I have a coworker who is a hardcore Christian Zionist dispensationalist. While I personally don’t spend much time thinking about eschatology, and I just call myself an amillennialist, this is probably the most important aspect to his faith. He’s into the date setting and all of it. He’s tried to say the apostles and early church fathers agree with him, and he doesn’t seem to understand the different between historical premillennialism and dispensationalism. I explain that many Christians have been amillennialists, but dispensational theology’s rejection of the idea that the promises to Israel are fulfilled in the Church is a complete innovation. Since this isn’t my favorite topic of study, I don’t really know how to respond when he pulls out his assortment of dispensational writings and YouTube prophetic analyses. For one, it’s all so haphazard and bizarre lol. So, does anyone here happen to have any resources which refute these positions? I’d definitely prefer resources from the Church Fathers and for example, but modern writings from Orthodox sources are great too. I am more fascinated by traditional Christianity’s views on the Eschaton as a result of thinking about this, so I’d like some help in understanding and articulating classical Christian eschatological ideas in response to dispensational claims.

I am in NC with my wife with bpd for few weeks, after I left our house a few months ago. Since then, i have felt much better and I was actually thinking that yay this is the past, the future looks bright.
However I have been contacted by her family recently, which they think I abandoned her like a selfish piece of shit for no reason. They probably don't have a clue about this supposed bpd.
I have received many voice messages which are very very long and mostly shouting and crying in a foreign langage that I barely understand (my wife is from another country).
I don't know, this whole thing has hit me so hard, I feel totally depressed and I have no idea how to take it out of my mind. Maybe something happened with my pwbpd and that's why they voiced me, I don't know. Shit, what a mess.

So the title basically says it all. My husband and I have been together 10 years married for 6. The sex has gotten boring to say the least. We went from having sex every day to once maybe twice a month. I’ve brought it up to him because I told him I missed it. He brushed it off and told me he “felt comfortable” so he didn’t really think to put in any effort. That made me sad but l expressed how I felt and put it out there. Nothing changed. Still very infrequent. Regardless, I was watching a tik tok the other day and the woman was talking about how a man has never made her cum. I thought it was absurd but it had me thinking about us having sex. Has he ever made me cum if I’m doing the work? It’s pitiful honestly. He initiates it because I stopped since I was turned down so many times. the initiation is most likely him asking me to give him a blowjob. There’s not really any touching. Or kissing. Which I miss. It’s usually me giving a bj til I feel like getting on top. I usually do all the work. Sometimes I can get off, other times he nuts so fast i don’t have a chance to. And if he does, I have to get off of him. There’s no making sure I cum too, no foreplay, and it’s been like this for as long as I can remember. I don’t really even remember when he took his time to take care of my needs. I see what the tik toker was talking about. I’m having a bit of a meltdown bc he thinks there’s nothing wrong but I am sexually frustrated every single day. But I also feel like my nagging would turn him off from trying as well. My husband is the only man I’ve been with so I don’t know if this is normal or what.

Out there - Patreon (for all those curious or wanting to support :))
At the Beginning
Adventure Arc - Arc 2
Wilderness Arc - Arc 3
Academy Arc - Arc 4
Previously on Leveling up the World…
 
