^{(NOTICE: I do not plan to cause a ruckus with this post. Just in case, this post does not go against any rules and is simply just another interpretation of Adam's astounding and heartfelt lyrics told in light of the perspective of a fellow brother in Christ (Christian}.))
I'm sure many will skip this post, but that's okay! I just felt like making a compilation like this for any that are interested!
Adam has said himself, " Stay in the Word. The moment you start letting go of that, you're on the road to compromise. Stay grounded, remain pure, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus." source and I think that is a beautiful example of what he has done. Whether you are Christian or not, you can't deny that his love for Christ is certainly what has kept him pure and staying true to himself even through his rapid entrance into fame! Anyways, without further ado, here is my list of his Christian lyrics that I find so absolutely heartening!
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Field Notes:

This one is pretty obviously Christian, but it took me many listens to really understand just how deep this song was!
The song is a modern retelling of the parable of Hidden Treasure in Matthew 13:44 which reads, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." -- I personally have fallen in love with the lyrics of this song after realizing it's like a 5 and a half minute long catchy parable!
It is also very personal to Adam I am sure. Sure he is certainly very well off compared to must of us due to his success, but he really did give away so many opportunities that could have made him SO much more popular and successful (we all know he could be VASTLY more popular than he is now and he deserves it!) but rather, he sold it all to keep "his treasure in heaven, not under the ground"! "You might call it foolish, but I call it faith! Trusting in God so gladly, you can't hardly wait!"
Adam spends time with God and His Word daily and understands the worth of the field (heaven) he has purchased. "Cause betting the farm is well worth the risk to carefully keep such a beautiful gift that is yours forever is a pretty good deal!"
He ends the song by saying the two things more valuable than wealth is your heart and soul. Adam is not the kind of guy to knock on your door and preach you fire and brimstone. xP kinda wish I had more friends in church like him!
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Sons of Thunder:

^{this one is loaded lol, sorry for such a big section.}
This song was honestly not one of my favorites when I first heard it. It took me quite a few listens to really understand it. Then I did some searching on my own time and found something really amazing! This song is about the rapture! (not mentioned by name in the Bible, just a name Christians gave to a very well known prophecy in the Bible) and it tells an amazing story of our imperfection being made perfect as we follow God!
Mark 3:17 reads, "And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:" So when adam starts off the song saying "We are the new Sons of Thunder" He is telling modern day disciples (Christians) that they are the new James and John. Which honestly, if you think about it, doesn't sound that great concerning James was the first apostle to be killed for his faith and John died unjustly imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos 🙃. But I think this is definitely relevant and comforting still if you look at it the right way. True Christianity will never fit in with modern culture and I as a Christian have had my fair share of well, beatings from lovely classmates who disapproved though I would absolutely not claim those experiences to be as bad as being stabbed with a sword (James) or being worked to death in a prison camp (John).
ON A LIGHTER NOTE! 😂👉👈
this is a song of hope! And I think it is beautiful the way Adam portrays this hope and even calls back to an old hymn that my mom used to sing to me (it made this song very emotional to me for a few listens)
here is a small list of lines in this song along with verses they call out to or similar ideas
"And when we leave the Earth with a shower of sparks, we'll meet in the sky and we'll walk among the stars" - reference to being caught up in the sky as Christ returns for those who trust in Him.
"And with young unbroken hearts, we'll walk among the stars" - Revelation 21:4-5 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." that's just.. Wow. I love this ageless book. Adam is speaking of the new bodies we will have in heaven as mentioned in these verses. For the rest of eternity we will not experience the pain of loss, we will not experience broken bones or bruises, and we will have no heartache.
"We'll fly" -- I'll get to this later as this phrase is very personal to me 😌
"In the twinkling of an eye" -- 1 Corinthians 15:52 “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” this is probably the most explicitly stated of the lyrics. A very catchy way to allude to it though! "In the twiinlingg of an EEEYYYYEEEEE" come on, I know you've done it too! x3
"And even though we are strange and exquisitely scarred, we won't need to pretend to be anything we aren't" -- This is not a direct quotation, but it is alluding to the concept in Psalms 139:13-16 "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. 14I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." This verse talks about how our imperfection is what makes us unique. We are not expected to be perfect to live our best life, and by embracing his quirkiness, Adam has stayed true to this! I'm sure some of you hardcore fans like me have dug up some of his old youtube videos he uploaded with his school friends... The dude is a wacko!! XD but it really just makes him even more lovable doesn't it? And I don't think he would have the same wonderful imagination that brought us all to admire his work if he didn't embrace that part of him! ^{((I hear a lot of talk about how people don't like the weird ways to describe the listeners in this song, but in light of this line, it makes a lot more sense. He is just alluding to the uniqueness of humanity}))
"We're all too familiar with the fires of life, But we are resilient survivors. And one day we'll be free of nefarious schemes, of cruel twists of fate and evil kings and queens" -- as the idea has already been passed, I won't go into much detail. Just another glimpse of the sinless world heaven will be! A world with only one just ruler as shown in Revelation 4:2-3 "And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald."
"You were made to run and not be faint" -- an allusion to Isaiah 40:29-31 "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." essentially, those who rely and rest in God's comfort will find strength and energy even when life wears them out. As a college student, I can verify this verse rings true! xP
"So take heat, wild one, for there is a God who loves you to death no matter what you've done. So don't lose hope Cause He will lead you home!" -- a beautiful illustration of God's patience. This song is an absolute carnival ride through all of my favorite parts of the Bible and is absolutely convoluted with hints of God's love and understanding of humanities flaws! It is so well written for an audience that may not be listening for his Christian morals that even I took about an hour to write it all down slowly reading the lyrics to find all of these references ^^'
​
now for the part I said I would get to.. I don't know if it was intentional, but the phrase "We'll fly" reminded me of an old hymn that means a lot to me. It is one of the first Christian songs I remember hearing as a kid. It's pretty short, it goes:
Some glad morning when this life is over I'll fly away To a home on God's celestial shore I'll fly away
I'll fly away, oh, Glory I'll fly away When I die, Hallelujah, by and by I'll fly away
Just a few more weary days and then I'll fly away To a land where joy shall never end I'll fly away
I'll fly away, oh, Glory I'll fly away When I die, Hallelujah, by and by I'll fly away
Yeah, when I die, Hallelujah, by and by I'll fly away
It made me nearly cry when I made this connection because that song has been engraved in me as a young child and when I head Adam (my greatest inspiration under the sky) say it himself, I was just overwhelmed with a mix of emotion and longing for that day!
NEXT UP:
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The Tornado:

I'm sure a lot of you will agree with me when I say, I LOVE THIS SONG!!! Oh my goodness Adam's vocals make this song a thrilling adventure every time! Just as with most of Adam's songs, it is easy to pick out some hints of his Christianity. But when you look a little bit deeper, you see this is a story of answered prayer, a story of repentance and yet again, hope!
and of course, let's start with the most shocking part! xD
"It sounded like a freight train was draggin' me to Hell" -- "DiD aDaM yOuNg SaY hElL?!" Yes he did! 😂 Adam won't use it as a curse word (What the **) or take the authority to condemn people to it (Go to **), but he will definitely use it as a place as he and any Christian believes that Hell is a real place and the use of it fits very effectively here and really adds another dimension to the emotion in his voice! Hell is of course one of the two places the Bible says you will go (Or three if you count "Abraham's Bosom" in the Old Testament. (Charming name, right)? The use of this word clearly show that Adam was very scared in the moment. A loud and frightening whirlwind was shouting in his ears like a literal freight train dragging him to literal Hell. I'd be scared too! This also explains his usage of it in Field Notes: "Like there was Hell to pay" I don't personally use this phrase, but it is technically correct to use it that way. It essentially means his dog was barking very angrily like it was gonna tear into something or someone for wronging it.
"And this was my prayer 'save me from this terrible nightmare'" -- I can't speak for everyone, but I've had a few near death experiences of my own. Mostly as a kid that got myself into tricky situations in the woods (nearly falling down what I thought at that age was a mountain side to be saved by my Dad's catch and legitimately going unconscious (by suffocation not drowning, I did not inhale any water as far as I know) in a lake cos I decided to wear jeans while swimming but saved by someone and brought to shore) each of these times I distinctly remember going "Ok, I'm literally going to die, I better repent" cos I knew all too well where I was going at that point in my life, heh..
(melody) -- You can hear it in the music. He prays and suddenly peace comes, a pleasant melody plays even though the storm hasn't stopped yet. The beauty of this to Christians is enough to bring us to tears. At least for me. Jesus cleared literal storms in the Bible, but even when I pray and my metaphorical storm (trial or heartache) doesn't clear immediately, there's just this overwhelming peace I feel personally as I feel Him say "I see you". Adam not only has used His lyrics to show his faith, but even the way he plays his music, and this is just.. Wow, it's like a giant warm comforting hug!!
"That was when I saw my family with my eyes shut real tight. Would they know how much I loved them if this was how I died...?" -- Adam loves his family as we all know. He has written about them, and the respect he has for his parents is just so heartwarming! - So, in this section, as Adam's (or whoever this story is written as) peace sits in, he gets a vision of his family and is overwhelmed with love for them. Just as he was afraid of having anything wrong in him that would send him to Hell, he feared that maybe he hasn't done enough to show his family just how much he really loves them. You can take this with a grain of salt, but I would say that was imagery from God due to his prayer because this is the imagery that gives him the determination to keep "tankin' on" and get through the storm!
and the rest of the song speaks for itself!
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The Meadow Lark:

It takes a strong Christian to write a song like this.. You cannot write away this song as being spiritual propaganda by any means. As Adam said, "The point is that “Coco Moon” is a very Owl City album. It is quirky. It is odd. It is unapologetically myself. I made an album that is exactly the way it was supposed to be, not an album that popular culture, or algorithms, or analytics, or anyone else on planet Earth told me to make. I wrote me. Average, ordinary, weird me." Source This song is personal to Adam, the message is personal to him. The story may be for the sake of the song but the message.. No, that WAS for Adam.
The song plays like a dream; a dream of wartime. Enemy against enemy, foe against foe. War is terrible, it is heartbreaking. and it shows the worst of humanity.
Two enemies cross paths and the minute they take notice of each other, they aim. Ripped away from their families and drafted into, well, metaphorical Hell as you can put it, they hesitate. It's a standstill, but who will shoot first? Frozen by sight, the one from perspective of the writer hears that calm whisper I am all too familiar with. "My son, if my disciple be, show grace and love your enemy." Surely in the moment this sounded absurd! This is war! Surely this voice could not know better than me! But nonetheless, even if this kills me, I will trust in you. This is why this is a hard song to write and only the strongest of Christians can write a song like this. Whether you are a Christian or not, history itself shows Jesus Christ was an actual living breathing man put to death by Pontius Pilate and was doomed to the most brutal, slow, gruesome and painful death documented in history; Crucifixion. (read at your own caution.)
So, from a Christian perspective (This is not a preaching point, please do not misread, I am just explaining the importance of this to Adam as a Christian.), the Bible says that this was an intentional and necessary sacrifice. The perfect "Lamb of God" had to be the last sacrifice which ended the Old Testament method of animal sacrifice and the veil in the Jewish temple was torn signifying that God was no longer only available to the priests and that anyone could have a relationship with Him. You begin to see just how much this means to Christians like me and Adam, right? Putting down your weapon to spare the life of another is a mere inconvenience compare to the grace Jesus showed His church as He willingly stood silent in trial and took the most painful persecution in history that literally caused earthquakes.
"If I should live to see more days, I pray the Lord to guide my ways. With grace to love my enemy, for grace my Savior showed to me."
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My Muse:

this one is clearly about Abbey, and as they are a Christian couple making Christian vows, there's a lot in this song that you would expect. Marriage is described in the bible as an expression of how God loves the church and this idea is what has helped many Christian families stay closely knit and pure and undivided even with growing pressure to divorce quick and divorce often. I know this from experience in my church but here is even a non-Christian source (this is a phenomenal article and I highly suggest you read it.) This is what allowed Adam to make such a beautiful song about his unwavering commitment to his wife, Abbey, despite the struggles he has said that they faced.
However, there is one AMAZING section of this song that means so much to me!
"So I'll say it now before we're at the door that someday we'll walk through" -- Talking about one of them passing. "Till death do us part."
next he says, "and if I'm the only one left in the room, "There's nowhere else I'll rather be than HOME with you" -- I just can't! That's so beautiful!!! I mean sure, it's pretty obvious to say that you would want to be with your beloved especially once they pass, but there's something different here that I didn't notice till like, my 10th time listening. During other sections similar to this one, he always says "I'd rather be here with you" but here he didn't! He can't be "here" with her if she is in Heaven! Instead he says "I'll rather be home with you" He and Abbey know this world is not their home and someday they will be home eternally together and I don't think you can get any more heartwarming than that thought!
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the end ^^

I (20F) am livid. I was living alone, but unfortunately, last week, my apartment complex told me last minute that someone else was going to be moving in with me the next day. I tried to be optimistic, but I cannot stand her anymore.
The most that my utilities have ever been was $7 for the month. I stay with my boyfriend half the time and open blinds for natural lighting and only turn on the lights at night or in the bathroom, where there are no windows. I typically take 10 minute showers, but on the days where I wash my hair, I turn off the water while I put on conditioner and let it sit. I usually don't flush the toilet for pee. A lot of these things honestly just seem like common sense to me, and others I do because they are better for the environment, save money, and aren't making my life any harder.
The roommate (~20F) has been here for one fcking week. I just got my half of the utility bill. It was $85, meaning that the total for the whole bill was $170. Her and her boyfriend turn on the lights in every single room they go into, even if they are just walking through to get to another and it is bright out, and often times, they don't even turn off the lights when they leave the room. They both take separate showers every single day that are very long. I would say 30 minutes or more for each of them. Most days, they don't even leave the house, and when they do, it's usually an hour or less. They turn on the heater even when the house is hot and even though the weather has been very nice (like 60⁰F outside every day). The other day, the thermostat said it was 75⁰ inside, and they had the audacity to turn the heater on, and they even left it on after they left the house. I have never met anyone who does stupid sht like that. They made the bill increase $163 more than my monthly bill has ever been just one week after moving in. I ended up taking the batteries out of the thermostat and turning off the A/C switch on the breaker because there is no way they are going to keep doing that.
Also, her boyfriend has been here more than I have. He is not supposed to be living her, and it is a violation of the lease for him to have been here this long. He has been here every single day and night. She has never slept over at his place (if he even has one). They are really loud and act like they own the place. They don't clean anything in the house other than their own dishes. I do everything else on my own. They use my stuff. I have asked them not to use my stuff for certain foods that I have intolerances to. They cook the foods that I have intolerances to every time they cook, and it seems like they may have used my plates for them a few times. I have had to leave the house before because I have been so nauseous and had trouble not throwing up from being around it. I was gone for a few days. The trash can was completely empty when I left, but when I got back, it was overflowing, and at the top, again a food that makes me sick to be around. I had to open all of the windows and eventually take out the trash because it was so bad. I almost threw up a few times from it but managed to keep it in. They have also taken my dirty dishes out of the dishwasher when there were about 4 in there (even though it was obvious that they were dirty), put them with my clean dishes, filled up the dishwasher with their own dishes, and used MY dishwashing tab to wash them. The funny thing is that they lock up their things like I am going to steal them, but I guess they aren't taking a look in the mirror.
I don't know what to do with these people. I honestly want to ask the property manager if her boyfriend is supposed to be living here and if they can pay 2/3 of the utilities since they are 2/3 of the ones using them. Does anyone have any advice on what to do? I am honestly wanting to get out this place because I already cannot stand them, and I cannot afford to pay the sublease fee or the extra utilities because I am living off my student loans right now. I don't have the time to get a job because I am being forced to do free labor for my university in addition to classes as a requirement to graduate.

