Perfect gift for college graduation social worker

Greetings! Meet Long_Dust9455, your committed, trustworthy, and all-around virtual assistant, who has a track record of seamlessly assisting clients for almost a year now. With a dedication to perfection, I bring a unique and reliable blend of flexibility and adaptability, along with an appetite for learning new skills, and a desire to provide exceptional service. As your virtual assistant, I thrive on patience, rigorous attention to detail, and natural organizational skills.
Here is a list of skills I have and services that I offer:
📲 SOCIAL MEDIA :
• email management. (filtering and inbox organization.)
• social media management. (facebook, instagram, tiktok, twitter, and more!)
• setting-up social media accounts. (ex. facebook, instagram, twitter, tiktok, youtube — must provide a phone number if needed.)
• proofreading blogs, articles, posts, etc.
• publish posts on blog/s. (content must be provided.)
• filtering and replying to comments on blog/s or social media posts.
🛒 BUSINESS :
• etsy shop management/monitoring.
• encoding data on google sheets.
• graphic design. (canva promotional / marketing ex. posters, infographics, facebook announcements etc.)
• sending thank you and other reminder emails following up with clients/customers.
• calendar management and daily planning.
• file management.
💻 GENERAL VIRTUAL ASSISTANT WORK :
• copying and pasting documents.
• personal errands. (ex. buying gifts for loved ones online, writing personal emails, etc.)
• image to text/word document.
• file conversion. (.png to .jpeg, .docx to .pdf, etc.)
• research.
📽️ VIDEO EDITING :
• basic video editing. (cutting out pauses, stutters, etc.)
• captioning/subtitles and timing.
• text formatting.
— rate for this service : $20 / hour.
Why choose me?
As your virtual assistant, I understand and prioritize the value of your time and the importance of personalized support. With a flexible schedule tailored to your needs, I am here to streamline your tasks, enhance your efficiency and productivity, and provide the professional or personal support that you deserve. My proactive approach guarantees that I meet, if not surpass, your expectations. I am well-versed in virtual collaboration, bringing a wealth of experience to the table. Whether it’s managing your schedule, handling management work, or taking on new challenges, I am driven by a genuine passion for assisting you in achieving your goals.
Are you ready to start on a journey of productivity and assistance? Let’s work together to complete your projects. Your success is my first goal—so let’s make it happen.
💰 Rate : $5 - $8 USD/hour. (negotiable.)
⏰ Timezone : GMT +8
⏳ Max number of work hours per week : 20 hours.
📌 My writing and editing portfolios, and resume are all available upon request. I accept payments via GCash, Paypal, and Wise only.

Greetings! Meet Long_Dust9455, your committed, trustworthy, and all-around virtual assistant, who has a track record of seamlessly assisting clients for almost a year now. With a dedication to perfection, I bring a unique and reliable blend of flexibility and adaptability, along with an appetite for learning new skills, and a desire to provide exceptional service. As your virtual assistant, I thrive on patience, rigorous attention to detail, and natural organizational skills.
Here is a list of skills I have and services that I offer:
📲 SOCIAL MEDIA :
• email management. (filtering and inbox organization.)
• social media management. (facebook, instagram, tiktok, twitter, and more!)
• setting-up social media accounts. (ex. facebook, instagram, twitter, tiktok, youtube — must provide a phone number if needed.)
• proofreading blogs, articles, posts, etc.
• publish posts on blog/s. (content must be provided.)
• filtering and replying to comments on blog/s or social media posts.
🛒 BUSINESS :
• etsy shop management/monitoring.
• encoding data on google sheets.
• graphic design. (canva promotional / marketing ex. posters, infographics, facebook announcements etc.)
• sending thank you and other reminder emails following up with clients/customers.
• calendar management and daily planning.
• file management.
💻 GENERAL VIRTUAL ASSISTANT WORK :
• copying and pasting documents.
• personal errands. (ex. buying gifts for loved ones online, writing personal emails, etc.)
• image to text/word document.
• file conversion. (.png to .jpeg, .docx to .pdf, etc.)
• research.
📽️ VIDEO EDITING :
• basic video editing. (cutting out pauses, stutters, etc.)
• captioning/subtitles and timing.
• text formatting.
— rate for this service : $20 / hour.
Why choose me?
As your virtual assistant, I understand and prioritize the value of your time and the importance of personalized support. With a flexible schedule tailored to your needs, I am here to streamline your tasks, enhance your efficiency and productivity, and provide the professional or personal support that you deserve. My proactive approach guarantees that I meet, if not surpass, your expectations. I am well-versed in virtual collaboration, bringing a wealth of experience to the table. Whether it’s managing your schedule, handling management work, or taking on new challenges, I am driven by a genuine passion for assisting you in achieving your goals.
Are you ready to start on a journey of productivity and assistance? Let’s work together to complete your projects. Your success is my first goal—so let’s make it happen.
💰 Rate : $5 - $8 USD/hour. (negotiable.)
⏰ Timezone : GMT +8
⏳ Max number of work hours per week : 20 hours.
📌 My writing and editing portfolios, and resume are all available upon request. I accept payments via GCash, Paypal, and Wise only.

I am at a place where I don't know what to do besides accept he will never change. I am here to hopefully get thoughts and advice to gauge how bad his behavior is compared to other marriages. I like to think we are mostly a healthy married couple but we have a few major problems that he won't see hurt me. He tells me I just want to fight. I grew up with a histrionic mother and narcissistic father, I do Not want to fight I infact am very willing to work on us with him. I know I am not perfect and ask what I can do to make us stronger. Despite him being a really great father he is not emotionally very supportive. No one else sees it except me either, our kids are grown and that's when things have worsened when I didn't have the kids around to distract me it's staring me in the face our entire situation. If I would only smile and laugh along and act like nothings wrong everything would be fine. It's when I have an issue his entire demeanor shifts and he will leave or sit and wait for me to quit talking give me a one liner about how I want a fight is all. We don't bicker often at all because I avoid it but it builds up and I have to try talking to him. For example he'll be very nice and happy but anytime I have an idea he discourages it I could say the waters warm and he'd say it was cold. It's an almost 85% negate dispute rate, he will even defend people he doesn't think are nice if I make a comment like, "oh that was rude of them!" he'll actually go so far as to make excuses for them. It's bizarre and gets in the way of feeling connected to him I feel cast aside. I can suggest hey let's start a garden, how about we don't. So I start my garden alone. I went to him very excited to get certified as a Yoga Teacher and he told me I wasn't flexible enough🫥. I am now a Yoga Teacher. I'm not sure if it's because I have the nerve to do the things he doesn't want me to that bothers him or that I am not acting like a little house mouse wife. He has very little respect for me as a person. I raised our children at home and had to move with him for his work a few times so I had left my career so he could further his in my 20's. Now my children are raised and well rounded at that but I am here wondering what to do with myself. I have no friends I am an introvert and he uses it to his advantage. One other large issue is he makes plans and I am the last to know. He wrote an entire book on his own which is not published yet but I found out when it was finished because he happened to mention it in talking about something else, I was like what? He comes home from work and doesn't really talk beyond how are you, I have always talked and asked questions about his day and thought we were communicating okay but realized he's very vague and is only waiting for me to stop talking. He said once, "youre always talking and talking and talking". I have to ask the magic words to find out information he hides. He started working out and waking up early I found out he was planning to try out for something which I would be fine with and happy for him but why not share it with me. I told him last night he has a wall of contempt he's built between us and he said I know why. I asked why cause I don't I've been a good wife. He said, "you push your beliefs, fears and things you want to do on everyone around you." Then he admitted he felt he shouldn't have married me. After this much time and raising our children I am lost. I am an average mom/wife I don't have any hardcore beliefs. He is referring to me nagging him to eat better as his cholesterol is high and my fears of getting sick if he doesn't wash his hands after touching money, I have an auto immune disease. I can see how that would be annoying but I am not too bad I'd say average. The thing about pushing stuff I want to do isn't that normal, we make plans to go out with our kids family's and when I made my garden he felt I was controlling him and making him do it because I needed help with the fence. It's very dramatic I told him he didn't need to help I was fine. I moved to the other bedroom and feel very upset. When we married he'd joke when I'm 40 he was going to trade me in for 2, 20's. I don't think any 20's would waste any time on him. He claimed he was just joking but I feel like he's a stranger, he has not told me so much I have no idea what his personal life is and here I am heart broken. He also only seems to be cuddly or sweet when he wants to "be close" then he kind of goes back to being distant. He dislikes when I stay at my daughters he gets very lovey dovey and claims to miss me and act sad til I run back. Then hes normal again. I read Dr Ramani Durvasula's new book "It's Not You" and it helped alot and it's a sad situation. My adult children think were great but they have mentioned he doesnt get me much of anything on holidays they noticed that and him always negating me. I can't talk to them about it obviously but theyve been mad at him for not gettinh me a holiday present this past year and the year before. I fot him many presents as always which he usually gets annoyed about and returns the things I've gotten him. Is this what happens to most marriages are those best friend team like marriages just on hallmark or very rare? Maybe I am expecting too much hes a very basic man he likes his hobbies, action movies and eating. So, any advice is appreciated I feel like I don't know which way is up or down and hearing people's thoughts would be helpful, unless the comments are disrespectful I'd not waste time on trying to be rude I'm not putting energy into that. I will edit this later and try to make it flow better I'm sorry it's all jumbled if I don't just write I won't talk about it. Since I have no friends and my introversion makes it nearly impossible I am just clicking post. Thanks for any thoughts you can offer. It's appreciated. Tl;Dr : Husband negates and disputes most of what I say all while acting cheerful, when I ask him to try and be aware of it he claims I am acting "crazy". He also hides his personal life from me I find out after the fact major things he does at work or having to do with his friends. He seems to have no use for me as his social cup is filled and is very blank around me and doesn't seem to respect me at all. I've been a stay at home mother my children are grown and now I am lost feeling. I had left my career in my 20s for him and now am a yoga teacher but he has little respect for me. For example he does t introduce me to co workers on public and does not make me aware of work bbqs and such to go with him. Looking for advice and thoughts, thank you.

