Hi there, I'm in need of some help, I don't exactly believe in past live but I'm definitely starting to. I came here to ask people who may know who may know what's going on. Lately I've been getting these dreams, every single night. The dream goes like this; it's someone that looks like me, running through a dark forest at night but it seemed a bit bright out because of the moon shining bright. It was overly stormy, branches flying and the grass moving fast, small pebbles even occasionally flying by. I was wearing a black dress from the early 1800s however I was not wearing a cage, just the dress and no corset. I was chasing after a girl but there was a slight fog and everything was tinted a dark green including the sky. I was chasing after a girl wearing a similar dress to mine, she had long dark brown hair and was running very fast. She seemed to be the same age as me. As we stopped she turned around when she arrived at a gate, a gate to a giant dark house, it was a beautiful mansion I'm the middle of a very crowed forest, a dense one. I stopped and called out. "Don't do it! Please don't leave me!" I was sobbing and shaking, my dress completely drenched. The girl whom I didn't recognize was also crying but seemed to be in a sort of trance like she couldn't help what she was doing, she was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my hole life. Beautiful blue big eyes and adorable freckles with these thin lips that fit just right on her face. She was glorious. I saw her open her mouth to say something when everything goes black and my ears ring, I feel a warm but sort of cold feeling run down my face and then a scream of terror that I can only imagine is the other girl. Then I wake up. Its all so real, extremely real. I always wake up crying and with a head ache. After a few weeks of having this dream every night I've started to think this may be a past life? I really don't know. What do you guys think?

Pretty much as the title says any time it gets dark and it's time to go to sleep, i'll go to bed feeling tired and ready to sleep (drowsy) and as soon as I put my head on the pillow to go to sleep my heart rate goes up and I'm fully awake and alert. Once I lose that drowsy feeling, it's near impossible to regain it.
This issue may stem from trauma from a sleep paralysis episode I had as a kid. It's kind of difficult to explain but it's like ME as a person isn't afraid of night time and whatever that entails - demons, ghosts, sleep paralysis monsters etc. But my brain is actively trying to protect me and so keeps me up and alert.
I have had a few bouts with depression and anxiety, but nothing long term or extremely serious, just the general "university sucks and life is boring" type of stuff so through out the day I don't feel stressed at all. I could be gaming, having a blast, and I could be getting drowsy barely able to keep my eyes open and when I go to bed - BAM! wide AWAKE!
Is there a solution to this? I've tried melatonin, sleep medicine, magnesium, sleep schedule, etc. This isn't a deficiency issue as far as I'm aware, my brain is just genuinely scared that I'm going to die or get attacked or visited at night.
tldr; my brain is scared to sleep at night because it is trying to protect me, how do I reassure my brain that nothing will attack me (and even if it does, that's kinda how she goes...)

More than just a sub for live music - specifically looking for albums that are a shining example of everything a band aspires to be. A confluence of talent, energy, soul, crowd engagement, etc. Ideally a show that is far bigger than any they've previously played for, so they clearly rehearsed their asses off to be at their very best. For example:

1. Alestorm - Live in Tilburg - not a huge fan of Alestorm, but I love this concert.
   
2. AFI - I Heard A Voice - similarly not a huge fan of AFI, but this album hits me just right.
   
3. Genesis - The Way We Walk - don't particularly care for any full Genesis or Phil Collins albums, but this album is nearly perfect.
   
4. Metallica - S&M - I am a huge fan of Metallica, and this album is my favorite album of all time. I particularly like that they put the effort into improving tracks that felt rushed an unrefined on their studio albums, such as Outlaw Torn and Bleeding Me. A while back I created a custom Load CD, leaving the good tracks alone and replacing the poorly recorded with a live improvement - notably 2x4 and Aint My Bitch needed live replacement, while Wasting My Hate and The House That Jack Built stayed.
   

Not too specific on genre, as I've generally liked any live music I've managed to find, at least in person. Open to pop and country live performances if people believe they qualify.
If a sub doesn't exist (quick search didn't find anything) and this post generates interest, I'll create it and make four separate submissions for the above links.
Reposted without the links, as it seems that triggered a bot. Was hoping the examples would help this post gain traction :-/

Hello there. I am a 20 years old guy from Romania, Europe. Lately I felt lonely and I decided to try my shot here trying to find someone truly special to share my days with. Currently I am working a full time job and I live alone in my own appartment. I am looking for someone to starts things slowly, not rushing it. I would like to talk about our daily routine, work/school, share our days about what happened or how we feel or any random topic we have in our mind. I am open to a long distance relationship. I enjoy videocalls and voicecalls aswell.
Some infos about my personality:
I am an introverted, shy and emotional. As a person I am caring, loving and protective and I give all my attention to the loved ones to make sure they feel good.
My appearance is the next:
Slim body type, 190 cm tall (6'2), 80 kg (176 lbs), blondish hair and blue eyes. I am open to exchange pictures too.
My hobbies and interests include the followings:
- Learning about new cultures and languages. Currently I speak two languages on native level which include Hungarian and Romanian and I would like to learn about other languages and cultures.
- History. My favorite topic of history would be the middle age (Eastern European) and the two World Wars.
- Geography. All the mountains, seas, rivers, lakes which are surrounding us are so beautiful. Since I live in a mountain city I used to hike too on smaller mountains.
- Sports. Mostly I enjoy playing and watching football which I used to practice too before, but now only as a hobby. Other sports which I like are handball and waterpolo.
- Music. I like to listen mostly to everything related to rock music and rap music. But I am open to other music genres too and I would like to hear about your music taste too.
- Gaming. In my free time when I am off from work I play games on my PC on Steam. Maybe we could play some games too together if you are up for it.
- Movies and series. I don't watch them that much, but if it's a good movie or serie I would not turn it down.
- Youtube. I like to watch travelling videos mostly. I like travel videos because one day I would like to travel too around the World if I have the opportunity.
If you are considering to send me a DM, make a small introduction. Mostly I use Discord to chat, if you are ok we can move there, but Reddit chat is fine too.

I have been working on a business for two years. I have a business partner who is a financial backer.
Over the course of the two years, the following has happened: the first 6 months were spent researching one avenue of revenue, but we ultimately opted for another. I.e., we thought of processing one thing, but logistics and regulations drove us to another (market).
My partner has a lot of money. Has even had gall enough to say “I’m rich”. He has two cars, but only one parking spot.
During the first summer, I drove to Virginia (from Toronto, Ontario) for a two day workshop about the specifics of using the machine we purchased ($27,000 CDN).
When I returned, he told me to keep the car, as I’d need it for business. I asked him, later, what he was going to do with the car ultimately. He said he’d keep it for a few years and then probably give it to me. (The car is over 20 years old, has 150,000 k. It runs pretty well, but it does need work).
At one point he suggested that I should “draw a salary” from the business. He suggested $3,000 / month. I live quite lean, and, as of last years’ personal taxes, I took a total of $17,000 from the business account when necessary. I hold a part time job to offset needing to do so.
Two times during this two year period, my partner was away - once in Cabo and once in Bahamas. He invited me to come with him but both times I had to cancel due to Covid -imposed restrictions.
Late 2021, I experience an issue with my machine, and because of backlogs of materials, I did not receive a replacement part for 7 weeks, during which time my sister died of cancer.
In summer of 2022, he abruptly took his car back for his daughter to give his son driving lessons (?). That was 3 weeks, and I had to cancel social arrangements out of the city (visiting a cottage, summer camp reunion).
In late 2023, more machine issues, and because it is a highly specialized machine, there was a lot of work in finding someone who could properly assess and repair.
In January of 2023, I booked a booth at a trade show as a launch. It was a good start; made some professional connections. No sales. He said he was going to attend, but never did and only told me so when I texted to ask where he was.
In April of 2023, he took the car back again for his newly-licensed 17 year old child to use. Said it would be 3 weeks. It’s been 7 weeks, during which time I have had to pick up supplies, deliver an order, and get other business-related things accomplished. I did these things via transit and Lyft.
In late May, I held an open house at my office for industry people. It was my partner’s suggestion. I orchestrated the whole thing, and invited nearly 200 people. He said he was coming, but by then the second day, with two hours left, I again messaged him to see where he was, whereupon he informed me that he wasn’t coming because he was out of town dealing with a personal emergency. No details on that.
I was supposed to get the car back the next day to make a delivery. When asked about it, he said he’d give it back to me when he returned. No details about that.
I asked “when will that be?” He replied “Sunday”.
Sunday came and went and on Monday I messaged him. He didn’t reply until Tuesday with: Hi l am thinking , the car needs a ton of work, and depending on the amount, may not be worth it. WRT to the business, l am pretty unclear it will work, l can meet with you this weekend to discuss. I am in a very dark and sad place , nothing to do with you, but you should know.”
I wrote “That’s a pretty abrupt declaration. I know the car needs work. I have been making all kinds of arrangements regarding [the business] including hiring a social media pro and we have mapped out a schedule for promotional videos and information to be imparted. If you are without hope for it, well, then you let me know. Whatever you’re going to do to with the car, that’s fine. I’d love to be able to use it until then.”
Not wanting to wait until the weekend, I called instead in the evening, but he was unable to talk. I’m calling again tonight (Thursday).
He has many investments on the go (says he) that are in the millions, that have been in the works for years.
Please, if I’m unclear on anything, just ask for clarification. Otherwise, any insight?

