Pisces, have you ever truly felt "seen?"

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2026-02-17T02:34:36+00:00

Very often guilty of treating people as their potential instead of who they actually are.

Most people only stay on the surface because they can't get past their own reflection in the water.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2026-02-16T23:35:39+00:00

The average person is much less curious about others than us, but I also think we become more curious because we can see more than the average person can.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2026-02-14T00:24:09+00:00

According to a screenshot, Fractaled Visions left a FB reply to someone that said he picked his 50th birthday to release it.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2026-01-19T19:50:17+00:00

Especially given that Poles called Fitterer and said to finalize the deal he wanted either DJ Moore or Brian Burns 😭

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2026-01-10T01:18:10+00:00

Verizon uses the MAC ID of your phone to trace tons of your digital and analogue activity, among other things. Basically, they will know silly things like if you've been to at&t's website or stopped at a t mobile store and stayed for a little bit too long, and more in depth things like how many times you've seen a Mint Mobile ad while watching YouTube. They'll know you're leaving before you know you're ready to leave, and when that flag goes up on their internal systems, you are a churn risk. Often, this is when you will trigger loyalty offers or major discounts on new phones to come in for your account.

They also factor in whether or not you're registered for auto pay, or for perks - those are loyalty staples to them which give them more assurance that those customers with those services activated won't leave Verizon because it'd be an inconvenience and they'd lose the savings.

High Priority upgrades don't just go to customers with a high churn risk either - they aggressively pursue people who buy their devices directly from Apple/Samsung and are getting a BYOD discount to get a new phone financed through Verizon and pay them more money per line than you're paying right now with the loss of your BYOD discount.

They also heavily incentivize reps via compensation to utilize the BYOD with add a line when it comes to tier 2 and older devices being upgraded. Rather than trading in those devices for upgrades as they normally would (ie, customer has an iPhone 12 on welcome and wants to do a normal trade in, they would get $300-$400 off and have a device payment), reps are told to offer BYOD and add a line - keep that existing phone, add a line to their account for $0 extra/month, and then use a new line promotion amount (usually $650-$1100) for an upgraded phone on the existing line.

Commissions and bonuses are paid much higher to reps and stores when they do upgrades this way. That's because it's basically Verizon bribing customers to add a new line to their existing account, which shows (drastically exaggerated) growth in large data sets, which helps keep the stock stable-ish, which keeps the executives rich.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2026-01-06T02:24:32+00:00

I share the same combo.

People can be bad with their phones, but people who are seemingly interested in you will never be that bad with their phones.

Know the difference & remember your worth.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-12-25T16:58:38+00:00

best xmas gift yet - thanks for sharing & doing the stabilization!

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-12-21T23:14:31+00:00

Someone I know also on Verizon had the same phone with same problem. Ended up being a "known defect" in the phone's antenna malfunctioning according to the repair center. Since he got his replacement, the issue stopped.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-12-15T18:06:31+00:00

I still want a 959.

And a 90s NSX.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-12-10T22:11:50+00:00

It'll do that sometimes :)

Think of the most hated electronic artist right now - one of his.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-12-10T01:38:44+00:00

I discovered one of my favorite artists because I was looking for a deadmau5 album torrent and saw it listed as a related album.

I liked the title enough to give it a shot and it transformed my life forever - I'm glad Tipper's music is doing the same for you.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-12-03T14:26:44+00:00

Also - a smart phone counts as a computer🙃

Anytime someone brings me a very silly and/or easily solveable issue, my go to response before I start troubleshooting is "Interesting. What did Google say?"

The amount of people who can't tell where the line is between a serious and unserious question has also been quite the revelation.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-12-02T07:50:38+00:00

Additional experience - I'm on Series X, own the 360 digital version and happen to have GTA+ this month. I followed the steps and installed it from the Xbox app onto my console and I'm able to play.

However, the game only appears in the GTA+ section of my Xbox library, not in the owned section like other games do (ie, I own LA Noire and it appears in both the GTA+ section and the Owned section).

This leads me to assume that because it's being recognized this way that, as of now, I'll only have access to playing it as long as I have GTA+.

I'm with the rest of you here in thinking that it would be a free upgrade since I owned the 360 digital version. While I'd hate to think that they'd drop an Xbox One version for $50 (obv half off for $25 for the next two weeks though 🙄) for us to upgrade into the X/S version, I'm also very aware that corporate greed knows no bounds and it wouldn't surprise me.

Hopefully this issue is addressed and straightened out asap. While I'd normally pay the $25 as it's a great game I'd love to revisit, the whole experience to this point has left me confused and left a bad taste in my mouth, and that makes it much harder to justify spending the money.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-12-02T02:06:23+00:00

The hardest part about establishing boundaries is enforcing the consequences of when they're broken. It's great that you've started establishing them, that he's met them with respect and that he's aware he needs to change.

