hi! from the beginning i want to apologize for my grammar in english, its my third language and im only 17 soo...
back to the topic, i need a real advice from my trans fellows. i was assigned as woman when i was born, and i really wasnt thinking about it. never. and since i can remember i was 'one of the boys' and all of that 'manly stuff' that we were doing with the boys together was really appealing to me. but it wasnt like i dont like spending time with girls - i just didnt think about gender in general (and still does) when it comes to realtionships with others. it was probably cuz girls in my area werent likely to play games etc., which boys were. all of that changed when i had swapped the environment, which was 2-3 years ago. i started to see that people are differentiate genders with every assumption they made. and i didnt like it. i still dont want people to think i am a woman. and i really dont know if this is because of the bad stereotypes on women, or i am just not one of them. since those years when anyone call me a woman i want to cry and tell them the truth. but i cant. i started to feel comfortable with my body due to the medication i currently take, and i really like the 'feminine' clothes. but i also wear these 'masculine'
really, i need advice. my biggest dream is to just be born as a male. pls tell me if cis people are having those thoughts... and if i am really nonbinary, why would it came to me in my 14 - 15 and not before?

Sorry if this is a bad place to post this, I can remove it. Is there a good place to sell leftover solar stuff? I have like $4,700 worth of new unused EnPhase material (2x strands of 65 terminals Q-Cable for 60 cell landscape, few hundred continuous feet of raw q cable, like 10x bags of 10 ea. of field-wireable connectors, a 200A CH style master breaker, a 200A CH style panel and cover… some other stuff). Point is it’s not junk or recycle scrap stuff. It’s brand new and expensive and I don’t know what to do with it.
I’m testing eBay but I’d really much rather sell it bulk for something reasonable and just not deal with selling and fulfilling it all… second best would be to hit a specific market where solar DIY people like us hunt for these things. Any place to do that?

Tere Eestlased,
I am looking for some resources for my father-in-law, who is in his 70's and needs medical care. First some background, then the details. tl;dr at the end.
I am an American living in Finland. I do not speak Estonian, hence my reaching out here. I have an Estonian partner who lives with me in Finland. My partner's father is in his 70's and his health is declining, and the downward turn is getting faster. I have a high-pressure, round-the-clock profession and it is not possible for me to leave Finland frequently and care for my father-in-law. My partner is taking a sabbatical and may be able to do it, but for reasons I'll outline now, it is truly the last resort.
In about October last year, my partner told me that his father said he cannot get out of bed some days. We spent about two months with him in December and January, where he seemed okay, just old.
Now we have been here in Estonia for about two weeks and there have been 3 days my father-in-law is not able to get out of bed. He does not do laundry and it is clear to me that he rarely bathes. He is sometimes able to do things he enjoys, like caring for his aiamaja and seeing his brother. He does not cook. Since I have known him he has terrible teeth, but he has lost even more. He can barely walk, and lives on the third floor of a building with no elevator.
To me, as someone working in research in a field next to cognition, I feel that his cognition is poor. Reasoning with my father-in-law is impossible. When we come to visit him, we bring my cat, who is strictly indoors. Previously, my father-in-law has been able to keep doors and windows closed for the cat, but on this visit we have caught the balcony door and windows open a few times. He is making a lot of poor decisions like this all the time.
He complains constantly about how he feels. Not in a bad way, not for attention, but just because it is so uncomfortable. He is on medication for high blood pressure, but he hasn't had it checked or adjusted in 5 years. On this trip we found that he had spent 80€ on a fake, scam "medication" for blood pressure. For Christmas he bought us those gold coins that they scam old people with and had his credit card information stolen. With this second scam purchase he will not admit to us how he bought it, and we are worried he will have his information stolen again. When we told him this, he just laughed and said "haha, nii halb."
There is a lot more, but I'll get to the point. My father-in-law is terrified of doctors. He has not been to a doctor in 5 years, and he hadn't been to one for 15 years before that. He will not go to the dentist despite having like 8 teeth left. I cannot communicate with him due to my lack of Estonian and his lack of English. When my partner asks him about caring for himself it turns into them yelling at each other. My partner refuses to push his father on the issue and tells me I am overreacting. However, it is not normal to not be able to get out of bed ever, let alone two or three days a week. My partner says it is normal for the house to smell like body odor and his father to wear old, dirty clothes, but 2 years ago when I started visiting him it certainly was not. I think my partner is in denial and does not want to deal with it, and also does not know how to deal with it tactfully.
However, my partner agrees maybe some in home care would be beneficial. We make good salaries in Finland and can afford a moderate cost to help my father-in-law, especially since he is alone. I even think house calls from a geriatrician or at least a gp would are the only ways he will get medical care. However, as I do not speak Estonian, I am unable to find these services myself.
tl;dr: 70 year old man is in severely-declining health and refuses medical care. What private-sector resources exist for in home care? How can I find a doctor who will do home visits? Is it even worth exploring public-sector resources for his situation?
Other small details: he lives in a small town in Ida-Virumaa, he does not drive, I'll add something else here if I think of it.

