So I have known this girl for about a year and a half pretty well, before we ever hung out we were workmates and only talked occasionally. After getting closer and closer at work we ended up talking quite a bit outside of working on social media, at this time she had just gotten out of a very physically and emotionally abusive relationship that had lasted about a year. I had also had an absusive relationship 3 years prior and had pushed away any feelings or opportunities for a relationship out of fear and emotional scarring.
Anyway, as I began to realise I like this girl I was ready to push the thoughts away and not pursue anything when some friends of mine told me I should try because why not, and I did. I asked her out to go explore a town she had recommended me and we ended up hanging out and tripping on acid the whole day haha. After that day we got really close, talking 24/7 on social media and seeing each other 2 - 3 times a week and also at work. I really didn't want to fuck anything up so I was really scared to try and progress things, I told her I liked her and she said she really enjoyed spending time with me too and wanted to get to know me better. I then put my arm around her whenever we would sit next to each other and we cuddled a couple times in her bed while watching movies.
During this time she knew about me liking her and we discussed it a few times but she never once said she didn't like me. I started to notice hints when I would compliment her or say certain things that she would be taken aback by. The constant up and down in my head was too much and eventually I confronted her and told her she has to tell me straight up if she doesn't like me and that nothing more will happen and she did.
We remained friends, although it was hard and we had alot of ups and downs, we became closer and closer. She has told me that she never had feeling for me apart from before we went on that first date, and a few times we hung out and she had the feeling of "I think I do like him" but went away after she thought about it more. There have been times where we are really drunk and she will hold my hand or get really close to me and she has told me that she can't imagine her life without me and how important I am. At this point we are best friends, we talk at all times during the day unless we are working, are basically the only friend either of us sees, we know each other entirely and share everything, I am her closest and almost only friend and her mine. We are also going to Japan together just us in a few months.
Now I am not holding on to something or hoping she will change her mind, I value her friendship and even though I am so in love with her I respect her feelings are not recipricated and I will need to find someone else. I plan to get back into dating after Japan. I just wanted to ask why would she not tell me she didn't like me and fed into my feelings. And also if we are as close as we are and she was initially attracted to me (she told me she had a crush on me at work and was telling all her friends about me) and that she couldn't imagine her life without me and doesn't want to lose me, why would she want to be just friends? She has said that it is my fault that our friendship is going to have to end because I have feelings for her, but is it not the other way around, relationships have the potential to be forever, friendships will distance and end when people get in a relationship?
I'm ready to move on but I can't stop thinking about why she wouldn't want to be forever if she says she wants to be forever??

Sorry if this is not fit for this forum, the CLion subreddit is dead
So I'm working on a legacy codebase that uses a combination of python and custom make files, so there's no cmake file to read or anything like that. Right now I'm just using VS Code with no intellisense because there's no way in hell to index this project, it is absolutely gigantic (takes over an hour just to compile).
I have been told in the past there's a way for me to bootstrap make commands run on my system to form a compilation database without having to modify my build scripts or anything, and that database can be used to index my project. I'm not sure where to begin on this or what needs to be done, trying to look this up is no help because everyone just assumes Im using some modern build tool. Does anyone have any experience doing something like this?
Currently I have to use a really terrible tool for my indexing through a web forum and it get's very tedious to use, so being able to do all my searching and whatnot within my IDE would be ideal

Previous
Writer's note: The last section has a big time anime trope lol. And the best part is I hinted at some of it a bit in one of the recent chapters.
Enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amina stood nearly six inches taller than Nguyen as she approached and stood directly in front of him.
To his credit, he didn't balk as she glared down at him. He stood tall and straight and met her eye to eye, albeit at an upward angle.
"My husband has, or at least HAD, a lot of respect for you FIRST SERGEANT." She said sternly, ignoring Werner and the other soldier. "He lost a lot of that as a result of your..... inactions.... in the desert."
Nguyen's jaw clenched for a moment. "That makes two of us." He said in response.
Amina stared at him for a moment longer, then nodded and turned back to Werner.
"Arm your people." She said to the Ambassador. Then she looked down at Nguyen again. "Deploy them to the refugee sector to aide in the evacuation. Only fire at any golems that pose a threat or appear to be attempting to escape the perimeter of the cordon." She glanced at the other members of her command staff. "Restraining anklets stay on though. And you are to report in immediately once this has settled down."
Then she lowered herself a bit and spoke softly.
"And if any Earth personnel ever act against my people again. You will not have time to regret it, and you will not need James to be your executioner." She whispered into Nguyen's ears. Then she pulled back and looked him in the eyes again.
Nguyen swallowed, then nodded curtly.
"Understood." He said. Then he looked over at Werner, who nodded.
And with that the two Earth soldiers took off at a jog, leaving Werner behind.
As they turned the corner, one of the junior officers from earlier came running around the corner with a large jar.
"Your pickled onions General." The soldier said uncertainly.
Amina grabbed the jar greedily and moved back to her position in the room.
-----------------------------------
Alixan and Veliry, the latter of which had only just arrived, crept through the still hot tunnel carefully.
Alixan, being close to eight feet tall, had to practically crouch to move through the hastily excavated and reinforced earth as he moved. Veliry only had to hunch a bit every now and then when her new antlers brushed against lower portions of the ceiling.
"They summoned an elemental." The Prince said. "In their own control room."
"That's what the our Agent said." Veliry replied.
They had spoken , briefly, to the party of subterranean forces as they'd rapidly evacuated. Many of them had been carried out on litters, their bodies burned from the excess heat and steam that had been created before the doorway leading to the Agency's room had been destroyed.
"Won't be much evidence left then." Alixan said. "Just like last time, unfortunately."
Veliry nodded. A fire elemental was a good way to destroy evidence. Likely the reason the Agency seemed so fond of using them. Though where they were getting them was anyone's guess.
"Still." She said as they rounded the last corner. "We must do our..... dilligence?" She said uncertainly.
The uncertainty was shared by both of the mages as they saw not just a destroyed door. But a second door a few yards away, which was leaning across the hallway. They sensed no magical energy coming from it. And unlike everything else in the tunnel it was neither scorched, nor terribly warm.
Alixan carefully lifted it up and was surprised to find that it had a note on it.
Not written on parchment and tacked to the door.
Not carved into it as if with a knife.
Instead it was engraved into the wood of the door as if it had been built specifically for the task of having the message on it. It was also written in a style of Petravian that hadn't been used in nearly three centuries, though both of them could read it thanks to their studies as mages.

