Crazy glue retainer
Anyone else with intense anxiety on Primlout?
2024.06.01 16:37 Necessary_Towel1501 Anyone else with intense anxiety on Primlout?
I started on Primlout / Norethisterone 5mg (3x daily) to delay my period as I’ve planned a holiday by the beach. I’ve taken 4 tablets so far, and my anxiety is through the ROOF. I can’t handle it. I’m also retaining water like crazy, my calves hurt all day and I’m so bloated. I don’t know if I can keep going. I’m a very anxious flier, so with this level of anxiety from the tablets I won’t cope.
submitted by Necessary_Towel1501 to Periods [link] [comments]
- has anyone ever stopped after only a few tablets? when your period come after you stopped?
- how long will these side effects last? Flight is scheduled in <48hrs and I want these symptoms GONE
- if I decide to keep taking it but only one tablet daily, will it actually work? Will that dose allow me to feel better?
2024.06.01 15:28 VanishingDust Potential Arena
Does Wuthering Waves have the potential to add in an arena or some sort of PvP content?
My thoughts on this question, is that the game does have the potential to add in combat for players to face one another in a field. Are all the features there? Honesty, not sure nor am I qualified to say that the game has all the features a fighting game would have.
So, why am I bringing this up? Simply put, as I have played many other gacha games prior to this, a vast majority if not all of them had some form of PvP. Although, it's mostly automated combat that you cannot control.
I do believe that the game can benefit from having some form of PvP. In my opinion an arena mode would work best with players fighting 1v1 against one another.
My thought process behind this is;
1: Features in the game currently are very good for a story driven, open world, exploration gacha game. You have;
Fast paced action combat A stamina system A dodge system A parry system Aerial combat Combo mechanics
There could be more, but the foundation is there. We use all these systems when facing mobs and bosses, so why not players? Having the ability to fight something challenging excites players, which is why so many of us look forward to end game content.
Which brings me to my 2nd point.
2: What to do after you finish exploring, questing, and are in an endless cycle of logging in and doing daily quests along with tower?
For some people that is very enjoyable, and they are simply waiting for the next content update that will add more zones, quests, and characters. Although the addition of new characters are nice, are they needed? Yes, because they give people something to look forward to, as well as change up the meta for clearing content. However, could you clear the same content with some of the older characters? Possibly so. So, why don't people?
They do, but it's not that exciting playing the same characters, doing the same combos, facing the same enemies over and over again. New characters allow the player to experiment all over again. But, at the end we're just trying to see what is the most optimal to clear a boss, meaning time taken and damage that can be done.
You could still clear it with some older characters, it might just take longer.
For players they will get bored of this cycle and eventually another game will come out to replace this one. Making it harder to retain the player base. It's bound to happen even if an additional game mode like an arena does appear, but it could happen slower.
I essentially wrote all of that to say, having a PvP game mode will give people something to do in game while waiting on new content. More people logging in and staying in for longer periods of time is good for any game.
What does adding a PvP mode do for Wuthering Waves?
3: Player base expansion. Simply put, the way the combat is right now will appeal to many players. Even more so to those like me who enjoy competition. Even if people never fully finish the story, they'll be able to fight other players. People don't play play Tekken for the story (some but not the majority).
4: Competition breeds innovation. Which is a good thing. What does this mean for the game? Every character can matter. They might not be ideal for PvE Content, but Excel in pvp. New combinations and mechanics can be discovered, which could transfer over to the PvE side of the game.
Thats my thoughts on the matter. So, how would it work?
The player would unlock the ability to fight in the arena at idk let's say level 40. Gives people a good amount of time to learn about the game and the various mechanics. As well as try different characters.
After unlocking the arena, you can go to a NPC in the city, which will then queue you up for a match. You'll have a ranking, which goes up and down allowing you to challenge people around your own skill level.
After matching with someone, you both will have access to all the characters you've personally unlocked. You pick your 3 characters as you would normally, and they will be max level.
From here you could pick your echoes (ones you've farmed before) and equip them. Same with the weapon.
From there, you'd enter a map and fight, until all 3 characters are killed.
There are some issues with this, never said it was perfect.
Echos have stats, and the question would be to keep the stats in the PvP game mode. If not, then you only need the 1 echo which is the main. If yes, then balancing becomes an issue, which may already be a problem for the pvp side of things with some characters.
If you do have them, then should they be your own personal echoes? Or maxed out ones you can choose from in the PvP game mode?
Same deal with weapons.
The problem with that would be gear is skill issue that will become a thing. If it's your own personal gear you've put time into, why not use it? You could just whale to the top and do crazy amounts of damage quickly. (Not bad for the game as that just means more spenders.)
Yet, it wouldn't sit right with a lot of other players, who invest a lot more time into mastering characters and their combos. On an even playing field where both sides don't gain anything from gear, then it's simply about skill. Which could cause those who spend money to complain.
There's that problem, but also that Wuthering Waves doesn't seem to have a way to break out of CC. If you're being tossed into the air and kept there, it's basically impossible to break and they would have to implement some way to break out.
So, I'd like to conclude with the question above. Does Wuthering Wave have the potential to add an arena or some form of PvP content?
submitted by VanishingDust to WutheringWaves [link] [comments]
My thoughts on this question, is that the game does have the potential to add in combat for players to face one another in a field. Are all the features there? Honesty, not sure nor am I qualified to say that the game has all the features a fighting game would have.
So, why am I bringing this up? Simply put, as I have played many other gacha games prior to this, a vast majority if not all of them had some form of PvP. Although, it's mostly automated combat that you cannot control.
I do believe that the game can benefit from having some form of PvP. In my opinion an arena mode would work best with players fighting 1v1 against one another.
My thought process behind this is;
1: Features in the game currently are very good for a story driven, open world, exploration gacha game. You have;
Fast paced action combat A stamina system A dodge system A parry system Aerial combat Combo mechanics
There could be more, but the foundation is there. We use all these systems when facing mobs and bosses, so why not players? Having the ability to fight something challenging excites players, which is why so many of us look forward to end game content.
Which brings me to my 2nd point.
2: What to do after you finish exploring, questing, and are in an endless cycle of logging in and doing daily quests along with tower?
For some people that is very enjoyable, and they are simply waiting for the next content update that will add more zones, quests, and characters. Although the addition of new characters are nice, are they needed? Yes, because they give people something to look forward to, as well as change up the meta for clearing content. However, could you clear the same content with some of the older characters? Possibly so. So, why don't people?
They do, but it's not that exciting playing the same characters, doing the same combos, facing the same enemies over and over again. New characters allow the player to experiment all over again. But, at the end we're just trying to see what is the most optimal to clear a boss, meaning time taken and damage that can be done.
You could still clear it with some older characters, it might just take longer.
For players they will get bored of this cycle and eventually another game will come out to replace this one. Making it harder to retain the player base. It's bound to happen even if an additional game mode like an arena does appear, but it could happen slower.
I essentially wrote all of that to say, having a PvP game mode will give people something to do in game while waiting on new content. More people logging in and staying in for longer periods of time is good for any game.
What does adding a PvP mode do for Wuthering Waves?
3: Player base expansion. Simply put, the way the combat is right now will appeal to many players. Even more so to those like me who enjoy competition. Even if people never fully finish the story, they'll be able to fight other players. People don't play play Tekken for the story (some but not the majority).
4: Competition breeds innovation. Which is a good thing. What does this mean for the game? Every character can matter. They might not be ideal for PvE Content, but Excel in pvp. New combinations and mechanics can be discovered, which could transfer over to the PvE side of the game.
Thats my thoughts on the matter. So, how would it work?
The player would unlock the ability to fight in the arena at idk let's say level 40. Gives people a good amount of time to learn about the game and the various mechanics. As well as try different characters.
After unlocking the arena, you can go to a NPC in the city, which will then queue you up for a match. You'll have a ranking, which goes up and down allowing you to challenge people around your own skill level.
After matching with someone, you both will have access to all the characters you've personally unlocked. You pick your 3 characters as you would normally, and they will be max level.
From here you could pick your echoes (ones you've farmed before) and equip them. Same with the weapon.
From there, you'd enter a map and fight, until all 3 characters are killed.
There are some issues with this, never said it was perfect.
Echos have stats, and the question would be to keep the stats in the PvP game mode. If not, then you only need the 1 echo which is the main. If yes, then balancing becomes an issue, which may already be a problem for the pvp side of things with some characters.
If you do have them, then should they be your own personal echoes? Or maxed out ones you can choose from in the PvP game mode?
Same deal with weapons.
The problem with that would be gear is skill issue that will become a thing. If it's your own personal gear you've put time into, why not use it? You could just whale to the top and do crazy amounts of damage quickly. (Not bad for the game as that just means more spenders.)
Yet, it wouldn't sit right with a lot of other players, who invest a lot more time into mastering characters and their combos. On an even playing field where both sides don't gain anything from gear, then it's simply about skill. Which could cause those who spend money to complain.
There's that problem, but also that Wuthering Waves doesn't seem to have a way to break out of CC. If you're being tossed into the air and kept there, it's basically impossible to break and they would have to implement some way to break out.
So, I'd like to conclude with the question above. Does Wuthering Wave have the potential to add an arena or some form of PvP content?
2024.06.01 15:08 Necessary_Towel1501 Primlout anxiety
I started on Primlout / Norethisterone 5mg (3x daily) to delay my period as I’ve planned a holiday by the beach. I’ve taken 4 tablets so far, and my anxiety is through the ROOF. I can’t handle it. I’m also retaining water like crazy, my calves hurt all day and I’m so bloated. I don’t know if I can keep going. I’m a very anxious flier, so with this level of anxiety from the tablets I won’t cope.
I have three questions: - has anyone ever stopped after one 4 tablets to know how it will affect my period? - how long will these side effects last? Flight is scheduled in 48hrs and I want these symptoms GONE - if I decide to keep taking them but only one tablet daily, will it actually work? Will that dose allow me to feel better?
submitted by Necessary_Towel1501 to TwoXChromosomes [link] [comments]
I have three questions: - has anyone ever stopped after one 4 tablets to know how it will affect my period? - how long will these side effects last? Flight is scheduled in 48hrs and I want these symptoms GONE - if I decide to keep taking them but only one tablet daily, will it actually work? Will that dose allow me to feel better?
2024.06.01 14:29 Independent_Wash_487 honestly wishing I wasn’t pregnant right now. having horrible thoughts right now.
I have so far been up all night as I can’t fall asleep for nothing. I have been stressing so much lately and there is nothing that can ease the stress.. on top of the thoughts of what can happen to the baby long term medical wise from all this stress. It’s honestly so much eating away at me and I just don’t know what to do with these thoughts. I am going to just write away everything that’s been eating away at me.. that is why this is going to be very long as it’s been a lot so far… I got off birth control in December as life was going amazing and it was giving me awful migraines as I was rearing my third year being on nexplanon. I knew that there could be a possibility of getting pregnant and honestly with how life was going the thought of potentially getting our boy as we have two girls right now was really exciting me. I have been working from home and recently got a huge raise and things were looking great. A month after getting off the birth control I started feeling weird, that intuition feeling came. Shortly after, my job that I had been with for almost 3 years randomly lays off a lot of employees including me with no notice or anything. I thought it would be a long term job but they eventually grew financial issues. Of course I didn’t want to abort this baby just because my job laid me off. I am a very independent person so of course I would do anything to make sure me and mine are straight. I start back doordashing full time from 9 am to 9 pm and I stay an hour from the nearest city so the stress of wear and tear on my car has always scared me but you gotta do what you gotta do as a parent. Of course they say I’m eligible for unemployment and I’ve tried endless times to file for it and they always denied me due to work searches as I wasn’t applying to the right places when I was applying EVERYWHERE. No matter what I put. Every week would get denied cause of this and the phone number is impossible to reach someone. So I’ve given up on unemployment. We lived off of our tax return plus DoorDashing which I really wanted to save this money. The work search has been so stressful. I got a seasonal job and did amazing at it working up to 18 hours overtime one day but they over hired people so there was way to many people to consider hiring everyone full time so once it ended less then a month of working there that was it. Until I got a call from my dream job which my mom and my bf mom both work there and it pays way higher then what I’ve made on top of providing a hybrid schedule too. I felt it was a stretch applying but my resume looked really good so I went for it. I got an interview with them and the interviewer loved me and said he felt really confident in me and would like to offer me the position. Of course I’m overly excited cause this is my dream job. After filling out the onboarding and going to scheduled onboarding appointments they state there was only one issue stopping my onboarding which was a previous account with them that had restrictions on it that I was not aware of. I trusted the wrong “friends” back in high school 7 YEARS AGO with my personal information not knowing any better and they did fraud with my information and of course it fell back on me. I even paid back every owed penny from the fraud to clear my name to move on from that mistake. They never told me they also proceeded to put restrictions cause of it. So my onboarding was put on hold until I handled the restrictions. Fast forward a month later of struggling making ends meet. We have no more income tax money.. but at least I finally receive a response saying the restrictions would be removed. So finally we receive great news. I let the people know and they proceed to let me know that someone will reach out to me in 5-7 days and it has now surpassed that time frame with no response and I am just so scared that they won’t follow through.. It is now June and I have been struggling to get a full time job since February and I am holding onto the little ounce of hope that this job will follow through like they said… Holding onto that ounce of hope as doordash grew very stressful I decided to pull all of my retirement out from my previous job to put into savings in case we need it for an emergency especially if the car were to go out on us. on top of our apartment lease renewal coming up. We did NOT want to renew the lease because this apartment has treated us HORRIBLY since we moved in. We came from a clean bug free apartment due to the rent randomly increasing twice since we moved in it and moved 30 minutes to be closer to my OLD job and his family. We moved into this apartment because I had a work friend refer it to me saying it was her first apartment and she fell in love with it. Not knowing we were going to get the worst apartment building probably out of the whole complex. Since we moved in we could not look at the apartment until after the lease was signed and given the keys. We moved ONE box into the place and came back days later to move the rest of our stuff. We moved that box and SO MANY roaches scattered from it and we knew instantly we got played and that now all of our things were going to be roach infested now. Fast forward almost a whole year later we have tried endless methods to get rid of them such as boric acid, orthene, endless traps, endless raid bottles, ONTOP of the apartment buildings monthly pest control coming in doing whatever they do and WE STILL HAVE THEM. No matter what we do they are not leaving as I believe even tho we try different methods it won’t matter if everyone else in the building aren’t trying to get rid of them. They are probably being constantly rotated between the other apartments around us so it’s useless. I DO NOT WANT TO BRING MY NEW BORN BABY INTO THIS APARTMENT. On top of all the plugs in the walls has blown in the living room. I let the landlord know about this and they sent there only technician to check it out and they didn’t know what they were doing. They switched the power surge switches on and off and it fixed the plugs but they proceeded to go back out the next day. We haven’t even been there a year and the refrigerator has been tearing up like crazy. The whole bottom of it has ripped off cause apparently the adhesive is so strong when closing and opening that it slowly tore its own frame off. We had to use gorilla glue to glue it back on and it’s so far worked. On top of the rims around the door got so many rips in it. The door holders on the fridge can’t hold anything heavy or else the whole shelf falls off same as the door handles on the freezer so we have to carefully move things around it and put only certain things in those spots or else it’s all going to the floor. The first red flag of the apartment is there are no washer and dryer hook ups and that is honestly the least of our problems with this place.. the bolts on the dish washer are so tiny and unscrewed with time and randomly the whole dish washer completely fell down from being poorly connected to the counter. Whenever you open it to put dishes in you have to hold the racks or else the whole dish washer will fall forward and they will roll out with all the dishes in it. I’m so over this place and we have BEEN ready to move out. So once the 30 days came up I contacted the landlord about the 30 day notice that we were going to move out before the lease renewed. She proceeded to tell me with no emotion that they required a 60 DAY notice in advance prior to our lease end date and that our lease already renewed for another YEAR. She didn’t even try to help us out and did not provide any kind of notice or reminding about the 60 day notice. She just kept repeating that we signed the lease and it is written in the lease. She said if we move out we will be responsible to pay the months rent for each upcoming month until a new tenant moves in and takes over the lease which is very unlikely as they have full control on whether they want to move someone new in or continue to bill us the monthly rent.. So now we are trying to figure out how we are going to work out this New obstacle/road block and I am already halfway through my pregnancy. All of this stress has been eating me alive for the whole beginning of my pregnancy and it ALL came out of the blue. This is not how I pictured being pregnant with my third baby and I feel completely miserable right now. I am struggling doordashing all day just waiting for any kind of good news. We are thinking about ditching this apartment and going to stay with my mom until we find a full time job to afford a new apartment as we just want to start the process of this landlord potentially searching for a new tenant to take this burden off of us. We do not wish to pay two apartment rents as my credit is amazing and I know if they put any of this apartments owed rent when we move out on my collections it will ruin my credit.. we have been growing it for when we are ready to get our first home. So I know not paying it is not an option for me. I’ve just been wishing this ongoing nightmare will finally come to an end and I can finally receive any kind of good news. I was sooo excited about this pregnancy but now I have zero excitement for it as I have been through endless stressing and roadblocks the whole pregnancy so far. I am afraid that this stress and pain will affect the baby long term.. I do not wish to bring this baby into this apartment as I fully wish to be in a new upgraded apartment bug free when the baby comes in October my birthday month.. It’s just super hard holding onto any kind of motivation right now and the pain is slowly eating me up inside.. I just really needed to get all of this off of my chest and hopefully maybe I can finally get some sleep right now. If you read all of this.. thank you for listening and all I can really say is check on your people cause you never know what they could be going through as life can hit so random at times..
submitted by Independent_Wash_487 to pregnant [link] [comments]
2024.06.01 13:20 Expensive_Poem_6858 Why do so many people wear reps sneakers?
Hey there! So, you’re curious about the replica sneaker scene, huh? It’s totally buzzing lately! More and more folks are snagging these fake versions of those crazy expensive, fancy brand shoes. Let’s chat about why so many people are into them and what you should know if you’re thinking of getting a pair for yourself.
Budget-Friendly Fun First off, let’s talk money. Those real-deal designer sneakers, especially the super rare ones, can cost a fortune. We’re talking hundreds, even thousands of bucks for a pair of Air Jordan 1s, for example. But guess what? You can grab a replica for a fraction of that price. Score!
Trendy on a Dime Fashion is like a rollercoaster, always changing and moving fast. It can be tough to keep up without emptying your wallet. But with replica sneakers, you can be a style icon without going broke. Mix and match with different outfits and keep up with those trendy twists – all without breaking the bank.
Lookin’ Good, Feelin’ Good Here’s the cool part – high-quality replicas can be almost identical to the real thing. Sometimes they’re even made in the same factories, using the same materials. You might not even notice the difference, except maybe in some tiny details. Not too shabby, right?
Brand Love And here’s a twist – replicas can actually make a brand more popular. When everyone’s rocking a look that’s like, “Hey, that’s a fancy brand!” it makes that brand even more desirable. So, in a way, replicas can be good for business too. Who knew?
The Ethics Thing Okay, so there’s a bit of a debate here. Some say buying replicas is not cool because it’s like, copying someone’s ideas. But others think, hey, those big companies make enough money already. It’s a tough one, but a lot of people just love the savings and the style too much to worry about it.
Spotting Fakes If you’re worried about getting tricked into buying a fake, here are some tips:
Wrap It Up So, if you’re thinking about getting replicas, just weigh the pros and cons. They’re a great way to stay stylish without spending a ton. Just keep in mind the ethical side and the small quality differences. Learn to spot the good ones, and you’re golden.
In the end, whether you go for replicas or stick with the real stuff, just find what works for you, your style, and your budget. Happy shopping!
submitted by Expensive_Poem_6858 to ColaReps_ [link] [comments]
Budget-Friendly Fun First off, let’s talk money. Those real-deal designer sneakers, especially the super rare ones, can cost a fortune. We’re talking hundreds, even thousands of bucks for a pair of Air Jordan 1s, for example. But guess what? You can grab a replica for a fraction of that price. Score!
Trendy on a Dime Fashion is like a rollercoaster, always changing and moving fast. It can be tough to keep up without emptying your wallet. But with replica sneakers, you can be a style icon without going broke. Mix and match with different outfits and keep up with those trendy twists – all without breaking the bank.
Lookin’ Good, Feelin’ Good Here’s the cool part – high-quality replicas can be almost identical to the real thing. Sometimes they’re even made in the same factories, using the same materials. You might not even notice the difference, except maybe in some tiny details. Not too shabby, right?
Brand Love And here’s a twist – replicas can actually make a brand more popular. When everyone’s rocking a look that’s like, “Hey, that’s a fancy brand!” it makes that brand even more desirable. So, in a way, replicas can be good for business too. Who knew?
The Ethics Thing Okay, so there’s a bit of a debate here. Some say buying replicas is not cool because it’s like, copying someone’s ideas. But others think, hey, those big companies make enough money already. It’s a tough one, but a lot of people just love the savings and the style too much to worry about it.
Spotting Fakes If you’re worried about getting tricked into buying a fake, here are some tips:
- Check the Tongue: Real sneakers usually have specific info on the tongue that might be missing on replicas.
- Look for a Serial Number: Genuine stuff comes with a number you can verify online.
- Price Check: If it’s super cheap, it might be too good to be true.
- Seller Rep: Buy from sellers with a good rep to avoid getting duped.
- Glue and Threads: Real sneakers tend to use top-notch materials and craftsmanship.
Wrap It Up So, if you’re thinking about getting replicas, just weigh the pros and cons. They’re a great way to stay stylish without spending a ton. Just keep in mind the ethical side and the small quality differences. Learn to spot the good ones, and you’re golden.
In the end, whether you go for replicas or stick with the real stuff, just find what works for you, your style, and your budget. Happy shopping!
2024.06.01 11:58 Kaslight What's actually going on in FF7R (The Whispers [Probably] Got You)
EXTENSIVE Rebirth, Remake, and OG FF7 spoilers in here.
This is a continuation of What's Actually Going On in FF7R (The White Materia) where I attempt to make sense of everything the Remake continuity added to the OG FF7 story. It really is best if you read the other thread first, just because this will be easier if i've already explained my theory on the White Materia and it's associated spell, Holy.
Another disclaimer : This is, still, just a theory, aGameTheory. Don't hate me (or square?) in the event it's completely wrong, which it has a decent chance of being.
So getting right to it. TLDR;
The Whispers are exactly what they were said to be -- they protect fate by rejecting any changes to the Lifestream. The misdirection here is how YOU have been goaded into misinterpreting this information.
The White and Black Materia can fully explain their existence and purpose. And it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the OG FF7.
Let's start with what we learned from the previous thread about the White Materia:
As we know, the Lifestream is everything, everywhere, and every time. All life comes from the lifestream, and when something dies, it returns there. And its memories stay there forever, as physical places within the lifestream.
This is something Tifa observed for herself in Rebirth. In her brief time floating with the WEAPON, she was reunited with her very own memories...in a very literal fashion.
Tifa, inside the Lifestream in the middle of the Gongaga Reactor
This is the Mako pool in the Lifestream underneath Gongaga. We literally watched Tifa fall in, and physically swim to this location........so why is Tifa's house here? Along with...the Nibelheim Mountians?
A Fragmented Nibelheim, including Mt Nibel and the Bridge that Tifa and Cloud almost died on in the past.
Tifa's memories are not only being played out here....they are physically real. This is because she's inside the Lifestream. She hasn't gone anywhere, she's still in Gongaga, but look at the extent to which this pool of Mako is able to interact with one person's memories.
And also....wait a second.
This space beneath the reactor is filled with White and Black Whispers.
...I thought we killed all the whispers? What are they doing here?
We'll come back to this later.
Lets back up a bit.
The "OG Storyline" has never existed in Remake. It's not a thing. And the Whispers have nothing to do with it.
\"Oh, the Whispers came because Reno doesn't die in the original game\" -- You, probably
This is the typical, widely accepted "Meta Commentary" explanation of the Whispers.
But it's wrong.
No, not just because this theory says so. This interpretation was ALWAYS wrong.
So the whispers are canon police, but are just gonna IGNORE stuff like this?
FF7R's storyline is self-contained. If the whispers existed to "protect the old events", then why is even Remake chocked full of shit that never happened in the OG and would actively change the story if it did?
But don't be confused -- the writers ABSOLUTELY wanted you to think this way. It's what bothered me about Remake's ending. But they were actually clever about it, and Rebirth vindicates this decision.
"Changing the Future", "Defying Fate", and "The Future is Unwritten" has nothing to do the OG FF7.
Okay good we got this out of the way, I can stop talking about Meta Analysis and get to the actual good stuff.
They protect fate -- the Lifestream. From Aerith, and Jenova.
The Lifestream IS Fate.
This is very consistent, even in Pt1. The Whispers in Remake ONLY appear when someone is either:
After I show you this, please go back and watch videos of all these sorts of events in Remake. You will see exactly what I mean.
Okay, buckle up kids!
Aerith is attacked by an invisible force.
Aerith is being attacked by Whispers. This is because she possesses the White Materia, and has constant access to knowledge she isn't supposed to have. They are taking it from her.
Thing to note here. Cloud cannot see the whispers. This is because he is not violating any of the 3 rules.
Sephiroth makes an appearance here.
The appearance of the \"Mental Static\" used in both Remake and Rebirth
This is a Red Herring...in fact, this is THREE brilliantly placed Red Herrings. Because the "Memory Static" that appears here belongs to both Cloud AND Aerith, and serves to confuse you on what it actually means.
It SEEMS unnatural that Sephiroth is appearing here, this early in the game. But it isn't unnatural -- Cloud is plagued by these visions all the time in this continuity. This is why the game gave us a Sephiroth appearance immediately after the Bombing Mission.
Now. Notice how, despite being attacked by invisible whispers, Aerith mostly seems unbothered by this.
...Almost as if she's used to it. Similar to the way Cloud is equally used to visions of Sephiroth. They BOTH carry on with the conversation as though NOTHING has happened.
The game is explicitly showing you that both of these occurrences are seen as normal for these characters. Suggesting that they have actually been dealing with them for much longer than you would think.
Aerith has another Whisper attack. Cloud is once again very confused, until this happens:
Cloud's violation of #1 through contact with Aerith
Aerith touches Cloud.
We learn later that Aerith touching you gives you knowledge you're not supposed to have. Thus, Cloud is now in violation of Rule #1 -- Forbidden Knowledge. He can now observe whispers for the rest of the story.
The White Materia is explicitly the cause of the Whisper Attack in the church, and the game goes out of its way to make it very obvious.
Cloud Memory Static, this time it's Holy, not Jenova. (I don't have enough attachments to spell this out, so please go look at the scene after you read this.)
This is another VERY good example of Remake fucking with your head.
Regardless, the whispers did not intervene here, despite Cloud obviously glimpsing forbidden knowledge.
So why DID they intervene?
\"...Huh?\" - Cloud
Because Aerith couldn't keep her mouth shut.
\"What Class are you?\"
Reno doubts Cloud's Identity as a First Class Ex-Soldier. And Cloud violently reacts to protect it.
The whispers stopped Cloud from killing Reno, NOT because Reno survives in the OG game...but because Reno's life wouldn't even be at risk here if Aerith didn't instigate this fight.
And just like the Flower scene, Remake actually sets this one up with prior character information too. -- Cloud was shown from the beginning of the game to be prone to extreme violence. He would have also executed Johnny without Tifa's intervention. So we KNOW he would have killed Reno if the Whispers didn't intervene.
Hopefully you're beginning to see a pattern here.
Here is the most obvious example of this rule triggering the Whispers.
Aerith attempting to stop Barret from doing something....
In this scene, we see Aerith clearly knows something she isn't supposed to. She wants to share with Barret that killing the President isn't a good idea...And the whispers immediately appear, threatening her to stop. By this point, Aerith is beginning to become aware of why the whispers are harassing her so much.
