We are going to renovate a basement into a legal rental unit. We need permits to build a kitchen, windows, and make sure it's up to code throughout the process. Is there anyone you would recommend in town? Also, there is no rush, we're happy to wait for a good contractor if they're busy.

It started in my teenage years and has become worse, especially in the last few years when our tastes and opinions have drifted apart, he calls me fat, claims i always break stuff (a good example is the stairs, one day i said one of the steps felt strange and he fixed it by hammering in a nail, except that actually diverted the stress to the wrong part and the whole thing cracked, he has blamed me ever since because i'm 'overweight') he always tries to get into my phones, he tries to hack my iPhone for instance by showing it to my face or just pictures of my face.
​
A few months ago i bought a kilt and he has not shut up about that either, 'why do you want to dress like a woman?' 'we're not scottish' 'you're going to get yourself beat up wearing that' and he spews anti-kilt rhetoric in my face, today he asked me if i wanted a pride kilt, starting rumours that i'm LGBTQ+ is one of his favorite things to do.
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He also harrasses me about my long hair, saying it's dirty, needs to be cut, or why i'm growing it long or making up rumours, he sometimes puts his hand in my hair.
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He also spies on me, i ask to borrow his phone for something and go down his pictures, i find potshots of my computer monitor and my phone screen, i was just playing bitlife on my phone and he wasn't convinced, he kept asking me what 'website that is' and where i 'got the 101,000 euros from' he only realized when he googled it.
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He hates my taste in music, doesn't like me singing and thinks i'm sexually attracted to a former member of one of my favorite bands.
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I have a feeling the reason why he's been worse lately is because a few days ago i had to change the password to my youtube account, i got an email about a comment reply and it turned out he'd been using my account to argue with people and spam this one popular youtuber, honestly the comments reminded me of yayvideogames.
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He's also very paranoid in general, always thinks i'm writing about him and demands to see everything i do on my computer, if i happen to change tabs just as he walks in he accuses me of hiding something and demands to see it.
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Stuff of mine has been broken before too, like several fountain pens, he let a dog chew up a 50s esterbrook and hid the remains from me, he went through a hypergraphia phase of writing lots of things in my books and ruining the pages, he also once took an axe to my xbox controller because he lost a game.
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I'll appreciate any advice on what i can do, what i can say, etc i think some of the harassment is bordering on assault especially touching my hair and clothes, i also have audio evidence of him telling me he doesn't want me wearing a kilt.

Since Taylor started the rerecordings I started listening to her music more and more until I was listening to Taylor pretty much exclusively at the end of 2023-start of 2024. Then Matty and TTPD happened and I couldn’t listen to it honestly (I still haven’t finished the album and likely won’t) and then all the glimpses of who she is came together and she’s just not a good person.
I took a break from her music because I just wasn’t feeling it/her anymore and at first I didn’t know what to listen to. It’s embarrassing to even admit. I used to be a huge music lover with eclectic taste and it was like I forgot all of it. Slowly I started remembering artists and what quality production sounds like and I haven’t listened to Taylor since TTPD release.
Folklore/Evermore are stand alone and most of the credit should be attributed to the collaboration with and influence of Joe. I still can’t listen to them now because she’s just ruined them for me but just mentioning it to say that I believe her best work isn’t really her work. It was her chameleoning herself into her romantic partner at the time and musically it worked very well for her.
I’ve detached from her music but will remain a bystander hoping that Joe gets the happy ending he deserves and that public perception of her continues to grow more accurate.

So, I'm a Christian. I was raised Christian, left, and through psychedelics came back to faith. First, I want to say I am not encouraging anyone to take them, but this is just my argument.
I feel Christians' perspective on psychedelics is more impacted by what the government tells us is good and bad, and not by what is actually good and bad. If nicotine and antidepressants were banned by the government and given bad press purposely, Christians all around would be saying, "God hates nicotine and antidepressants."
I understand the "be of sober mind" verse and agree with it. But what is considered sober? Is it anything above base level? Some people's sober is other people's drunkenness. Are you sober when taking antidepressants? Or Adderall? Or pain meds? Allergy medication can put you to sleep, even while driving—are you now not sober minded?
I still take mushrooms today, in small doses in the morning or sometimes before I go to the movies. Mainly, they just enhance my senses and make me happier and more creative. I work a creative job. I am completely sober doing so, to a degree that feels more sober than base level.
The arguments I hear Christians make against psychedelics seem weak and can be applied to so many other substances that they consider ok. I'm sure a lot of you got your wisdom teeth removed. Halcion and Valium can be very psychoactive—I know they were for me. But no, God is okay with those, just not the ones that grow out of the ground. They have to be made in a lab... I just don't get it.
To summarize my point: I'm only going to argue for mushrooms because that's all I've taken, but this could extend to others. It's only a matter of time until psychedelics are decriminalized. After that, it's only a matter of time before they are used medically and become FDA approved. Mushrooms have recorded many possible benefits to mental health, depression, addiction, trauma, etc. The methods we have today have very low success rates and are produced using many different lab-made chemicals. I'm not making an argument against medicine, just saying. The only argument I can see is abuse of these substances, but you can die from too many bananas and cherries. That argument can be used for everything.
The argument "they put you in the spirit realm" is not a factual statement, just an assumption. I don't know if I would disgree with that claim though. But same thing could be said for breath work, are you now not sober because you meditated?
What is a good argument against the use of these substances? Am I missing something?

