This subreddit will be joining in on the June 12th-14th protest of Reddit's API changes that will essentially kill all 3rd party Reddit apps.

What's going on?

A recent Reddit policy change threatens to kill many beloved third-party mobile apps, making a great many quality-of-life features not seen in the official mobile app permanently inaccessible to users. For us here in /MagicArena, the biggest issue is how this change destroys many third-party accessibility features that our users need. Magic is for everyone, and we stand with any and all of our users harmed by this corporate choice. It is also unclear whether or not this change would harm some of the helpful community tools we host here, including Card Fetcher bot.
Additionally, we here at /MagicArena have more than 60% of our regular traffic drawn from mobile reddit experiences. As a cross-platform gaming community, with significant mobile users, this decision hurts our subreddit more than most. We would also note that the widespread recognition of this issue among other Magic related communities like /EDH and /Pauper, among others, demonstrates how the Magic community at large takes this platform related challenge seriously.
For context, on May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo to Reddit is Fun to Narwhal to BaconReader.
Even if you're not a mobile user and don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as Reddit Enhancement Suite or the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface.
This isn't only a problem on the user level: many subreddit moderators depend on tools only available outside the official app to keep their communities on-topic and spam-free.

What's the plan?

On June 12th, many subreddits will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed, since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app. This isn't something any of us do lightly: we do what we do because we love Reddit, and we truly believe this change will make it impossible to keep doing what we love.
The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll use the community and buzz we've built between then and now as a tool for further action.

What can you do as a user?

• Complain. Message the mods of /reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
  
• Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join the coordinated mod effort at /ModCoord.
  
• Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
  
• Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please observe all of our rules as we discuss this topic.
  Please feel free to ask us questions below. We know we do not often interact in this way with you all; and we appreciate your understanding and constructive discussion.
  

Thank you for your patience in the matter,
- MagicArena Mod Team

Hello,
Recently diagnosed In March and trying to test my BG as often through finger pricking when I’m trying new foods especially cheat meals or if I feel off. It seems my fasting #’s are at 90-100 and after meals it can be 95’s-110’s.
For example, I’ve had a 1.5 slice of pizza went on a walk, was out for 3 hrs to run errands and didn’t check until I came back home to see my BG around 100. Yesterday, I also had chicken cacciatore with lupin flour pasta and a cup of watermelon after dinner yesterday and tested 2 hrs after and my BG is 94. Month ago, I went on 5 mile walk got Chinese food and had this sweet sticky breaded chicken with sweet potatoes and a meat veggie dish. I was afraid it would spike me but it was only somewhere in 100’s when I went to check later that night.
My question is do I exactly have to time it (1-2 hrs after eating) testing myself to know when I spike? I’m scared that I have already spiked and I had just missed it when I’m out. How long does it take if to go down if you do spike? Idk, I just haven’t hit a high number yet when I’ve checked It feels like I’m doing something wrong. I’ve paired a fat/fiber to balance anything that has carbs. The 2nd highest I’ve had was 118 getting Korean bbq, tofu soup, had 4-5 rice cakes, and 3 tablespoons of purple rice. The highest I’ve had was being hospitalized in March eating stacks of pancakes with bananas at BG of 150.
Sorry if this sounds silly, I’m just worried.

My husband of nine years and I have a very unhealthy distancepursuer relationship dynamic. He tends to be aloof while I am needy (due to CPTSD). In our conflicts, I complain about my needs not getting met, and he takes it as criticism and shuts down, which causes me to feel worse, and the cycle continues. We have always been like this and have had a LOT of conflict because of this, but I thought he would never betray me and loved me deep down. However, one year ago I found out that he had been having an emotional affair for the last four years.
After I found out, he cut her off, but he was very passive about the reconciliation process as with everything else in our relationship. I did all the research about infidelity recovery and gave him a list of things to do including marriage counseling, an open phone policy, reading a book about infidelity, initiating regular discussions about my feelings, etc. He did none of those things, so I finally got fed up with him and we separated two months ago. He has been looking for an apartment and we have been going back and forth considering divorce. I have been asking him to at least do couple's counseling, but he keeps refusing, saying he doesn't think our dynamic will change, so there is no point.
Aside from his affair, I have always felt unhappy with him because he isn't reliable in general, doesn't contribute equally to housework, has a low sex drive but watches porn regularly, has poor hygiene, and works a job with crazy overtime so I never get to see him and never feel prioritized.
Despite all of the above, I am totally unable to just make myself divorce him. What my husband has done is unforgivable, and he has been a bad partner, but I feel like he's the only person who really understands me. I can talk to him for hours, and he really listens deeply and carefully. He seems to really get me on a deep level, and he's the one person who I feel I can be myself around. I feel least alone when I'm with him. We also have the same peculiar niche interests, the same sense of humor, the same style, we like/dislike the same people, etc. I just feel like I'm talking to my soulmate or best friend when I'm with him.
On paper, I know that it looks like I'm in a bad relationship and should just leave. But because I feel so close to him and love him, I can't help thinking that maybe I should just forgive him for what he did and try to move past it. I know that he would be willing to stay with me if I didn't ask him to do particular things to repair trust. And yet, I know it's not that simple and that I do need some level of effort on his part for my own peace of mind.
So I am stuck in the separation limbo, unsure where to go or which way is forward. What do I do? How do I make a decision?

