Tow guys one hammer

Joe Barnes plays the one of the guys that Colin is at Mondrichs with.y Andrea Valls plays a character named Ambrosia. I know there was talk that she was one of the debutants but I don’t think so based on this interaction on Instagram. I think she does play a major part in episode 7 with Colin (we know she worked with the director for episodes 7 and 8 and we know so worked opposite Luke Newton https://www.reddit.com/PolinBridgerton/comments/17v3of6/new_s3_character_ambrosia/
I think she probably will come between Polin somehow (I’m not saying he will cheat on Pen, I’m just saying I think she has a roll in their fight about Whistledown)

Kia Sedona 2012 repost by recommendation from advice
Hi I have a Kia Sedona 2012 as the title says. I bought it two years ago under extreme conditions and didn’t have time to really get it checked out.
For a year and a half it was fine.
Then the power started going in and out the car died. We jumped it for a while (3x didn’t need it every time and I was living near a college so I could walk anywhere), but eventually she fully died. Okay we knew that was coming fair, probably an old battery.
We find out the alternator is also bad, which we were told was strange but oh well. Change both.
New battery in new alternator in, goes out in a week.
Well f**k me. We assume they were just a bad lot get them replaced because the guys at the part store didn’t charge us and assumed like us it was the parts.
Happens again. This time I’m done and we take it to a shop. Clearly we have to be doing something wrong. Nope but both are dead again.
I ask them to run the scanner. They say they will. I get the car back (also had to get new tires) go home. I was told the alternator was changed and the tires were done. That there was no underlying issue. (So I assumed we were getting parts from a bad place) Go to start the car two days later and she’s dead.
I gave up. She hasn’t moved since. My step dad and his work friend (engineers with mechanic interest.) today they scan it and the battery is dead again the alternator apparently isn’t f**ked this time. (Yet by my guess.)
The battery was at 2v when they checked it. My mom says that means it can’t be jumped but I don’t know shit about this.
My partners dad helped us at one point, his step dad is a master mechanic and he can’t even speculate what it is. We are at a complete loss and 2k in debt.
About ready to start selling feet pics (just kidding, just kidding) but fr if anyone has any advice please help
TLDR 2012 Kia Sedona LX keeps eating batteries and alternators

My local course is part of the NGCA so I'd get an official handicap, plus $30 monthly tournaments and a monthly men's dinner (not sure if I'd ever attend one, but also $30). Annual costs are $129, and from what I can see it doesn't offer any discounts on rounds, but the twilight rounds I play are usually $20 for 18 so it's already a good value.
I play as often as life permits, and shoot in the 100's but am improving on every outing so I'm not sure if I should/can be playing in tournaments... Would you guys join? It's already midyear and I don't think they prorate fees. It isn't a huge amount of money, but if I suck too much to play in the occasional tournament, what's the point.

