I'm an INFP guy in my 30s, and am currently living with my parents temporarily while i get a new place... my dad is an ISTJ.
My dad has never been emotionally available, encouraging, supportive.. we never have had meaningful conversations literally ever... he has mellowed out *a little* since retiring, but still overall seems insensitive a lot.
A little backstory, the past few years have easily been the toughest of my life, some very traumatic and painful things I've been going through... my dad involuntarily and unjustly sent me to a psych ward because he was concerned that i was depressed... he spent tons of money to convince a judge that he had good intentions and as a grown adult, police forced me away for 5 days, which ruined trust issues with my parents and caused lots of mental problems for me in the seven years since...
my parents apologized after the incident and admitted they misjudged me and made a mistake in thinking i was depressed. stupid fucking move if you ask me.
Anyways, this past year has been incredibly painful, dififcult for many reasons... I'm just trying to move forward in life and turn things around... and it was just easier for me to move back in with my family during this time, which they allowed...
Most recently, my dad has been wanting me to move out very soon and he is very aware that this is the toughest, most pivotal, delicate, painful time of my life by far... i've told him to just be patient and not force me to move out...
Two days ago he calmly asked me if we could meet at the park to talk about my living situation, how he came up with a time frame on me moving out and that he wants to discuss it... which couldn't have been worse timing, as i just recently began working a new job and aside from this stressful job, i have a ton of very difficult things going on,
and instantly when i began talking about how i have a lot going on, he cuts me off and doesn't even allow me to talk... i ask him to stop cutting me off, and soon after as i'm calmly talking, he gets angry..
i then calmly asked him to stop being insensitive, and to be understanding that i don't know when we'll meet... and he said it has to be less than two weeks, and during the toughest time of my life, and with work and the countless other very painful and difficult things i'm working through, i just couldn't agree to a time,
and i said to please be patient, and starts threatening me saying "if we don't meet, i'm just going to make a decision and you won't like it", meaning he'll kick me out,
and i begin asking him to be gentle and sensitive, how i've been asking him this for years, how he's always been insensitive since forever, and he begins turning up his TV volume loud to drown me out, and i get more hurt and begin crying a bit, and he is just cold and insensitive,
and gets angry and/or shuts me out by turning up the tv volume...
the confusing part is, he has a four year old grandson, a sweet boy that is my sisters son... i'm the uncle.. and my as the grandfather, my dad is always gentle and kind towards him,
and here's me, a child at heart who always stayed true to himself and the little boy within him.. .i remained a gentle childlike soul who still loves the same things i did as a boy... climbing trees and playing outside, art and music... i'm true to the boy i was...
and then i began saying how i'm a child at heart and how he's kind to his grandson and so why not me? and he began turning up the tv volume again and not responding..
i then asked him to just be gentle, and i was very hurt and talking a bit loud and as a petty defense mechanism my dad goes "oh, you're being gentle?", because i was emotional and expressing my feelings a bit loudly.
i walked away into a different room in heavy tears, about 30 minutes later wrote a note about how i'm going through the most painful time of my life, to please stop adding pressure into my life, and how i'm a gentle child at heart...
and soon after i heard a very loud bang noise from the kitchen, and i walked in and saw my piece of paper i poured my heart into, and it was taken off the counter i placed it on with tape, and placed to the side on this desk in the kitchen...
so he got mad and banged the fridge or something, and took the paper and cast it aside, like me and my feelings...
i don't understand why he would be so harsh and cold towards me his son, who he says he loves, but gentle and kind towards his grandson.

Whatever you need is something I can give you … or not? 😝
Let’s end this month on a good note by watching a live gig? This can be a one time thing or more but super no expectations I just really want to go out haha
Plus points if you know the song I’m referring to 🥰

Whatever you need is something I can give you … or not? 😝
Let’s end this month on a good note by watching a live gig? This can be a one time thing or more but super no expectations I just really want to go out haha
Plus points if you know the song I’m referring to 🥰

I have multiple issues happening with my reproductive bits all at once. Starting with an ovarian cyst that’s become more painful over the years (10+ yrs). Then my periods became more and more symptomatic and painful in November 2023. I already have an IUD to control the bleeding that was super successful for the last 15+ years (yes I replaced them). But now, sex is painful, cramps just about 2 weeks or more each month. I’m living under a heating pad and gain almost 10lbs during my cycle each month. I found out about a month ago that I have HPV and CIN 2/3.
Due to the above my Dr has referred me to surgical OB/GYN to discuss a hysterectomy among other procedures. I have a consult with her June 4th. I’m 43, mother to one awesome son.
Anyone take a similar path and have experience, strength or hope to share?

I'm an INFP guy in my 30s, and am currently living with my parents temporarily while i get a new place...
My dad has never been emotionally available, encouraging, supportive.. we never have had meaningful conversations literally ever... he has mellowed out *a little* since retiring, but still overall seems insensitive a lot.
A little backstory, the past few years have easily been the toughest of my life, some very traumatic and painful things I've been going through... my dad involuntarily and unjustly sent me to a psych ward because he was concerned that i was depressed... he spent tons of money to convince a judge that he had good intentions and as a grown adult, police forced me away for 5 days, which ruined trust issues with my parents and caused lots of mental problems for me in the seven years since...
my parents apologized after the incident and admitted they misjudged me and made a mistake in thinking i was depressed. stupid fucking move if you ask me.
Anyways, this past year has been incredibly painful, dififcult for many reasons... I'm just trying to move forward in life and turn things around... and it was just easier for me to move back in with my family during this time, which they allowed...
Most recently, my dad has been wanting me to move out very soon and he is very aware that this is the toughest, most pivotal, delicate, painful time of my life by far... i've told him to just be patient and not force me to move out...
Two days ago he calmly asked me if we could meet at the park to talk about my living situation, how he came up with a time frame on me moving out and that he wants to discuss it... which couldn't have been worse timing, as i just recently began working a new job and aside from this stressful job, i have a ton of very difficult things going on,
and instantly when i began talking about how i have a lot going on, he cuts me off and doesn't even allow me to talk... i ask him to stop cutting me off, and soon after as i'm calmly talking, he gets angry..
i then calmly asked him to stop being insensitive, and to be understanding that i don't know when we'll meet... and he said it has to be less than two weeks, and during the toughest time of my life, and with work and the countless other very painful and difficult things i'm working through, i just couldn't agree to a time,
and i said to please be patient, and starts threatening me saying "if we don't meet, i'm just going to make a decision and you won't like it", meaning he'll kick me out,
and i begin asking him to be gentle and sensitive, how i've been asking him this for years, how he's always been insensitive since forever, and he begins turning up his TV volume loud to drown me out, and i get more hurt and begin crying a bit, and he is just cold and insensitive,
and gets angry and/or shuts me out by turning up the tv volume...
the confusing part is, he has a four year old grandson, a sweet boy that is my sisters son... i'm the uncle.. and my as the grandfather, my dad is always gentle and kind towards him,
and here's me, a child at heart who always stayed true to himself and the little boy within him.. .i remained a gentle childlike soul who still loves the same things i did as a boy... climbing trees and playing outside, art and music... i'm true to the boy i was...
and then i began saying how i'm a child at heart and how he's kind to his grandson and so why not me? and he began turning up the tv volume again and not responding..
i then asked him to just be gentle, and i was very hurt and talking a bit loud and as a petty defense mechanism my dad goes "oh, you're being gentle?", because i was emotional and expressing my feelings a bit loudly.
i walked away into a different room in heavy tears, about 30 minutes later wrote a note about how i'm going through the most painful time of my life, to please stop adding pressure into my life, and how i'm a gentle child at heart...
and soon after i heard a very loud bang noise from the kitchen, and i walked in and saw my piece of paper i poured my heart into, and it was taken off the counter i placed it on with tape, and placed to the side on this desk in the kitchen...
so he got mad and banged the fridge or something, and took the paper and cast it aside, like me and my feelings...
i don't understand why he would be so harsh and cold towards me his son, who he says he loves, but gentle and kind towards his grandson.

Hi all,
Recently updated to live 12. Encountering a strange issue I can confirm does not occur in 11.
When dragging in samples, whether mp3 or wav, the audio is incredibly distorted and does not play back properly. This behavior occurs across multiple samples and does not happen in live 11.
Any idea what might be causing my issue?
For reference, running windows 10, ryzen 5 5600x, 32gb ram.
Edit: tried all different warping algorithms in clip view and attempted to adjust bpm but still has the same result.
Thanks in advance. This is killing me.

