In the 1970s in the United States there grew an idea: Simply put, that people could help other people by building a decent place to live, at no profit for the builders. This idea grew from a charitable concept into a movement that would grow far past its original hopes and expectations. By the late 1970s this idea had expanded; today, Habitat for Humanity operates in every state in the USA but also in over a third of the countries in the world.
Habitat for Humanity volunteers do not work for wages. They volunteer their time to create something better than existed before; they often provide their own tools to make construction more efficient and safer for themselves and all around. The Habitat fund provides materials and the volunteers do the rest, creating and improving spaces for people to live in and enjoy. Without the volunteers, Habitat for Humanity could simply and fundamentally not exist. As such, the volunteers are treated with dignity and respect; they create wonderful things for strangers for no other reason than the love of so doing.
In the mid-2000s, Reddit was created. Reddit, Inc. has provided the framework and material for the site to survive, and a group of volunteer moderators has created tools and volunteered time to build spaces for people to occupy and enjoy. For the past 18 years this has been successful: Volunteers have created and curated spaces, and users have created content and everything that has filled those spaces.
On May 31 of this year, Reddit unilaterally announced that it was changing the pricing structure for all third-party applications using its servers and, in order for apps like Apollo, Bacon Reader, or RiF is Fun to continue to function, they would be required to pay Reddit, Inc. some tens of millions of dollars per year effective 30 days hence. The net effect of this is that Reddit plans on ending the ability for ALL third-party applications to function. This will mean destroying the ability of users to interact with the site on their favorite platforms. This will affect not only moderators but also every user who chooses to use a third-party application to view the site; THIS DIRECTLY AFFECTS YOU.
Habitat for Humanity could not function without its volunteers and the tools and skills they bring to the table; Reddit cannot function without its volunteer moderators and users and the tools and skills they bring to the platform.
Reddit is making these changes solely to serve you more advertisements, facilitate more spam, and track and sell your personal user data to other marketers and platforms. This has no benefit to the user, but we have seen this pattern before with other platforms.The animosity of Reddit towards third-party app developers, moderator staff, and users alike is telling and it does not bode well for the future of the platform. Reddit's actions are bad for everyone.
If Habitat for Humanity volunteers were treated thusly they would, sadly, pack their tools and move on and think at least of the good they have managed to do for people.As volunteers for Reddit, we are now preparing to pack our tools and move on. Reddit's clear avarice and contempt for the people who have spent millions of hours for free building and populating their communities is coming to a head.
The takeaway from this:
In protest, cars will be closing all access as of June 12 and will be dark through June 14, perhaps longer. The mod staff is unwilling to continue to work with restricted functionality and in the face of such shocking disregard from Reddit, who has effectively been our pro bono client for the entirety of the site's existence. During this time you will not be able to read, comment, or participate in the subreddit at all.This is not something the mod staff does lightly: This is done after many hours of discussion recently, and multiple years of discussion more broadly. We do not want to have to this, and it is with great reticence that we take this action. We love what we have built: This is the Internet's largest automotive forum by several multiples. We love the discussion here, and we are all invested in not only the subreddit but also the content therein. We're all enthusiasts first and moderators second, and shuttering -- and preparing to abandon, if necessary -- the thing that we have built is painful.
However, this is where we are at this point of time.What can you do?

• Complain. Message the mods of /reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
  
• Spread the word. Discuss this on related subreddits. Suggest that anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join us at our sister sub at /ModCoord. Do NOT attempt to doxx, threaten, harass, or promote violence towards anyone.
  
• Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th: Instead, take to your favorite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
  
• Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.Thank you. We hope for a positive resolution in this matter. This is the hand that we must play.
  

Thank you.
--The cars mod staff

A tiktoker mentioned that an average mature tree holds about 100000 to 200000 leaves. We know that for elemental nature training Naruto took every leaf off a tree to do the exercise… meaning Naruto possibly made 100000 to 200000 clones which is ludicrous.
This was important to me because I was going have a Kuramaless Naruto comfortably make 80 clones because jinchuriki Naruto can make 2000 clones (4% of 2000 is 80). I was going to do 4x Kakashi’s clones but I don’t know how much he made at the bridge in the wave arc and I remember some filler arc claiming he can make a hundred (which I prefer considering the average amount leaves a mature tree has and that shizune made like thirty clones, I think, that one time).
How many clones do you think Naruto can make?

“No prison can hold me; no hand or leg irons or steel locks can shackle me. No ropes or chains can keep me from my freedom.”
-Harry Houdini

It’s time to end the Ability Score list. It’s been way too long. I know the physical scores don’t need a lot of explanation or examples. I see the scores they get, I extract feedback from what I can. But maybe there is someone who could get a spark of inspiration from it. Some new insight. So this is for you, the one who is curious enough to see if they can get something out of an article about the Dexterity score.

What is Dexterity?

”Whatever is flexible and living will tend to grow; whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die.”
-Laozi-

Being dexterous, being swift, being nimble and quick. What does that even mean? Are those just buzzwords? Is it speed? Plenty of dexterous characters can be quick but Dexterity does not affect running speed. Is it fine motor skills? Acrobatics and balancing acts are about gross motor skills so it can’t be just that. Strength is about gross motor skills and you use muscles with Dexterity, so can’t they be used the same? Nope, that’s where we get to a nuance that gets more significant the more we realize what the differences are. The conclusion to Dexterity is this: The precision in which a physical action is achieved.
But what the heck? Don’t we use Strength to swing a weapon and isn’t that a hit-or-miss situation? Well, the difference is that we don’t need to hit exactly between the third and fourth rib on the right side of a rib cage when swinging a giant mallet. Even if you don’t hit that exact spot, you’ll still get the chance of fracturing the bones that hold it together. Accuracy doesn’t matter that much when you can’t even lift a weapon to wield it. However, weapons that are light and allow for fast and sharp movements work better with exact precision.To hit home what the differences are between Dexterity and other physical ability scores are thus:

