I was here lady antebellum lyrics

It was a pleasure to reconnect here with this trusted borrower on this occasion, as every time we work together something special happens. They are incredibly considerate as a person and here I reduced the interest from their original ask for them such that they saved some money on this brief loan to return the favour. Communication has never been an issue for them, and here we linked up well and stayed the course from where we usually are with good habits. Today's repayment is received early in the day and on time as usual. Super job on their part once again!
10/10 experience, would gladly lend to them again if the need arises!

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 51%. (I'm a bot)

Pro-Ukrainian hacktivists allegedly took down Infotel, a Russian internet service provider crucial for operating a platform that Russian banks use to facilitate the financial system.
Cyber Anarchy Squad, a pro-Kyiv hacker collective, took credit for taking down Infotel, a Moscow-based ISP. The service provider has been down since June 8th, and its site was still inaccessible at the time of writing this article.
While taking down a single ISP is not a tectonic event, the attack's side effects have the potential to have severe ramifications for Russia's banking system: Infotel runs the Automated System of Electronic Interaction for the Central Bank of Russia.
The system enables secure document exchange, data transfer, digital signature, and other crucial activities to facilitate the banking system.
While backup systems could assist during downtime, delays would be unavoidable.
Since banks rely on AESI to process transactions, a sudden shutdown would halt interbank comms, preventing some of the transactions from taking place.

Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: Bank^#1 system^#2 down^#3 Infotel^#4 Russia^#5
Post found in /UkrainianConflict, /NAFO, /interestingasfuck, /worldnews and /trollfare.
NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.

TLDR at the end
Note: Harris County, Texas
Last week I got pulled over in a tollway (EZ tag lane if you know what that is) for going 88 in a 60 on the freeway.
To be frank with yall, I probably did go that fast because there was no other vehicles around me (it's only two lanes separated from the main freeway by a medium) and to catch up to the next set of cars which were going between 75-80. I didn't even realize I was going 88 because I was just trying to reach the next group of cars.
I have a dash cam so you can see the policeman driving up to me super fast then getting super close to my rear almost out of nowhere, AND after I've already slowed down. I was actually so sure he wasn't there for me, and was just trying to pass me, so I changed lanes the opposite way of where he wanted me to go, but he was in fact there for me...
When he came up to my window he asked me why I was going so fast, and I asked "how fast was I even going," to which he replied "89" then after he asked for my license he gave me the ticket, had me sign, and drove off not really another word.
88 over 60 is 25+ mph over the speed limit and ineligible for mandatory defensive driving course that could keep it off my record (though I would still pay the fine.) I don't think it's eligible for discretionary either so am I just taking the loss here or is there anything I can do?
TLDR; speeding ticket for 88/60, went 88 when road was clear and to catch up to the other cars, was already slowed down before I even saw the cop, and I have it all on my dash cam. Is there anything I can do to either keep the ticket off my record or at the very least reduce the fine?

We have a 8.5 month old who is EBF, and eating solids very well. No dummy/paci. Untill recently she has been in our room and coming into bed with us in the early hours as she wouldn't settle back into her cot.
We have started sleep training with checks ins after 2,3,4 mins and then at 5 min intervals. We don't pick up, only shh and stroke. These do seem to sooth her.
My husband works away during the week and so I am doing all the checks ins for now untill we have 'cracked it' then will introduce him.
1st night: 1hr 10 crying and slept well through the night. 2nd night: (this night was a mess as she wouldn't wake up after bedtime feed) cried for 2 hours after waking in the middle of the night. We have now moved the feed to the start of the bedtime routine and this is working well. We also decided after this night to only sleep train at bedtime and not in the middle of the night. 3rd night: 1hr crying 4th night : 20 min crying 5th night: 45 min crying 6th night: 40 mins crying.
I was just wondering if anyone could advise on the following things:
1: I was expecting the bedtime crying to have reduced more by now- Is this normal and should we continue to stick it out?
2: I only feed her if it is past 1 am, and really try and make sure it's only once a night , but she is waking more regularly than she was before, sometimes 4 times. We don't do the timed check ins in the middle of the night because it seems like she has too much rest to go back to sleep and has hit the 2 hour mark of crying when we have done this (night 2). Is this an ok approch, it's worked for other I know, when can we expect night wakings to smooth out?
3: when she wakes in the night I pick her up and feed if it's time and then rock to sleep, if I really really can't get her into her cot (an hour of trying) then she comes into bed with me. There seem to be split options on if this is ok or not online, can anyone advise if I am 'ruining' things with this? If the advice is to stick it out how do you balance the likelyhood that she will get so little sleep so the next day will be a nightmare and a bit of a cycle of doom?
I think I was more tired than I was before! I'm fully invested in the process and realise I need to ride it out but really don't want to be making a silly mistake and causing her more stress than needed.
All naps are either on me or in the pram and are far too short, often 60/90 mins in the WHOLE day sometimes! I am massively trying to work on this and increase the length by any means so I am not yet trying to get her in the cot for these. Today is amazing and we will probably have 2.5 hours of naps by the end of the day!
I was really hoping that we would have a success story to go with the many others and I know it's early days I just wanted to check that there are no red flags here for anyone?
Thanks so much for anyone who has read this far or has any advice! I'm quite nervous about sleep training and know I will be a better parent for it as I am really struggling with the lack of sleep but I want to make sure I'm doing it the right way.

I'm trying to connect to a MariaDB database, which requires an SSH tunnel to connect.
I've managed to SSH tunnel through the JSch library.
When I try to connect to the database, using DriverManager.getConnection, I get this error

Could not connect to 127.0.0.1:3306 : unexpected end of stream, read 36 bytes from 4739923 (socket was closed by server) 

I previously got an error saying it had read 0 bytes from 4, which I've seen other people on SO get, non of the solutions they used have worked.
Here is my source code (minus the credentials and DB info)

import java.sql.Connection; import java.sql.DriverManager; import com.jcraft.jsch.JSch; import com.jcraft.jsch.JSchException; import com.jcraft.jsch.Session; public class Connect { private static final String user = ""; // Removed for secrecy! private static final String password = ""; // Removed for secrecy! private static final String hostname = ""; // Removed for secrecy! private static final int local_port = 3306; private static final int remote_port = 22; public static Connection connect() { try { JSch jsch = new JSch(); Session session = jsch.getSession(user, hostname, remote_port); session.setPassword(password); java.util.Properties config = new java.util.Properties(); config.put("StrictHostKeyChecking", "no"); config.put("Compression", "yes"); config.put("ConnectionAttempts", "2"); session.setConfig(config); session.connect(); int assigned_port = session.setPortForwardingL(local_port, hostname, remote_port); System.out.println("Connected to SSH " + assigned_port); } catch (JSchException e) { System.out.println("Failed to SSH tunnel " + e.getMessage()); return null; } try { System.out.println("Trying to connect to db"); String url = "jdbc:mariadb://127.0.0.1:3306/mariadb"; Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(url, user, password); System.out.println("Connected..."); return con; } catch (Exception e) { System.out.println("Failed to create JDBC db connection " + e + e.getMessage()); return null; } } public static void main(String[] args) { connect(); } 

}
Here are the .jar files I have in the Module Dependencies

jsch-0.1.54.jar mariadb-java-client-3.1.4.jar 

Any help would be appreciated!

Guess who nearly got their ass fired?
So... the last few days have been tough for reasons not related to work, I'm on edge, and my trigger is shorter than the usual. I'm nearing the end of my shift, I'm tired, we're understaffed, my back aches, there are long lines at the registers, a kid is having a tantrum, it's chaos, aaaaand that's the moment when my manager decides to pull me away from the customer service desk because there's been a spill and Bradley is new and doesn't seem to be able to clean it by himself. Thing is, I'm alone at the customer service desk running returns that won't process for no reason, there are four people waiting and they look like they're pissed (and rightly so, we've been so understaffed lately that customer service has been crap).
There's a guy who is in the line, and has been for at least 10 minutes (that's how good our customer service has become). He overhears my manager asking me to take care of the spill.
Customer:"Hey, what about you don't ask the special needs guy to clean, it's going to take forever."
That's when I hear myself answer: "Hey, what about you go fuck yourself?"
A few very long seconds of deadly silence, my manager looking at me in horror, and I'm just here with my mouth still open and dying inside.
Customer: "fair enough".
Me: "I'm sorry I don't know what possessed me I apologize. I'm really really sorry."
Customer: "no, fair enough, I shouldn't have called you special needs. It was very inappropriate. I deserved it. That wasn't a thing to say. Actually I apologize. Don't worry about it, we all have a short fuse at times. Actually that was rather funny."
Me: "Well Sir I can just say, it's not how I do customer service usually. Again I apologize."
Thankfully his wife/girlfriend who waiting nearby found the situation hilarious too, that helped defusing everything. The customer went to talk to my manager (who seemed to be under shock) and asked him not to chew my ass because he had said something inappropriate first and we all make mistakes. Needless to say I thanked him profusely. My manager sent me to clean the spill then called me to the office, I got a write-up but I'm not being fired.
We all write to complain about bad customers, so I thought it was only fair to mention how a good customer saved me from my own fuck-up. And now I'm going to work on understanding why being called "special needs" made me irrationally angry.

