Quotes for expecting mothers

pregnancy

2016.05.11 23:43 pregnancy

Subreddit made for mothers/fathers expecting a baby in December of 2016.
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2018.10.17 13:42 StrawberryKink For first time moms in June 2019!

A subreddit for first time mothers who are expecting in June 2019
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2018.07.28 09:27 Shame Free Breastfeeding

This is a pro-breastfeeding sub. All expecting, new, established, and former nursing mothers are welcome! A friendly community where you are free to ask for advice, share your thoughts, brag about your accomplishments, or vent about difficulties with like-minded parents.
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2024.05.22 01:33 slick762 Question about well work and work not included in quote.

Crossposted in waterwelldrilling
I hired a well company to install a new well. His communication and planning were not good. He subcontracted the drilling to another well company without telling me (huge surprise when company X showed up top drill when I hired company Y), showed up to finish the install and realized he had forgotten to hire an excavator crew so there was another delay. Also, there were issues on site the day he ran the water lines.
Well was finally installed, check written to the guy and county health guy came by today to inspect the well and take samples to test and sign off.
Nobody plugged the old well. I didn't know it was required. County won't sign off until that's done and when I called the well guy, he tells me his subcontracted company has to do that and hangs up. The subcontractor's receptionist had no idea about it and the owner hasn't returned my calls. And here's no mention of plugging the old well in the quote or receipt.
I appreciate that contractors shouldn't have to do extra work outside the quote for free, but I hired a licensed well driller, and I don't think it's unreasonable to presume that a quote would include all work required to install a well that meets county and state health requirements. This isn't like he had to drill deeper than expected. It's work that he had to have known was required. And I can't help but feel like he's trying to push this off as company Xs problem when it probably isn't.
If it comes to it, am I out of line for demanding the well plugging be included in the original quoted price?
submitted by slick762 to Contractor [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 01:33 iuliad94 My thoughts about S3 Part 1 after rewatching

So I actually watched the first 4 episodes when they dropped, but I was very underwhelmed and decided not to post anything as I didn’t want to be negative. I didn’t dislike it, but I was definitely disappointed because I had very high expectations after all the press, the promo and what was being said by the cast and the crew. However, since then I rewatched the 4 episodes and I definitely like it more now after rewatching with no high expectations.
The things I had issues with:
A thing I'm unsure about for now:
Now finally onto the positive stuff:
So these are my thoughts and even though I was disappointed I did enjoy the season overall even if it seems like I have many complaints, it’s still Bridgerton and I just love the show. I feel like my thoughts would be much different with a full picture of the season and not just 4 episodes. I am sure that after Part 2 my feelings about it will be a lot more positive since the storylines will all pay off hopefully. I’m also hoping that they don’t do this split release in the future as I genuinely think it hindered my enjoyment of the season.
submitted by iuliad94 to BridgertonNetflix [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 01:31 ConfoundedInAbaddon Life in remission, contrasting with the past

There was a wedding this weekend. But it was a couple in college and their idea of a wedding primarily centered around being newly 21 so lots of toasts and alcohol, also, religious, with homilies and hymns. Such an event is not a great place for someone with a debilitating, poorly controlled depressive mood disorder, characterized by terrible general and social anxiety.
When I first started dating my s/o, they had a story they would tell me on repeat about going to a family wedding some years ago and losing it, crying, big crying, during the ceremony, and their plus one at the time was embarrassed to have gone with them. The rest of the wedding involved getting drunk to bury emotions. The story would come up out of the blue like a trauma flashback. ...It probably WAS a trauma flashback. Having a mental health meltdown so publicly, in a nearly silent event hall, where everyone knew who they were was one of their great terrors, and they lived it.
Life post-ketamine has been very different. Still, my s/o was freaked out that there was a wedding to go to but felt obligated to say yes. The rehearsal dinner the day before involved everyone being instructed to give a toast, and there were a LOT of guests.
Instead of being overwhelmed and getting hammered, then more emotionally unstable due to alcohol, then freaking out at giving toast, my s/o took some air and decided it was better to leave the rehearsal dinner early, skip the bar, and call it good. They made it through the dinner and introductions and a hoard of college students with slumped shoulders and circles under their eyes fidgeting with their first ever suit or gown, not knowing how to walk around in nice clothing. It was an anxiety inducing event for sure, to be surrounded by self-esteem impaired kids who were all going for the booze but without the benefit of self control from experience at fine dining parties, with what looked like over 100 people, and everyone asking for public sharing of personal details, also a pro photographer yelling to smile! They held up well, discussed current work projects and some new construction, introduced me to people I had never met, and put out some effort to show pride in me and make me look good socially. I was pretty stunned.
But that night they panicked a little that they would fall apart again at the actual wedding, and everyone would think they were some kind of weak fool. The story went back on repeat after being gone for over a year.
For about an hour, they were trying to negotiate with me to support using drugs or alcohol to dull the experience, some lashing blame, general disarray of thinking and planning. But they assumed it would be the same as last time, they couldn't live through that embarassment again, falling apart in front of 100 people and being obligated not to leave. The
The next morning they had calmed down, apologized for being so strung out, and we strategized and bought a wine bottle shaped jug of grape juice for the table, so the glasses would be full of something wine-ish and no one would try to force alcohol into their empty glass, and demand they toast and drink, which would definitely put them into a downward spiral.
The wedding later that day was worse in terms of anxiety induction. The hymns, and religious speeches, and a nearly hour long preacher lecture to the couple was a prelude to the too loud background music and people all around yelling to be heard while everyone in fine clothing tried to eat the catered tacos and liquid cheese pour over nachos, with their hands, while avoiding necktties and lace.
And it was fine. No emotional upheaval, no panic due to the crowd, no horror at meeting people.
After four hours, they had congratulated the happy couple, dinner with relatives, family photos, signed the Bible, written note to the couple for the memory scrap book, caught up with relatives, and had real conversations for about two hours of the event. When it was clear there was no emerging timeline for cake cutting, they asked to take a quick walk outside where we could hear each other and we made an exit plan. They had enough bandwidth to compliment the mother of the bride and father of the bride and congratulate them, beg off early due to being a little overwhelmed and blamed their social anxiety diagnosis, and stopped to say goodbye to close relatives.
Since we missed the cake, we pulled in at the nearest gas station and they pounded down a nasty Hostess type pastry cake as a stress relief/token of achievement and we had a good laugh.
They felt depressed for a couple hours afterward, talking about how gross it felt to be surrounded by people who were parading polite personas and be expected to wear the same mask. That the religious content had been much more than they'd been expecting, e.g. required singing about how we are all God's weapons against devils (an interesting choice for a wedding.) Church was never a safe place for them, it was social group where you "can pray away mental illness," and remaining mentally ill was a sign of further personal failure. So feeling low and blue wasn't so much a symptom as a very normal response to being sat down through prayers and hymns and recitations, etc.
And then they played with their kitten to have the kitten run around chasing toys until exhausted and happy sleepy, gave it dinner and asked if I wanted to snuggle and catch up on the news on TV.
And things were fine. They reflected that they didn't fall apart, that they never expected to be able to handle an event like that. That leaving a little early was not much of a sin and they'd been talkative, likeable, well-dressed, and nice company.
The next day there was no recovery or fall out. They did a big favor (1.5 hours driving) for an acquaintance who was rushing in from out of town for an elderly family member who broke their leg. This favor did not stop them from getting some work done, kitten care, and schedule planning.
What a change. From a mental health melt down and subsequent years of relived trauma, improving to the point where the big follow up was them giving me an eyeroll in the car and saying "next time, I'm asking about how many hymns and homilies there will be before I RSVP."
submitted by ConfoundedInAbaddon to TherapeuticKetamine [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 01:29 Sanguiniusius 'I'll be the golden seamster, Boc! Now I'll be able to sew ANYTHING, even the threads of the demigods'

Its Bocing time yo. I've thought for a long time that Boc is in some way related to the marika radagon story- he shares a love of sewing like radagon, he talks expressly about his mother, and lets be honest the main (bad) mother figure in the game is Marika/Radagon. Finally Melina even spares Boc of all people a little dialogue. I think Boc's story is an allusion to the core metaphysics of the gods. Its not that he is literally Marika's son, its that his/his mother's experience may parallel hers.
In light of Marika(?) pulling some golden thread out of somewhere, lets pull some Boc quotes out and think about how they may be describing the true heart of the story
1
I was pushed out of the cave. Told not to come back, not ever. Then I ended up as a tree. Lucky you came along, really.
Well urm ive recently seen a lot of corpses that ended up as a tree, and in a sense Marika ended up as a tree only to be 'saved' by us.
2
'My mum was a seamstress...and that sewing kit was all I had to remember her by. I always wanted to be just like sweet old Mum. Then, I suppose I-I can't just curl up and die, can I?"'
Huh i know a mothefather who appears to be playing with thread...
3
I'll be the golden seamster, Boc! Now I'll be able to sew anything, even the threads of the demigods!"
When you say you can sew anything boc, does that include conjoining all of reality? Because i think your mother figure might have been in the business of literally sewing reality together.
4
"Oh! Oh! It can't be... For my rebirth? But these are precious, are you certain that it's for me? Oh... M'lord how did you know? It was my only wish, that I might honour you with a decent appearance."
Did your mother change appearance at all Boc? Did she change from something ugly to a beautiful queen? Was she reborn like the description on the https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Shield+of+the+Guilty
I expect Boc's dialogue to start making a lot more sense when we see what happened to Marika in the land of shadows.
submitted by Sanguiniusius to EldenRingLoreTalk [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 01:22 203PR RECAP - Tuesday May 21, 2024. CALL THE AMBULANCE. CALL THE AMBULANCE. But not for us 🦍😏

⚠️ DISCLAIMER. I AM NOT A FINANCIAL ADVISOR. THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVISE. I AM NOT TELLING YOU WHAT WILL HAPPEN, NOR DO I HAVE ANY WAY OF DOING KNOWING. ALL POSSIBILITIES PROVIDED BY ME, OR ANYONE IS SOLELY AN EDUCATED PREDICTION ON WHAT CAN HAPPEN IF ALL INVESTORS COLLECTIVELY MAKE THE SAME DECISIONS. THE ULTIMATE OUTCOME RELIES ON THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE NOT WHAT ONE PERSON SAYS ⚠️
Read here to catch up on yesterday’s recap - https://www.reddit.com/FFIE/s/yyNlzndKOc
Read here to catch up on FFIE in general (some of your questions might be answered!) - https://www.reddit.com/FFIE/s/hDH5ANRYji
Okay! We made it through another wild day. You apes fought HARD, and won today’s battle! But before we dive into today’s recap, a quick PSA 🗣️
🚨 TURN OFF STOCK LENDING ON WHATEVER BROKER YOU USE 🚨
READ THIS POST FROM TO READ ABOUT WHAT STOCK LENDING IS AND WHY WE SHOULD TURN IT OFF - https://www.reddit.com/FFIE/s/XjXiPkbDTc
BELOW ARE SOME LINKS TO GUIDES ON HOW TO TURN IT OFF ON SPECIFIC BROKERS:
Robinhood / TD Ameritrade / Fidelity / Charles Schwab / Webull / Interactive Brokers / Ally Invest / Trading212 / Vanguard - https://www.reddit.com/FFIE/s/snKwVTMwmM
Public - https://www.reddit.com/Superstonk/s/VzFGwTxPFO
Today we opened pre-market hours with a price point of 1.63/share. From then on until 10:30, we saw a steady price dip, bringing us to a low of 1.29/share. Because of how steady it was declining, this can tell us one thing. The big investors were dumping shares on us (mentioned again later) and we were just eating them right back up. They eventually eased up and we saw a NICE climb to 1.62/share at 11:45AM, to which we then began steadily declining again, bringing us to a daily low of 1.25/share. We closed the market day at 1.39/share, which is still GREAT. Please remember late market declines are normal, and alone they can’t determine our current state. Evaluations need to be done at a whole.
That being said, you guys can all give yourselves a huge pat on the back 👏🏼 “But Big Ape, we’re down from yesterday! You lie!” Hold on little ape, remember we talked about volume? No? You should! Remember, “Today’s Volume is the total of buys & sells of a stock in a certain time period. For a stock like FFIE, 677.89M is a BIG number.” Now that number provided is actually from YESTERDAY. So what was today’s number? A SHOCKING 220.14M 😱 What does that mean?
It means you crazy apes held your promises. It means you held your shares like your lives depended on it, and when the dips came, you ate them right up! Because the selling was mostly one sided, and so was the buying, with almost ALL OF US holding (👏🏼👏🏼) , all these contributed to us cutting the volume by 1/3!!!
But if we all held, then why were we -22.78% when the market closed??? Well, i’ll be completely transparent with you - I’m still figuring out all the details about this BUT, here’s what we do know - Today’s low volume means there wasn’t as much fighting going on within the stock market. It was a smooth game of hedge’s selling, and us holding for the dip, and buying more. Not a lot of trading going on compared to yesterdays volume of nearly 700M (Look at how volatile yesterday was!)
You all trusted one another to hold, while simultaneously keeping your end of the promise. Talk about a team bonding exercise.. very well done!! 🦍🖤
“But Big Ape! I goofed up and bought when the share price was higher! I’m not seeing any gains!” Well, it’s still a fight and we won’t see gains for a few more market days. But I understand little ape. You need reassurance. Well luckily for you Hope is my middle name. (It’s not.)
Here’s what else we know:
(Source for this segment - https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/FFIE/key-statistics/ )
As of the last update, FFIE has 42.41M shares outstanding. What does this mean? Let me put it like this. FFIE is a pie (company). Of that Pie there are 42.41 million pieces (shares). All of those shares aren’t available for everyone to buy and sell though. This is where the float comes into play.
As of the last update FFIE has a float of 17.09M shares. Those are pieces of the pie available for everyone in the stock market to play with.
The short % of this float is at 85.71%. What does this mean? It means the big boys have shorted 85.71%. “I still dont get it!” Okay, let me try it again.
When investors borrow shares, they do it in hopes that the price of those shares will fall. If that were to happen, they’d sell those same shares at a profit. This is what they’re trying to do to us.
You might be hearing a lot of numbers being thrown around, 60%, 90%, 80%. Places like Ortex are wrong because they’re only accounting for some of the shorts not all. Shorts positions aren’t released until every 2 weeks. The number provided is the number of ALL shares.
So, 85%, is that a good thing? Well you might be hearing that we were at 95%, or 97%. I’m not sure exactly how credible that is, but let’s focus on what we have. 85% is a GREAT number, the Hedge’s dumped 250k shares on us today causing the big first dip we saw and we ate that shit right up.
Today was a perfect representation of how we can maintain our position if we collectively move as a unit. I’m working on a Q&A post so if you have any questions regarding FFIE, or how stocks work feel free to comment, but first! Please try looking for your answer through this subreddit, as we have a lot of genius apes who have spent a lot of time making educational posts for you to read! I’ll link some in this post later tonight.
I have to run for now but I will be back tonight with some edits as well as a new post regarding what tomorrow could look like, what we can expect, and how we can fight tomorrow.
submitted by 203PR to FFIE [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 01:18 furyian24 Lying Neighbors

