Some context: This boomer isn't actually a teacher but is my boss at an after school facility. She is nice to talk to off the clock but recently I am constantly being put in the middle of her rampages and comforting these kids. At the moment it is just her and I along with 1-2 high school staff, kids are mostly 5-6th grade and at this point I am one of two staff members who have been with them more consistently this year along with some knowing me from previous years. I am trying my best to remain neutral but kids are continuously coming to me to vent frustrations and any time a kid goes home very upset for something completely unavoidable I do the same. I shut down drama talk as much as I can I still need to be able to talk to kids who are crying and upset and walk them through their emotions. More recently a couple of the kids that I know better have taken to purposefully trying to tick her off and I am trying my best to convince them not to to make everyone's lives easier until the end of the year. She sometimes tells kids "sit as far away from me as possible" (in a large cafeteria) and I'm always the only one who remembers that they are still there to talk about what they did and let them go back to their activities. Here are some examples that come to mind:

• Her first day she walked in and once she had heard I had disciplined a couple of kids by telling them no more chrome books (can't remember why but these two I have constant issues with) immediately said "we can't stop them from having fun!" and tells them to get back on the computers. (luckily she got the idea soon after that to not deal with one of those kids' bs since she heard him telling me to kill myself)
  
• Has made multiple kids cry through targeting and being unapologetic. She would see two+ kids do something and immediately start yelling/chewing out the one she has problems with more. Example is when kid A grabs kid B and starts doing some minor roughhousing as kid B does nothing and just deals with it. She immediately goes for kid B only and kid B begins crying and yelling after her ignoring him and others trying to tell her that he didn't do anything since he's pretty emotional. She does have a talk with kid A at some point but not after making him sit down and telling him that he has to apologize for yelling or be sent home. He eventually apologizes and then he is told if he talks about it with others he'll still be sent home. The threats to call parents/send them home are more often than not concerning if they continue to talk about a fuck up of hers. The targeting applies to a couple of our high school staff too as they both communicate and share the work yet somehow in her eyes one always fucks up and forgets things way more than the other. (News flash, she doesn't.)
  
• She HAS TO CORRECT EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING + lecture. (Coworkers and I have been lectured on grammar and pronunciation) But often times says "I don't care" or comes up with any other snarky remark in reply to kids correcting her on their names, what they're doing, etc. Also expects kids to say things like "yes ma'am" or "no thank you" which, yes they could use more manners, but I watched a girl who never gets in trouble have to sit by herself during snack time for saying "yes ma'am" after one of her angry speeches, then when she offers snack to the kid she just shakes her head and doesn't look up from having her head down. "I think you mean, no thank you!". These kids are constantly telling me how disrespected and invisible they feel and she still expects them to talk like kids in a 1900s catholic school or something towards her even after chewing them out.
  
• My coworker has seen this woman take a kids phone because kid was taking pictures of her friend and SCROLL THROUGH THE PHOTOS to make sure it was deleted. Another day she also began to take chrome books into the office to be locked away (being an after school program not ran by the school itself and taking school owned devices I don't know if this is legal?) When I asked about it she told me it's because I wasn't any help. Conversation goes "Well I came in and made my group sit with their heads down for 10 minutes for not listening to the high school staff, then took the next group out.." "Yes, and you left me!" "Yeah, because the expectation for me is to rotate groups and take the next one every day" "Ok well I'm talking about when they were all getting up and talking during snack and you weren't doing anything!" I just said alright and walked off after that. That day the kids were up and around as much as they are every day; a couple of them switch seats before settling down (mind it's like 12 avg kids at this point) and take their time walking to the trash. She's also been telling us that we can't let kids sit or stand around staff tables during opening and snack. This is plausible but our tables are right next to theirs and often times kids will want to come over and talk about their days to us while we are busy with something, and they are doing no harm.
  
• Had a ball hit her face on accident, immediately starts chewing out the kids and later complains to staff about how terrible this generation is not stopping the game to check on her (kid literally just picked up the ball after) how inconsiderate they are, etc.
  
• Three of my favorite interactions (sarcasm) is when she explained something to me that doesn't make sense and I paused and had to ask her to repeat. Word for word, "OP.. You need to listen to me when I am speaking to you" "I. Am. Dyslexic." "Ok ok, anyways...". When I was talking to my coworker about roommate problems and how they could unintentionally be stemming from cultural differences, she started talking with us and said something a little sus that prompted me to let her know that my boyfriend is Filipino and she kind of huffs and rolls her eyes a bit in a way that makes her look like she was thinking well there's your problem!. Third was the classic "I don't know what middle schoolers have to be so worried about!" concerning a kid with serious mental health problems.
  

Oh yeah, best part was when she had to ask us what the N word was and goes "wow, people still say that??"
Anyways, thanks for listening to my wordy rant. Figured some of you guys in this sub may like this. Apparently the only other time she worked with kids younger than college students (English professor) was a daycare when she herself was in college, the ancient fossil that she is. 7 days left of school can't come soon enough.

Hi, I've been thinking about this question and would like some outside opinions because I feel like I have to be missing something. I also don't want to ask a bunch of coworkers and come off as dissing the teacher.
I'm a teacher aide in two second grade classrooms in a Choice private school. I did go to school to be a teacher. I completed everything except one 10 week student teaching (but I made up the credits and graduated). I've worked at those school for about 3.5 years. 1.5 were spent with K4. This is my second year in 2nd grade.
Backstory: My one teacher is chronically absent. She is being forced to retire after this school year. Her back and legs are causing hee so much pain she can't come to school and work. I've been the only constant presence for these kids these last 6 months. My teacher has only been a full time teacher her for about 7 years. She subbed for a lot of her life. I end up teaching a lot, although it's been awesome having subs on most days as of late. I take care of most of the stuff in the classroom and come in early and stay late to try to make sure everything is as it should be.
She basically doesn't use the school's science or English curriculum. We have a new math curriculum (we used to use Saxon until we couldn't get any more physical books. Now we have Math Expressions), but she doesn't teach it as intended. She doesn't use a lot of the materials that came with it.
For English, our school uses Shirely which is what I grew up with. The student books are still in storage. The student workbook are in their desks, unused. They have only used the sentence books, but she doesn't teach it the Shirely way. These kids will go on to 3rd grade... behind. She thinks they have to master each part of speech before doing sentences. It never occurred to her that we could go through them... as a class. I never even knew where the TE book was until like a week ago. I'm not even convinced she knows how to do it. She uses tons of superteacher worksheets and random ones she finds online. Sometimes the answer key isn't right. Some of the stuff is confusing. Instead of using the Shirely songs and videos, she picks random stuff from on YouTube.
For science, she doesn't use the book. She prints off all these black and white packets that the kids frequently lose. Lots of repetitive questions. Everything is writing stuff out that frankly feels like wastes of time sometimes because by the time everyone has the answers down, a chunk of the kids are now talking, making noises, and distracting each other. Sometimes I don't even know what the question is asking either. Sometimes the answer isn't actually in the text (and it's not an opinion or inference question).
I've talked a little with one of subs (who taught in the upper grades for many years at the school), and she clearly thinks that not using the English curriculm is wrong. On the days she's there, it's like she makes it her mission to teach how they should be taught.
Math is now being taught by the other 2nd grade teacher. We are units behind with only a couple weeks left and won't be able to finish the book. There were too many days spent not doing lessons or using materials not from the curriculum (which they didn't master. They are still very much struggling).
I just don't understand. How do you not know where you NEED to be if at all possible? If you are picking random topics for science, how do you know you are meeting standards? All of this goes against everything I was taught in college. If the kids were thriving, I wouldn't be worried. They aren't though.
And FWIW, the other teacher doesn't use the curriculum for social studies either, and I can't say I understand. That retired teacher sub doesn't even agree with some of the stuff in these worksheets (like money being an example of scarcity).
I very much try to give people the benefit of the doubt. I naturally believe they know better than me, so I hate saying anything. Am I missing something or is/was my teacher just not great at teaching? She feels like the kind of teachers I grew up with in the 90s and early 00s, although my teachers were better I think. I understand supplementing with materials every once in a while... or if the book is missing a lot of stuff. But never using the curriculum and it's worksheets? Or using it only a quarter of the way so that it appears to confuse the kids so it must not work? To be clear, I've never heard them talk about the curriculum being awful or old or anything.
I'll say this because I feel like someone may ask, we don't have anyone in charge of curriculum or looking over lesson plans. They submit their block plans to the drive I think, but I'm pretty sure they aren't looked at.

I know it's going to vary by institution of course, but when I went online to register for classes, my offerings are so scant as to be unworkable (This is an R1 US University with a relatively small program with PhD students overall numbering "in the teens.") Please let me know if you have any insight into what seems to be a strange situation.
I'm entering my first year and in accordance with my handbook, in this first year I'm to take either Research Design & Methods or Policy Analysis Methods combined with the first statistics course (total of two courses happening in alternate semesters). The first thing weird is that I want RD&M, but policy analysis is the only one of the two offered. There is no option for level one statistics or any other level of stats, for that matter. Which also seems pretty limiting for second years. Why wouldn't they want me to learn research design??? That strikes me as quite odd.
So, even if I just say "well policy analysis it is," I still have to take another two courses this semester, and it gets even weirder. For my two preferred major focus areas (American and IR), there is exactly ONE course in EACH focus area that counts toward my requirement of 10 total courses between the two focus areas. But even if I again say "these aren't really my preferred courses but I guess I have to just take them anyway," there is a time conflict between two of the courses! I can't even successfully schedule this forced compromise.
There are at least six other POL courses that are requirements for the MPA program which don't fulfill any of my requirements and a couple that don't seem to be on any requirement list. There is also only one class for the Comparative focus area, and it does fit into my schedule, but I can't believe I would be forced to change focus areas because of first semester of scheduling of all things. Lastly, there is Independent Studies as an option, but I haven't even met any professors yet so I don't see how that's possible.
Am I making too much of trying to schedule only courses on my "required" list? I mean, I have 12 total required courses with 4 semesters of classes before comps. At 3 per semester (plus a required Graduate Colloquium), that seems to be exactly what I'm supposed to do.
Just to clarify, I yesterday spoke to the program coordinator in person and she seemed to find this all perfectly normal. Granted, she is the undergrad coordinator who "thinks" she is taking over for the grad coordinator who just retired. And I do plan to speak to someone after the weekend, but I want to get a feel for whether this situation is as atypical as it seems to me.
(cross posted in political science sub)

Every month I assemble the “Blankman List,” which includes a wide range of events happening in New York City for every day of the month. In the free highlights below, I focus in on one part of June in NYC: Pride—a month for honoring people who are LGBTQIA+. After all, it’s local history; pride month commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in NYC.
The citywide culmination of Pride is the June 30 march down 5th Avenue, but you have my full sympathy if cramming your way into the sidelines of a packed Manhattan parade isn’t your thing. (Though the events below includes a few similar options if it is!)
Pride is bigger than a parade. It is a chance to recognize and honor that people are not all cut from the same cloth. So for one month, I offer a variety of events to honor people along all the colors of the rainbow. Here is May’s free events for the remainder of the month.
Disclaimer: Before going anywhere, please confirm the date, time, location, cost, and description using the listed website. Any event is at risk of being rescheduled, relocated, sold out, at capacity, or canceled. Costs are rounded to the nearest dollar and may change. I try to vet quality and describe accurately, but I may misjudge. All views are my own.

Exercise Your Rights

Whether you’re looking to run or swim competitively or simply cheer on from the sidelines, many sports and athletic organizations throughout the city set aside an event in celebration of pride month. I’m especially psyched for the Brooklyn Cyclones rainbow jerseys.

• Wednesday, June 5: Walking Tour: LGBTQ History in Greenwich Village
  • Walking tour of historic sites associated with the Stonewall Riots and early LGBTQIA+ activism and community; 6–7:30 pm
  • $25 general / $20 student
  • Meet at Christopher Park
  • 38-64 Christopher St (West Village, Manhattan)
• Thursday, June 6: Brooklyn Cyclones Pride Night
  • Minor league baseball game against the visiting Aberdeen IronBirds, with pride caps and pride jerseys available first-come, first-served; 7 pm
  • $28
  • Maimonides Park
  • 1904 Surf Ave (Coney Island, Brooklyn)
• Saturday, June 8: Brooklyn Pride LGBTQIA+ 5K Run/Walk
  • 5-kilomete3.1-mile fun run/walk through Prospect Park; 10 am–12 pm
  • $35–$40 (price depends on date of purchase)
  • Meet at Bartel-Pritchard Lot
  • Prospect Park Southwest (South Slope, Brooklyn)
• Saturday, June 22: Pride Swim Manhattan
  • 1.5-mile/2.5-kilometer open water swim race for all experience levels; 9:30 am
  • $200
  • Hudson River, past West Village
  • Pier 26 at Hudson River Park (Tribeca, Manhattan)

Queer Artists

Commemorating members of the LGBTQIA+ community can be as simple as engaging with their art. Of special note this June are the objects that belonged to Stephen Sondheim, the legendary (and gay) musical theater composer who passed away in 2021 and whose collection is on display before being sold at auction.

• Wednesday, June 12: treya lam: Otherland - Our Queer Earth
  • 70-minute performance of song, movement, poetry, and other arts on the theme of building “queer liberatory futures”; 7 pm (6 pm doors)
  • $20, plus two drink or one food item minimum
  • The Public Theater
  • 425 Lafayette St (Astor Place, Manhattan)
• Friday, June 14–Monday, June 17: The Collection of Stephen Sondheim
  • Exhibition of memorabilia and objects from Stephen Sondheim’s homes, in advance of auction on Jun 18; 12–5 pm
  • Free
  • Doyle Auctioneers & Appraisers New York
  • 175 E 87th St (Upper East Side, Manhattan)
• Saturday, June 15: Pomme
  • French folk rock singer (Pomme Instagram); 7:30 pm (6:30 pm doors)
  • $35
  • Webster Hall
  • 125 E 11th St (East Village, Manhattan)
• Tuesday, June 25–Saturday, June 29: Woolf Works - American Ballet Theater
  • Ballet triptych based on three novels by modernist author Virginia Woolf; start times at 2 & 7:30 pm
  • $33–$243
  • Metropolitan Opera House
  • 30 Lincoln Center Plaza (Lincoln Square, Manhattan)

The T of LGBT

It’s impossible for me to ignore the deeply misguided social and political discourse that I sometimes hear around being transgender. There are plenty of events year-round that tell the stories and elevate the voices of people who are transgender and gender nonconforming. June is the perfect month to make time to hear them.

• Thursday, June 13: Bristol Fashion Film Screening
  • Screening of Bristol Fashion, a 2022 drama film about a young transgender woman escaping from a troubled home, featuring the filmmaker and cast members; 5:30–9 pm
  • Free
  • The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
  • 208 W 13th St (Meatpacking District, Manhattan)
• Friday, June 21–Sunday, June 23: She He Me
  • The first Arab transgender play, following the true stories of three Arab characters who challenge gender norms; 2 pm; Jun 21–23; part of Criminal Queerness Festival
  • Pay-what-you-wish, ranging from $15–$120
  • Perelman Performing Arts Center
  • 251 Fulton St (Financial District, Manhattan)
• Sunday, June 23: Melissa Ferrick with Gracie and Rachel
  • Folk-rock concert featuring singer-songwriter (and gender nonconforming) Melissa Ferrick; 7:30 pm (6 pm doors)
  • $25–$35 entry (full food and drink menu available)
  • City Winery NYC
  • 25 11th Ave (Chelsea, Manhattan)
• Through Saturday, June 29: Leah Devun: Resemblance
  • Exhibition of photographs featuring artist Leah DeVun, her son, and her transgender partner; hours depend on day but are generally 11 am–6 pm
  • Free
  • Mrs. Gallery
  • 60-40 56th Dr (Maspeth, Queens)

Queer Film and Literature

• Monday, June 3: The Other Olympians
  • Book talk on the subject of early trans athletes and Olympic bureaucrats, with author Michael Waters; 7–8 pm
  • Free (entry only) / $33 (includes book)
  • The Invisible Dog Art Center
  • 51 Bergen St (Cobble Hill, Brooklyn)
• Wednesday, June 5: All You Need Is...Love? Book Club with Genay
  • Discussion on Truly, Madly, Deeply, queer rom-com book by Lambda Literary Award winner Alexandria Bellefleur
  • $5 (RSVP required; includes $5 store credit)
  • McNally Jackson Downtown Brooklyn
  • 445 Gold St, City Point BKLYN (Prospect Heights, Brooklyn)
• Thursday, June 6; Tuesday, June 11 & Saturday, June 15: Shorts: It’s Complicated
  • Screening of LGBTQIA+-themed short films; time depends on day; part of the Tribeca Film Festival
  • $19–$32, depending on start time (passes for multiple film festival screenings start at $110)
  • AMC 19th St East 6
  • 890 Broadway (Flatiron District, Manhattan)
• Friday, June 7: But I’m a Cheerleader
  • Screening of a 1999 teen romantic comedy taking place at a conversion therapy camp; 10:30 pm
  • $21
  • Alamo Drafthouse Lower Manhattan
  • 28 Liberty St (Financial District, Manhattan)

Dance and Celebrate

NYC is a premiere world destination to glitter and be gay. With its star-studded, blocks-wide festivities, a lot of the celebration around pride involves parades, parties, and dancing. The appeal of NYC runs deeper though; the city also offers plenty of more subdued safe spaces for people who like to dance, too.

• Every Sunday: Pride Salsa
  • Class on learning to New York Style on 2 salsa, in a safe space for queer folx and allies; 3 pm beginner class, 5 pm advanced beginner class
  • $20
  • Houghton Hall Arts Community
  • 22 E 30th St (Koreatown, Manhattan)
• Wednesday, June 26: Queer Swing Dance Class
  • Drop-in introduction to swing dance class in a queer-friendly environment; 6–8 pm
  • Pay what you can
  • Brooklyn Pride Center Bed-Stuy
  • 1360 Fulton St (Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn)
• Friday, June 28: Horse Meat Disco NYC Pride
  • All-night pride-themed rave hosted by the British DJ collective Horse Meat Disco; 10 pm–5 am
  • $119
  • Knockdown Center
  • 52-19 Flushing Ave (Maspeth, Queens)
• Sunday, June 30: Annual NYC Pride March
  • Annual parade celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community; 11 am
  • Free
  • Begins on 25th St & 5th Ave, crosses through the Stonewall National Monument
  • Route will be posted on NYC Pride website (West Village, Manhattan)

Celebrate with Food

Does your ideal celebration of pride simply involve a colorful cocktail or a cleverly-named dish? This city can deliver on that, too! Plenty of bars, restaurants, and food-centered spaces commemorate the month in one way or another.

• Sunday, June 2: Beyoncé + Rihanna Drag Brunch
  • Brunch with drag performances set to music by Beyoncé and Rihanna; seatings at 11:45 am & 2:30 pm
  • $20 entry (dishes range from $8–$32, plus tips for the performers)
  • Stella 34 Trattoria & Bar (inside Macy’s)
  • 151 W 34th St (Midtown South, Manhattan)
• Thursday, June 6: Queer Happy Hour
  • Bar happy hour serving Nigerian food and pride-themed drinks; 7 pm–2 am
  • Free entry (reservation required)
  • Acoustik Garden Lounge
  • 1515 Atlantic Ave (Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn)
• Saturday, June 22: Stone Street Historic District Pride Fest
  • Packed block party along the Stone Street Historic District featuring bars and restaurants selling pride-themed food and drinks; 12 pm
  • Free entry; restaurants range in price
  • Stone Street Historic District
  • 30 Stone St (Financial District, Manhattan)
• Saturday, June 29: Pride Joyride Tasting
  • 5-course queer-themed menu with wine pairing prepared by chef David Goldman; 7–10 pm
  • $195
  • The Brooklyn Point Chef’s Table
  • 138 Willoughby St (Downtown Brooklyn)

IBUKI-DOUJI

Class: Saber
True Name: Ibuki-douji
Gender: Female
Source: "Shuten-douji emaki", Otogizoushi​ and the like
Region: Japan
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Height: First ascension: 133cm (total length 200cm) / Second and Third ascensions: 180cm (300 cm during combat)
Weight: ??kg
Strength: A+
Endurance: C
Agility: C
Mana: EX
Luck: D
Noble Phantasm: A+
Scenario Writer: Sakurai Hikaru/Character Design: Honjou Raita CV: Yuuki Aoi
Main Appearance: Fate/Grand Order

CLASS SKILLS

○Magic Resistance A She possesses Magic Resistance of the highest rank. In fact, she can not be harmed by Mages of the present age.   ○Riding B+ She can ride most vehicles and mounts. She's not supposed to be able to ride those of the Phantasmal Species, but, as an exceptional case, she is able to ride one if she can get along with them.   ○Dragon-kind EX A skill indicating that one is a born dragon. Ibuki-douji who is endowed with the Saint Graph that strongly expresses her facet as the child of Yamata-no-Orochi, possesses the skill at an out-of-the-norm rank.   ○Divine Core of the Serpent God A A composite skill containing the Divinity skill. Since, according to the legends, she is of mixed-blood with one of her parents being a human, it should be difficult for her to possess a Divine Core, however...having come into existence as the child (bunrei) of Yamata-no-Orochi, Ibuki-douji possesses this skill at a high rank as an exceptional case. If she were to degrade into an oni, she would lose this skill and it would probably be replaced by low-rank Divinity skill.

PERSONAL SKILLS

○Strength of Mountains and Rivers A+ A composite skill containing the effects of the Superhuman Strength skill. Ibuki-douji possesses this skill at a high rank.   ○Eight Veins of Surging Waves B A skill gained from inheriting the nature of Yamata-no-Orochi as the god of floods, which is one of its aspects as a god. Her immutable body filled with intense aggression will destroy everything.   ○Fingertips of Impurity A Purity will be lost, honor will be absent and, finally, death shall arrive. Those touched by Ibuki-douji's fingertips will become impure, no longer allowed to show themselves before the gods or humans. It is classified as an offensive skill, but it also grants bonus effects when conversing with spirits of the dead, demonic beasts, or fallen gods outside combat.

NOBLE PHANTASM

Divine Sword - Kusanagi-no-Tachi   Rank: A+ Classification: Anti-Army/Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm Range: 1~60 Max. number of targets: 500   Shinken - Kusanagi-no-Tachi. According to the Susanoo myths from the Kojiki and Nihon-shoki, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, having been exiled from Takamagahara, descended upon the province of Izumo and saved Kusanadahime by exterminating the enormous monster she was offered to as a sacrifice. That monster was a red-eyed apparition with eight heads and eight tails───a gigantic snake that boasted a length spanning eight valleys and eight peaks. It was Japan's greatest dragon of calamity.   Having defeated this large serpent (dragon), Susanoo-no-Mikoto obtained a divine sword from its tail. The sword's name was Kusanagi-no-Tachi. It was also known as Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, and Tsumugari-no-Tachi. They say it was later offered to the Atsuta Shrine and was designated as one of the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan.   This divine sword that was within her father, Yamato-no-Orochi's body is what Ibuki-douji uses as a Noble Phantasm. It is such a fearsome weapon that a single swing from it upon the release of its True Name can blow away eight valleys and eight peaks, and give birth to eight great rivers...however. According to Ibuki-douji, this is nothing but her borrowing the slightest of the divine sword's gleams for just a moment. Its true worth does not amount to something of this level, is what she means.

