The story so far...

1. Lawn Killer
2. Lawn Killer: Birth of a Baby Panda
3. Lawn Killer: Catching Lunch
4. Lawn Killer: The Order Of The Wren
5. Lawn Killer: The end of summer
6. Lawn Killer: Merry Christmas, Baby Panda
7. Lawn Killer - The Island
8. Lawn Killer - Leaving the island

When the plane landed in Florida and we piled out, the heat immediately dried my eyes. Not only was it hot, it was humid and that made it so much worse.
The person who owned the makeshift runway greeted us with the sign of the Wren (crossing both wrists and placing the palms on the chest with the fingers together and the thumbs touching each other). What his connection to the Order was a mystery to me, but I didn't ask who he was because my job was to document everything I deemed important so future members could learn from us. After that, he gave us the nicest car he had: A brand new (at the time) black ‘95 Crown Victoria.
In the trunk there were things that every member of the Order might need, including a few things that wouldn't be able to get past customs even with our back channel ways of getting around.
Not two hours after arriving in Florida I saw a gator, a group of children beating a truck with branches, a pipe and a skateboard, the owner of the truck chasing the kids away and one store being robbed.
And that was all before we arrived at our motel.
The motel was south of Miami and it was called Sundowners. Why would they choose this name considering that Florida is known for its elderly and sundowners is a real condition for old people, I have no idea and didn't bother asking.
Like always, the Order made our motel reservation under the name Hill. This was one of the few consistencies members of the Order had while on the road.
The woman who sat behind the registration desk handed us the keys to our room and King asked her if there was a package waiting for us. The woman groaned because that would mean that she would have to get off the stool, but she went to look and found a large envelope. She was clearly annoyed at the minor inconvenience of getting up and gave us a spiteful look when she handed it over. This look was lost on the other hunters and King thanked her before leaving.
After unpacking, getting situated and claiming where we were going to sleep, King opened the envelope and let the contents fall on the bed. The items included a roll of hundred dollar bills, newspaper clippings about the missing people, a map of the area and a folded piece of paper with the name and number of someone in the area who we could get ahold of for any supplies we might need.
King spread the map out on the bed and started to circle the last known locations each of the missing people were seen at.
“So? Learn anything?” I asked after five minutes of watching King and Williams stare at the map in silence.
Williams shook his head. “All of them were headed out to the everglades” he answered, pointing to that part of the map.
“I hate the everglades,” King complained. “If the crocs don't eat you, the mosquitos will.”
Less than two hours later I would discover just how right he was about the mosquitos because after we booked a boat, we went searching. My job was to hold onto the HSD (Handheld supernatural detector) but I never got as much as a beep.
In my opinion all the trees looked the exact same, so it felt like we were going around in circles. This feeling was made worse because none of us spoke when we were out there. I, like the other two more experienced hunters, learned back at the compound that distractions can kill, so instead of talking we kept our eyes open.
By nighttime both Williams and King decided to return to the motel. Since we didn't know what we were dealing with, staying out after dark would be a bad idea.
The next morning we got up extra early so we could search for the whole day. I really didn't like that because at the time I was sixteen and sleeping was one of my favorite activities. While getting supplies for the day I made sure to grab some bug repellant while King and Williams grabbed the snacks.
I was bored out of my mind for most of the day, but in the years since I learned to appreciate the boredom. Boredom doesn't kill and in the Order, no one ever reaches retirement age.
It was about five in the afternoon when something interesting happened; Williams stopped the boat.
“What's going on?” King asked. “See something?”
“I do” Williams answered. “Baby Panda. Do you see it?”
I looked around but couldn’t see anything in the water. “No.”
“It isn't in the water” Williams hinted. “Look again.”
A few moments later I heard King say “oh.”
“What?” I asked.
“You tell us” King laughed.
As much as I tried seeing past the trees that surrounded us, there was nothing else. “All I see are trees.”
King patted my shoulder. “That's okay. We don't see it much either.”
“When's the last time we saw them you wager?” asked Williams.
As King answered he scratched the hair on his neck. “Maybe seven, ten years ago?”
“What?” I asked, irritated. “What is it?”