Hi there, I'll keep it short.
A kid- 13 years old- lives in our building. His family basically bought the apartment. He's been throwing fire lit matches and one a time a small firework fuse out their apartment window. The problem is the window is straight above the generator room. He's done it three times already and keeps throwing these explosive items till someone sees him.
His parents apologised to us and punished him each time but the kid still keeps doing it(says he finds it interesting). Honestly, after the first time, we thought, meh he's a kid. He won't do it again. But it's been three times already. We're anxious. His parents can't control him and since he's a kid, we can't do much police wise either(?) Would genuinely appreciate any advice on what to do.

Hello everyone.
Im having a very sad situation here. The whole block that I live is being rennovated by this company, Greenpine. They were supposed to finish by today, but they were not able to do so.
The company has left my bathroom in shambles. I dont have water, I dont have ways to take bath nor use the toillet. This company has simply destroyed my bathroom and my apartment is not in conditions of living. I have tried to talk with the support but they are not able to help since we are not in business hours.
This is really odd... and I have never seen this happening ever.
What are my rights here ? Should I call the police ? Seek a lawyer? Talk with the landlord ?

Hello,
I am writing to ask for help/ tips how to deal with ongoing narcissistic stalking/ abuse/ public humiliation.
After years of abuse and violence, I went no contact with my N father, who happens to also work in law (he is a judge). I fled the country, and had 12 wonderful years of no contact. Recently, I decided to come back to my home country and start fresh in a different city.
Sadly, he somehow found out where I live (although I was very careful) and showed up at my door. I said I wanted no contact with him and ran away. Afterwards, I went to the police and filled for a restraining order. Unfortunately, and because he works as a judge, he wrote his colegue he was heartbroken and just wanted to "check on me", and absolutely nothing was done to protect me from him... He keeps sending me letters in bright colors (such as red) telling me BS about missing me and some other narcissistic exhibition of his talent has a poet.
The letters don't bother me as much as the fear of him coming back, which I am convinced will happen again. When I was younger he loved to make a scene at my school in front of all my teachers and other students. He would shout, humiliate and even hit me in front of everyone. The same happened at college, so much so, that many of my friends/ colleagues stopped talking to me out of fear of his craziness.
I don't know what to do. He is about to retire and have a lot of free time. Not to mention, he is very likely to decompensate once he stops working. I am afraid he will show up on my door again, or at my work. I am afraid he will try to hurt me or even m*rder me. He has nobody because he is so antisocial, everybody turned his back on him.
Any ideas of how can I protect myself from this monster? I don't want to run away again and put all my life and dreams at pause again.

I'm a first time buyer, and I'll be looking for a property for the first time. I've read things online, but I'm still unsure about the whole process, and I'm very anxious, as it's a big investment. My partner (of many years) has been helping me through the whole time. He's ready to help me with the deposit, if there's a need, but we're not sure if there are complications with that. (This post is referring to Scotland, I don't know if things are different elsewhere.)A friend encouraged me to go to FirstMortgage and said that they'll basically walk me through everything. I arranged a meeting with one of their brokers, sending him all my financial information he asked for. Not very vital, but I took a day off work to go.
On the day of said meeting, we went together and when entering, we asked if my partner could also attend. The broker said that that's not a problem. We had a plethora of questions prepared. Wanting to know all our options and what would be the best course of action, we fired up the first one: Can my partner help me with the deposit and what is the process. The broker just pointed out that if he's to be living in the property, he can't contribute to the deposit whatsoever and then the broker said that we should just apply together, even if my partner only has the most minimal of incomes. Well, that was definitely something we didn't expect. He just said that if my partner is to contribute and live in the property, only one bank would offer me a loan. Well, to weigh our options, we asked what would the differences be and what the whole process itself is (as at this point, we still didn't know much). The only answer we got is that... well, he just shook his head and said that we need to decide if we're going to apply together, or I am to do so alone, as there will be differences, and it'll take time. I asked what the options and process would be if I decide to apply alone with the information he already has, and I got the same answer. My partner asked a couple of our other questions, pointing out that it would be easier to make a decision. We essentially got the same answer: we have to decide if I'm applying alone or not to proceed... We looked at each other with a look of "proceed with what, when we don't know what is the option". After going nowhere and his body language showing “okay, that’s us”, we thanked him and left.
The meeting was 5 minutes total, and we were really left with the impression that he didn't want to have us there as it would be extra work for him to answer anything, really. But we were puzzled, why not walk us thorough the process or give me the information that he has my financial information for. But we might be wrong.
Well, a couple of days later I emailed him that I will just apply alone, and I got an answer that we would need to "schedule a meeting just with yourself". I, being very anxious about this, would really appreciate my partner being there, even if he's not contributing to the deposit. And also, it strikes me as very odd that the broker was fine with us both being at the first "meeting" and now he's specifically mentioning this.
Are we in the wrong here, this is all very new for me and I could be completely off?

# Today In Phishstory - May 21st Brought to you by tiph-bot. Beep.
All data extracted via The Phishnet API.

Phish

Phish, Sunday 05/21/2000 (24 years ago) Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 2000 NYC Tour
Set 1 : First Tube , Wolfman's Brother , The Squirming Coil , Possum , The Moma Dance > Limb By Limb > Character Zero
Set 2 : Gotta Jibboo , Down with Disease > Dirt , Twist > Piper , Harry Hood > Wading in the Velvet Sea , Guyute
Encore : The Inlaw Josie Wales , Loving Cup
Jamchart Notes:
Down with Disease - At 10:35, a very good quality, quick tempo groove-based jam emerges. It settles some and returns to "DwD" to conclude.
Show Notes:
After Velvet Sea, Page talked about how he had often visited Radio City as a kid. Trey then noted that he and Page had seen Stevie Wonder at this venue, and he discussed about how much the band appreciates the support of fans.
Listen now at Phish.in!
Phish, Saturday 05/21/1994 (30 years ago) The Moore Theatre, Seattle, WA, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1994 Spring Tour
Set 1 : Runaway Jim , Foam , Guelah Papyrus , Down with Disease > Mound , Stash , The Squirming Coil , Tela > Llama
Set 2 : Dinner and a Movie > Sample in a Jar > David Bowie > Contact > Big Ball Jam > Julius > Hold Your Head Up > Bike > Hold Your Head Up , Harry Hood , Amazing Grace
Encore : Bold As Love
Show Notes:
Trey quoted Tin Man in Dinner and A Movie. The Bowie intro contained a Sample tease. Trey teased Smoke on the Water in the Big Ball Jam. Before Harry Hood, Fish and Trey acknowledged the crowd's varied requests but noted that they couldn't understand what songs people were yelling for. Fish responded by screaming incoherently, mimicking what the crowd noise sounded like to him on stage. Trey noted that the band had been playing all night and wanted to give the audience a chance to perform. He counted off to the crowd, who responded with assorted clapping and cheering. Fish jokingly remarked "you guys haven't played that in so long." Hood contained Across the River (Peter Gabriel) and Odd Couple theme teases.
Listen now at Phish.in!
Phish, Sunday 05/21/1989 (35 years ago) 320 Spear Street, Burlington, VT, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1989 Tour
Set 1 : Harry Hood , Foam , Contact , Mike's Song ¹ > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove , Split Open and Melt , Dazed and Confused ² , The Sloth , You Enjoy Myself > Ya Mar , AC/DC Bag > Divided Sky
Set 2 : Alumni Blues , Possum
1 Alternate lyrics. 2 First known Phish performance.
Show Notes:
Before Contact, the band announced that the police were towing cars out on Spear Street. This version of Mike's Song, known also as "Molly's Song," included alternate lyrics. This show marked the only known Phish performance of Dazed and Confused. YEM included a Godzilla vocal jam. SOAM was introduced as being "about a pig." The setlist for set II is unknown except for Chris Kuroda's guest sit-in on vocals for either Alumni Blues or Possum. It is also possible that Kuroda sat in on both songs. There are no recordings of set II in circulation. Some recordings that circulate are mislabeled as The Front. The set II information comes from phish.com.
Listen now at Phish.in!
Phish, 1988-05-21 Nectar's, Burlington, VT, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/phish-may-22-1988-nectars-burlington-vt-usa.html
Tour: 1988 Tour
Show Notes: Per phish.com: "The information on the flyer has been adopted that there were three shows 5/22, 5/23 and 5/24 and the complete 5/21/88 setlist has been adopted as 5/22/88, for which there was currently no setlist on file."

