Tv repair shops near me

Sorry to have to come to this Reddit. Im genuinely concerned of the state my pc is currently in. For starters, I’m fairly new to the pc community. I actually just built my first pc two days ago and just gotten a keyboard so that I could set it up. Everything felt pretty good until I saw a screen pop up with the message from the title. I was honestly scared, so I asked the friend that had been helping me with my pc stuff. He said that would go away as soon as I installed the operating system. Unfortunately, that did not stop it. He said to just proceed forward with the installation of the drivers and that I would be fine. It was fine until it wasn’t. After downloading one of the motherboard drivers, which I think was the wifi one, I proceeded to go collect the “Auto Detect & Install” from AMD. Once I ran it for installation, i proceeded to finish up a driver download and install it. It prompted to restart my pc, so I proceeded. Then I checked if I needed to download anymore drivers. But this time it prompted me with a incompatibility message and I was confused. Assuming that maybe the pc didn’t register or read stuff correctly (I feel like this is where I made one mistake), I restarted the pc. But then a windows blue screen error message popped up. I was terrified and messaged my friend immediately. They said one way I could potentially fix it was to restore/reset my pc. Putting my full trust in my friend, I did as he advised. (I regret doing this tbh) And now, this made things worse. My pc is now in a never-ending loop of displaying the gigabyte loading/logo screen and a blue error screen with the error code “inaccessible boot device” to where it continues to restart and display the same screen over and over again. I reached out to Microsoft and hoped they would be able to assist me but they were unable to. I did leave a support ticket but I’m honestly too spooked rn, I don’t think I can wait tbh. I wanna fix this but I don’t think I can. Now I’m nearly tearing up…my first pc and I already jacked everything up. Maybe I’m not ready for a pc. I genuinely put so much money on a pc since I’ve been putting it off for years. Finally having the opportunity, it slipped right through my hands. I’m hoping I could get this fixed without having to take it in somewhere…I have no money to fix it. Not even 100 to spare for Geek Squad or something. Help…please…

I recently bought a new to me home (built 1949) that is a fixer upper. What I didn’t realize is that it would be a money pit.
So what started out as an issue with the kitchen sink waste pipe replacement morphed into repairing the plumbing entire house and I still have more to do.
What needed to be done ( forgive me if I get the language wrong):
• Waste pipe from kitchen sink had to be replaced. Years of Drano use from pushing everything into the garbage disposal caused the cast iron pipe to fail. Lots of pitting on the exterior of the pipe. This pipe had polka dots. I’d never seen anything like this before.
• replace water heater (40 gal BW). The previous water heater was ~9 yrs old and had had some repairs. This was the one thing I knew had to be replaced so was prepared to spend about $1200 here.
• install water softener not having this seemed to be the root cause of a lot of my problems
• replace shutoff valves on main lines under bathroom sink, toilet, kitchen sink, washer, utility sink, water line to fridge
• replaced the exterior frost free sill faucets. I learned the hard way these had failed by having first use this spring flood the basement
• replace the main shutoff valve to my home
• I had cast iron, PVC, copper, and galvanized pipe in my home. Because the home at one time had a beauty parlor in the basement, had a rudimentary shower that no longer worked, and was party central complete with a bar sink with taps that no longer worked. There were pipes all over the place. Now only copper and PVC
• the home has a second kitchen in basement and the sink will be reused as my utility sink
• bathroom fixtures in bathroom shower were replaced
All of this cost $19K
I still have to get the following done:
• replace bath sink faucet ($650)
• replace toilet ($1200) Kohler comfort heigh elongated seat will be used but for this. I have not selected which model of toilet but would like a bidet seat I think. I need to do some more reading about those. I would prefer to have a skirted toilet so that it’s easier to clean but need some advice here.
• replace kitchen faucet ($745)
All faucets are Wolverine brass except for the utility sink that will end up being whatever 6” center faucet I can find. I’m looking at a Union brass model (https://www.chicagofaucetshoppe.com/Union-Brass-174-360H-p/ub-360h.htm).
• move laundry ($4800) the work for this will involve:

• Cap off old water lines for laundry in basement.
  
  • Furnish and install new 2" pvc piping from pt floor laundry room to basement.
  • Furnish and install new 1/2" water line from basement to new location of laundry room.
  • Furnish and install new gas line from basement to laundry room.
  • Furnish and install new flex laundry hose from upstairs to exit outside through brick. (I need more info on this before I agree to having this done.
  • Furnish and install new clear hose from condensate pump to old stand pipe in basement. (Not part of laundry but it’s currently draining into sink and needs to be moved)

So are costs out of line?
I ended up going with this company because I received no response from one other I called. The third had no availability to come out to do an inspection and bid the work. I called first week in April and they could not come until late May.
I am in IL near the Quad cities at IA border.

Around two weeks ago I got error 44, I was surprised since I took my bike to university in the morning and everything worked fine and when I took it to go back home it just stopped working. I don’t know how that happened. In any way, I booked an appointment in Amsterdam for June 30th since the shops in Eindhoven didn’t have an appointment until February 2024. My problem is that I have read here that all the repair shops in Europe are out of stock for the e-shifter however it said on the website when I booked the appointment that it would take 3-5 days. It is a certified repair shop, so not an official one from Vanmoof. I am scared that I will go to Amsterdam (it’s 2 hours train for me) and the guy from the store will tell me that he can’t do anything about it. Any ideas on what could I do?

So, my lil fluffer, decided it's a good idea to rip open her hidey, which is made out of textile materials, which kept her nice and cozy during the winter. Temperature's fine in my room, where she resides, but just in case she got cold at times, this seemed like a good idea.
Now, the thing's open enough you can easily see fibers...
She got used to having this cozy thing, and now she keeps trying to munch angrily on her old hidey, which was a basic wood bridge. Annoys me endlessly with the sound alone. Don't think she can actually get through the wood itself, but still.
Question is, what do you think of having no hidey? She's very used to me, spending every waking hour with me basically, sleeping eyes closed near me, cuddles up to me, yawning, eating from my hand, yelling for attention, the whole shabang.