Williams pointed and I turned my head to look. At first I thought I was looking at a dozen pale white, branchless trees that reached towards the sky like accusing fingers but then realization set in.
“Death Stalks,” King answered.
Lessons from the Orders bestiary came back to me. Death Stalks were not only carnivorous mushrooms that killed all plant life that surrounded them, but they would also bend and impale anything that got too close. After sucking all the fluids from their kill, they would then toss the victim as far as they could. The body would then grow more Death Stalks.
“How do we kill them?” asked Williams, testing me.
“Fire” I answered quickly.
Williams nodded. “Good.”
“Do we have anything?” King asked, looking at the supplies we brought with us, but the only thing that could help us was a bottle of liquor and one wasn't going to do it.
“We have to go back and resupply,” Williams said. “Oh well” he added as he turned the engine over.
When we got back to the dock, King told me and Williams to wait with the boat while he went to the local supplier. I complained about that because the bugs were getting worse as the sun was going down, however when King said if I did it without complaining I would get to pick where we ate, I did as I was ordered.
While waiting for King to return, Williams and I passed the time playing cards. He liked cards so we played some Texas Hold Em. We would bet with pennies so the stakes were never high. Being on the road for as long as I was with these two, I was getting really good at the game.
We were playing for about two hours before King returned. By then I was up about sixty cents and night was quickly approaching.
“It’s almost dark. Should we wait until the morning?” I asked, thinking about the danger of going out after dusk.
“Death Stalks don't move around much” Williams answered with a laugh. “We’ll be fine.”
“That's right,” King agreed as he grabbed something that looked like a gas pump from the trunk. “Come grab the rest, Baby Panda” he ordered as he walked to the boat.
When I got to the car, I saw a canister that read ‘inflamable’ on its side. A smile grew over my face at the sight of it because it reminded me of my time at Miss Luthers.
“What are you smiling about?” Williams asked with a strange smile of his own.
“Hmm?” I asked. “Oh, nothing.”
“No” Williams said. “What was it?”
I smiled again and remembered what Thirty Seven told me the day I used a similar tool in Miss Luther's vivarium. “That flammable and inflammable mean the same thing.”
Williams gave another weird smile, but had the sense not to follow up with any more questions.
“You know what that is?” King asked as I hauled the silver canister over my shoulder with ease.
“A flamethrower” I answered.
“Yeah” King answered, surprised I knew.
“I used one before” I said as I set the thing in the boat.
“Really?” King and Williams asked at the same time.
“When?” Williams asked.
“Years ago. Thirty Seven had me use it at Miss Luthers.”
There was a shared look between King and Williams.
“What?” I asked.
“Who had you use one?” King asked.
“Thirty Seven” I answered. “She wore a jersey with thirty seven on it. Her and One came over and they had me use one.”
“You weren't even in the Order back then” Williams said, amazed.
“He isn't in the Order now,” King added.
“Yeah, that's right,” Williams agreed. “How did you meet two members of Farsight? I only ever met one of them.”
“They were Farsight?”
King and Williams shared another look before bursting out in laughter.
“That's right,” Williams said, getting in the boat to operate the engine. “Now come on. While we still got the sun on our side.”
As Williams operated the boat, getting us closer to the Death Stalks, King was getting the flamethrower ready to use. After he got it set up to his liking, he looked at me and said “Since you already got experience with flamethrowers, do you want to use it?”
“No thanks” I answered. “You can though.”
“Why?” King asked.
I recalled what Thirty Seven said to me that day in the garage. “Because they don't give the best soldiers on the field the flamethrowers.”
Williams' laughter was an explosion and King's face turned red with anger and embarrassment. It wasn't long however before the anger simmered and he too started laughing.
“That was pretty good,” King admitted. “You got me good.”
As we approached the cluster of Death Stalks, Williams slowed the boat down. When we got as close as he dared, he set the anchor.
King stood up in the boat and without warning let loose a stream of fire towards the mushroom stalks.
The Death Stalks did not shrivel up and die instantly like I expected because their skin was thick and hard to set aflame. However once the fire got through that outer layer, the sensitive insides made the whole stalk move around violently. It reminded me of a whip or the inflatable people you see at car lots.
By the time the Death Stalks were gone and would no longer be a problem for the locals, it was dark and we headed back. First to the dock, then to return the boat and then the motel where Williams called Farsight and let them know of a job well done.
When he was done with that call, I ordered us all a pizza.
WAE