Dear RS Book Club,
I want to consult the posters of the sub as you guys are the only erudite yet sane corners of the internet. I have been thinking a lot about the nature of online erudition and how the internet functions as a never ending library where you can follow however many rabbitholes as you want. Firstly, I want to address the outside world. Talking to strangers, meeting new people, hearing anecdotal evidence from friends and their co-workers, most people don't read. a lot of people, at least below 30 seem to be very intellectually uncurious with men not reading at all and women reading lowbrow smut to contemporary lit-fic to 19th century classics. If you go to college, as I just graduated (i apologize for being annoying) you talk with you classmates and you realize a lot of people are unknowledge and ahistorical, don't really care about what we're learning ( i cant blame them ) but its just kind of sad when you have a real curiousity that lights a fire within you to explore topics.
Compare this to the online sphere where you actually can find people that are curious, knowledgable, and discuss the things you are interested in. You find forums like goodreads or reddit where people post and discuss topics in depth, you find the twitter pages of earnest academics posting about their beloved research topics, you go on /lit/ to see people insult each other about their unblemished penguin classics spines and their interpretations of rene guinon. However, with the online sphere you find a weird pattern. I am not really sure how to describe but I guess it would be like intellectual hipsterism. In the same way that 00s hipsters on music blogs were obsessed with crate digging for rare indie records, or avant-garde and difficult expirimental pop music, the motivating force is novelty, to be the first on a wave, to be the person that differentiates themselves by having a developed taste for difficult works. That same motivating force is applied to literature and philosophy.
I find this to be an interesting development. You have quite a lot of people for various reasons online finding an interest in the humanities, whether they skipped out on college completely or (rightly) treated college as a trade school to obtain a credential in the job market rather than a place of humanistic education. But these auto-didacts are attracted to weirdness, to novelty, to difficulty, to impenetrable erudtion. Walter Benjamin linked Snobbishness and Novelty in the Arcades Project. If you were to never take a philosophy class and spent your time online you would thing Gilles Delueze would be the most discussed person in any philosophy class because the online sphere enjoys his difficult, obtuse and esoteric writing. I have trouble truly understanding the motivating force behind the popularity of people such as Pynchon, Jung, Deleuze, Evola and other weirdos but I think it has to do with both the novelty of of un-undestood ideas and a barrier-of-entry elitism. I think elitism is good, and this backlash toward "let people enjoy things" turning into "you people cant do anything" is a turn for the better in terms of getting people to produce interesting works of philosophy and art in contemporary times.
Returning back to the day-to-day world, talking about any of these things to other people you will sound literally insane, like you will scare the hoes. You show people you favorite Finnegan's Wake passage and they are like this is stupid and you are only pretending to like it to seem smart. That is where the problem lies I think. The charge of "to seem smart" is the ultimate contrast of online erudite life and the offline world. What exists as a barrier of entry in online spheres ("read spinoza and nietzsche to understand deleuze" or "start with the greeks" or "have you heard neutral milk hotel") becomes completely flipped in real life because there is very little intellectual curiousity to be found with most people.
(Another thing is the whole adoption of reading "Great Books" as a part of self-help and self-improvement culture, of course this obsession with tradtion tied to self-improvment is uniquely online-right adjacent whereas the opposing left wing crowd is saying they have adhd and cant focus because they picked up fucking Deleuze as their 20 minutes of reading before bed.) I apologize for bringing culture war into this
What I think will result from this online culture of a small group of esoteric readers will be what i call "'Digital Spinozas". While Spinoza was kicked out of Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant intellectual community in the Dutch Repbulic for Heresy, he chose to a select group of similarly minded people that he could trust, to write letters to and have the dicussions in private as opposed to the intellectual public sphere. What has now seperated online intellectuals from public life is of course a complete indifference, what (i hope) will happen is the production of philosophical, poetic, and literarly works in private, shared among online friends, to communities, to be spread among these niches, enjoyed privately and selected as to be appreciated the snobbish hipsters of these erudite communities.
I apologize greatly for the wall fo text, I drank and lot of coffee this morning.
Sincerly,
u/unwnd_leaves_turn

I'm an international student with PSW visa after completing my master's in Banking and international finance. I'm about to start applying for jobs. Need suggestions to make it look nice and professional.
I'm just adding a part of my old CV. ( I just added few in the last minute, this is just for reference) I saw the CV's of my friends who are working in professional jobs right now. So I'm going to change the layout of my CV as well.
Masters
MSc. Banking and International Finance. Modules: Financial Risk management, Financial statement analysis, Investment analysis, Financial Modelling, Corporate Finance, International Money and Finance, Business and financial forecasting, Advanced Money and Banking, Principals Banking and Macro Economics.
Undergraduate Degree
B. Com Honour’s Strategic Finance
Additional: CMA – Certified Management Accountant/Cost and Management Accountant -Miles Education (2019 – 2022) Self Preparation- ongoing.
Higher Secondary Education
• M.E.C – Mathematics, Economics, Commerce and Accounts
Internship • Worked for the finance department of a company in India. Tax filing, daily journal entries and reviewing budgets and accounts.
Training program
Completed a one month training program of financial analysis from a German company.
Part time Work as a chef for 3 months Cashier, asst. Manager and Manager for 2 restaurants. ( Current)
Working at a Wearhouse as Wearhouse operative. (Current)
Position of Responsibility
School Cultural Activities Head House captain
Senior Secondary School School Prefect Graduation Event Coordinator (Second year) Head Event organizer (Third year) NPTEL Course Incharge (Third Year)
Volunteering
Delivered voluntary services at various disabled homes, and orphanages in India. Giving meal packs, collecting donations and daycare services. (2019 – 2022)
Clubs
• Entrepreneurship Club- Club Representative (2019 – 2020) • Start-up Club- Club Representative (2021-2022) • Innovation Club- Member (2021-2022)
Achievements and Works
• First prize in the entrepreneurship club for giving the best business start-up plan. • Completed Quantitative Aptitude Certificate course. • Completed a Business and Sustainability Development course provided by the government of India and a Workshop in Stock Market and Finance. • Participated and qualified in prelims in Commerce and Accounting quiz conducted by TIMES Education. • Participated in many cultural activities like dance, singing, essay writing and drama during school and college education. • Also served as Head Event Organizer for the department, conducted many academic and social welfare events and was responsible for all the documentation and reporting works of the department during the second and third years of graduation. • Research Paper: " A Conceptual Review on Mergers and Acquisitions in the Banking Sector". • Project work: "A Conceptual Review on Corporate Social Responsibility and its awareness among students and employees".
Dissertation: Sustainable Finance through Strategic Approaches: A Comprehensive Analysis of ESG Integration, Impact Investing, and Ethical Decision-Making within the Realm of Sustainable Finance
Awards • Student of the Year Award – Undergraduate Degree (2022) o For being an all-rounder of the department. • Elite Event Organizer Award (2022) o For organizing various exceptional academic and social events throughout the academic year. • Award for Outstanding Creative Work and Support (2021) o For delivering amazing creative work and providing support for the whole team.
Key Skills
• Management Accounting – Used for event budgeting. • Event Management - Organized various academic and social events. • Budgeting - used for college department academic year budgeting. • Taxation – filing taxes during the internship. • Cost Accounting • Writing research papers
Technical Skills • Tally • MS Office
Strengths
• Effective Communication • Multi-Tasking • Time Management • Positive Attitude • Leadership Qualities • Strong work ethic • Sincerity • Teamwork
Hobbies and Interests • Cooking • Travelling • Yoga • Reading • Dancing
Languages
• English (Read & write-Fluent) • Hindi (Read & write-Fluent) • Telugu (Mother Tongue, read & write-fluent)

I go to college in my red, very red, state. I live in one of the biggest and most blue cities in this state, but I've been having a very hard time actually finding anyone that I agree with on any issue or topic here. I've worked and interned for 3 years with various people, in various institutions and organizations, and I keep running into the same issues, no matter if the people I work with fall on the left or right side of the politic line. There is a lot of racism, homophobia, and anger towards Muslims. (I am a white, gay, agnostic person). Many of my college professors are hopping onto trends that go against what our fields preach, have massive issues in many different areas, and are, at the end of the day, quite annoying to have to listen to. (The fields that I'm interested in, or at least where most of my experience so far lies in, are very much underpaid and passion fields, where vocational awe is a large part of why people do it. So you can imagine how frustrating this is as compared to a field where I'm so-so about the "goals" and more about the money or other benefits. AKA they're humanities lol.)
I understand that having to listen and deal with a boss or mentor is pare for the course in life, and so far, I have been doing just that. I keep my head down, I don't get into arguments when my professors get into their latest grifts, and I don't get into fights with my bosses and fellow employees on what they're saying is disgusting or just plain stupid and hateful. Every place I work with, I leave on a good note. People like me at work, and have no clue where I stand on issues politically, or what my sexuality is. The issue is that for the last 3 years, I've had to listen to this slurry of shit for most of my week, every week. I can't escape it when I go to class, or when I intern, or when I go to work.
I don't have too many friends, so most of my social interactions are with people I can't, frankly, stand to listen to for 8 hours or more a day. How do I deal with this, and not lose my mind? I'm filled with so much anger and irritation at the end of each day for the last 3 years, and the idea of graduating early and leaving the state is becoming more and more enticing because I feel like I'm going insane.

Hello fellow rum enthusiasts,
I want to become a more mindful shopper, especially when it comes to my favorite spirit: rum. While I understand no brand is perfect, I want to support producers who are making an effort to be ethical in aspects of their production. I'm looking for recommendations on rum brands or producers that align with the following ethical considerations:
Environmental Impact: - How do these brands reduce their environmental footprint? - Are they involved in regenerative agriculture practices? - What steps are they taking to prevent deforestation, harmful runoff, water contamination, and soil degradation? - Are they minimizing the use of pesticides and fertilizers? - Do they efficiently use resources like water and energy?
Social Responsibility: - How are workers treated in these companies? - Are there fair working conditions and rights for workers? - Is there distributed ownership or wealth generation for local workers and communities? - Are the producers engaged in fair trade practices and investing in local communities through education, healthcare, or infrastructure?
Decolonization Efforts: - Which brands are black-owned or locally owned? - How do producers acknowledge rum's deep association with the colonial era, particularly in the Caribbean where it was produced on plantations using enslaved labor? - Do producers respect and preserve the cultural heritage of the regions where rum is made, ensuring that marketing and branding do not exploit or misrepresent local cultures or alter local rum making practices? - In the Céline Bossart article, "Decolonizing the Whitewashed World of Caribbean Rum," she mentions Equiano Rum as an example of a brand taking steps towards these goals.
Economic Equity: - How do these brands ensure that local communities and workers benefit economically from rum production, not just corporations? - Are there efforts to support and provide market access for small, local rum producers to ensure they can compete in a global market?
Transparency: - Which rum producers openly disclose their production methods, ownership models, and other relevant practices? - Do they maintain transparency in the supply chain, allowing consumers to know where and how the rum was produced? - Do they cut out the middleman, and ensuring more direct benefits to the local communities? - Do they provide information on dosing, push for codifying quality standards, and other practices that ensure product integrity? - Do they obtain certifications such as Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, or other ethical labels to assure consumers of the product’s ethical standards?
Consumer Education: - Are there efforts to educate consumers about the history of rum, the conditions under which it is produced, and the importance of supporting ethically produced rum? - Do they encourage consumers to choose brands that prioritize ethical practices and sustainability?
Looking forward to your recommendations and insights!
Cheers!

Something's gotta give
I'm DONE with retail. I hate this job. I hate having a boss. I hate the constant gossipy shit talk. I need to get heading in some sort of direction instead of the stagnant life I have but I have a few circumstances that are making it difficult.
I have two kids that I homeschool and no family or friends who will provide childcare. I'm not putting them in daycare for a lot of reasons. So obviously that limits a lot.
I only graduated high school - no further schooling.
I've only done a few jobs, one was phone captioning, the rest all retail or driving/delivery.
There's a few things I have going for me though - I have zero criminal record. All my tattoos are easily coverable My hair is a natural color I don't smoke I can pass a drug test I'm smart, just not on paper. I didn't go to college because life got in the way but I'm smart. I hate to say it because it feels like bragging or being arrogant but I've had multiple people refer to me as the smartest person they know; often during a discussion about how I've failed to make anything of it. Lots of "you had so much potential." Former gifted kids know what I mean.
I'm at the point now where I realize to have any sort of job that fits my lifestyle (work from home, remote, setting my own schedule, etc) I'm probably going to need to go to college. I know there's some classes to take that are essentially a prerequisite for anything I might end up doing and that I can do those while figuring out where I want to go with it but I really would like to have some ideas to kick around before I spend thousands of dollars that I don't have.
My ideal job is a creative field but those don't pay so idk. Things like anthropology and psychology interest me. Wouldn't want to be a counselor or anything of that nature though. I'm big into things like history and folklore as well. I feel at home in museums. I have a large imagination if you can't tell by the unicorn of a job I'm seeking. I like to write and do a little fiction writing.
I've heard people talk about freelance writing but every job I've looked into requires a sample, and if I've never had a job doing that then I'm not sure where I would get a sample? Like do you just write something and put it there?
Anyways sorry this is long and I'm on mobile so the formatting is probably trash.
TL;DR introverted creative person with limited ability to leave the home seeks suggestions for a career that would fit. Also open to career aptitude tests that are free and don't need an email to take.

