In light of the 'Shiny Happy People' docuseries which began to highlight the impact of IBLP individuals being educated and trained up into politics, law, and more, I wanted to also bring your attention to HILLSDALE COLLEGE.
I found out when my grandfather died that he had been giving very generous donations to the Republican party since… forever. My own immediate family was struggling in poverty – a one-income household with four children and one bathroom, free lunches and frequent visits to Goodwill. Grandpa would send me $100.00 on my birthday which was AMAZING! He was simultaneously sending five and six-figure donations to George Dubya. (His choice – that's okay of course)…
I now bring your attention to a concerning institution that has come to my attention. Hillsdale College is a private, conservative Christian college in Michigan. Due to a job I hold, I have had access to some of their documents and I have seen first hand their tactics and very well organized methods of obtaining extremely generous donations from wealthy conservatives. They keep tabs on not only the donors, but their children and grandchildren. They keep track of names, locales, political affiliations, all in order to 'rate' the donor and determine if they can move the donor into possibly leaving their entire estate to the college. (Disclaimer: I realize many colleges may do this to some degree – I myself get calls from my alma mater quarterly. Also, it IS the donor's free will and choice to give all their money anywhere they wish of course!) However, these donations often run into the millions, and children/grandchildren may have no idea their beloved conservative grandparent has been wined-and-dined into leaving their live savings to Hillsdale. The documents I have viewed are humiliating, in my opinion. The college has teams of individuals who travel to potential donors, literally wining and dining them, and then they build a profile and have plans on how to continue to schmooze the donor to squeeze as much financial backing out of them as possible. The 'rank' them. To me, it's insulting to the donor, yet also shows how organized and successful this organization is in securing millions of dollars in TAX-FREE donations while remaining not-for-profit.
Hillsdale is responsible for developing the 1776 curriculum in response to the "critical race theory" curriculum. The 1776 Curriculum is free, and favored by home schoolers, religious/private schools, and yes, even public schools. The curriculum (disclaimer, I have not read it myself) is noted as 'praising' white heroes in history. Forbes recently released an article discussing the impact of 'right wing charter schools' (Report Examines The World Of Right Wing Charter Schools. (forbes.com)
Although a non-profit "Christian" college, the documents I have had access to outline how they promote their "Constitution" and "Second Amendment" free online trainings. Additionally, how they are pushing funding into school board candidates that could allow teachers to choose their own curriculum (aka, the 1776 curriculum – How this tiny Christian college is driving the right’s nationwide war against public schools Salon.com). Mike Pence (who spoke at a commencement ceremony there recently); Donald Trump; and Ron DeSantis are all 'fans' of the College and have endorsed, and visited the campus. Betsy DeVos is alumni. The College That Wants to Take Over Washington - POLITICO Magazine
If that isn't enough, they have a PAC and website (Endorsed Candidates - 1776 Project (1776projectpac.com)) where you can not only "report" schools endorsing 'critical race theory' but also outlines the school board and other politicians supported financially by the 1776 Project PAC (aka HILLSDALE).
Some of you may know more about this organization than I do. I just wanted to share, due to my concern over learning how well organized and successful this institution is, in gathering funds and funding school board candidates who support their mission. To me, this is an extension of the IBLP docuseries. The 'patriot' ultra conservative movement is strong, and to think otherwise is ignorant. For those who hold different ideals, please do not lose sight of how important it is to 'fight the good fight.' I found myself thinking, 'god damn, we do not have an equivalent to this.' It scares me, and sheds some light on what the future of America could look like as a result. We are already seeing laws go back by 50 years and its terrifying.
Please comment with any thoughts or additional information you may have. I have been trying to get this looked into (although they're already the focus of numerous recent articles by large news organizations) by those with a larger voice than mine.

So, early in the season I made the mistake of using test strips, which told me my chlorine and total alkalinity were low, and my ph was perfect. Sooo, all I needed was chlorine and baking soda, which I added, and which did nothing to curb the algae. It exploded. I kept dumping in chlorine to kill the algae, and baking soda to up my alkalinity, but nothing was budging. The chlorine showed high, but the ph and alkalinity stayed the same, and the pool was turning into green jello.
Then I tried using my old test kit with vials and solutions, and it came out way alkaline, with very high total alkalinity. The test strips were nowhere near accurate. So I added a lot of muriatic over several days and acid and got it to about 7.2, got the total alkalinity in line, and got the chlorine level right. The good news: All the algae is gone. The bad: the pool is a weird milky blue. Not an algae haze, but the color of a hot springs pool. Pretty but not at all clear. What do I do now? I am thinking of draining a couple of feet of water and refilling. Are there any less drastic measures? What am I missing? Thank you in advance.
Edit: I have tried clarifier to no effect. I can't use flocculant because I have a cartridge filter.

In light of the 'Shiny Happy People' docuseries which began to highlight the impact of IBLP individuals being educated and trained up into politics, law, and more, I wanted to also bring your attention to HILLSDALE COLLEGE.
I found out when my grandfather died that he had been giving very generous donations to the Republican party since… forever. My own immediate family was struggling in poverty – a one-income household with four children and one bathroom, free lunches and frequent visits to Goodwill. Grandpa would send me $100.00 on my birthday which was AMAZING! He was simultaneously sending five and six-figure donations to George Dubya. (His choice – that's okay of course)…
I now bring your attention to a concerning institution that has come to my attention. Hillsdale College is a private, conservative Christian college in Michigan. Due to a job I hold, I have had access to some of their documents and I have seen first hand their tactics and very well organized methods of obtaining extremely generous donations from wealthy conservatives. They keep tabs on not only the donors, but their children and grandchildren. They keep track of names, locales, political affiliations, all in order to 'rate' the donor and determine if they can move the donor into possibly leaving their entire estate to the college. (Disclaimer: I realize many colleges may do this to some degree – I myself get calls from my alma mater quarterly. Also, it IS the donor's free will and choice to give all their money anywhere they wish of course!) However, these donations often run into the millions, and children/grandchildren may have no idea their beloved conservative grandparent has been wined-and-dined into leaving their live savings to Hillsdale. The documents I have viewed are humiliating, in my opinion. The college has teams of individuals who travel to potential donors, literally wining and dining them, and then they build a profile and have plans on how to continue to schmooze the donor to squeeze as much financial backing out of them as possible. The 'rank' them. To me, it's insulting to the donor, yet also shows how organized and successful this organization is in securing millions of dollars in TAX-FREE donations while remaining not-for-profit.
Hillsdale is responsible for developing the 1776 curriculum in response to the "critical race theory" curriculum. The 1776 Curriculum is free, and favored by home schoolers, religious/private schools, and yes, even public schools. The curriculum (disclaimer, I have not read it myself) is noted as 'praising' white heroes in history. Forbes recently released an article discussing the impact of 'right wing charter schools' (Report Examines The World Of Right Wing Charter Schools. (forbes.com)
Although a non-profit "Christian" college, the documents I have had access to outline how they promote their "Constitution" and "Second Amendment" free online trainings. Additionally, how they are pushing funding into school board candidates that could allow teachers to choose their own curriculum (aka, the 1776 curriculum – How this tiny Christian college is driving the right’s nationwide war against public schools Salon.com). Mike Pence (who spoke at a commencement ceremony there recently); Donald Trump; and Ron DeSantis are all 'fans' of the College and have endorsed, and visited the campus. Betsy DeVos is alumni. The College That Wants to Take Over Washington - POLITICO Magazine
If that isn't enough, they have a PAC and website (Endorsed Candidates - 1776 Project (1776projectpac.com)) where you can not only "report" schools endorsing 'critical race theory' but also outlines the school board and other politicians supported financially by the 1776 Project PAC (aka HILLSDALE).
Some of you may know more about this organization than I do. I just wanted to share, due to my concern over learning how well organized and successful this institution is, in gathering funds and funding school board candidates who support their mission. To me, this is an extension of the IBLP docuseries. The 'patriot' ultra conservative movement is strong, and to think otherwise is ignorant. For those who hold different ideals, please do not lose sight of how important it is to 'fight the good fight.' I found myself thinking, 'god damn, we do not have an equivalent to this.' It scares me, and sheds some light on what the future of America could look like as a result. We are already seeing laws go back by 50 years and its terrifying.
Please comment with any thoughts or additional information you may have. I have been trying to get this looked into (although they're already the focus of numerous recent articles by large news organizations) by those with a larger voice than mine.

