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{Sorry for the late post. I had some trouble with my scheduled summer semester pop up so I wasn't able to write this out as much as I wanted last weekend. Anyways, enjoy the domestic fluff of Damian and his newly expanded flock :) }
​
-----Damian-----
"The next one's simple. Say their name then (sit). Like this: Braxton, (sit)." As Damian said the command he raised his hand to around shoulder height and snapped. The Great Dane in question slowly sat with his usual amount of sass. Ree cooed in awe and Scales' eyes sparkled. Damian smiled as he pats the large dog's head with praise.
"(Good boy). Ok, you two. Your turns. Make sure to say the commands in English. I haven't taught them Common yet." He motioned to the dogs Damian picked for the two to learn the commands with. It took Damian a bit of trial and error figuring out what commands each dog knew and what ones had different commands for the same motion. Then it took even longer to retrain them to all follow the same commands. He kept in mind the 'specialized' commands for a few of the dogs and didn't try teaching them to the whole group. Ree tried the command he was teaching them first, his dog being Diesel.
"Trii-cheiu, (sit)." Ree raised his wing-arm, though he couldn’t snap he still did the gesture. The boxer he was talking to blankly tilted his head. Damian chuckled and helped out the bird, knowing they all tend to have problems pronouncing new words without a chirp to them.
"You pronounced his name wrong, he doesn't know you're talking to him. It's more like 'Dee-sell'. The 's' is sharp enough it is almost pronounced as a 'z'." Ree practiced a few times as Scales took her try. She pronounced her dog's name a bit slow, but it was recognizable.
"D-ing-oh, (sit)." The stocky dog hesitated, glancing at Damian for a few seconds, but eventually plopped down then panted in a smile imitation. Scales' tail wagged violently, and she wordlessly cooed and trilled happily. Dingo didn't yet understand that was praise so Damian jumped in really quick to let her know she did good.
"Good girl, Dingo! Good girl!" He made sure to over exaggerate his excitement and made wide happy gestures before smothering the dog in pets and scratches. Dingo goes wild. She jumps up, bounces around a few times, then bolts into excited zoomies. A few of the other dogs joined in on the zoomies. Ree tried again on his command.
"Dee-zell, (sit)." The boxer's cropped ears perked and he promptly sat. Before Damian could, Ree copied his bigwing's previous praising and flared his wings. "Good! Good boy!" He praised, overly happy. Diesel's whole body perked up and he jumped up, landed in a playbow, then spun a few times before joining in on the zoomies with a butt-tuck run when Damian smooched at him. Damian laughed at the zooming dogs and shuffled over to be closer to his chicks, just in case the dogs tried to do fly-bys.
"Good job, you two. We're almost completely through the basic commands. I didn't think we'd get through them this quickly." His chicks cooed, trilled, and wiggled happily at the praise. Damian chuckled and rubbed their feathered heads, making a few bits of baby-fluff fall off as he drew back. He played with the few bits stuck to his fingers and watched his chicks play with the dogs as they started to wrestle. All of the dogs were bigger than them, if only slightly, but they were gentle when letting the chicks join in.
As they played he looked over them. They had changed a lot in the last month or so since the disaster of their first flying lesson. In that time, they had a few more lessons and were almost completely capable of flight, they still had a bit of supervision when they did though. They had lost almost all of their baby-fluff and their adult plumage was sported on the vast majority of their bodies. They still had to shed the last bits of fluff and a few of their baby-scales but that wouldn't take much longer. Damian was still taken with their coloring and patterns. And often found himself studying them over and over like he used to with their parents when he first got here.
Ree was a slightly grey-tinted shade of green with his scales slowly getting darker the higher they went. His stomach was a dirt brown color with a more red-ish clay spot on his chest. All his plumage was a light orage-ish brown color and he had speckles of more pastel green under his right eye and in a clump on his left jaw. His beak took the coloring of Blueberry's, a near-black color, but had the shape of Ruby's. His ears took after Violet's, long and pointed like a stretched fox's. His feathers and fur were more pressed down and made him look slimmer overall. His eyes changed from their baby brown-gold color to a beautiful sky blue.
Scales, on the other hand, had the coloring more towards a bumble bee (from what he remembered anyways). Her main coloring was a bright sunshine yellow that slowly grew more towards orange towards her underbelly and beak. On her chest was a splash-like clump of pink feathers. Her scales were less than her brother's and were a deep brown-ish color. The feathers and fur edging them were a deep enough brown to basically be black. Her plumage reminded him somewhat of Ruby and Sky's. It had a gradual fade towards the end like Sky but the pink-ish color of Ruby. She had near-neon yellow speckles too, like her brother, but the clumps were a bit larger. She had them ending on her wing-forearms like Violet's and a big clump scattered around the left side of her face. Her feathers weren't quite as fluffy as Sky's but was pretty close. Her beak had the shape of Violet's and the near-white tan color of Ruby's. Her eyes had a beautiful dual color in each eye. The top majority was a hot pink/magenta color while the bottom and inside edge was more of a petal/pastel pink.
Both were gorgeous and made Damian wonder how the genetics of their species worked to allow that vast difference in coloration and patterns when compared to all four of their parents, who tended to be different shades of the same color throughout. Ree had finally slowed his quite concerning growth rate and was starting to level out around Damian's upper thigh/lower hip, exceeding the taller of his fathers by quite the margin. All four of his parents telling him that Ree was probably one of the largest of their species in multiple generations. Scales was now barely a third of her brother's size, if that, having evened out just barely shorter than Damian's knee. Apparently that was a bit shorter than average for the species with Ruby being more towards the upper part of the average size and Sky being borderline short.
A demanding snort drew his attention away from his chicks and to the window he claimed as 'his spot' so long ago (was it really only just over one of his years since he was brought here?). There he found Casper lazily curled and dozing on the floor with Ares propped up against her where Damian had set him to nap while he taught his chicks. Said child was no longer asleep though. He was very much awake and staring Damian down with an expression demanding to know why he thought it was a good idea to even dare to set him down and walk away. Nevermind Damian wasn't even ten steps away. Ares snorted demandingly at him again and glared harder at the human's amused snort back. Damian did walk over though and picked up the child when he raised his arms at him. Ares had changed a bit too over the month Damian had him. He'd filled out to a more healthy-looking weight, though he was still a bit thin, and Damian had finally managed to memorize how to properly trim the toddler's hooves and brush out his fur.
Ares still had the bird-like plush and brought it nearly everywhere with him. Said plush was now being whacked into the side of Damian's head. Apparently, Ares decided being held wasn't good enough and wanted something else. Damian tried blocking the hits or holding the toy, but the little brat only started using his hooves in his growing tantrum. Getting tired of being hit with no explanation, Damian took the advice of one of the texts he'd read about taking care of a Grongri child and yanked Ares away from him by his scruff to hang in mid-air. The toddler wiggled and squirmed to try and hit him more but eventually the tantrum dimmed, and he went limp, a small pout on his face.
"You ready to tell me what's wrong now?" He asked the child before he cradled him again. He'd only made that mistake once. He still had the bruises to prove it. Ares glumly flicked his right ear down (which he's learned is a non-verbal yes), pout still present. Damian finally cradled the toddler to his chest again and let him sniffle and bury against him in self-comfort until he was ready to talk. Damian glanced back at his chicks to see them flopped on the ground with the other dogs, all panting and exhausted by the play. Damian chuckled at them, earning an irritated crow from Scales. Damian snorted in amusement but let them be. Ares was finally willing to tell him what was wrong.