TAKE A CHANCE! :)
What I'm looking for is good conversation, a solid connection, and someone I can have great chemistry with. I'm also hoping for a physical connection, mutual attraction, and so forth if possible.
However, I'm looking for something casual, not something serious. It can be long term, but still casual. On the flip side though I'm ideally not looking for a one night fling or anything like that either.
To put it simply, I want a great fwb, with the latter part happening only if we click that way. No pressure, no obligations. Let's just chat and see how things go!
About me: caucasian, 6ft tall, mostly slim build, blue eyes, nice smile. Intelligent, athletic, funny/silly, into sports, movies, and video games. The type of guy who holds the door open for people and will say 'excuse me' for sneezing even if no one is around.
About you: any race or height, good hygiene, at least a decent smile. Good sense of humor, able to carry a conversation, not into 'ghosting' people. Open-minded is VERY important as is patience. The closer to North Raleigh, or maybe Wake Forest/Rolesville//NE Raleigh, the better. Area code 919
If you'd like to chat and go from there, feel free to send me a message!

i originally saw this and thought this was some highly toxic black mold that would kill me, but ive been showering with this for weeks and ive somehow just noticed it today
i think after a bunch of research this is black mold growing into the silicone, which means ill have to buy some silicone and redo the process
https://imgur.com/a/NwFQh9I - picture of the mold growing in the corner of the shower area, i think this is normal and common but im just asking for any tips and help on what i should do next and how i should remove this
i just want to point out - i DID rinse this into the drain, im not sure if this was the normal idea, am i good or no?
(had to make this a link so i can add a caption)

Hello, I am the developer of Archean, which just released on Steam today, in Early Access.
Archean is an immersive Engineering Sandbox and Space Sim. The game is set on Earth, 3 billion years in the past, in the Archean eon.
This is a challenging sandbox that can be played solo or multiplayer with dedicated servers. It also happens to be a full scale Space Sim but it doesn't force you to do space stuff.
This game (and custom engine) is developed by a single programmer (myself) in a small team of two.
This project is my baby, I've been working on it for more than 13 years, starting over many times, until the technology got to where it needed to actually make it happen.
It's priced at USD 19.99 but there is a 25% discount at the moment for the release!
NOTE: You require an NVIDIA RTX graphics card to be able to play it. It won't run on a GTX or an AMD gpu.
Current Features

• Engineering / build sandbox
• Resource gathering and crafting
• Solo or Multiplayer with dedicated servers
• Open World with full size Earth and Moon
• Space Sim with orbital mechanics
• Aerodynamics simulation
• In-game coding with the XenonCode language
• Workshop integration
• Creative and Adventure modes
• Fully ray-traced graphics

Future Updates

• Survival mode
• Vehicle destruction and PVP
• Pressurization system
• Full scale solar system (with all the planets and moons)
• Weather system
• LOTS more content
• SDK for modders

Immersive Engineering Sandbox

We offer a very advanced, high precision build and engineering system with small resizable blocks from 25 cm to 4 meters. In this game, you have to connect components with actual cables/pipes for power, data and fluids. Build in-game live in an immersive way, not in an editor. Code your own logic in virtual computers, using pure code or a node-based visual programming system.

XenonCode

We have developed a new programming language designed to be easy to learn and optimal for in-game virtual computers. The game has a built-in cooperative editor with syntax highlighting and multi-cursor support, as well as a node-based visual editor to facilitate scripting.

Adventure Mode

In this mode, you begin with nothing in your backpack. You have to gather resources and craft everything you need. You start by hand, picking up rocks, build mining rigs, build automated machines and so on. Some resources are underwater, some are at the highest mountain peaks. It's up to you to build vehicles that can get there. The ultimate goal is to reach the Moon.

Native Ray-Tracing

Our innovative renderer is fully ray-traced with a great performance. This is not a eye-candy, it's actually a necessary feature for this game to even exist, because of its dynamic nature. Since the content will be mostly user-created and it's set to be moddable out-of-the-box, we cannot afford any artist-driven baked lighting, and with the full scale aspects with customizable solar system, we need the sun(s) lighting to be completely dynamic based on the real-time scenario, instead of tweaking shadow maps and reflection probes manually like other games do. The entire scene is rendered in a single ray-tracing pass with many recursive light bounces. This allows for realistic hard shadows, perfectly reflective mirrors and physically correct refractions. Just make sure you have an NVIDIA RTX graphics card and you're good to go.

Space Sim

The final goal of this game is to be a Full Scale Space Sim with the entire solar system. At the moment we have the Earth and the Moon, Orbital Mechanics and Re-Entry effects based on velocity. There is no artificial speed limit, so you can actually orbit realistically at 8 km/s. You can also dock with your friend's ship while in orbit, if you're good.
We have great plans for this game, and we swear by our 5 commandments:

1. Thou shall obey physics

It's NOT arcade-style and we do not underestimate our players. You must understand science or be willing to learn some physics. The game features realistic 6-dof space physics without any artificial speed limit. As far as we know, it's the only multiplayer space sim where you can dock with your friend's space station while in space at Full Orbital Velocity. This game is NOT meant to be a dogfight-style space shooter because that would not be practical with realistic physics.

