valve has a history (unsure how well know it is) of just seemingly abandoning projects they have worked on for a long time now: from Source Filmmaker, to Steam VR, and its currently biggest offender on this form of shadow neglect they preform on their projects: Team Fortress 2. its basically an open secret that valve has a infinite supply of money thanks to steam, the only real finite thing they have is mann poweemployee work hours (at least according to Tyler McVicker). so the remaining question is this: why don't they hire somebody (weather it be new employees, contractors, or even volunteering fans) to fix TF2 and keep their other online games like CS2 and DOTA 2 constantly maintained. Well its actually because of the requirements to actually be hired by valve.
valve only hire those that been in the industry for around 10+ years, and even then everyone that sees the potential new hire's resume could just say no cause they don't think they don't think they're the "right fit" to the the rest of the valve team. its extremely difficult for someone to be hired at valve last i heard about how they work as a company (which is from this video by 'People Make Games' that i think should be watched by more people as it shows how much of a conscious decision this choice to ignore truly is and is where most of where my information related to valves business model comes from). they have around 10,000 employees at max all across the world, this number is only off by a factor of 2 or 4 according to a ex-valve employee (which was interviewed by 'People Make Games' for the same video). as a addition to this: people who have been working at the company longer than most are usually treated like pseudo managers.
this is why I think the reason why nobody works on their older games is because someone who has been working for valve longer than most can say "i don't know" or "i don't really see the need to" and that's all it takes for the mere idea of fixing this bot issue to get shot down completely. this, and their hatred for 'treadmill work' (I.E as fixing the bot problem and general game maintenance), is why i think they aren't going to be fixing the bot problem unless we make the public aware of TF2's neglect. Cause I believe this might not stay isolated to TF2.
I worry the bot hosts that are infesting TF2 right now might eventually start to think that valve will never touch them and move on to valves other multiplayer games like CS2 and DOTA 2 (AKA, the two games with an active E-Sports scene) and start raising hell in there as well. And if valve ignores the bot problem THEN, well i think GOG Galaxy and maybe even the Epic games store might see a LOT more traffic soon afterwards because this might make the public question how secure steam as a whole is if even valve's most popular games has security THIS outdated and might get some governments involved for neglecting this for so long while still making money from it. we see what the bot hosters are doing currently to TF2 and its community. its possible they'll do it to CS2 and DOTA as well if they decide to attack those games as well. if they dont deal with this problem now, they'll probably be forever remembered as a example to every other company to keep your online games maintained constantly till the day you decide to shut the servers down.

I recently received an email from Q Link, which pretended to be a government program offering free cell phone service because I'm low-income. They asked for my phone number and provider, and before I knew it, they had ported my number out without my explicit consent. When I tried to get my number back with Spectrum, they told me I had to pay the remaining $700 on my phone to reactivate it because porting out had broken my payment plan contract. So now I'm stuck with a new iPhone that I can't use unless I pay an amount I simply don't have. This feels like a total scam designed to make people pay off their phones faster.
I've spent hours on the phone with Spectrum customer service, only to be victim-shamed and left without service. It’s infuriating. Spectrum and Q Link are both scam artists. The promise of bill relief is really enticing when you're struggling, and the way Q Link's email was worded made it look like I was just checking eligibility. Normally, porting a number involves getting a code from your provider, which isn't easy, but this time it happened without my explicit involvement.
Spectrum knows about these misleading ads preying on people in tough financial spots and lets their customers fall into this trap. Then they justify it with fine print and blame you. They got my old phone, which they'll resell for way more than they credited me, and now I have to pay full price for a new one.
They could easily warn people about these risks, but they don't. It makes me wonder if this isn't all by design. Fast forward to me paying $700 at a Spectrum store to unlock my phone, only to be told they didn’t unlock it because of a $0.07 balance. When I tried to pay it, they said it was too small to charge a card, and they don't take cash. After that, they made me pay another $60.31 in surprise fees and still didn’t unlock my phone. The tech even said it looked like the billing department was being spiteful.
When I expressed my frustration, they called the cops on me. The police couldn't believe how I was being treated and left without doing anything. So now I'm fully paid, but they still won’t unlock my phone. I've been treated rudely, accused of lying, victim-shamed, and basically robbed by Spectrum. They even refused to give me an itemized receipt or a copy of the chat transcript. This is outrageous!
Beware of this company . They don’t give a flying **** about their customers .

So this store “eStore Pakistan” is selling Pixel 8 (Single Sim PTA Approved) for 145k (Full payment in advance), Now that price seems very cheap and I immediately thought it was a scam but They’ve got good reviews and their Instagram profile seems legit. Also got a physical store in Star City Mall Karachi but being in Rawalpindi I can’t visit it physically.
Has anyone heard about or bought anything from them? Are they legit?

So this store “eStore Pakistan” is selling Pixel 8 (Single Sim PTA Approved) for 145k (Full payment in advance), Now that price seems very cheap and I immediately thought it was a scam but They’ve got good reviews and their Instagram profile seems legit. Also got a physical store in Star City Mall Karachi but being in Rawalpindi I can’t visit it physically.
Has anyone heard about or bought anything from them? Are they legit?

After examining Safepal's features and security measures, you're likely wondering whether this wallet is the real deal or just another scam in the cryptocurrency space.
Well, let's cut to the chase – Safepal is the real deal! With its robust security features, user-friendly interface, and compatibility with multiple cryptocurrencies, this wallet is a gem in the crypto space.
Safepal's commitment to security is evident in its multi-layered protection system, which includes password encryption, 2-factor authentication, and regular security audits.
This means you can rest assured that your cryptocurrency assets are safe and secure.
In addition, Safepal's intuitive design makes it easy for both beginners and experienced users to navigate and manage their digital assets.

Sign up to Safepal here

User Reviews and Testimonials
Don't just take their word for it - hundreds of satisfied users have shared their positive experiences with Safepal Wallet, praising its ease of use, robust security, and exceptional customer support.
You're probably wondering what makes Safepal Wallet stand out from the rest. Well, it's the sheer number of users who've had a seamless experience with the wallet.
Many have reported being impressed with how easy it's to set up and navigate, even for those who aren't tech-savvy. Others have praised the wallet's robust security features, which give them peace of mind when storing their digital assets.
And when issues arise, users rave about the prompt and helpful customer support team.
You'll find countless reviews and testimonials online, all singing the praises of Safepal Wallet. Real people, real experiences, and real results - that's what sets Safepal Wallet apart.

Title: Beware of Temu: A Scam that Preys on Your Time and Sanity
I'm writing this as a warning to others: Temu is a scam that promises free gifts and bonuses but delivers nothing but frustration and disappointment. I've spent countless hours playing their games, inviting new users, and participating in their promotions, but I've yet to win anything but a flash light and nail clippers cus that’s what it gave me to pick out of sowing string and sponges screws for glasses and glitter so I picked that but they give you just e of time on the promotions to get real close to winning like I’ve lost all my on going gifts coupons promotions due to 1. And they add to it every hour or 1. Turns in to a nother doller then 3 cents turns into 6 and they end up wanting new users at the last 99.99 then it expires and they caked like nothing happend then the fish and farm land games take forever just to tap and feed and grow f all that I’m shure people win but I think they are people that have mony and lots of computer skills that earn and I doubt there’s a lot or there all bots that win also we should be milking temu for as much ass we can there taking all our mony to where ever foreign country and there putting all or American stores out of bisness selling us there recycled trash they turn in to cheap tech that we’re suckers for we are loosing our capitalist ways of earning mony do to these foreign companies and yeah they have kool things but they are gona make our doller worth nothing with these monopoly board tactics we should band together and really get them for every free gift we can by creating a real American site that uses bots or ai to scam them 24hrs every day lol
Their tactics are clever, using psychological manipulation to keep you hooked. They dangle the promise of free gifts, bonuses, and rewards, but it's all a ruse. They're designed to keep you engaged for as long as possible, sucking up your time and energy.
I've tried everything: the fish game, Farm Town, and the "pick 5 free gifts"top hat the fishing the coupons the 100% back credit they all are sucumbiste of time the only gift they give u is the lowest of the low and honestly your better off just buying what u want and use promotion. But no matter how hard I try, I never win. It's like they're taunting me, dangling the carrot of victory just out of reach.
But it's not just the lack of wins that's the problem. It's the sheer amount of time I've wasted on this platform. Time that could've been spent on meaningful activities, time with loved ones, or personal growth. Temu has taken a chunk of my life, and I'm not alone.
So, beware of Temu. Don't fall into their trap like I did. They may promise the world, but they'll leave you with nothing but regret and a deep sense of disappointment.

Okay so I want to buy fallout 1st subscription I was extremely skeptical because they wanted my Microsoft login etc. well I realized it was because they’re taking advantage of regional pricing to offer discounted rates. However, as insane as giving out your account info is. Obvious risks involved. Does anyone have experience with this? Because, the seller cancelled and actually didn’t explain until after they cancelled how they achieve these results. Simply because they claimed “subscriptions cannot be redeemed” which arguably a rebuttal is yes they can with Xbox game pass ultimate on the regular(I do that). And yes after some research I understand that particular service can’t be gifted. But alas idc if they have several thousand reviews. Your opener shouldn’t be give me your account info. Rather than explaining that triggered my scam alarm. The store is a notable front on the website and this is my first time using game flip platform. As I’ve used others previously starts with a g and ends with a g comfortably. Any guidance or help would be grand thanks!

I tried signing up to CafeDVD and got scammed out of almost $200.00 bucks! my bank paid me back my money, but to everyone out there do not try to sigh up to CafeDVD! try Scarecrow video there a legit DVD rental company unlike CafeDVD don't try to save money like I did! and got scammed out of nearly $200.00 bucks!