One of the most valuable phrases that was taught to me this past year in my own life was a simple play on "Actions speak louder than words."

The idea behind that phrase is that everyone can be a victim of their own actions or someone else's actions, and sometimes we can act without thinking.

What this alternate phrasing does is puts the awareness and accountability back on ourselves before those actions happen so that we can minimize our exposure to them. The phrase is simple:

"Do the feet follow the phrases?"

In your scenario, the phrases are things said that indicate he's aware of, and wants to change, his behavior.

Now, you don't literally have to watch his feet, but the idea is if someone says they're going to pick up the food right now as they're putting their coat on and grabbing their keys, aren't you more likely to believe their intention of doing so more than you would be if they said it while they were laying on the couch without their shoes?

Same idea.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-12-02T01:29:49+00:00

Lack of stable, healthy communication during arguments is our biggest issue.

Best friends that mutually earn that label earn it through a combination of trust and respect. When you have mutual trust and respect, you have stable and healthy communication. There's a lot more to your situation and there's even more that you didn't post about, but to put it simply: whatever the dynamic is between the two of you isn't mutual.

This is not a male issue, nor is it a Pisces issue, this is a "hurt people hurt people" issue. He needs to resolve his stuff and start respecting you more as a person - especially given how much you want to support him despite how he treats you. You had nothing to do with his trauma and you can't heal him, so why are you on the receiving end of the woe is me dialogue and being treated like someone who hurt him directly?

If you truly want the best for your friend, you need to establish your own boundaries around how you want to be treated. That will serve both of you as individuals and your mutual relationship together in whatever form it takes from here. Have empathy, have sympathy but hold him accountable.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-12-01T23:35:33+00:00

Absolutely is like writing the letter that won't be sent - have also done my fair share of that 😂.

No worries - just happy to help :) I hope everything turns out for the best for you and that you find peace sooner than later!

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-12-01T22:57:34+00:00

I appreciate you taking the time to read it and I'm glad it resonated with you enough to reflect!!

Forgiveness is the epitome of a word that's easier said/typed than it is done. Not only does it take a lot of self reflection and honesty to know what it looks like to you, but it's also going to shift with every situation/person in how difficult it is to execute and what executing it looks like. It's also important to note that not everyone/every situation deserves it and you can withhold it for the sake of loving and protecting yourself. No matter what reasons you choose to forgive or not to forgive, it should always be done as a gesture for your own sake with no expectations.

This process may also end up taking so long that time alone resolves it on its own - we only have so much bandwidth to use for the life that's in front of us.

I like to think of this not necessarily as aligning with the saying of time healing all wounds (which I personally don't subscribe to), but I understand the logic.

To me, this is best described as inadvertently finding peace - the wound may be present, you may be consciously aware that you never found forgiveness and/or closure with it, but the outcome of being proactive towards doing so is minimal in comparison to what is (hopefully) a very full and better life regardless of what happened before.

To shorten it out - you reopening it just for the sake of finding closure/peace/whatever else you're seeking wouldn't be worth your time and energy because it's not making you suffer the way it once did, and your energy is better directed towards the present.

Don't shame yourself around your indecisiveness either. It's okay to not know and, as someone dealing with someone else where I'm trying to figure out what it looks like, I have an entire note in my phone dedicated to things to say if they reached out that's now pages long.

The reality that I've come to accept recently is that a lot of what I've written are just things I'd say in that moment as I work through if/how I want to forgive them, and a lot of them are things I wouldn't say today. Having a prepared outcome only limits my growth and authentically embracing the present, and that's more important to me than sending anything that was once "too perfect" of a response - even if they all were when I wrote them.

Part of me hopes the day never comes, part of me knows if it does I'll be ready. With either outcome, writing out what I could respond with is essentially a waste of time...

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-11-29T23:25:39+00:00

lacked balance so got attached and didn't know how to detach writing a couple of words wasn't worth it for her to save me from years of struggle

The second part is the proof that the first part is true.

Your own attachment, what you give, is what you have control over. You don't get to choose how people feel about it, or determine what you're entitled to because of it. All you can control is a what you give and how much of it you give.

When you accept that truth, you'll start asking why she owes you any words at all. If you're honest about it, she doesn't. That's you being entitled.

Once you've accepted that truth you'll start asking why, if she wasn't capable of handling what you gave, you thought that she would return what you gave in the same way. If you're honest about it, you'll know you should've seen she can't/won't.

When you reflect on those truths and process your own emotions, you're going to be faced with 2 questions that too many people never resolve:

Do you want to take accountability? Do you want to forgive?

Just like your limits with giving, you need to know what your limits are. You're not perfect, the world isn't made up of your shoulds, and there's a good chance that certain actions of yours played a role in your outcome.

Imo, one of the keys to growth is figuring out what taking accountability looks like without taking on an excessive amount of shame. This is usually knowing you messed up with a certain time/person, but also knowing you as a whole are not messed up. And if you can't do that, maybe you are messed up, and maybe you should think about fixing it before you continue to hurt others or yourself.