2. Thou shall not see "Loading..."

Seamless transitions, no loading screens, EVER! From ground to orbit to another planet... it's all seamless. The game also happens to "load" pretty much instantly... For reference, in our Quadcopter video, the recording started BEFORE the game's executable was launched.

3. Thou shall not hit a wall

No fake boundaries. No skyboxes. No predefined paths. IT's a true Open World game, and it's all full scale. If you see a mountain, it's not a texture... You can just walk there and climb it if you have the courage... But I would just build a Rover or some kind of aircraft to get there faster. The moon that you see from the surface of Earth is the actual moon's terrain that you will land on, if you manage to build a good enough rocket, that is. The stars you see are individually rendered points in 3D space. It's not a skybox. But let's be honest you won't ever be able to reach another star.

4. Thou shall not be Thee

Immersive, first person controls and no cutscenes. There will NEVER be a point where the player loses control of their avatar to a cutscene or to some long animation. This game will keep a focus on First Person Immersion. Even though there is a 3rd person view available, it's mostly for taking screenshots, the game is not meant to be played this way.

5: Thou shall make sense

Everything has a realistic purpose based on science. Nothing should be fake, and in-game technologies must be at least plausible with some math behind it. This means that there is no such thing as magical artificial gravity. There are only two ways to have gravity in your spaceship when you're in space:

• Constant Acceleration: Players inside an accelerating ship do feel gravity realistically, and there is no artificial sublight speed limit as opposed to most (if not all) other multiplayer space sims.
• Centrifugal Forces: Yes you can also build a rotating station and you will have realistic "gravity" sensation like you would expect.

Also, there will be no Faster Than Light space travel. The math for a plausible Warp Drive would not allow that, but will let you multiply your acceleration quite a bit, in a way that you can travel up to 99% the speed of light.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2941660/Archean/
I sincerely hope you'll enjoy this game a lot, as I did developing it and will keep enjoying working on it for years to come.

Can anyone recommend a good State Farm agency in Denver? I’ve been through two agencies here. I’ve had no claims, but any time I call to adjust (in this case add more insurance) the first agency was completely unresponsive so I switched to one in my neighborhood. This new one has been unorganized to the extent he’s had my address wrong each time we’ve spoken. He also assured me this would be done in one day and that was a week ago. No follow-up or anything.
I prefer someone in north Denver, but would consider any in Denver. Alternatively, I’d consider a good insurance broker. Thanks for the help.

I have a 2015 ford focus se. I know it’s know a good model, but I’m stuck with it for four years, so I’m doing the best I can. Recently it started alerting me that my transmission was overheating. It happens randomly, mostly once a day, never after a specific driving time or anything, it just does it. I took it to the shop after it happened the first time, and they claimed they found no issues, so it was probably a faulty code. Yet it keeps happening. Each time it does, I do pull over and let it cool for five minutes just in case. It started happening a lot today, but it was an unusually hot day, so I’m not sure if it’s correlated? If anyone could provide me answers, that would be great.

Hey y’all, I’m a new rush chair for a medium sized chapter at a school where Greek life is growing a lot. We don’t have a row or houses which really sucks but since my freshman year (rising junior) Greek life has grown immensely. Our former rush chair kinda fell behind and our last EC was not very proactive when it came to rush and not much effort was put in so a lot of chapters had much more successful classes this past year, which caused us to fall from the largest chapter spot. My current EC is showing signs similar to the past one as there are a few guys who were elected for new positions, but a lot of guys from my class that are now on EC back me fully with any ideas I have. Does anyone have any advice on how to have a successful rush? We have a lot of satellite houses and money. Also does anyone have any advice on how to get a better outlook on rush as an entire chapter? A lot of brothers don’t care anymore and it’s impacting our rush numbers greatly. Thanks.
TLDR: My chapter is not active when it comes to rush and it’s affecting our numbers, what’s a good way to get brothers out and have a good fall rush.

Hey y’all! I’m getting back into writing letters and am looking for some new penpals. Letters are so much fun to send and receive and keeping the tradition alive it so important. I’m a stationary nerd who loves to see différent people’s writing styles and stationary selection. I also just love getting to know new people!
Would love to find some people on here with similar interests or just those who are open to writing back and forth. I’m a female veteran and conservative Christian who works in a stem field. I also enjoy reading, gardening, k-dramas, traveling, trying new foods, and serving in the community. I worked in a card shop for a bit so I love stationary and also have written many letters myself. Encouraging people and learning from others is something I’m looking to grow in. Let me know if you’re interested and we’ll see if it’s a good match!