45M saw the midnight screening of TPM in NZ 1999.
Online now there's been a debate around the PT hate vs ST. I was there and the reception was different vs now along with environment online.
Biggest difference is social media didn't exist as such (unless you count forums).
So in 1999 what were we doing Star Wars related? Well our group was playing Rebellion and Rogue Leader (N64 game). Somewhat recently Shadows of the Empire. They lined up for tickets I managed to score some midnight screening ones.
We didn't not hate TPM. The disappointment was very real though.
The 90s were kinda rough n NZ. Our group was a mixture of welfare kids through to reasonably well off kids. We consumed a lot of what is now legends material. Games and books comics were a bit harder to aquire in my part of NZ.
Internet was a lot less common back then no social media. A computer was around $2000 nzd in the 90s rent was cheap say $40-60 per week circa 1996-1999. I don't remember the conversion rate to usd minimum wage was around $6-8.
Buying a PC though was 6-12 months rent. I didn't own one in 1999 first used the internet 1996 to give you an idea.
I watched TPM disappointment was real but I didn't go online and slag it off. I wasn't online. There was also sobe really bad Star Wars media by tgen so it was far from the worst. That applies to Disney Star Wars now as well.
None of our group hated TPM anyway and we formed our own opinions. And those opinions were mostly self contained. Idk if there was online hate in 1999 but if there was it was easy to miss. Even if you had a PC an the net it as dial up. And you would gave to go Join a forum. 1999 was also the first year I saw a text message.
Fast forward a few years. 2001 was the first year I joined a forum. It was a D&D one but they gad another section for Star Wars RPG. My first discussions around Star Wars online were about the d20 and older D6 material. The D6 material was massively influential in early Legends material after Heir to the Empire. No one got to offended if you didn't like TPM but I don't recall people constantly dumping on it. Not saying it didn't happen but it was easy enough to miss.
Interdiction cruisers in Rebels. They are from legends and they got it from said D6 RPG materials.
Fast forward a few more ears and RotS has been released. Generally people online seemed to like that one (cf RoS). Not claiming it was universally loved but a common attitude seemed to be the PT was a bit meh except for Pt III. Once again social media didn't really exist or was in its infancy around 2005/6.
It was also a golden age for Star Wars games 2002-2008 although you could also claim 1997-2010 ymmv of course. Even if the movies were not loved there was plenty of other media to distract you. Once again there wasn't a lot of hate directed at the movies at the time. Not everyone loved them of course but the negativity was more disappointment, wish they were better, at least pt III was good.
And then social media blew up. I don't remember Twitter before 2012 and I think I used youtube for the first time 2010 late adopter.
So that's the key difference between then and now IME. Social media didn't exist, less people were online. Those that were more segregated into their own communities on forums. Most people didn't use forums or even knew what the were.
I did see my 1st meem 1996 or 97 comparing a politician to the Nazis. Godwins law 1997.
So I'm Gen X turning into my parents lol. Never used a dating site haven't been single since 2000 and barely single since 1996. No idea where to even start if I was.
But the rise of social media has resulted in a lot of anger and confusion and flow on effects I have noticed. Another simple example is dating and expectations due to tinder and porn. Younger female friends or relatives putting pressure on themselves and guys completely clueless. We just had to deal with things like playboy. I'll admit to reading them but stopped the 16 when one realized that girl you like probably doesn't like them.
Modern world is better in some ways worse in others compared with the 90s.

Been growing my vintage watch collection (guilty of budgeting for it separately hahaaaa) for a few years and have my fair share of woes with growing it. Curious to know what everyone thinks is some things you wish you had to make growing our collections easier?? :))

I was just thinking about it, and had some ideas about some military units and improvements that civ should consider adding. I want to hear what you all think! What should be added?

• Drone expansion: Perhaps Kamikaze drones (one time use), bomb dropping drones (reusable but weaker damage than kamikaze’s), “predator” drones (perhaps as an anti-cavalry variant), not sure which if not all
  
• Trench improvement (less protection than fort, doesn’t replace preexisting improvement)
  
• Stealth expansion: stealth jets/bombers should have a stealth trait that makes them invisible to players (battle sequence showing only what they do, not the jet itself, keeping its placement a mystery to the opponent and their units), necessitating radar units to render them visible within a certain range of the radar
  
• Cruise missiles: attachable to fixed-wing aircraft, allows the aircraft to strike a target at a greater range than the aircraft needs to travel, minimizing risk of interception
  
• Lose GDR, or at least make it a toggle: it breaks the game, ruins the point of building a realistic modern army at all, AI’s just rush GDR’s and suddenly it’s the only unit that makes sense having
  

What do you guys think?

Hey guys
I'm wondering if there are any signal boosters for mobile phone use at festivals? I'm going to one this year and I tend to get an issue at night when I want to watch something in my tend before sleeping (I know I'm old and should be socialising 🤣) but always tend to have trouble at night from what I'm guessing is thousands of people in one place trying to do the same thing..

