My [26F] Boyfriend [28M] is Obsessed with a Lantern He Found at a Flea Market and It getting weird. How do I approach this?
A 26-year-old woman is puzzled by her boyfriend’s growing obsession with a vintage lantern he found at a flea market. His nightly “watchman” role-playing has gone from amusing to disruptive, and she’s unsure how to address it without dampening his eccentric sense of humor. Dive into her story and share your thoughts below.
‘ My [26F] Boyfriend [28M] is Obsessed with a Lantern He Found at a Flea Market and It getting weird. How do I approach this?’
Hello, So, my boyfriend (28M) and I (26F) recently went to a flea market, and he found this old-style lantern that he absolutely fell in love with. He bought it on the spot, and I thought it was a cute little vintage decoration for our apartment. But now, things have taken a strange turn.
Ever since he got the lantern, he’s become super attached to it. He keeps it by his bedside and even gets up in the middle of the night to walk around the apartment with it, pretending to be an old-timey watchman. He’ll say things like “All is well!” or “The night is dark and full of terrors,” and he really gets into character.
At first, I thought it was kind of funny and endearing as he always had an eccentric style of humour, but now it’s starting to annoy me. He does this almost every night, and it’s disrupting our sleep. I’ve tried talking to him about it, but he just tells me that he takes his watchman duties very seriously and that it’s important for our safety. This issue is, I genuinely cannot tell if he’s joking.
Has anyone else experienced something like this? How do I get him to tone it down without hurting his feelings or making him feel like he can’t enjoy his quirky interests?. Thanks for any advice!
Here’s the input from the Reddit crowd:
sitonachair − Well the simplest answer is usually the correct one. Clearly your boyfriend has been possessed by the night watchman who initially drew him to buy the lantern.
Beatrixie − Not sure why you’re worried… he literally says, “All is well!”
sosotrickster − I’m so glad this post exists. I’m tired of the countless posts with horrid age gaps and stomach turning abuse. Anyway. Your boyfriend has been taken over by the Night Watchman.
pinupcthulhu − Get a bigger, fancier lantern with a brighter light to assert dominance. Make it Weird.
adorabletea − INFO: is he a moth?
Fun-Significance4650 − I have no real advice because if my boyfriend did this we’d be role-playing night watchman and the servant girl or something in medieval times.
Beautiful_Heron4926 − This looks like the beginning of a r/nosleep story lol
fyl_bot − This made me wake my wife up laughing out loud in bed. Now the lantern is f**king u other couple’s sleep. She’s not happy with me. Perhaps it is all powerful. Perhaps the night is dark and full of terrors after all.. I kind of want to get one too.
Poor_Olive_Snook − This is the content I am here for
Vegetable-Move-7950 − Print out a schedule of watchmen hours and tell him he’ll be fired if he doesn’t stick to it. Put it in a Victorian font and paint the paper with black tea and let it dry so it looks authentically old.
Quirks can make a relationship fun, but sometimes they can go too far. How would you handle a partner’s eccentric obsession? Have you ever navigated a similar situation? Share your stories and advice below!