Hello! I’m currently entering my last year of uni, but I’m only 18 right now and so will be graduating from my state flagship with their honors program at 19. I want to study Philosophy and Education, or something on the intersection of that, and so naturally my choices right now are UW Madison, Columbia, Harvard, Michigan, Stanford, and OSU.
I hate the idea of being exiled to the Midwest for my PhD (half joking- ironic coastal elitism, but I do struggle with imagining myself spending five years anywhere outside of New York, Boston, or Germany.), but UW Madison has leading profs in my interest areas (literacy, philosophy, tesol), and so I fear it is my top choice.
Anyways, that’s enough introduction: here are my questions.

1. My plan prior had been to take a gap, but my social worker thinks doing a masters would be good since I can get housing assistance and living allowance until 22, but I don’t see the point of a masters if I’ll do a PhD state side, and having those assistances while being on a low PhD salary does sound nice. Would it be impossible to gain admission to a PhD at HGSE, and would it be silly to not try and go to Madison where the “best of the best” are just because of extended foster care benefits?
   
2. How hard is it to get into a PhD in any of these institutions? What should I do during my last year of uni to prepare? I already have a high GPA and am writing my honors thesis in a topic aligned with my PhD interests, so outside of maintaining those things what should I Do?
   

For some context, I(20F) haven’t made any friends in about 7 years. I didn’t make friends in high school due to mental health and I didn’t go to college right out of high school because I was exhausted and barely graduated.
Now I have a good part time job in a hospital with coworkers who like me, I’ve worked on my social skills, and I took a community college course to try to make friends and meet people my age. I go to the gym often and I plan on joining an art class and a dance class this summer to try to me meet even more people.
I still haven’t made a single friend. I feel like I’m well liked but everyone has established friend groups or they see me as an acquaintance. I’ve invited people to hang out with me and I’ve self invited myself to events/parties and I can tell it’s awkward for them.
My family often set up “pity playdates” with people they know. It doesn’t make a me feel good about myself knowing that I haven’t made friends on my own and these people were begged to hang out with me and don’t actually want to. I’ve asked my family to stop doing that and to stop telling people I don’t have friends lmao. I hate when it gets nice outside and I don’t have anyone to hang out with. It’s getting really really lonely. Not sure what else to do here.

Many people get up in arms over shops going cashless (especially the older generations) and irs confusing why. For decades, there have been cash only stores and no one argues over that, but since cashless stores have been becoming more popular people are suddenly upset with them. And they always make the same arguments for why stores shouldn't go cashless, so I'm going to debunk all of them (yet people are still going to find more reasons why to hate them). Also, you should read all the debunks before you answer.

1. Cash is "legal tender" and should be accepted in all places.

This is not true. For starters, most people don't really know what the term legal tender actually means and so they throw it out all the time. The actual definition is as follows: "Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt.[1] Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in payment of a debt extinguishes the debt." It goes on to say "It is generally only mandatory to recognize the payment of legal tender in the discharge of a monetary debt from a debtor to a creditor. Sellers offering to enter into contractual relationship, such as a contract for the sale of good, do not need to accept legal tender and may instead require payment using electronic methods, foreign currencies or any other legally recognized object of value." This means that cash is not the only form of "legal tender " and any other form of payment is acceptable so long as the creditor or debtor recognizes it as a valid form of payment. Basically, private businesses have the right to choose how they want to accept payment and if they only want electronic payments, then that's what you have to do.

1. The act of purchasing an item puts you into that businesses debt. As such, they have to accept cash.

This is also not true. Purchasing and item is not the same as putting yourself into debt. The purchase of an item means you are entering a contractual agreement with the business in which you gain an item or items in exchange for what that business accepts as monetary value. This means that if you want to buy ice cream from a business that only accept high fives, you'll have to high five them for that ice cream cone. Whoch also means if the business accepts cash only or electronic payment only, then you have to abide by those rules as well.

1. Cashless businesses are Discriminatory.

This is the only claim people throw out that has any legitimate legs to stand on. It is true that the large percentage of Americans that don't use banks are minorities, with black and Hispanic people getting affected the most. It also makes it so that homeless people can't shop there. Even though these are legitimate concerns, there are still ways to shop there if you really want to. First, Anyone can purchase gift cards (with Visa gift cards being accepted at all locations that accept card). Second, you can purchase venmo (and other) gift cards and upload them into your venmo account. So you don't need s back per se. It is more work but it's still possible which means no one is excluded from going to these businesses.

1. The workers or other patrons of the store should purchase the item for them in exchange for cash.

That's an incredible stupid argument to make. For starters, the workers can't purchase items while on the clock, nor can they accept someone's cash if the store is cashless. As I've worked as a cashier before, most businesses will fire yoy if they see that you purchased an item yourself while on the register. It is a HUGE red flag. Likewise, if they pocket the cash while on the register it basically is theft and they'll get fired. Second just because there's someone who wants to pay with cash at cashless shop doesn't give me a real reason to pay in their stead as a customer. I have no idea if the money they're handing me is real or not. And honestly, I wouldn't want to buy something for someone else who blatantly doesn't want to follow the rules of the business. That's a huge red flag for me.

1. There's no reason why the business shouldn't accept cash.

There are LOTS of reasons why they shouldn't accept cash. First, cash is dirty. As someone who was forced to accept bills that smelled like shit or came directly from underboob, cash is nasty. Not all cash, but a lot is mishandled. Businesses that opened during c*vid also know this and refuse to take it as a response. Second, cashless stores don't have the infrastructure to accept cash. They don't normally have registers, but instead have tablets that only accept card or electronic payments. So even if you insist on paying with cash, they don't have the means to accept it. They specifically set up their infrastructure to only accept electronic payments. Third, there are several benefits to going cashless for the business. They don't need to deal with balancing the registers every night. They don't have to make daily or weekly trips to the bank. There's very low chance of employee theft or mishandling of money. Employees don't have to get into contact with the customers. Employees don't have to deal with giving change ( many younger generations in particular don't know how to handle giving change back lol). Electronic payments are much fester and more secure for the customer.

1. I don't want there to be a record of everything I buy.

Again another legitimate complaint, but not that legitimate. Privacy is obviously important, but you do realize that your phone constantly tracks where you go right? Or there are security cameras that monitor your location. Or other people's phones also track your location. Basically your privacy is already ruined from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep.

1. Cashless shops are illegal.

This is simply not true. Aside from a few jurisdictions, cashless shops are completely allowed to exist. Only a few locations in the US make it illegal to refuse cash. Most of you don't live in this jurisdictions. So yeah it is perfectly legal.

1. It is "unamerican" to refuse cash.

Right away, not a valid complaint. But to go into more detail, private businesses are allowed to mandate whatever form of payment they want. Ironically, that's the most American thing I can think of.
In short, the only reason people hate cashless businesses is because they can't use cash at those businesses.
If you hate them, just don't shop there instead of complain about it.

NOTE = "Skip to 9th Paragraph for the meat";
I've been doing Cododev's Node.js core concept course after hearing very great things about it in this sub. I'm a big fan of - - low level programming - rebuilding framework from scratch - diving deeper into source code
I've worked as a Data Scientist and an Application Developer (Flutter). Dart has a strong backend support but since I was a complete beginner in Backend, it was hard for me to straight away start with Adapters, Middlewares and Routing.
I tried express but it felt like cheating.When I say app = Express() I get a server. What the fuck is a server??? With Firebase and Cloud, I was getting even more confused.
I wanted to learn Go, Axum, Spring, Node and I was evaluating - actually wasting time without learning anything because everywhere they were using some framework which felt like a black box and I needed a low level guide that ensures i become a backend master by the end of it.
Characteristic of a good course is it just doesn't teach you the code, it teaches you the algorithm and constructs which you could use in any language or tool you wish and that's when I found out about Cododev.
Why I decided to go with his Node. js course - 1. It was talking about basics before even touching HTTP for 30 hours. 2. He talked about TCP for 9 hours, HTTP for 9 hours, Taught UNix and C for 8 hours and a lot more... it's 50+ hour course. 3. You shouldn't measure a course by its length, so here's the projects which that course has -

• A File System,
• Literally any simulation with Event Emitters
• Streams from Scratch, and again a File System that uses stream to move files.
• A chat application on sockets(inherited from Duplex Streams) and TCP Server(extends Event Emitters)
• A fucking Google Drive, file uploader on Cloud
• DNS Server
• HTTP on top of TCP
• Coding and Express like framework from scratch ( this one made me buy his course)
• A social media with JWT authentication
• Unix, C, Bash Scripting
• Ffmpeg and using it with node on a server for an online video editor.
• Compression and implementating algorithm on buffer, binary, hex level.

Course isn't complete yet, moduls that are left are - 1. Encryption and Cryptography 2. Worker Threads (and multi threading? I don't know if Node is multi threaded, but whatever sort of Parallelism you could achieve with Isolates) 3. Security 4. Taking a huge open source project and Reimplementing the backend in the framework we started building from HTTP section.
What have I learned -
I now understand Binary, Hex, encoding ,ASCII, unicode(utf-8,16,32,..n), bytes, bits, how they relate to each other.
I understand the event emitters.. Events, .on(), .emit(), and could easily read docs for any such structure like Servers( they're EEs)
I understand Streams, How data is moved across places through memory, storage and network. I understand processing(CPU%), disk usage, and memory usage (of node's + high watermark value).
I understand Readable, Writable, Duplex and Transform Streams, and could implement them without the functions provided on file handle and I could manage and tweak how much memory or processing any Stream would use.
I understand about internal writable/readable buffers, buffer overflow, sync and async passage, safe/ unsafe streams, data event, end event, error event, drain event. Pausing, Resuming and Destroying a stream.
And at the end, piping and pipelines because that's the battle tested way but now I know both of those works and could even tweak source code at will.
Requests, Response, TCP Connection, Socket - they are all Streams.
Literally the bit level control over data, processing and memory - he taught me that.
I understand File Systems very well. On a server and on a client device. With streams, you could create a fully functional File system which can copy, move, delete, rename, create, etc. We did that.
Then he started with Networking. That was a journey. For hours he talked about followup things - 1. Internet 2. How it works 3. Communication 4. Wired Communication through Cables(he already taught us streams which is how communication or movement of data happen in memory and internal storage) 5. Switch, Cables, IP Addresses, Mac Addresses, Routers 6. Networking Layers and IANA. 7. Physical Layer, Data Link Layer, IP/Network Layer, TCP/ Transport Layer, and Application Layer. 8. DNS, IP Addresses - IPv4 and IPv6. Ports.
I'm sure I have missed something but you get the gist.. Now the course started properly. We started talking about TCP.
He literally went into Specifications, Headers, and on the wireshark captured the segments and made me understand how data flows throughout the entire world. I learnt about TCP Server in net module. It's events and methods. Clients(Socket Connection).
We then very casually hosted this Server on AWS. Made multiple clients and created a group chat with just readable and writable streams pausing, draining and resuming with a freaking Terminal UI. I was never as thrilled and understood chat application soo well.
We made a TCP and UDP uploader using which you could send your local files to any server through network using Streams with just TUI. We built an FTP protocol of our own.
At this time, without even knowing what HTTP and Web Server, I was able to Reimplement parts of Dart Shelf - A library in that allows you to create Middlewares and all.. Like implementing Requests, Response, headers and Servers from scratch, because it's the same thing with different syntax.
I then started with HTTP module. First of all I understood that I have already implemented HTTP while trying to make different custom protocols on top of TCP. That confidence boost was enough to go further -
I understood - all the headers - content type - mimes, content length, transfer encoding chunked, three way handshake, ack, syn was already done in TCP. - http versions, http headers, and body, HTTP methods ( for requests) - create, put, post, update, delete, head, get, option, etc and Idempotency and why adhering to it is important. - HTtP Responses ( For Responses) - Informational Range(1), Success Range(2), Redirect Range(3), Client Error(4), Server Error(5**). - We read IANA and MDN docs
He then started creating an express like framework. We started listening from a Server and used on() methods and functions to manage routes and sending different requests with different status codes.
I saw how if I returned HTML by writing it on a Response stream, it renders the freaking website. Fuck! I can also send audio, image, or any file type in the body through writing on the Response Stream at any required processing or Memory usage.
We implemented a routing functionality, a request handler and easy file transfer protocols and json protocols. I learned parsing and Stringifying and how even that is a cost.
Overall this framework can create a server like app = express(); about which I had no fucking clue about a month ago. Does JSON Parsing, Has an FTP, Handles routing for any kind of backend api structuring and send status codes. All in a chained method format..
Right now, I have just started building this Social Media application in the course using which we will develop our framework more.. I'm just starting this part of the course...
Over all I've never felt so confident in my backend skills and I have noticed that no matter in what language I see the backend code in - go, php, rust, Dart, python, Java, bun, deno, c, cpp - I understand it all. Everything makes perfect sense.
And I have only completed 60% of existing course. Course itself is 60% completed. I plan to use Dart anyways in my Flutter Apps but the crazy amount of knowledge this guy "Joseph" has poured into a course is unsurmountable.
For someone really experienced or a low level programmer, this might not be a big deal for a person completely new to backend and with very little knowledge of system programming and Linux - this course has been a freaking godsend.
That was my experience, Node is awesome! Thanks for reading.