Trey Anastasio

Trey Anastasio Band, 2024-05-21 Brooklyn Steel, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/trey-anastasio-band-may-21-2024-brooklyn-steel-brooklyn-ny-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes:
Trey Anastasio Band, 2022-05-21 None, Vail, CO, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/trey-anastasio-band-may-21-2022-gerald-r-ford-amphitheater-vail-co-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes: Theme From the Bottom was performed by Trey solo acoustic. Trey sang a part of Walfredo after Theme and teased Oye Como Va in Ghost.
Trey Anastasio & Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, 2009-05-21 Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, MD, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/trey-anastasio-may-21-2009-joseph-meyerhoff-symphony-hall-baltimore-md-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes: All songs featured featured Trey on acoustic and electric guitars with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conducted by BSO musical director Marin Alsop. "Water in the Sky" was performed in memory of the late Kristy Anastasio Manning and dedicated to her surviving son, Jason.
Trey Anastasio Band, 2002-05-21 Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/trey-anastasio-may-21-2002-paramount-theatre-seattle-wa-usa.html
Tour: TAB - The Dectet Summer 2002 Tour
Show Notes: This gig featured the debut of "Night Speaks to a Woman" and "Thunderhead." "Thunderhead" featured Trey on acoustic guitar. Trey performed "Ray Dawn Balloon" solo, acoustic.
Trey Anastasio, 2002-05-21 Mountain Music Lounge, Seattle, WA, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/trey-anastasio-may-21-2002-mountain-music-lounge-seattle-wa-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes: This live promotional appearance for Seattle’s KMTT-FM 103.7 “The Mountain” featured Trey performing solo acoustic between interview segments.
New York!, 1997-05-21 Club Toast, Burlington, VT, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/trey-anastasio-may-21-1997-club-toast-burlington-vt-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes: This gig - the only public performance billed as 'New York!' - featured the debut of future Phish staples Dirt and Saw It Again. Page sat in on keyboards for New York Groove.

Everything has been tested and works properly except where noted! Additional pics/timestamps available on request. Forgive me if I'm slow to respond, I'll do my best to get back to any comments in a timely manner. The person with lower rep sends first. Willing to add/accept PayPal to fill in any gaps in value, especially for my higher priority wants.
​
Switch

• Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (sealed, SEA variant)
• Monster Hunter Rise Pro Controller (w/ box only)
• VORI Black Foam Carrying Case
  • includes strap, case is better for stationary storage than transportation though

​
Wii

• Black Nintendo Wii Box ONLY
  • Nintendo & American Heart Association Edition (link to page on ConsoleVariations)
  • overall fantastic condition, been in storage since the console was opened
  • comes with inserts and sleeves only, no console/cords/Wiimotes, manuals, or games included
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (disc and box)
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (CIB)
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl (no manual)

​
Nintendo 3/DS

• Super Mario 3D Land (CIB, Nintendo Selects)
• Super Smash Bros 3DS (loose)
• Pokemon Y (loose)
• Pokemon White (CIB)
• Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (loose)

​
PS2

• All games include their box unless noted, any that include a manual/inserts are noted. All stickers are on the outside of the box plastic, not on the cover art!
• Driver 3 (w/ manual)
• DT Racer (w/ manual, back of cover art punctured)
• Fight Night 2004 (w/ manual)
• Fight Night Round 2 (w/ manual)
• Fight Night Round 3 (w/ manual)
• God of War 2 (Greatest Hits, w/ manual, no bonus disc)
• Gran Turismo 4 (w/ manual and insert)
• Heroes of the Pacific (w/ manual)
• History Channel Civil War: A Nation Divided (w/ manual)
• Hitman: Blood Money (w/ manual and bonus disc)
• Knockout Kings 2002 (w/ manual)
• Madden 06 (w/ manual)
• MLB 2k5 (loose disc only)
• Mortal Kombat: Deception (loose disc only, many scratches)
• Nascar 06: Total Team Control (w/ manual)
• Nascar 07 (w/ manual)
• Nascar: Dirt to Daytona
• NBA Live 2005 (w/ manual)
• NFL Head Coach (w/ manual and insert)
• Pro Race Driver (w/ manual)
• Red Dead Revolver (Greatest Hits)
• Rock Band (no instruments)
• Scarface: The World is Yours (Collector's Edition, CIB)
• Short Track Racing: Trading Paint (Gamestop case)
• SOCOM US Navy Seals Combined Assault (w/ manual and insert)
• Spartan Total Warrior
• Sprint Cars: Road to Knoxville (w/ manual)
• Sprint Cars 2: Showdown at Eldora (w/ manual)
• Suzuki TT Superbikes (w/ manual)
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 (w/ manual)
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 (Greatest Hits)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (w/ manual and insert)
• UFC Sudden Impact (w/ manual)
• UFC Throwdown (w/ manual)
• World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions (w/ manual)
• World Soccer: Winning Eleven 9 (w/ manual)

​
Other

• PC - Dungeon Siege 2: Deluxe Edition (w/ map and game keys)
• PC - Battle Realms (loose)

​
Accessories/Merch

• Accessory - NYKO Xbox One Direct Console Charge Base w/ batteries
  • fits flush with Xbox One when plugged in, batteries are well used but still hold a decent charge
• Guide - Prima Games Official Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Scenario Guide (no poster, fair condition)
• Merch - 2007 Diamond & Pearl Box Tin - Holiday Empoleon
• Merch - 2016 Triple Power Tin - Shiny Gyarados
• Battery - 3x OEM GBA SP batteries
  • all tested and working, all have small bloat

​
Free w/ Any Trade

• Wii - The Bigs (loose, heavily scratched)
• PS4 - Fallout 76 (PAL, CIB)
• PSP - Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow (loose, no casing, untested)
• Headset - OEM PS4 Mono Headset (never used)
• Accessory - 2x Nintendo Switch Lite Tempered Glass Screen Protector
• Accessory - 3x Unbranded GBA Cartridge Holders
• Battery - Non-OEM GBA SP battery (working fine)
• Battery - Dead OEM GBA SP battery (tested & not working)
• Other - Replacement GBA SP buttons & membranes
  • from RetroGameRepairShop, not OEM, buttons are clear black

Wants

Higher Priority	Lower Priority
Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness (CIB or box w/ all inserts only)	Pokemon Let's Go Eevee (w/ box)
Pokemon SoulSilver CIB or Big Box only (great condition, few signs of damage)	Bayonetta 2 for Switch (sealed)
Pokewalker stuff: two foam slips for Pokewalkers, will consider Pokewalkers in good condition (lower priority than the foam slips)	Pokemon Stadium 2 Box w/ Inserts (any condition, little to no tears preferred)
Pokemon Black or White edition DSi console (loose or CIB)	Cases/boxes/inserts/games to complete my loose items listed
JFC Brand Grip for PS Vita 1000 (new/used)	PS2 game offers (Current specific wants: Bully, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Kingdom Hearts, Fullmetal Alchemist: Curse of the Crimson Elixir)
"New" 3DS OEM Faceplates (preference for Pokemon but feel free to offer me any)	BoxyPixel Unhinged Shell (Black or Purple preferred, open to offers on other colors)
GameBoy Micro OEM Faceplates (any except 20th Anniversary)	Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Switch Pro Controller (w/ box)
GameBoy Micro OEM Charger	Special Edition 2DS Consoles (slate model)
OEM PS2 Compatible Component cables (NOT composite cables)	Phat NDS (screens must be in great shape, very few/no scatches, no dead pixels)
LoZ: TotK Pro Controller (w/ box)	Pokemon GB/A with dead batteries
Waterfield City Slicker Case for "New" 3DS	Pokemon Merch (plushies, pins, etc, just show me what you got)
Pokemon Crystal (any condition)	Black Joy Con wrist strap (only need one)
Broken/Non-working handhelds (GB, GBC, GBA, PSP, etc), broken Nintendo consoles (old to new), non-working GBC/GBA cartridges (namely Pokemon, Zelda, etc)	Offers/Lists