Hey stopdrinking, it's me, the guy who destroyed half his body in a failed suicide attempt. Thought I would drop in and give you guys an update on the last several weeks.
The hospital I was in searched for several weeks to find me a care facility or a rehab facility. According to them, facilities didn't want to take me until I could bear weight on my legs, and they were wary of admitting someone who had attempted suicide. Basically, I looked really bad on paper. Fair enough, I thought. I'll wait it out here in the hospital until I regain weight bearing status, and then they can more easily find me a place. Wrong. Very wrong. Their solution, keeping in mind that no one in my family had the capability of caring for me when I was wheelchair bound, was to send me to drumroll please a homeless shelter. Yes, a homeless shelter in a city I'm very much not familiar with. I cried when the nurse told me this. A transport van came and took me to the shelter. Once there, they took all my stuff, including the books and drawing supplies that were a key part of maintaining my positive attitude. This was around 2pm. They then escorted me into their chapel (major red flag for me), where I sat for several hours while old western movies were projected on a large screen. More people trickled in as the hours passed. Finally, at 6pm, dinner was served. No comment. When we shuffled back into the chapel, the stage had a bunch of speakers and music equipment. Cool, live music. No. What followed was a mandatory hour long sermon delivered by a twiggy fucking need singing shitty Christian pop songs and reiterating time and again how I would end up in hell without good old JC in my heart. He punctuated his sermon with plenty of "dudes" and "bros" to let us know he was a totally hip guy. I was furious. I have no problems with anyone's religion. But this shit was being shoved down my throat, and I am absolutely NOT ok with that. Once it was over I asked the guy next to me what we did now. "We go to bed." So I rolled down the hall and climbed into a bottom bunk in a room with 5 other bunk beds. At least 3 of my roommates snored. Somehow I managed a few hours of sleep. In the middle of the night I needed to use the bathroom. Well, my wheelchair wouldn't fit in their main bathroom. I was directed to the shower room. The tight confines there wouldn't allow me to turn into their handicapped stall. The man they had standing guard over the shower room had to lift up the back wheels of my chair to point me into the stall. Afterwards I went back to my bunk and laid awake with my eyes closed until the 6am wake up call. First thing in the morning, everyone is required to shower. Well, they didn't have accommodations for someone wheelchair bound in their showers, so I couldn't do that. At 7am, everyone was required to leave for the day until curfew at 4:30. I got a day pass, which meant I once again would be sitting in the chapel all day watching shitty daytime TV. At one point I asked for help to get into the bathroom stall. The workers looked confused. Turns out I shouldn't legally be there. Them helping me into the stall was a liability. After they made confused calls to the hospital I came from, the only logical conclusion anyone could draw was sending me to a different hospital.
So 911 was called and I was whisked by ambulance to the emergency room, where a confused staff tried to make sense of what was happening to me. I was admitted, and spent the next couple weeks there. On the 24th of last month, I was finally able to put weight on my legs. I walked for the first time in nearly 3 months. It hurt like hell. The combination of nerve pain, serious injuries, and atrophied muscles was certainly not fun. But I was ecstatic to reach the milestone. A hospital social worker soon informed me they found a rehab hospital for me. I looked at their website. Damn, it was a nice place. Really nice. Then I got a UTI and an infection in my lungs. Yay. Managed to kick it with a hefty several rounds of antibiotics. A few days later, I arrived at the rehab hospital, where I sit now.
I started with the daily 3 hours of physical and occupational therapy on Monday. According to my occupational therapist, I far surpassed the goals she set for me in the first few days. I'm walking at least a few hundred feet each day with the aid of a walker. In just 4 days I have felt an enormous amount of progress. Walking still hurts a fair amount when I put weight on my left leg, and I expect to use a walker for at least a few more weeks. Stairs are also gonna be an obstacle. But I fully believe I'm headed in the right direction.
I will still have a lot of work to do once I get back home. I have a lot of trust I need to start rebuilding with family and friends. I need to figure out what I'm going to do for work now. Going back to being a chef is kinda outta the question now. But that's OK, I can now go back to enjoying cooking for myself and people I love. I need to find a new place to live. I'm open but slightly hesitant about the prospect of a sober living house. I don't do well with roommates. But these are all issues to tackle as they come. Hopefully I won't have anymore hiccups that equal what I've already been through. Either way, I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes. Sorry about the long winded post! Talk to you folks soon!

Hi
Recently out of a ltr and looking to dip my toe back into dating. I'm looking to see if there's an interesting woman who would be up for hanging out this weekend?
I'm open to ideas, but a few drinks in the sun? Maybe some a Sunday roast and good conversation, maybe a cocktail bar. No expectations, just looking to meet and make a connection.
I'm 36, a normal easygoing guy with a good sense of humour and, well, not much on this evening! I'm average height, blonde hair and a fairly athletic physique. Enjoy making other people laugh, and talking about anything. I'm well travelled, have loved cooking since I was small, and into playing and watching sport. I prize kindness above most other personality traits.
If that sounds interesting to you, send me a chat.
X