I hear the dripping again. The constant, drip, drip, drip of water. I blink my eyes open and try to focus to make sure I'm not in another nightmare. It sounds like another leak; this one might be the last. The last time I will hear it before the horrible conclusion to this ordeal. The last time hearing that telltale noise, before the true nature of that loathsome portal is revealed and whatever hideous dimension hiding on the other side breaks through completely.
The sound is growing louder, each drop has an exaggerated tone. It sounds like small explosions all trying to collapse the ceiling and engulf me in the dark abyss that I have already once been forced to endure.
I just can’t believe this could really be happening, it just can’t! It swallowed people up, the portal behind that damn leak. I don’t know what to do.
Just a short while ago my only problem would have been the water damage to my belongings. Indeed, such a mundane problem as a leak in the ceiling would just be a minor issue, nothing to fear except the repair bill. Yet I'm afraid it is a bit beyond that now. I shouldn't have waited this long I should have just left. Yet where could I have gone? Maybe I should have paid more attention to who I was talking to and what they were saying. All too late now I suppose.
I have been living in this apartment for close to six months. I had moved into this dingy complex, to a small studio apartment after I lost my job and had to find a part time position at significantly less pay. I tried to stay optimistic but even before the terrible reality of what I was stepping into was clear, I was still on hard times. I could barely afford this decrepit room as it was, and I had no family or friends to speak of that I might be able to move in with so my options were essentially non existent.
Considering the dire situation, I found the cheapest accommodation I could and what I found was my home and hell for the last six months, number 316 at the Greenfield Heights apartment complex. The amenities included paper thin walls to hear all the drug deals gone wrong, domestic violence and constant sirens of emergency vehicles blaring from all sorts of incidents. Topped off with a nice turn-down service of package and mail theft to boot. All of these problems though, feel small compared to the true horror of what the place had in store for me.
No, it wasn't exactly a paradise, but I had to find the cheapest place I could. I was barely making a fraction of what I was before at my old job, and I needed somewhere to get back on my feet. I told myself it was temporary and once I could get a better job I would get out of here.
When I had first arrived to look at the place, I had arranged a simple walk through with the landlord Mr. Jacobs a very unpleasant fellow who always looked perpetually angry and was constantly shouting in the halls and at the few miserable looking staff who worked here. We walked up two flights of stairs passing a wall of profanity laden graffiti tagged along almost the whole length of it leading up to where my future home was to be.
Mr. Jacobs opened the door and the rattling handle nearly fell off in the effort. We stepped inside and the dank room stank like a tomb. The tiny apartment was depressing and when he went to turn on the main light nothing happened. He scoffed and muttered a string of colorful language and grumbled that.
“Someone will bring a new light bulb; I told Rodney to check earlier that lazy piece of shit.”
I didn't want to press the matter since he looked pissed off, so we went in, and he showed me what little there was to see of the tiny apartment. We had to rely on the dim light of the bedroom to see elsewhere, since the main light was out. Despite leading the walk-through, it looked like Mr. Jacobs was distracted, he was looking at the ceiling in the corner of the tiny living room with a concerning grimace on his face.
He stared at it for a while and paused the tour, I found it a little weird. He finally looked back at me as if noticing that I was watching him stare at the ceiling and he shrugged and asserted that.
“You are going to want to get some buckets, when it rains heavily that part of the ceiling leaks. Can't seem to find out how since there's no leak on 416 above but bad luck on this one, I guess, that's the only reason the price is so low.” He shot me a grin that I could only describe as enthusiastically malicious. After the brief walk-through Mr. Jacobs turned around and asked very bluntly.
“You are not a troublemaker, are you?” His eyes narrowed and he looked very threatening suddenly. I assured him of my earnest intent and need for a place to stay, and he softened briefly, at least I think he did, it was hard to tell with him. He regarded me one more time and said.
“Good we don’t need more troublemakers, too many questions, always snooping around. If you have any questions try to figure it out yourself, this isn't the Ritz we don't take care of everything for you. You are going to have to make do as is. Something really bad like a fire then you can call, but for minor shit, best to just figure it out yourself. Rents due on the 1st by the way, no exceptions and no grace period anyone who bums out on their debt gets their asses kicked out next day, fuck tenant laws!”
He shot me another wicked smile and returned downstairs leaving me with the keys and just assuming I had agreed to move in. I was dumbfounded by the combination of his upfront hateful attitude and the subtext of certain things he had mentioned. What in his mind was a troublemaker? And what happened to those who asked too many questions? I couldn't believe I was going to have to live here.
In a better position I would have left immediately but it was either here or homeless. All the other places I had looked were too expensive, so I left and began packing my things. The whole situation was awful, but I had no choice, I moved in the next weekend.
Moving day was as bleak as my mood. It had been raining on and off again all day and seemed to start heavily just in time to when I was moving my boxes, almost as if to spite me. I started taking my stuff upstairs to my new room.
As I was taking the first box up the stairs, I thought I heard a gunshot. I rushed on in nervous tension and as I was approaching my door, I heard a voice call out in a tone that was actually friendly.
“Excuse me, it looks like you dropped something.”
I was surprised to see a woman standing in the hall with a look of friendly concern. As I looked down to see I had indeed dropped something from the broken box I was trying to carry upstairs.
“Hi, I'm Maxine, I am your neighbor in 315.”
I introduced myself and was relieved to have found a friendly face for a change.
“Hey there, I’m Greg, nice to meet you.” I held out my hand and she looked uncomfortable briefly and declined the handshake.
“Sorry, I’m getting over a cold I shouldn't, but it is nice to meet you.” She said with another disarming smile.
I was relieved to see someone who didn't look they were minutes away from killing me or someone else. Though the paranoid part of my brain was begging the question why such a seemingly nice person was stuck here. I considered asking her but figured it would be rude to pry about her situation, she might have been like me and just on hard times. I was embarrassed when I realized I was just standing there after saying hello and stumbled for words, but she spoke first.
“Well, it was nice meeting you Greg, stay safe and try not to let your spirits get down. It’s easy in this place but nothing bad lasts forever.” She smiled and waved goodbye. I looked down to make sure the box was secure and when I looked up to say goodbye she was already gone. I wondered how she was so fast. Nevertheless, I felt slightly more hopeful that things might be okay after all.
Another hour of moving boxes and my knees were on fire but the meager possessions I had were finally stuffed haphazardly into the tiny apartment. I was dead tired, but it was only 4 pm. I figured I had earned a nap though and went into the tiny closet that was supposedly a bedroom. No furniture fit besides my old mattress that took up the entirety of the space.
I laid down and started drifting off, the peaceful sound of rain started to get heavier and then I heard a new sound which woke me from my doze. A tiny dripping sound coming from the main room. I remembered what Mr. Jacobs had said about heavy rain and a leak and I got up quickly to make sure the water was not landing on all my boxes and getting everything wet.
I looked up in the corner of the room and sure enough there was a steady dripping onto one of the boxes below. I poked around and found the dishes box and took out a few pieces of tupperware and a bowl and set one underneath the leak. I thought for a moment about calling Mr. Jacobs but then remembered how he had given up on fixing this leak and realized it would do no good. I turned around to go back to bed when I heard an odd tearing sound like wallpaper being stretched to breaking point. When I turned around there was nothing there. I figured it was just my nerves and I went back to bed.
I slept for about two hours and despite the brief rest I had a vivid nightmare of drowning in a dark lake with no shores on any side. It was horrible, just sinking into a black watery abyss.
I was embarrassed as I woke up with a scream, but relaxed as I realized it was just a dream and no one likely heard or cared that someone in 316 was screaming anyway. I figured the rain and that damn leak had got me thinking about water and my negative mood may have contributed to a nightmare, so I brushed it off and went about trying to organize the chaos of boxes in some logical manner for this small space.
Later that night I had a cup of ramen for dinner and turned in early. I read a bit before bed, almost as if trying to postpone sleep for fear of sinking into that fathomless abyss again when I slept. Eventually I started to get comfortable and thought I may fall asleep when it started again.
Drip, drip, drip.
The leak had resumed, it sounded faster than before, and I thought it was strange that I could hear it so vividly. I got up to see if maybe it had overflowed or something and I was not prepared for what I saw.
The ceiling where the leak was had an odd lambent light near the center, kind of like a black light. It seemed to be pulsing in time with the drops of water. There was an odd type of density in the air too, like it was too heavy and thick. It was maddeningly humid as well despite the cold atmosphere of the room and outside. I was confused and kind of scared by the bizarre display. I just kept thinking to myself it is only temporary, as soon as I can leave I will, I can make it through anything short term.
I took a step further into the living room and noticed a wet spot on the floor. There is no way it could be all the way over here, the bowl on the floor was not even full yet. I suspected a leak might also be over in this spot now, so I looked up and screamed out loud. There was what looked like a face pressing through the ceiling with drops of water seeping from the thing's mouth. I turned to run and tripped on the wet floor and toppled over bashing my head into a wall and almost losing consciousness.
I was trying to stagger to my feet after getting knocked senseless and the memory of the face reminded me of my peril. I got to my feet and looked up in tense expectation. There was nothing there. No leak, no face, no glowing shifting portal. The only evidence of anything was a small wet spot on the ceiling about nine inches across. At that point I thought for sure that depression over my situation was causing me to go crazy and see things. I desperately wished I could be somewhere else just then, but it was late at night, and I needed sleep. I couldn't afford a hotel obviously, so I left my room and went outside to the parking lot to sleep in my car.
Another week went by with poor work hours, barely any food and bad sleep. Though the one bright side was the surprisingly good weather. Days went by and no odd events took place in my apartment. It was a struggle but at least with a little sunshine there was no leak to conjure up such terrible nightmares like what I had experienced before.
I ran into Maxine again on the way to the laundry room and couldn't help but ask if she knew of anything having happened in my room before I moved in, like anyone having seen anything weird or the like. She shifted uncomfortably and looked down, pausing as if not wanting to answer.
“I'm sorry, I don't know much. I had not been here for very long when the last person in 316 had left. I say left but I heard there was an accident of some sort. There was a lot of commotion and I had heard some strange rantings from the man before it happened.”
She took a breath to steady herself after the stress of recounting the story and looked away.
“I was away at work when it actually happened, apparently he had been found dead in the apartment, some say he killed himself, drowning. From what I heard he was a bad man, there are a lot of bad men that live here. The things that have happened that never got reported and the people that got hurt or worse, well.....” She looked away sorrowfully for a moment and resumed.
“Well, you wouldn't want to know. A coward like that would try and kill himself but I think something akin to justice may have caught up to him, something that this place might need more of. When you live with the stain of hate and violence it leaves something behind and perhaps sometimes the world finds a way to wash it away and right the wrongs. Anyway, I don't like to think about it. I have to run I have to get ready for work, sorry I couldn't help more I hope you stay safe and stay dry, you wouldn't want to get swept up too.”
She turned a corner and I saw a fallen cardigan. I bent down to pick it up and it felt wet, like it had been washed already. Not too weird if she just did laundry but her footprints were soaking wet as well. I grabbed the garment and rushed round the corner shouting out.
“Hey Maxine, you dropped this.” But she was gone. The wet footprints randomly stopped as well. How did she stop leaving them if her feet were wet?
A few more months passed with no leaks and only a few nightmares. My luck turned sour again for different reasons though. I suffered a severe back injury at work. Since it occurred while working, I got some workers comp so I wouldn't lose all my income. I did have to take time off of work, so I was forced to stay in my apartment all day and night recouping. To make matters worse it was getting into the season for spring showers and the forecast was heavy rain for the next week.
I was not quite bedridden but walking and bending over was very uncomfortable, I considered taking a drive somewhere, anywhere but here, but I couldn't manage the stairs again today and I knew I at least needed to actually rest for one or two of my days off.
So I was stuck in the apartment, watching the clouds gather and the skies darken. I placed several dishes under the leak spot in anticipation and I swigged some energy drinks and coffee. I would rest but I disliked the idea of sleeping any more than I had to, since I still feared those disturbing dreams in the water.
I tried to distract myself by watching some old DVD’s since I had no streaming services to watch. As I started to relax around late afternoon, I was shocked back into a frenzied paranoia when the storm kicked up in intensity and knocked the power out. I tried not to panic and knew I had some candles or a flashlight or two somewhere. I would have to get up though so I figured I would stay in the bedroom. I used my phone flashlight to find a candle and matches and hurried back to the bedroom just as the leak restarted and the drip, drip, drip was heard filling the bowls left out. I felt silly fleeing the leak like it was dangerous, I didn't know why that dream had affected me so much, but it felt wrong.
I sat in the dark and waited for the power to return but it did not, I fought sleep but even in my paranoid state I started to drift off. I was content that the door was closed at least, and it slightly muffled the sound of that constant dripping.
I awoke to the sounds of running water, the drip was replaced by a torrent that almost sounded like a waterfall. I was too afraid to move, but I had to see if my room was being flooded. I got up painfully and stepped down into ankle high water. Oh God this is bad, I thought immediately as I moved to the door to see what had happened, I heard a singular splashing noise, almost like someone stepping through the water.
