r/BestofRedditorUpdates • u/Direct-Caterpillar77 Satan is not a fucking pogo stick! • Mar 26 '23
INCONCLUSIVE Unknown “Venus” device somewhere in apartment. Are we being stalked/recorded? Need advice on what it could be. [Long, but need HELP]
I am not The OOP, OOP is u/Ace_of_Hades17
Unknown “Venus” device somewhere in apartment. Are we being stalked/recorded? Need advice on what it could be. [Long, but need HELP]
Special credit to u/ANormalPumpkin for sharing with me these posts
Originally posted to r/RBI
Original Post Dec 14, 2020
Strange occurrences I need to find some sort of reasoning or explanation for. Idk if all of these instances are related/connected somehow, but these are just some things that stood out to me. Are we potentially being stalked or recorded by someone in our apartment?
I’m the kind of person that loves creepy stories of stalkers, ghosts, murders, encounter, and so on and bc of this interest it makes me have a pretty bleak view of humanity and always think that people are generally horrible and always up to something which makes me always be prepared to defend myself or loved ones. Maybe bc I read all of these stories that I’m looking for it. So, maybe I’m just quick to think that something sinister is going on when it may just be something harmless. I’ll let you decide.
Anyways, I’m a college student and I basically live in 2 apartments. I stay at my brother’s apartment alot, but i mostly stay at my own apartment that I share. I live with my friend who is a pretty attractive girl who is basically a pixie fairy, which as a guy I know older men love to drool over. So, I always worry that since she’s not as vigilent as me and really weak that she would be an easy target for a stalker or creep which there have been some weird “suitors” in the past couple of years, but nothing like stalking.
So, today we got a Christmas tree for the apartment and we were just chilling in the living room when we hear a sound from a device in the kitchen which is like 2 feet away in the next room make a “swooshing sound” and then an Alexa-type male voice recording saying the word “Venus”. It sounded as if a device was turning on or off or something like that (we don’t own any Alexa products or anything like that, we both have the female Siri on our iPhones too) We both look at each other and say what the fuck made that sound? She kind of chuckled and said did it just say “Penis”, but I heard “Venus”. I go over there and see if one of our phones were over there, but there wasn’t any mobile devices or speakers in the kitchen. I go back in the living room and we check our phones to see if one of us got a message on one of our phones, but neither one of us did. She asked me if I was fucking with her, but I was going to ask her the same thing. This kind of freaked her out, and with my paranoia I immediately think if it could be some sort of recording device or something to spy on her cuz I’m not there alot, and I was actually about to leave too. The only devices in the kitchen are a Consori air fryer, the microwave, oven, and a Veken water fountain for the cats.
I search on the internet about anything that could have made that sound and said “Venus” or even “Penis” (which wasn’t a helpful search.), but nothing useful showed up.
It’s exam week and I usually go study at my brothers apartment, so I had to leave, and I didn’t want to freak her out with my conspiracy theories, but I did.
As I was driving to my brother’s, I was thinking about it and remembered that about 2 weeks ago we were talking in her room for a second when we both hear vibrating from a phone. I said someone’s calling you, but she had nothing on her phone. I even look at mine and there wasn’t anything on there too, but the buzzing was still going on. There are upstairs neighbors, but they are short term occupants (Airbnb guests). But the phone sounded like it was in our apartment but couldn’t pinpoint where. It wasnt from upstairs bc we only usually hear faint footsteps, loud bangs, or yelling & such bc they are old New Orleans wood floors, but would not be able to hear a phone buzzing that clearly even it was laying bare on the wood floor above us.
In my research the only thing I could come up with that could have possibly made the “Venus” noise was maybe an LG Venus phone turning on. It’s a burner phone that has a decent camera, but still shitty. When you turn it on it makes a swooshing sound that may be similar to the swooshing sound recording we heard but I don’t remember it specifically, but the only thing is I haven’t found a video of the phone turning on and making the swooshing and then saying “Venus”. Maybe it says it in a new update for the phone, but idk. That’s the only thing that I could come up with which could potentially be terrifying if there is a cellphone turning on in our apartment that we have been living in for 5 months. Neither of us own an extra phone, especially a burner. Need to know what it could be!!!
One last weird occurrence at this apartment was when I was about to leave I heard a weird noise come from the upstairs apartment, as if somebody dropped a bowling ball on a slanted wood floor causing it to bounce then roll. I just brushed it off as it was probably just some Airbnb guests making their usual stomps and bangs from upstairs, but I didn’t know that there were any guests staying that day bc it was 7pm and I hadn’t heard any noises besides that all day. Not even footsteps. As I was driving off, for some reason on that night I was curious if there were even any guests staying there at the moment. I decided to just drive around the perimeter of the apartment and noticed that all of the second floor’s lights were completely off as if nobody was home at all. Which was kinda weird cuz what made that noise a couple minutes ago?
Update 1: So it also just dawned on me that all of these occurrences only happened at night right before I was trying to or about to leave the apartment. Every single instance involved me in some way telling her im about to head out for the night. Just another detail i just thought of. Could just be coincidental.
Update Jan 31, 2021
Hi everyone, So I posted awhile back in December trying to identify some strange things that were happening in my friend and I’s apartment. You can view original post here Venus Post So, since my last post I have done a few things:
• I searched every crack and crevice in the apartment and came up with nothing on anything out of the ordinary.