You see, South Korea is currently going through controversies regarding "direct overseas purchase". These are in Korean and/or Chinese, but:
https://namu.wiki/w/%ED%95%B4%EC%99%B8%EC%A7%81%EA%B5%AC%20%EA%B8%89%EC%A6%9D%EC%97%90%20%EB%94%B0%EB%A5%B8%20%EC%86%8C%EB%B9%84%EC%9E%90%20%EC%95%88%EC%A0%84%20%EA%B0%95%ED%99%94%20%EB%B0%8F%20%EA%B8%B0%EC%97%85%20%EA%B2%BD%EC%9F%81%EB%A0%A5%20%EC%A0%9C%EA%B3%A0%20%EB%B0%A9%EC%95%88
https://namu.wiki/w/%ED%95%B4%EC%99%B8%EC%A7%81%EA%B5%AC%20%EA%B8%89%EC%A6%9D%EC%97%90%20%EB%94%B0%EB%A5%B8%20%EC%86%8C%EB%B9%84%EC%9E%90%20%EC%95%88%EC%A0%84%20%EA%B0%95%ED%99%94%20%EB%B0%8F%20%EA%B8%B0%EC%97%85%20%EA%B2%BD%EC%9F%81%EB%A0%A5%20%EC%A0%9C%EA%B3%A0%20%EB%B0%A9%EC%95%88/%EC%A0%84%EA%B0%9C
https://namu.wiki/w/%ED%95%B4%EC%99%B8%EC%A7%81%EA%B5%AC%20%EA%B8%89%EC%A6%9D%EC%97%90%20%EB%94%B0%EB%A5%B8%20%EC%86%8C%EB%B9%84%EC%9E%90%20%EC%95%88%EC%A0%84%20%EA%B0%95%ED%99%94%20%EB%B0%8F%20%EA%B8%B0%EC%97%85%20%EA%B2%BD%EC%9F%81%EB%A0%A5%20%EC%A0%9C%EA%B3%A0%20%EB%B0%A9%EC%95%88/%EB%B9%84%ED%8C%90%20%EB%B0%8F%20%EB%85%BC%EB%9E%80
https://www.reddit.com/korea/comments/1cu7kw3/after_banning_direct_overseas_purchases/
https://ac-o.namu.la/20240520sac/aa46cec73a07a4e10811dc2c8d75a4ec08e56d9e6bfa6d626e41bae63ba6bc0c.jpg?expires=1716333331&key=qbXJoJRuEPg7cbM4IbJ-ng&type=orig
https://ac-o.namu.la/20240520sac/47cea5f6196403974e3f7914a752a5a620860444fe33c2b712465feef17a378f.jpg?expires=1716333331&key=9zxm8tousCzrFJSdmpxXyQ&type=orig
As such, at least some people are expecting that South Korea will:

1. Have its entire economy collapse like how Venezuela and North Korea did.
   
2. Turn into a country with the worst crime rate in the world similar to Haiti and Venezuela due to skyrocketing growth of smuggling business and organized crimes.
   
3. Get banned from SWIFT similar to how Russia got kicked out from.
   
4. Be completely thrown out from the United States as it decides to side with Japan completely.
   
5. Get trade embargoed(?) and travel ban imposed just about every single countries in the world as a retaliation.
   
6. Be kicked out from the United Nation and be designated(?) as an illegitimate country as North Korea is recognized as the sole legitimate government/country of Korean Peninsula.
   
7. Get invaded and absored by North Korea in a matter of hours as a result.
   

In that regard, if any of you guys are still in South Korea, when are you guys plan to evacuate to Japan, Taiwan, Mongolia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, or France in order to survive? And which of you guys are even planning to change your name to fit one of those said countries?

she initiated the separation, we had to move mountains to get together...
I'm from the US, she is originally from Africa, but immigrated to CAD for college. We were only 4 hours apart, but a border in between.
We met when i visited her city, she was very outgoing, fun, we spent the entire weekend together, her brother visited and i met him, too.
She wanted to have sex, i held back, as i didn't want to get attached. i did stay over, we had breakfast the next day...she told me a huge story of how she grew up with an abusive step mom, emotionally and partially physically absent dad, and her mother left africa for the US when she was 8 (her dad divorced her)..so absent mom as well...
Coming from a 'caretaking' type family (lots of nurses, teachers, social justice lawyers, etc), I immediate was pulled in and wanted to be there...plus she's beautiful, intelligent, social...
once she realized i wasn't the perfect husband, and that we had to compromise on time, etc. with big life decisions... she started to resent me, criticizing, blaming, eggshells, i was constantly putting effort, resources, small gestures into the relationship just to be forgotten, i couldn't express myself without it coming back to hurt me, i was always wrong,...i started to get eczema on my hands, arms,
i had my issues too, i was reluctant to move to canada, she wanted a kid right when i arrived, i wanted to settle into the new country // job first...which is when the resentment kicked in...
at one point, she was done with me, eventually she wanted me to move out, and when i did...i never heard from her for months, i heard she made friends with the guy neighbor in our condo....6 of her closest friends are divorced, others are single....
her mother, aunts, uncles, tried to help her get back on track, saying to be patient with marriage, she ragefully replied, nobody could stop her...she'd could never forgive, yet never took any blame for herself, how she made me feel...she was always perfect...
she will contact me for logistics, we have mutual friends, whom i am positive report my life updates back to her...i still chat with her mother as we have grown close, but my estranged spouse is just a rock...cannot connect at all...as if i didn't exist...she'll be kind, then get what she wants and then go no contact..today she asked for some immigration info, i gave it to her...and she left me on read....
she says she doesn't want to be married, that she wishes 2 years ago I was the just man i am now, that our marriage was too much work,
I moved from the US to CAD to be with her, i left family, friends, started a new job, helped her family with finances, welcomed her into my family with open arms, I never felt loved..I never felt truly loved....
she hasn't given me any sense of closure...and said she doesn't want to stay in touch or make any plans to see each other...the moment we separated 5 months ago she went on a trip to the caribbean
why did this happen to me?
is this normal in breakups?
why did i stay in it, and is there a way to heal? the way she has treated me...she is still such a mystery....

