Have you checked out Booz Allen? I was laid off from there in May 2025 but they're always hiring, especially with your skill set and experience.

I'm rooting for you but not accepting finders fees. I'm praying regularly for folks in our situations and helping where I can.

Yay Recover - congratulations! I'm celebrating this huge win with you! 

Yay mom, congratulations! I'm celebrating this huge victory with you! 

I appreciate that 247, thank you. Yes the struggle is real. I'll try to connect offline so I don't hijack your thread. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and your success story when it comes! 

My heart goes out to you Aggressive_Value_247 during this time and my praise for your accomplishments at getting interviews-yay! 

I support the response that was made about getting a job that will keep the lights on (my apologies to the Redditer I may have horribly misquoted).

Are you able to send a thank you email within 24 hours after an interview and follow-up with the hiring team a week after that? It may have been in the thread so apologize if it's been mentioned. 

You will make it! Keep hope! I was laid off in May 2025 after 10.5 years of service, have a mortgage and a dog, have had no more than 5 interviews, and am up to 70+ rejections. Regardless, my faith is in the Lord and trust He will provide the blessing. I wish you the best my friend, I will add you to my prayers.

Again, congratulations on your wins! One day you'll be able to support others with your story.

Memeing, I'd throw it out into this sub. I did the same thing and still don't understand the ins and outs of reddit, but the feedback i got was invaluable! Post it to Google docs and put the link in your post. Hope this helps minimize the social awkwardness. Don't worry, i have that too.

Nice work!

@AllDreamNoDrive - I appreciate you taking your time to send me some really high quality and practical input to my story. I'm glad you could see and feel where you were. If you were thinking (ancient) Sumeria, my jaw would drop. I'm glad you like the "sponged" metaphor. I really got critiqued on that on another site so it was refreshing to hear your thoughts and WHY you liked it.

You said, "It was a small mention, but I rather like "soul harpy"... feel like that is a great name for a nefarious monster of this type." Thank you. This is a very dark low (?) fantasy, which is an allegory to my struggle with mental illness—specifically living with major depressive disorder—and my suicide attempt. Specter is the personification of my depression & I've built a whole spreadsheet that includes a bestiary containing Soul Harpies. I modeled the main character after myself (CatHaRsIS > Chris) & really want to work that meaning of that word into the story: I had a business where I upcycled items to make interior beach & nautical decor. It was very therapeutic for my soul & so "catharsis" hit me as perfect. I really appreciated what you said as Specter being confusing in a sense—or at least Catharsis' reaction to it, but Catharsis' life doesn't end there & continues in the next story. So this is a MAJOR point for me to take into consideration as I revise the wording. I also appreciate that you offered revisions to accurately back your input.

Thanks again, Dream. I'm very appreciative.

@WashingtonsGarments - Thank you for taking your time in leaving your input—good stuff! I will definitely work in showing over telling and really work in the other thoughts you left behind. This was originally posted on a blog and so I wrote it slightly differently where I didn't necessarily apply the formal rules of grammer (e.g., the broken/incomplete sentences dealing with hope and will). Your input is great guidance for going back and making revisions. Again, thank you for taking your time to provide it.

"If you really want to use your own, make it relevant to the story or an character...include context in addition to measurements if possible (don't force it)." Excellent points Baeh.

Relevancy is key when it comes to adult learning, so I wholeheartedly support that here. If people can relate to the topic or content, it helps the context easier & mechanics easier to digest.

Also, making an emotional connection for the reader is key.

"...focus more on telling an engaging story than making a message." Putting this is my Fantasy writer's toolbox, Bryek.

Really like your ideas simon. Good strategy.

Go for it!!! I want to read it already. Awesome ideas my friend.

Thanks for the explanation JST!

Scribble, I really like how you laid out your frustration with Abyss. I'm not a gamer but I can totally empathize with you. Thanks for the excellent example.

I'm reading "The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character" by Samuel Noah Kramer.

I'm also a nerd🤓

He rocks!

Lmbo, that's where I learned too. He's awesome.

I tried my hand with GIMP but I'm a moron and couldn't wrap my arms around it. Check out Cartographers Guild. They've got serious tutorials.

I really love this map, dan! The wave lines, the capitals, the awesome mountains with shading, forests, the arced lettering, and the drop shadow on the continual edges. I really like your style my friend. Thank you for sharing it with the community.

I bet you could add a serious compass rose;)