[Chapter One]
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Prev and Next
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Rosifo Girtwoud woke up feeling sore and exhausted. He slept well, but never as long as he’d have liked. He could hear his roommates moving around and getting ready for their days. Sitting up in bed, he stretched and took stock. His new job was physically demanding, but it was the best job he’d ever had. By a lot. He loved having his own room in a nice place, all thanks to his generous new salary! He could even afford to eat as much as he wanted, a luxury he’d not even dreamed was possible. Last night he ate three helpings of honey glazed pork at the pub! Still clumsy from sleep, Ros shrugged on a tunic and clean slacks, pausing for a second to appreciate the lordly quality of the garments. He still couldn’t believe he owned such nice things, and the Chief just gave it to him! Well, everyone got a few, but that didn’t make it any less special. Ros put on his belt as he went downstairs to the kitchen, where a few of his roommates were eating breakfast and the landlady was pulling some fresh buns out of the wood fired oven.
“Hey there’s the champ now!” called out Rikad, his housemate and co-worker.
“Heh, there are some perks to being the lightest guy on the squad!” Ros replied, referring to the agility drill he had won at work yesterday. Three days a week of training was by far the hardest part of the job, being trained by the Chief was like weathering a storm. Terrifying and dangerous, but something you could be proud of surviving. The other three days a week they worked were a holiday in comparison. Sitting on carts and standing by warehouses was easy.
Ros devoured his huge bowl of sweetened oats and then three buttered fresh buns. Pushing back from the long table with a satisfied sigh, he got up to leave for work with Rikad. The spring morning air was brisk, and they made sure to stay out of the way of loaded carts and riders that zipped by on the narrow cobblestone streets.
“What do you reckon the Chief will have us do today?” Rikad asked.
Ros snorted, “Quit embarrassing ourselves and pick up the pace?”
“Hah! That’s hardly a guess! I liked the knife throwing we did a few weeks ago, that was fun. I hope it’s not all runs and drills, I’m still aching from yesterday,” Rikad said.
“Yeah, I like combat drills. Other than when I have to spar with the Chief. He’s like a mountain that’s fast. I think the day I get a point on him, I’ll buy the whole team a beer!” Ros motioned a lunging jab as they walked.
“We’ll be too old to drink by then!” Rikad teased.
They were in for a typical training routine, a morning lecture on tactics and formations, some solo weapon drills, a short run, then a hearty lunch delivered from the nearby deli. Other days they just called a food cart into the yard with them, but Ros liked the deli lunches better. Also the novelty of someone else buying his lunches was thrilling. Ros assumed that this must be how pretty girls felt all the time. Maybe less sore and less yelled at. But maybe not.
The real highlight of the day was Ros got to see the owner of the whole company when he came out to observe their exercises. Ros hadn’t seen a real lord up close before he started at Pandemonium, and he thought it was one of the biggest perks. Mostly he looked like a tired doctor or shopkeeper, but Ros wasn’t disappointed. He had a nobility of his bearing, clarity in his eyes and an aura of authority. Even the Chief changed when he was around him! Seeing the him defer to anyone spoke volumes to their importance. Not only was he the lord of a whole company, he was also a mage! They were super rare even before the Church started purging all those heresies in their College of Magic, but now he wasn’t even sure there were any in the city!
“Agility drills are done! Imma talk to Mage Thippily, so you lot do some king of the hill sparring; Sword ‘n board! Ros and Kedril start!” boomed Chief of Security Stanisk.
Ros staggered exhaustedly to the equipment racks to get an arming jacket, leather helm, training sword and shield.
“Mage Thippliy is watching,” he whispered reverentially to himself as he geared up.
“Mind your tone or he’ll turn you into a turnip!” called Rikad.
Kedril grinned, “Hah, He’ll turn you into a turnip, Rik. He’ll just look at Ros and see his work is already done!”
Ros used to despise Kedril. He embodied everything Ros had yearned to become: handsome, confident, affluent, and sharp-witted. The team's dynamic was confrontational, rife with competition; they raced, fought, and scored against one another all day, three days a week. It had taken Ros a while to grasp that they were, in fact, a team. Kedril, infuriatingly attractive, devoted time to helping Ros in a few drills last week and offered valuable advice. So, albeit begrudgingly, Ros began to admire him. Kedril was older by a few years, substantially larger, and appeared to be one of the few who already had some training in arms. The prospect of sparring with him didn’t excite Ros.
Fresh from drills and immediately thrown into sparring, sweat trickled into Ros's eyes. The sting impaired his vision. He repeated to himself, 'Elbows in, shield up, tip forward, hips back,’ partially to fix his stance, partially to focus. Kedril was typically in better shape than him, but now appeared even more worn out. His guard was lax and messy, creating a gaping opening. Ros seized the opportunity and struck with a swift, precise jab. In the fleeting instant the jab took, Kedril's shield snapped into position, and his tip dealt a solid blow to Ros's ribs just beneath his sword arm. It was a feint - a brilliantly executed display of weakness where he was most prepared, exactly the tactic Stanisk had explained yesterday.
“Mashed Turnip!” Kedril shouted to the cheers of the others.
“Ros! You lost because your stance is awful! Keep lower! Coiled spring, lad!” the Chief shouted from across the yard.
Ros raised his hands over his head to cede the point and sat at the end of the bench. He hated losing, but he had expected to lose. He gratefully grabbed a cup of water and watched Kedril make short work of a few more challengers. It seemed like they were picking on him, but Ros was coming to understand they were also bonding with him, and these might be the closest friends he’d ever had. Not that it was a high bar, and he didn’t like all of them, but they had his back, and that meant a lot. Finally Jourgun, the biggest lad on the team, tore into Kedril with so much energy and fury that no amount of clever tactics could stop him. Even though he knew these were his friends, seeing Kedril getting bashed in the face with a shield was almost as good as seeing a real mage!
One thing Ros appreciated about training days was that they were shorter. After the sparring, Stanisk pulled aside Kedril and Jourgun for additional work, and dismissed the rest of the men. Ros trailed behind some of his newfound friends to a peculiar place where one would sit, fully naked, in a steam-filled room, all for two glucks.
“This is a sex thing, right?” Ros asked Rikad cautiously.
“What?! Light, no! It’s to relax and heal," Rikad explained. "They place herbs on hot rocks, we sit there, sweat, and breathe in the steam. It’s excellent, you’ll love it!”
“Sounds like we’re all naked and sweaty, though?” Ros remained convinced this was some intimate activity he wasn’t fully grasping. Rikad rolled his eyes and even paid Ros’s entry fee.
Inside the dim, tiled room was surprisingly comfortable. The steam smelled slightly of herbs and medicine, and it was so thick he couldn’t even see the far wall. A quick survey of the others revealed they were just as covered in bruises as he was, which gave Ros a fresh sense of camaraderie. They towelled off, dressed, drank some cold water, and left the strange business without any hint of the carnal encounter Ros had suspected. Despite his lingering confusion about the whole place, Ros liked it and wanted to come back. He appreciated his squadmates not making a single steamed turnip joke. He was hoping that didn’t stick as a nickname, he felt it didn’t remotely suit him.
After the steam, their muscles relaxed and the day's tension eased away. Ros and Rikad were starving. It had been hours since lunch, so they headed to a nearby tavern for drinks and dinner. Being able to simply enjoy food and drink without concern for the price was an intoxicatingly fresh experience. In fact, Ros enjoyed this newfound freedom even more than the meal itself.
After a huge dinner and a few beers Ros paused, and opened up a little.
"Did you know this is the pub where I talked the Chief into hiring me?"
"Really? To be honest, I've always wondered about that. No offence, but you're a lot smaller than the rest of us." Rikad pushed away his empty plate, taking a long drink of his beer.
"Yeah, I saw the Chief in here, dressed like a shining champion, buying ladies drinks and rounds for the whole bar. He was so confident and kind and relaxed. But also obviously dangerous. I’d never seen anyone like him!" Ros gestured to the tavern maid for a refill. "I must have been a sight. My clothes were more patch than original cloth, I was so skinny you could've counted my ribs through a sweater. Not that I had sweater money!" Ros reflected on the lean muscle he'd gained in recent months with inward satisfaction.
"Did the Chief take you for a beggar?"
Ros bristled at the suggestion. "Hell no! I've never begged in my life, I've always earned my keep!" his brief flare of indignation faded immediately. "No, he thought I was a refugee, from some starving backwater. Of course, I corrected him—after he bought me dinner!"
"Hah! The proper sequence," Rikad agreed, laughing.
"Anyway, he asked about my plans. I told him I was waiting till I was eighteen to join the army and serve the Emperor."
"You've certainly filled out since I met you, but I'm not sure you'd pass the army physical even now," Rikad cautiously speculated.
"The Chief was blunter about it. 'Yer so scrawny, a necromancer would find ya offputting, the army ain't gonna waste rations on ya.'" Ros imitated Stanisk’s gruff rural northerner accent.
"Hah! That sounds about right. Which makes your wearing company purple less clear than ever!" Rikad replied.
"Well, he asked if I knew my way around the city. I said I've tread every cobblestone here, so he offered me a job running letters and picking up parcels. Better work than sweeping alleys for a half-gluck and stale bread. I figured a fancy man like him would pay alright."
The waitress finally brought the next round, and Ros paused to take a long drink. Setting his mug down, he continued. "I walked into the Chief's office, and there he was behind that tiny desk with his book and quill. He looked like a cave troll trying to be a librarian. But I wasn't gonna laugh—it was still the Chief. He said, 'We don’t got a lot for now but I’ll give you a list in the morning, and see that it gets done.' I said ain’t fancy, I don’t know how to read! He didn't lose his cool. He simply nodded and said, 'Alright, just report to me in the morning, and we’ll get you started.' Oh, and he warned me never to speak to the Mage unless spoken to, which suited me fine."
Ros took another drink of his beer, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and continued. "I was hoping for five gee a day. I’d probably have done it for a lone gluck, to be honest. So imagine my shock when he apologised that he could only offer me twenty glucks a day!"
"Where were you living, that five would've been enough?" Rikad asked, curious.
Ros, slightly flushed from the beer, leaned forward. "Under a bloody hedge!" He burst into laughter at his own expense.
"That's rough man," Rikad commented, shaking his head.
Ros nodded. "It was, but it's behind me now. After a month or so of running errands, the Chief finally let me join the crew he was training. That's how I ended up a part of the elite guard of a learned lord mage."
Rikad, his face ruddy, pointed his finger at Ros’s chest. "It’s your attitude! You always train the hardest. It’s changed the whole team's tone."
Ros nodded again, serious. "I gotta! The fifteen hundred gee I make every month now is probably more than I did in the last decade. Total! I bet we make as much as a knight commander does leading a thousand soldiers!"
Rikad looked at him suspiciously. "Wait, a decade? Aren't you still a teenager?"
Ros shrugged. "It's been a long, hard time. Anyway, I know I promised to go to see that folk band with you tonight, but I'm spent. I think I might call it an early night." He finished the beer in two long gulps and stood up.
