Hi, sorry to have to ask this, it’s a bit embarrassing but I’m hoping someone might know how I can get help from somewhere like a food bank as soon as possible? The last time I got any money was the end of Feb and I’ve been trying my best to make it stretch since but i expected some sick pay.
I’ve been out of work for a while after having surgery, I asked my employer to look into SSP and he’s told me im not eligible as I’ve not worked there for long enough so I’m having to ask HMRC to look into it. In the meantime I’ve set up a Universal Credit claim online, I applied for an advanced payment but first I’ll need to confirm my ID and bank details with them which I have an appointment for on Tuesday.
Until I get the advance I’m in a situation where I just have nothing to eat and I’m not sure what to do. I don’t even know if I’m eligible for any help as I’m technically still working. If anyone knows what I should do or has any suggestions please let me know. Cheers.

WE MAX GAMES, WIN WARS AND OUR CLAN CAPITAL IS MAX LEVEL 10: Crush every clan games easily (including those with the bonus seventh tier), have more draws than losses in our war history, and earn 1400 raid medals every weekend. We also run three teams in three leagues for CWL, so you can find an opportunity to earn those sweet league medals no matter what your TH level
We are a TH 3-8 war clan run by experienced Clash of Clans players, and a great place for lower town halls to play and war. We war back to back for THs 3-8, and TH11-15 donors are welcome to war with us in CWL
We're a level 19 clan with all the high level perks, and if you’re a new player, this is so very much the clan for you
You can war at your own TH against others of the same level, and be surrounded by both experienced and new players. No more bouncing in and out of dead clans and getting kicked just because you’re new. We also have strategy guides in our discord that have been updated recently, and cover every town hall from 3 to 8. Our discord link: https://discord.gg/M573Y6trRN
If you’re the alt of an experienced player, this is also the clan for you. Enjoy playing with other lower town halls and experiencing the start of the game all over again with new knowledge. Smash in war and teach your team mates to do the same. Enjoy the simplicity and fun of low town hall warring
If you're a town hall 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15 who likes to farm, play clan games and the Clan Capital, and war in CWL, we’d love to have you. Our clan relies on donors, and if you can donate dragons, loons, hogs, bowlers or any other popular troops, we don't care how rushed you are. However, you will not be allowed in regular wars so we can continue to get good low TH matches
What you won’t find here:
❌ Getting kicked because you’re new and low level
❌ Getting left out of war because you’re low level
❌ Being made to scout because your attacks “don’t matter”
❌ People ignoring your questions about low level strategy
❌ People unhappy with your donated troops
❌ Finding yourself faced with no bases to attack because the lowest opponents on the other side are much higher level
What you will find:
✅ Fun wars! That we win a lot of!
✅ Fairly matched opponents in war
✅ Real war strategy practiced from town hall 3 to town hall 8
✅ A mix of experienced and ready to learn players
✅ Great fellow clashers to hang out with
✅ Well run clan with organized leadership
✅ A kick-ass discord server filled with guides and tools to help with the game
Clan Rules:

1. Only town halls 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are full members allowed to war. When you upgrade to town hall 9, we can help you look for a new clan, including our own extension clan Reddit Spartans for TH 9-11. You will be expected to leave but can usually stay for your next CWL. You may stay as long as you wish before then
2. On a limited basis, town halls 11-15 may be allowed in the clan, but may not war except CWL. Your role is to provide troops as much as you can to the other members
3. Be polite and mature. No attacks on other players, excessive swearing, or general idiocy that makes the clan unpleasant for others. If leadership warns you, please take it seriously
4. Be a team player. Try your best to help the clan. Anything that intentionally harms the clan or its goals will result in an immediate kick
5. Activity requirements: all accounts that wish to stay must have a badge and evidence of at least one troop request by the end of the first week in the season (if you're too low in trophies to have a badge, talk to leadership). If the clan gets full, accounts that seem less active (no progress, not warring, silent) may be removed at leader discretion. Warnings will be given if feasible
6. You are allowed to make specific requests with no troop or spell restrictions, and no donation ratios, but max troop requests are for war only
7. If you opt into war, you're agreeing to set a war base and use both attacks. Not using attacks in multiple wars will become kickable
8. War is declared 3x a week (back to back)
9. Discord is required

Join our discord -- must join within 48 hours of joining the clan
Just apply in game to join, RCS password is required. Please find it here and include it in your join request https://www.reddit.com/redditclansystem/wiki/official_reddit_clan_system/
We are a verified RCS clan, and by joining you get access to all RCS member chats and events
If you really want to impress us that you've read this far, give us your favorite of the five elements in the request: earth, wind, fire, water, or power
🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿
🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪🌪
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
💧💧💧💧💧💧💧💧💧💧💧💧💧💧💧💧
⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

Sound fun but you're TH9+? Or you're TH3-8, but just want to farm and play a little more casually? Join our discord; we can discuss if you're a good fit for Elements or for our two extension clans, Reddit Spartans or Reddit Olympus

I got diagnosed with left temporal lobe epilepsy, but I have no idea what triggers them. Whenever I feel a partial coming, its usually when I’m either talking to someone, or watching a movie/video. The best way I can describe the partial is for SOME reason, my brain grabs onto a word or phrase, and says it over and over again in my head. If I try to talk/listen to anyone while having a partial, it sounds like complete gibberish. It snowballs and gets worse and worse until I may or may not have a full blown seizure. Has anyone ever heard of this or been through this themselves?
The reason I’m posting this is because I’m in an EMU (epilepsy monitoring unit) right now doing a week long sleep study. They’re trying to trigger an episode so they can see Exactly where it’s coming from in my brain, but I don’t know how to tigger an episode when the words or phrases that cause them one day, don’t do anything the next day?

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I see a lot of different exercises on YouTube and I am so confused what is the best approach to open my hips. I understand that it takes longer training and ideally daily. But my question is whether it should rather be:

1. long holds (Ca. 3-5min) or
2. short hold (30sec) or
3. Short holds with several sets (3x30sec)
4. dynamic exercises where you quickly swing from one pose to the next and only hold for a few seconds?