I would like to apologize in advance if I come across as a bit ignorant as part of my questions below, I suppose it all can be attributed to the fact that I have only just started watching wrestling recently, upon the insistence of my friend. And while I have more or less enjoyed what I have been able to see until now, I did have a couple of queries in relation to rules followed in most WWE matches, that I was hoping the good people of this subreddit, can help me with.

1. From what I have been able to see, wrestlers routinely throw each other into the steel steps outside the ring during matches, which never results in a disqualification, however, when the same steel steps are yanked off their usual spot by a wrestler, to use as a battering ram of sorts to meet oncoming wrestlers with, it automatically results in a disqualification. Can someone explain the logic behind such an event?
2. When a wrestler retrieves a table from somewhere, for instance, and ends up putting their opponent through the table in question, the outcome is a disqualification, but if wrestlers put each other through the announce tables in the sides of the ring, the matches keep on continuing anyway. Why does such a thing happen?
3. Based on what I have seen in other combat sports like boxing and stuff, the rope break rule is usually implemented when it is adjudged that the pugilists contesting the bout are wrangled together in a heap, which renders them unable to proceed further with the contest, which is why pugilists are made to break up upon being locked up in the ropes, so that they can proceed further with their fight. However, in WWE, even when the wrestler is locked up in a submission hold completely, or if the wrestler is basically out of it upon being hit with a finishing move, they can easily escape the predicament they are in, by nonchalantly placing a foot or a finger on the bottom rope. Does this rule make sense in your eyes?
4. Why don't championships change hands by disqualification? Upon researching the subject, I discovered that apparently WWE and UFC (which I watch sometimes) work under the same umbrella, and in UFC a guy called Aljamain Sterling won a title via disqualification, so any clarification on the subject will be welcome.
5. And on a parting note, I also remembered something little, that may not mean much as a question, but certainly something I am happy to accept advice on. Every wrestler has a finishing move, which is touted as the wrestler's most dangerous weapon in their arsenal. But why do the wrestlers being hit with the move, continue kicking out of the move, if the move is indeed a finishing move? I get that wrestling is scripted, but shouldn't the authorities be trying to protect the sanctity of finishing moves, if they are going to be referred as such?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to go through my post, and I hope I have given a few laughs to people that think I am completely dense and stupid when it comes to wrestling haha. Feel free to give me suggestions and advice in relation to how I should proceed consuming wrestling further, peace!

So apologies i sound dumb im very new to all this kinda stuff but I have decided to get myself a vpn properly now to I guess mask my public IP for general day to day Web surfing and what not but from my understanding most of these VPN's are just around to collect user data. I am currently using Private Internet Access. I want to implement something that I know is not quietly scraping information out of me and something I know is secure and private. Now I don't do anything illegal but the internet is becoming a more and more hazardous place to be without some additional protection. I have looked into hosting my own VPN server on one of my raspberry pi's but this use case does not achieve what I want (masking public ip) and only allows me to access my home network when I'm away from home. I had a little bit of a search into proxies and privoxy but I don't think this will slow everything down and be a headache trying to implement additional privacy being that it is unencrypted http and being limited to an app by app basis.
I have also had a look at VPS's and its all a little bit overwhelming as there are so many different avenues to all of this but at the end of the day nothing helps quite like talking directly to people who have the knowledge that I don't have to point me in a direction I can then go and research.
Or am I just being over cautious here? Is it totally fine to just run PIA or some other VPN. If there is a service that provides more privacy and anonymity that I can self host I would be very interested
So if anyone could help me by pointing me in the right direction i would be forever grateful. I want to protect myself on my Macbook and phone when online.

So I live in Europe. It appears that Zona Paper is an Eagle Land product, and as such I have a hard time tracking it down, and the stuff I do find is priced ridiculously because of the import costs and such.
Have any of you fellow Europeans found a product that's a valid replacement? So far I've been using regular sandpaper up to 7k grit and a rotary tool with polishing wax, but it does seem like Zona paper gets better results, at least on the videos I've watched.
Any suggestions?
​
Bonus question: What's the actual difference between Zona paper and regular aluminum oxide paper?

After many years in software development, here are some of the toxic employees I experienced:

1. Senior Developers Kuno- Senior but has zero development experience, and can't even learn on his own how an IDE works. Went on the same training together and after many weeks of still has no output and asks his teammate how to search globally in the IDE.I had to fire him after 6 months, last I heard project manager na sya. Another one, may masteral pa sa isang prestigious uni - worked a year sa project and then resigned, when the time comes to transfer his work to others, no work was done. I know this is a lapse in the management wala kc nag momonitor sa kanya kasi first time in history na nangyari na may developer na walang output. Ingat sa ganitong types of developer, ganda ng nakasulat sa CV nyan, magaling din siguro sa interview to sell himself/herself.
   
2. Senior developer / Expert daw - Just because they are active in the git community does not mean they are good developers. Something as simple as following coding standards and best practices hindi magawa, pag di naintindihan ang existing design pattern over-engineered daw pero super simple lang naman ung pattern hindi lang nya magets, gagawa ng sariling implementation na parang college student ang gumawa, mag naname ng variable sya lang nakakaintindi, basta nag wowork ok na, super startup mindset.Even the tab space na 4 na ginagamit ng buong app ni violate, gusto nya unique sya kaya ginawa nyang 2 space lahat ng code nya.Ingat sa mga ganitong developers, so full of themselves pero walang kwenta mag code.Kawawa lilipatan na company nito, sakit sa ulo, our team had to refactor all his work.
   
