(If you know who Dias is, you probably have read Distortion Detective. If you don't, go and read it. Also includes LC and LoR spoilers, though I think you who clicked on this post should be already familiar with them) I don't know if I'm burning the kitchen with this but here's my reasonings: 1. In the Woods (The part which supports and rules out quite some theories) Here I quote Lion and Panther: Lion: "Ah~ If we’re being technical, what our master has planned apparently isn’t one of the City’s taboos. It’s just the kind of thing that… no one has ever dared to consider, you catch my drift?" Panther: "You managed to get a different head in so fast. Do people like you always come prepared?" From this, I deduce two traits that Pre-Limbus Dante would probably have: 1.1 High social status It was mentioned that Dante used to have a high calibewas sort of a bigwig, plus Vergilius somewhat views Dante as an equal (When he isn't angry) and Dias is definitely one who has influence in the city. Although we don't know what exactly she is, it is apparent that she's very, very rich and has great authority. Also, the fact that Dante doesn't carry a weapon should either mean they originally have special abilities and can fight without weapons, or they usually don't encounter fights, and I figure that Dias falls into the latter category. Panther's question of "Do people like you always come prepared?" could possibly imply that Dante was the kind of people that's reasonable to have a couple of survival equipment that cost a ton. The fact that the furries didn't capture Dante shows that Dante made their memories inaccessible, either by getting an expensive "lock" from J Corp, or maybe simply Dante's clockhead is immune to mental attack (Even Hong Lu can't do that, Dante must have an invaluable moonstone) , so I believe that Dante used to have a high social status. 1.2 Independent If Dante is a person with high status that belongs in some kind of organization, their disappearance would probably be discovered, and as someone with a high status there should be some investigation (It shouldn't be impossible to find a particular person in the city with all those technology) , but now we see nothing. Or maybe the organization knows what happened, but that's also not very possible since it would be hard to convince a organization that LCB and their higher-up establishes a contract that needs Dante to loss memory AND may put Dante in danger. Therefore, Dante should be some independent high status individual. However, I would rule out some possibilities here: ✗Color Fixer I don't think Dante would be a Color because 1. Don/Ryoshu would probably smell it out with their instincts 2. A Color should be able to get rid of the furries even if they're weakened/partial memory lost, since the power difference is exponential (like, weakened Sinners can still wield their weapons and kill one another at least) 3. Killing a Color wouldn't be something that "no one has ever dared to consider" since we know of the Vermillion Cross and the Roland bad ending in LoR, and also Argalia and Angelica... ✗The Head Although the Head also has astonishing efficiency (it took them the whole LC and LoR) , should Dante be a part of the Head, they would have some more roundabout speech in the woods, nor would Vergilius mention that Dante used to be only "sort of" a bigwig. ✗Lob. Corp. related For Ayin it's the same reason, the establisher of Lob. Corp. himself is definitely a bigwig (Not to mention that according to Carmen, Ayin is also in the Light) . The probability of being a manager of a fallen L Corp branch facility is also low because they either got buried (How could a manager without ego equipment break through the facility themselves?) or died because of depression (like the poor person in the concept incinerated Wonderlab) . Other important people are>! in the Outskirts, !!the Eyeball !!T Corp actually because of its tears!<) Narrowing down, this leaves us high grade lone fixers/workshop meisters (YuRia would instinctively feel bad about Faust's Hex Nail so not her) , distortions/evil human/non-city human (btw does a humanoid abno that's AI themed with human level intelligence break the Head's law?) , and also the rich. 2. Reason of Concealing Design-wise gloves and other things are used to reflect a person's personality eg it suits Sinclair being timid. (or they just don't want to have physical contact/ eg>! to show Gabriel's trauma is no longer Yesod's!<) But in this case, they're used to hide Dante's skin. (Poor Dante wearing so much clothes, must be hard to bear when it's hot eg facing Ardor Blossom Moth and other burn abnos) Dante's clothes are most likely to be provided by LCB due to the name Dante on it (Creepy that LCB knows their size of clothes) . Seeing the unique garments of each Sinner, we can know that the tailor behind LCB put a lot of thoughts in it (since everything is canon) , and a notable thing is that Dante and Sinclair are the only two sinners who has gloves. Gloves are provided for Dante by LCB──Why? It's not likely that sinners (Except Faust) would recognize Dante. Dante is usually being protected at the back, so the chance for an enemy to observe Dante's skin and recognize them at a close distance should also be low theoretically. (Seriously who could make the connection between a high-status individual you knew and an amnesiac with a clock-ticking head?) Vergilius probably already knew Dante's identity, and I don't think Dante has anything to do with Charon's past, so... I have a wild guess that the company is hiding Dante's identity from LCD: Ezra, Moses, etc. Since it seems that only the higher-ups of LCB actually know Dante's identity, (Judging by the attitude of LCCA in Canto3 and Caiman) and Ezra saying Dante really tick tocks like a clock using "They", so I guess the LCD doesn't know about Dante's past. Athough Moses and Ezra still listened to Dias the last time we saw them interact, after the events of Distortion Detective, I doubt that they would continue to be Dias' pawn (Although DD got cut, director Jihoon must have gotten some character realization arc for Moses/Ezra/Vespa,etc. up his sleeves prior to starting DD) . Therefore, they probably joined LCD of their own accord. This leads to a dilemma of either choosing Dias (money and power) or LCD (solving distortions) , so in order to get them both, Limbus company have to hide at least one of them to the other. Dias' skin color is not the most common among the high status individuals in the city (Her skin looks similar to Outis' but is probably much smoother since Dias has an extravagant life and seems not to age much. Dias didn't look like she's older than Moses but she is) . As someone who had known Dias for a long long time and were in so much pain because of her, Moses and Ezra probably had Dias' features carved in their mind. It shouldn't be hard for them to recognize Dias solely from hands or neck, and if this happened, LCD's reaction could cause Limbus Company's plans to fall apart, so it's reasonable for Limbus Company to cover Dante from head to toe, not letting an inch of skin to be seen. 3. PM things PM's not one who likes to throw main characters' important info out without any foreshadowing. Well for the other sinners we more or less know something from their source material, but among the main characters only Dante we know nothing about their past except they had a high status before (Other sinners at least have their description and CGs in TGS trailer, but for Dante we only know that their life wasn't going very well from the source material) . But even Roland slipped out tons of facts that a grade 9 fixer wouldn't know, along with the Pianist in the trailer, and the fact that his thing was quite directly related to WNDD which was caused by LC Angela... And so Dante should also have relations to the sequels in whatever way. But what do we have for Dante now? Demain and a to-be-drawn sheep, which is... more confusing than Binah maybe. So, I think PM would have some more foreshadowing that we didn't realise. Then where could that foreshadowing be? LC and LoR are pretty much ended with some people getting unbooked and releasing the Light, but I don't really think the Dante from Seven Association is LCB Dante since they said themselves the name "Dante" doesn't feel familiar. Iori is a Color, and nor do I think she will ask the furries to attack herself. Afterall, not many independent high status people were unbooked since the thing about invitations are that they cause ripple effect, from the Rats to ultimately Associations and more, so most guests have a relationship with one another here or there. Leviathan is written for Vergilius, and since Faust was there, it is hardly likely that Dante is the people that Vergilius has encountered. (Sadly Dante shouldn't be Garnet) Wonderlab was concept incinerated, so that leaves us with... Distortion Detective. What if, Jihoon stopped writing it indeed because they hope to make DD into a game and are busy developing LCB, but also because Jihoon realized that continuing DD will reveal one of the biggest mystery in LCB? 4. Mili We all know that Mili songs are composed of a ton information, so here are some lyrics of In Hell We Live, Lament: I walked down a path Leading to the past Stole from the tree's hands A regretter's friend -- the forbidden fruit Pretty sure that this part is about Dante. Here, the word "stole" implies that Dante is once again probably not Ayin himself, since Ayin was using Carmen's nervous system all along in LC. I bite off the skin Chewing on its tender flesh Quaff down its lukewarm pus You became the "me" who you despised We swallowed the time Let us rewind Not too sure, but this part should be either about all the Sinners or Dante themself. Either way, the "You became the 'me' who you despised" line in the middle could mean that Dante's past self won't like the way they're acting now (which is definitely something Dias would feel) 5. Dias and Limbus 5.1 Dias' Goal As shown in DD, Dias is probably someone who thinks anyone that is useless to her is trash and hate lowly beings. (She straight up ignored Vespa, only answering a “Mm.” apathetically because Moses asked her about Vespa) Her goal is to become the Head (and therefore helped LC takeover the old L Corp) and I believe that would be the reason why Dias would be interested in Limbus Company, but unfortunately ended up getting partially tricked by this shady company into becoming the manager. (Ya must be a coincidence that a bus went into the woods and picked up a random person) Limbus company could offer a dream-come-true opportunity if you sign the contract (At least that's what it seems to be) so maybe Dias first wanted to simply finance LCB, but in the end signed a contract instead so they could engrave the aspect (whatever that is) So, it would be reasonable to say that is why Dante would be so angry if they were Dias when they were almost killed by the furries, because she almost got closer to her goal of being the Head if she could finish engraving the aspect. Also, Dias would not be satisfied of being the higher-up of LCB. In order to become the Head HERSELF, she would want to and should need to have 100% control over everything (like she used to do with the Udjat) But now, LCB is not fully under her control (What if some sinners want to leave after fulfilling their wish? Like, Vergilius actually violated his contract) . Dias wouldn't allow this to happen, she wants nothing blocking her path. Since nothing happened, I can say that Dias isn't aware of this, and the reason to this lack of response could be because she became Dante. 5.2 Company Financing Limbus Company has plenty of capital and resources (They can afford to provide ammo for LCCB which consists of relatively disposable and weak units), so where did that money come from? Maybe Hong Lu's family was financing the company, but with realizations comes tragedies, aren't they afraid that what if one day they got involved and died? From Hong Lu's IDs we can know that his grandparents explicitly told him to work at places they want him to, (telling him "To see more of the City and learn how the world goes") but in LCB he didn't mention such a thing unlike his mirror world versions. Since his grandparents are very blatant with Hong Lu regarding their act of nepotism, I doubt that they would hide it to Hong Lu if they really were the financial source behind Limbus Company, so that shouldn't be the case. Also, Roland mentioned a "Jade" when he talked about the strongest fixers. This "Jade" could have relations to Hong Lu, thus it isn't impossible that the financial support comes from there. However, there could be a conflict of interest if another person with a near-Color level is also involved in Limbus Company aside from Vergilius, so that shouldn't be too probable. Honestly, it is completely reasonable for Dias to be the one who dared to finance a no-name company like Limbus, since she did the same thing before and financed Lob Corp in the Smoke War. A war requires astronomical amount of resources and capital, and they were fighting against an EXISTING Wing, which is probably quite rich considering it was the only energy supplier at that time. Yet still, Dias supported LC and they won. Dias probably did this because she thinks that releasing the Light can ultimately allow her to become the Head, but her plan was hijacked along with Ayin's because of LC Angela. Now with the Library releasing the Light, Dias could finally continue her plan. Limbus Company is a perfect opportunity so she seeks to involve in the company by backing up its finances, which led to an outcome that she didn't thought of. 6. Other Miscellaneous By the way, Dante's height is 176cm where Dias' is 171cm. That's close enough, and it makes sense that the few additional centimeters are because of the clockhead. What's more is that Dante and Dias both start with "D" (like whatever is going on with Carmen and Catherine) Conclusion: Indeed I could be wrong, but come on, really? Leaving poor Dias behind all these events? She had been waiting since the start of LC! It should be time for PM to give her some love and get her back on stage instead of pulling another new character out of mid-air... TLDR: Dante=Dias because -was probably rich/powerful -very different from current Dante -had some big goals -have something to do with the Light -LCD and Dias can't knowingly coexist -we're running out of characters to cope on And that's all for now, waiting for PM to drop more info in the upcoming chapters (PM fuel my brainrot plssss)