"Want learn too." Ares' understanding of both Common and English has come a long way in the past month. He still can't string a proper sentence together, but Damian can't tell if that is because of a lack of knowledge or just because he's a toddler. He has adjusted to the flock a bit too. With it being so different from the usual Grongri Sounder structure it is understandable. He does have a few hiccups here and there but now he mostly just watches the chicks' reaction to things when he is unsure.
"'Learn too'? You wanna learn how to command the dogs too?" Damian questions, making sure he had the same idea. Ares' ear flicked again while he nodded. Damian hugged him a bit closer.
"You're a bit too small for the dogs to obey you immediately but I can introduce one to you and have you start trying. How about that? Will that work?" Ares was quiet for a bit longer but eventually agreed. Damian smiled and praised him with a few pets, receiving a few happy rumbles in response. Damian glanced around at the dogs, trying to pick one for Ares to start working on. He doesn't think any would follow the commands without his own help but if he worked on one long enough it would eventually cave. His eye landed on Casper, who was still in the same curled position as before. She was the most maternal of the group and was the one who took to the children the easiest and quickest.
"Ok, little piglet. Let's start easy." He said as he set the runt down on his hooves. As he did he got Casper's attention and called to her. "Casper. (Stand)." The large white wolfdog looked at him then crawled to her paws. He praised her softly then turned back to Ares.
"Ok. We'll start with (come). Say her name, Casper, and tell her to (come)." He said as he sat down next to where the toddler stood. Ares' little hooves stomped a bit in his excitement, but he tried. He tested out the new word before he did. What he settled on wasn't the right pronunciation, but it was close. He could mostly pronounce the command correctly too, though with a pretty heavy accent.
"Gas-prrrr. (Come)." Casper tilted her head at the child and sniffed at him. She looked at Damian and he looked to Ares then back. Casper followed and glanced, then back. Ares deflated eventually when she still didn't approach so Damian thought up something quickly.
"Maybe she doesn't understand your accent. Try this," He patted the ground, "when you say it. She knows that gesture." Ares perked back up again.
"Okie!" He turned back to Casper and tried again. "Gas-prrrr." He crouched down and clumsily patted the ground like only a toddler could. "(Come)." Casper's ears perked but she still hesitated for a second before slowly padding over and stopping right in front of the child. Ares squealed in excitement, tail going wild and hooves stomping. Damian made his chuff-imitation as praise for the child as he pets Casper to do the same. Child happier now, he figures he could take the kid away for lunch without protest. Scooping up the toddler he received no complaint.
Looking to his chicks he clicked his tongue. He learned that was a good way to gain their attention with zero hesitation, no matter what they were doing. He found out by complete accident, to be honest. He was clicking at the dogs from a habit that hasn't broken despite the years away from the farm he grew up on. Sure enough, just like every time before, both chick's heads immediately whip up to look at him. Both still looked groggy like they had just woken up. They probably had.
"C'mon, you two. Lunch time." The two groaned but climbed to their feet. Damian smiled and them and patted them as they passed. Once they were well on their way, he called the dogs and gathered them as he left behind his chicks. The dogs happily trailed after, excited after they heard the word 'hungry' when he asked. He entered the flock's kitchen, pack in tow, only a handful of minutes later. He had to take a slightly more roundabout way over since some of the dogs hadn’t quite figured out the ladder-like walkways and ramps yet and he didn't want them to fall through and get hurt. His birds greeted him with their usual trills and Untruthful with their latest attempt at teasing.
"So, the Pack Master finally decided to grace us with his presence!" Damian let them know it was a good one by sending a tease back.
"I see you haven't gotten any less spikey yet, walking pincushion." Untruthful's eyes slowly shut in a smile and Damian sent one of his own back, momentarily closing his eyes in an imitation of them. Untruthful looked surprised then they eye-close-smiled harder, spike-crest wiggling their excitement. Damian chuckled at them and set down Ares in his make-shift baby seat.
He chatted with Violet as he grabbed and rationed out the dogs' small lunch. He ignored the protesting whines, grunts, and half-barks urging him to 'go faster already'. Violet advised him to use one type of meat instead of another because of both better nutrients for the dogs and there being more of it. He thanked her and did as told. The dogs' lunch wasn't that big, more of a snack than anything, but it kept them from pouting and begging when everyone else ate. It also had helped him give them meds when they were still healing. They were mostly fine now, apparently Galactic Standard medicine works faster than the stuff he remembers. Finishing with the dogs' food he picks up the bowls, stacking a few to do so, and turns around. He walked past the dogs, chuckling at the excited spins, bounces, and tippy-taps they did as they followed him. He glanced back at them once he made it to the wall the flock had designated as their eating area.
He gave them a stern look and waited. They all eventually sat down, some more slow and reluctant than others. Once they did he placed down the bowls in the designated spots. Braxton and Casper had two stepstool-stand things he placed their bowls on because of how big they were. Once all the bowls were down he turned to look at the dogs. He waited in silence for a bit, snapping or humming warningly whenever one tried to shuffle forward. Once he deemed it long enough he gave the sort-of-command he was on the tail end of teaching them.
"(Ok)." When he said that all six dogs ran over to their bowls and started to eat. Damian strode back over to the counter and helped his birds move some plates to the table then settled cross-legged in his usual spot, Ares immediately crawling into his lap and Scales fluttering to perch on the shoulder opposite the side her brother sat on. The flock started to grab food and eat as they chatted with each other. Damian grabbed a little more than a double portion of fruits, beans (or maybe they were berries?), and a few crunchy finger foods he thinks may be cooked or specially prepared insects. He grabbed roughly more than a single portion (for someone his size anyways) of meats, the few root vegetables presented, and what he thinks may be foods made of bone pieces.
Once his plate was full he placed it down in front of him he reached over to grab a smaller plate and started making that one with tiny portions, letting his three kids have free pickings of his plate as he did. When he finished that plate he sat it in front of mini, receiving a grateful squeak before she dug in. He then propped his arms on the table, completely ignoring both his plate and the children stealing from it as he chattered on with his flock. By the time everyone finished his kids had their fill and were starting to fall asleep like usual after eating.
As his flock started gathering their dishes and the extra food on the table, Damian glanced at what was left of his plate. He made a mental note of how there weren’t as much leftovers as before and to grab bigger portions for dinner. As his flock started to disperse he looked to the dogs and said one of the first new commands he taught them.
"(Pups)." He got their attention. "(Take)." He ordered as he lifted up the half-asleep toddler on his lap. The dogs made whisper-boofs to show they heard and the largest three walked over to pick up the kids by their scruffs. Casper (the biggest, though not my much) grabbed Ree, Braxton grabbed Ares, and Dingo walked over to carefully lift Scales from his shoulder. Once they had a firm grip, they looked to Damian for further instruction.
"(To bed)" He directed as he pointed out the door they came from. The pack turned and left him alone in the room. He sighed to himself once he couldn't hear them anymore and looked back at the leftovers on the plate before him. It was maybe under half a portion for his size, probably less. He glanced at the counters and saw all the leftover food was already put up. He could go grab more but even half a portion for him would be nearly three or four large portions for his flock. No. It wasn’t worth it. He'll just grab more tonight.
He ate the leftovers in silence. Since he's got the dogs his head has been a bit quieter, though not silent. Apparently he was still enough for the building to register the room as empty, and the lights cut out. He blinked and paused at the sudden darkness but there was barely a second of blindness before some of his voices put their hands on his mental controls, giving his eyes a boost of minor night vision. It wasn’t much better than his natural amount of it but it helped. He decided not to go turn on the lights again and continued to eat his food as he peacefully listened to the soft chattering of his voices.

