this is my best friend, we are both in our early to mid twenties. he only drinks beer snd his drinking doesn’t seem to cause real problems in his life other than not feeling well the day after (sometimes drinking of weeknights so he is slightly hungover at work) and he has expressed often enough that it takes a few days for him to full feel recovered.
sometimes he only drinks a few beers in an evening, sometimes he get drunks (not sure how many it takes for him to get drunk, it has fluctuated over the years. sometimes just a few and sometimes upwards of 10), but comments more often than not that he either wished he didn’t drink so much (or not at all) the evening prior, and that he is going to slow down on the drinking for a bit. there have been times where he says this multiple times a week, but the next day or a few days later disregards what he had said and goes out for drinks again.
ex: he will say he isn’t going to drink on a work trip and then drinks quite a bit when he has work the next day.
ex: says he isn’t going to drink the rest of the week or on the weekend and then does drink.
ex: drinks more then he expected to.
ex: says drinking causes him to feel bad the following days but doesn’t stop the pattern of drinking despite this.
ex: drinks by himself very often. goes to bars by himself very often (granted he is trying to get out more instead of being in the house bored so i understand that).
ex: doesn’t really engage in hobbies, he smokes weed every and drinks probably 5 out of 7 days a week.
again i don’t think it causes that many issues in his life but i do find it concerning they he gets so defensive about it any time i have brought up the pattern i notice and he disagrees with me about it. mind you it’s not he saying he has a problem or attacking him, just pointing out that he just said yesterday he wasn’t going to drink and now he is drinking again and that i notice this happening often.
he is my best friend and ex boyfriend who i am trying to work things out with and this isn’t a deal breaker nor had anything to do with us breaking up, just mentioning this cus his health and well-being might matter to me more than it would to a regular friend in case you are wondering why i am butting into his business at all. but i can’t lie that it does worry me he doesn’t see how he keeps going against his own word and has been for years. i don’t believe he knows what to do with his time without drinking or smoking weed.
is there anything i can say to him or a way to get through to him just to be mindful of these things? i personally don’t feel like drinking most days is a necessary or healthy thing but he is his own person. should i leave this be? is it concerning at all? is it fair for a potential partner to be a bit concerned? a lot of his life revolves around drinking beer and smoking weed, i’ve been through those phases myself but have since quit because i saw that it was a crutch for me.
sorry this was long, any thoughts on this are appreciated!

I have a table where I put in, who of my team buys wich items and who uses them. For example Person A has the Photoshop subscription, but Person A, B and C benefit from it. I also made a Pivot-Table where I can see, how much Person A spent for each person. Now lets say PS costs Person A 300€. I am looking for a way to make sheets count an equal amount of money for everyone who benefits from this expense (so the table should say that person A spent 100€ for themselfes, person B and C respectively, not 300€ just on Peron B or C or himself, but also not 300€ each).
A bit more info about the table I have set up: It is structured as follows: The columns are: - Buyer - Price - User In the user column I write the name of everyone who benefits from the expense, all together in one cell, separated by a space (e.g. PersonA PersonC). The price that each user has to pay I calculate by counting the words in the "user" column and dividing the Price by that number. However my pivot table does not add the "new price" to each of the users, but rather sees "PersonA PersonC" as a new user. That is my main problem.
I hope I could make myself clear and thank everyone who suggests a solution in advance.
Also pls let me know if a Pivot table is the best way to organise these kind of things, but keep in mind however that there are several other parameters (e.g. date, product, kind of expense (personal; for the team etc.) that I havent listed in the example above to keep it simple.

I am not a manga reader, but ever since season 5 ended (which was a real letdown considering how great season 4 was imo) I really wanted this season to be great and the hype that the manga readers were giving, really made me want to watch it the moment it came out. I really love this season so far, but I can’t say its perfect. I have to admit that I still have some issues with some moments and how the anime handled some episodes, the overall vigilante arc and the hole vibe of the backgrounds and animations.
Now, as I said in the title, I am not here to talk about the season as a hole, but in fact to talk about this latest episode.
I believe we need to give props to the Uraraka’s voice actress Ayane Sakura (japanese version). During the speech you can really feel the desperation and overall dispair in her voice. The little detail of the squeaks Ochaco gives while she desperately tries to catch her breath, trying to talk without breaking down were simply heartbreaking to me. The hole conversation she was having with the crowd in a desperate attempt to make them understand that they are “throwing rocks” at a literal teen, that is quite literally willingly sacrificing himself if it means things will go back to normal, were simply painful to watch. Its a heartbreaking moment, to watch Izuku’s mom bawling her eyes out, looking at the deadpan face of a kid she can’t recognise has her smiling son, because the little boy she is seeing in front of her has lost his smile, his hope and is completely exhausted. And finally when Deku shows his first tear and starts to break down falling on his knees is the moment he finally fully realises that someone understands his burden and that he isn’t alone. Sure Bakugo showed him that he was sorry and that he knew what Deku was going through, but this specific moment was ,somehow, different. The scene where Katchan apologised, in my eyes, was a moment that we all were waiting for, where both characters finally have a calm and honest conversation and we Finally hear Katchan say “Izuku” rather than the usual “Deku”, but this speech was something, we were not waiting for and didn’t know we needed. This was a moment that truly showed how cruel the public can be, and how bipolar and extreme it easily becomes. This scene showed how broken this society is, and how people were yelling without even looking at Midoriya’s condition. The finishing touches of Kota and the other civilian running towards Deku, trying to comfort and protect him, in an attempt to repay Deku for saving them in the past and Eri watching the cruelty of the crowd towards her favourite hero were amazing. Everything in this scene was practically perfect, and touched me deep in my soul. I almost cried watching how they animated Kota’s red shoes. This last scene was an absolutely beautiful way to show how much Deku touched the lives of the people he saved.
This speech was the little step, that had to be taken, in order to regain the peace and balance of the public eye. The animators did an amazing job in showing the crowd in Midoriya’s eyes, as if they were cruel vultures looking at their tired prey. As I said before this season has its issues, but this was one of the best moments, that I really wanted to show some appreciation. So far I was just a little disappointed with minor things like how small the vigilante arc was, how sometimes the background does not resonate with the moment (having a beautiful clear sky in a depressing and obscure moment doesn’t really fit for me) or how small the, a bit overhyped, fight between Deku and class 1A was. But I have to say this season is giving me a lot of incredible moments, like the Katchan redemption scene, the fight between Deku and Muscular (that for me was an amazing fight, which is often overlooked, this fight showed the growth Midoriya had, and how he beat the guy ,that in the past nearly killed him, in a matter of seconds. In addition This guy was not playing around this time, he was blinded by rage and vengeance, which meant he was ready for an even bigger fight than before), the fight between the heros and the villains (that showed how cruel these fights can be, and how many casualties there were. The simple moment where Aizawa cuts his leg is shocking, but really showed the life of a hero), the moment we have the Todoroki family secret reveal was Incredible (Shoto being my favourite character made me love this scene even more, considering its one of the first time we actually see him yelling the word “Dad” towards Endevaur as if he was a scared little kid yelling for help), the fight between Twice and Hawks and finally the awakening of Vigilante Deku were just Amazing to me.
Thank you for reading till the end :) and I am sorry if this post was a bit long. I also have to apologise for my English, since its not my main language 😅 I would love to hear other people’s opinions, and if they agree or not, but Please don’t spoil anything that had not happened in the anime as I am really trying to avoid spoilers :p

I (25f) witnessed my boyfriend (25m) sobbing for the first time yesterday. We got into an argument because he hasn’t been in the mood lately and he was very passive aggressive to me first thing in the morning. He got up to use the bathroom and came back to bed and said “how am I supposed to lay down when your legs are taking up the whole bed?” I told him that he could’ve simply just told me to move over and that I didn’t even notice that I was taking up the bed. I tried to cuddle him and he snapped at me with a “what do you want” and that hurt me a bit So I gave him the same energy back and ignored him until he decided to touch me too and I said the same thing back to him.
I guess this may have made things worse because he walked out the room into the living room and I went up to him 5 mins later to tell him to not be passive aggressive to me first thing in the morning. He blew up and said that everyone else was allowed to be that way to him but when he does it everyone attacks him. I started to argue with him that he could’ve simply just asked me directly what it was he wanted and not have been rude, he continues to bring up examples from the past that we’ve already resolved before of when i was rude to him as an excuse to why he’s allowed to be passive aggressive with me. He was yelling to the point where he was crying while he was yelling. Me, stunned at his reaction, went to go shower and give myself space and time to think about what just happened. I realized why he’s been acting like that, I’ve never seen him react this way before and it honestly broke my heart the more I thought about it. I realized that he’s been holding back a lot of his emotions for a long time and he was reaching his limit, the little inconveniences were making his snap.
After I got out the shower and I got dressed, I went up to him only to see him sobbing and he told me how he’s been feeling like he can’t express himself without others shutting him down. I apologized for how I reacted and I asked him if he would like me to sit with him and hug him. He said yes. While I sat with him he cried harder than I’ve ever seen him cry. it broke my heart so much. I could sense his pent up pain masked as anger turn into tears.
He apologized to me for why he snapped and for how he reacted and I honestly didn’t care for his apology. I didn’t want him to apologize because I know he isn’t mean it. I just know he needed me to let him express how he felt so I did. I suffer from bipolar and it’s something I’ve been working on healing for the past two years and I’ve come along way with handling my emotions and managing them as well as my reactions towards certain things. When I saw him blow up like that, I saw myself in him and I knew right away how he felt. Personally when I feel that way I just need the person that I love to be close to me and console me so that’s what I did for him.
I wanted to just share this because I realized how much putting our ego to the side and allowing ourselves to be empathetic to others specially our loved ones can help us understand each other better and form deeper connections. I love him too much to have that silly little argument affect my ego. I would rather allow him to express himself and me be that safe space for him to express himself without feeling like he will be ridiculed or attacked for having emotions.
This made me realize how much I’m growing and maturing and how much he is too. It also made me realize this is what a healthy relationship is like.

State of Instagram Reels In 2023

We kicked off 2023 with some serious announcements from Instagram’s CEO confessing that Instagram pushed more reels than photos. And they will settle things back to normal meaning pushing every single piece of content at the same rate.
After that Meta’s Earning Report 2022 came out, In the statement regarding Instagram. Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that to make people create & watch reels they tried to give new format a boost until 2022. Now, reels can grow on their own.
And that brings us to current state of reels, which is reels aren’t as organic as 2021. But the time spent by Instagram users is increasing, now more than 20% users spend their half of the time on reels tab.
That’s why IG reels needs to be part of your overall Instagram strategy.

