Hey all! I’m new to this universe and needless to say, within 2 weeks this has become my whole personality lol. I’m currently busy with ACOSF. I have to ask though because I know I can’t be the only one….I feel bad for Tamlin. I don’t think he deserves to have his entire life ruined. Yes, he did not pay attention to Feyre struggling but she wasn’t the only one dealing with everything that happened. Could you blame him for becoming possessively protective after witnessing everything that happened to her? I agree that it was toxic and not the way to go obviously but does that really justify him being left the way we see him in ACOFAS? I can’t help but go back to the kitchen scene where Rhys told him to eat. The way his character was offered redemption and then he’s just still left in shambles makes me want a different outcome. Maybe there’s still more to come seeing as Im not finished so no spoilers if that is the case, please! Curious to hear opinions! :)

Hi everyone, first time posting here. If this post is not appropriate here please point me to a different Forum.
I’m a European artist living in Tokyo since 10 years, where I did get my PhD in Oil Painting.
It’s next to impossible getting a university position in Studio Art in this country as a Non-Japanese, so I have to branch out to other countries. I don’t want to move back to Europe, so I want to start applying for positions in the US. I already made a post in another subreddit, and was told to start as a Visiting Professor, since I don’t have teaching experience at University Level apart from being a Teaching Assistant for 3 years during my PhD.
1) Where can I find examples for what the CV in the application is supposed to look like? I found info regarding Professor CVs, but I assume for an Artist they look a bit different. I was browsing through the sites with faculty staff of some Art Universities, but didn’t find any. They only had a short Bio of the Professors, but never a full CV. Maybe I was looking at the wrong places (NYU, for example) .
2) Any other advice regarding applications?
3) I’m pretty sure Art education in the US is very different from Europe and Japan. Are there any resources on the difference in the philosophy of how art is taught at university level? Simply looking at the Universities’ curriculums is probably not enough in this regard.
If you have any other advice for someone who’s trying to get their foot in from abroad, I7d be happy to hear it. Any kind of ressources, Info, etc……
I might make similar posts here in the future.
Thanks everyone.

So I’m slowly getting better at interloper. Started a new one a couple days ago and so far I’ve cleared most of pleasant valley, moved on to coastal highway and now desolation point, but cannot find a hammer anywhere! There used to be one by the whaling place in DP, but other than the matches and a bedroll hidden behind some crates (amazing find for day 3 of interloper) there’s no hammer to be seen.
So I’m unsure where to head next. Got plenty food and everything required for making a bow and arrows is curing in DP as we speak, plus about 40 coal in the rikken ready to forge… was thinking maybe Milton then mystery lake next. Any ideas?

I had to go into my office today to attend some meeting. After the meeting a bunch of managers and me were sitting around casually talking.
When the conversation dried up, they started talking about their S/Os and what they have planned for the evening... naturally excluding me from the discussion.
I was being completely absent minded and blurted out something to the effect of"sounds like alot of fun having someone to go back home to, I go back home to an empty apartment."
I instantly regretted saying that, and before I could follow up with something like "...but that's just the way I personally like it". It was already too late. They had already smelt blood in the ocean. I was now the topic of discussion.
One Steve Wozniak looking guy said "Well, you don't talk much, you have to be able to talk to put yourself out there."
WHAT? I've been suggesting topics that you've all been running with without including me. I've been keeping the conversation going yet every time I try to speak up, or give my opinion, you ignore me and speak over me. Do you guys not see what you are doing? How can I talk when no one wants to give me the opportunity?
The next few minutes were them taking digs at me, without involving me in the discussion. Essentially talking about me, but not to me, and offering me "advice", like I'm some complete imbecile lacking any awareness.
"He has a poor self-image."
Where does my self image come from? We are social creatures. My self image was shaped within a social context. In my case, it has been shaped by experiences of being constantly ostracized, excluded (similar to what you guys are doing to me), and being denied every chance to come out of my shell and thrive (literally happened in every setting I have been in). Maybe if I had some positive reinforcement, maybe If I was treated like a human, I would be able to conform to whatever you think my self image should be like.
One of them sitting next to me (some arrogant Matthew McConaughey lookalike who thinks of himself as a playboy) places his hand on my shoulder and goes "I used to be like you".
You were never like me. Look in the mirror. Stop gaslighting me into thinking I am somehow to blame for being "shy and alone". Everytime I have tried, I am denied the opportunity. I am just shot down again and again, and shown my place.
And then this poor man's McConaughey proceeds to offer unsolicited, generic advice (why is it that people always feel compelled to do this?).
The only woman at the table also took a random dig, she started going on about how her ex husband was a shy guy and "I don't find shy men interesting"
Erm. Who asked you what you find interesting? And Lol. If I were some hot dude, being shy would be mysterious and enigmatic, but since I look like a gremlin, it's just creepy and uninteresting. Are you really turned off by shyness, or are you just twisting any personality trait of a ghastly looking guy as something undesirable?
These people were ultra fixated on the "shy" angle, while ignoring the obvious truth behind my lack of success. If I came across as not shy they'd label me arrogant and make that the excuse behind my loneliness.
I know that I have a reverse halo effect by virtue of how I look. It is what it is, but are you seriously going to be so patronizing?
"He just needs to be more confident."
LOL. Seriously? You give me the most tired out platitude in all of existence, and expect me to take you seriously?
"You need to keep trying"
What do you know about me? I have been trying for 17 years before I accepted that it's over. I refused the "pills". I rejected nihilism. I found a cope for every setback and negative experience. I maxed everything as much as I could. I focused on and marketed my competitive advantages. I held low standards. Tried to get what I could. I really tried. If it was meant to be, I would have made some sort of progress during that time.
I was gritting my teeth as I thanked them all and excused myself.
This was a reminder that it is useless to take to others about this.