I recently came across the book "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome, published in 1889, while working my way through classic works of literature...and instantly fell in love! This is the most humorous, heart-warming, informative, inspirational and, occasionally, insane book I've ever read, which tells the story of three men and their dog on a boating holiday across the River Thames in a skiff.
Unfortunately, while working my way through the text, I came across several words whose meaning have changed over time, several phrases that are no longer in current usage, historical facts and figures that are not commonly known, references to poems, books and songs that have long since been forgotten, and so on. I thought that this was a shame, so I annotated the text. But, I may have gone a bit too far in my annotations, which is why I call this the ULTRA-ANNOTATED EDITION.
I've published my ultra-annotated edition through Amazon/KDP. But, no matter how many e-mails I send to Amazon/KDP or online chats I have with them, they refuse to allow me "Editor" status and they have not linked the three editions (Kindle, paperback, hardcover) together properly so clicking those links takes you to someone else's book. Grrr!!
Because of this, I've uploaded a free PDF to archive.org. Here's the link ==> https://archive.org/details/three-men-in-a-boat-ultra-annotated-edition. Note that I give a more detailed explanation of my annotations there.
Now, it's your turn, gentle readers. As I mention on the archive.org page for the book, I am neither a scholar nor an academic. (With that said, I'm the nutcase who typed in thousands of mathematical formulas appearing in my Kindle/paperback edition of Leonhard Euler's "Elements of Algebra". Yep, that's me!) You may disagree with some of my annotations and, if so, I would like to hear from you. If you find any errors, disagree with an annotation, would like me to include more annotations, etc., please let me know. The book's e-mail address appears on the "NOTES ON THE ANNOTATED EDITION" page. I'd like to have the book as clean as possible for the start of the school year this fall so that school children can download the ultra-annotated version sans errors for class and not have to purchase the book.
Thanks and Enjoy!

So,
Recently i have been considering masks with ventilation valves
​
My go to since beginning of COVID has been (and still is) Moldex 4800
The airwave is great, lets me talk, pretty comfy and the full face seal is pretty good on me
​
But, with practically no one wearing masks now, and i still do, i was considering n95 with a ventilation to make breathing a bit easier.
​
I know the most responsible thing to do is no vent, in case i am unknowingly symptomatic, but nobody seems to care anymore.
They didn't care before, and i still looked out for them by being responsible, but now i get scorn and frustration when i have a mask on, like i am walking reminder t that this isn't over and that they have chosen to stop caring.
I see these ventilated masks and think "man, it'd be nice to get a little better breathing in this thing", but when i consider it my conscious screams at me "then doesn't that make you hypocrite?"
​
I am just having a crisis of conscious here and looking for some other thoughts.
thanks

By now many of you have probably heard a lot about The Open Letter about API Pricing. Some of your favorite subreddits may have signed up to protest. I'm sure many of you might be wondering what an API is. Subreddits like explainlikeimfive have highlighted in an easy way to understand what API is and why this is change is a problem. AskHistorians have explained in detail why so many Mods are upset and, frankly, disillusioned, in the wake of the Admin announcement.
To a lot of people, the API changes are not a big deal. To try and explain why we're joining up, I've gotten permission to use this post BestofRedditorUpdates shared which helps communicate the issues at hand for us.
If you use the Official Apps and have no issue navigating it, that’s great. You may not have known that third party apps existed, or why people prefer them. If you’re wondering why people can’t just use the official app, we can acknowledge that for many users it is simply a personal preference. They’re used to it (some of us have been using them for years before there was ever an Official App) or they might simply prefer it because of the designs and features. If you’re interested in a visual representation of why so many prefer third party apps, please check this bestof comment out for a side-by-side comparison.
For many mods, the mod tool support of these third parties largely makes our jobs much easier, which keeps the communities we all love safer. On a third party app, we can accomplish in two clicks what would take the Official App five. This efficiency means we can address more problems in the community in a more timely manner.
If you’re thinking to yourself, “If these apps are making a profit, Reddit deserves a cut!” we do agree. What most take issue with is that their API is being valued at 10-20x over what other similar services do, to the point where almost every app has released some kind of statement that indicates these changes will kill their apps. I could link to more statements like that, but you get the idea.
Before you ask “why can’t they just run ads to offset those costs”, Reddit has already decided this will not be an option for third party apps. One thing to be aware of as well is that even if a third party app manages to survive July 1st through a subscription based model alone, those apps will not have all the same content as the Official App. Namely, despite paying for the privilege of having a choice, NSFW content will be unavailable and invisible to those users.
If you’re thinking "well, I'm fine, I only use the mobile website via my chosen mobile browser" (chrome, mozilla, etc), you should be aware that Reddit has already been testing functions which eliminate mobile web browsing, and there is no guarantee that your preferred method of using Reddit won’t be next.
Limiting user choice, charging exorbitant and predatory fees, and refusing to communicate, are all significant problems that the BoRU team takes issue with. However, the one we find most egregious is what this change will do to members of Reddit’s blind community.
How are blind Redditors impacted by this decision?
In short, Reddit’s Official Apps leave a lot to be desired at best, and are barely functional at worst. The app on iOS has incorrectly labeled controls, doesn’t always work with swipe, and not all functions can be accessed. For blind moderators, it can be difficult to impossible to find the moderation functions necessary to moderate, and customizing layouts to better suit their needs or make the app easier to navigate is similarly difficult to impossible. Third party apps have addressed many of these types of issues because Reddit won’t, giving these underserved communities a voice that Reddit seems to have no problem taking away.
You might ask yourself how blind users navigated Reddit before there were apps, and the answer is that it didn’t always used to be this way, but it has certainly always had accessibility issues. In fact, discussions about accessibility have been going on for months, if not years. Just a few months ago, Reddit received a free consultation to make their mobile layout more accessible. Reddit did not follow up privately or publicly until the protest’s momentum started to build. Even after numerous, far more recent interactions with the Admin, there seems to be little progress or commitment concerning these issues. This type of interaction is exactly why we the BoRU mod team feel that Reddit is not making accessibility a priority.
Subreddits like blind are vital for the visually impaired in various stages of blindness, providing not just a source of communal support, but insights, strategies, and resources to navigate their new and changing lives. In the wake of Reddit's changes, subreddits like blind will be forced to go dark, leaving an already overlooked group without the invaluable support they both need and deserve.
These changes will also significantly impact volunteer run support subreddits such as transcribersofreddit and descriptionplease, which serve to allow visually impaired Redditors to read text images, and receive descriptions of visual content such as videos and images. These volunteers are indispensable to the blind community, because Reddit is the only social media website with no support for alternative text. As visually impaired Redditors are forced to use an app that is not designed with accessibility in mind, these communities will shrink, wither, and may cease to exist. (See this video for more details on this subject).
For many of us, third party apps are a choice or a preference, but they are an absolute necessity for the visually impaired. The BoRU team is of the opinion that pricing these apps out of existence before their own app is WCAG compliant is nothing short of passive discrimination.
The mod team of BoRU, and many others, feel that July 1st is an unrealistic timeline to make all the changes necessary to make their App accessible. At this point, the only reasonable course of action is for Reddit to publish a public list of key results that they are committed to addressing, and guarantee that third party functionality will be left unchanged until they do.
Here at BoRU we take steps to try and ensure our content is accessible. We ask our contributors to provide image descriptions and to transcribe text images. Sometimes transcribing those text images can take significant time, especially when those images are numerous multi-image text exchanges. Our OPs have never complained when we make that request, even though it is not an official requirement. We find it inexcusable that Reddit cannot do the bare minimum to ensure their visually impaired users have a voice and community.
Frankly, disabled individuals are often expected to pay a premium for the same basic things everyone else uses and enjoys for free. Visually impaired Redditors deserve equal access, and even if third party apps survive, they will not receive it. Those users will not have access to all of the content and features that the rest of Reddit will. Remember, NSFW content will be unavailable to regular users on third party apps, and yes, disabled people like porn too!
-----
So what does this mean for us?
gradadmissions is going to stand in solidarity with the other subreddits protesting reddit's actions on the issue of how they are handling their API changes. Fundamentally for us, the issue is their determination to make things harder for users struggling with disabilities; a protest being spearheaded by blind and the fact that their actions make moderation even harder for many mods.
As a result, gradadmissions will be joining the blackout on June 12th for 48 hours. The subreddit will be private on those days, with a message explaining why we have gone private.
This means that no one will be able to access any of our content until the blackout is over.
Pending further developments, after 48 hours we will reassess the situation but gradadmissions will reopen since we recognize that this is an important resource for many and remaining indefinitely blacked out as many other subreddits might choose to do so will negatively impact those who need help and assistance.
We recognize that there will be voices both for and against this decision. And its important that even disagreement is voiced and heard. I'll be leaving this announcement post open, though it will be moderated the same as any other post in terms of the discourse that is allowed.
If you want to take your own actions but are unsure how to get news on the evolving status of the protest, check out ModCoord and Save3rdPartyApps to stay updated with the latest!

