Easy face paint ideas for halloween

We Redesign Rooms

2012.09.01 19:59 IotaGamer We Redesign Rooms

Welcome to DesignMyRoom! Do you need help transforming your living space? Then look no further, we can help with all of your decor and design needs!
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2010.03.15 17:45 laconicfunk The LARPing subreddit!

[](#header) [](#null) A subreddit for LARP (Live Action Role Playing) related content. This includes LARPs across the globe, LARPing gear, how-to guides, questions and ideas related to LARPing, articles and links, and anything else LARP.
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2009.10.12 18:48 krisdafish Pumpkin carving contest 2012

The place for reddit pumpkin carving
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2023.05.28 14:34 Wasteofoxyg3n I feel ashamed of myself

So many people like preach the idea of self-love, but to me that sounds impossible. Not only am I ashamed of myself, but I'll go as far to say that I am outright disgusted. I hate my face, I hate my strange mannerisms and behaviors, I hate my brain, I hate my boring/lifeless personality, I hate my inherent lack of intelligence, I hate my hobbies, I hate my body, I hate my generalized anxiety/panic attacks, I hate the way I walk, I hate my social anxiety, I hate literally EVERYTHING about myself.
I haven't achieved a single thing in life that I can say I'm proud of. When meeting new people, what am I supposed to tell them? "Hello, I'm a depressed, socially-anxious, unemployed, emotionally-stunted shut-in who plays video games, draws anime art, and collects action figures!" I'm sure that's going to impress them.
I wish I could be literally anyone but myself. Sometimes, I'll even slap myself because it's what I deserve for existing.
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2023.05.28 14:33 smartybrome Free Courses for Sunday, May 28, 2023

Courses for 28 May 2023

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2023.05.28 14:33 smartybrome Free Courses for Sunday, May 28, 2023

Courses for 28 May 2023

“Education is the key to unlock a golden door of freedom.”
Note : might expire anytime, so enroll as soon as possible to get the courses for FREE.
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2023.05.28 14:31 Surfinskater I am what you crave right now not a cheeseburger its been me all along come let me quench your thirst or hunger? 18/M [Friendship]

My face is red and my eyes are blue no they're not, i just lied to you but you what i would never ever do? look at other gals cuz these eyes are locked on you
well there you have it that was a special poem i made specially for YOU, yes YOU...so what are you waiting for? message me and lets get this thing started, a couple of things you should know about me are that im super chill, very easy to talk to, do amazing corny jokes and i will provide you TWO and yes you read that right TWO shoulders to cry on
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2023.05.28 14:31 AnderLouis_ Hail and Farewell (George Moore) - Book 3: Vale, Chapter 11.2

