The rolling stones you cant always get w

Hey all, I’d love some perspective on this issue.
Next week I’ll be reaching 90 days alcohol free. Woohoo!
At the start of it I was smoking weed, but stopped shortly after realizing I was partaking too much and potentially replacing one substance with another. I’ve never been an avid weed smoker, I’m not someone who enjoys getting too stoned. Always been a one hitter type but it became a little bit more once I wasn’t drinking, mostly for sleeping.
I’m not completely concerned about that regarding my 90 day count. However, a few weeks ago I did mushrooms with a buddy who had always wanted to try them and I’m a little bit experienced with them. I don’t personally have a problem with it, we mini dosed and had a good, wholesome time. I feel very aware of my mental state through all of this and have been maintaining sobriety through therapy and AA.
I guess my personal take on it all falls under a few categories. If I’m not drinking, that’s what matters, to a degree. Drugs I used to take while drunk such as cocaine or other hard substances are a hard no.
I’ve not sworn off weed, and will most likely smoke in social settings in the future. I just wanted to be sure I had a grasp on it while I became more secure in not drinking. Same goes for mushrooms. Not once in considering doing them did I feel like I was taking them to escape anything, and if anything I was able to dive a little deeper into some issues in my life. It felt healthy and not like a panic response like alcohol always has for me.
My conflict is in regards to AA. I love my group, I go one to two times a week and have made some wonderful friends and the support has been incredible in the scope of accepting that I want to be sober for life. However, there’s a part of me that feels like a fraud if I celebrate 90 days and get a chip at the next meeting. I’m so proud of myself, and want to celebrate, but I feel like I’m lying to everyone who is also proud of me. I tend to overthink and can be hypersensitive to guilt/shame, so I’m reaching out here to hear your opinions on this.
I want to add, I know what it feels like to bargain with myself over drinking/substances and my ability to moderate (it doesn’t exist) and I strongly considered that prior to taking the mushrooms. I felt stable and reflective before, during and after. If anything it confirmed that I love being alcohol free and made me increasingly proud of how far I’ve come, mentally and physically.
I’m 27F for reference. Any input is appreciated. Thank you!
TL;DR conflicted over celebrating 90 days with AA group when I’ve taken mushrooms during the duration.

For reference: I'm fat (74KG) and short(158CM), not as pretty as the girls in our university :)
We've been together for a while now and the thought my boyfriend doesn't find me pretty always is in my mind.
He sometimes says it like a way of reassurance but us girls, we KNOW what's a real compliment and what isn't. I find myself pretty and satisfied. But when I have a boyfriend, it's absolutely normal to wanting to be pretty for him too.
Once I wore this top I really loved, it was a new one and he knows it too. I was so excited wearing it but he asked me "Why are you wearing this, it's too low", you could only imagine how my mood and self-esteem dropped. It wasn't as low, just a normal neck. The other time when I wore a top too, he looked like, I can't explain it but he didn't like it and thinks I look fat? You know from the way a person looks at you and I know very well since I grew up hearing all kind of comments and getting all kind of looks because I'm fat.
Since I'm fat, obviously my arms are big too. He once saw my arms after I took off my jacket and said "Wow" with a look and turned away. No smile, no nothing. When I asked why, he replied nothing while sounding emotionless. Then I was feeling insecure about my arms.
Today I posted a mirror pic of me which I took when I was out on my insta story. He just liked, no reply. But he's the type to ask me "Do I look good" or tell me "My friends told me I look hot". It's like he says that to hear it from me that he does look good. Is it bad I expect the same? I'm not the person to go around asking how do I look (I can always tell him he looks good tho) I just want to hear your words on me every now and then or at least once in a while too.
The other day a girl told me "You look pretty" when I was with my boyfriend. I'm just being delusional but he looked so unbothered. I'm not sure if I'm expecting wrong but at least something like "You do look pretty" because I RARELY even hear that. Once again I felt down that moment cause the same thought, my boyfriend does find me attractive.
We do have our intimate moments (not as extreme, always with clothes on) and it had always felt and been good.
He's never been in a relationship, I'm his first. When it comes to his actions, he's really nice. Took care of me when I was sick, brings us out, always wants to spend time with me and never fails to tell me how much he loves me. He expresses how I'm the woman of his his life, he imagines a future together with me.
But I'm a words of affirmation person, I like giving it and receiving it at the same time. Makes me overthink and be down. What should I do about this? I don't really wanna bring this up to him cause will make me feel like I'm forcing a compliment which isn't my point.

I (18F) have always wanted to gain some separation from my parents, as they have always shamed me for my interests and my personality until I've taught myself to hide it. I can't wait until this year, my last year of high school, ends, so I can finally move out and start my life.
No matter what I do, they find a way to make fun of it and make me regret telling them about it. Recently, I was listening to a song from a show I liked, and my mum asked me in a mocking way "are you listening to metal?" because she always makes fun of the music I like.
Finally knowing she wasn't going to mock me, I told her that it was a song from a show, and that I really liked the show. After I came home from school today, I spent around 2 hours or so talking, I'm a very talkative and extroverted person, and then listened to some music.
I decided to tell them about my future plans for University next year, and how I want to move out like my sister did. The two of them started yelling at me and saying I never do things, all I do is talk, and calling me delusional and idiotic by saying I wanted to "try being an adult" by "mimicking" the show I liked.
Then they proceeded to say "shame on [me]" for not studying and trying to mimic a show (which isn't what I was doing at all) and I just...I can't articulate it well over text but they basically shamed the hell out of me for a new interest of mine.
They also like to act like they know me, and laugh when I try and show my real personality to them, because they only know me as a "quiet, cautious and introverted" person. This is due to the fact that they shame me every time I talk and never let me go out and make friends. But sure, they know me best, and I don't know myself at all.
I've just reached a breaking point of hiding my personality and my interests because I keep getting shamed for it

For reference: I'm fat (74KG) and short(158CM), not as pretty as the girls in our university :)
We've been together for a while now and the thought my boyfriend doesn't find me pretty always is in my mind.
He sometimes says it like a way of reassurance but us girls, we KNOW what's a real compliment and what isn't. I find myself pretty and satisfied. But when I have a boyfriend, it's absolutely normal to wanting to be pretty for him too.
Once I wore this top I really loved, it was a new one and he knows it too. I was so excited wearing it but he asked me "Why are you wearing this, it's too low", you could only imagine how my mood and self-esteem dropped. It wasn't as low, just a normal neck. The other time when I wore a top too, he looked like, I can't explain it but he didn't like it and thinks I look fat? You know from the way a person looks at you and I know very well since I grew up hearing all kind of comments and getting all kind of looks because I'm fat.
Since I'm fat, obviously my arms are big too. He once saw my arms after I took off my jacket and said "Wow" with a look and turned away. No smile, no nothing. When I asked why, he replied nothing while sounding emotionless. Then I was feeling insecure about my arms.
Today I posted a mirror pic of me which I took when I was out on my insta story. He just liked, no reply. But he's the type to ask me "Do I look good" or tell me "My friends told me I look hot". It's like he says that to hear it from me that he does look good. Is it bad I expect the same? I'm not the person to go around asking how do I look (I can always tell him he looks good tho) I just want to hear your words on me every now and then or at least once in a while too.
The other day a girl told me "You look pretty" when I was with my boyfriend. I'm just being delusional but he looked so unbothered. I'm not sure if I'm expecting wrong but at least something like "You do look pretty" because I RARELY even hear that. Once again I felt down that moment cause the same thought, my boyfriend does find me attractive.
We do have our intimate moments (not as extreme, always with clothes on) and it had always felt and been good.
He's never been in a relationship, I'm his first. When it comes to his actions, he's really nice. Took care of me when I was sick, brings us out, always wants to spend time with me and never fails to tell me how much he loves me. He expresses how I'm the woman of his his life, he imagines a future together with me.
But I'm a words of affirmation person, I like giving it and receiving it at the same time. Makes me overthink and be down. What should I do about this? Am I just overthinking? Is this normal? I don't really wanna bring this up to him cause will make me feel like I'm forcing a compliment which isn't my point.
TL;DR! My boyfriend's actions show how much he loves me but I don't think he finds me attractive. What should I do?