I see everything online and don't know what to do.
View Poll

Why $OPTIMUS is the next potential token like $Floki Most of us know the power of Elon Musk in the crypto world now, specifically in the meme coin sector. He is the main reason behind the huge DOGE and SHIB pumps to over 60 billion which sparked the whole meme coin sector in crypto which has been crazy ever since, with certain meme coins running to the hundreds of millions even in the bear market.
About OPTIMUS
$OPTIMUS caught my attention MASSIVELY because it is based on the robot Elon Musk and Tesla have created that is set to be available to purchase to the public in a couple of years. It is fully AI based and Elon expects it to be a bigger business venture than cars. We have seen on Twitter he is constantly talking about optimus, sharing information and engaging with other people that post about OPTIMUS to his 130 million followers. Elon pumps DOGE and FLOKI whenever he mentions them by 100s of millions of market cap... Yet OPTIMUS is currently sat under $20million total and he is going to be talking about OPTIMUS a LOT more than both FLOKI & DOGE combined. This is his biggest venture by far to make the best commercial robot in the world.
For those that remember when Elon posted about FLOKI, we saw an insane run up to 3.5billion market cap. I think we are seeing the start of a FLOKI like run with this in the very early stages. I have read over the whitepaper completely and they are building legit AI utility as well which is another massive trending narrative at the minute as well.
Utilities
The reasons I think we are extremely early and this will run to the billions

• It is less than 6 weeks old and only listed on Uniswap so far, I expect this to be listed on several exchanges shortly.
  
• It is not even listed on coingecko or coinmarketcap yet. A sign of how early we are.
  
• There is only 1700 holders (for comparison, Floki has 500,000 on dexs and even more on CEXs and SHIB has over 2 million)
  
• The co-founder of FLOKI (petabyte) has bought a large position and posted about it this week. This is the first meme coin I have seen him talk about since FLOKI
  

Check the links below and of course DYOR as I'm not a financial advisor but I think you will all be thanking me later!
Usefull Links:
Chart: https://www.dextools.io/app/en/ethepair-explore0x8de7a9540e0edb617d78ca5a7c6cc18295fd8bb9
Telegram: Optimus_AI
Website: https://www.optimusbot.io/