"I get it. Besides, tomorrow's Sunday. We can finally sleep in!" Rikad pointed out.
******
Ros woke to a frantic pounding on his bedroom door. It was still dark out.
“Go away! Keep it down! You’ll wake the whole house!” Ros grumbled, mostly asleep.
“Come on man! Emergency meeting at the training yard. We gotta go now!” Rikad hoarsely whispered.
“Ah, that’s not good!” Ros threw on some clothes and headed out the door with his friend.
“Think it has something to do with what Kedril and Jourgun were doing after work?” Ros asked.
“Maybe? That was hours and hours ago, and those guys are great, and they were with the Chief,” Rikad countered.
They jogged through the mostly empty streets. The moons were behind clouds, and the dew made the cobblestones slick. The faint flickering of their leviathan oil lamp cast strange shadows in the foggy night. The city felt on edge, too many people on the streets in the middle of the night, whispering. A few times Ros thought he heard something about thunder and demons, which did nothing to calm his growing panic.
“What if something happened to Mage Thippily? Are we all unemployed now?” Ros asked, knowing Rikad knew as much as he did.
“What is the business we guard? Something to do with magically formed super secret goods that no one was allowed to talk about. I think? I should have asked,” Rikad lamented.
Finally they made it to the yard, and Kedril was standing at the gate, torch held aloft.
“Good lads! Go into the workshop and take a seat. The Chief has some tea on.” Kedril’s voice was as calm and steady as ever, but his face was pale and drawn, and his eyes never focused on them, just scanned the night intently.
“Inside? Are you sure?” Ros had never gone inside; that was the single biggest rule.
Kedril just nodded. Ros and Rikad looked at each other for courage and moved forward. The big yard door to the workshop opened a crack, and warm light was spilling out. Rikad motioned Ros to go first, and he poked his head in, fully expecting to lose it.
“Oy, is that Ros? Git your scrawny ass in here,” Chief Stanisk rumbled.
The two men felt like flies exploring a web, but inside was surprisingly normal. Five other guards were already there, and the room was a lot like any other workshop. It had planked floors, shelves and tables and one corner was even converted into a kitchen. There were a few simple stools set up, and two incredibly luxurious loungers. Like everyone else, Ros and Rikad took a stool. The Chief gestured to a kettle and mugs for the tea, but no one seemed interested.
“What’s happening, is everyone okay?” Ros finally asked.
“Short answer is yes, for now.” Stanisk said calmly. “We’ll give the other lads a few minutes to get here, then I’ll explain.”
“Holy light, sir! You aren’t wearing your armour!” This unsettled Ros more than anything he’d seen all night, it was like seeing a bear shaved. Chief was just sitting there in trousers and a shirt, sipping tea. He’d never seen the Chief without armour.
“Needs cleaned,” he answered cryptically.
Follow up questions were interrupted by the rest of the men arriving, followed by Kedril and then Jourgun, who must have been watching the far gate.
“Alright, gather round, at ease.” Stanisk started. He looked relaxed which was probably a good sign.
“You lot were hired to protect the interests of our operations. There was an attempt on Mage Thippliy’s life tonight, at his meeting. Security Specialists Kedril and Jourgun did excellent work, and I have full confidence in all of your growing abilities. Our concern is there will be additional attempts."
There was a murmur of apprehension. The mage was the company. Without him there was nothing to guard. No one here wanted to lose their jobs, but they had been suspicious from the start. The pay didn’t match the work.
Stanisk paused as Mage Thipply and the elv, that had only been speculated to exist, came down the ladder from the loft. The mage was dressed like normal, in his brown pants and a white shirt, frameless glasses and a short well maintained beard streaked with grey. The elv was wearing an oversized sweater and long stockings. It had the effect of making her upper body look human, but with the long spindly legs of a shore bird. Her huge nocturnal eyes stared at them all unblinkingly, and her long narrow fingers with too many segments wrapped around a mug of tea. Ros was both intimidated and repulsed. It was like a bird or an insect pretending to be a person, but with eyes that had intelligence and cruelty.
“Ah! Um, thank you all for coming!” The mage was directly addressing them, Ros grinned despite his fears and worries. “There have been events over the last week or so that have culminated tonight, and I no longer think that our operation in Jagged Cove is viable.” The mage saw the reaction of the crowd turn sharply negative. He hastily added, “Of course I’m not closing up shop, we’re just moving to another location. A location outside of the capital region, and I’d like you all to join us.”
Ros sighed and leaned back in relief. This wasn’t bad news at all. He’d gladly move to the bottom of the sea for the Mage. He could feel his pulse returning to normal, as other people started asking questions.
“What? I can’t leave the city, I got a wife and kids!” a guard named Theros said.
“Oh, I just started dating a baker's apprentice, is there an option to stay?” Jourgun asked.
The elv stood up, and addressed the room with an icy indifference. “This is not a negotiation. There is a ship that is leaving in about six hours. If you are on it, you will remain employed. We have also made considerations for your families. They are welcome on the ship, and you can find new homes in the town we relocate to.” She subtly nodded to the Chief before continuing. “Chief Stanisk values your skills so highly that he convinced the board of directors to offer each of you a five year contract. The contract will have some additional employment conditions, but there will be a 5000 glindi signing bonus. Follow Chief Stanisk’s instructions to get on the boat, and we’ll see you there. Or not.”
She returned to the ornate chair, and the room erupted into chaos.
“Holy light! That’s so much!”
“I’d be insane not to sign!”
“Where are we even going?”
Ros grinned from ear to ear, what’s to decide? This was the best possible outcome! Free money to see the world! Packing his bags would take no time, and he could carry everything that mattered in one trip.
Stanisk took command of the room, “You with young ‘uns, we got the company wagons for you waiting, get a move on. I’ll take the mage’s personal wagon and do a loop to Kedril’s, Eowin’s and Klive’s. The rest of you, leg it! Meet back here in three hours and tell anyone what asks, that you took a job out of the city. Be vague! Come on, pick up the pace you helpless kittens!"
​
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I want to start by mentioning that the purpose of this post is not to diminish the progress many have made, because I know how hard it can be to rebuild credit, but I do believe it’s important for everyone to understand where they actually stand.
I’ve seen a trend of people posting their credit score progress, primarily using Credit Karma for their impressive before and after. Although progress, no matter how small, is something to celebrate, it’s important to understand what you’re actually seeing.
It’s been about six years since I began my own journey to improve my credit. My (at the time) girlfriend and I were looking into purchasing our first home, but I had poor credit (585). Knowing that I needed a score of at least 620 to receive approval on a loan, steps towards fixing my credit needed to happen. I spoke with a financial advisor, who created a plan to help improve my credit score over a span of a couple years.
It only took about three months before I began seeing a change in my score, at least while tracking it on Credit Karma’s app. Another three months had passed, and I was over the moon to see a score of 655. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to accomplish these positive changes!
Fast forward another 10 months or so and we were again looking at houses. I no longer had the fear of being rejected by lenders, as my score just kept going up. At this point, about a year and a half into my journey to fix my credit, my Credit Karma score was sitting at around 710. I was doing everything right, and it made sense to me (at the time) that the progress I had made was legitimate.
We found an amazing home, decided we wanted to make our first offer, and sought approval from a local lender. Within a few hours, we were informed that we were denied the loan, specifically due to a low credit score. It didn’t make any sense at the time, as I knew I had a 710, and my girlfriend had a score of 792. I wanted to look further into the issue, but another offer was accepted that evening. We were back to shopping the market for a house, and simply assumed the previous denial had been for a number of reasons, so I didn’t look into it as much as I should have.
Within the coming weeks, unrelated to the house search, I decided to request a balance increase to a credit card I have had with Bank of America for some time. It was only a $1,000 increase, so I hadn’t even considered any chance of a denial. Well, sure as shit, I got a letter in the mail a few days later apologizing for the denial of my request. There was only one reason for the denial, and it was “poor credit”.
At this point, I knew something had to be wrong with the information they had on me, because I could clearly see that I had a 700+ score. Curious if there was possibly an issue with Credit Karma’s app, I also downloaded Experian to compare the scores. As expected, the scores on the two apps were within 10 points of each other. I scheduled an appointment with my bank for the following day, and flat out asked why their systems weren’t updating my increasing score. This is, unfortunately, when I learned that the scores given on these apps are essentially irrelevant.
The account manager at my bank was nice enough to explain what was happening, and it was both eye-opening and upsetting. Someone’s credit score is determined by a number of factors, and this varies from lender to lender. When it came to a house, car, or personal loan, nearly every lender in this country calculates your score in a way different than what’s being seen on these credit score apps. They want you to continue using the app, because they’re a business and want users to purchase their services, see their adds, and use the lenders they recommend. So it’s obviously in their best interest for users to see impressive changes, which keeps them checking on a regular basis. My account manager then asked me to open my Bank of America app, as well as my Discovery CC app, and check what they were showing my FICO score as. My stomach sank when I saw 611 on one, and 617 on the other.
As it turns out, Credit Karma and Experian had been giving me a false sense of success for over a year and a half, which was devastating. Although I could show fiends and family a high credit score, it meant nothing to the institutions I needed lines of credit from.
Although having the wind knocked out of my sails was rough, I stuck at it and continued strengthening my credit. It took longer than expected, but it’s now been years since I began this journey and the score recognized by lenders has finally surpassed 700. With that’s said, my Credit Karma account, which I never deleted, shows scores of 798 and 793. Although I’m now aware how little those scores actually mean to my overall financial success, it’s still fun to watch them rise.
At the end of the day, I don’t think these apps are evil or anything, I just don't want people getting ahead of themselves based solely on the information they’re receiving from them. Your best way to get a proper idea of what your credit looks like is to check your banking or credit card apps. As far as I know, all of them offer free FICO checks.
I’m sorry if this post leads to any of the same disappointment I once felt, but having a true grasp of your credit score, at least the one that lenders see, is extremely important.
TLDR; Credit Karma and Experian are fun apps, but the scores shown on there are often irrelevant to what’s needed when applying for a loan. For a realistic idea of your important credit score, log into your online banking or credit card app snd see what they show as your FICO score. This score is what’s being used when applying for a loan from essentially every financial institution in this nation.