Hello, I've been going through a wild time recently, learning about my mom and dad from my moms side of the family. Turns out moms liked sleeping around but dad never suspected anything. I've always noticed that some major differences between me and my dad, like thick body hair on me and my dad being nearly hairless, I started losing my hair around 24/25 years old and my dad still has a nice piece at 53 years old. I am tall and my father isnt, and just overall face shape and this neat little cleft chin I've chosen to hide under a beard that my dad doesnt have. DNA tests are out, since i now live in Mexico and my dad in the US. My question is... are these obvious signs that my dad, whom i love more than anyone on earth, isnt my biological father? Its a shot in the dark without the DNA test i know, but is this likely?? Or did the drug abuse really make me extra critical about hypothetical ideas i get late at night.
Thank you for your time.

I'm very curious about the discourse, especially in a group of people who can empathize on a whole different level.
Personally I feel like it somewhat makes sense to have an actor act not only the personality but also the body by wearing prosthetic body suit. I imagine it would be unbearable for someone of the displayed body to act all day, as acting is very exhausting physically and this body does face a loooot of challenges already without acting. I felt like nothing was glamourised, and nothing was poked fun at. To me it did seem realistic- for my understanding.
I liked the binge scenes a lot because watching them gave me the same discomfort as binging myself.
The way he tried to change. The way that it was hard and not just a matter of his rational decision. The different types of binge- the sad binge, the angry binge... Also the way he was zooming out during some binges reminded me of the way I sometimrs felt way too focussed on my food when I was out with friends and having dinner with them. These moments when you're past joy and it turns into obsession. Addiction.
The movie also showed that he had feelings like anyone else, and that he had a personality that was more than just food/body related things. Which I feel is often left out.
On no level can I speak from the same pov as someone with this character's struggles but as someone who's gone through different phases of ED there were surely patterns that I recognised and empathised with.
I think the costume was made amazingly good. Other actors were amazing. Just not the daughter. To me it seemed unrealistic that she would be that angry and impulsive and out of touch with her affect control. I get the idea but especially because they made her so smart, I don't think she would've been that blind to her own (re)actions. Other than that she scared me a lot but I didn't really understand what for. There were so many hints of threats left unexplained.
The mother was another amazing role. When she was forst introduced abstractly, I thought it's a bit too much of the whole dysdunctional trope.. I mean surely it explained a lot and of course negativity thrives in negativity, and attracts negativity. But it seemed a bit cliché in the beginning. However when she showed up, she really had a personality. And one that the viewer could empathise with. She was also more than her addiction, and she showed a nuance of alcoholism that I feel is rarely displayed in tv/cinema. Often it's rather the full rage or nothing. This mother was a great conflict of addiction. And I also liked her nuanced relationship to the main guy. It showed that human relationships are complicated and can be contradicting.
I can't say much about his best friend because she was excellent. The mix of emotions, caused by these rough circumstances... But also the strong bond between them. She was played so well.
I've seen a few critical voices online from body activists so it seems like not everyone liked the movie.
What do you think?

Hello,
I am looking for a new RP partner! I am a 20 year old female, looking for similar age range, but someone to play a male OC, as I typically only play female. (I don’t feel I can capture the essence of a male OC nearly as well.)
I am very interested in slow burn romance, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, anything fantasy, mafia based, things like that. Romances are my favorite to RP.
I have a few OCs prepared, as well as some specific plot ideas, but I am always open to hearing yours!
If you’re at all interested, please PM me and we can discuss and see if we are a good fit!
Thank you!

I’m currently at work and is bored as hell. I already finished the tv shows I watched religiously and nothing is left for me to ease my boredom. Let’s kill time together!
Preferably older men
So if you’re bored and wanna have a conversation just dm me 😉

No hdmi signal or broken gpu
Yesterday day after updating my gpu to the newest drivers (rtx 4090 Gainward) everything worked fine until i switched my pc off and then back on. My monitor is Lg C2 Oled after booting up it starde seeing black screen flickering and some random colors switching showing me Green and Yellow screen and only showed Hdr logo in top right tried to switch to different hdmi output , then it worked fine but it had wired stuttering and some lose of signal. Restarted my pc and the same wired color switching appeared tried this on every tv output. Then tried connecting my pc to my small portable screen with hdmi everything worked perfectly normal. I just downloaded the previous driver i think it was 532. and Display Driver Uninstaller, runned DDU for clean install of the driver but after uninstalling my current driver my pc rebooted but ther is no signal now on bot of the displays my gpu Rgb is still working but i only have picture in bios. (Im on Windows 11)
Did i broke my gpu somehow never had this kind of issue please guys i need help for this

The best friends I(30m) have ever had never tried to see me. Never tried to reach out to me. Never asked how I'm doing or what I'm up to. This is the only kind of friendship I've ever known.The kind where I put energy into a relationship and nobody gives me anything in return, I never ask for anything. The last time I had a real friend I was 16. I vaguely know what friendship feels like, and I've thirsted for it always. Some nights (like tonight) I'm kept up by my rage, filled with anger because I've spent the last 14 years trying to make just one decent friend, yet cant seem to do it like everyone else. I'm frustrated by my own efforts. I join clubs, running teams(I don't even like running), I go to bars sometimes, yet I cant seem to get anyone to remember my name. I have nobody to introduce me to their social circle. I don't have any family to talk to. I don't want pity. I despise pity. I just need actual input here.
I havent spoken in nearly three weeks. I don't know why I speak anymore. I don't know why I ever did speak. Nobody hears me. Nobody's listening. I crave sociality. I watch it happen all around me. There are billions of people on earth, but I can't seem to connect with anyone. I ask people questions, I try to get to know them, I'm always honest, I offer help when others need it, I even make great food. I don't get it. It makes no sense. Why does everyone else get to experience so much joy in front of me, but I can't have even a moment of it for myself? Can anyone understand this rage?
Edit: seperated the rant so that the second paragraph is just me venting.

I'm using the same TV I play d3 on, I was playing d3 just a few days ago, and d4 does not even look half as good on it. It looks like a PlayStation 1 game to me.
Granted it's Xbox One, so it's not gonna be as good as PC, but I played d3 on this same Xbox One. Same TV and same console.

So my husband had work this morning and I had to walk both dogs together and somehow do the grocery shopping...which was a challenge, as the puppy still loses her mind when we leave her alone. So I tied them up outside the grocery store and spent 40 minutes slowly working on separation training and working towards the point where I could go to the store without her barking up a storm (hopefully).
I finally take the dive, rush into the store, get the shopping done as quick as I can...and come back to find them both just calmly laying in the shade waiting for me. She didn't even jump up when she saw me, she stayed laying down and calm as I approached and calmly gave them both treats.
I'm so proud T_T Aside from working on some barrier separation at home this was the first time we've done any separation training and she handled it SO well.