I’m a photographer and I was out with my friend and we made a last minute decision to break into an abandoned high school in the process of being demolished. We thought it would make for some cool pictures and we didn’t have any PPE except a couple disposable covid masks. The school was built in late 1920s and half of it had already been knocked down. I guess I was so focused on breaking in that it didn’t even cross my mind there could be asbestos. I had my mask in my pocket most of the time. The interior was full of white dust, broken walls, and ceiling tiles on the ground. Might as well roll over and die at this point. I was in enclosed spaces practically snorting the stuff. I even tripped over some tiles and got the shit all over me. Bare hands and all. We saw some hazmat suits laying by the entrance for the workers and it hit me: this place is fucking full of asbestos. Told my friend we had to bounce and I had my shitty covid mask on for the last minute I was getting out. Then it was confirmed, the exterior was lined with red tape and signage: “DANGER: ASBESTOS” Well shit. My chest feels funny and I just got over having bronchitis. Am I fucked? I know I’m an idiot trust me I just don’t know how I can fix this moving forward.

4'8" tall fluffy (but smooth) Owlin. Main feather color is a light, dull brown, and his face is that of a barn owl (shovel-shaped white face with small beak and fully black shark-like eyes). The white indent part takes up about half of his entire body, but his actual facial features are quite small. A look of chaotic whimsy in his small beak and colorless eyes. His body is quite pill-shaped, with a rounded head and bottom. A wider pill, though, not lanky, more stout; the height to width ratio is about 2 : 1 1/2 - 1 1/3. The lower half of his abdomen consists of a glossy silk purple (a light yet deep purple, like the ender dragon but not neon) blazer (very unnoticeable shoulder pads, if any). The sleeves go down to his wrists, and the arms aren't thin. They stop right before cartoony feathered hands, like those of a cartoon owl. Underneath, a white button-up tunic barely visible (only the collar at most and peeking out at the ends of the sleeves) with a vibrant scarlet red (closest comparison I can think of is the dress of Scarlet Overkill from the Minions movie) ascot puffing up from within the opening of the blazer collar. The blazer extends slightly past the end of his body, and his legs look like those in Chicken run if they we live action, with 2 toes in front and one in the back instead of 3 in front. The orange legs start by sticking out of 2 bumps on the bottom of his abdomen. . . That sounds really weird. Just imagine 2 hemispheres are squat on the bottom of his abdomen, and the chicken legs stick out of those. . . That still sound really weird, but I'm hoping you get what I mean. Doesn't matter much on detail anyways since they're cover in pantaloons that only wrap around the bumps. They have the same purple and red as his upper body, but now they're vertical stripes down the pants. Remember, the pants stop at the base of the orange legs. On the top of his head sits a jester hat, spanning almost around the width of his cranium, but just under size. It's got 4 big. . . things. You know what I'm talking about. They're more thick than long, and they end in tiny silver bells. They're each half red and half purple. Darker versions of the colors than before. Resting in the center of that hat is a small Helm of Comprehend Languages. It looks like a yellow gold crown; thick, not flimsy, and it has some blue and green smaller jewels around on each spikey thing, but on the big one in front is a bigger, but still small, ruby. Again, it rests on top of the jester hat precariously in the center on the 4 thingies. This next part isn't necessary, but in one of his hands he could be gripping his instrument: a keytar he threatened an artificer to make for him. The parts around the actual keyboard look like faded copper or bronze, with different lines showing metal sheet sections. The handle thing has a bunch of different buttons and keys, and the part behind the keyboard has a bunch of buttons and dials. The keys look wooden, but painted black and white. And a strap of leather attached to both ends to go around him.
To whomst-ever may draweth my pride and joy, I bless you and wish you good tidings all throughout the coming seasons. Thanks so much!

What is the most complicated or difficult Noel Redding bassline?

I started playing SJ the start of this month after 100% the main game, and now I find myself doing the red levels in advanced lobby, I was playing "Thinking with portals" when I wondered if I should download savestates already or wait until experienced.
So I decided do download it to try it out, AND HOLY SHIT WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT MAKES, seriously It cannot be overstated, the ability to practice the entire room without dying multiple times before getting to the part you need to improve is incredible. After that I was able to beat the remaining screens of that level fairly quickly.
But I was only able to grasp how game changer savestates were when I completed Dusk city in less than an hour (much quicker than I was completing the other Adv Levels) with few deaths. There were screens I felt like I would get stuck for at least an hour, if I didn't have the ability to practice the middle/ending whenever I wanted.
I recommend everyone that is in Intermediate or above to at least try it out, it could reduce the amount of time you spend on maps by literal hours.

It's actually been a childhood dream of mine to get the gold trainer card, I saw videos of it on YouTube but I guess at some point I just stopped caring
But now I really want to go for it, here's what the rules are gonna be

1. I'm gonna do it on an emulator, given that I don't have a GBA or the Emerald Cartridge, and it's practically impossible to find. This being said, everything will be done legitimately
   
2. Cheats will ONLY be used for event only key items. Eon Ticket, Old Sea Map, etc. As I know, goppier and his friend undeadxreality did recreate the roms for each of the events. I would love to try doing that on an emulator. This being said, whenever I try to access mystery gift on the starting screen, it says I need a wireless cable, so if anybody has any idea keep me updated.
   
3. National dex optional, I am curious if it'll be possible however. Johto starters are a nightmare to get in the Gen 3 games since it necessitates getting the Hoenn Dex in 3 separate cartridges, this without mentioning needing to finish FireRed and LeafGreen as well
   
4. Assuming that I actually get the gold card, I may genuinely attempt to get a legit Emerald cartridge and a GBA/DS, plus whatever tools that may allow me to transfer the save file over to it. As I know, Amazon Renewed do have consoles and refurbished cartridges, though I do wonder if they replaced the batteries for the cartridges
   

I am genuinely wondering if I should even do that, overall even if I give up on the goal, I'll still have fun playing Emerald

I recently got Fc6 to play on a long plane trip and since then I've become pretty infatuated with it. Let me preface this by saying im only around 15ish hours into the story and so far I am having a splendid time. The weapons (apart from the resolvers) feel very pish and posh. I like the customizability and the way that the feel, sound, and shoot. The story has been pretty engaging so far seeing as I am a completionist and I really like seeing the map slowly then from grey to red to blue. The game reminds me very aliitle bit of just cause 3, which may not be the true farcry experience however I think the game most definitely makes up for it in other areas or survival and just the general story of Dani. The vehicles are fun and I am always driven to find the next best thing to use or explore.
Now into the negatives, I am not crazy find of the AI. I went ahead and played on the medium difficulty for my first time around thinking it would be alittle challenging and I'm a very new PC gamer. However the game has been a relative cake walk that really only ends when I zone out. The aspect of stealth is almost too easy when I can shoot some guy in the dead of light and still walk around with no suspicion. While yeah I'm a big run and gun kinda guy it does feel lonely taking on a whole ass military base by myself and while yeah it's not difficult but it'd be cool to call comrados to help take over a base or a checkpoint just to make the experience alittle more enjoyable.
All that aside I'm still not very deep into the story, likely only around 25-33% complete but it's held my attention better than any other game has in awhile.
much love

