Well met, friends!

I'm a small fish in a sea of amazing players hoping to find a group of likeminded people to play with! I'm 27F, with about 5 years of TTRPG experience and 10 years roleplay in general. I have reached a point as a player where I don't see TTRPGs as just a casual hobby, but as a special experience that can only be reached though the labour of love, commitment and collective interest of everyone at the table. And I'm hoping for a group that shares in this mindset.

What I can offer:

• Flexibility and commitment: I respect everyone's time and I'm confident that I will not be late to or miss sessions. My availability is mostly in the BST timezone, but I am able and willing to commit to playing late for the right group.
• High dedication and immersion: I am a creative player with a passion for writing. I make in-depth characters with compelling backstories who are well-established in the world they live in. In game, I'm an experienced roleplayer with an immersive and emotionally engaged playstyle, who invests in the DM's world, NPCs and fellow players.
• Proactiveness: I will make a character who has reasons to be involved with the story and world and who never says no to adventure.
• Collaboration: I have a track record of playing support/ supportive characters and I would love a party that is close-knit and can emotionally invest in each other. I am a firm believer in equal sharing of spotlight and I respect/ am supportive when it's someone's turn to take the stage.
• Art: I love TTRPGS and I love drawing pcs/npcs or meaningful/funny scenes from sessions.
• Openness to various systems: I have a preference for high fantasy settings and magic to some degree. Depending on the system, I ask for patience from the group while I learn the rules.
• Voice available and video if required. I am willing to learn any (free) VTT.

What I'm looking for:

• Players & DM over 18y/o
• Kindness and Inclusivity: LGBTQ friendly! Racism/ homophobia not tolerated. No antagonism or personal favouritisms by the DM, no outcasting or bullying by the players.
• Active communication: Hoping to play with open and emotionally mature people, who are not afraid to discuss and settle any problems that might occur in and out of game.
• Availability and consistency: A group that looks forward to the game and playing together every week, as opposed to those who only play when they have nothing else better to do. I am hoping for stable schedules, and cancellations rare and notified in advance where possible.
• Group: A smaller number (3-5) of proactive and collaborative people who are comfortable with roleplay and becoming their character. Who are able to immerse themselves in the story and invest in each other.
• A game that is taken seriously: The story itself doesn't have to be serious at all times, but I prefer not to play with joke/meme characters, or those that are only defined by annoying quirks.
• Immersive play: A living, breathing world, and players who can remain in character for the majority of the session.
• Roleplay heavy: A narrative game ran by a DM who encourages player creativity and engagement. A compelling story with intrigue, exploration, interesting foes and meaningful combat, where player agency and choices matter.

At the moment I am not looking for:

• Streamed campaigns/ podcasts, PBP (play by post), West marches, paid games, heavy combat- focused games or magic-less settings
• Groups with 6 or more players
• Well-established groups of long term friends (had to specifically add this due to previous bad experiences)

Thank you for being with me so far! I know I'm asking for a lot, but in return I guarantee you someone who will deeply invest in your world, keep detailed notes, come up with creative solutions, draw cool art, write rhymes and songs, and much more! I will respect your time and hard work, and will try my very best to reward it by being a good player and ensuring that you have as much fun as I am!

If you are a DM who has similar wants and expectations, please send me a message with a little bit about yourself, your campaign /players and availability and we can take it from there!

A bit of context is required I (24,M) met (We'll call her Sam) on tinder in early 2021. We chatted for a bit and I ended up getting her instagram and that's where we chatted from that point forwards. Initially we were talking everyday, if not back and forth, then maybe at the start and end of the day as we were both working. Eventually I asked Sam to grab a coffee, she declined (specifically she actually ignored it the first time i asked, I'm not sure whether out shyness, or distrust or whatever, but she made it clear that she didn't have a lot of free time due to study and work when i asked why she ignored it) we continued talking anyway, a few months later, I asked again, I got the same old tune of "i'm soo busy im sorry" kinda vibe and eventually I gave up asking but we remained talking, I still very much liked her and found her pretty.
The talking dwindled, sometimes she'd take 1 or 2 days to get back to me, days became weeks, then there were periods inbetween of hearing from her more freqeuntly, then back to a week, or a day, or several weeks, it fluctuated a lot. I had just accepted that, she probably saw me as an overseas friend (shes an international student) and wouldn't ever be interested in meeting. But still we remained talking, eventually it normalised to talking to each other about once a week, this continued for almost a year I'd say, we'd share occasional funny videos, respond to each others stories and just talk about life.
Fast forward to early 2023, I asked her if she wanted to finally meet up as we'd been talking more recently, and we did. We went to a bar, had some drinks, grabbed dinner and then walked around the city, it was a great night, I felt excited because we finally met each other in person and she was lovely, soft spoken, smart and pretty, she even asked me if I wanted to grab lunch with her the next day during her lunch, and we did, and i thought this is where things would take off, but after that day, things slowly drifted back to the way things were, it would be a year before I saw her again (just this last week) and before that, we had gone months without talking at times (I had an interesting year and a lot of distractions, I'm sure Sam did too) but we still remained talking somewhat, even talking about meeting up again eventually.
Fast forward to last week, we meet up (we tried to earlier but I was going through some heavy stuff for the last 5 months that left me disinterested in taking care of myself, let alone trying to "date") we grabbed dinner, and the night was just great, conversation flowed, we were buying rounds for each other, whilst we were eating she at times would just plonk stuff from her bowl into mine and would tell me "try this", "try that" etc, we then went to get some cocktails at some different bars, we were chatting about music, cars, our lives and stuff, I was smitten by her, we then went and got ice cream and we were sharing them with spoons and then I walked her back to her apartment, hugged, said goodbye (we also promised we'd see each other soon). I was sold that I really liked this girl, shes gorgeous, I love her energy, her sweetness, she is quite literally a breath of fresh air in an unfortunate dating history of mine where I've been strung along/lied to. I LIKE this girl a lot. I can't get her out of my head, we talked a bit the next day, and now the talking is starting to diminish again, for example we spoke on sunday, then she didnt respond to me til yesterday, which was just a video (she didn't actually reply to anything I said, which isn't totally unusual she has done that before) and I'm just stuck wondering what she thinks of me, everyone I've spoken to said that was a date.
I was going to send her a message the night of that basically would have said that I have feelings for her, and I would want to know if im barking up the wrong tree looking for a relationship with her but was talked out of it by a friend, but eventually I'll have to say something, whether that results in her not wanting any kind of serious relationship or not, I just need to get this off my chest. Any tips for me? Feel free to ask any questions, this is a rather layered story. I know some of you are probably thinking, 'the fuck is wrong with this guy? shes clearly not interested' or 'shes using you' but like man the date/catch up was genuinley so good, that's why im so fucking confused. Is it me? is it her? What should I do?
edit: btw we have agreed to see a movie sometime in the next two weeks. aswell go out to dinner w some of her friends eventually too

I almost hate to say it since we have been loyal Dunkin customers for years (both the wife and I currently have about 25K reward points), but we are cheating and going to two competitors more often now, namely (gasp!) Starbucks and Dutch Bros, when we are in a location that has one of the latter. We might even try one of the independents that are using drink trucks scattered around our small town, since they always seem to have lines waiting for their offerings. Starbucks has been running specials for weeks now like BOGO, $3 large, and others, and while I am not huge on their coffee, we stop for their dessert drinks like the blended frappacinos. You can customize with less ice and more whipped cream for no increase in price, and it is filled to the top. Dutch Bros was interesting because their iced coffees cannot be customized, but their taste was so good even when the ice was melting that I didn't care. BTW, both still give free birthday drinks. Dunkin better up its game because there are good alternatives out there.