​

Hello,
I am writing to ask for help/ tips how to deal with ongoing narcissistic stalking/ abuse/ public humiliation.
After years of abuse and violence, I went no contact with my N father, who happens to also work in law (he is a judge). I fled the country, and had 12 wonderful years of no contact. Recently, I decided to come back to my home country and start fresh in a different city.
Sadly, he somehow found out where I live (although I was very careful) and showed up at my door. I said I wanted no contact with him and ran away. Afterwards, I went to the police and filled for a restraining order. Unfortunately, and because he works as a judge, he wrote his colegue he was heartbroken and just wanted to "check on me", and absolutely nothing was done to protect me from him... He keeps sending me letters in bright colors (such as red) telling me BS about missing me and some other narcissistic exhibition of his talent has a poet.
The letters don't bother me as much as the fear of him coming back, which I am convinced will happen again. When I was younger he loved to make a scene at my school in front of all my teachers and other students. He would shout, humiliate and even hit me in front of everyone. The same happened at college, so much so, that many of my friends/ colleagues stopped talking to me out of fear of his craziness.
I don't know what to do. He is about to retire and have a lot of free time. Not to mention, he is very likely to decompensate once he stops working. I am afraid he will show up on my door again, or at my work. I am afraid he will try to hurt me or even m*rder me. He has nobody because he is so antisocial, everybody turned his back on him.
Any ideas of how can I protect myself from this monster? I don't want to run away again and put all my life and dreams at pause again.

PART 1:

 Every town has their own version of “The Boogeyman”. A monster, cryptid, phantom, whatever you want to call it, it’s all essentially the same thing- just a scary story they tell kids in an attempt to get them to behave. An urban legend is just a life lesson disguised as a horror story after all. For us folk living up in the tiny and once prosperous gold-mining town of Trillium, ours was known simply as The Locust Man. Now, let me start by saying, I realize how ridiculous that name must sound to you. “The Locust Man”?? Pftt…What’s he do, besides get stuck in the grill of someone’s pick-up truck. Destroy some crops? Oooh, he sounds real scary... yeah, I know. But yet, as I sit here today 20 years after the fact - a grown woman who’s wiser, stronger, and even more grounded in reality than she was at 12, I still hesitate to even write down that name. 

As a young child I had always thought it to be a little weird that our town was called Trillium, considering I had never seen a single one growing there. If you don’t know, a trillium is a small flower, usually white but they come in other color varieties as well, with three pedals and a bright yellow center. They sort of look like if you took a lily and tore off every other pedal playing “He loves me, he loves me not”. In school, about 2nd grade or so, we were taught everything about this elusive flower I’d never seen in real life, and told how proud our town was to be named after it. Trillium, Colorado was established in 1922 - A new town born in the wake of a great tragedy which befell the town that had previously sat in the same location. For us, and those that came before us, the trillium was supposed to be a symbol of hope. Knowing all that I know now, that sentiment almost makes me want to laugh - in a morbid way.

 Growing up in a small, mostly isolated town, there really wasn’t much for a kid to do. You’d have to drive 45 minutes to get to the closest mall and movie theater. The high school kids would usually all hang out at the roller rink downtown or at the old run-down burger joint called Slim’s that sat across it. But at that age, I wasn’t allowed to go hang out there by myself yet and for me, going with my parents tagging along wasn’t an option I was open to. My neighborhood was on a long dead end road leading up to a large patch of woods that separated the main part of town from the abandoned mine. The old trail the miners used was still accessible up until a point, and so me and the other kids from my street would hang out in those woods all the time. We had a “secret spot” which was, what we thought at the time, about half way through the woods, 10 steps away from a small shallow creek that pretty much ran the length of the area. Rain Creek, we called it. There was a small clearing there, and we had created our own little clubhouse using old milk crates as supports, half- broken wooden pallets as walls, along with some old lawn chairs one of the neighbors was throwing out one day. I made my contribution by bringing a tarp we had in our basement that served as the roof of our establishment. Our parents didn’t love the idea of five 10 to 12 year olds running around in the woods by ourselves, but as long as we stayed within earshot and made it back before the streetlights came on, they probably figured it was safer than us being across town galavanting unsupervised. 

It was me, Lacey, Devin, Mikey and Michelle. We were all best friends - pretty much inseparable, except the boys weren’t invited to the girls’ sleepovers and vise versa. Everyday after school, we’d get dropped off by the bus at the very beginning of our road, and it was a running joke between the Rain Street Gang (as we liked to call ourselves) for all of us to try and run off the bus as quickly as possible, while me, Lacey and Devin would all yell in unison ‘Last two home are some rotten eggs!!’, as Mikey and Michelle tried to push past us to get a head start. The aforementioned two were siblings, and lived in the very last house on our row right next to the woods, so they’d always get home last, regardless of their efforts. Although, the year that Mikey got a pair of Heelys for Christmas he finally got his edge over the rest of us, leaving Michelle to be the lone “rotten egg” until the next summer when one of his wheels broke off. The whole point of it all was just to get home and get our chores and homework done as fast as possible, so we could meet up at Mikey and Michelle’s house with enough daylight left to make our trek into the woods and back - together as a group. All five of us had made a pact to never visit the clubhouse without all members present, although us girls always had a sneaking suspicion that the boys thought themselves exempt from that rule. They, after all, were the ones that had discovered the spot in the first place, and not to mention, did most of the physical labor of dragging our provisions out there. Me and Lacey initially only heard about the spot a day after the boys found it; Michelle had walked into Mikey’s room in the middle of him and Devin talking about it, and immediately relayed the message to us. Michelle wasn’t necessarily more loyal to the girls than the boys, she was just the youngest among us and honestly couldn’t resist blurting out any mildly relevant information she thought she might have, in an effort to be included. But in that regard, if the boys had ever gone out there on their own, they would’ve had to be extremely sneaky about it, because Michelle’s number one objective in life was to gather any piece of intel she could. It was a seemingly normal Saturday morning when we learned our suspicions about the boys may have been warranted.
I had slept over at Lacey’s house the night before. We had just woken up and were still sitting on her bed discussing our possible plans for the day, when Michelle busted through the door with a look on her face that immediately told us she had finally gotten a hold of some juicy information, before she could even open her mouth to stutter out, “You-you-you guyssss, guess w-w-what!?!” Lacey gestured the nail file that was in her hand toward her, raising her eyebrows bluntly as Michelle tried to catch her breath. “So… Devin came to sleep over last night, annnnnd I was pretending to go to the bathroom so I could spy on them. Seeeeee, I was supposed to be sleeping but I -“ “Ughh come on Michelle, get to it! What’d you hear?” Lacey snapped “Ughh okay okay. So, I heard the boys talking, anddddd…. they’re planning to go explore the old mine today!!” “Alright Michelle! Good spying!” I chuckled, trying to encourage her after Lacey’s impatience. Lacey rolls her eyes, then immediately stands up. She takes the scrunchie off her wrist, ties her long blonde hair into a messy bun, and simply said, “Let’s go.” “Lacey..” I said “What??” She responds as if she hadn’t registered the tone of my voice at all. As I opened my mouth to begin explaining all the logical and practical reasons why even if the boys were stupid enough to go play around somewhere dangerous, we shouldn’t be, Michelle exclaims, “That’s where the Locust Man lives!!” I close my mouth in defeat, as I know Lacey will take this nonsense as a challenge, and because of that, no amount of my warnings concerning actual dangers would have any effect on her decision. Lacey dismisses her comment as she attempts to shove her foot into one of her new pink sneakers that she refuses to admit are too small for her. “Pshhh, don’t be such a baby Michelle, he’s not real, you do know that right?” Michelle crinkled her face and yelled back, “Yes he is Lacey! He is!! And th-th- that’s where he lives, and he eats kids that go there!” Lacey laughs at her and says “Oh yeah? You still believe in Santa clause too? What about the tooth fairy?” Michelle looked down at her shoes, and although she could admittedly be annoying, I found myself feeling bad for her. “Come on Lacey, she’s just scared.” Lacey shot me a look like she was expecting me to burst into laughter, but I just gave her a smirk and a shrug, and she rolled her eyes and said “Get dressed.”