So, I'm working on a project for my bike. I have a Rpi3 with a pair of buttons and led strips. On boot it runs a python script that blinks the lights when I click the buttons. I made turn signals.
I have things in mind already for upgrades, and would like some ideas and pointers and what not.
For one, currently I only have red lights wired, but would like to also add the blue and green lights. So codewise, I'm toggling the red light pin when I click the button and just always feeding the strip with 3.3v. I have four pins used at the moment for that, left and right red, and left and right 3.3v. What I want to do is just have a single red pin, and later single blue and green, and then just toggle the 3.3v pin, which would cut down from eight pins to five needed.
I use my phone and Tasker to do some things, I touch it to an nfc card on my bike, and it maxes my screen brightness, sets the rotation mode, and clicks a few buttons to open my map app. How would I go about making a variable on the pi that the phone can read so I can do things? Like, I currently have no indicator in front of me to know if the lights are on or off. I want to draw on the screen, or have a message played, etc when the lights change state.
Further, I have a gopro hero 8 to record my rides. I would like to automate pulling videos from it's storage. Then maybe some sort of processing or backing up.
My budget is basically nonexistent, but I've got a soldering iron and a willingness to learn, and I've made it this far.

So I was a red vest for close to 5 years, from about the start of 2015 to the tail end of 2019. At least once a week, someone would ask me to copy a key for them, and it would be one with either “Do Not Copy” or “Do Not Duplicate” engraved on it. I was told by both management and higher ranked employees to never ever copy them and to send the customer to a locksmith. 7/10 times when I explained this to a customer, they’d ask for a manager and said manager would have to waste time telling them the exact same thing I just explained. Some customers accepted this, others would freak out and demand we do it anyway. They often pull the “I’m the one who had it printed that way” line, which was of course unverifiable, so it didn’t work.
Anyone else have experience with this? Is it actually illegal to do? Or is it just a Lowe’s policy? One manager told me that Lowe’s would need some special liability insurance if they were to copy such keys, and that mostly only locksmith shops had this.

Bluegrass at the Lake June 8, 9 and 10. Music, food and drinks. Tickets available online or at the gate. Check us out on Facebook or at bluegrassatthelake.com It's a great family friendly music festival!

Looking for outside perspective to help me process this.
4 years ago, I met Carter. We were both coming out of relationships, and his breakup seemed like it was hitting him very hard. I had just gotten out of something with someone who was on the rebound and it was not good. So, it was easy for me to push Carter into the friend zone and keep him there. We still developed a close bond, but as friends. There must have been something there, though, because our mutual friends usually assumed we were together unless one of us, usually me, set them straight.
About a year in, one of those mutual friends made a move to pursue me. When Carter realized this, he didn't take it well and shut down. Although he didn't completely ignore me, he became distant. Weeks later, he admitted he'd put the distance between us to protect himself because he had developed feelings for me. He professed his love, but I reassured him my feelings were only platonic. After that, we tried to stay friends, but ended up going separate ways.
Skip ahead to 2022. Carter and I reconnect. Everything is still there between us, and this time we explore the physical element. Both single, we agree to take things in a non-platonic, but casual and non-exclusive, direction. It's exhilarating.
After months like this, I ask Carter if he feels everything is going as great as I think it is. He says yes, but that he has compartmentalized us and isn't wanting to get more serious or become exclusive right now. I am surprised, and it is a red flag, but given our history, it makes sense to me. He's been burned by his feelings for me before, so it seems fitting he wants to take things slow. He'd also previously mentioned he was shocked by what was happening with us. So, I just assume he needs time to adjust, and I am ok with this.
A few months pass and when we are together, it seems our bond is getting deeper and deeper. But I notice Carter isn't as engaged with texting as he once had been. We used to playfully text throughout the week. Now it's once a week, usually to confirm a time and place to get together.
At times, I send "hey how's it going?" style messages, which he promptly responds to. But he rarely asks how I am unless I ask him first.
His lack of engagement becomes more noticeable with time. Eventually, I ask if he's still interested in what we have. He says he is, and says sorry for distancing himself. He tells me he's been going through a lot and that it's "difficult to handle". (We both have been undergoing career changes, which we talk about when we are together.)
He initiates plans and we hang. We have our most "connected" experience yet and stay up all night, talking. Then, he distances himself again, for the longest time yet. 10 days go by. I send a text, checking in on him. He again apologizes for being distant. I ask if he's free, he says he's busy (which is true and confirmed by social media). A few days later, he initiates plans with me and we hang. Things are ok, but he seems very distracted.
At this point, I feel way more invested in this than Carter is. Two days later, I text him and tell him I noticed he was distracted the last time we were together. He replies with some jargon about his line of work. I respond "Wow, that does sound like a lot, good luck with everything you've got going on this week". He leaves me on read.
....And that's where the story ends. This was over 3 weeks ago. I haven't heard from Carter. I know he's alive because he posts on social media, and he views my posts too. And, he's not always working, because his posts show him at the bar and fishing with friends.
As you can imagine, this all feels really weird. I could follow up, but after doing the heavy lifting and experiencing his slow fade for months, my pride hasn't let me.
What could be the reason for his distance this time around? I am mostly treating it as a classic case of "he's just not that into you" but with our history, I don't know if it's that simple. Since years ago he distanced himself to protect himself, I've been thinking maybe that's what he's doing now. Or maybe he played me, even though I don't know him to be a player.
Tl;dr Reconnected with a guy I had friend zoned and things turned romantic. Then he did a slow fade. He has a history of distancing himself when he is scared of his feelings. I am just left wondering what happened.

