Hello, my name is Lillian and I am looking for 1 trans fem player to join a ttrpg I am running on Roll20.Net. The communication for the game is handled via Discord [my discord name is lexshira]. Our game allows a lot of freedom for players for example one player we had recently who unfortunately had to leave the game due to schedule issues was Kryptonian Keyblade Master LOL.
What the Party Needs From This Posting: Someone who is math, organization and resource-minded who can aid the party in managing their HOMEBASE/RESOURCES. This would include helping manage the various departments of the base [Security, Logistics, R&D, Tourism/Economics/Treasury, Medical, etc.]
Game Info: The game is an adventure/horror game with heavy LGBT+ and Sex-Positive vibes and themes.
Since I live in Pacific Time then the playtimes will revolve around that. Game will be on Sundays starting at 1:30PM Pacific time.
Game System = The game system is my own creation but use the 5e Character Sheet as a base. In the spirit of honesty, my game system does have a learning curve as it goes beyond an RPG and contains elements/mechanics related to Community/Base Building/Management, Resource Management, Living World NPCs and Survivalism.
The Story = The story is based on my own mythologies but also draws influence and content from other sources such as a variation of Curse of Strahd, Murder House, Dark Sun, Cyberpunk, Elder Scrolls and Descent Into Avernus. Other Multimedia events and things likely to affect the world in some ways are things like Marvel Comic's 'Battle-World', House of M, and 'Secret Wars' events.
Game Setting = The game will take place on the newly forming world of Nouva-Terra. Nouva-Terra is a world born out of the ashes of Multiversal destruction. It is a world formed of the merged remnants of other realities and populated by the countless multiverse survivors of that apocalyptic merging.
Content Rating = Rated M due to violence, dark themes, heavy sexuality, and sexual themes of both a vanilla [Loving caring relationships, etc.] and of a disturbing nature based on context.
Gameplay Focus = Combat will be minimal but still present with most gameplay focusing on Player-Character Driven events and story with a focus on Interpersonal Intrigue, Political Intrigue, Mystery/Puzzle solving, Romance / Sexuality and Found-Family issues. There will also be focus on Survivalism and Community/Base Building/Management.
Game Frequency = Weekly or every other week.
NO ONE UNDER 18 YEARS OLD.
Currently Confirmed Realities That Have Already Begun Merging With Nova-Terra [Note the players do not need to be in any way familiar with any of this content but things from these realities exist in the game]:

1. The Prime Elder-Scrolls Timeline
2. The Prime Fallout Timeline
3. The MCU and Various Marvel Realities
4. Various DC Realities
5. The Prime Star-Wars Timeline
6. Various D&D and Pathfinder Timelines
7. The Prime Terminator Timeline
8. Various Zelda Timelines
9. Prime DBZ Timeline
10. Prime Star-Trek Timeline
11. Prime Code-Lyoko Timeline
12. Prime Kingdom Heats Timeline

Player Code of Conduct:

1. There is to be NO and I repeat NO PLAYER TO PLAYER Non-Con sexuality or Romance-Attempts.
2. There is to be NO UNPROVOKED PVP.
3. NO PROMOTION OF SEXISM OR HATRED OR ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES OR BULLYING BETWEEN PLAYERS.
4. There is to be no PLAYER TO PLAYER Kink-Shaming or Sexual-Judgment. We all have our kinks and it is important not judge. If you do not like a kink being shown in the game by another player then simply do not involve yourself or your character which those particular In-Game things happening.

Hello! Apologies if this is a dumb concern, but I've never been in trouble with the law in any way and I'm just worried and don't know what to do.
I purchased my house about a year and a half ago. I keep getting letters delivered to my house from the local district court with a name I do not recognize. To my knowledge, this person has never lived at this address as there has only been one owner before me. The frequency of the letters has picked up lately, and even thoughI've returned to sender, they keep coming.
I'm starting to get worried that their could be a warrant or something in the letters. If so, what do I do if the police show up looking for someone who I don't know? I've called the district court and my local police office and they've been absolutely no help. Both have said that there is, "basically nothing I can do" and to, "just ignore them".
Any advice, or can anyone tell me what to expect? I'm especially concerned because we are out of town pretty regularly and when we're not, my girlfriend is usually at the house by herself while I'm at work.

I felt myself getting a little heated in today's CASA group discussions about "trauma." For every 10 times you'll hear that word, "resilience" will come up maybe once. I think most of us are aware of how arm-chairy and buzzworthy trauma and therapy have become. It's one of the latest cultural trends that facilitate a fluidity to presumed-more-informed conversation, without the practice of developing finer lines of understanding and distinction.
On the basis of your invocation of "trauma" you can rush to provide "help" and "services" and begin blaming an incredible amount of "mental health issues" or "unresolved childhoods." It's literally the cliche of a freshman's behavior after enrolling in their first college psychology course on blast. They've already invoked unsubstantiated pseudo-science and pop-culture explicitly not psychology as tools to provide frameworks for understanding your families. When someone infers substance abuse from a story just because the accusation was levied or any kind of drug was referenced at any level, their conclusions or assumptions go unchecked. It's predictably baking a recipe for an unnecessary mess on top of whatever the family is going through.
You can feel the tension every time you speak in "checking" ways. This happens to me routinely. One of the presenters spoke to the biased and incomplete ways that foster parents or aggravated family members might speak to the nature of the case or anyone's character. I pointed out that case managers can leave out details and massage stories to fit their ends as well. That got ignored and we moved right along. It's a real concern, and you need to know how to protect your relationship with someone who might be specifically directed to undermine your effort to advocate with the evidence.
But it doesn't feel "pleasant" or "decent" when you "want to believe the best" about your colleagues. Is it less true? Absolutely not. I was literally forced into that position from predatory supervisors and watched dipshit coworkers skip along those disingenuous lines without hesitation. Anecdotes fawning over better-inclined and capable FCMs do nothing to erase that.
So I started thinking about "discomfort" broadly. Another concept that's been wholesale abused. We needed to be way too on guard for what or whether we said might be a "micro aggression" or would cause someone to feel "unsafe" or "uncomfortable." Again, our pop psychology and propensity to overstate the noisiest out-ragers, made it so critical thinking and doubt became sinful in and of themselves. Facts don't matter in that space. "Being heard" is afforded only if you're claiming victimhood, but then, only victimhood of a certain type. The own-goal that is reactionary politics when you forgo any genuine attempt at taking someone's, almost certainly mostly irrational but nonetheless real, concern seriously is the ongoing consequence we get to suffer.
I think the more you practice observing conversational patterns, word choices, and trends, you can start to see previously "abstract" things considerably more acutely. One thing I notice is a propensity for "moving right along." I don't care what the topic is, there's a "normal" pace and pater that is preferred. Violate that, and it's time to move on. Point out the failings of the people you're supposed to trust most or even ingratiate yourself to? Let's move right along into the next module, as we all know there's nothing much more to say about that.
Another pattern I notice is the "taken aback pause." It's not precisely a reaction to being "offended," but it's a stark enough detail or way of relaying information that who you're speaking with was not prepared to engage that intensely. If they're quick, it'll be a brink-of-condescending acknowledgement before moving-right-along, or if they're not quick, it'll be a placating obfuscating of what you said to "even things out."Again, these are imprecise norms of conversational behavior around the particulars of one culture at one point in time, but they're real and of consequence whether or not you can see them.
When we use the word "bias," we let ourselves off the hook on the myriad ways it manifests. We let "bias" obscure in the opposite way that we let "trauma" obscure. Trauma is abused to over-explain what should be considered a necessary series of responses or consequences. Bias is abused to overlook how deeply it colors your propensity to engage that over-explaining behavior. You are biased, first and foremost, to your subjective experience of reality. In my experience, almost no one is that clued into their own flow of experience. Even the ones that are, or are showing the most growth and evidence, struggle, and will struggle indefinitely. This includes myself.
That's the point, though. You need the struggle to keep your wits about you. You need appropriate stressors against the things that will help you grow and incorporate. By definition, norms put that insistence to the side so we can all find a baseline mutual understanding to move right along down. The more cliched you sound, if you don't have a reflex to pause and pull back, the more you're training yourself to believe and act on "just whatever it is you say." You're a circular and totalitarian monster by default.
Add to that, you may not have any real ability or willingness to recognize how many cliches you truly are under the spell of. This is what the unironic attempts around discussions of "privilege" do a generally miserable job of explaining. We all have privileges up and down hierarchies and competencies and dozens of other metrics we fluidly transition through all day. None are necessarily going to jar you awake or indicate there's anything worth examining on their own. Your cohort speaks your language. Your education taught you the "right" things. Your hobbies and interests conform to a person of your state and stature. "It's just how things are done."
This provokes people's insecurity as a standing state of a lack of readiness. When you poke people, you'll find they don't have "real" reasons for their behavior, beliefs, or words. It's all been handed to them. They're a series of unconscious forces they're more or less molding to because that's how our brains work. Your brain doesn't care what it forms a pattern around, just that it can do so. There's survival reasons for this, as well as a story of basic capacities to function regardless of the nature of the environment that's all-but certain to otherwise kill you if you can't figure it out.
I, routinely, provoke that insecurity. I've learned to show considerably less ambivalence about the person after they've been provoked, but it happens just as an ongoing and predictable course of my practice. This is my practice. I analyze. I pull back. I try to identify and speak to patterns, even if they're abstract, but certainly concrete enough for me to anticipate them and work with or around them. I know what kind of response I need built into what I can reliably anticipate is going to be yours. I know how to piss off and get ignored by "the internet," and I know how to illicit a thousand likes. What's important to me is that I'm speaking as closely to my real perspective or agenda as possible, and not being driven by an elusive brain chemical game subject to the mercy of algorithms or inarticulate desires to unhealthily fit in.
I want to fit in, but with an ever-winnowing type of person. I want to be less-wrong in the information I share, but not at the expense of someone's capacity to hear it or learn from it if I can't be bothered to temper how I say it. I want to grow in my capacity to accept people, but not at the expense of their obligation to better account for and relay their own experience. I've been told my whole life that I'm not allowed to expect the same things from other people as I might of myself. I think this is fundamentally wrong and condescending. I think I should maintain the expectation while doing everything in my power to reduce the barriers to any one person getting to whatever heights you think I've managed or been born with.
Here again, we stay lost. How do you remove barriers you can't see or might even be dispositionally against even acknowledging can exist altogether? How many "boot straps" types can even be bothered to acknowledge the impact of the villages they're living in? How many "deeply empathic" people would entertain pairing their sensibilities to the word "toxic" under any circumstance? It's pretty easy, now, for me to see when my forthright manner acts as too blunt an instrument. Can you see where your baseline disposition and sympathies cloud your judgment and capacity to act more accountably?
I feel like "accountable" itself is poorly understood. Just count! Count the disquieting contradictory thought. Count the intensity, frequency, and severity of the feelings. Count the attempts to mitigate or times you recognized forgoing to do so. Accountability doesn't mean wildly wielding an axe to bring down dramatic consequences upon everything and everyone that wasn't noticed until now. It's just asking yourself, over and over again, what can I control about this situation? What can I act on that speaks to my values and perception?
Let's take the real world example of me and Byron. I can't control his perception of what he thought he was doing in service to the kid. I can't control his awareness of any creeping mental health issues that might have arisen. I can't control whether or not he responds affirmatively to my new boundaries. I could control telling him what those boundaries were altogether, so I did. I can affirm that I'm only going to communicate along the lines that hopefully help the boundary conditions get met before I'm willing to get more colloquial or back to friendly. I can respect that he told me our friendship is "invaluable." I can't truthfully say I think we'd be using that word in a mutually understood way until I see practical, tangible effects upon my life that counteract where I feel I am as a direct result of my expression of friendship getting grossly taken advantage of.
Until then, I'll treat him like I would any client. Show me. I'll patiently-enough nod along, provide whatever perspective or reframe that I can, and remain open to demonstrated behavior changes. I don't have to throw myself back into his fire. If I'm going to claim a desire to protect and maintain genuine friendships or care for those in my life, I'm not going to treat myself with the ambivalence I see others suffer from themselves every day.
I choose that level of discomfort. I only mildly complain today, as it's gotten dramatically better, about doing things alone and never having anyone to hang out with. Byron was my go-to spot for killing time or hanging out. Not once in my free time have I said, "You know, fuck my boundary, let's hang out there!" How could I look myself in the mirror? How could I advocate for you establishing better boundaries with people in your life? How could I ignore what I would characterize as gleeful and willful defiance of doing "better" than playing out battered-wife excuse making? I will not play-act friendship with someone who can't be bothered to work as hard on themselves or in service to me as I've been for them. That's not the kind of friend I am, so it's not the one I'll let back in lightly.
What's normal, though? No matter how bad someone fucks you, forgive and pretend to forget, right? They're "family." Life's too short. It is what it is. They didn't mean to or weren't aware. That's not who they were in the past. Holding grudges is unhealthy. Your insecurities around being isolated or alone betray you. Your obligation to play along and appease your mutual network takes over. Whether any real healing or mutual understanding comes into the equation is perfectly mute because we need to just move right along and "love each other."
I watch that dance justify literally every conceivable level of atrocity. It is the exact same self-servicing motivatedly ignorant pattern. From your god's behavior right on down through your secret satisfaction and smirk at punishing your pet a little too aggressively just that one time. What you don't account for counts on you to carry out its consequences. And you are, every day, in big and small ways, and it's predictable and fixable, but only with stuff like this. You have to own it. You have to "yes, and" like it's an improv class. You have to perpetually entertain the thought that you are a misguided monster, but that fact doesn't have to dictate your behavior going forward nor need to illicit some special amount of stress or talking in circles.
Then you might have a prayer of genuinely helping anything, because you see how you're otherwise fucking it up within yourself. You can resist the insistence to move past meaningful details. You can point to specific repeatable demonstrations of your values. You can see other people responding to your confidence of relatable recognizable capacity, and not the shadow game of peacocking virtue signaling and mantra echoing.
I will spend thousands of dollars, use all my tools, and spend every waking hour I have trying to help. I think most people I've met would say the same thing. Who is actually doing so? And in service to whom? Do you trust what drives them? Do you see equitable put in get out dynamics? Or is it codepedence? Or insecurity? Or some noble story of infinite sacrifice and unconditional love?
I'm willing to set the conditions because I expect better than what's normal of and for myself. Were circumstances reversed, I wouldn't treat you as I've been treated, and most importantly, have the demonstrated behavior from myself to trust. I've spent the time and money. I've opened the conversations. I've challenged the mismanaged powers and privileges. I've risen to the challenge of creating circumstances that inch me closer to what I actually want or think is better versus what's expected of me. It never ends. Every second you pretend otherwise, you disappear, and I have to fit your abstract abdication into my specific constructs.

We like octaves because 2:1 we live fifths because 3:2, out music didn't come from nowhere.
It came from our appreciation of sounds that share the same "body", I 'guess' that this comes from somewhere in voice recognition or something... (not a neurolist/anthropologist)
But why don't other animals like our music? Why don't they like major or minor chords?

I understand that frequency range is also not universal across beings, but it was too long in the title.

