Bloxburg house layout

I have a history of being s-xually ass-ulted multiple times, including one violent, sadistic r-pe involving intentionally inflicting intense amounts of pain, violence, being repeatedly s-d-mised, being hogtied so I can’t do anything while he used me, even put in a collar and leash and str-ngled me with it. Told too cry harder as I was sobbing, trying to get him to stop. It was the worst 3 hours of my life. He also took photos of me bleeding during it and also my face, both of which he sent to me after. I’m not sure if he took any videos. I do worry it’s out there somewhere. It was exactly 2 years yesterday, since it happened, I spent the entire day triggered and crying alone in the bathroom, because I physically tried but couldn’t tell someone what day it was.
I’m not 100% sure about this, but I have fragmented memories of possible CSA as well. I remember being bathed, him getting himself off as he touched outside and inside of me with his hands, being put on a bed naked. I have many signs throughout my childhood that point to it, but recently while asking my family about our relationship with the person and if we’ve been to their house, they all give differing accounts of it. But I remember his walls, his dining table, the layout of his house, his kids’ room (boy and girl, bunk beds), that his wife and him were separated and she didn’t live with them anymore, the colour of his skin and the muscles in his arms. Most of this, matches my family’s account of it. His face is a blur blotch. I’ve been trying to make sense of it all with my therapist, but it’s been hard as I’m always numb or dissociating, or becoming overly dysregulated during sessions.
I have sick compulsive / intrusive thoughts, ever since the r-pe happened. It’s one part of my PTSD/CPTSD probably. I would call it morbid curiosity, but it feels more than that. I try and search videos of really horrible adult r-pe — it has to have crying, it has to have resisting, it has to have becoming dead in the eyes, and bleeding like I did. It’s the only kind of p-rn that feels right to me. I’ve only found the fake, scripted ones on the right side of the internet. I’ve searched a bit of the dark side of it, but haven’t found any. I feel like I do it because I need to, it’s the only familiar thing I know. The r-pe made me extremely hypersexual (before that i was very new to sex, didn’t sleep around) as a result, to the point I slept with all different partners several times a month, and at one point almost several a week, to the point I was desperate and it made me feel horrible not being violently used by a man in the exact same way I was ass-ulted, to the same extent of pain. Because I became hypersexual, I didn’t shy away from p-rn. I sought for something to reenact my ass-ult, something I could watch to put myself back in that moment again, because it’s familiar. The r-pe caused me to develop kinks for the exact same things that had been done to me too — it doesn’t bring me much joy, I just feel the intense need to feel the exact things that were done to me. Because it’s me. It’s what I am. I don’t exist beyond the event of the r-pe where the person inside of me died.
My trauma therapist specialising in s-xual ass-ult / ab-se victims knows about the whole p-rn thing regarding the r-pe of women. I told her a while back. She said it happens, that she had some clients too that had this thing too. I didn’t tell her I’d been trying to access the wrong side of the web for it. And I didn’t tell her I’d been searching for similar videos regarding young girls too. Not because I get aroused from it — I don’t, not at all. Not to masturbate to it — i would never. Not to enjoy it — I can’t, I know for certain. But instead, it felt like it has been to find something that matches what I feel is familiar very deep down inside, in my subconscious. Like it’s there, I can sense it, knowing something happened. I just wanted something to just click within me, to confirm to myself that the things that happened to me as a child were real. And I found it yesterday.
I didn’t click into anything beyond just the weblink itself. But there were free gif-like previews running automatically on the page as soon as the page loaded. I saw a snippet of a r-pe. I closed the page immediately. Deleted the entire browser.
But when I saw it, I scared myself. It made me hate myself profusely. Because when I saw it, I felt empty, nonchalant, apathetic. I wanted to be repulsed, like a normal person would, like a CSA survivor definitely would. But I felt nothing. At most, it felt… unsurprising, and almost normal because it felt so familiar, like it was me in that gif clip. I felt more repulsed with myself for feeling absolutely nothing, than for wanting to find something like it in the first place.
I feel 1000% fucked in the head. I feel like I should be tortured, more than I already am mentally / emotionally, like I should physically be tortured. I feel like I shouldn’t exist because I even have the thought of doing something like this, and to feel nothing from it. I haven’t told a soul in person about this, ever since yesterday happened. I want so much to tell my therapist what I did, but I don’t think I could survive it if telling her makes her look at me with hate and disgust in her eyes. She’s the only one I can tell, the only one I’ve told about the adult p-rn thing too. I literally could not do a bad thing in real life, it’s literally in my nature to desperately want to be a good person, but inside my head I feel like the worst person alive, like I should be condemned. And I should definitely be condemned for this.
How do i tell my therapist that I felt nothing seeing something so horrible? That I searched for something like it in the first place? Why did i do this?

This is the catch-all design sub, from fashion to interior to product design, graphic design UI design and Christ knows what else
A lot of the posts I see here are asking who designed this chair - so assuming product designers and students? Interior questions, people asking about how to best layout or design their houses so their hoping for interior designers, and UX and UI posts and cars
Thought be interesting to see how this sub does lean, are you a student or a professional or a hobbiest? And what sector under the design umbrella have you chosen?
Edit; sorry will go first as well. 13/14 years experience (?). I started in graphic design, get a degree, did a lot of print work, print presses, print technician etc, graphic designer in house, senior and been head of design. Done a lot of freelance and a lot of experience in full branding projects and big scale websites, most the integrating with a PIM system of something similar or big scale e-commerce, so do a lot of analytics and strategy, reviewing sales metrics. Marketing experience, data structure and architecture, data segmentation and optimisation etc
So mostly around print and graphic design, a little UX and UI where websites are concerned. Done some intranet and auditing software UI, but I never really got too deep in that stuff, just where user interaction, experience and engagement affected websites

