What time does truist bank close

Does anyone in here remember that time when pro's played against riot dev's and they were aloud only supports while the devs could take anything? What was it called? I think the pro's won.

It’s been my first chance in ages to be creative (I’ve got three kids and no hobbies anymore) and I’ve had so much fun and put in so much effort. I went all out on the decor doing DYI stuff to keep it affordable. Not bragging, but I started on everything weeks ago and it looks amazing. I did a girly, floral, storybook woodland theme. There’s a floral arch over the cake table. I cut down a small tree from our backyard (a bubblegum tree we were going to remove anyway) stripped the leaves off and attached spring, faux greenery. I cut paper watercolor woodland animals and mounted them throughout the tree. I created a swarm of paper watercolor butterflies flying across the wall. I was going to make the cake today and I had bought these cute with mushroom and snail fondant toppers, plus edible waffle paper butterflies. Like I put in some serious effort.
I also just bought $300 of food I was going to prepare tomorrow. Family came in town from out of state.
And now I have what feels like strep throat.
The party is tomorrow, the weather was supposed to be perfect (it’s a large party so most people will be outdoors). There’s no way I can salvage this, I have to reschedule. But I also know that means a fair chunk of the guest list will not be able to attend the new date, because it’s summer and people are busy.
I’m heartbroken, and so pissed that the perishable foods will likely go to waste unless by some miracle the stars align for the party to only be postponed a week. I can donate, but that’s lost money and I was trying to stay in budget… I’m going to feel terrible spending that money again because we didn’t budget for having to buy it — again.
And the frosting on the shit cake is my family being mildly shitty. Now I had planned on just me doing all of the prep, all the decor, all the food. I could have done it all in the time I had left. I’m the one that chose to host a large party with elaborate details, I’m not trying to drag others into unpaid labor. I’m not expecting help. But I would like help on the day of because it’s a form of love between close family members. I would absolutely do the same for them, I would be volunteering the minute I knew they were party planning.
I was told “I’m not a morning person” when I asked my sister if she wanted to help and my mom just flat out ignored the question. My husband chastised me for expecting anything different from them, thanks for the compassion. They aren’t narcissists, and are generally good people however very aloof, socially/emotionally unavailable in some ways, and hard to be close with. I wish I had a tight knit family and I just don’t and this situation is highlighting that lack in my life, which is why it feels so big to me.
Thank you for coming to my 4am pity party, I’ll be spending the rest my day sick, very sleep deprived, and alone with 3 kids since my husband has to work and my family won’t really give a fuck.

