Came here due to following The Click on YouTube LOL so I'd try my luck posting. Might be a bit long, so TLDR at the bottom. Technically I posted this before on pettyrevenge, but my friend told me that I should also post a copy here, so here we are. And as a side note, I'm not from the US, so yeah.
This happened during my college days in the 2000s. I majored in Business Admin and one of my classes we had to take for the core subjects was Business Management, which I shared with a few of my friends who took the same major and a few other acquaintances who were in a different major but took them as part of their elective courses.
One of the acquaintances, whom I'll call Gina (not real name) was one of those that really had to stick her nose into other people's businesses. If she sense someone talking about something juicy (in her eyes), she would quickly insert herself into the conversation and insist the person to spill the tea for her, regardless if she knew the topic of discussion or not. Not only that, she has absolutely no inside voice whenever she joins a conversation. She adopts this "loud and proud" attitude and would just talk and respond loudly during the conversation that you can sometimes even hear her outside of the room.
Even when the topic in question is just a general discussion of a course subject that she didn't even take the class of, she'd insist on joining the conversation and either 1) spout out absolute nonsense and be completely oblivious that she had said anything wrong or 2) steer the conversation to finally talk about something she is familiar with. Not only that, she's the type of person who has to one-up you at any topic, e.g. "You got a Nobel prize? I got knighted by the Queen!" type of attitude.
It got to the point where she sometimes try to butt into private conversations or people talking about personal matters and insist on hearing about it and also give unsolicited advice even though she knows fuck all about the issue, and if you try to dismiss her, she will loudly chastise you for not including her into the conversation and not being a good friend for doing so. As an Asian ingrained in polite Asian culture (remember, I'm not from the US), we would either just smile and nod and tolerate her presence or try to make an excuse to leave the room to continue our discussion elsewhere away from her earshot, and our dear ol' oblivious Gina would move on to the next grapevine to grab the next gossip.
One day, I was talking to one of my friends Jordan (who takes the same major as me, also not real name) about a family crisis at home. IIRC, I think it had something to do with their father facing possible jailtime for embezzlement and that they might face potential dropout from college because their father was the main breadwinner and the one paying for college tuition and their mother might not be able to cover it in the future once their father is officially convicted. As usual, Gina saw how intense our faces were while we were talking despite us using hushed tones, and plopped herself next to us to get the scoop.
I tried dismissing her, saying that this is a private matter and that she shouldn't get involved. But of course, she took offense and loudly chastised me in front of the whole class for being "anti-social, leaving her out, that's not what friends do, all I want is to help, I just want to know, what's so wrong about that?" Everyone heard her but decided not to interfere (again, polite Asian culture), but we could still see that all eyes are on us to see how this drama unfold and how we're going to deal with her. Jordan's face became visible distraught and uncomfortable both by the prying eyes and Gina's endless loud chastising, and it was obvious if Gina didn't shut up, all hell would break loose.
Then it suddenly clicked to me on one of Gina's quirks: she was the type that had no patience for foreign films or TV shows. She would only watch movies or TV shows if they were in English, Mandarin or Cantonese (like famous Hong Kong movies and/or TV shows). Anything other than those three languages, she would NOT touch them, even if the show comes with subtitles, because she doesn't have the brain capacity to read subtitles AND watch the show at the same time, and even more so when it comes to anime.
During that time, the Three Kings of Anime (Bleach, Naruto and One Piece) were the rage and while I'm not a die-hard fan, I'm kept up to date with the storyline thanks to being a backseat audience whenever my now husband (then boyfriend) watched those three shows every week when it came out. And we knew for a fact that she actively avoids anything to do with anime because she has no patience to watch them and is completely ignorant of anime fandoms, and from there, the nerdy gears in my head turned the cogwheels to sprout out my demon horns into imaginary existence.
I gave my friend a "I got this" look, pretended to sigh in defeat and said, "Fine~ We were talking about how we could get our hands on the One Piece."
"One Piece?" Gina's eyes began to show intrigue, and a bit of smugness thinking that she had wore me down.
"Oh yeah, didn't you know? It's a family treasure heirloom in Jordan's family for generations!"
I proceeded to basically tell Gina the plot of One Piece anime, but replacing the anime characters' names with Jordan's and their family. How Golden Roger was their ancestor who used to be a pirate in his heyday and had kept a stash of treasure hidden somewhere in the far corners of the Earth, and that a treasure map has become Jordan's family heirloom and passed down from generation to generation, and now that Jordan's grandfather had recently bequeathed the map to them in his will, they were trying to discuss with me the best way to travel to find this One Piece. I spun tale after tale (may have even included Naruto and Bleach plots into the mix) to keep her intrigued, all the while everyone in the classroom (those in the know, anyways) were just trying very hard to keep a straight face at my fanciful tale. Even Jordan played along and added their own spin into the plot to keep the conversation going, and dear ol' oblivious Gina just lapped it all up.
We kept it up for almost 2 weeks as Gina kept coming back for more of Jordan's "family lore", in which we kept feeding her more anime plots (at the same time, it gave Jordan a bit of stress relief and distraction from their own real family crisis). Until one day, at the campus cafeteria, we saw Gina with another group of her friends about two tables away from us and we could hear her talking in her usual loud self about Jordan's "family lore" (yeah, if a story is juicy enough, she would tend to spread around to anyone who would listen; another bad habit of hers).
One of her friends, whom we know is an anime fan, suddenly called her out, "Hey! I thought you said you don't watch anime!"
Gina, with an obvious disgust on her face, said, "Of course not. I wouldn't touch them even with a ten-foot pole! Don't lump me with your lot."
"Really? Then why does your story sound like the anime plots of One Piece, Bleach and Naruto?"
Gina went dead silent for almost a full 2 minute to let everything sink in before she VERY SLOWLY turned towards us sitting two tables away and gave us the world's deadliest death stare, in which we just grinned and comically shrugged at her before walking out of the cafeteria laughing our heads off.
We're not sure how, but she soon realized on that fateful day when we started telling her the "family lore", everyone in class was in on it because no one came forward to stop or correct us. She completely stopped talking to everyone in class and no longer butt in on conversations after that because she couldn't trust anyone at that point, and by mid-semester, she dropped out of this class altogether. From what I heard, she picked a different elective class to go to because she was so traumatized with paranoia by the fact that "if OP lied about her conversation with Jordan, what else are others lying about in their conversation??" in her mind.
Eh, good riddance either way.
TLDR: Entitled classmate wants in on everyone's drama regardless of their privacy or relevance, so I gave her fictional drama to stew on, and she got embarrassed for being told the drama ain't real.
P/S: If The Click sees this, that'll absolutely make my day LOL