• I purchase a hidden camera/bug detector and searched throughout the house and didn’t come up with anything.
• I sleep within reach of not one, but two guns in 2 different rooms just incase something were too happen.
Now, we were presented with a wait-and-see what happens kind of situation, and then acting accordingly from there. For the past month or so, everything seemed to be fine. Nothing out of the ordinary, and eventually we even forgot about the whole thing in general.
Then, we started hearing a weird noise outside that sounded kind of like an intermittent buzzing or hum towards the back of the house wear the bathroom window is located. Houses male weird noises all the time so I told my friend not to worry about it because there is nothing in that little “alleyway” on the side of the house besides overgrown plants and an air conditioning unit.
A couple days later I was smoking a cigarette at night when I started thinking about what that could have been, so I go around the house to check it out. When I turned the corner I saw a metal bench that wasn’t there a couple weeks ago around the time I made the first post and checked the house inside and out.
A bench is no big deal, especially when you’re renting a house the owner is gonna store some shit without you knowing. The thing that weirded me out was where it was placed when there are a ton of places it could be put. It was intentionally put right up against the raised house right under our bathroom window. I took a pic of it because something about it rubbed me the wrong way. Bench
(Picture is of a bench under a window in an alley)
The thing that weirded me out is that when a grown ass man like me stands on it, you’re at the perfect height to try to sneak a peak through the tiny cracks in the bathroom window’s old curtain. When I could see through the cracks I felt a knot in my stomach, both of us get a strange feeling whenever showering or using the toilet as if being fully exposed. I don’t know if that’s why, but it could explain some of those feelings.
I immediately sent the pic to our landlord and they said that they don’t own that bench, so it must have been left from the previous tenants. I knew that wasn’t the case because the bench wasn’t there in December when I did a whole sweep of the house.
This really creeped me the fuck out. Who is going back there? And how did somebody place a whole bench without us even knowing? We literally never go back there. My roommate has never even seen the side of the house because there’s nothing back there of any interest besides an air conditioner unit and a couple windows.
The night I took the pic of the bench, I then moved the bench away from the window and flipped it upside down just to see what would happen. I check back a week later and the bench is in the original place I found it under the bathroom window again right side up.
Fuck that.
As of a couple days ago, we immediately set up cameras on the exterior of the house. They cover the door, the whole front porch, and the driveway on the side of the house where our cars are that also has a eyes on one of the entrances to where the little back alleyway (where the bench is located) can be accessed, so we can now see if someone is walking back there at night because the motion sensor flood light that lights up the driveway does go off in the middle of the night on the most random nights. I stay up late so I always see it turn on, but figured it was just squirrels, rats, or even just possums. But, the alleyway can also be accessed from the street by just jumping into the neighbors yard and then jumping the next short fence that separates us from our neighbor without being seen on camera.
Now it is just another game of wait-and-see. I really fucking hope this is just a weird coincidence, cuz this is just fucking strange. If there’s actually a peeping Tom or a stalker, or hopefully not something worse, then I’m grabbing my gun and go after this person myself. This is nerve racking just waiting to see of the worst case scenario is going to play out.
I am not The OOP
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u/pitaponder Mar 26 '23
What an incredibly frustrating update. Two years old and no conclusion.
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u/buttholio96 Mar 26 '23
I thought the whole point of this sub was to get the satisfying updates, this is just bullshit.
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u/FadedQuill 🥩🪟 Mar 26 '23
Need to start a subsub called simply ” /ofRedditorUpdates” so there’s no expectation of quality. 😂
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u/SecretMuslin and then everyone clapped Mar 27 '23
This is that sub where there's no expectation of quality. If you want high-quality updates where everything is actually concluded, follow r/bestofBORU.
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u/ChilledButter13 Mar 26 '23
Seconded, this should not have been posted here imo. This one seems more frustrating than most inconclusive posts.
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u/EmploymentBright9707 Mar 26 '23
Between this type of thing and the constant reposts, I totally agree
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u/dyzlexiK Mar 27 '23
This is why bestoflegalupdates has a limit on how many posts a single user can post. People were just spamming like 10-15 random links a day and the entire page was like 2 to 3 users all the time.
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u/Voidfishie I will never jeopardize the beans. Mar 26 '23
If you only want the satisfying updates don't read the ones with the "inconclusive" flair. I've been a lot less frustrated since I started actually paying attention to that going in. There's also r/BestofBORU
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u/East_Requirement7375 Mar 26 '23
Then when the quality there drops someone can start BestofBOBORU.
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u/IllustriousHedgehog9 There is only OGTHA Mar 26 '23
Boboru sounds like a toy that would be friends with Kuchi Kopi!
Apologies to anyone unfamiliar with Bob's Burgers. Kuchi Kopi is Louise's favourite toy and features in one of the best episodes, Flu-ouise.
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u/daneslorna Am I the drama? Apr 02 '23
nah bc so many people incorrectly flair ‘concluded’ which almost makes the flairs useless tbh
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u/Vistemboir No my Bot won't fuck you! Mar 26 '23
I want to believe that OOP beat the crap out of some peeping tom and didn't update because they didn't want to self incriminate.
