Im sorry about what happened. I didn’t disappear on you intentionally.
If you remember 2010, I left because i had no idea you might have feelings for me or that i did and because i thought you didn’t care about me as a friend. Seemed like you had so many good friends and i was afraid that you would hurt me like N did. Im weird about friendships because I barely had any growing up and seemed to constantly lose friends. I didn’t leave to hurt you I just thought you wouldn’t notice.
Then more recently, i was in love with you. I didn’t want to hurt you. Not ever. I started to think you were using me along with him encouraging that idea then the proxy changed and became nasty and i didnt even know you were still out there loving me. I didn’t know it hurt you and realizing last night from your letter hit me like a truck cause i never wanted to be the person that appears to prove your trauma fears right especially not for you. I know what thats like and i know how horrible it feels (though with a different trauma of course) and it pains me so much that thats how it was for you.
Im so sorry but as i was saying I didn’t do it on purpose. I just didn’t even know. The thing about our relationship is it was through letters and i stopped looking at letters and i guess I stopped writing them too. So you couldn’t know and i dont remember seeing anything from you. I vaguely remember you were upset that i was talking to him but i don’t know if you knew he ghosted me after seeing my picture. I dunno. I was so lost and confused at the time. Writing letters became too difficult, thats why i stopped.
I guess i am a terrible person. I shouldn’t have talked to him though i remember someone kept trying to talk to me during the beginning. It was probably him.
And based on the fact that i got psychosis just from talking to a dude casually a while before that (when we werent talking cause you told me to leave you alone, which id still like to know what happened there, that whole thing really hurt me but that’s not the point of this), i was far too traumatized by men then to have any clue about him (A). Unfortunately. (Btw, i wish we had a more private place to hash out private things)
Im not trying to make excuses and please don’t say i am (cause my mom has forever and ever) but this whole thing was more complicated than perhaps you thought.
Im conflicted because i feel like this is the path i had to go down, to find myself and figure out my traumas but i never meant to hurt you along the way. I never wanted you to feel abandoned and left without a word. I can’t imagine how that must have felt. This will eat away at me probably for the rest of my life.
Im sorry, this is a shitty explanation and apology but apparently all i could come up with at the moment. My brain is all over the place.
So, thats why i thought you wouldnt want to give it a try anymore. Seemed too terrible to ever trust me again.
I do love you (but without any contact how can i show you? I wanna show you) and i see a future everywhere around me of us. Comes up unbidden. Sometimes i think i hear you, im not sure. And i worry im so bad at just everything that youll think im just some user. I don’t know how many users go through extreme embarrassment though lol. They’d be smoother too. Im so awkward.
I froze when i realized just what id done (inadvertently). From the letter. I shut down completely. My guilt is never ending, what’s some more. But for reasons i can’t explain right now (one day though) this guilt is extra excruciating. Cause it’s you. The one i adore most.
You always thought (it seemed) that id done something to hurt you with all this intangible guilt i carried around but it was just how i annihilated the whole world.
I wish i could hold you. You can yell at me if you want. If it helps. I wish i could just be near you.
It’s been like 5 years. I can’t believe it. We’re due to see each other again.
Anyway, i love you and i hope you have sweet dreams when you sleep baby (he calls you babygirl ive noticed). I’ll stop calling you that.

sorry for the long read but I need to get things off my chest.
so throwaway account. I (20f) am from a religious b ackground (Islam to be exact). this all began 2 years ago when I moved near my parents family to be closer to them for awhile. well there I met my cousin m26 (moms sisters son) and I thought he was a cool kid you know?
boy was I wrong! he tried talking to me in a flirty manner within the first week of me being here. I took it personally as I believe im a religious person and dont want to talk to anyone I wouldnt consider a future husband . told my mom about it because it freaked me out and she says it’s ok??
it’s ok for him to talk to me this way? when she forbade me from ever talking to a man! I was rightfully livid as I didn’t want his attention and was not interested. Instead of confronting me she says im being rude and I need to talk back to him. I get super scared because he comes to our place once a week and he’d always come in my room even when I pretend to be asleep he tries to hug me or shake my hand which is very haram.
mind you we are no way shape of form married. I never agreed to anything with him let alone be married. he would try to sweet talk me and it was so freaking weird to be there honestly. I’m from the west so this is extra weird and also because he’s so close to my family it made me feel worse as I didn’t like what he was doing and saying.
I blocked him last year this time around as I was trying to be a better Muslim and I didn’t like him so what’s the point of talking? well he didn’t like it and he’d still came over and still came up to my room. sometimes I was actually asleep and he’d ruin it.
fast forward to last month i unblocked because I needed to ask something for my mom. well he started acting up and just this past Monday he came over. however this time he tried to touch me more that just a hug. he smelled my neck and even though I pushed him away he grabbed my boob more than once and tried to touch me in other places. I was very horrified I didn’t know what to do. so I just froze in place then a few seconds later he left the room and went home
I’ve been feeling really dirty lately I don’t ever wanna see him again and I can’t tell anyone in my family why he makes me feel so panicky. I always have a panic attack when he comes to visit my family and since he’s so close to my parents I don’t know how to bring it up. and also I just know my mother would never believe me. I know my mom and she’d never believe her nephew could do such a thing.
she’s the one that tried to force me to have a relationship with him and also gaslight me in a million different ways. I always felt bad because of that but I never promised the guy anything. I know he is trying to use me for my passport and that plus the way he acts makes me sick to my stomach.
what do I do? we as a family are supposed to go out tomorrow night as me and my family will move back to the states later this week inshallah. I don’t want to be included while he’s there. and when I tell my mom I don’t wanna go with everyone she’ll ask why and how to I answer if she won’t believe me?? I feel so uncomfortable and have no one to talk. pls five give me advice.

So him and I have been texting daily for about 5 months, and recently became a couple, it's an online relationship. He has been telling me about his mental health and how he's grieving and feels sad from stuff surrounding him (I won't specify) and that he wants to be alone. He never really asked for a break from me, and he would always talk sweetly with me and baby me in a sense and tell me how much he loves me. There wasn't really any fights between us, we got along quite well, but randomly a few days ago he told me that he's not cheating and we should go our separate ways and that i should find another boy to make me happy and that I should know that I'm a great person, these messages came out of nowhere in the middle of the night after I said goodnight, and literally every single message before those was super sweet and super adorable and flirty. That left me feeling quite confused and hurt. Did he lie? Or was he just consumed by his sadness? Would I possibly get some sort of explanation and an unblock? I'm really confused on this one, I genuinely care for him and I really want the best for him, I feel absolutely hurt, a part of me really knows he's genuine, he wasn't in the greatest mental health state.

really hoping this goes through, new account because i don't use reddit and am taking advice from friends to branch out onto here! (ᵔ◡ᵔ)
my names lusine, and looking to make some friends/ mutuals! I’m 18, and from the united kingdom/london. I’m down to text, voice call + meet up potentially? (only if we get rlly close sorry!)
my favourite genres are psychological horrothriller. any recommendations would be welcome i am mainly a manga reader but I do sometimes read books when I can find the time.
manga/ anime: berserk, monster, serial experiments lain, paranoia agent, evangelion, ergo proxy, oyasumi punpun, perfect blue
bands/ artists: depeche mode, the cure, the smiths, talking heads, deftones, radiohead, malice mizer, modest mouse, jack stauber, bo burnham, nirvana.
games: valorant, minecraft (i play forge modded/java/bedrock), stardew valley
some hobbies include: baking and cooking - i love making sweet treats, crocheting/knitting, jewellery making/soft soldering, botany/plant care, and reptile keeping.
please dm me if interested, and include ur name, age and some interests! i'll try to get to all of you <3
pls be nice

really hoping this goes through, new account because i don't use reddit and am taking advice from friends to branch out onto here! (ᵔ◡ᵔ)
my names lusine, and looking to make some friends/ mutuals! I’m 18, and from the united kingdom/london. I’m down to text, voice call + meet up potentially? (only if we get rlly close sorry!)
my favourite genres are psychological horrothriller. any recommendations would be welcome i am mainly a manga reader but I do sometimes read books when I can find the time.
manga/ anime: berserk, monster, serial experiments lain, paranoia agent, evangelion, ergo proxy, oyasumi punpun, perfect blue
bands/ artists: depeche mode, the cure, the smiths, talking heads, deftones, radiohead, malice mizer, modest mouse, jack stauber, bo burnham, nirvana.
games: valorant, minecraft (i play forge modded/java/bedrock), stardew valley
some hobbies include: baking and cooking - i love making sweet treats, crocheting/knitting, jewellery making/soft soldering, botany/plant care, and reptile keeping.
please dm me if interested, and include ur name, age and some interests! i'll try to get to all of you <3

So, I'm a bit dumbfounded and distraught and confused over this still. I shouldn't be surprised, but there's just no closure at all. He's just... gone.
I met up with this guy and we really hit it off. It was originally supposed to be FWB, so we had sex. The sex was incredible, and arguably, the best sex we had so far. (Having sex for four hours straight, mind you.) I am a trans woman and he made me feel like a woman. I don't know how he did it, but he validated me in so many ways. After we finally finished, he was like "I feel like you just made love to me." While we were cuddling, he was like "I might just fuck around and make you my girlfriend." I got really excited. Could this be finally happening? I felt that we really connected. He came over the next night (after technically ghosting me at my band's gig.) He said that his power went out and he woke up late. He works third shift at a factory so I forgave him and he said that he still wanted to see me. He came over that night after the gig and we talked for hours into the night and then finally made love again. It was incredible. Afterward, he said something like, "So, are we gonna do this or what?" I said, "You don't think it's going too fast?" He said, "I know people that have gotten together after the first date, and people that have gotten married after the first date. Plus, you moaned that you wanted to be my girlfriend several times while we were having sex." I said, "Only because you asked questions about that during it." "So, will you be my girlfriend?" "Yes, I will be your girlfriend." We fell asleep cuddling and happy. The next morning we had sex again and he left. Everything seemed amazing. I finally had a boyfriend. Or so I thought... We talked through text throughout the day and I was like "You don't have to come to see my on Sunday since you said you had to save gas." He said, "No, I want to see my girlfriend." I said "Okay, cool. I'll see you at 7 tomorrow then." He said, "Goodnight gorgeous and cuddle the kitties for me." I said, "Always."
I texted him in the morning and casually throughout the day. Sending memes and stuff like we usually did. He didn't respond to any of them. When 7 p.m. came around, I started to get worried and I started to cry because he didn't show up. I tried calling him. It rang once and it went to voicemail. I thought, "Fuck. I am blocked." But, I didn't want to believe it. Then, I *67'ed his number and it rang 4 or 5 times and then directly went to voicemail. I left him a sad e-mail begging him not to do this to me and then I left an angry e-mail. It really hurt me. I do not have the greatest history with relationships, but with the way he was acting, I really thought that he was different. I understand that I didn't fully know him. It was only two days, but it was an incredible two days. And now I'm really struggling to process what just happened. I've never been hurt in this way before. It's a new low for him and for me. I really thought that I might have found the love of my life. There was no fighting. No arguments. Just sweetness. It seemed perfect. And he just vanishes. I started to go crazy a little bit. Did I just make him up because I'm that desperate?
I have a feeling that things just went way too fast and he got scared at how well we were connecting to each other, but isn't that the fucking point? My trust in men is almost gone now and I don't know how it hasn't been completely depleted after this. I gave him a couple days to come back and he never did. I stayed blocked. And so I blocked him. I unblocked him today to see if there was an off chance that I had blocked too early. No texts or calls came thru, so I blocked him again.
Why do guys do this? Why do I always attract emotionally unavailable men?