No Timestamp due to age and flair
Hows it going, unfortunately im letting go of one of the cooler rifles in my collection to save up for more guns lmao
Shooting vids and more pics on request for serious buyers only pls
Not looking for trades at the moment
WE Scar L GBBR - $730 Shipped and feed obo - https://imgur.com/a/XfhWKlr
Internals: - Poseidon 6.05 inner barrel - Maple leaf 60° bucking - shimmed hop up with a piece of paper so that recoil doesnt change hop setting, its hard to turn but it will still adjust - added heat shrink to the bolt catch, locks back on empty 100% of the time - Nozzle has 2 washers inside, currently shoots at about 340 FPS, removing washers will bring it back up to 400+ FPS
Externals: - Airsoft Artisan M-lok front end - 1 in outer barrel extension (no flashhider) - Renegade Scar SC stock - Repro Vortex UH-1 - Repro SF Scout Light w/ 45° offset mount - PTS Magpul MBUS2 Irons - Cracked sight protector - RS Magpul K2 Grip - RS Magpul AFG2 M-lok adapter - Repro AFG2 - Barricade stop not included (covered it in red in the pics)
*batteries on light and sight will be removed for shipping
Extras: - Original stock + hardware - Original rail system + hardware - spare for parts nozzle (did the NPAS mod but doesnt work well, nozzle as a whole works fine but will not adjust FPS) - Spare Recoil rod/spring assembly - Original front sight (no rear sight) - 6 non-leaky mags
Guns Modify SAI G17 RMR kit - $230 shipped OBO - https://imgur.com/DPyLwUd
Brand new SAI G17 RMR kit for the TM G17/34/22 (Can fit WE with some mods). Don't wanna sell it as it seems GM hasnt made a new batch in awhile but i need money lmao. Last 2 images show my GM G34 RMR to give you an idea of how they look.

This war is awful, but I feel that too many of us are becoming addicted to news of it from the safely of our houses unimpacted by the war. I include myself in this safety net. We laugh at the dumb Russians and their terrible logistics, we say the Russians can stop this at any time by leaving. We consider why the Russians don't just shoot Putin.
We need to stop this.
Firstly, we need to stop pretending the counteroffensive will end the war. The counteroffensive's hype is overbearing everyone's logic. It doesn't matter how much Ukraine has trained and what equipment they have, Russia still has hundreds of thousands of soldiers in defensive belts with minefields, trenches and obstacles. We laugh at these as we see footage of a Challenger II pushing them over.
But Ukraine has 14 Challenger II's and they haven't arrived at the front yet. 14 isn't enough to turn the tide.
The Leopard 2's are far superior to anything the Russians have, but unless Ukraine has set up the logistics for them, they won't be able to make much of an impact. The Bradley's will be formidable, but if they get stuck in a minefield and abandoned, we'll watch on forlornly as the "great counteroffensive" comes to a tragic end. Russia doesn't even need men in trenches; they have artillery. It doesn't matter how old and garbage the artillery is: they have enough of it to stop things moving or to make Ukrainians hide. I don't care how many memes there are about World War 2 artillery, 400 artillery rounds landing around a human being does terrible things regardless of era.
Secondly, the idea that Russians will turn their guns on their commanders or leaders is ludicrous at best. How many of you work in awful jobs you hate yet tolerate all the garbage decisions your manager makes? How many times do you show back up despite every fiber of your being telling you this is the wrong place for you?
Now imagine that but the consequence for not showing up is death. Hundreds of thousands of Russians have emigrated from the country. They probably have thousands of deserters, possibly tens of thousands. They are leaving, they are giving up. But not enough of them to make the war stop. They will keep fighting, they will keep making new units. Please stop pretending this is a viable option.
We must temper our expectations or we will end up the exact same as the Russian milbloggers we make so much fun of: living on hopium and copium. Ukraine is not perfect and Russia is not useless. The two Ukrainian offensives last year were successful, but remember that Kherson was a long, brutal battle with heavy losses. If we read news about failed Ukrainian attacks, we dismiss it immediately and without question.
We MUST NOT fall prey to the same copium cages that the Russians live within. Thousands of Ukrainians will die in the counteroffensive, it may break on the first trench it comes across. We don't know.
Please be realistic about your expectations. The dreams of Leopards ploughing through the countryside on their way to Moscow is a dream that will never come to be. If we choose to live in the world where Ukraine cannot fail, we will be in denial and if they fail then we will be distraught and have to choose to either go further into denial (It's propaganda! It's just a probing attack! The real offensive hasn't started!) or to be so crushed by the news that we become defeatist.
I hope with every fiber of my being that Ukraine flattens the Russian Invasion. Too long have Russia meddled in our politics and way of life, infecting the angry and isolated among us and turning them against our own countries. Too long has Russia bullied it's neighbors and now has terrorized and murdered it's way across Ukraine. I want them to lose, but I refuse to live in this fantasy world where Ukraine is perfect and the counteroffensive wins the war.
Be hopeful, be compassionate but most importantly: be realistic.