But the point still stands, just put the major or minor chord a bunch of octaves up/down, and change the BPM

~First~
(Got up Early to talk about the CPAP machine and such. Only to be given an appointment on friday. So yeah, in trying to solve a sleep issue I’m giving myself more of one. Incidentally Friday will be late due to well, the CPAP retrieval and tutorial)
The Pirates
“So, they’re here.” Agenda says contently as she finishes feeding her fussiest little girl.
“Yep!” Jingay chirps happily as her freshly hatched little children are happily playing on the glowing, shimmering platform that her rattle has brought to life. She can’t do anything complicated, but a soft shiny platform for her little slithers to play around in? She can do that, but it takes some focus. The tiny fluffy child of Vuni is cuddling the strong Jungle Nagasha tail that wraps around her own tail.
“How formal a call do you think we should make?” Miles asks in an amused tone.
“Not especially, after all the babes ensure it will never be properly formal, they’re too happy and healthy.” Agenda notes.
“I blame you for that.” Miles says and Agenda laughs.
“If you don’t want the blame I’ll take it.” Vuni remarks.
“You’re just as guilty.” Miles says and Vuni laughs in response.
“What’s going to happen?” Jingay asks and Miles is pensive for a moment.
“I don’t know.” He notes as his hand gently rubs the handle of his revolver. The constant rubbing had necessitated him re-burning the names of his family back into it. “But no amount of waffling about will let me know. So if you don’t mind. I’ve been... getting something a little ready.”
“Is this what you’ve been sneaking around to do for the last three days?” Agenda asks.
“Something like that. It’s a bit of a treat I wanted to give you girls so... care to join me?” He offers.
“What have you done?”
“Me and the boys got together a great big feast so that we can all talk The Inevitable at once. It took a bit of doing, but when the boys and I get moving, we really get moving.”
“Are you including Red Squadron and Biran in that?”
“And a lot of cadets too. Markus gave them a proper mission in setting up the area.” He says.
“How is that a mission?”
“It involves deploying a military force to secure and prepare an area for higher ranking officers to approach and remain there for a time.” Miles says before offering his hand. “There’s plenty of space for all our little ones, and for all our allies. Give them all a big impression. How does that sound?”
“Well, if you’ve been planning this for days.”
“I have. All of us have.”
“Then I suppose we HAVE to show up, don’t we?” Agenda says in a luxurious tone. “I’ll get my coat.”
•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•
The hall that Miles leads them to is a massive refurbished hanger that has all kinds of carpets put down, tapestries hanging from the ceiling and tables upon tables of different treats of all sorts already out. The Undaunted Cadets are all rushing around putting down more meals and treats and between the richness of the carpets, the crystal bowls and platters and expensive drinks and foods. But the sort of... scrambled way it’s been put together by the cadets lends it an earnestness that bleeds through. More important though are numerous floating platforms where a child can be safely put down and be right beside their parent.
“Oh this is a treat. I haven’t even been one of you guys for long!” A four part harmony says as Moira walks in with little Liǔ Shù napping in the arms of the four bodies that didn’t speak. The toxic little girl not only has numerous of the protective pendents on her and woven into her clothing, but is in a dark jumper that lets her bright skin stand out as if for presentation.
“Well, as their novels say, all for one, and one for all.” A new voice says as a pair of Cannidors lead in their own family. More and more and more people pour in from all entrances, many in uniform, many of them her own girls. Some of them she barely recognizes. Every single one of them that notices her looking raises a glass, nods, salutes or somehow pays their respects to her.
Her little one squirms ever so and is softly comforted. For a moment there is almost a feeling of vertigo. There was a time where all this wasn’t even a dream of a dream. She could remember the feeling. How could she forget it? The sensation of something gripping your very mind and soul and stopping you from even thinking of disobeying. Then so long trying to get things right, trying to be in control of her own destiny, before finally achieving it and learning just how hard that was. How many sacrifices and concessions she made before what seemed to be one of her final concessions... turned out to be final in the best of ways.
“Alright! We have a connection to The Inevitable! Who wants to say hello to the next batch of humans in the galaxy?” Ryu calls out.
“My Lady?” Miles asks as he smiles up at her. She gives him a raised eyebrow at that.
“My lady is it? Well then, I better live up to it.” She says.
“Connect us!” She commands and there is a cheer through the room before a massive projector uses one of the tapestry covered walls as a screen. “Good Ship Inevitable! Can you hear me?”
“We can, you are on a friendly frequency.” A man of Asian Descent says sitting stiffly in his command chair. “I am Observer Wu, sent from Earth to conclusively determine what is going on outside our corner of the galaxy. Identify yourself please.”
“I am Duchess Agenda Lilpaw! I am the ruler of the Vucsa System an Undaunted World! I greet you, because I have long learned my lesson to stay on the good side of humans!”
“Have you now? If I’m not mistaken that is a fully grown human right next to you. You look like you could take him fairly easily.” Observer Wu says in an amused tone.
She looks down to Miles before shaking her head.
“I made that mistake once. My entire ship was not enough.” She says fondly before pulling him close. “Then I was offered a deal, and he used it to help make me a duchess. So you’ll forgive me if I think humans are a good thing to have around.”
“Did he now? I didn’t realize galactic conquest was the intent of The Dauntless and her crew.” Wu notes.
“Well, as one of the conquered, I would like to say I prefer this result. After all, being able to walk about the city without a bodyguard is a welcome change of pace.” Vuni says drawing attention to herself with a slight bow. “Ambassador Vuni Luxed at your service.”
“So this world prefers to be conquered?” Observer Wu asks.
“This world was a slum at it’s best. A hellscape at worst.” Mari Horny states as the Carib woman waves to the camera. “Mari Horny. I was here to witness it all. I’ve seen slaves freed, monsters hunted down no matter what kind of power or influence they have, be they person or beast. With them I’ve seen the children I worked so hard to protect grow stronger and thrive. Doom has come to this world time after time, and they met it each time. If you’re here to observe, then observe this room! Everyone here saved, aided or inspired by the people you’ve come to evaluate! There are ten pure blooded humans in this room, but beyond it is nearly a billion souls who will vouch for them from the first to last! And so will I!”
“No need to be so dramatic ma’am. I’m an observer, not a judge. I am here to see and hear without bias or illusions. Things are odd, and odd things have happened. The governments and officials back home need to understand clearly and without any doubt. So that is why I am here. There was confusion in the first message sent back. The second furthered the confusion due to multiple parties having separate interests. I have been tested, tried and guaranteed numerous concessions and payments for an utterly neutral perspective.”
“So your word is going to be how all is, then they decide if we committed treachery.” Franklin notes as he floats up with several bundles around him, many of them laughing. “Behold this then. My children. All healthy, with myself as the only human parent. My daughters take after their mothers, my son takes after me, but has his mother’s strength.”
“He is nearly transparent.” Observer Wu notes before Franklin gives the little boy a tickle and he flickers in and out of visibility while laughing. “Most interesting. This Vucsa world of yours, before I do my research upon it, is there something you would like to say about it?”
“This is a world on the edge of Wild Space. Which means that it’s often been used in the past as a place where experiments happened.” Miles says.
“Interesting. Such as?” Observer Wu asks.
“Such as my daughter here. I am Moira Octalliry, I will cut through the details and simply state that my anatomy allowed me to be experimented on a great deal.” She says and Observer Wu looks at her oddly.
“Are you one, or many?”
“I am one, but I am eight as one.” She says. “As is my daughter, I have named her Liǔ Shù. She was a piece of myself remade to produce a weapon. She and I were both rescued. I was forgotten in darkness for thousands of years, as was my daughter. Held in a single moment in time and left to rot.”
“And... is she a weapon?”
“I am told you have creatures similar to her new ability back on your homeworld.”
“We do? What is the name of this creature?”
“The Poison Dart Frog.” She says and Observer Wu’s eyebrows go up.
“Don’t forget about the fact that we fought off that robot witch!”
“Robot Witch?” Wu prompts.
“A weapon of war created by a very large, dangerous and expansive criminal family. A death robot known as Mother Massacre.” Moira says. “So consider that. Without them going... I don’t even know what to call it, I saw the contradicting orders, without them going sane for lack of a better term, I would still be in a slowly failing stasis capsule, buried and forgotten in the darkness.”
“And so, in summation, and from the mouths of those that clearly trust them what is your opinion of The Undaunted and the humans that make it up?”
“When I was brought to this world it was as a slave, my dignity ripped from me, my home destroyed and in less than a day I had my freedom, dignity and a new home.” One of the Erumenta that Agenda cannot recognize out of hand announces.
“And my own. My whole family, those that were enslaved are freed, those that were indoctrinated into that wretched way of life have been allowed time to recover.” Biran says grandly.
“They took me in.” A smaller voice says as Karim rises up. “I’m a Hlo’Shab. Death Born. I could have reasonably only expected to have my core shattered, or shunned for my entire life. Instead I have a home.”
“And... to be Death Born means what?”
“I am a Slohb. By blood I have only one true parent. I was broken off of them far too soon and they died as I survived. Death Born. Or... well, I don’t have blood but... you get the idea right?” Karim asks.
“I understand.” Observer Wu notes. “I have more calls incoming. Is there more from Vucsa for me to see or hear?”
“Over here!” A jubilant voice calls out and the room turns to see Hewhew standing on the shoulders of Heffer to tower over everyone with the Agela’s height added to his own. “Red Five calling it in! The Vucsa Defence Fleets fly fast and proud to keep our home safe!”
The crowd around him, pilots all, throw up their right arms and cheer along with Hewhew. “Welcome to the Galaxy Observer! We’re ten tons of awesome in a two pound bag! Let’s rock!”
Observer Wu smiles as he looks around. “I look forwards to discovering the truth of things.”
“That’s the fun part of the galaxy sir, it’s so absurd we don’t need to lie.” Miles states and Observer Wu turns back to him with a smirk.
“Well, we shall see, won’t we?” He asks. “Is there anything more?”
“I take it you’re not in the mood for a display of flight prowess? We’ve been working on a new routine.” Hewhew calls out.
“Perhaps later. I have numerous calls waiting.” Observer Wu states. “Now if you’ll excuse me...”
~First~ Last

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• I have a master's degree in Applied Statistics from a university in New Jersey, USA. As a result, I am very proficient in helping students with various types of Statistics courses including Biostatistics Business Statistics Elementary Statistics Probability & Statistics Psychology Statistics.
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• ANOVA Bar Graph, Boxplot, Dot Plot, Histogram, Pie Chart Bias Binomial, Exponential, Poisson, Gamma, Uniform Distribution Central Limit Theorem Chi-Square Test Coefficient of Determination (R^2) Conditional & Relative Probability Confidence Interval Correlation Coefficient (r) Critical Region Critical Value Descriptive & Inferential Statistics Effect Size Expected Value Experiment vs Observation Goodness of Fit Test Hypothesis Testing Interpolation & Extrapolation Interquartile Range (IQR) Kurtosis Left, Negative, Right, Positive Skewed Distribution Logistic Regression Mean, Median, Mode, Midrange Multiple Regression Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, Ratio I Population Parameter Normal, Symmetric & Bell Shaped Distribution Null & Alternate Hypothesis One & Two Sample T-Test One & Two Sample Z-Test Ordinary Least Squares Outliers P-Value Pooled Variance (Equal Variances) Proportion R^2 Range Regression Regression Line Reject & Fail to Reject Ho Relative & Cumulative Frequency Distributions Relativity & Reliability Right, Left, One, Two Tailed Tailed Hypothesis Test Sample Statistics Sampling Methods (Convenience, Stratified, Simple, Cluster, Systematic) Significance Level (1%, 5%, 10%) Skewness Standard Deviation& Variance T-Score Test Statistic Time Series Type I & Type II Errors Unbiased Estimators Z-Score

ALGEBRA HELP:

• I am well-versed in helping students do well in Algebra 1 & 2 College Algebra Intermediate Algebra Pre-Algebra and I am very knowledgeable and proficient in the following algebra topics in alphabetical order:
• Absolute Values Circle Equation Domain Exponents Graphing Horizontal & Vertical Asymptotes Inequalities, Equations & Functions Inverse Functions Linear, Exponential, Logarithmic, Quadratic Equations Logarithms Maximum & Minimum Values of a Graph Number Lines One-to-One Functions Parallel & Perpendicular Lines Plotting Points & Ordered Pairs Point-Slope Form Polynomial Division Polynomials Radicals Range Rational & Irrational Expressions Rational Functions Real Roots Real Zeros Relations & Functions Slope Slope-Intercept Form Square Roots Standard Form of a Line System of Equations System of Inequalities Variables X and Y Intercepts

CALCULUS HELP:

• I am well-versed in helping students do well in Calculus I, II & III, Calculus 1, 2 & 3, Business Calculus, Multivariable Calculus, Vector Calculus and I am very knowledgeable and proficient in the following calculus topics in alphabetical order:
• Absolute & Local Maximum and Minimum Antiderivative Area & Volume Chain Rule Concavity Continuity Convergence Test Critical Points Curvature Curve of Rotation Curve Sketching Derivatives Divergence Test First & Second Derivative Test Fourier Series Implicit Differentiation Increasing / Decreasing Functions Infinite Series Integrals Integration by Parts Jacobian Matrix Limits L’Hopital’s Rule Maclaurin Series Mean Value Theorem Partial Derivative Product & Quotient Rule Reiman Sum Related Rates Simpson’s Rule Solid of Revolution Substitution Rule Taylor Series

I CAN AID STUDENTS TAKING PROCTORED ASSESSMENTS:

• Proficient in CollegeBoard AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC & AP Statistics exams.
• Skilled with International Baccalaureate Math Exams: IB Maths HL & IB Maths SL
• Can intentionally answer a few problems incorrectly at the student's request.
• Can text solutions to the student while they are taking a proctored exam.
• Upon request, can purposely obtain grades below an A (ex: B+, B, C+, C-).
• I can stretch out the time to a plausible length for timed exams and assignments before submitting them.
• Have reliable software that can change my IP address to match the closest major city near the student.
• I have exceptional multiple-choice exam-taking skills. I have mastered the various techniques to make calculated guesses for the correct option in standardized exams such as the SAT & GRE.

I CAN VERIFY MY ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:

• I have no problem with requests to solve sample problems upfront to prove my knowledge & proficiency of the course concepts.
• I can provide glowing references & strong examples of work done for past clients to verify my academic skills.
• I can also provide, upon request, complete detailed calculations with explanations for solutions to the problems worked on.
• I am quite skilled and adept in using multiple modernized educational platforms and software, including but not limited to: Brightspace MyStatLab D2L WebAssign Canvas MyMathLab Blackboard ALEKS
• Can format term papers and discussion posts in APA MLA Harvard Chicago Vancouver OSCOLA IEEE format.

I HAVE PAID ACCESS TO OVER 15 STUDY-HELP WEBSITES AND MATHEMATICAL SOFTWARE:

• I have multiple paid subscriptions to a wide range of academic tutoring resources, including Chegg, Quizlet, CourseHero, Brainly, Grammarly, Study. com, Bartleby, Slader, Transtutors, Slideshare, StudocU, Turnitin, Academia, SymboLab, WolframAlpha, and Scribd to help guide to solve exam & homework questions that I may not immediately know.
• However, I am smart enough not to blatantly plagiarize solutions online but instead write them in my own unique words, formatting, & mathematical terminology.
• I have access to a very sophisticated graphing calculator and various mathematical software that provides step-by-step solutions to complex mathematical problems within seconds, allowing me to provide exact solutions to the student in a timely manner.
• I have impeccable handwriting and a high-quality mobile scanner app that allows me to scan written solutions in very legible high-definition JPG, PNG, or PDF formats.

MY AVAILABILITY & RELIABILITY:

• Depending on my availability, I can accommodate immediate tutoring requests, 1-24 hour, and 1-30-day deadlines.
• I can schedule live real-time online sessions and meet deadlines in an impressively timely fashion.
• I can provide quick notifications and updates of progress made in the student's class via email text phone calls.
• I can also be available to tutor students for Fall 2021 Spring 2022 Summer 2022 semesters.

