3 interesting facts about grasslands

ELDEN RING
Sunday, 9/6-24, 1030 pm.
Finally, i've rounded the game.
I beat The Elden Beast about 30 minutes ago.
I would like to make my own personal review of the game.
Just to begin with, to summarize the game itself.
The game is, by far, the easiest of the souls games made by Fromsoft.
And i've played them all, except for Demon Souls.
And it's flawed.
This will probably upset a lot of Miyazaki and Fromsoft fans, and i will probably receive a lot of negative comments to my "review".
This is my personal opinion, and i will try to make some remarks about why "I" feel the game could have been so much better.
1)I believe this is Miyazakis and Fromsoft first attempt of making an open world souls like game.
And the world in The Lands Between is huge, maybe even to big for the game itself. First of all, the game, that i played on pc, looked fantastic, but there were areas, let's call them transport stages between new areas and Graces, that were too empty for my taste.
And i've played a few open world games the last 10-12 years,like Elder Scrolls 5, Skyrim and Witcher 3, where the world didn't feel as "empty" as
E R.
2) The game had potentially one of the best galleries of NPC, and interesting Bosses that could have made the Lore with side quest and the story line an amazing experience.
But, the way Fromsoft chose to tell the Story of the people and the characters of The Land Between, made it hard to get hold of the Lore during my 350 hours of playthrough of the game.
At the end of the game, just before setting The Erdtree on fire, i chose to basically search Reddit for threads to find a closure to the NPC's i had followed throughout the game, before the game ended.
And I know you fans of Fromsoft and Miyazaki would say that you could have solved some of these issues by running NG+.
I felt i had been thorough through my almost 350 hours of game time, and since i've got a life, a day job, it's not possible for me to invest more time on a single game.
3) The reuse of mini bosses and enemies towards the end of the game. In mid-game, this was not an issue. But at the end of the game, previous mini bosses an enemies started to appear over an over again in dungeons and later areas of the game.
As a conclusion, i felt the game all in all, was great, but with the before mentioned flaws in the game in my "review", this is not my favourite souls like game from Fromsoft.
Miyazaki is a fantastic level designer, where his abilty to interconnect different areas of world in his games, is second to none.
There are room for improvement, and maybe in the soon to be released DLC, we may see them....

**warning, long post ahead!**
Hi there! Thank you for checking out my post <3
I'm looking for a specifically long-term friendship to develop & take care of going forward. I'm not interested in short gaming sessions or ghosting after 1 hour of chatting, so if you're here for that then I'd kindly suggest you look elsewhere ^^
A bit about me: it feels a bit narcissistic to say this but I'd say I'm caring, honest and loyal. I haven't really had a real "best friend" for a while now (y'know, the kind of person you'd share secrets with and love spending time with at every occasion) so now's the time to do it!
As for my hobbies, I enjoy gaming, drawing, paper cutting art, owlspotting (or birds in general) and a whole bunch of other things I'd rather just talk about in person. Gaming is obviously one of my favourite ways of bonding, after all, we are on reddit ^^ As for games, I'm very much into honkai star rail, genshin, league, ow, insert other popular multiplayer games here, and a lot of co-op stuff and/or singleplayer games. Just hmu with ur faves and we'll definitely find something in common! Nothing beats a good horrosurvival co-op experience to test eachothers trust in imo 😭 I play PC only ♥
I'd say I'm also pretty "clingy". It's a term that carries a lot of negative notion, although, I'm definitely not one to ignore the fact that everyone has lives. I'm a masters student and I work, so I fully understand time constraints and stuff so it's all good! I just really want a bestie whom I could message after a long day, yknow? Or someone who wouldn't be angry when I message them at 4 am but yeah that's understandable 😭😭
Really, the only thing I ask of you is that you're kind and understanding, not a toxic, egotistical douche who'll reply in 1 word replies and then wonder why things didn't work out. I'm very much open to carrying a conversation but everyone has their limits at the end of the day ^^ I don't judge based on anything ever, so everyone and anyone is welcome!
Interested? Shoot me a message and tell me a bit about yourself! Or if you're shy, just say hi and we can take it from there <3 As a bonus if you actually read the whole post, try to guess what my major is :3
Hope you have a great day! ♥

Hi fellow Cattians - I am fully pulling my hair out.
I have 4 cats - two 4 year old females, one 2 year old female, and one 2 year old male. I originally only had the 2 year olds, but when they were about a year old me and my partner merged families and they were introduced to the now 4 year olds. All cats are spayed/neutered, we own 5 litterboxes, and they all get along swimmingly.
Things were all okay until about 6 months in after the older cats moved in, after which my male cat started pooping on the floor next to the litterbox. He will still always pee in the box, but will always get out to poop on the floor adjacent. I have tried everything I can think of to change his behaviour, including changing the litter, changing the boxes, changing the locations of the boxes, scrubbing the floors daily within an inch of their life with enzyme cleaners, re-evaluating his diet, giving him more attention, and I even took him to the vet twice to rule out any health problems. There have been no behavioural changes apart from his bathroom habits. He is naturally an extremely needy and affectionate cat, so I theorised that perhaps he required more attention due to the fact he's living with three other female cats, but giving him extra attention also hasn't changed a thing.
I am at a complete loss as to what to do from here, I feel like I've tried everything I possibly can and everything the internet/vet has told me. I'm currently at the point of having to consider rehoming him and it's honestly breaking my heart.
Any new ideas or stories of your own experiences would be massively appreciated <3

We meet around 3 weeks ago on tinder and had 2 dates since. Our first date was great and we made out at the end. I went on a two week trip after, and throughout this time, we kept texting each updates. We had our second date the day after I got back.
We were supposed to go out for dinner and then have drinks at his place but I was delayed an hour because of traffic so we ended up meeting at his place first (made sense location wise). He went straight into making out and he obviously wanted sex but I said it was too soon for me. He said that he respected my boundaries but made a comment about how I am somehow less of a feminist for waiting in an attempt to not make him lose interest (not sure if this was a joke or what). He also said that he kept thinking about how good our first date was and that he eventually "wants a relationship if he finds someone cool". After that, he touched himself and finished. He suggested we go out to get dinner but at this point I was tired and went home.
The weekend after our second date, he went on a trip, and on the first day he's there, I noticed him adding a new picture to his profile and updating his bio with a sexual comment. Today (last day of his trip), I noticed that he had unmatched me. We texted minimally over the past few days but definitely less than we usually do. What does this mean? Is he only looking for sex? did he unmatch me because I didn't have sex with him on the 2nd date or so I don't see him updating his profile?