3. Credit grabbing developemanagetl - average dev, can code, but during any presentation, meeting or demo, he/she will always repeat what he gathered from someone or an already mentioned bright idea and make it his own as if he was the one who came up with it. He usually always repeats the idea when his boss or someone higher than him joins the meeting.
   

Any worst experience than the ones above?

I'm giving a range of ages as I don't want to specify our age but we are the same age. We started being friends around 9 months ago and we were always kind of touchy as shes the kind of person whos always hugging people and stuff but it was always much more with me. it then progressed to cuddling then kisses on the cheek, forehead etc. We both like each other but we never confessed or anything we js kinda let it happen. So today I was at her house cuddling and we kissed. But since we're kinda young I kind of want to slow things down as we are still studying and since we're teenagers we're extremely vulnerable and stuff. We don't argue or anything if one does something wrong we apologise and lesrn from it so we don't argue or anything. She's also the type of person to never argue so arguing and fights isn't an issue. Her mental state isn't the best but she's getting professional help and I'm supporting her and I don't let her issues affect my life so I'm alright. I'm not quite sure of what to do now. I plan to just continue without the dating or girlfriend label but I'm not sure ud that's what I should do. Any advice on what to do would be greatly appreciated

This QoL was probably already asked, but whenever I attack, I always use all of my troops / spells even if I don't need them. If have some spare, then I can't use the Quick Train feature because there is not enough space, so I either have to dismiss the spare troops / spells (which kinda defeats the purpose of sparing them in the first place) or to manually add the remaining stuff to complete an army (which kinda defeats the purpose of the Quick Train). In both cases, it's an extra hassle I don't really want to go through every time. I feel like if you spare troops / spells because you don't need them, you shouldn't be penalized.
So, what I would like to see is for the Quick Train button to check the current stuff I have and, if they are part of the preset I'm trying to make, to simply add the missing troops / spells to complete it, instead of straight up adding all of them to the queue. Otherwise, act like it currently does. Of course, this should work for the reserve as well. And if you feel like there are people that would somehow prefer to add full armies every single time, just split the button in 2 and have both features available.

Personally this is 15 years ago for me but I still don't have closure so I'd like to discuss. I had a bad break up in 1st year- was already dark skinned and chubby and I got worse with the taunting and lack of supportive friends. I was an intense girl who'd discuss heavy topics. I was probably chronically depressed. I had a lot of childhood trauma but I didn't share it with people till they got close. My small town school friends had been kinder and more inclusive so the cattiness in the big city was a culture shock to me.
Most people in college seemed to prefer to just banter and flirt and laughed all the time about dumb things. I couldn't understand how they could stay at that superficial level and even form mixed gender gangs like that (it was mostly the guys who "approved of" and included new people). I never ended up forming a circle and didn't get invited out much. Some guys would tell me "chill man.. just enjoy!" if I talked about any difficult topic. Guys made it a point to call me "sister" and never sit alone with me for too long. I felt like I had the cooties or something. I saw guys hovering around and swarming to the more feminine girls (not necessarily very pretty but) who'd bat their eyelashes and pout to have their way. The girls got free coffees and dinners and moved from one to the next within months. It seemed gross to me. I thought my talents, good heart and intelligence would attract people- both for friendship and romance- but I was left alone by both genders- I couldn't fake "being happy" which seemed necessary for popularity. Don't people treat "underdogs" more kindly? I tried so hard to be a part of the community back then attending every damned birthday party or dinner only to be alone when I cried. But people would often come with their problems for support, use me n go off.
I don't know if it was just looks based or me being depressed with maybe a negative aura but I remained single for the next 10 years, only found guys online. Now 15 years since college, I'm in a better headspace and take better care of myself. I'm still not popular in that circle and don't have many friends- still feel sorry for myself for having been excluded back when I needed support. I became closer to a few and had shared my past but never got treated with more empathy or kindness for it- they still excluded me from "fun" stuff with others. I was told I'm "not everybody's cup of tea" by one rudely, recently another said the same. I posted about that a few days ago- it's mean and I need better friends.
But I chiefly want to discuss college friendships and how boys see girls at that age. Talk to me please.

ive just started reading this, but was introduced to this idea of all carbs and sugars being incredibly bad for you and stuff recently by my girlfriend. I am honestly pretty skeptical about all this, I understand most food we eat now is modified genetically or has stuff added and that applies to grain and wheat but it does as well to other foods so.... very confused rn, would like help and opinions especially since im an athlete and cant exactly just lower carbs drastically.