The demand for data centers in India in 2024 is rapidly increasing as the country becomes a hub for technological advancement. Every enterprise, from startups to multinational corporations, trusts data centers to maintain smooth operations and uninterrupted connectivity.

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[Web Werks]()

With facilities that offer high-density, hyper-scale, artificial intelligence-powered infrastructure, excellent service support, and uptime, Web Werks has been a prominent player among data centers in India for the past 20 years. Web Werks aims to ensure its clients achieve maximum business efficiency by efficiently handling all issues relevant to their data center needs. To that end, they want to open more data centers around India. The corporation plans to build two additional data centers on a four-acre plot of land in Chennai to satisfy the growing demand in the area.

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A local player in the Indian data center market, NxtGen Datacenter, and Cloud Technologies provide advanced solutions made to fit the demands of modern companies. To promote organizational growth and resilience, the NxtGen team offers a broad range of enterprise-level infrastructure options, such as managed support, disaster recovery, cloud hosting, and data center space.
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With advanced offerings, including Equinix Fabric, Equinix Internet Exchange, and Equinix Internet Access, Equinix debuted its digital connectivity services in India. By enabling them to build safe and flexible digital infrastructures that adapt to the changing business environment and by promoting international data center-to-data center network connections with software-defined interconnection, these advanced services aim to empower digital leaders in India. Currently, Equinix operates two data centers in Mumbai that are linked by dark fiber to form a virtual campus. This campus offers a variety of options for businesses looking to deploy enterprise edge nodes as part of a hybrid multi-cloud strategy.

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As we enter 2024, the industry stands at the threshold of unparalleled opportunities, ready to power the nation's digital future. When choosing a data center provider in India, it is essential to consider factors like security, reliability, adaptability, accessibility, cost, and customer service. Review its credentials, infrastructure, experience, track record, and client testimonials to ensure the company can satisfy your business objectives.
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Hi I read in many places that the new Chat GPT-4o could be access freely, but I am unable to find it. I am in Spain (do not know if the free version is only in some countries...), and I am using web browser:
https://chatgpt.com/?oai-dm=1&model=text-davinci-002-render-sha
But there is only 2 options, versions 3.5 that is free yes and version 4, and to use this last one I need to pay for the "plus" option 20$ per month.

• Is this "4" version mentioned the "4o" version?, it is not mentioned anywhere.
  
• Why everybody is saying you can access freely?, it is asking me to pay 20$ monthly.
  

Am I missing something?
Thanks

Hi this is my first time posting here. I've been an ASMR script writer for a few months and have been posting on ASMRScriptHaven I found this subreddit and thought I'd post here as well. This is my latest script and I'm sharing it here as well as on ASMRScriptHaven.
This is part 4 of my infertile vampire series. You can find the other parts in my masterlist: My masterlist :
I put the script in scriptbin for ease of recording (I heard some VA's prefer reading it from there): Virtual-Grade592: [A4A] [F4A] [M4A] Your vampire partner is infertile [vampire] [established relationship] - scriptbin
It's okay to fill this script and make minor adjustments. Please give me credit for writing the script and put a link in the comments so that I can find your audio. It's okay to paywall, but send me a copy of the audio then.
This part will have 2 speakers, the infertile vampire partner and the adoptive vampire. I’ve given the infertile vampire partner the name Alex, so I’ll use an A to indicate when they speaks and the adoptive vampire is called Ender, so I’ll use an E to indicate when they speak. Feel free to change pronouns and names to fit your audio.
(several days have passed since Ender started living with Alex and the listener. Ender has been gradually getting more at ease with their vampiric nature. Today all of you sit down to discuss the next step in Ender’s education as a vampire.)
[The listener, Alex and Ender sit down on a couple of chairs in the living room]
E: *nervous* I’m not ready for this.
A: *reassuring* Everyone is anxious for the first time they need to feed. You’re such a calm vampire, I’m sure you’ll do fine.
E: *still anxious* But what if I lose control? The blood bags you’ve been feeding me taste so much better than the animal blood I drank before. What if I can’t stop once I start?
A: You’re worrying too much. We aren’t the bloodthirsty monsters that the media portrays us as. Your hunger is the same as when you were human. Only starving or psychopathic vampires would drain a human to the point of death.
E: *unsure* I still feel that this is dangerous. When I arrived here, I had trouble restraining myself from drinking from them.
A: Back then you were starving. Your survival instinct was screaming at you that you needed blood. And you didn’t even give in to it. Now you aren’t starving. At this moment does it feel like you need to bite a human?
E: No, I’m fine now.
A: My point exactly. You’re fine and you’ll still be fine if you feed.
E: *slowly building up courage* I suppose you are right. It feels daunting though. I imagine many things could go wrong, like I could accidentally bite their artery. But those are worst case scenarios right?
A: Yes, that’s right. Those are just worst case scenarios and they are very rare. In all the years I’ve been feeding off of them *pointing at the listener* There were never any problems. All that will happen is that your partner gets a bit fatigued. *cheeky* Or they’ll get turned on if they have a thing for vampires.
[pause]
A: *amused* Aw that’s cute, look at the both of you blushing. I understand that Ender might be flustered at their first time feeding, *Alex turns to the listener* But I’ve fed plenty of times on you, my darling. Why are you bashful about the notion of Ender drinking from you?
[pause]
A: You’re afraid it’ll be too intimate? Hey sweetheart, there is nothing wrong with how you’ll react or feel when being fed on. I won’t see it as cheating if you get hot and bothered. It’s only cheating if you act on it. You don’t need to be ashamed if you get a bit, um how to say this … excited? Yeah excited. It’s okay if you get excited from being fed on. You’re married to a vampire, it’s normal to like being bitten. And if it gets too much for you then *suggestive* we can always retire to our bedroom to ‘deal’ with any overwhelming emotions.
[pause]
A: That seems to have put you at ease. It’s going to be okay darling. It’ll just be like me feeding on you. And I’ll guide Ender through it all to keep you and them safe.
E: *stammering nervously* Um, c-could we do this another time? I-I still don’t feel r-ready. I t-think It’ll be easier if I had more time to mentally prepare myself.
A: *encouraging* Ender, I can tell that you are ready now. You’ve been doing fine this last week and you are cautious. I know this will go alright. If we delay it now, it’ll just become more daunting to bite a human. The extra time will just increase your nervousness, not lessen it. So please believe me, because now is the best time to do your first feeding.
E: *getting more confident* Maybe you’re right. I should try at some point, so why not now. Even if something goes wrong, you’re here to help.
A: That’s the spirit. So when you’re ready, sit down next to our prospective bite victim.
[Ender sits down next to the listener]
A: Now, feeding takes three simple steps. First, put some of your saliva on the part of the skin you want to feed on. Our saliva has a numbing effect on humans, so this way your prey won’t feel pain from your bite. If your victim has been particularly annoying, then I’d spit on them, but otherwise it’s nicer to apply your saliva with a kiss. Second you bite the skin and begin drinking. Third when you’ve had your fill, you remove your fangs and catch your prey if they got too drained from the blood loss. Then you are done.
E: Okay, I think I can do that. Human, if you want me to stop at any moment, just squeeze my hand or tell me to stop. Are you ready as well?
[pause]
E: Good, then I’ll begin.
[sound of Ender giving one kiss on the neck]
E: *uncertain* There’s the saliva. Is it working? Are you feeling numb?
[pause]
E: Yeah? Okay, then I’ll bite you now.
[sound of a bite and the sucking of blood]
[after a few moments Ender stops the bite]
E: *pleasantly surprised* Huh, that was a lot easier than expected. Are you feeling okay?
[pause]
E: Phew, that’s good. I’m glad you’re fine.
A: To me it seems alright as well. Sweetheart can you tilt your neck? I want to check the wound just in case.
[listener tilts neck]
A: *pleased* This is a very clean wound. It’s hardly worse than a papercut. You did well Ender, you can be proud.
E: It felt surprisingly good. I could certainly get used to this.
A: *amused* My, my, you’re really getting used to your vampirism aren’t you. Already eager to bite more humans and taste their delicious blood. It’s a good thing you are kind-hearted or humanity would have to fear a new predator in the night.
E: *flustered* If you put it like that, it sounds like I’m getting bloodthirsty. I just liked biting them. But I don’t want to go hunting them and forcefully feed off of them.
A: *chuckling* That’s adorable dear. You won’t have to worry about hunting anyone. There are plenty of humans with a thing for vampires. Whenever you feel like biting anyone, just find one of them. They’ll happily consent to being fed upon. Especially wit the internet it’s easy to find people who want to do some vampire ‘roleplaying’.
E: *Surprised* It’s that easy? People even like our bite?
A: Oh yes, they certainly do. Just look at my partner. They seem quite satisfied from the ordeal. And you’re happy with how it all went, right darling?
[pause]
E: That’s a relief. I’d hate it if I had to hurt someone every time I ate.
A: Oh that won’t happen. Tomorrow I’ll teach you to find these humans eager to be bitten. And you’ll be surprised how many of them there are.
E: *excited* Ooh, I can’t wait for it.
A: Great, then we’ll pick this up first thing tomorrow morning. But for now let’s start on dinner. My sweetheart can use some food after losing blood.
[fade to black as the three of them get dinner ready]