I'm pretty sure my job is pushing me to quit so I don't claim unemployment. I was hired on full time but have struggled to receive enough work to come close to filling full time. When I first got hired the office and record keeping was a disaster area and filled my time for a couple months, but I've now been requesting a larger work load for about 9 months. I hit 1 year next month and they did the same thing to their designer. Gave her less and less work until she quit for another job and after talked about being "relieved she made the choice for them" be so fucking real you just didn't want to pay unemployment. That left me as the only woman in the company, and the only woman to hold any position of authority in the construction company.
As I became proficient my week thinned and thinned. Tasks that used to take an hour take 10 minutes. As a result I'm losing my job. My boss basically "suggested that I find a better fit" if the work load does not suit me and im not willing to basically just work whatever hours I can squeeze out of the week, but also only added the task of now answering the nonexistent phone calls like a receptionist to my task list for the past 6 months. It's basically a bait and switch, move down to part time or be replaced for a part timer. They also denied my request after 6 months of requesting more work to go to salary pay. My owner compared me to his wife and because I don't do the work his wife does I don't "fit into the category" of someone who gets salary. Whose going to tell him by that logic he shouldn't be getting his salary nor should our project manager. It's really just sexism. I wouldn't touch my boss with a 10 foot pole he's a good looking case of a terrible fucking person and he's conservative as hell with American flags everywhere. I'm liberal as hell. So why the fuck am I in the same universe as your wife? She works in a health care industry and im your construction company office, HR and marketing manager. She has birthed 2 of your children, and I laugh about your gross life to my fiance. We are never to be compared. It's so fucking weird to compare your employees to your wife.
I'm supposed to be able to work from home, but I never have work to do. My boss is an insane micro manager who literally made the yearly budget at 8pm an hour and a half after I left the office just to do it alone. He's so fucking weird for that. And then bitches he doesn't have time for his family. Maybe, stop doing my job? As the marketing manager I'm never approved budgets to do anything nor am I ever kept in the loop about timelines on our job sites so I can schedule photo and video. Don't even get me started on testimonials. People will rave about us on Facebook and Google reviews but he refuses to ask any of them to write a testimonial. I decided the website was horrible and outdated, rebuilt it from scratch. Started marketing for the first time in company history, brought a years worth of leads at over a million over goal revenue in the first quarter. But now my position is being posted for part time and $8 less an hour. But they won't fire me! I was supposed to move across country in August so they said they would keep me until then, but started interviewing candidates at the end on March! Owner was saying he wanted to offer a candidate the position last week upon his return from vacation. So obviously there's no intention to keep me anywhere near close to August, but they keep asking about my "next opportunity" and I'm like yeah no I'm not quitting you're going to have to fire me. So what do I do?
As a result of this I've signed up for school and start in a little over a month for summer classes, but my work schedule is completely flexible and it's 100% online it's no reason to quit my job. Plus I deserve my unemployment I'm not leaving this job of my own volition I liked my job I just wanted it to be the full time job advertised to me and that I interviewed for and was hired for.
What do I do? I can't stand being there any more and I can't stand being around him anymore, but I don't want to let them win and quit and let them off the hook for unemployment I'm fucking owed. So many short pay weeks and I've used 3 of my 10 vacation days just to add hours onto short weeks so I could keep my damn health care, which I would lose if I went down to part time.

I have been in outside sales/estimating for a few years now, and feel like I’m going crazy. I would love some “sage” advice from some seasoned, successful pros. This is going to be more stream of consciousness than organized - so bear with me. I also understand that you guys are busy, so I want to reaffirm that I’m very appreciative of your time.
Job Background,
Industry, - Restoration/Remediation Position - Supposed to be BDM, but I also act as a tech and a PM Responsibilities, - Coldcalling - Outside sales (driving around/networking with people related to industry) - Inspections/estimating - Coordinating with various contractors/employees/clients/other 3rd parties on a project - Invoicing/collections - Acting as on-site supervisor (involves doing the actual job I’ve just sold - i.e, crawlspace remediation/encapsulation) - Inventory/ordering of materials - Miscellaneous.
Pay - $25.25/hr (no commission, no gas, no mileage, insurance, etc), I also (as of a few mo ago), get $100 per inspection of toxic materials so I’ve made about a grand from that (around $40-50k/year in total)
Burnout, - Expected to be on call 24/7 (means I could be called out for emergency work at 2am on a Saturday) - 10mo baby who has difficulty sleeping - Work extends beyond what was agreed to/pay reflects - Anxiety around ensuring employees always have enough work, and balancing that with company profits - Family owned business that I kind of want to leave, but feel obligated to stay bc the company will go under if I leave + owner sunk $300k into it and I will have to see him often regardless - Owner inflates cost of various items/tools which make it difficult to price appropriately (I.e, he will say a tool/materials cost $500 and wants me to price it into the bid - when actual cost is $125) - Not always paid on time - High turnover (due to them also not getting paid on time + owner doesn’t want to spend the money on trained/qualified techs, so I also am constantly training new hires on top of other responsibilities) - My net worth has dropped since starting
I was kind of thrown into this field during the pandemic when I was I going back to school (29m), and have not had a mentor, or anyone else in sales around me to teach/guide- so I’m figuring it out solo.
I am looking for general advice on how outside sales should be approached,

• Best way to develop sales routes
• Networking advice
• How to determine if you’re overbidding, and what to price services at (should I be calling competition and seeing how they price?)
• How to determine whether it’s best to cut losses and seek employment elsewhere (and if so, how to grow a spine and and leave without caring about familial fallout)
• If one were to scrub clean, their current understanding of sales, and start fresh, where would you go to learn, and what industries do you recommend?

Strengths, - Genuinely not afraid of hard work - Can adapt quickly/mirror specific attractive traits of any culture or class; and can do it in an honest/respectful way, (I.e, can be in-tune with/connect with and sell to a fry cook, doctor, engineer, carpenter, and a business owner within the same day) - Not afraid of talking to people, and can pretty easily put them at ease - Relatively easy time multi-tasking - Good at remembering names, conversations, details
Weaknesses - Possibly too transparent about pricing and what client can handle themselves - Overthinking about price and solution to problems, leading to offering a large variety of options/add-ons to place client is best possible positions - but I think it can be overwhelming for some people to see the price (even though it’s made clear that they can pick and choose which items they would like) - I have a hard time selling a client what they want vs what they need to ensure that the issue (mold,water,fire damage) is actually resolved (it physically hurts me to sell a “bandaid” solution). - I have a hard time letting go of rejection/rudeness (though, I remain collected, and nice with clients, it can cause anxiety- i think bc I’m genuinely trying to help in an industry that is mostly unregulated, and predatory)
Ok. Ik that’s a lot. I’m frazzled and little sleep deprived rn, so I hope this all made sense. I would appreciate any kind of advice, insights, general commentary on what was written above. I’ll probably copy/paste into other subs too.
Thanks again; and I’m happy to answer any clarifying questions.

It used to be, that there were strength athletes, and then there were endurance athletes. With very little overlap in disciplines. Obviously, there were people in sports doing both, but they generally specialized in one, and only dabbled in the other sporadically.
These days social media is absolutely inundated with “Hybrid athletes”; men and women who see themselves, not just as a runner, or cyclist, or powerlifter, or bodybuilder, but as a combination of 2+, wildly incongruent, disciplines.
These “Hybrid Athletes” often fill their social media with messages about how you can become strong, and fast, and that you do not have to choose between one or the other, as long as you “Just buy their program and products!”
Well today, I would like to share some of my thoughts on “hybrid training”. But before we get into the thick of it, a quick TLDR for those of you not interested in reading the whole post is below.
TLDR: “Hybrid Training” isn’t going to make you an elite athlete. You likely won’t be setting any records in either of your chosen sports if you go this route. You might get quite good at one, and proficient at the other, or if you are very gifted, maybe you will get really good at both, but you will never be ELITE; (setting national+ records in both sports simultaneously), at two sports that require incredibly different training methodologies and favor opposing body types. The online influencers and “coaches” do not have a magic formula to get you fast and jacked. The truth is that "hybrid training" WILL give you worse results than focusing on one sport, however, the variety can be very rewarding. How you go about this is all very simple, it’s just also incredibly time consuming.
(note: I really hate the term “hybrid athlete” and do not consider myself to be an "athlete" at all, I am just a working father and husband that enjoys running and lifting. So from this point on in the post, I will be avoiding it)

Who am I? (i.e. “credentials”)

