Videos of very large vaginas

A staticky 90s looking video camera tape is put in and begins playing on a small TV, you see a pair of tan hands and hear a young 20 something year old man and a home made video documentary begins
After the appearance of this large monolithic structure that appeared in the middle of America causing a large military state to form on the borders around the large 'Mall'. On the first day and every 30 days since a message plays" {This is the Mall of the Multiverse! Made for all mages and magic users alike to come shop and par take in the vast libraries and research facilities... And then it glitches showing a man in a purple cloak, that was the belief of the 8 fools who wasted their magic abilities on a waste of philanthropic trash like this, I Alphonse the Manipulation Mage Extraordinar have turned this into the magic engine it was always made to be, now come on in the lower levels are safe buy away and have a good time and if you want.... Find and kill me and this dangerous monster factory will cease to be and the beasts it releases will cause you no more casualties.} I'm taking video of this because I believe we need to document and understand what's going on here and not let the government lock it up and keep us out, if we all work together and make it high enough we'll find Alphonse and we can take this Mall down.
All that to say this is a monster of the week game that will follow a party of explorers who wish to take out the Mad Manipulator. As the Mall was connected to a fantasy realm before ending up in the moral modern day there are many fantasy races around as well so those are on the table, if you want any abilities based on a fantasy monster race, you will have to take the Monsteras Sheet.
The vibes and aesthetics are that of the late 90s and early 2000s as the Mall appeared in the early 90s and slowed the world's progress as many things we're destroyed and had to be rebuilt. The Mall has a very normal with a fantasy lean look on the first 5 floors but after that it begins devolving into a dungeon looking space and beyond that it gets very liminal and BackRooms-esce with one one or two highly dangerous enemies but a large space to hide and seek through.
I'm looking for a party of 4 to play biweekly at the time and day listed in the title. If you're interested just message me on here with a character concept and a a short bio about yourself and your experience with MotW.
The session 0 will be on the 16th of May at the same time as the games scheduled.

A number of fans of the Homeworld (HW) Universe have put a lot of thought and effort into their posts and that’s a testament to the passion that HW has brought to a lot of people.
I want to start by stating it pains me to say HW 3, especially the campaign has been a disappointment. Did we know what we were getting? Yes we had clues. Did we know the potential that HW 3 could have been based on the previous games? Oh there was immense potential!
The Homeworld series has been my favourite games (including mods) since the release of HW 1 in 1999 and I was a FIG backer for HW 3. None of the games have been perfect, but the storytelling left a long term impression and naturally the desire to want more from the series and continue to story. This has led to a loyal fan base including myself. I remember reading the HW1 manual and details about the Kushan Kiithid and the ships details numerous times.
Some of the epic storytelling events in the series that have made Homeworld what it is:
· The Kushan Kithid feuding for generations on a desert planet, Kharak, to then discover an ancient starship (Khar-Toba) buried in the desert sands. The genetic study also revealing they were not native to the planet.
· Discovering the Guide Stone in the Khar-Toba with a map pointing out Hiigara “Home”
· Discovering a Hyperspace Core and the Kiithid coming together to build the Mothership with Karan S’Jet integrated as Fleet Command
· Kharak burning – What treaty did the Kharak people break and what was their past? The war with the Taiidan Empire begins to reclaim their home.
· The Garden of Kadesh and realising they were part of the same race.
· The Bentusi and discovering why the people of Hiigara were exiled to the far reaches of the galaxy.
· Defeating the Taiidan Emperor, Riesstiu IV, and taking back Hiigara
· Learning more about the Kiithid in Cataclysm, the Beast, and the Bentusi’s fear – “We shall not be bound”
· Bentus sacrificing itself so the Hiigarans and Karan S’Jet could re-unite the 3 Hyperspace Cores
· Progenitor Relics, ships and guardians
· Balcora Gate and the battle to recovering the third Hyperspace core from Makaan (who believed he was the Sajuuk-Khar) and the Vagyr
· Transferring from the mothership to the long-lost Progenitor starship Sajuuk. Seeing the mothership drift away. It was a memorable moment .
· Saving Hiigara from the Scorched Earth scenario. The fleet fought hard to save Hiigara and their people.
· The Eye of Aaran which Sajuuk and the 3 hyperspace cores unlocking the vast hyperspace gate network. Hiigara opened up a trade/exploration/colonisation network across the galaxy and beyond. Not just for them, but for all civilisations.
Finally the day comes when the HW3 Collector’s Edition arrives after waiting years as a FIG Backer. It was amazing. The artwork was beautiful. The models were great and go well with the HW2 collector’s edition. After so many years, HW3 was finally here!
I finished the HW3 campaign a couple of nights ago. First there was anger, frustration, followed by mourning the loss of such a great opportunity that could have been for the Homeworld Universe. After playing 4 previous HW games for years, it feels like the team that wrote the HW3 script really did not understand the franchise, storyline to date, and its ‘spirit’.
After watching the promotional videos from the team from Blackbird Interactive saying HW3 was for the fans that have been with them along the 25 year journey (Relic Entertainment back then) the disappointment was very real. Sure it’s a visually beautiful game and some of the game features are an improvement which they couldn’t do in HW 1 and 2, but this did not feel like a continuation for the long term fans. This felt like a simpler HW labelled game for a new fan base. Such a missed opportunity! There has been the release of Homeworld Mobile and the VR version so Gearbox are looking to maximise the revenue while they can, and I can’t blame them for that.
My HW3 opinion:
· Aesthetically, HW3 is stunning
· I really like the look of the Khar-Kushan Mothership
· Deserts of Kharak showed the struggle and Kiithid conflict aswell as how difficult life was on a Desert Planet. HW1 was about the Kushan coming together to fight for their true home after Kharak was burned. Cataclysm did a good job expanding the different Kushan (now Hiigaran) Kiithid. HW2 felt like an “unbound” storyline with the three Hyperspace Cores – Karan got her time in the limelight – the three cores and Sajuuk combined was the key to the hyperspace network and “The Age of S’Jet”. HW3 continued with a focus on being ‘unbound’ lacking the substance behind who the Hiigarans are and their history, even before their exile…a missed opportunity.
· Popular fan request – Let us finish collecting resources! Imogen and the fleet were being hunted so I understand the urgency behind the gameplay…….but still, the player should have the option to jump when they want to.
· Besides one interceptor getting stuck on an object on mission 13, I had a pretty smooth gaming experience. The intelligence of the fleet and formations was a bit dodgy which required a lot of micro management.
· Cinematics between missions. The quality varied. Feels like more time and money was spent on the development of each one instead of a decent storyline. Why did it need to be done when you compare to the predecessor games? Likely because this game was more character focussed instead of a Fleet Focus.
· Khar-Kushan colliding with the giant freighter. That would have caused catastrophic damage and serious structural integrity issues. It seemed a bit too much! An evasive manoeuvre which led to the Synth Hyperspace Core housing being damaged as it clipped the freighter would have been enough to temporarily take out, power, propulsion and two out of the three cores.
· Ship designs were bland and generic lacking the HW2 creativity. Hiigarans have discovered quite a bit of Progenitor tech so why are they still stuck with the same types of weapons.
· No Sub Systems compared to HW2
· No targetable ship components e.g. engines, primary weapon etc. compared to HW2
· IMO the fleet ship types and options were far inferior to HW 1 & 2. It felt dumbed down significantly.
· One kind of Corvette……..really???
· Hiigaran Carrier….horrible design and couldn’t keep up with the Khar-Kushan.
· Why no Ship Yard? I can understand the Khar-Kushan had capital ship building capabilities, but it still would have added flexibility in Fleet logistics.
· Fleet control options were not great and missing a few options compared to HW 1 & 2. When you have a fast paced fleet battle going on, you want to minimise the time it takes to search for ship order functions.
· Using classic controls with terrain tunnels sucked. I struggled with the camera view because of the terrain. Too often I was met with blue screen because the camera was inside a structure or terrain.
· The antagonist – The Queen of Incarnate, Tiaa’Ma. An Unbound that has been around for millennia with far superior knowledge and use of hyperspace, can move and destroy planets on a whim, can turn off hypergates or redirect them. With that kind of power, why didn’t she hunt down the cores and search the galaxy for them? A tyrant that has killed millions. The Queen in general as the antagonist and the campaign ending was incredibly bad.
· With the 3 Hyperspace Cores gone, the 15^th fleet are not the only ones stranded. The Hyperspace gate network is down for all civilisations. Far jumping is gone. What detrimental effect will that have on the galaxy at large including the Hiigaran colonies, economy, diplomatic relations with other civilisations etc.?
· Imogen’s choice not to engage with the Incarnate after their Queen was gone was poor form!
· Imogen S’Jet – The hair…dry and wet…WTF
· I personally wanted to learn more about the Progenitor. Instead, I got hive mind Progenitor worshipers and still very little information about them or those who created the cores and the gates etc.
· Sajuuk combined with the three hyperspace cores was the key to opening the Hyperspace Gates. It was a superior ship IMO. So where is Sajuuk now? Were the 3 cores removed and put into a new mothership (Khar-Sajuuk) with the primary weapon looking like a mini Sajuuk sticking out of the centre of the ship. If it is the Sajuuk with the Mothership built around it, the scale is way off. Sajuuk was a mothership size vessel!
So after that rant, HW3 is beautiful but a hard pill to swallow after 25 years of loving the HW Universe. Life goes on! I hope the loyal fan base provides constructive feedback for BBI and Gearbox Software in hope it is listened to and used to bring back epic storytelling.

Beth:
William was exhausted from the long drive, so he went right to sleep, leaving me alone and horny. I went down to our little office and browsed the web. Quickly I found the now free video clip, titled, “Goofy gets Gelded.”
It was the video that William and Monica made of Charlie being castrated. I popped my legs up on the desk and began pleasing myself as I watched. I guess it was a bit surreal, here was Charlie just a few hundred feet away as I viewed his life changing moment caught on camera.
From a very overweight Monica riding Charlie’s face with her hairy vagina, to the moment she climbed off of the table, took hold of his balls so William could begin performing the unthinkable.
Poor Charlie, he was strapped down as William gently and with the precision of an experienced surgeon took a small scalpel, and cut away, ignoring Charlie’s screams and of course blood. I orgasmed, it was gross, it was cruel, it was unnecessary but as Paris Hilton liked to say, “it was hot!”
I can’t say I was still turned on watching William and Monica fuck shortly after Charlie was stitched up. However, I will say, when William made Charlie, worship his bare feet, that I found satisfying.
Still wide awake, I decided to pay Charlie a visit in the barn. Inside the filthy stall, there he was sound asleep, covered in an old horse blanket. I was hoping he’d be awake so we could talk, but he wasn’t, so instead I pulled up a chair and watched him.
What a piece of useless shit. To allow everything that’s happened in his life to happen. Hell, coming here with us, the woman who dragged him down to nothing and her lover, the man who mutilated him for life. What a complete loser. I knew then, life here for him would have to be unpleasant. He needed it and I wanted it.
I left Charlie alone and returned to my computer. I looked up Monica on Facebook. She was easy enough to find despite changing her name. She was also half her old size and very pretty. Her husband was attractive too. They seemed to travel quite a bit and she loved sexy clothes.
“Still a whore!” I said out loud to myself.
I replayed the video and had another orgasm but this time I focused just on William. He was masked so I studied his blue eyes as he focused on the job. I imagined a beautiful but wicked smile as he cut, as he destroyed another man. Soon after, I tucked myself in next to my beautiful man, and fell happily asleep.
Charlie:
I awoke, cold and tired, nothing new but I was safe for the moment, alone in a barn. It was still dark as I slowly stood and started to stretch, my morning ritual. I noticed a chair outside the stall, I knew it hadn’t been there when I fell asleep. Had someone been there? Was it Beth?
I watched the sun rise, it was a new day and hopefully a new beginning. I wasn’t sure what it would bring and of course I was frightened, I always was, but I was with Beth again. That’s all that mattered. That’s all that ever mattered. I stroked myself until hard, of course I could not cum but still I thought of my darling woman. She had come to rescue me. I was grateful.
This was her farm, her property and I too hoped I was also. To be owned again by Beth, to me that was heaven. Even if it meant having to put up with that evil, demented William. I could handle him. I knew I had no choice.