Bother yourselves with us no longer. We have larger tasks to tackle. Enjoy the final days of your paltry kingdom in ignorance. And thank you for ridding me of ambitious fools.

"Whoever they are, something tells me that they're being sincere." Alixan said after he read the message, and Veliry felt inclined to agree with him. "And that makes me more than a little concerned."
-----------------------------------
Even with his inhuman speed, the excitement was over before James got to it.
He felt the intense magical heat dissipate, then disappear entirely, when he was only a block away. Golems he had passed on his way over were already on the ground dead, their amorphous forms melting to reveal the lifeless bodies within. James felt pity for the former refugees, who had moved into this are of the city for a chance at restarting their lives after the previous devastation, only to be violated by the Agency.
When he got to the sight of all the action, he was surprised to find that it wasn't a building. Instead a large cluster of Petravian soldiers and mages were clustered around the entrance to some kind of cellar, or crypt or something. A lot of the mages were helping to heal people who looked like Petravian soldiers, but with what he recognized as mining gear. Many of them were burned, and the few mages that were among those being healed had the tell tale black veins of magical overuse.
He found himself standing next to a rather oddly clothed pair of were-folk, who he looked at curiously as he recognized the rotary grenade launcher that one of them was wearing on a shoulder strap. And also the DMR equipped CT-6.5 that the other was holding loosely. They looked at him in mild shock and his eyes widened as he saw the goggles on their faces, which looked familiar even though he'd never seen them before.
Then the crowd around them quieted. The tall fox-like one's head snapped up and looked over James.
"Chief!" The were-squirrel next to the fox said as they, evidently a woman if James's ears were correct, moved to run over to the figure emerging from the tunnel.
"Chief?" James asked as he turned to follow the squirrel's movement.
"Holy shit." The fox said as he too moved to approach the newcomers.
"Goddam." James said as he saw them.
One of them was a tall, if somewhat gangly looking, man in armor of a brilliant blue. It looked like the highest quality plate armor James had ever seen, though it did not cover their hands or feet. And yet even as he watched, the armor seemed to melt away, leaving behind water and vapor as it did.
James's head quirked to the side as he recognized the person underneath, though he'd never seen him like this before.
"Marcos?" He asked.
The old man, and Royal Arch Mage, was nothing like James was used to seeing him. Typically he was a hunched over, robed, geriatric who looked one hard fall away from death. But as James saw him carrying out the limp, burned, form of a were-person of some kind, he looked like a warrior. The grey tunic he wore was wet from the melting armor, and revealed musculature that surprised James. His sleeves looked to have been burned off, revealing wiry arms with whipcord musculature. He also wasn't hunched over anymore, and as a result he seemed to be close to six feet tall.
"I need healers." The old man said. The slow, almost halting, speech pattern he normal spoke in all but gone. Then he held up the burned form in his arms. "This man is very nearly dead."
"Chief Vickers!" The squirrel exclaimed again as she and the fox ran over.
"Vickers?" James asked silently as he saw the people around begin moving to help.
And he realized that Vickers was the burnt body Marcos was carrying.
"Oh.... Shit." James said as he moved to join everyone.

HAPPY PRIDE Y'ALL! 🌈 That's right, The Tank is an ally despite everything I said prior to 2013 when I accepted that Telly was a gay. I've changed a lot on the past decade. I mean, I was at Stonewall and I've seen Paris is Burning, so you know I'm a good guy! Plus, I'll be officiating my 2nd and a half gay wedding for the newest member of my friend group! 🤫😉🐍
Now, before I get to Hot Takes, I want to address the elephant in the room. No, I have not forgiven my ex-friends yet. Auditions will be held for the remaining slots in my friend group on Friday at 10am at O'Malley's. We will need to be done by 3pm so I can make it to the station in time for the nightly news. I know what some of you will day "Hank, you were wrong. Tank, you should apologize." Well, I took those comments to heart and did what my youngest kids do when they have a problem with friends. I put all my friends into a Hunger Games simulator and came out on top. Some of you all were BRUTAL to each other, but I one with only the final kill, so...obviously I'm right and you all are wrong.
Now that that is settled.
HOT TAKES!