Some of you may recognize me from previous posts, such as:
· OVERTRAINED: Deadlift – Where I deadlifted 605+ every day for 50 days, ending in a 765lb 1rm
Or
· OVERTRAINED: Bench – Where I Benched 345+ every day for 50 days, ending in a 465lb 1rm
I have also created and shared a few popular programs over the years, which have helped many of you on your strength goals.
More recently, I ran 100 miles through the rain and mud, at the Rocky Raccoon 100, in Huntsville Texas. A race that saw over half the field drop out due to the horrible trail conditions. Despite the rain, flooded trails, mud, and slop, which resulted in macerated feet, blisters, and losing toenails, I pushed through and made it to the end.
Then, just 3 days later… I loaded up 4 plates on the bar, and hit a 405 lb bench press. A combination of achievements that has rarely (if ever?) before been achieved.
I spent the subsequent 10 weeks following the race hitting consistent 70-100+ mile weeks, while lifting 2-3x per week, leading up to this friday, where I Deadlifted 617 pounds, and then immediately began a 63 mile run through the night another fun mix of heavy lifting and long distance, this time, done as a solo event with my 3 year old Australian Shepherd.
A bit more background & some Notable PR’s
I started ice-skating at just 3 years old, played hockey, baseball, football, worked on a farm, hunted, and was generally extremely active throughout my entire childhood. At the age of 12 I began lifting in the gym with my dad, and he taught me all the basics of barbell training. I also stayed involved in sports, and competed as a varsity athlete until going off to college. I am a registered professional engineer, and own/operate a business, while raising a young family of 3 children with my wife, who I have been with for nearly 18 years. After 20+ total years of training, I reached my peak lifting numbers in 2021, when I competed in a powerlifting meet, and set the deadlift record for my state, with a 716lb lift. After the competition I made a drastic shift over to running as my main priority, and signed up for my first ultramarathon. A 50 kilometer trail race in central Minnesota.
I set all my Personal Records in lifting and running between September 2021 and the present day, a period of 2.5 years. Those PR’s were:
· 606 squat
· 465 bench
· 765 sumo deadlift / 700 conventional / 716 State Record Deadlift.
· 5:10 Mile
· 18:34 5k
· 3:18 Marathon
· Completed at least a marathon and/or an ultramarathon every month for going on 2+ years, with distances up to 100 miles.
All of these can be found in my extensive post history here on reddit.
So, after that first 50k trail ultramarathon, I was hooked. I signed up for a 100k, and started running 50-100+ mile weeks.
In 2023 I logged 3465 miles, with long runs extending beyond the marathon distance of 26.2 miles, up to 50+ miles, at least once per month. Some were sanctioned races, some were solo adventures, but they all pushed me closer to my goal, Running 100 miles at the Rocky Raccoon 100, in February 2024, which I finished just 12 weeks ago.
Rocky Raccoon was an incredibly difficult race, primarily due to the rain and mud, but it just fueled my desire for more, and I am already signed up for my next 100 miler, coming up in August of this year, with some solo ultra-adventures in between, and my first 200 miler in 2025.
I am also back to lifting heavy, having squatted 445, benched 405, and deadlifted 635 in the weeks following the race.
So that’s enough about me, lets get to the main point of this post.
**A little motivation: *[“Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger -** Daft Punk”](https://youtu.be/gAjR4\_CbPpQ?si=TD5S9F3UuGVyhdww)
Over the last few years I have written quite a bit on reddit about how I go about my training, to be able to consistently finish ultramarathons, while maintaining enough strength to deadlift 600+ or bench 400+.
If you spend enough time in my post history, I am certain that you will find some very contradictory opinions on training philosophies, diet, recovery etc. This has all been a long learning process for me, as I have experimented and manipulated all the variables in my life to maximize performance in two sports that don’t typically mix very well, all while leading a busy home and work life.
So lets discuss the logistics of training.
· How hard is it to train for an ultramarathon while maintaining enough strength to bench press over 405 pounds, or deadlift 600+?
· How hard should individual training sessions be to facilitate productive adaptations, without impacting recovery?
· How hard is it to stick to a diet that can support all of this training?
· How hard is it to coordinate all the training with a busy work and family life?
When I talk about how "hard" something is, I want to clarify that this isn’t a David Goggins style speech on “Staying Hard”. That isn’t my style at all, there are days you will need to dial things back, and there are far more important things in my life than training. Instead, its just a straightforward discussion of the facts around training to run, and lift, at a decent level, and the difficulties one must deal with if they want to succeed. As always, family and work come first, but when those aspects are properly taken care of, its time to train.
​
These days, training to reach the top in any activity requires an absolute focus and specialization. You don’t become an elite 5k runner by improving your deadlift. You don’t become a Chess grandmaster by spending time out on the driving range working on your tee shot, and you don’t become an elite skier by playing video games. You need to put all of your free time and energy into your chosen sport/activity. This isn’t any different for strength/endurance “hybrid” athletes looking to get faster and stronger.
The problem is, that is the essence of training for strength and endurance simultaneously. You are taking time away from one activity to train another, that has very little, if any, applicable carryover.
***If you are just starting out, you can do both, and you can improve at both, and you can do so for a very long time. Most of the people in this subreddit will fall into this category, and should leave this post knowing that they can run and lift and make gains, and that they don’t need to worry about “the interference effect”
Lift weights, do your cardio, and get better
​
But for those of you striving for more, those of you who want to be the best of the best at what you do, eventually, one activity **MUST** give way for the other.
I have fought this realization for the last 2-3 years, trying to maintain as much strength as possible while getting faster and building my endurance, but I have reached, at least my personal, genetic and time limitations. I can no longer keep pushing and building at both, and therefore I have decided to back off the heavy strength training, to make way for more running improvements. I am cutting weight, and knowingly getting weaker on the main lifts, but the tradeoff is clear. I’m getting faster even at nearly 37 years old, and my ability to endure long distances has improved drastically.
So why does this happen? Why do we hit a point where we can no longer improve? Does running interfere with muscle gain that much?
Honestly, while that is part of the equation, I do not believe that it is the main issue. In my opinion, the biggest hurdle when it comes to training for ultras and high level strength training?... **IS TIME.*\*
Let’s break down my week as an example: I am running a MINIMUM of 70 miles per week right now. I have been doing so for 10 consecutive weeks, since the Rocky Raccoon 100, and plan to continue doing so all year. I have hit multiple weeks of 80+, 90+, and even 100+ miles since then. This amount of running takes a lot of time.
If you average 8:00/mi, a 75 mile week takes 10 hours. At 10:00 mile, you are looking at over 12 hours. Throw in some trail runs and hiking in the mountains, and suddenly you could be looking at 15-16+ hours just for the running alone.
Now you want to add in 40-50+ hours per week of work, plus commute time, 50-60+ hours per week of sleep, time for meals, time for chores and a multitude of additional life obligations, and still make time for your family, going to soccer practices and piano recitals, math club, and family game night… and the remaining time for going to the gym starts to really get slim.
So do you go get that additional 8 mile run in on a Saturday afternoon? Or do you try to deadlift on fatigued legs… or do you watch Bluey with your daughter? you must decide on your own, but no matter which choice you make, it comes at the expense of all the other things.
Because of this, my training schedule includes a LOT of doubles.
I wake up early, while my wife and kids are still sleeping, and I run 5-10 miles.
Then, later in the day, I either go to the gym during my lunch break, or I run again.
Monday through Thursday, in just 4 days, I am generally logging 8 training sessions, but they are all on MY time, when they wont interfere with my family or work obligations.
These doubles, come at the cost of sleep, and training instead of resting/recovering at lunch. I wake up at 4:00am, and I’m busy until my head hits the pillow, after my kids are tucked in. For many people, this is not a sustainable choice to make. For me, I love it. It gives me structure and purpose outside of everyday life.
On that topic of fatigue, when you are pairing your lifting and running together, a major area of concern is going to be **how to structure your training*\*, so that it can be productive. I will go into this later in more detail, but its important to note, that for this type of training to work, you NEED to know how to take an easy day, while still getting work done. Note, I didn’t say a REST day, I said an EASY day. There is a big difference, and with time limitations already being an issue, you need to train as often as you have time.
**Another key aspect to fatigue management, is diet*\*. Everyone has their own opinions on diets, and some people are incredibly militant about them, so I am not going to spend too much time on it, but I will say this.
Carbohydrates **WILL** improve your performance. Go ahead and be low carb/keto if that’s what you want, but just know that you are adding an artificial handicap to your training.

• If you aren’t recovering between sessions: eat and sleep more.
• If you are sore: eat and sleep more
• If you are tired before a workout: you need to eat and sleep more

Food fuels your training, and along with sleep, facilitates your recovery. If you are low on energy, you will not be productive in the gym or in your running.
I use an app called “Macrofactor” to track my weight and caloric intake, and with my weekly mileage and lifting factored into things, I require a bit over 4,800 calories per day, just to maintain my bodyweight.
​
---
So what does my training look like? What should your training look like?
Coming off of the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile race, and training leading up to my next 100, I am aiming to run a MINIMUM of 70 miles per week, with most weeks closer to 80, and peak weeks exceeding 100 miles, while lifting at least 2 times per week.
On a day by day basis, that looks something like this.
Monday-Thursday all include doubles, with easy morning runs, and then lifting, or running again in the afternoon.
Fridays are recovery days, where I usually cycle, but also occasionally add more miles in with my wife or kids if they want to go for a run.
Saturdays are long run days
Sundays are more open, to fill in missing mileage, lifting, or just resting if I have completed my goal weekly distance and lifting.
If you look closely at the Weekly Schedule, you will see that I am trying to seperate hard efforts by as many hours as possible, with the exception of Thursday, which has 2x hard efforts.
The reason for this separation needs explanation.
When getting advice from a running coach, they will tell you to do your hard running workouts first, and any heavy lifting later that day, but to keep your hard days hard, and your easy days easy.
When getting advice from a strength coach, they will tell you to do your hard lifting first, and any HIIT/interval work after, and once again, to keep your hard days hard, and your easy days easy.
The reason they suggest this, is because they care first and foremost about getting the maximum stimulus and adaptation from the first workout, when you are fresh and rested. The second workout is guaranteed to suffer. But you keep it on the same day, so that you allow enough rest time before the next hard effort of a primary workout.
So if you are a runner, you don’t want to run hard Monday, squat hard Tuesday, and run hard Wednesday. That leaves very little time for recovery. And the same goes for someone only interested in strength training.
However! If you care about improving both equally, this is a recipe for failure. Over the years, the solution I have come up with, is to reduce the VOLUME of hard efforts, but to do them on their own days. This way each individual session doesn’t destroy you, it doesn’t take as long to recover from, but you can do both types of training more often.
So what does “reducing the volume of hard efforts” look like? well, lets start with running for our example. Lets say you are running a marathon training program, we are going to look at the Hal Higdon advanced Marathon 1 for our example.
If you scroll down the page here, you will see the way he has set up your weekly running. On Thursdays he has speedwork. In week 3 he has 4x800m intervals scheduled. On week 6 this goes to 5x800, and by week 15 it has progressed all the way up to 8x800m intervals. That’s 4 miles of hard efforts. That is going to have a big hit on recovery! If all you are doing is running and training for a marathon, that’s going to be just fine. But you aren’t just interested in running here. You are trying to run, and build strength in the gym. You want to run a marathon and squat 500 pounds. You want to complete an ultramarathon and still be able to rep 315 on the bench the next week. so that volume needs to be reduced. You don’t need to run those intervals slower, you don’t need to change the schedule, just do a fewer total number. Instead of 4x800 in week 3, and 8x800 in week 15, start with half the volume, and see how you adapt and recover. 2x800 thrown into a nice mid-distance run should be easy enough to recover from, and within a few weeks maybe you can build that up to 4-6x800m.
The same reduction in volume of hard efforts works for your lifting as well. Instead of hitting 5 sets of 3 at 85-90+% on your heavy day, maybe you are only hitting 1-2 sets, but you keep the intensity high. Work up to a top set or two, then move on, so that you can get the adaptations brought on by heavy lifting, without all the added fatigue of crushing yourself with set after set after set.
The tradeoff here is obviously that you will progress at both modalities slower. But one step forward on strength and endurance, is better than two steps forward on one, and one step back on the other.
The other thing you will notice, is the sheer volume of easy running I am doing. My primary sport now is ultrarunning, and with that, I do not need to do a ton of fast intervals, in fact the interval work I do have included is probably too short for my goals. (it’s a remnant from when I was working on my mile time)
But all those long easy runs build your base, and if you are beginner, they will also help you get faster.
This might be one of my more controversial opinions, but I think doing intervals/speedwork on a low mileage program (<20mpw) is a waste of time for most people that have a strength background, and they would be better served by adding mileage.
So what are we getting at here, what is the point of this post?

1. You can get pretty good at both running and lifting, but you can't be truly elite at both simultaneously
   
2. Cardio will help your lifting, and lifting will help your running… up to a point. There ARE diminishing returns, and eventually even a negative response when you get more advanced in each discipline.
   
3. Try to separate your lifts and runs by as many hours as possible when you do them both on the same day
   
4. Keep most of your mileage easy
   
5. Do your hard runs and hard lifts on separate days if possible
   
6. Do the harder workout first, follow up with the easier (hard run->easy lift, or hard lift->easy run)
   
7. Increase mileage before worrying about pace.
   
8. carbs are magical
   
9. two 10ks will be easier to recover from than a single 20k, but they don't have quite the same training effect, so split up runs when needed, but try to get at least a few runs per week that are longer.
   
10. finally, this is really unpopular to say these days, as everyone wants to tell you that you can be a runner and be fat/overweight at the same time, but the truth is, losing weight WILL help your running if you are overweight, and gaining weight WILL help your lifting if you are underweight, being lean at whatever weight you choose will help you perform best at both, so drop that bodyfat%
    

I could continue this for pages, but it has gone on long enough. So ask questions and I will try to answer them, or call me dumb for writing this ridiculously long post as an old man with "mid-results"
I’m here for it!