 We walked in silence toward the end of the road, though the reasons for all three differed drastically. Lacey’s was determination and resolve, mine was comtemptousness and defeat, and Michelle’s was just fear. I found myself half-way hoping the boys had left already, but as we approached the driveway we caught them just as they were about to step off the porch. 

“Hey!!” Lacey yelled, in her trademark cheerleader cadence. “Where do you boys think you’re going without us?”. Mikey let a groan and rolled his eyes, while Devin said through a coy smile, “Well, we were actually just heading out to go to find you girls.” “Liar.” Lacey snapped, quickly wiping the grin off Devin’s face. “Michelle already blabbed- we know where you two are going and we’re coming too.” The boys looked at each other, then Mikey shot Michelle an angry look as she tried to shrink herself behind me, and said, “Fine, whatever, but no cry baby snitches allowed!!” Michelle then proceeded to prove both of his accusations correct by yelling back, “I am not a cry baby!! I’m telling mom if you don’t let me come with you!!” At that point I finally spoke up. “Alright, listen.” I said sternly, then once I had their attention I lowered my voice a bit to say, “Just for the record, I think us going to that grody old mine is a dumb idea and a big waste of time, but if one of us goes, we all go. That’s the deal, so make your decisions.” Lacey folded her arms in solidarity beside me, and with that we all had an unspoken understanding. So, with the boys out ahead leading the way, we headed toward the tree line.

 As we entered the woods, I felt a sense of dread wash over me - but to be fair, as a preteen emo kid who had already reached an adult level of cynicism, I felt a certain level of dread towards almost everything in life. So take my premonition with a grain of salt, but for some reason, this felt… different. I remember the woods being abnormally quiet that day. It took some time for me to even notice, but as soon as I did, I interrupted the mindless chatter going on to say, 

“Where are all the freakin’ birds?” Everyone turned to look at me as if I’d completely lost my mind. “Uhhh… What are you talking about?” Devin asked me. I pointed up toward the treetops. “Listen…. ” They all looked up, then looked around at each other in confusion. “Every time we’ve ever been in these woods, there’s always birds chirping back and forth. We’ve been walking almost 5 minutes now and I haven’t heard a single bird, have you guys?” “Damn, yeah, that is weird.” Mikey agreed. “They probably all just migrated!!” Devin goofily offered. “That’s stupid Devin, it’s spring. If anything, there should be more birds here, not less you moron.” Lacie argued. Devin flipped Lacie off, which was the best rebuttal he could usually come up with, and then turned toward me and said, “Okay whatever, what’s your point exactly?” “Just that - “ I looked over to Mikey, then back at Devin. “It’s weird.” I didn’t want to say what I was actually thinking. That the woods being too quiet was never a good thing. That when birds aren’t chirping, it could mean there’s a predator nearby. Besides, I was pretty confident that the boys, having both been in the scouts, knew what I knew, so saying it out loud would only serve to annoy Lacie and further frighten Michelle. Mikey broke his gaze that had been fixed on me, and while scanning our surroundings he said, “Let’s stop by the clubhouse on the way.” With a nod from me, we continued. When we arrived at our pit stop, Lacey hobbled over to the closest lawn chair and plopped herself down in it. “Ughhh, my feet are killing me!!” “I wonder why.” I mutter under my breath. “Excuse me, what was that?” “Just saying. Those shoes are gonna be the death of you Lace, you can barely walk in them.” “Pshhh, shut up. They just need to be broken-in okay? You’re just jealous cuz you’re still wearing your dirty old Vans from last year.” “Oooh yeah, you got me there. I am so sad I don’t have a pair of ugly pink Sketchers that don’t fit me.” She stuck her tongue out at me and we both laughed. I was just about the only person who could go toe to toe with Lacey’s sass. It’s part of the reason we ended up being best friends, besides being neighbors. In regard to style, personality and interests, we were almost polar opposites. But when it came to humor we were equals. And more importantly, we both had a mutual understanding when it came to our differences- I was me and she was her, and neither of us felt the need to try and make the other one be more like us. Besides, I was the only person who had ever really stood up to Lacey and didn’t take any of her crap, so I think she respected that. While that exchange had been going on, Michelle had started picking tiny pink flowers, and the boys were rummaging in the clubhouse for something. I yelled in their direction, “Hey! Big Mike and Dirty D!!” Me and Lacey giggled and she mouthed the word “big” with air quotation marks. They didn’t respond, so I walked over to the entryway and looked in. They were standing with their backs to me while looking down at an open metal box, and Mikey was reaching to grab whatever was in it. As he stood back up, I could see what it was. “What the fuck Mikey, seriously?” Hearing me cuss, Lacey and Michelle crowded in behind me. “Chill, it’s just a BB gun.” “I know it’s a BB gun Michael, what are you doing with it, and why is it here?” I was livid at the thought that he might be coming out here and shooting at animals just to be a shithead. I expected something like that from a goober like Devin, but not Mikey. Michelle butted in, “I’m telling mom!!!” “Nice try, dad knows I have it.” He looked at me and softened his tone. “It’s for protection, just in case we come across a black bear, or some weirdo creep out here. Seriously… it’s just to scare off something, not hurt it.” He knew how I felt about killing animals, especially for no good reason. A lot of people out here are poor and hunt for food, which I could accept as a reality. But hurting animals just for fun is psycho behavior, so I was relieved to hear him dispel my fear; I really didn’t want to have to hate him. “Do you even know how to shoot that thing?” Lacey asked. “Yeah, my dad showed me.” Devin clapped his hands together, making us all jump and himself laugh. “Well alright then, let’s get going!” I turned to Michelle, still holding the flowers. “You okay?” She nodded. “If you want me to walk back with you, I can.” I was slightly hoping she’d say yes so I’d have an excuse to get out of this excursion, but she just shook her head and forced a smile. I knew she was scared, but she was just too curious. Maybe I was too.

 We walked for what felt like half an hour. The trees had gotten more dense and the path narrowed from the overgrowth. Still no birdsong. I kept scanning the area in search of any sign of life other than us. Looking for movement of creatures scurrying away, listening for the sound of rustling as we passed, hoping for a squirrel, a lizard, even a bug. Nothing. 

“How much further is this damn thing?” Lacey groaned. Mikey answered without even turning around. “We should be coming up on it any time now.” “You said that like 10 minutes ago.” “Yeah, and now we’re like 10 minutes closer to it. And hey guess what, you insisted on inviting yourself - so suck it up buttercup.” “Hahahaha!” Devin laughed like a maniac at Mikey’s quip, while Lacey folded her arms and for once in her life didn’t have a snappy comeback. This time however, I did. “Well we really only came along to make sure you idiots didn’t kill yourselves.” “Oh, so you girls came out here with us to be our protectors, huh?” Devin laughed. “Ehh, more like babysitters.” Needless to say, I was flipped off for that statement. We rounded the next bend and suddenly all came to an abrupt stop one after another, starting with Mikey. Devin positioned himself beside him and let out a disappointed groan. “Shit Mikey!” A huge tree had fallen and was blocking the trail completely. There was no way we could climb over it because of all the leaves and branches - we’d have to go around it, which meant leaving the safety of the trail and crossing Rain Creek twice to get back to it. “Seriously???” Lacey exclaimed. “Maybe it’s a sign that we shouldn’t be going.” I shrugged. Mikey didn’t seem fazed by the obstruction at all. In fact, he seemed more confident. More calm. More sure of his intended mission. “It’s fine, we’ll just go around.” Michelle, who had been mostly quiet this whole time, finally broke her fear induced silence. “We are NOT supposed to leave the tr-tr-trail Michael! We could get lost!” “We aren’t gonna get lost Michelle, I have a compass. Plus, it’s literally just a few paces that way, then we cross the creek and circle back once we pass the tree and we’re right back on the trail.” “Oh you have got to be kidding me” Lacey said, “I’m not treading through that nasty water!” “Yeah Mikey, what about Lacey’s brand new shoes??” I laughed, and she playfully slapped me in the arm. Mikey’s patience was wearing thin with us. “Look, we already walked this far - if we turn back now, we’ve wasted the whole day for nothing. If you girls wanna be lame and turn around, then go for it - but me and Dev are going.” That’s all Lacey needed. A challenge to accept; someone to prove wrong. “I’ll show you lame.” She pushed past the boys and lead the way into the thick brush towards Rain Creek. It wasn’t very wide across, and there were lots of fallen limbs and large rocks spread throughout it. The current was barely that of a trickle, and the depth was no more than knee deep for us. It was definitely doable - just an inconvenience. And of course, one more ominous obstacle lying directly in our path. Another hint from the universe telling us to turn around. We didn’t listen. Lacey placed one foot on the closest limb and pushed down a few times to test its sturdiness. “I got this.” She stepped out onto it with both feet, then shimmied sideways until she was close enough to the large exposed rock in the middle of the creek, and hopped onto it. She turned around with a full grin and said, “Coming?” Mikey made his way across the limb as Lacey hopped onto a different limb which led her to the other side of the creek. Devin followed, then me, and then it was Michelle’s turn. “I’m scared to fall in!” Of course she is, I should have made her go before me. “It’s okay Michelle, it’s easy!” I reassured her. She didn’t look convinced in the slightest. “Come on Chelle, we’re leaving you!” Mikey yelled, already walking away. “Nooo!! I’m coming! Wait!” She made it across, but instead of just walking like everyone else did, she got down on her hands and knees and gripped the limb as if it were the only thing in between her and a 50 foot drop to the ground, which was funny to see but prolonged the whole process further. After all, we were about to have to do all of this again. Next go round went a lot smoother. The creek was more shallow here, and there were a whole lot more stepping rocks and debris built up. Having just crossed successfully a few minutes ago, we were all more confident in our abilities, including Michelle - who this time we made go first. “Just walk across like it’s a bridge! You got this!!”, we all cheered for her, and then clapped when she made it to the other side. Before we knew it we were back on the trail, and it wasn’t long after that we finally arrived at our intended destination.