• Listen, we've all moved on from Bigfoot. I don't know why you care so much to stop me and my ex-friends from hunting him. Plus, you made the entire woods reek with Axe Body Spray. He's never coming back.
• Cesar, I can't believe you would call me out like this! After all I've done for you and Pythagoras as an ally AND a friend. By the way, can you ask Pythagoras to accept the invite to Paul's group chatty invite. We have a lot we need to discuss for our next episode of Non-Stop Talk Talk with Hank, Paul, and David Pythagoras. Also, can you explain why those invites keep disappearing from the forum?
• Dracula, I fucking love smores and you, yet again, forgot to text me that there was free food. You are dead to me. See you at our session tomorrow!
• The Renn Faire is lame. And not just because I've been permanently banned. Stop living in the past people!
• Again, Dracula, if you have free- oh, never mind. I would have had to do something for this one. I only want the free food if I don't have to do any work.
• HEY! No one made me cards while I was in the hospital at the same time as this kid! What gives? You know what, cards are lame anyway.
• Sweetheart, you need to dump his ass. The entire town sees what is going on.
• Man, I can't believe I got sprung before you! Guess those cards didn't really work!
• ick, Caroline. That's my queue to call it a day.

Remember to get to O'Malley's early to audition for my friend group! There is sure to be a long line!
Until next time, I'm Hank 'The Tank' Jefferson. You stay classy, LDP!

Welcome to the first installment of Mega Thread creation for helpful hints, tips and advice for the PwC subreddit! There will be a new thread each month, if you have any ideas please submit to the mod team. These threads will be pinned in the Sidebar for reference.
Since we have our Summer Interns starting soon, we are doing Intern Advice/ Helpful Hints and Tips!
Any future interns please ask questions here, I will be updating the post with the items people add. Any current PwCers please help answer these questions!

FAQs:

Is there a way to connect with other interns?

• 2023 Start Intern GroupMe
• Add a flair to your name to show you are an intern

What is the Intern work like?

• The internship is full-time for 8ish weeks. You cannot work another job during this time.
• They care more about how you behave than what skills you actually have.
• You'll do a few PPT's, data entry on excel sheets, sit through meetings where you'll have to take minutes
• Start trust Interns: You’ll be assigned to a pod with people in your office. Each pod has 1-2 coaches and a directopartner that acts as your RL. The bulk of the program is working with your group to extract the information from the Excel file they send you and to make a presentation out of it. Then rest is like you said shadowing but also lots of networking. These aspects really depend on you. If you are good with people, you can get quality shadowing opportunities and connections.

When do summer interns typically start?

• Second- week of June

When is the Intern Disney trip?

• At the end of Summer. 2023 is the week of August 7th

What should I wear when in office for my internship?

• Smart Casual = Business Casual but with the addition of jeans (not frayed/torn, no holes). Your first day will be virtual but I’d still recommend dressing for your day.
• For in-person events/going into the office, you’ll see that the majority of professionals wear jeans w/button downs or polos, skirts/dresses. If you’re looking to wear casual shoes, canvas/leather kicks are acceptable.
  • Note the sub will be doing a mega-thread and Pinterest board of office appropriate outfits in the upcoming months

If you got a sign on bonus with your internship, when do you get that?

• It will be in your first pay check

Does having an internship mean I will get a full-time offer?

• No. Return offers are not guaranteed by any means.
• That being said, if you put in the work and have really good conversation with people you work with chances are good.

When should you apply for a summer internship? College level and time of year

• You're generally supposed to intern 1-1.5 years before your 150/CPA credit completion date or graduation date, whichever is later.

Do interns get medical benefits?