[Preface: Hello THT cast, I love listening to your podcast while I am at work; you guys are phenomenal. To the THT community & Reddit, please bear with me. This is my first time posting/ using Reddit outside of stories heard off of THT/ Minecraft TikToks. Lastly all names have been replaced with false names. This one’s going to be long, I’ve tried to sum it up as best I can. Thank you to all who read — anywho strap in because it’s wild]
In order to understand my story, we have to go back in time a bit. For context, I have had about 3-4 various friend groups prior, each of which quickly dissolving through the trials and tribulations of youth.
In 2019, I [F19] met my now boyfriend [M19] during a college class that spring. We didn’t talk much at all during class, but later went on a date in July and hit it off [but that’s a story for another time]. To sum it up, sparks flew; sparks unlike I had ever seen before. We were inseparable. We later started dating August of that year.
In January of 2020, he left to join the military. I had no means of communicating with him other then by letter. I sent him countless letters [close to 80 in the 3 months I wouldn’t see him], detailing how much I missed him. Then, in March, I got the heartbreaking call that I would not be able to see him graduate, nor was he allowed to come home for his two weeks before leaving for further training. I could eventually text and call him by May, but I wouldn’t get to see him again until September.
In October, one of his friends — Josh — came to visit, and brought along his girlfriend — Layla. Layla was perhaps the most charming person I will ever have the displeasure of meeting. That night I learned that Layla had previously struggled with mental illness, and had been kicked out from 5 different schools [red flag, I know]; but the reasonings she provided made it feel as if she didn’t deserve the outcomes which had followed. I admired her tenacity, and boldness, qualities I feel I lack in myself. From then we became pretty decent friends and hung out again alongside my friend — Elena — and her boyfriend — James. Us three girls, and the three boys got along swimmingly, my heart was full. I felt like I finally had found a friend group.
Fast forward to November, Josh was going to a trade school. So, Josh’s family hosted a party in his honor. It was then that myself, Layla and Elena went to the side to talk. Layla was going to join Josh, and move out; but that wasn’t the only news. She was pregnant. With us all being but a mere 20 years old, she was petrified. We managed to tie back the date of conception to the night the six of us first got together. Layla was between birth controls, and with the alcohol and throwing up that night — accidents happened. I told her that her decision was completely up to her, but if she decided she wanted to move forward, I assured her I would do all I could to help her. I had compiled videos in the following two weeks from tiktok moms who posted advice, tips and product recommendations to help her from our newfound distance. Come to find out, shortly after, she had made the decision that this was not the right time in her life. I was sad for her, and I offered my condolences. I told her if she needed anything, I was there. Throughout November, I spent as much time as I could with my boyfriend who I hadn’t seen almost all year. We spent thanksgiving together even.
In December, I sent Layla another message, asking how she was doing. She commented that she was fine. She was curt in her words [and I now know that I should have said more or tried harder]. Still, I barely knew the girl and feared I would only be putting salt to the wound she felt. So I carried on. I went on a trip with my boyfriends family, we shared Christmas and the new year together.
Fast forward again to February of 2021. Layla was back in town, she only came to visit, but I didn’t know she was there until she was gone. She saw Elena, and talked to her though. My stomach had dropped, and I knew that Layla didn’t want to be my friend anymore. I wondered how much of our even brief time had been a lie. So I texted her in March. Once again, things were curt, and I felt as if she were trying to ghost me. It wasn’t until August that she made her return again. News was that her and Josh had broken up because he had been cheating. I quickly arranged a picnic in the park to meet up with her. According to her, he had been sneaking around and cheating for what might have been months [odd though, because he did his trade school in one area for three months, then moved for work somewhere new for two weeks, before having to move a third time. Allowing him maybe three months to find someone]. Also according to her, she had no money upon her return since she paid for all their groceries, then proceeded to leave half her belongings behind. I gave her my shoulder to cry on as we both cursed the jerk and as I assured her that he wasn’t worth her. At that time I asked why she was ghosting me, to which she explained it was because of her mental state, and the anger she felt that I didn’t seem to care what she was going through. I explained that when I reached out, she said she was fine, and I told her to text or call anytime. Still, it broke my heart to hear that she felt that way. From that moment I would do ANYTHING to prove my friendship was real.
September rolled around and it was my boyfriends birthday. It was going to be just me and him hanging out to celebrate, but Layla was still quite down in the dumps. So the two of us agreed that she shouldn’t have to be alone. We invited her over after her shift at work, and I allowed her to put her name on a gift I had gotten for him. Of course, being his 21st birthday, we all had some drinks. I had some hard lemonade, and after a few shots I was hardly sober, though I was far from drunk. My boyfriend had some whiskey along with Layla. He unwrapped his gifts then finally decided it was time to finish his homework. Though by this point, he was far from sober too. So Layla finishes his drink so he could sober up. By the time we go to bed, we decide that it would be fine if we all just shared the bed. To my discomfort, he ends up sleeping in the middle. Each of us are fully clothed. Layla makes a comment along the lines of “I won’t kiss a girl.” To which my boyfriend in his still somewhat unsober state says “you won’t.” To which she kisses me. He’s getting a kick of things, so it’s all hunky dory until I go to wrap my arm around him and kiss him but find her hand in a place where it doesn’t belong. I get a slight mood and he quickly calls it all off; his top priority first and foremost will always be my happiness and if I wasn’t pleased he would put an end to it. So we all went to bed. The next morning Layla apologized, and together us two agreed on a new boundary. Then decided we wouldn’t speak of it again.