 We all stopped and stared at it for a minute, carefully examining the dilapidated exterior of the place that had brought both prosperity and destruction upon our town. Mikey bent down, picked up a rock and threw it into the entrance. We heard it bounce a few times before it stopped. 

“Just to make sure nothing’s in there.” he turned around to clarify. “Did anyone think to bring a flashlight?” I asked. “It’s dark as hell in there.” I was hoping for just one more reason not to go. Devin reached into his cargo shorts pocket and pulled out a small keychain-sized flashlight, smiling with the satisfaction of finally being useful. “Okay, Mikey’ll hold the gun, I’ll shine the light and you girls follow behind us. Let’s go.” Mikey shifted the BB gun from its position of resting on his shoulder, to holding the barrel in his left hand and the butt in his right; trying his best to emulate a soldier’s stance. Something his dad had taught him I’m sure. We ducked down a bit to enter. “How far in we going?” Lacey asked. “Until we see something cool.” Mikey answered. I turned around to check on Michelle, still hovering in the doorway. “You coming?” I could see in her eyes that fear had finally gotten the better of her, and curiosity had taken a backseat. With wide eyes she shook her head. “The-the Locust Man lives in there.”, she tried to whisper. “I knew you were gonna be a baby about this!” Mikey yelled. I crouched down and put my hand on her shoulder. Against my better judgment, I say “How bout you just wait here for us and pick some more flowers. We won’t be long, there’s nothing in there, I promise. Just.. don’t move from this spot and we’ll be right back, okay?” I could feel her unease, but she seemed to accept my reassurance nonetheless. “Okay.” I smiled, then stood up and looked down at my watch to check the time. 12:46 PM. I turned and headed into the darkness, trying to catch up with everyone else. I didn’t feel good about leaving Michelle, but I didn’t feel good about letting the rest of them go in there alone either. And if I’m being honest, maybe a little part of me wanted to see what was in there too. When I caught up to Lacey she asked, “Where’s Michelle?” “Stayed behind at the entrance, she was too scared. I told her to pick flowers and wait there for us.” “Pshh, figures.” “Yeah. How’s your feet?” “At this point, numb actually.” It was so dark in there that even Devin’s rinky dink flashlight was illuminating the area enough for me to start taking a closer look at my surroundings. I looked around at the rock walls, they were covered in what looked like orange mold and green algae. There was a slight breeze coming in from the entrance, but the whole place just had a staleness to it. The boys stopped and turned around as we arrived at the first curve. “So ladies, what do you think? Cool huh?” Devin asked excitedly. “Smells like a fart in here.” I said.

 The most dangerous thing about exploring an old mine wasn’t getting lost in the maze of tunnels, or tripping on the rusted tracks and slamming your head against the wall - it was something simply referred to as bad air. Pockets of still air that have dangerously low levels of oxygen, the old men in town would call it “black damp”. There was also something produced from the old chemicals they once used called “stink damp”, which smelled like rotten eggs. Both were lethal. 

“I wonder if there’s dead bodies in here!” “Uh, Dev… we’re gonna be the dead bodies in here if we go in too far. I wasn’t just making a joke, you know that rotten egg smell can mean bad air.” Mikey interjected. “The entrance isn’t far behind us, there’s still enough fresh air coming in. We won’t go in too far, let’s just get to the end of this tunnel where it splits off and look around a bit, then we’ll turn around.” The fork in the tunnel really wasn’t that much further, and even though I knew once we rounded this curve I wouldn’t be able to see the entrance behind me anymore, I decided what the hell. Maybe a hundred more steps, then we can finally turn around and this whole dumb situation would be closer to being over with. When we got there, we looked down the length of the connecting tunnels each way. Everything looked unusually identical in its deterioration. I could see how someone could easily get disoriented and lost down here. “Hellooooo…” Mikey yelled to the left, his voice echoing through the corridor. Devin turned to the opposite direction and called out, “Hey yo, Locust Man!! You in here?” We all giggled, which made me think about Michelle, still waiting at the entrance for us, alone in the woods. I looked down at my watch. 12:46 PM. “Hey what the f-“ My cuss word was interrupted by a loud bang that came from the passageway Devin had just been hollering into. We all froze. I didn’t have time to process that my watch had stopped right as we entered the tunnel, or that Michelle had been left alone for who knows how long now, or that we had just heard what sounded like a support beam crashing to the ground, because next came a horrifying screeching buzzing sound. It sounded distant at first, but was quickly increasing in volume. We silently looked around at each other and backed away stunned at what we were hearing. Mikey never took his eyes off the tunnel though, and slowly he began to raise the BB gun to firing position. Without even thinking, I grabbed the barrel and pushed it downward. He quickly tore his eyes away from his target to look at me. I shook my head and managed to barely choke out the word, “Explosion.” He nodded and I let go. I looked down at the gun in his hands, and seeing his finger had already been on the trigger, I realized how lucky it was that I didn’t make him shoot himself in the foot. All of a sudden, the noise stopped. “What the hell was that?” Lacey asked. “I don’t know, nothing good.” I said. “Let’s just get the fuck out of here before this whole place caves in on us or something.” Another loud bang erupted from the right, extremely close to us. “Shit!!!” We all turned around and ran as fast as we could back toward the entrance. Devin tried to push past me, but as he did my elbow knocked the flashlight out of his hand. “My flashlight!!!” “Leave it!” Mikey shouted “The turn is right here, we won’t need it!” We rounded the corner, and using what little light there was illuminating from the entrance to guide us back, we ran like our lives depended on it. And they may have- none of us dared to look back, not like we would have been able to see anything anyway. When we finally made it out, we were all completely out of breath. I felt like I was going to throw up. I have to admit though, once we had made it back to safety I felt a rush of adrenaline like I had just had a near death experience. That feeling quickly faded into sheer panic when I looked around and realized Michelle was nowhere to be seen. “Uh, where’s Michelle?” Mikey asked me. “I told her to stay right here, she can’t be very far… Michelle!!!!” We all called her name, as loud as we could. No answer, no sign of her anywhere. “Alright look, she probably went off a little further looking for flowers to pick.” I tried to rationalize. “Let’s just split off in 4 directions and walk in a straight line while calling for her. She’s bound to hear one of us.” Everyone agreed, and even though I appeared outwardly as the level-headed calm person you need to take control in an emergency, inside I was petrified that something had happened to her, and that it would be my fault. I took the east, and headed out. It didn’t take too long before I passed a large tree and saw her sitting down behind it, looking at something on the ground. “Michelle! Oh thank god!! Didn’t you hear us calling for you??” She didn’t answer me, or even turn around. “Michelle, didn’t I tell you to stay by the entrance and not move?!?” My relief was quickly turning into annoyance as she continued to ignore me. I walked up closer to see what she was looking at, and my mouth dropped in awe of what she had found. It was a single white trillium.