I recently came across the book "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome, published in 1889, while working my way through classic works of literature...and instantly fell in love! This is the most humorous, heart-warming, informative, inspirational and, occasionally, insane book I've ever read, which tells the story of three men and their dog on a boating holiday across the River Thames in a skiff.
Unfortunately, while working my way through the text, I came across several words whose meaning have changed over time, several phrases that are no longer in current usage, historical facts and figures that are not commonly known, references to poems, books and songs that have long since been forgotten, and so on. I thought that this was a shame, so I annotated the text. But, I may have gone a bit too far in my annotations, which is why I call this the ULTRA-ANNOTATED EDITION.
I've published my ultra-annotated edition through Amazon/KDP. But, no matter how many e-mails I send to Amazon/KDP or online chats I have with them, they refuse to allow me "Editor" status and they have not linked the three editions (Kindle, paperback, hardcover) together properly so clicking those links takes you to someone else's book. Grrr!!
Because of this, I've uploaded a free PDF to archive.org. Here's the link ==> https://archive.org/details/three-men-in-a-boat-ultra-annotated-edition. Note that I give a more detailed explanation of my annotations there.
Now, it's your turn, gentle readers. As I mention on the archive.org page for the book, I am neither a scholar nor an academic. (With that said, I'm the nutcase who typed in thousands of mathematical formulas appearing in my Kindle/paperback edition of Leonhard Euler's "Elements of Algebra". Yep, that's me!) You may disagree with some of my annotations and, if so, I would like to hear from you. If you find any errors, disagree with an annotation, would like me to include more annotations, etc., please let me know. The book's e-mail address appears on the "NOTES ON THE ANNOTATED EDITION" page. I'd like to have the book as clean as possible for the start of the school year this fall so that school children can download the ultra-annotated version sans errors for class and not have to purchase the book.
Thanks and Enjoy!

I always feel as though I'm at fault for my siblings suffering. As my mum always said if she didn't have children she wouldn't be stuck with my narcissistic father. I always feel because of my birth that my mum was forced to stay in a relationship with my father to support & care for me. Then over time she couldn't leave resulting in them producing more children. I'm the eldest of 4, my father hates me and my brother (2nd born). Yet treats my younger siblings like royalty. My mums family rarely comes over to see us, I don't even remember what they look like anymore they hate dealing with my father and his attitude. My father's family doesnt see how he is towards us as he is the "kind father everyone wish they had". Yet at home he always puts us down, makes comments about our bodies, tells us to kill ourselves or to leave forever. He makes my youngest sister ( age 7 ) stay home from school everyday it's been about a month since she's been at school in a row. Shes very underdeveloped, I've been trying to homeschool her but my father says to her "don't feed into her rubbish". Today my ex boyfriend came over early in the morning (12am) so we could talk, he was very busy with school and sports so we couldn't talk at any other time. We patched a lot of things up (we did have sex) but because we are already very comfortable with each other and we don't hate one another, when he left around 7am I went to sleep. I woke up around 3pm and felt hungry, I made me 4 Nutella toasts and grabbed me a water. I left my toaster out (we usually store it away) but wiped my crumbs and put everything away all I had to do was put the toaster away. I come into my room and start watching "Never Have I Ever" on the tv, I'm nearly done with my 3rd toast and my father knocks on the door, without me replying he opens it "Go clean up your mess" he said, "yeah I'll clean it up soon I'm nearly done eating", "no Go clean it up now", " i'm not gonna stop eating to put away a toaster bro" I unintentionally said bro because I saw "Ben Gross" (Ben gROss) and just said it out of no where. I was gonna apologise but he came back and started talking shit about my ex saying "Just because you got some dick last night you think your the man now", he always spoke about me this way making comments about my sex life and me saying how I'm a slut or saying my ex bf, who was my boyfriend at the time only used me for my body when I know that wasn't the case cause I initiated most of the sex . I didn't say anything but he kept going on and on then he said "If he comes over here again I'm gonna knock him out" and at that point I got pissed off and said "Do it, see what happens" then he came into my room and punched me in my head. I got mad and started pushing him telling him to get out, I'm not scared of my father at all I know id beat him in a fight but I didnt want it to get to that point. My mum woke up from her sleep and asked what was happening that's when my father pushed me to the wall and my mum pushed him and started swearing at him, I got really mad and took my car keys and went out to my car and was going to leave. My mum chased me outside begging me not to leave because she knows I won't come back, hearing my mum cry and beg me made me calm down and just break down. We stayed in my car talking as she hugged me saying how sorry she is and that my father doing this really opened her eyes and that she's going to take me and my siblings to move out. After an hour he was inside laughing at the TV like nothing happened, there's something mentally wrong with him. When I was younger he used to touch my behind, he doesn't close his door when he showers or bathes and dresses himself Infront of us. Hes embarrassed us to the point we had to move schools, he was the reason my bf is now my ex bf, when my nana was dying he didn't let any of us see her (she later passed on her own) when my mum was pregnant in 2015 he poured gasoline on her while she was in her car and threatened to burn her alive while we watched not knowing what to do. He broke things my mum saved up money to pay for, he's stolen money out of my car, he gets mad at me when I don't give him money, he's punched my brother in the face he's done a lot and now we're done. Next week we're moving, and he'll never see us again. No contact, nothing. At this point. I don't even care if he kills himself, he's been nothing but a burden to us, nothing but a shit excuse for a father. I hate him.