I began with a mistake; around January of 2023, I was convinced by my dad and uncle to buy a property partnered with my uncle; essentially, my uncle and I were going to pay for it via a mortgage.
Now let me give a bit of background to this. First, this all takes place in Puerto Rico, and as you know, PR, well... it's not in the best state, I guess you could say; as for me, I was 21 at the time with no knowledge about real estate what's so ever, so as you can already see we're starting on the wrong foot, as for my dad he knows a couple of things but surface level nothing too profound, now as for my uncle his the one who brought us the deal. My uncle works on a small business owned by the property owner, also located on the property my uncle was offered. According to the owner, he wanted to sell the property to someone who would also take over the Air conditioning business. His sons didn't want it and were doing their own thing, so he decided to sell it to my uncle AKA "the son he never had," however my uncle, well, he doesn't have the money, and that's where I come in at the time I had recently received a lot of money from some insurance my dad had done a long time ago so my uncle came to us and pretty much sold us on the dream that the owner had promised which entailed the following: first from an original price of 1 million dollars he would sell it to us by half $500k it is a 3.88-acre approx. property and has two main buildings. But the cherry on top was that he was going to give us the business and that with the business, we would be able to pay for the mortgage plus, he was going to stay with us every step of the way for the next six months also it was a ten year 0% fixed interest rates with a 25k down payment. the owner flexed about how much the company made, how he owned X, Y, and Z, and that he had traveled to many places, etc., and like good little trusting fool, I bought into it.
I'm not that social my communication sucks and I'm way to passive I all ways had my questions and doubts but I never mustered the courage to state them or anything my dad and my uncle were full on head first trusting especially my uncle since he had been working there for years and according to him the business was doing great and moving a lot of money (emphasis on "Moving"), my dad did ask some important questions about numbers and debts and other things but the "numbers" were never really shown only checks and words that were tossed around with a lot of "yeah, yeah tomorrow" or "soon" it's also important to note that both my uncle and my dad can be quite gullible for reasons that we shan't name but yeah after merely a couple of weeks passed everything was extremely fast and rushed and we were told we could go seal up the deal anytime and we went with a lot of trust and hopes and so we took over the business and we quickly found out how false and shit everything was starting with day one the owner left for vacation and along with him went the promise to stay with us for the next six months and guide us we didn't even have access to the company's bank accounts till nearly a moth later so I spent the first moth learning with the secretary wtf I had in my hands and I quickly learned that what I had in my hands was a near dead horse full of NEGATIVE RED NUMBERS! as well as a horrible infrastructure and also an imbalance between income vs expenses I check with the business bank and its history for the past couple of years and found it full of negative numbers now I have no idea to this day what the hell the owner was doing whether he was laundering money, avoiding taxes, using the business as a credit card or some sort of other trick
Yesterday I finished up with the layer and stuff to undo all this. Thankfully it went smoothly with no issues with the owner or anything overall. I lost like $55k during the whole thing. Some fail, and some win. At least I got out of it fast and minimized my losses from and learned much one of which is always start small. TL;DR: I got scammed into buying a property and a business where the owner promised me the company could pay for the mortgage and then some, only to find out it was a dead business!? And the buildings needed expansion permits and water meters because the owner had it set up as residential and not commercial.

