Vienna, the city of music, art, and grandeur, harbors a clandestine world that pulses beneath its elegant façade. Nestled within its cobblestone streets and Baroque architecture lies an enigmatic realm known only to the initiated—a realm where desires are laid bare and fantasies come to life. Welcome to Vienna’s infamous Red Light District, a place where curiosity meets temptation and the nocturnal pulse of the city thrives.
​
Tucked away in the shadows of Vienna’s bustling thoroughfares, the Red Light District beckons with its neon-lit alleys and discreet entrances. Here, amidst the swirl of cigar smoke and whispered promises, one can glimpse a side of Vienna rarely seen by the daylight. Venturing into this realm is akin to stepping into a different era—a time when discretion was paramount and indulgence knew no bounds.
​
The heart of Vienna’s Red Light District lies in the historic Leopoldstadt district, where narrow streets wind their way through a labyrinth of old-world charm. As dusk descends, the district awakens, casting a seductive spell over all who dare to wander its cobblestone lanes. The air is thick with anticipation, and every corner holds the promise of an unforgettable encounter.
​
From clandestine brothels to risqué cabarets, the Red Light District offers a kaleidoscope of delights for the adventurous soul. Here, one can lose themselves in the sultry rhythms of jazz clubs or indulge in the forbidden pleasures of burlesque shows. The district’s myriad establishments cater to every taste and inclination, ensuring that each visitor finds their own version of nocturnal bliss.
​
But beyond its allure lies a darker underbelly—a world where desperation and exploitation lurk in the shadows. Beneath the glitz and glamour of the Red Light District lies a stark reality, where the lives of those ensnared in its web are anything but glamorous. It is a reminder that behind every tantalizing façade lies a human story, often one of vulnerability and exploitation.
​
Yet, amidst the complexities of Vienna’s Red Light District, there is also a sense of liberation—a space where taboos are challenged, and boundaries are pushed. For some, it is a place of empowerment, where they reclaim their autonomy and embrace their sexuality without shame or judgment. For others, it is a fleeting escape from the constraints of everyday life—a moment of hedonistic abandon in a city steeped in tradition.
​
As dawn breaks over Vienna’s skyline, the Red Light District retreats into the shadows once more, leaving behind whispered memories and tantalizing secrets. Yet, for those who dare to explore its depths, the allure remains—an invitation to delve deeper into the mysteries of the night and uncover the hidden truths that lie beneath the surface.
​
In Vienna’s Red Light District, the line between fantasy and reality blurs, and for a fleeting moment, anything seems possible. It is a place where passions run wild, and inhibitions fade away—a place where the pulse of the city beats strongest and the spirit of adventure reigns supreme. So, if you dare to venture into Vienna’s forbidden corners, be prepared to lose yourself in the intoxicating embrace of the night.

Hi All!
It's been a while since I made my last FV Lore post; unfortunately life stuff has gotten in the way.
So this will likely be my last theory post (alongside one last Eragon post) until new books are released or Chris does a lot of revealing media stuff.
That said, lets get into it.
The focus of this post is around this picture, curiously uploaded to Paolini's website back in 2015; a full five years before TSIASOS was released. I will come back to this point in a bit, but the timing here is significant.
There are six (well, seven) objects in the photo:
Top left - A moon. Can't say specifically which one, but it's smaller than the planet
Top middle - A sketch of Kira's spaceship at the end of TSIASOS.
Top right - The Wallfish.
Middle Left: A "glowing" star
Middle right: Nidus (See the terminator?)
Bottom Middle Left: Black orb flying FROM the ripple TO the star. VERY significant for WoE, but I will talk about that in another post.
Bottom: Ripple.
And lastly - The edges. They're all shaded in.
OK, cool, but why is the timing this photo was posted significant?
Chris mentions here that he had to do revisions.
Now, I can't find the exact quote but in one of his interviews Paolini mentioned that one of the big changes in those revisions is the introduction of corrupted/nightmares (at least into TSIASOS mainline story).
The initial ending of To Sleep was to have Kira flying to the Jelly homeworld. And remember - that photo is dated before those revisions took place. Which means each of the items in this picture were included in the original story - Kira's ship, the Wallfish, Nidus, Ripples, the Black mark. All were planned before the initial inclusion of the Maw/nightmares to drive the story.
So, that means in the initial book, Kira still gains the ability to craft her very high-tech spaceship by the end. But... Without the Maw/corrupted to drive her to change and grow, how does she gain the ability/knowledge? Hmm.
The most significant artifacts in this photo are at the bottom left.
The glowing star, the black orb, and the ripple. They're all related, tied together by the Black orb and it's trajectory - Coming FROM the ripple heading TO the star. In TSIASOS, Ripples are strangely omitted from the Appendices, and in-text, the Wranaui refuse to answer any questions about them.
So... what does it mean? What are Ripples and what can we glean from this picture?
Quite a bit, actually, if we piece together certain things from Chris. Let's dive in.
First - Ripples.
Ripples are the Wraunai description for these phenomenon. Chris has previously stated that a lot of their terminology is shaped by their growth as a species from water:

The Wranaui terminology makes more sense when you take into account that (a) they evolved in water, and (b) space time in the Fractalverse is actually fluidic in nature. (There are some serious hints/clues in the FTL paper at the back of To Sleep. :D)

They refer to The Great Beacons as "Whirlpools", which (per the tweet) in a fluidic spacetime context likely means they are Black Holes.
We can use the same logic to apply it to Ripples. What are Ripples in a spacetime context?
They are disruptions, specifically to the fabric of spacetime itself. But... what does that mean? And what does that imply?
It means Time Travel.
I know, I know. It's a huge leap to make. I've covered it more in-depth in this post, but I'll recap it quickly here:
He explicitly says we have an "issue" with time on one of my previous posts here

Right now no matter what way you swing it, we have issues in terms of time.

Correct.

I'm also guessing we're dealing with the very real issue of "Paolini is making up new shit as he goes", and is finding ways to retroactively make things fit together.

Incorrect. (Or at least, mostly incorrect. :D)
There's a major piece to the puzzle that I haven't shared yet. The next two Fractalverse books will clarify.

He has also shown numerous posts on Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook that show he was thinking deeply about time travel, and trying to "solve" time travel paradoxes. This is especially significant because he was talking about it since as early as 2012, when he was writing the initial version of TSIASOS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 just for a few examples.
Chris has hinted heavily in the past about some nature of the story that we (the reader) do not understand.
And he has hinted that there are major issues with "time" in the story.
So, time travel is the natural answer (along with all of the other meta pieces of evidence).
Now, given the secrecy around time travel as a concept and Ripples as a phenomenon, the clues suggest is that time-travel is related to the "ripples".
And if we fit that in with the context of the Wraunai perspective of fluidic spacetime.. a picture starts to emerge.
Ripples are a series of waves on the surface of water, typically caused by something entering the body of water.
So, if spacetime is fluidic, it would mean the ripples are waves or disruptions in spacetime, related to time travel
And, my guess, is that something "causes" the ripple. . Because something from Superluminal space "enters" or "exits" spacetime. Something traveling back in time.
So lets return back to the initial photo here, with the Black Orb heading for the glowing sun, coming out of the Ripple.
If time travel is a concept, and if the Ripples are related to time travel, it means that the Black Orb likely comes from another time.
But I think time travel is a bit more "fixed" than that; one can't time travel all willy-nilly. There needs to be some underlying mechanism or technology that enables the time travel.
That's what the Great Beacons are for. They are a fixed "point" that, effectively, acts as a save state for the universe.
Let's walk through the logic here.
The hole near The Great Beacon emits waves (ripples?) of sound that are an encoded Mandelbrot set.
But there's an issue here... The Beacons aren't functioning.
So, what is actually happening with the "Thuds"? Let's examine two passages from Fractal Noise:

Strange artifacts in the fractal fuzz; distortions of the pattern that shimmered like prismatic refractions. But they never appeared for longer than ten point six seconds. That unforgiving, unnyielding subdivision that rules his life, and it seemed, the rest of the universe itself" (Apotheosis, FN).

So, these "beings" are real, but they are being dispersed every 10.6 seconds from the "Thuds" - Which come from the hole, rather than the great beacon (as the great beacon is not active).

"The distortions were everywhere now, hovering about him like rainbow warpings of the spacetime fabric. They had an involuted appearance, as if reality was folding in on itself at different points, and he had an inexplicable feeling that they were real, and that they were watching him... and always had been. Only now the substance of existence had thinned enough for him to become aware of their presence" (Apotheosis, FN).

So... they exist around the universe, but previously he couldn't see them because reality (the luminal membrane) was not thin enough to see them.
But now it is, close to the hole, so he can see them. These are beings that live in Superluminal space - My theory; they're spirits from WoE.
So the sub and superluminal realms start to "merge", until they're broken up by the thuds emitted from the hole.
So the hole, not the beacon itself, prevents the realms from merging at the point around the hole.
But the beacon isn't active. So the hole is the one disrupting the merging. Which implies if the beacon WAS active, the opposite would be true - the point around the beacon WOULD merge.
Which would allow one to phsyically go into the superluminal realm. Which would enable one to time travel.
Whew. I'll take a pause here for a moment. I wish I had more time to really structure my thoughts and evidence here, but I'll have to make do.
There's a quote, I believe, that ties this all together, from TSIASOS:

The sky was a field of diamonds, and her body had limbs and senses unknown to her. She glided through the quiet dusk, and she was not alone; others moved with her. Others she knew. Others she cared for. They arrived at a black gate, and her companions stopped, and she mourned, for they would not meet again. Alone she continued through the gate, and through it came to a secret place (Exeunt I, TSIASOS).

Black Gate. It's a Great Beacon. A "fixed point" time travel.
There are issues with Time. There are unexplained "Ripples" in spacetime. There are points where the luminal membrane naturally thins, but are seemingly dispersed by the holes. It all seems to line up.
There's one more piece of evidence I want to go over, that speaks to the nature of time travel, and why the Old Ones needed time travel in the first place.
It comes down to the death of the universe. The universe is fated to die.
The Old Ones want to do whatever they can to avoid the fated death of the universe. So, near the "end of days", they created these devices to travel back to fixed points in time.
Their goal here was to change their actions, to foster and grow new species to find a way to escape the fated death of the universe. Which connects back to this unexplained picture.
The lightning bolts are the branching paths of time travel. Each time the Old Ones travel back in time, they create a new "branching" reality. The ripples are caused by Great Beacons (or potentially other methods of time travel).
The last piece I want to connect here is this. There is a podcast Chris does where he mentions this quote:

"we can understand why life does what it does, we need food, need warmth, need social, need to eat, need to avoid predators, leads to behavior we can understand... the only time it really gets weird is when the aliens upload all their brains to computers and their just machines and go off the deep end"

This is awfully specific, Chris. Upload all of their brains to computers and they're just machines and go off the deep end?
What was the Nest of Transference again..? Hmm.
The last few pieces here I'm just going to throw out there with zero basis for evidence.
Kira's plan to track down the seven pieces of the Maw must either involve:
1) Kira splitting herself into pieces to track them down
2) Kira time traveling to prevent/deal with the seven pieces
3) Kira repairing/recreating the Staff of Blue to authoritatively destroy the Maw fragments
Otherwise, it would take too much time to individually hunt down each piece before they grow to have MASSIVE armies that would steamroll the rest of the universe.
Alright, that's enough rambling from me. There's a lot more I wanted to cover and connect back to Eragon lore, but I have to cut it short. I'm curious to come back and read this down the line to see if I got any of these guesses correct.
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments

Dear Brave Redditors of BusinessPH that started a business!
As previously announced, to support those who took the first step in braving the difficult world of entrepreneurship, we moderators would like to help boost their business!