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/16/daniel-perry-greg-abbott-pardon/

Hello there! I'm Arabella 25 F from the EST. I am looking for a fall out four based roleplay. Yes I am way way late to the train but I recently finished the main story and would love to do a roleplay based in the universe! I'm looking for mostly a OC based roleplay when it comes to fall out. I would love to come up with a story together, rather that be exploring the commonwealth or developing plots. I don't mind what type of character you play. I want this plot to be based on fall out 4. I haven't played the other fall out games.
Some things to note about me:
I prefer romance, drama and action filled roleplays. That's how I would like this roleplay to go. Filled with Romance and action. I only roleplay in third person point of view and I ask you to be at least semi-lit. I don't need a whole story but a few sentences would be nice I only roleplay with people 18 plus, please. I only roleplay on discord I only roleplay female characters If you're interested please, feel free to message me!

Any Offer Tradelist [100k Cap Free Space]
COMMANDO WEAPONS:
-> RAILWAYS

• AA/E/A Railway
  
• B/FFA Railway
  
• B/E/50DR Railway
  
• TS/E/A Railway
  
• V/FFP Railway
  
• V/E Railway 2*
  

-> FIXERS

• AA/FFGhost Fixer
  
• AA/E/250DR Fixer
  
• ARI/E/250DR Fixer
  
• B/E/Ghost Fixer
  
• EXE/E/P Fixer
  
• JUN/E/250DR Fixer
  
• TS/E/P Fixer
  
• V/FF250DR Fixer
  
• V/FFA Fixer
  

-> HANDMADES

• B/FFGhost Handmade
  
• B/FFA Handmade
  
• B/E/A Handmade
  
• TS/50C/250DR Handmade
  

-> ELDERS MARK

• AA/VHC/15V Elders Mark

-> RADIUMS

• B/FF50DR Radium Rifle
  
• B/FFA Radium Rifle
  
• Q/FFP Radium Rifle
  
• Q/FFA Radium Rifle
  
• Q/FFR Radium Rifle 2*
  
• V/FF250DR Radium Rifle
  

-> SUBMACHINE GUNS

• V/FF50C/250DR SMG

HEAVY WEAPONS:
-> 50 CALS

• EXE/FF250DR 50 Cal
  
• TS/FFR 50 Cal 2*
  

-> LIGHT MACHINE GUNS

• AA/FFP LMG

-> GAT LASERS

• B/FFA Ult Gat Laser
  
• V/FFP Ult Gat Laser
  
• B/FF250DR Nu Gat Laser
  
• V/FF250DR Nu Gat Laser
  

-> GAT PLASMAS

• EXE/FFP Gat Plasma
  
• TS/FFA Gat Plasma
  

-> CRYOS

• B/FFA Cryo
  
• Q/50C/50DR Cryo
  

-> AUTO GRENADE LAUNCHERS

• TS/VHC/1P AGL
  
• V/AP/FR AGL
  

-> PEPPER SHAKERS

• AA/FF250DR Pepper Shaker
  
• V/FFGhost Pepper Shaker
  

BOWS
-> REG BOWS

• AA/VHC/A Bow

PISTOLS
-> ALIEN BLASTERS

• AA/FFP AB
  
• AA/VHC/250DR AB
  
• B/50C/50DR AB
  
• B/50C/GHOST AB
  
• EXE/50C/50DR AB
  
• EXE/50C/MS AB
  
• EXE/FFP AB
  
• EXE/FFGHOST AB
  
• I/50C/A AB
  
• Q/50C/MS AB
  
• Q/FFMS AB
  
• V/50C/250DR AB
  
• V/50C/MS AB
  

-> 10MM PISTOLS

• Q/FFP 10MM Pistol

RIFLEMANS
-> TESLAS

• TS/FFP Tesla

ENCLAVE + PLASMA WEAPONS:
-> PLASMAS

• AA/FF250DR Plasma Pistol/Rifle
  
• AA/FFP Plasma Pistol/Rifle
  
• B/FFA Plasma Pistol/Rifle
  
• Q/FFA Plasma Pistol/Rifle
  

-> ENCLAVES

• V/50C/P EPR (True Flamer)
  
• Enclave Plasma Aligned Short Barrel
  
• Enclave Plasma Aligned Sniper Barrel x8
  
• Enclave Plasma Aligned Splitter Barrel x4
  
• Enclave Plasma Automatic Barrel
  
• Enclave Plasma Comfort Stock
  
• Enclave Plasma Flamer Barrel
  
• Enclave Plasma Gamma Wave Emitter x2
  
• Enclave Plasma Long Night Scope x12
  
• Enclave Plasma Long Scope x4
  
• Enclave Plasma Medium Night Scope x10
  
• Enclave Plasma Precise Stock x2
  
• Enclave Plasma Refined Beta Wave Tuner x5
  
• Enclave Plasma Short Night Scope x18
  
• Enclave Plasma Short Recon Scope x3
  
• Enclave Plasma Sniper Barrel x2
  
• Enclave Plasma Splitter x2
  
• Enclave Plasma Stabilized Automatic x2
  
• Enclave Plasma Stabilized Flamer Barrel x2
  
• Enclave Plasma Stabilized Short Barrel
  
• Enclave Plasma Stabilized Sniper Barrel x2
  
• Enclave Plasma Stabilized Splitter x4
  
• Enclave Plasma Stabilized Stock
  
• Enclave Plasma True Auto Barrel
  
• Enclave Plasma True Capacitor x3
  
• Enclave Plasma True Flamer Barrel
  
• Enclave Plasma True Sniper Barrel x3
  
• Enclave Plasma True Splitter
  
• Enclave Plasma Vicious Capacitor x4
  
• Unrolled EPRs -> (TA, SS, Reflex), (AS, SS, Reflex), (SS, SS, Reflex), (SF, SS, Reflex)
  
• Unrolled EPPs -> (AA, SG, Reflex), (SA, SG, Reflex)
  

MELEES
-> CHAINSAWS

• B/40SS/Break Chainsaw

-> CULTIST BLADES

• B/SS Cultist Blade (Lvl 30)

-> CULTIST DAGGERS

• B/SS/PA Cultist Dagger

-> ASSAULTRON BLADES

• B/SS/Block Assaultron Blade

-> DEATHCLAW GAUNTLETS

• AA/SS DCG 2*

-> POWER FISTS

• B/SS/PA Power Fist
  
• B/SS Power Fist 2*
  
• I/Steady/90 Power Fist
  

-> MOLE MINER GAUNTLETS

• AA/Steady/90 MMG
  
• B/SS MMG 2*
  
• V/SS MMG 2*
  

-> BEAR ARMS

• JUG/SS/DUR Bear Arm

-> SHOVELS

• B/Steady/S Shovel

-> BASEBALL GLOVES

• JUN/PA/25 Boxing Glove

-> TENDERIZERS

• EXE/SS/PA Tenderizer

-> BONE CLUB

• ARI/Steady/90 Bone Club

• Science Fiction/Fantasy/Post-Apocalypse
• Basic Rules
• No wait for Approvals
• MajoMinor Plots
• Regular Events
• Mature Content

The Setting
Almost three-hundred years ago, the Earth was almost destroyed. A monumental catastrophe raked over the planet, swallowing up reality and changing everything we knew.
The great wiping of the slate allowed for a new civilization to grow into one where Humans and Fae became intertwined. New forms emerged as well, living concepts called Daemons who shepherded the Earth races toward other stars.
Elimina is a prison planet five light years away from Earth.
Exiles have been sent from all over the habitable systems to the remote planet for two-hundred years. Survivors of earlier exiles have built societies from the wastes, learning to live on what they could find.
With growing towns and settlements, getting sent to Elimina is no longer the death-sentence it used to be. The planet is now in the early days of building a new society, one that isn't solely a dumping ground for the violent and inconvenient. It's a fresh start for some, and a regulation-free eden for research and industry.
Most are thrown into the wasteland by force while others come to escape prisons of different kinds.
The Vibe
Sci-fi with magic. One member described it as "Space Australia."
We have chill one-off and casual RPs to long, world-altering plot progressions.
We don't have post length requirements because more words don't mean more information. We use all varieties of writing from long scene-setting, descriptive posts to rapid-fire dialogue and action.
We expect at least a high school level of English proficiency, which means you should be able to clearly express yourself through writing. Occasional mistakes are okay.
Most of us have some post-secondary education.
Lore:
We've built a history for a unique world, enough to provide a structure with room to create your own story. We have rock lore, dirt lore, political lore, science lore and even a little gas lore.
The server and setting have been set up to help you go from joining to making a character with a minimal time investment.
We're an active community with at least a few posts per day, but there's no activity requirement.
Click Here To Join

• Science Fiction/Fantasy/Post-Apocalypse
• Basic Rules
• No wait for Approvals
• MajoMinor Plots
• Regular Events
• Mature Content

The Setting
Almost three-hundred years ago, the Earth was almost destroyed. A monumental catastrophe raked over the planet, swallowing up reality and changing everything we knew.
The great wiping of the slate allowed for a new civilization to grow into one where Humans and Fae became intertwined. New forms emerged as well, living concepts called Daemons who shepherded the Earth races toward other stars.
Elimina is a prison planet five light years away from Earth.
Exiles have been sent from all over the habitable systems to the remote planet for two-hundred years. Survivors of earlier exiles have built societies from the wastes, learning to live on what they could find.
With growing towns and settlements, getting sent to Elimina is no longer the death-sentence it used to be. The planet is now in the early days of building a new society, one that isn't solely a dumping ground for the violent and inconvenient. It's a fresh start for some, and a regulation-free eden for research and industry.
Most are thrown into the wasteland by force while others come to escape prisons of different kinds.
The Vibe
Sci-fi/Solarpunk with magic. One member described it as "Space Australia."
We have chill one-off and casual RPs to long, world-altering plot progressions.
We don't have post length requirements because more words don't mean more information. We use all varieties of writing from long scene-setting, descriptive posts to rapid-fire dialogue and action.
We expect at least a highschool level of English proficiency, which means you should be able to clearly express yourself through writing. Occasional mistakes are okay.
Most of us have some post-secondary education.
Lore:
We've built a history for a unique world, enough to provide a structure with room to create your own story. We have rock lore, dirt lore, political lore, science lore and even a little gas lore.
The server and setting have been set up to help you go from joining to making a character with a minimal time investment.
We're an active community with at least a few posts per day, but there's no activity requirement.
Click Here To Join