Hey guys. Here is a continuation of what I was writing. Sorry for the formatting, just typing it out in my notes and copy and pasting here.
Our story begins with our friend Jackie Chan and soon to be an unknowingly hero of the people as he journeys through a Bavarian jungle towing with him a group of people, a scholar and exhibitionists who would seek out a treasure to gain fame and attention from the world, either in academia or media attention, to announce to the world and peers that they broke through the many traps that the castle says to contain. Trudging through this weary jungle comes along the castle they seek, our friend Jackie, a lean individual, unassuming and gentle hearted who is deceptively athletic and studies and practices martial arts, continues his journey into the castle. "The mad king Ludwig would invite many guest into the castle but would fall victim to many of its deadly traps" says the scholar "Rude..." an exhibitionist joins in saying. "That's why his name was not Lovable Ludwig or good neighbor of Bavaria - Huh, stand back..." says Jackie. Jackie stops dead in his tracks with his group to follow, well enough light pours into the castle that would lead unbeknownst treasure seekers to rummage the castle recklessly to fall victim to its many traps, with nothing a stir and everything quiet, Jackie finds this to be too eerie and finds in their way a wire, though invisible to those who enter the castle, not invisible to Jackie as his fine tuned senses crafted by his self-discipline and with a sensible sharp mind are at work, lowers himself with aerosol can in hand and makes visible the invisible wire. "What are the odds that these traps still-..." remarks one of the men. Jackie motions over to the exhibitionist and grabbed his hat to drop on the wire, suddenly two walls collide into each other this time only in succeeding in killing a hat. Loud clicking noises and rumblings of the walls suggest that the mechanism for the trap is resetting and moments later the two walls come apart leaving the invisible wire intact waiting for its next victim. The exhibitionist stares in disbelief by the sudden closing and opening wall of death and has his jaw left gaped opened by his astonishment that he nearly just died was closed by Jackie and motions forward leaving an air of unspoken reason that following Jackie's lead may keep them alive. Following hallways left and right leading to a room with pictographs and decorations of stone statues, against the far wall has a human skull that Jackie handles to find a handle that releases the door. Looks of triumph that he beat the castles traps and looks of shock and excitement on the group, Jackie has found the treasure room. As the door rises revealing the treasure room, light pours into the room and Jackie leads forward to light torches along the wall and once was a dimly lit room is now glowing brilliantly with gold, gold coins, golden assortments from goblets to swords, gems and expensive stones covering the floor and piled high. "Ludwig's lost treasure..." remarks the scholar. "I'm sure that the booty is booby-trapped so don't-...." begins Jackie to everyone. With blind enthusiasm, the would be still alive exhibitionist runs towards the treasure picking up a golden sword hilted in rubies, sapphires and emeralds, then the room and door begin to convulse violently, another trap! As quickly as the room begins to rumble and the door jerks downward threatening to close them inside, Jackie kicks up a spear into the air and with a spin through the air, kicks it toward the closing door jamming it open as Jackie shouts "Go! Go! Go!". Motioning everyone out, everyone in a panic stricken run, all begin towards the door until Jackie finds himself running into the door when the spear snaps finding himself alone as the group escaped. Moments later an arrow shoots across Jackie's face and launches himself backwards as arrows after arrows begin ejecting themselves from the walls that would kill any person or persons who gets this far; yelping out the words "bad day! bad day! bad day!" Staggering backwards and leaping into the air, above these arrows, ducking more, spinning mid jump over treasures, in a leap lands over a golden shield emblazoned with some chicken scratch, begins to deflect arrows left and right cornering Jackie. Jackie in danger of never being seen again, looks up, a hole in the wall, Jackie wall jumps into a sliding tunnel and in a panic places the shield under himself to ride the shield down the trail and finally bursting out of the castle and within view the group is spotted to have also exited the castle, with Jackie landing and coming to a stop on the shield sliding on the ground, "Snowboarding works better with snow" says Jackie, relieved for everyone to have made it out alive. From a distance, strange men observing Jackie with binoculars, the seemingly men to appear to be the leaders issuing an order to their men. "Follow him..." "Follow him..."
Jackie returns from his trip to Bavaria to his home in San Francisco. Jackie resides in his uncle's two story antique shop, "Uncle's Rare Finds". In his room we carry on as Jackie blow by blow, ebbs and flows, as he strikes a dummy. In his studio room for his training displays a number of photographs, taken at events or jobs he was hired on to take people on exhibitions, there in all his photographs is a man who never has trouble finding his smile in all of them either as a leader or competitor. Jackie with another day of training in, is summoned by his uncle with the clattering of a bell. Jackie's uncle is a fairly old man, in his signature bright yellow vest, glasses, gray standing hair and his garlic and mung bean smell, that originates by his consumption of garlic and mung beans that he always believes is good for you. From the second story calls out to his uncle, "What is it Uncle?". "Come, give Uncle a hug", Jackie jumps over the railing and effortlessly twist in mid air to land and give uncle a hug, SMACK, Jackie was just struck over the head by Uncle's strong fingers that he uses to scold. "Ow!" Jackie yelps. "You did not make coffee this morning, coffee is the only thing keeping Uncle's ancient heart beating, you want dead uncle? No? Then you make coffee" "Ok" replies Jackie "One more thing" uncle begins again, "You received phone call from the University, they want you to translate parchments" "Ok" replies Jackie "One more thing" Uncle continues before Jackie begins his work, Uncle examines the newly brought in golden shield, talking out loud with his thoughts of the ancient chicken scratch on the shield with an odd encrusted pewter center with a rooster emblazoned on it, "I cannot translate inscriptions, very old writing, I must reference my journals." "Ok" replies Jackie "One more thing" Uncle continues "This is Jade, your niece, she will live with you for a year? Ok?" Jackie with no second thought on his list of instructions from Uncle, "ok" Taken back, Jackie exclaims "I have a niece?" Now discovering the child in plain view by the entrance as she wears a scowl under her black hair that spikes downwards with her arms folded. Uncle explains, "Your cousin Shin's girl from Hong Kong, Jade is not behaving well there, doing poorly in school, your cousin thinks she will do better with you" "Nobody asked me" exclaims Jackie. "Did not want to bother you" Uncle coolly states, then sends Jackie to tackle his new instructions. Jackie nervously chuckles, "Hello, I am Jackie". Jade, stiff as a statue, continues her scowling and looks with contempt for being in this dibilated antique shop. "No English?" Jackie tries another greeting, "Ne Ho Ma-...." Three men enters the shop. Jackie welcomes the new customers and begins exercising his retail sales abilities, as Jackie also helps Uncle in his Rare Finds shop as a salesman. "You're Jackie Chan, the archeologist?" Asks one of the three men. "Oh, I dabble in the study of past civilizations" replies Jackie. "Well, we are aware that you recently dabbled a shield from a Bavarian Castle, our extremely wealthy employer is interested in purchasing the shield"