• Fall-breaking as opposed to high-jumping
• Keeping your balance rather than standing your ground
• Quickly reacting rather than toughening things out
• Archery instead of the hammer throw competition
• Stretching rather than warming up

Motor Skills

“The body says what words cannot.”
-Martha Graham-

Bodily precision is divided into two types: fine motor skills and gross motor skills. Fine motor skills are all about the digits, the hands, the fingers. Das Fingerspitzengefühl. It’s the finesse in which small movements are made. The sensitivity of the hands or feet is important to feel pressure and how to ease with it or go against it.
Gross motor skills are also about finesse and precision but more about the whole body and its way to keep balance or bend effectively. It uses the larger muscles with the right kind of reach and movement necessary to get a result. High-level gross motor skills are usually performed in mid-air.
Both work well with hand-eye coordination from juggling to archery to flipping a butterfly knife. Throwing something heavy, kicking a ball really hard, or dealing a good punch also fall under motor skills and coordination. But in the case of Dexterity, it needs less physical resistance and more sensitivity.

Reflexes

“Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.”
-Donald Rumsfeld

Quick muscles and a refined sense of movement are ideal for knowing when trouble comes in fast and getting out of the way on time. Reflexes are your saving grace in turning a full-on explosion into a slight singe. Your ability to react is there to trust and it will come up often when something sudden happens.

Equilibrium

“I want to caution you against the idea that balance has to be a routine that looks the same week in and week out.”
-Kevin Thoman-

Dexterity is not only about fast movements. Sometimes, something needs to stay steady. From spinning plates to preventing dropping off from a great height, a sense of balance falls into this ability as well. Balance plays a bigger part in the head rather than the entire body, though. The vestibular system inside the inner ear allows us to seek the right bodily balance. So much so that we are constantly seeking it in small ways without even noticing.

Roleplaying Dexterity

“The body is living art. Your movement through time and space is art. A painter has brushes. You have your body.”
-Anna Halprin-

That’s nice and all, but now what? The physical ability scores aren’t so much about thinking and responding, they’re about actions. Opportunities, really. These opportunities can be found if you are aware of them or perhaps sought out. If you really don’t know how to play out your strengths, see if you can do something actionable.

Stretch

To stay limber and prevent muscles and tendons from locking up, they need a warm-up or at least a good morning stretch. It’s a good habit to start the day getting flexible no matter how loud it can be.
I’ve met a man at Aikido practice who never stretched in his life. His body was bulky, tough, and as stiff as an oak. You only needed to bend his arm slightly towards his back or he was already paralyzed with pain. Most limber people tend to out-slip such maneuvers if you don’t do them effectively.

Practice

Precision isn’t measured in reps or weight but in time and accuracy. Get some alone time to practice archery, knife throwing, lockpicking, or balancing on a beam. You never know when the practice pays off. Heck, you can try freerunning over rooftops or perhaps bring back the planking trend.

Variety

Treating each Dexterity skill as only one possible action is a waste. Surprise yourself and others by thinking outside of the box. Know that there are more ways to utilize quick fingers. Acrobatics aren’t just about doing somersaults. Stealth doesn’t mean you need to be invisible.

Dextrous Characters

• Aladdin
• Daredevil, Elektra, Hawkeye, Bullseye, Ant-Man, Quicksilver, and Black Widow from Marvel comics
• Every main character from Kung Fu Panda
• Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy
• Lanky Kong, Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, and Dixie Kong from Donkey Kong games
• Michaelangelo from Ninja Turtles
• Robin Hood
• Sportacus from Lazy Town
• Stella from The Italian Job
• Tai Lee and Mei from Avatar the Last Airbender
• The Flash, Catwoman, Robin, Nighthawk, Inque, Rag Doll, Green Arrow, Black Arrow, and Deadshot from DC
• Usopp from One Piece
• Vitaly the tiger from Madagascar movies
• Yen from Ocean’s Eleven

Activities for Dexterity

• Balancing meditation balls
• Cartwheeling
• Cheating at a game
• Contorting
• Dancing
• Drawing
• Finding the balance of a dagger
• Free running
• Handstand walking
• Hiding
• Inconspicuously adding something to a drink
• Infiltrating a place
• Juggling
• Moving on ice
• Perform surgery
• Petty thievery
• Pick-pocketing in a crowd
• Plate spinning
• Playing a game of cups, darts, or horse-shoe tossing
• Playing hide-and-seek
• Practice calligraphy
• Practicing fine/gross motor skills
• Sensing dents
• Somersaulting from stand-still
• Stretching
• Sword swallowing
• Tickling a sensitive spot
• Tight rope walking

Other Treasures

• Character Creation
• Character Writing
• Appearance
• Roleplay
• Strategy & Tactics
• Dungeon Crawling
• Ability Scores: Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, Constitution, Strength
• Communication & Behavior 1

The List of Olem

this is my first time questioning tiktok how can this has so many likes... i mean a lot. 22.1M likes