State of Tiktok 2023

Changes to Tiktok algorithm are bigger than Instagram reels. Increasing the arguments regarding Tiktok Vs Instagram strategy, here’s what you need to know regarding these changes.
First Tiktok recently announced a new monetisation feature called “Tiktok Series”.
Tiktok believes in quality content & they have mentioned these priorities over and over again. This time with “Tiktok Series” the platform wants creators to create long-form content to make Tiktok users more engaged within the platform.
The creators can charge upto $190 for content series. Your Tiktok series can have upto 80 videos with length of upto 20 minutes.
This new era of paywalled content on Tiktok will bring more engagement & money to creators.
Second TikTok’s Creativity Program aka “Creative Fund 2.0”
The platform introduced a new creator fund called “Tiktok creativity Program” and creators can apply for monetisation of video content. But this time there is a change to help deserving creators make more money.
In creativity program, creators apply for monetisation for a specific Tiktok video and the video has to be over 1 minue length or minimum. Plus, Tiktok will review Originality & creativity of video to consider monetisation.
Final Take, What these changes tell us?
These changes tell us that Tiktok wants original & long-form content to exist on platform. Tiktok was know for trending sounds in 2019-2021 and it still represents that part of social media. But now the platform seeks originality & wants to be a content hub like Youtube.

Understanding Instagram Strategy

I’ve advised 1000s of marketers, SMBs & creators that only reason Instagram never dies is because it’s the most personal platform & middle child in the family of Social Media Platforms.
The audiences on Instagram want to see memories, highlights & content from their friends, families & connections. And they discover new creators & businesses based on what Instagram knows about them. And Instagram gets the knowledge from who they follow, what they or the people they follow like. It’s all interconnected.
And that’s different from Tiktok. On Instagram while creating reels, you have to remember to make sure you focus on creating content more valuable for your existing followers.
When you create valuable content for them. You will get better engagement from them and as Instagram’s audience is interconnected & the platform knows the interests through the audience. You will go viral & get more engagement.
Meaning key to a great Instagram reels strategy is focusing on fulfilling your current audience with value to get more engagement from non-followers. To do that, you need to be more focused on understanding your followers how they react to different posts. After that you need to find what other creators & businesses are doing to find what works.
Both of these will help you in creating content within your expertise, without any pressure to jump on trends. Why? As you now understand what strategies & tactics work for your audience better than those Instagram fast growth gurus.

Decoding Tiktok Strategy

Above I mentioned Tiktok is different with context about how Instagram’s audience is interconnected & existing followers make a huge impact on virality.
Tiktok is opposite, People use it to discover new solutions, trends, Ideas & businesses. They aren’t interconnected with most of their friends. Unless Tiktok asks you to connect contacts & 70% people usually don’t follow their friends after connecting their contact lists.
Tiktok users are on Platform for new content discovery. You see content based on what you like, the personal connections doesn’t matter as much as they did on IG.That’s why brands on Tiktok try to create content that targets a broad share of platform. Because people are hear to build new interests, and discover new businesses.
First, Brands try to create content that appeals to 90% of people interested in X topic to go viral or gain exposure.
For example, @Bose on Tiktok create funny reels about their new products to reach most of the audience.
Second, They create educational & focused content to keep the existing followers engaging + connected with their brands.
To explain Take @schick on Tiktok creating story-focused content to make sure the connection between newly gained audience starts building.
Third, Brands try to stay relevant by discussing points that audience mentions in comments. To make people believe they are listening to everyone.
For Example, McDonald’s Tiktok manager replied to a follower who said nobody will read this. This act shows a lot & the screenshot of this comment gathered 13k likes on Twitter.
Showing how engaging in comments can also impact your audience + you can end up gaining more attention on Twitter or reddit.
Packing all this up, Tiktok strategy For Brands & Creators is a mix of broad content to target new followers & insightful content to keep the followers engaged. And engaging is similar to Instagram, It’s important on both platforms.

Instagram Images Vs Tiktok Carousels

In the state of Instagram reels, I mentioned that IG is back to prioritising every single format equally. What does that mean? It means that Instagram Imagery content is here to stay & it is gaining organic reach.
Comparing it to Rival Platform, now we have carousels on Tiktok. And this feature is highly organic when we compare it to Instagram carousels.
Tiktok carousels are an amazing way to post imagery content on platform and you can share more than 10 slides with ability to add sounds. On other hand, You can now add sound to Single images on Instagram but regarding carousels you can only have upto 10 slides with no sound adding feature.
Instagram carousels seem to take a loss here in terms of organic reach & Format freedom. But this format is one of my favourite to build an engaging audience as your audience tend to spend more time consuming your content.

After 13 years of marriage and 15 years together, I no longer love my wife. bear with me before you judge me for the statement and my thoughts of future.
My wife, mother of my children had slowly but systematically messed up our finances many many times. I have made posts complaining of such in the past. But here we are again with the deceit and lies. 2 incidents ago I made her a promise that if she lies about finances and incurs massive debt I will be filing for divorce. But that was obviously a lie because it happened again and again
She doesn't drive @ 35+ has not made real efforts in the last 2 years to get it. She has gained over 150lbs in 10 years. Has made little to no desire to improve her career and only after my insistence has gotten her current job of 20/hr despite easily being able to make more than me, as she is smarter and more charismatic.
Absolutely does the bare minimum around the house took 3 months off last year to "regroup" and "better herself" while I slave away with 2 jobs. She did nothing in this "sabbatical" other than watch shows.
Clearly she is depressed and we have her speaking with a therapist, on medication for years. I genuinely try not to give her too much shit since I too was depressed for over 5 years until medicine helped a bit. But almost everything about the kids falls on me, between travel, cost, picking up from school and taking them to activities. every grocery trip, every doctors appointment, every snack or meal out of the home. I have to be the transporter.
All of that is frustrating but what is absolutely unacceptable is the times I have begged, cried, and pleaded to not fuck with our finances. Please inform me immediately if a fuckup is happening so it doesnt snowball into massive debt. This is the 5th time where I discover, >10,000 in hidden credit card debt.
We bust our ass non-stop to provide and it takes time away from the kids. To come around and dig us into holes.
I wish she was a different person, I wish she was the woman I married, I wish she didn't lie about debt, I wish it hurt her as much as it hurts me. I wish I was better or stronger. I wish we could grow old together. She is literally my best friend but lately I cant even talk to her without feeling anger. We haven't had sex in over a year maybe 2 not sure anymore.
Once the kids are in college. I am thinking about selling our current home. Splitting w.e. assets are left and moving to an isolated farm somewhere. I hate repeating cycles of our progenitors but she has made her bed.
Inevitably people will ask ok WHAT are YOU doing?
I have pushed ahead in my career and finances to be able to buy us a home
currently 2 jobs to be able to pay off her old debts and save
work around the house every single day to improve our home or fix things that are broken
clean the home as well
Cook half the time
sole kid entertainer too since she doesn't really do anything with them

I’ve always known that my thought process was a little different from others. I realized that I’m 3rd grade when taking a test the last question was “Draw an 8 sided shape” so I spent 15 minutes making the coolest 8 sided shape I could imagine and when I turned it in I peaked at the other tests to see what shapes everyone came up with and I was horrified when I realized everyone drew an octagon. I even got called over by my teacher and I was yelled at for creating a none existent shape and “this is what you spent all that time on?!” I was so embarrassed and I realized that day that the way I think is a bit out of the box. However I blamed my anxiety disorder. I’ve had it since I was 5 and I didn’t get medicated for it until I was 16 and I always thought that my mental illness was the reason I thought differently. However a few weeks ago my fiancé told me he thinks I might be autistic. He has a younger brother with autism and he said he sees similar traits in me, such as having to isolate myself if I get overwhelmed, how I get confused and upset if I’m talking about history and how much I love it and someone changes the subject or having an anxiety attack if my routine is changed suddenly. Last week he was cooking dinner and gave me a piece of cooked meat from the pan. I got confused because he didn’t say anything about what he wanted me to do with it so I just dropped it on the floor for our dog. He laughed and told me I was supposed to eat it but I told him he didn’t say anything when he gave it to me so I was confused. After dinner he asked me to take something called Raads. Because it’s an online test, I’m not sure how accurate it actually is or if I really trust it but I got a score of 157, which I thought was good, until my fiancé told me the lower the score the less likely you have autism and he took the test and got a 38. I waited a few days and took the test again, even changing some of my answers to sound more normal and I still got 157. I discussed this with my friends and I was shocked when they said they wouldn’t be surprised if I was autistic because of some of my behaviors and habits. My fiancé suggested that I should maybe discuss this with my doctor or my therapist but I don’t know if I see the point. Even if it does so happen I am autistic, I don’t think that there’s anything that would come of it. I could be wrong but I don’t think autism is a mental illness or something you can treat, it’s just someone who processes the world differently than most. I read somewhere that autism can come with anxiety and depression, but I’m already being treated for that. Is their a point in going to a doctor to find out the truth, or do I just ignore it and keep going the way I was. I’m not really sure what I should do.

Preface/TLDR: My arguments below aren't based wholly in some nebulous belief in human goodness.
I accept the shitty realities of human civilisation, even as someone who does try to see the bright side of life.
However, those are by and large evils caused by malicious negligence in some cases, and scrupulous selfish opportunism in other.
Neither of which would be present in a 'kill the normies' plan.
Rich people do not see themselves as a collective in-group, and they are not want to sink God knows how much of their hard earned resources into making an army of Death bots when their collaborators could rat on them at any time and initiate a corporate takeover or monopoly thanks to their no longer existent competition. Or just to satisfy petty personal vendetta even. Or get good pr.
Rich people are not known for being cooperative team players.
The 'cull the poores' scenario isn't plausible for solely moral reasons. It is just impossible on a technical and logistical level.
To elaborate...
I'm not denying rich are shitty, and I won't deny some places have it bad, or that some rich people WOULD kill the poor if they could.
I just deny the sheer ludicrous scale of what would be needed to formulate, prepare, and execute a 'kill the normies' plan.
It assumes that...

1. Rich people possess the capability to unite, coordinate, and execute this plan simaltaneously

This first hurdle is what really makes it impossible since, even assuming the other points I'll mention are met, the rich would need to operate a collected unified front with perfect synchronicity and no opportunism backstabbing or short sightedness for the plan to work.
If it isn't synchronized, it gives the human race a chance to see the knife being drawn and do something before the rich try to thrust it into us.
If there's backstabbing, namely infighting, it'd Drain their resources AND give us that moment of realization in one. Assuming the plan isn't just killed in its infancy or that they don't mutual kill each other in some sort of wealthy civil war.
If there's incompetence on their end, say they get sloppy and the CIA finds out about the rich illuminati planning on killing us all. Or they recruit Elon Musk and he decides to betray them all so he can stoke his ego by being remembered in history as the man who saved humanity, or they fuck up and their killer robots/AGI become free before the butchery can begin, then they'll just be fucked.
And that'll be it. The moment we find out they tried and failed to kill us all enough people will be pissed off and willing to throw hands that they won't get another shot.