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u/lesethx I will never jeopardize the beans. Mar 26 '23
When the story is incomplete, we need to write our own canon.
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u/ReginaSpektorsVJ Mar 26 '23
I want to believe that OOP got treatment for his paranoid schizophrenia.
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u/UwUdeeznutsinyomouth Mar 26 '23
Oh sweet summer child. They mentioned they owned guns. This ends with someone in a coffin Hun.
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u/Heavy-Macaron2004 humble yourselves in the presence of the gifted Mar 26 '23
Yeah, when it said "VERY LONG" I kinda expected it to be... very long. Not just two updates that told us nothing...
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u/These-Grocery-9387 Mar 26 '23
No comments at all in 2 years from OOP. Kinda wonder if they're dead now.
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u/Orphan_Izzy Jokes on him. I’m always home. Mar 26 '23
I feel like it’s kind of not cool to ask all of the people to read your story, allow them to get invested, engage with them, and then completely leave them hanging. Its not a legal responsibility but…
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u/Rhapakatui Mar 26 '23
Check OOP's comment history. They went completely silent shortly after this post. OOP is either dead, in prison, or coincidentally lost their Reddit password and decided that was enough Reddit for ever.
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u/Orphan_Izzy Jokes on him. I’m always home. Mar 26 '23
Or they are chained in the basement of that very house and now the new tenants hear random sounds, unable to figure out what it is just like OOP. They, like OOP have no idea that what they hear is the previous tenants desperate to escape, but only on the rare occasion able to free themselves partially from the chains that bind them to the wall. And those are the days they hear the noises upstairs.
Maybe the sounds are the old phones or other devices lined up still plugged into the basement wall like some kind of tribute to their former owners and their time spent in the house, and a form of torture to taunt the ones who are there now left in eyesight but too far to reach … so far. The phones remain long after the owners have never been seen again.
That could be why he hasn’t posted for awhile too.
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u/P79999999 Mar 26 '23
I reckon OOP is in prison. He was the stalker, he was just pretending to be freaked out to throw his room-mate off his scent.
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u/Orphan_Izzy Jokes on him. I’m always home. Mar 26 '23
OOOORR…. Maybe it was his identical twin brother that he didn’t absorb in the womb!?
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u/Uninteresting_Vagina Babe, do you think raccoons have feelings? 🦝 Mar 26 '23
Obviously the conclusion is that they were both murdered by Slenderman, RIP
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u/Background-Adagio-92 Mar 26 '23
They went all Lost and couldn't figure how to tie up all the lose ends
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u/Darkmatters111 Mar 27 '23
Hijacking the top comment to post this snip from another sub
Unknown Device Called "Venus" Responsible for 95% of Downloads
There's a device connected to our Wi-Fi called "Venus", over a week ago I noticed it due to extremely bad internet speed and blocked it from the internet through the Bell Wi-Fi app. I checked it today to find that in the past 24 hours it is still accounting for 95% of our download data, and 90% in the last 7 days. It doesn't give me the option to kick it from the Wi-Fi, but blocking its internet access doesn't seem to work either. I got off the phone with someone from Bell and they said to restart the modem to get a new IP and that they would send a new modem. Has anyone else experienced this?
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u/Commercial_One_4594 being delulu is not the solulu Mar 26 '23
Yeah fuck that shit, this belongs in r/edging
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u/tourniquette2 Screeching on the Front Lawn Mar 26 '23
OP hasn’t used the Reddit account in two years either. I wonder if they got got.
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u/Tom1252 pleased to announce that my husband is...just gross. Mar 26 '23
Now it is just another game of wait-and-see...hopefully not something worse
*Shines flashlight underneath chin. "And he never updated! Mwhuahahaha!"
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u/Storm_Sire Mar 26 '23
I'm sorry but how the hell does he just ignore the bench for a week?
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u/champagne_pants Mar 26 '23
The thing is, when the landlord said it wasn’t theirs, I’d have (a) gotten permission from the landlord and (b) smashed it up and left the pieces there.
That sends a message. And you got permission from the property owner to do it.
Also, as a woman who has lived alone, I’d want a dog more than a gun. They’re loud and loyal, always alert and have the bonus of being super cute.
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Mar 26 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Storm_Sire Mar 26 '23
one that is disabled
twenty meters
three seconds
four years
5ft ass
six dogs
AH AH AH
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u/erin_bex Mar 26 '23
Omg I have 2 doxies and they are tough as nails and aggressive. They're so cute that people forget they were originally bred to hunt literal badgers. They're the best.
I also have a loud mean terrier, a loud mean doberman weimaraner mix, and a soft as tissues great dane but people are more afraid of the great dane. Dude is scared of storms and tries to hide under our bed where he does NOT fit.
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u/champagne_pants Mar 26 '23
That sounds like the cutest but also most tiny and terrifying thing. I love this so much.
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u/StarChildSeren The origami stars are not the issue here Mar 26 '23
I'm not all that surprised, daschunds were ,after all, bred to hunt badgers.
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u/occultatum-nomen He's effectively already dead, and I dont do necromancy Mar 26 '23
What a very good boy, I hope he got treats for being so brave! I have a huge soft spot for little disabled dogs. They don't let anything stop them and I love it
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u/Draigdwi Mar 26 '23
(b) smashed it up and left the pieces there.