PODCAST: https://ayearofwarandpeace.podbean.com/e/ep1572-hail-and-farewell-george-moore-vale-chapter-112/
PROMPTS: George does not care about you, whatsoever.
Today's Reading, via Project Gutenberg:
Borde could not enlighten him on that point, and I suggested that he should make application to the publisher of his Prayer-Book and get his money back. There is nobody. I said, like him. He is more wonderful than anything in literature. I prefer him to Sancho who was untroubled with a conscience and never thought of running to the Bishop of Toledo. All the same he is not without the shrewdness of his ancestors, and got the better of Archbishop Walsh, and for the last five years Vincent O'Brien has been beating time, and will beat it till the end of his life; and he will be succeeded by others, for Edward has, by deed, saved the Italian contrapuntalists till time everlasting from competition with modern composers. He certainly has gotten the better of Walsh. And I thought of a picture-gallery in Dublin with nothing in it but Botticelli and his school, and myself declaring that all painting that had been done since had no interest for me.... A smile began to spread over my face, for the story that was coming into my mind seemed oh! so humorous, so like Ireland, so like Edward, that I began to tell myself again the delightful story of the unrefined ears that, weary of erudite music, had left the cathedral and sought instinctively modern tunes and women's voices, and as these were to be found in Westland Row the church was soon overflowing with a happy congregation. But in a little while the collections grew scantier. This time it couldn't be Palestrina, and all kinds of reasons were adduced. At last the truth could no longer be denied—the professional Catholics of Merrion Square had been driven out of Westland Row by the searching smells of dirty clothes, and had gone away to the University Church in Stephen's Green. So if it weren't Palestrina directly it was Palestrina indirectly, and the brows of the priests began to knit when Edward Martyn's name was mentioned. Them fal-de-dals is well enough on the Continent, in Paris, where there is no faith, was the opinion of an important ecclesiastic. But we don't want them here, murmured a second ecclesiastic. All this counterpoint may make a very pretty background for Mr Martyn's prayers, but what about the poor people's? Good composer or bad composer, there is no congregation in him, said a third. There's too much congregation, put in the first, but not the kind we want! The second ecclesiastic took snuff, and the group were of opinion that steps should be taken to persuade dear Edward to make good their losses. The priests in Marlborough Street sympathised with the priests of Westland Row, and told them that they were so heavily out of pocket that Mr Martyn had agreed to do something for them. It seemed to the Westland Row priests that if Mr Martyn were making good the losses of the priests of the pro-Cathedral, he should make good their losses. It was natural that they should think so, and to acquit himself of all responsibility Edward no doubt consulted the best theologians on the subject, and I think that they assured him that he is not responsible for indirect losses. If he were, his whole fortune would not suffice. He was, of course, very sorry if a sudden influx of poor people had caused a falling-off in the collections of Westland Row, for he knew that the priests needed the money very much to pay for the new decorations, and to help them he wrote an article in the Independent praising the new blue ceiling, which seemed, so he wrote, a worthy canopy for the soaring strains of Palestrina.
Unfortunately rubbing salt into the wound, I said. A story that will amuse Dujardin and it will be great fun telling him in the shady garden at Fontainebleau how Edward, anxious to do something for his church, had succeeded in emptying two. All the way down the alleys he will wonder how Edward could have ever looked upon Palestrina's masses as religious music. The only music he will say, in which religious emotion transpires is plain-chant. Huysmans says that the Tantum Ergo or the Dies Irae, one or the other, reminds him of a soul being dragged out of purgatory, and it is possible that it does; but a plain-chant tune arranged in eight-part counterpoint cannot remind one of anything very terrible. Dujardin knows that Palestrina was a priest, and he will say: That fact deceived your friend, just as the fact of finding the Adeste Fideles among the plain-chant tunes deceived him. For of course I shall tell Dujardin that story too. It is too good to be missed. He is wonderful, Dujardin! I shall cry out in one of the sinuous alleys. There never was anybody like him! And I will tell him more soul-revealing anecdotes. I will say: Dujardin, listen. One evening he contended that the great duet at the end of Siegfried reminded him of mass by Palestrina. Dujardin will laugh, and, excited by his laughter, I will try to explain to him that what Edward sees is that Palestrina took a plain chant tune and gave fragments of it to the different voices, and in his mind these become confused with the motives of The Ring. You see, Dujardin, the essential always escapes him—the intention of the writer is hidden from him. I am beginning to understand your friend. He has, let us suppose, a musical ear that allows him to take pleasure in the music; but a musical ear will not help him to follow Wagner's idea—how, in a transport of sexual emotion, a young man and a young woman on a mountain-side awaken to the beauty of the life of the world. Dujardin's appreciations will provoke me, and I will say: Dujardin, you shouldn't be so appreciative. If I were telling you of a play I had written, it would be delightful to watch my idea dawning upon your consciousness; but I am telling you of a real man, and one that I shall never to able to get into literature. He will answer: We invent nothing; we can but perceive. And then, exhilarated, carried beyond myself, I will say: Dujardin, I will tell you something still more wonderful than the last gaffe. II gaffe dans les Quat'z Arts. He admires Ibsen, but you'd never guess the reason why—because he is very like Racine; both of them, he says, are classical writers. And do you know how he arrived at that point? Because nobody is killed on the stage in Racine or in Ibsen. He does not see that the intention of Racine is to represent men and women out of time and out of space, unconditioned by environment, and that the very first principle of Ibsen's art is the relation of his characters to their environment. In many passages he merely dramatises Darwin. There never was anybody so interesting as dear Edward, and there never will be anybody like him in literature ... I will explain why presently, but I must first tell you another anecdote. I went to see him one night, and he told me that the theme of the play he was writing was a man who had married a woman because he had lost faith in himself; the man did not know, however, that the woman had married him for the same reason, and the two of them were thinking—I have forgotten what they were thinking, but I remember Edward saying: I should like to suggest hopelessness. I urged many phrases, but he said: It isn't a phrase I want, but an actual thing. I was thinking of a broken anchor—that surely is a symbol of hopelessness. Yes, I said, no doubt, but how are you going to get a broken anchor into a drawing-room? I don't write about drawing-rooms. Well, living-rooms. It isn't likely that they would buy a broken anchor and put it up by the coal-scuttle.
There's that against it, he answered. If you could suggest anything better—What do you think of a library in which there is nothing but unacted plays? The characters could say, when there was nothing for them to do on the stage, that they were going to the library to read, and the library would have the advantage of reminding everybody of the garret in the Wild Duck. A very cruel answer, my friend, Dujardin will say, and I will tell him that I can't help seeing in Edward something beyond Shakespeare or Balzac. Now, tell me, which of these anecdotes I have told you is the most humorous? He will not answer my question, but a certain thoughtfulness will begin to settle in his face, and he will say: Everything with him is accidental, and when his memory fails him he falls into another mistake, and he amuses you because it is impossible for you to anticipate his next mistake. You know there is going to be one; there must be one, for he sees things separately rather than relatively. I am beginning to understand your friend.
You are, you are; you are doing splendidly. But you haven't told me, Dujardin, which anecdote you prefer. Stay, there is another one. Perhaps this one will help you to a still better understanding. When he brought The Heather Field and Yeats's play The Countess Cathleen to Dublin for performance, a great trouble of conscience awakened suddenly in him, and a few days before the performance he went to a theologian to ask him if The Countess Cathleen were a heretical work, and, if it were would Almighty God hold him responsible for the performance? But he couldn't withdraw Yeats's play without withdrawing his own, and it appears that he breathed a sigh of relief when a common friend referred the whole matter to two other theologians, and as these gave their consent Edward allowed the plays to go on; but Cardinal Logue intervened, and wrote a letter to the papers to say that the play seemed to him unfit for Catholic ears, and Edward would have withdrawn the plays if the Cardinal hadn't admitted in his letter that he had judged the play by certain extracts only.
He wishes to act rightly, but has little faith in himself; and what makes him so amusing is that he needs advice in aesthetics as well as in morals. We are, I said, Dujardin, at the roots of conscience. And I began to ponder the question what would happen to Edward if we lived in a world in which aesthetics ruled: I should be where Bishop Healy is, and he would be a thin, small voice crying in the wilderness—an amusing subject of meditation, from which I awoke suddenly.
I wonder how Dujardin is getting on with his Biblical studies? Last year he was calling into question the authorship of the Romans—a most eccentric view; and, remembering how weakly I had answered him, I took the Bible from the table and began to read the Epistle with a view to furnishing myself with arguments wherewith to confute him. My Bible opened at the ninth chapter, and I said: Why, here is the authority for the Countess Cathleen's sacrifice which Edward's theologian deemed untheological. It will be great fun to poke Edward up with St Paul, and on my way to Lincoln Place I thought how I might lead the conversation to The Countess Cathleen.
📷
A few minutes afterwards a light appeared on the staircase and the door slowly opened.
Come in, Siegfried, though you were off the key.
Well, my dear friend, it is a difficult matter to whistle above two trams passing simultaneously and six people jabbering round a public-house, to say nothing of a jarvey or two, and you perhaps dozing in your armchair, as your habit often is. You won't open to anything else except a motive from The Ring; and I stumbled up the stairs in front of Edward, who followed with a candle.
Wait a moment; let me go first and I'll turn up the gas.
You aren't sitting in the dark, are you?
No, but I read better by candle-light, and he blew out the candles in the tin candelabrum that he had made for himself. He is original even in his candelabrum; no one before him had ever thought of a caridelabrum in tin, and I fell to admiring his appearance more carefully than perhaps I had ever done before, so monumental did he seem lying on the little sofa sheltered from daughts by a screen, a shawl about his shoulders. His churchwarden was drawing famously, and I noticed his great square hands with strong fingers and square nails pared closely away, and as heretofore I admired the curve of the great belly, the thickness of the thighs, the length and breadth and the width of his foot hanging over the edge of the sofa, the apoplectic neck falling into great rolls of flesh, the humid eyes, the skull covered with short stubbly hair. I looked round the rooms and they seemed part of himself: the old green wallpaper on which he pins reproductions of the Italian masters. And I longed to peep once more into the bare bedroom into which he goes to fetch bottles of Apollinaris. Always original! Is there another man in this world whose income is two thousand a year, and who sleeps in a bare bedroom, without dressing-room, or bathroom, or servant in the house to brush his clothes, and who has to go to the baker's for his breakfast?
We had been talking for some time of the Gaelic League, and from Hyde it was easy to pass to Yeats and his plays.
His best play is The Countess Cathleen.
The Countess Cathleen is only a sketch.
But what I never could understand, Edward, was why you and the Cardinal could have had any doubts as to the orthodoxy of The Countess Cathleen.
What, a woman that sells her own soul in order to save the souls of others!
I suppose your theologian objected—
Of course he objected.
He cannot have read St Paul.
What do you mean?
He can't have read St Paul, or else he is prepared to throw over St Paul.
Mon ami Moore, mon ami Moore.
The supernatural idealism of a man who would sell his soul to save the souls of others fills me with awe.
But it wasn't a man; it was the Countess Cathleen, and women are never idealists.
Not the saints?
His face grew solemn at once.
If you give me the Epistles I will read the passage to you. And it was great fun to go to the bookshelves and read: I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
Edward's face grew more and more solemn, and I wondered of what he was thinking.
Paul is a very difficult and a very obscure writer, and I think the Church is quite right not to encourage the reading of the Epistles, especially without comments.
Then you do think there is something in the passage I have read?
After looking down his dignified nose for a long time, he said:
Of course, the Church has an explanation. All the same, it's very odd that St Paul should have said such a thing—very odd.
There is no doubt that I owe a great deal of my happiness to Edward; all my life long he has been exquisite entertainment. And I fell to thinking that Nature was very cruel to have led me, like Moses, within sight of the Promised Land. A story would be necessary to bring Edward into literature, and it would be impossible to devise an action of which he should be a part. The sex of a woman is odious to him, and a man with two thousand a year does not rob nor steal, and he is so uninterested in his fellow-men that he has never an ill word to say about anybody. John Eglinton is a little thing; AE is a soul that few will understand; but Edward is universal—more universal than Yeats, than myself, than any of us, but for lack of a story I shall not be able to give him the immortality in literature which he seeks in sacraments. Shakespeare always took his stories from some other people. Turgenev's portrait of him would be thin, poor, and evasive, and Balzac would give us the portrait of a mere fool. And Edward is not a fool. As I understand him he is a temperament without a rudder; all he has to rely upon is his memory, which isn't a very good one, and so he tumbles from one mistake into another. My God! it is a terrible thing to happen to one, to understand a man better than he understands himself, and to be powerless to help him. If I had been able to undo his faith I should have raised him to the level of Sir Horace Plunkett, but he resisted me; and perhaps he did well, for he came into the world seeing things separately rather than relatively, and had to be a Catholic. He is a born Catholic, and I remembered one of his confessions—a partial confession, but a confession: If you had been brought up as strictly as I have been—I don't think he ever finished the sentence; he often leaves sentences unfinished, as if he fears to think things out. The end of the sentence should run: You would not dare to think independently. He thinks that his severe bringing-up has robbed him of something. But the prisoner ends by liking his prison-house, and on another occasion he said: If it hadn't been for the Church, I don't know what would have happened to me.
My thoughts stopped, and when I awoke I was thinking of Hughes. Perhaps the link between Hughes and Edward was Loughrea Cathedral. He had shown me a photograph of some saints modelled by Hughes. Hughes is away in Paris, I said, modelling saints for Loughrea Cathedral. The last time I saw him was at Walter Osborne's funeral, and Walter's death set me thinking of the woman I had lost, and little by little all she had told me about herself floated up in my mind like something that I had read. I had never seen her father nor the Putney villa in which she had been brought up, but she had made me familiar with both through her pleasant mode of conversation, which was never to describe anything, but just to talk about things, dropping phrases here and there, and the phrases she dropped were so well chosen that the comfort of the villa, its pompous meals and numerous servants, its gardens and greenhouses, with stables and coach-house just behind, are as well known to me as the house that I am living in, better known in a way, for I see it through the eyes of the imagination ... clearer eyes than the physical eyes.
It does not seem to me that any one was ever more conscious of whence she had come and of what she had been; she seemed to be able to see herself as a child again, and to describe her childhood with her brother (they were nearly the same age) in the villa and in the villa's garden. I seemed to see them always as two rather staid children who were being constantly dressed by diligent nurses and taken out for long drives in the family carriage. They did not like these drives and used to hide in the garden; but their governess was sent to fetch them, and they were brought back. Her father did not like to have the horses kept waiting, and one day as Stella stood with him in the passage, she saw her mother come out of her bedroom beautifully dressed. Her father whispered something in his wife's ear, and he followed her into her bedroom. Stella remembered how the door closed behind them. In my telling, the incident seems to lose some of its point, but in Stella's relation it seemed to put her father and his wife before me and so clearly that I could not help asking her what answer her father would make were she to tell him that she had a lover. A smile hovered in her grave face. He would look embarrassed, she said, and wonder why I should have told him such a thing, and then I think he would go to the greenhouse, and when he returned he would talk to me about something quite different. I don't think that Stella ever told me about the people that came to their house, but people must have come to it, and as an example of how a few words can convey an environment I will quote her: I always wanted to talk about Rossetti, she said, and these seven words seem to me to tell better than any description the life of a girl living with a formal father in a Putney villa, longing for something, not knowing exactly what, and anxious to get away from home.... I think she told me she was eighteen or nineteen and had started painting before she met Florence at the house of one of her father's friends; a somewhat sore point this meeting was, for Florence was looked upon by Stella's father as something of a Bohemian. She was a painter, and knew all the Art classes and the fees that had to be paid, and led Stella into the world of studios and models and girl friends. She knew how to find studios and could plan out a journey abroad. Stella's imagination was captured, and even if her father had tried to offer opposition to her leaving home he could not have prevented her, for she was an heiress (her mother was dead and had left her a considerable income); but he did not try, and the two girls set up house together in Chelsea; they travelled in Italy and Spain; they had a cottage in the country; they painted pictures and exhibited their pictures in the same exhibitions; they gave dances in their studios and were attracted by this young man and the other; but Stella did not give herself to any one, because, as she admitted to me, she was afraid that a lover would interrupt the devotion which she intended to give to Art. But life is forever casting itself into new shapes and forms, and no sooner had she begun to express herself in Art than she met me. I was about to go to Ireland to preach a new gospel, and must have seemed a very impulsive and fantastic person to her, but were not impulsiveness and fantasy just the qualities that would appeal to her? And were not gravity and good sense the qualities that would appeal to me, determined as I was then to indulge myself in a little madness?
I could not have chosen a saner companion than Stella; my instinct had led me to her; but because one man's instinct is a little more clear than another's, it does not follow that he has called reason to his aid. It must be remembered always that the art of painting is as inveterate in me as the art of writing, and that I am never altogether myself when far away from the smell of oil paint. Stella could talk to one about painting, and all through that wonderful summer described in Salve our talk flowed on as delightfully as a breeze in Maytime, and as irresponsible, flashing thoughts going by and avowals perfumed with memories. Only in her garden did conversation fail us, for in her garden Stella could think only of her flowers, and it seemed an indiscretion to follow her as she went through the twilight gathering dead blooms or freeing plants from noxious insects. But she would have had me follow her, and I think was always a little grieved that I wasn't as interested in her garden as I was in her painting; and my absent-mindedness when I followed her often vexed her and my mistakes distressed her.
You are interested, she said, only in what I say about flowers and not in the flowers themselves. You like to hear me tell about Miss —— whose business in life is to grow carnations, because you already see her, dimly, perhaps, but still you see her in a story. Forget her and look at this Miss Shifner!
Yes, it is beautiful, but we can only admire the flowers that we notice when we are children, I answered. Dahlias, china roses, red and yellow tulips, tawny wallflowers, purple pansies, are never long out of my thoughts, and all the wonderful varieties of the iris, the beautiful blue satin and the cream, some shining like porcelain, even the common iris that grows about the moat.
But there were carnations in your mother's garden?
Yes, and I remember seeing them being tied with bass. But what did you say yesterday about carnations? That they were the—
She laughed and would not tell me, and when the twilight stooped over the high trees and the bats flitted and the garden was silent except when a fish leaped, I begged her to come away to the wild growths that I loved better than the flowers.
But the mallow and willow-weed are the only two that you recognise. How many times have I told you the difference between self-heal and tufted vetch?
I like cow parsley and wild hyacinths and—
You have forgotten the name. As well speak of a woman that you loved but whose name you had forgotten.
Well, if I have, I love trees better than you do, Stella. You pass under a fir unstirred by the mystery of its branches, and I wonder at you, for I am a tree worshipper, even as my ancestors, and am moved as they were by the dizzy height of a great silver fir. You like to paint trees, and I should like to paint flowers if I could paint; there we are set forth, you and I.
I have told in Salve that in Rathfarnham she found many motives for painting; the shape of the land and the spire above the straggling village appealed to me, but she was not altogether herself in these pictures. She would have liked the village away, for man and his dwellings did not form part of her conception of a landscape; large trees and a flight of clouds above the trees were her selection, and the almost unconscious life of kine wandering or sheep seeking the shelter of a tree.
Stella was a good walker, and we followed the long road leading from Rathfarnham up the hills, stopping to admire the long plain which we could see through the comely trees shooting out of the shelving hillside.
If I have beguiled you into a country where there are no artists and few men of letters, you can't say that I have not shown you comely trees. And now if you can walk two miles farther up this steep road I will show you a lovely prospect.
And I enjoyed her grave admiration of the old Queen Anne dwelling-house, its rough masonry, the yew hedges, the path along the hillside leading to the Druid altar and the coast-line sweeping in beautiful curves, but she did not like to hear me say that the drawing of the shore reminded her of Corot.
It is a sad affectation, she said, to speak of Nature reminding one of pictures.
Well, the outlines of Howth are beautiful, I answered, and the haze is incomparable. I should like to have spoken about a piece of sculpture, but for your sake, Stella, I refrain.
She was interested in things rather than ideas, and I remember her saying to me that things interest us only because we know that they are always slipping from us. A strange thing for a woman to say to her lover. She noticed all the changes of the seasons and loved them, and taught me to love them. She brought a lamb back from Rathfarnham, a poor forlorn thing that had run bleating so pitifully across the windy field that she had asked the shepherd where the ewe was, and he had answered that she had been killed overnight by a golf-ball. The lamb will be dead before morning, he added. And it was that March that the donkey produced a foal, a poor ragged thing that did not look as if it ever could be larger than a goat, but the donkey loved her foal.
Do you know the names of those two birds flying up and down the river?
They look to me like two large wrens with white waistcoats.
They are water-ouzels, she said.
The birds flew with rapid strokes of the wings, like kingfishers, alighting constantly on the river, on large mossy stones, and though we saw them plunge into the water, it was not to swim, but to run along the bottom in search of worms.
But do worms live under water?
The rooks were building, and a little while after a great scuffling was heard in one of the chimneys and a young jackdaw came down and soon became tamer than any bird I had ever seen, tamer than a parrot, and at the end of May the corncrake called from the meadow that summer had come again, and the kine wandered in deeper and deeper and deeper herbage. The days seemed never to end, and looking through the branches of the chestnut in which the fruit had not begun to show, we caught sight of a strange spectacle. Stella said, A lunar rainbow, and I wondered, never having heard of or seen such a thing before.
I shall never forget that rainbow, Stella, and am glad that we saw it together.
In every love story lovers reprove each other for lack of affection, and Stella had often sent me angry letters which caused me many heart-burnings and brought me out to her; in the garden there were reconciliations, we picked up the thread again, and the summer had passed before the reason of these quarrels became clear to me. One September evening Stella said she would accompany me to the gate, and we had not gone very far before I began to notice that she was quarrelling with me. She spoke of the loneliness of the Moat House, and I had answered that she had not been alone two evenings that week. She admitted my devotion. And if you admit that there has been no neglect—
She would not tell me, but there was something she was not satisfied with, and before we reached the end of the avenue she said, I don't think I can tell you. But on being pressed she said:
Well, you don't make love to me often enough.
And full of apologies I answered, Let me go back.
No, I can't have you back now, not after having spoken like that.
But she yielded to my invitation, and we returned to the house, and next morning I went back to Dublin a little dazed, a little shaken.
A few days after she went away to Italy to spend the winter and wrote me long letters, interesting me in herself, in the villagers, in the walks and the things that she saw in her walks, setting me sighing that she was away from me, or that I was not with her. And going to the window I would stand for a long time watching the hawthorns in their bleak wintry discontent, thinking how the sunlight fell into the Italian gardens, and caught the corner of the ruin she was sketching; and I let my fancy stray for a time unchecked. It would be wonderful to be in Italy with her, but—
I turned from the window suspicious, for there was a feeling at the back of my mind that with her return an anxiety would come into my life that I would willingly be without. She had told me she had refrained from a lover because she wished to keep all herself for her painting, and now she had taken to herself a lover. She was twenty years younger than I was, and at forty-six or thereabouts one begins to feel that one's time for love is over; one is consultant rather than practitioner. But it was impossible to dismiss the subject with a jest, and I found myself face to face with the question—If these twenty years were removed, would things be different? It seemed to me that the difficulty that had arisen would have been the same earlier in my life as it was now, and returning to the window I watched the hawthorns blowing under the cold grey Dublin sky.
The problem is set, I said, for the married, and every couple has to solve it in one way or another, but they have to solve it; they have to come to terms with love, especially the man, for whom it is a question of life and death. But how do they come to terms? And I thought of the different married people I knew. Which would be most likely to advise me—the man or the woman? It would be no use to seek advice; every case is different, I said. If anybody were to advise me it would be the man, for the problem is not so difficult for a woman. She can escape from love more easily than her lover or her husband; she can plead, and her many pleadings were considered, one by one, and how in married life the solution that seems to lovers so difficult is solved by marriage itself, by propinquity. But not always, not always. The question is one of extraordinary interest and importance; more marriages come to shipwreck, I am convinced, on this very question than upon any other. In the divorce cases published we read of incompatibility of temper and lack of mutual tastes, mere euphemisms that deceive nobody. The image of a shipwreck rose up in me naturally. She will return, and like a ship our love for each other will be beaten on these rocks and broken. We shall not be able to get out to sea. She will return, and when she returns her temperament will have to be adjusted to mine, else she will lose me altogether, for men have died of love, though Shakespeare says they haven't. Manet and Daudet—both died of love; and the somewhat absurd spectacle of a lover waiting for his mistress to return, and yet dreading her returning, was constantly before me.
It often seemed to me that it was my own weakness that created our embarrassment. A stronger man would have been able to find a way out, but I am not one that can shape and mould another according to my desire; and when she returned from Italy I found myself more helpless than ever, and I remember, and with shame, how, to avoid being alone with her, I would run down the entire length of a train, avoiding the empty carriages, crying Not here, not here! at last opening the door of one occupied by three or four people, who all looked as if they were bound for a long journey. I remember, too, how about this time I came with friends to see Stella, whether by accident or design, frankly I know not; I only know that I brought many friends to see her, thinking they would interest her.
If you don't care to come to see me without a chaperon, I would rather you didn't come at all, she said, humiliating me very deeply.
It seemed to me, I answered, blushing, that you would like to see ——, and I mentioned the name of the man who had accompanied me.
If I am cross sometimes it is because I don't see enough of you.
It seems to me that it was then that the resolve hardened in my heart to become her friend ... if she would allow me to become her friend. But in what words should I frame my request and my apology? All the time our life was becoming less amiable, until one evening I nipped the quarrel that was beginning, stopping suddenly at the end of the avenue.
It is better that we should understand each other. The plain truth is that I must cease to be your lover unless my life is to be sacrificed.
Cease to be my lover!
That is impossible, but a change comes into every love story.
The explanation stuttered on. I remember her saying: I don't wish you to sacrifice your life. I have forgotten the end of her sentence. She drew her hand suddenly across her eyes. I will conquer this obsession.
A man would have whined and cried and besought and worried his mistress out of her wits. Women behave better than we; only once did her feelings overcome her. She spoke to me of the deception that life is. Again we were standing by the gate at the end of the chestnut avenue, and I remembered her telling me how a few years ago life had seemed to hold out its hands to her; her painting and her youth created her enjoyment.
But now life seems to have shrivelled up, she said; only a little dust is left.
Nothing is changed, so far as you and I are concerned. We see each other just the same.
I am no more to you than any other woman.
She went away again to Italy to paint and returned to Ireland, and one day she came to see me, and remained talking for an hour. I have no memory of what we said to each other, but a very clear memory of our walk through Dublin over Carlisle Bridge and along the quays. I had accompanied her as far as the Phoenix Park gates, and at the corner of the Conyngham Road, just as I was bidding her goodbye, she said:
I want to ask your advice on a matter of importance to me.
And to me, for what is important to you is equally important to me.
I am thinking, she said, of being married.
At the news it seems to me that I was unduly elated and tried to assume the interest that a friend should.
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2023.05.28 14:31 BiasMushroom The Exterminators RELOADED! Episode 2