• No

Updated 6/1/23

Quick recap of the adventure so far:
Night (eladrin arcane trickster), Ollie (halfling thief; orphan/urchin background), and Wakefield (human gloomstalker; favored foe: undead) all dumped STR and call themselves the Soft Bois.
At Kolyan's funeral, Rahadin brought condolences and gifts to Ireena and Ismark on behalf of the Count. Ireena wasn't into her gift so Night traded a bit of Durst Manor loot for it. Night now wears a necklace that Strahd uses as a scrying focus, and they have failed their WIS save every single day.
On Ireena's advice, the Soft Bois stopped to hang out with the Vistani on the way to Vallaki. They partied very hard and got their fortunes read and sort of dismissed the whole fortune thing.
In Vallaki, to make a very long story short, the Soft Bois decided that Victor was just a misguided teenager in need of a mentor, so they approached the only spellcaster they knew in the city, a certain accountant named Vasili von Holtz. After some sleep and charm for everyone, a dramatic chase scene through the Svalich Woods, and a few days licking their wounds back in Vallaki, everyone got invitations to the event of the century: the wedding of Strahd von Zarovich and Ireena Kolyana.
With the ticking clock of the imminent wedding, they are absolutely speedrunning the prophecies. But...
RVR expressed that most Vistani were spies of Strahd, though Ezmeralda was certainly an exception. Ezmeralda seemed to hint that not all vampires are evil, and many didn't choose their fate, and Erasmus at least never hurt her before he begged her and RVR for the "cure" to vampirism. Although Wakefield hates undead, he clearly could see the revenants of Argynvostholt weren't evil either. Strahd sent a letter to Ollie offering to adopt him and name him his heir so he could retire.
And then, in last night's session, several things happened.
The Soft Bois defeated Wintersplinter (they were all down to zero hit die, zero health potions, zero goodberries, zero spell slots, single digit health, and Adrian Martikov was making death saving throws) and rescued the winery (by burning the Gulthias Staff in the glassblowing kiln, instantly killing all the blights in the area). They recovered the gem, brought condolences and Dag's wedding ring to Stefania (he wasn't as lucky as Adrian), and secured Davian's eternal gratitude (and his role as their fated ally).
Wakefield explained the prophecies to Davian, who expressed caution and skepticism, echoing RVR's sentiment that the Vistani are largely favored by Strahd and many are his spies. Ollie wondered if the prophecies were a long con, and this was just Strahd's way of getting his diary back and some magic items as wedding gifts.
Night failed their WIS saving throw again, while reading the Tome of Strahd. Shortly thereafter, Strahd sent them a letter with thinly veiled threats requesting the return of the book. The player did not make a connection between the two events, and when I told them above the table the WIS save was a consequence of their actions in session 4, they wondered if they picked up an STI at the Vistani party (it was a rager, as I said).
Anastrasya sent them a letter requesting a discrete and urgent meeting (she's jealous of Ireena/Tatyana and wants to sabotage the wedding; my players don't know that yet). Despite his extreme hatred of undead, Wakefield not only agreed to the meeting, but agreed to be civil and not raise his crossbow at her.
Ollie is on the verge of siding with Strahd. The Count has never hurt any of them, and who wouldn't want to retire after 400 years of rule?
None of them suspect Vasili is anyone but a mere accountant.
If I push any of them just a little harder...
Betrayal. Drama. Chaos.
I am cackling as a DM.

Strawberries are deservingly loved but I can't help but not like them that much.
Strawberry flavoured stuff is great but we all know artificial flavouring hardly ever actually tastes like the real thing. Strawberry flavoured water /drinks are so bad like why???
So why do I hate strawberries? They don't taste as good as they look and even when there's a good one I would've still rather eaten something else. Of course the modern age has brought about year round strawberries and out of season strawberries are just not the same.
I'm unnecessarily angry at this fruit Is this relevant to the forum? I don't know but if I had to pick a fruit to binge on it would not be strawberries. I can see the mess it would make now.

New Campaign
Curse of Strahd
Friday - 8:00 pm est
Under raging storm clouds, the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of Castle Ravenloft. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind’s howling increases as he turns his gaze down toward the village of Barovia. Far below, yet not beyond his keen eyesight, a party of adventurers has just entered his domain. Strahd’s face forms the barest hint of a smile as his dark plan unfolds. He knew they were coming, and he knows why they came—all according to his plan. A lightning flash rips through the darkness, but Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind fills the midnight air. The master of Castle Ravenloft is having guests for dinner. And you are invited.
Greetings adventurer and welcome to the lands of Barovia! In this module you'll explore the domains of dread, a dark realm of the Shadowfell as you're plunged into the misty lands of Count Strahd Von Zarovich. A Vampire lord who rules over the lands with as a dark tyrant and devil to the people. You will find many themes of gothic horror, gore, death, abuse, and other graphic events that could leave some feeling uneasy. At my tables I ensure everyone is having a good time with the implementation of modules to assist in safety tools and thorough individual discussions with players to setup their character, backstory, and ask what you want out of the game. I tackle all three pillars of play and bring tons of voice acting, tons of roleplay, art, music, and modules to the table. Come enjoy a vivid in depth experience of the lands of Barovia. I do take the liberty of homebrewing the module to meet a party of 6's difficulty level and adding in backstory elements and story development elements as the story goes along. Otherwise the module is mostly experienced as intended!
Party Size: 3/6 (3 seats available)
Price: 15$ per session
System: 5e on Foundry
Style: Discord voice/video & foundryvtt
Session Duration: Fridays 8pm est weekly, 4hrs with a 20min break
Requirements: Quality microphone, quiet setting for others enjoyment, video optional. (Forge foundry/discord account are free.)
Contacts: Bludelf#2186
https://startplaying.games/adventure/clhbha5ft000208mj77lhdb0h

I’m an ENTJ (F, 28) in a relationship with an INTP (M, 28). We met online and didn’t expect that we both come from the same post-graduate school. We were schoolmates but never had the opportunity to talk to one another because we both have different cliques.
He was single for 8 years (I think? This is roughly an estimation.) He recently told me that he was glad he was single for quite some time because he learned a lot about relationships and its disintegration from his friends. He only had 1 relationship so far.
My last relationship was pretty much a long term one. It was with an INFP (M, 31). Let me tell you, despite being a long one, it was rocky throughout its entire duration. I really couldn’t stand the emotional outbursts and the relentless insecurities he poured on me.
So when I dated this INTP, I thought it wasn’t going to be that much different. Oh boy, I was wrong. He was self-sufficient, intelligent and funny! (bonus points for being good-looking too)
My ex was grossed out by my weird fascination with dark humor. And here is my INTP appreciating and adding more dark humor memes to my mind trove.
From the initial stages of dating until we finally entered into a solid relationship, I clearly saw an emotional growth in his part. Bro has experienced 3 anime arcs in 1 go with his character development.
Back then, I told him that I don’t want to share my man with someone else and he commented that I was being possessive, hinting me that my trait was a red flag. Now, he’s a “I’m yours” kind of guy.
He was the ultimate avoidant person I know. He didn’t like to talk about feelings and even procrastinated talking about our problems. When I used to open up about my sadness or anger, he didn’t even bother asking my condition. He would simply just say “Ok, I’ll leave you alone.” Now, he would even notice slight mood shifts and respond with a “What’s wrong?” He cares and shows by talking about it.
I believe he really worked on his avoidant attachment style. I told him before that I didn’t like his avoidant trait and wanted him to change it. I really appreciate the effort he exerted on this.