This is a continuation of my previous post.
last Friday
Her text:I am sry I was abrupt, I have been crying on and off all day.
Me: Yes you were abrupt and I did not deserve that.
Her:I want to talk today or tomorrow(Sat and Sun). You asked me to be vulnerable and I am ready to be.
Me:I can't, we can do next week.
Time is set for Monday to meet.
We meet and she goes on about how upset I made her, I apologized and admitted making a mistake(pls stop the insanity, I get it).I was basically felt like I was scolded and how I do not meet up to her expectations of a bf. I am secure enough to take the blow as I know it takes 2. After an hour there was no vulnerability or admitting any wrong doing. Walk back to out cars and she has a few of my things left at her house.(she thought it was all but there was more). I didn't bring her things bcs I thought this vulnerability talk was a path to reconcile but instead it was self serving and I feel a set up to validate herself .
90 min later a text,"I miss you". WTF, I am fuming with this passive aggressive behavior. I am hurt and you sling mud in my face is what it feels like. I don't answer and I just want it to stop. Next day she calls, I am on the phone so I send it to VM. I am respectable so I call back after my call and she texts she's busy at work and will call me after. I tell her I am busy between 5-730pm. Text at 4:30, I can call you after eight. My reply,"I will be tired then let's talk tomorrow and I want to pick up my stuff Thurs morning?" Her: Ok, but I want to make plans for the weekend to have a serious conversation about us". Me: "we can talk Thurs morning".Her"I need more time to discuss us so do you want to meet or not?" Me: I would like to set up a day to talk, we can figure it out Thurs".
THURS morning I am up at 3am. I can't sleep, anxiety through the roof. WTF, another lashing maybe!!!!! I drive to her house and she comes out sweet as can be. Invites me in for a cup of coffee. Small talk a hug and niceties. I tell her about meeting that I feel it best to wait one week while keeping the lines of communication open, it will give us time to cool down and the dust to settle. She responds with,"let's make it 2 weeks". WTF, "ok as you wish". Her: "what does lines of communication mean?"Me: Small talk to keep ourselves in touch with each other, no serious talk". Her: if we are taking a break then we are taking a break." Who said BREAK????? I am calm and composed as we hug and tell each other we love each. A nice ending to the pleasant meeting. The constant push back ensues.
That eve we speak on the phone for a few and I ask why the change from a week to 2? It will give me more time to think, I was going to say a month. Just Kidding!" Ouch that hurt a little bit. I get off the phone and my anxiety is rising. It is almost to the point I am trembling. I am having a really hard time. My gut says she's setting me up again and how she gets to think more after she asked me to meet. It is a constant push back dealing with her. I call a few friends ,I am almost unhinged with anxiety. Finally I figure it out that I need to listen to this flag. She gets more time to decide my fate in this rs. No ,I need someone who will choose me.
Next morning she calls about something and leaves a message. I awake and call back. We discuss the issue and then I begin with,"about us, I don't think it will work. I need someone who will choose me and be able to communicate with me". Her,"but we hugged yesterday". I love you and always will have a special place in my heart for you". Her," I need someone to treat me right, GOOD BYE!"
So as you can see I am always up against the wall when she doesn't get her way. I can not be a choice, I want to be THE CHOICE. My last ex(FA) raised my anxiety level to new highs. I rationalized the red flags and took too much bs in the interim. MY gut just told me this is not going to end up good and anxiety is your warning system on fire. I see some of her behaviors as trying to control, insecurity, stonewalling and maybe even gaslighting. I have been doing enough work throughout my years to contain myself and not to lash out. I admit my errs but I can not be set up to meet an expectation that hasn't been set. I was blindsided and I told her that was hurtful ,it is a reflection on her more than I.
Today I am missing her, sad the way things ended but unfortunately I didn't start this break up. I was willing to take the necessary steps to correct or at least try to amend the error. I really just want to be left alone and she owes me some money so I can not block her just yet. IF I don't get my money back it was still worth it to walk away with my head on top and not be an option. I took control of my being and I do wish her the best and she can find that guy that treats her the way she expects. If you are the guy reading this I can tell you that the bar will always be set higher each time.She will test you and hold onto it till she explodes and your holding your nut bag saying WTF just happened. I saw a side of a woman I loved dearly become totally unhinged with resentment.2 days before I am a great bf treating her so well. If you know of AT you can recognize where the boundaries are crossed and where they begin and you end. She is a sweet gal when getting her way but that other side scares me now.
I told her about how anxious and the inability to sleep right before seeing her Thursday ,"I was nice to you" was her reply.
Thanks for reading and be true to yourself first.