Anybody else ready for Friday?? I feel like it’s been a long week.
I’m down to talk about whatever tbh I’m a pretty open book. Also down to play iMessage games if anyone wants? Prepared to get whooped tho ;)
I like to play video games (Xbox), workout, go hiking, hangout with friends and watch tv/movies. Harry Potter and Star Wars are my favorites. I’m kinda introverted so a lot of times I prefer to just chill at home lol.
I’m going on an international trip next year so give me recommendations!
Also, if anyone is from or near Ohio DM me it would be cool to make some friends nearby!

Guide available! Go here.
Series beginning is here.
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I took a deep breath and let it out. Looking up at Elizabet, I said, “Kilik-ma was curious as to the entertainment on my world. Liss-ran was apparently telling him about the breakfast we shared before we left on the hunt. The music we played through my phone. He wanted to hear some, but I’d left it here with you.
“Well, I was feeling better than I had any right to, and well, I decided to…sing a song,”
“You’ve never sang for me before. What gives?” Elizabet asked, sounding hurt.
“You never asked, and I’ve always been rather self-conscious about my voice. I don’t think it’s very good, and I don’t like to advertise that I actually can sing. Maybe four people back on Earth knew that I could sing and actually carry a tune. Now? Now, all of Haruma will know.
“Getting back to the matter at hand, I decided to sing a song about the winter and its beauty. I slipped into something of a trance, lost in the music apparently. Just singing and well, watching the song come alive in a field. I didn’t even realize that I was singing in the Ancient Tongue until the song was over, and I nearly passed out and fell off of Lola.” I took her hands in mine, and looked her in the eye, worry plastered across my face. “Elizabet, I made it snow. And not just a little bit, either. If you travel two or three hours back in the direction we came, the snow is up to my knees,” I said.
“You made it snow?” Blainaut asked, bewildered.
“Yeah. And… and that’s not all,” I said.
“What else did you do, Ivor?” Elizabet asked in exasperation.
“I might have let loose a new species of bird. A line in the song speaks of a bluebird, a specific, small bird from my planet, and a whole flock of them burst from a tree where there were no birds before. They flew off to the south,” I said, my head hung low.
Elizabet and Blainaut just stared at me. As Blainaut opened his mouth to say something, a voice piped up from the entrance to the city.
“Hey! We have visitors! Four of them. They’re small,” he said.
A crow swooped in from….somewhere and landed on my shoulder. This was going to be interesting.
I whipped around to face the possible threat. What I saw instead, were four canine pups. Realization washed over me as I realized what these were.
“The Dire Wolf,” I said softly.
“What? Dire Wolf? What do you mean, Dire Wolf?” Blainaut asked.
“I killed a female at the beginning of the hunt. She’d been in my Pack the entire time. Until this morning, anyway. I laid her in the cart to make more room for other prey we had taken. She was nursing pups at the time. I was worried they’d die, but it seems they didn’t and have followed her scent,” I explained quietly. “Back away from the cart! Don’t run. Move deliberately, and you should be okay,” I called out.
The Haarthuu slowly backed away from the cart, and the four pups approached in his stead. They pawed at the corpse of their mother, whining. Though large, they couldn’t have been more than two or three months of age. An idea struck me.
I shrugged off my Pack, and reached in for a parcel of meat from the sentry. I quickly cut some chunks from it, and slowly approached the pups, sliding the Pack back onto my shoulders. They began to growl at me, but I tossed some meat their way, and they snatched it up, obviously starving. One was especially quick about it, snapping up two to the others’ one. I continued, Duplicating and tossing meat at them until they seemed full. They began to walk off, so I halted their movement with a Wall of Stone, causing a large semicircle to appear around them. I walked in behind them and closed it off, trapping us all together.
“Ivor, no!” Elizabet yelled after me.
They immediately turned on me, growling and snarling. I tossed more meat at them, causing them to back away and spread out. One took a piece of meat and trotted off, away from the rest. The other three stood away, their hackles raised.
I took a chance and sat on the ground. As a precaution, I raised a Dome of Force over me, to ward off any attack that may come. The crow fluttered off before I finished, perching on the stone wall. One of the pups took hesitant steps towards me, sniffing the air.
“That’s right,” I said in a soft, low tone. “Come on. I’m safe. I may have killed your mother, and I’m sorry for that, but it was either her or my friends. I’ll help take care of your four, if you’ll let me,” I continued.
I could see the fear in their movements, in the way they paced and whined looking up at the wall. I racked my brain, trying desperately to recall some spell I could use to help these four pups calm down.
The one that had taken the meat and left raised its head and howled a low, keening wail. It was joined in by the others, and tears flowed down my cheeks. I knew they were mourning their mother.
As I sat there, the necessary spell flowed into my mind like water. “Call of the Wild, words of the woods, let them Hear me, let me Hear them.” I murmured, willing the five of us to understand the other.
“I’m sorry, kids. I didn’t know she was your mother,” I said softly.
The four of them snapped to attention and regarded me with suspicion.
“The two-legged pink ones lie. Always,” came a voice from my left.
“The green ones are little better,” this time, from my right.
“Strides-in-shadows is gone, and we are Nameless. Your fault!” directly in front of me, this time. The pup there was growling fiercely, slowly advancing.
“I will keep you fed. I will help you form a new pack. I will keep you safe. I will atone for the death of Strides-in-shadows,” I said solemnly.
“Fed? A new pack? Safe?” the pup that began the howl snorted and rose. It slowly padded over to me, its head cocked to the side. “How can a pink two-leg care for Wolf-kind? We hunt. We kill. We are strong,” it said.
“You will likely die without a new pack. I can offer definite survival,” I said softly.
The pup was standing at the very edge of the Dome. “Can you truly? We have our doubts,” it said softly.
I took a deep breath, my heart hammering in my ears. Slowly, I began to stand. Reaching the limit of my Dome, I dispelled it, and stood there in front of four pups. I held my hands out to my sides, open wide.
“I stand here before you. Believe me, or don’t. The Haarthuu will treat you as their own people, and I can promise you will have the attention of my three sons, should you wish it. You” - I knelt in front of the one I took to be the leader- “will never want for companionship and family for as long as you live, if you take my offer,” I said, slowly extending my hand out to him.
“Brothers? Sister? Do we take the pink one at his word? Do we kill him and feast? Do we leave?” he asked.
Three growls were heard as they advanced on me. I lowered my head, expecting the worst. I knew I would likely survive an attack, but I wanted to show trust. I head a snuffling to my right, feeling a cold nose press against my hand. I opened my eyes and slowly raised my head, only to find a yellow eye glaring into my face.
“We will trust for now. The moment we are harmed, we will tear through your people, rending life from flesh,” the leader said.
“Very well. I shall name you four,” I said. The pups sat before me in a line. “You, I shall call Speaks-with-honor. You can expect to be called ‘Speaker’ more often than not,” I said to the apparent leader, the one who had taken the meat and wandered away from his siblings, and he perked up. Turning to the fast one, I said, “You are Stings-with-wind. ‘Stinger’ will be your short name.” She, too, perked up, sitting a bit taller. I faced the calmer, quieter of the three and said, “You are Autumn Breeze. Autumn will be your short name.” He perked up, leaving the angriest of the bunch, who was pacing back and forth, a low growl coming from him. I faced him and intoned, “You are Heart-of-fire. Fireheart will be your short name.” I took in the entirety of the pups, and spread my arms wide. “It is time to meet your new pack! Come,” I said.
I turned to where I was pretty sure the crowd was, and slowly lowered the walls. The crow flapped back to my shoulder and rubbed her beak against my beard. Elizabet, Thaddeus and Blainaut were the first faces I saw. I smiled.
“People of Haruma! There are four Dire Wolf pups behind me. Please don’t be afraid, as I think I’ve made a deal with them,” I said loudly. “Speaks-with-honor is the eldest of the four. After him is his sister, Stings-with-wind. Their brother Autumn Breeze is next, followed by the fierce Heart-of-fire.” Each pup stepped forward with the announcement of their name. “They will hopefully stay with us for the rest of their lives, and we will cherish and love them as family. As long as they are not harmed, we will all prosper,” I said, the walls finally receding into the ground.
The pups sat behind me, watching impassively as the Haarthuu looked worriedly between each other. My boys slowly walked up to me.
“Mr. Ivor? What are we going to do with them?” asked Ahte-tan.
The crow, that I was now certain had to be The Great Mother, hopped off my shoulder and revealed Herself to the crowd of Haarthuu, who all knelt in reverence. Even the Dire Wolf pups showed their belly and neck to her. It seemed all life on Chaia knew her as their Mother.
She knelt in front of the boy. “You are going to love them, cherish them, and treat them like family, My Child. That’s what you’re going to do with them. I hope you will bond with them. They aren’t pets. They are family members. Remember that,” She said, seeing his serious face nod.
“Heart-of-fire? This is Ivor’s oldest, Ahte-tan. I hope the two of you will get along. He will take care of you, Fireheart. Treat each other well,” She said to the wolf pup.
Fireheart walked over to Ahte-tan, and sat before him, staring him in the eye. “Now, remember, Child. Fireheart is proud, strong, and lives up to his name. Help him focus that flame, and I am certain he will be a stalwart companion,” She said.
“Ahte-naah? This is Stings-with-wind. She is fast; faster than you, even. Help each other direct yourselves in your journeys, and I’m certain you will find no better friend than Stinger,” The Great Mother said gently.
Stinger padded over and sniffed and snuffled Ahte-naah’s face, then pounced on him, licking him all over. Ahte-naah giggled and laughed, burying his face in the wolf’s soft fur.
Speaks-with-honor padded over to my youngest, and cocked his head. “Speaker, this is Ivor’s youngest, Ahte-ukum. He is kind, soft-spoken, and rather timid. Help him find his inner warrior; his inner dragon, and you will have a partner to rely on for the rest of your life,” The Great Mother told the eldest pup.
Speaker walked over and lay down at my youngest’s feet, and Ahte-ukum sat, gently petting the gray fur.
Autumn Breeze trotted up to the goddess, butting her gently with his head. “Liss-ran?” The young woman gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. “This is Autumn. He is quiet, calm and attentive. Of all the Haarthuu, only you are able to properly understand him, I think. As you spend time with him, I think you may come to know yourself even better. Care for him as you would your own flesh and blood, and he will never leave you,” The Mother of All commanded. Once she had finished she turned to me.
“I certainly didn’t expect this, Ivor. You may have just begun to turn the tide for this city of My Children. As long as they survive, those pups will be a fierce deterrent to any seeking to gain entry. I am glad to see that you continue to exceed my expectations, dearest. However, I must take my leave. Stay safe, Ivor,” She said, then planted a soft kiss on my cheek before fading.
The pups, now sitting beside their respective Person, began a new howl. This was not one of sorrow, but of the joy of finding a pack.
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I took a deep breath and let it out. Looking up at Elizabet, I said, “Kilik-ma was curious as to the entertainment on my world. Liss-ran was apparently telling him about the breakfast we shared before we left on the hunt. The music we played through my phone. He wanted to hear some, but I’d left it here with you.
“Well, I was feeling better than I had any right to, and well, I decided to…sing a song,”
“You’ve never sang for me before. What gives?” Elizabet asked, sounding hurt.
“You never asked, and I’ve always been rather self-conscious about my voice. I don’t think it’s very good, and I don’t like to advertise that I actually can sing. Maybe four people back on Earth knew that I could sing and actually carry a tune. Now? Now, all of Haruma will know.
“Getting back to the matter at hand, I decided to sing a song about the winter and its beauty. I slipped into something of a trance, lost in the music apparently. Just singing and well, watching the song come alive in a field. I didn’t even realize that I was singing in the Ancient Tongue until the song was over, and I nearly passed out and fell off of Lola.” I took her hands in mine, and looked her in the eye, worry plastered across my face. “Elizabet, I made it snow. And not just a little bit, either. If you travel two or three hours back in the direction we came, the snow is up to my knees,” I said.
“You made it snow?” Blainaut asked, bewildered.
“Yeah. And… and that’s not all,” I said.
“What else did you do, Ivor?” Elizabet asked in exasperation.
“I might have let loose a new species of bird. A line in the song speaks of a bluebird, a specific, small bird from my planet, and a whole flock of them burst from a tree where there were no birds before. They flew off to the south,” I said, my head hung low.
Elizabet and Blainaut just stared at me. As Blainaut opened his mouth to say something, a voice piped up from the entrance to the city.
“Hey! We have visitors! Four of them. They’re small,” he said.
A crow swooped in from….somewhere and landed on my shoulder. This was going to be interesting.
I whipped around to face the possible threat. What I saw instead, were four canine pups. Realization washed over me as I realized what these were.
“The Dire Wolf,” I said softly.
“What? Dire Wolf? What do you mean, Dire Wolf?” Blainaut asked.
“I killed a female at the beginning of the hunt. She’d been in my Pack the entire time. Until this morning, anyway. I laid her in the cart to make more room for other prey we had taken. She was nursing pups at the time. I was worried they’d die, but it seems they didn’t and have followed her scent,” I explained quietly. “Back away from the cart! Don’t run. Move deliberately, and you should be okay,” I called out.
The Haarthuu slowly backed away from the cart, and the four pups approached in his stead. They pawed at the corpse of their mother, whining. Though large, they couldn’t have been more than two or three months of age. An idea struck me.
I shrugged off my Pack, and reached in for a parcel of meat from the sentry. I quickly cut some chunks from it, and slowly approached the pups, sliding the Pack back onto my shoulders. They began to growl at me, but I tossed some meat their way, and they snatched it up, obviously starving. One was especially quick about it, snapping up two to the others’ one. I continued, Duplicating and tossing meat at them until they seemed full. They began to walk off, so I halted their movement with a Wall of Stone, causing a large semicircle to appear around them. I walked in behind them and closed it off, trapping us all together.
“Ivor, no!” Elizabet yelled after me.
They immediately turned on me, growling and snarling. I tossed more meat at them, causing them to back away and spread out. One took a piece of meat and trotted off, away from the rest. The other three stood away, their hackles raised.
I took a chance and sat on the ground. As a precaution, I raised a Dome of Force over me, to ward off any attack that may come. The crow fluttered off before I finished, perching on the stone wall. One of the pups took hesitant steps towards me, sniffing the air.
“That’s right,” I said in a soft, low tone. “Come on. I’m safe. I may have killed your mother, and I’m sorry for that, but it was either her or my friends. I’ll help take care of your four, if you’ll let me,” I continued.
I could see the fear in their movements, in the way they paced and whined looking up at the wall. I racked my brain, trying desperately to recall some spell I could use to help these four pups calm down.
The one that had taken the meat and left raised its head and howled a low, keening wail. It was joined in by the others, and tears flowed down my cheeks. I knew they were mourning their mother.
As I sat there, the necessary spell flowed into my mind like water. “Call of the Wild, words of the woods, let them Hear me, let me Hear them.” I murmured, willing the five of us to understand the other.
“I’m sorry, kids. I didn’t know she was your mother,” I said softly.
The four of them snapped to attention and regarded me with suspicion.
“The two-legged pink ones lie. Always,” came a voice from my left.
“The green ones are little better,” this time, from my right.
“Strides-in-shadows is gone, and we are Nameless. Your fault!” directly in front of me, this time. The pup there was growling fiercely, slowly advancing.
“I will keep you fed. I will help you form a new pack. I will keep you safe. I will atone for the death of Strides-in-shadows,” I said solemnly.
“Fed? A new pack? Safe?” the pup that began the howl snorted and rose. It slowly padded over to me, its head cocked to the side. “How can a pink two-leg care for Wolf-kind? We hunt. We kill. We are strong,” it said.
“You will likely die without a new pack. I can offer definite survival,” I said softly.
The pup was standing at the very edge of the Dome. “Can you truly? We have our doubts,” it said softly.
I took a deep breath, my heart hammering in my ears. Slowly, I began to stand. Reaching the limit of my Dome, I dispelled it, and stood there in front of four pups. I held my hands out to my sides, open wide.
“I stand here before you. Believe me, or don’t. The Haarthuu will treat you as their own people, and I can promise you will have the attention of my three sons, should you wish it. You” - I knelt in front of the one I took to be the leader- “will never want for companionship and family for as long as you live, if you take my offer,” I said, slowly extending my hand out to him.
“Brothers? Sister? Do we take the pink one at his word? Do we kill him and feast? Do we leave?” he asked.
Three growls were heard as they advanced on me. I lowered my head, expecting the worst. I knew I would likely survive an attack, but I wanted to show trust. I head a snuffling to my right, feeling a cold nose press against my hand. I opened my eyes and slowly raised my head, only to find a yellow eye glaring into my face.
“We will trust for now. The moment we are harmed, we will tear through your people, rending life from flesh,” the leader said.
“Very well. I shall name you four,” I said. The pups sat before me in a line. “You, I shall call Speaks-with-honor. You can expect to be called ‘Speaker’ more often than not,” I said to the apparent leader, the one who had taken the meat and wandered away from his siblings, and he perked up. Turning to the fast one, I said, “You are Stings-with-wind. ‘Stinger’ will be your short name.” She, too, perked up, sitting a bit taller. I faced the calmer, quieter of the three and said, “You are Autumn Breeze. Autumn will be your short name.” He perked up, leaving the angriest of the bunch, who was pacing back and forth, a low growl coming from him. I faced him and intoned, “You are Heart-of-fire. Fireheart will be your short name.” I took in the entirety of the pups, and spread my arms wide. “It is time to meet your new pack! Come,” I said.
I turned to where I was pretty sure the crowd was, and slowly lowered the walls. The crow flapped back to my shoulder and rubbed her beak against my beard. Elizabet, Thaddeus and Blainaut were the first faces I saw. I smiled.
“People of Haruma! There are four Dire Wolf pups behind me. Please don’t be afraid, as I think I’ve made a deal with them,” I said loudly. “Speaks-with-honor is the eldest of the four. After him is his sister, Stings-with-wind. Their brother Autumn Breeze is next, followed by the fierce Heart-of-fire.” Each pup stepped forward with the announcement of their name. “They will hopefully stay with us for the rest of their lives, and we will cherish and love them as family. As long as they are not harmed, we will all prosper,” I said, the walls finally receding into the ground.
The pups sat behind me, watching impassively as the Haarthuu looked worriedly between each other. My boys slowly walked up to me.
“Mr. Ivor? What are we going to do with them?” asked Ahte-tan.
The crow, that I was now certain had to be The Great Mother, hopped off my shoulder and revealed Herself to the crowd of Haarthuu, who all knelt in reverence. Even the Dire Wolf pups showed their belly and neck to her. It seemed all life on Chaia knew her as their Mother.
She knelt in front of the boy. “You are going to love them, cherish them, and treat them like family, My Child. That’s what you’re going to do with them. I hope you will bond with them. They aren’t pets. They are family members. Remember that,” She said, seeing his serious face nod.
“Heart-of-fire? This is Ivor’s oldest, Ahte-tan. I hope the two of you will get along. He will take care of you, Fireheart. Treat each other well,” She said to the wolf pup.
Fireheart walked over to Ahte-tan, and sat before him, staring him in the eye. “Now, remember, Child. Fireheart is proud, strong, and lives up to his name. Help him focus that flame, and I am certain he will be a stalwart companion,” She said.
“Ahte-naah? This is Stings-with-wind. She is fast; faster than you, even. Help each other direct yourselves in your journeys, and I’m certain you will find no better friend than Stinger,” The Great Mother said gently.
Stinger padded over and sniffed and snuffled Ahte-naah’s face, then pounced on him, licking him all over. Ahte-naah giggled and laughed, burying his face in the wolf’s soft fur.
Speaks-with-honor padded over to my youngest, and cocked his head. “Speaker, this is Ivor’s youngest, Ahte-ukum. He is kind, soft-spoken, and rather timid. Help him find his inner warrior; his inner dragon, and you will have a partner to rely on for the rest of your life,” The Great Mother told the eldest pup.
Speaker walked over and lay down at my youngest’s feet, and Ahte-ukum sat, gently petting the gray fur.
Autumn Breeze trotted up to the goddess, butting her gently with his head. “Liss-ran?” The young woman gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. “This is Autumn. He is quiet, calm and attentive. Of all the Haarthuu, only you are able to properly understand him, I think. As you spend time with him, I think you may come to know yourself even better. Care for him as you would your own flesh and blood, and he will never leave you,” The Mother of All commanded. Once she had finished she turned to me.
“I certainly didn’t expect this, Ivor. You may have just begun to turn the tide for this city of My Children. As long as they survive, those pups will be a fierce deterrent to any seeking to gain entry. I am glad to see that you continue to exceed my expectations, dearest. However, I must take my leave. Stay safe, Ivor,” She said, then planted a soft kiss on my cheek before fading.
The pups, now sitting beside their respective Person, began a new howl. This was not one of sorrow, but of the joy of finding a pack.

