So, I have been wanting to read some cool novel with aliens vs humans trope. But i seemingly can't find good ones. Any Book with similar Trope as in Independence Day or Battle.Los.angeles? Maybe Even All you need is kill type?
Like The Indomitable Human spirit Type? As in Something Like Macross or Pacific Rim?
Thanks!

Bought a Cube Hanzz 190SL in "very good" condition and with "rebuilt suspension"
Front fork (Boxxer RC Coil) is broken. Rebound adjuster just spins with 0 resistance and leaks oil out the bolts in the bottom legs. Rear shock (Fox Van) has a stuck compression dial. Right pedal has broken bearings AND a rear linkage bolt is too long and hits the frame.
Buycycle refuse to do anything about it, because I didn't assemble the bike within 48 hrs of delivery. I wasn't even home for 5 days after delivery. I was out on a work trip. There's no way I could've checked the bike out, because I wasn't even in the country. They refuse to even talk to me about this. I only get a "48 hrs policy, can't help".
What do I do now? Lawyer up?

This is an update to a post I made about 2 months ago. I was terrified of re-entering an industry that properly traumatized me for the majority of my professional life. But I attended the interview anyway and got the job.
https://www.reddit.com/work/s/6gLKfIPosg if you want to read it.
Now to the update. Also kind of long; TL:DR at the end.
I have been here a scant 2 months and already I'm seeing some worrying signs.
My people manager is great. My relationship with my colleagues, also pretty good. I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting but working on that. Gotten some feedback on my work tasks which I am actively working on. Not so bad as all that, I'm learning, I'm growing. I like being here.
But all is not, apparently, what it seems.
I was called in for a "catch up" meetping this past week which highlighted all of my shortcomings. The end result of which was the conclusion that I am not performing to the quality standards they expected.
Now, to clarify, I understand that my review wasn't going to be overwhelmingly positive. I also understand that the employer is entitled to provide me with candid feedback on how they feel I'm doing.
But, here's what worries me. This review meeting wasn't communicated to me until the last minute - so it seemed to be something urgent. My people manager was absent at the time and, after speaking with her, I learned that her full sentiments on my performance were not communicated to me. None of my positives were highlighted.
In addition, things that had been brought to my attention already (like 2 months back) and resolved within that time span are still considered ongoing issues (??). Items I have also already discussed with my managers as points on which I need guidance are also being seen as active issues - there seemed to be some negativity towards the fact that I needed guidance. In addition, items I didn't even get feedback on are suddenly poorly done. A surprise to me, but whatever.
And then this meeting was followed with a revocation of some of my privileges until I show improvement. This I have no issue with - it's the employer's prerogative, I guess.
When I reviewed the notes I got the next day, however, I noted the major gaps in the information I got. I am at a loss as to how to respond. This morning, I've also gotten an email, basically outlining my "shortcomings" and copying HR. It's that major of an issue, apparently.
I know a lot of this is from my perspective and my judgement could be clouded but that review felt like an ambush and a witch hunt. It was ad hoc an resulted in my being punished for poor performance without, again I reiterate, my direct people manager present.
In addition, it's dredging up some old traumas from my previous workplace which is making me think that maybe this isn't the place for me. Am I being too hasty? Or should I trust my gut on this one?
TL:DR - New workplace is giving me bad vibes similar to a traumatic point in my life. I've only been here 2 months and I feel like I've had enough. Am I being unreasonable?

I hope this is the right place to put this - my character will be soon levelling to level 9, and with 6 levels in sorcerer and 2 already in bard I need to choose a bard subclass.
We have been playing in the Odyssey of the Dragonlords setting - Arcanum World's campaign - for about 3 and a half years now. For those unfamiliar, it is an Ancient Greek-themed world that sees you become a dragon rider and fight some evil gods - classic DnD stuff.
The party consists of a chronomancy wizard (broken as hell), a gorgon oath of ancients paladin, and my character: a shadow sorcerer changeling with a few levels in bard. Our DM has been incredible at facilitating where we want our characters to go, and I have managed to make my sorcerebard a very effective gish. My character has a solid AC because of some mithril armour (boosted by Haste and shield), an amulet of health, and a dancing sword (bonus action attack). We replaced the hound of ill omen level 6 sorcerer feature with the hexblades charisma attack/ damage feature so my melee skills are pretty good. This combined with the amulet of health and AC means I can fight effectively in the centre of battle and hold my own with the paladin: throwing out fireballs and bonus action slicing people with th dancing sword.
If I was power gaming I would have levelled into paladin, got some smites and called it a day. However, my character is in love with the goddess of music and so bard made a lot of thematic sense, and also gave me access to the very powerful 'boreal harp' which has access to control weather, conjure animals, levitate etc.
With the upcoming level up, I am going to need to choose a bard subclass, and I am completely stumped. The option I have been thinking about for a while is College of Swords (my DM has agreed to tweak this so the flourishes can be used a number of times equal to my proficiency bonus rather than only use bardic inspiration). This change would make it way more viable, but I am worried about it becoming less useful down the line. Another option we discussed is College of Creation, which may be more useful for allies but cut down on how much damage I can do. College of Valor seems really boring and kind of useless. College of Eloquence would be cool but would end up not really fitting into the party aesthetic - it would end up with a bit too much main-character energy.
I am open to homebrew if it makes sense; we are playing to have fun, so as long as it seems engaging and interesting, we tend to run with it. The shadow magic of my character has flavoured all aspects of their magic: fireballs are black flame, misty step has me stepping into the shadows, inflict wounds is some form of shadowy poison, etc. If I do go with swords, how could I flavour it to feel in line with the character's darker magic as well as the Greek setting?
The intention is to resume levelling sorcerer after this level so I really only need to worry about level 3 bard characteristics. Any advice would be amazing.