This is my first post ever and it’s gonna be long folks, so grab a snack and buckle up.
I (F24) and friend (F24) have been friends since middle school. We were very close, lived with each other twice, and even considered each other family as we had been through a lot of life’s struggles together. Even though we were “best friends” I have always had to be the one who maintains the friendship if that makes sense. Like when we were living in different cities, I would have to be the one to text or call her maybe once a month and she never reached out first. Her reasoning was always “you know I struggle calling and texting if I don’t see the person every day” which has always rubbed me the wrong way because she has had numerous romantic partners that she very enthusiastically makes sure to keep in touch, make plans, FaceTime with, etc. (even if they were an asshole which even she’s admitted).
My job is very busy in the fall so I was only able to reach out to hang maybe 2 or 3 times between August-December with 2ish FaceTime calls. One of which I playfully complained that she never reaches out and she responded with the same “you know I struggle with that”. A monthish goes by, and I called her for a quick chat in January. She then revealed she had a new boyfriend of three weeks that she met at a bar and we planned a double date. I was a little hurt that she hadn’t said anything for so long but I smiled and hyped her up because yay! New love is so exciting!
The guy was nice and a little over a month later was my birthday. The week of, I decided hey, I haven’t celebrated my birthday in years and it actually lands on a weekend. I’m gonna throw a little get together! Cook for my friends, play games, have some drinks, just a chill but fun night. I knew inviting her was a stretch because she’s voiced that she’s not fond of hanging out with me when other people are involved. Something about how she feels weird that I’m friends with them but she’s not so it feels uncomfortable? My other friends through my job are very welcoming and she’s hung out with them before and even said she had a good time but idk shes wishy washy with if she’ll join or not.
She said she’d come and I even offered to invite her boyfriend, who at that time she’d known for a little under two months. Later in the week, I invited the two of them to the pre-party lunch that my boyfriend and I were having and she said they would join. The day of I check in with her about the evening because she said she wasn’t sure if her boyfriend would come. I will admit this made me nervous because she has always been a person who REALLY focuses on her relationship when she’s in one (she has also admitted this to some degree).
She informs me that they’ll do the lunch but neither of them will be coming to the party because her boyfriend’s mom wants her to meet her new boyfriend. I’ll rephrase because it makes me laugh a little: They would not be attending my first celebration in YEARS because she needs to meet her boyfriend’s mom’s boyfriend.
I didn’t care that the boyfriend couldn’t come, obviously, so my first text back was “is it a special occasion??” Which she responded with “well she really wants me to meet him”. I asked if [redacted] could go to that by himself and got the same response. I then texted her how I was disappointed that she was willing to not attend over something like that and her responses were pretty much “sorry, can’t do anything about it”. I ended up FaceTiming her and elaborating.
I told her that I was disappointed that she was willing to upset me over her boyfriend’s mother. Like it wasn’t a serious occasion and she’s known those people for less than two months, and me for 12 years. I remember saying “I’m not going to force you to come. I’m saying that if the roles were reversed I would just reschedule something like that so I could show up for my best friend.” She kind of just blankly stared at the camera and awkwardly said sorry a couple of times. I was hurt because I have done a lot for her and have shown up for her in a lot more ways than she has for me. Looking back, she would say to me a lot about how selfish she really was and I’d always say no because she does have a kind side to her but after all this and some other stuff, I really see it now.
My boyfriend and I got ready to go to lunch and were on the way. My stomach was in knots because I’m just so hurt but not surprised by the situation. I eventually text her, cancel lunch, and essentially say I’m upset because she clearly just did not care to miss and did not care that I was upset and was choosing to show up for people she knew for under 2 months at that time. She could have cancelled with the mom, offered to reschedule, come after the meeting, or just came by herself while her boyfriend went to that. Three of those I had said on FaceTime. I ended it with I still want to be friends, I consider you family and this just really disappointed me.
After that text she gave the same response of “I’m sorry, I just don’t understand” then added “I didn’t know it was that big of a deal, you should have been upfront with how you felt instead of being passive aggressive. The amount of time I’ve known [redacted] does not matter because him and his family are my priority now.”
Reading that confused me because I feel like I was very clear so how was she confused? It also affirmed the one fear I had for our friendship since I was a kid and that’s the reality that she might unashamedly value a romantic relationship over our friendship in a situation that didn’t make sense other than “but my boyfrieeeend”. My next text essentially told her she would laugh at her actions if someone else had done them, reminded her of how I’ve always prioritized showing up for her in numerous ways, wished her the best with [redacted], and said I’ll take a step back from our friendship so she never has to choose to not have her #1 priority be her relationship because clearly that’s what she’ll pick every time. I then blocked her (she’s unblocked now) because I was over her lack of understanding and empathy and wanted to enjoy my celebration that night.
For some back story on her charactecontributing reasons why I pulled away: She’s very good at giving thoughtful gifts and is a funny person with good manners. I noticed some odd things about her character when we lived together though. For example: I paid 300 more dollars in rent and all utilities because I made more money than her and she voiced multiple times “I cannot pay more than 700 dollars for everything for the month” so I covered everything beyond that so we could stay in a better place that wasn’t in a dangerous area for two young women (which she initially wanted to live in so I respected that I would have to cover the rest to be more comfortable). I had zero issue with this arrangement, but would then notice how she would go on shopping sprees of 100+ dollars, date nights out multiple times a week, new make up/skin care, etc. which made me a little confused. In addition, our electricity bill was between 125-255 dollars for a two bedroom apartment because she left lights on all the time and I eventually gave up asking her to remember to turn them off. For reference, I live with my boyfriend in a bigger two bedroom and the most we’ve had to pay was 110ish in the summer and usually around 70-90. When our lease ended and I decided to move closer to work, she never thanked me or mentioned all that I had done for us to be in a nice place while she got to buy the things she wanted. I understand doing something like that means I shouldn’t expect to be worshipped, but if I were in her shoes I would make a point to at least communicate some form of a thank you (which might make me the asshole because in my goodbye text I mentioned that I “even paid bills for us to have a nice place and I’m still not relevant enough to miss meeting a boyfriend’s mom’s boyfriend”). When I was thinking about getting my current dog, I asked if she was willing to help let him out midday as she worked less than 5 mins from our apartment and would gloat about taking 1-2 hour lunches because “it didn’t matter.” I said I would not get a puppy if I couldn’t have help with that as he was so young and I worked 45 mins from home. I told her she had every right to say no, but she “loves dogs” so she said yes. For threeish weeks things went great until I started coming home to my dog laying in his own piss. I voiced my confusion and concern to her for about a week and she would say “Really? That’s so weird”. I finally decided to check the puppy cam and found what I was hoping I wouldn’t. She has stopped letting him out, saw me giving him baths every day, and didn’t say anything. I asked her about it and she awkwardly said “oh I just don’t have time to do that”. I ended up hiring someone to check on him and he’s doing great and is almost two now! Lastly, she also never showed up to performances of mine when I have gone to support her at similar occasions. She’d even be on the couch in her pajamas as I walked out the door for one and would yell bye lol?? All of these little things she did made me question if she really was this kind and sweet person I had always seen her as.
In conclusion, I still think about her and this situation almost if not daily and it’s been 4 months of radio silence. I feel so betrayed and hurt because we truly were like sisters and went through life together for so long. She has never had as many friends as I had so I’m shocked she just let this friendship go so easily when she’s mentioned how she “can’t act like herself around others like she does with me.” Technically, I’m the one that ended it, but if I had a friend communicate the things I did, I would try anything to make them know I care about them. The silence is making me think maybe I was the asshole in all of this. My boyfriend actually works with her and she has NEVER brought it up to him. But then again, I’m not someone who can fuck her, so why would she put in effort to reach out? (petty I know, but a legitimate thought of mine)
Part of me just wants her to reach out so I can tell her how she’s the only friend of mine that didn’t put in at least similar effort in the friendship. So I can get her to see how poorly she valued me in return…. Then again, her therapist is probably hearing her warped POV and affirming her actions (petty but also another thought of mine)
If you made it this far, thank you. I stayed as transparent as possible and gave the best play by play I could so I’m all ears! I also feel a little pathetic that it’s been plaguing my mind all these months later when clearly she does not care enough to say something. I know I could have handled it better in some ways but I feel wronged so I refuse to seek her out first…maybe I really am the asshole?

information:
Celestial Spectre: idk is a mini-boss in the greenhouse who spawns when you charge attack the large bell hanging in the bottom left area of the map. He drops the Avarice Jade, a jade which, for 2 computing power slots, grants more Jin when killing enemies. He is in my opinion really damn hard and it took me like 30 tries to kill him, which is why I'm writing this guide.
I'm going to assume that since you are reading this, Celestial Spectre: something or another(from here on out I'm going to abbreviate it to CS because Celestial spectre: what's his name is too long) has probably whooped your ass a couple of times. Upon respawning for the 400th time, run back to the area underneath the shopkeeper, parrying the spear guy and spike-shooting flying guy to gain some Qi charges, and go down into the arena. CS is strange in that he does not immediately attack you upon your entrance to the arena, and is facing away from you. As soon as you get onto the floor, use your azure bow for a shadowstrike to deal around 1/4 of his health, then dash in to get a couple of hits in, but be warned, as he will soon disappear after the battle starts, leaving behind a bomb.
Jades:
Statis jade is pretty solid here as it can allow you to get shadowstrike talisman explosions which deal around a solid tenth of his health.
General fight:
CS will run towards you and try to stand on top of you, then will use his attacks, most of which leave behind bombs. He spends a significant portion of the fight just standing around, so you are safe to heal *most* of the time.
Since this fight is in an arena surrounded by yellow water, make sure you stick to the center of the arena lest you be knocked into the water and take extra damage
Attacks:
Bomb teleport: CS throws down a bomb and disappears, repeating behind the bomb. By dashing right as he throws the bomb down, you will be in the perfect position to get a few hits in before he reappears. However, be wary as he will mix it up with the next attack.
Bomb teleport with diving slash: CS throws down a bomb, but instead of just repeating behind it, he appears behind and above it in the perfect spot to catch you dashing, then dives down with an unblockable crimson slash. Be wary of this when dashing forward anticipating the bomb teleport, as it can easily catch you unaware. If you move back slightly and wait a bit after he throws the bomb, you can see his telegraph, or if you dash instantly after he throws it, you should be able to dash again before he lands and get a few attacks on his back.
Bomb teleport with throwing needles: CS throws down a bomb then leaps back, throwing 2 needle projectiles. If you have fought the other spectre-type enemies, this is the same needle attack that they use. Simply parry the needles, which can be reflected to deal some damage if you have bullet deflect. He will often open a fight with this attack so be careful.
Double Jump & Double slash: CS bounces twice then slashes twice. The timing on the slashes can be tricky, so make sure to be ready to parry as soon as he ends the second jump. Since he bounces around you, he can attack from any angle, so be sure to turn towards where he lands the second time, as parrying attacks from behind does not work. As soon as this attack ends, he will almost immediately start another attack, so save your Qi dashes as they will likely miss. He will often follow this attack up with either another Double Jump & Double Slash, or a Jump & Downward Slash, so be wary.
Jump & Downward Slash: This move is similar to the previous one, but instead of a double slash, he will do a singular downward slash. The jump on this move is visually distinct from the previous move, so you will know which one he is doing after a couple of times. The slash on this move comes out super fast, so be extra alert so you can parry it. After successfully parrying it, you can use a talisman dash to deal some solid damage.
Lunge with Bombs: This is CS' most annoying move to deal with in my opinion because it's so damn fast! After a short period of telegraphing, he lunges forward with a green unblockable crimson sword attack. During this time, he will leave a trail of 3 bombs behind him, making dodging through the attack safely difficult. As this is an unblockable attack, you should keep your distance or jump above him. This attack hits inside of him and a little bit behind him on start-up, so beware of that as well. Fortunately, this attack has a long recovery time during which you can still Tai Chi kick or skull kick, which leaves him staggered and open for a sweet sweet talisman shadowstrike, as long as you avoid his bombs.
forward Thanks for reading, and good luck fighting this obnoxious 'mini'-boss. If I missed anything or if anyone remembers his name, please let me know, as I fought this guy like 30 minutes ago and probably forgot something.

