u/Solid-Bee9468

I have developed my discernment over the years to be selective of where I put my energy. Part of that is the people I surround myself with. If they do not align with my values or raise concerns, I remove myself from that social situation and realign with healthy relationships.

However, I’ve found myself in a situation where I can’t do that.

Someone who I’m very close to, Person B, is in a relationship with Person C. Person C has had a lot of red flags come up both through my interactions with him and his interactions with Person B. Their values do not align with my own and I can’t help put get a bad feeling when I’m around them, like I can feel it in my soul this is not a person I should be around.

Person B is very near and dear to me. But in the span of a couple months they have completely changed. They now are with Person C every day at everything they’re invited to. I’ve brought up my concerns respectfully and tried to keep my distance at social settings, but I can’t help but feel my peace being disturbed.

As a stoic, do you have any advice? How should I handle this? I worry about pushing Person B away, because if what I’m feeling turns out to be true, I don’t want to abandon them when they need support.

I have no idea if this is due to me being gifted or my hyper vigilance, so I’m curious to hear if this is a shared experience here.

Throughout the stages of my life, repeated cyclical behaviors in people were glaringly obvious to me. I can recall that as a child I’d notice every time X happens, a certain person would lie. Every time Y happens, this other person dismisses. This only advanced as time went on and even freaked my parents out a bit. As a teen, it got to the point where I thought maybe I was dumb or imagining things, because nobody else seemed to notice what I was noticing.

As an adult, the cycles became more defined and apparent. I can see people restarting another cycle, see what caused it to form, and predict where it will lead. Obviously I can’t predict the future nor am I trying to, but it’s clear as day when someone is going to pick up the same book as before and it’s just in a different sleeve.

When I was younger I’d try to address this with people (when it is a harmful pattern), I do not judge as I can see why these cycles were formed as a natural response in the first place, but overtime I realized most people don’t want to be made aware of them. They complain about the effects of the cycle, but rarely leave it. Everybody else doesn’t seem to notice or doesn’t seem to care. To me it’s as clear as seeing that a book is the color red. after speaking to others though, it can feel like I’m watching the same movie as them, but at completely different camera angle.

I thought maybe this was due to having a higher ability to recognize patterns, but it’s not an experience I see discussed often here. It seems like pattern recognition is more so noted in the quantitative or problem-solving sense, not so much in people and their behaviors.

Has your ability to recognize patterns contributed at all to how you perceive people and their behaviors? Have you found yourself noticing patterns and cyclical behavior in people?

I recently have crossed paths with someone who seems to flaunt their status and financials. They’ve done this unprompted where nobody in this social setting is the kind to really care about how much money anybody makes or the materials they flaunt. It’s become a repetitive theme with this person and I can’t help but spot inconsistencies the more they do it.

To note, I do not care how financially well off someone is nor does my social group, but it’s this consistent need to bring it up and things not seeming to line up just right. On top of that, they seem pretty easily disproven from a simple Google search or common knowledge.

For example, they (unprompted) bragged about their six figure salary at a job where it is very unlikely to be paid nearly that much at the young age they are. Again, nobody could care less what this person makes. It’s just very odd someone would embellish something when the knowledge is easily accessible and/or the situation does not call for it. There’s plenty of more instances.

I can’t help but get an odd feeling about it all. It feels like someone’s trying very hard to prove something that’s not being asked to be proven. I get why someone would lie if they were being called out for something or felt criticized, but there’s nothing being questioned here UNTIL things got too outlandish. Thats what makes this feel different from a typical, situational lie/embellishment.

So what causes someone to embellish/lie like this even when it’s not necessary? Or to the point where the lies are so grand that they’re easily disproven?

On a few, more unique occasions, I’ve noticed some people have the opposite reaction to those typically viewed as charismatic. It’s usually the people who are typically a bit more “loud and proud” who have this opposite reaction.

In these situations, there’s someone notably charismatic, not necessarily loud, but possessing a magnetic presence. The kind of people that you feel that when you talk, they listen and attract the attention of people around them without bravado. But I’ve seen people who typically are the type to have a lot to say and enjoy attention/praise shy away from these charismatic people. They turn into someone more quiet and avoid attention (very unlike their usual attitude).

I’d think charismatic people would bring out the opposite in them. In theory it seems like this match would be ideal for them, to boast and be seen for it, but it doesn’t seem to be.

Is there a reason why this is? I understand not everyone interprets people the same way, but this has been a repeated theme I can’t help but notice.

In the Punisher show, Daredevil, and the special presentation it seems to become increasingly obvious that Frank focuses more on his daughter. Not saying I mind the father/daughter dynamic, but we see a lot of parallels, flashbacks, and dialogue surrounding his daughter.

In the special, he talks pretty exclusively to his daughter. He crosses paths with both a boy and a girl in the special and yet the girl is the only one to resonate with him afterwards at the cemetery. I was actually pretty surprised he mentioned his son in his brief cameo in Daredevil Born Again. I almost forget he had a son at times. I had just rewatched the show before the special so maybe this is just more apparent to me because it’s fresh on my mind.

Is there a reason you think they decide to do this? Is this due to Franks feelings toward each member of his family? Or is this for the sake of the plot or storytelling?

I can’t seem to take a high quality, accurate photo of my artwork. I often use bold, contrasting colors. All my photos turn out too muddied, dull, or dark. I’ve experimented with lighting at various angles and hues. The strokes look so distinct in person, but so blurred on camera. For whatever reason, I never seem to get it right. I have an iPhone 15 Pro for reference.

What tips have been helpful for you when photographing your art? Bonus points if it’s doable with a phone or affordable (but not required)