You know... had to find a place and there is a subreddit for everything. Glad I found this place. I'm just going to write because I want to beat the living shit out of this man every time I see him and I need to calm my ass down. My left leg is itching to land a roundhouse on this man.
A few months ago, I was talking about cars with a neighbor who lived across the street from me. We usually have talks about his car, my car, and my bike, and we talk about old-school cars. Just one dude having a fun conversation with another.
I had left my garage open, and my dogs. I have 2 of them. One I rescued from a family who couldn't keep it. The other landed on my lap and I've been taking care of it and is now considered my own.
Well, these 2 got out, and started roaming around about 70 ft from my property. Started sniffing around and found the scent of another dog and was curious. I didn't notice this at first of course.
They end up in this man's front yard. Who knows maybe they marked their territory a little drizzle here and there on their grass. Anyway, this man comes out and starts yelling "Get your dog off my yard". I didn't hear him at first or could make out what he was saying, and I realized my dogs had gotten out. I call my dogs, and they are well-trained, they both respond quickly and come running back.
I was a bit offended damn man. They meant no harm. Don't have to yell and shit you know. They are smelling another dog. They are interested in finding out more about this other animal that took a shit and piss in your yard. That's what dogs do. Anyway, I yelled back sorry! I meant it, I was sincere about it. I even started walking over there to show concern of course. He does not respond to me other than saying loudly, "Leash your dog". At that point, I'm over it, my buddy and I crack some jokes about the dude to laugh it off.
Like wtf got up this guy ass at 9 pm? Do you stare out the window all night looking for dogs that may end up in your front yard? We have a good laugh and we talk some more car, my dogs are cool with my buddy. Animals know instinctively who is friendly and who isn't. Oddly that's what I've noticed.
The next morning, after I have taken my kids to school. This jackass walks up to me in his version of workout clothes. I have never seen him ever since I've been taking my kids to school every morning but today was a special day. He has his airpods on, sneakers, and running shorts. Then he comes up to me and talks some mad shit. He's obviously spent the entire night thinking about how he's going to put me in my place or some shit. I just tell the guy to walk away. He says to me "What are you going to do about it?" Say what? What is this? Do what, I asked you to get out of my face right?
Jesus man... this dude, is pushing like the mid-50s to early 60's. I'm younger obviously, I'm thinking you trying to go toe to toe? I tell him to walk away. He tells me his wife is Korean and I'm Korean so he's trying to make some level of connection here, implying he knows something about my culture and he is disappointed as he should know there is some level of cultural impact I should have being a Korean and the way I have responded to him is not to his liking. Thus, I must show some level of respect or bend a knee or some weird shit, as if he understood Koreans to be something different than I am. Entitled as fuck this guy. He wants to feel superior and wants to be bowed down to. A total sense of entitlement right? Superiority complex of some kind. Fuck he annoys the fuck out of me. I keep calm and tell him to get the fuck out of my face but nicer. "Just leave man, no need for you to be in front of me, just gotta go move along," is what I told him.
No offense but I'm looking at this white dude here, and look I can say it because my uncle is white, married my aunt and we had a great relationship. No disrespect but who the fuck is this dude to start bringing up Korean this Korean that, we're in the US man. He acts disrespectful to me and gives me the middle finger as he walks away after me telling the guy on at least four other occasions to get going and stay out and away from my personal space. I'm like whatever, I'm over it. He means nothing really. He means less to me than let's say, a piece of rubber or something. I could care less.
Then he went ahead and told the HOA that my dogs had taken multiple shits in his yard, and I have never bothered to pick up after them. I make sure to pick up shit especially if it's on someone else's yard right. Of course, I respond back to HOA, and tell them, they got bigger things to worry about and they really have bigger shit to worry about than some bs complaint.
I'm sure that got that little ball sack of low-life fucking pissed right. I mean I got 2 tiny dogs. Each weighs less than 10lbs. One is around 6 lbs other is around 7.5 lbs. They are not fucking pit bulls here. Apparently, he also said my dogs were vicious.
That never went far. Anyway, yesterday, my kids got home from school, they wanted to visit a neighborhood friend and left the garage open. A lady was walking by. She was Asian, I can tell. How? I have cameras. I was also upstairs and looked out my window which is directly above the garage because I didn't hear the garage door close.
Well these 2 little shits went barking at her. She didn't flinch just kept on walking. I tell the kids close the garage. Today the big man over there and another lady who lives across the street from him, (I suppose birds of a feather flock together) rang my doorbell after I dropped my son off at school. I come downstairs, and this asshole pounds my door to show his impatience. I'm thinking cops? I open the door it's this asshole and his neighborhood lady friend.
I ask them what's the visit for, she tells me that when she was walking yesterday, my dogs "attacked" her and the dickhead standing next to her adds more dramatic impact and says, they even bit her. I'm fucking laughing inside. I saw the whole thing myself from upstairs. The lady my dogs barked at was Asian, her hair was black, I can still see her face from my upstairs bedroom window. I saw my dogs run up and bark at her and sniff her shoes and bark some more before my kids called them in. This lady was covered in long white sleeve and long white walking pants, white sneakers, a hat to cover the sun, and a face mask because she's Asian of course and we all hate the sun. Her walking stature was that of a woman in her mid 40 to 50's, and this lady in front of me that was supposedly attacked was again not Asian, and the lady claiming that she got attacked is about 30 years older, not even capable of walking no more than 200 feet from her property. She does not wear walking attire obviously made in China or Korea. I know because I'm Korean and older women wear exactly that type of clothing in Korea or Asia when they walk in daylight. They like to avoid the sun, but get their walks in. Jesus.... the fucking lies in this shit is humor at this point.
The lady in front of me is too old, let alone is capable to walk past my property or take daily walks. I work at home remotely man, I would have noticed if this lady was to type to take walks at 3 pm. I pick my kids up and I'm active outside during that time.
This lying POS goes a bit further and says, he thinks my dogs even broke skin. I look at her finger. I see nothing. No bite marks nothing, not even a scratch. No blood. Just straight-up lies. I apologize to the lady regardless. I tell her I'll cover her medical expenses (which means medical report, and doctor bill) she stutters a little, says no need. If she broke skin, and my dogs bit her, she would be at my house the minute it happened. Fucking lying ass dumb idiots. This man now dragged this lady into his lies you know.
Then I look at this mother fucker in the eye and my fucking legs are twitching, and in my mind, I want to land a roundhouse, I gauged the distance, and it would land on the right side of his face. Shit would have been a 10/10 perfect kick I'm thinking.... yea dipshit, something else you should know about Koreans, most of us take some sort of martial arts early in our youth and that never really stops. Seeing how you say you know so much about my culture, did that not enter your fucking head?
Anyway, I look at this sorry excuse for a man, a fucking coward and I ask him why he's here? If the lady is the one who got bit, then perhaps this is between me and her, right? He says he's there with her because he cares. Like hell, you do. You dragged this lady in your lies and she's going along with you but it's not the truth. You sorry ass POS, now dragged another individual into your BS. You still can't get over our last encounter and you are dying to come over and start some new shit. I asked you to walk away, but you didn't like it. You felt disrespected. In your spare time, you've been scheming ways to get back because you were never satisfied.
Anyway, he brings my dogs up again and says he'll call the police. I tell him to do what he's gotta do. That pissed him off because I called his bluff and he can't pull through and execute. I'm fucking with his ability to do anything about it. He now feels small again.
He said I should leave the neighborhood. I bought this fucking house, so I tell him you have money? You wanna buy me out? He has none, he says, "I don't want another house" Okay well then shut the fuck up right. I tell him at this point he should leave. The audacity of this little shitbag to tell me to move out of my own house is something else. Once again this sense of entitlement, where do you get it from?
Anyway, he's giving me the middle finger this whole time like a bitch hiding behind his safety blanket or something right. He's doing all kinds of weird shit right now. Like throws both fingers up, turns around does a 180, and gives me another two fingers. He's doing this like 10 times. What the fuck is wrong with this guy right? In front of the old lady which he seemed to have convinced to carry out the lies with him. I can tell at this point, she's about had it. She no longer wants to be involved. Again, if a person got bit by a "vicious dog" and was bleeding, she would not have acted this way right? She got called out on her hand, she tried to play along with his lead, how my dogs broke the skin, getting bit by them... all that, but she's got no bite marks, and my dogs don't bite. I know this. At the end she tells me she doesn't want my dogs on her yard, but she's okay with other dogs on her yard. So it's a personal thing, okay no worries I tell her.
Then he brings up the culture thing again. "You know my wife is Korean.... she's disgusted with you...blah blah" I respond, "I am Korean and my entire family is Korean and they would be disgusted with you," and then I tell him, "You don't understand us Koreans, we have mutual respect and honor, you have none, and that's why you're not getting any"
Guy walks away looking as small as he is, caught in his lies. When I knew all along what happened, his face turns fucking tomato red. Just what the fuck? How sick is this guy in the head? Anyway, I don't expect anything, just thought I'd write, for the internet and the entire world.
submitted by furyian24 to neighborsfromhell [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 01:14 slick762 Well work question

I hired a well company to install a new well. His communication and planning were not good. He subcontracted the drilling to another well company without telling me (huge surprise when company X showed up top drill when I hired company Y), showed up to finish the install and realized he had forgotten to hire an excavator crew so there was another delay. Also, there were issues on site the day he ran the water lines. Let's just say he was a little offensive (and I don't mean salty language, I was a 20 year Army vet, salty language makes me feel at home) and leave it at that.
Well was finally installed, check written to the guy and county health guy came by today to inspect the well and take samples to test and sign off.
Nobody plugged the old well. County won't sign off until that's done and when I called the well guy, he tells me his subcontracted company has to do that and hangs up. The subcontractor's receptionist had no idea about it and the owner hasn't returned my calls. And here's no mention of plugging the old well in the quote or receipt.
I appreciate that contractors shouldn't have to do extra work outside the quote for free, but I hired a licensed well driller, and I don't think it's unreasonable to presume that a quote would include all work required to install a well that meets county and state health requirements. This isn't like he had to drill deeper than expected. It's work that he had to have known was required. And I can't help but feel like he's trying to push this off as company Xs fault when it probably isn't.
If it comes to it, am I out of line for demanding the well plugging be included in the original quoted price?
submitted by slick762 to WaterWellDrilling [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 01:02 AcceptableAd3231 Miquella will be the new Marika and the last boss at the end of the DLC.

Miquella will be the new Marika and the last boss at the end of the DLC.
The title is really meant to draw attention, and I didn't exaggerate it.
I'm going to list off the top of my head everything I remember about the characters and with your help we're going to discuss how crazy I am, based on the current items in the game plus the trailer that came out today.
I will be using the descriptions of the game's current items and the 2 DLC trailers as a basis for hypothesis.
First of all, Miquella's character is summed up in the obsession with finding a cure for the scarlet rot that afflicts Malenia, where the sister cites him with all possible honors, in addition his obsession with the gold he has is not common, a time he produced the Unalloyed Gold Needle that we restored in Millicent's quest.
"My brother will keep his promise. He possesses the wisdom, the allure, of a god - he is the most fearsome Empyrean of all." - Malenia
"Metal greatshield depicting the Haligtree with unalloyed gold. Carried by knights who have vowed to serve Miquella's Haligtree." - HALIGTREE CREST GREATSHIELD
He studied the "laws" of the Golden Order, saw that his mother's Golden Order was not giving results and abandoned everything, creating his own tree in the giants' forbidden lands.
"A gift from the young Miquella to his father, Radagon." - Discus of Light
However, it wasn't fruitful as he expected and the tree, like him, didn't grow to become an adult, ironic as hell since he also doesn't grow because of the Curse he has.
We now know that, much like Ranni, he gave the "middle finger" to his own mother's ambitions:
-He abandoned his own body.
-He abandoned his rightful lineage.
-He abandoned his own Shard from the Elden Ring he got.
-He abandoned his own fate as St. Trina.
However, Miquella went much further, Ranni at the end of her story still had the Black Moon as a reference and Outer God, she was still tied to the fate of the stars like her mother, that's why we need to defeat General Raddahn to unlock her questline.
And there would be the most plot of all, Miquella giving up everything and following in her mother's footsteps on how to become a new Vessel of a new Elden Ring, to finally get the Gold needed to seal the presence of the Scarlet Rot that afflicts Malenia.
The cause of Malenia's suffering being the very presence of an Outer God, there is no other way for him to resolve this, if Miquella had access to Farem Azula to be able to use the needle with the help of the stone scales of the ancient dragons, however it was never was acess. In this case, the only one who has access to that place is Marika's Shadow.
In short, the only alternative for him to fulfill his promise to his sister and take away her suffering is for him to become something with the same status as Marika, to change the laws of the world as she did, banishing the death of her for example, he could banish the presence or kill the Outer God of Rot.
Him having access to this parallel "world"/"space" that Marika tried to hide is very plausible, as he has free access to the missbegotten.
If he himself tells this story at the "beginning", "betrayal" and that the result of all this was "Gold", there is no way he won't be the final boss, it will be a shot in the foot, all the materials released are to exalt and show how pure he is, It's going to be THE PLOT when this plan backfires, Miyazaki style.
https://preview.redd.it/er09b4f81v1d1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=de11ad3aa4c6719d77943d1682869006a9baeb9f
submitted by AcceptableAd3231 to EldenRingLoreTalk [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 01:01 BackdoorDan If I want to remove a wall that I think might be load bearing, what trades do I bring in to get a quote?