My GF just told me that she wants to end our relationship because she thought I would grow out of my hobbies but I never did. I enjoy games, anime, and watching soccer. All of which I do in moderation. I do my best to make time for her and will immediately drop whatever I am doing if she wants to do something together. She says the soccer hobby is fine but a grown man shouldn't like video games as much as I do and especially hates the idea of anime. She says all anime is cringey and disgusting. I watch pretty much all kinds of anime which includes the more adult ones (but none of the weird "loli" crap). I have been open about that since before we started dating.

Recently I bought one of those anime figures to set on my computer (The figure is completely SFW) and she said that it was the last straw and she couldn't handle my disgusting hobbies anymore. I knew she didn't enjoy some of my hobbies but I didn't think it was problem because we got along really well otherwise. It has come up before where she has said its cringey to watch anime but it was always a sort of passing comment. Kind of like how you might pick on someone for liking a band you think is bad.

I feel bit crushed since she was the only person to seem to like me as I was but now that doesn't seem to be the case. I work a lot so that we can have a good life together. We had planned on getting married once she finished her degree, until then I pretty much take care of everything financially. Am I being too childish? I feel like I do all the "adult" stuff I am supposed to. I pay the bills, I go to work, I do the household chores, and I keep myself clean and in good shape. I want to stay with her but she basically gave me an ultimatum, her or anime / video games. I could give up those hobbies but I feel like that would be giving up a huge chunk of my personality. But maybe that's still the best choice? I don't want to be the guy who cant let go of his childhood.
I want to talk to her about this and keep our relationship but I also want to keep my hobbies. How should I talk to her about this without just invalidating her feelings?
TLDR; My (27M) GF (27F) of 6 years leaving me because she finds my hobbies "cringey", despite knowing my hobbies before we started dating. How do I talk to her about this if I want to keep my hobbies without invalidating her feelings?

Hi. I don't know how i found this subreddit i just googled some stuff ended up here and read some posts. Just to clarify I dont have a diagnosed CPTSD? I'd just like to share how my life has been because I genuinely have my whole life been thinking either what the fuck is wrong with my life theres no way this is normal and then sometimes i just think that im overreacting and my life has been completely normal. I'd like to know if im just imagining it or not I guess. Also I'd like to add that im doing somewhat better and im not experiencing THOSE bad thoughts anymore so please don't like report my account for being a danger to myself (I think that's a feature on reddit?). Im still a bit messed up but like still MUCH better than I used to be.
Honestly I read this whole thing and im adding here that I rant a lot maybe im just ranting about all the bad things in my life... Just a warning I guess. Don't read this if that's not what you want to read, this ended up super long sorry. Also I dont know if this is even relevant anymore. Half of this rant is about my family and other half about other bad things that happened I think. I don't know if this sub is only about like family stuff im sorry if this is the wrong place. Also trigger warning I had some thoughts about ending it and some self harm. The first 10 years of my life were semi normal from my memory. Its been a while since those times and I dont remember it that well. I remember my parent's fought semi often (which is normal?) and some of my earliest memories were them yelling, fighting at night, my mother going out at night and yelling that shes never coming back, and a few times my mother doing stuff like talking in a scary voice and i remember crying and saying it was scary I think but she just kept doing it (while it was night and I was probably trying to sleep/go to sleep). I was also the middlechild so my parents always treated my older and younger sibling better like them having better stuff to some amount but not like a ridiculous amount. I also remember being scolded a lot by everyone if I did anything slightly wrong even by accident and I remember my brothers not being scolded at all if they did anything similaworse. Anyways I still mostly remember being semi happy and my life being somewhat normal if not just completely normal and im just focusing too much on the bad stuff. I also remember having sleep paralysises and nightmares a lot around when i was like I'd assume up to 12 years old and a weird thing i realized some time ago is that a lot of time in those nightmares/sleep paralysises the monsteperson that was scaring me was either of my parents. Anyways maybe im just reading into things and its a normal dream. I genuinely don't know if im just being a weirdo and my life was normal and im reading too much into stuff I dont want to pretend like my life was bad if it wasn't im just wondering so please don't get angry at me if its not im just wondering. Oh also my family really never spent much time with me atleast I dont remember them being around and mostly working when I wanted to play. I also remember my mother avoiding me like when I asked to spend time with them they just said no and to do something else. I was really bored as a child but I had videogames atleast so I mostly spent my time around them. Oh also 1 person who I thought was my friend beat me up at school because I said something mild not even at them that their class was worse than ours? I also passed out at school and I dont remember why and I remember my big brother just walking by me without saying a word when I had awoken in the hallway (they saw me and just ignored me...)
Anyways. When I turned 11 or so we moved while I was still in middle of elementary school so I had to leave the few friends I had behind (but my brothers didnt as the other was just beginning elementary school and other was entering middle school). I didn't really make any friends within the school and the few I did dropped me out when they realized I wasn't exactly popular. The teacher and other kids made school hard and while I usually achieved perfect grades i barely started passing in school because of how much I hated it. I also started forgetting stuff too and the teacher scolded me a lot because of that. I started being bullied to some amount by the other kids and my teacher so I started stress eating a lot and got kinda fat. Then they started bullying me about me being fat. I also had really no friends or contacts. I remember being extremely stressed out and my big brother making fun of me because of that. Then I remember getting depressed. I started not really trying anything anymore. My family didn't help they made fun of me being fat. Also I remember not really being physically attacked much but im pretty sure I at some point complained about my big brother hitting me with a controller in my head. But I dont remember if that actually happened? Knowing them it might have. Anyways I remember crying every morning around this age until I didn't anymore. I cried almost every morning because I didnt want to wake up and go to school and my parents sent me there anyways. The kids there made fun of that too I remember one of them asking "why is (me) crying every day" and someone answered to them "that I must be so happy"? Anyways eventually I stopped crying. I just didn't feel anything anymore other than anxiety and sadness and anger rarely. Mind you, through this my family didn't give a fuck about how I went from a somewhat happy child to someone who stayed inside all the time, went from healthy to fat within like a year and didn't feel anything anymore. They just focused on their own things. I started getting suicidal thoughts. I remember when I was a child (even younger) and I learned what suicide ment. I remember wondering why the hell anyone would ever want to do that. And now I felt like I wanted to do that. That's how bad I felt. I remember thinking what my family would think/how they would react if I drowned myself in the river. I went outside often at random times and just thought about doing it. I walked by this like electricity thing and I thought if I touched it would it kill me. Mind you these were just thoughts. I never actually acted to the point that I tried to do anything and I dont think I was doing that bad. I didn't act on these thoughts. I remember once coming home from one of these walks hoping they would wonder where I had been since I was like 12 and my mother just smiled at me (almost like she knew I was trying to get attention from them and with like an evil smile rather than a good one?) and said I was just outside walking to the others. I remember even thought I was the one who played the most games in my family, we got a PS3 and the old PS2 went to my littlebrother along the old TV from my big brother. Even thought the other played only a little and the other didn't play at all ever. I don't know if I was just being a brat but it felt bad taken that videogames were the only thing that made me a bit happy in my home. I remember them doing other stuff too like my big brother often telling me to kill myself, doing stuff like pointing a toy gun at me and like pretending to shoot me and telling me to stop pretending like i was misunderstood (I was depressed and having suicidal thoughts... at 12). Other things I remember is a teacher calling me fat (made me feel a bit bad...) as a joke and my teacher sending me to a class for trouble children with bad grades (even thought I told her I got a bad grade on the exam because no one told me that we had an exam so I couldn't read for it. I was sick when they said we had one btw in school which is why I didnt know) and even thought I clearly didn't belong to that class since the other people seemed to actually not be able to get good grades, i started trying in school just a bit so they would see my grades are good and get me out of that class since I felt bad being there because the others made fun of me because of that too. The teacher there was an ass who constantly spoke to me and the others like we were braindead and i genuinely hated her. It was clear I didnt belong there but they just kept me there the rest of the year. I started sleeping like only 3 hours a night since I was 11 until highschool ended because I didn't want the next day to begin. I just stayed up all night playing games and doing other stuff. Pretty much always other than vacations and weekends I slept like 3-5 hours only. I think that made my grades even worse and I don't remember much from some years of my life where I slept the least im assuming because of the lack of sleep? Or depression idk.
Anyhow things stayed like this. I felt extremely bad and had no motivation but I just kept on living my life. Later on when I went to middleschool at 13 years old I found for the first time some friends. I felt somewhat better, like I belonged for the first time in my life. My depression went away somewhat. Other things stayed the same thought my family still acted the way they always did. Still with my friends I felt like I was okay. I forgot about how bad my life had been a few years. I still had a challenge getting that close to anyone and didnt have self confidence and didnt feel outright happy but I was somewhat okay. I remember at the middle of middle school I got depressed again. I didn't remember that it was a feeling I had always had the past few years because back then I was so out of it. I remember just feeling like there was a void in my heart like to the point it physically hurt every now and then. I guess I realized that more than half of the middle school was over and I knew my friends would leave me behind when it's over since I had a hard time getting too close to them. And that's what brought the depression. I remember some months after since I still felt depressed telling my mother I was depressed and she just kept on working and saying in a monotone voice that "oh really? that means you have to go to therapy". And it scared me I didnt know what that would be like so I just said never mind and walked back to my room. Anyways middle school ended none of my friends stayed in contact I got super depressed. Because of my lack of good grades other than the last half few months which is the only time period where I tried and got very good grades, my overall average in middle school almost prevented me from getting to high school. I remember my dad just saying that "sorry I guess you tried your best it wasn't enough" something along those lines. Like wtf I didnt try my best I was depressed and slept 3 hours and didnt study at all so I could spent all my time with videogames and my few friends so I could feel a little bit of happiness in my life. I didn't have the fucking motivation to study at all... Anyhow I got to highschool.
So highschool was the worst. But honestly im getting tired of writing. I had THOSE bad thoughts again, we have to go to army when we get out of highschool in my country so that scared the hell out of me, I didn't focus on school was bullied, family was just causing problems. No wait I do want to write a couple things here. When I was 17 i developed bad OCD. I didnt go out of my room anymore. I didnt want to touch anything that had been in my school and then anything that had touched those things I didnt want to touch either. Something called contamination OCD apparently? I spent at ages 17 to 18 probably 2-5 hours average daily on compulsions. I felt like a mindless puppet. I keep thinking how much better grades I'd have got if i spent that time on studying. Once my big brother really invaded my personal space and it upset me and made me so stressed because of OCD related stuff that I took a semi sharp object from my TV remote and slashed my leg a few times to a point that I still can see the scar. I also got angry and felt bad easily when I lost in a videogame or such and sometimes bit my hand in anger. My parents also wanted me to go to army instead of trying to not go there (theres a few alternatives). But at this point I stopped liking my family. So i knew I was not going to do that or what they want. I had dreamed since I was 15 of when I'd get to move away and never see these people...
Anyhow. Im 23 now. I worked through a lot of my issues. Not fat anymore. I go outside now. I sleep a normal amount. I exercise. My OCD i managed to best atleast to the point that im able to function mostly normally like I wouldn't even have it. Still depressed probably I don't remember what it felt like to feel to be honest so I don't know if I am depressed? Haven't had THOSE thoughts in many years. Haven't self harmed myself in years. Still have no friends because i have quite a bad social anxiety due to my life. Still thought for the first time in years... maybe since I was 11. I feel like my life is not going a steep downhill. I feel like it's getting better actually. And i've felt like that some time as of writing this as I began to fix my life and my issues.
The most annoying thing is... it's been so many years. My life has changed so much. The family I have im still in ties with to some amount even though I'd like to not be. They dont seem bad now? That bad? But I still want to get away from them completely and never see them. I just FEEL like I need to do that. But I dont know if they even were that bad. That's what I want to know here. Is my family normal. Is there something wrong with me and I imagine they are bad? I might end up deleting this post and my account. This is just a throwaway. I just want to know. I need outside input. I've been so alone that I never had that. I need to know if im imagining that I had a bad life or if it was not normal. I literally feel like I cant view my past objectively because I can't remember much. There were happy memories too in my childhood. A lot of them. Atleast some years of it. Im just picking the bad examples. I managed to enjoy some of my time back then. I just cant realize whether theres something wrong with other people especially my family and the bad people in school or if im the problem. If you actually read this, anyone, thank you. You probably know more about my life and existance than anyone else other than me since I've spent so much of my life alone.