• Science Fiction/Fantasy/Post-Apocalypse
• Basic Rules
• No wait for Approvals
• MajoMinor Plots
• Regular Events
• Mature Content

The Setting
Almost three-hundred years ago, the Earth was almost destroyed. A monumental catastrophe raked over the planet, swallowing up reality and changing everything we knew.
The great wiping of the slate allowed for a new civilization to grow into one where Humans and Fae became intertwined. New forms emerged as well, living concepts called Daemons who shepherded the Earth races toward other stars.
Elimina is a prison planet five light years away from Earth.
Exiles have been sent from all over the habitable systems to the remote planet for two-hundred years. Survivors of earlier exiles have built societies from the wastes, learning to live on what they could find.
With growing towns and settlements, getting sent to Elimina is no longer the death-sentence it used to be. The planet is now in the early days of building a new society, one that isn't solely a dumping ground for the violent and inconvenient. It's a fresh start for some, and a regulation-free eden for research and industry.
Most are thrown into the wasteland by force while others come to escape prisons of different kinds.
The Vibe
Sci-fi/Solarpunk with magic. One member described it as "Space Australia."
We have chill one-off and casual RPs to long, world-altering plot progressions.
We don't have post length requirements because more words don't mean more information. We use all varieties of writing from long scene-setting, descriptive posts to rapid-fire dialogue and action.
We expect at least a highschool level of English proficiency, which means you should be able to clearly express yourself through writing. Occasional mistakes are okay.
Most of us have some post-secondary education.
Lore:
We've built a history for a unique world, enough to provide a structure with room to create your own story. We have rock lore, dirt lore, political lore, science lore and even a little gas lore.
The server and setting have been set up to help you go from joining to making a character with a minimal time investment.
We're an active community with at least a few posts per day, but there's no activity requirement.
Click Here To Join

The first arc is a complete story.
Your wizard learns how bad Malistaire is and quests through many worlds to ultimately defeat him. Seriously... Why would anyone pay to continue after that? What motivating storyline factor is there for new players beyond Dragonspyre, when they have achieved the literal, ultimate goal? That's the whole game to a new player, since Celestia and other protagonists aren't even mentioned.
Maybe cool gear, pets, or higher levels could motivate a new player to continue. But these aren't hyped up by the game, only by other players. They would know there is more to the game looking around them.
But we need to remember that levels 1 - 50 are story driven, not strategy driven. After Dragonspyre, the story is completed. There is no motivation to continue. Arc 1 is tied up in a perfect pretty little bow.
In fact, I think Arc 1 being free would motivate players not to continue. After defeating Malistaire, you get one sentence from Merle saying "Hey, something's going on in Celestia, mind checking it out?" and then SLAP - PAYWALL.
Why continue? You defeated MALISTAIRE! Whatever is happening in this CeLeStIa isn't worth my money.
Say you're watching a really good TV show. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger to keep you watching. Finally, after a long, driven season, the show comes to an exciting climax, and to a satisfying end. The bad guy is gone!! All is well!
You see there's a season two. You watch the first 2 minutes - new world, new characters, new story... completely unfamiliar, and nothing of what you became attached to in season one.
Then your show pauses and you have to pay to keep watching. Would you? I wouldn't. The season, story, and characters you'd grown to love are no longer relevant. Why pay for a new show? Why not watch something else for free?
In short, to keep players playing, the paywall NEEDS to hit at a cliffhanger. I'm not pulling this out of my ass - it's true for all media. That's why the end of an ongoing TV show season typically ends on a cliffhanger, because why else would someone come back to watch 6 months later?
Kingsisle cannot give the players a satisfying end before hitting them with a paywall or there is no motivation for them to pay to continue.
...All this being said, the paywall being in Wizard City is absurd. They need to let players get a feel for the mechanics, understand the goal, attach to characters, and become invested in the game. An hour of gameplay before hitting paywall isn't enough. They need to end on a cliffhanger for their own good.
Imagine finally completing Mooshu, with its exciting finale, realizing Malistaire is right around the corner - and SMACK! Paywall! Yeah that would get people pulling out their wallets. That's highly motivating.
Honestly, not even Mooshu! Not even Marleybone! Just WC and Krok being completely free would be enough to get people invested in the storyline and game play.
But to have people pulling out their wallets, paying to see what's next, they need to end on a cliffhanger. Making the full story - including the climax and resolution - available for free isn't going to motivate people to buy more.
What are your thoughts? Anything I missed?

So a couple of days this happened and I shared it on one of my private women’s groups. And the ladies asked to share it with more people. So here goes. I was flying home from one event. I was given a seat in second row of the plane and as I sat in that place I got this weird feeling as if God put me in that particular place for some reason. At first I thought maybe I will get a reward of being alone in the row of seats so I can sleep more comfortably, but as the last people came in someone sat next to me and I realised I was wrong. A man with his wife or girlfriend came up to the first row and asked the stewardess if they could use the WC before liftoff. The stewardess said it would be fine, but they would have to wait until all other passangers have boarded. As they were waiting for the toilet, they realized that the places in first row are free and so they asked, if they could use them (because, as I understood, they wanted to sit together, but they got separate places). Stewardess responded that these seats are 20 euro more expensive and they decided to buy them. As I was listening in the conversation, it was obvious from the way he spoke, that this man was an intelligent person. When he sat in this place, he peaked into the pilot’s cabin and said loudly and with a surprise in his voice to the stewardess “will the pilot be a woman today?” (I expected him to praise her, but the next sentence rapidly changed my perception of this man…) “Is this even safe?” I was shocked. I saw the stewardess made herself smaller and said “she is a very experienced pilot”. Then he asked “Very experienced? How old is she? She looks really young… Or maybe she’s like 40?” Now at this point I wanted to scream. But what actually came out of me was a snicker with a headshake. The man that sat beside me asked, what this other guy said that made me react this way, I explained and saw a supporting look in his eyes. After the conversation between the guy and stewardess ended, I observed her as she had to do the security dance that they always do before the flight. As I have quite an extensive flying experience, I don’t usually take time to watch this safety instruction, but this time I was observing very attentively. Her body was doing the moves and on her face you could very clearly see pain: the type of pain that you have when you want to cry, but you can’t allow yourself to do it. When the plane lifted, I fell asleep. I woke up an hour later and I received this clear message that I had to pass on to the pilot. At this moment I was extremely happy I bought a pen as I was thinking I would write some song lyrics, while waiting for the plane – I didn’t write much, but now I knew why I needed that pen. I found a small part of the paper that was not full of random lyrics of mine and prepared it for the message. I was very worried to make a mistake on the only small piece of paper I had, so I practiced what I wanted to write next to my lyrics before I actually wrote it out on the page, so this is why I still have the actual text I wrote. “Hi, I wanted to express, how sorry I am that you have to experience ignorant comments from misogynist men for choosing to be a pilot. I believe by following your passion you uplift & inspire women & especially girls that get to experience flying with you. Some weak male egos get threatened by this, but this is a very needed process for the change that is occurring in the collective in finding more balance after a long history of patriarchy. On behalf of all the little girls of this world Thank you.” As the crew started preparing for landing, I stopped the stewardess that I saw was really affected by that situation and I said „This is not trash. This is a message for you and for the pilot. Read it first and if you feel like it, share it with her too.“ The stewardess thanked me and then read the message. She looked at me with a very warm smile and said she will definitely give it to the pilot. She then pulled back the little curtain they have in their area and invited two other stewardesses that were on the flight for a chat. I saw them reading the paper, then I saw her pointing to the guy (presumably explaining the context for my message). All three of them then looked at me and smiled warmly. But then I started having thoughts that I should say something to this guy as well. And the first thoughts that I had weren‘t very nice. Then I heard my teacher‘s voice in my head saying „Now is your chance to turn your poisons into pearls“ and I realised that I do want to draw a boundary, but with love. When the plane landed, I quickly grabbed my stuff and as I was waiting for the door to open, I was observing this guy collect his stuff. When he finished and stood up to wait, I gathered all my courage (I literally felt my feet physically tremble how afraid I actually was) and I told him: „I would like to tell you something, because I feel you now have a chance to learn and to grow. For this lady to pilot this plane, in her studies and work she had to show a degree of excellence that was way above most of her male peers. And this is because of such ignorant viewpoints like yours of some male teachers and colleagues that she must have had in her life. I truly hope that if you ever have a daughter you will not make her feel smaller the way you tried to make the pilot of our plane feel today.“ He said „you probably did not hear the end of our conversation. In the end I told her that actually probably it is true that flying with women is safer. And that all of it was a joke“. I answered „This is true, I did not hear that bit. But your joke was not funny. Because I saw their reaction. And it was not funny for me.“ I noticed a small supporting smile from the man that sat next to me during the flight. The door oppened and the guy from the first row stepped to the side to let me leave the plane first. Today absolutely by chance I saw these statistics (from the Female Quotient in fb): Women make up less than 20% of the workforce in most aviation occupations: Only 5% of pilots are women and women make up about 6% of airline CEOs. And Black female pilots make up just 1% of commercial airline pilots globally. I don‘t know what you can take from my story. But what I hope is that you allow yourselves to fly in a pursuit of your dreams whatever your dreams might be, regardless of the men that get scared so easily.
P.S. I don't use reddit much, so if you know where is a better place for this type of post, please share with me