If I want to rotate a wall that I think might be load bearing, what trades do I bring in to get a quote?
It's only 17ft so I suspect I don't need to bring in a full on construction company. Do I call a framing carpenter for the quote or do I call in an engineer to make plans and present those to the carpenter for a quote? Ideally I can get an idea for how much this project will cost without having to drop $350 on an engineer.
For context, there are images of the project in my comment below
Based on my beginner perspective it appears as if the floor joists are just sitting on the top plate of the framing. In some photos you can definitely tell that the joists end in the middle of the top plate so I'm guessing it's two joists running across the house. What is confusing me is that the joists seem to just be sitting on the top plate... I'd expect some sort of steel tie or something to make sure it doesn't fall over.
Anyways, my assumption is that I'll need to have a beam engineered that will span the removed wall and i will have to put some lally columns every X feet, right?
submitted by BackdoorDan to HomeImprovement [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 00:52 Real-Illustrator7923 I (20m) need advice for what to do as a parent.

as the title says, i have recently become a parent. this however is not in the way you would expect. my mother moved our family out to arizona from a suburban town in the PNW (we are off grid and miles from the nearest town.) and she moved out shortly after moving here, leaving me with my three younger sisters. she has been on a bender of alcohol and drove drunk/got taken advantage of and is on a downward spiral. she has not lived at this house in over THREE months, leaving her children in my care with no car, no license, and no job. no matter how much i ask her, she keeps coming up with excuses for why she can’t move back in and take care of her own kids (the house is too messy, etc). i do not know how to take care of them and have been doing my best, but cannot provide food for them and she rarely gets them food. i have lost nearly 40 pounds since moving here, eating less so they don’t go hungry. i am 15 miles from the nearest town in the middle of nowhere and don’t know what to do. what should i do??? i cant call CPS because that would leave me homeless and my mom just lies to them everytime they get called on her. i need to continue providing for children because foster care is horrible to children and i have no other options. what do i do?
submitted by Real-Illustrator7923 to Advice [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 00:46 throwawaykinglizard Found out my girlfriend had a child and been cheating ever since

So about 1 year ago I met this girl, she was really attractive and after exchanging some texts she wanted to hang out. We went on a date, had a lot of fun and after a few drinks we ended up having sex in a hotel room. After this we started dating for a while, we would always go out every weekend and obviously we developed feelings for each other. I was not the kind of guy looking for a relationship, I would constantly have one night stands or just have fun with different girls; but the connection I had with this one girl felt really special, I lusted over her but at the same time I wanted to be just by her side every moment I could.
Eventually we started a relationship, we argued sometimes but nothing out of the ordinary. I stopped doing a lot of things I considered normal just to not make her feel insecure, like hanging out with my best friends (all girls), etc. Things were fine, except from the fact that she met my family about 2 weeks after knowing each other, while after months of dating I never went to her house, not even once.
She lived with her mother and her "brother", she would constantly talk about them, telling me about the things they did or when they would hang out. When I asked about who I assumed was her brother though, she said he "kinda" was, and that things were complicated but she would soon tell me everything about it. I assumed the kid was just adopted or something and simply shrugged it off.
We were a happy couple, we would hang out all the time and simply enjoy whatever we were doing, we were both deeply in love. Until one day we went to a bar with my friends, she already knew them, like I knew hers, so it was nothing new. However this time one of my closest pals brought a girl that I already knew, but would rarely go out. Everything was fine, we parted ways, I went to my house with my girl, we were really tired so we went straight to the bed and like always, had some fun before sleeping.
The next day was when everything went to hell. I was hanging out with my girl, when suddenly my pal texts me saying that I need to call him ASAP. I supposed something funny happened, as we would always talk about the stuff that we did the day after. I go outside and call him, he tells me to "be calm" and to take it easy, at least for now, this just shocks as he has never tell me something like this. Then he proceeds to tell me that my gf has a kid. I was in shock, it was about 10 months since we began dating and she never told me, or even tried to. I was shaking when dealing with this info, we are both fairly young so this was one of the things I never ever expected.
He told me that the friend he brought along yesterday recognized her as her cousin´s ex. And to everyone surprise, they broke up for this very reason, because she never told him about her kid. He then sent me screenshots of the texts he had with this guy, where he was in shock after finding it out and broke up with her.
I composed myself, went to my room and told her to pack her stuff, we need to talk, but outside. We talked for about an hour, I couldnt believe she had lied to me, or well, she hid something as important as that from me for so long! suddenly everything started making sense, from her getting offended from some stupid jokes I used to make to me never going to her house after all this time. I changed! I stopped doing all those things that bothered her and for this ? I felt betrayed, and after she left I went to my house, talked with my closest friends and try to get over it.
The very same day she called me, saying that she wanted to tell me but didnt know how to, that she loved me and that she didnt want to lose me. I was still in shock, and didnt want to see her again after all this, however she showed up in my door, and after letting her in (it was late AF and I did not want anything to happen to her) we talked about it. She said that things would be better, that it was the only thing she never told me, and that she did it out of fear of me leaving. I didnt want to believe all this, I really felt she was special; remember how I said i was kind of a playboy before ? I somehow wanted to marry her and have a family, something that I never ever wished to do with anyone else before. And suddenly, all this dreams and aspirations I had with her were gone; this may be a immature response but I felt that while this would be my first time, she already had it.
After learning almost everything about the situation, that she basically had the kid without knowing (she didnt knew she was pregnant until the very last months) we broke up but would still hang out like if we never did, things were not the same but this was the way I coped with all this I guess.
I started to be the asshole I was before, I loved her, but I still felt betrayed and didnt know what to do, as we werent really a couple anymore. Days went by and I started replying the messages of all these girls I used to ignore (who were obviously flirting with me). Some of them asking me to go out, or help me with stuff that I needed; I started going out with them, having sex, haging out, getting drunk, etc. Most of them developed feelings but I never reciprocated, I was just having fun like I used to. Suddenly my ex asked me to be her boyfriend again, and not knowing what to do I accepted.
Its been months after all this happened, we had a lot of fights because I just dont care about all the things that make her insecure now, I am the way I used to be again, we broke up again, but we still see each other every weekend. Recently a girl that used to flirt with me started to hit on me again, even sending food to my office, and there are other girls asking me out, and although I dont have as much time as I used to, as I am now focused on a personal project that has been the work of my entire life, I still manage to go out whenever I feel "bored".
I have tried to make it work with my ex, I swear, but everytime I feel like I want to marry her and have a family I remember that she already has a kid and how she lied to me. I start thinking about how stupid I would be as a step father. I can barely manage my life and I dont want to be responsible of a kid, even though she says that her mother takes care of him. I want to travel, I want to fullfill my dreams, and honestly, I dont want to have kids, not now, not in the future.
I dont know what to do, I have tried to stop contact with her, but somehow we end up talking again and the cycle repeats. Currently we are "happy" but I feel like I dont want to have her as my partner for life, as I know that doing so means that I would have to accept the kid, and to be honest (maybe this is a immature way to look at it) looking at the kid would remind me of everything that went wrong, and would also remind me of the fact that she was with someone else.
submitted by throwawaykinglizard to TrueOffMyChest [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 00:38 Drowning_Sorrow I’m not talking with my best friend.

Recently my school had its prom, which I went too, and so did my best friend (let’s call him Peter), and he went with his girlfriend (let’s call her Sarah). I only went with a bunch of my friends because I knew Peter would basically just spend the whole time with Sarah so I didn’t really care to hang out with him. Him and Sarah haven’t been dating long (just over a month now) but I never really liked her.
At prom I took a picture of them dancing and sent it to his sister, who I am also friends with, to make a joke that I figured she would find funny. However, Peter found out and got really upset at me, except I didn’t really know why, I was just making a joke that was unrelated to him or his girlfriend. I only found out why he was upset after another one of his friends had to explain that he thought I was trying to cause drama or get him in trouble, which I wouldn’t do. Him being upset at me crippled my mental health, and I had several panic attacks and depressive episodes during the rest of prom and the next day too. At first I was really sorry and apologetic, and I apologized to his sister because I knew he wouldn’t respond if he got a message from me anyways. However, he was incredibly rude and his girlfriend was awful too, telling me to “disrespectfully, f*ck off” (actual quote). He never tried to hear me out, and overreacted at this incident, and even created drama himself, which is ironic because that’s exactly why he was mad in the first place.
Since then I have been directly ignoring him and refusing to speak to him directly, because thats my best method for coping. I initially planned on ignoring him for a week so I could isolate myself and cool off because I got upset at him getting upset. This was until he sent his “apology” which basically just said that he was upset I was trying to create drama and he wouldn’t treat his friends like that (which he literally did to me) and that he would want to spend more time with Sarah than his other friends because he’s dating her, and would expect me to do the same (I’ve had a girlfriend before, and that isn’t how I acted, nor would I ever have acted like that to someone I considered my best friend). Because of this I prolonged my period of silence to an unforeseen date.
Other friends of mine are also not talking to them for various reasons. One is because of how fast he moved on from his last relationship, which was about a year and a half or so, another is because of how he ended that relationship and then tried to cover it up and play the victim when he was clearly in the wrong, and another is because Sarah used to bully them in middle school. Anyways, I feel bad about not talking to him but I also feel bad when I think about talking to him because I am afraid I might blow up and start yelling at him, and make it worse somehow. Am I in the wrong? What should I do?
Edit: Paragraphs
submitted by Drowning_Sorrow to teenagers [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 00:32 Defiant-Flower-135 I wish I turned out differently