Hi! So I met this guy on bumble, mukhang good boy na brainy ang dating based sa profile niya. We started talking everyday then lumipat kami sa TG, almost 6 months kaming magkausap online tho hindi consistent na everyday, more like every other day kami nag-uusap pero okay lang kasi busy din ako sa work. Nag-meet kami once for dinner lang which went well naman and nag-hug kami bago umuwi. After that, nagkita ulit kami pero 2 months after the first meeting pa kasi medyo magkalayo kami, hindi pa kami nag-sex nyan kasi may period ako, then 2nd and 3rd meet nag-sex na kami and he’s my first, alam nya yun. I like him so much and he seems like a good guy based na rin sa mga na-stalk ko about him. He’s close to his mom and little cousins, lahat ng nakwento nya sakin na-confirm ko na totoo naman while stalking him. Isa lang problema ko sakanya, wala kaming label. I asked him before, wala akong nakuhang direct na answer from him. Idk what to do, should I ask him again, or should I stop this… but I like him very much 😥

Hi! I just want to know how you guys improved you Chinese. To be honest, my English isn’t so good either so some tips can help too hehe.
I need help with Chinese and this year is my N-Levels. I am unable to speak fluently and my vocab is limited. Whenever I have a conversation with the cleaners in my school who often converse in Chinese, I try to avoid it by saying I have a class to attend to 😭😭
I also need to improve my Chinese because it is embarrassing for me to be poor in it while children are literally RAPPING CHINESE and speaking el fluently. How embarrassing for a 16 year old.
PLEASE HELP, THANKS!

I’ve been suffering from an ear infection for a week now and I still get dizzy spells, and I just started a job yesterday. Yesterday I only got 3 hours of sleep cause of first day nerves which is to be expected. I thought I would’ve gotten a good night sleep last night, I fell asleep right away, but I woke up at 4:30am wide awake and couldn’t go back to bed. Between the lack of sleep and dizziness I feel so out of it but I can still function. How screwed am I today?

I’ve been suffering from an ear infection for a week now and I still get dizzy spells, and I just started a job yesterday. Yesterday I only got 3 hours of sleep cause of first day nerves which is to be expected. I thought I would’ve gotten a good night sleep last night, I fell asleep right away, but I woke up at 4:30am wide awake and couldn’t go back to bed. Between the lack of sleep and dizziness I feel so out of it but I can still function. How screwed am I today?

It's all in good fun but it can get very annoying at times when I feel inferior.
I was born with a cleft palate and it's not that they tease me about that (sometimes); but growing up with one and being bullied, I had to train my young self to smile and laugh it off.
Today, I am always smiling. You can be a recognizable face walking towards me and I'll just start smiling. Sometimes I will be smiling and I won't even know I'm smiling.
I get that they want to see me smile and love how I react to it, but it can often make me feel less than.
I enjoy the attention but I'm tired of feeling like I'm everyone's entertainment for the day.
If it's not my co workers during the week, it's my family when I see them on the weekends.