Jackie seeing this is not the regular customer Uncle's Rare Finds usually receives, wearing a 70's style white suit, all red blazing combed back slick hair and seems to be having trouble clearing his sinuses and seems a bit on edge. His two companions, just as unremarkable and out of the ordinary among usual customers, one quite tall and burly, sporting a wrinkled black jacket, red tie and white shirt with dress shoes that could do with some polishing, Jackie faintly smells alcohol from where he stood and the other, short but stands tall with his bright orange sunglasses and leather coat suggest he may kick you up side along the head at the wrong moment.
Jackie with great suspicions, "I'm sorry, I have already donated that piece to the university" "Really...?" The man in red and white nods to the others behind him to send a small message, pokes out his wild swinging hand and pokes out a finger to drive an antique to the floor but unable to shoot straight misses with a hurried "whoops", tries again, sending two antiques rolling to the floor! Jackie thoroughly shocked, dives across the floor coming to a roll right under the falling antiques and catches them on his back - the shorter of the men with a smirk on his face sends flying an antique, but in a flash Jackie sends off a cushion from a nearby seat, throwing the two in hand and with a bounce with the cushion, Jackie runs forward to catch all three antiques in a snap, antiques in hand, puts them down safely and takes a seat with a smile. Looks of horror and awestruck coves over the three, as well as Jade, whose left speechless of his Uncle's ability, just stood standing in place. "It would be in your family's best interest to undonate the shield, Mr. Chan... places hand over Jades head by this time tomorrow", the three exit without another word. Uncle walks in "did they buy anything?" "No" Jackie answers "You are a terrible salesman!" "Watch the girl and hide the shield" Jackie instructs. "Where am I going to hide a big shield? sputters on where did I put the shield?" Uncle continues on as Jackie exited to follow the men and unknown to Uncle, so did Jade.
Jackie exiting Uncle's Rare Finds finding the vehicle leaving, quick and light on his feet, leaps for the fire escape of the building, leaping gracefully and the mastery of his body to do so, clambers onto balconies and shop signs onto a roof catching up to the vehicle. Running along side the vehicle, Jackie peers in, the man in red and white is hunched over and takes a great deep inhale, crushed powder in forms of lines on a plate is visible to Jackie. The wrinkled out suit man is also clambering with something in hand, Jackie is catching up as the vehicle comes to a stop, running to the ledge, down gutter pipes, SNAP, the pipes snatch free from the wall sending Jackie down BANG. Wrinkled out suit man chokes on the contents of his flask and sputters, finding his breath and the man in red and white being seen hiding his plate and all three wordless, Jackie continues innocently, "That will buff right out" pointing at the ding he has caused as if it's the only problem there. Angry, the gas petal is floored with Jackie and gutter still on top, coming onto and off side walks sending people wildly running in all directions to come to a sudden stop at a fenced playground. The three exit to introduce themselves more physically to Jackie, launches themselves at him. Jackie pulls back from attack, dishes one of his own with the gutter sending them away, Jackie jumps and rolls into the sunroof of the window, the men, SLAMMED by the doors that Jackie kicks open, ejects himself from the vehicle, musters up his strength and leaps over the fench, rolls to a stop, sitting upright begins to mock the men, "Nya Nya!" The three men remain to be unknown to Jackie, had not even realized they were watching him in Bavaria nor did he know that they're extremely wealthy employer has equipped them with military grade electric rods, these men were The Enforcers. The Enforcers leap forward with their electrified rods, melting the fence and sending Jackie backwards. As agile Jackie is, he swerves, ducks, rotates and spins, comes to a semi truck and takes the windshield wipers with him, coming to a landing with a flourish of the wipers in a stance that says I'm ready. With a chuckle of the Enforcers, Tap! Tap! Jackie has struck two over the hands, disarming them and kicked another away. Running off to the still occupied playground, Jackie yells out "No more playtime, Go! Go!". Children running and the enforcers come around, on the right slow going, Jackie kicks a tether ball right around to the man in the wrinkled out suit face and almost lazily falls over. Jackie looks up and finds another lunging from a nearby jungle gym, Jackie kicks and with a loud CRACK, finding a broken nose "that's where I put my drugs!". The third, short yet strong, comes to spare with Jackie, jabbing in and out, showing signs that he learned martial arts is swept backwards onto a rocking horse and sits down dazed and defeated. The other two continues still, after Jackie, they are led to a swing set, "Oh hey! - what the --" Jackie has tangled them together in the swings, stuck together now Jackie jumps onto a jungle gym with continually readiness. "Wow!" Says one "Let's get out of here" says another. The enforcers make a run for it, watching them run, leaps down to discover Jade has followed him, taken aback, "Jade?" We have another man appear from behind and with a weapon that released a gas, renders Jackie unconscious.
"Now he's coming too" remarks the men inside the van Jackie finds himself in, is saying. Jackie opens his eyes, "Aaahhh! Agustus Black!" Jackie opens his eyes and finds a familiar face with the others left in confusion, "hmmm?" Jackie continues "What are you doing here? Ow, what am I doing here?" "I'm afraid its official business, Jackie. Replies Black. "Where have you been? I don't hear from you for six years, BOOM, you're in San Francisco saving me from those thugs" "Jackie, I knocked you out" explains Black. Jackie outraged, the van stops to a screech, Jackie exits. "Why did you do that?" Jackie continues. "Jackie--" Black beckons "I thought we were friends" "We are, Jackie." Replies Black. "I'm sorry but this location must be kept a secret. "Oh, yes, I can see this is some very special garbage, maybe I will see you in another six years" "Jackie--" Black stammers Excuse me, while I call a cab" "Jackie--" Black calls out. Jackie turns to a lone telephone booth amongst the garbage. Enters. Jackie dials, "Oh?" With a sudden jerk, the telephone booth is swallowed by the wall and in a rush Jackie screaming for dear life, the booth is fast tracked along a corridor to a halt and let's out a sigh of relief but without warning it drops. Screaming once again trying to keep himself centered, DING! the booth landed, doors open with Jackie plopping out. "Tried to warn you" Black states. "How did you get down here?" "The stairs... Follow me." "Jackie, Welcome to Section 13." Leading Jackie in, Black shows him around. "I thought you were with interpol" "Even with them I was shepherding this agency in secret" answers Black. "You're a spy?... are they spies too?" "Law Enforcement, Jackie, Elite Special Forces." "So why give me the big tour?" Asks Jackie. "We are aware you've recently acquired an artifact in Bavaria" explains Black. "Why does everyone know that?" Jackie continues, "You are the second one to ask about the shield today" "I was afraid of that" Black leads Jackie to a terminal. "Secrion 13 was founded to investigate large scale international crimes - crimes which often can be traced back to The Dark Hand, a criminal syndicate. The Dark Hand has connections to nearly all criminal activity and their leader is this man pulls up image of a man in striking white long blonde hair that is tied back in a nice Italian suit Valmont. Today you met his cronies that Valmont sends on personal errands around town. Finn, who is Irish and believes disco will never die, another only known as Ratso then there is Chow, as you seen, Chow has some martial arts training. The three known as the enforcers but won't think twice to push over an elderly lady if it meant completing their orders.