M21 I'm doubting if it was strict parenting or if it was the drink but I want opinions. She has done a lot but I don't feel entirely satisfied either. But in the days I have drafted this, my doubts only grow.
As a kid my mom hawked over me and now things I wish I could have experienced did not exist, like going to a park or playground with a friend without supervision, whereas she did. Going to the gas station for snack I couldn't, when she asked her parents and was given a quarter when everything was a cent. Riding a bike was limited to the street we live on, and when I was able to leave, I couldn't leave the neighborhood when she walked for a while to make sure her friend got home. Once sitting on my bike at the edge of the sidewalk and she walked over, cursed me out for going on a different street and wouldn't believe me. I couldn't go to a friends house because I was going to do my homework how my teacher taught me instead of hers, which I didnt know and was not taught. At a friends house, she berated me for making her wait in the car for a few minutes longer than the arranged pickup time. By comparison to what it would have been like, it is a magical opportunity lost.
For most of my school years, all I did was go to school, do homework and play games. Despite catching on to lessons quickly, classes were something to pass, nothing more, not even for life skills. Have a B? Make it an A. I did. Is the project due? Make it better. Alright. Taking orchestra and painting was fleeting then and while I enjoyed it, it was only done for practice or assignment. Now I am upset that it was all I did instead of going out and experiencing life: going out with friends, finding a club or sport to do, or just big activity sessions. Never had a curfew because I never left home to start. I may have had fun gaming then, but I lament heavy over that now to where I will not touch one. A future education and the future as a whole I should have taken a lot more seriously than I could possibly have imagined. School did push for it, but I was a fool and did not care.
Other than the occasional family visit, I did nothing and learned nothing. Never taught to cook much, properly clean, shop for necessities, make right finances, etc. Future prospects was left to whatever I would choose, which I would put it later down the road. Never got any real world experience and just been sheltered for so long, both by my doing and my moms. No drive to do anything, nothing of a hopeful future, no being pulled out of whatever I was doing to learn anything or having skills necessary in the world today be incentivized. Aside from making sure I did well in school, I was left to myself.
She always has something to complain about. Streaks of mean and grumpy. Remembered somethings of what we were interested in but other times just an empty face. Who my mom is today is doom and gloom, speaking two different points that are showing the worst of her and nitpicking over every possible detail. Most of who she enjoys in media has an underlying toxic presence to them with name calling. Polarize, prejudice, politicize, judge and bias everything. Norway and Iceland? Too cold and mountainous, how could anyone have settled there? Germany? They all speak the same language and cannot understand anyone in a city that is 30 minutes away. That guy's accent she can't stand and defaulted to being generated, even though he sounds the same speaking Finnish. All for a better planet yet everything is wasted, trashed, or sent to China. Treat others how you want to be and from where I stand, seem like a backtalking coward. Couldn't have a water pitcher because "no one refilled it" to keep the filter going when I made sure to keep it plentiful. If she has a problem she will bring up the one exact same example related to the topic that I have heard plenty before. And most of the negative aspects of society happen more likely than they should. All while bring home a 24, 30 or however many count of budweiser a week at least. I imagine we only got along because I wasn't a brat anymore and did not try to upset her. Falling in line if you will.
Emotions bottled or maybe emotionally dead. The masculinity trap of what is the general expectation of "men". To express myself, to show emotion, to even cry is something I don't want to do out of fear of being seen, which is ironic given the code of the samurai. 6th grade she didn't remember to pick me up even though I said and called and a friend and his friend caught me being emotional and stayed around a bit to comfort me.
The fear that was put into everything. An actual quote went something as "If you get hurt, I'm not going to drive you to the hospital". Another "All girls are evil". And "that sounds too confrontational" when I asked neighbors to clean after their dog. Even questioning if my eyes doing something required a doctor for her to say that my eyes will fail naturally and something about her relative who had an eye problem and didn't see a doctor. Things that made me not do the kinds of things I want to do now. I have been so sheltered then and now that I want to go out but there is the ever scared part of me towards the unknown world. I feel I have been prejudiced into thinking such ways but there's no personal experience to back or challenge said thoughts.
Admittably, parts of me are glad I know what I have and want for morals and mindset, but its also a matter of temptation and theres still so much that I wish to explore. At times I feel I matured too quickly at the cost of a kids stupidity or innocence and now am too serious and heavyhearted for my own good. To be told how I've matured when there wasn't much to mature from. A part of me feels that I have taken after her cold, judgemental, selfish attitude and that makes me fearful to screw up any kind of friendship or relationship, and dreading that I could reflect that onto any child I may have no matter how far away into the future I do have one. I kind of want to hate her but I am so emotionally gone or warped that I can't. If I "rebel" now, or begin to, I feel that might get the fire started.
She would argue with my dad from time to time but then that continued on for days and it was a cold environment lasting days to weeks after a fight. Even prior to their fights, they rarely slept together in the same bed, let alone the same room. She would critique his employer and even his choice of friends. Once he woke up late, thus having us late to get ready for school and she began one for that. I don't remember the exact details but she once criticized him over a coat he got me. All while listening from the top of the stairs to even the bottom where I was covered by a wall. A few times we listened and we made noise that I think made them aware of us but that didn't stop them. Even starting in our presence where we would leave the room. It got to the point where he actually packed lightly to leave for the night or days and my brother and I stopped him just so he could be home. I wish I did let him go then.
I really do believe I could have had it differently if my dad was alive. He made such an effort. When I was in hospital at 4, he made the efforts to get me out and moving around. When I didn't know a swim style, he literally chucked me towards the deeper waters (I was scared, but he was right in the end, one of the fondest memories). He taught me how to use the mower and had a mini shop set up in the garage. I played with him so much and he got me into the complex games he enjoyed as I got older. For as rough we were, he was so gentle. I looked up to him then and even more than ever now. He made the effort to be one worthy of "Dad" and he was damn well worthy of that and no one could be more better for me.
"Faded gray are all the days of yesteryears So much time has turned to memories and to tears" -Valkyrja
I did graduate HS 3 years ago, did a summer program and since nothing. No job, education chances, or life plans. Even though I felt smarter, I was turned off of college simply for cost reasons and "feeding the rich" mindset. Last summer I began to look at my past and future with a whole new look with no physical change taking effect. First week into March this year I realized what I have been doing compared to how others are living through good and bad and I fell into depression hard. Now it persists with great off and on. Where I have been up at 9 in the morning to suddenly be up at 5 or 6 in the afternoon. Throughout the past 3 years, there was no making sure I was ok, no seeing how I felt, no finding out what I wanted to do. And I am still frightened of what may be out there, even when that is the key to the living that I want. I want to go, I need to go. But where? I leave for the good and better of myself, but I also leave behind this place I've called home, yet it's now so far from the one I want to remember with a fond memory. So much happens that seems to have been "normal" when it doesn't seem like it should. The same place with the same inhabitants in the same motions. No going out, no difference, no change, and VERY artificial. Nothing means anything anymore. To let how I feel about the previous years subside in me or blow over...
Always have been insecure, hesitant, second guessing. While others had spent their 18s, 19s and 20s going into the world doing many things, I've had the summer program at 18, nothing at 19, and two days in the big city to attend a concert at 20. Little noteworthy moments under my belt. It seems like love in the immediate family was not two ways or had to be earned. I have not grown. Who I am is not who I want to be at heart.
For 21, I know I should have more skills and be in better places, but theres nothing from anyone. No check-in, no advice, no motivation. Like "the birdling will leave the nest" instead of anyone preparing a boy to what is before him. Its not a snap of fingers or blink of an eye do I learn what is expected. On the grown up part, I feel heavily underprepared for the world and life. Far too long have I stayed and lived in my head. I cannot understand why I am still at home, a part of myself thinks to keep the peace but what peace needs to be kept? Nothing and no one is stopping me from leaving except myself and the thought that they will most definitely want to know where I am if I go, which I do not want to tell anyone. Or that I've been sheltered and not have realised the gates have been unlocked long ago. Things are not ok and I want to stop pretending when I leave. Even with Spring's green grass under a blue sky that ends the day with the orange sunset piercing the clouds to make them blue and pink do I feel grey.
"Watching to the night with tired eyes Waiting for nothing all my life" -Battle Against Time
I feel the kid within me, wanting to do those exciting things, yearning for any kind of companion or fellowship. What daylight reveries I can conjure to make him feel hopeful enough so he can shine soon. The things I want to do to feel happy. I want to water that little guy.
A lot of this I have remembered recently and still am connecting the dots. I already am upset at myself for not doing anything in life, but I want to be angry and I honestly hate myself for not seeing this sooner and listening to her for so long. Despite feeling broken and defunct, I still feel young enough but there's been so little done that it feels many chances are long gone. There is more freedoms I have that I do not know about and ones that I have had before that gathered dust. And now I am in a toss up between beginning college preparation now, leaving states or the country to act on these now childhood regrets. I don't want to be who I am now any longer. I just want to do something. And in between it all, confusion of what to do, how to feel and saddened that I am not who I once was or could have been.
submitted by Defiant-Flower-135 to AdultChildren [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 00:31 GrimReaperGaming_18 20M(repost) Still trying to keep it Halal.

Gender: Male
Age: 20
Height & Weight: 6"2 and 70kg.
Marital status: Single.
Education: Studied Islam for a year after FSc. Trying for Uni rn.
Profession: Freelancer,Property Dealing(Jack of all trades).
Hobbies: Games, Cricket,Football.
Do you want kids:-Unsure(Will go with partners mind).
Religion: Islam.
Deal breakers:
Interesting facts about you: Im a pet person (birds,cats...)
City: Islamabad
Residence (Own/Rented): Own
Family details: 1 younger brother 1 older sister. Mother Housewife Father businessman.
Joint/nuclear(Optional): Nuclear.
Requirements: No height, caste etc problems.
Expectations from the partner: Well mannered and educated.
Timeframe in which you want to marry(Optional):1-3 years.
submitted by GrimReaperGaming_18 to PakistanRishta [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 00:27 NightcrawlerDIO How can I support a friend who lacks the resilience to keep a job?

Someone close to me has been experiencing chronic depression since they were a teenager. They are now in their late-20's, take meds and consult a psychologist to manage their depressive symptoms.
I worry for them because they have never been able to hold down to a job for more than 4 months at a time because they get overwhelmed easily and give up as opposed to trying harder. They've also been in and out of college in between, always dropping out for the same reason.
Although they are lucky enough to live with their mother at this time, as she gets older in age my friend will soon be expected to support themself. I worry they won't be able to survive on their own as they essentially only end up working 25-40% of the year and cost of living only continues to increase. I don't want to see this friend become homeless or lose the will their will to live, but whenever I try to approach the topic they are quickly brought to tears and become distraught. As a result I'm constantly walking on eggshells around them as I try to offer supportive words.
I am terribly afraid that this person close to me does not have the resilience to survive in this economy. They do not have a single penny to their name and their mental struggles are a barrier to that. A part of me just wants to tell them that struggle is a part of living, and that they have to get it together, however I know that isn't my place. Is there anything I can do on my end to support them?
submitted by NightcrawlerDIO to Advice [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 00:08 RoyanRannedos My TBM mother-in-law quoted me at her mom's funeral.

As my wife's grandma was dying, my annoyingly TBM mother-in-law was putting on her usual manic-grin-and-repress face. After all the times I comment on death and existential crises here, I figured it would be a kindness to share some of what I'd learned about what happens before death.
Summed up, the brain floods with a potent hallucinogen right before death, causing the classic symptoms: tunnels, lights, floating above your body, and life flashing before your eyes. It's like your final trip on magic mushrooms—it leads to the joy or demons you were expecting before your brain entered the ultimate suggestive state.
I told her that her mom's brain would play back a highlight reel of all the best of her life, from young love to family gatherings to meeting great-grandchildren. Whether it's a final mercy or God's mechanism for welcoming us to the afterlife, it helps the people who grieve to know their loved one departed well, and that when their own time comes, they can experience the best of times with their loved ones, no matter how long departed.
This certainly wasn't the standard plan-o'-salvation fare, but she used it to close her remarks. She must have seen it in action. If you'd have told me this would happen five years ago, I wouldn't have believed it. She took the outward experiences of Mormonism seriously, and I definitely come down on the nature side of the nature/God dichotomy.
But in my deconstruction, I've learned how Mormonism is a nanobot monument, millions of individuals loosely held together by tradition, fear, and social pressure. I can't judge MIL by the all-Mormons standard, and there's more opening than I thought to reach out. One shelf break, and she'd be right at home here with all the trauma she keeps giving to Jesus so she looks happy-righteous. Even if it makes me crazy how much the generational trauma hurt my wife, I need to be the bigger person when it comes to actually bettering people's lives instead of being all talk.
I'm not expecting a mighty change of heart, but peace comes from knowing change and growth don't have to be mighty to matter. Not as long as they build on the experiences and relationships in your highlight reel, and this admittedly odd experience is definitely going on mine.
submitted by RoyanRannedos to exmormon [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 00:06 sorta_kris Undercurrent for INDIA in UP. Part 1

There seems to be a growing undercurrent for INDIA alliance in Uttar Pradesh. (In a lot of states actually but this post is only about UP).
Part 1 is about voter base. Part 2 will address VIP seats stuff like that...
Here are the shift in voter constituencies I predict: 1. Women: Generally they have been the beneficiaries of welfare schemes specifically Free Ration. Thus they are expected to vote for Modi more. Especially UC women have been seeing Modi-Yogi as godly figures. However, backward caste women, are turning out to be more of floating voters. They are not happy with the ration. The quality is bad, and they can't feed the whole family with 5kg Dal Chawal. Mehengayi is an issue. Gas Cylinder being major. And many are discontent as mother's of unemployed youth. (Also women who did some work under MGNREGA have no work now) 2. Yadavs: Largely have always voted for SP. Data suggests that traditionally 75% yadavs vote for SP. It may only increase due to issues of unemployment/mahengai.... It won't decrease. 3. Jatavs: Data suggests 70% vote traditionally to BSP. Quite some are shifting to SP and BJP in equal numbers. Because of lost of trust in Mayawati. More might shift to SP bcoz Akhilesh has given non-reserved seats to some Jatavs. 4. Other OBCs: Mostly a BJP vote bank. Akhilesh by giving seats to non-yadav OBCs and congress through its NYAY promises trying to appeal to them. No indications if it is working or not. Some journalists in their ground reports are saying that unemployment issue may change some people's views. But no indication if it will translate to votes. 5. Uppercastes: Obviously BJP voters. Have been more consolidated this time due to Ram Mandir. Especially in urban UP it is only BJP. But, some undercurrent here. In very backward areas, there is 40-50/50-50/50-40 situation among UCs where every other person is voting for modi for ram mandir and others especially youth and disillusioned due to paper leaks, unemployment etc and shifting to being floating voters. This is where BJP hurts the most I think. I don't know what INDIA can do to get these votes. Yogendra Yadav says every 5th/6th UC person is considering shifting vote to INDIA. 6. Dalits (other than Jatavs): Largely vote BSP. But some disillusionment with Mayawati is present. More importantly major chunks moving vote directly to Congress. This is because of the narrative that BJP wants 400 paar to change Babasaheb's constitution and they will take away reservations. Congress will bring caste census and give them what they deserve. 7. Muslims: Traditionally vote for SP. Very easy vote transfer for Congress. Will never vote BJP especially after Modi's hate speeches etc. Some seats they may split in favour of BSP coz Mayawati has given tickets to many Muslims. 8. Youth: So just like how Modi started appealing to women and it becomes it's own voter constituency since 2014... Congress is doing that now with Youth vote. On one hand you have full on BJP IT cell going crazy to influence first time voters through WhatsApp and social media. On other hand you have INDIA rallying around unemployment and paper leaks etc. Now ofcourse caste politics affect youth as well. Many youth especially first time voters are brainwashed and will only Jai Shri Ram, full marks to BJP for this. But recent suicides due to paper leaks and Agniveer scheme factor could play an important role as well.
Please note, these are my biases: I am a political observer. I am not a journalist. With an MA, I have decent knowledge of Indian politics. I am an uppercaste person living in a major city. I supported BJP in 2014. I did not vote in 2019. I definitely dislike BJP in 2024. But not a fan of INDIA alliance either. But have voted for them as it is better of two evils.
Please feel free to criticize the analysis. I am openly sharing who I am and what my bias is. So please don't make personal attacks.
submitted by sorta_kris to unitedstatesofindia [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 00:01 ikieneng My fanfiction - episode 4!