My sense of self worth, my peace, my feeling of security. Everything.
Usually I can let it go. We’ve been split up for a couple of years now. We coparent mostly civilly. But doing my taxes today, broke me.
When we had kids, I worked part time and stayed home with the kids. He worked his way up in his career. When we split up he didn’t pay me child support for months. I also left him most of the furniture and furnished my new place myself. Even now he pays me very little a month for our two kids.
My hours were cut recently and our oldest daughter is on the autism spectrum and got kicked out of after school care so I lost work because I can’t work after 2pm now. And my car completely died so I’m now without a car. Even though my ex still drives the car that’s in both of our names and rarely lets me use it. He used to let me have it on Fridays, so I could have at least one full day of work, but now he wont anymore. I’ll have to take him to court to get anything. So getting more work isn’t really easy right now. I have creditors down my back. I’ve been making payment arrangements and the only thing that’s been keeping me going is knowing I’ll be getting a $3500 tax return. That would solve so many of my problems.
Well, nope. We live in Canada where we get a monthly child tax benefit (I realize how very lucky this is alone) and I rely on mine. About six months after we split my ex decided to claim half of it. It definitely put a dent in my wallet but whatever.
Well the government basically took all of my tax return to pay back what they paid him for, for the six months we were separated before he decided to claim. So he got a nice chunk of cash and I owed a bunch of cash.
He didn’t even pay child support those months. And now I’m missing out on money I need to keep my lights and phone on. I puked once I got the notice telling me this. I have to call back all of these creditors now and tell them I genuinely don’t know when I can pay them back. I just got paid today and had to pay rent (late) and now I have $100 to last me another week and a half. While my ex gets to drive around in the car WE own, work whatever hours he wants and I’m car-less and expected to be on child duty every day when our kid is out of school. I don’t know how I’m going to do this.
Everyone says it gets better once you leave an abusive relationship and I guess in some ways it does but fuck, the hits just keep coming even years later. The lack of any confidence also lead me into another shitty relationship which just really sucks.
If anyone has good ideas on how to make money from home I’m all ears.

Currently nannying for M(3) & 8mo(f). I have been with this family for almost a year and I am constantly faced with if I should be giving notice in, but this might be my last straw. To start off MB works part time and the rest of the time is always home with us. M has a major problem with hitting but it seems that only sister and I receive these blows. I have brought up multiple times how he is hitting very hard and I have tried time outs (starting with 1 and working towards max 3min) and explaining and consequences. Mom has decided she does not like time out so has created “relax time” aka kid gets to play with designated relax toys whenever he hits baby. I tried to talk to her but she blames all aggression on development which I understand but still feel there should be consequences. 3yo even smacked me in the face and all she said was sorry that happened to you then proceeded to reward him with a new book to read. This is just the tip Of the iceberg in addition to treating me like a maid. And no matter how hard I try to gently assert myself it seems like no one is taking me serious nor really that 3yo is running the household. What would you do? If giving notice what would you say?

I am about to graduate from an ivy college with a financial economics degree. I am currently a part-time EA but don't know if I want to stay on this track after college.
All the EA jobs I've seen pay around 90-150k depending on experience which is about the same for entry-level analyst jobs. The work-life balance is a lot better for EA jobs, but if I sacrifice now the long term payoff in fiance in terms of salary is a lot higher (300k after 10ish years - idk if I even need that much money).
Does anyone have any insight on either? Should I take a pay cut for higher payoff? Stay with EA jobs for better work life balance/less stress?

My sense of self worth, my peace, my feeling of security. Everything.
Usually I can let it go. We’ve been split up for a couple of years now. We coparent mostly civilly. But doing my taxes today, broke me.
When we had kids, I worked part time and stayed home with the kids. He worked his way up in his career. When we split up he didn’t pay me child support for months. I also left him most of the furniture and furnished my new place myself. Even now he pays me very little a month for our two kids.
My hours were cut recently and our oldest daughter is on the autism spectrum and got kicked out of after school care so I lost work because I can’t work after 2pm now. And my car completely died so I’m now without a car. Even though my ex still drives the car that’s in both of our names and rarely lets me use it. He used to let me have it on Fridays, so I could have at least one full day of work, but now he wont anymore. I’ll have to take him to court to get anything. So getting more work isn’t really easy right now. I have creditors down my back. I’ve been making payment arrangements and the only thing that’s been keeping me going is knowing I’ll be getting a $3500 tax return. That would solve so many of my problems.
Well, nope. We live in Canada where we get a monthly child tax benefit (I realize how very lucky this is alone) and I rely on mine. About six months after we split my ex decided to claim half of it. It definitely put a dent in my wallet but whatever.
Well the government basically took all of my tax return to pay back what they paid him for, for the six months we were separated before he decided to claim. So he got a nice chunk of cash and I owed a bunch of cash.
He didn’t even pay child support those months. And now I’m missing out on money I need to keep my lights and phone on. I puked once I got the notice telling me this. I have to call back all of these creditors now and tell them I genuinely don’t know when I can pay them back. I just got paid today and had to pay rent (late) and now I have $100 to last me another week and a half. While my ex gets to drive around in the car WE own, work whatever hours he wants and I’m car-less and expected to be on child duty every day when our kid is out of school. I don’t know how I’m going to do this.
Everyone says it gets better once you leave an abusive relationship and I guess in some ways it does but fuck, the hits just keep coming even years later. The lack of any confidence also lead me into another shitty relationship which just really sucks.
If anyone has good ideas on how to make money from home I’m all ears.

DilationSpeed <- c() x <- c() y <- c() for (row in 2:nrow(df2)) { x <- abs((df2[row, "PupilWidth"] - df2[row - 1, "PupilWidth"]) / (df2[row, "TotalTime"] - df2[row - 1, "TotalTime"])) y <- abs((df2[row + 1, "PupilWidth"] - df2[row, "PupilWidth"]) / (df2[row + 1, "TotalTime"] - df2[row, "TotalTime"])) DilationSpeed <- max(x,y) output <- data.frame(DilationSpeed, x, y) } 

I am starting a new position in risk and I have a few career path questions. To give some background on my experience, I have roughly 3 years in the finance industry and majored in business. I have the series 7/66/9/10/4 exams and am currently studying for the series 24.
As of now, my goal over the next few years is to obtain the CFA charter while getting some more experience under my belt in this new job. Ideally, I would like to land into a much higher paying position in the next 3-5 years but I am not sure what other roles are out there. I am aware that it will be hard to climb the corporate ladder quickly with minimal years of experience which is why I am focusing on obtaining a designation or other licenses/certifications to help boost my resume and make up for the lack of experience.
My reason for wanting to take the CFA is that I see it as being one of, if not the most respected designation in the industry, which will look good on my resume no matter the route I choose. It also covers a ton of topics and is very versatile, for example if I decide to be an advisor down the line, I would be able to fast track the CFP by having the CFA.
The criteria I have for a career path besides enjoying the work is nothing that demands extremely long hours and something that has a high salary. I don’t mind working long weeks but I don’t think I can do IB with 70-80 hour weeks especially factoring in studying. Other than that, I am pretty open minded as to sales, management, risk, operations etc. I don’t think I will get to where I want to be pay wise by staying in my current role for a long time, but it seems to be the best stepping stone that I can use to get into a higher paying role.
Can anyone point out the higher paying niche roles in the finance industry that align with my current role/licenses and the CFA? Such as becoming a PM down the line, potentially an advisor, or any unique research roles?
Would anyone suggest not taking the CFA and instead go after my masters? Or does anyone have another designation or certifications that stands out to employers equally or more than the above?
Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and for your feedback.

My housemate has changed since moving from a sub-leasee to a lease in our rental. What should I do?
Need some advice please on a situation with my housemate.
I have been at this rental for 4 years. Had a housemate move out and found a nice guy to move in (he's in his 20s is polite and friendly). This was a year ago. When he moved in he said he was single. He would be out 9/10 nights (usually getting home at 9-10pm), and had a "friend" occasionally come over to help him move (it was a girl).
When another housemate left in September last year I offered him the chance to go from a sub-leasee to being on the lease, which he said he wanted. Almost to the day of signing the lease (and paying the bond) his girlfriend has come over every day and stays the night. She even waits outside for him to get home from work and is even over on days he has off of work. Basically, whenever he is home she is at the house.
It is pretty obvious that in the early days (when I thought he was single) he was out every night because he was at her place, but couldn't stay for whatever reason so as soon as he signed onto the lease she comes over every day.
None of this was discussed with me prior, or since. I don't expect to have been given approval but a little communication would have been good. She avoids me whenever she's in the house (always going to the bathroom whenever I am in my room), which she does as well with our 3rd housemate. I can count on one hand the amount of words she has spoken to me over the 6 months she has been coming over (every night). It feels like there is a stranger constantly in the house, to be honest.
As far as I know she doesn't use the shower, but I'm not totally sure as they are both sneaky around the house, for example she always leaves in the morning when I am in the shower and as previously described she generally avoids me and the 3rd housemate, so I can't be certain of what she does.
My main concern is his lack on cleaning and just general care for the house. He has never really contributed to the house in terms of cleaning, but when he was never really home I didn't care as I and the 3rd housemate would clean and deal with the other issues.
However, ever since he signed onto the lease and is home now most nights because he has his GF come over every day, this has made me notice his lack of care more. In my view he wants to have his cake and eat it too.
My concern is that because she's around he isn't paying enough attention to the tasks that need to be done. In my country rental houses get inspected by the property manager, on behalf of the landlord, every 3 months. At the previous inspection some weeks back, his bathroom (that he shares with the 3rd housemate) was identified as not being clean enough. I trusted him to clean it and when I saw that note left by the property manager I looked myself and the only cleaning that he had done was to wipe down the basin - the shower was filthy, the bathtub had dust and hair in it, the drains were mouldy, there was cobwebs in the corner, and the floor was dirty. I have told him that he needs to clean more, which he said he'd do, but I've seen not sign of it. This last Saturday he had the day off work and was in his room all day with his GF, meanwhile I mowed the lawn, did the edges, and vacuum and moped the floors, he didn't do a thing (he can't say he is too busy).
He also doesn't contribute to any other aspect of the house - he doesn't bother about the general upkeep of the house, he doesn't change the bin, or take the bins out, etc.
I'm just seeking advice on what I can do (if anything)?
He obviously has changed since signing the lease so I think he thinks he's untouchable.
The rental is very cheap for the type of house it is and the landlords are easy going. I feel if he doesn't pull his head in with the cleaning we'll get kicked out.
TDLR: my housemate's girlfriend stays over each night and he doesn't contribute towards the house, but because he's on the lease I think he thinks he can do anything. Looking for advice.