My heart froze as I stopped just short of opening the door and focused on the sound. I heard the splashing again; it was definitely footsteps. I didn't know what to do I tried to think who might break in, a robber? Maybe it was about the flooding, maybe it was Mr. Jacobs after all?
I grabbed the candlestick and lit the candle. If I needed to, I might be able to use it as an improvised weapon, if it could be a murder weapon in clue then why not? I cautiously opened the door and there was a backwash of even more water on the other side, it almost knocked me off my feet. I stumbled through the door, struggling in the cold water, I knew it was impossible, but it felt like there was a current running through it, like I was standing in the mouth of a river. I finally stepped past the door and into the living room and almost dropped the candle into the oddly surging waters. The sight before me was both amazing and terrifying. The water was moving, it was flowing into a whirlpool that was at the center of the room but as it neared the center it inverted and seemed to be spiraling out from the ceiling rather than the pooled water on the floor in a sight that blatantly disregarded all laws of gravity.
The spectacle was so amazing I almost forgot the footsteps I had heard and until they resumed. My gawking was broken, and I saw large bursts of water splashing toward me. I heard an ear-splitting cry like the wail of a banshee and suddenly the ceiling where the leak was coming from, and the current epicenter of the vortex started to glow and after a moment it turned deep red and a new horror occurred.
The face I had seen in what I had hoped was a nightmare before was back. The ceiling seemed to shimmer now, almost translucent and I saw the horrible features of a hideous form. White pupil-less eyes stared down at me and a gaping screaming maw began filling with water tinged with red? No, it wasn't water, it was blood. The vortex began spewing blood all across the room and as I turned to flee in horror I was wrenched from my feet by the invisible force in the water and dragged kicking and screaming into the heart of the vortex. My last conscious sight that night was being pulled up into my own ceiling and into the bleeding maw of that avatar of bloody nightmare.
I woke up in the black abyss. The water was still mixed with blood, but there were no creatures. I was somehow buoyant and floated along in the shore less sanguine ocean. I drifted along unable to sink or to fully rise up. After what felt like an hour of drifting, I heard splashing and all of the sudden the sound got louder and louder. I looked around and saw the source of the noise, bodies were falling from the sky into the bloody ocean. First a few, then dozens then hundreds. A literal storm of blood-soaked featureless bodies came crashing into the water. I tried to evade them, but I could not dodge them all and I was buffeted by the limp forms of countless bodies until I was pummeled below the surface of the water. I couldn't breathe and as I tried to surface one of the bodies grasped my wrist and opened its eyes. On its previously featureless face, it now had oddly pulsating white pupils and it burst what appeared to be stitching on its mouth in order to scream under the water.
The sight and shock of that horrible scene woke me and I realized I was laying on my back in my apartment again. The flood water was lapping at my face, and I was breathing in and choking on the water on the floor. I lurched up as soon as I regained control of my body, spitting water and gagging from the quasi drowning I had endured. The water looked normal, no blood from what I saw, but the water itself was not a delusion or some trace of insanity it was there.
It was a bad scene, tons of my things were submerged, and the water damage was extensive. Somehow it had risen to almost two feet high. I had to do something, I didn't expect much from this place, but this was a severe enough situation that the crotchety old bastard Mr. Jacobs was going to have to fix something whether he liked it or not or they would be getting a lawsuit in short order. I figured some lawyers would take easy cases they knew they would win with no retainer needed if they got paid more at the end. So, it would not be a bluff I was dead serious, I almost drowned in my own apartment!
I staggered to the door and managed to open it, draining tons of water out into the hall, but I didn't care, I just needed some fresh air. My back was on fire, but nothing would stop me. I heard a voice calling out to me, it was Maxine.
“Hey are you okay? I saw all the water and hadn't seen you around is there flooding there?”
She asked with an odd look, almost like she knew the answer but didn't want to let on.
“Yes there is, it is pretty bad actually I was just about to call Mr. Jacobs to do something about it.
”Greg....” She paused for a moment then continued.
“You didn't see anything in there did you? In the water? Like something or someone familiar?” I was confused by the specific nature of the question. I was put off and unsure how she knew I might have seen something.
“I am not sure what I saw, why do you ask?” I responded.
“No reason, just be careful it can be dangerous if you do. Don’t worry if it is not where you belong, you won't get pulled in forever. Just be careful though, you don't want to risk it.” A flash of morbid glee was evident on her face for a split second and then it was gone. I was starting to feel uncomfortable.
“Pulled in? How do you know about the leak? And if you do what's behind it?” I ask with mounting suspicion evident in my voice.
“You know Greg, in many cultures the path between the world of the living and the dead is separated by only the slightest barrier, often a literal or symbolic body of water. Whether the river Styx, the lake of fire, the waters reflected at the feet of a Torii gate, it is often just potent waters. Like all bodies of water, when they are contained somewhere there can be leaks. Sometimes the water is not the only thing that seeps out.” She stopped speaking for a moment and fixed me with an intent stare that made me feel very strange. I did not know what she was talking about? Was she saying that portal leads to some sort of afterlife? Like heaven or more likely in this case hell?
“Did you just say....” And she cut me off, saying.
“Oh if Mr. Jacobs finally goes over there to fix your ceiling let him know I had a concern I needed to express to him as well, it's been waiting for a long time.” She smiled again in a creepy way that disturbed me.
“Ah yeah sure I guess I can do that.”
“Thanks! See ya later and hope you feel better, those accidents can be rough best not sleep on your side and to drink lots of water, the right kind though.” She winked at me and departed, and I was at a loss for what just happened. How did she know I had gotten hurt I didn't tell her, and what was that thing about the right kind of water?
My anxiety about the situation was increasing and I was disturbed by Maxine’s questions too, maybe she was not so sweet and trustworthy after all. After far too long being ignored and dealing with the first sodden, now moldering cloths boxes and other personal effects Mr. Jacobs finally scheduled a time to drain the last remnants of water and do something more concrete about fixing the leak.
I was waiting patiently for his arrival and there was a loud banging at the door. I greeted Mr. Jacobs and he grunted at me and without looking at me walked past and looked up at the hole in the ceiling. He had an odd air of what almost looked like fear or concern on his face.
After he walked in another larger person in coveralls and holding a toolbox did as well. There was a large tarp or something that seemed odd to bring to this sort of job, it almost looked like a big sort of bag. They were both looking at the hole in the ceiling and Mr. Jacobs turned on a dime and stared me down.
“It’s just been water leaking down, nothing else right?” I thought the question was odd and I hesitated to answer since I was thinking of those vivid nightmares. I think he may have noticed that because his face sank, and he glowered at me looking significantly angrier and more dangerous than before. Before I could answer he shouted at me.
“What did you see?! Did something come out of the hole? Was it a person?” He looked manic and deranged, and I looked at the other man in the coveralls and he stood silent holding a sledgehammer that had appeared in his hand and watching the confrontation unfold.
“I....I don't know I just saw the leak, what is going on what do you think I saw? My neighbor asked me the same thing earlier.” Mr. Jacobs eyes narrowed.
“What neighbor? I haven't had tenants in 315 or 317 in over a year.”
I was confused, maybe I had heard Maxine’s apartment number wrong, but how could she be my neighbor if she was not in one of those. This must be some kind of mix up, I figured.
“My neighbor Maxine she said she lives in 315; I just saw her the other day and she asked if I had seen something as well.” At the mention of the name Mr. Jacobs face turned white.
“You said her name was Maxine!? She said that? You saw her?!” He was screaming at me asking more questions about Maxine like she was on Americas most wanted.
“What does she have to do with this? I don’t know what the hell is going on.” I admitted.
Ignoring my question, Mr. Jacobs began pacing and holding his hand to his head. The man in coveralls spoke for the first time.
“Jack, we have to go, let's find the body while the leak and portal are still here and dispose of the loose end.” I gasped at the admission of both a body and that I was apparently a loose end to some sort of crime.
“I fucking know, alright make it quick, we are going to have to do two so let's go before more people start coming home and we risk someone hearing.”
I fell back against the wall in shock as the large man hefted the sledgehammer and started stomping toward me. I was unarmed and injured; I didn't know what I could do but suddenly the lights went out again.
The door slammed shut and as the three of us stood there in stunned silence a slow drip began to trickle from the ceiling. Each drop splashing off of the low standing pool of water. The large man went to the door and tried to open it but to no avail.
“Jack what is going on?!” The man shouted to Mr. Jacobs.
“I don't know just use the hammer. Kill him and then bust us out of here. Or just give it to me and I will fucking do it.”
They were going to kill me!? I had to think of something quick, so I stammered out.
“Wait! I don't know what is going on you guys, you don't want to kill me I really don't know anything. Let's just get out of here before the water gets much worse, I think something bad is going to happen.”
As if on cue the dripping stopped and a torrent of water was disgorged from the hole in the ceiling, which now held a horribly familiar glow and was pouring a blood red liquid into the apartment. There was a giggle followed by a blood curdling screech and the man in the coveralls with the hammer was wrenched up off his feet and dragged kicking and screaming into the water. Mr. Jacobs and I both watched as his entire head was forced under the water by some unseen force, The man was being drown and as he looked like he might kick up a splash of water landed next to him revealing a brief outline of a female form the eyes were white and it had a horrible smile on its face. Its unnaturally long hand was wrapped fully around the man's throat and was effortlessly throttling him.
Mr. Jacobs saw something or someone he recognized in the violent mist and started sobbing and begging for mercy.
“I didn't mean to, please. It was an accident. I would have been locked up. I couldn't lose everything, I had to.”
I sat in stark terror as the falling water from the ceiling became a storm. The millions of droplets highlighted the attacker, her form was terrible yet oddly mesmerizing. She strolled along towards Mr. Jacobs who was grasping at the door handle and tugging uselessly at it. He reached for the hammer when he was pulled toward the figure by a moving tendril of bloody water.
“Just a little bath Jack that's all it won't hurt......much.” He tried to scream but his head was submerged in the bloody water. I saw the sentient waves of ruinous liquid grasp each of his appendages and tear him limb from limb in a bloody explosion.
I screamed and stumbled away wading through the water into my bedroom and desperately pulled on the window to escape that way. I heard splashing footsteps and a soft pretty tune being sung by an ethereal voice. Then I heard a giant crash and saw a portion of wall collapse along with more of the ceiling and the sight before my eyes almost drove me insane.
There was a vortex of bloody water sucking the maimed bodies of those men into the hellish portal where the leak originated and at the center was the bloody figure smiling at me and waving a hand as I finally got the window to budge and fall out. I stepped outside and tried to descend the fire escape, but the surface was too slippery, and I fell. I screamed and plummeted down and thought I would land on my head and die. Yet as I fell my descent slowed and to my shock and horror, I realized the rainwater was mixing with the water from my apartment flowing out of the window and I was being pulled back up into my room. I tried to scream but I felt water fill my mouth. At some point in the nightmare ride I blacked out again.
That was the last thing I remembered before I found myself here again. As I listen to the leak once more, I wonder if it could have all been a bad dream? The water, the leak, the portal it is all too much it couldn't have been real. I will go into my dingy living room and see the water dripping into the bowl and realize it was all just a terrible dream.
Yet when I sit up, I notice an odd breeze and when my eyes focus in the dark, I see lights in the sky........the sky?
The ceiling is gone! I don't know what is going on here, but I know I have to get out of here now. I hear splashing footsteps again over the ever-present dripping and see in the sky now the light of the monstrous portal opening in the very clouds above!
It is too much I leap from the fire escape again. Somehow in my mad haste I survive descending the fire escape and I sit here now writing this impossible story in my car that I have been living in nearly a week after the fact.
I heard on the news the reports of a structural collapse at my apartment and the landlord being unavailable for questioning, presumed missing along with another man who worked at the apartment as a special contractor. I thought about Mr. Jacobs and the man in the coveralls and shuddered when I remembered them being drawn into that unholy portal in the ceiling.
Apparently, it had not been the only disappearance in the building either. Around a year ago there was a missing person's report for a Maxine Valoroso. I remember how Mr. Jacobs reacted to her name, and it made me wonder what really happened here before I moved in.
I don't know who or what Maxine was, maybe she was the same person in the report, changed somehow. Best I can guess Mr. Jacobs had known something about her disappearance, maybe he had killed her and somehow, she came back for revenge. She mentioned the water washing away people's violent lives and I shuddered when I considered her smile when talking about the last person in 316 and the overdue message she had to send to Mr. Jacobs. I didn't know if she was a ghost, a demon or what. I also don't know the extent of her reach or if she is satisfied with just those men and who knows how many others she had washed away from that room with that dread portal.
I suppose it doesn't matter to me anymore I am never going back there. I gave all my belongings up for lost and the building was condemned anyway after the landlord disappeared and the ceiling collapsed in several sections of the building. I think there are are terrible things they will discover if they ever really investigate the building. Perhaps they will find bodies, perhaps the bodies are all gone, sucked into that watery abyss, that eldritch gate to hell whose opening started with a simple leak.
If something like that can happen I just don't know, I don't know if anyone is safe anymore.