Link for all the chapters available here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road
Deep in the groaning halls of sinew and bone he awaited his audience with the god. At a wave of his hand the ribs which held up the ceiling contracted, tendons shifting within the pink walls of the chamber as the jagged, calcareous spurs that composed the doorway sank back into the spongy masses of tissue, revealing a passage curving down and out of sight.
Menash stood before the yawning portal and considered eternity. This was no an idle thought: here in the Dawning Chamber, the concept was very real. His father, Yulan, had stood in this exact spot times beyond count. When he was struck down in his prime by the Night Weaver and her Leaper offspring, torn limb from limb as he fought to defend Chthonis from a raiding party, Menash’s uncle, Aqavarr, had carried his broken remains over that grinning threshold to join the hosts of the dead, never to return.
A hot and heavy exhalation rattled up out of the depths, wafting in the acrid scent of the bonding pools and the wet slithering sound of the rebirthing canals. Menash felt a crackle of static in the corners of his mind before the signal sharpened and he heard It whisper distinctly:
“Enter…”
The familiar dread crept its way up the small of his back, and he gave a little shiver. No matter how many times he had communed with the Vitalus, he’d never been able to shake the feeling of his utter insignificance. But he persevered, walking bravely down the slurping passage, past the rows of broad antechambers lining either side of the hallway. Each one held a slumbering shape immersed in a cryogenic bath, towering hulks of muscle encased in ribbed and riveted plates of chitin. No two were alike in size or physiology, but all seemed to emanate the same primeval aura of dread that tickled Menash’s fight-or-flight-instinct, skewing it very much towards the latter response. These were the Hollowores, soulless avatars of the Vitalus, each one a tool capable of eradicating an entire species. As Menash approached, one of the living weapons stirred to life. A pronged, anvil-shaped head emerged from the bath, umbilical feeder tubes detaching from its armored flanks as the rest of its bulk followed, its mauve exoskeleton as sleek and shiny as amethyst. The Hollowore extended legs as thick as grown pine trees and lifted itself above him, its pairs of crushing pincers dripping amniotic fluids as it herded him towards the central room.
Bundles of white gossamer filaments spread all across the floor, encircling steaming pools of pus and acid. He saw arms and legs, sensory organs and entire exoskeletons being knitted before his very eyes, the amino acid chains being stitched on a layer at a time, the weeping pus evidence of microphages fighting off possible infections as the Vitalus did Its work.
These were the next generation of exomorphs, yet to be assigned to their hosts. It was here that Vitalus constantly improved the only thing that could ensure the continued survival of Menash’s subspecies. Exomorphs were bonded to Gallivants at birth, the organisms supplying their hosts with the means to breathe an atmosphere they was never meant to endure, and the strength to fight in a world that was red in tooth and claw. They were as swift as the summer wind and could multiply their host’s muscular power by up to twelve times their natural output.
But for all their God-given might, Gallivants were still mortal. They could and often did perish in the endless struggle for existence that the Vitalus called the Great Game. But even in death they could still commit their essence to posterity, passing down their defining traits through the malleable genetic code of the gilt helix. It was the Vitalus’ greatest boon; through the gilt helix a single individual could become a progenitor of an entire generation, becoming at one stroke the father of whole nations and peoples.
One day he too would prove worthy of the honor that Yulan had earned with his life. But he was not alone in that ambition. Menash was annoyed to find the crimson-clad Vezda and the cowardly Racek waiting for him inside, standing next to a large ball of filaments that hung from a tonsil-like growth hanging from the walls.
This node pulsed, emitting a small storm of bioelectric activity, networks of fungi conveying commands in the form of oscillating voltages to their communities of symbiotic bacteria, the latter containing greigite mineral crystals aligned in the shape of electromagnetic coils. Other networks hidden in the walls modulated and amplified the signals, and the three Gallivants steeled themselves for the onrushing flood of information as the Vitalus tapped into their minds.
He was a candle before the raging heart of the thunderstorm. For an instant Menash touched a fraction of Its intelligence, the divisions of time and space rolling back as they joined the ocean of shared consciousness, becoming one with the living systems of Arachnea. From the tiniest aeroplankton floating above the waves of the golden coastlines, to the herds of ultrapods munching their way through swathes of trees in the savannahs. Menash felt himself pushing up out of the soil, longing and lusting and reaching for the sunlight with a trillion green fingers uncurling, alive with the furious movement of life.
But what was that flicker of orange to the east? That searing heat, that prickling pain spreading like a cancer down his side?
The Vitalus scooped them up and hurled them headlong into hell itself. A roaring wildfire was sweeping into the heart of the eastern rainforests. Menash tasted ash and ruin, felt pieces of himself wither and burn, his branches tongues of fire, wood cracking from the intense blaze, sap boiling instantaneously upon contact and rupturing, splitting him right down the grain. He fled in terror, running, slithering, digging, swimming, flying away in crazed panic from the walls of red death closing in on him. As his skin flaked off in clumps of charcoal he looked back and saw it towering over the treetops, the epicenter of this howling vortex of destruction: the grey behemoth. Its burnished metal hide gleamed like copper, reflecting the fury of the conflagration burning well into the night.
Menash pulled his mind away before it was lost forever in the storm of electric potentials. He saw Racek and Vezda swaying on their feet, breathing hard and fast.
“Heart of the World,” he managed to gasp, “What is your bidding?”
The Hollowore maneuvered itself until it was facing him directly. Tiny beady eyes fixed him in their blank gaze. The node emitted a blue pulse and the creature shuddered as it received the signal. It opened a maw powerful enough to chew boulders into gravel and rumbled:
“This one is the alpha which survived first contact with anomalous variable. It will tell Us what occurred, and from whence this threat emerged.”
“It came from the karst mountain range, where the yellowjacket Amit live,” Menash replied, “It was destroying the largest mound in that area, massacring its inhabitants. It brought the mountain down on them—we’ve never seen anything like it. Zildiz was the first on the scene. She warned us not to approach, and that it was dangerous, but some of us,” here he cast an angry look at Vezda, “Some of us went ahead and tried to scavenge from the bodies of the dying. Then the behemoth ignited the air and burned scores of us to cinders.”
“Irrational. Why did you do this?”
“W-we thought that you had spawned the grey behemoth,” Menash stammered, embarrassed to say the least, “That it was the newest addition to the Great Game, another species of ultrafauna that would help perfect Arachnea.”
“Not so. It was made by an evil far older than the All-In-One,” replied the Vitalus, “It is called a Divine Engine. In cycles past, this evil sought to undo this world and all that inhabit it. In that, it almost succeeded.”
Menash felt his blood run cold at those words.
“Is it the only one of its kind?” Racek piped up. Menash and Vezda both bristled at his interruption; subordinates were only supposed to speak when spoken to.
“There were several deployed here in Our infancy. We had thought them all destroyed in the War of Creation.”
“Your Munificence,” Racek went on, heedless of the venomous looks he was getting from the other two, “Most of us survived because Zildiz persuaded us to dive into the river. She saved all our lives! But as I washed up on the riverbank, I saw the behemoth casting a seedpod into the skies. I did not see where it landed, but it was travelling in a high arc due east. Is this the behemoth’s method of reproducing? If so, then how many offspring can it generate from this one seed?”
The Vitalus met his questions with a minute of silence. Menash had never known It to take so long to respond to a query, and felt another stab of unease in his gut. Unless he was imagining things, the Vitalus seemed genuinely disturbed by the scenario that Racek has raised, enough to convince Menash that the danger was far from hypothetical.
“That is a distant possibility,” It said somewhat cryptically, “Regardless, We cannot allow the Engine’s continued existence.”
“Then it must be destroyed,” Vezda said, her barbed tail eagerly perking up.
“We are not certain that it can be,” the Vitalus said, and Menash heard Racek audibly gulp at the admission.
“But Your Omniscience, you alone are the arbiter of growth and decay,” Vezda said in disbelief, “Surely you can unmake this monster as well?”
“Perhaps. The Divine Engines were built to withstand the extremes of temperature, gravity, atmospheric pressure, acidity and irradiation found on semi-inhabitable exoplanets. Worlds of bareness and desolation, glassed by thermonuclear bombardment or infested with alien microorganisms. In the wars of Our youth, the Betrayers used tungsten-alloy warheads fired from space platforms to crack their bulkheads. Not even Our vessels, the Hollowores, could damage them in any significant way. We will need time to gather the raw materials and fabricate the weapons needed to end this threat.”