Thanks to "Sithking Zero" on the NoP Discord for editing help.
Memory transcription subject: Tellek , Farmer
Date [standardized human time]: January 19th, 2137
Has it really come to this, am I really this desperate?
I was, for all intents and purposes, broke. The last harvest had been terrible, in addition to the one before that, which was practically a deathblow for my new farmstead. The debts and missed payments had started to pile up, and I was one more bad harvest away from going completely bankrupt.
Like so many farmers before me, I was becoming another victim of the 5 harvest curse.
I told you that starting a new farm was a bad idea.
What was I supposed to do, brain, keep working in the office until I died?
I sat on my chair, surrounded by other farmers who were presumably in similar states of desperation, the room we were in akin to the schoolrooms I had been in as a pup; a desk and whiteboard up front sitting in front of the rows of chairs. Most of the twenty or so figures around me were fellow Venlil, except for a handful of Gojid and even a single Yotul who was sitting in the back, all of us awaiting the start of the ‘lesson’.
They claimed they had a solution to our problem, that they knew how to increase our yields. How could a predator know how to fix our farming issues?.
Human. Human Human Human Human. Not a predator.
Yes yes I know, I’m trying to be better about that.
I stopped my train of thought and corrected myself. Ever since the revelations about many of our allies being former predators, I had been making an effort to stop thinking of the world in terms of predator and prey. It was difficult at times, but given that I was working against a lifetimes worth of lies, I thought I was making good progress..
But even if “Predator” wasn’t the curse it used to be, how could a human claim to know how to fix our farming issues? Even if we ignored the differences between our diets, for all their advantages, humans were still far below our technological advancements.
Almost on cue, the door to the room opened up, and the figure of the human who had invited us here entered with an enthusiastic bounce, caring two large cases covered with black cloth
Unlike most, this human was unmasked, its piercing eyes and beaming teeth filled smile visible for all to see. I could feel the room start to fill with panic. Sure, logically I knew I was probably safe, but seeing the unmasked features of an apex predator caused fear to grip the edge of my heart.
I could proudly say I can walk past and interact with masked humans without wanting to flee anymore, but seeing those forward-facing eyes boring a hole into my soul was another task altogether.
Come on, you should be better than this.
I’m trying, ok!
"Hello everyone. My name is Joseph. I'm an ecology student, and I'm here to provide a solution to your farming yields." The human spoke with an unbridled joy, seeming to wait a moment while our translators attempted to explain what Ecology was, stopping half way through and seemingly giving up.
“You might be wondering why I’m unmasked, well we’re going to be covering a lot of ‘predatory’ concepts today, so if you can’t handle this? We’re gonna have bigger problems.” Joseph took a moment to broadly gesture to himself, leaving a feeling of dread to start in the pit of my stomach.
If this was just the start, what exactly was going to happen here?
Silence! Wait and see, knowing humans it’s probably interesting at the very least.
“I’ve finally been given authorization to start a trial of this program. Both the UN and Venlil governments are very interested in increasing food supply for both our people. As you might know we’re kinda at war, and logistics wins wars.”
The human paused for a moment, a shiver running around most of the room as he gave a large beaming smile.
“So to start: paws, claws, or tails up if you know about the ‘5 harvest curse.’”
The room immediately was filled with Federation species all raising their prospective limbs in affirmation. Of course we all knew what it was, that was why most of us were here.
How would the human know about that?
Basic research, simple reading, asking literally any farmer?
“Fantastic! I’m still going to explain it so we’re all on the same page. The ‘5 harvest curse’ is a phenomenon where new farms on Venlil prime often fail within the first five harvests. On a side note, the coincidental fact that five has a religious contention in Venlil culture is neat.”
I could feel an annoyance start to course through me, that the affliction currently driving me to destitution was being described as ‘neat’ by the callous predator. I mean human.
Stupid human.
Joseph either didn’t pick up or ignored my annoyance as he pressed a button, a graph appearing on the whiteboard showing expected yields over time, continuing on in his seemingly endless enthusiasm.
“So in general the five harvest curse follows a standard pattern of yields, with the first two harvests being up to 52% larger than even more established farms, plummeting after that until the business is non-viable and collapses. Officially the reason for this is unknown, with some vague religious stupidity about new farms being too far away from the center of the habitable strip.”
This was nothing new to me, I remembered feeling the joy of the sheer output from my first harvest, of wondering if I could finally make something of myself, a joy that had been whittled down as my last two harvests had been pitiful.
“However there’s an interesting thing, if you also plot the number of predator sightings during this time against the yields, you can see a direct correlation between number of predators and the success of each harvest.”
Wait, what? Is this human trying to say that predators… increase harvest? That can’t be right, that can’t be right at all. That would be insanity.
The data is literally there in front of you.
Yet it was there on the screen, a second graph had appeared on the whiteboard, tracking predator sightings over time in each of the farms afflicted by the curse.
“This tracks with most farms' general lifecycle. You buy a plot of untamed land on the edge of the habitable zone but you don’t have enough money to go full anti-predator. As the harvests come in you end up spending more and inadvertently messing it up.”
This caused a small amount of murmuring and energetic rejection by myself and the other members of the room, wiping away the previous undercurrent of fear. It was insanity, it went against everything I had ever known or been taught about farming and how the world worked. How could a predator of all things be beneficial?
Didn’t the introduction of humans also go against everything I had ever known or been taught about?
“If this effect is so obvious, how has nobody found this before?”
The sound of a Venlil challenging Joseph was greeted by murmurs of agreement from the group, causing the human to give a different kind of smile. Not a smile of joy or excitement as had been seen before, but the smile of someone who had something for this.
“Because you have. 150 years ago, a Venlil named Slavek wrote a paper regarding this. 119 years ago, Vicktal did the same. As well as Traval, Stralan, and Vilkin in between then and now. Those are just the ones I’ve found. Who can guess what happened to them?”
There was a pause, before the uplift in the back spoke up for the first time, a surety in the Yotul’s voice.
“They were diagnosed with predator disease.”
Joseph pointed at the Yotul in the back with both hands, the joy radiating from him.
“Based Space Kangaroo gets 10 points for being correct! Yep the federation has been actively suppressing anything that suggests that predators are more than some kind of eldritch evil, that and your surprising lack of hydroponics causes most planets to be dependent on the core worlds for food imports. Probably by design for control.”
Wait… that’s a good point, why aren’t we using hydroponics?
The human took a moment to switch to the next slide, showing a simple three part cycle.
“Most healthy ecological systems are made up of three parts: Plants, which are eaten by herbivores, which are in turn eaten by carnivores. In reality actual systems are far more complex than these, but as a basic understanding this will suffice. These three parts keep each other in check, each part dependent on the other, which-”
“Are you trying to say that predator attacks are a good thing? Are you suffering from predator disease?! ”
The Venlil interrupted once again to more murmured agreement, causing Joseph to give a sigh of clear annoyance in response. I wished the Venlil would shut up and just let the human talk.
“No, I’m not suggesting we airdrop a bunch of Nissa into the Capital, I'm explaining how natural systems work. Sapience obviously breaks this cycle, which if you deviate too far, you end up with something called trophic cascade."
The human seemed to wait a moment for the translator to once again fail to explain the meaning of the phrase.
I wonder how many basic concepts the federation lacks words for…
"Rather simply, the removal of one of these pieces has wider effects, reducing biodiversity and in many cases causing a complete ecological collapse. An example of this is the dust bowl effect, something the federation is well acquainted with."
There was a moment before the whiteboard changed before showing pictures of desolate barren worlds. Without any explanation I knew exactly what I was looking at. It was one of the… lesser talked about aspects of the federation.
"The Skivit grand herd are a species who go from planet to planet stripping ecosystems bare, devouring everything down to the smallest sapling. This removes important root systems that act as drainage, causing flooding and deserts to form as new plantlife lacks the structure to grow. In many cases these ecosystems are permanently destroyed, turning once lush planets into lifeless husks”.
I couldn’t help but feel sorrow for those planets. It was well known the impact the Skivit had on planets, once thriving planets of beauty. Although if I was following this human’s logic correctly did that mean…