1. All rich people, without exception, are willing and eager to murder all non rich people.

Rich people are disproportionately evil. They are not universally evil.
This is a statistical reality.
Even if there's only 1% out of them all who have working moral compasses and would not be down for the mass genocide, when we're talking about what would need to be a global conspiracy, that's more than enough for one of them to be recruited into the conspiracy, or otherwise learn of it through other means, and utilize their resources and political power to counteract it.
Even if only, as I pointed out with my Elon Musk example, to assert themselves as the neo messiah/s who saved humanity from the other, evil rich people.

1. Rich people would require the logistics to enact this mass culling.

Hundreds of millions of murder bots don't just pop out of thin air. Unless the rich are using nanotechnology or bioweapons to do the culling, they'd need whole factories producing advanced robots, weapons, munitions, supply chains, ecetera. All of which would be glaringly obvious unless they had some bonkers tech to just completely wipe all evidence of this buildup from the face of the earth. And at that point they might as well use that same tech to just increase their power in the current system and steal from the other rich to become that much richer that much quicker.
Billions of people equals trillions of bullets, trillions of microchips, metrics fucktons of steel and plastic and circuitry and God knows what else. It requires hundreds of factories and dozens of shipping route configurations to transfer materials between them all
And this is all without getting into where the fuck they're storing these murder robots/drones to begin with. You can't exactly hide a fighting force big enough to literally end 90% of the human race in a couple of warehouses. You'd need a whole city's worth of storage at the absolute bare minimum. Assuming they sprang for exclusively compact drones and not the outright terminators lots of people seem to be imagining.

1. Governments would need to do nothing.

I'm not even arguing 'governments will protect the people!' I'm arguing 'If this can be done, the American government and military industrial complex will just do it first.'
Because I can actually buy the American government, for example, hashing out the logistics, the coordination, and enacting the plan with the motive of imperialism and enforcing an authoritarian peace/rule over the planet.
At the least, if the tech existed to just churn out robot armies, en-mass, first world nations would be building up artificial fighting forces with that tech to levels comparable to the rich's secret army of Doom. Armies that would definitely be used to achieve zero casualty precision military campaigns in foreign lands. In regions that had been previously unconquearble due to the death toll, morale tax, and corruption issues in previous attempts at subjugation.
If nothing else, this would be a litmus test and a big red flag to anyone with half a brain and ability to discern the consequences of it.
Especially if it came out that rich people were churning these killer robots out en mass for 'reasons'.
And all this is without asking what happens when some poorer governments who weren't let in on the plan and subverted by the rich (under the logic of 'fuck em, they're poor, who gives a shit') turn out to have secretly squirrels away a few nukes. With which they could enact a forced peace under M.A.D or ruin the days of the perpetrators who caused this shitstorm as a final middle finger.

1. Rich people would actually need to be motivated to do all of this.

Rich people in this scenario are essentially the illuminati, with full control over all governments, the ability to magic up a world ending army out of thin air, and all done in complete cooperation with each other with a single Game of Thrones backstabbing waiting in the rafters.
At that point...why do they need to kill the poor...
Like, what do the actually gain from it?
More land?
More resources?
They can get infinite of both. And could kick anyone they wanted dout of their land at a moment's notice.
To get more money? To rid themselves of the proles?
There are easier ways to do the former now that they basically own the planet from the shadows with their secret army of Doom, and if they kill all the poors then they aren't rich anymore. Their lives literally wouldn't change other than them being on the same level as each other, which when considering all the egomaniacs amongst them...would not end well...
This whole scheme would be more trouble than it'd be worth. Yes, most rich entities are shitty and commit crimes. But, if you'll notice, they haven't exactly been taking over any countries single-handedly as of late. Or trying to overthrow their own nations. Because it's more headache than it's worth. Why risk everything for a plan that wouldn't really personally enrich you all that much.
Cause remember: they all have to share their 'winnings'amongst themselves after rthe normies are dead. And if there's one thing thing the rich hate. It's sharing.

1. They need to be perfectly fair and generous and cordial to each other once all is said and done.

So, 1% of humanity is left alive. All of them rich and whoever else those rich might want to keep around.
They now have to 'divvy the spoils'.
In what world does this not end with them turning on each other at the end so they can 'win more?
They've already illustrated an insanity beyond anything previously demonstrated din the history of the human race. The butchery of the whole species just so they can be the kings of skull mountain.
Except they aren't the kings yet. Oh no, there's still thousands of lesser rich people trying to hog that land and money.
And so, with no more external enemies left to unite them, they'd do what humans have done time and time again in comparable historical situations: turn on one another.
At which point they're liable to just end up wiping each othe Rout.
So even in a scenario where, by some absolute ridiculous miracle they 'win', they've still not won just yet.
And if they've not killed off all the poors. If a few thousand survived through the 8000 separate one-in-a-million chances that occurred throughout the cull of 8 billion, and if the rich deplete themselves enough over their mutual fights with one another, thinking themselves fre eof any other potential threat, then the proles might yet get their win.
So even in the perfect, impossible scenario where they win. The proves have an equal, if not more enjoyable win condition for the aftermath of the global cull.
In conclusion: I don't say this scenario is dumb because I'm a hopeful optimistic who has unwavering faith in human goodness (though I won't deny it either)
It's just not a plausible scenario that's feasible outside of a dystopian sci-fi novel.
If you like theory crafting it, or you enjoy thinking up ways it could happen and debating over them, then you do you.
Just be honest about the fantasy that is this scenario.
It's not going to happen.
And if you really thought it was going to, then you'd be a fool for seeing it coming not actively working on an escape plan so you can be one of the one-in-a-million lucky survivor's who'd slip through the cracks.
That's basically everything I've to say on this.
I await the inevitable responses on how I'm dumb and wrong and I gladly anticipate the voices of those who concur or otherwise have something new to add to the discussion.
(This post is not a personal attack on anyone, just the bad take. It is not meant to insult or denigrate any parties.)

I’m looking online at the average amount of debt for graduates from CLS (and similar schools), is in the 150/160k range. If the COA is 300k, how do graduates pay for the other half before graduation? CLS’s median financial aid is 15k in grants, but where does the other money come from? Do people really have 150k in savings before law school? I am confused.

I wanted to formula feed because I am bipolar and want to get back on my meds ASAP. The cut off for WIC is 42,606 for a family of 3 in my state, and my husband makes just over 43k. Formula is expensive. It looks like I might be forced to breast feed so our baby doesn’t go hungry.
But that’s not all. It will cost 189$ PER WEEK to add me to my husband’s health insurance. My husband’s annual income is $5,000 over the cut off. We are starting our new life as parents with a mountain of medical debt, already unable to afford even the monthly premium.
We have rent, student loans, a car payment… I already canceled our subscriptions, we use straight talk on old hand me down iPhones. There is no where else we can cut. I have a job but it doesn’t pay much, not enough to justify paying for infant childcare. How the actual f**k are we going to get by???
Is anyone in the same financial boat?? How are we possibly going to make it? Does anyone have any advice or know of any resources?

How much, in total, the first payment of the 4 day pass regular payment plan would be? I know everyone says buy it for cheap close to the fest but I don't want to cut it close and I wanna get my ticket asap so ill pay the interest. I'm trying to budget for tomorrow onward. Much appreciated. Thnx