Chapter One
Chapter Seventeen
Martinez slouched his way into the kitchen. He wasn’t really paying attention to his surroundings; in his defense it was early in the morning and he’d failed at getting some appropriate shut-eye before he went and, you know, bared his entire soul to Chao. At least that was his plan. But as usual, the universe laughs at plans.
He placed a sealed plastic package into the coffee machine, then put a styrofoam cup in the appropriate location. He yawned as the machine began its burbling.
“Hey.”
Martinez snapped his head over at McCoy, who’d suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She leaned against the counter, with a big and very evil grin on her face.
“Um…” began Martinez, before he was interrupted by a voice from his other side.
“Hey.” Matt leaned there, and if McCoy looked evil then Matt looked positively diabolical. Martinez glanced behind him and saw more soldiers, all with looks of ill intent on their faces.
The corporal didn’t waste time in asking what the hell they were up to, he just started throwing hands and feet. Future scholars would count the resulting battle as one for the ages; Martinez even managed to tag Toke with a couple of pretty good punches and one really sweet roundhouse kick.
But in the end, it was still a case of one against many.
__________
“Mmmm mm mmm m mmm!” protested Martinez.
Chao sighed as she beheld his bruised and very taped-up state. “What did those idiots do to you?”
“Mm MMM mmm mm!” The corporal’s mouth was now duct-taped shut, so verbal acuity was not amongst his strong suits at the present.
She put her hands on her hips. “For crying out loud. Matt goes and gets me all worried that you’re somehow in trouble, he leads me over to some random closet and shoves me in here and I find you like this. What’s the game?”
“Gmmmm?”
Chao squatted, examining his bonds. “Well, they sure got you trussed up like a roast for the feast. Hey, if you want me to pull the tape off of your mouth just nod.”
After a moment, Martinez nodded. She reached for the tape covering his mouth, then hesitated. “Um. I don’t have much experience with this so I’ll leave it up to you. Is it better to go fast or slow? Blink once for fast, two for slow.”
With deliberation, Martinez blinked once. Chao nodded and yanked the tape off. They’d even left a convenient tab for her to grab ahold of.
“FUCKING OW!” yelled the corporal. “Um, sorry.”
Chao seated herself before his figure, which was tied up in a fetal position. “You know, the last few weeks have given me a bit of a crash-course on the types of grab-ass shenanigans you soldier types get up to. This is a new one, though. Care to educate me?”
Martinez stared at her in horrified disbelief. “Toke didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what? He just said you were in trouble and that I needed to help out.”
“That…that evil, evil son of a bitch. He said he’d explain everything!”
“Explain what? Luca, I am just about ready to walk out and leave you in here to eventually soil yourself.”
Now that he was literally hog-tied and unable to escape, Martinez realized he had to ‘fess up. “I like you,” he said in an almost-gasp. “I mean, I like you like you. In that way. I mean, I know it’s sudden. We’ve only known each other for maybe four weeks but you’re so smart and pretty and…and, you know about Asimov and Heinlein and Clarke and about orbital mechanics and star spectra.”
She sat in stunned silence while he continued. “I don’t bring much to the table, I get that. But I want to learn. After we come back from the Rithro’s repair mission, I want to go to college…I’ve started looking into that. I’m not much of a catch right now, but maybe one day you’d consider liking me that way as well…”
He was interrupted as she leaned down, grabbed his head, and planted a firm kiss upon his lips. After a moment of pure bliss for both of them, she pulled away. “You utter and complete idiot,” she said, but she said it with a smile. “Did you never think that perhaps you have some attractive qualities of your own?”
Martinez tried to shrug as best he could, being all tied up. “I mean, Toke did mention that I have some pretty nice abs?”
Chao’s eyes glinted in good humor. “Pretty nice? You’ve got an eight-pack. I could shred cheese on those bad boys.”
He looked up at her. “Wait. When did you see my abs?”
“Back when we were sequestered within Cheyenne Mountain, and we were strictly on sponge baths.” She patted his taut stomach, feeling up those aforementioned abs. “Anyways, do you want me to get you out of these bonds?”
“Um…”
Her good humor turned into a diabolical grin. “Or, would you like to remain in these bonds? Toke said something about a safe-word and safe-gesture, he said you’d explain it.”
“Of course he did. That fucker. Um. Chao, this has gone better than I could ever have imagined but I don’t think you need to know…”
“Know about what?” Her caressing of his unprotected stomach did not cease. “Does my corporal have a bit of a fetish?”
His brain seized up again at her emphasis on ‘my’. “I…”
“Let me put it this way. Would you like me to be all mean and nasty, or more cuddly and dommy mommy?”
After a long, long moment of silence he finally murmured, “Dommy mommy.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard. Well, admitting it wasn’t hard.” Her hand continued its explorations. “Now this here is indeed quite hard. Hmm. Good thing you are just too cute for words.”
“Cute?” He looked in disbelief at her, and then flinched at her continued caressing.
“One can be a badass and also cute, my dear corporal. You tick both boxes. Not to mention you’re into a fetish which I’ve wanted to indulge in for a while. Never found anyone who was into it, until now.”
Outside the closet, McCoy stood guard. She smiled in triumph as she heard Martinez yell out in pleasure, and turned to give Toke a thumbs-up.
“It’s about fuckin’ time,” she said.
Matt smiled back at her. He now sported an epic shiner under one eye. “Eh, some kids just need a bit of a nudge, you know?”
__________
It was…it was a wall. A wall he was looking at.
A wall covered in white stucco. Nothing too fancy, but it was indeed a wall and Joachim realized he was looking at it. That might seem like a substandard feat, but for a man who’d been in Joachim’s proverbial shoes it was a grand accomplishment.
His mouth worked as he swished his tongue around in his mouth. He looked around. He sat in a lawn chair in the middle of a beige room, lined on every wall with the stucco he’d just realized he was looking at. “H…hello?”
His voice felt old and clotted. Joachim looked down at his hand, and he saw wrinkled skin and age spots that he didn’t remember seeing there before.
This room only had one exit door, and now it opened. A lean man with dark skin entered. “Joachim Neimyer? I’m Zawahir Ibn Harith. How are you feeling, sir?”
Joachim fixed the newcomer with a steady eye. “I’ll be feeling better once I know where I am. And where is Corina?”
“Corina is on her way, she should be here within minutes. We had great hopes that your treatment was progressing well. Do you know what day it is, sir?”
“Of course I know what day it is! It’s…” Joachim trailed off as he realized that he didn’t know. The last few…years? Decades? He had glimpses of moments in time, as if viewed via a strobe-light. He now realized it was much, much later in time than he thought. “I…what happened?”