“Now I’m not suggesting that the Skivit need a predator, that would be immoral.” Joseph cut off the thought I was about to have, seemingly understanding the logical thought many of us had picked up on. “But instead this is a real life example of damage an unchecked herbivore can have on ecosystems. If the Skivit didn’t have FTL travel they would have long ago driven themselves to starvation under their current society. It’s also not the only form of this trophic cascade.”
“Surely this doesn’t just apply to prey? Or are you saying prey are somehow inferior?”
The sound of the Gojid cutting in was filled with an unspoken challenge against the idea, inciting general sounds of agreement from those around him. Surprisingly however, Joseph seemed to respond positively.
“That is entirely correct, an overabundance of carnivorous species can also cause their own issues. Keep in mind what I’m describing here is an extremely simplified version, just the addition or removal of a single species can cause untold damage and harm to the diversity of ecological systems as the impacts are felt in the most seemingly unlikely cases.”
With that the human reached under the desk, taking one of the two covered containers he had brought with him and placing it into view.
“In Venlil Prime’s case, while the impact of Federation thinking has been reduced due to the day and night sides being mostly untouched, you still have the problem of overpopulation of certain species, and a lack of reasonable fear response from certain prey species. This has accumulated into the problem you all face.”
With that he removed the cover, causing a surge of fear to ripple through the participants around me until we all calmed down at what was underneath: A small cage, containing a single red bird busily eating seeds.
All farmer’s arch nemesis.
“This is a Flowerbird, a seed eating avian often coming in solid red, blue, or green. They are adorable, dumb as a sack of bricks and food motivated to a fault. They are also one of the biggest causes of farm yield destruction, with these birds alone being responsible for around about 41% of all losses. If we include Voidpins and other similar wildlife, farms can have up to 94% of their yield destroyed before they even get to harvest.”
Everyone in this room was familiar with the cursed avians. While your average city dweller would enjoy the sight of a flock of Flowerbirds, the farming community knew of them as a blight that devastated crops.
Joseph took a moment to open the cage, reaching inside and grabbing the bird. A small part of me wondered if he was about to devour it in front of us, before I tamped down on such an illogical idea. Of course the humans wouldn’t, we knew they didn’t do that. The Flowerbird also seemed completely unfazed about being in the meaty grasp of a predator, simply continuing to eat.
“Even worse, these things have basically zero fear response to noises and large beasts, probably due to all major predators having been removed. As you can see this specimen doesn’t mind a ‘scary predator’ grabbing it. As long as it has food, it couldn’t care less. This makes pest control tricky, as scaring them away is no longer an option. Poisons would be used in such a case, but they can have wider ranging effects, and poisoning prey is considered ‘Predatory’, not that many of you haven’t tried ‘accidentally’ leaving potential pesticides out.”
This caused a sway of discomfort to sweep through the room, tails switching in guilty movements as everyone tried to hide the truth of this human’s words. I knew I personally had considered such actions in desperation.
I mean, would ‘accidently’ leaving out a known poisonous chemical really be a sign of predator disease?
“Ha! I know enough tail language to know I’m right, that’s guilt isn’t it? I’ve read your internet, I know your discussions on loopholes about what is and isn’t predatory!” Joseph cried out in triumph as many of the Venlil of the room reached out to grab their traitorous appendages. “Now normally I would just tell people to stop being idiots, but in this case we can’t do that. Ironically because predators are actually dangerous. Because of your slaughter the only species left are ones aggressive and smart enough to survive. Shadestalkers are legitimately dangerous and can’t be left to interact with the farming community because people will die.”
The words from Joseph all sounded so… reasonable at this point. However, I, along with the rest of the room, were all desperately waiting for the other paw to drop. Because there would be, humans always had something they were about to do.
Almost in response to our thoughts the human placed the second container on the desk, covering up the first in response.
“Humans have dealt with this problem in a simple way, a way that our Yotul friend over there will know of. I need all of you to please remain calm and orderly, and to remember that you’re perfectly safe and there’s no need to overreact or panic. Humans dealt with this pest problem, through the use of safe predators.”
Before anyone could properly react to those words, the cover of the second container was removed, showing… a predator. An actual one, not a human but an actual real threat. Small piercing front facing yellow eyes attached to a brown feline form, sulking from the cage it was being held in.
Speh speh speh speh that’s a PREDATOR, A FERAL PREDATOR
If it was a danger the human wouldn't have-
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO DO NOT LIKE NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.
The panic in the room was immediate. Sapient human predators we had gotten used to, but none sapient ones were another deal entirely. Chaos started to spread as the 7 in the front row got up, pushing themselves up against the back wall as everyone else in the room did the same. Three Venlil made the choice to bolt out of the room, rushing past the human and his tiny devourer, while another clean fainted, hitting the floor with a thud. One even decided to take things further, jumping out of the singular window attached to the far wall in a frantic motion.
I could feel fear overwhelm me, desperately staring at the feline and waiting for it to make its move. What was the human thinking, it was going to attack at any moment, it was going to-
“STOP, Stop this stupidity. Right. NOW!”
The stern commanding voice of Joseph caused everyone in the room to freeze. The calm enthusiastic demeanor of the predator was gone, replaced with an emotion I’d never actually seen a human show before: anger.
“It has been six months! Do you really still believe that the UN or the Venlil government would put you in actual danger? You’re still thinking based on your stupid fascist Federation propaganda. Thinking that tells you that the Yotul are primitive, or the Venlil are weak. Propaganda that says genetically modifying people against their will is morally OK”
I knew that humans normally bared their teeth in joy, as a sign of happiness and friendship. This wasn’t the case right now, as everything in Joseph’s body language screamed of rage, of pain, of words spoken through gritted teeth. Nobody in the room was focused on the predator in the cage at this point, instead all eyes staring at the human. Suddenly the feline mattered a lot less than the anger of the human.
“That sort of thinking leads to the belief that killing over a billion innocent people is somehow the right thing to do. You are all presumably intelligent sapient adults able to think things through logically. Could you all please act that way?”
I could see the swishes of shame from the other Venlil’s tails, everyone in the room avoiding eye contact guiltily. Well, apart from the Yotul, who had remained seated and calm this entire time, staring almost joyfully at the feline predator. The human, of course, was completely right. Taking a moment to force myself to think, the predator was safely behind metal bars and was making no move to attack, seemingly content to stare lazily at us.
You finished overreacting?
Shut up, brain.
“Also, at the risk of ruining the angry vibe I’m giving off, is the guy who jumped out the window OK? Jesus Christ, we are two stories up, do we have to call someone or….”
Joseph had relaxed a little in response to the group calming down, allowing the normal empathetic nature of humans to come through once more. Slowly I made my way to the window, looking down to see a singular Venlil running off into the distance.
“I-I think he’s fine.” I responded, causing the human to give a sigh of relief in response.
“Good. Note to self, do this in a room without windows next time… or maybe just the ground floor. So, to continue where I left off, humans have used tame predators as a natural non-invasive form of pest control since we started farming. This is a cat, completely harmless unless you’re a small rodent or bird. They also have this effect.”
With a flourish Joseph removed the covering for the cage containing the Flowerbird once more, the red little avian had been busily eating during the entire presentation so far. However upon spotting the Feline predator did something none of us had ever seen before.
It stopped eating. Wait, the human managed to get a Flowerbird to stop eating! I didn’t even know that was possible…
Giving repeated alarmed chirps it moved as far away as it could from the predator, still trapped inside the small cage, a frantic fear obvious on the poor little thing. Joseph let this go on for a few moments more, before dropping the cover back on and silencing the Flowerbird once more.
Everyone in the room was shocked. You could literally scream and shout all you wanted at the dumb little birds and they would ignore you and continue to devour crops. The fact that the feral predator had managed to stop the bird from doing that simply with its presence… was huge. Was more than huge.
“As you can see, the instincts of the ‘prey’ animal still remain. Presumably, whatever predator used to hunt these Flowerbirds has a resemblance to our cats. Normally it would be sacrilege to suggest introducing cats to an ecosystem, but in this case your ecosystems are so messed up that’s exactly what we want to do: Provide any farmer who wants one with a kitten, in order to quickly reduce yield lost to pests.”