Came back to the game and what I see, another top tier lamellar armor piece nerfed into oblivion (Heavy lamellar pauldrons, that slick shoulder piece worn by elite cataphracts). There was many improvements for this game, all the perks are working etc. but I just cant, I just cant with these devs.
Armor balance in this game is getting more and more bizarre every year. I would like to say its going backwards but it will be a lie. During the early access release you could actually look at the armor and determine how well it protects you, now it's just a random mess where chainmail gloves are better than plate gloves and some battanian rugs are #1. is this game balanced by battanians? there is no other explanation. not to mention battanians are just forest bandits who put a few stones together and called themselves a kingdom, yet somehow they make better armor pieces than the empire that is technologically superior faction. It just doesn't make ANY sense.
Okay I think I got it. Unit balance was bad (its sp game btw who cares). You would think that devs will go ahead and add some new armor pieces and re equip weak units with new armor to make things balanced. But what Bannerlord devs did? they just changed a few numbers on existing armors and called it a year. And I dont even want to start about imperial archers wearing mittens. That was probably the reason why they lost to naked men during the battle of Pendraic.

For reference: I'm fat (74KG) and short(158CM), not as pretty as the girls in our university :)
We've been together for a while now and the thought my boyfriend doesn't find me pretty always is in my mind.
He sometimes says it like a way of reassurance but us girls, we KNOW what's a real compliment and what isn't. I find myself pretty and satisfied. But when I have a boyfriend, it's absolutely normal to wanting to be pretty for him too.
Once I wore this top I really loved, it was a new one and he knows it too. I was so excited wearing it but he asked me "Why are you wearing this, it's too low", you could only imagine how my mood and self-esteem dropped. It wasn't as low, just a normal neck. The other time when I wore a top too, he looked like, I can't explain it but he didn't like it and thinks I look fat? You know from the way a person looks at you and I know very well since I grew up hearing all kind of comments and getting all kind of looks because I'm fat.
Since I'm fat, obviously my arms are big too. He once saw my arms after I took off my jacket and said "Wow" with a look and turned away. No smile, no nothing. When I asked why, he replied nothing while sounding emotionless. Then I was feeling insecure about my arms.
Today I posted a mirror pic of me which I took when I was out on my insta story. He just liked, no reply. But he's the type to ask me "Do I look good" or tell me "My friends told me I look hot". It's like he says that to hear it from me that he does look good. Is it bad I expect the same? I'm not the person to go around asking how do I look (I can always tell him he looks good tho) I just want to hear your words on me every now and then or at least once in a while too.
The other day a girl told me "You look pretty" when I was with my boyfriend. I'm just being delusional but he looked so unbothered. I'm not sure if I'm expecting wrong but at least something like "You do look pretty" because I RARELY even hear that. Once again I felt down that moment cause the same thought, my boyfriend does find me attractive.
We do have our intimate moments (not as extreme, always with clothes on) and it had always felt and been good.
He's never been in a relationship, I'm his first. When it comes to his actions, he's really nice. Took care of me when I was sick, brings us out, always wants to spend time with me and never fails to tell me how much he loves me. He expresses how I'm the woman of his his life, he imagines a future together with me.
But I'm a words of affirmation person, I like giving it and receiving it at the same time. Makes me overthink and be down. What should I do about this? Am I just overthinking? Is this normal? I don't really wanna bring this up to him cause will make me feel like I'm forcing a compliment which isn't my point.