Every couple of months/weeks someone too lazy to look up history or too biased to actually consider it asks the question of why Somalia is in the Arab league. So here is a repost of my comment from a previous post asking a similar question for the long and short of it:
We are in the Arab league because Arab tribes and Arabic speaking people are a significant historical demographic and also because many Somali clans claim partial patrilineal heritage to Arabian men like Sheikh Ishaq bin Ahmed and Sheikh Dawud Abdirahman El Jabarti.
Similar reasons for Djibouti (which also had a much larger Yemeni identifying population). This is also coupled with the long history and relationship between Yemen, Oman, The Hejaz and the Somali peninsula and the fact that in major cities like Hargeisa, Zeila, and Djibouti City many have historically spoken a southern dialect of Ta’izi-Adeni Arabic. And also due to how classical Arabic has been taught as a second language in the region for religious reasons. Along with the influence and cultural exchange with the Arabian peninsula
However, technically speaking: our existence as Somalis inhabiting the region predates our Arab “forefathers” and the modern Arab identity by at least 6000 years. We are by and large a Cushitic indigenous group of people to the region. But this situation does not make us unique when we compare our identity-related history to other “Arabized” African groups.
In my experience, most somalis abroad in the west do not speak Arabic but some still do especially those who grew up and were educated back home. I have seen the statistical ranges of Somalis in the peninsula fluent in Arabic be from as little as 5% to as much 30% especially depending on the particular city/region, but regardless the demographic is definitely there especially among some of the urban and educated populations.
In my own family about 1/3 of us speak it fluently and the rest can’t speak it but can sometimes understand it. Especially Yemeni Arabic.
However, the argument of whether or not Somalis are also Arab is a very contentious topic with both Somalis and Non-Somalis alike partially because of the fluid nature of the “Arab” identity itself, so it will not be answered definitively or solved any time soon.
Also most Somalis are going to tell you that we are Somali first and foremost before anything else, so whether we are Arab, African, Black, Brown, Mixed, Pureblooded is very irrelevant to us regardless of our phenotypes or tribe or politics. Above all else, we are a very prideful people in our identity of Somalinimo, and Somali first. This is part of the reason many Somalis want to divest from any larger identity group like Arabs.
I would also be remiss not to mention the importance of the postcolonial Anti-Imperialist, PanAfrican and Pan-Arabist sentiments circulating and being shared by many nations throughout the region at the time of Somalia’s joining.
Below is a video of Somalia’s Foreign Minister speaking at the summit at the time of our joining in 1974.
https://youtu.be/HDSzd7zEcEo?si=gm2AwIzQYWiJ4mV9

Hi everyone,
I’m a new homeowner in Zone 6b, and I’m trying to improve my front and back yards. Here’s a summary of my situation and the steps I’ve taken so far:

• Background:
  • I started with a very rough lawn that had weeds, patchy grass, and large areas that needed to be filled to bring it level. The lawn was also poorly graded.
  • After moving in, I had a crew come in with a skid steer to fill and level the areas, and scrape the lawn in the front and back to grade, giving me a fresh slate.
• Yard Details:
  • Front yard: ~2,500 sq ft, mostly clay and fill dirt.
  • Back yard: ~400 sq ft, more organic and healthy soil.
• Current State:
  • Scraped and leveled with a backhoe.
  • Applied Preen to the front yard.
  • Awaiting results from a soil test.
• Future Plans:
  • Setting up above-ground sprinkler systems based on DIY videos.
  • Aerate the lawn (if necessary based on soil test).
  • Till and amend the soil if needed.
  • Overseed in the fall.

Here are my specific questions:

1. Soil Preparation:
   • I assume the soil test will tell me the amendments needed, but does it matter when I work these in? Should I till the dirt and add amendments before seeding in the fall?
   • Should I also aerate while I have bare dirt? If so, what time of the year is best for aeration?
2. Cost Considerations:
   • What should I expect to pay for topsoil for my 2,500 sq ft front yard, including labor, in Colorado?
3. Interim Care:
   • What should I do with the bare dirt in the front yard until I’m ready to seed in the fall?
   • Any tips on maintaining the healthier soil in the back yard?
4. General Advice:
   • Any additional tips or advice for a new homeowner dealing with these lawn care tasks?

I have analysis paralysis from this being my first time buying a home and tackling a lawn, and it's got me exhausted, so please excuse the crutch of using ChatGPT to help me write this. I appreciate any guidance you can provide to help me wrap my head around these tasks and set myself up for success. Thank you!

To me this is the only theory that accounts for all the crazy things that have gone down on both sides throughout this case:
KR is hammered drunk when she drops JO (fact). In her drunkenness she accidentally runs JO over, killing him. She’s so drunk she doesn’t even notice, drives home, and goes to sleep.
At some point before the famous “hos long to die in cold search,” someone coming in/out of the Albert house sees the body, and goes and alerts the others. They freak out and start trying to revive him. They bring his body inside at carry it down to the basement at one point, and try to see if they can revive him (during this chaos is also when the dog could have chewed on his arm, idk). Nothing works, but no one calls the cops or an ambulance because the family still has no idea what happened, and if any of their loved ones could be at fault.
Realizing he is dead and not coming back, they turn their full attention to trying to figure out what happened. Everyone in the house is dumbfounded, and also keep in mind, they’re all drunk, so it’s chaos. There are moments where Brian Albert shouts at Colin and BH, demanding to know if either of them got in some sort of fight outside with JO without anyone noticing, hurt him (accidentally or not), and just aren’t admitting to it out of fear.
They genuinely have no idea what happened to JO, all they know is they have a beat up dead body on their property, and a big family to protect. Eventually, on account of the broken taillight glass, they figure that someone must have run him over. Who ran him over? Was it on purpose or by accident? They form theories and get in a big classic family shouting/finger pointing match, but in the end they genuinely have no idea and aren’t able to reach any conclusions—because no one ever actually say KR drop him off—but they’re running out of time.
At one point someone in the house suggests that the only scenario they can think of that makes sense is that he was probably the victim of a hit and run by a car or plow while walking up the road to the house (”maybe Karen and him were fighting on the ride over, so she dropped him off at a point sooner than the actual driveway out of pettiness, in/near the road”). After being hit by a car, they figure JO then tried to make it to their front door to get help, but collapsed due to his injuries/internal bleeding sustained during the hit-and-run before he could reach the door. Then after collapsing, either succumbed to his injuries or froze to death because of the cold. At this point, right around 2:27am, they naturally then wonder how long it would even take someone to die in the cold, if that is how he ultimately died—this is the moment that JM makes her famous “hos long” search.
The father Brian realizes that at their current rate, there’s no way they are going to pin down exactly what happened to JO by sunrise. He also realizes that while he’s not sure, there’s at least a possibility that someone in his house—maybe even one if his kids, or at least a beloved friend or other family member—is responsible for what happened in some way he is unaware of currently and won’t find out for awhile. Even if no one in the house is responsible, he knows they could still be viewed as responsible by authorities once there is an inevitable investigation.
Drunk and in panic mode, and worried about all the different ways that JO’s body could be interpreted/misinterpreted authorities in ways that jeopardize his family, the family conspires to do all that they can to limit the ways that the scene before them could be misinterpreted. No one in the family has any qualms about this because after all, they didn’t do anything wrong, they just don’t want to scene to have any possibility of appearing like they did anything wrong. Furthermore, because they are themselves law enforcement and have all the right connections, their egos tell them that they have what it takes to pull off such a conspiracy, and a harmless conspiracy at that. Ironically, this false belief of Brian Albert that, through some light manipulation and due to his experience as a cop, he can do a few small things to create an extra layer of protection for his family, is exactly what has backfired is now currently destroying his family…
I mentioned it before, but here is the KEY DETAIL/ASSUMPTION that this theory is truly built upon: the family, drunk and in panic mode, and attempting confirm whether JO is truly dead and not coming back (and if someone in the house is responsible, CLUE style), carry his body from the road/driveway into their house (out of public view) and down into the basement. Inevitably, blood gets everywhere, all over their basement floor. This is the critical element that creates the panic that makes them feel that conspiring to limit their family risk is truly the best option.
First of all, I don’t know if you dog-owners have ever had a cut on your foot or ankle, but in some random moments in life where I’ve gotten a cut and not even noticed it, my dog almost always finds it first and starts licking it like the little carnivore madman he is… I’m sure you already know what I’m getting at… In all the shouting and screaming and chaos, the Alberts rile up their dog and fail to take their dog into account as they panic-move the bloody body to the basement. In all the commotion, the dog gets extremely excited/overwhelmed, and its primal instinct kicks in and views JOs body as some sort of “Fresh kill from the family hunt.” At one point the dog spazzes out and starts licking the blood a bit and even chomps on JOs lifeless arm like a chew toy. If this sounds far-fetched, you must not be a dog owner, because excited dogs are capable of doing all kinds of wacky actions when they’re in weird and excitable moods, and it only takes a split second.
Anyway, back to what they decide to do. Brian Albert eventually realizes how insanely stupid of a mistake it was to bring JOs body inside their home and into the basement in their panicked/drunken attempt to get him out of the cold and indoors to see if they could revive him/see if he is still alive. They now know JO is truly dead, and now their basement is covered in his blood. Brian panics and realizes how authorities could interpret the blood in the basement in a million not-a-hit-and-run ways—especially because it will look incredibly bad/suspicious that they found the body and did not immediately call police or an ambulance. So, he takes the reigns and tells his family everything they are going to do from here to make everything look as good as possible for them…
First, they need to move the body back outside and into the snow so, at the very least, it goes back to looking like something that happened outside and outside only, thus minimizing the “fight in the basement” look of it and maximizing the “hit by a car” (which is actually what happened) look of it. He also realizes how bad it looks that none of them have contacted authorities about the body as they’ve been panicking trying to make sense of what happened / get on the same page out of their own self-interest, so Brian Albert also instructs everyone (or whoever is still at the house at this point, because by now they’ve started creating their timelines of coming/going and sending various ppl—Colin, etc.—home to protect them) that once they’ve brought the body outside, they are all going to act as if no one ever saw the body.
Also, by now they’ve all realized that it is 95% likely that it was KR who ran JO over when she was shitfaced. This is when they decide to have Jen McCabe go over in the AM to have her “help” KR find the body. They want KR to be the first person to appear to find the body, realize what she’s done, and then this will be the simplest/cleanest scenario. Why? Because if they decide to have it play out that someone at the Albert’s finds the body, it’s going to become impossibly complicated for all of them maintain the same story/timelines etc. of everything that transpired before/after that moment (exs. all of them telling each other one by one, chains of texts, calls, etc. telling various people, mini interactions of made up conversations that they would have to invent and keep track of, all of them “waking up” and alerting their families, and all the while trusting their acting skills in their current drunken/exhausted/emotional state, etc.). So, they make a calculated risk that they could sell the “we never noticed the body” story, and it would be a betteeasier story for them, and it’s of course the story they’re still sticking with now as they’ve taken the stand.
However, we know now, the “let’s just all act like we never found the body and have Karen ‘find it’ in the AM” strategy has backfired horribly, because they have failed to sell several parts of their testimonies/timelines (ex. J Nagel’s ”black blob,” line, etc) relating to several of them somehow driving/walking right past the body of grown man in the snow and not noticing it.
Anyway, this theory of mine is the only one I can think of that accounts for all the evidence, as well as everyone’s behavior throughout the trial. I think everyone has gotten too caught up in the false dichotomy of:

1. JO never made it inside the house + Karen ran JO over with the car and killed him
2. JO made it into the house, where someone or multiple people at the house (and dog) beat JO to death + now the McAlberts are bending over backwards to keep their stories straight.