Hi, I'm Greg 28, I'm here to tell you that I graduated from High School (or well the version of that in my country, Spain) I stopped studying after what in the US is middle school I believe.
Had to go trough a fair bit as a child and teen, mental and physical abuse from my elder narcissistic dad who only had me and used me as an emotional outlet in all sort of fucked ways, somehow I ended up trauma bonded and looking after him, I should have left my house years ago, everybody told me, but I never listsened.
To this you can add an alcoholic depressive mother who left the picture when I was 5, isolation, I always felt like an outsider, total lack of healthy emotional connection growing up and social anxiety during my teens because of a fair bit of bullying reason why I left my studies...
Basically a bit too much for a kid, I did what I could but everything seamed to be in flames and hurt. In my twenties I went on and off trough a series of dead end jobs, struggling with a lot of repressed emotional wounds, not really knowing what was I doing, with a shitty ass self esteem and letting life push me around without opposing.
At some point I met a girl tho, I fell in love BAD, she helped me a bunch, I grew emotionally a lot, she showed me what love was supposed to look like, academically she encouraged me to restart studying, she empowered me to try when I thought I was but a fuck up, and so I did.
Long story short I graduated a few days ago.
Thing is she left me in february and I fell deep and hard into a bad bad pit. I realized I had been neglecting my own emotional wounds for too long, while in the relathionship I thought I was doing better but I mostly was just feeling better wich is not quite the same. I'm seeing a therapist and she thinks I might have chronic depression, basically a persistent and mild form of depression as well as anxiety issues.
Honeslty it adds up quite a fair bit with me.
Sadly I also neglected her feelings, I had a big problem being verbally loving, all other forms of showing love (acts, touch, gifts, time, effort etc) YES as much as I could but verbally? God, I was awful... I'm not forgiving my self for this one soon.
Anyways, what I'm trynna say is that as bittersweet as it may be, and it sure is without her around , I finished and I did it despite being in what was posibly the darkest period of time of my life. I'm happy I didn't do anything crazy to my self, it sure was close. Wish I could have felt anything when I finally did it tho, I always thought it was going to be one of those core happy memories but instead I felt nothing.
I've got some plans now, I might pursue what in the US is an associate's degree in programming, I'm going to try an turn my life around for good. I'm also in a quest for emotional growth and trying to learn from my mistakes, I REALLY want to stop the generational trauma that goes down my family.
I think that is all, thanks a lot to those who read this and to anyone answering me :)

Seriosuly, I've been crying tears of joy all these days because this is something I've always wished for, and I can't believe it's happening.! It's almost a miracle for me :') It turns out that my best friend in that awful organization who was PIMQ has continued talking to me on WhatsApp, and she and her husband are becoming more and more disappointed with the organization. They're now at the point where they no longer attend meetings regularly or go out in field service as they used to. And when they do go to meetings, they leave the hall as soon as it ends, like they can't stand it any longer haha. When she told me that (and I've seen it), I couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.
But what caught my attention the most is that she's studying for a diploma in neuroscience and biomagnetism, something that JWs definitely discourage XD. She shared some Instagram reels with me from people versed in this field who share their knowledge about it, and I checked out their profiles. Honestly, if a conventional Witness saw them, they'd run away because these people debunk all their doctrines XD. One of them even has a book called 'The Path of Awakening,' and it makes me very proud to know she's on the right path.
On Sunday, I went to the KH again because, with these changes in her, I'm suspecting that she might feel very lonely there since, besides her husband, she has no one there to support her. So, as a good friend, I made that sacrifice. To my misfortune, the elders who have known me for a long time wanted to talk to me because they've seen me 'active in my works of repentance,' so they took me to the infamous Room B, (or Torture Chamber as I call it)... and man, all the awful memories came flooding back. They told me that I could be readmitted in 3 months if I continued meeting at this pace. They even shared the famous Zoom link for virtual meetings.
When we finished, my friend asked me how it went (she had stayed waiting for me, looking worried), and I told her that I could return in 3 months... to which she told me to think it over carefully, as she clarified that it's not necessary for me to return because now that we've reunited, she's NOT willing to end our friendship even if talking to DFs is not allowed in the future.
Basically, she told me that she's taking a risk by talking to me and she doesn't give a damn about it. In fact, she doesnt give a damn about a lot of things! It really blows my mind tbh... We still can't meet like 'normal' people, for example, spending a weekend at together, etc., because she still has a lot of doubts in her mind, from what I've observed. But as advised by this same community, I've been encouraging her for all this little steps she is taking, and I think she'll continue to wake up more and more in the future.
So that's the summary... I think I'll keep meeting mainly to support her, so I have 3 months to decide if I return for the friendship or if the friendship returns for me xD. What do you all think about this? I want to help her, but it seems that social media and her awakening are doing the job for me xD its insane.
2024 has been one hell of a year for me, probably my favorite in a long time. I can't wait to see what the future holds, and I cant wait for this stupid borg to fall.