hi everyone. i just graduated from college with a degree from a prestigious school (think ivy) and i had interned in finance in the city during college summers. i did not get a return offer from my junior year summer internship and tbh i felt like the environment was lowkey toxic for women in finance, but i kept pushing through it. kept applying to jobs, for one firm i received 5 rounds of interviews only to hear no at the end. i stopped applying to jobs in my last semester and applied for grad school programs, and I've only been getting rejections so far. i feel so demotivated because grad school was a way for me to take a risk and maybe start a business or something but now i just don't know what to do. I'm applying to jobs but i don't ever hear back and i don't want to settle for a job where i will be mistreated/poor culture. i am also an international student and my work visa starts in august ish so I'm feeling very heartbroken. i had a very successful college career, good gpa, good club positions, good internships, i just feel so shattered at how nothing worked out for me. i keep seeing the influencers on Instagram and a part of me thinks maybe i should just start some kind of page, but i hate having my face out there on social media and just feel so awkward about the prospect of making reels. idk, starting a small business seems so hard and because all my experience has been working in finance i feel like i don't even know anything else. pls give me any advice, i would really really appreciate it.

Lydia awoke with Waldo screaming. Lydia quickly got up and activated the magic stones lighting the room, Lydia did not see a reason for him to be screaming and was about to wake him when he went quiet. Lydia wondered what had happened and as she watched him she became concerned he was not breathing but just as she was about to shake him away he started breathing again then he began to weep in his sleep saying “I would take it back if I could. I did not know what it meant. Please, I never meant for this.” Lydia watched over him for several minutes as he repeated this over and over. Lydia did not know why but after a while she embraced him gently.
“It is ok. We all make mistakes.” Lydia said quietly holding him. She did not entirely know why she chose to do this as she felt some concern over what he was apologizing for having done but something made her decide to stay with him. Eventually, he stopped and started sleeping peacefully. Lydia slowly fell back to sleep after he quieted and returned to a peaceful state.
Lydia awoke again with Waldo sitting dressed on the edge of the bed. “Good Morning.”
“Good Morning.” Waldo replied, turning to Lydia. “Sorry, if I woke you in the night. I do not always sleep well.”
“I can understand that. It took almost a year before I could sleep through the night.” Lydia replied.
“I brought breakfast up. Kna mentioned I screamed in the middle of the night. I rarely have a companion… So I did not know. I guess I was extra loud last night. I woke some other patrons.” Waldo said calmly. Lydia climbed out of bed and dressed herself as Waldo watched her but when she looked at him she felt he was lost in his own mind.
"Copper for your thoughts.” Lydia said as she started to lace up her dress. Waldo walked over to her and helped her.
“I thought I knew who I was…but I remembered things last night…” Waldo said hollowly. “I don’t know what I was fighting for… All that time as a soldier and now I remembered… what I learned before arriving here and it isn’t what I thought.”
“Do you want to elaborate?” Lydia asked.
“I am not sure I know how.” Waldo said and there was silence for a moment.
“Well, maybe you should stay here if you don’t know why you were fighting. At least, until you figure out what you want.” Lydia said and feeling better about what she had heard last night she kissed him gently on the cheek. “Thank you. I would stay for breakfast but I need to get to work.” Lydia said, grabbing a piece of bread with an egg off the plate.
“Have a nice day and I hope to see you later.” Waldo said, as she headed toward the door.
“Good luck today!” Lydia said, smiling and left. Waldo collected several things from his pack then stored it under the bed and took the plate of food to the common room where he ate slowly. Waldo noticed that Lydia was not in the common room as he ate breakfast. Waldo did not have to wait long after finishing his breakfast before Strisk arrived.
“Good Morning!” Strisk waved at Waldo moving across the common room.
“Greetings Strisk.” Waldo replied standing and moving to meet him.
“Are you ready to go down to the training grounds?” Strisk asked.
“Yeah, let’s head out.” Waldo said, motioning for Strisk to lead the way.
“Are you in a hurry?” Strisk asked, leading Waldo out.
“No, nothing like that just…” Waldo stopped in the door exiting the inn as he looked out into the city. Waldo had expected Protham to be small but realized it had been dark when he arrived and late that is why he had not realized how expansive it was. Waldo saw a wall sixty or seventy feet tall. Waldo stepped into the street and could see a gate two hundred or so feet down the road in one direction and in the other there was what appeared to be a small square. “How big is Protham?”
“It is just a small village, only five thousand or so. Most people are employed in fishing the lake or harvesting trees.” Strisk replied. “The gnolls recently opened a college here… Something about ley lines and increased power, but that is not my expertise.”
“I am surprised they even care about the ley line. The planet is so saturated with magic I would have thought everyone can easily use it.” Waldo responded.
“I wouldn’t know about that. Are you a mage?” Strisk asked.
“I cannot use magic… I can still feel it pooling.” Waldo said, wondering why he could feel it still since he now knew he could not use it. “It must be something to do with the leveling. I wonder if there is a construct powering the whole system.”
“You are suggesting a magic artifact causes people to level?”Strisk asked, shocked at the strangeness of the idea.
“Um… So I assume it is a mage college of some kind they opened?” Waldo asked, trying to change topics.
“Yeah. I would have suggested going and seeing the head there about your teleporting but from what I have heard they see almost no one who isn’t a student.” Strisk said, starting to walk down the street. Waldo followed, taking in the people and the streets. Waldo noticed most people were gnollish he saw drakes as well but it seemed to be ten to one.
“Lydia said you are a Drake. I have never learned to identify the scaled races apart from one another. It appears that Protham is mostly gnolls and Drakes. What makes a drake a drake and not say a lizardfolk?” Waldo asked, carefully.
“Lydia is right. I am a Drake. Lizardfolk always have tails. Drakes rarely have tails and those that do have a tail almost always have wings. That is usually the easiest way to tell us apart but it is more nuanced. A healthy Drake’s scales are vibrant, we stand out. A healthy lizardfolk has duller scales. Drakes can have horns or spikes across their head and back but never hair. Lizardfolk never have horns but can grow spikes. Usually they grow something more like a fin, which can be over their head or even down their chin to their chest. All the facial features are nuanced except the eye. Drake’s eyes face forward. Lizardfolk’s eyes face out enough to easily tell if you look at them.” Strisk explained calmly. “Kobolds are short but look like Drakes with a tail and all the other scaled races have gills.”
“Thank you. I realize that might have been rude to ask but I assume it is ruder to make a mistake.” Waldo said as they continued to make their way through the mostly empty streets.
“Most drakes consider it the pinnacle of rudeness to mistake us for the lizardfolk. Well the lizardfolk seem indifferent. I once saw a short Lizardman get mistaken for a Kobold and they laughed about it. Well a few days ago I had to break up a bar fight cause a gnoll called a drake a lizard.” Strisk said. “My people need to calm down about being mistaken for another race. Most cannot even tell the other races apart. No offense, but I assume you are a human because Lydia is one without looking at your ears, which are currently covered by your hair you could pass for an elf in my eyes and if you told me you were a dwarf I would believe it… even though, I think you are too tall to be a dwarf.” Waldo laughed at Strisk’s words.
“An elf you say?” Waldo said, smiling and moving his hair from over his ears. “I am a human. However, I can understand the confusion. Even among humans it is possible for some to mistake another human as one of our kin races.”
“Kin race?” Strisk asked.
“Yes, races that share certain broad features and where half races are possible.” Waldo said.
“Then would Drakes not be a Kin race.” Strisk asked.
“You ever seen a half human and half drake?” Waldo asked.
“Well no, but I was told it was possible.” Strisk said, wondering.
“Possible for our race's women’s bodies to respond as if they are creating a blend. However, it is largely my understanding no blend has survived birth. Maybe one is out there but largely our internal anatomy; bone structure, organ placement, organs in general, and finer points don’t blend into something that survives birth if a pregnancy occurs which to my knowledge is extremely rare and usually it is a half race not a full where that can occur according to one report I read most mothers die in labor if they carry the blend to term and the child still dies.” Waldo said calmly. Strisk stopped.
“How do you know this?” Strisk asked. Waldo thought about it for a moment. Realizing he did not know how to explain having millions of years of knowledge on hand a little surprised he had so easily recalled something from another life. As he thought about it he wondered how he could so easily access it. Then he knew. Four of his prior selves had learned to build a mind palace. When the Orc had implanted all the memories, those four had combined their knowledge and laid out everything, which made him wonder how he knew about the interbreeding of humans and drakes, which brought forth the memories of four doctors. One of which was drake. Strisk watched as Waldo stared off into the distance. Suddenly, Waldo went pale and threw up in the street. “What the hell?” Strisk said, jumping back to avoid getting splattered.
“Sorry.” Waldo said, feeling queasy. Waldo pushed the doctor’s memories away realizing he was not ready to go exploring all the memories aimlessly. Waldo pulled out his hip canteen and washed his mouth out. Spitting the water down a nearby drain “Damn. I was hoping to not have to eat until dinner. I assume the interview will have a combat skills test?” Waldo asked, looking at Strisk.
“Well yes, but what was that?” Strisk asked, feeling the response was unjustified for his question.
“Oh, right, your question. Um… I went to a memory I should have left alone. I was thinking about my time studying… when I strayed into an incident.” Waldo said, trying to explain without lying.
“An incident?” Strisk asked.
“I expect there are things you have seen as a city guard you would rather not remember.” Waldo replied, carefully.
“Oh… you mean something like that. I can understand that. Let’s continue on. Just another block or so.” Strisk said, letting Waldo follow him. Neither said anything until they got to the city's barracks. They had crossed near the center of town and were now at a lakeside gate that had a training arena with a large gatehouse next to it.
“How many positions is the guard filling?” Waldo asked as they approached the building.
“We are adding five new full time positions in hope of growth due to the mage college, three part time, and around fifty new reservists.” Strisk said and then opened the gatehouse’s front door.
“Good Morning, Strisk!” A female voice behind the counter greeted as they entered.
“Good Morning, Violet.” Strisk replied. “Is Trag in?”
“Yes, he got in a bit ago and…Who are you?” Violet asked, staring at Waldo as he entered the gatehouse.
“Waldo Winter.” Waldo said, step into the room and bowing slightly to the human girl behind the counter.
“He is with me. Violet. He arrived in town last night under strange circumstances.” Strisk said.
“Is he why you are meeting with Trag this early?” Violet asked, keeping her eyes on Waldo. “Is he a criminal?”
“Yes to the meeting with Trag and not as far as I am aware. You haven’t done anything illegal have you?” Strisk asked, grinning Waldo.
“Admittedly, I have not read your legal code, but assuming it follows traditional patterns of legal codes for structured societies. Not in this city. At least, I very much doubt I have.” Waldo said, smiling lightly at Violet.
“What are you doing here then?” Violet asked.
“Apart from identifying myself to local authorities due to the strange way I arrived. Hopefully, applying for a job.” Waldo stated. Violet frowned.
“Are you applying for citizenship in Protham or just submitting notice of intent to work in Protham?” Violet asked.
“Notice of intent to work, at this time.” Waldo replied, moving up to the desk as Strisk stepped away. Violet handed him a sheet of paper and pulled out a second enchanted page.
“Good luck finding work here. There are not many jobs outside of scribe, barworker, or general laborer for humans in Protham. The Drakes and Gnolls are larger and stronger than humans naturally and they are basically hiring enforcers right now.” Violet whispered to Waldo. “Where are you staying?”
“The Spriggan Inn.” Waldo said, looking at the form, surprised he could read it. As he started to fill out the form he remembered a passage about grown arrivals passing between world and being gifted languages of the worlds they arrived on from death. Waldo tried to remember the author's reasoning for the gift but could not. Waldo wished he had learned written gnollish languages but had only learned their spoken languages.
“How did you come to be there?” Violet said, showing surprise.
“Long story short…Some sort of teleportation accident.” Waldo answered, focused on completing the form.
“Wow… Lucky.” Violet said, thinking it strange he appeared in the only inn with a human working in it in Protham.
“Yes, but I suspect there is a good reason for that.” Waldo said, handing her the completed form.
“You how to read Grofeas gnoll?” Strisk asked, looking at Waldo holding the form out to Violet. “You said you had not heard of this country last night.” Violet took the form looking suspiciously at Waldo.
"No, I am familiar with other gnollish written languages and this is close enough to them that I guessed. Please check that and make sure my responses make sense.” Waldo said, looking at Violet. Waldo smiled at his omission. He was familiar with several gnoll written languages and had learned a few key words like bathroom, food, and price but had not even memorized their alphabet. Violet started to look over the document carefully. Waldo noticed the enchanted page on the desk had a picture of his face on it now with a list of several things about him, such as height, an approximate weight, and the like. Waldo heard a low growl with several inflections. Waldo looked at the gnoll standing by Strisk.
“Would you mind repeating that? I am not sure I quite heard what you said, because I thought you called me a fur lover.” Waldo said, looking narrowly at the gnoll. The gnoll made several more growls at Waldo. The gnoll had reddish brown fur and stood a little shorter than Strisk. Waldo thought the gnoll would probably be considered extremely handsome among gnolls. He was well groomed and clearly muscled under the fur. He even wore a steel breastplate that was polished to a shine. Waldo saw a stamp over his right peck that appeared to be a runic enchantment.
“Because I am not. I learned it at the time because my life depended on it. The gnolls I met were not as affluent as you are here and only knew one language. Their own. I had to learn it or live without speaking. Their treatment of me would have killed me if I had not learned their language. They knew next to nothing of humans and were a tribe secluded in the mountains. They meant well, but due to the harsh circumstances of the location I was slowly dying from starvation and exposure. It took four weeks to learn enough for rough communication after which I found them to be extremely friendly and curious. I spent two years with that tribe before making contact with a human settlement in the area. I managed to broker a peace there because I learned gnollish. So I continued my education and have since learned various spoken dialects.” Waldo responded to the newcomers' growls calmly.
“Why don’t you respond in gnollish?” The gnoll asked, changing languages. Waldo growled back in several inflections and moved a hand. Violet had noticed hand movements when gnolls growled and never associated it with them speaking but Waldo’s movements were so pronounced she realized it had to be part of the gnollish language. “Fair enough. I am Captain Trag. Strisk says you are a soldier.”
“Wait what did you say?” Violet asked Waldo.
“Violet. Don’t be rude.” Strisk chided, curious himself but having held himself back.
“I am sorry. I have just never seen a non-gnoll speak gnollish” Violet said, almost involuntarily. Trag slapped Strisk across the back of the head.
“Strisk, she is our scribe, do not order her around.” Trag said, smiling. Waldo got the sense that Trag did not like Strisk.
“I explained human throats are not well formed for the gnollish language, which hurts my throat the more I speak it and makes my accompanying hand movements more pronounced than is proper.” Waldo explained to Violet.
“Can you teach me?” Violet asked, seeing how beneficial it would be to know gnollish in her job.
“We can talk after the interview.” Waldo said, smiling at Violet.
“Right, sorry. Thank you.” Violet replied looking over at Trag apologetically.
“Excuse me for interrupting your conversation Violet. I will make sure to send Waldo back once we are done.” Trag said, smiling at Violet then turning to Waldo. “What level of soldier are you? Or is it some other fighting class?”
“I don’t have any levels in fighting classes.” Waldo replied.
“And you want to be a city guard?” Trag said looking angrily at Strisk who looked at Waldo surprised.
“Wait, are you a medic of somekind?” Strisk asked, remembering the other night.