We are inviting everybody willing to share their beginning and how they faced their early challenges in business.

As an incentive, those who would share their stories are encouraged to include the links to their website/social media. Hopefully, with your compelling business story, readers will visit and support your business.
As a bonus, we are planning to give those who would participate a user flair, "verified entrepreneur" or "verified business owner" (open for suggestions).
Hopefully, this weekly discussion will grow and be the go to post if you are considering starting a business. Please share your experience/struggles/questions/advices!
​
P. S. Pwede mag kwento ng tagalog or english. Kung san ka komportable. You do you!

I recently finished listening to Tom Lake by Ann Patchett narrated by Meryl Streep and I haven’t been able to keep my attention on a different audiobook since. This story was so warm and inviting (maybe it was Streep’s voice and the cherry orchards? The familial love?) while also showing the main characters’ humanity and flaws in a way that I love.
I am a fan of historical fiction, multiple perspectives (via different POVs or flashbacks) and character building. Specifically looking for an audiobook for when I go on walks, and this might have been too slow paced for me in text (I DNF the text version of Patchett’s The Dutch House a few summers ago).

I confessed my sins to a priest here in my area. I prefer to confess in a "confession booth" or a "confessional" but there is none. I pray that every church or diocese has a confession booth so that people will confess to a priest without being afraid to tell their sins (the priest can't see your face, vice versa)
Anyways, I saved my 2 great sins for last: watching PORN and MASTURBATING. I told the priest that I can last a week or two without it but can't last a month without it. The priest told me to pray the Rosary after, and so I did. I will try my best to pray it everyday, at least twice!
I'm currently sober at the moment from those 2 sins that I mentioned above. Thank you God, Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit and Mama Mary :)
PS: I also confessed to the priest that I take the Communion even if I know that I have committed mortal sins (porn, masturbating). He called it sacrilege and he says that it's a big sin as well, yeah I confessed it too.
PPS: I dunno what are the list of mortal sins in the Catholic Church. There is no official list, many different versions and it's confusing
Anyways, thank you for reading my short story. For those people here who are struggling with porn and masturbating, I will include you ALL in my prayers 🙏🙏🙏

Hi all, I’ve never posted here but without this community I couldn’t have gotten through the last 5 months on no contact.
Long story short, I (30 M) dated her (28 F) for 5 years. We even lived together abroad for a year. She started to go cold over the last few weeks and broke up with me in November, rather unexpectedly. I immediately went no contact and listened to all the typical YouTube coaches on how to get through this period.
I have to say going no contact was the best thing I could’ve done. I worked to improve myself and had a more clear mind on the cons of our relationship. In some ways I’m grateful for the breakup, it helped me grow as a person.
Well I finally started to feel better and even started seeing someone new and of course she texts me just as I was moving on. It was a simple text, nothing substantial but I’m not sure if I will respond or not.
I’m posting this because no contact saved my sanity, I’m not sure if your person will ever reach out but use this time to become a better version of yourself. When else will you have time to just dedicate everything to yourself? Take advantage of it and fall in love with you again.
Good luck all!

I can't remember most of the story of it but I do remember having worksheets and having to do a play. I just remember a wild dance scene where he raps and does hip hop while the dad looks on in horror. I'm not sure what else to add, but I do know the character's names are Sylvie and Rejean? (French version of Reginald)

I'm on what must be my fith or sixth playthrough been playing since launch and every time I play through it I wish for the same feature the zombie powers rage mode it's the coolest part of aidens whole character and its only used in the story please tech land add it as a rage power we can just activate once it builds up enough i don't even need it to have a side mission explanation like guns did just at a certain point in the story we learn how to do it like walts it would be so cool and if you wanna make a side mission for it maybe he just meets some witch that teaches him to control it i just can't help think how fun it be to have just tearing threw the renegades or bandits or volatile the story clearly wants us to view Aiden as this sub super human monster hybrid but refuses to allow that in his gameplay he's strong but I want that crazy monstrous version of him the story goes so far and works so amazingly to create in the actual gameplay and open world and I really don't want it locked behind a dlc expansion I'd like it it in the base game the way they added guns but if it takes a dlc so be it but I just know it would add so much to the experience it would be such a loved addition to the game its one of the most modded in features I've seen for pc players (unfortunately I'm on console) i really think it would be amazing much love though and appreciate all the content yall give us keep up the amazing work loving the update (posted this on their community ideas tab on their website if anyone wants to go vote for it I know they add lots of features that get good traction there's a few ideas like it already up there but most just say rage without explanation mine will have this post as the description feel free to vote for any others that you see describe it better then mine I don't care about the credit just want the feature anyway possible)

This is the weekly translation status update thread. Use this thread to discuss translation news, issues, titles you're looking forward to, etc.
Note: This is simply a mirror from 4chan's weekly thread on the /jp/ board. All credit goes to the user VNTS there. Entries in Bold have had changes since last week
Fan Translations

• 12RIVEN -the Ψcliminal of integral- - 42% translated
  
• Aikano ~Yukizora no Triangle~ - Common Route translated
  
• Aiyoku No Eustia - In progress 100% TL patch leaked, project to continue, 100% Translated/edited/TLC
  
• Akatsuki no Goei ~Principal-tachi no Kyuujitsu~ - 100% translated and edited, 70.11% through QA
  
• Akatsuki no Goei ~Tsumibukaki Shuumatsuron~ - 100% translated, 37,354 lines edited (61.45%), 4,508 (7.42%) through QA
  
• Axanael - "Overwhelming majority" of the text translated, including the main story, some side content remains, in need of editing
  
• CHAOS;HEAD Love Chu Chu! - 70.54% translated, 22.70% edited
  
• CHAOS;CHILD Love Chu Chu!! - 100% translated, 55.30% edited
  
• Chicchakunai Mon - 100% translated and 39.5% edited
  
• Chusingura 46+1 - 35329/82770 (42.68%) lines translated, Kuranosuke route partial patch released
  
• Deatte 5-fun wa Ore no Mono! Jikan Teishi to Atropos - Common Route patch released
  
• Dragon Knight 4 - 60% translated, playtesting also ongoing
  
• Eiga Go-toubun no Hanayome ~Kimi to Sugoshita Itsutsu no Omoide~ - 100% translated and edited
  
• Fate/Stay Night - Partial patch released with a new translation for Fate/UBW/9 days of HF
  
• Enrenchuu no Toshishita Kanojo ga Onna ni Ueta Osuzaru-domo no Gakuen de Koubi Aite ni Sareteta. - 10% translated
  
• GinIro Haruka - Released
  
• Haruka na Sora - Sora and Yahiro routes translated, Kozue 75% translated, Sora 90% edited
  
• Honoo no Haramase Oppai Nyuu Doukyuusei ~Oppai mo Haramase! New Class Zen'in Harama-sensation!~ - Picked up, porting to Ren'Py
  
• If My Heart Had Wings: Snow Presents - 100% translated, 100% edited
  
• Jisatsu no Tame no 101 no Houhou - 17% translated
  
• Junketsu Megami-Sama - 2nd Alpha patch released, Astarotte route finishing up
  
• Kaseki no Uta - Translation: 15389/15389 (100%)
  
• Ken ga Kimi - 58% translated
  
• Koukan no Toriko-Tachi - Prologue, common, and Cuckold Play route translated, Swinging Route 35%, Yukari POV 40%
  
• Kud Wafter AA Version - 23,835/31,579 (75.5%) Lines translated, 18+ Version 19,240 / 33,113 (58.1) lines translated
  
• Kusarihime ~Euthanasia~ - Translation finished, fully edited
  
• Lover Able - 100% translated and edited, 8466/32258 lines approved (26.26%)
  
• Lucky Star ~Ryouou Gakuen Outousai~ - episode 1 patch released
  
• Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! A - Ryouken Route After - 1942/3,494 (55.58%) lines translated
  
• Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! A Plus Disk - Preparing files
  
• Manakashi no Yuri wa Akaku Somaru - 66% translated
  
• Miagete Goran, Yozora no Hoshi o - 1 of 4 routes translation finished for the restoration patch, Houkiboshi Hika 2 of 4 H-scenes translated
  
• Nursery Rhyme - 100% translated and edited, text insertion 100% complete, testing ongoing
  
• Pure Pure - 100% translated, needs proofreading, partial patch released, all routes have been inserted
  
• Sakura no Uta - Chapter I 30% translated
  
• Sakura No Toki - 5.11% translated, 4.58% edited
  
• Sakura Wars 2 - Demo patch released, ADV, Battle, and "Long Day in the Theater" mode fully translated, disc 1 text inserted
  
• Sen no Hatou, Tsukisome no Kouki - Both original and fan disc 100% translated, in need of editing
  
• Shirotsume Yubiwa - 100% translated, 50% beta patch released
  
• Shizuku - 120/197 script files translated, 20/197 edited
  
• Taima Seiko Alice - 35% translated, 35% edited, 35% proofread, 1st partial patch out
  
• Tenshi no Inai 12-gatsu - 100% translated, Editing ongoing
  
• To Heart - 720/993 scripts translated, 200/993 edited
  
• Tokimeki Memorial 2 - Being translated
  
• Tokimeki Memorial Girls Side 4 - 55% translated
  
• Tsui no Sora Remake - 100% translated and edited, entering QC
  
• Umi kara Kuru Mono - 91/138 scripts translated
  
• Ushinawareta Mirai o Motomete - 44.9% Translated
  
• Yosuga no Sora - Translation finished, editing and TLC ongoing, Total: TL 100% TLC 71% ED 55%, Common/Kazuha/Motoka/Sora routes fully edited
  