•1•
Aniyah paused by a tree that was bigger than all the rest. It was obviously very old. The leaves of its branches were a pretty teal color and were shaped like the diamonds in a deck of playing cars. She couldn't say exactly why, but this tree gave her a slight sense of comfort. In these woods--especially with the black curtain hanging over the sky--comfort was a rare commodity. She found comfort in this tree, oddly enough, and also in her new weapon. Windchine; Blade of the Paragon. She supposed she was the Paragon of the Weaver now. Whatever that meant. She knew the words, because they kept echoing throughout her thoughts, but she had only a faint idea of their meaning. She wasn't totally clueless. She'd picked up on the fact that the Weaver was a God, or something close to it. She'd intuited that Paragon was some kind of title, bestowed by the Weaver. It meant she was sort of like a knight. Beyond these things however, she didn't have much to go on. She'd always just known things she had no way of knowing. Sometimes, she knew things she had no business knowing, as Momma would have said. She wasn't psychic. Far from it. She just got gut feelings about things, that usually turned out to be right. Like the ones underneath. She'd picked up on all of that, without any real reason to pick up on it.
She was picking up on something now. Something involving the others back at the clearing.
But she was still piecing all of that together. She didn't have enough to go on yet, to have any complete, fully formed thought.
That wouldn't come until a bit later...
What came in that moment, was the subtle soothing nature of the very old tree before her. Comfort really was a rare commodity here, but aside from the tree and the scimitar, there was one more source of comfort for her, currently. The weird little jellyfish thing. It was bobbing along in the air a few feet from the tree. It hadn't left her side since bringing her the weapon. Like the tree--like Windchime--it granted her a small degree of comfort. She didn't know where the jellyfish had got the weapon, but she had an idea that even the jellyfish didn't know where it had come from. Maybe the old man had something to do with it. The one who kept the Keys. The Custodian.
She bitterly wished she'd thought to grab Mr. Brownie when she took off running from the skinless man.
The skinless man...
Now there was something she hadn't got any gut feelings about. Except for fear, that was. She knew to be fearful of the man, but that was all. She'd dealt with monsters her whole life. They'd shown up out the blue, or she'd shown up to them. Like in that Long Room. Something about the skinless man was different though. Something about him wasn't like the other monsters. He wasn't one of her monsters, she knew that much at least. She could also tell he didn't have anything to do with the ones underneath, or the grasshopper people. He wasn't connected to The Jailer.
The only intuitive feeling Aniyah had concerning the skinless man, was that he was connected to something a whole lot worse. What that something might have a been however, she had no clue.
Aniyah didn't have a sheath, or swordbelt. The scimitar hadn't come with a scabbard. As a result, she was forced to hold the weapon in her hand, since she had nowhere to stow it. The blade was as long as her arm, and curved--almost like a banana--but was only sharp on one side. This allowed her to rest the blunt edge in the crook of her shoulder, carrying it the way she'd seen lumberjacks sometimes carry their axes in old movies; with her elbow bent, and the blade sticking out behind her as if it were a compass needle that only pointed in the opposite direction from where she was facing.
With Windchine in this position, she leaned sideways against the old tree--feeling its rough bark against her skin. A soft breeze gently blew against her face, bringing with it the scents of nature. The blackness of the sky didn't seem to match the pleasantness of the wind or the earthy smells of the woods around her. Nor did the stillness. There were a few insects buzzing someplace nearby, but mostly it was quiet. It was almost tranquil, in fact. She knew that somewhere in these same woods, chaos was happening. Hell on Earth (or, Hell on In-Between, she supposed). But all of that seemed so distant. So removed from her in that moment, in this private patch of wilderness.
Part of her wanted to go charging off toward the battle, so she could save Eddie the Gnome, and Prioress Qaya, and the others. Yet, at the same time, another part of her wanted to just lie down right here and take a nice long nap. Another part still--a deeper part--briefly broached the topic of Amy. She shattered this thought into a million little pieces and scattered them in the wind. She wouldn't... no... she couldn't deal with that right now. Not yet. Soon, she would have to. But not just yet.
These contradicting parts were really all the same part. The part that didn't want to admit she was hopelessly lost. She had no dang idea where to go.
Aniyah looked up at the weird little jellyfish thing. She whispered, "Wonder how far it is, to get back to Eddie Money and the others?"
The jellyfish couldn't understand her. Duh. It was a floating jellyfish. How could it?
Except... for a moment, Aniyah thought maybe the thing did understand. And after another few seconds, she knew for sure it did.
The jellyfish flashed a soft green color. Once, then twice. To Aniyah, it was almost like it was saying: "Beep-beep!"
"What does that mean, Jellybean?" she asked, laughing at how goofy she probably sounded.
The jellyfish strobed green again. Just once this time. Then, it slowly began to float away.
"Hold up a minute. Where you goin'?" She stopped leaning against the tree and stood up straight.
The jellyfished froze for a second, beeped green once more, then started off again.
"Ohhh, okay. I see. You leading the way? Well okay then." Aniyah smiled in spite of herself.
She followed behind the jellyfish. Together, they made their way through the darkened woods. Hopefully, to rejoin the others...
•2•
"I've never been in this part of the city before," Flower-Seed admitted. "I didn't even realize there was so much down here. I knew there were older parts of Locist Spire that were here before the Jikk, and that most of it was under the city, but I didn't expect there to be all of... this." He looked around, pausing briefly to admire the elaborate architecture around him. "I mean... Gods. There's actually streets down here. And structures. Not to mention these sculptures and platforms. It's breathtaking. It's almost like an entire settlement encased in a mausoleum. A sort of... civilization time capsule."
Quijj gave only a noncommittal grunt in response.
The two of them walked side-by-side along a wide street paved in stone. So much was stonework, or marble. The craftsmanship that went into all of it was something even modern Artisians likely couldn't replicate. Large sections of the old city were in ruins, but those that remained mostly intact made Flower-Seed feel as if he'd traveled back in time. If they'd had the sky overhead instead of a cavern roof, he could have easily imagined being in the center of a bustling metropolis.
They strode by a towering sculpture made to resemble some sort of animal Flower-Seed couldn't identify. It certainly wasn't any kind of insect, or Insectoid. It had four legs and a tail, plus a large round head. It was as intriguing as it was beautiful.
Cave crickets were softly singing in the nooks and crannies. The distant sound of dripping water played constant accompaniment to the hollow resonance of this subterranean wonderland.
They turned down what had once been a side street, with Flower-Seed leading the way. Up ahead, a cavern wall blocked their advance. There was a place where the wall had been broken, creating an opening just big enough for them to squeeze through.
On the other side, they came upon a ledge overlooking a sprawling cavern. There were more ledges--some, only narrow slabs of stone reminiscent of catwalks; others, much wider, holding half-ruined structures--high up along the cavern walls. And in the center, sitting like an island in the dark sea of darkness, was a sprawling marble platform. The platform was surrounded on all sides by crags and trenches so deep Flower-Seed couldn't see their bottom. There was a naturally formed staircase of stone leading from the platform to another opening. This was most likely the main entrance to this chamber. Flower-Seed realized now that he and Quijj had taken an alternate route to get here, than the others had.
Yes. There were others. A lot of them, from the looks of it.
On the marble platform below, rows of tents and even a makeshift gazebo had been set up. As Flower-Seed's eyes adjusted, he began to make out the robes of Advisors; the armor of Spire Knights and Spire Watch. There were excited, panicked voices echoing throughout the cave. Some sort of commotion was going on.
"I had no idea any of this was here," Flower-Seed whispered.
Quijj gave him a strange look.
"Don't ask how I knew where to go, or how to get here. I just... did."
Quijj nodded, but said nothing.
From the platform, someone yelled: "Arrest the traitor!"
"Ah, shit," Flower-Seed said. He was no longer bothering to keep his voice at a whisper. The figures gathered below had broken into something close to a frenzy. "They must be talking about the Councilor." He looked at Quijj with a serious expression. "We have to get her out of here. I'm not exactly the biggest fan of our government, but something really bad is going on down here. I got... visions. I saw Spire Knights with their minds corrupted by parasites. Whoever attacked the city... they've infected some of the officials. We have to do something. If we're ever going to rebuild... we need Jikk like Councilor Lemma. She's one of the good ones."
Quijj grunted in agreement. "Alright. Let's do it."
"What's the plan?" Flower-Seed asked, suddenly nervous. He felt a bit silly asking Quijj what the plan was, considering the elderly tavern keeper had just been following his lead up this point. Now that they were here, Flower-Seed didn't have the slightest idea what he was going to do. Or even what he could do. He couldn't fight a trained Spire Knight. Let alone an entire company of them. He'd only get himself killed!
Fortunately (and to Flower-Seed's great relief), Quijj said: "Just wait here. And get ready to run. Like you've never ran before."
"Alright. I think I can do that much, at least."
Quijj nodded. He drew his odd-looking weapon, and leapt down from the ledge; spreading his wings as he did this to glide over to the platform. Just as the old tavern keep came to a landing, Flower-Seed saw two armored Knights seize Councilor Lemma by the arms, and pull her to the ground. One of the Advisors screamed.
Shit! his mind cursed. Come on, Quijj. You gotta do something! And fast!
•3•
There was a particular knock at the hidden door to the Navigator's study. Three heavy raps, a pause, then two sets of four bangs; the coded knock he'd taught to the mercenary leader. The corners of Drokin the Navigator's mouth--little more than soft tissue on either side of his pointed beak--sagged slightly, in a parody of a frown. He shot a glance over to the wall-mounted clock above his desk. It was only Ef'tat-Half-Wane. The merc shouldn't have made it to this part of Barkstone Barony, for at least another three Shecks.
Drokin cast a suspicious eye toward the opposite end of the room. He reached beneath his desk, unfastening the blade he hid there. It was always good to have a backup weapon. The talon-like claws of his hand instinctively found the pommel of his rapier. "Enter!" he called to the door.
There was a hefty creaking sound as a considerable portion of the wall was pushed inward, revealing both the false rock of the door's opposite side, and the midday sunlight beyond the study. The light was much too bright for Drokin's eyes, after spending so much time inside the chamber under the Arcas Rune lamps. For a moment, he had to squint in order to get a decent view of his visitor. The moment Drokin saw the figure entering his study, his claws tightened on the handle of his weapon.
The one who appeared through the doorway was not the merc leader Rave the Ravager. Not by a long shot. The stranger was a Jagged Fields Nerthran, just as Rave was, but this was where their similarities ended. Rave was of slightly larger than average size for an adult male member of the mothfolk race. The Nerthran before Drokin was the antithesis of average (or "slightly" for that matter). He was enormous; much larger than seemed natural. If one of his crew mates had told Drokin about seeing a Nerthran the size of this one, Drokin would have labeled them an exaggerator at best, a boldfaced liar at worst. He certainly wouldn't have believed mothmen could grow this large, if he weren't seeing the proof of that very thing with his own two eyes.
"Where is Rave? Who are you?" Drokin demanded.
The giant mothman slowly stepped inside the study and creaked the door shut behind him. He did not answer.
"I asked you a question. Where is--"
In a baritone voice that was almost pleasing to the ear, the mothman said: "Would you Sky Pirates send your Captain on every minor mission, or simple errand? I am Master Rave's deliverer. I am called Nollo."
A peculiar name for such a hulking creature as this, the Navigator mused.
When Drokin didn't initially respond, 'Nollo' added: "I have the Relic you wanted." He held up a black rectangular case, almost like the kind a Bard might use for protecting a musical instrument.
Drokin thought this over a moment, studying the towering mothman carefully. He felt almost like he was looking up at a living statue. One of the great big ones that lined the streets of the grand cities of Roshuka, or populated the ruins of Jyyrvesk's Old Country. Even the hulk's features were oversized, as if they needed to compensate for the massive face to which they were attached. This 'Nollo' somewhat unsettled Drokin. The self-proclaimed "deliverer" had a long, slender mouth that didn't quite seem to want to close all the way. This gave the mothman an almost moronic appearance; a dimwitted face with the mouth of a drooling imbecile. Combined with his considerable size, it would have been easy to dismiss this Nerthran as a buffoon. Even the title "deliverer" played into this impression. And he seemed to have a permanent glazed over quality about his eyes. However, Drokin saw what lurked beneath the surface. When he looked beyond these things, the Navigator could detect a cold, calculating intelligence in the mothman's eyes. Upon closer inspection, the glazed over quality didn't strike the Navigator as entirely organic. It struck him as purposeful, practiced--part of a kind of disguise.
Nollo was a mothman with the soul of a spider...
As these things dawned on Drokin, the unsettled feeling he'd had since this mothman's appearance turned to something bordering on outright fear. The Navigator had been all across the Lesser and Greater Reaches. He'd seen some horrid things. Something about this stranger was different, however. There was something not quite Insectoid in his eyes; not quite Of This Pocket Realm, as the Captain was want to say. Drokin had never believed in the concept of evil. Not in the same way the Old Scrolls talked about it, as least. But now--here in his study, confronted by the figure before him--when he looked into those eyes, evil was all Drokin saw.
"You... have the Horn?" Drokin asked, trying to sound casual. His heart was beating at three times it's normal tempo. He slowly reached for the Link Orb. Calling out to Captain Heekan may have been the only chance he had left. "Let me get you the coin I promise then."
"Stop," said Nollo. "Put your hand down."
Drokin paused. The tips of his claws were just inches from the Orb. If he were quick about it, he could snatch the thing up in a microsecond. The Navigator was quick. He was a trained fighter, afterall. But... he knew intuitively he would not be quick enough.
"I beg your pardon?" Drokin said, trying and failing to keep some air of authority in his tone.
Nollo laughed. It was not a pleasant sound. "There was never going to be any coin, was there? You think Master Rave wouldn't sniff out such an obvious con? You really aren't familiar with the Stonewing Pillar Mercenaries are you? We are not some low-level ratcatchers."
Drokin said nothing for a moment. At last, he sighed. He allowed his training to replace his fear. It took quite a lot of effort, but he managed. When his heart had returned to something closer to a natural beat, he leveled his avian eyes at the mothman. He dropped his hand, but brought it down to his rapier. He drew the weapon, but made no move to strike.
Through the end of his closed beak, Drokin growled: "Alright, asshole. Just what are you after?"
Nollo laughed again. He flipped open the brass latches on the black case he held, opened it. Inside, wasn't any Relic. That had been a lie. The black velvet lined interior of the case held a single object: a large throwing knife. Nollo removed the blade and let the case fall to the floor. "I'll need every piece of coin you have here. And anything else of value."
Drokin raised his rapier. "All our treasures are on the ship." He sighed, deciding to fess up. "I don't have anything here. You were right. I planned on taking the Horn and not paying. But I am obviously not getting what I wanted. There is no coin here for you to get what you want. Why don't we just call this an impasse? We both walk away, no better off... but no worse for wear than we were before. What do you say?"
Nollo shook his massive head. It was like seeing a boulder pivot atop a living column. "You think you can plot to take out our leader, and live to tell the tale? You're even more stupid than you look."
Now, Drokin was getting angry. "Do you have any idea who you're fucking with? You can't stand against our entire crew. We're the Hawkblood Pirates. You think Captain Heekan will just sit by and let you--"
The knife was buried in Drokin's windpipe, before he ever saw the mothman throw it. For someone so massive, Rollo had a dexterity and speed that were virtually unrivaled. There was a soft clang as Drokin's rapier fell to the floor; a soft gurgling sound as he began to choke on his own blood. He gasped for air his lungs couldn't find; his hands clawing at his throat to pull free a blade that wouldn't budge.
Drokin the Navigator fell to the floor with a hollow thud, knocking his chair over in the process. The last thing his dying mind registered before he lost consciousness was the sight of Rollo the mothman standing over him, whispering: "You Sky Pirates never should have come to the Wilden Green."
Then, Drokin was fading. Fading, fading.
Fading.
Fading from the mortal world, and headed for that Great Beyond...
•4•
Eyes. So many eyes. Staring. Watching.
Abominations. Wretched perversions of nature. Black-tongued things. Slime things. Things with many, many eyes.
Many. Many. Eyes.
Vellnoth! It was awful!
Zoocher slipped through a whirlwind of swirling shadows. He sank into quicksand of blackness. His mind shattered, then reformed. Shattered, then reformed. The world became a pane of glass which broke into a million, billion, trillion little pieces. He reached out, desperately trying to pick the pieces up, to put them back together.
It was no use.