I just miss her today, I think this keeps happening when we do something with the new puppy we used to do with her. We started an obedience class today. I didn't realize I was so upset until maybe 2 hours after we got home, I'm just crying now for no reason.
It feels like she's been gone forever. I realize its only been three months. I looked at old pictures from just before she passed and she looks like a stranger. I can really see she wasn't feeling good, but I still hope she was happy.
I miss having a dog who could comfort me. She was just a really good companion. I got her at a tough time and she was with me through some really tough years.
The new puppy is shaping up to be a good buddy as well. Different, and I hope eventually I like her as much as my last dog. In some ways, I don't want to be as close to her, it has been too hard to go through this once. Will it be easier next time if we're not as close? I think about this alot.
I had an old phone with all her puppy pictures. I kept it after the phone died because I wanted to get the pictures off of it. I put it off maybe 4 years. I took it to a tech repair and no news yet, but I think they won't be able to fix it as its been weeks already. I really hope there is a way to save those pictures, I'm afraid to do it myself because what if I damage them?

using a throwaway.
The Ukraine War is about Russia repossessing alien technology left behind in Ukraine at the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Hear me out.
Legitimate, credible UFO sightings go back to at least 1947, though I think we would all agree that these sightings have gone on for a much longer amount of time. I could digress about this subject, but let's take an approach of healthy skepticism, referencing generally accepted sources. Anywho, the article previously linked references Project Blue Book, which investigated UFO activity and conveniently closed down in 1969 (though we know that investigations into UFOs has clearly continued on into present day).
We could speculate wildly that the Nazis were involved, but lets take a conservative approach and trust David Grusch when he says we are in an 80-years arms race. That puts this arms race to reverse engineer UFO technology to approximately circa 1960s. Surely, it could go further back than that but at the very least it began in the 60's, post nuclear weapons and the first nuclear reactor.
So, in our conspiracy timeline, we have an 80's year arms race to reverse engineer UFO tech. In established reality, we had plenty of other insane races such as the space race to get to the moon, the nuclear arms race, etc. If we are to believe in the existence of a UFO-race, there must be insane things going on behind the scenes. What would you do if you were trying to reverse-engineer UFO tech? Surely, you would leverage the most cutting edge technology (nuclear tech) to your advantage.
Let's fast forward a bit, the USSR dissolves in 1991. Many constituent states break apart, notably Belarus and Ukraine, two nations with possibly the closest ties to Russia historically. Surely it is not only a shock that the USSR breaks apart, but notably that Ukraine, a founding member of the USSR, becomes independent. Russia staked a long-term future in Ukraine, notably with the creation of 5 nuclear power plants pre-1991. With the exception of Chernobyl (still working on a theory about that catastrophe), there are 4 plants still operating, and despite being the poorest country in Europe, they are #3 in nuclear generation as a % share of total energy output, second only to France/Slovakia (see here and here (51%). How is one of the poorest nations in Europe leading the charge in nuclear energy generation? It is only spurred on by a historical Russian strategy - dumping tons of nuclear tech into Ukraine.
As stated above, Russia did not anticipate Ukraine leaving the USSR. When the USSR broke apart, chaos ensued and many documents were leaked, including KGB documents recovered by the CIA about UFO sightings, which mentions a group sighting where only 2 soldiers survived by 'standing in the shade' when a bright light flashed. This sounds oddly similar to the case of Hisashi Ouchi, a Japanese man who died after a nuclear reaction went hot resulting in a bright flash of light. You can read up more about how his exposed arm was most severely affected by the nuclear flash, but I have to stay on topic.
Gorbachev even apparently 'joked' with Reagan about pausing the Cold War in case of alien invasion. Well, the cold war ended nonetheless in 1991, with Russia's investments in Ukraine a significant loss. If we are to believe Grusch's claims and real-world outcomes, it seems as though Russia was heavily investing into nuclear tech, possibly as a means of cracking the alien tech code, if you will. There are plenty of nuclear-UFO connections, going as far back as Roswell. It's not too far fetched to think Russia was doing dangerous experimentation with nuclear reactors and alien technology, 'offshoring' it to Ukraine, so at the very least if anything should meltdown (as it did), it would be a little ways from central Russia.
I have a background in political science, and post-Cold War era is typically referred to as "the Long Peace," a time period where there is little war. The primary factor contributing to this is that war makes little economic sense. This is very well true today, as globalization and economies become increasingly interconnected. So then, the looming question that I think everyone has pondered over the past year - why did Russia invade Ukraine? This is after they voluntarily gave up 'nuclear arms' to Russia in exchange for a promise to never invade.
It doesn't make economic sense, the sanctions are crippling Russia and they have exposed their army as somewhat lackluster. Their nuclear threats are hollow. We can speculate that Putin is an insane old man, with delusions of grandeur, but can he really spur a nation of 143 million to war in the modern era over rose-colored glasses of the old Russian empire?
Russia invaded Ukraine to reclaim abandoned UFO technology which was left behind at the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Russia was heavily banking on nuclear technology as being the key to crack the code of alien tech, and placed heavy bids in Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia. When Russia invaded, they swiftly captured Chernobyl, only ~60 miles from Kyiv, before retreating back into Russia. There were plenty of articles discussing the nuclear poisoning they suffered; now Russia is dumb but they are not that dumb - this was a calculated cost, not an oversight. Why would you treat after being 60 miles from the capital? They then refocused their efforts on the eastern front, losing all their gains in the North after capturing Zaporizhzhia NPP before allowing the front line to stagnate. Then they blow the Kakhovka dam, depleting the lake which services the nuclear reactor.
Russia has stolen back whatever alien tech had gone missing at the dissolution of the USSR. That was their only goal - a large scale war makes little sense. Now that the Zaporizhzhia NPP has been destroyed (read: plundered), they will slink back to Russia. If you see the Ukrainian 'counteroffensive' succeed in a significant way in the coming weeks/months, you will know why. They've already won their prize.
This is why David Grusch is ringing alarm bells about this now. Russia is taking the nuclear route (pun intended), and staking everything in the war in Ukraine. David Grusch seems to think they're on the brink of something huge.
Something that the world needs to know.

•67 Cryptocurrencies have been identified by the SEC as Securities.
•The SEC has gutted the Crypto Industry for now with losses over 20% for most Alt-coins.
•Binance.US is being shut down essentially, and Binance has been declared illegal in Nigeria...one may wonder what that means for ANKR as more countries WILL shut down Binance. Since Binance is an Investor in ANKR, and those who are in the know, know Binance manipulates the ANKR price, what does that really mean for ANKR token value increase for the future 🤔
•Yes, Binance manipulates ANKR price if you did not know...FACT.
•One shining moment is the SEC has yet to classify ANKR as a security. Key wording is "yet"
Whatever your ANKR strategy is...I wish you all well as it's going to be a rocky ride moving forward regardless of all these partnerships including MSFT and Tencent, and the release of the secret project (which is a new blockchain/network)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/sec-labels-61-cryptocurrencies-securities-after-binance-suit

Not trying to sound nutty, but the news is what it is. I have no idea what’s going on with the UAP/UFOs, but the ramp up in that and AI seem to be aligned. So I’m just wondering if we are entering a new technological era and so now they are going to make themselves known.
This is trash, and I’m just blabbing, but I do welcome any thoughts or opinions on it. I’m like, please don’t let there be aliens visiting us lol no no no

Edit: Wow! That was fast. I was woolgathering and thought of the worries people had 50 years ago about Nuclear Winter. And now our news media is reminding us we're still under that nuclear threat. So I thought I'd see about others' reactions to the thought.

I watched the Netflix doc and I want to think the man believes what he’s saying, but I don’t know if I believe him. But with all this recent news, how well does his story hold up now? Do you believe anything he says?

Hello everyone,
I bought a house in QC in 2022 and moved in in May 2022. The previous owner left wood on the property that he was supposed to use for a deck and said he would pick it up later on. I've asked multiple times but he never came to pick it up and went silent ever since.
As I wasn't getting any news and needed to renovate my own deck, I decided to move forward and use it to save some cost back in October 2022.
Today, I got a message from a random number...it was the previous owner who asked me if he could come pick it up today and then showed up at my door asking for it. As I had company over I told him we would deal with this later but I obviously can't do anything about it now as it's been used.
I know it was a terrible move on my end but as he ghosted me for months and wood got extra expensive through the pandemic, I thought I might as well. I was also under the impression that everything left on my now property is mine.
Am I in the wrong? Do I risk anything? Nothing was ever stated in writing regarding this, whether it's via text or on the agreement we both signed.
Thank you in advance!