Hello all and welcome to a (I assure you) totally wholesome episode of The Outcasts! Another week, another step forward for the lives of Evra, Jessie, Ref, and Kikri as they try to settle into a steady rhythm after all the excitement recently. So stay tuned and I hope you enjoy!
As always thanks to u/Bluefishcake for the universe, and thanks to u/roboticstatic, u/shneekeyTheLost, u/catsintrenchcoats, and everyone on the Discord server for helping with editing! Without further ado, Chapter Ten!
------
Kikri watched as Jessie fell into slumber beside them and her sisters, a somewhat troubled expression on Jessie’s face as they dreamt. Then, taking a hand and lightly caressing Jessie’s face, Kikri let out a small mewl of sadness that their mate was still suffering from night terrors, albeit less severe now. She had been watching Jessie closely these past several days because she enjoyed watching them and keeping an eye on their mental state, having been terrified when Jessie regressed after the first night they spent in bed with the polycule. Kikri could tell Jessie was trying to deal with their repressions, but she could also know that it wasn’t going well despite how it looked. Better, most definitely, but not the best.
Jessie’s scent had been changing as well since the incident. The tinge of constant fear was still there in Jessie’s pheromones, but a new addition, smelling almost sickly, had appeared and been growing since. The smell reminded Kikri of her first kill on Dirt, but she could not place why. Certainly, Jessie was physically healthy, so the scent wasn’t a precursor to some disease, and yet, when the smell flared up in Jessie’s scent, it made her uneasy, just like during the incident on their date. When that happened, her instincts would always tell her one thing.
Death.
Despite this, Kikri held Jessie close and dear to her, as did Ref and Evra. And Jessie held them just as dearly, Kikri assumed from their pheromones. Which is why the Rakiri was worried. She was well aware of her species’ penchant for ‘losing themselves’ to their urges during courtship and feared that with Jessie’s issues and things moving too quickly to be safe, in her mind, her being with Jessie first would undoubtedly cause problems. So, after making sure Jessie was indeed asleep, she called her sisters over to the table to have a small girlfriend meeting. Prying themselves free of Jessie was no small task, with how heavily Jessie began clinging to them in their sleep. After a few moments, however, Ref, Evra, and Kikri gathered. With a deeply held breath, Kikri looked to her sisters and said the words that instantly made them stiffen their postures.
“We need to talk about Jessie.”
The previously sleepy Ref and Evra instinctively bolted upright with concern. Neither of them doubted Kikri’s nose for things like this, her having been proven right so many times before boring any distrust of her senses out the window. So instead, the Helkam and Nighkru waited for their Rakiri sister to continue, the former’s ears twitching while the latter fidgeted with her hands.
“Is everything okay with her?” Evra asked, glancing back at Jessie for a moment. It had been less than a week since Jessie had broken down on that couch, and the incident was still fresh in her mind. ‘Jessie is the nest now. We have to protect Jessie.’ Her thoughts were easily readable on her face when she returned to looking at her sisters.
“Nothing worse. I wouldn’t say that Jessie is fine, but perhaps on the way there now,” Kikri explained, causing both Ref and Evra to look at her in confusion. But, of course, if everything were fine, Kikri wouldn’t call for a little meeting like this for no reason.
“If things are improving, what should we be concerned about?” Ref said, wiping her eyes clean. She had been just about to follow Jessie to the world of dreams when Kikri called for them, and it showed, despite her upright posture.
“That’s precisely why we should be. Jessie is pushing herself far faster than is normal. I’m not sure why, but we need to be prepared for if things get more..intimate,” Kikri slowly explained, choosing her words carefully enough that neither girl would mistake what she meant.
Two bright blushes appeared on the girls’ faces as their minds presumably imagined such a scenario. Neither looked concerned, and Kikri had to snap her Nighkru sister out of it, sensing she was losing herself in another fantasy.
Since Jessie moved in, getting alone time has been difficult. Jessie’s scent having more masculine pheromones and feminine ones had made things difficult for Kikri and Evra, who were more susceptible to such traits. As such, Ref frequently had to cover for them so they could get away and recover themselves at times without Jessie knowing. Evra, however, always came back just a bit more frustrated than relieved.
“S-should we really be discussing this?!” Evra whisper-yelled, but Ref instead put a hand to her cheek, thinking.
“Kikri’s right, we do,” Ref spoke evenly after a long pause. "If Jessie makes a move to progress our relationship, we need to be careful with the order. Kikri’s conscious that her species tends to go overboard. Meaning you or I should ideally be first."
“Wha…t-then you’ll be his first time, Ref?!” Evra said, causing Kikri and Ref to look at her quizzically.
“Jessie would need someone affectionate and positive for their first time due to what they’ve been through. I am neither, so no.” the ever-clinical sister explained, while Kikri simply sat neutral, letting them hash it out.
“W-wait, that means….” Evra started, utterly shocked at this turn of events.
“You were the one who calmed their episode and knew to call Dr. Amelia. And Jessie often says you are very ‘bubbly.’ So you are the ideal choice, Evra.” Ref continued.
‘Oh no, no, no, no.’ Evra’s mind repeated the sentence over and over. So she would have to be Jessie’s first?!
But she had no experience!
​
-Two Days Later-
​
‘Don’t be nervous. Don’t be nervous. Don’t be nervous.’
Jessie’s inner voice said as they rode in the transport. Jessie, Ref, Kikri, and Evra were on the way to Shau’tari Marine Base as their leave was up. Kikri and Ref would take the first rotation to work on base, while Evra and Jessie would drop them off and return home. At least, that’s what Jessie took the conversation yesterday to mean. Right now, Jessie was too busy gripping Kikri’s and Ref’s hands in each of hers, having developed a bit of anxiety about leaving the apartment now since the past couple of times ended up in attacks. Cold sweat dripped on the nape of Jessie’s neck, her leg bounced incessantly, and even her eyes moved around quickly as if on high alert.
‘Almost there. Then drop Ref and Kikri off, then head home. No biggie. I can do this, I can…Shit, there’s the gate.’
As they pulled up to the building gate, a small box beside a metal gate complete with built-in sensors, Kikri signaled Evra to stop there and drop them off. Jessie inhaled deeply as they pulled over to the side, where the drop-off area was. A relatively well-maintained tarmac parking lot, with several vehicles or transports parked there, most likely the vehicles from those fortunate enough to live off-base.
“ It’s alright, Jessie. We’ll be fine. We aren’t going on deployment but staying on base. Ref is helping out in medical, and I’ll be in the armory.” Kikri said kindly, her arm reaching out to gently cup Jessie’s face.
“You okay?” Evra asked, glancing over at Jessie with a slightly concerned look, her own hand gingerly moving to rub the outside of Jessie’s thigh, more out of support emotionally than anything else.
“I’ll be fine. Just nerves, is all.” Jessie’s hands moved to cup each of their girlfriends’ hands in turn, putting on a brave smile for them. But, truth be told, the idea of Kikri and Ref not being home terrified Jessie.
“You know you don’t have to hide your anxiety with me, Jessie. I get it too.” Evra said comfortingly. Jessie knew she did, but that thought did little to comfort the nauseating feeling in their stomach at the moment. Kikri and Ref gave a longing look at Jessie, but time waited for no sapient, so they, unfortunately, had to leave. As the two stepped out, however, they each gave a knowing look to Evra, entrusting Jessie’s safety and care to their Nighkru sibling.
“I know. Let’s just..head home? Being out here gives me a bad feeling.” Jessie managed to eke out without showing too much of the discomfort they were feeling. The disquieting pause afterward and the slight change in Evra’s face were as far from imperceptible as one could get.
“Alright. But Kikri and Ref will be gone until Shel. So why don’t we try working on your anxiety a bit?” Evra asked as she turned the transport, heading back home. Jessie didn’t really give her an answer as they stared out the window to their right. Ordinarily, the passing sights of New Orleans would be a comfort, but right now, it just felt…bleak, as if someone took a grainy, overexposed photo and set the color and brightness to zero. Even the weather seemed to agree as it again began to rain.