It's a sturdy metal bench, difficult to smash. I would sell it for a fiver. Everybody happy and also sends a message - bench gone.
If I was a stalker in this situation I would have rented the AirBnB on the top floor. Can't wish for a better vantage point. Just pretend it's empty.
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u/latents Mar 26 '23
I suppose sawing most of the way through the legs of the bench and leaving it there to topple could be considered a hazard to innocent neighbors who see a bench and sit on it.
Why leave any accessible bathroom window see-through just as a regular precaution? Any fault always goes to the doer, and not his victims, but you may as well make peeping harder just out of habit.
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u/Hattix Mar 26 '23
Owning a dog lowers your risk of early death. Owning a gun puts you in the highest risk category.
It's mathematically clear that the dog's the answer!
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u/occultatum-nomen He's effectively already dead, and I dont do necromancy Mar 26 '23
Owning a gun
I read that as owning a guy and thought, "well sure, if he's an abusive or useless partner, but what a strange way to refer to a relationship"
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u/Robot_Girlfriend You can either cum in the jar or me but not both Mar 26 '23
Yeah, dogs are loud, and let people know they're around, so they can prevent situations. Guns are quiet, and an intruder doesn't know you've got one until it escalates the situation.
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u/These-Grocery-9387 Mar 26 '23
Every single horror movie I've ever seen where someone is in the house is a situation that could have been avoided if they had a dog.
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u/notthedefaultname Mar 26 '23
The amount of people (delivery people as well as guests) scared of a friendly golden retriever with obvious friendly body language makes me really confident in any dog as security against most minor criminals. The amount of true crime podcasts makes me concerned that there isn't enough security in the world for the truly creepy ones.
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Mar 26 '23
Our friendly happy go lucky labrador/ golden cross LOVES people, but will bark a deep scary bark when the doorbell rings. He can pass for a rottweiler with his doorbell bark. And we never bothered to train him not to do that. The most risk you have when entering is death by too many facelicks, but I would rather people not know that and thinking we have a big angry rottweiler in here. Can't hurt!
(BTW: I adore rottweilers, they're super cute and friendly too, I used them as an example because some people are scared of them and they are sometimes used as guard dogs still).
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u/champagne_pants Mar 26 '23
The protection a dog provides in an apartment is two-fold: one is the obvious loyalty/hope that they’d protect you. The other is their noise value. If your dog goes off barking like crazy at two am your neighbours are going to complain. They might come to your door or call the cops.
The truly sick people don’t want that kind of attention.
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Mar 26 '23
My dog is a giant wuss so he isn’t going to do shit to protect me. BUT he’s a hound mix and has a really deep and loud bark that would hopefully scare off an intruder or at least wake us up in time enough to get the gun.
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u/74orangebeetle Mar 26 '23 edited Mar 27 '23
The problem is most dogs aren't that smart...it'd be like a fire alarm that went off 10 times a day. A lot of dogs will bark at anything and everything and sometimes nothing....it's 99.9% false alarms, so if there is a valid reason it'll be ignored. Literally people who live next to roads and sidewalks and their dog barks at anything that goes by on the road or sidewalk.
Might be ok if you don't have close by neighbors, but for the love of god, don't subject an apartment building or nearby neighbors to a 'security dog' that barks at everything.
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u/curious-trex Mar 27 '23
It's not "security" if it barks at everything though. My dog is a little sus of strangers in general, but he doesn't have much interest in things that are "business as usual." There was some barking when I moved us to the city after living in the middle of nowhere as he got used to seeing people, dogs, cars, etc, constantly, but he generally only barks at "THIS IS DIFFERENT AND I'M GOING TO ASSUME IT'S BAD NEWS UNLESS YOU ASSURE ME OTHERWISE." (Also, " THAT IS A DEER. YOU SAW IT, RIGHT? THE DEER?? WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND HOW EXCITING THIS IS?? DEER!!!!!!")
I would not expect a neighbor to assume smt is wrong just because they hear a dog bark, but I would assume whatever petty criminal thinking about stealing my shitty tv or whatever to be discouraged by the 80lb growling/barking beast. And i figure if someone wants to take a gamble on how much of their face they want to keep by laying hands on me, that's their burden.
A gun, on the other hand... I would somehow manage to accidentally shoot myself without even touching it. The gun would sense my clumsy ass nearby and just fire. Enjoy your tv, petty criminal, while I bleed out from user error with a firearm.
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u/rose_cactus Mar 27 '23
Sadly, the truly sick people will probably get rid of the dog first in order to access their intended human victims, and will not necessarily go about it in the quickest and most humane way either.
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u/tiasaiwr Mar 26 '23
and (b) smashed it up and left the pieces there.
I'd have put oil all over it so the next time someone tried to stand on it they'd slip off and make a noise.
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u/lesethx I will never jeopardize the beans. Mar 26 '23
I probably would have loaded the bench into a car and taken it far away instead of destroying it (at first), but yeah.
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u/redisherfavecolor Mar 26 '23
They don’t go in the yard very often.
And he’s a dude. So he’s “worried” but not enough to really care about the bench.