Spoiler maybe? If not for the slight gameplay explanation it’s ironically spoiling the ability to experience what I’m about to say.
I was just playing ff13 on Xbox. Ive been on this sub many of times screaming at PlayStation to take my money. My switch to Xbox was fueled by wanting to get play this game again because came out at that video game golden from around 10-11 to 16-17ish where I’ve personally noticed most people tend to play their goat games. It’s okay, not the 3rd place behind 8-9 (not including 14 in this bc, obviously different) slight edging out 7 I thought it was.
But I just played a section that I think is one of the most enjoyable yet effective game mechanic introductions ever.
Right after a party member get the Sentinal Stance(?) you fight two soldiers and an elite. The games fairly easy due to the party members this fight forces you to actually mess with the paradigm system using a Stance that isn’t really self explanatory.
Due to the active turn-based battle system thing they have. Enemies are always attacking, but you’ll have time to go through the progression of, these things are hitting, kinda hard hurry switch heal, OK, they’re targeting the squishy, OK, wait they said something about provoke, Does this affect all enemies, etc.
The next battle add two more soldiers and reinforces the idea that you have to do this quickly.
Then it gives you the option of turning right and going onto the main mission or going straight to open the treasure chest guarded by a d to open the treasure chest guarded by a very dangerous looking elite and two soldiers.
I wanted the chest, but the elite made me remember about the buffing items I have been collecting but really forgot about and never used. And since this whole time they were never really telling me what to do. I was just figuring it out. I don’t know if that part was meant to remind you or teach you to use those. I assume so, because what was in the treasure chest was the same buffing item I had just used.
Thanks for reading. I’m a little stoned and thought this was dope.
Edit: Oh and also made me figure out the A.I. targeting system and to pay attention to who you’re using abilities on as that’s who the A.I. will target and that’s important.

Is it just that I'm terrible at time management or is postpartum+ pumping + being back at work just that hard? I feel like I don't even spend time with my baby but I don't have time for much else between doctors appointments, pumping, work and just doing the bare minimum daily stuff to take care of myself. By the time 6 or 7pm rolls around, I'm just exhausted Even though I haven't really done anything! My husband has suggested reducing pumping but I'm terrified of destroying my supply - I had to work my way up to producing enough for baby over 7 weeks or so and I'm only 12w pp now. I'd love to drop some pumps -hopefully over the next month or so. I need to exercise but I just can't find the energy to.
All this to ask - how are you all managing to make time for everything that needs to be done? Would love to get some tips to get my life back in order. Thank you 🤍

I write this post because i feel kind of lost in where to go next. I mean not to brag or show of or anything, i guess i just want other peoples perspective on where to go next:)
I (25M) have grown up in an environment where saving money always have been a focus since i was a child. When i graduated high school the plan was to go to university, however i got the opportunity to work in the military. The plan was still to eventually go to university, therefore i still saved as much as i possibly could with the intention of using it as funds to live off through the university. Therefore I’ve been reluctant to invest due to the fact “i may be needing the money soon and wont risk to tie the money in wrong place”. Although really enjoy where i am right now, i will still work for a few more years before eventually going to university.
To this day, i have by a combination of salary, deployments, a bonus and a small inheritance saved around 300 000 usd. In addition, depending on an insurance claim i might (hopefully) end up with between 3 - 400 000usd. In hindsight i should probably have either invested i real estate or stock marked, but hindsight is a bitch isnt it?
Well i never imagined actually getting to this point this fast, so now i have started to question what to actually do with it. Having it stashed in a savings account is pointless due to inflation. So i have recently realised that instead of spending the money, it could rather be start of an investing journey where i may partly live off investments rather that tapping off all the actual funds, especially with studying in mind when I no longer have my now salary. And maybe thereafter the funds can be a great foundation to built financial independence. My family really insists on putting it in real estate and buy a house. I may rent it out for now and later live in it during university. They argue i could buy with little loan due to my funds, in addition that real estate in my area will probably (according to experts) increase up to 30% next 2-4 years due to supply and demand. So the argument to buy in sooner rather than later sound solid, however i fear tying up all funds in property will end up buying me a liability an expensive responsibilities that can be hard to survive on especially during university when i loose my main income.
I personally feel more attracted to the stock market. Buy in stocks now to hold long term that may compound into a strong financial foundation later, and maybe also pay out regularly dividends. In theory, the return on realestate may beat the stock market (i know we cant predict the future), but it also comes with a lot more exspenses such as maintenance, while stocks i more”passive”. The easiest route may be to just rent for the time and stick to the stocks. Or maybe i can combine the options? Either buy a house with as little down payments as possible and hope the returns in the stock market and the potential increase in real estate outpaces the higher loan? I feel kind of lost in trying to figure out where to go next. Do you have any experience or thoughts that might help out? Or other ideas?
My goal isnt to be rich, or live a fancy lifestyle. I simply want to be financial stable in the future and have time as my greatest asset. I guess I’m not asking for financial advice, i understand that i myself need to assess the risks and take responsibility for myself. But if anyone have any thoughts, perspectives, ideas or anything that will help me see things for other angles it would be much appreciated:) Thanks

Firstly, thanks in advance for any help. I am from a different field and I ended up with a bad RSI (about 8 years now with RSI that isn’t healing) so using the keyboard and bending my elbow is very painful so I had to quit my job and am unemployed.
Ergonomic keyboards and mice are always temporary fixes and don't work permanently. No one else I know in accounting has issues like mine so working hands free in that field seems hard. Working in a non computer role is hard cause of my painful hands and elbows. Jobs without hand usage are hard to find. Though I thought of becoming a psychologist and using Dragon dictation software for reports after a counselling session.
I found youtube videos of programmers using Serenade.ai, Talon, Voqal and a Tobii tracker to code with their voice. Thinking, this lets my hands heal and is a backup for regular mouse and keyboard use if my body needs a break, which I can't get in another office career.
On other sites, I read programmers don't type non stop, but have to think about best ways to structure the code which will be my rest breaks.
Anyone experienced think it is possible to get a job learning coding from scratch using my voice and make a career from this? The YouTube cases I saw online were all experienced programmers who swapped to voice coding from injury not a complete newbie.

Greetings fellow gamers,
I hope you're all doing well. I wanted to reach out to the community with a request for Shadow of Erdtree. I've been absolutely immersed in the world of Elden Ring lately, and I've been blown away by its vast open world, gameplay, and rich storytelling. And those are precisely the reasons why I want to buy Elden Ring's DLC. To elaborate on what I said previously about things I like about the game:
Vast Open World: Elden Ring has truly captivated me with its expansive open world. From towering mountains to hidden valleys, exploration has always been something I like.
FromSoftware's Signature Gameplay: As a somewhat new fan of FromSoftware's games, I've been thoroughly enjoying the gameplay of Elden Ring. It is also nice that the game is far more friendly compared to Dark Souls. The combat is intense and strategic if you want it but you can make it far easier by using options available to you.
Freedom of Exploration: One of the things I love most about Elden Ring is the freedom it gives me to explore. Whether I'm delving into ancient ruins or traversing rugged landscapes, there's always something new and exciting to discover. This is a given for an open-world game but the game isn't linear at all. I still remember trying to figure out how to get out of Limgrave though lol.
Rich Lore and Storytelling: I have been very interested in the lore of games since Undertale. While it is not the same, Elden Ring is still incredibly deep and intricate, drawing me further into its world with every new piece of information I uncover. There are still new things I discover to this day. The way the game weaves together its story through environmental storytelling and NPC interactions is masterful.
Now, I'm reaching out to the community here because I'm hoping to experience even more of what Elden Ring has to offer with its latest DLC, Shadow of Erdtree. FromSoft DLCs have a reputation for being better than the base game, and I would be incredibly grateful for the opportunity to experience the Shadow of Erdtree DLC. Unfortunately, I can't pre-order DLC myself due to recent regional adjustments(?) to prices in my country. Elden Ring was already at the limit of what I could afford and I would need to pay more than what I paid for the base game to play DLC.
Thank you all so much for taking the time to read my request. Whether or not it's fulfilled, I appreciate it if you read it this far.
My steam account.