CHARACTER

First person pronoun: yo/atashi/watashi/ware (sometimes) Second person pronoun: omae/anata/○○ (without honorifics)/○○-kun/○○-chan Third person pronoun: ayatsu/he/she/○○ (without honorifics)/○○-kun/○○-chan
○Personality Her temperament as a "god/kami" is quite potent with her self-awareness of being a part of nature (the world) being very firm. She acts based on primitive desires. She has almost no inclination to come into contact with humans and their culture/civilization at all. She behaves as if she is unaware of the depths of alcohol, the delicacy of human lives, and the pleasure of indulging in a moment of insanity, however... Once she immerses herself in desires, she will show no mercy. Without any stimulus, she is harmless, however, in a certain sense, one could say that she is even more dangerous than Shuten-douji.   Once someone manages to pique her interest, she will be strongly fixated on them. While the target of her interest exists, her eyes will always be fixed on them. Usually, she'd stretch her long fingers towards them, touch them, and destroy them completely───or, she would corrupt them and guide them to their death.   The oni species that her other aspect also belongs to can easily pique her interest. Naturally, existences similar to her (children of a dragon god) would also make her eyes sparkle.   ◇   ...The above is the original Ibuki-douji's nature, but the circumstances of the one that materialized in Chaldea are somewhat different.   She's totally Being influenced By the modern age.   Even if she can't look at things from the same standpoint as a human being due to her origin being that of a god, her words and conduct are that of "a big sister Heroic Spirit/Divine Spirit who's gotten way too used to modern society". Her behavior shows that she's studied what human beings could be like.   She even goes around trying to seduce and provoke others, including the Master. The Heroic Spirit Sherlock Holmes speculates that Ibuki-douji had either learned about modern society somewhere, or she met a Heroic Spirit who also got accustomed to modern society in a similar way, and then forcibly brought over those records by taking advantage of the uniqueness of Chaldea's summoning system. Nobody knows whether that is true or not, however.   When she gets serious, for example when releasing her Noble Phantasm's True Name, she seems to regress to behaving according to her original nature which is that of a "god/kami", but usually, she's enjoying herself as the carefree "snake big sis".   ◇   Also, when she's in her juvenile form (the Saint Graph of her first stage), she displays speech and conduct that is like a mix of "snake big sis Ibuki" and "Ibuki, the god/kami". When little Ibuki says that things will get dangerous if she molts, she is most probably referring to becoming "Ibuki, the god/kami".
○Motives and attitude towards the Master Normally, Ibuki-douji doesn't give much special attention to the Master that summons her. It's probably because her awareness of humans is too abnormal, what with viewing them as a collective whole instead of as separate individuals. If she became able to view them as individuals, her behavior towards them would also gradually change. If she ever grows interested in you, you must stay vigilant instead of rejoicing about that accomplishment. Her fingertips are that of a god, so even defensive magecraft against poisoning or poison resistance skills would be far from enough to protect you.   However... The Ibuki-douji that materialized in Chaldea behaves in an intimate way towards the Master. Strictly speaking, she behaves in a friendly manner with everyone. For her to properly recognize the Master as an individual, they would need to build a relationship that is deep enough for that. In that sense, as expected, one must make sure whether the normal Ibuki-douji's nature stems from her roots or not.   ◇   Completely different from her usual version, there are times when juvenile Ibuki-douji views her Master as "someone to be reared". It's as if she's treating her Master as a pet... Not like she's ever kept a pet before.
○During Hell Realm Mandala Heian-kyou She is manifested by Alter Ego Limbo aka Ashiya Douman as "Taisuishin", the last of his trump card known as the Eight Cavalry Summoning that he modeled after the Eight General Gods in Taoism. (However, finding her rank as a General God and the immortality that comes with it unnecessary, Ibuki-douji discards them. Since she's already a powerful Divine Spirit, the buffs Limbo prepared are surely nothing but annoyances to her.) For a time, she is treated as the vessel of a "new 'Alien God' and Beast", but due to Limbo's sudden change of mind, she is absorbed by the Subspecies Fantasy Tree Hell Realm Mandala. However, in truth, she was alive and well inside the Fantasy Tree─── By lending her Noble Phantasm, Divine Sword - Kusanagi-no-Tachi to the Kintoki piloting the Settsu-Style Great Armour Kumano, she played a role in the destruction of the Subspecies Fantasy Tree.
○Dialogue examples (Second and Third ascensions) "───You've called for me. Just kidding. No need to freeze up like that. I see, so this is Chaldea. Hmm, it looks interesting. I'll be in your care from now on, Master-san!" "Offerings are not popular these days, you know?" "I'm in the mood for a drink..." "I-I won't strip yet, you know? I finally got to pick a modern outfit for myself and all...Ah. Or what? Did you mean you want to u-n-d-r-e-s-s little old me? Ahaha. I see~" "Good night. Have a pleasant dream."
○Dialogue examples (First Ascension) "Shall we play? Hey, hey?" "Are you, forgetting your place?" "A tsuchinoko grows by sleeping, you know? I'm gonna sleep." "Let me play a bit longer, good grief..." "───I am Ibuki-douji. Are you what they call a Master? I see, I see, so that's what you are... Alright. If you don't want to die then you better butter me up."
○Dialogue examples (Offshoot Mitama of the Serpent God) "The mundane world and the world of the dead..." "Look up to me like you'd look up at a god. Kiss me like you'd kiss a god." "I am one of Yamata's offshoot mitama (heads). A calamity that descended from the mountains───" "To put it in a way that would be easy for you to understand, let's see... I am a calamity to all you living beings."
○Character image Ibuki-douji. The alternate name of "Shuten-douji" who was from the base of Oumi's Mount Ibuki. Ibuki-douji, with her naturally inconceivable birth of having come into this world as a demon child, grew up in the mountains and eventually obtained fearsome and abnormal abilities. She moved to Mount Ooe where she became "Shuten-douji", the great monstrosity who descended on the capital and entertained herself with massacres and pillaging────   ◇   Some say she is the child of Mount Ibuki's Ibuki Daimyoujin (= Yamata-no-Orochi) and a human while others say she is the heaven-sent child of Mount Togakushi (= Kuzuryuu).^[1] Either way, she is the child of a dragon deity. With her current Saint Graph, her aspects as "the bunrei of Ibuki Daimyoujin, the child of Yamata-no-Orochi" are particularly emphasized and she has materialized as a Divine Spirit Servant. She isn't a human. She isn't an oni. She is a god.   In the end, was she really a supernatural being born as a demonic child like the legends of Oumi say? Or perhaps she was the divine child of Mount Togakushi? Or maybe, much like how spirits come into being, she might have been born in yet another way──── Regarding this matter, Ibuki-douji's lips are sealed. However, the blood of a god certainly flows in her veins, and the blade she wields as her Noble Phantasm is without a doubt the one that was pulled out of Yamata-no-Orochi's tail in those ancient legends.   ◇   It seems Ibuki-douji in her juvenile form had met Sakata Kintoki on Mount Ashigara. Kintoki, the monstrous child who was neither the spawn of a mortal nor the spawn of the oni, met her while wandering Ashigara, fought each other in a sumo brawl for some reason, and suffered a crushing defeat.   After that encounter, Ibuki-douji will disappear. She hasn't died by any means; she lived on, having transformed into a different existence, a different aspect of herself. In other words, she became the great monstrosity "Shuten-douji" in both mind and body.   By connecting the testimonies together, it would appear that Ibuki-douji and Shuten-douji existed by alternating with each other at either fixed or uncertain intervals. "It's my (Ibuki's) turn now." "Next, it will be my (Shuten's) turn." Or so the order went────
○Connection to other Characters Shuten-douji They can not accurately recognize each other's existence. To Ibuki-douji, she is nothing more than "something she does not understand well". The same goes for Ibuki-douji from Shuten-douji's point of view. They don't even try to recognize the other as a version that could possibly exist. Ibuki-douji is not "Shuten-douji's former self" and Shuten-douji is not "Ibuki-douji's new self".
Mochizuki Chiyome An object of interest. If she harbors the curse of Ibuki Daimyoujin within her body then they are like relatives. (Ibuki treats her as a younger sister in her first ascension and as a relative's child in her second and third ascensions)
Quetzalcoatl / Medusa / Gorgon / Vritra / Kukulkan A serpent god from a foreign country.
Sakata Kintoki Smells good. Has a nice eye color. Has nice bones. Very interesting. She can feel the presence of a dragon.
Ibaraki-douji / Fuuma Koutarou / Tomoe Gozen / Kijo Koyou Oni. Oni can be often seen in the mountains. Very interesting.
Minamoto no Raikou An oni that is one yet not. Instead of interesting, she finds her suspicious. "Just what is that?" is her impression of Raikou.
Habetrot A mass of cuteness. They've been getting along since they traveled in Tunguska together.

Comment from Illustrator

First, I started with the image of "a tanned dragon lady" and when I suggested that it would be fun if she was around 3 meters tall at the meeting with TYPE-MOON-san, they gave me the OK right away. I wanted her forms to differ with each ascension so I drew the first ascension to give off the impression of being her juvenile form and her second and third ascensions to be the adult form. In particular, I designed the second ascension with the image of "a 3 meters tall big sis strolling through the shopping district downtown to look for snacks to eat while drinking". Also known as "the Calamity Lady of Downtown (Disaster Woman)"; having such a motif of her in my mind, I kept working on the design. An alcohol-loving and somewhat sloppy god of calamity is cute. (Honjou Raita)
Translator notes: [1] Kuzuryuu

I hope this isn't a dumb question - I am the parent of a fourth grade girl who was diagnosed with dyslexia recently and this is all pretty new to me. I hope I'm missing something, actually, because I'm confused and pissed and sad.
This ended up being longer than my single question - I guess I am actually really pissed off and sad about the last nine months in general, and I am completely open to any feedback, advice, or ideas about what to do now and how to help my kid. This is the first time I wrote all of this down and the irony of writing a novel on a dyslexia subreddit is not lost on me.
I'm leaving it lol.
Cora has always been brilliant and weird and loud, but over the last few years, it became apparent that she was having a harder time....stopping. Stopping talking, stopping moving, stopping yelling - it was just endless and exhausting for everyone around her. (Except at school. She is and was perfectly behaved at school - she has literally never gotten so much as a note home about goofing off in class.) Cora hit a wall in third grade - the hyperactivity was finally wearing her out, too, and annoying her friends. She finally asked for some help slowing down.
She was tested for ADHD and the general host of common mental health conditions last fall, and to no one's surprise, was diagnosed with ADHD-combined type, as well as anxiety symptoms that the psychologist described as significant enough to warrant a GAD diagnosis…but that she strongly suspected were a perfectly rational reaction to the very real problems Cora’s impulsiveness caused in her life.
This was exactly my experience as someone diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. It turns out that the consequences of constantly losing my car keys, forgetting appointments, and impulsively spending money I didn’t have were making me anxious and stressed, not the other way around. I had expected similar results for Cora and I was glad this was happening now - she could skip the years of totally ineffective treatment and misdiagnoses that I went through before being diagnosed and successfully treated.
What we were not expecting at all was the additional diagnosis of "specific learning disorder with reading impairment" noted in the report. I had no idea what this meant. The psychologist did not use the word "dyslexia" in her written evaluation, a decision which resulted in another 8 months of confusion and (probably unnecessary) testing detailed below. She explained to us that Cora could have dyslexia, but that her testing wasn't granular enough to be sure - that there was a chance it was "something else" and the SLD diagnosis was an umbrella term that covered both dyslexia and conditions unknown. (I have no idea what she was referring to and the general weirdness about using the word dyslexia was something I noticed with the school, too. I am still confused by this and other interactions where I get the distinct feeling people aren’t telling me something important.)
It was almost September, so the psychologist recommended pursuing testing with the school; this seemed to be a reasonable next step. They would test Cora and determine exactly what was going on, if anything. This whole part of the report was very much characterized as an incidental finding - something to follow up on, but nothing alarming given Cora’s history of good grades.
"Maybe she was just tired after a long day of testing,” the doctor explained. “But it also seemed like she wasn't hearing certain letters correctly." Years of speech therapy had helped Cora correct all but a few minor issues - but combined with this potential reading issue, maybe an audiologist should test her again. Get her hearing tested, start medication for ADHD, and see what the school says about her reading - that was the plan, no big deal.
I wasn't worried, but I figured it couldn't hurt to see what other help was available. I learned that we have a branch of a big tutoring nonprofit in our city that offers Orton-Gillingham instruction at no charge - something I soon realized would cost hundreds of dollars per month at other centers. Free is good! I submitted Cora's application and the report from the psychologist (with the ADHD/GAD/SLD all clearly noted)….and we got a rejection letter a week later in the mail. Cora didn't qualify because the tutoring was specific to dyslexia, and the SLD with reading impairment was not the same as a formal dyslexia diagnosis. Fair enough, I thought - I figured we'd get the testing done through her school and could reapply if the result was a dyslexia diagnosis.
That....was naïve, lol. But the psychologist made it sound like a total non-issue, something schools did all the time. I sent the school psychologist and teachers the report before school even started, since surely they would want to schedule all of this right away! I didn’t hear anything for a few weeks – the start of the school year must be such a busy time, after all – but raised it again, report in hand, at a meeting with Cora’s teacher in late September.
“You….really want to try to avoid putting a label on things too quickly,” she told me, in a tone that implied there was much more that she was not saying. “She seems to be doing quite well in class. Let’s see how she does on the standardized tests we’re finishing this week and go from there.” I was definitely aware that I was missing something, but it seemed reasonable to wait for Cora’s test results if they would help inform next steps. Cora scored well above average, as usual; shortly after receiving these scores, the school psychologist emailed me to let me know that no further testing was warranted.
I still felt like I was missing something – spoiler alert, I was – but there didn’t seem to be anything else left to do. They're the experts and were totally unconcerned – only positive news - and Cora’s new ADHD meds seemed to be really helping. After that, everything did seem to be okay at school for a while. Cora liked her teachers and was doing well.
Everything was copacetic…except for the fact that Cora’s anxiety seemed to be getting worse without any tangible explanation. She complained about fourth grade being a lot harder, but again – her grades were fine, she was perfectly behaved, she liked her teachers….it was difficult to identify any problem that needed solving. Soon, Cora started getting home and isolating herself in her room for over an hour every day. She seemed stressed. Worn out. This went on for months.
And then she had her first panic attack on a Sunday night, seemingly out of nowhere. She wanted a mental health day Monday and was back in school Tuesday, seemingly her normal self.
The next Sunday, she had another panic attack, and this one was much, much worse. She lost control of her bladder. I was close to taking her to the ER. It was scary. That's when it all came out. She was DREADING school - her two hours of ELA in the mornings had become “torture.” She was white-knuckling it through the reading, writing, and spelling work, totally clueless as to why it seemed so much harder for her than for other kids, but so determined to get good grades that she had just burned. the. fuck. OUT.
She was home for days after this. The school tried to dismiss my concerns at first - it couldn't have been that bad, I was told. To be fair, my concerns were vague because I still didn’t understand the real issues or how to help Cora, either. Cora was clearly unwell and adamantly refused to return to school. I started putting everything in formal, written letters emailed to all of her teachers, the school psychologist, and everyone else who seemed potentially relevant. I told them I wasn't sending her back until they did something to try to figure out what was going on in ELA.
That was mid-February. We had a meeting before I would agree to send Cora back, where they talked about putting together the "interdisciplinary team" to conduct "extensive classroom observation.” They insisted that this process would take at least 60 days to complete. Cora reports that there have been three days where someone has essentially come to her ELA class and stared at her while she works.
We weren’t just waiting for the school, though. After the psych eval last summer, we had been slowly working through additional evaluations and appointments related to Cora’s hearing, speech, and language abilities. Basically, we were working our way from Cora's ears into different regions of her brain, trying to catch problems along the path that sound waves traveled - entering Cora's head as vibrations in her ear canals, winding into her brain as phenomes, assembling into a stream of recognizable words, converting into meaning in entirely different areas of her brain, and eventually emerging again via her speech. I had no idea so many tiny things could go wrong in that process, but they can - and we can get pretty damn granular in order to figure that shit out when there’s a potential problem. Cora had some weird results here and there - we now know that overlapping speech is basically her Kryptonite, which explains a lot of meltdowns at family gatherings over the years. But on the whole, her ears and her brain are doing fine, and she doesn't have autism, either.
We had been lucky to get hooked up with the best child development team in the area - they were wonderful, and the process of more testing and visits seemed to reassure Cora (and us, honestly) that there was more help on the horizon, more answers soon. She started low-dose Zoloft for the anxiety and seemed a little happier; her anxiety about school was starting to morph into resignation and frustration, which actually seemed healthier in a way. "It takes time," they tell us. Her breakdown was in February. They wanted to see the report from the most recent evaluations. Fair enough; although it is not lost on me that I am paying an outside team to do the school's job, at least it's getting done.
Two weeks ago, we finally got the team's report - and the written words, "developmental dyslexia." The lead psychologist is going to meet with the 504 team at her school - he is wonderful and immediately understood so many of Cora's concerns and needs. I'm not exactly optimistic, but it's at least possible that this may result in accommodations/extra help in school. Cora thinks he walks on water and is so excited that he's going to "stand up for" her.
The report is detailed and confirmed a lot of what we suspected. She's a really bright kid - IQ around 120 with sky high mathematics and nonverbal problem-solving scores. She apparently discussed "conundrums that are complex and abstract in nature" during her sessions, with a "recognition that there is not necessarily a solution" to these mysterious issues. (LMAO....this is my weird and wonderful kid.) The report describes Cora as "delightful" - funny, self aware, and highly motivated to learn.
Her reading comprehension score was in the 90th percentile, essay composition in the 70th - spelling scores came in at the 25th percentile, which was no surprise. Pseudoword decoding was poor - she's in the 14th percentile - and it got worse from there. Cora has an oral reading fluency in the 9th percentile, a basic reading score in the 7th percentile, and a word reading score in the 4th percentile.
In fact, the essay composition score was the only "average" score among dozens of measures of her reading, writing, and language abilities - comprehension was universally excellent and decoding was universally abysmal. It was hard to read. It felt like a gut punch - looking at the single-digit scores, I finally realized the insane degree of effort it must have taken to finish her work and look happy doing it.
The developmental psychologist leading the team told us that it was unusual to see that stark of a difference - that the severity of her impairments are usually associated with average comprehension scores at best. I have tried to wade through research about these instruments, but decided to take his word for it. Typically, the deficits in her basic reading skills would set off a chain reaction of lower scores down the line - but Cora had brought her grades and tests scores up from an already high start at the beginning of the year.
"It's no wonder her anxiety symptoms are increasing - she's completely exhausted," he said. "Imagine what she could achieve with the right kind of help."
I realized then why Cora's high scores and good grades, so impressive to everyone else, were such a source of consternation for her. That chain reaction was still happening, getting in the way of what she was actually capable of achieving. She knew it, even if the rest of us didn't - she could do better with the right kind of help.
I honestly feel sick thinking about it. She never told anyone she was struggling, never asked for help - not from us, not from anyone at school, heck not from her former-literacy-teacher grandma. No one had any idea. My husband and I had actually encouraged her to slow down a little in the weeks before her panic attacks, just out of a general sense that something was brewing despite her repeated insistence she was doing fine. Turn in the worksheet a day late, three sentences is plenty, relax. Unthinkable, Cora insisted, she was fine.
So she's back at school, nothing has changed other than the glacially slow 504 process of "observation" occurring in the background sometimes, but she seems to be a bit less stressed. I can't tell if getting pissed off about the situation is helping her deal with it, if the Zoloft is taking the edge off, or if she's just masking harder now. Maybe all three. 18 more days of school and Cora is counting. them. down. Her teachers and support staff seem generally bewildered by the idea she is or was ever struggling. They were caught totally off guard when I abruptly pulled her out of school until we at least got them to commit to the 504 process – but we had been blindsided too. They saw a happy kid who was thriving academically until her parents pulled her out of school and started a process that no one seems particularly committed to finishing. Sometimes I think they don't believe us at all. Maybe I would feel the same way in their shoes, I don’t know. I think they’ll listen to the doctor.
The entire point of this post, though, was to ask about Cora’s second rejection from the local tutoring program. With summer approaching and the diagnosis of dyslexia (versus maybe-dyslexia, maybe-whatever-else-could-be-included-under-the-SLD-“umbrella”, which I am still unsure is even a thing), I've been looking into all sorts of options for tutoring. Summer is a good opportunity to try to start getting Cora some meaningful help without adding yet another thing to her plate. She's excited. We can build some tools before next year - if we know what works for her, we can be better advocates from Day 1.
So I resubmitted Cora's application - I still had my original email and I just attached the shiny new report to that, explaining where to find the magic D word that I fully expected would finally open a door where Cora could get the right kind of help. This new report was more granular with reading testing, but the dyslexia diagnosis was the one really substantive change. It included Cora's ADHD and anxiety diagnoses, as did the report I submitted with our initial application, but with new information about medication and treatment for these issues - progress!
(I would like to point out at this point that ADHD and anxiety are firmly established as two of the most common comorbid diagnoses for kids with dyslexia, and that anxiety symptoms in particular can occur because of the challenges caused by dyslexia. My daughter had full-blown panic attacks at 10 years old largely because she struggles to FUCKING READ and no one was helping her. I know I am preaching to what little choir is likely left at this point in my novel. But especially as someone who was medicated/treated for depression and anxiety for 20 years before anyone agreed to test for, diagnose, and treat the ADHD symptoms that were causing me to regularly fuck up my life in really depressing and stressful ways…..this chicken and egg shit really hits a nerve.)
Anyhoo, it had taken 8 months and a lot of work, but I had finally done this one cool thing for her - Cora was going to get the right kind of help. The school year is almost over, but at least we had this one success. The obstacle that I’m still not sure was warranted in the first place – the lack of the word dyslexia in the initial evaluation – had been checked off what was now a giant list of obstacles in Cora's path.
And thanks to the generosity of people who had probably heard and experienced a lot of similar, frustrating stories, our family could focus on paying off the bills accumulated in the process of getting to this point instead of adding more to the pile. Free is always good, but sometimes free is a godsend.
Twelve hours later, Cora was denied again, this time via a brief email simply noting the GAD diagnosis in both reports. "Our tutors are not trained to work with children who are diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorders" and they "cannot meet her needs."
That was it. No further explanation. Just…fuck your anxious baby girl who is trying so hard and fuck you for trying. NEXT!
Oh, and P.S., fuck the really significant percentage of kids with dyslexia with comorbid anxiety diagnoses who are incredibly well researched and described in just…all of the fucking literature. Just all of it, honestly, for decades. Fuck those kids too.
People seem to treat the word "dyslexia" like it's the only thing that matters sometimes but also not something that should be ever said in other contexts, AND I'm pretty fucking sure that "SLD with reading impairment" is essentially equivalent to the word dyslexia because no one can explain what else might be under that "umbrella," and apparently it's nigh impossible to get meaningful help for my daughter through the public school systems anywhere in America, and giant nonprofits care about kids with dyslexia so much, but not the anxious ones, better lock the doors before those crybabies get their needs all over our tutoring center!
We will figure out how to pay for help for Cora, that’s a given.
But honest to fucking god, have you guys just been putting up with this shit the whole time? I'm so sorry.