Hi everyone, I'm running into an issue that I think I'm being sane but my partner does not think so - so I am questioning myself and wanted a sanity check.
I'm a guy, in a relationship that's been 2 and a half years or so now. About two years ago I bought a new car so that we could move and live in another city together since the prior studio we were in was too small. At that time we both worked remotely so it was easy to split the car. Now she has gotten an in person job and uses the car to get to work.
this now means that I feel stuck in the house from 7 am to 6 pm most days and sometimes in the evenings if she is out and I get this feeling that I now need to be chaperoned like a kid to go outside the house. It feels a bit like reverting to childhood when I lived on a remote farm and the only way from that farm was via my parents, which I really hated growing up.
In this case she has the car now all the time and I need to ask for her help to get me from place to place. I really want to go to a coworking spot to meet some people or be around people more since I don't meet too many people with my remote job and she is okay with that as long as she drives me to the coworking space in the morning and picks me up after work. She is willing to do the opposite as well she said, if I drive her to work and back. That could work I guess but it does feel like one has to be constantly synced up on when work ends.
I feel like now would be a good time for us to have a second car so that she could go to work for her in person job and I could feel less trapped at home. The public transport isn't great where we live, otherwise that could have been an option. She thinks I'm being ridiculous and that it would be a poor financial decision to have two cars when we have one that works fine. I paid for the current car and cover all the expenses related to it. We both make good money.
Should I just go ahead and buy another car for her so I can feel less trapped at home? This runs the risk of her getting mad at me spending money. We have talked about it and it's not going very far with her convinced that I am being ridiculous.
Any advice?

Been growing my handbag collection (guilty of budgeting for it separately hahaaaa) for a few years and have my fair share of woes with growing it. Curious to know what everyone thinks is some things you wish you had to make growing our collections easier?? :))

I (25f) met this guy (26m) and we’ve been on 4 date so far. All of which he has elaborately planned (dinner, activities, dessert, etc) and even paid for, even when I insisted on paying. On paper he is everything I’m looking for tall, sweet, thoughtful, good career, well groomed. He’s made his interest and intentions clear from the beginning and he’s already told his parents about me. I know he’s interested but I feel like the physical chemistry is lacking and it’s making me question whether or not I’m actually attracted to him. Even after the 4th date he hasn’t tried to kiss me, most we’ve done is hold hands. He’s only been in one relationship in the past and he is a virgin (I’m not) so I’m not sure if it’s because hes shy but the lack of physical affection is making question if there’s chemistry. He also has a very soft voice, as if hes whispering and almost feminine in a way which surprised me considering his large build. I’ve been on dates where I’ve felt the sexual chemistry instantly but in this case would it possible with time that this chemistry would build or if it hasn’t been there for the first few dates it probably won’t at all?

One of my less reliable acquaintances at my FLGS is saying he heard a rumor that a GW employee in Houston said that TOW was being cancelled. This guy is unreliable, but he’s occasionally right, and he’s got the whole store talking. Anyone heard anything along these lines?

I can stretch, I should note. Doctors have said it is not vaginismus.
My hymen is open, and has been as long as I can remember, but the problem is that the area it sits (mostly at back wall of vagin) is still painful when pressure/friction is applied to it and stings for about 10-90 minutes if it is bumped.
Along the front wall, I have a pretty internal urethra that sits about 2-3 centimeters into my vagina. Also painful to hit/rub against, and the tissue separating it from my vagina gets yanked on even with a little speculum. Less of an afterwards pain, but even more painful in the moment.
I am wondering if it is just my anatomy? The only way I could ever insert a tampon painlessly was to evade the hymen remains stuff by angling it forward, then evading the urethra by angling it backward without brushing the front wall. Which only worked for teeny tiny ones.
Now I want penetrative sex. I tried it twice before with no luck, on a pretty average guy. Now my also average boyfriend and I want to try again. I like what penetration I can do! It just is painful to even accept a large finger and no amount of trying to stretch has helped the issue. Even stretched and perfectly capable, with plenty of lube, those two spots cause issues.
Basically, I want advice and also to know if anyone has had this issue because my doctors keep looking puzzledly and saying "more lube" and that "those spots shouldn't be in the way." no matter how much I explain.