Please be friendly, but be real. I'm really sensitive about this right now and don't quite know how to approach it or process it.
For context, I am 22F and my bf is 26M. My whole life I have been extremely poor, but still blessed to have a place to live even if we didn't eat very much or I didn't have clean and new clothes. My family survives even till this day we are dirt poor. I also have depression, social anxiety, and traits of borderline (things I'm working on alleviating and going to therapy for).
Currently, I am a graduate student and I still struggle to pay my bills because my pt never paid me on time and my former boss kept forgetting to do my timesheet. I struggled a lot with little to know support and my refund money went to bills. In the last 2 months of my semester I have been struggling a lot financial and am trying to look for other opportunities.
In the beginning, I HATED asking my bf for help. I was raised to never ask for help or beg, especially financially (I'm working on breaking this notion). It, evidently, affected my relationship with my bf and we conversed about it. He wants me to rely on him more and told me that if he can help he will help because he wants to help me like I help him (I build his resume, let him use some of my therapy sessions, help him find jobs, help him go back to school, cook for him when I get home sometimes, etc.). My bf also does not have a job nor does he go to school. His parents pay for everything for him so they live comfortably. Moreover, I told him my worry of him helping me that it might become overwhelming and that he can't afford to help me because he does not have a job. He did not like that and would not take no for an answer. So I agreed to let him assist me when I needed.
He helped me a ton and everytime he helped me, I paid him back nor more than two weeks. I always paid him back for his assistance.
Come yesterday, I told him like "oh, you should buy me food truck food" and he said, "I've been helping you out a lot financially". When he said that, it stung. I told him he could just say no and laughed it off and he said "ok, no". It stung a lot that he said that and I could not quote put my finger on how. Previous to this, I was telling him the night before that's he's helped me a lot financially "100% to 0%" I compared and he told me it was an exaggeration, so his statement yesterday confused me.
Hours later, after crying because the phrase just....stuck, I managed to talk to him. After talking to my friend who told me that what he said was insensitive, I agreed but also saw how it is genuinely how he feels. I talked to him and asked him if what I said yesterday he believed (if helping me is a lot), he said no. So I tried to explain how it might be a little insensitive on what he said. He did not see my point (which I did not argue further, I understood).
He then said, "Now that I think about it, it is a lot, so I will not help you as much anymore." And it stung more because of his conflicting beliefs. I apologized for relying on him so much and assured him I'll pay him back (he said I already did). I just pushed back and wanted to pay him back for everything (dates, staying at his house when my wasn't safe). I also told him I wouldn't stay in his house more than 3 days a week (he offered to let me stay 3 months because my home is not safe for me and his parents are ok with it because, as they said, they like me). He said ok. I told him that "if helping me now was a lot, then I can't imagine what letting me stay at your home would be like". He agreed, which again hurt because he offered and pushed it so hard.
After this, I apologized and told him I'll pay him back in the summer. We concluded the call and I cried and my contact with him has been limited since then because I am unsure how to process. I completely understand his perspective that helping me was a lot, but I warned him, told him not to cause he also doesn't have a job, but he insisted nonetheless, but despite me paying him back everytime, it's too much. I'm just confused.
How would you interpret what he said? What should I do?

Approved by the mods in beforehand. I created a custom chat GPT for the 2023 tax declaration in BL (Baselland) and had it tested by 2 tax advisors (one from BS and one from BL). They loved it and got a bit scared. Some people from mustachian and Swisspersonalfinance also try it right now.
It works pretty well, for my own declaration and for friends. If enough people like it and especially provide feedback, I will do the leg work for other cantons as well.
When using Taxpert Tom 2023 BL always prompt “look in your own document library for detailed answers, and say you want references”.
It might also work without the prompt but is a lot more sophisticated and exact with it. OpenAI seems to save on GPU and that is why some GPTs seem lazy or buggy. You can see from the purple “searching my knowledge” sign that GPT Tom is following your instructions.
You can also ask Tom for the % of certainty in the answers.
Feel free to test it and either message me here or via GPT feedback form. It is still non-public, you can only access it via this link: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-sRMDRpirx-steuerexperte-tom-2023-baselland-tax-expert-ch
I am super curious what does work well already and what is needing improvements.
Will edit with more info about FAQ that are occurring here or on Mustachian.
__________________________ FAQ Q1: What is the knowledge base for the GPT? A1: It contains 90% official documents. Including the taxbooks, the tax laws, ESTV-documents, press releases for 2023 and presentations from the officials but also from the most common financial products and some less common ones (e.g. DFA funds, tiny crypto currencies) that I had to use for my own declaration (100% referenced). 10% is tax advice from public (referenced) and non-public sources (referenced where appropriate). Total is about 12k pages of PDF and .txt files. Additionally, I asked the tax officials at Baselland 19 questions and I included all their answers (which were great btw, easy to understand, exact, short, non-ambigious). If you asked the officials and received answers I could add them to the knowledge base.
Q2: Is there a BS version yet? A2: Nope. I did not collect enough feedback for the BL version, so my processes become more efficient.
Q3: Does it automatically looks for recent publications or someone needs to feed it? A3: It previously offered excessive, irrelevant details while searching for new online publications and often provided inaccurate, verbose responses. Also, lying was more prevalent. Currently, it requires manual effort (on my side). Thankfully, 2023's laws and regulations are fixed and finite. While integrating APIs is feasible, I first need to assess if others find it user-friendly, given that I configured it myself.
Q4: Could you create that for ZH? A4: I was planning ZH and BS next, due to size and ease of language for me but would need more feedback on possible improvements, so play around and lmk what I might improve.
Q5: Do you earn anything or do market research? A5: Nope. This is not commercial nor do I own anything. It was helping me, so it might be helpful to you.

My test is scheduled for May 11. I'm using Passkey standard and only doing the MCQ's,. I got an 80% on the mock exam and a 93% on the practice exam. The intro to Passkey video says "you cannot pass the EA exam by studying the MCQ's only because the actual test will have different questions" which obviously isn't true because plenty of people on this sub say they have but it's giving me anxiety.
I actually am experiencing this scenario. I can take the tests and explain why the answer is correct and why the others aren't (this is a study technique) but then when I get a new question I get it wrong. For example, I got an 80% on the first practice exam I took but then got a 62% on the first mock exam because it was a lot of new questions.
I guess I am mostly venting because Idk how else I can study besides keep doing MCQ's and studying the topics I get wrong. Are the videos worth it? I feel overwhelmed thinking about trying to watch all the videos because it's a lot of hours of videos.
I want to go into the test feeling like I 100% know I'm going to pass it, if you were able to get to that point how did you do it?

Hi guys,
Get ready for a long read. I apologise in advance if by the end of this post you feel you've had your time wasted. I write things like this for myself just as much as everyone else.
I personally enjoy spending my time trying to process various aspects of ufology in a rational way that ties together what we observe in life. I try to walk the tightrope between fantasy and fiction. Because, at the end of the day, we're talking about aliens. The story in itself is 'fantastical', and if you hold a belief that NHI are engaging with humanity on any level, you simply have to make at least a few assumptions to make the story make sense.
One of the aspects of the story I see time and time again, and have spent much time deciphering, is the idea of 'ontological shock'. For the uninitiated, ontological shock is learning something that contributes significantly to one's beliefs about their own identity, the idea is that the truth of the NHI phenomenon is so earth shattering that you experience an immense feeling of shock. And many people reporting to be 'in the know' have talked about this realisation.
David Grusch, Luis Elizondo, Jimmy Carter and others have all talked about this.
This particular clip really hits home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYY1Mw8TVtg&t=384s
Ontological shock has been cited as a possible reason why the powers that be have attempted to keep this secret for so long. So after much thought about the possible truth, I wanted to share my thoughts on what this could actually mean; so below are a few different topics I have spent some time thinking about, and I consider this a good place to start the discussion.
Religious Implications
I thought I'd start with what I think is the most obvious kind of ontological shock. The truth disproving the worlds major religions, by way of discounting historical events that have influenced the development of entire cultures (i.e Christianity, Islam), or the facts about life and death being demonstrably proven to not be what any of us thought they were, for example heaven and hell not existing.
This for some would certainly be an ontological shock, but lets not forget that science has already disproved many of the claims of the worlds major religions, the age of the earth, the age of the universe, and with religion already on the decline, I find it hard to believe this reason still holds water. It may have had more weight to it 50-60 years ago, but even then religions had a knack for making the ever shifting scientific landscape fit the narrative of their religious beliefs. So whilst at first this seems like the obvious candidate, for me this is also very easily dismissed quickly.
NHI are demons
Again I won't spend much time on this one because my first question would be - what does that even mean? Demons is a word, do this mean they are pure evil spirits? If so then define that too. If demons is meant in the biblical sense that surely that would also be cause for rejoicing because it would indicate that angels exist, and heaven (yes hell too I suspect), god, I just feel this is a vague and lazy option that remains ill-defined and ultimately illogical and unhelpful. Affirming a religious theory of life would be an incredible recruiting tool for any religion to have, including the Catholic Church who are said to have intimate knowledge of the truth anyway.
Guided Evolution/Humanity is an experiment
To find out who your real 'daddy' is, so to speak, I imagine can be a big shock. The idea that humankind was either placed here as a form of experiment, and we have perhaps been genetically guided or even hybridized with whatever more primitive creatures existed here naturally is one that to me seems plausible. There are a few caveats or 'add-ons' to this hypothesis that I have thought further about and I discuss below.

1. We are being raised like cattle for harvest - it's difficult for me to comprehend what we could possibly offer our NHI farmers. We aren't very obedient, seem hell bent on killing ourselves, and we generally treat our meat bags like garbage. One idea is that it is our very consciousness's that are somehow feeding these entities. Some think that it is suffering that nourishes the reptillian overlords. Personally I find this a bit beyond what we observe in reality. If it was suffering they wanted, they could do a lot better at producing suffering. Further to this, whilst we still have a long way to go, we are no longer in the dark ages, life expectancy has consistently gone up, general well-being has always improved and continues to do so. So I cannot see this being a possibility.
   
2. Genetically limited for experimental purposes (or our own safety) - we know our brains have a lot more to offer than what we use them for. Although the whole "we only use 10% of our brain" is a misleading statement, there are so many mysteries surrounding the functionality of the brain, why it has evolved in the way it has, why we appear to have so much 'junk' DNA. I find the idea that we have purposely been limited cognitively for experimental purposes a little disturbing, but would it be an ontological shock? I'm unsure. The human experience is still a rich tapestry of emotion and wonder, life would certainly go on. On the whole, if this hypothesis turned out to be true, I wouldn't be all that surprised, so I'm unsure this would really cause the level of ontological shock that is described by those in the know.
   