Previous First Chapter Next
Prometheus's defences had started to fail, as it took increased amounts of fire, from drones and ships of the Kirosian and Cerian space fleets. The situation was beginning to get grim, as Beyond's forces were reduced to only forty ships. It seemed as if any cries for help, would get lost in the depths of space.
However, a light began to shine on the visitors from Earth, as over a thousand Azurian ships, came in alleviating the pressure. The entire armada and reserve.
The one leading the charge, broadcasted a message to his fleet before the attack. "My people, and those of you watching back home. Today we have watched members of our clan die on this forsaken planet. Right now, our benefactors and the future Queen of Azuria are at risk of perishing to the monsters who threaten our very way of life and our existence... Forgive this selfish king, but will you follow me into battle and help me save my granddaughter and our allies?!"
Everyone watching, roared in response and stomped in rhythm. "Hai!"
Akio smiled. "Then, let us be victorious!"
The broadcast ended, as his ship, the Azure Dragon, descended towards Rennaya, ignoring the barrage of missiles fired by the Pandora. Akio looked back with a pained look, at the remaining, twenty-two Hashin with him, standing in formation by the bay door.
"I have seen all of you, grow up, trained you and guided you. I have seen you find love, be hurt, and find true happiness. Each of you are my kin, nothing can hold us back when we work together and no one can stop us." He took a deep breath, then continued. "However my comrades. Today is the one day, you are excused from your duties. This mission is out of respect for my child and the level of danger is much more than I can even anticipate. I will not fault any of you or hold a single grudge if you feel like walking out of that door right now."
None of the Hashin, flinched, nor budged, they didn't doubt each other either. Making Akio's lips tremble. "Do you know what I'm asking of you? You're lives, will be forfeit the moment we enter Rennaya."
Roku stepped up, unveiling his mask. "Do not disrespect us, Akio. Our honor was tarnished, the moment we let our prince die alone out there. We are failing right now to protect our King. Please allow us, to protect the next Queen and our Elder. For Azuria "
He glanced back at the soldiers. "Isn't that right?!"
They stomped to rhythm, in agreement. "Hai!"
The General smiled at his King as he watched a tear roll down the man's cheek. "Cheer up old friend. Let us die with you." He said, as one by one, the Hashin began jumping out of the bay doors.
Outskirts of Senae, Atlas vs Tobi & Osei...
Osei launched several volleys ahead, as he called on lightning to reinforce himself. Atlas was elated, dissipating the volleys with electric volleys of his own, then blocked his charge, as he reached out and manifested an intricate sword out of the ground below. Which slipped into his hand, just in time to block a flaming strike from Tobi, coming from behind him and managed to push him back.
"Bring it on!" He yelled out to the brothers, while unsheathing his own sword with his other hand, then began simultaneously parrying and striking back at them both.
He broke the deadlock, then twirled around quickly in place, creating a hurricane barrier, pushing them both back. Then threw the sword he created, at Tobi, who managed to deflect it, with quick reflexes, however, the force of the impact stung his hands, distracting him for a second.
A chance the emperor did not hesitate to take, as he dodged a charge from Osei and instead, teleported behind Tobi, while raising his own sword, high above his head.
"No!" Osei yelled out.
Atlas's eyes glimmered, as he smiled, seeing both of the brothers in despair. "Imperial Judgement, Execution!"
The wind followed the emperor's strike, erasing the landscape behind Tobi, as a massive fountain of blood, sprayed out of a gaping new cut, diagonally down his chest. He dropped to the floor, dozens of meters from his original position, as he held onto his chest, freezing his wound and convulsing. It was taking everything he could, to not fall unconscious, however eventually, the darkness took over.
"I... I... I won't forgive you!" Osei yelled out furiously, losing it, as Atlas laughed out loud.
Then, he glanced back at him, soaking in the torment, he was putting the prince through. "Don't worry, he won't die. I still need him. I just wanted to make sure he had a good nap." He said, pointing his right hand at Tobi's body, as a coffin of ice, swallowed him and began healing his wound back, slowly.
Osei could not believe, the situation they were in. It felt surreal after everything he had been through. Something deep within him, began to snap, as years of trauma, boiled up to a single point. He lunged, at full speed, striking Atlas' sword, with overbearing might, and pushed him flying back into an area away from Tobi. "You bring disaster with you, everywhere you go. You're existence, is the only one, this galaxy... No, this universe never needed!"
Osei struck down as the emperor hopped to his left, freezing the prince's sword to the ground. Osei managed to break his hands-free and followed up with a high kick to his face.
Atlas bent back, nearly missing the strike, then gave him two quick punches. One to his face, the other in his gut, bursting forth a beam of ice, as it crashed him through several hills.
Osei got up, coughing blood. "Not yet! Thunder Raika!"
Lightning crashed down, meeting an umbrella of ice, that the emperor managed to raise in time, with its hilt redirecting the charge into the ground. "It's over. Just give up. You did your best."
Osei clenched his fists, seething. What must his people be thinking of him? What would his parents do?
He felt as if he had failed them and could no longer take it anymore. "Not yet. As long as I draw breath..."
He placed his hands together, condensing a massive amount of electricity within a small violet sphere, dozens of times over. "Remo Raieqa!" It shattered forth, beaming violently and eating away the landscape on the way, to Atlas.
Atlas raised a finger, as a sphere of ice, held together an unfathomable amount of pressure, causing cracks in the sphere itself. Then, he launched it towards Osei's incoming attack. "Wind Sovereign!"
The shockwave, followed by a razor blast of wind, dispersed his beam in half and dissipated it as it crashed into Osei's chest, knocking him off of his feet, and crashing him through the terrain. Osei was having a hard time, keeping his eyes open. He felt bruises and fractures in multiple parts of his body. "I've failed." A tear fell down his cheek, as his regrets ate him up.
"No, my son." His eyes glanced to his left, as he raised his head. It was as if he was daydreaming, with illusions blending in with reality.
"Mom?" He asked, unbelieving of what he was seeing.
She smiled while keeping her hands above his chest, healing him, as someone else knelt to his right and spoke. "We failed you."
He glanced at the face of a very familiar man. One wearing a crown, with a remorseful and saddened expression. "Dad? But how?"
His memory took him back to the explanations, the Novas and Tobi gave of the ethereal plane. However other than Tobi, the others had only seen one or a few Rennayans each.
Zenu shook his head. "We should have been certain of you and your brother's safety, from the very beginning. The life you've had to go through. I can never forgive myself for that."
Safiyah was fighting back tears, but she took over. "We are so sorry. Will you forgive us?"
Osei, laughed, with tears escaping his eyes. "I've never blamed you for anything. I wish things never went the way they did. You were the greatest parents. My only regret is not having enough strength to restore Rennaya myself."
He covered his eyes. "I'm sorry father, I'm no prince. I've failed to keep my brother safe and I've failed to bring justice for our people."
Zenu smiled. "If we can be forgiven, then you can too. Come on, get up."
Osei pondered about what he meant, but as he got up, slowly, his eyes grew wide. Standing around them, with Waio in front, were hundreds of millions, if not a billion people.
Safiyah spoke up. "My little Osei, no one blames you for anything, you've far exceeded what was expected of you and gave hope to the galaxy once more. You have done your part. Let us help you, with what you want to do. However, I would advise you to take your brother and escape immediately."
Osei was a little dumbfounded to be once again, seeing so many of his people. It was a little difficult for him to speak. "Thank... You."
He shook his thoughts away, remembering his mission. Then he reached his hand out, as his sword, flew back into his palm, hilt first. "I have to keep my little brother safe. My people, I ask of you, please lend me your strength."