I’m 48, and most likely in perimenopause. The dr thought I was after my last child was born because my periods got much, much heavier immediately after her birth (all pms symptoms did) but that was 13 years ago so I doubt I’ve been in perimenopause that long. But around the same time I noticed that I was getting really bad PMS symptoms at the end of my period. I’ve never really had much “pms” to speak of. Nothing that affected my day to day anyway. But I’ve noticed more and more how much I’m being affected by this. It feels like it’s totally opposite of the way it should be. I have a few really, really good days where I’m in a great mood, have energy, I’m productive. Then bam, my period starts and it’s downhill from there. Around the last day of bleeding and for several days after I’m a total mess. Anger to the point of rage. I can’t think. I feel like I’m going to explode. That’s not me, it’s not my norm.
Once a month was bad enough but I guess now I’m REALLY in perimenopause because I’ve had three periods in a row with only about two weeks in between them. Today is one of the bad days. I honestly feel like I could take off walking and never come back. I won’t do that, but Ive considered it lol
Has anyone found anything that helps with this? I bought a DIM supplement and the day after I took it it was pure RAGE, and on a day it shouldn’t have been. I don’t know if it was just a bad day anyway or if I don’t react to it like other people.
My doctors suggestions have been antidepressants, which I’ve had horrible experience with in the past which I won’t go into here but let’s just say my body and brain did not like it. And lastly taking birth control. I’ve taken birth control in the past, but long ago. I tried it again after my last child was born but it made me feel so bleh. Yes, the post PMS was better but there wasn’t any “good” days, either. He doesn’t really have any other suggestions…
I’d love to hear anyone else’s experience with this and if you found anything that helped. I feel like I’m missing out on so much LIFE, you know? There has to be something that would help.

When Ruby on Rails was just released, there weren't any Rails jobs.
Then when Go was released, there weren't any Go jobs.
Now that Rust has stable 1.x, there aren't many Rust jobs at all.
Companies don't seem to be eager to hire people who pay attention to progressive technologies. The entire hiring process is so boring. "How many years of experience do you have... in C#?"
That's assuming they haven't killed off remote roles, or killed off domestic roles. Or switched to hiring only recent graduates. Creativity isn't part of the hiring or promotion process. It's how much you can lie, charm, cheat, and swindle your way to the top.
I've applied to hundreds of damn jobs over the years. Never found a stable, welcoming environment. Just an endless string of rejections and firings.
I'm sick of trying. Sick of people telling me things will magically be any different tomorrow, or the next day, the next week, the next month, the next year. I'm losing what motivation I had for hobby projects. I feel invisible.
I really hate Fridays now. It just means another bloody week has gone by without an offer. What's the point?

62f 115lbs 5’6” Unsure of medications
We’re on opposite sides of the country.
My dad found her on the floor when he got home and rushed her to the hospital. They found a bad kidney infection. She needed a blood transfusion. Something she’s needed multiple times these last two years and doctors haven’t figured out why. Her iron levels are always incredibly low.
She’s been in the hospital for 3-4 days now. Diagnosed catatonic depression. Kidney infection now treated. Shes unresponsive to doctors, nurses, my dad, sister, grandbaby. She’s only said once or twice that she’s cold. Completely blank stare when her eyes are open. Lays in the bed in the fetal position, unmoving and completely unresponsive. Eyes sunken in. She does react to painful stimuli though. Occasionally grunts.
She’s hasn’t eaten in days. They put a feeding tube in yesterday and she’s had a catheter since she arrived since she’s unable to walk. They’d also like to do a brain scan but aren’t sure how to go about it because she can’t lay flat. She’s been started on ativan by a psych doctor. I read this is something they do in the case of catatonic depression.
She’s been unwell mentally for the last 8-9 years. Depression, anxiety. Awful paranoia. Calls at 3am every few days asking if my sister and I and our kids are ok, making sure we haven’t been kidnapped. It’s been very hard to speak with her.
Her personality started changing around 10 years ago. Even her accent is off. Was addicted to prescribed Adderall for awhile. She was a completely normal person. But now she has multiple arrests for trespassing (she’d leave the house in the middle of the night and sleep in her car in a store parking lot and not want to leave when asked). She’s been taken for involuntarily holds a countless amount of times. I’ve always believed she was bipolar. Looking back growing up it makes sense.
I’m across the country in absolute panic. I just want to be there and hold her.
What should I ask the doctors? What’s going to happen?