MY EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE OF EXPERTISE:

• I am very knowledgeable and well-versed in a wide range of educational software to tutor students in including but not limited to: Acellus ALEKS APEX Learning Aplia Blackboard Brightspace Canvas Cengage CengageNow Connect ConnectMath Connexus CPM D2L Discord Edmentum Eviews Examity Excel Hawkes Learning Honorlock Khan Academy Knewton LimeSpring Lumen Maple MasteringChemistry MasteringPhysics MathXL (XL) MATLAB McGraw-Hill Microsoft Word Minitab Moodle MyAccountingLab MyEconLab MyITLab MyLab My Lab MyMathLab My Math Lab MyOpenMath MyPsychLab MySocLab MyStatLab My Stat Lab NCSS Open Source Software Pearson PERT PlatoWeb PowerPoint Prezi R Respondus Lockdown Browser with Webcam Sapling SPSS Stata StraighterLine Straighter Line WebAssign Web Assign Webex (Cisco) WebWork Wiley WileyPlus Wonderlic Zoom

SCHOOLS FROM WHICH I'VE HELPED STUDENTS IN :
As of 2021, I have tutored and helped students enrolled at the following U.S. universities community colleges county & city colleges schools for-profit institutions listed below in alphabetical order:

• A - C: American Public University System (APUS) Arizona State Ashford Brigham Young Brown Broward California State (Fullerton) Capella Chamberlain (Illinois) Colorado Technical Columbia Columbia Southern Cornell
• D - K: Dallas College Dartmouth DeVry Excelsior College Florida International Florida State Full Sail Georgia State Grand Canyon Harvard Houston Community College Ivy Tech Community College Kaplan Kennesaw State Kent State
• L - T: Liberty Lone Star College System Kaplan Miami Dade Michigan State CUNY State University of New York (SUNY) Northern Virginia Ohio State University of Phoenix (UOP) Penn State Princeton Purdue (Davenport) San Diego State San Francisco State San Jose State Southern New Hampshire Southern Nevada Stanford St. Petersburg Strayer Texas Tech
• UNIVERSITY OF: Alabama Arizona California (UC) Central Florida Chicago Cincinnati Florida Houston Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) Iowa Maryland Minnesota Michigan North Texas Pennsylvania Southern Florida Texas Toronto
• U - Z: UCLA Extension Utah State Utah Valley Valencia Walden U Wake Technical Western Governors Wilmington Yale

I OFFER FLEXIBLE PAYMENT PLANS:

• I offer several unique payment plans, including a weekly plan, a discounted monthly plan, a discounted half-now / half-later plan, and highly discounted up-front rates.
• I can accept the following payment methods for my services: PayPal Debit Cards Square Cash Credit Cards Cash App Venmo.
• Only people located in North America have access to Venmo Cash App Zelle.
• This is an excellent way to determine if the person you're dealing with is from the United States.
• Within reason, I offer a partial or full money-Back guarantee if the student is very unsatisfied with my academic services.

TUTORING AVAILABLE FOR OTHER SUBJECTS:

• For other subjects, you can reach out to me, and I can connect you with one of my tutoring partners who can provide general academic assistance for the following subjects:
• Art & Design: Art History Design Film Studies
• Business: Accounting (Acc) Biz Courses Business Administration (Biz Admn) Business Calculus Business Law Business Statistics Corporate Finance Economics (Econ) Finance (Fin) Financial Accounting Intermediate Accounting Intermediate Microeconomics (Micro) Macroeconomics (Macro) Management (Mgmt) Managerial Accounting Marketing MBA
• Computer Science: C C++ Computer Programming (Comp) Java Python R (Introduction & Intermediate Level Only)
• Humanities: Communications (Comm) English Literature Essay & Term Paper Writing, Editing, Proofreading Essays History Papers Philosophy (Phil) Religious Studies Theology (Theo)
• Mathematics: A.P. Calculus AB & BC Psychology Statistics AP Statistics Bio statistics Calculus I (1) Calculus II (2) Calculus III (3) College Algebra Differential Equations Discrete Math Finite Math Functions General Math Geometry Liberal Arts Math Linear Algebra Multi-variable Calculus Partial Differential Equations Precalculus Probability Quantitative Reasoning Real Analysis Statistics Trigonometry (Trig) Vector Calculus
• Science & Medicine: Anatomy & Physiology (A & P) Biochemistry Biology (Bio) Biostatistics Earth Science Environmental Science General Chemistry (Chem) Healthcare Medicine Nursing Nutrition Organic Chemistry Physics (Phys)
• Social Sciences: Anthropology Economics (Econ) Geology Law & Justice Liberal Arts Liberal Studies Political Science Psychology Sociology

THE OBLIGATORY "IS THIS A SCAM?" QUESTION:
Considering the fact that you found my contact information online, it’s understandable to be skeptical regarding the legitimacy of my services. Therefore, I’m willing to do all of the following to help you feel more secure in trusting me with your academic needs:

• 1) Speak with you on the phone and answer any questions you may have so that you have the opportunity to assess and analyze my tone, articulation, accent, diction, dialect, regionalisms, pitch, vocabulary, word choice, intonations, and inflections.
• NOTE: I’m a New Jersey-born Irish/Italian-American, but I have been told that I speak in an erudite & articulate suburban American accent with a “professor style” voice somewhat resembling the voice of actor: Ben Stein.
• 2) Agree to do some homework questions of yours upfront with the work fully shown in real-time to prove my mastery of the course content.
• 3) Send you screenshots of at least five past scores I attained from completing exams & homework assignments for other students in the same type of class you need help with.
• 4) Send you full screenshots of written exam solutions I wrote up by hand for students in the past in the same course that you need help with so that you can see my neat handwriting.
• 5) Provide you with the contact information of students who have utilized my services in the past who would be more than willing to vouch for my skills.

MY TEAM'S CLASSES OF EXPERTISE:

• Statistics: AP Statistics Biostatistics Business Statistics Elementary Statistics Intro to Statistics Psychology Statistics Social Science Statistics Statistics & Probability Statistical Methods Statistical & Probability Models
• Math: Advanced Functions Algebra Calculus 1, 2, 3 (and 4 in some schools) Vector Calculus Differential Calculus Integral Calculus Multivariable Calculus Differential Equations Discrete Math Discrete Structures Finite Mathematics Functions Geometry Linear Algebra Precalculus Probability Real Analysis Statistics Trigonometry Quantitative Methods & Reasoning
• Science: Anatomy & Physiology Astronomy Biochemistry Biology Chemistry (General, Inorganic & Organic) Dental / Pre-Dental Earth Science Engineering (Almost All Types) Environmental Science Epidemiology Fluid & Mechanics Geology Geophysics Medicine / Pre-Med Microbiology Neuroscience Physics Physical Science
• Business: Accounting Auditing Banking Business Administration Business Law Corporate Finance Cost Accounting Econometrics Economics Finance Financial Institutions Financial Reporting Global Economics Governance International Economics Macroeconomics Management Marketing MBA Courses Mergers and Acquisitions Microeconomics Operations Management Principles of Accounting Real Estate Taxation
• English: Business Writing Creative Writing Critical Reading Digital Media Eastern Literature English Literature Essays Expository & Persuasive Writing Fiction Writing Greek and Roman Philosophy Grammar Poetry
• Humanities & Social Sciences: Architecture Anthropology Art History Communication Criminal Justice Forestry Ethnic Studies Film History Law Pre-Law Music Philosophy Political Science Psychology Psychiatry Religious Studies Sociology Theology Women Studies
• Computer Science & Programming: Android AWS Azure Blockchain Cryptocurrency Smart Contracts C C# C++ Cloud Computer Organization and Assembly Languages CSS Data Science Data Structures and Algorithms Deep Learning Design Patterns Game Design and Development iOS Java Javascript Machine Learning MATLAB MySQL Networking NoSQL Object Oriented Programming Operating Systems PHP Principles of Computer Science Programming for Virtual Reality Programming Languages Python R Robotics Ruby Software Engineering SQL Swift Web Development

MY EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE OF EXPERTISE:

• Acellus ALEKS Aplia APEX Learning Badgr Blackboard Blink Learning Brightspace / D2L Canvas Cengage CengageNow Childsmath Cisco ConnectMath Connexus CPM Crowdmark EViews Edmentum Examity Excel Garch Google Classroom Google Education Gradescope Hawkes Learning Honorlock iClicker InQuizitive (Norton) Java Kaltura Khan Academy Knewton Kryterion LaunchPad MATLAB Maple MasteringChemistry MasteringPhysics MathXL Mathematica McGraw-Hill Connect MegaStat Microsoft Teams Microsoft Access, Word, Excel, PowerPoint Mindtap Minitab MonitorEDU Moodle MyAccountingLab MyEconLab MyFinanceLab MyITLab MyMathLab MyOpenMath MyPsychLab MySocLab MyStatLab NCSS Outlier Pearson MyLab and Mastering Piazza PlatoWeb Prezi Proctor360 Proctorio Proctortrack Python R Respondus Lockdown Browser with Webcam SAM Sapling SAS SPSS Socrative Stata StraighterLine Turnitin VoiceThread WebAssign WebEx WebWork Wiley WileyPlus Zoom

MY REBUTTAL TO THE OBLIGATORY “IS THIS A SCAM?” QUESTION:
At the risk of sounding arrogant, I consider myself to be at least marginally more intelligent (both academically & socially) than the average person. Therefore, if I ever decided to suddenly risk prison time, risk my reputation, and risk enduring the wrath of modern-day “cancel culture” by scamming people out of their money:

• I certainly wouldn’t do it for such paltry amounts of money. (i.e., anything less than $1,000 per victim.)
• I certainly wouldn’t choose high school & college students as my “target audience” to scam, considering that most people without college degrees have abysmally low annual incomes. Why choose low-income victims when it would be much more profitable to target high-income, high-net-worth individuals earning at least six figures a year? I have knowledge in business consulting, and I promise you that a business owner would be a MUCH more lucrative mark than a low-income college student.
• I wouldn’t choose such a time & energy-draining method of scamming people. Also, communicating back and forth with potential clients is an absurdly long time sink since only less than 10% of all potential clients who reach out to me actually become paying clients of mine. This means that 90% of my time communicating with potential clients ultimately proves to be a colossal waste of my irretrievable time & energy.
• If you pay me to provide academic services and I don’t deliver, you can always dispute the payment with the payment app and easily get your money refunded. If I were in the habit of swindling money from people, then all of my payment accounts would have been investigated and be completely shut down by now. And I would have been permanently banned from opening new accounts. Therefore, the fact that all my payment apps have been fully active for years should be sufficient proof that I haven’t had people consistently disputing payments sent to me.

HOW TO CONTACT ME:

• If you are interested in my services and would like to learn more info, please feel free to reach out to me.
• Text messages and email are the fastest and easiest ways to get in touch with me. However, I gladly accept phone calls.
• If I don't respond right away, I am most likely helping a student at the time and not currently available to speak on the phone. But I always make a solid effort to reply to texts, emails, and phone calls within an hour.

Contact Details for Hiraedu Helper:
WhatsApp: +1 (213) 594-5657
Call: +1 727 456 9641
Website: hiraedu. com
Email: info@hiraedu. com
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Well, to start it all off i know that this story doesnt really compare with many others here but i honestly think that booze has had a significant impact on my life for such a young age(22 btw).
To give some context to why the following events fcked me up so much just keep in mind that on a psychological test i did when i was 15 it showed that the thing i valued most in my life at the time was my family.
Fast forward 2 years and my life started to fall apart, i was living in a beautiful mansion with a pool and a "happy" family of 5, we were throwing parties regularly and in general people respected me a lot and not just for the huge house and get togethers i was able to have but also because i was that "mysterious down to earth rich kid that you would never think lived in said mansion and has a beautiful gf(model type beautiful" and quite frankly i loved that reputation i have to admit.All of a sudden age 17 i started developing problems with drinking, we would go out 3 times a week with m friends and i would drink until couldnt physically drink anymore since the beginning, it was clubing though so people couldnt tell i was drinking as much as i was, but i was still a happy drunk and in general it wasnt causing me problems and i wasnt doing it more than my peers were.That summer i got back home one day and realised my father was out of his mind drunk to the point of cussing at us and in general being a huge dick(something he had never ever even displayed signs of), thats the day i learned my father was just a high functioning alcoholic that had just started going off the rails with his problem.
For the next year that incident stayed an isolated one and things were supposed to be normal again, until the day my father and my mother had a huge argument in front of me and my 2 sisters(one 20 and one just 12), and when i say argument i mean big truths coming out and books being thrown, then that kind of became the norm and 2 months later just before my graduation i had 2 big news coming my way. One was that they were taking a divorce(which they announced to us while my father had a whiskey bottle infront of him and was heavily intoxicated) The second one was that we had absolutely zero money and had to sell the house to keep existing(something that we also had no clue about).Nice plus is that i was breaking up with at the time my 5 year hs sweetheart very badly(cheating and yelling and all sorts) lost her to the booze as well btw
Then the year after school is were i chose to destroy my own life over the mistakes of others, i started drinking a lot more than i used to and its not the frequency but the fact that when i started i wouldnt stop until i physically couldnt drink anymore, i made myself a fool infront of a lot of people, i was acting insane in front of all my school at certain events and in general burned down every bridge i had built and every bit of reputation i had left. Mix that with use of other illicit substances and you have a shell of a young man that lives just to drink his pain away, i was always curious as to why its only me getting so angry drunk, in hindsight its pretty obvious.A year of this goes by and i have now absolutely embarassed my self in front of everyone i know to the point of not wanting to go out at all but still going out and being a zombie until i drunk that first drink.
Then covid hits and boy oh boy was it a time to be alive, two parents fighting and getting divorced while not being able to move out because we were still waiting to sell the house, at the time my father was taking heavy meds for depression(benzos) which i unfortunately found and abused with alcohol for the whole first summer of covid, when i say abused i mean 7-8 beers daily and 9-10 pills daily( 3 different ones as well). I hardly remember any of that time but i have seen pictures of me and i looked unhinged, i was legit high and drunk the whole time for like a month straight..
Then the house gets sold and we can finally move out with my mother and two sister to an apartment she owned that was not even close to where we were living, my room now is the size my bathroom was back then and my sisters went from 20m2 bedrooms to sharing a room next to my mother(who has it even worse if you compare).I dont want to sound ungrateful because im really not, i am so happy we even had a place to go and not leave the beautiful town we live in, i am grateful to not have died during certain times, i am grateful to still have food to eat, i still remember the first market we went after the house sold, first time thatwe could but more than 15 euros things at once for like years. BUT i still grieve the life i had, the house i had, the reputation i had. People now didnt talk to me apart from my 5 best friends(i am grateful for them also).
So, after we moved i was drinking but not as heavily then i started just not being able to control it, i was rolling a dice everytime i drunk, will i be pleasant when blackout drunk or will i cause everyone to hate me for the night again? I was craving so much attention that when drunk i did anything i could to get it, some years go by and my life generally seems to be going kinda good, i wasnt doing well academicaly but i had a job, i was much better mentaly and i was developing some skills plus being an athletic helped a lot.
The reason i am writing this is because yet again for the past month i have done horrible things while drunk, the thing with me is i will do something very stupid and then control the drinking for sometime and then again the same over and over again, might i add i am a very calm kinda shy akward and sensible person when sober so the contrast to when i am drunk is so big that my friends have a name for my drunk alter ego.1 month ago i drove drunk and thank god only did some damage to the car, 2 days ago i got drunk and lashed out on my mother, everything came out but in the worst way possible, pushing her cussing her and for no reason at all, all she asked was for me to give her the car keys so she will be sure i wont drive while being so intoxicated.I have never felt the embarassment guilt and shame i feel right now, i am a person that will not kill the cockroach because i will feel sorry for it, my mother is like the most important person in my life and the fact i did this to her breaks me, i hate what this poison has done to my life and i want to stop and never drink again.I have tried moderating it but after a while i just drink "normally" again. I have left out a lot of things and a lot of drunken nights and actions i regret, almost all my days are now being spent cringing and being ashamed of the things ive done while drunk, i feel like vanishing right now(i wont kms) but its really bad. Thank you for reading and im glad to answer any questions below.