My fanfiction - episode 4!
The next part is here! This episode is so long that I had to split it, and today, you're finally getting part 3 of 3.
You can find the previous episodes in the side bar! (Community info page in the app)
DISCLAIMERS (the same ones as before)
The point of this fanfiction is not to be a straight-up continuation of events with the same themes, intensity, and tone. If you go into it with those expectations, you are probably not going to like it. Rather, it’s supposed to be how I wish things went if these events were real life. The resolution you want for a real-life situation isn’t often the right choice for a show, but it can be incredibly beautiful. Think of what you’re about to read to be a separate show then.
Episode 1 of this fanfiction begins after the episode “2:00” (season 2 episode 4), so it replaces the episode “Cake” and the ones that follow it. This fanfiction expects you to have seen the entirety of seasons 1 and 2, so you should watch those first.
I myself am bursting into the story here. The narrator and me are the same. While my character is like 95% real me, don’t take events about my life described here as facts. Some aspects of my life have been changed for the story. In my head, I started writing like an “alternate me” character in 2016, fulfilling a lot of the things that I wish I had in life, adding that to my story. I’m not really from Ukraine. I speak fluent Ukrainian as a foreign language, I started learning it in 2014, and I’ve talked to tons of people from there, but I’m not from Ukraine. I also don’t have as much money as I do in the story. I wish lmao.
If you want to post your own fanfiction, feel free to do so! To get your own post flair for your fanfic, and to appear in the side bar, please message me.

Part 3 (days 3 and 4)

We’d wake up on day three, and still, nothing would be any different - we’re still locked up. We’d both feel really worried not knowing if we’ll have to forfeit our whole plan because we might run out of food and water and take the risky route - calling the police and getting ourselves into a situation where we’d have to be freed by force, which would be so dangerous because the Turners have proven that there’s nothing they’re not prepared to do to us to “get Jericho back”. Leanne would ask me “What do we do if we call the police, and Mrs. Turner comes up here and tries to hurt us?” At first, I’d insist that we start thinking about that when we do run out of food the next day, but she’d insist we should come up with a plan. I’d point at the corner on the edge of the attic facing Spruce Street, the corner that’s to one’s right when coming up into the attic,
https://preview.redd.it/knoz0zwpou1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=bd1694f292bb546ea45339ebecea7ffacfe33541
and say “Then you’d curl up and hide over there, and I’d take the radio, you’d take the metronome, and I’d sit down in front of you, shielding you, and if she gets in here before the cops do, we’ll defend ourselves. And we’d record everything on my phone. And we should probably hide behind the sofa. Maybe then, she might not notice we’re still up here at first. She’d probably be in a state of panic.” She’d look at me with sad, but touched eyes and just hug me and say thank you. I’d reply “Of course”. After some silence, I’d tell her “If anything happens to me… Please bring me back”.

She’d be touched by that, but say that if she reanimates me, the Church of Lesser Saints will come after ME as well because they’ll believe that I’ll be obligated to join. With a worried smile, I’d say “I know... But they’re probably already gonna do that, right? Because I won’t let them get to you!” We’d both nod with the same half-happy, half-worried expression. “And if things go terribly wrong and you have to bring me back, we can try again!”

I’d ask if I’m getting it right that the “great sins” they think she’s committing are not spending time with the Church and helping another family from the one that was assigned to her. She’d say yes and add that there’s a lot more they hate her for, like her “disobedient and rebellious streak”, disobeying their instructions, putting curses on people, and now, leaving the Marinos.
https://preview.redd.it/4obn4r9uou1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=1e77adafbde221c320999ba1169adb0a1c6b2b17
After a few seconds of silence (out of shock that this is how the Church of Lesser Saints frames it), I’d be like “If you disobey so many of their instructions, then...”, look her directly in the eyes, and go “Good! Keep on disobeying them! I’m actually kind of stunned that this is how they frame your actions, because that is so manipulative. Wanting to have a life where you don’t have to worry about your every step being watched and controlled, where you can actually freely explore what you believe – not what they tell you to believe, but what YOU believe, where you can do totally normal human things like listen to music, and where you can go wherever you want and make some basic decisions for yourself and work wherever you want, that doesn’t make you...” (doing the “quote-on-quote” with my hands while I say it) “quote-on-quote ‘disobedient’ or ‘rebellious’, it makes you a normal human being. If they forbid every little thing that people do that makes you happy, if you then look for happiness elsewhere, that’s on them. You can’t take every bit of joy away from people and then expect them to just deal with it. You wanting to run away, that’s the logical result of their bullshit. And you didn’t ‘leave’ the Marinos, you were taken. Don’t let them think you’re at fault in any way!” She might have never heard any verbal confirmation before that her feelings about leaving are valid, and this would be so reassuring to her. She’d tell me that whenever she did things like not be there for meals at the Church, skip assemblies, or curse people without permission, she would be brought before May and the rest of the community, get questioned about her behavior, and she’d have to self-flagellate to receive forgiveness.
https://preview.redd.it/roex7c20pu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=32cecf94a41a97e66b1c74967cb074ca89321777
I’d go really still and quiet when she mentions the self-flagellation, which she’d then explain is a frequent punishment. That would freaking break my heart... I’d ask her when was the last time she hurt herself, and it was a little less than two weeks ago, before she was forced to leave the Turners. Very carefully and quietly, I’d ask her if it would be okay if she can show me her scars and add “You do NOT have to if you’re not comfortable, PLEASE don’t do it if you’re not”, and after a second, she’d nod and show me her back. My heart would break for her even more seeing her scars, I’d just express how horrible it is that they made her do that… I’d show her some of my cut wounds from when I self-harmed, which I hadn’t done in like three and a half years at that point. I’d want her to know that way that I get the urge, that I really do, but I’d tell her that hurting oneself achieves nothing. All it does is make you feel horrible mentally and physically, and every time you do it, there’s a risk of infection and even death. I’d just tell her I understand while taking her in my arms. I’d ask her to please look me in the eyes and tell me she won’t hurt herself again, and that when she feels like doing it again, to please talk to me first. She’d quietly say “I promise” while looking me in the eyes, and after some longer embraces, we’d both smile a bit, that would make me really happy to hear! I’d ask that when we’re out of here, if we can call a doctor sometime soon and get them to look at her scars to make sure none of them are infected, if she’s comfortable enough, and she’d nod and smile at me a little bit some more.

We’d eat after that. We’d run out of tomato soup that meal, and I’d tell her that when we’re getting out of there, I’d get her all the tomato soup in the world! “We’re gonna fill a whole hotel fridge with tomato soup!” “And with Ben & Jerry’s?”, she’d ask, and I’d say yes and say that we’re probably gonna need more than one fridge. I’d say we’re gonna pick the nicest and most expensive hotel to stay at, an idea that she’d love! “You still think Allentown is a good idea?”, I’d ask her, and she’d think my reasoning from the day before makes sense and say yes. We’d look for the nicest hotel in Allentown online and see that there are “only” three-star hotels in Allentown. Leanne would ask if getting such an expensive place to stay is really okay, and I’d say “Money is not an issue, don’t worry about it” while reaching across her back and like caressing her right shoulder, looking her in the eyes, and smiling. “And besides, let’s spoil you, you fucking deserve it after all this!” We wouldn’t book anything yet because we wouldn’t know when we can get out of there yet, but looking at all those insanely nice hotels would lift our spirits a bit.

After eating the first half of that day’s rations (only two half day’s rations would be left after that…), we’d think that it would probably be a good idea if we started writing the document for the police right now. Writing it can take hours upon hours, and there’s no point in delaying the rescue to write the document after I leave if we can do it right now, so we’d begin right that moment. It would begin something like “My name is Daria Horenko, born July 30, 1999 in Odesa, Ukraine, residing in 501 Pembroke Ave, Philadelphia 19050, Pennsylvania...” (I don’t live there. I have no idea who does. Please leave them alone lmao) “...I sent this statement to my Facebook friend Liam [...] (residing in Tipperary, Ireland, using Facebook as Liam [...]) as a PDF file and told him to call the Philadelphia police and read this statement to them if I don’t come back online and confirm that I’m okay by 10 PM Philadelphia time / 3 PM London, UK time on December 22, 2022. If he is reading this to you, it probably means that there was no sign of life from me by that time, and that I’m not safe, probably kidnapped and locked up by Dorothy Turner, Sean Turner, Julian (I’m not sure about his surname, but I’m referring to Dorothy Turner’s brother - redhead, not very tall, moderately overweight) in the attic of their residence at 9780 Spruce Street, Philadelphia 19139, Pennsylvania”, and then document everything I’ve seen in chronological order and everything that Leanne has told me, with a link to our video and photographic evidence, references to DNA evidence that can probably be found in the hole in the basement if they haven’t covered it up by now, and a statement at the end saying that I’ve written it together with Leanne to make sure that everything is correct. That would take a really long time, hours for sure. But when it’s done, I’d run spell- and grammar checks on it and send it to my printer at home, to be queued for printing when I get home and turn it on. We’d also know that today (December 21) or tomorrow will be the day when we leave one way or another, so I’d schedule a text message to 911 in 30 hours from that moment. The message would say “This is a scheduled message. If you’ve received it, then Leanne Grayson (born October 13, 2001)...” (We only ever learn Leanne’s birth year from the gravestone. October 13 is Nell Tiger Free’s birthday, so October 13, 2001 being Leanne’s birthday is kind of my headcanon)
https://preview.redd.it/0hr9niq1pu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=4dbead2015781ed8beee236188b8273aac1b3fb0
“...and me (Daria Horenko, born July 30, 1999) are probably not safe, abducted and locked up against our will by Dorothy Turner, her brother Julian, and Sean Turner in the attic of their house at 9780 Spruce Street, Philadelphia 19139, Pennsylvania or somewhere else on the property. We need help immediately. The Turners should be considered dangerous and very clearly willing to use violence and intimidation. We need help NOW. Details in our prepared statement: [the link]”. Because we’re holding out hope that we won’t have to call the police from inside the attic, the document would include information on what our plan is to get Leanne (and me) out of there as safely as possible and call the police from the taxi, but that if we run out of rations, we won’t have a choice but to call the police while we’re unarmed and while the Turners still have the upper hand.

We would debate whether we should include information about the Church of Lesser Saints right away or tell the police about them later because we know how that sounds, considering that this would hurt the credibility of our testimony,
https://preview.redd.it/sinvabf3pu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=e37811b53eb90cb8a066bfcb30f6244bb9f34ad4
but we’d modify the document and include the most important information about them as well, with more believable explanations - how they forced Leanne and other members to self-harm (meaning that current members or those who recently left), where they’re currently operating from in Lancaster,
https://preview.redd.it/mxbm8445pu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=1f9b5f1c671c15afce7149eeb90926c2c29b9bdb
that they faked their deaths, that they forced Leanne to leave the Turners, and the necessary lie that they took the real baby, and that Leanne hasn’t seen it since that day and doesn’t know where they’ve taken it. We’d also include names and stuff, and most importantly, reference the baptism tape and say that it shows May and George watching us from the sidewalk outside the church less than three weeks ago, and that piece of evidence would change everything in regards to investigating the Church of Lesser Saints and make the police believe us. We’d add that it’s probably among the other DVDs in the Turners’ living room, and that I’ll try to get it when leaving the building if our original plan is still going to be an option, rip the DVD at home, and add a link to the video file to the document. We’d modify the scheduled text message as well, and we’d charge both phones, mine first because the scheduled message is so important, but it’s an iPhone, so we could charge it to 100% rather quickly and then charge hers. And we’d add that we’d want the police to get Leanne’s things from the Marino estate. All her stuff being there would be further evidence that she was taken suddenly and against her will. We’d also add what number Leanne can be reached at for now with the Samsung Galaxy phone. And then, I’d send the document to Liam on all platforms where I know how to reach him, followed by a message to alert the authorities if I’m not back online confirming that we’re both okay in what’s now probably more like 29 hours, the phone number of the Philadelphia police, and caps at the beginning saying that it’s an actual emergency.

Out of nowhere, I’d ask her if she’s seen “Titanic” lmao, and with her near total isolation growing up, she wouldn’t have seen it. “I’ve only seen movies on TV”. I’d be like “I can show you lots of movies if you want! I got several subscriptions to streaming services, and also a bunch of stuff offline on an external drive at home.”
https://preview.redd.it/lr58woa7pu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=63537b149270faeebb2c3f1be9ba2af0d259e1b7
Back on talking about “Titanic”, I’d tell her it’s wonderful and so freaking romantic, albeit over-the-top at times for sure and a bit overrated. It has that glossy feeling and some superficial characters to it that all James Cameron movies have, but it’s still really wonderful. After explaining the plot to her (since she’s grown up so isolated), I’d tell her about one scene that I’m thinking about a lot from time to time - near the end of the movie, when old Rose is done telling the researchers her story, she says that she doesn’t even have a picture of Jack, and that has hit me so hard from the first time I’ve seen the movie.
https://preview.redd.it/96bgw8s8pu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=476c1a4cbee498c26a0be4651ef83258f0aa7748
She has no physical memories of him, she can never see his face again, and she can never show people what he looked like. That just rips my heart. I’d ask Leanne if we can take some pictures together. We’d look pretty horrible because we haven’t been able to shower in days, but we wouldn’t care and take them anyway and really, genuinely smile so hard. I’d send them to her email address (leanne_grayson@icloud.com, that email address is on her resume in the show),
https://preview.redd.it/frfz9e7apu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=1b65065ab622e71f52edc6e9b84a2974e7efe9cb
manually sync my gallery with iCloud, and I’d send them to Liam. I’d ask what phone she got back at the Marinos’ and if she’s got any pictures of herself in her iCloud gallery, but she’d tell me she’s rarely ever taken pictures of herself, only for the resume she applied at the Turners’ for, and I’d be like “Whaaaaat? But you’re so beautiful!”, and she’d smile hard, a bit embarrassed. I’d look her straight in the eyes and say it again and say that I mean it for real, she is so incredibly beautiful! It’s probably so rare that anyone’s ever said that to her in her entire life (her mother definitely didn’t, and given that the Church of Lesser Saints believes that anything that feels good is dangerous,
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it’s rather unlikely that they did), Tobe saying it in “Balloon” might even have been the only time ever…
https://preview.redd.it/jdce6tndpu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=c9edaacd72634c3dbe7dbf29abcc84f2412a10d4
I’d then add “Inside AND out!”, and she’d smile some more in a bit of embarrassment and then look me in the eyes and say “You, too, Daria!”, and as you’d expect, I’d smile so hard and even with my eyes!