PERSONAL AWAKENING
​
Orange clouds floated on a purple sky. There had been a time when Dallion would have found such a sight breathtaking, or at the very least remarkable. Now, it was just another day in his realm. Sitting at the top of Onda’s tower, Dallion stared into the distance.
“Hey, old man!” the teen nymph shouted. “You’re messing up the look!”
If there was one person whose arrogance had grown along with Dallion’s it was Onda. The hammer guardian had always seen himself as a genius and, thanks to the Moonstone in the realm, his opinion of himself had grown even further.
“You’ve no idea how much time and skill it took to get it right!”
Funny. Up to today, Dallion hadn’t minded the attitude. In fact, he hadn’t even noticed it.
“I need some assistance,” he said, glancing down.
At the comment, the guardian froze. There was a spark of emotions within him that was quickly subdued.
“She said not to encourage you,” Onda whispered.
“Harp?” Dallion split into a few instances and looked around. “I won’t be doing anything reckless,” he said with a sigh. “It’s forging related.”
“Forging?” The guardian didn’t sound convinced.
“A while back, you said that there are more complicated things than crafting metals. I want to learn magic crafting.”
“Magic crafting?” Onda shivered slightly while saying the magic word.
“Whatever the proper term is. I know you can do it, so—”
“Can’t.” The guardian quickly interrupted. “She said no magic.”
“Seriously?” Dallion grumbled. “Harp!” he shouted in the direction of the harpsisword’s tower.
Other than a few waves, there was no reaction. Harp was determined not to meddle in his development, and that included not helping him with anything magic related, at least for the time being. After what had happened in Lanitol, Dallion would have thought that he’d be given a pass for reasonable requests. Apparently, that wasn’t the case.
In all honesty, his request wasn’t exactly safe or random. The thought of challenging the archduke’s son had made him remember the duel they’d had back in Nerosal, including the origami weapons the noble had used. Creating such a weapon would be very beneficial in more ways than one. For one thing, Dallion was considering upgrading Lux’s home. Having the firebird follow him about like a bladebow with kaleidervisto sights was starting to get bothersome.
“What about enchanting?” Dallion asked. “I’ve already done that many times.”
The nymph shook his head.
“That was temporary.”
Maintaining his calm exterior, Dallion waited for a short while longer, then left his realm. The first thing he felt was a wave of air hitting him in the face. Moments later, his senses returned to normal.
Normally, entering a realm while flying wasn’t the best of ideas, but it didn’t count while on a cloud fort. Initially, Dallion had wanted to avoid the fuss, but when the squad of furies within the cloud had offered to take them, the choice was made for him.
Aware of their emotions, he knew that the offer was extended mostly because of Diroh. While guard furies assisted mages, they rarely went out of their way to catch up to one mid flight. The rumors of her being royalty must have spread.
“You can rest a bit,” the fury told Dallion. He was a seasoned veteran who didn’t have time for all the rank bullshit. “We won’t reach the Academy till tomorrow.”
One additional day. If Dallion had continued flying on his own, he’d have been there by now.
“Any news?” he asked, suppressing a yawn.
“Where do I start? The Azures are gathering armies in the northeast. Mages too. I’m expecting a major clash in a month at most. The new archduke is also positioning her forces. Now that she’s been given the new spot, she can’t afford to mess up.”
It was tempting to crack a smile. It would be nice if Priscord got humiliated in the upcoming battle, but that was unlikely to happen. The emperor had picked her for the position, which meant that he’d back her up with some of his legions. Losing two archdukes in the same area wasn’t something that would look good.
“Lots of crimsons are also there,” the fury continued. “At least we get to enjoy the skies here for a while.”
Dallion nodded. He, too, was going to join them.
“A bunch of rogues formed a new enclave in the west. It’s out of the empire, so no one’s bothering for now. I told some of your lot that it’s a mistake. No one listened.”
“Someone will take care of them.”
The west, at least, was deprived of any presence. Only the Order was slowly spreading in that direction. No wonder the last Star had made his stronghold there.
“There’s been a few skirmishes in the southeast, but nothing major. The Alliance is keeping the Azures in check. Only minor kingdoms are poking about, trying to get themselves noticed by one of the powers.”
“Yes, everyone’s choosing sides.”
That was true and things were only going to get tougher. Settlements, cities, even small countries were quick to ally themselves to one of the three powers. Even before the war began, several of the minor players had made their intentions known. Most had allied to the empire. Now that its position was shaky, they were looking at the other options. It didn’t end with whole settlements either. Guilds and trade organizations had been moving about, going further to the heart of the empire or out of it. Even hunter dens weren’t immune.
Before leaving Lanitol, Dallion had flown by the structure out of a feeling of nostalgia. What he found was an empty lot. He had expected some of the hunters to have gone—there were many dwarves among them. Yet, the building was missing as well. A more optimistic person might have assumed that the hunters had found a way to take their den as they left the city. In reality, it had likely been absorbed by the overseer. Neutrality was a dangerous notion, especially if those proclaiming to be neutral were strong.
“Over a dozen ghost towns have formed on the border,” the fury said. “If they remain too long without a master, the wilderness will take them.”
“That’s how it usually works.”
The fury glanced at Dallion sideways, but didn’t add anything more. It was obvious he wanted to know more about the fury, just as it was obvious that Dallion had no intention of sharing. The moment of calm had given him a while to relax, and now that adrenalin had loosened its grip, less immediate concerns had resurfaced.