Orlan stood in the large Anchorheart chamber in the heart of his castle once more, a wooden training spear in his hands, eyes closed. Slowly he began to move, spinning the spear through a series of blocks and strikes. There was no set pattern to his training, looking more like he was fighting invisible enemies than a regimented routine, but that was what worked best for him. The pattern the spear tip wove in the air reminiscent of lightning, flowing along a jagged path without slowing before striking the target with all the power of a rift.
The chaotic yet flowing fighting style was of his own creation, based on his own observations of rifts. It was also utterly impossible without the super-human body granted by the spheres of mana within his soul, performing seemingly impossible lunges, spins and blocks that a normal human couldn’t manage.
But this wasn’t training, it was an active meditation as Orlan focused on condensing a sixth layer of his soul. Doing so required immense concentration, there were a number of chambers in the castle specially designed to assist in meditation. Some were thick with incense, the burning herbs chosen to heighten focus, while others were almost completely bare to remove all distractions. But Orlan always felt most comfortable in the presence of his Anchorheart, allowing his body and mind to slip into a martial trance. The gentle pulsing of the grand stone granting him a sense of calm even as he danced across the room, spear tip humming through the air, for hours on end.
Normally he wouldn’t spend so long in isolation, but tiering up was a critical goal for him. Not only would it improve his mana regeneration, increasing the time he could spend in combat before exhausting himself, but it also improved the Anchorheart. It would allow them to move the protectorate to other regions, not as reliant on mana geysers to sustain the massive floating island.
But, ultimately, he wasn’t some sage of a wizard’s tower, able to shut himself off from the world for days or even weeks at a time. A faint buzzing in the back of his mind broke him out of his meditation, pulling him from the depths of his spirit in an instant. After a moment to ensure being interrupted hadn’t damaged the sphere he answered the telepathic call.
“Lord, there’s another Rift,” Nallia said on the other side as Orlan wiped the sweat from his face, “in a country called Germany.”
“Damnit,” he replied, “that’s too far for us to reach.”
“Indeed,” she agreed, “even if we were to fully discharge the sky-cutter’s mana we’d only be able to reach Spain. On foot it would take us days to travel from there to the site of the rift.”
“You find out about the rift on the phone?”
“Yes, seems like there might have been another rift in the last week on a continent called ‘Africa’ but word never got out,” she added.
Orlan simply sighed, he’d known it would happen but hadn’t expected the rate of rift appearance to increase this rapidly. In the year before Orlan returned it looked like there had been one or two rifts per month, only a handful had been reported as most likely happened far from civilization or in the depths of the ocean. In the two weeks since the major rift that brought him, however, there’d been three reported rifts, meaning a handful likely went unnoticed by the world at large. It was a far cry from the two rifts a day that was the norm on the other side, but he was the only Protector Lord on this side. He could only cover so much territory by himself, even with the island and sky-cutters.
Ultimately there was only one way to help people, and that was to attempt to raise mages in this world. Mundane guns could hold lower tier monsters off, but against a beast rift you needed to do more than simply delay them. You needed to kill them. Even rifts in remote areas could unleash a tide of monsters that could swallow entire regions in the beasts. Thankfully the weak Aether of this world was, for once, working to their benefit. Unlike mages, Monsters needed a constant supply of mana or their cores would break down. The higher tier the monster the more mana they needed. Even on the other side this had restricted what kinds of monsters could appear in which areas, with the strongest often trapped in wild regions where mana filled the Aether like a thick fog.
The mages at the spire figured that the Aether of this world couldn’t support more than second sphere equivalent monsters for any period of time. Any higher than that and the beasts would slowly suffocate from the lack of mana. It might take days but eventually those ant monsters would grow weak and die. Of course, the amount of damage they could do before then was why they couldn’t simply wait the beasts out.
After cleaning off and joining Nallia in the main sitting room he simply waited and watched along with several others as reports came in from the rift in Germany. The monsters there seemed to have the bodies of elephants but the head and neck of a heron or crane. Even normal elephants had hides thick enough to be resistant to small arms, and boosted by magic these monsters were almost immune to small caliber rounds. They were slow and clumsy, but had surprising reach with their razor sharp beaks, able to lash out to spear people in an instant.
The rift was in a relatively remote location, it seemed, and the German army was on the scene fast enough that Orlan suspected that the units had been on standby. Of course, most of their weapons were of minimal effect, only anti-tank weapons seemed to be able to reliably put the beasts down. The knights were especially interested when the first tanks appeared on the streams, such large armored vehicles were unknown to the other side. The tanks did better than Orlan expected, their main gun more than capable of putting a shell clean through one of the monsters. But it was clear they weren’t built for this kind of combat, most rounds were designed with fighting other tanks in mind and tended to pass completely through the monsters. Often they hit something vital on their travels but these beasts were tougher than any normal animal and many times they simply took the hit and kept going.
The rate of fire of the big guns also left much to be desired, more than once news helicopters witnessed a group of tanks be overwhelmed by a stampede of the elephant like monsters. They would kill a few, but couldn’t get more than one or two shots off before being overrun. Normally infantry would screen for the tanks but no amount of small arms fire would deter these monsters.
“What’s the policy on recruiting boss?” one of the girls from second lance asked suddenly.
“I’m not sure,” Orlan admitted, “I’d planned on recruiting as normal, but with the risk of soul blight…”
“I think all we can do is make them aware of the risk,” the knight shrugged.
“And conduct a test for mana allergy,” Nallia added, “it’s a risk but better than nothing.”
-----
It looked like a small army had gathered in front of the capitol building as the car baring Orlan pulled up to the structure. He’d initially planned on simply landing a cutter across the street, but figured that it was best to not. Instead the cutter had touched down some distance from the city and he’d called to ask for a pickup. The man on the other side sounded annoyed, but when Orlan offered to simply fly over the city in a cutter he became much more amenable.
“We were only expecting one,” the first security guard to approach commented, glancing at the other three with him.
“Did you actually expect me to come alone?” Orlan asked with a raised eyebrow, “honestly, most of my knights wanted to come with me.”
“Knights huh?” the man said, glancing at the two women with him, both of whom wore frilly dresses, before shrugging, “we’re going to have to search you for weapons.”
“Really?”
“It’s procedure,” he shrugged, motioning for them to follow. Of course a half dozen news vans were present as he walked into the capitol building, thankfully security kept them away allowing Orlan to enter unmolested. The next half hour was spent walking through metal detectors and having themselves searched. It was all completely useless, of course, as he could pull his weapon out of his personal space at any time.
After that annoying process they spent well over an hour simply waiting to be called before whatever committee had called for the meeting. By the time the four of them were finally called it was well past nine, when the meeting had been supposed to happen. The room for the meeting wasn’t the main floor of congress, but a side room. A dozen committee members sat at a long raised desk facing the rest of the room, while Orlan was restricted to a simple table with a few chairs on the ground, meaning he’d be forced to look up at the committee.
Typical, he thought to himself, governments never change, even in other worlds. They just had to feel superior.
There was only one name plate at the small table and, surprisingly, it had Orlan’s full name. With a scowl, before sitting he ran his finger across the nameplate, a pulse of mana vaporizing the paper that had been fitted to the plate until just Orlan was left. This action drew some raised eyebrows from the congressmen who were still getting settled, but they waited until everyone was seated to begin.
“Why don’t you begin with introducing yourselves,” the committee leader offered once the room was quiet.
“I’m Protector Lord Orlan,” he replied confidently, “This is Lady Lailra, my second in command, and Lady Nallia, my personal aide. Finally is Grandmaster Benimar of the Mage’s Spire.”
“Interesting,” the committee leader replied, not bothering to introduce himself but there was a nameplate for ‘William’ before him. Next to him the Grandmaster mage grumbled softly to himself, of everyone he was the only one who hadn’t wanted to come, but Orlan had felt that a representative from the spire was a good idea.
“According to the ID you showed our men your name is Orlando Eckhart,” William continued, “is there a reason you don’t use that name?”
“As a Protector Lord I’m required to give up all familial ties, from names to titles,” Orlan explained, “and I’ve always gone simply by Orlan, so I figured I’d just make it official.”
“I see,” William said, writing something down before continuing, “there are a number of reasons for this meeting. First on the schedule is your actions in Boston and Jefferson.”
“That’s where you want to start?” Orlan asked, surprised.
“Please refrain from talking unless asked a question,” William warned him with a mild glare over his glasses, “Now, the Senator from New Jersey is first, you have ten minutes.”
“Thankyou chairman,” another woman on the committee replied, taking a moment to gather her notes, “Now, Mr. Eckhart, accord-.”
“Call me Orlan,” the protector interrupted.
“Please don’t talk during my time,” the woman scowled at him before continuing, “according to news reports you employ quite destructive means during these ‘rift’ events as you call them.”
“Destructive how?” Orlan asked.
“As in damaging,” the woman insisted, “many buildings in Boston were damaged by your so-called magics.”
“We try to minimize collateral damage, if that’s what you’re asking,” Orlan said slowly, “but there’s only so much we can do when the monsters can punt a person through a solid wall.”
“But you admit to causing widespread damage?”
“The damage would have been worse if I hadn’t been present,” countered Orlan.
“And it never occurred to you to leave the situation to the military?”
“If the military had any chance of helping I’d consider it.”
“I understand you’ve been missing for over a decade, but according to our records you were a college student when you vanished,” she pressed, “I find it hard to believe that you, no matter what you went through, and a handful of girls could be more effective than the most powerful military on the planet.”
“Did you see what happened in Germany the other day?” Orlan asked, “do you honestly think-.”
“Mr. Eckhart,” the woman interrupted, “I’m reclaiming my time.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means it’s my turn to speak,” she snapped, glancing at the chairman before looking down at her notes, continuing after a moment, “now, after the events in Boston you resisted the agents sent to arrest you, is that correct?”
“The two squads of soldiers you sent to my island you mean?” Orlan asked with a raised eyebrow, “ya, I wasn’t going to just go with them.”
“So not only did you cause extensive collateral damage, injure several agents while resisting arrest, there are also reports of people dying after being treated by your people. Yet you insist you’re more effective than our own army. I would suggest that this man is as much of a danger to our nation as these monsters are, if not more so. We can’t simply allow vigilantes to go around causing such damage and loss of life,” the woman said, turning to the chairman before Orlan could respond, “that’s all I have to say Chairman.”
“Thank you senator,” the man in charge said as Orlan stood.
“Excuse me,” he growled, “do I get a chance to respond?”
“If someone wants to donate their time to you then you can speak,” the chairman replied, looking through the papers on his desk, “those are the rules.”
Next to Orlan both Lailra and Nallia were quite tense, their smiles strained as they clearly struggled to keep still and not draw their weapons. Orlan simply took a deep breath and sat down once more, he’d known this would be frustrating, he just had to deal with it. Eventually the next senator was called to speak.
“Now, Mr. Eckhart,” the rotund man started, the grinding of Orlan’s teeth almost audible across the room as he was once more called by his old name, “based on reports all your so-called knights are women, is that correct?”
“Yes,” Orlan started, “its due to a quirk of-.”
“Thank you, Mr. Eckhart, but it’s my time,” the senator interrupted, “and all of them are white, correct?”
“A few of the girls are from further south but-.”
“Please answer my question, Mr. Eckhart.”
“The majority of my knights are fair of skin, yes,” Orlan growled.
“According to the report, you also committed a racist act following the event in North Carolina,” he continued, “Do you have an issue with black people?”
“What are you even talking about?”
“Answer the question please.”
“No, why would I have-.”
“Thank you, Mr. Eckhart,” the senator once more interrupted, “perhaps you can explain why-.”
“A moment senator,” the chairman interrupted, “that was quite the accusation, surely Mr. Orlan deserves a chance to respond.”
“It’s my time, chairman, he can respond on his own time.”
“I’m going to pause your time then, give our guest a chance to defend himself,” the Chairman stated, nodding to Orlan.
“On the other side I spent most of my time in northern Eura and Siria,” Orlan said after taking another calming breath, “on this side that corresponds loosely to northern Europe and western Asia. Travel isn’t as common or easy on that side, and recruitment mostly comes from local populations, so it’s to be expected that most of my people resemble the populations native to those regions.”
“But you don’t have an issue with recruiting black people?” The chairman asked.
“No, I just never got the chance.”
“Objection, Chairman,” another senator spoke up, “but there are no reports of him being in Europe for the last few decades, much less of a flying island.”
“Because I was on the other side,” Orlan said dryly.
“Objection noted,” the chairman said with a slight glance at Orlan, before motioning to the second senator, “the gentleman from Michigan has the floor again.”
“So, Mr. Eckhart, you claim to have no objection to recruiting people of color,” the round man from earlier said, “then can you explain why you attempted to hand a banana to a black man in North Carolina?”
“Uhh,” Orlan started, completely caught off guard by the question, “because bananas are tasty?”
“Are you aware of the racial implications of such an action?”
“No?”
“I see,” the senator said, pausing to scribble something down, “I think it’s clear that, in addition to the issues pointed out by the lady from New Jersey, this Mr. Eckhart fails to live up to the values of the US. Hiring so many women is laudable, but completely ignoring people of color, and even showing distain towards them, I think proves he doesn’t value diversity. Thank you Chairman.”
Orlan was once more forced to stew as the chairman looked through his notes, eventually calling a senator from Texas next.
“You’ve never had to deal with politics like this, have you Mr. Orlan?” the senator asked with a sympathetic smile, “I think it’s important that people have the chance to defend themselves, so I’d like to ask you one question, and then donate the rest of my time so you can defend yourself. My one question is, what exactly happened in Boston?”
“Thank you,” Orlan sighed, grateful that at least one of the committee members seemed friendly, “What happened there, and in North Caroline and Germany, was what we call a Beast Rift. Basically a poorly understood event that deposits hundreds, or even thousands of magical monsters into the world over-.”
“Objection,” the senator from New Jersey interrupted, “this talk of magic is preposterous. Can we stick to scientific terms?”
“I tend to agree,” the chairman replied after a moment, “perhaps we should start with that, can you tell us what this so-called magic is?”
“It’s… magic,” Orlan said slowly, “by drawing energy called mana from the Aether we can influence the world in seemingly supernatural ways. For example, the giant flying island I use is kept aloft by powerful spells placed upon it a thousand years ago.”
“And these beasts can use magic?”
“In a sense,” Orlan replied, “to put it simply every living thing uses mana, even everyone in this room is only alive thanks to magic, in a sense. Of course most people barely require the tiniest gust of mana in their entire lives, but mages, like my knights and I, and monsters can draw on much greater amounts to empower ourselves. This manifests in a number of different ways, all of which are loosely called magic.”
“You can understand how hard this is to believe,” the chairman said, “with how common CGI is today it’s hard to believe what is seen on the news, can you provide an example? Something solid?”
“Sure, I actually prepared for this,” Orlan said, reaching out and pulling a small billet of metal from his personal space, “with enough mana it’s possible for inanimate objects to use mana as well, though in more limited ways. This is regular iron, mostly pure, making it rather brittle. Consider it a baseline, now, this is tier two iron,” Orlan continued pulling another small bar out, “as iron becomes imbued it becomes stronger and heavier, at tier two it’s weight will have about doubled.”
By way of demonstration he dropped first the mundane iron onto the table, which clattered loudly as it bounced a couple times, followed by the tier two iron which landed with more of a crack. Orlan reached out and pulled a third finger length bar before continuing.
“This is tier five iron, after tier three or four things tend to become rather… extreme. So while I’m certain you could, and will, try to explain the other bar with mundane concepts. I expect this one to be a bit more difficult,” he said and dropped the bar from the same height as the others, and the table bent and seemed to buckle as the bar crashed into it, nearly punching through the wooden top. For a long moment there was simply silence following the demonstration before the chairman spoke up.
“And are you willing to leave this… iron to be inspected?” he asked.
“Of course,” Orlan nodded, “I will recommend that, for the tier five bar, you handle it carefully. I doubt you could break it outside of a machine, but if it does break there’s a good chance it’ll release much of the mana within which could be dangerous.”
“I see…”
\=\=\=\=\=
((I tried to write a chapter of Tower of Worlds and this came out, I think my fingers are revol- no, nothing bad is happening, the hands are fine, continue as normal))
***** Discord - Patreon *****