“No, just give me a chance. We should go to the training ground if combat assessment is to be a large part of this process.” Waldo stated, a little surprised they had started asking questions in the entrance.
“It is. We can train you in Protham legal code, but we rarely do combat training for our guards; most people come to us with twenty or more levels in a combat class, when they are applying to be a guard.” Trag stated, as Waldo opened the door.
“Where I come from people do not rely on the leveling systems for combat training.” Waldo started walking to the training grounds as Trag and Strisk followed.
“Where are you from?” Trag asked.
“Halcyon. Heard of it?” Waldo asked, knowing the reply.
“Nope.” Trag replied, thinking this human could never keep up with a gnoll or drake in a fight. “What are you wearing?” Trag asked, no longer able to hold back the question as the human looked very strange to him.
“Desert Armored Combat Fatigues, my throwing knives, combat knife, an assortment of tools I have found useful over the years, and a magic sling.” Waldo said, touching different things on his body. “The armor is stab resistant and there are several metal plates spread out in the fabric. If I get the job I would like to wear this until I can afford to get some locally made gear.”
“A magic sling?” Trag asked.
“Yeah, but I have limited ammo for it. It only works with special magic ammo and I doubt you have that here.” Waldo replied.
“Have you heard of a magic sling Strisk?” Trag asked.
“No, that is new to me.” Strisk replied. “I thought you could not use magic.”
“I cannot not cast a magic spell but this is an artifact. I could teach anyone to use it. If I had unlimited ammo or access to a bullet manufacturer I would be happy to show it off but I only have ninety rounds for it.” Waldo explained.
“How long have you been a soldier?” Trag asked, Waldo had seen himself in a mirror and knew they would not believe the truth. Waldo looked like he was in his prime but Halcyon slowed aging massively Waldo was older than any human got to normally and he was still unsure if he had died or Death’s healing had further reduced the effects of aging.
“Nine years.” Waldo replied, pushing it as far as he thought he could. Waldo had put his age down as twenty nine on the form, but knew he looked closer to twenty now. “I expect I will be sparing with one of you?”
“No, we are waiting for your sparring partners. I sent for two reservists. They generally are not needed for regular guard shifts and if they are injured it should not interfere with their regular jobs.” Trag stated, show us how good you are with throwing knives.
“Alright.” Waldo said, pulling four of the weighted knives from their sheaths. Waldo carried twelve in all. Four on his left leg, two on each arm and four on his chest. Waldo started by juggling the knives as he moved into position to throw them. Waldo smoothly plucked them out of the air as he was juggling them and launched them one after another in quick succession down the lane, with the knives sinking deep into the wooden target in a tight group.
“For having no skills that is pretty good. Now for the moving targets.” Trag said, with Waldo looking back at him as he pressed a button. Waldo watched as the targets began to move side to side. Waldo could tell this was intended for arrows as the range was longer than he would usually throw when it came to moving targets.
“May I move up or do you want me to throw from here?” Waldo asked.
“Tark throws from there.” Trag replied, Waldo grabbed two more knives, throwing them half a second after looking back at the target. Both landed bullseyes but Waldo could feel the strain on his muscles. He was not used to this distance. Waldo pulled two more and turned his back to the targets. Waldo slowly strafed toward the center of the range as he had started to the right side. After a moment making sure to give the targets time to move he spun around and with one hand launched both knives. One landed in a bullseye, but the other fell short. Waldo turned his back to the targets and drew all of his remaining knives placing them at the ready in one hand. Waldo turned and threw three and turned back around quickly. He heard 2 thuds and one that was a clang. He was not sure what the third had hit. Waldo spun around and sent his final knife down the lane hitting another bullseye. The three quick throws were not bullseyes but they had all hit targets.
“That is all the throwing knives I carry.” Waldo said. “Shall I collect them?”
“No, Strisk go get the knives and report back on how deep they are.” Trag said, turning the moving targets off. Waldo moved over to Trag as Strisk retrieved the knives. “Only one complete miss, that is not bad. If you are hired then we are gonna have to replace the knives with some weighted rods. We can issue you some bolas while on duty. Unless a kill order is issued, but most the time we will expect people to be taken alive.”
“Understandable. What is a bolas?” Waldo asked.
“It is three pieces of rope tied to each other on one end and has a weight on the other side. When throwing it, the intent is to hit a person's legs and if it works correctly it will wrap around a fleeing person’s legs and trip them. In town it can be tricky to use and for people they have lighter weights. It was originally used to hunt various animals on the plains. If the weights are too heavy they can break bones.” Trag said, explained. “What class are you?”
Waldo had been preparing for this question since they had asked him earlier. “Diplomat.” Waldo replied.
“You have no levels in a combat class but you are a diplomat as a soldier?” Trag questioned.
“When I use skills from it as a soldier it is generally in interrogations, but my personal goal was to try and find less violent solutions to my nation's disputes. So, I ended up becoming a diplomat. The times I acted in that capacity I was glad to have trained as a soldier. Few people seem to want peaceful resolutions. So as a diplomat I have often been met with violence.” Waldo explained twisting the truth. They stood in silence as they waited for Strisk to finish retrieving the knives. Strisk handed Waldo eleven of the knives and Trag one of the knives.
“Six perfect hits. Three near perfects. Two hits. One miss. Ten hits were all very deep. The one that made the clang hit a metal frame holding the target. It dented the metal and chipped his knife.” Strisk reported as Waldo sheathed the eleven knives he had been handed. Waldo looked at Trag just in time to catch his face returning to a neutral state after what Waldo believed to be a frown.
“How is your hand to hand combat proficiency?”Trag asked.
“I am an expert with a knife, however, I could easily swap it out for a padded baton. It would be harder on me, but I am sure I can hold my own.” Waldo said, showing the knife sheathed across his lower back and trying to determine Trag’s mood. Trag examined the knife and could see it was custom made for Waldo and well used.
“Strisk, you are good to go on patrol. Your partner should be ready about now.” Trag said, with a hint of sadness.
“I was hoping to stay and see him fight the reservists.” Strisk said, a little excited and as Strisk said that it clicked for Waldo.
“No one is coming. To test my combat proficiency.” Waldo said, calmly. “Sorry, Strisk. I should have known better.”
“We should go to my office and talk.” Trag said and handed Waldo the chipped knife Strisk had handed him.
“Wait, why?” Strisk asked, Trag.
“Politics, Strisk. Guardsmen are just a little political, which means Trag cannot hire another human. Especially, not in a citizen-facing role.” Waldo said, with a smile. “Am I right?”
“Violet, is our scribe. Citizen’s see her.” Strisk said looking confused.
“Violet is my scribe. She assists with filing and compiling guardsmen reports. She has only covered the front desk on a few occasions and usually it is to give another scribe a break or chance to go to the bathroom.” Trag stated.
“Strisk, thank you for introducing me to Captain Trag. I truly appreciate this opportunity. I would be happy to speak to you in your office Trag.” Waldo said, smiling at both of them.
“Sorry, Waldo… I didn’t realize.” Strisk said dejectly. Waldo laughed lightly.
“You have done no harm at all and even helped me file documents I needed to in order to stay. You introduced me to your Captain. Strisk, you have been nothing but helpful. Please do not feel sorry.” Waldo said, smiling at Strisk.
“Thanks, I guess I should get going.” Strisk said, clearly feeling better. “Sir. Waldo.” Strisk said, nodding his head to each of them and leaving. Trag started heading towards the guard house and motioned for Waldo to follow, which Waldo did in silence. Trag opened the door and sure enough Violet was no longer at the front desk. There was a male Drake scribe sitting behind the counter.
“Sir.” The drake said, standing up to greet them. Trag waved his hand and the drake sat back down. Waldo followed him up a set of stairs and down a hall to an open room with three scribes working on various documents on a table big enough for four, one of which was Violet.
“Your morning report sir.” A female gnoll scribe said, smiling at Trag and holding a folder. She noticed Waldo and her demeanor changed slightly. She glanced at Violet as Trag grabbed the folder.
“Thank you. I have a meeting for a few minutes. Is there anything urgent?” Trag gestured at Waldo. The scribes all looked up and gave a negative nod. “If needed you may interrupt us.” Trag said, opening his office door and leading Waldo into his office. It was a plain room. There were several chairs facing the back of the room with a large desk and chair behind it facing the door. There were two sturdy looking bookcases organized with an assortment of documents. The room was clean and orderly. A couch sat against one wall with a window behind it that had shutters and Waldo noticed a plain axe with a rope next to it leaning against a bookcase. “Please take a seat.” Trag said, opening the folder as he moved around the desk and sat down. Waldo sat across from him. They sat in silence as Trag read over a few reports. “Thank you for your patience.” Trag said look up from the report.
“Anything important?” Waldo asked.
“No, just the normal going on. Except for you of course.” Trag said.
“Yeah, I made a surprising entrance last night.” Waldo agreed.
“Teleportation has a tendency to create some alerts. If Strisk had not reported your arrival last night, the guard may have interrupted your welcome to our fine city.” Trag replied.
“That report is more thorough than I would have liked.” Waldo stated.
“Kna is a friend and Aer is a gossip.” Trag replied.
“I should have waited in the common room. We could have talked last night.” Waldo guessed.
“Doubtful, but I would have known your face this morning if you had.” Trag stated.
“I had hoped this was an offer for contract work of some kind.” Waldo said, frowning slightly.
“It still might be. I have not determined what to do about you.” Trag replied.
“Oh, well is there something you would like cleared up?” Waldo asked, smiling.
“Kna is worried about one of her barmaids. Aer has never seen her friend respond so positively to someone so quickly.” Trag stated, calmly. Waldo knew they were straying into dangerous territory.
“I have never responded to another human as positively.” Waldo replied, honestly.
“Just two soulmates meeting for the first time?” Trag asked, Waldo jerked in surprise at the word reacting before he could stop himself. Waldo realized Trag did not mean it the way he had taken it but it was too late. Trag had been watching him closely and was now looking unsure at Waldo. “I think you have some explaining to do.” Trag said, prepared to strike. Waldo leaned forward and placed his head in his hand dropping his show.
“This cannot under any circumstances leave this room. If you have listeners they need to stop. If you have a way to make the room secure. I will tell you enough to know why.” Waldo said, unsure of what would happen next.
“What, so can you kill me in silence?” Trag asked, feeling concerned about this stranger's response.
“If you want to tie me up feel free, but I am not talking until I am confident the secret won’t leave this room.” Waldo said, sitting back and calming his nerves. Waldo was trying to figure out how to explain this with as little lying as possible. Waldo wondered if he could avoid lying all together. Trag hesitated for a minute then opened a drawer and pulled out a small box. Trag said a command word under his breath and the box activated.
“Alright, we are alone and no one can see or hear us. This better be good or I won’t keep your secret.” Trag said.
“Have you ever been in love so much it hurt your soul?” Waldo asked.
“What?” Trag asked, surprised.
“I have. If I had understood this was possible. If I had known. I would have done so many things differently.” Waldo said, deciding to be as honest as he felt he could. “I thought she was dead. I joined the wrong people to get vengeance. To make it stop. In doing, so I pissed off some really powerful people. I thought my master was strong enough to protect me and I thought I was powerful enough to protect myself. I want to tell Lydia so bad. I want her to remember our time together. Every second we spent together. If I had magic this would be so easy but using magic to accomplish it would be wrong.” Waldo said, with tears in his eyes. “I wish I could just show her. However, the people I pissed off took my ability to use magic. I did not even know that was possible.” Waldo said, holding out an open palm. “Light.” Trag felt magic tug slightly, but nothing happened. “They took my magic so I could not interfere. When they did that I thought they would send me to a prison cell or some equally horrible place. They cursed me with unwanted knowledge I can barely grasp. Part of my mind is still trying to rip itself apart. But instead of sending me to a desert. They toss me like I am nothing and I land inside Spriggan Inn, in Protham barely even hurt. I did know she was the same soul at first. Standing in the dim light of the inn. She looks the same. Alive working as a barmaid in a place I have never even heard of. She doesn’t even remember me but she was drawn to me just like I was to her all those years ago.” Waldo said. “Kna is worried I might hurt her and honestly so am I. However, if we are to separate again I would have her tell me to go. It would be the most painful thing I ever do but I would leave if she asked. I don’t blame you if you don’t believe me, but I have found my dead lover again, my soulmate and I never thought I would see her. She died so I figured that was it. I did not know about the cycle but now I do. So please give me the chance to win her.” Waldo finished with tears at the corners of his eyes. “Please, I am begging you.” Trag knew Waldo was leaving part out but felt he was being honest and looking at Waldo Trag knew he held this man’s life in his hands at this moment. Trag looked at Waldo and activated several skills he had for conversations like this. Trag knew Waldo did not intend harm at this time or harm to his city.
“For the moment. You have convinced me.” Trag said, still slightly concerned, something about him bothered Trag, but Trag was confident the stranger would be unlikely to deliberately cause problems in Protham.
“Thank you for giving me a chance. I will prove I mean no harm.” Waldo said, starting to recover his composure. Trag grabbed the rope and axe, placing them on his desk.
“Do you know how to cut down a tree?” Trag asked.
“Yes.” Waldo replied.
“As captain of the guard. I am allotted two trees every year. The town allows me to do as I will with the tree tokens, I am issued. The mill will pay me five gold per token on average. However, If I cut the tree down and turn in the tree with the token they will right now pay eight gold. If you cut a tree down and turn it in for me. I will let you keep two gold coins of those eight.” Trag stated placing a token on the table.
“Sounds like a good deal.” Waldo replied.
“Have you hunted boar?” Trag asked.
“I have hunted. Not specifically boar but I am familiar with the complexities they present.” Waldo replied, wondering where this was going.
“Currently, we have a boar problem on the western road and several groups have been attacked by boars. It is quite troublesome. Protham does not have an adventuring guild and most hunters will hunt safer game or only kill one or two boars at a time. You can rent a hand cart for a day for three coppers at the docks. Usually they are used to transport fish around town. They are sturdy carts and can hold several hundred kilos. There are several blacksmiths in town that sell quality steel tipped javelins, for a silver. Now they are not perfect for hunting boar but they should work well enough. Currently, I have placed a bounty on boar kills of a silver per boar jaw turned in. We will even buy the dead boar for one and half coppers per five pounds. However, you could show us the boar, collect the silver, then most local butchers will buy dead boar for two copper per five pounds. Those are the current rates for whole boars” Trag explained.
“Sounds like I have a tree to chop down.” Waldo said standing.
“Out the main gate past the mill and then pick an un-worked tree the taller the better. They pay less for trees shorter than twenty feet and more for trees taller than twenty five feet. If you are willing to search there are some forty and fifty footers out there. I expect six gold regardless.” Trag stated.
“Why are you doing this?” Waldo asked.
“It is not one thing. Lots of little things adding up. Kna is a friend and Lydia is important to her. Kna knows I cannot employ you as a guard. This keeps you out of trouble. Solves a problem for me and if you work hard. Kna might start to like you. I was not going to be able to cut my second tree down before the end of the year. There are more reasons, but in the end, I see no downside for me giving you this chance.” Trag stated plainly.
“Well thank you. I appreciate this.” Waldo said and picked up the axe smiling.
“Good Luck. I plan to eat dinner at Spriggan Inn. So if you get back after sunset you can find me there.” Trag said, gesturing for Waldo to leave.
“Thank you, again!” Waldo said, leaving. After he closed the door he looked for Violet but she was not there. Waldo headed to the stairs back to the entryway. Violet wasn’t there either so he left a message for her and headed back to the Inn. Waldo wanted to ditch his armor before heading out to cut down a tree.

