off of the shelves and rushed to the self checkout.
When I arrived home, I had 2 hours before Emma got off work. I didn't want to feed it while she was home, and I didn't want her to see it. I pulled out two of the candles from the black plastic bag and placed them on the kitchen table, the first a light blue candle named “Garden Rain” and the second a red candle named “Juicy Watermelon." I pulled out a lighter from one of the drawers Emma used after her stove stopped lighting on its own and lit each of the 6 wicks on the candles. As soon as I started seeing the wax melt under the heat of the burning wicks, I dropped the lighter onto the table next to the candles and ran out of the room. I could not stomach seeing that thing again; even just thinking about it made me shudder and hyperventilate. The paralyzing fear that seeing him caused me made me want to vomit.
At least 30 minutes later I started to hear it drink even though the living room and kitchen were separated by a wall, even though I had closed the door I could still hear what at first started as slurping sounds which were followed up by loud gulps, then it stopped, and once again 30 minutes later it started drinking, as the slurping started once again I heard the door to the apartment crack open, it was Emma, as she stepped through the door I saw her carrying two large brown paper bags of groceries in her hands, she was headed to the kitchen.
“Hey let me grab those for you”
I said running over to her, my voice shaking.
“Oh, thanks. Are you… okay, you look scared?”
My eyes shot wide open in a mixture of fear and surprise. I said the first thing that came to mind.
“Yeah just umm… I didn't expect you to come home so early and I got a bit spooked”
“shit sorry, I know I should have called you, work let me off early today,”
I started to turn away from her walking to the kitchen.
Trying to keep her away from the kitchen I told her to wait for me in the living room because I wanted to talk to her about something. I didn't know what I would talk to her about but that was a problem for future me to resolve, somehow it worked.
“What's that sound?”
She called out to me while walking towards the living room couch. It took me a few seconds to come up with an excuse.
“I think it’s the sink, or the pipes at least”
I opened the door to the kitchen with my eyes closed at first hesitant to look knowing what would be greeting me. slowly prying my eyes open I started to see its outline, my muscles started to lose strength as the details of the man came into my view, I felt the grocery bags start to slip from my arms, my knees buckled, face first I fell onto the kitchen floor scattering the groceries all over the floor, I mixture of a light scream and a yelp escaped from my mouth as my body made contact with the floor, Emma concerned for my safety ran into the kitchen, she didn't scream, using all of the strength and mobility I had left in my muscles I rolled over expecting to see her face drenched in terror, her body frozen still unable to move just like my body had done the first time that I saw him, but Emma looked concerned, the man was gone, she crouched down beside me.
“Oh my god are you ok? What happened?”
I looked around observing my surroundings.
“I um… I… I tripped on the little thing at the bottom of the doorframe”
I finally managed to blurt out another excuse, not being able to remember what the name of a door sill was. I started to sit up using a part of the energy that had returned to my body, pain pulsed through my chest and arms, Emma looked at me with a concerned face.
“You've been acting really weird since I got home, are you sure you're ok?”
“Yeah… I think I’m just having one of those days you know”
The confusion on Emma’s face said that she didn’t know and to be honest I didn't either, I guess my luck of pulling random excuses out of my ass ran out, Emma thought that she triggered some sort of PTSD response after barging into the house unannounced at first apologizing then trying to change the subject to stop my trembling which I was still unsuccessfully trying to hide from her.
“Did you buy candles?”
Emma asked picking the groceries apart from the garbage that spilled out the can that the man had knocked over, placing them on the table next to the now half-empty glass jars, the flames flickered above the inch or so of molten wax the man was unable to finish drinking.
“Yeah I’ve been struggling with work lately, they usually help me focus”
“Huh Interesting combination you’ve got going on here”
She looked at me and smiled slightly, I smiled back and chuckled to seem normal.
“Yeah even I don't know what I was trying to accomplish here, to be honest”
I tried to help Emma clean up the spilled groceries but she did not let me, she told me that I needed to recover like I had been in a car crash instead of having taken a little tumble. After a few seconds of silence, Emma spoke again.
“Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about earlier?”
A quick jolt of stress shot through my body, in a jumbled mess of lies and fear I had forgotten what I had told Emma, I sat there in silence for a few seconds unable to come up with an excuse
“I…umm… I don’t remember, it wasn't anything serious though”
“Damn did you hit your head too?”
She said once again proudly smiling at her joke.
At this point Emma picked up the last bag of potato chips from the floor and placed it on the table, then she opened the fridge and started loading the groceries into it.
“Anyway I gotta go get back to work’’
I blurted out after a few more seconds of awkward silence.
“Alright well good luck”
I walked over into the living room and sat down in front of my workstation, which now consisted of a laptop sitting on a small foldable TV tray that had just barely enough room left on it to fit a small USB mouse.
The last thing I remember, before I fell asleep, was me mindlessly scrolling through apartment listings while Emma watched a random 90’s horror movie I’m positive only had a budget of $500.