Prophecies, he said to himself. So far, he had heard two. The first had come from a nymph sheet acquired years ago. The dwarf hunter who had found it swore that an otherworlder would bring to the end to the world, or at the very least a substantial change. When combined with what Cleric had shared, the worst might have come to pass. It was Dallion who had made it possible for Adzorg to construct his device. If he found the final pieces, he might pop the barrier between worlds like a soap bubble, letting void creatures pour into reality unimpeded.
If there was nothing you could do, the Order wouldn’t have sent you, Gen said from Dallion’s realm. There’s no point in perfect prophecies.
There is if all you need to do is hide, Dallion replied mentally.
If you’re hiding, you’re not doing it very well.
Dallion smiled. His echo had a suitable sense of humor, even if it didn’t help particularly right now.
“What about vortex gleams?” Dallion asked.
“Vortex gleams,” the fury repeated. “There’s talk of a few out east. The crimsons will know more. They don’t tell the rest of us much.”
“Right.” Dallion leaned back in the sea iron mesh that served as a chair. “Wake me up when we get to the Academy. Don’t stop for anything until we get there, not even assists.”
“You’re the mage.”
If the flight was eventful, Dallion never got to learn about it. Over a day, he spent the time sleeping. To a large part, that was to diminish the fatigue that had stacked up in the last six months. More importantly, though, he was hoping to have a Moon dream. With the curse, he hadn’t been getting anything that might help. This time was no different, although it didn’t bring nightmares either. All it brought was a whole lot of blankness: Dallion closed his eyes one moment, then when he opened them again, he was a few hundred feet from the battle mage building. According to the armadil shield, they had been there for hours, but no one had dared wake him up.
How nice of them, Dallion thought and sat up.
The fury on guard was new—far younger than the previous one, tasked with keeping the cloud stable. Everyone else, Diroh included, was gone.
“Where’s everyone?” Dallion cracked his back. Sleeping on war clouds wasn’t as comfortable as people assumed it would be.
“Your novice was escorted into the building, battle apprentice,” the fury replied, using Dallion’s standard title. “All your things were moved to your room as well.”
“And the furies?”
“They were sent out on another cloud. Katka ordered that we leave you to sleep undisturbed, so—”
“I get the picture.”
Dallion cast a spell, rising up from the cloud. Without a word of thanks, he floated straight to Katka’s room on the upper floor of the building, then went inside. The magic symbols on the walls glowed brighter as he passed. Recognizing him as belonging here, they remained in their present state.
The moment he flew in, the room widened, increasing tenfold in size. This wasn’t normal. Katka wasn’t a fan of modifications, preferring to keep things as they were. Ironically, that made many of the Academy mages see her as a snob. In their eyes, illusions weren’t good enough for her, since she resorted to getting the actual physical thing and bringing it here.
The current modification spell had turned the room into a modern Earth corporate office. There was lots of space, full of desks, cheap plants, water coolers and a glass walled meeting room at the far side. Looking closely, Dallion saw four figures gathered there.
Just great, he thought.
The archmage was present along with Katka. The other two were silhouettes made of cloud matter and water, respectively. That meant that the entire Shimmering Circle had gathered to discuss something. Since Dallion had joined, there had been only one similar meeting. Back then, the “woman” Dallion had seen in Gassil’s memory fragment had also been there, even if no one had formally introduced her to him. There were a few more instances in which she had taken shape to discuss something with Katka. As for the last member, he remained completely unknown. Dallion was aware of his existence, but nothing more.
“Dal,” the archmage’s voice echoed throughout the room, as if he were using loudspeakers. “Join us.”
Taking a deep breath, Dallion made his way to the door of the meeting room and went inside. The conference table was large enough to hold eight people. The seat next to Katka was left free, indicating he was supposed to take it.
“This must be important.” Dallion said, using his magic vision in an attempt to see the people behind the constructs. He was able to see the magic threads connecting the forms to invisible portals, but not what lay beyond. “First time I see everyone gathered.”
The sharp look the archmage gave him quickly told Dallion to tone down the humor.
“We heard what happened down south,” the man said. “What are your dealings with the Order?”
“You know I can’t tell you that,” Dallion said calmly. “Moon vows and all that.”
“Convenient.”
“What I can say is that the Azures tried to take out the archduke.” There was a moment’s pause. “And myself.”
“You were targeted?” Katka asked, more surprised than intrigued.
“I guess Grym is still mad at me for last time. They managed to put echoes in a lot of the people at the banquet. Most of them were normies, but there were a few awakened… as well as the local mage.”
“We know,” the archmage said. “Would have been nice to bring one of them alive for questioning.”
“Wasn’t my fault. The archduke absorbed all the evidence. I did manage to get the mage’s robe, though. If there’s anything to be learned, I’ll find it.”
“Such a marvelous ability,” the cloud woman said. “Sometimes you make me envious.”
“That’s not why I called for this,” the archmage hissed. “A messenger arrived from the emperor himself. The vortex gleam that was spotted not too long ago wasn’t the only one. As it turns out, it’s only a drop in the bucket. There have been twenty-seven confirmed sightings, but unlike the last one, the levels are much higher.”
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this story, consider joining my patreon or check out my other stories on redditserials:
The Scuu Paradox (a Space Opera Sci Fi)
The Cassandrian Theory (a Space Opera Sci Fi)
The Impeccable Adventure of the Reluctant Dungeon (Dungeon Core Adventure Comedy)
Uncharted Waters (An Urban Fantasy Detective Noir)