                                                      The Transfer

    Adrenaline spikes travel through his limbs, dancing across his scales and down his limbs, as he takes his first step onto the pristine concrete platform. As the boundary-line grows nearer he breaks out into a cold-sweat, shaking hands, tingling body. Can't get rid of that [Dangersense] whine, which has been blaring since he got to the Waystation a few hours ago. Screaming warnings for something it doesn't even understand. Annoying. After about fifteen minutes of waiting an announcement finally interrupts his thoughts with a jolt.
    "Transference to Pallass from Atlanta will begin in five minutes, please ensure you are standing within the boundary line and have all luggage secured."
    A few other passengers pass around a nervous look, packing themselves tighter like really eager sardines, trying to ensure minimum risk of injury. Drezill checks religiously to ensure his tail isn't sticking out of the boundary, but he's well within it, still pushing further into the crowd just in case.
    "Transference to Pallass from Atlanta will begin in 30 seconds. Please keep all limbs within the boundary line and secure your luggage."
    Closer to the Transfer. More adrenaline, faster heartrate. Lub dub, lub dub. Somewhere his heart is pounding, but he no longer feels it, clutching his suitcase tighter, rubbing against his scales. [Dangersense] is screaming at him, and he's compelled to let it scream. Oh, god-
    
    
    The change is instantaneous. Gone is one Transfer platform, with transparent ad-ridden hologram walls and blue mage-lit lines, replaced with another, almost identical. Probably designed by some evil [Architect] in a stroke of corporate genius to confuse dimwitted passengers into spending more money. It feels like the entire platform heaves a collective sigh of relief as they arrive unscathed, and then he picks up his suitcase and walks out into the Waystation proper.
    Lines of people are strewn throughout the terminal, a series of biological walls, giving up one sardine can for another. The species seen are more varied, less Humans, more Drakes and Gnolls. All either Transferred in or Teleported over from all over the world, all stuck here, placed into queues, surrounded by blue and grey walls, lit by dim MLED light. A [Guard] takes out a handheld device and scans his Chip, holding it in place to get an accurate read, and Drezill stands still, waiting in nervous silence, until he hears the mystical mental beep and the guard nods, directing him to a shorter line, the one that says "Incoming Transference".
    It surprises him that the first thing he feels is alienation. He was always different, being a Drake, but this is different. The [Guard] sits in front of a metal box that has a small flashing green light, information about his entire life being beamed directly into her brain. Her eyes glint in the dim red light, scanning lines of information he can't see.
    "What's your name?"
    He can count the number of times he's said his full name on one hand. It builds a feeling of uncomfortability within him, accompanying already high levels of distress.
    "Drevill Silverwing Williams."
    "Where are you coming from, Mr. Williams?"
    "Atlanta, Georgia, The United States of America."
    A bead of sweat rolls down his forehead, refracting the light, the green blinking pinpoint reflected inside. He knows he's done nothing wrong, but somehow the woman manages to pull any stress he has to the forefront.
    "How long are you planning on staying in Pallass, Mr. Williams?"
    "I plan on living here, I have a work-visa."
    There's a pause, purposefully planned. They sit in silence for a few seconds, no ambient noise, just the sound of him shuffling in his seat, cringing against the cold metal, tail wavering.
    "Purpose of visit?"
    As if he didn't already answer her question.
    "Work. Living here. I repair pseudo-sapients."
    The questioning stops. Fingers twitch, typing something on that invisible interface, then a pause. Door slides open, blinding. No smile.
    "Welcome to Pallass, Mr. Williams."
    
    
    There is no city in his sight, in its place is something else, different than any city he's ever seen. Dotting the horizon are endless lines of buildings and megastructures, surrounding a stone square, like a precious gem surrounded by a jewelry box. The sky is so high here, but still the skyscrapers push upwards, ever reaching hands searching for limit, and finding none. The amount of lights is overwhelming, all sorts of colours spilling out over the landscape below, looking more like stars than the ones that hang in the sky above.
    For a moment his breath catches, head involuntarily moving closer to the window, straining to pick out all the details. Far down below is a different world. Similar, yet so different than his own, his own? So different than any other. Millions of people living and working here in a world that 200 years ago hadn't even industrialized.
    The magilev cab skitters past a massive glowing purple-scaled Drake that raises a can of Coca-Cola™ to her lips, before taking a dignified sip. She smiles and speaks, the words captured and deposited into his brain via the Chip. "Mmm, you just can't beat the taste of Coca-Cola™! It's as fine as any gemstone found in Salazsar!" Her voice caresses his mind, making his throat feel a bit parched.
    "The city sure is something, huh?"
    The Gnoll [Driver] speaks and motions a hand at the window, illuminated by passing purple light, startling Drevill into conversation.
    "Huh? Oh. I've never seen any city like this, even on Earth. Everything is so... packed together."
    The Gnoll grunts ambiguously. "Drakes sure love their cities, no offense. They say Pallass is the most urbanized city in the Worlds, but it's something else to see it."
    A pause in the air, contemplative.
    "Are you not from here?" Drevill queries.
    "Me? No way. I'm from Oteslia. Lived here about 10 years, but I'm planning on moving back some day. Problem is so much more work is here."
    The [Driver] doesn't say another word, just shakes his head, and they continue on in silence, broken up only by the sputtering engine and dying rasp of distant advertisements.
    