We meet around 3 weeks ago on tinder and had 2 dates since. Our first date was great and we made out at the end. I went on a two week trip after, and throughout this time, we kept texting each updates. We had our second date the day after I got back.
We were supposed to go out for dinner and then have drinks at his place but I was delayed an hour because of traffic so we ended up meeting at his place first (made sense location wise). He went straight into making out and he obviously wanted sex but I said it was too soon for me. He said that he respected my boundaries but made a comment about how I am somehow less of a feminist for waiting in an attempt to not make him lose interest (not sure if this was a joke or what). He also said that he kept thinking about how good our first date was and that he eventually "wants a relationship if he finds someone cool". After that, he touched himself and finished. He suggested we go out to get dinner but at this point I was tired and went home.
The weekend after our second date, he went on a trip, and on the first day he's there, I noticed him adding a new picture to his profile and updating his bio with a sexual comment. Today (last day of his trip), I noticed that he had unmatched me. We texted minimally over the past few days but definitely less than we usually do. What does this mean? Is he only looking for sex? did he unmatch me because I didn't have sex with him on the 2nd date or so I don't see him updating his profile?

My story begins me as a little 7 year old boy. The year is 1994.
As a young child. I played with G.I Joe's and barbie dolls. I wpuld undress them and swap clothes on each one. I would put the G.I Joe in the barbie car and put Barbie in the G.I Joe jeep.
I had a fascination with horses and western stuff as any other young boy of the 1990s. Would always watch western starring Clint Eastwood with dad. I was always a mommas boy, eventually spending nights on the couch watching Allie Mcbeal and episodes of E.R starring George Clooney among others. I spent a lot of time with my mother. Really just ignoring the macho stuff with my dad who was a coach of my brother's hockey team.
I used to run around alot with friends among the condominiums, where we once lived. My childhood was sparwling with freedom of movement and wonder and imagination. I truly enjoyed the connections I made and friends along the way.
Around the age of 7, I made a friend. Her name was Maddy (not using real names). He father was Canadian and she spent weekends with him because Maddies Parents were recently divorced. I remember Maddies room being so vibrant in color, pinks, oranges, reds everywhere.
Maddie and I would hang out a lot, and me hanging around her father also. The three of us used to trek up to the community pool and I would bask in the sun, while also doing belle flops from failed cannonballs.
One of the greatest things I developed as a child was my imagination. Granted it's no surprise children develop alot mentally around this time. Such wonder, beauty and possibilities in the world we see or so we should.
I would say one of the biggest things that stood out was my ability to fantasize about worlds. To see the world I created in my mind. The plastic Lego blocks and sets I would build had a major development in this I imagine. I was always working with my hands "making" something.
Anyways, I would always imagine fantastical worlds. Worlds filled with dinosaurs, cars and bright colors, vibrant colors.
As time pressed on, I would venture into Maddies room when she was away with her mother. Often times I would find myself in Maddies father condo while he went out for grocery shopping. This was the 1990s and young kids could be left alone in an unlocked apartment.
I had free reign over Maddies Room, and I ventured into her wardrobe. She mad the most colorful dresses and outfits to see. So naturally I try on some of her dresses to boot.
I found this particular red dress enticing. I couldn't quite understand what I felt when I wore that red dress and, and immediately upon Maddies father coming home from the grocery store, I promptly took the dress off.
From that time on, I'm convinced Maddies dad did see me wear it, but didn't tell my father. I was scared.
My family had been going through family therapy and I was declared ok by the psychiatrist to be ok. A little Welbutrin went a long way I supposed.
A few things wpuld shortly happen that would solidfy my femininity for the rest of my life (and I'm glad it did despite the circumstances I was put in)
A while later after that summer had passed, I remember an overflow of overcast skies. Now in my mind at the time, this meant Halloween and shortly thereafter Christmas was near by. It was a pleasant feeling I felt in the air, just like the cool pool warer around my skin on a hot day.
There were to gay gentleman that lived above us. (To this day, I'm convinced these memories are represses) because the life of me I cannot recall most details.
Anyways, they were always so nice to me and I enjoyed their company. They spoke to me in such a kindness I could not hold back and embraced thier hospitality. I would eat dinner up there sometimes and watch TV sometimes. So one night in particular I remember going up there and seeing them. They were both so kind and welcoming.
This is where it gets fuzzy. Like the order of operations we later learned in school, it is as follows.
I remember walking up to thier condo. I remember hanging out on thier bed. They were both laying on thier bed side by side. Then the rest is blank. I wake up on the bed, many hours later and felt a little funny. Again, these men were so kind, as I child I didn't know what to think, if I did any thinking at all.
The following day, a mysterious brown wallet with 400 dollars was dropped outside my small bedroom window. I brought the wallet up to them but they denied it being thier wallet, and told me that I could keep it.
My dad was enthused I "found" the money, but I never told him where it came from.
Shortly after this, I feel something changed inside me. I felt at ease, maybe it was a release of tension, I honestly could not explain it.
Same-sex experiences were rampant in my childhood, and to be honest it took me years to understand it's method of solidifying my effinate nature. I was not only sexually exploited by two homosexual men, but also from a mentally challenged man in his 30s. The entire neighborhood found out that I A.B (not using real names) and I were not the only ones that were abused sexually.
Since that experience wit the two gentleman above my parents condo, my path as a transgirl (many years later) would come to fruition.
I tried on Maddies dresses more, and eventually, I stop because Maddies father dead on sees me and I freak out. I remember the cold eyes in his face. The look of disappointment. I was shamed. The feeling inside me was pushed down so far that I forget out about it. I quashed it perhaps.
Later in high-school, I began to talk to Juan (not using real names). I flirt with him and and made plans to see him. He was a beautiful young boy just as I was I imagine. I never had problems getting girls. Every girl in high school that I showed interest in, I would make love to and kiss. So many different kinds of girls, beautiful girls.
Anyways I feel like I'm losing my steam here lol.
I became part of the LGBT club on campus. Meeting different people and making great friends. I think what I failed to notice is maybe people thought I was bi sexual, but made no inclination to prove people right about that assumption. I was told by a dear friend that she saw the true person I was and not to be afraid to be that person. It never hit me what she meant by that, but I suppose this in reference to her ability to read a person's true character.
Time would go by and and I would get married and have a daughter. I was married for 15 years. Through us growing part and much trauma later, the marriage ended. After some soul searching and thinking in my echo chamber, I came across transsexuals.
There was a huge stigma against them and not much was known. I saw photos of them and how beautiful they were and didn't know how they became to be that way. I was just blown away that an individual could become a beautiful woman.
It wasn't until after I found out about HRT in the 2020s that I cross analyzed myself. How a person can come to a conclusion about thier body, mind and spirit is still beyond me but only the fact that "it felt right" for me.
I remember myself wearing those dresses at age 7 and I'm sad i wasn't able to further explore that part about myself but since now I have the means and motivation, I will become the woman I was meant to be.
Thanks for reading. If I piqued an interest. Feel free to comment.
Note: my apologies for endless typos, this was written as I was remembering and had a "grove" going.