The subreddit will be joining the blackout protest on June 12th. We will remain private for longer than the suggested two days. More details will follow as we work out our plan for the protest.
In related news, the blackout survey is now closed; thank you to everyone who responded.

Hello, I have a question that I hope is simple enough to clarify for me. I appreciate any advice or thoughts. My spouse has some RSU shares that will vest in July, and I'm uncertain what it means that the recent Tesla announcement has tanked (hopefully for the short term) the EVgo, Inc. stock prices.
I'm curious (as someone almost entirely unfamiliar with stock market behavior) if there's any typical advice I may be missing on when/if a person should hold RSU shares until a news announcement dip equalizes back to its average? Is that even a thing or is everyone now laughing because that's the magic question when engaging in the stock market?
I understand that any stock value increase/decrease after vestment date creates a capital gains situation with relevant tax implications, but is there a standard formula or view on selling vested RSUs during a reactionary slump or is that the name of the market game and we should just sell when we become vested to keep the income taxed simply. This is just one tranche and we may have better luck during the next vestment cycle.
I hope that makes sense and thanks for any other personal thoughts on it all!

So I have been playing on and off since 2005, but whenever I take a break it's always the same way
It's never me slowly losing interest in the game, it's always me being intensely focused on achieving whatever goal I have set for myself at the time (get to whatever ilvl, earn a certain amount of gold, level up a bunch of reps, etc etc) and then one day I open the game launcher, and think, naaaaaaaaah
And then I don't play again for anywhere from 4 months to 2 years.
Like 2 weeks ago I was playing DF, and was having a great time, then opened the launcher one day, and was like I'm good....and now the idea of logging in just seems insane to me.
Like I saw a news post on wowhead about the mounts for this months trading post, and I think all 3 look great, but I don't care. I have 2800 tender on my character too, I could literally just log in and buy 2 of them instantly. But I won't.
Which made me wonder how other people take breaks in the game.