Official work
MangaGamer

• The Pillagers of Raillore - Out of Beta
  
• Ciconia - Phase 1 Released
  
• Hadaka Shitsuji fandisc - Picked up
  
• Rance 03 - 73% translated, 41% edited
  
• Rance X - 90% translated, 5% edited
  
• Luckydog1 - Translation nearly complete
  
• Funbag Fantasy 4 - 80% translated, 78% edited
  
• Eve of the 12th Month - 100% translated and 88% edited
  
• DEAD DAYS - 100% translated and edited
  
• Beat Valkyrie Ixseal - 84% translated and 81% edited
  
• Welcome to a Sexy, Open World - 92% translated and 86% edited
  

JAST

• Sumaga- Slow progress ongoing
  
• Katahane - Progress being made again
  
• Django - Not actively making progress
  
• Tokyo Hero Project - Translation finished, dealing with bugs
  
• Machine Child - Still being developed
  
• Yomegami: My Sweet Goddess - 100% translated
  
• Yamizome Liberator - Picked up
  
• Mojika: Truth Rears Its Ugly Head - Picked up
  
• Djibril - 100% translated, in editing
  
• Sisters: Last Day of Summer - June 3rd release
  
• Masquerade: Hell Academy - Through 1st QA pass, in 2nd QA pass
  
• Paradise - Released
  

Age titles

• Kiminozo - Aiming for a Summer 2024 release

Sekai/Denpa

• Kuri Kuri Click! ~My Summer Vacation!~ - May 3rd release
  
• Happy Saint Sheol - 100% edited, 40% QA, waiting on build, Demo released
  
• Harumade Kururu - Waiting on build
  
• Rewrite+ Harvest Festa - 100% translated, 40% edited
  
• Subete no Koi ni, Hanabata o. - 50% translated
  
• Sumire - Picked up
  
• Sanarara R - 100% translated and edited, waiting on build
  
• Glass - Picked up
  
• New Glass - Picked up
  
• Karakara 3 - 100% translated and edited, 70% engine work
  
• Yume to Iro de Dekiteiru - 100% translated, 35% edited
  
• Zutto Mae Kara Joshi Deshita - 100% translated, in editing
  
• Gakkou no Seiiki - 100% translated and edited, Waiting on build
  
• Chiisana Kanojo no Serenade - 75% translated, 35% edited
  
• Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi - 10% translated
  
• Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi AA - Announced
  
• Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka - 50% translated
  
• Hamidashi Creative - Announced
  
• Inupara - In Development
  
• Nekopara After La Vraie Familie - In Development
  
• Raspberry Cube - Announced
  
• NEKO-NIN exHeart SPIN - 100% translated and edited, waiting on build
  

VisualArts

• Summer Pockets Reflection Blue - 2024 release

Nekonyan

• Dracu Riot - Waiting on Build, Release date announcement on hold until after Angel Chaos
  
• Melty Moment - 80% translated
  
• Aoi Tori - April 30th release
  
• Fureraba Complete edition - Vita exclusive content to be added to Fureraba a couple months after the fandisc release
  
• Floral Flowlove - 100% translated, 70% edited, enging port ongoing
  
• Kakenuke Seishun Sparking - 80% translated, 70% edited, QA started
  
• Love, Elections, & Chocolate -100% translated and edited, Engine port nearly finished, entering QA shortly
  
• Love Love Love, Burning in my Heart! - 100% translated and 74% edited
  
• Ready or Not: The Deadline is Coming! - 100% translated, 99% edited, waiting on build
  
• Mysteries of the Heart: The Psychic Detective Case Files - 100% translated and edited, engine work in progress
  
• Angel Chaos RE-BOOT! - Delayed after Steam rejection
  
• Secret Project 2 - 100% translated and edited, queued for Unity port
  
• Secret Project 3 - 100% translated and edited, 50% though QA
  

PQube

• SINce Memories: Off the Starry Sky - Announced

Dualtail

• Venus Blood Ragnarok - Kickstarter starting in May

Frontwing

• Sharin no Kuni - Working to resolve remaining issues
  
• Lilja and Natsuka: Painting Lies - June 6th release
  
• Everlasting Flowers - June 27th release date
  
• Revue Starlight El Dorado - August 8th release
  

Fakku

• Two Beasts Or Not To Beast!! - 2.0 version, editing in progress
  
• Forbidden Ward - In Pre-Production
  

Saikey Studios (mix of official/unofficial)

• The Reason For Your Smile - Steam page up, Happy and NTR routes translated
  
• Toaru Hahaoya no Ayamachi ~Yukari Hen~ - 50% translated
  

HyoukanOpera

• Knight Case Files - Trial released, upcoming release

MAGES. GAMES

• Corpse Party II - Darkness Distortion - 2024 release

Voltage Inc.

• Project Code Kaleido Tower - 2024 release
  
• Project Code Neon Mafia - 2024 release
  
• Project Code Vampire Hunter - 2025 release
  

Aksys

• Radiant Tale -Fanfare- - June 27th release
  
• Tales from Toyotoki: Arrival of the Witch - Summer release
  
• Virche Evermore -EpiC: Lycoris- - Fall release
  
• Despera Drops - 2025 release
  

B-cluster

• Re;quartz Raid- 2024 release

MediBang Inc.-

• Cocktail Magic - Upcoming release

Kamitsubaki Studio

• KAMITSUBAKI CITY REGENERATE - Upcoming release

Dayu Zixun

• Voice Love on Air - Upcoming release

Kemco Corporation

• Horrific Xanatorium - Released

Shiravune

• Amazing Grace -What color is your attribute? - Released
  
• Taimanin Yukikaze - April 30th release
  
• Mashiroiro Symphony HD -Love is Pure White- - May 2nd release
  
• Mashiroiro Symphony HD -Sana Edition- - May 2nd release
  
• NYO-NIN-JIMA -My New Life in Charge of a Tropical Island- - 2024 release
  
• Kara no Shoujo III - Announced
  
• Destiny Star Girlfriend 2 - Q2 2024 release
  
• Real Hentai Situation! 2 - 2024 release
  
• Sacrifice Villains - Announced
  
• AMANATSU ~Perfect Edition~ - Announced
  

Kagura Games

• Yoru ga Kuru! -Square of the Moon- Remastered - 2024 release
  
• Forsaken Quartet - Upcoming release
  

Aniplex

• Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon - June 27th release
  
• Fate/stay night REMASTERED - 2024 release
  
• Hookah Haze - 2024 release
  
• Tanetsumi no Uta - 2024 release
  

Spike Chunsoft

• The Quintessential Quintuplets: Memories of a Quintessential Summer - Announced
  
• The Quintessential Quintuplets: Five Memories Spent With You - Announced
  

Love Lab

• Ever Maiden - 2024 release

DLsite

• Friendly lab - unlock(); - Upcoming release
  
• Club Suicide - Picked up
  

Idea Factory

• 9 R.I.P. - Fall 2024 release
  
• Date A Live: Ren Dystopia - 2024 release
  
• Cupid Parasite: Sweet and Spicy Darling - 2024 release
  

CRAFTWORK

• Geminism - English version announced

Harukaze

• Monkeys! - English release planned

Moonchime

• Haunted Obachestra Vol.1 Awaking - Upcoming release

Alice In Dissonance

• Fault Milestone 2 - Side Below - Upcoming release

G-mode

• Shinjuku Soumei - Demo Released, May 24th release

HyoukanOpera

• Knight Case Files - January release

MiKandi Japan

• Libra of the Vampire Princess - All versions of the patches in testing

Artlink

• Married Woman Hypnosis Counseling - Announced
  
• A Tale of Hard Nipples ~The secret to this town's confectionery's delicious sweets is rich, fresh milk~ - Announced
  
• Professional Married Woman Cuckolder - Announced
  

PRODUCTION PENCIL

• Paradise Cleaning! -Tutor X Hypnosis - January release

072 Project

• Princess Paradise - 2024 release

F&C

• NTR with hypnosis application - Upcoming release

Eroge Japan

• Trap Yuri Garden - 2024 release

Tensei Games

• Unfaithful Wife: Ayano's "Netorare Report" - My gentle wife is fucking another man - Q2 2024 release

GRAVITY GAME ARISE

• Tokyo Psychodemic - Demo released, May 30th release

Dark [Word I can't say due to Automod deleting my posts:(]

• Master & Succubi Hentai Lessons 2 - April release

MintLip

• Him, the Smile & Bloom - August 8th release

Other

• NarKarma EngineA - Announced, in development

​
Cliff Smith grunts as he wraps his hands around the barbell, bends his knees, and lowers his six-foot-three frame toward the floor. He tenses his entire body, exhales twice, and starts pulling 455 pounds upward. His legs shake as he stands fully upright, and then he lowers the weight, breathes deeply, and does it all over again. He does five total reps, then drops the bar and smiles. "Ain't even winded," he says. "Holla at me. "
The five reps are a personal best for Smith (better known as Method Man), who loves starting his day by chasing PRs.
On this morning, he's in a Staten Island gym pondering his next milestone birthday (he turns 50 in March) and crushing sets of deadlifts, pullups, and barbell rows. "I gotta get my roses now," he says,"because I'm almost 50 fucking years old. Damn near 50 years old, bruh. "The Grammy Award-winning rap veteran has focused creativity into a host of projects lately. He appears in Starz's drama Power Book II: Ghost (returning for the second half of its first season in December); he voiced the character Ben Urich in Marvels, a narrative-fiction podcast; and he's working on new music.
His morning workout has readied him for all that-and it's kept him from predawn video-game marathons. In 2018, Smith says, he was battling insomnia, frequently waking at 2:00 and playing NBA2K. Realizing he was "just wasting time," Smith searched for a more productive use of his early-morning hours. "So at 4:00 , I find myself in the gym working out," he says. "Two days turned into three days. Three days turned into five days, and I've been consistent ever since. " Bonus: His insomnia is gone.
Smith now weighs 219, 12 pounds less than he weighed when he first started training. He hits legs Mondays, shoulders Tuesdays, back Wednesdays, chest Thursdays, and arms Fridays. "He's a beast," says his workout partner, Joey Crespo. "Our routine has only been heavy, heavy, all year round. "
At the moment, that means gritting out three sets of seated lat pulldowns, followed by a core exercise that has him on his knees, rolling a wheel forward, challenging his abs. He finishes the session by sitting on a bench with a harness connected to his forehead, a weight hanging in front of his chest. He lowers his head to look at the ground, then flexes his neck muscles to raise his head and look straight ahead, an old-school neck exercise that few gym-goers will do. Smith does it regularly. "Regardless of how tired I get, no matter what the workout is, I at least will try it," he says between deep breaths. "I'm not going to say no to anything. "
You may not have Method Man's fancy neck-training gear or his deadlift weight. But if you have a resistance band, you can try his favorite at-home regimen.
Pushups
Do 25 to 30 reps. Aim for 5 sets.
Banded Curl
Stand on a resistance band, its ends held at your sides, your core tight. Curl up, squeezing your biceps; then lower. That's 1 rep; do 15 to Do 5 sets.
Banded Shoulder Press
Stand on a resistance band, its ends held at your shoulders, your core tight. Tighten your shoulder blades and press the band overhead. Pause, then return to the start. That's 1 rep; do 15 to Do 5 sets.
A version of this story originally appears in the November 2020 issue of Men's Health, with the title "The 6 Workout w/ Method Man".