Ok I finally signed up for the creator fund a week ago and posted my first video. It’s only been 3 days since posting my first video within the program and I already made over $2K. How am I just finding out about this!?!? How much can people be realistically making a month? TikTok shop just isn’t for me… I’ve tried a few videos with no luck, and I hate sounding “sales-y” to my followers. But I always post videos about things I find genuinely interesting (conspiracy theories, news/reality tv/drama, and sobriety.) my content is all over the place. This would be life changing money if I can be making viral videos regularly, but we all know that’s hard. Curious to know what everyone averages a month. For reference, I have about 120,000 followers.

ELDEN RING
Sunday, 9/6-24, 1030 pm.
Finally, i've rounded the game.
I beat The Elden Beast about 30 minutes ago.
I would like to make my own personal review of the game.
Just to begin with, to summarize the game itself.
The game is, by far, the easiest of the souls games made by Fromsoft.
And i've played them all, except for Demon Souls.
And it's flawed.
This will probably upset a lot of Miyazaki and Fromsoft fans, and i will probably receive a lot of negative comments to my "review".
This is my personal opinion, and i will try to make some remarks about why "I" feel the game could have been so much better.
1)I believe this is Miyazakis and Fromsoft first attempt of making an open world souls like game.
And the world in The Lands Between is huge, maybe even to big for the game itself. First of all, the game, that i played on pc, looked fantastic, but there were areas, let's call them transport stages between new areas and Graces, that were too empty for my taste.
And i've played a few open world games the last 10-12 years,like Elder Scrolls 5, Skyrim and Witcher 3, where the world didn't feel as "empty" as
E R.
2) The game had potentially one of the best galleries of NPC, and interesting Bosses that could have made the Lore with side quest and the story line an amazing experience.
But, the way Fromsoft chose to tell the Story of the people and the characters of The Land Between, made it hard to get hold of the Lore during my 350 hours of playthrough of the game.
At the end of the game, just before setting The Erdtree on fire, i chose to basically search Reddit for threads to find a closure to the NPC's i had followed throughout the game, before the game ended.
And I know you fans of Fromsoft and Miyazaki would say that you could have solved some of these issues by running NG+.
I felt i had been thorough through my almost 350 hours of game time, and since i've got a life, a day job, it's not possible for me to invest more time on a single game.
3) The reuse of mini bosses and enemies towards the end of the game. In mid-game, this was not an issue. But at the end of the game, previous mini bosses an enemies started to appear over an over again in dungeons and later areas of the game.
As a conclusion, i felt the game all in all, was great, but with the before mentioned flaws in the game in my "review", this is not my favourite souls like game from Fromsoft.
Miyazaki is a fantastic level designer, where his abilty to interconnect different areas of world in his games, is second to none.
There are room for improvement, and maybe in the soon to be released DLC, we may see them....

I have a rescue dog who’s an extra large mutt (over 100 pounds), I’ve had him for about two years and we adopted him when he was 10 so he’s almost 12 now. The other day he was on edge all day and my friend who was staying with us and I got home from being out around midnight. Our dog was sleeping and when I wasn’t in the room she went to kiss him on the head and he snapped and bit her face. It wasn’t too bad, we went to the ER and they gave her just one stitch in one of the 3 wounds but obviously this is horrible regardless. My friend is terrified about scarring and the fact that I can’t do anything for her other than offer to pay for cosmetic surgery for it down the line is killing me.
I’m really stressed about the situation and my friend healing, as well as what to do about my dog which is the thing I have control over. He has a habit of being a grumpy dog and will get growly at night but it’s a situation where I, and most friends I ever have over, are aware of and know to leave him alone. He usually gives warning growls and we know to leave him be, but I wasn’t in the room to stop this and my friend said he just did it with no warning.
He’s had one incident in the past right after we got him where he bit a smaller dog on a walk. It wasn’t too bad and the owner never contacted us back about vet bills or anything after we exchanged info, and ever since then we only walk him muzzled and at odd times of day and have moved somewhere with a better yard to accommodate him. We haven’t had an issue since then until now, and we assumed he was just dog reactive based on his history (he was at the shelter for almost a year before we got him).
I’m just at a loss about where to go from here, it happened so recently I don’t know if I just need time to sort it out. My partner and I are just afraid about making the right choice. He’s our first dog that’s our dog and not a family pet, and he’s such a sweet guy when you know how to read his body language. I know that we aren’t going to have people over anymore, but we’re worried about the long term implications of this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated about this. I’m just feeling stressed about it all and part of me just needed to get it off my chest.