“Alzheimer’s, Mr. Neimeyer.” Zawahir’s eyes were kind. “You’ve been suffering from it for the last seven years. But we discovered…or, I should say, we adopted a methodology for treating it. It not only stops the damage, it has a way of reversing at least some of its effects. I fear you will never regain the memories from the time during which you suffered the most, but from now on your mind should function properly once more.”
Joachim rubbed his now-bald pate. “Is Corina all right?”
Zawahir pulled over a chair next to him and seated himself. “She is, blessedly, un-marked by the same affliction. We are, of course, putting her on a similar treatment as yourself just to make sure she remains so. With her consent, of course.”
The old man fixed Zawahir with a direct stare. “This whole thing smells experimental. Why choose me?”
“Mmm, you are as sharp as ever, sir. This is indeed an experiment, and we chose you because you are one of the preeminent rocket experts who ever lived. We need such skills now.”
“What?”
Zawahir leaned forward. “I will do my best to catch you up…”
__________
She walked through the door, supported by a cane. The one person, the beacon in Joachim’s life. Corina lit up upon seeing his gaze. A gaze with intent, with purpose. “They said you were feeling better!”
Before he or the surrounding interns could react, Joachim now found himself with a hundred-ish pounds of enthusiastic elderly woman in his lap.
“Tell me something only you know,” she whispered.
Joachim smiled. “Do you remember what I told you when we saw the green flash? That one time, in Hawaii? During our honeymoon?”
“I do. You said that the flash was the souls of those who’ve gone before.”
“And I promised you that, if I passed before you, that you would just need to look for the flash to see me.”
She clasped his wrinkled face in her own equally-lined hands. “You did better than that. You came back to me.”
“I guess I did.” He kissed her, reveling in the fact that this time he’d remember it.
Zawahir motioned to everyone else in the room. They all quickly got the hint and left the pair to their mutual happiness.
__________
The door of the simulator cracked open and Kifa came scuttling out. She peered up at the normally stony face of Master Sergeant Wilkes; right now the latter looked like he’d just been kicked in the chest by a donkey and was still trying to process it. “How did I do?” asked the xyrax. “It seems like I did quite well.”
“Um…Kifa. Well. Um. Did the controls seem to operate right?”
“Oh, yes! Very much, quite intuitive! It’s been ages since I simulated combat within an atmosphere! That was fun!”
“Fun. You do realize that you were going up against aces. I mean real, human aces?”
“Oh. I thought that was the case.” Kifa peered back into the simulator. “Was I not supposed to know that?”
Wilkes finally laughed, something that was fortunately captured by several cameras and used as blackmail material for many years after. “You did fine. You also just utterly smoked several of the finest pilots on Earth, and that includes non-Americans.” He regarded her with a steady gaze. “I wish I could recruit you to TOPGUN, I’d love to see you show those strutting peacocks a thing or two.”
“What is TOPGUN?”
He sighed. “Right now, it’s in the same exact department as buggy-whip manufacturing. You just showed these punks that, even in atmosphere, you’re death from above.”
Kifa seemed to shrink into themselves. “I didn’t mean to…”
“Now, now, Kifa, this is a good thing. Gotta keep those aforementioned strutting peacocks on their toes. But soon we’ll be dealing with fighting using orbital mechanics, something with which our air-combat people have about as much actual experience as they do with chatting up the fairer sex.”
“Which fairer sex? I mean, my kind is hermaphroditic so I know the mechanics but…” Kifa trailed off as it blinked its four big, oil-drop eyes.
“You are too damned cute for your own good. Pick a sex, any one, I for one do not give a fuck anymore. Point being, we humans need a crash-course in how to fight in space. No atmo, so trying to maneuver using flaps and wings and things is right out. We need to understand how orbits work. Not just intellectually, but in our bones.” Wilkes patted the simulator. “We need you to teach us. We need you to teach an army. Well, navy. Technically. I guess it would count as a navy. Either way. You know how to do this shit, and you just proved that even in atmosphere you can run rings around our best and brightest. So. Are you willing to show us your voodoo?”
“My voodoo…” The blue-furred spider suddenly rose on all of its legs. “Of course! This will be used against the Breakers, yes?”
“Of course.”
“Then it will be my greatest pleasure to show you all of my voodoo!” Kifa paused. “Although, if I received a headpat or two it would also help me properly consider how best to teach you.”
Sergeant Wilkes sighed and reached down. Kifa purred in delight as the usually-taciturn sergeant unleashed the full might and power of Human Headpats upon the alien pilot.
__________
Sadaf watched as the two dark-haired women and one blonde-haired woman had a black-and-white cap fitted over their heads. Both had received a haircut for this day; Parvati for one seemed to be less than thrilled about losing some of her tresses.
“This is the snoopy-cap,” said the aide who stood between the two women. The surroundings were sterile and very, very white. “This cap contains your communications, and it will keep your hair in place during launch.” This was the actual process getting shown to the world. Behind them, Ravindar and Martinez were also in the process of getting suited up, but this was done with much less fanfare. The aide’s words carried to them all, of course.
“Arms up!” Everyone going into space today raised their arms, and a large tubby-looking upper suit then slid down over five figures. Many human hands made sure that their heads made it through the upper ring. “This is the upper part of your pressure suit,” said the aide. “The gloves and helmet will complete that part, but that will come later. Now I will need you all to step into your pants…”
Everyone did so; Chao was the one who didn’t quite make it look elegant. She grinned at Martinez as she fumbled for a bit getting her pressure-suit trousers on; his resulting blush was caught for the cameras but it wasn’t until a week later that someone realized what it meant.
“Latch!” The aide’s voice was hard as metal.
Many hands reached out, twisting multiple metal rings to lock the upper and lower halves of the four pressure suits into one cohesive piece.
“I still say we could make them some proper hardsuits,” said Sadaf to Takh. The two stood off to the side, not exactly part of the dance but not apart from it either.
“No, I think this is better,” said Takh. “We need to make this look more like a…human effort.” Her XO stood at parade-rest, with both sets of arms clasped behind his back.
Sadaf nodded. “I will default to your judgement. By the way…how are you and Corporal McCoy getting along?” She nodded towards the last-minute addition to the crew.
“Um…Ma’am, I…” His faltering was not helped by watching the humans in the clean-room getting clear helmets fixed over their heads. Each latching was followed-up by a tap on the shoulder and a thumbs-up.
The big human, Ravindar, waved his arms over his shoulders as he got the feel for the suit. He’d managed to get the helmet on without an issue, in spite of his substantial beard. “Need more air?” asked a much smaller woman at his side. He shook his head, while he continued to flex and get comfortable with how the suit restricted his motions.