I'll propose why story telling through an anki deck could be more effective than word frequency.
TL;DR: Relevance of word frequency degrades quickly, stories aid learning and stories need words for things characters can touch and interact with. The low frequency of a word like "sword" is less important than its role for story telling.
Intro
I'm using Kaishi 1.5k deck to learn Japanese and it's impressive how they managed to put all the words in the deck together in coherent phrases.
A great effort was made to trim out the noise and stick just to the words on the deck. Well rounded deck, some solid work went into it. After a few sessions I could parse out example phrases that seemed impenetrable just days before.
However I've noticed a lot of the words are outside the realm of concrete. Words like "already" or "not at all", they aren't things like "apple" or "table". You can just close your eyes and imagine the shape and color of an apple, you can't do that with "already".
I suppose that's due to the deck sticking to the 1500 most common words. I think "most common" words are overrated.
The shortcomings of sticking to building a deck from most common words in a language:

• Reason 1 is because a lot of the most common words are also multi-purpose words and so are context dependent or serve functions to add context. A "concrete" word like apple is the grounding to which more abstract words like "already" are anchored to. These "abstract" words need something solid to stick to, which IMO helps committing them to memory.
  
• Reason 2 is because we can't really start creating our own phrases phrases about our lives when all the words we know don't really describe anything in the real world. I think having the tools to start talking and thinking about ourselves is great for self esteem learning a language as well as to help the learner eventually approach graded readers.
  

Graded readers will often start with the most familiar everyday situations common across different countries.

• Lastly, reason 3 is that the way word frequency happens in a language makes it so the 100th most common word isn't much less common than the 50th most common word.

Word frequency in a language happens like this:
Let's say the most common frequent word in a text appears 370 times. The 50th most frequent word is likely to appear 370/50 times (7.4 instances), the 100th will appear 370/100 times (3.7 instances). Since there's no such thing as .4 of a word, let's round it to one word appearing 7 times and another 4 times. Numerically one is nearly double the other, realistically the difference isn't noticeable when you consider the restraints of our memory.
It's even worse when you realize even the most common word is going to be something like less than 7% of the whole text. In English that's "the". So if "the" appears 370 times, the text likely has 5692 words, that's like 5 issues of a comic book. Across five issues you see the 50th most common word appearing 7 times.
In text with tens of thousands of words this difference is meaningless.
The difference degrades even further when we compare 500th to 1000th most frequent word. The 500th most frequent word is likely to be 0.002% of a body a text, the 1000th most frequent will be 0.001%. Sure, one is TWICE as much as the other, but they're both so rare we can't really tell the difference anymore.
This is a weird surprising (but consistent) observation called Zipf's law
An alternative to most common words
Common words are useful, but I guess they aren't as important as their rank in a language. So what to pick then?
Choosing the most common words is definitely the most neutral and objective way to compile words. But the real world is not about neutral and objective situations. The news, entertainment, conversations online, none of that is neutral and objective.
Stories aren't neutral and objective.
One aspect of learning that I've never seen in an Anki deck is story telling.
Stories are a natural mnemonic and help build context which helps learning. Stories can also have emotional aspects to them. Story and emotion are two great enhancers to learning. I say this as someone who's been teaching English as a second language for a decade now.
You can't tell a story without a setting, and a setting demands that we use words for concrete things. Things we touch and interact with, people, professions, places, etc.
A trade-off is in order: abandon some of the most common words, replace them with words to help build a story. The benefit of the trade-off is creating context and emotional impact, which I believe far outweighs learning the most common words.
I think a nice Anki deck could build a story into it, using some of the most common words yes, but also using words that describe a place and real things. The story doesn't need to be told linearly. Bits and pieces here and there that eventually are pieced together by the user and build a cohesive story.
Why not just set the Anki story into some fantasy word, be not afraid to use words that are borderline useless in real life like "sword" or "tiger" as the grounding, and mix up the most common words along the way.
Why not take the story of an already existing movie or TV show and make a deck out of it. Not like a deck with words that appear on Breaking Bad, but a beginners deck that just happens to use Breaking Bad as scaffolding for story telling.
If I were to make an English Anki deck I'd probably use words that are often part of song lyrics or TV dramas. Maybe I'd write in a shoddy crime show of my own into the deck. Maybe I'd use just use The Sopranos.
"This is Tony Soprano", says on card. "Tony has two children", says another.
Either that or go with the setting I suggested earlier, for familiar real life situations common in graded readers.

Hi everyone,
Tldr: Please help me come up with a weekly meal plan for my betta. With frequency, portion sizes, etc. I have: - Hikari Bio-gold betta pellets - Fluval Bug bites (tropical fish) - Frozen: Brine Shrimp, Mini Bloodworms, Daphnia - Live Daphnia Any other tips/suggestions are welcome!
Walter, my office's betta, has been on Zoomed betta pellets only for over a year, he ate 2-4 every day. He was bloated and had difficulty swimming so two weekends ago, I fasted him for three days and then fed him frozen daphnia every day, once a day, half a cube, for 5 days. And then I got him live daphnia and gave it to him for 2 days (he loved hunting the daphnia!). He seems less bloated and his swimming has improved but he's still a bottom dweller most of the time. I would like to know how I can vary his diet to avoid overfeeding him and bloating. And because I'm scared of overfeeding, I'm also scared of underfeeding him. Please help!

Round 2 of the NBA playoffs has been a blast so far, and several series have the chance to go the distance. While injuries and three-point variance remain the two most important explanatory variables for why any given series is the way it is, those are boring to talk about! There are other factors worth examining, as well.
As I did for Round 1, I’ve cherry-picked some numbers that tell an interesting story explaining the current state of each contest. These are not always the most important stats (which are well-covered pretty much everywhere), but they’re all illuminating in their own way.
[Hello, everyone! Thanks for reading! As I did for Round 1 and all my other posts, I've collected a bunch of illustrative video clips that can be found in-context here or linked throughout the article. I think they add a lot to the discussion. Enjoy!]

Minnesota Timberwolves — Denver Nuggets (Tie 2-2)

41 → 69

The Wolves’ ferocious defense found success in the first two games of the series by hounding the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray each step up the court. Jokic loves to grab a rebound and take it up himself, but he had to work to get past the pressure of Naz Reid and Karl-Anthony Towns. Meanwhile, Murray could barely move around the tentacles of Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker: [video here]
The squeeze mostly worked. The Nuggets’ offense suffered, and Denver’s lack of supplementary playmakers and ballhandlers loomed large (both Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Jackson have been hobbled, and neither is a fantastic positional dribbler anyway).
In Game 3, though, the Nuggets made an important adjustment. They unshackled Orlando Aaron Gordon.
Gordon has become an incredible third banana in Denver by leaning into his strengths: dominating defensively while attacking post mismatches and lurking in the paint for dump-offs. He’s sacrificed usage for efficiency and team success. But Gordon was a whole ‘nother beast when he played for the Magic, a would-be point forward who foreshadowed the coming of Paolo Banchero.
It’s not like Gordon doesn’t do any playmaking anymore; the Nuggets love to station Gordon up high and have him initiate some action to get Jokic the ball on the move, as we talked about in the series preview. But after the Wolves’ tremendous full-court blitz in Game 2, Nuggets coach Michael Malone decided that Gordon needed to tap into his latent skills further.
It’s always fun when the stats so beautifully lay out what the eyes see. Gordon has seen a massive increase in his touches each game: 41 in Game 1, 48 in Game 2, 60 in Game 3, and 69 in Game 4, a whopping 46 of which were in the backcourt! For comparison, Minnesota’s point guard Mike Conley only had 40 backcourt touches in that contest; Murray only had 30.
Rudy Gobert has marked Gordon all series and has been excellent in almost all other respects (give or take an ugly end-of-game stretch in Game 4), but he’s the lone Wolf incapable of at least token full-court defense. Gordon is usually wide-open in the backcourt to bring the ball up. Even when the Wolves tried to pressure with McDaniels or others, Gordon easily powered through the defense. This is probably the lamest “highlight” I’ve ever clipped, but it’s important: [lame video clip here]
Think about the toll it took on the smaller Jamal Murray to do this dozens of times in Games 1 and 2. Having Gordon available to get the rock across halfcourt saved Jokic and Murray’s energy and helped the Nuggets find their offensive rhythm.
Shooting 11-for-12 in Game 4 was a nice exclamation point highlighting Gordon’s excellence over these last two games, but his gaudy field goal percentage overshadowed the important, quiet part: Gordon has broken the Wolves’ pressure. Minnesota will need to find another strategy to regain control of the series.

New York Knicks — Indiana Pacers (Tie 2-2)

44%, 46%; 31%, 37%

Injuries and recovery have been the game's name in this series more than any other. The Knicks keep dropping, while Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton finally resembles the superstar who tore up the league to start the year despite amassing some bumps and bruises of his own.
However, other variables help explain this tie, and I wanted to highlight one in particular. In New York’s two wins, 44% and 46% of their shots were right at the rim. In their two losses, just 31% and 37% of their attempts came around the cylinder. (For context, Orlando’s 39% was the best mark in the regular season.)
Shots at the rim are the most valuable field goal attempts in the game for obvious reasons. New York was one of the league’s worst at getting to the rack in the regular season (less than a third of their field goal attempts). But Indiana’s defensive philosophy all season has been to hug the three-point line like a toddler squeezing their Teddy. The Pacers allowed the fewest three-point attempts but, conversely, gave up the most layups.
This has been a battle of weaknesses, and New York came out on top — at first. Jalen Brunson repeatedly wormed his way to the bucket. Josh Hart set up an RV in the lane for Games 1 and 2, finding particular success in classic Hart coast-to-coasts: [video here]
However, things have changed. Hart’s parking pass expired; the Pacers have done a fantastic job limiting his fast breaks over the last two games. Indiana has also altered their halfcourt coverage, switching coverages on Brunson and helping more aggressively off New York’s ancillary players to bolster the paint protection.
The Pacers switched Brunson’s primary defender from Andrew Nembhard to the longer Aaron Nesmith in Games 3 and 4, and he was far more effective on the exhausted Brunson (who tweaked his foot in Game 2). Nesmith is foul-prone (and hurt his shoulder diving for a loose ball in Game 3, yet another ailment suffered by these two teams), but he has done an excellent job of navigating the endless array of screens New York sets for their diminutive point guard.
The Pacers have also been more comfortable ignoring Hart, Precious Achiuwa, Miles McBride, and even (foolishly) Donte DiVincenzo on the perimeter if it means stymieing a Brunson drive: [video here]
Of course, the sheer workload thrust upon Brunson and Hart is another factor in the Knicks’ declining rim pressure.
Consider this: Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson have run 32.5 and 31.0 miles, respectively, in these playoffs. Third-place Max Strus, for Cleveland, has only run 26.8. When we talk about players putting a lot of mileage on their legs, we rarely mean it so literally. And in Brunson’s case, especially, it’s been a lot of ground covered while dribbling under duress.
When the wheels start falling off, getting into the paint becomes a daunting task. Settling for floaters or pointlessly swinging the ball around the perimeter becomes the path of least resistance. It’s harder to muster the energy to push in semi-transition. But if the Knicks want to return to their winning ways, they must rediscover how to attack the basket.

Boston Celtics — Cleveland Cavaliers (BOS 2-1)

13.0

Cleveland has averaged 13.0 free throws against Boston’s ferocious defense in the first three games. Charlotte’s 18.4 FTAs per game were the league’s lowest in the regular season; Cleveland averaged 20.2.
The charity stripe was always destined to be a tricky area for the Cavaliers. Boston led the league in defensive free-throw rate during the regular season; they never foul. Meanwhile, Cleveland was a below-average free-throw team, even with Jarrett Allen. (It’s worth noting that in the aggregate, we haven’t seen fewer free throws in the playoffs overall, although Boston has handed them out at an even stingier rate than usual.)
But Cleveland isn’t forcing turnovers, getting in transition, or snagging offensive rebounds. These actions generate lots of buckets in and of themselves but also typically lead to free throws at a high rate. Instead, the only points Cleveland has generated have been in the halfcourt, where they’ve been shockingly effective thanks to Mitchell’s brilliance — a 102.4 offensive rating, which would have been a top-five mark in the regular season.
But scoring in the congested mud of the halfcourt is the hardest thing to do at a high level. Against a defense as good as Boston’s, you can’t expect to survive without finding easier ways to get points, and free throws are the easiest. I don’t expect the Cavaliers to suddenly launch themselves at the rim and earn a barrage of freebies, but it would be nice to see someone besides Mitchell test the defense. Darius Garland only has two free throws in three games!
I don’t want to blame the Cavs when the real story is Boston’s defense, which has shown remarkable discipline all season. The intelligence of their collective defenders is most evident in their ability to slow offenses without fouling. Even their weakest link, Al Horford, has made a living avoiding foul trouble — he’s been in the 90th percentile or higher for foul avoidance every year since 2011. That’s wild.
Cleveland has put up a fight, but they need a whole lot to go right to win three of the next four games. Manufacturing a few freebies would be a big step in the right direction.

Oklahoma City Thunder — Dallas Mavericks (DAL 2-1)

26

If I had told you before the series started that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would be outscoring Luka Doncic by a huge margin and Jalen Williams would have a slight edge on Kyrie Irving, you’d probably be feeling pretty good about the Thunder’s odds.
But after averaging 4.4 made baskets per game in the regular season, PJ Washington has doubled that this series, knocking in 26 of his 48 attempts (14 of which were triples). He’s driven the Mavericks to a 2-1 series lead thanks to back-to-back 29- and 27-point games.
It’s not like Washington can’t score; he dropped 43 earlier this year for Charlotte and had 32 in a two-point win over Golden State in April. But his jumper had been shaky for most of his short Dallas tenure. Oklahoma City wanted to test Washington’s nerve by leaving him wide open to further load up on Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.
The Thunder’s typical defensive strategy is to put Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on weaker offensive players to let him play free safety in the passing lanes. He’s had the Washington assignment for much of the series and has ignored him to help in the paint. The ball has found Washington (and then the bottom of the net) every time: [video here]
While the threes punishing SGA’s roaming tendencies are massive, Washington has also had success with his floater game and some bully ball. In the scant minutes OKC’s Josh Giddey has played this series, Washington feasted: [video here]
Washington’s defense has shone since the moment he stepped onto the tarmac at DFW, but there were questions about whether his offense would translate to the playoffs. In this series, at least so far, he’s had every answer.

I'm thinking about UCAT and want more info and advice from people who have taken it with/without access arrangements to guide me in how to decide whether to apply for access arrangements. I'm only using UCAT to apply to NTU med next year as I'm not considering applying overseas.
Some background context first.
I was diagnosed with ADHD and other conditions in the past year, and I already applied for at least 50% extra time for my A Levels access arrangements. The other main condition (with no effective medications) affects my academic performance much more than ADHD. Its main risk lies in suddenly snapping me out of whatever scope of mind I have been using, cutting my access to whatever memories of knowledge I was drawing on and my whole train of thought during that process, often leaving me clueless to what has been happening and how I'm supposed to continue. I usually take anywhere between a few seconds to twenty minutes to get back to where my mind left off and continue that exact train of thought. There's no upper limit to the frequency or number of times this could happen, and it can happen whether I'm reading whatever, writing whatever, eating, watching a video/film/live performance, listening to music, wandering around, etc.
While this is obviously detrimental to my working speed when required to maintain a train of thought and access to specific memories of knowledge during lengthy tasks (like in most A Level papers), I seem to be relatively unaffected when blitzing shorter, mostly intuitive tasks (which is how I currently understand UCAT). The only tasks in school that I can complete within default time are practicals, where I am surprisingly much faster than average. Back in 2022, I sat for the written SAT with no access arrangements or medications (note: all my conditions developed before primary school and I'm in IP so I don't have a recent national exam as a reference point). Though the time was quite tight, I didn't have issues finishing the questions and got a 1560.
Granted, the other condition started intruding a lot more frequently and becoming much more incapacitating over the past year. But 25% extra time would barely make a safety net given the extremely short duration of UCAT sections. It would also take another few hundred dollars to get another report from my psychiatrist plus a ton of additional trouble to apply for UCAT access arrangements.
My personal judgement is it's not worth it, but I know nothing about how having the access arrangement version of UCAT can affect my application. I've also only seen some example questions and never attempted any timed practice. If you have information and experiences that can give me a better perspective on UCAT access arrangements, please share them.