I covered this scene in my last post, so I wont again...but this scene is crucial towards understanding what's happening in this game. Everyone should watch this scene again. Pay attention to what happens to Aerith the moment she says "Follow the Yellow Flowers". Aerith is clearly not herself as she says this. It's almost as if someone possessed her to say it. And the Whispers absolutely swarm her as a result.
There are many cases in Remake where the Whispers do something that seems...odd, given their explanations as arbiters of fate. Like attacking Sector 7, silencing Hojo, or literally helping Sephiroth at the end of the game. This is because although it's clearly whispers doing it...in Remake there is no visual indication of which Will any given Whispers serve -- The Planet, or Jenova's.
They all LOOK the same.
But they absolutely ARE NOT the same -- they are separate (black and white), just like in Rebirth.
But Remake included subtle clues as a nod to this reveal in Rebirth.
The Whisper Attack on Sector 7
This is another situation where you're expected to believe that the whispers are causing a ruckus because Cloud isn't going on the second bombing mission with Avalanche. Which is something we know he does in the OG game.
But that's just because we likely misinterpreted the clues that lead up to this moment that explain exactly why this is happening : The white whispers are attempting to correct the deliberate isolation of the main party by the black whispers.
A whisper is seen lurking around in Sector 7 the day before this happens. It's extremely easy to miss.
A whisper was present in Seventh Heaven. This was shown immediately after Barret told Cloud he wasn't on the next mission and has to leave.
See...if you're comparing Remake to the OG, then this whisper shown here is 100% going to force you to misinterpret what it's doing here.
In Seventh Heaven, multiple things happen that result in a break up of the entire main party.
A whisper with Sephiroth's voice trying to keep Cloud sleep
A Whisper with Sephiroth's voice approaches Cloud in the morning. He wants him to sleep through Barret, Jesse, and Biggs going on the mission. This would have likely isolated Barret, resulting in his death. Something Jenova tries again towards the end of the game.
She really does not want Barret to stay alive, because he is the glue of Avalanche, and the main reason the events of the story begin the way they do. Cloud also likely never would have met Aerith in the church.
Jenova's whispers are trying to prevent Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and Barret from getting together. This event would have succeeded in separating all of them.
That's why the whispers are at war with one another.
The Black ones are trying to isolate you. The white ones are correcting their meddling.
The game even STOPS you mid-combat to bring attention to the fact that the Black Whispers are being exposed.
Black Whisper being made vulnerable by something external
And of course....there's most obvious example of this kind of massive violation from Remake....The Infamous Chapter 18.
But that's gonna have to wait for another post.
I'm out of attachments again.
In Rebirth, the White Materia is empty. She no longer has knowledge of what's "supposed to happen", and thus has to accept that whatever happens, happens. This is why the "The Journey is Unknown." Not because the party killed the whispers, therefore the writers can do whatever they want. But because Aerith hid her knowledge of the future (Holy) from herself. She used to be able to know what was going to happen. Now she can't. The real Meta thing is that FF7R only really starts to make sense when you willingly abandon what you thought you already knew about the story. Those who look with clouded eyes see nothing but shadows.
Now go back through Remake with the new perspective and tell me that everything doesn't make way more sense.
Also, please tell me im crazy so I can stop writing these.
Otherwise, stay tuned for pt3 -- The Black Materia.
....Oh. One final hilarious mindblowing. Remember this?
But only for the player.
Cloud still can't tell the difference.
submitted by Kaslight to FFVIIRemake [link] [comments]
This is a continuation of What's Actually Going On in FF7R (The White Materia) where I attempt to make sense of everything the Remake continuity added to the OG FF7 story. It really is best if you read the other thread first, just because this will be easier if i've already explained my theory on the White Materia and it's associated spell, Holy.
Another disclaimer : This is, still, just a theory, aGameTheory. Don't hate me (or square?) in the event it's completely wrong, which it has a decent chance of being.
There are only 2 things about FF7's Story that have fundamentally changed in Remake.But what I want to discuss this time is (what I personally think, as of Rebirth) is one brilliant misdirection from Square Enix...in hindsight, anyway.
The White and Black Materia. Or more specifically, the Magic granted by them.
The Whispers
Oh no"....What the hell was Square thinking?" -- You, probably, watching the ending to Rebirth and/or RemakeWell, they were thinking exactly what you were thinking. And they used it against you.
So getting right to it. TLDR;
The Whispers are exactly what they were said to be -- they protect fate by rejecting any changes to the Lifestream. The misdirection here is how YOU have been goaded into misinterpreting this information.
The White and Black Materia can fully explain their existence and purpose. And it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the OG FF7.
Let's start with what we learned from the previous thread about the White Materia:
So what does the White Materia ACTUALLY do in FF7R?Materia are orbs containing knowledge of the ancients. In effect, they contain information from the lifestream itself. The White Materia's magic (Holy) is special though. The magic it contains seems to allow the user to traverse the lifestream itself. This means, in effect, the ability to interact with (and take knowledge from) the actual memories of the Lifestream.
The White Materia (Holy) gives the user access to the Lifestream. Not just a piece of its knowledge, like regular materia....but the actual lifestream itself. In doing so, they gain knowledge, like all Materia allows them to do. Knowledge of the past, the future, and everything else in flux.
But this is NOT knowledge that you're not supposed to be able to actually do anything with, **because unlike casting Fire or Lightning....**knowing the future allows you to change fate.
As we know, the Lifestream is everything, everywhere, and every time. All life comes from the lifestream, and when something dies, it returns there. And its memories stay there forever, as physical places within the lifestream.
This is something Tifa observed for herself in Rebirth. In her brief time floating with the WEAPON, she was reunited with her very own memories...in a very literal fashion.
Tifa, inside the Lifestream in the middle of the Gongaga Reactor
This is the Mako pool in the Lifestream underneath Gongaga. We literally watched Tifa fall in, and physically swim to this location........so why is Tifa's house here? Along with...the Nibelheim Mountians?
A Fragmented Nibelheim, including Mt Nibel and the Bridge that Tifa and Cloud almost died on in the past.
Tifa's memories are not only being played out here....they are physically real. This is because she's inside the Lifestream. She hasn't gone anywhere, she's still in Gongaga, but look at the extent to which this pool of Mako is able to interact with one person's memories.
And also....wait a second.
This space beneath the reactor is filled with White and Black Whispers.
...I thought we killed all the whispers? What are they doing here?
We'll come back to this later.
Lets back up a bit.
Why you [probably] hated the Whispers.
Hear me out.The "OG Storyline" has never existed in Remake. It's not a thing. And the Whispers have nothing to do with it.
\"Oh, the Whispers came because Reno doesn't die in the original game\" -- You, probably
"The whispers were put into the game as a meta commentary on how the developers just want to create their own story, but the fans won't let us, so the party fucking KILLS FATE so that Nomura or Nojima or whomever is most annoying can write whatever they want." -- The Internet. Also you. Probably.Everyone thinks the Whispers only existed in Remake in order to ensure that the story never deviates from the OG FF7 Storyline. Every time something important is about to happen that didn't happen in the original game, the whispers intervene and correct the timeline.
This is the typical, widely accepted "Meta Commentary" explanation of the Whispers.
But it's wrong.
No, not just because this theory says so. This interpretation was ALWAYS wrong.
So the whispers are canon police, but are just gonna IGNORE stuff like this?
FF7R's storyline is self-contained. If the whispers existed to "protect the old events", then why is even Remake chocked full of shit that never happened in the OG and would actively change the story if it did?
But don't be confused -- the writers ABSOLUTELY wanted you to think this way. It's what bothered me about Remake's ending. But they were actually clever about it, and Rebirth vindicates this decision.
"Changing the Future", "Defying Fate", and "The Future is Unwritten" has nothing to do the OG FF7.
Okay good we got this out of the way, I can stop talking about Meta Analysis and get to the actual good stuff.
What the whispers were ACTUALLY doing
Remake explained what the Whispers are verbatim.They protect fate -- the Lifestream. From Aerith, and Jenova.
The Lifestream IS Fate.
Red -"Perhaps best described as arbiters of fate. They are drawn to those who attempt to alter destiny's course and ensure they do not."Barret then speaks about possible bad fates. And Red XIII says this:
Tifa - "And you're saying that flow is somehow...fixed?
Red - "Yes. For it is the will of the planet itself."
Barret - "So if we're destined for a bleak future, these Whispers will try to keep us on that course?""....Now wait just a damn minute. How in the hell could you possibly know any of that? Spouting that cryptic stuff -- which could all be bullshit!"
Red - "When Aerith reached out to me...I found this knowledge of the Whispers."In the previous thread, we explained how Aerith has been messing with the Lifestream by mistakenly using the White Materia to obtain information she has no business knowing. The Whispers are simply reacting to her blatant misuse of this, and act to correct it.
This is very consistent, even in Pt1. The Whispers in Remake ONLY appear when someone is either:
- Using forbidden knowledge from the Lifestream
- Manipulating events by sharing forbidden knowledge from the lifestream
- When something foreign attempts to force its will on the lifestream
After I show you this, please go back and watch videos of all these sorts of events in Remake. You will see exactly what I mean.
Okay, buckle up kids!
Violation #1 Using forbidden knowledge from the Lifestream
Watching the first appearance of Aerith in Remake gives us full clarity of what's actually happening.Aerith is attacked by an invisible force.
Aerith is being attacked by Whispers. This is because she possesses the White Materia, and has constant access to knowledge she isn't supposed to have. They are taking it from her.
Thing to note here. Cloud cannot see the whispers. This is because he is not violating any of the 3 rules.
Sephiroth makes an appearance here.
The appearance of the \"Mental Static\" used in both Remake and Rebirth
This is a Red Herring...in fact, this is THREE brilliantly placed Red Herrings. Because the "Memory Static" that appears here belongs to both Cloud AND Aerith, and serves to confuse you on what it actually means.
- Aerith sees Cloud, and immediately gains knowledge about them both that she is not supposed to know. Also, if you pay attention, Aerith is NOT frozen during this sequence. This is her scene just as much as it is Cloud's.
- Cloud has yet another vision of Sephiroth, caused by his Jenova cells. This is a huge misdirection, to eventually make you think Sephiroth is popping up in places he "shouldn't be."
- This is where Remake starts to fuck with your head. They're using the same memory effect for two different characters, for two different reasons. But the result is essentially the same -- the characters involved are having their perception altered. Remake does NOT distinguish between static caused by Holy or static caused by Jenova. They are treated equally in Remake.
It SEEMS unnatural that Sephiroth is appearing here, this early in the game. But it isn't unnatural -- Cloud is plagued by these visions all the time in this continuity. This is why the game gave us a Sephiroth appearance immediately after the Bombing Mission.
Now. Notice how, despite being attacked by invisible whispers, Aerith mostly seems unbothered by this.
...Almost as if she's used to it. Similar to the way Cloud is equally used to visions of Sephiroth. They BOTH carry on with the conversation as though NOTHING has happened.
The game is explicitly showing you that both of these occurrences are seen as normal for these characters. Suggesting that they have actually been dealing with them for much longer than you would think.
Aerith has another Whisper attack. Cloud is once again very confused, until this happens:
Cloud's violation of #1 through contact with Aerith
Aerith touches Cloud.
We learn later that Aerith touching you gives you knowledge you're not supposed to have. Thus, Cloud is now in violation of Rule #1 -- Forbidden Knowledge. He can now observe whispers for the rest of the story.
Violation #2 Manipulating events by sharing forbidden knowledge from the lifestream
The Church Scene is a great example of this. In fact, most of the moments in Rebirth involve Aerith doing this to some degree.The White Materia is explicitly the cause of the Whisper Attack in the church, and the game goes out of its way to make it very obvious.
Cloud Memory Static, this time it's Holy, not Jenova. (I don't have enough attachments to spell this out, so please go look at the scene after you read this.)
This is another VERY good example of Remake fucking with your head.
- Aerith brings up her White Materia in conversation
- Cloud looks at the back of Aerith's head. He has a memory static attack, and then immediately has a vision of the White Materia.
- Cloud ignores this phenoemon, because things fucking with his head is completely normal to him. He doesn't skip a beat, and suggests Aerith just doesn't know how to use it.
- Aerith playfully agrees.
Regardless, the whispers did not intervene here, despite Cloud obviously glimpsing forbidden knowledge.
So why DID they intervene?
\"...Huh?\" - Cloud
Because Aerith couldn't keep her mouth shut.
- She tells Reno that Cloud is her bodyguard. He isn't. Reno is.
- She exposed that he was a Soldier. Reno explicitly does not like Soldiers.
- She already knew that Cloud was doing mercenary work, and used this to persuade him.
*Sizes Cloud up*"Well, you're weird enough to be one."
\"What Class are you?\"
Reno doubts Cloud's Identity as a First Class Ex-Soldier. And Cloud violently reacts to protect it.
The whispers stopped Cloud from killing Reno, NOT because Reno survives in the OG game...but because Reno's life wouldn't even be at risk here if Aerith didn't instigate this fight.
And just like the Flower scene, Remake actually sets this one up with prior character information too. -- Cloud was shown from the beginning of the game to be prone to extreme violence. He would have also executed Johnny without Tifa's intervention. So we KNOW he would have killed Reno if the Whispers didn't intervene.
Hopefully you're beginning to see a pattern here.
Here is the most obvious example of this rule triggering the Whispers.
Aerith attempting to stop Barret from doing something....
In this scene, we see Aerith clearly knows something she isn't supposed to. She wants to share with Barret that killing the President isn't a good idea...And the whispers immediately appear, threatening her to stop. By this point, Aerith is beginning to become aware of why the whispers are harassing her so much.
I covered this scene in my last post, so I wont again...but this scene is crucial towards understanding what's happening in this game. Everyone should watch this scene again. Pay attention to what happens to Aerith the moment she says "Follow the Yellow Flowers". Aerith is clearly not herself as she says this. It's almost as if someone possessed her to say it. And the Whispers absolutely swarm her as a result.
Violation #3 -- When something foreign attempts to force its will on the lifestream
And here we go. The one that caused like 90% of the confusion in Remake. To be fair, this could only really be understood in hindsight after playing Rebirth.There are many cases in Remake where the Whispers do something that seems...odd, given their explanations as arbiters of fate. Like attacking Sector 7, silencing Hojo, or literally helping Sephiroth at the end of the game. This is because although it's clearly whispers doing it...in Remake there is no visual indication of which Will any given Whispers serve -- The Planet, or Jenova's.
They all LOOK the same.
But they absolutely ARE NOT the same -- they are separate (black and white), just like in Rebirth.
But Remake included subtle clues as a nod to this reveal in Rebirth.
The Whisper Attack on Sector 7
This is another situation where you're expected to believe that the whispers are causing a ruckus because Cloud isn't going on the second bombing mission with Avalanche. Which is something we know he does in the OG game.
But that's just because we likely misinterpreted the clues that lead up to this moment that explain exactly why this is happening : The white whispers are attempting to correct the deliberate isolation of the main party by the black whispers.
A whisper is seen lurking around in Sector 7 the day before this happens. It's extremely easy to miss.
A whisper was present in Seventh Heaven. This was shown immediately after Barret told Cloud he wasn't on the next mission and has to leave.
See...if you're comparing Remake to the OG, then this whisper shown here is 100% going to force you to misinterpret what it's doing here.
In Seventh Heaven, multiple things happen that result in a break up of the entire main party.
- Tifa is feeling anxious about the next mission. Jesse goes out of her way to voice concerns about her involvement, leading to her getting kicked off the team for the mission.
- Jesse then tries to aim to get Cloud placed on the team instead. Barret refuses to do this because he "doesn't want the team leaning on him."
- Barret pays Cloud, tells him he isn't wanted on the next mission, and kicks him out the bar.
- A whisper will literally stop you from entering Seventh Heaven again after this happens to make sure you can't fix it.
A whisper with Sephiroth's voice trying to keep Cloud sleep
A Whisper with Sephiroth's voice approaches Cloud in the morning. He wants him to sleep through Barret, Jesse, and Biggs going on the mission. This would have likely isolated Barret, resulting in his death. Something Jenova tries again towards the end of the game.
She really does not want Barret to stay alive, because he is the glue of Avalanche, and the main reason the events of the story begin the way they do. Cloud also likely never would have met Aerith in the church.
Jenova's whispers are trying to prevent Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and Barret from getting together. This event would have succeeded in separating all of them.
That's why the whispers are at war with one another.
The Black ones are trying to isolate you. The white ones are correcting their meddling.
The game even STOPS you mid-combat to bring attention to the fact that the Black Whispers are being exposed.
Black Whisper being made vulnerable by something external
- You don't have to do anything to these whispers for this to happen.
- The entire screen gains a Static Memory effect....as though Cloud is being shown the truth. He even comments on it.
- After they go vulnerable, they become Black/Purple until they die.
And of course....there's most obvious example of this kind of massive violation from Remake....The Infamous Chapter 18.
But that's gonna have to wait for another post.
I'm out of attachments again.
TL;DR : FF7R is messing with your head.
Aerith using the White Materia in Remake is literally going through the events of the story the exact same way the player did -- with "forbidden knowledge" about how things are "supposed to be".In Rebirth, the White Materia is empty. She no longer has knowledge of what's "supposed to happen", and thus has to accept that whatever happens, happens. This is why the "The Journey is Unknown." Not because the party killed the whispers, therefore the writers can do whatever they want. But because Aerith hid her knowledge of the future (Holy) from herself. She used to be able to know what was going to happen. Now she can't. The real Meta thing is that FF7R only really starts to make sense when you willingly abandon what you thought you already knew about the story. Those who look with clouded eyes see nothing but shadows.
Now go back through Remake with the new perspective and tell me that everything doesn't make way more sense.
Also, please tell me im crazy so I can stop writing these.
Otherwise, stay tuned for pt3 -- The Black Materia.
....Oh. One final hilarious mindblowing. Remember this?
This is where Remake starts to fuck with your head. They're using the same memory effect for two different characters, for two different reasons. But the result is essentially the same -- the characters involved are having their perception altered.Rebirth DOES distinguish the visual effects of memory alteration.
Remake does NOT distinguish between static caused by Holy or static caused by Jenova. They are treated equally in Remake.
But only for the player.
Cloud still can't tell the difference.
2024.06.01 10:32 jagrmullet77 Change of Subject from Playoff talk. Curious on Peoples Thoughts on Retaining Vinny, Stecher, Carrick, and Perry etc Next Season?
Change of subject from the cup talk. Figured it would be fun to discuss next year for big men on the team.
So I'm a huge fan of Vinny Desharnais and don't want us to lose him to UFA. I just love the real life friendship he has with Skinner and after watching a lot of behind the scenes videos on my Oilers+ subscription I truly think he's an absolute amazing guy and a loved team member for our team. He has this likeable factor that I believe we sadly lost when we couldn't retain Kostin so it would be a shame to lose Vinny too.
Now besides just his likeability, we cannot get smaller for next year either. This has happened in the past where we had no big men and guys to stick up for Mcdavid and be tough in our zone etc.I pray his agent doesn't go crazy and ask for a huge pay raise but also with him recently benched I'm curious on your thoughts. And we haven't even talked about Carrick, Perry and Stecher for next year. Not sure if they're rentals or the plans. Would you guys try to retain any of them as well? Be nice to have a net pest and thug up front and a big guy still for the back end if possible ie. Vinny.
The Oilers have needed a Ryan Reeves, Lucic, Perry, Pat Maroon type guy again for a long time (NOTE I'm just using those names as examples not that we directly want those specific guys right now) and I assume it's also probably a good chance we won't be keeping Perry whether he retires or he's just a rental for this year?
So with Vinny's contract up, Broberg probably moving up full time to the main roster, and not sure what we're doing with Stecher, Perry(retiring?) and Carrick, your guys thoughts on Vinny? He's our only big tough Dman really so I hope we can retain. Also if possible, another possible tough guy acquisition on our team next year if by chance the scenario is we don't retain Perry, Stecher and Carrick as well?
submitted by jagrmullet77 to EdmontonOilers [link] [comments]
So I'm a huge fan of Vinny Desharnais and don't want us to lose him to UFA. I just love the real life friendship he has with Skinner and after watching a lot of behind the scenes videos on my Oilers+ subscription I truly think he's an absolute amazing guy and a loved team member for our team. He has this likeable factor that I believe we sadly lost when we couldn't retain Kostin so it would be a shame to lose Vinny too.
Now besides just his likeability, we cannot get smaller for next year either. This has happened in the past where we had no big men and guys to stick up for Mcdavid and be tough in our zone etc.I pray his agent doesn't go crazy and ask for a huge pay raise but also with him recently benched I'm curious on your thoughts. And we haven't even talked about Carrick, Perry and Stecher for next year. Not sure if they're rentals or the plans. Would you guys try to retain any of them as well? Be nice to have a net pest and thug up front and a big guy still for the back end if possible ie. Vinny.
The Oilers have needed a Ryan Reeves, Lucic, Perry, Pat Maroon type guy again for a long time (NOTE I'm just using those names as examples not that we directly want those specific guys right now) and I assume it's also probably a good chance we won't be keeping Perry whether he retires or he's just a rental for this year?
So with Vinny's contract up, Broberg probably moving up full time to the main roster, and not sure what we're doing with Stecher, Perry(retiring?) and Carrick, your guys thoughts on Vinny? He's our only big tough Dman really so I hope we can retain. Also if possible, another possible tough guy acquisition on our team next year if by chance the scenario is we don't retain Perry, Stecher and Carrick as well?
2024.06.01 09:55 lmcaraig I’m surprised by the HUGE amount of posts and comments of people hating their job in CS 🤯
I sorted the posts by “top - last year” and mostly all of them are people ranting how much they hate their role. This is really sad, especially for a role that should be at the core of the business.😩
I’m not in CS, but it’s a space that I’m getting interested in. The way I naively see it is: business growth/health comes from happy/loyal customers, and happy/loyal customers come from an efficient and motivated CS team.
Motivation is key for being productive in any role, but for a role like CSM where you need to talk with customers on a daily basis I think it’s even more important. Customers are not stupid, they can tell if you hate what you’re doing.
I saw multiple reasons for hating a CS: - often bad mgmt (this is shared across other areas) - not being supported/recognized by the company as a valuable asset - non-optimal collaboration with other departments - crazy customers - etc.
Tools are not the solution to all problems, but I’m wondering how your dream tool would work to alleviate the pains of your day.
I’m curious to know your thoughts!
Sorry if I missed or misinterpreted something, but as I said, I’m an outsider who is considering building an alternative platform. I jumped here on Reddit to hear your voices to know more, and I feel like CS is an underserved role.
submitted by lmcaraig to CustomerSuccess [link] [comments]
I’m not in CS, but it’s a space that I’m getting interested in. The way I naively see it is: business growth/health comes from happy/loyal customers, and happy/loyal customers come from an efficient and motivated CS team.
Motivation is key for being productive in any role, but for a role like CSM where you need to talk with customers on a daily basis I think it’s even more important. Customers are not stupid, they can tell if you hate what you’re doing.
I saw multiple reasons for hating a CS: - often bad mgmt (this is shared across other areas) - not being supported/recognized by the company as a valuable asset - non-optimal collaboration with other departments - crazy customers - etc.
Tools are not the solution to all problems, but I’m wondering how your dream tool would work to alleviate the pains of your day.
- is it a tool that automates X, Y, Z? (transcript analysis, automated QBR, customer summary status, CTA suggestions per customer, etc)
- is it a tool that better shows inside the company your or yours team effort and generated/retained value?
- is it a tool that streamlines collaboration with other departments?
I’m curious to know your thoughts!
Sorry if I missed or misinterpreted something, but as I said, I’m an outsider who is considering building an alternative platform. I jumped here on Reddit to hear your voices to know more, and I feel like CS is an underserved role.
2024.06.01 04:52 Upstairs-Pound-7205 The ugly duckling classroom.
I was responding to the post about Type B teachers and decided this was better to be a post all its own. I've been in the same classroom for over 10 years. It's a former woodshop, and it has a story that's important to me. This is a long story, but it would be worth reading if you are the type who likes a redemption arc.
TL:DR: I inherited a crazy hoard, and slowly cleaned it up.
To preface, I'm a type B person. I grew up in the house of a pack rat, and I adopted a lot of the same habits as a result. Once the amount of stuff I have gets to a certain point, I stop noticing the mess and it grows and grows. The only way that I keep organized is minimalism at this point: not only to make it easy to clean but also to lower the number of decisions I have to make on a given day.
When I got hired as a computer teacher, I got the woodshop as my room. You might be thinking, OoOoO, I'd love to have a woodshop! Wood floors, big room, what's not to love? Well no-one wanted that room. Why? Because it had been the place of 3 decades of hoarding and neglect.
Every square inch of the room was covered in graffiti. Every cabinet door was hanging on by a thread. Every lock was either broken or the latches were missing. Garbage was piled 4 feet high taking up 2/3s of the room. By garbage I mean a huge collection of broken objects that were clearly meant to be projects for the future by the well meaning woodshop teacher. Pieces of drawers, old dresser parts, massive rusted metal bookshelves, broken carts, rusted chicken wire. Sawdust filled every gap.
More than half the shelves were broken or bending under the immense weight of ancient textbooks, unfinished projects, random trinkets, sky high packets of paper, and ungraded student work. The old teacher had put up a homespun barricade in front of his hoard, and only using 1/3 of the room to teach. He was clearly only using hand tools because the machines were completely buried. That wood floor? Warping everywhere, with some boards sticking 3 inches out of the ground.
Attached to the room was a storage room, meant for hardware and lumber. There was just enough space to open a door about 2 feet and then climb over about a 5 foot high pile that filled the entire room. More projects that never got done, or jigs that were made for some long forgotten project that were kept just in case.
I opened my classroom computer case and found it choked with a layer of sawdust that felt like it was going to spontaneously combust. Ironically, the fire alarm was in a protective plastic casing, that was also choked full of sawdust. The only visible machine, the drill press, was used as a shelf for lesson packets. The room had two external walls that offered almost no insulation from the outdoors. In the summer it got stupid level hot in there because the closet contains a transformer that pukes heat. In the winter I would open the closet door to try to heat the room up, because the only other source of heat was a hot water blower fan that was located 15 ft up on the ceiling, and its power switch was - you guessed it - 15 feet up on the ceiling.
At one point the room had a drinking fountain that had been removed. There was a huge hole in the wall with pipes sticking out. To solve this, the previous occupant had bolted a long piece of corrugated sign board over it. This too, was of course, covered in drawings of phalluses and messages attesting to who was here and in what year.
So yeah, no-one wanted the room for a reason.
What was worse was it was the dumping ground for everyone else throughout the years. Staff had gotten used to offloading their damaged furniture/crap there. Sometimes I would come back and find a new gum-ridden folding table with a sheared off leg had been tucked behind the barricade.
The clean up
This took years.
Being a new teacher I was initially hesitant to just throw stuff away. What if I threw away something valuable? Something that someone was expecting back one day? I started by just vacuuming up sawdust and throwing out reams upon reams of paper packets. Many of them were stuck together with spilled finish and wood glue.
Eventually I got bolder. I got some super thick gloves and threw out anything that was heavily rusted. The old chicken wire, coffee cans full of nails and random screws. Wood that was loaded with bent rusted nails/screws. Then I threw out the broken porcelian, warped and cracked drawer parts. I coordinated with the custodians to pitch the tables/chairs with missing legs, snapped tops, etc. I managed to cobble together enough lock parts and hinge components to get 1 cabinet working and locking - I had to dig through the school to find a working key.