Diablo 4 Feedback:
I hope feedback is still welcome?
Going over the „must do changes“
First of all, everything that is mentioned here is my own, personal view on the matter and my intention of writing this is to give feedback so that I have a higher chance of some day being able to play the game I want to play. Since this vision of what game I want to play is not shared by everybody, I suggest, that everybody who doesn’t like what I have to say writes their own feedback instead of criticising the way I envision Diablo 4 to become better. I also only played the Druid and the Barbarian to lvl 25 since these archetypes interested me the most. Thus, I will only give feedback on these two classes.
This feedback also throws around with ideas that I found interesting. I hope you find the general ideas behind them interesting. They are not fully thought out and flawed, but I liked they key concepts. Another small thing: English is not my first language, so if there are errors, typos or whatever, please refrain from focusing on that. Since all this is out of the way now, lets get to the most important part.
TLDR:
Gameplay great, art great, classes great (except druid), itemization terrible, skill trees doubling in size would be a good start, putting many legendary powers on the skill tree as skill runes would be infinitely better to create choice (you shouldn’t be able to have all active), dungeon design good at a base but needs more variety and less walking, overworld is amazing and makes me feel isolated most of the time, the map needs to be a little more clear in cities and give us options to be put in the middle of the screen with less opacity, interface needs a major rework.
​
Don’t change:
The gameplay mechanics at a base level. The game is smoother than anything I ever played.
Open world and stuff.
​
The Must Do Changes:
Itemization, Interface, Skilltree
Itemization:
Now, that the part for casuals who don’t want to deep dive is over, lets get to the real feedback.
Items are, apart from gameplay, the most important part to create a great game that involves looting items. That does not mean, that items should give your character the most power though, but rather that creating items that are interesting to find and use, while not making any other gameplay aspect irrelevant, which is what is currently the case in Diablo 4. At this point I am not even talking about the individual affixes or legendary powers. If you have a low damage weapon, you have a low damage build, regardless of any other factor that may influence the power of your character. This is a grave design flaw since when 100% of your damage is determined by what weapon you wield, putting in more skill point into your skill tree only increases your damage based on the weapon that you wear. A level up feels way less significant for a damage increase than finding a weapon with 20 more damage. If you have a great weapon for your current level, you are going to deal great damage. If you have a bad weapon for your current level, you are going to deal bad damage. Although defence works in a similar way, there are more options to gain flat damage reduction and survivability that don’t solely rely on your defence stat as a base for the survivability they are providing for you. An example would be the barbarian generator flay* which provides a flat damage reduction stack that has nothing to do with how much defence you have. That is good, because it shouldn’t have anything to do with my defence stat. Now lets look at what happens with increasing my damage by using skill points. If I invest a point into violent whirlwind, I deal 30% more damage if I channel whirlwind for more than 3 seconds. This damage increase is tied to what weapon I use. This 30% more damage, is only ever as good as the weapon that I use. There is no static increase in power no matter how many skill points I invest. If I don’t find a good weapon, I wont deal good damage. This design is bad because if I find a low level weapon, that has the perfect affixes on it (non of which currently exist in the game btw.) I want to keep using that weapon, but because my entire damage relies on what weapon I use, I am bound to selling or salvaging the low level GG item I found. That is not fun. I wish they had learned their lesson from Diablo 3. This issue could be solved by giving skills both flat damage and %damage that scales off your weapon.
Now that this basic issue has been addressed, I want to talk about legendary affixes. Any legendary affix that increases the damage of a specific skill or provides a utility aspect (like resource cost reduction or automatic targeting for untargeted skills) that makes it possible to deal more damage with that specific skill are a must use and not a choice. If there were 30 legendary affixes for each skill, this would be a different story, but since we only have a limited amount of them, its bad design. With the current state of legendary affixes, any that works the way I mentioned earlier should be put on the skill tree as a rune you have to chose from. Later I will go into more detail when talking about the skill tree.
A lot of the normal affixes on items were incredibly boring. Especially the rolls on weapons were underwhelming. Finding a weapon that increased you attackspeed by 1.5% felt like finding a weapon with nothing on it at all. Only because a weapon is low level, doesn’t mean that the affix rolls on it should be low as well. Providing meaningful affixes at low level is crucial to create a fun and exciting looting experience even during lower levels and non endgame content. Lets say it takes 20 hours to reach endgame when playing through the game the first time (as a casual who doesn’t skip cutscenes, listens to people talking and is not min maxing the gameplay at every step). Those 20 hours should feel good. You should be happy about finding great items. In its current iteration, the items all feel exactly the same and the major difference is what level mob dropped them for their base damage to be either better or worse than what you currently use. Weapons need to have the possibility to roll +to weapon damage as element X/Y/Z, attack speed, chance to do X/Y/Z, +to skills, converting a % of all damage dealt to an element, bleeding or poison. All of these are more interesting than just doing % more damage when a condition is met. Also, I feel like the different base weapons are not different enough from each other. I didn’t really care what type of item the weapon was. That must change. Make the differences between each base weapon more distinct.
For other gear, I also think that some stats roll at too low numbers to be significant. I like regen when not being damaged by an enemy, but I think it should rather be regen when not damaging an enemy. Some classes can avoid taking damage much more easily than others and this way it would work as a small heal in between fights without having to go to town. I also like that boots and pants can have an inherent roll that is evade or potion related. (We need more of this as part of actual item bases, so different items become interesting) The bad part is, that these inherent affixes overshine any other roll the item could have. 40% movement speed after dashing, vs 2% move speed overall. The 2% feel completely meaningless. The base stat rolls are interesting, but only if the base stats would work in a different way. I will talk about that more later on. Anyways, I am not an expert when it comes to itemization, but I think even a few small changes could go a long way.
Interface:
I do not like anything about the interface, except the way the skill icons look. Personally, I think its neat. Now lets get to the other parts of the interface. First I am going to talk about the map. While the map worked great for me strolling around in the wild, I found it to be quite mess in Kyovashad. I couldn’t always clearly see if there was a path, a doorway or a wall. I think slightly changing the colours of pathways, doorways and exits in cities by making them a little bit brighter could work very well. I especially felt that ways when going to the “Kadala” trader on the right side of Kyovashad. In addition to that, I would like if we could have many more customization options for both the map and the skill bar with the health and resource globe. Let us move them please, putting them as individual parts so we can move the health pot sign anywhere we want, scale the health globe very big and the resource globe very small at the same time. For the map I wish we could have options like putting the map in the middle of our screen only when we enter a dungeon, all the time or not at all. Let us change colour, opacity and all these things.
Moving on to the “renown” screen, I wish it would just be a little box hidden somewhere small on my screen. I click a small button to collect the rewards but don’t have to enter an entire screen just to collect my stuff. You can add the screen hidden away in an option somewhere, where people who care about it can look at it. For me it didn’t feel Diablo like at all. Pressing a button in a menu somewhere in my map feels very wrong. The only menu where I gain power from should be the skill tree or a system that works similar to what a skill tree is. It would be so much cooler if we collected the money and whatever we get from the renown bonus from a chest in the main city of each region. It would be as if the people living there were actually thankful and saved up to give us the rewards because “they like us so much”. Doing it in a menu is in my opinion not the way to go.
Going over to the skill tree, I think the design is okay, although I will go into more detail about that later in the skill tree part. When it opens I feel like it is way too zoomed in. If it opens zoomed out all the way I could decide at what part of the tree I want to zoom in.
Coming to items and the inventory, I have to say, that this is the worst looking inventory I have ever seen. I am not talking about the character, but the space where I collect my loot. Why would there ever be a case where a truly giant double bladed axe takes up the exact same space as a ring or an amulet? The big problem is, just like in Diablo 3, we will pick up every single item that drop to salvage it for materials or selling it for gold. This must change. Always filling up the inventory with junk, not knowing if any of them even have potential to be good, this feels bad. I also miss identifying legendary items. One might think its just taking up unnecessary time, but the anticipation building while your character channels to identify or you are hovering over it with a scroll if identification is deeply missed (by me at least). I would also love if we could get the option to look at gear that is on the ground, just like in Diablo 3.
Coming to the upper part of the inventory, it is just a lot of empty space. I like seeing the character there, but I don’t like the way the gear slots are organized. There must be a better, more interesting way, that is not just 2 rows + weapon slots at the bottom. The stats with life defence and power are okay I guess, but I want to be able to take a look at the details of my character very quickly and not click through 2 menu’s. Here, customization would be cool. Let us decide which stats we want to see at the left side of the inventory.
Skill Tree:
It too small, too restrictive, not interesting enough, giving us 500 ways to apply vulnerable while only 3 to actually significantly change the way a skill works or plays.
Skill trees doubling in size would seem like a reasonable size where the game beings to provide actual opportunities to create self made builds. At its current state, I feel like every 5 characters I will encounter the exact build I am playing, with the only difference being which skill they use to apply vulnerable or provide survivability.
Choice is currently written in very tiny letters in Diablo 4. Every single skill currently in Diablo 4 that is not an ultimate skill needs at least 3 more runes that significantly change the way they work. Lets imagine we call those mastery runes. Lets imagine we unlock them after putting 5 points into the base skill. Now lets imagine that they alter skill in a ways that matter for gameplay. An example could be, that instead of 6 strikes, lightning storm (the druid skill) is now one very powerful ‘Lighting Strike’, damaging only the targeted mob but no longer providing group clear. Another example could be double swing marking enemies that are hit by both weapons to take 110% of the next damaging skill that is not double swing as damage over time, instead of dealing it as initial damage. That way that single rune could create an entire array of bleeding builds that revolve around double swing without limiting any bleeding build that exists outside of this way of playing a bleed build. There are almost infinite ways of making the skills and passives in the tree more interesting. Please use them, even if its not possible until launch.
What might be possible until launch is to deliver the promised feature of earning 5 stat points per level that we can then spend ourselves. The game did that automatically. I get why it did that. Focusing on the “main” stat of your class was the best thing to do.
I suggest changing the stats for each class, providing them with very unique ways to spec, while not being limited to pumping every point into the “main stat”
I felt unhappy with the stats the most as I played the druid. Why would my werewolf scale with willpower, which focuses on overpower damage. Why would my werebear be “useless” if I invested everything into strength even though playing a strong bulky bear is what its all about?
I suggest that a basic damage increase is removed completely from stats. For the druid increasing earth, lightning, werewolf or werebear damage. This would create actual choice of going for a specific way to deal damage. I addition to that, each stat should provide a form of utility that is only active if the stat is the highest out of all four. For dex that could be an additional dash, for intelligence a potion charge or something along those lines. You can go in so many direction. For other classes the stats would have to work in different ways again, since not all classes have four damage types, but for the sorc it could be that they also provide the same defensive options, but are renamed to elemental masteries, so the sorc has only 3 stats that can increase the potency of elemental damage and a fourth one that makes them a glass cannon, increasing all damage but by less and reducing defence gained from items and not providing any defensive option as an addition when it is the highest stat.
All of these are just quick ideas thrown into the room. They are not thought out, not for every class and might have other issues I didn’t think about, but for me, that would be many times better than the current system in the game, which is simply very boring.
Dudu feedback:
The druids as a class felt especially clunky to me. Many of the skills did not work the way I wanted them to work. Storm Strike was the most underwhelming generator, for me. The lightnings chain range was very, very small. Increasing the range of it wouldn’t hurt anybody and also wouldn’t make it unbalanced. I just felt disappointed that when I attacked, very often I was only hitting one mob because the other mobs where just out of range for it to connect. Also I feel like it should either be a rune or introduced to the base skill, that Storm Strike can bounce at least 2 times on the same target. That would make it much more fun to look at, and play with it.
Claw also disappointed me, not as a base skill, but when taking the rune for it to “strike” twice. In its current form it dealt double the damage and the wolf would attack with two hands at the same time. When I read the rune I imagined it would feel more like actually attacking twice. Hitting with both hands at the same time didn’t feel close to being as cool as if the werewolf actually attacked two different times in a short window, generating spirit twice aswell. That would make it much cooler for me.
Maul felt okay while windshear felt very slow, just like the druid overall. Earth spike is a cool concept, but I am currently not seeing myself ever using it since I don’t like the thematic of earth skills. If it was reworked to be a tree stump poking out of the ground I would think about using it, just because it would be funny stump things to death.
I am not going to comment on every skill now, but I want to say that every single base skill cost too much spirit, while any basic skill didn’t generate enough to feel like a smooth gameplay loop. I don’t know why every single class got regenerating resources, except the druid and barbarian. It should already tell a lot about what players like, since these two classes are also the ones that received the most amount of criticism.
Tornado is the only base skill that needs a major rework. It is not predictable where it will go, very bad when used in small spaces and so big many times it just got stuck somewhere and disappeared. Make is smaller and more predicable or let us spawn them where our mouse is, building up, growing in power standing still for 1-2 seconds until is searches for nearby enemies. Remove the legendary power that makes it search enemies. Otherwise, this skill will ever only be fun when using it.
Make cyclone armour’s active a dash instead of a knockback please. You almost never want to randomly knock away all enemies around you as the druid, since with many builds its you who is running after the monsters. Having another dash for that, or escaping when playing a more ranged build, would go a long way to make cyclone armour way better.
Coming to companions, The active of both the ravens and the vine creeper are very very nice. It is a shame that their passive counterpart is not noticeable at all. I was using the vine creeper for hours and in all that time I only noticed it attacking a single time. I am not exaggerating here. It bad and not noticeable at all, with so much going on on your screen. The same goes for the raven. Their passive impact is close to zero. Contrary to that, the passive part of the wolves felt very helpful as they tanked damage and had thus noticeable impact in combat. Its just too bad that their active counterpart feels like it has no impact at all, just like the passive of the other two. I think tweaking them in some way could make a zoo druid very fun.
For the ultimates, I hate grizzly rage. I never, ever create a build, just to activate an ability, that gives me other abilities that I could have chosen myself. Please make Grizzly Rage summon a giant Bear, so summon builds have another summon to rely on. This bear could also give buffs to the player so it can be used in more ways than the summon build, but the design of grizzly rage is not interesting at all. If it gave us skills that were not accessible through the skill tree, just like the archon wizard in Diablo 3, one could justify having this ultimate in the game, but in its current form it serves not purpose.
Barbarian Feedback:
I love the way the barbarian plays. I loved the skills and everything about how you played it. It is very unfortunate that the other classes from the early access beta were so much stronger at early levels since I had a great time playing through the game. Every skill worked the ways I was expecting it to work. It was the right difficulty, and I even died a few times. That should be the goal of difficulty for the game. The other classes seemingly had it too easy. A big factor might be, that often times I felt like I had no way of recovery or rage generation without getting close to mobs, which was impossible since my hp was so low. Since this is a problem of the early levels I think barb can stay pretty much all the same, provided they add the rune choices I mentioned earlier and increase the size of the skill tree.

I’m 26 years old. I grew up in the nyc public school system. I’ve always been in love with history and a part of me has always wanted to become a highschool history teacher. I decided to not to go down that path because I was worried about the money.
I decided to study finance and accounting instead. I’m on my third job at an accounting firm. I feel very indifferent about it and I sometimes hate it. I do not love what I do. Now I’m getting laid off. A part of me says to take this chance and go back to school.

1. Do I need to get a bachelors in history then a masters in education? What do I even do?
2. How bad or good is the money? What can I expect to start at and what’s my max. Pensions and summers off sounds awesome. Right now I’m making 90k and I’m not sure if I can take a huge pay cut.
3. Will I regret making this change? Are you guys happy?

From LECTURES ON BUDDHISM Vol. IV by Daisaku Ikeda, translated by General Overseas Bureau, The Seikyo Press, Tokyo, 1967.
Starting here, more or less at random:
From "Win Victory With Unity", the Leaders' Meeting of Ibaraki Headquarters, Sokagakkai Headquarters, Tokyo, March 14, 1965:

Our organization has the goal of Kosen-rufu. We must breast the tape. (p. 247)

Bewwwwbs

It is only ten or so years since Mr. Toda rebuilt our organization. However, the fact that Nichiren Shoshu has spread not only in Japan but even overseas furnishes vivid proof that our faith, the power of the Gohonzon and our guidance are all correct.

Gosh - then the FACT that there are FAR more SGIWhistleblowers than SGI members on reddit is "vivid proof" that WE're correct! Sensei SAYS!! The numbers don't lie!

If, encouraged by this evidence, we advance - as we have done in the past, with faith, leadership and unity,

We've done better WITHOUT any of that!

for the ten and twenty years to come

It's been almost 60 years...

there can be no doubt that this religion will develop tens of times more than what it is now.

Nope - it never did, and now it's collapsing at home in Japan and abroad.

Witnessing our present aspects and having confidence in our future, let us advance to win a great victory at the same pace, with the same unity and the same leadership. (p. 249)

Ol' Die-sucky would have done well to have studied the REAL Buddhist concept of "impermanence"...
From "True Doctor of Society", Colors-presenting Ceremony of the Student Division, Sokagakkai Headquarters, Tokyo, March 29, 1965:

Some critics or scholars often slander us with an emotional bias or jealousy - we who are practicing Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. Rather, it is very doubtful that they could funamentally help themselves, two or five persons in reality, or that they achieved a human revolution in themselves with great delight. It is not too much to say that they could not. To criticize others is an easy task which even a child or a schoolboy can do.

Hey, Scamsei, haven't you heard that when you point ONE finger at others, THREE fingers point back at YOU?? What about that ol' "clear mirror", eh??? Esho funi much??

In conclusion, I should say that you must not forget that you will shoulder the Nichiren Shoshu Sokagakkai, Japan and further more [sic], the entire world in the future, as I mentioned this every time the leaders' meeting or colors-presenting ceremony of the Student Division is ever held.
Likewise, if Sensho Zojoman (3rd of the 3 Powerful Enemies) stands in our way, I know that Kosen-rufu is coming near. Although many are so-called critics, most of them criticize Nichiren Shoshu Sokagakkai like children. Therefore, I am not inclined to even try to confute their infantile criticism.

REAL mature, Scamsei! Now the critics are rapidly multiplying and "kosen-rufu" has disappeared from sight. It's gone.

However, Sensho Zojoman stands for criticism by really first-class critics. The appearance of Sensho Zojoman is an omen that Kosen-rufu is coming nearer.
Therefore, we can do nothing but strive for the future of mankind... (pp. 271-273)

Self-important much??
From "Faith Comprises Jigyo and Keta", The District Leaders' Meeting of Nagano Headquarters, Nagano Kaikan, Nagano Pref., March 30, 1965:

In the world of learning, those who carry on steady research every day are great.

I'm great! YAY!!