Come on guys. You guys have the Capitol UNDER SIEGE, cut off from their food supply, and are about to deliver the finishing blow, and somehow you LOST THE WAR?
How?? How do you go from having your enemy in a chokehold to decisively LOSING the war, leading to your descendants becoming slaves for 75 years?
That's one thing I dislike about this book series. Everything is great, but the background and lore isn't developed at alllllllllllll. I wish SC would expand on it so we'd actually understand the world the characters are in.

Poor Sophie, if I knew her IRL I would have given her some advice. I work in tech as a SMS specialist type of software engineer and I have a deep passion for information security when it comes to phones in particular.
We will go through options by cheapest and easiest to the more pricy and invasive.
Step one download a Bluetooth scanner app on your phone. I use these for home security. If someone breaks into my home I’ll know the make, model, age, etc of the phone if Bluetooth is on. These days with the car connect speakerphone, AirPods, etc there’s a huge chance your partners Bluetooth is on. Bing bong gotem.
No Bluetooth dang, that’s ok you can use a background check service like been verified. Now I haven’t done this for Rob, their relationship is none of my business and I never renewed my subscription. All you need is fullname, age, location. There’s a high chance he kept his LA number and got an Austin number. If you know he kept his LA number and an Austin number shows up, super suspicious.
Dang, no luck there, that’s ok you can hire a Private Investigator. I’m of the belief of if it’s gone this far you should just leave the guy. Let’s say you want to do this, a PI has access to software and databases that the average person does not. Usually they are ex cops or ex military personnel. Sometimes they have access to the good ones like LexisNexis. These are pretty in depth down to the Social Security number and all the places you’ve been that are of interest.
I hope she just leaves his ass before she takes these steps.

So, I'll may seem like a horrible person, but I genuinely love my boyfriend who I'll call A, he's really sweet and I wouldn't ask for anything more, he's kind, he plays the same videogames as me, he wishes me good morning and goodnight despite out 8 hour time difference, and I genuinely love him with all my heart, he's all I could ever ask for. I've been dating A for around 4 months.
But as per the title, I also have another man in my heart, a guy in my university, let's call him H. We're in the same course (I'm doing a degree in physics) and we've bonded over some of the topics and theories discussed (states of matter, cold fusion, warp engines, ect), now I'd like to clarify, I've had a crush (if I can even call it that) on H for way longer than A and myself have been dating, but when i initially met A, he completely blew me away with how well our personalities match.
A is a homebody and doesn't work out, but he's not severely overweight, I mean, he's still really cute to me, but idk, there's something about H that just takes my breath away every time I see him, H is very active and I can tell he has a great body, well, I know he does, because he invited me to watch one of his water-polo matches. I'd like to clarify, I've never once found athletic bodies this attractive before, in most cases I preferred boys with some meat on their bones. I'd personally say thay A has my favourite body type.
I'm genuinely so conflicted, I don't know what to do, I don't want to cheat because that's just cruel and horrible. In the long run however I'm not sure my heart can take being with H for another year without saying anything. Non of my friends are helping me, saying things like "go for H, he's got a hotter body", they keep trying to get me to break up with A to get with H, but i don't want to leave A, as he's the first guy I've dated who's treated me with genuine love and affection. But at the same time H treats me kindly and is always there when I'm going through something tough, not to mention his brain stored everything. I love H's laugh, i love his smile, I love the way he speaks, I love the way he smells, but I can say the same things for A.
So please Reddit... what should I do?
Also, for extra information, I've known H since year 8 (like grade 7?) And A got about a year.