Getting the Sikh to this moment had been a master-class in diplomacy. Not least of which was because he still carried a weapon upon his person. Sadaf had no experience with ‘Sikhism’, but she could appreciate any culture or creed which dictated the need to carry a protective weapon at all times. It appealed to her nature.
“Do you think Parvati knows that he’s, well, into her?” asked Takh.
His captain’s voice became damn near sultry. “Now Takh, and here I thought you were all clueless. I’ve heard of the effort these humans went through to get Chao and Luca together. Would you like me to ask them to perform a similar effort for you and Corporal McCoy? Hmmm? It would make for quite the photo-op, as the humans would say.”
Takh felt a bit of panic, somehow. “No!” His panicked reply was low, hopefully not picked up by the surrounding cameras. “I mean, she’s so small. I could hurt her…assuming she wants to be romantic, of course.”
“Romantic? Takh, I admit I am still learning about human body language but trust me…if you want that, she wants that.” She pondered the humans in the room still going through some last-minute checks of their pressure suits. “Let’s put it this way. If you don’t make a move, then I just might ask Dhuz if it’s okay to add a human to our harem when we get back.”
“What?”
“I have learned quite the delightful human phrase. It is, as they say, Time To Nut Up Or Shut Up. I do find McCoy really cute, after all. As do you.”
Her XO grumbled semi-silently for a bit. “Fair enough, Captain. I’ll ask her. While we’re out there.”
“Good.” The humans in the clean room were now about finished with their checks, and Sadaf felt a bit of a thrill. She was, after all, witness to a species taking their first steps into a larger universe.
Five hoses were now shoved into five chest-mounted receptacles, each hose leading to its own hand-held air-conditioning unit. Another complicated round of checks, slaps, and thumbs-ups then followed.
“They do know that we’re just going to walk beside them right into the landing boat, right?” asked Takh. “This whole process isn’t really necessary.”
“Let them have this moment,” said Sadaf with a gentle smile. “They’re having fun.”
__________
The five white-suited individuals emerged from the hallway to pretty much universal uproar, both in person and online. The suit color was all NASA, but the logos were not. All four wore the emblem of the United Nations at their shoulder, a pair of olive branches surrounding a polar view of the world. The four humans all did their bit and waved for the cameras. Those in charge of the cameras did as instructed, and ignored the two black-and-sliver figures behind the quartet. The latter weren’t wearing any sort of pressure suit.
In the middle of the courtyard hovered the real talking piece, a landing boat from the Rithro. Its entry door was already lowered, and with another wave to the cameras from each of the five humans, they walked up the ramp and into the craft.
The five of them then looked at each other as the door began to close behind them. They’d trained together for a bit, enough to get a feel for each other. But now there was a real sense among them of holy shit what now?
Their mutual what-nows were interrupted as Tofa appeared. The arachnoid alien held a tray in one pedipalp, and upon that tray sat a little dish of what looked like Brazil nuts.
“Greetings!” chirped Tofa. “Welcome to Rithro Air, I assure you we have an excellent safety reputation. Well, almost excellent, if you don’t count the affair around Barnard’s Star. You may now take off your pressure suits. May I interest you in a nut?”
The four humans (and a few of the aliens) flinched as Ravindar let loose with a hearty belly-laugh. He reached up to undo his helmet while he beamed a brilliant white smile at their greeter. “You? I like you. We’re going to be fast friends.” He reached down to pluck a nut from the tray. “Madame? Do you want to take the first nut? Or should I taste it first?”
“Um…” For once, Parvati looked uncertain within her glass-and-cloth cocoon. “If you wish to taste, then please go ahead.”
“As you wish.” Ravindar held her eyes as he bit into the proffered nut. “It seems to be all right,” he pronounced.
After the great ceremony with which they’d been ensconced into their pressure suits, the humans then with reluctance emerged from their cocoons.
“We set up some chairs for everyone!” exclaimed Tofa, who gestured to the sides of the landing craft.
“Um, where do we put all of this?” asked Martinez as he held up a pressure-suit gauntlet.
The alien spider blinked. “Oh, right! Kexal, would you mind helping our guests stow their material?”
__________
The conference room at ULA now looked out over an even-greater bustle of activity. They were determined to at least match SpaceX in terms of tonnage-to-orbit; maybe they’d do so more efficiently? The mere notion had set a fire under everyone.
Joachim sat in a wheelchair while he studied those in front of him. “Ladies and gentlemen. I have, through some strange technological miracle, been re-granted the use of my mind. Not only that; they tell me that I and my wife might, if certain tests go well…we could become that which we once were. I intend to make sure that this gift does not go to waste. Not for me, nor for my wife, nor for the rest of humanity. Anyways. We have some aliens who need our help, we have some psychotic robot idiots who are fucking things up for everyone, and we need to get some serious tonnage into orbit as a result. Is that about the shape of things?”
“That’s pretty much the shape of it, sir,” said Dwight.
Joachim pointed a wrinkled finger at the speaker. “You. I’ve been caught up enough that I know you were the one to advocate for the use of Sea Dragon.”
“Just as a Hail Mary,” Dwight protested.
Clara cleared her throat. “I mean, I understand the enthusiasm but nobody has ever fired a pressure-fed engine that big. A single engine, mind you.”
Joachim rubbed his chin. “I understand your concern. But also keep in mind, this is a pintle injector, not a shower-head like they had on the F-1s on the Saturn-Five’s first stage. Pintle injectors were classified at the time. That’s a pity, because pintle injectors are safe as houses.”
Clara looked over at him. “Really?”
“Oh yeah, they’re pretty much bomb-proof.”
The team regarded the design now up on the screen. Clara was the first to speak their mutual thought. “Could…could we make this work?”
Joachim’s exclamation brought them all up short. “Of COURSE we can!” He thumped his cane into the floor for added emphasis. “Gentlemen…and ladies, please forgive me Clara…not one month ago I was a drooling wreck of a human. Today I come before you with my mind re-borne and in full function. I intend to make full use of that function. As does my wife, God bless her. We are going to set an example.”
Joachim stood, levering himself upright via his cane. “Here I stand,” he said. “Like Martin Luther before me, I can do no other.”
After a moment, everybody else in the conference room stood as well.
“Welp, we’re all standing,” said Dwight. “Okay, so what do we do now?”
Joachim pointed his cane at the screen. “Now, my dear Dwight, we Build. That. Fucking. Thing. We’re gonna show these Coalition assholes how we humans put some fucking tonnage into orbit.”
“Fuck yeah,” said Clara, as an unholy light came into her eyes.
“Fuck yes indeed,” replied Joachim. “The question now is, what do we put into it?”
The other people in the room looked at each other, just before bursting out into exclamations as to what they wanted put into that first launch. It was the sound of people on an expense account to beat the band.