Character Name and House: Septa Meredyth, Scion of Yew
Age: 27
Appearance: Septa Meredyth has a very lovely smile, but she wears it less and less.
Gift: Gossipper
Skills: Courtly (e), Deceiver, Subtle (e)
Talent(s): Dancing, Lute-playing, Needlework
Starting Title(s): Septa of the Seven
Starting Location: With Rohanne/The Feast
Family Tree: Yew Branch
Biography:
169AC - Ser Agramore Yew elopes with a Lyseni magister’s daughter out of fear and piety having fornicated before marriage. Following this incident, he becomes unflinchingly devout.
180AC - Meredyth Yew is born to Ser Agramore Yew and Lady Miriella of Lys. She is their second daughter, and fifth child overall.
184AC - Cyrenna Yew, Meredyth’s little sister, is born.
186AC - Stafford Yew, Meredyth’s little brother, is born but dies within the fortnight. Agramore Yew, having sired seven children, swiftly takes a vow of celibacy and repudiates his wife: sending away to Lys. He declares his penance done: seven children for the seven pointed star. The Yew children will never see their mother again.
187AC - Meredyth and Selmond, her older brother, are sent to ward at Turnfield with their cousins for the next four years.
191AC - Selmond is sent to become a Maester at the Citadel and departs alongside their cousin Joss. Meredyth is likewise sent to become a novice at the Lannisport Motherhouse, despite having a temperament little suited for it.
194AC - Meredyth is joined by her little sister Cyrenna at the Lannisport Motherhouse.
196AC- After just over five and a half years of novicehood, Agramore Yew becomes agitated at his daughters’ seeming lack of progress or proficiency. He pays a pretty sum to have their studies expedited, and within the year both sisters are made full-fledged Septas, regardless of their actual aptitude.
197AC - The newly minted Meredyth is beckoned to Casterly Rock to serve as a Septa and teacher to Amerei and Arron Lannister. Within the year Meredyth finds herself as the primary Septa to both Lannister children as her previous senior was dismissed.
200AC - Septa Meredyth is pulled from her tutoring to conduct a hasty wedding between Alan Lannister and Teora Lydden to secure Rohanne Lannister’s inheritance via alliance between the two houses.
201-207AC - Septa Meredyth remains at court at Casterly Rock, becoming more of a friend to Amerei Lannister than a teacher. Though for over half a decade she alternated attempted to force herself into a pious lifestyle and living life as close to a rich noblewoman, she finds herself at a crossroads between becoming truly devout and following what her heart wants.

How do I change the font for C# inline type hints (if that’s the right term), VS2022? They always seem a bit small and slightly higher than the rest of the line. Picture attached. Thanks in advance.

