Tl:dr I think my gf is done and at this point just playing games. Should I call it quits or keep trying ?
Last year I met my gf on a dating app, initially she stated that she was only looking for fun in the US because she was an Au Pair and she was going back to France at the end of December. Although, during the time we were dating last year, she put in a lot of effort from cooking for me sometimes, celebrating my birthday with a surprise picnic and many other things, plus she expressed interest in wanting to have something serious.
I was very cautious because I’ve been hurt and played a lot in the past so as much as I like her and how she was treating me, trying to have a LDR until she comes back to the states as a Nurse was so enticing. Anyways we were good together until certain things started happening. One situation was when I asked her if she was still in communication/talking to any men that she slept with or dated in the past/recently, she told me “No, I wish I had male friends.” And as we got more serious, she would tell me periodically that she was only talking to me even when I didn’t ask. Well one day she was showing me something on her laptop and I noticed on her WhatsApp that there was a recent convo with a guy, I asked who he was and she says “just a friend” I later find out that she was someone she dated and slept with earlier in the year and he kept contacting her even after she said she wasn’t interested in something more. My thought is if you’re done with someone and they’re crossing your boundaries, why not block them ?
Anyways that’s just to share an idea of how she came off to me and I still gave the person a chance. Now I mostly regret it, we’ve been in constant contact since she’s moved back and she has become increasingly rude, disrespectful, and very nonchalant about our relationship and future. It got so bad to the point that I suggested being friends to take off some of the pressure and give us some time to reassess our relationship and now she uses the “friends” title against me. Just because I suggested us being friends doesn’t mean my feelings just disappeared. But they was she talks to me, I think her feelings were never there in the first place. Just the other day she texts me randomly and asks if I was seeing anyone and I said “no because I have a lot on my plate and I’m still trying to work thinks out with you so I don’t plan on seeing people.” When I ask her she said “I’m not seeing anyone right now but you never know the future, things can change.” I said “wow ok so I’m having self control because I want to still have a healthy relationship with you but I should worry about you meeting another man.” She starting texting “lol” and I said “I guess this is funny to you “ she responded “what’s funny to me ?” And I ignored her. She tried calling me the next day but I didn’t respond because I feel she’s not serious at all and I’m being taken advantage of. What do you think? Do you think I’m overreacting or should thing young lady be blocked for her transgressions?

Hello everyone.
I never really have any problems with abyss. I don't mind not 36 starring it (I usually 34/35 star it). I've been at the game for ages, I have a giant pool of 5 star characters and I'm playing because I like the game. However, I do want to try my best at abyss too. Getting some free primogems? For sure I'm doing that.
I never minded the Wenut. I never minded things like the Maguu Kenki triplets or whatever. But I do bear hatred towards 2 cryo and 1 hydro Abyss Herald in 12-1 part 2. They have beautiful designs, but I don't like how everything is getting more and more about being able to resist knockback/freeze or not.
Getting knockback spammed without being able to do anything is unfun. It has nothing to do with skill. It has nothing to do with fun gameplay, y'know: the reason why you play a game. You can't run away from them either and stay at range, as they will jump towards you anyway.If a boss had a few unpredictable knockbacks, sure I wouldn't mind at all. But at least then you will be able to move and not be locked in place every second. If you don't have Zhongli with a perfect shield, there is no way you can prevent knockback. Even if you bring the banner character (Baizhu) who the abyss should be attuned to as this always happens during a new character banner, cannot withstand all the knockback spamming. It's simply a frustrating form of gameplay.
It's like fighting specters all over again, before their nerf, but worse.
You can make bosses harder, tankier, higher damage Hoyoverse. Hell you can even make it so I can't even 2 star the abyss. But can you please remove the unfun mechanic of knockback spamming. It's the only thing that you cannot do anything about if it has no cooldown, because there are 3 enemies who can do it and don't get knocked back themselves.
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How does anyone else play around it? It really makes me want to throw my controller into my screen and throw my computer out of the window and eat the wires.
I really have a lot of characters. Name a comp and I can probably build it up and make it.I just don't have Raiden as I don't like her, but I do have Yae. My only pyro dps atm is Yanfei though.

Today on the tram I saw a ticket inspector ask a young girl for her ticket, which she provided. It was a student ticket apparently, so the inspector asked to see her ID. The girl looked in her bag but couldn't find her ID (though she was very clearly student age) and the inspector asked for her name and address and told her she would be receiving a fine.
The very same inspector, one carriage up, had 3 or 4 men laugh at him and simply ignore him and bad-mouth him when he asked for their tickets. First they played dumb saying they didnt speak english (they were eastern-European I think), and then proceeded to cursing at him. Sure enough at the next stop, they get off, he follows them off shouting after them to no avail, as they just walk away with seemingly zero repercussions.
I was left from this experience feeling that the inspectors end up only punishing those people who actually interact in good faith with them- meaning that they punish the people who are actually trying, and maybe have made an honest mistake, whilst the people trying to evade tickets get off scot-free. What is the point of an inspector if they are able to just be blatantly ignored by ticket evaders?