The Iconoclast was very different on the inside than it was on the outside. The outside was painted a dark, rusty red and kept simple to help blend into the void of space. It was large, sure, about a kilometer and a half long, but it was also bulky in a sleek way, two words that shouldn't have fit together but did in this case. The ship had a lot in common with those of tilfish design; substantial in tonnage for its purpose but still practical and efficient. But it was also clearly pieced together from several salvaged tilfish ships by humans, making it thinner and and more predatory in nature than what you'd normally see constructed by the aquatic insectoids.
The inside, however, well that was a different story. It was a warm orange color throughout, and filled to the brim with things you wouldn't expect to see inside of a warship. The first place she saw just down the hall when she entered the ship was the dining hall. The dining hall was actually more like a very large dining room, with dozens of wide circular tables that were bolted to the floor surrounded by elegant dining chairs. Two red vintage soda machines sat side-by-side next to a series of glass-door fridges containing all sorts of drinks from soda to bottled water. A buffet was to the far side of the hall, next to a pair of push doors leading to the kitchen. A few dozen members of the crew were already seated, most of them being Arxur and Humans, although she spotted a few Gojids and Harchens in the mix. Babushka Polina hobbled past them back to the kitchen while mumbling about something, a Venlil wearing an apron opening the doors to the kitchen for her before following her inside.
Everybody was chatting and socializing, dinner apparently not having been served yet. She preened her feathers nervously, scared of what would be served. Even if it wasn't a sentient, the idea of these predators tearing apart a live animal terrified her. She didn't want to be here to observe their eating practices, even if she had seen some outliers. Would they even serve anything other than meat? Sure, Song Lui had served her vegetables, but these people were very different; they had different accents, skin tones, names, clothing, and probably a different culture. She couldn't assume they would act the same as Song Lui, as it would be both foolish and unbecoming of her.
She felt Sargen's clawed paw squeeze her shoulder in a vain attempt to comfort her. "Whatever you think is going to happen, it wont. Just sit down and relax, and I promise I'll be right next to you."
Silijima took a deep breath in the vain attempt to calm down. "What will they be serving," Silijima hissed, the panic in her voice readily apparent. "I don't want to be eating meat from some carcass like a predator. I know that the predators on this ship won't eat me, but that still doesn't change the fact that they eat like predators."
Sargen just chuckled. "You really don't have a clue. Let's just go sit down, I'll introduce you to some of my coworkers before Igor gives his speech and Babushka announces the beginning of the feast."
Silijima fidgeted but relented, allowing Sargen to steer her into the dining hall and to a table with a few crew members along with a tall, white bottle containing some kind of potent and clear liquid; alcohol maybe? Their presence didn't ground her at all, rather it only made her even more anxious, but she pulled herself together and shooed Sargen away before sitting down. The largest of the humans, practically a giant in size and only a few inches shorter than Tarlim himself, looked at her and she nearly jumped out of her feathers. He was young, but still mature enough to seem jaded, and he had a mop of messy black hair that covered his dark hazel eyes. His lip was scarred, and his neck had a few nasty scars as well that reached down under his loose t-shirt and onto his chest. He was muscular and toned, reminding Silijima of a tree trunk you'd find on her homeworld, and his arms were the size of bridge cables. He was sitting in a larger chair than usual, probably because any normal chair would've seemed comically small in comparison, and probably break under his weight.
"Who's your little friend, Sargen? Is she the new blood?"
Sargen nodded. "That she is. This is Silijima, our newest hull engineer and weapons maintenance coordinator." Sargen gestured to the truly massive human gently. "Silijima, this is Haran, also known as Goliath. He's one of our assault specialists and heavy gunners."
Silijima waved meekly, and Haran nodded. "She doesn't seem too confident. Lucky for us she isn't a grunt."
Sargen scowled at Haran, obviously not happy with how he spoke about Silijima. Silijima, on the other hand, wasn't too offended; she understood she wasn't exactly confident even if she was a trained soldier.
"Haran, please try to show some respect; she's our newest crew member."
Haran shrugged. "I didn't mean to offend, just pointing out that she doesn't exactly have nerves of steel."
"No, no; it's fine," Silijima interjected. "Don't worry about it, Sargen, I know what he means." And she did. She wasn't brave at all, or at least she didn't think she was brave. Sure, she had fought before, but she was just an engineer. Her combat experience was limited to assisting the ship guard in defending the more vulnerable parts of the ship. It wasn't her job to go out of her way to be face to face with predators, and thus she wasn't used to it. In fact, that was one of the reasons why she was able to last so long inside civilian society after her temporary discharge; most of her fellow soldiers were desensitized to predator glares, a surefire symptom of predator disease, while she was merely capable of reacting in time to not be gutted by an Arxur.
Haran simply nodded. Next to him was a tall, youthful and pale-skinned human with brown hair and green eyes. He gave Silijima a friendly human snarl and a small wave. "It's good to meet you, hun, I'm Timothy."
Silijima imitated him, waving her wings nervously. "It's nice to meet you too, Timothy. What's your role on the ship?"
Timothy chuckled for a moment before responding. "Oh, me? My job's pretty boring. I'm just the quartermaster, essentially the guy who manages the ship's stores and assigns rooms."
Sargen nodded behind her. "Timothy's a good man; he helped me through some hard times and he still does from time to time."
"Yep, I try to help everyone on the ship when I can; Sargen is just special to me because he's one of my close friends." Timothy then turned his attention to Sargen, who seemed to shrink under his carefree gaze. "That reminds me, Sargen, you missed dinner last night. What's that all about?"
"I… something came up." The enormous Gojid stuttered, obviously nervous.
"Oh really? Well, we have a few days before our next assignment. You should come over tonight."
Sargen didn't seem too amused by that idea. "Timothy, you don't have to invite me over every week."
"Oh, but we do," Timothy countered. "Sargen, when you're at home on the station you subsist off of takeout and whatever junk food you pick up at the insta-mart. Me and Madison want to make sure you eat at least one healthy meal every week."
Sargen grumbled for a moment, but didn't resist causing Timothy's smile to only grow. "Good, I'll expect you to be there. Siijima ,hun, you're invited too if you want to join us. We don't serve meat at the table when our crew members join us for dinner, I promise."
Timothy's kindness shocked Silijima. Inviting someone over for dinner on Nishtal was only done for business or if the individuals in question were good friends. For Timothy to invite Silijima, a relative stranger, over for dinner showed that he truly saw her as a potential friend. "I would be honored, but I wouldn't want to intrude on whatever… this is."
Haran snorted in amusement at Silijima's synopsis of the odd relationship between Timothy and Sargen, obviously having experienced this conversation beforehand.
"Nonsense," Timothy replied, "We always make extra, and any friend of Sargen's is a friend of ours."
Silijima didn't say anything in return, but Sargen spoke in her place. "Timothy, let's just get through lunch before you start inviting people to dinner."
Timothy shrugged, a smile on his face. "I understand. Just make sure you come tonight; Gabbie misses her Goji."
Silijima had never seen a Gojid blush so deeply before. "Please don't use that name in public, it's degrading."
Timothy made a face that implied he obviously wasn't going to respect Sargen's request, causing the Gojid to fume.
To the right of Timothy was a Venlil female. She didn't wear anything except for a simple pearl necklace, but her fur was meticulously combed and groomed. She gave Silijima a soft, motherly smile, a smile that put her at ease.
"Don't mind the boys, dear, they're just acting like fools as usual. My name's Varka, one of the resident nurses under Dr. Kaczemeric." Venlil stuck out her paw, and Silijima was confused until she remembered to take Varka's hand. Varka simply giggled, obviously amused by Silijima not being used to human social norms. "It's nice to meet you too, dear. Why don't you sit down next to me? Carphano and I are probably less intimidating than our human friends."
Varka gestured to the final crew member at the table, a male Harchen with a scar across his face. He waved as well, his side facing eyes droopy and full, as if he hadn't had much sleep recently. "My name's Carphano, communications officer, nice to meet you."
Silijima sat in between them, the feeling of being amongst a group of species she was familiar with making her feel much more comfortable. Sargen and Timothy were still arguing quietly, while Haran watched with an amused look on his face. Suddenly, she heard the loud and repeated clinking of a spoon against a glass. Across the dining room, Igor stood on a podium made from inlaid mahogany, a bright snarling smile plastered on his face. "Friends! Today is a good day! In the past week, we made history!"
The entire dining hall went silent at the sound of his voice. This must be a man that commanded their respect.
"Five days ago, we returned from what may just be the greatest group liberation in Commonwealth history. Thirty two cruiser-class cattle ships were captured, their prisoners saved and their guards captured or killed. Today, the Coalition has finally given us the exact number of cattle liberated, as well as our cut of the spoils!"
The entire dining hall was dead silent, the anticipation palpable. Finally, Igor gestured to a man next to him, a shorter human with a thin brown mustache and olive skin. The man passed him a paper, which Igor opened like a giddy child receiving a birthday card. Finally, he read the contents, his snarl only growing.
"The final number of liberated cattle was… one hundred and twenty-two thousand, three hundred and seventy four; the largest liberation in history."
The entire room broke into cheers, aliens of all races holding each other and yelling. It was pandemonium, but Silijima couldn't help but join the crowd, both the news and her herd instincts causing her to join in with triumphant squawks. The idea of saving over a hundred thousand sentients from slavery was so incredible that it invoked a euphoria inside of her that she hadn't felt for a long time.
Igor gestured for the crowd to quiet down, and as they did so he spoke up again. "We must remember, however, that this was not only our doing. We must congratulate our comrades who assisted us, all seven ships, their crews and captains, as well as mourn those who were lost while fighting for the freedom of others." With that statement, Igor held up a small glass of the clear liquid, as did many of the crew members. Then, he shouted at the top of his lungs "mortem tyrannis et oppressoribus!" Before downing the liquid in a few gulps and slamming the glass onto the podium with a loud thump. The rest of the crew followed suit, the largest arxur to the tiniest dossur drinking and shouting the motto Igor had proclaimed. Silijima didn't have a glass, so she just watched expectantly, waiting for Igor to continue.
"Now, for the part all of you have been waiting for; payroll. Even after the Coalition took their cut, and we split the profit eight ways, we made out like bandits. Needless to say, you'll all be getting the maximum bonus on top of your commissions."
More cheering, even louder this time. Silijima didn't blame them; Igor seemed like a good boss if he was giving out the maximum bonus for a job well done. Even Sargen had a bright smile on his face, as if he was already planning on what he was going to spend the money on.
"And finally, our future work; we won't be taking part in any liberation fleets any time soon. Instead, the Coalition sees fit to assign us on a defensive rotation, so it should be a calm few weeks. This means that if you've been on a few back to back missions, you should go home and rest for the month. Spend time with your family, or vacation planetside for all I care; God knows you all need it after our last victory. The rest of you; be prepared to take off on Friday and be space-born for at least a week at a time. And be prepared for a fight; NeoSec has detected a small Farsul fleet in the area, at least five thousand ships. Nothing cataclysmic, mind you, but still a worthy challenge."
There was murmuring now, people discussing the change of pace and whether they liked it or not. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sargen practically pouting, arms crossed and eyes refusing to make contact with Timothy's. Timothy, to his credit, seemed very pleased with himself.
"So hun, what brings you to our little slice of chaos?" Asked Timothy, eyes twinkling. He took another sip of his drink, a bottle of soda so green it almost looked radioactive. He seemed really nice, like a preacher, but without any of the feelings of hesitation she'd get from speaking to one. He lightly tapped the wedding band on his ring finger against the neck of the green glass bottle, causing it to make light clicking noises.