Our practice is based on Nichiren Daishonin's teachings once and for all. We are not paid by anyone. We have striven up till today despite criticism from misguided people, hatred and abuse from irresponsible leaders of society.

Yeah, that's gotta be it 🙄

However, our organization has become more solidly established than any other. I hope you will cherish this belief and that you will live from now on with such firm conviction. Kosen-rufu is the will of the Buddha. Thus it is the duty of us, the disciples, to do our best with unity so that Kosen-rufu may be attained as soon as possible.

Or never.

Even if we cannot realize Kosen-rufu in our time because it is not the age in which the Buddha prophesied Kosen-rufu would come true

No, it's because it's a brainless concept. There IS no "one size fits all" in anything, and certainly not in religion or spirituality! The Ikeda cult will NEVER be the dominant religion ANYWHERE.

yet the masses of Bodhisattvas of the Earth,

Aging and dying

the actual proof of human revolution with great blessings,

Yeah, not so much! As said elsewhere, The SGI's "actual proof" is the ENEMY of "human revolution".

and the rise of confident youth

Which the SGI does NOT have in anything approaching significant numbers

will without doubt cause great changes not only in Japan but also in the entire world in the future. (p. 276-278)

Still waiting!
From "The Greatest Religion For People", The Guidance Meeting of the Nagano Headquarters, Nagano Headquarters, Nagano pref., March 30, 1965:

Nichiren Daishonin is the True Buddha of Mappo and we are the Daishonin's children as well as His disciples. The True Buddha has the power to help us lead the happiest life, or if we believe Nichiren Daishonin, embrace the Gohonzon and practice the teachings of the Daishonin, He will never leave us alone to suffer the agonies of life.

Just like JESUS!

We must have self-confidence and never be craven in spirit, for our happiness depends on our faith in the Gohonzon.

Huh. Other people do even better WITHOUT the useless Nohonzon! This is just the SGI's "happiness bigotry".

The other day, I read a criticism in a magazine which said, "The Sokagakkai has made a remarkable development, but it is a religious body of people in the lower social strata." (p. 281-282)

On average, members of the Gakkai were from the lower classes of society and didn't have any money to speak of. Source

Keep that in mind for further down, where Ikeda claims his cult is so "democratic" because it supposedly represents all social strata and remember that fascist movements start within the lower social strata (as lower middle class and the politically disenfranchised) and feature hatred of Marxists.
And Ikeda's always bagging on communism, as on p. 287.

Fascists acted as strikebreakers; launched violent assaults on left-wing labour unions Source

Remember how the Soka Gakkai's attack on the Tanro coal miners' labor union in Hokkaido was such a huge hairy deal? Tanro won 😶
From "Without Faith, Your Efforts Are Fruitless", the District Leaders' Meeting of Tokyo 3rd Headquarters, Josenji Temple, Tokyo, April 20, 1965:

I think you are all chanting many Daimoku. A strong believer is one who chants a huge number. He is the entity of Ichinen Sanzen. Then he can carry out all the activities he should as a Bodhisattva of the Earth. His activity is never fruitless in any sense and is changed into the magnet which draws Kosen-rufu nearer.

Except now Kosen-rufu has disappeared over the distant horizon, never to be seen ever. Let's all agree it was a stoopid idea to begin with. Nichiren was a dumbass.

In a word, everything depends on the Daimoku.

Or not.

Today I wrote a calligraphic scroll "Itai Doshin" (unity based on faith). This I did because I wanted to present it to the training institute of the Headquarters staff in Hakone.

Of course there's NOTHING anyone else there would want more! 🙄

In Itai Doshin, we can attain anything but in Dotai Ishin (the antonym of Itai Doshin (unity) Dotai neans that many belong to one organization and Ishin means that yet they have no same objective or idea - it is like the crew of a ship having different destinations), we can achieve nothing remarkable. This holds true both for Buddhism as well as in other matters. Since "all phenomena in the universe reveal Buddhism," if you realize the depths of the worldly law, you will arrive at Buddhism. Thus the same principle applies conclusively both to Buddhism and worldly affairs.

I don't think so.

In plainer terms, Itai Doshin is unity. The other day, an American magazine reporter

...who will remain unnamed - there were plenty of negative articles coming out around this time in various magazines in the US. See here and here and here for just a few examples.

came to see me.

SURE he did, Bucky!!

He said that he thought at first the Sokagakkai was a fascist's or military organization

Funny so MANY are arriving at that same conclusion 🤔

but that after his own close research he found his views quite incorrect.

Ohhhhh - I get it! THIS is the reporter who NEVER wrote any article about the Sokagakkai!!

He said, "Your unity is simply too strong.

Oh brother 🙄
Yeah, I'm sure "he" said that! Why not tell us all his NAME so we can ask him OURSELVES??

"Observing your Culture Festival, we find in it what we cannot think practical.

"WE"??

Therefore, some critics and others who witnessed it are apt to define your organization as fascistic, aren't they?"

That's NOT why 😑

I answered, "What a foolish view they take! It is only natural that any organization, be it a business firm or a baseball team, should desire to be firmly united, isn't it? If they are in disunity, they cannot do anything and feel unhappy. The noted Nichibo volleyball team was closely knit but was it fascistic or militaristic?"

Did the noted Nichibo volleyball team create a political party and commit voter fraud to influence the government??

Then the reporter said, "You are correct.

Because everyone who isn't "foolish" MUST agree with Scamsei!

"Nichibo is not a fascist [sic] in the least."

ORLY??

Doshin of Itai Doshin in Buddhism means to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Nah, it means quite a bit MORE than that, but let's continue:

From another angle, it signifies the unity aimed at in Kosen-rufu. Itai means the establishment of each individual self.

And Doshin means each individual self doing EXACTLY what Ikeda commands them to do!

It indicates oneself. There are no contradictions in Buddhism, which clarifies the highest principle of democracy.

...and explains why there is NONE within the Ikeda cult!! No contradictions at ALL!

This is obvious from the fact that the Sokagakkai membership comprises people in all walks of life such as company owners, factory workers, housewives, office girls, students, statesmen and educators and that these members are taking active parts in their environments and occupations as they like.

Yeah, which is WHY the Sokagakkai had such a reputation as an organization of "the poor and the sick."

They live in society. This is indicative of Itai. Yet all of them have no alternative but to chant Daimoku to establish their own happiness.

Yikes - sounds ugly!

They engage in various activities to spread the True Buddhism for the establishment of a peaceful and prosperous society, or in other words, Kosen-rufu. Their homes, occupations and social standings are widely varied. They are quite free.

Yeah, as "free" as anyone else trapped within a cult! Free to be exploited!

This is Itai. However, fundamentally all of them chant Daimoku for their own happiness. This is Doshin. I think this is the supreme formula of democracy.

Well, it's been well-established that Ikeda has never had ANY understanding of what "democracy" actually entails and that he in fact holds the concept in contempt, so...

Although this may sound conceited, I am making full preparations for the program to be realized twenty or thirty years from now... (pp. 294-296)

"The program" failed. It's been almost SIXTY years since he said that - so much for his conceit!

There is no doubt that I am a leader in Kosen-rufu. (pp. 294-298)

GTFO.
From "Follow the Practice and Spirit of the Successive Presidents" at the District Leaders' Meeting of the Tokyo 4th Headquarters, Komei Kaikan, Tokyo, April 21, 1965:

Because we, as the Daishonin's disciples, are devoting ourselves to our own happiness and to that of others, we are contributing to the peace and happiness of not only the Japanese people but also all mankind. (p. 302)

From "Nichiren Shoshu, the Sun of the World" speech given at the 28th General Meeting, Nihon University Auditorium, Tokyo, May 3, 1965:

For the past five full years since my inauguration as President, I am fully convinced that a firm and unyielding base for Kosen-rufu has been established.
I would like to pay my sincere respect to those leaders who, centered on me for these past five years - although I am still far from perfect - have striven every day, month and year with the spirit of "establishing the True Buddhism for the pacification of the land" and have devoted themselves to the practice of propagation.
Now, I have renewed my resolution to take the leadership in promoting Kosen-rufu a step further...
Especially remarkable was the development of the Young Men's and Young Women's and Student Divisions. The Young Men's Division increased from 158,000 to 1,800,000 members; the Young Women's Division, from 119,000 to 1,300,000; both making a striking increase of 1,100 per cent.

Don't ever accept SGI members' insistence that it isn't about the numbers; it's ALWAYS been about the NUMBERS!

All these signify the future development not only of the Sokagakkai but also of Japan. It gives me the greatest delight as it is the grand march of young promoters of Kosen-rufu or youthful Bodhisattvas of the Earth.
The Student Division, among others, increased its membership by 3,200 percent, from 2,200 to 71,000 members. It is still developing towards its membership goal of 100,000 by the General Meeting of the division slated for July of this year. This is the group of that many Sharihotsu's [sic] in Mappo and I believe that it is the greatest proof that worldwide kosen-rufu will certainly be attained. (pp. 304-306)

That ↑ is from 1965. Notice the results of outside research into the Sokagakkai's claims of massive numbers of university students joining:

The constant asseveration of the Society that university students are flocking to join it seems to conflict with these findings. According to the Seikyo Shimbun of August 7 and 25, 1967, the Sokagakkai [university] Student Division had acquired 200,000 members out of the slightly more than one million college students in the nation - roughly 18%. But a 1966 survey of 6,000 university students in the Tokyo area turned up only 52 professed Gakkai members, less than 1% of the respondents. Source

If the Sokagakkai's claims had been true, that 1966 survey should have turned up 1,080 Gakkai-member students; it found only 52 willing to disclose Sokagakkai membership - less than 5% of the numbers the Gakkai was claiming. The Ikeda cult's boasts melt away under scrutiny.

However, let me state that in this disturbed world with the Vietnam war still dragging on, the faster the spread of Nichiren Shoshu is, the earlier the peace of the world will be brought out, and that if it is delayed for a day, this world endure war a day longer [sic]. (p. 310)
I am fully convinced that the rise of Nichiren Shoshu and the Sokagakkai heralds the dawn of the religious world in Mappo, while that of the Komeito is the dawn upon the darkness of Japan's political field and is likewise the awakening of the people from democracy at standstill. (p. 311)

The feeling that "One-world government is WRONG - unless WE're in charge" is the problem. There's a lot more; I'll put it up in future installments. Thanks for reading.

Was wondering if anyone had any hookups on firmware for 2017 Nissan Titan XD w Rockford HU. I'm having problems with my SXM going black, and after a very short amount of google fu its a common problem. The firmware is being held hostage by my Nissan Dealer.
Using the TSB from nissan I went to make an appointment when I asked if this would be part of my warranty for my NEW to me TITAN XD (25 days owned as of 03/30/23) they said they have to diagnose what is wrong first.... When I told them I'm a Tech at a different shop and I just want the firmware updated without diagnosis they got all bent out of shape. I said I'll pay for the firmware and some smart ass service advisor pipes up and says "well the software costs 25 grand" ya bud that's not what I'm talking about. I handed the service manager the TSB and I shit you not he said it takes "6 hours to download" I mean the TSB says you have it already provided to you on USB drives by Nissan so IDK what you are downloading.
ANYWAYS Talking to the Dealership owner after the craziness at the service desk he said we will work something out. BUT if I can get it from someone I can do it myself and be done with my local dealer.
Extra info, On Jan 30/23 my Titan SV got written off in an accident which was no fault of mine, the insurance co paid me 10k over value on my SV because of my recent maintenance and added accessories SO I found a upgrade/replacement, XD diesel and bought it from a different Nissan dealer in Southern Ontario Canada (I live in NWO) my local dealer slightly hates me because I don't buy from them BUT I do get *MOST of my service done at the dealer.
​
TLDR: does anyone have access to NTB16-100a Headunit update USB from Nissan so I can have my SXM back.

Hey SPACs. It's been a long while and most of you might not know me. I used to be quite active here circa 2021. Though I haven't done much in SPACs since, I have accumulated a sizable bet on HZON warrants (~15% of portfolio). Here is my write up on Flexjet and the HZON deal.

IMPORTANT NOTES: Because I spilled tea on my main laptop and its currently unusable (I'm writing from an older macbook), I wasn't able to upload many images in this post — which are essential. Nevertheless, I uploaded the text on this post, as I was required to use more words in this post given it's a DD. So please read the linked Google doc version. Aslo, the parts that talk about warrants and SPACs in general will be obvious to many people here (I wrote this for a more general audience originally).

All feedback, skepticism, and criticism is welcome!
**** THE TEXT BELOW IS MISSING ESSENTIAL INFORMATION ***\*
Disclosures: (1) I own both HZON common shares and warrants. This is not a recommendation to invest without first verifying the information that is relevant to your decision to invest. (2) The information in this write up is from March 25, 2023 and may or may not be updated thereafter depending on the format.

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Flexjet

Company Background

Flexjet began as part of Bombardier Aerospace in 1995 and has been owned and managed since 2013 by Michael Silvestro and Ken Ricci. The two were roommates at Notre Dame and are both licensed pilots and seasoned aviation industry entrepreneurs. Silvestro is currently the longest serving CEO in the private aviation industry.
Flexjet will be the first publicly traded company of its kind that is profitable. The company offers services across the whole aviation spectrum: on-demand jet chartering, jet card programs, fractional ownership, full ownership, and vertical lift (helicopter service). Although fractional ownership remains the core of their business, customers are able to trade up or opt for complimentary services with minimal friction – while remaining with Flexjet. Fractional owners typically enter into 4-5 year contracts. Such customers tend to be exceptionally loyal; over a third of current customers have been with Flexjet for 10+ years. The proceeds from these contracts cover the bulk of the cost for Flexjet’s new aircraft purchases.