So I just wanted to share a minor win that I had last night that is so small but absolutely profound to me.
Me (5'11" size 20), my partner, and a few friends will be driving in a 24 Hours of Lemons race (wheel to wheel road course racing in $500 POS cars) this summer, and it's been super fun to prep our car, plan out our weekend strategy, shop for racing gear, etc. I grew up around Indy cars, and have always wanted to race, but my height ruled that out as a possibility very early on, and cost made it seem totally out of reach as an adult (I'll be 40 in August) until we found the Lemons series. Needless to say, I'm ridiculously excited.
Despite my excitement, prepping for the race has brought on a lot of unexpected anxieties about my size. I've been tackling them one at a time: racing seats are designed to be snug, will I fit? YES. Will the harness that fits my average sized partner and teammates fit? YES. Last night we received our fire resistant racing suits (coveralls with a front zip, think the suits trash collectors and janitors used to wear) and we realized we were missing some gear, so it was decided while we were all together working on the car, we'd try on what we DID have to make sure everything fit and we could exchange what didn't. I've been hesitant to do this kind of stuff in front of friends, because not fitting into a thing that should fit and having other people see me struggle with a zipper or buttons or whatever has been horrendously embarrassing to me in the past. My suit was an XXL (default sizing is for men, because they're the majority of the people wearing them), and while I was able to get it on and up over my shoulders, I realized pretty quickly that there was no way it was going to zip over my lower stomach where I carry most of my weight, and that even if I could, that would make the crotch so tight I likely wouldn't have been able to sit in the racing seat long enough to drive my shift (if at all). While the four of us were all trying them on, I was aware that everyone else's suits zipped up just fine, and they noticed me struggling to gather the front of the suit to try to zip it. Once I realized it wasn't happening, I just took it off and told the teammate that had arranged our gear rental I needed a bigger suit, and we all just carried on.
Just a few weeks ago, this would have been potentially devastating (I avoided fit-testing the seat u til it was just my partner and I, in case I could fit, or got stuck getting out), but it was very matter of fact: my body is the size that my body is. These suits are not designed with bodies like mine--or even bodies with curves in general--in mind. The suit that had failed me wasn't the largest size available by quite a ways. Other suits are available.
It was very much not a big deal to me, and it wasn't a big deal to anyone else and it was just... a lightbulb moment? Like how much time have I wasted being upset about a thing that wasn't designed with my body in mind not fitting my body?! It's 12+ hours later, and it's still kind of blowing my mind that this sudden "idk, it doesn't fit, can you get me a bigger one? 🤷‍♀️" moment was such a non-event.
Just sharing to say: take your fat body and do the thing. Get out of your own way and allow yourself to have fun experiences if the resources are available!

High volume high revenue sales, over 500 feedback in past 7 months that I first started selling. All of the sudden I can only se my star rating and percentage, with no individual feedback showing. I can however see it on the desktop site. Is this a bug? A little aggravating. This is on Android.