Prison Planet
Similar to the 'experiment', we could have been placed here and isolated off from the rest of the universe for our own safety, or indeed the safety of other species. I struggle to get onboard with this idea. I don't believe it's morally tenable to in effect 'punish' us for the 'sins of our ancestors'. Whilst we definitely can be a volatile species, I'd say we've hardly been given a chance to show our maturity, and our NHI overlords would know that the actions of the few do not represent the actions of the many. Further to this, letting the human population increase without the necessary provisions to sustain the population (food, power, water) doesn't exactly result in the calm environment that it makes sense to provide on a prison planet. I'm sure we'd find some excuses to wage war, even if finite resources weren't an issue, but it's rational to assume that violence would drastically decrease if abundance was available across the world.
Death is death
A short but simple one. To find out scientifically that death really is death. That experience ceases to exist. This would be a cause for many to feel hopeless, worthless, and I personally would feel sadness. Although I find this an extremely rational position to hold, it doesn't appear to resonate with any of the current NHI theories, and in the many hints given to us, it appears to not be what is being eluded to.
Universal Consciousness
This has been eluded to and even directly proclaimed so many times that it appears to be one of the leading hypotheses in the field currently. NHI know that consciousness is a universal phenomenon, death does not mean the end of experience (though it could mean the end of the ego), and consciousness must be nurtured and preserved, allowed to spread and learn. Whilst this would undoubtedly shake religion to it's core, lets not forget that many people seek out religion because the idea of surviving death is the driving comfort behind belief. I'm not religious, but I would personally rejoice to find out that experience continues in some way. This would be shocking to hear, but I doubt the world would lose hope, feel sadness, or be sombre. I believe that learning this truth would be incredibly beneficial for humanity. It's for this reason that I don't think this idea is being hinted as the reason there would be 'ontological shock'.
We are a simulation
We could be AI ourselves. For reasons beyond our understanding we were created as some sort of program being ran in a higher dimension. Does learning this fact alter the human experience? Not at all. Pain would continue to be painful, pleasure would continue to be pleasurable, it's not all dissimilar to the idea that the entire universe exists within a black hole. It would just mean that existence is effectively infinitely larger than previously thought; this is something we have discovered and come to accept several times already by discovering we weren't the center of the solar system, and then we were part of the galaxy, and that the galaxy is just one of billions of galaxies. Essentially it wouldn't really matter that we are a simulation would it? It makes no difference to anything experientially, its hardly different to god turning out to be real. Whilst it could explain why NHI seem to just 'observe us', again I don't feel this would cause the ontological shock being eluded to.
Denied a seat at the table
I don't see this talked about rationally all that often, but to me this hypothesis makes the most sense, seems to answer many questions about the situation we find ourselves in. People are understandably frustrated that the government/private aerospace is unwilling to tell us the truth regarding NHI, but it's very rarely pointed out in this case, that the NHI themselves haven't exactly landed in Times Square, or at the Superbowl, to tell us about how wonderful the universe is, and to welcome us into the galactic community.
This to me is a huge tell. There is absolutely a reason (or likely a combination of reasons) why NHI haven't revealed themselves. The reasons for this could be wide ranging, but a few catch my attention more than others.

1. If they help us, we will likely use whatever technology we harness to subjugate other species. Even if they give us something akin to a suit of armor, something intended to protect ourselves, that would give us an unfair advantage. If we as humans provided an ape troop with armor, I don't think it would take them long to figure out that they could easily attack rival troops without risk of injury. Helping humanity in any way would give us the ability to target other similar species with impunity, making the NHI ultimately responsible for the demise/subjugation of another species.
   
2. We harnessed a relatively powerful energy source in nuclear power, and all we did was turn it into a bomb that would quite literally blow up the planet, and pointed it at ourselves. We have spent trillions of dollars to in effect, build a big red button to destroy ourselves. M.A.D. Never has a more perfect acronym been invented, it's poetic. Does anybody really believe that humanity is mature enough to dismantle said big red button (metaphorically) without pressing it first? In a way I still think humanity really wants to push the button. You tell a child not to touch something, and all they want to do is touch it. The advanced energy source that NHI must harness to traverse the universe (or interdimentionally) would likely make nuclear weapons look like water pistols. If we can't resist firing that water pistol, we absolutely cannot be trusted with what they have.
   

Even if an ape had a handgun, I would not go anywhere near that ape until it had put the gun down. They obviously don't know what they're doing, but it's simply not worth the risk.

1. We are just another ant colony. You are surrounded by ants. Scientists estimate there are at least 20 quadrillion ants on planet earth. That looks like this by the way: 20,000,000,000,000,000. Only an extremely small percentage of the worlds population is interested in ants, they seek out special ant colonies that they likely haven't seen before in order to learn about them. The rest of us completely ignore their existence (until they become a nuisance). We could be absolutely, utterly, completely insignificant to the point where engaging with us in any way is meaningless. Whilst we are always surrounded by ants, does anybody even really see them unless they decide to look for them?
   
2. Perhaps the ontological shock only really applies to those with the power to lose. Imagine if Joe Biden appeared on television and said "NHI exist, but they're not willing to talk to me". Imagine the power vacuum that could create. To find out that one of if not the most powerful public figures on the planet is effectively ignored. What's more is, to possibly find out that the NHI aren't willing to help us because of the actions of the people in power. Most of us (I would argue), would not invent the wheel and then instantly look for someone to run over, but unfortunately, if you're willing to use the tools at your disposal to dominate others into submission, you are simply more likely to rise to power, which is exactly why so many of our leaders seem so bat-shit crazy. That would certainly be a good enough reason for our leaders to keep the secret, and would be a good enough reason for NHI to also not be too keen on revealing themselves.
   

Conclusion
In my opinion, the fact that NHI have chosen not to reveal themselves at least shows that they do not think it would be beneficial for them/us/others to do so. This points to us being denied a seat at the table in some way, and for a very important reason. My guess is it's because we need to choose to dismantle our ability to kill ourselves so that we can demonstrate the restraint needed to wield the kind of power NHI have to offer. If we knew this, we would be shocked to find out that those in power have chosen to ignore this proposition, and that it is their fault that we have not been transformed as a species equipped to engage with the rest of the universe. The last 100+ years filled with unnecessary suffering, genocide, starvation, disease, even taxes. Yes, I would feel great sadness to learn this fact. Followed by anger, injustice, a desire to hold those accountable. What a supreme waste of time and life in the service of a few people at the top.
It's likely our 'test' is whether or not we can stop pointing the bomb at ourselves without first setting it off.
Couple the above with the fact that we are completely non-special, totally ordinary, and possibly underachieving.
Lastly, I believe the NHI have probably had a hand in our evolution. They have reportedly been here for thousands of years, much like the people studying the ants, unless you had a vested interest in the colony, you would probably move onto the next colony to study.
So the ontological shock in my opinion is as follows:
NHI have had a hand in our evolution, and are unwilling to reveal themselves because we've currently got our fingers on a button that will kill ourselves. The highest levels of a small few of the worlds governments know this, but distrust each other too much and they continue to hover over the button. They can't do anything meaningful with the technology they have recovered and are essentially being ignored or denied help by the NHI until we grow up.
Seems like a bit of an anti-climax I know, but I really do believe this is likely the case. Not much else would cause me this level of sadness and even shame.
So there we have it. Again, a long read I know. I have obviously missed plenty of other possible reasons, but this was long enough as is. If you made it this far then thanks very much for listening. This isn't the end of the conversation, just the beginning. Would love to hear more thoughts on this so please feel free to share.
p.s I love this community.
Peace x

Game Tester is a platform where users provide feedback (by performing tests or answering surveys), primarily for games, but also for software. It seems to be available globally.
Non-referral link: https://gametester.gg/ Referral link: https://gametester.gg?refId=UU-65abbf942a3d715a74266978
Creating an account is very easy, and there's no approval process. You submit your personal information along with skills they ask for (known languages, tester experience, etc.), as well devices on which you have available to run tests (PC, Mac, iOS, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, etc.) and your game preferences.
Each user starts at level 1, with 0 experience (xp) and GTGOLD (100 GTGOLD = 1 USD).
Invitations for tests are based on the data I mentioned before and level. When you complete a test (or other activities), you earn GTGOLD and xp. The more experience you have, the more likely you are to be invited to tests. The amount of GTGOLD earned varies significantly; I once got a test where I earned 100,000 GTGOLD for around 16h of work. Lastly, the better and more constructive your feedback is, the more likely you are to get tips and xp multipliers.
You can cash out GTGOLD through the xtrm platform, where you can transfer directly to a bank account or get vouchers (Amazon, Steam, Netflix, etc.).
The platform has a level system, xp multiplier, achievements, bug bounty, and referrals.
Xp multiplier (Xp-m) - these are multipliers for your xp based on your performance in tests or achieving certain goals. They can be temporary or permanent. Be aware that there are positive and negative multipliers. The sum of your Xp-m affects your base xp.
Achievements - these correspond to completing objectives like finishing 10 tests, making 10 referrals, joining gametester Discordd, etc. You earn xp and GTGOLD.
Bug-bounty - you earn xp by identifying bugs on gametester platforms (website, Android app, iOS app, or desktop app).
Sorry, for the long text 😅. Just want to conclude by saying that among the platforms I've tried, personally this was by far whoere I had the best experience, both in terms of security and in the work itself, as well as the profita (around 120£ in 4 months). It might take some time, and there might not be tests for a while, but in my opinion, it's worth it.

Me and her have met on a chat app exactly 2 months ago and started casually talking. For clarification, neither of us were on that app to look for a fling or something sexual. We both are from different countries, with me being belgian and her being latvian. I currently live in Belgium while she just recently (three weeks ago) moved to Portugal to work there for 6 months with an open future. We have never met before in person due to those circumstances.
We basically talked day in and day out, with both of us mostly replying within seconds, no matter what time of the day. Got to know each other and although we are super different, we both got along good and after 2-3 weeks from starting to talk, moved to WhatsApp and exchanged any social media.
3 weeks after nonstop talking, she told me that she got attached to me and cannot deny that she has an emotional bond to me, although she tells herself not to have it for many reasons like for example meeting in person and it not working out. She said that she obviously likes me and always wanted to get to know me. She opened up about almost anything and said that I am the person that knows the most about her.
Around that time, i caught feelings for her. I told her that I like her too and that i open up for her as well, letting her know about myself in detail as well as my past. Those feelings of mine just became more and more and by this day im typing it, just became so much, that i constantly think about her and idk if a part of me already loves her although the situation with distance and all. She also said that she doesn’t want ldr (long distance relationship) because of bad experiences in the past and because she needs that person she loves around her often. We often talked about it and i confessed to her that i like her but she doesn’t buy it and always thinks im just trying to use her like all her previous boyfriends did. 3 weeks ago, she told me that she forced herself to unlike me and that she wants to keep things at friendly levels and that really hurt me. I tried to force myself to unlike her but I couldnt, she is constantly on my mind and all I want is her. She always mentioned that she does not do hookups/flings with anyone and is not interested in falling for love right now with anyone but not with me before we met and see if we get along.
Now here comes the important part in which i need help please.
This friday night, she went out with a new girl she made friends with to go party. Usually she even texts back when partying or being drunk/high but this time, she didn’t reply in the middle of the night although having read my last message. I immediately sensed something was not right and i got super worried, because i know that she isn’t in a mentally right state currently and occasionally takes drugs due to it and i just knew something was off. I didn’t double text her because I did not want to be annoying but constantly, really every 2 minutes, checked if she did text me or was active elsewhere on social media, because i care so much about her and got so worried something bad happened. She eventually texted back on saturday night around 10 pm, so basically after more than a whole day and i was really sad about this and replied somewhere past midnight, which again she just read but didn’t answer, probably went to sleep because she texted me Sunday morning back, only to tell me that she is in a comedown from drugs and has had a hookup with a guy she met in the club. At that moment, my heart break. I started to shake and cry, telling her of my pain right now and how much it hurts. She always said (and i believe her) that she never has hooked ups or anything like that and that she cannot afford to catch feelings currently because she has to focus on her work and is scared to relapse due to it. She said while sleeping with him, she thought about me and that it felt weird. She thinks about me in general throughout the day, she said. She didn’t even want to have sex but that guy was her type and she liked him at first and he kinda insisted on it. I told her that we have to stop talking because im just broken and just knowing that while i was laying in bed, checking my phone every single minute, she was spending time with someone she just met at the club and got closer to him, when that is actually all i ever wanted. Be close to her, see her in person, take care of her. I only want her. She said he texted her but she didnt answer because she doesnt care, but i think (allegedly, not 100% sure its him) they now, after i told her we need to stop talking, followed each other on insta (i know im dumb for checking it). She always said she never wants to lose me and it didnt seem like she wanted to stop talking and just followed my decisionbut im just heartbroken. I cant eat, i cant sleep, i cant stop thinking about her and im so fucking sad.
Please i need advice on this. How should i continue? I dont want to lose her. Sorry for grammar errors.