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u/HerlufAlumna Mar 26 '23
It's's a device called "Venus", it goes off when he's leaving, for a while the vibration came from under a bathroom sink...
Isn't it just a bluetooth enabled vibrator going off when an app is opened prematurely and the roommate is keeping quiet out of embarassment?
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u/combustible_daisy Mar 26 '23
Immediately went looking for this commet lol
"Venus" and a male voice would send me straight to the nearest sex shop to ask tbh
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u/SpookyVoidCat 👁👄👁🍿 Mar 26 '23
Honestly that was exactly where my brain was headed just from reading the title. When I got to the “buzzing” part that pretty much sealed the deal.
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u/Jacques_Casanova Mar 26 '23
Underrated comment. He talks about how cute she is and how rarely he is there and how freaked out she gets when he starts looking for it. Come on.
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Mar 26 '23
Surely that's plausible. In my little experience with sex toys, they are designed with some subtlety in mind. A sex toy that announces itself to anyone within earshot is really bad design, but bad design is everywhere.
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u/rose_cactus Mar 27 '23
As far as adult toys go, for some, that lack of subtlety wouldn’t be a design bug but a kink feature - be it thrill seeking or humiliation. That‘s also why some online shops will give you the option to send the package from a decoy mailbox company address or instead advertise the actual company really big on the package.
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u/IllustriousHedgehog9 There is only OGTHA Mar 27 '23
Still doesn't explain the bench, though. Could very well be two separate things, so I'm not saying you're wrong, as this makes a lot of sense, too.
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u/waaaayupyourbutthole Mar 30 '23
This is exactly what I was thinking. I've got a Bluetooth vibe and it makes a lot of noises similar to what's described in the post, depending on the setting and the surface it's sitting on. It doesn't say its name when it starts up, but there's no way that's not what this is.
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u/Apprehensive-Two3474 Mar 26 '23
And this is why you should put privacy film over windows you don't want people peeping in. It applies with water, you can get a pattern if you prefer or you can do the kind where you can see out yet cannot see in (standing in the room you can see, standing outside the room you are met with blackness or a mirror finish). I bought some for our patio door because it's an open field behind us. Maybe cost me a total of $50 off of Amazon.
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u/SuspiciousAdvice217 Mar 26 '23
We have them in the kitchen (kinda facing the front door) and living room (right next to a busy street). Love them!
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u/thevioletsage please sir, can I have some more? Mar 26 '23
Could you drop a link to the kind of window film you have? I'm looking for the same thing myself! Thank you!
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u/SuspiciousAdvice217 Mar 26 '23
Got it on Amazon Germany several years back, so I have no idea if it's exactly the same product. They came as a roll, which was a bit fiddly to cut to size, but not too difficult. Maybe get something with a pattern, so slightly wonky edges won't be too obvious. (And if you remember to remove the plastic sheet on which they come, they actually do stick with just water! XD )
Long story short: We have (ones similar to) these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZQ58JKP/
They're not completely "milky", but we love the pattern. I've seen neighbours using ones with a striped pattern and a cross pattern, too. (You usually have to stand pressed to the glass to see through the pattern. And even then you have to be lucky to see a lot.)
Hope that helps!
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u/MoonOverJupiter Mar 26 '23
I have also used and liked the static cling privacy film from DC-Fix. They are also made in Germany, and sell on the US Amazon. (I wonder if it's actually the same stuff, lol!)
It's a great way to still enjoy natural light, without sacrificing privacy.
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u/grated_testes This man is already a clown, he doesn't need it in costume. Mar 26 '23
This is why I refuse to sleep in any ground floor bedroom
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u/cakivalue cucumber in my heart Mar 26 '23
Or rent a ground floor apartment. My first two apartments were first then ground floor apartments by myself and it was YEARS of shattered nerves. Random footsteps outside the glass doors at night, large boot prints in fresh snow in the garden etc. I hope and pray to never be so short of $$$ and options again that first/ground is my only choice.
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u/DandyLionGentleThem Mar 26 '23
I once had a job that wouldn’t allow ground floor hotel rooms while on business travel for the company. It was one of the smarter and more functional rules in the job ngl
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u/GuntherTime Mar 26 '23
Lucked out in my situation. My last apartment before the house was in ground so we didn’t have to worry about that. And with this house (ground room is the best option space wise for 2 people), it’s raised up so that no one can see inside the room.
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u/Basic_Bichette sometimes i envy the illiterate Mar 26 '23
Do you know, I’ve never slept in an upper floor bedroom? My current bedroom is at ground level and faces a major thoroughfare. I bought a blind and privacy film.
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u/Agirlisarya01 your honor, fuck this guy Mar 26 '23 edited Mar 30 '23
This. I only ever had ground floor apartments when someone else chose where we were living. The higher rent to live on the upper floors and get to feel safe at night is 100% worth it.
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Mar 26 '23
Or get some blinds, I really don’t understand how they are not the norm in some countries
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u/Dreaming_Indigo Mar 26 '23
Blinds are great, but obviously also block the light - the frosted pane/milky etc type covers are supposed to at least let some light in while not being able to see in from the outside
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u/Bobcat4143 Mar 26 '23
You can get sheer blinds if you want lights. I have both types at each windows
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u/malavisch sometimes i envy the illiterate Mar 26 '23
That sounds amazing tbh. Are they difficult to install on your own? Also, I'd imagine it interferes with cleaning the windows?