    
    His form is dwarfed by the buildings around him, vision denied even a horizon-line, every space covered up by more things. Massive statues sit, watching over sections of the city, stoic. A new one is being constructed, carefully built and placed. Meant to last thousands of years. His Chip wants to speak up, proffering information on the origins of, and identities of, each looming figure. He ignores it.
    High above are a few blinking dots, more magilev cars heading to destinations. Beneath his feet a rumble, slithering trains snaking beneath the city to all parts, fast and efficient. He feels out of place, too many Drakes, less Humans. Ironic, but that's just how it is. Drevill hopes he'll get used to it, at least they speak the same language.
    Winding streets lead away from the city center, hotels fading away, more sparingly placed now. Like a good Drake, Drezill follows the line. Tracing it through backstreets, around corners, past herds of pedestrians, until the apartment complex appears. And complex is the right word for it. Skills give rise to odd building codes, structures that are safer than they should be, safer than they appear to be. The building seems to lean outwards, lots of concrete, tiny balconies. He sees the top of a few Drake's heads poking above the balconies, lazing about, a few Gnolls enjoying the evening.
    The front door opens, and he enters, sneaking through the closing gap left by a departing Human. The lobby is tiny, probably to leave room for more apartments, just staffed by a pseudo-sapient, anyone with a Class and a Skill working somewhere better. He gets on an elevator and rides it up, 14th floor, room 8. It glides up stopping at the 14th floor, doors open with a ding, nobody outside. Drezill steps off furtively, glancing down the hallways, still clutching the suitcase, it rolls conspicuously.
    When he closes the door he breathes a sigh of relief. Finally that's over with. He plops the suitcase down and opens it, not a normal suitcase in actuality, but a cleverly disguised suitcase of holding. He heaves and pulls out a body, a Drake looking very much like himself, the spitting image, in fact. It looks real, and with a few Skills, it will become real. He takes a second to unpack everything else, before copying his relevant Chip data and inserting it into the pseudo-sapient. With any luck it will last a few months, and a few months is all he needs. After a moment, he leaves the room and rides the elevator down, passing by identical floors and identical rooms.
    Ding. Once again in the quiet lobby, soon replaced by bustling crowds, magilev cars, and rumbling trains. A few Drakes and Gnolls grab kebabs from a stall sitting on the side of the street, laughing and eating, timeless. Everywhere he looks are buildings and people. Drezill picks a direction, then calls a cab and gets on. The [Driver] doesn't even look up, just asks:
    "Where to?"
    The door slides shut, cab hovering in place, for a moment cut off from the outside world, as if separated by time and not just place.
    "To Liscor, please."

Hello all,
I taught myself Python during graduate school (studies unrelated to CS), and continued to code and learn about computing as a hobby later on. My learning trajectory dipped into C a little bit, into Java a bit more, into shell a little bit. Five years on, and I've decided to commit to a full career change: I am fully accepted to a graduate diploma program in CS, which begins this fall. I'm very excited :)
In addition, my current job is giving me the chance to use my hobbyist Python skills for pay. It's not my full-time role, but if I perform adequately well, it could become a more dominant role for me at the company. This is an incredibly perfect opportunity - gaining real-world programming experience before and during my studies, being able to report this experience on my CV... the stars have truly aligned here.
However, I am worried, because as you might expect, my coding experience is limited in scope. I have so far reliably accomplished pretty much whatever small task I have set for myself, with a lot of help from Google, StackOverflow, Reddit, miscellaneous websites (medium, geeksforgeeks, baeldung for ex.), and the like. I've written a variety of small command-line tools, tools to scrape data from pdf documents and from websites, etc etc. I've worked through a jillion tutorials in a variety of languages, and also through programs like Nand2Tetris (which is Awesome). But still, I've only ever written scripts around the 500 line mark, and only ever one file. Building either directly in Sublime Text, or on the command line. Limited and very poor environment management, and no version control. Print-statement debugging, only occasionally dipping into VSCode or Pycharm if I want to use a debugger. I've not really had much use even for formally defining classes and things like that.
I'm looking for advice and resources on how to level up, how to make the jump from writing small, informal, hackey scripts for my own CLI and into the world of version-controlled professional software development. For an experienced professional, the code base I'm tackling is likely not that intimidating a thing, but for me, it's a lot! There are a few dozen different files in the repo, and I'm not completely sure how to start digesting it, how to get started. I mean, I'm not even sure how to 'turn it on' and get it running, as it were. This repo is a different beast altogether.
It's important to state that I've not lied my way into this position. My boss is well aware of my background and the extent of my programming skills; he's seen and reviewed some of my personal scripts. He knows I'm headed back to school for CS, etc etc. He's giving me this project as a way to help me with my education, as well as to delegate a bit so he can focus on higher priority tasks. As such, he's happy answering questions and coaching me along, which is fantastic. That said, he's a busy guy, and I want to learn how to carry my weight as best I can. My first order of business tomorrow is to set up Gitea, clone the repo, get the environment manager sorted, and start trying to map out the code base, figure out how it works. My boss and I will be in touch in a few days for next steps.
I feel like I'm at a pretty significant inflection point in my learning curve/trajectory. Now that I'm departing the basic single-file scripting world, I feel a bit like BOTW Link when you jump off the Plateau and into Hyrule Field for the first time: this place is friggin huge, I don't have a map, there's so much going on that I don't know what I don't know, and the monsters hit a lot harder!
Any advice, resources, suggestions, etc. are appreciated. Thank you all in advance!