This is concluding thoughts for both WoR and WoK so its going to be a long one.
Epilogue
That is so true, but when something gets popular, how does one balance expectations?
There she is. Jasnah is alive.
Initially I thought that Wit was in Warbreaker as the god kings wit. Then i couldnt find him. Then I thought i must just misremembering Way Of Kings with Warbreaker. Now I’ve found Ch 32, I get why.
Skim-Thoughts.
10 comes up a lot. Pg 475 (Part II) “10 kingdoms, 10 orders, ten people” and i thought Mistborn had 10 powers as well. And isnt there planned to be 10 books? Is that 5 split into 2, or 10 split into 2?
Rereading the prologues and interludes, I still dont understand a word. I’ve completely forgotten them but catching up before Edgedancer
“The ten of them had decided upon it before the battle.” Kalak: “You’re broken too” Syl referred to the Stormfather as broken as well. Hmm Yeah Ten Hearlds. Opening of WoK. One missing. Forgot this entirely.
Moments that stuck out to me (Both Way Of Kings And Words Of Radiance) Kaladin changing tactics only to get everyone killed. When he finally miraculously saves everyone. The way the storm hanging was described. Just epic how he survived it. Hard to pull off wirhout just feeling convinient. I’m probably just listing the the ends of each Act, but I notice that although theres a lot of good character interactions in between, Brando Sando’s biggest strength is his anticipation. His books can be as long as they are because he spends a lot of time baiting, teasing, developing, and ENSURING that the payoffs really really payoff. So when those moments hit, I’ve spent chapters upon chapters that I’ll forget individually looking forward to them and then getting this memorable merge of “oh finally” and “OH thats what he meant!” Surprising yet inevitable, but memorable for how much my brain has built it up in my head and then been thrown off so positively that I really have to pay attention
Shallan honestly didnt grab me at first. Her arc was still fine, but I think her main conflict being ‘eventually steal a thing’ made it a slow burn and although they made it clear she was doing it because her family was poor, I don’t remember any chapters delving into just how bad it was. (Though apparently a lot of them blatantly did.) Book 2 was when they suddenly started revealing in droves a) how abusive it was, b) how Shallan finally resolved it, and c) that her father never actually did the initial thing he was accused of and so she blames herself for that abuse. As interesting as that was to unfold over time, for me that created a distance where until then I didnt fully invest in why she was doing it; she was trying to do something slightly dodgy for a slightly difficult externally Third Party sitauation and once she was out of the passive shadow (she was active in interacting with Jasnah, but being almost poisoned and having to steal the fabrial felt externally forced upon her) in book 2, it was like the story really started going “oh theres more to it, heres what shes Actually wrestling with” as well as “here’s what Shallan can be when she lets loose.” In a way, book 2 implies Veil is the real Shallan and I like the conflict between Shallan and Veil much more than I liked Shallan on the surface. Its not bad, more like, good to great. And yeah she was good when she was dealing with Jasnah, but she was great once she was more directly interacting with the main plot around her.
The moment where Sadeas betrays everyone, and Dalinar charges in or goes back or something that made Kaladin go “oh. I think he’s one of the good ones... alright, time to save a lighteyes I guess.” And Dalinar pays that back by rescuong everyone from Sadeas.
Its possibly also just that I didnt know what was going on and Way Of Kings hits you with a lot where as Words Of Radiance can hit the ground running with people I’m already familiar with, which is telling when I skim over Way Of Kings and cant remember a whole bunch of smaller details, or entire character chunks like the opening prologue, but its also probably that it was info overloard book 1 and book 2 i started taking notes. Either way, Words Of Radiance is my favourite by far, with Way Of Kings being just as good just more setup and confusion whereas by Words Of Radiance I was able to trust the stuff I liked in Way Of Kings to advance what I liked and update me on things I’d forgotten. (I.e. I’d forgotten that Sadeas Shardblade was the one Dalinar gave him, but the book recalls freeing the slaves and Adolin telling Dalinar to give the blade back and I went “oh yeah” so Way Of Kings I get a some great moments of surprise, but in Words Of Radiance, I get surprise development on those surprises, familiarity as I already know what theyre referring to, and I get to relive the initial book all at once, theres just more triple whammy in a sequel that is just as good. In a way I’m worried I’ve got a 1-2 punch where the third will be disappointing just because of the weird threequelitis problem. 1 is good, 2 is great, 3 is unreasonable expectations that can't be met (which the book ends in warning me against, ironically).
Over time they’ll naturally blend together and I’ll forget which was which, but some arcs:
Kaladin: Book 1, he thinks he is purposeless, but accepts that he has the power to save people and even some lighteyes are worth saving. Book 2, he thinks becoming a radiant is repulsive but eventually accepts that protecting everyone, even the people he hates, is the right thing to do and only becoming a radiant can achieve that. (Weirdly I cant see where Kaladins arc goes next, I assume something to do with someone dying and the radient powers not being enough, or Moash coming back and making things difficult, but Kalladin seems to have accepted his core potential and overcome his core wound so ... I dunno, unless Tien comes back to life or something I dunno what his next stage is.)
Shallan: Book 1, Shallan accepts... see I forget, I was a bit confused by it, she ended up in 2D world and it was very abstract and I didnt entirely understand it. I feel like I was just overwhelmed and it wasn't the books fault, I didnt know what to look for and I accidentally skim when I get close to the end. Book 2, she believes she is still the weak girl who lived in an abusive home, but starts to accept what she has done to escape it and what she is capable of when changing her image of herself (though she is yet to fully accept that image or integrate it so I figure thats where its going, she needs to either become Veil entirely, realize she was Veil all along, or realize Veil is a double edged sword and integrate the good while shedding the bad.)
Adolin ... He’s an interesting one. I really really REALLY thought Sadeas would be a big part of book 3, given its named after his blade, but Adolin very abruptly saw book 2's pages running out and put an end to it. So ... I mean, I figure this is exactly what Sando said in his lecture “In RomComs, They’re going to get together, you KNOW they’re going to get together, but they’re going in the wrong direction and oops the other person they’re with has now done something that makes it harder to root for.”
I’m massively paraphrasing but I watched it earlier today and he described the rom com thing verbatim how I see Shallan/Adolin and Kaladin playing out, where Shallan and Adolin work well enough but everything I know about Adolin and everything Sando’s telling us increasingly blatantly about how Kaladin and Shallan see each other, that at some point “Adolin = good enough” is going to break and “person I didnt consider before” is the inevitable direction secretly promised underneath. Adolin hated Sadeas to begin with, so the tradjectory of Dalinar saying he cant convince Adolin he needs to trust Sadeas, Sadeas betraying Dalinar and confirming Adolins worst impulses, Adolin being a womanizer but trying to reign it in for Shallan though Adolin himself insisting "it never lasts", its all there as little red flags and killing Sadeas (although justified in terms of character plot, I don’t blame him one bit, someone had to do it) is the final camel straw. SO illegal and unjustifiable that Adolin knew he had to hide it. So dark that he’ll likely start derailing and pushing Shallan away as a result. Works, meet spanner.
But interestingly it wont necessarily be the thing that breaks them, Secrecy shouldnt necessarily bother Shallan, she functions on lies. And the murder itself; Shallan killed both her parents, and Tyn, she’s actually the most likely to understand his situation. But the deception it will require, the damage it might do to Adolin internally in pulling that off, getting away with it or potentially being caught, and the complications when Kaladin finds out who did it, its more of a question of what will it take for Adolin to confess or go blaze of glory to never get caught, under what state and circumstance, and will Kaladin be towards Adolin how he was towards Moash when the king was threatened?
Theres a lot of factors to keep it unpredictable but Kaladin in Book 1 would have leapt to help Adolin kill Sadeas or Amaram, but how he defended the king, against his own friend, on pure 'golden rule morality' might indicate a refusal to let Adolin do anything of the sort – which will then drive a wedge between both of them and Shallan. Would Adolin try to kill Kaladin if he found out? Would Shallan side with Kaladin if Kaladin had to take Adolin down? What would Dalinar do? Adolins one rash choice is entirely in line with everything I assumed would go wrong with him, but the TIMING of it and the sudden impulse has really, I think, fundamentally sabotaged him in the process. It'll be a really hard thing to come back from.
Comparing him to Moash of all people, Moash at least had it planned out, honestly discussed it with Kaladin before hand, and even seemed regretful when he punched Kaladin “too hard.” Yeah it was out of revenge and he was ultimately willing to kill and betray Kaladin with his own blade – so in a way, Moash was as bad as Amaram, but Adolin was so mad at Sadeas betraying Dalinar, so mad at Sadeas for outsmarting him then dodging their duel, that he had no plan, no discussion, no consideration, just killed him in cold blood and instantly hid the evidence. Like I get Adolin wanting Sadeas dead, but he couldn’t even own it. He’s Moash without the regret (at least within that moment) and it was AFTER it was clear Kaladin was fundamentally against taking life of any kind, not before when Moash still thought it was 50/50.
Its not to say Adolin is corrupt as a person, but that in that moment he showed less restraint, more brutality, and more cowardice than Amaram, Sadeas or Moash, and that decision may begin a spiral that makes him Kaladins... no EVERYONE'S no.1 target, and arc wise to me it seems a narratively natural way to start distancing him from Shallan and Kaladin in a way that pushes them together.
Now, they narratively dont HAVE to get together although I personally feel the story started pushing that pretty blatantly while always having an air of denial about it down to Shall saying “Adolin didnt HAVE to be brilliant...or whatever Kaladin was. So there.” Like shes trying to prove something to us and defend a position Sando knew we would take, ironically protesting in a very wink wink nudge nudge way. But for me the question isnt “Will Shallan and Kaladin get together?” so much as IF thats the plan, then will they survive the journey and how will they develop from triangle to couple? Adolin killing Sadeas really seems to trigger exactly that journey, but for me its now a big question of What Becomes Of Adolin when its all said and done?
Especially if Adolin kept losing to Sadeas then to Szeth and then he watches two radiants go on without him together, he’s really at risk of being left behind and I dont know where he would draw the line Because Of His Choice To Kill Sadeas if he gets desperate enough to prevent that or catch up. Oh hell, even RENARIN is a radiant now, the weakest link, who sat doing nothing during their duel, now has more honour and power than him. Like Adolin is in the WORST narrative place anyone could be, I feel so bad for him. In DBZ terms, he’s kind of Yamcha. Loses the girl, once was a strong fighter but now gets constantly owned. Renarin is I guess Krillin in that sense (odd theres literally already a Tien in the story) but when you’re giving more power and screen time and skill to Krillin over Yamcha... yeesh.
Dalinar is an interesting one. All signs pointed to the king dying; Moash was going to assassinate him, Kaladin was officially out of options for the first time ever, everyone else was gone, and that comment from Sando about a war hero having to be king made me think Dalinar was garunteed kinglyhood just to end up going “oh no wait, im just a soldier, i dont know how to king” in the next book (maybe I misremember the context and he was referencing Game Of Thrones or something) so the king surviving, Sadeas NOT surviving, and Dalinar going “hey god, so... all the main characters got to be radiant. Even Renarin for storms sakes. I’m the leader here, I think I deserve to be one!” “Okay! But im not really god so good luck with that!" was not at all the ending I was expecting. Pretty much all the Kaladin / Moash / Shallan / Adolin feels right on course character wise, but the implications are very hard towards Has To Get Darker Before It Gets Lighter and Adolins one decision is like a house of cards for the rest of them. That blatant flip where they all actually won and then Sadeas just abruptly doesnt get to make any sort of comeback completely threw me. If not for how Oh God Adolin No! It felt, techincally everyone succeeded and nothing went wrong in that final battle. It was a complete victory if not for the slippery slope feeling about it. I was not at all predicting a complete victory, I figured the god would continue to be a threat and Sadeas would come back in a big way to sabotage them and the king would be the cost expense of surviving the rest of it. Like it would be bitter sweet if anything. And its far better for it; this way its like “theyre all radiants now... but at what cost?” For Adolin, he’s left out and now in hiding. For Dalinar, I figure him not being allowed a blade and the god not being a useful god thing is gonna... even the start of Way Of Kings mentions how its strange the parshendi are all acting the way they do. We dont fully understand the real threat, Dalinar still doesnt understand the vision and so I feel like the next dread is ... what did he really sign up to? Whats the cost of having such a storm deity who “wont come when callled” as a spren, especially when Dalinar humiliated Amaram, but he didnt suffer much consequence, and now Dalinar wont be able to defend himself.
Amaram ... dunno what he’s up to, but he was keen to find Urithiru and Dalinar stopped him so ... all I know is where I thought Sadeas was a key threat, I now think Amaram is.
Elhokar... He went from Kaladin wanting him dead to Kaladin defending him in front of Moash. While Drunk. Its weird cause I know they're fictional but also narratively... Elhokar better clean up his act and start being a good king or I may start feeling like Moash was in the right and Moash/Kaladin broke up for nothing. I know morally its more that Moash purely wanted revenge and Kaladin is saving life for life’s sake, so they're fundamentally at conflict no matter what Elhokar is doing, but if Elhokar turns around and imprisons kaladin again or starts being petty and making things difficult, it’ll be hard to respect him as a character: it'll rob his apology, his self-aware weakness, of any sincerity and render him useless and annoying, and useless annoying characters who actively ignore their own useless and annoying traits often create unfun contrived conflict “oh no, Elhokar was an idiot again, whatever shall we do?” "How about not write him that way". So yeah I hope something is paid off with Elhokar at least wanting to TRY being a more useful king.
Lopen developing radiant powers. Looking forward to that.
Rock, just keep being you buddy.
It's another example of how with Way Of Kings I was still taking everything in, so I didnt really keep track of the bridge crew beyond Moash cause I knew the name. But with Words Of Radiance, I was more familiar and so learned who the bridgecrew were a bit more this time around.
Rlain knows far more than he’s letting on. He knew what the song meant, he knows about the rhythms, he noticed a difference in whatshername. I feel like the Parshendi was being foreshadowed as completely innocent and something is controlling them and Rlain has gone from “i wont betray my people” to “well theyre already doomed then, please stop them even if it means murdering them” but really needs to share what he knows so that the Radiants dont just wipe them out assuming they’re all evil – which seems to be what Shallan currently thinks they should do.
God I cant stop thinking about Adolin stabbing Sadeas in the eye, that has really stuck with me. What a horrible thing that I was rooting for plot wise but horrified by as if it actually happened and I wish I hadnt seen it. The way Sanderson described it put a vivid image in my mind and I can't unsee that.
Can't wait to get to Oathbringer, but I'm on to Arcanum, slipped on reading (helps my sleep routine but sleep routine is also priority if i dont get time) and so I think the plan is to read but take a break posting in case theres not much to say, read up to the mistborn section, read Era 2 between arcanum, finish arcanum, and then read Oathbringer.
Also, how did Sanderson go from whatever he was on before, to 50% finished with stormlight 5. I need to write more. And what happened to his hair.