"I uhh… I wanted to get away from Nishtal. Too much is going on there for me to be comfortable with."
Timothy nodded. "That explains why you came to the Commonwealth, but not why you decided to become a Corsair. It's not an easy life, you know."
Silijima pondered his query for a second before responding. "Military life is all I know. When I finished secondary school I joined the navy because I had nothing better to do, but now that I'm out I can't imagine any other life. Sure, it's hard, and especially dangerous, but without that certainty and structure that I get from being on a warship, I feel lost."
Timothy nodded, his face becoming a little somber. "I understand that feeling. I'm ex-military, although I didn't see much combat. Getting out is the hardest thing I've ever done, although I'm pretty sure I never really left the service, I just changed who I served."
Silijima nodded. "It's refreshing to talk to someone who understands. That life… it changes you, and not for the better. Everyone at home, well, they're scared of me, they say I'm diseased and it's a matter of time before they throw me into some clinic where they drug and shock me until my brain melts. Even the people I served with, if they weren't already taken away for 'treatment' then they're too terrified to say anything because we don't know who we can trust."
For the first time since she had met him, Timothy didn't seem amused or amicable. He had a deep frown on his face and his eyebrows were bent downwards, an expression she had been told meant anger. She backed away a little, but he held up his hand. "I'm not mad at you, it's just the idea of an entire society treating those who risk their lives to protect them like dirt is despicable. On earth, we celebrate our heroes, not vilify them."
Silijima nodded. "In a perfect world maybe, but I'm used to it."
"But that's the problem; you shouldn't have had to live like that, in fear of the same people you swore to protect… it's not right."
"Maybe, but what's done is done. I left Nishtal and now I'm here, so maybe I can experience that respect for once."
"You don't have to hope, because I know you will. The people here are different, even the former feds, you'll see."
And with that uplifting though, dinner began. Polina and her assistants, two Venlil and a Sikvit, rolled out massive wheeled tables filled to the brim with different steaming pots, pans and bowls containing all kinds of food. To her dismay, there was meat on the table, but there was also a section entirely dedicated to vegetarian dishes, and it was even longer than the table dedicated to meat.
Some of the naval staff ran up to help, with Polina shooing them away stubbornly. They simply ignored her and helped anyway, rolling the tables to the far wall next to the kitchen. Soon, a massive feast was gathered, with over two dozen tables of all sorts of human delicacies.
The crew quickly made their way to the tables, forming lines at each. Plates, bowls and cups were passed out by the kitchen staff, and soon people began piling their plates high with all sorts of food. Sargen had two whole bowls of what seemed to be a deep red colored stew, which she first foolishly assumed was blood, but quickly realized was just the liquid taking on the red color of the beets and cabbage. Timothy had a bowl of hearty cabbage stew that she had learned was called Schi and a shallow plate of small, ear-shaped dumplings on the side called Pelmeni, swimming in a fragrant broth and topped with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of black pepper. There were other dishes, so many that Silijima couldn't count them all, but she was introduced to many of them by Timothy when he led her up there to get her a plate. There was all sorts of vegetarian dishes for her to try, ranging from cold soups like Svekolnik, Okroshka and Botvinyah, all sorts of salads with based on salted pickles and beetroots, several variations of hot soups like Schi and Borscht, Vareniki dumplings, farmers cheese shaped into cakes and shallow fried and so much more. Timothy insisted on making sure she got her fill, so he made her plate for her, filling her a bowl of Svekolnik and some Vareniki dumplings on the side with Smetana and black pepper. Only then did he let her sit down, after he quickly said grace, of course. Silijima didn't know what saying grace meant exactly, but she guessed that it involved them thanking their strange human God for their food, which felt anything but predatory.
Timothy took a bite of his Pelmeni. "So, how're you liking the station so far? Anything peak your interest?"
Silijima chuckled. "Everything, actually. This place is so unique and alien compared to anything in the Federation; it makes me think about what my species would be like if the Federation hadn't erased our old culture."
Timothy gave her a small smile, but she could tell he was troubled. "And you don't mourn for that lost culture?"
Silijima paused, thinking about his question. "I suppose I do sometimes. The idea of us being freer and less… inane with our thinking really strikes me as a wonderful change of pace. I could never see myself as an omnivore… no offense!"
But Timothy wasn't offended. "I don't blame you for not suddenly being enamored with omnivore; the same happened with cloned meat on earth. A bunch of elites tried to make cloned meat the rule and not the exception through all sorts of government restrictions and subsidization schemes. All these rich influencers and wealthy magnates who can still afford to buy the real thing, and still do to this day mind you, told us how we were supposed to live and what we were supposed to do, that we were supposed to sacrifice while they enjoyed every luxury imaginable. To this day it doesn't sit well with a lot of people on the station."
Suddenly, Silijima's mouth dried up and her appetite disappeared. "You guys don't clone meat here?"
Timothy shook his head. "Nope, not a single pound. In fact, it's been lawfully and democratically voted into illegality by the citizens of the station, to protect our cattle farmers planetside. Most humans on earth aren't vegan and vegetarian by choice; it's really expensive to buy meat because of meat cloning, and that was before the war and the deals with the Arxur. Now you have to be vegan because of the massive decrease in available cattle. That doesn't stop the rich from eating their fill though."
Silijima looked away, internal disgust battling moral indecision. On one hand, the idea of eating love cattle was far more disgusting to her than cloned meat, but on the other hand she understood his metaphor clear as day; it was about the Commonwealth and the Federation. "You support cattle farming not because it's better, but because it benefits humans more."
"It's not about 'you' or 'me', Silijima, it's about 'us' and 'them'. At the end of the day, a government is supposed to represent everyone and see to their requests, not what the government thinks they need or want. That also means everyone should be equal under that representation, and not that the rich and wealthy should receive all the attention and benefits while the lives of you and I get harder and harder. Sadly, people had to learn the hard way that when you give governments the right and the power to provide you with everything, suddenly they provide you with nothing. Medical care, for example, started out as a right after the satellite wars. It quickly became a privilege for the 'good citizens' who voted the right way, and said the right things, and if you didn't suddenly you got a bill in the mail for hundreds of thousands of dollars for your daughter's chemotherapy, stating that you had waived your right to state-sponsored medical care the moment you chose to practice your right to free speech in a way that was deemed unsavory by the UN." Timothy looked straight at her, his eyes boring into her soul, and she quickly realized that he was speaking from experience.
"What are you getting at," Silijima stated hastily, nervous over Timothy's sudden change in tone.
"What I'm getting at, Silijima," he stated, his eyes downcast as he ate another dumpling, "Is that rights shouldn't come with caveats. Just like you shouldn't be punished for coming back a changed woman after you dutifully served your people, I shouldn't have my daughter used against me for practicing what should be a universal right. Unchecked power is a cancer, and the Commonwealth was created to prevent that from ever coming into being."
Silijima mulled over what he said. Would humans really do that to each other in the name of power? Deprive each other of basic rights? Silijima was used to the Federation deceiving her people, but what punches had humanity pulled in the name of retaining power.
"Timothy, if I may ask, what is humanity really like?"
Timothy chuckled. "What made you think I implied we were any different from what the UN had shown you?"
"The reveal of my species' former omnivory, and your statement about caveats and free speech. You made it sound like humanity was hiding something."
Timothy sighed, obviously weary. "It isn't humanity that's hiding anything, Silijima; it's the UN. They want you to think that they were all these wonderful, misunderstood balls of cloud fluff. In reality we're assholes. We hate each other with a passion and we're not afraid to show it. War, racism, misogyny and misandry, prejudice; we'll find a way to hate each other even if it's impractical because we need some great enemy to battle or otherwise we'll start asking questions, questions that will be of a detriment to the UN. The rich and powerful used this for a long time to make us forget we were fighting a class war and not a culture war. They made us enemies of each other because of how strong our convictions could be."
Silijima's heart sank. She had guessed as much.
But Timothy wasn't done. "Before you start judging us too harshly, I'd like to add that the pendulum swings both ways. Humans, we often hate each other, but we can be even more passionate. We love, we love, and we protect those who dedicate themselves to our cause with a fury like no other. And even though we have problems with race, we are equally able to see beyond it when the reality of how petty it is is presented to us. And to me, Silijima, you aren't a Krakotl; you're family, and there's no bond stronger than family."
Silijima considered whether she liked that or not. Then she realized that her standards had been far surpassed. These strange primates had been everything she hoped for and more. She figured she could pull a human and looked past race from now on.
"I'd like that," she said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'd like that very much."
Timothy smiled again, that bright, mischievous smile, and for once she wasn't alarmed or frightened. She was comforted. "I'm glad you do. But there's something else I wanted to tell you. There's a city from my old nation, and at the entrance of that city stands a great statue. Most of it was obliterated during the bombing, but one piece remained; the plaque. It read as followed;"
Then Timothy spoke poetry that reached into Silijima's soul, and her tears became unbearable. She cried as he spoke it, as if they were the words she wished to hear all her life, a promise that could set her free.
"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”"
"We took the plaque with us when we fled, I helped carry it myself," Timothy said, a shadow of a smile formed on his lips, as if he was reminiscing the moment, "they're still demanding it back to this day, which is why we welded it to the wall behind the seats of our council chambers; the UN doesn't deserve it back, they lost the right to speak those words long ago. But the message is universal; you are welcome here, as is your family, and you will not be silenced or suppressed. We want you at your best, and we are willing to deal with your worst. All we ask is that you have an open mind, and do the same for us."
Silijima nodded, tears streaming from her eyes. "I can do that."
Timothy's smile grew even brighter, and he wrapped his arm around Sargen's shoulder, pulling him in close. "Then I'm sure me and my family would gladly welcome you, isn't that right Sargen?"
"Hmmmkmfh?" Sargen said, confused and with his mouth full of borscht. Silijima laughed, and for the first time in years the stress that had built up in her chest was gone. She was free. She was where she belonged.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I'm back. This is officially the end of the first Gunbirb Saga. I won't be focusing on Silijima for a while because I'll be focusing on other places, and other topics. The Galaxy of Interloper is even bigger than the standard NOP galaxy, and I've got so much to show you (;
I posted the first chapter of the next Part prematurely: that was a mistake on my part but I was dying to write more about Dojur and his consolidation of power. The next five or so chapters will be of a very different tone than the first five, much darker but also filled to the brim with Arxur and Dominion worldbuilding about culture, religion and daily life.
If you like what I've written so far, and you like my terrible writing and my inane worldbuilding, go check out other stories that I've written:
Waking Dreams: An insane pokemon/bleach crossover, and my first real attempt at writing something. It's a long story that's nowhere near finished, and it's got the deep worldbuilding that I'm not really known for [:
The Spider's Stronghold: Another insane fanfic crossover between Pathfinder and PJO, primarily Jason-centric. Take that as you will.
I also just wanted to thank everyone who either helped with this story or gave me support in the form of art (That would be u/BushBacon69 ) Or simply taking the time to comment ( u/A_Tank_With_Internet, u/AcceptableEgg5560, u/bltsrgewd, u/WonderfulMagpie, u/se05239, and others.) Thank you all; without the motivation you all have given me, I wouldn't have finished this fic.