I have a coworker who is a hardcore Christian Zionist dispensationalist. While I personally don’t spend much time thinking about eschatology, and I just call myself an amillennialist, this is probably the most important aspect to his faith. He’s into the date setting and all of it. So, I’ve been asking around some Christian subs to find a variety of helpful sources. He’s tried to say the apostles and early church fathers agree with him, and he doesn’t seem to understand the different between historical premillennialism and dispensationalism. I explain that many Christians have been amillennialists, but dispensational theology’s rejection of the idea that the promises to Israel are fulfilled in the Church is a complete innovation. Since this isn’t my favorite topic of study, I don’t really know how to respond when he pulls out his assortment of dispensational writings and YouTube prophetic analyses. For one, it’s all so haphazard and bizarre lol. So, does anyone here happen to have any resources which refute these positions? I’d definitely prefer resources from the Church Fathers for example, but modern writings or specific Roman Catholic sources are great too. I am more fascinated by traditional Christianity’s views on the Eschaton as a result of thinking about this, so I’d like some help in understanding and articulating classical Christian eschatological ideas in response to dispensational claims.

Current Champion: Seth Rollins
1: Drew McIntyre(SummerSlam 2023)
After a successful defence against Finn Balor at MITB, Drew McIntyre finally returns to WWE seemingly to help Rollins fend off an attack by the Judgement Day... ONLY TO BLAST SETH WITH A CLAYMORE!!! Drew turns back to his psychopath heel persona, and proceeds to BRUTALIZE the Visionary with two more countdown-less Claymore kicks, and for even more vitriol, hits a cash in attempting LA Knight with a kick as well, leaving EVERYONE furious!
Drew explains his actions by saying that in his time away he nearly left WWE, but now he is on a mission to punish those that stole away his stardom and attention after he spent the entire pandemic carrying the Raw brand on his back as champion, and having his moment ripped away from him time and time again over the last three years. Rollins is emblematic of stealing the spotlight, and he needs to humble him to reclaim his spot as the Scottish Warrior. Seth goes into the feud playing up the mind games, claiming that Drew is lucky that his title run happened in front of no one cause all he has done since then is choke over and over again and proven that he couldn't handle it now. The mind games prove to harm Rollins in the end as Drew DEMOLISHES Seth in a very one sided affair minus some comeback spots from Seth. Drew hits a claymore, followed by a stomp of his own, and one more claymore to the back of the head and ends Rollins' run on top.
​
2: LA Knight(YEAH!)(Royal Rumble 2024)
Drew maintains his grip over the Raw roster through his sadistic means of winning all the while reminding the crowd that he made a hypocrite out of Seth Rollins and sent him packing to Hollywood cause he couldn't handle the loss. He feuds with Sami Zayn, Matt Riddle, even Sheamus in an interbrand feud over the fall, heading into the new year with a fresh face in the now babyface and (hopefully) very over Damian Priest. Drew challenges Priest to remember the beast he had inside of him during his run with the Judgement Day, or else he'll be no different to the younger version of Drew.
At the Rumble, it looks as though Priest might just grit his way to becoming champion, so much so that it takes a kick below the belt preceding a Claymore for Drew to barely retain... But Priest ain't having that shit. He drags Drew outside of the ring and sends him South of Heaven straight through the announcers table! He rolls Drew back into the ring, kendo stick in hand, until WAIT, ITS LA KNIGHT!! Knight rushes down and clobbers Priest with his MITB briefcase, trash talking Drew as he announces his cash in, dodges a Claymore and plants Drew with the BFT to become the NEW CHAMPION, YEAH!!!
​
3: Damian Priest(Backlash 2024)
Knight changes the pace to an insufferable trash talker heading up Raw, claiming that this year at WrestleMania he will get the "LA Knight moment" that he promised would happen at last year's event, and that there ain't a damn thing anyone can do to stop it... And he backs up his words! He barely escapes the Elimination Chamber with his title in tact, before retaining once again at WrestleMania in a Fatal 4 Way including McIntyre, Priest and the recently returned Seth Rollins after snagging a surefire pinfall victory for Priest and escaping once again.
After this, Priest confronts Knight saying that he's a new star, but his age is against him. He doesn't have as much time as he would like, and that he wants to make a new star making memory for himself. The only way to do that is to take the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash, returning to Puerto Rico once again after last year's successful event, in a San Juan street fight. Knight agrees to the match stating that there isn't gonna be anything better than gifting Puerto Rico their own "LA Knight moment" at Damian's expense. After a wild match throughout the crowd, Knight tries to walk out on the match... AND BAD BUNNY MAKES A SURPRISE APPEARANCE!!! He nails a Canadian Destroyer on Knight on the outside of the ring, rolls him back into the ring stumbling directly into a South of Heaven through a table!! Priest pins Knight, becoming champion one year after a crushing defeat, and lives forever among his people.
​
4: GUNTHER(SummerSlam 2024)
Priest is finally a world champion in WWE, and in becoming that he feels the need to up the ante on his matches. With each title defence he becomes more and more reckless, doing crazy spots that pop the crowd but slowly chip away at his physical health. He goes through brutal wars with Ciampa, Sikoa, Dunne, Waller, even his old Judgement Day compatriots in a triple threat ladder match at MITB, but after he is victorious he is confronted by the new rulers of Raw, IMPERIUM. After ending Brock Lesnar's career at WrestleMania and vacating the Intercontinental Championship after doing so, GUNTHER made a promise that before 2024 ends, all of IMPERIUM will be adorned with gold to prove that they are "saving" wrestling. Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci conquer DIY at WrestleMania to become tag team champions, and new member ILJA DRAGUNOV(who joined in fall 2023) takes vacated IC title after it is vacated, keeping it within the group. GUNTHER refers to Priest's antics in his matches as "childish and embarrassing" and that after SummerSlam, Raw will finally have a world champion that other athletes could aspire to have. Priest responds that no matter how broken his body might be, his need to keep living on as champion will push him to be the one to slay the general with an arrow to his heart.
However, GUNTHER proves to be too efficient, too good, and too unstoppable. He picks apart Damian's body as the match goes on, finally finishing him off with a flurry of powerbombs, before locking in a brutal Boston Crab which Priest taps out too. As the show goes off the air, all members stand at the top of the ramp... and Dragunov sneaks one glance at the world title just before the screen goes black.
​
5: Ilja Dragunov(WrestleMania 41)
Over the next 8 months, the philosophy of GUNTHER and his stablemates slowly becomes more and more vicious. Given Dragunov's infatuation with pain, this is initially a match made in heaven... Until Dragunov loses the IC title to Bronson Reed. GUNTHER takes a peculiar interest to his old rival, and tries to "make him stronger" by dealing out beatings to Ilja every single time he loses a match. Ilja is struggling within himself, coming closer to bigger matches but always failing and having the "weakness" beaten out of him. All the while GUNTHER's over 2 year long unbeaten streak continues, as he goes on to conquer some of his old foes from NXT to make himself stronger like Tyler Bate, Tomasso Ciampa and Pete Dunne. Whenever asked about Ilja challenging, he brushes it off. In order to prove himself worthy, Ilja enters the 2025 men's Royal Rumble from number 1 in an attempt to recreate GUNTHER's incredible performance from 2023. He makes it damn near to the end, tossing out many, getting the crowd behind him... Before the rest of IMPERIUM finally betray him, dragging him over the top rope. The next night on Raw, GUNTHER berates Ilja for his "ego" getting in the way of everything HE has created and done for wrestling. He demands that Ilja take a beating as punishment, and goes to chop him... BUT ILJA CATCHES HIS HAND!! He blasts GUNTHER with a headbutt and attempts to fight back but is overwhelmed by Vinci and Kaiser and absolutely decimated by GUNTHER, to the point that even his comrades are baffled at the severity of it.
Ilja knows what he has to do, and he enters the Elimination Chamber match to get a shot at GUNTHER for WrestleMania, in an attempt to "reclaim his life" after he forgot who he was for so long. GUNTHER is "sickened" and sends Vinci into the chamber match to try and stop Ilja from winning, keeping Kaiser in his corner for his title defence against Dragon Lee! Ilja overcomes the odds and straight up Goldbergs the chamber, ending up eliminating EVERYONE in the match! GUNTHER retains his title and the match is finally set, the trilogy concluder nearly 4 years in the making, GUNTHER finally relents on the final Raw before Mania and says that his loss to Ilja has haunted him ever since it happened, and that his sadistic streak has been all to prepare for his chance to rectify his decisive loss to the man who may just have his number. He claims that he must send Ilja back to his family a broken man, or all his fighting will have been for nothing. Ilja claims he isn't going anywhere unless he takes GUNTHER down with him one last time, and that if he dies in the ring, he'll do it with the World Heavyweight title around his waist.
After a near 40 minute all time classic, both men beating the absolute shit out of each other for their own pride. Ilja climbs the mountain one last time, brutalizing GUNTHER until he can barely stand. He tells Ilja "COME ON, I'M READY FOR IT!" Before taking one last Torpedo Moscow, and Ilja finally defeats GUNTHER, celebrating with his family as the show goes off the air. LONG LIVE THE CZAR.

Hello all! I posted a few days ago about my approval for the Quicksilver etc. Fair credit score. Fluctuates between 612-673 depending on what platform is checked etc.
I currently have in my CC arsenal: Cap1 Platinum Secured 200CL (10 months) ; Cap1 Quicksilver 500CL (brand new). I have never carried a balance/paid interest. Kept it under 30% and always paid in full about a week after statement.
Recently , I've been doing extensive research and looking up all the correct and best ways to utilize credit safely and responsiblly. I feel as though I've been doing this entirely wrong even though I followed all the rules/advice banks give. So in turn, I have considered switching up how I do budgeting.
Normally, I put less than 100 on my CC and I pay everything through my checking. Like all my revolving fixed, subscriptions etc. Now that I have rewards, not much but something, considering putting all of the normal budgeted expenses (aside from my car , insurance, big bills) straight on my card , even if it maxes and paying it in full. Is this wrong? I've read so many people have done this and have great credit scores. They have it set to pay directly from savings, in which they place all the budgeted money in, on a set day and basically take care of it all without even having to think about it.
For reference, if its needed, my household income is 4000.00 (give or take, never really lower than that) . I have a picture of how I've broken it down on paper but can't upload it so I can type it in comments if need be. Hoping for comments from people who have used this method. advice is much appreciated.
I'm an open book so if you have any questions that will help, I'll gladly answer.
Thanks!