Mom of two had to miss 5 days of work because both of my boys had a stomach virus and then hand foot and mouth back to back. Paycheck is really short I need to make bills. I’ve never done this before. But I am good for the money if someone would be willing to help me out. 🤞🏼

My (22F) little sister (19F) and her boyfriend (20M) have been dating for about half a year and he’s honestly the best friend/partner she’s ever had. He genuinely cares for her, is kind and I fully approve of him.
Last year my little sister was dating a different guy who ended up cheating on her towards the end of their relationship and he broke up with her on Valentine’s Day. I really despise that guy and told her to cut him off multiple times but she’s still friends with him. Our parents are quite controlling (I moved away) which causes her to not have any opportunities to meet new people. She has like two people aside from her boyfriend she regularly hangs out with and is barely allowed outside as our parents bombard her with household responsibilities. This is the biggest reason she’s still friends with her horrible ex from last year. I feel like her threshold when it comes to tolerating horrible behavior is extremely high due to our parents which also causes her to be okay with having her ex in her life as a friend. I can fully say that she doesn’t have any romantic feelings for him anymore, she openly says he’s not a good person and also not a good friend sometimes.
A few days ago it was my little sister’s birthday and her boyfriend planned a surprise party for her. He recruited me for help and together we invited multiple people, including her ex because he’s one of her friends. Many people couldn’t come and all of them gave us reasons whereas her ex straight-up ghosted me and her boyfriend in the group chat. Her ex said that he would definitely come plus plan but then did nothing. At this point he’s not even a good friend.
After this, my little sister’s boyfriend texted me and expressed his hate for her ex and said that he would like to talk to me about my little sister still being in contact with her ex. He said that he’s hurt she’s still friends with him, specifically because her ex was so horrible to her during their relationship. The fact that her boyfriend messaged me about this makes me think that he really cares and needs my help/advice.
I am conflicted about talking with her boyfriend. Part of me would at least like to talk with him on a shallow level about it because I do know the reasons of why her ex is still in her life. I want to let her know he messaged me but don’t know how or when. My little sister and her boyfriend have openly talked about this issue with each other as well and she knows his dislike for her ex. To be honest, I feel like her boyfriend is in the right in this issue and my little sister isn’t being fully reasonable by continuing to have contact with her ex. I really don’t want them to break up over this.
Pretty much the conclusion is that I don’t want my little sister to lose a really good relationship because of a horrible ex that she hasn’t cut off. I want to make the best decision to help them in their relationship but don’t know what to do. How should I navigate this?
tldr; My little sister is still in contact with a cheating ex and her boyfriend messaged me to discuss this issue with me. I also disapprove of her ex but don’t know how to help them in this conflict.

is this weird?
so i'm in a sticky situation. my partner went out with his mates and they 'made friends' with some man in a bar, let's call him paul. i think my partner was pretty drunk n didn't think much of it, so they all went to my friends house for some drinks.
notes: pauls brother is apparently in prison for murder, paul had to leave the country for some time but now has returned but is living in a hostel until he finds a home. paul doesn't drink alcohol or do drugs, he's apparently celibate.
after about a week or so of the initial night out, my partner bumped into paul in the street. paul was adamant on my partner showing him where his other friend from the night lived as it was on the same road, and was trying to locate the house. my partner didn't want to give him the address, but it seemed paul remembered and started ringing all the bells of the apartment building.
paul then insisted on getting my partners number and walking him home. my partner refused the walk and left paul.
paul has now begun to send my partner a lot of texts checking in, asking him to be in touch and asking him to reply... and if he doesn't reply to tell him why (such as going to sleep etc).
my partner ignored the messages and then on the weekend me my partner and my friend were walking home and bumped into paul. paul was asking us where we were going and wanting to drive us (we refused). he then insisted on walking us home but we kept refusing and he followed and insisted. during this time, he was being REALLY creepy towards my friend and making advances and asking her to break his celibacy.
he insisted on walking us home but we didn't want him to know where we lived, as he had been ringing my other friends doorbell and i didn't feel safe with a man i barely know knowing where i live.
anyway, fast forward, we've ditched paul and continued our walk home.
as soon as we're home the texts begin, he asks if my partner got home safe. he began to ask why we didn't want him to come to our house, and said 'clearly you don't want a black man in your home' which is absolutely not the case. we don't want someone we barely know in our home - which is very fair i think.
the next day paul calls my partner and then proceeds to text him all through the day. he says my partner is racist because he's not replying (again, absolutely not true). he then asked my partner to send updates about what he's doing and sign off the messages at night time. he also said my partner can stay in his car if i ever kick him out. he then asks to see our house again and asks our address.
my partner sends a message basically saying he doesn't use his phone really so paul shouldn't expect a reply. he was also ringing our other friends doorbell again this day.
paul then says he'll just check in every now and then. but has already sent multiple texts including a good morning check in text this morning.
basically is this weird? i think it is but idk if it qualifies as the start of a stalking situation.
TLDR; my partner met a guy who is now relentlessly contacting him. unsure of what it means.