(Warning this is quite long and verbose sorry!)
Hello,
I have been a lurker on this board and elsewhere for roughly a year and a bit now, I had another account but I forgot the password to it, so I'm having to post on a new one.
Basically I've decided to formally post some of what my interactions / "experiences" have been, with what I believe to be something quite extraordinary and likely non-human. Some of you may find that what I will describe tracks with your own experiences, and I think there at that intersection is where some of the most compelling andecotes can be found and shared.
I had for a long time decided against sharing my experiences on a permanent forum like Reddit (I have shared elsewhere before) but recent news events, as well as a perceived change in how people treat the subject, has made me reconsider this position. I want to preface this by saying quite firmly that I have experienced more than most of the population, but significantly less than some of the population, particularly those of you who are regulars here on this subreddit, so it will seem very tame to some of you. I am entirely earnest in what I will describe and nothing has been embellished or overstated.
_________________

1.

So I will just segway from that lengthy introductory preface into the meat of it: my first conscious interaction with a strange craft exhibiting non-standard characteristics, and displaying signs of self-aware conscious attention, happened roughly twelve years ago (2011). At this time I was going through some turbulent periods in my own life and I frequently enjoyed walking around my town at night to just get outdoors. I lived in an urban area and it was usually somewhat busy. This night, I decided to walk around at 1am and I took my flashlight with me. During this walk, I noticed for the first time that there was scaffolding erected on an old bank building, and this bank had been explored in years past by urbex folks, who had taken good photos of the views on it, and I thought suddenly, "why not climb it now for myself?" So I did. I climbed this building via its scaffolding at 1am at night in the cold somewhat rainy wind, and found myself at the top. I could look down at the people below and see new interesting sights of my town I had not seen before, as well as being able to look down into the bank itself, which had a huge Victorian-era glass dome on top of it framed in lovely wrought iron. I thought this was great, and I noticed that up here I could see nice views of the night sky. So after looking around for a while, I decide to lay down on my back and look at the night sky. I do this for about 10 minutes, just looking, while I listen to the people below and around me on the street going about their drunk business (it was a night that people went out to socialize, I can't remember exactly which day it may have been a Friday). I then try to go to sleep and I close my eyes. I can't remember how long I was in that state for. I think it was maybe 30 minutes. When I open my eyes, I noticed that there was a strange white bright light in the sky, like a bright white LED dot just hanging the sky. It was somehow immediately obvious to me that this was not a star. I noticed that it was moving in a circular pattern: clockwise, then anti-clockwise, then stopping, then moving up and down, and left and right, and then clockwise anti-clockwise again (for example). I thought: that's extremely strange. So I think, just for a lark, why not flash my flashlight at it? So I do. I flash a pattern at it. Flash! Flash flash -- pause -- flash flash (for example). It was like morse code, except it wasn't morse code because I didn't know morse code. Then it flashed the same pattern I flashed at it, back at me! I was amazed but not scared or gobsmacked. It was just like a "huh." moment. So I end up spending another 30 minutes playing essentially "Simon Says" flashlight games with this thing in the sky. Every pattern I flash, it flashed back. After flashing a pattern, or during times I wasn't flashing a pattern, it would start the movement routine again: clockwise, anti-clockwise, up, down, etc. and it would stop when it was time to flash. So eventually I have my fill of this amazing experience and decide that it's time to leave. I climb back down the scaffolding. I try to rationalize what I just went through: I have thought about this a lot. At the time I don't know what I thought. At the time though I just thought... that it was a nice strange experience. It was vaguely spiritual. In 2011 I didn't have a good phone. I hadn't gotten a smartphone yet. The camera on my phone was awful and it could only do SMS and calls and play Snake. So no sorry I do not have footage of it. And then for five, six years that was it.

2.

2016: I see strange white orb-shaped objects fly over rooftops in my neighbourhood, as I was on the top landing of my house looking out of the top landing window. There were two. They were extremely bright objects. They looked almost exactly like burning magnesium, if you ever had a science class where the teacher burned magnesium strips, they looked almost exactly like that, except less bright and it did not hurt my eyes to look directly at it. These objects flew calmy like leaves on water over the buildings. I tried to look at them for as long as I could until they were no longer in sight. I did not want to get my phone out for fear I would stop seeing them at any time. Smooth motion in-flight. They moved kind of like fireflies: no straight lines like jet planes or prop planes. Kind of like a weaving sort of motion. Then, a few months later after this, I see the same sighting again, from the same vantage spot that I was in the last time, flying the same path over the rooftops. So I know it was not some one-off weather event or something like that: this was intentional. This time I think there were 3. At this point I began to know, no longer doubting at all, that I had seen anomalous objects and linked it to my experience in 2011: all of these objects looked white and were orbs. The one from 2011 did not shine quite like magnesium that these ones did, but I chalked that up to, well, I don't know -- something to do with altitude if I had to guess, because these ones were significantly lower in altitude than the one from 2011, I could tell.

3.