Hi so I had to delete my account and make a new one. I took the test to start in an intermediate level, since I’d already been learning for a long time. It took me all the way to Section 2, level 10 (or something like that). But now I don’t have any levels with stories anymore which is upsetting because I used to love those. Does anyone know what could be wrong?

So, I was looking for a replacement cord or chain or something to replace one I hang a pendant on. I love the pendant, but I can't stand the cord. I couldn't find anything I really liked, then thought of just making one, now I have a growing list of questions, and am hoping the hive mind here can help.
1) How long did it take you to get good enough at it where you would actually wear stuff you made. How about sell stuff you made?
2) Any men doing this? About 99% of jewelry (outside of engagement rings) must be bought by women. Have you struggled to find things they would like or buy? Can you maintain interest in a project that doesn't appeal to you personally, but might sell well?
3) How much fun is it to do? Is it a good creative endeavor or does it just turn into work quickly. I have to admit I have a fairly low tolerance for repetitive, tedious work. My wife, for example, likes to knit and crochet things. She finds the repetition relaxing. She got me to try it and I was bored in a matter of minutes. I can spend a little time on a thing (one of my hobbies is making stuff on a lathe - small projects like pens, kitchen tools, small bowls, etc. - most of which can be done in a couple of hours or less of actual work if you don't count time for finishes to dry), but the prospect of spending hours on a repetitive task just seems incredibly boring to me.
4) It seems like you can get started pretty inexpensively with a kit from Amazon that costs less than $50, plus whatever other supplies, components, etc., you might need. Is it really that cheap, or is there just a ton of stuff that costs money that I don't know about.
5) Where do you get your supplies? I don't even know what to google at this point.
I'm pretty much clueless. TIA for any help you can provide.

What does a typical GW1 play-session look like for you? What do you spend the most time with in this game? Are you all about grinding titles? Making money with farming, trading, doing SCs? Just playing quests/missions?
Just curious to see how other people play this beautiful game. And maybe get some inspiration for things I could do myself.

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.

I had a question. What does trauma processing look like for you all? In terms of the mechanisms? Is it sort of an ever-evolving thing? Do you have periods of time for the week you set aside to sit down and maybe process or work through stuff? Just legit curious because it’s something I’ve been struggling with.