Girl I met in a social group was very attracted to me, gushing over me, texting, flirting on text, etc. Eventually we decided to be just friends "for now" as she said she was not ready to date anyone.
Then I asked her if she liked me and she denied it and ran but said that she values my friendship. I was so hurt because I really liked her at this point and had developed feelings, I insulted her.... and then I apologized, and she forgave me. She seems to still want to be friends.
Now she seems to be making an extra effort to spend time around me, doing things I do, dressing up extremely attractively around me (more than usual), upgraded her wardrobe & fashion, organizes events that I might join, etc.
Maybe she just wants to have fun, but also constantly tries to be in my orbit and make sure I'm aware of her presence. Irl she is just very respectful and polite but nothing flirty.
Everytime I try to flirt with her on text she is cold and shuts me down and asks me to respect her boundaries. So I stopped texting her now. She has low self esteem, emotionally unavailable, doesn't believe in dating or love, had a really bad relationship in the past which hurt her.
What should I do because I have feelings for her, but it seems like she likes me, but is scared to tell me, but also, wants to be seen by me, but does not want me to pursue her. How do I live with this? What do I do because it is killing me emotionally? Normally I would just cut and move on but considering I'm always in her orbit and seeing her in person a lot it's very hard. Help?!
I cannot exit these social groups as we have many common friends. I enjoy them too.
TLDR: Girl sends mixed signals, very confusing behaviour, keeps rejecting me, I have feelings, how do I do stuff around her without getting hurt?

Okay so if you poop a regularly, or at least semi regularly, do pounds of poop build up inside of you?
And before you tell me to go to Google, I went to Google. The first three are ads for supplements that help you poop all the excess poop out of you, And then the next two pages are just for people selling their miracle voodoo about pooping.
Obviously the people in the videos who are selling the stuff that helps you get rid of the excess poop are going to tell you that yes there is excess poop but they have a monetary reason to tell you that.
Edit: Asked and answered

I saw a post on (basically the swedish version of craiglist) of a macaw and they're saying "if we can't sell him in 5 days we're gonna put him down" and I panicked and immediatly wrote to them. I do have knowledge about macaws since we have them at a zoo I work at sometimes and hang out a lot with them and I do know how much time they need and stuff and how much they're gonna cost me, but I need some tips for people who have owned them before. I just wanna save this bird and give it a good life and I really honestly can't let it go, I don't want him to go to someone who can't take care of him either.

(follow blueskyinvites)
hey, I been maintaining this sub(4000+ members now) for a while and wanted to publish this common FAQs wrt invite which will help you with clarity.
Q. After logging to Bluesky, I am asked to get an invite. What does it mean?
A. Bluesky is an invite-only platform. At present there are over 1.5 million users on waiting list!!. Hence, inorder to use it, you should be invited by some other user on platform.
You could find some users running giveaways or offering invites on this sub, So make sure to be active here. check rules!
Q. How does an invite look like?
A. Invite is of the format "bsky-social-xxxxx-xxxxx"
Q. Where can i download Bluesky app?
A.
Official iOS : https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bluesky-social/id6444370199
Official Android : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=xyz.blueskyweb.app&hl=en_US
Q. I don't know anyone on Bluesky, how could I get user access?
A. I, felix, been running an initiative since 2nd March which helped 200+ get access to Bluesky. If you promise to pass forward the invites(Free from Internet scammers and no one is into buy bluesky invite or selling bluesky invites in our Trusted Invite train community, just passing it forward), you could consider joining our trusted community here. It's paywalled for the time and effort it takes to organise this. no everyone understands it, but totally cool:)
Q. What other ways can I get app access?
A. Some are offering invites by dropping them as posts now(example) and then, follow blueskyinvites and enable notifications(they go super quick). Also there are people trying to buy bluesky invite or sell bluesky invites, beware of bluesky invite scams out there & do it at your own risk.

Disclaimer- I'm doing this on an alternate account, just telling y'all.
So I've been wondering lately... a small part of me thinks I might've been misdiagnosed because the day I took the test I was quite nervous + had a stressful day and made way more mispronunciations than usual (I don't think I noticed any misreads/mispronunciations until recently).. however a part of me thinks the diagnosis is correct because..
I had issues with reading as a child, to be more specific reading comprehension.. I had a speech delay + had to go to spech therpay, struggle with spelling a lot, struggled with mathematics (eg- word problems, switching up '+' and 'x' etc), memorising information, had poor writing/handwriting, poor pencil grip, excellent memory for hands-on stuff rather than textbook material,My oral is generally better than written, and so on. The only thing I can guarantee is that after second grade, my performance in virtually everything was quite inconsistent.
I struggled with every language subject I took throughout school in pretty much all aspects. I still struggle with speech.
English is not my second language by the way. So maybe that changes things.
I honestly don't know whether this is a mild case being aggrevated or an actual misdiagnosis. Now that I come to think of it, it is probably the former. The test I took, I scored very high in some areas (eg-problem solving) but very low in others (eg-literacy). I was also quite shocked to know that I had issues with reading back when I was younger. My mom mainly thinks I don't actually have it.
I still struggle with the same stuff I had as a kid.
Does any of this sound like dyslexia?