Over time, I eventually pitched the vast majority of the unfinished projects. I finished a few of them myself and gave them back to their respective owners who were frankly astonished to see them. I found 12 library books that had been checked out during the Dewey Decimal system/card catalog days - and the librarian was amazed that they still were intact. With the permission of the district/school I dispersed the student tools to custodial staff/maintainence who could better use them. I didn't need 20 hand saws for instance.
I repaired the drill press, the belt sander, 3 scroll saws and the band saw. The lathe was sadly beyond saving and apparently the table saw was long gone for some reason - though I am sure it pre-dated safety. Each of those tools went to maintainence.
It took a very long time to get rid of the paints, the finishes and other caustic crap. Massive red tape obviously. Eventually it was all gone though. The lumber got taken by another woodshop teacher, along with any remaining useable hardware.
I kept a small reserve of tools for myself for repairs and fabrication.
I remember when I finally reached the back of the room and took a heavy rusted bookshelf off of the shop counter. The counter was is in pristine condition - unlike the rest of the room. It had been buried long ago before the teacher had let kids get away with non-stop graffitti, carving, cutting and drilling into the hardwood tops.
With the room completely clear of crap, I began fixing/replacing all the broken cabinet hardware. I took out all the non-broken shelves and began scrubbing them down, along with the cabinets themselves and their doors. I repaired my desk, which of course had only one working drawer at first. Two were jammed and another was falling to pieces - held together by an improvised job using wire brads. I properly disassembled, scraped, sanded and glued/clamped the drawer and repaired the tracks on the other two.
I called in several work orders. The carpenters tried their best to salvage the wood floor but it was so warped that they ended up replacing sections with plywood. Not the best looking, but at least it was flat. I had the electrician remove the power cut off, since I didn't want a kid shutting off a room full of computers because he wanted to see what the big red buttons around the room did. The plumber capped the old fountain pipes behind the wall and the mason put a fresh coat wall section over it. The painters came in and did a full scale remediation over the summer of what could very well have been lead paint peeling all over the cieling. The HVAC guys cleaned out a metric f-ton of dust out of the duct work in my room, and now my room recieves proper heat and AC. Bear in mind this happened over a decade of time, not right away.
This year I finally managed to replace the last of the missing cabinet locks and got them all on a universal key. There were so many empty cabinets that I gave the space to the students to store their backpacks and jackets during class.
Every time a new teacher comes in and says "wow I wish this was my room" my across the hall co-worker says "you should have seen it when he got it." It is now a lab with multiple 3D printers, a dedicated repair station for electronics, and plenty of space for students to grab a laptop, pull up a chair and work together on coding, CAD, pretty much anything.
This summer my storage room will finally be cleared of the last of the crap. The school rotated its derelict and outdated computer gear in there for the last 4 years (since my storage was the only nearly empty one at the time). I figured if my storage was going to be the repository for any crap it may as well be computers that my students could take apart and learn from. However, that's all going away.
When I look back at this whole process, and really I only wrote a snippet of it here despite this being a Reddit book - I'm amazed that someone like me could even do this. I struggled cleaning my room as a kid. Now I conquered a mountainous horde and came out the other end with a minimalistic, clean room that is easy to maintain. It's weird how students respect a space that is already clean, and I've had way fewer instances of kids damaging the space or even leaving trash behind.
So this is the message to you type B people out there like me. You don't have to manage every little thing, just whittle it down to something you can handle and make things as simple as possible for yourself. You can do it.
submitted by Upstairs-Pound-7205 to Teachers [link] [comments]
TL:DR: I inherited a crazy hoard, and slowly cleaned it up.
To preface, I'm a type B person. I grew up in the house of a pack rat, and I adopted a lot of the same habits as a result. Once the amount of stuff I have gets to a certain point, I stop noticing the mess and it grows and grows. The only way that I keep organized is minimalism at this point: not only to make it easy to clean but also to lower the number of decisions I have to make on a given day.
Every square inch of the room was covered in graffiti. Every cabinet door was hanging on by a thread. Every lock was either broken or the latches were missing. Garbage was piled 4 feet high taking up 2/3s of the room. By garbage I mean a huge collection of broken objects that were clearly meant to be projects for the future by the well meaning woodshop teacher. Pieces of drawers, old dresser parts, massive rusted metal bookshelves, broken carts, rusted chicken wire. Sawdust filled every gap.
More than half the shelves were broken or bending under the immense weight of ancient textbooks, unfinished projects, random trinkets, sky high packets of paper, and ungraded student work. The old teacher had put up a homespun barricade in front of his hoard, and only using 1/3 of the room to teach. He was clearly only using hand tools because the machines were completely buried. That wood floor? Warping everywhere, with some boards sticking 3 inches out of the ground.
I opened my classroom computer case and found it choked with a layer of sawdust that felt like it was going to spontaneously combust. Ironically, the fire alarm was in a protective plastic casing, that was also choked full of sawdust. The only visible machine, the drill press, was used as a shelf for lesson packets. The room had two external walls that offered almost no insulation from the outdoors. In the summer it got stupid level hot in there because the closet contains a transformer that pukes heat. In the winter I would open the closet door to try to heat the room up, because the only other source of heat was a hot water blower fan that was located 15 ft up on the ceiling, and its power switch was - you guessed it - 15 feet up on the ceiling.
At one point the room had a drinking fountain that had been removed. There was a huge hole in the wall with pipes sticking out. To solve this, the previous occupant had bolted a long piece of corrugated sign board over it. This too, was of course, covered in drawings of phalluses and messages attesting to who was here and in what year.
So yeah, no-one wanted the room for a reason.
What was worse was it was the dumping ground for everyone else throughout the years. Staff had gotten used to offloading their damaged furniture/crap there. Sometimes I would come back and find a new gum-ridden folding table with a sheared off leg had been tucked behind the barricade.
This took years.
Being a new teacher I was initially hesitant to just throw stuff away. What if I threw away something valuable? Something that someone was expecting back one day? I started by just vacuuming up sawdust and throwing out reams upon reams of paper packets. Many of them were stuck together with spilled finish and wood glue.
Eventually I got bolder. I got some super thick gloves and threw out anything that was heavily rusted. The old chicken wire, coffee cans full of nails and random screws. Wood that was loaded with bent rusted nails/screws. Then I threw out the broken porcelian, warped and cracked drawer parts. I coordinated with the custodians to pitch the tables/chairs with missing legs, snapped tops, etc. I managed to cobble together enough lock parts and hinge components to get 1 cabinet working and locking - I had to dig through the school to find a working key.
Over time, I eventually pitched the vast majority of the unfinished projects. I finished a few of them myself and gave them back to their respective owners who were frankly astonished to see them. I found 12 library books that had been checked out during the Dewey Decimal system/card catalog days - and the librarian was amazed that they still were intact. With the permission of the district/school I dispersed the student tools to custodial staff/maintainence who could better use them. I didn't need 20 hand saws for instance.
I repaired the drill press, the belt sander, 3 scroll saws and the band saw. The lathe was sadly beyond saving and apparently the table saw was long gone for some reason - though I am sure it pre-dated safety. Each of those tools went to maintainence.
It took a very long time to get rid of the paints, the finishes and other caustic crap. Massive red tape obviously. Eventually it was all gone though. The lumber got taken by another woodshop teacher, along with any remaining useable hardware.
I kept a small reserve of tools for myself for repairs and fabrication.
With the room completely clear of crap, I began fixing/replacing all the broken cabinet hardware. I took out all the non-broken shelves and began scrubbing them down, along with the cabinets themselves and their doors. I repaired my desk, which of course had only one working drawer at first. Two were jammed and another was falling to pieces - held together by an improvised job using wire brads. I properly disassembled, scraped, sanded and glued/clamped the drawer and repaired the tracks on the other two.
I called in several work orders. The carpenters tried their best to salvage the wood floor but it was so warped that they ended up replacing sections with plywood. Not the best looking, but at least it was flat. I had the electrician remove the power cut off, since I didn't want a kid shutting off a room full of computers because he wanted to see what the big red buttons around the room did. The plumber capped the old fountain pipes behind the wall and the mason put a fresh coat wall section over it. The painters came in and did a full scale remediation over the summer of what could very well have been lead paint peeling all over the cieling. The HVAC guys cleaned out a metric f-ton of dust out of the duct work in my room, and now my room recieves proper heat and AC. Bear in mind this happened over a decade of time, not right away.
Every time a new teacher comes in and says "wow I wish this was my room" my across the hall co-worker says "you should have seen it when he got it." It is now a lab with multiple 3D printers, a dedicated repair station for electronics, and plenty of space for students to grab a laptop, pull up a chair and work together on coding, CAD, pretty much anything.
This summer my storage room will finally be cleared of the last of the crap. The school rotated its derelict and outdated computer gear in there for the last 4 years (since my storage was the only nearly empty one at the time). I figured if my storage was going to be the repository for any crap it may as well be computers that my students could take apart and learn from. However, that's all going away.
So this is the message to you type B people out there like me. You don't have to manage every little thing, just whittle it down to something you can handle and make things as simple as possible for yourself. You can do it.
2024.06.01 03:53 Gloomy_Ad_9368 My DIY build (WIP) - TPS Coils + Latex + SLAB cover
I'm nearing the finish line on building my first DIY mattress, so I'll share my thought process and how I got to this crazy seeming point, then share what I've ended up with (so far). You can skip the preamble if you just want to get to the action without the back story.
Now for the part people care about: THE BUILD!
First, the all important stats: I'm 6'0" and 185lbs, more muscle than fat, but not a roid monster by any stretch of the imagination. My wife is 5'2" and 145lbs. We both sleep mostly on our sides, with some back sleeping. Maybe 80/20. From a preference standpoint, I prefer a softer bed because I have problems with shoulder pain, and waking up in the middle of the night with tingling in my arms. My wife prefers a bit more firmness than me, but still in the medium-medium firm range.
Ok, that was more preamble, but really, let's talk about the build. I'll include the prices currently listed on the various websites, but we all know prices move around some over time.
Here's what I'm sleeping on tonight:
The finished mattress is a King, the coils are 2xTwinXL, the latex sheets are both King size.
8" QuadCoils (15.5g) from Texas Pocket Springs (Firm sides):$495 $445.50 (10% off when combined with 8")
3" QuadMini from Texas Pocket Springs:$420 $378 (10% off when combined with 8")
2" Soft Dunlop from Sleep On Latex: $235
2" Soft Talalay from Latex Mattress Factory: $374
15" cotton/bamboo cover from Sleep like a Bear: $276
Total: $1708.50
I know what you're thinking: "I thought you said you priced out your build at $1200??" Well, yeah... The stuff I originally priced out was cheaper than what I ended up with. AND, I'm going to make one swap that will knock off $200, bringing me down to ~$1500 (so I can still feel good about not getting the Nolah).
I read all about how Dunlop and Talalay are different, and Talalay is softer, and blah blah blah, but honestly, I can't tell the difference in firmness between the 2" of SOL dunlop and the 2" of LMF Talalay. Save yourself the $140 and just buy the SOL latex. Also, the LMF king size sheet is actually two pieces of TwinXL that they fused together, which left a pretty noticeable seam/bump. I can feel it through my SLAB cover, through the sheets. It's not bad enough to keep me awake at night, just kinda... lame for one of the most expensive sheets of latex on the market. The SOL piece is a continuous king-sized sheet of latex.
So I'm returning the Talalay, and going to try out the 4lb viscoplush memory foam from Foam by Mail. $138 for 2".
Total: $1473 + $45 return fee = $1518
Those of you who haven't already gotten bored and moved on to a shorter thread are probably thinking "I don't care how much it cost, how does it FEEL?"
I tried to be a scientific about it, within the bounds of my wife's patience. The first night, I slept on the QuadCoils + QuadMini + 2" SOL, with no mattress cover. If I was a 100% back sleeper, I'd have stopped right there. It felt great on my back, and I absolutely love how the QuadMini feels. Coming from a solid foam mattress, the bounce feels really nice, and it's the right amount of pressure relief and support. BUT... I'm mostly a side sleeper, and 2" of SOL didn't provide enough softness for my shoulder to sink into.
The 2nd night, I tried just the 8" QuadCoil and the 2" SOL. I didn't expect to like it, I was just curious. As expected, it was way too firm for my liking. I told myself I'd try again with QuadCoil + 2" SOL + 2" Talalay when that layer arrived from LMF, but... I didn't. So I can't speak to that configuration.
3rd night was back to the 8" + QuadMini + 2" SOL while I waited for the LMF order to arrive.
A few days later, the 2" Talalay arrived. Still no mattress cover (or bedframe) at this point. Just the layers stacked on the floor with a fitted sheet over them.
8" QuadCoil + 3" QuadMini + 2" SOL + 2" LMF. My wife thinks it's perfect. I think, it's really great, waaaay better than what I had before, and definitely the nicest mattress I've ever owned. BUT... I really want to give those shoulders something to sink into. So I'm going to swapping the 2" LMF with 2" memory foam. My wife hates the "sinking in" feeling of memory foam, so it's entirely possible I'll end up with foam on my half and another piece of latex on her half to match the height. If I do that, I'll cut my foam in half, and order a TwinXL 2" soft dunlop from SOL for her.
Let's talk about the cover: When you need a 15" cover, there really aren't a lot of choices. The TPS guy (Matan) recommended a stretchy cover, so I ruled out anything quilted, and I think that left me with 3-4 options. I picked the SLAB cover because I'd read positive things in other reviews. Now that I have it, I don't have much to say about it, good or bad. It was a royal PITA to put on, but that might be true of all the covers when you're trying to wrangle 11" of springs and 4" of latex by yourself. The cover is nice, but I think that's another area I could have saved some $$ and not noticed the difference.
As others have noted, the bed definitely "firms up" when you put all the layers in a cover. The advice to "test all the layers without a cover in case you want to change the thickness" is kinda tough because what you feel without a cover is so different than how it feels with the cover. I think my advice would be "buy a 15" cover and 15" worth of stuff, then swap out layers if you don't like how it feels"
Cool factor: When it was just the coils + 2" of latex, the mattress felt like it wasn't retaining any heat at all. It was so much cooler than my old mattress that I actually turned the thermostat up 2 degrees (I live in Florida, and it's summer time). With 4" of latex, it's retaining a little bit more, but not much. Still way cooler than my all-foam. I'm definitely a bit worried that I'm not going to like the heat retention when I swap for the memory foam, but I gotta try it for my whiney shoulders.
Is the QuadMini worth it? I've seen this question on various threads, and definitely one person who feels strongly that it's not worth it. My opinion is a strong YES. I love how it feels. The price was barely more than what you'd pay for 3" of medium dunlop at SOL, and it really gives the mattress that "high end" feel. The coils retain less heat, provide great pressure relief, and...going a bit PG13 here... the bounce is fun.
How's the motion transfer? Basically none. Seriously. Someone else posted there was 0 motion transfer and called out for it, so I'll just say "basically 0". In the movies when the girls/guy wakes up in the morning and their partner is gone, I've always thought "that's total BS, there's no way they wouldn't have noticed the person get up. Well... this morning my wife was gone when I woke up, and I was completely unaware of her getting up. I thought memory foam was supposed to have low motion transfer, but this is better. I think it has to do with the way the coils are engineered. The isolation factor is really impressive.
Do the TwinXLs separate? I went with twin XL on both coil layers for a few reasons: 1) it's cheaper 2) I care a lot about the motion transfer, and figured having the the king split might help a bit 3) It's WAY easier to assemble solo when I'm not wrangling 42sqft of coils in a single sheet. 4) Matan assured me that once the cover was on, with 2+" of latex on top of the QuadMini, everything would hold together with no slipping/gap
Correct on all counts! You'd never know I had TwinXLs under the latex.
I'm sure I could think of more to say, but I've probably rambled on long enough. Happy to answer questions in the comments though.
Special thanks to u/secretlyyourgrandma and u/jessuckapow for sharing their experience! My build is basically just a slightly softer clone of what jessuckapow built.
submitted by Gloomy_Ad_9368 to Mattress [link] [comments]
- I stayed in a nice hotel on a business trip, slept great, came home and realized "wow, my mattress really sucks!" Kinda doesn't matter what my current mattress is, but if you're curious, it's a Layla that I bought 5 years ago. Apparently the fact that I had it for 5 years that means I got my money's worth ($964). So it cost me ~$200/year for a mattress that was never more than "okay"
- I started the stressful process of researching mattresses. I was on the verge of pulling the trigger on a $1700 Nolah mattress when I stumbled on this video about pocket coil quality.
- After watching that video, I started trying to find a mattress that has Texas Pocket Coils in it because that video convinced got me worried about the leaning effect of other coils.
- My search for texas pocket coils didn't turn up much in the way of mattress companies (they don't tend to disclose their components). Instead it ended me up on Reddit DIY threads.
- After pricing out the components on pocketcoilstore.com (coils), latexmattressfactory.com / https://sleeponlatex.com/ (latex on top of coils), and various enclosure options, I priced out my build at around $1200 for a mattress that'll be at least as nice as the $1700 Nolah. That means i can make up to $500 in "mistakes" of fine tuning what kind of foam i like before i'll have hit the price point i was willing to pay for a "take it or leave it" mattress.
- As a bonus, I expect those springs to last at least 15 years, probably 20. Even if my latex layer breaks down in 5 years, or if my preferences change, I can replace just the latex and my "per year cost of ownership" will still be much lower than if i have to replace the entire mattress again in 5 years.
Now for the part people care about: THE BUILD!
First, the all important stats: I'm 6'0" and 185lbs, more muscle than fat, but not a roid monster by any stretch of the imagination. My wife is 5'2" and 145lbs. We both sleep mostly on our sides, with some back sleeping. Maybe 80/20. From a preference standpoint, I prefer a softer bed because I have problems with shoulder pain, and waking up in the middle of the night with tingling in my arms. My wife prefers a bit more firmness than me, but still in the medium-medium firm range.
Ok, that was more preamble, but really, let's talk about the build. I'll include the prices currently listed on the various websites, but we all know prices move around some over time.
Here's what I'm sleeping on tonight:
The finished mattress is a King, the coils are 2xTwinXL, the latex sheets are both King size.
8" QuadCoils (15.5g) from Texas Pocket Springs (Firm sides):
3" QuadMini from Texas Pocket Springs:
2" Soft Dunlop from Sleep On Latex: $235
2" Soft Talalay from Latex Mattress Factory: $374
15" cotton/bamboo cover from Sleep like a Bear: $276
Total: $1708.50
I know what you're thinking: "I thought you said you priced out your build at $1200??" Well, yeah... The stuff I originally priced out was cheaper than what I ended up with. AND, I'm going to make one swap that will knock off $200, bringing me down to ~$1500 (so I can still feel good about not getting the Nolah).
I read all about how Dunlop and Talalay are different, and Talalay is softer, and blah blah blah, but honestly, I can't tell the difference in firmness between the 2" of SOL dunlop and the 2" of LMF Talalay. Save yourself the $140 and just buy the SOL latex. Also, the LMF king size sheet is actually two pieces of TwinXL that they fused together, which left a pretty noticeable seam/bump. I can feel it through my SLAB cover, through the sheets. It's not bad enough to keep me awake at night, just kinda... lame for one of the most expensive sheets of latex on the market. The SOL piece is a continuous king-sized sheet of latex.
So I'm returning the Talalay, and going to try out the 4lb viscoplush memory foam from Foam by Mail. $138 for 2".
Total: $1473 + $45 return fee = $1518
Those of you who haven't already gotten bored and moved on to a shorter thread are probably thinking "I don't care how much it cost, how does it FEEL?"
I tried to be a scientific about it, within the bounds of my wife's patience. The first night, I slept on the QuadCoils + QuadMini + 2" SOL, with no mattress cover. If I was a 100% back sleeper, I'd have stopped right there. It felt great on my back, and I absolutely love how the QuadMini feels. Coming from a solid foam mattress, the bounce feels really nice, and it's the right amount of pressure relief and support. BUT... I'm mostly a side sleeper, and 2" of SOL didn't provide enough softness for my shoulder to sink into.
The 2nd night, I tried just the 8" QuadCoil and the 2" SOL. I didn't expect to like it, I was just curious. As expected, it was way too firm for my liking. I told myself I'd try again with QuadCoil + 2" SOL + 2" Talalay when that layer arrived from LMF, but... I didn't. So I can't speak to that configuration.
3rd night was back to the 8" + QuadMini + 2" SOL while I waited for the LMF order to arrive.
A few days later, the 2" Talalay arrived. Still no mattress cover (or bedframe) at this point. Just the layers stacked on the floor with a fitted sheet over them.
8" QuadCoil + 3" QuadMini + 2" SOL + 2" LMF. My wife thinks it's perfect. I think, it's really great, waaaay better than what I had before, and definitely the nicest mattress I've ever owned. BUT... I really want to give those shoulders something to sink into. So I'm going to swapping the 2" LMF with 2" memory foam. My wife hates the "sinking in" feeling of memory foam, so it's entirely possible I'll end up with foam on my half and another piece of latex on her half to match the height. If I do that, I'll cut my foam in half, and order a TwinXL 2" soft dunlop from SOL for her.
Let's talk about the cover: When you need a 15" cover, there really aren't a lot of choices. The TPS guy (Matan) recommended a stretchy cover, so I ruled out anything quilted, and I think that left me with 3-4 options. I picked the SLAB cover because I'd read positive things in other reviews. Now that I have it, I don't have much to say about it, good or bad. It was a royal PITA to put on, but that might be true of all the covers when you're trying to wrangle 11" of springs and 4" of latex by yourself. The cover is nice, but I think that's another area I could have saved some $$ and not noticed the difference.
As others have noted, the bed definitely "firms up" when you put all the layers in a cover. The advice to "test all the layers without a cover in case you want to change the thickness" is kinda tough because what you feel without a cover is so different than how it feels with the cover. I think my advice would be "buy a 15" cover and 15" worth of stuff, then swap out layers if you don't like how it feels"
Cool factor: When it was just the coils + 2" of latex, the mattress felt like it wasn't retaining any heat at all. It was so much cooler than my old mattress that I actually turned the thermostat up 2 degrees (I live in Florida, and it's summer time). With 4" of latex, it's retaining a little bit more, but not much. Still way cooler than my all-foam. I'm definitely a bit worried that I'm not going to like the heat retention when I swap for the memory foam, but I gotta try it for my whiney shoulders.
Is the QuadMini worth it? I've seen this question on various threads, and definitely one person who feels strongly that it's not worth it. My opinion is a strong YES. I love how it feels. The price was barely more than what you'd pay for 3" of medium dunlop at SOL, and it really gives the mattress that "high end" feel. The coils retain less heat, provide great pressure relief, and...going a bit PG13 here... the bounce is fun.
How's the motion transfer? Basically none. Seriously. Someone else posted there was 0 motion transfer and called out for it, so I'll just say "basically 0". In the movies when the girls/guy wakes up in the morning and their partner is gone, I've always thought "that's total BS, there's no way they wouldn't have noticed the person get up. Well... this morning my wife was gone when I woke up, and I was completely unaware of her getting up. I thought memory foam was supposed to have low motion transfer, but this is better. I think it has to do with the way the coils are engineered. The isolation factor is really impressive.
Do the TwinXLs separate? I went with twin XL on both coil layers for a few reasons: 1) it's cheaper 2) I care a lot about the motion transfer, and figured having the the king split might help a bit 3) It's WAY easier to assemble solo when I'm not wrangling 42sqft of coils in a single sheet. 4) Matan assured me that once the cover was on, with 2+" of latex on top of the QuadMini, everything would hold together with no slipping/gap
Correct on all counts! You'd never know I had TwinXLs under the latex.
I'm sure I could think of more to say, but I've probably rambled on long enough. Happy to answer questions in the comments though.
Special thanks to u/secretlyyourgrandma and u/jessuckapow for sharing their experience! My build is basically just a slightly softer clone of what jessuckapow built.
2024.06.01 03:33 Safe-Pressure8358 More Significance to the Date 6/25
(If someone already posted about this, let me know and I’ll take it down!!)
June 25th sounded like a very familiar date to me, and as a frequent visitor of Montana, I finally realized why.
June 25th is widely known as the day of the Battle of Little Bighorn. AKA, Custard’s last stand.
This battle started due to the U.S. government confining Native Americans to reservations. Two important leaders of the Lakota Sioux Nation, known in English as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, strongly opposed the government’s advances into their territory. They brought many of their people out of the reservation and made camp in Montana outside of the walls the U.S. had created for them.
The War Department eventually demanded they return to the reservation, and they opposed, leading to an advance of U.S soldiers into the camp. But the people stood their ground.
After a long and brutal battle, every single one of the U.S. soldiers was killed. Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull retained a victory.
See some comparisons to the lore? While this may be a coincidence, and probably wasn’t the band’s idea to relate themselves to these oppressed people (and I hope everyone knows I am not trying to compare them in that way, because this story is very real and the lore is very much fictional), I thought it was really cool that it lined up in a similar way!
submitted by Safe-Pressure8358 to twentyonepilots [link] [comments]
June 25th sounded like a very familiar date to me, and as a frequent visitor of Montana, I finally realized why.
June 25th is widely known as the day of the Battle of Little Bighorn. AKA, Custard’s last stand.
This battle started due to the U.S. government confining Native Americans to reservations. Two important leaders of the Lakota Sioux Nation, known in English as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, strongly opposed the government’s advances into their territory. They brought many of their people out of the reservation and made camp in Montana outside of the walls the U.S. had created for them.
The War Department eventually demanded they return to the reservation, and they opposed, leading to an advance of U.S soldiers into the camp. But the people stood their ground.
After a long and brutal battle, every single one of the U.S. soldiers was killed. Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull retained a victory.
See some comparisons to the lore? While this may be a coincidence, and probably wasn’t the band’s idea to relate themselves to these oppressed people (and I hope everyone knows I am not trying to compare them in that way, because this story is very real and the lore is very much fictional), I thought it was really cool that it lined up in a similar way!
2024.06.01 01:52 Trash_Tia Halfway through physics class, time stopped at 2:52pm.
”Stop.”
I really needed the bathroom.
For fifty painstaking minutes, I had been staring at the clock on the wall, willing it to go faster, uncomfortably shifting side to side in my seat so much that I was starting to get weird looks.
2:52pm.
Eight minutes, I thought dizzily, squeezing my legs together.
Which was just two chunks of four minutes.
Four chunks of two minutes.
The pain started like normal stomach pain, the kind I could deal with.
I swallowed two Tylenol with lukewarm soda.
But this was different.
This kind of pain was contorting and twisting my gut so much, I had to keep leaning onto my left buttock for relief.
I must have done it so many times, I caught the attention of the guy sitting next to me. Roman Hemlock who was half asleep, dark blonde curls hanging in half lidded eyes, his chin leaning on his fist. He shot me a look. I couldn't tell if it was Are you okay? or Can you stop moving around so much?
From the single crease in his brow, the slight curl in his lip, I guessed the latter.
It's not like Roman was helping.
For half the class, he'd been tapping his foot on the floor, then his chair leg, and to complete the orchestra, his fingers joined in, tap, tap, tapping on the edge of his desk. I didn't know if it was a bored thing, an ADHD thing, or he was trying to keep himself awake. It was easy to tolerate without the pain, but with it, the boy’s incessant tapping was more akin to a dentist drill splitting my skull open. I already felt nauseous, the sad looking chicken nuggets I forced down at lunch making an unwelcome appearance at the back of my throat.
It was too fucking hot, the stuffy summer air glueing my hair to the back of my neck. The material of my shirt was making me cringe, sticky against my skin.
Tipping my head back, the lights were too bright. Every sound was too loud. Imogen Prairie, who was sitting behind me chewing her gum a little too loudly.
Kaz Samuels scribbling notes like a maniac.
I could hear every stroke of his pencil, every time he paused, looked up at the presentation, and continued writing.
When I leaned forward in my chair, I could smell exactly what Isabella Trinity had eaten for lunch, the stink hanging in the air.