Hey everyone,
I was recently contacted by authorities regarding the reports I've been submitting about Emil. During our conversation, they asked about my motivations for making these reports. Beyond the obvious concerns about vile sexual behaviors in front of children, I want to highlight some additional concerns for those who may question my motivations or the validity of my concerns. If you're a parent, I hope you'll take the time to read this, as I've tried to be as informative as possible. I realize it is quite lengthy, my apologies. I have made an attempt to summarize lol.
I don't know how many of you remember the DID TikTok trend around 2021? There was a significant rise in self-reported mental health issues across the board, prompting mental health professionals to study this trend. Even when individuals weren't showing symptoms indicative of DID, they convinced themselves that they were. I'm not claiming to be a psychologist, but I do have some education in psychology, mainly developmental and abnormal. It is due to this education that Emil's behavior initially led me to continue watching him and question his behavior.
I've been observing Emil for about a month now, paying attention to his behavior on Reddit and TikTok. Thankfully, this page has provided me with substantial information about Emil’s past and current behaviors. As I mentioned, I'm not a psychologist, so these are my personal findings and observations. After reviewing Emil's behavior and claims in comparison to the criteria in the DSM regarding DID, particularly on TikTok, I believe it may be indicative of malingering or possibly a factitious disorder. I've also reviewed several published studies regarding the sudden rise in self-reported claims of DID, and it's my personal, unprofessional opinion that Emil is displaying features consistent with the criteria of malingering. To give him the benefit of the doubt, it may also be consistent with a factitious disorder. So, to ensure my claims aren't baseless, I'd like to review my findings. I've decided to focus on the mental health aspect to avoid focusing on legal allegations and implications.

1. Self-Diagnosis and Influence of Social Media Trends: TikTok DID Trend: Emil's claims of having DID might be influenced by the TikTok trend where users post content related to DID, often gaining significant attention and followers. Emil’s behavior initially came at a time when there was a significant rise and prevalence of self reported claims of DID on TikTok, not showing features consistent with DID.

Behavioral Mimicry: Emil's adoption of behaviors and personas consistent with DID might be a result of mimicking content he has seen on TikTok or other social media platforms. Emil’s history of mimicking behaviors shown in popular movies (American History X/ hate tattoo) and his current obsession with the movie, “Split”, is also consistent with his current behavior.

1. Attention-Seeking and Gaining Sympathy: Factitious Disorder: This condition involves the intentional production or feigning of symptoms to gain attention or sympathy from others. Emil's claims of having DID, particularly if they are inconsistent or exaggerated, could be an indication of factitious disorder.

Malingering: This involves feigning illness for external gains such as money, avoiding responsibilities, or other benefits. If Emil is gaining financial support or other benefits from his online persona, this could be considered malingering. Given his recent arrest June 27/23, and following court precedings, this could also indicate an attempt to avoid substantial legal consequences for his illegal activities.

1. Inconsistencies and Public Disputes: Inconsistent Claims: The fact that Emil has made public posts both claiming to have DID and disputing this diagnosis suggests a lack of consistency, which is often a hallmark of factitious disorder.

Disputes and Public Admission: If there are discrepancies between his claims and his behavior or other statements, it further suggests the possibility of feigned symptoms.

1. Influence of Methamphetamine Use: Drug-Induced Behavior: Emil's methamphetamine use could exacerbate or contribute to erratic behavior and claims. Substance abuse can lead to psychosis, paranoia, and other symptoms that might be confused with or presented as DID.

Impact on Mental Health: Long-term drug use can severely impact mental health, potentially leading to the development or exaggeration of symptoms for attention or financial gain.

1. Exploitation and Financial Gain: Monetary Incentives: Emil’s behavior might be driven by the financial incentives associated with his online persona. Profiting from gifts and donations on TikTok by claiming to have a mental health disorder aligns with characteristics of both factitious disorder and malingering.

Emil's behavior on social media, particularly TikTok, may be indicative of factitious disorder or malingering, influenced by the recent trend of users posting about Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). His inconsistent claims about having DID, alongside public disputes and attention-seeking behavior, suggest he may be intentionally producing or feigning symptoms to gain sympathy, attention, and financial support. This is compounded by his history of methamphetamine use, which can exacerbate or mimic symptoms of mental health disorders. The financial incentives from his online presence further suggest that Emil's actions could be motivated by external gains, raising significant concerns about the authenticity of his claims and the potential harm to his audience, particularly minors who may be influenced by his behavior.
Emil's behavior and success on TikTok can negatively impact children in several significant ways:

1. Normalization of Inappropriate Content: By broadcasting explicit or inappropriate content on an all-ages platform, Emil sets a dangerous precedent. Children who come across this content may start to view such behavior as normal or acceptable. This can lead to the normalization of behaviors that are inappropriate for their age, affecting their understanding of healthy boundaries and consent.
   
2. Psychological Distress and Confusion: Exposure to adult themes and behaviors, especially those of a sexual nature, can cause psychological distress and confusion in minors. Studies have shown that early exposure to sexual content can lead to anxiety, depression, and distorted views of sexuality and relationships
   
3. Influence on Behavior: Children are highly impressionable and tend to mimic behaviors they see online. If they see Emil profiting from controversial or inappropriate actions, they may be tempted to imitate him, believing it is a viable way to gain attention and financial success. This could encourage risky behaviors and a disregard for social and legal norms.
   