“I just had an idea pop into my head about something to do this coming weekend, and I wanted to bounce it off you two before it slips my mind” My friend Natasha said those words as the three of us sat on my couch one afternoon. I found myself sitting up slightly. Normally, Natasha was the last of our group to suggest things to do, letting Vinny, the third member of our group, or I come up with the plans to keep our free time occupied. The fact she was about to suggest something intrigued me. “What have you got in mind?” I asked her. A smile played over her face as her brown eyes seemed to flash. “How about a little ghost hunting?”
I felt Vinny sit straight up beside me. She had clearly grabbed both our attention now. The three of us were what you might call amateur ghost hunters, using very basic items we bought offline to visit some of the spookier places in the area and posting our adventures on YouTube, sort of like a crappier version of Ghost Adventures. “Now that’s one hell of a good idea” Vinny said, before a puzzled expression spread over his face. “But, I mean, where? We’ve already done most of the places around town. The Tioga building won’t let us in after that…well, what that one resident claims we stirred up in the old ballroom, and I’m not about to make the hours long drive to the Wolf Creek Inn” Natasha’s smile grew wider. “No, we don’t have to even go out of town for this one” she said, her voice dropping low, “What I’m suggesting, is we check out…” her voice trailed off, letting the suspense grow for a few seconds before finishing, “The Egyptian Theatre”
Instantly, Vinny let out a harsh bark of laughter. “HA! Now that’s a good one. You know damn good and well that the society that runs the theater won’t allow us in after hours to ghost hunt. As far as I know, they’ve never allowed any paranormal teams into the place” He pulled a face. “So, how exactly do you propose we get in there? You flutter your eyelashes for the night janitor and use your feminine charms to get us in?” Natasha still grinned, but rolled her eyes at our friend’s quip. “No, actually, I was thinking about using my lock picking skills to get us in” she declared. It was my turn to give her an incredulous look. “You’re joking, right?” I asked. She shook her head. “Nope, I’m dead serious” I let out an incredulous, almost baffled snort of laughter and pulled my glasses off my face, rubbing my eyes.
The country, and, to a large extent, the entire world, became gripped in an interest, sometimes bordering on obsession with all things Egyptian when King Tut’s tomb was discovered over a century ago. Many things came out of this, including the classic 1932 monster movie The Mummy. But, one thing that also came of this fever gripping the country was a desire to build many Egyptian style buildings. And one of the buildings which took this design and ran with it, were the movie theatres. A decade after the legendary discovery, over a hundred theatres had gone up all around the country, their interiors clad with fake temple columns, paintings of sphinxes and Egyptian gods such as Anubis decorating the walls, and hieroglyphs adorning the archways. People flocked in droves to them, both to watch movies, and live performances. But, like all trends, eventually, the interest began to wane, and as the late 20th Century approached, many began to shut down and be either remodeled, or straight up demolished. Today, there’s only between five and eight Egyptian style theatres left in the entire country.
And one just so happens to be right in the town I live in.
When I moved to Coos Bay, Oregon nine years ago, I immediately fell in love with the place. Even though it’s the largest coastal town on the Oregon coast, it’s a place which is more or less perpetually frozen in time, still looking pretty much as it did between thirty and seventy years ago. And, as someone who is not exactly into the modern world, it made a perfect place for me to live and escape away from the 21st Century. I began exploring right away, driving every street of it and the town neighboring it, North Bend, along with walking every alley and back road I could to learn the layout. That’s how I learned about the supernatural element to the town.
There are many places in town which people claim supernatural occurrences take place. From the remains of the old logging buildings on the estuary, to the old Tioga Hotel which has been remodeled into apartments, there is no shortage of ghostly tales. There was even the old McCauley Hospital, which had once been the focal point of the town’s annual ghost walks until it was demolished in 2018. As a side note, I heard a rumor that a couple people broke into that place right before it got torn down. Something sure spooked them, because a friend of mine on the police force told me they gave him a fright, bursting in the night before Easter and rambling about something. I always wondered what they saw in there.
But, for me, the place in town I always loved the most, and enjoyed the most hearing about the ghostly accounts told, was the Egyptian Theatre.
Originally built as a garage in 1922, it was renovated by a man named Charles Noble into a movie theatre in 1925, where it drew in droves of people from around the area to watch films, and enjoy live vaudeville performances. It continued to operate almost to the end of the 20th Century, when other theatres began to attract younger moviegoers, and for a while, it almost seemed as though the historic building might even be closed for good and gutted. But, thanks to the efforts of local preservation societies, it was saved, and now operates as a theatre once again. They mostly play only older movies, along with live performances.
And, of course, it draws curious people for the paranormal rumors surrounding it.
For years, people have reported strange occurrences happening inside the building, both when it’s open, and after hours. Patrons and employees alike have spoken about a pervasive feeling of being watched inside the building, but finding no one there when the place was searched. There have been reports of being touched by invisible hands, a few even pushed slightly. Beyond physical interaction, employees have reported the sounds of old film projectors playing and unseen audiences laughing after hours, along with the eerie playing of the theatre’s Wurlitzer pipe organ, along with a host of other occurrences. No ghost hunting team has ever gone in to try and document these events. And to Natasha, that was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Legal, or not.
“Are you freaking nuts?!” Vinny exclaimed, “Do you have any idea how much trouble we’d be in if we got caught breaking and entering? The cops around here are already a bit twitchy with the druggies and the homeless. You wanna give them a reason to throw us into jail alongside them?” Natasha held up a finger, flipping her black hair over her shoulder. “They won’t find out, because I have not one, but two aces in the hole here. The first is that thanks to being friends with Scott, I know the nighttime police sweeps, where they’re going to be and everything. There’ll be an hour long window where they’re not anywhere near the alley where the back door to the theatre is. We can get in and out with no threat of being spotted at all. And the second is, did you forget I’m dating Dylan now?” The realization washed over me like a wave; she had started dating the man who helped the preservation society run the theatre a month or so ago. Damn, she’s been planning this one for a while, I thought.
Vinny had a thoughtful look on his face, his green eyes darting around rapidly, but not seeing. “Hmm” he muttered, then looked at Natasha. “And you’re sure that there’s no chance of us getting caught?” he asked slowly. “Absolutely none” she said, then looked at both of us. “So, how about it?” For a few moments, there was silence, and then Vinny let out a chuckle. “What the hell, why not? The most exciting thing we’ve done the last few weeks is go down to the farmer’s market. This could shake things up a bit” I suddenly became aware that the two of them were looking at me, waiting for me to make my decision. I was always the most sensible of the three of us, doing all I could to keep us out of trouble with others as well as the law. But, I always had one nasty Achilles Heel ever since I had been a child, and that was peer pressure. So, despite the overwhelming feeling that I should tell them no, that I should say we should just find something else to do, I nodded. “Alright, let’s do it” I said simply, causing grins to break out on both of my friend’s faces.
I wish to God in retrospect that I’d just had the damn spine to stand up and say “No”
The rest of the week seemed to pass by faster than usual. Before I knew it, the weekend had arrived. We’d decided that late Saturday night would be the best time to do this, as most places downtown closed up between eleven and midnight, aside from the bars and strip club. To say I felt anxious about breaking the law, something I wasn’t used to doing at all, would be like calling a Megalodon a goldfish, but my worries about disappointing my friends ended up outweighing it. And so, at eleven-thirty, the three of us piled into my beat up Chevy Tahoe, and made our way towards downtown. As I drove us down Ocean Boulevard, which connected the two sides of town, something settled over me. I can’t exactly place it, even to this day. But it was the most uneasy feeling I’ve ever experienced. But I did my best to push it away. It’s nothing, Troy. It’s just because you’re, understandably, worried about this. Plus, the road being deserted isn’t helping much.
My mental chiding seemed to help center me a bit, which was a good thing. The road was now angling downward, and a moment later, we drove into downtown. The darkened shapes of the closed stores seemed to rise up higher on either side of us than they looked during the daytime. We’d decided to cruise by the front entrance first, just to see if anyone were still inside. As I turned the truck onto the main drag, the sign for the theatre rose high above us, a depiction of an Egyptian pharaoh next to the yellow and white letters which proclaimed its name to everyone who drove through town. I spared a glance as we passed it. The lit up marquee windows showed that The Blues Brothers and Jaws would be shown soon. For whatever reason, though, I couldn’t bring myself to look through the glass doors that showed the building’s darkened interior. The uneasy feeling had returned, and, for a moment, it felt as though if I did look, I would see someone, or something staring back out at me. And then we passed it, taking the next right and looping back around to Anderson Ave.