It became a case of sucking in my stomach and taking slow, deep breaths.
I’d never had these kinds of stomach cramps before. But it didn't take me long to figure out what they were.
I was yet to start my period at the grand age of sixteen, which meant this was it.
After countless sessions with the doctor, and feeling like a social outcast among my group of friends who started their periods in middle school, it had finally happened. The cramps in my gut that felt like my torso was being ripped apart, was in fact me entering womanhood. When my breath started to quicken, my mouth watering, I raised my hand, biting my lip against a cry.
Fuck.
Something lurched in my gut, a wave of nausea crashing into me.
I was going to throw up.
“Mr Brighton.”
Roman spoke up before me, waving his arm. “Can I use the bathroom?”
The teacher’s answer was always the same. Which was why I had been crossing my legs for the entirety of the class, unable to focus on anything but my gut trying to twist itself inside out.
Mr Brighton leaned against the wall, his eyes glued to the PowerPoint awash in our faces. We had been staring at the exact same slide for maybe five minutes now, and our physics teacher was yet to speak, his gaze somewhere else.
Mr Brighton was my Dad’s age, a greying man in his early fifties who always wore the exact same suit with the exact same stain on his collar.
The man was about as interesting as watching paint dry.
Normally, I would drift off myself, lulled into slumber by the low drone of his voice.
But the pain ripping me apart was keeping me awake.
“Mr Brighton.” Roman said, louder. His voice snapped me out of it. “Can I use the bathroom?” He paused, exaggerating a loud sigh. ”Please?”
The teacher straightened up, folding his arms.
“Mr Hemlock, you know the rules. Why didn't you go before class?”
“I didn't need to go an hour ago, did I?”
“You will no longer need to go to the bathroom, Mr Hemlock.”
Roman made a snorting noise.
“What?”
The low murmur of my classmates collapsed into white noise.
Glancing at the clock, I was anticipating the school bell.
The sickness swimming in the pit of my belly was reaching dangerous territory.
2:52pm.
Something ice cold trickled down my spine.
It was 2:52 the last time I checked, and five minutes had surely passed.
This time, I waited a whole minute and counted the seconds under my breath. The clock still didn't move. The ticker was frozen halfway between three and four.
Slowly, the same realisation began to hit the twelve of us. The clock on the wall had stopped. But it wasn't the only thing that had stopped. The cool breeze drifting through the window was gone.
The sound of birds outside, and the cheer squad practising their routine.
Everything had stopped. Trying to ignore a sickly slither of panic twisting its way through me, I checked my phone under my desk. There was a text from my Mom lighting up my notifications. When I tried to swipe it open, nothing happened. My lock screen was frozen, stuck at 2:52pm.
With my hands growing clammy around my phone, I stared at the time, willing it to move, to flick to 2:53.
But nothing happened, the numbers stubbornly staying at 2:52.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Roman’s voice brought me back to reality, though I was sure I'd dropped my phone. I heard it hit the floor with a sickening crack. Whatever he was saying, though, faded into dull murmur, when I turned toward the window.
Something was wrong outside.
The cheer squad were nowhere to be seen.
Being on the top floor gave us a front row seat to their practice sessions.
I stopped watching when their flyer did a death defying flip, almost breaking her neck. 2:52pm. I couldn't see the cheer squad. But I did see Jessie Carson mid-sprint across the track field, strawberry blonde curls suspended in a halo around her.
I could see exactly where she had frozen in place, her left foot hovering off of the ground, her right foot driving momentum. It wasn't just Jessie who had stopped. The dirt she was kicking into a cloud behind her was hovering, caught in mid-air.
Studying the faces around me, my mouth went dry.
Roman Hemlock, mid-argument with our physics teacher.
His eyes were wide, lips curved into what would have been a yell.
Fuck.
Was I the only one?
But then Roman blinked, and I realized the boy wasn't frozen. He was trying to think of a comeback. “What do you mean I won't need the bathroom anymore?”
“Mr Hemlock, please lower your voice.”
“Why? You can't dictate to me when I do and don't need the bathroom, dude!”
Moving onto the rest of my class, the others were still moving.
It was too quiet, though.
Yes, Roman was still tapping his foot.
Imogen was still chewing her gum.
Kaz was still scribbling notes like a psychopath.
But they were the only noise I could hear.
I wasn't the only one confused. The classroom had pricked with a sense of urgency. Kids were checking their phones, their gazes glued to the clock. Even Roman, who was still arguing, was starting to notice. I watched his gaze lazily roll to the clock on the wall.
I pretended not to see his cheeks visibly paling.
We had all come to the exact same terrifying conclusion.
2:52pm.
Time had come to a halt, and somehow, we had not.
“Is that clock broken?” Roman interrupted, leaning forward in his chair.
Kaz twisted around, settling the boy with an eye-roll.
“Check your phone, dumbass.”
“I broke my phone.”
Imogen threw her iPhone at him, narrowly missing hitting him in the face.
“Everything is frozen,” She said, her voice shuddering. “It's not just the clock.”
I waited for Roman’s response. For once, though, he was speechless.
“Well done, Imogen. That is correct.” Mr Brighton spoke up, tearing a piece of paper from a workbook and striding over to the door, glueing it over the glass window. When we started to protest, some of us were shouting, while others bursting into tears, he calmly took out his key and locked us in.
I should have been surprised that our teacher had spontaneously decided to take his entire class hostage, but the rumor mill had been churning.
According to Becca Jason, the guy’s wife divorced him and took his kids.
I could feel myself sinking into my chair, phantom bugs filling my mouth.
So, this guy had nothing to lose.
Taking his place in front of his desk, the man settled us with a patient smile.
“From now on, you will stay inside this room.” He said. “In case you haven't noticed, time is currently frozen at fifty two minutes past two. The thirteen of us are tucked into the twenty first second, and will be, for the foreseeable future.”
I could tell the others wanted to argue, but we couldn't deny that time had stopped. Kaz was staring down at his frozen phone, Imogen hyperventilating behind me, Roman glaring at the clock, chewing on a pencil. We wanted it to be a prank, a joke, some kind of glitch in the matrix that would fix itself.
But then a whole minute passed by. Followed by another. Kaz threw his phone on the floor, hissing in frustration. Imogen let out a wet sounding sob.
Roman’s pencil split in his mouth, slipping from his fingers. We couldn't pretend it wasn't happening or call our teacher out on his BS, because it was everywhere around us. The sudden absence of outdoor ambience, birdsong, planes flying overhead, and traffic outside the school gates. Everyone and everything had stopped, and we were the only ones left.
This was a nightmare, surely.
My physics class were some of the most boring and pretentious people in the school, and somehow the world had been reduced to the twelve of us inside our classroom. We were scared, of course we were. But reality had stopped making sense, crashing and burning in a single second. We had no choice but to listen to our teacher. “Now, before you freak out, it may not feel like it, but the twelve of you have also stopped.”
Mr Brighton held out his own hand, and placed it on his heart.
He was right.
I was so busy trying to understand what was happening, I had failed to realize my period cramps were gone.
“Do me a favor, and press your hand over your heart.”
“You mean like, in a culty way?” Imogen whispered.
“Obviously.” Roman grumbled, halfway out of his seat. He was hesitant, though, in case our teacher was armed. It only took one glance from our teacher, and he slumped back into his chair. “This crazy fucker clearly wants to play mind games with us.”
“No, I'm just asking you to feel for your heart.”
I felt for mine, and there was nothing, my stomach twisting.
Roman stabbed his fingers into his neck, feeling for a pulse.
He tried his wrist.
Then his heart.
Nothing.
“The twelve of you are currently in a state of stasis,” the teacher explained to us, “You are not alive, nor are you dead. Your bodily functions are also on pause, such as your heartbeat and your pulse. In this state there will be no need for food and water, or going to the bathroom.” His gaze found a ghastly looking Roman, who looked like he was going to faint. “Your minds, however, as you can see, are working as usual.”
“But why?” Imogen demanded in a shriek.
Mr Brighton’s lip curled. “I would rather not answer that question.”
“Because you're lonely.” Roman spoke up. He swung back on his chair, narrowed eyes glued to the teacher.
“Your wife and kids left you, so you're asserting power over a group of sixteen year olds. Which is kinda fucking pathetic.”
Mr Brighton’s expression darkened, and something slimy crept up my throat.
The worst thing any of us could do was threaten him. He had taken kidnapping to a whole new level, and we were alone with this psychopath, trapped inside a second. I waited for the man to stride forward and attack the kid. But he didn't. Instead, the teacher leaned back on his desk. “Yes.” The man nodded.
“I suppose you could say I am.”
“But why us?!” Kaz hissed.
“Because you are children.” Mr Brighton responded casually.
He straightened up, taking slow, intimidating steps towards Roman’s desk. The rest of us leaned back. I tried to pull my desk with me, but it was glued to the floor. Frozen. Mr Brighton’s shoes went click-clack across the hardwood floor.
“You are right,” the man said in a murmur, “I am lonely. My wife and kids did leave me, and I have nobody left to control. I have nobody else to contort and use to my advantage.” Reaching Roman’s desk, he leaned in close until he was nose to nose with the kid.
“Congratulations, Mr Hemlock. You have just earned yourself detention.”
Roman stayed stubbornly still, but he was visibly afraid. I could see him very slowly backing away. Roman was all bark and no bite. He was a loud mouth, sure, but he was also the least confrontational person in the class.
“What?” He spluttered. “You trap us in a time loop or time trap, or whatever, and you still want to act like a teacher?”
“Stand up.” The teacher ordered.
“What if I don't?”
Mr Brighton’s expression didn't waver. “You said it yourself. I can and have trapped you inside a single second. What else do you think I'm capable of?”
Roman stood, kicking his chair out of the way.
“What are you planning on doing to me, old man?”
The teacher maintained his smile. “Stand up straight, and close your mouth.”
To my confusion, Roman Hemlock did all the above.
He straightened up, and closed his mouth.
“Do not fight me.” The teacher said calmly, “Do as you are told, and follow me.”
The boy did exactly as instructed.
His jaw slackened, that rebellious light in his eyes fizzling out.
I think that's when we all collectively agreed that going against this teacher and trying to escape was mental suicide.
“I will use Mr Hemlock as an example to all of you,” Mr Brighton said, turning to the rest of us. “If you break the rules or are derogatory in any way, you will be given detention.”
He grabbed the boy’s shoulders, forcing him to walk towards the supply closet. Roman moved like a robot, slightly off balance, his gaze glued to thin air, like he was tracking invisible butterflies.
"Your time in detention will depend on the severity of your rule-break.” He opened the door, gently pushing Roman inside, and following suit. When the door closed behind them, there was a pause, and I remembered how to breathe.
Kaz Samuels slowly got up from his desk, inching towards the closet.
“This guy is a certified nut.” He announced.
He turned towards us. “Whatever he's doing to Hemlock, we’re probably next.”
“He stopped time.” I spoke up, my own voice barely a croak. “He’s capable of anything.”
“But how did he stop time?” Kaz whistled, tipping his head back. The boy was slow, his fingers grasping each desk as he slid down the aisle. “He said he was lonely, right? But why take it out on us? What did we do to him?”
“Check his desk for a weapon!” Imogen whisper-shrieked.
Kaz nodded, striding over to the man's desk, his hands moving frantically, shoving paper on the floor. He took an uncertain seat on the man's chair. “There's nothing here,” he murmured, lifting stained coffee mugs and ancient textbooks. “It's just…test papers.” Kaz ducked from view, trying the drawers.
“He's a fan of Pokémon,” he said, “There's a tonne of Pokémon cards,” Kaz straightened up, running a hand through his hair. “No sign of a weapon, though.”
He picked up a ruler, waving it around. “This could work. If we plunge it in his eye.”
“Try his laptop!” Imogen was halfway out of her seat.
Kaz did, slamming the keys. “It's locked.”
“Look harder!” Ren Clarke threw a pencil at him.
“I am!”
After a minute of searching, Kaz grabbed a single piece of paper.
He held it up, and I squinted.
It was a list of our names, with several of them highlighted.
“Fuck.” Kaz dropped the list, his expression crumpling. The stubborn bravado facade transforming him into our sort of leader dissipated, hollowing him out into exactly what he was. Just a scared kid. Kaz’s hands were shaking.
“Mr Brighton’s got a hit list.” He whispered. “He's going to kill us.”
“How do you know that?” I found myself asking.
Kaz slowly dropped into a crouch, picking up the paper and holding it up.
“Look.” He pointed to a capitalised name at the top of the list highlighted in red.
ROMAN HEMLOCK.
There were six names highlighted in red, including mine.
CRISTA ADAMS.
As if on cue, Roman’s cry rang out from the supply closet, suddenly, freezing us all in place. Kaz jumped up, adapting the expression of a deer caught in headlights, eyes wide, almost unseeing.
He fell over himself to tidy up the desk, putting everything back where he had found it, sliding the list between a pile of test papers. Kaz took slow, stumbled steps back, his feverish gaze glued to the closet, before turning and making a break for it and diving into his seat.
“Brighton’s got a hit liiiist,” Kaz said, in a mocking sing-song, “And we’re all on it.”
What followed was deathly silence. I think we were expecting Roman to cry out again. But when he didn't, the class started to stir. Some kids started praying to a god they didn't believe in, while others were in varying states of denial, trying to call their parents with dead phones.
I wasn't sure what parts of me had stopped, but I was still alive, still felt like my lungs were deprived of oxygen, my chest aching. I'm not sure how long I sat there, trying to find my voice, a shriek trying and failing to rip through my mouth. Being kidnapped and held hostage is one thing, but being imprisoned inside a single, never ending second, was an existential hell worse than death. Slowly, I pressed my palm over my heart once again. Then I breathed into my cupped hands.
I was expecting it, but no longer being able to feel my own heartbeat and breath, was fear I didn't think was possible. The kind that glued me to my seat, hollowing me out completely until I was nothing, an empty shell with no heartbeat, no breath, no thoughts, except denial, followed by acceptance.
And finally, regret.
I regretted not hugging my mother goodbye before I left for school.
I regretted acting like a spoiled brat when my parents refused to drive me halfway across the country so I could attend Coachella.
I regretted stepping inside Mr Brighton’s fourth period physics class.
Mr Brighton reappeared, slamming the door behind him and locking the boy inside. Part of me flinched, while the rest of me remembered not to move a muscle. I was barely aware of time passing. Or it wasn't. Time had stopped, so now long had I been sitting there?
I could no longer measure the passage of time with hunger or thirst, and my body felt the same. I wasn't stiff or tired or achy. Looking out of the window, the sky was the exact same crystal blue, every cloud in the exact same place.
Jessie Carson was still frozen mid-run, strands of dark red hair caught around her.
“What's wrong with you guys?” Mr Brighton chuckled, and I twisted back to the front, a shiver writhing down my spine. “Why don't you give me a smile?”
The teacher returned to his desk, and I was already subconsciously sitting up straight in my seat, forcing my lips into a jaw-breaking grin, following Brighton’s instructions. In the corner of my eye, Imogen was sitting very still, forcing an award-winning cheesy smile, while Kaz grinned through gritted teeth.
“Mr Hemlock just earned himself two weeks inside the supply closet.” he said casually, perching himself on the edge of his desk. The man studied each of us, taking his time to rip every shred of us apart.
Mind, body, and soul.
I struggled to maintain my stupid smile, shoving my shaking hands in my lap.
“Would anyone like to join him, or are you going to follow the rules?”
The rest of us stayed silent. I don't think any of us breathed.
Our teacher nodded to Kaz, inclining his head.
“Samuels. Are you all right?”
Kaz’s smile faltered slightly. He shifted in his chair. I could see sweat trickling down his right temple. “Uh, yeah.” He swiped at his forehead, like he couldn't believe he was sweating. “Yeah, I'm good.”
The teacher’s eyes narrowed. He moved toward his desk, and we all held our breaths. Mr Brighton seemed to study his hit-list, lips curving into a frown.
His gaze flicked to the boy, and then the paper.
He knew, I thought dizzily.
Mr Brighton knew the kid had been rummaging through his desk. But this was all about control. The teacher was using fear to control us, to manipulate our thoughts without having to get physical. He could have called out the boy right then, but Brighton was settling with mental torture instead. He just wanted to make my classmate squirm.
Without a word, the man folded up the piece of paper and slipped it into his pocket. “Mr Samuels, you are sweating,” our physics teacher said, mocking a frown. “Are you feeling okay?”
Kaz hesitated, tapping his shoe in a rhythm.
Being one of the smartest kids in the room definitely gave him an advantage.
I could already see the cogs turning behind half lidded eyes. Kaz was weighing each scenario, sorting them into positives and negatives.
The positives of answering would mean he was one step towards being in the clear, but there were two negatives.
Brighton would question him if he had left his seat, and then demand how his hit-list had magically moved across the desk.
Talking back was surely a rule-break, as well as outright lying.
Opening his mouth would get him in trouble, either way, and Kaz knew that.
So, he just nodded, forcing an even bigger smile.
Brighton’s lips pricked, his gaze straying on Kaz. “Good!” He cleared his throat, turning to the class. Kaz slumped in his seat with a sharp breath, resting his head in his arms. If Mr Brighton noticed, he didn't say anything. “Ignore the sweating. It should stop, along with hunger and thirst.”
Our teacher seemed to be able to manipulate everything in his vicinity.
Time.
Minds.
And slowly… contorting us into his own.
In the single second we were trapped inside, I felt days go by in a dizzying whirlwind that was like being permanently high. When I stood up, I felt like I was floating.
When I sat down, hours could go by, even days, and I wouldn't even feel them. I did try and count the days, initially, scribbling them on a scrap piece of paper, but somewhere around the thirteenth or fourteenth day, I lost count. The world around us never changed, in permanent stasis, and maybe that was sending us a little crazy.
After a while of being stuck at our desks, Mr Brighton allowed us to wander the classroom, as long as we stayed away from the door. I lay on the floor for days, counting ceiling tiles.
Sometimes, Imogen would join me.
I couldn't sleep, but I could pretend to sleep, imagining a world that was back to normal. I didn't feel hungry, but my brain did like to remind me of food at the weirdest times. I was aware of weeks passing us by, and then months.
I never grew hungry or tired, and my bodily functions were none existent.
I couldn't remember what pain felt like, or the urge to go to the bathroom. Even the concept of eating and drinking became foreign to me. Putting something in your mouth and chewing to sustain yourself?
That sounded odd.
The only thing that was changing was our slowly unravelling metal state.
I don't know how it started. Weekends and Tuesdays blended together. On one particular SaturTuesday, I was hanging upside down from my desk, watching Kaz and Imogen doodle on the whiteboard.
Kaz had a plan to escape, but after a while, his ‘plan’ to distract the teacher, had gone nowhere. After passing notes between us, the twelve of us had decided that we needed a weapon.
That was maybe a month ago. I wasn't sure what mind games our teacher was playing, but Kaz Samuels, who we were counting on to be our brains, was slowly falling under his spell. Their game had been going on for three days. The two of them were having a competition to see who could draw the craziest thing.
Mr Brighton was at his desk as usual, marking papers.
Imogen was drawing a weird looking ‘skateboard’ when the doors to the storage closet flew open.
Roman Hemlock appeared, and to my surprise, wasn't a hollow eyed shell.
He held up his hand in a wave, his lips forming a small smile.
“Yo.”
Roman’s reappearance was enough to snap us out of it. Kaz and Imogen stopped arguing, the rest of the class going silent. I sat up, blinking rapidly.
I was sure our collective consensus was that Roman Hemlock was dead.
Mr Brighton lifted his head and gave the boy a civil nod. “Mr Hemlock will be rejoining us,” he said, his gaze going back to marking papers. “Please make him feel comfortable. I'm sure he's very excited to be able to talk to you again.”
Instead of going to his desk, the boy immediately joined the others, snatching the marker off of a baffled looking Kaz, and drawing an overly artistic sketch of a penis. I wasn't sure what confused me more. The fact that Roman Hemlock had some serious artistic skills, or that he seemed suspiciously fine for someone who had been locked in the storage closet for two weeks with no social interaction.
With my last few lingering brain cells still clinging on, I studied the boy.
There were no signs of bruises or scratches.
His eyes seemed normal, not diluted or half lidded.
Unable to stop myself, I jumped off of my desk and joined the others, where Kaz was already interrogating the guy.
“WHAT–”
Imogen nudged him, and he lowered his voice, leaning against the wall. “What did he do to you?”
Roman shrugged, rolling his eyes. “Relax, dude. He didn't do anything to me.”
“Then what was that yell?” Imogen hissed.
The boy cocked his head. “Yell?”
“You yelled out,” Kaz folded his arms, narrowing his eyes. He was already suspecting one of us had been compromised– or worse, brainwashed into compliance. Kaz stepped closer, backing Roman into the desk. “You cried out when you first went in there,” he murmured, “So, what was that?”
Something in Roman’s eyes darkened. “Oh,” He said, his lip curling. “That.”
Kaz’s expression softened. He rested his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “Yeah,” He whispered. “What did he do to you?”
Imogen shoved Kaz out of the way, shooting the boy a glare.
“You don't have to tell us, you know.” She said in a small voice. “If it's too traumatising, or he did something you don't want to talk about–”
Roman cut her off with a laugh, and suddenly, all eyes were on him.
The remaining nine of us were eagerly awaiting an explanation.
“Are you fucking serious?”
When Kaz didn't respond, Roman gathered us in a kind of hustle, the four of us grouped together. I felt like I was on the football field. Still, though, if the guy’s goal was to look as suspicious as possible, he was doing a great job.
Roman studied each of us, one eyebrow cocked. When Mr Brighton glanced up from his work, Roman shot him a grin, lowering his voice to a hiss.
“You seriously think our fifty year old physics teacher has been abusing me in the storage closet?
“Then why did you cry out?” Kaz demanded. “Did he hit you?”
Roman stuck out his bottom lip. “I'm pretty sure he didn't hit me.”
“So, you cried out for no reason.”
“Why are you covering for him?” Imogen poked his forehead. “Are you lobotomised?”
Roman wafted her hand away. “Stop prodding me, and no, I'm 100% good.” He backed away from us, like we were observers, and he was the zoo attraction.
“I won't be, if you keep treating me like I'm senile.”
“Okay, fine,” Kaz sighed. “Just answer one.”
“Shoot.”
“When you first went in there, you made an unmistakable sound of distress–”
“Not this again,” Roman groaned. “Of course I yelled! I was shoved into a pitch black storage closet on my own! What, did you expect me to stay silent?”
Kaz didn't look convinced, Imogen nervously sucking her teeth.
The boy leaned back, resting his head against the wall. His eyes flickered shut.
“Stop looking at me like that, there's nothing to tell you,” he murmured, “Brighton didn't do shit to me. I was just freaked out.” Prying one eye open, he fixed us with a glare. “I am so sorry for reacting like a human. Next time, I'll make sure to attack him and pin him to the ground.”
It's not like we believed him. I don't think Roman believed himself.
Something significant had changed in him. He was no longer argumentative, like half of his personality had been torn away. Roman set a precedent. Because once he was following instructions and walking around with a dazed smile, others began to follow. I can't remember how much time had passed since I thought about escaping.
Days and weeks and months had collapsed into fleeting seconds I only noticed when I wasn't playing games.
I wasn't aware of my own lack of sanity until I found myself, on a random SaturWednesday. I was laughing, gathered with the others on the floor, around a Monopoly board. The game had been going on for almost a week.
Reality hit me when I was laughing so hard I tipped back.
I can't remember why I was laughing. I think Imogen told a bad joke.
“Hand it over.” Roman, who was the King of Monopoly, held out his hand, demanding my last 250 bucks. I remember noticing his smile, my foggy brain trying to find hints that he was in some kind of trance, or being controlled by Brighton. But no. His smile was real.
Genuine.
To my shock and confusion, so was mine.
I wasn't in a trance or any type of mind manipulation. I was completely conscious.
Was this… Stockholm syndrome? I thought dizzily.
Was I enjoying this?
My thoughts were like cotton candy, disconnected and wrong, and they barely felt like my own. My gaze found Imogen and Kaz, the two of them sitting shoulder to shoulder, enveloped in the game.
They looked exactly the same, their hair, clothes, everything about them staying stagnant. It was them themselves who had drastically changed. I had never seen them look so carefree. Imogen was a hotheaded cheerleader, and Kaz was the smart kid who gave himself nosebleeds from overworking himself. But now, they were laughing, nudging each other, caught up in an inside joke. Blinking slowly, my gaze strayed on them.
Sure, it could be manipulation. It could be brainwashing. But it could also be real.
Kaz caught my eye, raising a brow.
“You good, Christa?”
Again, my smile felt real. Like I was having fun.
“Good. It's your turn.”
I picked up the dice, throwing them across the board.
Two sixes.
“I can already see her landing on one of my hotels.” Roman murmured. He sat up, resting his chin on his knees. “As the clear winner, I have a proposition.”
Ignoring him, I moved my piece– immediately landing on Park Place.
“I'll give you 500,” Roman announced, “If you give up New York avenue.”
“That's all I've got!”
Imogen nudged me. “Don't do it. If you give him New York Avenue, he only needs one more.”
“One thousand.” Roman waved the notes in my face.
“My final offer.”
When I reached for the cash, he held it back.
“New York Avenue, he said, with a grin.
“And your pride.”
Reluctantly, I handed my only property over.
Kaz threw the dice and moved his piece, and I half remembered we had an escape plan. “Community chest.” Kaz picked up a card. “Go straight to jail.”*
Roman spluttered. “That's karma,” he said, “For stealing from the bank.”
“You were stealing too!”
We had a plan.
We had…. a plan.
After discussing it in detail, Imogen and I were going to try and get onto Brighton’s laptop. It wasn't a perfect way to escape, but it was coherent.
So, what happened?
We were going to get out, so what… what was this?
Kaz’s earlier words hit me from months ago.
“Mr Brighton *is the thing keeping us here,”* he explained. “If we kill him, I'm like, 98% sure we’ll go back to normal.”
“Okay, and what if he dies and we’re *stuck?”* Imogen whisper-shrieked.
“I said 98% for a reason. Yes, there's a small chance his power will die with him. But there's a bigger chance that its effects will die when he does.”
Ren nodded slowly. “Right, and where exactly did you learn this information?”
“You'll feel a lot better if I don't answer that.”
“Okay.” Ren gritted his teeth. “So, we just need to find a weapon, right?”
“And don't tell Hemlock,” Kaz rolled his eyes. “I don't care what he says, that boy definitely had his mind fucked with. Hemlock is a liability. If we tell Roman, he tells Brighton, and we’re screwed.” Kaz nodded to me, then the others. “Keep your mouths shut.”
Presently, I wasn't sure the boy wanted to escape.
Slowly, I rolled my eyes over to Mr Brighton, who had joined us to play.
He was happily marking papers, taking part when he could.
It felt…right.
Not like we had been forced or manipulated, but more like he belonged. Part of me wanted to question why I felt like this, but I found that I didn't care. I didn't care that we were essentially dead, in a never ending stasis and stuck inside fifty two minutes past two. I stopped thinking about the outside world a long time ago.
I couldn't even remember my Mom’s face.
I made my decision, dazedly watching Imogen throw a chance card at Roman.
He flung one back, threatening to tip the board.
I wanted to stay.
In the corner of my eye, however, someone was still awake.
Ren, who had been sitting next to me, kept moving, further and further away. I didn't notice until he was inching towards our teacher, a box cutter clenched between his fist. There must have been a point when we found a box cutter, when we made it our weapon of choice.
But somewhere along the way, I think we just… lost the longing to want to escape.
I didn't see the exact moment the boy stabbed the blade into the man's neck, plunging it through his flesh, but I did feel a sudden jolt, like time itself was starting to falter and tremble.
