u/National-Safe-8935

for context, this research isn't for anything proper like a thesis, i've just finished gcses (uk) so i'm not even in college yet but i'm wanting to do a research project on religion and cults cause not only am i bored, i think it'd be good as uni prep (i wanna study sociology or a social science).

i've got quite a few subquestions that i'd like to be incorporated by one overall question, broad enough to include them all, but narrow enough to not lead me into thousands of rabbit holes that make my research disjointed and messy.

i'm aware most academic research is centred around one very specific question, but since this is just for fun, i'd rather include multiple subquestions, here they are:

1. is the only difference between a cult and a religion social attitudes/stigma?
2. how are modern attitudes towards topics shaped by religion - consciously and unconsciously? (e.g. bigamy)
3. why are religions defended and protected even when some beliefs/practises are immoral? - is this a sign of a cult?
4. why do some believers continue to follow their religion even if some aspects clash with their values/beliefs/lifestyle?
5. why are some belief movements deemed cults while others are religion?

okay ngl cba to type out the rest but if anyone has any advice please lmk !!!

hey guys, i've just found out about this genre of journaling and it looks super cool. i want to know if there are any solo journaling games for absolute beginners, as i literally have had no introduction to this genre whatsoever, so i'm kind of clueless. i'd appreciate if they were games that only required a notebook and a pen, as that's basically all i have. thanks !!!

edit: thank you so much everyone who recommended me a game i really appreciate it ! i've got loads of recommendations, so i'm gonna make a list and choose one to start with :)))

i've recently received the life noble notebook (japan) for my birthday which i'm really excited about and its so pretty. i also bought a new muji a5 notebook as i'm always in need of new notebooks for the many projects i want to do. issue is, i have way too many ideas for only 2 notebooks. also, since the life notebook is so pretty i kinda wanna save it for a journal when i finish my current one. issue is i'm so demotivated for my current journal, i've missed out months due to exams but i really wanna finish it. its also kinda a commonplace book, however some ideas for my new notebook could potentially go in my journal, so i feel guilty i'm not writing them in my journal if ykwim ??? anyway, i'll list all my ideas here and if anyone can help me narrow it down to one that'd be much appreciated. i'll also say why i'm hesitant to do each idea:

1. reviews (media, restaurants, people even): idk cause i do some reviews in my journal and i feel like i'm preventing that potential
2. creative writing: can't stick to one idea, mistakes are permanent (can't delete like on a laptop)
3. creativity journal (potential projects etc): idk feels like its not worthy enough to take up a whole 80 pg journal
4. essays: similar to hesitations about creative writing, also i get so angry about certain povs that i just get worked up when i write about them
5. passion project (sociological research/history/ai/conlang etc): will probably get burnt out within a week n the notebook will go to waste
6. solo journaling (only just found out about this but its like journaling but from a fictional character uve made up's pov from prompts): don't know where to start, fear of embarrassment
7. worldbuilding: same as solo journaling
8. learning a language: no idea where to start or even the language to learn, commitment issues, fear of embarrassment
9. brain dumps too messy for journal: guilt bc that type of stuff should be in my journal as its a commonplace book, i feel depressed whenever i write one really

so yeah if anyone could help that'd be great ! i wanna do sm that has little overlap w my current journal so i don't feel guilty i'm not writing that topic in it

basically i'm on a macbook neo so not the best for complex shaders, and i accidentally applied a shader that requires more power than my laptop can handle (it said it was low power but clearly not)

this had led to the game crashing the second i press "play" on the launcher (is this against the rules? it says no crash reports but i think its ok as this isn't directly about that but lmk if i'm wrong)

i can play normally and there is no crashing when i swap from iris & sodium to the normal latest release mode, which is fine, but i'd really like to play with shaders (before i stupidly applied the high power shader, i found one before that worked fine that i wanna use)

i looked up if there was a way to turn off shaders w/o going on mc, apparently there is but i'm so confused - it says something about a "minecraft file" in application support but i can't find one - anyone have a solution or advice ??? thank uuu

this template doesn't apply to me i think and i gen don't know what it means so imma try my best to fill it out