i'm in an early career development program at my company and people in my cohort are very competitive with each other. some people have master's degrees and are much older (late 20s), while some are only about a year or so out of college (including me). the job description asked for only 1-3 yoe and didn't require a master's degree but it ended up that most people had mba's/master's and 3 or more yoe. this means technically, most people in my cohort would be considered overqualified for the role. the pay is very good (six figures, great 401k match,etc). because it's a development program, everyone is making the same salary, so everyone knows each other's salaries too. Now what has happened is that some of the older folks are quite salty that there are people with so many less years of experience and no master's degree (such as myself) that are getting paid the same amount as them. also, my previous experience didn't match up perfectly with the program i'm in, but there were some overlaps. because of this, i'm sure some people think i'm the "underqualified" one in the cohort.
there's one other guy who's my age in the cohort, who keeps bringing up his relevant internships and master's degree because i guess maybe he's super insecure about being so young and having the same position as people who are in their late 20s and 30s. he also is super fixated on the hiring process, which literally happened 8 months, and the only thing he ever discusses is why each person is selected. everyone in the cohort is also obsessed with figuring out each other's ages and i keep getting asked what year i graduated from college as a way to figure out my age, so this guy figured out i was his age by asking me that. so now, everytime i see him, all he talks about is why and how each person was selected for the cohort and how we're both so young. then he'll say oh I have x y and z experience to make himself feel better that he had the qualifications to be selected (almost implying that i don't, as i didn't have much relevant experience or a master's degree and got to the same place essentially). he told me last time i saw him that i was probably selected for my business unit because the people i was up against in the interview were overqualified and wanted higher positions.
how do i deal with this? now that i'm in the program, i'm worried that my coworkers are so salty about how young and relatively "inexperienced" i am compared to them. i'm worried that i'm going to get fired because people are going to complain to HR that i'm getting paid the same amount as them, when they have a master's degree and more experience (i actually heard someone did, but it wasn't geared towards me. they were saying to HR that the pay shouldn't be the same in the program because everyone has different backgrounds). i'm afraid that they're going to try to sabotage me and there's going to be this tone of jealousy and it's going to hurt my reputation in the company. are these concerns warranted? will i get fired because of this?