To me it’s an obvious combination of the two, just leaving out the vicious basement beating part
No one beat JO to death. KR accidentally ran him over while driving slowly, but then the car dragged him as she drove (extremely common in hit and runs), and in a manner that produced his specific head injuries, killing him. She had no idea she was dragging his body for many yards. Someone coming in/out of the Albert’s find his body with zero context, launching the family into a frenzy as they try to figure out what happened and what to do about it to minimize the likelihood of their getting in trouble—they drunkenly decided to play God with their inflated townie egos—a product of their combined law enforcement experience, political connections, and blood-alcohol levels, when they should have just immediately called the cops.
The events unfold as described above, and, critically, they make the wrong decision to create their own McAlbert-family story of how it went down when they become afraid that their now bloody basement could make it look like they murdered him—especially the bad optics of the crowd given that (a) Colin is a meathead with a history of playing tough-guy as a teenager and (b) Brian Higgins allegedly/maybe had some sort of thing going on with KR.
This theory would explain all of the following:

• The “hos long to die in cold” search from inside the house before KR “found” the body, as the family panicked trying to figure out the various WTFs of the situation, and options for alibis.
• All the physical evidence related to the broken tail light, the hair, JO being found with the broken cocktail glass because he never made it inside, etc.
• Why the Alberts got rid of the dog and tore up their entire basement right after JOs death, because they wanted to make sure that no traces of JO—his blood, specifically—would be found inside the house.
• The version of KRs words to the first responders where she actually confesses “I hit him I him him”—because she did.
• Why Proctor was so brazen in saying he hoped KR killed herself & looked for her nudes and bragged about it, because he talked to the McAlberts throughout the investigation, who made him feel confident that she was in fact, a cop killer. And was especially upset at all the risks the McAlberts felt they needed to take to protect themselves from accusations as a result of her drunken actions.
• Why JOs shoe etc. was found so far away—his body was dragged by KR’s car and/or one of the Albert’s strewn his stuff about intentionally to make it look even more convincingly that the accident was initiated away from house, not on the property.
• Why the texts and timelines of Colin being driven home by Allie are all so fishy, because they were obviously fabricated to appear as if the texts/the care ride were happening under normal circumstances, not “what do we do about this body and all this blood?” and “Colin, have Allie come get you now, you don’t need to be here—me and Brian H know what we’re doing, we will handle the body + it will look suspicious if you’re here any longer” type circumstances.
• Why all the unbelievable testimonies from the McAlberts having to do with them somehow not noticing the body in those situations where it was like, right in front of them, are indeed lies and bullshit. Of course they all knew it was there, but they all agreed to pretend like they never saw it to make their story work.
• All the various instances of Albert’s deleting their texts/calls, getting rid of their phones, deleting their Ring cameras videos, etc.—bc these texts and calls and videos of course contained mountains of evidence showing how they all conspired with each other out of fear and ego instead of calling the police right away, and of course destroy all versions of their made up timelines.
• Why the McAlberts have all stayed strong, stuck to their stories, and not cracked under pressure (yet)… because they feel entitled to what they view are “white lies” because, after all KR is still the one who did it, and they’re not the bad ones.

In the end, upon finding JO’s body, The McAlberts tried to doctor some details and alter some timelines to make the whole case that much cleaner and give themselves some extra protection from scrutiny, the law, and (probably most importantly to them) to protect their precious reputations in Canton as powerful townies.
Of course, it is a rich irony that the very thing they were trying to prevent—people think that some of their family beat JO to death—is now exactly the theory that most of public is now leaning towards, now that they have taken the stand and all their suspect testimony, self-contradictions, and inexplicable behavior are on full display. Even more ironically, not only have they trashed their own reputations, they (along with Turtle Boy & co.) have inadvertently turned Karen into a cult hero—a small but brave woman stoically taking on not just lies and false accusation of her boyfriend’s murder, but the corruption of the Boston Police department at large.
And, on a more meta level, I think this theory also explains why KR carries herself the way she does. She knows she hit JO, and she feels terrible deep down, but at the same time, she’s always disliked the McAlberts and how special and untouchable they’ve always acted—big, corrupt fish in a small Canton pond. So, she finds comfort in knowing that even thought they didn’t kill JO, some bad people are still being exposed for the entitled liars and townie dumdums that they are. She also knows that she’s not really at any risk of being convicted at this point (unless the jury actually shocks the world), and she’s enjoying the spotlight and cult hero status that people like Turtle Boy have created for her.

I'm a scientist with only a moderately better than random person understanding of computers. I've been paralyzed trying to figure out if I really understand what my experimental setup is asking of the "data computer" as I will call it. Here is what I need this computer to do:

• record possibly very high frame-rate, full-frame video in a raw format from a CMOS camera like the ASI ZWO 178MM. These cameras appear to mainly be limited by USB 3.0 speed limits in terms of the frame rate they support (some go over 100 fps). So consider this a 5 Gbps feed. The video recording is done using sharpcap software, which usually displays the video live as well as writing to disk. Not that it really matters but the format we use is either .fits or .ser - both basically what I think video folks call "raw".
  
• Run windows 10 or 11 (sharpcap requires it)
  
• Support VNC streaming so I can control the data-taking remotely (due to the setup, it is necessary)
  
• Possibly support a second stream from another camera, but more like an IP camera for equipment monitoring -- not the same high demand as the experimental data cam. Would probably not record but I donno, say we do just for fun.
  
• Portable size, to be deployed at the experimental site and then packed up when done.
  

Form: I have been debating between a NUC and a laptop, or maybe just a very small but not mini PC. I basically want the "cheapest decent thing". I have built my own desktop from scratch before so I'm fine with building. Can I do something like the cheap Intel Nuc "barebones" kits do you think? Or will the lack of a GPU be a problem? I think I am most confused on the point of how many and what kind of CPU/GPU are really needed. I do like the small size of the NUC type computers but I am starting to feel like you pay a premium for it that maybe isn't worth it.
Disk: The data volumes will be large, but are immediately moved to a NAS at the end of the sessions, so a disk of 1-2 TB should be fine. I would obviously need an SSD but that's pretty standard on most NUC/laptop computers. NVMe is nice but not required.
Budget is in the range of $200-$500. If we can stay on the low end that would be great, but I do need this to actually work.
Edited to add: this computer really doesn't need to do anything else. (No data analysis, etc). Just operate and record.

Bit of an odd post but at least it’s not another complaint about a large Ute parked in a disabled spot.
I want to build a bed.
I need a new one but nice beds are expensive. I have a clear idea of what I want. And I want to do it myself.
There are a few problems. Firstly, I don’t have a shed, so I don’t have a space to build it. Secondly, I don’t have the necessary tools. Thirdly, I’m very much a beginner woodworker (mostly just made a few things in high school, though more recently I have made a rabbit enclosure/ chicken coop that were ok-ish). I’m not so worried about that though- there are YouTube videos and it’s a simple design. However, an option with some oversight would be nice.
I wonder if people have any suggestions. A woodworking class? Are there workspaces people can hire and noodle around in? Do I just befriend a local old codger and ask to use his shed, crossing my fingers he won’t murder me?
I’m in the western suburbs. Happy to travel a bit but Frankston probably won’t work.
Any bright ideas? Failing this I’ll just put my mattress on the floor I guess.
EDIT ok if you have told me this post would result in people PMing me to sell me drugs I would have been very surprised but here we are

Me and my friend were just having a heated argument over text about this. I came across a YouTube video explained the rules of a board game where you try to create a cult. I sent it to him and said “The leader of our church would be great at this.” It is a stereotype that the church we go to it a cult and that is largely because it is a non denomination church that is big in the Holy Spirit. I have made similar jokes around him as well as his one girlfriend and he hadn’t really had a reaction but this time he was mad. Both his parents have worked in this church their whole life so I do understand why it would offend him but it is my long time church to. The main reason I sent this was to poke fun at the leader of our church who will now call Beth. I have major criticism of Beth and the leadership. They are very rarely accessible to the average member of our church unless you are in what has been dubbed the “inner circle” with the parent and kids of long time members including her kids and grandkids. Her and her family are very word about who the grandkids date. One of my sister’s best friends dated her grandson and they were very cold to her. She told me that once Mrs Karen pretended to be on the phone in Walmart to avoid speaking to her father. She’s wants her grandson to get with another girl in the “ inner circle” specifically one who lives overseas and whose family works in the overseas branch of our church. They recently sent him in a 2 week trip to see her and and his friends and shocking no one after this trip he said he wanted a break and this was most certainly very orchestrated by the family. They also had very little communication over this time due to the time difference. Also the whole family calls the exes if they grandchildren, “The whores of Babylon” which is very weird. So I am not very fond of Beth. He says that’s the church was her word from God and it’s wrong to even joke that it’s a cult. In the argument he only once tried to tell me why I was in sin joking about the church then very dismissively responded to my questions. Sorry if this is kinda all over the place but am I the a hole?