Something of a thank you, and a damn you, for Stephen King. Anyone else feel this way?
As prolific as SK is I am a bit more prolific when it comes to reading. I've read everything of his, as well as most authors that I truly like, multiple times. At this point I'm reaching back to the '30s and '40s for "new" material to read when it comes to Sci-fi/fantasy/horroetc.
However, I take time every couple of years to start with the Bachman books and read through King's catalogue. I've been reading him since I was roughly 10 years old and have absorbed each of his books as they've been released into the world. I'll continue to do so until he, or I, pass into the clearing at the end of the path. His books have been constant companions for me throughout my life these past 40+ years.
Spoiler ahead.
At this time I am almost at the end of The Dark Tower.
>! Susannah has just left and Mordred made his play to kill Roland. And Oy has just died. !<
It's at times like this, when I read his works, that I simultaneously love the man and hate his guts at the same time.
Why? Because he makes me care.
Take the last little part of that spoiler above, and it is not little at all....at least not to me. I know it's coming. I've been here before. I've stood silently to the side and watched it happen and I know the outcome.
And I have cried. Buckets of tears. Streams....rivers of tears. More than enough, it has seemed, to fill an ocean with salt water.
Each of the times since my initial read I start hearing a little voice at the back of my head as this scene approaches. My own little sub-mental chat while sai King's world rolls to this point. It goes something like this:
"Not this time you sumbitch. Can't make me cry 'cause I know it's coming. Been there, bought the ticket, crappy souvenir and shitty ass t-shirt. You can't make me cry this time. I know it, so don't bother with this shit." I even see a version of Roland's "get on with it" twirl of the fingers going on while I approach this point.
I mean it when I said I've read these books at least a dozen times each. I KNOW what's there.
And King, that glorious bastard, still gets me Every. Single. F'ing. Time!
I've tried to explain it to other people but it's hard. There's just something about how King is able to write his characters, to humanize them, that gets to me. My own personal opinion is that if you don't cry at certain points in his stories, there is something wrong with you as a human being. Maybe it's a lack of imagination or empathy or humanity...idfk. Something.
It's happened to me in The Stand (next up on the reading list this go 'round), Pet Cemetery (the reason I have nightmares about my girls playing anywhere near a highway), IT, Insomnia....hell even Gerald's Game got to me at some point.
Over the years I've watched critics and regular people alike state King's a hack, he's not a real author, or some such nonsense. When I bother to look them up I don't see much behind those words to back up the overblown sense of self-worth they apparently have when it comes to saying something like that about a man who has 65 or so published novels/novellas and over 200 short stories and is going stronger today than most could ever hope for.
The man can write. Can I get an Amen!
To me it's his ability to create (mayhap it's relay or perhaps lend a voice to) characters that we can identify with. They aren't perfect. They suffer the same sorts of doubts and inner demons that we "real" people deal with in our own lives. I don't think there has ever been one of his protagonists that I couldn't identify with. When they hurt, I feel it. When they suffer, I'm ill at ease. When they die.....well. I may not die, but a part of me goes through the anguish, even if it's only for a moment, of losing a loved one.
Hence the title of this post. I thank you, Mr. King, for the many wonderful days and nights of enjoyment you have brought me throughout my lifetime as you have relayed your thoughts (that essential telepathy you spoke of in "On Writing") to me through your stories. I have enjoyed them immensely.
Damn you, as well, for making me care enough to cry.
Just one of your many Constant Readers
​

Tomorrow is Night 2 of the Draft. And I hope the Final Testament goes to Raw , because they will never have the opportunity and time to develop on SmackDown, the Bloodline story will clearly take time, and also Cody's title run.
Currently, Raw needs a top heel stable. Judgment Day is clearly understaffed and on the verge of imploding , Imperium has one less member, and it's clear that it's not this version of Alpha Academy that's going to do any damage.
The final testament has the perfect opportunity to make its mark.
The AOP beat Awesome Truth & dominate the tag team division with a few reigns here and there.
Kross can either fit into the IC & WHC Title picture, facing top talents like Priest ,Balor, Sami, Rollins, Drew, Punk and Sheamus or other solo talents who can be drafted there.
I would have liked at some point that Scarlett would decide to compete but she doesn't seem to be interested in that.
At the same time, there is also the return of Wyatt 6, which can be done, it's somewhat complex if they are drafted there, but hey we'll see.

Recently, there was a big hullabaloo about a very specific book called The Rage of Dragons, made by a small publisher through a kickstarter. The art on the cover can easily be described as hideous and their post about how you should shell out over $1k for the art of a book was quickly discredited by indie writers. The book was already liked by a crowd, this kickstarter was for an illustrated version of the story that came out in 2017, with the original publisher being Orbit (same company that reprinted The Witcher in English). This book, with over 33k reviews on Goodreads, was able to receive $88k for its kickstarter.
This is where I come in to say both the small publisher and the indie writers are WRONG.
Cover art is a new thing, barely being a thing in the 1800s and finally becoming common in the 1930s thanks to the publisher Penguin. Before that, there were a few Russian magazines trying to be avant garde and put outlines of drawings on their covers, thanks to the popularization of paper bindings over the leather bound books. Through the 30s onward, cover art became more extravagant and eye-catching as we engaged in competition between pulp magazines and comic books, both focused on action and human poses. Harlequin novels focused on real humans posing for a camera, with them being traced over for the most part. Later on, faces like Fabio became real-life photos that could be processed easily into a glossy cover and not appear strange or smudgy.
In this toss between drawings and models, digital art started to be used to make up backgrounds and fancy lettering. Manga started to become popular, mostly online, with a lot of light novels sharing the art style of manga. Once we get into the freelancer and authortuber stage of cover art, we start to engage in what is essentially a mockery of what covers once were. People will find an image online, hope it’s free to use, and slap it behind a bunch of pre-made font. This lack of production requirement allowed people to start making books for little to nothing, because now a single person could make a million books on their own.
The AI argument is where people are willing to use AI to create their cover art, with the opposition saying that AI is still treated as taboo. Personally, I disagree with both of these arguments because the taboo is only among artists who draw and their opinion is in the vast minority. The average reader doesn’t care and won’t notice, meaning that excuse is a way for an artist to fight for their job. However, the pro-AI side is also equally foolish because of how AI handles art to begin with. It doesn’t understand things like symbolism and focus, and so there won’t be a knowledgeable basis to create effective art that captures the reader and symbolically suggests what is hidden behind the main page.
Both the pro-artist and the pro-AI arguments are part of the psy-op to keep indie writers poor and out of the way. When your opponent is unorganized, there is no structure or institution to attack. Instead, the attack is aimed within the heart of your opponent in order to get them to stop fighting or stay away from the fight. A culture war is based on a media battlefront, with major corporations holding a substantial amount of both organization and funding. They ensured there is a price requirement to engage in media and they ensured there is going to be a way to convert human labor into automation.
It’s not that books need a cover, but a cover was normalized for the sake of second stage marketing. It makes people think that more money was spent on it or there is something to it, with AI showing that zero money was spent on it. Indie being plagued by bad or derivative covers is WORSE than if they sold stories with no cover at all. The fact that a self-publishing site like Amazon forces a cover image to be placed during publishing shows that the institution wants covers to be treated as important. In reality, the only important parts of a book are the title, blurb, and the story itself.
We can make the argument that a cover gives a visual glimpse to what’s lurking around the digital pages within, and that’s a great point. Readers want something to assure them and catch their eye, with a leather bound cover something that feels too old fashion to bother with. Yet, I would counter this by saying anyone could make an eye-catching cover by being symbolic and minimalist, in the same way Jurassic Park was. That cover was a plain black and white picture with the outline of T-Rex bones, bringing everything that the reader needed to know to the table. In fact, I would say that good writers are able to make themselves stand out by being symbolic and showing they know what storytelling is all about.
No matter which way you prefer to go, extravagant or minimal, the cover should be based around your expectations. There are so many people who don’t expect any money and they “write for themselves”, only to shell out thousands of dollars to sell a book nobody wanted and they have no idea how to market. This romanticization of pleasing yourself with your own work and ignoring the audience is why indie suffers from daily attrition in droves. If you’re not sure of what you’re doing, make it practice and make it free. Having $0 coming to you is better than having $2k leaving your pocket because you wanted to play with the big boys.
Really think to yourself: could I sell this story with the title alone? The elevator pitch? The first few sentences? Could I go around and have people beg me to read this story after I mention it? Then you ask yourself: can they pull this story out of a line-up?
If you’re really thinking of making a physical book, at the very least, allow the reader to know what book they’re holding by having the spine legible. The spine, the front, the blurb in the back; we just want to know what the hell it says. This $88k book that people were going bananas over has a terrible cover because I didn’t even know it was called The Rage of Dragons. I thought it was called Rage Dragons with how poorly done the lettering is. But that’s the thing: the book already sold itself with the story alone!
Worrying about your cover and changing it a million times is pointless. A big waste of money. All you’re doing is foolishly obeying the psy-op. Indie just needs to live below its means, pay out less than what it makes, and grow from constantly looking attractive. If indie writers were honest with themselves, they wouldn’t be trying to copy mainstream covers or blend in with some expensive liability.
Use AI if you know it will bring you more money, and use a professional looking cover when you’re making professional royalties. There’s no reason to pretend you’re something you’re not, or gamble your money away on a roll that has all the odds against you with little pay. I’m sure 99% of indie is self-aware of how many people will read their writing. If you think you’ll be selling to everyone in the world once you are able to pay millions for advertising, then word of mouth would be having your royalties increase daily in a never ending way, nullifying the need for millions. For the rest of you who have functional brain cells, stop killing your writing with the cost of cover art.
When your cover costs more than what you make, you’re doing it wrong.

It's this year's version of last year's "blowing the kiss", and looks a bit like making the sign of the cross, but with the horizontal movement looking like "zipping the lip".
Does anyone know what it 's all about?
I've Google-searched the heck out of it, with no luck. Anyone have any inside knowledge? (Or a really good made-up story I can use to impress my friends next time this comes up in a mid-game discussion)