I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t interested. On the one hand having a vicious predator in my house, where my pups would visit seemed like something a predator diseased individual would only consider. On the other hand, nothing else I had ever tried had even come close to the simple effectiveness shown here.
Would I be this desperate and in debt if I had one of these “cats” already?
“So I can see you’re all still a little worried, so we’re going to have a little discussion, for which I need a volunteer-'' The Yotul in the back practically fell over with excitement, with his arm raised immediately as he interrupted, causing Joseph to give a small smile. “One who isn’t a Yotul. I know your history with similar pets, and we are totally going to hook you up with a cat, but for this I could do with a Venlil please.”
The Yotul sat back down, a look of disappointment plastered over his face as the rest of the room shifted uncomfortably. Nobody wanted to be the person to step up and presumably get closer to the predator. Until I found myself raising my hand.
Brain, what the hell are you doing?
You said you wanted to be better, and we’re desperate.
NOT LIKE THIS BRAIN!
In a blur I found myself being introduced to the room and being told to sit at a chair next to the desk in front of the rest of the members here. Then, to my horror, Joseph opened the cage and took the feline predator out of its holding cell. The human took a few moments to fuss over the beast before turning to the rest of us.
“So now that we have our volunteer, let's logically look at our ‘dangerous predator’. The first thing to notice is simply the size. Regardless of anything else, size matters, size matters a lot. It’s hard to feel threatened by something that you can literally throw across the room.”
Joseph took a moment to hold the small creature next to me for context, highlighting just how small the predator actually was: barely the size of a Skivit, like a furry little pup. Logically if it wasn't for the forward facing eyes, I might consider it… cute?
“But what about its teeth and claws? It’s a predator that will tear people apart!”
The voice of the Gojid sounded out, a shrill fearful voice filled with barely contained panic and fear, the source of the sound looking ready to flee even though they weren’t the one sitting next to the predator
“Let's compare these. Tellek can you please extend your paws and show your claws to the group.”
I did as asked, my four black claws visible for all to see as Joseph moved the predator close. He stretched out one of its paws and pressed on a knuckle, a singular sharp claw protruding as he did so, causing a fresh burst of fear to erupt in my heart from being so close to such a thing.
Although if I was to be fully honest, if I was comparing the two, the predator’s claw were…
“As you can see, the cat’s claw, while sharper, is far smaller and more brittle. A Venlil can do some serious damage with their claws, while the worst this cat’s claw could do is break the skin. The teeth are similar, if you could show the group your pearly whites please.”
I again did as asked, feeling embarrassed and weird just having my mouth wide open in front of everyone. I hoped that there was nothing stuck in my teeth. While I did Joseph manhandled the cat again, taking a moment to move the lips and display the sharp needle point teeth, doing so for a moment before the small predator gave a small lazy growl of annoyance, clearly reaching the end of its acceptability.
“Once again we have similar results: Notice the small size of the cat's teeth compared with the Venlil’s. These would pierce skin, the Venlil’s would pulverize bone. Gojid aren’t much better with your literal claws and a back full of knives. Ironically enough the two ‘predators’ in the room are probably the least physically imposing.”
There was a moment as the room seemed to ponder this statement, allowing Joseph enough time to place the cat on the desk next to me, the predator promptly giving a stretch then curling up into a ball. The human was right, even humans themselves were physically… underwhelming, apart from their endurance. No claws, small teeth, no defensive armor or spines.
It’s kinda sad to think the only reason we’re all so scared of humans is their eye placement.
“Now the UN and Venlil government are looking for people to use cats as pest control to increase farming yield, with an initial trial size of about 100 participants. We’re offering a stipend for food, instructional care of your kitten, and as much support as needed. There are risks, for instance you’re going to need warning signs near your property and a containment system, as cats are actually dangerous to the Dossur.”
I could hardly hear Joseph speak, my entire concentration focused on the predator right next to me. I knew logically that the human wouldn’t do something to bring me to harm, but it was difficult to think that with a potentially feral predator right next to me. I saw its eyes fixate onto mine and I quickly looked away.
Maybe if I don’t look at it, it won’t take it as a challenge.
However much to both mine and the rest of the room's shock, slowly and carefully the cat stood up, stretched once before walking purposefully towards me, the room erupting into cries of worry as it leapt off the desk and onto my lap, curling into a ball with me trapped underneath.
“H-h-help…. Help…..!”
The human turned to look at me, breaking into a smile seemingly at my misfortune and giving a small chuckle.
“Awwww, she likes you. As you all can see cats share a lot of characteristics with ‘prey’. They will often seek companionship from others, and have a lot of prey characteristics, being at times skittish due to having many natural predators.”
That was good and all, but didn’t stop me from being trapped under the beast.
I don’t want to think about what could cause a predator to become prey.
“W-What d-do I do?”
Joseph gave a small shrug in response, clearly amused by my reaction.
“You could try petting her. Her name is Sprinkles and I can confirm she likes pets.”
You see brain, this is what happens when I let you do things! Now I'm trapped by a predator and I'm gonna die!
Stop being such a pup, the thing is tiny. Besides, don't humans claim petting stuff is nice?
Slowly I reached out a paw, gingerly approaching the predator, those yellow slitted eyes regarding my exposed arm as I gently placed it on the "cat", running my paw across its back.
I felt my held breath release as the predator did nothing, some of the tension of the room releasing in the instant.
"So interesting thing about cats: they 'chose' to be domesticated."
Joseph had gone back to talking, seemingly happy that I wasn't about to be torn apart. I had stopped listening, entirely focused on keeping the predator satisfied by running my paws across its fur.
Isn't this nice? I gotta admit I understand why humans like doing this.
Fine. I'll admit that this isn't unpleasant, the cat is rather soft.
"When humans originally started farming, that also attracted pests. Cats just turned up, following their food source. They stuck around because humans would feed them and provide companionship."
I was entirely focused on the cat at this point, running my claws through the fur, feeling the predator press itself against my paw, seeming to be enjoying itself. Gently I moved my claw to the back of one of its tiny little ears, scratching behind it like you might do to comfort a young pup. It started to emanate a low vibrating noise in response, causing another wave of tension to emit from the rest of the room.
For some reason, even though this feral predator was sitting on my lap, the sound seemed to vibrate through my heart in a calming motion.
Maybe this is some kind of predatory hypnosis?
Really? Just shush and enjoy this. Being scared of everything all the time is so tiring.
"Nobody needs to worry. That is just the sound a happy cat makes, it's called purring. Although I do need to take Sprinkles back now."
Joseph motioned towards the cat on my lap, a motion I decided to ignore, enjoying petting the purring cat for a few moments more. Eventually the human reached down and removed Sprinkles from my grasp as I momentarily resisted before letting the feline go.
See, that wasn't so bad.
Brain, I will admit- reluctantly- that I would have preferred to keep doing that.
With a small amount of resentment I watched as Joseph placed the cat back inside the cage, before turning back to the rest of the room.
"So anyone who is interested, stick around and we can get the paperwork completed."
—-------------
In the end eight of us remained, 5 Venlil, 2 Gojid, and obviously the Yotul. We had spent the last half a claw having instructions and paper work thrust upon us. Many of the group had immediately left, with others dropping out as various facts of cat ownership became apparent.
Still, those of us who were left behind were now heading to our respective farms, each with a single carry case. Mine was currently containing a gray and black “kitten,” which had been “meowing” loudly during the entire journey.
I looked simply at the little bundle of fur and eyes that peered out from inside the cage I had been given. Part of my mind still screamed danger, but it was a part that was getting quieter and quieter as I continued to look at what was a small fragile bundle of fur that I was now ultimately in charge of.
How could you look at something that’s hardly bigger than your paw, and think it’s a danger?
As I reached my farm, I finally opened up the container and pulled out the tiny predator. My tiny predator. There would be work to do, fences to erect and warning signs to place, but for now I just held the tiny thing in my paws, supporting it in the way I’d been told to. I now knew why humans spent all their time trying to pet things: with the troubles on the farm I hadn’t felt this calm in several cycles.
He was more energetic then Sprinkles had been, but in a way the more skittish nature pulled at my heartstrings, as if it was a small innocent Venlil pup. I sat there stroking it, realizing I still needed to give him a name. He was fluffy, Tiny, innocent, fragile. Yet with an underlying spice as it continued to meow loudly as I held in my paws
“I will call you Fireberry. My little predator.”