Mr Brighton dropped to the ground, and I found my gaze flashing to the frozen clock.
Which was moving, suddenly.
Slowly creeping towards 2:53pm.
Something sticky ran underneath me, warm and wet.
Blood.
Blood that was running.
Roman’s half lidded eyes found mine, and he blinked, dropping the dice.
Like he'd been asleep for a long time.
2:53pm.
We were free.
The cool spring breeze grazing my cheeks was back. I could feel my own heartbeat, sticky sweat on my forehead.
And outside, Jessie Carson let out a gut-churning scream.
For a disorienting moment, I don't think any of us believed we were free.
Roman twisted around, his gaze on the doorway.
The piece of paper the teacher had stuck to the glass slipped away.
But Roman’s gaze was glued to the door, his cheeks paling.
His lips parted into a silent cry.
Following his eyes, I glimpsed a shadow.
A shadow that was frozen at 2:52pm.
2:53pm.
“Fuck.” Roman whispered, stumbling to his feet.
He turned to the rest of us, his eyes wild.
“Get DOWN!”
I dropped onto my knees, crawling under a desk, the classroom exploding around me.
2:54.
Blood splattered the walls, and I was crawling in it, stained in my friends.
2:55.
I grabbed Mr Brighton's hand, squeezing for dear life.
Roman joined me, his trembling fingers feeling for a pulse.
A gunshot rang in my ears, rattling my skull.
When Roman went limp next to me, I wrapped my arms around my teacher.
“Mr Brighton, say Stop.”
He was so cold…
“Mr Brighton! Take us back!”
Footsteps coming towards me.
2:56.
submitted by Trash_Tia to TheCrypticCompendium [link] [comments]
I really needed the bathroom.
For fifty painstaking minutes, I had been staring at the clock on the wall, willing it to go faster, uncomfortably shifting side to side in my seat so much that I was starting to get weird looks.
2:52pm.
Eight minutes, I thought dizzily, squeezing my legs together.
Which was just two chunks of four minutes.
Four chunks of two minutes.
The pain started like normal stomach pain, the kind I could deal with.
I swallowed two Tylenol with lukewarm soda.
But this was different.
This kind of pain was contorting and twisting my gut so much, I had to keep leaning onto my left buttock for relief.
I must have done it so many times, I caught the attention of the guy sitting next to me. Roman Hemlock who was half asleep, dark blonde curls hanging in half lidded eyes, his chin leaning on his fist. He shot me a look. I couldn't tell if it was Are you okay? or Can you stop moving around so much?
From the single crease in his brow, the slight curl in his lip, I guessed the latter.
It's not like Roman was helping.
For half the class, he'd been tapping his foot on the floor, then his chair leg, and to complete the orchestra, his fingers joined in, tap, tap, tapping on the edge of his desk. I didn't know if it was a bored thing, an ADHD thing, or he was trying to keep himself awake. It was easy to tolerate without the pain, but with it, the boy’s incessant tapping was more akin to a dentist drill splitting my skull open. I already felt nauseous, the sad looking chicken nuggets I forced down at lunch making an unwelcome appearance at the back of my throat.
It was too fucking hot, the stuffy summer air glueing my hair to the back of my neck. The material of my shirt was making me cringe, sticky against my skin.
Tipping my head back, the lights were too bright. Every sound was too loud. Imogen Prairie, who was sitting behind me chewing her gum a little too loudly.
Kaz Samuels scribbling notes like a maniac.
I could hear every stroke of his pencil, every time he paused, looked up at the presentation, and continued writing.
When I leaned forward in my chair, I could smell exactly what Isabella Trinity had eaten for lunch, the stink hanging in the air.
It became a case of sucking in my stomach and taking slow, deep breaths.
I’d never had these kinds of stomach cramps before. But it didn't take me long to figure out what they were.
I was yet to start my period at the grand age of sixteen, which meant this was it.
After countless sessions with the doctor, and feeling like a social outcast among my group of friends who started their periods in middle school, it had finally happened. The cramps in my gut that felt like my torso was being ripped apart, was in fact me entering womanhood. When my breath started to quicken, my mouth watering, I raised my hand, biting my lip against a cry.
Fuck.
Something lurched in my gut, a wave of nausea crashing into me.
I was going to throw up.
“Mr Brighton.”
Roman spoke up before me, waving his arm. “Can I use the bathroom?”
The teacher’s answer was always the same. Which was why I had been crossing my legs for the entirety of the class, unable to focus on anything but my gut trying to twist itself inside out.
Mr Brighton leaned against the wall, his eyes glued to the PowerPoint awash in our faces. We had been staring at the exact same slide for maybe five minutes now, and our physics teacher was yet to speak, his gaze somewhere else.
Mr Brighton was my Dad’s age, a greying man in his early fifties who always wore the exact same suit with the exact same stain on his collar.
The man was about as interesting as watching paint dry.
Normally, I would drift off myself, lulled into slumber by the low drone of his voice.
But the pain ripping me apart was keeping me awake.
“Mr Brighton.” Roman said, louder. His voice snapped me out of it. “Can I use the bathroom?” He paused, exaggerating a loud sigh. ”Please?”
The teacher straightened up, folding his arms.
“Mr Hemlock, you know the rules. Why didn't you go before class?”
“I didn't need to go an hour ago, did I?”
“You will no longer need to go to the bathroom, Mr Hemlock.”
Roman made a snorting noise.
“What?”
The low murmur of my classmates collapsed into white noise.
Glancing at the clock, I was anticipating the school bell.
The sickness swimming in the pit of my belly was reaching dangerous territory.
2:52pm.
Something ice cold trickled down my spine.
It was 2:52 the last time I checked, and five minutes had surely passed.
This time, I waited a whole minute and counted the seconds under my breath. The clock still didn't move. The ticker was frozen halfway between three and four.
Slowly, the same realisation began to hit the twelve of us. The clock on the wall had stopped. But it wasn't the only thing that had stopped. The cool breeze drifting through the window was gone.
The sound of birds outside, and the cheer squad practising their routine.
Everything had stopped. Trying to ignore a sickly slither of panic twisting its way through me, I checked my phone under my desk. There was a text from my Mom lighting up my notifications. When I tried to swipe it open, nothing happened. My lock screen was frozen, stuck at 2:52pm.
With my hands growing clammy around my phone, I stared at the time, willing it to move, to flick to 2:53.
But nothing happened, the numbers stubbornly staying at 2:52.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Roman’s voice brought me back to reality, though I was sure I'd dropped my phone. I heard it hit the floor with a sickening crack. Whatever he was saying, though, faded into dull murmur, when I turned toward the window.
Something was wrong outside.
The cheer squad were nowhere to be seen.
Being on the top floor gave us a front row seat to their practice sessions.
I stopped watching when their flyer did a death defying flip, almost breaking her neck. 2:52pm. I couldn't see the cheer squad. But I did see Jessie Carson mid-sprint across the track field, strawberry blonde curls suspended in a halo around her.
I could see exactly where she had frozen in place, her left foot hovering off of the ground, her right foot driving momentum. It wasn't just Jessie who had stopped. The dirt she was kicking into a cloud behind her was hovering, caught in mid-air.
Studying the faces around me, my mouth went dry.
Roman Hemlock, mid-argument with our physics teacher.
His eyes were wide, lips curved into what would have been a yell.
Fuck.
Was I the only one?
But then Roman blinked, and I realized the boy wasn't frozen. He was trying to think of a comeback. “What do you mean I won't need the bathroom anymore?”
“Mr Hemlock, please lower your voice.”
“Why? You can't dictate to me when I do and don't need the bathroom, dude!”
Moving onto the rest of my class, the others were still moving.
It was too quiet, though.
Yes, Roman was still tapping his foot.
Imogen was still chewing her gum.
Kaz was still scribbling notes like a psychopath.
But they were the only noise I could hear.
I wasn't the only one confused. The classroom had pricked with a sense of urgency. Kids were checking their phones, their gazes glued to the clock. Even Roman, who was still arguing, was starting to notice. I watched his gaze lazily roll to the clock on the wall.
I pretended not to see his cheeks visibly paling.
We had all come to the exact same terrifying conclusion.
2:52pm.
Time had come to a halt, and somehow, we had not.
“Is that clock broken?” Roman interrupted, leaning forward in his chair.
Kaz twisted around, settling the boy with an eye-roll.
“Check your phone, dumbass.”
“I broke my phone.”
Imogen threw her iPhone at him, narrowly missing hitting him in the face.
“Everything is frozen,” She said, her voice shuddering. “It's not just the clock.”
I waited for Roman’s response. For once, though, he was speechless.
“Well done, Imogen. That is correct.” Mr Brighton spoke up, tearing a piece of paper from a workbook and striding over to the door, glueing it over the glass window. When we started to protest, some of us were shouting, while others bursting into tears, he calmly took out his key and locked us in.
I should have been surprised that our teacher had spontaneously decided to take his entire class hostage, but the rumor mill had been churning.
According to Becca Jason, the guy’s wife divorced him and took his kids.
I could feel myself sinking into my chair, phantom bugs filling my mouth.
So, this guy had nothing to lose.
Taking his place in front of his desk, the man settled us with a patient smile.
“From now on, you will stay inside this room.” He said. “In case you haven't noticed, time is currently frozen at fifty two minutes past two. The thirteen of us are tucked into the twenty first second, and will be, for the foreseeable future.”
I could tell the others wanted to argue, but we couldn't deny that time had stopped. Kaz was staring down at his frozen phone, Imogen hyperventilating behind me, Roman glaring at the clock, chewing on a pencil. We wanted it to be a prank, a joke, some kind of glitch in the matrix that would fix itself.
But then a whole minute passed by. Followed by another. Kaz threw his phone on the floor, hissing in frustration. Imogen let out a wet sounding sob.
Roman’s pencil split in his mouth, slipping from his fingers. We couldn't pretend it wasn't happening or call our teacher out on his BS, because it was everywhere around us. The sudden absence of outdoor ambience, birdsong, planes flying overhead, and traffic outside the school gates. Everyone and everything had stopped, and we were the only ones left.
This was a nightmare, surely.
My physics class were some of the most boring and pretentious people in the school, and somehow the world had been reduced to the twelve of us inside our classroom. We were scared, of course we were. But reality had stopped making sense, crashing and burning in a single second. We had no choice but to listen to our teacher. “Now, before you freak out, it may not feel like it, but the twelve of you have also stopped.”
Mr Brighton held out his own hand, and placed it on his heart.
He was right.
I was so busy trying to understand what was happening, I had failed to realize my period cramps were gone.
“Do me a favor, and press your hand over your heart.”
“You mean like, in a culty way?” Imogen whispered.
“Obviously.” Roman grumbled, halfway out of his seat. He was hesitant, though, in case our teacher was armed. It only took one glance from our teacher, and he slumped back into his chair. “This crazy fucker clearly wants to play mind games with us.”
“No, I'm just asking you to feel for your heart.”
I felt for mine, and there was nothing, my stomach twisting.
Roman stabbed his fingers into his neck, feeling for a pulse.
He tried his wrist.
Then his heart.
Nothing.
“The twelve of you are currently in a state of stasis,” the teacher explained to us, “You are not alive, nor are you dead. Your bodily functions are also on pause, such as your heartbeat and your pulse. In this state there will be no need for food and water, or going to the bathroom.” His gaze found a ghastly looking Roman, who looked like he was going to faint. “Your minds, however, as you can see, are working as usual.”
“But why?” Imogen demanded in a shriek.
Mr Brighton’s lip curled. “I would rather not answer that question.”
“Because you're lonely.” Roman spoke up. He swung back on his chair, narrowed eyes glued to the teacher.
“Your wife and kids left you, so you're asserting power over a group of sixteen year olds. Which is kinda fucking pathetic.”
Mr Brighton’s expression darkened, and something slimy crept up my throat.
The worst thing any of us could do was threaten him. He had taken kidnapping to a whole new level, and we were alone with this psychopath, trapped inside a second. I waited for the man to stride forward and attack the kid. But he didn't. Instead, the teacher leaned back on his desk. “Yes.” The man nodded.
“I suppose you could say I am.”
“But why us?!” Kaz hissed.
“Because you are children.” Mr Brighton responded casually.
He straightened up, taking slow, intimidating steps towards Roman’s desk. The rest of us leaned back. I tried to pull my desk with me, but it was glued to the floor. Frozen. Mr Brighton’s shoes went click-clack across the hardwood floor.
“You are right,” the man said in a murmur, “I am lonely. My wife and kids did leave me, and I have nobody left to control. I have nobody else to contort and use to my advantage.” Reaching Roman’s desk, he leaned in close until he was nose to nose with the kid.
“Congratulations, Mr Hemlock. You have just earned yourself detention.”
Roman stayed stubbornly still, but he was visibly afraid. I could see him very slowly backing away. Roman was all bark and no bite. He was a loud mouth, sure, but he was also the least confrontational person in the class.
“What?” He spluttered. “You trap us in a time loop or time trap, or whatever, and you still want to act like a teacher?”
“Stand up.” The teacher ordered.
“What if I don't?”
Mr Brighton’s expression didn't waver. “You said it yourself. I can and have trapped you inside a single second. What else do you think I'm capable of?”
Roman stood, kicking his chair out of the way.
“What are you planning on doing to me, old man?”
The teacher maintained his smile. “Stand up straight, and close your mouth.”
To my confusion, Roman Hemlock did all the above.
He straightened up, and closed his mouth.
“Do not fight me.” The teacher said calmly, “Do as you are told, and follow me.”
The boy did exactly as instructed.
His jaw slackened, that rebellious light in his eyes fizzling out.
I think that's when we all collectively agreed that going against this teacher and trying to escape was mental suicide.
“I will use Mr Hemlock as an example to all of you,” Mr Brighton said, turning to the rest of us. “If you break the rules or are derogatory in any way, you will be given detention.”
He grabbed the boy’s shoulders, forcing him to walk towards the supply closet. Roman moved like a robot, slightly off balance, his gaze glued to thin air, like he was tracking invisible butterflies.
"Your time in detention will depend on the severity of your rule-break.” He opened the door, gently pushing Roman inside, and following suit. When the door closed behind them, there was a pause, and I remembered how to breathe.
Kaz Samuels slowly got up from his desk, inching towards the closet.
“This guy is a certified nut.” He announced.
He turned towards us. “Whatever he's doing to Hemlock, we’re probably next.”
“He stopped time.” I spoke up, my own voice barely a croak. “He’s capable of anything.”
“But how did he stop time?” Kaz whistled, tipping his head back. The boy was slow, his fingers grasping each desk as he slid down the aisle. “He said he was lonely, right? But why take it out on us? What did we do to him?”
“Check his desk for a weapon!” Imogen whisper-shrieked.
Kaz nodded, striding over to the man's desk, his hands moving frantically, shoving paper on the floor. He took an uncertain seat on the man's chair. “There's nothing here,” he murmured, lifting stained coffee mugs and ancient textbooks. “It's just…test papers.” Kaz ducked from view, trying the drawers.
“He's a fan of Pokémon,” he said, “There's a tonne of Pokémon cards,” Kaz straightened up, running a hand through his hair. “No sign of a weapon, though.”
He picked up a ruler, waving it around. “This could work. If we plunge it in his eye.”
“Try his laptop!” Imogen was halfway out of her seat.
Kaz did, slamming the keys. “It's locked.”
“Look harder!” Ren Clarke threw a pencil at him.
“I am!”
After a minute of searching, Kaz grabbed a single piece of paper.
He held it up, and I squinted.
It was a list of our names, with several of them highlighted.
“Fuck.” Kaz dropped the list, his expression crumpling. The stubborn bravado facade transforming him into our sort of leader dissipated, hollowing him out into exactly what he was. Just a scared kid. Kaz’s hands were shaking.
“Mr Brighton’s got a hit list.” He whispered. “He's going to kill us.”
“How do you know that?” I found myself asking.
Kaz slowly dropped into a crouch, picking up the paper and holding it up.
“Look.” He pointed to a capitalised name at the top of the list highlighted in red.
ROMAN HEMLOCK.
There were six names highlighted in red, including mine.
CRISTA ADAMS.
As if on cue, Roman’s cry rang out from the supply closet, suddenly, freezing us all in place. Kaz jumped up, adapting the expression of a deer caught in headlights, eyes wide, almost unseeing.
He fell over himself to tidy up the desk, putting everything back where he had found it, sliding the list between a pile of test papers. Kaz took slow, stumbled steps back, his feverish gaze glued to the closet, before turning and making a break for it and diving into his seat.
“Brighton’s got a hit liiiist,” Kaz said, in a mocking sing-song, “And we’re all on it.”
What followed was deathly silence. I think we were expecting Roman to cry out again. But when he didn't, the class started to stir. Some kids started praying to a god they didn't believe in, while others were in varying states of denial, trying to call their parents with dead phones.
I wasn't sure what parts of me had stopped, but I was still alive, still felt like my lungs were deprived of oxygen, my chest aching. I'm not sure how long I sat there, trying to find my voice, a shriek trying and failing to rip through my mouth. Being kidnapped and held hostage is one thing, but being imprisoned inside a single, never ending second, was an existential hell worse than death. Slowly, I pressed my palm over my heart once again. Then I breathed into my cupped hands.
I was expecting it, but no longer being able to feel my own heartbeat and breath, was fear I didn't think was possible. The kind that glued me to my seat, hollowing me out completely until I was nothing, an empty shell with no heartbeat, no breath, no thoughts, except denial, followed by acceptance.
And finally, regret.
I regretted not hugging my mother goodbye before I left for school.
I regretted acting like a spoiled brat when my parents refused to drive me halfway across the country so I could attend Coachella.
I regretted stepping inside Mr Brighton’s fourth period physics class.
Mr Brighton reappeared, slamming the door behind him and locking the boy inside. Part of me flinched, while the rest of me remembered not to move a muscle. I was barely aware of time passing. Or it wasn't. Time had stopped, so now long had I been sitting there?
I could no longer measure the passage of time with hunger or thirst, and my body felt the same. I wasn't stiff or tired or achy. Looking out of the window, the sky was the exact same crystal blue, every cloud in the exact same place.
Jessie Carson was still frozen mid-run, strands of dark red hair caught around her.
“What's wrong with you guys?” Mr Brighton chuckled, and I twisted back to the front, a shiver writhing down my spine. “Why don't you give me a smile?”
The teacher returned to his desk, and I was already subconsciously sitting up straight in my seat, forcing my lips into a jaw-breaking grin, following Brighton’s instructions. In the corner of my eye, Imogen was sitting very still, forcing an award-winning cheesy smile, while Kaz grinned through gritted teeth.
“Mr Hemlock just earned himself two weeks inside the supply closet.” he said casually, perching himself on the edge of his desk. The man studied each of us, taking his time to rip every shred of us apart.
Mind, body, and soul.
I struggled to maintain my stupid smile, shoving my shaking hands in my lap.
“Would anyone like to join him, or are you going to follow the rules?”
The rest of us stayed silent. I don't think any of us breathed.
Our teacher nodded to Kaz, inclining his head.
“Samuels. Are you all right?”
Kaz’s smile faltered slightly. He shifted in his chair. I could see sweat trickling down his right temple. “Uh, yeah.” He swiped at his forehead, like he couldn't believe he was sweating. “Yeah, I'm good.”
The teacher’s eyes narrowed. He moved toward his desk, and we all held our breaths. Mr Brighton seemed to study his hit-list, lips curving into a frown.
His gaze flicked to the boy, and then the paper.
He knew, I thought dizzily.
Mr Brighton knew the kid had been rummaging through his desk. But this was all about control. The teacher was using fear to control us, to manipulate our thoughts without having to get physical. He could have called out the boy right then, but Brighton was settling with mental torture instead. He just wanted to make my classmate squirm.
Without a word, the man folded up the piece of paper and slipped it into his pocket. “Mr Samuels, you are sweating,” our physics teacher said, mocking a frown. “Are you feeling okay?”
Kaz hesitated, tapping his shoe in a rhythm.
Being one of the smartest kids in the room definitely gave him an advantage.
I could already see the cogs turning behind half lidded eyes. Kaz was weighing each scenario, sorting them into positives and negatives.
The positives of answering would mean he was one step towards being in the clear, but there were two negatives.
Brighton would question him if he had left his seat, and then demand how his hit-list had magically moved across the desk.
Talking back was surely a rule-break, as well as outright lying.
Opening his mouth would get him in trouble, either way, and Kaz knew that.
So, he just nodded, forcing an even bigger smile.
Brighton’s lips pricked, his gaze straying on Kaz. “Good!” He cleared his throat, turning to the class. Kaz slumped in his seat with a sharp breath, resting his head in his arms. If Mr Brighton noticed, he didn't say anything. “Ignore the sweating. It should stop, along with hunger and thirst.”
Our teacher seemed to be able to manipulate everything in his vicinity.
Time.
Minds.
And slowly… contorting us into his own.
In the single second we were trapped inside, I felt days go by in a dizzying whirlwind that was like being permanently high. When I stood up, I felt like I was floating.
When I sat down, hours could go by, even days, and I wouldn't even feel them. I did try and count the days, initially, scribbling them on a scrap piece of paper, but somewhere around the thirteenth or fourteenth day, I lost count. The world around us never changed, in permanent stasis, and maybe that was sending us a little crazy.
After a while of being stuck at our desks, Mr Brighton allowed us to wander the classroom, as long as we stayed away from the door. I lay on the floor for days, counting ceiling tiles.
Sometimes, Imogen would join me.
I couldn't sleep, but I could pretend to sleep, imagining a world that was back to normal. I didn't feel hungry, but my brain did like to remind me of food at the weirdest times. I was aware of weeks passing us by, and then months.
I never grew hungry or tired, and my bodily functions were none existent.
I couldn't remember what pain felt like, or the urge to go to the bathroom. Even the concept of eating and drinking became foreign to me. Putting something in your mouth and chewing to sustain yourself?
That sounded odd.
The only thing that was changing was our slowly unravelling metal state.
I don't know how it started. Weekends and Tuesdays blended together. On one particular SaturTuesday, I was hanging upside down from my desk, watching Kaz and Imogen doodle on the whiteboard.
Kaz had a plan to escape, but after a while, his ‘plan’ to distract the teacher, had gone nowhere. After passing notes between us, the twelve of us had decided that we needed a weapon.
That was maybe a month ago. I wasn't sure what mind games our teacher was playing, but Kaz Samuels, who we were counting on to be our brains, was slowly falling under his spell. Their game had been going on for three days. The two of them were having a competition to see who could draw the craziest thing.
Mr Brighton was at his desk as usual, marking papers.
Imogen was drawing a weird looking ‘skateboard’ when the doors to the storage closet flew open.
Roman Hemlock appeared, and to my surprise, wasn't a hollow eyed shell.
He held up his hand in a wave, his lips forming a small smile.
“Yo.”
Roman’s reappearance was enough to snap us out of it. Kaz and Imogen stopped arguing, the rest of the class going silent. I sat up, blinking rapidly.
I was sure our collective consensus was that Roman Hemlock was dead.
Mr Brighton lifted his head and gave the boy a civil nod. “Mr Hemlock will be rejoining us,” he said, his gaze going back to marking papers. “Please make him feel comfortable. I'm sure he's very excited to be able to talk to you again.”
Instead of going to his desk, the boy immediately joined the others, snatching the marker off of a baffled looking Kaz, and drawing an overly artistic sketch of a penis. I wasn't sure what confused me more. The fact that Roman Hemlock had some serious artistic skills, or that he seemed suspiciously fine for someone who had been locked in the storage closet for two weeks with no social interaction.
With my last few lingering brain cells still clinging on, I studied the boy.
There were no signs of bruises or scratches.
His eyes seemed normal, not diluted or half lidded.
Unable to stop myself, I jumped off of my desk and joined the others, where Kaz was already interrogating the guy.
“WHAT–”
Imogen nudged him, and he lowered his voice, leaning against the wall. “What did he do to you?”
Roman shrugged, rolling his eyes. “Relax, dude. He didn't do anything to me.”
“Then what was that yell?” Imogen hissed.
The boy cocked his head. “Yell?”
“You yelled out,” Kaz folded his arms, narrowing his eyes. He was already suspecting one of us had been compromised– or worse, brainwashed into compliance. Kaz stepped closer, backing Roman into the desk. “You cried out when you first went in there,” he murmured, “So, what was that?”
Something in Roman’s eyes darkened. “Oh,” He said, his lip curling. “That.”
Kaz’s expression softened. He rested his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “Yeah,” He whispered. “What did he do to you?”
Imogen shoved Kaz out of the way, shooting the boy a glare.
“You don't have to tell us, you know.” She said in a small voice. “If it's too traumatising, or he did something you don't want to talk about–”
Roman cut her off with a laugh, and suddenly, all eyes were on him.
The remaining nine of us were eagerly awaiting an explanation.
“Are you fucking serious?”
When Kaz didn't respond, Roman gathered us in a kind of hustle, the four of us grouped together. I felt like I was on the football field. Still, though, if the guy’s goal was to look as suspicious as possible, he was doing a great job.
Roman studied each of us, one eyebrow cocked. When Mr Brighton glanced up from his work, Roman shot him a grin, lowering his voice to a hiss.
“You seriously think our fifty year old physics teacher has been abusing me in the storage closet?
“Then why did you cry out?” Kaz demanded. “Did he hit you?”
Roman stuck out his bottom lip. “I'm pretty sure he didn't hit me.”
“So, you cried out for no reason.”
“Why are you covering for him?” Imogen poked his forehead. “Are you lobotomised?”
Roman wafted her hand away. “Stop prodding me, and no, I'm 100% good.” He backed away from us, like we were observers, and he was the zoo attraction.
“I won't be, if you keep treating me like I'm senile.”
“Okay, fine,” Kaz sighed. “Just answer one.”
“Shoot.”
“When you first went in there, you made an unmistakable sound of distress–”
“Not this again,” Roman groaned. “Of course I yelled! I was shoved into a pitch black storage closet on my own! What, did you expect me to stay silent?”
Kaz didn't look convinced, Imogen nervously sucking her teeth.
The boy leaned back, resting his head against the wall. His eyes flickered shut.
“Stop looking at me like that, there's nothing to tell you,” he murmured, “Brighton didn't do shit to me. I was just freaked out.” Prying one eye open, he fixed us with a glare. “I am so sorry for reacting like a human. Next time, I'll make sure to attack him and pin him to the ground.”
It's not like we believed him. I don't think Roman believed himself.
Something significant had changed in him. He was no longer argumentative, like half of his personality had been torn away. Roman set a precedent. Because once he was following instructions and walking around with a dazed smile, others began to follow. I can't remember how much time had passed since I thought about escaping.
Days and weeks and months had collapsed into fleeting seconds I only noticed when I wasn't playing games.
I wasn't aware of my own lack of sanity until I found myself, on a random SaturWednesday. I was laughing, gathered with the others on the floor, around a Monopoly board. The game had been going on for almost a week.
Reality hit me when I was laughing so hard I tipped back.
I can't remember why I was laughing. I think Imogen told a bad joke.
“Hand it over.” Roman, who was the King of Monopoly, held out his hand, demanding my last 250 bucks. I remember noticing his smile, my foggy brain trying to find hints that he was in some kind of trance, or being controlled by Brighton. But no. His smile was real.
Genuine.
To my shock and confusion, so was mine.
I wasn't in a trance or any type of mind manipulation. I was completely conscious.
Was this… Stockholm syndrome? I thought dizzily.
Was I enjoying this?
My thoughts were like cotton candy, disconnected and wrong, and they barely felt like my own. My gaze found Imogen and Kaz, the two of them sitting shoulder to shoulder, enveloped in the game.