Job 40:

15 Take a look at Behemoth, which I made, just as I made you. It eats grass like an ox.

Some thought Behemoth was amphibious. Benson Commentary:

But some later and very learned men take the leviathan to be the crocodile, and the behemoth to be a creature called the hippopotamus, or river-horse, which may seem to be fitly joined with the crocodile, both being very well known to Job and his friends, as being frequent in the adjacent places, both amphibious, living and preying both in the water and upon the land, and both being creatures of great bulk and strength.

Similarly, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown:

behemoth—The description in part agrees with the hippopotamus, in part with the elephant, but exactly in all details with neither. It is rather a poetical personification of the great Pachydermata, or Herbivora (so "he eateth grass"), the idea of the hippopotamus being predominant. In Job 40:17, "the tail like a cedar," hardly applies to the latter (so also Job 40:20, 23, "Jordan," a river which elephants alone could reach, but see on [560]Job 40:23). On the other hand, Job 40:21, 22 are characteristic of the amphibious river horse. So leviathan (the twisting animal), Job 41:1, is a generalized term for cetacea, pythons, saurians of the neighboring seas and rivers, including the crocodile, which is the most prominent, and is often associated with the river horse by old writers. "Behemoth" seems to be the Egyptian Pehemout, "water-ox," Hebraized, so-called as being like an ox, whence the Italian bombarino.

Similarly Barnes:

It is an amphibious animal, or an animal whose usual resort is the river, though he is occasionally on land. This is evident, because he is mentioned as lying under the covert of the reed and the fens; as abiding in marshy places, or among the willows of the brook, Job 40:21-22, while at other times he is on the mountains, or among other animals, and feeds on grass like the ox, Job 40:15, Job 40:20. This account would not agree well with the elephant, whose residence is not among marshes and fens, but on solid ground.

After the description of Behemoth in Job 40, it is immediately followed by the description of Leviathan in Job 41.

Job 40:15 "Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox.

Job 41:

1 Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope?

Crocodiles and hippopotamus are often paired together by ancient writers. Then perhaps Leviathan is a crocodile and Behemoth is a hippopotamus.

As they are here grouped together in the argument, it is probable that they belong to the same class; and if by the leviathan is meant the "crocodile," then the presumption is that the river-horse, or the hippopotamus, is here intended. These two animals, as being Egyptian wonders, are everywhere mentioned together by ancient writers; see Herodotus, ii.-69-71; Diod. Sic. i. 35; and Pliny, "Hist. Nat." xxviii. 8.

This forum is super helpful and thank you to everyone who has posted their experience. I cannot f******* believe I got addicted to this stuff. I started using as a pre workout and just like everyone here has experienced that led to another and another. Have been drinking 3-4 for a little over month. I’ve never been addicted to anything in my life and thought it was harmless. I read everything on this forum before quitting so thank you! The anxiety/buzzing feeling in my stomach is the worst. It’s crazy that we all know it will be over in 5 days or less, a very short amount of time but that 3-5 days can seem like a month lol.

I recently came across the book "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome, published in 1889, while working my way through classic works of literature...and instantly fell in love! This is the most humorous, heart-warming, informative, inspirational and, occasionally, insane book I've ever read, which tells the story of three men and their dog on a boating holiday across the River Thames in a skiff.
Unfortunately, while working my way through the text, I came across several words whose meaning have changed over time, several phrases that are no longer in current usage, historical facts and figures that are not commonly known, references to poems, books and songs that have long since been forgotten, and so on. I thought that this was a shame, so I annotated the text. But, I may have gone a bit too far in my annotations, which is why I call this the ULTRA-ANNOTATED EDITION.
I've published my ultra-annotated edition through Amazon/KDP. But, no matter how many e-mails I send to Amazon/KDP or online chats I have with them, they refuse to allow me "Editor" status and they have not linked the three editions (Kindle, paperback, hardcover) together properly so clicking those links takes you to someone else's book. Grrr!!
Because of this, I've uploaded a free PDF to archive.org. Here's the link ==> https://archive.org/details/three-men-in-a-boat-ultra-annotated-edition. Note that I give a more detailed explanation of my annotations there.
Now, it's your turn, gentle readers. As I mention on the archive.org page for the book, I am neither a scholar nor an academic. (With that said, I'm the nutcase who typed in thousands of mathematical formulas appearing in my Kindle/paperback edition of Leonhard Euler's "Elements of Algebra". Yep, that's me!) You may disagree with some of my annotations and, if so, I would like to hear from you. If you find any errors, disagree with an annotation, would like me to include more annotations, etc., please let me know. The book's e-mail address appears on the "NOTES ON THE ANNOTATED EDITION" page. I'd like to have the book as clean as possible for the start of the school year this fall so that school children can download the ultra-annotated version sans errors for class and not have to purchase the book.
Thanks and Enjoy!