They all began to kneel and punch the ground, as their fists broke through into a deep abyss of darkness. Each of their eyes, began to glow, like a domino effect. They all smiled and spoke together. "Yes, Your Highness."
Osei was stunned, as multiple branches of energy began, opening up, within his body.
Waio spoke up. "Do not be alarmed, my pupil. Of course, you're affinity is high with your people. All of Rennaya once celebrated your birth as a sign of hope, prosperity, and good times to come."
Seeing Waio again, made it hard for him to keep his composure. He continued to look around, remembering all of the faces, of people he used to know, as his parents placed their hands on his shoulders, then spoke in unison. "Whatever you do from now on just know, that we are proud of you and we will always love you, no matter what."
He nodded, as his tears dried up, along with them all disappearing, as Atlas broke the silence. "I was waiting back there, expecting you to come back up. You know, with how you couldn't forgive me and whatnot, but instead I find you bawling your eyes out here. What's the matter with you?"
Osei wiped his eyes, then swung his sword to his side, and released all of the built-up energy he had gathered. A skull with markings similar to Tobi's manifested over his face, then crumbled apart, as his eyes, glowed bright blue, with purple and black veins, coursing through his body, pulsing in intervals. His hair flashed full silver, then settled, mixing evenly with the rest of his jet-black hair.
Mist escaped his mouth, with each breath he took, as rings of fire crushed the ground, followed by tremors and thousands of lightning strikes. He had reached his peak.
"Sorry for the wait. I'm alright now. Let's settle this." He spoke calmly, as the tension, rose between them. They stared each other down with pure malice. Yet the emperor could not help noticing, the phenomenon occurring around him.
He laughed, realizing what was happening. "It would seem, the reports were true. The suits that have been granting your human allies, abilities, can also bring about miracles near death. It was tragic what happened on Valtorin, but it was a truly valuable experience. Luckily our drone captured everything, but to be witnessing it myself here... I'm getting even more excited."
Osei, cracked his neck, then crouched, charging up electricity, as his sword caught fire. Then he struck vertically, ripping apart the ground between them, as the aerial strike jetted with at an incredible speed.
Atlas was surprised by Osei's growth. Forcing him to shift into second gear, as he raised a steel wall out of the ground. Which forced him to drop Tobi out of his chamber and woke him up, as he wondered where his brother went.
Atlas drew his sword, coating it in fire. "I raised you. Yet, you dare stand against me!"
Osei laughed out loud. "Every living moment under you was hell. You're just a robot, gone wrong. It's time for you to get tossed to the junkyard."
The emperor glared at him, a vein nearly bursting out, on his temple. "I see, you're prepared to die."
They lunged at each other, bringing absolute devastation to their surroundings, as both of them aimed for the kill. Osei broke the deadlock, jumping back, then pointed a palm at the ground, as it started to rise. "Doteko Ohoni."
A gigantic replica of him rose out of the ground, with its inner body fueled by lava and its outer covered in titanium, diamonds, & other gems. In its hand, a sword the size of a building maintained violent, violet flames coated over it, as lightning continuously struck it.
Atlas's eyes grew wide, then he turned around, to retreat in the opposite direction while preparing a condensed sphere of lava. However, the giant lunged after him and swung vertically with precision, before he could escape.
The emperor spun around just in time, thrusting the sphere at the giant's sword, to mitigate some of the force as he was sent flying across the country. He tried regaining mobility, midflight, but the winds were too much, that's when he saw a looming shadow, covering the sky, and beginning to descend.
Atlas immediately threw his hands into the air, trying to launch anything to protect himself on time. However violet lightning struck the giant, aiding his descent down even faster and leaving a devastating impact on the face of the planet.
Osei hovered over, feeling the emperor's life force, still burning strong below. "You don't deserve any mercy!" He yelled out, knowing he could still hear him, then raised his right hand to the sky. It began to rain and then seconds later, the rain clumped together while freezing into sparrows, charged with electricity.
He watched as the remains of the giant was split in half, by a beam of lava. As it broke apart, he didn't hesitate and dropped his hand. "Kraman Armada!"
Millions of sparrows crashed down onto the emperor, cutting him up, and bombarding him with intense stings and surges. Then, froze him in a massive iceberg of birds, shocking him nonstop with tens of billions of volts.
Osei crouched down and gathered all of his energy to the edge of his blade, then burned it hotter than ever, with fire & electricity, as dark clouds supplied him with an endless capacity. He frosted his hands over to protect himself from the heat, as a superheated coat of magma pulled itself together over his blade, adding to the firepower.
He thought of everyone he needed to do this for and sealed his resolve. "Let's finish this."
Atlas was trapped, defenceless as he tried to melt himself free. Regardless of anything he could have done, it would have been too late, as Osei shot out of the sky, like lightning.
"Raieqa Omega!" He yelled before he cut through the ice and Atlas at the same time. Wiping out the entire landscape around and behind Atlas, as he whizzed past, sheathing his sword.
He turned around cursing, as multiple side effects started to take effect on his body, disorientating him, as he watched Atlas stitch back the half of his body that had nearly been cut clean. "I missed." He whispered to himself.
Atlas noticed, that several of his circuits were not working the same, since his core was nicked. He glared at Osei, with a deadly look. "You've gone too far!"
Osei smirked, knowing he struck a nerve. "I could say the same for you!" He heaved, trying to catch his breath. 'Hold on Osei, just one more.' He told himself, as he gathered up the last of his energy within him and formed a stance.
Atlas looked down at the ground, as his anger boiled over the top. All five of the elements began to rampage all around them, simultaneously. Disappearing as each one laid waste to the environment. His hair began to flash silver, as earthquakes raged the continent.
Osei's eyes grew wide, as he noticed the emperor's energy skyrocketing.
His eyes went white, then slotted back to a glowing bloodshot red. New pressure emanated from him, making the air, seem heavier to breathe. As he spoke, his voice sent chills down Osei's spine. "It's time to end this."
Osei, clenched his teeth, leaping at lightning speed. "Raieqa Omega!"
His sword, this time, collided with Atlas's, but the force of the emperor swinging back, sent him flying back over half a kilometre. Osei dropped his sword, unable to hold onto it, as he skidded, crashing across a field. He quickly got up, putting all of the energy he could muster into a condensed violet flaming sphere, charging it with electricity, and spinning around a core of magma.
Frost covered his hands, as the heat of its orbit, began cutting into his palms. He thrust it forth, just in time as the emperor landed in front of him. "Seiaqa Ultimate!"
Atlas smirked as he raised his hand at the incoming blast. Then it began to split around him as it seemingly struck an invisible barrier in front of it. Visible only as it began to crack.
Osei staggered, letting up in disbelief that it had done nothing to the emperor. He watched as Atlas raised a finger toward him, with a disappointed, yet saddened expression. "You were a good warrior. You just didn't know, who you were up against." He spoke calmly, as the sky seemed to go dark, raining with occasional rings of thunder, while he darted his finger in five thrusts at Osei's body. "Particle Decimation."
Tobi had just arrived. Just in time, to watch his brother drop to the floor.
Notes:
Raika means bolt in Rennayan.
Remo means concentrated in Rennayan.
Raieqa means shock or volt in Rennayan.
Saieqa Ultimate is ultimate lightning in Rennayan.
Kraman and Doteko Ohoni (Stone King, possibility) were taken from the Ghanian language and used as part of the Rennayan, but I may have misplaced the translations.
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Attributes