It would be rather late by then, so we’d eat and listen to some more music together from the Spotify playlist I created for her and talk so much about what we’re hearing.

After dinner, she’d bring the topic up on her own (this is kind of making fun of these fan theories) - she’d tell me that some in the Church of Lesser Saints think she’s the Devil or Lilith because of her rebelliousness, and how she’s inspired doubt in some people in the Church. I’d make such a weirded-out face. After realizing she’s serious, I’d say “If you are the Devil, then hail Satan! Like, seriously, if YOU are what God is threatening will happen if we don’t follow him, then that’s literally the weakest threat I’ve ever heard of. Then God is the villain here. We need more people like you in the world!” Shy as she still is, she’d still be almost embarrassed to hear this (she’s so not used to compliments), and I’d make it clear I’m serious, that I really think she’s fricking wonderful and the sweetest, and that she clearly has a huge heart full of so much love, and that she deserves so much better than what she’s ever experienced! Almost in denial, she’d see in my eyes that I really mean it and just smile and hug me, and then, we’d both smile even more! I’d rub her back a lot in that moment and promise her again that everything will be okay. “I’ll make sure of that!”

After some more music together, knowing that tomorrow will be the day we leave, no matter which plan we’ll go with, we’d make sure we haven’t forgotten anything. Looking around, I’d realize I have to give her my earphones with a cord because the internal mic of my Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini is essentially useless. I’d tell her that when I call her the next day to tell her it’s safe to come downstairs now, she should answer the call, plug in the earphones, and then, it will take a few seconds until I can hear her, but then, it should be fine. We’d set a code phrase that I’ll mention to let her know if the Turners got me and it’s NOT safe to come down. She’d suggest “tomato soup”, and I’d smile and say yes, that’s gonna be our code phrase. “And if it IS safe to come down?”, she’d ask, and I’d suggest “ice cream”.

I’d realize that we should probably find her fresh clothes in the attic and a coat right now, so as I said, it’s not too obvious that she’s been locked up for a long time the second she walks out of the door, because if she’s in dirty clothes or nightwear, with it being obvious that she hasn’t showered in days, and I get her out of there and into a taxi to drive off while I got a gun, it would look as if I was kidnapping her, so we’d find her a nice dress and coat up there, and I’d turn around and close my eyes while she puts it on, and when she’s done, I’d tell her again that she looks amazing! 😊
https://preview.redd.it/zp5gbjwfpu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=777d2120f72b5002e2d5e5e9ffe4760ab2d5fada
And she’d smile and thank me this time, sort of the way she says it to the makeup artist at the street fair in S3E5 “Tiger” in that typical way of hers that’s so adorable for real,
https://preview.redd.it/fuu6x7ohpu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=ec5f23b8de4568996bd6e4c706ab4f95b8f98063
and she’d look in my direction and say “You look really beautiful, too!”, really shy, before peeking me in the eyes for a moment, and we’d just look at each other for a moment. “Can I have your pictures?”, she’d ask me, and I’d say yeah, open my iPhone, and select ALL pictures of myself in my gallery and send them to her email address, and send her those that are too large via a Google Drive link (iCloud isn’t great for sharing files lol), and then, I’d take her Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini, download them all (which would take a while because that phone is ancient), and set one of the pictures we’ve taken together as her wallpaper, and then set it as my wallpaper on my iPhone as well! 😊

We’d consider if there’s anything else we’ve missed. She’d mention that parts of the floor screech, especially one tile, so when I sneak out, I gotta be careful on the stairs, especially with that one tile.
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After a few seconds, she’d ask me if we wanna book a hotel now, and I’d smile and say sure! “Did you like any hotels in particular, out of the ones we looked at?” She’d say “The one with the big jacuzzi looks great” with big eyes and enthusiasm in her voice, like she does during some of her conversations with Tobe in S3E5 “Tiger”. “You’ve ever been in a jacuzzi?”, I’d ask her, and she’d go “Nooo, but I wanna try!” in the same tone,
https://preview.redd.it/6rh2p63lpu1d1.png?width=975&format=png&auto=webp&s=987a19161b85fe5ee6a500f452c168ba7dec961b
and so, after lying down now, we’d look up which hotel she was talking about and book a two-room suite in that hotel in Allentown for three weeks. I’d add “So we can easily look out for each other, and so you’ll also have some privacy.”, and she’d smile and nod, that consideration would probably mean a lot to her.

We’d then get ready for bed. For the next day, I’d get some better clothes as well and put them on while she’s turned around with her eyes closed. I’d take the last ration of food out of my backpack, put the clothes I just took off at the bottom of it, above Leanne’s Bible (the porcelain baby and card are already in one of the other pockets), and put my phone and the chargers in another pocket. I’d look around and ask her if there’s anything else I should take with me to safeguard, and at first, she’d also look around because she wouldn’t know how to answer right away, but she’d then point at Mrs. Barrington with her face,
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and I’d be like “Well, I think she’s a little too big for my backpack, but I can talk to the police when we’re out of here, maybe we can try to get her!”, and Leanne would nod with a big smile again.

We’d lie down on the mattress and share the covers again. Just like the night before, I’d lie down on the side of the mattress that’s closer to the stairs, in case Dorothy changes her mind and tries to assault Leanne again… On the mattress, she’d suddenly hug me really tight, break into tears, and thank me over and over again, and I’d just hold her tight, say “Of course”, and assure her that everything’s gonna be okay, that we’ll get out of there tomorrow. I’d wipe some of her tears off her face 🥺 On the mattress, we’d just look each other in the eyes and both just smile more and more, and after a minute or two, she’d kiss me on the lips for a tiiiiny moment and then, we’d just smile at each other even harder! She’d say “I’m not supposed to do that” while still smiling just as hard and looking me directly in the eyes! “Says who?”, I’d reply. She goes “My aunts and uncles”, and I’d say “I don’t think they’re a reliable source!”, and we’d kiss each other some more and longer, and both feel each other’s smile on our lips, and peek at each other a few times in between 😊🥰❤️ We’d both put our arms around each other before telling each other good night and before I promise her one more time it’s all going to be okay!
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At some point during the night, she’d wake me up, and when she does, I’d realize I had a nightmare, like, not from my night terrors, and she’d tell me I had a nightmare, that I was sniffling in my sleep, and that I told her two days earlier to wake me up if this happens. Still feeling terrible (the feeling of immediate dread always takes a while to subside for me), I’d thank her. I’d ask what I was saying, and she’d say that I wasn’t speaking English. I’d consider if I should tell her for a moment, but then, I’d take a deep breath, look up for a second, and with a heavy voice, slowly say “What if we try plan A tomorrow, and I fail? I’m scared… I don’t wanna mess this up… I don’t wanna fail you…” And she’d slowly look at me and just say two words: “You haven’t!” I’d look at her and almost laugh a bit out of joy. I’d smile and just cuddle up to her a bit, and she’d do it back. I’d say I’ll try to listen to music for a while to calm down because doing something else makes it much easier for me to zone out of the feeling of dread again. “Why only you?”, she’d ask. “I don’t wanna keep you awake”, I’d say, “You need the sleep”, and she’d say “It’s okay” and just smile a bit, and so, we’d listen to some music together for about half an hour.

I’d tell her that my sleep is so horrible (she’d say she can tell) because I don’t have my meds, and I’m really fricking looking forward to taking them again. Without them, the quality of my sleep is terrible, and it takes so long for me to fall asleep at all if I don’t take them. She’d ask if I’ve taken them for a long time, and I’d say that I haven’t taken these particular meds for long because whatever I take, my body builds up some resistance to them pretty quickly, so after a while, I always have to get new ones, but I’ve taken sleeping meds for years now. “It sounds like they’re really helping you, right?”, she’d ask, and I’d nod and say “Yeah, they really do. I’m also taking antidepressants, and they were an absolute gamechanger for me. It’s okay if I don’t take them for a few days because they don’t work in the moment, but they like rewire your brain over time, and they’re the best thing that’s ever happened to my mental health. Before I started taking them, it was so hard for me to avoid bad thoughts or resist them, like, it was hell, but ever since then, it got sooo much easier, and not letting things get to me or not letting bad things really take over me is just so much easier now.” After a while, I’d say “I was at a psychiatric clinic voluntarily for six months, but I also had nowhere else to go, and the doctors and employees really abused their power. They only intervened when there was physical violence, they didn’t intervene in any other conflicts, so because of them, the patients constantly bullied each other. My doctor switched to another department while I was there, so I got a new one, and the new one wasn’t perfect, but at least, she cared. I got really lucky to get a place at a living group for mentally ill people, which was when I could finally leave. But honestly, all my experiences with mental health professionals since then have been better. I went to a different clinic for four or five days voluntarily in 2019, and even they were far better. “That sounds scary…”, she’d say. I’d reply “It was. But things got much better after that. I had lots of setbacks, like, you know, but if you get help, it’s always better.”

After the current song’s over, we’d lie down to try and sleep again. We’d smile at each other again in bed, and I’d give her a short-ish kiss before saying good night, and we’d both smile even harder after that 😁 And we would fall asleep for good after a while (it would still take me longer than her).

In the morning, Leanne would wake me up again. She’d show me that the door is unlocked and open by a little bit now (they’re “letting” her out for a few hours…),
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and we’d both just embrace and chuckle in huge joy, as we can go with plan A now, the less risky one! We’d remember to quiet down after a few seconds and whisper from then on out. I’d go to the toilet roll, take eight pieces, rip them into two bands of four pieces each, and roll each of them up into a little bunch. I’d give them to her and tell her to put them into the wall pieces of the door when she gets out (so it looks like the door is closed while it can’t actually lock) and give me an audible signal when the third floor is clear, so I’ll get out with my backpack, take out the toilet paper, and hide in her room.
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“Is there anything you want me to get from there?”, I’d ask. “No. Everything is here or at the Marinos’.” I’d go “Okay” and move on - since I’m almost definitely unable to come down to the second floor right away (I’m using American English in all of these episodes. “First floor” in American English = “ground floor” in British English; “Second floor” in American English = “first floor” in British English; “Third floor” in American English = “second floor” in British English, etc.), she’d give me a signal when coming back upstairs. We’d agree that when she comes back upstairs, if it’s safe to go to the second floor, she’d shout something, maybe in conversation, maybe some sort of cry, doesn’t matter, and if not, she’d kick something. She’d be locked upstairs again after that, so I’ll have to tell when to get further downstairs myself, which I’d do as soon as I’ve heard absolutely no sounds from inside the house for at least a few minutes. On the first floor, I’d get the DVD from March 11, 2001, and if the baptism tape isn’t clearly labeled among the tapes, I’d unplug the DVD player from the TV, turn on the player, open the DVD slot, and if the tape isn’t in there, I’d take all unlabeled tapes. I’d then listen in on the basement door for a few seconds, and if I hear no sounds from down there, I’d quietly open the basement door and go downstairs, and if no one’s there, I’d get out through the side entrance down there, out through the back gate, walk back to Spruce Street, drive my bike home, take a shower, watch the tape from March 11, 2011 like she told me I could, hide it somewhere at home, print out the document for the police, take it with me in an envelope, print out a second version of it to give to the taxi driver, so I can say “If I’m not back in an hour, please call the police for me and read this to them”. I’d then call a taxi (a taxi with a large trunk whose driver is allowed to drive to Allentown and back), load my gun, and leave for the Turners’ and get Leanne.

We’d see that Liam has replied by now. Of course, he’d be super worried, but he’s got our backs for the plan, and that would be really reassuring. We’d look each other in the eyes, and then, I’d hug her sooo tight for several seconds, and we’d have one loooong kiss (hoping it’s not the last time we see each other…) before she goes downstairs while looking back at me on the way before putting the toilet paper in the door. I’d then put on my backpack. Once Leanne loudly shouts “Mister Turner?”, that would be my signal, and I’d hide in her room for about 45 minutes before she’s “let” back upstairs and shouts “You can lock me in now, Mrs. Turner”,
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which is when I’d sneak into the storage/guest room and wait. It would take like five hours until I hear nothing for a while, which is when I’d sneak onto the first floor, look around to make extra sure no one’s there, and go to the living room. I’d get the tape from March 11, 2011, and the baptism tape would be among the labeled DVDs, and I’d put it into the box of the March 11, 2011 tape (I’d put the original DVD loose in there and use the spot inside the box for the baptism tape because it’s probably more important. I then wouldn’t hear anything from the basement, so I’d slowly and quietly go down there. No one would be there, so I’d leave as planned and go home and take a shower. I’d watch the March 11, 2011 DVD. I’d be surprised to see the interaction between Leanne and Dorothy for sure, but sort of knowing her, I wouldn’t think anything bad of it. I’d actually get it because of my past celebrity crushes (which I know isn’t what she was feeling for Dorothy) and the desire to meet them, especially with Blanche. I’d get why Leanne wouldn’t want the police to see it, it would look bad for her. I’d wrap up the DVD in a thick piece of paper and tape it to the back of my closet, between the closet and the wall. I’d burn the piece of paper in the DVD case in my bathtub with a bucket of water next to me just in case. I’d test if the DVD of the baptism tape still works (it does), rip it, upload the video file to Google Drive, add it to the document for the police, cancel my printing queue, print the document (two versions of it. The one for the taxi driver would just have a short introduction at the beginning, like, that I’m the person who ordered the taxi), order the taxi, pack my things for the next couple of weeks and anything that Leanne might need, so I’d include any clothes that I think could fit her, and go to the taxi. I’d tell the driver to get me one block away from 9780 Spruce Street (which isn’t actually a real address, by the way) and wait there for me. Before leaving for the Turner house, I’d give him the envelope with his version of the letter for the police and tell him what I said I would tell him. I’d then get my backpack with the gun in it from my luggage in the trunk, and walk to the Turners’ house.