Hey! I'm 27 years old from Europe, currently working at my office in the company and totally bored. My interests I clude tons of music of different genres, reading all kinds of stuff, Netflix and movies in general. Also I was a water polo player for many years so sports interest me as well. I also love working out! If you want to talk and get to know, then DM me! We could also play the numbers game if you like! Cheers!

Tldr: we both 23, been together nearly 3 years
I’ve noticed multiple times that when we go to restaurants, bars etc, a lot of the time he won’t acknowledge the waiters, bartenders etc and let me do the talking. He doesn’t even look at them sometimes.
He isn’t neurodivergent and around other people he is very chatty and outgoing, if anything I have far more social anxiety than he does. He’s constantly meeting and making new friends when he’s out and about.
My parents were very gung ho about making sure I was always polite to people. Now that Im older and work in finance I chat to the cleaners, janitors in the building the same I would anyone else. I’m not patting myself on the back for this btw, I see this as a bare minimum of being a decent person.
I worked as a waitress/bartender while at university and can confirm that one someone barely acknowledges you or says thank you, we notice. I never took it personally but it’s just a “huh, they’re kind of an ass” moment.
My bf has never had a customer service job.
Btw I’m not one of those annoying customers that doesn’t shut up. I’m just friendly and smiley to them.
The first few times I noticed I chalked it up to him maybe being tired and not in the mood to be chatty, totally fine.
I raised it with him and he said that since I’m happy to talk to them, he doesn’t see why it’s a big deal.
I said something along the lines of “I guess I was raised this way, my parents were always super strict about us being nice to customer service people.” He got offended by this and insisted that his parents are the same.
I’ve been out with his family and everyone but his dad is the exact same. I didn’t say this to him though.
I confessed that it’s embarrassing to be out with someone who can’t even be bothered to look at the waitress and will often order while scrolling on their phone, never says please or thank you. There have been times they’ve given me a look or a raised eyebrow in response to him, and I feel like I have to be extra nice to make up for him.
It takes minimal effort to be nice so why can’t he just do it?
He’s now giving me the cold shoulder and said some salty comments about how he was raised and he’s sorry I’m embarrassed by him.
I realise that maybe I went a bit too ad hominem on him, how can I deescalate this and make him see where I’m coming from?