I have fallen in love with your film...when and how did you decide to make Do Aur Do Pyaar(don't like the title, though)?
I have always been interested in what happens to all those perfectly in-love couples that we show in our films. What happened to Raj and Simran after running away on the train at the end of DDLJ twenty years later? Where are they now? Have they become flatmates instead of lovers? What happens when the initial chemistry has worn off and love becomes a habit. This has always fascinated me. I see people around me struggling with this in our modern lives - to hold on to this Hallmark version of love, with so many distractions, with social media. Real Love is not a straight line - its cyclical. It comes and goes. The songs and books all lied.
You wanted to demolish myths about perfect love?
So when my producers Swati Iyer and Tanuj Garg brought this story to me, an adaptation of an independent American film called The Lovers by Azazel Jacobs, I jumped at the opportunity of telling a story of love which was lived in and more real. This was in 2020 just before Covid hit - it's taken four years to finally bring this story to you.
Are you deterred by the low opening? Don’t be, your film is destined to be recognized as a piece of art.
Hahahaha. Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm not deterred by the low opening. I simply wanted to tell this story honestly and to the best of my abilities - and hopefully if I have managed to do that it will resonate with some people. That's all I can do as a storyteller. But I'm hoping because of the positive word of mouth, more people will discover the film and fall in love with our characters.
It is very different from the original source, Lovers. What prompted you to adapt the original film and then the structural changes?
Like I mentioned, I liked the one liner of the original film. But the movie itself was off beat and culturally very different. The writers, Suprotim Sengupta and Eisha Chopra did a fantastic job of making the structural changes. I loved their idea of taking my protagonists Ani and Kavya back to her hometown to rekindle their chemistry. I specially loved the idea of them disrupting a funeral and not say a wedding which is the traditional Bollywood choice it seemed more fun and fresh. They made the characters much more nuanced and fun and relatable for our audiences than the original.
The casting is magical. This is Vidya Balan's best ever. Was she your first choice? Was it difficult convincing her? I can't imagine what you would have done had she not agreed!
I agree. I got lucky. Vidya was absolutely the first choice. She brings a vulnerability and beauty and warmth to the role that no one else could have. You can't take your eyes off her. There is no lie in her fire. I don't think this film would happen without her. Pratik Gandhi is an absolute surprise and delight. He plays the Bengali nerd with such affection.
Tell me about his casting? We knew we had to cast someone who could hold his own against the acting powerhouse that Vidya is. Also, Ani’s character would do things which audiences might construe as wrong. Ani shouldn't come across as someone smug and revelling in the cheating and adultery but actually be confused and messed up. And Pratik nails that.
Their dance together! Bin tere sanam will never be the same again?
It’s such a fun catchy song. It was Suprotim’s idea to use that song. He made us watch the original video in which the hero heroine do strange dance moves in front of some thin malnourished cows. The producers and I knew straightaway we wanted those dance moves in our film. And Vidya and Pratik killed it!
Sendhil and Ileana have one thing in common: their cheechee angrezi...What made you pick them?
They just fit their characters very well. We knew we couldn't give them too much screen time. So they had to really stand out. Ani and Kavya were looking for things in Sendhil and Ileana that they couldn't find in each other anymore. We always thought of the four characters together as an ensemble. They complemented each other Kavya was vivacious and larger than life. Ani was sincere and laid back. Nora was neurotic and needy. Vikram was independent and very hot. And most importantly, they had the same quality that Vidya and Pratik have-they look and feel relatable and likeable. And we feel for their story arcs as well, which was very important for the movie to work. They should seem credible threats to the marriage.
Shirsha, your brilliant film begins as double love triangle but eventually it settles down to sanctioning the institution of marriage. What according to you holds a modern marriage together?
I wish I had the answer. I feel every marriage or relationship will have their own keys. But for me personally I feel - for a long lasting marriage - its important to be friends, its important to talk, its important to fight, its important to be comfortable with each other. It’s a very underrated romantic word. Comfort. You need to be each other's comfort food. Find your own Chicken 65.
If this film was made in the 1970s, it would be directed by Basu Bhattacharya, sans the humour of course. Who are your inspiration?It will sound cliched because I am Bengali. But Satyajit Ray, of course. The simplicity and beauty and humanity in his storytelling, agnostic of whatever the genre, will always be my biggest inspiration. Then of course, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Wong Kar Wai, Sam Mendes and Alexander Payne.
That entire chunk where Kavya and Ani visit her home in Ooty is not in the original film. It could have been an autonomous film, don't you think?
Honestly, that's my favourite part of the film. That was the only part we could really open it up, have lots of other characters, more fun, more music, before things became really messy back in the smaller, more real world. The surroundings were beautiful, the actors and characters and faces were lovely, it had so much flavour. Given a choice I would stay in that world for ever - but then real life crept in. Exactly like it did for Ani and Kavya. In our heads there was a separate movie in Ooty with Kavya and Ani's college romance and running away and the scandal in the Ganeshan household. We just didnt show that to you.
The spoken lines by all the four protagonists are the best I have heard in years, my favourite being 'I feel homesick when I am not with you'. Where did these wonderful words come from?
All that is Suprotim, Eisha and Amrita Bagchi. The writers. Given that we wanted to make a very lived-in, real love story, they had the difficult job of writing dialogues that sounded real and everyday and yet keep it engaging. Sometimes the simplest things can sound so beautiful or funny. Like my favorite line is , 'Kabhi Kabhi shayad pyaar kaafi nahin hota'. It’s such a simple thought but it's so layered , and it is the heart of our film. It goes against everything our films generally tell us : that it’s all about falling in love and once you are in love, its absolute and forever. It is not.
https://www.timesnownews.com/entertainment-news/bollywood/do-aur-do-pyaar-director-shirsha-guha-thakurta-says-she-is-not-deterred-by-low-opening-exclusive-article-109610987

Before I say anything I want to say ive written a whole as paragraph FUCKING TWICE and they both got deleted because my parents either literally called the phone or yelled for me to go to them and when I tell you reddit doesnt do drafts for google or my version first time I was depressed the second time I was pissed and I couldn't even vent about it so im doing it here Yes i'm writing this on a phone using google instead instead the reddit app this time I was smart and wrote this on google docs so it would save I'm sorry for my bad manners or bad grammer But i'll keep the story brief because im not typing for 30 minutes anymore Basically I wanted to ask why is it treated like a taboo to hate bad mothers I have a narcissistic mother as bad as they get only she's not a drug addict or sexually abusive (thank god) But she's a narcissist if you look up a narcissist parent she fits the description. She ruined my future and claims she loves me She smiled when my grandmother died and called my father and said to him “that's why you lost your dad and your mom” in front of me (This was when my grandma died). She physically abuses me, hits me when she's mad, calls me slurs and claims it's to toughen me up for the world when things get bad. She then says she loves me. I figured out she was a bad mom when i was 13 now im 17 i have a year left and she's gonna kick me out she doesnt love me anymore i can't cry they teach men not to cry so nothing will come out and frankly crying doesn't do anything. I don't want to excuse anything not even myself Because recently I hit her when she hit me we were in the car and I smacked her face she pulled out my dreads and I somehow scratched her I'm not trying to justify what i did but to give perspective i'm around 5,10 and she's slightly smaller than me but shes heavier than me and i'd argue slightly stronger she managed to pull out like 4 of my dreads. She threatened to put me in prison because no man should put their hands on their mother and i know she was right because of that i'm gonna miss school field trips that were scholarship worthy and i lost the chance for her to give me a bank account with 100 dollars for my birthday (i didn't get get anything for that 🙂). She bought a cake for my birthday. It tasted awful and claimed it was our cake because my birthday is a week apart. Then she bought herself two cakes that tasted way better and wanted me to sing her happy birthday (it was Ramadan so I didn't even want to think about eating, no i'm not muslim I just wanted to try it for the first time to respect the muslim culture). she doesn't let me work either so i'm basically gonna be homeless. I'm not scared of going to prison because I feel like I deserve some form of punishment. I do feel guilty. I hate how people can take advantage of the system. My mom knows she's a woman and can guilt people and manipulate people into thinking she's a victim. I wish we had a dynamic system. I didn't know that it was possible to love your children unequally and claim you love them but abuse them. She's done bad things that not even I can tell you. In some way she does love me by giving me a roof over my head and food with my phone that she didn't buy or the Internet she's not paying for. But she said if i keep fucking with her the only thing ill have is just food. My dad doesnt pay child support but even if he did she wouldn't use it on us trust me. My dads broke (not saying that to be mean) so if I did need money he'd tell moneys tight or I'd have to wait another day. It's embarrassing that we're poor and she won't even let me work for myself. I get bullied about being broke. Sometimes I find that humiliating. She says i'm too disrespectful to work and that i'm spoiled but i'm rambling sorry. I wanted to tell you all the things she's done but I'm always told she's my mother. No matter what she does she's your mother and the bible says honor thy mother and thy father so i try to listen but she freaks out if i do anything wrong and has her friends belittle and berate me. She threatens to put me in prison. I could do the same thing but i dont record anything she does and I don't want to put her in jail because I love my siblings. If she knows I even typed this she will call the cops to save her face. She also threatens to put me on the streets. My father loves me and regrets basically being the reason our family is so broken. But sometimes i doubt he knows what hes doing. My father said he'll take me in his home but he's broke i dont mean that in a mean way. I dont think he can truely take care of me. i hate it when he smokes everyday inside the house. he has no shower or washer and hes also the reason my gpa is horrible because he tried to take me out of my school and failed. He also cant take me to school on time so i had to go back to my mom So i plan to join the military and leave for good i wanna do the air force because that's what everyone says i have the smarts to do There's nothing anyone can do and I lost hope but inside I'm heartbroken that there's nothing I can do to take back hitting my mom. No matter what she did. It feels like it invalidates everything she did wrong. I'm hurt that I'm gonna essentially be alone when I've grown completely. I've never gotten to leave my home and I'm expected to leave completely and I wonder if anyone understands. Maybe one day I could talk about everything but its not today. I apologized to her immediately after I hit her but I've also never forgiven her for the things she's done. Why do I have to live humiliated not because of what she did or didn't do but because of the things she didn't allow me to do. I will always be her failure but i want everyone to know that i plan to make something of myself in the future but itll only be when im allowed to spread my wings and get out her door 🕊️ Ps i wrote Wayyy more but again my stuff got deleted twice. To summarize I'm just surprised parents can push their children to the edge get away with it and ruin the children's present and future my mom said if i go against her I will get raped and killed by people but when i try to work with her she hates it. I don't feel like i can truly tell anybody anything so i resort to venting at reddit I'm very poetic tho so i hope to rap about my past and trauma to turn it into something positive (no i'm not a rapper right now and no this isn't for clout). Let this be a letter to me from the past for the future. If I am successful without her or maybe somehow repair this utterly broken relationship I hope to come back and edit this response to let y'all know. For the people just like me I HEAR YOU, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. If there's anyone just like me I turn to you to share your experiences.
​

The story itself seems to be a folk legend, so it's been retold in a lot of places, which makes this book hard to look for. The legend is often called "The Golden Goblet", but searching by that title hasn't gotten me anywhere, and I haven't found any other names for it.
Here's an example of the legend; here's another one. To quote TV Tropes: "a Siamese cat was guarding a goblet for her owner while she was pregnant, and to keep it safe she stared at it constantly and wrapped her tail around it, which made her eyes crossed and her tail kinked, and her kittens came out the same way, and that's why Siamese cats have kinked tails and crossed eyes."
In some versions of the legend the cat is called Chula and her mate is called Tien, but this discovery hasn't given me success in finding the book. In some versions of the legend the cat's tail is kinked by carrying rings, but this isn't what happened in the book I read.
The art style was fairly realistic, not cartoonish. I seem to remember there being a lot of detail and colour. This actually looks pretty similar in terms of style, though it's not identical and it's definitely not from the same book.
I've ruled out:

• Sagwa / The Chinese Siamese Cat: Happens to also be a just-so story about why Siamese cats look the way they do, but it's about why they have seal point markings, and it's because Sagwa fell into an inkwell. Not related.
• I Am from Siam by Tatiana Balkoff-Drowne: Neither the plot nor the art style match, and the colours are way too muted.
• The Watch Cat by Mili Northrup: This says "the Siamese cat came to have a rough, scratchy voice and a crook at the end of its tail when it went out hunting for a lost child", and that didn't happen in the book I read.
• The Tail of the Siamese Cat by Geraldine Kaye: I haven't been able to see the inside, but the art style on the cover doesn't match at all. However, if anyone knows a way I can see inside, I will take a look to make sure.
• The Cat of Bubastes by G.A. Henty: Not a picture book, really has no relation aside from being about a cat, but it keeps coming up when I look for this book.
• The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw: Not a picture book, again no relation aside from the title, but it keeps coming up.
• Cats of Magic, Mythology and Mystery by Karl Shuker: Keeps coming up because it does discuss the legend; but it's not old enough and it doesn't seem to be a picture book, and it tells a different version from the one I read anyway.