Background: Severe debilitating OCD that's ruining my life. Not really pure O, the compulsions are there as well, but it's the obsessions that are actively destroying any possibility I've had of a normal life. 21 days is way too short of a time period for me to judge this medicine, but it's also the best I've felt in what feels like years. I've had the good days and the bad days, I had the uppity two weeks they talk about, I still have anxiety but the way this makes me feel makes me wish I had started it years ago. I look forward to taking my pill every day, currently at 50mg but low-key hoping my doc decides to increase it a little bit, we shall see, still early for this. My advice for going into taking Zoloft? Stop reading the side effects. At this point we should all know the power our brains have in ruining our lives. Go into it without reading any side effects that are possible and you'd be surprised how many of them your brain can't make up for you because it doesn't know about them. Anyway thanks to all the scientists that spent their lives developing medicine like this. For the first time in my life I feel like one day I might be normal.

I'm currently 19yo, a university student, and I have been chronically fatigued for probably the past 3+ years, with visible eyebags. I do play video games in the evening with friends, shooters usually, and I understand that that likely has an impact. Although the friends I talk with, seem energetic. Here's what I currently do which rule out some factors:

• Relatively good time management; I do not study into late hours, nor do I see myself as very stressed.
• Sleep an average of over 8 hours every day. Sleep schedule is quite irregular right now, but when I did briefly try to fix it about a year ago, doing everything doctors recommend (limit screens, be consistently over 8 hours, sleep around the same time) for a week, nothing changed, which made me inclined to think that my sleep wasn't the issue. However, chronic eyebags suggest otherwise. When I didn't game at night, nothing changed either.
• Have near perfect blood test results, with B12, sugar and iron levels are within normal range. Resting heart rate around 50-55 usually.
• Weightlift around 3-4 times a week.

What makes me confused, is that there only has been 1 day in the past 3+ years, where I felt amazing. I could think clearly, focus properly, practice piano efficiently, etc. Except I don't remember what I did prior to that day which made that one day so "normal". That day has become a reference as to how I want to feel in the future.
I don't drink coffee or alcohol; I drink lots of water. If I am at home, studying, I take frequent breaks to move around. I don't know whether I have sleep apnea, as I sleep in my own bedroom, and only exhibit one of the symptoms as far as I can tell - chronic fatigue. I don't think I snore according to my friends. I've always used the high end of the blue light filter on all of my screens, but that's trivial stuff.
What could I do to try to fix this? Should I go into an extremely strict schedule, 9h/day 11:30 - 8:30 sort of schedule? Reading, no screens 2h before bed? Maybe try a sleep study for sleep apnea?

The Context:

/Barcelona is the main sub for the second largest city in Spain and the capital of Catalonia. Long a tourist hotspot, much of the local economy is driven by tourism.
OOP posts a picture of graffiti in a park with the message: “Tourist: your luxury trip my daily misery.” [sic]
Users begin debating if this is a fair take, the effect of tourism on the city, and vomiting memes.
For ease of readability to a majority English-speaking audience, I’ve translated some comments from Catalan, poorly.

The Drama:

Is the graffiti expressing a selfish sentiment?

What a selfish, shitty thing to say to someone trying to live their best lives and share a bit of the magic you enjoy everyday.

Love this comment! Not all tourists are bad.

Tourism is unsustainable.

So we should all just stick to the respective cities we’re born in? What a lovely, thriving, multi-cultural society that’ll end up in /s

Not all the cities have the same problems. Responsible tourism is a thing

[Continued:]

Then why don't you vote for politicians that want to improve the situation?
Tourism tax, restrictions on how many people can visit a park/attraction per day, etc pp.
Instead you get nonstop whining on reddit. Or shared bicycles that can only be rented by Barcelona residents. Wow, good job! The tourism tax is at only 4-5€ per night in Barcelona. Compare that to Berlin where it's a whopping 7% soon (which is usually way higher than 5€).

Who did tell you who I vote for or what I do? [If you want we can talk face to face when you want clown]

Oh no, we got a badass over here. [I didn't say anything like that, of course you tourists are the problem if your head lacks intelligence...]

[It's very good to learn Catalan (good luck with what you have left to reach a decent level, I'm really telling you this with love) but don't put words in other people's mouths without knowing. There are many of us here who are fed up with the borderline situation that the city is living in and if you are a privileged person who doesn't get the slightest bit, I would at least ask you to have the decency to keep quiet when it's time to keep quiet]

[…]

No. We should stop travelling at the expense of the plane, the cities and the people's suffering. And locals should resist what makes their lives more difficult. In this case, a tourist model that hikes rents, contaminates and destroys the social fabric of the community displacing people and creating precarious jobs that provide no stability or value. Barcelona can be a great and fun place if you are staying here for a week, or if you are a remote worker that gets paid by a large firm with headquarters in Amsterdam. But that fun can be, and is, disastrous for other people. That search for sun and beach, of parties and stories uploaded to social media causes many problems for others. That's a fact. Non-sustainable tourism is what it is. Tourists and expats (high earning migrants) can be, individually, very nice and conscious folks. But the dynamics they are participating in are the cause of many problems for the city and its inhabitants.
[It's the market, friend.]