“What must we do?” Menash asked.
“If this variable is not dealt with, it could upset the delicate balance We have sacrificed so much to achieve. Already the wildfire it has caused will release close to 400 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and destroy 2.3 million acres of forest before Our countermeasures can stop it. Time is our limiting factor. If the Engine cannot be destroyed now, it must be restrained.”
“It hasn’t moved an inch since we last saw it,” Vezda said brightly, “Maybe it has already died?”
“Yes, and maybe your mother was a horka toad,” Racek said snidely. Vezda scowled and took a step towards him, then stopped as she remembered that she trod on hallowed ground.
“Not so. It has merely gone dormant. Having expended its fuel, it is now running on the bare minimum of its reserves. My children, you must ensure that it does not wake again. Establish a quarantine zone around the Engine and let none approach, on pain of death. The Leaper kindreds will secure the ground while the Gallivants patrol the skies.”
Vezda and Menash exchanged troubled looks. Nobody wanted Leapers establishing a foothold in what was essentially a buffer zone between their subspecies. Once allowed to settle in a habitat, it would not take long for them to adapt and become masters of their new territory. Ousting them would become a battle of attrition, and given the lower birthrates of Gallivants, it was not one they could long afford.
“Respectfully, we do not require assistance from our brother kindred,” Menash ventured, “We are more than capable of safeguarding the area ourselves.”
The node throbbed again, the bioelectric flashes taking on an angry purple hue. With a sound like the grinding of a millstone the Hollowore clashed its claws together impatiently. All three of the mortals took a hasty step back.
“The alpha will obey, or another will be found that can,” the Vitalus growled at them, “All subspecies will observe a general truce during this period. This is a temporary addition to the Great Game. Those that serve Us well shall be rewarded. We shall also enlist the aid of your terrestrial cousins, as well as the Cataphract clans to replenish the soil, and lone Saints who shall rove beyond the quarantine zone.”
Menash’s unease deepened. The Vitalus was bringing together four different kindreds, some of which killed each other on sight, in a move that reeked of desperation. The kindreds had worked together before, of course, on complex projects such as altering rainfall patterns and husbanding struggling species, but never so many at once. This was bound to end in bloodshed.
“Those that break the truce shall be chemically neutered, and their gilt helix purged from the existing gene pool,” the Vitalus continued, “You will maintain this quarantine until We have dealt with the Engine.”
“It is understood!” Menash and Vezda said at once.
“But what about Zildiz?” Racek blurted out, again risking his entire lineage by speaking out of turn, “She might still be alive out there!”
“He’s right,” Menash found himself agreeing despite his dislike for Racek, “She’s our alpha, after all. It would be a shame to lose her helix. Do we have your leave to send out a party to recover her?”
The Vitalus pondered the request for a moment, then crushed his hopes when it said:
“Regrettable, the loss of the female. Valuable stock for the breeding program. But it has not responded to Our signals—it is unlikely to have survived. The female Vezda shall take up its duties as alpha.”
“But Your Benevolence—” both men cried out in unison.
“It is decided. She has risked the Great Game, and must abide by its outcome. To speak more on this would risk Our displeasure,” the god warned.
“We can’t spare the manpower anyway,” Vezda pointed out, trying not to look too pleased at Its decision. She darted a quick look at Menash, long enough for him to see the selfish desire festering in her heart. He turned away from her in disgust, baring his blades by the slightest of margins to let her know what he thought of her, then asked the Vitalus:
“But what of the Engine’s seedpod? Should we search for it?”
“Negative!” the Vitalus boomed, its node reinforcing the word with a spike of activity that sent needles of pain spearing into their heads, “We shall complete this task. It is dangerous and can be entrusted to no other.”
The Hollowore angled its massive head towards the cavernous ceiling, armored flaps on its back sliding aside as it unfurled sets of rigid sixty-meter wings. A wide sphincter on the roof gaped open and Menash saw the evening sky awash with the stars in their milky multitudes. The Hollowore took a deep breath through the spiracles lining its thorax and abdomen, pumping air through a pair of hollow tube-like protuberances under either of its wings. Menash and the others quickly scampered to a safe distance. Seconds later there was a scream of chemical combustion and the Hollowore rose into the evening skies, leaving behind a long trail of superheated gases, the backwash almost knocking Menash off his feet. They watched as the Hollowore gained altitude, making straight for the columns of billowing smoke on the horizon, a sweeping shadow blotting out the light of the heavens.
The Vitalus’ mental presence receded with it. When it did not return, they took it to mean that they were dismissed and likewise took flight and headed for Chthonis. They were hardly out of the Dawning Chamber when Vezda seized the scrawny Racek by his wings and anchored her feet right up against his back.
“Funny little man, are you? Crack jokes at my expense again, and I’ll see to it that you’ll never fly again!” she snarled, yanking hard. Racek yelled as his wings threatened to pop out of their sockets.
“Stop!” Menash said, ramming his shoulder into her and knocking the smaller male out of her grip. Vezda rounded on him, blades out and her tail aquiver with rage.
“As for you! No one should speak to the Vitalus like that!” she shrieked, “Much less gainsay It! Are you trying to get us all killed? It is the source and continuance of life itself—”
“But the Vitalus doesn’t always consider the individual scale of things,” Menash reasoned, controlling his rising anger as he tried to defuse the situation, “Its scope of thought is beyond ours. Therefore it is up to us to look after each other. None of us can win the Great Game alone. We need people like Zildiz for the species to prosper.”
“Your logic is flawed,” Vezda spat, “Empathy is a sham devised by the selfish action of the gene, which seeks only to preserve itself. At least I am honest enough to look after my own interests. Your obsession with that whore is misplaced. Heed my words, Menash. What happened today marks a change in the Great Game. Only the ruthless will reap the rewards of this era. Think on that, and act accordingly.”
The female darted off in another direction, leaving the two behind.
“Thanks,” Racek said, rubbing at his sore shoulders, “My, my. She’s really taking her promotion very seriously, isn’t she?”
“This doesn’t make us friends,” Menash said shortly, “We share a common interest, that’s all.”
The two flew together in silence for a time, the dark canopy unrolling below their feet. Racek had always been a bitter rival for Zildiz’s affections. In the mating seasons he and Menash had flown the damsel-dance against each other countless times, racing and dogfighting at top speed through the dense bamboo thickets in an effort to impress her.
But each time she had always chosen Menash. Naturally. He was the stronger, the braver, the son of the Scourge who had slain hundreds on his lightning raids into Leaper territory. Their pairings had been brief and passionate, yet she had always laughed at the end and gone on her merry way, a rose petal borne on a scented breeze, the dalliance as meaningless to her as other concerns like eating or breathing.
But not to him. Right now, all that mattered was her. And Racek was the only one in the whole wide world who knew exactly how he felt. Did that mean he could be trusted? Menash considered the enormity of what he was about to do, and wavered. Then he saw her face in the darkness of his home, the face she wore when they were all alone together, and he took a deep breath before breaking the silence, saying:
“I’ll be in charge of the quarantine. I can arrange for you to disappear for a few days. I can have one of the younglings mimic your magnetosynaptic signal, make it seem like you’re with the rest of us.”
“You’d do that? For me?” Racek said in astonishment.
“Hah. Not for you,” Menash laughed softly. He looked Racek straight in the eyes and continued: “What’ll it be, then?”
If he so much as hesitates, I’ll have to kill him here and now, Menash told himself.
“Why, yes. Yes, of course!” the little brown male said vigorously.
“Good,” Menash sighed with relief, “She’ll be very grateful to whoever brings her home. I’d do it myself, but as an alpha I can’t risk being seen as disobedient.”
“Then why give me this chance? After all that’s passed between us?”
“I should have thought that was obvious,” Menash replied. Racek digested that for a bit, then out of nowhere said:
“If I find her—when I find her—I’ll tell her exactly who it was that sent me.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“Bah! Just so we’re even, that’s all,” Racek grinned, his mouthparts slanting askew.
“Thanks, I guess. I’d…I’d appreciate that. You do understand what we’re risking here, right?”
“Sure. We’ll be total genetic write-offs if we’re caught. But it’s not like I wanted to see tiny ugly Raceks running around the house anyway. What about you, though? Why are you putting your neck on the chopping block?”
“You know why,” Menash said quietly, his thoughts still lingering on her face.
“Yes,” Racek agreed with a wistful air, “Yes, I suppose I do.”
And the pair spoke no more until they reached Chthonis.
Link for all the chapters available here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road

