u/CaptainSmork

12/16/25 - SF-86 submitted

January 2026 - Interview and interim denied (I forget the order and exact dates)

2/23/26 - Investigation complete

9/17/26 - Congressional inquiry submitted

9/29/26 - Adjudication complete and clearance granted

Red flags:

- Intermittent weed usage. About once or twice per year leading up to SF-86 submittal. Including once about 4 months prior to submittal.

- One foreign contact (friend with dual citizenship of allied country).

- Have moved around a lot for school and work.

I can’t imagine why an adjudication should take almost four times longer than an investigation. I imagine some guy looking at my SF-86 for seven months straight, scratching his chin and really pondering if I am a national security risk.

Other people on this subreddit swear by CIs, and I am now one of them. Looks like DCSA just needs a kick in the pants sometimes.

I have seen a lot of these posts recently regarding character tropes and other aspects of progression fantasy / LitRPG works. Does anyone have any pet peeves or dealbreakers that are related to writing, regardless of subject matter?

Something I haven’t seen mentioned much but is a huge pet peeve of mine is qualifying words. Many progression fantasy authors love love love to say things like “he was a bit confused” or “He was a little cold”. What is the point? Can he not just be “confused”? What does qualifying it do? Why tell me he was a little cold when you could say he was chilly, cool, etc. Better yet, show instead of telling. “He rubbed his hands together and saw his breath in the air” instead of “a bit cold”.

Off the top of my head, two guilty parties are Primal Hunter and A Soldier’s Life. “Dealbreakers” is in quotes because this isn’t enough to make me drop a book, but it does immediately take me out of the moment.

Has anyone else noticed this? Does this bother anyone else? Or am I being uptight?

What are some other writing or grammar pet peeves you guys and gals have? I have a couple others, but this is by far the most prevalent and annoying (to me). I would love to know your thoughts.