I am seeing this being discussed more and more.
Example from my country. In the USSR times my country had a large influx of soviet migrants. It destroyed the local culture. Russian was being spoken everywhere. They refused to learn the local language, still do. 30 years later,we are having language exams for them. They are 1st grade level ,49% didnt pass. If they dont pass they get deported.
We were close to being a minority in Latvia in our country in the 80s.Were a minority in our capital. Our capital still has less than 50% Latvians.
I asked something similiar on askaliberal. I mentioned Latvia as an example. What they said to me, was that Latvia doesn't belong to Latvians, longelivity on land doesn't make our teritorial claims valid, and vecoming a minority isn acceptable and we should have many cultures because making people who live there the local language is imperialism.
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Also, we shouldn't make EU member states pay for not wanting to take migrants. That is imperialism . Not making people learn the local language. Since when is wanting to preserve your nation bad?
You should integrate into the country you live in. Also learn it out of pure respect.
I mean, living in a country and not knowing the language holds you from accessing 90% of its cultural life, and keeps you isolated.
Also, I do not agree that multiculturalism makes societu better.
London is multicultural city. Everyone hates each other, but food was great. With all the best PR in the world,the reality is that every group is sticking to their own and hate others for whatever the reason. There are some overlaps, of course,but mostly it's as segregated as it gets.
Different cultures have differing opinions on certain topics. For example, in Europe women have the freedom to dress however you want regardless of what others think. Middle eastern cultures, on the other hand, have very conservative standards. What one sees as dressing normally, other sees as dressing slutty. It's really hard to live together because of how different those world views are on such menial topics.
And people are still suprised why Far right is polling high..
EBS

Ecclesiastes 10:8,9~"He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him. Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.
The old cliche~What goes around will come around is biblical. Solomon taught here in these two verses.
Solomon's book of philosophy is incredible in its range of practical wisdom and warnings, there no book like this one that was even close to the wisdom found herein, for those desires true wisdom.
Digging a pit here is not ordinary work performed in a work situation, but digging a pit to harm, trap, or snare others. Is clear from the context.
Any person that sets out to harm another person without a biblical cause, shall be hurt with the same method he desires to hurt others with. Remember Haman from the book of Esther? There are others in the scriptures, that what they purposed or plan to do to others, the same was done to them.
"whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him"~Breaking an hedge is not working in a proper work situation, where hedges at times need to be broken and destroyed.
Solomon is speaking of laboring to destroy important boundary~be whatever that boundary may be. If one destroys their marriage boundary, then EXPECT harm to YOU to follow! If we violate any rule of commitment of faithfulness, then we should EXPECT others to be unfaithful to us, even IF they owe that to us....what goes around COMES AROUND!
"Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith"~
Again, removing stones is often needed, yet Solomon is speaking of destroying important boundaries that should not be moved. Shall be hurt is God's fitting judgement on such people. God judges sinners IN KIND, or likewise with the same deed, only to them this time.
"he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby"~
One is not just cutting his tree, but into his neighbor's trees. He shall be endanger thereby~or, shall be rewarded in kind, or likewise!
If a person is dishonest in business practices, tehn EXPECT others to be to you in like manner. If you pay less, and charge more, then expect the same to happen to you.
Basically, WHATEVER you do, in the same manner it shall return BACK TO YOU in God's timing, and when it will hurt you the most. The list in so long that you can fill in the blanks.
What goes around, COMES around in God's timing.

When there is a safety caVSC drivers have to adhere to a VSC/SC lap time which is monitored by a delta time where drivers have to keep the delta time positive (i.e. be slower than the reference laptime). But how much under the delta you are allowed to drive is not specified or is it? Is there a lower baseline as there is a higher baseline i.e VSC/SC reference lap time?
Imagine a scenario where both Red Bulls are 1-2 but they did not pit under the VSC/SC and Fernando pits having a huge tyre advantage. Red Bull gives team order to whoever is in P2 to purposefully sacrifice themself to guarantee a win and back up Fernando by using this loophole and slow him down by multiple seconds such that he cannot catch P1 with very few laps remaining. Also you cannot overtake under VSC/SC unless the person in front has a problem and is going too slow.
Is this tactic allowed or can the person in P2 get a penalty for driving erratically or slowly? Even if the person in P2 does get a penalty, a win is guaranteed right because they can't punish P1 because it isn't their fault? Or can a win be stripped off and both drivers disqualified if Aston apply for a review with enough evidence? Does this count as fixing or tampering the race like the crashgate? In a chose championship fight like 2021 this can have serious repercussions.
Eg. Failed attempt in 2022 Zandvoort Mercedes gives team orders to George to back up Latifi into Max so that Lewis can pit under safety car. No that it would have mattered anyways cause Max was going to win anyway. But what if that had worked and Lewis somehow managed to pull a win. What would have happened then? Could Red Bull have challenged the decision for race fixing or tampering or would it have been within the rules. Giving a penalty to George wouldn't have changed the fact that Lewis is still the winner.
Another one is in 2021 where Bottas also did this and we heard Max livid on the radio,I don't remember which race exactly.