 They say it takes 8 years for a trillium plant to produce a flower, and conditions have to be just right for it to bloom. That’s what makes them so special and rare. I stared down at it almost in a trance, like I was seeing a mythical creature. Michelle slowly reached out her hand towards it and I snapped out of it. 

“No!!” I grabbed her by the arm and she finally turned around to look at me. “If you pick the flower, the plant will die.” She ripped her arm away from my grasp and whined, “But I want to show my mom!” We heard Mikey calling from the north and I cupped my hands over my mouth to yell back, “I found her, she’s over here!!” I looked back at her. “No Michelle, come on, you can just tell her about it when we get back home.” I had enough, I was beyond ready to go and we still had at least another 45 minutes of walking to even get back to the clubhouse; an hour if Michelle kept up her crap. I grabbed her arm again and pulled her up to a standing position, looking back at the trillium as I walked her away. Mikey caught up to us, breathless but trying to hide his concern. “You little shit, we should have left you out here! What the hell were you doing?” I let go of her arm and she walked toward Mikey. “She was trying to pick a flower over there.” “It was a trillium!!” Michelle said, with the biggest smile on her face. “Wait, really?” He looked at me in disbelief. Before I could respond, a blood curdling scream echoed through the forest, coming from the west. It was Lacey. My heart dropped into my stomach and once again, every molecule in my body went into full blown panic mode. This time, I couldn’t contain my composure. “Laceyyyyyy!!!!!” A panicked shriek erupted from my lungs and I took off running. Mikey grabbed Michelle and sprinted after us. The trees became a blur; I didn’t even feel all the scratches and scrapes. Had she come across a coyote? A mountain lion? A bear? I didn’t even stop to think about the danger I might be about to come in contact with, I just ran. And then I found her. She was lying on the ground, holding her left foot. “Lacey!!” I said, trying to choke back the tears that were building up. “I think I twisted my ankle!!” “Oh god damn it, you bitch.” I struggled to catch my breath. “I thought you were dead.” “I might as well be, I have cheerleading practice on Monday!” Mikey and Michelle caught up to us. “What happened?” He asked “She’s being a drama queen, she just rolled her ankle.” I was angry. “Can you get up?” He asked her. She was able to stand, but as soon as she tried to put any pressure on her foot at all, she screamed in pain. We spotted Devin running over from the south as he was yelling out, “Hey yo, everyone alive and accounted for?” “Yeah, Lacey hurt her ankle.” Mikey yelled back. As he approached he looked concerned. “Can you walk on it?” He asked her. “No.” Without hesitation he replied, “Well alright then, looks like you’re gonna have to piggyback it all the way back home.” He lowered himself enough to where she could hop up onto his back, and we headed back toward the trail. Even though my nerves had begun to settle a bit, I knew we were still far from being out of the woods, in more ways than one.

And they’ve accrued $13k in retirement savings. They’re using his full name, social, his old apartment address from over a decade ago (we literally live on the other side of the country now), and they’re working at random companies that don’t even seem to be legit, even though they’re getting paid. He sees the real paystubs in his ADP account and they don’t add up.
The paystubs are so bizarre too, the same company paid him on a Tuesday and Wednesday, the exact same amounts, then the following week the payments doubled and they paid him twice on a Tuesday and Wednesday too. I’ve managed payroll for companies before and the whole thing is something that would just never happen in payroll. It’s all just insanely bizarre and ADP and the IRS have been no help. My questions are:
1) What should his next steps be? Is this a police matter?
2) Could he get in trouble for withdrawing the investment money? The IRS person he spoke to said that any money earned or any debts accrued in his name are his responsibility, so does that mean this money is his even if it’s from identity fraud? (Don’t crucify me for this question, I’m solely asking, no money has been withdrawn and he won’t act on anything until he’s certain on the legal thing to do—neither of us have a criminal background and we don’t want to start now)
3) What is the process of resolving the tax implications? This person has earned over $200k in his name/using his social over 5 employers, one which seems to be in India from the research we did. He owes THOUSANDS in taxes from this and it’s gonna fuck us over if he’s liable for them. He filed an extension with our accountant this year.

One night around 3 months ago I went out and was drunk at a bar, my partner lost her phones at the bar, I found a phone on the bar and picked it up, thinking it was hers, we had only been together for 3 weeks at this point and it was an IPhone which was close enough for me, so I picked it up and put it in my coat, as we was leaving they handed my partner her phone back, I forgot I had this phone until we got into the taxi, we live about 5 mine from the bar in a car so we got home and I put the phone on the kitchen side and said I’ll sort that in the morning 20 mins later there is a knock at the door and it’s the girl who’s phone it is I invite her in and she collects the phone and leaves all very polite.
Fast forward to today and the police have been at my partners house investigating the theft, they have my phone number and want to arrange to meet with me.
Basically what am I looking at here? Am I going to be criminally charged?
I’m 28 and have never had any contact with the police at all and I am DBS checked for my work, and I don’t want to lose my job.
Yes it was a silly mistake but it was innocently done and has no intention of keeping the phone but at the end of the day I did take it out of the bar and back to my house, am I best saying that or not confirming or denying anything at the moment?
Thanks in advance

Hello, Here I share my story with moving to Berlin and how I feel these days as I feel lost, lonely and incapable. I moved here a year and a half ago, when I moved here I had a network of friends who are from Berlin, I even got married to my best friend who is originally from Berlin and whom we have met back in my home country. We got married because we thought it would help me move here. But anyway, because I came a tourist we were advices I apply for asylum as to stay in Berlin and benefit from things like a language course as I need financial support at that point.. a few months after we were planning and working on our residence permit ( my residence permit) but we have split before that. She suddenly changed her mind, I think it was because I was not doing anything to help me get better like finding a job and I was relying a lot on her. She kicks me out of her place and I suddenly find my self homeless. I do not know what to do, so I take the train to different parts in Germany for a while and live as a homeless - I was also going through a mental psychosis which I discover later s police finds in Copenhagen not in a very good position. So I basically reach to Denmark - Copenhagen because I have some family there because I was feeling so much lost without any money, I lose my phone on my way and my very dear and predacious laptops. One of the things I was doing while having this psychosis was leaving things behind because I believed I needed to be free from capitalism. ( funny enough I go to the most capitalistic city ) Anyway, I am now again In Berlin, after staying there for a few months and applying for asylum they returned me ( with my approval and wish ) to Berlin. Since I came here I am finding my self unhappy, I used to be smart and capable and In used to have the sense of determination and motivation which I am finding my self lacking these days. I am very good at networking and making friends and people and used to be a performance artist but suddenly I don’t find my self that smart. Anyway, I just think I need a job and a purpose but I am lacking money and an important tool like a computer for instance. It is also I live I a Wohnheim now which is basically just a room that I share with someone that doesn’t have wifi or a kitchen or washing machine so I don’t really have a home. What should I do? How can I make my life better. Life is expensive and I also need to live but last month I found my self broke 2 or more weeks before my payment which is barely anything and I can’t be that broke once again. Please help!