Throw away for anonymity.
So the other day my wife and I had our first swinger experience (we’re mid-late 20s). This was with some folks we met on Reddit, which maybe a red flag?
To be completely honest I was sold on the “sex with other women”. And kinda brought up the idea to my wife. We had discussed swaps/swinging previously. But now it was happening.
Anyway, we both book a room in the same hotel. It was sold as 5 other couples. We show up and it’s my wife and I and 3 men. Im told the others/women are on the way. We have a few drinks, loosen up and my wife starts playing with them.
At this point I’m thinking do I wait for the girls or join them with my wife? Bc I’m the only one sitting around right now. I decide to wait and about 10’ later two couples show up.
We’re all together I start playing with one of the girls. We’re 69ing and she makes me pop extremely fast. Im kinda embarrassed by it. I leave shortly after because I’m not really a round two guy. No one seemed to notice either. After a couple hours my wife returns to my hotel, asks when I left. If I had fun, I say yeah and she says she loved every minute.
But tbh the only thing I could think about was coming early and it not really being equivalent? Like afaik she played with 5 guys and another girl or two. And I just played with one girl for a brief time. Which, tbh kinda related to the finishing early as well. Bc if I could have lasted I could have plaid with the other. Or maybe had sex/piv.

There are so many questions left to answer in the game.
​
I mean where is Tyrael?
​
Have Malthael come back yet?
​
Did Inarius and Lillith really "died" (I don't think so imo)
​
Did Tyrael got a family now that he is mortal?? (I really wanna see sons of Tyrael,lol)
​
I can't be the only one that thought soulstone Mephisto was a bad idea, sure he was "weak",but I would rather soulstone Lillith!
​
RATHMA U WHERE ALIVE ALL THIS TIME?? WTF!!
​
Will we ever see Deckard Cain (ghost maybe) ever again? I mean someone have to feed VA Michael Gough.
​
Why did we not had a boss fight with Inarius warden (not Mephisto)? That would be epic!
​
What happened to the prophecy last sentence from D3? It's about Itherael, right?
​
And is this really Daddy Blizzard second Diablo game without DIABLO in it?
​
​
All this can/maybe be answer with another DLC,but I don't want to pay so much ,just for lore-questions!
Do you guys think Daddy Blizzard would give us a free DLC? (maybe not a big one, but a smaller one?)