so about 2 weeks ago i ordered 3 10ml perfumes from death and floral: art school dropout, i was a former gifted and talented student, and the library burning down with us. i also received a free 5ml perfume of their scent of the month, which as of rn is melodrama! i made a post when i first ordered these asking what y’all thought of my order and a few of u wanted me to make a review post, so here i am!! now let’s get into it—
melodrama: (notes of black patchouli and cognac, blended with toasted oats) this is the first one i smelled and wow! this is very great! it’s pretty heavy on the patchouli, which i feel like is to be expected bc patchouli is very strong, but it’s not heavy in a bad way at all. i’ve never smelled cognac so i’m not sure where that comes in, but the toasted oats r also apparent, just not as much of a heavy hitter as the patchouli. it smells like it has a spice to it, similar to but not exactly like spiced rum. i give this one a 5/5 i love it a lot and we've just started lol!!
art school dropout: (notes of fresh paint water, wet clay, car exhaust, and number 2 pencil shavings) okay, as someone who took ceramics and a bunch of art classes in college, i really appreciate this one. on my skin i’m immediately hit with the wet clay, and it really does smell like the real thing. i also get the pencil shavings which gives it a dry woody note. i’ve never taken the time to figure out what paint water really smells like, so i can’t speak on that, but the car exhaust blends beautifully with what i can smell (never thought a sentence like that would ever be said but here i am). i give this one a 4/5. it’s super good, and i do really like it, but i don’t see myself wearing this besides when i’m trying to convince myself to make art lol. i’m sure for somebody who likes more earthy, woody notes this would easily be a 5/5.
i was a former gifted and talented student: (notes of a scholastic book catalog, vanilla crème brulée body spray, cherry chapstick, and teen spirit deodorant) i thought this one was gonna be my favorite. sadly it is not, but it’s still really nice! i will say that if u want a hyper realistic scholastic book catalog scent, then this is for u!! all i really get is that and the cherry chapstick lingering in the background. but that’s just how it is on my skin so it would definitely be different on someone else. i’ll give this a 3.5/5 bc of how it is to my nose, but even then it’s still good. i was just hoping for a bit of sweetness in it.
the library, burning down with us: (notes of burnt edges of books, the overpowering scent of gasoline wafting around the wooden banister, wax candles melting on a desk) WOW!!! this is everything i wanted and more. i’ve heard a lot of people talk ab how this specific scent has a sort of unexpected sweetness to it, and it does! it smells like book pages (which funnily enough is actually different from the book catalog smell), and it does have a gasoline smell to it, but it isn’t overpowering like the notes suggest. i’m guessing that the sweetness is from the candle note but i’m not sure. this one is my most favorite! 10/5 tbh it’s awesome.
please leave ur thoughts below, and if u have any questions let me know!

Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megapolis’ - Review Thread

• Metacritic: 62 (12 Reviews)
• Rotten Tomatoes: 57% (14 Reviews)

Reviews:
Variety (50):

To call this garish, idea-bloated monstrosity a mere “fable” is to grossly undersell the project’s expansive insights into art, life and legacy.

Hollywood Reporter (60):

It’s windy and overstuffed, frequently baffling and way too talky, quoting Hamlet and The Tempest, Marcus Aurelius and Petrarch, ruminating on time, consciousness and power to a degree that becomes ponderous. But it’s also often amusing, playful, visually dazzling and illuminated by a touching hope for humanity.

Deadline:

Megalopolis represents a rare kind of event movie that reinvents the possibilities of cinema to the extent that, halfway through, there’s a very audacious gimmick that tears down the fourth wall in ways younger filmmakers can only dream of. Coppola breaks many of the cardinal rules of filmmaking in the film’s 138 minutes but it upholds the most important one: it is never, ever boring, and it will inspire just as many artists as the audiences it will alienate.

IndieWire (B+):

With “Megalopolis,” he crams 85 years worth of artistic reverence and romantic love into a clunky, garish, and transcendently sincere manifesto about the role of an artist at the end of an empire. It doesn’t just speak to Coppola’s philosophy, it embodies it to its bones. To quote one of the sharper non-sequiturs from a script that’s swimming in them: “When we leap into the unknown, we prove that we are free.”

The Guardian (2/5):

Francis Ford Coppola’s question – can the US empire last forever? – may be valid but flashes of humour cannot rescue this conspiracy thriller from awful acting and dull effects

LA Times:

In a larger sense, Coppola has moved from the cynicism of his greatest films like “The Conversation” and “Apocalypse Now” — so much power doing so much corrupting — and into something that could fairly be called utopian. I’m not sure if that’s what I want from him as an artist, but I thrill to his unbowed aspiration. He’s not going out with something tame and manicured, but an overstuffed, vigorous, seething story about the roots of fascism that only an uncharitable viewer would call a catastrophe. Rather, it feels like a city. It may be the most radical film he’s ever done. He dedicates it to his late wife, who would have smiled at the evidence of her husband still doing his thing 45 years later.

Rolling Stone (80):

Say what you will about this grand gesture at filtering Edward Gibbon’s history lessons through a lens darkly, it is exactly the movie that Coppola set out to make — uncompromising, uniquely intellectual, unabashedly romantic (upper-case and lower-case R), broadly satirical yet remarkably sincere about wanting not just brave new worlds but better ones.

Vanity Fair:

Megalopolis is too confused a film to make a truly odious or dangerous point. (Though the ending of the Vesta plotline is somewhat alarming.) This is the junkiest of junk-drawer movies, a slapped together hash of Coppola’s many disparate inspirations.

The Telegraph (80):

Aubrey Plaza is fantastic in this full-body sensory bath movie which follows a struggle for power among the elites of New Rome.

Screen Daily (40):

But the amount of stray ideas and themes that are introduced, then abandoned — such as the fact that Cesar has the ability to stop time — leave Megalopolis feeling like an unwieldy mess. Cesar and Cicero’s showdown over New Rome is handled in terribly disjointed ways, and the attempts by supporting characters to grasp power add to the picture’s cluttered construction. In recent years, few auteurs have dreamed as boldly as Coppola has with this film, but some visions, as Megalopolis’ characters discover, are doomed to failure.

The Wrap:

After four decades in the making, “Megalopolis” plays as a frustrating and paradoxical affair. The film is expertly assembled and sleepily directed all at once; it wows with its imagination and erudition all while leaving you little more than bemused.

Collider (4/10):

Much like the city being built in the film, it’s all more interesting in theory than it ever is in actuality. Now that we will all have the chance to take it in for ourselves, the greatest revelation is that there just isn’t that much there to see.

Written and Directed by Francis Ford Coppola:

An accident destroys a decaying metropolis called New Rome. Cesar Catilina, an idealist architect with the power to control time, aims to rebuild it as a sustainable utopia, while his opposition, corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero, remains committed to a regressive status quo. Torn between them is Franklyn's socialite daughter, Julia, who, tired of the influence she inherited, searches for her life's meaning.