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Chapter 32
As Mae had previewed, the weeks that passed since the incident in the Logistics Bay were fraught with speculation and feeding the rumor mill. Quin felt he couldn’t walk ten paces on Nemo before meeting some askance gaze of a crewmember or hearing the murmurings of a conversation that abruptly stopped when he would round a corner. Mae was right though that, after a while, the incident became old news and the ruckus died down a bit. Certainly, there was always an inappropriate joke to be had during dinner or dark looks from certain members of the crew, but as the time passed, people turned once again to daily happenings onboard, when the next stopover would take place, and the perennial favorite: who happened to be sleeping with whom.
This last item tended to occupy people to no end, and Quin felt a bit unfortunate that this news also pertained him. Mae and Liza’s breakup and the apparent spat that he and Pepper had ran through the corridors just as fast as the news about Nova. Quin was honestly unsure which conversation he dreaded being brought up more. It seemed that individuals he had never or barely even met knew more about his world than he himself was aware. It was during one of these conversations with two people from the Engineering section that Quin accidently lost it and stormed off, an act he regretted immediately for furthering the gossip chain.
“So is it true that you had to hold Mae back so she wouldn’t punch Liza?” the guy had asked.
”What? NO. What the hell?” Quin responded, flabbergasted.
“Well, I heard from someone in the officer’s corridor that there was yelling and someone got hit. Do you know who got punched?” The other person was practically on their toes with anticipation.
“NO ONE GOT PUNCHED!” Quin shouted, ready to leave the conversation as soon as possible.
“Jeez, why are you yelling?” as the first person, blind to Quin’s growing frustration.
“Don’t you know, Liza’s friend broke up with him the next day because of the fight?” The second person remarked to the first, now completely cutting Quin out of the conversation.
“WE WEREN’T EVEN DATING! WHAT THE HELL?!” Quin screamed, turned on his heels and stormed off to nowhere in particular.
Thankfully, this was probably the worst interaction he had had as a result of those unfortunate few days, aside from the actual conversations themselves that he experienced with Pepper and Nova themselves. He would have appreciated any interaction with either of them at all, if he was honest. The silent treatment from the both of them was practically unbearable. Mae’s words of encouragement, “Time, give it time,” only helped so much when he would pass by Pepper in the corridors or when he had to work directly with Nova during his long shifts in the lab. Nova had limited their conversations to something like a comment box, dropping in parcels of a conversation to the syslog, to be taken up at her leisure and delivered at inconvenient times in the middle of the night. But at the very least, Nova was responding, albeit specifically for work and solely related to their responsibilities together. Pepper, on the other hand, was completely mute. Painfully so, Quin noted as she passed by him going into the cafeteria and didn’t even afford him a glance.
The level of complete non-interaction with Pepper and the invasion into his life by everyone else was beginning to wear on him, and he felt more cut off from the rest of the crew than ever before. He had stopped visiting Bostwick’s chamber for fear of the look of pity that the Commander often wore when passing by him. At least Mae had somewhat of a ‘tough love’ approach to cheering him up. Bostwick’s uncompromising warmth and sympathetic looks made Quin feel guilty rather than comforted, and shameful rather than encouraged. In fact, in the two and a half weeks that passed since Nemo had left the Rhea stopover and Quin passed the night under the watch of the Commander, Quin had only exchanged glances with Bostwick.
Then there was the insomnia. At first, Quin felt nothing but lethargy as he felt the different components of his life crumble around him. The inability to communicate with Tess, the intolerable pity of Mae and Bostwick, the unbearable silence from Pepper and Nova, the frustration expressed by the command staff, and the whispers and side-eyes from the rest of the crew all contributed to the complete physical and mental shutdown he experienced after leaving Rhea. He would steal away to his chamber during break periods to nap, and he would skip meals in order to stay in his room, profiting from the odd bits of food Mae snuck out of the cafeteria. However, after several days of feeling an inability to motivate himself to be out of bed, he started to find that he would lie awake, staring at the ceiling, or glancing at the clock and fretting that it was already 4:00 in the morning.
It was on one of these early mornings that Quin saw the numbers 3:22 at the top of his tablet, and he felt as if it would be impossible for him to find any sleep that night. He had laid down in bed at 22:05 with every intention of forcing a good night’s sleep, but with five hours passing by and no respite coming, he sat up on the edge of his bed and rubbed his eyes a bit. He figured that the coffee station in the kitchen would probably have some hot water with which to make tea, and that could possibly help him. He threw his jumpsuit and boots on and strolled out of the room.
The ship was deserted and peaceful, the type of quiet that Quin relished. It was almost trance-inducing, the soft hum of the ship that Quin felt coming through the very walls themselves. He felt the sound reverberate through him and it was soothing. He set off toward the kitchen. The sleet grey walls of Nemo’s interior usually made for a serious backdrop, but at this hour, it had the effect of dimming the corridors and adding to the sleepy atmosphere of the ship. He stuffed his hands deep in his pockets and followed the sleek lines of the hallways with his eyes as he passed. He came upon the cafeteria doors and walked by them to skirt the main room. He was heading for the back area, the sparkling room with gleaming metal and white tile and a peaceful getaway. Upon swiping his arm against the pad, though, he found that the space was already occupied. A voice greeted him before he had an opportunity to look up.
“Hey Quin, can’t sleep? Is it another bad dream?” Bostwick was sitting on a stool with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand and his illuminated tablet resting on one of the food prep work tables. The man had a weary look around his eyes but Quin could still discern the warmth that emanated from the wrinkles near his temples and the large smile he wore. Quin froze, unsure whether to step into the room and submit himself to another round of pity or try to find some excuse for leaving and head back to his room. In his uncertainty, he ended up standing in the doorway, causing the automatic doors to try to swish shut but freezing and retracting, over and over again.
“Well? Are you just going to stand there, mouth agape, or are you going to come get something to drink like you had planned?” Bostwick said with an eyebrow raised, his mouth now reflecting a knowing smirk. Slowly, Quin trudged into the room, his hands clenched in his pockets as he tried to suppress the nerves that were boiling in his stomach. He gingerly walked over to the coffee station and put a tea bag in a cup and pressed the release valve to allow boiling water to fall over it. Then he set the cup down to steep. He kept his eyes fixed on the surface of the brewing tea, though he felt the hair on the nape of his neck stand as he guarded himself for Bostwick’s eventual conversation starter. But after a minute, it didn’t come. Quin stood there watching the deep brown tea diffuse throughout the water but did not hear a word come from Bostwick. Hesitantly, Quin looked around and saw Bostwick tapping on his tablet, seemingly composing a message.