So a little while back, a Minecraft server that I have with some friends was hacked into. I found out, after going into the server after Christmas break and every one of our buildings and machines had been destroyed by lava. The reason I’m posting, is because I’m not sure if this was just a random hack because I have a friend who knows his way around computer programming and hacking who I think could have done it. But I also know that sometimes random people hack servers; but what does that look like? Is is possible that some random jerk could have hacked into our server, destroyed our stuff and erased their tracks?
Our base wasn’t anywhere near spawn and the destruction was only at our base (keep in mind, the coordinates to the base were posted in our discord, that this guy was also in). We checked the logs and we couldn’t find anything (trace gone). I also know that It wasn’t someone from our server.
I’m curious to hear anyone’s thoughts or if anyone has experienced something like this.
Thanks 🥰

Had her for over a month, based on everything i assume she is roughly 13-15 months old as of now
-She has a sturdy/solid-ish hammock, fake vines, hides, rocks and logs for crawling/climbing + basking spots -I look out for all the warning signs (closing eyes, puffed beard, open mouth) -I bathe her 1-2 times a week -She rarely puffs her beard, spooks or runs -She poops at least 1 time everyday (sometimes every 2 days) -Feed 1 bowl of veggies a day (+ extra if she is hungry or finishes quickly) -Feed locusts and occassionaly mealworms 2-4 times a week
Personally i think everything is okay and she isnt too freaked out by me. However, Advice needed: -Is there anything im missing with the stuff above (or is there something i need to stop doing) -How do i make her more comfortable with handling

I have to admit, I wasn't took big on what Cold Steel 1 and 2 when I played them. CS3 felt like they took what I mostly didn't like about 1 and 2, and decided to make things better.
First and foremost the graphical overhaul is definitely welcomed. Everyone looks so much better in here. I know 1 and 2 were for the PS3 but the jump in graphical fidelity here to PS4 era graphics is definitely much, much better. And how the battlefield just uses wherever you're standing on and transitioning into it feels faster than before. Though there's pretty heavy frame drops when i was in the Isthmia forest - I thought my 3060ti can handle it but maybe not?
The music, I felt I liked the earlier ones better, though there are still some bangers in here. Step Ahead is one of my favorites in this game and ranks pretty high for me. Spiral of Erebos is kinda taking the first intro and making into a full song that loops. The Juno theme is also a banger.
Gameplay wise, I really like the idea of Brave Orders, potentially game-deciding big moves that strengthens your team in different manners depending on the use case. And not to mention Break, which is also pretty cool, though with the master quartz you can have some pretty stupid combinations like doing huge amount of damage when the enemy is in a break state or applying ungodly amounts of ailments. The battles kind of simplifies to breaking the enemy and then doing your big moves on them while they're in break state.
Story-wise I can't help but feel the subtitle might as well be called "The Further Suffering of Rean Schwarzer". Of course he's now called as a hero, he suffered with the result of the Northern War (no thanks anime - which I did finish) which caused him to limit his use of Spirit Unification, but even as an instructor, you get the feeling most of the things aren't under his control and each time shit hits the fan Lectcher comes to tell him to deal with it because the government said so.
One thing I do want to point out is how the early 3 chapters were laid out in almost formulatic fashion. New field activity > Go to new place > Ouroboros does something > Rean tries to call for Vali... > That won't be necessary > Ouroboros does something crazier > Government tells Rean to deal with the mess > Rean does things with old class VII > Deal with Ouroboros and call Valimar. Also not a big fan of sending the branch campus students who had no experience, all over the country just to deal with Ouroboros is kinda irresponsible.
Which I say "mostly" because while it's kinda formulaic, there are subtle changes. Chapter 1 Rean didn't let class VII do anything when it became serious, but chapter 2 he asked them to join, but only if Juna is back mentally. In chapter 3 they are already forming two separate teams to take back Juno. So there's a definite change in mindset for Rean and co where the new class VII students weren't good enough, but eventually they caught up to the old class VII and can hold their own.
This game also expands a lot more on the Erebonia tale with some new wrinkles. The curse is introduced, it felt slightly handwavey - all of their past actions were almost solely attributed to the curse (including Ash who was definitely attributed to the curse), but it also explains why Erebonia is so intent on conflict moreso than other nations in the continent.
Back to Rean - I feel like the last chapter just makes him suffer way more. Yeah they killed the dark dragon, but how things went after felt so wrong. Also learning how Osbourne's family made him the man he is now and how it tied into Rean. How George is not pronounced as George anymore, Angie disappearing after chapter 3, the reappearance of Azure Siegfried with seemingly no past memory. That's a lot of things to take in, really. And of course how the egg came to be, how they wanted to stop the calamity but eventually Rean was the one who did it, though obviously it's part of the plan. He had no choice (or rather he didn't even get to choose).
And how Osborne just Osborned all over Rean in the end is well...typical Osborne, I suppose.
As for how new characters go, the new class VII is definitely quite endearing. Juna has a strong affinity for the correct moral compass and is definitely hugely inspired by the SSS and Crossbell. Kurt seemed a little rude at first and was unsure of himself, though I don't think at this point he's at any level near his relatives, he found a right role for himself. Altina basically starting off as a robot that can't think for herself and discovering emotions is heartwarming. Ash wasn't so likable as he was pretty brash, but even though his delinquent-ish attitude is still around, he's definitely softened up. Musse I personally am not a fan of as much - her endless teasing of Rean and wanting him to be her husband and how she is a million steps ahead of everything felt...wrong. Thus far I only know that she'll be the one taking over as the new Duke Cayenne, but how she's so smart felt...fake. I'm not sure how to word it properly, unfortunately.
Aurelia is one of the highpoint of the game, how she commands the school and also doing what she wants at her own pace is definitely quite cool. She's also kinda broken to play as, with her cameo in Juno. Michael is a stoic military guy but eventually he just lets Aurelia do as she pleases because he knew he can't control her. Seeing Randy is also a plus, though it's kinda unfortunate I don't get to use him at all. Towa here is more of a side character than before, though you can feel that partially she's there because she knew Rean needs support.
Cedric and his new main campus buddies aren't all that interesting either. He kinda felt like Patrick in CS1, but with an ulterior motive (that is to get into his robot). How the main campus just decided to become his lackey, even though the two named ones were slightly more interesting, even with how all it happened at the end is kinda meh - don't they have their own conclusion that shit was going to hit real hard with the giant egg and Ouroboros behind them?
That's way longer than what I planned, sorry for being ranty and having my thoughts all over the place. CS3 is definitely so far the higher point of the series in here. I enjoyed my time with the game, probably starting from chapter 3 with trying to take Juno back (which also incidentally is the prologue which Falcom likes to do now it seems). Going to go to CS4 starting later this week and can't wait to see the end of the Cold Steel arc.