Lots of notes from my first trip to Italy in late May. Maybe this will help other first-timers. We did Rome - Pompeii - Sorrento - Positano - Florence over 10 days.
Cities:
Rome: Get out early in the day. On our best day, we strolled to Trevi fountain before most of the shops had opened. We got to see them clean out the money from the fountain and that was oddly satisfying. By around 10 am...all hell breaks loose. It goes from kind of quiet to 'Where did they all come from?'. If there is a restaurant that you have heard of from Instagram...good luck getting in. Call or visit to put your name down. But here's the deal...we found lots of food options and I swear I never had a bad meal. Some were better than others but...good grief, it's all so damn good.
Vatican: I want to start an online petition to change the name to Catholic Disneyland. We booked a 3-hour tour and from the moment we arrived to the moment we left we were shoulder-to-shoulder with people. It was ridiculous and it made the day very very long. There is so much to take in and you are constantly being jostled by people…I can say I did it and I’d never go back.
Colosseum: We booked an underground tour as well as the main tour and that was amazing. You see where the gladiators came in and how they used to flood the floor of the Coliseum and do naval battles! The tour underground was small and you really got a chance to see how it all worked. Romans were impressive engineers and this spot showcases that.
The Forum: Our Colosseum tour included the Forum and…I liked it better. The view from the top of the Palatine Hill was worth the steps. Our guide really helped to bring this area alive for us.
Pompeii: Book a tour. There is so much and you’d miss half of it if someone wasn’t walking you through. We took an archaeologist tour and it was amazing. 2 hours and it felt like it was over in 20 minutes. You can take a regional train line directly to Pompeii and walk to the entrance. There is free (!!) luggage storage at the gate and the restaurant across the street was pretty good...but 'pretty good' in Italy is still 200x better than 'good' in the US.
Positano: Beautiful to look at…not much to do. Lots of shops…but they’re the same shops you’ll see all over this area. The restaurants were…ok. We went to a beach club, got 2 seats ($70), and paid too much for drinks. It was heaven.
Florence: Recommend walking to the top of Michelangelo Hill for the view. I think I should have been more impressed but by the time we got here it was 'ok...another church...cool....'
Weather: It rained every day we were there. Most of the time it rained in the afternoon. Also, most days the weather forecast never said rain was an option. Not a big deal, but bring a jacket.
AirBnB: Both our AirBnBs were great and hosted by fantastic people. Both were located near Piazzas and the listings did say 'some noise at night'. Ummm....yeah...that 'some noise' lasted until 2 am at both places. Bring. Ear. Plugs. Italians like to have a good time...for a long time.
Stuff:
Crime/Scams: This freaked me out a bit before we left. We bought cross-body bags and kept everything zipped up. Maybe it was too much but we made it through without incident. In Rome if anyone offers you a bracelet or says 'nice shoes' or 'Hey American!', put on your best impression of a new yorker and blow right past them. One guy through a bracelet to my son who instinctively caught it...and threw it back.
On the train from Naples to Pompeii it was standing room only...and about 90 muggy degrees. A guy in a down jacket was eyeing the young woman in front of me and paying very close attention to her bag. Her friends noticed and maneuvered him away from her but it was a reminder that you need to keep your eyes open...especially in crowded situations.
Verizon: We used their TravelPass for $10 a day; unlimited text and data. Having Google Maps and Google Translate whenever we needed it was worth it! Check your Verizon account…we found that we had ‘credits’ for 5 days that we could use!
Viator: We booked all our tours through this app and I could not be more pleased. Maybe we were lucky but all of the 5 tours we booked were fantastic. Would highly recommend it.
Ferryhopper: I would be careful here. We showed up for our trip from Sorrento to Positano. The boat hand looked at our ticket and said ‘I don’t know this ticket, I cannot take it’. There were a few exchanges and they let us on. I asked about it when we left and they said ‘It is best to book with us and not this application. We’ve had trouble’. Thankfully we did not book a return trip and could buy tickets at Positano. Take it for what it is…a warning. You don’t want to be stuck trying to find a ride to or from your destination.
ItaliaRail: Fantastic. Clean trains that were always on time for us. Booked directly through their site and it was effortless. Check the price of business class vs. coach. For us, it was well worth the extra $18 per seat.
Uber: Total bust. You are limited to Uber Black and even then…they may not come and pick you up.
FreeNow in Rome: We used this to book taxis in Rome to pick us up and take us to the train station. Scheduled in advance and the driver showed up without a hitch.
AppTaxi, itTaxi & FreeNow in Florence: So frustrating. I think it might have to do with where we were and the time of day but it was frustrating. Wasn’t feeling my best and a taxi ride would have been helpful. I waited over an hour trying to get someone to pick us up…nothing.
And finally...I’d like to kiss the person on this sub who mentioned Mobile Passport Control. This is an app you use when you return home from Europe. You answer the standard questions, take your photo and the app creates a QR code to use during customs checkout. When we got back to JFK there was a line specifically for MPC users. Our line: 5 people….those who did not use it: 125 people and growing fast. This saved us at least an hour at the end of a 10-hour flight. DOWNLOAD IT NOW!
Ok, that's rambling but I wanted to get it out there. I really appreciate this sub. Reading about other experiences helped me make our 10 days special.

The Senate just voted to overturn Biden's forgiveness plan but neither side got enough votes to override the President's ability to veto his relief program (so the good news is that he can just ignore Congress). And we're still waiting on the Supreme Court's decision, which remains to be seen.
What do you all think about this? I feel like this double assault from two branches of the government (and several hypocritical and treacherous Democrats like Sinema, Manchin, etc) has me thinking that nobody is getting any debt relief now or in the future. I don't want to sound overly pessimistic but it's hard not to be when we have a government that actively wants to keep millions of Americans in debt and has not come up with any viable solutions addressing the rising cost of college.
What exactly do the idiots running this country to the ground expect will happen when college costs skyrocket to such a point nobody but the rich will be able to afford to go? Not everyone is cut out for trade school and a sharp decline in college enrollments will only hurt universities and student loan companies in the long run because people will be less likely to bother taking out loans for degrees they know will have declining returns on investment.
Every other developed country in the world has free or affordable college subsidized through taxes (and in the Nordic countries the rich also have to contribute their fair share). But because profit is king in America and all anyone here seems to care about is money and material possessions (while ignoring the fact they're miserable or dissatisfied deep down) we've started treating college as a business when the entire purpose of higher education in the first place was to expand the mind and the intellect.
Going to college for a specific job is what technical or trade school is for. But anti-intellectuals in this country seem to think that anything that is not immediately applicable to reality is useless to learn, or that the only majors that matter are those that make the most money. This is a narrow minded viewpoint that has made so many people unhappy and regretful for the choices they made.
There was a study back in the 2000s by Georgetown University that concluded that studying liberal arts majors predicted anti-authoritarian political viewpoints among only Americans, while STEM and business majors were highly associated with authoritarian ideology. Make of that what you will. A world without the arts and humanities is a world without creativity or humanity-- a world that would quickly descend into autocracy without the debate and freedom of thought the humanities encourages.