For some reason, in my memory the cat doesn't actually look like a Siamese cat; she looks more like a calico. I'm not sure if that's me misremembering, or if the creator changed the story to be about a non-Siamese cat.
I probably read this in the 2000s. I'm not sure how old the book is, but it didn't look old to me at the time.

I've been thinking hard, recently, about chasing Wakey to be a paid app. There's a few reasons, and I can go deeper into those if people are interested.
For now, though, mostly what I want to talk about is how that would impact my customers. Google Play doesn't allow you to convert a free app to paid, you have to publish it as a new app. For those of you who have purchased the in-app upgrade to premium, I think I have an idea of how to get you the new app for free, and I'll do that.
For those who use Wakey without upgrading, that's a harder story. I'm torn between keeping the free app as a "lite" version and not. One of the key reasons I'm thinking of doing this is to reduce painful maintenance that I'm having to do more and more. Having two apps changes that, but doesn't really reduce the problem.
So, all that said - what are your thoughts? What would you do if the free version of Wakey went away? If your are a premium user, how annoyed would you be of you had to install a new version, which might mean you have to set up Wakey all over again?

Does anyone remember this one? It involves an infinitely long corridor on the other side of a mirror or something like that. I think that there were alternate universes that could be accessed as you go along the corridor, which slowly deviate from our reality as you go deeper. Towards the end of the story they set up a super powerful telescope and thousands/millions of km deep into the corridor a blurry figure is seen.
It's not SCP-970, though 970 is similar in many respects. Is it possible this was an earlier version of 970?

First of all, the game is bloody amazing and met expectations and then some.
Pros: - Combat feels great and incredibly smooth, and gets better the more you "progress" with additonal combos and skills. - The worlds are mostly really well done, large, and have a fair amount to do in them. - The outfits are delicious - Some surprisingly dark and heart wrenching moments - The collectibles were a welcome surprise! - Puzzles, challenges, and different play styles fill fun and have a good variety to them. - And of course, Eve is stunning and everything art and music design is seriously top tier!
Cons: - English voice acting is very meh, Kingdom Hearts level awkwardness and very monotone. - Story is there. It gets the job done and gets the characters from point A to point B. - The Great Desert feels like a bigger and less fun version of The Wasteland (the turrets suck!)
Wishlist: - Presets for different outfits (Nano Suits, Hair, and Accessories) to quickly switch between or Auto Switch every time you rest like a Playlist for looks. - Challenge Modes (Boss Rush, Survival, Sword Surfing Tracks?, etc.) - Obviously more Content (Levels and Missions) and Costumes!!

Entom, for those unaware, is a popular Five Nights at Freddy's Twitter user. He's been a proven source for FNaF Movie leaks as well as someone who has managed to get a lot of the books early. Quickly reading or sharing the content of the pages before the book gets officially released.
He's even made a video on a early draft of the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie. A draft that was quickly confirmed real as it shared a lot in common with the novelization which was stated to be based on an early draft by Cawthon.
He's also someone who has has pushed the controversial notion that the "Tales From The PizzaPlex" and the Stitchwrath stories from "Fazbear Frights" are canon to the mainline series of games. A statement that appears to be true as of Ruin and Help Wanted 2.
while I do have gripes with leaking material early, plenty of people and accounts do that. Usually someone has to seek out the leaks, making them pretty easy to avoid.
My main point is: Entom has built themselves up as a reliable figure for leaks and news.
There's always been something about this user that strikes me as VERY immature. Despite many considering him as a source, he seemingly will and has spread misinformation. Mudding the waters, and causing unnecessary arguments. He also has been known to bait arguments on Twitter.
Today, a project known as the "Talbert Files" leaked onto Twitter. The Talbert files was a project created by Entom and a group of his friends to fool the fandom into believing Entom got ahold of a early draft of The Freddy Files. This early draft was completely different to the book that would release officially. Being from the POV of a in-universe reporter. This leaked draft showed apparent character names for Phone Guy and Charlie's mother. It confirmed the identity of the ghost inside of Golden Freddy. As well as confirming a ton of other stuff. This early draft was topped off with a email sent to Entom by Scott Cawthon confirming the book as still being canon. This early draft ended up being nothing more then fanfiction created by Entom and his friend group before being scrapped and eventually being leaked by someone else on Twitter.
This plan to fool the fandom fell apart due to drama within the project's group of authors. It was his intention to mislead people by creating a very fake leak. He even teased on Discord he found an early version of "Freddy Files" back in 2022, before the project leaked. He has since taken to his Twitter account to say that he won't answer if the Talbert Files is real or fake, however, after plenty of people started putting pressure on the situation he has since deleted that original tweet and has said it is fake.
My overall narrative is that this whole fiasco is unacceptable and Entom does not deserve the platform he was given. Being a reliable source for news and leaks and then using that to spread a very fake hoax across the fandom shows how immature he is.
TLDR: Entom, a once creditable leaker in the fandom, plotted to mislead the fandom with a fake leak - Including faking a email from Scott Cawthon himself.