I like third person shooters (or rather, games that have third person shooting elements but also have other fun stuff going for them), but I panic when things move too fast in combat, or if I’m surrounded by enemies on all sides. My usual instinct is hide really far away from enemies and pop out to shoot occasionally, but I’m trying to be less of a coward, lol.
Anyone have recommendations for games where I can hide and take a breather, or like, sprint away to hide if I get overwhelmed? Another bonus would be the ability to pause time but still move my camera around to assess the situation.
Examples:

• I like how the mass effect series lets you look around with the powers menu up while all the action is paused, and I like their cover mechanic for hiding
  
• the last of us series doesn’t let you pause time, but it does let you hide a lot and listen so you can plan your move without running into chaos (and often you can stealth your way through levels)
  

Anyone have more recommendations for coward-friendly games?

I've been looking to score some cash and I know a lot of you don't have much money to spend. Also I love to teach. So I'll make you a deal: I'll do my absolute best to help you win a prize in your next OTB tournament in return for 90% of the profit (prize money minus your entry fee). For the memes (and to cover some expenses) I will also charge sixty-nine cents per lesson.
Now, there are reasons why you shouldn't hire me. I'll list as many as I can think of, but if I've missed any put them in the comments - I'll respond/edit this post if I agree. If at all possible I'd like you help you make a good choice, so:
Don't do this if:

• You haven't got your mind set on entering a U900, U1200, or U1500 OTB tournament within 4 weeks. I'm willing to consider other formats but a prize or some form of compensation needs to be involved.
  
• You mind being coached by a 1980? Lichess classical player. I can teach like nobody you've met (I've taught multiple skills over the last 9 years) and you'll enjoy every minute. But there's a non-zero chance you might learn some bad habits that GMs understand and I do not.
  
• You care about playing a beautiful game. I'll teach you the ugliest possible type of chess, the one where you're losing half the game but very often win because your opponent did an oopsie. Here's a perfect example where I play as black.
  
• You actually have no choice but to win. Don't bet large sums of money on yourself - I'm extremely decent as a teacher and am willing to explain/justify every choice I make, but none of my students have won a tournament yet. If you're entering a tournament it has to be for your love of the game.
  

Think of me as the experimental, dare-devil sensei with a disturbing amount of undiagnosed ADHD. I love to put myself in a difficult teaching situation and see how I'll overcome - no matter whether you win or you lose, we'll both be much improved at the end.
Comment below with your timezone if you want in. I have two students and time for another.

I know tests aren’t always the best but usually can get a general direction from the better ones (michaelcaloz, mistypeinvestigator, sakinorva, etc). I’ve been getting a mix of 4 results that usually don’t seem to make sense from a cognitive function perspective or dichotomy. Primarily I get ENTP, ENFP, INFJ, and INTP. I saw someone on mbti talk about how enneagram could influence mistypes and wanted to see what people thought in this case.
On enneagram tests I get 9w1 and secondly 3w4. So for example if I’m 9w1 and ENTP, I might come off as more go with the flow and less abrasive and with a different perspective if I’m 3w4 and ENFP I could come off as more goal oriented.
So primarily operating under the assumption that I’m 9w1, does one of those mbti types make more sense than the others and could explain the weird results?

Will you not play a commander based off the art/lore? This might be strange to people but there are certain cards I specifically won’t play because of the art. I just won’t like the character and that will cause me to not play the commander at all. A good example of this is Kinnan. I love how the card plays and the colors but cannot stand the way it looks to the point I won’t play it.

If you ever want to know what’s going on in the world, follow the money. Always follow the money.
So what do you think Ryan Cohen is going to do with the 36,847,842 shares that RC Ventures owns? Sell at the top after a giant squeezy run-up? Lol, no. How would that look, to other shareholders, to institutional investors, to employees, to the SEC? If he sells, what would happen to his control of the company, could he protect his remaining shares? And what would the price action look like if he tried to dump even a fraction of that amount at or near the top?
And let’s assume that RC is not a charitable benefactor whose only purpose in life is to rain tendies upon a legion of regarded apes. He might be in this to make money for himself and employees too. Follow the money.
RC and other GameStop insiders will need to sell or divest some day, maybe decades from now, to retire, to pass to family members, make charitable donations, etc. But they can’t benefit from a temporary squeeze here in 2024 if they can’t sell and the price returns to $10 afterwards. So follow the money...
For RC to get his billions, the gains need to be locked in - not for an hour or a day or a week, but for years or decades. So how can that happen? Follow the money!
This week RC proved that he’s in control of the message. Announcing the quarterly results early was a power move. It shows he can move the stock when he wants to. Shorts should be very afraid because RC is in control of the price (“always has been”, “used to too”). Friday’s price move was 100% intentional, they didn’t have to announce results early, they didn’t have to make a shelf, and even the most regarded investor would know those announcements would drop the stock. Not a mistake. Follow the money.
There is now nothing stopping GameStop from trading their own shares whenever they want, and they’re in control of the message. They can make strategically timed announcements. They have a billion dollars in cash. Soon it could be a lot more. They can buy and sell whenever they want to.
Have you figured it out yet? Here’s my hypothesis: the squeeze will be controlled by RC and it will put cash into GME’s bank account. GME can pump and dump their own stock for cash that will benefit long term shareholders. And nobody can complain because it’s the shareholders that benefit. Anyone swing trading is going to be roadkill. F*** your puts, F*** your calls, cry if you’re short, because RC’s in charge. And at the end, when all the shorts and most of the option traders have given their money to GME, GME ends up with MOASS money in the bank and a book value driving a share price that will stay high for years (which is also the very worst punishment for any shorts who were dumb enough to hang on). Then when RC or any long term investor wants to divest in 10, 20, 30 years they can do that and get their tendies whenever they want. No need to time it, the infinity pool will be there for infinity. That’s my hypothesis.
How does a retail investor benefit during all this? Follow the money. Who’s got 38 million shares, very little diversification, and no apparent exit strategy?
TL;DR: Follow the money. RC has a lot of money invested long term in GME.