Horrors. Eyes. Looking. Looking at me. Through me. Seeing me. Seeing all.
SEEING.
Zoocher rocked himself back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. There was dirt and grass beneath him. He was curled up into a ball, hugging his knees against his chest. Yet, these things were just background details. This was just his surroundings, and his physical body. His mind was somewhere else--perhaps, in another patch of dirt, slowly turning to mud. No. Not mud. Quicksand.
Sinking. He was sinking. Sinking, and slipping away. Slipping off into that Forever Night.
White Staircase?
No. He saw no White Staircase. Perhaps, only the Black Steps awaited him after all the awful things he'd done in life.
Only... there were no Black Steps, either.
Because he wasn't dead. Not yet, at least.
He was alive, but he was not living. Not in the normal sense.
Eyes. Watching. Looking. Seeing. Viewing. Glimpsing.
STARING.
GODS. OH GODS. OH VELLNOTH PLEASE!
No mercy for him. No Gods coming to save him. Only horrors.
He'd been in that terrible place, in that terrible room for what had felt like centuries.
Now he was back in the woods. But not all of him. He'd left some essential part of himself back there, back in that terrible place.
And now, he'd never get that part back. It was lost to him. For good. Forever.
Zoocher leaned over and vomited yellow bile onto the grass. His head was swimming. He slowly stood up. As he stood, everything fell away. Everything. His entire being. His essence. His all. His whole.
Zoocher? No. There was no Zoocher anymore.
Maybe there never had been.
Certainly, there would never be a Zoocher again.
Shattered.
Zoocher was shattered and lost. Gone. Now, Zoocher was no more. Forever departed.
He felt something warm and wet run down his legs. He'd urinated on himself without realizing it. This did not bother him. This meant nothing. He took a step forward and vomited onto his vest. This too meant nothing.
He stripped off his armor, his undergarments, his weapons. He kicked off his boots. To one side of the pile he'd made with his belongings, there were a set of bootprints in the dirt. He turned in the opposite direction, and started walking. He didn't know where he was going. He only knew he needed to walk.
Visions winked in and out of his mind. He continued walking, muttering to himself all the while. He spoke of everything, of nothing. He asked questions without answer. He gave answers to questions no one had asked.
Those eyes. They were burned into his brain. No. His brain was a burn. A scorchmark, littered with eyes. Staring. Watching. Waiting?
He walked on. Walking through the woods, to nowhere. Walking. Muttering. Thinking of eyes and Slime things.
It was a long time before he stopped.
•5•
There were two astounding sights, which presented themselves consecutively before him. In over two decades serving as one of the Hawkblood's top Assault Commanders, he had never seen anything more incredible than the Black Pyramid. That was, right up until the moment he saw the entire Pyramid vanish right before his eyes. If anything could be even more incredible than seeing the Pyramid; suddenly not seeing the Pyramid would have to be it.
Commander Ramses blinked several times, as if he were unable to trust what his eyes were showing him. The airspace beyond the windshield of his Glider Pod now showed only a sea of nothing, save for the Sky Gods higher up in the atmosphere.
"What the fuck? Where did it go?" he muttered to the empty cockpit.
The Glider Pods were designed to resemble plump black ravens. Ramses's Glider was slightly larger than the others in the fleet, as his was the Pod that carried most of the Big Weapons. Currently, they were in a V formation like actual birds; twelve in Ramses's group, twelve more in Commander Paulo's group that would have been approaching the Pyramid from behind; another twelve coming in from the right, making up Commander Gichi's group. The Gyff had their own Gliders, fashioned from wooden planks and some unknown material Ramses had never seen before. The Gyff ships looked a lot like the Gyff themselves; like long slender walking sticks. Their ships cut through the air like wooden missiles, lined up in a near row.
Ramses slapped the control panel, activating the Com-Cube. "Am I seeing things? Have I lost my mind?"
"No." It was the voice of Commander Gichi. She sounded uncharacteristically shaken. "The damn thing went POOF. Just like that."
The Gyff leading the stickbug group (his name was Kloom, if Ramses's memory served him) chimed in. "What do we do now? Will it reappear, you think?"
Ramses smacked the controls again, this time out of frustration. He said, "Somebody better get the Captain on the--"
"Already here," said the voice of Captain Heekan.
"You been listening this whole time?" Gichi asked.
"No. I just came on. Now listen. Everyone. Listen very closely. The Pyramid isn't in the valley anymore, but all is not lost. We will track it down. I already know where they took it."
Ramses gaped at this. "What? Captain... how could you already know all of that? It just vanished, only a few ticks ago."
Gichi made a soft gasping sound. "Captain. No. Tell me you didn't use it."
"I had to," Captain Heekan said with remorse. "The Mirror is too valuable a tool for us not to utilize it. And if ever there were a time when we needed it, it would be now."
"How many years did it take off your life?" Gichi asked hesitantly.
After a pause, Heekan said, "It doesn't matter. We're getting sidetracked here. There is a lot more going on than we realized. There are agents of not one, but two of the 5 Pharoahs here in the Wilden Green Valley, as we speak."
"What?" it was Gichi and Kloom in unison.
Commander Paulo broke his silence. "Which other Pharoah are we talking about?"
Heekan said, "Aside from Camaria the Butcher who we already knew about (it was one of her Scarabs that took the Pyramid), there's some of the Necromancer's men here too."
"The Necromancer?" Ramses said in disbelief. "The right hand man of Dowlmad the Deathless?" Ramses felt a cold chill run up his spine. "You're not telling me he is here in this valley, are you?"
"The Necromancer himself? No. Just some of his underlings. The Skinless Men, they're called."
Gichi asked, "Are they really all after the Pyramid and the Artifacts? I can't imagine two of the 5 Pharoahs would expend resources just for the stuff we're after. Aside for the Black Pyramid. But even still... something seems off here."
"Well," said Heekan. "That's because something is off. There are bigger forces at work here than we ever realized. Sure, they were after the Pyramid and the Divine Battery. But those are more like... party favors, to them."
Ramsese shook his head. "I already don't like how this sounds." The open sky outside his Glider suddenly felt less like empty airspace, and more like an endless abyss. One glance at the Sky Gods floating higher in the heavens strengthened this feeling, causing the commander to shudder as another chill ran up his back.
Captain Heekan said, "Then you really won't like what I'm about to tell you."
As it turned out, the Captain was absolutely right. Ramses really didn't like it one bit. None of them did.
•••
And Commander Ramses was not the only one who was told things they didn't like. While he was listening to his Captain's words with growing unease, elsewhere in the Wilden Green Valley, a certain Ranger was receiving a rather ominous warning...
•••
•6•
Deep within the bowels of the Reverse Tower. In the Domain of the Being known as O'Faxx.
Ranger Lexington stood atop the large boulder, surrounded by a sea of sludge. The putrid aroma of this place once more assaulted his senses, while his boots sank into the slick, squicky growth coating the boulder. Lexington's dragonfly-like features hid his discomfort. Outwardly, he appeared as stoic--as unshakeable--as always. At least, until he spoiled the effect with a knowing smirk.
To the bubbling muck, he called out: "So, you decided to help out afterall?"
There was no response.
Lexington's smirk faded. He bowed his head slightly. "It's alright. You don't have to speak. I only wish your assistance had been enough. That way Burlap wouldn't have had to give his life the way he did."
O'Faxx did not emerge from the murky depths.
Lexington would have sighed had the air quality in here not been so abhorrent. "Anyway, I just wanted to thank you. I will find a way to reward you."
Although O'Faxx remained beneath the muck, his voice echoed inside the Ranger's mind. "My actions were not on your behalf. Your ignorance betrays you, Overseer."
Lexington cocked his head to one side. "If you say so." He shrugged. "Some guys just can't accept a thank you, I guess."
"You have yet to understand. I helped you, to destroy you. None of you know yet what you are unleashing. I did not see the truth before, but the truth has now presented itself to me. The Gods wish to assemble the 12 and bring about the White Clock Consortion. Fools. They don't yet realize with the advent of the White Clock, the Black Clock follows. Those numbers shall count down their destruction. I looked into the destiny of the mortals you have placed so much faith in. I saw what they will bring about. They are one of the Four Winds that will blow upon the Door of Doom. One of them is a Paige of the Necronomicon."
"What does that mean? Quit speaking in riddles."
"There's a storm coming, Overseer. A storm that will wash away the world. This one, and all others. I haven't helped you. I've only helped the first few raindrops, so they might better form within the dark clouds hanging over this Pocket Realm. And in the wake of that rain? The thunder shall soon roll."
A storm coming. Four Winds that will blow upon the Doors of Destruction. Thunder.
These things made no sense to the Ranger. One thing was clear however; whatever O'Faxx's words meant, Lexington didn't like the sound of any of it.
•7•
There's a particular way Advisors and nobleJikk cry out when something disrupts their normal routine. It's a breathy sort of shriek, like someone emptying their lungs before they faint. Many of the High Advisors were voicing this exact variety of shriek now, as High Knight Pyx ordered his Spire Knights to arrest Lemma.
Temporary Councilor E'Shesh (to her credit) tried to block the path of the Knights. She was shoved out of the way, hard enough to cause the poor she-Jikk to tumble over onto the hard marble surface of the platform.
Then, underneath the makeshift gazebo, pandemonium set in. The stress of the attack on the city had already pushed everyone toward the brink of panic. This new development made them all leap right over the edge, falling right into the place people (Jikk, or otherwise) always fall in times like this one.
Lemma didn't run. She stood her ground, glowering at Pyx and Councilor Tholke; glaring as if she could knock some sense into them with her gaze alone. Of course, this was a futile endeavor. The Knights were upon here a moment later. Strong arms seized her, throwing her to the ground. Then, oddly enough, even stronger arms were lifting her from the floor. She stared down the Knights arresting her, but the expressions they gave her in return were not those of hardened Knights doing their duty. They were the expressions of Jikk who'd been caught completely off guard.
As she was lifted even higher, Lemma finally realized it wasn't the Knights who currently held her. It was someone else.
"What... who... what's going on?" she cried weakly.
She was being carried away by... one of the local tavern keepers?
"What's happening? What are you doing?" she demanded.
"She's getting away!" someone shouted.
"After her!" a Spire Knight ordered.
All at once, the Knights were airborne, in pursuit. The air was alive with the sound of buzzing wings, the shuffling and frantic falls of boots, and so much shouting. Lemma dangled over seemingly bottomless trenches and crumbling remnants of the City That Once Was.
The tavern keeper, in all this time, had only explained himself with a single grunt. Now, he was using his free arm to aim some kind of weapon at the Knights.
"No," Lemma pleaded. "Don't kill them. They're only doing their duty."
"Stun-shot," said the elderly tavern keeper. The words came an instant before his weapon discharged and the air behind them exploded in brilliant blue electricity. There was a loud series of crackling sounds, as the small-scale controlled lightning tore through each of the Knights. As if an invisible net had ensnared them, the Knights all froze in midair a moment, before their wings slowed to a standstill. They began to plummet down to the darkness below.
The tavern keeper voiced a soft grunt of regret.
"You can say that again," Lemma scolded. "The shot may have stunned them, but the fall will surely do a whole lot more. What's the meaning of this? Are you kidnapping me?"
The tavern keeper shook his head. "Behind you," he said. They climbed higher, closing in on the stone wall of the spacious cavern.
Lemma craned her neck to look back at the platform. What she saw horrified her. Hight Knight Pyx and Councilor Tholke. Even from this far away, she could see that their eyes appeared to have ruptured. From the vacant holes where their eyes had been, large fat yellow worms as long as sword blades were spilling out onto the platform. Each worm slapped down onto the marble, then immediately began to grow in size. Within mere seconds, each one grew to the size of a Field Roamer pup. And they only continued getting bigger.
The Advsiors and officials broke into a stampede, making for the platform's only exit; the flight of stone steps leading up to the passageway before street level.
"Gods," Lemma whispered. "We have to seal off the exit. We can't let those... those things make it up to the city."
But based on the ever-increasing size of the worms, and their ever-growing numbers, she feared it might already be too late.
"Hurry! Come on!" someone shouted, just ahead.
Lemma turned toward the sound of the voice. She saw a Jikk standing atop a stone ledge, high up on the cavern wall. She didn't recognize him.
A second later, the tavern keeper brought her down to a gentle landing on the ledge beside the unfamiliar Jikk. She eyed them both suspiciously. "Just what is going on? And who is this?"
"My name is Flower-Seed. And we've got to get the fuck out of here, Councilor."
The tavern keeper asked, "How can we seal it off?"
Lemma thought for a moment. "You came through there?" She pointed to the large gap behind Flower-Seed.
"We did," said the tavern keeper.
"Then we might be able to beat the worms to the surface. There's a secret tunnel in the cave ceiling, a little further on. Come on. We have to get to the statue of Kylo the Great, up in the Cobbler's District. There's a hidden lever inside. I know the code to turn it. It will seal off the Old City. It's our only chance."
"Then let's get moving," said Flower-Seed.
The tavern keeper only grunted his agreement.
Together, the three of them took off at a sprint. There truly wasn't a single moment to spare...
•8•
Rave spotted the figures below, standing patiently beside a gnarled, leafless gatortree. He came to a landing, just a few yards from them. Eight pairs of cold, dark eyes peered out from eight fleshless humanoid faces, considering him with an alien species of indifference.
A long black case was tucked beneath Rave's right arm. In his left hand, he clutched his Rune Stone expectantly. Any moment now, Nollo would be giving him the word that the deed was done. Any moment now. Rave had an internal clock that kept near perfect timing when it came to things like murder.
Sure enough, the Rune Stone began to grow warmer to Rave's touch.
Nollo's voice came through the Stone. "Boss?"
Rave grinned with what remained of his ruined mouth. "It's done?"
"It's done," Nollo confirmed.
"Good. I'd expect nothing less. You know where I'll be?"
"Yes, sire. I'll see you there shorly."
Rave didn't bother giving a final response. He put the Stone away and took the black case into his hands. The Skinless Men only watched him patiently.
Rave approached the figures beneath the gnarled tree. This was a remote region of Jikkellia's borderlands, where the high grasses gave way to miles of mostly barren dirt and rock. The gatortree stood out, in that it was one of the few trees on the visible landscape here. Just over the horizon, was the large mountain where a certain group of outsiders were rumored to have crashed in a small rowing vessel recently.
Rave waited for one of the skinless men to speak first. When none did, he said: "A lot of people wanted this Horn. You just so happened to be the only ones offering more than coin." This was a half-truth. The Sky Pirates had spoken of coin, but had in reality, offered only betrayal. "I've kept up my end. Now, I expect you to keep yours."
Rave's mind calculated dozens of ways he could slaughter each of these figures, should they show any sign of aggression. It was just how his brain operated. He plotted ways to thwart threats that hadn't even been presented yet. In this line of business, you had to stay twelve moves ahead.
Right on time, Rave's reinforcements arrived. He'd been doing these kinds of deals for far too long to ever go by himself. Even if he did feel confident enough in his abilities that he wasn't weary of the figures before him. Even in a 1 v. 8 duel to the death, he was certain he'd have the upper hand.
Four mothmen mercs landed just behind Rave--keeping their distance but standing at the ready. Rave didn't so much as glance at them. He casually stepped away from his foot soldiers and moved closer to the Skinless Men. "So, how about it? You said you had a way to get us out of this valley. Is that still true?"
One of the figures (there was really no way for Rave to tell the apart, as they all looked like carbon copies of each other) nodded. "We represent Pharoah Dowlmad. Pharoah Dowlmad always keeps his word. Give us the Black Horn and we shall give you freedom from this place."
Rave said nothing a moment. At last, he nodded. "Alright. I'll take you at your word." He slowly held out the case, offering it to one of the figures. The skinless man eagerly accepted the Artifact. He lifted the lid and removed the item inside, handing it to one of the others.
The Black Horn of the Olde Music looked like the hollowed-out horn of some bovine creature, like those Rave had seen sketched in old tomes. Aside from the fact it was black as obsidian, of course. There was a silver mouthpiece banded around the narrow end. That was all there was to the object. All in all, it was rather unimpressive looking by Artifact standards.
The other man examined it for several seconds, before deciding he was satisfied. He nodded back to the first man who took the Horn and returned it to its case.
"So," Rave said, taking on a tone of casual conversation while feigning ignorance. "What does that thing do, anyhow?"
The Skinless Men only regarded him coldly.
Rave nodded, flashing a half grin. "Fair enough. Now... as for your part of the bargain?"
"Yes," said the man holding the case. "You want your entire company to leave this valley? Return to us when you are all together. Some of us will remain here in this spot. We will give you three sunrises after sundown today. If you aren't here by then, we cannot wait any longer."
"We'll return long before then," Rave said.
There didn't seem to be anything more to say. He turned and motioned to the other mercs. "Let's head out. We'll regroup with the others and get everything underway."