And the porkies deserved the lack of lubrication.
The rest of the series can be found here.
***
The shuttle bug let out a long gurgling fart into the passenger compartment (ironically where farts usually go).
“Making food was a weapon?” GuruG asked incredulously, unintentionally translating the shuttle bug’s question as well.
“Worse,” Alan replied. “You gentle and enlightened beings probably aren’t as intrinsically tied to supply and demand as the rest of us. You do know that scarcity is a large factor when the value of something is determined. When that something is a commodity that is essential for life, this principle is even more keenly felt. With the development of Jovian rice, a completely synthetic foodstuff, Zeus Industries was once again the richest organization in the solar system… and the most powerful.”
“Powerful?”
“They now had an essentially infinite amount of food. Of course, being the goody-two-shoes bitch that he was,” Alan smirked, “Tak Nakamura started just handing that garbage out to anyone and everyone and had the ships to do so. Overnight, fully laden gas miners with escorts started making regular runs to Terra, Luna, Mars, and the rest of the inner solar system. That food could have been used to establish order and stabilize civilization. Instead, he just started dumping it on all of the thousands of factions warring with each other. This did have the immediate result of establishing some sort of ‘peace,’ but it was inherently flawed.”
“It also had the entire inner solar system kissing his ass,” Grace added.
“Well put,” Alan agreed, “The flow of food from Zeus had the whole of the inner solar system utterly dependent upon him, and the promise of food security even had some of our allies negotiating their defections to his banner.”
“So why didn’t this Jessica Morgan do the same?” GuruG asked, “For that matter, why didn’t your Same?”
“We couldn’t,” Grace laughed, “Think about it. We were the ‘bad guys.’ We had been kicking the shit out of everyone for years. There was no way they would let us into their buffet.”
“And with the food finally flowing again,” Alan said, “The dynamics of the situation shifted. Our siege of the inner solar system had been broken. Of course, we still had the men and the weapons. Or raids continued, but now they only had the effect of inflicting casualties, not starvation.”
“Your Sames kind of sucked,” GuruG said. “You are aware of this, correct?”
“Dude,” Grace laughed, “You have no idea.”
“The food was power,” Alan said, “And whoever controlled that food source controlled the solar system. We had to act. Our first move was a diplomatic one. Jessica Morgan offered an alliance with Zeus Industries, including a quite reasonable plan for governance and reconstruction.”
“And Tak told us to get fucked,” Grace snerked.
“And in about as many words,” Alan chuckled. “He told us, and perhaps accurately so, that nobody would accept us and that the best we could hope for was exile among the Kuipers… Considering what happened next, perhaps we should have taken that deal.”
“What happened?” GuruG (and the entire solar system) asked excitedly.
“War,” Alan said grimly. “Unconditional war, the greatest one in human history. Until now, Jessica had held back. She wanted to preserve as much of her forces and her supplies as possible. Now, that was no longer an option. We collected the full might of our houses and launched a full-bore attack on the inner solar system with the purpose of wiping out all vulnerable settlements and blockading Zeus. Their gas miners could run the blockade, but that’s where they took most of their losses. We never destroyed one, but we took a decent number of them out of action, enough to cause Zeus to drastically reduce food shipments. In addition, she finally unleashed her actual military forces and the remainder of her combat fleet. The actual Sol Wars had finally begun. And it was ugly. No quarter was given or received. Both sides descended into true savagery.”
“As opposed to everything you have already described?” GuruG asked incredulously.
“Yep,” Grace replied, “That was just the opening act for the real show.”
“There were two sides to the fight,” Alan said, “You had thousands of small groups of people rallying behind the banner of Zeus Industries, and you had the Confederacy of Sol, the remaining raider gangs, now quite large, and Jessica Morgan herself… I guess you could add Mars as a third side, but they did what they always did, hunker down behind their blockade of armed merchantmen and watched us kill each other while they feasted on bugs and fresh produce, the assholes.”
“They aren’t our favorite people,” Grace sneered, “And they are terrible in bed, like really bad.”
“I dislike an unpleasant bedmate as well,” GuruG said, “We often live together, and an inconsiderate roommate or even worse, bedmate, can be…”
“It’s a euphemism for being bad at sex,” Alan said. “Grace is also intentionally ‘needling’ me since she cannot elaborate further concerning this at this time.”
“Is this because of jealousy?” GuruG asked. “We have seen on the othernet that this can be an issue.”
“Not at all,” Alan said, “We were not betrothed at birth, nor were we exclusive for a great deal of our relationship. I’m just extremely curious concerning the details of this particular ‘dis-Grace.’ I’d be more than a little put out if she, as we put it, ‘fucked around’ at this point in our relationship, though.”
“So, she could have other partners then, but not now?”
“Goddamn right!” Grace exclaimed. “I’ll give Alan and whatever slag he screws a Dragon high colonic if I catch them. You don’t want one of those.”
“I can assure you that you will never catch me, darling,” Alan smirked.
“Don’t make me unstick myself,” Grace laughed as she pulled an arm free from the adhesive embrace of the shuttle bug’s colon and swatted him on the leg.
A rumbling roar shook the chamber for several seconds.
“That was our final retrograde burn,” GrurG said. “We will be entering the atmosphere soon.”
“Lovely,” Grace said dubiously.
“We still do have some time, though,” GuruG said hopefully.
“We’re approaching the end of the story,” Alan said. “War raged for several years laying waste to millions of people and hundreds of space stations and ships that had somehow managed to survive everything else. However, station by blasted station, inch by bloody inch, we were winning. While outnumbered, we still outgunned our enemies and the skill and experience of our warriors outshone theirs by many orders of magnitude.”
“And then everything went to shit,” Grace said.
“How?” GuruG asked. “You still had the advantage.”
“Had, dear GuruG,” Alan replied, “The operative word there is had. Zeus was desperate for weapons but as we have said, they lost the supply chains needed to make our weapons. Then someone decided to look back in history to the last global conflict in our people’s history, World War Three.”
“Wait. Do you mean your people have done something like this before?!?”
“Oh yeah,” Grace grinned, “Plenty of times. We hadn’t had a big one for almost a thousand years, but we did have some ugly ones. The ugliest before the Sol Wars was World War Three. Over a billion people bit the big one during that.”
“And that war was fought with much more primitive weapons,” Alan said, “The weapons of that era were little more than metal tubes in which a fast burning propellent, first gunpowder and then nitrocellulose was ignited, and the pressure accelerated a dense metal projectile, usually lead, to high velocities.”
“I know these!” GuruG said happily. “Flash roots! We still use them!”
“Of course, you would,” Alan chuckled.
“We use them for hunting… and for messing about. We make these geometric patterns on thin membranes and try to hit the center! It’s great fun.”
“They are also great for hunting people!” Grace enthused.
“They… would be…” GuruG said reluctantly, as if it was something that had never occurred to him before.
“But you use something else for that, right?” Grace asked.
“…Yes?”
“Same here,” Grace said, “And we were using ‘something else’. But I bet that it’s a lot easier to make(?) flash roots isn’t it?”
“Significantly so,” GuruG said. “We just grow them. And what we fire them out of…”
GuruG trailed off.
“Are simple devices easily made from iron alloys?” Alan asked.
“Yes. We usually use cupric alloys but yes, you could easily make them from iron.”
“Which is very abundant in any solar system, and as far as the propellent goes, they had an entire gas giant to mine for chemicals,” Alan continued, “Nobody except for primitive hunters, enthusiasts, and historical reenactors used them then, and they mostly preferred even more primitive examples than what was used for warfare at the end of our first gunpowder era. Not knowing exactly what one to use the Terrans just picked a popular one that would be easy to make, a weapon known as the AK-47. They were very simple to make. Any ship had the ability to make them. Hell, you can even make them by hand if you want. And Zeus had… has truly titanic industrial capacity. Once they made the first working prototypes, they were able to make them by the millions and the bullets by the billions. Soon, they were handing them out the same way they were handing out food… and that was the beginning of the end for us. We had better weapons and better warriors, but we didn’t have the means to replenish either. For every one of our soldiers that fell, we lost years of training, maybe even a lifetime of it, and weapons that were truly irreplaceable. When one of their fighters fell, another hundred took their place. Every ‘soft target’ we used to raid suddenly had people all armed with primitive, but very effective weapons. Our numbers fell and theirs increased by the thousands every single day.”
“And that wasn’t the worst part,” Grace said. “The ancient rifles were a big hit. So why not look at the rest of the goodies from that era? They started making guns big ones as well as guided missiles more than capable of taking down any ship we had and started putting those motherfuckers on everything.”
“A tactic they use to this very day,” Alan said. “Every one of their ‘civilian’ merchant fleet can turn into a missile boat within an hour. They’ve used this to very good effect. Attacking anywhere in the Republic, especially Sol, is a death sentence.”
“We had some brilliant military leaders,” Grace said, “But they had General Attrition leading them and he is a bitch.”
“The dynamic shifted,” Alan said grimly. “Even though they would lose a hundred fighters to each one of ours, they still would win. If they lost ten fighters to each one of ours, they would call it a tactical triumph. We literally could not win. So, once again, inch by bloody inch, they took the system back. And they weren’t taking prisoners. At first, they would board a ship or a station and take it. After a while, they just used missiles and wiped us out by the thousands, by the hundreds of thousands.”
“And not all of them were combatants,” Grace said sourly. “They didn’t care. Then again we didn’t care either, so I guess we had it comin’.”
“Even we have to admit this,” Alan said ruefully, “We definitely reaped what we sowed. We would have been completely wiped out as a people if it wasn’t for the intervention of the Juon Empire.”
“How did they get involved?”
“There is a very old red dwarf near Sol that we call Bernard’s Star,” Alan said. “It’s old enough to be of scientific interest, and the Juon sent a scientific expedition to it. It was close enough to where the instruments and scanners they brought to study the star were sufficient to detect radio transmissions from Sol. Their first reaction was to not get involved. We were a bit farther out than they wanted to expand and the situation was far too chaotic. There were tentative plans to establish contact once things settled down, but they never did. Ultimately, they decided that if they wanted to establish contact with our species, they had better do so while there was a species left to contact.”
“So they rolled in,” Grace said, “With real warships. They also brought ship after ship filled with good food, supplies, consumer goods… you know, the whole beads and blankets thing.”
“Beads and blankets?”
“Yeah, you didn’t have colonialism either,” Grace replied, “Cheap presents for savages. For a few loads of cheap crap, they were able to basically buy the Terrans. They are kind of whores like that.”
“Now whores we have!”
“You have to get me a video!” Grace exclaimed. “Anyway, the Empire showed up and annexed the system without so much as a single shot being fired. They tried to broker a peace, but when they realized that they couldn’t even get us in the same room without us trying to kill each other they split us up. They sent us into the cold dark of the outer solar system and gave the Terrans all the good spots.”
“Which they had already won,” Alan added.
“Whatever,” Grace huffed. “So that’s how it was for a few decades…”
“Thirty-four years.”
“Whatever! Jesus!” Grace snapped, “That’s how it was. We were stuck on these big stations that were basically prisons where we got fed scraps and were just left to rot.”
“We were actually treated very…”
“Goddamit, Alan…” Grace grumbled, “Anyway, we were stuck out there for thirty-four years until the Terrans decided they didn’t want to be in the Empire anymore and rebelled. We knew the second they stopped shooting at the Juon, they would come for us, so we got the fuck out of there and went to the Federation.”
“And we formed one of the three major populations of humanity,” Alan said. “Where everything was pretty good until…”
A rumbling started to shake the entire shuttle bug.
“We are starting the re-entry process,” GuruG said. “Sonic communication will soon be impossible. The rest of your story will have to wait.”
“Meh,” Grace shrugged, “We’re pretty much done, anyway.”