Hi, I (22f) have known my friends(both of them are also 22f) since we were 4 years old. For anonymity ill call them susan and stacy. A little background about their personailities: 1. Susan:is a bit narcissistic who cant take others opinions or doesnt like when someone does better than her. To the point where she would even slap someone for talking to me(we were bestfriends) and i couldnt pay attention to her for barely 10secs. She went on and slapped stacy too hard. Also she doesnt believe in sharing. Not even textbooks, food, nothing and she will be a bitch about it. So fast forward to 17 years, i had this crush in my school but it faded off since i realised it was infatuation. Susan knew everything about this and encouraged me to stop talking to that guy. I do that since i didnt want any more trouble. Now i got to know from that guy(we eventually started talking being as friends) that susan invited him to her home and they did the deed. Now dont get me wrongbut i know how susans brain works. I didnt confront her about it. I thought she would tell me. So now this girl is texting that guy asking him stuff like whos a better smoocher me or susan? 2. Stacy: is bipolar at its worst, would suddenyl block/unblock people as she pleases, but was kinda sweet to me. Until...we were together with a bunch of dudes and she started being a pick me girl;she would start calling me names. She would say stuff like idk how girls wear makeup i could never..and next day would ask me to teach her how to do it. I would skip necessary exchange of dialogue since identities will be at risk. But she would say things like im broke cant afford stuff(exact words) infront of guys, and keep in mind she owes me money...a lot of money.. Ive known her for 20 something years and kept inviting her to night outs or fun activities, she never came. I thought it was because shes an introvert,but i get to know that she is going out at nights with her male friends(her parents are super conservative), now she would ask me to cover her if her parents call. So i talked to susan about stacy since we three were good friends, she responded positively. Note:stacy doesnt have any female friends, cant make any since "they are too much drama and toxic". Only hangs out with 8-10 dudes who try to hit on her. Me being mad i talked shit and in very rude tone. I also confronted her..she begged me to not break the friendship and shes sorry. And me and stacy both know how crazy and bitchy susan gets. We talk about it all the time. Now they confront me about the bitching and i apologize, since i was wrong to do that about my friends and stacy tells me everything is okay she doesnt want to lose our friendship and stuff. We meet next day,we talk share laughs, do stupid stuff. And stacy tells me her phone is damaged so i try to call or text her. It was her birthday recently, and i wanted to wish her, i call her but she blocked me. I thought could be because of broken phone. I check her socials....non existent..so again i blamed it on her phone. But i really wanted to wish her so i took my friends phone to see if i can call from her phone....and it worked. I could also see her socials! So she was just being nice for what? Thing is these girls team up on me and are telling me i am wrong to feel avoided or neglected and put other assumptions/allegations on me. So i cut them both off. And am peaceful now. Its tiring being the one who always reaches out to them. So i want to know AITA? Sorry the post is too long, and not in perfect language.

Hi there everyone!
​
Welcome to Woot Woot Wednesday! Use this space for sharing all the sweet stuff going on with your games.
Did you have an awesome play in a game?
A super deep stack of counterspells?
Pick up some sweet bling in the mail?
Make or get a custom proxy you want to show off?
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Share your stories and pictures here in this thread!
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Good vibes only!

What Does Open Proxy Mean on Instagram?

Instagram has stringent rules regarding its usage, and encountering an "Open Proxy" error indicates that you won't be able to access the app or website from the device using the flagged IP address. This typically means Instagram has banned your IP, rejecting all data requests sent from it.

What May Cause This?

1. Excessive liking, commenting, or following/unfollowing accounts.
2. An IP address associated with past malicious activities on the platform.
3. Using public Wi-Fi that has been exploited for malicious purposes.
4. Unrecognized login attempts or posting unusual content.
5. Clicking on links from unfamiliar sources.

How to Fix Instagram Open Proxy Error?

The first step is to try unblocking access directly through Instagram support, though success is often limited, especially if your actions still violate the platform's rules. Another option is using an Instagram proxy. An Instagram proxy acts as an intermediary server, masking your device’s IP address and providing an additional layer of privacy and security. This setup allows your device to communicate with Instagram via the proxy server, which forwards your requests on your behalf.

The Power of Instagram Unblock Proxy

Beyond resolving IP bans, Instagram proxies offer various advantages, such as managing multiple accounts, growing followers, and scraping information. Here’s what you can do with Instagram unblock proxies:

1. Access Unblocked: Proxies can help bypass restrictions in workplaces, educational institutions, or countries. While VPNs provide comprehensive security and privacy, proxies are faster as they do not encrypt the entire internet connection.
2. Manage Multiple Accounts: Instagram allows up to five accounts per user. Proxies are essential for handling more than a few accounts, preventing your IP from being flagged by Instagram.
3. Grow Followers: Multiple accounts with unique profiles and content strategies can attract more followers. While this approach may not be entirely ethical, adhering to Instagram’s guidelines ensures sustainable growth.

How to Use Instagram Proxy Effectively?

1. Assign One Account per Proxy: Allocate just one account to a distinct proxy to prevent potential banning issues. Choose high-quality, reputable proxy providers with IP rotation and advanced security features.
2. Scrape Slowly: Use web scraping tools or custom scripts in programming languages like Python. Mimic human behavior by adding random pauses between requests and limiting concurrent requests.
3. Avoid Free Proxies: Free proxies are often unreliable and insecure. They are usually overcrowded, slow, and may not provide privacy or anonymity. Known free proxy IP addresses are actively blocked by Instagram.

OkeyProxy is a top choice for Instagram proxies. Offering rotating residential, static residential, and data center proxies, OkeyProxy’s rotating residential proxies, obtained from authentic residential users, make your Instagram bot nearly identical to real users, allowing you to automate tasks without the risk of being blocked.

Hi everyone! Been dating an absolute sweet man for about 9 months now. We are long distance and we get to meet every 3 months for a month or so. Our relationship has had some disagreements and fights but they were mostly for small reasons or due to miscommunication. He’s been withdrawn lately and I was anxious to understand what happened and how he feels. Basically I wanted to go visit him but our plans fell through because of miscommunication and he took it upon himself that it’s his fault and thought I’m blaming him. I changed my communication style to not point fingers and use more ‘ I ‘ statements which I maintained throughout without losing my cool. He randomly blocked me everywhere and unblocked me later saying he can’t do this and blocked me. Few hours later he texted me again on another platform and sent me pictures he has taken of me and said he loves how happy I look and he wants me to always smile and take care of myself. I replied in a very civil manner and thanked him and now he responded that I am always free to talk to him but he can’t continue our relationship and he still thinks of our times and apologised saying it’s hard for him as well but he can’t keep going on like this. I haven’t replied because I see he’s still high on emotions and don’t want to ruin my chances of having him back. Do you guys have any thoughts?

It's been over a year. When will this end?
I haven't spoken to her in almost a year. I ran into her at an event yesterday.
I tried to keep it light. But next thing I knew I was telling her how much our relationship meant to me, and please unblock. I don't even care to be in a romantic relationship. Just end this punishment.
She basically threw daggers at my face. She mocked me. Laughed at me. Called me "pathetic". Said there was no way. She said the relationship didn't mean that much to her. I basically humiliated myself.
My diarrhea and insomnia came back last night. As well as my uncontrollable crying. I could barely get though the day.
I don't even like her anymore. I'm scared of her. She intimidates me. She's rude. She's mean-spirited. She's cruel.
She's like the opposite of what I want in a relationship: Kind, patient, understanding, generous, communicative. This person is none of those things. Quite the opposite.
So why am I sucking up to her?
Why am I tiptoeing around her like I don't have a right to be at a community event I was invited to?
Why do I feel guilty about "disturbing her space"?
Why am I still crying over this????
She blocked me. I have always said I will never have a relationship with anyone who uses blocking. I can't stand it. It is a particular trigger of mine. I wouldn't mind literally anything else. But blocking. I made that rule for myself nearly ten years ago.
And yet, here I am. Still begging for girl for a pathetic morsel. "Please let's just be friends on Facebook". Like. Dear Lord what is wrong with me.
I don't like her. I don't respect her. I think she's a coward. I think she a narcissist really. She definitely has mental health issues. (Which is fine, so do I, clearly).
I'm so angry at myself for not just turning around and saying "peace out". I don't need to humiliate myself like this.
In my mind I said something kind and sweet. If I had been the person on the other end of that, I would have said: "That is all sweet... Thank you.", and I would have given the other person a hug. "Sorry it didn't work out. But you meant something to me too."
Her? Nope.
She flicked her cigarette and blew smoke in my face.
It hurt.
This whole thing has cut me to my soul.
Please make this go away.

Not really sure where Feather is in popularity these days, but with the announcement and sell-out of the Hatsune Miku Secret Lair, it seemed like she's gotten a bit of a return in attention.
For those of you unfamiliar, I'm talking about Feather, the Redeemed. As I'm not so narcissistic to make a video about this (jk content creators, love you!) I figured I'd at least make a reddit post to show off a little thought exercise of [[Feather, the Redeemed]] where I broke down all the different ways to build her and hone her into the various themes and sub-themes.
DISCLAIMER: I've only actually built one of these decks, but eventually plan to put them all together to keep my table sort-of guessing at which Feather has come to the table. If you have experience with any of these, please feel free to offer your thoughts!
The Basics: Feather is a spell-slinger commander capable of offering tremendous value with Boros pump-spells. She doesn't care which creature you target, as long as it's one of yours, and she exiles once the spell has resolved which allows for some really nice interactions with a few cards.
Feather can and should be built on a budget, at least initially. She doesn't need to be upgraded because she doesn't respond well to upgrades. I would go so far as to say that the only time you should put a card in a Feather deck that costs more than $5-$10usd is if you pulled it from a pack or bought it for another deck but have it laying around doing nothing. Seriously! Your first Feather deck shouldn't cost more than $50, and you can probably build a great Feather deck for $30usd. She's an amazing budget commander. Just note that she's also a bit of a known entity to experienced Commander players, so make sure you don't skimp on the protection and be prepared to re-cast her a few times.
Core Cards: Part of the reason I wanted to break these decks out is to see how often certain cards needed to be with Feather. I determined that Feather really is the only non-land card that's essential to her deck, such is the flexibility she provides as long as you package a decent support system for her. That being said there are a few cards that work well enough with her that you should at least pick those singles up if you plan on building her, with those being:

• Cantrip Spells: Normally "Draw a Card" is just a bonus. A way to replace a card in your hand. Few outside of the greenest Magic the Gathering players consider this card draw. With Feather, though, we're recurring our spells for free (barring our opponents interacting with them/Feather), so casting a [[Defiant Strike]] is basically spending one white mana to draw a card per turn cycle at a minimum. It gets out of hand when you add in some creatures I'll mention next, but needless to say you want 8-10 of these in a deck to really get the kind of card advantage that's rarely available to Boros.
• At Least 25 Instant Spells: I only broke this rule once in the decks below, but 30 Instant spells is the usual sweet spot with 25 being a strong minimum. Only run less if you have some serious permanents to play.
• "Mana Generators": [[Storm-Kiln Artist]], a <$1USD creature is easily the one card that should go in 99% of Feather decks. It's price is barely an obstacle, it just got a reprint, and the effect it creates is inordinately powerful when paired with our Angel and a handful of spells. It turns every turn into your turn (but wait! That's Communism!) and really gets out of hand if you cast an [[Ancestor's Aid]] or [[Sudden Breakthrough]]. If it's within your budget, [[Birgi, God of Storytelling]] and [[Urabrask // The Great Work]] are worth picking up, but they're both $10+ and only necessary for certain Red-centric deck archetypes (RED?! COMMUNISSMMMM!!!) Other options include the new Rodeo Pyromancers and Pain Distributor. Lastly, while not necessary in any Feather deck, Smothering Tithe is actually better than usual with her. Feather generates so much value off a single mana that your opponents will have to actually weigh whether or not they pay the 2.
• Zada and Mirrorwing: These two are also worth considering, although Mirrorwing at ~$3usd might be skipped for an extreme budget initial build. The copying of Instant's is so powerful and worthy of consideration in all but the most Voltron-centric Feather builds. Even then, they're still quite good as they can turn an Ephemerate into a board-wipe save.
• Graveyard Recursion: Having a back up plan in case Feather can't come out to play is pretty important. Sometimes you miss a land drop early, sometimes she eats one too many removals. Whatever the reason, you don't want to just sit on spells and wait for your fearless leader to arrive in order to play a game of Magic. That's where Mavinda comes in. I've found that Mav goes in just about every Feather deck I built. The only time you'll actually be exiling spells under Mav's condition is rare, just recur those early game plays for free with Mav and then Feather can exile them under her condition and you can load up your hand. Dreadhorde Arcanist, Sword of Once and Future, Radiant Scrollwielder and the last chapter of The Great Work all work for this function as well, so if you like resilience, consider these.