Seriously though. I'm not just talking about online dating but also online friendships, AND IRL. You ask people questions and try to get to know them, keep a conversation going, and not once do they return it. It takes next to no energy to text/say "What about you?", "How about yourself?", or just fucking "You?". I'm glad you enjoy talking about yourself so much but there's 2 people in this conversation. If you don't care about getting to know other people whyyy are you here?
The conversations dies right there the moment you show you have no interest in learning about the other person. Theres only so many questions people can ask before noticing you're lack of engagement and it makes the person trying to fucking talk to you feel like shit.
I've joined dating sites, facebook groups, etc.. and there's a ridiculous number of people claiming they want to talk to new people and make friendships/relationships only to bomb any conversation themselves by expecting you to carry everything. You can make it very clear you're both into the same things, like this or that, open doors, but nah they want a connection but only if it means they can be selfish and dry af.
Its so fustrating.

I woke up in the morning to the smell of something cooking.
That was definitely off. I stretched out in my bed, “I’m finally going to be done with all that bothersome ‘work’.” I told myself with a smile on my face as I eased myself out of bed and rose to my feet.
A quick burning hot shower, and I was content, all was right with the world again.
I threw on my ‘outside clothes’ and emerged to find the cause of the odorous disturbance in my domicile…Celia was standing at an oven I’d never touched in my entire life.
“G’morning.” She said. She was still in her child sized shape, and dressed in something akin to pajamas… no, they ‘were’ pajamas. Ones covered in little animal patterns.
“Uh… yeah… it is, I guess, considering that I’m awake instead of asleep, I guess it’s fine but…” I yawned and rubbed the back of my head, “Why are you up so early, and what’s with…?” I looked her up and down.
“What’s with what?” She looked over her shoulder at me with a little smug expression on her face.
“This?!” I said and waved my other hand up and down in front of her.
“Oh.” Celia’s expression never wavered.
“Well, I did a little research on Earth after my last visit, not much, but I figured I should know how to dress at least.” She pinched the soft cloth of the yellow pajamas and gave them a little tug, “These really are comfortable, by the way, you were not wrong about humans being good at comfort.”
“And your… tiny self?” I asked, and she chuckled.
“Oh, well you are the one who said I was your niece, after all. So now I suppose I should play the part. Besides, you are a lot older than I am, by what, a few hundred years?” She asked. She spun around with spatula in hand and held it up at her side like a soldier’s sabre and struck a stiff pose. “As my senpai, I think that is the word, I must look to you for guidance and instruction, and rely on you to take care of me while I am unfamiliar with everything…”
She was not sounding like a normal swapper. Then it hit me, she was much younger than I am. Young swappers are often prone to adopting the characteristics of what they imitate, we all are, really, but the younger they are the more true this is.
Another sneaky suspicion struck me, “How long have you been awake for?” I asked.
“About six hours.” She said, “I’ve been binge watching a lot!” A giant grin came over her face. “I was watching this one thing about a boy who lived with two girls, one of whom was his sister and he didn’t know which one… all the shenanigans!”
“Oh.” I dragged my hand down over my face, “Celia, how long do you usually take on the forms of other races for?” I asked.
She tapped the tip of the spatula against her cheek, “Um, I don’t know, a few hours, just long enough to do a job, I don’t do my own scouting, I’m too new for that so… maybe a tenth of this time, why?”
“Oh my… um… can you… do something for me?” I asked.
“Like make breakfast? I’m already on it, aunt Kayobi!” She laughed and spun back around and began stirring something up in whatever pan was on the stovetop over the oven. “I saw this thing where a dragon girl kept making omletts and they were too big, so I decided to try my hand at making them. Thankfully you had some stuff I could sort of improvise… I don’t know much about taste but-” She was rambling, I had to cut her off.
“That’s fine.” I interjected, “But… hasn’t anyone ever told you that you shouldn’t ‘swap’ for this long without going back or at least going to something else?”
“Yes, but it’s no problem, this is a human body after all and humans are super easy. It’ll barely be an inconvenience to shift to anything else. After all, they’re sort of shaped like us, who knows, maybe they’ll evolve into swappers too one day, if that healing factor of theirs keeps improving at least.” Celia said, she didn’t see the concerned expression on my face.
‘This is not good. No, this is definitely not good. She took on the characteristics of a child, a human child, and those are reckless, negligent, have horrible survival instincts, and routinely dismiss danger or problems to an absurd degree. It would be exactly like a human child to neglect the obvious in favor of just doing nothing…plus she’s young so she’s even more vulnerable to these things…’ I had to suppress my groan.
If she couldn’t swap back, she couldn’t go back. Not in the ‘oh no she’ll die’ sense. Not in the ‘she’s violated a law sense and will be harshly punished’ sense either.
No… no. If word of this got back to the others, she would be absolutely disgraced and shamed beyond all reason. It’s not as embarrassing as say, waving back at someone who wasn’t waving at you. It’s a thousand times worst.
It’s more like… if a human lost control of their bowels at their job where friends and family worked. At that point you might as well quit, change your name, and start your life over in a whole new place in the world.
Celia would never be able to look at the rest of her coworkers again without a sense of disgrace… and I know Celia. She’s a nice one, sort of sensitive about even asking for help, kind of insecure, really. She wouldn’t be able to handle it, she’d have to quit.
I sat down at the table. “Celia, I want you to do something for me, and I don’t want you to panic.”
“I know, I know, you want some red peppers added on top of your omlett, don’t worry, I saw you didn’t have any, but I saved some from the pizza last night, they included a couple of packets. I didn’t throw them out, so I’ll just add those real quick to your omlet and…”
I cleared my throat. “No, no, that’s fine.” I said.
“Oh, then here you go.” She said and slid the omlet onto a paper plate and handed it to me along with one of my many plastic forks.
“I want…” I started to say, and she leaned forward, her dark hair tumbled down behind her, she was waiting for me to try her food.
I stopped. I looked down at the dish. It actually smelled really good. I usually cooked bacon in the microwave, it seemed she’d chosen to use the oven, and that paid off. I could smell the bacon inside, and my mouth began to water.
I cut into the yellow goodness and then raised a bite to my mouth, the cheese within stretched into tiny strings and I put the morsel onto my tongue.
Flavor exploded. “This is amazing!” I shouted.
She grinned ear to ear and waited for me to take a second bite. I stopped myself, I set the fork down and set my palms flat on the table. “No, no Kayobi, don’t get distracted.”
“What?” Celia asked, “You said it was good, right?” She asked.
“Yes… and it is. But I need you to do something else… something not food related.” I said, and her mouth closed before she could ask whatever was on her mind.
“Try to swap back to your natural form.” I said.
“But that’s-” She started to object.
“Just do it.” I said.
She shrugged. “Fine.” She breathed out the annoyed sigh of every teenager in the history of humanity.
I waited.
She looked down at her hand. Her feet. She looked at her reflection in the glass window on the wall. She gritted her teeth and clenched her jaw and began to grunt and groan.
“I…what…” Celia’s eyes went very wide, she kept trying.
But she also kept failing.
“I’m… stuck.” She whispered.
“Yup. Looks like.” I said, and she looked at me with an expression of horrified shame as if she’d shat herself in front of me.
I held up a hand to stop the horrified apologies or bawling or whatever.
“Relax, nobody else knows, I won’t tell anyone, and I’ll help you get back to normal.” I promised.
A few minutes later, I knew what tears of relief on a human looked like when she was asking…
“You’re really not going to tell anyone… you’re going to help me get back to normal and never say a thing, you promise?” She asked.
“Yes.” I answered.
“Thank you…” Celia whispered and began to wipe her nose, I shrugged off her thanks and took another bite of the omlet.
“Don’t worry about it but… can I have another one of these before we get to work?” I asked, and a smile slowly came back to her face as she got up to make another.
“Do you know how to fix this?” She asked.
“Nope. But I have a clue.” I said as she opened the fridge to get out more eggs, cheese, and bacon.
“How?” She asked tentatively, looking over her shoulder at me while she rummaged.
“We wing it.” I said, and for good measure, brought wings out of my back in the hopes of making her laugh.
It got a little one, and that was a start, at least.