Shiets gonna get real soon enough~
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Memory Transcription Subject: Slanek, Venlil Civilian
Date [Standardized Human Time]: November 13, 2136
Nulia I swear…
I love this Gojid with all my heart, but she would not let me go. He has been holding only tightly to me like a backpack, her tail wagging the whole time as we walked through the capital towards the new headquarters. She was constantly asking me “Are we there yet?!”, all excitedly… It made sense, Marcel was much more like a father figure to Nulia, and she seemed really quick to adopt him as a father the same way he adopted her as his daughter…
“She’s really impatient…”
I look over to hear Onso. The Yotul accepted my invitation to join us to see if we could see Marcel. He seemed ecstatic at the idea of meeting a human face to face over the phone, and that excitement wasn’t gone in the slightest.
“Oh, don’t act as if you’re any different~!”
We both shared a laugh as the headquarters came into view. It had drones flying about building up parts of the building under construction. The headquarters itself was a tall building with a strange tower at the top. Half the block consisted of the main building and the parking lot, while the other half of the block seemed to have a walled building… perhaps a prison block for inmates? It was all up to interpretation. The building itself seemed to have a navy-blue painted symbol along the front. It exuded a sort of importance, one that was found in many other government buildings.
There was a sign out front, “Help wanted, No exterminators beyond this point.”
Let’s see Marcel…
Onso spoke up, “So, you’re looking to get a job as one of those new ‘Police officers?”
I turned to face him, “Yeah! I had some experience as a UN peacekeeper for a while, so I know the general idea of what to expect. You might be welcome to work here too, if you're looking for work that is…”
He seemed to ponder my words for a moment, “I guess I could… maybe they have some machines they could use as an engineer for?”
“You’re an engineer?” I asked as we began to walk to the entrance. “I’m impressed. Those kinds of people are talented in many ways.”
“Daww thank you~”
We both laughed as we entered the main lobby of the building, while the upper floors were still under construction, the lobby was perfectly maintained and completed… There was a human working the front desk. We both approach her and give a gentle wave. “Hello miss, I was wondering if the overseer was available?”
She looked at me with suspicion, “Any reason why?”
“I was his partner during the exchange program. You can tell him a Venlil named Slanek is here.”
Her eyes widened, “I see… one second please.” She went about typing away at the computer as Onso went to sit down in the lobby chairs. I gave Nulia one of the little play magazines… she couldn’t read all of it just yet, but soon enough she’d grow to be the smartest Gojid I’d know.
Later, we heard some footsteps down the hallway approaching the lobby. When the figure revealed himself, his red plumage and scarred face turned to face us. A smile appeared on his face and the sparkle in his eyes became ever more apparent.
“Oh my God! It is you!”
Marcel spoke with excitement as he walked over to us… I stood up with Nulia in my arms as Marcel pulled us into a comforting hug. “When I received the message, I had a Venlil named Slanek waiting for me in my office, I thought it was too good to be true! But here you are and with little Nulia too!”
“Nuh uh! I’m a big kid now!”
Marcel and I laughed at Nulia, she was always such a joy to have around…
“Sooo… not to ruin the reunion… but I’m Onso.”
Marcel looked over to the Yotul with a warm and inviting smile, “It’s a pleasure Onso!” Marcel shook the Yotul's paw. “It’s great to see you and Nulia again Slanek! How have things been?”
I sighed, “Hectic, what with all the recent events and the massive shift in society we’ve had within such a short time. But it's all good! Nulia passed an entrance exam to get accepted into a good school!”
Marcel smiled widely at the fact, “That’s my little genius! I’m so proud!” Marcel went about booping Nulia on the nose, which made her giggle all cutely.
Onso piped up again, “Slanek and I are still looking for work… He made the suggestion of coming to work for you!”
Marcel’s smile beamed even more, “Is that true?! Wonderful! Come with me to my office! I have free time until my next interview and I think I should be able to squeeze you two in~!”
____________________________________________________________________________
Memory Transcription Notice: Chronological leap of 0.5 hours later
____________________________________________________________________________
The process was just like any other Interview for any other job, long and tiring. But it was worth it for the chance to work with Marcel again. Nulia was watching kid shows on the couch with my holopad as Onso and I went through the interview.
After a bit Marcel leaned forward resting his chin on his hands. “Given that you two seem to both have the necessary skills and experience for both the positions you want… You got the job! Come back here in two days for the orientation video!” Onso and I celebrated at the News and gave each other a high five. Marcel simply laughed at the scene before him.
Just then, we heard a voice, it was faint, but considering how high up we were it was clearly loud. The three of us look out a window and down into the parking lot to see a riot at the gate… They were all holding signs that were…
Anti-human and pro-exterminator…
…
I almost feel sorry for them…
Almost…
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(LORE DUMP)
:: Human policy is to dismantle and replace anything exterminator... anyone that opposes this or fights against it is to be executed as per human decree. Exterminators are to be investigated and those that express signs of deranged psychosis are to either be arrested or killed. ::
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Hi, I made a post earlier this week that I could feel a flare coming. And it's here! But its a symptom I have never experienced before.
Last night, I was getting up from an Epsom salt bath, and I used to tub itself to push up to stand up, I immediately felt sharp pain in my collar bone, left side of chest, and in my throat. Which sounds scary, and it really hut, but I get pleurisy and costochondritis often.
However, my left arm is achey/tingly/ and weak. I tried sleeping it off, but nope this morning I am not able to move it very much without it hurting. Like I had to do most of my morning things one handed. Chest pain is barely even noticeable at this point.
Myositis maybe? Idk, I have to be at work today, and hospitals are expensive, and usually blow me off. So I really don't want to go, but idk.