A few minutes after I step out of the office and into the streets of the city I live in I find myself walking past various people on a busy street. I am a decent distance away from the office and I have the ability to truly appreciate the assorted abilities I purchased.
My enhanced senses, which with every passing second grow incrementally stronger, allow me to fully soak in how powerfully alive a city is. I can hear the sounds of everything from insects hiding away in small crevices and cracks where they hope to be undisturbed by humans, to the whispered conversations people not far from me are having as they walk ahead of or behind me. I can see the seams of clothes worn by people around me even from a distance, including seeing them in their full, true breadth of color, colors beyond what I can name and identify.
I can feel the changes in the location of nearby air caused by people moving around me. If I shut my eyes I could effortlessly navigate this place, as busy as it is without sight. And the smells... Well, the smells are a lot less pleasant than everything else, but my sensitivity to them is still something that astounds me. The active simulation of my senses serves as training, and this makes even the act of walking around serve as something that will slowly morph and change me for the better.
I allow myself to wander, gaining valuable experience all the while, as I turn inward and glance at my class menu. My class menu right now only has three options for me to choose from and they are pretty basic: mage, rogue, and fighter.
Mage is the default magic class, and the first "Class ability", one of the main draws of the "Class" mechanic in the first place; abilities that every class offers those who invest in them, with new options becoming available whenever you level up, it offers me is a simple and minor boost to my ability to regenerate magical energy. Rogue is the default subtlety class and it has not been selected so I can't yet determine what basic "Class ability" it offers me at first level. With a simple burst of focus and intent I switch my active class to rogue, after dealing with "Tutorial Sprite", and I feel myself gain a very minor boost to my ability to be unnoticed so long as I am standing still and an increase to the effectiveness of subtle actions I take, like trying to pickpocket somebody.
I repeat this again to make my class "Fighter" and I am surprised to see a text box appear that asks me to pick a "Fighting Style". I get the chance to pick a single buff out of several, all of which relate to fighting in various ways. I ultimately pick a buff that strengthens my unarmed strikes, since barring something truly horrible I'll always have my hands ready to go in a battle.
I switch my active class back to that of a mage, after dealing with "Tutorial Sprite" once more. As I continue to explore the city I mentally muse about the sorts of actions it'll take for me to actually other classes. I saw a few examples in the description of the actual perk description back when I was selecting it, so I know that if I behave as something that is usually enough for me to gain it as a class, but that raises some interesting questions in the context of classes like "Ranger", "Monk", "Paladin" and other fantasy RPG classes. Perhaps I can't unlock them in this jump? That'd be a bit boring, honestly, but it'd at least give me something to look forward to, I guess.
I quickly reach into my inventory and pull out my phone, though the gestures I do to mask this are to reach into my pocket and "withdraw" it from there. I effortlessly and deftly navigate the thing as I begin to venture a touch farther from my home than I'd like. I'm about to turn around when I spot a decently large gym in the distance. This makes me smile, and I use my phone to check out how much money I have in my bank account.
I have a few hundred dollars to my name and nothing else of value. Funnily enough prior to my time in this jump having just a few hundred dollars would worry me a bit but I actually just smile at the sight of the funds I currently have. This is for two reasons: it's more than I had back on my homeworld, but also it's more than enough since I'm staying in an apartment where the first month of rent has already been paid and I don't need to eat or drink. I elect to head to the gym and to see if I can gain a class or two tonight. As I walk I install several social media apps on my phone and set up accounts for the sake of making it easier for me to establish a social media presence later. I still need to do stuff like take pictures though...
In minutes I am in the gym's store and I feel the eyes of several people on me. At this point I've already done the minor stuff like signing up for the gym and paying registration, which I did by interacting with a beefy-looking gym employee who was happy to get my personal details. I am studying the available outfits, looking for the ones that will draw the most attention.
I'm hot now, why not flaunt it? My charisma is one of my most handy stats, and I can train it as easily as I can train my other stuff, so I should. In future jumps being able to attract followers could be life-saving, and in this jump being able to attract new friends will make the days pass by quicker. I grab a few different combinations of clothes, a towel, and a water bottle, as well as a duffel bag. The pants and shirts I pick are clothes that will emphasize my lean build, as I don't have anything like a bruiser or berserker's body type but the wry, lean build of someone who focuses on skill more than raw power. The size of the clothes actually doesn't matter, thanks to a trait from "Inventory" which will automatically resize things I equip, like clothes, to fit me when I store them away.
I take the stuff I've decided to purchase to a cashier and she rings me up while studying me. She is a cute looking but young, late teens young, blonde girl who skillfully takes my goods and scans them.
"So are you new in town?" She asks. "I've never seen you before and most of the people who bother shopping here are regulars." She adds. I laugh lightly and nod at her.
"Yep! I work over in downtown and I decided to check out the rest of the city. I was looking for a gym and saw this one so I figured I'd become a member. This is the closest gym to my work." I remark, probably inaccurately. She nods as she hears me talk. Her name is Jasmine according to the name tag on her uniform. She and I exchange more small talk before she tells me how much I owe her. The amount is almost one hundred dollars which is a bit less pleasant than I'd hoped, but not such a bad price it dissuades me from buying the stuff. She takes my card, does the stuff to get it to pay off what I owe her, and gives it back to me with a receipt. I thank her for her time, tell her I'll see her around and make my way to the gym's locker room while I put my stuff into my new bag.
The place is tight and I can smell the scent of sweat, dirt, and other unpleasant stuff. It's not fun, but a part of my perk that improves my senses is that unpleasant sensations do not have the same delibating effects on me that they would on others. This allows me to tolerate it even as I study my surroundings and look for security cameras. I manage to spot a few so I make my way to the men's bathroom which is connected to the locker room, check for cameras and this time I find none. I reach into the duffel bag I have purchased for myself and I grab the clothes I placed in them, immediately click the resulting notification away, stuff them in my inventory, and then touch my own clothes and store them away in my inventory.
I immediately equip my new outfit, a pair of red pants and a tight blue shirt. I don't bother admiring myself but I do take a quick picture so I have something for social media to hint at my newfound nature as a gym rat. This gives me a "Photography" skill, which I fully plan to take advantage of over the course of this jump. I walk over to the locker room and pretend to store my duffel bag in a locker I was given as part of my package for being a member of the gym. Once my duffel bag is safely in my inventory I shut the locker door and head out to the main floor of the gym, exiting the locker room out a different way than the way I came in.
I step into a large area filled with a multitude of machines for cardio workers, many of which are occupied by various people. Professional trainers stand next to some of the people working out and encourage them while cautiously watching to make sure they don't hurt themselves. Next to some of the areas where people are working out are glass walls showing various studios for classes like Zumba and other sorts of dance-heavy methods of getting workouts. I study the sheets on the glass walls of those rooms, looking to see if any classes are happening soon. I grin when I see a Zumba class that is less than five minutes from starting, in a room where a handsome and fit Latin man is idly stretching. He is being watched by several women, some of whom look at him unwholesomely. I walk over to the place where the participants in the Zumba class are gathering or stretching, uploading the picture I took to different sites and apps at the same time, while I enter the studio, grinning almost uncontrollably as I appreciate the wisdom of choosing The Devil's Own Luck as one of my perks.
______________________________________________________________________________________ Juan is the first of the room's inhabitants to notice the newcomer. The figure steps into the room and immediately begins to approach the instructor, a large grin on his face as he walks over to the middle of the class.
The striking figure has an air that is passively attention-getting and as Juan studies him the man turns his light eyes on the Zumba instructor. The two figures appraise each other as Lucas approaches the instructor and asks him if this is the classroom for Zumba. Juan grins at him and tells him to go ahead and pick a spot in the room. Lucas thanks him and picks a spot close to the glass wall of the room so that way the eyes that got glued to him when he walked through the large gymnasium can continue to appreciate him.
Lucas has movie-star looks but they are wholesome movie-star looks. He looks like the sort of figure that a big studio would hire to star in rom-coms, rather than a sort of strikingly sexy figure who might appear in modeling campaigns or as the star of action movies. His looks aren't designed to attract anyone seeking a specific type of attractive person, aside from maybe a wholesome boy next door type allowed to age and mature a touch. This gives him a generalized level of attractiveness that many, regardless of their gender, sex, or sexuality, would be able to admire, and that several people in the gym are currently admiring.
Juan is not surprised when a few more people enter the studio last minute. The instructor wonders whether Lucas will be a net negative or a net positive for him in the weeks to come if he becomes a regular at the gym and in the class...
"Bienvenidos mi gente!" The instructor shouts as the six-thirty class begins. Multiple people, including Lucas, return the greeting, with Lucas surprising multiple people by returning it in accent-neutral Spanish. Juan gives his pre-class spiel, all about working out at a pace the individual exerciser is comfortable with and about the importance of staying hydrated, and the class, for the most part, listens attentively. Juan then presses a button on a small remote control in his palm which turns on the music.
"Alright class, let's start off nice and slow with some stretches." The instructor says, his voice naturally carrying across the room. He guides the class in a series of simple, light stretches to an instrumental song that combines elements of hip-hop and some other genres. Lucas is able to keep up with this hilariously easily, and the man smiles all the while. There is a look on his face of serene and calm joy, one which he keeps up as the music shifts and Juan begins to guide the class in a simple dance. Lucas keeps up and even feels his mind adjusting to the music and to his instructor's rhythmic moves, emulating the same grace and dexterity as the instructor thanks to a number of perks mixing together and allowing him to move with quite literally supernatural ease.
As the music plays Lucas gains a new skill, "Dancing", and as he trains and hones this skill he is powerfully aware of the impact of several perks that work in conjunction. "Super Sensory", "The Devil's Own Luck", "Well Of Wisdom", and "Beautiful Mind" work with "Jack Of All Trades", "Experience Booster" "Master of All" and "Skills" to hone Lucas's instincts and ability to predict what Juan will do next. He matches the instructor move for move even halfway through the song, and when the song comes to an end the instructor is smiling at the young dancer. In Lucas's mind time freezes when he gets a notification alerting him that he's earned a new class: "Dancer". Internally the young jumper cheers in excitement as he clicks off the notification and makes the class his "active" class, which grants him a bonus to his agility.
The music seamlessly transitions into the next song, and Lucas watches the instructor while gracefully freestyling a series of idle, low-energy moves that still make him look good. Juan watches the man and gets the sense that Lucas is a veteran dancer, which is closer to the truth than most people would suspect when glancing at Lucas either pre-chain or now if he wasn't moving. When Juan begins to dance Lucas immediately replicates him, and the for the next hour the two dance. There are other dancers in the room, some of them are actually quite good, but none of them can match Lucas or Juan.
The two dancers are on another level, and Lucas's mind is hungry to absorb as much as he can, to learn as much as he is able about his own body and what sort of physical limits exist, right now, for the newly liberated performer. Lucas delights in having a body that can move the way he wants it to, and he gains enough experience to level up, time itself freezing for a brief moment about three-quarters of the way through the class. Lucas internally grins with delight when he gets to pick a new class ability.
The way this process works visually is that as time freezes three text boxes appear in front of the dancer. Each one denotes a new ability or buff that the figure could earn. In this case each of the options is a fully new skill or ability rather than a simple buff.
One ensures that once per day a dance can be performed that will be rewarded in some way, with the reward depending on the quality of the dancing and the means of the audience. Another option is an ability to incorporate dancing into one's strikes which makes them harder to predict or block akin to Capoeira, and the last one is a strange ability that allows Lucas to infuse his performance skill with his charisma, which will massively increase how good a dancer the athletic office worker could be. Each of these skills is radically different and Lucas allows time to be frozen while he makes his decision.
Lucas could take advantage of this early moment to gain a new way to interact with his environment, he could get a nice boost to his ability to defend himself, or he could lean into his build... He ultimately opts to give himself a bit of a secret tool in combat, deciding to invest in his long term security, rather than doubling down on what he knows he can do well. Time resumes and he continues dancing.
For several minutes after the class comes to an end he is badgered by people who saw him dancing. He politely answers questions, exchanges names and contact information, and he even gets formally introduced to Juan Romero, the class's instructor. The two have a short, somewhat awkward conversation, wherein Lucas senses Juan's interest in him but also the fact that the figure doesn't love being upstaged in his own class. Lucas doesn't blame him for having come to that conclusion since Lucas was undeniably the better dancer. It's not Juan's fault that "Jack of All Trades" gives Lucas the knowledge and base skills of an average Zumba instructor, and then Lucas's other perks push him past that. Still, Lucas remains polite and thanks the instructor for a good lesson before he decides he's had enough exercise for the night.
In minutes Lucas, still wearing his somewhat skimpy outfit, is out of the gym and slowly making his way back home. The apartment is over an hour away walking at a brisk pace, but Lucas is happy to walk, since that's a thing he can do now. The fit gamer walks through the now artificially illuminated streets of the city armed with his handy mini-map. The figure diligently studies the map as he cautiously, patiently explores his new home, noting the occasional appearance of icons of different colors which is a signifier that they have different relationships to him than either being his friend, or neutral towards him. During this time the man familiarizes himself with this world's social media scene, and he is happy to note the immediate popularity he has garnered thanks to his first post being a thirst trap.
"If 'catfishes' exist in this world so many people are gonna try and use pictures of me..." The man mutters at one point, all while navigating the roads of the city like he was born here.
The next few minutes pass by in a blur, with the figure only stopping for a beat to pick up some groceries. Once he gets enough ingredients for a few simple meals so he can see if he can earn a skill, if not a class, he returns to the streets of the city. A scant few minutes later he deposits the items he purchased into his inventory and finishes walking to the rundown apartment building where his new home is located.
_______________________________________________________________________________________ I step into my apartment after walking up a small flight of stairs and curiously study the cramped, only somewhat livable space. It's a studio apartment outfitted with a very small handful of furniture pieces, namely a bed, a small chair, and a tiny table that is covered in different outfits, my outfits. It has a kitchen, which is thankfully fully outfitted with older looking but hopefully functional pieces of kitchen equipment, which I plan to cook in new utensils that I purchased earlier tonight. I close the door behind me and opt to make sure I fully understand my living situation by walking over to the one door in the apartment that doesn't just lead back outside, and I open it only to see a dirty, unpleasant looking bathroom.
"Well I'm getting what I paid for..." I complain as I realize that if I ever want company over, of any sort, I'll need to clean this place up. I close the door to the bathroom and opt to take stock of my situation.
On the bright side: I have an apartment all to myself and that's always nice. On the not-so-bright-side my apartment is a rundown mess and actually cleaning it won't be fun, plus for any of my furniture to not be generic as hell I will need to invest some of my hard earned money into this place, and right now I'm hardly wealthy. But if I look back on the bright side again... it seems that all sorts of activities earn me skills and classes, so there's probably opportunity to be had here.
I decide to tackle things one at a time, so I go to the kitchen and methodically check the kitchen equipment my landlord provided me with. I also use my cellphone connect to the place's wifi, and plug my phone in so the thing can get some charge. I carefully fiddle with each of the devices in my kitchen, eventually determining that they each work which is truly fantastic news. I cheer when this happens, and I dump out the ingredients I purchased so I can begin to cook a simple meal.
As I cook I turn my phone onto this world's version of YouTube, which is something that has a thematically similar name: OurChannel. I explore the app with one hand while I use my other to prepare the ingredients I selected which consist of some healthy greens and a nice broth so I can make a nutritious soup. I wasn't the healthiest eater in my past life, and I don't need to eat, but I want to gain as many skills as I can which means being much bolder in this life than I was before I became a jumper.
I explore the app on my phone until I find a playlist which promises to allow me to listen to today's hits. I tap it and the music begins to play as I continue to prepare what should be an easy to make dinner. At some point I lose track of time and begin to improvisedly sing along to a song I don't know before I place the ingredients in my meal into the pot, which now sits on top of the stove and is filled with boiling water. As I do this time freezes right when the song I was singing comes to an end. I click through the drawback that was just invoked and see that I have received two skills: singing and cooking. I'm disappointed but not surprised to see that I have not yet gotten any new classes, but singing is a fun skill for me to have unlocked so I'll take it.
"Singing could be a lot of fun..." I remark as my cellphone's app begins to play the next song on the playlist. If I level up my singing I could easily use that in a lot of ways, especially in future jumps.
The next few minutes pass by quite speedily thanks to the music I'm listening to. In less than fifteen minutes I am tasting my simple creation and I am pleasantly surprised to find that I quite like the taste! My enhanced senses allow me to appreciate the flavor of the healthy foods, and I can take pride in the fact that I have made the food myself. Plus this skill, if properly cultivated, can open a lot of doors for me in the future. I drink only half of my soup, as a part of me wonders if the fact that what caused me to become a dancer earlier was the fact that I was in front of other people. If so if I give food I made by hand to someone else that should be enough to allow me to become a chef! I store the soup, while it's still fresh, in my inventory. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to give someone lunch.
When I'm doing making food what I do next is simple. I sit on my kitchen countertop and I proceed to browse the web. I don't do this trolling for any site to read or use, but for one specific thing: I surf the net looking for places where I can find books to read. My easiest skill to farm and hone is my reading skill, and thanks to Master of All I can grind the skill while also grinding everything else. I eventually find a website that allows visitors to read great American classics, which marks the first time I've heard or seen the word "American" in this world. I begin to explore the site, and I spend the next few hours happily reading classical literature and honing all of my skills and perks all the while.
A small part of me wonders if I've made the right choice, but I quickly silence that internal voice. Being here in this room is making me feel things, things that won't help me over the long run, as my presence here means that what I've done is real. The fact that I don't wake up in my tiny apartment back on my native Earth means that my decision nearly a day ago has weight and consequences, which is still a bit hard to believe given that I now have gamer-style abilities and traits but my disbelief doesn't cause me to suddenly shoot up in my bed back on my native Earth. Even when I heard a small voice in the back of my mind wonder if I'm actually here I don't suddenly awaken or get a strange foreboding feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'm still here, still honoring the agreement I made with my boss earlier today. As fantastical as some of this feels, I know that I'm actually here, actually in possession of a super body, and that there is still much work for me to do if I want to grow.
When I finally stop this to get ready for work enough time has passed that I've gained several levels in many of my skills, with cooking and singing having both leveled up. I walk over to the table where my clothes are laying on top of each other and I pick out a new outfit. Once I select it I equip it and slip out of my apartment so that I can begin my walk to my new place of employment for my second day, which should be my first real day of work. As I make my way towards the office I can't help but smile. There's an almost childish quality to my excitement as I move closer and closer to a place I know I'll probably loathe by the time I leave this world. I eventually spot the outside of the office building I work in, and relax as the nasty reality of the boring job I have and will be doing diligently for the next decade washes over me. Still, a decade and then retirement, complete with free money for as long as I want is a pretty sweet deal, one I'd be a fool to pass up. And as I reach the front door leading into and out of the office, I smile cleverly and remind myself that for all of my flaws I am not a fool.

Lucknow, the active capital city of Uttar Pradesh, has long been a hub for education. It offers students a wide range of opportunities to pursue their academic goals. Among its educational landscape, polytechnic colleges stand out as colleges that provide practical, applied learning experiences in various fields. For young engineers, technologists, and professionals, selecting the right polytechnic college is extremely important. In this article, we look at the top polytechnic colleges in Lucknow, offering information on their offerings, successes, and unique features.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow: Introduction

Taking on the journey of enrolling in a polytechnic is an exciting yet challenging process. With numerous options available, it's essential to choose the right college that aligns with your career goals and aspirations. Lucknow, known for its rich cultural heritage and rich educational landscape, offers several prestigious polytechnic colleges that offer world-class education and promising career opportunities.

Understanding Polytechnic Colleges

Polytechnic colleges serve as the foundation for building a successful engineering career. These colleges provide students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience to achieve success in today's competitive business environment. From civil to mechanical, computer to operations, polytechnic programs offer specialization in various fields, providing opportunities for diverse career interests.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Polytechnic College

Selecting the right polytechnic college involves considering several factors to ensure a fulfilling educational experience and rewarding career path. Factors such as certification, faculty expertise, placement records, industry collaboration, infrastructure, and location play a crucial role in determining the quality and suitability of a polytechnic program.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow : NIRF Ranking

1. R.R. GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS (RRGI) Lucknow

Ranking: According to the NIRF Ranking 2024, RRGI is the top polytechnic college in Lucknow. The college continues to rank as a top private polytechnic college in Lucknow.
Admission Process: Industry collaboration in a polytechnic program offers numerous benefits to students. It provides them with practical exposure to real-world situations, allowing them to apply their theoretical knowledge in a practical setting. Additionally, industry collaboration helps students develop industry-relevant skills, improves their employability, and increases their chances of securing internships and job placements with renowned companies. It also allows students to network with industry professionals and gain valuable knowledge into the latest trends and technologies in their field of study. Admission to RR GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS is through entrance tests such as JEE Main, CUET, etc., followed by an interview or personal interview.
Costs: Each RRGI course has different expenses per course.
Placements: RRGI offers suitable placement opportunities, with available CTC deals ranging from INR 7 LPA to INR 37 LPA.

1. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) Lucknow

Ranking: According to the NIRF Ranking 2024, BBAU is Lucknow's best polytechnic university. Engineering studies at this university are continuously ranked among the best in the area.
Admission Process: Students are mostly accepted into BBAU through entrance tests like JEE Main and CUET, as well as GDs and PIs.
Costs: Although BBAU's annual expenses are variable, they are generally affordable.
Placements: With average CTC deals ranging from INR 5 LPA to INR 36 LPA, BBAU offers suitable placement opportunities.

1. SRM Institute of Technology, Lucknow

Ranking : The Polytechnic College of SRM Lucknow has been ranked among Lucknow's top 10 polytechnic colleges. Lucknow's best education can be found there.
Admission Process: Getting admission involves entrance examinations such as JEE Main.
Cost : SRM is affordable to study in Lucknow. It varies depending on the course.
Placement: Students are placed in excellent jobs with the help of the principal and sector partners.

1. Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) Lucknow

Ranking: The Institute of Engineering and Technology Lucknow is one of the top polytechnic universities in the metropolitan area.
Entrance Process: Preliminary exams are followed by group discussions and personal interviews.
Fees: The Institute of Engineering and Technology Lucknow offers affordable quality education.
Placement: Established relationships with the business enable the institute to achieve exceptional placement results.

1. AKTU Lucknow (Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University) Lucknow

Ranking: As one of Lucknow's polytechnic universities, AKTU holds a leading position.
Admission Process: The primary entrance requirement is an entrance test.
Fees: There are relatively low tuition fees at AKTU Lucknow, which provides high-quality education.
Placement: Students have access to a specific placement cell in the college, which can help with job placement.

1. Integral University Lucknow

Ranking: Integral University's reputation for scholarly excellence is well deserved.
Admission Process: The admissions test as well as the admissions counseling process.
Fees: Trainees are able to afford the costs due to the reasonable rates.
Placements: While positioning itself, Integral University collaborates with corporate partners.

1. University of Lucknow

Ranking: There are a variety of training programs offered at the University of Lucknow.
Admission Process: There is an entrance test and also a merit-based admission process.
Fees: An excellent education and learning experience is offered by the University of Lucknow at a relatively low cost.
Placements: Alternative development and professional readiness are both important aspects of the university's curriculum.

1. Babu Banarasi Das University Lucknow

Ranking: BBDAU has earned a positive reputation since it is a well-established organization.
Admission Process: Students will be required to take entrance tests and receive guidance as well.
Fees: At BBDU Lucknow, students have access to high-quality education at relatively affordable costs.
Placement: A locating cell is located at BBDAU.

1. Goel Institute of Technology And Management, Lucknow

Ranking: The engineering plans developed by GITM are widely recognized for their quality.
Admission Process: A combination of entrance examinations and interviews.
Placement: Positioning is done in collaboration with partners on the ground.

1. Doctor Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University, Lucknow

Ranking : It is recognized for its innovative approach to education and learning as well as its inclusive approach.
Admission Process: Applicants are required to take entrance tests as well as attend counselling sessions.
Placements: In addition to skill progression and employability, the university places an emphasis on career development.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow: Admission process and criteria

The applicant must take a group discussion, an entrance examination, and an interview before being accepted into the program. There are a number of factors that determine a candidate's rank, including their school background, entrance exam results, business experience in their field (if any), and their overall character.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow : Unique Features of Polytechnic Colleges in Lucknow

Lucknow's polytechnic colleges are unique from others in the city by several factors, including:

• In addition to traditional courses, we offer courses in new and growing areas like AI, Civil, and Mechanical.
• Our certifications and workshops are relevant to the industry, thanks to our partnerships with top companies.
• Global immersion and exchange programs offer numerous opportunities to gain international experience.
• Mentoring programs and career counseling are available throughout a student's academic career.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow : Alumni Success Stories

It is clear from the success stories of alumni of these colleges that the polytechnic programs they offer are highly valuable. This is proven by their alumni's success stories. They have founded their own companies or significantly contributed to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in general.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow : Cost and Financial Aid Options

In order to get a polytechnic degree, students should consider the cost of education and locate some financial aid options available to them, such as scholarships, loans, and scholarships that colleges offer. Investing in your future by attending a polytechnic is certainly a wise decision, but education costs must also be taken into account.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow : Student Life and Extracurricular Activities

Students at polytechnic colleges in Lucknow are encouraged to participate in after-school activities, clubs, and cultural events as part of their global development program. Among the outcomes of this are improved teamwork and leadership skills, as well as a more positive personality.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow : Industry Partnerships and Collaborations

Students gain real-world knowledge and practical experience in the corporate environment through industry visits, guest lectures, and live projects as part of the program.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow : Research and Innovation Opportunities

The Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow strongly encourage research and innovation among students by sending them to research centers, incubators, and company projects. Besides contributing to knowledge creation, this also provides students with the opportunity to solve problems.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow : Internship Programs

During the polytechnic program, students have the opportunity to participate in internships, which give them hands-on experience in the industry. Summer internships and live projects with top organizations are available to students enrolled in Lucknow colleges.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow : Campus Culture and Diversity

As a result of the active campus culture that exists on campus, polytechnic students reflect a wide range of backgrounds, interests, aspirations, and experiences. By facilitating group learning, multicultural understanding, and a global perspective, multicultural educational environments facilitate student-to-student learning.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow : Conclusion

The decision to study at R.R. Group of Institutions Lucknow, the best polytechnic college in Lucknow, marks an important step in achieving your career goals. When you consider curriculum, faculty expertise, infrastructure, placement opportunities, and unique features, you can make a good decision that aligns with your goals.

FAQs: Top Polytechnic Colleges in Lucknow

What were the top-ranked polytechnic colleges in Lucknow?

According to NIRF and other trusted sources, some of the top polytechnic colleges in Lucknow are R.R. Group of Institutions Lucknow, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University Lucknow, Institute of Engineering and Technology Lucknow, Integral University, and Amity University Lucknow Campus. It is still important to consider your own desires and goals when choosing the "best" university.

What are the vital aspects to consider when picking a polytechnic university in Lucknow?

In addition to rankings, explore expertise options, adviser expertise, labs and structures, sector links and positionings, scholarship opportunities, and the overall understanding environment. Your career goals and specialization must align with the university you choose.

What are the actual admission requirements for polytechnic systems in Lucknow?

The majority of entrance examinations are based on entrance examinations like JEE Main or UPSEE, followed by a training process. In some colleges, additional rounds may include group discussions and personal interviews.

What is the average cost of polytechnic education in Lucknow colleges?

The cost of attending college varies widely from $40,000 to $2,000,000 per year, depending on the college. Consider university tuition fees, hostel fees, and additional academic expenses when evaluating the fee structure of shortlisted colleges.

What are the actual positioning customers for polytechnic graduates in Lucknow?

Skilled Lucknow is home to a growing commercial hub and high demand for skilled engineers. There has been a strong track record of successful placements between polytechnic colleges and leading companies in the past. In order to bridge the gap between idea and practice, there are a lot of internship options available.

Is it possible to establish polytechnic universities in Lucknow with financial assistance as Adidas monetary assistance?

A number of universities offer merit-based, need-based, and industry-sponsored financial aid. Investigate your shortlisted universities' financial aid programs to determine if they offer you financial assistance.

What are the different polytechnic specializations offered in Lucknow?

There are many polytechnic fields of expertise offered by Lucknow colleges, including Computer Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE), and more. Find the best match by exploring the options provided by your shortlisted universities.

Just how vital is a strong graduate system for polytechnic graduates?

Alumni networks can be a valuable asset for an organization. It can be a great way to enhance professional guidance and mentorship opportunities, as well as open doors to possibilities through expert connections. Your shortlisted universities should have a strong alumni system.

What is the usefulness of gentle capability development in polytechnic courses?

The ability to communicate, to work together, to lead, and to analyze is just as important as technical expertise in order to achieve design excellence. Learn whether the college offers opportunities for developing these crucial skills through individual growth seminars.

What information can be used to learn more about the top polytechnic colleges in Lucknow?

There is no better place to start than this blog! A comprehensive list of information can be found on university websites, official sales brochures, and ranking sites such as NIRF and the R.R. Group of Institutions. Also, attending information sessions relevant to universities can be helpful.
Lucknow, the active capital city of Uttar Pradesh, has long been a hub for education. It offers students a wide range of opportunities to pursue their academic goals. Among its educational landscape, polytechnic colleges stand out as colleges that provide practical, applied learning experiences in various fields. For young engineers, technologists, and professionals, selecting the right polytechnic college is extremely important. In this article, we look at the top polytechnic colleges in Lucknow, offering information on their offerings, successes, and unique features.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow: Introduction

Taking on the journey of enrolling in a polytechnic is an exciting yet challenging process. With numerous options available, it's essential to choose the right college that aligns with your career goals and aspirations. Lucknow, known for its rich cultural heritage and rich educational landscape, offers several prestigious polytechnic colleges that offer world-class education and promising career opportunities.