Cast:

• Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina
• Giancarlo Esposito as Mayor Franklyn Cicero
• Nathalie Emmanuel as Julia Cicero
• Aubrey Plaza as Wow Platinum
• Shia LaBeouf as Clodio Pulcher
• Jon Voight as Hamilton Crassus III
• Jason Schwartzman as Jason Zanderz
• Talia Shire as Constance Crassus Catilina
• Grace VanderWaal as Vesta Sweetwater
• Laurence Fishburne as Fundi Romaine
• Kathryn Hunter as Teresa Cicero
• Dustin Hoffman as Nush "The Fixer" Berman
• Sonia Ammar
• Chloe Fineman
• Madeleine Gardella
• Balthazar Getty
• Bailey Ives
• Isabelle Kusman
• James Remar
• D. B. Sweeney

Hi,
TLDR: looking for advice for 'deep recovery' from autistic burnout, venting/rambling a bit about my situation
Sorry for the long post, my life hasn't been great the last few years and I'm hoping that if I describe it in detail then someone might have some advice for where to go next, or be able to tell me if I'm missing something obvious. I've bolded the bits where I'm asking for advice.
I (24F) am not officially diagnosed with aspergers or anything autism related, but am recovering from what I suspect is autistic burnout. I had symptoms of moderate to severe CFS last summeautumn but am slowly recovering from it without any major crashes. When I read the description of autistic burnout I identified with it completely. The loss of skills and extremely reduced tolerance to stimulus on top of the fatigue is something I have really struggled to describe or explain to people (not helped by the loss of skills i.e. barely being able to put a sentence together to speak to someone). I've read Strong Female Character and Aspergirls, and am currently reading Unmasking Autism. I haven't completely self-diagnosed yet, but I am researching it and think it's a strong possibility. The first half of Aspergirls describes my childhood pretty well. I was often called a 'Highly Sensitive Person' and Unmasking Autism states that the creator of this term has said that the people she was talking about have since been diagnosed with ASD. Even if I am not Autistic, I often find Autistic people more relatable and easier to understand that non-Autistic people and find their advice for rest, sensory issues etc helpful to me. I am not looking for a diagnosis or diagnostic advice.
I currently feel like I'm starting my life over again, and I'd really appreciate advice on how to build a sustainable life when I have a lower tolerance for stimulus and find communicating more tiring than many people.
Context/life story: I'm from the UK. I have a degree in maths, was feeling burnt out and was going to take a gap year before doing a masters, but the pandemic happened and I moved back into my childhood bedroom. I couldn't face being stuck there again with no 'escape plan' so one afternoon I (impusively) signed up for a masters at a not so great uni and didn't do well academically. At the time I was considering a PhD and going into pure maths research. I don't have the grades to get funding for this. By the end of the masters my boyfriend had broken up with me and I'd lost touch with all my friends. The only person I 'spoke' to was my mother and even she'd say this was pretty one sided. In my dissertation presentation on zoom, I read a pre-written script and answered 'I don't know' to all the questions because I hadn't spoken to anyone in months and couldn't hold a conversation with the cashier in the supermarket about the weather let alone one with an academic about advanced maths. I scraped a pass.
After this was over (October 2021), I really felt like I needed a break. I decided I was going to have 2022 'off'. I was going to rest, get a job that didn't use my brain, move to a city so I wasn't so isolated (I live in Wales) and recover and rebuild before figuring out what I wanted to do next. I couldn't figure out how to move to a city without getting a professional job. I asked some family for advice but they didn't know either. I didn't know how to get any job near the town where I live. It's very cliquey, I don't know anyone who's got a job through a formal application process, it's always through a family or friend connection, and I'd lost touch with everyone by this point, my mother doesn't have any contacts and the rest of my family lives in another country. I get filtered out of formal applications because I'm overqualified and bad at lying. Spring 2022 I got sick of it and applied for about 5 software dev jobs. I got one basically without being interviewed. In hindsight that was the first red flag.
I moved to a city 5 hours away. I won't go into the details of the job but it wasn't great. I discovered they had a vrey high turnover for a small company. The new hires previous to me had lasted weeks, one only lasted days, before going on stress leave. I did 10 months. I signed a rental agreement for a year and was too exhausted to search for another job to pay for it. It was full time in the office because I was a junior. I had one friend who lived 3 hours away and every time we met up it was me driving to them, and my sibling needed a lot of help with uni and job stuff so I drove the 5 hours back home most other weekends. I did too much, but I didn't know how to not do too much. Within a few months of each other, my dog died, my grandad died and it was the 10 year anniversary of my dads death. I never had a bad performance review and I quit due to 'personal reasons'. The final straw for me was when I noticed in the office I was physically shaking from exhaustion when I reached for my mouse or keyboard. I think I must have been running on adrenaline or something because it was 2 months before I properly crashed. In this time I moved my stuff back to my childhood bedroom, and that is where I am now. July last year was when I crashed and thought I had CFS etc.
I would say I'm mostly recovered from the physical fatigue. I walk 10k+ steps a day and this helps me mentally. I know I should do more restorative yoga, I see this more like stretchy meditation than exercise and it also helps mentally. I used to enjoy powerlifting and I've tried a few times recently but I think I need to take that super slowly because I get carried away and it wipes me out for a few days after. Skills-wise, I am able to read books again, albeit books I've read before or childrens books. I sometimes have 'high energy' days when I'll read more non-fiction and try to plan my recovery. I am not up for doing technical computer stuff. Things I used to know still go completely over my head. Sensory-wise, I struggle having the big light on for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. I try to reduce screen time. I barely watch tv. I've deleted most social media so I only check instagram once or twice a week on my laptop, and I go on reddit or youtube if I'm looking for something in particular. I try not to listen to too much music otherwise the brain fog gets worse, but that's hard becuase it's one of the few things I feel connects me with the outside world at the moment. When family come round and there are group conversations, I cannot follow anything that's going on and it may as well be white noise. I haven't been in a public space for a while, so I don't know how I am with the background noise. I've reconnected with school friends and am going out for dinner soon, so I'll find out then. I will also find out how I hold up in conversation.
In the next few weeks I plan on looking for part time work. Any advice on suitable jobs would be welcome. I also start a compassion focused therapy group next week, after going to the doctors about this in october of last year *sigh*. I plan on working part time and living at home while figuring out what I want from a career and how to build a life. I wish I could just move to London but it's so expensive.
I see pure maths as closer to the arts than the sciences, and also enjoy fiction books (esp fantasy) and music. I played classical piano and violin/viola as a child to a reasonably high standard. I have no interest in computers really, it was just a job thats related to my degree and that I was good at. As a child I wanted to be a writer or a musician, but as a teen I prioritised moving out of my hometown and told myself that was something I didn't need to study and could work on in my free time. I had a 'maths brain' so it was easy enough to coast this path while I was grieving. I have learnt that the first things I let slide when I am stressed or busy, are the things I am interested in. Then it's chores, then my physical health. I have no idea when to stop or when to say no people. Not because I want them to like me, simply because saying no doesn't occur to me until after I've done it. I also don't notice when I am stressed or doing too much. I have gotten better at that the last few months.
In future, I think I need to prioritise my interests more than I have. I think I tried to 'fix' the stress from the things I 'had' to do with exercise and being very physically healthy. I think the solution is to prioritise working on my interests and passions. The thing I've found most helpful is keeping a diary. I started this last July. I'm now writing music and learning how to produce using Ableton. It's going very slowly but it's going. I've found creating things is better for me mentally than consuming them, even if I'm doing that using a screen. I am interested in the links between maths and music (group theory, geometry, topology etc), and plan to read more about this when I'm able. It would be a dream come true if I could somehow work self-employed doing this one day. I can't imagine working full time in an office again. It exhausts me too much to be able to do anything in my free time. I don't know how demanding it would be to work remotely full-time. I'm lucky I can live with family and work part-time for the forseeable future. There is no rush. I am 24.
Any advice on building a career your interested in, moving to a new city, managing stress and having healthy relationships would be very welcome. Or anything else you think it would be useful to hear.

Seven months ago, I would’ve said having absolutely no contact with you would’ve been excruciatingly difficult, but I have to tell you that I’ve been able to find the best me in this whole thing… Seven months ago I wouldn’t even recognize myself… The PTSD of being with you left me speechless -I could no longer form sentences in my mind let alone speak them… What you did to me was unimaginable- the pain inflicted on me that last evening I saw you… That is the bitter note that will always play in my mind and you will forever be remembered as a monster… A brute- a bully, cruel, dirty and violent… A monster. And I will live my life, monster free- thriving as if you never existed, but you’ve made me more aware and I’m thankful for that.