[…]

The problem isn't the singular tourist. The problem is suffocating hordes of tourists that treat your home like an amusement park or museum.
Tourism can be a real economic win for a city, but it also has externalities that can kill the very thing that made it special if not kept in check. Barcelona is a great example of this.
I say this both as someone who loves to travel and who lives in a tourist hotspot.

I mean, there is not too much you can do about it besides a ridiculous tax, and that would be a little hypocritical if you love to travel, because traveling should be accessible to the majority of people.
It makes sense to me if you defend the free market, and you put the price on your city or whatever you want to do like a libertarian, but again,it is hypocritical when we see that the political party that won the elections do not like the free market or libertarian politics.
You can't have all.

Woooosh!
That's the sound of everything going over your head

Lmao, it is the definition of being a logical thinker and not being a hypocrite.

Oh sorry, it went so over your head, that you didn't even hear the whoosh.
You're talking politics when I was talking social and economic. So, not much of a logical thinker.
But it doesn't surprise me that Barcelona would vote that way. It's called the resource curse, and by now tourism will have all but killed all other industries. So yeah, they have no choice now. Which is exactly what I was talking about in my second paragraph.

Who are the users of the sub anyway?

Because 90% of the people answering are expats. They don't fucking care about locals, they mostly despise or ignore them. Most of them live in their own English ghettos, not even bothering about anything else that themselves.

Biggest load of horseshit I’ve read all day.
You live in fantasy land and it’s really, really sad to see. I hope you open your eyes one day.

[How is your Catalan?]

[my Catalan is good. not that it matters]
Nobody “despises” Catalans. Every single person I know that has moved here is desperate to get involved with local culture, history and activities. They try their hardest to learn the language. They try their hardest to make more catalan friends.
Classic Reddit perpetual victim.

Is Barcelona dying?

Barcelona is dying. Soon it will be an empty city, a shiny shell of what had once been alive and authentic. The locals can't face the rent prices, the gentrified shops and bars, we are forced to leave our neighborhoods and give up decent housing.

Looking at rent availability and prices - it is very far from dying.

Are you looking at the prices as a foreigner or as a local? Because wages in Spain for most of us are quite poor, so yes, it's really difficult to find decent housing with those prices

And yet people don't do anything like moving away meaning situation is still not that bad.
When things like that happened in my country - a lot of people emigrated for better work and things normalised at home too.
Economy has a way of fixing itself. No workers to serve tourists - higher wages or fewer tourists.

It will only be expats and tourists here and the 10% rich Catalans in the end. Look at the most common local salary from locals in the city.

You're so close to understanding the root of the issue. Yet so far...

Yeah, it's all the fault of the 10% of evil Catalans. OK. Nobody else is responsable or can do anything.

[Continued:]

Think a little bit harder. You can do it.

[You're enlightening, kid.]

I give you the answer because you're obviously struggling. It's the wages. Your salary is shit, and there's no excuse for that because you live in a rich region, of a rich country, part of a rich continent.
And once again, one of the greatest success of those profiteering is to turn people like you into the useful idiots by pointing the finger to people from your own social class: in this case, the Ryanair flying middle to low income tourists (yeah, far from luxury holidays), who are the majority of the people visiting this city. And with whom you have much more in common than you realize.
While prices have increased, as it did everywhere around the globe, Barcelona remains a cheap city. And that's exactly the reason why it is such a popular destination across the spectrum of tourists, and especially with low income ones.
So, if you really want to change something, start asking yourself why wages are so low in such a rich region. And at an individual level, negotiate (like I did) an income worth your efforts. And if it's still not enough, keep in mind that 80% of the properties are owned by locals.

You don't know shit about how I fight, or any people like me for a more fair society. Probably way more than you. But this post is about overtourism and touristification. I can care about multiple things and fight multiple fights.

Then this conversation is over, you don't have the intellectual bandwidth to understand something as simple as how low wages are linked to the problem you blame "the tourists" for. Also, if me, an immigrant from a poor Caribbean country, is able to live significantly better than you in a place where I arrived few years ago without speaking the language, ask yourself the right questions about your fighting abilities, and probably your life choices.

[Continued:]

Lol you know shit about who I am, my life choices, or the money I earn. Your comment is funny.
I'm a socialist. I care about my family and friends, about people who had less oportunities than me. I despise people who only think about themselves, or fight only for themselves. The last part of your comment says a lot about you. Bye.