I woke up with a light stinging pain shooting through my dry throat, and a dim hissing sound caused by thousands of water drops striking the ground outside filled the room. I pressed the spacebar on my laptop, the brightness of the screen blinding me temporarily, after taking a few seconds to let my eyes readjust I managed to make out the time, 3:45 AM. A strong smell I was unable to make out the origin of assaulted my nostrils. Lavender.
The smell hitting my nose had the same effect on me that I would expect smelling salts would have on a weightlifter right before they set a world record. Before I knew it my legs were moving on their own at an almost uncontrollable pace, fighting back against my mind which was telling them to slow down after years of being used to navigating both mine and Emma’s apartment as steadily as possible to not bother the neighbors.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity I stood before Emma’s bedroom door, a faint, yellow, pulsating light radiated from a lamp and snuck out of a small gap between the door and the doorframe, reluctantly I pushed my left hand up against the door, my right hand grasping onto the door frame for a sense of stability, once the door was fully agape I scanned the inside of the room my heart skipping a beat for every humanoid shadow cast up onto the wall by the lights from the wicks which were set ablaze and were being slowly burnt away.
I walked into Emma’s room and made my way over to her bedside table to put out the candle, as I stepped closer towards her, her face became more defined, I could finally make out her features, she was awake, but no she could not have been, even though her eyes were wide open they never blinked, she didn't even move slightly, as I moved closer I finally managed to fully make out the expression of pure terror on her face, her mouth wide agape as if she was about to release a deafening screach, but she could not have, a single drop of solidified wax dribbled out of the corner of her mouth and clung to her cheek, my eyes traced the cream colored path back towards her mouth, first up her cheek then between the corner of her mouth and finally behind her teeth, there instead of her tongue or the roof of her mouth I saw a wall of wax which had filled in the entirety of her mouth.
I fell to my knees and hunched forward supporting my body weight with my arms, I was too late, I resisted the urge to vomit and got back up onto my feet, a mixture of tears and snot slid down my face and onto my lips, shaking now I slowly started limping over towards my phone which I had left on the couch next to where I had awoken just minutes before, just minutes before my life was destroyed because of my lies if I had just told Emma what I had gone through, if I had just told her what had happened on the night of the incident which now seemed trivial, even if she thought that I was crazy, I know that she would have complied just to make me feel comfortable.
It took me at least 30 seconds of repeated attempts to stabilize my hands enough to properly dial 911. “Someone broke into my apartment and hurt my friend” was the only reasonable explanation I could come up with that would not get the operator to hang up on me thinking that this was a prank call.
I sat there in the living room for an agonizing 10 minutes, crying, my sadness slowly transformed into anger towards myself, and my mind raced thinking of all the lies I’d told, I kept thinking that if I had just told her the truth she would not have been laying there in her bed, her body bloated, “every single orifice has signs of forced penetration and has been filled with what seems to be candle wax” is what was written on her autopsy report.
For a few days I was the main suspect in Emma’s murder, but due to the almost unstoppable crying and the unresponsive state that I was in when the police arrived, mixed with the lack of evidence of me having a way to produce 30 pounds of candle wax led to me being released out of police custody, but because I was the main suspect I was not told any details about what had fully happened to Emma, for days all I had to work off of was the image of her face frozen in terror, and a short glance I caught of her bloated body as she was being carted out on a stretcher.
I recounted every single word of our last conversations over and over again until they became permanently etched into my brain.
Emma’s parents originally wanted to cremate her, as that is what she had somewhat jokingly asked for whenever the topic of funerals came up, well she had joked about wanting to have had unpopped popcorn shoved down her throat before she was sent off to “scare the shit out of the guy cremating me” but due to all the wax which would have been impossible to get out of her body they were forced to bury her.
A few days before Emma’s funeral her body disappeared.
After Emma’s death, her parents took me into their home, after reading the autopsy reports and seeing her corpse they had thrown out every single candle they owned which made their home the safest choice I had, still, this did not stop me from buying a machete and keeping it under my bed, just in case.
I was laying on the bed in their guest bedroom The day that the police informed Emma’s parents about her disappearance, the bedroom is right above the front porch of the house, at first I heard them ring the doorbell which was followed up by 3 powerful knocks on the door, for about a minute I laid there on the bed listening to muffled voices exchanging distorted words I was barely able to make out which slowly transformed into distorted weeps, curious I lifted myself up from the bed, made my way over to the window and carefully lifted the bottom panel making Shure to not make too much noise, the distorted muffled sounds started forming into coherent words “We checked the security footage but the only strange thing we could see was a 5 second time jump” one of the officers spoke in a serious and almost monotone voice “which meant that the security guard who was the only person in the building had to climb down 2 flights of stairs walk through a 40 foot long hallway and then drag her body back up stairs and out of the building in 5 seconds” Emma’s mom let out yelp “ but don’t worry ma'am that’s actually good news because we know that her corpse is still somewhere within the building and was probably brought to the wrong floor by an intern, we’ve already warned all of the staff at the hospital to keep an eye out, and we also sent 5 officers to search the hospital”
I could not believe what I was hearing, my breathing quickened, but this time instead of fear I felt anger, that fucker stole her corpse and was probably in the weird separate plane of existence he always went back to after terrorizing me, cutting off chunks of her body, melting her, and drinking her.