I do sware a little or a lot and talk about random stuff…

Quick tags and notes: [Not looking to replace anyone. OC x OC only. ] -Current cravings involve an fxf with a big buff oni oc of mine I've recently written!
Pairings: [FxF] [MxM] [NBxM] [NBxF] [NBxNB] [FxM]
Welcome Genres: [Fantasy] [Romance] [Historical] [Modern] [SOL] [Drama] [Horror]
Who I am: I'm JJ! A 25 year old roleplayer of over a decade. I'm nonbinary, have autism, adhd, and I really enjoy writing as a way to explore my creative ideas and socialize with others via common interests. I live in the EST Timezone.
Special interests: My main one that often connects to roleplays I do is japanese history and culture, particularly mythology and religion. I have a similar interest in chinese and other asian mythologies as well as bits and pieces from many cultures.
Other favored rp tropes/plots/subjects: I'm really into plots involving royalty and tend to vibe more with medieval or premodern settings. Opposites attract is one of my favorite tropes.
Writing details/habits: While I don't claim to be the most skilled or amazing writer, I am very passionate about it and do genuinely enjoy writing. I only write in 3rd person but tense can get a little tricky for me so I don't tend to be a stickler for perfect grammar or spelling, so long as I understand what's going on and effort was put in. As much as I'd like to say that length doesn't matter, the more you're capable of writing, the better. This isn't saying that you have to bust out a 5,000 word essay every response or even that I expect a majority of posts to be super long, especially if there isn't much going on to write about. But I can go past the discord character limit 2 or 3 times over in a post before I've written everything I want to get into my reply and I'd like a partner that can go as hard as I do in writing when the situation calls for it.
Schedules and Reply Frequency: I'm a stay at home fiance and that allows me a good bit of freedom when it comes to my schedule, but I also tend to put replying to rps lower on my priority list. Taking care of my family and myself will always come first, plus the adhd and autism can affect my attention span or level of burnout pretty significantly, so while I do my best and do love rping, I like to take my time and welcome ppl to ping me for an update if they want it, as that's what I normally do as well. I might not be around as frequently some days, it really just depends on what comes up and how I'm feeling.
If you're interested: please be 19+ years old and have discord. Please try to incorporate the type of info i shared in your message to me. Accepted pairings, genres, who you are, what your interests are, favorite plots/tropes, writing habits and/or details, reply frequency, and any questions/anything you want from my reply to your welcome message!

Quick tags and notes: [Not looking to replace anyone. OC x OC only. ]
Pairings: [MxM] [FxF] [NBxM] [NBxF] [NBxNB] [FxM]
Welcome Genres: [Fantasy] [Romance] [Historical] [Modern] [SOL] [Drama] [Horror]
Who I am: I'm JJ! A 25 year old roleplayer of over a decade. I'm nonbinary, have autism, adhd, and I really enjoy writing as a way to explore my creative ideas and socialize with others via common interests. I live in the EST Timezone.
Special interests: My main one that often connects to roleplays I do is japanese history and culture, particularly mythology and religion. I have a similar interest in chinese and other asian mythologies as well as bits and pieces from many cultures.
Other favored rp tropes/plots/subjects: I'm really into plots involving royalty and tend to vibe more with medieval or premodern settings. Opposites attract is one of my favorite tropes.
Writing details/habits: While I don't claim to be the most skilled or amazing writer, I am very passionate about it and do genuinely enjoy writing. I only write in 3rd person but tense can get a little tricky for me so I don't tend to be a stickler for perfect grammar or spelling, so long as I understand what's going on and effort was put in. As much as I'd like to say that length doesn't matter, the more you're capable of writing, the better. This isn't saying that you have to bust out a 5,000 word essay every response or even that I expect a majority of posts to be super long, especially if there isn't much going on to write about. But I can go past the discord character limit 2 or 3 times over in a post before I've written everything I want to get into my reply and I'd like a partner that can go as hard as I do in writing when the situation calls for it.
Schedules and Reply Frequency: I'm a stay at home fiance and that allows me a good bit of freedom when it comes to my schedule, but I also tend to put replying to rps lower on my priority list. Taking care of my family and myself will always come first, plus the adhd and autism can affect my attention span or level of burnout pretty significantly, so while I do my best and do love rping, I like to take my time and welcome ppl to ping me for an update if they want it, as that's what I normally do as well. I might not be around as frequently some days, it really just depends on what comes up and how I'm feeling.
If you're interested: please be 19+ years old and have discord. Please try to incorporate the type of info i shared in your message to me. Accepted pairings, genres, who you are, what your interests are, favorite plots/tropes, writing habits and/or details, reply frequency, and any questions/anything you want from my reply to your welcome message!

RELEASE NOTES 1.35.21.0
If you are playing on PC, outdated packages in your community folder may have an unexpected impact on the title’s performance and behavior. If you suffer from stability issues or long loading times, move your community package(s) to another folder before relaunching the title. How to install a new update safely
NEW CONTENT/FEATURES Added flight plan assistance setting for ATC in the user experience assistance settings so that users can request the ATC to favor their flight plan or world map flight settings over the current conditions. This assistance is set to “Active” by default. Active: ATC will set the active runway and approach for the departure and arrival airport based on the users flight plan or settings in the world map. Deactivated: ATC will set the active runway and approach based on current conditions only. ATC now clears a step to the next altitude some time before arriving at the previously cleared altitude, rather than once arrived at the previously cleared altitude. (Next step is issued when at 2000FT from cleared altitude rather than 250FT from cleared altitude). ATC Vectoring bug fixes: Now assigning the correct clearance when the first two waypoints were one over the other, Now assigning a new vector & clearance every time the user asks the ATC for a new vector. Added completely new Cirrus SR22T G6 model with custom engine simulation, book-accurate performance, and extensive Perspective Plus NXi features.
GENERAL BUG FIXES Several crashes have been fixed across the title Fixed localization bugs Performance optimizations for long flights. Fixed ATC that was mixing voices in localized languages Automated Weather Report temperature reading updated
MARKETPLACE Fixed an issue where the Wishlist would not sort properly in the Marketplace
MENU Fixed freeze when opening the logbook
NAVIGATION/TRAFFIC Enhanced ATC phraseology. Some of the improvements include: The removal of the word ‘for’ in altitude change requests. Eliminating the requirement to include altimeter settings in takeoff clearances.
WEATHER Snow and ice coverage accuracy has been improved in live weather Fixed an issue where the wind from a malformed METAR was incorrectly read Fixed an issue where the sim occasionally retrieves obsolete weather data Improved transition during cloud coverage updates AND fixed an issue where clouds don’t load when starting a flight.
GLASS COCKPITS GARMIN G3000 / G5000 Fixed an issue where removing an airway entry leg from the flight plan could sometimes corrupt the flight plan.
G1000 NXI Added support for hardware keyboard with new AS1000CONTROL_PAD H events. Fixed an issue where removing an airway entry leg from the flight plan could sometimes corrupt the flight plan. AP: Added support for LVL and TO/GA modes MFD: Added Page Menu popup for MFD’s Nearest Airports page. CAS: PFD Alerts softkey indicator now flashes color and changes to appropriate label with CAS messages CAS: Pressing PFD Alerts softkey now acknowledges CAS messages and cancels aural chimes CAS: Alerts now display in order of priority and time first seen SIM: Added support for knob-based XPDR code entry using H events. For aircraft developers: Made all methods in PFD and MFD plugins optional. Exported NavSystems’s class FrequencyItem and its props interface FrequencyItemProps. CAS messages may now be assigned associated Alerts messages via JS and/or plugin code Added support for control pad entry for Constraint Selector in the FPL dialog Added support for LVL and TO/GA autopilot modes Added support for control pad entry on several UI input components Added support for styling the Com selection based on the radio selected to transmit, and for both Nav and Com standby frequencies selected to edit WT21 For aircraft developers:
Added configurable side button support to the WT21
AIRCRAFT GENERAL Payload station weights that are set via SimConnect are now properly displayed in the Weight&Balance toolbar panel. Fixed – L-39 Pipsqueak – Unable to enter values by double-clicking on GNS screen Fixed – L-39 Sarance – Unable to enter values by double-clicking on GNS screen Contact Points compression under some kind of roof (bridge, cave, arch, etc.) was fixed Fixed – P-51D LadyB – Unable to enter values by double-clicking on GNS screen Aircraft Registration can no longer be lowercase Fixed – P-51D Miss America – Unable to enter values by double-clicking on GNS screen Fixed – P-51D Strega – Unable to enter values by double-clicking on GNS screen Fixed – T-6 Baby Boomer – Unable to enter values by double-clicking on GNS screen Improved aircraft simulation stability (few potential crashes were fixed) Fixed – T-6 Undecided – Unable to enter values by double-clicking on GNS screen Corrected an issue that could prevent cockpit interactions from working in some rare conditions Correct many false positive errors regarding InputEvents when loading AI planes Corrected an issue that would cause some P51 to lose power in reno races. Fixed an issue that could cause the state of Avionics circuit depend features to be toggle on and off when no MarkerBeacon circuit was present It is now possible to slow down the simulation speed to 1/8 and 1/16 of real time. EXTERNAL HUD Minimized HUD can now display more than 8 engines power values HELICOPTERS Anti-stall protection is now disabled for helicopters. AIRBUS 310-300 A310 Radio Stuck Broadcasting on KSNS ATIS After Departing KSFO. Vertical speed knob labeled as “altitude knob” in tooltip. AIRBUS A320NEO (V2) During testing of the A320neo, we encountered an application crash rate on console that is too high to pass certification. We need to address this issue before the A320 can ship. BELL 407 Rotor weight changes. Rotor brake force adjustments. Rotor blade dynamics adjustments. Throttle/governed RPM during startup and shutdown. Engine performance changes. Fuel management on the weight and balance settings. Performance data on the aircraft selection screen. Localization text changes. FADEC tooltip. Fuel Pressure gauge illumination. Cold and dark state changes. Checklist correction. Fixed checklist AutoStart. AutoStart sequence now works. BOEING 787-10 / BOEING 747-8I General performance optimizations for consoles and some hardware configurations W&B: An operational CG margin is considered now to avoid extreme CG values when loading the aircraft. SIM: ATC will now know about your planned cruise altitude and will assign you a flight level accordingly. CHECKLISTS: Fixed bug where checklists that only contain closed loop items would sometimes be skipped when entering the checklist page if all items are completed. [787] CHECKLISTS: Fixed flaps checklist items being completed before the flaps reached the selected position. [787] W&B: Corrected movement of the CG as fuel is burned by moving the tanks to the exact locations of those on the real plane. [787] EFB: Support clearing of the TOW field. [787] EFB: Cap the achievable MTOW at the certified limit of the plane. [787] EFB: Correct error message when current TOW exceeds the achievable MTOW. [787] EFB: Added Automatic brightness adjustment. [787] EFB: Fixed spelling errors. [747] SYSTEMS: Reserve fuel transfer will now not stop once started mid flight. CDU: Fix takeoff speeds being invalidated when opening TAKEOFF REF on the copilot side CESSNA CITATION CJ4 SIM: ATC will now know about your planned cruise altitude and will assign you a flight level accordingly CIRRUS SR22T G6 Completely brand-new art and model of the SR22T G6 GTS. Completely reworked flight model and performance featuring: CFD with book accurate performance and pilot tested handling. Modern propeller system. New turbo and fuel engine systems. Custom ECU, engine computer, and EGT/CHT simulation. Custom lean misfire, detonation, and engine failure simulations. Full Perspective Plus features implemented for G1000 NXi, including: Full-screen engine page with anti-ice status and fuel flow targets. Full-screen fuel management page. Weight and Balance page with graphical CG envelope. Trip planning page with automatic and manual modes. Massive suite of interactive checklists. MFD destination inf-box. PFD power gauge, GAGL indicator, GS and TAS. Frequency loading menus on airport and waypoint inf-pages. FIKI (Flight int-Known Icing) and TKS simulation. Stabilized approach system with PFD alerting and monitoring for: Bar-mismatch, crosswind, tailwind, flaps, lateral deviation, and vertical deviation (GS and GP). Updated EIS with custom reversionary mode version. Lean assist, fuel flow green band, and cyan fuel flow lean target indicators. Fully modeled GCU479 Garmin Control Unit keypad with all entry modes. Additional new autopilot mode support including LVL, TO, and GA. Large suite of accurate CAS messages including new G1000 NXi alerts acknowledgement and menu behavior. CURTISS JN-4 “JENNY” Fixed – [KO-KR] Some instruments in cockpit are not localized in Korean in Curtiss Jenny. Fixed – [Localization] Livery names are not localized in liveries page. Fixed – [pl-PL] Missing/untranslated words in checklist. Fixed – [TR-TR] Some instruments in cockpit are not localized in Turkish in Curtiss Jenny. DAHER TBM 930 Fixed broken autopilot panel backlighting. DOUGLAS DC-3 Fixed starting engine in Multiplayer causes other DC3 engines to animate starting Fixed overlapping words on the warning labels inside the cabin and on the rear cabin door. (Enhanced) Fixed Radio altimeter appearing off above 400ft. Classic 8-way Quick view controls fixed during flight. Fixed fuel pump does not indicate fuel flow from Cold/dark until after mesh switch is engaged. (Enhanced) Improved low resolution text in the Enhanced Edition cockpit. (Enhanced) Fixed missing panel texture for Beacon light. (Enhanced) Fixed HUD not correctly indicating state of flap. Fixed Decision height/Radar altitude setting knob setting does not match panel texture. Fixed fuel pump not indicating fuel flow from Cold/dark until after mesh switch is engaged. GRUMMAN G-21 GOOSE AI copilot completes checklist items for you in Evaluation mode. Attitude Indicator doesn’t provide pitch indications. Fuel drawn from wrong tank when starting Cold & Dark. Part of tooltip description for Magneto Cutoff not localized. Unable to toggle “taxi light” in cockpit–must use key binding. H-4 HERCULES “SPRUCE GOOSE” Camera Quick views fixed Engine 5-8 throttle fixed when using a gamepad ROBIN DR400 Fix Flaps looking misaligned with the wings in neutral position. RYAN NYP “SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS” Camera Quick views fixed WRIGHT FLYER Camera Quick views fixed WORLD Used more realistic mapping of wave lengths onto RBG values for the ozone layer scattering and the sun color, resulting in more realistic colors of the sky and the lighting in the world.
TOP-GUN MAVERICK Fix for the aircraft carrier wake in Maverick landing challenge that was missing
PERIPHERALS Various peripheral fixes Pause mapping on the Occulus touch left controller switched from Y to Menu button Anti Ice and Aux Fuel Pump LEDs are now working properly with Bravo Throttle Quadrant
SDK Added new Coherent calls SET_CRUISE_ALTITUDE and GET_CRUISE_ALTITUDE to get/set the planned cruise altitude the in game ATC knows about. Fixed crash when “positive_g_limit_flaps_up” parameter is present in [AIRPLANE_GEOMETRY] section in flight_model.cfg, but one of the parameters: “positive_g_limit_flaps_down” or “negative_g_limit_flaps_up” or “negative_g_limit_flaps_down” is missing. See SDK for details. More parameters have been added to the “[VIEWS]” section of the “camera.cfg” file to control the behavior of the external camera (“external_camera_distance”, “external_camera_follows_heading”, “external_camera_follows_velocity”). See SDK for details. Several features have been added and bugs have been fixed for the skid-type landing gear, which can now be retractable. See SDK for details. Added “set_max_compression” and “spring_exponential_fix” parameters to the “[CONTACT_POINTS]” section of the “flight_model.cfg” file. See SDK for details. DEVMODE Debug old: option to disable 30Km mesh display limit “Exponential Constant” parameter is added to the Contact Point serialization (it was missed) Aircraft debug windows stability was improved Fixed context setting of Material Editor when opening Scenery Editor Added Interactive Points state initialization via .FLT files The “gear_locked_on_ground” parameter in the [CONTACT_POINTS] section of the “flight_model.cfg” file now works for SKI and SKID type retractable landing gear. Fixed random crash when exiting the game with DevMode open AssetReload: Reload gltf lod min size Fixed some scenery option not applied during multiple selection Add SpeakerFullName in DialogAction Improved linear memory size formatting in WASM Debug window SIMCONNECT SimConnect Input Events function can now be used while devmode is disabled SimConnect Input Events shouldn’t crash the sim after going back to main menu (or restarting a flight) Ident and region are now two separate fields while requesting Facilities New Data are available through NavData API (Pavement, Vasi, Approach Lights) SIMVARS Added simvars AIRCRAFT_AGL and AIRCRAFT_ALTITUDE_ABOVE_OBSTACLES Aircraft editor Added an option to delete a parameter from the cfg file, or to reset it to its default value Added rotation Gizmo Added new parameters Added expert Mode to the editor. Expert Mode eliminate all constraint on the editor regarding conditional fields, required parameters or array sizes. Only already existing parameters and modified parameters are saved. This mode allows for greater flexibility of the editor but require more knowledge on how to configure an aircraft. Made NdArrays more flexible, avoid writing too much data per line. Fixed ctrl+f focus that would not focus parameters properly Fixed unwanted or incorrect changes when saving a file in the editor VISUAL EFFECTS EDITOR Fixed visual effect instances not being properly stopped and restarted when the Visual Effects Editor is closed New fixed orientation feature New nodes: Abs, Sin, Cos WASM Fix clipping modes (intersect, complement and Xor) for GDI+ API Fix an error in the dependencies of the VFX Aircraft Sample (and rename the sample from “SampleWasmModule” to “VfxWasmModule”) Fix a bug in CommBus API that cause first registration of an event in Wasm to be ignored CommBus : When register an event in Wasm the triplet [eventName, callback, ctx] can be registered only one time per module CommBus : New function added in Wasm : fsCommBusUnregisterOneEvent CommBus : In JS a CommBusListener has been added