For the last 3 years i've managed a customer service department for a medium sized software company. I'm not fulfilled in my career and frankly, I don't know what to be when I grow up (i'm 38).
Just sort of looking for options on what would be a good career move. I've tried sales and didn't care for it. Ideally i'd love to get a job somehow with the government. I have a feeling I need to go back to school. I have a worthless Bachelors degree in Electronic Media and Film.
Any advice is definitely appreciated.

I lived in another state before Alabama and was a party to a multi-employee wage & labor dispute. Please know, I am not 'the guy who sues people'. This was a unique circumstance where we were approached by a lawyer who was representing another employee in our office, and it was explained to us clearly that our rights were being violated and legal wages owed to us were being withheld. It was not a class action claim (too few claimants), but the same lawyer represented each of us individually. Our claims ranged from misclassification (being illegally classified as a 'manager' so that we weren't eligible for overtime), unpaid breaks, and most importantly, major tip violations, where the employer was keeping our tips. The lawyer calculated each of our claims individually and sent separate demand letters. The employer then retained their own attorney who reviewed our claims against the state labor code (which our attorney had generously provided), and advised their client to promptly pay our claims so as to avoid a guaranteed loss in court + far greater attorney fees.
I say that to say this. I am constantly reading comments from workers both within this Reddit sub as well as the occasional google review of restaurants where a disgruntled current or former employee will anonymously outline ways in which they feel they were cheated. If you feel you have a reasonable wage or labor claim, I highly advise you to make note of any any all suspected violations, and contact a local wage & labor attorney. My claim was not in Alabama, and I have no allegiance to any local attorneys, therefore I am listing 3 that I found at first glance.
I am not an attorney and don't want to speak as one (super annoying when people do this) but I can tell you that if you are in the below criteria, you most definitely have a claim:
Did your boss or owner tell you at hiring, something along the lines of "The credit card tips at the cash register are too hard to keep up with, so what we do is pay everyone a higher hourly rate than anyone else around here, and it works out better for you that way" ? Not legal. All tips taken during a time frame are legally required to be properly accounted, and distributed to the employees classified as 'service' within that time frame. It can come later in the form of a check, and a % of it (roughly 3.5%) can be deducted for the CC fee, but this must be calculated and paid to the penny.
Did your boss convince you to waive your right to breaks and allow you to work 8 straight hours, eating at your desk so that you can "not have to take breaks and get off an hour earlier"? Not legal, you cannot waive this right even if you want to.
There are a slew of other wage and labor claims that your bosses or owners could be violating. During my ordeal, I personally read the labor codes of my state beforehand to try and see off the top of my head which ones had been violated. I counted 8. After meeting with the attorney and answering 100+ questions, they found 19 labor codes that had been violated. I liked his number much better.
If you are averse to attorneys, you also have the option of making a claim directly with the state labor board, who will investigate your claim and get you your money. It takes much longer.
The restaurant business is somewhat in shambles right now despite the lines you see out the door when you drive by. The cost of goods and services is at an all time high. Labor is at an all time high. Profit percentages are at an all time low. I have the deepest respect for the plight of the mom & pop restaurant owner. But the law is the law, and a local business owners rough tides cannot be stilled by the exploitation of workers.
Here are 3 wage & labor attorneys I found local to Birmingham:
https://www.adamporterlaw.com/
https://hkm.com/birmingham/
https://www.allenarnoldlaw.com/