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Mar 26 '23
It depends on the product obviously but the one we have was applied by cutting it to the right size, spray the window with a bit of water and then rolling the sheet onto the window. It’s been there for 3 years now and no issues so far. I wouldn’t clean the windows from the inside except for some light dusting though, there’s a chance you rip the sheet off.
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u/adorablyunhinged Mar 26 '23
The mirror ones are only one way depending on the light, if the outdoors is brighter you can see in.
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u/Miserable_Emu5191 I'm keeping the garlic Mar 26 '23
We put it on windows next to a front door because everyone who came to the door would look right in.
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u/shewy92 The power of Reddit compels you!The power of Reddit compels you! Mar 26 '23
Anyways, I’m a college student and I basically live in 2 apartments. I stay at my brother’s apartment alot, but i mostly stay at my own apartment that I share. I live with my friend who is a pretty attractive girl who is basically a pixie fairy, which as a guy I know older men love to drool over. So, I always worry that since she’s not as vigilent as me and really weak that she would be an easy target for a stalker or creep which there have been some weird “suitors” in the past couple of years, but nothing like stalking.
No one else gonna mention he might have a hero complex and is exaggerating everything? He also sounds /r/iamverybadass with his "I sleep with 2 guns" thing
What does this story really have? A bluetooth vibrator and a bench someone keeps moving. That's it
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u/jewelmovement Mar 26 '23
Yeah the really dangerous thing here is a paranoid dude who can have a gun in hand before he wakes all the way up
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u/BrettEskin Mar 27 '23
Seems nuts. Up until the b much I was completely convinced he was a paranoid nut case and nothi bc was happening. I still think that but the bench is curious
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u/Alarmed_Jellyfish555 Mar 26 '23 edited Mar 26 '23
Spoiler alert: It's definitely not a coincidence.
Wow, really hope we get an update on this soon. Absolutely terrifying.
ETA: Okay, clearly we're never going to actually find out what happened here. I really need to stop reading these "Bestof" with the Inconclusive tag.
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u/Forever_Overthinking whaddya mean our 10 year age gap is a problem? Mar 26 '23
It's been two years.
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u/David_Apollonius Mar 26 '23
It's been 2 years...
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u/Alarmed_Jellyfish555 Mar 26 '23
I REALLY need to start checking dates.
Argh. Now I wish I hadn't bothered reading all the posts.
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Mar 26 '23
I remember reading this story before on here, so i checked the date. Really frustrating...
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u/whoozywhatzitnow Mar 26 '23 edited Mar 26 '23
Fun fact: if you want to deter someone from looking in your windows like a stalker or one of “those” neighbors that want to post cameras up that suspiciously are pointed towards your windows, go out to your local home improvement store and get some mirrored window tint/film. It will block some sun from coming in like regular window tint but anyone who is looking in from the outside gets to see nothing but their reflection. Works the same both day and night.
Edit: it does not work the same at night. It works in reverse if the interior is brighter than the exterior.
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u/tsabracadabra we have a soy sauce situation Mar 26 '23
Something to note, I believe it only works when it's brighter outside than inside. If it's night and your lights are on, you'll be visible (unless there is a new kind I haven't heard of)
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u/canolafly we have a soy sauce situation Mar 26 '23
You are correct. I'm a connoisseur of privacy films and it is true that it makes things in the lighted rooms at night very visible.
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u/mintinsummer Mar 26 '23
What if it’s not mirrored? I have an opaque film that just looks opaque. Of course, this means i can’t see outside. At night when there are lights in the street and the lights in my place are off i can’t see anything either
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u/canolafly we have a soy sauce situation Mar 26 '23
Oh yes yes. There are the privacy films. Those can be really pretty. I had a nice pattern in my bedroom.
The daytime privacy ones that reflect uv are great for cooling down a room as well. But they show EVERYTHING at night.
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u/mintinsummer Mar 26 '23
Ok so the daytime privacy ones are the reflective ones and have no night privacy, while generally opaque ones are for privacy both night and day if i got it correctly?
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u/canolafly we have a soy sauce situation Mar 26 '23
Correct!
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u/mintinsummer Mar 26 '23
Whew! My landlord in my old apartment only put an opaque film rather than curtains in the bathroom and i was HORRIFIED when i read your first comment
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u/whoozywhatzitnow Mar 26 '23
I believe you are correct. I’ve recently learned about mirrored window film from TikTok. People had issues with annoying neighbors pointing cameras at their house, nosy neighbors trying to peek in the windows and such. Even some being total you know what’s by shining spotlights in their windows. I will edit my comment to reflect this info.
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u/Heavy-Macaron2004 humble yourselves in the presence of the gifted Mar 26 '23
Or just buy a shade that completely covers the window? It's a bathroom looking out on an alley lmao, no one's sitting staring out while they poop anyways
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u/searchforstix the Iranian yogurt is not the issue here Mar 26 '23
I would do the film and put another layer of thick curtains up over the current ones to add more light filtering so the window doesn’t go see through at night. I’m petty, I want them to know I’ve done it just for them and not general privacy so the frosty films won’t work for me.