Understanding Polytechnic Colleges

Polytechnic colleges serve as the foundation for building a successful engineering career. These colleges provide students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience to achieve success in today's competitive business environment. From civil to mechanical, computer to operations, polytechnic programs offer specialization in various fields, providing opportunities for diverse career interests.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Polytechnic College

Selecting the right polytechnic college involves considering several factors to ensure a fulfilling educational experience and rewarding career path. Factors such as certification, faculty expertise, placement records, industry collaboration, infrastructure, and location play a crucial role in determining the quality and suitability of a polytechnic program.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow : NIRF Ranking

1. R.R. GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS (RRGI) Lucknow

Ranking: According to the NIRF Ranking 2024, RRGI is the top polytechnic college in Lucknow. The college continues to rank as a top private polytechnic college in Lucknow.
Admission Process: Industry collaboration in a polytechnic program offers numerous benefits to students. It provides them with practical exposure to real-world situations, allowing them to apply their theoretical knowledge in a practical setting. Additionally, industry collaboration helps students develop industry-relevant skills, improves their employability, and increases their chances of securing internships and job placements with renowned companies. It also allows students to network with industry professionals and gain valuable knowledge into the latest trends and technologies in their field of study.Admission to RRGI is through entrance tests such as JEE Main, CUET, etc., followed by an interview or personal interview.
Costs: Each RRGI course has different expenses per course.
Placements: RRGI offers suitable placement opportunities, with available CTC deals ranging from INR 7 LPA to INR 37 LPA.

1. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) Lucknow

Ranking: According to the NIRF Ranking 2024, BBAU is Lucknow's best polytechnic university. Engineering studies at this university are continuously ranked among the best in the area.
Admission Process: Students are mostly accepted into BBAU through entrance tests like JEE Main and CUET, as well as GDs and PIs.
Costs: Although BBAU's annual expenses are variable, they are generally affordable.
Placements: With average CTC deals ranging from INR 5 LPA to INR 36 LPA, BBAU offers suitable placement opportunities.

1. SRM Institute of Technology, Lucknow

Ranking : The Polytechnic College of SRM Lucknow has been ranked among Lucknow's top 10 polytechnic colleges. Lucknow's best education can be found there.
Admission Process: Getting admission involves entrance examinations such as JEE Main.
Cost : SRM is affordable to study in Lucknow. It varies depending on the course.
Placement: Students are placed in excellent jobs with the help of the principal and sector partners.

1. Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) Lucknow

Ranking: The Institute of Engineering and Technology Lucknow is one of the top polytechnic universities in the metropolitan area.
Entrance Process: Preliminary exams are followed by group discussions and personal interviews.
Fees: The Institute of Engineering and Technology Lucknow offers affordable quality education.
Placement: Established relationships with the business enable the institute to achieve exceptional placement results.

1. AKTU Lucknow (Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University) Lucknow

Ranking: As one of Lucknow's polytechnic universities, AKTU holds a leading position.
Admission Process: The primary entrance requirement is an entrance test.
Fees: There are relatively low tuition fees at AKTU Lucknow, which provides high-quality education.
Placement: Students have access to a specific placement cell in the college, which can help with job placement.

1. Integral University Lucknow

Ranking: Integral University's reputation for scholarly excellence is well deserved.
Admission Process: The admissions test as well as the admissions counseling process.
Fees: Trainees are able to afford the costs due to the reasonable rates.
Placements: While positioning itself, Integral University collaborates with corporate partners.

1. University of Lucknow

Ranking: There are a variety of training programs offered at the University of Lucknow.
Admission Process: There is an entrance test and also a merit-based admission process.
Fees: An excellent education and learning experience is offered by the University of Lucknow at a relatively low cost.
Placements: Alternative development and professional readiness are both important aspects of the university's curriculum.

1. Babu Banarasi Das University Lucknow

Ranking: BBDAU has earned a positive reputation since it is a well-established organization.
Admission Process: Students will be required to take entrance tests and receive guidance as well.
Fees: At BBDU Lucknow, students have access to high-quality education at relatively affordable costs.
Placement: A locating cell is located at BBDAU.

1. Goel Institute of Technology And Management, Lucknow

Ranking: The engineering plans developed by GITM are widely recognized for their quality.
Admission Process: A combination of entrance examinations and interviews.
Placement: Positioning is done in collaboration with partners on the ground.

1. Doctor Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University, Lucknow

Ranking : It is recognized for its innovative approach to education and learning as well as its inclusive approach.
Admission Process: Applicants are required to take entrance tests as well as attend counselling sessions.
Placements: In addition to skill progression and employability, the university places an emphasis on career development.

Top Polytechnic colleges in Lucknow: Admission process and criteria

The applicant must take a group discussion, an entrance examination, and an interview before being accepted into the program. There are a number of factors that determine a candidate's rank, including their school background, entrance exam results, business experience in their field (if any), and their overall character.

Shams Rehman
I came back to Mirpur from UK after a decade and so much is changed that requires a book to cover the processes and aspects of the change. Not only the depressive markets appear buzzing with economic activity despite the price hike or inflation, but it seems that politically this region is entering into a new phase. Youth is marching away from the Valley centric to the AJK centric politics. From the irrelevant and abstract ideological rhetoric to the life- issues based activism reflecting the lives of AJK people. The Mirpur division in general and the city of Mirpur in particular which was the cradle of independent Kashmir politics since 1950s, is presenting a hope for leading the home of Beitish Kashmiris towards a new kind of progressive and inclusive politics amidst concrete walls of tribalism and sectarianism. I leave the wider analysis of Mirpur for another time and focus on what seems to be a clear evidence of political change in this part of the divided and disputed state of Jammu Kashmir.
Right now, there is an interesting debate going on between the government and ‘Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), an amalgamation of diverse groups and opinions formed last year, about the deployment of 600 personnel of Punjab Constabulary (PC) in ‘azad’ (free) Jammu Kashmir (AJK). While the PM and Home Minister of AJK claim that we requested Punjab Civil Armed Forces (CAF) to increase the security of Chinese nationals working on various hydro power projects across AJK, leaders of the JAAC are circulating on social media the request letter dated 22nd April 2024, sent by the chief secretary of AJK government to the IG Punjab. The letter does request the deployment of ‘six additional platoons of CAF to strengthen the capacity of AJ&K police to ensure foolproof security of Chinese nationals and our strategic national infrastructure such as Neelam-Jehlum Powerhouse, Mangla Powerhouse, [and] Gulpur Powerhouse.’
However, in the next paragraph it also states that ‘we are also now faced with the calls of shutter down and wheel jam strikes from May 11th onwards given by the sub-nationalists and disgruntled subversive elements.’ Why the prime minister of AJK needs to deny in public that the CAF are invited to deal with the JAAC activism when the request letter clearly uses the JAAC activities as an additional factor to justify the deployment of the civil armed forces from Punjab? And What is actually going on in ‘azad’ Kashmir?
The only reason I can think of the denial by AJK PM of inviting forces from Punjab to deal with the planned JAAC activities is the peaceful nature of the JAAC movement and widespread public support it enjoys. This is an old tactic of the era when public had little access to the happenings in the government corridors. They fail to realise that now almost every official correspondence is leaked out because many officials within government offices are actually also fed up of the corrupt nature of governance.
While the Awami Action Committee was formed in 2014 on the lines of a similar people’s movement in Gilgit Baltistan, another part of the Kashmir Dispute under a relatively greater control of Pakistan, the current phase of ‘People’s Movement’ was initiated in July last year from Rawalakot city of AJK where few civil activists and traders started a ‘Sit In’ outside of the flour depot to protest against the shortage of subsidised flour. The act was soon followed by Sit Ins in other parts of Poonch Division and then spread to Mirpur and Muzaffarabad divisions with more demands added including ‘free electricity’ for AJK. The first ‘Jirga’ of the Action Committee was held in Kotli district where it was decided that ‘Sit-Ins’ will be increased, and a boycott of electricity bills payments will be launched till the government agrees to provide electricity free of cost. Some people mentioned the ‘No Revenue Movement’ against the increased rates of Maharaja Hari Singh government in 1930s to crush which the British troops were sent to Mirpur and four activists were hanged. However, people still did not pay the unjustly increased revenue rates which Maharaj was forced to take back. Awami Action Committee convened its consultation meeting in Muzaffarabad, the capital of AJK which was attended by hundreds of activists from all ten districts of AJK and issued a formal list of demands after a marathon discussion lasted more than 24 hours.
The name of the committee was changed from ‘Awami Action Committee’ (AAC) to ‘ Joint Awami Action Committee’ (JAAC) and a core body of 30 leading members was elected with three members from each district. They called the list of demands the ‘Charter of Demands’ with the demand of free electricity changed to the provision of electricity on ‘cost price’ from Mangla Dam. Other main demands included the price of flour subsidised to the rates of Srinagar and Gilgit Baltistan, withdrawal of luxurious privileges to the ruling classes, restoration of students’ unions, construction of a grid station in AJK, implementation of the court decision regarding Neelum Jhelum Dam, and completion of all projects across AJK. In short, the movement is against inflation, subsidies and better use of local resources for AJK people.
After some protests and shutter downs across AJK, the government formed a negotiating committee, and several rounds of negotiations were held with the JAAC. In a joint press conference after the last round of negotiations spokespersons of both negotiation committees announced that agreement is reached on all issues except the electricity bills. In principal government committee agreed on the provision of electricity on cost price but required time for working out how much is the cost price per unit of electricity from Mangla Dam.
According to the leadership of the JAAC, government was supposed to issue notifications on all other demands to the relevant departments and move bills in assembly for implementation. However, this was not done and the PM speaking to Mirpur Bar Council few weeks later claimed that demands are met, and matter is resolved. He claimed that the main demand of the JAAC was to freeze electricity bills to the pre 2022 prices which has already done.
The JAAC instantly issued statements that our demand about electricity bills is to take out all the daft taxes and provide the electricity at the cost price. They also stated that the matter is not resolved and wont be resolved until notifications about each demand in the Charter of Demands is issued and implementation process is meaningfully initiated in accordance with the agreement in all relevant departments. When no practical step was taken from the government to implement the agreement the JAAC announced that protests will be organised on 5th of February 2024. Since 5th February is marked every year in Pakistan, Azad Kashmir and amongst diaspora Kashmiris across the world to show solidarity with the Kashmiris in the Indian Occupied Kashmir, the government of AJK denounced this decision of JAAC as against the ‘Tehreek Hurriyat e Kashmir’ (Kashmir Liberation Movement).
The leadership of the action committee rebutted by saying that so called solidarity is mere hypocrisy of the AJK rulers who always abuse the plight of Kashmiri in the IOK to hide their mega corruption and inability to provide a responsible government in AJK. Therefore, the purpose to organise protests against the AJK rulers on this day is not to undermine or damage the cause of Kashmir’ but to expose the AJK rulers.
On the night of 4th February 2024 another round of negotiations was held between the negotiating committees and the government once again greed to take necessary steps regarding the Charter of Demands. However, the JAAC waiting some time announced that if the government does not take required steps by 30th April 2024 they will call for People’s March on 11th of May 2024 from all towns and cities of AJK and gather outside of the Azad Jammu Kashmir assembly in Muzaffarabad where they will stay till the demands in the Charter are addressed properly. On the arrival of CAF protests are being held in different towns across AJK and preparations for the 11th of May march are enhanced. Now news of potential arrest lists is being circulating on social media and JAAC has announced multi layers of activists to lead the march if the top leadership is arrested.
The key point they are making is that during one year of the movement not a single incident of violence happened anywhere in the AJK or as they say ‘ not a single vase is broken’, eik gamla naheen toota. Then why invite civil armed forces from Punjab? One reason offered by some activists is that the AJK police is not trusted by the government because the demands of the JAAC including electricity on cost price and flour subsidies are also echoed by the AJK police and all employees who are not privileged and get affected by the high rates of electricity, gas and flour subsidies etc.
Naghman Arif, a lecturer of English literature at Mirpur Degree College who have recently resigned to participate fully in the progressive politics to improve the conditions of the downtrodden population in Mirpur stated ‘the current AJK leadership is increasingly becoming irrelevant. They did not expect people to come out in such large numbers to participate in the protest calls of JAAC.’
He made an interesting point stating, ‘the AJK government and obscurantist leaders tried to contain the movement by using typical tactic of branding the movement as ‘anti-Pakistan’ and ‘backed by India’ or ‘Indian will use the unrest in AJK against Pakistan’. They do this to divert attention from their irresponsible and blatantly corrupt governance. However, now the youth of AJK has understood these tactics and are no longer willing to tolerate the politics of divide and rule rooted in the tribal and feudal super structure. The younger generation is rallying around the JAAC and people’s rights politics and is ready to make any sacrifices to replace this expired and outdated system with a more responsible government through healthy, positive, constructive, and progressive system of government. What Pakistani rulers need to understand is that the movement in AJK is not against Pakistan but is for the basic right of the people and to expose the corrupt and outdated system of government in AJK.’ He further stated ‘hitherto ‘azad’ Kashmir has been ruled through restrict, lofty statements and sweet promises. Now we have entered in the era of deliverance. Younger generation no longer is interested in charming speeches but practice. That is what I will work on along with the youth of Mirpur from all shades of opinions.’
Saad Ansari, one of the main leaders of the JAAC in Mirpur warned the Pakistani authorities that ‘any use of force against the peaceful march on 11th May will make the situation worse and seriously damage the image of Pakistan at international level as diaspora Kashmiris who hitherto protest against Indian atrocities in the IOK will also stage protests outside of Pakistani embassies and their links with the AJK will be weakened further.’
While JAAC is fighting against the unjust electricity bills and wide inflation in the streets, lawyer of Jammu Kashmir majority of whom while standing with the JAAC also fighting inside courts. The legal battle has started giving positive results. Yesterday ( Tuesday 7th May) the High Court of AJK has directed AJK government to explain the list of taxes collected with the electricity bills in writ petition titled “District Bar Association Mirpur President Imtiaz Raja Advocate (Time) and Faisal Manzoor President Mirpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Time)”.
The court of AJK also directed the AJK government to respond its stance within 15 days over an identical writ petition filed by Imtiaz Raja Advocate about inordinate delay in construction of much-prolonged Rathuaa-Haryam Bridge over Mangla Lake in Mirpur and the payment of compensatory funds to additional families of Mangla Dam effectees.

Hello everyone, First of all, I would like to apologize if I make any typos or mistakes, English is not my native language.
I am in Korea since 6 months, as a WHV visa holder, so obviously, many jobs are impossible, or illegal to do.
That being said, I've been in contact with what they call "The ****** Alliance" I'm hiding the name now for safety reasons.
They used to have some classes to teach people the language of the country with real teachers, some language exchanges, activities, etc. Not like a Hagwon, but... Little bit similar.
There's many in Korea, but the one in my city had a job to offer for me today.
I used to go there for conferences, and the language exchange, so, at that time, it seemed alright.
Therefore, I saw the offices today, something very dirty, and all the employees looked like they were in a total burnout, some people were there as WHV holders as well, and they couldn't even visit Korea because they had to be always there (And to remind you, as a Working Holiday Holder, you're supposed to have ONLY 25h of work per week.)
When I was at the interview, some of the employees, told me to avoid working there, so I investigated a little by interrogating the employees.
And the director told me that I can't teach since I do not have a Teaching Licence, but he will make my post as his partneassociate, to avoid any problems.
The thing is, and what I know is that, if there's a control of some sort, I will be considerated as an illegal worker, and I can kiss my Visa goodbye, and won't be able to lay one foot in the Korean land for 5 years.
What am I supposed to do, just refuse, and let naive people from my country getting enslaved and screwed like this, or perhaps denounce them.
Or accept the post, just do one month hence the director won't be there for a while, and get most evidences as possible.
Does anyone has been in this situation, or had been witnessing some similar situations ?
Thank you in advance guys.

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Sorry in advance for the wall of text
I recently got diagnosed with ADHD and it makes complete sense given how much I've struggled with things throughout my life. However, there is one odd thing I struggle with that I'm wondering may be connected to RSD.
Do any folks here tend to hyperfocus/overdo their friendships out of a fear of being forgotten/left out? I am an extremely social person and love the relationships I have made from college and beyond. However, I had a really toxic period where I would get immensely sensitive if I knew someone was hanging out without me or plans were being made that may not include me. My friends are genuine loving people and we adore eachother so none of this was meant to be done maliciously.
I think I just struggled with the fact that everyone has their own relationships with eachother outside of the group dynamic and sometimes it won't include you. Those moments of finding out about something like this would throw me into a huge spiral.
I ended up getting on lexapro to help this emotional dysregulation and my OCD and it did work. However, after 6 years on it I feel too emotionally numb and feel medicating my ADHD can address some of my issues, including the emotional issues.
I recently started weening off my lexapro (now with supervision) and noticed some of these insecurities coming back as I started to reconnect with friends I hadn't seen in a year or so. We sporadically caught up online. I saw two of them individually and it was amazing, we simply picked up where we left off. However, there was a triggering moment for me.
One of them told me that these two friends got tickets to see a dj set. One of these friends knows I am working on being a dj, love to go out dancing etc. but they never reached out to me when buying the tickets. It was only when we reconnected in person that they said, hey me and x are going, you should see if there are still tickets available. What's even "worse" is that when I saw X, the person who made the plan, they never mentioned any of this even though we were literally talking about seeing dj sets and I was telling them about this new desire. They told me I would be a great DJ etc. I know I shouldn't hold this against them because not everyone thinks of all the ways people can be clued into different plans, especially since this event is all the way in July. Additionally, this friend's now ex has the tickets and they later mentioned not knowing if they'll get them back. Either way, if there w was no rationalizing it still shouldn't be a sticky point in my head. These friends both invited me to other things and the ball is now rolling on being back in each others lives.
The more adjusted part of me wants to say hey! those people all live in the same city and even though you are kinda nearby, a lot of folks just move with what's naturally in front of them. Plus, you weren't as in their lives at the time. Regardless, there will always be times when you're left out or you even leave out others. If it's not done maliciously it shouldn't matter. I should simply continue to be myself and naturally make opportunities to spend time, not obsessively think about who's seeing who and if they forgot me.
I know alot of people don't reach out to friends because of RSD or tend to not be social but does anyone have the opposite? I know I won't fall into my old habits of being a toxic friend but I just wish I was more secure in myself and could handle the "rejection" of not being thought of. I don't want to be the annoying person I used to be who takes it personal. I think I'm handling it well but I'm sure there is a good way to put things in perspective.
I cant wait to get on stimulants man.

TL;DR : My mom does not like my boyfriend, with valid and invalid opinions. and I am stuck between the two of them as I want my parents to be present in my life and also be with the guy I am with. I am asking for advice on how to deal with my mother as she emotionally impacting me and I do not know how to resolve this conflict as it feels unsolvable, but both parties are important to me.
So last year I (19F) started things with a guy (20M), we have classes together in college, and long term wise it was going really well, but of course like all relationships there were some hiccups here and there. Growing up it was rare for me to go against my parents or to not follow them, I always got high grades in class, got achievements, and made sure to love my family. I didn't go out much, never had romantic relationships, and was generally someone who only had school and a homelife so I got used to being alone and just living life online. However, late last year and this year, it was like I was finally experiencing what it was like to live as a teenager. To stay out late, find romantic fulfillment, make more friends, and to generally explore life. My mom in particular, was very supportive of me exploring being in a relationship and allowed me to do a plethora of things with this guy. Such as going to classes together, going out, etc. But, with this being my first relationship I unknowingly made the mistake of always running to my parents for advice, which obviously ended in them having a bad impression of him, but even through that my mom allowed me to do things and we did not really establish any boundaries regarding anything. I also think, basing of my assessment and my close friends, that my parents had such a shock to how my life has changed that I started to go out more and stop drowning myself in studies and being alone, and for that brief moment of time before everything happened I was in the best mental state of my life and I was happy with myself, my life, and with my family and friends.
At the start of this year, me and my partner were at a place where we were comfortable with each other, so things became intimate between us. It is important to note that we were not officially together yet, but we knew things were headed towards there because we discussed it beforehand. I knew my parents would disapprove of it if they were to find out but I believed that doing that was my decision and my risk to take. My mom found this out by reading through my diary when she went through my room and so she confronted us that she felt really betrayed by this but she allowed us to continue seeing each other but very limited and with the promise of not doing "that" again. A few days pass, and she found out that I spent time with him alone, nothing happened, but I did lie about it because I was afraid of her anger. Regarding this I understand that I made mistakes as well and I have apologized and reflected on them. After finding out that we were alone, she yelled at the guy I was with to leave or that she would hurt him and she then rushed to the place we were with and even went to my school to talk to them about what was happening to find ways to separate us.
After this happened, it was like a dam broke and she started being hypercritical, controlling to the point of suffocating, and being irrational in her judgements. She has gone to say that the guy I was with does not love me, is using me, and that his family is worthless and that I am stupid for not seeing it the way she does. I told her that I understood her concerns and I would want to figure them out for myself, and that if she wanted to she could talk to the guy and explain her side and get reassurances as well, but she was just angry and would not agree to anything. I have put myself in her shoes and I understand why she was angry at me and him, but she does not want to make any compromises with me at all and she just wants me to cut of all contact with him.
Lately, things have just gotten more and more toxic with my mom with her constantly being critical of the things I do and leads everything I do back to the guy. During my exams, after I asked her to discuss about things another time she told me that "I can make time for friends so why can't I for her," so I sat down and we fought and that led me to not being able to study for my exam. She has been monitoring my conversations with my friends on social media, asked me for my phone so that she can go through it, and when I try to say that she has no right to do that she says that she does because she purchased me my own phone. She also keeps track of my location at all times and she wants to fetch and bring me to school (I am a college student).
At this point, while I understand the mistakes I have made, I can't also deny that my mom has become such a source of toxiticity in my life and this situation just makes me realize how enmeshed our lives are. She tells me that we would never resolve our conflict because I do not want to obey her and that she hates him and will never change her mind, and that one day I will have to pick between her and him and if I choose him she tells me that I will not inherit anything from them. She says that everything that has happened is my fault and that I am too emotional to handle my own life so she has to control it because I can't be trusted with it.
I know that I played a big part by destroying my mom's trust in me and in him and I generally just want advice on how to deal with this situation as I love my parents and the guy and do not want to lose either of them.