Welcome back to the DD group read! We're starting up again with the novella Point Omega. If all goes well, we will work our way into more ambitious stuff like Underworld.
We're looking for volunteers to lead each week. If you are interested, you can comment here or DM myself or another mod. You can also volunteer as a reserve in case someone drops out last second.
You are free to lead a week in any way you please. In the past, leaders have provided a summary of major plot points, opinion/analysis, quotes and other interesting things, and then a few discussion questions to lead us off. In comments, participants can answer those questions or provide their own thoughts and analysis. Here is an example of a week from White Noise.
We'll pin the post on the scheduled date and keep it there all week for participants to come and go. I will handle the Introduction - which is a chance to introduce ourselves, provide some brief context, and hint at core themes. A volunteer is welcome to provide closing thoughts in the Capstone.

Week	Date	Section/Chapters	Lead
1	May 6	Introduction	u/Old-Monk-7766
2	May 13	Anonymity-Chapter 1 (pp. 3-48) *
3	May 20	Chapter 2-Chapter 3 (pp. 49-100)
4	May 27	Chapter 4-Anonymity 2 (pp. 101-148)
5	June 3	Capstone

*page numbers are based on the 2011 Picador edition
Reserve #1:

Good morning. US stock futures rose in Monday morning trading as investors continue to monitor corporate earnings and look ahead to announcements from the Federal Reserve.
S&P 500 +0.18% Dow +0.12% Nasdaq +0.28%
📉 WEF President: Decade of low global growth ahead
​
📝 Our report: Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum (WEF), just served up a real buzzkill, warning that the world economy was in for a decade of snooze-worthy growth if it doesn't get its economic act together. Speaking at WEF’s “Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Brende warned that global debt ratios are close to levels not seen since the 1820s and there was a “stagflation” risk for advanced economies.
🔑 Key points:
​

• ”We have to address the global debt situation. We haven’t seen this kind of debt since the Napoleonic Wars, we are getting close to 100% of the global GDP in debt” Brende said.
• He said governments needed to consider how to reduce that debt and take the right fiscal measures without getting into a situation where it kicks off a recession.
• His warning chimes with a recent report from the International Monetary Fund which noted that global public debt had edged up to 93% of GDP last year, and was still 9 percentage points higher than pre-pandemic levels. The IMF projected that global public debt could near 100 % of GDP by the end of the decade.

💡 So what: If global public debt reaches 100% of global GDP, it signals significant economic challenges and potential consequences. High debt levels can increase financial vulnerability, limit fiscal space for governments to respond to emergencies or economic downturns effectively, and lead to higher borrowing costs. Additionally, governments may face inflationary pressures as they seek to reduce the real value of debt, risking economic instability. Addressing this issue requires a comprehensive strategy that combines fiscal discipline, structural reforms, and targeted investments to ensure sustainable economic growth and stability.
​
✈️ The number one airlines in the US is…
WHAT: Delta Air Lines just got bumped from its throne in airline industry tracker WalletHub's ranking of top U.S. airlines, sliding down to fourth place behind the new champ, Alaska Airlines. The airlines were scored on metrics including how many mishandled baggage reports they had, how often they canceled flights, the availability of complimentary refreshments and how often they had delays..
WHY: Alaska Airlines received the most points in WalletHub’s analysis, with a score of 68.07 out of a possible 100 points. Despite losing its crown, Delta was still found to be the most reliable airline because of its low rate of cancellations, delays, mishandled luggage and denied boardings.
​
🧾 “Big 4” accounting firms quizzed on AI cheating
WHAT: The Big Four auditors are in a bit of a pickle – they've been summoned to spill the beans on how they're stopping folks from using ChatGPT and other AI tools to ace their exams. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) quizzed Britain’s biggest auditing firms and professional accountancy bodies amid fears that rule-breakers could use AI to cheat the system.
WHY: In 2022, the FRC ordered the UK’s top auditors to crack down on cheating after discovering that dozens of employees shared answers when completing online tests introduced during the pandemic.
​
🏠 Buffett’s real estate brokerage pays up in antitrust lawsuit
WHAT: Warren Buffett's real estate brokerage, under his Berkshire Hathaway umbrella, just struck a deal worth a cool $250 million to settle some antitrust beef that is expected to change how real estate agents are paid. HomeServices of America, the largest U.S. real estate brokerage, was the last remaining defendant in a case against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and four brokerages.
WHY: HomeServices’ settlement would eliminate the risk of a much higher payout, after a jury in Kansas City, Missouri in October sided with home sellers who accused the industry of conspiring to keep real estate commissions in that state artificially high.

I cannot express to you how glad I am that this series is over. Like I said when I first read TNAIM, there was a lot of potential initially, but unfortunately, Piper continued to disappoint with every plot twist. Book 3 ends off with Nox & her pals killing Millicent, aka the Hand and the Hammer, who I totally almost just called Pollux. And Amaris and her pals are over killing Queen Moiroi. Who we still have no answers about, btw. I think it's kind of ridiculous that if you want to know what is up with that whole business, you have to buy a special edition of this book just to read a 100-page novella explaining it when it could've been explained in the actual book, but whatever.
The first 100 pages involve Nox dream walking back and forth between everyone and explaining to them all what happened in the last book. Then she has dream sex with Malik. I hated it. Ash and Tanith also bone, it's also awful. I will say that Piper’s writing has improved a bit. Unfortunately, this was still a slog, especially towards the end, but it was far easier to get through than the last three books. After all the dream conversations and sex, they make the decision to travel to Sulgrave to try and forge peace with them or something despite the fact that Tanith was sent to their continent from Sulgrave to genocide anyone with human/faerie blood. I think it was kind of incredibly stupid to have that knowledge and then decide to make a journey across the Frozen Straits where many people are known to die with next to no supplies but more on that later.
Before they cross the Straits, they decide someone needs to be left behind to rule over Aubade(but not Ceres' kingdom?). So, who do they choose? Fucking Malik. Despite the fact that Malik is a reever and is meant to be like a witcher and play no part in the king's wars, etc. But it's fine because his girlfriend asked him to do it. So, if you're a Malik fan, I'm sorry to tell you that he gets shelved for 85% of this book. He's left behind while everyone else goes to Sulgrave and only shows up for a few dream convos with Nox. I skimmed the last three chapters, so I don't know if he even shows up then. But he definitely wasn't even there for the final battle...speaking of, there WAS NO FINAL BATTLE. Personally, I think it was dumb as hell to have Nox herself go to Sulgrave especially when she only just conquered these kingdoms and hasn't even had an official coronation or established her power in either place. Like she basically pulled a khaleesi and was like okay you're free from your evil leader now...but I'm going to peace out before I can do anything to help improve your lives. Good luck! This is my friend Malik, he has no idea how to run a kingdom either but don't worry guys, I'm sure you'll be fine. I'm gonna go cross a treacherous frozen landscape even though I'm the only heir to these thrones and hope that I survive!! stupid as fuck lmao.
There's a point where Tanith uses her demon-controlling ability to summon a bunch of harpies to spread the word of...something. And that's all they do. They never show up again. Also, the northern lights show up, which made me LOL because she keeps just cherry-picking things from other mythologies and tossing them into her fictional world. The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are named that because they were named after the Greek god of the north wind, Borealis and the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora. Like, plz, Piper. This would be fine, but this is set in a world where there is literally only one religion, and that’s the All-Mother, so where are we getting these names from? There are mentions of old gods, but they’re never expounded upon. I would love it if she somehow told us a backstory where this used to be our world, but something happened to make it so there's only the religion of the All-Mother or something, idk. If Sulgrave managed to cut itself off from the rest of the continent why do they all have the same religion?? It doesn’t make sense.
I do like that some things from the older books are making a comeback, like the teleporting carriage the Madame had. (I still want to punch Amaris for being like, ‘Oh, this belonged to the lady who wanted to buy me,’ and then thinks nothing of Nox, as usual. Oh, it’s not like she had to go in your place and be forced into sex slavery or anything, aha) I was initially pumped that they were going to go back to the university(also big LOL there's only one university in the entire continent. apparently very few people get educated in this universe....which makes sense considering they're all so dumb) to get the greenstrike blood to help Tanith(another thing that is hardly explained or utilized) but that was the world's biggest disappointment just like the university plot was in book 2. Amaris went there, overreacted when Gad said they were just fight pals, broke into the room of prophecies from HP, and then magically healed Gadriel’s broken wings, and ran away. It was all just convenience for the plot. It seemed entirely useless. If they’d actually done something of note there, this plot would be so much more exciting, too. I was initially excited to see the potential drama of Amaris and Gadriel returning there, but we didn’t even get that. Instead, Yazlyn goes to negotiate with the university while Amaris and Gadriel make out in the forest. It felt like a complete letdown for some actual interesting tension. Then after this, the three of them have to travel across the frozen straits to meet up with the others in some mysteriously hidden boat. Amaris has to be carried by Gadriel and because he has a magic body-warming ability, they’re relatively comfortable while poor Yazlyn is just SUFFERING. I do understand why she’s so miserable and won’t stop complaining but Piper really has a talent for writing dialogue in the whiniest, most annoying way possible. All I wanted was for Yazlyn to stfu even though I completely get why she’s so angry.
Eventually, they make it to the boat. Gadriel tells Amaris that Nox getting sold into sex slavery is not her fault. I mean…I’m gonna be real, I disagree. While Amaris may not have used her compulsion on Nox to force her to wait, she did tell Nox to wait for her and gave her the expectation that she would come back for her only to abandon her at the first chance and not even think once about going back for her. Nox could’ve been waiting out there for just a few minutes longer before she was caught and sold to the brothel. So, it’s still Amaris’ fault. And it’s Amaris’ fault for being so self-centered that she never once thought about what might’ve happened to Nox or about getting back to her. If she did think that Nox had escaped, why wouldn’t she ever once think about where Nox was? What she was doing? If she was looking for Amaris? You can’t convince me Amaris doesn’t suck, Piper, I’m sorry.
So they travel for like two weeks on this frozen lake on a skiff on skates. It’s boring and it sucks, for them and for me. There’s a monster hunting them that only Amaris can see. The part when they dance under the northern lights was hilarious because it says they dance like the man who first discovered fire, so I imagine them all dancing like cavemen. Then their ship gets broken, and they use all their convenient powers to fix the boat(just realized that Malik was likely left behind because he has no powers), and the monster attacks. It’s called an aboriou but I literally kept reading ‘an abortion’. Amaris tells everyone to fly away so she can face the abortion and she’s all like ‘oh no I have no weapons’ apparently forgetting she has a shock wave scream. Gadriel almost drops Ash so he has to set him down and readjust his grip which draws the abortion’s attention and Amaris just keeps flailing her arms like an insignificant ant trying to get the abortion’s attention, apparently forgetting she has a shock wave scream Don’t worry though, she remembers it as soon as Yazlyn gets swatted out of the sky like a fly and Tamlin almost gets eaten. She can apparently punch shock waves into the ground now? I don’t remember her learning that ability but okay. She beats up the monster, Tamlin tames it with her demon controlling ability?(they literally said the abortion isn’t a demon it’s an animal, but okay) and then nox befriends it by giving it all of their food supply. So. Great ruling there nox.
They get to sulgrave and everyone is shocked when Tamlin turns out to actually be a criminal. They get taken to some Diplomatic hall and talk to these people who are in charge of different territories and they all have special color-coded outfits. Nox and Amaris finally bone, and they have magic communicating flowers in their room that have no on or off button so the poor guy at the front desk probably has to sit there and listen to them boning.
I need to take a second to mention how uncomfortable the polycule in this story makes me. There’s Amaris who’s apparently in love with Nox, who is also getting head from Malik on the side who is also kind of Amaris’ brother. And then Amaris is in a weird uncomfy BDSM relationship with Gadriel who is also Nox’s cousin. Amaris is the immaculately conceived child of the goddess who was made based on a prayer from Daphne, Nox’s mom—and Nox’s dad, Ceres even says that Amaris is kind of like his daughter. So it’s like…one big weird incest square almost, and I don’t like it. I want poly rep but…not like this lmfao. This makes me uncomfy. Not to mention how Gad literally tells Amaris that he owns her and she belongs to Nox so Amaris is in this really toxic throuple where she’s being shared by two cousins who own her??? Not to mention the super bizarre obsession with Amaris losing her virginity.
The relationship between Yazlyn and Ryu came out of nowhere. They shared a sort of look that’s supposed to suggest they’re interested in one another and then suddenly like idk a hundred or so pages later we get a POV from Yazlyn where she’s talking about how into Ryu she is and how great their first date was but we missed all of that which I find a huge bummer. For a story that was advertised as a bisexual fantasy I was really expecting to get to read about some actual romantic relationship building between two women. There is honestly none in this series whatsoever. Yes, I know the two lead women are meant to be in love and the main couple of the books but they spent 3/4 books apart and in this one they barely talk. We got more from the relationship between Gadriel and Amaris than any other couple. I can’t relate or empathize to any of these relationships because I didn’t get to experience them blossom at all. It’s just suddenly slapped on the page like oh btw, they’re together and deeply in love now! Am I supposed to be happy for Yazlyn that she's staying behind with Ryu? How can I be when I don't understand why? I never saw any of the things that convinced her to stay.
Ash risks it all to save Tanith which is the dumbest subplot to me. You cannot make me believe that Ash and Tanith really love each other I’m sorry but you can’t. Ash goes to Tanith’s church to try to like cajole them into releasing Tanith and he’s like ‘she should be proud of me I went to her church for her!’ Like...her church that wants to genocide you but yeah! I will never buy that these two are genuinely in love. Trauma bonded? Okay, maybe. But Tanith literally has changed zero of her opinions about half-faeries, which her boyfriend Ash happens to be. Sorry, but no.
I don't know how it went from Ash asking the church if he could see Tanith to everyone getting arrested but somehow that happens, and everyone blames Ash. I really wish there would've been more time delving into the church and how it was a cult and shit but...it's not that at all. In fact, it's written in a way that basically makes no one culpable of their shitty racist thoughts. More on that soon...
Meanwhile while everyone is imprisoned by the genocidal church, Gad and Amaris go on a hike up to the winged part of Sulgrave to visit Gad’s parents. The winged fae are called seraphim and are described as dove-winged which confused the shit out of me because don’t Gad and Yazlyn have black feathered wings? Are seraphim specifically white winged? If Gad’s parents are seraphim then why does he have black wings? Also seraphim--another thing cherry picked from yet another religion. really using that folklore degree for good, piper. Anyway, they get to his parents house and they’re not home so Gad immediately is like oh we have a house to ourselves and I can smell that you’re no longer a virgin so let’s fuck(ew)! Amaris is like….I don’t really want to but since I know Gad doesn’t take no for an answer I’ll have to use my safe word but…I’m not gonna do that...instead I’m going to literally fight for my life and make this man best me in battle before we’re allowed to fuck. Then precedes some incredibly rapey quotes.
her gasps of protest and pressing hands were mere signs of encouragement to the predatory male.
For months, he’d stopped her advances. For months, she’d tried and failed to lure him into exactly this moment. The message was clear. This was not her choice; it was his.
Meanwhile, this man is literally beating her up and tying her up not accepting any protests unless they’re accompanied by the word snowbird. I know she was trying to do like some kind of mr and MRS SMITH sexy fight scene but the reason that scene worked is because they’re two people who were in love that were genuinely trying to murder one another. This reads as one person very convincingly trying to get away while the other refuses to let them. Oh and then also when they finally do bone THERE’S NO FOREPLAY. HE JUST GOES STRAIGHT FOR PENETRATION. But the orgasm was so good that her sonic scream shattered all the windows.
I won’t lie I kind of blacked out most of what happened after this because it was so boring. Somehow Amaris & Gadriel team up with Ryu and some other people from Sulgrave to go rescue everyone. I don’t remember how they got Tanith out but she somehow helps Amaris and Gadriel. Nox does exactly what Amaris did in book one when she called out Moiroi for casting an illusion and calls Daifa out in front of everyone for implanting memories which is why everyone was a racist. Daifa’s response is oh well you’re just a liar and a false queen. Now everyone is fighting. Somehow the abortion showed up to help out too. Nox literally kills Daifa in a fucking dream and that's it.
Oh, there's a part where they fight the church, one of them telekinetically throws a lot of swords and shit at Tanith and Ash dives in front of the swords to save her but somehow not a single one pierced Tanith(that's not how that would work at all but okay piper, whatever you say). So I'm just imagining the tips of all these swords just embedded in him hahaha. Anyway, Ash dies sacrificing himself for the nazi girlfriend who wanted to genocide him and then gets turned into a fucking GOLD COIN and is never mentioned again. my god.
The main bad guy is never killed because apparently this is mean to lead into the Villains prequel but...This book feels like it’s the start of a new series, but it’s supposed to be the finale of this series yet it’s got an open-ending to lead into the prequel series of the villains. Which again, if it’s a prequel series it takes place before this series so why did this series need an open-ending unless of course, there’s going to be sequel series to this which if there is I am going to shoot myself. I’m begging you Piper, let Amaris die. She sucks.
So this book is weird to me because we defeated the big bad in the last book and now there’s a new big bad in this book who never gets defeated so…I’m confused. Like how would this series be finished then. I feel like she’s going to magically be like HAHA SIKE ITS NOT OVER THERES FOUR MORE BOOKS COMING OUT.
Oh, I do want to mention to any of you who’ve been purchasing the character art of Malik that that shit is traced. Look up the Entertainment Weekly cover of Charlie Hunnam when he was promoting King Arthur. The wrinkles on his shirt, the sword hilt, the placement of his fingers, the wounds on his arms. All of that is traced with a disproportionate head of like Liam Hemsworth slapped on top. Do with that information what you will. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And that's all I have to say. Goodbye.