First off… I DO LOVE HIM SO MUCH
But my God this guy cannot land the damn plane on a project or task to save his life.
The biggest issue lately is that we moved into a fixer-upper. The house is great, but we’ve lived here 13 years and stuff still is not done. When we first moved in there was a lot of work to be put in and instead of going at a slower pace like I wanted to do and taking our time and choosing quality finishes, etc. he wanted to rush everything just to get it done with the promise of upgrading later. And he always wants to use a friend or acquaintance to do these construction projects. I’m fine with using (licensed) friends but sometimes you need to just call in a crew and have them knock it out instead of your friends taking 25 weekends as a side job.
This led to a lot of issues in the beginning that I’m still dealing with now. We have a big empty converted garage that has everything in place to become a granny flat/IL suite. The bones of this project were done five years ago. We just need to frame out the bathroom and get the plumbing and electrical and do all the finish stuff, same with the kitchenette.
Three years ago I was like hey maybe we should get on this and get it done, because we have a lot of stuff lying around that is a component to that room, like boxed up cabinets, bed frames not put together, bins of kitchen items that can go in cupboards once they are installed. And the room has become the catch-all and looks like crap.
So that time he says sure let me call my plumber friend. Calls plumber friend who says he will come by “in a couple weeks” to check it out. Couple weeks go by, no one shows. I ask him to call plumber again. He does, schedules a day, plumber no shows. I ask him to follow up. He doesn’t want to bug him. Ok fine.
Life happens, we are busy. A year passes.
Ask him to call another person to come take a look. He calls another friend. They say they will come check it out and have some free time to complete it. Great. That guy no shows. Call again, he’s totally going to come today and get a quote. He actually comes, measures, says he can start next week. Great. Next week comes and crickets. I ask him to follow up. He forgets for 3 weeks. Now friend has started a 6 month construction project. Husband wants to wait for this person to do the work. It has now been a year. I still have an empty room. Husband says “well I can call Dave again and see…”
A different friend comes by. Says he can do it in a weekend. Sounds good. It’s been another month. I am done with shenanigans.
I measure, order the shower and hardware, the vanity, toilet and door. I clear out the room. I have a contractor coming today. Husband is upset because “I said I was going to take care of it!!! I’m just waiting on (first plumber who he hasn’t talked to in 2 years).” Also thinks the whole job should be completed in 2 days for $3000 including materials. Anything else is obviously someone ripping him off.
Then our deck has water damage. I called someone out in September before it got any worse. It’s a large deck, a lot of work to fix and re-coat. The quote is $5000. Husband thinks that is too much to rip apart the deck, replace rotten wood, and waterproof. I tell him to find someone then. He says he will. We got record rain this winter. The deck is worse. $5000 guy is now coming back this next week before it infects my whole house. Husband is mad, it costs too much, and he was totally gonna find someone else to do it.
-rips hair out-

Hey hey! Jin Locke here and i am searching for people to RP with!
I am looking to try and find new RP partners interested in RPing various fandoms that i am interested in. I prefer to play with literate RP partners who can achieve a paragraph length, and maybe go beyond that if really inspired. Sorry, but two-three sentence responses are just way too short for me to truly enjoy the RP. There is no set limit on "max length" but i wouldnt want you to exhaust yourself typing novellas! Just keep it comfortable but detailed.
I am 26 yo and so expect it to eventually get into NSFW zone, BUT if you dont want to then its also fine to me, we can keep it as a more "innocent" romance. RP can be long or short term, but long terms are preferable since they allow us to explore more themes in it.
For CanonxCanon or CanonxOC or OCxOC i dont really have a hard set preference but would enjoy at least one canon character in a pairing, since OCxOC can get a bit... vague. However i will not judge before hearing you out! By all means, message me if you have any ideas and i will be happy to hear them out.
As for genders... I guess i am on my FxF spell. I can try FxM but its a bit "maybe" for me and i usually only do it with a few specific preferences, so ye be warned.
Plots can be discussed further in DMs or chat, since writing it all out here for ALL the fandoms will take a few pages and i want us to talk about our preferences, themes, scenarios and whatever else we want before we start.
Also you can ask me for my Discord and we can continue there if you like, which i actually prefer since Discord is far easier to track and notice fresh notifications then Reddit, which sometimes does not display them due to a bug of some kind.
Now for fandoms i crave: Genshin Impact, Saiko no Sutoka, Overwatch, Avatar, Fire Emblem, DC/Marvel, Mass Effect, World of Warcraft, RWBY, all kinds of "usual suspect" anime like Naruto and etc... Fate (Grand Order and more!) , Witcher, Resident Evil, Dragon Age and list goes on and on...
Feel free to suggest the fandoms you like, but i may not be too familiar with them... But you never know!

Before getting into my question I just want to lay the groundwork of how I define free will, because I think there are two definitions floating around that have different implications. Definition A focuses on choice and possible outcomes, that choice necessitates the possibility of different outcomes, otherwise it's not a free choice. Definition B is that free will is an act "I" do as opposed to an act I was "forced" to do. Those are simplifications but I just want to get it out of the way because I'm going to use definition B, and here's why.
In definition A, where one has to choose between two options, the silent assumption is that in either choice one makes, the source of the choice will be "me" because if it were not me, then it would feel like "I" was being forced to do something and that's not really the spirit of the question of free will. If I'm at McDonalds choosing between a salad and a burger, I'm not hoping that some undetermined bout of break dancing forces me to the floor and that this unpredictable act is evidence of free will. Likewise if I pick the burger in one scenario, but pick the salad in another scenario, chalking up the difference to quantum randomness also feels like an external imposition, not like a choice from "me". So that's why I operate under definition B, because I believe the spirit of free will is that in any choice, what I choose is an expression of "me" or "myself".
So the question for determinists who accept that definition: what is happening when I say, "I have stood up from my chair of my own free will"? It seems hard to argue that "free will" doesn't exist at all because at the very least the words exist, otherwise it would just be indecipherable gibberish. And if the word exists, then some concept also exists, because I'm constructing the sentence and using it in a specific way (grammatically) to refer to a specific action (standing up) that has a specific quality (resulted from me). It seems hard to argue this statement and its correlation with the mind that produced it don't exist - at the very least it exists as words coming out of a human, unless you want to argue language doesn't exist or that language doesn't correspond to anything in the brain. So the move is to argue that free will is just a mislabeling, that the standing did occurr but that "I" was not the cause of it and the statement is inaccurate. Because if "I" was the cause of the standing, then that would indicate that it was an expression of free will.
So now you say that labeling the standing as free will is incorrect, and you outline a chain reaction of impersonal causes - chemicals in the brain, past conditioning, social pressure, etc - and say, so therefore it's mislabeled, the action was not caused by "me" at all, it was all caused by a series of impersonal processes. But while you've proven that it's possible to describe an event in impersonal terms, you haven't disproven the possibility of describing the event in personal terms. Which we often do, because the mind has a method of labeling internal mental processes as "me" as evidenced by the fact that we use the word to describe our actions. When the intention to stand is created, what you describe as an impersonal decision mechanism, I describe as "me". You can argue that I shouldn't label it as me, but to argue that it's impossible to label it that way... well I'm doing it. I'm telling you that is me, and the words are coming from a state in my brain out of my mouth, something caused me to say these words, and the words corresponded to the action it described, standing up from the chair. So the brain is qualifying the standing with the label "me".
Are you going to argue that words don't correlate to brain activity? Or that words are always an inaccurate portrayal of brain activity? What implication does that have for language? What if I say I'm happy, or hungry, or tired? Should we also distrust those statements? The brain state that caused me to claim that "I stood up", is that state just an impersonal collection of atoms or is that collection of atoms me? I would say "that collection of atoms is me" which is yet more observable evidence that a process in the brain keeps using this label "me" and qualifying actions as "from me" or "acts of free will". And even if that labeling process is completely deterministic, what prevents a mind from considering its own labeling process "me"? That I AM the mechanism that determines what "I" am.
Maybe you reach for the implication here that yes, humans are capable of delusion, that they can believe wrong things and those wrong beliefs can manifest as action and the mind can slap a "me" label on a mechanical process... it just shouldn't. But then what you're left defending is not a binary question of existence - that free will doesn't exist - but a question of what we should or should not believe, how actions should or should not be labeled, and that's a much more complicated discussion. It leaves open a lot of doors to argue that labeling actions as free will has many practical and beneficial uses (maybe this is why the brain does it in the first place) so arguing against free will in all its manifestations seems like a much more extreme position to argue. What is the value of always depersonalizing all your thoughts and actions?
All that to say, I struggle to understand the incompatiablist argument against the existence of free will without also arguing against the ability of concepts and feelings to influence action. And if they're really just arguing that we shouldn't be using the term the way we use it - even though we can - then make that case rather than exploiting the rhetorical trick of presenting the whole thing as indisputable math that only an idiot can't comprehend. Tell me why we "should" only ever perceive our actions as impersonal so that I can argue why we "should" personalize actions and label them as a product of free will. That just seems like a more honest debate.