This is the only place, I can really write this down on. I can't tell anyone that I know in real life, because of my trust issues, and worry that it's going to end in some kind of consequence. Online is the only place I can really tell this to.
What sucks is, I'm really trying. I'm trying to hold through.
I just need to get this out, to write out my thinking, because my parents will see it anywhere else, and I don't want them to see this. Or find any writings/notes on technology or even paper. I had to make a fake email to make this account, to really let it out without her noticing. Or even from someone that I've told, which I haven't, by the way. I'm a 16 year old, who is starting to realize that maybe I was used my whole life. I started to realize that I didn't get to really be a kid. My mom had me at the age of 17, and which I thank her that I'm here, she's done some things, and is still doing some things that's making me feel neglected, or scared to be around her. She's a single mother, so I get that she's stressed out. But she smokes marjuana, and it's heavily illegal in my state, and it's been going on for about 5 years now. I never really had a problem with it until recently. She started letting my 12 year old sister smoke it to 'try new things' and have a 'smoke buddy'. I spoke up to her that I think that's not okay, and that it will make my sisters lungs collapse. She listened.. but she lies. All she does is lie.
It made me think. When I was eleven years old, she had made me do a drug test for her. I didn't think much of it, because well, I didn't want bad things to happen. And she just kept doing it. Once, twice, and recently a third time. I feel used. Because I'm the only one in this household. I'm the only mature one. I make the adult decisions because my mom can't. And my sister is twelve, so she doesn't know better. I only accept it because, if my mom fails those tests, and tests positive for doing that, one: she goes to jail. Two: I have to be sent away with my dad, or with the other half of my family. And my dad doesn't treat me like a daughter. The last time I saw him, was last year, and I've been avoiding him because that last time, he yelled at me that my social anxiety was my fault. Because I wouldn't be social in a party he forced me to go to. I don't want to go with my other half of my family because I don't want to move the school that I'm in. I want to finish Highschool here. And if they get caught, I'm screwed. My sister got caught for smoking it in school a month ago, and that's when I started to realize this. That I'm being used. That my mom is ruining one of her children. My mom comes to me when she needs help with the bills, and money planning, what she should buy, and shouldn't buy. I don't want to talk adult yet, because I'm already so focused on leaving his place, to get into a really nice college far away, and get a fresh start. But I've been SO focused on it, I don't get time to do things I enjoy. I study, I read, I do something productive something to get me out quicker. As a kid, I was thinking this was okay. That this was normal. And I hate how I just now realize it, when I have two years of Highschool left to go.
And ever since my sister got off probation, she smoked. Again. And they've been hanging out since. I barely get to talk to my mom how we used to. I used to tell her everything that goes on, the drama, or even to show her something that I made. But she doesn't give me any attention, and it's caused me to isolate myself even more than I have been, and I just feel like I'm going to shut down any moment now. I've stood up for myself. It just keeps repeating. I'm so tired of leaving the house, trying to get away so I don't have to listen to them have fun, while they don't even make an effort to invite me. It's like my mom uses me for the adult things. I couldn't get to be a kid. I had to be used, I have PTSD from something my mother gave me, because of her actions. She isn't married, so she's had plenty of boyfriends, and two of them have threatened to kill us, and one has attempted to try, but the police showed up before he could lay a hand on us. I had to grow up with an adult-mindset. No way I could be a kid, with that going on. I'm so scared, because she keeps bringing guys home, and I spoke to her about it, but I know she's straight up lying to my face. My dad wasn't here for all my life, only about 3 years total. I've shown hints that I'm not okay, that I just want to feel like I'm welcomed and not safe in the home that I grew up in. I don't want a therapist, not until I move out at the age of 18. I hate that my childhood was ruined, growing up in a bad environment this whole time, and I didn't even realize it until last month.
I just.. don't know what I should do. I do have very caring people in my life, but I can't move with them. I own three cats, and they're allergic. I can't leave them. I don't want to leave my Highschool career smack in the middle. I always told myself "Two more years to go, and you'll be out of there with a fresh new start." But it's just getting worse by the day, and I feel so lonely. I can't tell anyone in real life, because I'm not that close to anyone I know. My social anxiety has gotten worse this past month, and I've had it since 6th grade, and I'm a sophomore at the moment. Locking myself in my room with my cats, or leaving the house when I don't want to hear it from my moms room, that she's having fun with my sister, and not me anymore. Do I just live with this a little longer?