I'm a y1 SAS rp student and i have been facing lots of stress and demotivation to study for my upcoming quizzes. Having done quite a fair bit of projects and last minute assignments recently, i feel burnt out and lack the motivation to prepare for my upcoming tests. It does'nt help the fact that i am a slow learner and no matter how hard i try to pay attention in class i just cant absorb any information and end up spacing out :( sometimes i rlly wonder if joining a sci course was a right choice for me because the ppl in my class are rlly smart and i don't know how i could possibly compete with them. I tried to study for my previous tests but there were so many slides in the notes and i got overwhelmed by the information which resulted in me not studying at all.
Could anyone from a sci course give tips on how to study smart and absorb notes quickly without getting overwhelmed? Any other tips would also be appreciated :D
(sorry if this post was all over the place im just really stressed rn sdhcuhfi)
TDLR: struggling to cope in sci course because im a slow learner and get overwhelmed easily

I teach high school math and I tend to be pretty picky about my materials, to the point where I like to make my own. But I absolutely hate using most word processors, even with plug-ins, for writing out equations, tables, or graphs (if you even have the option). So I end up making and copying some hand-written notes and materials because I can make them exactly the way I want without spending as much time.
I would like to make some things that are a bit more polished though and don't look so homemade. I have seen what other teachers have created, so I know there must be a way.
Teachers who make great worksheets or notes, how do you do it? Are there software packages or sites you find both efficient to use and look nice? Copying and pasting a graph from Desmos looks very sad, for example. I'm teaching up to Calculus, so I need something that handles all of the math symbols.

first previous next
Essemi chapter
The Defender of Virtues was … Well, at least it was capable of moving around, which was rather impressive considering its age. It was built during the Aviel succession crisis, more than a century ago. It was, at the time, a brilliant display of engineering.
To be honest, its sheer size was still impressive, and it was probably better to command it than a smaller, more recent ship. Its shape was a classic example of the later Altirian period, a sort of arrow as the main body, with two smaller one attached to the sides. On the side the artificial gravity considered the “top”, there were building-like structures, resembling a city.
The whole thing looked like it was built for atmospheric flight, which was very much not the case, considering it was more than 800 meters long, and as such would probably fall apart under the forces applied. But it was definitely stylish, even if a little outdated, and still very practical.
There were worse ships to be stuck on for months for sure, and the crew was pretty nice too, barring the exception sitting in front of me. Of course, I was the one who needed to manage Commander Zedbi for the foreseeable future.
“I have come once again to make my complaints heard, Captain.”
“Commander, it’s much too late for me to go back on my decision, even if I wanted to. Complaining now will accomplish nothing except waste everyone’s time.”
“Well, perhaps you should have thought about that before limiting me to bringing only three servants on board. Someone of my status needs at least five, even in special circumstances.”
“Commander, this is a long-term mission. Anyone we bring will be a significant strain on our precious resources. I consider three servants to be more than sufficient for our officers.”
“Yes, I guess you wouldn’t understand who would need more personnel than your mother was ever able to afford. Then again, you only have one butler on a captain’s salary. Guess the Temidian blood runs strong in your family.”
“Enough, Commander. Go back to your post or this conversation will be reported to high command on our return.”
“You wouldn’t dare! They’ll know I’m right!”
Curiously for someone so sure of his righteousness, he still left the bridge, letting me concentrate on the maps of what was known on Terra space. The answer was resoundingly ‘not much’. But we could speculate on what systems would be the potentially juiciest to settle for them, considering what we knew.
I was busy planning the best potential routes for our operation, when the absolute darkness I could see through the glass bay suddenly filled with stars, and the main alarm began blasting.
“We left FTL”, screamed a Licam operating the propulsion system.
“I can see that,” I mumble. “Cut the alarm and send everyone to their combat position. Every officer on the bridge. We need to assess the situation.”
I was already thinking. We were five days of travel away from Earth. We had just encountered an FTL disruption field. What could that mean? Well first of all, the map the sensors were building around us didn’t detect any significant body or hostile vessels nearby, which meant… The disruption field filled a significant part of the system!
For what purpose? It was obvious: traversing it without distortion would take us months. It was a wall. I quickly went over the implications. A disruptor station had to be manned, or at least, maintained. That meant they needed ships travelling for months at sub light speed to resupply these stations! That was quite the commitment to prevent us entry. Fortunately, we could easily turn back to exit the field and go back home, which is exactly what I ordered.
Then, something impossible happened. A ship appeared on the radar, as if it had just exited a jump. But it had done so in the disruption field. Even worse, the gravitational wave detector spiked, like we were now almost right next to the disruptor.
I realized that it was the case: this ship could ignore the disruption field, and as such it had no problem having the disruptor on board.
We began blasting at it with our energy weaponry, to no avail. They were essentially teleporting after each time they fired, always being gone by the time our rays reached their position.
After of few minutes of that pointless exchange of fire, were our weapons never hit and theirs did barely any damage, twelve new signals appeared on the screen coming towards us at a terrifying speed. Missiles! No, the way they maneuvered to escape our point defenses ruled that out. Strike crafts…
The Terrans were hopelessly outmatched in firepower, and elven of the strike crafts were destroyed. But the last one managed to slam in the left “secondary hull”, destroying it almost entirely. We could survive without it, but I doubted that was all the Humans had in stock. We needed to get out now, but how? We were in the middle of a light-hour wide disruption field, that our enemy could somehow ignore! But that gave me an idea. If it didn’t work, we were dead anyway.
“Activate the disruptor!”
My subordinates didn’t understand why I would do that when the enemy was clearly immune to it, but they weren’t paid to think, and they knew it! (Those who were paid at all, that is.)
as soon as our own field reached the enemy ship, they became a lot less jumpy. I was right, they could jump in the field they generated, but ours could still pin them down!
“Fire a relativistic missile at them and cut the field so that they can jump a second before it hits them!”
If we destroyed the main craft, I had no doubt the strike crafts would avenge it. If they fled, however, we might have a chance. Of course, the most logical course of action for them would be to dodge and finish us of, but I hoped one second would be a short delay enough to overwrite rationality in the brains of our opponents.
And I was right. After a few hours, when the enormous disruption field had completely dissolved, our enemies still hadn’t returned, and we were able to escape.
If Commander Zebdi had not met his demise during the battle, (a tragedy that took me several seconds to recover from), he would have probably pointed out that that we should have destroyed the ship at the cost of our lives in the name of honor.
I, however, was certain that the intel we were bringing back would be a more devasting blow to humanity than the loss of any ship could be. The fact that it allowed us to remain alive was merely a pleasant side effect.