I got this duology? (I think it's just a duology, I know I only read and owned two books) back in the mid to late 90s from the Science Fiction Book Club. These two young aliens come to Earth, and create humanity by fiddling with our ancestorial species, despite the fact that it's illegal for their race to fiddle with simians? (our species and similar, simian may not be the right word). The first one is all about Satan (the book mostly refers to him by his real name, not Satan, which I can't remember) and him running Hell, and I think Judas is his buddy. At the end of that book, other members of the alien species show up and take one of them away for punishment, and the second book is about the other one trying to run both Heaven and Hell. I know one of the two was taken away for punishment and the other was punished by having to stay here and try to keep civilizing us.
Details to the best of my recollection: God and Satan were related or good friends. They were both quite young and inexperienced for their species. I seem to remember they'd gotten stranded here on Earth somehow (but I'm not 100% on that). I remember the second book better, it also included people adjusting to Heaven, either Heaven or Hell rebelling or at least being unhappy with their new ruler. There may also have been a kidnapping? I can't remember which one of the two (God or Satan) they took away, initially I thought it was Satan, but the more I think about it the more I think it was God instead. The aliens may be energy-based? Satan was into music, I think? There was some sort of scale for species, ranking how evolved they could get or something along those lines, and simians would get stuck at 4, or another low number, which is why it was illegal for them to tamper with us.
Both were written in English, I got them as hardcovers, they're both fairly short comedic books, and I got them both in the USA from the aforementioned book club. I think one was red and one was blue? No idea what the dust jackets look like, but they probably had them. Any help would be great, I remember really enjoying them and thinking they were quite funny.

Some people prefer controller controls compared to keyboard and that’s okay. I am a veteran gamer but noob to swtor and mmo’s in general. I very strongly dislike keyboard gaming and love controllers. Anyway it works wonders for me but I can only comfortably map up to 9ish hotbar attacks. Gameplay is just like any other modern adventure game and feels good.
Program I use is antimicro. Icon is a little red and grey controller. It’s light weight and easy to use even for me, I’m not that computer savvy.
From there setup is easy if I can do it you can do it, the hardest part is mapping look (right click+drag) to the stick but it’s just standard mouse default selection and you custom add right click to the end of it.

We were in a car accident last weekend and I happened to get the flu at the same time. I cancelled going to my boyfriend's place this weekend because I feel really bad and just wanted to sleep in my own bed. Well he wanted to take care of me in some way and said he was nearby and wanted to drop food off for me. I asked if he went kayaking and he said no because one of his favorite kayaking places is near my house. I asked him if he was waiting for me to get up and he instead said he was out with a girl. Of course I was hurt hearing this. I asked him who the girl was and he said some girl he met once no biggie. This is where things really went downhill, he then says that it put him near me so no big deal. I say to him how is that no biggie, did you meet her on a date? That doesn't just make things better. He replies asking me if I'm jealous and that he didn't meet her on a date. I told him this feels very sus. He says ask away and I'll put your mind at ease. And so i asked him if I met a guy out for food that I had only met once how would you feel? And he said he wouldn't like that. He also said well, I only came cause I thought it'll put me near you so I could see you. So if anything I'm thinking of you. I responded with like going out solo with a girl I've never heard of when you are in a relationship is definitely a big red flag. I don't care what your intentions are don't you see how this is crossing a line. You have a girlfriend but you are out to eat with another girl alone. As i said i saw that it was bothering you so i didn't get his number. Also I'm allowed to talk to other people of both sexes, but I would never go out one on one with a friend of the opposite sex without telling you first. He then responds with I'm fucking with you babe I'm not out with some girl 🤣 I'm sorry. He even video called to prove it. I told him it doesn't make it hurt any less and he crossed a boundary. I told him if he ever jokes about cheating again I'll take it serious and end the relationship. Now he is saying he feels like of he pisses me off i will end the relationship which is not what I said. I told him if he ever jokes about cheating again we are done. Why would you even joke about this with someone you care about?? AITAH for setting a clear boundary? He was trying to distract me while ordering food but that is no excuse to me.