I am a full time college student and pay tuition completely out of pocket. I work 80 hours a week on top of school. I’ve had the same pair of AirPods for over 4 years and they finally gave out. I don’t buy nice things but decided I could replace them as they lasted so long before. There’s a phone accessory store in my mall that has been around since I was a kid, and used to share a storefront with version, so I figured it was legit. I’ve had phone repairs done there over the years and never any issue. They have a 4.8 star review over 2,900 reviews dating back years. I go in to buy them and they’re $125 plus tax. They’re in a locked glass case with about 25 other apple products. The package looks completely normal, expect a smaller sticker on the top right corner. I asked the guy about it and he said it was their way of confirming the authenticity. I didn’t really think anything of it because I’ve seen smaller stores do similar things for more expensive items. I get home and as soon as I open it I realize somethings wrong. They’re SO light, they make crazy noises when opened, and never actually connect to the phone. They don’t even work as headphones. I go back the next day to return them and he doesn’t even deny it and tries to gaslight me into thinking I asked for fake ones because the real ones are so expensive and I can’t afford it. This went on for a few minutes and he didn’t care until I threatened to report him and leave a review . Told me never to come back again and calling me a scamming piece of shit. I go into work after this and decide to order them from Walmart pickup after my shift.The price is $180 online and $250 in person. They cancel immediately bc of “fraudulent activity”. I call my bank to see if they’ve blocked it, and they said it was blocked by the seller not on their end. I try once more and same thing. Now I have $400 held until Walmart processes the refund. I spent 2 hours on the phone and am never given any more information than “it was blocked for fraudulent activity”. I go inside to find out what I can do and none of the employees know or care what to do. After 45 minutes I finally get a manager and she says she has better things to do and if I want it badly enough I’ll pay the extra $60 and stop wasting their time. I am so beyond frustrated and pissed off. Everyone is treating me like a Karen but I just wanted headphones. I’ve spent roughly 5 hours dealing with bullshit and I’m so fucking exhausted. I hate living in the US it feels like everyone is trying to pull one over on me and take the most amount of money they can out of me.