Sure, keep telling yourself that you're a socialist while defending a xenophobic agenda benefiting the ruling class. Like I said, useful idiots like you are what's keeping the system on its feet. Great work 👍

A user is crowned king:

When your own city becomes overcrowded all the time and you can’t afford to live in the center because it’s so expensive due to tourist/expats money inflating the market, it doesn’t matter how much money “the city” makes from tourism, your individual life is affected very negatively and you live worst off than with less tourism. I’m not even a local, but this is not hard to understand.

can’t really blame tourists for systemic issues

Erm, says who, you, the king?
If local wages are lower than abroad (not ideal but would be ok in its own, it’s still better than my own country) but due to how attractive the weather and culture is, people from other countries with much higher wages flock here and destroy the market, either by paying much higher (making it impossible for locals) or buying properties to rent (know many who do this, buy something, live in it 3 months of the year, and rent to other expats the rest of the year) - who’s fault is? The locals? lol

then fight for wages, not tourists.

This is why the locals hate you lol

[Continued:]

This is why I don't care bro.
[Photo of a beach]

What are you trying to prove? I’m not even a local, I just have more than a brain cell and understand why the locals blame the tourists, which is what was being discussed.

Nothing mate, I just really don't care who hates me. That is my day everyday at 11 am.

You care enough to have made now 3 comments that are totally irrelevant to what was being discussed.
“I don’t care. I swear. I promise! Let me show you that I don’t care. I really don’t care I swear”.

[…]

People working in tourism related jobs mostly work part-time, have no indefinido contracts and earn minimum wage. You can google that.
Some people are getting rich by tourism, most people are just surviving in it.
But of course 'expats' and tourists who represent most of the sub members and not local or immigrant workers are going to upvote your out of touch comment.

Some of these people need it to survive though

Not the Airbnb owners obviously

I have an Airbnb and I need it to survive.

Get a job.

What is misery?

Misery is that your old neighborhood is full of souvenir shops and none of your friends even live there anymore.

Shut the fuck up, Spain has one of the highest living standards in the world. You’re mad because other people want to visit and have a bit of it in their shitty lives? Spain has it so damn good, the thing youre complaining about is literally a problem around the entire developed world and isn’t necessarily any worse or unique to Barcelona. Stop being so damn dramatic and accept that your ‘misery’ is just you disliking seeing foreigners happy.

If you can afford spending hundreds of euros in partying and Airbnbs, why is their life so shitty? Leave your jobs and come work here as a server, try to rent anything with the minimum salary. Barcelona can be a paradise, but the tourist model is making it a hell for the majority.
Yeah, the market is being a problem for everyone everywhere. Now, people in Barcelona have to fight against the effects of the market in the city. As everybody should do in their home cities. A Barcelona for those who build their lives there, not for those who wish to consume and toss it.

Something tells me, me, a guiri, leaving my job and working in Barcelona makes Catalans even more mad than if I were just visiting.

And that something is in the room, here with us?
in fact if you live and work in Catalonia you are a Catalan. so this comment makes 0 sense at all.

Who’s to blame anyway?

Classic losers playing the victim card. Without tourism beautiful Barcelona's economy would be destroyed. But please keep blaming your shortcomings on others.

Barcelona was beautiful before tourism.

If you live in Barcelona, enjoy it. It is and will always be beautiful, and if you truly believe otherwise you are wasting the time you have in one of the world’s greatest cities. Times are tough, yes, but remember that people are also having tough times in the middle of nowhere, without any cultural outlets or ability to find likeminded people. Real estate greed is running rampant the world over, and hopefully it will not last.
Be a part of the solution, never travel again please. Just spend the rest of your life in Barcelona like a hermit. Otherwise you're a fucking hypocrite.

Hypocrite is thinking that tourism is good for the locals.

Ok great. Then be a part of the solution and never travel again. It hurts the locals. Been to London? Been to Berlin? Been to Italy? Greece? Cairo? Are you going to stop travelling and seeing the world? Everyone here knows perfectly well that you won't. It's just childish whining

The Flairs:

• “But I don't eat and vomit memes like you…”
  
• “Stop getting your news from memes”
  
• “You don't know shit about how I fight”
  

Hey everyone,
I'm looping for a fanfic that a can't find and would like your help to find it Its a femshep/liara. Post mass effect shepard was found by the council and was used as a assassin bye the council named Talon. Liara lives on thessia and the have twins. I don't remember anything else but maybe that good enought
Thanks for the help anyway and have a good day