DISCLAIMER: I'd like to note that I do not consider myself an expert on many of the topics he talks about or even economics in general but a lot of what I'm about to say is pretty easily verifiable and basic, and I'll try to be clear that I'm expressing my opinion and not fact when I'm doing so. Given my lack of expertise, none of what I say here should be considered as the final authority on these topics, it's a reddit post for fucks sake, I encourage everyone to search up the relevant data and information on the topics they are interested in or claims they find dubious. It's really not that hard and all the links and data I'm gonna cite here took me less than five minutes to find for each piece of information. If you're not familiar with where to find this data it might take you longer but I promise that anyone with access to the internet can do the same thing I'm doing. Finally, for those looking for some opinionless, academic argument, that's not what this is, this is gonna sound like a rant because it is, I'm posting this for nothing more than my own satisfaction, take from it what you will.
Ok I'm writing this after I finished the whole thing and I said that I'll try to be clear that I'm expressing my opinion and not fact when I'm doing so and the basically entire second half of this is my opinion and I don't make that very clear so sorry about that.
Honestly I'd love to be wrong because I really do think that younger people are at a disadvantage compared to previous generations at the same age but the arguments he makes and the data he uses throughout his talk just sound like such bullshit to me.
https://www.ted.com/talks/scott\_galloway\_how\_the\_us\_is\_destroying\_young\_people\_s\_future?
https://www.profgalloway.com/war-on-the-young/
Scott Galloway recently did a Ted talk titled "How the US is destroying young people's future", as well as an accompanying blog post. He's made some fair points about how young people have been put at an inherent disadvantage and that they have it harder than previous generations. That's most likely true and I personally support that point of view, but the a lot data and numbers he makes this argument with seem to be cherry picked, misleading, or just straight up wrong. So let's break his talk down. u/JustTaxLandLol made a pretty good post about him comparing median wages to the S\&P500 (https://www.reddit.com/badeconomics/comments/1cc3rs8/scott\_galloway\_compares\_median\_wage\_to\_sp500/) but I think that Galloway's mistakes are much more comprehensive than just that particular slide.
The first slide with data makes a claim about how pre-tax income, adjusted for inflation, has decreased across generations from grandparents to parents to kids, and that cost of public colleges and home prices have increased significantly across generations too. First of all, categorising generations by whether they have children or grandchildren is kinda nuts. That's a very wide, overlapping, range of ages. If he actually has fixed age ranges set for each generation that don't overlap and has just made these categorisations for the sake of understandability to a nonacademic audience, I still think that's the wrong choice but fine. However, his claim that real income has decreased across generations is weak at best. This working paper (https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2024007pap.pdf) from the Fed Reserve was published February 2024, and from the figures that start at page 35, shows that by almost every categorisation they could think of, GenZ earns more at the same age than every previous generation before them. There's some conflict here with Raj Chetty's work but I don't have the time or knowledge to reconcile the two perspectives but at best, the pre-tax income numbers Galloway presents are questionable at best. Furthermore, he doesn't provide anyone a chance at even checking the sources he gets this information from. Not once in his entire talk does he cite a single source. He couldn't even have some tiny text at the bottom of his tables or diagrams saying what organisation he got this data from. Ok so that crossed out bit is wrong, he does have sources they're just very very faint and you can see them if you squint hard enough at the bottom left corner of his graphs. But the source he gives for this slide is a joke. Here's the link https://www.profgalloway.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Table-01.png
His "source" is his own analysis. Ok so by his analysis, the average cost of public college is 56000*0.43 = 24080. I'm gonna use numbers from this US News page *https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/paying-for-college-infographic), which might not be the most reliable source in the world, but it's probably somewhere in the ballpark. So according to US News, average tuition for the 2023-2024 school year for out of state students going to a public school is 23,630 and 10,662 for in state students. If these numbers are anywhere near accurate, the only conclusion I can draw is that Galloway has cherry-picked his data by only including the cost for out of state students in his analysis. First of all, public schools in the US are there to provide affordable access to higher education FOR RESIDENTS OF ITS STATE. Using only out of state numbers is absolutely ridiculous. Secondly, even if he used only the in state numbers, 10662/56000 is approximately equal to 19%. So if I use his very very questionable pre-tax income numbers, cost of public college for in state students has still increased across his categorisation of generations. It's not like his point would have been invalidated if he had used the in-state numbers, a trend of tuition increasing as a percentage of real income across multiple generations is still very bad. This is my opinion but I guess that he just wanted to find a nice shocking number. I didn't catch this but in their post, u/JustTaxLandLol notes that later on Galloway says "real median income from labor is up 40% since 1974" so he's also contradicting himself in the same talk.
I couldn't be bothered to look into the house price to income column he has so I don't have any comments on that.
His next slide is a point about how the percentage of 30 year olds earning more than their parents did at 30 has been decreasing very significantly over time. This is from a paper in 2016 by Raj Chetty (link: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aal4617). I've seen some counterarguments about the methods used in the paper but there are counterarguments for basically every inequality paper in existence so I'd take them with a grain of salt. Those points are more complex than the scope of this post and I lack the expertise to be making them anyways so I believe this slide. I'll admit that Galloway makes a good argument for this slide.
Right after this slide he says "As a result, people over the age of 55 feel pretty good about America, but less than one in five people under the age of 34 feel very good about America. This creates an incendiary, righteous movement...". He supports this with data on the percentage of US adults who feel "extremely proud" to be American.
Before I talk about the data on this slide, I'd like to be a little anal about things and pick apart his wording and causal claims he makes. This paragraph is my opinion so skip if you want. When Galloway says "as a result" he's making a causal claim about the relationship between a young person's earning ability and their national pride. Leaving aside the econometric issues of making random causal claims, this is a ridiculous marginalisation of all the other critically important issues in the US. It seems pretty clear to me that reduced national pride amongst younger individuals is a combination of a lack of social mobility (or however you want to word your version of the fading American dream), the continued existence of systematic racism and sexism, US response to ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, bodily autonomy (abortion), and many more other issues. Not to say that the economic disadvantages of young people doesn't play a role in causing this lack of national pride but come on. He also says "this creates an incendiary righteous movement...". Ok if the "as a result" from the last sentence could be interpreted as the economic disadvantages of young people play some part in their dissatisfaction with the government, it should be obvious to anyone not living under a rock that many of the political conflicts and movements that have erupted in the US over the past few years have little, if anything, to do with earning ability. In the slide after the poll data he shows three photos, one of a MeToo protest, one of a BLM protest, and another of a pro-Palestine protest. I can only interpret this as him making the claim that the younger generations economic difficulties are causally linked to those movements, which is totally bananas.
Now lets talk about the data. He got this from the Gallup polls (link: https://news.gallup.com/poll/394202/record-low-extremely-proud-american.aspx, there's a link to download the pdf with the poll numbers at the end of this article). There are 5 options for the Gallup poll: "Extremely proud"; "Very proud"; "Moderately proud"; "Only a little proud"; or "Not at all proud". So Galloway is cherry-picking again. To be fair, it's true that even including the rest of the answers, a quick glance at the data suggests (very strongly) that young people are less proud than older people. There are also more young people who choose "Not at all proud" (11% for 18-34 and 1% for 55+). Though there is probably some argument to be made about whether "extreme" pride is a good thing. I know I should probably keep my issues with the specific wording in the previous paragraph and this is me being too strict but "pretty good" and "very good" do not reflect the extremity of choosing, well, the most extreme option.
I think the next two paragraphs are the weakest criticism I have of this talk so I'd very much appreciate it if someone could corroborate or refute me here. As an introduction to his next slide he says that "a decent proxy for how much we value youth labor is minimum wage". I've never heard of this before and am very very skeptical but I'm willing to attribute this to my own ignorance so I'll leave that sentence alone. I'll also admit that I've never learned much about the effects of minimum wage so most of this paragraph will be my opinion. So on this slide there's a graph with two lines, one is minimum wage across time adjusted for inflation, the other is whats supposed to be minimum wage if adjusted for productivity (also adjusted to inflation I assume). Galloway got this data form the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) (https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/), which shows that this gap between productivity began around 1979. This was when Carter was president and right before the Reagan administration. Those who know about the economic history of this time probably won't be surprised since a lot of the policies of this time were rather inegalitarian and heavily favoured the wealthy. I agree that many of the policies of the time contributed heavily to the inequality America faces today and though I haven't read any studies about how this affects minimum wage workers, I believe that minimum wage workers or low income workers in general today have significantly lower purchasing relative to a few decades ago.
What I have a problem with here is the idea that productivity and minimum wage should increase in tandem. According to the EPI, "Productivity measures how much total economywide income is generated (i.e., for workers, business owners, landlords, and everybody else together) in an average hour of work" and "pay is defined as the average compensation (wages and benefits) of production and nonsupervisory workers. The pay for this group is one appropriate benchmark for 'typical worker pay' because production and nonsupervisory workers have made up roughly 80% of the U.S. workforce over the entire period shown in the figure and because the data for production and nonsupervisory workers exclude extremely highly paid managerial workers like CEOs and other corporate executives". Before I try to break down my complaints with the measures used, my immediate reaction when I saw this was that it seems rather stupid to compare the relationship between average productivity and minimum wage in an industrial economy against the same relationship in a service oriented one. There are just more jobs now that let you make an impact on the economy far beyond what you are paid and it is so so difficult to quantify this change. Using a similar argument, I really have no clue how macro people make models or do estimates for things like productivity but I'm quite skeptical about the reliability of using such a measure of productivity because of the increased prevalence of second, third, or n-th order effects that would be present in a measure of something like total gdp but pretty much impossible to identify for any employer. For those who want to read more about this difference between productivity and compensation I think this is the most relevant paper from EPI (https://files.epi.org/2015/understanding-productivity-pay-divergence-final.pdf). There are some points I'm not satisfied with in this paper like them attributing the entirety of the difference between median hourly compensation to average consumer hourly compensation but that would take more time than I want to spend on this.
Now we're still on the same slide and what I'm about to say is still just my opinion but I think it's not as weak as the last two paragraphs. Galloway says "we've kept it [minimum wage] purposely pretty low" twice in three sentences. Now he's suggesting that there's some collective out there that has the political power and desire to keep minimum wage low. By "we" I think he means to suggest that the old-timers have banded together to screw the young people over. Ok buddy. I'm stepping outside the bounds of what's considered strictly economics here a little but pinning the injustices of society on some ethereal enemy whose existence can never be disproven is the same as taking "advantage of the flaws in our species with medieval institutions, Paleolithic instincts, and godlike technology" (Galloway's words, same TED talk) to me. Maybe there really is some cabal of scheming geezers out there who have some twisted desire to keep the minimum wage low, but I'm more inclined to believe that a lot of these "injustices" are a result of our existing political and societal institutions being poor and inefficient aggregators of our desires as a society, rewarding selfishness instead of cooperation. This certainly makes the problem harder to solve than if there were just some evil 'others' we could get rid of and be done with. Having a target to direct our outrage at, believing that I am good and they are bad, is easier than facing the reality that everyone is born with the selfishness that creates the injustices we live with but that's not gonna make people more agreeable. As an economist, I study the theory of incentives to use the same human selfishness that creates all the problems Galloway talks about to create solutions that hopefully improve our quality of life. This is what I believe is the beauty of being human, all the good and bad that happens stem from the same desires, it is our job to create institutions and systems that allow us to channel our desires in a way that benefits everyone, but I digress. The point is, this enemy that Galloway creates is an effective tactic at convincing people of his argument, but I don't believe such a perspective benefits society at all. Mistakes should be corrected, that doesn't mean they're always the result of ill intentions.
His next slide compares the difference between percentage increase in median household income against percentage increase in median home price, as well as a comparison of the median monthly mortgage between 2019 and 2024. I have nothing to say about the graph, I agree that over time, home prices have increased to an unacceptable level . The Fed funds rate went from 2.4 percent in Feb 2019 to 5.33 percent in Feb 2024 (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/fedfunds). To his credit, Galloway does attribute this increase in mortgage payments to "an acceleration in interest rates" but what's the alternative? Don't increase interest rates? Then if I was Galloway I'd make the same TED talk and talk about how the continued low interest rates contributed to rampant inflation that made all the poor people even poorer. This is my opinion again but it seems like he's decided to take whatever bad economic event that seems somewhat relevant and made it to be the result of some group's dogged determination to keep the younger generation down. Why is the increase from pre- to post-covid prices on anything surprising. I'd like to meet the genius who saw covid coming and intentionally created this increase in home prices.
He also says "the most expensive homes in the world, based on this metric, are number three, Vancouver. Why? Because 60 percent of the cost of building a home goes to permits...". I have no idea what point he's making here. Based on what metric, median home price? Monthly mortgage payments? Why do I care about Vancouver, a Canadian city, being number three? Then he talks about how "the incumbents that own assets have weaponized government". Either he's switched to talking about oligopolistic lobbyists in general without saying so or he's still talking about Canada. I dunno. Someone please explain. Then he says "this is the transfer I'm going to be speaking about". Again, I'm being a bit picky with wording here but everything he just said is talking about how there exists a group of people trying to PREVENT transfers of wealth to new entrants. And there was huge applause after that sentence. Nutsos, all of them.
Ok next slide. Galloway presents two pie charts, comparing the share of household wealth by age in 1989 to 2023. So he's talking directly about inequality in wealth now. Inequality in the US is really really bad, that's a fact. I'm a big fan of the work of Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman, and Thomas Piketty. These people have been at the forefront of research on inequality for many years now and though there work is not flawless, I'm convinced by the data they present and the methods by which they have aggregated the data and what they show is that inequality is worse than even what the pie charts Galloway presents suggest. However, this is not to say that this is a valid argument. Please note the grey bits in the pie chart. If Galloway has shown the numbers for everyone under 40 and above 70, the group that's excluded are those between 40 and 70. So those in the age range of 40-70 owned 100 - 19 - 12 = 69% of household wealth in 1989 and 100 - 30 - 7 = 63% in 2023. I could probably go and find how the age demographics of the population have changed over time and I think that with declining birth rates, the percentage change in age demographics would be pretty close to the percentage change in household wealth but I'm tired of beating every slide to death so I'll leave that to someone else if anyone's motivated enough to do that (if my hypothesis is wrong here just comment and I'll make that change). My first thought when I saw this though was again, this guy has paid no regard to structural change in society. Given the increased accessibility of buying stocks over the past three decades is it really that surprising that older people who have had more time and cash at the start of the digital age to invest in companies that are now massive mega-corporations. This is not to say that none of this change in the share of wealth held by those under 40 is due to some inherent unfairness in our society and I have neither the time nor knowledge to separate these effects out but to say that this was a "purposeful" effort to cut their wealth in half is complete and utter bullshit. Also, this guy makes another causal claim WITH NOTHING BUT A CHANGE IN SHARE OF HOUSEHOLD WEALTH. Congratulations everyone Scott Galloway has just made every econometrician in the world redundant, I always knew my professors were just trying to confuse me with funny symbols and Greek letters, someone get this guy a Nobel Prize.
Then while introducing his next slide Galloway says that his analyst's presence in the audience "brings the average age of the entire conference down in 11 days". So he's saying that TED knows exactly who's showing up to their event before it happens and that they have the exact birthdates of everyone in the audience too and that they've given this information to one of their speakers. A friend of mine has told me he's just making a joke and that I should let this point go because I'm being too anal about things but yeah I become anal about things when someone suggests sweeping institutional changes in a talk viewed by millions of people so thought I'd include it anyways just as another example of the bullshit this guy has been spewing.
When he moves on to the actual content in the slide the first point he makes is about lower acceptance rates in schools. So I don't have data on this because I couldn't be bothered to go find any so again, I'll change my statement if anyone has reliable data indicating otherwise but I think its pretty safe to say that way less people used to apply than before and combined with an increase in international student applications and enrollments the competition is just way higher than before. The most obvious explanation would be that higher education institutions have made the mistake of not increasing enrollments at a rate quick enough to meet demand. However, according to US News (https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-many-universities-are-in-the-us-and-why-that-number-is-changing) there were 3982 degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the US. and UCLA is ranked 15th in national universities. So why is it surprising now that university education is becoming more popular that higher ranked universities are harder to get into. So instead of expanding enrollment I think that a well thought out plan of affirmative action would be a much better option of giving "unremarkable kids and giving them a shot at being remarkable" (what this well thought out plan may be I don't know, I honestly didn't even search up any statistics about affirmative action this was just the first solution I thought of that didn't involve ignoring the crowning achievement of statistics). To his credit, Galloway does include a point about income-based affirmative action at the end of his talk, though he overwhelmingly emphasises increasing enrollment in schools. I don't have any data about that but I think that class sizes at public universities are large enough as it is.
The rest of the slide gives numbers on college debt of house price compared to first year income. College debt is ridiculously high and many people struggle because of it. I don't have the solution and neither does Galloway because he doesn't really mention it. I think that house price-to-first year income is a poor comparison because it doesn't take into account average rate of income increase and no normal person from any generation is looking to buy a house with first year income but there's probably a more appropriate metric out there that shows a similar change anyways so I'm ok with that.
Then he talks about him and his "colleagues" who "artificially constrain supply to create aspiration and scarcity". I would like to meet the professors who have control over enrollment rates because none of mine did. Then he says "to my colleagues in higher ed: we're public servants, not fucking Chanel bags". The marketing professor from NYU says he's a public servant...ok.
The slide after that compares Harvard's increase in endowment compared to their increase in enrollment and he calls them a "hedge fund offering classes". I see no issue with this point, he made a great argument, can't really criticise anything here.
Don't worry though he makes up for it by immediately making one of the most egregious statements in this whole talk. We're looking at his next slide, the one titled "Grand Bargain" now. He says that the government should take some of the money that's supposed to be used to forgive existing loans to about 500 of the top public universities to reduce tuition by 2% and year, expand enrollments by 6% a year, and increase vocational programs to 20% of the degrees granted. Then the slide after that, claims this will double freshman seats and cut costs in half in just 10 years. Ok so he thinks that most of the money "earmarked to bail out the one third of people that got to go to college on the backs of the two thirds that didn't" should go to future students instead because, I assume from the tone of his words, he doesn't think they need or deserve all that loan forgiveness. So why bring up the increase in college debt previously (the slide I talked about three paragraphs ago)? Anyways that's not the crazy thing. Let's see what happens if you reduce tuition by 2% a year for 10 years. So the calculation goes like this 0.98^{10} is approximately equal to 0.81. So with the number he puts up, tuition decreases by 19% in ten years. If everything before this slide could be attributed to cherry-picking, stupidity, or lack of good data, then fine he's just ignorant even though he shouldn't have been if he went up there to make that talk. But now this is just a FUCKING BAREFACED LIE. I cannot think of a greater insult to the audience's intelligence than the fact that this guy didn't think anyone would pull out a fucking calculator and do the calculation themselves. I won't blame the audience for not saying anything because I'm not sure I would have wanted to do that either but at least from youtube and reddit comments there are a decent number of people who didn't realise this. A similar calculation shows that expanding enrollment by 6% per year increases seats by about 80% total (1.06^{10}). Not sure how that translates in terms of freshman seats but at least this is closer than the tuition claim.
Then his next slide compares wages to the s&p500. This is the point of u/JustTaxLandLol's post and I think his post and the discussion in the comments covers most if not all of my thoughts so you can just read that. https://www.reddit.com/badeconomics/comments/1cc3rs8/scott_galloway_compares_median_wage_to_sp500/
Ok next slide, "The Transfer: Purposeful". Oh yay he's about to make another causal claim with nothing but a graph on the change in top marginal tax rates for corporations and individuals. And if we skip ahead to the next slide we'll realise that this claim is that the gradual decrease in top marginal tax rates for corporations and individuals results in lowered senior poverty and child poverty either remains constant or increases. Yes everybody the newest advancement in economic research has just been released. Lowering top tax rates decreases senior poverty and increases child poverty. And Scott Galloway made that argument in 24 seconds (transcript on TED website has time markers).
Man I really set out with the intention to keep the tone of this post as neutral as I could but I'm just writing out my internal dialogue with less swearing now. I apologise to those who would have preferred a more careful and less emotional knee-jerk response of an analysis but this is a reddit post, its not like there are standards.
Now he moves on to talking about social security. Galloway says "it would cost 11 billion dollars to expand the child tax credit. But that gets stripped out of the infrastructure bill". So zero explanation about why it would cost 11 billion dollars to expand the child tax credit, why not more or less, no comment about how many children it would affect, how much money it would mean for each child or family, just some number that you have to accept. Most of the time there's no why to the amount of funding that the government allocates to policies but at least there's some breakdown to how its going to be used, Galloway doesn't even have that. This is before we even consider the fact that child tax credit was expanded this year (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/child-tax-credit-2024-who-qualifies/). Maybe he's talking about some other issue that I'm not aware of but I don't think so. He says he got the social security spending data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which is a think tank. So I'll admit I didn't know much about social security prior to listening to Galloway's talk and I don't want to sort through their website to fact check so I'll accept it as the truth but as far as I know the actual social security administration releases their facts and figures for the year August of next year so I'm not sure why he didn't just use the 2022 numbers from a more reliable source.
His next few couple slides are about the increasing age of politicians. I think this is a great point but he probably should have used a better example of a younger politician than Justin Trudeau.
Then at around the 10 minute mark, using his slide titled "Generational Theft", Galloway claims that "we pumped the economy" during covid so that the Nasdaq would gain value, causing "intergenerational theft". I don't know if he thinks it was intentional or not but how is he going to completely ignore the fact that the stimulus checks were primarily for households that were struggling due to the greatest unemployment rate we have seen in our lifetime (https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/06/11/unemployment-rose-higher-in-three-months-of-covid-19-than-it-did-in-two-years-of-the-great-recession/). I'm really kind of tired of this so I'll let those at the CBR make my argument for me. "Within the first 10 days, households spent an average of 29 cents from every dollar received. The bulk of this spending was on food, rent, and bills" (https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/how-effective-were-stimulus-checks-us). Damn so turns out struggling families did need these stimulus checks pretty urgently. Shocker. I also think that most people in finance would agree that tech stocks surged over covid because people needed fucking technology... People built PCs to play video games, used online shopping services because they couldn't go to malls, all that.
The next slide is supposed to support his point that the increase in stock prices doesn't allow young people to find "disruption". What. The only thing that matters to any investor is the percentage increase in value of the stock price after you've invested. It doesn't matter if 7 dollars is 1 share of apple or 0.04 of a share of apple. Its stock price going up by 100% means you get 14 dollars either way. I think this guy's arguments are getting dumber as the talk goes on, I actually had to go and find data to refute his points earlier on. Now arithmetic does the work for me, I should have hired a grade schooler to do my analysis.
His next point is about how algorithmic content selection is bad. Yeah its bad. Its bad for everyone, turns everyone into psychos. Though I think there's a very good argument to be made about how such content could affect developing brains. He makes a point about age-gating social media at the end of the talk. This is actually the only drastic measure he proposes that I agree with so I'll leave this alone too.
After a couple slides about Zuckerberg and TikTok (which I agree with, though I think Zuckerberg's damage probably leans more towards older people than young now), he gives a bunch of graphs showing upward trends in all sorts of terrible things happening to young people. Every single one is an issue of critical importance in the US, but importantly, no comparison to older people. For all we know, the trend on every graph could be the same or even worse for older generations. If I had written about this first then I'd go and find the data for it but at this point I just want to be done with this but can't stop without getting to the end so I'm just gonna slap this slide with lack of comparisons and move on.
His next slide shows the difference in 30 to 34 year olds who have at least one child, some of that is probably due to family planning but I still think its a great indicator of people not wanting to have children because its not affordable. Great point, I believe in it.
Next slide, oh god it's a happiness report. I think happiness reports are a fun conversational tidbit but I see no way for it to be reliable enough to be used as an argument in any semi-serious setting. That said, I have no idea how they do these measurements so maybe I'm wrong.
As if the happiness report wasn't bad enough, Galloway is gonna compare the biggest one-day market cap gain (in an unspecified time frame) to the budget of several policies implemented by the government. Oh man. This is too stupid, there's so many things to pick from it'd take too much effort to sort through them. Someone else please make the argument for me.
Then he says universal basic income should have been called negative income tax. Wow the frequency of good points is going up, though I think this is accompanied by an increase in the frequency of absolutely idiotic arguments.
Then he says we should eliminate capital gains tax deduction. The issue of taxing capital gains is a very serious one, but I don't think it actually matters that much how much we tax realised capital gains. Again, not an expert but here's my understanding. If you have a high net worth with a lot of it in stocks and you need cash, you don't have to sell them and get taxed on the realised gains. You go to the bank and say I want to borrow money, I'm going to put these stocks up as collateral so if I can't pay you back you can take these stocks which are somewhere around the value of the principal amount plus total interest over the course of this loan. Because the bank is now convinced they'll get the money back regardless of if you make the payments or not, they say ok here's the money you asked for at a nice low interest rate. Then you take the money, you keep your stocks, which will probably gain value at a rate that exceeds the interest rate by a pretty decent margin, and you can probably make your interest payments pretty easily because hey, you were rich to begin with. If you're really strapped for cash a couple years down the line, you can sell some of the stocks that are now worth more than they were before and cover your payments and not have to pay taxes on the rest that you don't have to sell. Free money. There's plenty more ways to avoid taxes if you're rich but you get my point by now. Now that's a lot of problems without a solution. Luckily we have some economists far more skilled than I am who work very hard to find solutions to these problems. Here's one example of a policy that may help (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/03/opinion/global-billionaires-tax.html). This is an opinion piece written by Gabriel Zucman (famous economist), for the New York Times. If you don't have an NYT subscription, sorry for giving a link you can't read but if you search Gabriel Zucman billionaire tax, you could probably get a decent idea of what this talks about. Here's Zucman tweeting his proposal for his suggestion (https://twitter.com/gabriel\_zucman/status/1763253132572729623). It probably requires a little more thinking than the NYT article but he did present this at the G20 so that might sound more exciting to you than some news article.
Then Galloway says "we need to remove 230 protection for all algorithmically-elevated content". Zero mention on what 230 protection is so here's an explanation (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/230). Basically that was a fancy way of saying that companies should be held accountable of the content on their platform, even if it's posted by an unrelated third party. I'm not sure getting rid of it in its entirety is a great idea but I certainly agree that most if not all social media platforms have abused this protection and it should be at the very least restricted. To what extent? Again, I have no clue.
Then he goes "break up Big Tech". That's the whole suggestion. This is a terrible idea but the fact that he doesn't elaborate more on how to do this, the ramifications of doing so, or really provide any explanation at all makes me automatically ignore this. Then he makes his point about age-gating social media, like I said before, I agree with it.
His next suggestions are universal pre-K, great idea, then "reinstate the expanded child-tax credit". Not sure what he's going on about here, child tax credit exists and like I said before, was just expanded. Then it's income-based affirmative action. I don't know what kind of affirmative action is best and that sounds like an interesting idea so I won't criticise it. I think the rest of his suggestions are pretty normative arguments so I'll leave those alone too.
Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly agree with the overall theme of his talk. I believe that young people in the US (and many places worldwide) are at a massive disadvantage when it comes to accumulating wealth, buying homes, inter-generational transfers, etc. But you cannot go up on a popular platform like this, make claims as sweeping as he has, and make suggestions as radical and drastic as he has, with garbage arguments and data like this. Saying the right things for the wrong reasons is arguably worse than just saying the wrong thing because it makes it easy for those who want the status quo to remain to make counterarguments. Given how divisive opinions have become over the past decade or so I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how many people are eating this up but it kinda scares me how easily people will eat up this shit as long as its for a cause that sounds like its going for some kind of radical change for the good of all and has some imaginary "them" as the common enemy to everyone.
So that's it, I've finally covered all his points. I'm free, thank fuck. I should really proofread this but this has been my past eight hours and my back is breaking from all this sitting, I'm just gonna post this and read it over tomorrow. Maybe do a tl;dr, fix some formatting.
EDIT: As u/myphriendmike and u/Mordoci have pointed out, my dummy corp example was just tax fraud, that's illegal and so it's a bad example, I've removed it. Zucman has some estimates on the "real" tax rate wealthy people (mostly billionaires) pay, maybe I'll include that at some point.