This is odd, but it's come to a point where I have to see if anyone knows anything!
About a month ago, I (mid 30s male) was grocery shopping at the Fred Meyer on Federal Way. While checking out an item on a shelf, a young (probably early 20s) clean cut man came up to me and complemented my shorts (old carhartt, nothing special). He then immediately jumped into a conversation quickly asking how I was, where I worked, why I enjoyed my work, etc. He introduced himself as 'Giovanni'. The entire time he was asking questions, I was anticipating a religious angle, MLM, or something like that, but it ended without a pitch. Despite that, I had an uneasy feeling.
A few weeks later, I spot him at Albertsons on Vista doing the same thing to other guys shopping. He's not carrying a basket or pushing a cart, just going from person to person. I since have seen him at this Albertsons doing his thing multiple times over the last few weeks.
Today, 'Giovanni' approaches me at the Albertsons on Broadway and compliments my shirt. I pretend not to hear anything and keep walking, but I proceed to see him approach multiple solo shoppers (all guys) and jump into enthusiastic conversation.
So, what is going on? Has anyone had a similar interaction? It seems too odd to be just a friendly guy. Is this sometime of scam or store security move?

I hear the dripping again. The constant, drip, drip, drip of water. I blink my eyes open and try to focus to make sure I am not in another nightmare. It sounds like another leak; this one might be the last. The last time I will hear the leak before the horrible conclusion to this ordeal. The last time hearing that telltale noise, before the true nature of that loathsome portal is revealed and whatever hideous dimension hiding on the other side breaks through completely.
The sound is growing louder, each drop has an exaggerated tone. It sounds like small explosions all trying to collapse that ceiling and engulf me in the dark abyss that I have already once, mistakenly glimpsed at.
No, it just can’t be real, it can’t! It swallowed people up, the portal behind that damn leak. I don’t know what to do so I will lay out the facts and how I got to this point in this account, and you will see what I have experienced, you will see too that it can’t be real, it has to just be a bad trip or some hallucination. I will tell you, it's not like I can just leave I have nowhere else to go, it’s just a leak.
Just a short while ago my only problem would have been the water damage to my belongings. Indeed, such a mundane problem as a leak in the ceiling would just be a minor issue, nothing to fear except the repair bill. Yet I'm afraid it is a bit beyond that now. I shouldn't have waited this long I should have just left. Yet where could I have gone? Maybe I should have paid more attention to who I was talking to and what they were saying. All too late now I suppose.
I have been living in this apartment for close to six months. I had moved into this dingy complex, to a small studio apartment after I lost my job and had to find a part time position at significantly less pay. I tried to stay optimistic but even before the terrible reality of what I was stepping into was clear, I was still on hard times. I could barely afford this decrepit room as it was, and I had no family or friends to speak of that I might be able to move in with so my options were essentially non existent.
Considering the dire situation, I found the cheapest accommodation I could and what I found was my home and hell for the last six months, number 316 at the Greenfield Heights apartment complex. The amenities included paper thin walls to hear all the drug deals gone wrong, domestic violence and constant sirens of emergency vehicles blaring from all sorts of incidents. Topped off with a nice turn-down service of package and mail theft to boot. All of these problems though, feel small compared to the true horror of what the place had in store for me.
No, it wasn't exactly a paradise, but I had to find the cheapest place I could. I was barely making a fraction of what I was before at my old job, and I needed somewhere to get back on my feet. I told myself it was temporary and once I could get a better job I would get out of here.
When I had first arrived to look at the place, I had arranged a simple walk through with the landlord Mr. Jacobs a very unpleasant fellow who always looked perpetually angry and was constantly shouting in the halls and at the few miserable looking staff who worked here. We walked up two flights of stairs passing a wall of profanity laden graffiti tagged along almost the whole length of it leading up to where my future home was to be.
Mr. Jacobs opened the door and the rattling handle nearly fell off in the effort. We stepped inside and the dank room stank like a tomb. The tiny apartment was depressing and when he went to turn on the main light nothing happened. He scoffed and muttered a string of colorful language and grumbled that.
“Someone will bring a new light bulb; I told Rodney to check earlier that lazy piece of shit.”
I didn't want to press the matter since he looked pissed off, so we went in, and he showed me what little there was to see of the tiny apartment. We had to rely on the dim light of the bedroom to see elsewhere, since the main light was out. Despite leading the walk-through, it looked like Mr. Jacobs was distracted, he was looking at the ceiling in the corner of the tiny living room with a concerning grimace on his face.
He stared at it for a while and paused the tour, I found it a little weird. He finally looked back at me as if noticing that I was watching him stare at the ceiling and he shrugged and asserted that.
“You are going to want to get some buckets, when it rains heavily that part of the celling leaks. Can't seem to find out how since there's no leak on 416 above but bad luck on this one, I guess, that's the only reason the price is so low.” He shot me a grin that I could only describe as enthusiastically malicious. After the brief walk-through Mr. Jacobs turned around and asked very bluntly.
“You are not a troublemaker, are you?” His eyes narrowed and he looked very threatening suddenly. I assured him of my earnest intent and need for a place to stay, and he softened briefly, at least I think he did, it was hard to tell with him. He regarded me one more time and said.
“Good we don’t need more troublemakers, too many questions, always snooping around. If you have any questions try to figure it out yourself, this isn't the Ritz we don't take care of everything for you. You are going to have to make do as is. Something really bad like a fire then you can call, but for minor shit, best to just figure it out yourself. Rents due on the 1st by the way, no exceptions and no grace period anyone who bums out on their debt gets their asses kicked out next day, fuck tenant laws!”
He shot me another wicked smile and returned downstairs leaving me with the keys and just assuming I had agreed to move in. I was dumbfounded by the combination of his upfront hateful attitude and the subtext of certain things he had mentioned. What in his mind was a troublemaker? And what happened to those who asked too many questions? I couldn't believe I was going to have to live here.
In a better position I would have left immediately but it was either here or homeless. All the other places I had looked were too expensive, so I left and began packing my things. The whole situation was awful, but I had no choice, I moved in the next weekend.
Moving day was as bleak as my mood. It had been raining on and off again all day and seemed to start heavily just in time to when I was moving my boxes, almost as if to spite me. I started taking my stuff upstairs to my new room.
As I was taking the first box up the stairs, I thought I heard a gunshot. I rushed on in nervous tension and as I was approaching my door, I heard a voice call out in a tone that was actually friendly.
“Excuse me, it looks like you dropped something.”
I was surprised to see a woman standing in the hall with a look of friendly concern. As I looked down to see I had indeed dropped something from the broken box I was trying to carry upstairs.
“Hi, I'm Maxine, I am your neighbor in 315.”
I introduced myself and was relieved to have found a friendly face for a change.
“Hey there, I’m Greg, nice to meet you.” I held out my hand and she looked uncomfortable briefly and declined the handshake.
“Sorry, I’m getting over a cold I shouldn't, but it is nice to meet you.” She said with another disarming smile.
I was relieved to see someone who didn't look they were minutes away from killing me or someone else. Though the paranoid part of my brain was begging the question why such a seemingly nice person was stuck here. I considered asking her but figured it would be rude to pry about her situation, she might have been like me and just on hard times. I was embarrassed when I realized I was just standing there after saying hello and stumbled for words, but she spoke first.
“Well, it was nice meeting you Greg, stay safe and try not to let your spirits get down. It’s easy in this place but nothing bad lasts forever.” She smiled and waved goodbye. I looked down to make sure the box was secure and when I looked up to say goodbye she was already gone. I wondered how she was so fast. Nevertheless, I felt slightly more hopeful that things might be okay after all.
Another hour of moving boxes and my knees were on fire but the meager possessions I had were finally stuffed haphazardly into the tiny apartment. I was dead tired, but it was only 4 pm. I figured I had earned a nap though and went into the tiny closet that was supposedly a bedroom. No furniture fit besides my old mattress that took up the entirety of the space.
I laid down and started drifting off, the peaceful sound of rain started to get heavier and then I heard a new sound which woke me from my doze. A tiny dripping sound coming from the main room. I remembered what Mr. Jacobs had said about heavy rain and a leak and I got up quickly to make sure the water was not landing on all my boxes and getting everything wet.
I looked up in the corner of the room and sure enough there was a steady dripping onto one of the boxes below. I poked around and found the dishes box and took out a few pieces of tupperware and a bowl and set one underneath the leak. I thought for a moment about calling Mr. Jacobs but then remembered how he had given up on fixing this leak and realized it would do no good. I turned around to go back to bed when I heard an odd tearing sound like wallpaper being stretched to breaking point. When I turned around there was nothing there. I figured it was just my nerves and I went back to bed.
I slept for about two hours and despite the brief rest I had a vivid nightmare of drowning in a dark lake with no shores on any side. It was horrible, just sinking into a black watery abyss.
I was embarrassed as I woke up with a scream, but relaxed as I realized it was just a dream and no one likely heard or cared that someone in 316 was screaming anyway. I figured the rain and that damn leak had got me thinking about water and my negative mood may have contributed to a nightmare, so I brushed it off and went about trying to organize the chaos of boxes in some logical manner for this small space.
Later that night I had a cup of ramen for dinner and turned in early. I read a bit before bed, almost as if trying to postpone sleep for fear of sinking into that fathomless abyss again when I slept. Eventually I started to get comfortable and thought I may fall asleep when it started again.
Drip, drip, drip.
The leak had resumed, it sounded faster than before, and I thought it was strange that I could hear it so vividly. I got up to see if maybe it had overflowed or something and I was not prepared for what I saw.
The ceiling where the leak was had an odd lambent light near the center, kind of like a black light. It seemed to be pulsing in time with the drops of water. There was an odd type of density in the air too, like it was too heavy and thick. It was maddeningly humid as well despite the cold atmosphere of the room and outside. I was confused and kind of scared by the bizarre display. I just kept thinking to myself it is only temporary, as soon as I can leave I will, I can make it through anything short term.
I took a step further into the living room and noticed a wet spot on the floor. There is no way it could be all the way over here, the bowl on the floor was not even full yet. I suspected a leak might also be over in this spot now, so I looked up and screamed out loud. There was what looked like a face pressing through the ceiling with drops of water seeping from the thing's mouth. I turned to run and tripped on the wet floor and toppled over bashing my head into a wall and almost losing consciousness.
I was trying to stagger to my feet after getting knocked senseless and the memory of the face reminded me of my peril. I got to my feet and looked up in tense expectation. There was nothing there. No leak, no face, no glowing shifting portal. The only evidence of anything was a small wet spot on the ceiling about nine inches across. At that point I thought for sure that depression over my situation was causing me to go crazy and see things. I desperately wished I could be somewhere else just then, but it was late at night, and I needed sleep. I couldn't afford a hotel obviously, so I left my room and went outside to the parking lot to sleep in my car.
Another week went by with poor work hours, barely any food and bad sleep. Though the one bright side was the surprisingly good weather. Days went by and no odd events took place in my apartment. It was a struggle but at least with a little sunshine there was no leak to conjure up such terrible nightmares like what I had experienced before.
I ran into Maxine again on the way to the laundry room and couldn't help but ask if she knew of anything having happened in my room before I moved in, like anyone having seen anything weird or the like. She shifted uncomfortably and looked down, pausing as if not wanting to answer.
“I'm sorry, I don't know much. I had not been here for very long when the last person in 316 had left. I say left but I heard there was an accident of some sort. There was a lot of commotion and I had heard some strange rantings from the man before it happened.”
She took a breath to steady herself after the stress of recounting the story and looked away.
“I was away at work when it actually happened, apparently he had been found dead in the apartment, some say he killed himself, drowning. From what I heard he was a bad man, there are a lot of bad men that live here. The things that have happened that never got reported and the people that got hurt or worse, well.....” She looked away sorrowfully for a moment and resumed.
“Well, you wouldn't want to know. A coward like that would try and kill himself but I think something akin to justice may have caught up to him, something that this place might need more of. When you live with the stain of hate and violence it leaves something behind and perhaps sometimes the world finds a way to wash it away and right the wrongs. Anyway, I don't like to think about it. I have to run I have to get ready for work, sorry I couldn't help more I hope you stay safe and stay dry, you wouldn't want to get swept up too.”
She turned a corner and I saw a fallen cardigan. I bent down to pick it up and it felt wet, like it had been washed already. Not too weird if she just did laundry but her footprints were soaking wet as well. I grabbed the garment and rushed round the corner shouting out.
“Hey Maxine, you dropped this.” But she was gone. The wet footprints randomly stopped as well. How did she stop leaving them if her feet were wet?
A few more months passed with no leaks and only a few nightmares. My luck turned sour again for different reasons though. I suffered a severe back injury at work. Since it occurred while working, I got some workers comp so I wouldn't lose all my income. I did have to take time off of work, so I was forced to stay in my apartment all day and night recouping. To make matters worse it was getting into the season for spring showers and the forecast was heavy rain for the next week.
I was not quite bedridden but walking and bending over was very uncomfortable, I considered taking a drive somewhere, anywhere but here, but I couldn't manage the stairs again today and I knew I at least needed to actually rest for one or two of my days off.
So I was stuck in the apartment, watching the clouds gather and the skies darken. I placed several dishes under the leak spot in anticipation and I swigged some energy drinks and coffee. I would rest but I disliked the idea of sleeping any more than I had to, since I still feared those disturbing dreams in the water.
I tried to distract myself by watching some old DVD’s since I had no streaming services to watch. As I started to relax around late afternoon, I was shocked back into a frenzied paranoia when the storm kicked up in intensity and knocked the power out. I tried not to panic and knew I had some candles or a flashlight or two somewhere. I would have to get up though so I figured I would stay in the bedroom. I used my phone flashlight to find a candle and matches and hurried back to the bedroom just as the leak restarted and the drip, drip, drip was heard filling the bowls left out. I felt silly fleeing the leak like it was dangerous, I didn't know why that dream had affected me so much, but it felt wrong.