Artificial Dumbness
Prologue
Nadia Khan opened her eyes slowly, trying to make sense of the world around her. She had a pounding headache and felt fuzzy and disoriented, as if she were in a dream.
She lay on the cold, hard wooden floor, the thin blanket barely providing any warmth. The room was dark and uninviting, with only the faint light from outside coming in through the window. She heard the powerful roar of the ocean crashing against the boat and the creaking of the ropes swaying in the salty breeze.
She could feel the hairs on her arm standing up as she surveyed the area. There were several other people in the room, their bodies still and silent in their deep sleep. They were dressed in ragged clothes and had chains around their ankles. Nadia felt a cold metal on her own leg and realized she was also shackled to the floor.
She felt a surge of panic and confusion. Where was she? How did she get here? What was going on?
She tried to remember what had happened before she woke up. A blank space in her memory. She couldn't recall anything.
She reached for her headset, hoping to find some clue or explanation. But there was nothing on her head. No headset, no wires, no electrodes. Nothing.
She felt a sudden chill as a realization hit her. She wasn't wearing her VR suit, either. She was wearing a simple dress that looked like it belonged to another century.
She glanced back at the window. Outside, there was a clear blue sky and a vast ocean. The sun glinted off the distant island, its towering mountains and dense forests silhouetted against the sky.
She noticed something else—a small screen floated in the air next to her. As she looked, it had text and numbers. A game status screen? She wondered while squinting her eyes to read it.
Name: Nadia Khan
Class: Stowaway
Level: 50
HP: 100/100
MP: 50/50
XP: 0/10000
Skills: Stealth, Lock-picking, Dagger Mastery...
Quests: Escape from the Pirate Ship (0/1)
She was in a game world.
But how? And why?
She felt a surge of disbelief and fear.
This was impossible.
This was insane…
Chapter 1
The brave remote shores of the beach next to peaks of Mount Silwan had braved more than they showed on their brow. A local fisher, who most people around him considered as polite as a perched peacock, noticed a foundation stone with a marking that made him think of the taste of his wife’s cooking when she was not in a particularly pleasant mood.
The foundation stone was textured and rough to the touch, and from the perspective of a sparrow soaring high, it seemed of colors ranging from a vibrant crimson to a bottle-green with a hint of blueberry blue.
There was something unique about it—to the fisher, it looked like a hedgehog tumbling around, attempting to imitate a rolling tumbleweed in the Hami desert.
On one fine day, a day which did not seem at all different from any other summer day, the village, the beach, and the entire mount Silwan were wiped out completely.
It was all because of a mistake or rather a series of mistakes which occurred even though they had the minimal probability of occurrence—a probability which was lower than that of a group of Monkeys writing a book about a group of monkeys writing a sonata in the style of Shakespeare.
This story is about that mistake which has no relation to the bad cooking or the fisher, but is linked intrinsically to that Foundation Stone and its weird origin.
It all started with a President’s desire to make an AI to control the world.
Zhavi Mastermind felt the cold Himalayan air cut through him as he gritted his teeth and stayed determined. The task he came here for was worth all the effort and care he showed it. Being a software architect working for a start-up focused on mapping the universe, Zhavi had made himself enough money to pay for his travels and more. He could probably afford hired help. But then knowledge was precious, especially information which could lead to unlimited success or even world domination or more. Besides, he needed to have a tiny footprint. The more people with him, the easier it would have been for anyone to spot his operation. And then someone could interfere. Besides, he wouldn’t want even his hired help to know details about his plan. There was too much at stake here. So, he followed the only option for him that seemed right—he had to work under the radar.
His trip so far had been short and mostly sweet. As he had traveled all the way here, there had been a few hiccups here and there, but overall, it had been event-free. Most people recognized him as a tourist, so it made him easy to be ignored.
The night before had been tiring, as he had set up camp here. To a casual visitor, it would appear that Zhavi had set up his base simply because it seemed the right place. He had planned every step of the way. This was the place to be. It was around 30 feet from the target, which made it easy for him to set up a personal area network which had a range of up to 33 feet.
He targeted the place where a power surge had been detected and ignored. As he sat down waiting, he recalled how he had discovered it truly by chance. He had been working with data from a reconfigurable radio telescope and found a powerful signal—a signal which could only have been signifying intelligent life. As he analyzed, he found out that the source was not from any other place but a place in the Himalayan region in Northern Pakistan some distance from the base camp of one of the most formidable peaks, “Nanga Parbat.”
The encryption that he had cracked had been eye-shattering. Initially expecting it to be some boring secret communication by a government, it had shocked him to see the communication in a language beyond anything that existed on the planet. A higher dimensional language, so to speak, with words with meanings which were impossible to decipher for mere humans. Each word lay in the cross section of concepts. As Zhavi explored, he used brute force decryption with the help of resources from a global public super-computing facility to discover the meanings. And what he found was truly astounding. There were historical, cultural, and geographical references in the signals. It was impossible to understand them without taking notes on each of them. The problem, however, was that none of them were from Earth and that’s when he realized he had to get here.
The data scientists ignored the signal as an outlier even though it had been detected once. As Zhavi dug deeper, he found another incident over two decades back.
Zhavi had been compiling the data for the last three years now. And he knew now was the time for it to activate again. The signal’s source had been camouflaged to prevent human interference, except during this time.
What he had learned from the signal was too complex to be deciphered easily. But he knew it was enough to conquer the world and more.
He took a long breath inside. The freezing cold mountain air made him feel alive. He felt a gush of warmness as adrenaline poured inside him. The icy wind stung part of his exposed areas like mosquitoes made up of ice crystals.
As he moved outside the tent, snow as soft as cotton fell slowly from the sky. Zhavi was fully alert now. Everything was at stake. If he missed now, he would probably never have another chance. In the next twenty-five years, when the signal repeated, who knew if he could make it? That would not be the worst thing that could happen. The worst would probably be if someone else would find out and if he could find it, what would stop anyone else from doing the same? And the probability of that someone being a powerful government agency such as from the US was high.
Everything seemed just right. He had discovered the signal occurred in a particular alignment of the Earth with a certain very active star system in the Milky way.
If he could find it, someone else could find it too. So, it was now or never.
Zhavi authenticated and opened the shiny black box. Inside, lights were turning off and on as he flipped the switches. Screens around him lit as his custom designed distributed operating system booted up and synched.
A soft voice said, “Your secure Personal area network is now operational.”
“Turn on the security system.”
“Security system turned on. Cameras operational. Lasers are operational and looking for targets.”
Zhavi was a pacifist. He would always tell himself he never believed in violence. But he just hated to be disturbed. He was, however, also a realist. He realized the need for sacrifices for some causes. And that sometimes extreme measures need to be taken to attain success. If there was any such day in his life where he should never be disturbed, it was today.
As he listened to the whirring lasers and the automated drones guarding his position and looking for intruders, he focused his cameras on the approximate location where he thought the item should appear and waited. Everything seemed to be fine.
A sudden, blinding flash of light caused Zhavi to flinch in surprise. He took a step back, his eyes widening in wonder as he tried to grasp the magnificence of the object in front of him.
“Dr. GB, Dr. GB, sir, you need to see this. You have a letter.”
“I have a what?”
“A letter, sir.”
“How is it possible? You know, girl, your brain gone mad. We don’t even have an address. How can somebody send us a letter in the middle of nowhere? It’s the Congo river, not some small lake, Mary.”
“Sir, I assure you it’s for you. I just found it on the porch outside.”
It was a hot day, like many other days in Congo, as Dr. GB Smith sat on his reclining chair in one corner of the makeshift hut that he called his lab. He lazily eyed the plump woman standing near the door, her bright clothing standing out in the shadows.
“Why are you standing over there?”
“Sir, you didn’t let me come in.”
“It’s just a lab.”
“Sir, the last time I tried coming in, that fish thing you have in there. It shocked me.”
“Aha, the eel. You should be proud, Mary. You should tell your grandchildren an eel struck you.”
“Sir, I doubt I’ll have any children or even get married if I keep working for you.”
“It’s not that dangerous, Mary. Be brave.”
“Sir, it’s not about just the place being dangerous. Of course, there are no safety procedures or anything. The real problem is that you don’t pay me. It’s not like you paid me some months of salary and then got late with just one. You haven’t paid me anything. So, if I don’t die after being bitten by one of these things that you keep here in this lab, I think I’ll probably die of starvation. To let you in on a little secret, I am probably only surviving because I am living with my parents.”
“Too much information. TMI, Mary,” said GB. As he eyed her, Mary stood still, looking unconvinced by Dr. GB’s invitation or even his attempts at humor, which she probably considered at least distasteful. Her one hand was on the door, with the other holding something with just one foot inside the lab.
GB scratched his white beard, trying to keep up with his planned expression of an air of disinterest, and looked into her eyes. “So? Aren’t you going to give it to me?”
The girl first looked on both sides and then ran towards him. Before he could say anything, the letter was flying on top of him as he masterfully apprehended it on its way to the side.
He said, “So we are all set, right? You are telling me you are fine. Not starving and still alive. Every day, this is just what every animal in the river can wish for.” He looked up only to find her running away towards the door.
GB sighed. As much as he didn’t want to show it, he was worried. This was the third one this year, and he was running out of candidates. Mary had tolerated him for a period far longer than the previous ones.
As he looked at the letter, he felt the texture of the wax seal beneath his fingertips. His eyes opened wide.
Available also on ScribbleHub and Royal Road.
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Short ver for lazy reader at the bottom!
Hi guys, so I'm just gonna drop this tips here on how to get free skins (even gloves and knives!!)
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Short Ver for lazy reader like me:

1. Download GC Skins
2. Input your steam trade link in Inventory sub-menu
3. Enter codes from my Youtube Channel for extra coins. One of the code is SALTY <- optional step, only for extra coins
4. Do tasks
5. Withdraw skins using coins that you gain from doing tasks

my yt channel: https://youtube.com/@saltychieze

I feel like it was cool just to see at first. But I feel like Neo looking at the code now. The patterns, the algorithm. I feel like once you see it, you cannot unsee it.
​
The creative writing is not actually good.
Sure, it can fool you into thinking it's good. It knows how to loosely emulate some styles. It can generate some silly concepts based on what's out there, giving you a madlibs creation and structure.
But it lacks any kind of feeling. It lacks authenticity. It lacks heart. It lacks sentience. It's not human, and it shows.
One of my favorite examples is I keep trying to get it to write hip hop songs for fun. And you know what? AI is awful at writing hip hop. It flat out can't do it without it coming off like a terrible version of some 80s rap. I've tried all kinds of prompts, but it's just AWFUL. Maybe it simply been trained enough. Okay.
​
It also sucks at humor. Real humor. Try and get it to write something funny like Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy stand up and again, its AWFUL. But it's not even as good as your garden variety comic on Tiktok.
​
It can't write witty believable human dialogue like Quentin Tarantino. It doesn't know how to make the proper timing and connections and nuance to make something flow, have meaning, and be interesting.
​
What's it good at? Writing Taylor Swift songs. Rings of Power episodes. Why? Because that shit ain't creative. So don't confuse successful with creative.
It's not going to ever give us anything as good as the dialogue, characters, and story from The Wire until it is sentient.
​
It's not going to write anything as legendary as Nas - illmatic until it is sentient.
​
And even then...It's going to be next to impossible. Because we can't emulate those amazing artists either. Don't ever count out the humans.

I mean like has anyone went to talk to their comfort character and came out disliking their comfort character? I remember seeing a comment on Tiktok about how it ruined their comfort character for them so I was curious if it has happened to anyone?

Heyy!! If you enjoy coming to our subreddit, Please consider joining!
It would really help our podcast to get more known! We have lots of fun things to do here and.. you get sneakpeaks and notifications about our podcast!!
If you are already a member of this subreddit, youre the best luv <33
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Also..
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We have a Insta and Tiktok Account already waiting for it to get followers. So please check that out too!! it means the world to us <3
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Anyways, this post is getting too long so ehmm..
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Greetings from the Netherlands, GimmeStoriesPodcast <3
​
omg i just told everyone our nationality helpppp