I am coming up on my final 2 semesters and this is the first time I have been on a waitlist. I am an online Psych major and am #10 on Spanish II and #35 on Theatre Survey both online. Does anyone have any experience with waitlists? Should I prepare to take other courses or am I an in a good spot?
Theatre Survey is a 82 person class and Spanish II is a 32 person class at the moment. Not sure how the wait-list works. Is it based on how many people drop?
I had some advisors mention I had good chances but unsure myself and don't want to be stuck staying additional semesters over this.
Thanks in advanced!

Currently, I am 27 years old and living with my family. My plan is to not continue that hopefully soon, but I need to get my life "on track". That would involve getting back on my medication to reduce anxiety, finishing school, and hopefully find some sort of career.
What I am going to school for right is something I do not have a passion in, cs, and I am aware that I made a mistake. I am willing to start over and try something else. When looking over potential undergrad programs at a local university, nothing is catching my eye as far as passion goes. The money is truly second. As long as I make enough to support my existence and whatever hobbies I will eventually get into.
More about me: I have been working part-time and full-time since I was 16, did not achieve well in school before college, went into college with no plan and thought Computer Science would be fun, and took several breaks from college due to mental health issues that have barely been resolved.
Something I have done to solve the problem of "What career should I get into?" is I thought about what I enjoy doing at jobs I have worked at and what did I prefer to work on in school? To give more context as to what I enjoy doing at work, I dunno, I guess solving an issue where something went wrong. Tracking down how it happened and when everything occurred. For school, I wasn't in a high-level class but I did enjoy working on mathematics. I think I rarely asked for help but obviously it wasn't a challenge anyways. It is possible for me these days to take on more than just mathematics as reading and writing has come a little easier to me (this post notwithstanding as I have made many grammatical and tense errors).
Additionally, I am seeing a therapist again.
Are there any resources or advice that y'all could provide so I may find a solution?

I wonder how many other middle aged dads have made some extra bucks dashing at times when they’d be doing little else.
Example, on Sat/Sunday morning, my family sleeps in until 10AM. I’m usually up by 5:00 AM. My wife calls me insane, but hey, it is what it is. I don’t need the money, but I certainly like an extra 100 or so a week.
I’m maybe 5-10 hours a week.
Any other middle aged folks do this to just keep busy? I’m kinda at the point in my life where I feel badly just wasting mornings when the family is sleeping…..
DadDash it is!

This is a cautionary tale. The evening of May 5, 2023 I was contacted by a Telus sales rep for what was a pretty good offer, so I made the decision switch from Shaw. Install date was set for May 24. May 23 I get notified that the drilling for the fibre optic line can't be completed because they can't get locators and my install will be delayed to June 9. Drillers show up the next day and install the fibre drop. Come June 8, I receive an email that my appointment has been moved yet again to June 11. I have many many calls to very unhelpful people telling me that the fibre drop has not been completed. I know the company that does the drilling for the fibre drops and is a personal freind of mine and my father in law, and he assured me that it's been done. Finally the last person I spoke to on June 9 admitted that the technicians are over booked and can't make it. Now today not 10 minutes ago, I received a call from someone at Telus again insisting the fibre drop is not complete and the appointment must now be moved to July 3.
I want to know, how is this acceptable business practice?

TMF: compress your meshes by 86-89%, blazingly fast! TMF is a file compression format written fully in Rust that achieves both high compression ratios, and insane decode speeds. It also aims to provide a user-friendly, explicit and well-documented API.