Competition and market position

Flexjet has operational advantages that allow it to provide more dependable and convenient transportation than what is offered by others. The company has the largest controlled (or in-house) maintenance network and is the only company with complete paint, interior, and engineering capabilities. Pilot attrition is also low; more than a third of crew members have been with the company for 15+ years. This leads to a higher level of expertise and consistency. Likewise, pilots are assigned to a specific airplane typically, and Flexjet estimates that this familiarity with a particular aircraft increases dispatch availability by 7%. Relatedly, Flexjet employees express high levels of job satisfaction and pilots receive the highest pay in the industry. This is especially advantageous in the long run because labor issues have plagued major airlines and private aviation companies like NetJets in the past.
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NetJets (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway) is the largest private aviation services company, with a 25% market share. Flexjet compares favorably to Netjets on several important metrics.
Flexjet has also been consistently gobbling up share at NetJets’ expense in recent years. In 2010, NetJets’ market share was 5x that of Flexjet. That gap has since narrowed dramatically, as shown below.
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General private aviation market

Private jet use by affluent individuals (who make up ~40% of Flexjet’s business) will likely grow much faster than from corporate clients. Fewer than 10% of affluent people who could afford to fly privately did so pre-COVID. Though that percentage has surely increased since, data on the increase in private travel suggests that it remains below 20%. And the number of millionaires is expected to grow by 7% annually over the next 5 years. One market research firm projects that the overall charter flight market is expected to grow north of 12% annually through 2029. My estimates are more conservative. NetJets’ revenue growth from 2009–2016 was ~7%. By adjusting for NetJets’ declining market share, I estimate the underlying market grew by 8% annually during that period. This is roughly the rate at which I expect the overall market to grow annually over the next 5 years.
On the corporate client side, there seems to be less room for growth (at least domestically). Around 65% of mid to large-cap US corporations already use private travel today. There is evidence of a near-term slide in corporate jet use. Nevertheless, the most recent FAA data for 2023 shows business jet travel to be 4% above the pre-COVID trendline. I expect future growth to be in line with the longer term trend of 1–2% per year.
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Financial profile, valuation, and projections

From 2019–2022, Flexjet’s EBITDA has grown by more than 40% annually while revenue grew by 20% per year. A large portion of revenue is reliable, as 90% are committed hours from multi-year contracts (see slide 25). EBITDA margins are 12.5% and EBT margins are north of 5%. Perhaps due to the regulatory uncertainty around projections for SPAC deals, the presentation does not include any guidance or forecasts beyond 2022. And HZON has not yet filed its form S-4, which is expected in April or May, leaving us with an incomplete picture of the company’s financials. Thus, the largest risk that stood out to me initially was whether margins and revenue would revert to normal levels that are considerably lower.
To illustrate the upside and risks, I made projections under two different sets of assumptions. In Scenario 1, earnings grow by ~9-10% annually over the next 5 years. I consider this to be a base case, and it entails that by 2027:

• EBT margins decline to 5%, which is halfway between NetJets’ pre-COVID average and Flexjet’s current margins
• the proportion of people who can afford to fly private and do so reaches nearly 25%, increasing by ~12% per year
• the proportion of mid and large-sized companies using business jets reaches 66.5%, increasing by 1.6% per year
• Flexjet continues to take market share from NetJets, but at half the rate of the previous 10 years

Note: This level of growth is also consistent with my best guess at Flexjet’s growth from 2009-2016 (12.2%) – which I arrived at independently by taking NetJets’ revenue growth and adjusting for Flexjet’s relative market share gain per year. This is the best method to I could find for estimating Flexjet’s growth. That is, at least until HZON files its form S-4 with the SEC (likely in the next month or two), which could give fuller picture of past financial performance.
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Given that Scenario 1 is good but not great, it is important to see what would happen if demand for private aviation and margins prove unsustainable. If this would result in a dramatic drop off in earnings, there being a small but non-negligible chance of this occurring (>10%) could be enough to outweigh the high chance of Scenario 1 playing out. Conversely, if Scenario 2 is on the moderate side, this makes a bet on Scenario 1 more defensible. Scenario 2 is a bad-case scenario that assumes that by 2027:

• margins revert to NetJets’ lowest pre-COVID levels between 2010-16
• demand fully reverts to the pre-COVID trendline for corporate customers
• the proportion of affluent people flying private does not exceed 20%

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Notes, Assumptions, and Sources

1. Credit Suisse 2022 Global Wealth Report forecasts a 13% increase in US millionaires over the next 5 years and a 40% increase globally. Flexjet has an international presence, which it aims to expand, and the global affluent travel within the US. So to arrive at the increase in millionaires who are potential Flexjet customers, I gave 30% weight to the international growth number and 70% to the US number.
2. FAA business jet data (updated 03/2023): average annual increase from 2015-2020; Robb Report: survey of S&P 500 firms and 47 executives at businesses with $500M+ plus in sales
3. Calculations available upon request
4. Assumes corporate jet travel reverts halfway between current levels and the pre-COVID trendline by 2027

In short, it doesn’t seem that Flexjet’s margins are all that far above normal as a result of the recent private travel boom. From 2010–2016, I estimate that NetJets averaged pre-tax (EBT) margins of 4.7%. So Flexjet’s 5.3% EBT margins do appear to be above average, but not extraordinarily so. Although revenue is elevated, the surge in private travel can be sustained given the low starting proportion of affluent people flying privately and the growth in that underlying population. Flexjet has demonstrated an ability to take market share, and there remains opportunity to continue doing so. The downside is not extreme enough to overshadow the upside.

Horizon Acquisition Corp II and Deal Structure

Horizon Acquisition Corp II (HZON) is led by Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries. Eldridge is headed by Todd Boehly, who built Guggenheim’s credit business and has since amassed a multi-billion dollar fortune by investing in private companies. Their investments include the Los Angeles Dodgers, Dick Clark Productions, and DraftKings. The deal was proposed on October 12th and is expected to close in Q2 of 2023. Eldridge is investing $300M in Flexjet at $10 per share. Moreover, Eldridge has structured the deal so that they are fully aligned with all shareholders by converting their founder shares to warrants (more on this later). Boehly’s previous SPAC merged with Vivid Seats (Nasdaq: SEAT) in October of 2021. The deal was unique in several respects.
First, Vivid Seats has been profitable since going public. Although SEAT is down ~30% from its deal price, it has traded closely in line with the performance of the Russell 2000 (the relevant, small cap index) during this time – which declined by 25% to date. SEAT has fared much better than the IPO index (IPO), which is down 55% during that time frame. Further, SEAT warrants have remained above $2 for most of the year, a value that’s 3x that of HZON warrants currently. Second, despite this share price depreciation, Vivid Seats has surpassed both their initial revenue and earnings forecasts, as shown below.
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Information on SPAC Warrants for those unfamiliar

A warrant is a contract that gives you the right to purchase a share of common stock in the future at a certain price. This price is typically $11.5 or 15% above the SPAC’s $10 common share price at IPO. If a SPAC fails to make a deal or if an agreed upon deal is terminated, the warrants become worthless. Deal termination has been far more common in the past 18 months as a result of market volatility. And the warrant usually does not expire for 5 years after the completion of the SPAC merger unless warrants are called for cashless redemption, a scenario detailed later. Although warrants can be illiquid at times, you always have the option to sell warrants in the open market. In order for HZON warrants to be worth less than their current value after the merger, common shares would need to trade down by about 60%. This would equate to a valuation of 10 times pre-tax earnings. For reference, the average small or mid-cap stock in the Russell 2000 is valued at over 14 times earnings; and this is a historically large discount to larger companies, which are valued at 17x today. Here’s how the market is currently valuing warrants for former SPACs:
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Note: The data consists of only current outstanding warrants. It therefore gives a conservative picture of the risk-reward, as de-SPACs that trade above $10 usually call their outstanding warrants for cashless redemption – thereby taking them off the market. So the sample below does not include the bulk of best performing de-SPACs. However, it also does not include de-SPACs valued below $3. Such de-SPACs overwhelmingly consist of companies that are unprofitable or extremely indebted.
Alternatively, if shares appreciate or stay flat following the SPAC merger, companies often choose to call warrants for cashless redemption. This is allowed if the stock price exceeds $10 for a certain period of time post-merger (generally 20 out of the last 30 trading days). In this scenario, you can exchange warrants for a fractional number of shares at a ratio specified in a table from the SPAC IPO prospectus. The fractional share values are a function of the stock price and the remaining time to warrant expiry. For example, with common shares at $11 twelve months after the merger, each warrant would be convertible to .263 shares – making each warrant worth $2.89. When cashless redemption is announced, the market for warrants becomes far more liquid – as arbitrageurs step in to exploit any discrepancy between the value of the common shares and warrants. So you should be able to sell warrants quickly after the announcement. Or if you opt to convert your warrants to shares, you can then trade these shares just like any other stock.
This graph shows the approximate result on one’s entire portfolio of putting 2.5% of that portfolio in HZON warrants in both scenarios (cashless redemption or market sale):
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HZON warrants are currently trading around $0.55. Assuming the deal closes, this means that if cashless redemption is announced sometime in 2023 while shares are valued at ~$10, your return would be ~300%. Or if common shares trade north of $6 (16x EBT), warrants should return 100% within 6 months in the open market.

Questions, Concerns, and Risks

Why does this opportunity exist?
I see a few potential reasons. First, SPACs are not just currently out of favor – they’re detested. And many investors (professional and retail alike) have completely jumped ship. So there are simply very few buyers and many sellers. Arbitrage funds, for example, who effectively acquired warrants from the HZON IPO for free are set up to take profits quickly. They are not in the business of betting on certain companies. For this reason, even when SPACs were all the rage, the market tended to treat all warrants for SPACs that are months away from closing similarly. There often wasn’t a premium placed on warrants for a SPAC that chose a profitable business nor for SPACs with sponsors who commit substantial funding to the deal. While these factors are not necessarily predictive of upside in common shares, they do protect against downside in warrants. This presents an asymmetrical opportunity.
Deal termination risk
In 2022, 102 SPAC deals closed and there were 60 deal terminations. This 62% success rate is eyebrow-raising. But it’s important to keep in mind that most of these deals were announced in the equity boom of 2021. This resulted in two related problems. First, SPAC deals were overwhelmingly made with smaller growth companies (and often unprofitable ones). After comparable public companies fell by 40-80% in 2022, these deals simply no longer make sense for investors. Many deals struck at $10 in 2021 had a fair market value of $2-6 by 2022. SPAC common shareholders therefore elected to redeem their shares for $10 prior to the merger. Second, two-thirds of SPACs that terminated in 2022 and 2023 lacked substantial committed investments, i.e. PIPEs or backstops. Indeed, of the 21 SPACs that both announced and terminated deals since the start of 2022, only one had more than $200M of committed proceeds (CRHC). So the deals that were expected to deliver hundreds of millions in proceeds to their target companies were left with less than 20% of that amount – sometimes less than 5%. And since SPACs come with dilution, many companies backed out of deals once this dilution was no longer offset by significant funding. None of these issues apply to HZON. Eldridge has committed $300M to the deal. And since the deal was struck near the market low in October of 2022, the most comparable companies cited in Flexjet’s investor presentation have appreciated by 25% on average since.
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Flexjet’s market share relative to NetJets dropped substantially in 2021, which seems alarming
At first glance, this ~8% drop seems grounds for concern. However, when put into context, it appears much less so. The investor presentation only contains relative market share data from 2019–2021. But a Berkshire Hathaway letter from 2010 revealed that the ratio of NetJet flight hours was five times that of its closest competitor, i.e. Flexjet. This means Flexjet’s relative share compared to Netjets was 20%. Given that we know that Flexjet’s relative share was 33% in 2019, this amounts to a 5.5% annual increase in relative market share from 2010–2019. Projecting this trend through 2021 would put Flexjet’s relative share at 34%. Since the actual number is 36%, it appears that the 7.7% drop was merely a reversion to a healthy trend after an extraordinary increase in share in 2020.
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A tidbit for those who made it this far: John Travolta is an avid pilot and once Flexjet takes delivery of its first supersonic Travolta has signed up to do the inaugural flight!