Part 2 of “The Exterminators RELOADED!”
A Fanfic of u/SpacePaladin15’s work “The nature of Predators” Thank you for the story!
IMPORTANT NOTICE. I AM WRITING ABOUT 247 EPISODES OF THE EXTERMINATORS. ANY IDEAS WOULD BE GREATLY WELCOMED! AS DETAILED OR NOT AS YOU WANT, I WILL CREDIT YOU FOR ANY HELP GIVEN!
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Memory transcription subject: Henry, Venlil Primary School Student
Sylvan’s dad gestured for us to get the show set up while he walked into the kitchen. I couldn’t bring myself to sit still as the sound of popcorn in the microwave bounced through the house. Sylvan threw himself next to me as the annoyingly long series of logos started to parade through the screen.
“C’mon Dad! It’s starting!” We both held our arms up and caught a bag of popcorn as Mr. Smith copied Sylvan and threw himself on the couch. As Sylvan started to juggle the burning hot bag I started to mockingly mimic him. “Oh shut up! You and your built-in oven mitts!”
I batted Sylvan in the face who didn’t hesitate to try and hold off my attacks by smooshing me down into the chair. We both stopped when the Deep heavy beat of the Exterminators RELOADED started to play. This time though the beat didn’t stop as the opening sequence ended. Instead it played dully in the background like we were hearing it through a wall.
Friotetzali stepped into the scene and sauntered his way through an alley. He stopped and looked at a poster hanging on the wall. It showed a picture of a carrot and tomato with forward facing eyes and silly little stick arms cowering in fear of a ravenous looking Venlil. Plastered above it was the episode's title! “THE HERBIVOROUS BEASTS FROM BEYOND THE STARS!!!”
Frio let out a light chuckle as his tail curled in delight. “Oh that looks hilarious. Gotta remember to go see that.” He gently shook his head as he continued to walk and drop into an indifferent attitude as he approached a lone Mazic by a door. The two stared at each other for a moment before the Mazic slowly turned and opened the door.
With a slow and droning voice he addressed our head investigator. “He’s waiting for you by the dance floor. Doubt you’ll miss him. Welcome back Frio. Try not to burn the place down.” As the door opened the tune picked back up and was almost deafening. Frio walked down the dark staircase and eventually into a room filled with neon signs decorating the walls, strobe lights, lasers, and dozens of people dancing everywhere.
Our Harchen Hero cut through the crowd and haze like a fish through water before finally sitting down at a table with a rather… sleazy looking Gojid. “FRIO! MY OLD PAL! Have a seat! Let me get ya a drink!” The greased back fur of the Gojid just looked out of place as he waved for the servers to bring colorful beverages with little umbrellas over.
I honestly couldn’t make out any words that came out of the Gojid’s mouth after that. The dude just seemed to talk and not say any words. But eventually Frio took a slow sip from his drink and turned his head to stare down the greasy porcupine who’s quills extended in a little bit of fear.
“Cut the crap Genseng. I want to know why by Inatala’s tits you’d think it's a good idea to smuggle terran animals here!” He slammed a pawfull of photos on the table. Each one showed the greasy Gojid buying and selling small animals like rabbits and chickens.
Genseng sputtered and pouted “COME ON! I haven’t done anything that puts anyone at risk! I just sell human’s xeno-safe pets! A bunny never ate a Dossur! Don’t you want humans to take care of the petting addiction on things that want to be pet?” Despite my body telling me this guy was bad news, I couldn’t help but agree. I’ve been ‘pet’ more times than I would like by strange humans… and a few Venlil… and one Kolshian… and I ran away from the Mazic.
Frio sat back in his chair and huffed. “Then WHY have I found NO civilians with one of your pets?” This time he slapped down a paper list of names and places that clearly documented each and every business he sold animals to.
The scumbag sat there with a look of shock on his face and started to sputter out several noncommittal and contradictory statements. ALl the while Frio stared at his “friend” with more and more disgust. Eventually Genseng just sighed, stood up, and shouted. "GUN! HES GOT A GUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” and bolted for the back door as screaming began to fill the room
Frio just casually stood up and watched that douchebag flee! He pulled out his badge and announced to the crowd. “FALSE ALARM! FALSE ALARM! OFFICER FRIOTETZALI, HERE ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS OF THE AVALON CITY POLICE! REMAIN CALM YOU ARE IN NO DANGER!”
I couldn’t understand why he was just standing there as the bad guy ran away! The camera cut to Genseng who was sprinting full force down a narrow hall dodging all manner of obstacles like it was an action movie only for it to cut back to Frio slowly taking a sip of his drink!
Again it cut back Genseng huffing and wheezing as he sprinted through his own shipping operation. The only pauses he took were to open up cages causing a small whirlwind of feathers and bunnies to start in the warehouse. Yet Frio started to casually talk to the people in the room. He just slowly went around reassuring everyone that everything was fine and why he was here.
As I sat there in disbelief that he’d just let the bastard run away Genseng rounded a corner to see his getaway truck. Only to step around the corner and get punched squarely in the gut by Iloralia who was hiding there.
“Come on Genseng? Couldn’t you do something original? This is starting to get boring!” Ilo extended a cattle prod and let the end buzz with electricity as an Extermination Officer van pulled up behind her.
The Gojid let out raspy breaths. “Should have- … figured- … he’d send his- … BITCH! To wait in the alley!” The sleazy man sucked that insult back in when Ilo pressed the business end of her cattle prod to his throat.
“Shut the fuck up. You have the right to remain silent, but for your sake… I hope you’re smart enough to use it!” Ilo’s tail waved behind her with delight as Sephon climbed out of the van with a Gojid arrestor vest to cover Genseng’s quills and bind his arms.
I jumped as the video smash-cut to Sephon slamming down piece after piece of evidence on an interrogation room table in front of a nervous Gojid and his exhausted human lawyer. The angelic Tasamine sat on her perch gently drinking some tea as our perturbed Venlil explained each and every paper and photo that he threw on the table.
“Finally we have you on felony tax evasion. You do know you have to declare ALL sources of income right?” Genseng sheepishly looked to his lawyer, who just sat there with a defeated look on his face. “You are looking at forty years behind bars for this Genseng! FORTY!”
Tasamine let her voice coo out over her cup of tea. “We aren’t going to do you any favours over the tax stuff. The IRS is over our jurisdiction on that, BUT we are prepared to drop the rest of the charges.”
Genseng’s lawyer appeared to wake up in an instant and elbowed his client before he could open his filthy mouth. “So what do you want from my client in return for dropping the charges you have against him?”
Tas let out a little smile that set butterflies to flight in my stomach. “We want everyone that Tas sold animals to. And we do mean EVERYONE.”
Sephon started to pace back and forth as the Gojid and lawyer talked amongst themselves. Eventually Genseng relented and turned to our heroes. “Ok… SO I technically never really sold to a person per say… BUT I kept really good papers on all the businesses I did sell to!”
The conversation started to dull out as the camera began to pan back and into the observation room with Frio, Ilo, and a rather small Mazic. Frio stood stoically silent, his paw held gently under his jaw, lost in thought. Ilo was typing away on the computer crosschecking every business Genseng sold out.
The Mazic took a step forward. His badge now clearly showing that he was the Chief of the Avalon City Police. “I know those businesses… Why would he be selling pets to…” The Chief huffed and stormed out of the observation room leaving Frio and Ilo slightly confused only to watch with an ounce of shock as the Police Chief walked into the interrogation room.
“YOU FUCKING IDIOT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?” Genseng recoiled away from the angry Chief as his lawyer was trying to figure out what was happening. “YOU HAVE BEEN SELLING HUMAN PETS AS FOOD TO HUMANS! YOU KNOW LESS THAN ONE PERCENT OF HUMANS EVEN EAT ONCE-LIVE MEAT! EVERYONE KNOWS THAT! MOST HUMANS GET VIOLENTLY ILL AT THE THOUGHT OF IT AND STRAIGHT VIOLENT IF TRICKED INTO IT! IF THIS GETS OUT THERE WILL BE RIOTS!”
Genseng’s lawyer slowly looked to his client with a look of anger and despair plastered on his face. The sleazy man just kinda shrugged. “I didn’t make them buy it!”
“BUT YOU DIDN’T TELL THEM WHERE YOU GOT THE MEAT FROM DID YOU?”
“no?”
“OF COURSE YOU DIDN’T ‘CAUSE, HOW THEN, WOULD YOU GET RID OF YOUR UNWANTED ANIMALS?”
“HEY! I’VE GOT A GUY WHO TAKES THEM IN! I MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS HUMANE AND SAFE FOR CONSUMPTION AND ANYTHING UNWANTED GO TO THAT GUY! OK? NO MONEY TRANSACTION! … I think he ships them back to Earth or something. No unethical stuff… except maybe selling Once-live as Cloned… but that isn’t that bad! Humans only just considered Rabbits to be on par with dogs!”
The Chief of Police just stood there menacingly as the ever beautiful Tas asked a question. “Who is this man you give the animals to?”
Genseng slowly walked back to his seat. “I don’t have a name. Just some dude wearing the old face hiding masks and a Pleather trench coat. Kinda creepy and usually lets the fat Venlil do the talking, but they scratch my back I scratch thier’s.”
The screen faded to black before coming back to their conference room and joined by the Chief of Police. “So you think this individual is the same one behind the Sheep Operation?”
Ilo sat up in her chair. “It seems to meet up with his M.O. of undermining food production.”
Tas brought a pair of population maps up on their projector. “Just looking at the before and after, the invasive rabbit population was miniscule at best. We had been doing a great job of catching them faster than they could repopulate. At least until their population unpredictably exploded into the hundreds of thousands.”
She swapped out the maps for a single one that showed several areas circled in red. “DNA testing on the rabbits has shown that they aren’t spreading naturally. One population has no genetic relation to the others even though their areas overlap. It has to be someone introducing rabbits in waves to different locals.”
The Chief slowly shook his head. “Do we have any clues as to where the masked man is?”
Frio’s tail curled in delight. “Why yes! Yes we do! He has a meetup with my good buddy Genseng who desperately doesn’t want to spend the next forty years in jail.”
The small Mazic let out a low and insidious laugh “OH! I think I know where you are going with this. You have my support. Let's get this sting operation set up!”
In an instant the day flew by and night rose over the docks of Avalon City. Genseng drove down the roads and pulled around the corner of a large warehouse situated nearby. The sleazy man looked oddly calm. I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t his first time ratting.
Overlooking the docks from the warehouse was our team of heroes. Tas had set up a network of monitors and was observing the operation. Several disguised vans were parked nearby filled with Extermination Officers all biting to get a hold of their quarry.
Frio walked over and placed a paw on Tasamine’s wing, before speaking into a recorder. “Looking good Gen. Looks like I misplaced the paperwork on those charges. Get through this and I won’t have time to go looking for it!”
Gen let out a small chuckle. “Hey Frio… Do you miss when we were kids? Getting into trouble. Scraping enough money together to buy lunch when our parents couldn’t afford to feed us?”
Frio took a step back from the monitors. “You said that in a really weird way… but yeah. Just the two of us. Sometimes we were delinquents scamming someone out of five credits and sometimes we were the heroes helping people out. Guess we took different paths…”
The greasy Gojid leaned back in the driver seat of his van. “I- … I am kinda tired of living Frio… It’s just… One deal after another with barely enough money to get from one job to the next… Do- … Do you think I could get a job working with you guys?”
It almost looked like Frio was going to cry as his eyes watered up. “Well… we are a man down at the moment, but my team only hires experienced individuals. It would be hard work, but if you joined as an apprentice and applied yourself… I think you could make it.”
Genseng sat and fiddled with his paws for a few moments. “Even with my arrest record?”
“We are the Exterminators not the City Police. I doubt there isn’t a single one of us that hasn't done something that would get us blacklisted by them!”
Gen let out a light laugh. “Ah good point! They hired you! Well I’d- Wait. He's here.”
A long black limousine pulled up around the corner. Slowly and silently stopping beside them. Frio took a step back. “Alright everyone. It's go time. Gen, get ready to duck down if they open fire.”
With almost perfect unison every unmarked van and cruiser lit up with Yellow and Orange lights and started to race towards the Limo. But with a heart stopping ‘BWOOOOOM’ the Limo exploded into an inferno, sending metal flying through the docks at high speeds.
Gen’s voice screamed over the radio for a brief moment before falling silent.
The next sounds we heard were of a heart monitor. Frio sat at the bedside of what I assumed to be Genseng. His body was covered entirely in bandages, with tubes running into his head and arms. Wires tracked his vital signs and, while steady, didn’t look like they broadcasted good news.
Frio looked up to see Ilo leaning in the doorway. “The limo was automated. No one on board. Mask either knew it was a setup or intended to end Genseng one way or the other.” She slowly walked over to Frio and nuzzled the side of his head. “I talked with the Doctors. They think he’ll make it. Might be a few years, and he will have to learn how to do most things, but he will live.”
Ilo forced her way into awkwardly cuddling Frio. After a small moment of resisting he accepted the embrace and leaned back. “How are we on tracking down the leads?”
She somehow managed to wrap herself around Frio as she quietly responded. “The limo was a dead end. Everything was bought from scrap and assembled off-grid. Camera networks were wiped clean enough that even Tas couldn’t scrape something off of the hard drives. DNA results on the rabbits gave us enough to work with Earth and track down the suppliers on that side, but they were using Genseng as a scapegoat and intermediary for all of it. I don’t think he even realized that the man he was ‘giving’ rabbits to was the man that arranged for him to be able to buy them in the first place.”
Frio wrapped his arms around her. “So this whole operation was basically a money laundering scam with rabbits. They scarred him for life just to- to-” Tears ran down his cheeks as the pair embraced each other. The credits started to roll over the sounds of a heart monitor slowly pinging on. Gentle sobbing slowly faded away as the sound of claws on tile echoed through the speakers.
A rather portly Venlil was flanked on both sides by massive looking dogs. Sylvan’s Dad pointed out those where Karelian Bear Dogs. Bred to actually hunt one of Earth’s apex predators. The Fat Venlil, or Chublil as Sylvan said, walked into an immaculate office, where a man with a silvered mask and brown trench coat sat.
“Sir? Operation Clean House is over. The results are one Gojid launderer hospitalized. He is expected to recover in a few years. When the exterminators watching him clear out an agent will enter with an air-filled syringe and fake death by heart-attack. As you expected the last meetup was a sting operation. Police remain slightly aware of your presence.”
A robotic voice came from the man. “Good work Gavreg. Did you enjoy your trip to Earth?”
“Yessir. You were right. Bear meat is simply divine when prepared correctly.”
WHAT THE FUCK. WHY WOULD HE KNOW WHAT THAT TASTES LIKE?!?
“Glad to hear it. As for the Gojid, I think he’s gotten the message on what happens to people who cross us. Send him a normal fruit basket when he regains consciousness. Have it say… Sorry you got fired! Take a siesta!”
“Very well sir. Just to be clear, hold off on permanently silencing him?”
“Hrm… Yes. He was always amusing to work with.”
“Very well sir. If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave.”
The Fat Venlil turned and walked out of the room. Ending the episode and leaving the three of us sitting on the couch.
“You know Loural is going to throw a fit if she finds out we let both Sylvan and Henry watch this!”
I wasn’t proud but at least the humans screamed louder than I did.
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Special thanks to u/Dinomannick for the prompt
"I got a few ideas for the show. How about a few episodes have them dealing with invasive earth species on alien worlds, brought there for zoos, rich blokes pet, criminals, whatever. They have either catch or kill all of them before their establishing breeding populations and have the cane toad/rabbit problem like down-under. Think it might be interesting enough for future space TV?"
I hope this lived up to your expectations, and the bunny boom won't be relegated to just this episode either.
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Links are still broken cause reddit is more like brokeit... Will get around to fixing them soon, real life has been kinda hectic
​
Previous!
submitted by BiasMushroom to HFY [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:30 madurochurro Altered Horizons