When I was 17 (currently 41m) I worked for a big chain retail store. At this time I was working the customer service desk which dealt with returns.
In September, while I was sorting the returns we had processed over the last hour, a lady (about 40 years old, we'll call her Karen) walked up to the desk. Since the bins for the difference departments were along the wall behind me I didn't notice her approach the counter. It couldn't have been more than 2 minutes that she was standing there when she said 'Hey! Boy! Get over here and help me'.
Taking a deep breath, I turned around and apologized that I had not seen her walk up. I asked 'how can I help you?'
Karen threw down a woman's bathing suit and barked 'I need to return this'.
Aside from the fact that it had obviously been worn more than once by the shape it was in, we had a 'no return' policy on bathing suits (and underwear) which was posted in the department of the store and on a large sign right behind me (along with the other return policies).
I explained to her that I wouldn't be able to do the return for health reasons and that it was clearly marked in the store before she bought it.
That's when she started to yell. For the first 15 seconds I was stunned at her 0-60 anger response. Then I turned around, ignoring her, and began sorting the returns again.
That's when Karen said 'you look at me when I'm talking to you!'
I smirked a little and turned back around. Calmly I said:
'Ma'am you're not talking to me. You're yelling at me. I don't get paid to be yelled at. If you want someone to yell at I can get you a manager. They are going to tell you the exact same thing. Would you like to me to get that manager for you?'
Karen started to go off again at me. So I turned back around to continue sorting the returns. That's when a manager happened to walk by and hear what was going on.
The manager came over and asked what was going on. The lady started to yell at him and he told her he didn't ask her. Looked at me and asked 'what is going on?'.
I explained the whole situation to him. He nodded, turned back to her, and said 'Ma'am my employee is right about our return policy which is clearly marked in the department you found it and on the large sign posted on the wall. As a manager I could make exceptions for returns. However, I do not stand for people treating my employees who are following procedures the way you just did.'
That's when she changed her tune apologizing but my manager was firm. He told her that she will not be getting the return. And if she comes back and treats another employee this way she will be banned from the store.
When she had left, the manager asked if I was ok. Which I was. He applauded how I handled the situation and I thanked him for having my back.

First, I think I need to clarify some things.
I am currently working in the Film Industry. This career path was not really my choice. I studied cinematography because, for many reasons, my parents pressured me to do it. It was partly because I was offered the chance to study in a very prestigious Film School with an scholarship. At the time it seemed to me like turning it down would be a mistake.
However, the fact that my parents worked in the Film Industry in the past also had a lot to do with it. Their careers never truly took off, so I suspect they are trying to live their broken dreams through me, although they deny it every time I say so.
I'm earning very little. I'm not starving by any means but my life is far from comfortable, especially because I'm trying really hard to save money. My parents want me to contribute with the expenses of the household (which is completely fair) but also to save money, so I literally have like 50$ of "fun money" every month. I usually end up spending it in stuff for work, candy or in the public transport.
I'm not used to earning so little and lately it's been affecting me a lot. Especially because both my mom and sister make a lot of money, and I feel like a major loser when I compare their incomes to mine.
Although I don't hate it, I don't really like my job. I also work Monday to Saturday and my daily work shift is 10 hours plus 4 hours of commute. I don't have the means to move to a place closer to my job at the moment.
Obviating the schedule, my job is exhausting for me because I am autistic and it forces me to interact with a lot of people and pay attention to many, many things at once. Which I'm uhhh really terrible at. I'm also studying remote full time, and I'm working a second job as a freelance copywriter.
Lately, I don't have the time to take commissions as a copywriter because I'm always tired and when I'm home I just want to rest. My mom is encouraging me to keep working, even though I literally don't have the time. She thinks I should just write while I'm on the bus.
I'm already failing at school and I'm pretty sure it's impossible for me to finish this semester. I want to dropout but everytime I bring it up my parents guilt trip me into continuing my studies.
I'm aware I get tired more easily because of my condition, but I'm convinced that working two jobs while studying full time is not something even neurotypicals can easily do.
What I really want to do is quit my job and just work as a freelancer full time, because the pay is so much better. I know that if I keep at it I can rise high in the company where I'm working, though.
Mainly because there's like 5 people in the country who have a degree like mine, and I've actually managed to make some pretty good connections. It could take years or even a decade for me to climb the corporate ladder, though, and I don't think it's worth waiting for so long, when I could just find a better job somewhere else. I told my mom I want to quit and she begged me to wait at least one more month to see if I get a promotion. I'm burned out, tired and depressed, though, and I just want this to be over.
I know I should be able to make my own decisions at this point in life, but I don't know how. I feel like any decision I make independently would be a mistake. Should I quit? Or just keep going to see where it gets me?