I turned the truck into the narrow alley drive which ran along the back of the theatre and neighboring buildings. Parking right next to the rear doors would be extremely conspicuous, so I pulled up a bit further and parked in a carport like area. Shutting off the engine, I turned to my two friends. “Well, this is it” I said, “Last chance to turn back if anyone’s having second thoughts” I’d hoped that either Vinny or Natasha would’ve gotten cold feet in the last few minutes, allowing us to go do something else. But there was no such luck. “Are you kidding me?” Natasha said from the passenger seat, “We are far too close to back out now!” Vinny grunted from behind me. Well, shit. Resigning myself to the fact they were determined to go through with this, I let a deep breath out through my nose and nodded. The others opened their doors and hopped out. A moment later, I followed.
The night air was cool and crisp on my skin as we slowly walked back down the alley to the rear of the yellow-ish, tan building. Three different sets of red double doors were built into the back of the theatre. Natasha pulled something out of her coat pocket, and I realized, with a small pang of surprise, that it was a lock pick set. A legitimate lock pick set. “Where the hell did you get that?” I whispered to her. She shrugged and smiled. “I have my ways of getting things” she said simply, then pointed to the far right set of doors. “We’ll have a bit of cover from that electrical box. You two keep an eye out while I deal with the lock” And with that, she scurried forward, bending down in front of the door handles. Vinny and I stood guard, each of us looking down both ends of the alley. As the soft sound of Natasha messing with the lock filtered over to me, I realized just how quiet it was. And how eerie hearing downtown so quiet was. Aside from a few distant booms and bangs, and the far off sound of a dog barking, all I could hear was the whistle of the wind as it whipped between the old buildings.
An involuntary shiver cascaded up my spine, and I tried again to reason myself back to a relative sense of calm. “Get a grip, dude, you’re gonna be fine” I whispered under my breath. But this time, it felt as though I weren’t able to entirely convince myself. I suddenly became aware of a creeping sensation, one which made me shoot a look around. Nothing moved in the stillness, no indication of anyone besides us being in the alley. And, yet…I was overcome with the distinct feeling of being watched. Not by either of my friends. But…by someone else. Before I had a chance to even think about it, I heard a rather loud click, and Natasha let out a soft laugh of triumph. “We’re in, ladies and gentleman!” she declared, standing up and pulling on the door. It opened silently, the streetlight in the alley casting a small shaft of light into the darkness beyond. Turning, she waved an arm at Vinny and I. “Come on, let’s get inside”
Before either of us could say anything, she turned and disappeared into the dark. I shot a look at Vinny, who simply shrugged. “After you, my man” he whispered. I let out a deep sigh, and then moved to the door. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the small flashlight, and then pulled on the heavy metal, slipping inside, Vinny right behind me. The darkness swallowed us as the door closed. For a moment, a small rush of panic from not being able to see flashed through me, before a light appeared beside me. It wasn’t from a flashlight, though; instead, a small, orange flame flickered beside me. “Don’t turn on your flashlights yet, just follow me” Natasha said, the flame making her face seem to dance and move behind it. She turned and headed away, leaving us no choice but to follow. I listened to her and didn’t turn on my flashlight. But every fiber of my being was screaming at me to. Because the feeling of being watched out in the alleyway? Had quintupled in here. The best way to describe it, was that we were angrily being stared at. And I didn’t like the sensation one bit.
Natasha led us up a flight of steps and pushed open another door. “We’re here” she said, still keeping her voice low, “You can turn on your flashlights now” Thank you, God, I silently said, snapping mine on and casting a bright white light into the room we’d entered. A moment later, so did my two friends’ lights. The beams played around, and I heard Vinny let out a bit of a gasp. “Ho-lyyyy shit” he muttered.
Natasha had guided us into the main theatre. The ceiling rose high above our heads, almost out of sight of even the flashlights. Rows upon rows of red movie seats stretched out and away from us, seeming almost unending in the shadows. The walls were all covered in hieroglyphs, all still original from the 1920s. To our left, the second story, which housed a smaller row of seats, along with the projection room rose about twenty feet above us. And to the right, was the stage itself. It was flanked by two huge columns, the screen rolled up and revealing a mosaic of an Egyptian building on the back wall, with two men clutching staffs sitting on either side. Directly in front of the stage sat the organ, its seating bench tucked beneath it.
“Okay, this is a trip to be in at night!” Natasha exclaimed excitedly, then pulled the backpack she’d been wearing off her shoulders. Dropping it into a seat, she unzipped it and began pulling items from it. “Guys, here” she said, holding them out. Vinny stepped forward and grabbed the camcorder from her; as someone who’d had a lifelong dream of being a filmmaker, he was our resident cameraman. I stepped forward and took two items from her: an infrared thermometer and an EVP recorder. The rest, she placed on the ground, and then faced Vinny. “Alright, tell me when you’re recording” He fumbled with the camcorder for a second, then shot her a thumbs up. Instantly, she took on a somber, eerie expression, giving an admittedly creepy look at the camera. “Well, well, welcome back to The Three Ghostkuteers, everyone. I hope you all have been well since our last trip. Tonight, you join us in a very, very special place, and one close to home for us. We are currently in the Egyptian Theatre in Coos Bay, Oregon, one of the last remaining in the country. It was built in the 1920s by a man named Charles Noble-“
I turned away, tuning her out as I did. The woman really, really enjoys being in front of the camera. Better her than me. Shining my light around, I looked up at the balcony. I could see the small hole in the projection booth where the movie projector would shine out onto the screen. Something caught the beam’s light, reflecting off it slightly, and I aimed the light at the wall. It was a wrought iron light fixture, one which had been shaped into the figure of a King Cobra, poised to strike. Gazing around, I saw they adorned much of the walls. I let out a small shudder at it. God, do I hate snakes. Thankfully, though, the feeling of being watched I’d had in the alley and the darkened back of the theatre had seemingly disappeared. Yeah, see, what’d I tell you, Troy? Nothing but your nerves.
Natasha had finished her opening monologue and moved to the edge of the stage, on which she placed the small, square spirit box. “And now, let’s see if anyone would like to speak with us” she said, flicking it on. Instantly, the silence of the theatre was shattered by the sound of static, intermittently interrupted by quick snippets of radio shows being picked up. “Is there anyone here who’d like to talk to us?” she called out into the huge room. The static and snippets were the only sound to answer her. After a minute, she tried again. “Are there any spirits who’d like to communicate with us?” There was still nothing. Vinny panned the camera from the box to Natasha as she paced back and forth for a few minutes. A small look of disappointment flooded over her face, but she instantly plastered it over with the same look she’d given the camera before. “Well, it looks like the spirit box isn’t gonna work tonight, so we’re gonna have to try something else” She pulled out an EVP recorder identical to mine and switched it on. “Let’s try this instead, shall we? Remember, by the way guys, if you’re new here and want to see more, to like and subscribe-“
I turned away again, feeling a small pang of irritation flow through me. This is freakin’ ridiculous, man. The longer we stay in here, the more chance we have of getting caught. Truth be told, as much as I enjoyed ghost hunting, I didn’t even really believe in the paranormal. In all the years the three of us had filmed together, not once had we caught anything, on tape or otherwise. In fact, many times we’d had to fake spooky occurrences in order to make sure our videos got any views at all. This is your own fault, man, I silently chided myself, you’re the one who couldn’t stand up to them and say no. You really, seriously need to grown a spine and learn how to say no. The mental self lecture was furthering my rotten mood, and I began to feel a wave of anger at my two friends, as well as myself boil up.
“Hell with this” I finally muttered, then turned and began walking up the aisle. “Troy, where the hell are you going?” I heard Natasha call out behind me. I stopped, not looking over my shoulder, but quietly aiming my voice behind me and allowing a hint of irritation to seep into it. “I’m gonna go check out the second floor balcony, okay? I don’t exactly like just standing here” For a moment, there was silence, and then her voice came, soft and almost apologetic. “Okay, go ahead” Before she could say anything more, I strode away, walking to the open doorway which led out of the theater and into the concession area. I hooded my flashlight beam with one hand to make sure it wouldn’t accidentally shine out of the glass entrance doors into the street and looked around. The lobby and concession stand took up most of the front area, the darkened shape of it stretching along the far wall.
Taking a few steps ahead, I turned and looked up at the wall above me. Large, blue letters stretched out from one side of it to the other. Through these doors pass the most wonderful people. I snorted softly. “Yeah, unfortunately, not tonight” I shook my head, then looked around. And nearly jumped out of my skin. Something also seemed to jump back. I felt my heartbeat begin to race in my chest and my breath quickened. “Shit…” I let out weakly, then slowly moved forward. After a few steps, I suddenly realized what I’d seen and let out a soft laugh of relief.
“Your own damn reflection, you fucking pussy” Shaking my head, I turned away from the glass wall and headed for the stairs to the second floor. At the base of them, I stopped and shone my flashlight up. “Ooh, boy” I said quietly. Sitting next to the stairway like a sentry, was a huge, golden statue of a pharaoh. It towered over me, and I estimated that, were it be standing straight up, it’d easily be between eight and ten feet tall. It stared straight ahead at the wall ahead of it, and I couldn’t help but let out a small shiver as I stared at it. It just seemed so damn eerie in the dark, and I quickly moved past it, heading up the stairs and stepping out onto the second story balcony.