Quin shuffled his feet a bit before clearing his throat lightly. Without even looking up, Bostwick said, “I’m able to read signs, Quin. If you don’t want to talk to me, I’m more than happy to oblige your intention to be left alone.”
Quin’s eyes shot up to look at Bostwick, who kept on typing as if he hadn’t spoken. Quin was left a bit taken aback. Oh hell, he thought, is it that obvious or can he read my mind? He shuffled again and then picked up his tea cup. Quick, say something, you idiot, his mind was screaming at him as he struggled to put together his words.
“Look, uh, Commander, I—“ Quin started, but was immediately cut off.
“Louis, but please continue,” Bostwick said, looking up at him and smiling.
Whatever momentum Quin had built up in trying to speak, he lost it with Bostwick’s interruption. He started to second-guess even his need to speak if Bostwick was going to be able to anticipate the conversation. His mentor apparently picked up on his nervousness, because he relieved Quin’s tension by taking up what was going through Quin’s head.
“Quin, listen, I understand that you feel like you want to be left alone,” Bostwick said, his tone soft and unassailing. “And I’m sensing that you feel a bit embarrassed about being vulnerable in front of me. That’s a totally normal human feeling. I hope you aren’t feeling, though, that I overstepped any boundaries by not waking you up immediately when you fell asleep in my room?”
“No, uh, Louis, it’s not that,” Quin said abashedly.
“Good, I’m glad. So if you are feeling ashamed about the way I show that I care about you, please just tell me, and we can talk about how I can change that.”
Again, Quin was at a loss for words. It’s not that I don’t want him to care about me, he thought, it’s that I want him to be mad. Why wasn’t he angry at all? That I could deal with. But he’s so kind that I feel like I want to scream. Quin lifted his eyes and finally met Bostwick’s own piercing gaze. Bostwick seemed to interpret the silence and took up the conversation again.
“Unless…perhaps you are feeling ashamed about your own reaction?” Bostwick posited. “Quin, it’s almost the twenty-third century, well actually, for everyone not aboard this ship, it already is. We are long past the cultural stereotype of men not being able to cry. I’d say that your expression of deep emotion is quite masculine, and I for one would—“
Quin interrupted him, “No, Louis, it’s not that either.”
Bostwick fell silent for a moment, then continued gently, “Okay, again, if you wouldn’t like to discuss it right now, you can simply have your tea and we can sip our respective beverages in silence. Though I will note that a 3am excursion raises all sorts of eyebrows that a lesser XO would rush to conclusions. Thankfully for you, I’m not a lesser XO.” He ended with a smirk, returning to his tablet with a very self-satisfied look on his face.
Quin let the silence fill the room again as he turned his cup in his hands, the warmth slowly radiating through his cold fingertips and seemingly giving him a bit of courage. After a moment, he slowly walked over to the work table and set his cup down. Again, without looking up, Bostwick pulled a stool out from underneath the table and pushed it toward Quin. Quin couldn’t help but smile a bit at Bostwick’s level of tact in assuming. He took the proffered stool and plopped himself down, elbows on the work table and eyes fixed on the tea cup. Hesitantly, he glanced at Bostwick, who was humming a tune and slowly shaking his head back and forth in rhythm as he completed his message and hit the send button.
Quin cleared his throat and made his attempt, “Commander, uh sorry, Louis, it’s not that I don’t appreciate everything. I really do. I just…I was just wishing you would be less…I don’t know…understanding? A little more mad?”
“I have no intention of being mad at you Quin. That would be counterproductive and a waste of energy. Wouldn’t you say?”
“Well, I um, what do you mean?” Quin shook his head as his eyes fell.
“I’d imagine that your self-imposed reclusion and the restrictions imposed by Captain Fuentes would be a sufficient punishment, and you are probably looking for a friendly face, especially after things with Ensign Jefferson, erm, Pepper, have recently soured. That would leave you with Mae to seek some company and I daresay that Lieutenant Rohlwing has her own mission responsibilities and personal tumult to deal with, no?”
Quin was staring with his mouth open at Bostwick, who yet again was wearing a rather pleased smirk on his face. How in the hell did he know all of that? Quin thought, unable to keep an astounded look off his face.
Bostwick chuckled, then seemingly replied to Quin’s thought, “You people think the command staff are a bunch of old farts out of touch with the inner workings of the social network among you youths, but I too hear things. I have my spies on board.”
Quin laughed, causing Bostwick to perk up a bit, “Oh alright,” he rejoiced, arms up in the air. “Ten points to Bostwick for making the moody one laugh.”
Quin laughed more heartily and took a sip of his tea. When he looked back up he saw Bostwick was staring at him with an encouraging look on his face, as if to say May I keep asking questions? Quin sipped his tea again and nodded softly, almost to himself as he continued to chuckle.
“So, I take it you and Ms. Jefferson have not spoken much since we set off from Rhea?” Bostwick asked, eyebrow raised.
“No, that would require her wanting to speak to me,” Quin said dryly.
“How do you know she doesn’t want to speak to you?” Bostwick asked.
“Well, she seems to avoid or ignore me, so I’m trying to take the hint,” Quin said, trying to be nonchalant in his tone.
“Do you still like her?” Bostwick continued.
“Yeah, a lot. I thought we were doing well, really well on Rhea, but I said some stupid things in defending Mae to her, and I know I need to apologize, but she basically called me a coward, she said I needed to ‘grow a spine.’” Quin quickly gave Bostwick the back and forth of what constituted Pepper and his last conversation.
“I don’t think you are a coward. You do have a tendency to take your relationships with everyone very seriously, which is for the most part endearing, but I can see how she would find that stubbornness a bit frustrating when she is trying to argue with it.”
“So now you are on her side?” Quin said sharply.
“I wouldn’t dare try to take her side, but you don’t need to bite my head off for trying to give you some advice. I can see it’s not welcome though,” Bostwick said flatly, falling silent.
“No…wait, I’m sorry,” Quin said, changing his tone immediately. “Please, Louis, help me. What should I do?”
“An honest apology to start, you would be surprised how far being honest and sincere gets you. People seem to forget that. Then I would try to start seeing Ms. Jefferson outside of your interactions with Mae and Liza. Give yourselves something to talk about other than your common friends. That way you don’t revert into difficult territory immediately.”
“Like what?” Quin asked. “Watch a movie with her or something?”
“That being your strong, go-to approach, sure you could start there,” Bostwick said. “As an extra hint, I hear that the kitchen has some late-night snacks stashed away back here, and if you know someone, you can get good movie food. You could even, you know, call it a date or something. Don’t be afraid to ask her to do something at the next stopover too. Again, call it a date. If she sees you taking her seriously like you do everything else, she’ll probably appreciate you being intentional about it. That’s my guess. Anyway, Cronus is supposed to be a little bit more of an open schedule, so you can be more creative.”
Bostwick was making all sorts of sense. His was the type of advice that Quin had been looking for all along. Quin found himself shaking his head, as he processed everything. Bostwick seemed to misinterpret it.
“What? You’re thinking a different approach?” he said, a bit surprised.