I’m of English and Irish descent, I’ve done two 2 dna tests (MH and Ancestry) I got 20% Iberian on MyHeritage but scored 0% iberian on ancestry however I got 33% Ireland, so how come under mixed mode population sharing does it say spanish and portuguese instead of irish, do the spanish and portuguese share dna with irish? please help
Admix Results (sorted):

Population Percent

1 North_Atlantic 48.78 2 Baltic 21.3 3 West_Med 15.5 4 East_Med 6.45 5 West_Asian 3.01 6 Oceanian 1.43 7 Siberian 1.22 8 Red_Sea 1.19 9 Amerindian 0.65 10 Sub-Saharan 0.47
Single Population Sharing:

Population (source) Distance

1 Southeast_English 3.84 2 Southwest_English 5.01 3 South_Dutch 5.09 4 Orcadian 6.06 5 West_German 6.5 6 West_Scottish 7.14 7 Irish 7.35 8 North_Dutch 7.49 9 Danish 7.93 10 French 8.59 11 North_German 8.62 12 Norwegian 9.84 13 Swedish 11.47 14 Austrian 13.4 15 East_German 14.33 16 Spanish_Cataluna 15.19 17 Spanish_Castilla_Y_Leon 16.29 18 North_Swedish 16.42 19 Southwest_French 16.53 20 Spanish_Galicia 16.74
Mixed Mode Population Sharing:

Primary Population (source) Secondary Population (source) Distance

1 84% Southeast_English + 16% Portuguese @ 2.16 2 84.9% Southeast_English + 15.1% Spanish_Murcia @ 2.21 3 83.7% Southeast_English + 16.3% Spanish_Castilla_Y_Leon @ 2.21 4 84.2% Southeast_English + 15.8% Spanish_Galicia @ 2.26 5 74.8% Orcadian + 25.2% Portuguese @ 2.27 6 85.7% Southeast_English + 14.3% Spanish_Extremadura @ 2.28 7 76% Orcadian + 24% Spanish_Murcia @ 2.33 8 76% Orcadian + 24% Spanish_Valencia @ 2.33 9 85.3% Southeast_English + 14.7% Spanish_Valencia @ 2.33 10 83.1% Southeast_English + 16.9% Spanish_Cataluna @ 2.35 11 85.6% Southeast_English + 14.4% Spanish_Castilla_La_Mancha @ 2.38 12 84.7% Southeast_English + 15.3% Spanish_Cantabria @ 2.38 13 74.3% Orcadian + 25.7% Spanish_Castilla_Y_Leon @ 2.39 14 86.9% Southeast_English + 13.1% Spanish_Andalucia @ 2.39 15 86% Southeast_English + 14% Spanish_Aragon @ 2.4 16 73% Orcadian + 27% Spanish_Cataluna @ 2.43 17 72.3% North_Dutch + 27.7% Spanish_Aragon @ 2.44 18 73.6% Southeast_English + 26.4% French @ 2.45 19 94% Southeast_English + 6% Sardinian @ 2.53 20 94.4% Southeast_English + 5.6% Moroccan @ 2.53

I've realised just by playing with Apple's own test chart that the screens on current generation M1/M2/M3 MacBook Pros are really about twice as bright as they need to be.
I'm thinking about getting an Xrite/Calibrite Display Pro HL to make my monitor look more like what it should for editing purposes.
When did Apple get into this bussiness of hype vs. reality. At full brightness levels the blacks and whites are way out and then "true tone" is anything but...
It's like "night shift" except controlled by the OS.
Am I missing something here or have we all bought into the eye bleeding hype of HDR.
Even at 1600nits max, dialing the brightness down to about half seems to result in much more natural colour reproduction.
It's leading me to question the reality that these screens DON'T need to be calibrated... My response is really wanting me to buy a colorimeter but there are very few that handle the mini-LED screens in the current MacBook Pros.