Hello there! Let me tell you a bit about the wonderful guild I belong to:
Experienced, returning, and new players are all welcome. Alts are welcome.
By "older" we mean adults with real-life commitments. Our age range seems to be mid-30s and up, with many in our 40s or 50s. We're mature, friendly, we enjoy helping each other, and we always have a lot of fun.
We are cross-faction. Wyrmrest Accord is a role-playing server, but we don't RP within the guild. We have members across several time zones, but most of our events are evenings eastern / central time.
We run M+ at every opportunity, and have a Mythics Thursday so that everyone gets a chance to run dungeons with guildies.
Our raid night is Saturday from 9:00 - 11:00 pm EST. We run mainly Normal, and get into Heroic if there's enough interest.
Our approach to M+ and raids is chill and fun-first, while still striving to learn the strategies to beat the timers and clear the raids.
We are seeking active players, especially tanks and healers. But dps are also always welcome.
If you are Horde on Wyrmrest Accord, you can find us in the Guild Finder. Officers are on and off all day and evening, so you shouldn't have to wait long for an invitation.
If you are Alliance on Wyrmrest Accord, you'll need a direct invitation. You can add me on Discord (Sybilmeows) or BNet (sybilmeows#1457) and I can invite you to the guild when we are both online.
If you are on any other realm, you unfortunately can't join the guild just yet. Cross-realm guilds are coming this summer. In the meantime, if you don't want to transfer realms, you can join our Community, also called Synchronicity. In the Guild Finder, click on Join or Create a Community, and enter this code into the box that pops up: JrPOPxbfnW9
I'm Jazy /wave. Thanks for reading!
Questions? You can DM me here, or add me on Discord (Sybilmeows) or BNet (sybilmeows#1457)

* READ TO LEARN HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM SCAMMERS! THIS MESSAGE WILL REPEAT EVERY 12 HOURS \*
As the sub grows, so does it's exposure to scammers. As mods, we do our best to protect the sub, but need y'all's help as well. We are a community. We do not like reading modmails when our fellow members get scammed, but do know that most could have been prevented given they follow the tips we've laid out. Below are these tips on how to stay protected:
How to message the mods - https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/fragranceswap
Banned and sketchy users - https://www.reddit.com/fragranceswap/wiki/banned
* Always use PayPal/Venmo G&S when buying from someone with under 15 flair on the sub. A scammer will give a BS reason why they can't accept G&S. Anyone with under 15 flair MUST accept G&S as a form of payment according to the rules of the sub. This rule is non-negotiable. If they will not, please report them to the mods.
* Ask a potential seller to comment on your post. This proves that they are not banned from the sub. That doesn't always mean they are a scammer though. It could just mean that they do not meet the sub requirements to become an approved member. They still need to accept G&S though. Check the banned list and vet the seller through their profile.
* Ask for specific timestamped pictures. A "timestamp" is a picture a seller takes with a handwritten note including their username and date next to the item they are selling. Ask for this with "odd" requests such as a picture of the bottle on its side or with the cap off, etc. If they are not willing to provide that then avoid the transaction and report them to the mods. Scammers are becoming crafty and often try and photoshop the timestamp in with a picture they found on google. Be aware and inspect timestamps closely for evidence of photoshopping. Look for blurred edges of paper, shadows not matching up with others in the picture, etc. If you are in doubt, don't hesitate to contact us with the picture.
* "Sellers" who start the conversation off with "WTS (insert frag you're looking for)" are 99.99% most likely a scammer. Scammers will always give you a great deal, or ask you to name your price. Any "seller" who is willing to accept half payment upfront then the other half after delivery to avoid using G&S is most likely a scammer. If it seems to good to be true or fishy, it most likely is.
Please do your due diligence, folks. If you're ever in doubt, reach out to us. Stay safe!

I have a history account, over 200K. I have had it for around 2 years now. Really want to hit 300K before the end of June. Been working hard at it. In February of this year, my account really blew up, it was an amazing month. I didn't share any reels, just posts, and they would do very well on explore. I reached 10 million accounts be the end of the month. When march rolled around, it just suddenly stopped. It was like I hit a wall.
One thing I am starting to get good at is seeing what posts will do well in explore and what don't, but I have never been able to do that with reels. My reels never do well at all, despite the interesting factors being on par with my normal posts. If all I have ever shared is posts and not reels, does it take a while for the algorithm to pick it up? Or will they just not work at all on my page? I say this because I see people repost the same history footage reels and they go viral. If I do it (I don't really repost other people's stuff, but if I do, I give credit of course but I try to find my own content) it doesn't go anywhere, it was always something that stood out to me. Let me know what you guys have to say about this :)

If you have questions feel free to ask 😊
So I'll preface this with I don't want to engage in political debates about Taiwan, mainland China and Hong Kong/Macau. I am treating them as seperate only because they have different visa requirements. I have my own views on the matter but my opinion doesn't matter.
So I am a 27M white european and this was my experience. 5th time solo.
Taiwan (14days) Taipei - north coast - Puli/sun moons lake - Tianan - kaohsiung - Yuli - hualien (taroko gorge)
Opinion Taiwan is incredibly beautiful, the level of English in the north especially is very high. Most people will be able to speak a few words which makes travel around easy. The highlights for me were Taipei/sun moon lake/taroko gorge.
You'll want to get an easy card for general travel. This can be picked up at the airport and reloaded at any station.
The food, like the rest is quite limited in either being big American brands like McDonald's or local noodle shops. If you have dietary requirements please have these translated and saved on your phone beforehand. As a vegetarian I found that people would often just give me fish regardless of how persistent I was. This was common throughout.
The people are very respectful and friendly, but unless you get someone who wants to have a conversation you're interaction will be very surface level. They are happy to just let foreigners be alone.
I would highly recommend anyone who wants to try this culture to go via Taiwan as it is a much more gentle introduction.
Things to be wary of Getting around by walking is quite frankly a nightmare. Every pavement outside of Taipei is covered in bikes and if you are disabled this will be a serious issue without a car.
Everything is ticketed so be sure to carry cash. You can use the easy card but cash is just much simpler for attractions.
There are multiple different train types and they enforce ticketing strictly. The local train can use the easy card as well as the metro. Regional trains are more fancy and require a purchased ticket. Highspeed is treated similarly to flying and you should show up 30minutes before to ensure you get there in time.
Hong Kong/Macau (4days)
Hong Kong city - main island - Macau
Opinion Honestly I was disappointed, Hong Kong just felt very boring in comparison to Taipei. It's very multicultural and due to this I found it hard to see a unique identity for Hong Kong. Macau felt unique but just a bit irrelevant.
The highlight was certainly the hike up Victoria peak and watching the city move in seclusion. When I got to the top people were camping there I had never been so jealous. It's truly an amazing view. Be sure to go past the mall and take the small mountain path. It's well lit and fairly easy incline if you are in relatively good fitness.
Mainland china (48 days) Guangzhou - hengyang - Changsha - Zhangjiajie - Chongqing - Emei Shan - Chengdu - Xian - huashan - luoyang - pingyao - Datong - erlian (visa reset) - Nanjing - Qingdao - Jinan - Beijing
The main part to my trip, there's no pretending. China is difficult. Mostly because of the restrictions and the unwillingness of china to accommodate for foreigners. You need WeChat, you need trip.com and you need to use A map. The people do not speak English. I would go days or weeks without haveing a real conversation. I was often cut off from the outside world due to my VPN struggling to get past the firewall. (Surfshark)
If the above scares you avoid china for any long trips. If like me you see a challenge then you will adore china. It's frustrating, but I've never been in a country that gave me the same kind of highs. The mountains of Huashan rival the dolomites and they are much more accessable for everyone.
This is a large bonus for China, once you adapt everything is very easy to do. And nothing feels off limits. Except that sectioned off my armed police. China is so safe I never once felt in danger of theft or being attacked which I can't say about my own home. There is a reason for this. Anyone who breaks the law will be delt with due to the survalance.
The negatives Be prepared to take a lot of screenshots to translate via WeChat. Menus, metro stations, hotel check in. Anytime you need information you need to translate it yourself. This gets exhausting.
People will stare at you, I always took this as curiosity. Especially in the west and south as there are very few foreigners. Many of the people are very racist however. The things said to me about black people, Japanese and Koreans genuinely upset me. But I want to experience and understand so I would listen. If you speak up in defence you are often ignored. It's ingrained sadly. And it makes me question how many felt similarly towards me.
Banned websites, pretty much all our sites are blocked. It makes it hard as your only option for a search engine is Bing. And who wants to use bing. A VPN is an option but can be spotty and it is illegal so becareful where you use this.
As someone from a country with 8million. There's just so many Chinese people for me to be comfortable with. Everything is packed. All the tourist sites are full. Metro full. Bus full. The worst case for me was the terracotta army which I visited on a normal day and it was hard to just walk around.
Getting searched going into any metro or trainstation. You basically have to go through airport security everytime. It's a real pain when you have a 15kg backpack.
The spitting, it's gross.
The pros China is so cheap, my hotel in Zhangjiajie for example was only 5€ a night. And it was a decent little double bed and bathroom, tv and toiletries supplied. Easy 70€ back home.
Food (for me when I got it) was incredible and very cheap. Average was about 15 yuan or 2€ a meal. Drinks are also very cheap 3yuan for a bottle of coke and 2yuan for a water.
The trains, man did the chinese build an excellent train network. You need to use WeChat or tripmcom to book these. But they are well priced and very efficient.
The apps, there's an app for everything. Want to read a menu? It's a WeChat app, metro line app! Book tickets for the summer palace app! Sometimes you'll need to look up the qr code in advance, especially around high tourist season.
Cashless, you can totally use cash. But you don't need to. If you have wifi or data which is cheap and easy to get (30days unlimited 150yuan China mobile) you just scan your WeChat Code and pay. Similar to contactless but not as convenient.
Overview China is a real solo travelers challenge I think, it's a great way to test how good you are at making split decisions. For short trips I recommend Nanjing, Chengdu, huashan, Chongqing and Zhangjiajie.
Conclusion. (Tldr) I will be going back to both Taiwan and mainland china. Both have got a hold on me. I'm hooked and I'm hoping to get you all hooked too. Taiwan is better if you want a chill holiday to explore Chinese culture. I recommend the north. Mainland is best for the experienced traveler as they will be able to get so much love from this unappreciated country. And my fellow Europeans take advantage of those visa free 15 days.
If you have any questions feel free to ask 😊