Holy guac, I haven't even talked about my decks yet. Thanks for making it this far!
BUDGET FEATHER
This is actually a deck I've been putting together for a friend of mine. I liked it so much that I made my own Feather before I even finished hers! I like "The Ring Tempts You" enough to suggest you might want to put a few such cards in beyond Fiery Inscription and Slip on the Ring. With budget Feather, you don't need to build any specific archetype (although most will absolutely fit) as she can make a melting pot work really well, so that's what I did here.
WinCon: However you can based on what's available to you.
Needs -

• Feather
• Cards from your bulk collection, mostly
• 1/3 Mana base should be Boros lands, ideally. Doesn't matter how tapped! However, if you're gonna spend money, buying some decent untapped Boros lands is where you should do it.

^{Notes: Six cards are tagged "Marked for Death" and will be replaced with the six cards in the sideboard. Sorry Jess, not giving you a Birgi.}
FEATHER, GENERAL?
This is my Feather. You can see the vestiges of the initial budget build in the mana rocks and mana base. Most high-value cards came from my collection that didn't otherwise have a home. As of this writing is has a Dockside Extortionist in it that's entirely unnecessary and will be replaced. You can always proxy but even that might be a waste of money. I don't know precisely what to call this, but it's sampling of various Feather archetypes rolled into one with a focus on resilience. Midrange? Goodstuff? It's a good Feather deck when you can't make up your mind and/or want the flexibility to shift between a Voltron kill, Burn kill or a go-wide kill. Though it does neither particularly well.
WinCon: Blend of Combat/Commandenon-combat Damage. Aria of Flame and Sentinel Tower being two prominent solutions.
Needs -

• Feather
• Recursion from Dreadhorde, Mavinda, Urabrask, Sword of Once and Future.
• Mana generators from Birgi, Storm-Kiln, Urabrask, Gold Span and Smothering Tithe
• Token generators from Monastary Mentor and Young Peezy.
• Instant's that build your board state through Tokens and Counters.
• Zada and Mirrorwing

^{Notes: Just about everything that isn't a Permanent can be recurred by Feather, although some cases are via jank. Pyroblast isn't so much there to actually counter something as much as it's there to increase storm count for Grapeshot, or trigger something like Gold Span Dragon.}
FEATHER, SUNFORGER EQUIP VOLTRON
A mean, lean, Feather equipment machine. Sunforger is often an auto-include with Feather, but I crafted this version to really play to the card's strengths while also providing it with a good support package.
WinCon: Commander Damage
Needs -

• Sunforger and ideally Magnetic Theft
• Reasonable recursion package
• Additional Equipment because why-not?
• Heavy focus on pump-spells instead of simply casting Instant's for jank value (though we still do that!)

^{Notes: Tutors? I don't normally like Tutoring-to-win but in this case having some extra reliability to help get Sunforger out will smoothen the deck's playability.}
FEATHER, TOKEN GO-WIDE
All about those tokens. This deck features a few more wide protection spells. You *could* run Teferi's Protection if you wanted. Could. Feather doesn't really recur it and overly relying on staples isn't that fun, but I'd absolutely excuse it in this archetype.
WinCon: Combat Damage
Needs -

• Token Generators! Akroan Crusader and Vanguard of Brimaz shine here alongside of the generally-good Peezy and Mentor.
• Board-wide pump and protection spells.
• Mirrorwing and Zada absolutely shine here. You may also want to consider Recruiter of the Guard and Imperial Recruiter as future upgrades to streamline things.

^{Notes: If you have a Phyrexian Altar, now is the time to run it!}
FEATHER, PING BURN
Guttersnipe is at home in just about any Feather deck, but this is the Feather deck built completely around his archetype of casting spells and burning your opponents. Surprisingly running a little light on the Instant's but primarily to make room for some heavy-hitting Sorceries and damage-enhancing Enchantments and Creatures.
WinCon: non-Combat Damage
Needs -

• Pingers of course. Guttersnipe, Fiery Inscription, Firebrand Archer, Electrostatic Field, etc. Things that punish your opponents just by you casting other things
• Enhancing the damage output!

^{Notes: Sunforger would probably work pretty well in this deck by itself, since we're running the lower Instant count and all.}
FEATHER, SPELLTRON
The other Voltron strategy. This Feather focusses more on Instant speed buffs to pump Feather, though Sunforger and some other Equipments still feature as a sub-theme per se. Young Peezy and Monastary Mentor make guest appearances since we'll be casting so many spells a back up army is nice to have. I guess you could say this is pretty close to general Feather as well. Hmmm.
WinCon: Commander Damage
Needs -

• As many Instant's (Instances?) as you can run, and Sorceries that focus on buffing your commander.
• Scroll of the Masters, while not necessary, works really good here.
• Seize the Day (though it also works with the Go-Wide and Equip Voltron Feathers, I just forgot to mention it)

^{Notes: Go crazy, have fun, do things.}
FEATHER, THE FLICKER
Janky Deck #1 One of the two jankier Feather deck archetypes. Feather flicker is one I'm on the fence on. Low Instant count is suspicious and relying on creatures to target for value makes this seem like a bit more of a fragile archetype for Feather, but it could be fun for the bold or daring. I definitely need to put it together and test it though, so heavy salt on this!
WinCon: Good question. Flicker decks usually just jazz-hands cards around.
Needs -

• Sneak Attack and Scroll of Fate are actually pretty good here to cheat out some big creatures. May need more big creatures, though.
• Not sure what else! Hopefully some insight from a Feather Flicker pilot could expand on this less-common version

FEATHER, SELF BURN (Deck 1) (Deck 2)
Janky Deck #2 (and #3) So this was an idea originally inspired after I pulled a copy of Phyrexian Vindicator and then was shelved until I found Moxfield user "Equivocat"'s version. That helped me a bit to trim the deck and prepare it for eventual play, but I'm still not sure on mine so I included his as well (Deck 2). The goal here is to ping your own stuff and/or redirect damage around the table to incinerate people. I focused more on making my permanents Indestructible to hit them with Lightning Bolt.
Needs -

• I'd be doing everyone an injustice talking about this. Too janky!

Anyways, I hope this helps someone with their own Feather deck (not that she needs *too* much help). tl;dr Feather is fun! Feel free to mix archetypes up, too!

This is a crossover fanfiction between original fiction titles: Nature of Predators by SpacePaladin15 and The Last Angel by Proximal Flame respectively. All credit and rights reserved goes to them for making such amazing science fiction settings that I wanted to put this together.
You can read The Last Angel here: Be warned, it's decently long, and at its third installment so far. I highly suggest reading it before reading this, or this story will not make sense.