OpenAI recently spoke in two different locations and revealed some important information that I think all of you should watch if you have the time: https://youtu.be/mC-0XqTAeMQ (Talks on Superintelligence here).
https://www.youtube.com/live/AiE7FsdRzz8?feature=share (another one thats also interesting).
From both talks the main theme is, GPT-4 is just a primitive model. Sam even compared it to a Nokia Cellphone (1990?) to the iPhone 14. Although all of us understand that these models will only improve. It has given me some relief that they are most definitely still seeing improvement. Most in here aren't skeptics but for the few who are, the fact that both Illya and Sam ensure these are merely baby AIs compared to what they will be in the future should tell you they are almost certain they will be. They likely know what the next models will look like.
One of my greatest fears would be a GPT 5 or Gemini will end up being the same as GPT 4 with some minor improvements. Maybe instead of a 4 on AP chemistry it scored a 5. But the confidence both the leaders had should tell us, that new models will likely be near or AGI. Simply because of how much they are discussing ASI. They don't really question if AGI will happen anymore, they have moved onto ASI. Which to me sounds like they know these models won't just be fancy autocompletes anymore and soon can do almost all tasks if not exceed some tasks by humans
They also are making the new models now as said in one of the videos so there focus is still on AGI. Which it should be. So in terms of being skeptical, we have the inventors of the largest and most intelligent AI claiming that future models will be significantly more capable (to the extent it can cure all diseases), to me that sounds like an improvement of GPT in the next models is almost a guarantee and all skeptics are probably overestimating the capabilities of these models simply because they have conflicting interests. Lann Yecun for instance works on different AI architectures which is why he doesn't think LLMs are great.
Overall, we should pretty much hope for a better model in a couple of months when the next generation of these models come out. And for predicting AGI. I think 2024 (if next models are like the GPT 3.5 -> 4 jump), 2025 (if its a smaller but still significant jump), with 2026 and later being a lot less likely simply because of how confident openAI is with these models.

Almost off work. Let’s chat :) I’m ready for Friday!!
I’m down to talk about whatever tbh I’m a pretty open book. Also down to play iMessage games if anyone wants? Prepared to get whooped tho ;)
I like to play video games (Xbox), workout, go hiking, hangout with friends and watch tv/movies. Harry Potter and Star Wars are my favorites. I’m kinda introverted so a lot of times I prefer to just chill at home lol.
I’m going on an international trip next year so give me recommendations!
Also, if anyone is from or near Ohio DM me it would be cool to make some friends nearby!

I got the fieldpiece charge kit a few weeks ago, and as nice as the tools are, there's something about the app that just bugs the crap out of me, and I need to rant about it.
It has to do with the "trending" graphs available in the app- I find them borderline useless due to the behavior of the software.
The way the graphs work, as I understand them, is as follows. When the tools are simply powered on, hooked up to a system, and the app is started, after an absolutely glacial app boot-up time, the measurements screen will show all the recorded measurements, however, no data logging of any kind is taking place. By tapping on the "trending" graph, the software begins a brand new graph with a fairly high refresh rate on the data from the tools. However, data ceases to be recorded and added to the graph as soon as you exit the graph screen to see the measurements numerically again. If you reopen the graph screen, it will begin recording data as long as the graph screen is open again, but the new data will be discontinuous with the old data, creating a disjointed and hard-to-read graph. Pretty much any action that interrupts the app in any way, will cease data logging, things like switching to another app or letting your device go to sleep. Data logging will start back up as soon as the trending graph is open on your smart device again, creating more disjointed graphs.
To use the data logging mode, you have to get the app into the setup screen, pick a time range to log data, power off and on every individual tool you want to log data with, wait for the data logging interval to start, collect data, then do the whole dance with tapping around in the app and rebooting every tool, again. All that work, for a single data point per minute per tool, which is not nearly enough. A lot can happen in a refrigeration system in a minute. All in all, this means that in order to get a graph of system performance over time with decently granular data, you have to set up your tools, open the app, open the trending graph, and then do NOTHING to your smart device the entire time you want to collect data, it can't even be allowed to fall asleep, the screen must remain on. This is feasible if you have a dedicated smart device for the job link app, but even then highly inconvenient.
This is all so freaking stupid. The whole advantage of have digital gauges is the increased data analysis you can do with more precise, easily recorded, automatically gathered system measurements, and the way the app is set up is leaving the majority of this data analysis capability on the table because you just can't fucking graph shit and graphing shit is how you turn heaps of data into something you can look at and draw a conclusion about.
If I were put in charge of developing an update or some version 2 of the joblink app, here is how I would want the app to function, in the context of a service call in the field:

• When it is time to hook tools up to the system, you start each tool and hook it up first.
  
• When I start the app after all the tools are powered on, the app shows the numerical readouts of the tools, and a button for "start new real-time data session."
  
• When you click "start new RT data session", a menu prompts you to optionally name it, and select which tools to collect data from.
  
• When this is confirmed and the new session starts, whether or not the graph view is open, every piece of data sent from the tools to the smart device is entered into a running log. Tapping on the "graph" view should show ALL of the data from the whole session. Data should be being collected and recorded by the app even if your device is off, you're using another app, whatever, as long as the app is open.
  
• If the tools detect a loss of connectivity, they should start recording their data to their internal memory, until connection is reestablished. The tools obviously have internal memory; the remote data logging feature wouldn't work if they didn't. They can record one data point per minute for a week, which is a little over 10,000 data points, they have more than enough memory to hang onto 20-30 data points per minute while I walk away from the system for five minutes for a smoke. When connection is reestablished, it should be a trivial software task to integrate the new data into the graph.
  
• When you click "end RT data session", it prompts you if you'd like to save the data or discard it.
  

This would be SO MUCH MORE USEFUL, am I wrong? Walk up to a running system, whack some gauges on it, open a new session, then just forget about it while you check out electrical or grab more tools or whatever, and then once the system has had a few minutes under observation you could just walk back up and seamlessly have access to the whole previous few minutes' of data. You can do this, the way the app works, but you need a dedicated smart device with the screen timeout disabled that you can physically leave in proximity of the tools. Think of how easy it would be to diagnose a hunting TXV if you could just glance at a graph of your superheat after you've been on the job ten minutes and already see it going sinusoidal.
I have a crappy smartphone laying around that I can disable the screen timeout on and use to satisfy my graph fetish, but for $120 a tool you'd think the app would have more capabilities. Am I just alone in wanting more out of the graphs?

https://imgur.com/a/boNJjw5
Vid https://imgur.com/a/vhk8Goz
Pics of lockbar https://imgur.com/a/jQXzyqz
Ok swappers , another one up for grabs today ! This one was picked up here on the swap a week or two back, and I’m definitely impressed with this one overall . Second owner at least , a few snails on the backspacer and frames . A few small scratches on blade near the tip , very subtle . This is the full titanium with zirc backspacer and pivot collars . Sexy hollow grind with belt satin m390 , very thin behind the edge and sharp . Love the crowned spine . Really snappy action and a nice “ting” on lockup …
Which brings me to a caveat with this design . I’ll include pics of the design choice/flaw that gives that nice clanging sound on lockup . Once the detent ball is off of the tang , the area of the lockbar ( no steel insert ) surrounding the detent ball makes contact with the tang and scrapes for that last little bit before lockup . I reached out to Jake and he said it’s not a problem , and if the knife develops any issues he will make it right . After talking with a few other AVNT owners with this configuration, it seems this is common . I just wanted to give full disclosure on the knife . Honestly if you’re a fidgeter that enjoys the acoustics , it’s amazing haha . Has pouch with stickers and keychain. Asking 240.00 /OBO shipped , open to trades .