I sat in the dark and waited for the power to return but it did not, I fought sleep but even in my paranoid state I started to drift off. I was content that the door was closed at least, and it slightly muffled the sound of that constant dripping.
I awoke to the sounds of running water, the drip was replaced by a torrent that almost sounded like a waterfall. I was too afraid to move, but I had to see if my room was being flooded. I got up painfully and stepped down into ankle high water. Oh God this is bad, I thought immediately as I moved to the door to see what had happened, I heard a singular splashing noise, almost like someone stepping through the water.
My heart froze as I stopped just short of opening the door and focused on the sound. I heard the splashing again; it was definitely footsteps. I didint know what to do I tried to think who might break in, a robber? Maybe it was about the flooding, maybe it was Mr. Jacobs after all?
I grabbed the candlestick and lit the candle. If I needed to, I might be able to use it as an improvised weapon, if it could be a murder weapon in clue then why not? I cautiously opened the door and there was a backwash of even more water on the other side, it almost knocked me off my feet. I stumbled through the door, struggling in the cold water, I knew it was impossible, but it felt like there was a current running through it, like I was standing in the mouth of a river. I finally stepped past the door and into the living room and almost dropped the candle into the oddly surging waters. The sight before me was both amazing and terrifying. The water was moving, it was flowing into a whirlpool that was at the center of the room but as it neared the center it inverted and seemed to be spiraling out from the celling rather than the pooled water on the floor in a sight that blatantly disregarded all laws of gravity.
The spectacle was so amazing I almost forgot the footsteps I had heard and until they resumed. My gawking was broken, and I saw large bursts of water splashing toward me. I heard an ear-splitting cry like the wail of a banshee and suddenly the ceiling where the leak was coming from, and the current epicenter of the vortex started to glow and after a moment it turned deep red and a new horror occurred.
The face I had seen in what I had hoped was a nightmare before was back. The ceiling seemed to shimmer now, almost translucent and I saw the horrible features of a hideous form. White pupilless eyes stared down at me and a gaping screaming maw began filling with water tinged with red? No, it wasn't water, it was blood. The vortex began spewing blood all across the room and as I turned to flee in horror I was wrenched from my feet by the invisible force in the water and dragged kicking and screaming into the heart of the vortex. My last conscious sight that night was being pulled up into my own ceiling and into the bleeding maw of that avatar of bloody nightmare.
I woke up in the black abyss. The water was still mixed with blood, but there were no creatures. I was somehow buoyant and floated along in the shore less sanguine ocean. I drifted along unable to sink or to fully rise up. After what felt like an hour of drifting, I heard splashing and all of the sudden the sound got louder and louder. I looked around and saw the source of the noise, bodies were falling from the sky into the bloody ocean. First a few, then dozens then hundreds. A literal storm of blood-soaked featureless bodies came crashing into the water. I tried to evade them, but I could not dodge them all and I was buffeted by the limp forms of countless bodies until I was pummeled below the surface of the water. I couldn't breathe and as I tried to surface one of the bodies grasped my wrist and opened its eyes. On its previously featureless face, it now had oddly pulsating white pupils and it burst what appeared to be stitching on its mouth in order to scream under the water.
The sight and shock of that horrible scene woke me and I realized I was laying on my back in my apartment again. The flood water was lapping at my face, and I was breathing in and choking on the water on the floor. I lurched up as soon as I regained control of my body, spitting water and gagging from the quasi drowning I had endured. The water looked normal, no blood from what I saw, but the water itself was not a delusion or some trace of insanity it was there.
It was a bad scene, tons of my things were submerged, and the water damage was extensive. Somehow it had risen to almost two feet high. I had to do something, I didn't expect much from this place, but this was a severe enough situation that the crotchety old bastard Mr. Jacobs was going to have to fix something whether he liked it or not or they would be getting a lawsuit in short order. I figured some lawyers would take easy cases they knew they would win with no retainer needed if they got paid more at the end. So, it would not be a bluff I was dead serious, I almost drowned in my own apartment!
I staggered to the door and managed to open it, draining tons of water out into the hall, but I didn't care, I just needed some fresh air. My back is on fire, but nothing will stop me. I hear a friendly voice calling out to me, it's Maxine.
“Hey are you okay? I saw all the water and hadn't seen you around is there flooding there?”
She asked with an odd look, almost like she knew the answer but didn't want to let on.
“Yes there is, it is pretty bad actually I was just about to call Mr. Jacobs to do something about it.
”Greg....” She paused for a moment then continued.
“You didn't see anything in there did you? In the water? Like something or someone familiar?” I was confused by the specific nature of the question. I was put off and unsure how she knew I might have seen something.
“I am not sure what I saw, why do you ask?” I responded.
“No reason, just be careful it can be dangerous if you do. Don’t worry if it is not where you belong, you won't get pulled in forever. Just be careful though, you don't want to risk it.” A flash of morbid glee was evident on her face for a split second and then it was gone. I was starting to feel uncomfortable.
“Pulled in? How do you know about the leak? And if you do what's behind it?” I ask with mounting suspicion in my voice.
“You know Greg, in many cultures the path between the world of the living and the dead is separated by only the slightest barrier, often a literal or symbolic body of water. Whether the river Styx, the lake of fire, the waters reflected at the feet of a Torii gate, it is often just potent waters. Like all bodies of water, when they are contained somewhere there can be leaks. Sometimes the water is not the only thing that seeps out.” She stopped speaking for a moment and fixed me with an intent stare that made me feel very strange. I did not know what she was talking about? Was she saying that portal leads to some sort of afterlife? Like heaven or more likely in this case hell?
“Did you just say....” And she cut me off, saying.
“Oh if Mr. Jacobs finally goes over there to fix your ceiling let him know I had a concern I needed to express to him as well, it's been waiting for a long time.” She smiled again in a creepy way that disturbed me.
“Ah yeah sure I guess I can do that.”
“Thanks! See ya later and hope you feel better, those accidents can be rough best not sleep on your side and to drink lots of water, the right kind though.” She winked at me and departed, and I was at a loss for what just happened. How did she know I had gotten hurt I didn't tell her, and what was that thing about the right kind of water?
My anxiety about the situation was increasing and I was disturbed by Maxine’s questions too, maybe she was not so sweet and trustworthy after all. After far too long being ignored and dealing with the first sodden, now moldering cloths boxes and other personal effects Mr. Jacobs finally scheduled a time to drain the last remnants of water and do something more concrete about fixing the leak.
I was waiting patiently for his arrival and there was a loud banging at the door. I greeted Mr. Jacobs and he grunted at me and without looking at me walked past and looked up at the hole in the ceiling. He had an odd air of what almost looked like fear or concern on his face.
After he walked in another larger person in coveralls and holding a toolbox did as well. There was a large tarp or something that seemed odd to bring to this sort of job, it almost looked like a big sort of bag. They were both looking at the hole in the ceiling and Mr. Jacobs turned on a dime and stared me down.
“It’s just been water leaking down, nothing else right?” I thought the question was odd and I hesitated to answer since I was thinking of those vivid nightmares. I think he may have noticed that because his face sank, and he glowered at me looking significantly angrier and more dangerous than before. Before I could answer he shouted at me.
“What did you see?! Did something come out of the hole? Was it a person?” He looked manic and deranged, and I looked at the other man in the coveralls and he stood silent holding a sledgehammer that had appeared in his hand and watching the confrontation unfold.
“I....I don't know I just saw the leak, what is going on what do you think I saw? My neighbor asked me the same thing earlier.” Mr. Jacobs eyes narrowed.
“What neighbor? I haven't had tenants in 315 or 317 in over a year.”
I was confused, maybe I had heard Maxine’s apartment number wrong, but how could she be my neighbor if she was not in one of those. This must be some kind of mix up, I figured.
“My neighbor Maxine she said she lives in 315; I just saw her the other day and she asked if I had seen something as well.” At the mention of the name Mr. Jacobs face turned white.
“You said her name was Maxine!? She said that? You saw her?!” He was screaming at me asking more questions about Maxine like she was on Americas most wanted.
“What does she have to do with this? I don’t know what the hell is going on.” I admitted.
Ignoring my question, Mr. Jacobs began pacing and holding his hand to his head. The man in coveralls spoke for the first time.
“Jack, we have to go, let's find the body while the leak and portal are still here and dispose of the loose end.” I gasped at the admission of both a body and that I was apparently a loose end to some sort of crime.
“I fucking know, alright make it quick, we are going to have to do two so let's go before more people start coming home and we risk someone hearing.”
I fell back against the wall in shock as the large man hefted the sledgehammer and started stomping toward me. I was unarmed and injured; I didn't know what I could do but suddenly the lights went out again.
The door slammed shut and as the three of us stood there in stunned silence a slow drip began to trickle from the ceiling. Each drop splashing off of the low standing pool of water. The large man went to the door and tried to open it but to no avail.
“Jack what is going on?!” The man shouted to Mr. Jacobs.
“I don't know just use the hammer. Kill him and then bust us out of here. Or just give it to me and I will fucking do it.”
They were going to kill me!? I had to think of something quick, so I stammered out.
“Wait! I don't know what is going on you guys, you don't want to kill me I really don't know anything. Let's just get out of here before the water gets much worse, I think something bad is going to happen.”
As if on cue the dripping stopped and a torrent of water was disgorged from the hole in the ceiling, which now held an eerie lambent glow and was pouring a blood red liquid into the apartment. There was a giggle followed by a blood curdling screech and the man in the coveralls with the hammer was wrenched up off his feet and dragged kicking and screaming into the water. Mr. Jacobs and I both watched as his entire head was forced under the water by some unseen force, The man was being drown and as he looked like he might kick up a splash of water landed next to him revealing a brief outline of a female form the eyes were white and it had a horrible smile on its face. Its long-clawed hand was wrapped fully around the man's throat and was effortlessly throttling him.
Mr. Jacobs started sobbing, begging for mercy.
“I didn't mean to, please. It was an accident. I would have been locked up. I couldn't lose everything, I had to.”
I sat in stark terror as the falling water from the ceiling became a storm. The millions of droplets highlighted the attacker, her form was terrible yet oddly beautiful and she strolled along towards Mr. Jacobs who was grasping at the door handle and tugging uselessly at it. He reached for the hammer when he was pulled toward the figure by a moving tendril of bloody water.
“Just a little bath Jack that's all it won't hurt......much.” He tried to scream but his head was submerged in the bloody water. I saw the sentient waves of ruinous water grasp each of his appendages and tear him limb from limb in a bloody explosion.
I screamed and stumbled away wading through the water into my bedroom and desperately pulled on the window to escape that way. I heard splashing footsteps and a soft pretty tune being sung by an ethereal voice. Then I heard a giant crash and saw a portion of wall collapse along with more of the ceiling and the sight before my eyes almost drove me insane.
There was a vortex of bloody water sucking the maimed bodies of those men into the hellish portal where the leak originated and at the center was the bloody figure smiling at me and waving a hand as I finally got the window to budge and fell out. I stepped outside and tried to descend the fire escape, but the surface was too slippery, and I fell. I screamed and plummeted down and thought I would land on my head and die. Yet as I fell my descent slowed and to my shock and horror, I realized the rainwater was mixing with the water from my apartment flowing out of the window and I was being pulled back up into my room. I tried to scream but I felt water fill my mouth. At some point in the nightmare ride I blacked out again.
That was the last thing I remembered before I found myself here again. As I listen to the leak once more, I wonder if it could have all been a bad dream? The water, the leak, the portal it is all too much it couldn't have been real. I will go into my dingy living room and see the water dripping into the bowl and realize it was all just a terrible dream.
Yet when I sit up, I notice an odd breeze and when my eyes focus in the dark, I see lights in the sky........the sky?
The ceiling is gone! I do not know what is going on here, but I know I have to get out of here now. I hear splashing footsteps again over the ever-present dripping and see in the sky now the light of the monstrous portal opening in the very clouds above!
It is too much I leap from the fire escape again. Somehow in my mad haste I survived descending the fire escape and I sit here now writing this impossible story in my car that I have been living in nearly a week after the fact.
I heard on the news the reports of a structural collapse at my apartment and the landlord being unavailable for questioning, presumed missing along with another man who worked at the apartment as a special contractor. I thought about Mr. Jacobs and the man in the coveralls and shuddered when I remembered them being drawn into that unholy portal in the ceiling.
Apparently, it had not been the only disappearance in the building either. Around a year ago there was a missing person's report for a Maxine Valoroso. I remember how Mr. Jacobs reacted to her name, and it made me wonder what really happened here before I moved in.
I don't know who or what Maxine was, maybe she was the same person in the report, changed somehow. Best I can guess Mr. Jacobs had known something about her disappearance, maybe he had killed her and somehow, she came back for revenge. She mentioned the water washing away people's violent lives and I shuddered when I considered her smile when talking about the last person in 316 and the overdue message she had to send to Mr. Jacobs. I didn't know if she was a ghost, a demon or what. I also don't know the extent of her reach or if she is satisfied with just those men and who knows how many others she had washed away from that room with that dread portal.
I suppose it doesn't matter to me anymore I am never going back there. I gave all my belongings up for lost and the building was condemned anyway after the landlord disappeared and the ceiling collapsed in several sections of the building. I think there are are terrible things they will discover if they ever really investigate the building. Perhaps they will find bodies, perhaps the bodies are all gone, sucked into that watery abyss, that eldritch gate to hell that opened with a simple leak.
If something like that can happen I just don't know, I don't know if anyone is safe anymore.