So, as the title says, I have never written music.
Backstory: I am a brass instrumentalist (Trumpet, Cornet, Flugelhorn, Tenor Trombone) and I dabble on the piano, alto recorder and voice. Never had much luck with strings, but I am teaching myself guitar. I had a couple of years playing professional gigs at the end of the 1980s in a cover rock band in smoke filled pubs (trumpet and backing vocals). As a band, we really had enough of the same venues, no original music and no burning desire to try and push into the cut throat world of the industry. Only one went on to a conservatory of music but couldn’t break in to the scene. I went and studied physics, which actually made me realise that the way many brass players are taught to play has them fighting physics rather than working with the physics of the instrument. I changed my whole approach to playing and let the standing waves in the instrument, the resistance of the instrument and air pressure play me. I also learned that the best cross-training for brass playing is singing. Anytime I teach a student brass, lesson 1 is Physics 101. I have been on and off music for 40ish years.
My vocal coach (pianist and guitarist as well) has some composition experience so is going to collaborate.
We have only just started and were talking about the structure. She is probably about 25 years younger than me and when I suggested a bridge, she got really excited. She said that composition has changed a bit since “my day” because people now write songs to fit on TikTok which mean at most a 2 bar “pre-chorus”.
Long preamble but I don’t want to be constrained by TikTok. Is this a thing? If I put in a bridge is that bad? We are doing lyrics first then music. I have a high competency in music theory and I think my Circle of Fifths app is my most used. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated.

This subreddit helped me so much in navigating my debut album release that I wished to share my experience, my approach, and stats as it might help or at least inspire others who are yet to do this.
*Aaaand it is also here to point out mistakes I wouldn’t repeat myself nor would love anyone else to repeat them!
**This is a very long post, sorry!
To give you a little bit of context - I moved to Melbourne from Croatia in mid-2019 and until then I was a front woman in a successful post-punk band.
Arrived to Melbourne without knowing anyone, then the longest lockdown hit and by 2021 I realised I need to pivot and do something solo because there was no way for me to meet people, form a new band and perform live. So I started learning Ableton and now here I am, just released my debut album which is also my debut as a record producer.
The music I do is very niche and specific; most of the songs are bilingual where I combine traditional Croatian/Slavic folk singing into my choruses or intros with experimental dark wave/EBM/even trip-hop elements. I call it Slavic-pop, Slavic-darkwave, a lot of people compares me with IC3PEAK, Sevaliza, FKA Twigs, Slavic Fever Ray/Knife.
This new solo project is called ŽIVA (as in ‘being alive’) and you can find it on all platforms (socials handle is _xziva).
This also means that literally no one knows about me here in Australia except for my 5 friends and my partner, while in the Balkans I do have a decent following and a good media support.
Last thing to take into the account is that like a lot of us here, everything I do is DIY; this is a one-woman show where I do literally everything from song composition, production and live performance, to styling, social media, marketing etc…And since I learn on the go, I’ve made a lot of mistakes that I can now see clearly in hindsight…So keep that in mind as well!
TIMELINE I’ve used for my releases:
April 10th Early access open for single Bad Blood (if you leave your email and follow on Spotify, you get the single video in your inbox 24 hours before everyone else)
April 21st Single out (with video) + album announcement
April 28th Single launch gig (headline) in Melbourne
May 23rd Debut album out
May 25th Album launch gig (headline) in Melbourne
​

1. SubmitHub

For me, this was the biggest waste of money and something I will never ever repeat. Luckily I didn’t spend too much money but I should have listened to my gut feeling as well as most of your posts here. While I actually did have some success and got featured in some of the independent media/playlists, it was not worth either the money nor the time. It feels wrong while I do it and although I can partially see the idea behind having a paywall because journalism has been discredited and underpaid for a long time, this is not a way to go.
I also did an experiment and paid an influencer to put one of my songs up in her video + asked her for stats after, but since there is no way of knowing how many people actually came from her profile to mine, I don’t see the value in continuing to invest in this.
📚Conclusion: Works better for generic songs, nothing too experimental, will never do this again, would perhaps re-consider it if I am doing something more mainstream but even then would need more convincing.
STATS
cost: $80USD
content: 3 different songs
Success rate: 12%
​

1. Facebook & IG ads

This was my first time ever doing these, so a huuuuge learning curve. To teach myself how to do this, I was reading everything on this sub + did a lot of YouTube tutorials such as the one from Andrew Southworth to get ideas.
📚Conclusion: probably your best bet of all ways of
STATS (April 21st - June 3rd)
cost: $1045AUD
campaign objectives: Melbourne gig attendance (awareness + conversion), Spotify streaming, YouTube streams/subscribers
target audience: digital art, electronic music, darkwave/EBM, Blender (my aesthethic is very much combination of traditional look + digital manipulation, 3D rendering, scans)
RESULTS BREAKDOWN:
Spotify
+200 followers
+12,700 plays
YouTube
+170 subscribes
+6500 plays
Bandcamp
+500 plays
Soundcloud
+550 plays
​

1. Publicist

I didn’t use a paid PR / publicist this time because I just couldn’t afford it BUT now I am happy that played that way. Reason being - I was quoted $4000AUD for an album campaign and yet I’ve managed to get a positive response from almost all those media outlets myself (to whom they would have reached out). The biggest drawback from not hiring them is the fact that I didn't manage to get 1(!?) TripleJ Unearthed review and Australian media outlet feature. This is probably the hardest thing I ever wanted to break, I literally have 0 responses from any Aussie based outlet. This is also something I want to crack, just not sure where's the catch - is it that the publicists are gatekeepers or its just too competitive and I am unknown....
Important to note is that I did hire them for a single campaign back in 2022 and while it did yield some features and TripleJ reviews...It was too much work for me. I literally had to write texts for different Aussie blogs that have various topics (name your top 5 artists and why etc)...it ended up being quite a lot of work for me as an artists rather than just chilling while someone else does it. It might be that I have the wrong approach but idk...
Still - I think it is waaaay too expensive and at this stage (until proven otherwise) I will rather grind myself and persevere and send loads of emails than pay this insane amount.
📚Conclusion: Not worth the money, my stand atm is that I will invest in my materials, my music, photos, instagram profile, tiktoks, live performances....and then those outlets will eventually will come to me? 💡 Is is wrong to think this?
​