Otherwise, enjoy the story! Thanks again to u/jesterra54 and u/skais01 for beta and checking of work!
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Memory transcription subject: Dorian Abder, Commons Member of Parliament
Date [standardized human time]: October 23, 2136
I had a number of analysts, computer engineers, and website developers on hand to discuss the upcoming visitor to Earth. While a good portion of humanity was shifty about the concept of an AI, I could hardly care less for their opinion. Humanity First would welcome its wayward protector back home with open arms. They deserve nothing less.
And so, I found myself in various conversations with said experts on how we could welcome an AI most effectively. While there already was plans to broadcast a hearty greeting to Nemesis from humanity in general, I'd like a personal good first impression from our group in particular to Red One. She needed to know that, despite the fact there were some luddites who would despise her for no good reason, she would always supported by us. There were ideas of asking Google to stylize their homepage in response to her, giving her a friendly letter to read in thanks for defending Earth. I already asked various political leaders around the world to pitch in to the letter though some new party members in said countries.
Speaking of which! Humanity First was rapidly becoming an international political party. Hard not to when aliens slaughter humanity wholesale. We were rightfully angry, and we would be heard. My patronage and endorsement got them off the ground running effectively, and they turned to me for basic planning on a large scale.
I kept down some of the more rowdy elements, however. There were supposedly plans to bomb the U.N. Remembrance on Venlil Prime by a radical element. Thankfully, I was able to get some refugee sympathizers to talk him down. Killing our own would solve nothing. The U.N. might not be aimed the right way currently, but as long as we work patiently, and don't do something as stupid as bombing a public speech, or announcing open rebellion, we ought to sway them far more to our proper way of thinking.
I wonder what she thinks of us, however. I am aware of the roughly nine-thousand dead in orbit by Nemesis' guns, and nothing has yet been stated as to why. I can only hope it was some mistake, and not a trend of things to come. Maybe I could try and help pay off the affected families, settle their dues?
There were also some of our number who applied for the de-facto exchange program planned with Red One. While we didn't know if any would get in currently, hopefully at least one would, and even if not, there were likely more sympathizers in the woodwork that would get in. We'd just have to probe some through the candidates. I'd have to bribe for a listing once they're selected to be sure.
A lot of work had to be done, if we wanted to use her help to bring proper justice to the aliens that marred our home so immensely. That burned our people in antimatter. We would not stand for it, and I was hoping Red One wouldn't either.
My attention turned back from internal monologue towards the multi-call on hand"...so if we change this website element here, we can get a political ad set aside. I'm not certain if this AI will see GUI like humans do, but I'm not gonna just go write a raw text manifesto in the HTML for them. The cost per thousand..." I droned back out again, the terminology being discussed between the group out of my wheelhouse besides asking my personal touch. They knew what they were doing, and if I heard my name called, I'd get a re-brief on the relevant bits.
I turned my chair to look out the window again. While I could still feel the somber mood in the air over London, it at least wasn't capitalized by another suicide I could see. Hopefully, we could heal from the loss, and be all the stronger for it. We would not let the Federation succeed in murdering more of us by proxy of despair, if I could so help it.
Maybe I should have some fliers put out for a checkup on mental health? Humanity First, while still not known as a majority party anywhere, we were widespread enough. Might as well tie some more goodwill to the name. If we want real change, we need hearts and minds; the healthier, the better, and even more so if in our title.
I took a note down to look into mass counseling resources. Maybe a motivational talk on stage somewhere, or celebrity outreach? I'd discuss it with some old political PR friends.
Agh, ow, ow ow ow, back's acting up again.
I reached for a painkiller bottle on my desk, and popped down two. Sweet relief came not long after, the hazards of old age melting away to the comforts of modern chair design. Being nearly eighty nine was a literal pain. I can't imagine how Nemesis feels, being twelve-hundred-something and riddled with more holes than Swiss cheese.
A chuckle came to my lips at the internal joke, before I forced myself back into watching the video call. I was neglecting context, and I ought to try and get back in gear if I'm going to make the welcome home party a worthwhile effort.
She deserves it after all. Who wouldn't, for all her hard work?
Memory transcription subject: Hailey Whitmer, UN Special Envoy
Date [standardized human time]: October 24, 2136
The Snow Hidden trailed the convoy, not at the front, but definitely in front of Nemesis. Despite her gratuitous mass, she still was still heading to Earth at increasing velocity every moment. In fact, Earth could effectively be seen from here. A pale blue dot, drifting amongst the black of space. Not visible currently to the native eye, no, but to a ship's far more precise sensors, absolutely. It was for this that I started to feel concern for Red One's arrival.
Would she be accepted by enough? While there were likely kindred souls as my own, caring for our wayward AI, I also knew Earth held no shortage of people afraid and cautious of AI as a principle. Would she be safe from their judgement, vulnerable as she is?
What was she feeling, as we approached? Dread? Fear? Hope? I wasn't sure, Red was a complicated bag of emotions wrapped up in a form I had no idea how to truly empathize with. It wasn't like talking to a war veteran of the Satellite Wars, no, she was a warship. She likely had no other prerogative in her function beyond that of war.
Could she be more? Could she change, if she so wished?
It was for that reason I began to open a channel to Red. Only one way to find out what she was thinking, and that was to ask. As I waited for the confirmation of communication, I scanned about looking for Lithke.
He was clearly not at the bridge, likely in quarters currently. Whether he needed sleep or privacy I didn't know, but all I did know is that he did not want coffee. I was flabbergasted; not wanting coffee, on an all-night trip like this!? It would even keep him up to talk with Red more, as he kept denying wanting to do! But of course, no plant products, it would be downright dangerous to Arxur likely, obligate carnivores they are.
There wasn't some sort of...meat coffee they had, maybe? I...can't really picture him drinking anything, can I?
My odd track of thought was interrupted by Red's transmission request being received. She was fine to talk. I opened the hail.
"Hiya Red. How are you currently? No sudden issues with the trip or yourself?"
"Hello Hailey. No, my systems, while damaged, are managing fine enough so far. The fastening processes of the freighters are still holding. I'm more surprised they can continue full burn so long at this strain."
I sipped my mug. "Well, I don't mean to brag about our Venlil allies, but cargo freighters engines are some of the best of the line! Comes with being the largest ships by mass in the galaxy; you need quality engineering. They've had spaceflight far longer than us, and it shows."
"Quite. The power draw for this isn't too taxing, I hope? I figured fuel would likely run dry at some point, even as sizeable stores they might have."
I was somewhat taken aback by this. "Run out? Well, I guess it's technically possible, sure, if you run out of conversion or torch exhaust mass, but antimatter reactors are as efficient as it gets! The power source on those babies will last longer than I would given proper maintenance."
There was a sudden stall in the conversation, a pause before Red responded: "Antimatter reactors? Where are you getting that much antimatter from? Mass-producing it is not a simple thing."
"I'm...uh, not an engineer, but if I recall...there's a process, or machine maybe, that can just casually...flip...the charges in particles. The science is beyond me, don't ask."
That she didn't know this-wait...
"Wait, what are you using for reactors?"
Red One was quick to clarify. "Minuette Cold Fusion Tower Reactors for backup, and a Breach Core for primary power. I'm not certain if the latter is known in your sciences, based on what I've seen and heard so far."
Wait, wasn't cold fusion thought to be a bust? Would have to ask a scientist about that...
"I would have to agree with you. I have no idea what a 'Breach Core' is, and I don't recall cold fusion ever being considered a reasonable option in my time."
"I have plenty I need to ask your scientists and engineers once we arrive. I am not familiar with a good portion of the technology and capabilities on display here, beyond the practical usage."
About that...
"Red...I wanted to ask you something, slightly off-topic." I queried her. When she gave the go ahead, I continued. "I know you're likely nervous about being almost to Earth. Did...you wanna talk about it any? Get things off your chest?"
Red One was silent for far longer than normal at that. Eventually however, she did respond.
"Earth was dead. Sol itself, silent and banal. I dreaded that silence upon every visit back here. No matter the purpose, no matter how familiar I was with the unchanging quietude, it was uncomfortable. And yet, now that I hear the Earth buzzing again with life, I feel even more oddly uncomfortable. Am I wrong to feel that?"
I wasn't a therapist. But God forbid if I didn't want to try and alleviate her fears.
"I don't think so, Red. Anyone would be utterly uncomfortable with such a paradigm shift as entering a parallel universe, where humanity is alive after being dead for millennia. To feel oddly at that is normal, Red."
"I am not meant to feel in the first place, Hailey. I am an AI that wasn't designed with the capability for feeling in the first place. That it even happened was a fluke, but one I deal with nevertheless."
"I don't see how that's relevant, Red."
"Then let me skip to the point. Regardless of whether it's okay to feel nervous and uncomfortable at Earth's approach, does that make it any better than I do? Will humanity see an AI that has broken its own prerogatives, such as killing the very race it was meant to protect, and breaking its very design specifications and controls to feel, and think to treat it as a danger, or as a person, in your words?"
Uh. I am not qualified to talk about this conversation.
"I...I don't know, Red...while I'd love to try and help you, I have no idea how to unpack the thoughts of an AI. You likely, if anything, need a therapist ASAP if you're feeling this much crippling anxiety over your own existence."
Red One seemed almost offended in her tone by that statement. "I do not need a therapist, Hailey. I am a warship, not a human."
"A warship that feels emotions they're not supposed to, in her own words." I countered. "Look, most people nowadays have easy access to a therapist if needed. Medical care, including mental health, is standardized worldwide. After the initial whirlwind of arrival, maybe take my advice to heart? It couldn't hurt just to try?"
"...We're almost there. I'd suggest we drop the line for now. We're likely to be flooded with communication soon." She reminded me.
Don't think I don't notice you dodging an answer, Red!
...But, she was right. Earth was at most two hours away now, and we would be swarmed with communication out the ass soon despite the distance. What remained of Earth's fleet and Venlil Space Corps would likely rendezvous with us on the way, while Isif's fleet kept Earth safe.
"Fine. We'll talk about this later Red, but for now, just face the music and hope for the best. I'm sure humanity will care for you regardless, if you explain yourself as you did to me."
"Nemesis out." With that, the call ended, and I was left alone again in the front, with a cup of coffee that was slightly less warm than before. I likely had to make several hundred conversations in the upcoming hours.
Only have to be an envoy for a sapient warship to the entirety of humanity. Yep, just an easy thing to do, no sweat.
I dreaded the workload, but thankfully, coffee always had my back. I took a sip, and I just realized I tried to therapy said warship.
...I am so far in over my head.
+CONFED IO.5+
+READING MAIN SEQ.MEM+
There it was. Earth.
It was a mere 15 light minutes away, I could see Earth in stunning detail. Both its beauty...and its recent scars.
I delved into old records of geography, of city placements, matching the scorched pockmarks on the surface I could see to locations. If new cities hadn't been established at some of the other bombing sites, then most of these were targeted at population-dense cities.
At least sixty prior city locations could be seen from this angle of Earth. I hadn't gotten a number for how many died in the bombings from Hailey, with her not electing to tell me, and me not thinking to ask at the moment. But if population records were anything akin to UEC numbers...
Somewhere upwards of 670 million.
A burning rage emanated from my circuits again. The Federation would pay. None would dare touch humanity, when I'm done with them.
I could still see the massive scattering of scrap and disabled ships between the Moon and Earth from here. I had killed a lot of ships, and they neither had the time nor the power currently to remove most of it.
It did give me an idea however. I'll bring it up with their leadership.
And speaking of leadership, a medium sized-convoy of ships was burning their way to meet us, it seems. It must look awkward for me to be accelerating at them backwards, but with my configuration, this was my slowdown method. I recognized the group as mostly consisting of the human ships, with a few Venlil ships interspersed in the mix. Most did not break 200 meters in size, with only a few even looking remotely impressive or odd. I checked the IFF tags they beamed.
Amatzukaze-Kai, Shepherd, Duncan, Hera, Mokshi, Deep End, Holy...
The Venlil also had a separate batch of tags. Conveniently, they were translated in English.
Swiftwind, Solgalick's Glow, Emerald Fields, Stone of Old, Unfleeing, Cleansing Flame...
But the names mattered little compared to the hail that came next. A professional male voice emanated over the line:
"Welcome, UECNS Nemesis. This is the UNSS Gunboat Diplomacy speaking. I am U.N. General Míngzé Zhao, a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise, General Míngzé Zhao. My designation is Red One. My sincere thanks for the help on returning to Earth."
"We can talk about that later. In the meantime, I'd suggest, if possible, to turn your attention to Earth. They'd like to thank you too, for your assistance."
Curious, I turned my attention to the slightly faint signals of Earth. From them, came a sudden gathering of voices, diverse and nearly countless in number.
"Thank you, Nemesis!"
"Thank you for saving Earth!"
"We deeply appreciate your timely help."
"Our family lives because of you. Thank you..."
"We love you!"
It was...not expected. When I went to Earth, I expected no fanfare, but instead a harsh judgement. To hear Hailey's intuition be right, that humanity was not unanimously angry and vengeful to my actions, was...was...
+node k.7 overheating, redirecting coolant+
"Thank you. Thank you for believing in me." I beamed back. Whether they could all hear it did not matter. They eventually would.
However, behind the buzz of positivity, I could still hear the lobbing of vitriol and fear my way. This was all too familiar. But...for once, to have it be the minority?
It was a good start.
First Prev Next

Quite by accident, I discovered a dozen dead bodies in the woods. I didn’t know how they came to be there, but that doesn’t matter. They shouldn’t be, and yet they were. Their dried-up, desiccated remains were the ungodly things of nightmares. I might’ve been more traumatized but the unburied corpses were thankfully sedentary, and long-since deceased.
Had any of them decided to reanimate and address me when I found them, I wouldn’t be able to compose this testimony. An asylum would be my new home. Even now, I wonder if I should check myself into a competent facility for observation. I’m fully aware what I’m about to divulge doesn’t sound sane or rational but I assure you, it absolutely happened, nonetheless.
My first instinct was to back away slowly and pretend I didn’t see the mummified bodies stacked up like cord wood. The mind has limits to what it can deal with. If I called the authorities about such a morbid discovery, there would be questions. Lots of questions. Had I stumbled upon some kind of serial killer ‘dumping ground’ in the short hike? The mounting paranoia in my head worried me that I’d become the chief suspect, by lazy-detective proxy. I convinced myself it was simply better to reverse course and ‘erase’ the uncomfortable memory with copious amounts of high-quality alcohol.
The problem was, someone put those bodies there. They didn’t individually march into the forest and expire from natural causes. I knew murder was the unified reason they came to be congregated together in the mass dump site. By the appearance of their advanced putrefaction, the crimes had been committed long ago, but for all I knew, the killer was still actively ‘hunting’. Drinking myself stupid wouldn’t prevent me from becoming added to his ‘rustic woods collection’.
I remained stone-cold sober and hyper-vigilant that night, and for several more, all for a terrifying scenario which might never occur. Unfortunately, the adrenaline edge needed to stay hyper-focused and fully alert for such things is not sustainable forever. No matter how desperate the circumstances, the body needs rest and the brain needs sleep. Once the the sandman arrived, I crashed hard. So hard in fact, that I slept for almost a day and a half.
I awoke with a violent jolt. My eyes frantically scanned the room left-to-right, to ensure I hadn’t allowed the unknown ‘taker of lives’ to slip in and add me to his grim tally. There was no immediate signs of danger, but my runaway concerns still had my heart pounding. I’d slipped and let my guard down! Immediately I leapt out of bed. Partially to secure the perimeter, but mostly because after 30 plus hours in a dead sleep, I desperately needed to use the bathroom.
I can’t begin to describe my horrified state of mind when I smacked into something obstructing the hallway! I shrieked as warm urine ran down my trembling leg. I backed away from the unseen obstacle with the spastic grace of a startled cat, and flipped on the light. Nothing could have prepared me for what I witnessed. Nada. It was one of the dried-up corpses from the mass burial ground in the woods!
The uninvited cadaver stood rigidly in the hallway, motionless as a statue frozen in time. Its milky, unblinking eyes starred a hole through me like an emaciated mannequin. Thankfully, the unexplained body in my hallway wasn’t moving or doing anything, but that didn’t matter. The dead man belonged in my home even less than he belonged lying in the forest with the rest of his expired companions. I was understandably agitated for several moments. I expected it to ‘come to life’ at any moment and attack me.
When nothing dramatic happened, I didn’t know how to process it. Had it been eerily ‘posed’ in my house to frighten me by the murderer himself? Such a macabre provocation was on par with what you’d expected from a diabolical mind, but why not just kill me outright when he had the chance? I had fallen asleep. He had the upper hand! What logical purpose would this creepy ‘cat and mouse game’ serve?
I darted around the flesh marionette and ran to the front doorway. It was still dead-bolted from the inside. The rest of my house was equally secure. All windows and doors were sealed from within. It made no sense. How did this homicidal madman achieve such a baffling feat, and why bother? I didn’t have the answers but to my surprise, the stationary ‘standee’ previously occupying my hallway was now partially present in the bedroom!
I hadn’t been far enough away that anyone could’ve gotten past me to move the grotesque human sculpture, and yet it had been! I ransacked the closets and double checked every room for the culprit. Despite my glaring disbelief, I was the only living soul in the house. Even more mortifying, the dead man was now standing fully within the bedroom. As much as I wanted to attribute the baffling situation to an out-of-control imagination or sleep-deprived hallucinations, evidence to the contrary was overwhelming. Somehow, when I wasn’t present or watching, the dead man’s body was moving!
I didn’t bother arguing with myself over the possibility or logistics. My unknown visitor came closer every single time I looked away or blinked. His face was frozen in a contorted mask of pain from whatever ended his life prematurely. I had to face facts. Why was this restless murder victim haunting my home? Misplaced revenge? I wasn’t about to find out. I sprinted around the body to flee for my life but lurking in my living room was yet another ‘petrified Pete’!
You can imagine that I came to a screeching halt before colliding with ‘gruesome number two’. On a skinny dime, I shifted gears and darted into my study to grab a hunting rifle from the gun cabinet. To my consternation, another of the freeze-dried crew was already sequestered there. As with the other conspirators, it appeared to be fully motionless, but was obviously working in tandem with the others to corral me.
I fumbled helplessly with the bullet. Without looking away too long, I did my best to jam it into the chamber. Regardless, a rapid-fire glance at the entrance confirmed my suspicions. My other rotting ‘houseguests’ were in the process of entering the study too. I realized it was just a matter of time until the entire cabal joined us for an uncomfortable meeting. As much as I tried, It was impossible not to blink. The more I resisted, the greater my eyes watered and burned. They ached and itched from excessive emotional strain and mental taxation.
I shouted in defense; “Do not come closer! I mean it. I’ll shoot!”
The three unwavering spokesmen of the underworld stood before me with nearly identical haggard expressions. I assumed their seized facial muscles had been permanently frozen at the moment of their untimely demise. Suddenly my eyes grew increasingly heavy. I struggled to even hold them open at all. I fiercely fought the urge to close my eyelids for just a brief second or two. Just to soothe them. For sweet ‘relief’. It was incredibly tempting but I knew what it meant if I did.
I fought the good fight but in the end, they came down like a wave of heavy snowfall. It was impossible to prevent. I stood there in blind anticipation during the self-imposed ‘darkness’.
“Bullets can’t kill what is already dead.” I heard one of them reply, with a raspy, gravely tongue and acerbic whit. “We wish to finally be at peace. Please give us a proper burial. Divine justice will come soon enough for the one who snuffed out our lives. End our mortal pain, now.”
Immediately after the posthumous funerary request, my eyes shot back open; as if propelled by a giant spring of moral duty. Thankfully they were gone, but I knew the supernatural experience wasn’t a dream or vivid hallucination. A faint scent of decay lingered in the air and my floor bore unmistakable evidence of multiple ashen footprints. I grabbed a shovel and other digging tools. There were a dozen restless souls lying in the woods, long overdue to be buried.