The Subreddit Favorites Lists Project

We’re creating Goodreads shelves with the subreddit’s top recommendations in tons of different genres and categories, and you can help!
Every Sunday, a member of the subreddit resources team will make a post asking for top recommendations in a specific category. At the end of the week, the team will create a Goodreads shelf of the books everyone has recommended. These shelves will then be linked on the subreddit resources page, so people looking for books in that category will have an easy way to add popular books directly to their Goodreads TBR. These shelves are meant to be a sort of diving board into the genre, not a list to end all lists.

• You can find all of the Goodreads shelves created for this project so far at this link.
  
• You can find all past posts for this project at this link.
  

Suggest Your Favorite Books in the comments!

This week is a Special Shelf Update. We’ve always intended to go back periodically to review older categories that have been posted in the past to avoid them becoming too outdated and give newer releases the chance to shine. Here are the older categories that we want to update this time:
[Opposites & Rivals*](https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/150425481-mm-romancebooks-favorites?ref=nav_mybooks&shelf=trope-opposites) (incl. Grumpy/Sunshine, Nerd/Jock) - 28 favorites so far
[Sci-Fi*](https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/150425481-mm-romancebooks-favorites?ref=nav_mybooks&shelf=genre-sci-fi) - 65 favorites so far
[Age Gap*](https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/150425481-mm-romancebooks-favorites?ref=nav_mybooks&shelf=trope-age-gap) - 101 favorites so far
Rules for suggestions:
*If you contributed to one of these categories before, you can contribute again now, but please try to focus on books that are popular with the community as a whole, not just your own personal favorites. There is a very good chance your favorites are already on the list if they are an older book: focus on newer (from the past year) or lesser known books!
Make your *suggestions by Saturday of this week. Suggestions added later might not be added to the Goodreads shelf, because we can’t monitor the post comments forever.
*Please don’t suggest more than five books.

• Feel free to say something about why you're recommending a book. We'll be saving these posts as a resource, too, in case people want more info about how books were chosen.
  
• Use individual book names, not series names. Only individual books can be added to Goodreads shelves; series cannot.
  

If you’re suggesting a series of books about the *same couple*, please list only the *first book in the series, since that is where readers will need to start.
If you’re suggesting a book in a series about *different couples**, you can list whichever book(s) in that series you recommend. For example, you could suggest only Heated Rivalry and none of the other books in the Game Changers series, if you wished.