I want to leave my family, specifically my mother. I love her more than anything but the way she treats me is just making me go crazy. I am overweight and my mother has never stopped calling me names, its always something like fatty or pig. I suffer from depression and my mom has never taken it seriously, its always the same "youre just spoiled" "other kids have it worse" "how do you think the kids in our home country are feeling" "we feed you, give you a bed and a roof to live under, what more do you want?". Ive tried to talk to my mother about my problems but she never takes them serious and just laughs or starts screaming at me for being spoiled. When i showed my mom my sh scars because i thought she would help me she went around and told all my family members, who ended up making fun of me. I suffer from a binge eating disorder and i know that i could die if i keep going like this, i want to seek Professional help really bad but my mother doesnt let me, she said therapy is not a real thing and it would ruin our family's image. My mother has 8 children, 5 of them are only my half siblings (same mother but different fathers) one of these siblings (m, 34) came to us from our homecountry and lives with us, he doesnt have a job nor does he have money, he takes everything from my mom. He is an alcoholic and drinks several times a day. He hates me. And i hate him. He constantly bullies me by saying things like "youre so god damn ugly" " i hope you die from food Poisoning" "i hope you get cancer and die you fucking bitch" "go kill yourself you mentally ill bitch" and so on. Sometimes when he drinks and sees me his anger towards me overcomes him and he starts beating me. And my mother? She doesnt do anything. There was this one time where he was drunk and started pulling my hair and slapping me and Throwing me on the floor. My mother was sitting right next to us. She didnt do anything. She didnt say anything to him, or asked me if i was okay or not. Afterwards she even told me that it was my fault for teasing him when i was litteraly just walking around the house. This is the reason why i am scared of drunk people, when i see a bottle of vodka, whiskey or any type of alcoholic drink i rethink about the things he has done to me and i get a panic attack. My mother sometimes Tells me things like "go kill yourself" or "i wish you were a boy, youre no use as a girl" when i asked my mother why she's treating me like this she said that its normal and every parent tells that their child. Ive tried alot to make my mother proud but she never acknowleged me. I told her i wanted to study abroad when i'm 18 (i'm 14 now, 15 this year) she told me no because she wants me to take care of her until she dies. You see, my mother isnt the youngest, she's born in 1964 and is now 59 years old. But what has she done for me that was so amazing that i have to throw away my dreams to take care of her? What am i gonna do after she dies? No job. No money. No nothing. My dad on the other hand is the complete opposite. He has never said anything that hurts my feelings and tells me everyday how proud he is of me and that he loves me more than anything in this world. My parents are divorced and they hate eachother more than anything. I really want to live with my dad but my mother doesnt let me. I keep seeing people online saying that your mother is the best human on earth and that you should take care of her anytime. I feel bad for wanting to leave her. Am i in the wrong?
Btw: i'm from germany and english is not my first language so i am very sorry if there are any spelling mistakes.

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.

At first I didnt get around to watching RRR because I thought it was just another Bollywood film. I heard about it. I even saw that it was on netflix at one point. But overall I assumed that I was not going to like it because from what I have seen of bollywood films from trilers and short clips it just doesnt seem like my cup of tea. At some point that Naatu Naatu song was floating around and I caught glimpses of it and was like "ok.. this seems like high budget bollywood and its funny... maybe Ill give it a shot sometime" But my overall thought was.. Its a Bollywood Musical so... idk... meh...
After a few months I was showing someone the Naatu Naatu video I was telling them how funny this scene was and they asked me if the whole movie was like this. I told them that I hadnt even seen the movie. One day I might watch it and let them know how the whole movie is.
That was 2 days ago.
Yesterday I sat down with nothign to watch and I was like. You know what.. Sure. lets find out if I like it or not.
Let me start by saying that first off.. I was wrong. Its not a musical. And second it doesnt even qualify as a bollywood. Apparently it is called a "Tollywood" because of the region its from. But dont let that fool you. It has many aspects of what ive seen from Bollywood in other places online.
​
So... The REVIEW:
Right from the beginning the story had claws. The whole openeing scene was so interesting and the quality and cinematography was better than anything I had expected. It sucked me in like no other and I was on the edge of my seat within minutes.
Having seen a few bollywood / hindi trailers in the past I was expecting over the top action. But what I got was a cinematic masterpiece. Every scene is done so well and with such attention to detail. While not sacrificing one inch of the story to show some over the top action.
The story just keeps on giving. over and over. Once I half expected the movie to be about to end and I was kinda bummed out I paused it to see how much longer there was and was overjoyed to see that I had over an hour and a half left.
Watching this on netflix with the english dubbed language with english subs was how I chose to watch it and I can not say that I was disappointed. Despite there being some language barrier issues between the audio vs the subs It didnt take away from the movie at all.
All and all i was worried there would be too much musical aspects to the movie but in the 3 hours theres only 2 "musical" type scenes. And they are not musicals. Musicals dont acknowlede the songs are really happeneing. RRR does acknowledge that they really happen in the story which makes it so much better. (not that I dislike musicals I just felt like this as a musical wouldnt interest me) So after all of that I have since watched the whole movie 3 times now.
So this is for anyone who might be on the fence about it because they dont usually watch Hindi films or whatever. Do yourself a favor and WATCH THIS MOVIE. It is literally one of if not the greatest movie ever made. Im currently in desperate search for more. About to watch KGF chapter 1 and 2 tonight and see how they compare.