Shader (and version)
something about make up ultra fast i think

Minecraft/Mod Version
iris and sodium for 26.2

Hardware Specs
no clue

Additional details
see post

basically i'm on a macbook neo so not the best for complex shaders, and i accidentally applied a shader that requires more power than my laptop can handle (it said it was low power but clearly not)

this had led to the game crashing the second i press "play" on the launcher (is this against the rules? it says no crash reports but i think its ok as this isn't directly about that but lmk if i'm wrong)

i can play normally and there is no crashing when i swap from iris & sodium to the normal latest release mode, which is fine, but i'd really like to play with shaders (before i stupidly applied the high power shader, i found one before that worked fine that i wanna use)

i looked up if there was a way to turn off shaders w/o going on mc, apparently there is but i'm so confused - it says something about a "minecraft file" in application support but i can't find one - anyone have a solution or advice ??? thank uuu

its my birthday today, i don't feel happy (had a nice time + meal in london too) i just wanna know is this normal ??? did anyone else feel like this when they turned 16 ???

ok so basically as u may or may not know i'm in a wheelchair and this kind of makes it hard for me to have the best summer of your life as everyones talking about. i can't go out on my own + its usually my mum who comes w me, so going out 24/7 (which i would do) isn't really an option for me. shes also not really the type of person who decides to go out spontaneously, she usually has to plan in advance :/ also even tho i love going out its kinda hard bc of the stares or comments people make. so i've been looking for stuff i can do, inside and outside, but i'm still bored asf regardless. here's what i have so far:

• Screen print t-shirts - look for plain t-shirts to print onto
• Put stuff on Vinted
• Sort bedroom
• Research how to dye clothes - buy supplies
• Look for new clothes on Vinted
• Put posters up in bedroom
• Make garland for bedroom wall
• Look for paper press
• Make paper
• Make jewelry
• Make two mini spore blossoms
• Look for new baking recipes
• Start journaling again
• V&A museum
• Look for clothes for 6th form
• Learn a new language
• Research history topics for 6th form nea
• Work on David Bowie art commission
• book bind a notebook

any advice would be much appreciated !!! can't do sports tho obv lol

so I have heavy lower lashes. I know this seems like a "my steak is too juicy my lobster is too buttery" ahh problem, but I've literally been struggling to do any under eye makeup including eyeshadow or eyeliner bc my lashes are so dense and I can't get behind them. I've been wanting to try gyaru makeup but I know my lashes will prove a problem with this as typically you extend ur eyes down by re-drawing a waterline with eyeliner then placing false lashes on it, but obvs mine are in the way. any advice is much appreciated !!!

thought i’d do an ama as someone in a wheelchair (who also has ocd) because i’m tired of hiding my disorders

guys i'm lwk so scared i'm an internal student so i know my school but I literally have no mates so i'm gonna be sitting around like a loser + on top of this they're doing this fuckass bbq in the "garden" area but i don't really eat meat like that so i'm not joining in, but those who are having the bbq are probably gonna stay outside and no way am i sitting out there in 32 degree heat so i expect i'll be alone idk

also what the fuck do i wear in 32 degree heat ? the dress code is smart business wear, are they trying to kill us or sm with our blazers n shirts ? tbh the outfit i picked out originally was cute but idk if i can be arsed to wear it so i might just wear a long black skirt with a black jumper n jewellery. still gonna melt tho yippee

also on top of all this i'm gonna have to interact w boys as my school is a girls school but co-ed in the sixth form. kill me now

lmk if anyone else has had/is having their induction day and tell me how it went !!!

so basically i'm a casual manga enjoyer, and i've just found out about angel's egg and i think the imagery is so cool, so i was wondering if anyone has any manga recommendations that kinda have the same ethereal vibe. i'd like to get some for my birthday which is soon, so i'd prefer recommendations that aren't really hard to find anywhere. thanks ^^

hey. I don't want to share too much info but context:

- I'm still in education so at first I tried to get a diagnosis thru them

- I already have other physical disorders so I am known to the educational needs team and I have previous diagnoses