4. Factitious Disorders and Malingering: Emil’s possible fabrication or exaggeration of mental health conditions for attention and financial gain could lead minors to do the same. The rise of social media trends around mental health issues, particularly DID, has already been linked to an increase in self-reported cases among youth. This can result in misdiagnosis, stigma, and inappropriate treatment for actual mental health issues
   
5. Desensitization to Harmful Behaviors: Repeated exposure to Emil's behavior can desensitize children to the seriousness of such actions. This can lead to a lack of empathy, increased aggression, and other antisocial behaviors as they become more accustomed to seeing inappropriate conduct without consequences
   
6. Exploitation Risks: Encouraging minors to visit platforms with adult content, like Reddit, where real age verification is weak, exposes them to exploitation risks. This can include exposure to predatory behaviors, harmful content, and exploitation, which can have long-lasting effects on their mental and emotional well-being.
   

Overall, Emil's actions not only risk immediate harm to children who view his content but also contribute to a broader negative impact on their development and understanding of social norms. Addressing these issues is crucial to protect the well-being of young users on social media platforms. If you managed to make it this far, I hope I've outlined some of my concerns, in a manner that can be deemed less accusatory. I have done this so that those of you questioning my actions or motivation behind getting Emil off of TikTok may find understanding in regards to my frustrations and concern with Emil. My motivations are not bigoted or descriminatory, despite my focus on his cross-dressing behavior and refusal to see him as a member of the LGBTQIA. Hopefully I've helped you to see this.

Hey everyone.
I'm interested in learning more about how familiar the eCommerce space is with the term "CRO" and its meaning.

1. Are you familiar with the term CRO to mean conversion rate optimisation?
2. Are you making any ongoing CRO efforts?
3. If not, why not?

To be clear: I am a web designer + CRO expert, however I mainly work with SaaS companies. I am trying to get a better feeling for where the eCommerce industry is at and how it thinks about CRO, so hoping the moderators will let this on here.
Look forward to learning more! Really appreciate it.
Thanks everyone.

This game never ceases to absolutely piss me off. I really want to like this game because the idea of it is really good but am i the only one that thinks the game mechanics and feel are just off. I have maybe 30 something hours in this game and im pretty good at racing games i can get author medal on 90% of the official maps the game isnt hard the mechanics are just so wonky. I can take the same turn 100 times and come out with a different outcome each time just because i turned .0001 second too early and i slide out or i turn .00012 of a second too late then im hitting the wall and magnetizing to it like im made out of the worlds strongest magnet and every wall is made out of 100% pure tungsten. My biggest issue with this game is it seems like nobody can seem to make a decent map like the official maps are made by people that dont actually play the game and then the community maps are made by someone that has the precision of a god or some ingrate that puts a dead stop turn in the middle of a high speed section of the map, 99% of the maps in this game are not fun to drive they have no flow, make no sense, and break what i feel are common sense rules of racing. Pure example is the spring 2024 campaign A01 is a decent map but A02 is an abysmal map layout how about the whole point of the map is to gain a bunch of speed take a jump then kill all your speed to take a sharp turn on dirt and thats 3 times in a row then the end NOT FUN, A03 is absolute dogdoodoo i understand the whole point is the wet wheels help you slide but at the same time the map doesnt allow you to turn you take the first downhill and i know for a fact that WR has a no slide in the beginning which barely works (yes i have tried to do this section while sliding or with less speed) but you gain all this speed and theres just and unnecessary bump in the track that doesnt help anything other than make it nearly impossible to line up the next turn and then to make it worse theres a booster right before said turn which is one of the worst turns ive ever seen the wet tires are supposed to make me slide on that turn but even if i hold brake, try to neo slide, or just whip my wheel to the right i just hit the far wall and loose all my speed. like why have a turn that you no slide to get speed then a booster to get even more speed then to take a 90 degree turn right after that. Trust me issues like that plague this whole game no matter what map i play theres usually atleast one part in the map that just ruins the whole driving experience. Can anyone relate to this?

I’m currently working with a US based bank as a production support engineer and desperately want to move to a different role. So I interviewed for a few companies and i got a job offer in operations from another US based bank with a good hike. Need your opinion on what to do. Considering below facts :

1. I have done B.Tech from information technology but have no interest in coding. also i have never given coding a fair chance as well but it just ts incredibly bores me.
   
2. I know I for sure don’t see myself as a developer 10 years down the line. i do know that there are many things i can still go for in tech industry.
   
3. Having 3 years of experience (in total and in the same company) I am a bit scared to go for entry level roles.
   
4. I can also switch back to if things does’nt go well here. And if i take up this role and do an MBA i think my chances would be greater to get promoted in future.
   
5. But I am aware tech field is also booming these days and if i just focus and study things might workout.
   

So please suggest if it is a good option to go for the operation job which i am getting?