The amount of posts I've seen on this sub about people chomping at the bit to openly join a cult is absolutely unreal, and legitimately unprecedented in modern culture. Never before in our history have the disenfranchised so eagerly sought out blatant oppression in an effort to belong. So why not exploit it? I'm going to tell you how to start a cult, and how to keep your followers coming back for more like social media junkies feeding off their favourite influencer. Ready? Let's go.
One: People are just organic computers. Learn how to code.
Life is great, right? It's full of independent minded, socially conscious individuals just trying to wade their through this horrible mess that we call life. Wrong. People are tools. Don't be a fucking idiot. They have nothing to offer you but advancement. Learn how their dumb brains work and use them accordingly.
Two: Divide and conquer, always.
The last thing that you want is all these pesky followers ganging up on you. Separate them by force. Create an environment where followers are constantly snitching on each other for clout. Remember, human beings are cattle who enjoy nothing more than exacting power over one another. Pretend that there's a hierarchy with actual power while you sit behind the scenes holding all of it.
Three: When it's over, it's over.
Doomer cults, as they are yet to be defined by me, god of the universe, are centered openly around suicide. When the Swat teams move in, and the FBI presence is too pressing to continue the regular commune routine, maybe its time to leave this mortal coil behind and take every last dooming man, woman and child with you. Jim Jones did it best with his certifiable hood classic punchbowl, which went on to create the eternal phrase "drinking the punch", or whatever the fuck it is.
So there you go, you just learned a full Netflix documentary in about a fraction of the time it'd take to watch it. And I'll bet you feel really clever about it, too. So, by virtue of this post, I'm technically a professor of the art of deception and you are all my students. And you know what, out of the goodness of my heart and nothing else, I'm giving you all an A+. I'll bet you feel pretty good right about now, and rightly you should. It can get even better if you join my online Mewing Chad classroom for a mere 69 bucks a day. Subscribe now, and learn how to chew right to finally unlock the girl of your dreams like a video game achievement!