A little while later, they were back home, with Jessie visibly relaxing inside the safety of the apartment. It was still morning, and as this was one of the few days Jessie had a training break, they settled on the couch. Flipping through the channels on the omni-tv but not finding much worth watching, Jessie instead glanced to see Evra go to take a shower with a particular curiosity. Nighkru bathing was a slight issue regarding their algae, as certain cleaners were quite harmful to them even though they were subdermal. Still, Evra always seemed to take longer than anyone else in the bathroom, and Jessie’s curiosity sometimes made them want to ask why it took so long, among other things, ashamedly. Of course, they never would, but they wanted to.
‘Monster.’
‘Shut up, Derrick.’
Derrick’s voice still occasionally popped up, but it was quieter and easier to tell off. Jessie wondered if it was the medication or the girls who were a more significant impact. They had already saved Jessie multiple times and asked Jessie out on a date after knowing Jessie’s past. Not to mention the essentially numerous confessions several days ago…or had it been a week already. Jessie wasn’t sure as time had become a bit of a fog around the girls now.
‘Freak.’
‘Shut up, Derrick.’
Still, the only times Derrick was truly silent was during training and the “snuggle fests” afterward. And depending on how stressful Jessie’s day had been, it could get harder to tell that voice off. Right now, it was particularly tiring due to emotional stress, so Jessie decided to busy herself with something nice to do for Evra. So, naturally, it was making a meal.
Standing up from the beanbag-like couch, Jessie walked a few feet over to the kitchen and began looking through the pantry/fridge. Most of their biology study on Nighkru basic had been finished, so Jessie had a rough understanding of what most Nighkru liked to eat flavor-wise. Picking out a few ingredients, Jessie grabbed an apron to put on and began preparing a meal.
‘Small knife for trimming, large for butchering meat, and that one for the veggies,’ Jessie thought to herself as they began preparing the meal. Nothing too complex, as they weren’t exactly a professional chef, but something like a grilled meatball salad with scallion and shaved cheese was doable. Though as they thought about it, a steak and tomato salad would probably be better. They began cooking by grabbing some Angus thick cuts, fresh cherry and heirloom tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, an avocado, and some wine vinaigrette.
One of the few things Jessie did grab from their apartment or instead had Kikri seize the other day was a set of cast-iron pans their mother used. No Louisianian worth their salt would cook without a well-seasoned cast iron, and Jessie was no different. Trimming up the steak, Jessie made a blend of garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and various other seasonings to make a good rub for the meat and set it aside, Letting the flaked salt draw out the moisture to mix with the seasoning and be reabsorbed for better flavor. At the same time, they worked on the other ingredients.
Taking an onion, they chipped it up into long, fine strands and threw it into the skillet with butter and bacon fat. It turns out Kikri really liked bacon, almost as much as any human. Jessie had plenty of flavorful fat to use as a medium for sauteing onions. While that was going, they began cold-soaking the lettuce and chopping up tomatoes.
By the time Evra came out of her shower, Jessie had begun cooking the steaks, filling the apartment with a beautiful aroma. Evra looked at Jessie cooking in the kitchen with a practically voracious expression, even having to wipe away a bit of drool, which Jessie found adorable. The lithe space elf with horns and freaky eyes had certainly grown on Jessie, especially after saving them from their own mind during an episode. Since then, however, Jessie had been having conflicting feelings about her and the other girls in general. Jessie definitely felt closer to them, but the closer they became, the more worried Jessie became and the more confusing their feelings became. Jessie felt like they wanted to be even closer to them, but the only way she could think to do so involved…that, and Jessie wasn’t sure if they could, if Derrick had ruined them from ever being able to be…intimate.
‘Weak little abomination’
‘Shut. It. Derrick.’
‘Not like a monster deserves happiness. End it before you hurt them, too.’
‘I said, SHUT IT!’
“Wow, Jessie. I didn’t know you could cook like this. It smells amazing! What’re those yellow plants?” The adorable Nighkru asked, looking at the finished salad with a particular hunger. Jessie froze, her face showing her puzzlement as she stopped what she was doing. It took Jessie a moment to figure out what she was talking about since the color was off, but then she remembered Nighkru couldn’t see red. Taking the steaks over to a cutting board, Jessie began cutting them into thin strips to add to the salad.
“Those are tomatoes. Ordinarily, they’d be tart with a slight bitterness, but they should be a bit sweeter and a little zesty in this salad. Those light shavings are avocado, the leafy stuff is lettuce, and the cooked brownish stringy stuff is grilled onions. Once the steak is done, I’ll toss it all with a light champagne vinaigrette, and then it’ll be ready.” Jessie explained, particularly proud of figuring out food they liked that most of their girlfriends could eat too. Kikri would have a bit of an issue from so much roughage, but Ref and Evra should be okay with this. Evra seemed rather shocked at not only the fact that Jessie could cook but that Jessie had already taken into account the increased appetite she and her sisters had based on the portions she was making.
“Why're you acting so surprised? I lived alone for years. I had to learn to cook for myself, you know.” Jessie asked curiously as they returned to cutting the steak. Stealing a glance at Evra, Jessie had to admit. She was rather striking today. It certainly didn’t help that the black undergarments she was wearing, and only that, were as tight as spandex leaving little to the imagination. A bit of water still glistened on her skin, giving her an almost ephemeral appearance. Jessie quickly had to turn their gaze back to the steak out of fear of getting distracted and cutting themselves.
“Jessie, you may not know it, but for those of us in the rest of the galaxy, seeing a guy in an apron cooking in a kitchen is like..like… Goddess, it’s so hot.” Evra started to explain but couldn’t find the right word. Jessie wasn’t sure why they were talking about the temperature, though; it was relatively cool despite the cooking. It was a pregnant pause before Jessie, with a bright blush they attempted and failed to hide, realized what she meant.
“Well, half a guy, I guess,” Jessie mumbled, moving the steak into the salad bowl with the other ingredients and adding the vinaigrette to toss the salad. Evra moved around the corner she was leaning against and walked over to Jessie, softly placing a hand on their forearm and breaking Jessie’s thoughts. She leaned over, breaking their vision that had been concentrating on the food with her face, alight with a warm smile.
“You’re not half anything, Jessie. You’re you. I’m unsure if you have seen our males, but human males are very different. They’re built more like women than our males are. So you being lithe like you are and androgynous enough to appear like both? It doesn’t detract anything in the slightest. To most in the Imperium, you’d be quite the catch!” Evra said, not really making much sense to Jessie, but they knew she was trying to cheer them up. Rather than respond directly, Jessie, for some reason, blurted out a somewhat out-of-character line.
“Quite a catch, huh? And what do you think, Evvie?” Jessie teased before realizing exactly what they’d said. A bright blush appeared across both Evra's and Jessies faces as Jessie immediately started stumbling over themselves to apologize, the salad tossing wholly forgotten.
“I-I’m sorry, Evra. I don’t know why I said that. It was stupid and childish of me to say, and I shouldn’thavebutIdidand-”
“Jessie,” Evra said, interrupting them and giggling from seeing Jessie so flustered. “It’s fine, really. It was kind of cute, actually, almost as adorable as you. Very boyfriend-ish. Oops, I mean girlfriend…Um...actually, which do you prefer?”
“Oh, um..uh..ahem,” Jessie started, giving thought to her question before mumbling a response, though it was too quiet for Evra to hear.
“What did you say? I couldn’t understand you, Jessie.”
“I said, erm...” Jessie trailed off with another mumble, awkwardly trying to play it cool as they covered their blush with one hand.
“Um, Jessie, I can’t hear you if you hide your mouth with your hand and mumble like that.”
“I...I said Mate, okay? Kikri said it, and um...I um…So yeah, that one.”
Evra giggled, leaning closer to Jessie, close enough that Jessie could feel her warm breath on the side of their face. Then, whispering in their ear, Evra said in an out-of-character and rather sultry voice.
“Thank you for the meal, my wonderful mate.”
Jessie froze, blood rushing to her face and other places as Evra giggled and grabbed the salad bowl for herself. She gave Jessie a quick kiss on the cheek, leaving them further stunned and causing Evra immense joy as she watched Jessie’s brain try to restart several times.
Jessie wasn’t ready for that step yet, though, much as they, and their body, wanted to be, so they instead gave Evra a quick kiss on the cheek and sat down to eat. Evra was kind enough not to point out the ‘perkiness’ Jessie’s body was showing, and Jessie was kind enough not to point out the faint gray blush forming on Evra’s cheeks. Neither really knew how to continue the conversation after that, and so chose to spend the meal in quiet silence, letting the flames die down a bit, so to speak. Afterward, the two romantics ended up cuddling on the couch, watching some Shil movie about a warrior prince.