Waking up in the middle of the night I find myself restless
So much has come into focus in the last few days. The station, my first steps on another world. It is all a bit overwhelming. Relaxing my thoughts drift off thinking about how I got here. A young girl on Europa, being selected for training after my aptitude tests, the Academy on Ganymede. Then as always my thoughts drift back to… her…
Lucy…
We started at rivals at the academy, we were from different worlds. Literally, me from Europa a wet ocean world remote and isolated, her an inner worlder from the hot dusty plains of Venus. We were water and fire.
The professors pitted us against each other from day one, based on our aptitude tests we were the top of the class. They split the class into teams and gave us challenges. I like to say I got the better of her, I was fast out the gate winning a few challenges. But Lucy turned back on me in a vengeance, she had a magnetism to her that caused our classmates to almost be addicted to her. People from my team would defect over to Lucy. Soon I found myself vastly outnumbered.
One day after Lucy and her team thrashed me again in a simulated strategy challenge. I left and I needed to be alone. I showered, went into the sauna. Replaying the moves again and again. How was I going to get the upper hand. She outnumbered me so much.
Everyone knew to leave me alone in the sauna. It was where I thought, relaxed, my place of peace. I was frustrated, I lean back against the wall and let me hands wander. Gently down my body, letting my stress evaporate as I tease myself…Then the door opened…. And it was Lucy. A cocky grin in her face.
We had been thinking about nothing but each other and we had both become obsessed. When that tension broke. Let me just say in a sauna fire and water combine to make something beautiful. Lucy and I did as well.
She moved towards me quickly, letting her towel drop, she was direct with a purpose. Grabbing the back of my head and kissing me deeply. I was shocked.. surprised... Excited..
I grabbed the back of her head and kissed her back. A deep need inside of me welling up, our lips slid across each other's as our tongue intertwined. I poured my life water of passion into her. She flared up and accepted my passion. Her hands exploring my body as I moved my knees between her legs.
Fuuuccckkk…. When she arched her back… so beautiful… MMM nnngghhhh an orgasm washed over me in my bed while I thought of Lucy.
Panting… even after all this time, separated by a waygate and unfathomable distance my body still yearned for her, I still yearned for her. Rolling onto my side I stare out my window into the vastness of space and the void. My fingers still ryhmically dancing on my pussy. Fingers sliding in and out
Your taught at the academy not to develop attachments, especially since the top prize, the highest honor of our training, to one day fly a deep space exploration through a waygate. Which would put us alone, in a different system. Like I am now.
Even if I power up my waygate in record time and rush home. Lucy is most likely gone. She was my alternate, meaning had I been unable to go this time she would have. It also means she most likely the deployed to her own system and would be gone before I returned. Likely I would never see her again.
Biting my lips and pressing a hand out onto the glass…yes…yes.. there
Fuck again….Fuucckkkkk LLLLuuucccCC
EeeeeeeeeerrrrrreeeemmmmmAAAAAA, a beautiful black haired woman orgasms in a bed identical to Emeras save the ambient lighting is blue inside of pink.
Fuck…. That was good. I find myself panting as I step out into the hallway of my ship. 2 days since the waygate, 6 months since I last saw Emera. Since she departed through her gate. Stars know if she still lives.
It was a rare happening, another gate coming online shortly after Emera’s departure. I thought I would be flying routine patrols around the system. Now I'm alone. Alone with my thoughts of her, and my AI Julia. Fuck. Why couldn't we have gone together. Why only one pilot to a ship. Who knows maybe she's thinking of me. Technically the systems we are in are closer together than home. That's something…
You're probably wondering if I was outnumbered and Lucy normally had my number in competition then how did I get to leave first. Yes, I did sleep with high command. That was only my closing argument though. You see Lucy had her magnetism that caused people to be addicted to her, she drew people in. But I was better at strategy and nuanced maneuvers.
The rules weren't strict on the teams, people defected all the time. Keeping your people together was part of the challenge. I decided to break that challenge.
No Battleplan survives first contact with the enemy afterall. Why not break the competition itself
My enemy wasn't Lucy, trust me we had been together enough at this point my heart swelled when I saw her. My enemy was the rules, and proctors.
There had to be two team in the academy for the lessons to work. But the rules only set a minimum not a maximum.
Lucy and her best 4 left her team, and me and my best 4 left my team. We formed a new team with Lucy and I at the head. The proctors were fuming. I was called into their offices again and again. Which is what led to me sleeping with a few of them to get ahead. It is always good to solicit a meeting with superiors, you can always be turned to your advantage.
In the Academy, there were 50 of us girls. The proctors let us keep our 3rd team, but declared no one else could join us. It was the ten of us vs double our number on both the other teams. Not ideal… but we had Lucy and I together. My how we shined
We out maneuvered, out paced, and out thought the other teams again and again and again..
Entering into the final the proctors split everyone up, eliminating the team. Just to try and stop us from sweeping the competition. Instead there would be 25 teams of 2 members each of our own selection. Lucy and I naturally selected each other.
We set down on a terraformed valley on Mars, all the other duos were around. The mission was complex. Gather knowledge, survive in the wilderness, there were simulator villages where we had to set up relations, and if possible eliminate other teams.
The gravity is different from what I'm used to, my body feels heavy. Sluggish, they train us on this and soon I'll adapt. But first landing it hits me like a weight. Ffuuuccckkk I murmur as I land my account ship on the surface.
Lucy always compares a new celestial body to a lover. Well for me Mars just grabbed my hair, slapped my ass and pushed in
Fuck I can't imagine landing on Earth. Triple this, fuck that give me my moon mother's oceans anyday.
I suck deep and hard on the control in my mouth and all three extract from me. I am about to get up from the control seat when I feel a palm in the small of my back
“Lucy not funny, let me up” I say
She giggles, and rubs my ass cheeks before her fingers rub against my lips
I moan biting my lip as I push myself against her hand
“I knew the gravity here would give a Moonie like you a good fucking, you're so wet my love”
Rolling my head back and forth..”quickly we have to debrief and set up camp” I moan
She smacks my ass again and her fingers deftly slide to work, one hand pinning me to the chair while she teases my sex, her thumb rubbing in perfect circles on my clit and her fingers pulling on my g-spot
“Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes uuuhhhhh my love it feel so good” shaking my hips back and forth I feel it building as I rock my hips on her hand
Squeezing….my leg….quivering… my voice squeaking… “uuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh ffuuuccckkk” I moan as I feel the orgasm wash over me…
Lucy slaps my ass playfully and licks her fingers… “let's go my love, stop playing around we have to set up camp” she giggles
“Oh!! You!!” I get up and rush after her slapping her ass when I catch up
Carryalls follow us out of the ship.. I immediately sent out the scout drones and assessed our landing spot. Allocating tasks and running diagnostics.
Lucy set about converting the ship to a shelter and arranging power arrays, and deciding on perimeter defenses
We were a perfect power duo. Our carryalls and scouts were soon all at work, and Lucy was finishing up the shelter
I needed to repay her, so I slowly walked up behind her. She heard my heavy steps in the gravity. Turning to look at me she beamed at me. My heart melted and grabbing both sides of her face I pinned her to the side of the ship. Our bodies intertwined and our lips locked.
She moaned at me giggling, pushing my knee between her legs, and we quickly undressed each other. Her mouth on my breast, as my hand glided down to her slick vagina.
Grabbing her chin roughly and up turning her head exposing her neck I sink my teeth into it as I push forward with my knee back and forth pressing my fingers in and out of her.
A deep moan emanates from her, licking my bite mark I kiss up her neck until my forehead is resting hers. Eye to eye, I watch the pleasure build in her. Thrust after thrust of my knee. My fingers pressing into her g-spot every time, my palms pressing and grinding onto her clit
“Cum for me my love, give me your sweetness, I want your water to be the first I drink on this planet” I breath
I feel her pussy tighten and grip my fingers. Her legs twisting around me… she goes silent… a flush rises in her flesh… we kiss deep, and long, and passionately as I feel her gush onto my hand as orgasm rapts her body..
I watch her eyes dilate and relax I kiss her gently again before kissing down, my lips brushing through her pubic hair tickling my lips. Opening my mouth and pressing my tongue in I drink of her orgasm
My fingers inside pressing to work again, she cries out as she rocks her hips grinding her lips to mine. As she gushes another orgasm into my mouth..
I can even taste and feel it now on my tongue…
Releasing her, and helping her up I grin
Walking awayz the top of my leotard open my tits out in the sun
“I'm up by one my love, and you taste so GGGGOOOOoooOOooddddDD” I giggle setting back to work.
Days and weeks pass Lucy and I set up our camp. Wefind nearby teams before they find us. We quickly fall on them in the night, clearing our immediate area, eliminating them from the contest. We bathe in a nearby stream, sun ourselves on the rocks, make love on the soft moss of the forest.
I don't know if I've ever been happier, ever been more at peace l than I was then with Lucy. Her and I… her and I against the world.
We make good progress setting up relations with 12 of the 15 villages. Our camp is well stocked. We receive updates from the proctors from dead drops. Seems out of the 25 teams only 8 remain. Lucy and I have eliminated 7 ourselves.
We need to be the last standing, triumphant together.. so that maybe.. maybe we can convince them to send two of us on a ship. Imagine the wonders, this wouldn't be temporary, but would become our life.
Lucy and I talk about it often. We can convince them. We'll defeat the others then refuse to turn on each other.
Our dream died that night…
We were naked, curled up in each others arms when the alarm sounded..all the alarms
Proximity alert for 14 signals… they had teamed up on us. 14 on 2 they were going to eliminate the front runners while they still could.
Fuck.
Lucy and I turned and quickly downed our emergency biotic vials just as a concussive blast hit our ship shelter.
“Fuck! They aren't supposed to attack equipment!” I yell
“The proctors must have sent them, they should be intervening with that!” Lucy says
“You're better in a fight, charge them and I'll flank” I yell
We nod at each other and we are off naked as the day we were born
Lucy bursts from our ship her shield bursting out in front of her
I dart out the side and task our scouts and drones to make dive bomb attacks on the intruders
I leap over a blast, grab a tree branch and swing. I land my legs on either side of the head. Of one the attackers, twisting my flip her over and knock her out. Back on the run, I see Lucy take out another one as drones dive in and out of the chaos.
Lucy blocks to her right and charges blasting herself high into the air, twirling before blasting herself downward tackling her target to the ground and eliminating her.
She's about to get blasted from behind when I take the attackers in the flank, knee to the solarplex. My hand on the side of her neck I thrust up hard with my knee. In the low gravity she turns and flies off into the trees as I raise my hands and blast another in the side.
She turns just in time to block my attack, when Lucy rockets into her side with her elbow