well, this is it. the last part of CC that I'll be posting for the next 3 weeks. I have a lot coming up very soon, but I'll be back after the holidays to finish this off. as for New Smith, part 3 will be out on the weekend, but I'll be taking a shorter break from it too.
this time, everything is starting to come together. the Scions are out of their battle honeymmon now, with causalties stacking up and an arms race coming to a head, so they're in big trouble, but it looks like there are some skeletons in the closet as well. oh, and Orvin and Flick are off for a little trip to Axiom 5 for some fun away from all those responsibilities, but there will be a short chapter on their misadventures when I come back.
and, as always, enjoy this absolute mess
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Subject Memory Transcription: Orvin, Venlil Civilian
Breaking into a shipyard and “reacquiring” my ship. It sounded easy on paper, but in practice, as these things always are, it was a daunting task.
Focus. You have a job to do, so don’t get distracted
I stalked along the chain link fenceline, until I found the spot. I stopped, and let my claws cleave through the barrier like it was made of wet paper. I traced a second line down to the ground, then bent the cutaway upwards, making a clean entrance.
“Least you could do is wait for me. I mean, I know this isn’t supposed to be drawn out, but I haven’t got the stamina to just keep walking for so long” Flick leaned on the fence to catch his breath. This might be a problem. “Pass the water please.”
I fished inside my satchel, and tossed the water bottle I brought over to him. He caught it effortlessly, took a swig, and passed it back. “Look, if it’s that bad, you carry the bag and I’ll carry you, alright? We really haven’t got the time for this.” I scanned the area again, and there was still no sign of movement.
He grinned, and I could see those flat teeth glimmer under the faint ultraviolet of the moonlight. We had picked the best time to break in, as his tidally locked planet only had actual nighttime darkness for a short time every few weeks. “Sounds good. As the humans say, giddy up horsey.” I shook my head and chuckled. “Say that again and I strap you to the roof of the ship, Ini-shu gelta”
My Venlil was coming along in leaps and bounds. I barely needed my external translator anymore, and was even able to speak fairly fluently in a more casual version of the language. The writing was still a bit difficult for me, but that was more a matter of adjusting to the angular characters over the curves I was used to rather than a language barrier. Of course, none of this would be possible without that part of my brain that was custom-engineered for learning new languages quickly with the help of a second, delayed translator to feed the meaning in just after the word. But it didn’t really matter, as the main reason I was so dedicated to learning was because his face always lit up when I spoke in his native tongue, even if it was only to call him a fluffy goblin.
He gave me a gentle punch in the arm as he passed, and we kept moving. Once past the fence, we started working our way through the wide array of small spacecraft, searching for mine. When a flashlight illuminated the ground ahead, we hauled ourselves onto the wing of one of the larger crafts and waited in silence as footsteps went by. It was absolutely thrilling, this misadventure into such a heavily patrolled area.
Once the Terran guard had passed by, I dropped down silently, and caught him when he came after me, taking care not to let my high-traction boots slide on the gravel. But then, as I stepped forward, the ground crunched under me, and the Terran spun on his heels
Time to haul ass
I didn’t wait for the hairless, armoured brute to react. She stood at least a foot taller than me, and significantly wider, but I knew I could easily outrun her. I took Flick’s paw, he nodded at me, and we sprinted full-tilt down the row. The Terran yelled something from behind us, but we were rapidly putting distance between us and her. Until I ran headfirst into another one, knocking us both over. He struggled upright, but two more guards came to his aid, surrounding us.
Well, shit
But Flick stepped forward and held out a sheet of paper. The tallest of the three took it, read it, and passed it back, before saying something I couldn’t decipher into his radio and nodding at us.
“Come on, lets move. We need to find that ship.”
Flick was panting after our sudden frenzied sprint, but he somehow acted calm and collected, as if this nothing had happened.
“No, hang on, why did they just leave us alone? I don’t have my translator in, so I didn’t understand a word of what they said.” He just shook his head and laughed. “You know, bureaucracy isn’t always your enemy. Sometimes, you just need to go through the right channels to do something.”
That little shit
I was being very, very patient here with his nonsense. “So you’re telling me that we are legally allowed to be here doing this, that we could have just waltzed in through the front desk and straight up to my ship, and you just… didn’t tell me?” But he just dismissed it. “Look, we could have gone in the easy way, but you were enjoying planning our little adventure, so I opted to let you have your fun. Come on, this is the fun way.”
Then, I saw it. Those purple hand painted flames on the silver hull, and the small lumps dotted across the armour, each one showing the position of a shield generator. There it was, in all its glory, the SkyBreaker.
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Subject Memory Transcription: Commander Yek’ta, Scion Gunship Etemar
Fighting a melee battle against an Arxur horde was something every Scion dreamed of. It was exhilarating, cutting down opponents one after the other with huge blades whirling like ribbons in my massive paws. Shots ricocheted off my plate armour and sparks flew as the reptiles launched every round they had at me, but I simply pushed on.
One of them tripped as he backed away firing, and almost instinctively I swung one arm around and let go, sending three hundred kilograms of titanium straight through his chest and into the ground. A rocket burst on my back, but I shook the impact off, threw myself forward, tore the blade out from the soil and brick, and swung it around in a wide arc, tearing half a dozen Arxur in half as the razor edge sliced effortlessly through their thin body armour and snapped their bones as it passed. Nothing could defend against the sheer force of my blade, and that was evident when I brought it overhead and downwards onto one Arxur with a gigantic shield and shotgun.
The satisfying crunch of arxur being smeared and splattered like rotten fruit was enough to keep my bloodlust moving, and I slowly carved a path through the huge horde and towards my target. Nothing could stop me, nothing could get in my way. Nothing.
And then, the radio crackle.
It was just a buzz, but got louder and louder until it was a scream across every frequency. A light sprung from the upper atmosphere like a second sun, as the Etemar unloaded half of its core into the Arxur fleet above, signalling the end of the battle. The remaining reptiles fled at the sight of it, taking pot-shots as they ran, but orbital precision strikes rained down across the field like a hailstorm of nuclear wrath, tearing up the ground and reducing Arxur to atoms.
And that was it. It was so anticlimactic. I had hoped for a real fight when I was told I was being deployed as a scout team leader, but instead all I got were more targets with no satisfaction from slaying them. Of course, my team were cheering and waving their new weapons as our pickups dropped from above.
Was this really necessary for a weapons test?
Looking around at the carnage now that the adrenalin rush was over, I saw corpses in various states of mutilation scattered and splattered across the wide field that was once a blood-camp. Some of them were only hatchlings, sent in with the biggest weapons they could carry, and then smeared across rock and soil by a hurricane of bullets when they came up against us.
I shook off my sudden urge to kneel and pay respects to the fallen, and instead headed to a transport craft, which had me onboard my own ship within minutes.
“Commander, good to see you’re not injured. I thought that burster shot would have torn your armour to shreds, but I guess I was wrong.” the friendly squeaks of my new Venlil officer told me he shared no such guilt about attacking the Arxur, and I really couldn’t blame him. They had terrorised his world for centuries, and then burned his home colony to the ground once they grew bored of tormenting the defenceless fluffballs. He wanted them dead, because it was his war. We wanted them dead because…
Because what? Because you don’t like what they’re doing? Is this somehow supposed to atone for the countless atrocities your precursors committed? Is this supposed to bring some sort of cosmic forgiveness, for all the species your race tore to shreds? Or is this supposed to be your apology for what they did the the Fa’Ree
I was drifting, and the crash brought on from the sudden lack of adrenalin was making it so much worse. I could feel my whole body growing weightless, and sounds became muffled and distant as memories came back again to haunt me. I remembered those tapes we were shown in school, the ones on Scion history. Our educators used them to explain why we left behind everyone, why our home burned. But the one that stuck with me was footage of a massive Scion commander, wearing a cap almost identical to the one I wore when at the helm, tormenting a defenceless fluffy rodent that was barely a fifth of his size. It was horrifying to watch, but it cemented into my brain the idea, no, knowledge, that the old Scion ways were unforgivable crimes against all life.
The pinprick of tiny claws sinking into my forearm snapped me back to reality.
“Commander, hello, are you listening?” the Admiral was clearly frustrated, but all I could do was nod dumbly as twisted images and foggy memories swirled in my half-awake mind. “As I was saying, our tests have yielded some great results. Some fine tuning on the new rifles will be necessary, but they are very effective at reducing opponents to fine grey paste. As for ammunition, lowering the rate of fire will be necessary, as even the back-mounted belt feed can’t keep that thing running for very long, and reloading is so slow that just swapping rifles is faster, so we need more sustain. Other than that, this has been a massive success, and we’re one step closer to beating back the Arxur once and for all.”
I finally managed to force words out through my dry mouth, and croaked that I was going to go to my quarters, before passing him my helmet with the sensor data in it and heading back to my room.
I stripped the plate armour off piece by piece under the steaming water, taking care to scrub every inch clean of stains, before placing them in the bathtub of resin to seal up any scratches and reapply the coating that protected against electricity. It was a slow process, but it kept my paws and mind busy and away from the pressing questions. Finally, once the last of the heavy titanium plates was thoroughly cleansed, I let it sink in the amber goo and washed the grime and gore from my own fur. There wasn’t much to clean, as the armour gave almost complete coverage of my body, but it was still important as I didn’t want to track blood or other fluids across my room.
But as the steam and boiling water washed the filth away, those memories came back. Of that poor little creature from the tapes, played with like a toy until the commander grew bored and tossed it aside. Of my brutality with the Arxur, and how I tore a captured one to shreds with my bare paws because he laughed when I mentioned the Venlil. Of the mighty war machine that was being awakened after centuries of dormancy and brought into a galaxy utterly unprepared for it. But most of all, of the secret that the Captain could never know.
When I learned of the Federation’s crimes, I was shocked beyond belief. They tortured their own children for showing signs of a boogyman disease. They wiped entire cultures out simply for daring to eat meat. They had started this whole war, and had committed crimes just as cruel and unspeakable as any of the Arxur’s or even our own. But I could never tell anyone.
If word of such things reached the Captain, he would declare war on our supporters as well. He had no respect for diplomacy of any kind, but what scared me was that we could likely win such a pointless fight. Even without the advantage of disposable equipment, we still had the supplies to invade hundreds of worlds, and the firepower to reduce any we couldn’t reach to stardust. If the Captain knew, he would have us wipe out the whole galaxy, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Yet
I had one option, but it wasn’t a good one.
But there’s only so long you can keep this hidden. If you strike now, you can still set this right. Wait any longer, and the Captain will stop you.
I cut the water, dried off, picked up my holopad from the table, and made the call
Lets hope she picks up
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Subject Memory Transcription: First Mate Reyna, Scion City-Fleet
When the call came through, I was trying to unwind after a trying day. The Captain had been onboard this morning, and had dismembered an unfortunate security officer who had blocked his access to the bridge. He had all but thrown a tantrum once he got to the helm, and put two chairs through the rear wall when he found out I had reorganised the fleet into production arrangements rather than ordering raids all the time. He had even gone as far as to break the arm of the poor sap who was reading the casualty reports when he learned we lost over a hundred soldiers in our most recent battle.
So much for don’t shoot the messenger
With every passing day, Denver grew more unstable and more impulsive. His last order before leaving with his squadron again was to “always have a world burning”, and demanded so under threat of being fed to the Ahk-Venra if we disobeyed. Even his most loyal supporters were tired of this, and very sick of being under constant threat of injury or death when he was on deck.
And, through all of it, he still played favourites with me, as if he hadn’t left me to do all the work and run off to live out his fantasies. Maybe I would have taken his offer of leaving his door open last night if it was two months ago when I was new, but now I only was repulsed by the idea of spending any unnecessary time with that…
That monster
So, when one of the Commanders contacted me asking for the floor plan of the Captain’s ship and the whereabouts of our old Captain, I was more than happy to oblige. I knew exactly what he was doing this for, and decided to make an offer.
“Here’s the deal Commander; I give you all the supplies you need, and cover your ass if things go south, on one condition. I get to kill the Captain, without interference.”
He was more than happy to take the offer, and even gave me the option of using his personal favourite ripper blade for the job, which I happily took, as my own had been “borrowed” by Denver and likely lost somewhere onboard a cattle ship. It was time for some revenge.
I got to work planning my next meeting with Denver the moment he hung up, and had a complete plan before the clock on my wall read midnight.
Now all I need to do is wait
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Subject Memory Transcription: Captain Denver, Scion City-Fleet
The Zurulian medical fleet was hovering just off in the distance as I scanned the battlefield, searching for any survivors.
The Arxur had attacked a large shipment of medical supplies and personnel, but were too slow in disabling comms, which alerted us to their distress signals. Of course, it was a trap, but a trap set for Federation ships, not ours. In fact, these reptiles had probably never even seen our ships before, judging by the way they floundered when we dropped in.
FTL disruptors had left their energy bubbles across the system, and a million smoke trails formed a spiderweb of missile paths and railgun shots. None of it mattered though. The Arxur assault ships had been reduced to smouldering wrecks when my personal light gunship, the Eternus, had dropped out of its jump with cannons already charged, and our fighters made swift work of any remaining frigates and bombers. When the second, larger ambush fleet had arrived, however, we found trouble. They had brought an array of huge energy weapons I had never seen before. Every Arxur ship unloaded their cannons into one satellite ship, which then redirected all of that energy in a continuous beam that was strong enough to break shields.
We had lost the Eternus to that weapon. Its beam had broken through the shielding array and split the hull. Thankfully, it missed the core, so there was no detonation, but it had hit the bridge, life support, and engines as the beam slowly passed along the hull. A dozen Scion fighters lay in ruins around the satellite, unfortunate enough to get caught in the beam as they went in for the killing blow.
It was that moment that every Arxur had learned what a Scion’s wrath truly looked like. I had led a fighter sweep across their fleet and reduced them to nuclear smears across the fabric of spacetime, making sure to cut down every single escape ship as they left. We had sent huge boarding parties onto every Zurulian ship and hunted every last reptile with the same brutal ferocity that they showed to their prey.
Of course, the fleet was extremely grateful for their salvation, regarding our losses as minimal, as it was a fairly small ship that was lost. They had given us one of their transport frigates to carry our wounded fighters home, as well as medical supplies galore to patch our wounds. But I knew that nothing could replace this loss.
While most species could simply create a new ship to replace lost ones, Scions had no such advantage. Every fighter, every frigate, every gunship, was an irreplaceable relic from an age long gone, the knowledge of their workings destroyed three centuries ago. Losing even the Eternus was a crippling blow, as that meant thousands of lives and hundreds of invaluable parts were now gone, snuffed out by a weapon that the Arxur could easily rebuild and spread across the galaxy.
I brought the communications link up between my ship and the Solaris, which was sitting a few hundred lightyears away on the surface of a cleansed world. Reyna answered, looking as tired as ever. “Yes, Captain? I assume you’re calling to tell me that it was just another Arxur attack?” she was very tired of being the replacement Captain while I was gone, but there was always something that needed my personal attention. “No,” I replied, much to her surprise. “I’m calling to announce the loss of the Eternus. The Arxur made a weapon that can break our shields and armour, and tore open the ship from nose to tail, thankfully not hitting the core. We’re returning in a commandeered Zurulian frigate, so hold your fire when you see us in orbit. While I’m on my way, I need you to gather every commander for a meeting in my quarters.”
She was staring slack-jawed, so I cut the transmission and prepped our engines for the next jump. Of course, I had to overheat my core to generate a warp bubble large enough to cover our makeshift fleet, but it was nothing my ship couldn’t handle with a bit of coaxing.
When we arrived in orbit, the gunship Riori took the frigate onboard, while I broke atmosphere and made a landing in the starboard hangar on the Solaris. It was only a short trip from there to my quarters, and then I was seated at the large round table surrounded by commanders.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m here to report a very concerning development in the Arxur arsenal. They appear to have created a sort of focusing device to turn ion volleys from a full fleet into a single concentrated beam. They used this against us in an ambush attack, which caused the loss of the gunship Eternus.”
There was a chorus of gasps and muttered curses as I put my ship’s nose cam footage onto a large screen on the wall. As the video played, a single orange pinprick hit the very tip of the Eternus, causing the shields to glow as they resisted the damage. Then, a pulse as the beam widened into its full power, and there was a shimmer across the impact area as shields gave out. The beam moved slowly across the side of the ship, hitting gun emplacements and launch tubes alike and causing smaller explosions all across the surface, until finally it stopped as the focusing lens was destroyed by a nuclear warhead knocking it out of position and into the path of a missile barrage.
“Everyone, this is no longer a leisure battle. Now, we can’t just send in small assault teams to burn outposts and disable ships. We need to stop all of our small assaults and end this war, together. I have gathered you here today, not to ask for your cooperation, not to request ships, but to instruct all of you to prepare for a full fleet assault tomorrow morning. In 23 hours, we will jump to the Arxur forge-world of Nitanka, and destroy it. No more capturing prisoners, no more mercy. We are going to send a clear message to every reptile in the galaxy, that we are not playing games anymore.” I took a deep breath as the commanders began their muttering and arguing again, before continuing.
“Every single one of you is commanding a ship that can scorch an entire system and reduce fleets to rubble, and it’s about time we made use of them. From this day forward, we work as one fleet. The Scion fleet.”
One of them stood up and slammed her fist on the table. I Recognised this commander due to her size as Mra’sha, a skilled logistics expert and true hardened warrior from our many farm-world raids. She had always been firmly with me on anything involving the Arxur, until now. “Captain, this is absurd. We lost one light gunship, and now you’re demanding we all pull back and just let the Arxur reclaim those worlds we fought tooth and claw for?” even though she was the only one saying it, I could tell that this was the general feeling of a lot of my commanders, and it needed to be addressed.
“No. I’m saying we regroup, and put an end to the Arxur once and for all. They can’t make a move on our liberated territories if we cut their command and their supply lines off. This isn’t a question of who does what, this is now a race against time. If the enemy can build enough weapons before we kill them all, it’s over for us, and probably for the Federation as well. So we’re not abandoning worlds, we’re pushing forward and finishing what we started.”
It took hours of endless debating before every commander was with me. The only one missing from the meeting was Yek’ta, who was currently on a deployment to an Arxur blood-camp in a weapons test, but I would brief him on the situation when he returned. For now, we could go without the Etemar’s support. 27 heavy gunships and 14 cargo carriers should be more than enough to cover the Solaris while we charged up cannons. Of course, I didn’t tell Reyna about any of this. Despite how hard she worked, I could tell she despised me for all my absence, and would likely kill me on the spot if I told her what I was planning.
Despite everything that had happened to us recently, the Scion fleet was mostly untouched. In fact, only around three hundred losses had been sustained across all of our infantry deployments. But that was all about to change now that the enemy could do real damage to us.
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Subject Memory Transcription: Commander Yek’ta, Scion Gunship Etemar
I couldn’t sleep that night, so instead I spent hours endlessly browsing our archives. Every major ship in the fleet had a data core holding all of the knowledge that we escaped with, and being the commander of this one, I had unrestricted access to all of it. Of course, huge amounts were lost or deleted in the first generation of our journey, but there was still most of our history in here.
I dug and dug, going through endless security checks, before eventually I found what I was looking for: the file on the Fa’Ree. Before opening it, I double checked the room for any spyware, and ran a full diagnostic on my holopad just in case someone had been tracing me. Nothing came up though, so I continued.
Species Name: Fa’Ree
Home World: A380N6K “Mik’Raka”
Description: small, furred rodents. Average height of 108cm, average weight of 34kg. Extremely flexible, cold resistant, and resilient, with high pain tolerance.
Nature: Submissive, docile, easily intimidated. Often willing to risk injury to please superior beings. Revere Scions as god-like powers.
History: The Fa’Ree were a race founded in the 4th genesis fleet’s sweep across sector L in 96457. Life began as small reptiles, before Fa’Ree emerged from subterranean tunnel networks to hunt said reptiles once their planet stabilised. Once contacted by Scion diplomats and properly uplifted, the Fa’Ree were able to use advanced decryption knowledge to unlock salvaged Scion data core C-457-L, and discovered their true origins. Immediately after this, a cultural revolution brought a religious institute to power, which then began the later widespread practice of Scion worship. Following this, large colonies were established on Scion 2, before a mass migration of 97% of Fa’Ree population to Scion 1 & 2.
Following the mass migration, Scion officials discovered the extreme flexibility and resilience of Fa’Ree in a medical study, which led to them being implemented as servants across Scion fleets. Most Fa’Ree were used as cooking and repair personnel, or in other less popular roles generally considered dull. Across the Scion empire, approximately 200 Fa’Ree worlds were established, yielding a total of over 3.7 trillion servants.
Of particular note on the Fa’Ree is their cultural hierarchy post-migration. Fa’Ree culture was reorganised around the worship and servitude of Scions, with large facilities being constructed for the sole purpose of finding the most suitable roles for individuals. Fa’Ree were noted to be very obedient and respectful, as well as very dismissive of any injuries sustained during service. Higher ranking Fa’Ree would often have just 1 to 2 offspring per family unit, and send their young into temporary servitude once they came of age before allowing them to become leaders. This was generally considered to be a test of sorts, and only those who returned strong would be allowed to wear the traditional ruby studded robes given to royalty.
There was a photo attached of a Scion diplomat standing with a trio of well-dressed Fa’Ree, with a fourth sitting on his shoulders in what looked to be a polyoxide synthetic dress, which even in the height of the empire’s technological prowess, would have cost a small fortune to manufacture. Looking closer, I could see the collar on the dress-wearing rodent’s wrist, which had a faint green glow to it. That would be the depleted uranium bracelet that was so infamous as a sign of servitude.
I felt sick just looking at the picture. Everyone looked so happy, even the poor slave that was returning from 2 years of servitude. Seeing such a vulnerable species so brainwashed, so helpless, made me want to smash this screen and never look again. But I knew this wasn’t just a history lesson. Knowing that the Scions had done such horrific cultural genocide before was one thing, but with how easily manipulated federation species were, it would likely become a repeating pattern. I couldn’t bring myself to finish the species dossier.
I flicked the screen off and closed my eyes, letting the low hum of our engines lull me into a deep sleep free from nightmares of not too long gone demons.
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OK. So. This guy u/cancer-cheater takes care of the bot that protects this sub. It doesn't work for free (damn robot overlords) AND he wants to get some new bells and whistles for her.
Last time I asked for donations, you guys were awesome, but I got overwhelmed quick. With that said, I'm going to make it easier this time.
1) I'm going to limit it to zelle, venmo, and crypto so I'm not having to track too much.
2) I'm going to just post my pay info here so I don't have to reply to 100 different people with it.
3) I'm going to leave the donations window open for a short time (I don't think it will take long) and cut it off once it's reached a certain goal.