Howdy. I am officer M (only M, privacy reasons, could lose my job if I was exposed). I’ve been investigating these three cases for the past few years, and I wanted to see if anyone had any clue how to solve them.
I normally wouldn’t go to places like Reddit for this, but I’m desperate. Everyone else I’ve tried has said that this is some kind of webseries project thing. It isn’t.
I’m gonna show you the transcriptions of three sets of video tapes. The first set is from James Barlowe, the second from Daren Redd, and the third from Nick Robin.
Well, I’d better get on with it.
[- - -]
There’s only one tape in this section. It begins with a man in a priest’s uniform (identified as James Barlowe) in the driver’s seat of a car. The person holding the camera is in the passenger’s side.
CAMERAMAN (LATER IDENTIFIED AS NICK ROBIN): “So! What’re we doing, James?”
JAMES: “Oh, uhm, we’re going to a haunted house to perform an exorcism.”
NICK: “Hell yeah we are!”
Nick turns the camera towards his face.
NICK: “Someone tipped us off on a haunted house recently, so we’re gonna go check it out. And James is gonna use his cool priest powers or whatever to get rid of the ghosts! Right James?”
The camera pans to James.
JAMES: “Ah- Yeah.”
The camera turns back to Nick.
NICK: “Now, I’m not gonna be in this one too much, since James is gonna be doing his stuff on his own.”
JAMES: “Wait what?”
The tape cuts off here, and picks back up with James holding the camera. He’s in front of a run-down, abandoned house. He seems nervous, fidgeting with the stole around his neck.
JAMES: “Okay, so, uhm. I am Father Barlowe, and, uhm..I kind of thought Nick was gonna be here. He- He told me he was gonna be here. I dunno. Uhm. Today I’m going to exorcise this ghost. I, uh, don’t know if I’m allowed to do that anymore. But I know how.”
James turns the camera around, and starts to walk into the house. The front door opens into a hallway, which leads to a living room. The camera shakes as James fumbles with his pockets, then brings out a cross. He holds it out in front of him.
JAMES: “Uhm, if there are any ghosts here, show yourself.”
Nothing happens. James mutters something about editing. He waves the cross around dramatically.
JAMES: “Ghost, or demon, or whatever you are, please come and-”
A loud bang comes from somewhere within the house. James seems to flinch. He can be heard heavily breathing as he turns the camera towards the sound.
JAMES: “Uhm..Okay. That’s okay. I’ve got a cross. I’m okay.”
James begins to walk down the hall, where the sound was heard. The camera is shaking, and James is holding out his cross.
JAMES: “Okay, uhm- I think..I think the ghost is in there.”
James points to the doorway at the end of the corridor, then advances towards it. He walks through, and into what appears to be a study. There is a desk and chair in the corner. The chair has a pitch-black figure in it.
JAMES: “Oh god, okay, uhm- Okay. Okay. Uhm. Uh- Demon!”
The figure turns to face James. He holds out his cross with a trembling hand.
JAMES: “Foul creature, begone from this home-”
The figure stands up and begins to walk towards James. The camera is dropped.
JAMES: “Oh God, oh God!”
James can be heard running away.
[- - -]
This first tape is very intriguing to me. The figure has not been identified. At least, not as anyone in the town.
I interviewed both Nick Robin and James Barlowe (they had not gone missing after this video. quite the contrary, in fact. James Barlowe is the one that brought the video to police), and they revealed that most of the content in their videos was fake.
They said that the events of the video were not planned.
[- - -]
The camera appears to be moved around a bit, before setting up to show a man in a red hoodie (identified as Daren Redd) sitting in an office chair. It can be assumed that he’s at his desk. He smiles at the camera.
DAREN: “Uh- Hi. This feels weird, haha. I don’t think I should introduce myself? I don’t know. No one but me’s gonna see this anyways. Unless I make, like, a giant scientific discovery. Or break a world record.”
Daren fidgets with the strings of his hoodie, twirling one between his fingers.
DAREN: “So. My sleep schedule sucks. I’ve been trying to fix it for weeks now, it isn’t working. I’ve decided, fuck it, I’m just gonna roll with it. So! I’m gonna try and stay up for 12 days straight.”
Daren grabs the camera, and shows a calendar up on the wall. The month and year are cut off. Two days are circled (Tuesday, then the next Saturday).
DAREN: “I’ve got a calendar here so that I can figure out how long I’ve been up. If I do more physical stuff, maybe I’ll stay up longer! Haha.”
The camera pans back to Daren.