Writer's Block? Befriend the Beast: Pro Tips to Turn Blockades into Bestsellers (With Prompts So Crazy They Might Work)

Ah, writer's block. That ever-present nemesis, the blank page's evil twin, the creativity-sucking gremlin that haunts every writer's dreams (or lack thereof). But what if I told you writer's block isn't your enemy, but a misunderstood ally? A twisted muse, a forced sabbatical from the mundane, a chance to shake things up and unleash your inner writing gremlin in the most productive way possible?
Befriending the Block:
Professional authors know the struggle is real. Here's what they say about turning blockades into stepping stones:

• Embrace the Pause: Jodi Picoult: "Writer's block is a sign that something isn't working. Step away, recharge, and come back with fresh eyes."
• Declutter Your Mind: Neil Gaiman: "Sometimes you have to let go of an idea to make space for a better one."
• Experiment, Even If It's Weird: Haruki Murakami: "Don't be afraid to try something strange. The most original ideas often come from unexpected places."

Now, let's get insane with prompts that will have your muse doing a double take:
1. Genre Blender: Combine two wildly different genres. Write a historical romance with zombies, a cyberpunk detective novel set in ancient Rome, or a space opera with a grumpy cat detective as the protagonist.
2. Alternate Reality: Imagine your story taking place in a world obsessed with something ridiculous. Think "everyone communicates only through emojis" or "unicorns are the primary mode of transportation."
3. Flash Forward, Way Forward: Skip to the very end of your story. Write the final scene, then work your way back, filling in the gaps with the most outrageous plot twists imaginable.
4. Dream Weaver: Describe a bizarre dream in excruciating detail. Then, analyze it like a cryptic message from your subconscious, using it as the foundation for your story.
5. Character Chaos: Write a scene where your characters are forced to switch bodies (think Freaky Friday, but with your characters). How does it change their perspectives? What hilarious misunderstandings ensue?
6. Found Object Frenzy: Grab the weirdest thing you can find (rusty spork, deflated balloon animal, taxidermied squirrel) and write a story centered around it. Bonus points for incorporating its bizarre history.
7. Unsolved Mystery: Choose a real-life unsolved mystery (Jack the Ripper, the Bermuda Triangle) and write a fictional account from the perspective of the perpetrator or a hidden witness.
8. Headline Hijinks: Rip a random headline from the news and turn it into the most outlandish story you can imagine. Aliens behind the stock market crash? Sentient self-driving cars waging war on pigeons? Go wild!
9. Animal Antics: Write your story entirely from the perspective of an animal character. A grumpy cat narrates a love triangle, a wise old owl dispenses philosophical advice, a hyperactive squirrel chronicles a daring heist.
10. Time Travel Tango: Send your characters on a time travel adventure with a twist. They can't change the past, but their actions have unforeseen consequences in the present. Think butterfly effect on steroids.
Remember, these prompts are just springboards. Let your imagination run wild, embrace the absurd, and don't be afraid to delve into the depths of your weirdness. You never know what hidden gem you might unearth from the rubble of writer's block. So, unleash your inner gremlin, write with abandon, and remember: sometimes, the best stories are born from the most unexpected places. Now get writing, you beautiful block-busting wordsmiths!

hello everyone. these last few days I've been going through a lot and i thought it might be a good idea to ask for help in here.
this year i'm sharing a house with a roommate who turned out to be an immature, spoiled, childish bitch. i've been always respectful to her and i assume i have tried to be as considerate as it's humanly possible.i'm very calm and when at home, i'm usually busy studying or watching movie with a headphone or doing other silent activities. i even don't like talking over the phone that much and at times that i'm obliged to use it, i lower my tone as much as i can. also, as i brought almost 90% of the furniture and the apartment was basically furnished when she arrived, and i agreed her to take the best room.i never even mentioned all the favors I did and I really regret what i did, because none of these roomie-pleasing acts paid off.if anything, she became more controlling and rude.she had talked to me in an offensive manner two times before this but i hadn't said anything in response and had suppressed my anger in order to avoid conflict( classic trauma response, right?).ten days ago i invited my sister over( and i hadnt invited anyone before this) and she traveled hundreds of miles to come and see me. i had done it with her permission and she said it's alright for my sister to come and stay. so she came and stayed a couple of days and we were mostly hanging out outside and we just came back at night to sleep in my own room.she was acting alright in the first 2 days, then she started to act in a passive-aggressive manner –she slammed the door as soon as she heard us preparing the table or quietly laughing, she avoided us each time we were in the living room and would sneakily jump out of her room to use the bathroom or toilet as soon as we moved into my room. she had done this before during the last semester's finals, too. but this time it had got way more obvious and way more aggressive. after my sister left, she quitted even looking at me or saying hi to me when she saw me.( she had done this before too, but i had convinced myself not to take it to the heart specially as she got friendly with me again after the finals were over! she's such an unstable player.) last day she wrote me a scroll on telegram and as hard as she tried to seem cultured and civilized, she just oozed out even more controlling shit.it was the juice of her message: ''don't use the living room for studying. only use it for going to the kitchen or to the toilet, because i feel uncomfortable doing cooking and shit when someone's in there reading.'' i answered that i'm well-aware that living room might be distracting at times, but i'm not bothered by the sound of her doing her stuff and she doesnt need to worry about it and she can also freely use it. but then she started to argue with me saying ''living room is not for studying'' and weeping over her victim complex ''noooo, i'm not comfortable,you MUST go to your room just like i've tolerated you reading now you must act to my desire''. this time finally i became furious and assertively talked to her that it's her problem that she doesn't want to see me AT ALL and for this irrational demand, i would not have any more compliance. i'm silent as a rabbit, not making a fucking noise and really dont occupy much area in a 80 m² living room!! if she wants to use it as well, she's welcomed, but she can't command me to stay prisoned inside my small gloomy room without no proper light. interesting part is that she even doesnt prefer to study in the living room and all she's mad about is she cant use it for toilet and kitchen without coming to see me staying in there. although my whole body was trembling with rage ( and simultaneously with fear of a conflict or a loud argument) i managed to be assertive and talk my words.then she left me unread, although i'm quite sure she's read it.
now although i've come out ratherstrongly, whenever i use the living room, every moment of being there feels like torture.the silence in the living room feels like a ticking bomb that might explode in any minute. i'm anxious af and i have endless ruminations about how she might just walk out of the door and snap at me.she still continues slamming the door and walking thumpering her feet on the ground.also, i know it's very unlikely, but my mind constantly jumps to the possibility of being attacked or she getting physical with me. i'm very sensitive to loud noises and arguments. i try to avoid them as much as i can. i get this semi-panic attack feeling whenever even two strangers argue with eachother. i know me keeping using the living room to my desire will serve her right and will bring me back some power over the household affairs, but i can barely even concentrate this way; while i rigidly sit there, my muscles tense as rock and i hear my hear ponding.
so, i appreciate your advice: do you think i'd better fight or flight? regarding that my finals are arriving in 10 days or so...
P.S: special thanks to you ma' for the perfect upbringing and all that dreadful childhood days you would shout at me – your voice's still ringing in my ears and although you encourage me to stand for my rights, i always fail because i've always been on the lower end of the power imbalance seasaw. i never dared disagreeing with you, now how you expect me to be magically a brave person who can disagree when she's not pleased?