I have already "written" so much more in my head, but I've now reached the end of what I've actually written down, so it will take longer until the next episode is out now! Hope you've enjooooyed this one!
submitted by ikieneng to teamleanne [link] [comments]


2024.05.22 00:01 Gossip-Luv2 Retrieved the content of Tweets on SLB's eccentricities - The Mythmaker’s Legacy - Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, I am the Greatest of Them All!

Thanks to Patron Member u/Entharo_entho - Here is the wiped out Tweet retrieved
Context - Wiped out from Internet
In March, I got a chance to work with filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali right after he made Gangubai Kathiawadi, and Alia Bhatt, playing the titular character in the film, retweeted me.
The headline (in my head) was going to be, ‘The Boy From Kamathipura Goes To Bhansali Mandi.
Then reality struck in April.
One of my closest friends Sweta called me from the Shivapuri National Park near Kathmandu and put me on speaker. Two other friends Mona and Ayush were listening to the WhatsApp call.
How’s it going with Bhansu?’ Sweta asked.
We are not working together anymore,’ I said.
Whaaaaaaaat?’ the three people shrieked, creating a wavy disturbance in audio frequency.
Whyyyyy?’ they cried, collectively anguished.
He said he is not feeling the vibes.’
What?’
Vibes,’ I said aloud, causing a seismic tremor in the audio frequency.
What vibes?’ Sweta jibed, ‘Maybe he can’t feel the vibrator.
Laughter upped the vibes.
First, a little context on how I got that far. Check this, this, this & this.
So my tweets were going viral in February-March.
In the second week of March, a woman DM’d me saying she loves the tweets. I said thank you. She said she works at Bhansali Productions.
Whoopsie Daisy!
I asked if I could be a part of the production. She checked with SLB and team. He said he wants to meet now.
NOW!
How?
I was in Calcutta.
I called an actor friend in Bombay and told him about it.
They will book your tickets and put you up in 5-star,” he said, “Like Hollywood.
This is Bhansaliwood,” I said, “Yahan dhanda hamesha manda hai.
I flew (on my own expense) and met him.
I was ‘prepared’ by his team for the meeting with His High and Mightiness.
I was told:
Arre, then what do I say?
I sashayed in a brown kurta and white linen trousers. Please see Madhuri Dixit-Nene’s brown ghagra for aesthetic reference I used from my very limited wardrobe of the only kurta I had at the time. By the way, the chorus sings ‘Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje,’ aesthetically referencing you know what, right?
He was lunching with his minions (strictly calling them minions from his pov) when I arrived in his pristine white dining hall in a building called Magnum Opus. Where else should he reside, no? Both his house, and his office (where I was ‘prepared’ earlier) were tastefully done in creamy white.
It was, as I said to my friend later, like walking into a cumulus cloud, or like sitting on his favourite singer Lata Mangeshkar’s lap. Calm, serene and quite surreal. I was inside his snow globe. Violins from a Bach concerto (in my head) were replaced with say Madan Mohan’s doleful rendition of ‘Mai ri main ka se kahoon peedh apne jiya ki.’ (Side effect of writing this on Mother’s Day.)
I look for books when I enter a house for signs of intelligent life. There were lots of lamps and candelabras but where were the stacks of books they were perched on? The aesthetic was high on film set disposable kitsch. I stared into a cumulative void.
The minions were intensely debating Darjeeling momos. What’s that? I spent my childhood there. Never heard of this GI tag!
SLB relished his meal and said, “I want puranpoli today.
Puranpoli appeared not out of thin air, but a house-help flipping wishes instantly on a griddle on the fifth floor. We were on the first floor. Although the puranpoli is shaped like a flying saucer, it doesn’t fly, perhaps burdened by the weight of excess ghee and crowd-pleasing expectation. It does, however, reach SLB’s plate at the speed of light.
Give him some,’ he asked a minion to serve me while I waited on the sofa.
I’ve had lunch, thank you,’ I said, trying to behave. The plate arrived. I took a mousy bite to exhibit my failing attempt to transform into a champion minion.
When he came to chat, he noticed the unfinished food and gently reminded me how there were days he went hungry. I should have rolled my eyes for my own lean days.
One should not waste food,’ he said.
I don’t,’ I said, ‘I was going to parcel it home in a doggy bag.
Hearing the word doggy, his well-behaved dog came over to inspect me.
He observed me. I petted her perfunctorily. Am a cat person. Stereotypical writer stuff — allergic to undesired petting and attention.
So, what have you done?’ he asked, sitting on a sort of empire-style bergere chair. Full marks for faux-ornate.
A novel, some writing for a series,’ I said nervously, dismissively.
Anything I might have seen?’ he asked.
No, not worthwhile.’
Are you interested in direction also?
No, am not delusional.
A moment passed. I might have displayed an errant repartee.
I mean, I can only write, or am trying to,’ I said. L’esprit de l’escalier.
He gave me a spiel on writing, how screenplay is an art not many understand, etc, et cetera.
I nodded to make his voice disappear.
What are you writing now?
I showed him the cover of my new book, The Last Courtesan, featuring my mother, on my phone.
Oh, this is so fascinating,’ he said.
He spoke rapturously about Calcutta’s great food and colonial architecture when I mentioned growing up in Bowbazar kothas. If you watch any of his interviews now on YouTube you will realise he only speaks in raptures. He’s always explaining things like an impassioned conductor at a dime-store opera. It can exhaust the boorish audience immediately. He spoke about living in the Kamathipura area as a child when I said I had lived there. The mythmaker was interested in exoticising his own legend as an ‘outsider’.
But how will you work here if your mother is in Calcutta?’ he said, ‘I am a maa-ka-bhakt.
Everything is about him or his mother. I have reached that stage too, though only by circumstances unavoidable.
Actually it was my mother who asked me to come here. I told her it would only work out if you understand that I will have to vacillate between the two cities initially. Jaise Sanjay ki Leela hai, waise meri Rekha.
Corny dialogue, but worked. No one calls him by his first name, except perhaps his own mother. He is sir for everyone.
If I am speaking to you for so long means I like you,’ he said. ‘Otherwise, I would have asked you to leave long ago.’
Barely five minutes into the conversation, he asked me to return to his office and inform his team that I was going to be a part of his writer’s room.
I went back to his office and read a script. This is the part I cannot mention. His legal team sits in the adjacent room.
I flew to Calcutta and was to return after a week. I had to make arrangements for my mother’s tri-weekly dialysis sessions at a nearby hospital, figure out a tiffin-delivery service for her, find a house help (she sent four nurses scurrying in the past), all of which is a bit of a task in this retrograde city.
Remember the woman who had DM’d me about my tweets? She messaged. She had met SLB after my meeting. He said this about me: ‘What a wonderful find. That boy has so much potential and is talented. Most importantly, he is sensitive.’
I told her I’d get this engraved on my tombstone.
Like how he wants to take Alia Bhatt’s golchakkar in Dholida to his grave.
It’s a shot that I will take to my grave. If there’s any shot that I want to be played when I breathe my last, it would be Alia doing that shot. It is the best thing I have seen an actor do in a very long, long time.
I was only emulating the high priest of hyperbole in my tombstone comment. Perhaps I was regressing into a minion.
I had only managed a few tasks for mother when I was back in Bombay. It worried me that the old, frail woman with shaky limbs and slurred speech was trying to be brave to send me to work. I hadn’t worked since the pandemic; she was in and out of hospitals so frequently that I had surrendered the thought of getting another job ever again. Taking care of her was my full-time job.
The first day in his office was to chill in my new, aesthetically pleasing kurta I had shopped for in Gariahat. There was a security camera in every corner that was apparently accessible on his phone. My skin tingled with this information. Chilled. He was at home. Probably watching. That’s a great way to create a myth.
The next day, there were more minions on the lunch table in his first floor apartment. The magically appearing steamy and fragrant sheera was delicious. A minion deemed it the best sheera in the city. I nodded to make that statement evaporate.
A courier boy interrupted for a document signature. SLB flared at a spelling mistake in the document papers.
Go wash your face and come back,’ he yelled at the young man.
The minions at the table laughed nervously. I so wished I was wearing a mask to cover my surprise emoji face.
The minions on the table were writers and assistant directors.
Dastavez,’ SLB said, ‘would that be correct to use?’
Kaaghzaat,’ the minion replied.
Kaaghzaat is paper, dastavez is document,’ said the second minion.
You always mislead me,’ SLB sternly reprimanded the first minion. ‘Don’t ever do that again.
Only that minion tried to laugh, offering an apology. He shut the minion down.
My mask, my mask emoji face.
A third minion was sulking in a corner before I arrived for the writing session. This minion had reportedly offered a script suggestion, which he disliked and barked down. I liked this minion the most. Relatable.
A faint noise of a person running or perhaps just a rumbling sound from somewhere outside interrupted the room. He looked up at the ceiling and said, ‘No one lives there. Am certain it is a ghost. I hear running sounds all the time. I have heard sounds of furniture being dragged.
I wondered if he actually believed in half the things he uttered, or was he just saying it to create enigma about himself. Mythical thoughts certainly kept him preoccupied.
Reality bored him. SLB had nothing good to say about the ‘current plague’ of South Indian films upsetting the Bollywood cartel. He compared them to a circus. He wasn’t kind to the actors he had worked with in his last film. He cracked lame jokes about everyone and everything. The minions laughed and kept him busy. I chuckled a few times to blend in. The mythmaker revelled in his prophesies about the impending doom of charlatans with no aesthetics: just crass, commercial peddlers pimping art. It was all said to amuse and bemuse while he fussed over the yellow shade of fabric from several swatches.
When he left for his music session, the minions bitched him out, and how! All the horror stories I had heard over the years about his moods, behaviour, language and violent temper were true. How else will he create myth about himself as a maestro? The Glomar response. Let the plebs indulge in hearsay. I will neither confirm nor deny. The minions sang effigy songs in happy tunes, if I may stretch this part a bit like his penchant for high camp.
That night, when I went to my actor friend’s house, where I was temporarily staying, I said to him, ‘I don’t think I will last a week there.
I was rattled by how he spoke to the courier boy and the minions, with no filter. Well, at least it was clear he had no tact, endearing as that might be of a ‘genius’ if one compromises with his erratic behaviour. The CEO of his company does it beautifully and advises to develop a ‘thick hide’ around him. Cows, essentially.
Verve
The words genius, great, master, maverick, were so loosely bandied by his office staff even in his absence that I was tempted to add auteur, if they could spell or pronounce it. They worked in perpetual fear of him turning up at any hour and checking on their tidiness. A minion whined she wasn’t dressed appropriately for his surprise visit. Once, he even cut pay for unscheduled leave, said another minion. A minion narrated a shot he copied from a photographer in Gangubai Kathiawadi. Another minion recounted how he made her cry on shoot by screaming at her for a silly mistake. Minions couldn’t leave the office till his evenings were scheduled. It was a well-paying job so long as they did not have to see ‘chacha’s’ face and only applaud his cinematic sorcery.
His office team would assign me desk-work and warn me not to inform him about it.
What am I supposed to say if he asks?
Make up something,’ I was told.
Why should I?
You will slowly understand,’ I was told.
His team of assistants would sneak around me. I didn’t know who was reporting what back to him. He would interrogate the management team. They would lash out at me for informing the assistants. The management wanted to control me a certain way because ‘sir’ does not need to know everything. It was quite a guessing game. He had created an ecosystem of complete chaos and loved the hubbub. New people were hired for him to use the ‘new energy’ to rekindle the ‘old energy’ that needed to be reminded it could be snuffed out and replaced. He thrived on confusion because it all boiled down to him to sort out the mess. He was the provider so long as the minions ingratiated and served their grand master.
One time he called me upstairs, what his CEO called the god’s chamber aka the Shahenshah’s durbar: his office on the seventh floor. Walls were lined with giant posters of his films. We minions sat on the fifth floor. I was of course by now a week old in the toady mill. On the seventh floor, production team members, set designer, director assistant, young people sat on the floor, armed with notebooks and laptops, alert and sugar-tongued. He sat on a throne and dictated each one about their duty. A masseur massaged his leg. He asked me what I thought of a script. I said it was lovely. He asked me to elaborate. I said I liked a character’s resolve. He denied it was written. I said that’s my interpretation. A minion promptly backed me.
What changes do you suggest?’ he asked.
We should sit on it collectively and decide,’ I said.
He mumbled something. My suggestion was dismissed. I was dismissed. I bowed out. A minion whispered to me, ‘We all walk on eggshells around him.’ I had to be a chicken in a coop I suppose.
Another time he dismissed my suggestion for a scene saying, ‘That’s not how art is made.’ I had referenced a scene from Bandit Queen to illustrate my point. Just like his entire oeuvre is homage to a classic. How else does he make his art?
Allow me to illustrate with a frame from his first film Khamoshi: The Musical. The second image is from Pakeezah.
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam references Red Beard, Woh 7 Din.
Devdas references Pakeezah more than once.
Black references The Miracle Worker.
Saawariya references Pyaasa, Awaara.
Guzaarish references Whose Life Is It Anyway?
Goliyon Ki Raasleela: Ram-Leela references Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story.
Bajirao Mastani references Mughal-E-Azam.
Padmaavat references Mirch Masala.
Gangubai Kathiawadi, let’s give him the benefit of doubt is all his own, original artistry.
The American filmmaker Jim Jarmusch once meta quoted the French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard when he said:
Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery — celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from — it’s where you take them to.
SLB believes he takes art and betters it, removing the grubby coat of slime from the sublime, often not concerned with acknowledging the source. He is a master’s master, elevating it to an otherworldly experience, the creator of a mythoverse.
He asked me to rewrite a scene I didn’t agree with. He banged the script folders on the table like a petulant, little child. I watched his posture change into a frump. Tiger Shroff’s ‘Bacchi ho kya,’ dialogue comes to mind.
You are talking like those critics who find fault but don’t know how to write. They should write the film,’ he said.
That argument will never make sense to me but since I write movies now and not just about them, I rewrote the scene in half an hour and showed it to him. He found it rubbish.
I was not called to the writer’s room for a week.
His CEO said I should go to his house; hang around him, like the other assistants whose only purpose in life is to feed his ego. We are slaves to his vision, she said. She thought I was a better writer than the team he had assembled. ‘From whatever I read, only three lines of your work on social media, I could sense it,’ she said.
Either she was encouraging, or bluffing with a perfectly Zen face. From the hundreds of Ganesh idols stacked in her room, it was clear she wasn’t a reader. She was good at reading numbers, data, and stats. She would sense a sign if one of the metal idols sucked milk from a spoon on the day she enquired about box –office figures.
There was more than one right-wing hardliner in his office. Secular staff was invisible. A pretty minion in baby pink t-shirt, whose main grouse was that another minion called him a Barbie doll, said he was happy with the Modi government building roads in his home state Bihar. Another minion countered him by asking: What about the persecution of minorities by the same government? The pretty minion said he didn’t care for that. He was assisting ‘sir’ because he wanted to be an actor. Which lead me to wonder how many Muslim actors has this production worked with? Silly of me to think, right? Given that I myself don’t use my Muslim surname. I’ve now successfully planted a myth in your head. That’s how it works.
In the time that I was in Versova during my brief stint at Bhansali Productions, I met several people with their own SLB horror story. A producer said, ‘He is a difficult man but life changes for good after you work with him. Some people want to go through hell first. Life bann jaati hai.’ I didn’t understand why purgatory was necessary. Another former assistant said, ‘When you work with the worst (SLB) and the best (KJO), you are ready for the rest.
A young woman gave him a thesis she wrote on his films. He asked her to write a book on her. She said she wanted to assist as a director. She never heard from him. A filmmaker said SLB was too friendly with another assistant, suggesting intimacy. A writer wasn’t given credit in a film.
Another writer was promised his script will be turned into a film but it never took off and now he feels his life has been ruined. A young filmmaker’s debut movie SLB produced was delayed, not promoted, and called ‘kachra’ to his face.
The young man said SLB is sexist, homophobe, classist, fat shamer, emotional abuser, and a body shamer. “He is a joyless pit of darkness where happiness goes to die. And those are the nicest words I can think of to describe him,” he said. Another filmmaker said a choreographer was in a relationship with SLB and wanted to marry him but he wouldn’t even touch her, a hotly discussed conversation amongst his minions.
Everything sounds hokum. A successful man is likely to upset a few. The few will talk. Their words may ring true through a gossamer veil of implausibility. Myths magnifying his persona.
There are too many myths about his personal life, aroused by his silence on the subject but all too obvious in his work. When people want to confirm with me, I am equally appalled at their lack of aesthetics. Like the great reader of curtains, Edgar Allan Poe, you only have to look at SLB’s use of billowy curtains in films to guess.
Above stanza, courtesy Poe, poem: The Raven.
Hope you get the drift, or draft, hawa ka jhonka! By the way, am digressing now, is the weirdly named character Sameer Rosselline in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam the first mainstream Hindi film hero to pass wind? The ruffled curtains are first to be cautioned though.
Unlike most people willing to swallow their pride to work with SLB, few like the eponymous Gangubai character choose izzat. The house-help employed in my actor friend’s house was asked to work as a cook in his house. When she heard the whimsy, dessert-craving demands, she declined the offer. I identify with her no-nonsense style.
In November 2021, a filmmaker read a film script I wrote and said, ‘This is SLB territory. Only he can make it. It is the modern love-story he has been wanting to make for a long time.
Are you sure?’ I asked, somewhat flattered but also bewildered.
Yes, we just have to change the setting from Calcutta-Bombay to Calcutta-New York. It is what he has been trying to crack. I’ll get him to read it.
I never spoke to SLB about my script. I did not want to look like a schemer. I had only got a chance because of my mother’s story. I had come to write courtesan songs. Hindi films are recognised by their songs. His films have show tunes that live on long after the sequins and mirrors reflect a decadent style. He employs the old-fashioned method of making Hindi films, which is to stitch scenes around a song, not the other way round. And when you glean your references from the best of classical melodies, how can you falter?
My own SLB story is that after watching Saawariya in 2007, I wrote a few songs, moved to Bombay, lived in Versova, close to Magnum Opus, and hoped to meet him, but made no effort even though I came in close contact with people who worked directly with him. I never requested for a meeting. Over the years, I too had heard a few horror stories about him. I only believe in what I see. I waited when he would call for me, my work would have to speak for itself.
A day before Good Friday, his CEO sat me down and said it’s not working out.
There’s a mythical story of how Lata Mangeshkar was on her way to record a song for SLB but the heavens poured and she had to turn her car back. A typical SLB frame of hope and hopelessness.
Never work with your idols. You’ll have a better story to imagine and create myths.
I was so relieved to leave. I hadn’t got a moment to read, or write, let alone think since I got here. Why I wanted to work with SLB was to not believe in hearsay. I will either confirm or deny.
Great,’ I said, ‘everyone deserves an off on Good Friday.
The office was unsure about public holidays. SLB’s mood dictated the calendar.
Before returning to Calcutta, I met a friend entrenched in the film business.
When she heard of the fiasco, she said, ‘I’ve heard he is very anal, is he?
The vibrator jokes never stop.
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2024.05.21 23:57 Wooden_Fisherman7945 Danes and danish