Hello,
Thank you in advance for any help you can offer. I just finished building a new PC, but I have encountered non-stop crashes when using my new NVME drive(s) (I tried both a Samsung 990 Pro and a FireCuda 530).
Here is the problem: anytime I attempt to install Windows on the new drive via USB, I get a BSOD crash with differing errors each time I get past the initial set up. It goes like this:

1. Start PC
   
2. Go into Boot Menu and select drive to install windows on
   
3. Windows set up begins
   
4. Windows must restart your computer
   
5. Restarts then crashes w/BSOD
   

Errors include: (1) Kernel Heap Mode Corruption; (2) IRQL Not Less Equal; and others.
My old NVME drive with Windows already on it works just fine when installed, and the system boots perfectly with no issues. Adding a new NVME drive to any M2 slot causes BSOD. Since I've tried two new NVME drives, I believe the problem lies outside the drives themselves. I've also tried: a new USB with new Windows media installation; clearing the CMOS; removing a stick of RAM; and clearing all partitions.
Specs:
CPU: Ryzen 7 7800X3D - no OC
MOBO: MSI X670-P Pro-WIFI (using latest bios)
RAM: G.Skill Flare X5 Series (AMD Expo) 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin SDRAM DDR5 6000 CL36-36-36-96 1.35V (F5-6000J3636F16GX2-FX5) EXPO IS TURNED OFF
GPU: EVGA 3080 (but not currently installed)
SSD: Seagate FireCuda 530 1TB Solid State Drive - M.2 PCIe Gen4 ×4 NVMe 1.4 (also tried Samsung 990 Pro)
What should I be trying next? Thank you.

[WP] There is a community of ~800 aliens, from around 30 species, stranded on earth due varied accidents. They live incognito. Lately they only have one conversation- the growing tech of human intelligence agencies and militaries. Their clock is ticking.
------
After his unfortunate crash-landing and subsequent stranding on a tiny, inconsequential blue-green planet, Frazzo (or Frank Levine, as he'd rebranded himself) learned one thing quite quickly.
It was this: happy hour was a magical time of day.
What wasn't there to love? The $5 margaritas, the cheap tacos, the buzz of energy, and of course, the thrill of hiding in plain sight. It was a fine line to walk - alcohol didn't quite affect his system as strongly as it did for humankind - but it still had a dampening effect on his inhibitions.
In other words, it was fun to see how shitfaced he could get without making a mistake that would out him as an alien.
It was Thursday, and it was a fine day for happy hour. Frazzo was out with his work colleagues, enjoying his third or fourth (really, who was counting?) margarita, billed straight to the company card. His head was getting really quite wonderfully cloudy, and he struggled to follow along as his coworker Daniel waxed eloquent about the woman from Accounting that he was trying to work up the nerves to ask out.
Nodding along, Frazzo took another sip of his drink. If he ever made it back to Sector Mu-7, he would definitely bring back some tequila. Really, the rest of the Dudraali didn't know what they were missing out on!
Suddenly, Frazzo realized that the conversation was now deader than a fly that had a love affair with a zap racket. Scrambling, he rewound the last few minutes that had passed. What had he missed?
Looking around, he tried to figure out the source of the disturbance, and saw that Rina was pointing a shaking finger at his drink. The drink he had just taken a long sip from. Was there something wrong with it? It tasted fine....oh.
Frazzo's long, mosquito-like proboscis lay in the drink. He quickly retracted it, but the damage had been done.
"Er...excuse me," he said, lamely. "I need to go to the men's room."
Well, this was it. He would have to find a new job. Relocate. Create a new identity. Inwardly, Frazzo wasn't too upset - he had known that this day would come sooner or later. And besides, the idea of starting from a clean slate was somewhat refreshing. He could be whoever he wanted to be!
As he washed his hands, he ran over some ideas. Francis Libbow? Fredrick Lowell? He wasn't a huge fan of either of them, but he'd like for his alias to at least have some resemblance to his true Dudraali name.
Well. He could workshop it.
"Frank?"
Shit. Frazzo clocked Daniel's curious face, peeking into the men's room.
Perhaps he could escape out the window? Were they going to turn him into NASA? Or whatever mysterious governmental agency that was in charge of alien life?
"No no no, don't run," Daniel said hastily, raising his arms in a placating gesture. "I just wanted to say....me too."
And as he said the words, Daniel removed his baseball cap to reveal two bright-pink antennae, one of which executed a shy little wave.
There were no words. Taking this as his cue to continue, David hesitantly approached Frazzo.
"Take it from me, this is salvageable," he said. "Maybe we can say you had some surgery recently? And the doctors gave you some straw that you have to drink through, and though it looks like it's part of your body, it's really not?"
Taking a deep breath, Frazzo nodded. "Okay. Maybe it's fine," he said. "Let's go."
On their way back to the table, the bartender signaled at Frazzo to come over.
"Couple of folks wanted to buy you some drinks," she said, sliding over four salt-rimmed glasses. "Two of them said you made them think of home, another said that they miss the ten moons, and one more said that they'd love to practice speaking certain languages with you."
Frazzo's brain whirled, and it wasn't just from the alcohol. The planet Dudraa was orbited by ten moons, and he didn't speak any languages other than English...and Dudraalian. What in the blazes was going on?
The bartender winked at him. "Think you've suddenly made a lot of friends. And personally, I'd love to know if you have a ticket that could take me out of this world."