"Janeway was the most accomplished captain in the universe. [...] Jean-Luc Picard Is a Diplomatic Force Who Upholds Starfleet Morality [...] Where other captains turned to protocol or reason, Kirk was driven by his gut and his emotions. This was often an asset, but sometimes a detriment.
Burnham is the only captain fans have watched go from no rank to command, and that journey makes her great. Of course, she's as bad as Captain Kirk when it comes to violating the Starfleet rule about ship captains going on away missions. Captain Burnham knows when to apply force and when to act with compassion. Once she arrived in the 32nd Century, she rededicated herself to Starfleet and the Federation, standing as one of the best examples of heroism and leadership they have."
Joshua M. Patton (CBR)
https://www.cbr.com/every-star-trek-series-captain-ranked/
CBR:
"A starship is only as good as her captain, and the same can be said for any Star Trek series. Luckily for the universe created by Gene Roddenberry six decades ago, there is no shortage of good captains to go around. The real question to consider is what exactly makes a "good" Star Trek captain? [...]
1) Janeway
Kathryn Janeway Is Starfleet's Most Impressive and Important Captain
In the first episode of Star Trek: Voyager, Captain Kathryn Janeway stranded her ship and crew 75,000 light-years from home to save the lives of an alien race who only lived nine years. Once caught in this hopeless situation, she integrated Maquis rebels into her crew and maintained Starfleet discipline when any other captain would've faced mutiny. She remained steadfastly committed to Starfleet ideals on her mission to get the crew home, despite the personal guilt and depression she felt because of her decision. With no Starfleet superiors to turn to for guidance or help, Janeway was the most accomplished captain in the universe.
Janeway was the first captain to make an alliance with the Borg, even saving a number of drones when that wasn't thought possible. Later, after violating the Temporal Prime Directive, she was able to get her crew back home and dealt a near-fatal blow to the Borg Collective in the process. Later, in Star Trek: Prodigy she faced her fear and traveled back to the Delta Quadrant to find and rescue Chakotay, her former first officer. While remaining a tough, demanding captain, Janeway became a mother figure to the crew of the USS Voyager and the USS Protostar. Starfleet is full of impossibly awesome heroes, but even among them Janeway stands alone.
[...]
2) Kirk
James T. Kirk Is the Very Model of a Modern Starfleet Captain
In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Leonard McCoy perfectly summed up what made James T. Kirk a quintessential Starfleet captain. "You did what you always do," he said to him after the destruction of their beloved USS Enterprise, "turn death into a fighting chance to live." Of all the captains on this list, Kirk was the best at balancing his role as quasi-military leader, explorer and friend to his crew. He inspired loyalty in his friends and enmity from his foes.
Where other captains turned to protocol or reason, Kirk was driven by his gut and his emotions. This was often an asset, but sometimes a detriment. Still, even when his emotions dominated his actions, like with the Klingons in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, he eventually did the right thing. He was deeply committed to Starfleet while remaining something of an outsider. He was a bit of a cowboy, from his eagerness for a fight to his penchant for romance. In Generations, Kirk was in "heaven" but he chose to leave that eternal paradise to help a fellow captain of the USS Enterprise.
3) Sisko
Benjamin Sisko Was a Captain, a Father and a Prophet
Benjamin Sisko should've been a captain from the second he appeared on the screen. He carried an authority and grit that no previous Starfleet commander had. He also had the unenviable responsibility of being the "lead" captain of a series when Starfleet was at war. Captain Sisko was a driven leader who made compromises when needed, specifically in the episode "In the Pale Moonlight." Yet, he was still a paragon of Starfleet, serving as an inspiration to many, not the least of whom was Nog, the first Ferengi in Starfleet.
Where Sisko truly excelled was as a father and a reluctant religious leader for the people of Bajor, not a Federation planet. In fact, because of his commitment to them through the prophets, he actively prevented Bajor from joining the Federation. This ultimately saved them when the Dominion War broke out. He continued to serve after his personal tragedy at Wolf 359, but his central priority was to his family, specifically his son Jake. Captain Sisko isn't just the best father in Star Trek, but perhaps one of the best 1990s TV fathers ever.
4) Picard
Jean-Luc Picard Is a Diplomatic Force Who Upholds Starfleet Morality
Captain Jean-Luc Picard was the second Star Trek commanding officer fans got to spend time with, and he was very different from his predecessor. Unlike Kirk, Picard mastered the art of delegation and leveraging the talents of his crew to address specific problems. He kept himself at a distance, for reasons which weren't fully explained until Star Trek: Picard Season 2. Still, he was the captain who didn't just continue the Starfleet mission, but also carried Star Trek beyond the original crew that defined it. Picard also had his flaws.
Captain Picard resigned from Starfleet for moral reasons, which took courage. However, there is an argument to be made that in leaving the organization behind, he removed himself from the only position where he could solve its problems. Even though his brief assimilation by the Borg wasn't his fault, he probably should not have remained in command after that. As both First Contact and Picard proved, he held onto unresolved trauma because of it. Yet, no matter what Jean-Luc Picard does, he can't help but be a true hero.
5) Burnham
From Mutineer to the Center Seat, Captain Michael Burnham Flies High
While it surprised fans to learn Michael Burnham was the secret sister of Star Trek's most famous Vulcan, her Season 1 mutiny was very like Spock. The first three seasons of Discovery followed Burnham on her path to redemption. In the 32nd Century, Burnham finally took her rightful place in command. Of course, she's as bad as Captain Kirk when it comes to violating the Starfleet rule about ship captains going on away missions.
Captain Burnham's brash confidence and certainty in the rightness of her actions are qualities captains are lauded for but play differently when the character isn't in command. Captain Burnham knows when to apply force and when to act with compassion. Once she arrived in the 32nd Century, she rededicated herself to Starfleet and the Federation, standing as one of the best examples of heroism and leadership they have. Burnham is the only captain fans have watched go from no rank to command, and that journey makes her great.
[...]
7) Archer
Captain Jonathan Archer Was the Starfleet Prototype
He was almost impossibly stubborn, leading him to make almost as many mistakes as he did victories. During the Season 3 war arc on Enterprise, Captain Archer made ethical compromises such as attacking innocent vessels for parts or torturing a prisoner for information.
For all those flaws, Captain Archer showed the galaxy the best of humanity more often than he didn't. His sense of fair play endeared humanity to other species in the galaxy, leading directly to the creation of the Federation. There was no blueprint for him to follow, and he also had to deal with time-travelers trying to alter history for the worse. His willingness to challenge authority and confront political taboos proved that humanity made the galaxy a better, more compassionate place."
8) Carol Freeman
Captain Carol Freeman Is the Best Captain on Lower Decks
The crew on Star Trek: Lower Decks are, first and foremost, truly cartoonish characters in what is ostensibly a workplace comedy. They are able to be more reckless, less efficient and just plain sillier than most figures in this universe. With all that in mind, Captain Carol Freeman of the USS Cerritos isn't all that bad at her job. She is a careerist, which isn't often an admirable quality in Star Trek. In other series, her mistakes or the things she allows the crew to get away with, would be almost unforgivable.
Thankfully, like the rest of the Star Trek misfits on Lower Decks, in context, Captain Freeman has the heart of a true Starfleet hero. Despite the bumbling Admiral she was paired with, Captain Freeman helped bring a former Federation enemy, the Ferengi, into the fold. When she was framed at the end of Season 2 and arrested, her faith in Starfleet never wavered. Lastly, no matter how badly her crew screws up, Captain Freeman never loses faith in their ability or willingness to do the right thing. While this might not earn her a Starfleet promotion, it does earn the kind of undying loyalty from the crew all good Star Trek captains enjoy.
[...]
11) Lorca
The first captain of the USS Discovery, Gabriel Lorca would rank even lower if he could. Arguably, the revelation Captain Lorca hailed from the Mirror Universe was a big twist in Discovery Season 1, that may have hurt the show. As many fans and crewmembers alike noted that first season, under his command, the vibe was off. Still, as much as Lorca did not represent the best Starfleet had to offer, he has his merits.
His creepy affection for Michael Burnham led to her reinstatement, and she was able to stop the Federation-Klingon War she was blamed for starting. In the beginning of the series, the officers serving on the USS Discovery were not a cohesive crew. He forced them to work together, uniting the disparate group with a common purpose. Lorca's utter disregard for Starfleet ideals inadvertently guided the crew into an even stronger commitment to them.
[...]"
Joshua M. Patton
Full Ranking:
https://www.cbr.com/every-star-trek-series-captain-ranked/