Hello, i have been an atheist for all my life. My parents have both been baptized, but are still atheists, which is quite common in the country i live in. I though have never been baptized. I really have never believed in any religion, and i have just lived my life without thinking about deep things like afterlife and etc. I guess i’ve just lived my life without really having to overthink about stuff that much, and when i have thought about questions like how was the world created and What happens after we die, i have firmly believed in science for anwsers. I do have christian friends, and i do find religion to be a very interesting subject for me.
That being said, a couple weeks ago my sister was in a accident, which could have killed her. I dont want to get into too much detail, but all you need to know is that she survived with very little injuries, and is doing Well. After the accident had happened, i was obviously very shocked, and i didn’t know yet at the time how serious her injuries were. While in shock, i really didn’t know in which way to cope, since i was full of worry. I decided to then just for comfort learn how to pray, and said all the stuff you need to say in a prayer, such as considering Jesus Christ as your Lord and saviour, and all the other stuff included in a prayer. I prayed for her good health, and while i was waiting on the News for in What condition she was in , i had already forgot about the prayer, as i was very worried. Eventually i got the good News, and she had recovered fully. I dont remember exactly What i said in my prayer, But i possibly said something along the lines of ”if she survives i will dedicate my life to you”. After she’s now in good health, i have just had this slight guilty feeling looming over me, as i still do not believe in God, even though i promised to do so. I can’t also just gaslight myself to believe in something, as 1. My faith and stuff like that wouldn’t be Real, and 2. I find it impossible to believe in something you dont really believe in. For an example, i can’t just start believing that 1+1 equals 3, even if i wanted to. The guilt comes from me feeling like i’ve betrayed someone who has been good to me, but i haven’t been good to them. Like if you were to ask your friend who you barely see anymore for money, and you promise to give the money back to him, but you never do end up doing so. I dont think God exists, but there’s just this sort of feeling of, What if they do tho? What IF he does in fact exist, and i have betrayed them like this.
Scientifically speaking, if she were to have a more serious injury, there would have been no way God would have been able to prevent it just because i prayed, since the more serious injury would have happened while she was injured, and there would be practically no way that it could be prevented after it had already happened. I guess i just want to get some stuff out of my chest, and want to talk is all. I dont believe i will turn into Christianity, but i mainly want to hear What other people who might have experienced something like this have done in a situation like this. That’s all, have a wonderful day and i love all of you reading this!

I’m currently working with a US based bank as a production support engineer and desperately want to move to a different role. So I interviewed for a few companies and i got a job offer in operations from another US based bank with a good hike. Need your opinion on what to do. Considering below facts :

1. I have done B.Tech from information technology but have no interest in coding. also i have never given coding a fair chance as well but it just ts incredibly bores me.
   
2. I know I for sure don’t see myself as a developer 10 years down the line. i do know that there are many things i can still go for in tech industry.
   
3. Having 3 years of experience (in total and in the same company) I am a bit scared to go for entry level roles.
   
4. I can also switch back to if things does’nt go well here. And if i take up this role and do an MBA i think my chances would be greater to get promoted in future.
   
5. But I am aware tech field is also booming these days and if i just focus and study things might workout.
   

So please suggest if it is a good option to go for the operation job which i am getting?

I think I’m about to start sending about 25 letters/day (6 days/week) through a legal marketing company.
Trying to decide which offenses to target.
If I land 4-6 misdemeanor cases/month, I’ll be in good shape. Or, if I land like 50 speeding tickets/month, I’ll be in good shape.
I’m pretty much agnostic about my private client subject matter. My court-appointed cases give me interesting facts, diverse charges, and the chance to sharpen my game. Private practice (at this point) is to earn and build a client-referral base. (Although not totally agnostic: i don’t really want to carve out a niche making new caselaw under Bruen because that is such an awful piece of jurisprudence, even if there’s a good business opportunity there.)
Would love to hear from others (especially solos) who have gone this route.

So I’m in this friend group with two girls, let’s call them Lexie and Miranda.
Lately I’ve noticed that Lexie only talks about herself to us (irl and on text)
For example, she talks about her own drama but when we talk about our own things she doesn’t ask more about it and even goes on her phone and then finds something new to talk about, which is another one of her topics what she recently experienced.
I also feel like everything is just for show. Going to restaurants and taking pictures for social media.
I have been saying that I wanted to save money recently and she looked really disappointed, no more restaurants or home delivery when we’re at my place, girl was visibly disappointed. Noticed she doesn’t ask us to hang out anymore after that, but still talks to us about her own life.
I had been hanging out with Miranda only a few times, I feel much more comfortable with her. We talk about both our lives and ask further to get to know more about what the other experienced or what their opinions are on things.
I have talked to her about this problem a little (+ other things, like Lexie not paying me back and being jealous of her because she has rich supportive parents etc.)
Miranda admitted she felt the same way, she did notice that she doesn’t seem to care about us or what we have to say. She buys gifts for Christmas and our birthdays, but there is no interests in who we are or what we do. She just likes to flex to us all the time.
I don’t know what to do anymore, I wish I could be more honest and tell her everything that bothers me, I’m too insecure and anxious to tell the truth and so is Miranda, I hate conflict and so does Lexie (and Miranda too, in fact she is too anxious for confrontation to go well, I think she would just not say anything at all and freeze up if it were to happen). Also Lexie is not the type of person that will take criticism well and will most likely blame me without trying to grow from her mistakes.
I wish I could be friends with just Miranda, but it feels like she doesn’t want to let Lexie go. From time to time she still seems to try and fix my perspective of her and tries to look on the bright side, despite also having issues with her (She is just a really sweet person like that, we are Miranda’s first real friends, so I think that’s why she is trying to fix this:(
Any advice on this situation?

For context, I came across a video on Facebook of what appeared to be a child taking 30-40 seconds (if not more - video started while bus was stopped) to get off of a bus and walk across the street (depending on whose comment you read, it might have actually been a parent loading their child on the bus, then crossing back over). Meanwhile, a truck that was waiting sped up before the child (or parent) made it to the driveway in a temper-tantrum fashion and drove away. Didn't hit the person but made a point to show that he had reached his patience threshold.
Interestingly, the bulk of the comments appeared to be more sympathetic of the truck driver, not the child (or parent), having to wait 30+ secs over the course of the stop. And I have always had this curiosity but have never really known the right forum to ask: why are children's lives inherently prioritized over any adult's life, at any point in time? It seems to me that each respective argument for one case or the other could be equally applied to both sides.
Semi-beside the point example: during childbirth, a mother's life takes precedent over the child's if there is a strong possibility of the mother dying during childbirth, correct? I may be off-base on that fact, admittedly, because I have never researched it. But if that is the case, isn't that a bit paradoxical to what society's general opinion on whose life is more important is?
TL;DR what makes any arbitrary child's life more important than any arbitrary adult's?
Edit: to clarify, I am not taking sides on the video described above and did not ask this question to debate about that instance in particular. I’m asking, in general, about prioritization of life