Once upon a time in the vibrant era of the 1960s, two brilliant minds, biochemist Alexander Shulgin and psychologist Timothy Leary, forged an unexpected alliance that would forever change the landscape of the medical field. This is the story of their remarkable partnership, as they ventured into uncharted territories and reshaped the boundaries of human consciousness. Alexander Shulgin, a maverick biochemist, possessed an insatiable curiosity about the human mind and its connection to chemistry. His groundbreaking work in the field of psychopharmacology led him to explore the potential therapeutic applications of psychoactive substances. Meanwhile, Timothy Leary, a charismatic psychologist, was advocating for the exploration of altered states of consciousness and the transformative power of psychedelics. Their paths converged at a scientific conference, where their shared enthusiasm and audacious ideas ignited an instant connection. Recognizing their complementary expertise, they resolved to combine their knowledge and embark on a collaborative journey to unlock the mysteries of the human psyche. Leary’s charisma and eloquence captivated audiences, drawing attention to their revolutionary work. Shulgin, on the other hand, provided the scientific rigor and precision required to navigate the intricate chemistry behind their experiments. Together, they designed a research program that aimed to explore the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelic substances, envisioning a future where these compounds could alleviate mental suffering and open new pathways for personal growth. Their laboratory became a sanctuary for exploration, a haven where the boundaries of perception were pushed to their limits. Through rigorous experimentation and meticulous documentation, Shulgin and Leary sought to understand the effects of various substances on the human mind. They delved into the realms of LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline, charting the uncharted territories of altered consciousness. Their groundbreaking research drew both admiration and scrutiny from the academic community and society at large. Traditional medical establishments viewed their work with skepticism and fear, branding it as reckless and dangerous. But Shulgin and Leary remained undeterred, believing that the potential benefits of their research far outweighed the risks. As their reputation grew, so did the obstacles they faced. Legal and ethical dilemmas plagued their path, with government agencies scrutinizing their every move. Undeterred by the mounting pressures, Shulgin and Leary used their platform to advocate for responsible exploration and education regarding psychedelic substances. They engaged in public debates, wrote influential books, and tirelessly championed the importance of responsible research and the potential of psychedelics to enhance mental well-being. Their unwavering dedication began to bear fruit. Shulgin’s innovative chemistry led to the discovery of novel psychoactive compounds, expanding the scope of their research even further. Leary’s charismatic presence and persuasive arguments sparked a cultural revolution, igniting a global conversation about the nature of consciousness and personal transformation. Their work eventually caught the attention of influential figures within the medical community, leading to the establishment of research centers dedicated to the study of psychedelics. This breakthrough marked a pivotal moment in history, as the medical field recognized the potential of these substances in treating mental health disorders and facilitating personal growth. In the end, Shulgin and Leary’s collaborative efforts revolutionized the medical field, transcending the boundaries of traditional science and ushering in a new era of exploration and understanding. Their legacy persists to this day, as their vision and audacity continue to inspire scientists, researchers, and enthusiasts alike to explore the intricate tapestry of the human mind and its unexplored horizons. And so, the tale of Alexander Shulgin and Timothy Leary stands as a testament to the power of collaboration, innovation, and the relentless pursuit of knowledge—a story that forever altered the trajectory of medicine and expanded the frontiers of human consciousness.
submitted by madurochurro to ChatgptStories [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:28 _Norman_Bates What was the point of Irreversible?