Hello!
I have been enjoying shopping at Blams EA store (thank you Blams, god/dess amongst simmers), however the stuff packs for Dreams of India and Africa Inspiration etc are not available.
I am looking to diversify my sims, gameplay and worlds with non-western cultures.
Does anyone have any links they could share for great CC, sims, buildings etc that reflect this idea?
Thanks :)

Hey, everyone. I posted a writing philosophy post on my blog today, and given the relevance to our subgenre, I figured I'd repost it here in case some people are interested. I expect this will be a controversial one -- it's definitely an area where my approach to writing differs from the norm -- but I hope that some readers find the insight on my perspective valuable, even if they don't actually agree with it.

The Spark of Paths Untraveled

A common element of writing philosophy is that authors should, as a general rule, only include content that serves the plot, the development of characters, or both. These authors tend to feel that other types of content — largely meaning scenes that are principally written for setting (or world building, as it’s often called) purposes — should only occur if they also serve the plot or development of the characters in some way.
I’m here to disagree with that approach.
There are several elements to why, but I’m going to focus primarily on a few main points that are important to the types of fiction that I tend to write.

Paths Untraveled

The foundation of my premise (not a cultivation joke, but you’re free to make it as one) is simple:
Things touched on within a story that the character does not actually end up exploring directly can add just as much (or more) value to a reader experience than what the character does explore.
This is going to sound incredibly counter-intuitive to some people, but probably won’t be as strange to anyone who is heavily involved in fanfiction communities and similar subcultures.
So, what am I talking about here, exactly?
Essentially, there are some specific scenes in novels that are written in a way that — through the intent of the author or otherwise — ignite the imagination about what could have happened if things went just a little bit differently.
Typically, these are most commonly scenes that involve clearly delineated “branches” that can lead to “what if” scenarios on the part of a reader. In my experience, there are very few things that ignite reader interest — and fandom interest in general — more than “what if this one story element went slightly differently?” This doesn’t have to be as direct as a choice. It can also, more rarely, simply be bits of information that provide context on areas of the setting that are never fully explored within canon. For example, a character might be shown explaining — or even using — an ability that is never seen again in a story, and their *lack* of using that ability can also be a point that sparks reader interest. (See: Kakashi opening the First Gate during an exposition scene in early Naurto, then never using it again.)
Now, this might sound like it has a lot to do with plot and character – and yeah, it often does. Things like, “What if Batman just killed the Joker?” is both a very common plot point to theorize about and a place to think about exploration of character development for what might occur in that scenario.
But there’s a category of “what if” style scenarios that principally focus on elements of world building or magic system exploration, and while those absolutely can intersect with things like characters and plot in some ways, they don’t necessarily need to.
A clear example of this?
My Arcane Ascension books include details about attunements that may never actually show up in the books.
I tend to go lighter on detail for things that aren’t likely to directly intersect with the main characters (in terms of plot or character development), and some of the attunements were mentioned earlier than their inclusion for the sake of foreshadowing when characters would show up with them later, but things like attunement descriptions for attunements that won’t show up help serve a few different types of “what if” scenarios —
What if one of the characters had ended up with, say, the Chronomancer attunement instead of what they had in the main story?
This type of content exists not only to provide extra world building details to make the world feel alive (which I feel has its own value), it also provides fans with more ideas to explore. And attunements are just the start of it — there are numerous types of content that, while absolutely not integral to the plot or the characters, add something to reader engagement for a certain type of reader. This is the reader that tends to think about these details and extrapolate into possibilities for other stories, to theorycraft, and, perhaps most commonly, a type of engagement I don’t think authors talk about enough —
The type of reader that wants to create their own character within a setting.
This is a hugely common aspect of fandom, above and beyond people who are out there making fanart and fanfic. Things like Judgements and other forms of determining your magic — or what faction you belong to, or your character class, or any number of other branching points — are massively important points of engagement for readers. (See any number of internet quizzes for what house you’d belong to in other fandoms, for example.)
These are what I call “spark scenes”, because they spark ideas on the parts of readers. Any scene a character could end up with one of many different rewards or punishments falls into this category.
There are numerous examples of what I consider to be “spark scenes”. Some examples include:
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• Treasure vault scenes.
  • Typically, in these scenes, a reader is given information on several things in a vault, and the main character is given a chance to choose one item.
    • Sometimes, we’ll get a scene where the main character gets everything from the vault later, which makes this plot and/or character relevant information. However, oftentimes these other items are never seen again. This does not, to me, mean they do not have value — rather, the value is in world building (we know these things can exist in the setting now) and, the much more nebulous value that I’m talking about here, which is spark value, or the value of getting the reader to think about what would happen if a different choice is made.
    • Notably, this is one of many reasons why I prefer to see treasure vault scenes that have a variety of choices where there isn’t one clear “right” option. If there are a handful of items that are super generic and boring, but one thing that’s obviously incredibly overpowered that the main character picks, that doesn’t have the same spark effect, because there’s a much more limited incentive to think about why the other options would have been interesting.