I recently had to properly kick my first ever player, things got a little intense between us for it and well left me on the all sorts of spectrum of emotions sides. I just had to get both feelings and my logic for the reasons for this removal of at the start, a good player and good guy and character that.. to me just started to not be. Maybe to just vent out, maybe to see if I was justified, but also to hope that, if there were points I didnt see or think of at the time that someone can help me think better if a scenario ever bubbles up like this, I have a better headspace to go about things right.
To start, I am more or less a newby forever DM (1 oneshot game to my belt under as a player), my current running campaign is only my second, going 2 years strong now. Its been bumpy recently do to my work schedule last few months but we are nearly up to our 100th session together and things have begun to heat up story wise and excitement wise by my players. Everything's in the story is homebrew more or less, both my own works and others I found and my players bring up to me.
At the start of the game, I had 5 starting players, and the one in question was one of them. We lost a few of them, first sadly I more suggested he leave, as much as he wanted to play, it was to the point he was playing while traveling via busses, planes and others (he traveled alot for his daily life events he couldnt get out of) an never mentioned when these would happen. That went smooth, we were both polite and I wasnt upset with them, just upset a good player like him will have hard times with finding a table. Better ways, would have been having a blast with them to this day. The second was starting to act up, I had to shoot him down a bit hard at times, more so when a new player, a girl, joined up an he started being a bit inappropriate and not act like the character he told me he would be. After I started blocking his more chaotic antics, he pretty much ghosted the group all together. Our third player who left is more on a prolonged hiatus cause of his work schedule, but he keeps in contact. So as far as the original party goes there are only two, with the first whom replaced our enthusiastic but unable to stay with us player being 'Miss 3 1/2's'.
With most of that out of the way, I can get onto the player in question. Again, he was there from the start, only second in my player search to start this campaign. Wanting to play a neutral good paladin who grew up a simple farmers life and was on a life walk-about to enrich himself before his turn to take over the family farmlands. At the start things were bit fine, he showed a general interest to hooks that kinda developed in the intro fight, making some good goofy aspects with his character and interactions and at least at first, an interest to some of the things in the world at the time. But looking back, I did likely trust him with a bit much, the other characters likewise were very 'go with teh flow' but they liked to investigate and get into things outside the city that they were given slight hero titles to after the start of things. With him though, he did 'actively' have his character go to get the town effective 'quest board' and ask around if people needed help with things... and.. not tell the other PC's about it or try an start the missions or plots.
While in itself it wasnt 'bad' people also trusted him a bit as 'the note taker' at first, so maybe we just expected him to go into things later or something, but, this became something I was concerned of with him on it. I mentioned his own story progression aspects from the start of the game, well, when given a lead that would let him undo a poor families ailment he showed interests too with time to go at least check it.. he suddenly invented a sister for his character.. who was getting married, back in his home country, that they 'had' to visit right then an there.
He had been vague about his characters history, he may have mentioned a sister 'in passing' but nothing ever set in stone besides his Grandfather being the true head of the farm and his dad. Not even anything about his characters mother, an now suddenly he wanted to spend a week or two travel via air ship to go see a 'new fiance' on top of it. I admit, I wasn't too happy but I also didnt outright pull him to the side to talk about that. Mark against me I know.
But it kind of worked out, as because no one could do much since he was kinda blocking the group from reaching the intended quest givers that he swore he would get with (2 of the other remaining characters at the time mostly had their stuff working on things they were trying to do that wasnt too crazy but at least progressed their characters in ways). And Miss 3 1/2 wasnt sure of her character at the time so played a temp one to feel out being another class and style for a bit. It helped her bloom a little. They ended up helping another little quest idea i had for halloween, late it was, but had fun with it an great action. But do to how that took an bad dice rolls which I do no flub or such, they got sidetracked from things an had to go back to go onto a quest 3 1/2 got them to.. an he wasnt exactly actively happy or doing the quest (guard a noblewoman on a quest to one of the countries for buisness matters. Kinda.. avoided the woman in weird ways.. like trying to push the hotel cooks asideto 'show them how its done'..).
When the crew finished with it, it was with another teaser to quest lines he was kinda pinning the group with. Again unfortunately the rest were 'kinda' okay with his choice on it but they were doing a bit more to be active now so it wasnt likely to work out for long. Around this time is when 'Work Haitus' had to sadly step away, so i started to put feelers out for new players again. During this time, he was still kinda pulling back on things as best he could, but he started to show a.. interesting trait. He wanted to start 'grinding' for EXP.. without going into the literal forest where some creatures could be faught, instead, he went to the city coliseum. Now this was explained since session one, I dont give any real EXP for fights there, quit literally if you have a fun sparing match or a more rough bloody match in it against a tamed or caught creature or class person, you'll only end up with 1 xp point. I did this cause I heard of a number of stories of 'those' players showing up, going to fight pits to make themselves stronger an not bother with rp time stuff. But I also tweaked it, so you could make bets for yourself, and the boon of prize and noterity (IE, people start being more favorable to you, seek you out that sort of stuff.. which considering he had so many 'hidden to activate quests' at this point wouldnt have mattered either way). He very quickly stopped after his 2nd or so solo attempt and made a passing comment on being upset of it. I overlooked that time.
During this, the entire party collectively was sought out, as the city knew 'all of them' roughly, so no reason only someone looking to the quest board would be involved alone. They were given a new quest by a neighboring kingdom, to deal with monsters they had ties with from the start as an already active side-story plot. He kinda 'backed' a bit into doing his characters 'im off to clean the broom closet' antics during some of this.. alot.. so looking back it feels he was upset not only was he not 'in charge' of getting the quests, but that the whole party agreed to be invovled with it regardless of anything else. I did try to bring him bback in, by having that Sister and her Fiance appear to meet them since he couldnt make the meeting.
There was some .. issues.. he kinda started to instantly mistrust the fiance, he litterally used 'every' detection spell he had on them trying to sus if they were demon, enregy or otherwise. An more or less ignored the sister even when she asked him his plans on things.. an since he 'left the sibling things to me besides she pranks him maybe' he didnt seem thrilled that she was upset the 'Lord title' brother, who won plots of land in this country an was going to open, I kid you not, an 'Pizzaria Inn petting zoo pet super plant farm forge and factory' on said plot of land with 'secret super caves our befriended monster friend will terraforming for us'. Short version of the monster thing.. monster had no such ability and at best had very tiny cute versions of itself digging out the cave, one pebble at a time.. this is when i noticed he sort of 'half' listened to details given.
I will admit, I wanted to have a moment where the sister was going to become some sort of 'rival', if she couldnt find way to convince the older men who are currently running the farm that big bro might have more important things to do as 'a Lordship hero paladin' maybe its time to break 'the men run the farm' tradition. In character he was warned 'she really wants your farm, and as someone whose seen people go extremes maybe you should reach out to her so its not so bad an no bad blood has to happen'... he kinda took it that she wants him dead, sorta. Took a bit with the informer to correct it.
He .. 'kinda' tried to 'make it up to her' i think by baking her favorite pie an admittedly as a nice act gave her his holly symbol which was the family's given by grandpa to him.. no biggy as the city hade a temple of his goddess to get a replacement soo.. yeah. Honestly I did talk with him a little on it.. but this is when another aspect started being apparent.
I hadnt mentioned, but I am not a fan of no call no show specially when we had a constant schedule, he had a few, but 'did' sorta apologize, at first. We do everything discord and roll20, so when he starts to not appear i would '@' the group and then '@' via DM's, and there maybe 'weeks' to 'months' if theres nothing 'important' to talk to me about response wise. And at the start of those times he started missing alot. An also, not apologizing or saying why. He doesnt always have to I know, but given we were having fewer players, wed have sudden 'we cant plays' cause it was 2 people only..
Then, we get introduced to not one or two but three new players. I kinda worried with them being prior friends and click group but its been working out for most part. Timing for ones admittedly stunk, an their on a personal leave Im not faulting but having their character background for now. They show up, an their characters, well starting at high level for at least 2 fresh faces an one long term one is a little odd, but its been fun. They instantly get into their characters mindsets, weird quirks that fit their upbringings and own style of things, but they also work as a functional communicating and asking questions group with slight airs of 'they are not lower class but deal with both from the noble side of things' air to them. Again its worked out, given they lost a litter hard hitter the three work great.
As the plot went, they were actually being lured away by a group who they helped bust antics an get called out on it in the city, the bait was just 'oh it might be the same type of monster you guys are looking for who might eat an entire city', done via a modified memory spell on the patsy. They were lead to a campsite the badguys set up to be a kill/trap spot.. It was a bit rough with things, but the group was doing 'amazingly' well. But I had an even bigger surprise for everyone, to take our game to a new level an give a 'big' meaty plot hook to hype and put every character on an equal 'i dont know anyone around here/dont have the same resources you do' foot from how the characters went, as an idea to build their bonds.
The trap, got ambushed, by a big honken monster I teased the first players with barely into session 4 that was a corps but came back. An this thing was a beast, CR minimal 20+ an higher (i suck at figuren the maths) but yeah, it was 'not' a winnable fight they could escape from that even the badguys said 'truce till were not monster food???'
It blew apart the trap-badguys, an sent the PC's hurdling into a space that was supost to be instant death, but plot armor I intended for em saved them if only 'barely' but now, their in ' a ocean like space between the outter realm and multi realms', with faint contact by the holly characters gods saying 'theres a way back, you must return'. including to the Paladin an 3 1/2 (who is cleric).. and honestly, everyones raved to me about it.. but looking back agian, given lack of Paladins communications 'out' of his appearances in game.. he hasnt said much, unless someone else starts it..an even then its.. barely a sentence..
The players were picked up by 'friendly pirates' an have been discovering things and gaining new strengths.. least, most of them again. 3 1/2 really bounded with the new NPC's an been expanding their character (shes been very creative that way an shes really gotten into the player bug, im sooo happy i could get her into the hobby) the new players had their growths too, the full slightly higher brow noble of them has come to terms 'hes mortal an can die, but people need his strength' too, as well as 'living is hard.. their not just 'dirty' or something by chance its just the efforts of their brow' to the sorceress of his friends being delighted to be sailing the seas with quirky merman, turtle an other type pirates with treasures an jerks to kick in the seat of the pants. Even the other first player has tried new character aspects, trying to be a 'new version' of himself till an event happened (which he half told me of, but it was more workable then 'sudden sister quest').
But.. paladin has been a bit more missing an sadly we have had spotty game times cause this is when my own work schedule has been bad. An again, he never gets back or says 'oh sorry cant make it' or whatever happened. I brought up a bit ago about his passing remarks of the exp thing for this point to make, he doesnt like to have his character have much of my homebrew stuff.. despite how many treasures hes had that hes just gone 'i sell it' or 'eh if you want it take it dont want it' that has been (a) a plot starter, or (b) a pretty handy if maybe OP item, hes just passed them off even from session z where I give every player chances to pick a unique thing for their character that helps tie them to the world. He opted out of it, an through everything they have done an gathered.. hes held onto a grand total of 2 homebrew things.. a sword, that after a 'certin point' he used as his hexblade warlock focus point with his goddess also being his patron, and 'one' spell that I had to reach out to offer him, well, technically '2' spells. One that he could use to turn a mundane object into a powerful magic weapon, an a ritual spell that he needs to cast to regain uses of the other spell.
The reason this ties to the EXP block from the coliseum bit, is because as part of the ritual to regain usages, he has to create a small 'choke point' of a ritual spell ring to fight an unending horde of monsters that the spell summons to fight just him. Now, the monsters are extremely low level, like 1/4 cr, an they wont try an kill him, as the ritual ends when hes KO'ed. It took a bit before he had to properly cast it in ession (big surprise, had him recharging it on some of the missing day's of his). But when eh did, an he finished it, he did instantly ask 'how much exp to i get?' an kinda grew hushed when I said 'you.. get your six usages of your spell back?'. I.. low key wonder if he wanted to try an use it as a cheat to grind or something..
This also does not help that, just prior, 3 1/2 managed to do our 'biggest' damage in a single round during a hord fight, literally between her spells an a new weapon with some seriously amazing rolls, did over 200 hp of damage on her own. To the point she KO'ed the boss monster leader. granted it was with a smart play and some literal crit hits, but thats when his vibe for games started kinda feeling off big time. An come now, to the more recent events before the kick..
I had a rare day off i could have a game completely unhindered, an we agreed to all have it.. sadly starter 2 forgot the US has Daylights saving, so we did loose an hour for him getten outta work. Eh it happens. An sadly the new 3 didnt get to join in so it was an agreed on one shot. Well, that 'was' the idea..
When we started.. when we 'could' have started, I gave them the quick plot of how they got to this place (this all happened just before the event with the pirates so they had their stuff but meta'ed they were still their current levels). Now, Im loose with my own OS's, so I used a module i bought that looked fun an it was interesting. I did have to build a bunch of rough doubles of the maps, since turns out the PDF didnt want to let me get the pics right at the time, so wasnt focusing too much on some details but for key point ones. Its important for later. But anwyay after the basic 'you did a hero thing an was invited to a small isle city by its noble ruler who has big parties every week an your the guests of honor', you know the usual kinda crud. Well i started to get into the start of it, about to go to details of the maps location.. when he, stopped me an blocked me to go 'oh i climb the building or whatever to get that gun!'.....there was unfortunately an image of a gun on the part of the token i used to build the maps clocktower..didnt notice it.. he sure did.. an kinda derailed me a bit more..reminder, we were an hour late into session.
I managed to get back on track, the security at the start of the party line stoppen the crew an saying 'sorry its a costume party, dont worry we always have spares, pick one' an they got to pick a set of masks for themselves. They rolled to take turns, he got first dibs, an picked one he 'really liked', but I do kinda wonder cause my tag name relates to what it was.. Well, I sent them the screenshot of the masks an their effects as an item/equip card... he started to.. get sour sounding.
In prior in between an pre game times, hes mentioned hes.. not exactly a fan of alot of stuff. Even some of the oldest movies an comics that are still being made now an are big on fandoms, hes got zero interests or cares for.. an on troupes, he is not big on mysteries. An sadly, the mask gave him an ability thats great in discovering secrets...