19,f never went out with friends. not that im not an outspoken or friendly person, got a pretty good friend circle extremely talented supportive and hardworking people. they go out all the time and dont have to constantly update their parents on slightest minute plan changes.
first time getting along with people and them instanly making plans of going out was weird but in a jealous weird and questioning. it was later i figured their parents do not ask every detail of their day, who they met, what they had, why were they 5 min late. they dont pick and drop them everywhere they have schedules. and it was after a week or hanging out that i realised, it was me living a diffent life than everyone out there. and it broke me cus that was the point i realised that in the name of protectiveness and security and ease in commutation, they just snatched my independence from me.
they provide for me and i cannot begin to thank them enough for it, pursuing a professional study and doing good at it, always supportive. but that day i sat down and got to a conclusion that if i were to upset my parents or do not do things how they want me to do, i'd lose everything. and that has happened. asked to go out with friends, note that all of my friends come from dignified background humble and kind and educated and themselves are pursuing professional studies. never asked them before so expected there wont be a problem. was in dilemma that i dont go out cuz i dont ask to go out. often picture myself as a bird in cage unaware that shes trapped unless she tries to get out. yea so access to outside without them denied. reasoned a bit on why not. they got mad and yelled and said pretty harsh things. i was in school then and it was for the teacher's birthday. we loved her dearly and she was moving out of country. i was sure they'd let me so made plans and everything cancelled last minute cried whole evening and night. that was when it started. when the bird realised she isnt in a room but a prison.
gave a couple more tries here and there. same answers. silent treatments. refused to enroll me in the course im currently pursuing initially, calling it a financial issue. and yea there were and are financial issues but hey, grasped what was going on and did everything their way. cut ties with everyone except two friends who theyve met plenty more times than others and did as they said. regular classes, not questioning them, spending time with them. enrolled and in classes after six months.
met a guy and he was good. wanted to take me on a date. i knew they wouldnt let me go. took it slow and introduced him as my friend. asked me to cut ties with him. i kinda liked him. we had good undertanding he's help me with studies and confide about his family and life in general and i thought i can date. i wanted to date him. see where it goes like every other teenager who go out on dates after classes and study and support each other. they didnt wanted me to see him or anyother guy even as a friend. deleted every guy friend of mine's contact. we still were seeing each other until i got so burnt out of the constant watch and professional studies and competitive exams also all while managing a degree. had to break ties with him for a couple while and i admittedly couldve done with proper explanation but it was a panic attack, yeah i did starting having them right after school when everything crashed down, so panic attack with all tears and snot and heavy breathing i leave him a text that i cant do this.
fast forward today. exams done. some professional practical work everyone has to take up and my father as usual would pick me up and drop me. yesterday a friend of mine suggested we buy new books and get some food after work was done which is 1:30. i thought now that im old enough, cus the last time i tried asking was 16, maybe i can go. they said yes when asked in morning. 1:45pm text comes in. where u at. when will you be back. gave a location where he'd pick me up after we're done with books things. im at metro station, shaking, holding that ticket beacuse it was all over that again. they let me go but did they? call comes in when i dont reply in 5 minutes. he asks when will i be back upto. on saying by 4, he went why books need so much time. denied that i ever mentioned lunch too. i remember saying lunch and books. couldnt argue, not used to, dont want to upset them. two of my friends waiting for the metro so we go grab lunch and spend some time for the first time in about a year since we met, and im shaking cus its so humiliating and like. this close to crying when he hung up without saying anything further and mum texts in 2 mintes asking me to come back home rn this instant. manage to apologise and run through the station, get a cab and run home in 20 min. 2:20pm. at home. i dont if im though. in my bathroom. crying shaking of embarrassment, humiliation, guilt, frustation, anger. and hunger.
also, crossed path with the guy i was seeing. he had his guitar, he used to play for me after completing studies. killed me to pass by with just a hey and by the looks of it, he was upset about it too. everything keeps falling apart everytime i accomplish one thing.
i dont know if this is how parenting is supposed to be done because none of ppl i know have such parents and controls. so its not normal but is it abusive? i question and then ignore cus the obvious answer would disrupt the peace im holding on to. the good side of them keeping me sane.
if you've taken much time to read it through. thank you. i dont have anyone to share this with and im so lonely at times like this

I've gotten a sponsorship deal for this game (not getting into too much detail) and basically I have to reach these 4 goals to complete it (in 5 days).
I was wondering if any of you that have been playing this game for a while, could help me reach these goals as quick and efficient as possible. I would also love some general tips and other things to keep in mind in order for me to reach the goals fast.
Goals: 1. Reach Resonance Level 20 3. Reach Resonance Level 50 3. Recruit Rowan 4. Purchase Classic Gazette
I do realize that for the 4th goal I need to spend money. Anyway I would love to hear any good advice of yours. Thank you!