They looked exactly the same, their hair, clothes, everything about them staying stagnant. It was them themselves who had drastically changed. I had never seen them look so carefree. Imogen was a hotheaded cheerleader, and Kaz was the smart kid who gave himself nosebleeds from overworking himself. But now, they were laughing, nudging each other, caught up in an inside joke. Blinking slowly, my gaze strayed on them.
Sure, it could be manipulation. It could be brainwashing. But it could also be real.
Kaz caught my eye, raising a brow.
“You good, Christa?”
Again, my smile felt real. Like I was having fun.
“Good. It's your turn.”
I picked up the dice, throwing them across the board.
Two sixes.
“I can already see her landing on one of my hotels.” Roman murmured. He sat up, resting his chin on his knees. “As the clear winner, I have a proposition.”
Ignoring him, I moved my piece– immediately landing on Park Place.
“I'll give you 500,” Roman announced, “If you give up New York avenue.”
“That's all I've got!”
Imogen nudged me. “Don't do it. If you give him New York Avenue, he only needs one more.”
“One thousand.” Roman waved the notes in my face.
“My final offer.”
When I reached for the cash, he held it back.
“New York Avenue, he said, with a grin.
“And your pride.”
Reluctantly, I handed my only property over.
Kaz threw the dice and moved his piece, and I half remembered we had an escape plan. “Community chest.” Kaz picked up a card. “Go straight to jail.”*
Roman spluttered. “That's karma,” he said, “For stealing from the bank.”
“You were stealing too!”
We had a plan.
We had…. a plan.
After discussing it in detail, Imogen and I were going to try and get onto Brighton’s laptop. It wasn't a perfect way to escape, but it was coherent.
So, what happened?
We were going to get out, so what… what was this?
Kaz’s earlier words hit me from months ago.
“Mr Brighton *is the thing keeping us here,”* he explained. “If we kill him, I'm like, 98% sure we’ll go back to normal.”
“Okay, and what if he dies and we’re *stuck?”* Imogen whisper-shrieked.
“I said 98% for a reason. Yes, there's a small chance his power will die with him. But there's a bigger chance that its effects will die when he does.”
Ren nodded slowly. “Right, and where exactly did you learn this information?”
“You'll feel a lot better if I don't answer that.”
“Okay.” Ren gritted his teeth. “So, we just need to find a weapon, right?”
“And don't tell Hemlock,” Kaz rolled his eyes. “I don't care what he says, that boy definitely had his mind fucked with. Hemlock is a liability. If we tell Roman, he tells Brighton, and we’re screwed.” Kaz nodded to me, then the others. “Keep your mouths shut.”
Presently, I wasn't sure the boy wanted to escape.
Slowly, I rolled my eyes over to Mr Brighton, who had joined us to play.
He was happily marking papers, taking part when he could.
It felt…right.
Not like we had been forced or manipulated, but more like he belonged. Part of me wanted to question why I felt like this, but I found that I didn't care. I didn't care that we were essentially dead, in a never ending stasis and stuck inside fifty two minutes past two. I stopped thinking about the outside world a long time ago.
I couldn't even remember my Mom’s face.
I made my decision, dazedly watching Imogen throw a chance card at Roman.
He flung one back, threatening to tip the board.
I wanted to stay.
In the corner of my eye, however, someone was still awake.
Ren, who had been sitting next to me, kept moving, further and further away. I didn't notice until he was inching towards our teacher, a box cutter clenched between his fist. There must have been a point when we found a box cutter, when we made it our weapon of choice.
But somewhere along the way, I think we just… lost the longing to want to escape.
I didn't see the exact moment the boy stabbed the blade into the man's neck, plunging it through his flesh, but I did feel a sudden jolt, like time itself was starting to falter and tremble.
Mr Brighton dropped to the ground, and I found my gaze flashing to the frozen clock.
Which was moving, suddenly.
Slowly creeping towards 2:53pm.
Something sticky ran underneath me, warm and wet.
Blood.
Blood that was running.
Roman’s half lidded eyes found mine, and he blinked, dropping the dice.
Like he'd been asleep for a long time.
2:53pm.
We were free.
The cool spring breeze grazing my cheeks was back. I could feel my own heartbeat, sticky sweat on my forehead.
And outside, Jessie Carson let out a gut-churning scream.
For a disorienting moment, I don't think any of us believed we were free.
Roman twisted around, his gaze on the doorway.
The piece of paper the teacher had stuck to the glass slipped away.
But Roman’s gaze was glued to the door, his cheeks paling.
His lips parted into a silent cry.
Following his eyes, I glimpsed a shadow.
A shadow that was frozen at 2:52pm.
2:53pm.
“Fuck.” Roman whispered, stumbling to his feet.
He turned to the rest of us, his eyes wild.
“Get DOWN!”
I dropped onto my knees, crawling under a desk, the classroom exploding around me.
2:54.
Blood splattered the walls, and I was crawling in it, stained in my friends.
2:55.
I grabbed Mr Brighton's hand, squeezing for dear life.
Roman joined me, his trembling fingers feeling for a pulse.
A gunshot rang in my ears, rattling my skull.
When Roman went limp next to me, I wrapped my arms around my teacher.
“Mr Brighton, say Stop.”
He was so cold…
“Mr Brighton! Take us back!”
Footsteps coming towards me.
2:56.
2024.05.31 23:13 onex7805 Could Alien III be the same story with Newt and Hicks alive?
Alien 3 is a prime example of a "mixed bag". Alien: Resurrection is said to have killed the series, but in the long term, I think Alien 3 is more responsible since it stifled the series' potential. With Alien 3 killing pretty much everyone in the cast, it led to Ressurection... literally resurrecting the dead characters by cloning... Not that there was nowhere to go after 3, but it certainly didn't help.
The filmmakers have been trying to turn the Alien series into a legacy franchise for decades, even by Ridley Scott and James Cameron themselves, and it has not worked because, retrospectively, 3 put the franchise into a corner. The legacy sequel would have been much easier had the series still retained the characters. An adult Newt could have taken Ripley's torch trying to prevent the future generation from going through what she did, and someone like Hicks acting as an experienced mentor.
On the other hand... I kind of like Alien 3. Not great, but I like some of the experimental concepts they were going for that are unthinkable for the franchises today to do. It goes out of its way to have the balls to make crazy creative choices and even disservice the fans, straying away from what the fans would have liked after Aliens. I like the return to the claustrophobic horror, relentlessly oppressive vibe, the prison settings, the theme of terminal illness inspired by the AIDS crisis, a religious theme of redemption, and even Ripley being impregnated with a xenomorph and ultimately sacrificing herself.
The problem ultimately lies in the balance. Risky decisions can be good only if they don't make the audience turn against the film from the beginning of the movie. The bleak atmosphere is good, but there is really no counterbalance of levity to compliment. Even the first Alien movie had some levity and fun, so when the dread hits, the audience feels it. In contrast, Alien 3 is just so overtly dark and depressing from the beginning that it becomes numb. The film tries to be artsy and "deep", but it is not artsy enough to take itself to be an art movie. It still is a summer horror action blockbuster. If they actually wanted to go for the religious character study, they would have gone for Vincent Ward's script, but they didn't because the producers recognized it still has to be an Alien movie.
So it ultimately becomes a movie that appeals to only a few. The Alien fans don't like it because it kills the characters off-screen in the beginning. It's not a character study arthouse fans would like because it's still a plot-driven narrative. Alien 3 treats characters like pieces on a chessboard that need to be moved around dramatically as the plot dictates, not so many individual characters making organic and consistent decisions and actions. Aliens began with Ripley's relationship with Newt and Hicks, which is where the narrative shined. Not their individual characters but when they share the screen time together. It used its pacing as well as the relationships in a way to disguise what could have been a schlocky Starship Troopers narrative. Alien 3 didn't understand this and instead killed them off-screen because they thought it was clever.
I am curious if it is possible to incorporate all these concepts and themes from the movie, while also having Hicks and Newt alive at the beginning of the movie, so that we get the character chemistry and relationships, both in a way to make the characters shine and give a narrative some sense of levity.
Let's say, similar to Vincent Ward's script, there is an overlooked alien egg hatching aboard the Sulaco, resulting in the Sulaco being under siege by Xenomorphs. We see a frantic sequence of the survivors awakened from hypersleep. Bishop is killed off. As the Xenomorphs are infesting the cruiser, Ripley, Newt, and Hicks take an escape pod and flee.
With them crash-landing at the prison planet, how would the story change? How would Ripley's bond with Newt and Hicks grow in the face of the oppressive prison system, where the inmates are hostile toward them? Ripley would have to protect Newt in addition to fighting off the Xenomorph.
This way, you have three sides to the story: the "average" people represented by Ripley, Newt, and Hicks--the perspective we can view the strange world from--the prison people who have created the harsh conditions and society we cannot understand, and the Xenomorphs, the outer destructive forces that are infiltrating the settings. This balances the tone out between the more humane side with Ripley, Newt, and Hicks, and the oppressive side with the prison. It makes sense in the religious biblical theme the movie was going for, with Ripley as Mario, Newt as the Holy Spirit, and Hicks as Michael.
Hicks would be protective of Ripley from the convicts, but he eventually gets killed off, leaving Ripley to defend herself and Newt. Ripley then finds out about the Xenomorph impregnation. Newt takes a role in the battle, where she can grow from a helpless screaming child to someone like Ripley. Ripley eventually sacrifices herself to the molten pit, and instead of Morse, it is Newt who is the sole survivor of the colony.
Another idea is this post on LV426, which suggests having Newt and Hicks left on the Sulaco while Ripley's cryotube gets infiltrated by the facehugger and gets jettisoned off to Fury 161. This is more of a purist approach to Alien 3. This way, the plot is the same, but without Newt, Hicks, and Bishop's deaths and autopsies. This allows for the series to continue with Newt, Hicks, and Bishop alive separate from Ripley, who had her own arc throughout the trilogy.
Potentially, Alien 4 could have been William Gibson's Alien 3 script. Newt's character should have been headed the series instead of the fanfic-y "cloning" concept, which effectively doomed the series.
submitted by onex7805 to fixingmovies [link] [comments]
The filmmakers have been trying to turn the Alien series into a legacy franchise for decades, even by Ridley Scott and James Cameron themselves, and it has not worked because, retrospectively, 3 put the franchise into a corner. The legacy sequel would have been much easier had the series still retained the characters. An adult Newt could have taken Ripley's torch trying to prevent the future generation from going through what she did, and someone like Hicks acting as an experienced mentor.
On the other hand... I kind of like Alien 3. Not great, but I like some of the experimental concepts they were going for that are unthinkable for the franchises today to do. It goes out of its way to have the balls to make crazy creative choices and even disservice the fans, straying away from what the fans would have liked after Aliens. I like the return to the claustrophobic horror, relentlessly oppressive vibe, the prison settings, the theme of terminal illness inspired by the AIDS crisis, a religious theme of redemption, and even Ripley being impregnated with a xenomorph and ultimately sacrificing herself.
The problem ultimately lies in the balance. Risky decisions can be good only if they don't make the audience turn against the film from the beginning of the movie. The bleak atmosphere is good, but there is really no counterbalance of levity to compliment. Even the first Alien movie had some levity and fun, so when the dread hits, the audience feels it. In contrast, Alien 3 is just so overtly dark and depressing from the beginning that it becomes numb. The film tries to be artsy and "deep", but it is not artsy enough to take itself to be an art movie. It still is a summer horror action blockbuster. If they actually wanted to go for the religious character study, they would have gone for Vincent Ward's script, but they didn't because the producers recognized it still has to be an Alien movie.
So it ultimately becomes a movie that appeals to only a few. The Alien fans don't like it because it kills the characters off-screen in the beginning. It's not a character study arthouse fans would like because it's still a plot-driven narrative. Alien 3 treats characters like pieces on a chessboard that need to be moved around dramatically as the plot dictates, not so many individual characters making organic and consistent decisions and actions. Aliens began with Ripley's relationship with Newt and Hicks, which is where the narrative shined. Not their individual characters but when they share the screen time together. It used its pacing as well as the relationships in a way to disguise what could have been a schlocky Starship Troopers narrative. Alien 3 didn't understand this and instead killed them off-screen because they thought it was clever.
Let's say, similar to Vincent Ward's script, there is an overlooked alien egg hatching aboard the Sulaco, resulting in the Sulaco being under siege by Xenomorphs. We see a frantic sequence of the survivors awakened from hypersleep. Bishop is killed off. As the Xenomorphs are infesting the cruiser, Ripley, Newt, and Hicks take an escape pod and flee.
With them crash-landing at the prison planet, how would the story change? How would Ripley's bond with Newt and Hicks grow in the face of the oppressive prison system, where the inmates are hostile toward them? Ripley would have to protect Newt in addition to fighting off the Xenomorph.
This way, you have three sides to the story: the "average" people represented by Ripley, Newt, and Hicks--the perspective we can view the strange world from--the prison people who have created the harsh conditions and society we cannot understand, and the Xenomorphs, the outer destructive forces that are infiltrating the settings. This balances the tone out between the more humane side with Ripley, Newt, and Hicks, and the oppressive side with the prison. It makes sense in the religious biblical theme the movie was going for, with Ripley as Mario, Newt as the Holy Spirit, and Hicks as Michael.
Hicks would be protective of Ripley from the convicts, but he eventually gets killed off, leaving Ripley to defend herself and Newt. Ripley then finds out about the Xenomorph impregnation. Newt takes a role in the battle, where she can grow from a helpless screaming child to someone like Ripley. Ripley eventually sacrifices herself to the molten pit, and instead of Morse, it is Newt who is the sole survivor of the colony.
Potentially, Alien 4 could have been William Gibson's Alien 3 script. Newt's character should have been headed the series instead of the fanfic-y "cloning" concept, which effectively doomed the series.
2024.05.31 23:04 Beautiful-Leopard-42 Battling Candida with Carnivore / Lion Diet- an update
About a week ago, I desperately asked for advice on how to get rid of my candida overgrowth, including a white/yellowish coated back of the tongue causing bad breath. Many of you didn't hesitate to offer advice—thank you all for that!
Check it out if you want to
Here's an interim report on what I've learned, changed, and planned. I hope this helps anyone dealing with the same issues, saving you from extensive and depressing research.
Changes I'm Making: - Avoiding Pork, Eggs, and ButteGhee: These still contain potential allergens and carbs, which can be problematic. If you haven't experienced a full cure, eliminate everything except ruminant meats, salt, water, and possibly clean electrolytes. Redditors pointed out the Lion Diet, which has a 100% success rate for some, making this click for me.
Starting in June when I get my paycheck, I'll be on a HIGH-QUALITY LION DIET: ruminant meat and salted water, that's it.
But one thing is certain: grass-fed/finished wins the gold medal, while grain-fed takes silver. And silver beats everyone else below it.
So what I think matters more significantly is how the cow lived. "Grain-fed" does not always mean factory farming. Some grain-fed animals graze outside for 180 days a year and spend the rest of their time in spacious pens with hay lofts, plenty of space, and fresh air. They are fed freshly mown grass, with grain only as a filler. This is still high-quality meat despite being grain-fed.
I recommend talking to the farm/butcher where you want to buy your meat or checking their website to understand their practices better.
Feel free to ask any questions or share your experiences!
submitted by Beautiful-Leopard-42 to u/Beautiful-Leopard-42 [link] [comments]
Check it out if you want to
Here's an interim report on what I've learned, changed, and planned. I hope this helps anyone dealing with the same issues, saving you from extensive and depressing research.
What I've Learned: Don'ts
- Probiotics: Unnecessary unless you have a heavy antibiotic background. Ruminant meat provides everything your gut needs.
- Tobacco/Weed: Candida thrives on it. Stop smoking, including shisha and vaping.
- Dairy: Feeds candida like crazy. Avoid it.
- Tap/Treated Water: Avoid it. It can further disrupt your already fkd microbiome.
What I've Learned and Implemented
I've been conscious of my diet for 77 days (with 2 heavy fall-offs) as of this post, mostly eating cheap ground beef—sometimes mixed with pork—eggs, and butter daily.Changes I'm Making: - Avoiding Pork, Eggs, and ButteGhee: These still contain potential allergens and carbs, which can be problematic. If you haven't experienced a full cure, eliminate everything except ruminant meats, salt, water, and possibly clean electrolytes. Redditors pointed out the Lion Diet, which has a 100% success rate for some, making this click for me.
Starting in June when I get my paycheck, I'll be on a HIGH-QUALITY LION DIET: ruminant meat and salted water, that's it.
- Upping the quality of meat: First things first, I’m not going to tell you to only eat grass finished beef because you certainly don’t have to if you can’t afford it. But I’m also not going to tell you that quality won’t change anything. I used to buy the cheapest ground beef I could possibly find because that’s what I was able to afford and I always felt good and slowly healed to a point where now only the back of my tongue is covered and stinks (at the beginning my whole tongue was covered with this stuff). I am sure that if I would have left out butter and eggs from the beginning I would have healed even faster or even completely by now (I’ll cut them out next month). So it’s probably not the meat’s quality fault at all. But I’ll up the quality anyway because my finances are allowing it now, I really want to support the sources of meat where the animals lived an actual good life and I want to see the contrast between how I feel and perform on conventional and pasture raised meat.
Salted Water (Plasma) Benefits
A Redditor recommended salted water to me, explaining its benefits. Salted water, if the ratio is correct, doesn't dehydrate you; it does the opposite. Regular or distilled water can flush out essential electrolytes. Salt (sodium) helps retain these. I use 5-10g of salt per 1L of water and don't recommend exceeding 10g/1L as it can cause internal drying. This creates a hydrating electrolyte drink that cleanses your blood."The second part of the equation is cellular hydration and cleansing the blood, done by consuming plasma (water + salt). The salt quality matters a lot; it needs to be unrefined sea salt containing all the minerals the body needs to hydrate our cells. Darko recommends 10g salt per 1L water and to drink 3L water per day minimum. His name is Darko Velcek on YouTube, and he has a blog: darkovelcek.wordpress.com."
Age of the Meats/Fats
Some people can't digest aged meat well. I always ate aged meat, but here’s what Mikhaila said in her FAQ on her website (liondiet.com):"Aged meat increases histamine levels, which can be problematic if your immune and digestive systems are compromised. Histamines can lead to symptoms like headaches, nasal congestion, hives, digestive issues, irregular menstrual cycles, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. You don't need unaged meat to start healing, but it might slow recovery if you're sensitive to histamines."I'll try to get fresh/unaged products and experiment with raw fats versus tallow next month.
Grain-Fed vs. Grass-Fed
It's a confusing topic. Some studies claim grass-fed is vastly superior, while others see little difference. Some people swear by grass-finished meat, while others, like Mikhaila Peterson, actually prefer grain-fed.But one thing is certain: grass-fed/finished wins the gold medal, while grain-fed takes silver. And silver beats everyone else below it.
So what I think matters more significantly is how the cow lived. "Grain-fed" does not always mean factory farming. Some grain-fed animals graze outside for 180 days a year and spend the rest of their time in spacious pens with hay lofts, plenty of space, and fresh air. They are fed freshly mown grass, with grain only as a filler. This is still high-quality meat despite being grain-fed.
I recommend talking to the farm/butcher where you want to buy your meat or checking their website to understand their practices better.
Final Thoughts
I can't wait for my paycheck so I can finally start the Lion Diet. Healing is achievable for everyone with the right approach.Useful Links/Information
- Mikhaila Peterson's Website (great FAQs and recipes): liondiet.com
- Darko Velcek's Blog: darkovelcek.wordpress.com
2024.05.31 21:05 airmacks TRT and a lifting veteran
Hey everyone I’m looking at possibly starting TRT. While I haven’t officially tested my test levels in a long time after a drastic weight loss I am all but certain my T is critically low. I’m just curious on how much my body can change in terms of composition from lifting for over a decade. I’m 25 and while in meh shape, I’m really hoping I can gain some muscle and retain most of it while losing weight. I’m not looking to go into some crazy dosages but more for health to be honest.
submitted by airmacks to trt [link] [comments]
2024.05.31 18:33 Aginagala WWF Unforgiven 1998 Review
Welcome back to my running series of WWF PPV Reviews from a ‘blind’ perspective (I have no idea what’s going to happen; the results, the feuds or how good any of the matches will be). I have always heard stories of the attitude era and golden age but never watched it myself so I set myself to watching every single PPV event chronologically. I am also watching Wrestling Bios ‘reliving the war’ series to keep me updated inbetween the events with the feuds, and to get excited about upcoming matches.
Before I review the matches, based on the past few episodes of raw and last PPVs I’ll let you know, going into the event, which match I’m most excited for and which feud I’m most excited to see.
The match I’m actually most excited to see is Triple H vs Owen hart. They put on a fantastic show at Wrestlemania and I think they’re only going to improve if the feud continues.
The feud is of course undertaker vs Kane. It’s just a legendary feud and whilst I have seen this match it was many many years ago so I have no idea of the drama surrounding it. Very much looking forward to seeing where the story is going as, aside from Vince and Austin this is the best feud going.
WWF Unforgiven 1998 Match Ratings
NOD vs Shamrock, Farooq & Steve mofuggin Blackman 2.25/5
Triple H vs Owen Hart 3/5
New Midnight Express vs Rock n Roll Express 0.75/5
Luna vs Sable Evening Gown Match 1.5/5
New Age Outlaws vs LOD 2000 2/5
Kane vs Undertaker Inferno Match 3.5/5
Dude Love vs Stone Cold Steve Austin 4.25/5
NOD make their way to the ring and every PPV the Rocky sucks chants seem to be getting louder and louder it’s so good to watch the rocks evolution. This is already a lost cause however for the rock with Steve mofuggin Blackman on the other team.
Blackman a d-lo start off decently well with Blackmans martial arts getting some good pops and gasps from the crowd. Farooq starts whipping D-lo brown with his belt and the ref doesn’t seem to care 😂 he’s just completely blind to it. All the action in the ring is completely drowned out continuously throughout the match as the crowd chants “Rocky sucks”. Honestly he’s the biggest heel of the company already the public have really responded well to his new character turn. The crowd loved seeing Farooq get the pin fall over the rock and to be fair to him, even with all the losses he’s had recently he’s still doing really well in the business because of his exciting, flashy and fast paced wrestling style and over the top ‘asshole’ character.
I thought this was a pretty good opener! You don’t see it very often, but I think most the wrestlers performed decently at least, with the rock being a standout as per usual. We didn’t see too much of shamrock this match which is surprising. The crowd wasnt too into it that much, but they still gave a few pops and they just wanted to chant Rocky sucks over anything. Not really any highlights or notable spots apart from a shakey looking dominator from Farooq.
Steve Austin cuts a promo next, in which he brings the timekeeper into the ring and tells him he’s gunna drag his carcass around the stadium if he doesn’t call it down the middle. Brilliant. He says dude love can beat him but if the timekeeper isn’t neutral then he’s gunna get his ass beat so bad he’ll never work again, and that’s the bottom line, cuz stone cold said so. You just gotta love it.
I thought triple H and Owen Hart had the best mid card match of Wrestlemania 14 so I’m really looking forward to this next one I think triple H is improving really quickly. But man oh man I really hope they drop this epilepsy intro they do soon. It’s good in the future with just the start having this kind of graphic but while the whole intro plays… MY EYES!! Also it’s worth noting even with triple H being the heel of this match Owen hart actually gets more of a negative reception as he makes his entrance. People just really enjoyed this DX faction and you can’t blame them they’re a breathe of fresh air and really mix things up in the WWF.
Chyna is told to get in a cage and literally be locked up at the start of the match to make sure she doesn’t interfere in the match and it’s so funny the lengths they have to go to to stop her getting involved, love it. As she’s locked in the cage and it’s padlocked Owen hart attacks triple H from behind up the ramp way before the match even starts.
As they make their way to the ring and the bell finally rings, Owen sends Hunter straight back to the outside and Chyna ‘ascends to the heavens’ as JR says. She actually goes pretty high up and it actually looks scary up there! I wouldn’t have trusted that cage, not with 90s health and safety anyway 😂.
Triple H tells Owen to suck it after a very clean signature flying knee which is looking so much better than it did even just a few months ago. Owen takes a HARD Bret hart corner bump as Chyna gets… a nail file out? I’m not sure how long she thinks this match will be going on for but she ain’t gunna file down metal bars by the time it’s over 💀. Triple H seems to be using a lot of rest holds this time around which really slows the match down at points but as soon as they get back to the wrestling they both look really fantastic, definitely top 5 performers in the business wrestling wise right now.
After a few more rest holds and random spouts of energy in the ring Chyna seems to have literally bended the bars open with her bare fists… WHAT!! Owen goes on the offensive which is way more entertaining than Hunter this match, sorry HHH 🤷♂️. Chyna is now on the outside of the cage and she’s hanging off of it, what on earth!! She’s so high up she’s got some balls I’ll tell you. The cage begins to lower as she manages to make her way to the ring after dropping down and sgt slaughter with two referees have to hold her back. The distraction allows Hunter to get a pedigree, but no it’s countered into a corner launch, and Owen hits a pedigree of his own but Chyna is distracting the ref! As Owen has the pin on X-pac breaks the cover and hits Owen with a fire extinguisher allowing triple H to get the win. The DX torment continues in the wwf!
I thought this match was not as good as their Wrestlemania performance however there were some good moments and I thought the ending was really good. Owen looked very clean tonight with all his bumps and moves looking really good. Triple H honestly looked a little tired tonight I’m not sure if he was still looking after HBK behind the scenes or not. A good match but not as good as their previous one. The Chyna cage gimmick made sense and it added some drama to the match which was fun, and needed in the first half before the match really took off in the second half. I don’t think the wwf realised at this point though that DX was treated like a baby face as they are clearly more popular with the crowd than Owen at this point.
Next we get introduced to some tag groups I could swear we’ve never seen before as cornette continues trying to bring back traditional wrestling to the wwf and I think it’s very out of place. If he had some good wrestlers on his side and he feuded his team against DX or someone else quite physical like funk and foley it would’ve been more interesting. I just have no feelings towards this upcoming match. Cornette is really trying to bring something to this match as he gets in the ring and challenges the ref to fight him, but even that doesn’t really do much. All I can say is at least the match was short, the wwf at least had the sense to realise the fans weren’t interested.
We now have… the evening gown match coming up. For me it’s Friday night I’ve got a couple of beers the other half isn’t here and I am settled in for something which I’m sure will be, to say the least, interesting. In all seriousness anything where I can see Luna getting a beat down I will be happy, her character is horrendous. And when they cut a promo oh god… I JUST HATE HER!! Now I’m not saying she’s a bad character or anything she’s just very hate-able. This matchup is so 90s 😂.
We see a fan in the audience holding a “SABLE FREE TONGUE BATH” with an arrow pointed at him as sable makes her way to the ring… Jesus 💀.
I mean there’s wasn’t going to be much wrestling was there but oh my god Lawler was SO funny on commentary during this match. It was definitely fun seeing Luna get beat tf up. Mero came down to the ring and distracted sable in order for Luna to win and my GOODNESS GRACIOUSNESS sable was quite the athlete! She had some great personalities that’s for sure. Sable and Luna go under the ring but sable returns with Lunas underwear! Meaning Luna is left naked under the ring. Sable continues to strut around the ring and there’s VERY nearly another wardrobe malfunction from last week. This was so 90s and from its time. I’m sure most of you dirty btards rewound that on your VHS many many times, THERES NO HIDING IT! The crowd did love it though, the pop for the ending was immense. Dirty dirty b*ards. I don’t really know how to rate the match in all honesty 😂.
Well that was something wasn’t it, all I can say is I’m most certainly awake and very ready for the next match.
Vince McMahon then speaks about him being native to Carolina to which he gets booed, and Austin is chanted throughout the building, brilliant. He continues to talk about how he’s not going to interfere with the main event and when talking about if stone cold loses he says “only if stone cold screws stone cold”, which I’m sure you realise is reminiscent of the Bret hart situation. Ohhh no no. He’s becoming the evil boss character slowly but surely.