I am not sure how I feel about this movie. I didn’t enjoy watching it very much, not because of the rape scene but because it was so hard to get immersed in it. I will go through a few different points but then get to what I think could make it very interesting, except that I am unsure if it’s the right interpretation.
First, an overview of the movie. It is told in Memento style, with scenes going backwards revealing more of the story. While in Memento it serves a plot purpose and helps you connect with the protagonist, I am not completely sure what it achieves here. The first half of the movie is pretty much two French guys yelling and fighting. The first scene is happening in some gay bar, cameras are all over the place, it’s hard to keep track let alone care about what’s going on and this continues as you slowly start to pick up the story. They were getting revenge on a guy who beat up and raped one of the guy’s girlfriend.
Revenge movies normally try to evoke some emotions of justice in the viewer, making you care for the characters, then feel the injustice that happened, and then get some satisfaction in the end. There are variations on this theme, subverting expectations etc but this is the standard format.
Here, the revenge happens before you give a shit at all. But then, as the movie goes back and you see more, it doesn’t actually get better. But I’ll get to that in a bit. I am just trying to say that the way the scenes are introduced, there is no way to get immersed or invested in the characters during their most dramatic moments (executing revenge, rape scene).
I almost stopped watching because the movie and the two screaming guys were really annoying me but I was waiting to see the Belucci rape scene. When it happened, it was definitely the high point of the movie and partially just because everything before was just chaotic and hard to follow. I didn’t really think the scene was very extreme like most people were describing it. It’s a long scene but it’s not that graphic.
I think what’s more shocking about it doesn’t come from the fact you’re watching a 10 min rape scene but that it takes Monica Belucci, who is considered some untouchable beauty, and you see her getting anally raped by a guy who seriously hates her existence. Even though her rape wasn’t planned, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, the guy is absolutely disgusted by her. It’s not one of those “she’s so hot I can’t help myself” rapes, the guy sees her as a rich bitch used to getting what she wants cause she’s hot, and he hate rapes her, calling her a sow and similar names in the process.
This is also the first we see of her character so you can’t really care for her either. But what really comes through is how much the rapist can’t stand her. When he’s done raping her, he bashes her face in.
To me that was the most interesting part about the scene, not the fact that she got raped or how disturbing it is to watch a rape, but the amount of honest hatred and disgust the guy had for her. It’s kind of ironic, he’s the fucked up rapist and she’s Monica Belucci but he is utterly disgusted by her in the process.
Then the movie goes back and we learn more about her and the two main guys… and it doesn’t make anyone any more likeable.
Now I usually hate when people criticize movies and shows for not having likeable characters - it’s very childish. But I am not talking about morality here, I am talking about how likeable someone is to watch, and here some very shitty people can make great characters. Also, not every movie needs likeable characters, sometimes that’s the whole point. But normally a tragedy and a revenge movie would require the viewer to give at least moderate shit about them. To do it, it convinces you that the victim is a good person in at least some way, that the avenger is a good person or at least someone who loves the victim, and that their relationship was something special (e.g. Mandy).
But this movie does none of it.
The protagonist is supposed to be some French Chad, a super obnoxious guy who does drugs, cheats on his girlfriend, takes her money and sounds mentally challenged (he just shouts shit out like he has Tourettes). He also stole the girl from his super simpy friend whom he still keeps around to boost his ego, so a shit friend too. Also just an annoying character overall. Normally when someone executes revenge, the viewer should believe how much the victim meant to them but we just saw this guy cheating so it comes across more like it’s just his natural behavior and the stakes aren’t even that high.
The simpy friend is one of the most pathetic characters. His friend took his gf and he desperately clings on to them, in fact I don’t understand why he’s even involved in the whole plot but whatever. He is obsessed with his ex-girlfriend and idolizes her because she’s pretty, trying to get her boyfriend to treat her with more respect while she literally tells him that she prefers the other guy cause he doesn’t care about how she feels. He constantly self-deprecates while they laugh at him. It’s hard to watch him.
Monica’s character Alex is also a total stereotype and it’s kind of funny how rapist’s reading of her doesn’t get proven wrong, in fact the more we see of her the less likable she is. We learn that she left her ex for his best friend because she likes how the other guy only focuses on his own pleasure while having sex, but still keeps the ex around awkwardly. She knows that her boyfriend cheats on her and flirts with others in front of her but is still happy she learned he knocked her up. After learning that fact, she goes on to party.
I think it’s interesting how the movie establishes that she likes to be treated like shit and is turned on by the guy who doesn’t care about her pleasure. There was even a scene when they talked about anal and it seems like she was up for it. So in that context, is the rape scene supposed to say this is what she wanted when taken to the extreme?
Overall after seeing it, it’s hard for me to understand what the intent was. It wasn’t made to make the viewer care about the revenge or the rape, or the characters involved, or at least I can’t see that dimension.
But it is possible that the real revenge scene (the moment supposed to provide the viewer with righteous satisfaction) was never intended to be the beginning of the movie/end of the story, but the rape scene?
I know this sounds fucked up but what I mean is, movies often play on viewer’s instincts through extreme scenes that are enjoyable in the context of the movie - e.g. people love to see annoying groups of friends get massacred in slashers, it doesn’t mean they actually believe every slightly annoying person deserves it in real life, so I don’t want this to be taken the wrong way.
The rapist looks at Belucci and sums up her personality, and then degrades the shit out of her. In the context of the movie, does the rape work metaphorically to take her off the pedestal people like the simp friend put her on and give the viewer some sick enjoyment to see her get treated that way. The hatred the rapist feels towards her and the desire to destroy her seems like the most honest character motivation in the movie (as I mentioned before, the weird character relationships lack any strength of conviction so this hatred is for example more convincing than her boyfriend’s anger).
Maybe the idea is that the director knows that’s what people really want to see happen to her, and that’s the real thing that will disturb them.
Maybe I’m totally wrong, but if this was the angle, then the movie might be genius.
submitted by _Norman_Bates to TrueFilm [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:28 Taylor-Swifty A4A Anyone Else Like OCs?

[possible fandoms: Transformers, Totally Spies, Disney, TMNT, Street Sharks, Pixar, Star Wars, G. I. Joe, Nintendo, Marvel, DC, possibly more!]
I am 18+ and all participants and characters must be 18+.
Hey there! Most people call me Desi. I am a role player, obviously! I usually spend my time indoors every day with a mild excursion here and there to the store, movies, or beach. I adore writing, but that's obvious.
I am very versatile on genre, I have major preference for romance, drama, slice of life, mysteries, action and adventure, Hallmark-esque plots, and anything else we might conjure up! I do have tons of canons and OCs! I’m sure you can find one you like. I can write from a paragraph to novella.
I am looking for any gender of partner and character, I have so many unique characters and ideas for each one! I can also slide my OCs into any fandom.
Ideas:
your character replaces Sam/Charlie in the Transformers franchise while fixing various mistakes made by Michael Bay. I have the characters set up on my server, with alternate designs for Jazz, Sideswipe, and Hot Rod.
I also have a ton of Disney characters, I’ve been dying to play out a ripple in the space time continuum where one or a group of them get sent to the real world.
I also am hunting for a Totally Spies role play.
My character is a Spanish heiress, who lives a life of luxury, only her father is murdered, and the people who did it, are now after her. She runs away in search of a bodyguard to help her get back what was stolen from her.
The next idea I have is for a relationship that is on the rocks, and the two are left trying to navigate their lives past the honeymoon phase and learn how to adapt to living together.
This is specific to my character but she was a championship surfer, and she got injured at the top of her game. I really want to play out her becoming a mentor, teaching someone how to become the next champion.
One of my characters goes undercover to try and expose a illegal ring, this would play out like a suspense or thriller, could play male or female.
An emotionally damaged stripper who is abused by staff spends her days trying to get by, until the day comes where she meets someone who could help her pursue her true dreams of running her own operation.
A Russian woman who was stolen from her family as a little girl and tormented into becoming a living weapon is hired to bring your character to them. On the way, she finds out that the people who hired her are working for the militia that made her the way she is, and so, she decides to take a stand, and wipe them out.
This is only a third of my ideas, not even that, a fraction! Come check out my characters, let’s discuss something!
I have men, women, young and mature, thieves, business owners, single mothers, wayward young adults, college students and staff, bounty hunters, detectives, police officers, victims, patients, crooked therapists, strippers, so many unique stories to tell! I guarantee one of them will strike your fancy!
I am looking for a romantic role play as one of my many OC characters, drama or major events will happen depending on the character you select, and I have 300+ so far.
I also have many canon characters I would love to play as, such as Legolas, Transformers, Marvel and DC , Avatar and Disney.
I have many ideas depending on who you choose!
I am a very affectionate person, I love to make people happy, so I am always open to adjusting characters or role plays.
I don't like role plays with action asterisks, Sorry! I also don't like to role play without proper punctuation and grammar. I usually write at least one paragraph. 25 being my record.
I am a firm believer in conversation so I most likely will text you OOC for any reason, I also prefer to keep things adult, meaning I don't take part in petty or childish arguments.
I don't ghost either, so Ill probably rip the bandage off and tell you why I don't want to role play anymore.
I also love having friends! I used to get bullied quite a lot for many, many reasons, so I haven't had many friends in my 20 years of living. Lets chat, get to know one another!, I've been role playing for a long time, about 6-8 years give or take? I typically enjoy modern role plays with real life basing.
I enjoy stories of the romantic genre as well as action and adventure. My characters are original with face claims, some are canon characters from Marvel and DC. Characters like Barney, Captain America, Superman, just really selfless characters have always been my inspiration.
I always try to write my characters with loving aspects if I can. Life is broken and many people suffer, life isnt perfect so I usually write some darkness for a character if I feel it.
I don't use random face claims, I use actors or media icons I feel fit the character, I mentally put myself in the position of director, my role play is a movie, and I am casting the character, that is how I usually go about it, and if you don’t like it I am not the partner for you.
I definitely want a partner who can be a friend, who can be detailed yet tame, someone who can give me something to reply to, I am not very picky. I don't like people who are judgmental though, I prefer good vibes only.
Replies from me are vary. Sometimes I cant write as much as Id like because I get a writers block.
Sometimes I can reply 5 times a day, but sometimes I cant reply for a day maybe even two or three. But usually I update OOC. I look for people who aren't looking for perfection, I don't like role players who are too arrogant about their skill. I wouldn't say I'm the best role player out there, so if we don't mesh I completely understand.
I keep my characters location/job vague so that I can work them into a plot better. They are pieces to the puzzle, and I keep them so they can fit better into any story we choose!
I will only be role playing on discord partly just to be able to show you my original character portfolio server, which has channels with their backgrounds, age, and their galleries.
Simply DM me for my tag and we can get things started.
Sexuality wise all my characters are adjustable.
Reply wise, this will be fairly advanced. I strive to keep things above a paragraph but I can go lower depending on the plot. I write a maximum of 10 paragraphs but my usual is 3-4.
my character portfolio will be the main key to our discussion, so you will be viewing it upon your interest. I have 100+ characters. I can also role play over email or reddit chat, that way I can just copy the bios and send the photos.
That being said our characters will have romance, and adult content will be ahead If desired. All my characters are adults.I am looking for action, adventure, romance of course is my favorite, mystery, drama, anything is up for debate!
I am looking for both male or female characters to partner my own with, as well as trans or non binary as well, all are welcome.
I hope we can have a fun role play together!
submitted by Taylor-Swifty to RoleplayPartnerSearch [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:26 julio_oa I built a multi-platform desktop app to easily download and run models, open source btw

I want to share this project that I've been working. I noticed that there are not easy to install/use apps for open source models, maybe that is stopping this to spread outside of the dev-world.
So I built a Tauri app using llama.cpp through Rust's LLM lib (https://github.com/rustformers/llm), and it provides installers for all desktop platforms, just download and install, like any normal app.
I even created a pretty landing page for people who can get scared away by Github 😅: https://secondbrain.sh/
The repo is here: https://github.com/juliooa/secondbrain
Is still alpha and buggy, any comment or contribution is welcome. My idea is to add plugins or add-ons so it can be more useful, like voice, filesystem search, maybe commands to open other apps, etc..
Cheers!
submitted by julio_oa to LocalLLaMA [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:25 Smellynerfherder How to stop my ranger becoming a sea of green?

How to stop my ranger becoming a sea of green?
Hi! Relatively new to mini painting, and I'm in need of some tips or inspiration. I'm painting this ranger figure, but I'm worried that he's going to end up as fifty shades of green. Has anyone got some colour tips or ideas for how I could save him from this monochromatic future?
submitted by Smellynerfherder to minipainting [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:24 Majors_Thoughts Have you Played Skeletal Avengers?

Have you ever heard of Skeletal Avengers?
While searching across Epic games store, I came across Skeletal Avenger's and it peeked my Interest
Looking more into it before Purchasing the game it sounded pretty Promising and just the type of game. I was looking for at the time something Chill, entertaining Good balance of Action and story Line etc which it did have Exceed my Expectations on every level, Starting off been put straight into the tutorial which was very easy to understand and go through before starting on the main game.
The Game:
Skeletal Avengers is Solid Dungeon Crawler with Rouge - lite Elements with Different Weapons, Equipment, Elements, Perks and Varity of Grades from Common - Legendary. While running through the Caves ranged from Easy - Hard Ratings with different levels per Cave and Varity of different Enemies you encounter up to the Boss of the Last level of the Cave.
The Story:
You play as a Skeleton who wakes from a slumber on a quest for revenge. With the help of a mage, you need to hunt down various bosses to quench your vengeful lust. Then finally you can get some sleep. The game doesn't dwell too much on its story, instead puts the player straight into the action.
While running through each Dungeon Cave Runs and making your character stronger and better from weapons to clothing to perks and of course "Throwing your Head" at the enemy in order to defeat them and collection Gold to upgrade your characters stats, equipping better Gear ready for the next Dungeon run!! You will find Different Ways Instantly to the next Levels of the Cave with Multiple Exits if you so wish to Desire.
Its a great game to Play solo or Co-op with up to 4 friends! It make a nice change from other games or when you have no idea what to play or simply just want to chill and have an easy fun gaming session!
Graphicly it has some nice Graphic but aren't top tier amazing but for the game it self I found the graphics great for what it is. ( I personally Enjoyed them)
Controls for the game are very simple and easy which are smooth and responsive. You have a simple attack and a special attack, you can also dash to avoid enemy attacks. But one the best / Funniest notable attack you can do is that you can "Throw" your head at an enemy causing damage. With different Helmet types also cause some of the great damage which can "Instantly" Kill an enemy. Just be sure to pick it back up after. However you can also recall your Head back while holding down a Button. ( or having a perk maybe...?)
I didn't personally find any Cons with the game it self you could argue a few points of Details, Levelling up etc etc but its all very small cons in my eyes.
Content Wise:
I found it to have a nice amount of Content with up to 50 Different Perks to choose, 5 Different weapon Choice, Different Types of Clothing From Cloth to armour 25 different types of Enemies to Faces, while Crawling through different Dungeons Difficulties and Different Levels. Would be nice to have a little bit more content one hand but I found it to have a nice balance of content.
Average Play time:
Main Story - 7-8h All Play Styles - 10h Completionist - 20h
Now the Question is it really worth playing? I believe it is, Initially Released back in 2021 and having been Completely Released as of 2023 I think its Fair to say "Yes" it is worth playing. There's No doubt you would all have a Great Time playing it by your self or with friends and its a Fair Price also not over expensive and it would be Money well spent.
Platforms: Epic Game Store - Price: £11.89 Steam - Price: £14.29 Playstation - Price: £13.99 Xbox - Price: £14.24 Nintendo Switch - Price: £15.29 IOS/Android - Price £5.99
**NOTE** Prices Checked at the Day of Post created on 28/5/23
Developer: 10 Tons
Overall: Great and enjoyable Game to play and with friends, Defiantly worth playing in 2023 I thoroughly Enjoyed myself and will keep it on my games list! and for sure you will all have a Blast!!
Rating: 8/10 (Personal Rating)
submitted by Majors_Thoughts to u/Majors_Thoughts [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:19 Surfinskater Lookin for a chill friend straight outta the freezer if you got the ice i'll bring the rice 18/M

My face is red and my eyes are blue no they're not, i just lied to you but you what i would never ever do? look at other gals cuz these eyes are locked on you
well there you have it that was a special poem i made specially for YOU, yes YOU...so what are you waiting for? message me and lets get this thing started, a couple of things you should know about me are that im super chill, very easy to talk to, do amazing corny jokes and i will provide you TWO and yes you read that right TWO shoulders to cry on
submitted by Surfinskater to MakeNewFriendsHere [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:18 reiu Absolutely overwhelmed and a little demoralised after looking at some Leetcode questions.