DAREN: “I’ve got my room-mate watching over me. He’s actually in here right now- Say hi, Nick!”
(PRESUMABLY) NICK, IN THE BACKGROUND: “Hey.”
DAREN: “I rested up real good to prepare for this, so I’m hoping that my plan works. So, uh..Yeah. D-Man out.”
The next tape starts out with Daren holding the camera up to Nick Robin.
DAREN: “Niiiiiiiick.”
NICK: “Why are you recording me?”
DAREN: “Nick how long have I been awake?”
NICK: “Since yesterday, I think.”
Daren flips the camera around to face him. He has a large grin on his face.
DAREN: “That’s right, baby! D-Man has been awake for one whole day! Well- Two? One? Since Tuesday. It’s, uh, Wednesday.”
Daren shows the calendar to the camera. Tuesday is crossed off.
DAREN: “So far, nothing weird has happened yet. I’m tired, but I’ve been drinking a ton of Monster.”
The camera pans to a trash can, with several cans of Monster in it.
DAREN: “So! I should be able to stay up as long as I need. World record, here I come!”
The third tape begins with Daren dragging a trash bag outside.
DAREN: “Ok so I forgot to record a tape today, and I know that if I don’t do it now I’m gonna forget again. But, uhm, I’ve been up for..Uh..I dunno. Time is a concept, anyways. It’s Thursday now, though!”
Daren heaves the trash bag into a can. He walks back inside, and sighs with relief as he enters.
DAREN: “Whew, I love air conditioning.”
NICK (IN THE BACKGROUND): “Dude- Why don’t you take your hoodie off?”
DAREN: “Ah, y’know.”
NICK: “I really don’t.”
DAREN: “See, you get it!”
Daren chuckles and brings the camera into his room. He sets it down on his desk, and sits down in the office chair. He has bags under his eyes, and his hair looks messier than usual.
DAREN: “So. Recently, I’ve been tired. Like, horridly tired. To the point where even sitting down is a..” Yawn. “Risky move for me. But, working from home is keeping me on my toes. Who knew that writing reports could be so exhilerating!”
He looks over his shoulder for a moment, before turning back to the camera. His eyes appear wide and frightened, but he’s still smiling.
DAREN: “Uh, pro tip, maybe don’t try this stuff! I’m stupid enough to try and get a world record, but you, uh, shouldn’t be. Anyways, uhm, D-Man out.”
The fourth tape shows Daren in the hospital, sitting next to Nick, who is in a bed with an IV in his arm. Daren’s eye bags have gotten worse.
DAREN: “Hey, uhm. I don’t know if I’m supposed to record in here. I had to drive Nick to the hospital- He had a dairy allergy thing.”
NICK: “I said he could record in here, don’t worry.”
DAREN: “Yea, he- He said I could record this. I think I’m gonna stay the night here- People do that at hospitals, right? But, uh, they don’t need a bed for me. Because I’m not sleeping! I’m just gonna, uh, play on my phone for the night.”
Daren looks over his shoulder, before turning back to the camera.
DAREN: “Well! It’s Friday now. Been, uh, four days, I think? Yeah. I’ve been awake for four whole days! Well, uhm, this is more filler than anything. Nothing to note. D-Man out.”
The fifth tape is corrupted. Nothing is salvageable.
The sixth tape begins with Daren sitting at his desk. He looks tired beyond comprehension. His knee is bouncing, and he’s tapping his fingers on the table.
DAREN: “Uh, day..Six. I think. It’s Sunday now. The Lord’s day, ha-ha! I’m- I’m not religious. But, uhm, I know one of Nick’s friends is. James something. Maybe I should call that guy. I-”
Daren cuts himself off by looking over his shoulder. He looks back. His eyes are wild and terrified.
DAREN: “I think this was a bad idea. A horrible idea. I- I tried to sleep yesterday. But I couldn’t. I can’t- I can’t close my eyes for too long. Uhm..Nick has been in the hospital since Friday. He’s- He should be back by now. His visits never take this long.”
Daren chuckles. His voice sounds nervous.
DAREN: “He should be back soon, though, right? Right. He’s just taking a bit longer than usual. Uhm, Darry out.”
The seventh tape shows Daren sitting under his desk. He sets up the camera and brings his knees to his chest.
DAREN: “Nick came back today. He, uhm. He’s acting different. I was- I was talking to him, and he, uhm. He forgot he had a dairy allergy. He just..Forgot. I reminded him and he went- He went, oh, yeah. Like he didn’t go to the hospital for it a couple days ago.”
Daren appears to be trembling. He pulls his hood over his head.
DAREN: “..Been awake for seven days, ha-ha. So close! Just, uhm..Five? Four? Something around that. That many days left. I don’t- I don’t wanna do this. But I think I have to. I think it’ll leave me alone if I..”
Daren looks up at something offscreen, and screams.
[- - -]