Was at chipotle today, multiple hrs before closing time. Everything was normal, except they said no mild and no chips were left. I look at the pickup window, and see a big stack of chips and the girl working putting mild straight onto bowls. I told the person at the counter I could see both the chips and mild and asked if it could be added to my order. They told me that was for "online orders only," and if I wanted it I could finish paying for my bowl, get in the car AT THIS SAME LOCATION- order a chips and mild online, then pick it up through the drive-thru window.
Is this what things have come to?! A customer in person, wanting ingredients which are sitting a few steps away, and having to do it through online only in order to preserve supply? Again, this wasn't even close to closing time. The Chipotle was fairly busy and there were about a dozen staff members working. I didn't make a fuss and bought the chips and mild through the window as directed but sheesh this felt like the end of the Chipotle experience for me.

I don't understand how I'm paid anymore
Surge is some stupid fucking game where you have to force close driver app and use pax app or it will never be where you are
Every trick in the book and this gig is at best $36/hr before expenses. After expenses it's minimum wage.
Basically I don't understand the rules to the game anymore. The water is intentionally being made murky regarding what passengers pay and what drivers earn. Half of the posts here are people trying to rationally disect an algo that does irrational shit. It's maddening.
Reject trips get 4.33 pax
Accept trips make nothing
$24 + $10 promo + base fare (lowered when you have surge because that's legal somehow) doesn't cut it to justify driving huge events and navigating traffic.
How is my pay a missing information game, where surge disappears I've earned too much.$40 surge to $0. Lol get fucked Uber.
No multiplier has made Uber become unbeatable.
There's no carrot on a stick. Just a occasional $40 surge that will average out to at best $36/hr long term.
Surge is generated like a slot machine almost.
Surge disappears even when no drivers have logged in the area. It's just used to position drivers wherever they anticipate demand.
Passengers can pay 5x multiplier and the most you'll ever make is $30ish surge plus base rates maybe but who the fuck knows because you don't have a rate card anymore somehow so instead of the scope of work determining the pay Uber determines the pay for you.
It's an unbeatable game.