Hello everyone. One of the biggest barriers of entry for me to getting to start Accutane is the cost. It really was demotivating to see how much everything costed as a 19-year-old that didn't really have much money. In the U.S., everything seems so expensive, and without health insurance, it almost feels impossible to start.
For reference, I'm based in Florida. This should help you save money in ONE or TWO factors of cost. Maybe all three factors, considering you do exactly what I have done. Here are the 3 factors.

1. Monthly Consultation
   
2. Bloodwork
   
3. Purchasing the Accutane
   

CONSULTATION
Normally, the consultation cost for an in-person visit is beyond $100. I use an online, U.S. based service called Honeydew. This service, if prescribed with Accutane, is $65 a month. You have a one on one video zoom call, discussing your acne, how you're going to start, and the next steps.
Also, I can give you guys 2 months free of the service. It gives me 2 months free as well, and actually, a referral was the way that I basically covered 2 months of the cost. So, you're saving 2 months of money on a consultation. It will apply after your first month. No, this isn't an ad, I'm just really happy with this service actually being here. Here's the referral link, if y'all do want to try. I also want 2 extra months free lol ;)
https://honeydew.referral-factory.com/gv2VWm
BLOODWORK
Bloodwork costs can also be very expensive without insurance. If you get your bloodwork with Quest Diagnostics, you can save so much money just by ordering it through JasonHealth. How it'll work is simple.
You start with Honeydew for the consultation.
You then get a paper that they send to you to print out, providing the test names and a way for Quest Diagnostics to send Honeydew the test results.
You then order the blood test through JasonHealth. The blood tests that Honeydew asks of you are the following.
Hepatic Function Panel
Lipid Panel, Standard
This is $33 through JasonHealth. I did this and it worked flawlessly. When you buy the blood test, you will get another paper to print out. Bring this to the Quest Diagnostics lab you chose, and you're set. You pay online, and WILL NOT pay at Quest Diagnostics.
PURCHASING THE ACCUTANE
Through Honeydew, they will ask where you want your prescription to be filled out to. Go on GoodRx and search for the cheapest option for isotretinoin. Just provide them the address of the location you'd like to get your prescription given the price. I pay $75.
YOUR MONTHLY COST (AVG)
Let's assume a 7 month course. Bloodwork with Honeydew isn't every month. This is what they specifically said to me. "As long as everything in WNL (within normal levels), you should just need lab work done at month 3 and then can skip labs until 4 weeks post-treatment."
So, you have 3 blood tests. $99.
You have 7 months of consultation: $325 (including the referral).
You have 7 months of accutane: $525
This runs down to an AVERAGE of $135 every month. Remember, some months, you will not pay for bloodwork or consultation.
Even though the price isn't "pretty," it sure is A LOT better than what it would've been without all of this. This is just the price I have to pay.
LINKS TO EVERYTHING.
Referral to Honeydew
JasonHealth
GoodRx

So I’m in college and there was this girl who I know thinks I’m attractive. I caught her looking at me multiple times and it’s just clear as day. I like her awkwardness, and she takes any opportunity to talk to me.
An example is the other day I asked the professor for an eraser, and she appeared out of nowhere and offered it to me while smiling/ chuckling.
it’s important to note that normally, I would not have even gave this girl the time of day. I just noticed that she likes me, and that made me like her, and she is pretty so I said why not.
After our final exam I approached her and made small talk about the exam and the semesters end. She was visibly excited to speak to me - I could tell by her voice and smile. I offered her a ride and she denied, which I expected her to do. So then I asked for her instagram and told her that I think shes pretty. She says thank you, and we say our goodbyes.
She didn’t immediately pull out her phone and accept the request. This was Friday, and now it’s Sunday. It’s frustrating because I am kinda picky with the girls I choose to pursue, and traits like this are very unattractive to me. It shows me what I can expect down the road. I’m hoping in her head she’s just insecure and doesn’t want to give off the impression that she’s desperate, but even then, that’s also stupid. If you like someone then just be yourself. It doesn’t make sense to me. Can anyone relate to this or even understand it. I mean, as human beings the least we can do for a friend or acquaintance is accept their follow request. So part of me thinks she’s doing it to test me, because people seem to think I’m this lady killer. And if she didn’t like me she would just accept the request.
I don’t know. I’d like to hear thoughts please. I’m 21 and she’s 19.