I know this has been asked time and time again here but I haven't found an answer to my particular question regarding damage..
What is the benefit of a elemental weapon vs one that is pure raw damage?
From what I gather, element damage is only calculated for monsters with that element as a weakness. So for example a sword with 100 raw and 100 elemental damage would just do a total of 200 damage to a monster with the weakness for it? Or is there a multiplier that makes using elemental damage weapons even stronger vs monsters who are weak to it? Because everyone is saying it's just the two number added together... And if the monster lacks the weakness to that particular element then it's just raw damage that's calculated.... that being said, if all that's true... Wouldn't just building a weapon with raw damage only be better and more cost effective in the long run than building multiple sets of weapons with different elemental damage types? Resources are getting harder to come by as I'm leveling up and I don't want to waste bones and ores on gear if there's no real benefit to it.

Does private resale exist? Or only general resale on ticketmaster marketplace? Can you buy tickets from people selling online or is it 100% scam (if they want to transfer via ticketmaster but pay via paypal/transaction)? I know that fansale (which is an official resale site for a few european eras tour shows) makes it possible to buy directly (privately) from the seller or to put the ticket on resale for everyone. I wanted to know if anything similar works for ticketmaster and if so, how exactly (what are the steps - private link? paying methods?) Thank you for answers

Hello po hehe, sana may maghelp po isang basic accounting concept po na na-encounter ko po.
The question states that
Company X has completed the posting process for the month of June and has prepared a trial balance in which the debits total P11,000 and the credits total P11,100. Which of the following errors would be the most likely candidate in causing the trial balance not to balance by P100?
a. A P100 debit was posted as a P100 credit
b. A P100 debit was posted as a P100 credit and a P100 credit was posted as a P100 debit
c. A P50 debit was posted as a P50 credit
d. The purchase of supplies on account was never posted to the general ledger
To which ang answer po based sa answer key is C.
Bakit po siya C and not A? Thank you po sa sasagot and makakahelp na ma-clear up po ito hehe. 💚

For some context. I am that guy who gets attached to things easily. Become obsessed even. After my English teacher died of cancer and the teenage love didn't work out I became...barren of emotions. Life seemed faded.
I got used to not caring, I got used to having a stone face instead of a facial expression. I think I've got it over with. Just do what you have to do, get along with people and see what happens next.
Then I met Her. I was 19, she was 18. It's been 2 years ago now. In no time we became friends, in half a year we already fell in love with each other. That's with living a thousand kilometers apart. We shared interests, we shared a common sense of humor. We shared out values. We always came to the same conclusion. Always. As if we were the same person. We understood each other with half a word spoken. We were always on the same ground. I saw an equal in her.
We shared even our origins. She also was alone. Even worse than I had been, in fact. Everything was hard for her, not physically, but mentally. Even getting up and attending her uni normally. I didn't laugh about it at all. Not.A.Single.Time. Even as a joke. Never. She had severe problems that messed up her life and I was there to cheer her up.
I would've end up like her if my parents were less caring and didn't have that much time. Not to insult her mother, but there is not much you can do as a lone working mother. I could relate to my gf.
She opened the world of anime and manga for me, I showed her a world of proper gaming. She didn't have the will to build a PC. She had the means (her family is divorced and Mother gave a lot to her only daughter) tho. So I again cheered her up, motivated her.
She told me the budget and I chose for her the ultimate gaming station for that price.
Me: "I'll do it [visit your city] to snog you and play Bloodborne"
Her: "I love your way of thinking"
(another dialogue)
I'm thanking her for a heartwarming conversation (we talked for hours till 4 am) with "thank you for this unforgettable night"
Her: "If I we were closer, we could've had annother unforgettable night...WITH BLOODBORNE".
I've visited her city. After half a year then we first talked about it but still. I rented a PS4. We walked in the city, spent time well. It was awkward sometimes (kinda expected from two shy people) but in general it was great. She's the most beatiful woman I've seen in my life. Fair and square. Doesn't ever
I saw her scars. On the hands. Some time before I became a part of her life she was...cutting herself. I don't want to know why. This detail broke me completely. Because of this soon enough I was overwhelming her with my sympathy. She couldn't pay me with the same coin. When we talked about it I made a mistake. I told her not to worry about it, she wasn't indebted to me at all or anything. It was up to her how to "pay" me back. Yet...I didn't hold myself back. Instead of loosing the ties a bit to make her feel comfortable obsessed me chose to be 100% honest with her and pour her with my feelings. Yikes, that's not what men usually do.
Soon enough my caring became excess and instead of cheering her up when needed, I did it everytime. My caring and love became a headache for her. One reaccuring mistake in span on 5 months ruined our relationship. Misunderstandings here and omissions there...we separated.
She told me to forget her. It broke my heart. She stopped texting me. Obviously because now I made myself a reputation of an annoying dog who constantly seeks for her attention and cries about her not loving me. Her answer is logical, I understand it. But...but...I can't follow her instructions. I can't. I don't want to.
Recently, 4 months after the breakup I began to approach her again. You know, small talk, mutual friends. Sometimes joining discussions in discord.
Soon enough I asked her directly.
"I acknowledge my mistakes. I did pour you like a crybaby. That was what ruined out close relationship. When I think about it I'm actually amazed how you endured me for the last couple of months. Can I be forgiven now, can we be friends again? I can't bear suffering from my past mistakes anymore."
She replied with "Past mistakes... Not much time has passed".
I want to get her back. As an acquaintance, as a friend, as anybody. I want to hear her voice. I am truly happy only when she's nearby. I'm still playing games and reading manga she showed me because she has great fucking taste. They remind me of her.
I'll be in her city in June. I hope I'll get something repaired. If she wishes to see me again...
How do I get my GF back? :D
If yes, I'd like to hear your thoughts and ideas how to help me with my endeavor. Even if comments won't be helpful, I'm still glad I wrote this post. It helped me to process some things

Hi everyone !
Pretty new to both react / node.js and I've been following tutorials from JavaScript Mastery.
I began following this tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRQbRAJ4-Fs&t=2624s&ab_channel=JavaScriptMastery and at some point he installs packages from vite with tailwind.
I am not really 100% confident about installing and running code from "unknown" sources especially as a beginner. I've read that there are issues with using npm and installing things you did not take a deeper look into and that it could potentially compromise your system down the line. Even though vite and tailwind seems to be trusted by many, what are the best practices to not compromise your whole system / verify that the environment you are working in is safe as a beginner?
Thanks in advance for your answers and tips.
Have a great day / night.