Never used Android before- First impressions : S23 blazing fast, screen gorgeous, no problems here. Data transfer via wire Photos: Native gallery app not showing all photos. Only could see all with Google photos app and even there some sorting was needed. Couldn’t find good music player yet, YT music/ Samsung music messed up all my tracks. Luckily I have QNAP NAS and from their QMusic app I could see/play my music in a perfect order. Need advice for good music player please! Camera- way better on S23 no problem here Contacts/ notes transfer - no problems. Same for emails/ messages/Whatsapp. although iOS mail server is more user friendly IMO.- maybe I just used to it.

Hello
This happened about a year ago and I am looking for some advice. I had a bedroom window open and someone was smoking in my driveway. I didn’t shut the window for maybe around 15 minutes. The bedroom had a smoky smell and to this day it still smells a bit bad. I feel bad for the three year old because I feel like it isn’t fair to him and it might compromise his health from the exposure to the third hand smoke in his bedroom. The bedroom is kinda small so perhaps that makes the smoke linger longer maybe?
Anyway I have asked others if they smell smoke and they either tell me no or that they don’t notice smells / can’t smell things. So it is just me, and maybe it is just in my head? My son does sleep fine and at his latest dr appointment I was told he is healthy. Am I overthinking any of this? I have not tried any cleaning or anything because I’m not sure what is best to do. Could I try leaving a box of baking soda in there for a few days or weeks and then replace it after that timeframe? Maybe trying that for a month would help? Is it bad to have an opened box of baking soda in the room when my kid is in there sleeping (could any sort of health issues come from it being there)? I might also try white vinegar but I would only do it when he is not sleeping there.
Thanks for the help.

It is 4:30 in the morning and I haven’t slept a wink all night. It is hot as hell and prime mosquito season where I live. The landlords refuse to let me spray for bugs because they are afraid of toxins. So I’m lying in this already miserable, hot room without a fan; but no, that is not even the worst part.
I have smashed the living brains out of about ten of these little creeps within the past couple days. Before I put myself to bed I felt satisfied having squished the life out of one flying, malaria-carrying bundle of joy. Thinking I was gonna have a relatively good night of sleep, I shut my eyes and tried to go to bed.
I twist in turn for about an hour. I pulled something in my leg standing on my bed trying to smash another one earlier which ended up partially ruining my sleep. I hadn’t given up yet. I was determined to go to sleep and I tried for a good 30 minutes until I heard the most ear-piercing noise of my life. It started soft and got louder and louder; it sounded like a night-core remix of someone throwing up. I then realized who it was. A little beast was fluttering around my room again!
I get up, already in pain from the last incident. I flip on the light, it’s too late now, the cover was blown. I knew this little vampire turd was hiding in my room ready to infect me with the next new disease. I got a tissue prepared to be its grave stone, but to no avail unfortunately. The little crapper was playing games with me!!!! It decided that 3:00am was the perfect time to play hide-and-go-seek. Screw that, I shut off the lights and tried to go to bed.
The second I get back in bed the beast flies right up to my ear and hums its hideous song. I jolt away fast so it can’t find a home on my skin. I turn back on the lights and it’s hiding again. Screw that, I’ll go sleep on the couch.
Finally, MAYBE I’ll get some sleep. Nope! There was one waiting for me in the living room too! It pulled the exact same thing! I went back to my room in defeat.
I turn on the lights to see little beast boy having a party at the highest point on my ceiling. It was buzzing so happily and frantically, it reminded me of a purring cat; its joy made me cringe. I gave up at this point. It is now nearly 5 am. I got no sleep and I’m watching malaria take loops across my room as it laughs at my suffering. It is flying in circles at the highest point so I can’t reach it; it never seems to get tired. It sounds like this beast is having the happiest time of its life right now and I honestly want to puke because of it.
My PSA to all of you, KILL THESE SORRY EXCUSES OF AN ANIMAL!!! DON’T PITY THEM! THEY OBVIOUSLY FIND JOY IN HUMAN SUFFERING SO GIVE THEM A TASTE OF THEIR OWN MEDICINE!!!!!
Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk. Good morning, guys! <3

Hi everyone, new here and just acquired a new FLX4 to start messing around at home.
Everything was going fine until yesterday I noticed that the select knob was not working (when I turn it, the cursor doesn't move in serato, although the click does something, just not what is expected).
I then went to windows device manager and see that there is no driver assigned for some reason, so I guess that it is not a problem with the controller, but rather with Windows.
Just wanted to check if someone has had the same issue and how it was solved, since pioneer says that the driver should automatically be installed upon connecting.
Can someone maybe tell me what they see in the device manager and what driver is assigned to their controller?
Thanks in advance.