Adaptation is a game of give and take. Especially when you're adapting something from film to the stage, you have to be aware of what you are losing by removing from the piece when placing all of it in real time in front of the actors. With film you can use close-ups, montages, quick editing, lighting tricks, visual effects etc to create your world. The suspension of belief in film can be harder to keep in tact because we expect a degree of realism from it. In the theater, we know everything we're watching is an artifice. We know the sets are made of cardboard. We know the ocean is shiny plastic. We know that's not real blood or a real knife. You're going into this with a much higher suspension of belief than in film where the goal is often to mimic real life as much as humanly possible. One bad visual effect can break the whole movie. Think of how many reviews, good and bad, couldn't help but mention the less than great visuals in the final battle in the first Black Panther film. On stage, you have the benefit of actors being able to respond in real time to anything that goes wrong and because that person is right in front of us, we have that connection with them and we can go along for the ride much easier than with film. That give and take can make or break an adaptation because for whatever you take away you have to justify that choice by adding something to it. Many adaptations, regardless of the medium, don't always do this and if they do they don't fully understand why what they removed worked. Anastasia is one such example of this because while they do try to add new elements to the story, it almost feels like an entirely different show. But to explain the intricacies of that we need to go back, all the way back.
Don Bluth made a name for himself primarily in the 80's after leaving Disney and creating his own animated films. His work was seen by many as anti-Disney because of the complexity of themes, darker subject matter and animation style that wasn't afraid to be uncomfortable or ugly. That's the general perception of his work but I'd also argue that the relationships between the characters in his films were much more fleshed out and complex than a lot of the stuff Disney was releasing at the time or after. Bluth wasn't afraid to have his characters be rude or mean or cowardly or insecure. The protagonist wasn't always a hero in the purest sense and oftentimes characters would act in a way we'd consider realistic. If they were in a scary situation, they'd run away or try to get out of it. If it was a situation that could benefit them, they'd try to profit to the fullest. Bluth placed his characters in worlds that were very mean and cruel but this only served to heighten the moments of joy and levity. As the 90's rolled on and Disney managed to climb back to the top of the mountain, Bluth did what he could to try to keep up. He didn't see a ton of success in the 90's largely because while at times he tried to ape the Disney formula, they still felt like watered down Don Bluth films.
Enter Lynn Arhens and Stephen Flathery.
In the 90's, these two were some of the biggest names in musical theater with projects like Once On This Island and Ragtime under their belts, to name a few. Lynn Arhens is actually a personal hero and inspiration of mine and oddly enough not for her theater work, although I'm a huge fan of that as well. I grew up watching Schoolhouse Rock as a kid and I actually learned how to write songs while watching those videos. Laugh all you want but you tell me how'd you explain something as complex as parts of grammar or the solar system or the revolutionary war in three minutes or less, for children no less. Her superpower is being able to explain a lot of information in a very short amount of time while having you sing along. Another thing she excels at is making songs the audience can actually leave the theater humming. That being said, it's worth contextualizing the world in which the bulk of their success was born.
Much like Democrats shell shocked by the Republican successes of the 90's, everyone not named Andrew Lloyd Webber was still in a state of awe and envy due to the massive success of Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Evita. The mega musical was born in the 80's and as we tap danced into the 90's, everyone else was trying to catch up. A characteristic of musicals from this era was that they all had that one big song they could perform just about everywhere to pull people in who otherwise may have never given the show a second glance. This was often the catchiest song in the show, oftentimes the opener, and the rest of the songs could range from equally good to songs you'd skip on the soundtrack. This is very much an approach that Arhens and Flathery would use and while I wouldn't say any of their songs were outright bad, there's often quite a bit of fluff. On the flip side, the 90's Disney animated musicals maybe had 5 to 7 songs and there was definitely an economy of time at play here. Today an animated film can be two hours, in the 90's this was far from the case. Every song needed to have a specific function within the story and character development. Rarely would you get songs that are just there to be there. Les Poissons is an example of this. The court of miracles and gargoyles number from Hunchback are also examples. But usually the stronger films like Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King etc were very careful about how many songs and where they were placed. In theater, you can cut and remove songs during previews or even during the run of the show. Outside of doing test screenings, film doesn't really afford you this unless you're early enough in production that the changes can be done in a reasonable amount of time. It's not like Disney could've released a new version of Hunchback as it was in theaters if audiences weren't responding to A Guy Like You. All of this is important because while Don Bluth was very much aping Disney's style at the time, it was clear he was trying to bring elements of the theater to the film as well.
Anastasia the film for all its flaws, and we'll get to those, is a pretty tight narrative and nearly every single song serves some sort of narrative or character based purpose. If a character is singing there is a reason why and that character is important in some way. A big part of the reason why it works is because while it's definitely inspired by The Mouse's then current offerings, it still very much feels like a Don Bluth film. The concept of even turning this story into a musical is very off-beat and in-tune with what Bluth would normally make. I can't imagine Disney making The Secret of Nimh but I can imagine Bluth trying and succeeding at making The Black Cauldron. I really don't see Disney ever making a film like All Dog's Go to Heaven but I can definitely see Bluth doing something really interesting with The Great Mouse Detective. His style is dark and evocative and isn't afraid to make you deeply uncomfortable or sad. Anastasia definitely toes the line but there's sequences in there I just cannot imagine Disney ever doing. The sequence for Once Upon a December is so haunting, melancholy, deeply sad and yet hopeful. Anything having to do with those weird demon things, especially when they try to get Anya to commit suicide, is something Eisner would never let his animators do. At the same time, the relationship between Anya and Demitri feels less like a fairytale romance but honestly like a 90's Meg Ryan romcom. They argue like normal people. They joke with each other like an actual couple would. They feel very realistic and realistic relationships between characters is something Bluth excels at. Because the worlds he creates are usually pretty ugly in some ways, it allows for the relationships to be more grounded. You wouldn't but Anya falling for Demitri in a day like Ariel did for Eric because the world the former couple inhabits feels harsher and therefore the characters have more grit. That being said the film does have flaws that become very relevant once we start talking about the stage version:
1) The villain does not feel properly integrated into the story. Most Disney villains had some kind of relationship with the protagonist that sets the main conflict into motion. Ursula is the one who conducts the spell. Scar is both Simba's uncle and kills Mufasa. Jafar is the first main character we ever see and he's the one who finds Aladdin. Rasputin is in the opening and he does set up the main conflict but there's no relationship between him and the protagonists. They don't even know he's alive until the last ten minutes of the film. He impact the narrative but he definitely could have been woven into the narrative more. I think confining him to the underworld was a mistake. With some slight reworking, you could have had him appearing as some of the randos Anastasia meets along her journey or even have the orphanage owned by him a la Mister Sinister. The setting and time period feels more like a suggestion than any sort of adherence to historical accuracy so they could've gone wild.
2) Most of the stuff in Paris feels like a completely separate movie. The last song we get is Key to Your Heart, which is also the closest we get to fluff, and there's no song within the film proper until after that. At the Beginning absolutely slaps but it should've been in the actual film. Everything after Sophie's song is fine but the film takes on a much more serious and grounded tone until Rasputin decides to remind us he's in the movie. The somewhat surreal tone and the momentum the film had comes to a screeching halt once we get to Paris. That being said, it's still a very good portion of the film but it doesn't really match with anything else in the first two acts.
3) Rasputin's motivations aren't entirely clear. He's still alive because the curse hasn't been fulfilled, I think. He wants to die forreal but that only happens if Anya is offed and even then that's ambiguous. Does he wanna die? Does he wanna be human again? Did he want power of any sort? If he wants to fulfill the curse to move on, we see he bites the dust quite literally once Anya breaks the glowing thingy anyway. It's a cartoon so you could say don't think too hard about it but the logic falls apart the exact second you analyze it. Why not have Bartok just smash the thing once he realizes it's still active? Why does Rasputin want the Romanovs dead so damn badly? His reasonings aren't explained well in the beginning so his actions feel more like an act of interia that anything else.
4) The side characters are kinda annoying. Vlad is mostly okay because he serves a definite role in the story as playing the more level headed one to Demitri's more fiery personality. Sophie starts to grate on my nerves but whenever she does they shunt her out of the film. The mandatory cute animal sidekicks range from irritating to please make it stop.
For what it's worth, the stage adaptation exercises both animal sidekicks largely be consequence of this version trying to be more historical fiction rather than a Disney Renaissance style musical. That brings us to one of the biggest and most controversial changes in the stage version, Gleb. He's a Russian officer who is torn between his feelings for Anya and his duty to the cause. He replaced Rasputin as the main threat. With Gleb, they do rectify points 1 and 3 but this is not without losing much of the energy Rapustin injects into the piece. For all his faults, Rasputin and his weird demon things move shit from Point A to Point B while also being very entertaining at the same time. Gleb has more of a motivation than Rasputin but the story comes to a screeching halt whenever we have to focus on him. He is in love with Anya because she's hot I guess and we get so many songs of this dude belting for the gods about how much he wants her but he can't pursue her. There are a total of three songs counting reprises that are dedicated to this and they're basically all the same. Gleb wants to bone, he has daddy issues and we move on. He interacts with her more but there is no reason he should be this blue balled over a chick he does not know. Anya and Demitri still have great chemistry and the plot is reworked to give them more time together. I like their dynamic more in the film but the musical does this fine but just differently. Anya doesn't really even know Gleb nor that he wants to see if the curtains match the drapes. So we're stuck in this completely unnecessary lopsided love triangle that makes Wolverine, Scott and Jean Grey's bullshit seem like Shakespeare. There is almost zero evolution within Gleb's many croons about how much he wants to bang this chick. He comes to basically the same revelation every single time so whenever he gets a song it's basically time for a pee break. Unlike Rapustin who at least gets an entertaining last fight and death, Gleb doesn't really even get that. He corners her, she goes full on Malala and tells him to do what he's gotta do, he chickens out and dips. They try to give it some weight by having Anya comfort him but she doesn't know this man and she certainly doesn't know he's in love with her. It feels even less powerful than the original ending because at least Rasputin actually killed her family so there's some connection there. Gleb is the son of the guy who was involved so his connection to any of this is nebulous at best. Why not just make him an ex-boyfriend or orphan she grew up with? Why not actually just make him the dad Gleb keeps referring to? Rasputin actually wants her dead and the story moves mostly because of his machinations behind the scenes. Gleb feels shoehorned into this narrative and he's not even entertaining while he's there. His songs are slow, repetitive and he has no real personality.
This is not the only change they made to the story. Vlad now has a mini subplot where he's trying to get back Sophie, now named Lily. This means she's in the story a lot more than she was previously and they don't succeed in making her less annoying. In film, a character can bounce in and out of the narrative without us questioning why they're not there. Theater is a bit different because you can't really have characters that just show up and never appear again. It's been done but usually they'll have the actor play a dual role in the story as well. Lily gets a lot more to do and I'm sorry but almost every song she gets besides the one from the film are also pee break songs. Land of Yesterday just feels like a Russian version of If I Knew Then from Beetlejuice but with much less relevance to the story. The Empress also gets a song now and while it's more memorable than any of the stuff Gleb or Lily get, there's no reason for it to be there. Some composers feel the compulsion to make every single emotional beat a song and while I understand that desire, you don't need it. Honestly my first time seeing the show, I started laughing when she busted out singing because it's so random. The original film got the point across without this and the musical does not expand on her character in any way so there's nothing new to communicate here. Maybe they felt the character should sing more but even without Close the Door, she gets some parts in other songs. This is an example of the fluff I was referring to earlier.
But for everything they added, they removed a lot of stuff but tried to play it down the middle. For example, in the film Rasputin tries to get Anastasia to kill herself by giving her an enchanting dream that turns into a nightmare. Demetri saves her life, she now has learned to trust him more and we move on. In the musical, Rapustin no longer exists but the scene does in a way. Now she has a nightmare about her family being killed where she Demetri comforts her as he does before but there's no narrative reason for this scene to be here. By this point, they've had more moments to build the romantic connection so it feels redundant. They also want to give us a reason to lead into the song where they realize they both know each other and that she's really Anastasia. It's a very flimsy setup and the film did this much better by having Demetri be the one who saved her life. It also undercuts his character development by a lot. There's no scene where he rejects the money. He doesn't have a personal connection to Anya or her grandmother like he did before. His character is neutered a lot in this version and doesn't come off as selfless as he did before. He turns down the money but not only does he have less of a reason to that now, that reveal feels much less powerful. His character isn't even involved in saving her life towards the end. While they do get more time to bond in this version, I just don't feel like they added enough to justify some of these changes.
I don't quite understand why they chose to go the route of realism with the musical. Maybe they're responding to people who thought the more fantastical elements were out of place but as we can see without that, the story doesn't have much of a reason to be a musical. There's an older movie version of this story with Ingrid Bergman that hits a lot of the same beats as the 90's version. That version is decidedly not a musical and also isn't that great of a film either. This isn't the easiest story to make compelling and the 90's version threaded the needle as best as it could. By using the story of Anastasia as more of a jumping off point for the type of fairytale musical audiences had become used to, it managed to make the story more removed from the actual real life Anastasia who did in fact die, although that was not known back then. The musical leans too much into the history and it just doesn't work. There are dark shows that deal with heavy subject matter. The Color Purple is basically just Beat My Ass: The Musical. But that show isn't also trying to be a romantic whimsical experience, Anastasia very much is. I wish they had just kept Rapustin, weaved him into the story more naturally and gave him a stronger personal connection to Anastasia and kept the darker non-history related elements in the show. The movie is plenty dark at times but the history and political struggle is given a passing mention in the opening and is rarely ever brought up again unless to refer to actual murders. The musical felt like Bridge of Spies set to music with how much focus they put on the political aspect of the story. That does not mesh and I think it's part of the reason why this show doesn't have as strong of a following as the film. It's not ungodly awful, but it doesn't justify its existence.