We’ve got NOA and LOD 2000 next and LOD is STILL popular with the crowd even with all their losses and lackluster wrestling matches they’d had recently. They are legends in the ring though so respect to them. Sunny is still their manager which feels random and I’m not entirely sure why they did this.
I didn’t mind the tag match although wayyyy too much time was spent just focussing on damage to the animals’ knee, but it was good to see not that many submissions and rest holds. The pace of the matches is definitely picking up. Please be gone the days of chinlocks in the middle of the ring in a 6 man tag team match. The finish was controversial and got the crowd frustrated as they didn’t get what they wanted, and to be fair to them LOD 2000 put on a good show with the pop for hawk as he’s finally tagged in being noteworthy. It was decent but just a bit boring at times. Having a finish like that is fine to do every now and then though; a controversial finish from a referee decision can be good as long as it’s spaced out and not overused (looking at you WCW).
I feel like if this match and the opener was swapped around it would’ve had me enjoy it more as for a mid card moving into the semi main event it was too slow. Not really too much to say let’s move onto the penultimate match.
But wait… never mind there’s a sing along announced Tennessee Lee with Double J… to a round of grunts and boos from me and the crowd. And not only that it’s country music. Now there are some exceptions to good country music, Johnny cash is the prime example, and to be fair it wasn’t too bad, and a chill transition into the main and semi main event. BUT THEN OUT OF NOWHERE STEVE MOFUGGIN BLACKMAN APPEARS JUST ASSAULTING DOUBLE J LMFAO!! And then Tennessee Lee hits Blackman with a guitar loooool, for a second I forgot I was watching WWF. And then I thought about it and realised they probably did this so they could get the inferno match ready and setup around the ringside.
This is the first inferno match ever and from what I remember it was really good, but I was literally like 8 years old the last time I saw it so who knows. You can’t go too wrong with undertaker vs Kane in an inferno match though.
Starting off the match it does look very impressive and I’m sure at the time with nothing like this having ever happened before it was very exciting, especially with the two wrestlers being Kane and undertaker it makes perfect sense as a stipulation for their story. When any big moves are performed the fire goes a few feet higher in the air which looks really good. I can’t imagine it was too much fun for those in the front row though it must’ve been sweltering!
They seem to not really use the flames going a few feet into the air that much until halfway when someone just starts going crazy and every hit they do just causes the fire to go crazy. The punches the kicks, anything just caused the fire to go flying high above the ring ropes. This inferno does make a very aesthetically pleasing match to watch. JR and Lawler are really selling how hot the arena is during this match, makes it much more engaging, they’re doing a great job as usual. The match is a little slow with both men I suppose being a little nervous to fully perform with all the fire around them and who can blame them. The crowd pops as undertaker makes his comeback after a long assault from the undertaker and we get a really cool visual with undertaker and Kane both grabbing each others necks and the fire soaring above the ropes again.
Kane chokeslams undertaker but undertaker sits up, undertaker does a perfectly executed choke slam to Kane but Kane sits right back up as well only for a giant double boot to the face from both wrestlers. Kane is looking like the more intimidating opponent early on but as undertaker makes his comeback it evens out. Undertaker hits a top rope suplex on Kane only for Kane to get up before undertaker! Kane was so overpowered in the 90s. Kane gets tossed over the top rope and starts walking back to the lockeroom only for Vader to come out and attack him pushing him back towards the ring and Undertaker goes airborne over the fire and top ropes, and this looked really really cool, the crowd absolutely loses their minds as undertaker steals a steel chair off Paul bearer and assaults Kane with it.
While the match had a kinda slow beginning the second half really picked up and we got some very cool visuals and moves pulled off, undertaker was on his game tonight. Undertaker hits Paul bearer with a drum which looked really funny causing him to be busted open and he’s finally got a bit of revenge after Paul has been tormenting him for ages. Kane is then sent into the fire for his arm to be set alight and undertaker wins. I understand they couldn’t have Kane literally catch on fire on his whole body but the arm on fire was a little underwhelming and the crowd doesn’t pop as much as you’d expect. Undertaker does his iconic celebration and it looks f***ing awesome with the fire surrounding him and the illuminating glow of the flames on his face with the ethereal purple light in the ring. Awesome finish. It wasn’t an amazing match but it was a very cool gimmick that worked perfectly for the feud Kane and undertaker were having. Considering all you have to work with are just the pure moves of each wrestlers; no pinfalls or submissions, they did really well it’s an impressive match they pulled off for 1998. They delivered what they promised and it was pure attitude era entertainment.
I really want to see Vince involved somehow during this match. The hype is mostly around Vince’s attitude towards Austin being the champion and the feud building towards them. Dude love is just there to provide a wrestling match for Austin as Vince himself couldn’t really provide a proper match, especially not for a main event, BUT he should be involved in this in some way. Its so f***ing good hearing the gigantic pop for stone cold in full effect now every time he makes his way to the ring, the awesome visual of every single person in the stadium standing on their feet in ovation for the rattlesnake is just iconic. He really is at the top of the business now. I also think foley is a great match for him right now as I’m assuming he’s still recovering his neck and foley is fantastic to have a brawl style match against.
They start off fast paced and foley is demolished in the ring so he runs to the back but Austin sprints after him, almost taking his head off his neck with a massive clothesline. Austin tosses mick off the stage where the musicians were performing and he takes a REALLY tough looking bump on the concrete, my god that looked like it hurt. The crowd are really into this match, everything Austin hits gets a huge pop from the arena.
The two are having a great match and eventually foley gets control and puts Austin in a rest hold but McMahon makes his way to the ring and sits down ringside to watch the match. There’s a shot of him looking at the timekeeper, and you can’t help but really get into the drama of the match now and wonder what’s gunna happen. Austin assaults foley on the outside against the ring post whilst shit talking and looking over at McMahon. Foley eventually counters a power bomb to send Austin over his head onto the concrete and Vince smiles. This is really good stuff from the wwf.
Vince comes over and stars talking shit to Austin as he’s recovering on the outside of the ring but Austin gets up and the crowd loses it as Austin chases Vince up the ramp, only for foley to hit Austin from behind and bring him back to the ring. As Austin and foley exchange submission counters Vince is telling the timekeeper to ring the bell and not to ring the bell but the timekeeper missed it. God I can’t wait to see more of this feud it’s so f***ing good.
Austin counters a suplex to send foley back first into the corner of the steel steps and OHHH my god I bet that hurt. Austin goes mental with right hands and left hands on the outside as foley literally falls over the barricade trying to escape, and JR is killing it on the commentary there’s no one like him. Austin counters a sweet chin music, flips foley off and sends him into the referee. After more back and forth for a while with McMahon trying to interfere and help foley as much as possible eventually stone cold hits McMahon with a massive chair shot to a huge pop to the crowd, stunner to foley, he counts himself as the ref is still down, he’s still champion, everyone is down and it’s like a car wreck and what a main event, that was brilliant. Its then announced stone cold has lost due to a DQ after hitting a wwf official, but I believe he still retains the title.
I just love love love what they decided to do with Austin and McMahon, and I’m guessing this angle was taken because Austin couldn’t perform like he used to due to his neck but it worked out better than any feud could of, everything about it is so entertaining you can’t help but get hyped.
Overall the event was decent. It’s really building on the attitude era style matches and feuds are really getting going but they’re still suffering from a lack of roster star power. Their main events are fantastic but their mid card most of the time just doesn’t have those wrestlers that can really perform and keep the mid card entertaining. Whilst Owen hart and triple H had a good match, and singles aren’t too bad tag teams are STILL bad in the wwf. I’m hoping edge & Christian, the hardy boys and Dudley boyz come into the wwf soon and they’ll have a fantastic all around roster. Good opener, okay mid card, great main events. Definite improvement and I hope they continue to experiment with different matches and drama between people going forward.
Overall rating 3.25/5
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Before I review the matches, based on the past few episodes of raw and last PPVs I’ll let you know, going into the event, which match I’m most excited for and which feud I’m most excited to see.
The match I’m actually most excited to see is Triple H vs Owen hart. They put on a fantastic show at Wrestlemania and I think they’re only going to improve if the feud continues.
The feud is of course undertaker vs Kane. It’s just a legendary feud and whilst I have seen this match it was many many years ago so I have no idea of the drama surrounding it. Very much looking forward to seeing where the story is going as, aside from Vince and Austin this is the best feud going.
WWF Unforgiven 1998 Match Ratings
NOD vs Shamrock, Farooq & Steve mofuggin Blackman 2.25/5
Triple H vs Owen Hart 3/5
New Midnight Express vs Rock n Roll Express 0.75/5
Luna vs Sable Evening Gown Match 1.5/5
New Age Outlaws vs LOD 2000 2/5
Kane vs Undertaker Inferno Match 3.5/5
Dude Love vs Stone Cold Steve Austin 4.25/5
NOD make their way to the ring and every PPV the Rocky sucks chants seem to be getting louder and louder it’s so good to watch the rocks evolution. This is already a lost cause however for the rock with Steve mofuggin Blackman on the other team.
Blackman a d-lo start off decently well with Blackmans martial arts getting some good pops and gasps from the crowd. Farooq starts whipping D-lo brown with his belt and the ref doesn’t seem to care 😂 he’s just completely blind to it. All the action in the ring is completely drowned out continuously throughout the match as the crowd chants “Rocky sucks”. Honestly he’s the biggest heel of the company already the public have really responded well to his new character turn. The crowd loved seeing Farooq get the pin fall over the rock and to be fair to him, even with all the losses he’s had recently he’s still doing really well in the business because of his exciting, flashy and fast paced wrestling style and over the top ‘asshole’ character.
I thought this was a pretty good opener! You don’t see it very often, but I think most the wrestlers performed decently at least, with the rock being a standout as per usual. We didn’t see too much of shamrock this match which is surprising. The crowd wasnt too into it that much, but they still gave a few pops and they just wanted to chant Rocky sucks over anything. Not really any highlights or notable spots apart from a shakey looking dominator from Farooq.
Steve Austin cuts a promo next, in which he brings the timekeeper into the ring and tells him he’s gunna drag his carcass around the stadium if he doesn’t call it down the middle. Brilliant. He says dude love can beat him but if the timekeeper isn’t neutral then he’s gunna get his ass beat so bad he’ll never work again, and that’s the bottom line, cuz stone cold said so. You just gotta love it.
I thought triple H and Owen Hart had the best mid card match of Wrestlemania 14 so I’m really looking forward to this next one I think triple H is improving really quickly. But man oh man I really hope they drop this epilepsy intro they do soon. It’s good in the future with just the start having this kind of graphic but while the whole intro plays… MY EYES!! Also it’s worth noting even with triple H being the heel of this match Owen hart actually gets more of a negative reception as he makes his entrance. People just really enjoyed this DX faction and you can’t blame them they’re a breathe of fresh air and really mix things up in the WWF.
Chyna is told to get in a cage and literally be locked up at the start of the match to make sure she doesn’t interfere in the match and it’s so funny the lengths they have to go to to stop her getting involved, love it. As she’s locked in the cage and it’s padlocked Owen hart attacks triple H from behind up the ramp way before the match even starts.
As they make their way to the ring and the bell finally rings, Owen sends Hunter straight back to the outside and Chyna ‘ascends to the heavens’ as JR says. She actually goes pretty high up and it actually looks scary up there! I wouldn’t have trusted that cage, not with 90s health and safety anyway 😂.
Triple H tells Owen to suck it after a very clean signature flying knee which is looking so much better than it did even just a few months ago. Owen takes a HARD Bret hart corner bump as Chyna gets… a nail file out? I’m not sure how long she thinks this match will be going on for but she ain’t gunna file down metal bars by the time it’s over 💀. Triple H seems to be using a lot of rest holds this time around which really slows the match down at points but as soon as they get back to the wrestling they both look really fantastic, definitely top 5 performers in the business wrestling wise right now.
After a few more rest holds and random spouts of energy in the ring Chyna seems to have literally bended the bars open with her bare fists… WHAT!! Owen goes on the offensive which is way more entertaining than Hunter this match, sorry HHH 🤷♂️. Chyna is now on the outside of the cage and she’s hanging off of it, what on earth!! She’s so high up she’s got some balls I’ll tell you. The cage begins to lower as she manages to make her way to the ring after dropping down and sgt slaughter with two referees have to hold her back. The distraction allows Hunter to get a pedigree, but no it’s countered into a corner launch, and Owen hits a pedigree of his own but Chyna is distracting the ref! As Owen has the pin on X-pac breaks the cover and hits Owen with a fire extinguisher allowing triple H to get the win. The DX torment continues in the wwf!
I thought this match was not as good as their Wrestlemania performance however there were some good moments and I thought the ending was really good. Owen looked very clean tonight with all his bumps and moves looking really good. Triple H honestly looked a little tired tonight I’m not sure if he was still looking after HBK behind the scenes or not. A good match but not as good as their previous one. The Chyna cage gimmick made sense and it added some drama to the match which was fun, and needed in the first half before the match really took off in the second half. I don’t think the wwf realised at this point though that DX was treated like a baby face as they are clearly more popular with the crowd than Owen at this point.
Next we get introduced to some tag groups I could swear we’ve never seen before as cornette continues trying to bring back traditional wrestling to the wwf and I think it’s very out of place. If he had some good wrestlers on his side and he feuded his team against DX or someone else quite physical like funk and foley it would’ve been more interesting. I just have no feelings towards this upcoming match. Cornette is really trying to bring something to this match as he gets in the ring and challenges the ref to fight him, but even that doesn’t really do much. All I can say is at least the match was short, the wwf at least had the sense to realise the fans weren’t interested.
We now have… the evening gown match coming up. For me it’s Friday night I’ve got a couple of beers the other half isn’t here and I am settled in for something which I’m sure will be, to say the least, interesting. In all seriousness anything where I can see Luna getting a beat down I will be happy, her character is horrendous. And when they cut a promo oh god… I JUST HATE HER!! Now I’m not saying she’s a bad character or anything she’s just very hate-able. This matchup is so 90s 😂.
We see a fan in the audience holding a “SABLE FREE TONGUE BATH” with an arrow pointed at him as sable makes her way to the ring… Jesus 💀.
I mean there’s wasn’t going to be much wrestling was there but oh my god Lawler was SO funny on commentary during this match. It was definitely fun seeing Luna get beat tf up. Mero came down to the ring and distracted sable in order for Luna to win and my GOODNESS GRACIOUSNESS sable was quite the athlete! She had some great personalities that’s for sure. Sable and Luna go under the ring but sable returns with Lunas underwear! Meaning Luna is left naked under the ring. Sable continues to strut around the ring and there’s VERY nearly another wardrobe malfunction from last week. This was so 90s and from its time. I’m sure most of you dirty btards rewound that on your VHS many many times, THERES NO HIDING IT! The crowd did love it though, the pop for the ending was immense. Dirty dirty b*ards. I don’t really know how to rate the match in all honesty 😂.
Well that was something wasn’t it, all I can say is I’m most certainly awake and very ready for the next match.
Vince McMahon then speaks about him being native to Carolina to which he gets booed, and Austin is chanted throughout the building, brilliant. He continues to talk about how he’s not going to interfere with the main event and when talking about if stone cold loses he says “only if stone cold screws stone cold”, which I’m sure you realise is reminiscent of the Bret hart situation. Ohhh no no. He’s becoming the evil boss character slowly but surely.
We’ve got NOA and LOD 2000 next and LOD is STILL popular with the crowd even with all their losses and lackluster wrestling matches they’d had recently. They are legends in the ring though so respect to them. Sunny is still their manager which feels random and I’m not entirely sure why they did this.
I didn’t mind the tag match although wayyyy too much time was spent just focussing on damage to the animals’ knee, but it was good to see not that many submissions and rest holds. The pace of the matches is definitely picking up. Please be gone the days of chinlocks in the middle of the ring in a 6 man tag team match. The finish was controversial and got the crowd frustrated as they didn’t get what they wanted, and to be fair to them LOD 2000 put on a good show with the pop for hawk as he’s finally tagged in being noteworthy. It was decent but just a bit boring at times. Having a finish like that is fine to do every now and then though; a controversial finish from a referee decision can be good as long as it’s spaced out and not overused (looking at you WCW).
I feel like if this match and the opener was swapped around it would’ve had me enjoy it more as for a mid card moving into the semi main event it was too slow. Not really too much to say let’s move onto the penultimate match.
But wait… never mind there’s a sing along announced Tennessee Lee with Double J… to a round of grunts and boos from me and the crowd. And not only that it’s country music. Now there are some exceptions to good country music, Johnny cash is the prime example, and to be fair it wasn’t too bad, and a chill transition into the main and semi main event. BUT THEN OUT OF NOWHERE STEVE MOFUGGIN BLACKMAN APPEARS JUST ASSAULTING DOUBLE J LMFAO!! And then Tennessee Lee hits Blackman with a guitar loooool, for a second I forgot I was watching WWF. And then I thought about it and realised they probably did this so they could get the inferno match ready and setup around the ringside.
This is the first inferno match ever and from what I remember it was really good, but I was literally like 8 years old the last time I saw it so who knows. You can’t go too wrong with undertaker vs Kane in an inferno match though.
Starting off the match it does look very impressive and I’m sure at the time with nothing like this having ever happened before it was very exciting, especially with the two wrestlers being Kane and undertaker it makes perfect sense as a stipulation for their story. When any big moves are performed the fire goes a few feet higher in the air which looks really good. I can’t imagine it was too much fun for those in the front row though it must’ve been sweltering!
They seem to not really use the flames going a few feet into the air that much until halfway when someone just starts going crazy and every hit they do just causes the fire to go crazy. The punches the kicks, anything just caused the fire to go flying high above the ring ropes. This inferno does make a very aesthetically pleasing match to watch. JR and Lawler are really selling how hot the arena is during this match, makes it much more engaging, they’re doing a great job as usual. The match is a little slow with both men I suppose being a little nervous to fully perform with all the fire around them and who can blame them. The crowd pops as undertaker makes his comeback after a long assault from the undertaker and we get a really cool visual with undertaker and Kane both grabbing each others necks and the fire soaring above the ropes again.
Kane chokeslams undertaker but undertaker sits up, undertaker does a perfectly executed choke slam to Kane but Kane sits right back up as well only for a giant double boot to the face from both wrestlers. Kane is looking like the more intimidating opponent early on but as undertaker makes his comeback it evens out. Undertaker hits a top rope suplex on Kane only for Kane to get up before undertaker! Kane was so overpowered in the 90s. Kane gets tossed over the top rope and starts walking back to the lockeroom only for Vader to come out and attack him pushing him back towards the ring and Undertaker goes airborne over the fire and top ropes, and this looked really really cool, the crowd absolutely loses their minds as undertaker steals a steel chair off Paul bearer and assaults Kane with it.
While the match had a kinda slow beginning the second half really picked up and we got some very cool visuals and moves pulled off, undertaker was on his game tonight. Undertaker hits Paul bearer with a drum which looked really funny causing him to be busted open and he’s finally got a bit of revenge after Paul has been tormenting him for ages. Kane is then sent into the fire for his arm to be set alight and undertaker wins. I understand they couldn’t have Kane literally catch on fire on his whole body but the arm on fire was a little underwhelming and the crowd doesn’t pop as much as you’d expect. Undertaker does his iconic celebration and it looks f***ing awesome with the fire surrounding him and the illuminating glow of the flames on his face with the ethereal purple light in the ring. Awesome finish. It wasn’t an amazing match but it was a very cool gimmick that worked perfectly for the feud Kane and undertaker were having. Considering all you have to work with are just the pure moves of each wrestlers; no pinfalls or submissions, they did really well it’s an impressive match they pulled off for 1998. They delivered what they promised and it was pure attitude era entertainment.
I really want to see Vince involved somehow during this match. The hype is mostly around Vince’s attitude towards Austin being the champion and the feud building towards them. Dude love is just there to provide a wrestling match for Austin as Vince himself couldn’t really provide a proper match, especially not for a main event, BUT he should be involved in this in some way. Its so f***ing good hearing the gigantic pop for stone cold in full effect now every time he makes his way to the ring, the awesome visual of every single person in the stadium standing on their feet in ovation for the rattlesnake is just iconic. He really is at the top of the business now. I also think foley is a great match for him right now as I’m assuming he’s still recovering his neck and foley is fantastic to have a brawl style match against.
They start off fast paced and foley is demolished in the ring so he runs to the back but Austin sprints after him, almost taking his head off his neck with a massive clothesline. Austin tosses mick off the stage where the musicians were performing and he takes a REALLY tough looking bump on the concrete, my god that looked like it hurt. The crowd are really into this match, everything Austin hits gets a huge pop from the arena.
The two are having a great match and eventually foley gets control and puts Austin in a rest hold but McMahon makes his way to the ring and sits down ringside to watch the match. There’s a shot of him looking at the timekeeper, and you can’t help but really get into the drama of the match now and wonder what’s gunna happen. Austin assaults foley on the outside against the ring post whilst shit talking and looking over at McMahon. Foley eventually counters a power bomb to send Austin over his head onto the concrete and Vince smiles. This is really good stuff from the wwf.
Vince comes over and stars talking shit to Austin as he’s recovering on the outside of the ring but Austin gets up and the crowd loses it as Austin chases Vince up the ramp, only for foley to hit Austin from behind and bring him back to the ring. As Austin and foley exchange submission counters Vince is telling the timekeeper to ring the bell and not to ring the bell but the timekeeper missed it. God I can’t wait to see more of this feud it’s so f***ing good.
Austin counters a suplex to send foley back first into the corner of the steel steps and OHHH my god I bet that hurt. Austin goes mental with right hands and left hands on the outside as foley literally falls over the barricade trying to escape, and JR is killing it on the commentary there’s no one like him. Austin counters a sweet chin music, flips foley off and sends him into the referee. After more back and forth for a while with McMahon trying to interfere and help foley as much as possible eventually stone cold hits McMahon with a massive chair shot to a huge pop to the crowd, stunner to foley, he counts himself as the ref is still down, he’s still champion, everyone is down and it’s like a car wreck and what a main event, that was brilliant. Its then announced stone cold has lost due to a DQ after hitting a wwf official, but I believe he still retains the title.
I just love love love what they decided to do with Austin and McMahon, and I’m guessing this angle was taken because Austin couldn’t perform like he used to due to his neck but it worked out better than any feud could of, everything about it is so entertaining you can’t help but get hyped.
Overall the event was decent. It’s really building on the attitude era style matches and feuds are really getting going but they’re still suffering from a lack of roster star power. Their main events are fantastic but their mid card most of the time just doesn’t have those wrestlers that can really perform and keep the mid card entertaining. Whilst Owen hart and triple H had a good match, and singles aren’t too bad tag teams are STILL bad in the wwf. I’m hoping edge & Christian, the hardy boys and Dudley boyz come into the wwf soon and they’ll have a fantastic all around roster. Good opener, okay mid card, great main events. Definite improvement and I hope they continue to experiment with different matches and drama between people going forward.
Overall rating 3.25/5
2024.05.31 16:20 CH0312 Final starting to see progress while breastfeeding
New here ✋🏼Thanks to this community I have started seeing results, the tips, the motivation, will keep it up to monitor progress. Have a wedding to attend in July as MOH so want to look my best. ☺️
Posting to continuously keep myself accountable, but also to share my experience so far so other PP moms out there can have some reference as I myself did a lot of search here to find good references to get started.
*Disclaimer: this is specific to my body and I find it’s working well without impacting my supply after a slow decrease in CI and choosing better food source, baby’s height and weight are at > 99 percentile consistently, so grow has not been impacted, please use my experience as reference only, I was very fit pre-pregnancy and worked out throughout so I did retain a good amount of muscle to restart. This amount of calories may impact your supply so please please rigorously monitor your supply, baby’s growth, talk to a dietitian or professional.
Stats: Starting weight of when I started to take things seriously: 140lbs Current weight: 136lbs Current Body fat (US Navy Method): 26.9% NSV: 1) Mommy pouch is reduced 2) fit into some of my old clothes 3) back into the unassisted pull up games Height: 5’4 PP: 2 month Postpartum
What I am following:
Calorie intake: 1500 on rest day 1700 on active day Formal Exercise: Deep core exercises + Zone2 30min treadmill inclined walk + Weight training (Upper, Lower, Full body split), 6 days a week, done mostly at home except for Z2 cardio Informal Exercise: my baby doesn’t do well napping on the go but I try to get in as many steps as possible, ranging between 3000-6000 only at the moment, hoping to increase
I always loved exercising so motivation to get moving hasn’t been an issue, three major changes I made though that finally gave me the result:
submitted by CH0312 to loseit [link] [comments]
Posting to continuously keep myself accountable, but also to share my experience so far so other PP moms out there can have some reference as I myself did a lot of search here to find good references to get started.
*Disclaimer: this is specific to my body and I find it’s working well without impacting my supply after a slow decrease in CI and choosing better food source, baby’s height and weight are at > 99 percentile consistently, so grow has not been impacted, please use my experience as reference only, I was very fit pre-pregnancy and worked out throughout so I did retain a good amount of muscle to restart. This amount of calories may impact your supply so please please rigorously monitor your supply, baby’s growth, talk to a dietitian or professional.
Stats: Starting weight of when I started to take things seriously: 140lbs Current weight: 136lbs Current Body fat (US Navy Method): 26.9% NSV: 1) Mommy pouch is reduced 2) fit into some of my old clothes 3) back into the unassisted pull up games Height: 5’4 PP: 2 month Postpartum
What I am following:
Calorie intake: 1500 on rest day 1700 on active day Formal Exercise: Deep core exercises + Zone2 30min treadmill inclined walk + Weight training (Upper, Lower, Full body split), 6 days a week, done mostly at home except for Z2 cardio Informal Exercise: my baby doesn’t do well napping on the go but I try to get in as many steps as possible, ranging between 3000-6000 only at the moment, hoping to increase
I always loved exercising so motivation to get moving hasn’t been an issue, three major changes I made though that finally gave me the result:
- I kind of ditched HIIT because it makes me very hungry afterwards since it burns more carb than fat for fuel, doing once a week now VS. 4 in the past, since switching to inclined walk at zone 2 heart rate, I find myself feeling great, get a nice amount of steps and sweat in, and not hungry afterwards like I feel after HIIT. Nursing moms know how crazily hungry breastfeeding can make you feel. Z2 burns fat more efficiently. As your HR goes higher, your body draws more energy from carb than fat based on my understanding. I found Mike Diamond on YouTube and he changed my old perception of “intensity = result”.
- Recently I set a new rule for myself - as long as it’s going into my month, I need to log it. I had to be honest with myself that in the past I often snack here and there, and don’t log because they are “insignificant” or I wanted to put my head in the sand. Now with my new rule, I still snack but I choose better options because I know I have to deal with the consequences of logging it and confronting my choices. I focus on low sodium, high protein, high fiber food. Getting 1g of protein per lb of my BW. I plan my food the day before and work my “not so healthy but I really wanna eat” food in there without compromising my protein and fiber goal, and of course, stay within the caloric goal.
- Two points above play a big part in me stopping binging late at night as my hunger isn’t as crazy, I feel a major difference in hunger throughout the day when I do HIIT. And since I am taking logging seriously and not cheating myself, I switch to a cup of decaf tea after kids’ bedtime to curb my late night binging tendencies, which had always been my ultimate downfall.