I have no idea how many people have had this happen to them, but I didn't go to college for 4 fucking years, just to end at a dead end job that pays me 15,000 a year. I didn't learn how to draw in Elementary School to end up here. I didn't take AP Art and expand on my drawing and animation skills for this BS. I didn't dream of being someone who creates things to end up in a soulless pit. Even an entry level animator, or hell, a paid internship for one, is AT LEAST 28k a year. Still not great, but leagues better than my dishwashing job. The average animator for anything - not just television, but ads and motion graphics on websites, is at least 70k a year. In the state of Iowa, you can afford comfortably on a mortgage for a studio apartment. You still would be at most lower middle class on your own, but you have more of a net.
Not only that, but the store I work for is incredibly toxic. It relies on a high turnover rate of high schoolers to try to keep positions filled, which it no longer does anymore. It lobbied the state to loosen child labor laws - paid more money to lobby this than to pay off their child labor offense fines***.*** You are bullied by full-timers and managers because "you're part-time, you have no say around here!!". The more I am stuck here, the shorter the window of actually getting a job to my degree gets. This is because employers won't consider someone who had no experience until 12 years after their degree. They will feel like they have lost their skills, even if they have kept up on it. This place kills any soul for creativity, because you are cog in their machine.
I feel like this is a deliberate effect from blaspheming younger generations that they are lazy entitled brats, where """""skilled""""" work employers have become picky to only hire people already in the field, no matter how bad and out of touch they are at their job, over fresh young grads with a strong mindset. This makes """"""unskilled"""""" (these skill vs unskilled pejoratives aiding in the shit wages and treatment justification) lower their standards and pay and lobby politicians to rid safety nets, so they essentially force people to work under third world conditions. Which they will probably die at there too, just slower. They know they got nowhere else to turn, so they make the conditions as horrifying as possible. If you die, they'll get someone else to replace you, until they die.
Thank you Boomers and half of Gen X for making this all possible because you were afraid of a gay couple at the local store. Hope you're glad with what you done. You're going to be the reason why you have no grandchildren and why you're kids are on the street, while also blaming everyone else but yourselves to justify these conditions.

So it's past 3 am as I (F26) write this, so technically, it is already the next day, but I think I still need to vent, because honestly, I still can't believe this actually happened and I might still be half in shock.
At around 4 pm yesterday, I accidentally caused a huge fire in my garden. Just for context, I rent a house where I have the whole ground floor to myself and someone else lives on the upper floor, with a seperate door and entrance, so we don't share a hallway or anything. So the entire ground floor is mine, including the garden and my bedroom is directly adjacent to this garden. I had a large lounge set (a bench, 2 chairs and a table), made of plastic (fake reed) in the color black, which was located at the part of my garden closest to my bedroom.
I smoke, so there was an ashtray on top of the table of my loungeset and I promise, I am usually so careful with putting out my cigarettes and I never had accidents before. So a little before 4 PM, me and my best friend (M24), who was chilling at my place today, had a cigarette on the loungeset, then pressed out our cigarettes and put them in the ashtray and went back inside to the living room (front of the house, furthest away from the garden) to continue gaming.
Around 4 PM, I heard a crackling sound, like someone was crinkling a plastic/paper bag and at first thought it was coming from the kitchen (kitchen is next to the bedroom, also next to the garden, but further away from the loungeset area, if that makes sense), so I walked to my kitchen and there is a window in my kitchen, looking over my garden and I already saw the orange light coming out of it, so I ran over to the window, looked outside and that's when I saw that my entire loungeset was up in flames, reaching as high as the balcony from the person who lives above me. Part of my wooden backyard fence, seperating my garden from my downstairs neigbor on my left also was on fire and my window frame of my bedroom window was also on fire.
I always judged people a little for not being able to keep a rational head in an emergency situation and I'd like to formally apologize to every single one of you who wasn't able to, because my mind totally blanked and I just froze. All I could do was scream and I started to hyperventilate and I only could scream " [Friend's name], my backyard is on fire!" before mentally shutting down. I felt so much adrenaline and panic and my friend yelled at me to call my country's 9-1-1, so I did, but I had so much trouble staying calm. Eventually, the fire department came and also the police and so many people of my neighbourhood came to my street, because of the commotion and it stressed me out so bad, because all I could think about is how I was today's sensation and I didn't wanna be and I was so so so scared what my neighbours would think of me and if they were mad at me. Only my upstairs neighbour is mad at me and keeps sending me passive-agressive messages. All the other neighbours have been nice to me, which I am very relieved about.
But this feeling of guilty and paranoia won't go away. I just feel really responsible for what happened and I can't shake off this feeling of guilt. The fire department said I could stay in my house and I am in my bed now in my bedroom, but there is still a feint smell of smoke and I keep thinking it's happening all over again and I can't stop crying. I just feel so stressed and guilty. There is a lot of damage to my house. Every single window has cracked and my whole loungeset is now a pile of melted plastic. I can't stop thinking about those flames I saw. I was so freaking scared. I caused that. It was my fault. I even saw my house on the online news. And it freaks me out. I made a mistake and I feel so guilty about it. And I never ever want to experience a fire again.
Sorry for venting. I still can't really believe this actually happened...