I'm a 30+ year old guy doing a mid-career switch, joined a fullstack developer 3-month bootcamp and throughout the entire journey I felt like this is too hard. My original plan was to do a devops bootcamp but this program has some government subsidy and devops didn't have enough applicants and they offered me a fullstack dev placement. Prior to this I did about half of Automate the Boring stuff with Python course I found here (thank goodness for this as an introduction).
Long story short, now the bootcamp is just about to end, and I have taken the initiative to apply for some entry level fullstack development job listing. Was put into a technical interview and I felt like a fish out of water. I was given 25 questions(22 Multiple-choiced and 3 coding questions) I couldn't exactly understand what they wanted, and didn't know how the interface worked. Codes wouldn't compile either.
Talked to a friend who has been in the industry and he suggested I look at LeetCodes and try some of the easy questions. Did exactly that and I couldn't for my life solve any of it. Some I understood but couldn't code it out, some I didn't even understand what they wanted. I felt so stupid and realised my mediocrity because most of my life I didn't face much adversity and got by through luck and wits.
I'm not looking for any solutions, but I just wanted to rant for a bit because I don't know where to get 'support'. I thought the journey was fun learning how to program, and a real humbling experience for myself.
submitted by reiu to learnprogramming [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:17 MHere88 18M earning 30+ lacs a month

So a few days ago, I asked a general question for research, where I mentioned my income for a purpose.
I received a lot of DMs asking me about how I do it, so today InshaAllah I’ll tell you exactly everything you’ll need and I am going to be completely transparent and gonna do it for the sake of Allah SWT and not for personal benefits.
Starting off, I going to turn 18 in a month InshaAllah, From the childhood, I was very interested in technology, built my first RC car at the age of 12 all by myself & I used to teach fellow students about strategy to study less & perform good.
So everything was going good but Covid ruined everything financially.
So by living at a very small house with very low expenses, total expense was around 40k and I couldn’t see my parents struggle to find that amount.
So I’ve been a person interested in reading books, researching things up, writing diaries on whole topics etc.
I also learnt video editing, 2d animation and some programming stuff just for fun around a year before Covid.
So I used those skills to create some amazing video when I was 14 I guess, not sure, after many “Failed” ideas, one of my video went viral and got 100million views in a single month and got me 300k subscribers, But right after a month, I got a copyright strike because I used copyright free music which was later bought by a copyright company.
So I still have the channel but it’s dead, even got silver play button from it.
At that time I learnt game development skills and I many other skills cause I was really into tech and couldn’t leave something once I start it.
So my brother who was 4 years old gave me an idea of creating a fiverr account, my brother is Alhamdulillah a very intelligent kid and he is my best friend honestly.
So we created fiverr account, after 4 months, got first client, it was a small order, a very small one indeed.
It was a new technology but I learnt it and completed the project and got 5 star reviews Alhamdulillah.
So sales started coming, got 10 orders that month and gig ranking dropped, a scammer contacted me asked my to do a project for her, she was from India residing in USA, I had to learn several new softwares and worked for two months for $100 ( she didn’t placed the order tho and asked me to talk on Skype so communication would be outside fiverr )
In short after two months she didn’t placed order, took my work and made my fiverr suspended.
I was pretty shocked for 5 months but I never let me emotions take over me so,
In these five months, I learned to use each and every program and developed many strong skills and I was able to create results better than people with years of experience.
So started another fiverr and this time got 30 orders and my parents were happy and we decided to move into a new house which was also on rent, but the day we decided, my gig again deranked, this time I again worked hard for a well ( 18-20 hours a day ), used to eat at my table, and learnt metaverse and stuff related to that and Alhamdulillah that gig ranked.
then I moved out of fiverr and started researching about Sales, leads, marketing and Alhamdulillah started an agency offering metaverse services that got me to 10 lacs a month.
From that point onward, I focused on physical stuff, starting lifting weight ( a little bit ), started doing boxing and trained so much that now anybody can barely beat me in a spar, I researched a lot of different topics, wrote complete diaries about business and types ( if I hand that diary to a person with skills, he can build an empire within a year ) so basically there was a lot of info in it.
Also wrote diaries about boxing, public speaking and researching a lot.
Now my inter part 1 exams were in two months, so I decided to work full time for 1 months and Alhamdulillah grew income to 30 lacs+ and automated everything.
I am very well known in Intellectual conversations specially on serious topics like politics, religion & business, I've heard a tons of compliments in the past year Alhamdulillah & It gave me the motivation to keep learning & researching
So this was my story for everybody who is interested, it was full of hustle, I was a deep thinker so my backup plans have backups plans, and I’ve never been addicted to anything, nor phone, nor gaming etc Alhamdulillah.
So all thanks to Allah SWT, now good news for you guys, if you have any questions, dm me, I’ll be writing posts about the questions and I’ll try my best to answer everybody in inbox and comments but my exams are going on so don’t mind the delay.
Another good news is I have mentored a lot of relatives and friends and Alhamdulillah by now they’re all doing pretty good.
So I am thinking to start a YouTube channel in which I’ll teach you about every business model by showing case studies of my businesses, I’ve did YouTube, dropshipping, SMMA and almost everything possible in online world,
I’ll also help out everybody whether you’re a beginner and looking to start or a pro but looking to scale
it’ll be completely free as I am doing it only to help everybody. So if you guys are interested, ask me any questions whatever you want but make sure to include “beginner” if you have never earned from online stuff, “intermediate” if your income is around 0-5 lacs “Pro” if it’s 5-20 lacs “Extremely pro” if it’s above 20 lacs
If you’re a pro or extremely pro, I’ll help you out to grow even more cause I have a lot of networks and connections + experience in every field, and for beginners I’ll guide you throughout the path to make it super clear and easy for you.
For all my sisters, feel free to ask too cause a friend of mine who is like a sister to me, I’ll ask her help to help girls out, just use sturucture above so I won’t have to ask later.
Thanks and due to exams, It might take a little long for me to respond but I’ll definitely try my best.
JazakAllah!
submitted by MHere88 to PakistaniiConfessions [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:17 VTThroaway975 Vet I often have to work with won't use muzzles/chemical restraint

I'm an assistant at a GP and have a little bit of experience but am still perfecting restraint. Previously wherever I worked if a dog showed ANY signs it might bite, we muzzled it. All fractious cats got sedation. And most of the doctors at this GP do the same, except one.
I have to work with this doctor often and she honestly scares me with the situations she puts herself (and sometimes me) in. She will get close to dogs actively growling at her trying to pet them or give them treats (haven't seen them turn friendly yet). I've watched her hold small dogs in her arms while they were snapping at her face. She was bitten a few months back on the hand but it was minor, I have no idea how she hasn't had some serious injury yet.
I'm extremely uncomfortable with all this, and I've told her so. When I go to muzzle a dog she takes the dog from me and does the restraint which makes me extremely nervous watching it try to bite her. It also makes me feel like I'm useless at my job. If we are in a room with a client and I want to take the dog to the back because it's showing signs of aggression she will overrule me and push me to restrain in room, and I don't want to argue with my superior in front of clients.
I've told her before a super fearful cat was going to need sedation before being examined because we were treating an open wound on its face. She laughed at me and told me I was afraid of the cat. I wrangled the cat by myself and brought it to an exam room where she ended up agreeing it needed sedation because it wouldn't let her touch it.
I'm getting more and more worried that I'm going to get bit in these situations, or she's going to get bit and im going to feel bad about it. I've been scratched up because of this and felt a few teeth graze me. I've tried talking to the practice manager about this and she admits it's an issue but there's nothing she can do about it. I'm getting to the point where I'm about ready to flat out refuse to assist her unless the animal is properly muzzles or sedated. This would be super hard for me because im non confrontational but I just don't want to get hurt.
Am I overreacting here?
submitted by VTThroaway975 to VetTech [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:16 Dazedhydra465 I’m a new DM and don’t know if this is a good idea

So for some context I have one player who is interested to play and two that are on the fence and playing mostly because I want to. I’m running lost mine of phaldenver and I need to get them hooked and understand then game quick to make sure they come back for session 2. I’m thinking I should instead of what the book says start the session with them in a small dungeon with a few puzzles and a easy combat encounter. I’m a new DM and I’ve never heard of a game starting in the middle of a stressful situation, is this a good idea?
submitted by Dazedhydra465 to DMAcademy [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:14 Big_TinyRequest Do professional artist still use references?

Like I kinda wanna know so I don't pressure myself that much on being good.
Like anatomy for example does artist like TB Choi still uses references for her work especially during when she's working with a client?
Does Ross Draws still gather environmental references for his environmental concept art and paintings and storytelling pieces?
Do Splash Artist still gather references for the pose, environment, folds of the clothing, perspective and objects for their splash art?
I really like to know so I can take it easy since I'm also aiming to get into the professional field.
submitted by Big_TinyRequest to ArtistLounge [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 14:13 Illwood_ Humans Make The Best Mech Pilots