    • Things like “pick your starting technique or spell” scenes are another example of this.
• Character class section.
  • As alluded to in attunements mention above, any place where a main character has to choose a character class — or something similar, like a cultivation path — is also a potential spark scene.
  • As explained above, this also works better for “spark” value if there are multiple equally good options (or similarly good options) available to think about.
  • Things like which powers a superhero ends up with, or which element a character has in a cultivation setting, can also fall into the same category, especially if there are elements of choice involved.
  • Other elements of game-like character creation (e.g. picking a species) also fall into this category.
• Auction scenes.
  • Typically, these are used to introduce conflict when a main character wants something at the auction that some ultra high-class noble or something also wants. This one super awesome item is often the focus of the scene from a plot and character perspective — but, unless you really want to write a one-item auction, there’s room here to have other cool stuff on the auction, too, even if the main character doesn’t pick it up.
• Wishes, boons from powerful entities, and similar concepts.
  • These are classics, even outside of this subgenre. What if Aladdin wished for (x) instead of (y?)
  • Things like exploring the rules and limitations of the wishing/boon process can add more layers to reader engagement. Any time you add a rule to something like a genie lamp, it’s a way of asking certain types of readers to say, “What if that rule didn’t exist?” or “How can I work around that rule?” That engagement has value, even if it’s not fully explored within the story itself.
• Contract/vow scenes.
  • Any scene where a character has to make a contract has the potential to be a spark scene.
  • For example, if a character gets to choose one of a handful of monsters to be their starting monster companion, each monster option that the main character doesn’t pick serves this function.
  • If it’s a magically binding contract, including the language of the contract can also serve as a spark, especially if there are elements that readers find that might be exploitable, etc. similar to the genie example above.
• Location/route option scenes.
  • Simple examples are things like, “In order to reach the Lost Mountains, we can go through either the ancient ruins of Lostopia or follow the Winding Road of No Return.”
  • In many stories, the names might be listed, but no details are provided for the options not taken — this is one of those areas where I think that even a paragraph or two of “unnecessary” content for the alternate routes can be super engaging.
• Magic system exploration scenes.
  • For example, sections of the book talking about possible spells of specific magic types that Corin doesn’t actually research can serve this function. Many of these spells will still come up in the future — either when Corin decides to learn them or if other characters do — but having descriptions of what is possible within certain types of magic can spark the imagination.
  • This is one of the areas where my books can get the most excessive in terms of detail, especially in Arcane Ascension. This is something that new authors should be very careful about, and even I would probably tone down certain specific scenes — or approach them in a more engaging way — if I was going back and rewriting them.

These are just some sample options; there are really a ton of ways to have elements of a scene that spark reader engagement without necessitating direct plot or character involvement.
Notably, these spark scenes often have greater value if there’s room for the reader to disagree with the main character’s decisions — and in order to do that in a way that can explored at beyond a cursory level, there needs to be a certain requisite amount of information provided.
Take the character class selection option, for example.
It’s very easy for an author to say, “Maria Suzette saw that she had ten class options, including fighter, mage, cleric, thief, bard, druid, ranger, monk, and paladin, but she chose the more obscure Ultimate God Master class, which no one else used because it had a reputation for being underpowered. No one could have possibly guessed that Ultimate God Master was actually a class with great potential!”
Comedy aside, a lot of LitRPGs start with this type of setup — maybe a little less blatant — or end up in a similar place with things like class and treasure selection.
In the scenario above, the main character is given choices, but there isn’t enough information to know if any of the other classes would interesting. There’s no spark here – it’s basically just laying out that the main character is picking a certain option, which is plot and character relevant, but there’s nothing much to explore on the fandom side. No one reading this premise is likely to be thinking, “Hey, wow, fighter sounds like it could be a particularly intriguing alternative to Ultimate God Master.”
(If you are, I commend your dedication to the fighter role.)
In the same sort of setup, though, if we’re willing to dedicate a bit more time to exploring the paths not traveled, we can put in some details on each other class — and, perhaps, make them a little more interesting as alternate options that someone in the fandom might actually think about wanting. If you really insist on including an Ultimate God Master class for your main character at all, consider that you can still have interesting alternatives on the same scale (Immortal Demon Emperor?) that could feel like viable alternatives.
Now, as a caveat to this, there’s an obvious argument that you can still have all these things and still tie them into plot and character. For example, if you include an Immortal Demon Emperor class as a counter option for the main character above that is their “path untraveled”, there are a couple obvious ways to make it relevant.
The first is to have the main character engage with that option in some way (e.g. think about it before making their choice). This can add to the spark value, since the main character engaging with it can encourage readers to think about it further.
The second is to have it show up again later in some way, e.g. the main character gets a rival with the Immortal Demon Emperor class.
I love both of these approaches, and I think they can add a ton — but I think one area where I differ from many of my writing contemporaries is that I do not actually think that they’re necessary.
The existence of the details themselves, when properly executed, can add value with nothing further being needed within that scene or otherwise. And it can add enough value that including these things is worth doing, in my opinion, even without intertwining them with anything else.