I think I'm finally ready to come out to my mom. As ready as I think I'll ever be anyway. I'm worried about the letter though, every time I start thinking of what to write, it reads so harsh or hurtful, idk how much I really need to put out there, like I want her to know how serious this is, life and death, but there's some things a child shouldn't tell their parents...
I don't know how to strike a balance of understanding but firm boundaries, the severity of how important this is and how unforgivable certain things would be without hurting her or being very harsh because I attack when I feel vulnerable.
So far ik I want to explain the difference between drag, crossdressing, and trans identity. I'm going to tell her idc about pronouns or even dressing up rn because I'm not ready for social transition. I don't want to tell her about diy, but I will tell her tampering with my meds or sabatoging my transition will be unforgivable to me and the many reasons why.
I don't want to tell her how close I was to ending it all last year, or that I've been a walking corpse with an expiration date tied to her own since 16 and her own words 4 months ago galvanized me to chose life for the first time in over a decade, to choose to try HRT. But that feels pretty important to say if I want her to understand.
Or maybe it's better to be cold and clinical.
I'm gonna freestyle something real quick, please help soften when needed or any advice at all. Tw: all of em.
Hey mom you've had lots of questions this past year. I've deflected and deflected, refusing to answer, but not trying to hide it too much either, I know you've seen signs that we haven't talked about too, well it's time I answer them.
I'm trans. It took a decade to ever even attempt to experiment, so scared of it being something more, a year of questioning and research after the lowest point in my life last March, every step towards femininity assuring me i was right. I've been on estrogen for 2 months now and I'm only more sure now than ever. I don't expect your understanding or full acceptance, it's taken me a while to accept it myself. I only expect your compassion and love, the woman that's always been in my corner to remain in my corner as I enter the hardest fight in my life thus far.
This is not a sex thing, ik why you think it is, but Ethan is just a friend. I'm still a virgin and I'm not gay, I am bi, preferance is women, but still thats a recent thing i accepted too, but ik you don't really see the difference there either if I like some guys I must be gay, that's OK idc how you see it.
This isn't porn warping my mind, and if it was the drop in libido would nip that in the bud quickly, a boon I was not expecting, but honestly one of my favorite parts about transitioning so far and has helped my mental state a lot in addition to my brain now being on the right fuel. I've never been happier in my life than I have these past 2 months.
Crossdressers do this and it hurts no one. They do it for a lot of reasons but I am not a cross dresser, in fact I've only ever worn panties and one time a bra. I'm also not a drag queen, I have no interest in performing on stage.
Things had to line up in a very specific way for you to be reading this note right now and not another kind of note at some point in the future after the repression hit me when I was 40 with kids and a wife or something. Dad had to practically disown me for me to want to be selfish enough to say fuck it and choose to have some kind of fun before I died fully. As I've been truthfully half dead since as a teenager, who almost had his mom die in the hospital, i had decided that wouldn't even try and live through that pain. That led me to experiment which led to many many questions and a lot of tears and more than a few realizations and memories surpressed.
Through all the questions and steps along the way, my mask cracking and pieces of me peeking through, your words broke me outta that spell of half death and I chose life. You thought I was waiting on you to be gone for me to live like you were the problem. I had already accepted I was trans before then but I couldn't do anything because of the shame it would bring you. The drama, you're likely to lose friends over this if you choose your child and you risk losing me if your friends words turn your confusion or anguish over a future imagined version of me is dying into hate or spite.
I worry that you'll call me all the vile things what strangers and coworkers already whisper. That you'll run me out of our home over something somehow both as trivial as makeup clothes and the shape of my own body, and as important as life or death. Because your words the other day will never come to pass, when I said "I hate old men" grumbling about work, and you said "stop that, God willing you'll be one one day." I'll die first. Pandoras box is open and I can't go back to mere existence when life feels so nice.
Trying to force this lid shut will only at best sever ties between a mother and child and at worst simply snuff out my light for good. Oh and bonus it'd probably put me in menopause by now to stop.
I'm moving at my own pace I'm nowhere near ready to call myself a woman, let alone dress like one I do not expect you to call me one. HRT is slow, but at some point between the weight loss this all has inspired, yeah thats why I've stuck with it this time, between that and HRT growing boobs and the small things I'm working on like exercising and eventually laser facial hair removal, it's going to be hard to hide likely this year, well if im lucky like I have been so far.
Really don't know how to end this. I'm sorry this made you cry, I'm sorry if this brings you shame or embarrassment down the line, I give you full permission to talk about this with your friends, the only opinion I ever cared about is yours and Lana's, I'd rather not be out right now publicly or to all your friends, but I'll not hold it against you to seek consul from them either. Hopefully we can move past this and grow and you'll come to understand me better than the pieces I've let peek through all my life feeling like I had something to hide even from family, especially from family even.
If not, just know that I'll always love you mom, but stopping or going back to being your little boy is asking me to die. I'll always be your baby, I just hope you'll see a living daughter is better than a dead son, even if they're weird and you don't get it.
I love you mom ❤️.