“The shield that defends needs a sword by its side”
- Mech Core Pilot's Motto.
----
Churk was going to die.
He was going to die, and his brood left behind were going to be enslaved.
He was going to die, and with him his race’s history, achievements and technology would also die out.
They would all be turned into the organic robots his enemy used to power its military might.
Churk’s people were known as the Algeen’s. The Algeen’s were frog-like people, they had four arms and two legs, with large hands and feet. Fiercely intelligent, obscenely democratic, unbelievably green.
Their whole population got an equal vote on any measure of policy or governmental decision, a slow and ponderous system, but one which worked. Once they had gracefully colonized over a thousand planets. Then the Tide came and generations later, on their battered and bruised Homeworld, they were making their final stand. One world left of the most civilized civilization.
The Tide were slavers, but they had been at it for millennia now. Absorbing, enslaving, and breeding thousands of species and races. Making them all part of a homogeneous whole. No one outside of the Tide themselves knew who the original species was, and maybe no one in the Tide knew either. It was possible that they still existed, at the very top of the slavery food chain, being served by those they considered lesser and treated horribly. But it was equally possible that a slave lead rebellion had seen fit to absorb them as they had been absorbed. An ouroboros of cultural erasure and brutal labour camps.
Five hundred metres from Churk’s position, stood the product of those labour camps. Two Tide mech’s which were currently powering towards him and his squad, Churk had little delusions about how effective his semi-fortified engineer’s depo was going to be in protecting their lives. Suddenly his neural link lit up with new high priority information, he was not to engage the enemy, reinforcements were on their way.
While he was glad he didn’t have to engage the enemy (as the ordinance he had at his disposal would have been ineffective against the heavy armour of the Tide machines) the order didn’t make any sense, and so he queried it.
“Reinforcements? What reinforcements? Who’s left?” He responded. As there was no one currently available to respond to his query the over-stretched AI superintendent replied in as basic and succinct method as possible.
“An orbital drop-pod enroute. Contents: One mech. Mech rating: Classified. Mech model: Classified. Mech origin: Classified. Pilot: Anna ‘Sustain’ Finand. Species: Human.” Rattled off the AI in his head.
A mind-numbing list containing more questions than answers. Human? The Algeen’s had included as many species as possible in their attempts to create a force equal to that of the Tide’s, but as far as he knew all of them apart from the Roc’s had been wiped out. He hadn’t heard of humanity before, and how the hell had they managed to get orbital assets in position? The battle for their home world’s skies had been lost months ago. Most importantly, how the hell was one mech going to win against two Tide models?
The Tide had a clear technological advantage over the Algeen’s, most prominently displayed in any of the many mech battles which had taken place throughout the war, whether that be on the ground or in the void. The Tide’s powerplants were three times as efficient as Algeen models, and their anti-gravity/ inertia damping technology was twice as efficient. This allowed the Tide’s mechs to pack on armour and energy shields, creating hulking tanks which moved as easily as the Algeen’s mechs but had a one to four advantage in a fair fight.
A massive crash signalled to Churk that he was about to get his answers, and he eagerly peered into the dust cloud that had formed around the human mech, waiting to see the sort of beast which had come to his (and indeed his entire species) aid. Hope flared ever so briefly, only to be crushed when a familiar silhouette appeared: That of an Algeen mech.
The rounded, purple armour. The gleaming blue sensor nodes. The dome like head. The large feet. Algeen through and through, maybe even an older design from mid-way through the war. One that prioritised speed over armour, a costly mistake. There were however a few differences:
For one, the mech had been heavily modified. Additional armour had been removed from the torso and right arm. A weird cage-like attachment had been crudely added to the front of the mech's thighs and shins. The mech still had its energy shield, but it was now held in the left hand instead of being permanently attached to the mech's chest.
The shoulder armour had been replaced with a series of tubes which looked rather spikey when grouped together, some sort of smoke or grenade launchers perhaps?
Its only armament was a single sword in its right hand. This was particular. For one, it was the only item on the mech that was clearly neither Algeen nor was it of the Tide. It was a dull grey blade, looking more like an oversized cleaver then a sword. Its handle was unadorned and had not even been painted to separate its likeness from that of the rest of the blade. The entire thing was made of one single piece of metal, and while Churk did not know it at that very moment, it had been simply pressed into shape.
Its edge was barely sharp enough to cut, leaving the entire weapon closer to a bat them a knife. By Algeen and Tide standards it was brutally crude. Utterly remorseless in its hatred for elegant craftsmanship. It was a pipe bomb in comparison to a hand grenade. But like a pipe bomb: it was lethal.
Churk watched with equal parts dread and (what he felt to be) misplaced hope as the Algeen mech charged its superior counterparts.
He didn’t know it at the time, but he would speak of the following battle for many years to come.
The human mech launched towards the Tide machines; dust flaring underneath it’s artificially lightened footsteps. It’s strategic removal of armour had made the machine’s already impressive performance even more pronounced, and while its speed surprised the two Tide operators, it did little to unnerve them.
These two operators had seen enough fighting to know one Algeen machine was of little concern, and its missing armour only further reinforced their confidence.
They must have pulled that thing straight out of a repair bay. Thought the pilot of the foremost Tide mech.
These Tide mechs represented a standard advanced scouting group, consisting of one heavy, ranged mech and one light, melee machine. As scouts these mechs would only engage when they had the advantage. But on Algeen Prime, there wasn’t a single Tide scout group that didn’t have the advantage. How the two would operate was simple, the light mech would push out to the front and engage any oncoming mechs, closing quickly to force the enemy into a melee fight. Meanwhile the ranged mech would perform counter-battery and point defence operations: shooting down oncoming missiles and retaliating in kind with its own.
Tide mechs wanted a melee. They always wanted a melee.
Churk didn’t know why exactly. For while it was true that the Tide saw a distinct advantage over Algeens in melee combat, many of their mech units would choose to engage in a melee fight even when they could have as easily dispatched their enemies from afar. Maybe they just found it fun? For the Algeen race it was obvious that the Tide mech operators had been trained extensively on sword combat, even before this war had taken place, and no Algeen could win against a Tide in a fair fight.
As the war progressed the Algeen’s had tried to level the playing field in this aspect, bringing in veterans to teach new operators how to properly utilise a blade. But the icy fact was that swordsmanship had died out long ago in Algeen society (for what modern, enlightened society could possibly keep such a thing alive?) and could not be resurrected in a timely matter. At least, not on the sort of scale they needed if they were to compete against the Tide.
Of course, neither an Algeen nor a Tide Thrall had seen a human wield a blade before. Human swordplay techniques had been forged in the flames of thousands of battles; and like a candle lit from that flame, had been preserved generation after generation. No one had expected that the fires which forged such skill would ever be relit, but it was on Algeen Prime that one small candle found the sort of kindling its ancient creators could not have even imagined.
The Algeen and the Tide machine finally met on the field of battle, with the Tide’s long-range support not having fired a single shot. The Tide machine used its superior power output to slash its sword down, the piloting hoping to knock the sword from the human mech’s clearly loose grip.
It was a surprise to all when the human mech flicked its blade up to deflect the blow, keeping its grip loose as it did so, letting the momentum of the blade do the necessary dirty work. Had a human been deflecting a blow like this, doing so would have reduced the amount of force (and hence, energy) necessary to block the blow. Allowing the fighter to keep their strength up, to persist in the melee for far longer than a less skilled counterpart.
On a mech muscle fatigue was less of a concern. However not resisting the full force of the blow vastly reduced strain on the framework, motors, and anti-gravity pods of the machine. In a long battle the kind of strain that comes from blocking each and every blow can destroy a mech far more thoroughly than even the most devastating sword or missile strike.
Furthermore, deflecting the strike had another key advantage: It positioned the Human's blade for a slashing follow up. Like a snake striking the human's blade leap for the Tide mech, a potent mixture of surprise and heavy armour preventing the operator from recovering in time: The Human's blade connected with a stunning yet well aimed ferocity. The blow exploited the gap in the Tide mech's armour at the armpit. A well-known weakness which the Algeen were rarely able to exploit.
The blade cut deep, severing several of the thick black cables which sent power down the opposing mech's arm. Like cutting into a ligament, the Tide Mechs right arm (sword included) slumped down, as the antigravity modules cut out due to lack of power and its motors struggled to lift the now considerably heavier arm. Completely blindsided by the ferocious attack and now lacking an effective sword arm, the Tide pilot responded in sudden desperation: twisting his mech at its hips, the pilot slammed his own weak and heavily armoured arm into the Algeen mech which had wounded it so.
This may have seen the Tide mech retake the initiative in battle, and with it the advantage. But the Tide pilot wasn't facing an Algeen pilot, and the human who had been training for this mission for the past three years saw the wild attack coming from a galaxy away.
Ducking before the Tide mech even began its twist, the human pilot successfully dodged the incoming attack. Only instead of leaving it there she followed up the movement by striking the upper thigh of the Tide mech with the pommel of her sword.
The ball joint located there had been studied by human engineers who, it must be stated, had a better grasp on how to break things then their Algeen counterparts: the joint shattered under the force of the well-placed blow and the stresses the wild swing with an overloaded arm had placed on the machine.
Churk couldn't believe his eyes as the machine crumpled into an awkward heap: with just two well placed blows the mech pilot had managed to take down a significantly better equipped target. His men behind him cheered, but he didn't. The friendly mech wasn't out of the woods yet, and there was still a lot of ground to clear between the fallen melee mech, and its ranged counterpart.
Churk could scarcely breathe as the Tide ranged mech readied itself for a missile salvo. A single Tide missile was capable of wiping out the Algeen mech, but they never fired a single missile. Churk clenched his teeth tight as his men stopped cheering and looked on with horror as smoke began streaking over the battlefield, signalling the death that was currently barrelling for their only hope.
Inside the outmatched Algeen mech however, the human pilot only smiled.
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2023.05.28 14:10 AutoModerator [Get] Ellen Mackenzie – Dishing Up Digital School Download

[Get] Ellen Mackenzie – Dishing Up Digital School Download
Download : https://imcourse.one/get-ellen-mackenzie-dishing-up-digital-school-download
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A LIFE OF FREEDOM & FLEXIBILITY

Dishing up Digital School

Welcome to the ultimate course for new social media managers who refuse to settle for less and are ready to be their own boss.
I started as a social media manager in 2019 with $0 investment. By November that year, I’d matched my corporate salary and I quit my job to go all in on my business.
60+ engaging video lessons to propel your learning and give you the skills you REALLY need to succeed
LIFETIME access to the course so you can reflect back on lessons during your journey
8x workbooks to help keep you accountable and focused with note-taking
Access to my epic membership group Insiders Club, where you’ll have 2x monthly live streams with me and a place to ask questions, get support and network with the other students

Module One & Two

Your success starts with the right foundations and that’s what these lessons are all about. We discuss what your role is as a social media manager, the customer journey on social plus dive deep into your mindset, limiting beliefs and confidence-building exercises.

Module Three

Packaging and pricing your services is one of the biggest challenges new social media managers face which is exactly why we spend an entire module and 6 video lessons discussing this! We’ll cover finding your niche, understanding sales psychology, how to use value-based pricing AND my exact packages and prices when I got started vs what
I offer now.

Module Four

Now that we’ve got our packages, it’s time to sell them! In this module, we dive into how to sell your services, where to find clients and what type of clients you should target in your early days of business. You’ll get exclusive insights into my real client pitches, copy-paste examples and example discovery calls. Even if you don’t have experience, what you’ll learn in these lessons WILL book you your first client.

Module Five

This is the biggest module of the course with 10 video lessons total all about content creation. Everything from writing captions and creating the perfect layout through to how to create reels and stories for clients (or in collaboration with them). What makes this course truly unique compared to other Instagram marketing programs is these techniques are all taught in the context of working with clients and managing other businesses’ social channels.

Module Six

It’s time to take a peek into my systems and strategies for managing multiple clients and keeping things running smoothly. These lessons cover how I use Trello and Google Drive to organise client content, how I schedule posts for clients and how to keep track of analytics and reporting. In this module you will also get an onboarding walkthrough and examples of creating a formal strategy document for a client.

Module Seven

Now that you have your clients and you’ve started making content for them, you’ll face a new set of challenges. This module dives into client communication and relationships highlighting things like how to engage on behalf of clients, what to do with clients that pressure for growth, setting boundaries against “scope creep” and what to do with those “ghost” clients.

Module Eight

Contracts, invoices and accounting aren’t the most thrilling topics, but they’re SO important when you’re setting up your own business. In these lessons, I’ll share easy strategies for how to manage these things solo with templates, software and examples from my journey.

Module Nine

This course isn’t just teaching you how to start your social media business – you’re also going to learn how to scale it! In these lessons get the inside scoop on what my $10k months look like, how to increase your prices, outsourcing and more.
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2023.05.28 14:08 TatGemes2000 Dance of Celestials--Chapter 1