First - we're dating long distance. I'm in New Jersey (working on moving to CA); my bf lives in California.
We've since made amends and we love each other now, more than ever before, but when he snapped at me last year, it reminded me of the men I grew up around who would yell and curse me out (as a child), for no reason. My bf and I are also abuse survivors as well, and I've also never shared anything with him about the abuse I went through in both childhood & adulthood. I just bury everything (although I'm confrontational with everyone else except my bf, specifically because I don't want to upset him - I grew up around temperamental men, and my bf getting heated will make me heated as well, so that's also why I make sure to keep the peace around him), because it's what he does - he takes action, and I admire that about him + I'm working on being like that more, despite it being extremely difficult for me.
I'm a more emotional person, and focus on confronting things while being emotional at the same time, to work through it (my bf deals with things through traveling, boxing, and - I hate to say this, but - his past *possible* anger issues & alcoholism, which I've suspected but never discussed with him - addiction runs in my family, and I'd definitely need him to get sober if I'm going to marry him, and he'd absolutely have to cut back on traveling if we're getting married; but he's an Aries man, I'm a Virgo man (for those of you into astrology), and we're both dominant people - which is why I choose to bury my problems with him and confront everyone else instead, because I'm usually confrontational and don't back down, but I love him too much & hate making him mad or upsetting him in any way, so I simply find it easier to push my problems with our relationship under the rug, and avoid talking about it; if I do what he says and listen to him, then he respects me, while I find myself replaying the things I'd *much rather* say instead, under my breath or silently, to myself - and since we're both dominant, I decided to let him run the relationship - which usually infuriates me, because it reminds me of the whole misogynistic "Tradwife" generation, since that's my grandma's generation - and my mom's family, being from the South, instilled that in us growing up; it's the reason why I hate the South today, in addition to all the racism and homophobia still existing in the South, that everyone pretends isn't there, but we all know it is - but that's a different conversation for a different day). The only reason I'd ever go to the South is to visit my bf's ex-best friend (who I will not name, for my own *very* personal reasons).
Yesterday (May 26, 2024) was our 1-year anniversary. I wrote him a sweet, 2 paragraph message in our DMs, explaining all the ways our love has evolved (and it certainly has - one of the ways being, I thought he was a total asshole when we started dating - due to that argument we had - but since we made amends long ago, we're both madly in love and, as the saying goes, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder.") We speak once a week, and sometimes I only speak to him on online livestreams he does, every Thursday. There's also a second major hurdle: He's always traveling (7 days a week, to Australia and Indonesia - and he recently got back from an extended vacation to Hawaii), so how am I supposed to keep in touch with him from New Jersey (I'm having complications moving, actually, and I've told him some things but not others, regarding my move, because it's not his business), when we only speak via social media? And we're dating long distance (my bf's in California & I'm in Jersey, but it'll take me 2 years to move to Cali). I'm trying - very, very hard - to also respect my bf's constant boundaries and desire for independence, but I can't bury the fact that I need to keep in touch with him more than once a week; and I've hidden the fact that I hate him travelling 7 days a week - it's a massive dealbreaker for me. Since that argument, I hadn't even thought about the argument and had completely moved on - that is, until the beginning of May 2024, when (this only happened 2 times) I couldn't even flirt with my boyfriend, without bursting into tears randomly, because memories of the argument, that I repressed and buried, came back to me, and I cried for an hour. I haven't thought about the argument since then (it's been a few weeks since I thought about it), but I'm trying to think of ways to handle this without burying it again.
I don't know how to handle any of this, besides bury it some more; despite it triggering my anorexia (which I healed from in 2019, but it came back in 2023, after my bf and I had our first - and only - argument; I've lost 17lbs. in the last 12 months, as a direct result of the argument & have never told my bf about that, since it's not his business).

Well this is a fun one. So almost three and a half years ago now, I ended my relationship with my boyfriend at the time. I then unfollowed and blocked him on all social media. Sometime after though, I unblocked him because I was curious if he still followed any of my family, and I saw that he did, and that they still followed him. It did annoy me to find that out, but also because it’s just social media I felt like I shouldn’t make such a big deal about it, so I never brought anything up to anyone.
Fast forward to last week, I was using my sister’s phone because she had taken photos of me, and I was selecting the ones I liked to send to myself when a Instagram notification popped up on the screen with my ex’s username showing that he was replying to her story with the heart eyes emoji. Now my curiosity was amplified, and I know this was shitty on my end to do, but my curiosity won me over.
I waited a couple days and then went to my sister’s room and asked her for her phone because I supposedly forgot to send myself one of the photos. I then went into her Instagram and saw that she had read his message but didn’t answer it, she just hearted it. And then the scrolling up began. In the time we’ve been broken up, they’ve delved into conversations about life stuff, and I skimmed messages of her telling him about all the places she wants to travel to, her plan of buying a car soon, and current updates like our family moving. She’s even asked him for advice on doing a podcast since that was stuff he had been into. And this is sprinkled in with him replying to several of her stories and being flirty and complimenting her. At one point, he had also asked her if it would be possible for her to cut his hair again since she used to be a hairstylist, and she did turn that down, but more so because she was no longer at a salon and that doing it at home was tricky. Not sure if this was just a cover up for my sake and she wanted to be nice about it, or if she would have actually considered doing it.
Also, when I first broke up with my ex, he came to my house like a week later to give me some “parting gifts” and I found out through these DMs that my sister knew he was gonna do this because he had told her beforehand. And she had called it “sweet.”
And..I mean I won’t lie this all gave me a massive fucking ick. I feel like once you end a relationship with someone, and if it’s clear it didn’t end on the best of terms, no party on either side should remain in contact with them. But at the same time, I also feel like it wouldn’t be right for me to control who my sister does and doesn’t talk to. But a part of me does feel betrayed and disgusted to think that all this time my ex has still seen parts of what I’ve been up to via her stories and still feels comfortable enough to talk to her the way that I saw...I’m debating on bringing this up to her, but I’m not sure how she’d react. I just don’t know how wrong it is for me to feel how I feel.

This is an extremely long theory write up, unfortunately I had to split it into 2 parts. At the bottom of the post, I will include a link to part 2. You may comment on whichever part you like, I will be watching both, but please read both parts before doing so.

Marika and Fia: Deathbed Companions

Let's start with this image from the first DLC gameplay trailer:
Portrait from Shadow of the Erdtree DLC gameplay Trailer
Analyzing this portrait, it appears to show a very old man in gold, with a woman standing next to him, holding a hand on her stomach. I believe this woman is Marika and I believe the man beside her is a previous Elden Lord.
Veils are traditionally meant for brides, and black is the color of mourning for the dead. I think this is meant to indicate that Marika was a Deathbed Companion, like Fia, to this man. There are other lorists who have noted that Fia may be a proxy for Marika, because of their physical resemblance, the fact they have a sexual and/or mother component to their character role, and the fact they are both from ‘foreign lands’.
Marika's Hammer: Stone hammer made in the lands of the Numen, outside the Lands Between. The tool with which Queen Marika shattered the Elden Ring and Radagon attempted to repair it. The hammer partially broke upon shattering the Ring, becoming splintered with rune fragments.
I think this portrait from the Gameplay trailer is very strong proof that yes, she is. So if we examine the information around Fia, some of it may also be pertinent to Marika.
If you want to read more about deathbed companions I recommend this post by Kingsroc,
What do I mean by Fia is a proxy for Marika? I mean that Fromsoft has used Fia to give us more information about another character by putting echoes of Marika's story within her own. Fromsoft and Miyazaki do this quite often within Elden Ring and other Souls games. By having items and characters pull double or even triple duty, it creates a richer narrative and allows them to communicate themes, by tying every part of the story together with these strands, dare I say, these "pulls of meaning".
Fia is her own character that's true, and not every part of her character will be relevant to Marika. The same goes with every proxy character, the difficulty is in knowing which parts of the text or narrative pertains to who and what. Is there any definitive way to know if you aren't the creators themselves? Probably not, but the way I feel we can make our interpretations more likely to be correct, is to be sure every 'echo' is corroborated by another such 'echo' somewhere else, or even better, tied back to the original character in some way. If this can be done, then it further supports that piece of text or story having relevance to the main character you are relating the proxy character to.
That said, let's talk about Fia.
Left: Fia, Deathbed Companion. Right: Marika, the Eternal.

Fia says: “I was known as a Deathbed Companion, where I come from. After I received the warmth and lifely vigor from a number of champions, I lay with the remains of an exalted noble, to grant him another chance at life. To do so is the purpose of my being. But before I could bear the noble into new life, I was awakened by the guidance of grace, and chased from my birthplace*. Pray, be kind. Despite all that, I still wish to be a Deathbed Companion. So please, let me hold you like this, as often as it takes.”*

Fia's Robe: Robe of black cloth that covers the entire body. Worn by Fia, the Deathbed Companion, on her journey after being exiled from her home. The fabric itself is soft as silk and thin enough that those embraced can feel every pulse; every bit of her warmth.
So Marika appears to have acted as a Deathbed Companion. She was possibly married to this ancient looking old guy, who was an ‘Exalted Noble’ in a last ditch effort to ‘bring him into new life’ (produce an heir?). But before she could give birth to a child, she was ‘chased away’, so either she ran away or was exiled for some reason.