Hi my name is James
I just wanted to put a few of my thoughts down here, I don't mind if others do not agree but I just want to share my point of view and what I've learned from God and the Bible...I just wanted to share this as I feel it is my purpose. All the events in my life have led me to spreading this around to others on the internet...
God is almighty. He loves us all no matter what sins we've done in the past. Sins are acts that go against the ten commandments in the Bible.
I feel that love and understanding of others should be one of our top priorities in life, we should never judge others because we haven't lived their life, we don't understand the complexity of their minds, their experiences, their feelings, their fears and why they do the things they do. Remember that we are not our thoughts we are higher than our thoughts. Just because we think something, does not make it so. We can choose to accept or reject it. We should respect one another and not pull others down we do not agree with, we're all human no one is better than anyone else. People do things we don't agree with, all we can do is live our life and trust God's plan for ourselves. We should never compare ourselves to others, we're all special. We all have something to give to others, we're all good at something. Some are smarter in some ways than others, but we all have a speciality we should use for God.
We shouln't assume things about others, always find out facts before jumping to conclusions. Im very quiet and sometimes people, I feel, mistake my quietness for ignorance or that I'm hiding something sinister. I'm quiet because im shy, respectful to others and I value others opinion, I like listening to others, im humble and sometimes silence speaks more than words.
I want to help others and the first step is understanding their problems. We all have unique battles to face both in the world and within ourselves, and God helps us along the way. I feel a good first step is to remember your thoughts arnt always facts, just because a lot of people hold the same opinion they feel it adds more weight to something, however sometimes everyone is wrong...only God is right.
Things happen in our lives that we don't like. Life is grossly unfair sometimes...we have some living their best life and we have a lot of poor people suffering in silence and in poverty. God can't control our actions or the actions of others and sometimes things happen without warning. I know God watches over all of us. We're not all robots under Gods command...we wouldnt be free. He gave us all free will, he guides us all if we love one another and him, he shows us things to test us sometimes and he tries to help us become more like his son Jesus. If everything was perfect in our lives and if we lived forever here on Earth we wouldn't need to go to heaven, we'd already be there.
I belive life is a test of our faith, those who push themselves to the top at the expense of others will be judged unfavourably, if you love others and put God first, its like a guarantee that your life has meaning and purpose. By sinning your whole life and not listening to what God trys to tell you, its a risk, a very big risk. Its a risk we shouldn't take, no one is sure about what happens when we die, wouldn't it be wiser to inherit a place in heaven through Jesus Christ then to cast it all away and not listen to God's message of love and peace. Jesus loves us all so much that he died for our sins in the most brutal and painful way possible, he was blameless and he made the ultimate sacrifice for us all, not because of greed or selfishness but because he loves us all! And then he rose again! no man can do this only God can do this!
I feel God forgives all sins you just have to realise this and stop sinning when you are introduced to God, if you know full well what you are doing is wrong, why do it? No one is beyond redemption...no one. Everyone has the power to be strong in faith even if your body is weak. You can accomplish anything with God...if you are pure hearted and your motives are true to God. Let God strengthen you, no harm can come to your soul with God at your side, your body will wither away and die but your soul will live forever with God, you don't have to be afraid of anything. Suffering is temporary, you dont have to be scared once God is in your life, it may not seem like it, but the reward at the end is worth it, we have no idea how much love and warmth and belonging you have with God, all are welcome...he knows everything about each and every one of us, he created us all, after all, he knows our pasts, our futures, our feelings, what we choose and why... everything. He wants us all to be by his side, but he knows many will reject him but those that join him in the kingdom of heaven he will cherish forever, he knows the outcome of everything, God planned it all from the start of existence, God is perfect, God is love. Praise the almighty God and his Son Jesus Christ Hallelujah!
I believe the devil influences people on Earth but with God nothing can harm you. Gods armour is impenetrable. Innocents suffer, why? how can God let this happen? it is not God it is the sin we let into the world. Why do we sin? to impress others? to fit in? selfishness? Its not worth it in the end, make a stand and be unlike what is in 'fashion' at this time and dont pay attention and copy what others are doing, make up your own mind. These days a lot of people generally do whatever they want regardless of whether they should... life without God is chaos, we turn to ourselves and become selfish...we turn into our own Gods. People influence others. People can justify anything in their minds on issues regarding what's morally right and wrong. Remember, God is perfect, no man or woman can compare. God is always right. He should always come first in everything we do. He made us all and he's very real, not just in our minds, trust me! What is seen on Earth comes from the transient world we let sin into, what is unseen is eternal. We could never conclusively prove God exists or doesn't exist through science, God has thought of everything his children may do in the world...if we knew God exists life would not be a test.
I feel we should never harm others...physically, emotionally in anyway. Put yourself in others shoes not because God tells you to in the Bible but because you could have been the other person in that position, how would you feel if roles were reversed? When you sin it affects not only youself, but the other person on the recieving end...revenge, hate and anger may be on the minds of the victim this is the aftermath of sin. Learn to forgive and forget, understand when you're in that position on the recieving end of sin to turn the other cheek...God is forgiving and we should be too.
That thing you've been thriving for your whole life that is Earthly, that one thing that slips through your fingers everytime...you don't need it, all you need is God's love. In heaven, that thing you wanted here on Earth can't even compare. Life is hard, it would be nice with that thing you wanted, but do you really need it? try to think that if situations were different the thing might never have been there to recieve in the first place, so dont worry that you dont get what you want on Earth. Others have lived before you without it, what makes you more privileged than them...we are all children of God.
When you are weak you are strong, when you have nothing and life has taken everything from you...God is at his closest to you. When you see no hope of a better future, God protects you...hes always there he won't let you take a burden alone. He loves us so much...we are his children, he'll NEVER leave us. Your relationship with God should be that he's the Father and we are the child, he knows better than us...he sees what we do not see, we know it is to protect us, he should be respected and feared to prevent us from sinning becuase he doesnt want us to fail and make mistakes.
I've become angered at others for their sins against me in the past, I have suffered at the hands of others, it has sometimes overwhelmed me, I've made mistakes and im far too hard on myself, i havn't been well in the last few weeks and months but with God at the core of my life now I have great understanding and peace. My love for my wife and our daugther and all my family members shines through, I never want to stray from God and I know I dont have to worry about anything because God is watching over me and my family at all times.
I belive God is perfect you can't deny him, with his help I'm becoming wiser everyday, God never changes and neither should we once we've found him in our lives. I feel the world overcomplicates things, i just want to put my opinion accross to share what ive been through and shown by God in my life. He has given me so much wisdom everything I've said here God has shown me in some way or another, hes shown me some amazing things, I'm just spreading his word....I dont want wealth or fame, i dont want anything in return, I just want to help God save his children in these dark times. I hope this helps someone and helps them realise there's more than what we see here on Earth.
I try to be like Jesus in every aspect of my life. I know I love God and everyone he has made regardless of their actions, because I know why they do the things they do, the mind can be an overwhelming place and thoughts can easily turn into actions we regret...we are all so different. Hate the sin itself not the one who did it, I pray for all who are suffering in the world at the moment and I wish everyone the best.
God bless
Happiness and love to all who read this