I shone my light around. Red seats again surrounded me, though this time far fewer. Ahead of me, I could see the balcony’s edge and the hulking shape of the main stage beyond. I could also see the beams of my friends’ flashlights playing over it, and hear both of their voices speaking softly. Deciding while I was up here to at least check out the projection booth, I strode over to the door and tried to turn the handle. It was locked. Feeling my irritation bubble over into exasperation, I jiggled the handle in some stupid attempt to open it. But the door stayed shut. I turned away and rubbed my eyes, again hearing the voices of my friends softly filtering up to me from down below.
“Hey, if there really are any ghosts, or spooks, or specters, or whatever in here? If you’re actually real, could you appear to us, please?” I whispered to no one, “That way my friends can get what they want and I can go home” I received only silence in reply. I hadn’t really expected anything, anyways. You know what? Screw this, I’m going back down there and telling them I’m going home, with or without them. This is beyond stupid, I just broke the law for what? For nothing! For something dumb as hell. And with that, I turned to walk away. But I hadn’t even taken a single step when something crashed into me like a wave. The breath was driven from my lungs as I felt a massive chill shoot through me, as though I’d been doused with ice water. “What the fuck?!” I hissed through gritted teeth, then froze, my eyes going wide. The feeling of being watched had returned with a vengeance, and it had seemingly been ramped up in its intensity. I shot a look around, but saw nobody.
Still, the feeling remained, and with each passing second, it almost seemed to grow stronger. Chill after chill rolled up my spine, and even though I didn’t really believe, something deep inside me told me that it was time to get out. Okay, time to leave, I said in my head, and headed quickly for the stairs. As I reached the head, I turned to look back one final time. That’s when I saw something. It disappeared when I aimed my flashlight at it, but I swear a second earlier it had been the outline of a person, standing in the shadows and watching me. The split second sight catapulted me into motion, and I hurried down the steps, shining my light every which way but loose. Believer or not, I knew something wanted us out. I’d planned on jumping off the second to last stair and running for the main theatre floor. But as I reached the bottom, I froze.
For a moment, I couldn’t place why. And then, the realization fell over me like a tsunami. I let out an involuntary gasp, and fear like I’d never felt before surged through me. I didn’t want to turn around and look. I wanted to pretend I hadn’t seen it. I desperately wanted to. But, like a dumbass character in a horror movie, I couldn’t help it. I needed to look. I slowly turned, aiming my flashlight back up. And I couldn’t help but let out a strangled scream, falling backwards over my own feet as I began to backpedal rapidly.
The statue of the pharaoh still sat where it had. It still towered over me, looking as imposing and eerie as ever. But it’s carved and painted eyes were no longer staring straight ahead at the wall. Instead, they had somehow moved. And when I’d turned, I’d come to find they were staring directly at me.
I scrambled to my feet, snatching the flashlight from the floor where I’d dropped it and aiming it at the statue again. It stared straight out at nothing again. But I knew what I’d seen. It hadn’t been a trick of my mind, or the light. The freaking thing’s eyes had moved to watch me as I passed down by it. I began to stammer out as I backed away from it. “Okay, that’s it, no no no no, we’re done here, fuck this shit, I’m officially a believer, we’re leaving, right now” I kept backing towards the doorway to the theatre, never taking my eyes off the statue. I was terrified I’d seen it suddenly stand up and turn to lumber after me like Boris Karloff or something.
The blaring sound of the theatre’s organ slashed through the silence, causing me to let out another strangled scream and jump almost a foot off the ground. I whipped around, thinking I would see my moronic friends tinkering with the instrument. Instead, I froze again. The theatre was no longer dark. Both of my friends had seemingly vanished from the room, as I could no longer see them. The movie screen had somehow been pulled down, and above me, I heard the whir of the movie projector playing. An old, black and white movie, one which had no sound, played on the screen, occasionally changing to show dialogue being displayed in white letters.
It was also no longer empty.
The entire theatre was packed. I saw people sitting at almost every single seat in the huge room. I could only see the backs of their heads as they watched the movie playing. At the edge of the stage, what looked like a man now sat at the organ, playing it in time with the film. A slapstick moment came across the screen, and the audience began laughing. In any other situation, it would’ve been a comforting sound. But at that moment, it was the most spine chilling sound I’d ever heard. Especially as another wave of realization crashed into me. From the little I could see, everyone in the theatre looked to be dressed in long passed fashions.
That’s when the voice, low and quiet, came from behind me. “Good evening, sir” it said. It sounded like a man’s voice, one rather low and deep pitched, but something about it paralyzed me on the spot. The voice continued, putting on an air of pleasant politeness. “We’re so glad you could make it, it’s been so long since we’ve had new patrons arrive at a showing. If I could just see your ticket, please?”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak. Then, I managed to squeak out two words. “Uh, ticket?” The tone of the voice seemed to change somewhat. “Yes, your ticket. That’s the only way you could’ve gotten in. Please, let me verify it and show you to your seat” Ohhh, shit. Whoever, or whatever the voice belonged to, thought I had shown up like a regular moviegoer. The voice’s tone became less polite. “You do have a ticket, right, sir?” I was beyond terrified to answer, but I was more terrified to remain silent. For a moment, I considered lying. But I feared what might happen if I did. So I told the truth.
“I….uh, I, uh….I don’t have a ticket, sir” I stammered out, my voice barely above a whisper. Instantly, all sound stopped in the room like someone had flipped a switch. “You…don’t have a ticket?” the voice said, all pretense of manners vanishing from it, “Then how did you get in here for the late night showing?” Oh, god. I forced myself to speak, still unable to say anything except the truth. “My…my friends and I….broke in…through the back door…to…ghost hunt…” There was silence for a few moments, and then a heavy hand dropped onto my shoulder. My head swiveled to look at it. Oh, fuck me sideways. It wasn’t a regular hand. It was a fucking claw. One with black skin, tipped with what looked like razor sharp nails. It sat there for a moment, then tightened; almost painfully so, making me let out a small whimper of pain.
That’s when I looked up. Everyone in the theatre had turned to look at me. My initial thought had been correct; they all wore clothing from almost a century ago, and not the stuff cosplayers wear, either. They also had very angry expressions on their faces, as if they’d just noticed the intruder among their midst. The voice finally came again, almost directly behind me. Its tone lowered, almost sounding guttural and animal, making my legs almost melt into jelly from the fear. “Then, might I make a suggestion to you and your trespassing little friends?” My breath came in rapid, ragged gasps, and I barely managed to force out the one word. “Yes?”
“LEAVE”
At the single word reply, which now more closely resembled a growl than a word, I did something I will forever wish I hadn’t. I finally turned and looked up at who was addressing me. The only way I can describe what happened is, my mind shattered. The next thing I remember, I was crashing into the back doors of the theatre into the night.
And I was screaming.
That was a month or so ago. When I’d stumbled back into the alley, I’d turned and, in what I can only call blind fear and panic, bolted for my truck. I hadn’t even heard my friends chasing after me. Not until Vinny caught up to me as I scrambled with my keys, grabbing me from behind and turning me to face him. He said the look I’d had on my face scared him and Natasha more than anything ever had before. I’d been pale as a sheet, my eyes wider than they ever thought a human’s could be. I'd been babbling softly. I’d been saying the words “They want us to leave” over and over. They didn’t ask me what had happened. They just pushed me into the backseat of my truck and drove away from there. It was clear, as I found out later on, that both of them hadn’t seen anything. As far as they were concerned before seeing me dash to the rear doors, it was just an empty theatre. Neither one of them ever asked me what I saw that night. And for that, I’m thankful. Because I could never utter from my lips what I did see.
But I’ve had nightmares since then. Horrible ones. Ones that’ve been so bad, I had to let out what happened to me, deciding to just post it here, regardless of whether people believe me or not.
Nightmares about being back in that theatre after hours. About seeing that pharaoh statue’s eyes flick in its painted sockets to look at me. About seeing all those people, people long since dead, sitting and watching the films they did when they were alive. About seeing that hand fall on my shoulder, hearing that voice, telling me not to come back until I have a ticket.
And about turning to see who the hand and voice belonged to.
The Egyptian Theatre will be celebrating its centennial this year. People are planning to show up in 1920s cars, dressed in period clothing. They’re even going to show an old, silent film as part of the festivities. But I won’t be attending it. I won’t ever go anywhere near it again. The one time I tried, a week or so ago, I started trembling with fear. And the mental image played over and over in my head.
The image of turning to see that horrible canine head attached to the human-like body, red, glowing eyes glaring down at me as it’s sharp teeth glinted in the light.
I pray to god I never will end up with a ticket to one of its late night showings.
But I can't help but fear that, like those packed into the theatre, sooner or later, we all will.