Daren Redd went missing after this video. I’ve been looking for him for years. I’m trying to stay professional here, but I really don’t know what’s going on. I still sometimes try to figure out what he was looking at in the last tape. But there’s no reflection in his eyes- No shadows anywhere. Nothing. Could he be hallucinating?
I don’t think he is. I think he’s seeing things, sure, but they’re real. They have to be real.
[- - -]
This last section begins with Nick Robin in a car. He’s driving this time, with the camera on the dashboard. James is in the passenger seat. There’s camping gear and a few bags in the back seats.
NICK: “Hey! Welcome back to the PDC (later identified as Paranormal Discovery Channel, the youtube account that both Nick Robin and James Barlowe share), today we’re gonna be exploring a whole abandoned town! It’s called, uh..What was it called again?”
JAMES: “Sasbol heights.”
NICK: “Right, right. Sasbol heights or whatever. Anyways! It’s gonna be cool. Oh- There it is! Dude dude dude- Look!”
The camera points to a charred-looking town. Maybe burnt down?
NICK: “We’re gonna get settled, then get back to all of you. I’ll see y’all soon!”
The next tape begins with Nick sitting in a tent.
NICK: “So! It’s been, like, a day. The first night was pretty underwhelming- Just some creepy old town with bugs and stuff. Nothing too special. Just a bigger version of a haunted house.”
Nick looks off screen- Presumably at James. Nick chuckles.
NICK: “James is sleeping right now. Apparently he’s been having nightmares? That’s, uh, pretty normal for him, though. Oh! Today I started setting up the ghost hunting stuff. Unpacking, putting up cameras, all that jazz.”
There’s shuffling from behind the camera. Nick smiles at (assumedly) James, and winks at the camera.
The third tape starts with Nick and James going into one of the abandoned houses. Nick seems much more enthusiastic than James.
JAMES: “We’re gonna put a voice-over on this, right?”
NICK: “Yea, yea. Something something, abandoned house, something something.”
JAMES: “Good, good, uhm..Nick, man, you know I like doing this and all..But I don’t think I like this episode. It’s like- It feels wrong, y’know?”
NICK: “Mm..You’re right, you’re right. But hey! Think of the money we’ll get from this. Our reactions are gonna be authentic and shit. Plus, we’ve only got a day left.”
Nick pats James’ back, and James smiles.
JAMES: “Right. You’re right.”
The fourth tape is corrupted.
The fifth tape doesn’t include James or Nick’s face, but we can assume who is talking.
NICK: “Listen, man, it- It just got corrupted. It’s fine, right? It’s cool. We can redo it-”
JAMES: “I’m fucking serious, Nick! This isn’t normal! None of the shit we saw yesterday was planned!”
NICK: “I know, I know, but come on man! I need this money!”
JAMES: “Money isn’t worth it, at this point. Please, God, let’s just leave.”
NICK: “If you wanna leave, just go! I can do the video without you.”
JAMES: “I’m not just leaving you with these demons!”
Both Nick and James are quiet for a while. Nick silently walks back to the tent, bringing the camera with him.
The sixth tape is shot from within Nick’s car. Nick is driving, the camera is on the dashboard. He seems terrified.
NICK: “I’m not publishing this. I’m keeping this for myself, and- I don’t know! The police, probably! Jesus Christ- I’m fucking speeding. Are there even road laws here?”
Nick looks at his gas tank, seeing the needle nearing the E. He begins to tear up.
NICK: “Fuck- Uhm. What happened. James tried to kill me, and- And I don’t think he’s James anymore. I really don’t. He’s- He’s not that guy I went to high school with. There’s actually no way.”
He looks at the camera briefly, doing a quick double take.
NICK: “What- No. No. No- Goddammit! Leave me alone!”
The car swerves, and the camera topples over.
[- - -]
I’ve been thinking about these cases since I found them. The actual police department doesn’t know about them- And I haven’t told my superior about them. These tapes just kind of appeared at my doorstep one day, along with a camera.
I looked at the camera’s film, and found three images.
The first one is a picture from the first set of tapes. It seems edited, though. James has a halo.
The second one is from the second set. It shows an image of Daren, with some kind of pitch-black figure behind him.
The third one is, supposedly, from the third set. Though nothing like it is seen anywhere in the tapes. It’s an image taken from the driver’s seat of Nick’s car, showing the camera from the video on the dashboard. On the screen of the camera is Nick. The image is edited to show a car tire over Nick’s face.
If anyone knows anything about James Barlowe, Daren Redd, or Nick Robin, please tell me at [xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]@gmail.com.