Well, I started to bring one of the moduels NPC's to start pointing out details, give them some hook bits an background to what goes on normally in the city... and.. he used that one use ability to check if she liked her mask.. literally stepping the entire conversation, then walked away to break into that clocktower.. that had the guns on it..
3 1/2 an second 1'st decided 'lets try an get on with the actual story regardless' an tried to go to the party which they did, trying to get him to come with too, crossing the small castle bridge to get to there an start mingling as they do.. paladin did 'eventually'.. but first he shimmied the bridge to use up his stealth abilities from the mask... then when 3 1/2 noticed, tried to get him to come in, he... started climbing to the top of the castle wall..
His character, never acted like this, in any OS we had before or in game before. Second 1'st did do a little weird, but it was stuff his character was infamous for, but not good for the long run. I admit.. I lost my cool, I didnt shout, yell, or otherwise.. but at this point, from when we 'late started', to paladins 3'rd athletic roll to scale the building he was invited for, we had lost over 2 hours of our usual session time an it was very apparent he was really not going to act like the character we were accustomed to.. so I said, 'sorry guys, see you next time'.. admittedly, I did kinda vent in our group chat text wise.. I was pretty upset an tired i cant lie on this, i had spent very early hours on the maps an looking over to familair most of the thing as best i could while having lack of sleep beforehand. But, I basically just said, if you dont feel up to a game please just say so cause putting all that time en effort for even a one shot was time an tiring thing an just frankly kinda rude antics for no reason just hurt.... didnt use cures or otherwise but that was about it..
It did help that, the group reached out to me about it, even both our Hiatus ones.. everyone but Paladin who kinda went back to basic no coms with me pretty much like norm.. he kinda missed a few more sessions between then to now.. so lets get to what became the last straws of the DM..
So, in the 'undersea' places, the crew realized that, the party had something they could use with their nations rulers to try an breach peace with the races that was locking everyone up in this space between the multiverse, to escape some big dangers thats happening here. This thing was second 1'sts 'tie in starting choice' i gave the first party options too an hes loved ever since, giving his character a level of importance. Of course there is the risk the guys could go 'we dont need 'them' for just 'that'. but thankfully its the nicer space sea folks side so thankfully its all negotiations. I rolled beforehand to see what outcome would happen.. not the best roll but it was one with surprising good results but the meeting was postponed with the intended target cause.. well the system got fragged as they sent the unintended invite back to the outer realms and their time slot to reach out to there was lost. So the party an the friendly pirate captain npc buddy was told 'come back in several months well try again'. The captain was telling the leaders 'oh sure no problem' while giving a 'if we dont find you guys a way back to your side of the world to stop that big bad monster for good first 'wink' to them..
An paladin.. confronted an tried telling the nation guys the details in a... weird way. I really dont know how to explain how he said it it still sounds weird to me. But he basically wanted too.. convince the nation that 'the party' could end all their troubles.. against a hord of demons an undeads effectively 'not understanding' the monster that threw them here was not one of the creatures in question. Which even after i pointed out 'if he couldnt do more than 13 points of damage to that thing, how would he think he can beat the monster he 'thinks' made it?'... which on that matter, he was told multiple times it wasnt.
Well, the rest of the gang tried to talk reason to him, even pull him aaway.. an i had made split choice of the captain decided to put a 'command bracelet' on him, effectively 'if you fight the order given you get zapped an paralyzed'. telling him 'please stop an lets talk about this somewhere 'safe'... because the party and them werent safe..
People in the sea space place, dont like people 'from their side' not that any survive coming down to there. Again, they survived via their plot armor's they dont even fully get yet. With the leadership litterally saying to him before the captain dragged him to the doors a bit 'let them hang for all we care'...
Well, paladin passed the check against the paralyze effect (again, i give honest rolls unless absolutely necessary which i dont like doing..) an.. he had his character chop his hand off, use every will save till he passed the players spells an use his tp abilities to get out of any grapple an ran into the building to more or less brow beat the leaders into listening to him...I made a choice as the captain npc... an ran for the ship to get the heck out before his crew would be arrested an maybe killed for hiding the PC's, an the other PC's likewise, ran for the hills too with them saying 'your mad if you do this'..
That is where that session ended, he made a passing comment 'guess ill reroll a character for the time being'... an he never showed up for the following one despite knowing 3 weeks in advance..though it turns out he 'did' roll stats for a character after I left the chat an roll20... an 'then' designed his character... which at first i was iffy but gave him a sheet to fill in to go ahead an start worken it, not knowing he had pre existing stat rolls for it or clearing that with me.. something I dont like..
Well, cant say i fault him for not knowing this, none of them did.. but there was a planned event for the city they were in. After the 'meeting the outsiders' event, they were going to be there during a siege by the monsters the leaders were worried about. I had the mechanics that, theyd get swarmed by mooks they could likely kill in a round or two at worst with a few higher level front line commanders thrown in, for each one of these theyd get a -5 to around -15 against a d100 roll (which I infamously roll low on all the time) on how much the city gets damaged up (multiple of the results for fyi), where either (a) they would stand their grounds just enough to cause the enemy to tempt pull back from the current onslaught, (b) the do enough damage an pull back gettin more then they need for now (long story) or (c) the party retreats for the time trying to pick up some survives they could fit on the ship an get the heck out as the city is torn up...
Instead.. I roll flat 3d100's as the party 'just' avoided the guards an lockdown.. which didnt add any bonses for the city guards chance to prep ships an counter attackk.. of the three, 2 in the ninties, one over fifty.. the city was whiped out.. I was 'devastated' that now i may have put the paladins character in a state he was just outright mamed and couldnt even give his player a 'last hura an fade to black'...because they never showed up or said anything...
I had to take a day or two before i sent the news to him, i did kinda phrase it a little angerly but i was 'where were you what happend'?... no response the entire week, right up to our next game session with nothing being done to that character sheet i gave him for a month..
And then came to our last bit of communication.. one hour before we started, he wanted to ask me about his character creation thing.. he stuck with the class i was iffy on to begin with but he.. went with a completely different class, an frankly he was maxing out the stats on the class too..
I confronted him since at least then he was 'finally' speaking to me. He was giving me the 'he would have convince them' speach of his characters plans.. I was just getting more confused by some of his responses of what that even was. The 'misunderstandings' of his character of what things are going on, why he did an extrem like 'why would he cut his hand off' an then he admitted no matter what, his character was going to leave. All on the fact his 'Paladin Alignment as Lawful good' wouldnt let him 'let a bunch of people die in the city'... his character has pulled back from fights an stuff before, while yeah if he saw a fight he would totally try an defend someone if need be, but, the abandon the party thinking they were doing wrong, knowing that the plan the group would be involved with after the outsider meeting, was to go search for things that might power them all up enough to be on the same playing field as the monster that beat them, or event he ones attacking the undersea side.. He even made a passing comment 'yeah i know they all talked about it for an hour'.. when.. he caused the conversation to las tthe hour by having them repeat it different ways several times.. something he also did alot im afraid when the quest was not one he started/invested in specifically of himself (the starting foot of it happened to one of the new players an 3 1/2 while he was on one of his missing days again).
He made a slight passing comment about me jus killing off his character an how they were acting as a 'what if someone wanted to play something else' .. which i did ask 'did you want to play something new why didnt you just ask?' to which.. he kinda ignored an went on. It was roughly at this time that he said he was trying to focus on his wizard spell list that i clicked to he was playing a new type of character all together.. one he admitted he wanted to play as 'weird and kinda crazy'.. it honestly sent chills to me given his 'sane' character did something extreme out of the blue for no reason an would never had done before was a bad sign what he considers 'slightly weird/crazy' would be.. but i was further made up set he made up a character only 'after' getting rolls he didnt get clearance from me with beforehand. I asked if this was the case which he confirmed and simply asked 'what want me to do point buy instead?'... an thats when I said i dont think he was set for my game again.. most so since all this all he focused on, again, an hour before game time, was only the basic mechanics an nothing else (given my honest mistrust of him springing something on me on this point with the sister visit 'quest').
I had literally given him my reasons, told him didn tlike how many red flags hes pulled lately. Including our game communities famed words by players who do things that tend to do things that.. kinda make things weird or bad or start to trail from how they start as.. When he first started missing the bulk of sessions, an losing plot interest, was when he 'lost his notes'. Then an most infamous last appearance, literally last bits hes said when he decided to have his character leave (which in hindsight i think he may have just wanted but again.. pardon me for guessing since he never communicated) 'Its what my character would do' when he had him cut his hand off.. Then during our conversation when i was trying to figure out what the heck was all that an what happend he said 'because my lawful good paladin couldnt let that under his oath'... his 'netual good' character whose hidden monsters under his house, stolen from a school of magic, made friends with an had sight powers from a devil an a few other shady things to say the least...so he was plannen or taking that his character should have a diff alignment without communing with me on it..who knows ont hat one..
I honestly did my usual, 'i dont think this game is for you' exit speech... an he said 'dont bs me with this over polite crap' an tried to make me say 'i want you gone'.. he was more or less animate on the specifics of the words.. and I think i know why..
Because, the players have a private text chat, not that hes much on there himself unless his character name is mentioned multiple times, but they do have it for funnies an stuff between em. I dont mind it, but.. at some point when I officially announced I'd be removing the player in our whole group chat.. he sent a very cropped two lines that was the tail end of us with me saying him in the groups not looken good, but told them 'i shouldnt be contacted about this'..
Tooo bad for him, I screenshot everything big like this. An further bad for him, the new guys an me talk alot too, like constant, and he forgot, 3 1/2 are friends for over a decade. 3 1/2 told me that... so i reached out to the rest of the group, shared the entire thing with them on the spot, saying 'i am sorry, its been bad with all these points' (i mention in here better more details after all, given how it was an hour of getting heated an trying to get him to tell me what his game plan is or anything else if need be given everything else sounded like he was flipping between wanting to be something new or... again i can only speculate since he just went offensive/defenses with no explanations or stuff to understand him the player). an sent them the entire conversation the two of us had as a screenshot.
While I was polite an just saying 'dont think the games for you' which yeah is a little over gentle.. after i pointed out one of them mentioned with a tiny screenshot of only me saying 'you should go' an the 'dont talk to me about it'. He honestly said 'i told them they shouldnt bother with it' like they should have just listened to him on the get go...an that 'he' would send it.. told him I already had. And for that level of honestly kinda manipulative tactic, both trying to isolate the party from me and only showing the 'closest' he would have of me saying 'i want you gone' comment, which he had stressed for a bout a minute i should 'say' in our private chat, i cant help but wonder if he was seriously trying to poison the well between me and the others.. an then said he would 'show them the whole conversation.... well he kinda got super silent with the private group and to me when i said 'i already sent the whole. I told him, good luck an goodbye, an then removed him from my DND group.. he suddenly for the first time in 2 years 'went offline', on my notice thing, so i think he made himself invisible but at first i thought he blocked me.. made a passing comment to test, but he went 'no' an was suddenly fully online an back to his MMO's that he 'usually' played too much an overslept some of our early day games on... not surprising..
The rest of the party were.. thankfully understanding, 3 1/2 suggested we didnt play but i pressed on but we did kinda vent.. helped one of the experienced newby of the three was a dm, an said 'hey its what you feel too, if he was making you feel uncomfortable at the table with that, your alright to feel it an remove him' which helped too..
But part of me does have to have that nagging feel since, he is the 'first' true kick i have done. ALl my other possible problem players ghost themselves from my games an he had been in for 2 years.. not that we done much since we are nearly at our 100'th session an only 'now' getting to the possible tea of the world i have been sitting on for 3 years since started working on the campaign over it. I left it openf or them to discover, an things started to click when the new guys came in an started being able to 'take lead' a bit on group choices.. not waiting for the paladin to lead them.. but.
of course, communication is '2 way street' i know, I said he didnt talk to me on things but likewise maybe i shoulda been more active reaching to him. To a point I tried, but, unless it was 'hey want a new power or something' ...he didnt respond back much. Again we had not much on similar things an it feel slike he was cluing in that many of my influences was from comics, movies games an anime that even if he was into the fandoms of, he didnt know alot as I have a broad and little known spectrum of series. Maybe a bit of it was lill mix of we didnt upfront what we expected, but also disinterests... but I do know at least 2 of his fave games.. tha has owning land, getting bonus in some way from that, an thats that.. an some other aspects, kinda in hindsight were what he wanted/expected for his character at times.
Again, my thing is full homebrew, an always say 'hey if you find something you like, lemme know an see maybe we can toss it in.', sadly some of the gang dont take that up too much, but the new players have lately an its been fun. He did at first 'start' suggesting something.. but with no set things, so when i brought up things that we can do for it he kinda.. shot em down, like not say full on no but.. just went silent.
In the end, Im upset with myself over not confronting the problem a bit more 'first', but i guess i just started to let him just 'be silent all the time is fine the problem goes away' as much as he did it when i reached out to him. Hell if he stepped away for a bit, sadly perfect since his first character might be KO'ed, i may have taken him back if he just said 'been dealing with things' or 'wanted to be something new' or, 'can i try something crazy'.. but in the end he only wanted me to respond in the moment to what he came up without double checking things an it can happen so sparatically, so 'railroady' for me an the other players I just cant anymore. An knowing hell honestly try an manipulate my words behind my back to the rest of the players.. yeah Im not trusting that player at any of my games ever again and wont ever trust one like that... but I hope it doesnt turn to that for just that factor an not because of other reasons that can be avoided...
Anyone who reads, thanks for your time. If you got tips or mindsets to consider for me here, like to help get them like a mindworm to maybe help me over things, given how my head is still lill swimmen on it both emotionally an thoughts. I guess maybe im looking to see if I was valid (I know for my 'mental health' i was, but want to know its not just my own head thinking it an maybe cases like this is at least partly justified). An hey, if you ever had a sitch like this, lemme hear how ya felt too, never helps bottling it in. Just typing this at first as a note to myself before it showed up anywhere helped me clear my head a fair bit, so theres always getting the words out there wither someone's ear or eyes take it is a nice way to get the happy feels in. Next order buisness to feel better... getten to those cursed die rolls (come on Dice Gods treat me an my players failry, ah dangit another 1! I thought i blotted it out!)