Previous / First
Writer's note: The last section has a big time anime trope lol. And the best part is I hinted at some of it a bit in one of the recent chapters.
Enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amina stood nearly six inches taller than Nguyen as she approached and stood directly in front of him.
To his credit, he didn't balk as she glared down at him. He stood tall and straight and met her eye to eye, albeit at an upward angle.
"My husband has, or at least HAD, a lot of respect for you FIRST SERGEANT." She said sternly, ignoring Werner and the other soldier. "He lost a lot of that as a result of your..... inactions.... in the desert."
Nguyen's jaw clenched for a moment. "That makes two of us." He said in response.
Amina stared at him for a moment longer, then nodded and turned back to Werner.
"Arm your people." She said to the Ambassador. Then she looked down at Nguyen again. "Deploy them to the refugee sector to aide in the evacuation. Only fire at any golems that pose a threat or appear to be attempting to escape the perimeter of the cordon." She glanced at the other members of her command staff. "Restraining anklets stay on though. And you are to report in immediately once this has settled down."
Then she lowered herself a bit and spoke softly.
"And if any Earth personnel ever act against my people again. You will not have time to regret it, and you will not need James to be your executioner." She whispered into Nguyen's ears. Then she pulled back and looked him in the eyes again.
Nguyen swallowed, then nodded curtly.
"Understood." He said. Then he looked over at Werner, who nodded.
And with that the two Earth soldiers took off at a jog, leaving Werner behind.
As they turned the corner, one of the junior officers from earlier came running around the corner with a large jar.
"Your pickled onions General." The soldier said uncertainly.
Amina grabbed the jar greedily and moved back to her position in the room.
-----------------------------------
Alixan and Veliry, the latter of which had only just arrived, crept through the still hot tunnel carefully.
Alixan, being close to eight feet tall, had to practically crouch to move through the hastily excavated and reinforced earth as he moved. Veliry only had to hunch a bit every now and then when her new antlers brushed against lower portions of the ceiling.
"They summoned an elemental." The Prince said. "In their own control room."
"That's what the our Agent said." Veliry replied.
They had spoken , briefly, to the party of subterranean forces as they'd rapidly evacuated. Many of them had been carried out on litters, their bodies burned from the excess heat and steam that had been created before the doorway leading to the Agency's room had been destroyed.
"Won't be much evidence left then." Alixan said. "Just like last time, unfortunately."
Veliry nodded. A fire elemental was a good way to destroy evidence. Likely the reason the Agency seemed so fond of using them. Though where they were getting them was anyone's guess.
"Still." She said as they rounded the last corner. "We must do our..... dilligence?" She said uncertainly.
The uncertainty was shared by both of the mages as they saw not just a destroyed door. But a second door a few yards away, which was leaning across the hallway. They sensed no magical energy coming from it. And unlike everything else in the tunnel it was neither scorched, nor terribly warm.
Alixan carefully lifted it up and was surprised to find that it had a note on it.
Not written on parchment and tacked to the door.
Not carved into it as if with a knife.
Instead it was engraved into the wood of the door as if it had been built specifically for the task of having the message on it. It was also written in a style of Petravian that hadn't been used in nearly three centuries, though both of them could read it thanks to their studies as mages.

Bother yourselves with us no longer.
We have larger tasks to tackle.
Enjoy the final days of your paltry kingdom in ignorance.
And thank you for ridding me of ambitious fools.

"Whoever they are, something tells me that they're being sincere." Alixan said after he read the message, and Veliry felt inclined to agree with him. "And that makes me more than a little concerned."
-----------------------------------
Even with his inhuman speed, the excitement was over before James got to it.
He felt the intense magical heat dissipate, then disappear entirely, when he was only a block away. Golems he had passed on his way over were already on the ground dead, their amorphous forms melting to reveal the lifeless bodies within. James felt pity for the former refugees, who had moved into this are of the city for a chance at restarting their lives after the previous devastation, only to be violated by the Agency.
When he got to the sight of all the action, he was surprised to find that it wasn't a building. Instead a large cluster of Petravian soldiers and mages were clustered around the entrance to some kind of cellar, or crypt or something. A lot of the mages were helping to heal people who looked like Petravian soldiers, but with what he recognized as mining gear. Many of them were burned, and the few mages that were among those being healed had the tell tale black veins of magical overuse.
He found himself standing next to a rather oddly clothed pair of were-folk, who he looked at curiously as he recognized the rotary grenade launcher that one of them was wearing on a shoulder strap. And also the DMR equipped CT-6.5 that the other was holding loosely. They looked at him in mild shock and his eyes widened as he saw the goggles on their faces, which looked familiar even though he'd never seen them before.
Then the crowd around them quieted. The tall fox-like one's head snapped up and looked over James.
"Chief!" The were-squirrel next to the fox said as they, evidently a woman if James's ears were correct, moved to run over to the figure emerging from the tunnel.
"Chief?" James asked as he turned to follow the squirrel's movement.
"Holy shit." The fox said as he too moved to approach the newcomers.
"Goddam." James said as he saw them.
One of them was a tall, if somewhat gangly looking, man in armor of a brilliant blue. It looked like the highest quality plate armor James had ever seen, though it did not cover their hands or feet. And yet even as he watched, the armor seemed to melt away, leaving behind water and vapor as it did.
James's head quirked to the side as he recognized the person underneath, though he'd never seen him like this before.
"Marcos?" He asked.
The old man, and Royal Arch Mage, was nothing like James was used to seeing him. Typically he was a hunched over, robed, geriatric who looked one hard fall away from death. But as James saw him carrying out the limp, burned, form of a were-person of some kind, he looked like a warrior. The grey tunic he wore was wet from the melting armor, and revealed musculature that surprised James. His sleeves looked to have been burned off, revealing wiry arms with whipcord musculature. He also wasn't hunched over anymore, and as a result he seemed to be close to six feet tall.
"I need healers." The old man said. The slow, almost halting, speech pattern he normal spoke in all but gone. Then he held up the burned form in his arms. "This man is very nearly dead."
"Chief Vickers!" The squirrel exclaimed again as she and the fox ran over.
"Vickers?" James asked silently as he saw the people around begin moving to help.
And he realized that Vickers was the burnt body Marcos was carrying.
"Oh.... Shit." James said as he moved to join everyone.