What did this update(0.2) bring:

1. File size cut by half!
2. Single-threaded read speed increased ~3x times!
3. Support for decoding a mesh on multiple threads at once, which in some test cases cut decode time by further 2.8 times!
4. Support for mesh tangent data.
5. Support for custom mesh data! Add named mesh data, which is too, automatically compressed! Currently supports: IndexArrays, Intiges, Floats, and RGBA colors.
6. Both the TMF reader and writer have been completely overhauled, and extensively tested by fuzzing, so reader should never crash!

How good is tmf at compressing?

Here is some comparisons with different model formats, comparing tmf to a wide range of other formats: Model used for comparisons has 15.7 k triangles, and it is available as sunsan.obj in testing folder of the repo

Format	Size
.obj	1.3 MB
zip(deflate) compressed .obj	367.7 kB
.fbx	651.0 kB
zip(deflate) compressed .fbx	600.6 kB
.gltf	476.5 kB
zip(deflate) compressed .gltf	302.1 kB
.glb	356.6 kB
zip(deflate) compressed .glb	267.5 kB
.tmf	308.3 kB
.tmf with pre-encode optimizations enabled	165.5 kB
.tmf with pre-encode optimizations and hand-picked quality settings	147.3 kB
zip(deflate) compressed .tmf	307.9 kB
zip(deflate) compressed .tmf, with pre-encode optimizations	162.8 kB
zip(deflate) compressed .tmf, with pre-encode optimizations, hand-picked quality settings	145.0 kB
draco on max compression settings	~22 kB

As you can see, a .tmf mesh is smaller than almost all the other formats, except for Google Draco. Draco is still about 5x better at compression, but tmf is now far closer(previously it was ~10x worse than Draco). The situation might seem clear-cut, but there is one more metric to consider: decode speed.

How fast is tmf?

TMF is crazy-fast. Decoding a mesh with 15.7K triangles takes just 675.85 µs(on a single thread), that is 0.675 ms! At its size of 165.5 kB, we could estimate decode speed to be roughly 244 MB/s, which means that for HDDs and many cheaper SSDs, you could decode data faster than you could read it! What is even better, it is so fast, that on most systems it would take considerably more time to read an uncompressed 3D model, than it would take to read and decode a.tmf file! Comparing to Draco again, decoding this same exact mesh took Draco around 7-10 ms, which means that tmf is on average about 10 to 14 times faster than Draco! If we were to take the 10 times figure, that would mean that while Draco compresses meshes 5x better, it also decodes them 10x slower than tmf. Of course, we should take this with a pinch of salt. I have little experience using Draco, so it is entirely possible I just used it improperly. It is still, however, very rewarding to see my project come even close to something made by a team of people at Google.

Thanking my contributors

This was also the very first of my Rust projects that had someone else contribute. So I would like to thank people who have contributed: https://github.com/nicopap - various small, but significant QOL improvements to the API and suggestions for features https://github.com/CptPotato - for work on better encoding for normals (not merged yet, so something to look forward to in 0.3!)

Links:

https://crates.io/crates/tmf https://github.com/FractalFitmf

Any questions?

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I will try to answer all of them.

I think H3 is doing a big disservice to their audience by platforming this guy.
I became suspicious of this character after he discussed only a small aspect of the nutritional research on low- or no-calorie drinks. There are studies that argue that these products can contribute to dementia, for example. It was pretty clear that he had no research experience in the field, so I looked into him more carefully.
Ostensibly, he's a Britain-based Physician with a Masters in Nutrition who works at a "Midlands Based Hospital" : Sources #1, #2
Trained medical and research professionals have their credentials and education backgrounds listed either on their employer site, on LinkedIn or on both. I can't find anything about his background or his professional position--other than the information he has given about himself on his Instagram or in interviews. He wouldn't be the first to make up his background.
Additionally, he has no background in research, since he has no papers in the medical or scientific literature. (Note: the two authors listed are not Dr Idz)
At the same time, Dr Idz promotes a payed membership for $15.99 a month to his school. His background and credentials aren't even discussed on his own website! What schools did he go to? What hospital did he practice in? Why should I listen to him? Because he likes wearing a white-coat, a stethoscope and he calls himself Dr Idz?
H3 has given Andrew Tate a lot of grief for his payed monthly subscription--and with good reason. However, I can't see how this isn't a similar grift.

I have a coworker who is a hardcore Christian Zionist dispensationalist. While I personally don’t spend much time thinking about eschatology, and I just call myself an amillennialist, this is probably the most important aspect to his faith. He’s into the date setting and all of it. He’s tried to say the apostles and early church fathers agree with him, and he doesn’t seem to understand the different between historical premillennialism and dispensationalism. I explain that many Christians have been amillennialists, but dispensational theology’s rejection of the idea that the promises to Israel are fulfilled in the Church is a complete innovation. Since this isn’t my favorite topic of study, I don’t really know how to respond when he pulls out his assortment of dispensational writings and YouTube prophetic analyses. For one, it’s all so haphazard and bizarre lol. So, does anyone here happen to have any resources which refute these positions? I’d definitely prefer resources from the Church Fathers and for example, but modern writings or specifically Anglican sources are great too. I am more fascinated by traditional Christianity’s views on the Eschaton as a result of thinking about this, so I’d like some help in understanding and articulating classical Christian eschatological ideas in response to dispensational claims.

Hi all! I am a student who is preparing for graduation school admission and I am so lost. I have to take an important test very soon that will determine if I will be able to have the career I want. To be honest, there’s just a big chance I won’t do well enough on it to get my dream career. I guess my question is how do I let go of the pressure and anxiety of this one thing. obviously at the end of the day it’s a job, and I am so lucky and blessed in so many other ways. But the anxiety is killing me, I can’t sleep which leads to a terrible cycle of not being able to study well and then puts my mental health in a very low place. How do I not place all of my self worth on if I can get this one career? How do I move past the fear of failure and into a more productive state of mind?