Welcome to the HypixelSkyblock Weekly Thread!
The Weekly Thread serves two purposes:

• to ask progression questions that comply with the subreddit rules,
• to find dungeon teammates.

To prevent confusion in the comments, it is best if your comments follow specific formats depending on what you are using this thread for. Please read everything carefully to see which format applies for your situation.
Progression Questions — Info
To prevent large amounts of spam or small posts, you can ask smaller questions that don't need full posts here. Questions that should be asked here instead of making its own thread include but are not limited to:

• what stage of the game you are in,
• what you should progress for,
• questions about items and minions,
• questions about game mechanics,

However, some questions that comply with DTD have been asked very often, and as such should be asked here instead. As of this week, those questions are:

• Baby Yeti Pet/Shadow Assassin Chestplate
• Livid DaggeShadow Fury/Flower of Truth
• Baby Yeti Pet/Blue Whale Pet

Progression Questions — Formatting
Please start each progression question/comment with a line with the prefix "[PROGRESSION]" (not case-sensitive), followed by your sky.shiiyu.moe (aka SkyCrypt) link followed by whatever questions you may have (example below!):

[PROGRESSION]: https://sky.shiiyu.moe/stats/GoodboyFM/Pineapple how do i craft more minions

Dungeon LFGs (looking for group) — Info/Formatting
As per popular demand, dungeon LFGs are now taking place in this post. However, as this thread also has other types of questions, you should follow this format in order to make your LFG request distinguishable:

[DUNGEON LFG]: https://sky.shiiyu.moe/stats/GoodboyFM/Pineapple- Dungeons Class + Class level (ie: Tank 24)- Dungeons Type + Level (ie: Catacombs 24)- Armor + Pet (ie: Full 5 star fragged HPB'd Shadow Assassin armor, level 100 Enderman)- Weapon(s) (ie: recombobulated 5 star withered FOT)1- Support items (if applicable, ie: Mana Flux Power Orb, Weird Tuba)

**1**If you have multiple of the same weapon (ie multiple Bonemerangs), just list the quantity of the weapon that you have ("4 bonemerangs", "5 bonemerangs", etc).
General Housekeeping in This Thread
If you want to post a dungeons LFG and a progression question at the same time, please do so in separate comments.
Remember to also check out the sidebar and subreddit wiki (the "Menu" and "About" tabs on Reddit mobile respectively) which have some other helpful links that might answer your questions.
Happy Minecrafting!

I've been around since the beginning of The OA. Following along all this time, The OA's message has taken me on such an incredible journey over the years. The full scope of the journey isn't something that's capable of being explained into words -- it has to be personally felt.
This journey has alienated once close friends. The allegorical allusions this show took me on, was like a rabbit hole for me. I ravenously had to see what was behind each curtain/rung. No matter how painful or what was lost interpersonally.
Much of my family work(ed) in CSI, as detectives, police officers. The Netflix show Narcos I'm associated with by poxy. I haven't really watched it since it's too uncanny valley for me. Too many memories for the family involved. People I knew portrayed by another, dramatized, is just too weird for me.
To say the least, large swaths of my family were no nonsense, pure logic type of people. No spirituality, although catholic. Growing up, my peers, were pressured to live our lives in such a stringent, concrete way. Logic for my family was never overrated. So, I lived a life that was straight forward. Cis Heterosexual. The earth was metaphorically flat for the social circle I was born into.
For me? I was more of an Aerith type (FF7.) Loved nature and plants. Spirits. Animals. Although, in my early years I lived a sterile existence until I opened eye after eye. One advice I was given at a young age was that, "Just because plants don't express pain in the way that we do, doesn't mean they don't feel it." That stuck with me forever.
In my 20's, during a low point in my life, I found The OA, on a lazy late evening (think AM.) It didn't actually grab me initially, but with nothing on, I thought "what the heck." For many, that late opening credits over a snowy landscape had me in awe. My eyes were saucers.
Through the years of waiting for seasons then the eventual cancellation, The OA slowly took me on a pilgrimage (and I know many others too.) I sought the solutions for the world at large. This was during a tumultuous time in The United States. Unrest. Violence. One day, during my travels I found myself stumbling upon a peaceful BLM protest in La Jolla beach, where several dozens of us just quietly prayed.
Previously, I road tripped through LA during OA's initial cancellation (within days of it.) Around the time that one woman took a hunger strike. In hindsight, I wish I had joined her so she wasn't alone. During this time, there was such an indescribable melancholy feeling.
A crowded house song, through the years repeated in my head, over and over, as I traveled from California to Colorado.. I strolled gift shops in a small town Ouray as the song played. I met some sweet people while hiking in the area (no idea why I was wearing vans, I nearly slid down the ice cold waterfall. Lol.)
That particlar song persisted:
"There is freedom within There is freedom without Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup There's a battle ahead Many battles are lost But you'll never see the end of the road While you're traveling with me
… Hey now, hey now Don't dream it's over"
Similar to a prism, there's so many facets to this story that can't be told in a linear fashion such as language. It reminds me of how language is still inadequate for feelings that can't be described. It goes back to our primitive days before language became our primary way of conveying a message.
No matter how detailed language currently is, we're all still playing a big game of charades. There's so many different interpretations to the words we say, that it's difficult in any given situation to make sure you're coming across in a directly way.
Anyways, all of this led me to an almost supernatural synchronicity. Some which still blows my mind. I feel like a pressure cooker wanting to tell someone that story -- to anyone with an open mind. (This leads into the deeper quandaries of time, "inside the earth or above it," and the theoretical discussion of the multiverse.)
With no one to talk to about my experience, I reached out to one of my brilliant childhood friends -- a well known professor who is keen on the metaphysical. Which led me to the understanding I was having what would be called a "Kundalini awakening." As an odd sidenote, the words Liam says in seasons 2 of the OA makes 100% sense to me in a way that it gives me full blown goosebumps.
So all in all, my journey went from a flat straight forward world that transformed into a multifaceted one. A flat world that went round. This insight gained offered no straight forward comforting answers -- nothing to grab onto. It was like free-falling into the abyss, the unknown. I desperately clawed for solid ground in those early years. Seeking out help from my inner circle, which was met with rejection and ridicule. Our "mean girls"- esque clique had no room for this talk. It was too frightening. Too painful to discuss. So they couldn't comfort the bottomless anguish I felt over the world, my life, the connection with my family, nature, and the general strangeness of reality itself.
I felt like I had to march forward into the dark regardless. The show The OA feels like those coloring book activities where it encourages you to finish drawing the picture yourself, albeit in your imagination. Your imagination being a remarkable tool that'll aid you in filling in the lines. While it interweaves your own life into the messages of the OA.
The larger picture? We're all connected. And, once you see it, it's freaky at first. Then the novelty wears off and then it becomes second nature. It's not so freaky. And, you don't need to feel so alone.
I eventually went to the premiere of "A murder at the end of the world" in Los Angeles. Saw Brit Marling, live and in stereo. I felt like I was looking for her and Zal for years prior to tell them about this incredible journey, but after a rushed disappointing encounter, I realized, I didn't need to. (To the fault of no one.)
Soon after I found myself continuing my pilgrimage around the world. I already went to the house in nob hill. Treasure island. The Moraga steps. To locations throughout Los Angles. To speaking to people who were connected to the show. And, yet, there wasn't a sense of completion. I felt whole for the first time in my life, but I needed more.
So, I left the country for the first time in my life this year. I was terrified. (Maybe more so than when I was robbed in San Fransisco. lol.) Right now, I'm far from home, but at the same time, I realize no matter where you are, people are just people. Enemies, friends, acquaintances, nature, bugs, plants, animals, we're all the same -- all connected.
So, as of now, I'm still traveling. I'm quite naive, innocent from an incredibly sheltered childhood. So, sheltered I was rarely allowed to leave my bedroom for years on end, to the point of overt neglect, without socialization. Ala Harry Potter in his cupboard, nothing, but myself and my imagination. I was taught the lie that if I took a step outside, I'd be instantly kidnapped and never seen again.
With all that said, I feel like I'm on the hunt for my tribe. A place where I can finally have some level of peace with. I used to watch/read James and the giant peach over and over as a kid. I sing that song to myself still as a prayer, a chant, a dream world where I'd finally be welcomed home:
"They'll say James, James, James how are ya ? Isn't it a lovely day James, James, James were so glad you came here where we are from so very very very far."
Hoping that some day, that the song that's in my heart will lead me home. Looking back on all these years, since 2016, several people I had been close with have passed away. People who guided me through my depression. People who were a second mom to me growing up.
At the moment, I feel untethered like a kite that could be blown away at a sudden gust, to wind up anywhere. "I took the midnight train going anywhere."
I'm not the man that I was in 2016, sitting on the couch, feeling detached from the tumultuous world outside, bored sometime iin the AM. I miss the comfort of being anchored to the adults I used to look up to, but slowly, one by one, they're disappearing. I question where that leaves me. I know those people's stories/lives will continue on in my heart. What we had will carry with me.
I kept out a lot of details to keep this from becoming a novel, but at the end of the day, I'm grateful my heart is open once again. That I can feel again. Love again. And, to share that love with others.
But, home, I hope I find it.
I hope that I truly find my belonging.
Okie Dokie, , I soon make my trek back home to the city of lights.
​

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DM LOU/Roienna : Startplaying Profile/Player Reviews
[LOU] V For Vecna #1 (A 3 PART ADVENTURE) Sunday, April 28 05:15pm EDT Sunday, April 28 03:15pm MDT Sunday, April 28 11:15pm GMT+2 [1 SPOT REMAINING]
[LOU] HOMEBREW Thenemith 1 THE VIALS OF POWER ! Thursday, May 02 12:15pm EDT Thursday, May 02 10:15am MDT Thursday, May 02 06:15pm GMT+2 [2 SPOTS REMAINING]
DM Scarecrow : Startplaying Profile/Player Reviews
[SCARECROW] Humblewood 1 Fight for Alderheart ! Saturday, May 11 11:00pm EDT Saturday, May 11 09:00pm MDT Sunday, May 12 05:00am GMT+2 [5 SPOTS LEFT]
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