Introduction: Online Work for Mothers: Get Paid for Their Opinions :
In the digital age, mothers are discovering new and innovative ways to contribute financially while staying at home. One of the most engaging and flexible opportunities available is getting paid for sharing opinions. This burgeoning field offers mothers a unique way to leverage their insights and experiences, turning thoughts into income.
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The internet has revolutionized how businesses collect data. Companies are eager to understand consumer behavior, preferences, and trends. This demand has given rise to various online platforms where individuals, particularly mothers, can voice their opinions on products, services, and concepts. This feedback is invaluable for companies aiming to refine their offerings and stay competitive.
Benefits of Getting Paid for Your Opinions :
Earning money for your opinions comes with a host of benefits. It’s flexible, allowing you to work from anywhere at any time. There are no strict deadlines or quotas, providing a stress-free way to earn extra cash. Plus, it can be quite fulfilling to know that your insights are helping shape future products and services.
How to Get Started :
Starting is simple and requires minimal effort. Begin by researching reputable survey sites and market research panels. Look for platforms with positive reviews and clear payment policies. Sign up, complete your profile, and you’re ready to start taking surveys and participating in studies.
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Not all survey sites are created equal. It’s essential to find legitimate ones to avoid scams. Look for well-known platforms like Survey Junkie and Makesurveymoney .. These sites offer a variety of surveys and pay reliably. Check online reviews and forums for user experiences before committing.

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Understanding Market Research Panels :
Market research panels often provide higher payouts than standard surveys. These panels involve more in-depth studies and may require a bit more time. However, they can be more rewarding. Nielsen, Pinecone Research, and Ipsos i-Say are excellent examples of reliable panels that value thorough feedback.
Balancing Work and Family Life :
Working from home requires a balance between professional tasks and family responsibilities. Set specific times for completing surveys to ensure you’re not overwhelmed. Communicate with your family about your work schedule to create an environment conducive to productivity. Flexibility is key to maintaining harmony.
Success Stories: Moms Making a Difference :
Many mothers have successfully integrated online opinion jobs into their daily routines. These success stories are inspiring. Take, for instance, Jessica, a mother of two who earns a steady income by participating in surveys during her kids' nap times. Or Maria, who uses her evenings to contribute to focus groups, earning enough to pay for family vacations. These real-life examples showcase the potential of turning opinions into financial contributions.
Conclusion :
Getting paid for your opinions is a viable and flexible option for mothers looking to earn extra income. It’s a unique way to influence products and services while maintaining a balance between work and family life. As more mothers embrace this opportunity, the impact of their collective voice will continue to shape the marketplace. Embark on this journey today and start turning your valuable insights into earnings.

Please, if you have a spare time with this and give me your honest advice. I’m genuinely so conflicted.
So my boyfriend is really sweet. The relationship started off with him giving me insane crazy princess treatment. And everything is good; we hang out almost every single day. We text every single day; he needs constant updates. He tells me when he's in his car about to go somewhere. He tells me when he's about to shower and he says he does these things so l'm not waiting for his text if he doesn't respond back, which I appreciate, but he also expects me to do the same. For me, that's a little bit too much. I'm not used to that. He is very protective, so whenever we're in public, he always wants to hold onto me to show other people I'm his girl because sometimes men will look at me. I think he knows I could do better on physical attraction, not gonna lie.
All this feels like it's a little bit too much, so I told him that I think he's way too committed to this relationship to the point where I feel like it's more like a marriage, not just dating. I told him that I am not being the perfect girlfriend that he wants me to be because he needs to give me time; it's only been one month. He continues doing things like getting annoyed if l hang up the phone to pick up someone else's call without saying goodbye and telling him who's calling. I understand his perspective, but he still gets annoyed if I hang up the call.
I can’t have guy best friends and especially I cannot call my guy best friends when he’s in the car with me. If they call me, I can’t pick up and have a conversation. Sometimes I do because they are important to me. One thing that really ticks me off is whenever I tell him something, he says “we both could use this or that.”
For example, yesterday I was washing my hair, blow drying it, and I was on FaceTime with friends so I didn’t text him for like 3-4 hours, but he knew that I was busy because I told him. That night when I called him, I could tell he had a little anger in his tone and he was like, "If you didn’t call me in five minutes, I would’ve gone to sleep." We had a conversation about how if I don’t want to FaceTime that night, I should just let him know beforehand. Him waiting and then making that comment about going to sleep within five minutes made me feel guilty, but then I took a step back and thought, "You know I have people over at my house; give me some space. I’m not your wife. It’s been a month."
Also We hang out almost every day by the way because I have a lot of free time and it's like we seeing each other 4- 12 hours every single day. Mind you it's only been a month so for me it's a lot and if we're not seeing each other, it's the constant texting and updates
My main issue right now is that he texted me this morning said:" I'm sorry for being mean yesterday and making you feel like that".
I responded with: " It's OK, I just need some space to think about it."
He responded with: "I feel we both need space recollect ourselves"
What does he needs space for??!?! Everything is throwing me off... this is the second time saying "we both need" when I address an issue about how he made me feel. I understand that he's trying to consider his feelings into the problem, but I'm not crazy.
How should I handle a situation where my boyfriend says we both need what I need instead of addressing my feelings individually?
Sorry it’s kinda long 😭 TL;DR: My boyfriend is very sweet but extremely attentive and protective, expecting constant updates and restricting interactions with male friends. He often says "we both need" when I express my individual needs. It's been only a month, but I feel overwhelmed by his level of commitment. How should I handle a situation where my boyfriend says we both need what I need instead of addressing my feelings individually?

I am looking for the complete album “ MONUMENTMIXTAPE (Tribute to AlexKansas)” by Vonn the Pariah.
The album takes the songs form the first season of Monument Mythos and matches their edits in the videos themselves.
For example: ROCKEFELLERREVELATION (How Deep is the Ocean) loos the music and slows it down as it appeared in the titular episode.
This is the only song I purchased form the album from iTunes and the album has since been removed.
I cannot find it elsewhere online.
Does anyone know where it can be purchased or otherwise Listened to?