I was discussing the benefits of VR gaming with one of my best friends last night. We slipped into this topic after gaming for a while and downing a couple of beers, so you can only imagine how far we went into our scientifically-philosophical analysis. In our delicately enlightened minds, VR gaming seemed like one of the most beneficial hobbies because of many factors, and I'm here to list the most important of them so sit back and enjoy.
Improving health & body
Some of you remember my story of losing 63 lbs (29 kgs) in less than a year, mainly "exercising" by playing VR games. I know I'm not alone in this, since a couple of YouTubers (LazyPeon turned out not to be that lazy) and fellow gaming colleagues managed to achieve outstanding results by including VR gaming sessions in their sedentary lifestyles. The modern, technologically advanced society brought the sedentary lifestyle to the wide masses, and with it some inevitable health issues. Spine problems, hypertension, obesity, muscle atrophy, etc. are all relatively acute issues that are the repercussions of spending the majority of the day in front of the screen. VR gaming is excellent for maintaining baseline bodily health for people who cannot or don't want to spend time in gyms. Playing physically challenging VR games for just an hour a day can get rid of so many issues - I had a mild case of sciatica before starting my weight loss journey, and VR games like Clash of Chefs and Beat Saber helped me strengthen my back muscles and completely recover my spine.
Hand-eye coordination
It's old news that video games improve eye-to-hand coordination. However, VR games take that to a completely new level since they almost identically replicate the way we naturally move our hands and eyes.
My job requires me to sometimes do detailed, manual work, and I remember how easier and faster I used to finish it after playing some shooters (like Apex, Warzone). However, VR games played a significant role in this because, during that period, I also used to play Clash of Chefs and Beat Saber a lot as a part of my weight loss journey. Imagine preparing meal after meal in Clash of Chefs, battling with other cooks, and sometimes just throwing the knives and plates around to work up your body harder - then jumping into Beat Saber to cut through the notes for an hour or two. I felt like I could be a professional samurai at one point :)
Stress relief
This one is quite obvious, but it shouldn't be left unmentioned. Modern life is so clustered with all kinds of information - not only the informative ones, in fact, "empty" information constitutes probably more than 70% of our daily intake. In fact, some studies suggest that an average person in this day and age goes through more information in a day than a 19th-century person used to go through in their entire lifetime. Since our brains didn't evolve much (if any) over the last 150 years, they cannot follow the technological advancement we've come to - meaning that our brains have come to be overwhelmed with so much extra information we receive on a daily basis. This causes micro-stresses that build up over time and, in combination with bigger stresses (the real estate market, inflation, etc.) lead to mental health issues.
Well, VR gaming can serve as an incredible medium for relieving extra stress by immersing yourself in VR games and forgetting about real-world problems at least for a little while. Into the Radius, cyubeVR, and Clash of Chefs - the three most immersive VR games I played helped me refill my batteries and recover from bad days (or weeks) so much
Conclusion
VR gaming is definitely something that, if utilized correctly, can change the lives of many. These are only some examples of real-life benefits resulting from VR gaming mentioned in this post, so, if you have any other to add, please do so. If you have any examples of certain VR gaming changing your life for the better, as Clash of Chefs and Beat Saber did for me, make sure to recommend them so others can learn about them.
Let's discuss the positive and beneficial sides of VR gaming :)