Welcome to the Daily Question Megathread!
This megathread is dedicated to all your general questions about Wuthering Waves. Whether you’re just starting your odyssey or looking to share your initial experiences, this is the place to ask and answer questions, share tips, and help each other out as fellow rovers.
Please use this thread rather than create a separate post when asking questions, we also encourage rovers to search for answers in this thread using keywords to see if your question have already been answered.
Be clear and detailed when asking questions and sharing answers. Maintain respect and show appreciation to those who help you.
────────

Helpful Links

• Pre-download Instructions
• Wuthering Waves Starter Guide by u/Zapphiren
• Device Requirements
• Version 1.0 Event Overview Infographic

(Feel free to drop some potential posts that help to cover any useful information on the subreddit! We'll be looking to add content here as it comes up)
────────

FAQ

This is a simplified FAQ, for more questions, visit the subreddit FAQ.

Q1: Is there Controller Support?

A: PS4/PS5 controllers, XBOX controllers, and other mainstream controller models are supported. Controller support is currently only present on the Windows PC version.

Q2: Which server is the best for me?

A: It is reccomended to choose the server located the nearest to you. Asia server is recommended for Japan and South Korea. SEA server is recommended for South East Asia and Oceania.

Q3: What are the Device Requirements?

A: These are the minimum Device Requirements:
Android: Android version 7.0 and above; Snapdragon 835, Dimensity G71/72 or processor of equivalent performance.
iOS: iOS 14 and above operating system; iPhone 11 and above models; iPad with A13 SoC or processor of equivalent performance.
[PC] Device references: Windows 10 64-bit Intel I5 (9th Gen)/Ryzen 2700 Geforce 1060/RX570/Intel ARC A380 16GB and above

────────

Other Megathreads

• Weekly Gacha & Echo Megathread
• Weekly Friends & Co-op Megathread
• Launch Lounge Megathread
• Launch Technical Issues Megathread
• Content Creator Megathread

────────
Customer Service: wutheringwaves_ensupport@kurogames.com
Download Links: App Store, Play Store, Windows PC, Epic Games Store
Get set for the untold tales and embark on your odyssey, Rover. Please read the Wiki, Rules, and FAQ before posting.

Just a heads up for anyone who is considering purchasing this card, the recent listings at $2k are incredibly sus and are very possibly scammers.
Aside from the obvious discrepancy between current market value and a reasonable selling price, they are being listed by stores that have very similar inventories which include several multi-thousand dollar listings. Of the 3 suspicious sellers I've seen they all have a Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale [MTG], an XY Evolutions Booster Box case [Pokemon] and a Treasure Cup Zoro, + a few other $1-5000 items alongside less than a half dozen random $20-50 cards. Both of the current sellers also have borderless Mana Crypt among a couple of other identical cards.
The main thing that caused me to start taking a closer look at the sellers was that I personally saw my own card's picture being used by a seller recently for a listing at $2600, ripped straight from the eBay listing that I had won earlier that week. TCGPlayer removed that listing, but I see a sale with the same picture on the 31st at $2200 with my picture once again.. It makes me very suspicious of the current $2k listings as well as the recent sales the past few days, and I hope no one is getting burned badly here.
To me it looks like some scammer or group is trying to use stolen/hacked/farmed stores that have 50-100 feedback to list high value listings on TCGPlayer in an attempt to scam.
Full transparency, I have no idea if this is really what's happening, but the listings seem incredibly sus to me. Everybody knows if it's too good to be true it is, and the nearly 50% off market price for the card should raise some eyebrows to anyone who knows what it's worth. No one is throwing away 50% of the market value for their card for any reason, don't get scammed!

Examples Of Simplistic Music Videos Even A Beginner Music Creator Can Probably Film & Edit

If you’re a music creator and you want to level up by making a music video, here are some examples of very simple videos you can probably create on your own, if you have access to a decent video camera. Most new smartphones have good video cameras built in. If you don’t have a decent video camera yourself, odds are you probably have a friend or family member who has one.
Since you don’t have the budget for a huge epic video like Michael Jackson, Madonna, or OK Go, keep it simple.
Here are some examples of nice-looking minimalism music videos of all types of music:

➧ Minimal Editing Examples

• Dreamer Boy - Suckerpunch https://youtu.be/zNSj-IVOPdE
• Ed Harcourt - El Magnifico https://youtu.be/oAOV9drYVBA
• Fink - What Would You Call Yourself https://youtu.be/9kVNGMylWSY
• The Bygones - If You Wanted To https://youtu.be/VRSw8j8lWnU

➧ Somewhat Advanced Editing Examples

• Amilli - Four Days https://youtu.be/V_JKCUkhuic
• Avi Kaplan - Feel Alright https://youtu.be/StNt-2pIsXs
• Chad Lawson - Sanctuary https://youtu.be/QZwL3ojac0I
• Colouring - Lune https://youtu.be/0PwmqwMoawI (flashing visuals warning)
• Conor McLain - Who Am I https://youtu.be/XMgMXilnxgA
• Deeparshi Roy - Like A Waking Dream https://youtu.be/9U6d4WMWFsM
• DM Stith - Dodges & Feints https://youtu.be/CFLMEwt18tQ
• Furor Gallico - Call Of The Wind https://youtu.be/K8xeZu024RQ
• Glass Beams - Mahal https://youtu.be/nMuTgStG8w0
• Joey Dosik - Running Away https://youtu.be/6Qb2PLJyd4Y or this version https://youtu.be/wvpLjcXU3hY
• Kenzie - Close To You (featuring Astn) https://youtu.be/o68MGBsJVkk
• Levi Ouimet - Highway Home https://youtu.be/slkgYFm5S2s
• Mark Ambor - Belong Together https://youtu.be/r0c9Q21AfLA
• Oliver Anthony - Rich Men North Of Richmond https://youtu.be/sqSA-SY5Hro (NSFW hard cussing exception allowed due to important societal commentary)
• Susan Wolf - Into Your Arms https://youtu.be/oeiQBMrO8HQ
• Thomas Powers - Empty Voices (featuring Julien Baker) https://youtu.be/L6rHSzpeCfg
• Tinsley Ellis - Death Letter Blues https://youtu.be/yj9V_uyTRmk (flashing visuals warning)
• Vijay Iyer Trio - Compassion https://youtu.be/xGDFvxZCIHo

➧ Simple Still Artwork Examples For Your Song

• D4vd - Worthless https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=3bBXfTtirQg
• D4vd - Dirty Secrets https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc4XryNTVrE
• Alessandro "Asso" Stefana self titled album https://www.instagram.com/alessandro_asso_stefana/p/C7ERvNDMtUW
• Andrew Bird - I Felt A Funeral, In My Brain https://x.com/andrewbird/status/1585280348501557248

➧ Tips

• No Logos Or Copyright Violations!
Don’t include logos or trademarks in your video. Don’t wear a shirt or hat with a logo. You can buy hats without logos at major websites for retailer stores. Don’t include a well-known product, toy, or household item showing logos. Avoid shoes logos and automobile logos. Don’t include clips of movies/shows/viral videos unless you have permission/licensing agreements. If you want, send me a message and I can send you a list of numerous lawsuits resulting from unauthorized use of trademarks and logos in videos. You might get sued. You might not. Why risk it? Never free advertise for another business/brand. Most importantly, you want the audience to focus utmost on your song and you.
In this video “Vanlife Home Tour” by Roadside Resident that I made, you can see how careful I was about avoiding logos.
Learn how you can use depth of field camera settings to blur backgrounds when filming. This can help blur out logos in backgrounds. Some newer smartphones have settings to easily do this.

• How to Get a Blurry Background in Video (Depth of Field Tutorial), Brooker Films https://youtu.be/hF4wwJWV81w
• Depth Of Field For Film Explained, Film It Yourself https://youtu.be/-y-XPDKhGa4

• Don’t Let Music Video Directors/Editors Convince You To Use Flashing/Static Jolts
In the short attention span era, a lot of music video directors and/or editors seem to think you need staticy jolts and flashing lights. Nonsense. That garbage is irritating to the eyes. Think about it. Would you like someone irritating your eyes with a flashing light? Also, flashing lights can be a risk to people with photosensitive epilepsy.
Worth Reading:

• Epilepsy Society Thanks Beyoncé For Seizure Warning In Music Video, 2022 https://epilepsysociety.org.uk/news/Beyonce-seven-seconds-stop-seizure
• The Weeknd: ‘Take My Breath’ Music Video Pulled From Imax Over Epilepsy Seizure Fears, Yahoo, 2021 https://www.yahoo.com/news/weeknd-breath-music-video-pulled-075315297.html
• Kanye West’s ‘All Of The Lights’ Video Gets Epilepsy Warning, Billboard, 2021 https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/kanye-wests-all-of-the-lights-video-gets-epilepsy-warning-472872

• People Doing Interesting Things Are… Interesting
Instagram and TikTok are full of popular videos of people demonstrating how they perform interesting work or hobbies. If you know of anyone who has an interesting job or interesting hobbies/skills/talents willing to give you permission to film, that can make for an interesting video. Just remember – avoid logos and ensure safety! If you know of anyone who can do interesting athletic things or dance, perhaps you can get them to star in your video. In this “Creeping On The Dancefloor” video by The Zutons, you can see how they complied videos of people dancing to make the video exciting. The Zutons themselves mostly stay in one location while they physically move their arms a lot – and the editor cuts to the videos of dancers. Although it probably took a long time to edit, this video likely can be made by any editor with intermediate level skills. It’s a relatively simple showing interesting people doing interesting things.
A more simplistic video of an interesting person doing interesting things is “Control” by band Too Close To Touch. This video has a lot of edits. An amateur or intermediate-skill-level director could make a more simplistic version. The video revolves around a guy painting artwork. In my opinion the jolty edits are unnecessary. Nonetheless, an interesting person doing something interesting is already entertaining.
END

So I just finished watching Glee for the very first time on DVD. I never watched it when it was airing and here are my overall thoughts:
--Emma Pillsbury is one of my favorite character so far. I love her.
--Sue Sylvester is a menace to society and I love her too. She's my next favorite character. Her banter with Mr. Shue is always fun to watch.
--Mr. Shue/Matthew Morrison is fine asf
--I hate Ken Tanaka. He gave me incel vibes the moment he licked his hand and rubbed in on Pillsbury's car.
--I can't stand Quinn either. Like at all. She was so horrible to Finn when she got pregnant, name-calling and verbally insulting him for not doing enough. From what I saw, she didn't do much either. Please tell me she gets more tolerable as the show goes on. However, I really like her singing voice.
--It's My Life/Confessions Part II >>>> Halo/Walking on Sunshine
--I laughed my ass off at the Push It performance. Days later I found myself singing 'Get up on this!' while at work. Sue's face during the performance gets me every time. Same thing with Kurt slapping Finn's ass and him looking back at the football team.
--Dave and Azimio are so goddamn annoying. Degrassi characters who have done worse are more tolerable.
--Burt Hummel is so goated. I love how he stood up for Kurt in Theatricality.
--Sue x Will?? Uh......I wonder what it was like to film that one scene in Funk.
--The season finale was epic. I already knew the results since I accidentally spoiled myself, but it was still worth the watch.
I also have the DVD set for Season 2, so I'll post my thoughts after watching that.