I closed the window Emma’s mom's cries once again turned into a muffled rumble which was only possible to make out if you knew what to look for, I took a few steps back away from the window planning to lay back down, not wanting to bother Emma’s parents. I bumped into something, not something, someone, its fleshy towering form as solid as a wall sent me tumbling forward, I knew it was him, he had returned to take me too, to stretch his swollen cracked lips, push them down my esophagus, fill my lungs and stomach with wax. But despite all of that this time I was not scared, I was angry, and I was not going to stand there in terror like I had the last time I saw him.
I fell forward onto my knees my face missing the window sill just by mere inches, I put my hands onto the floor, lifted one of my knees, and rotated 180 degrees now facing the monster, to the right of him pushed up against the wall was the bed, light from the sun reflected off of the metallic button which kept my machete in it’s sheathe, the man started to stretch his lips, they were moving towards me, waving a wiggling through the air like a snake slithering towards me.
I dove towards the bed one of my feet pushing off of the floor and the other pushing against the wall which creaked under the pressure applied to it, I flew for a few moments before slamming down onto the carpet and sliding forward, the heat generated by my skin brushing against the carpet released a sharp stinging pain throughout my body, my outstretched arm landed just a few inches short of the machete, I quickly bent my arms, pushing my body up and crawled towards the machete. my fingers wrapped around the handle I spun around, my back pushed up against the bedside table, once again facing the man, he was still facing the window but his lips faced me and were just a few feet away from me, for what felt like minutes but was most likely no longer than a second, I struggled to hook my finger under the strap securing the machete into its sheath, as the lips inched towards me the man started producing gurgling noises, he was regurgitation wax.
I finally pulled the machete out of its sheath, I swung the blade at the man's lips, the blade was not met with any resistance as it sliced through the man’s lips which landed on the carpeted floor with an audible thud, the man did not have a physical reaction to my counter-attack, his lips kept creeping towards me, once again I slashed at the lips, still no reaction, I repeated this at least 3 more times.
I wanted to kill him, I wanted to take revenge for what he had done to Emma, but fighting back was pointless. I realized that no matter how much I tried to hurt it, I could not kill him, I could not get rid of him.
My rage dissipated and a mixture of fear and sadness crept in, and soon took over my body, I screamed for help, I screamed in fear, in agony, tears streamed down my face as the man's lips finally reached my face, he wasn’t met with any resistance as his lips snuck between mine, pried my jaw open and finally started to slide down my esophagus.
I heard the cops run up the stairs, they started banging on the door asking if I was okay only to have been met with muffled screams, hot wax started to pour down inside of me, the stinging pain of the heat made me want to plunge the machete which I had dropped onto the ground next to me into my stomach to create a gaping wound that the wax would hopefully funnel out of, the texture of the man's slippery, oily lips matched with the poison like flavor of the wax caused me to start gagging, I felt my insides bulging like at any moment my intestines would have been filled to the point where they would pop, I wanted to vomit, the drain myself of the filth I was filled with, but his lips had plugged my throat not allowing anything to get out.
Hearing my muffled screams the cops started kicking the door down, the man retracted his lips, the suction aided my attempts at cleansing my insides, I got onto my hands and knees streams of molten wax pouring out of me, solidifying on the the carpet, with another loud thud the door swung open slamming into the wall, the man was gone.
That’s the last thing I remember before I passed out, but according to one of the doctors who was in the ambulance that brought me to the hospital, I was still semi-responsive during the first 10 minutes of the ride to the hospital.
Approximately 13.4 pounds of wax were removed from my body, the doctors said that I was in a critical condition and some of them did not expect me to make it.
One of the officers who was there the day the man attacked me took a report of what had happened to me, due to the unmistakable evidence of what had happened to both me and Emma, and the fact that this was the 3rd instance of me reporting something like this the police finally started investigating who this man might have been.
Around a month later I was discharged from the hospital and once again have been staying in the living room of Emma’s parent's house.
I’ve been seeing the man again, candles were not allowed in the hospital I stayed at, which means that he’s probably very hungry, he’s close to attacking me again, I know it, he wants to finish what he started and I don't know if I have the power to fight back, I’m not sure if defeating him is even possible, I’m tired.
I’ve been seeing Emma too, her bloated, reanimated corpse often appears to be standing next to the man. If I let him take me will I get to join them? I’ve tried asking but they don’t answer, they just stare, I can’t keep living in constant fear, always looking over my shoulder, I miss Emma.