“NO! No, sorry, it’s just…I’ve been such an idiot. That’s really good advice, I’ve just been stupid not talking to you. I don’t know why,” Quin finished, again shaking his head.
“Because you are young, and you guys don’t like getting romantic advice from someone your parents’ age,” Bostwick said, smiling.
“You aren’t that old,” Quin said, “I know we joke about it, but you can’t be more than…”
Bostwick laughed. “Be careful how you finish that sentence, Mr. Hammond.”
“Well, anyway, you aren’t that old. You just…I don’t know, you have this way about you, it made me want to avoid you. I felt ashamed that you were being all sympathetic, and it made me blind to the fact that I really needed to talk to you. What I mean is, you are a good listener, and I forgot that when I was unable to think straight. I felt all of these things happening around me, and you were there when that stuff happened with Nova. I know you were just trying to be nice. I’m sorry I was such an ass.”
“Well, if you were looking for honest and sincere apologies, Quin, you just found yourself one,” Bostwick said, putting his hand on Quin’s shoulder. “Change it up a little to be specific for her, and I’m sure you will have a good result. Don’t forgot to take care of yourself when you are trying to fix everything else, you know? It’s not possible to be perfect, so don’t make yourself sick in trying to be.”
“Yeah, right,” Quin said softly. “I wish I could fix everything, just like that.” He snapped his fingers.
“That would be nice, but unfortunately, we aren’t computers, and life isn’t all math problems. Sometimes life just needs time and a bit of decent humanity.” The two of them were silent for a little while as Quin stewed in his thoughts. Despite the hour, he was wide awake and appreciative of his little night excursion. After the pause had continued much longer than Quin expected, he looked up and saw Bostwick studying him. The man opened his mouth and then hesitated, before beginning tenderly, “Speaking of, how are things going with Nova?”
Quin sighed a bit, collecting his thoughts. Then he decided it was for the best and recounted to Bostwick the last conversation that Nova and he had face to face. The two of them had really not spoken since that evening some weeks ago. As Quin was narrating the story to Bostwick, the Commander was slightly chuckling and shaking his head. Astounded, Quin finished his story and confronted Bostwick.
“What’s so funny?” he demanded. “You’ve been laughing the entire time.”
“She’s quite brilliant, you know,” Bostwick said, scratching his forehead, eyes wide. “She presents these neat little ethical quandaries as if they were nothing and yet, scientists and philosophers have been asking the same types of questions about artificial intelligence for maybe two hundred years. It’s only now that we have got a being that is the walking and talking example of that.”
“Yeah, well, she’s another one that’s not talking to me,” Quin said.
“Well, Quin, I’m afraid I must give you the same advice. You should apologize. In her view, and I think objectively, you were somewhat of, if I may borrow your words, ‘an ass.’”
“This time I think you are definitely taking her side,” Quin said, sourly.
“Indeed. You created her. She takes her direction from you. You are kind of like her father, her brother, her friend, and her crewmate all rolled into one. The obligations of any one of those roles would be enough to say you needed to be there for her, and unfortunately you found yourself too busy being in your own head. Perhaps this is the root of your problem with both Ms. Jefferson and Nova. You are so busy letting everything weigh on you, being worried all the time, that you are unable to focus externally and be present for other people.” Quin’s eyes were downcast, his shoulders slumped. Well, if this is his form of a closing pick-me-up, I don’t think it’s working, Quin thought, sighing deeply.
“Fortunately,” Bostwick continued suddenly, “I think the solution is relatively simple and similar. You need to apologize to Nova, sincerely this time, and you need to spend some time with her, outside of work, so that you can normalize being around her. If your point was that you sometimes forget that she is only part human, then you need to do more human things with her in order to sensitize yourself to how she acts. She shouldn’t have to change for you, it should be the other way around. She can’t just be a mantelpiece in your career, Quin. She thinks.”
Quin sighed aloud, saying, “Yet again, another piece of sound advice from the ever-so-sage Commander Bostwick. And yet again, the solution is that I was wrong.”
Bostwick laughed. “Well, welcome to being an adult, my friend. Everything is complicated and you are usually wrong.” He patted Quin on the back. “Sarcasm aside, it’s okay to be wrong, just own up to it.”
Quin nodded slightly, acknowledging Bostwick’s counsel. The room was silent for a bit longer. The Commander downed his cup of coffee and looked into it, as if inspecting the bottom.
“You know what,” he said, looking up. “I think I’m going to have some tea too, but I’ve been keen to try some of the apple honey they brought me, you want some?” Quin nodded slowly, lost in his thought. Honey, he said to himself, honey, something about…honey.
“Can you believe they make all of this on Rhea?” Bostwick said over his shoulder. “I honestly can’t understand how their entire ecosystem, let alone their economy, operates off apples. It’s nuts.” Bostwick chuckled to himself. “Sorry for the pun.” Apples and honey, Quin’s brain was churning, but at this hour it was too fuzzy. …and honey.
He set two new cups down in front of them, still steaming and with the tea infusers bobbing around on the surface. He pulled a jar down from one of the kitchen cabinets and ladled a small bit of honey into each cup. After stirring a bit, Bostwick took a sip and smacked his lips, grinning satisfactorily at Quin.
“Oh my, that’s so good,” Bostwick said, relishing the taste as he took another draw. “You should drink it while it’s hot.”
Quin brought the cup to his lips mechanically, though he could have sworn that he was missing something. He felt himself distracted by Louis enjoying his cup of tea, the early hour, and the lack of a good night’s sleep for several days. I could have sworn that I just remembered something, he thought, growing frustrated at the lack of ability of his brain to recall what it was that was escaping him. Resigning himself, he took a long swig, his eyes closing automatically when the taste of the sweet and sour apple-tinged honey hit his lips. Instantly, he was transported back onto Rhea, where he savored several fleeting moments of being away and being happy. Unfortunately, his happiness was suddenly ripped away from the call from Nemo. What I wouldn’t give to be back there to have some more time with Pepper and Mae, he thought while recollecting the honey tasting in the orchard. He remembered the smile on Pepper’s face, how infectious it was, and Mae’s giggling at him.
“Hmm,” Bostwick said into the silence, “it’s just about time that the command deck wakes up. Some of the buzzing should start soon.”
“Buzzing?” Quin asked distantly, almost half-consciously.
“Sorry, yeah, buzzing. Message traffic. Unfortunately, a lot of the lingo revolves around bees.”
“Bees?” Quin asked, his brain slowly coming to.
“Yeah, bees,” Bostwick said, studying Quin curiously. “You know, Captain Fuentes being the Queen, the Deck being the hive, that sort of thing.”
“Bees!” Quin exclaimed.
“What?” Bostwick demanded, flabbergasted.
“Louis! BEES!” Quin shouted, shooting off his stool and slamming his cup down.
“Quin, I don’t-“ Bostwick began, but Quin wasn’t listening. The young man half-sprinted out of the room.
“BEES!” Quin shouted again, his face mixed with a smile and intense concentration.
“Okay, Mr. Cage,” Bostwick said, chuckling and shaking his head, his eyes and mouth reflecting a knowing smile as he watched Quin run out of the room.