“I’m sorry, I’m not ready for that yet, Evvie,” Jessie finally broke the silence as they held her close, Evra’s head resting against Jessie’s shoulder and both holding hands in a gentle, loving manner.
‘Coward.’
‘Shut it, Derrick. It’s your fault.’
Always hiding behind someone else, Jessie.’
“It’s okay, Jessie. Take your time. Don’t try to rush it for our sake, okay? Evra replied, squeezing Jessie’s hand just a bit tighter as if to emphasize her point. Jessie said nothing in response, but the look of conflict on their face was worrisome to Evra. Deciding not to speak of it anymore, Evra returned her attention to the movie, enjoying her one-on-one cuddle session with her ‘mate.’ Petting Jessie’s head gently, a very different kind of turmoil was brewing within the young Nighkru…
------
“This is turox-shit,” Kikri said with a growl. So rather than having them go out with other pods for patrol, somehow Kikri got assigned to helping out logistics with inventory while Ref was pulled for hospital duty. Kikri didn’t like this at all. Seeing the explosives in the long warehouse, having to get into a bucket-of-bolts exo-suit, having to handle the explosives…It reminded her of the bombs she failed to deactivate back in Washington, reminded her of the kids on the bus, and reminded her of the carnage afterward.
The warehouse itself wasn’t much to write home about. Around 400 meters long by 300 wide, the thermocast-reinforced concrete building offered little in the way of beauty. It was essentially a large rectangle, with a requisitions office at one end, completely closed off by a gate made of steel and, once again, that purple alloy. The inventory racks went up to the ceiling as if they barely even fit. They were all loaded with various supplies such as extra power cells, medication, uniforms, essential needs, and weapons, too much for the relatively diminutive armory.
Setting down the explosive her suit was holding and placing it into its rack slot, Kikri breathed relief. Truth be told, she had avoided demolition duties. Just seeing an explosive was enough to trigger a flashback, and each time it hurt. Still, she was a warrior, a Rakiri, a marine. So she grit her teeth and bore it, moving one explosive after another and saying nothing. Speaking out would not do any good here.
“Oh look, it’s that Rakiri!” A shill pointed out. Kikri already didn’t like her. She smelled of pompousness and decadent lifestyle, scents Kikri usually flagged as ‘people to avoid because they are so annoying.’ Still, this one was rather large, even by Shil’vati standards, at over eight feet tall and all muscle. Kikri had to wonder if it was natural or some illegal gene mod. She could already tell the girl had gotten at least one to get that strange blue hair.
“So, Rakiri, how does it feel to have to be protected by a male? A primitive one at that!” The girl snickered, but Kikri ignored it. As much as she wanted to bare tooth and claw to the girl, the repercussions of such an action made it less than ideal as far as Ideas go.
“Jessie has the spirit of a fighter and is wise beyond his years. Your attempt to shame me through him will not work, only make me prouder in my choice of mate, Shil,” Kikri said in response, moving the old, orange-colored exo down the line to continue her next explosive.
“I don’t know. He seemed pretty weak. I bet I could beat him.” The Shil spoke, still trying to get a rise out of Kikri, smiling and snickering at her own words.
“You are welcome to try if you find him,” Kikri said, focusing on her job. This next crate of explosives was particularly finicky and dangerous, so she wanted to take her time with it.
“Maybe I will then. Then, maybe afterward, I’ll steal your mate, Rakiri. He looks like the kind who likes to get…’ physical’ during sex. Think I should give him a punch or two while we do the deed?”
Kikri tried to ignore the comment, but blood was boiling in her veins. A mere pup who had yet to wet her claws was threatening her mate, and every instinct in her told her to use her own to extol the price in blood and flesh.
‘How dare an impudent bitch insult Jessie like that! And how dare she insinuate she would beat him.’
Releasing the exo, Kikri dropped to the ground, her limber five-foot eleven-inch frame now on full display. She did not posture herself, acting every bit like this was a standard process.
“And you’re a runt too! Haha, No wonder that male had to-guh”
Kikri calmly walked over to the woman, not letting on her intentions. Like the attack of a serpent, however, her arm lunged out and grabbed the girl by the throat before she could respond. She smiled in the satisfaction that her claws, now extended, drew a bit of Shil blood from pricking the bitch’s neck. Then, pinning her against one of the racks, Kikri used her free hand to grab her thermocast knife and put it to the woman’s face.
“Say whatever you wish about me, clawless whelp, but speak ill of Jessie again, and I’ll start with the face before removing your fingers and shoving them up your clam! Are we clear!” Kikri growled, fanged mouth showing as the girl struggled for a breath. Her fur stood on end, making her look larger than usual, not that it was needed. The Shil girl evidently hadn’t expected Kikri to get so aggressive, and honestly, Kikri couldn’t believe she was so quick to do it, either. Then she thought of this Shil actually trying to do what she insinuated to Jessie, causing doubt in her actions to disappear.
“T-threaten all you want; we both k-know you wouldn’t risk your sisters for it,” The girl managed to spout out before Kikri dropped her hold and put her blade to the woman’s throat. For half a moment, she imagined running the bitch through and spilling more of her ugly blue blood on the floor for threatening Jessie. But, barely holding herself back, she instead used her words.
“I’ve killed many more than you have counted, shellsucker. And if you EVER threaten MY MATE or my kho-sisters again, I will make you wish you had met the deep so quickly you’ll be gone before you hit the floor. It will be long, slow, and painful. I will take your mind to deny your deepminder. Your family won’t even have anything left to bury, and your goddess won’t have anything left to free. You will slowly waste away, knowing you weren’t even worth enough for me to take a trophy from. And if by some miracle I am caught, I will make sure to tell the truth that you were a man-beater and a coward. You begged for death in your last moments, powerless and helpless. Your service will be stricken, and your records will be struck from the annals of history. You will become a ghost no one remembers, never having achieved anything. Now leave.” Kikri’s voice was low, growling almost like an animal. A heavy grinding sound from gritting her teeth from wanting to bite this bitch’s skull in half only added to the intensity. This wasn’t a threat, and it wasn’t even a statement. It was a fact. Should she continue pushing this, Kikri would make good on her word; no Rakiri would make such a promise idly. And the Shil bitch knew it.
The Shil nodded, fear strongly present in her scent as Kikri let her go. The Shil marine began scrambling her way up and running out of the warehouse as quickly as possible. After all, Kikri had a reputation on this base, and most of the women here knew it. She sighed, watching the Shil ran off, even stumbling a time or two, evidently from the liquid residue of her fear... This was going to lead to more paperwork for her. Again.
She grabbed the mop to go clean up the mess.
------
​
“Have the preparations been made for the operation?” Lieutenant Commander Derval asked, sitting in her office while looking at an omnipad. There were various shuttle paths, flight plans, and inventories for inbound and outbound system traffic. Derval’s face was more tired than last time, having been pulling multiple all-nighters for the past few weeks in order to bring everything together for this plan of hers.
“Yes, Lt.Commander Derval. The bribes have all been accepted as of 0643 today. The teams are prepping for the exercise and have all been sworn to secrecy. In addition, we’ve implanted the stolen Consortium designs as well. So there is no risk of leakage.” A voice, gruff and low, said over the pad. Sergeant Xixian was a competent leader and an excellent soldier, Derval’s right-hand woman. She had personally volunteered for this mission even after knowing the stakes.
“Good. Make sure there are no survivors. And make sure nothing points back to us. Once the mission is over, activate the implants.” Derval said resolutely, leaving no room for argument.“I…Yes, Ma’am, I understand.”
It would be a loss having to give up valuable pawns from the DHC candidate course, even if they had been dropouts. Still, Derval was flying under the radar for both sides, and it was best to leave no loose ends. The fact she would lose Xixian from this mission also weighed painfully on her chest, especially since Xixian didn’t know she had an implant. Still, this was the job of a commander in war, and with a grim face, Derval accepted it.
‘Soon, you will cease being a problem, Jessie Reider.’
PREV FIRST NEXT