This file comes from accounts of the [REDACTED] incident that took place [REDACTED].
The memories of [REDACTED] were successfully acquired for the best possible retelling.
The account:
PROLOGUE
Weather reports are saying a massive blizzard from the northernmost parts of Alaska will begin making its way down the west coast. Most are saying that the storm will hit us next week. People are calling it the storm of the decade, so sorry folks it looks like spring hasn’t sprung just yet.
The reporter continued but I stopped listening as my dad sputtered out: “Why in the heck do they expect me to believe that? This is bull crap I’m telling you complete bull crap. Blizzards don’t happen in April!”
Part of me wanted to stop and explain to him why the newsman was probably right but I knew my dad wouldn’t believe me. You see, in his old age, my dad had become quite well crazy. He didn’t trust anyone or anything and had gotten really into conspiracy theories.
“Dad, you can’t just dismiss facts and science like that,” My sister Gretchen said.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. They don’t know what they’re talking about, if you had only seen…” My dad was yelling before I cut him off, “Shut up!”
“Why the heck do you think you can talk to your daughter like that!” I screamed at him.
“What the heck, you’re talking like she wasn’t the one who was trying to tell me what to do!” He yelled again, and at this point, I gave up and left the room.
I found Gretchen. She stood in front of the mirror in the hall I stood next to her and looked into the reflection despite me and Gretchen being 9 years apart and having different moms we almost looked like twins. We both had short straight black hair, dark brown eyes, pale complections, and stood nearly the same height.
“I miss how he used to be,” She said somberly.
“I know me too sis,” I said leaning in and hugging her.
“Let's go,” She said softly.
I nodded and we both left, not bothering to say goodbye. I drove the short 20-minute drive to our house.
When Gretchen was 8 her mom died and my dad remarried a year later and they had me. They bought a small 1 story house in a nice rural neighborhood, then two years later they divorced and my mother got authority over us kids. Me and Gretchen never really moved out, because well the house was big. Despite being one story it was quite spacious and oddly built. It was much longer than it was wide. One long hallway ran the whole interior from the fireplace on one end of the house. To the fireplace on the other end of the house. It had a small kitchen, dining room, and four bedrooms along with a tiny library. In addition, it had a basement. The basement was like a large studio apartment with a kitchen/dining room, 2 bedrooms, and a large hang-out area.
Me and Gretchen walked inside and were immediately greeted by May, Moore, and Herman, our three dogs. May and Moore were both Australian shepherds, and Herman was an absolutely massive Saint Bernard.
Herman jumped up onto me, almost making me topple to the ground.
“Woah, easy boy,” I exclaimed, giving the big dog a pat on the head as I pushed him off.
“Hi sweeties,” I heard our mom say from the kitchen.
I stepped into the kitchen and saw Mom busy making dinner. Our mom was short with long brown hair and bright blue eyes
“Hi Mom,” I greeted, stepping over and giving her a huge hug.
“Where’s Chloe?” I asked quickly.
“And where’s the kids?” Gretchen asked after also hugging Mom.
“Chloe's downstairs playing with the kids,” Mom explained.
We both hurried down the hall and then down the stairs into the lounge. A mess of legos was on the floor and playing in this mess was Gretchen's sons.
Her first son was named Alby. He is 8 and is rather quiet, he usually has his head in a book and the only thing that consistently gets him outside is the dogs, or going fishing with his dad. Like his mom, he has straight black hair. He wears rectangular glasses and has hazel eyes.
The Second is Alan. Alan is 5 and is always wanting to play having a seemingly endless amount of energy. He had dirty blonde hair with hazel eyes and is fairly tall and stocky for his age.
Third and last is Aaron. Aaron is 3, and he doesn’t talk much. He is almost like Alan's shadow following him along and doing the same thing as Alan. He is tiny with blonde hair and dark brown eyes.
Alan and Aaron were seemingly having a war with Lego dinosaurs, Alby seemed to be constructing a car, and sitting on the couch behind them was Chloe.
Chloe is very pretty with light silky blonde hair that fell just past her shoulders, icy blue eyes that seemed almost impossible to look away from, pale skin, and an adorable smile.
The moment me and Gretchen were down those stairs Alan and Aaron had run up and hugged her.
“Mommy mommy!” They both yelled in excitement.
Chloe perked up and gave me a huge smile.
“Hi babe, didn’t know you’d be back so soon.” She exclaimed as she got up and hugged me.
“My dad yelled at Gretchen,” I said simply and we left it at that.
The blizzard people are now calling snowmageddon should hit us tomorrow and will likely cause a complete loss of power, and the government is mandating that by tomorrow no one is allowed to exit or leave town. They did not try to better explain this…
Chloe clicked off the tv. The storm was already making her nervous enough and she wanted to hear nothing more about it.
“Are you sure we have enough firewood?” Chloe asked, looking at me worried.
“We’ve got enough firewood to last three winters, babe,” I exaggerated.
“What about food, do we have enough food?” She asked, my words not getting to her.
“We could use a few more things, but I’m going to…” I was saying before Chloe interrupted: “Let's go now I want to make sure we have everything we need.”
“Ok babe, I’ll go get my jacket,” I said standing up from the couch and walking over to the bedroom.
I grabbed my jacket and shoes and met Chloe upstairs by the front door. She seemed excited that she wasn’t sitting around worrying and I think that’s why she wanted to go so bad.
“Hey Mom, Gretchen, we are going to the store, do you guys need anything?” I asked them both who were sitting in the kitchen.
“We need batteries, Joey.” My mom responded simply.
“Ok, batteries, anything else?”
“Nope,” They both said quickly.
Me and Chloe stepped outside the house and walked over to my jeep and got in. I pulled out of the driveway and looked around, our neighborhood had a very interesting layout. The houses were spaced out but not an extraordinary amount, just more than you’d see in the average neighborhood. Each house was probably 400 feet apart from each other. Our neighborhood also had a lot of trees, so many in fact that it was hard to see your neighbor's house through them. I could vaguely make out the Marley's house to the right, and to the left, I saw the Richardson's house. Both were older couples that had far much more than they needed.
But the more important thing I observed was that it seemed everyone was packing up. Multiple cars were out in their driveways with people hurriedly rushing in and out of the house with things. I pulled up next to the Richardsons' car and rolled down the window.
“Hey Greg, y'all leaving?” I asked, giving him a polite smile.
Greg Richardson looked over from the back of his van: “Yep, some people are saying the mountains are going to slow down the storm and that it could be here for a few days, so we’re leaving to be on the safe side.” He explained.
“I haven’t heard anything about that,” I exclaimed, a little more concerned about the blizzard now.
“Yeah, well y’all be safe,” He said, giving us a smile and a wave.
“You too,” I said, giving him a wave and then continuing our journey toward the store.
“Wow, there’s a lot of people leaving,” Chloe exclaimed with a slight shock and fear in her voice.
I let my eyes wander while trying to keep my eyes on the road. She was right, almost everyone was leaving town.
“Do you think we should leave?” Chloe asked me, eyeing the packed cars.
“No point, even if we wanted to, the storm would probably catch us in traffic because of all the people leaving,” I said and noticed her momentary worries dissipate.
After a couple of minutes, we pulled in front of the store. It was old, still styled like a store in the 80s. It was very busy today and me and Chloe had to park on the street. As we walked toward the store I felt a chill in the air. I could tell Chloe felt it too because she wrapped one arm around me and cuddled next to me as we walked.
We entered the store and it looked like a tornado had gone through it. Things were lying on the floor and almost everything was gone. There was a long line in front of the counter where the cashier sat. I knew the cashier, her name was Lacy, she was 17 and the daughter of the owner. Just then the owner Carl appeared from around the corner.
Carl was a very short guy with round glasses, dark brown hair, and a very poor attempt at a comb-over.
“Hey Joey and Chloe,” He greeted a large smile etched on his face.
We both smiled back, “How are you doing Carl?” Chloe asked.
“Doing the best I can, basically everyone who’s staying in town has come to stock up.” He explained, “You two staying in town?” He then asked.
“Yeah, just going to hold out,” I grinned a little excited to spend a few days not having to do anything.
“Alright, well if you need anything just give a holler,” He instructed before hurrying off to do something.
Me and Chloe grabbed baskets and split up to get everything we needed.
We met by the register after and waited in line during which I got a call. I pulled my phone out and saw it was from Dad. I thought about not answering but decided I’d better answer.
Before I could even greet him my dad had started on a rant: “Joey you and everybody need to get out of town right now. You gotta get out of there, they’ll escape from the lab and kill you if you don’t… their creatures they’ll kill you…” He tried to continue but I interrupted him, “I don’t know what you're going on about but I’m done.”
I hung up and Chloe gave me a worried look: “Who was it?”
“My dad, going off on his ramblings again,” I told her simply.
She nodded: “Anything I should know?”
“No he’s just being paranoid,” I explained.
We both stood there for a minute watching more people around the store fill their carts with things. One woman behind us had a shopping cart full of toilet paper. Then I noticed Chloe’s head turn toward the window.
“Hey look, it's started,” She exclaimed looking out the window.
I looked out and saw snow slowly beginning to fall to the ground, and I felt a deep sense of dread as it did.