OK before you flame, HoB is actually really good, the combo changes slightly because you have to get the Water enchant to root ppl in place after you EQW(different Enchant) 3xAAQ is the TLDr the most basic Combo that's pretty fullproof and it does more damage than Electrocute and First Strike. That's from beginning to end, I was pretty shocked when I saw the number difference and all the nerfs have really destroyed her ability to just burst via abilities and im sure all of us have felt it.
What riot did (it appears to me anyways) was they moved more damage into her Empowered Autos when they took away some of her damage, this was what they kinda did consistently so basically kinda of a more on demand Irelia sorta thing.
Anyways the Build!
I HAVE RAN THE NUMBERS btw so don't doubt, just enjoy and get carried
Really simplistic, similar to what you may already be use to but some differences!
1) Stridebreaker
2) Lucidity Boots OR Swifty Boots
3) Serylda's Grudge
4) Manamune
5) Black Cleaver
6) Collector
primary runes
HoB, SI, Eyeballs, TH
secondary runes
pom, last stand (or honestly whatever you want, idc)
The numbers say that this will give you the best early game, the biggest 1 item spike and you will steadily have high item spikes which is always kinda what I am for in my builds. It's a Bruiser Hybrid obviously and familiar things but numbers look really good, just about gettin those Empowered Autos off early tbh, there is a LOT of hidden damage in those Autos, so much more than you probably could imagine!
If I told you that you are missing out on about 50%+ Damage by not using Auto Attacks would you believe me? Well that's about how much you are missing out on when you do a Combo without HoB and using her eAA's! Lv 3 specifically is about 30%, lv 6 50% and it just gets bigger after that, lv 11 was like 65% or something ridiculous but ofc we ASSUME ppl would die in a full combo by then right? Well even if you used 1 or 2 eAA's you would ensure the kill even if you weren't fed! That's what I'm aiming to correct here.
This is simple, clean and effective, don't like it? Don't care! This is the way to build and play her and if you don't like it blame Riot, not me.
The Damage compared from building full glass and this (assuming you weren't gonna auto) is a variance of about 70-90, that's right, +/- 70-90, so you are getting MORE utility and HP while trading minimal Damage! BUT you get HOB as well and because you have Stridebreaker AND SG! That means even if you don't get a Water Enchant you still can get the procs off with your items so you become less reliant on the Water enchant which was my goal for comfort and ease of playability.
This is the Meta Riot has made for us; I get that some ppl may whine about HoB but dood, Electrocute and FS suck big fat dick compared to it, go try for yourself if you don't believe me, LV 3 all in with Hob is just better and at almost all stages of the game HoB is better, even if you just got ONE auto in you would be doing more damage than Electrocute which essentially is just a WEAKER empowered AA, that's how much damage you gain from HoB when you look at it that way.
How much am I exaggerating? not much believe it or not, I maybe putting some spin on this but the numbers say Electrocute and FS are shit, flat out there's no reason to be touching those runes as Qiyana as long as she has a shit ton of damage in her Passive W.
Hey if you like that playstyle of Electrocute or FS and you enjoy playing a suboptimal damage build just because of habit, OK! I'm not gonna twist your arm on this other than this big wall of text I just wrote out.
IF You are using Electrocute or FS you are playing sub-optimally, IF you aren't playing this build you are building suboptimally or pretty dam close to being suboptimal anyways. If you just like playing suboptimal than hey go for it, idc really this is just me contributing as best I can and staying ahead of curve.

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!

I've heard this laughable take from several anti-Israeli publications such Young Turks, Vice News or Al-Jazeera and various individuals as they cast shade on the protests again judicial reform in Israel by accusing the participants of being 'hypocritical fascists' or 'not actually in favor of democracy' because the rallies largely feature Israeli flags, copied Arab Revolt aka 'Palestine' flags are considered provocative, and for not focusing on the occupation.
This makes no sense whatsoever. Why would you want the flag of a foreign, militant nationalist movement whose leaders haven't held elections in decades and which champions wildly far-right, fundamentalist ideals in your gathering for democratic values? As a matter of fact, nobody on planet earth who actually cares about democratic values should be waving the Arab Revolt flag, as that would make them the frauds.
Statistically speaking, I'm sure that at least half of the protesters might support an eventual two-state solution, but that still doesn't mean there's anything good or inspiring about the 'State of Palestine' that warrants any inclusion of their symbolism in Israeli civil society.
As for the notion that unless a Jewish Israeli is perpetually prostrating down to Pro-Palestinian narratives and demanding immediate surrender or compliance with all of Hamas's or Fatah wishes and withdrawal from the West Bank, without any guarantees or indications of good-will from the other side, then they cannot possibly be 'Democratic' while tolerating a military occupation at the same time, that has no precedence either. Democrats ( not the party ) in the U.S did not all instantly stop being pro-democracy in 1946 because German and Japanese civilians had restricted movement and rights, mass civilian deaths, and so forth, at the behest of U.S troops, while U.S citizens had full rights. Hell the U.S even went a step further and put actual citizens of German or Japanese origin under surveillance and in camps which does arguably go against the principle but still called themselves a democracy, recognized as such by the UN, and no history books characterizes them as a 'non-democracy' between those years.
Same goes for every other democratic nation in the planet engaged in conflicts with another group of peoples. The word was simply never meant to apply to non-citizens or foreign elements, it's unrelated. Once again, even so, according to polls it is highly probably that most of the protesters would still be amenable to peace negotiation with the Arab-Palestinian leadership if that sentiment was reflected back from the Palestinian street, they're just not going to waste their time on beating that dead horse when there are more pressing issues in their mind affecting them domestically.
So in short - There's nothing inherently contradictory or hypocritical in the way that protests in Israel have been conducted. Some protesters might secretly be anti-democratic and support say, annexations without citizenship, which is quite unlikely because the far-right largely supports Netanyahu in this, but these would be individual cases, not a widespread 'corruption' like Mehdi Hassan and his ilk bizarrely portray them as because their favorite 'team' is missing from the protest.
Edit: Sorry for the caps in the title, It's just that this subreddit wouldn't allow me to distinguish upper-case from lower-case in Old Reddit format and this happened by accident, mods feel free to fix it if you can.