Character attributes suck, and your game sucks because you're stuck on them:

S

D

C

I

W

C

It's 2024. Let's put down the keyboard, take a step back, and think.
Your mission, if you choose to accept it: design, write and publish\* a tabletop roleplaying game*\* for 2+ players by July 1st. Any genre, any setting, any length, art, AI art, no art, layout or no layout whatever.
The only stipulation is this:
The only attributes you can have in your game are the five senses: Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste and Touch. You don't have to use all five, but you can't introduce any additional attributes. The attributes must have some actual mechanical/systematic function in your game but I don't care how you use them.
A long-form RPG will get bonus points over a short-form/one-page RPG, but a one-page RPG will get more points than a long RPG that isn't about anything.
* Publish meaning anything from a reddit post to a website to a PDF to an actual printed game, free or for sale. The only rubric is that it's gotta be made available to the public somehow so Someone Who Is Not You could access, read and run/play the game.
* Game, not system. I want to see games that have a point. I don't want to see another method for figuring our if a sword did damage to a goblin or not.
Oh and just one more thing, just like you don't comment on posts in Albuquerque, don't feel like you have to comment on this post. It's okay to just not like something, privately.

Please Feel Free to add your own Ideas, and Modders Feel Free to use them if you're looking for Suggestions, if you do end up using an idea thank you
Named Split Tracks - Basically you can name each direction of the Split Track, and the name will pop up on the Directional Arrow UI so it gives the Train Conductor information on which way they want to go
Quests and Rewards - This Mod would give players Challenges they'd have to complete and once they do they get rewarded with an Item or a Random Fertilized Egg, there would be tiers of Challenges the higher challenges being more difficult but the reward being better
Scorched Earth Oviraptor Spawn - Basically adds to Oviraptor to Scorched Earth, I feel like it was an oversight by Wildcard not to Add them, their Ability to pick up Eggs Automatically makes them like Dung Beetles Essential Tames that should be on every Map
Scorched Earth Gigantoraptor Spawn - Like the Oviraptor it adds the Gigantoraptor to Scorched Earth, now that it's Base Game it should work
Multiple Oasisaurs - Basically Removes the Restrictions on 1 Oasisaur per Tribe Limit
Better Araneo - So I've always Felt the Araneo was Useless, so I'm going to Suggest the Following, Give it the Ability to Climb Walls and Ceilings, Make it's a web attack act like a Net Gun, Make it a little bigger, much faster, and more potent tranquilizing Venom to it's Bite
Better Scorpion - Like the Araneo I'd like to See the Recieve a buff to it's Tranquilizing Venom, and make it Atleast Climb up Wall

It sounds as if this card will become available again. What are your thoughts on it?
https://frequentmiler.com/can-you-upgrade-to-the-citi-prestige-should-you/
In my opinion, it’s easy for this to beat the Premier. After the travel credit, it costs $150 more.
But the 4th night free twice per year on hotel booking in the portal is much better than the Premier’s $100 off $500 credit.
And 2 extra points per dollar on dining and travel can make up for the higher annual fee.
In addition to that, it has priority pass that includes restaurants!?

i emailed this to agencies that deal with hunting and wildlife problems
pasts@varam.gov.lv
info@wildlifesos.org
reportmisconduct@undp.org
there is no obvious place to report this and expect a serious hearing from someone fluent in English and scientifically minded
the following is what I wrote a month ago after the event
i can't judge after hand how much danger i was in but i would treat it seriously
luckily has not happened again in this country for a month. hopefully never happens again. although the next time i will have the benefit of having experienced it already
when police arrived i demanded prison for the dog owner in clearest possible way i could. after my speach was done they did not ask me a single word. they could tell i was furious of fear. and better to talk another time. i am so drained from global security work that i can't follow up on this but this should be available for anyone to read that might experience it themselves or take upon their self to wander around this globe as i do
i will probably feel guilty if the owner lose his dogs or hunting permit or reputation in his community. i am not going to judge anyone extremely harshly
if they ask me to fill out a criminal report according to some kind of format standards i am not going to do it myself an experienced prosecutor that has done it before is free to report this or pass it along. just not going to fill in report fields in some kind of form. you do it for me if you want to. i am not doing it. should be enough information to find
http://geohash.org/u6p4gj36
is the exact location and anyone can guess where the dogs came from probably the nearest mansion two thousand metres away to the east across p111 near upsede. upsede mansion. good luck asking them about it they don't speak a word of English here development is seventy years behind the west