Started the show 23 franchise last night. Opening day in Boston. Grayson: 7 IP with 4 H, 0 R, 7 K and 0 BB.
We win 2-0. Mateo 2-4 with a double, RBI and a single off the monster (didn’t go for second cause I thought it was gone…).
What a weird world that Mateo and Grayson were by far the stars.
Also can I just say that game makes Sale so hard to read. I straight up cannot see his delivery. I just lose it in the corner of my eye.
Anyway! Away we go.

Here's a link to the comment I'm replying to.

All right, If I'm not mistaken, you're of the sort whose opinions aren't necessarily dependent on any real life facts, someone that no matter what favors the dictations of his own ideological principles over reality. But for the sake of those few people that will read this, I'll respond to your comment, as I think this is an important topic.

I'd be interested to see the statistics.

Well, sure, here's one study that mentions it. And for those reading, here's a short extraction from the study's summary: *In all developed countries, women, especially mothers, work fewer paid hours than their spouses. Which is a kinda silly discussion since it's pretty widely known that women generally choose less time demanding careers than men; take jobs in the scientific field and manager positions, for example (here's a study mentioning this, and here's another). And I mean, logically speaking, if this wasn't the case, tell me who would be home taking care of the children? If you don't understand how much of a challenge it is for women to balance between children's care-giving and their career, then you have some serious self-education to do.

I'm fairly certain that woman are pursuing and completing post-secondary education in greater numbers than men. Again, I'd be interested in seeing you statistics.

[For this comment, I'll borrow from an answer of mine, to some other comment on this post, here it goes.] This is true in the sense that modern western universities are experiencing a larger number of female students, and at the same time a decline in male students. But, which is a pretty relevant but, the majority of women will not pursue 'scientific' careers in the same scale as men do (here's a link to one study where this is mentioned). Not to mention the fact that the majority of women will sacrifice their careers for the sake of spending more time with their children. Those factors combined create the aforementioned pattern of men being more 'scholar' than women, since most women's studies will be of secondary importance to them in relationship to the requirements of their motherhood. A side note is that I probably should've used the word 'scholar' instead of 'academic'; I excuse myself with the fact that english is my third language.

Again, I'd love to see the source for it. I'm not saying it's untrue. But it seems to be the center of your argument.

I already linked studies on this subject. But seriously, if you need a scientific study to explain to you that women's time spent with their children necessarily take away from their pursuits of scholarly endeavors, then I'm not sure what a scientific study can do for you. Do you read a scientific paper relating to the human necessity of taking a dump, before you squat down to do your business, as well? It's funny how it's the most fact-denying people that will be the ones mostly prepared to demand proof deemed by them to be 'scientific', in an argument where they don't have anything other than their ideological rigidity on their sides.

I feel I gave you two examples of characters that well represent motherhood.

I'm not talking about if women are portrayed in a positive or negative light, but rather how realistic their portrayal is. And as I wrote in reply to other comments on this post, motherhood is a sort of 'sideshow' or 'hobby' throughout The Stormlight Archives series. Which isn't a realistic portrayal of real life women. And here's another study for you, mentioning the fact that more women than men deem their families to be the most important aspects of their lives. Which makes motherhood neither a hobby nor a sideshow in women's lives.

I honestly don't understand how youve come to this conclusion. Hesina's character is centered in motherhood. Navani is a mother with grown children. That doesn't make motherhood a hobby or side hustle by any means.

It's hard to talk about Navani and Hesina precisely for the fact that their children are grown up. But when it comes to Navani, for example, it's hardly a good portrayal of women at all, since throughout 2 books and a half, I haven't got a single memory of her acting in a motherly way towards neither one of her children. So where's the motherly character, whose personality is worthy of the aforementioned study? I mean, let me ask you, if you grew up with both your parents, when you were a little child, did your mother spend equal time taking care of and working/studying?

Which one of the female characters is the perfect woman? Which one is meant to be presented as a perfect person? The entire series is about people being flawed.

'Perfect' as a synonym to the word 'ideal'. Although all of his characters have their flaws and struggles, there is definitely a pattern of idealism in the Alethi society, for example, that matches his left-leaning ideology. One simple example is 'logic' and 'scholarship' are ideals of that society. Which clearly is an attempt to show how functional such a society would be: which implicit tells the reader that real world's society's gender specific choices are nothing but a consequence of culture. A claim with very little basis in reality, which clearly goes against the studies I linked to this reply.

Not every woman is a mother, that does not make them less real. All of the women he has portrayed could be considered real. They do not need to be mothers to be real women. Again I would argue that Hesina is a representation of true motherhood.