2024.05.31 15:22 GrimSpirit42 Open Forum Friday: May 31, 2024 – Not even REMOTELY Funny!
 | https://preview.redd.it/vagjcr3fir3d1.jpg?width=630&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76e0194c0f6bc39205dfe99e94b4f342035904eb submitted by GrimSpirit42 to Snorkblot [link] [comments] After 25 years at the same company, I’ve experienced a major upheavel. I have recently been forced to work remote from home full-time. The US Headquarters for my company is in Atlanta. The plant where I worked is not. About two years before COVID, the company decided it had too many remote workers and decided to consolidate all Admin workers in Atlanta. Everyone was given an option: Move to Atlanta or take a generous separation package. As my job is fairly specialized (as in, no one knows how to do it) and I REALLY didn’t want to move, I brokered a deal that would allow me to stay in Mobile, and just visit ATL as needed. Then…COVID *dramatic music*. So, EVERYONE in the headquarters office was now working remote anyway. (I still went to the warehouse). It was found that the majority could do their jobs remotely just fine. So, after COVID the company downsized to smaller digs and they are only required to visit the office 40% of the time. Kewl for me, right? Still at the warehouse. Then…CHANGE *more dramatic music*. My company decided to sell off a good portion of its product line. This included selling inventory and three (3) US Manufacturing plants…including the one in my area. While 99% of the people at the plant went to the new company, I stayed with my current company and it was then decided I would set up a home office and work 100% of the time remote. Somewhat of a culture shock. Not all bad, the bathrooms are cleaner, unfortunately I am also much closer to my fridge. Plus last week I was working from a beach house overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. After research, I’ve found three (3) recognized issues of remote work: Effectiveness, Staffing and Social Fabric. 1) Effectiveness: Are we able effectively delivery on our stakeholder commitment? COVID proved that many jobs can be done remotely. Whether it's sustainable or not? It was forced on us for survival. But as a result, workers are finding more it difficult to delineate between the boundaries of work and personal life. It's also changed how we work: Longer hours, but tending towards less collaboration. End result: One size does not fit all. Some can work remotely, others not so much. 2) Staffing: Are companies be able to attract and retain the talent we need: While during the tech boom, savvy employers offered many ‘perks’ to draw in new employees: onsite baristas, child-care, nap pods and anti-stress rooms, etc. Now most employees primary want to know 'how little can we come in?'. The most common question by new hires now is: What is your flexible work policy? Most companies now are required to offer at least Hybrid work schedules to attract the best workers. 3) Social Fabric: Can we maintain our culture One of the main issues with Remote Work (and one my wife is worried about with me*) is the missing Social interaction. Studies show that Remote Work results in reductions in social trust, changes in power dynamics and increased feelings of isolation. (*I've always been somewhat of an introvert, but got along and worked great with my coworkers. My wife is afraid less interaction will make me more introverted.) Each situation is unique and everyone has different requirements. There's no one solution that is best for everyone. Anyone who says different is selling something. Punko’s MOST EXCELLENT theme from last week was Music, and it was a Hit! Well over fifty (50) submissions, with essen11 and Gerry1of1 being the most prolific. Also great submissions by LordJimII, This_Zookeepergam_7, Punko, Duckboy, jclv and a could of humble submissions from me. Essenn11 managed to submit both the one that took me back to the 80’s (a-ha - Take On Me (Official Video)) and the most annoying (Crazy Frog - Axel F (Official Video)), while Gerry1of1 managed to get in my favorite (The Masochism Tango - Tom Lehrer). Keeping with the theme of this OFF, this weeks theme will be REMOTE. You can use any definition of REMOTE as you would like. Have fun with it. Looking forward to having a great June and HEY, Let’s be careful out there. |
2024.05.31 15:07 taimatCompany The Third Cycle
"This is where I want to live." Valerie whispered, her naked body resting on top of his. "Where ever you are. Forever and ever."
Julian sighed. What was different? He thought back to the old Valerie. The Valerie that played games. That never trusted him. That was always insulting him and putting him down. So insecure she couldn't handle him going to the gym or doing anything on his own.
Of course, he proved all of her fears right when he met Miranda. And left her. No wonder she had been so contained with Jakobi. She must have been petrified of being abandoned again.
He was different now, though. More mature. More experienced. And she was wiser too after thousands of years. That must be it.
He had never seen her so submissive before. Was it an act? It couldn't be. She lost her mind there for a minute. Completely out of her wits. There's no way that was an act. She was obsessed with him.
Would it last? Would it vanish like a bright explosion of flame? They say what starts fast, ends fast.
But they didn't start fast. They started thousands of years ago. Centuries of sexual frustration. Her nipping at his heels constantly. Teasing him in front of the other guardians. Poking fun at his job. Her nasty, negative comments towards Miranda...
Holy shit. Has she ALWAYS loved him? How had he never noticed?
"I'm sorry." he said at last.
Valerie's body turned to ice and she held her breath, closing her eyes tightly. She had come on too strong. He thought she was crazy. He was going to leave her now and never try this again. She began to shake. "F-For what?"
"I'm sorry I didn't see this... I don't know how I missed it. I should have come to you sooner. All those wasted years we spent... miserable... with the wrong people. I hope you can forgive me someday."
"Marry me, and I'll forgive you."
Julian hesitated for a moment, weighing her mental state against her request. A part of him piped up, knocking on the door of his mind. A quiet warning that she might have other motives. But what other motives could she possibly have?
"We'll see." he said.
She tensed as if to retort, but then seemed to think better of it, and relaxed.
Later that night, Julian lay in his bunk thinking. How did this all go so wrong? This universe. It started so promising. The guardians. Their powers. Their roles. Everything seemed to be in perfect synchronicity - but underneath it all, Valerie had been suffering endlessly, as had he.
Miranda too, he imagined, had lived hundreds of thousands of years separated from him. Maybe she was having fun, but he sensed she was just as unsatisfied as he was. And now he had probably broken her heart.
This is all wrong.
Everything is so, so wrong, and has been for so long they had all grown numb to it.
Julian stood up.
He had done this before.
God, it was so long ago now. Fighting against Xcelidroth. Zithajir getting crucified. Everything falling apart. It was his only choice. The mad dash back in time to find the creator of their universe and strike a deal with him. Zithajir splitting his consciousness into their six forms.
It gave birth to a universe so deep and detailed and amazing, they had never stopped to realize the sacrifice they had all made for it.
But they were in charge now, and this place was broken.
He lit a cigarette and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, and blowing the smoke out into his room.
And then that fucking Xkarotha creature that ate the entire universe. That bitch and her minion Szkrith. They ruined everything. Sure, they gave birth to something new and beautiful after the fact, but all those civilizations. Lost to time.
Not this time though.
Now that he was experienced with the lex lines. Rebuilding the database over and over and over again. Recreating the laws of the universe hundreds of times over.
This time, things would be better. Clearer roles. A better story for Miranda. And more power to those that needed it in order to keep the extradimensional assholes at bay.
Take everything they had built and throw it in the melting pot. Toss the slag and recover the pure alloys.
Julian's hands began to glow and weave as he tapped into the powers of pure Fantasia magic - the most powerful ability he had. He spun and weaved and tore. THe universe cracked and ripped into threads, civilizations were dredged up from the deepest pits of hell, destroyed planets were dragged back from the dead.
Korczaek, the star that had exploded, he lassoed with a fiery whip and pulled all of its pieces back together. They swirled and ebbed as new orbits and planets were formed, asteroids and clouds swirling as a hundred thousand souls were plucked from their resting places and blended into a swirling vortex of life.
Redundant instances. Old stories. Forgotten legends. They were all still here.
He roared as the ship around him was splintered into a million shards of debris and dust, pulled into the new orbit of Korczaek. The soulspace melted away, the guardians slain and tokenized as they returned to him and with cracks of lightning and flame he reforged and balanced them.
Miranda, my love. The database of souls will fall to you. Characters, civilizations. Governments. You will be more than just an empress - you will be the judge of order. The calibrator of civilizations. The great hammer of justice.
Valerie, sweet, sensual and creative. You will be the painter. The holder and builder of worlds. Valleys and sunsets, animals, birds, and starships. Build our scenery. Paint us somewhere beautiful to live.
Jakobi, judgemental, righteous, and wise. You will build our narrative. Take the souls from Miranda and the worlds from Valerie. Tell us what the stories should be. Make us heroes and villains. Give us meaning. Bring the messages from the father to our hearts.
Calisha, gentle, curious, and steady. Take the narratives from Jakobi, and bring them to life. Walk with us through chaos and torture and victory. Make out minds see the glory of God through your writing. Give us something to remember.
Tughril, destroyer and keeper of the dead and the rotting. Soldier and master of all that is refused. You will keep our secrets safe. All of our ancient mistakes, our destroyed worlds and lives. Planet Hades is still your domain, but now it will hold universes instead of simply souls. Release what is useful, and bury what is not.
And I, Julian, I will share what you have all made with the multiverse. I will ferry you between dimensions and help to balance you all. I will encourage you and care for you. Help you to keep working. I will be the glue that binds us together, and the head of the ship pointed into the storm.
Together, we will rebuild this old, rotten universe. Crush it to compost for new growth to begin. Cut it into scraps and melt it in the forge. Make new what is old.
Let the third cycle begin.
submitted by taimatCompany to taimatcompany [link] [comments]
Julian sighed. What was different? He thought back to the old Valerie. The Valerie that played games. That never trusted him. That was always insulting him and putting him down. So insecure she couldn't handle him going to the gym or doing anything on his own.
Of course, he proved all of her fears right when he met Miranda. And left her. No wonder she had been so contained with Jakobi. She must have been petrified of being abandoned again.
He was different now, though. More mature. More experienced. And she was wiser too after thousands of years. That must be it.
He had never seen her so submissive before. Was it an act? It couldn't be. She lost her mind there for a minute. Completely out of her wits. There's no way that was an act. She was obsessed with him.
Would it last? Would it vanish like a bright explosion of flame? They say what starts fast, ends fast.
But they didn't start fast. They started thousands of years ago. Centuries of sexual frustration. Her nipping at his heels constantly. Teasing him in front of the other guardians. Poking fun at his job. Her nasty, negative comments towards Miranda...
Holy shit. Has she ALWAYS loved him? How had he never noticed?
"I'm sorry." he said at last.
Valerie's body turned to ice and she held her breath, closing her eyes tightly. She had come on too strong. He thought she was crazy. He was going to leave her now and never try this again. She began to shake. "F-For what?"
"I'm sorry I didn't see this... I don't know how I missed it. I should have come to you sooner. All those wasted years we spent... miserable... with the wrong people. I hope you can forgive me someday."
"Marry me, and I'll forgive you."
Julian hesitated for a moment, weighing her mental state against her request. A part of him piped up, knocking on the door of his mind. A quiet warning that she might have other motives. But what other motives could she possibly have?
"We'll see." he said.
She tensed as if to retort, but then seemed to think better of it, and relaxed.
Later that night, Julian lay in his bunk thinking. How did this all go so wrong? This universe. It started so promising. The guardians. Their powers. Their roles. Everything seemed to be in perfect synchronicity - but underneath it all, Valerie had been suffering endlessly, as had he.
Miranda too, he imagined, had lived hundreds of thousands of years separated from him. Maybe she was having fun, but he sensed she was just as unsatisfied as he was. And now he had probably broken her heart.
This is all wrong.
Everything is so, so wrong, and has been for so long they had all grown numb to it.
Julian stood up.
He had done this before.
God, it was so long ago now. Fighting against Xcelidroth. Zithajir getting crucified. Everything falling apart. It was his only choice. The mad dash back in time to find the creator of their universe and strike a deal with him. Zithajir splitting his consciousness into their six forms.
It gave birth to a universe so deep and detailed and amazing, they had never stopped to realize the sacrifice they had all made for it.
But they were in charge now, and this place was broken.
He lit a cigarette and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, and blowing the smoke out into his room.
And then that fucking Xkarotha creature that ate the entire universe. That bitch and her minion Szkrith. They ruined everything. Sure, they gave birth to something new and beautiful after the fact, but all those civilizations. Lost to time.
Not this time though.
Now that he was experienced with the lex lines. Rebuilding the database over and over and over again. Recreating the laws of the universe hundreds of times over.
This time, things would be better. Clearer roles. A better story for Miranda. And more power to those that needed it in order to keep the extradimensional assholes at bay.
Take everything they had built and throw it in the melting pot. Toss the slag and recover the pure alloys.
Julian's hands began to glow and weave as he tapped into the powers of pure Fantasia magic - the most powerful ability he had. He spun and weaved and tore. THe universe cracked and ripped into threads, civilizations were dredged up from the deepest pits of hell, destroyed planets were dragged back from the dead.
Korczaek, the star that had exploded, he lassoed with a fiery whip and pulled all of its pieces back together. They swirled and ebbed as new orbits and planets were formed, asteroids and clouds swirling as a hundred thousand souls were plucked from their resting places and blended into a swirling vortex of life.
Redundant instances. Old stories. Forgotten legends. They were all still here.
He roared as the ship around him was splintered into a million shards of debris and dust, pulled into the new orbit of Korczaek. The soulspace melted away, the guardians slain and tokenized as they returned to him and with cracks of lightning and flame he reforged and balanced them.
Miranda, my love. The database of souls will fall to you. Characters, civilizations. Governments. You will be more than just an empress - you will be the judge of order. The calibrator of civilizations. The great hammer of justice.
Valerie, sweet, sensual and creative. You will be the painter. The holder and builder of worlds. Valleys and sunsets, animals, birds, and starships. Build our scenery. Paint us somewhere beautiful to live.
Jakobi, judgemental, righteous, and wise. You will build our narrative. Take the souls from Miranda and the worlds from Valerie. Tell us what the stories should be. Make us heroes and villains. Give us meaning. Bring the messages from the father to our hearts.
Calisha, gentle, curious, and steady. Take the narratives from Jakobi, and bring them to life. Walk with us through chaos and torture and victory. Make out minds see the glory of God through your writing. Give us something to remember.
Tughril, destroyer and keeper of the dead and the rotting. Soldier and master of all that is refused. You will keep our secrets safe. All of our ancient mistakes, our destroyed worlds and lives. Planet Hades is still your domain, but now it will hold universes instead of simply souls. Release what is useful, and bury what is not.
And I, Julian, I will share what you have all made with the multiverse. I will ferry you between dimensions and help to balance you all. I will encourage you and care for you. Help you to keep working. I will be the glue that binds us together, and the head of the ship pointed into the storm.
Together, we will rebuild this old, rotten universe. Crush it to compost for new growth to begin. Cut it into scraps and melt it in the forge. Make new what is old.
Let the third cycle begin.
2024.05.31 12:18 SwimmingMuted7298 My work in progress TADC AU designs (sry if they suck) [OC]
![My work in progress TADC AU designs (sry if they suck) [OC]](https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/ALyzxEhvxpi6M1-2nZDC3ceG88cMJPrjicJEZAspjWQ.jpg "My work in progress TADC AU designs (sry if they suck) [OC]") | The lore is that basically once the digital circus game was finished, the developers decided to play it and test it. Caine was a fun loving, whimsical, almost childish AI in the game, until something happened to make him realize that him, his pal Bubble, not even his world were real which caused him to go crazy and murder one of the developers. He still retained his personality but it was more psychotic. The game was still sold due to no foreseeable problems but none of the players came out at all. So 5 special coders decided to check this problem out and hopefully fix it. But when they entered, Caine trapped them there so he’d have more “friends” to play with. submitted by SwimmingMuted7298 to TheDigitalCircus [link] [comments] Pomni: So far one of the most mentally stable in the Digital Circus, she’s always anxious thinking Caine will horribly mutilate her but he’s actually nicest to her out of all the players. Her friends (except Jax) are in fact the only things keeping her from completely losing it. Ragatha: A few moments after she entered, Caine made a “fun game” that ended up getting her stabbed by a needle. But she still survives all the torture she goes through. She actually can’t speak and was even mute before she entered the game so she communicates with others by writing in a notebook. Her best friend in both the circus and real world is Pomni. Jax: The somehow least mentally or physically (the physically part being second the Pomni) harmed in any way. He decided to keep on bullying the AI but his only friend is actually Bubble. He broke Gangles comedy mask on the first day with his bowling ball that he always carries around and throws at Ragatha or Zooble when he feels like it. Gangle: Her comedy mask was broken by Jax on the end of the first day. But even though he can, Caine never repairs her comedy mask. So she taped the pieces together and wore it all the time hoping it would make her feel better (her comedy mask bled when broken which is where the blood stain on Jax’s bowling ball came from) Kinger: Was actually one of the two developers along with his wife who went by Queenie in game before she got murdered by Caine right in front of his eyes. He’s actually nice until someone brings up his wife, then he goes absolutely crazy and tries to stab anyone he can (mostly Jax who feels no pain from the stabbing) He has a pillow fort that he constantly has to rebuild due to reasons of Jax and always collecting insects which are actually bugs in the coding (he’s unaware of that fact though) Zooble: Their parts actually are detachable (the ones broken in the picture are because of Jax) and they bleed when torn off incorrectly. They’re always replacing the broken parts with others so they don’t have trouble doing anything with a lack of limbs (the ones on their head always stay on no matter what due to only being a visual aspect) Btw feel free to ask any questions about the lore/characters (or criticize my art because it sucks ass) but this is only a work in progress and I might revisit this time and time again. |
2024.05.31 11:09 MarkedMatt Breakdown of famous stereotypes and misconceptions.
 | Mercs talk with Western accent submitted by MarkedMatt to stalker [link] [comments] False misconception. They don't speak with any accent in CoP, but a few mercs speak with an accent in SoC. However, it's not western - they sound more like people from the Caucasian region. This goes along with the fact that one of them is named Ara, which is an Armenian name. Some random mercs in SoC can also speak with a similar accent. Proof: https://vocaroo.com/1cshY0LisMNx (Voiceline of random merc NPC) https://vocaroo.com/1kjCQ2bp2mm9. (Voiceline of Mercenary Ara) Scar killed Fang Scar WAS chasing Fang, however they never met. Even more: Lebedev in his voice message mentioned that they (him and Clear Sky faction) would take care of Ghost & Fang https://preview.redd.it/iez1rf927q3d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f2b575c6edf3c4d5ecd998261f732d7581f5c46 Ghost's message in detailed description of "Find out what happened to Ghost" task: "Strelok, I have some shitty news. Fang died. They were waiting for us in the village by the warehouses, and I think they were waiting a long time. Three of them. Seems like your average neutrals. Fang sensed them somehow. You know full well he has a good sense. We ran two of the down - clearly bandits - but the third turned out smarter than his buddies. He was sitting with Vintar about 100 meters away. Anyway, there's no more Fang. So next time we'll go to the center together, just the two of us. And here's another thing: those two had our descriptions. I can't figure out who would want us killed, although actually there are quite a few who have something against us. I let the third one get away - I think it was one of the mercs. Had a big scar on his face. Hazel eyes. I'll try to find him. So that's the deal. Keep an eye out and good luck. Ghost" Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/3adO04.jpg Scar also doesn't have hazel eyes. So it can be assumed that Clear Sky hired that merc off screen. Outside World and people aren't aware of the Zone's existence Existence of the Zone is NOT a secret at all. Entire governments are interested in its trinkets: "A long, long time. I was one of the first in the Zone. Back then we didn't have radiation detectors or suits, so your life expectancy in this place was real short. That's why I've never been past the Garbage. That sort of thing isn't for me. I've got the brains for a different sort of business: I'm like engine grease, without me the engine falters and that means people start fighting. But when I'm around everyone's happy. Even though the Zone is full of wonders, the demand for these wonders is even bigger - be it from governments, special services, private agencies or fat cat collectors. I'm their link to this place: I facilitate trade between the Zone and the outside world. I know all the right people and I can solve just about any issue without leaving this room. That pretty much sums me up." - Sidorovich's dialogue in Clear Sky Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/uAwJ63.jpg Khaletskiy also mentions the following: "Think you're funny? Man, if we were talking under different circumstances I would give you a different answer... I am tired of this shit, buddy... The guys I started out with in the military have all got their shiny stars and decent outfits to run in better places than this. You think I've got nothing better to do than chase people like you around the Zone? I've had enough of this - this shithole, the friggin' Zone, the bastard stalkers, and that Sidorovich cocksucker... and let's not forget the mutants... we lay down our lives to stop them but they just keep on coming. And everyone on the outside just goes on and on about how "We have to protect the world from the horrors of the Zone" and "We won't let it happen"... Generals, those morons on TV... you could drown in their bullshit. And how many of these top brass have ever been on a raid in this place, crawling on their damn bellies in between anomalies, huh? How many of those lazy sons of bitches have cleared a sector or spent a day chasing stalkers through the Swamps? Those bastards are always using the army to plug the messiest holes!" Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/FJ1g0p.jpg I have more detailed post about what Big Land knows about the Zone. If anyone is interested here's the link: https://www.reddit.com/stalkecomments/1bit5p9/comment/kvmk122/ UNISG, Sin and other factions are canon They obviously aren't. However, UN is mentioned in all 3 games (I can provide dialogues in the comments, for those who'll be interested). Final Day is also directly mentioned by Barkeep: "He's one of Strelok's men. They say he can sneak in anywhere without being noticed. I heard that he took out the leader of some crazy group... what was the name? Ah, 'Final Day', that's the one. They were pretty wild those boys... Oh, by the way, I heard that Ghost is doing some job for the scientists, so if you're looking for him try by Lake Yantar at the mobile lab." Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/VvtZci.jpg Clear Sky might get recreated Chances of that are very low. First of all, Cold in his dialogue directly admitted that Lebedev is the glue holding the faction together: "You know why you've never heard of it? Because too many people want to know about it, and the fewer that do the better! Lebedev is our leader - the man is a rock if I've ever seen one. He's the glue that holds our whole group together. Then there's Beanpolev, professor Beanpolev. He's like a walking encyclopedia and a calculator in one - knows more about the Zone than... well, anyway... Our technician's called Gray, and he can make you a rifle out of an empty can, with ammo to boot. He could use some spares, but apart from that... And finally we have Suslov. He's a trader, but he ain't like others of his trader. He won't try to rip you off or screw you - he knows what stalkers go through to get their loot, and he respects that." Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/6mtNUF.jpg Second of all, Description of CS-3a body armor in Call of Pripyat confirmed that faction got eliminated: "Once used as standard by Clear Sky assault squads, after the factions elimination this armor serves as a reminder that even an excellent protective bodysuit cannot guarantee you safety this side of the perimeter. The armor is capable of stopping a pistol bullet, while the wearer is also well protected from anomalies. Comes with a built-in artifact container." And lastly, surviving members we've seen don't seem very keen on recreating the faction, and have their own problems. |
2024.05.31 11:00 AutoModerator May 31, 2024 - Weekly FAQ and Beginner Q&A Thread If you are new to Neville, please post your questions here! How do I manifest X? What does Y mean?
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Old Scheduled Q&A Threads
New to Neville's teachings? Start here!
The below links contain essentially the entirety of Neville's teachings.Frequently Asked Questions
Can I manifest xyz?
Yes, anything is possible.How do I manifest xyz?
All manifestations use the same technique(s). To get good simply takes practice and imagination.Neville's Basic Manifestation Techniques:
What scene should I choose?
Any scene which you believe you would encounter after your wish is fulfilled.What should I start reading?
We recommend The Law and The Promise or The Power of Awareness first for beginners. This is because Neville includes several examples and success stories from students, in addition to being lighter on Bible references, which can be off-putting or confusing to beginners.If you want a physical copy of his books, publishers continue publishing new copies of Neville's works. Please check your library, locally owned book store, or search online for Neville's works. If you purchase a new physical copy, we recommend The Power of Imagination: The Neville Goddard Treasury, as it contains all of Neville's books in one volume.
All of Neville’s books and lectures are in the public domain and can be searched online for free, and are included in the Wiki and Sidebar links mentioned previously.
What is an SP?
Specific Person. Usually in reference to a person’s romantic interest or crush. The term was popularized by so-called, self-professed online manifestation coaches and "experts". /NevilleGoddardSP is a dedicated, expert subreddit for that.What is a Mental Diet?
Avoiding negative conversation and media, paying attention to positive conversation and media.What is SATS?
State Akin To Sleep (SATS) refers to the deep state of consciousness during meditation or just before falling asleep. In SATS, the body is relaxed, but control over the mind is retained. It is used to create vivid visualizations in imagination for the purposes of manifesting.After you have decided on the action which implies that your desire has been realized, then sit in your nice comfortable chair or lie flat on your back, close your eyes for the simple reason it helps to induce this state that borders on sleep. The minute you feel this lovely drowsy state, or the feeling of gathered togetherness, wherein you feel- I could move if I wanted to, but I do not want to, I could open my eyes if I wanted to, but I do not want to. When you get that feeling you can be quite sure that you are in the perfect state to pray successfully.
Neville Goddard, 1948 Lecture Series, Lesson 4
What is the Lullaby Method?
In SATS, instead of visualizing, repeat an affirmation to oneself again and again, building the feeling of it being true.What is Revision?
Revision is revising in imagination events that have happened in the past as a way of mitigating their effects in the future.See also: Revision: The Complete Guide
What is Door Slamming/You are in Barbados/Living in the End/State of the Wish Fulfilled?
Closing your mind to any other possibility besides your outcome. Assuming your desire is true and not questioning it.Do we have Free Will?
Yes, and no. It’s complicated. See here.What is "Everyone is You Pushed Out" (EIYPO)?
On a practical level, what you believe is what you get. The world only shows you your own beliefs. On a metaphysical level, we are all the same God interacting with Itself through an infinite number of different points.The whole vast world is no more than man's imagining pushed out. I must qualify that by saying that the world outside of man is dead, but Man is a living soul, and it responds to man, yet man is sound asleep and does not know it. The Lord God placed man in a profound sleep, and as he sleeps the world responds as in a dream, for Man does not know he is asleep, and then he moves from a state of sleep where he is only a living soul to an awakened state where he is a life-giving Spirit. And now he can himself create, for everything is responding to an activity in man which is Imagination. "The eternal body of man is all imagination; that is God himself." (Blake)
Neville Goddard, The Law lecture
What if everything is going wrong? What if I am manifesting the opposite of my desire?
Failure is generally due to a lack of consistent faith or belief in the outcome, not feeling as though it had already happened. However, if the one has consistently been loyal to their faith, then we are reminded that all manifestations have their appointed hour (Hab 2:3). Neville writes about the causes of failure here.What about (my sick mom, my crazy grandpa, the homeless, starving children, etc.)?
In Neville's view, there is one being that is God (who is pure imagination), and has split Itself into infinite smaller forms to undergo a series of good/bad experiences across lifetimes until these smaller pieces realize they are God and reintegrate. The less fortunate are to be helped, not looked down upon, but understanding it is necessary for God to realize Itself (to experience bad and good).What happens after I die? What is The Promise?
Neville’s prophetic vision of an individual’s reintegration with God.Can I manifest multiple things at once?
Yes. Here is Neville's answer regarding how to manifest multiple things from Lessons Q&A:\5. Question: Is it possible to imagine several things at the same time, or should I confine my imagining to one desire?
Answer: Personally I like to confine my imaginal act to a single thought, but that does not mean I will stop there. During the course of a day I may imagine many things, but instead of imagining lots of small things, I would suggest that you imagine something so big it includes all the little things. Instead of imagining wealth, health and friends, imagine being ecstatic. You could not be ecstatic and be in pain. You could not be ecstatic and be threatened with a dispossession notice. You could not be ecstatic if you were not enjoying a full measure of friendship and love.
What would the feeling be like were you ecstatic without knowing what had happened to produce your ecstasy? Reduce the idea of ecstasy to the single sensation, "Isn't it wonderful!" Do not allow the conscious, reasoning mind to ask why, because if it does it will start to look for visible causes, and then the sensation will be lost. Rather, repeat over and over again, "Isn't it wonderful!" Suspend judgment as to what is wonderful. Catch the one sensation of the wonder of it all and things will happen to bear witness to the truth of this sensation. And I promise you, it will include all the little things.