I half remember a scene from a film where some rich douchebag types are going back and forth about all of the places they've travelled. They're naming tons of obscure mediterranian towns they're travelled to in a snide way, each trying to appear better than the other. I forget all other details of the movie as I was only half watching it. I know this isn't much to go on - but any suggestion as to which movie this could have been?

So, I'd like to preface this by saying that I do think this show is quality, and knowing people who loved the second season, I think it's a completely valid take on the show. This is more going to be a rant/vent about how I personally felt about the show, mostly about the second season specifically.
So, my girlfriend recommended me TWL after we watched Beef together and I recommended her Succession. I watch the first season and, honestly, I found it pretty fucking cool. It's not my favorite show ever, but some moments were legitimally hilarious and I found most of the character beats interesting, even the characters I disliked were interesting to talk about. Also, great performances by the cast all-around.
Here's what I need to vent about tho: I couldn't stand the second season. GF had her suspicions about me not liking it when she recommended it to me, saying that Portia speficially was the kind of character I usually can't stand, and honestly, that was kind of underselling it. Portia ended up being a non-issue. Her character was actually something I was completely fine with through the show, and at least her plot line was interesting to me.
My main issue came from the change of focus. It's no secret that the show went from wealth/socio-economical commentary towards more focus on sex and relationship dynamics in the season season. Now, it's not like the first season didn't have a decent amount of those in it, but the second season is practially *just* that. Even the social commentary, which you'd think would be pretty hard to miss considering the setting and characters in place, takes a major step back and instead the whole season I felt like I was watching a soap-opera or a discount, comedic version of Eyes Wide Shut.
While the first season had multiple chaarcters serve as 'straight man' in different moments, that would balance the tone of the show with it's satire of rich people (characters like the family's son, Armond before having his breakdown, Belinda, Kai, even Rachel at times), I felt like those characters were practically non-existant in season 2. Pretty much every character from Sicily was such a caricature that I had a hard time taking pretty much anything seriously. Albie is such a shallow nice-guy stereotype, Cameron is such a shallow douche stereotype, the two italian girls we meet are literally, again, shallow prostitute stereotypes, Mia even wants to be a singer for fuck's sake! It's like they are all just character templates.
And then the drama, it felt so artificial to me. Like, infidelity is a fascinating subject, sexuality is a fascinating subject, love and how it can go stale are fascinating subjects, but this season in my opinion dealt with it in a way that came off more as an edgy attempt at commentary full of fanservice with beautiful actors and actresses rather than any actual insights. It felt so artificial that at times it gave me the feeling I was watching something like porn. I mean, ''the douche character wants to bang his shy-bad-husband's girl, she gets mad at him for a misunderstanding about a condom being left on the couch and even more misunderstanding ensue!", really? A condom wrap? Maybe she could have found lipstick on his shirt lapel to add flavor as well?
I think that's my problem with this. It's such a caricature of infidelity and sexuality and sicily and rich people and yet, this time, unlike the first season, I didn't feel like there was any character playing the role of hammering that point home, of making it worth my time. First season had fascinating arcs between Armond's complete descent into madness or Quinn's journey to learn about himself, or even Rachel's dilema or the father's arc... this season just didn't have anything grab my attention like that. Valentina's arc could have been interesting, but it took more than half the season for it to make even the slighest progress instead of just ''she's in the reception, angry at her staff speaking with her crush''.
Just had to get this into text because I can't be bothered to go on a rant like this irl with the people I know who are actually fans and this was a way to organize my thoughts on it. Again, my opinion in this is far from absolute, and I still think the quality of the show's production and performances is undeniable.

What's up everyone I lost my job (i loved that job) but i bought festival tickets on the early bird so I'm just kind of unemployed with festival tickets. I'm not mad.
I have a big cooler and food stamps and I'm apart of the food waste reduction network so- I havent spent any money on food and I'm very rich in raw food I need to process.
I will share my "Buy Nothing Festival Meal Prep" ideas here but to be honest, I need some inspiration!! What is your go-to meal that you bring yourself? Do you have a shelf-stable meal you love?
Ideas so far: Canned mac and cheese