We do not need much!!

So every little $5 dink and dunk matters. For the ballers out there, I appreciate yall could probably cap me out in one swoop, but I like to give everyone a chance to contribute, so please let's keep individual donations under $50 or we'd max out too quick.
Lastly. Thank you! With that said. I can't (as in im too lazy) keep track of each individual and then reply back and all that. So, again, thank you here and now.
If this needs to be said, fine. Obviously, I will show the mods any info they need to see and I will be sending 100% of the money to CC right away.
Super thanks and below is info:
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Time starts now.
proof Pic to trick the bot

For some background, I have some mental illness issues from a rough childhood which include depression, anxiety, PTSD, and a slight mood regulation disorder. I am on medication for these issues but they still affect me. Also, I have recently (a couple of months ago) been diagnosed with narcolepsy. For many years I had overwhelming day time fatigue and overactive dreaming at night among other things. Getting this diagnosis has been helpful because I have been prescribed a stimulant, but I am still working on the dosage with my doctor. I would like to think I am managing all of my symptoms well and am doing my best to help around the house. For the record, my boyfriend had a great childhood and teenage life and has fantastic parents. They were well off and he is now an engineer after getting through school on a scholarship. I am working full time and am in school online to complete my degree. I support myself with little help from my parents, which I am partially estranged from. He has no history of mental illness or medical problems.
My boyfriend and I have been together for 3 years. He typically does the dishes and takes our dogs out more often than me. I usually make dinner and clean up around the house often. The problem is, I will be spending my free time playing video games and my boyfriend will decide that the house needs to be vacuumed, the stove needs to be cleaned, the toilets need to be scrubbed etc. while I am using my free time. He will not let me know he is doing it, he just gets up and I won't see him for a bit (We have to keep the door to our game room shut because of our dogs). Then he comes back to report what he has done and I thank him profusely. I get up and look at what he has accomplished and point out things that I see that are clean and encourage him that he did fantastic.
Today, he came home from work and I was just getting done taking a quick nap on my break during work (I work from home 3 days a week). My doctor suggested I take a nap anytime I feel overly tired. At max I take one 30 minute nap a day, but most days I do not nap at all and instead I have an energy drink in the afternoon and attempt to push through. When he got home, he saw me finish up my nap and I guess he assumed it was now his responsibility to take the dogs out, so he did. I thought, well I did tell him that I am on my period and I am in pain and am more tired than usual so I just let him do it and didn't think much of it.
I asked him how his day was and chatted with him a bit. Then, I played a couple more games till our usual dinner time and told him that I was going to take a quick shower and then I could start on dinner. He said that he would rather make dinner because he was hungry and didn't want to wait. I told him I would clean up our bedroom and bathroom after my shower as a sort of compromise. We ate dinner and he seemed tense so I told him that I hope he wasn't upset with me. He said he wasn't, but that he wished I had taken the dogs out before he got home. I said I would take the dogs out the next time they needed to go.
He has recently begun streaming a bit as an extra source of income and I have been hyping him up and looking for little things to improve his stream. I mentioned that he really needed to get an ethernet cable and set it up with a mini additional router for better stream quality. He stated that he didn't think it was necessary or that it would even work. I said that from my research it could make a big difference because his stream is very pixelated at times. He got angry, for the record he rarely gets upset, and said he doesn't need it, want it, or want to try it. I went quiet because I thought that it was about more than just the mini router and I was confused why he acted out in a mean way. I assumed he was frustrated that I didn't take the dogs out or make dinner. But, as I said I cleaned the bedroom and bathroom to make up for it. I wasn't sure what to do at this point so I just continued what I was doing and didn't say anything else.
He got up and said he was tired and didn't want to play games or stream tonight and that he was going to go lay down and watch a show. This was out of character for him. We game together with friends pretty much every night of the week, and I was also surprised that he didn't ask me to join him in the bedroom. I am just sitting in the game room by myself and I feel a bit wronged and upset at how he reacted. This type of thing happens often where he does stuff without telling me and then gets upset that I didn't match up to his amount of work, even when I feel I have. I almost think that he expects me to work on chores at the same time as him, without asking me for help, regardless of how I feel or how my day went. He seems to see the amount of work we each put into our home as black and white, with his amount of work being more because he does things without notifying me. I do plenty around the house, I just may not always show and tell him word for word.
I get frustrated that he doesn't ask for help, but gets mad that I don't help, and I think he sees me as lazy and less than. I don't know how to approach this correctly. I have tried to bring up these issues in the past but he has a habit of flipping arguments and not admitting to wrong or accept that we need to make changes. He gets sensitive when I ask him if we can do things differently than how he prefers them and takes it as criticism. Does anyone have any advice for this argument style or how I should handle this situation? When he makes me feel bad, I am not sure what to do. I do not currently feel like I should have to apologize, I just wish we could agree on something that works for both of us. I also feel like he doesn't take into account my mental illness and narcolepsy a lot of the time or he thinks I am dramatizing it. What should I do??
TL;DR
My boyfriend does chores without my knowledge and I feel like he doesn't fully appreciate what I do or take into account my medical issues enough because he seems to get agitated afterwards. How should I bring this up with him without upsetting him?

Hi everyone, I’m late to the party this year! Every year as June approaches, I update my guides (What You Should Wear to Bonnaroo and How to Camp at Bonnaroo) with your comments from the previous year's posts and it has slowly grown!! I decided to compile both versions into one giant guide, and present to you: How to Bonnaroo, a Guide Vol. 4
\**NOTE - I have only ever done GA Camping, but there are still tips for all kinds of campers. I also realized after finally returning to The Farm last year, that there are likely holes of information that need to be updated with all the changes… Help me fill those in and leave your best pro tips to be written next year!! HAPPY ROO!!*
What you should wear to Bonnaroo: First of all, and most importantly, you should wear whatever you want to wear. People wear a variety of clothing at Bonnaroo… from rave gear, to full-on outfits, to t-shirts, to jerseys, to costumes, to toplessness. There is no right or wrong! The best recommendation is to DRESS FOR YOUR ROO. The days are long, and the weather is hot (and sometimes cold at night), there are 15+ hours of music daily and activities spread amongst miles of Farm. If you are planning to run all over and catch as many sets as possible, dress for comfort. Bring your cute outfit or two that you really want to wear for a photo, or to your favorite artist’s set, but then plan to change. Preparation really is key, but us Reddit Roovians got you, so let’s get into it!!!
PREPARE FOR ALL CONDITIONS. Pack sunscreen for the love of god, bring a hydration pack, and decide whether you want a rain jacket, poncho, or are cool with getting wet so be it. Bring a pair of sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and a long sleeve t-shirt. It can get shockingly cold at night and it’s nice to have options. At some point you’ll want to be cozy!!! Keep some warm clothes inside of your tent, then you won’t have to dig through your car trying to find them when you wake up in the middle of the night shivering.
PACKING. If you’ve planned an outfit, pack them separately to keep things quick/organized (like a gallon ziploc or Walmart sack). Overpack some practical clothes and keep them in a laundry basket. Maybe you don’t feel like wearing that planned outfit one day, maybe you get wet (rain, water slide, surprise champagne shower), maybe you get dirty and want to put on fresh clothing. Sunrise sets play until almost 5am, think about how many hours you’ll be wearing the same clothes! Bring 2-3 outfits per day, and if you can, purchase a locker! They’re a great place to store that extra outfit, sweatshirt, pair of shoes, etc. Remember, your campsite could be a 2+ mile round trip side adventure!
FOOT PROTECTION. In 2019 I walked 65 miles, and in 2022 I walked 54 miles, so you need to plan your footwear appropriately… and better yet, go above and beyond!!! Wear in your shoes and make sure they have good soles. Consider packing multiple types of shoes if you have space so you can change them. On god my favorite shoes to wear at Roo are Crocs, otherwise hiking boots or tennis shoes. A pair of flip-flops for mornings at camp are also key! Shoe inserts are another option you can look into. Pack band-aids, moleskin, cleaning/treating supplies, and thick socks (2 pairs per day). Be a pro, don’t wait to protect your feet until the damage is already done, I legit allocate 15mins of my morning to doctoring them. Med Tents will also give you band-aids and cleaning supplies!! PRO TIP: pack a designated feet soaking bowl and bring some epsom salt and/or do a ice water soak with that cooler water you’re about to dump! You can also freeze a canned good/water bottle and roll that under your foot #treatyofeet
EAR PROTECTION. Please wear it, please!!! There are so many brands now that make quality earplugs in a range of affordability. They do not drown out sound, I actually think they make it better. I use Eargasms.
PREPARE FOR CHAFING. Ladies, wear some biker shorts or fishnets. Gentlemen, pack that gold bond. Other recommendations: Body Glide and Boundreaux’s Butt Paste (a diaper rash cream that you can “slather on the inside of your thighs and walk in cool comfort”).
MASKS. Back in the day, the experts knew to wear a mask (or bandana) walking around Bonnaroo. There is seriously so much dust being kicked around, you’ll have a sore throat by day 3 and black boogers every night. The Other Stage was a dust storm by Sunday… bring something to cover your mouth, or be cool with swallowing mouthfuls of dirt.
LONG HAIR. I was unprepared to deal with my hair at my first Bonnaroo. It was knotted and thrown up in a bun by Saturday and Sunday. Pack some detangler, don’t forget a brush, maybe bring a small one for your backpack, and force yourself to deal with it before it gets worse. Don’t be afraid to ask someone to braid your hair around camp, someone would be delighted to do it for you! Keep a hair tie on your wrist at all times and extras in your fanny pack… one time a girl took a bobby pin out of her own hair for me haha! Fellas, if you have long hair, bring a sweatband.
Listen, don’t get me wrong… everyone at Bonnaroo looks ~cute as hell~ but the tenured attendees aren’t treating it like a fashion show, especially if they’re camping. Bring your favorite clothing… pack whatever brings you comfort. Your favorite t-shirt or Hawaiian shirt, anything with a trippy pattern, biker shorts and a bralette, and you’ll be good to go I promise! If you’re interested in purchasing Rave attire… check for local shops on Etsy and/or TikTok, shop at thrift stores for unique finds or look on Amazon! There are bigger brands like iHeartRaves and Dolls Kill, too.
While we’re at it, let’s knockout Showers & Bathrooms...
SHOWERING. You have a couple of options here:

1. TIER 1 - Pay for a shower. Showers are available at most PLAZA locations and are in private stalls. They cost $10 during peak hours and $5 during “happy hour” (unless they change the pricing). For those that have been keeping up, I finally paid for my first (and second) shower at Bonnaroo y’all… and I have to say, both were totally worth it. I stomped my hungover ass over there with a caddy of supplies and floated my way back to camp wrapped in a towel with a hair turban thrown on, and it was glorious.
2. TIER 2 - Buy a portable shower to set-up at camp. Here are basic, medium, pro examples of portable showers. This will require fetching water, or if you have space, bring gallons of water with you. They are cheap and if you keep them on the roof of your car, they will keep warm throughout the day for showers. You can also use these to brush your teeth and wash your hands without wasting your drinking water!
3. Tier 3 - Take an Italian shower… body wipes, face wipes, vagina wipes (yes), deodorant, dry shampoo, etc. It gets the job done, isn’t time consuming, and no one can tell the difference between today’s and yesterday’s dirt.