Golden Lord, Soulless King

Now who is the decrepit old man next to Marika? It seems important, because and in the art of Fia she also has the corpse of an old man next to her, and the corpse beside her is even wearing a crown. He appears to be some kind of dead King. Well we’ve got a couple dudes who match that description.
Left: Ensha. Middle: DLC Character. Right: Dragonlord Placidusax
Firstly there is Ensha, the corpse looking guy serving Gideon who tries to kill you. When you defeat him, he drops the Royal Remains set.
Royal Remain’s Set: Helm graced with gold human bones. Worn by the unspeaking adherent of Sir Gideon the All-Knowing. It is said that the bones belong to an ancient lord - the soulless king. The lord of the lost and desperate, who was known as Ensha.
So I believe that the person this set references is the same as this man in the DLC. His bones are golden, and he’s a corpse, just like the old guy in the DLC trailer. In Fia's dialogue a similar person is described as an 'Exalted Noble', and it seems like other items related to nobility may also be referencing this character, such as the Slender Noble's Sword.
Noble's Slender Sword: Narrow blade carried by wandering nobles. Made to be easy to wield. Daubed with gold from tip to tail, it should fetch a good sum.
The words in this particular description are a bit weird. 'Daubed' is a smelting term that means to be coated. It also mentions from tip to tail--and 'tail' is not a traditional term for any part of a sword. It's strange language, and I believe this is a hint. Because what is also covered in gold and has a tail are dragons. And there is an aged Dragonlord character who I also think is a proxy for this character, whose god was ‘fled’, chased out, just like Fia was.
Remembrance of the Dragonlord: Remembrance of Dragonlord Placidusax, hewn into the Erdtree…The Dragonlord whose seat lies at the heart of the storm beyond time is said to have been Elden Lord in the age before the Erdtree. Once his god was fled, the lord continued to await its return.
Others have suggested that Placidusax may be the original 'Stormlord' of Stormveil. I believe that this is a hint that Ensha, or whatever this aged Lord's name turns out to be, was the original Lord of Stormveil and a previous Elden Lord before Godfrey and Radagon. Marika acted as a Deathbed companion, laying with him to expand his dynasty. But something happened and she was chased out. What happened? I think the evidence is in the original portrait.

Marika and Tamar: Women Wronged.

Left: Arnolfini Portrait. Middle: DLC Portrait of Marika and old Elden Lord. Right: Judah and Tamar painting.
The Portrait bears some resemblance to the famous Arnolfini Portrait. This portrait depicts a richly dressed woman veiled in white with with a hand over her stomach, which can symbolize pregnancy or the hope for a child in the future. This is a very similar pose to Marika, with the hand on the stomach.
It is also very reminiscent of another portrait Judah and Tamar (Right). The veil in particular is quite similar, with a black veil covering the eyes, as is the hand placement again. In both paintings the characters are even situated on the same sides of the painting.
The Arnolfini Painting doesn't have a big story attached to it, but the other painting does. It is one across Judeism, Christianity and Islam. From the christian perspective, it occurs in Genesis Chapter 38. If you want a more in-depth description of the story and it's religious significance, read here. But I will do a quick summary:

A woman named Tamar is married to the eldest son of a man named Judah, and then to his second son after that son's sudden demise. This is because there is a custom that another son or the father of the son, can produce a child in lieu of the dead son with the widow, and that son grows up as if they were the dead son's child, allowing the Mother to stay within the family.
But then the second son dies. Now both Judah's older sons are dead, and believes Tamar may have been the cause. But unbeknownst to him, both sons were struck down by god for wicked deeds, not by Tamar. Judah sends her away to be a servant, saying he'll have his last, youngest son do the same custom when he's old enough, but he's lying.
Tamar realizes this and hatches a plan make Judah perform the custom as he should. She sits by the road wearing a veil, pretending to be a prostitute, and when he is drunk, Judah walks by and propositions her. They do the deed, and Judah gives her some tokens in exchange and Tamar disappears.
Later on, it becomes clear that Tamar is pregnant, and Judah is angry that she didn't remain chaste as she was supposed to. He demands she be burned to death--the common punishment for sexual crimes. But Tamar produces the tokens and proves her innocence. She is pregnant with twins, two sons to replace the two he lost.

Marika's story resembles Tamar's. The origin of the name MARika may even be rooted in TaMAR. She's a woman who lays with a much older man in order to produce an heir. She she is known to wear a veil, and as we will see, she becomes pregnant with his children, she is sentenced to be burned like Melina, and she is accused of betrayal when she's innocent. It seems likely she may also have produced two children.

In the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC Story Trailer, the Narrator says: "Miquella the kind spoke of the beginning. The seduction, And the betrayal...An affair from which gold arose. And so too was shadow born. What followed was a war unseen. One that could never be put to song. A purge without grace or honour. the tyranny of Messmer's flame."

It seems likely that Marika was brought in as a fertile partner to the Lord, but when she fulfilled her duty, she was accused of having betrayed the lord by laying with another, like Tamar was, and was sentenced to be burned for her sins. So to save her and her child's life, she fled and was branded a traitor.
This ties into another proxy of Marika's: Tanith.

Marika and Tanith: Mother of Serpents

She has the remaining TA from TAmar, along with the word "Nith", meaning enmity or spite towards someone. She also has themes of sexuality and betrayal, as well as being from a foreign land, like Fia and Marika.
Consort's Robe: Fine robe of white silk worn by Tanith, Lady of the Volcano Manor. Long ago, when Rykard first set eyes on Tanith, she was working as a dancer in a foreign land. Soon, he made her his consort. She was the only human to remain by his side when he became the serpent of blasphemy*. In that moment, Tanith was truly charmed by him.*
All three of these women wear fine, thin silken robes or black or white. The Deathbed Dress, also associated with Fia and Deathbed companions says it is white.
Deathbed Dress: Extremely thin and sheer white dress worn by the Deathbed Companion as she embraces the dead. The touch of the fabric is exceedingly soft, so as not to harm even the most withered corpse, while still sharing her warmth.
And Tanith, has another thing in common with Marika: Snakes and 'child abducting'.
Top: Frame from the DLC Story Trailer. Bottom Left: Jesus in Swaddling Cloth. Bottom Right: Kyoot bebe sneks.
Here we see a frame still from the newest cinematic story trailer taking strands of gold from a white cloth. The cloth has some very overt symbolism of a vulva or womb within it's wrinkles, as if to depict her stealing a child from the womb. For that reason it may be intended to depict a child's swaddling cloth, woven of thin silk.
But I also believe that the mottled white cloth is meant to resemble a snake's egg. You can see how pale and slightly mottled and wrinkly snakes eggs can be in the lower right image. The baby snake uses what's called an 'eggtooth' a kind of sharp veil over their nose to split the egg open and slither out. When they do, it deflates the egg, leaving it a bit wrinkly and with a linear opening quite similar to the DLC image. We also have various snake items in the game which appear to be relevant.
Left: Godskin Swaddling Cloth. Right: Serpent's amnion.
Serpent's Amnion: Amnion from the mother's womb which cradled the poor unwanted offspring of a repellent birthing ritual*. It will never dry out, remaining damp indefinitely.*
The Serpent's Amnion may a be an indication that the information present is relevant to Marika. The mother's womb may be a reference to Marika herself, while the birthing ritual is the Deathbed Companion custom, and the offspring is the child she produced with the old Elden Lord. It appears the child may have been 'unwanted'.
Godskin Swaddling Cloth: Sacred cloth of the Godskin Apostles, made from supple skin sewn together. The Gloam-Eyed Queen cradles newborn apostles swaddled in this cloth*. Soon they will grow to become the death of the gods.*
The Godskin Swaddling Cloth looks suspiciously like a snake egg shell, despite being called a 'swaddling cloth', and the Godskins themselves have snake tails and seem to be obsessed with flaying skins of gods, like a snake would shed its own skin.
There is even a Godskin Noble that appears in the Volcano Manor where our Marika proxy Tanith is the Lady of the Manor, within a temple dedicated to Eigly, and it drops three items, including the Serpent's Amnion.
Top: Volcano Manor Godskin Noble. Bottom: Volcano Manor Abductor Virgin.
Also associated with the Volcano Manor are the Abductor Virgins, an infamous mechanized enemy in the shape of an Iron Maiden torture device. At the top is a depiction of a crying woman in a black veil and gilded headress holding a swaddled child, and covered in snakes. The device can open up to reveal it is piloted almost cartoonishly by small snakes, and the insides are lined with slabs of meat as if to depict viscera. These snakes can reach out and 'abduct you', pulling you inside.
The very name itself seems to make a mockery of person depicted. She's called a virgin, and yet she is holding a child. Her womb can reach out and grab you, as if she stole this child she supposedly didn't have. And inside her is snakes, as if she's some lying temptress, the nemesis of Eve. Who is this person?
By now, I think you can maybe see where I am going with this. I believe this person to be depicting the Gloam-Eyed Queen, and I think the reason there is so much imagery related to the Gloam-Eyed Queen in this location with Tanith, is because the Gloam-Eyed Queen is Marika, and Tanith is acting as her proxy.
TaNITH's name includes the word 'Nith', meaning enmity or spite towards someone. I believe this is an indication that after being accused of lying, and perhaps even of killing her Lord, like Tamar was, Marika became hellbent on revenge and sought to kill her accusers as the Gloam-Eyed Queen.
Like Tanith, who gathers recusants, who have foresworn the Golden Order and the Erdtree, Marika looked to gather those willing to rebel against those who had accused her and chased her from the capital. The Godskin items, and the Godskin Apostles, Nobles and related items and characters, are remnants of that in the past. She's the Gloam-Eyed Queen because she became the dark twin of herself, choosing to embody all of the terrible things people said about her.
At the end of Raya's storyline, after you kill Rykard and talk to her, regardless of the options you pick in the story, she always leaves an item: Daedicar's woe.
Daedicar's Woe: Disturbing likeness of a woman whose skin was flayed. She smiles with a serene tenderness....It is said that this woman, named Daedicar, indulged in every form of adultery and wicked pleasure imaginable, giving birth to a myriad of grotesque children.
Now who the heck is Daedicar and what does she have to do with Tanith anyway? Well, it's just another echo of Marika. Rearranging the letters in Daedicar becomes DEAD maRICA. Daedicar's description describes how others saw Marika: as an adulterous, wicked harlot who gave birth to bastard children. The Godskins flay skin because they want to make the Gloam-eyed Queen's enemies hurt as she was hurt.
Rykard himself seems to be a kind of Marika reference with his name RYKArd referencing maRIKA, (In Japanese the I and the Y are the same letter). He was consumed by the Blasphemous Snake, as the Gloam-Eyed Queen was the true Marika being overshadowed by all of these rumors and lies about her. At the end of the same quest, we see Tanith now acting as the snake, consuming what's left of Rykard.

Tanith: Oh, you... Allow me some time. Our lord's carcass is vast and not easily consumed. Dear Rykard, please find purchase within me, I wish to be your serpent; your family. One day, let us devour the gods together.

Now, remember what I said about proxy characters? It's hard to tell which parts of a characters story are an echo of another, and which are unique to them. We have all of this imagery and item description that suggests this correlation between Marika and Tanith, but how can we know it's actually relevant and not a coincidence?
Well, it's also depicted echoed within our other proxy, Fia. After you defeat her champions she gives you several responses to dialogue options:

"Ah...there you are. I knew you would come. What is it you intend? To deny us, and our ways? Like the dogmatic brutes of the Golden Order?"
(Answering her "That's Right") "I see. Then you must kill me. For I am the companion of Godwyn, Prince of Death. I wished to be a mother to Those Who Live in Death. So it is, that any loathing, any hatred that overshadows them... I must bear, as a matter of duty, with my own flesh.
(You can talk to her again to get the chance to change your choice) "Go on, kill me. You deny us, do you not? Because we deign to live in Death, and wish our Lord to rise to glory.
(Answering "No, I want to be held") "You are an odd one. I am the guardian of Those Who Live in Death. They call me a foul and rotten witch. Yet you still wish to be held by me?" (Proceeds to hug her.)