It started to get weird for me five years later in 2021. Inexplicably so. I just started suddenly to begin to feel and know things. That year I had begun to get deeper into the UFO / alien folklore topic (I think the NY Times vids had piqued my interest in it again). During this year I had a spritual awakening, or was on the cusp of one (I still feel like I am on the cusp, but I'm also somehow pretty much over that cusp, but still kind of feel "on the cusp", because I haven't devoted near enough energy to it -- maybe some of you will know what I mean here, sorry it's hard to explain). I was beginning to explore astral projecting, meditation, and honing my intuition somewhat, and exploring various "occult" topics (thought forms and particularly manifestation and CE-5). I was beginning to become keenly aware of evil. I started to think about concepts such as the alleged "Great Filter", which I believe exists, and I think the filter is overcoming prior evolutionary selection traits that worked in the past but now do not -- it is overcoming the need to compete; competition got us here but now it is starting to hinder us and even harm us. We need to stop competing with each other and our planet. Competition is an early evolutionary strategy that only works for animals. Once an animal has evolved past a certain threshold it must discard competition and embrace new evolutionary stratagems or else it will fail at this threshold. I started to intuitively understand concepts about life, about being human, about difficulties of human-alien contact (inter-dimensionals being a truly difficult first contact situation because for example death and pain may not exist for them even conceptually), and about possible future mankinds. About where the evolution of apes may lead. It was a strange time for me. I was able to visualize strongly in my head certain things, and I think that was a magnet. I was noticing more and more of these white orbs in the sky at night. I could make them "flash" at me by standing outside and thinking, saying in my head: "Flash! Flash! Go on, flash!" and sometimes something would flash at me from the sky. One evening I was dancing to music. I was emitting positive "vibes." I was visualizing in my head about dancing with various alien types... you know the ones probably... grey, reptillian, mantids, nordics, lyrans, big foot, etc. it's cringe but I felt like this was the means to something. Suddenly I get the impulse to look outside, and I do. I see a very bright white shining nebula star-like object (very bright orb with white light tendrils) shining at me. Then it starts to move away. It starts to move away and fade. I felt like it knew that I was looking at it. I also started to have dreams around this time. They involved aliens. Images started to appear in my mind's eye. Some quite frightening. One dream was a test, and I failed it, and I refuse to elaborate on that test. In another dream I managed to "break free" and beat on a frail grey alien-looking being, strangling it and then crying in its face and telling it that I forgave it. Some dreams involved places "I" have not been to, but remember regardless, scenes I remember, people, places, towns, views. Everything felt familiar. Incredibly complex dreams. I have a vague memory of an encounter in my home, half-forgotten, with an entity. I gave assurances mentally that I would not be scared upon a meeting, but I was scared and screamed. This memory exists almost like a dream but I am entirely sure it did happen. Saw an orange orb in my room. Felt numerous and sudden instances of inexplicable nirvanic bliss, like I was feeling pure, pure, love. This was a time of strange growth.

4.

This was a major one and the most recent (nothing since). This happened in the tail-end of 2021. I was washing dishes at 11pm at night. Suddenly and without warning I experience honest-to-God telepathy for the first time in my life. Yes, I know that telepathy exists. I know it because I experienced it, and I know that it was incredibly gentle. It was not a "voice in my head." It was more like a foreign thought that was not mine, placed into my head, with an undertone of implication that it was communication. It was like language, but bypassing all somatic and verbal components and instead the raw information contained within a linguistic system was placed inside my head: raw, pure, information. A foreign gentle thought, that I knew intuitively came from elsewhere. It did not alarm me, did not scare me, did not jilt me. I just went: "oooooh." Perhaps I am fortunate in that I experienced gentle telepathy, because I understand that some have not. The thought was essentially, to go outside and look up. So I did. This was something huge and I knew it immediately. I went outside and looked up. And I saw it. A bright white LED dot-like orb flew overhead extremely low. It was MASSIVE and moving fast. I saw it moving like a leaf on water. Just gliding soundlessly. Smooth movement through the night sky. Like a firefly, weaving and bobbing on its way east. The entire time I stood there in AWE with my mouth wide open watching it as it disappeared out of sight over the roof of buildings. I got goosebumps as I stood there still, my eyes locked onto where I last saw it. After that I thought, "well!" and went back inside and finished washing up.
_________________
And that's it. I have had nothing since. But it seems to be every five years since 2011. So I'm probably due for more around 2026 (which is close to the 2027 date being touted around certain circles). Something else I want to mention is that I saw an "alien" when I was around 10 years old at a distance. Tall, grey off-white, gangly, walking into a woodland area. Bulbous head.
So those are all my experiences. As I said, they are relatively tame compared to some of what I have read here, and I'm leaving a few things out like more dreams and such and an off-hand minor poltergeist experience, and I'm sorry it was so long, but is it not the nature of this thing that it cannot be summarized so neatly? Thank you for reading if you have read this far, and please if any of this tracks with your own experiences, comment and tell me about it. I cannot share most of this with most people because it sounds very strange to them.

Please see Thread 1 and Thread 2 for above 5k due to text limit.

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You know that moment when people starts to spew untrue facts about our identities and motives? Well, just a moment ago dad said that we were trying to legalize...pedophilia?! And I thought he just don't like the gays because of religion. But I was wrong!
Now I'm worried about my future if I ever got forcibly outed or for the further things dad will say, but I have a hunch that American Media and reports on LGBT stuff by certain news networks who has pages on Facebook (yeah we Filipinos mostly use it for communication) screwed his thoughts on the LGBT community and the rest of the shit going on in America. (I'm betting w/ myself that one of those news networks is Fox News)
But ngl, his beliefs are laughable. As someone who has been spending time with actual queer peeps like you guys and a queer peep myself, dad thinking that we are trying to legalize the pedos is extremely wrong. In reality, we don't even accept them as part of us!
I'm sorry if this post isn't typical of what you commonly see here; mockery can be an outlet for venting and I will use it to shun the beliefs that deserved shamed.
(Flaired this as Story because idk where else should this go. Also, I'm Genderfluid Ace w/ multiple other labels going on and currently using They/Them. And btw, me and my family are SDA to clarify what religion we are part of)

1928, 1100 square foot, 2+1 home in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area.
This was my primary residence a few years ago. When I bought the home I was told the panel was an "upgraded" 200a panel and the electrical was fine. I currently am renting and the renter has had a switch and a plug go bad in a 6 month period. I had never had any issues previously so I had an inspection done. First electrician never provided quote and barely provided a report. Second is quoting about 20k for everything.
Kitchen apparently rewired at some point, but is on one circuit. I can copy the report here if needed.
Quote for rewire and panel replacement is $4700 (raise pole and install ground rods too) permitted.
Another $5000 to rewire kitchen and bathroom. Bathroom has light, light switch, and one gfci. (maybe 300 sq ft?)
Living/dining/bedrooms quoted at 1700 each room. All in is about $20k.
Permits once the work is completed over time, which sounds weird to me?
These were both BBB A+ companies and have good local reviews.
I'm at a loss. I've been told everything from get it done now to everyone in the area still had K&B. The first electrician said, "the good news is your house is still standing" then never provided a quote for repairs. The current electrician who gave the quote said the k&b wires look ok, nothing alarming but the focus should be to getting a new panel, ground rods, lifting the pole to the correct height, and bringing the kitchen and bathroom up to code.
I'm not sure if I should continue getting quotes or if any of this sound reasonable. Some other electricians have quoted 10k for the house rewire, but that doesn't include a new panel. The discrepancy in cost can go one or two ways either the current company is a rip or the others are giving low quotes but hidden costs will pop out once the work starts.