I'm trying to find gritty ways to get more initial test users for what we're building.
I'm a massive personal finance nerd. I feel tools like 'Mint' have dropped the ball so I've been working to build a new financial data platform where people can do custom tracking based on their live data.
*ahem* introducing Fina: The worlds first financial tracking tool.
Just kidding. But here's why I think we're building something better:

1. It does all the stuff you'd expect with connecting live accounts, setting categories & budgets, auditing transactions, and setting rules so your data is always clean/accurate.
2. Instead of stale & inflexible dashboards, we take a notion-style approach where you can create as many dashboard pages as you'd like and use blocks to custom track the metrics you actually care about.
3. We use your live data inside different tracking scenarios so you can plan ahead and get proactive insights. We also allow you to ask our ai questions and get results based on your finances.

So if you're dying to know "how much money have I spent on Starbucks this year?" ...finally, you can get a simple answer to that question (and track that if you're so inclined)
Here's a demo: https://www.loom.com/share/f2d15a1e17ac44d1b85e202a1c321e83
Okay that's enough from me. If you have any marketing ideas, would like to try it, or just give us any feedback we just opened early access. (no npcs allowed, ty).
Feel free to email me [email protected]

(there is going to be a bit of sensitive topic about bad upbringing, do not read if you are not in a mood for that)
I have just recently found this community and youtube chanel and felt like it is suitable place to vent and maybe seek some piece of advice.
How to start learning social skills as an adult? And is it possible to make such a progress to be like someone extraverted or just so no one will think that I am shy or antisocial? Is it possible to reduce damage done in childhood to function like "normal" person? Story below:
So, I am a female and I'm going to be 21 years old soon. I have never been taught as a child how to socialise and you can probably imagine seeing other kids for the first time when I was 6 years old did not went too well. I made about 4 friendships in my life, 3 of them online.
My parents made every possible parenting mistake they could that did not involve being physically violent. I never really talked about anything personal with my parents. They didn't know my interests or even what kind of music I do like until I was around 19. For a very long time I was afraid of telling anyone my interests because everything I heard was; why won't you do math instead of X, why don't you read other book instead of the one you just picked. Or why are you litening to this kind of music, it is bad etc... I was not allowed to do any physical activities. They were interested only in my grades really.
Right now I have contact with two people; my boyfriend and sometimes my best friend from highschool. It feels underwhelming when I realise it. I always wanted to have friends and talk to people but never knew how. Most of my interactions with others ended up as me being bullied when I was younger. I heard "advices" from my family such as; if you were super good in math, like you would win a national math competition, then everyone would like you (literally these words).
So I always thought that if you will be very well-read and will have many interests then you will know what to say to other people, and they will be absolutelly amazed by your wisdom, and will become your friends. Unfortunatelly this is not true. Most people do not have such profound knowedge to engage in conversations about things I research. I ended up with lot of hobbies but still zero social skill. And I feel I acquired most of my knowedge just because I thought it is necessary to form a relationship of any kind with others.
I can not start a conversation, I don't even know what people talk about. Also it does not help that I am pretty much expressionless and don't hold eye contact. I try to look at other person whenever I remember that it should be done. However when I start talking my eyes just do whatever.
Right now I socialise mostly in college and it is not very bad. I think everyone likes me. However, no one is my friend. I only talk about topics related to our field of research. And I feel like this is the only thing I can talk about. I can give people lectures or tell them about books. But you can't build friendship over it. No one will care for me as a person if I never speak to them about personal things such as everyday life.
​
I think this posts belongs here, not in the thread because it is not about romantic relationship and is also about reversing the damage done in early life.

First I want to state I am writing this on behalf of a friend who is legally blind. He has a daughter who is 35. he served 4 years in prison on 11 years sentence. He got released in 2003, he was told he owed about $6800 with interest at the highest rate. He has been paying child support ever since in the amount of $385. He recently called to find out how much he owes and they told him about $49,000. if you do the math, without interest he has made a total payment of $92,400 in 20 years, which comes out to +$24400 over the amount he supposedly owed. If you add the interest he would have paid even more( i am not sure about the exact amount of the interest rate). He currently resides in California but his case is from Texas.
I personally do not have kids and I am not aware of the laws concerning child support. We have tried contacting Legal aid but its going take months just to get in the door. Therefore, I am posting here for any relevant information, or the next steps he needs to take. By the way he is also a veteran, he just turned 63 years old. Thank you for your time and I hope you a pleasant day!
I will provide more details as needed.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/17/fed-poised-to-approve-quarter-point-rate-hike-next-week-despite-market-turmoil.html

What does an increase in this mean in Laymen’s terms? How would/could this effect the average person ( like me)? I don’t understand this stuff but am slowly trying. Thank you.

The Fed sets interest rates higher in order to slow down the economy. They do this because inflation is too high, and by reducing demand in the economy they can help bring prices down (ie slowing inflation).
To an average Joe, the higher interest rate means that loans will be more expensive (higher interest) on things like mortgages, credit cards, car loans, etc. It also means that businesses may decide to cancel projects because it's too expensive to borrow the money now. For example, a business that was going to use loans to build a new factory may cancel that project or put it on hold. As a result, this can mean less jobs and/or layoffs by some businesses. This results in a tighter budget for some working class Americans.
The upside is that this also means less spending, which means stores are going to have to keep their prices lower to attract customers. That helps keep inflation under control, which is a benefit to American workers.
Long story short, the Fed is trying to get inflation under control by slowing down the economy. They do this by raising interest rates. The ongoing debate is how fast to raise the rates and how high to raise them. If they go too fast, they could send the economy into severe recession. If they go too slow, inflation could keep getting higher.
The 0.25% raise is basically what everyone is expecting this month. If the Fed doesn't raise at all this month, it signals they are going to let inflation run higher because they're worried about the recent bank turmoil. If they raise it 0.5%, it means they're willing to risk more bank issues (and more market turmoil) in order to get inflation under control.
The Fed meets 8 times per year to decide whether to adjust interest rates. A single rate adjustment really isn't going to have any noticeable effect on the average Joe American. However, the cumulative total of all the rate adjustments will significantly impact the economy. Everyone in the financial world gets worked up about each new rate adjustment because they want to try to predict what it means for the future. It's sort of like a person keeping track of a basketball game on their phone. They want to know when each team scores, and they celebrate or get upset each time. However, each score doesn't really matter - it's the cumulative effect that actually affects the outcome of the game. Likewise, each individual rate adjustment doesn't mean much to the average Joe, but the financial professionals are watching it closely, just like how a basketball fan might watch the whole game, but a less interested person just wants to know who won.
https://www.reddit.com/Economics/comments/11wgwz8/fed_poised_to_approve_quarterpoint_rate_hike_this/jcxzigt/

Federal Reserve lent $300 billion in emergency to support U.S. Banks

https://www.pbs.org/newshoueconomy/federal-reserve-lent-300-billion-in-emergency-funds-to-banks-in-the-past-week

Weird no one is asking how we are going to pay for that, how it's going to impact inflation, or the moral hazard of removing market forces. Weird how it's the rich and powerful where these forces come to the rescue.

Banks push for deregulation and crash the economy.

https://www.reddit.com/Economics/comments/11vzlp5/federal_reserve_lent_300_billion_in_emergency_to/jcwjb6q/

A big “F*** you” from Home Depot. Found in our St Patrick’s day gift baggies.

https://i.redd.it/3l3jlag7hsoa1.jpg
https://www.reddit.com/HomeDepot/comments/11vv3mo/a_big_f_you_from_home_depot_found_in_our_st/

Hey guys, i’d like to go on a 2 month trip to New Zealand (im from the Netherlands. I plan on only staying in hostels and mostly cooking my own food. Id like to go on a lot of hikes and visit a lot of nature parks and go sightseeing in some cities and villages. It’s not a lot of information since i’m not too sure yet, but does anyone know how much money i’ll probably need for those 2 months (flight included)?

