I have to listen to a song at least three times in a row before I remember to actually listen to it.

First Contract is a very fun take on an economic-based alien invasion.

Robin and Ted didn't work on a fundamental level because Robin wanted a life of adventure and Ted wanted kids.

Robin had her adventure, Ted had his kids.

Ted and Robin getting together at the end doesn't cheapen anything that came before, it was their time to be together.

Yeah, I stopped watching at the 'rate yourself' scene.

Wanting/needing to explore her artistic side doesn't need forgiving. Having that exploration require being apart for months and needing to move the date of the wedding is unfortunate, but forgivable.

But the way she snuck around to get the audition and then trickle-truthed when forced to reveal things is unforgivable. She used the same tactics with her debt, which was borderline abusive.

"Ok, what do you want to cook?"

"I don't know, you pick."

I am big. It's the pictures that got small.

GPS was magical after MapQuest printouts.

So your point is that "feeling rested" doesn't include feeling rested?

I like to plan, but nothing in the plan is sacred. The outline guides drafting and drafting refines the outline.

It has a higher population than 15 states.

The point is that work had to start immediately, it couldn't wait. It was either start now or they find someone else.

Should we decide that no pregnant woman should be given that opportunity? Should we just say no for them without letting them decide?

Also, since God and Jesus are eternal without beginning or end, they both just always existed? I feel like that should have come up at some point, like did they ever disagree on stuff, was Jesus even a part of the creation process, was he just chilling for eternity until it was time to be born? Endless bizarre questions.

That is scarily close to my story, beat for beat. After a few years I managed to start taking classes in the evenings and ended up graduating and landing a WFH job. It is not the best thing ever, but endlessly better than factory work.

Buy aluminum, it used to be far more expensive.

Worst episode of Supernatural ever.

I mean, Jennifer has a point. Obviously, the more time a parent has with a child is important. The question is; should we assume that a woman who just gave birth should not be considered for a priority assignment?

It shouldn't be a requirement, and they shouldn't push, but I think its wrong to deny the best person for the job just because she is a new mom. Offering it to her indicates that she was the first choice. It is giving her that information, which may have bargaining power in the future.

The way they framed it is important, nothing would change if she said no, and it was up to her if she wanted to say yes.

If we don't reverse this trend, there are two paths from here. One has some form of UBI or other system to ensure basic needs are taken care of for all. The other is de facto slavery, debt being used as a mechanism of ownership.

Adding new ways to punish people for being poor is a signpost on the path to the latter option. The point of no return is when they start to dismantle the mechanisms for discharging debt. Bankruptcy protections will be increasingly difficult to come by. Eventually, even death won't eliminate debt, it will be passed down to the next generation. Imagine being born with more debt than you could pay off in a lifetime.

Make him feel good about who he is, not just what he can do.

You could say the same thing about every genre. Media is getting increasingly specialized. If something is worth making, it won't appeal to everyone.

Write for yourself first, then those that really connect with your work. The more you try and please others the less interesting your work will be.

Be proud that you are a writer, putting yourself out there. Anyone who doesn't respect that should be ignored.

There is a mathematical perfection to it that is probably delicious in some theoretical dimension.

As long as it doesn't involve your safety, question your first instinct on everything.

At some point, you reach your limit of new things. Every new thing you encounter after that is unacceptable.

You may be able to flip it a bit to have it be more of a surprise. Have the genocide be a somewhat open secret, not a real revelation. You could have the same people who reveal the genocide introduce the idea of this secret colony that they have pinned their hopes and dreams on.

Something like that could be helpful to maintain that punch. But there is no way to ensure that all or even most readers will be surprised.

I agree with the post overall, but I don't think any of those examples make for a good apology, they seem to be deflecting blame. A good apology works in orbitals centered on the person wronged.

1. Reiterate what happened in a way that shows you understand why they are upset. Make no attempt to deflect blame or give a reason/excuse for why it happened.
2. Acknowledge that what you did was wrong
3. Explain why you did it
4. Outline the things you are going to work on to prevent this from happening again

An explanation should really only be given after they have already at least partially forgiven you/calmed down. If you try to explain while someone is still fully upset it will feel to them as if you are trying to weasel out of the blame.

Deal with emotions first, then the rational side.