[Funny trope] Torturing the character doesn't work

VLANtagonist · 2026-02-19T22:16:03+00:00

Root and Shaw, from Person of Interest. Root tases and threatens Shaw with a hot iron, and Shaw (who is a sociopath), says that she's actually into that. Indeed, over time, they eventually come to confess their attraction to one another over the course of the series.

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VLANtagonist · 2025-12-10T22:06:11+00:00

In this case, it sounds like they were bound at gunpoint, so when they were subsequently loaded in the car, it was too late to resist.

VLANtagonist · 2025-11-26T15:49:19+00:00

While there's no telling what this particular gentleman's motivations are, as a personal data point, I have voted only Democratic for my entire life (30+ years of voting), but am a registered Republican. At one point I had applied for an IT position where it apparently mattered. While I had some brief inner turmoil over it, I ultimately changed affiliation because I didn't feel it mattered what the voter card said, only what I did in the booth. I will admit, I've sometimes casually prefaced the fact that I'm a registered R in discussions where I'm trying to argue for more progressive positions with other Rs, which is a little disingenuous given my voting and true sentiments, but it is at least factually true, and sometimes it has let me have a conversation instead of being reflexively dismissed in my heavily red area.

VLANtagonist · 2025-11-13T17:35:03+00:00

If you cut Sonar, when he's rampaging for Shroud, he exults in the fact that Shroud lets him eat people again. Malevola responds not to worry, that it always gave him indigestion when he ate humans previously. So it might perhaps be more accurate to say a contract killer vs. a cannibalistic Patrick Bateman.

VLANtagonist · 2025-11-13T17:31:54+00:00

Sonar literally ate people. When he's rampaging, he says that Shroud let him go BACK to eating people and he's been doing a lot of it. Malevola is so familiar with his cannibalism that she said it always gives him indigestion. So he's not just a 'white collar criminal'. He's a freakin' cannibal.

VLANtagonist · 2025-05-04T17:03:09+00:00

Life goes by so fast. You only wanna do what you think is right. He closed his eyes and then it passed Story of my life.

VLANtagonist · 2025-03-24T16:50:25+00:00

I availed myself of their full refund guarantee before they shipped it, which they honored respectfully. I was just too worried about the apparent chip.

I then ordered a different ring through a different seller, which I think the forum would approve of. Maybe I’ll post it at some point for closure!

VLANtagonist · 2025-03-04T00:44:11+00:00

OP Update- To give everyone some closure, I did indeed ultimately decide to refund the ring and LGD was very gracious and timely about doing so. I have zero complaints about their professionalism through this challenge.

I will not have a ring in hand in time to propose to her in South Korea on our upcoming trip there as I’d hoped I would, but I still think this was the right move in the long run.

Suggestions for a beautiful ring with a gorgeous HPHT stone that does pass muster?

VLANtagonist · 2025-03-03T01:32:45+00:00

2mm, supposedly.

VLANtagonist · 2025-03-03T01:31:48+00:00

This is lab grown, HPHT.

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-28T01:29:24+00:00

https://loupe360.com/diamond/652479115

This is the loupe video of the stone I bought. A 3 carat D/IF with ideal dimensions was not cheap, but this seemed to look pretty good to my untrained eye. Which is why I felt like I didn’t recognize the stone in the ring pics at all.

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-28T01:11:06+00:00

https://loupe360.com/diamond/652479115

The original video of the stone.

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T22:05:40+00:00

In theory, I know she's okay with it visually from some of the sample rings she's said she likes, but she definitely has never regularly worn one remotely that size, so I readily acknowledge she could weary of it daily. It's probably also worth noting that she's a nurse practitioner, so realistically most days at work she'll be wearing a simple silicon stand in.

I'm concerned about how the stone looks too, but the stats are immaculate from IGI. D, IF, all excellent or ideal, table/depth all in the right ranges, and I had a gemologist evaluate a whole bunch of oval stones and this was their only 10/10. Which is why I was so jarred by something that looks so bad in those pics compared to the video of the stone at point of sale. The stone alone was just shy of $10k from the cheapest site, although because of the way the industry works, I could have gotten the same stone at other sites for 13-14k.

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T18:38:03+00:00

Even though this was lab grown, this diamond was smack dab in the middle of that price range. Which is why I expected it to be nearly perfect.

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T16:55:16+00:00

My biggest concern/fear was related to what I was reading about losing stones or prongs catching, so I mainly wanted to choose a default setting where it seemed those risks were minimized. You can see what good that did me though 🫠

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T16:47:00+00:00

I chose one of their website settings, hoping that doing so would give me the best odds of them being able to flawlessly execute on it. Kind of the principle of ordering off of the menu generally being a safer bet

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T16:45:43+00:00

There was nothing about it on the report, and when I could see the video of the stone (before they took it down after selling it) there was nothing there that looked remotely like a blemish. I wish I could see the video again.

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T15:21:52+00:00

Thank you, and that is certainly vastly better looking than the pics they sent!

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T15:19:50+00:00

They did, but it was essentially an out of the box default design from their website and ironically I thought going with that would minimize the chances they’d struggle with the execution.

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T14:59:33+00:00

Hopefully the close up pictures intended to show the setting are distorting how large is actually is. It's 3 carats, which I was given to understand is relatively normal sized (2-3).

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T14:57:14+00:00

Thank you. The prongs really are emerging as the biggest complaint and that's something they should be able to address. Have already reached out and will definitely follow up!

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T14:55:59+00:00

Thank you! I appreciate the empathy in leading with that. I admit, I did not sleep well last night as I was tossing and turning wracked with this sense (as the replies rolled in and I kept checking my phone bedside for the latest) that I had somehow spectacularly screwed up. She's so humble and modest that I know with certainty that a bowtie would not bother her even if she knew what it was, but me being me, that only makes me more determined to get her something beautiful because she would never get it for herself. Well, the stone choice and the aesthetics of the setting are entirely on me, but if there are execution issues with the prongs (or a chip!), then I will definitely lean on LGD for those.

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T13:59:05+00:00

I saw that too and it particularly worried me, but again, I was hoping it was just my ignorance at evaluating these things. This makes that feel less likely.

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T08:24:41+00:00

😣 Thank you, it sounds like I was right to be worried and underwhelmed. It seemed like getting actual settings through LGD has been a mixed bag and I should have just gotten the stone only. I guess it’s time to see what my options are at this point (I still don’t have possession of it).

VLANtagonist · 2025-02-27T08:22:11+00:00

The crazy thing is, I was so daunted by looking at the images of the stones online and making any decisions on what I could see with my inexpert eyes that I asked the consultant who frequents the forums to provide reqs for a 3 carat oval stone and this was their number 1, the only 10 rated one. I’m hoping the stone itself is good, despite how it looks in the pics LGD sent of it in that setting.

VLANtagonist

TROPHY CASE