GENERAL GUIDE TO LEARN ANY LANGUAGE (and basically anything else, in my opinion)
TAKE A TEST. Better if online and better to do more than one, but try to figure out what level you are at, to scale the problem and to give you a hand. The goal in a language is NEVER perfection, that is unattainable, and everyone has different goals. Maybe you want to know two sentences, have a few conversations, or be able to pass a native speaker exam, but until you get an idea of your level you will always think you are not good enough.
SERIES, MOVIES, BOOKS The world is full of tools, the Internet in particular, so use them! Maybe there's a show you've seen twenty times, why not watch it again in the language you're studying? Maybe even without subtitles. And don't be scared off by the lack of subtitles, at this stage the important thing is to cover yourself with information, better if it is understood, but not necessarily. A lot of content is dubbed and subbed in many languages, so try it out for yourself! Books are also very useful, but I realize they can be more difficult to deal with.
MUSIC Songs occupy a special section of the brain, a melody always helps to remember, of course it is better if you consider it appreciable, but it is impossible not to find any, even when learning the most obscure language out there.
RadioGarden is perfect, though perhaps not most suitable for the latest generations.
ADDITIONAL LESSONS You may not have the budget or the time, but consider an investment in this area and you will not regret it, even if only online. Some apps help but only if you have an average level in the language, like HelloTalk, but having private lessons is an incredible boost in self-esteem and motivation.
MORE - YouTube channels - The entirety of Reddit - Learning apps, such as Duolinguo, Pimsleur, Babbel, Anki, or others of a different kind such as RadioGarden, and many others (the first and second-to-last are free) - VPN
A BUNCH OF KEYWORDS: - Immersion: drown in the language, submerge yourself in continuous stimuli, even if you don't fully understand them. Chew the language, repeat the same things, change the language of your electronic devices to English, in short, increase the input of information.
- Fun: especially if you are learning a language because you have to and not because you want to, why not make it interesting? Of course not everything can be, but it doesn't hurt to try, what have you got to lose?
- Routine: decide on a time of day or amount of time and stick to it, better five minutes a day for six months than six hours a day for two weeks. Don't shoot too high or too low; find what works best for you.
- Customize: no one method fits all, so look for others', create your own, or both. Adapt the material to your needs, modify, experiment. While it is true that no tool is perfect, you can create one that is perfect for you.
- Usage: The Internet is an infinite resource, use it as much as possible. Research, discover, get interested, tour corners you had never been to, and maybe you might find something genuinely fascinating. You also have at your disposal some of the most powerful tools ever invented by mankind, so manipulate them in your favor. Strive to get the algorithms of each social to recommend more and more things in that language, and in no time they will figure out what you want to do, coordinating.
- Kindness: Treat yourself well, learning a language, even a relatively simple one like English, is not an easy task, it is very normal to take time. And don't get down on yourself if someone is a hundred times better than you, surely you're better at other things, you haven't tried hard enough, or they're bragging in vain. You are not learning a language for them, but for you. Apart from the certainty that you have other qualities (which they may not have, and maybe who knows already they envy you), it is absolutely not true that "you suck at learning languages," the great thing is that there is nothing against you but yourself! What's more, how do you know if you are good if you don't even try ? Maybe if you put your mind to it you would learn Indonesian in a day, but with German you just can't. What do you have to lose? A few more days of useful information? It's a project for you by yourself, it's only you that's stopping you! So get a move on!
- Help: Ask other people, they will be happy to help you, no matter how counter-intuitive it may seem, especially native speakers, if you are lucky enough to know any. Put yourself in their shoes, wouldn't you like to teach your language or one of your languages to friends/relatives if they didn't know it?
- Distinguish: Make your difficulties clear and deal with them, but above all, don't bang your head against the wall if you see it doesn't help, take shortcuts rather, go around it, jump over it, find a way to solve it. Another thing to keep in mind is to absorb things appropriate to your level, after a certain point the absorption phase ends and the practice phase begins, although it may take months.
- Addiction: As scary as the term may be, why not try to make it something that keeps you glued? This is very personal and may be a bit extreme, but it undoubtedly works. I am of course talking about finding something very exciting, so that you are constantly drawn to the language.
- Brain change: Nothing is more satisfying than realizing after some time that you know what something means, and at some point you start thinking, dreaming and swapping languages in your mind. It is proven that learning a new language radically changes the brain and opens up new perspectives and opportunities, in addition to the job opportunities it already opens up.
- Comprehension: What does it mean to be able to speak make normal conversation? Just asking for directions? Being able to give an international lecture? Knowing 15 words to impress someone? These are all levels of the same thing; explore further and fully understand where you want to go from here.
CONCLUSIONS AND EXTRAS - You definitely know more about that language than you think, words you've heard twice in ten years, similar sections to other languages, easy grammar, in short, you have no reason not to learn a new language!
- Don't get down on yourself if you need a break, but remember why you are doing this and relax so you can get off to a good start.
- You can't expect to study two hours a day for six months and not feel a little burned out or a little unmotivated, the important thing is to realize that, and not feel guilty about it! "I didn't do anything today," but what about yesterday? What about the day before? It takes so little to bring yourself down, but if you hang in there, it's worth it.
-Combat embarrassment, while you might make mistakes, one thing is certain, you can't get worse. So jump in, not necessarily with words.
- There are no universal methods.
- The best thing is to set a roughly fixed schedule, and you will see that after only a few days your brain will start working for you.
- Instead of looking for tutorials in your own language to learn another one (fluffing necessary here), look for tutorials on how to learn your language in the one you are learning! Not only will you find it interesting, but they will be topics you already know something about, and seeing it from a foreigner's perspective will be truly fascinating, I promise.
- There are many ways to work, but the best way is to get started.
- If you don't know what to look for on the Internet or feel silly looking for something like "top 5 apps for learning..." then start with what you prefer. What are your personal interests? Your already ingrained passions? What do you search for most often online and off? Those are the topics you want to look up in other languages as well, it's like giving your brain candy of the same flavor but with a different packaging, you'll love it, even though you may not quite understand what you're eating.
- Don't be frightened by the vastness of a language, all its ramifications, dialects, things you may have learned wrong, things you could have done better, known earlier, enjoy the journey instead of thinking about the destination.
- Small goals, path in stages. You are not able to sustain a task like "rewrite the Iliad by hand on stone." You panic, do something else, and then feel guilty. Instead, if you think, "Today I'm writing the first page of the Iliad, but not on rock, on paper. In fact, the first paragraph." Easier and less terrifying, right?
I hope this was helpful to you kind stranger, though I doubt you've put up with me this far.
Please remember all of these are my opinion on how to learn a language and that I didn't discover them first, let me know if you would like me to translate this into other languages (my first language is actually Italian), and remember to not put too much stress on your shoulders, you can do it!

Hello everyone, I’m stuck at making a decision and I wanted to hear other people’s opinions. Sorry if it reads terribly.
25 year old engaged male on a deployment overseas with the military. No major bills other than my car payment.
Back home I currently work for one of the top 100 fortune 500 companies but doing manual labor making about $22.50/hr. I have amazing benefits atleast from what I know. They will pay 100% tuition to nearly any school, 40 hrs sick, 80 hrs vacation. Retirement. Tons of other benefits. I work 36 hrs a week but get paid for 40. 3 day work week, 12 hrs back to back to back. Hour long drive to work at 4 am, hour long drive back at 6pm. It's rough. My coworkers are cut throat, and will brag about ruining other peoples lives. There is a lot of room for growth in the company, but it’s currently a very toxic work environment. I'm constantly stressed and do not enjoy it. But the job itself is very easy and not physically demanding.
I have a federal opportunity with my unit back home. $25/hr with guaranteed raises but little room for growth. Decent benefits as far as I know, and about the same hour long drive to work. 4 day work week. Some days are 10 hours long but a lot of days if there isn't much work they just do a half day. Still get paid the full day. Extremely healthy work environment but a bit more physically taxing. The biggest problem is that I lose my amazing Tricare healthcare and will have to go with blue cross blue shield which will cost nearly 5x as much, and will have a deductible unlike Tricare, which is amazing.
If i stay with my current position, I could milk my 100% tuition, go to college and get a degree in 4-5 years, while also getting an extra 4 hours off work each week as a benefit to going to school full time, and use my GI bill from the military to also pay me while going to school. Not sure how much that would get me but I know it would be nice.
Maybe the answer is obvious to you, but I'm stuck. Do I stay somewhere and ultimately be unhappy with my job position for the next 4 years possibly? Or do I go somewhere I know I will actually enjoy being? I'm open to any and all criticism/advice/questions/complaints.
Thanks for reading

Today I had to call my five year old’s teacher during the school day due to his behavior. She told me that he was in the library where they get little stuffed animals to hold on to while reading. he began to toss them across the room, and continued to do so even after she told him to stop. Then, while in class he kept putting something in his mouth, his teacher told him to stop because it was dirty and he ignored her and even made it seem like a joke. The teacher told me that he mentioned to her that he didn’t want to go school and that he seemed a bit in a bad mood. When I called him I questioned him on whether he had forgotten that he needs to be respectful and follow rules, he said no. Then I asked him “then what is happening? Why are you being disrespectful to your teacher?” Which he didn’t answer. At home I tend to be the only one who tells him when is doing something he shouldn’t be doing, and I talk to him and show him the consequences and how wrong it is to not listen, misbehave and disrespect. Whenever someone tells him to stop doing something or not to do something he often just smiles and does it anyway until he gets in trouble. I’m very stressed out, I believe in gentle parenting as I experienced so much trauma growing up. What can I possibly to do help him? He’s a sweet, lovable boy.

Hi, longtime player here. After years playing and adding mods I slowly stopped playing after the release of the Special Edition (oh, time flies!). Last time I tried to reinstall it, SKSE wasn’t correctly working on Skyrim SE and I gave up, seeing all the mods that wouldn’t work at the time. I wanted to try on a this newer, more stable Skyrim.
I recently watched videos and saw that the modding community was still going strong. I can’t fight it, now is the time I relaunch the game. The Anniversary update is a welcomed one, I’m glad they added new stuff I just don’t think I’m ready to spend countless hours on downloading retextures, overhauls, fixes and ENBs.
How’s Wabbajack? I found out about it and it blew my mind that’s something like it was created. If i got it right, this utility i pretty much an .exe file that auto-downloads a mod list, right? Does it also work with ENBs / Lods ? I may ask too much on that ahah.
I’m sure the mod scene is still going strong, is there anyone here who could help me catch up with all I’ve missed in the last years?