preface

this is so incredulous that it could be picked up by news
still in shock six hours later at dawn
just the title should give you the general idea
i have never heard of such outrageous neglect in dog keeping in my life
the dogs escape unnoticed at night and hunt without human supervision and presumably return in the morning without anyone doing anything about it
this dog owner would make the top ten list anywhere in history
the dogs occasional howl brought up pictures of wolf movies the grey with that guy from Schindler's list the guy that played Oscar Schindler fighting with wolves with broken glass and a big knife to his death but i can safely discard all theories besides a runaway hunting dog militia on four legs in a large pack sounded like at least ten animals
in that immense fear of a completely unfamiliar situation in a life of hiking around the globe thoughts whirled around all possible night mares before i realised it is obviously hunting dogs all else is pure fantasy wolves are absolutely ruled out
they did not retreat when they sensed my presence but stayed in full alarm perhaps as when they encounter prey on a supervised hunt to alert the humans. even though they knew they were alone and no one to alert, they knew i was probably not prey, did not know enough to EVER be alone unsupervised anywhere but home preferably inside, but did NOT know or predict the length of the prison sentence they just brought on their owner by this nightly escapade. whoops
the locals will predictably put the lid on but the power of the internet is a wonderful thing
i can not imagine any circumstance that would make this less than prison anywhere in the union or West europe. now this is the old east. no one understands English etc. one escaped dog barking in the forest. fine. slap on the wrist. possibly losing care of the animal...ten rabid hunting dogs in full alarm scaring the life out of a hiker resting at night. shake those bars for three months. watch that prison television. and there won't be any Marlborough or beers in prison

the entire report

the exact location is near the highest hunting tower on the old railway trail passing by upsede north east of liepaja that is used for hunting commonly judging by all the towers lining the road there
This began around Four hours after dark on the early night of Sunday 28 April 2024 or exactly 1:00 o'clock
I will first describe exactly what happened and after that separately my interpretation in hindsight when recalling these events three hours later when I can calm down
This is a rather long story so I will get to my point right here before the story
What can I do if I encounter a dog pack like this again except tell at them and calmly leave. What if they hunt me or behave like they are guarding a territory. However remotely that might seems. There is a reason this is a serious crime. Too much uncertainty
Can you confirm that this kind of incessant barking is absolutely impossible in any other animal
In no circumstance whatsoever would any wolf pack or any deer flock behave like this even if I stood right on their den with ten kids inside
The occasional howling is something that dogs still retain from their wolf origin not long ago
It is not unlikely that a pack of hunting dogs alone would howl occasionally
Despite yelling at them several times there was no yell back from a human. Very likely the dogs escape at night without anyone caring about it extremely dangerous and frightening to a hiker that need. Rest at night not the fright of a life time
I could not imagine that in a relatively rich country anyone ever would drive their dogs for a night hunt. Would be absolute insanity. Neglect and alcoholism depression (försupen dumhet Swedish) I can easily imagine. Not outright insanity. Even if night hunting permits are sometimes issued in Germany for "animal control" "population control" of wild pigs. This is a completely separate topic that I will not say more about than that I am working on these issues on and off. My view as a progressive world ambassador could not be further from the idea of shooting at anything anywhere for any reason. Except tranquilizer darts for humane population control of CAPTURED animals not hunted. Captured. It is clear in Sweden that shooting anything anywhere with fire arms does not belong in the future society. Now this is all I will say about this. We are working on this as fast as is possible. The education effort still left on this planet is still enormous and daunting
Regarding dog behaviour in detail I know very little despite inspecting a manuscript by the foremost scientist on the subject that work in Budapest that is most famous for working on the Philippine paradise fish ten years ago before they changed to dogs and removed their aquarium
Dogs in particular have very little room in the professional literature since most pros are not anthropo centric. All mammals share common traits like an early recognition of friend and foe. Dogs in particular has almost never been studied at least not dogs for guarding or hunting. There might be one single work perhaps by one single biologist or behaviour ist ethology biology for shepherds dogs that life with grazing livestock
All books cover territory selection and protection and pack hunting or other flock behaviour. But almost nothing has apparently been possible or interesting to anyone to publish as a professional seeking a career in science in ethology animal behaviour or population biology. so i am not the only one drawing a blank when trying to explain the behaviour with any satisfaction more than anecdotal that is hard to call science

what I experienced

A sudden bark that I expect to be a roe deer that bark and run away. happens all the time
Although the bark was not quite right. more like a dog which I have never encountered at night
Suddenly a roaring festival of barking and occasional howling
The distance is extremely uncertain but perhaps five hundred meters
The direction was towards road p111 to the east toeards Upsede. i am by the big tower. There is one house near the road that the dogs could belong to if they crossed p111
Now my primal instinct set in and I envision a pack, a large pack, of wolves near their den the core of their territory. Frothing over my intrusion and ready to approach in full alarm
In hindsight this is just the occasional howling that caused this and everything about this speaks against wolves
IF wolves can behave like this or has been observed or heard doing this in ANY circumstance whatsoever I absolutely need to hear about it because it would bear on my future expeditions
If there is this single wolf dog hybrid pack maybe only one in Europe that I happened to encounter I absolutely need more information. feral dogs that would possibly go unnoticed in Belarus has crossed over to Latvia?
I have never heard of anything like that
All wolf incidents as rare as they are in Poland or anywhere have been with lone wolves that are sick or hungry and have lost their feir of humans
I have never heard of an aggressive wolf pack in Europe or anywhere on the planet
I have seen wolf droppings so many times and spent so much time day and night in wolf territory that I would never expect them to be so aggressive about human scent or sound like that
I have certainly had wolves near me many times but never heard a peep. In Sweden and Norway on long expeditions all summer and even winter and on and off for years from Spain to France Belgium Germany Poland and now here in the Baltics for one month so far direction Finland
The pack was in full alarm with barking and an occasional howl that dogs will still use. But much less than wolves. Wolves never bark together like this in any circumstance I have ever heard it seen if
It is with near certainty the pack of dogs that have hunted there before that happens to live on the farm on the opposite side of the road and escaped west around thousand metres into the forest.
Perhaps they do this regularly but no one cares
And now I happened to be there
Hiking and trekking and wild camping is MUCH more common in Sweden and Norway than anywhere in the world even Finland that is a close second. It is the Scandinavian spirit. As has recently been proven paleo lithic pre farming humans breed into the farming population only in Scandinavian nowhere else in Europe. I am personally absolutely at peace in nature and hate combustion engines that bother few others
Without getting off track completely I am continuing my expedition around Europe and almost all ground breaking record breaking endeavour of exploration has come from Scandinavia specifically. First settlement of the new world five hundred years before another European country etc etc etc first man on the south pole endless list of did what no one else could ot would. I am not placing my breed on a pedestal just explaining that if anyone would encounter something like this most likely it would be a Swede and the locals are most likely entirely puzzled why I am not living my life in doors at home or in a comfortable guest house
But this is beside the point just a side track to explain my presence in this rare encounter