Please provide an outside opinion. Especially if you have experience with a small condo association.
We're considering purchasing a condo in Allston/Brighton There is a triple decker unit available.
Pros: great location, good price, 1920s build period touches (built in hutch, wood frame details, you know the type in Allston), great size and layout.
Cons: no association reserves, two other owners that have been there for 10+ years, rundown building that is due for a new roof, steam heat radiators.
The price is good enough that we would be able to prepare for the cost of some these repairs. So...would you be seduced by a fixer upper with style because of a great location? Or does this sound like a nightmare?
Obligatory: the housing market here is an abomination and we are only in this situation because we got super lucky with support from our family. And a childfree lifestyle lol.

The pictures are from us trying to figure out measurements so I know the numbers on them are a bit chaotic so I added a layout map from one of those online free websites to the best of my ability.
We see there’s only one wall that will really work for our TV and we were thinking of my wife’s desk in the corner by the screen door. We don’t have a bunch of money in the budget after buying the house for new things just trying to figure out what would be the best way to use the space.
We removed the wallpaper and in the process of repainting right now. The walls will be gray while the ceiling white.

We close on our new construction home in a few days and I’m trying to figure out how to layout the living room. We will be getting a new sofa or sectional so I’m open to hearing any ideas. TIA!
The first picture is our house. The second picture is the layout but it’s mirrored.