- not sure how relevant this is but I suspect I also have adhd

so basically, I know ive had ocd all my life, I have vivid memories of doing compulsions, and it was first brought to my attention by my dad who said I probably had it when I was about 8. he also said he has it, though as far as I'm aware he hasn't got an official diagnosis, and although I don't want to invalidate his claim, by his lack of empathy for me having to do constant compulsions I don't know if he truly has it. (and no I doubt its pure o as he's talked about "lining things up" in the past but idk if that's just neatness). so yep ive had it as long as I can remember - though I know for a fact that it wasn't major and didn't affect me much back then.

now, something traumatising happened to me when I was 11 and scarred me. although it didn't have an immediate impact on my ocd, I think it was a major contributing factor for it becoming an issue a couple years later. I think it only became a source of major ocd when I hit puberty, and developed [the ocd] rapidly from 13 onwards.

so it got worse and worse (and is continuing to now) with compulsions that make me loose hours a day, and depression didn't help this. last year I got to the point where I HAD to tell someone. I couldn't tell my parents because I never ever talk to them about stuff like that, so I told my favourite teacher who also has ocd about how much I'm struggling. she empathised and we came up with a plan that the person who manages the educational needs team would send an email to my parents saying they've seen signs of ocd in me and wanted to let them know - this was so I didn't have to tell them directly but they were forced to confront it (not necessarily true they saw signs because I'm very good at masking but I had a chat with the manager about it and she was happy to send the email)

(side note: I really don't know if she believed me. I was uncomfortable telling her my struggles or compulsions and she may have dismissed it as someone attention seeking to seem quirky to have a diagnosis. she may have also thought that its not that big of a deal and she can leave my parents to get a diagnosis for me because I have quite a few other diagnoses already)

email was sent, my mother talks to me about the email but there was little mention of a diagnosis (maybe because she knew I had it and couldn't be bothered), therapy, or just support in general. disappointed was an understatement, I was hoping for at least a little recognition. can't remember exactly what happens next but the manager says for me to be diagnosed I need to go to therapy. great, one step closer. I assumed it'd be in a GP doctor or like NHS qualified, but no, it was in-school therapy which confused me because I didn't know they could diagnose (foreshadowing).

she sent me to therapy then, but crucially did not tell my therapist a thing about why I was sent there including my ocd. so I kind of had to rawdog it. brought up my ocd in the second session and she made it clear she couldn't diagnose. a bit lost, I told my teacher and asked what's going on. she suggested the manager would talk to the therapist to see if I had signs then she would put me forward for a diagnosis. okay, great. however, I progressed in therapy and I heard nothing. no checking in with my therapist, or me for that matter, at all. so I came to the end of therapy and assumed she'd check in then. nope, absolutely nothing, so feeling let down I asked my teacher to gently remind her. she did, and still heard nothing. I didn't want to keep burdening her [my teacher] with my issues as she was going through her own so I just eventually stopped around march / april this year.

long story short, my mental health, depression, and in turn gradually worsened to the point where I don't think I can fucking do this anymore. a couple months ago I finally had a mental breakdown, my parents erred on the edge of specialised therapy, but ultimately didn't. instead of realising I was extremely depressed and mentally unwell, they attributed the breakdown to me "not having enough oxygen" ??? I was absolutely fuming at this. this is why I don't tell them shit.

anyway, ive heard nothing from school, minimal support from parents, and I am fucking done. I literally have nowhere else to go, hence why I'm on reddit. I JUST want a diagnosis, not necessarily therapy yet, just a diagnosis. and I really wanted to get it done before my birthday in a month as right now I'm at a good age and next year is a bad age in terms of good and bad numbers.

terribly sorry for the looong post, I wasn't sure what to include / not include. any advice would be really appreciated !!! (no I can't talk to my parents)

hey guys. I'm so cooked for maths tomorrow

I need tips on how to revise the whole of edexcel higher maths in under 7 hours.

I'm aiming for a grade 7 (I got a 7 in my mock but I think that was a fluke as before I was only getting 5s and 6s). now to be honest I personally don't give a fuck what I get for maths, as long as I pass...

HOWEVER my teachers gonna be there on results day and I'm in top set so I can't disappoint her. plus, literally everyone is expecting me to do well in maths because I do well in my other subjects (8s and 9s compared to 5s and 6s for maths). I was told today that one of the maths teachers was talking about how good I am at maths when I'm really not. I just want to cry I don't know what to do, everyones expecting this.

any advice would be much appreciated

thank u