1. Socials

I’ve literally have never been this active on socials as I am since mid March, early April. I figured that this is the way to go and decided to approach it as part of the job and give it structure which always works for me and leaves out any unnecessary dwelling and procrastination.
TikTok - I barely did anything….and this is my biggest problem atm and something I actually plan to tackle now, sort of post-album release, create some videos about the process etc..this is my weak point and everything would probably be even better if I had resolved this and been active.
But regarding Instagram & FB there are two biggest changes in my approach that seem to change my game completely and yield MASSIVE results.
a) I now actually actively engage with my followers, watch their stories, comment, interact….It actually feels good, I do it in a natural way, interact with content I really do resonate with so it’s actually not hard, just needs dedication & time.
b) I decided to just continue being genuine in my posts and if it doesn’t do well (in the numbers game) - who cares, at least it’s really me rather than something I thought will get viral. This really helped alleviate some of the imposter syndrome feelings which are present whenever I post something.
📚Conclusion: These two combined ended up creating an amazing community of almost die hard fans for me, where every single one of them shared the news about my album.
STATS (April 21st - June 3rd)
cost: $0 (a lot of time though - I dedicate min. 30mins every morning just to go through my audience’s stories/posts etc)
Success rate: 100% :) hehe, not sure how to measure this but I am sure that this was one of the main contributors of converting my followers into my passionate music fans.
Instagram
+ 375 new followers (in this moment I have 2,100 followers)
+average 1,800 reach per post
+average 400 views per story
Facebook (keep in mind that I am not very active on FB, so just trying to keep it alive with occasional posts, 2x per week sharing only relevant stuff)
​

1. Spotify Playlisting

USER PLAYLISTS: I took the manual route and this time actually skimmed the entire Spotify to find playlists that could potentially put my song onto their playlist. It took a lot of time but it also yielded incredible results FOR 0 money!
PAID PLAYLISTS: I’ve done just one for the sake of gaining information and doing the math. I paid $15USD to get the following: - placement on two playlists that have 7k listeners combined
- feature/reshare of my single video on an IG profile that has 200k followers
I got around 300 streams from this up until this point (3 weeks).
EDITORIAL PLAYLISTS: No success. I’ve pitched 2 songs (single and then another one I choose from the album) and even included suggestions on what playlists I think I would be a great fit but yeah, zero points here.
📚Conclusion: Knowing your genre is one of the most important thing because it is an information you use to wisely create ads + pitch your music to the right people aka playlisters. I will keep on doing this although its time consuming to go through Spotify and their instagram, but totally worthwhile if you have the right song/genre! Those playlists are your potential fans and they will do it for free!
Thank you for all your help and amazing discussions/advice - it would have been much harder without you! 🖤

Hey you!
If you like, voice calls, gaming (PC), tiktoks, snapping ur day and overall jus being chill and laid back then hmu!
I work in tech, can be blunt and straight forward but mean well.
:)

Hey you!
If you like, voice calls, gaming (PC), tiktoks, snapping ur day and overall jus being chill and laid back then hmu!
I work in tech, can be blunt and straight forward but mean well.
:)