A WORD ABOUT NUDITY. Just be considerate about it, lol. Swimsuits are an option if you’re worried, which are honestly comfortable to hang out in at camp when it’s hot AF, but it’s easier said than done to wiggle into a leotard behind a tapestry flowing with the wind.
GOING TO THE BATHROOM. I can’t have fun until I know I can safely take a shit, ok? It is what it is.
Last year there were porta potties that had metal doors and flushed near the campgrounds. They were still hot, but nicer than regular porta potties. However, they always had longer lines in the morning because they’re in more populous locations. If you can muster up the regular ole porta potty, I didn’t think they were too bad last year, but that could’ve been a low attendance thing. PRO TIP - bring your own roll of toilet paper and wet wipes, and don’t be afraid to yell out for TP if you need it… been there, done that!
In 2019 there were wristbands you could buy to access a regularly cleaned, better-than-a-normal-porta-potty porta potty, with a sink and air conditioning but I didn’t notice them in 2022? If you do see them, snag a wristband at the beginning of the weekend to squeeze every penny! This was a great place to wash your face and take care of other hygiene-related items, but they did have 3 stalls so aren’t entirely private.
In Centeroo, you’re looking at the same options here, but the key is to get familiar with all the bathrooms as your preferences and priorities will ebb and flow in this regard. Are you peeing for the second time during a set because you chugged a water or are you needing to take a minute and contemplate life? You don’t want to be frantic when the spicy pie hits… but you also don’t need to worry about letting everyone in line know that you’re going to shit your pants if you don’t get on a toilet ASAP, because everyone will gladly let you go… again, been there, done that (and you can also sneak in through the back if needed). For the love of god, please make sure the bathrooms in the back are taken. You can politely check if there are feet in a stall, most of the time 25% of stalls are unused and we’re standing there for no reason.
Last year the Where in the Woods bathrooms were DISGUSTING, as in I could smell them from 20 feet away, and I ended up walking to the closet camp bathrooms. Something to keep in mind but hopefully we see some improvement.
FINALLY, a pro tip for my ladies… I highly suggest purchasing some funnels, they changed my life. Just trust me on this one! There are one-time use and reusable options, and I use these: Pee Buddy. Fuck walking to the bathroom everytime you need to pee at camp once you’ve broken the seal, and tbh, once you get comfortable, fuck sitting on a porta potty at all when avoidable. These knees ain't made for squatting no more.
How to camp at Bonnaroo: If you’re worried about camping, don’t be, it’s a big part of the Bonnaroo experience and fun! You can do it!!!
GET YOUR MIND RIGHT. In 2019 I waited in the Hellsboro line for 16 hrs and got a less-than-desirable-camping-location, and I was not happy about it. BUT it turned out to be quiet, close to the bathrooms (but not too close), and we somehow managed to get an end-of-row spot. In 2022 I waited in NO car line, had a close location, and great neighbors… but it was a 120-degree sweltering heatwave, and legit still in the 90’s going to sleep for two days. We hunkered down under the canopy, wore swimsuits, played games and got through it. Your neighbors will take care of you, and you’ll take care of them… maybe you won’t interact at all. You’ll land where you’re meant to be, go into it with that mindset. Perhaps you’re camped by a “DJ” who blasts music all night, but once the weekend is said and done, it’ll all be a part of your beautiful memories and your “that one time, at Bonaroo'' stories, so embrace the adversities and go with the flow.
GET TO KNOW THE AREA AROUND YOUR CAMPGROUND. Is there a plaza close by? What amenities are offered there? Where are the closest bathrooms? Is there food nearby? Being familiar with your camp surroundings early on will set you up for success. It is especially important to know your pod number and to define some landmarks that can help find your campsite/row (unique flag, tapestry, etc.)
SAFETY MEASUREMENTS. Introduce yourself to your neighbors. Always keep your valuables locked in your car when you aren’t at camp, and bring an extra set of keys with you! If you are participating in “ACTIVITIES,” be weary of your surroundings and use good judgment.
BARE MINIMUM NEEDS

1. Canopy. You NEED shade, and heavy duty stakes to hold it down… we don’t want that bitch floating away, AND IT WILL. Use a rubber mallet to get those stakes deep in the ground. There has been debate on whether mallets are allowed, but I’ve never had an issue getting mine in?
2. Canopy Walls. This provides extra shade and privacy when needed. A lot of people use sheets or tapestries. You can also use shower curtains (the rings allow you to open/close them as you please).
3. Sleeping Arrangements. I always use a tent (don’t forget your tent roof, poles, and stakes!), with an air mattress, fitted sheet, pillow, and blankets. HOWEVER, lots of people are quick to share that a cot or hammock are much breezier options as it does tend to get stuffy in your tent once the sun comes up. If you choose to go the cot/hammock route, make sure you bring warm clothes or a blanket in case it gets cold at night. If you are balling on a budget, I’ve known people to take their hammocks to The Grove and sleep. I’m a late night raver, so I expect to get 5 solid hours of sleep each night, and then usually take a power nap somewhere shady inside of Centeroo!

The weekend will be long, but if you have these items, you can survive! The OZARK brand from Walmart is durable and affordable if you need any of them. Consider practicing your set-up if you aren’t already comfortable setting up a canopy and tent… if you need help, ask your neighbors!
OTHER ESSENTIAL ITEMS

1. Tarps (to keep dirt away or to keep your stuff dry)
2. Flashlights (your campsite will be really dark at night)
3. A portable fan with extra batteries (I have THIS one)
4. Beach chairs, or something else to sit on, and a table.
5. Squishy ear plugs that are comfortable to sleep in!
6. A power inverter (only turn your car on when needed and be mindful of carbon monoxide poisoning!)
7. A Bluetooth speaker to play some relaxing tunes at a low volume (because we’re respectable people) in your tent to help drown out noise and bust it out during the day for entertainment while you get ready!

COOLERS & COOKING/FOOD.
Unless camping is a larger part of your experience, stick to the basics when it comes to cooking. Breakfast and late-night snacks are the most practical to cook, and cooking at the beginning of the weekend to save money. You most likely won’t want to return to camp for lunch and there’s so many yummy vendors to try out!!!
Make sure everything you bring is high in protein or has nutritional value. Consider your perishables or plan to eat them early in the weekend. Handle as much preparation as possible beforehand… chop everything, season everything, mix everything. Pre-crack your eggs into a bottle so you don’t have to worry about them breaking! Protect your food with sealable containers, or vacuum seal it, so cooler water doesn’t ruin your food.
I have THIS portable stove top that uses butane, and pack a cast iron, nonstick skillet, and utensils to get the job done.
Things that are pre-made, like Uncrustables (PB&J) and Spaghetti O’s (only needs to be warmed) will save you time, and snacks like Cliff Bars or Beef Jerky are filling. If possible, use pre-cooked meals like packaged grilled chicken or salami to throw in a wrap or sandwich, you can pre-shred some rotisserie chicken too! Bags of frozen veggies are easy to heat up or bring bags or raw veggies and individual hummus packets for a fresh snack. Peanut butter is easy to put on anything. Collect sauce packets from restaurants – they are easier to bring than entire bottles, plus glass isn’t allowed inside!
Don’t forget to clean-up with… dish towels, Clorox wipes, extra water, etc. and beware of ants!!! Take out your trash daily.
Let’s talk about coolers… do some preliminary work so you don’t waste what you bring, and consider using multiple coolers if you have space. Perhaps a large/small cooler, or a food cooler and a drink cooler, as your drink cooler is likely to be opened more and it’s more critical to keep your food cold. Pre-chill your cooler the night before you leave with a bag of ice, and then add new ice with your food/drinks (which should all be cool/cold/frozen beforehand, too). A lot of people recommend using dry ice, but be sure you know how to handle it.
A word about alcohol: you can’t carry alcohol into Centeroo, but at camp each individual may bring in 2 cases of beer, 1.75 liter of hard liquor, and 2 boxes of wine. No kegs are allowed and no glass whatsoever. Also, the Craft Beer Exchange is really fun if that’s your thing!!!
BRING PLENTY OF HYDRATION. Liquid IVs are great and Pedialyte is a fan favorite, although I can’t stand the thickness of it, haha.
CONCLUSION. If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and if you’re feeling intimated, just remember… This post is 4-years of experience, written in my comedic style with other commenter’s pro tips weaved into my personal stories. No matter how much you plan, something unexpected you’re unprepared for will happen, and you’ll deal with it. Don’t be fooled, we’re all out there just trying to survive and having the best time of our lives!!!

Harvested from an anonymous source....
Maybe it's human nature... maybe it's Match Group
One company - Match Group - has a near monopoly on online dating. They own Match, Tinder, Hinge, PlentyOfFish, OkCupid, and more. The only significant app they don't own is Bumble, and even that is designed by a former Tinder executive. They've been monopolizing the entire dating space since about 2009.
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-match-group-history-of-tinder-parent-company-2021-1#diller-acquired-some-of-the-hottest-online-dating-sites-in-the-years-following-his-decision-to-splinter-off-match-group-4
It's become somewhat well known that Match Group doesn't want people to be in romantic relationships with each other. They want men to pay them $25, $50, up to $100 a month on multiple sites, for the rest of their lives. That's clearly the right move for their stock price; a relationship is just a lost customer. It's the worst thing that can happen to them.
It's also well known, at least within the scientific community, that women do not respond sexually to still photographs the same way men do. Men are very likely to look at a still photo and think "I'm a little turned on and I'd like to have sex with her." Women are rather unlikely to do that.
Or, to cite a 2013 paper that cites four other papers in support:
"Men generally respond to visual sexual stimuli, such as attractive nude or erotic pictures, or erotic films. Women respond differently to the same sexual stimuli. Some women feel repulsed by muscular, erotic male photos, and some are sexually attracted by emotional or lingual stimulation. In other words, men are more sexually aroused by visual stimuli, but women are more sexually aroused by concrete, auditory, olfactory, touch and emotionally relevant sexual stimulation."
https://www.nature.com/articles/ijir201247
Knowing that, it's quite clear that swipe-based apps are insane. An app built around the idea of 30-second introductory videos might actually work to get men into relationships. The apps built by Match Group are specifically designed not to get men into relationships.
In 2000, 81% of young men were sexually active. In 2018, that number had fallen to 69%.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2767066
There are many factors behind the growing trend of male sexlessness - living with parents longer, and substituting online socializing for physical socializing, are obviously two big ones.
I'm increasingly convinced that Match Group is a third major factor. It's doing everything it can to ensure that men, instead of having sex, just give them money.
Why tinder and other swipe apps are messing with men’s heads
It’s set up to make Tinder and their parent company a ton of money, not to help the majority of the end users. The more people successfully find long term partners, the less people using their app and spending a ton of money on it.
These issues apply to men seeking women:
Tinder boosts new accounts for the first few days so new users develop an addiction and keep using hoping they will have another few days where they get a decent amount of matches.
This site explains the bias in the algorithms.
https://rewire.ie.edu/dating-apps-darkest-secret-algorithm/
After that, they suppress the account until you buy / use a boost or superlike. They also hold back some women who swipe right, they appear at the top with the Gold number. You cannot see them until you buy Gold.
It’s also possible buying Gold elevates your profile some compared to a free user, which by default for a guy is going to be at the bottom. It’s not clear this is the case but some people say they noticed a difference.
Swiping right on everyone may get you flagged as a potential bot and at that point very few women will see your profile, though it could take a few days of doing that. If using a free account, maxing out your daily swipes may suppress your visibility even more. My guess is they detect desperation and figure you’re more likely to buy something to help.
Conversely, not swiping at all for a few days may increase your visibility. They detect you may be getting frustrated with the app and ready to delete it and give up, so they boost the account to increase the odds you get a match (with one of the women you already swiped right on previously) to hook you back in.
What Tinder is doing aside, another issue is the imbalance of men to women, especially those really using it seriously, and that both men and women use the app very differently. Studies have shown men swipe right on a much higher percent of women than women swipe right on men, something like 50% for men swiping on women and less than 5% for women swiping right on men.
Basically what’s happening is women find out quickly they have a very high chance of getting a match every time they swipe right and start swiping left on most men. A small percent of men basically end up getting most of the likes women are giving out. This isn’t 100% the case with every woman and every man she right swipes on but the data backs this up.
Likewise, men find they have an extremely low chance of matching and become more and more open to who they swipe right on.
So, most men if being honest get increasingly frustrated and buy boosts, gold, etc. and if not, remain frustrated with few matches.
The small percent of men doing well can’t handle all of their matches and ignore most or just ask women for sex and move on.
Women then use that pool of men to start believing this represents most men using the app and when they are complaining about the men on the app, this is usually why. Anyway, longer than I intended but the shorter version is the app is designed to get your to hand over a lot of money and most men (seeking women) are likely better off not wasting time and money on it.

My mom does not know how to say no, and I dont mean because she is too nice, but because she breaks down and goes frantic herself when my sister doesnt get her way. Every. Single. Time. And it is now becoming a huge issue and my mom is completely oblivious. My mom tells everyone how my little sister just can't sleep, and can't pay attention at school, and has all these issues. Mom is beginning to say that she must have ADHD or something and is putting her in counseling. But as an observer that lives in the house, I can see EXACTLY why she is having these issues, and it's not no ADHD. It's her. My mom will come home from a long shift and take my sister to bed with her, whaddya know, sister doesnt want to sleep and starts freaking out instantly. My mom will start screaming and cussing for her to shut up and go to sleep, and when she doesnt she will eventually kick her out of the room and just shut the door for the night and go to sleep while my sister stays up in the living room until 5am sneaking snacks playing on the tablet and watching TV. Anytime my sister wants anything and gets told no, ANYTIME, she will throw a fit and my mom literally cant handle it and will eventually cave in. My little sister has hit/kicked my mom and still got her way. My little sister is also a complete sugar addict. My mom lets her drink soda like every day, and freak TF out if you deny her something sugar when she asks for it, like a damn crack addict. I don't think I've ever seen my sister drink water unless it's me giving it to her and not letting her get anything else. I'm a 21 year old brotheson and my mom is a single mother. My little sister knows I mean business when I say something and she doesnt freak out at me like she does my mom. My little sister respects and listens to me when I tell her to do something and I NEVER yell or cuss at her EVER. I always explain thoroughly why things are the way they are when she isnt getting her way. I only babysit her for a couple hours when I get home from work, while we wait for mom to get home from her own job. I'm trying my best to teach my little sister but my mom over-rules everything and I have no authority as soon as she is home. Now that I think about it my mother is incredibly toxic and doesnt take a step back to look at the way things work, like child development. She is so oblivious and I am worried about my little sister. I know a lot of you are probably going to say that I need to have a conversation with my mom, which may be true, but my mom is super argumentative and refuses to be wrong. I dont know what else to do for my little sister accept be the best brother I can be.
Edit: I feel like I was being a bit hard on my mom on this post making her seem abusive and she very much isnt, she just isnt great at this. She has been an addict most of her life and I was raised by my grandfather. My mom is a server and works 12 hour shifts and sometimes doesnt get a day off. I understand she is completely exhausted most of the time but I still feel like she can do better and she just isnt realizing the implications that her own actions/words have on my sister. Especially zero discipline. I don't even think my sister knows what a time-out is.