I usually eat a high protein lunch (lots of beans and lentils or fish), so around 3ish, I start thinking about dinner. To bridge the gap, I usually enjoy this: fruit (0p), boiled egg (0p), 27 pieces of Pipcorn cheese puffs (1p), and a handful of Love Corn (3p) for a total of 4 points!
She’s just spoke openly about an older A-list Hollywood actor who assaulted her on a yacht when she was 19 years old? She also talks about pissing off powerful Hollywood elites in the screenshot. Anyone sense foul play?
Hi everyone, I need some input on this strange situation I’ve found myself in. I got very close with another mom through our kids’ school over the past 3 years. We always gave each other bday gifts and were very close friends. This year was no different. She gave me a gift for my birthday and she and her husband took me and my partner out for drinks to celebrate. Likewise, my partner and I offered to take her and her husband to dinner and bought her a present. I was in a different town on her actual birthday, but wished her and asked for dates so we could celebrate and I could give her the gift. She told me she would let me know soon.
After two weeks, I followed up again to get a date, and (not that it matters from an etiquette standpoint, but) noticed she pulled back from me significantly, almost as though she no longer values the friendship. Her response was that she still needed to check with her husband. Because we’ve always done dinner dates and scheduled things together, I can confirm this type of delay is unusual for her. It has now been a month since my partner and I initially asked for dates and I still have her gift. We live very close to one another, but it doesn’t seem right to drop off the gift if it’s unwelcome.
Does etiquette demand that I (1) wait until I see her again organically (likely in a month or so) and give it to her then, (2) mail the gift / drop it off, or (3) ask for a third time to arrange a date to meet?
Thank you in advance!
Danny: Do not talk to me in a way that is going to heighten me.
Nia: Okay. Did you hear me say ‘okay’?
wtf that was chilling.
I haven’t had amazing, close, meaningful best friends since high school. I always figured close friendships weren’t for me. In college, my closest friend distanced herself until she just stopped communicating with me (ghosting, if you will), and my closest friendship in grad school fizzled out once I had kids and her life took her in a different direction. Needless to say, I just assumed deep friendship apart from acquaintances wasn’t in the cards for me.
Two years ago, our kids joined a school and I got really involved with PTO and other mom-centric activities. It was there that I met Julie who was also a new mom, and we became fast friends. We would talk multiple times a week, and I wasn’t accustomed to talking to friends on the phone so it made me feel special and cared for. Our husbands got along great, too, and so did our kids. We also only live a few blocks from each other. We had inside jokes, and did holiday events together and basically saw each other nearly every weekend (if we weren’t with family, we were with each other). We also had a friend, another new mom, named Melanie. Melanie and Julie were super close, and their kids are best friends. It never bothered me because I knew their kids were best friends and I also knew we all had different friendships with one another, all equally special. I will say, though, that I tried to get closer with Melanie, but it never seemed to happen. She just wasn’t the open book type, at least with me. I also noticed she was unable to support me or give me any sort of positive validation (not that I need it, but friends compliment one another, it’s what we do. I’d host a fabulous brunch or do something that would garner a lot of praise from others, and Melanie was always noticeably silent).
Melanie would also pull back from Julie from time to time and seemed to be a little emotionally unregulated (would burst into tears at mom events, or have drama with her husband at parties). Julie was really affected by Melanie’s absences in their friendship and took it personally, and it was usually me who tried to make her feel better about it. There was one point where we planned a small getaway and Melanie refused to go because she felt like we excluded another friend. At her insistence, we agreed to include that friend, but Melanie still didn’t end up going. This is important for later.
Overall, Julie and I were just so close, and we’d share so much with each other. She’d vent and cry to me about her issues and I’d do the same. I told her that friendships like this were really hard for me to come by and that I felt like friends always left me for some unknown reason. At one point, I told her it meant so much to me to have a seat at her table and she agreed and told me we’d be friends, even family friends, for life. Our families spent so much time together over those two years.
Around the new year, she pulled away from me dramatically and started hiding the fact that she and Melanie would hang out without me. My birthday this year was quiet as I’m approaching a milestone and likely will do it big when it comes, but she still asked to take me to lunch to celebrate. I said yes, and at the lunch, she told me that she and Melanie booked a trip with two other girls, both of whom we talked shit about frequently. I’m not a shit talker, but this was a little warranted because the girls are kind of stuck up, obsessed with money, and, worst of all, full blown MAGA. Because Julie and I bonded over our pro-democracy stance, and how liberal we were, I was stunned. She explained that it was a shopping trip and that the two girls just loved the shops they were going to, and that it wasn’t really my vibe so she didn’t ask me. I explained right away that I was hurt and taken aback since she and Melanie were so against excluding people and because she was so anti-maga. She laughed it off but I explained later that it really did hurt my feelings and after a few conversations about it, she seemed to want reassurance that I wasn’t mad anymore and that we’d still be friends. If I’m being honest, I really did get over it and told her I wasn’t mad and that of course I loved her and we’d still be close. About two weeks after that conversation, she completely shifted.