Email template for the Governor’s Cabinet and the Legislature below.
Yes, it is long, but it captures a lot of our frustrations.
This subreddit has over 38,000 people. If even 1,000 people emailed all of these folks from Governor’s Cabinet, the Legislature, and Other State Leaders, they will definitely take notice.
THIS IS OUR MOMENT.
There are areas in this email template for you to customize, so please read through it.
I highly recommend Hotmail or Yahoomail. If you use Gmail, you may need to click “Tab” multiple times when entering in so many emails.
You may also wish to send a copy to your own manager, section chief, branch chief, Dept. Director, etc.
Guidelines:

1. USE BCC (not in the “To” or “CC” section.
2. REMAIN RESPECTFUL.
3. OPTICS MATTER. Do not make us look bad in any way.

[dana.williamson@gov.ca.gov](mailto:dana.williamson@gov.ca.gov); [jason.elliott@gov.ca.gov](mailto:jason.elliott@gov.ca.gov); [Ann.Patterson@gov.ca.gov](mailto:Ann.Patterson@gov.ca.gov); [claire.cullis@gov.ca.gov](mailto:claire.cullis@gov.ca.gov); [senator.mcguire@sen.ca.gov](mailto:senator.mcguire@sen.ca.gov); [senator.gonzalez@sen.ca.gov](mailto:senator.gonzalez@sen.ca.gov); [senator.ashby@sen.ca.gov](mailto:senator.ashby@sen.ca.gov); [senator.wahab@sen.ca.gov](mailto:senator.wahab@sen.ca.gov); [senator.cortese@sen.ca.gov](mailto:senator.cortese@sen.ca.gov); [assemblymember.rendon@assembly.ca.gov](mailto:assemblymember.rendon@assembly.ca.gov); [assemblymember.ting@assembly.ca.gov](mailto:assemblymember.ting@assembly.ca.gov); [Wesley.Opp@asm.ca.gov](mailto:Wesley.Opp@asm.ca.gov); [Alexis.Foley@asm.ca.gov](mailto:Alexis.Foley@asm.ca.gov); [tram.truong@asm.ca.gov](mailto:tram.truong@asm.ca.gov); [assemblymember.rivas@assembly.ca.gov](mailto:assemblymember.rivas@assembly.ca.gov); [assemblymember.wood@assembly.ca.gov](mailto:assemblymember.wood@assembly.ca.gov); [Lien.Yee@asm.ca.gov](mailto:Lien.Yee@asm.ca.gov); [assemblymember.kalra@assembly.ca.gov](mailto:assemblymember.kalra@assembly.ca.gov); [assemblymember.mckinnor@assembly.ca.gov](mailto:assemblymember.mckinnor@assembly.ca.gov); [assemblymember.weber@assembly.ca.gov](mailto:assemblymember.weber@assembly.ca.gov); [Marcie.Frost@calpers.ca.gov](mailto:Marcie.Frost@calpers.ca.gov); [Kim.Johnson@dss.ca.gov](mailto:Kim.Johnson@dss.ca.gov); [Monica.Erickson@calhr.ca.gov](mailto:Monica.Erickson@calhr.ca.gov); [Eraina.Ortega@calhr.ca.gov](mailto:Eraina.Ortega@calhr.ca.gov); [amy.tong@govops.ca.gov](mailto:amy.tong@govops.ca.gov); [Miriam.Ingenito@govops.ca.gov](mailto:Miriam.Ingenito@govops.ca.gov); [Justyn.Howard@govops.ca.gov](mailto:Justyn.Howard@govops.ca.gov); [james.regan@govops.ca.gov](mailto:james.regan@govops.ca.gov); [Joe.Stephenshaw@dof.ca.gov](mailto:Joe.Stephenshaw@dof.ca.gov); [Erika.Li@dof.ca.gov](mailto:Erika.Li@dof.ca.gov); [Nancy.Farias@edd.ca.gov](mailto:Nancy.Farias@edd.ca.gov); [malia.cohen@sco.ca.gov](mailto:malia.cohen@sco.ca.gov); [tthurmond@cde.ca.gov](mailto:tthurmond@cde.ca.gov); [fiona.ma@treasurer.ca.gov](mailto:fiona.ma@treasurer.ca.gov); [mark.Ghaly@chhs.ca.gov](mailto:mark.Ghaly@chhs.ca.gov); [tomas.aragon@cdph.ca.gov](mailto:tomas.aragon@cdph.ca.gov); [yana.garcia@calepa.ca.gov](mailto:yana.garcia@calepa.ca.gov); [tomiquia.Moss@bcsh.ca.gov](mailto:tomiquia.Moss@bcsh.ca.gov); [stewart.knox@labor.ca.gov](mailto:stewart.knox@labor.ca.gov); [wade.crowfoot@resources.ca.gov](mailto:wade.crowfoot@resources.ca.gov); [jenn.eckerle@resources.ca.gov](mailto:jenn.eckerle@resources.ca.gov); [Mark.Tollefson@calsta.ca.gov](mailto:Mark.Tollefson@calsta.ca.gov); [karen.ross@cdfa.ca.gov](mailto:karen.ross@cdfa.ca.gov); [jeffrey.marino@innovation.ca.gov](mailto:jeffrey.marino@innovation.ca.gov); [notices@seiu1000.org](mailto:notices@seiu1000.org); [caps@capsscientists.org](mailto:caps@capsscientists.org); [pecg@pecg.org](mailto:pecg@pecg.org); [info@calattorneys.org](mailto:info@calattorneys.org)
Dear California State Leaders,
I write to you today as a voter, taxpayer, constituent, and as a State of California employee. My ________years of dedicated work serves Californians every day because my role focuses on supporting _________.
I want to share my personal story and provide some facts and data about the Governor’s new June 17 RTO (Return to Office) arbitrary mandate. This mandate will cost taxpayers more during this budget deficit crisis and it is a poorly thought-out, one-size-fits-all, chaotic approach. According to the survey data from 110 State Departments, telework was a huge success for recruitment, productivity, morale, collaboration, and decreasing office space. This chaotic, mandatory, arbitrary RTO simply creates a long list of unnecessary problems. For all of the reasons outlined in this email, I strongly support Assemblyman Josh Hoover’s audit request.
My message is simple: Encourage the Governor to rescind the June 17 arbitrary RTO mandate. The decision for the frequency that employees should all meet in-person and collaborate should rest with those closest and most familiar with the work: individual Unit Managers. These managers know the true collaboration, mentorship, and operational needs of their individual teams. Individual Unit Managers should be allowed to make decisions on accordingly to carry out the Department’s goals and mission. This is the bottoms-up approach that balances the needs of both the employer and employees. The Governor’s mandate and top-down approach fails to acknowledge the many financial and environmental repercussions to not only its own employees, but also to the State of California.
I want to share my personal story as a working class, public servant. With high inflation, I simply cannot afford to shoulder the cost of commuting, which averages $8,466 annually.. According to this 2023 LAO (Legislative Analyst Office) report, for most employees, our State provided wages have consistently been lower than the inflation rate, year-after-year, since 1999, constantly eroding our purchasing power. Other employees have it worse, such as scientists who have had their salaries be frozen for 4 years since 2020 as CalHR has refused to budge on reaching a contract. Purchasing power is a key metric since a $50,000 salary in 2024 buys far less than in 1999. This 2023 UC Berkeley Labor Center report confirmed that “State workers struggle to make ends meet throughout California.” Even the 2023 California State Auditor reports “that hiring and retaining qualified IT staff is the greatest challenge that they [State Departments] currently face.”
If the State is unwilling to provide market wages that keep up with inflation, the state can recruit and retain employees by improving working conditions, such as telework. Being allowed to telework 5 days a week has helped stretch my limited dollars, especially in this inflationary period. This arbitrary RTO mandate is effectively yet another pay cut for me that I simply cannot afford.
Personally, having the opportunity to telework 5 days a week has dramatically improved my quality of life by:
#############################################################
Tell them why the RTO issue is important to you, your family member and your community.
IF YOU DISCUSS CHILD CARE, ONLY TALK ABOUT THE HOURS BEFORE AND AFTER WORK. DO NOT DISCUSS CHILD CARE DURING YOUR REGULAR 8-5 JOB.
###########################################################

1. I have saved ____ hours on my roundtrip commute per week. This has allowed me to reinvest that time toward _____. [helping my kids with their homework, taking care of elderly relatives ]
2. I have saved $___ on commuting costs, which has helped me better afford ___ for me and my family. This has been especially helpful because high inflation has negatively affected me by _____.
3. By teleworking, I am reducing my environmental impact and contribution to climate change, which is _____
4. I have a physical disability and telework is more accommodating than using public transportation, etc. (Feel free to expand on it)
5. I do not live in an area with access to efficient public transportation, so teleworking helps by _____
6. For childcare during before and after work hours, it would cost me ________.

The State will incur many financial and environmental costs:

1. If even 33%, or 73,086 out of the 221,474 State employees use the monthly maximum IRS public transportation benefit,) that would cost the State $276.3 million every single year.
2. State Departments already spend $600 million per year on rent. Many State Departments also simply do not have enough office space for all of their employees currently. There is nowhere near enough quiet conference room space for employees to hold confidential meetings with stakeholders. Will these departments sign new leases for office space?
3. State Departments will be forced to buy many millions of dollars worth of additional office equipment for employees to effectively carry out their jobs including additional webcams, headsets, keyboards, standard office supplies, etc.
4. Pursuant to the reasonable accommodation process for employees with verified medical needs, State Departments will need to purchase other expensive equipment, including but not limited to specialized chairs and stand up desks.
   
   1. It is important to note that many employees have already invested their own money into equipping their own home office that best meets their needs. It is not simply not possible to ask an employee to bring in their own large equipment from home to the office and back, so the State Departments would incur these additional purchases.
5. State Departments will be spending much more in maintenance costs for elevators, bathroom repairs, printer repairs, electricity, water, gas, and other utilities.
   
6. State telework has also eliminated nearly 400,000 metric tons of carbon emissions. Mandating RTO will needlessly cause more carbon emissions, which directly runs counter to the Governor’s own words for his trip to the Vatican: “global temperatures [are] hurtling towards alarming new heights, the stakes could not be higher. There is no greater authority than moral authority — and the Pope’s leadership on the climate crisis inspires us all to push further and faster.”
   

The arbitrary mandatory RTO causes chaos among State Departments:
Across various departments, it’s common knowledge that a sizable number of executive-level leaders do not reside near Sacramento and instead live in other regions in California, such as the Bay Area and Southern California.

1. The next logical question is, will the state offer these executive-level leaders special exemptions and privileges not available to rank and file staff and risk the hypocrisy that undermines the Governor’s stated policy for more “collaboration?” This creates another “rules for thee, but not for me” situation.
2. Or will the State risk losing these executive-level leaders en masse across numerous departments, undermining policy and program implementation?
3. For Departments considering exempting those who live over 50 miles away, it also destroys employee morale. For example, a 20 year veteran staff member with technical expertise may be forced to commute and come into the office twice a week to train a newer employee over Microsoft Teams or Zoom simply because they live in Los Angeles. This naturally breeds frustration and resentment.
4. For exempted employees who live over 50 miles away, some Departments are creating policies that their 5 day remote status only applies to their currently held position, so these employees are “forever stuck” and cannot promote upward, even if they have the expertise the Department needs.
5. The State is starting to open itself up to lawsuits as some Departments are already denying reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities.
6. Being able to recruit employees from areas other than Sacramento helps ensure Departments get perspectives from different counties all across the State. People from rural, suburban, and urban areas all have different experiences and to best serve ALL Californians, we need a geographically diverse workforce.
7. As previously stated, many Departments already do not have the office space or needed equipment for all of their employees. With RTO, new equipment will be needed and purchasing equipment notoriously takes a long time. These factors, combined with many departments trying to implement a hoteling system, will ultimately result in a extremely chaotic return-to-the-office and tank productivity. Many Departments have held Q&A sessions and time and time again, HR offices have been unable to answer basic questions about RTO logistics.