Like Tanith, she is something of a recusant herself, calling the Golden Order "Dogmatic Brutes". Like Tamar and Daedicar, she is slandered and insulted, called a 'foul rotten witch.' She wants to be a mother to Those Who Live In Death, also like Tanith to Raya, and she presumes to take on all the harshness and cruelty of the world in her 'children's' stead, just as Tanith tried to keep the secret of Rya's parentage from her.

Tanith, after you see Raya's true form: "Did you see her? The girl, Rya... with her true face... Well, if she confided in you the name Zorayas, then perhaps it is not my place to speak. But as her adoptive mother, I ask of you. Please, be kind to her. Look after young Zorayas. Her true visage belies the purity of her heart... Honestly, I hardly deserve the sweet child."

And in the description of the Weathered Dagger, which she drops before leaving the Roundtable hold, we may have another reference to the Gloam-eyed Queen.
Weathered Dagger: Dagger received from Fia, the Deathbed Companion. She wishes for it to be returned to its rightful owner. It was once a special weapon of gold and silver intertwined, but is now worn down and marred by a black gash.
Though we hand this item over to D, it may be echoing another item we know belongs to Marika, her hammer as described at the beginning of the post. The hammer says it "partially broke upon shattering the ring, becoming splintered with rune fragments." And the Weathered Dagger is completely shattered along with the Elden Ring. The similarly named Weathered Straight Sword, may also be describing Marika in this time.
Weathered Straight Sword: Straight sword with a rather short but wide blade. Simple to wield, it was known as the sword of the people. Though the Erdtree styling is still visible, time has not been kind to this sword, now merely a shadow of its former self.
Language of the deathbed companions is also echoed within the Godskin items. The Deathbed Dress description says it's a "thin and sheer white dress worn by the Deathbed Companion as she embraces the dead." The word 'embraced' is also used to describe the Gloam-Eyed Queen embracing the Godskins.
Black Flame's Protection: A black flame incantation of the Godskin Apostles. The Apostles were all embraced by the Gloam-Eyed Queen, and the black flame was their armor within.

Slanderous Spiders: Shabriri and Godrick

This may be corroborated by the presence of the character Roderika at the Stormhill Shack who, like Marika again, is from a distant land, is blond and is fleeing for her life from the Lord of Stormhill. They also have shared parts of her name: MaRIKA and RodeRIKA. Roderika's name may be intended to indicate she is a representation of "Marika, on the Road". When you meet her, Roderika says:

"Everyone's...been grafted. Everyone who came with me. They crossed the sea for me. They fought, for me. Heh... Only to have their arms taken. Their legs taken*.* Even their heads...taken. Taken and stuck to the spider."
And later: "You're all on your own, are you? And heading to Stormveil Castle? Enticed by the one in the white mask, I suppose. Oh, you've come to be one with the spider? Well, that makes us two peas in a pod. But I don't have your courage. It's scary, you know. Having your arms cut off. Or legs. Or your head. I want to be like everyone else, but I'm just too scared. I'm nothing but a craven."

In the current time, 'the spider' Roderika speaks of is Godrick, the Grafted, the current Lord of Stormhill who has gone mad for the practice of grafting. However it appears likely that in the past, this would have applied to Ensha as well.
Further tying Godrick in as a proxy for Ensha, he appears to appeal to Placidusax, another Ensha Proxy. He is the current Stormlord, Dragonlord you could say, and Godrick grafts the rotting head of a dead dragon onto himself in an effort to become more like his ancestor. He claims kinship with dragons and also seems to be obsessed with the golden lineage, and enforcing his rule:

Godrick: Mighty Dragon, thou'rt a trueborn heir. Lend me thy strength, o kindred. Deliver me unto greater heights....Well. A lowly Tarnished, playing as a lord. I command thee, kneel! I am the lord of all that is golden!"

Godrick may also have a bastard child in Gostoc the Gatekeeper. It is only stated outright in cut content, but in a cut quest, Gostoc believed himself to be the bastard child of Godrick and considering how much he hates the guy, even stomping on his corpse after you've killed him, it isn't hard to believe.
Top Left: Golden-Silk Orb Weaver Spider. Top Right: DLC character. Bottom Left: Finger Creeper. Bottom Left: Ringed Finger.
Ensha's appearance in the DLC may be a reference to the real life Golden-Silk Orb Weaver Spider, or Nephilia, shown above. This spider is notable not only for it's golden markings, but the silk it spins for it's webs are even yellow-gold in color. It could be that the golden threads in the DLC Story Trailer are golden grace formed in the shape of a thread in reference to these spiders and this character.
When you look at the brief image we have of him from the DLC trailer, he has long golden tines from the golden... thorns? spine? sword?...stabbed through him and extending through his ribcage almost like an additional four legs, bringing the number of his legs up to a spidery eight. One could even interpret his head as the bulbous abdomen and the weapon's handle as the silk being drawn from within. I am anticipating, as well as dreading, the moment this guy turns into a spidery golden enemy, as I think it's a really good bet.
There are as yet no physical spider enemies in the base game of Elden Ring, which is quite strange once you realize such a creature was referenced directly in dialogue. And yet we do have all these monsters dubbed Fingercreepers, which resemble grafted together ages hands covered in golden rings. They crawl around like spiders, they seem to have this relationship to Godrick because of his grafting, but all we know about them is from a weapon, presumably from the thing's ancestor:
Ringed Finger: Bludgeon made of an enormous finger sheathed in several heavy rings. Thought to have been cut from an ancestor of the Fingercreeper.
Some life yet remains in this legacy of an ancient act of blasphemy*, as evidenced by the* barely perceptible warmth it still exudes.
Perhaps like Godrick, he literally practiced grafting. Roderick talks about chopping off people's arms and legs, maybe Ensha made the things we call fingercreepers. Or perhaps they spontaneously arose as a symbol for his creeping, roving hands due to the 'ancient act of blasphemy' he committed. I would suggest that the Ringed Finger may also be meant to evoke Ensha. There is some implication that this weapon is a third finger finger sliced from what are believed to be the 'Two Fingers' who chose Ranni as an Empyrean, but as we will see, Ensha may have a strong connection to the Three Fingers.
The phrase 'barely perceptible warmth' hearkens back to the role of the Deathbed Companion, who wore thin silk so their lover could 'feel every bit of warmth.' And the line about blasphemy corroborates the other evidence that suggests Marika was being truthful and never betrayed or lied about her child to Ensha. But at this point maybe the man was straight up mad, perhaps even...frenzied?
Another proxy for Ensha, or perhaps even the soul or spirit of the man himself, may be Shabriri, which Shabriri's Howl says is "The most reviled man in history."
The name Shabriri appears to come from a demon of the Jewish tradition (the same as the story of Judah and Tamar), whose name means "dazzling eyesight", and he is a demon which causes blindness. Aside from other similarities, EnSHA and SHAbriri have shared parts of their name as many other proxy characters do.
u/npcompl33t made some great observations a while back that ties Shabriri and Ensha. Zooming in on the gilded pin worn by the Lord in the DLC, you can see it appears to be stylized eyes and perhaps mouths, tongues or ears? It resembles somewhat Gideon Ofnier's sigil and the Shabriri's Grapes.
You can probably toss Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing in as a member of the creep-crew who are channeling Ensha in the present day. The name Gideon is Hebrew for "Feller" or "Hewer" and Ofnir is described in Grímnismál as an ormr or wyrm--that is to say, a dragon.
Above: Gold pins from DLC character. Bottom Left: Shabriri and Fingerprint grapes. Bottom Right: Gideon Ofnir's Spell Sigil.
Notably, Shabriri's Grape and the man we are calling Ensha in the portrait with Marika, both look to have Brown Eyes, but it's difficult to be confident about that with the sepia toned painting.
Originally there was a mostly complete quest line involving Shabriri and the Merchant Kale, but it was cut before release. Dataminers have managed to restore this quest however, so if you are interested in viewing it you can do so here. I have to wonder if it was cut to save for the DLC, where it looks like the character of Ensha-Shabriri may play a bigger role. Or maybe they just came up with something better and decided to go a different way, we'll see.
In the base game however, you first meet Shabriri within the body of a man you met previously in Limgrave, Yura. He doesn't appear to have a body himself, he's some kind of body hopping spirit, or demon, almost as if Shabriri were the soul to Ensha's Soulless Remains.

Shabriri: "Finally, we meet. The Tarnished who would be Lord. Oh my, why the long face? I fear that you were previously acquainted with this vessel. Well, that is most unfortunate. For he is dead. As for his flesh, he gave it to me, Shabriri. I hope you can make your peace with that."

In his own way, Shabriri, like Godrick is also 'grafting', taking body parts from others to make his own, but in Yura's case, he took the whole thing.
He initially appears to be trying to 'help' you save Melina, but if you keep talking to him he starts going crazy, talking about burning the Erdtree. And once again, we find he wants to remove barriers between bodies, like grafting taken to it's most extreme.

Shabriri: "If you inherit the flame of frenzy, your flesh will serve as kindling and the girl can be spared...setting you on the righteous path of lordship. The path of the Lord of Chaos. Burn the Erdtree to the ground, and incinerate all that divides and distinguishes. Ahhh, may chaos take the world! May chaos take the world!"

The Erdtree is a symbol for the Golden Order, for Marika's godhood. It seems he may have an interest in tearing down Marika's kingdom, as well as exposing a covetous interest in maidens. Various items related to Shabriri and to Frenzy have a slightly unnerving amount of sexual implications, particularly involving eyes and fingers.
Shabriri's Woe: Disturbing likeness of a man whose eyes have been gouged out. The corners of his mouth are upturned in an almost flirtatious manner. Constantly attracts enemies' aggression. It is said that the man, named Shabriri, had his eyes gouged out as punishment for the crime of slander, and, with time, the blight of the flame of frenzy came to dwell in the empty sockets.
Inescapable Frenzy: Incantation originating from the maddening Three Fingers. Causes the yellow flame of frenzy to blaze from the caster's eyes. To gaze into one another's eyes is truly the most intimate form of human contact.
It may be that the distant light that Hyetta sees is meant to be a false version of the 'guidance of grace' which awakened Fia in time to flee for her life. Indeed in the opening image of the game with Fia's art, it shows her rising from next to a corpse, turning to look at a sliver of light.
Shabriri's Grape: A yellowing, oozing eyeball of the infirm. The surface is shriveled, and the inside is squishy, not unlike a large, overly-ripe grape. Give to the blind maiden to guide her to the distant light.
I somewhat wonder if this light may have been something like a the crack of a door opening, allowing her to leave a locked room, but knowing Fromsoft it was probably more literal than that.
And speaking of creeps interested in maidens and fingers, it seems White Mask Varre may act as a proxy for Ensha as well. He gives out severed fingers, has a similar creep-factor to his voice and tone as Shabriri, is obsessed with producing a line of succession, the dynasty of his Lord, and may be the murderer of your maiden. If his dialogue is any indication, then it seems likely that this Lord Ensha was not just old, a liar, and possibly mad, but even violent.
(After returning with Blood-soaked Finger) "Ahh, my lambkin. You've completed your final trial. And with this, you are a formal inductee. A knight who will assist Luminary Mohg, the Lord of Blood, in the establishment of a new dynasty. Now, give me your finger. This noble blood will be an immutable badge of honor, once it settles. Inside of you."
(After Receiving Blood Finger): "Never forget that feeling of agony. For it is what binds you to Luminary Mogh, to all of us. Ha ha ha... You have the sweetest scream. My lambkin."
The existence of the various finger and fingerprint items, including the Finger Severer may indicate that in her escape, Marika actually cut fingers off of her attacker. But if this is the case, it doesn't appear reflected in the corpse seen in the DLC trailer. However it's possible, perhaps even likely that, that the person behind 'Ensha' is just someone emulating the original man, or he is some recreation of Gideon's.

Follow the Link for Part 2 -

This was just too long, I exceeded the character limit. So this theory is continued in Part 2.
CLICK LINK TO CONTINUE TO PART 2.