The east wind was frigid during this time of the year. Walking through the streets of Winterport slums was a young man with long silver hair and violet eyes on his handsome yet haggard face. He was about 6 feet tall with a lean and muscular body. He didn't have a lot of fat and looked a bit skinny in his jacket. As always, the man had a listless expression on his face masking any emotions.
“Morning Cal, up to the mines again?” said the portly old street food vendor while setting up his cart.
“Hmm,” replied Cal.
“Always so diligent if everyone else was like you then we wouldn’t need that many enforcers. Be careful out there, I heard the shades are more violent and restless this time of the year. See you tonight,” said the old man.
“Not tonight. I have to monitor the deep mines.”
The old man gave him a worried look. He knew how dangerous it was in the deep mines during the winter. “Your terms have all been fulfilled, Callahan…. You are no longer a slave, remember?”
“Yes.”
“Then why continue this treacherous occupation? I know the money’s well but there are other jobs which won’t kill you just because you stepped on the wrong stone,” he said in frustration.
“I wonder,” Cal said quietly to himself and hurried on his way.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had done something that made him genuinely happy. All his life he had followed orders. First his mother, then his masters, and now his so-called captain who never bats an eye while sending him to the most dangerous sections of the mine. Not like he can blame the captain as he never objects to any of the orders. To him, he must be the model enforcer. Always on time and never asking any questions.
He could never understand himself or his own actions. Maybe living on the edge of life and death is what’s keeping him alive and distracted from all the pain and grief hidden in the deep recesses of his mind. Or maybe he just likes to fight.
Either way, there was something in the mines that kept calling to him. Something that could move his long cold heart. Maybe it could give him a solution to all the nightmares. Or maybe it would be his end. Well, that was also a solution.
…
He arrived at the mine where he could see his captain handing out orders to the new recruits. All of them had hopeful looks on their faces like they were ready for a new page in their lives. All former mining slaves freed from their previous positions after they awakened their mana. The big smiles on their faces were obvious. They knew that this was their ticket to total freedom and exoneration from their previous crimes. Once they complete the basic service term of guarding the miners against the atrocities that surface from the deep mines for 2 years, their citizenship to the empire would be restored.
‘Naïve idiots,’ thought captain Reginald. ‘If it was so easy then we wouldn’t make former slaves into enforcers when there were so many awakened in the city guards. Only one in ten ever survive past the 1-year mark and out of those survivors, half get corrupted and must be put down before they kill everyone else.’
“Reporting for duty captain,” Cal said in an apathetic voice.
“If it isn’t my best enforcer on call. Why I was just waiting for you to get here. You don’t know how relieved I am to see your face,” replied Reginald with a tone that failed to betray any sort of relief. “I was just teaching these new recruits about the shades and their duties but now that you are here, I was wondering if you had room for a few more enforcers on your patrols?”
“Sir, I am going to the deep mines today they would only get in my way.”
“Come now don’t be rude to your juniors how will they learn anything if they don’t experience the real deal,” Reginald replied with an icy tone daring Cal to object.
Cal looked at the captain’s eyes for a moment and guessed that he must have made a bet with his friends on how many new recruits would survive past the first week again. “As you command sir.”
“Good. Good. Now don’t be that disappointed I am assigning you the three best recruits of this month. I’m sure they can hold their own in a fight.”
Four years of serving under the captain had made him aware that the only way to hide from his attention is to never get under his nose. He had made that mistake once and the captain has still not let go of that resentment to this day. Always finding a way to make his life harder. Not that it mattered to Cal if someone hated him, but it still annoyed him when he had to put up with his whims.
Cal looked at the three new recruits and wondered if the captain was lying to him. One look at them and he could say with certainty that they would not live past the three-day mark in the deep mines. Not like he cared anyways.
“Follow me,” he said before walking past them and going towards the mine shafts. Several of the miners looked at him with awe in their eyes as he made his way to the deep mines. The three recruits following him like lost puppies.
One of the recruits with brown hair and black eyes suddenly spoke up.
“What should we call you sir?”
“Cal,” he replied.
“No, I meant your rank, sir. The captain just said that someone will be here to teach us how to deal with the shades, we don’t know how to refer to you without offending you, sir. Oh, I am Bryan by the way.”
“Nothing you say could ever offend me. And enforcers don’t have ranks. At least not officially,” replied Cal. “The longer you can survive here the more respected you are. Seniority is also determined that way. You are first-years and at your most vulnerable time right now so try not to die.”
“Heh, stop exaggerating I have fought shades with my bare hands before, they aren’t anything special. Now that I have a flamestone sword nothing can beat me here,” said the blue-eyed and black-haired recruit with a grin. “You can call me Phil and that’s Safid,” he pointed at the last recruit with burly build and average looks. “Which gang are you from Cal?”
“I don’t like gangs,” replied Cal.
“You must be some weakling who no one wanted,” Phil said in a mocking tone. “How about you join my gang? I am going to make a new gang here once I get the hang of things with Safid. We are going to turn this place upside down and become the best gang. Ain’t that right Safid?”
“Yes boss,” said Safid with an enthusiastic voice.
Cal looked at Phil like he was watching a clown. Forget a gang these fools won’t last two minutes in front of the senior enforcers before being slaughtered like lambs. He shook his head and didn’t bother talking with the soon-to-be deceased.
Phil didn’t like how he was ignored. “Your loss, don’t come crying to me when I am done taking over this place.”
“What year are you sir?” Bryan asked after a while.
“Fourth,” Cal replied coolly.
Before he could ask anything else, Cal motioned for them to stop. They had arrived at the deep mines. Before them, everything was pitch black with only hints of light coming from the occasional flamestone lamps that were on the mine walls.
“It's so dark here,” said Bryan. “Why don’t they add more lamps? I am sure our jobs would be easier if we had more visibility.”
“They don’t last,” said Cal. “The shades consume all light. Only warded Flamestone lamps can be used here. And even those don’t last long in the deep mines before being consumed.”
“Consumed?”
“The fames inside the stones are consumed by whatever supernatural phenomenon shrouds the deep mines, that’s why we enforcers always have to regularly change the flamestone lamps. Whatever consumes the flame stops it from recharging,” Cal stopped explaining and said, “No more questions now. There could be shades anywhere, have your weapons ready.”
The three complied with his words and pulled out their swords from their sheaths. Cal started surveying his surroundings before making his way deeper. They didn’t have to walk for long before coming across the first shade.
It looked almost indistinguishable from its surroundings. They only recognized it because of its white eyes and darker-than-black fur. It had a humanoid figure with a tail that ended with a sword-like structure and a height of 1.5 meters. Cal stepped forward and slashed his sword a few feet away from the monster before it could react. A long slash-shaped white light jumped out of his sword and went towards the shade. The moment it touched the shade it exploded into a bright white light which illuminated their surroundings and blinded the recruits for a few seconds. When they could see again the shade was gone. In its place was a small glowing stone. Cal picked up the stone and showed it to the recruits.
“Flamestone?” asked Bryan.
“Yes,” replied Cal. “That’s why the shades try their best to go to the upper mines. The flamestone lamps here are warded so they can’t consume the flames themselves and there are no active flamestones in the deep mines, but the upper mines don’t suffer from the same environmental phenomenon as here so the flamestones mined from there are all in their activated state. If they can somehow break past the enforcers in the deep mines, then they can go up and consume as much flamestone as they can before they evolve into shadows.”
While Cal didn’t care if these recruits survived, he never half-assed his job so he would train them to the best of his abilities. Whether they were capable enough to follow his instructions was up to them.
“What’s a shadow?” asked Phil.
“Something you don’t want to meet,” replied Cal. “The dropped flamestones are how we make our living. We can exchange them for our salary from the mine administrator.”
“Was that light mana that you used with your sword?” Bryan asked.
“Yes,” he said.
“So that’s your aspect. Must be handy in this area,” noted Bryan.
“It has its perks,” replied Cal. “But that’s enough babysitting. You are gonna fight the next one.”
“But we can’t release our mana yet,” Bryan said.
“I’m sure you learned how to use that sword in your training camp,” Cal said.
“Yeah, stop being a wimp it's only a shade, boss could handle that with his bare hands,” said Safid who had been quiet for a while now.
“Even if we can’t release mana our internal circulation is enough to considerably increase our strength from ordinary humans,” Phil said with some disdain in his voice.
As they were arguing with each other Cal heard some noise in front of them. “Quiet,” he said. “Get ready it's coming.”
All three took up proper stance and looked ahead. ‘At least they aren’t completely amateurs’ Cal thought as another adolescent shade approach them.
Phil was the first to lunge forward and slash with his sword, but the shade jumped back before he reached it. It growled before swiping its claws towards Phil. Phil reacted quickly and blocked with his sword, but the claws were just a distraction as its tail swung from behind and hit his side. Phil screamed as blood dripped down from his abdomen. It was cut by the sharp tail sword.
‘Tch, not even a few seconds.’ Cal was about to step forward when Bryan stepped in and stabbed his sword directly into the head of the shade while it was distracted with finishing off Phil.
“You alright?” Bryan asked Phil.
“Just a small scratch I will be fine. I would have got him if you didn’t step forward,” replied Phil.
“You were never hit by a shade, were you?” Cal asked.
“No,” Phil replied.
“Well then pray to whatever deity you believe in that you don’t get infected.”
“Aren’t we immune to that after we awaken?” asked Bryan.
“Not weaklings like you no,” Cal replied. “Only once you have fully assimilated your mana onto your blood vessels are you immune to that. You only have internal mana circulating in your veins. You have to slowly assimilate mana in your blood vessels so that you can fight off invaders entering your blood.”
“I won’t die just because of some fucking scratch,” Phil said though with some uncertainty.
“Patch yourself and get ready to move we still haven’t reached our patrol area,” Cal ordered.
They began moving again once Phil took care of his wound. After an hour of walking and three more encounters with shades which Cal took care of due to Phil’s delay, they finally reached their patrol area.
It was a fork in the road. One of the caves lead to a large cavern while the other went deeper into the mines.
“We will set up camp here. That cavern to our left has already been fully mined so there aren’t any flamestones over there. Hence more young shades are born over there. The lower the amount of flamestone, the easier it is for the deep mines to affect the surrounding environment. But the shades aren’t as strong since young shades don’t have any flamestones in them,” Cal explained while placing the flamestones picked from the previous shades around them to provide a better view.
“So, the ones we fought earlier were very strong. That must be why I had a hard time dealing with the first one,” Phil said regaining his previous confidence.
“Just one step above the weakest. The more flamestone they drop the stronger they are,” replied Cal. “We will be guarding this fork for 18 hours before the next shift takes over. Don’t let your guard down just because you will be facing weaker enemies. Shades are very smart and will group up when they are young. We can’t let them go deeper into the mines or towards the surface.”
Bryan raised his hand. Which was weird as he didn’t do that before.
“Yes,” Cal said letting him know that he could ask what he wanted.
“Why can’t we let them go down?”
“Because they will be a nuisance and distraction to the other enforcers up ahead,” Cal replied.
“There are others down there?” asked Phil.
“Where there are flamestones there are miners. Even if they are in their inactive state here. You are lucky I was told to patrol this section of the deep mine today. Young shades can’t infect the awakened. If we went deeper, you would not survive for long,” Cal said.
What followed next for the recruits was an excruciating hurdle of disposing waves of shades for hours upon hours until their bodies started to give in. Cal watched from the sides while taking care of most of the shades. Even still the recruits were having a hard time staying alive. Most of their bodies were covered in scratches. If they were ordinary humans they would have already been infected, maybe even corrupted. Cal was slightly impressed and realized he had underestimated them.
‘Huh. They could at least survive five days rather than three,’ he thought. However, he shouldn’t have tempted fate as it turned out.
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2023.05.28 14:05 Wannabe-Wizard-1007 All Human World & Fantasy Ancestries

Hello. I have been working on a world building project on and off for several years now. It is mostly used for TTRPG campaigns I run. My nerdy high school self loving stuff like Tolkien, Baldur's Gate, & Elder Scrolls meant that world started out as generic. However as time has gone on I have go through multiple rounds of resetting the world and rebuilding. Since I study things like comparative politics, public policy, international relations, political economics, and religious history in college I tend to do these restarts whenever I finished a major semester or year. Right now I am in the middle of another round of rebuilding and had some questions . Sorry for the long setup, I tend to be overly verbose when it comes to stuff that I can care about like worldbuilding.
So the setting I am working on is right now called Mundis. Over time I have shrunken the "known world" down. Decided that it was not really worth adding in all these more outside cultures into a setting for vague ideas of diversity if I wasn't going to be able to give these other cultures their due justice. On of these shrinking efforts resulted in me making it so their were no other ancestries other than humans. After all if I am basing a culture on the Minoan Greeks it kinda feels weird to then make them all nonhuman elves or whatever. Plus other ancestries tend to result in different life spans which makes a historic timeline of the setting more annoying to make or you have to start asking questions about who can breed with who. All and all it is a real headache.
However, I do still like some aesthetic elements associated with ancestries. So I have thought about adding aspects back in, but still making them just minor differences in what are humans. For example have thought about making it so the ancient Celtic like people of my world had elf like ears (again don't know why just always liked that look). Nowadays such a trait is usually only found among the people of the Island Kingdom of Caliden (the primary setting for most of my campaigns). I also wanted to make it so more wolf like peoples live in the northern highlands of Caliden. Cause in the past I made it so the ancient culture of the land thought werewolves were a sacred blessing from Cernun the Slayer & God of the Hunt. Thus in the highlands, where people are more resistant to the missionary efforts of the Church of Magna Matrona, there is still a practice of clan chiefs and their close kin purposely becoming werewolves. Such traditions have made it so the peoples of the highlands clans commonly are more hairy and have sharper teeth. However, they are still normal humans at the end of the day and if it wasn't for people going out of their way to be werewolves then have kids then these traits would go away after a few generations. Then in the north I wanted to give my Finno-Ugric inspired peoples tusk-like teeth, don't have a fully fleshed out reason why, but I already had them using saber tooth tigers as mounts and hunting mammoths, so have some ideas about connecting this to some religious or cultural rites (perhaps some kind of magic blood baptism. That using these more toothy animals blood affects people in way that makes them take on that aspect of these beasts.) Then the last one I thought of was having an cultural group in my ancient Greek inspired island region called the Men-of-Taros. These would be a more traditional, militant, and Minoan inspired people who are also known for having horns on their head. Again don't have a fully fleshed out reason for this.
When it comes to this stuff I am not worried so much if these ideas are bad. I am just worried I am trying to have my cake and eat it too when it comes to having an all human world but keeping aspects of many traditional fantasy ancestries. Not to mention I don't want to seem like I am trying to purposely paint one culture as more "savage" (my goal would be to portrayed something like werewolves in a nuanced way to try to avoid that.) So do you all think I am trying to have it both ways too much and should just bite the bullet, go all normal humans or go back to having some fantasy ancestries again. Again sorry if I my over writing is an annoyance. Also re-posted this since I messed up the title of the last version of this post.
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