Some state employees have discussed that this is their number one quality-of-life issue and may galvanize them to start engaging with media contacts and spread the hypocrisy on social media. Their goal is to highlight the glaring mismatch and hypocrisy between CA’s proud public policies and the actual reality of choices being made by this Administration. Quite frankly, I fear that this may hurt the Governor and other State Leaders in the future. By unilaterally imposing an arbitrary RTO mandate across the board, the Administration is actively choosing to make working class public servant’s lives worse off, so I understand my colleague’s sentiments.
As MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow recently stated to her own bosses, “Hearing legitimate criticism, responding to it and correcting course. Not digging in, not blaming others. Take a minute, acknowledge that maybe it wasn’t the right call. It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to acknowledge when you are wrong.”
To reiterate, my request is simple: Encourage the Governor to rescind the arbitrary, mandatory, one-size-fits-all, chaotic RTO mandate. Allow individual Unit Managers the flexibility to enact telework policies that best meet their team’s needs to effectively carry out the Department’s mission. They are the ones closest to the work and the ones most knowledgable about what the team needs to succeed.
I respectfully request a response within ten business days.
Respectfully yours,
_________

Hello everybody.
I've always liked gaming, I had contact with it since I was probably 5, with my dad gifting me a PS2 and PSP and going every weekend to the local GameStop to buy me a new game. Growing up, my main source of pleasure was mostly video games, even when I hadn't the opportunity to play, I still watched my cousin play on his PS3 or content creators on Youtube.
I had other interests such as video editing, speed cubing, skateboarding... but I've never kept up with them because of laziness or losing of interesting, but gaming was (unsurprisingly) NEVER boring !
In 2019 I made the mistake of reinstalling League of Legends, I haven't touched that game since 2016 after playing it for 5 hours then uninstalling it. Since I moved to a new country, had a crappy laptop and met a classmate who played the same game, my addiction started to grow exponentially.
All I did was playing that game, almost everyday, I played it at such a high rate, for such long durations, that if a day passed without me playing a single game, I felt weird and strange. The game became a part of me...
When my family's financial situation became better, I had to make everything to get a new PC, I had planned so many video games to play (even Illegally, I couldn't care less about piracy back then), I had lied to my parents saying that I needed a new PC to be "more productive" (lol what a loser), and dad after months of saving and working hard bought me one (it wasn't crazy but enough to run games. May God forgive me about the lies that I've said).
I've never had issues at school (grade-wise), but my personality started to alter, from that one extroverted kid who was confident, to a sluggish, full of bad habits, lazy person, who refuses to socialize or to be a better person. I cannot count how many times my dad had long conversation with me in order to wake me up from my fake reality, my dad wanted GOOD for me but I was BLIND "Son, stop wasting your time, do something productive. I know that you've lied to me about the PC, but since it's bought, use it for something good". I didn't listen to him.
My routine was the same everyday, only filled with entertainment and no actual benefit, play LoL, get tired, watch anime, get tired again, open LoL, get tired, look for another game, sleep. Doing this regularly, no wonder your brain will be fried and your dopamine receptors will be damaged, your personality degrades... And then your start having the famous "existential crisis", wondering why do you live, questioning "Why I'm a not like other guys ?". If I had the opportunity to go back and meet my past self, I would have slapped it, like HARD !
What resolved everything was going back to my home country for holiday, where I met my old friends, had good experiences, socialized, travelled,...
Staying far from gaming really helped, since you fulfilled your time with good experiences, you start noticing the dangers of the entertainment and how it can brainwash you, you start finding the questions of your answers, and start wondering "Why didn't I notice this ?".
Going back to where I lived, I decided to becomre more religious (I am a muslim btw) I started to heal slowly, I quitted watching anime, tv shows, movies..., focused more on school, found other interests. Gaming was still present but I decreased its frequency, and deleted LoL as well !
The more time passed, the more gaming started to detach from me, It was just straight boring, I could play sometimes but it was really rare, they were moments where I wouldn't play for more than a month without ever feeling the need ! Sometimes I got back to it a little bit, but I felt remorse... Lately I just wanted to do my best to completely erase it from my life, since it is not and will never benefit me in any way shape or form !
Today I put my gaming PC to its box, I don't think I will be gaming ever again, and now that my first year in University is coming I need to be a consistent and disciplined person !
It was a very long experience, and also a weird, tough, strange one, sure gaming gave me good memories, but sometimes we should face the reality, not everything you like will benefit you, it might do the opposite, destroy you...
I hoped you enjoyed reading. PLEASE, do NOT hesitate to write a comment, thanks !

Hey,
Below you'll find probabilities of looking for specific affixes using the Tempering system. The probabilities are computed before any Tempering.
The idea is to answer this question : "I just dropped this Legendary item, what are the odds that I can get the two affixes I want ?". This can help you assessing the cost (mats) and risk (do I need a back up item before my attempts?) associated with your build idea.
I based my reasoning on how the Tempering system worked in the PTR according to this maxroll.gg guide written by Slothmaster. This article was my inspiration for this work as I wanted to verify their own calculations (spoiler : my results are very similar to the examples they gave, that does not change the conclusion about the best strategy).
TLDR: I would like to cite Maxroll's recommandation :

It is advisable for players to pick at least 1 recipe that has a very low number of affixes, or multiple acceptable affixes

I would complete by saying that by lowering your expectations, you indeed increase dramatically the odds of getting the item you want. I like this system because it makes very easy (likely and cheap) to get a functionnal build (with acceptable affixes) but very hard (unlikely and costly) to get a perfect build.
Be aware : since some devs stated in recent interviews that not all changes are documented in the Patch Note, it means the Live tempering system could be different from the PTR's one, hence the calculations could be wrong.
Vocabulary :
By "size" of a Temper Manual, i mean the number of different affixes obtainable when using it. It is between 2 and 5. The bigger the size is, the less likely it is to obtain a specific affix.
By "desirable" affix, I mean one of the affixes you want from the Manual. It mostly depends on your expectations. Having lower expectations, you can be "ok" with any of 2 affixes ouf of 4, even if one of them is not "best in slot".
Case 1 : High Expectations : Each Manual has one desirable affix

Desirable affixes	1 / 2	1/ 3	1/4	1/5
1/2	93.75%	84.00%	74.08%	65.57%
1/3	84,00%	73.66%	64.16%	56,35%
1/4	74.08%	64.16%	55.51%	48.54%
1/5	65.57%	56.35%	48.54%	42.33%

How to read : If I a Manual has one desirable affix out of 4, and the other one has one desirable affix out of 5, the probability of getting the desired affixes out of 5 rerolls is 48.54% (approx 1/2)
Case 2 : Medium Expectations : One Manual (columns) has 2 desirable affixes, the other Manual (lines) has 1 desirable affix

Desirable affixes	2/2	2/3	2/4	2/5
1/2	98.44%	97.01%	93.75%	89.13%
1/3	91.22%	88.34%	84.00%	78.88%
1/4	82.20%	78.67%	74.08%	69.07%
1/5	73.79%	70.06%	65.57%	60.86%

How to read : If a Manual has one desirable affix out of 4, and the other Manual has 2 desirable affixes out of 5, the probability of getting two desirable affixes after 5 rerolls is 69,07% (approx 2/3).
Case 3 : Low expectations : Each Manual has 2 desirable affixes

Desirable affixes	2/2	2/3	2/4	2/5
2/2	100.00%	99.86%	98.44%	95.33%
2/3	99.86%	99.31%	97.01%	93.07%
2/4	98.44%	97.01%	93.75%	89.13%
2/5	95.33%	93.07%	89.13%	84.14%

How to read : If a Manual has two desirable affixes out of 4, and the other Manual has 2 desirable affixes out of 5, the probability of getting two desirable affixes after 5 rerolls is 89.13% (approx 9/10)
Case 4 : Very low expectations : One Manual (columns) has 3 desirable affixes, the other Manual (lines) has 2 desirable affixes

Desirable affixes	3/3	3/4	3/5
2/2	100,00%	99,98%	99,59%
2/3	99,86%	99,64%	98,77%
2/4	98,44%	97,67%	96,13%
2/5	95,33%	94,01%	91,93%

I do not copy the other cases because of the rapidely diminishing returns of lowering your expectations : going from 2 desirable affixes to 3 desirable affixes only increases the probability to get what you want by a few points.
Further details for nerds :
Here are some assumptions I made concerning the design of the Tempering system :

• The odd to pick any specific affix from a Manual is the same, meaning that if a Manual has N possibles outcomes, then each affix has a probability of 1/N to be picked.
• The successive picks from one Manual are independant from each other
• The picks from a Manual are independant from the picks of the other Manual.
• There are only 5 rerolls possible per item. When rerolling, you are not given the choice to keep the old affix. Thus, it is dangerous to reroll hoping to improve the value of an affix since you could simply lose this affix. Therefore, it's a fair assumption that a given player looking for a specific affix should stop rolling for this category as soon as he gets the desired affix, no matter what value it has.
• It would however be possible to adapt the calculations for specific range of values if we know the probability distribution of the values for a given affix. Ex. if you are looking for "StatA=2" and there are only two evenly-distributed values for this stat (e.g. 1 or 2), then the odd to pick "StatA=2" is half of the odd to pick "StatA"

Picking an affix is a Bernouilli trial (with a success being "picking one of the desired affixes"). For each Temper line, we are looking to the probability of obtaining a success after n repetitions. Thus if X is the random variable computing the number of trials needed to get one success, X follows a geometrical distribution. The difficulty here come from the fact that we do have 2 independant random variables, one for each Tempering line, but the sum of the number of trials of both variables has to be equal or inferior to 7 (because you have 1 initial pick for each Tempering line, plus up to 5 rerolls total for the item).
Let be p the probability of picking a desired affix during one trial, k the number of desirable affixes in a Manual of size n, then
p = k/n
Let X (resp. Y) be the random variable modelizing the frequence of trials needed to get one success with the first (resp. second) Manual. Then the probability to get desirables affixes after 5 rerolls is, for a,b positive integers different of 0 such that a+b=7 : P(X<=a AND Y<=b) = P(X=1)*P(Y<=6) + P(X=2)*P(Y<=5) + ... + P(X=6)*P(Y=1)
English is not my native language, please pardon the mistakes and let me know below if you spot one