To preface, I take online classes through Colorado Technical University. The way they set up their program is that while your tuition is essentially 100% covered, you are limited to 1 class every 5 weeks. Most classes are back to back, although you sometimes have a 1 week gap in-between classes.
Now let's go over this bullshit bullet point by bullet point:

• The colleague must work a minimum of 10 hours per week.

I would concede that point to be fair, if only to get rid of the employees who purposefully limit themselves to, say, 5 hours biweekly while working a different job, all so they can still reap the tuition benefits while basically not having to work at CVS. That is fair. However, what's not fair would be the employees who do work part time at CVS however they simply just don't receive hours for one reason or another. I think it is pretty common knowledge that if a manager does not like you, one of the more petty and passive aggressive ways they can get back at you is by cutting your hours back. Are you telling me that not only can they do that, but they could also now completely deny your tuition reimbursement by stripping your hours for ONE WEEK? That is lot of leverage to be giving to managers to be able to hold over employees heads. Any perceived slight or fuck up and not only can you get your hours and paycheck cut, but also get cut off from your tuition funding for that pay period? While also forcing you to repay that money within 30 days? Does that not sound completely insane? What if you were scheduled for two 6 hour days, but had to call-out for one of those days due to a medical emergency, however, you didn't have the sick time to completely cover those hours? Are you just one missed day away from losing tuition assistance? For part-time employees who barely get hours, and have little sick time and 0 vacation time, that is a completely plausible situation to end up in. I have known part time employees who ended up being scheduled ~5 weeks every two weeks for a month because the manager was upset about how they didn't finish truck one time and wanted to 'subtly' hint them to quit. Now just imagine that scenario, but add in repaying CVS a few hundred or thousand dollars because of it. Fucking insane.

• You must be in good standing with the company, including having earned a rating of “3 – Successful” or higher on your most recent annual performance review and not have received any corrective action in the six months prior to your course start date.

Are you fucking kidding me? Are you telling me that if for any reason you receive ANY sort of write up, then that's 6 months of not getting your tuition paid? That one stipulation alone gives SO much power to managers it's fucking insane. Didn't get hit those ExtraCare+ targets? That's a write up! No tuition assistance for 6 months! In my position, where I am only taking these courses because they are free, that would literally set my graduation date back half a year AND I would need to pay back whatever course I was currently taking within 30 days, which would absolute wipe out one of my biweekly paychecks for the month, meaning I basically worked for free. That is completely ridiculous for the employee, and it would allow for any spiteful or petty manager to completely own you with the threat of terminating your tuition for 6 months for something as simple as not having a high enough extracard care scan rate. Fucking unbelievable. And what about the employees who, for any reason, didn't receive a Successful performance review? Do they really deserve to just not have access to tuition assistance for a whole year? I guess that's one way to make them quit, especially with this year's performance reviews right around the corner. I just fucking KNOW there are managers out there right now who will be cleaning house this June with several of their employees, who they know are using tuition assistance, and find some petty reasons to give a 2, cut them off from their funding for a year, essentially giving them the finger and a very big reason to resign. And last but certainly not least:

• You must remain actively employed by CVS Health for at least one year following the course end date; otherwise you will be required to repay the education expenses paid to you or your school on your behalf within those 12 months.

Go fuck yourself CVS. Straight up, go fuck yourself. You know damn well this company is a revolving door because of how hellish it is to work here. And rather than incentivize people to stay here longterm with, I don't know, competitive wages, raises above 3%, a guaranteed job change/promotion after your degree...? You would rather threaten your employees by holding them hostage for a fucking year!!! And at any point should you decide to leave within those 12 months, you will be paying back your full tuition for whatever amount of time left you had since your last course date. For those who are taking a full bachelors/associates degree, that can translate to $3,000 to be paid back within 30 fucking days! 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Many of us could literally could not afford to quit or be fired unless you wanted a $3,000 nuke to be dropped on you. That is literally fucking life ruining for the majority of people, are you kidding me? And it is yet another weapon that management can hold over you. If at any point you get on your manager's bad side, they can just fucking destroy you now. They can cancel your tuition by cutting your hours, by giving you a write up for something insignificant, by cutting off your tuition for a full year with an unsuccessful performance review. And if that did happen, if you lost your only reason for working at this dogshit company, you can't even quit!!! You STILL need to work at CVS for a whole extra year or else be forced to pay up to $3,000!
I can't with this fucking company anymore. I could handle the stress. I could handle the tantrums and verbal abuse from grown adults whose fucking omeprazole wasn't ready because it was returned to stock last week. I could handle all the fucking catty office politics and high-school level shit-talk from depressed and overworked co-workers. All because I had a SINGLE reason to keep going. A single reason that made this piece of shit job worth it. And that reason is gone now. I thought the changes back in February sucked for many people, but this policy change completely takes the cake. Genuinely, I hope this causes a mass exodus of every self-respecting person who is only clinging to this company for the chance at getting through college without accruing debt. Greediest fucking company to ever exist. It wasn't enough to trade tuition assistance in exchange for holding onto seasoned employees for a bit longer and not having to re-train new ones every few months. Just had to be a fucking greedy prick and create this sneaky system where managers can now threaten to financially bankrupt you meanwhile holding you hostage for a year.
Fuck you CVS.

Hi, I'm a college graduate from a different major who is planning on getting a masters within the next couple of years to become a high school English teacher. However, in order to even apply, I need to take 18-30+ credit hours of English classes. Does anyone know of online English literature classes that I could take as a non-degree student? I'll be working full time, so asynchronous is ideal for me. Bonus points if they are affordable. I'm in Illinois if that matters for in-state tuition.
If you have any other advice for me about these prerequisites, please let me know lol, it's an overwhelming process!

EDIT 1: Adding a TLDR and disclaimer about the writing as some people seem frustrated with the length and the level of editorializing I've done. I also saw it pointed out a spoiler about Dragon Heist and I have edited the post accordingly.
EDIT 2: After some thought, I'm actually going to delete the entire list of "miscellaneous red flags" as they aren't incredibly relevant to the story at hand and considering the length of the story I probably should have pared it down a little before posting.
TLDR: A member of this dnd group was extremely micromanagey and two-faced while the dungeon master could not bring themselves to communicate their issues with my character. They, as well as the server owner, came to the conclusion I was some sort of predator for having done what they refer to as 'rrp' with an 18 year old when I was 21. They deleted the server and blocked me.
DISCLAIMER FOR EVERYTHING BELOW: This horror story is extremely fresh for me as it just happened this week, so I won't lie- I do a lot of venting and editorializing in this post. If that's not something that you want to read, then this post is not for you. Mods, if that is not allowed, please feel free to delete this post or whatever. The catharsis of posting was enough for me.
This was my first time playing DND. The fallout just happened this week, so it's all pretty fresh still for me.
Here is the cast of people in this saga. There are two campaigns that will be mentioned so I’ve provided information on both, though the player characters are not as important as the players themselves- save for one of my own. (Names have been changed to protect the identities of all involved.)
Myself
I am your narrator.
Dragon Heist Campaign: I played a half-elf cleric
Call of the Deep Campaign: I created a water genasi bard.
Maddie
They are my friend and co-narrator.
Dragon Heist Campaign: they played a drow monk
Call of the Deep Campaign: they played an elf warlock
Jesse
They took an active part in this horror story.
Dragon Heist Campaign: They played a half-goliath dhampir hemomancy wizard
Call of the Deep Campaign: Jesse was the DM for this campaign.
Kane
They took a semi-active part in this horror story.
Dragon Heist Campaign: Kane was the DM for this campaign.
Call of the Deep Campaign: They played a hobgoblin rogue
Cassidy
They took a semi-active part in this horror story.
Dragon Heist Campaign: they played a tiefling bard
Call of the Deep Campaign: they played a “fiend-touched aasimar” warlock
Anita
They are not an active participant and will not come up very much.
Dragon Heist Campaign: They played a tiefling artificer
Call of the Deep Campaign: They did not participate in this campaign.
Mandy
They were kicked early in the Dragon Heist campaign due to compatibility issues.
Dragon Heist Campaign: They played a fire genasi Cleric of Helm
Call of the Deep Campaign: They did not participate in this campaign.
Penny
They are not an active participant and will not come up very much.
Dragon Heist Campaign: They played an aasimar paladin
Call of the Deep Campaign: they played a sea dragon?? I actually wasn't completely sure what their character’s race and class was.
I responded to a post Cassidy had made on lfg. They created a discord server and invited myself, Kane, Jesse, Mandy, and Anita. Kane was going to DM a module- dragon heist. Great. We go into character creation. This is my first time doing all of this, but I've listened to enough DND media to know (or rather, to think) that a lot of backstory is good. So, I took a pre-existing OC of mine and I created a backstory for her in faerun.
I wrote, altogether, 19 pages of backstory. I understand now that this was not good, though at the time I received a lot of very positive feedback from Kane as well as Jesse- who was a very close friend of Kane's and seemed to be helping them get things set up.
In my character's backstory, I gave her a plot hook with a missing wife. This wife character was not originally my character- they were my friend, Maddie's character. I got Maddie's permission to use her OC in my character's backstory, and didn't consider doing anything more. This wife character’s backstory was a part of that 19 pages of backstory, as was a lot of other stuff. This was a mistake for so many reasons and I cannot overstate my regret in having done this. I genuinely did not think anything of it, at the time. Again, I got good feedback from the DM and their friend. I got permission from my friend to use their character and didn’t think to put a disclaimer that this character wasn’t mine. This was so stupid of me, and it is relevant later down the line.
What will also be relevant later down the line is my age, and Maddie’s age. I am 25 and Maddie is 22. We met in a community discord server for a less known anime, at which point they had just turned 18 and I was 21. In this public discord server is where we began to ship our OCs together and rp them as a couple. Does that information not seem super relevant? Just keep it in the back of your mind.
Anyway, we get past character creation. I connect my half-elf cleric to Cassidy’s tiefling Bard and we intertwine their backstories. I am a rather shy person, and am a little excited to have made a friend. Everyone was incredibly nice and I was really excited for my first ever DND campaign.
Session 0 happens and we go over expectations. Everyone seems to be on the same page, we do some practice combat- it’s great. Session 1 happens, and Mandy has her cleric of helm murder a person in broad daylight. They also flirted with Jesse’ wizard and then seemingly the straw that broke the camel’s back was that they also provided the DM with only one paragraph of backstory after two weeks of being asked for character backstory, and were thus summarily kicked from the server and blocked by Kane, Jesse, and Cassidy.
Kane decides they want to redo session 1 and invite 2 new people, for a total of 6 players. I ask if my friend Maddie can join, because at this point I was feeling incredibly anxious and wanted somebody I knew in the group. They said that Maddie could join, and they brought in another person from the LFG reddit. This person did not last 24 hours in the server before Kane kicked and blocked them for not being “communicative enough.”
Thus, Penny was brought in. As far as I could tell, Penny was Kane’s friend. Jesse was pretty mean and condescending to them in my opinion but that’s none of my business, just my opinion.
Scheduling conflicts begin happening for the Dragon Heist Campaign. People in the server would communicate pretty regularly, and it was in these conversations that it came out that my Selunite’s missing wife was Maddie’s character. Nothing is said to me or Maddie about it; nothing to indicate that this was any cause for pause or discomfort in Kane, Cassidy, Jesse, Penny, or Anita.
During this time Jesse decides they want to run their own campaign- Call of the Deep. They prove themselves to be incredibly difficult to collaborate with. I don’t know how to describe character creation with them other than I felt like I was trying really hard to tell them what they wanted to hear about my character and it felt like I kept coming up short. For this Call of the Deep Campaign, I wanted to have a water genasi cleric of umberlee who was delusionally and utterly devoted to and in love with Umberlee. I made it incredibly clear that I did not expect Umberlee to return her affections. She was supposed to be a little whimsical; a little off her rocker. Jesse wants her to transform into an aberration of some kind- I agree, I think that sounds cool. They suggest she be a child of prophecy, and then when I tried to run with that they immediately backtrack and say that wouldn’t work, umberlee wouldn’t be a large part of this campaign, and my character couldn’t be a child of prophecy for any cults because there wasn’t any cults in the material that have to do with the water (This is verbatim, I don’t have access to our conversations anymore as I now have Jesse blocked. I can’t promise that this is 100% a faithful representation but I am doing my best to relay this as best I can from memory.)
At one point they try to convince me to make my character’s deity Valkur instead. I let them know that I didn’t really vibe with Valkur as her patron deity, and they get pissy about it and tell me to just “choose a God” or “They can choose a God for me.” I really don’t want my character to be connected with religion anymore, since it seemed to be an issue.
So I make my character a bard with commitment issues. They nitpick little details of her backstory- “why is she from cormyr? Don’t you know that’s landlocked?” (She grew up in Cormyr, left at around 19, and has lived near the water since.) “What is her connection to the water?” (Her whole thing is literally that she’s a free spirit who can’t be tamed, just like the ocean. She left home to be around the ocean.) “Do you really want her to be friends with XYZ character? They’re explicitly not connected to the plot” (They’re a player character, so they’re about as connected to the plot as I am. Yes, I want them to be friends.) After a lot of not-super-fun character creation with Jesse I have a character with a bland backstory, no plothooks of her own, and no personal goals or desire or anything beside “be adventurer, make money.” She was just going to turn into an aberration and eventually fuck off to the bottom of the ocean. (I was explicitly told by Jesse that was what was going to happen once I reached a certain level/stage of her transformation.) Yay.
We go through Jesse’ session 0, during which they yell at Penny and completely shut down ideas she proposed for her character. What they allow in their game is obviously their prerogative, but they literally raised their voice at this person in this session 0 voice call and was altogether rather rude about shutting down their suggestions. I quit their campaign the next day due to a scheduling conflict that came up on the day they wanted to play. They message Maddie to ensure that she would still play if I’m not there. She said she would.
We do session 1 for the Dragon Heist Campaign. It’s fun! Kane is a genuinely talented DM. They even put a story hook for my character’s wife! That was not something I had expected and it made me really happy. Jesse hogged a lot of RP moments and derailed the party from the task at hand (talking to an NPC so we could meet a crime lord of some kind) so they could question and interrogate an NPC that had already been questioned and interrogated, but it was good. I was so inspired and excited I wrote a diary entry from my character's point of view referencing characters in her backstory and her wife and her feelings on the things that just occurred. I share this with the group.
That brings us to this week. The following account is from Maddie herself, as I was not a part of the following conversation.
“What started as a normal conversation- discussing my character with Jesse in DMs for the Call of the Deep campaign, and the possibility of her death within the campaign. I’d mentioned, then, having a backup character that could fit with the module, adding offhand that she was a character I’d played before in another campaign. Jesse completely flipped their lid over this- saying in a LOT of words and paragraphs that they thought it was borderline disrespectful to recycle a character from one campaign to the next or to bring in a premade character with a pre-thought up backstory, that it completely takes out the DMs agency in character creation. I have every screenshot from the conversation if you’re feeling nosy, in which I politely stated that I’d never heard that perspective before and I was sorry for not knowing.
Jesse went on and on about how bringing in pre-existing characters is an awful thing to do to a DM since it *forces* the DM to change the setting to fit the character- leaving very little room for me to even reply. Then, they went on to bring up, in a nasty way, about the 19 pages of backstory that had been written for my friend’s character in the other campaign and how they’d absolutely hate it if a player did that to them as a DM, especially taking issue with the ‘missing wife’ plothook in the character’s backstory, saying that they’re so annoyed because it's going to derail the rest of the campaign and it doesn’t fit with the plot at all. I responded that if they have so much of an issue with it then bring it up to the DM, and I stated that I didn’t feel comfortable with them talking about my friend that way.
This, of course, caused Jesse to backpedal HARD, apologizing profusely to the point of very obviously trying to make me feel bad for setting that boundary, and even going to far as to message my friend and apologize even more profusely- even though I’d never given any indication that I had shared this private message with my friend. “I don’t want it to seem like I don’t like having either of you in my game or Kane’s”, they’d said, despite having never said anything nice about my friend or either of her characters. Anything.”
As Maddie mentioned, following their conversation with her, Jesse reached out to me regarding their conversation. I also have screenshots of what they said to me which I can provide upon request. I will provide direct quotes here:
“can i please preface what i'm about to tell you by saying i 100% support you playing [my character’s name].
[Maddie] and i got into a discussion? slash argument? earlier about using pre-existing characters in a setting that didn't fit and I brought [my character’s name] into it as an example of bringing a ton of backstory that forces the dm to write those characters in without thinking that might make her uncomfortable and seem kind of underhanded
I did not mean to imply I have any issue with your character or what you are planning to do, and that example was meant purely to explain to her what my viewpoint on the matter was, but I lost the plot on it and made her uncomfortable, but if you hear about it I want to have told you already that I really like [my character’s name] and I fully support her in her endeavours
I would be happy to explain my stance on it to give that discussion context also, since I have been half dreading writing this message/ messages since i did NOT know how to word it
Basically I (mostly accidentally) implied that [my character’s name] was a character that brought too much from an existing canon when I was meaning to use her as an example to compare against [Maddie’s character’s name](who adopted mannerisms and vibes tm but not a ton of backstory elements) and I was not fully clear on what the comparison was for or to what extent, so I'm sorry about that. I don't want to seem like i was talking about you behind your back and I certainly do not want you to think I have a problem with you playing her.
i was not trying to make it seem like [my character’s name] was an issue
i was trying to compare her to [Maddie’s character’s name] in order to explain where on that spectrum of Bring Personality to Bring Everything i preferred”
I was aware of the argument they had had prior to receiving these messages from Jesse. I wasn’t aware to what extent they had bashed my character, though I was aware my character had come up. This is pure conjecture on my part, but I speculate that was what Jesse was banking on and took advantage of my ignorance to the situation as a way to “get in front” of the coming implosion. They sent these messages to me Tuesday May 7th at 11pm and I did not see them until the following morning. I notice they are in vc with Kane- not something strange in and of itself as people were often on voice call with each other, except for the fact it was before 11am on a wednesday.
I would also directly post my response to them, but again, I have blocked this person on discord and deleted our dms. The screenshots I had taken were to assure Maddie that the matter looked to be at rest. That all said, I accepted their apology and assured them that “everyone puts their foot in their mouth sometimes” and that I do not hold anything they may or may not have said in relation to my character against them.
They assure me that they never meant to make me or Maddie unwelcome and that they love me and they love Maddie and consider us friends even though we’ve only known each other a short while; that they appreciated my response.
I go to work. I occasionally check my phone (as one does) and notice that they are still in vc with Kane. I still think it’s weird to be on voice call for hours during the morning and day hours during the weekdays but quite frankly I had other things to focus on and didn’t think much of it.
Then, a message is put in the “Call of Deep” category of the discord server. Jesse informed the group that “things had come up and they no longer felt comfortable dming this campaign”.
I see this message, and then several minutes later and I am no longer able to see that category. At first I thought it was deleted, but upon clicking on Jesse and Kane’s profiles in the discord server I could still see that they were in the ‘call of the deep’ voice call channel. I figure they wanted a private conversation and I left it to rest. Maddie was distressed because she thought it was all her fault that they canceled the campaign; that setting a boundary with them had elicited this response from Jesse. I reached out to them to poke around and see if that was the case and they assured me in no uncertain terms that it was not. “Hey, it’s not actually related to that! It’s something else I don’t feel super at liberty to talk about rn”
That “thing” they weren’t “super at liberty” to talk about right now, in hindsight, was me! I obviously didn’t know that at the time. I accepted that answer and went about my day.
Later in said day, I want to say around 3-4pm, I notice that the entire server is gone. I try to reach out to Cassidy (server owner): blocked. I try to contact Kane: wouldn’t you know it, I’m blocked! Lastly, already knowing what is about to happen, I try to contact my dear friend, Jesse. I’m so sure you can guess what happened: I found that I was blocked.
I am sure I do not need to state to you all how utterly blindsided I was by this. I did DM Cassidy on her reddit account in my panic, but ended up blocking her after sending the message. (It was something along the lines of “Hey what on earth happened?” Followed by “Jesus, I actually don’t care” before I blocked her account.) I went through and blocked them all back on discord and closed our DMs so I didn’t have to see it. I also blocked Anita and Penny for good measure. Maddie was just as confused as I was- to us at the moment, it seemed like Jesse had twisted our words or told Kane and Cassidy some made up story about the argument they’d had with Maddie and got us both kicked from the server as a result. It was an incredibly upsetting thing to have happened- and incredibly confusing, considering both our conversations with this person ended on a civil (if not positive) note.
It was only going to get more upsetting. Maddie eventually discovered that she was not blocked by Jesse and, of course, asked what had happened. Again, this was not a conversation I participated in (obviously) so I will leave it to Maddie to recount this conversation as well.
“Quote: “Kane did the math and decided they weren’t comfortable roleplaying your romance rp character [friend’s character’s wife], that you were doing, at minimum, RRP with right when you turned 18. The whole thing reeked of like, children being involved in rp stuff and then shoving that character onto Kane, we talked about it and decided that the lack of honesty was unfair to Kane and to the rest of the group and then Kane decided that the game wouldn’t continue. The server was deleted and they decided it was prudent not to give you a means to communicate.
“I didn’t block you because i have no beef and i wanted to give you the chance to reach out and get some explanation, but we were al kinda sketched by the fact that you had romance rp stuff going on between a fresh 18 year old and a 22 year old”
The conversation wrapped up civilly from there, with Jesse stating that ‘ghosting was the least mad i could get them’.”
I was not 22 years old when we started shipping our characters. I was 21. I was 4-5 months from turning 22, if that fucking matters. I don’t see why it should. I wouldn’t even call what we were doing at the time ‘rrp’ (which is such a dumb fucking phrase, by the way) as I feel that phrase implies that our rp interactions were specifically to fulfill some kind of romantic fulfillment. It wasn’t- it was a shared story arc in a public group rp on a community discord server.- that, by the way, was incredibly well-moderated for the safety of the members as there were actual minors in the server. Everything was family friendly, SFW- whatever you want to call it. Our characters had closer relationships with other characters in this group rp as well. It wasn’t not a specific ‘romance’ thing. Both Maddie and I have clear boundaries between ourselves and our characters and just wanted to collaborate to tell a story. (Something this group would have known if they had bothered to ask before assuming.)
As an side, however, Maddie was 18 fucking years old. She could gamble, enlist in the military, rent her own apartment, move across- or out of- the country, smoke, etc. She was a high school graduate and enrolled in college. She was not a child and she could have dated other 21, 22, 23 year olds at her campus. I agree that it would have been creepy for me to have formed a friendship with Maddie if I had been like, 35. At the age of 25 I wouldn’t reach out to form a friendship with an 18 year old girl over the internet. However, I was 21. Neither of us before this incident have ever given any thought to our ages.
This was also literally 4 years ago- she’s 22 years old now. The fact they took it upon themselves to “do the math” on our friendship is so incredibly invasive and such an overstep that the fact they saw me as “icky” or “sketchy” for having formed a friendship and done “rrp” with Maddie is actually laughable.
This is also shared with her explicit permission, but Maddie is a twice over victim of online grooming, as a much younger teenager by much older people. They feel both disgusted and disrespected by the trivialization of their actual lived experience by making the implication that there was any sort of predatory or grooming aspect to our friendship.
I personally am appalled that, after being as kind as I could to these people, that they would make such heinous evaluations of my character and put so many implications on my friendship with Maddie. Did they think we were in some way romantically involved? Did they think I sought Maddie out as a minor specifically to groom them for romantic and sexual roleplay scenarios, and then wanted to recreate that with Kane for my own romantic fulfillment? I’ve spent the past 48 hours feeling genuinely sick.
For my part, however, I am so sad to have made Kane uncomfortable and I realize why they would have been. It would have been incredibly easy for them to just TELL ME they were uncomfortable with or disliked certain aspects of my character’s backstory. I would have been more than happy to change things, omit the “wife” plothook- whatever. The fact they could not directly communicate their feelings is A) not my problem B) a skill issue on their part. I want to clarify the wife plothook was included to A) give my character a motivation relating to her backstory B) keep others from trying to form a romance with my character (as I did not want to do arcs involving romance during my first dnd campaign, despite what they evidently thought- I guess that this was a poor way of trying to achieve that goal, though.) C) just because I liked the fucking character. Having Maddie’s character in my character’s backstory was not a “deal breaker” for me at ALL. Not to mention all of this was so new to me. My only other dnd experience was a jokey new years eve oneshot when I was 19. I wanted to be a good player so badly and would have welcomed any feedback or criticism.
I don’t know if they’ll see this post. I went through and blocked at least two of these people on every social of theirs that I knew of, as I quite frankly do not ever want to encounter them again, but this is a throwaway, so who knows. If they do see this, however, I have this to say directly to them:
You specifically did not want to give me the chance to defend myself against the disgusting and baseless things you said about me, but that’s not a call you get to make. I couldn’t do so in a private conversation with any of you, so I’m going to air it all out here in a public forum instead. You’re apparently so concerned for Maddie and I’s friendship that you would go so far as to delete the campaign and tell her how ‘ick’ and ‘sketch’ it was that we starting shipping our characters at 18 and 21 (you said 22, I’d like to inform you that your math was off, bestie!) but you put my supposed ‘victim’ in a situation where they had to defend me, the supposed ‘predator’? If any of your accusations were actually true, that would be so incredibly sick. It’s already actually pretty messed up to have put Maddie in that situation multiple times even without the context of your accusations against me. I seriously hope you self-reflect and get the help that all three of you clearly need. Please take a break from your computer (You especially, Jesse!) and go touch some grass. Love you besties xo xo!!!
Anyway, I hope that the interpersonal dnd drama bullshit that has consumed the past week of my life has entertained you all. I did see on lfg that they’re recruiting for a new campaign, so I hope my experience isn't repeated by someone else. Again, the screenshots that Maddie and I have are available upon request. You all can think whatever you want about me. I know where I went wrong and I know I am not perfect nor am I blameless here; I genuinely feel terrible that I made Kane so uncomfortable with my character and her backstory. I just wish they had told me so I could have fixed it. In my opinion, this pales however to the way they immediately jumped to the worst conclusions about me as a person when I had been nothing but kind to them all. I will not be playing another ttrpg for a very long time. This is not an experience I care to repeat.