I’m 28F and disabled. I have several mental health diagnoses and believe I have also been struggling with undiagnosed ADHD my entire life. I was told about a practice that caters to queer neurodivergent folk by a friend who had only heard of them. She had no experience with them herself. I requested an appointment in December of 2022, but due to the incompetence of their scheduling office, I was unable to get in until late January of this year. I was told the first time that I had not scheduled my appointment through a third-party website, and it was canceled as a result. I did not find out until the day of. So I scheduled again using the third-party website. This appointment was also canceled, because I was apparently I was supposed to schedule through the practice’s website, which is what I had done in the first place. I also did not learn this until the day of the appointment. By this point it was mid-January and due to the stress of this and not receiving the care I needed, my performance at work began to suffer and I was constantly on edge, which affected my personal relationships. I wrote a one star review on Google before even being seen because of this. Eventually I managed to get in, but it was apparent from the get-go that the nurse practitioner running the place was not happy about my review, as it had brought their overall rating on Google down by a significant amount. New reviews praising the practice appeared shortly after, and I believe they were written by employees. The woman who always answered the phone at the front desk urged me repeatedly to delete my review. My own psychiatrist brought it up multiple times and I informed her that I would update or delete the review once I felt I had received a quality of care that justified doing so. This never happened, but I still caved to the pressure and deleted my review after getting my diagnosis. The practice’s online portal was near impossible to use and made it very difficult to get in contact with my provider. Days would elapse before getting a response and I frequently couldn’t even see them in the messaging system, which led to me having to call the office again and again. Furthermore the scheduling office would close at 2pm, despite the practice itself staying open until 8pm. I would have to schedule my appointments after 2 due to work. If I was having issues accessing the telehealth video chat, I couldn’t get in contact with anyone to troubleshoot and would miss my appointment as a result.
By March, I had finally gotten my diagnosis of ADHD. My psychiatrist told me that because the practice was run by a nurse practitioner, they couldn’t prescribe me controlled substances such as adderall or vyvanse. I believed them, and decided to seek treatment elsewhere. Interestingly, when I spoke with my physician about the situation, she said that they should have been able to to prescribe me stimulants. This confused me, but having had enough of this practice’s bull, I went ahead and put myself on a waitlist for treatment at OSU. They wouldn’t be able to get me in until July, so for now, my ADHD is completely untreated. I called my former practice and requested they fax my records to OSU. This was three months ago. My records have not been sent over and I have repeatedly called them requesting they do so. The last time I called them and spoke to the receptionist, she used a completely different name. She has a distinctive voice, so I know it was the same woman. Today I called again before 2pm, and was sent to voicemail. I am beginning to believe they are avoiding me and/or no longer have my records, meaning I have endured 7 months of their utter incompetence for my diagnosis to mean absolutely nothing because I can’t prove that it even happened to a new provider. I was paying ~$140 per session and I’m back where I started. My quality of life continues to suffer. I’ll definitely be writing another very thorough review and continue to call them, but I’m scared that I’ll have to wait months upon months again to get another assessment from a different provider, who I am still waiting to get in with. Is this grounds for a medical malpractice case?

TLDR: My niece is so naive/immature/lacking is basic social skills, and will get eaten alive (by others and her own inner thoughts and feelings) as a missionary. She just received her call. How can I help her prepare so that this doesn't royally mess her up for the rest of her life without it seeming like I am trying to talk her out of going or badmouthing the church-- I want to respect her being an adult and making decisions and not create a backfire effect, while helping protect her.
Complete Story: I (M35) and my wife and kids are the only portion of my incredibly large family that are out of the church. We have been out for a few years. Everyone in my family is 100% in (i.e. stake presidencies, high councils, bishoprics, relief society presidents, young women's leaders, temple workers, weekly temple patrons, every man and most women went on missions, etc...). Prior to leaving, we had just moved houses into a new ward and were subsequently released from our last callings (mine in stake leadership, and my wife from her 4th straight primary presidency).
When we left, and in congruence with being incredibly honest and open people, we decided to pull the bandaid of immediately and tell everyone "we wanted you to know that we will no longer be attending church. It was incredibly hard to come to this decision, as you all know that we have dedicated our entire lives to the church and adhering to the teachings of the gospel. We love and respect each and every one of you, and we will not push this conversation further on you any further than you desire. We genuinely only want to be a part of the family. Please feel free to ask us questions when you are ready."
It has been multiple years, and not a single person (grandparents, parents, siblings, spouses, nieces and nephews, aunts/uncles, cousins, etc...) has ever attempted to talk to us to even ask "why?"
I have gone out of my way (to much personal pain) to ask them how their callings are going, ask when they have girls camp, how their ministering families and ward members were getting by during the pandemic, etc..., and overall trying to talk about the church in non-confrontational ways that show them I care about things that are important to them that I don't agree with and can talk about the church still without it becoming any sort of fight. But they have never said a thing to me about leaving. Never a single question. I honestly feel less valuable than ever in their eyes, not just because I left the church (which brings a whole world of personal insecurities about how they view me), but because if eternal families are so important, why am I not worth even asking the most basic question of why I just committed the ultimate sin.
Personal whiny diatribe aside-- the only person in my family that has mentioned the church to us is my 19 year old niece when she let us know that her mission call arrived a few weeks ago and she was opening it on Zoom that evening. My whole family logged in and watched and supported her (with warm and caring smiles) the entire time.
My issue boils down to this: she is incredibly awkward. I am not being sarcastic when I tell you she has never been on a date, hasn't texted a boy (parents still haven't given her a real cell phone, only one of those old FreedomPop ones that use Wi-Fi for calls to pre-entered numbers like her parents), and really struggled to have friends growing up. She is a sweet kid and I love her to death. Her one semester at college was a struggle. She would not go to any ward activities because they stressed her out because she was afraid to miss out on her studies (not super intelligent but a hard worker), and then she had the hardest time with her roommates because she wants to go to bed at 8:00 every night and they are all teenaged girls living in a dorm at college. It wasn't a good experience for her even though it was at the "holier" BYU up in the frozen northern potato lands and was always supposed to be her dream.
So she struggles with making connections, cannot handle seemingly normal stresses, is a near scrupulosity-level obedient kid, needs a lot of alone time to focus and breathe, and has never been out on her own in any way really to spread her wings and fly. Her entire life has been looking forward to her mission where she thinks that she will finally show her worth that she felt she lacked comparatively to those she grew up with during all of their formative years. Now she is heading to a quickly drying-up area in Europe for her mission.
Help me! How can I talk to her? How can I actually prep her to soften the imact for the brick wall of hurt that is quickly approaching? My whole family is in the perpetual hype-cycle of "look at the amazing missionary you will be because you are so spiritual and unworldly compared to your heathen peers." I don't care about helping her out of the church-- in fact I think at this point that would cause more damage than anything possible could for her until she has a chance to grow and develop a good deal. I served as AP and then Zone leader both for over 18 months of my mission, and she reminds me of these two sets of sisters missionaries that struggled the most of everyone in my mission that I had to field calls from sometimes up to 3 times daily just to keep them afloat.
I literally have no one to turn to for guidance on this, and I love this kid so much.
Thanks for reading this far if you did.

John 4:1-45 (HCSB)

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Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
4 When Jesus knew that the Pharisees heard He was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), 3 He left Judea and went again to Galilee. 4 He had to travel through Samaria, 5 so He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
“Give Me a drink,” Jesus said to her, 8 for His disciples had gone into town to buy food.
9 “How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked Him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.”
11 “Sir,” said the woman, “You don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do You get this ‘living water’? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are You? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”
13 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.”
15 “Sir,” the woman said to Him, “give me this water so I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”
16 “Go call your husband,” He told her, “and come back here.”
17 “I don’t have a husband,” she answered.
“You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus said. 18 “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus told her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”
26 “I am He,” Jesus told her, “the One speaking to you.”
The Ripened Harvest
27 Just then His disciples arrived, and they were amazed that He was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do You want?” or “Why are You talking with her?”
28 Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They left the town and made their way to Him.
31 In the meantime the disciples kept urging Him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But He said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
33 The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought Him something to eat?”
34 “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work,” Jesus told them. 35 “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”
The Savior of the World
39 Now many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 Therefore, when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of what He said. 42 And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”
A Galilean Welcome
43 After two days He left there for Galilee. 44 Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 When they entered Galilee, the Galileans welcomed Him because they had seen everything He did in Jerusalem during the festival. For they also had gone to the festival.

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This is a long passage and there is alot to digest here. One big point that I don't think I caught onto before was verse 6. It really shows his full humanity which is immediately transitioned into his deity in the following verses. Additionally, what I found interesting was that the Samaritan woman leaves and she immediately goes to tell the men in the town what happened. She didn't go to the women to gossip and share, she immediately went to the decision makers of the time and even more so amazing was they believed her as shown in verse 42. The believed her and their belief was affirmed after meeting Jesus. In Luke 24:11 Mary was reporting the resurrection and the disciples did not believe them. This passage shows great faith not only in the Samaritan woman but in the Samaritan men as well and the willingness to follow Him.
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Q1: What does it look like for us to become a well of the Spirit for others?
Q2: How do you interpret verses 22 and 23? Is Jesus condemning the Samaritan practices and forgiving at the same time?
Q3: What does it mean to worship in Spirt and Truth?
Q4: Do you find yourself to be a sower or a reaper?
Q5: This one is mostly rhetorical and only provide a response if you feel led to it. The Samaritans were essentially shunned by the Jewish people and would intentionally take the long way to avoid Samaria, yet Jesus stayed with them two days. How are we spending time with those that society or even Christianity typically shuns?

IT WAS 8 MONTHS AGO. i saw some texts between me and my friend. my friend is close to witch or something. so we were talking about religion and the witches. my friend said blasphemy thing, she said about jesus that shouldn't said it. i was believing this thing, she told me and i...i think i did believe it. but i felt like it was wrong. we hadn't contact for months. i have close relationship with jesus, i felt so bad everytime i did committed the sins, i was worrying that i did blasphemy past few days, i was crying, i was praying, i begged god, i felt his love, his goodness but i heard, if you did blasphemy your heart is hardened and you don't feel like you want to repent. i had battle with enemy past few days and when i'm feeling good enemy attacks me. this conversation came up to me, i was worrying still. fear won't leave me. i didn't wanted to saw those conversation but i opened my messages. I ALMOST CONFIRMED WHAT SHE SAID. but at this time i didn't knew what blasphemy was, if i knew i would never. after i saw those messages, my body temperature raised up. i felt like i was already in hell, i felt like i was already doomed. i feel like my heart hardened, i feel like i can't feel guilty, it was something different feeling. i was doomed. i already thought about myself in hell for eternity. i was punching my heart, i was pulling my hair, i've already imagined my self in hell. it drives me crazy. when i satrted close relationshp with god enemy attacked me everyday, but when i ignored their intrusive thoughts about blasphemy i think they attacked me more. i'm calm right now, but please tell me. if i did blasphemy, why did i felt bad when i sinned? why did felt his love? why did i felt grateful for him? please tell me! please! please! don't leave questioned here. i'm shaking imagining this.