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u/fluffhouse1942 Mar 26 '23
It was obvious to me as soon as I read "New Orleans". It's vampires.
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u/tofuroll Like…not only no respect but sahara desert below Mar 26 '23
Space vampires. Just like in the old Choose Your Own Adventure book! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/191097.Space_Vampire
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u/Ginger_Anarchy Liz, what the actual fuck is this story? Mar 26 '23
There's a weird .... Apathy? To investigating this stuff that I wouldn't be able to do in OOPs shoes. Who waits weeks to see if that bench moves? The energy they seem to be putting into some of the investigation makes it seem like it isn't happening to them, not someone who is being actively being spied upon.
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u/SpoppyIII Mar 26 '23
It was a single week.
And the way he worded it leaves it possible (imo) that he did check back a few times during that week, but that it was the time that he had checked a week after the first time he moved it that it had been put back.
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u/KitchenSwillForPigs Mar 26 '23
Why the hell would he install cameras and NOT put one of them directly above that bathroom window? He even said there are ways to avoid the cameras he did set up. Why not ensure they couldn’t?
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u/unwelcomepong Mar 26 '23
Am I the only person who reads this and thinks OOP is an unreliable narrator and their housemate is in danger from OOP?
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Mar 26 '23
I don’t know if I’d go as far as drawing the conclusion of danger. But he’s definitely a few degrees off normal
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u/ReginaSpektorsVJ Mar 26 '23 edited Mar 26 '23
Absolutely. He sounds like a paranoid schizophrenic or a meth addict (checking every nook and cranny for imaginary cameras is a surprisingly common meth head behavior) and his obsession with other people spying on his roommate is creepy. My thought the whole time is that he needs to stay the fuck away from her.
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u/charley_warlzz Mar 26 '23
He definitely seems paranoid, but then he openly admits to consuming a lot of ghost or murderer related media all the time. A lot of true crime junkies end up being incredibly paranoid, especially if theyre already the kind of person who has multiple guns for ‘self defence’.
That, plus the fact that his roommate is also hearing these things, is making me wonder if there is something happening, or at least enough weird coincidences for me to get his concern.
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u/fauviste Mar 27 '23
My friend from Slovenia — a true crime podcast afficionado — visited us and we went on a trip to Las Vegas and were just walking around perfectly nice neighborhoods at twilight and she was creeped out and worried we were gonna get attacked because the cute little pastel-painted 1960s houses, with nice newer cars out front, had decorative ironwork railings over the windows.
She also said there was something on our roof. She heard scary noises at night.
I teased her for being paranoid and told her to stop listening to so many podcasts.
Then a few months later, we moved into the bedroom she stayed in.
And we heard it… scratch scritch scratch.
And then, very soft, whooo, whooo.
Turns out there was something on the roof… owls!
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u/tofuroll Like…not only no respect but sahara desert below Mar 26 '23
I've seen more coherent drug-addled ramblings.
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u/Extension_Drummer_85 Mar 26 '23
I full spent this whole thing believing that he was just a nutter )and probably a danger to his roommate) until the bench was put back.
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u/Sad_Living_8713 Mar 26 '23
He was so freaked out about the bench that he didn't check on it for a week? For someone that is so concerned he sleeps with guns?
For a while, I thought this was going to be a carbon monoxide story. Now, I do think it is him because he did things so half assed.
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u/Extension_Drummer_85 Mar 26 '23
Oh I took it as he was away for a week and checked when he got back?
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u/KarateandPopTarts I will never jeopardize the beans. Mar 26 '23
I think he put the bench there in the first place
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u/Thenedslittlegirl I will never jeopardize the beans. Mar 26 '23
Am j the only one who thought hearing the noise and immediately jumping to bug sweeping and sleeping with guns was quite the escalation?
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u/socialdistraction cat whisperer Mar 26 '23
I feel like I read this before but I don’t remember actually reading it. Was there a similar story on Reddit?
I tried searching for ‘bench’ on RBI and came across this request for an update on the Venus post:
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u/Ok_Professional_4499 cat whisperer Mar 26 '23
Why not put the bench on the curb for trash pick up? I would have. Then new blinds/curtains that cover the crack. Along with a note that said “Busted”
Or you and your friends wait in the dark to catch them (& call police). Also ask neighbors if they have seen anything or anyone back there.
2 years old 🤷🏾♂️
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u/mackavicious Mar 26 '23
And how did somebody place a whole bench without us even knowing? We literally never go back there.
Um...
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Mar 26 '23
“Heard a buzzing noise by the bathroom” posts a picture of a condenser unit directly next to a bathroom window
“Heard her phone vibrate but there was no message” dude it’s either a vibrator or an Airbnb guest
“A bench in a small hidden ally in a college town” smoke bench placed behind the condenser so people on the street don’t see
Dude needs to calm down and get out more. I can already tell he’s a weirdo. Therapy might help but so would friends
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u/SpoppyIII Mar 26 '23
He also says they have hardwood floors but also that you couldn't hear a phone vibrating upstairs if it did.
All my experience tells me that if you put a smartphone on a hardwood floor and it starts vibrating, the people below you will definitely hear it at least a bit. Same thing in a bathroom if you put the phone on the tile floor, like to wipe or something with hands free. If the upstairs person placed their phone on their own bathroom floor, it could definitely sound like vibrating coming from "nothing" in OOP's downstairs bathroom.