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XXX
AKA: Major Barnes Gets Too Into It
XXX
“C’mere, you motherfucker!”
The Marine’s statement was punctuated by the dull sound of flesh against metal. The man winced, pulling his hand back enough to cradle it and shake it out, before going in with yet another right hook.
His opponent, the implacable wall of the space station darkened by his own shadow, stood completely still, unimpeded by his powerful haymakers.
And he wasn’t the only one, either – all around him, fourteen other Marines did the same thing he was.
“Put your backs into it, men,” Major Barnes announced, in an almost bored tone. “It’s not even the fifth round yet, I don’t want to see anybody taking a dive until at least round eight.”
“Yes, Sir!” the platoon chorused as one.
Major Barnes leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, a content sigh escaping him. Yes, truly, this was the life – he got to suitably punish a bunch of complete idiots, and he got to relax while doing it. The only thing missing was a stiff drink, but unfortunately, him and Captain Ulfur had killed his last bottle.
“Note to self,” Barnes muttered under his breath. “Get some more Jack for next time. Apparently, the Vuk really like bourbon…”
Just then, the door to the barracks opened, and his XO, Captain Johnson, came rushing in.
“Major!” he exclaimed. “There’s been a-”
Johnson took about three steps into the room, then paused at what he saw. Slowly, his brow furrowed, and he turned towards Major Barnes.
“Do I want to know why you have an entire platoon punching the walls of the station, Sir?”
“They’re not punching the walls of the station,” Major Barnes told him. “Well, okay, they are, but that’s a side effect of what they’re actually doing.”
“Which is…?”
“Shadowboxing.” Major Barnes gestured to the men around him. “These idiots started fist fighting each other. I figured, they want to fight so bad, then let them fight… just not against each other.”
Captain Johnson blinked. “...That’s diabolical, Sir. How long do you intend for them to keep this up?”
“Until we hit round twelve or until it stops being funny, whichever happens first.” A Marine suddenly let out a pained yelp as he punched the wall a bit too hard. Major Barnes couldn’t help but let out a low chuckle. “Yup, still funny.”
Johnson blinked again. “You’ve outdone yourself with this one, Sir.”
“Well, I can’t take all the credit; I had some help from a new friend.” Barnes peeled himself off the wall, then stood before Captain Johnson. “So, what do you need me for?”
“Oh, right – well… there’s been a situation, Sir.”
“What kind of situation?” Barnes paused. “...Nobody’s fucked another-”
“No, no, nothing like that.”
“You seem hesitant for some reason, Captain.”
“Well… okay, maybe it has something to do with that,” he conceded. “I don’t really know; it’s pretty hard to tell.”
“What do you mean, it’s hard to tell?” Barnes drew in close to mutter to Captain Johnson. “Look, either someone fucked another wolf girl or they didn’t. So which is it?”
“Well, nobody’s fucked another one since last time-”
“Oh, thank God.” Major Barnes breathed a sigh of relief. “Well then, whatever it is, it can’t be too bad.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure, Sir,” Captain Johnson said.
“And why is that?”
“Because I crossed paths with Captain Ulfur, and he told me that some of the Vuk females are looking for the man who slept with their diplomat. They wouldn’t say why, but according to him, they all looked like someone had just murdered their mothers while they watched.”
“Oh.” Major Barnes paused. “...The Vuk are one of the species that actually like their mothers, right?”
“Last I checked, Sir.”
“Ah. So that’s bad, then.”
“It is, Sir.”
“Great.” Major Barnes brought a hand up to rub at the bridge of his nose. “Private Owens! Front and Center!”
One of the Marines tore himself away from the wall, then sprinted over to the two of them. He stood at attention and snapped a salute.
“Sir!” he announced.
“At ease,” Major Barnes growled. “Walk with us and talk with us, son. You’ve got some explaining to do.”
Private Owens blinked. “...I do? No offense, Sir, but you already know everything there is to know about what happened.”
“Actually, I don’t, but out of respect for Sibyl, I’d prefer you keep the more lurid details to yourself.”
He motioned for Private Owens to follow, and together, the two of them along with Captain Johnson left the barracks, headed for Major Barnes’ office.
Somehow, Owens felt like he was being led to the electric chair more than anything.
XXX
“Alright, so I’ve only got one question for you,” Major Barnes said, slamming his hands down on the table, causing Owens to flinch back a bit. “What. The fuck. Did you do this time?”
Owens blinked. “...Sir?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, scumbag. Clearly, you’ve done something to piss off the Vuk this time. I want to know what it is so I know exactly how far to throw you out the airlock.”
Owens flinched at that. “Sir, I promise you, I haven’t done anything aside from that one thing… person… wolf girl… alien… you get what I’m saying, I’m sure.”
“No, actually, I don’t think I do,” Major Barnes said. “Why don’t you try a few more nouns? Maybe then I’ll get the picture.”
“Uh…”
“That wasn’t a suggestion, Private.”
Owens began to sweat. “U-um… diplomat? Esteemed friend of humanity? The only reason I’m not dead right now?”
“Good enough,” Barnes acquiesced. “Alright, so you really haven’t done anything.”
Owens shook his head. “No, Sir – in fact, I haven’t left the barracks since the… um, incident. I mean, hell, I’ve been shadowboxing for the past thirty minutes or so, and this seems like a new development.”
“He’s got a point, Major,” Captain Johnson admitted. “While I wouldn’t put it past Private Owens to fuck up colossally yet again in some way, he simply hasn’t had the opportunity to do so yet.”
“Hm…” Major Barnes brought a hand up to his chin in thought. “Of course, this naturally raises more questions than it answers…”
“What kind of questions?”
“Why we haven’t discharged his ass, for one.”
“I mean, for all we know, he’s the sole reason Sybil voted yes,” Johnson pointed out.
“I’m aware. Do me a favor, Captain – once we’re out of this meeting, check and see if it’s possible to discharge somebody over a future violation.”