My friend has this music video on her head that she swears is a kpop song, but I couldn't find it anywhere.
She remembers only some scenes from the MV, one the girls are dancing in a kind of empty/abandoned factory, she thinks the stuff there was rusty or something.
The other scene was like a large room, but the girls were very small, one even used a cup as a chair.
I'm sorry for this weid description, but I need help finding it pls

(TLDR I got into trouble at school for standing up for my sister. Despite proving my innocence, I was still punished. Now, I need help to fix this without spending more money.)
In Virginia, USA, a situation has occurred that has had a massive impact on my life personally and academically. Although I don't think my actions were justified and I am remorseful I don't believe I was treated fairly.
My sister was unfortunately the victim of sexual comments from a lot of children in my grade and that had upset me a lot. One student a grade below had been making those comments, and because It had happened so many times with him and other kids I made the rash decision to confront him. During this confrontation he continually made it clear he would continue to make these comments and that he had made those comments, alongside after the encounter he stated nobody would believe my story, and a few witnesses corroborate that.
During this confrontation I had pinched the scruff of his neck, and in a video captured from the school cameras it was clear that at no point did I strangle him, however the school disregarded that and said that I did in fact choke him. In an informal conversation at a later point with a judge the judge agreed that there was not enough evidence to say that I am guilty of strangulation, which is helping me avoid a felony charge. Due to the schools story of me strangling him they decided to suspend me for well over a month which interrupted my learning, but they also transferred me to a different school.
My punishment being an incredibly long suspension alongside being transferred out of my original school seems very disproportionate to the evidence and ruling. The only thing that was decided was that I pinched him. Although I am a relatively large kid standing at 5”7, with him standing at no more than 4”10, it seems like I was mistreated. I believe that the school staff may have biases due to previous occasions, and my Individualized Education Program (IEP). I also have suspicions of them having bias towards him due to his family having an extensive legal background.
Because of this situation, my parents have talked with a professional that specializes in Individuals with disabilities Education Act (IDEA) law, and we have had the assistance of an advocate. However, this process has been a very large financial burden for my family.
In addition I have been in a previous incident where I was very clearly hit numerous times and put in a headlock, which a video shows from a front angle where no mistakes could be made. This is relevant because in that scenario the student had made claims of me making fun of his weight and bullying him, which caused him to have the same amount, if not less suspension than me, alongside no other action being taken. This case is very similar in the fact that a student that claimed to be being bullied was accused of choking someone, however in my case it was clear I didn’t choke him and in the other it was clear he did choke me
In conclusion I am seeking advice on what to do in this situation without imposing any more of a financial burden on my family.

Back to my 'Deadly, Deadly Humans' universe. Decided to focus more on expanding the setting this time, let me know how you feel about it.
*
​
Humans weren't exactly welcomed by the galactic community with open arms at first. Or wings, tentacles, or whatever other appendage one might have. There were several reasons for this.
​
The first, of course, is that they're terrifying.
​
Well, terrifying is perhaps an exaggeration. Certainly, there are predators which look more intimidating; big teeth, sharp claws, that sort of thing. It was more the idea that a predator could be sentient at all that unsettled people. That, and the fact that when the rest of the galaxy learned about them they were in the middle of their conflict with the Kalu-Kamzku. Now, no one shed too many tears for the Kalu-Kamzku, but the first documented evidence of humans that made it to the wider galaxy were human "soldiers" fighting Kalu-Kamzku Armed Recon Teams. And, well... seeing bits of Kamzku everywhere tended to leave a negative first impression.
​
Add to that the fact that they live in a relatively remote area of space, and are technologically underdeveloped compared to most of the galaxy. It was an effort for anyone to visit them and they didn't have the ships to explore the galaxy themselves.
​
In short, humans were very isolated at first, and given their propensity for violence the rest of the galaxy was happy to leave them that way.
​
Except for the Yuenkei.
​
The Yuenkei are something of an anomaly themselves. Or at least, the ecology of their homeworld is. The planet Yuen itself is fairly typical of many planets that give rise to sentient life: rocky, much smaller than a gas giant, having an atmosphere and an ionosphere and sitting at the right distance from its star for liquid water to exist. An Amia or a TokTok or indeed a human would feel perfectly at home in its temperate environment.
​
But there are no predators there.
​
None at all.
​
The exact reasons for this have long been debated, but the broad scientific consensus is that for the first hundred million years after multicellular life evolved, Yuen's ecology was more or less like any other similar planet. There were sessile photosynthesisers, motile herbivores that fed on them, and carnivores that fed on the herbivores.
​
However, then there was a mass extinction. And that's where Yuen's path diverged.
​
There's only so much you can tell from fossils, but it's thought that a single species of plant evolved a highly effective poison, to the point that it became inedible to all herbivores. Because Yuen only had one continent in that period it was able to spread across virtually the entire landmass of the planet, out-competing every other form of plant life and rendering all the food chains that relied on them extinct. The plant became so pervasive that toxins from its decomposing foliage were carried into the rivers and poisoned the oceans as well, killing everything above the level of plankton. All this took place over a very short space of time, geologically speaking - much less than a million years, and possibly only a few millennia. Before anything could evolve a defence against the poison, it had wiped out virtually every other multi-cellular lifeform.
​
It's theorised that the pre-existing ecology managed to hang on across a few isolated volcanic islands, where the native herbivores had no natural predators. Every so often one of these herbivores would make it to the mainland, and for millions of years it would immediately die as soon as it tried to eat the local plant life. But eventually, a chance mutation occurred, and some extremely fortunate herbivore washed up and found itself in an environment where it had absolutely no competition.
​
From there, Yuen's ecological development proceeded more or less as normal: the plant that caused the mass extinction began to evolve into different species as it adapted to environmental changes and the reintroduction of herbivores, and the new class of herbivore that was able to metabolise its poisons did likewise. A hundred million years later, Yuen's wildlife was as diverse as any other planet's... except for the fact that predators never re-evolved. All animal life on the planet could trace its ancestry back to that one lucky castaway, which apparently was so specialised for a herbivorous lifestyle that none of its descendants ever found it practical to go the carnivore route. Roughly three hundred million years later one of those descendant branches evolved into the Yuenkei, and they evolved in an environment with no predators.
​
Now, at first glance this might seem an odd species to reach out to the newly discovered humans. In fact you'd think the Yuenkei would be the last species that would want to have anything to do with the galaxy's first sentient carnivores. Humans, as meat-eaters, are more alien to the Yuen than almost any other planet in the galaxy that bears intelligent life (almost, but not quite, although we won't go into the Upau-Roekvau and the Ishoa right now).
​
However, there is one thing the Yuenkei lack that is universal in every other sentient species: fear.
​
Before they left their home planet the Yuenkei had no concept of a predator, and therefore they had no instinctive fear of other lifeforms. Well, it's not entirely true to say that they lack the emotion of fear completely. They have an instinctive apprehension towards approaching storms, and they aren't strong swimmers so they shy away from large bodies of water. But in general they're a lot more relaxed than most species, because unlike most species they never had to be constantly watchful for something with big teeth and bad intent lurking in the bushes.
​
Incidentally, even after they left their home planet the Yuenkei didn't have much to fear from predators. The toxic arms race between the dominant plant life on Yuen and the herbivores had continued, just without the sudden overwhelming success the former had previously experienced. The Yuenkei's typical foods are all highly poisonous to most other species in the galaxy, and the poison accumulates in their bodies; this may be one reason that predators never evolved again on Yuen, as trying to become a carnivore would expose them to several hundred times the dose they'd been used to. As I understand it the Yuenkei are so saturated with toxins they actually smell poisonous, and most carnivores have decent olfactory senses. It must give you a certain confidence to know that anything that tried to take a bite out of you would drop dead.
​
Incidentally, the Yuenkei have a complex relationship with their food. Even with their toxin resistance the process of making some of their dishes safe for them to eat is long and complicated, and their culture has made it something between an artform and a sport. A significant amount of the average Yuenkei's leisure time is spent discussing recipes with their friends.
​
The discovery of humans provoked concern among the Yuenkei, of course; just because they don't feel fear, doesn't mean they can't understand danger on an intellectual level. Humans were clearly capable of extreme violence. However, they didn't experience the same immediate, subconscious aversion most species felt when they first learned of humans. Given the Kalu-Kamzku's... well, undiplomatic nature... it was possible they had provoked the conflict.
​
Being unusually level-headed, the Yuenkei decided to give humans a chance. At the very least, there should be no harm in taking a closer look at them.
​
By the time they reached this decision, the conflict between the humans and the Kalu-Kamzku was coming to an end. It had finally occurred to the Kalu-Kamzku to ask themselves why this unknown species was killing them. They came to the conclusion that humans were A) sentient, and B) probably viewed their attempt to sterilize a human colony so they could mine the planet as an act of aggression.
​
Better late than never, I suppose.
​
When the Kalu-Kamzku finally tried to communicate, they were somewhat surprised to find that the humans were actually receptive to negotiation. I am fairly sure the first Kamzku ship given the task of making contact thought they were being sent on a suicide mission. Of course, being the Kamzku they were still too obtuse to work out why their enemy wanted to talk; they were just glad the humans had finally stopped slaughtering them. But the Yuenkei figured it out almost immediately, and it prompted them to advance their plans from observation to first contact.
​
It's important to remember that throughout the human-Kamzku conflict, the flow of information was entirely one-way. That is, the rest of the galaxy got regular updates on events through their embassies with the Kalu-Kamzku, while the humans had absolutely no information about what was going on outside their little corner of the galaxy. The Yuenkei correctly deduced that humanity had had no idea that there were other intelligent species in the galaxy before their encounter with the Kalu-Kamzku, and still were unaware that there were any others besides the Kalu-Kamzku.
​
From the way negotiations progressed between the humans and the Kamzku, it seemed like the humans were intensely, profoundly curious about the aliens.
​
It has to be said, the Yuenkei are not a particularly curious species themselves. Certainly not like us Amia; they have no equivalent of the Science Consortium, spread out across the galaxy looking for new discoveries. It's more in their nature to set a goal and head towards it rather than investigate every new thing they come across. Our view of them tends to be of rather dull, plodding creatures (although in return they find us hyperactive and somewhat intrusive, which is fair enough). However, new sentient species aren't exactly a common occurrence, and one of the Yuenkei's ongoing goals is to maintain mutually beneficial relations with other spacefaring civilisations. This was something that deserved their attention.
​
They understood humanity's curiosity, just like they understood every other species' fear. And they saw a Yuenkei-shaped hole in the equation.
​
They approached the Kalu-Kamzku, and asked for an introduction. The Kalu-Kamzku were at first reluctant to add what they referred to as a 'random disruptive element' into their delicate negotiations with the humans, but the Yuenkei pointed out to them (or spelled out very slowly with simple words) that humans might react more positively to a species that hadn't killed quite so many of them. Plus, the Kamzku weren't exactly known for their skills at diplomacy; the negotiations might go a lot more smoothly with input from the Yuenkei.
​
The Kamzku may be obtuse, but at least they're logical. They could see the sense in what the Yuenkei were suggesting so they agreed to ask the human ambassadors if they would consent to the introduction of a third party. And naturally the humans jumped at the chance.
​
I have to imagine that they must have been at least nervous. Those first Yuenkei who were selected to make first contact with humans. They couldn't feel fear in the way we understand the emotion, but they must at least have felt a heightened state of alertness, surely. Humans had only been introduced to one alien species before them, and it had resulted it a lot of violence. They couldn't have been sure how the humans would react to them.
​
I can't even imagine what the humans thought of the Yuenkei. Imagine a lumpy cylinder, and give it six legs that stick up at a forty-five degree angle from the body, then curve down. In fact, only the bit that sticks up is actually the leg: from the joint to the blunted tip is a keratinous growth not dissimilar to a giant claw. The Yuenkei are essentially walking on stilts - useful for wading through swampy ground or stepping through dense, possibly toxic foliage.
​
The cylindrical body doesn't hold itself level; the back end faces down slightly, because this is where their mouth is. Well, I say mouth... it was a slight surprise to the Yuenkei when they found out that most species have a separate orifice for ingesting food and expelling waste. The front end is even stranger: the Yuenkei's eight eyestalks are almost a metre long, about the same length as their body. Four have large, round eyes at the tip, but the other four only have vestigial eyes that have been superseded by the eyelids, which have evolved into grasping pads, giving them four tentacles they can use to manipulate objects.
​
For the humans, the Kalu-Kamzku must have looked practically familiar by comparison. At least they bore a passing resemblance to organisms that are found on Earth, although then again the fact that they look more or less like a giant praying mantis might not have done them any favours; as I understand it, humans aren't particularly fond of the insects even when they're only a few centimetres long, let alone five metres.
​
For xenopsychologists like us, one of the great joys of studying anything that involves the Yuenkei is that they document everything meticulously, and they don't mind sharing. We have full, high-definition video of their first meeting with the human ambassadors. The room was a large one, obviously, to accommodate the ten Kalu-Kamzku, who entered first, followed by their three much smaller guests, who stayed close to the doors. The Yuenkei had suggested that they keep their distance at first. Firstly, because their appearance might unsettle the humans, and secondly because most species find their smell off-putting, at best.
​
The humans enter the room and proceed to the seats provided. There are ten of them: four diplomats escorted by six of their hunter caste... 'soldiers', as they call them. Unarmed, but an unarmed human trained specifically to kill is more dangerous than just about any weapon you could carry. The Kalu-Kamzku approach the table and formally introduce the Yuenkei lingering at the back of the room, waiting for a sign that it was okay to approach.
​
The humans seemed to be confident at first, but almost as soon as the diplomats sit they start shifting uncomfortably. Finally one of them asks:
​
Did someone bring coffee?
​
Even at a distance, the humans could smell the Yuenkei. However, contrary to what the Yuenkei expected, it wasn't the first time they'd encountered that smell, and they didn't find it repulsive. Quite the opposite, in fact.
​
The human diplomats seemed deeply confused about why there was suddenly an all-pervasive smell of coffee in the room. To the point where one of them got up and started trying to find the source of the scent. The Kalu-Kamzku skittered back as he got closer to them, but the Yuenkei, of course, remained exactly where they were. The human asked if he could approach them and, being completely unafraid, the Yuenkei delegates consented.
​
Interesting piece of trivia: humans aren't carnivores. We usually call them that, because to an Amia the fact that they eat meat is the most notable thing about them. But technically speaking, humans are omnivores. They can eat a wide variety of plants and plant-products, and to them the Yuenkei smelled exactly like a plant whose seeds they roast, grind, and mix into beverages.
​
They call it coffee. It is, to us and most of the rest of the galaxy, extremely poisonous.
​
In the days before Amia made contact with other sentient species, it was theorised by our scientists that any aliens we encountered would be fructivores, like us. Slightly solipsist, you might think, but there's logic behind it: after all, plants have an evolutionary incentive to provide the animals that eat their fruit with a good meal. There should always be more calories in specialising in fruit than in eating other parts of a plant, which the plant will be trying to stop you from eating. And the more specialised consumer always has an advantage over the jack-of-all trades.
​
They were completely wrong about the first part, of course; fruit-eaters are common among intelligent species but they're far from universal. But they had a point about specialisation: if you want to do something well, you've got to devote yourself to it entirely, and that includes what you eat. The downside of specialisation is that you're more vulnerable to interruptions in your food supply, but that's exactly why intelligent species are more likely to be specialists: because once you get smart enough, you can control your natural environment and eliminate that downside.
​
Most intelligent species specialise in a limited range of food sources, and therefore have a limited tolerance for chemicals not found their natural diet. But being omnivores, humans have a natural resistance to a wide variety of natural toxins. A lot of chemicals that for an Amia would be a cause for an immediate and urgent trip to hospital are to humans just a more piquant flavouring to liven up their food with. It seems a little unfair, given how ridiculously durable humans are in just about every other area, that they're also highly resistant to poison.
​
In fact, the only species with a similar broad-spectrum resistance are the Yuenkei, because their toxin-laden plant-life has, through parallel evolution, produced many of the same chemical defences found in Earth's biosphere. In fact, it's thought that the original toxin that caused the mass extinction on Yuen was caffeine, the active ingredient in coffee. A highly potent neurotoxin to most species, but to humans and Yuenkei merely a mild stimulant. The plants on Yuen are almost all highly poisonous, unlike on most planets - including Earth - where only a minority are, and there are so many different types that between them they've evolved almost all the chemicals found in coffee, including compounds like 2-furfurylthiol which contribute to the aroma.
​
The similarities don't stop there. Both Earth and Yuen have a lot of poisonous alkaloids in common.
​
When the human diplomat got within touching distance of the Yuenkei delegates, he stopped. His colleagues, had the same fear response to the unknown that you or I would have; humans have that in common with us at least. So they stayed back and asked him if the aliens were the source of the aroma.
​
He confirmed that they were, but now that he was closer he could smell something else. Something familiar...
​
Chocolate. To humans, the Yuenkei smell of coffee and chocolate.
​
The humans were baffled. The Yuenkei, on the other hand, were interested. It didn't occur to them to worry that their predatory counterparts found their odour appealing. They had never encountered another species that appreciated their cuisine, or indeed could survive it. And the Yuenkei really do like their food.
​
The Yuenkei had decided to make contact with humans merely because they saw that humans wanted to know more about the wider galaxy, and they felt there was no reason not to assist them. Friendly relations with other species generally benefitted both. However, they had discovered much more than they bargained for.
​
They had finally found a species they could swap recipes with.
​
The human diplomats had expected to be talking about ending their conflict with the Kamzku, but when the Yuenkei started interrogating them about what flavourings humans used in their food they soon got deep into a conversation about whether the Yuenkei smelled more like an espresso or a mocha, and progressed from there. It should be mentioned that the Kalu-Kamzku hadn't the slightest idea what was going on. But since the Yuenkei seemed to be engaging in a dialogue with the humans, for once they did the sensible thing and didn't interrupt.
​
So what's the lesson here? Well, first of all if you're worried about a human trying to eat you and want to know how to make yourself unappealing, you can cross coating yourself in poison off your list. They'll probably just thank you for marinating yourself for them.
​
Alright, there is a serious lesson too. It's an easy trap for xenopsychologists to fall into to assume that common ground between species is found by talking about 'important' things like systems of government, technological development, major cultural traits. By that logic, a species of predators and a species from a planet with no predators should have had absolutely nothing in common. And yet, through their shared interest in mixing poisons into their food, the Yuenkei had more to talk about with humans than any other species they'd encountered. More meetings followed, trade opened up, and soon both species had an insatiable desire for the other's culinary products.
​
Sometimes, the little things can make a big difference. The fact that the Yuenkei, the ultimate pacifists, had managed to establish friendly relations with humans went a long way to assuaging other species' misgivings about them.
​
And after the brutal conflict with the Kalu-Kamzku, it really improved humans' view of aliens when they found out that there was a whole planet out there that smelled of coffee and chocolate.
​
​
​