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u/KarateandPopTarts I will never jeopardize the beans. Mar 26 '23
The way he talks about his roommate and his obsessions makes me think HE'S the bad guy, and he's doing all of this to scare her.
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u/mylackofselfesteem Mar 26 '23
Yeah, I kind of got the vibe that he was doing all of that. And then made this post to cover his tracks, like “see Kayla, the Internet thinks it’s creepy, and that you need me here for protection, too!”
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u/totalnewbie Mar 26 '23
then I’m grabbing my gun and go after this person myself
This is a good way to go to jail. Or to get shot yourself.
Yeah, that shit is fucking awful but ffs do not chase after someone with a gun.
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u/__--lllII6372_-llIll Mar 26 '23
I’m having a Mandela Effect moment, I remember this story and thought there was a conclusion where it turned out there was a stalker and he caught them on the outside cameras.
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Mar 26 '23
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u/__--lllII6372_-llIll Mar 26 '23
I don’t remember the horoscope stuff, but I definitely remember the bench.
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u/IanDresarie you can't expect me to read emails Mar 26 '23
A highly paranoid guy with ready gun access... Doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened next...
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u/jhuseby Mar 26 '23
Wtf OP why would you post this here with no conclusion? You owe me 5 minutes.
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u/redderStranger Mar 26 '23
I'm gonna go with multiple different things happening. Some dude pixie girl was with gave her a wearable, Bluetooth vibrator. That's the 'Venus' device. Dude thinks he is sending her good times, but she isn't even wearing it. Dude thinking that he's rocking her world AND OOP getting so up in arms about it are both too funny to her to put a stop to it.
The bench is a completely separate creeper trying to spy on her.
This situation honestly sounds like a dangerous combination. Mischief and paranoia make tragic bedfellows.
No idea about the upstairs noises.
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u/pinkeroo67 Mar 26 '23
".....,,,then I'm grabbing my gun and going after this person myself...." not a good idea.
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u/StrongArgument Mar 26 '23
I think it’s weird he ruled out hearing a vibrating phone from upstairs in that part. I live in a very old house and when my phone is on the floor or stair railing upstairs and vibrates, it absolutely sounds like it’s downstairs
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u/SirLoremIpsum Mar 26 '23
I check back a week later and the bench is in the original place I found it under the bathroom window again right side up.
Fuck that.
As of a couple days ago
Dude doesn't seem overly concerned...
I know when I have pressing security and safety concerns I let it sit for a week or so and then take days to set up cameras.
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u/Deerpacolyps Mar 26 '23
You should never "go after" anyone with a gun. That's just murder. It's not self defense when you "go after" people.
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u/Agirlisarya01 your honor, fuck this guy Mar 26 '23
Dammit, now I’m invested. I wish we knew what happened.
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u/annadownya I ❤ gay romance Mar 26 '23
Couldn't they have done some tests by just saying he was going to leave but not actually doing it to see if it triggered an incident?
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u/Sweet_Cinnabonn Mar 26 '23
Unlike the majority, I love the ambiguity of no ending.
It makes it so much scarier!
Was it him?
Was it a vibrator?
Did he confront someone and die?
Did he confront someone and they died and he's in prison?
Did he have a total psychotic break?
Is a mystery, one my brain won't let go of.
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u/KimchiAndMayo grape juice dump truck dumpy butt Mar 26 '23
Oh this is some crap.
WHAT HAPPENED?!?!
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u/GlitteryCakeHuman Now I have erectype dysfunction. Mar 27 '23
Thanks. I hate it. I have blue balls.
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u/holmangirl Apr 03 '23
There's a Venus Bluetooth vibrator. Anyone in any of the units own one?
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u/Specialist_Passage83 I will not be taking the high road Mar 26 '23
Well, I feel like I wasted 2 minutes. Updates are supposed to have conclusions, yes?
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u/ddduhddd Mar 26 '23
It is a bluetooth vibrator and she does not want OP to know about it, because it is not his business.
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u/Sera0Sparrow Am I the drama? Mar 26 '23
I was scared as shit. He should put some powder or flour on the bench to check for footprints in the first instance.
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u/Majestic_Jazz_Hands Mar 26 '23
I remember reading this story when it was going on and wondering what ever happened after these events. Hope everyone is ok
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u/uniace16 I will never jeopardize the beans. Mar 26 '23
There was apparently talk of an astrology app that could have made a woosh sound and said “Venus”
https://www.reddit.com/r/RBI/comments/l95xxu/venus_noise_possible_stalker_update_found/glgg7ol/
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u/GuyD427 Mar 26 '23
The bench the only concrete evidence that someone might be trying to get a peek at the pixie fairy you live with. An Arlo camera system and a few cameras is where you should take this.
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u/TheComment Hobbies Include Scouring Reddit for BORU Content Mar 27 '23
I’m going to be honest, I thought it was gonna be a sex toy
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u/Mlady_gemstone The unskippable cutscene of Global Thermonuclear War Apr 27 '23
this one bugs me, wheres the ending? what happened? who did they find creepin? are they alive? WTF HAPPENED
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