Ok, so I am a foreigner who now lives in Denmark. While I do take evening classes to learn Danish, my level of danish is just not sufficient to speak the language with local Danes yet.
Funnily enough, there is this older women from the running club that I go to (she is around 60 years old probably) who insist that she only speaks Danish to everyone there whenever we are in social situation in these weekly training. Not just that, it is even when the conversation we are having is in English she would go out of her way to reply back in Danish to switch over to her mother tongue.
Sure, I will learn Danish and that is what I’m currently doing. But until then it is just not possible for me to do that no matter how insistent one is to me.
In the end of the day, I don’t expect her and I to be friends. She doesn’t owe me anything, nor do I owe her anything. And that’s totally fine.
However, this does get a bit awkward and isolating for me, so please if anybody has any advice to better deal/cope with this I’d loved to hear it.
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2024.05.21 23:54 WizarDProdigy Losing A Half Of Me - Day 20

It has been another good day. It will probably be a short one. My bosses seemed to be happy today and I tried to be talkative as well. I was in a good mood all day and everything just kind of felt good. I felt bad I wasn't at work the day before but I really needed that day. I feel more energized for taking it. Today I didn't eat the best but I made good decisions. The potato salad was warm so I had some. I wanted to go back for more but I told myself that was enough carbs. I'm proud of myself for doing that and making that decision. I also had a small piece of smoked brisket but once again didn't go overboard. I had cherry tomatoes and some other salads but didn't overeat. For dinner I did make eggs and toast again but I made spicy broccoli as well! I just threw some stuff at it and yum that broccoli hit all the right places. I had Heidelberg 21 grains and seeds toast. Food has been good and it's time to think on what to drink. Thinking about it now, I have been drinking water everyday. I haven't had a soda in I think over a week. I'm extremely proud of that since I love soda. Instead I'm being very picky when I indulge in one and will continue to do so. And don't quote me on the week I think I mentioned the last time I had one on my posts but I'll have to go back and check. Either way I'm doing well and trying my hardest.
Today I walked 40 minutes. I feel like my weight has not changed much. But that's okay. I'm going for the development of healthier habits and then I can go for the hurdle of losing weight. One step at a time. I can't take everything on all at once. I need to be patient and willing to change over time. I can't expect it in a day. I need to let the habits build up to be better than who I was. Right now I am proud of the person I am becoming over the person of 20 days ago. Little by little until it all adds up. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas on the weight loss feeling stagnant, then throw them at me. I know it won't just drastically change over night. I would just love to hear what you have to say about not overthinking it.
Totally random addition to this post but while writing this I passed by a man with his beautiful dog. She had a Sprite bottle in mouth and he told me how she hates litter so they try to pick up one piece every time they walk. I know that's out of the blue but it reminded me of something I used to do when I journaled. I would do the SBIST section or the Something Beautiful I Saw Today. Anything or everything would be put in there and it could have been just as simple as a smile. It helped me to see the beauty in the world where I could. Maybe I'll consider doing it again but the man with his dog definitely counts for one today.
My goal for tomorrow is to relax. It's a silly goal but a goal for my Tuesdays off. Chill and breathe. Have a little fun as well and clean up a bit. I sign off my conjurers of the seeds that shall grow immense power or the seeds that even die off to give the others even more immense power. Seeds are wonderful. Let them be in your foods. Toodleoo. Or toodaloo.
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2024.05.21 23:51 JazzScholar Heading Towards MMSS Deployment and Efforts to Enhance the PNH . Le Nouvelliste

Roberson Alphonse
After several dozen flights funded by the USA to transport materials for the construction of the Kenyan forces' camp and to deliver armored vehicles for the PNH, Toussaint Louverture International Airport received its first commercial flight on Monday, May 20, 2024, more than two months after its closure due to repeated gang attacks.
"We received the first international flight today," revealed a source close to the headquarters of the PNH. The resumption of commercial flights, a turning point, comes amid notable progress in the security consolidation of this infrastructure, just days before the deployment of the first elements of the Kenyan police for the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSSM), learned Le Nouvelliste.
A delegation of Kenyans arrived in Haiti on Monday aboard a Sunrise Airways flight. The delegation is expected to stay in Haiti for the entire week and will meet with Haitian officials, it was learned on Monday.
Kenyan media The Star.co.ke earlier reported on Monday that a reconnaissance and advance team of about ten police officers left Kenya on Saturday night. Authorities indicated that the team was to assemble in Miami, United States, before heading to Port-au-Prince.
According to The Star.co.ke, Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs Korir Singoei stated on Sunday that Kenya would deploy its police officers to Haiti in a few days.
The team that left Kenya on Saturday will pave the way for the deployment of a first group of around 200 police officers in the coming days, officials said. Kenya, which will lead the gang-fighting team, plans to deploy over 1,000 agents to Haiti to contribute to the mission.
The teams are part of the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU), the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU), the General Service Unit (GSU), and the Border Patrol Unit (BPU). This is a combat-trained team that, according to authorities, can professionally handle the situation on the ground.
They have undergone training in various areas, including learning the languages spoken in Haiti.
Officials stated that they would be allowed to use, among other things, AK47 rifles for their operations.
"We don't expect them to use any other weapons they haven't handled in the past," said an official familiar with the plans, quoted by this Kenyan media outlet.
The team was expected to be in Haiti when Mr. Ruto arrived in the United States. Mr. Ruto left for the United States on Sunday evening for a week-long trip, according to this Kenyan media outlet.
The White House confirmed that President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden would welcome Mr. Ruto and his wife, First Lady Rachael Ruto, for a state visit on May 23, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Kenya, according to The Star.co.ke.
USA Takes Center Stage
The United States plays a leading role in providing financial and logistical support for the deployment of the MMSS.
Last week, the head of the United States Southern Command, General Laura Richardson, said before an audience at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. that not only was the deployment of the Kenyans on track but also that "we will be ready to go on May 23," as reported by the Miami Herald.
"We are working very, very hard," said Mr. Richardson, adding that the US military is also focused on reopening the airport and the main seaport, both of which were closed due to violence in early March. "I think everyone should have hope and be positive, and watch this (...) we will make sure that this time it is a success."
General Laura Richardson noted that the police and members of the Haitian armed forces successfully repelled attempts by armed groups to take over the airport, allowing Southcom to coordinate the arrival of dozens of American military aircraft in recent weeks to support the mission. Ms. Richardson declined to go into details, stating that she would leave it to Mr. Ruto and President Joe Biden to address the issue. The two leaders are expected to meet during Mr. Ruto's visit to the United States on May 23, which will include a state dinner at the White House.
Ms. Richardson, as reported by the Miami Herald, also made a revelation about the upcoming mission led by Kenya. There will be "a limited number of US personnel," she said, who will assist with mission logistics. Several countries in the region will provide police forces and training.
The Americans, who approved $70 million in security aid to Haiti, delivered equipment to the PNH. "The General Director of the PNH, Mr. Frantz Elbé, accompanied by members of the High Command of the PNH, received, this Sunday, May 19, 2024, at Toussaint Louverture International Airport, a batch of ten armored vehicles donated by the US Government, through the International Narcotics And Law Enforcement (INL)," the PNH noted via its Facebook page. "The reception of this batch of equipment took place in the presence of the US Ambassador to Haiti, Mr. Dennis Bruce Hankins. These (10) armored vehicles aim to contribute to strengthening the operational capabilities of the Haitian National Police to continue combating organized crime in all its forms," according to the PNH.
On May 11, 10 armored troop carriers were received by the PNH. "We are starting to receive equipment as part of substantial support from the United States to the PNH," said our source from the headquarters who did not want to go into details. "We are still in the preparation phase before entering the phase of dismantling the gangs," this source replied.
On Monday, May 20, the PNH announced that, as part of an operation on Sunday in Gressier, several criminals were apprehended, assault rifles and mobile phones were confiscated. The PNH shared a photo of two recovered assault rifles.
Challenges for the PNH
Meanwhile, gangs, through TikTok and other social media, swear they are ready for action. Yesterday, Sunday, the gangs shared images of destruction using an excavator at the Croix-des-Bouquets police station and the adjacent civilian prison, inaugurated in 2012 and built with funding of $5.7 million Canadian dollars. The gangs maintain their grip on downtown Port-au-Prince.
https://lenouvelliste.com/en/article/248249/heading-towards-mmss-deployment-and-efforts-to-enhance-the-pnh

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