Supposedly it'd always been this way, stretching way back to when my Grandpa opened this place almost 97 years ago. I inherited it when he passed a decade or so ago given that my father didn't want anything to do with the place, and since then I've made sure to diligently follow his final wish.
He might've left me the theater, but there was one condition. Not that it'd be enforceable if I went against his wish - more about that later - but the condition was present nonetheless.
Never, ever let the film stop running in Screen 6.
Now, I'd practically grown up in that theater given it was a nice little hang-out spot after closing time - but I never knew anything about the existence of a sixth screen. It had always been five. Grandpa left that sentence and a little picture guide to find the controls for that screen as well as the security footage system for it. He also left a letter, only to be opened once I had been running the theatre for long enough to understand the importance of Screen 6. It baffled me at the time, but I kept that wish too and tucked the letter away. He never told me where to find the screen itself, either. The first thing I did was check the cameras, only to find they showed nothing of interest. No movie-goers were present in this secret little screen, nor were any employees. The black and white footage from the vantage point of a camera positioned above the screen of a silent, empty room filled with rows and rows and endless rows of dusty chairs stared back at me. Somehow it was larger than all of our other screens. After unlocking the neat little contraption he described, I realised the system for that screen was digital. "Huh, strange" I mumbled given the fact our theater was always quite proud of being the only film-only establishment in town.
I suppose digital files make running the screen endlessly an easier task. Something jumped out at me, though. The digital file being used to loop over and over was just that, a singular file. It wasn't cycling through a library of movies. The same one was playing over. And over. The file name?
"sacrifice.mxf"
I've always been a curious person, and part of me wanted to resist. Some instinct was screaming at me to stop. But I couldn't. I had to take a glimpse at the little outdated screen synced up to the projector. It was grainy and degraded, footage that looked like it had been shot in the mid-20th century or so. A group of men dressed in black and women dressed in white circled a tree with interlocked hands. They looked like they were speaking. Maybe singing. Regardless, there was no audio. They went round and round this great old tree for what felt like forever, before stopping in their tracks and just standing there for a minute or two. The footage cut an unspecified amount of time forward to reveal their black and white garments blowing in the wind as they hung from various branches of the tree. All of them. It didn't matter that there wasn't any audio, I could feel the silence seeping out of that screen.
Cut to black.
Part of me was horrified, and another part retained some morbid sense of fascination with what I'd seen. I wasn't planning on going against Grandpa's wishes anyway, but at least I'd seen something that spooked me enough to justify the strangeness of it all. Was that the entire film that had been playing over and over for god knows how long? How was such a massive auditorium just hidden away somewhere? What the fuck was that video?
I needed to find out. God, I wish I hadn't. But I did.
The next few weeks were spent meticulously researching everything I could possibly find about our little family-owned theater. My little theater. I spent hours on end in that projector room trying to make sense of what was being played. The footage described above wasn't alone but remained similar to the others I've since seen. All feature large groups of people in what looks like pre-war Europe. 1930 or so is my best guess. They start off peaceful enough, almost joyous, but I've learned by now to reject the faux happiness depicted. It grabs a hold of you before the violent sacrifices that soon follow rip your heart out. Sometimes I wonder about the people shown. There are so many of them across the different short films, probably more than I've known in my entire lifetime. All of them met such a gruesome end. It might sound easy to throw away their collective existence as mere pixels on a screen, but I can't.
The local newspaper allowed me access to their archive to find out a little more, and things began to tie themselves together. I had to sift through cardboard box after cardboard box to find what I'd been looking for, but I eventually did. Back in 1931, there had been an awful incident at our theater. At the time it was owned by Grandpa, and things were looking up given it was the only establishment of its kind in town - unfortunately something terrible was to happen soon. It was a cool October evening when local police were alerted to a disturbance down at the movie theater by terrified patrons. You see, back then there was a screen 6. Nestled right next to screen 5, it was the focal selling point as a state-of-the-art screen showing only the finest films. Those in screen 5 began to realise something was badly wrong when the sound of an incessantly crying and screaming child began to drown out the more pleasant sound of their film. "The Talkies", as films with spoken audio were known in their 1930s heyday, were a phenomenon and it took a lot to distract those in screen 5 from their entertainment. The child screamed for as long as it could until annoyance turned to worry and eventually fear.
By the time police swung open the double doors to Screen 6, the leather white seats were soaked in crimson red blood and the patrons inside had long since taken their last breaths.
Except one.
Still the child screamed.
I've always been open-minded when it comes to the unseen, not a believer per se, but not dismissive of the idea. Things began to come into a clearer focus. Hundreds of people had sacrificed themselves in that screen all those years ago, and now the screen is forever condemned to forever playing films of similar occurrences. The two had to be connected.
The letter.
It was time to open the letter. I was convinced I satisfied Grandpa's requirement for doing so, and it would fill in the parts of this deranged story I was missing. I slipped the letter out of its glum, off-white envelope and began to read.
"To my beloved Grandson,
By now you probably know much more about the story of our little theater than you did when I left it to you. I'm sorry it took until we were separated for you to learn the truth, but it was something that had to be done. Those people that are in the films playing on Screen 6 were part of an ancient cult. The Men of Mephistopheles they called themselves. They would live in communes and the peaceful images you've come to see are of their day-to-day lives, and as you have also come to see they would eventually offer themselves en masse in blood sacrifices. One of these sacrifices happened to take place in Screen 6 of our theater, and once again I'm sure you have come to learn of this given you are reading this letter.
The locations in which these sacrifices take place are forever bound to the souls lost there in some form or another. To illustrate, that great big tree in one of the films is now the site of countless suicides. Their crime? Daring to walk where the Men of Mephistopheles once walked, and where they left this Earth. Our particular curse happens to be that Screen 6 began to be the site of similar suicides, and so did our other screens. We could never figure out why they weren't contained to the immediate site of the original sacrifice, but needed to find a way to stop them. Times were tough, and the money the theater brought in was important to all of our lives. An occultist suggested the endless film screening as a way to stem the flow whilst we found a more permanent solution, but before long we realised it stopped the awful goings-on entirely. So we let the films play and then play some more. Screen 6 had originally been downstairs since the building only allowed for that kind of space down there, so we turned it into a tomb. Maybe the misguided souls lost there found some peace in the dusty catacomb of a theater left behind.
Now if you know the story of the sacrifice at our theater, you know there was a singular child who survived it all.
That child?
Your father.
I'm so sorry for keeping the truth locked away from you the way I did, you deserved to know whilst I was still there with you. Please know I only ever had your best interests at heart.
I love you always,
Poppy"
It's been a few weeks since I found out the truth about our small-town theater. Sleeping has been difficult because of the endless nightmares, as has bothering to keep up maintenance of the place.
Still, though, the film on Screen 6 plays.

Today I’m looking to write an rp based from a different perspective, the villains (based off Inca, to be specific. And sorry if some specifics are not 100%, I’m not caught up with the anime yet)
My whole life I knew I was different, I had always lived on the streets and had no family, and I was always a fair bit stronger than other people I knew. Of course that power was thanks to my Adolla Burst (which I of course didn’t understand, and wouldn’t for a while), but little did I know that my future was following me secretly since the start, waiting for a sign of my power taking form.
See the White Clad and the Evangelist are looking for the 8 Pillars to finish what the Great Cataclysm started 250 years ago, and me and the other 7 Pillars were the key. As I grew older I began to get a love for danger, so that led me to getting into small crime (small robberies, stuff like that), and thanks to my power and cute looks I always got away with my crimes. One night I experienced what I’d learn to be an Adolla Link, and with that my Adolla Burst was awakened. And with that the Evangelist sent the White Clad to collect me, and the Fire Force was sent to protect me.
There was of course a huge battle over me (which of course made me very “excited” seeing people fight over me), but little did the Fire Force no my mind was already made up. The Fire Force got to me first and I played along with their game acting like I wanted to be saved, but I knew deep down I didn’t want to live a safe life with them, I loved danger and despised safety. So when the fight was over and the time came for my final decision, I let my crazy personality out (much like how Inca did when she made her decision) and even though the White Clad had lost the fight I choose them.
Hi girls, today I’m looking to do an rp based off the character Inca from the show Fire Force. It will start as we leave the fight with the Fire Force, and we journey back to the White Clad’s base, then move to me getting blessed by the Evangelist so I get stronger, and then really starting it with your character playing as my Protector Maid. Like in the show the Protectors are a perfect match for their Pillar, so ideally your character would be crazy (again I’m basing my character off Inca, so think her kinda crazy) and crazy strong just like me. Like I hinted at in the scene, my character’s love for danger causes her to get extremely turned on whenever she’s in any kind of danger, which of course leads to a lot of after mission or training fun between the two of us. Anyways I’ll stop rambling and wrap this up, thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed please feel free to reach out, and in your first message please include the following message:

1. As you can tell by the length of this I’m more on the detailed side, so please put some effort in or I won’t answer
   
2. Please include your character’s description and references (for the first couple of scenes with going back to the hideout and meeting the Evangelist you can use in show characters, but once you get assigned as my maid you’ll be using you’re own oc), and also please include your k and limits (even tho my name says I’m a switch, I’m really a sub Reddit is just dumb. Also my k and limits are posted on my page)
   
3. Lastly please include the password “Adolla” so Ik you read this far