in hindsight what happened

It is clear to me now that a pack of large hunting dogs. Not the small loud ones. Tax in Swedish. I have never owned a dog or hunted. I am a scientist. So I don't know much of anything about dog breeds. But presumably Large dogs that can hunt and kill on their own that have been trained to not kill the prey but only stalk it or drive it and make a loud alarm to draw the apes (not condescending just scientific classification of my species)
This is all speculation I just can't imagine what I heard to be a pack of tax (Swedish) small rabbit hunting dogs. These were large animals certainly with courage to act alone without humans
But I don't know anything about common hunting dogs in this region or anywhere so I can't suggest what breed it could have been that could behave this way
When I yelled at them they silenced for a moment then the roar continued
They had no intention to move back. I called for a police to meet me on road p111 and moved. I could hear the dogs for one thousand metres which gave me the impression that they moved after me at a safe distance perhaps curious about what I was
Again. If wolves can ever in any circumstance behave with this curiosity or aggressive confidence on human scent AND loud roaring. I yelled at them as a three hundred kilos silver back gorilla would try to show how big and powerful he was. No wolves ever no matter how big their biggest packs are in Europe would do anything but withdraw. These animals stayed at a distance and gave me the impression that they followed me on the road even. But not close
Distance is extremely uncertain but my best guess would be five hundred meters
This location has been used before for hunting and these dogs have been released during supervised legal (presumably) hunting in this exact location
They have smelled or sensed a wild animal and followed it into the forest where they have hunted before

will anyone stop this. how common is this

The police said they would call the nearest farms and ask about their dogs and the hunters that set up the hunting towers there in that old railway road where the dogs live that they bring to hunt there
But unfortunately I don't expect them to do anything when the response is "I know nothing". This is obviously a massive incident since I told them I am a scientist that will likely enquire with other scientist and if they cover this up it will explode big time. this is not s minor incident
Jägarna is a popular Swedish movie about the sad reality of this kind of stuff. anything related to mis management with hunting or dogs is so deeply rooted in human behaviour since the stone age that the local police do anything they can to forget about it. "Probably just a barking deer" or "wolves are common in the forest" and might bark despite my sincere explanation that this is hunting dogs not wolves and carries a prison sentence if heard in front of a magistrate
if you imagine "i like logic circuit design" the absolute opposite is "i like dogs and hunting". it's as different as a von Neumann machine is from sticks and stones in technological achievement. and a massive education effort is still needed for that population should they not cause a complete collapse of civilization like 1930s Germany. you might like NATURE you certainly don't like fire arms or dogs. has nothing to do with investigating nature. it is not conscious behaviour. but only photographers and hunters visit nature? you are obviously not a scientist ("what is this?" looking at bowling ball in small Lebowskis bath room. "you are obviously not a golfer")
I don't expect them to even ask anyone and just hope I forgot about it or they never have any other hikers near that spot at night
The "police report" that I received when they returned from the spot I told them to investigate was exactly that "it was probably just a deer and now I will go home and sleep". that only told ne that the pack had moved or did not respond to a car or they went to the wrong place or most likely could not be less motivated to find them
I gave the female officer that spoke English a stern explanation what would happen in Sweden. Prison. Absolutely nothing else than prison. Grave negligence in dog oversight. No hunting license and no dogs for the rest of his life
This is extremely serious that this is seen as a minor mistake that hunting dogs are stalking wild animals alone at night. Only in Sweden do we understand clearly that HUMANS are in the forest at night sometimes. We have palaeolithic blood lines and the world's foremost paleo biologist among other things. I am a renowned explorer. My father and uncle is one of the world's foremost wildlife photographer for WWF NG etc. Wild life is strictly monitored and controlled and this kind of neglect is absolutely treated with utmost sincerity
Our society is not in a state of civil war. Escaped hunting dogs hunting alone at night. Prison. Period. And the local police that tries to suppress it or treat it with a yawn will be investigated by internal affairs and released from service and prohibited from similar work with a responsibility to investigate seriously
We in sweden have the most aggressive policy in the world to combat this suppression of neglect related to hunting from the local community or any kind of coverup attempt or failure to investigate serious neglect, crime or not, we are not "paragraph riders" (paragraf ryttare) we investigate serious problems. anyone can understand how serious this is before digging after paragraphs

more about dog behaviour in general that might be relevant

Regarding dogs that hunt alone. I will not name any names but I have met a couple that lived in a remote valley in Portugal where their two large extremely aggressive dogs (even after ten minutes they were extremely uncomfortable with my presence and would not listen to their owner's calm regarding my encounter near their caravan on Canary islands) hunt together and bring home food. Literally drag it home to the family. Needless to say they have no kids and I will not say more about it more than the point that large dogs can easily on their own learn to hunt wild game. Possibly several breeds. They are still all close relatives of animals that do exactly that to survive. Guard territory identify intruder stalk and hunt prey is their basic behaviour anything else would result from actively counter acting instinctive behaviour that has become common to convert security staff patrol units and killers to social support animals because morons absolutely need to own a dog
Recall that in less developed countries like Chile dogs bark all night EVERYWHERE and run free in the day
I was in Chile for six months and never encountered dogs at night but had to suffer through the incessant noise if "guarding" at night. EVERYONE has night guard dogs. it is completely incomprehensible if you ever passed first grade with honours that they blindly follow a relict tradition for no other reason. Those dogs are GUARD dogs that have no experience of hunting ever. And when they encounter a human in the forest during their daily adventure they are never aggressive that far away from home
In western Europe outside Spain almost never dogs that bark all night. Same in Latvia. Two weeks in Lithuania don't think I ever heard a dog at night. A welcome serenity from Chile that I just arrived from after completing my record breaking expedition there

Hello all - I'm having issues dealing with a hostile boss at work and was curious what some of your guys' experiences have been. It's not so bad to the point that I want to confront him just yet but I am taking screenshots of messages and collecting evidence for whenever I do confront him directly. I've been in this job for a year and would say it's going okay. I know there are things they wish I did better and there are things I wish they did better but overall I enjoy working here and do feel valued to an extent. I feel like one of my boss' loves to take jabs at me in group messages that other colleagues are in and this bothers me. He's from the UK and they can be a little smart sometimes but I don't think he would appreciate me being smart/snarky back to him. I know I'm not the only person who has dealt with this and I think people have even left because of him. It's a smaller company that is growing and I'm not ready to jump ship just yet.
What would some of you guys be doing? Or feel free to share some of your experiences with your hostile boss' to make me feel better about mine.
Thank you all have a lovely day

Hello, folks! As the results of various B Schools have been pouring in, and everyone here is in a mad rush to figure out which colleges want them and which colleges they (should) want, I've been seeing a lot of uninformed (at best) and intentionally misleading (at worst) opinions going around. The problem here is that while I, having wrapped up my MBA journey a while back, am a little more adept at sniffing out the BS than the average aspirant - many others in this journey are understandably quite clueless (as was I back in my day, to the point where I didn't even know about SP Jain till after I joined C!), and often don't know better.
So, how do you navigate these choppy waters?

1. Always be skeptical on Reddit. Understand that anonymity is a powerful tool - which on one hand can be used to share privileged and even scandalous truths, but on the other hand can also serve as a façade for ulterior motives. So, if you find any particularly concerning posts or testimonials, make sure to run it by a large enough sample space to significantly dilute the ill-intentioned opinions.
   
2. NEVER sought subjective opinions from MBA grads and students (e.g., is the consulting culture good? Is the campus pretty? etc.). Always frame your questions to ensure the answers are purely facts and numbers (e.g., how many consulting firms come to campus, and how many folks get placed there? What's the approximate split of green areas to concrete structures, and how many water bodies exist? etc.). Even with your best interests in mind, their definitions of "good" or "bad" may not align with yours, and give you the wrong picture of what to expect there. So figure out what facts and numbers qualify as "good to have" and "must have" across all aspects of your MBA experience (you could even set this up as an Excel matrix), and tailor your questions to fill in the blanks.
   