I (28M) live in a ground floor apartment with a small garden. My next door neighbor (60?F) has one that is fully hardened with concrete tiles.
I moved in almost 3 years ago, and my neighbor often knocks on my door. There were small trees in my garden at first, and she was frustrated by the amount of leaves blowing over onto her "patio" (unsure of the term), which she always keeps perfectly clean. I was going to remove those trees anyway so no problem there. She also regularly asks me to pull the weeds growing along and through the wire fence separating us. I've just started doing that routinely at this point, it's just 10-15 minutes of work. She's also asked me to clear the snow in front of her building since it's legally required to do for your own residence, and she supposedly can't due to her age. I never mind doing her those little favors.
Last weekend I planted some new grass and a sprinkler system for it. Unfortunately the very first time I used it, I forgot to turn it off. It ran for about 4 hours, leaving big puddles in my garden and another one in her concrete patio, though most of the water was still contained in the small ditch on the sideline of her property.
At the time I'd just woken up and was still finding my bearings while she got angry at me. I apologized multiple times, and agreed to get rid of the water in her ditch after she demanded it was cleaned up by the end of the day. I ended up spending 40 minutes using a sponge to soak up the water and carry buckets back and forth (the ditch was too thin for any kind of bucket or cup). While I'm cleaning up I hear her calling someone inside complaining about the situation. "You should see it, it's a disaster, I'll send you a picture."
I apologized again afterwards but she still seemed mad, and I never got a "it's alright" so now I'm still feeling guilty. I considered buying a small gift by way of apology to make sure there are no bad feelings, but at the end of the day there was a big rainstorm that ended up making her patio look much, much worse and filled up entirely with water. Which put things into perspective for me.
One part of me thinks I've done enough by taking responsibility and cleaning up, it was an accident and not such a big deal especially with the rainstorm that followed. Another part of still wants to make some kind of gesture for her since I still feel guilty for stressing her out.

So I was trying to work on drop/meso gear to maximize hunting efficiency and originally was curious about whether to use glowing or bright cubes and heard people generally prefer bright cubes. So I decided to deep dive and do the math to figure out exactly how much the average cost will be for each piece of equipment with each type of cube.
Assuming you are STARTING at legendary tier potential already, lets do a comparison of glowing (blue) and bright (purple) cubes. Based on this website https://strategywiki.org/wiki/MapleStory/Potential_System, it lists the chances of multi priming for brights at 10% for the 2nd line and 1% for the 3rd line for glowing cubes, and 20% for line 2 and 5% for line 3 for bright cubes. It also shows that cash cubes have a 1 in 14.3333 (or 3/43) chance of giving you a drop rate line in the legendary prime category. Meso also has the same chance of 3/43, so if you want either that is a 6/43 chance in one line. So for line 1 because it is guaranteed 100% prime you have:
Line 1: 6/43 success, 37/43 fail
Line 2 first has to first roll prime then also roll meso/drop, so with glowing/bright you have:
Line 2 (glowing): 1/10 * 6/43 = 6/430 success, 424/430 fail
Line 2 (bright): 2/10 * 6/43 = 12/430 success, 418/430 fail
Line 3 similarly has to first roll prime then also roll meso/drop, so with glowing/bright you have:
Line 3 (glowing): 1/100 * 6/43 = 6/4300 success, 4294/4300 fail
Line 3 (bright): 5/100 * 6/43 = 30/4300 success, 4270/4300 fail.
So now you have 8 combinations of success/fail across the 3 lines. (note according the to wiki 3L for drop specifically is impossible but since its nearly impossible to get probability-wise anyway and to make the calculations simple I'll ignore that you cant get 3L and suppose you can, i mean you can 7/8ths the result afterwords for that part of the equation if thats the only combination of 3L you cant get should you get a 3L consisting of drop/meso)
Glowing Bright
Line 1/2/3 success = 6/43 * 6/430 * 6/4300 = 216/79507000 6/43 * 12/430 * 30/4300 = 2160/79507000
Line 1/2 success = 6/43 * 6/430 * 4294/4300 = 154584/79507000 6/43 * 12/430 * 4270/4300 = 307440/79507000
Line 1/3 success = ... (note all will have something/43 * something/430 * something/4300 so from this line after i will just only do the numerators for sanity) 6*424*6 = 15264/79507000 6*418*30 = 75240/79507000
Line 2/3 success = 37*6*6 = 1332/79507000 37*12*30 = 13320/79507000
Line 1 only success = 6*424*4294 = 10923936/79507000 6*418*4270 = 10709160/79507000
Line 2 only success = 37*6*4294 = 953268/79507000 37*12*4270 = 1895880/79507000
Line 3 only success = 37*424*6 = 94128/79507000 37*418*30 = 463980/79507000
No Lines of success = 37*424*4294 = 67364272/79507000 37*418*4270 = 66039820/79507000
So in summary: (Glowing Bright)
3L = 216/79507000 2160/79507000
2L = 171180/79507000 396000/79507000
1L = 11971332/79507000 13069020/79507000
0L = 67364272/79507000 66039820/79507000
or better yet:
2L/3L = 171396/79507000 398160/79507000
0L/1L = 79335604/79507000 79108840/79507000
per each roll. Now finally we account for how many trials it will take until one success. When something of interest happens in a row like flipping a coin and it landing heads 3 times in a row, we do 1/2 * 1/2 * 1/2. The same concept applies for failing to get the result we want over and over again. Lets try to compute the median cubes (the amount of cubes necessary to be in the 50%th percentile of luck of all people will typically use until success).
For glowing cubes we are trying to solve: (79335604/79507000)^x = 0.5, where x is the number of cubes it will take to be in the 50th percentile. To solve for b in a^b = c, you can rearrange the equation as such: ln(c)/ln(a) = b. So ln(0.5)/ln(79335604/79507000) = 321.19 -> 322. After 322 glowing cubes you are less lucky than the majority of players.
Similarly for bright cubes, ln(0.5)/ln(79108840/79507000) = 138.06 -> 139 cubes. Since packs of 10 are 120m or 220m for glowing or bright cubes respectively, the average would be 12m or 22m per cube.
12m * 322 = 3.864 billion meso for glowing cubes and
22m * 139 = 3.058 billion meso for bright cubes. This makes bright cubes the more cost efficient choice for double priming.
The average cost now rather than the median for each can be calculated by doing (1 / p) * cost, where p = 171396/79507000 for glowing and 398160/79507000 for bright cubes. (Just swap the numerators and denominators when doing 1/(a/b) to get (b/a). So 79507000/171396 = 463.87 -> 464 (glowing cubes) = 79507000/398160 = 199.68 -> 200 (bright cubes). Which costs 12m * 464 = 5.568 billion meso for glowing cubes and 22m * 200 = 4.4 billion meso for bright cubes.
TLDR:
Glowing cubes on median cost 3.864B meso and an average cost of 5.568B meso for a 2L/3L.
Bright cubes on median cost 3.058B meso and an average cost of 4.4B meso for a 2L/3L. <- More cost efficient.