Seriously, don't even attempt to trivialize it. It's not about waking you up at 3:00 am for mundane reasons like running out of milk or needing your Wi-Fi password. This entity, whatever it may be, operates outside our reality's bounds, and its motives are far from benign. I learned this the hard way recently, which is why I'm cautioning you all against making light of it. But before delving into specifics, let me offer some context, as sleep paralysis is a recent phenomenon for me.
One of my earliest memories of sleep disruption traces back to my grade school days. With my mother on an early shift unable to drive me to school for its 8:00 am start, she would drop me off at my aunt's house. Here, she ensured I was fed, dressed, and ready for school. Most mornings, I had just about an hour left to sleep before needing to rise. Often, I'd find myself in a half-asleep state from the moment my mom roused me until she tucked me into my aunt's spare bedroom.
On one of those mornings, as I lay down, teetering between wakefulness and sleep, I experienced a peculiar sensation. It felt as though my body began to rise, hovering about two feet above the bed, before swiftly plummeting back down. Startled awake, I assumed my mother had thrown me back onto the bed, only to find the room empty upon opening my eyes.
I hadn't encountered any other experiences quite like that, but it was during this time that I distinctly recall a notable surge in the frequency of the nightmares I was experiencing. The nightmares were generally the same, some cloaked being hiding in the recesses of my vision, always there, always watching. I felt as though each passing night terror that it got closer and closer to me, but always just out of reach. At times, I found myself trapped in a dark room, enveloped by an overwhelming sense of malevolence that seemed to saturate the air—and a fear entirely foreign to my waking experiences.
Then I experienced sleep paralysis for the first time.
It occurred at my mother's house, marking the initial instance where I experienced the sensation of my body being effectively immobilized while my mind remained active. I recall attempting to move my eyes and then my body, but all efforts were futile. As I struggled to regain autonomy, it sounded as though a gathering had convened in my kitchen, voices carrying in muted tones. None of the which resembled those of my parents; I even detected snickering and laughter at one point. The conversation seemed to be aimed at me, as my name was uttered several times, yet the other words remained indecipherable. The episode concluded with me returning to sleep without any further disturbances.
As the instances of sleep paralysis became more frequent, they culminated in another peculiar experience. Shortly after moving into my first apartment, still in the midst of unpacking and assembling furniture, the second incident occurred. I lay on a mattress on the floor, surrounded by unassembled bedframe pieces, when I awoke to find myself imprisoned within my own body once more. In the darkness, I heard a faint sound—a presence moving softly over each piece of furniture. Panic gripped me as I strained to turn my head towards the noise, but every effort proved futile. With each passing moment, the unseen entity drew closer until it reached the bedside. Helpless, I closed my eyes, bracing myself for whatever awaited.
Meow?
Relief washed over me as I realized it was just my generously proportioned feline friend making his way around the room. I could hear him moving about, stepping on more furniture and emitting a few disgruntled meows, presumably chastising my laziness for not assembling it yet. As I began to drift back to sleep, I was abruptly startled awake by a chilling sound.
Snnn-orrrff
A primal, guttural snarl pierced the silence, its menacing resonance echoing through the room like a thunderous roar. I struggled desperately to move my limbs, silently screaming in my mind, yet only managing a feeble whimper as I sensed the beast drawing near. Despite my efforts, my body only twitched, while in my imagination, I leapt up and fled. As a mischievous chuckle erupted, I felt hot, pungent breath on the back of my neck. I suddenly awoke, screaming, kicking and punching. I jerked my head to the side and was met only with darkness. I jumped up and turned the light on, a quick scan of the room revealed there was nothing there. Exhausted and recognizing my inability to function effectively, I reluctantly resigned myself to lying back down with the light on until morning. I called into work, knowing that in my current state, I wouldn't be of much use to anyone.
Days passed and soon, it was that time of the month again for my regular check-in from mom. I hesitantly answered the call. After a few minutes of conversation, we eventually broached the topic of my sleep paralysis.
"Honey, it's probably all the stress." she reasoned.
My job had me grinding away tirelessly, but despite my efforts, all I got was a tiny bump in pay. To add to the mix, my landlord decided it was the perfect time to raise the rent. It's safe to say, the stress was really getting to me. "I don't know, it's been happening my whole life, Dad ever had any issues with sleep?"
There was a noticeable pause as she contemplated her reply. "He's definitely had his share of nightmares, he'd wake me up a lot of the times, poor thing would be in tears."
"Jeez, I never knew, but Mom I gotta…" I endeavored to conclude the conversation, as my allotted chat time was expiring, however my mother promptly interrupted me.
"Sweetie, why won't you join us at church? It might help?"
I released a sigh. I staunchly opposed the notion of going to church; I'd rather watch a documentary on the history of paperclips. "Thanks, but I'm not feeling that right now."
"Please, just do it for me?" She pleaded.
Eager to bring the call to a close. "I'll think about, but, alright I'm going to go ahead a hop off here."
"Alright, I miss you, call me later okay?"
"I will, love you, bye."
I concluded the call with a sigh of relief, grateful for its conclusion.
For a stretch, life seemed to fall into place: My job noticed the disparity between my increased workload and pay and offered me a new position that significantly improved my financial situation. Thanks to this new position, I crossed paths with my wife, and we swiftly eloped. She was one of the top account managers, earning a substantial income, which enabled us to afford a nice house together. During this period, the night terrors and bouts of sleep paralysis took a hiatus, granting me a reprieve. Yet amidst the tranquility, a gnawing sense of foreboding lingered, as if a tempest loomed on the horizon, urging me to savor the calm while it lasted.
During this period, my wife and I had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of our first child. We were overjoyed as she reached the sixth month of her pregnancy, carrying our long-awaited daughter. However, my suspicions proved tragically correct. I'll never forget the heart-wrenching phone call from my wife, her voice choked with tears, informing me of the terrifying sight of blood. Hastening to the emergency room, we raced against time, but our efforts proved futile. We lost our precious daughter that day. The journey back home was a blur, engulfed in a suffocating sense of loss that seemed to consume us both. It felt as though a part of me had died alongside our daughter, and the profound grief only served to widen the chasm between us as time passed, transforming our once intimate bond into a hollow semblance of what it once was.
Sleep paralysis and nightmares began to resurface, as if some malevolent force was exploiting my already troubled state, and my ability to sleep dwindled. Additionally, minor habits and disparities in the early stages of our marriage, once insignificant, began escalating into cataclysmic arguments. By now, I'm certain even my breathing would agitate my wife. Despite experimenting with various medications, none proved effective. Even vigorous physical exercise failed to exhaust me enough for uninterrupted sleep. The situation escalated to the point where my wife banished me from the bedroom due to my incessant tossing and turning, disrupting her rest. Consequently, I found myself relegated to the couch. Resorting to alcohol became a regular occurrence, partly to numb the discomfort of the couch but also as a means of coping with my grief.
We barely conversed, even though she mentioned marriage counseling, I rebuffed the idea, convinced it wouldn't benefit us. Frequently, I'd discover her in tears, cradling the sonogram of our daughter, yet I would quietly withdraw, allowing her solitary moments of sorrow. She had her unique methods of grieving, just as I had mine.
"I can't keep doing this, we're drowning in debt, and you're just pushing us further into it with every bottle." She pointed to the glass in my hand.
"Oh, come on! I work hard for us, I deserve to unwind a bit!" In a moment of animated expression, I inadvertently spilled some of my beverage onto the floor.
"Unwind? You call draining our savings and neglecting our future 'unwinding'!?"
"Look, just let me sleep in my own bed tonight."
She crossed her arms, and for a moment, silence enveloped us before she finally spoke.
"I just—I feel like I'm living with a stranger." Her eyes begin to shimmer with emotion.
"I'm here, aren't I? What more do you want from me?!" My voice rising in volume.
She attempted to delicately take my drink away, her touch then shifting to gently grasp my hand. "I want us to be a team again, not just two people sharing a bed."
But the moment I felt her touch, I instinctively shoved her hands away from me. "We haven't been a 'team' since we lost—" My voice quivered, then exploded into rage. "You pushed me out! You did this! You don't talk to me about anything anymore! Just get the hell out!" I pointed to the door.
I stood in the open doorway, watching her car pull out of the driveway. With a final sip, I closed the door behind me. Met with silence, I sensed the weight of tension hanging heavy in the air. Deciding one more bourbon was in order, I made my way to the kitchen, intent on pouring myself one last drink. In a bid to ensure a restful night, I opted to accompany my indulgence in alcohol with a hefty dosage of sleeping pills. A reckless choice, I'm aware, but perhaps death was in fact the ultimate form of slumber. I settled onto the couch, flicking through channels until my libation was drained. Feeling sufficiently relaxed, I decided it was time for bed. Ascending the stairs, I stumbled and collapsed onto the master bedroom's mattress. Sleep enveloped me swiftly that night, yet trouble was never far behind.
I recall waking during the night and noticing that the hallway light remained illuminated. It struck me as odd since I distinctly remember switching it off before retiring to bed. However, given my inebriated state from the copious amounts of alcohol I had consumed, I surmised that I must have simply forgotten. I'd just get up and switch it off, but a wave of unease washed over me. Despite my intentions, I found myself paralyzed, trapped within my own body once again. I found myself transfixed on the door, illuminated by the soft glow seeping in from the hallway. In that moment, I discerned a shadowy figure lurking behind the door.
I hoped it was my wife, but a gut feeling told me otherwise; this time felt different, suffocated by an eerie malevolence. The doorknob rattled violently, as if something were struggling to open it. Yet, amidst the noise I caught a sinister snicker. The relentless jiggling of the doorknob reached a fever pitch, threatening to wrench it free from its socket at any instant. Then, as abruptly as it began, the tumult ceased, leaving an ominous silence hanging in the air. The door then creaked open with a slow, foreboding motion.
A sinister, shapeless presence loomed in the doorway, defying gravity as it hovered above the ground, its shadowy form exaggerated by the eerie glow seeping in from the hallway. I whimpered, struggling to stir my limbs in a futile attempt to awaken my body, but they responded only with slight twitches. My gaze remained fixed on the form before me, immobilized by fear. Suddenly, a sinuous appendage extended from the specter's face, resembling a long, black tentacle. It elongated and snaked toward me, prompting me to instinctively shut my eyes. Sensing its proximity, I remained frozen, an icy chill grazed my forehead, jolting me awake in an instant. Sleep eluded me for the rest of the night, so I opted for an early morning, brewing a pot of coffee to chase away the lingering unease.
For the following weeks, my routine remained monotonous: work, microwave dinner, then numbness induced by sleeping pills and bourbon until I could no longer keep my eyes open. I received a text from my mother-in-law stating that my wife wanted to reconcile, but insisted on therapy and my attendance at AA meetings. I refused, firmly convinced that all I desired was to reclaim my bed, and that her reaction was excessive. I contended that the alcohol provided comfort, a gesture I hadn't received from her in quite some time. My mother-in-law and wife were both displeased with my response; it became apparent that divorce was now the inevitable solution.
At this juncture, I experienced sleep paralysis on a daily basis, even in the absence of the entity. Each night, I would awaken multiple times, unable to move, only freeing myself to find dread awaiting the next episode upon returning to sleep. There was one rare night when I slept soundly, only to be abruptly awakened by a late-night call from an old friend. We had a bond stretching back to our middle school days, and were inseparable back then. However, this call wasn't one of nostalgia; it was about money. He needed a bailout for his mortgage, promising a swift repayment.
I moved to the edge of my bed, frustration mounting as I started to rub my forehead. "I can't, I just can't right now, I need to get back to sleep good—"
He interrupted me. "Please, I don't want to lose the house."
I found myself raising my voice in frustration as irritation crept in. It appeared he was wholly incapable of learning from his mistakes. "Look, it isn't my responsibility to bail you out every time you're in trouble!"
"I know, I know, please, at least do it for Eli, Chelsea left me all alone and it's been hard man." His voice starting to crack.
My voice raising to a near scream; "He isn't my responsibility either! You should have been careful! I told you she wasn't good for you and you didn't listen! Sort your own shit out from now on!"
I ended the call and slammed the phone onto my nightstand. So much for a good night's rest, thanks a lot, friend.
As my life spiraled further into chaos, I realized I needed to explore solutions beyond relying on alcohol and sleeping pills to combat sleep paralysis. Perhaps a spiritual approach was necessary. While I knew my mother would be pleased with this consideration, I'm certain what I had in mind would be vehemently discouraged. My mother firmly believed in the existence of demons, warning against interacting with them outside of 'God's protection'. Perhaps she was right, but I grew desperate for a solution. At this stage, I was willing to do anything for peace of mind, regardless of the consequences. So, I concocted a masterful plan:
I'd simply ask it what it would take to make it stop.
Each morning was fraught with dread, pondering whether the entity would manifest itself. I ensured to kickstart my day with a potent drink, maintaining a steady buzz throughout, perhaps to stave off any wavering doubts about my decision. My patience bore fruit one fateful night as I found myself immobilized once more.
This marked the initial instance when the entity directly addressed me, and its words seared into my memory with chilling permanence. It uttered abhorrent, repulsive, unfathomable insults about me, branding me a failure, devoid of worth, as insignificant as a microbe. It dissected my existence, critiquing my choices, appearance, and demeanor with a cruelty I had never encountered. It seemed to possess an uncanny ability to strike at the core of my being, as if it wielded a weapon honed to annihilate my spirit. And then, its merciless laughter echoed relentlessly.
In that moment, I recognized it as my opportunity to retort. However, the barrage of insults stoked a fire within me, igniting a fury that overpowered my intentions. What did this entity presume to know about me? It was entirely mistaken, and that infuriated me. Against my better judgment, fueled by indignation, I deviated from my plan and impulsively blurted out: "What's so damn funny?!"
As the words echoed in my mind, the laughter abruptly ceased, leaving behind an eerie silence. Relief flooded through me as I dared to hope that I had put an end to the ordeal. Yet, my premature celebration was cut short when an indescribable dread enveloped me. A black ichor oozed onto the floor beside my bed, signaling the beginning of a hellish spectacle. From the viscous sludge, a dark figure emerged, coated in sticky tar, yet defying gravity as it ascended, hovering above the ground.
Above me, it loomed, its weighty presence palpable as thick sludge cascaded onto the bed, it halted directly over me. Its head inclined, scrutinizing me with unseen gaze. Tears welled in my eyes, hot and unrestrained, as I braced for the inevitable embrace of death. The figure gradually descended, its feet pressing into my chest with an icy chill coursing through me. As its waist aligned with my sternum, a frigid sensation enveloped me. With a swift motion, it plunged its hand into my chest, seizing my heart, and darkness consumed my senses.
I felt a terrifying pull downward, as if gravity itself had gone haywire. My stomach churned with a sickening weightlessness, reminiscent of a plummeting elevator. As my descent abruptly halted, the sound of wind rushing in my ears gave way to a sudden explosion—a resounding burst, resembling the opening of a parachute. That's when I sensed something coiling around my waist, though invisible to my eyes. Desperate to break free, I reached out, only to recoil in horror as my fingers brushed against scaly, rough skin.
Simultaneously, the air filled with the echoing beat of what seemed like enormous wings, while I experienced the unsettling sensation of being lifted and dropped. Though I had a suspicion about what gripped me, disbelief held me back from fully acknowledging it. So, resigned, I surrendered to my captor's will, allowing them to transport me to an unknown destination. As the darkness yielded, a faint glow emerged beneath us—a jagged line emanating an eerie orange-red light. The creature descended, revealing a sight that churned my stomach: bubbling lava. Its faint glow barely illuminated what seemed to be a cavern.
As I descended further into the cavern's depths, the beast veered close enough for me to sense the searing warmth of the lava beneath my feet. Gradually, our descent stabilized, and my gaze shifted forward, revealing a massive door-like structure. Its design echoed the grandeur of ancient Gothic architecture, adorned with pointed arches and intricate buttresses. The edifice appeared crafted from a peculiar variety of marble, possessing a beauty tinged with an unsettling aura. Its construction defied convention, evoking a sense of unease; never before had anything been wrought in such a manner.
As the creature descended once more, carrying me firmly, we passed through the doorway, revealing the true scale of the chamber. Beyond the threshold, a vast expanse unfolded, illuminated by a solitary spherical light source, casting an unsettlingly dim glow upon a colossal, otherworldly mechanism. It resembled a colossal pillar, stretching upward into the darkness of the cavern, its details obscured by the dim light. Within its intricate workings, gears, wheels, and chains rotated at a languid pace. Amidst this mechanical labyrinth, my attention was drawn to a swirling mass of gray at the base of the mechanism, slowly undulating. The beast appeared to be steering us directly toward it.
As we drew nearer, we sailed past what appeared to be a platform, upon which perched a colossal beast. Its form resembled that of a massive reptilian creature, akin to what one might envision as a dinosaur. Yet, it stood upright on two legs, its powerful limbs chained firmly to the platform. With each short, sharp inhalation, it unleashed a deafening roar that reverberated through every fiber of my being. I couldn't help but notice the protrusion of its jugular vein, roughly the size of my upper thigh, expanding with each thunderous cry. As we approached the swirling mass of gray, a sudden wave of horror washed over me as I comprehended its true nature.
A sea of people.
I observed that they were all bound together by chains, encircling their arms, legs, and necks. These chains converged at the towering pillar, linking each individual to the mechanism. The mass of people moved in a circular motion, driving the turning of the cogs. Their pallid complexion suggested an absence of life, as if all vitality had been drained from them. Their agonized screams pierced the air, mouths devoid of tongues. I witnessed an individual collapse to their knees, only to be forcefully yanked upright by some unseen power, rest was an elusive notion in this place. To my horror, amidst the throng of young adults and the elderly, I saw children swept along by the relentless current of the crowd.
As the creature positioned me amidst the multitude, I pleaded desperately, but it was futile; the chains had already ensnared me. With each movement of the mass of people, I felt the tug on my own chain, pressed in on all sides without an inch of space to spare. The towering figures around me obscured any view beyond their heads, leaving me engulfed in a sea of bodies.
My voice pierced the chaotic symphony of screams, rising in a desperate plea for escape.
"Please! I don't belong here! I just wanted to sleep, this is a mistake!"
As I cried out, the orb of light began to shift, seemingly in response to my desperate appeals. As it drew closer and closer, a sense of dread gripped me. Hovering ominously above, it revealed itself as a grotesque monstrosity, casting a sickly glow that chilled me to the bone. I fought the overwhelming urge to collapse, my knees weakening with each passing moment. What loomed overhead defied any attempt at human description; it resembled a cluster of intertwining tubes, swirling and spiraling in a mesmerizing dance that transcended the bounds of reality. Bathed in a sickly blue light that pulsed like molten lava beneath its tendrils.
The light wrought a profound transformation within me, granting a clarity of self-awareness unlike anything I had ever known. In its piercing illumination, I was confronted with the raw truth of my being, stripped of illusion or denial. It was a sobering revelation, an awakening to the most authentic understanding of myself I had ever experienced.
I belonged here.
I had systematically driven away my friends, neglecting their presence and refusing to open up to them. Even my own mother's attempts at connection felt burdensome, our conversations reduced to mere obligations. But perhaps the greatest tragedy lay in the chasm that had formed between my wife and me—a divide entirely of my own making. I was the architect of my own downfall, responsible for the ruin of my life, with no one else to blame but myself. Every word the entity had uttered about me held a painful truth.
From this vantage point, my life appeared almost sweet in retrospect, bathed in the stark light of self-awareness. Yet, any semblance of hope quickly dissolved, for in this desolate realm, hope found no foothold, no sanctuary to thrive.
With my head bowed low, I trudged forward, the weight of my chain pulling me inexorably onward. In a moment of unprecedented vulnerability, I found myself offering a prayer. Despite my awareness that it would likely go unanswered, I embraced the grim reality of my fate, accepting it with a heavy heart.
God, have mercy on me…
Suddenly the sound of chains breaking shattered the air as I was yanked upward with astonishing velocity. In a sudden blur, the scene below shrank rapidly beneath me. The rush of wind buffeted me, and I sensed another presence, an arm wrapped around my waist. Clutching onto it tightly, I braced myself as the cavern's light faded into absolute darkness, squeezing my eyes shut against the unknown.
With a jolt, my rapid ascent came to an abrupt halt, my back colliding with something soft. Gradually, I realized I was back in the familiarity of my own bed. At the foot of the bed stood a figure, its features obscured by a radiant glow emanating from its form, resembling molten glass. The brilliance bathed the entire room in an ethereal light. For a fleeting moment, we locked gazes, suspended in a silent exchange. Then, as swiftly as it had appeared, the figure began to ascend, leaving my room cloaked once more in shadows.
I sat in silence for a while, grappling with the enormity of my experience. To dismiss it as a mere nightmare or hallucination would be a gross understatement; whatever transpired felt hauntingly more vivid and tangible than my current reality. It would take me months of introspection and contemplation to begin to make sense of it all, to reconcile the surreal with the mundane, and to find a semblance of peace within myself.
Although the experience didn't trigger an immediate transformation, its impact lingered, nudging me towards a path of change. Despite my ongoing struggle with alcohol addiction, I made a conscious decision to seek help. I began prioritizing regular hangouts with my best friend and even accompanied my mom to a few church visits. While I remained uncertain about my own connection to religion, witnessing her joy brought a sense of fulfillment that warmed my heart. In making her happy, I found a newfound source of happiness within myself.
As time passed, a sense of progress gradually infused my life. Achieving a year of sobriety marked a significant milestone on my journey, celebrated amidst the supportive community of AA. Even my wife took notice of my efforts towards self-improvement, leading us to embark on marriage counseling together. Before long, her return to our home signaled a hopeful new chapter in our relationship.
Not a trace of sleep paralysis had haunted me since that fateful night when I was guided from the depths of despair. I'm not entirely sure if it was an angel, or God, but whatever it was, it spared me, and for that, I'm grateful. And now, the most joyous news of all: my wife and I are expecting our first child next week. The doctors assure us of her perfect health, filling us with anticipation and gratitude. As for her name, I already have the perfect one in mind:
Grace