Weird title, but if I cared about it then I wouldn't posted it.
Now if you blasted through the average insult towards Bleach back in the 2010s and went through hell that was Supereyepatchwolf's video that he already apologized about. You'd find the average thing said about Bleach to be compliments. And I like that.
When I see the average joe who hasn't probably known shit about the hell Kubo went through or more likely, mock and discredit his ability by saying he's weak compared to others like a lunatic and unthinking asshole because you're bitter about a ship, I just use the block button and just leave that out of mind.
But please-

PLEASE

Give me actual criticism! Give me things that we could talk about!
Like how Ichigo is a kinda shit and soulless protagonist because he's reactive in a boring way. Like...Ichigo has a goal to protect his loved ones is fine, but the fact that while Aizen calls him out on how uninvolved he is, he's never given any actual conflict that would be fun to see.
Like the idea of him being against Uryū for his powers being highly unethical and his memory of Sora being a Hollow still fresh would be a fun conflict, you could've played it into Orihime being kind to Loly and Menoly, because the anime gives her kindness a purpose with some added scenes that give it more meaning than Kubo did. There's rants about the Soul Society, but the fact that scene that gave Ichigo his drive to fight Hollows after getting his powers and Uryū's powers never make itself into a plot is kinda fucking shameful.
Trivia isn't gonna make me hate you less Ichigo, get in the fucking driver seat. No amount of trivia is going to stop him from being a passive character who's boring because a passive character can work even in the main chair, but he's bad at that.

my skin has been dry lately especially around my cheeks and also im having a few acne there as well. i think i've been using a tea tree face wash since years so maybe those are the results of that? but i was looking for a product to hydrate my skin and also heal that acne-affected part and acne spots and i heard a lot about the cosrx snail essence. so is it worth it? i usually have normal skin

I've had this very often as a child but it went away for a good few years, today it came back together with dreams about demons and death of loved ones and curses being put upon me for visiting macabre "childhood places" (a building holding otherworldly capacities like time travel and transportation to other realms, but filled with bad entities)I haven't visited I a long time. Being near the building put a curse on my toe to grow hair that can't be pulled out because more grows with it and a little face painted with 2 dots as eyes and a smiley face on my big toe.
This curse made it so that every time I eat something I like I feel dizzy and bad, till one day while cuddling with my girlfriend and having breakfast at the same time, I noticed she starts to feel dizzy, then I noticed the hair and the face were gone on my toe, however I noticed her getting more and more dizzy every time she ate. I knew she somehow took the curse upon herself because she loves me but then one day I was outside watching her sit in a glass building and saw her die.
Is it worth mentioning maybe that when I take psychoactive drugs I start having thoughts about being forced as a child which I then identify as potential repressed trauma?
I'm thinking this sleep vertigo when waking up has a psychological cause and would like to hear some thoughts. I think the information provided probably helps.

Im Matias! 40yo
Completely alone and without friends. I spend days and days in complete silence and this is slowly killing me.
3 hobbies? That’s not easy, Im not sure I have any, but:
1- I like woodworking craft 2- playing digital games, because they make me forget about my loser life 3- imagining a better life for myself
I live in Brazik, but currently I’m in Berlin. I thought that coming here I could make friend by miracle. I was wrong, that’s why I’m going back to my country next Monday. Im open to live anywhere in the world, If I can find friends to spend some time with…laughing…talking…crying with….getting bored with….
My favorite Hollywood movie: Die Hard My favorite non-Hollywood director: the Icelandic Baltasar Kormákur
My favorite game: MarioKart
Music? I’m not a big fan of music, but I like Mozart. I can also enjoy listening to The Cure, Coldplay. And I used to listen a lot of Sigur Rós
If I will travel again? I’m not sure, but it would be nice to travel with a friend to Reykjavik, 🇮🇸
Languages? I like languages, my favourites are Nordic ones.

So, I was thinking that maybe some of us could get Twitter Blue to get a Blue check mark. Even if the probability remains low, I think at least the probability is at least increased. So by that I mean it becomes more likely that a person with a lot of followers is more likely to read the tweet than without Twitter Blue. Yes I know it costs money, but it's still better than just donating to Foregen and continuing to wait. You can also cancel it right after a month. The main thing is to try.