Sorry for the break in posting I had to take a break due to writers block and school
Captain Alderson, Selkath Empire Docean City
——————————————————————————— I groaned and raised my head slightly. Just raising my head sent shockwaves of pain coursing through my body. I heard a door open and a female voice called out.
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
I closed my eyes and said, “Where am I?”
There was a pause then she answered, “Docean city, sir. You're in Ivyheath. You had to be treated for burns but luckily for you we have one of the best doctors in Docean”
I swore softly. Docean was at least a three-day’s ride from Tartalus Fields. But, THE PIGEON!
“Wait, this is very important. Did a messenger pigeon come to this city recently?”
“Well gee’ sir I don’t know, but if it had bad news that would explain all the messengers riding in and out. Plus there are a lot more guard patrols out as of late.”
I closed my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. So my message had made it.
“Oh on that topic, Lord Genwald wishes to speak to you at the Castle.”
“Sure. Just give me a bit longer to rest up.”
“Of course, we can’t have you leaving before paying your inn fee as well.”
“What???”
“Well, sir. You didn’t expect the accommodation to just be free, did you?”, she said as she frowned putting her hands on her hips.
“Well…no,” I mumbled.
“Good, now should I charge you now or later?” She inquired back to her happy self.
Well, I mean now was a better time than any to lean on my noble blood. I winced at the thought of the shouting and stomping from the grown up man child who was my father. However my family had grown quite wealthy over the years due to his mercantile prowess. But my father was a weak man who loved nothing more than his coffers being full. He loved that even over his own sons, or more specifically, me.
*”HOW DARE YOU, HOW DARE YOU TAKE FROM YOUR OWN FATHER!”
I sat quivering on the floor starring up at the large man who was my father. The golden crown on his ring lifted and fell with a terrible certainty. I smashed into the ground.
I screamed, “NO I DIDN’T DO IT I SWEAR, PLEASE BELIEVE ME.”
He roared back, “SHUT UP, YOU STUPID CHILD, HOW DARE YOU TAKE ME FOR A FOOL!”
He raised his hand again.
“Papa?” Called a small voice from the door. My little brother stood there hugging the stuffed wildebeast he had gotten as a present from my uncle. My father halted his beating midway and turned, a wide smile on his face.
Jonathan stood there holding the ring. The exact ring I was being beaten for. My father froze when he saw the ring.
Jonathan said, “Sorry Papa is this why your shouting?”
Father looked at him in disbelief and I braced to take a beating to protect Jonathan but then Father simply smiled.
“Hello there son, don’t about it if you want to play with it or keep it you can, don’t worry about it I can always get another one.” he said and without another look at my bruised body he picked up Jonathan and sweped out the room with Jonathan in his arms.*
I shivered in the memory, then responded, “You can bill it to House Arcasus.”
She stared at me for a second.
“You think I’m joking?”
She started at the sudden statement and squeaked, “No sir.”
I sighed, I should have known that my family name would have a provocative reaction. My father had been growing his power and businesses out here, by the border. Nobody was looking out here which allowed his many businesses to thrive without dealing with the empire’s tax obligators. He was quite smart that way.
I jerked up reaching for my hidden knife as a door down the hallway slammed open and I heard men shouting. Then my door slammed backward and open as my sergeant burst in.
“Sir! Your okay,” he exclaimed in relief.
I nodded, “Yes, yes I am soldier.”
“Good, I’ll have you know those useless attendants tried to stop me from seeing you, can you believe that!” He snorted in indignation.
“Well I certainly heard you making your case,” I replied dryly.
He nodded his head vigorously at me, “Yes sir, I did.”
I chuckled then asked, “Tell me your name soldier.”
He nodded and said ruefully, “Well sir, you see, I’m a ward, don't have a last name, but I go by, Karean ward.”
“Very well, Karean, any news from the front?”
He hesitated before saying, “The fort was overrun sir, no survivors, I’m sorry.”
I closed my eyes as a wave of grief hit me for a second time. I shuddered before pushing my brother’s face from my mind and I looked at Karean as I stood up.
He eyed me as I wobbled unsteadily, “Ummmm, sir are you ok?”
“Yes, now out while I put on clothes.”
He saluted and strode out of the room leaving me alone in the silence. I shuddered, drawing in a breath. I thought about my brother. He had been kind and caring. He never understood why I hated father so much, because he could never understand.I thought about my brother. He had never understood why I had wanted to leave home so bad. Father was kind to him, his little intellectual prowess. Unlike me whose grades had fallen flat in every single class I took. Jonathan had the best marks in every class, Father’s pride and joy.
I clothed myself slowly, pants then shirt, knife in belt, second knife in conceal shoe spot.
I stepped out of the room and was greeted by the back of a soldier. He spun around raising his sword, he paused when he saw me.
“Sir your awake!”
I nodded, glancing at the armor which was embroidered with the royal coat of arms. I headed downstairs with the man at arms and met my sergeant who was sitting at a table. He shifted over to make room for me, and the soldier stood in front of the table to stop any bystanders from getting too close.
“Well, Sir how your nap?” He said through a mouthful of bread and stew.
I waved a hand as he pushed the bowl of stew towards me, “Thank you but no, and my ‘nap’ was very sleep heavy.”
He snorted in amusement, before stopping and drawing his sword. The reason for his discomfort was the small gaggle of rough looking men approaching.
They stopped a short way away from the two blades eying them warily. They leader stepped forward, braver or dumber than the rest as two gleaming swords turned directly towards him.
“I just want to talk to the cap’in,” he said.
“The cap’in doesn’t want to speak to you, you back alley scum,” the soldier snarled.
The gang leader looked between us a dark look on his face before saying, “So thats how it is?”
An angry murmur came from the crowd and they started to move forward. I shoved back my chair and stood up. The innkeeper watched in terror, at the violence which might occur. Then I thought again. He was watching in terror imagining the damage that could be done to his inn.
As I watched the innkeeper dragged his wife over, he began whispering in her ear then she nodded and ran back into the kitchen. I assumed she was going through a backdoor to get the watch.
I turned back to see one of the gang members swing a fist at the sergeant who dodged and contemptuously smashed the flat of his sword into the offender who promptly crumpled to the ground in a heap. The rest of the gang roared and surged forward.
Fortunately for us, the layout of the inn only allowed the gang to come at us one at a time. I moved up to my first opponent, a huge man. As he stepped into the light, I saw that his skin was a greenish tone. I let out a string of vulgar curses which would have made any wellbred nobleman faint. My opponent was a brute.
Brutes were Orc-Human half breeds. Brutes were often conscripted into the army due to their great skillsets. Brutes inherited Human intelligence and Orcish strength allowing them to have great combat abilities. Brutes were also often orphans from a young age - due to the fact that Orc mothers don’t accept weaklings and Humans aren’t exactly designed to give birth to a 30 pound, 4 foot baby - allowing them to be molded by whatever army took them in.
As my opponent took the first swing at me I dodged and swiftly moved to counter attack. At least, thats what I had planned to do, my body, still recovering from my wounds did not help. My knee gave out and as I went down my opponent swung his fist, and have sent me sailing. When I hit the ground stars burst in my eyes. As I struggle to recover, my opponent, walked up and grinned. He lifted me up, cocking his fist. Then a look at surprise over took his face. He got yanked backwards, and I heard the sounds of shouting.
I stood up and looked around and grabbed a chair to steady myself. I gazed around the inn, overturned chairs, smashed tables and cutlery, watchmen everywhere wandering through the inn swinging wooden clubs with menacing iron heads. There was a small chandelier was swinging.
The innkeeper walked up to me red faced and opened his mouth but quickly backed away as someone approached me from behind. I turned and was face to face with a towns watchman, he had a red band tied around his forearm, which indicated him to be the head of the watch.
He stared hard at me for a second and I thought he would comment on the state of the inn. But then he simply said, “Lord Genwald wishes to speak with you.”
I nodded and gestured at the sergeant and soldier, “May these two accompany me?”
The watchman nodded and said, “That is acceptable,” before moving towards the door gesturing me to follow him.
First Prev

Hi! Recently I’ve played The Sinking City, a 2019 game by Frogwares, and I’d like to share my thoughts on it.
I’m not entirely sure if this post fits in this subreddit, as The Sinking City is not a clear-cut adventure game, but I think being at it's heart a detective story with making induction detective work as it's main mechanic, it might still be interesting to the fans of the genre.
​
The Sinking City is a game based on the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft, and in that regard it’s generally rather formulaic to a point, at least most of the time. It checcks most of the classic “lovecraftian story” boxes. Early XXth century? Check. Playing a private detective? Check. With nightmares and PTSD? Check. There’s a sullen, dark and suspicious port town? Check. Mystical cults? Check. Thin veiled racial allegories? Check.
But as formulaic as it is, it approaches those familiar subjects in interesting enough style to be engaging. There are a couple of really interesting sidequests in particular – you’ll have a chance to pursue Oakmont’s local superhero dressing in an over the top outfit, you will investigate the spirit of a witch escaped from the Salem trials, and most funny of all to me, you’ll get the priceless chance to relentlessly mock the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
Now, the main attraction of the game, and the reason why I’m posting about it in this subreddit, is the game’s investigation mechanic. You collect evidence, and then combine the clues to form conclusions that lead you to solve the case.
It’s a pretty unique system and rather cool – at times, it really does make you feel like a detective, especially since the game does not use any kind of automatic quest markers, so you often have to research stuff in the library or various archives, then look at the map, locate the streets mentioned and go there to investigate.
The really cool thing about the investigation mechanic is that you’re allowed to make “wrong” assumptions sometime by combining clues. The bad part is that it’s very limited, and more often then not even if you’re temprorarily stuck, you just try to combine every clue with every other clue until something “sticks”.
I defnitely think the investigation system has a lot of potential, but I’d love it if it gave me the opportuntiy to be WRONG more often, if I was careless when analyzing a case.
​
The problem with The Sinking City is that the game really drags and is pretty tedious in every other element of it than the story and the investigations.
First of all – the assets are riddiculously over-reused. There are literally only like 3 or 4 house layouts in Oakmont and they repeat over and over and over and over again. At a certain point I remembered the layouts by heart, and just mechanically followed the path I knew was ‘right’ whenever I entered one of those repeating places.
Second – the combat is rather unfun, with only 5 (!) types of enemies. You get enough skillpoints to max out the entire skill tree by 3/4 of the game, which from that point onwards makes experence literally useless as a reward.
And lastly – the city of Oakmont, while rather amospheric, is too big for it’s own good, especially coupled with the reused assets. It contains far too much running and swimming back and forth for my liking.
​
Do I recommend The Sinking City? Not really. >I< personally kinda had fun, but I am a very patient person, and even I was kinda relieved when the game finally ended. Generally, I’d say only buy it if you’re a really big Lovecraft fan, and if the game is on sale.
I am, however, curious if the developers will ever iterate on the investigation system. As I said, it definitely has a lot of potential.
​
If you’d like to see how the game plays and whether it would interest you, you can see me playing it BLIND here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjSL_isUScA&list=PLp4TpsJ7HUWW0F9HWz0HO3d7fQwJk5Ldn