Grateful for any advice on what to do in this situation. I have just passed my driving test, and went to get a car insurance quote. Cheapest by far was Hastings but they were unable to process this online. Rang them up and they said it was because I had an insurance claim showing from sept 2020 which I hadn't declared on my application.
I wasn't driving at this time so wasn't insured over this period on even a provisional license, so I know for a fact that this wasn't me. However my twin sister did have a claim at this time (someone rear ended her) and as we are twins we obviously share same surname and DOB. Hastings said they couldn't do anything about it as they just receive information from a central database. They said it was definitely my name not my sister's, but the coincidence seems too much to me - with the only claim she has ever made being in Sept 2020.
Does anyone have any steer on where to go from here? Is there a central database I can contact, or do I need to speak to her insurance company at the time? I'm also unclear if I will be able to get a refund from Hastings once this issue is resolved - as this has cost me nearly an extra £400 (and as a new driver my insurance was already very high, even as a female in my 30s). Or maybe I could cancel the policy and take out a new one (appreciate there would be a sizeable admin fee after 14 day cooling period)
Grateful for any advice here!

Just as a bit of background, I've been on and off laxative dependant for years now. I switch between osmotic and stimulant laxatives, oral and in suppository form. While inconvenient, this was working until about 3 weeks ago when I got really badly impacted. I've had multiple enemas, tried nearly everything I can name as a laxative with vary success but no where in that time aside from today have I passed anything semi solid. They did an X-Ray at the hospital yesterday because the contractions were hurting badly and they were worried about an obstruction. The test confirmed I am quite back up despite not being bloated. But seriously I've had 6 rounds of picoprep (bowel prep), in that time and I still have localised cramps where it feels like there's a mass. But the hospital said there's nothing they can really do to help and discharged me with the advice of using 20ml of lactulose??? How is that going to work after everything else has failed (movicol, lactulose, suppositories, enemas etc etc). Where tf do I go from here it's bloody painful.