2 part question. Have a 22R (CARB) '87 2wd Toyota Pickup
1.- Can't set timing to spec - Timing is well advance of spec (not able to set it at the 0 deg FSM calls for, more like 12-15). Pulled valve cover - timing guide breaking down on driver's side. Did full timing chain job, OP, WP. Fired it up, same story. Best i can get is around 12-15 deg with a fully retarded distributor. Side note: distributor drive gear on the Cam has some scoring. Going back in this weekend when part arrives to replace - poked distributor a few diff ways thinking i may be off a tooth, doesn't run well in any other position. Timing chain in correct position.
Any ideas why timing would be so far advanced? Carb? Vac leak? (have sprayed for vac leaks to no avail)

1. - Ignition module testing - in internet searching I learned that the ignition module plays a part in an electronic retardation of timing. I checked the ignition coil with a multimeter (to spec) but can't find anything on checking the ignition module assembly under the coil. Are there any ways to test old ignition modules? (I assume they're generally similar across makes in the late 80s, just assuming though)

Any help is greatly appreciated, just looking to get back on the road but obviously dont want to run it as is. Checked plugs, adjusted valves, checked for vac leaks, distributor electrical test checked out to spec.

I feel like this subreddit used to be way more specc heavy. Since i really Like to discuss them my current Pick would be tyvars stand. I Know its only an uncommon from the most recent Set which is also a Top seller ( nr1 on mkm for a week) but i think there is still room to grow. Its a stricktly better tamyos savekeeping which is a Common and Double the price ( it also sees pauper Play ) its protection plus Pump ( maybe also a wincon). Its on the best way to become a green Staple and i Could See it at 4 + if it doesnt get a Reprint. What is your Take on this Card? What are your Specs?

Smart, funny, loyal, genuine man who has a successful career. I’m looking for someone to build a long term connection, in person or online. INTJ.
Interests:

• sports
• concerts -comedians
• science
• anything outdoors -gardening -home projects
• reading, movies and tv
• trivia
• politics
• history
• birding

Looking for:

• good conversationalist
• willing to send pics
• smart/educated
• solid career -similar interests

Bonus points:
Hit me with your best dad joke and send your username !!

Surprisingly, I searched here and on /videography with no hits. Any thoughts about what white paint finish we should use?
I imagine Flat or Eggshell would be best to reduce any potential lighting glare. Satin, Semi-Gloss and Gloss would likely be too glossy running the risk of light spots reflecting off the wall. Here are some other set up details, should that matter:

• 8 ft x 8 ft space in our basement (walls are ugly wood paneling, but even with primer, it looks way better)
• Ceilings are only 10 ft or so high but that's OK for talking head videos
• Thinking about Amaran 60x with a Lightdome for key, not sure what other light(s) to use for fill or back lights
• Likely going with a Samson Q2U dynamic mic and/or a Lavalier mic
• Shooting off of a higher end Android phone (Google Pixel 5a) with intent to get a dSLR or similar higher-end camera at some point

Thank you in advance!

so i got deferred from columbia ED (east asian studies) but i really like the school and want to get in RD (ik it’s probably going to be difficult). i also applied to all the other ivies except princeton and dartmouth and want to know my chances at those too.
demographics: chinese female, not first generation or legacy, not applying for financial aid, i go to american school (lived in cali for 16+ yrs) but hold a foreign passport
stats: 4.23 W / 3.9 UW (8 AP classes, our school caps to 3 a yr so i took maximum amt junior and senior yr) , 34 ACT
EC: ap scholar, published author of 2 books on archaeological artifacts in asia, 4 time national / international champion of piano competitions, performed solo at carnegie hall 4 yrs in a row, co-head of a movie club, dance and music conservatory (after school activity), contemporary artist (25 works collected, portfolio submitted to schools), founder of environmental protection organization, president of international calligraphy and oracle bone script association, 4 yrs of water pollution research, 6+ yrs of oracle bone script research (archaeology in china), 150+ hrs of community service, 3 writing and speech awards
ESSAYS: i think i did a pretty good job on common app and supplementals, and i think my supplements for columbia are by far the best.
i got into all the UC’s so far (still waiting on cal) but was rejected from uchicago and johns hopkins.
do y’all think i have another shot at columbia or should i just give up hope? my parents are hoping for harvard, what are ur opinions?