I posted this in the main CPTSD sub but I don’t expect to get much support since I’ve mentioned how whiteness affects this situation. I don’t need advice, I really only want to share how frustrating this is with people who might understand a little better.
TL;DR: This volunteer situation was supposed to help me feel like the world has some hope. Like I am not the only one that recognizes the unfairness of our systems. To feel part of a community. But it’s only bringing up fears and anxieties that I haven’t felt in years since escaping from my abusive family. It’s also bringing up the feelings I have about feeling alienated from my culture and other people like me, yet also am rejected by the white society at large. I again feel rejected and chased out of my community. And maybe I don’t have the right to feel that way because that has literally happened to G, and allegedly the others.
My city has an issue with homelessness, as does every major city in the U.S. One large population of the homeless here are migrants and refugees. I used to be homeless myself and have since gotten out of that situation, I have a lot of sympathy for people who struggle with housing. I’ve been wanting to volunteer in my community, but with having a few medical conditions including PTSD and a neurological condition, I have very little energy to volunteer after work during the week and on the weekends I really need to rest and recuperate energy for getting back to work on Monday. I know not everyone can understand how terrible fatigue is but it really does affect the quality of my life and relationships sometimes. Anyway, I’ve been feeling guilty about not contributing that much to the solutions of these social problems surrounding us, so I wanted to do something actionable. I got in touch with a local housing organization that gets migrants and refugees temporary housing in the local community while they do the paperwork of helping the migrants get on the path to citizenship and stable housing. I volunteered to take in this older man who is pretty much guaranteed to be killed if he ever returns to his home country, and he has the scars to prove it. I figured, this won’t take up much of my time, and I have so much for a single person that I can afford to share a little bit.
He moved in last Wednesday. Let’s call him G. He sleeps on an air mattress in the living room of my one bedroom apartment. He’s mostly fine, although he has complained about my Spanish not being perfect and it took everything in me to not say “Out of all the fluent Spanish speakers in this city none of them want you in their home.” I did remind him that I’m doing my best to help him and he conceded. He is an old man who doesn’t understand technology so sometimes I have to explain to him that people/technology/things aren’t consciously trying to harm him, he just is unfamiliar with our way of life here. I have a lot of sympathy for him and I get how scary it must be having traveled all this way for asylum just to maybe be sent back to certain death.
He told me about his “family.” They’re not really his family, he just traveled up here with them from his home country, although they are from another country so I’m not sure how they got to know each other. The “son” (“B”) got very mad at G one day because one of the housing organizers bought G a new SIM card which gave him a new number and as a result B’s calls and texts weren’t going through to G and B said G was trying to abandon him now that he’s gotten new housing (my apartment). The housing organizers had to mediate between the two to get B to understand G just had a new number because the old phone was locked, I’m pretty sure because B had stolen it and claimed to have bought it for G. The rest of the family members are B’s wife “J”, their 10 year old son, their toddler daughter, and a 21 year old woman “D” who they initially presented to me as their daughter when in fact she is just someone they met at a refugee camp in another state, plus her toddler daughter.
My apartment has a pool, which G was super excited about. I took him to the store and bought him a pair of $15 swim trunks, no big deal. The next day, he asks me if his family can come for dinner and the pool. I said sure, and he told me “the only thing is that J doesn’t have a swimsuit” but that the kids all did. I felt like everyone has the right to have a fun pool day and take a break from the stress of their lives, so I said no problem and told them to meet me and G at Walmart the next day.
We meet at Walmart the next day, and it turns out that none of the adults have swimsuits. I grit my teeth and say okay, you guys can shop for one too. B doesn’t find anything in his size, and begrudgingly I agree to take him to Target after Walmart. J finds a swimsuit but has a religious belief against showing her legs, so I had to buy her shorts too which I think still shows your legs but whatever. D tries on every fucking one piece they have, we spend a long time waiting for her to try them all on, and she decides that they’re all too small or too big. She kept trying sizes XS and M and I said to just try a S. But she doesn’t like any of the ones they have in her size! Oh my god!!! Then they tell me that none of them have towels, so idk what they were expecting to do after the pool??? So then I fucking buy them towels too and all together everything costs $95, and we’re not even done. D wants to go to Target with me and B. So we go to Target and they both take forever trying on clothes which I just think is a little inconsiderate when it’s not your money you’re spending. B wants to buy not just swim trunks but also a tank top and sunglasses. D tried on every single swimsuit just to get the most boring basic black one piece AND it costs $40! Then they had the nerve to imply that I wasn’t buying enough bagged salad for them to all share. We’re cooking rice, potatoes, and chicken, do we really need two bags of salad for 4 adults? When we got to the cash register I really didn’t want to pay more than $150 so when the total got up to $148 I told B that I didn’t want to buy his sunglasses and he said that it’s okay, he’ll buy them. D, I think she genuinely thinks I don’t understand a lick of Spanish because she told him “I don’t think she has the money to pay for them.” BITCH DO YOU HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY FOR THEM? OR YOUR $40 SWIMSUIT??? I didn’t want to cause a stink at the cash register in front of this old white lady who was already judging us for speaking Spanish to one another, so I just ignored her comment and paid for everything.
We cook (by that I mean me and G, his “family” did not contribute anything) dinner and go to the pool. D complains that we didn’t cook enough rice for everyone. Which wasn’t true, everyone got just enough and was full. I told them I wasn’t going to get in the pool because I had to get ready to go to a party later that evening and I still had to shower, shave, and do my makeup. D looks down at my chipped nail polish and goes “And you have to paint your nails too.” Why does this woman who has nothing feel the need to police my womanhood????? She also made comments about how she couldn’t wear a two piece because it wasn’t godly. You’re a 21 year old single mother, I don’t think you care about what’s godly tbh!!!
Anyway, G comes home yesterday and tells me that one of the housing organizers has blocked his number and that she lied to him about his lawyer’s progress on his case for asylum. At this point I don’t trust G to be a reliable narrator so I don’t know how much of that is true, and after calling my main contact at the organization she doesn’t think that’s how things played out either, but G won’t return her calls today so we’re not sure what’s going on. He also told me that B and J got scammed out of $800. J was looking for someone to write her a letter claiming she worked for them in order to be approved for an apartment. She had asked me but I’ve heard apartments have gotten wise to this issue and so I declined because I don’t need any legal trouble myself. And honestly it sounds like she has been working harder to find someone to write this letter than she ever did to actually find work. B has a job but he’s paid under the table so his company doesn’t want to admit to employing him. Apparently they approached some lady on the street about it and she said she’d write them one for $800. They got the money somehow and paid her, only for the apartment manager to tell them the letter was fraudulent and couldn’t be accepted. Now I’m just wondering how the hell they had $800 but I paid almost $300 for their “family” to have a couple hours at the pool? I don’t even have $800! I actually have much, much less than that until I get paid on Friday.
**I KNOW this is my fault, I KNOW I should have said no and set some boundaries. ** But with hearing how abusive B was to G over the phone situation, I felt it was unsafe to deny him anything lest he get violent. I don’t truly know if he is violent. G, I never feel afraid of. But this guy B just moves and talks like one of those people who are ready to get physical over any perceived slight. I was severely physically abused for 20 years so I am very averse to anything that even suggests that might trigger someone to hit me. D has been really disrespectful and additionally has made comments about my Spanish not being the best and how “us women should act”, when again, no one else is volunteering to take her to the fucking pool let alone provide housing.
Now B and his family are going to be kicked out of their hotel this weekend because my city’s anti-homeless program is just a ploy to get democrats to vote for the incumbent mayor. They don’t actually deliver on promises of stable housing and paths to citizenship, and here I am picking up the tab. G is worried sick about them, and at first I reluctantly agreed to him that they could stay with me in my 1 bedroom apartment. But realistically idk how long it would be for them to find stable housing, if ever. And I get the feeling they’re the kind of people who are content with having just their most basic needs met and aren’t motivated to seek more for their selves, so of course they’d be fine staying with me while I buy all their food and they use my electricity.
I talked with my main contact at the housing organization and we agreed that I would tell G I can’t host his “family” today. I’m so nervous of confrontation, especially when it means I have to disappoint somebody. I can understand why they would feel scared, their only other option is to sleep on the street. I really don’t care for the adults in this situation, but I don’t believe the kids deserve to be on the street. I’m not sure what will happen with them, but I am hoping CPS would at least take care of getting the kids into foster housing.
I am so utterly disappointed with both them and myself. Them, because I have consistently found that people who have also endured a lot of trauma (homeless or not, migrant or not, whatever) are usually the first to screw me over, take advantage of my kindness, lie, cheat, and steal. Things haven’t gotten that bad with them yet but I’m mad at myself for even letting things get this far. And I’m upset with myself because I know so many people, my own family included, who would make fun of me for being kind enough to want to help others avoid sleeping rough. So many people who would just point to this story and say this is all the more reason not to help anybody, that I’m an idiot for ever thinking someone else was worthy of dignity and grace. I know they’re wrong, I still don’t feel I am wrong for wanting to host G while he seeks asylum. But god damn it I have yet again been taken advantage of by people with a sob story. Tbh I don’t even know what qualifies B and his family as refugees. I know G’s story and it’s heartbreaking, but with how shitty B is I can’t help but think he must have been involved in something fucked up and that’s why there’s a price on his head. I don’t want to blame a victim, but his attitude and ungratefulness really makes it hard to have sympathy. Apparently he has also been threatening to leave his wife and children for a woman in another state who he’s never met, so I just don’t believe he is an innocent worthy of protecting. And I feel disgusted for myself for even admitting to feeling that way.
EDIT: I had an hour long conversation with G about how they took advantage of my kindness. He was very embarrassed and apologetic. He said he recognized I was acting weird after we went shopping on Saturday but didn’t think to ask what was wrong, and I told him I needed a few days to organize my thoughts about the situation anyway so I probably would have told him I was fine that day. He insists on paying me back all the money I spent on them, and I really don’t want him to as he needs to save money to pay for his phone and groceries (I buy him food but he still prefers to do his own shopping). I also told him it wasn’t cool for him to use the food I buy him to make food for that family, especially when they seem to not be appreciative. According to the housing organization, they are supposed to get their food at the food banks like everyone else in their program. I’m just going to let him give me cash and put it aside to buy him stuff later. I need to take him to Warby Parker for a cheap eye exam next month so if he does somehow recoup all the money, I’ll just put it towards that. He’s planning on having a conversation tomorrow with B and J, and the he wants to permanently cut ties with D as her behavior has really embarrassed him and he feels she’s a threat to his housing safety. The “family” has apparently been approved for an apartment this weekend so I won’t be needing to take them in. However, and this really doesn’t concern me I just thought it’s interesting, these housing programs have policies of keeping IMMEDIATE family members together but not “found family” because it’s too common for people to manipulate others and then steal from them. So if it is found out by the apartment that D is not really their daughter, they will be evicted. I’m annoyed that I’ve gotten myself caught up in this, but at least it sounds like G won’t make D’s problems my issue any longer.