Fuck you.
Fuck you. You useless piece of shit. You absolute waste of space and air. You uneducated, ignorant, idiotic dumb swine, you’re an absolute embarrassment to humanity and all life as a whole. The magnitude of your failure just now is so indescribably massive that one hundred years into the future your name will be used as moniker of evil for heretics. Even if all of humanity put together their collective intelligence there is no conceivable way they could have thought up a way to fuck up on the unimaginable scale you just did. When Jesus died for our sins, he must not have seen the sacrilegious act we just witnessed you performing, because if he did he would have forsaken humanity long ago so that your birth may have never become reality. After you die, your skeleton will be displayed in a museum after being scientifically researched so that all future generations may learn not to generate your bone structure, because every tiny detail anyone may have in common with you degrades them to a useless piece of trash and a burden to society. No wonder your father questioned whether or not your were truly his son, for you'd have to not be a waste of carbon matter for anyone to love you like a family member. Your birth made it so that mankind is worse of in every way you can possibly imagine, and you have made it so that society can never really recover into a state of organization. Everything has forever fallen into a bewildering chaos, through which unrecognizable core, you can only find misfortune. I would say the apocalypse is upon us but this is merely the closest word humans have for the sheer scale of horror that is now reality. You have forever condemned everyone you love and know into an eternal state of suffering, worse than any human concept of hell. You are such an unholy being, that if you step within a one hundred foot radius of a holy place or a place that has ever been deemed important by anyone, your distorted sac religious soul will ruin whatever meaning it ever had beyond repair. You are an idiotic, shiteating, dumbass ape and no one has ever loved you. Rhodes Island would have been better off if you'd never joined us. You are a lying, backstabbing, cowardly useless piece of shit and I hate you with every single part of my being. Even this worlds finest writers and poets from throughout the ages could never hope to accurately describe the scale on which you just fucked up, and how incredibly idiotic you are. Anyone that believes in any religion out there should now realize that they have been wrong this entire time, for if divine beings were real, they would never have allowed a being such as you to stain the earth and this universe. In the future there will be horror stories made about you, with the scariest part of them being that the reader has to realize that such an indescribable monster actually exists, and that the horrific events from the movie have actually taken place in the same world that they live in right now. You are the absolute embodiment of everything that has ever been wrong on this earth, yet you manage to make it so that that is only a small part of the evil that is your being. Never in the history of mankind has there been anyone that could have predicted such an eldrich abomination, but here you are. It’s hard to believe that I am seeing such an incredible failure with my own eyes, but here I am, so unfortunately I cannot deny your existence. Even if I did my very best, my vocabulary is not able to describe the sheer magnitude of the idiotic mistake that is you. Even if time travel some day will be invented, there still would not be a single soul willing to go back in time to before this moment to fix history, because having to witness such incredible horrors if they failed would have to many mental and physical drawbacks that not even the bravest soul in history would be willing to risk it. I cannot imagine the pure dread your mother must have felt when she had to carry a baby for nine months and then giving birth to such a wretched monster as you. Not a single word of the incoherent, illogical rambling you may be wanting to do to defend yourself or apologize would ever be able to make up for what you just did. The countries of the world would have wanted to make laws preventing such a terrible event like this from ever happening again, but sadly this is not possible since your horrific actions just now have shattered every form of order this world once had, making concepts such as laws irrelevant. Right from the moment I first set my eyes on you I knew you were an absolute abomination of everything that is wrong with humanity. I was hoping I would have been able to prevent your evil from being released upon this world by tagging along and keeping my eye on you, but it is clear to me now that not even the greatest efforts would have been able to prevent a terrible event in this scale from occurring. You are the worst human being, or even just being in general, that I have ever had the misfortune of witnessing. Events like the infected plague apparently only happened with the goal of teaching humanity to survive such a horrible event as the one you just created, but not even mankind’s greatest trials were able to even slightly prepare anyone for the insufferable evil you have just created. If you ever had them, your children would be preemptively killed to protect this universe from the possibility of anyone in your bloodline being even half as bad as you are, except you will never be able to have children, because not a single human being will ever want to come within a hundred mile radius of you and anything you have ever touched. You are a colossal disappointment not only to your parents, but to your ancestors and entire bloodline. The disgusting mistake that you have just made is so incredibly terrible that everyone who would ever be to hear about it would spontaneously feel an indescribable mixture of immense anger, fear and anxiety that emotionally and physically they would never truly be the same ever again. The sheer scale of your mistake, if ever to be materialized, would not only surpass the size of the world, but it would reach far beyond the edges of the known, and almost certainly the unknown universe. I could sit here and write paragraphs, nay, books describing your immense failure, yet even if I were to dedicate my life to describing the reality of what has just gone down here, and I would spend every moment of it until my heart stops beating working as hard and efficiently as possible, yet there is not even a snowballs chance in hell that I would be able to come close to transcribing the absolute shitshow you have just released upon the world. You are an irresponsible, idiotic, disgusting, unloved, horrible excuse for a living being who’s soul contains less humanity than every ginger in history combined. The absolute disgust I feel when thinking about anything that has even a slight resemblance to anything that might have to do with you and your unholy actions is so incredibly great that when I am honest about it I think that even I do not posses a consciousness great enough to comprehend my own feelings about it. When people of Columbia fought to break free from Lungmen, countless soldiers fought and lost their lives in favor of a chance at a better future for their children, they did not give their lives to have you fuck the world up beyond repair to the degree that you are doing right now. Honestly, even when technology advances and studies on the subject become more and more accurate, I do not think humanity will ever truly be able to understand what your failure actually means for the universe. My hate for you and everything you stand for is so much deeper than the depths of Shambala that you could probably take the entire Lungmen population down there and back up around twenty million times before you would have sunk to the end of my hate, and honestly, I do not want to exaggerate, but I think that that insult was low balling it such a massive amount that all mountains in this world combined would not be able to stack up to this imprecise judgement in light of the fact that when being honest, my hate is almost certainly bottomless. There is no one in this world that has ever loved you, and especially after what you just did, no one will ever love you in the future either. There is no hope that your idiotic behavior and especially your crooked soul will ever change for the better, and in fact quite the opposite might be true. By making the mistake that you just did, you have shown me that you are so incredibly hopeless that you will only devolve into a more idiotic and wretched creature than you already are. The only possible way in which your future would be brighter than the black hole your existence currently is would exclusively be because there is absolutely no conceivable way that you would even be able to sink lower than the pathetic place your current failure has put you in.
STOP FUCKING USING EMOJIS

I've been on cyproterone and estradiol for around 6 months now and honestly I've had nothing in the way of actual changes... I've had minor breast tissue growth, mostly genital changes, and mood swings. And I'm starting to actually believe it's just not going to improve and I've wasted my time and my life.
Every day lately I've been feeling more and more dysphoria too the point I haven't even gotten out of bed today.
I'm broke, despite my best efforts also unemployed and can barely afford my meds, let alone anything else like hair removal or clothes, so the really big things like ffs, and other surgeries are out of reach, possibly forever.
I'm completely envious of nearly every trans girl I've met or seen online for nearly every reason you can think of and that itself makes me feel like a horrible person because I can't just be happy for them.. Everyone I've spoken to always says the same thing "just wait until you hit the 6 months/1/2/3 year mark" but right now I feel like a failure, a disgusting failed experiment that needs to be put down.
Maybe my mother was right and I'll never be happy, or truely able to accept myself. I'll probably end up either dead by the next few years.
Sorry for the rant.. I'm going to go hide and sleep under my bed.