I’m a smart, funny, loyal, genuine man who has a successful career. I’m looking for someone to build a long term connection, in person or online. INTJ.
Interests:

• sports
• concerts -comedians
• science
• anything outdoors -gardening -home projects
• reading, movies and tv
• trivia
• politics
• history
• birding

Looking for:

• good conversationalist
• willing to send pics
• smart/educated
• solid career -similar interests

Bonus points:
Hit me with your best dad joke.

I recently landed my first IT job after getting the Google IT support certification back in November. Before that my prior experience was in the food service industry and also worked as a warehouse manager for a vending company and a few other warehouse jobs. Getting started in my help desk position was so exciting and still is but sometimes I feel like I’m in over my head. While I have very basic knowledge as far as IT goes, it just feels like a lot of the time, I can’t figure the answers to the tickets. Talking to customers is no issue to me. But explaining technical things to customers is nerve wrecking.I guess I’m just looking for some advice on how to handle this new IT career and ways to set myself up for the best success.

!
I’m a smart, funny, loyal, genuine man who has a successful career. I’m looking for someone to build a long term connection, in person or online. INTJ.
Interests:

• sports
• concerts -comedians
• science
• anything outdoors -gardening -home projects
• reading, movies and tv
• trivia
• politics
• history
• birding

Looking for:

• good conversationalist
• willing to send pics
• smart/educated
• solid career -similar interests

Bonus points:
Hit me with your best dad joke.

Sorry for any misspelling I’m in a rush and please read, I really need advise.
Please if anyone has any ideas on what’s happening please share. Everything been fine all month, he and my mom (F51) have been on two dates this month (to my knowledge they were good). He picked me up from school Tuesday completely fine. We had fun and went grocery shopping. We cracked jokes and talked about our favorite movies.
In the morning he already leaves for work before I get up so I don’t know if anything happened Wednesday morning. I got home from school and went to my room to watch tv. Later around 4:30 I went to the kitchen to get some food. He was screaming at my sister then started threatening to move out (he has never said anything like this before). When he saw me he started scream at me for nothing. Me and my sister walked off and apparently he has been arguing with our mom (mom won’t say what about). So far that dad he yelled until we cried. I don’t like to see my brother (m11) being yelled at to the point of tears like that.
I got home from going to hang with a friend after school. He said I had to get ride with friend because he was going somewhere. He had been telling me for like a week that I’ll need to find a ride. So when I got home he started yelling about why didn’t I ask him for a ride. Then I explained what he told me he got madder. He started yelling about how he’s going to move out, divorce my mom, and buy an apartment. He and my mom have been happily married for 18 years and just had their anniversary so this made no since.
I called my mom (I was crying at this point) and explained everything. She said she would talk to him tonight.
Is this like a midlife crisis or could something medically be wrong? His personality seem to have changed over night. One day he was happy and joking around and the next he’s yelling and threatening divorce. We can’t even walk into a room with him with setting him off. Please any advise on what to do??

Are you ready for an adrenaline-fueled adventure in BeamNG's multiplayer mode? Then Burnin'Tread is the community for you! We don't just offer the standard servers, we've got a fine collection of the best BeamNG mods on custom maps. We are home to a dedicated drift and rally server that will make your heart race, and three off-road/rock crawling servers that will test your skills and leave you wanting more!
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What really sets Burnin'Tread apart is our commitment to making the BeamNG experience as fun and unique as possible. Whether you're a seasoned player or a newcomer to the game, we've got something for everyone. So what are you waiting for? Join us and let's hit the road together!
Burnin’Tread Discord