I was in a higher state of consciousness most of yesterday. While my unconditional love for you remained, all the longing, sorrow, and concerns were completely gone. There was just peace, love, the sense of being complete, and all is well and perfect.
This doesn't mean I stop caring about you and our predicament when in this consciousness--in fact I care even more. But worry is seen as unnecessary and unhelpful in that consciousness, so it doesn't arise. From that perspective, whatever can be done for our highest good will be done when the timing is best, without need for worry. Any plans or preparation that are necessary for the future will be effectively made and then set aside and no longer thought about. It's amazing how little future planning/preparation actually need be done (most of the time) when you leave only the amount that is necessary. It also happens much more quickly, effortlessly, and effectively in higher consciousness.
​
While it seems I could just remain on my own in this high state of consciousness and not bother with the TF connection or anyone/anything else, that wouldn't be very wise. Unless I face those fears, sorrows, etc, they remain trapped in my system weighing me down from higher vibration and ascension. I'd also be giving up the immense riches of the TF connection (including my 100x boost to my spiritual ascension, which certainly seems to be a very real thing based on my experience). And most importantly, that would be incredibly selfish and unfair to you, as I would not be fulfilling my end of our bargain. "Ty for the awakening, bye!" "Wait, you were supposed to come back and awaken me too!"
​
You and your brother streamed yesterday, but again I was made to stay away (but this time no featriggers arose). Maybe you needed more space from me. I did quickly stop in and say hi to your brother towards the end of his stream, as he did voice before how much my being there means to him.
​
At some point, I did think about our possible phone/disc call (if that ever does happen). The main reason I want to talk on the phone is to start to create a real, meaningful connection of some kind. (Or at least that's what my mind thinks. Perhaps HS has a different reason--like maybe just the connection itself will have some kind of effect.) Because actually connecting in a deeper way than just through Twitch is the only way we are going to establish any kind of meaningful connection. And the only way we will find out the reason for our TF connection and what the Universe wants between us at this point. I don't expect this to happen through a single convo (if it does, wonderful), but I feel it would at least be a great help in at least beginning to form a real connection (between our persons at least).
On my behalf, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind this has been bar-none the most impactful/meaningful connection I've ever experienced and likely ever could. It not only triggered both awakenings--my initial awakening as well as my kundalini awakening--but it played such a significant role throughout my awakening at almost every pivotal point of it. If our connection had ended when I walked away almost 2 yrs ago, I would've mostly been able to understand the purpose of it. I would've assumed it was the super catalyst for my awakening and the plan for Union failed when warnings weren't heeded. But the fact that HS has brought me back now means there is still something very important that the Divine still wants to happen between us for the highest good.
Being TFs, the most obvious reason would seem to be TF Union. And given the past warnings before I left, it would seem like the plan is to finish what we failed--to get you to leave Ethan and Unite with me. But these are just assumptions based on the past, and I don't know for sure if this is still part of this new plan or the plans have changed. Your own feelings and choices also play a huge role in this. I mean if you're not open to Union, then obviously there is no way it can happen.
I would try as much as possible to stay away from anything that would make you feel uncomfortable (like talking about any romantic feelings) out of respect for your position of having a bf. Unless you were open to and wanted to talk about that, of course. But I wondered what would happen if you told me that all my TF experiences were completely one-sided, and that you hadn't experienced anything strange/interesting/synchronistic and didn't feel any kind of connection to me? It would be very...interesting and surprising.
Obviously it would suck to hear and would hurt, etc. But it would be extremely curious/odd, and I would be so confused as to what the Divine wants to happen between us now. It would seem to dead-end any sort of releationship potential. But I would still want to continue chatting/connecting anyway just to see what the Universe's plans for us are.
On the other hand, if you admit to having had interesting experiences of your own in regards to our connection and/or that you felt some kind of connection with me (even if you didn't mention any romantic feelings or anything), then that would be much more interesting (and obviously much preferred). It would at least leave Union on the table as a possibility, and I'd just have to feel things out and see how things played out between us over time as our connection deepened--either Union or friendship.
​
Lol...I actually wrote the above yesterday. I had an incog tab open to lurk in your stream while writing this. Just after I wrote the paragraph above, you raided someone named "darkcossie." Her raid notification then played the "wake up/reminder" clip of my follow&sub notification. As a reminder, this happened during your stream that you titled, "Idk what's real anymore." And then the Universe answered you by having your brother say, "This is real. You need to wake up. *TF's sub notif appears* It's all a simulation. It's been --- years. Please, I love you so much, please, just wake up." The chances of that clip being the one that played out of...I don't even know how many countless clips you have is incredibly improbable. Combined with the timing of my writing this while questioning if you've ever experienced anything interesting in our connection, is just too high to be coincidental.
I had actually forgotten about this clip, as there have just been an overwhelming amount of synchs like this I've experienced throughout our connection. But what makes this clip special is it's a synch that you received, which showed me that you also do get these (although probably far fewer). What makes it even more special is it's the only solid piece of evidence I've had from you in our entire connection that showed that you must've experienced/felt something in regards to our connection. Because you actually posted this on your TikTok and labeled it "A Reminder" #real. You also reacted in the clip to my notif in a way that showed you caught and understood that synch. You also posted that at a time when I was again doubting that you'd felt anything between us and I was ready to give up and walk away.
This "Reminder" (as you so appropriately named it on TT) does give me more hope. But more than that, I think that clip playing during your raid was more for you. It was the Universe's "Reminder" to you of what's #real (Cole, your TF, and everything I've been telling you) and to "Wake Up" from this dream/#simulation (3D "reality" is somewhat both dream and simulation). Interesting seeing how the Divine does actually leave you messages too, not just me--"the Awakened Twin." I wondered if this kind of thing happened for you too, as you don't yet have the connection with the Divine as I do.
I'm grateful the Universe is trying to speak to you too. Keep your heart open and keep listening to it, my love. Your soul will speak through it. And as it opens more, your team of high beings and the Divine will be able to communicate more with you. I'm curious to see what happens next. But I hope we can connect soon. I love you so much.

So I 17 f and my friend S 17 f have been friends for most of the school year. We where mutual friends and we hung out a lot in the small group of friends we share. Around 7 months ago S and her boyfriend J started dating . Me and my best friend have known J since elementary school and he used to bully us from elementary though middle school and it only just got better our freshman year. We told S this when she started dating him. Previous to there relationship J was 15 and was dating 10- 11 year olds. We told S this and she didn’t listen and would get mad when we called him a pedo. The first month of there relationship was going good , until he started being controlling. He would constantly yell at her for talking with other male students for projects or just talking to us. It got to the point that she didn’t sit with us anymore and wouldn’t even talk to me and best friend when J was around. She doesn’t even text us anymore. He made her block all of her friends that where male ( she wasn’t flirting just normal friends) on messenger, Facebook , and any other social media she had. Overall just being a huge asshole. Me and my best friend kept telling her and pointing out what he was doing and how it’s not right to treat her like that but she wasn’t hearing it. He has left bruises on her from his outbursts , and many other things. It got to the point that she knew what he was doing and went to any means to defend him . She would constantly come to class crying over a fight that he started and when we would try to comfort her , we would say “that’s not right of him to do to you” and she would blow up on us. So me and my best friend just decided that we are not gonna comfort her anymore because she is just letting it happen at this point and we are done fighting with her. So this is where I may be the asshole. Cue me and making petty comments to her and sending her tiktoks about healthy relationships and just generally hating on J. Skip to summer break and my best friend texted her to check up on her . She told my best friend she that I am annoying her with talking shit on her boyfriend. So now I’m wondering AITAH?
TLDR : friend’s boyfriend is a peice of shit and me and best friend tried to show her that it’s not healthy, she got mad. Best friend checked up on her during summer break and she said she was annoyed with me. AITAH?