First of all, I never said that women need to be mothers to be real women, so that's a shameless strawman from your side; and I don't believe it either. But you present exceptions to the rule as if they were the rule. The typical postmodernist reasoning. No, not all women are mothers, but most women are, at some point in their lives. And yes, all women portrayed in the series could be considered real, variation is real, yes. But my problem is the ratio of Sandersons portrayal, when it comes to relevant characters. Sorry but no, most women in real life are not scholars and warriors.

This leaves me feeling like you are just trolling. Motherhood =/= women's true personalities. There are many women who's identity is centered on being a mother and there are many that are not. This idea is you doing exactly what you are accusing Sanderson of. You seem to be projecting your ideals of what being a woman is as the real or true woman.

Once again, you're strawmanning me. I'm not saying that motherhood is women's true personality. What I'm saying is that women generally tend to view motherhood as the most important aspect of their lives. And in the broader context of my criticism of The Stormlight Archive: Sanderson's portrayal of motherhood as a sort of 'hobby' in women's lives, make the series portrayal of women fall short of being realistic. That's all.

"Guan Cang Hai" is a four-line poem written by the poet Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. It depicts the magnificent scenery of the sea as Cao Cao observed it while climbing the Jieshi Mountain. The poem portrays the sea's grandeur, swallowing the sun and moon and containing countless wonders. It also portrays the majestic beauty of the mountains and rivers of the motherland and expresses the poet's ambitious and optimistic spirit. The language of the poem is simple yet imaginative, creating a solemn and awe-inspiring atmosphere.
TV Series: The Romance of three kingdoms ,China,1994
​
Here is the Poem:
Guan Cang Hai (View the ocean, created by Cao Cao in the year of 207.Translated by Xu Yuanchong,famous translator and Peking University professor)
东临碣石，以观沧海。
I come to view the boundless ocean from Stony Hill on eastern shore.
水何澹澹，山岛竦峙。
Its water rolls in rhythmic motion,and islands stand amid its roar.
树木丛生，百草丰茂。
Tree on tree grows from peak to peak,grass on grass looks lush far and nigh.
秋风萧瑟，洪波涌起。
The autumn wind blows drear and bleak,the monstrous billows surge up high.
日月之行，若出其中。
The sun by day,the moon by night appear to rise up from the deep.
星汉灿烂，若出其里。
The Milky Way with stars so bright sinks down into the sea in sleep.
幸甚至哉，歌以咏志。
How happy I feel at this sight,I croon this poem in delight.
​
​
Background of the Creation:
At that time, the Wuhuan tribe posed a major threat in the northeast region. In the 11th year of the Jian'an era (206 AD), the Wuhuan tribe captured Youzhou and took over more than a hundred thousand households of Han Chinese as captives. In the same year, Yuan Shao's sons, Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi, colluded with the leader of the Wuhuan tribe in Liaoxi, Tadun, and repeatedly harassed the border. As a result, Cao Cao had no choice but to decisively march north to conquer the Wuhuan tribe in the 12th year of Jian'an (207 AD). Later, with the guidance of Tian Chou, he employed clever strategies. It was during a major battle in August of that year when Cao Cao finally achieved a decisive victory. This victory consolidated Cao Cao's rear, laying the foundation for his southward campaign the following year, in pursuit of his ambition to unify China. "Guan Cang Hai" was written by Cao Cao when he returned victorious after the northern expedition against the Wuhuan tribe, passing through Jieshi Mountain.

So a bit about me, I’ve got a full time job now and are busy Monday to Friday but after work finishes I’m pretty free and have been trying to fill my time with fun /productive things. My wish is the be studying in university once my focus improves enough.
For games, I love to play Detroit Become Human, Undertale, Fall Guys, Uncharted, GTA and Hollow Knight. What’s your favourite games? I think playing and talking with eachother is fun if you’d like to do that. I have discord so we can definitely watch movies together or talk on there if you’d like. For games, my PC is veeeeery slow so I’d prefer to play on the PS4. Or we can just just watch stuff on discord using my laptop .
In terms with movies I’m really open to whatever, recently I’ve been watching Star Wars and have been really enjoying that. We can talk about Star Wars if you want too or literally anything else. My favourite movie growing up was probably the Narnia movies and they’re so comforting. Also reading them is great. I’ve also been watching/ reading the manga on Attack On Titan, I have loads to talk about with that too. I’d love to get more into anime too as I’ve only really watched AOT,spyxfamily and Grave of the Fireflies. I’d also say GOTF is one of my childhood fave movies. I’ve seen clips of this anime called “Angels of Death”, it looks so good.
I’m from the UK so I hope in terms of time zones, it will match up to when you are free. It’s totally okay if they don’t match up as you may like to hang out at a different time of day. I’d love for this to be a long term friendship and to be open . If you don’t want to talk anymore just tell me. please don’t reply if you ghost people or plan to 😅. Also with replies, I have a pet peeve of people waiting a few minutes between texts just so you look more busy. I just mean in an intentional way yk.
My interests within books mainly lie around classics especially gothic. Although I will admit that I am reading like five completely different books simultaneously rn and have loads of others I haven’t even begun reading but have bought already in my room.
I’ll support you and want a hyping up kinda friendship and open enough to be able to share parts of your day and hobbies with me and different perspective a maybe you can learn things from me and I can learn things from too.