So after graduating high school a couple years ago ive been going through a pretty rough patch. I worked nightshifts at a factory to fulfil my dream of traveling around the world, which i did half a year later, but I was too numb and depressed to actually enjoy it. Picked up some bad habits along the way and started self-medicating with weed. A couple months of substance abuse and a bad sickness later i washed up at home feeling disconnected and lost.
All my friends had moved away for college and all I had left were a couple younger friends who still went to school, music production, and pot. My weed consumption peaked that winter and I‘m pretty sure I got dangerously close to psychosis. I hit rock bottom on Christmas when I cried in front of my mum for hours. That night I decided to quit, and I‘m on my second attempt rn after having a relapse for a month or so up until a couple weeks ago.
Quitting weed has been feeling like a nightmare you can‘t wake up from. Some of the few friends I thought I had left turned out to be completely different people from a sober perspective. Got my aunt to help me apply to universities, sold all my pot plants, shi I even got a Cambridge certificate to apply abroad. However, I still live alone, I‘m in between jobs and universities, and every single day I feel like I‘m going insane. I wake up from having nightmares every morning and spend my day doing whatever. My stoner friends have started hanging out without even inviting me, and even the few “sober” friends I had left have been leaving most of my messages on read and if we met up i felt like an alien trying to talk to them. I really don’t know how I’ll ever live life somewhat normally again. I feel terribly alone and disconnected, like I am an idiot worth nobody’s time and attention, and I feel like the depression, the trust issues, and the social anxiety I’ve developed won’t help me find friends either.
I’m not suicidal and if everything goes to sh*ts I guess I still have music and gardening to live for, but feeling this depressed and disconnected and hopeless for multiple years now definitely left its mark on me. Maybe someone has been in a similar situation before and has tips to recover from here. Thanks for reading if anyone did ily <3

i'm in an early career development program at my company and people in my cohort are very competitive with each other. some people have master's degrees and are much older (late 20s), while some are only about a year or so out of college (including me). the job description asked for only 1-3 yoe and didn't require a master's degree but it ended up that most people had mba's/master's and 3 or more yoe. this means technically, most people in my cohort would be considered overqualified for the role. the pay is very good (six figures, great 401k match,etc). because it's a development program, everyone is making the same salary, so everyone knows each other's salaries too. Now what has happened is that some of the older folks are quite salty that there are people with so many less years of experience and no master's degree (such as myself) that are getting paid the same amount as them. also, my previous experience didn't match up perfectly with the program i'm in, but there were some overlaps. because of this, i'm sure some people think i'm the "underqualified" one in the cohort.
there's one other guy who's my age in the cohort, who keeps bringing up his relevant internships and master's degree because i guess maybe he's super insecure about being so young and having the same position as people who are in their late 20s and 30s. he also is super fixated on the hiring process, which literally happened 8 months, and the only thing he ever discusses is why each person is selected. everyone in the cohort is also obsessed with figuring out each other's ages and i keep getting asked what year i graduated from college as a way to figure out my age, so this guy figured out i was his age by asking me that. so now, everytime i see him, all he talks about is why and how each person was selected for the cohort and how we're both so young. then he'll say oh I have x y and z experience to make himself feel better that he had the qualifications to be selected (almost implying that i don't, as i didn't have much relevant experience or a master's degree and got to the same place essentially). he told me last time i saw him that i was probably selected for my business unit because the people i was up against in the interview were overqualified and wanted higher positions.
how do i deal with this? now that i'm in the program, i'm worried that my coworkers are so salty about how young and relatively "inexperienced" i am compared to them. i'm worried that i'm going to get fired because people are going to complain to HR that i'm getting paid the same amount as them, when they have a master's degree and more experience (i actually heard someone did, but it wasn't geared towards me. they were saying to HR that the pay shouldn't be the same in the program because everyone has different backgrounds). i'm afraid that they're going to try to sabotage me and there's going to be this tone of jealousy and it's going to hurt my reputation in the company. are these concerns warranted? will i get fired because of this?

Hello everyone at GiftofGames, how are you all doing!!
I recently graduated from college and I'm struggling to find a job. It's really demoralising for me receiving rejection letters, I'm a big gamer and playing games is the only thing that has kept my morale up during these tough times. My financial situation is pretty dire right now, I can't afford to buy a lot of new games.
I'm currently looking to buy Horizon Forbidden West on my PS5. This is my 30th attempt at requesting for this game. I played the first game on my PS4 and loved it. The complete edition of the game is currently on sale with a 34% discount at $39.59. I'm looking for a $40 PlayStation gift card of US region.
GAME SUMMARY
The sequel to 2017's Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West is set in a post-apocalyptic version of the Western United States recovering from the aftermath of an extinction event caused by a rogue robot swarm. The player can explore the open world and complete quests using ranged and melee weapons against hostile machine creatures.
Basically the game takes place in the far future where humanity almost gets destroyed by their advanced robotic creations. But it seems humanity have sort of gone backwards with their primitive clothing, implying that they haven't got the previous knowledge of their ancestors. The first game Horizon Zero Dawn, the protagonist Aloy discovers secrets about what happened to humanity, and its sequel is the continuation of this first game where she explores the far west of modern day america.
WHY I'M INTERESTED
The reason why this game appeals to me is the setting. I find it soo interesting how humanity was able to be on the brink of extinction and somehow managed to survive (I can't anymore due to spoilers). And after surviving, civilisation sort of went backwards instead of continuing on from the ancestors. I watch a lot of lore videos on youtube about this game, and there are many different stories hidden in the game world which tells us different perspectives of people on the situation. Even though its humanity that is in trouble, everybody has a different view on how to tackle the problem. But this is only touching the surface, there is also the robot machines created in these giant cauldrons that is a big mystery to this day.
I appreciate you taking the time to read my post and will give my thanks if I receive the gift card from you. Here is my PSN ID: https://psnprofiles.com/Revelanttech713
Game link: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/horizon-forbidden-west/

Currently, in my early 30s, juggling roles as a wife and mother while living on our own with my small family, I've encountered a reality shift in my perspective. It's as if I can now see my past and the people in my life without being triggered intensely, and I’m gradually figuring out why I ended up the way I am today.
Our marriage isn’t the typical ideal, dream wedding scenario that a mature, stable woman might envision. Instead, it evolved from a period of post-college socializing, working and partying, then fast fwd to the intimacy of a private wedding after becoming pregnant.
Reflecting on my teenage years, I recall the emotional support I lacked, particularly from my adoptive mother. Discovering her infidelity during my high school years made maintaining silence in our home (during crucial developmental stages) even more challenging.
I found myself becoming a people pleaser, seeking validation and acceptance from a certain group of friends at the expense of my own identity. Despite coming from a modest background with a hardworking father, I became increasingly reliant on social media validation, leading to a sense of delusion about my life.
I can’t help but reminisce about my inner child – before the cheating and abuse. I was always considered one of the top students, consistently maintaining good grades. Though good grades don’t necessarily equate to good mental health, I must admit those were the last core memories where I felt truly happy with myself and was honest with both myself and my family.
Back then, family reunions were genuine—not perfect, but happy. My cousins were my first circle of best friends, and relationships weren’t toxic or confusing. In short, there was strong family support.
It seems that life indeed involves trade-offs. Exchanging your true self and values for superficial and shallow things ultimately comes at a high cost. Genuine connections are lost and replaced with what your current life values attract. It’s like betraying yourself = self-sabotage.
However, as reality hit hard, I realized that true fulfillment cannot be found in superficial validation. Going through late realizations and tough lessons, I've come to understand that healing invisible wounds and finding purpose and maturity are the true anchors in life, even as friendships come and go (especially when it’s not true and genuine).
Contrary to popular belief, your 20s aren’t the only defining decade of your life. Many people find that life truly begins at 30, and it’s never too late to start over.
Turning 30 often brings a sense of clarity and purpose that might have been missing in your 20s. This decade is an opportunity to realign your life with what truly matters to you, using the lessons and experiences of your past as a foundation for a more fulfilling future. ✨

Background: I come from a very impoverished family. I’m the first person to go to college and obtain a degree. I live a very comfortable life and remain close to my family.
Advice needed: My cousin borrowed $300 from me back in September. She needed the money to cover college application fees for her daughter. At the time, she said she’d pay me back by Christmas. Between September and December, she mostly ducked me. I never asked about the money, just about how the college search was going and how everything else was in her life. When Christmas came and went with no repayment, I approached her in January and politely mentioned that if she was having trouble, she could pay me back in small amounts, even just $10 a pay. She changed the subject and then the issue fell by the wayside. Over the next few months, she was clearly avoiding me. I sent her some old school photos of our parents and we laughed about them, but there was no conversation about the money.
Well, fast forward to now and my dilemma. Her daughter’s graduation party is coming up and I’m feeling conflicted about what to giver her as a gift. I’m inclined to give nothing in the card, but include a note saying something like, “I am so proud of you for all of your accomplishments and getting into your dream school! I am so glad that I was able to help with your application fees!” Then I would talk to my cousin and just tell her that the debt is completely forgiven. I know it’s not her daughter’s fault and that she shouldn’t be punished but I feel like since the debt wasn’t repaid as agreed upon, I’ve already given her a gift. Thoughts? Advice? Would I be TAH to just gift a card??

Hello! I honestly debated posting a third attempt, as much of the second attempt's critique was stated as "personal opinion" or related to small words, but I'd still like to tidy it up & make it the best I can be. Please do not hold back with critique — I may ask some clarifying questions but will take it all seriously!
Past changes made (1st Attempt, 2nd Attempt): Clarifying MC's motive & reasoning, clarifying side character's importance (reducing unnecessary pronouns), cleaning up wording. In the second attempt, I tidied up a few words.
Thank you to everyone!
XXXXXXXXXXXX[ Query ]XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Dear [AGENT NAME],
Seventeen-year-old Andy Carroll is both a fight and flight risk. A myriad of failed foster placements have landed her in Banter, Minnesota, an eerie little town she intends to escape by nightfall. Her abusive foster father would be the perfect outlet for her anger, but she can’t bear to put her new foster siblings — tiny-yet-feral Lyla and vigilantly analytical Marcelo — in her fury’s crossfire, or worse, get attached. But when her escape fails, no amount of bloody-knuckled plans can save her from dying at her foster father’s hands.
She wakes in the sprawling forest, revived and unwounded — but Banter’s second chance comes at a cost. Not only is the town infested with spectral parasites, Andy’s death birthed a monster of her own. Nightingales tail each resurrected kid and keep them imprisoned within Banter’s borders, a purgatory Andy is dead set on escaping with the help of Marcelo and the rest of the town’s undead teens. Despite Marcelo’s frigidity, lies about his countless deaths, and Andy’s desperate attempts to stay distant, she finds her affection for him and the other kids growing as her stubborn investigations unearth decades-buried evidence about Banter and its monsters.
But old habits die hard, and Andy’s self-sufficiency traps her more than even her Nightingale. When a new foster placement threatens to rip away Lyla, the only kid left alive, Andy must bring the truth of her abuse — and her own fury-guarded fears — to light before her last chance at a family is buried for good.
KIDS DON’T DIE IN BANTER is a 79k YA Paranormal/Contemporary Fantasy novel that combines the lush yet decaying writing of Krystal Sutherland’s House of Hollow with the ghostly purgatory of C.L. Herman’s The Devouring Gray. It appeals to readers of aroace & queer-platonic love stories, and [agent personalization].
I’m a suburban Minnesotan. Like Andy, I’m autistic, aromantic, and asexual — call that triple-A! My time in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) helped guide the characters’ development with C-PTSD and other trauma, while the Nightingales were birthed from my undying dream to befriend a murder of crows (oh, and heal my inner child).
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
First & Last Name
XXXXXXXXXXXX[ First 300 Words ]XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The only thing stopping Andy from throwing the world’s filthiest right hook is the plastic around her bloody knuckles.
The trash bag crinkles as her fist tightens. Concrete scuffs beneath her combat boots, summer heat bleeding through her jacket. It’s nowhere near as molten as the blood rushing past her ears, muffling her social worker’s new-house spiel and the faint whisper of pines.
“—and as I mentioned, she may need… special attention.”
Andy’s eyes narrow as the world comes back into focus — and right now, that world is confined to a stranger’s doorstep, Andy’s trash bag of clothes, and her social worker’s words floating in the humid slush of air. The feeling’s not unknown, far from it. Hell, it’s so familiar it might as well be family.
“I read her file. Flight risk?” remarks the man at the door. The garbage bag wails for mercy as Andy’s fingernails dig into it. Its pleas don’t escape the man’s notice, and with a smirk he adds, “Well. Fight risk, too, I suppose.”
Andy’s teeth carve into her tongue, fighting back a retort. Blood floods her mouth as she wrenches her gaze to the open door. Dusty floorboards. No toys from the other supposed kids. Metal pop-tabs glint beneath the fridge where they’ve been kicked. Not from a pop addiction, that’s for sure.
The man shifts to block her view, and Andy meets his eyes and lets her split lip curl. He doesn’t look anything like her blood father, a small mercy. Andy’s black, short-cropped hair hasn’t been trimmed for months, but it’s still tidier than the man’s stringy, red-tinged strands. They’re nearly eye-to-eye in height, and if Andy was feeling particularly wild, she could throw a fantastic punch into his snake-gray eyes.
I’d love to. But that’s not quite the plan.