Pt 1 If you haven't read it yet.
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Pt 2 If you haven't read it yet.
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Pt 3 If you haven't read it yet.
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Pt 4 If you haven't read it yet.
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Pt 5 If you haven't read it yet.
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The sun had begun to set, so I made my way over to the metro station we agreed upon as the rendezvous point. The walk took me about 20 minutes so by the time I got back the streetlights were beginning to switch on as the last red rays of starlight dipped below the horizon. It was there I anxiously awaited for Tromō, expecting him to take longer. I stayed for about a half hour, but at that point my stomach had slowly begun to sink with dread. My mind raced. In an attempt to dismiss these fears I reached for my communicator to check his location (I know, I know, risky in a public location but I had made my way over to a much quieter location.) I found him en route to the warehouse district, about 20 kilometers north-northeast of my location. Something had gone terribly wrong. Sensing the worst I quickly commandeered a nearby truck, hot-wired it, and hauled ass back to the hotel. I was never particularly any good at combat so
a different strategy would be required. I also had many moral qualms at the thought of murder, but since Tromō would likely have his identity compromised, protocol states clearly that anyone who comes in contact with that knowledge must be promptly terminated, and the blind rage made quick work eliminating that psychological barrier.
On the drive back to the hotel I began to plot his rescue. My mind, overcome with anger, jumped to a most unorthodox manner of dealing death. The plan I had settled on was to deploy a gas, engineered to only affect Ix. The gas would serve as the medium for the transmission of a specially designed virus to act as a genetic trojan horse to gain access to their cells, and disable their DNA from being read. None of their immune systems could cope with such a virus, allowing it to wreak havoc on their bodies unimpeded. Now, I did design the virus to prevent itself from spreading to new hosts and would only last a few milliseconds while outside the gas.
Getting back to the hotel room I sequenced the Ix's genome so I could tailor the virus. How it would work is a CRISPR protein would be released once access had been gained to the cell, this would identify active strings of genetic code, and replace them with deactivated strands, which the body wouldn't read for. Repeat this 100 or so trillion more times and you have a rather unpleasant appointment with the grim reaper in just 48 hours. The gas, however, would paralyze them, preventing any movement while the virus made its way through the body.
I worked for the next 4 hours, as quickly as I could, making sure to inform Bridge about what had happened to Tomō, but only mentioned that I was "Handling it." when it came to finding a solution. Captain didn't follow up as there was a general understanding that you don't talk about what you had to do on a rescue mission. At regular intervals I checked his location and vitals making sure that not only was he not moving, but also still remained alive.
Leaving the hotel I got back in the truck and went as fast as I could to the warehouse they were keeping him in. Rage and fear boiling over. What were they doing to Tomō? Is he hurt? I'm gonna kill those fuckers. They fucked with the wrong person and now they're gonna be in a world of hurt unlike anything they could possibly imagine.
Slamming on the brakes when I got there, I took in my surroundings. The building was small, no larger than a barn, with a slanted roof with two skylights. Surrounding the building was a tall fence, nothing I couldn't climb and the entrance was padlocked shut, both the gate and the door. After scaling the fence I climbed up a dumpster and up onto the roof, making sure to crawl whenever I could. Peeking through the skylight, which was cracked open slightly, allowing me to not only see but hear what was going on inside.
It was a most distressing scene, Tomō, tied to an iron column, all bruised and bloodied, with four other people, 2 men and 2 women, standing nearby. I was lucky to have calibrated the dose for 5 people.
"It's been 5 hours, your little friend isn't coming to save you." One of the men said approaching Tomō
Fearing that he could hurt him once more I readied the bow with the special arrow that would release the gas on impact.
Release.
The arrow landed right in-between the man and the three others. They all turned to look at me, but I had quickly hidden myself from view.
"Looks like your friend is here after all. Shame he missed!" He shouted.
"I didn't need to!" I shouted back, clicked the button that would release the gas along with the virus.
I crawled back over to the skylight to see my creation take action. They began to cough. One of them fell down.
"You don't know, do you?" He said, laughing and still coughing.
"We knew where you were. That tracker is on you too. Oh, and that little bioweapon you designed, it doesn't work on us."
He pulled off a sort of latex disguise. He was not Ix, none of them were. They were all Trexel, the sworn enemy of The Federation who they had been fighting with, largely in the form of border skirmishes and territorial disputes for the last 200 years.
"Get him." The man said, pointing at me as the three others began running out of the building.
FUCK SHIT FUCK FUCK FUCK
I quickly climbed down the roof and only had time to get onto the top of the dumpster, I was unarmed, or so I thought, remembering the pair of scissors I kept in one of my pockets. I did ditch my bow and at this point it was dead weight to me.
"You're gonna fucking pay for what you did to Tomō." I growled.
"With a pair of scissors! HA!" one of the women said.
"You fucked around..."
Splitting the scissors in two, I grabbed one of the halves and threw it.
"ACK" Was her last word as the blade pierced right through her neck.
THUMP was the noise her body made collapsing onto the floor as she bled out and choked. Her peers readied their swords. (Kinetic weapons would make too much noise and Energy weapons could have some... unintended consequences.) I grabbed a short, half-meter pipe and taped the remaining half of the scissors to one end.
"with a human.. and now... you find out."
I jumped down from my position, while that did mean sacrificing my high ground, I needed to make the quickest work of the two in order to get to Tomō as quickly as possible.
They both charged me at the same time, trying to flank, but I just circled around, making sure to keep line of sight.
Eventually one charged me, I let her attack me, always making sure to move out of the way, this kept the both of them in motion, never quite getting close enough to strike.
Leading them in circles I eventually picked the man who didn't seem as skilled due to his lack of participation compared to his other colleague.
Lunging towards him I made quick steps towards, when I got inside striking range he I had to sidestep his sword, but in the end that didn't matter, a swift stab to the chin and I just pushed him aside with the other end of the pipe to bled out.
Now all that was left was the woman standing there, alone, and moderately terrified.
Adrenaline coursing through my veins in ever increasing quantities, and desperation coursing through hers, we charged at each other, and I stabbed her in the torso, striking one of her vital organs.
But I was but a 10th of a second too late, and the steel of her blade sliced about 2 and a half centimeters into my right shoulder. Adrenaline quieted the pain, but it still hurt like hell as the blood trickled out and I began to lose feeling in my right arm.
Pulling my communicator I hit the SOS button.
Pushing her body to the side I ran as fast I could to the door and charged the last man toppling him to the ground. But he was prepared, holding a knife in his hand, stabbing and slashing until his last breath. When all was done I ran over to Tomō but collapsed just centimeters from freeing him as the amount of blood I lost grew, and the pain returned.
I waited for 2 minutes, but it felt like eternity, barely being able to open my eyes, and the pain shooting throughout my body, all while I could hear Tomō struggling to break free to try and treat my wounds.
But at the end of those two minutes I was lifted up into a medevac shuttle.
"Tomō?" I groaned, forcing the word out with every fiber of my being.
"Yes we have Tomō he'll be okay but our priority is you right now."
I recognized the voice, it was Jiply, the ship's doctor, but I could barely parse it out through the noise of other doctors and whirring, beeping machines as the crew of doctors attended to my injuries.
By the next time I had opened my eyes I was lying down in a cold room by myself, dressed in my underwear and a knee-length hospital gown, hooked up to a heart rate monitor and a pack of blood to replenish what I had lost. Nearby though was a call button, which I sat up slowly to reach, upon sitting up I inspected myself, noticing that my torso had 5 scars from the fight, and I estimated another 2 on my back judging by the tenderness of the skin. I pressed the button repeatedly until someone came.
"Well I see you're awake!" Smiled Jiply.
"Would you like me to tell the crew you're awake?"
"Just Tomō for now, I'll tell the crew myself" I said, groggily.
"Oh and could you get me something to wear please?"
"Sure thing I can get you something!"
She left the room and shortly afterwards brought me a pair of pants, the same color as my gown and made of flannel. Since I couldn't get out of bed quite yet she put them on for me.
"Thank you." I whispered.
Jiply left once more to get Tromō, I didn't have to wait long until I heard him bursting through the door.
"You're okay!" He exclaimed while crying.
"Oh thank the stars you're okay!"
He bolted towards me, tightly wrapping his arms around me.
"Too much squeeze, too much squeeze!"
Not only was he hugging me too tightly, but it also irritated my tender scars. He quickly loosened his hug, allowing me to feel his soft, wrinkly skin, and hear the pitter-patter of his hearts.
"So good to see you're okay too."
We were both crying tears of joy, and while I knew whatever just happened would only be the start, I would always have someone I could rely on. Tomō would always have my back, and I would always have his. I fell asleep mid-embrace.
When I woke up once more, it was already the next day, and while the bag of blood had been removed, its place was a clear IV bag to, you know, prevent me from starving.
I just laid down, facing the ceiling, taking in the calm. Savoring it. For about... 5 minutes, after that I got bored, so I pressed the call button. To no-one's surprise by this point, Jiply walks in shortly afterwards. I strongly suspect that she was personally overseeing me as it likely got priority over Klob'lar freaking out over stubbing their toe again.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" She asked
"Could you get me a cane, I would like to tell the crew that I'm okay."
She handed me a cane, carefully lifting myself back onto my shaking legs.
"So what's the damage doc?"
"Well, your liver got punctured but we were able to repair that, and we had concerns about the long term viability of your L-3 vertebrae and your right shoulder so we replaced the both of them."
"Not too bad." I chuckled.
I slowly made my way over to the door one hand clasped around the cane, and the other around the IV bag stand. It took me about half an hour to head down the hallway over to the bridge. The door opened and I belted out as hard as I could
"IMM BAACK!" *Cough* *Cough*
Everyone stood up to face me and began to clap, which I signaled for them to stop since I didn't care for the noise. I was smiling though
"We figured you were okay, Tomō seemed happier than ever before so we assumed it meant good news for you!" The captain said walking over to me.
"Awww man he spoiled the surprise!" I laughed.
"Oh please, seeing you walking is plenty surprise enough."
"So how did you manage to rescue me so quickly without being discovered?"
"Oh we didn't, we unfortunately had to prematurely inform them of other life in the galaxy."
"You're fucking with me aren't you."
"After how you fought, we all respect you too much to fuck with you like that."
"Well shit." I said, the smile I had was wiped from my face.
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So that's it for Pt 6, hope you liked the fight scene! Pt 7 should be coming out in another 2 days. As always, thanks for reading!

Need some advice. I am a 27F and currently on vacation in Hawaii for 4 weeks. I met a guy who I clicked with right away. He came to Hawaii to celebrate his 17th birthday and here for 3 weeks. We are both from the same country also which is pretty cool
I'm here with my grandma and he's there with his older cousin. I bumped to him at the beach last week. We are both into surfing and went together few times. We just clicked and it just feel comfortable talking to him. He's like one of those ppl that actually make you feel good about yourself when you are around them. Very rare to find. Most ppl are pleasant but don't have that effect
Yesterday I bumped into him in a beach alone and ended up talking for about 6 hours about the shows breaking bad & trailer park boys and made these really neat sand castles and sand snow men. I don't know what it is about him but everything he does is so.. so alluring. Little stuff like just brushing his hands on his hair, his dimples, the darn lip bites. Around 11pm we finally decided to go to our hotels to sleep. He decided to kiss me all of a sudden and we made out for several minutes (with serious neck kisses) and there was some light groping and we almost had oral sex until I ended it. I just simply said we haven't done anything to be ashamed of but we shouldn't go further than this. He was super respectful and apologized and we went our separate ways.
I spent the whole day with him today but he hasn't tried anything with me. I know this wouldn't be a long term thing but even short term fling is nice to think about. It just feels people are ok with such relationshp if both parties are 18 and over. But 17 is literally one year younger than 18. and it's above the age of consent in the country I live in which is 16. How morally wrong is it really tbh? I would really appreciate respectful answers.