Tl;DR: I'd like to have a general discussion about College Rock and the concept of "alternative radio", then and now. What bands/sound make up the "canon" of modern college alternative for gen z? Is there one, or has the internet made music taste too individualized enough for it to be a meaningful concept?
Hey /LetsTalkMusic. I've lurked here for ages but this is my first post so let me know if I break any of the community etiquette.
Recently I've been listening to a lot of what is generally considered to be "College Rock", that subset of alternative bands which played prominently on college radio stations in the 80s and 90s. The likes of Joy Division, The Smiths, The Cure, New Order, Stone Roses, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Hüsker Dü; and then R.E.M, Pavement, Mazzy Star, Cake, the Sundays, the Zombies. Just a few that come to mind, and some of these broke into the mainstream but had their origins in college rock.
Obviously, these bands all have very different sounds and backgrounds, and yet it seems that they occupied this unified space in the culture of Gen X going through college. Despite not having been prevalent on mainstream rock/pop radio stations (save for some breakthrough bands like R.E.M.), most people who went to college in the 80s/90s are familiar with them.
Observing the current trends at mine and other colleges, it doesn't seem that a unified collection of non-industry musicians are being pushed in a similar form.
For the purpose of this post, I'll define the criteria for "college alternative" as modern music that is enjoyed uniquely by a college demographic, shares a similar context, and is pushed as the alternative genre without being represented by the music industry.
This is by no means an "old music was better" write-up. There are so many fantastic artists of various genres today. It is interesting that these artists, however, don't seem to share a distinct college movement in the same sense that the 80s and 90s had. This surely has much to do with the downfall of radio and the rise of internet. Music is now discovered through decentralized forms of media. There is no community of radio hosts curating a collective music taste for people to be exposed to upon entering college. Music is now much more individualistic, both in ritual practice and in taste. Where I attend school, a small percent of the students actually listen to the radio, and every student with a passion for music has a very personal, eclectic music taste.
The likes of Tiktok complicate this even further, as it popularizes musicians entirely separate from the mainsteam industry, but also does not push any unified sound. Songs on Tiktok can gain popularity regardless of their band, genre, or even era.
On the other hand, it could be said that there is still a collective consciousness of alternative artists, it's just that this space looks very different than it used to. With hiphop replacing rock in mainstream music, the alternative stream likely followed suit. While they don't dominate the radio, most of Gen Z recognize the likes of Tyler the creator, Kali Uchis, Daniel Caesar, Phoebe Bridgers, Rex Orange County, Thundercat, etc. My only hesitation is that each of these names have dubious industry connections that water down their "alternative-ness".
Then perhaps this boils down, in essence, to capitalism and the way that music industry functions. Many of the alternative bands of the 80s and 90s surely had industry connections that allowed them popularity over other thousands of good bands that never made it. In the 21st century, this is only more true as monopolies coalesce and music as an industry is more focused. There is no easily-defined alternative radio because any really "alternative" music is too detached from the industry to have a large presence in our collective conscience, so this music is confined to eclectic listeners who find them through streaming services or niche internet communities like this one. In some ways this is a good thing, as it allows for a much greater variety of music to take hold among young people. It can also be a detriment in that non-mainstream music loses its function as a social tool to connect with wides group of people with shared music taste.
Reigning it back in, I am curious about this community's perception of "College Alternative" music as it stands today. Does such a movement exist, or is non-mainstream music too individualized for that now? What bands would the modern alternative consist of if we were to define it?
Or perhaps College Alternative never existed as a movement, but was prescribed as a term after the fact, in the same way that Classic Rock is an umbrella to define whatever rock used to be mainstream.
Furthermore, is it a good or bad thing that the forum of music has changed in this way?
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your responses.

A bad credit score can make life very frustrating and a bit more difficult than it should be. Fortunately for me, I figured out how to fix mine months after looking for different means to fix it. Bad credit score causes a lot of roadblocks such as rejection of loans and lines of credit (including car loans, mortgages, student loans, personnel loans, etc.), difficulty in getting retail application approved, difficulty in getting a new cell phone contract, difficulty in making required security deposits, employee background check issues, higher insurance premiums in some states. Trust me, I used to face most of these roadblocks but thanks to a highly prolific hacker I hired, I was able to quickly increase my credit score and I’m still enjoying the benefit to date.
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Hey everyone, I've always struggled to eat healthy for various reasons but lately, my reasons have been because of work. I work very physical jobs, I'm a Rope Access Technician and an arborist, so I'm either climbing a building or a tree and I burn a lot of calories every day. I don't do as much physical work as I used to (became self employed and not climbing 40hrs a week, but still a lot) and at that time I could eat bad and burn it off, not that I want to be like that either. At my healthiest, I was about 185lbs and now I sit around 218lbs. I hold it all in my belly as hard visceral fat. Because of the nature of my work I'm either just burning loads of calories and craving sugar and highly processed and high carb junk food, or I'm sweating buckets and craving highly salty food to replace what I'm sweating out. So now that I don't burn as much, I'm just getting chonky. I struggle with healthy eating because I don't know how to eat the right stuff. I don't know how to get enough healthy sugars and fiber to offset chocolate cravings, I don't know how to get enough calories a day to not want junk food. You know what I mean? I've heard that eating higher protein helps to reduce sugar cravings? I would gladly eat less meat overall if I knew how to sub it with something else. I don't care a lot for meat every day. But how do I replace it for what I need? I would cut out coffee no problem. I drink it black already, but the crash that comes with caffeine is really annoying. Breakfast is always a struggle because I can eat a big breakfast when I wake up and be starved in 1.5hrs. I want to experiment with not eating breakfast until I get quite hungry, not just when I wake up, but because I work in a different place everyday I need cold and portable food, and I don't know a good breakfast to do that with! - I'm 30M and I feel like trash because my diet sucks, I want to eat healthy and be a reasonable weight but I struggle to find good info on how to eat well for my situation. Most websites seem to be catered for office workers and not trades people. Any help would be so gladly appreciated! Anyone in my shoes or similar that can help me eat balanced and well?

I’m sorry but if you think being a “mother” is some grand title, you’re wrong. Anybody can pop out kids, being a “mom” is like somebody having tiktok on their phone these days.
Being a mom doesn’t mean you’re a good person or accomplished. A lot of moms rest their hat on the fact that they’re a parent and that’s literally their entire existence. In fact, I’ve seen mothers that claim to be so great to their kids, but neglect everything else in their life including their relationship.
I get so tired of seeing all these mothers making their entire lives revolved around their damn kids like Christ almighty, is that really the end of the road for you? No aspirations, no goals, no interests?
I’ve seen many relationships that are destroyed because of this.
Good lord just chill with the obsession with your kids and find a hobby or something.