I'm sure this has come up before but I've seen several posts (and made one myself) on video games that scratch that OSR itch when you can't play tabletop. The usual suspects I see are stuff like Darkest Dungeon, Roguelikes, and old school CRPGs like BG1 but very rarely do I see people bring up any of the immersive sims that really ooze the player freedom and creative problem solving of OSR. Most immsims skew stealth and at least Victorian in tone but more often then not they're sci-fi. Instead of a focus on large open maps with lots to do, ImmSims usually focus on small, enclosed spaces (ie. dungeons) with very vertical or roundabout level design allowing for weird solutions and pathways to get to objectives. Crash game systems into each other to see what happens like a weird scientist. Unfortunately, ImmSims are solitary affairs so no party building but give em a shot! I've only played a few but I've loved them all dearly, here's a selection for people new to the genre.

• Ultima Underworld (not played this myself but allegedly the original ImmSim)
  
• Dishonored Series
  
• Prey (2017) (my personal favourite)
  
• Deus Ex series
  
• System Shock series
  
• Arx Fatalis (if you can get it to run properly it's arguably your best fantasy outing)
  
• The Thief games (skew much more stealth but very cool).
  

I will warn all newcomers, this genre is cursed so if you fall in love with it then be ready to be waiting a while for a proper AAA outing (although the indie scene is very much alive).

Hello! Got a bunch of great blades up for sale here. Prices are shipped, for PPFF, or you can add 3% for G&S. Con US preferred. I'll ship to Canada and Alaska but buyer pays additional shipping. No trades please. Yolo's on the post take priority over chats. Thanks for looking!
Timestamp
Large Inkosi Knife Art - Knife is in good condition, has seen light carry and use. Second owner at least. Factory edge, good shape and sharp. Centering and lockup is perfect. Comes with box and all the goodies. SV $500
Paysan - This bad boy is by far the smoothest Spyderco out there! It's mostly in good shape, it does have a couple of small scuffs on the scales (see video). Lockup is rock solid, centering is good. Factory edge and sharp. Second owner. Comes with soft case. SV $570
PM1 Sprint Run - Model #C81GPFG. These were only produced for part of 2008, the CPM D2 plain edge being the only variant of the foliage green sprint run. It's in great shape, especially for a 15 year old knife. Small amount of pocket clip wear. It's hard to tell, but the edge does not appear to be factory. It's decently sharp. Drop shut action. Centering is off to the right ever so slightly. Tiny amount of blade play. I'm sure both of those could be corrected easily, I've just never bothered since it has been exclusively a collectors piece for me. Second owner at least. I don't have the original box, I will ship it with a different Spyderco box. SV $280
Stitch - Stonewash blade. Knife is in good condition, tiny mark on scale by the clip as seen in the video. Second owner. Factory edge, good shape and sharp. Centering and lockup is perfect. Super snappy action. Comes with box. SV $280
XM-18 - Skinny Skinner 3.5 full Ti. Knife is in excellent condition. Clip maybe has a tiny amount of wear. Second owner, never carried by me. Factory edge, good shape and sharp. Centering and lockup is perfect. Action is smooth as butter. Knife only, no box. Ignore the ZT box, it was a brain fart. SV $480
Norseman - ( COA ) Honey comb pattern. #2321. DOB is May 17th, 2019. Knife is in excellent condition, basically looks brand new. Second owner, never carried by me. Factory edge, good shape and sharp. Centering and lockup is perfect. Action is smooth as butter. Comes with hard case, COA and goodies. SOLD $580
Medford Praetorian Genesis T - Good condition. Factory edge, sharp. Action is smooth, centering and lock up are great. Honestly I'm not very familiar with Medford knives, I priced this based on comparable knives listed here. Let me know if I missed the memo on something with this guy. Comes with hard case. SV $380
Cyclone - This is an interesting knife that has been in my collection for almost a decade. I have literally never carried it, but I am the second owner. Manufactured in 2006 and discontinued 2008. It has the selectable assisted opening feature. It works great and is pretty neat. Factory edge, relatively sharp. Nearly solid lockup, perfect centering. Action is snappy with the AO turned on and smooth with it switched off. Comes with the original box. These are pretty rare to find imo, I don't know how sought after they are. But I've seen them go for $200 on Ebay, so let's just do SV $80