No more play dates, no more invitations to go out, no more parties or trips. The summer went by without so much as a text message or call. I asked her to hang out twice, but both times she (very much in her normal and friendly tone) said she wasn’t available. Now that summer is over, I’m seeing her posting pictures with the other two girls from the shopping trip and Melanie. It’s like they completely replaced me, and in my late 30s I can’t believe I’m going through the same shit that ripped me apart in middle school especially since I shared with her that ghosting is so triggering to me. I’m so over it and will never open myself up like that again.
Dinner is a Mod pizza with imitation sausage, olives, and basil, with a side of chick-fil-a ranch.
I thought it was so bizarre that the casting directors would cast Jebin at all. He is such an unserious person and they would have known that in one interview. Not to mention, he and his girlfriend were only 23 years old. What kind of ridiculous relationship like theirs needs to result in marriage at age 23? I understand that he might have made good television because of how goofy he was, but Alex was very strange to me too and neither of them seemed all there or even mature enough to be able to participate in such an experiment. The fact that Killian was surprised Alex developed feelings for him and that she was trying to nail him down for the trial marriage without really knowing him, was everything I needed to know about her. On top of that, Jebin’s whole reason for the ultimatum was that he had to marry an Indian girl and yet there were no other Indian cast members. It’s almost like the directors wanted to humiliate two people of color by removing them before the experiment began, while keeping the rest of the cast, most of whom were absolutely atrocious (there is plenty of discourse about how awful many of these cast members are so I won’t get into that too much here). It’s pretty apparent most of these men have toxic views of modern day relationships, and were only out to find submissive women. It’s like the casting directors don’t even try to find anyone with a different viewpoint.
I would say the same goes for Jessica Grace and Edris. They were so odd and had a very difficult time connecting with anyone else in the show. If the producers wanted to make a serious show about love, why on earth would they cast people who clearly did not want to meet anyone or participate in the experiment? I think the concept for the show is strange and toxic enough as it is, that just casting normal 29 to 35-year-olds who are actually at a crossroads in their relationship would be perfectly entertaining and shocking. Think about it, they are literally entering brand new marriages with strange partners, despite being in very deep relationships just hours before.
This show needs an overhaul or it needs to go. When I was in middle school and high school learning about love and romance, I was watching early seasons of the bachelor when Tristan and Ryan were falling in love. I remember thinking how much of a gentleman Ryan was and that that was what love should look like. I can’t imagine what kids will learn watching shows like this with toxic people and complicit hosts.
Watched episode 5 on my first rewatch, and noticed some incredible details.
First, Bechir comes to Tom’s office after Tom starts his trip, and Bechir is angry about the curfew. On the first watch, I noticed only that Tom’s senses are muffled and distorted. On the second watch, I noticed this: Bechir yells at Tom about instituting a curfew with no plan. He says his jail has only 6 cells, so if there’s a curfew and he has to arrest violators, “which six people are we picking?” Overlaid with Bechir’s voice is Richard Warren’s, screaming the exact same thing, as if Tom is experiencing the first island sacrifice through auditory hallucinations. In fact, a lot of the sounds in this scene seem to be from a chaotic ocean scene from the island’s past.
Also, when Ruth comes into his office, she looks at him almost knowingly, as if seeing him in another realm, and as she speaks, her lips don’t move. This seems to be contrary to Dale, whose lips move when he speaks to tripping Tom, but appear more delayed. Did anyone notice any of this on their first watch?
Just finished watching it and like many people, I found it effective until its cheesy, cliche ending. But I haven’t seen this theory pop up so I thought I’d float it.
Throughout the movie, the obvious antagonist/scary character is the bedridden mother. But it seems like the conclusion is that Evy is going to end up possessed and have either a miscarriage or kill her unborn baby. As I was perusing the threads, I noticed someone saw that her doctor, who called to announce her pregnancy at 3 am, was apparently named Dr. Ram. Some noted that this ties into Bah Bah Black Sheep, but also, rams often connote the devil. We don’t see Evy leave to go get tested and so maybe, through some demon-induced psychosis, she believes she did. That brings me to my theory.
What if Evy wasn’t pregnant at all? What if she was never possessed, but rather her mom was all along? Her mom had that strange possessed statue that came out of the drawer without explanation after Evy stashed it there. Later, we find that a caller knew a ceramics maker who was possessed and killed her child. Did Evy’s mother come across one of her statues? Did the mother feign illness to trap Evy in the home so she could eventually kill her? The *one* time Evy leaves briefly, her mother is helpless on the floor, presumably pushing Evy to decide never to leave her side again. Perhaps the mother made Evy believe she was pregnant as a red herring?
I was pretty disappointed with the very escalated ending after such an effective slow burn (childlike drawings on the wall and a protagonist absentmindedly scribbling drawings of demons? Give me a break), but this theory made it a little more interesting for me. Thoughts?
Hi everyone. I’m organizing a dinner with four couples and reached out to ask all of the wives for their availability. So far everyone has given actual dates, except one of the wives, who stated, “we’ll be in and out of town over the next few weeks. You all pick a date and we’ll see if we can drop in.” I want everyone to attend, so I’m happy to pick a date that works for everyone, and I’m not sure how to respond to this. When I pressed again for their availability, she reiterated that she really couldn’t say. Should I leave this alone and assume they’re uninterested, or rearrange the dinner to fit their schedule once we select a date? Proposed responses are very much appreciated!
Edit: thanks to most of you. I picked a date and she and her husband are fortunately able to make it. Appreciate the comments.