Previous post

A lapdog's brainless zeal

The Entourage! Whence comes¹ such creatures so eager to abandon all pretense of the sedentary? One envisages haste of blubbering excitement, slippery gleam in the eye, a lapdog’s brainless zeal, as a canvas bag is stuffed full of slips and whatnot, with all the grace of a fakir backstage moments before performing before a gouty king. A whirlwind rush through rooms like shrines, and then out!

We get Flicker dropping back into his more heightened style, starting off with a declamation. Remember how we ended the last section

He would unveil himself in Farrog, and then they would all see. Calap Roud, that stunning watery-eyed dancer, Purse Snippet, and the Entourage too—

So this is very much an interruption. Previously we had Flicker placing himself inside Brash's head, until he mentions the Entourage, at which point he switches completely and breaks out into this much more heightened description.
Flicker is back in his picture-painting mode as well, as he imagines the backgrounds of these girls. The first sentence is posed as a question, but is really more of a statement. I love the phrase "abandon all pretense of the sedentary". They were clearly from a wealthy background, living a carefree life before, but now they've chosen to drop it all to follow (in this instance literally follow) their favorite artist.
He imagines the scenario surrounding their departure, with the "blubbering excitement", a "slippery gleam in the eye", and of course "a lapdog's brainless zeal". I'm curious about the "slippery" descriptor there. Especially when paired with the lapdog comment, it calls to mind a dog skidding and sliding on a slippery floor as they're completely unable to contain their excitement. Does anyone have a different reading?
Then they stuff a canvas bag full of slips (as in the clothing, not as in paper slips) and "whatnot", showing how they're clearly not thinking this through, but rather just throwing things in their bag and running out the door. I love the comparison to the fakir. First of all, it hearkens back to the Arabian Nights inspiration, while also giving us the image of a fakir rushing to get ready for his act, but more important is how it works as a metaphor.
The Entourage (who as we will soon learn are all young women) are here posed as a performer, performing in front of an old, fat, wealthy man. It really spotlights the power imbalance between them and their idol. Then we end the paragraph on a sentence that I'm having a really hard time figuring out. What is the significance of the rooms being like shrines? Shrines are (definitionally) places of worship. So it's like they're rushing past these places intended for worship in order to worship their idol, perhaps implying that it would have been more productive to stay and worship a real god. But these aren't shrines, but rather rooms like shrines, so it would be a worship of the home or something in that direction. I don't think this would imply a worship of domesticity, the metaphor is not fleshed out enough for that. I think it's simply saying that they should rather try to stay connected to their roots. I must say I'm not fully convinced by this reading. What do you all think?

Holding up a mirror

Pattering feet, a trio, all converging in unsightly gallop quick to feminize into a skip and prance once He Who Is Worshipped is in sight. The Entourage accompanies the Perfect Artist everywhere, gatherings great and small, public and intimate. They build the walls of the formidable, impregnable keep that is the Perfect Artist’s ego. They patrol the moat, flinging away all but the sweetest defecatory intimations of mortality. They stand sentinel in every postern gate, they gush down every sluice, they are the stained glass to paint rainbows upon their beloved’s perfectly turned profile.

I absolutely love this image we get here of these three girls "converging in unsightly gallop" with their "pattering feet". It's juxtaposing two images, one dainty and the other the exact opposite. If you've seen one of those videos of cows being released out to pasture after the winter, that's basically what I'm picturing. But as soon as they're in the presence of their idol they switch into an exaggeratedly feminine gait.
Then there's the intentionally vague description of their idol. We don't get the name, but he's called He Who Is Worshipped and the Perfect Artist. This is a reminder that we're not talking about particulars, but rather the general case, in particular how people behave in real life fandoms. Let's examine the rest of this paragraph while keeping in mind that this is Erikson is holding up a mirror to us. And you thought you were safe?
The Entourage is always where their artist is. I think this is especially true in the modern day where fans have practically unlimited access to their favourite artists. And they act as defenders of their artist, and notice how at no point here we get any sense that this Perfect Artist asked for any such thing. They build up their own unassailable version of their artist, and then dismiss any criticism except the most basic, toothless ones.
Finally we get these three statements, two quick ones, and a longer one. They "stand sentinel..." is essentially a continuation of the previous sentence. Then they "gush down every sluice". This is a strange turn of phrase to say the least. A sluice is of course a sort of water channel, and since we're in this castle metaphor, it's likely meant as a preventative measure against flooding. But it's not water that's the risk here, but the gushing of the fans.
And lastly they are the stained glass windows that "paint rainbows" on their idol (with a nice alliteration on perfectly and profile). I really like this one. They are not only viewing their idol through rose-tinted glass, but they have made themselves a piece of stained glass, that colors the artist in every color of the rainbow. They are creating a false, or at least exaggerated, image of the artist, and projecting that image to others as well. I think this whole description really mirrors how fanatically devoted some people can get around their favorite artist, and I don't think we should exclude ourselves from this.

Let's back up a little

But let us not snick and snack overmuch, for each life is a wonder unto itself, and neither contempt nor pity do a soul sound measures of health, lest some issue of envy squeeze free in unexpectedly public revelation. The object of this breathless admiration must wait for each sweet woman’s moment upon the stage in the bull’s eye lantern light of our examination.

Flicker yet again addresses the audience directly. The phrase "snick and snack" here is interesting. A snick can of course be a small cut, and there's definitely been enough of those so far. I think the snack is not intended to have a semantic meaning, but is rather intended to complement the onomatopoeic sound of snick. The word "overmuch" is also doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Some snicking and snacking is fine, but let's not get carried away.
The "each life is a wonder..." part is hilarious. This is definitely an example of overpraising, where Flicker uses hyperbolic language while implying a much more subdued meaning. He's now spent two whole paragraphs detailing how ridiculous and vapid the Entourage is, but now he's all "oh the miracle of life etc. etc." So even when he's talking about how he should stop mocking them, he continues the mockery. Absolutely savage.
He then encourages us to not view them with pity or contempt. Possibly because it would be condescending to do so. Certainly nobody likes being viewed that way, and Flicker claims that it is at best unhelpful to take those attitudes. I am a bit confused, however, about the mention of envy. Is Flicker saying that he is envious of them? Or is he warning us to not be envious? Is there a risk, when expressing pity or contempt, of appearing envious? Are the Entourage themselves envious when we do that? I admit I'm kind of lost here. What do you think?
Flicker ends by calling attention to the fact that we haven't really discussed the Entourage's Perfect Artist at all. He's been this remote figure this whole time, almost irrelevant to the conduct of his fans. Note also how he's called an "object". That word has been used once before in this story, and it was to describe the way Purse Snippet was viewed by Calap Roud. This is not an accident. FlickeErikson is saying that the way the Entourage views their Perfect Artist is not entirely dissimilar to the way Calap Roud, a disgusting old pervert, leers at a much younger woman. Again, this is not lust for the artist themself, but rather for the godlike image that the fans have constructed of the artist.
And before we can know that artist, we are going to be introduced to these three young women, each more ridiculous than the last, before we get to their Perfect Artist. Indeed, they must suffer the "bull's eye lantern light of our examination". This is a great description of what Flicker has been doing so far with his ruthless introduction. He also doesn't call it an interrogation or even a description. No, he's simply examining each of these characters, down to their core².
And that does it for this week's post. Next time we'll be discussing Sellup, the oldest member of the Entourage. See you all next week!
¹ I don't know exactly what to do with this seeming error. It strikes me as an editing artifact. That is, Erikson originally wrote this sentence differently, then changed the wording but forgot to change the whole sentence.
² And it's worth remembering that he may well be making all of this up.

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Just get out there and put in the hours!
Hope this was helpful to you, I know I could've used this when I first started.
Source

I have only ever worked at 1 school, and so I'm not sure how it is in other Reception classes. However I'm curious to know what other school days look like to compare and make improvements to ours :)
Here is our day: 45 minutes phonics 45 minutes free flow (the children can go between the classroom and outdoor area freely) 30 minutes literacy (the children are expected to write 4 sentences, how much are your children expected to write at this point in the year?) 45 minutes free flow 75 minutes lunch 20 minutes maths 60 minutes free flow 30 minutes home time prep
My only concern is that because we have free flow all day, some children aren't accessing the activities in the classroom and are instead choosing to play outside in the sandpit or build with blocks all day.

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The table can be hard to read. Here are rates in sentences:

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