(This was originally posted in Wedding Shaming)
Strap in y’all, it’s a long one and it’s full of bad. Have some kitten videos ready for after!
So let me preface this by saying I am estranged from my mother and have been for most of my life. She is a paranoid narcissist, a racist, a homophobe, a xenophobe, and just all around terrible person. She abused me growing up so I cut loose in high school, got emancipated and got on with my life. For years I had a happy queer relationship with another woman and we had a son together (I carried with a sperm donor). When my kid was 5 his other mom died and I was alone for 5 years before I met someone. A year later, that someone and I got married. Previous to said wedding my husband’s parents felt it would be important to meet my parents. My father died when I was 19 so that left my mother and her husband. I struggled over the decision to try and reconnect with my mom, knowing how bad this can get for me in these situations (I suffer severe ptsd from the abuse trauma).. but it was a wedding and everyone kept telling me it “was important to have family together.” So fine, let’s do this.
The problems started fast and furious. My mom came to our coast (we live on opposite coasts) to meet my fiancé and my son. Right away she was pulling my husband to the corner to tell him all the “dirt” she could on me, or conversely, telling him he better get me nice cars and plastic surgery. Then she stated calling all of her friends and putting my fiancé on the phone to “prove to them that her daughter was marrying a doctor” (even if he is a goy (a Yiddish term for non-Jew. Has slightly derogatory tones).
Cut to lunch and my mother is asking how many tables she “gets” at the wedding. I ask “huh?” She explains she needs a least 5 tables at 10 per table for HER guests. I was really confused. I explained that our whole wedding venue seated 50 people total and those seats were spoken for. I had invited several people my mother asked me to have already. She went absolutely bananas demanding we change venue (we’re now 6 weeks from the wedding) to accommodate HER GUESTS. I painfully explained we can’t do that.. it’s not possible.. just no. She then switches gears like she always does and asks about our honeymoon. We were heading to Mexico for 2 weeks and my son would be staying with his donomyBFF. My mom screamed “what??? He needs to be with HIS FAMILY.” I reminded her that he was staying with family. She demanded time with my son so I half heartedly said she could have him half the time. (This will come back to haunt me later.)
Day of the wedding. Did I mention my mom is a low key alkie? So it’s about 2pm and she’s in the bridal suite in the bathroom. I’m in the dress and the photographer is waiting for my mother to come and use an antique button-holer to button up my gown. I’m nervous and excited and emotional because I’m in the dress and this is my day. This is one of the photos we had pre-planned to take. I asked my mother if she would do the honors. Instead, my mother is in the bathroom half dressed with her fireball and ice screaming into the phone at her husband “you are so stupid, how can you not find it!? I put it on the damn dresser! I can’t f**ing believe I married you…” you get the picture. It’s so loud the guests in the living room can hear it. I finally give up and have my son do the buttonholing for me (the pics were so special). Thank goodness it wasn’t video because you would have her my mother screaming “Can anyone get me another drink?? Does this room even have room service??”
Cut to walking down the aisle. We do the ceremony, it’s perfect, and my delightful friend and officiant announces “Introducing Mr. & Mrs Jon— when suddenly my mom stands up and screams “It’s DOCTOR not MISTER, get it right!”
Now I knew we had a problem on our hands ahead of the big day so I put in some contingency plans in place to buffer her. My wedding planner was under strict instructions to not allow my mother to make a speech (she loves to humiliate me by saying personal things about me to anyone who will listen and then she loves to announce what a terrible daughter I am and how much of a disappointment to her.) Second plan was my SIL faking a heart attack if she got her hands on the mic. About half thru dinner my delightful planner comes to me crying saying she’s so sorry but my mom is demanding to make a speech. That’s right, this tiny demon of a woman made my wedding planner CRY. Right then she stood up (have no idea how she got the mic) and said, “So my daughter didn’t want me to say anything. I guess she gets embarrassed, but I’m her MOTHER, and I get to say whatever I want. I’m here to say that I always knew she was going to marry a doctor, it didn’t surprise me at all. What did surprise me is when I gave birth to her and the nurses told me she was a girl, but I didn’t believe them so I had to take her diaper off and spread her legs and look at her vagina to make sure she was a girl.” She illustrated this by spreading her two fingers open. You could here jaws dropping around the room. She then went on to say “how disappointed she was in me that I don’t see her more often and that she hopes now that I have a doctor husband I’ll be able to see her more frequently”. Sadly my SIL was in the loo and plan 2 failed.
Cut to the dancing. I am dancing with my husband and my friends. We’re all having a good time when somebody comes up to me and taps me on the shoulder and says “hey, I don’t wanna cause a scene or anything but you might want to look at your mom”. I look over at my mother and she has taken off the jacket to her dress and now she’s peeling off the shoulder straps one by one and waving her head around to the music saying “oh my goodness it’s getting so hot in here!” This b*tch was trying to take her clothes off on the dance floor. Oh, I forgot to mention earlier that she had a three drink maximum, but she was getting around this by asking other people to get drinks for her.
The next morning I of course got to hear alllllll the embarrassing stories from the night before. She asked why my friend married “an Arab,” called another guest “not Jewish enough to attend the wedding” and complained to anyone who would listen that I didn’t even allow her 50 guests, and the party would have been so much more fun if she had done it.
And the pièce derésistance? Right as we were leaving for our honeymoon I got a call from her saying “I know you need ME to watch YOUR kid, but not unless you do something for me. You’ll need to call your brother and make nice with him again.” My brother and I are estranged for reasons I can’t get into now. I said no, he’ll go to his real family, the one that cares for him without strings attached.
There you have it! One cluster fluff of a mother story!
For anyone interested, we don’t talk anymore and I couldn’t be happier and I’m still happily married! Good riddance to bad rubbish!
Ok, just a few clarifications for people asking Q’s-
In answer to the question about my in laws- My in laws are the sweetest, kindest people ever. I honestly think they had no idea a human adult could behave like that. I wanted to please them and I didn’t say a whole lot about my mother. I didn’t want them to see her as a red flag for the marriage. They never mentioned her again 😂 which was their way of acknowledging she’s not worth talking about.
For those of you judging me for half heartedly agreeing to let my kid visit my mom-totally get your stress! Don’t worry, she never had contact with my kid alone. For clarity, he was going to spend four days with a safe family where my mother happened to be staying as well. By the end of the weekend it was clear that even that was too close.
For those of you wondering why I would even let her come to the wedding - Some people (like me) relent and reopen because our abusers did a very good job of breaking us and making us question everything we think and believe. So every time some well meaning idiot Said “Aw, you should take to your mom! She’s your mom!” We think “Omg, my mom is right. I’m the worst f**king daughter ever and I’ve been ignoring her all these years and there must be something so wrong with me that I did that.”
Now, after YEARS of therapy and support I know better. Back then I was still pretty deep in my trauma.

In large 6 player skirmish i continue to get a very noticeable stutter every 2 seconds which just ruins the whole experience. I recently found a youtube video and it shows the exact same issue. I am curious how many of you others are getting the same issue. It's not my video but skip it up to 13:50 and just watch how everything stutters every few seconds. I'm also seeing it alot in wargames and this pulsing stutter ruins the whole immersion for me. It even more noticeable if you happen to be panning or going into sensors view when the camera is traversing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26bfnUXsZUY&ab_channel=SergiuHellDragoonHQ
While I'm happy that they're looking into a hotfix to help people with AZERTY keyboards I would think that engine issues like this would never have been allowed to make it into a finished product and need to be looked at and addressed.
5600x/3060/1080p