This plant seems to grow very quickly every time it is removed. It’s covering a drain pipe and my landlord refuses to remove it because it’s “landscaping”. Will good ole weed killer get rid of it for good or should I try something else?

$MOONG - The Journey
In crypto meme coin years MOONGOOSE would be getting on 😂
Well maybe not we have only been a cto for a month and a half but considering many are in the scrap heap we are doing well.
$MOONG has always maintained that it will not be a pump and dump, we don’t want a few making profits we want everyone to grow their bags together.
We have something to share with you guys soon, that’s about as much as I’m allow to say for now, maybe if you join the telegram you could work it out going back through the messages 😉
We admin/ project leaders if you will have formed good relationships and MOONGOOSE is our baby, rest assured we will be around when the bull run get going and you will see $MOONG everywhere.
At 14k market cap this may well be the lowest you will see it,
We look forward to welcoming new members to come on this journey with us.
Website- https://moongoose.io/
Twitter- https://x.com/moongoosesolana?s=21&t=jZVFc1pzE53GSbRdh8DIRw
Sub Reddit- https://www.reddit.com/MOONGOOSETAKEOVEs/VSvSR0ihsa
Telegram- https://t.me/MOONGOOSESOL
Dex Screener- https://dexscreener.com/solana/9dyowbarbdxjhlzfo74xxfi3hk19exkqf6n54ctrc6kp

Throwaway account for anonymity, although this story is pretty popular among my group. I wrote this directly to Charlotte, so I hope you like it!
I wanted to tell the story of my marriage to my now wife and how vastly different our mothers have taken the whole thing. I’m sharing because I find the whole thing absolutely wacky, so sit back and enjoy!
I (34m) and my now wife (30f) have been together for 5 years, and we got engaged back in 2022. We made elaborate wedding plans because I’m very outgoing and extroverted, and she went along with everything because she loves me. We both knew neither of our families would not be involved. While her mother (55f) absolutely hates me because of my skin color, my mother (72f) suffered from Alzheimer’s and dementia. We knew she could never fly in for our wedding, as she could barely leave the house, let alone the state, and my father (77m), as much as he loves me, refused to leave her side for longer than an hour.
Her mother refused to ever meet me and would insult me whenever she possibly could. I really didn’t want her to attend the wedding, so I wasn’t too pleased when my wife wanted her to walk her down the aisle instead of her father (58m), who had a long history of being incredibly flaky for important events. When we created the bridal party, my side had only friends since I’m an only child and she had her brother (26m) as a bridesman. However, he didn’t like wearing suits so he dropped out of the wedding, citing that he MIGHT have work the day of the wedding, which was 6 months away. Her mother called the next day and dropped out, leading to a lot of crying, an argument and a lot of talks to get through the heartache. Her father actually stepped up and asked to walk her down the aisle, and was practically in tears apologizing for not being there for her. My wife agreed and hugged her father so tightly. I was worried but I had to give the man credit...he was trying.
Our priorities changed when I heard that my mother was quickly slipping away, so my wife had the idea of having a private ceremony just for her and my father so she could see me get married. We flew down, and discovered that the cat peed on her only white dress, and my father forgot which day we were getting married. Luckily…thanks to a lot of bleach and phone calls, we were able to get married in front of her, and she had a very good day. She remembered me the whole time, and she absolutely loved my wife. It was probably the most perfect day of my life: I got to solve problems, have my mother remember me and marry my best friend…albeit illegally technically since we didn’t have a marriage license. To this day, we called it our “marriage before God.” My mother passed away 3 weeks after that ceremony. It was pretty devastating.
By the way…we still had our “lavish” wedding to hold, which was still a month away. Her mother and brother wanted NOTHING to do with the wedding, and I was perfectly happy, but I knew she wasn’t. We had a lot of talks leading up to it, and I made sure she always had support, whether it was from me, her bridesmaids, and all of our friends coming together to let her know how much she means to us. Her father was on time and in a suit, so that was already a victory. I later heard that he told her how proud he was of her and how lovely she looked, something he rarely said when she was growing up. He really stepped up to the plate. Our wedding day had just as many calamities as the marriage before God, which includes a very late Bridesmaid, a very cold and windy outdoor ceremony and a very hot and sweaty reception. Oh, and my wife’s mother texting her on the wedding day how disrespectful she and her friends are, and how she’s “guilty” for not being a “good enough daughter.” This really pissed my wife off, and it led to her FINALLY going NC with her. But that text came well after our wedding ended, and it was the most perfect day we’ve ever had. I love my wife so much and what she did for my mother and I will make me do anything to make her happy for the rest of our lives.
Just goes to show not to let negative people ruin your life…even if they gave birth to you.