Using This Approach

Do I advise adding in these types of details — say, extra character class alternatives that sound cool that you never see again?
Not really. Not frequently. I don’t even tend to do that myself. Rather, if you look at something like the treasure vault scenes in Weapons & Wielders, I tend to do both of the extra things I mentioned above — I have my character think about the options (which is character exploration) and I have someone else choose them (which makes them potentially plot relevant).
There are, however, cases where I might deliberately include details specifically for the world building and spark effects — and those tend to be cases where I’m doing it specifically with the intention of giving readers ideas for what they might do for their own characters, or locations they might want to have adventures, or that sort of thing. And sometimes, it isn’t appropriate for me to have all those things incorporate a response from my character or future plot involvement. That is, to me, okay.
My principal point here isn’t actually “you should write scenes for setting/world building without any other purpose”. Rather, it’s that plot, character, and setting are typically seen as the three main reasons for writing content, and I would postulate that “spark” is effectively a fourth category that interacts with all of the others, and that the combination of setting and spark can be strong enough to warrant inclusion of details that may not ever be relevant to plot and character.
Scenes and content designed for reader engagement aren’t a new concept, of course. Fandom in particular is extremely familiar with the idea of certain types of content existing specifically to spur though and discussion — but usually, this tends to be in the context of things like character deaths, relationships, and other major things that *do* involve characters and plot. I like to go outside of that territory from time to time, hoping to give my readers things to think about in terms of how magic works, what items people could have picked up, the spells they could have researched, and that sort of thing.
Moderation, of course, has its own value. It’s also important to think about when and where you might be able to employ this type of content without being overly disruptive to pacing. There isn’t an easy way to adjudicate what “good” pacing is, especially in a genre like this one that draws in readers that have very different interests. For example, some readers are most heavily engaged with flashy fight scenes, and others skip them entirely. Likewise, scenes where I go into a bunch of minutia about how magic works bore some readers to tears, but they’re also the single most important scene type for the types of readers who get involved in discussions on Discord, etc. There’s no easy answer to this. I’ve experimented with several approaches and will continue to do so.
As one simple approach to help with pacing, I sometimes include this “spark” content over to things like appendices that are written in-character. This makes these a form of optional engagement for readers that are interested without necessarily bloating the story for other readers. This does have some critical downsides, though — anything in an appendix is going to be deliberately skipped by many readers (even ones who might enjoy it if they know it exists), and perhaps more importantly, it’s probably not going to be included in audiobook. A solid half or more of my readers get my books through audio format, so I have to be cognizant of that and can’t shovel too much of this into appendices or other forms of bonus materials.
So, is that the wrong approach? I don’t have a good answer to that — it’s going to be a good way to handle things for some readers, but not for others. As we see more readers migrating to audio, I think the appendices will be less useful, and I’ll need to prioritize including this type of thing in my main narrative without being disruptive. This is a tough balancing act, and it’s going to be something I continue to test and explore as I write more content in the future.
Conclusions
Now, like any writing opinions I’m going to offer, I need to place a gigantic reminder here that this is a component of my own writing philosophy, not every writer will agree with it, and there absolutely are downsides to including things without clear involvement with plot and character.
Even if certain readers are going to be engaged and start theory crafting when they see details on a bunch of different treasures in a scene that never show up again, or classes on a character class list, that’s not a reader experience that’s going to be universal, or even common. This level of extra detail is best used carefully and deliberately. I’ve personally been known to go overkill on these kinds of details, even for my own preferences, which tend to run very extreme in terms of preferring to see a lot of interesting options to think about.
I’ve had a lot of readers over the years who have been confused by the inclusion of certain content that “doesn’t go anywhere” in my books — and this is one majpr component of that. An (arguably larger) part is that I have a tendency to set up events too far in advance — there are things I’ve been setting up since Forging Divinity that readers won’t see the payoff for until I’ve written ten or more additional novels — so I don’t want it to sound like my books are inundated with things I write exclusively for worldbuilding and spark. But my interest in this kind of content that is designed for a certain type of reader engagement is a major component of my style, and you’ll definitely continue to see that in my stories. There’ll be more treasure vault scenes, more character class selection scenes, and maybe even an auction or two. And in all cases, I intend to include paths my characters will never take.
Why?
So that you can walk those paths yourself.