Astral projection tutorial: A-lot of terminology I use will make sense as you go along.
I have read several books on astral projection and skimmed through dozens for actual techniques. And scoured reddit and user reports. This is going to be somewhat a culmination of the data i have found to be helpful myself and recommend.
So one large problem with astral projection is you usually (except for a specific skillset) have to be asleep for it to happen. Or at least teetering very close to sleep. The way this is usually achieved is by people trying to learn meditation by getting in a comfortable position when they have free time and the energy to try this.
Then they try to focus on breathing or doing energy body stimulation (will be described how to later) basically the ability to create the vibrations. Till after 30 minutes or a hour if they are lucky they start to feel the vibrations and use a exit technique. (Will be covered) Then the exit technique can work, and then it goes to tips on what to do in the astral. But i probably won’t cover that in this text.
Yup. That’s it. Fall asleep, use a exit technique, walk or fly around the area you come out at. Sounds pretty simple when stripped to its barest parts… the problem is there are pitfalls where people get stuck not being able to to something. Weather they find it hard to fall asleep and can’t start the exit technique, or they get asleep and notice it and try to project and either nothing happens, or they get to excited or scared depending on the exit symptoms
(TIP 1) if you get to the exit phase you can experience very trippy psychedelic experiences. You can hallucinate smells, sounds, words, visions, shocks, vibrations, a heartbeat that goes incredibly fast, (not your actual heart) some mixture of all these… it can be a intense entry fee. And if you’re not mentally prepared by imagining these things happening you could get scared and think you are dying. Also some psychedelic experiences can prepare you for it.
(semi common for people who haven’t done psychedelics or had a near death experience and know what actually dying feels like) my first experience trying to project, I felt shocks in my face, with the shocks i saw strobe light flashes, i felt vibrations all over, i heard buzzing, my heart felt like it started to gradually increase to the speed of almost vibration… it was pretty intense, and as i felt myself starting to float up I thought for sure i was dying… so I stopped the exit.
After this, i built a block in my head with something in me saying “not ready for this experience yet” and alot of people believe this is the gatekeeper of the astral realm just making sure you are prepared for the wild ride that could happen. So hopefully you will imagine these experiences and prepare yourself mentally for them and not be scared like i was. And build a mindset of saying “heck yeah throw whatever psychedelic experience you want at me I’m ready and not afraid.”
Sorry to make a long part of this about the exit symptoms, and I in no way want to scare anyone away from this experience. But i do want you to be mentally prepared for possible obstacles and know that there is nothing to fear. Nobody is on record dying from astral projection from anything i have read was aware of. So that’s one pitfall covered.
The next will be the problem of feeling like you projected but you fall asleep or “nothing happens” first off,
(TIP 2) keep your first 3 or so trips really short. I follow and believe Robert Bruce’s advice here. Once you get out, scream I projected!! And if that doesn’t wake you up itself try finding your body and jumping in, or closing and opening your eyes, or falling backwards and closing your eyes then moving to get up, one of these should work. If not i don’t really know what else to say besides enjoy the trip and try to keep it as memorable as possible by dancing or something. So “trip short” covers staying too long and falling asleep, and even if you do fall asleep, here comes the next tip,
(TIP 3) learn to remember your dreams. I cannot stress enough the importance of this. If you don’t remember your dreams, you are unlikely to remember your projections. It’s like tying a worm to a fishing line and throwing it out there with no hook. Something might happen, but you can’t bring it back. The way to start remembering your dreams is to first start having more vivid dreams, which can easily be achieved by “oneirogens” drugs or herbs that can improve dreams. My favorite for this is the non wake psychoactive (won’t effect you while awake) herb Silene Capensis.
I love this stuff. It is a root that you can grind in a coffee grinder and measure out .5g or one gram of the herb by weight, and put in a tea bag or filter and put in boiling hot water and steep till warm or luke warm and then drink before bed. This specific herb usually has to be taken for several days before effects start to kick in. Then you should be having more memories and more vivid dreams. Which hugely effect astral projection probability by itself not including the tip after the next.
(TIP 4) is DREAM JOURNAL! get a app or notepad you already have or whatever and write any memory you can when you’re first starting out. As much detail as possible. The easiest way to trigger a memory is to think of common themes in your life or dreams if you remember some of them already is to think of the things you commonly dream about. Once you hit this groove on the record that is your memory there should be a notch there of the most recent memory related to that thing. Snow, your siblings, your spouse, your dog, your job, whatever you dream about. Then once you think of the thing that happened in your last few dreams it can trigger a memory of that dream. Then that can open up to more parts of that dream being remembered. As soon as you pull a piece to memory write it down and keep thinking. Start the dream journal while you’re waiting on your herb to come in.
(TIP 5) Once you have your dream journal for the day, in the middle of the day set a alarm to look at the dream journal and remember the dream or dreams you had. Doing this while more awake will build the gap between asleep memories and awake memories. Keep doing this. Once you remember more clearly only write a few key details at first, (saw friend, saw dog) then after the middle of the day alarm you set use these tips to try to remember the rest of what happened in the dream. Keep doing this consistently with the Silene Capensis (African dream root) I get mine from etsy. And you should be having vivid dreams that you remember in a couple weeks. Then you may start remembering two or three dreams when you wake up. Or more depending on how long you can sleep. That is the memory part.
(TIP 6) learn to lucid dream, then enter a projection from that lucid dream. So doing this method skips right over having to meditate to the point of projecting. Once you learn to lucid dream, all you have to do is fall backwards while closing your eyes in the dream. Then once you start to hit the ground and go black you should feel yourself float down some. This part can very on exactly what happened. Sometimes there’s no gravity and you have to try again or find something heavy to fall with, sometimes your whole perception view changes to third person like a video game and it’s harder to navigate, etc… but anyway, once you are in this point of asleep and fell backwards into darkness, you are in the mind awake body asleep stage in your body. This point comes with the problem of being really easy to be woken up, which is why you need to quickly start building vibrations, or do the rope technique. The ability to build the trigger of knowing the right thing to do goes into tip 7.
(TIP 7) how to start a lucid dream from a dream, learn to fall in the dream on command, learn to do projection techniques once you fall into the darkness, learn to do what you want to pre plan your projection to be, (usually for the first 4 times or at least 2 just short trips of getting out, then shouting I DID IT! then hopping back in. Which is “🌈imagination🌈” you take time throughout your day to do “reality checks” this is a lucid dreaming term that means to test if you are in awake or dream state. So every time you walk through a door is a good trigger, or set a bunch of alarms, or put your phone/smartwatch screen to say “am i dreaming?” Then you test if you are in a dream. Some people cover their nose and try to blow through. If they can then they’re in a dream. Or look at a watch and if it says anything but the right thing you’re in a dream. So you see your reminder or walk into a new room then test if you’re in a dream.
Then you “imagine” if the answer was yes. Then you “imagine” (please don’t fall backwards in reality….) falling backwards and closing your eyes. Once you get this pattern memorized your natural reaction once you realize you’re in a dream you will be to fall backwards. You build a muscle memory. Like when your arm knows what to do to shoot a basketball from a specific place. That place is when you’re in a dream. Then to not spend too much time daydreaming every time you walk through a door you can save the rest of the imagination for when you have a little more free time.
Then you imagine ““I’m in a dream” falling backwards, closing eyes, then imagine the first exit technique you want to use. I would recommend energy body stimulation. Then once you’re vibrating imagine floating up. Imagine bubbles coming from underneath you and lifting you away, or if that doesn’t work the rope technique. Then imagine the astral symptom’s happening. Take a second to imagine each possible symptom. Vibrating, flashing lights, “heart” pounding, etc… then imagine getting out of your body, then imagine shouting “eureka” or I projected!” Or whatever. Then open your eyes and go about the rest of your day till the next time.
If it helps right out your roadmap then rehearse each one in order. (“In dream”, fall back and close eyes, projection technique(‘s), out of body, scream, eyes open.) do this several times a day every day till you don’t have to look at the note or even think of the next thing to do, just “see” it happening in your imagination. See is used lightly for however you experience imaginations.
(TIP 8) Also i have to mention “flow state” and if you have a free day just spend the day looking at nature or whatever, and be 100% in the moment. Don’t think of something else, just perceive every crackle every bird chirp, every smell, (maybe carry something good smelling in a bag) taste something like a healthy apple washed, or something low calorie or your meal, combine as many senses as possible and be fully aware of all of these senses. Be fully aware of the moment and think nothing else but “am i in a dream” and look around and think about if you are.
Be present in the moment as a all day, or long session of a continuous reality check. Your probable best chance storm of the right things pulled together is, do whatever to have vivid dreams, set a alarm for 6 hours, (if you sleep less than 7.5 hours, than do whatever is 1.5 hours before you are supposed to wake up. Then wake up and do the “flow state” of constantly thinking about if you are awake, and chew on something that won’t leave a strong taste in your mouth but that you can clearly taste, then smell something, like a herb bag. Something calming. And look at something pretty, and feel something with your hands, focus on as many of these as you can while being in the state of (“am I dreaming?”)
then after 10 minutes of doing that, (write your dreams down as soon as you wake then do the “flow state” for 10 minutes) go back to sleep, and hope for a lucid dream. Then the rest should take over.
(TIP 9) this is the energy body stimulation method. hold your hand palm up, then start to brush over your hand with the tips of your fingers. Start with hard ish scratches so you can really feel it and swipe back and forth about a second each swipe, then slowly start to scratch more gently, try to notice and be aware as much as possible the feeling of your fingertips scratching your palm. If your palm is too ticklish, use the back of your hand, if that is, use from elbow to wrist. At a steady pace back and forth, really try to feel in the hand you’re not moving the feeling of it being scratched, try to follow along im your mind and kind of predict the feeling of it moving forward, then keep slowly lowering pressure till you are completely off your skin, then you are trying to continue to imagine this sweeping sensation on your non moving hand as the scratching hand hovers above it. Feel the sensation move up and down. This is energy body stimulation. And if you can do it well enough you should be able to trigger vibrations quite easily.
Work on making this sensation go all over your whole body. If you have to use your hand or a brush or something to get the feelings going till you can imagine it in that area. Sweep back and forth in your mind in your foot a little bit, then your shin then your knee to hip, then your hip to the other legs knee, down to the toes, then back to the hip, around the stomach, etc. throughout the whole body. Eventually it should start vibrating and you can build this till you start to float. Don’t stop till you float away. One method is to focus on a tiny area like a big toe, and do it till you feel vibrating.
Another way of creating the vibrations if you have a hard time with imagination, is to try to move a part of your body in the smallest possible distance known. You try to lift your pinky finger but without applying enough force to actually twitch a muscle. This sends focus to that part of your body and energy in turn. Then move the feeling from “lifting” your pinky to lifting your ring finger, again not actually using any muscles, but making a mental effort to move the muscle as small of an effort as possible. Just enough to feel the area, but not enough to move the muscles. This will stimulate the area and after enough practice and trance state cause the vibrations.
(TIP 10) THIS IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION…. But for informational purposes… when i use delta 9 thc edibles (merijuana active chemical) and try energy body stimulation it is almost instant and very easy. I do not recommend at all being high while you try to project because it could take from the real feeling of it and make it seem fake. But for myself I believe it’s a good practice for energy work just to build the vibrations and clear energies. I’d recommend during energy work learning about the chakras and stimulating each energy ball up your spine from your base to your crown. For a better explanation of this read Robert Bruce: “Astral dynamics” or “energy work” astral dynamics will also cover the rope method.
(TIP 11) “the rope method.” (TIP) Basically in my explanation you rub your hand on something resembling a rope. Preferably a rope, lol. and you start pulling gently with your hands so loose that the rope slides through your hands, keep doing this for a while at a steady speed. Then after a while let go of the rope and move your hands like they are going down the rope, this is your baseline for how to imagine this sensation, don’t move a muscle a inch, and imagine doing this same technique, feeling the rope sliding through your hands, till you actually start to feel your arms moving, once your astral arms are moving and you’re sure it’s your astral arms and you didn’t start moving your real arms, grab something near you. ( it will probably still be dark) and pull yourself away from your body gently. Then try to fly or keep pulling till you start to gain vision. And that is the rope technique basically.
(TIP 12) There is another method that is the ear ringing (often called tinnitus) method. Where you get it really quiet enough to not hear anything at all. Gun soundproofing muffs with cotton or earbuds on the inside so you hear absolutely nothing. Then you can start to hear a ringing noise. If you hear it just keep focusing on it till it gets so loud you start to experience projecting symptoms. I don’t recommend ear damage at all! But if you go to a loud concert then go home and meditate you should be able to hear it then. The temporary loss of hearing creates the tinnitus and you can use it.
(TIP 13) not sure if this works as i read it on reddit and haven’t tried it yet but it sounds reasonable. Start saying words that are unrelated to each other. So instead of couch then chair, or house then mansion, something like frog then chair then guitar. Apparently this can keep you conscious enough while also going deep enough into trance.
Well that’s about it for my hopefully helpful tips. Happy travels!

We rent in a lovely but rough area. We get on well with all our neighbors. Tonight, some kids were throwing rocks at my house. Just kids doing stupid things - they just picked our house randomly.
Well I got a video and went out to confront them. After a bit of back and forth, about 10-15 15-17yr olds started to swarm me.
[Just to be clear, it was only about 5 young kids throwing rocks, the large group came out of nowhere].
Calling me a pedo, throwing things and saying they'll smash my house. They were screaming at me to delete the video, which I did and showed them.
I walked away with them following. Locked doors and basically hid inside terrified. About an hour later, four of them came to the door. My neighbor stopped them and said it isn't worth it. They were saying I have videos of a 6 yr old on my phone but the neighbor insisted.
They left and presumably went home.
I'm obviously very shaken and feel so guilty that I brought this on my girlfriend in our home.
What can we expect will happen next? Will they just drop it or could they come back tonight/tomorrow?
I'm more looking for comfort and assurance than advice, but any comments welcome.
TLDR - kids threatening to smash our house. Do they mean it?

Hi folks,
This is a follow up to the nodes I published a few days ago. Since then, I've implemented several feature requests (thanks for raising them!) and polished the nodes. I just recorded this video tutorial that explains, in just ten minutes, how to do very fast inpainting only on masked areas in ComfyUI.
Link: Tutorial: Inpainting only on masked area in ComfyUI
The Inpaint Crop and Stitch nodes can be downloaded using ComfyUI-Manager, just look for "Inpaint-CropAndStitch".
The example workflows featured in this video can be downloaded from https://github.com/lquesada/ComfyUI-Inpaint-CropAndStitch
The main advantages of inpainting only in a masked area with these nodes are:

• It's much faster than sampling the whole image.
• It enables setting the right amount of context from the image for the prompt to be more accurately represented in the generated picture.
• It enables upscaling before sampling in order to generate more detail, then stitching back in the original picture.
• It enables downscaling before sampling if the area is too large, in order to avoid artifacts such as double heads or double bodies.
• It enables forcing a specific resolution (e.g. 1024x1024 for SDXL models)..

Using this approach, you can navigate the tradeoffs between detail and speed, context and speed, and accuracy on representation of the prompt and context.
Enjoy!