I am making a list of buildings that you can enter. Buildings that have an interior layout of some sort. A simple menu, such as (most?) food or clothing vendors, do not count. Here’s my list so far:

• academy (naranja & uva)
• main character house
• Nemona house
• poco light house
• gym
• Larry restaurant
• Every Wich Way
• Elite Four
• Zero Gate
• Area Zero labs

Can anyone think of more?
(Editing as people make suggestions)

I've come a long way with my social anxiety since starting medication and generally taking better care of myself. I'm able to leave the house, go to most places without issue, and interact with other humans without feeling panicky.
But without fail, Wal-mart always makes me feel like a panic attack is coming. I just had to leave without getting anything because it was too much.
There are always SO MANY people. Just trying to find a place to park is horrible with all the people walking through the parking lot. Then inside there are some isles so packed that you can't even walk through them. Then the self checkout area is always packed full of people and I always feel flustered and like I have to hurry up and pay because there's a line of people waiting.
The entire layout of the store is horrible too. It's so massive, there's so much stuff, it's just terribly overwhelming in every way.
I hate it so much. Usually I do the grocery pickup thing when I have a lot of stuff I need to get, but I just needed a couple of things this time so I decided to brave going in there and lasted like 10 minutes before I had to leave.
It's so annoying. Most people just go in there, get their shit and leave but I just can't do it.

Recently, I have made a household which contains 5 sims and 2 pets. Everything was going fine with them in CAS and I moved into a lot and immediately saved the game. I noticed that a couple of times when I was trying to edit the house in build mode and buy mode that my game would just crash unexpectedly, but it didn’t happen super frequently and I only had to restart the game two or three times. it did crash two or three times initially when I was first editing the house layout, but ever since I was trying to add furniture, things have been getting even worse. My game has crashed probably about 25 times at this point and nothing seems to trigger it. The worst offenders is when I try to save and it just gets caught in an infinite loop. seriously, it went for hours and I just had to eventually stop my game and restart. Sometimes it’s just when I place down items or click on a different category, or even switch between modes. Once I had finally gotten most of my furniture down without any problems, and as soon as I was switching to live mode to save my game, just crashed. I really don’t know what the issue is because I have another big family that I play with decently often and while it does have slow load times and occasional crashing, It’s never this bad. I went and cleared my cache and move some unused saved files and back ups to a separate folder but it still seems to be doing this. Another thing I should add is once when I was trying to save I did get error code 12 but I was able to fix that by moving some stuff around. I don’t know if there’s something wrong with my save specifically because this is never happened with any other of my saved files before. Let me know if there’s anything I can do or if you guys have any suggestions because this is getting pretty frustrating.

Need some advice, first time homebuyer and investor. Will buy a 4/2 near macdill AFB in highly desirable south Tampa (6mins from base) that also has a mother in law suite attached to home but no access to main home.
Price: $540k
I’m trying to see if I can rent out main home and I will live in MIL suite as the owner. Will use VA loan. Mortgage roughly comes out to $3600/month, trying to get $2900/month for main home. Property taxes run $5k/year, utilities run $350/month, maintenance I’m putting in $100/month
Issues: 1952 build, very old home AC unit on main home will need to get replaced Previous termite/pest issues and damage Probably overpaying given still peak market Utilities run high as not good insulation AND no separate meters Windows need replacing as ancient May also have electrical and plumbing issues, listing agent is being super shady not answering any questions despite also being the property manager for this property for 3 years
Pros: Owners will replace main roof so it can get loan appraised (unsure if MiL suite needs to be replaced but maybe in the next year or so) Very close to macdill AFB and in south Tampa (desirable location) No flood insurance
I asked listing agent to see current leases and oddly enough they are old and show an end date of 2021/2022 yet same tenants living there. He’s being shady saying he doesn’t know anything about the property and I have to do my due diligence in a 3-hour window since tenant occupied yet he’s listed as the property manager for over 3-years with these tenants
Would a military family or any family feel comfy to rent out main home if there is a MiL suite attached but no access to main home (concrete wall separates)??
I’m a little worried if it’s too much to pay given have to replace AC unit, termite damage, and moisture (just very old home)… may not be able to rent main house given market rents are cooling down given so many rentals
There is another home in same area and same layout but they are asking $415k, reason is it is tenant occupied until Dec 2023 so only cash offers but that one is much better condition and has solar panels but their MiL suite does not have a full kitchen and is tinier in size (https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/6415-S-Englewood-Ave_Tampa_FL_33611_M67823-01638)
Thoughts? Advice? Thank you!!! :-)

I’m moving and need to set up a new network.
In my old house, I ran 3 Google WiFi units. The main unit was hardwired to the modem and I ran CAT6 to a basement switch so each of the other nodes were also hardwired. I never had a single issue with this setup and I set it up 3+ years ago.
The new house has a slightly different layout and I don’t think I’ll be able to do what I did at the old place.
Current owners of the new place have 3 routers on a full wireless mesh. They complained about fighting and some other issues. I believe they were using Zyxel routers rented from the provider.
In the event I have to rely on mesh, what have people had luck with lately?
We do a lot of concurrent streaming, movies, cameras, video conferencing, etc. We’ll have 1 gig, but faster speeds are coming soon according to the ISP.

I received this list in the mail. There were definitely things I didn't think of to bring. Are there any things that you wish you would have thought of or were essential for your dorm experience?

Hi all,
We bought a house a year ago that's been having issues with the kitchen sink drainage. Basically, the joint circled in the linked image keeps coming loose and popping out, resulting in a mess. Worse, the dishwasher drains here too, so we've had a BIG mess when running it before bed.
https://imgur.com/a/eFbMkIB
There is a compression joint with a rubber gasket circled in red, connecting an extension from the p-trap up to the outflow pipe. From what I typically see, the joint here should have a gasket that's "built in".
The previous owner had sawed off the extension poorly, so I replace it. But now I'm second guessing that this whole thing is just set up stupidly and we are just going to keep having this issue. Should we redo this layout, by raising the outflow from the garbage disposal so it's level, thus removing the need for the extender on the p-trap? Or do you think a new extender that not poorly cut will be okay?