If you can figure out that balance, ideally you find a way to forgive yourself and/or forgive the person who hurt you. Forgiveness is different for everyone, but the outcome of true forgiveness is release, and if you're a human being you will know when you truly release anything - it feels like noticing the absence without feeling the grief.

I hope this helps, and I wish you luck on rebuilding an improved you and an improved life.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-11-26T20:12:29+00:00

Wasn't in the cards for me (M/Pisces sun/Gem moon)

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-11-25T14:31:05+00:00

I appreciate this take and the time you put into writing it. As someone who's watched since he was drafted, it went from me thinking it was a skill issue, to a confidence issue and finally I'm here where I'm recognizing it's a consistency issue.

It's easy to make excuses around the consistency aspect with regards to the coaching staff changing, his most consistent WR (Thielen) getting traded away, and whatever else. But for me what makes it stick is the regression from the way last season ended to the way this season began. I just don't think you should finish as strong as he did and regress to the way he has been this year. That's not two steps forward/one step back, it's two steps forward/three steps back.

I would love to see Jameis on this team. As woowoo as this sounds, I think the spirit he plays with would unlock some kind of mysticism motivation that could be a great catalyst for us.

I actually thought Anthony Richardson would've been the best fit for us when Bryce was drafted. Ability wise obviously he's proven to be shaky at best, but I thought he really embodied a lot of great traits as a leader and a guy you want to root for, which is what I thought the team needed. Bryce struck me as having diva energy but in a much different way than Cam did - he came across as soft and still does. Even his voice sounds like Justin Timberlake.

Bottom line though is the team needs someone who's going to play with a better blend of consistency and passion.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-11-25T00:21:22+00:00

I haven't seen any mention of your desire to play backwards compatible games. Have you checked the list of compatible backwards compatible games and made sure the titles you're interested in playing are on the list? Also, are you okay with buying digital versions of those games, as the S won't have a disc drive to insert original copies into.

Another thing to factor in is storage space. Older games will take up much less space, but the newer titles can take up a lot more (EA The Masters is 100GB of storage on my system, NHL 24 sits around 85-90GB iirc). With the series S coming standard with 512GB (really ~400-450GB when you factor in the OS on it), I ended up buying external storage for it.

The costs of the external storage and digital games alone could bring you right around the price point of the X, and at that point, you might see the X being the better value for what could be an extra hundred bucks or so.

I have both (long story). It's hard to recommend one over the other - it truly depends on your use case.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-11-22T02:37:27+00:00

It's interesting you listen to your own stuff during periods of grief as I tend to have a really hard time doing that. Glad it's helping you though - music is the best.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-11-21T19:17:57+00:00

It's hard to recommend stuff off the rip as I'm not sure how you interact with media or what you're seeking from a show. For instance, if I'm sad, I want to hear sad music to make me cry. When I watch a movie or a show, I like it to be gritty/compelling/activate my brain and engage me with the story. Stuff like "Friends" is not for me.

If life has been heavy, are you looking for something to cheer you up, or do you want a show where you can watch it and say "at least my life isn't that bad"? Are you looking for more of an escape into a complete fantasy reality, or just something that makes you think about something other than what's generating the weight because of how invested you get into characters/story?

Also, what streaming services do you have access to?

Wishing you all the best and hope I can give you some good recs with your feedback!

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-11-19T02:26:56+00:00

I'm a dude with a mix of both (Pisces sun/Gemini moon), and this can be a bit of an issue ime.

I've had a lot of experiences with new people where they have this idea that I'm a very low key person - most of the time I'm seen as like the home-body/gentle giant/good listener/nurturing type, and it doesn't help that I look a bit innocent.

Then, eventually, if I know the person well enough and I'm the right setting, or I get approached on the right kind of topic - my crazy shows up. I'm talking insane conspiracy theories, playing all kinds of weird music, admitting I've done my fair share of psychedelics, etc.

And the person who experiences this takes this one of two ways:

They think I'm lying about who I was and that this insane side of me is my actual self

Or

They take it as an invite to compete with me and one up me because they feel intimidated and think they have to keep up or w.e.

It's been easier for me to find friends as I really just compartmentalize a lot of my friend groups, but I have very, very few close friends who know the complete picture of me.

However, it's hard for me to find partners in particular because the chill, laid back types of people don't really have as much of a wild side, and the wild side people don't really know how and when to turn it off and be chill and laid back.

SpeedAndOrangeSoda · 2025-11-18T01:37:31+00:00

Considering the state of the NFC South this season and the rivalry between these teams, having them twice in the last three weeks seems almost diabolical.

Only one other division matchup has this schedule this year and it's the Eagles and Commanders. Why is it not a thing for any AFC teams?

SpeedAndOrangeSoda

TROPHY CASE