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It’s a great time to be a nuggets fan. The furthest we’ve ever been, with the best player in the world with the best partner we could ask for. Surrounded by a truly championship level team. We built this the right way. No skipping steps. Sticking together. Believing in our guys. Feels so good to be in this position.
But this post is about us out of towners. I’m just curious to know how ya’ll chose the nuggets. Never glamorous, never top dog, but we became fans anyways. How did that come to be for you?
As for me… I grew up in Hawaii, I’m 34 now. I was a bronco fan first thru family but once I came to love watching the NBA, my family wasn’t exactly the basketball watching type and I didn’t know who to choose. We’re surrounded by Lakers (by far)/Bulls(MJ)/and now Warriors fans here in the islands because of course right? But I always just had a deep disdain for the Lakers. Where it came from im not sure. Was it because I wanted to go against the crowd? Yea that’s part of it. But growing up I just didn’t connect with the sensationalism of the superstar basketball of those times.. I always had a like for nuggets since my bronco fandom just lured me towards them, but I didn’t truly have a team. But I did have a hatred, a true hatred for that laker team when they signed Karl Malone and Gary Payton and everyone and their mamas were just so confident the lakers (remember, Hawaii is a HEAVILY weighted lakers spot) we’re gonna easily take the trophy home that year.
And then came those finals, the no superstar Deeeetroit pistons with just nasty D and team wide play absolutely obliterated that first super team in my eyes and I absolutely reveled in it. I was in awe of the way this TEAM destroyed what was thought to be one of the best star studded teams of all time.
I was still young and still hadn’t adopted a team as “mine” quite yet. But that experience made me love the “team” over “stars” phenomenon. Then billups from that team came over that peaked my interest in the nuggets even more so.
It didn’t become a true love though until the season where the nuggets truly had no superstar but a team. A team that just ran roughshod through everyone at home. That 39-3(???) home record team in my high school years really scooped me in. That TEAM play just felt right. Run and gun, depth, no true superstar but still amazing team. Just tickled my pickle and I was hooked.
And this team now, epitomizes that EXACT feeling I had falling in love with those nuggets. A true TEAM led by the ultimate TEAM player. Built the right way thru all the super team bull shit era. I am so proud I chose this team. Sure everything runs thru Jokic Murray two man game, but this is a TEAM. Built not bought. Patience, belief, vision of seeing it come together. It’s all paying off. Whether we complete the full journey, is secondary (sort of nugs in 5). The growth of this team and being where we are is so worth all of the doubt, all the “get back in your place nuggets” type talk, all the bullshit. I can’t imagine how ya’ll lifetime nuggets fans feel, it must be amazing considering the nuggets history..because I already feel vindicated. We knew, we truly knew this core was capable of becoming this. And whether we finish it off or not, it’s so funny to see everyone finally respect us and see we were correct about this team.
Now I’m just rambling because I’m drunk ya’ll. I’m sorry. I had to put this shit down because this team is something special and I had to. Put it down somewhere.
For English, for Thompson, for lever, for Karl, for Danilo, for Faried, for Lawson.
For Gary, for Monte, for Thrill, for Millsap and all those in between.
Bring it in, go nuggets.

I wanna start by saying I do think Gibbs will be good and the lowest I would let him drop is 1.03 or 1.04. But he may be better in real life than in fantasy.

1. His comp being Kamara doesn't make a ton of sense for fantasy. While his workload should be very similar, he is 15 pounds lighter and clearly not as strong as Tennesee AK on tape. This could mean Gibbs doesn't get goal line/short yardage carries in the NFL. While this doesn't mean much for the Lions because guys like Jamaal Williams and now and David Montgomery can just punch it in from inside the 5, Gibbs might never reach elite TD numbers, which is the reason Kamara was an all-time great fantasy back instead of just a good one.

• The "you don't draft a RB at 12 to sit him on the bench" argument. Lions HC Dan Campbell already compared Gibbs to Kamara, so the worload should be very similar because Kamara produced right away. As a rookie, Kamara had 110 less carries than Mark Ingram. Kamara was still RB3 because of the receiving and 13 total TDs but how high can Gibbs go if he only gets the receiving and lacks double digit TDs?

Once again, I think Gibbs is a great player and this concern is strictly for fantasy purposes. But if it's between a RB that doesn't have league winning TD upside and a WR in JSN who outproduced Olave and Wilson on the same team and who could lead the NFL in receptions in a few years, I can't help but think JSN is the smarter dynasty pick.

Hi there. So, I thought of those two super weapons, and I dk which of them has more destructive potential overall the death star or the mass shadow generator? What do you guys think?
Also, is this sub going dark as well? Damn, there should be a way to edit flares, it's television, it should have been legends books. Oh well.

Welcome to mma's pre-fight and weigh-in discussion of UFC 289: Nunes vs. Aldana
Click here to check the event start time.
Card Info
Airing on ESPN+/ESPN/Fight Pass
Main Card @ 10 PM ET on ESPN+

Division	Fighters
Bantamweight Championship	Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana
Lightweight	Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush
Welterweight	Mike Malott vs. Adam Fugitt
Featherweight	Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr
Middleweight	Eryk Anders vs. Marc-André Barriault

Prelims @ 8 PM ET on ESPN/ESPN+

Division	Fighters
Middleweight	Nassourdine Imavov vs. Chris Curtis
Flyweight	Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Miranda Maverick
Bantamweight	Aiemann Zahabi vs. Aoriqileng
Featherweight	Blake Bilder vs. Kyle Nelson

Early Prelims @ 7 PM ET on UFC Fight Pass

Division	Fighters
Flyweight	David Dvořák vs. Steve Erceg
Strawweight	Diana Belbiţă vs. Maria Oliveira

​
^{Fight card order and start time may be inaccurate.}

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Big spoilers on today's ep! We're talking character deaths so definitely check those spoiler alerts. Who would we save and which death had the biggest impact on us.
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