“What, you mean like punishing him for pre-crime?”
“Fuck yeah, I do, Minority Report up in this bitch. I want this fucking idiot out of my Corps as soon as possible.”
“He’s right here, Major. He can hear every word of that.”
“I know what I said.” Major Barnes crossed his arms, then leered at Private Owens.
“So,” he said. “You don’t have any idea why there’s a squad of Vuk females out there hunting you down?”
Owens’ eyes widened. “There are?”
“Well, I guess that answers that question easily enough,” Captain Johnson observed.
“He could be lying,” Major Barnes stated. Again, he leered at Private Owens, who shrank back once more. “Unfortunately, there’s only one thing I can think of that might have gone wrong here, given that he hasn’t had the opportunity to do another stupid thing yet.”
“What would that be?” Captain Johnson questioned.
“Clearly, the sex was bad in some way, and now she wants his ass on a plate for it.”
“That’s… alright, admittedly, that’s actually pretty likely…”
“I guess we have no choice, then.” Major Barnes looked back over to Private Owens, his expression narrowing. “I can’t believe I’m about to ask you this, but… Private, what would you say the sex was like between you two?”
Private Owens just stared at him for a moment. “...Sir?”
“You heard me, Private. Was it good or bad?”
“It… was sex, Sir. Even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.”
“I beg to differ,” Captain Johnson announced.
Both men looked to him in surprise. “You do?” Major Barnes asked. “Why is that?”
“Either of you ever been to Vegas before?”
“Say no more, I understand completely.” Barnes looked back to Owens. “Now, I hate to have to do this to you, son, almost as much as I hate to have to do it to myself, but I’m gonna need you to tell me exactly how good or how bad the sex was.”
Private Owens hesitated. “But Major-”
“Be specific.”
“This is an incredibly private thing to-”
“Very specific,” Barnes amended. “Come on, don’t be shy, we’re all adults here.” He paused. “Well, okay, two adults and one dead manchild walking, but the idea’s still the same.”
Private Owens flushed red. “...You’re really ordering me to kiss and tell, Sir?”
“Unfortunately,” Major Barnes said dryly. “Believe me, I like this about as much as you do, but we have to be certain that bad sex isn’t the reason why the Vuk are now trying to hunt you down. Once we’ve determined the reason for it, we can isolate the factors that caused it and solve it before it becomes an interspecies incident.”
“Ship’s probably sailed on that one, Sir,” Captain Johnson observed.
Major Barnes rolled his eyes, then looked back to Owens. “So, I’m gonna start asking you questions, and you are gonna answer them.”
“Sir, I don’t think this is-” Owens began, only for Barnes to cut him off.
“You made sure to get her warmed up a bit, yeah? Wine and dine her a little, then take her back home before getting to work?”
“Well, I-”
“Your kissing game was on-point, right? Did you slip her a little tongue? Maybe give her some puppy kisses? That seems like it’d be fitting.”
“Major, this is-”
“And normally I would ask about foreplay here, but we know all about that already, because it’s all the Vuk females are talking about.”
“Please stop-”
“And as for the sex itself, it lasted a while, right? You made sure she was satisfied by the end of it?”
Private Owens finally reached a breaking point and looked over to Johnson. “Captain?”
Johnson said nothing, instead letting Major Barnes continue on his perverted pseudo-tirade.
“It was as good for her as it was for you, right?”
“Captain?!”
Still, Captain Johnson did nothing to stop it.
“What about backshots, Private? Were there any of those?”
“Captain?!”
“Private, answer the Major’s question!” Captain Johnson snapped.
“Yes!” Private Owens finally blurted out. “It was good, alright?! It was really fucking good! I shot my fat load into her aching womb while she screamed my name to the high heavens! I’ve got fucking scratch and bite marks across my body from her, man! What more do you want from me?!”
Major Barnes and Captain Johnson paused, then turned to look at each other. Finally, they both nodded.
“Alright, so bad sex isn’t the reason for this, then,” Major Barnes observed. “So, that leaves us wondering-”
There was a knock at the door, followed by another Marine speaking to them through it.
“Major, the Vuk are here… and they look pissed.”
Major Barnes blinked, then crossed his arms again. “Well,” he said, “let’s not keep our guests waiting, then.”
Him and Captain Johnson stepped out from around the desk and approached the door. Owens went to follow after them, only for Barnes to round on him.
“You stay here,” he ordered. “I want to get a read on what’s going on first before I literally throw you to the wolves. After all, that might just make them even more pissed than they already are.”
With that, Major Barnes and Captain Johnson left the room, closing and locking the door behind them.
Somehow, Private Owens couldn’t help but feel like they’d just left him to die.
XXX
Special thanks to my good friend and co-writer, Ickbard, for the help with writing this story.

I’m currently working with a US based bank as a production support engineer and desperately want to move to a different role. So I interviewed for a few companies and i got a job offer in operations from another US based bank with a good hike. Need your opinion on what to do. Considering below facts :

1. I have done B.Tech from information technology but have no interest in coding. also i have never given coding a fair chance as well but it just ts incredibly bores me.
   
2. I know I for sure don’t see myself as a developer 10 years down the line. i do know that there are many things i can still go for in tech industry.
   
3. Having 3 years of experience (in total and in the same company) I am a bit scared to go for entry level roles.
   
4. I can also switch back to if things does’nt go well here. And if i take up this role and do an MBA i think my chances would be greater to get promoted in future.
   
5. But I am aware tech field is also booming these days and if i just focus and study things might workout.
   

So please suggest if it is a good option to go for the operation job which i am getting?