3. NEVER ask current students their opinions on other colleges. They've barely spent long enough in an MBA to know their own college, let alone judge others' - and college tribalism can run very deep. Only ask about college opinions from the current students and alumni of said college, along the lines discussed in point 2.
   
4. Target questions to the right audience. If you want to know about placement outcomes and future prospects of a particular college, talk to alumni of said college (preferably those who've spent at least a couple of years in the industry) - anything the current students know is only from the lens of a single placement cycle and hearsay, and their advice might be biased due to their attachment to their college (which diminishes as you gain work ex post MBA). However, if you want to know about things within the campus itself, defer to current students (since alumni may not have the time to discuss those aspects of your MBA journey, and current students would have the most updated info on the same).
   
5. Likely goes without saying, but always maximise your sample space for feedback. If you're discussing post-MBA prospects for college A, try to talk to at least 5+ alumni - if you can get feedback from 8-10 alumni, you'll have a rich source of consistent data that isn't tainted by subjective experiences or individual biases. Likewise, for internal matters reach out to as many current students as you can, for the same reason.
   

I know all of this will take a significant effort (esp. points 2 and 5), and time isn't really a friend of yours at this moment - but the only way to eliminate ambiguity and biases is to hedge against them as proactively as you can. Remember, the only person here with a vested interest in your wellbeing is YOU, so look after yourself. Rest assured, though - this protracted effort now will be worth it's weight in gold for the rest of your career :)
All the best to everyone out here (current and future aspirants alike), and feel free to comment or DM if you'd like to take the conversation further. Cheers!

BOOK SPOILERS AHEAD.
Having read the books, I am curious as to how they intend to show Marina's story, given her only remaining role is to die (essentially by her own hand) to free the way for Eloise and Phillip to get together. When she was just a minor character in the books, this was a reasonable plot point, but Marina is quite well developed in the show and people are attached to her.
That seems like a very dangerous path for a writer to go down, especially as the audience is very progressive and they'd be >! killing off Marina, a POC, for two white people to get together and raise her children (Phillip has adopted them but they are biologically his niece and nephew). !< I am not saying I subscribe to this viewpoint personally, but it will be brought up as a criticism.
I think they will need to change things a bit, and what I think would be the best way is for her >! not to attempt suicide, but to die trying to save the children from drowning.!< That would keep her ending largely as it was in the books, without creating a problematic storyline that might garner negative attention, and add to Phillip's trauma ->! he was not there to save them and she died because of his absence.!<

services: homeassistant: container_name: homeassistant image: "ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:stable" volumes: - /opt/homeassistant/config:/config - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro restart: unless-stopped privileged: true ports: - 8123:8123 mosquitto: image: eclipse-mosquitto container_name: mosquitto volumes: - /opt/mosquitto:/mosquitto - /opt/mosquitto/data:/mosquitto/data - /opt/mosquitto/log:/mosquitto/log restart: unless-stopped ports: - 1883:1883 - 9001:9001 zigbee2mqtt: container_name: zigbee2mqtt image: koenkk/zigbee2mqtt restart: unless-stopped volumes: - /opt/zigbee2mqtt/data:/app/data - /run/udev:/run/udev:ro ports: # Frontend port - 8080:8080 environment: - TZ=Europe/[hidden] devices: # Make sure this matched your adapter location - /dev/ttyUSB0:/dev/ttyACM0 networks: default: external: true name: homeass_network 

I was trying to open the ignite home connect app but it keeps opening a web browser closing opening closing opening anyone else having this issue
Edit nevermind it fixed itself

After the recent YouTube anti-ad block measure, three videos until you disable ad blockers, I switched off the extension (I use Microsoft edge and chrome) for the site. After a while I reenabled adblocker because I got frustrated when i got the same ads over and over again, sometimes being longer than the video itself. As y'all know, it basically speeds up the ad and the auto clicks the 'skip ad' button. I recently changed wifi companies, so i thought that slowing down was a consequence of that, but i noticed it was ONLY YOUTUBE slowing down immensely. When i clicked on something it'd take (not even exaggerating) 30 seconds for the site to respond. If i typed something, while working perfectly on the web browser, it'd take up to a minute to update what i wrote on youtube. After testing and testing, i remembered that lots of people were complaining about youtube being evil and doing bad things on purpose bc of adblockers, so i tried turning the adblocker off.
INSTANTLY, youtube became significantly faster. None of the issues mentioned above kept happening. As soon as i turn the adblocker on again, the page reloads by itself and we're back to having the equivalent of having 900ms ping in a videogame.
Im not a revolutionary or anything, but listen y'all: youtube has billions of users worldwide. A few weeks ago, people got sony to drop an update for a game just by boycotting the platform. We could do that so easily. The revenue they make bc of us watching is immense, if we stopped using youtube for a week, they'd definitely do what we want.
This is not right, a few years ago we'd get one skippable ad and that'd be it, now you get over 3 skippable ads in a row, not to mention the minute long unskippable ads. This has to change. Since youtube has no competitors, the only thing we can do is boycott them.

I'm on an immature data team and am in the process of getting setup for us to start using github with actions so that we can start the cicd process because I'm sick of writing in prod. We're still waiting on the account access but I'd like to understand how we go about our environment/db promotion whie I experiment a little in my free time.
Also exploring sqlmesh to implement later but we're just not there yet, I felt that getting people comfortable with git as a start would 'grease the groove' so not to disrupt the developers too much. I also think we're lacking in a lot of foundational skills and this is an opportunity to build some.
Current thought is to structure our repo the same way snowflake organizes objects:
db/
--schema/
----views
----tables
----etc
While I have some ideas kicking around regarding branch merges and prs kicking off different workflows that point to different environments, I'm really not sure what the simplest or most efficient way to handle this is.
What we ideally want is a way to deploy our views to dev once their ready for stakeholders to begin UAT, then to prod once signed off.
Anyone have any insight as to how I should go about this or other considerations I'm missing?

And we can finally hit ctrl+alt+del on this event. After nearly a month of infection in Petey's Lair and thanks to an array of players getting out there with Bugswatters, Bug Spray, and Bug-Stompin Boots, we are once again free to play without fear of being held up by cyberpunks: Random Bugs, Trojan Horses, and the ever-infamous Petey the Lag Monster, who have finally been cleaned out!
The Crimson Council has seen fit to reward those who assisted in the bug busting business. Only players with points are awarded.
Team Lag finished as the Top Team, followed by Worm, Syntax Error, and Trojan Horse! The top finishers within each team each received a special prize as well!
Rumiko took Top Player overall, followed by Rhaska and Green Dragonfly. All participants receive 13 exp per Lag Spike.
Thank you to all the players, and stay tuned for what's next (and hopefully) lag free!

I've been wanting to break away from Google lately and stumbled across this as a fantastic alternative to Google Drive/Docs/etc. However, something that's stopping me from being able to switch over is that I can't get the spellcheck to work in documents which is really bad since I'm a writer. I have the option turned on in the settings but the built-in option doesn't one, the one native to my web browser doesn't work, and even an external add-on doesn't work.
Any advise?