TRIGGER WARNING- SA, etc.
It's a very very long story and there's more that I could go on about but- My parents had me young, mom (19), bio dad (21). They separated when I was around 3 or 4 y/o and that's when my dad (19) (that later adopted me) came into my life. When he went to adopt me at about 7 y/o, before sibling 1 was born, they needed bio dad to release his rights; he agreed on one condition from my mom, 'Don't talk to my family anymore, I will handle it'. So he signed, with the additional agreement that he would not have to pay child support, dad adopted me. I ended up with 1 little sibling and I wanted nothing to do with bio dad at this point, he was already out of my life since the adoption. At around 12 years old, my parents started their divorce, moms second divorce. This divorce was completely different. At first, I hated my (adopted) dad but then again, he used to work 3 jobs to support us, only had 1 day off and used it as a "cleaning day" (which I later appreciated as an adult because I had SEVERE allergies, but in the moment I was just like wtf man fr?) From 13 y/o to about 15 y/o my moms at the time bf was sexually abusing me, forcing me to "cuddle" on the couch, he would pretend to fall asleep (in 5 seconds) and touch my non existent boobs and coochie while grinding his boner against my butt until he had enough. I would lay there silently crying until he actually fell asleep, slowly crawl away, and be up the whole rest of the school night, in shock, crying, cutting myself, and writing very depressing poems. He would break open the bathroom door while I was bathing and would try to peep at me in the tub. I'd cover myself under the bubble bath for HOURS until I had no bubbles and the water was cold. I then tried hurting myself even worse but sibling walked in on me. I broke down and thought if I do this, this dude is going to go for my sibling so I'll just take whatever it is to protect them. So I did. I dealt with all the things plus him walking in on me SERVERAL times in my bedroom each time after I'd have a bath/shower (no lock on the door). This guy also apparently would hit, strangle, and rape my mom. I came to find out that he had a record too, he and his brother abducted a 17 y/o or 18 y/o girl, took her to a trap house, raped her in a bathroom with a pole-blood in the tub, sink, toilet, floor, etc. He also was busted because he put a garbage bag over another man's head and lit it on fire-because the man was black. (Dude ended up being dishonorably discharged later on btw) Eventually, she got rid of him, dated a bit, and settled with a new bf, my now step dad of over 10 years. At this point, I was 16 y/o, had a GREAT relationship with (adopted) dad (not so much my mom), and became curious about my bio dad-where I came from, family customs/traditions, similarities/differences, interests, the other half of who I am. I found him on social media, reached out but didn't get a response for 2-3 weeks. Shortly after us chatting, I went to see him (adopted dad and sibling 1 came with). I had 2 more siblings from bio dad, they were a decade or so younger than me, and sibling 3 didn't resemble me much but did with sibling 2 BUT sibling 2 looked so much like me at that age, weird. A short time later, there was a family event by bio dad, I was invited but had no way to get there (about a 6 hour drive from where I was at the time) so his sistemy aunt said she'd take me. She picked me up and I was to spend the night at her house (with my 2 cousins) then we would travel in the morning. I was so excited because I vaguely remember cousin 1 from childhood, apparently we were super close growing up together, I was eager to reconnect and bond with my cousins. When spending the night, cousin 2 went to sleep early (a bit younger than cousin 1 and I), so cousin 1 and I were talking for hours, it was great being able to reconnect/re-establish our relationship...until he kissed me, threw himself on me, tried getting me to touch him as he started to touch me. I said stop wtf what are you doing we are FIRST cousins!! He chuckled and said "We are but we're not" ... "wtf are you talking about?" ... "I'm not supposed to say but your dad had a DNA test done during tour parents divorce and told all of us your mom cheated on him, you're not ACTUALLY his acoording to the test" ... so at this point, I'm disgusted, have so many questions, confused, am in a house of 'family' that I don't know/don't believe that I am family-I went to sleep. Next day we traveled to see bio dad and after the event I asked him and step mom about it and also mentioned that because of this cousin 1 tried "xyz". Bio dad's response to the DNA-"Your mother had the DNA test done and it said I was not your bio father, she probably lied/gave me a fake test so I would stay out of your life." I went to my mom and questioned her, she said "Absolutely not, you know your (adopted) father and I don't talk so you can even ask him to verify that I'm not lying. I have no idea about anything that has to do with a DNA test, we never had one as he (bio das) was my first and we got married then I was prengant with you about 3-4 months after getting married." I asked (adopted) dad and his story lined up perfectly with my mom's. So bio dad lied to me and his entire side of the family to save face. He lied to all of them because his agreement of giving up his rights to me and not having to pay child support would not have been supported by his side of the family so he told them I wasn't his and supposedly provided a (fake) test so they'd get off his back about it. My grandfather from him said he saw the test-but there was no test! Beyond fucked up man...but whatever. I still wanted a connection. I wanted to leave the bullshit in the past and move forward right? So, fast forward a bit, I was in a 3 year (3 out of 3.5 year) relationship with a TRUE P.O.S. bf that was physically, mentally, emotionally, and verbally abusive. We lived together for 3 years out of our 3.5 year relationship. He was addicted to porn, would call me a bitch every single day amoung other things, ended up raping me and thought it was funny, would hit, kick, choke me (not in the good way), and push me off the bed but then say "You think I want to be like this?! You think I want to do this to you?! Hurt you?! You're making me do it, it's your fault because you have issues." I wasn't "allowed" to talk to my guy friends because they're guys (and I didn't have many girl friends at all), especially my best guy friend that I grew up with and had known since 3 y/o. Bf would isolate me from my families even. At work, I only would talk to my guy friends/male co-workers if bf wasn't there otherwise he would ignore me the whole shift and be brutal when we got home (yeah, we also worked together for a bit over 3 years). I then found out that bf went on the dark web and watched a man kidnap someone, rape her, murder her, and proceed to rape her corpse...my bf was getting off on it! He even said he went back on the next night to do it again but site was blocked. FUCKING PSYCHOTIC. I could go on and on about his craziness. I was his 3rd virgin btw and at work we had a "work daughter" (was so close to that girl, she was 3 years younger than me, 5 years younger than bf and I used to go to her (when bf didnt have same shift as me) crying and telling her everything that would happen with him, so she knew all the shit he did). I was scared he was going to kill me one day, I was scared to stay, scared to leave, all the stupid things and all I wanted was consistent love. We did end up breaking up a few months after I turned 21, he ended up dating our work daughter and took her virginity too! He also did all the shit to her as he did to me! I felt bad for her at first but then thought no you dumb fuck, you knew EVERYTHING you were getting into smh. Anyway, I went to a family event for bio dad, bf was working, they wanted to meet him; we set up lunch for the following day. Bio dad said he was going to give bf the "talk" yk...with the shot gun type of talk. I said I don't feel comfortable with that because firstly, it's not his place, I have my dad (adopted), secondly, bio dad even agreed that we more so have a friend relationship at this point, and third, I've already been with bf for 3 years so it's not appropriate. He got REALLY salty the morning of the meet. We were coordinating plans and everything when he said along the lines, "We haven't seen you in person for almost 2 years now yet you always have time to go out...etc.etc." I responded, "The two times that you have seen me post that I was out, I was across the street from work. I went there for about 2 hours both times with bf and co-workers. I cannot drive 6-8 hours to you and 6-8 hours back in the same day. I work two full time jobs and am going to college online full-time. I'm sorry that I'm making you feel this way or that I've been distant but I try talking and seeing you all (on Skype and such) as much as I can. I don't know what else you want me to do or say at this point. That's why I'm excited for this meet up today. You also could have put in the effort to come out this way these last two years to visit me as well, but again, I'm sorry. I hope you all aren't mad at me, I'm really trying here." He then tells me "I'm going to have to cancel lunch today. I don't think meeting today is a good idea. Now I'm going to have to tell your (LITTLE) siblings that you don't want to see them today since you never have time for us and have basically disappeared from our lives these last 2 years." Aaaaand that's when I ✨️lost✨️ my shit and popped off 🙃 "ME?! I'm the one that disappeared?!?! How fucking dare you say that. How fucking dare you try to do that to them and me. YOU disappeared from MY life at 4 years old, LIED to the entire family (they still questioned if I'm "there's" or not, even had received the comment "Even though you're not ours, your ours because we've known you since a baby" and only 1 of bio dad's parents is still somewhat in touch with me to this day btw) I didn't see YOU for 12 YEARS of my life! I reached out to YOU, I have been the only one making an effort to keep the line of communication open and going and even after all of that plus my explaining that I work TWO full-time jobs plus full-time school, you still have the nerve and audacity to make me the bad guy and say I'm the one not trying here?! YOU are going to continue to LIE and tell MY siblings that I don't want to see them when that couldn't be further from the truth?! I'm going to tell you this ONCE, YOU blew your first chance of staying in my life when I was a child, now you're blowing it a SECOND time with me as an adult; there WILL NOT be a third time. I WILL NOT subject myself to this nor do I need your added stress. I WILL NOT allow you to do this to me EVER again. If my siblings or even step mom (or that side of the family) want to be in contact with me-I will gladly accept that but YOU are DEAD to me. Don't talk to me, don't contact me, I want NOTHING to do with YOU anymore, sperm donor." ... no response ...every couple of years after that I got a "happy birthday" or "merry christmas" here and there but I never responded. It's been a few years with no interaction from him. I just miss my siblings. I got so attached to them and I miss them, I tried staying in contact through video chats but they were still fairly young at that point so it was difficult plus having him or step mom in the background sometimes was awkward. They're now getting a bit older, sibling 2 is turning 18, sibling 3 will be 16. We have each other on social media but don't talk and very very VERY rarely interact with likes on posts. I'm afraid to make the first move, I don't want to push anything, I don't know what bio dad has been feeding into their brains about me, etc. My relationship with them will NEVER be as close as with my almost 21 y/o sibling 1 from (adopted) dad, which I can accept, I absolutely love my sibling 1 that I grew up with like nothing and no one else; I practically raised him tbh. But I do think about the other 2 siblings, I miss them, I just don't know if I should respect unspoken boundaries or make the first move? What do you think? And lmk if you want more of these batshit crazy stories that I've went through (tbh I'm probably going to post another seeking advice on another subject). ✌🏻