• Meet the Kyanah -- the alien civilization I've been working on since 2016
• A Primer on Kyanah Physiology
• Aliens Deserve Alien Brains
• A Primer on Kyanah Pack Dynamics
• Advanced Kyanah Psychology: Inter-Pack Dynamics
• The Motives for Project Hope: Part I
• The Motives for Project Hope: Part II
• The Motives for Project Hope: Part III
• The Motives for Project Hope: Part IV
• The Motives for Project Hope: Part V
• Intro to Kyanah Politics
• An (abridged) Beastiary of the Kyanah Homeworld
• Plantlife of the Kyanah Homeworld
• An Analysis of Kyanah Military Forces: Part I -- Tech
• An Analysis of Kyanah Military Forces: Part II -- Organizational Structure
• An Analysis of Kyanah Military Forces: Part III -- Military Doctrine
• Alien Computers Are Alien
• Alien Computers Are Alien -- Part II: Kyanah-Human Cyberwarfare
• Alien Computers Are Alien -- Part III: A Guide to Kyanah Internets
• A Look Into the Kyanah Education System
• A Rare Look at Kyanah Living Spaces
• A Primer on Kyanah Economics
• Kyanah Food and Drink
• The Kyanah Have A Desert Planet -- Wait No It Has 12 Biomes: Part I
• The Kyanah Have A Desert Planet -- Wait No It Has 12 Biomes: Part II
• Kyanah City-State Dynamics: Part I -- Intercity Relations
• Kyanah City-State Dynamics: Part II -- City-State Demographics
• A Map of the Kyanah Homeworld: Part I
• Some Notes on Kyanah Timekeeping
• Profiles of Kyanah City States: Part I -- the Rktakian Kwardniet
• Profiles of Kyanah City States: Part II -- the Far South
• Profiles of Kyanah City States: Part III -- Everywhere Else

As was (maybe) previously stated, Kyanah don't have distinct languages with specific labels, yet this does not mean that they all share a common language. The vernacular tends to differ slightly from city-state to city-state; in the next city-state over, there might only be a few small spelling and pronunciation changes or some differences in handling obscure grammatical edge cases, but as one goes further and further away, the differences quickly accumulate. In most regions of the world, it's possible to understand the language up to a few hundred kilometers away from one's home city-state without dedicated study, but there's no hard-and-fast boundary where one language "ends" and another "begins". For this reason, linguistic aptitude is not a function of how many languages a particular Kyanah knows, but how large of an area they can make themselves understood in. Many of the specific vocabulary and grammatical structures used in Ikun are understood by educated Kyanah in other parts of the world, and tend to be used in settings where packs from many different regions of the world, with few or no linguistic features in common, must communicate, such as science or diplomacy. Due to Ikun's soft power and large-scale internet footprint, this is especially common in Net Zone 1; most but not all online content from this region is at least somewhat understandable to Kyanah from Ikun.
Notably, Kyanah have a syrinx rather than a larynx, meaning that their spoken languages are not pronounceable by humans and they also generally cannot pronounce human languages. Their typical vocalizations tend to sound like a mixture of rapid-fire grunts, hisses and chirps or screeches, which can vary considerably in pitch and cadence--not too dissimilar from how small theropods are believed to have sounded. Various low-pitched bellows and roars appear to be used in the same manner as shouting, being used to be heard across long distances, draw attention, or express anger. Naturally, this has presented considerable difficulties in translating proper nouns. With nothing else to go on, they have been forced to simply do a one-to-one replacement of the characters in their proper nouns with those in the Latin alphabet that most closely resemble them; humans have altered the conversion charts slightly in order to produce more consistently coherent and pronounceable results. Thus, for instance, the label "Kyanah" is simply a human construct and sounds absolutely nothing like what they call their species in their (as in, the soldiers from Ikun city-state) own spoken language. Actual communication between species was initially done through ad hoc gesticulation and amalgamations of human and Kyanah sign languages, which was gradually formalized in the first few years of the invasion, as well as occasionally communicating through writing or drawing when practical. By the end of the war, reliable inter-species machine translation and text-to-speech software would be developed, and in the subsequent years, this would advance to BCI devices that could generate speech in real-time, although not particularly reliable. Interestingly, even Kyanah who have a high base vocabulary of human words seem to struggle significantly with things like modifiers and word ordering, as their own languages tend to handle them in a radically different fashion.
For instance, over 95% of Kyanah writing systems organize words into binary trees rather than linear sentences, with children being semantically related to parents (e.g. subject and object, modifier and modified etc.). Linear scripts, while not unheard of, tend to be rare and associated with more primitive cultures, regardless of whether they're left to right, right to left, or top to bottom. It generally is not particularly important which words are the parent, left child, and right child; the writer chooses in order to optimize the aesthetics of their sentence-trees or place emphasis on a particular word. The nature of the semantic relationship between parents and children in the sentence-trees is denoted not by words comprised of characters, but by special markings called decorators, which in spoken language are expressed using subtle variations in tone, cadence, and volume, while in written language, they take the form of different types of lines between parent and child words. In most languages, decorators are also used for such things as prepositions, conjunctions, and tenses instead of using actual words for such things, resulting in all words referring to specific things or concepts, instead of having glue words that tie together other words or word groups like many human languages do. For instance, "You are eating", "You ate", "You will eat", "Are you eating?", and "Eat" (as an imperative command) all use the exact same words, with the difference lying in the decorators (or the tone/cadence/volume variations if spoken). It gets wilder, in Ikun, "Are the nyrud or the tyukrud in the field?" and "The nyrud and the tyukrud are out of the field." also use the exact same words. It's thus possible, in some cases, to meaningfully answer a question, especially a yes-no question, by simply repeating it back! (Albeit with variations in how the words are said, and with the caveat that simply "False" would be a much more succinct and natural response in this context.) For obvious reasons, decorators are dreaded by any humans attempting to learn Kyanah writing, and explain why Kyanah have an odd tendency to drop glue words and struggle with tenses when using human writing systems. In general, having a syrinx instead of a less complicated larynx allows them to make their vocalizations more compact by expressing a broader range of sounds, making the use of decorators instead of full words to save time a practical option.
Pronouns are another key difference; Kyanah have a whole set between singular and plural pronouns that they use to refer to packs, leaving human translators to awkwardly bounce between them when trying to translate these pronouns. Pack pronouns are a cultural universal for Kyanah; every single known language has them. It is customary to use pack pronouns when speaking to or about a member of another pack, even when only referring to that specific individual; using singular pronouns is usually a faux pas as it implies a higher-than-accurate degree of familiarity and intimacy, similar to a human walking up to a stranger and calling their spouse babe; or in the case of first-person singular, implies that the speaker is in some way deviating from their pack, if they have one. "I like nyrud steaks", when said to someone outside the speaker's pack, would for example strongly imply that the speaker's packmates in fact dislike nyrud steaks, and the speaker is the only one who likes them; saying it to another packmate however would have the connotation that humans would expect. The natural human tendency is to refer to packs using the plural pronouns, as they do in fact consist of multiple distinct individuals, but Kyanah would interpret this as referring to some vague, unspecified group, rather than their own pack. Additionally, as packs are atomic units in Kyanah society, occupying a single role and a single occupation, and being treated as one entity by their legal system, using plurals can create awkward statements in human languages and some meaning can be lost in translation.
Because the Kyanah use sentence-trees rather than linear sentences, languages aren't categorized into subject-verb-object, object-verb-subject, etc. but rather but the method in which the trees are traversed. Around 50% of the homeworld's population uses in-order traversal (left-child parent right-child), while 30%, including Ikun city-state, use pre-order traversal (parent left-child right-child) and the remaining 20% use post-order traversal (left-child right-child parent). To preserve the binary tree structure and prevent sentence-trees from exploding in size when dealing with many subjects/objects/etc. at once, lists of words with the same role in the sentence are placed into containers so as to occupy a single node. Kyanah sentence-trees can go on indefinitely as long as they are focusing on a singular subject; if the primary subject changes, a new sentence-tree must be started. Traditional Kyanah writing involves ornate sentence-trees shaped into aesthetically pleasing or meaningful shapes and sentence-trees are arranged on the page in a visually significant way; this sort of writing is roughly analogous to human calligraphy. Such niceties are typically ignored when typing on computers, in the name of efficiency and ease of programming. Instead, sentence-trees are automatically configured into rigid, standardized shapes and arranged on the page in such a way as to minimize wasted space, while still allowing for the creation of multiple threads. Naturally, traditional-minded Kyanah have been complaining about this since the invention of the computer, saying that it strips away subtle meaning and emotion from the text. However, the desire for efficiency has generally overruled such concerns in mainstream society.
Sentence-trees can be placed anywhere on the page, rather than following a particular order, though there is usually a clearly defined starting and ending point to a sequence; when the next tree in the sequence is not obvious from the position and orientation of the previous one, there is usually some arrow or other marker to point the path. Written works usually contain multiple sequences, each of which will take its own individual path around the page, and each of which is (at least primarily) written by a particular pack member. For this reason, written works are generally meant to be read by a pack collectively, with each member following one thread and later switching threads or explaining relevant aspects to each other if needed. Written works can be read by a single individual, but this requires the reader to frequently context switch between disparate threads that may only be loosely related to each other at times. Single threaded works do exist, but they are considered a separate form of art from mainstream, multi-threaded Kyanah literature. Multi-threaded literature is a direct descendent of story-threads, an ancient Kyanah art form and pastime that likely predates recorded history by a long shot, where members of a pack will take turns speaking sentences to collaboratively build a story. Good ones are sometimes written down and published, allowing other packs to enjoy them (sometimes even hundreds or thousands of years later), with each member of a pack choosing a thread and taking turns reading aloud their part of the story-thread and reenacting it. Interestingly, it is not just literature that is written this way; even textbooks, manuals, and research papers are all written in the same multi-threaded manner, and are likewise designed to be read by an entire pack.
There are plenty of distinct quirks between the different linguistic practices (using the term "language" may be a misnomer as linguistic practices tend to be continuous instead of being divided into discrete languages) in different parts of the world. Other than sentence-tree traversal, some of the most important differences center around the structure of words themselves. In most northern hemisphere scripts, characters represent sounds and have no intrinsic meaning on their own, while words are created by chaining these characters together based on the chronological order that they are pronounced. In southern hemisphere scripts, characters usually represent a few hundred basic objects and concepts and words are created by combining them, either in a linear chain or a graph-like structure, and the graphs tend to have their own unique algorithms for traversing them when reading or speaking, making such linguistic practices among the hardest to learn. For instance, in Kanenhah, "nuke" can be written (or spoken) by combining the characters for "made" (as in, made by Kyanah, not natural), "sun", and "egg" into a graph where the first two connect to the third, while in Koranah, the same word created by linearly chaining characters for "place" and "destroy" plus decorators to make the literal meaning "place destroyer" (which are written and pronounced somewhat differently from Kanenhah's characters for "place" and "destroy"). As an aside--the explanation for why there are so many broad and sweeping changes in language style and culture in general between the northern and southern hemispheres (a divide similar in many ways to the Western and Eastern worlds on Earth) is that impact ranges tend to cluster around the equator, which historically made travel between hemispheres much more difficult than travel within hemispheres. (I totally thought that through ahead of time, and didn't just make it up to retroactively justify the north-south divide.)

I am currently needing to take circuits and devices this summer. I am trying to take the class at Nova however, I need diff eq. The circuits class starts 7/2/24 and the diff eq class that Nova is offering is currently closed. The biggest problem is I am having a hard time finding another college that offers diff eq before 7/2/24 to get the credit transferred. Does anyone have any idea as to what I should do?

Are you extroverted, socially outgoing and a cheery people person? Hacking might be perfect for you then

Does that title sound a little off? I wanted to bring something up that I don't see people talking about, and that's the over saturation of introverted nerds into hacking (not an insult, highly introverted people make excellent REMOTE hackers.
Here comes the but, but there is a place for you extroverted chatterboxes who love interacting with people. People who smile and don't break eye contact, people who are confident lying to people, and most importantly DO NOT get nervous or socially awkward.
Yes if you haven't guessed already I'm talking about one of THE MOST important factors of hacking, social engineering. Not just sending phishing emails into an assistants inbox and hoping they click.
Gaining physical access is in many situations better than any remote hacking from the shadows. See I'm not a hacker, well I wouldn't call myself or class myself as one even though I could perform some simple remote hacking tasks I know some basics, but I'm no hacker.
I was a blacksmith, bladesmith to be precise, until I severed my right index finger in an accident and lost my inner tendons and use of my right index finger from the middle knuckle. I then decided to become an investigator around 2-3 years ago. I quickly became very good at mobile and static surveillance, mostly because of my confidence and autistic levels of not giving a shit, I am actually quite introverted, but for a good 6-7 hours of the day I can be very extroverted and social, until I need my alone time for a few hours.
Point being I got good at social engineering without even knowing that specific term was related to hacking. This skill is something you are kind of born with, or may slowly develop over time. I am very comfortable for example putting on a construction workers outfit slapping the PPE on and walking right up into a place I shouldn't be in. The best way to describe it (or the way I actually act) is act as confident as a cop or a soldier, nobody can tell you not to be here, I can go where I want. That's the attitude you need for social engineering.
Yes I do really have a wardrobe full of "disguises" including trench coats, business suits, jeans and polo shirts for the golf course (never used that one yet but you never know) I have orange hi viz jackets yellow ones, hardhats, and street clothes.
You might think "I'm not computer smart enough to be a hacker" Well that's actually false, you might even be a better hacker than a life long computer wizard, because physical access is above remote access. The remote guys need the "front line girls and guys" yes ladies are great at social engineering and gaining trust, also they are more likely to gain entry and access than a male.
So if you are an extroverted bubbly woman, who has no computer hacking skills, you can be of use (and the governments around the world know this) Who do you think they send to stick a Lan turtle in the CEO's computer.Probably a nice looking personal assistant they planted in the company 24 months ago.
This goes for charming and handsome men too, with your confidence and dashing charisma you have a better chance of gaining physical access than the introverted loner in the shadows (again not an insult) some of the best hackers in the world are highly introverted anti social, socially awkward people. But they are at their best when left alone to smash keys.
We need both types, this is not a you vs them, which is better, this is a complementing team. if I were to set up a killer hacking duo, i'd want a bubbly social social engineering expert, and also a super wiz computer nerd behind the scenes running those payloads,.
This post was to encourage and break the stereotype, and let people know that there is a place for all types of people in the hacking world.
I also would encourage you to think about why are you a hacker, or learning hacking, what's your end goal? I see a suspicious amount of posts from "Students working on a burpsuite project for their class" "My college teacher wants me to use metasploit, how do I for example hack a website, whats an SQL injection guys?"
I would advise you all to not perform malicious attacks, if you want to really be a computer hacker, then there are some really lucrative options, working for the NCA, the NSA, Blue teaming, pentesting and red teaming. You can earn a really nice income and LEGALLY hack bad guys. That's a much better course of action for your journey.
There's lots of options for non technical types as well, you can learn the computer side of hacking as you go and get better with training. I'm not really personally focusing on typical types of hacking. I am more into OSINT, scanning tools, recon tools, and I'm also learning RF / SDR hacking. But that is for something different that I don't really discuss online.
I wanted to make this post for 3 reasons, 1 do say things that many people do not talk about on Reddit, shed light on the different types of hacking, because remote computer hacking is just 1 part. Think of it like this, you know the term "field agent" and "desk agent" well those terms are perfect analogy for hacking. You have the front line people who go in, charm, lie and confidently gain physical access, and then you have the guy in the car, hotel room or office on his laptop, setting up his pineapple enterprise, listening in on the security radio chatter.
Also as I mentioned don't think your personality type and technical experience bars you from entry into hacking, I bet I can give a 20 year old college girl a dongle, who has no experience in computer hacking, and she will get me physical access to a target more efficiently than some of the best computer hackers.
Lastly motivation, why bother spending years of your life learning a very specific and USEFUL skill, and then go and throw your life away doing some dumb malicious hacking on innocent people, you are no better than a petty thief, holding a old lady up by gunpoint like a dirtbag. You can actually work for high level government agencies, or even start your own cybersec firm up, and make a killing LEGALLY while being a GOOD person.
So think about this if any of those points apply to you.
Have a good day ladies and gents.
(This post was deleted at hacking) So I put it here to save.