Stand Name: 「Harp Day's Night」
Namesake: "A Hard Day's Night", a song/album by The Beatles
Localized Name: 「Wheel Tough Time」
Stand User: Martin Mahgner
Name ref: George Martin a producer of The Beatles and Mitchell Manger co-creator of wheelharp.
User Appearance: Martin is a young man (26) of average height (6') and build. He has blue-green eyes and short, slightly-messy, ash-brown hair. Martin typically wears a striped, button up with 3/4 sleeves and black jeans. He wears a tie with multiple beetle-like designs. He has a brown leather belt with a metallic scarab-shaped buckle. Finally, he wears a pair of dark-blue vans.
---
Martin had always been a hard worker. He worked himself to the bone to provide for his family. He had regrets sure, who didn't. He wished he could continue his dream of becoming a musician, but it wasn't in the cards for him. He needed money to care for his sick wife, more money than being an orchestral musician could provide. So he worked to the bone as a consultant for a large firm. He didn't know his boss and his boss hardly knew him. Sure he's seen the guy, the gaudy suit is hard to miss, but he doesn't know him. Most of his coworkers worked like drones, seemingly doing what they had to do to get by. But to him, it was worth it to pay for his wife's treatment.
One day, after work, he was unlucky enough to cross the path of his boss, who didn't seem to notice him at first. He was focused on something else. A small bit curious, Martin peeked down the alleyway as he passed, but what he saw made him sick to his stomach. His boss was harassing an older woman. He could also see his boss wearing a mask, but that didn't hide the gaudy suit. The street was fairly empty, and Martin considered calling the police on the man. But something bugged him. "This was the man he was working for? Some sleazebag who sees fit to harass those less able than him?" Martin knew he needed the job, but knew he couldn't look his wife in the face if that was the kind of person he worked for.
So he approached the man who used to be his boss. "What do you think you're doing?"
The man just turned and stared vacantly at him. "Who are you?
"It doesn't matter who I am," Martin shouted as he pushed past the man to get to the elderly woman to help her up. When he felt the man's knee ram into his chest.
"Who are you to stand in the way of my fun?" his attacker asked.
Music began to play before the man seemed to slump even more. The lull was interrupted by Martin punching the man in his gut. "I'm just a man, tired of seeing people like you beat down the weak and poor. I deal with your kind enough at work, 「Harp Day's Night」 show this busybody what its like to work like a dog," then a louder burst of sound came and the aggressor collapsed in a heap of sudden exhaustion. He then heard the police sirens, "Strange, I hadn't called them yet,". "I don't really have time to deal with that... Hey lady," he called to the older woman, "are you alright?"
"... yes," she said after hesitating slightly "thank you for your help,"
"No trouble, sorry I have to run. get home alright, ya hear!" he said before walking behind a wall and having 「Harp Day's Night」 teleport him home.
"What a nice young man. Too bad he already has a stand, else I'd need to track him down to gift him one," the woman said before disappearing.
-Next Week-
Martin groaned once he returned to work a week after handing in his two weeks notice. He told his wife what happened, since he randomly appeared next to her. She agreed with his decision, even saying she'd punch the man himself if she saw the man. She spend the day doing her best to help him in his job search, but these things took time. Or he thought. An orange envelope had found itself in his mail, on a Sunday. The only identifying marks were three letters "SWF".
---
Stand Type: Long Range Artificial Non-humanoid
Stand Appearance: 「Harp Day's Night」 appears to be a wheelharp with a dog-like form. For instance its legs are jointed like a dogs, allowing them to act like actual legs. The stand where the pedals would be is instead a curved, wooden, beetle-like horn. Below this horn are a set of dog like eyes and mouth. This mouth can open and 「Harp Days Night」 can consume food, but its a mystery as to where it all goes. It should be noted, it is noticeably smaller than the wheelharp, only being the size of a border collie. As for colors it is mainly made of a stone-like dark grey material, with dogwood parts where its joints should be. Growing upwards out of these joints are white and black leaves. There are additional medal accents and wires that are silver in color. Its eyes and the inside of its mouth are a dark blue, while its tongue is orange.
Stand Ability: 「Harp Day's Night」 has two abilities.
Workin' Like a Dog: The wheel inside 「Harp Day's Night」 is able to spin faster the more exhausted Martin gets, this allows 「Harp Day's Night」 to generate soundwaves it can "fire" out of its horn. It can also store this energy to release in bursts or shoot a constant stream of it. While these soundwaves aren't able to do much damage, they can disorient (it makes them feel like their world is spinning) and furthermore-
--Sleepin' Like a Dog: Anything that hears the sound 「Harp Day's Night」 emits will grow more and more exhausted, as their energy is drained by the sound and sucked into its center. Things don't have to be alive to become "exhausted" as anything power source the sound waves hit will also be drained of energy. Martin can then depress the keys where 「Harp Day's Night's」 neck is to gain the energy drained. 「Harp Day's Night」 seems to greatly enjoy getting pet like this.
Get Home Alright: When something falls unconscious within 「Harp Day's Night」 it has the ability to send them home. Home is wherever the being feels home to be. If the being does not feel like they have a home they are transported to where they last slept. Alternatively, Martin can have this activate on him at any time.
Stats:
Power: E (The stand has very little physical power)
Speed: A
Range: B (50 meters)
Persistence: A
Precision: E
Development Potential: D
If I win, I'll keep my current flair but ask for the next contest to be stands based on puns.

I will leave identifying details out for all the reasons...
I have been applying for jobs that require a specific set of skills I possess. A few companies contacted me and I have been doing interviews. With this one company, I had a couple of interviews that went well, and it came out that I could help them within other departments as well, due to previous work experience. Saving them from having to hire yet another person to do that (even if just part-time). By the end of the second interview, they said they wanted to hire me and to expect an official offer soon. I will call them Company Q.
The offer came the next day. Terrible offer! Bad salary - 20% below market average in Germany, Minimum statutory vacation days (Mindest Gesetzlicher Urlaubsanspruch) - no overtime pay... the only thing that made it somewhat attractive was the 100% work from and to be a digital nomad (even if for short periods) - which I hadn't confirmed with them.
I replied that I was happy to hear about their offer, asked some questions about things that weren't clarified in the interviews, and asked if they could improve their offer (citing that it was so much below average). Boy oh, boy did I hit a nerve!
Meanwhile, I have received three other job offers and am negotiating and considering which position suits me best, while still doing other interviews and consulting as a freelancer.
But this man, from the above-mentioned job offer, wrote me an email yesterday that irritated me so much. He called me stupid for not clarifying my questions in the interview (mind you, none of the questions was about anything serious or would influence the decision-making on either side - they were just curiosity on my side - to try to create a picture of the workflow). Then he asked, "who do you think you are to imply that due to the fact that I have the skills they are seeking + am able to cross over and take work from another department, I deserve to earn the average salary?". - of course, this is a free translation, as all communications are in German.
I don't mind people being direct and saying I should have asked questions during the interview. Even though my experience is that no one asks all the questions at once, not even the interviewers; this has never been a problem in my working life. They (from company Q) even said at the end of the last interview: "if you have any other questions, feel free to contact us".
Obviously, at this point, there is not a chance in hell that I would take this job at all! But I am really annoyed and the lack of professionalism and aggressiveness of this guy.
I am truly a hothead and I tend to tell things as they are. While I strive to be professional in professional situations, this one crossed the line for me. I want to answer on the same level and point out some obvious truths about his behaviour and lack of professionalism. The person who answered me is not the employer, but a "recruiteconsultant" (hired by the company. Not like I sent my profile for him to find me a job). I do not feel he can *harm* me professionally at all, neither now nor in the future. So I am writing a really well-worded reply, being as polite as one possibly can while making a point to point out what I said above.
What I am curious about is, what would you do as German? Since this is happening in Germany and in German and the job offer is from a German company - how would you as a German feel and react? I am really interested to know.

I recently landed my first IT job after getting the Google IT support certification back in November. Before that my prior experience was in the food service industry and also worked as a warehouse manager for a vending company and a few other warehouse jobs. Getting started in my help desk position was so exciting and still is but sometimes I feel like I’m in over my head. While I have very basic knowledge as far as IT goes, it just feels like a lot of the time, I can’t figure the answers to the tickets. Talking to customers is no issue to me. But explaining technical things to customers is nerve wrecking.I guess I’m just looking for some advice on how to handle this new IT career and ways to set myself up for the best success.

Hi everyone! I'm having difficulty obtaining working backup copies. The background game audio is often corrupted.
The program I use is Alcohol 120% and this is the model of my CD burner: https://www.lg.com/us/burners-drives/lg-GH24NSC0-internal-dvd-drive.
I'm seriously starting to think that this hardware is the cause of the corrupted CDs.
External CD burners can be a viable alternative? Other than that, is Alcohol 120% the best software? Thanks a lot for your help.