This may be best coming from those who are in the career or guide me to Reddit thread that may answer this.
I’m looking for help with perspective shifting. I am currently trying to keep my current therapeutic relationship. I am dealing heavily with transference at the moment in regards to friendship not romantic. I did not realize this was going on until I personally knew of others who ended up going to my counselor. Now I am met with an onslaught of jealousy. I feel as if I am not longer special, my counselors care for me is no different than with the others, and anything my counselor says I feel as if they would say to anyone else. I feel like I’m simply a wallet and they have to tell me what I want to hear. My counselor is trying to reassure that they do care but I feel like what’s the point in that there are at least 30 others they would say this to.
Please help with the perspective. I would love to hear how counselors have come to value their many clients and possible help salvage the idea that I do still matter.

A little history.
In 2015 my gaming club made the switch from Pathfinder to OD&D via Swords & Wizardry. Now we have over 300 sessions under our belt in our own homebrew Sword & Planet, Dark Fantasy setting with many sci-fi elements.
As our campaign as progressed I have found myself dipping into the AD&D~ DMG. At first it was just a little. And then more and more until finally at around the 200 session mark we had progressed from OD&D (White Box:FMAG) to OD&D plus supplements once we hit level 10 (Swords & Wizardry Complete), to S&W plus a ton pulled in from AD&D~ DMG.
Now I have to admit I didn't really dig AD&D up until recently. BUT I have now realized just how amazingly robust this system is. It really covers all the bases that could pop up during a long-term campaign. There are tables for EVERYTHING. Now this use to be a turn-off for me before. But I now see just how invaluable the AD&D~ DMG is for running long-term Campaigns.
In fact my opinion of AD&D has COMPLETLEY changed, but only do to running such a long campaign. I don't think I would have come to appreciate AD&D so much if we hadn't played for so many session.
I now realize that AD&D is something you GROW into during long term play. I found my group growing into, as we were outgrowing the systems we were playing in. I can remember reading through the AD&D~ DMG and thinking WHY would there be a table for this? Well 5 years later I was using that very same table and more.
For our next Campaign my gaming group and I will be using AD&D as we have finally grown to appreciate it.
I could go on but I am on a quick break at work so I will end it here.
Onwards to AD&D!

I’m most likely coming into a startup because I like and trust the founder, and I think the product has a lot of potential. This is my first time attempting a startup, but I have some small business experience, being contracted to build MVPs, and doing freelance. My only concern is about the advisory board.
First of all, I’m not convinced an advisory board is necessary. It feels like one of those things that everyone says you should do and everyone does because everyone else does it. I’d rather create a board out of necessity than “just because we’re told to”. Second, ours seems crowded and ineffective.
The current makeup of the board is this:

• Two enterprise level customers in the domain we serve
• Another domain specific expert
• “Serial” entrepreneur with an apparently successful exit
• IT/tech sales person in a big company
• Owner of related company who can put us in touch with over a hundred enterprise level customers in our domain.
• CFO who isn’t on the board but is giving advice regularly.
• Someone else who isn’t on the board but is helping with the startup
• Research person that was just added.
• They want to add an HR person to the advisory board (We don’t have employees)
• They tried to add a tech person to advise me (a tech person) but I said no.

They all look amazing on paper, but I’m not seeing a lot of actual results.
Most of the web suggests to have a max of 5 advisory members, where I’d prefer 1-3. Shouldn’t the board members know there’s too many people and advise of this?
From what I can find, Investors don’t like large advisory boards because of dilution, and too many people make decisions harder and slower. ChatGPT says it demonstrates the founders lack expertise.
Also, it seems like things that should be advised of haven’t been handled to the degree I’d expect from a quality advisory board.
The pitch deck didn’t give me a clear understanding of the problem. I had to read through a lot of documents, imagery, and go back and forth with the founder to understand the problem and solution. Reading through it a second time I see it more clearly, but I feel like a quality advisory board would have advised it be redone until it quickly, clearly explains the problem to anyone who’s not an expert in that field. Right now it feels like only an industry expert would understand in a short time. Even then, it's lots of words and difficult to consume quickly.
In the small business world there’s a concept of the 30 second elevator pitch, where you can explain your business to anyone, and it took me hours to figure out what was being solved. It’s a complex topic, but I still feel like it’s possible, and extremely important to condense it into a quick, digestible sales pitch.
The pitch deck also didn’t give any industry growth numbers, no how much money we’ll make, no competition listed or anything financial, no plan on how they're going to acquire customers, so I had to do my own research on that, which is when I got excited about the product.
When I met them they didn’t have a pricing model that they were set on trying. I think they had some ideas, but they’re really driving down the “get funding” route, so you’d think a variety of pricing models would have been clearly defined since they want to pitch investors.
Also it took them about 5-6 months to find a tech cofounder (me). I’m pretty excited about the potential. I think it’s a huge opportunity, and anyone who understands the solution would want in, so I’m surprised it took 6 months to get someone fully committed.
Why hasn’t anyone recommended the cofounder matching platform? Anyone in the startup world should know about it. There’s also a bunch of tech meetups they could have gone to to mingle with developers. With how many "job boards" and "restaurant app", "sport app" and 'social media' ideas are out there, this was a breath of fresh air, guaranteed to capture interest.
Did anyone advise them that hiring a dev shop is a horrible idea? They were close to pulling the trigger before I showed up, and with how complicated the problem domain is, I imagine it would have been a nightmare working with an agency.
I also think four “industry specific” professionals on the board is too much. Rather than give equity I think a referral program would be much cheaper and more successful.
I’m undecided on the idea of having HR on the board, or possibly attorneys. I think these types of things we should at least consider paying fair market value, as they have a good chunk of savings and income.
Anyways, are these red flags? It just seems like a quality advisory board would have these things buttoned up better than they are. Maybe they’re serving other roles.
There’s been no commitment yet to give any specific amount of equity to any board members, so I think I am going to tell the founder we need to take a step back and consider what each board member brings to the table, or switch to a cash payout instead.
The founder has been very successful in the industry, and is extremely easy to work with. Our values align and I really think we have a great working relationship so far. All of my orange and red flags revolve around the advisors….
I’m not afraid to talk over this with the founder, but I am afraid of going into the conversation unprepared. So I’m hoping you can share your thoughts. It’s possible I’m just making bad excuses to cut people out because I don't want to share the equity, but it also doesn't feel like they're providing value worth giving equity for. Am I making a big deal out of nothing?